The Equestrian Space Exploration Program.

"Sorry I'm late!" Announced Rainbow Dash, bursting through the doors of the Canterlot Palace Assignment Center. It was the day that Princess Celestia announced the names of the captains she would hire. Each captain would be given their own three-man ship and weaponry to go along. Ever since the announcement of other races in space, Rainbow Dash gave up her dream to pro fly in the sky, and instead replaced it with pro fly in outer space.

"Good. Now that we have everyone here, I will announce the names of the ones I see worthy of being a captain." Princess Celestia said into the microphone. "If and when I call your name, please come up to the stage and receive your certificate and stand behind the line."

Rainbow Dash's heart raced as she began to announce the names. "Blossomforth." With a squee of delight, Blossomforth went up on stage and received her certificate and stood in line. "CloudChaser." Another squee was heard as she walked towards the stage to receive her certificate. More and more names were called. Rainbow Dash noticed the names were in alphabetical order. "Sassaflash."

Wait... they passed up R! thought Rainbow. I didn't make it... The line filled up fast and ended with a mare called Wild Fire. "Oh..." Dashie muttered to herself. She didn't make it, and after all that hard work. I guess I'll just wait 'till next months choices...

"...and finally the one I saved for last, the element of loyalty herself. Rainbow Dash!" The Princess said with a grin, looking at Dashie. She planned it like that to get my hopes down! Thought Dashie. That Princess...

Dashie walked up on stage, received her certificate and stood in line with the rest of the ponies.

This certificate states that RAINBOW_DASH is a rightful member of the Equestrian Space Exploration Program. (ESEP)

RAINBOW_DASH must have the certificate in HER ship at all times to access the ESEP Power Supply and Ship Upgrades. Trying to access without this certificate (2) times will be warnings. On the (3rd) try, the account will be locked up and will have to be unlocked by filling out the form on page 22 of the ESEP MANUAL: VOL.2

Further questions must be consulted with an administrator on any major Equestrian Owned planet.

WELCOME TO THE ESEP. MISSIONS WILL BE AVAILABLE ON THE MISSION BOARD.

"Thank you for attending, My Little Ponies. I wish you the best of luck for next month." Princess Celestia closed the curtain, and the crowd held their heads low and shuffled their feet out of the Assignment Center.

"Princess! You scared me there for a second, not saying my name with the other R's!" Rainbow Dash joked with the Princess.

"That was my point, Rainbow Dash. You didn't think after you've tried three times I would just pass you up?" Princess Celestia chuckled. She used her magic and pulled a switch, causing the stage to move downwards.

"Hey, Princess! I've been trying for a whole year and you didn't choose me until now!" Said Burnt Oak with an irritated, yet soft voice.

"I know, and I have been watching you closely since. You took the flight class, remember?" She said. Her memory was remarkable. She assigned him to flight school on his first month of trying out. Since Burnt was an Earth pony, he hadn't enough knowledge on flight. Most Earth ponies give up, simply because aerodynamics is a tough subject for Earth ponies because testing their knowledge was harder than it was for a Pegasus or a Unicorn, due to the fact they didn't have any special powers to help them assemble a rocket, or have wings to use themselves as their own test subject.

"Ha ha! I didn't think you'd remember that." He laughed.

"I remember most things I see or hear." She reminded him. Alicorns usually have gifted mind powers.

They reached the bottom after about a minute of slowly moving the stage down. The curtains opened to a large, open area with tons of ponies of all kinds chatted and shared opinions. In the center there was a fountain, and the fountain contained a statue of a stallion holding a space helmet in a heroic pose. Along the left side of a wall stood many different boards with different labels of what were on them. They were all Mission Board genres like Outlaws, Retrieve, Deliver, and Explore. Of course those were just a few of the many labels.

Celestia leaded the new recruits to a large double door that had a large sign above that read "Design Room." The doors opened and inside were tons of computers and weird buttons. "Here is where you will design your own ship."

"Wow!" "Cool!" The ponies exclaimed as they ran towards the computers.

"To access your account, type in your name and scan the code on the bottom of your certificate." Celestia instructed. "Then place your chin on the bar above and open your eyes wide."

Rainbow Dash and the other ponies all did as instructed. When they opened their eyes, a flat blue light scanned them. "Retina Scan Complete!" Said a female, computer-like voice.

"Now when you come by you can keep the certificate inside your ship. The retina scan will sign you in." Celestia informed. A screen popped up on the computer with basic shapes and designs. "This is the ship designer. Simply place the pieces you want in the right design and hit finish."

So many designs! thought Dashie. The shapes were simple, but yet there were so many options for design. Rainbow Dash chose her shape, a cone like structure with a smaller cockpit, but enough room to store two other members and any loot they found. She hit the next tab of items. These were the engines. Most weren't available to her because she was just recruited into the ESEP, but there was still a decent selection.

I'll choose the green ones. Thought Dashie. The engines weren't actually green, but it made the fire it spurted green. Really it was just the heat of the fire, but Dashie thought it looked cool.

Dashie opened the next step. Design. She didn't have many options on this one, but why would she need one? Looking around the room, she noticed the other ponies made their ships bright, easily noticed colors. Though that would be nice to have, strategically she chose the dull, dark gray metal color. Using these colors would let her not be noticed as much if she were to be assigned a stealth mission. Next.

Weapons. Of course, as a recruit her options were once again limited. This time more than the others. She only had two options, a R3CRU17-R4Y, which is just a weak, low powered laser, and the Rocket_LVL1, which is a cheap, low rate rocket launcher. Luckily the ship had two weapon slots, which was a good call for if you run out of rockets to fire.

Rainbow Dash hit finish. Most of the other ponies already had finished and left to see the courtyard. "Are you finished, Rainbow Dash?" Asked Celestia.

"Yes I am, Princess!" Responded Dashie in a cheerful voice. Celestia showed her the door to the courtyard where the missions boards were. What a great day! I got into the ESEP and got my very own ship!  She thought. She walked to the mission boards, passing many ponies, most of which were higher ranks than Dashie, who was just a recruit. Not to be confused about her being a Captain of her ship. The ESEP reads her as Recruit, due to the different ranking systems of ship and ESEP.

"Woah! Are you really a Colonel!?" Shouted a pony near the fountain. Of course, all of the other ponies had to gathere in awe. "How long have you been here!?" "What cool weapons do you have!?" The ponies pounded him with questions, and he loved every bit of it.

"Yes, yes. I'll tell you the story! I was a tester for the first spaceship! I've been here since the start!" He boasted. Usually Dashie wasn't annoyed by other ponies boasts, I mean, she boasts a lot herself, but his bragging was just irritating. His whiny voice, his I'm-Better-Than-You tone. It was just obnoxious.

"Then, all of the sudden, I was trapped in a... Hey! Where are you going?" He said to Dashie, who left the crowd to spare her ears.

"I'm going to the message board." She said, purposely lowering her voice ever so slightly to have a more intimidating effect.

"Don't you want to hear the rest of my story? They're probably the best ones you'll ever hear!" He said in his snood voice. "Or tell!"

Did he really just say that? "Or tell?" What was that supposed to mean!? Dashie started trembling with anger. She stormed off to the Mission Boards, not giving him a response that he self-consciously hoped for.

Forgetting what she had just heard, she looked over the missions until she found one suitable for a beginner.

DELIVER DRILL BATTERY

Deliver the DRILL BATTERY to planet MINNERUS.

Reward: 1500 CREDITS + 3 GEMS OF YOUR CHOICE

Ah, planet Minnerus. A mining planet that was one of the first planets ever to be discovered. It was a nice planet made entirely of rock. Digging under the rock would result in amazing gemstones not found on the ponies home planet. It was a perfect mission to start Rainbow Dash's career. Except for one thing...

"Unable to access RAINBOW_DASH ship 1. Ship still under construction. Please wait one to two week days for the ship to be implanted into our Ship Database." The robotic voice said. Rainbow Dash was surprised about two things. One was that the voice she heard in the ship designer was the same as the one out here. Must be the ESEP's AI. Second, the ship wasn't made yet!? Why didn't it tell her when she finished making it in the first place!? She'll never be better than that stuck-up Colonel at this rate!

They didn't even tell me where my room was... or if I even get a room! She thought. Maybe accessing a nearby terminal could point her to the right direction.

"Uh... Computer! Locate my bedroom!" She commanded. No response. Oh... That's embarrassing... She thought to herself. Forgot to hit the command button...

Finally hitting the command button, she gave the command. "Computer! Locate my bedroom!"

"Unknown personnel My please try again, or contact your planets administrator." The computer responded.

Dashie was confused. She didn't take any lessons on simple terminal use, she thought the terminal would be like a ship and know it's owner... Wait...

"Computer! Locate Rainbow Dash room 1." She said, realizing that terminals are public. Not customized to know commands like me or my.

"RAINBOW_DASH room 1 is located: room 468 in building 12." The computer responded.

"Um... Can I have a map to that?" She asked.

"MAP" It responded, opening a map of the whole area. Room 468 Building 12, located directly to the right. At least that was simple.

"Uh, thanks!" She said. Ponies watching her from behind giggled to themselves. Dashie wasn't very tech savvy. The building was a three story gray building that was longer than it was tall. The doors didn't open like normal doors, but instead used a retina scan to see if you were a member of the ESEP. Outsiders would be escorted out, or if they didn't comply, jailed. Dashie opened her eyes wide and let the computer do its thing.

"Access Granted." The computer opened the door and Dashie walked in. Inside there was a desk with a receptionist, and a sign next to the desk reading "If this is your first visit, please speak to the pony at the desk." Dashie did as it said.

"May I help you?" The receptionist asked.

"Uh, yeah. I'm new here, so I was told to see you?" Dashie answered.

"Ah, yes. I'll need your identification." She said, putting her hooves up to the computer.

"My identification?" She questioned. What could that be?

"The retina scan... It's right there." She sighed, pointing her hoof to it.

"Oh, um, sorry" Dashie placed her eye up to the scanner. This places had a lot of security. Maybe it's due to all the nice technology. Back in Ponyville or Clouds Dale they never used eye scanners for locks. This was new to her.

"Rainbow Dash?" The receptionist asked.

"That's right!" Dashie replied.

"Alright, your room is all set, just head on up to the third floor, your room is number 468." The receptionist leaned back and closed her eyes. It must be a boring job to just scan ponies retinas all day. Dashie walked to the elevator, and was once again greeted by another retina scanner. Dashie opened her eyes and let the machine scan her retinas. The elevator doors slid open, and Dashie traded places with two other ponies inside of it.

"Another retina scan!?" She shouted in the elevator. Luckily she was the only one in there. To get to the third floor she had to scan her eyes on one that was labeled third floor. She scanned her eyes, though it was getting old.

The elevator opened up on the third floor. The floor was much bigger than she expected. There was a lounge with couches and a TV where some ponies sat and talked, a cafe where you could purchase food, and a teleporter to the bazaar, which was quite walk from building 12. Branching off from the floors lobby were four hallways with rooms. The 450-500 rooms are what she wanted.

The hallway was long, but she found her room, greeted by none other than a retina scan. She sighed and placed her eye in front to verify that it was really her entering her room. The room scanner was a little reasonable, no one can enter your room without your permission. The door unlocked and opened slightly. Inside was a nice and cozy feel. A desk, a bed, and a bathroom. On the bed was some sort of watch device with a note on it.

"Sorry, I forgot to give you this before you left! ~Princess Celestia" It read. Dashie picked it up and placed it on the lower section of her front right leg. A hologram popped up, showing Dashie the features of the watch. It was basically a cellphone with some simple survival tool on it, like a mini-laser or a knife. Somepony left a message on her device. The senders name was 163.156.74.5642. That must be some sort of proxy or something. Rainbow Dash may not know much about computers, but she did know how to use a proxy. She had to hack into the library with the help of Spike because of a book mix up. Long story short, she learned what a proxy was.

"Meet me in the Suntess system on planet Espin." That's what it said. It didn't say the name of the sender or anything, and the fact that they used a proxy shows that they probably didn't want the ESEP to know who sent it. Dashie was just going to ignore it, but her curiosity made her change her plans to do it. When her ship is ready, she'll get a mission near that system, on the way back she'll stop by and see what it was. The plan was perfect.

It was late. Rainbow Dash was up late fiddling with the watch she got. It had some games on it for passing the time. A feature that was more useful than she thought. Someone knocked at her door. Who could be here at this hour.

Dashie ignored it after a brief pause, but continued playing her game. They knocked again. She decided this time to see who it was. She stood up off of her bed and turned the flashlight on her watch on. She opened the door and to her surprise, it was Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, coming to visit her.

"Hi Dashie!" Whispered Pinkie, who even in a whisper was as loud as can be. "We came to visit you!"

Dashie yanked them in her room. "How did you guys get past all the security!?" She asked.

"We had Celestia help us!" Pinkie Pie answered.

"That's good. But one quick question... Did you guys find them yet?" Asked Dashie with a look of worry.

"Sorry... AJ is out searching for them, but no luck..." Fluttershy sadly answered.

"That's alright... we'll find them someday!" Pinkie tried to cheer them up. "Well we didn't come here just to say hey, we want to know how your first day was!"

"Oh, well take a seat on my bed and I'll tell ya!" She said turning on her light so they could see. Dashie explained to them her whole day, the cool ship editor, the snooty Colonel, and the excessive amount of retina scans. The night was great. The day ended great. The clock hit two in the morning, and the two ponies realized that Dashie probably would need some sleep before doing missions tomorrow.

"Well, goodbye Dashie!" Pinkie said hopping away.

"We'll let you know if we find them. We will find them..." Fluttershy yawned. "Well, goodbye..."

"Bye..." Dashie yawned, waving them off. She closed her door and shut off her light. Making she she didn't trip on anything, she walked to her bed and fell asleep almost instantly...