Prologue

A sigh was heard in the empty room, it sounded nervous, but also a bit relieved.
Laughter was heard in the background, but it seemed distant as the young mare was brimming with different thoughts of the task that laid ahead. The officials had reported that it would be safe, but just the thought of there being a military ship along with the Von Braun on it's maiden voyage made her uncertain. The mare shook off her uncertainty, she had decided this last meeting with her friends before the voyage would be a joyful one, but she just had this uncanny feeling.

“Twi, are y’all alright?”

The mare turned around, a bit startled, and saw her friend standing in the doorway with a concerned look. “I am fine. Just thinking about the trip ahead of us.” she said with a sigh and looked down at the floor. The mare in the doorway moved closer to her and put a hoof under her chin, making her look up at her friend. She saw a smile, but as she looked into the eyes of her friend, she saw mixed emotions in the green orbs.

“We'll be alright sugarcube, as long as we are all together.” Her friend said with a thick accent filled with concern and certainty.

She looked up at her friend with a smile. “Yeah, we have done a couple of unbelievable things together I guess. Let's not make the others wait anymore.” She gave her friend a quick hug and took the tray behind her containing some drinks for the group, this was why she had gone to this room at first anyway.

She found herself in a living room which had quite a lot of books and study material, her own living room where she had spent much of her time studying the last couple of years. But now it was not the books which drew her attention. Around her couch table she saw four other mares of different colors, all her friends. She smiled at the sight as she sat down with the drinks, one last careless night for a while would be alright.

The apartment was filled with laughter until the late night when they all had to part. It was a heartwarming goodbye, but also kind of sad, they wouldn't be able to meet as much within Von Braun, but they would always be close to each other.

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The night had gone by in the blink of an eye, but had felt like an eternity, at least for the lavender mare Twilight, who had some of the worst nightmares and light sleep of her life. She didn't want to think about those dreams, they were disturbing and would probably be lingering in the back of her mind anyway. She looked into the bathroom mirror, indigo eyes with bags under them looking back at her. 'A shower and some coffee will hopefully wake me up, I don't want the others to worry about me' she thought for herself as she went for the shower.

The nice, cool water rained down upon her. It felt nice as the water almost ripped the drowsiness away from her. She slowly turned the heat of the water up so it went from a waking chill to a nice and warm summer downpour. After she was done she dried herself with a towel and went for breakfast. Nothing special happened this morning.

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“Name and registration number please.” A sturdy gray stallion with a grayish blue mane said to her as she was boarding the ship.

“Twilight Sparkle, G65434-2.” She stated quickly and was given an access card and ID for the upcoming mission.

“Name and registration number please.” The stallion continued to the next pony in line, this one Cyan with a multicolored rainbow mane.

“Rainbow Dash, sharpest sharpshooter in the Marine, registration number P65728-7” The mare said with a grin. Twilight chuckled quietly at this, Rainbow was always quick to brag about her abilities, but to her defense, she didn't brag about something that wasn't true.

“I am glad we get to work together at least Dash” She said to Rainbow Dash as they were now walking towards their work area to check it out before settling down, they had no luggage as all they needed had been transferred before all the personnel got there.

“Yeah, it's a great relief, I mean, so you don't have to be lonely that is! I can take anything you know.” Rainbow answered with a confident smile. Twilight just smiled at her friend as they continued.

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The tour of the Rickenbucker, the military ship that was docked to the Von Braun to protect in case of something going wrong, went by quickly. The Rickenbucker was a state of the art ship, nothing one would want to meet in a fight, even with a fleet, especially now that the ship had the best military personnel too.

The two friends started walking towards the military crew quarters to check their rooms. They had to check so they knew how to get to them so they didn’t get lost.

“It makes me a bit nervous that we get such a big first mission, the Rickenbucker of all ships to, it's kind of big.” Twilight said with a slight shiver as she looked back in the corridor of the ship while.

“Nothing is too big for me, and this isn't my first mission you know.” Rainbow shrugged.

'That's right, Dash had completed her training early so she had a mission before this one.' She thought while looking at her friend.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Rainbow asked after a while. “Do I have something on my face?” She asked as she tried to look around for a mirror or a reflective surface.

“No, no, I was just thinking, that's all. About us and our friends, I do hope they are fine.” Her eyes suddenly had a slight sad glimmer to them, she did not like the feeling she still had from her dreams.

“They are fine, I bet we will see them at lunch in a couple of days at least, otherwise you can always send an email.” Rainbow said.

Twilight smiled at her a bit and suddenly realized she was at her room. “Well, this is my room, I will make sure I am settled in alright and then we can go and check out the Von Braun together as we said earlier, okay?” She said to Rainbow who just nodded and went further into the corridor. Too bad they didn't have their rooms very close to each other but it was good that they were in the same quarters at least.

She went into her room and looked around a bit, her little bit of luggage was on her bed, she had only brought a few clothing changes, all other things she needed she could get on the ship. Her thoughts went back to her friends as she got things ready, she hoped they were OK.

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“Name and registration number please.” The stallion asked.

“F-Fluttershy.” she almost whimpered, there were so many ponies around her and she felt uncomfortable. She felt a slight nudge from behind, she looked back and saw her friends, this made her a bit more comfortable and made her think of the line building behind her. “Fluttershy, registration number H65614-8” She said quietly, but steady. She smiled a bit as she got her ID and access card, she was done and now she could just wait in the background.

The process went quickly with her three friends that were with her, she knew they would split up soon but was glad they had prepared to meet on their way in. It was a bit sad that they didn't get to meet Rainbow and Twilight this morning, but she understood it as those two were military personnel for the Rickenbucker and not for the Von Braun. They would get to meet in time though.

Fluttershy's thoughts went back to her school a bit, she had went to med school so she could take care of all the ponies that were hurt. She was glad she got this job, it wasn't easy to get but she did it with some strings being pulled by Twilight. That mare had impressive contacts.

The small group was quiet while walking towards the ship, they knew they had lots of work ahead of them and that they wouldn't be able to spend as much time together as before. It saddened them all a bit but they cheered up almost as quickly thinking about that they still had each other.

They all got to their quarters after saying goodbye and agreeing on a time and a meeting spot for some touring later. After they had settled in the friends felt a slight shiver and an uncanny feeling. What would this journey bring them and what would it take away?

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The alicorn stood on her balcony looking out towards the majestic city, her kingdom, laying below her.
It was a magnificent sight, Canterlot, the head capitol of Equestria.
The city was almost never quiet or dark, the mechanical inventions were everywhere these days.

“Are you certain they will be able to accomplish this mission sister?”

The majestic white alicorn turned towards her sister, she hadn’t noticed the smaller alicorn entering the balcony. Looking back towards the city she answered “If there is one thing I know, it’s that their friendship will give them the power to push through anything as long as they are together.” She was confident in her personal star student and said student’s friends, they kept each other safe. Her sister seemed to quiet down for a while.

“I sure hope you are right, as you usually are sister, it’s just that I have this peculiar feeling about this mission..” Luna said after a silent moment and went forward to her sister.

“I sure hope so too...” Celestia mumbled quietly to herself.