Mare Cognitum

"W-what? That voice, it can't be... It just can't be her..." Princess Celestia was in a state of total awe.

"Sister, who is this 'her' you speak of?" Luna asked.

"...About half a year before I accepted Twilight as my student, I had another filly tutored by me. She was a pegasus, with a burning passion for space. She was enraptured by the stars. She wanted to join them, to be with them. When I told her about this planet that we'd colonized five hundred years ago, she said she wanted to see it. She wanted to live there, with them. Naturally, I refused, as they may not be even alive anymore; we haven't heard from them in ages. But when I discovered her special talent was exploring and learning about space, I caved in. The royal archives had blueprints for a small pod. It had only the power to teleport barely outside of Earth's atmosphere, in which point it would fall down to the ground, and burn up in the process."

Doctor Whooves was baffled. "Wait, we colonized a planet? How come I've never heard of this?"

"There was a great accident on the initial launch. It was a great failure. I ensured no word reached the press, and everypony who watched the launch was forced to keep quiet. Anyways, I only supplied her with a small saddlebag, which had nothing but a permit showing her credentials, and a device she could clop with."

"WHAT?" Doctor Whooves and Luna said at once.

Celestia panicked. "I mean, a C.L.O.P.! Communicational Long-range Orbital Pen-shaped tool! It let her send me reports. Like that one. I thought it must have been broken, as all radios I had built to receive the signals didn't pick up. I always hated myself for that. I'd left her on an alien planet, alone. For all I know, the colonization probably failed. Its been quite a while since she left, she's probably a full-grown mare now."

"This sounds a suspicious lot like my sonic screwdriver..." grumbled a mad Doctor. "I bet mine's better... If you need me, I'll be thinking of a better way to clop. I mean, a better clop."

"So, sister, what is the name of this fabled mare?"

"Selena Astral. She has a blue coat, dark as the night, a lighter mane, and two eyes bright as stars. A total whiz when it came to astronomy. But she was pretty... how do the young colts currently say it? 'Chill'. Not as studious as Twilight. She was a lot more open to friends, and was quite social. Oh how I've missed her."

"Why don't you rescue her? From that transmission she sent, it sounds like she wants to go home."

"Well, I can't, really. Almost all of the research done for the rockets burned in the explosion. All that was left was blueprints for a one-way probe, like the one we used for her transport. And this sounds urgent, but it took years for Equestria's finest scientists to develop this technology, so we won't be able to replicate it nearly as fast enough. Teleportation magic would be too hard to replicate, as research into took a hundred years. But I did hear of an old earth pony philosophy on how they could fly." Celestia tapped a hoof to her chin in thought. "They discovered this rule, that 'every reaction has an equal and opposite reaction', blah blah blah. Anyways, they theorized that you could use this. If you concentrated enough energy in one direction, it would thrust you in the polar opposite of it. They never actually used it, however, as they couldn't get enough energy."

Doctor Whooves, welding a new clop on the other side of the room, spoke up, but didn't tear his eyes from his work. "Oh yeah. I've heard of that. My family built a thruster like that once."

"Wait, what? You actually can build that?!" The royal sisters said together.

"Yeah."

"Wait a sec," Luna said. "Hold up. Why don't we take the phonebooth thing? That's already built."

"Well, when I said we can go anywhere, that's only partially the truth... we have to have visited the planet at least once before. And even so, do you know the coordinates for the planet? It'd take forever to figure out which planet it is exactly."

"Hmm... well that's too bad..." Celestia thought. "But, about the thruster. Can we use it?"

"...Not really. It takes an insane lot of power to boot it up to start with. Nopony has actually ever used the thruster. It would take 1.21 gigawatts of power."

Luna was incredulous. "The only thing that could generate that much power would be an electric strike! And we can't tell when that will happen."

Celestia facehoofed. "Yes we can..."

"Oh... right."

The Doctor stopped welding, went to his phone booth, and came out with a piece of paper. "Wait, I got that wrong. 1.21 trillion gigawatts."

"It would take the greatest force in the universe to supply that!"

Celestia thought. "I'll go ask Twilight. Surely she would know about a solution to that. In the meantime, Doctor, could you build a spaceship with a few of these thrusters?"

"How fast do you want me to build it?"

"Oh, say, maybe about five days."

His eyes widened at the prospect. "F-five days? That's impossible!"

"It'll be easier with six other mares helping you. One of them is the fastest flyer in Equestria. Another is the most skilled magic-user. She could probably cast some speed spells."

"Still, five days? Impossible."

"Again, earth pony solution to that aswell."

"What?"

"Just start building. I'll go get my student and her friends."

"...okay then..."

"Sister, are you sure this can be finished in a mere workweek?"

"Don't worry. Be ha- be Luna. Also, could you help Doctor Whooves with his work? I'll return with more ponies to help soon."

And, like that, Celestia left the room, leaving the expert technology user and builder to work. She went up to her tower, sat down, and brought out her quill and parchment.

My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,

Currently, I am in need of assistance. Another student of mine, one who I have not heard from in a long time, has informed me she needs help. I wish to personally rescue her, but alas, I have duties to attend to in Canterlot. However, you and your friends are free. The last letter you sent informed me that life around Ponyville was rather dull for the past week, so this trip should be quite a change in schedule, scenery, and much more.

PS did I mention you and your friends are going to space?

Signed,

Princess Trol- Celestia.

Celestia chuckled softly to herself when she thought of how flustered her student would be. Twilight always wanted to pioneer a field, and now she could physically be a pioneer in space. Setting the letter aside, Celestia drew a new piece of paper.

My faithful student, Selena Astral,

I am dreadfully sorry for the lack in communication. I grieved when my radios did not receive your transmissions. I hope this letter finds you well. I can only imagine what a fine mare you have made now. Anyways, I am sending another of my students, Twilight Sparkle, and her friends, to rescue you. She should come to you by at most the end of this week. I was unable to send you this letter before, as to send letters like these, the sender must be absolutely sure where the recipient is located. Again, my sincerest apologies for losing touch. I hope I can see you again soon!

Signed,

Princess Celestia.

She then rolled up the two scrolls with her magic, added seals, and picked them up with her hooves. She stood in front of her fireplace, and spoke an ancient Earth pony incantation.

"Perigna-mitare."

On the spoken word, all light seemed to drain from the room. All fires, not just the fireplace but also the candles, turned an etheral shade of green. Celestia imagined her two students, concentrating on them. Eventually, she was able to see their exact locations. Twilight was reading a very... interesting book. But Selena, she couldn't see.

Whenever she tried pinpointing her location, she instead saw a mare with black hair and a brown coat. Despite the age, this mare had no cutie mark. This was impossible, the spell would always show the exact location of the requested pony. Unless... this was Selena? She looked so different. As these thoughts crossed Celestia's mind, another mare stepped into her view.

Her appearance was about the same as 'Selena's.' She had the same color scheme, but with a streak of electric yellow running through her mane. The other mare woke Selena up, and there she saw them- her eyes. This mare really was Selena. There was no doubt. She would have to worry abou that later. Celestia threw the two scrolls into the fire, and the flames in the room soon returned to normal.

Knowing her student okay, Celestia went to her bed, and enjoyed a good night's sleep.