My ship slowly approached the moon of E-27, a small barren rock not suitable for life, but the perfect place to get a look at the planet. I reached around the cabin of my ship and found my recorder, "Hastings: E-27. On approach to first moon. Will return with analysis." I felt my thumb slip off the button, "Dear god it looks like Earth's...." My words conjured up bad memories, which I quickly forced back down.

I needed to focus and thinking about Earth wasn't going to help. No I needed to focus on landing safely. My mind flashed back to the videos of early space flight, we've come a long way since then but we can still screw up just as bad.

My heart started racing as I entered the minute gravity of the moon, the entire ship giving a soft bounce as I landed. I leaned back in my chair and let out a deep breath as the engines shut down. I looked around the empty fields of grey as I found my helmet. A quick twist and a loud rush of air later and I was ready.

I slowly vented the air from the cabin, the loud rush of air sounded like a typhoon. Once it was done I slowly opened the cabin. As it opened I slowly undid any bindings and straps as I prepared to take my first steps on this new world.

The gravity was greater than I had expected, enough to keep me from bouncing as I touched down, but not enough to hold down an atmosphere. I wondered how the gravity was compared to our old moon.

Once again I pushed the memories away. I had a job to do.

I slowly walked around to the cargo port on my ship and started laying out surveying equipment, "Hi." A girls voice caught me off guard. I whirled around and jumped back.

"Holy hell!" I screamed, slamming my back against my ship. Not ten feet away sat a small navy horse, sitting on her haunches and staring at me.

"Hi!" She chirped with a massive smile, "Who are you?" The creature asked with such genuine innocence that I was momentarily drawn away from the fact I was on a dead moon.

"How...what..." I looked over to the planet below, "Did you- no...without a helmet..." My brain was racing, trying to piece together what was going on, "How can I even hear you!? No air! I must be damn crazy!"

The creature cocked her head, stood, and started walking over, "I'm Luna...or Nightmare moon...I can't really remember. What's your name?"

My panic started to subside as the girls curiosity proved too childish to be harmful. This was by no means first contact for the human race, but given our first contact, we've been instructed to be extremely cautious, "Hastings...my name is Hastings." She gave me a quick smile. "Are...are you all alone out here?" I asked, scanning my surroundings with a bit more care. Once my eyes landed back on the creature- this Luna, she had dipped her head down and was staring sulkily at her hooves.

"She sent me here cause I was bad...like a big timeout." She pouted.

I pushed off my ship and back onto my feet, "Who? Who sent you up here? Are there more of you?"

"Mmmhmm"- She stuck a hoof towards the planet -"Down there. And she sent me up here for being bad...my sister I mean...I was being mean to ponies so she sent me up here."

I felt myself swallow, "Alone?"

She sunk her head back down, "Yeah...well until you showed up!" She brightened up quickly, trotting over and pacing a circle around me, "You'll be my friend right?"

My mind was still littered with questions, but this might just be a way to get them answered, "Sure kid..." I eased my posture, "I'll be your friend...anyone that can understand me is alright in my book." I slowly walked towards a small pile of rocks and sat down, "So...how did you get up here?"

The tiny girl trotted over and sat on her haunches near my feet, "I don't remember...something bright...then I woke up here...all alone." She stared at the ground, her eyes twitching left and right. Before too long I could see tears forming around her eyes, "I...I didn't mean it...." She croaked out before a soft whimper, "I didn't want to be bad."

I was dumbstruck, this was alien life, sitting a few inches away from me. But it was also a little girl, crying right at my feet. I felt around my helmet and flipped up the opaque visor, "Hey...kid." I reached out and tipped her chin up. She recoiled a little before letting herself relax, "How long have you been up here?"

She wiped her face with a foreleg and looked back to the planet, "I see that mountain over there..." She pointed to a prominent mountain range that tore across the planet's surface, "Every night...I lost track...but I see it a lot." She started breaking down again, "I don't like it up here...I don't like being alone!" She started stomping her hooves, "I don't wanna be here anymore!"

I stopped her tantrum by pulling her over and squeezing her against my suit, "It's okay...it's alright."

"No! No no no no no!" She beat against my chest with her hooves, "It's not fair! I didn't want to be mean but the voice told me to!"

I did the only thing I could do, pulled her tighter, "I'm sorry....I really am sorry, but you're not alone right now. I won't leave you yet...I promise."

I could feel her stop pushing away with her hooves, "Really? You won't leave? You promise?"

I pulled her tighter, "I promise." I couldn't feel a thing through my suit, but the sight of my hands interlaced with her mane gave me a warm feeling in my chest, "I mean it." I slowly let her go. She took a step back and smile. I reached over and let my hands clear her eyes, "Come on...I still have work to do, maybe you can help." I slowly walked her back to my ship, lifting her into it and getting back to work as she watched from above.

"Hey...what is all that?"

I stuck a scanner into the soft regolith, "Science stuff...I'm looking for a new home and this might just be it."

The girl gave answered with an extremely wide grin, "You wanna live up here with me!?"

My smile faded quickly, "I- I meant down there...but I'm sure I could visit!"

Her smile damped but didn't fade, "You'd better!" She started giggling as I set the machines in order, "Hey...what's this?" She floated a folder out of my ship and over to me. It took me a moment to realize how she was doing it. Even then I was still a bit amazed.

"Telekinesis...wow." I watched in amazement as she set the folder into my hands, "That's...wow." A soft blush grew on her face. Luna quickly dipped below the edge of the cockpit to hide it, "Oh uh- This tells me what to do...I don't really need it anymore...but-" My mind raced back to a trick my dad taught me, "You uh...ever make a paper boat?"

She shook her head wildly, "What's that?"

I smiled and took a piece of paper out, "Come here and I'll show you." She hopped down and trotted over, folding her legs and watching intently as I folded the paper. Even through the gloves I could still make one with ease, "There, see? It's like a boat...or-" I sat the paper creation on her head, "-a hat."

Her eyes lit up as she felt around the paper hat, "Wow! I never had a hat before!"

I felt myself grinning hard, the moment reminded me of the time I spent with my dad before he passed, "They're...they're fun right?" I asked with a fake laugh.

"Yeah- oh....Mr. are you alright? Why are you crying?"

I quickly snapped back to reality, blinking hard to clear my eyes, "It's nothing...just remembering something...someone."

She lowered her head again, giving me a few quick nods, "I understand...I don't like remembering either...but it's okay." She walked over and tapped my visor, "We're friends now so it's okay."

In a moment of weakness I wrapped my right arm around her and pulled her close, "Yeah...it's okay. I'm okay...are you okay?"

"Yeah! I have a friend now, I'm super okay!" I could see her pressing her cheek against my helmet and nuzzling it, "A new best friend?"

"Sure kid." I slowly let her go again, "Best friends." I flipped down my visor to hide my face. With it hidden I plopped her back down in my ships cabin and went back to my tools, "If you're tired you can go to sleep...you look kind tired."

"No-" She was cut off by a loud yawn, "Okay...maybe a little..." She giggled.

Things quieted down as I finished with my equipment. Readings were excellent, fresh water, clean air, low radiation, low seismic activity, moderate temperature. Everything was nominal.

With my readings done I packed up my stuff and crawled into the cabin. The girl had curled up on my seat and was snoring lightly. I squeezed myself under her and repressurized the cabin. The loud hiss woke the girl up, "What happened?" She looked around and caught me taking my helmet off, "Oh...you have a mane too..." She noted groggily.

I ran my gloved hand through my hair, "Heh...maybe a little."

The girl wasted no time in crawling up my body and running a hoof through it, "It's nice. Oh...and thanks for letting me stay in here...the outside gets really cold sometimes."

A harsh realization hit me, this girl was not only alone, but unsheltered. "Sure...it's no big deal...."

She smiled before resting her cheek on my own and letting her chin ride my shoulder, "Still...momma always said to be nice to ponies." Her words caught me off guard, but the gesture was well received.

"Hey kid...I'm going down there tomorrow...do you want me to take you back?"

"Mmm'mmm...I was a bad pony...bad ponies get timeouts. Besides...Celestia would be mad. I don't want her to be mad at my friends anymore."

My heart sank as she fell asleep atop me. With her sound asleep I pondered the feasibility of starting a colony here. Half way through my joyous thoughts I was reminded of the colonial policy. Natives would be subjugated or terminated. If there were more like her down there they would be-

I cut my thoughts short and leaned back in my chair. I would have more time to figure this out after some sleep. I dimmed the cabin lights and drifted away.

Author's Notes:

Part 1 of 3