Chapters It was a cool, cloudy day in Ponyville. The temperature would soon rise as spring was coming ever so close, along with the festive "Winter Wrap Up" event. Never the less snow still covered the ground in blankets. It had reached a record of 7 1/2 feet at one point. A certain purple mare was beginning to wake up from her peaceful slumber. Twilight slowly reached her morning consciousness and a smile grew wide on her face. Today was the day her and her friends had planned a giant hang out day! Every waking moment of the day was to be spent with her friends. Well, almost every moment. They weren't supposed to meet till noon. She quickly got out of her soft bed, she regretted this for a short moment but she had better plans. Careful not to wake Spike, she waltzed down the stairs and began her morning routines. She combed and brushed her mane to the point of perfection, brushed her already pearly white teeth, took a quick shower, and ate her usual breakfast of dandelions and Apple Acres specially made apple juice. After all this was completely finished Twilight decided it was time for Spike to wake.
"Spike, time to get up! We gotta big day planned!"Burp!
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
"Oh my gosh! Spike?! Do you know what this means?!" screamed Twilight.
" Of course it's good this time you silly dragon!" Laughed Twilight, "Being asked to do this is a big honor in itself! Plus, it one doosie of an adventure."
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As Twilight trotted along to get to Sugercube Corner she took in the sights around her. Ponyville was as busy as ever. Shoppers were rushing about and salesponies screamed and yelled out various deals. The smell of fresh pies and pastries hit Twilight's nose. She looked up and saw the Sugercube Corner sign. She was not only about to have the best day ever with her friends but also reveal the amazing news to them. She waltzed in and was immediately greeted by her best friends. She then sat down and joined in on the conversation her friends were already having.
"...I still say we should go to the races for awhile. It would be the coolest thing ever!" said Rainbow Dash.
"Um.....what was Rarity's idea?"
Twilight limped slightly back into her home. She had accidentaly stepped on a sharp stone on her way to the races. It has cracked her hoof a bit. Despite the pain she was still amused from earlier events. For about 30 more minutes after Twilight had revealed the huge news, Rainbow Dash and Rarity were still arguing about what to do. The compromise cam from an unlikely source, Fluttershy had suggested they do both, first the races and tgen the makeover. Even though thete was still some hostility.between Rarity and Dash, they agreed. So, in the.end, the day wasn't ruined by "party poopers" and ended quite nicely. The only thing Twilight had to do was write a response letter to the Princess. Twilight winced as she trotted over to her desk. I hope this heals soon she thought. She used her magic to summon a scroll of paper and her quil from nearby.
Dear Princess Celestia,
"Spike!" Yelled Twilight.
Spike took a deep breath and blew out emerald green flames. The letter was engulfed by the flames and disappeared in smoke. The letter was sent, dragon class shipping. It only took about ten minutes before a reply cam back from Princess.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
"That is some really useful info, but I'll wait to tell the girls tomorrow, I'm beat..."
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Twilight sprinted faster than she ever had before to the train station. She was almost fifteen minutes late. "I had to triple check my checklist...." she muttered to herself. When she arrived she was exhausted. The conductor helped her carry her bags, she was severely short on breath. When she knew her things were tucked away, she found her friends in the luxury car. Her friends just stared at her at first, the state she was in wasn't normal, for Twilight that is. Her mane was slightly frayed here and there, she was breathing hard, het coat wasn't smooth but spiked out here and there. For Twilight, this wasn't her day and everypony in the car knew it.
"Er.....Hiya Twilight...." Said Applejack.
After the rest stop in Canterlot, the train gained a bit more speed. It was going to be quite mountainous for a while, and cold. All the windows were closed to keep what warmth was left in the cars in. After about two hours the mountains receded back to beautiful valleys. Everywhere you looked it was grassy green, with an occaisional tree here and there. The temperature also rose a bit. After of about being on trip for three and half hours, Twilight decided she wanted to take a nap. Her hoof had been bothering her on and off during the trip and she just wanted to.get off it. As she fell asleep her friends thought about dosing off as well, only Rainbow Dash actually did though.
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The train slowly screeched to a full halt at Fillydelphia station. The girls gathered their bags and trotted off the train. They looked around the area for a while until they saw a colt
When they arrived, the building was surrounded by wonderful gardens and a couple of fountains in the shape of stars and their own planet. The front of the building looked very modern and had recently been remodeled. It was made of steel bars supporting glass to give it a bit of a indented look. The sides, however, still looked like they had in their hiding days, like factory walls. The center was built so that the sides faced the city so that whoever looked over at it thought "factory" not "space center". In the center of the courtyard in the front flew the flag of Equestria, right below flew what looked like the flag for the center, a planet with a ring around it, but on the planet was the letter "E".
As the girls got their bags out of the carriage, a golden orange stallion in a suit trotted up. His mane jet black, and his cutie mark was of the sun.
"The EC gee what now?" asked Applejack.
All the ponies trotted into the building in a big group. The girls' bags were taken to dormitories on the far side of the building. The inside was just as or more amazing than the outside. Only the highest of quality materials were used in constructing the center. There were statues her and there, a couple of Celestia herself. There were banners of the Equestrian symbol placed over openings into hallways. Sol was going to say something about the lobby but judging by the other ponies faces, he felt it was uneccesary. They moved on to the laboratories.
The laboratories were filled with hi-tech machines and scientists working hard to purely discover. The six friends were astonished at all the different studies going on at once. So many ponies trying to get more knowledge about space.
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After being let to be in their rooms for awhile, Director Sol came back and asked the girls to follow him. We he led them to was a conference room with a strange symbol on the door.
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The dinner the girls were treated to was technically a buffet. The type of foid varied but there will stil a lot of choices. After dinner the girls retired to their rooms for the night. It was only eight-o-clock so each of them hung out and soaked in the amazement of their personalized rooms. Even though they were amazing, they all still missed Ponyville. Applejack missed her family, Twilight missed Spike, Rarity missed Sweetie Bell (and Opel), Rainbow missed the open skies, Fluttershy hoped her animals were taking care, and Pinkie missed the Cakes and their kids. Even though they were going to have the expierience of a ligetime, they would still miss home.
After an hour or so of just laying there, Twilight decided it was time to turn in. They just had a pretty long day and training started tomorrow. They all needed some rest. As Twilight's eyelids slowly closed, she thought of the upcoming months. along with the launch. She then drifted off to sleep and entered the world of dreams.
Ding!
A loud alarm woke Twilight quite quickly. At first she thought it was an emergency, but then a voice on an intercom told her otherwise.
Twilight quickly shot out of her bed. It was training day one! There was no she was going to be late for this! She then looked at the time, it was 7:50. She had lots of time. She even had time to eat something if she planned right as well. She got right to her morning routine. After all of that was complete, it was 8:20. She now had two hours and ten minutes for breakfast. This is when, after looking around, there was no fridge or any food container in her room. The only place where food was is the cafeteria, so she trotted off to it.
When she arrived, the cafeteria was surprisingly not very empty. Mostly occupied by center employees, Twilight managed to find the table where her friends were sitting. After she located them she went after some of the delicious looking breakfast foods at the buffet. She sat down with her friends and enjoy both food and conversation. They were all excited to see what this first training had in store for them. Was it hard? Painful? Simple? In only a couple of hours all their questions would be answered.
Around 10:20 they all headed towards the training foyer. They arrived with five minutes to spare, however, Sol was already there, along with Emsee and a brand new face.
"Guten Tag trainees! Welcome to day eins of many days ahead of you. We are all excited to see how todays training goes along so let's get down to business! First, let's introduce the training director, Mrs. Victory."
The new pony stepped forward. She wore a blue track jacket and sweat bands around her front hoofs and head. Her cutie mark was a 40 lb. weight.
"Thank you professor, but girls, just call me Vicky, I'm not one for formality." said Vicky. "Anyways, as you are already know you are going to be put through days of training up to your launch, which is where I come in. I am going to supervise you throughout your training, along with the help of others as well, and we will make you ready for space travel! Now follow me to the first session."
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The group arrived at a door that said classroom on it. This confused all six of the girls. Wasn't training supposed to be physical?
"School? I thought this was training!" Said Rainbow Dash.
"I'm still confused on how space is nothing but at the same time is something...." Said Applejack.
The girls had now made their way to the gym. Now it was surely to get exciting. They trotted in and their was Victory and another new pony standing in the middle of the floor. He was dressed in a military drill sargeants uniform. His cutie Mark was of a royal guard's shield.
"Girls, I would like you to meet Lt. Colonel Khamoe Flage. He is a trainer for Celestia's own royal guard and he has volunteered to help get you all into top physical shape!" Said Vicky. "Be wary girls, he has a temper...." She whispered to them as she walked past.
"I don't need this, I'm already the best athlete here." Said Dash.
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"Sweet Celestia that guy was rough!" Yelled Dash.
Training was done for that day. The routine would change every now and then though. All six girls limped into the cafeteria for dinner. They wete relieved to finally have some food after that gym routine. They all ate well. Now, it was time to get some sleep. They needed the rest if tomorrow was going to be like that days session. As Twilight lay down in her bed she only had one thought in her head. Was she going to survive Khamoe's wrath along with the others?
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The learning, ridiculous insult filled months slowly trudged by and the girls were surprised to see good results. Twilight was especially happy to see herself in complete shape, a state she had not been in before. Fluttershy had not cried a single year in the gym under Khamoe since that first day. Rainbow Dash still had fits with Khamoe but things toned down. In fact, after a while, Khamoe turned out to be a great instructor and it was easy for the girls to tell his sympathy yell from his angry one. Victory had began helping them through their teachings as well. They all knew a lot about space and its properties along with the many things in it too. Rarity began becoming very interested in the teachings. She said it had given her a huge fashion design inspiration. Pinkie Pie still struggled in the learning along with Applejack. They tried really hard to umdetstand but they couldnt get all of it down. Still, they had a mediocre understanding.
With only two months before the launch, the girls were showing much promise. Applejack and Rainbow Dash led the field in athletics, Twilight and Rarity ruled the Learning stand point, and Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy both were mixed in both categories. Fluttershy being the more of a student, Pinkie being more of an athlete. Victory had taken note of their progress and presented it to Sol and Emsee. They were very happy at the data they had received. They decided it was now time to take the next step in the training. The machinery and aircraft operations training.
What most ponies don't know about Equestria is that, like other things, it has it's secrets. For awhile, nopony really gave a thought to what was really out there in space. Of course there have been meteor showers over the magical land, but no one knew any true knowledge of space itself. That is until now.
Within the secrecy of the Canterlot Castle came an idea, one which would forever change the knowledge of ponies everywhere. It was decided that a program would be created to study more into the idea of "space" and what truly went on out there. A document was forged to signify the establishment of this program, now known as the ECGR (Equestrian Center for Galactic Research). This program was sworn to discover anything they could about space with the equipment they were given. As they gathered new information about this strange frontier, more money was put into the program seeing as it was being successful. Not only were they to gather knowledge but they were sworn to secrecy for awhile as well.
Everypony who was involved in making this program reality was afraid that the public may not like the idea or that strange fantasies may begin to arise. Any pony who worked at the facility was told to tell their loved ones that they worked at a new pillow factory. However this excuse being "cheesy" most ponies beloved the story and went on with their lives. As the months and years went on, more discoveries were made and the secret was kept. However, the "factory" cover up didn't last forever.
A few months before the news of this program was released to the public, many ponies grew suspicious of the "factory". They claimed many things. One claim was that it was really a new mental hospital keeping the crackers of ponies within it's walls. This shook the nearby area surrounding the facility so much that Celestia herself decided it was time for the public to know. The news spread quickly throughout the land, bringing controversy and confusion. Once everything was down to true facts, news articles began appearing by the thousands all over. One of the more known articles resided from Manehattan being titled "A New Frontier?".
A few months after the reveal, the ECGR announced they were going to launch a pony controlled mission to a recently discovered planet they called X-24 for the time being. However, they had an issue they didn't release publicly; they needed recruits to train for the mission. They explained to Celestia that only the most qualified ponies would be able to train for the mission. It did not take her long to figure out who would participate in this historic event.
