AMICITAS FLIGHT THREE – MISSION DAY 539
ARES III SOL 529
TRANSCRIPT – WATER TELEGRAPH EXCHANGE, ESA BALTIMARE and ESA SHIP AMICITAS
ESA: Baltimare calling Amicitas, over.
AMICITAS: Amicitas calling Baltimare, use suit DF for responses, over.
ESA: Twilight Sparkle and Chrysalis will launch to Concordia in two days to prepare for your upcoming launch. If you have any more messages of the kind sent yesterday, we recommend you send them now, over.
AMICITAS: Did not copy that last. What messages, over?
ESA: Personal message sent by Cherry Berry last night your time and Starlight Glimmer this morning, over.
AMICITAS: Stand by.
AMICITAS: DF – Understood. Spoke with SG. Expect new personal message within the hour. Others may come, will discuss with others privately. Over.
ESA: Standing by, over.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I just wanted to thank you for all the lessons you taught me over the years about magic and friendship. There is one important lesson I have learned here on Mars which I especially want to share with you; sometimes it is better to try, get it wrong, and try again than to do nothing for fear of making a mistake. My mistake with the Sparkle Drive caused all of this disaster, but everyone else needed me to keep working and using my skills to help keep us all alive. I don’t know if I’ve done the best things all the time. I have made several mistakes I wish I could correct since I came here. But if I’d done nothing, I wouldn’t be here now, and neither would the rest of our crew. I just hope I got the last parts right, so that we can all get off this rock and back home to our friends.
Looking forward to seeing you soon.
Your obedient student,
Starlight Glimmer
Your Royal and Duplicitious Majesty,
I know you’ve had a lot of doubts about the new ways. A lot of ponies still distrust and fear us, and a lot of us remain in hiding. But for all the mistakes I’ve made, I have done one thing right on this side of the jump. Trust is tastier than fear. You can fool other people into doing what you want sometimes, but sooner or later they wise up. Trust lasts. Trust will keep you alive when nothing else will. We trust each other inside the hive (mostly); now I’ve learned we can trust our crewmates, even if they’re not part of the hive.
So open up. You don’t have to be alone all the time.
Your loyal subject,
Dragonfly
P. S. I miss you.
P. P. S. Please don’t smite me for this when I get home.
Yo Ember,
I’m coming back in about another month or so, if all goes well. Have my hoard ready and waiting for me. Also a coffee pot, preferably the kind that doesn’t need a wall plug.
If you’re thinking about sending some other dragon on nutty trips like this, I just want to say one thing. Pick someone who isn’t full of himself. All the fewmets about being a big, strong, loner dragon just get in the way here, and I’m sure it’ll be the same for the next guy. Make sure they know they’re not Faust’s gift to the other races. Big and strong isn’t everything- but I guess you know that. Above all, knock it into their heads that “working with” is not the same as “working next to” or “working in the same ship as.”
One more thing: ask around to see if any pony colleges want to take an older dragon student. I could stand to learn some stuff… on the ground!!
Fireball
Dear Princess Celestia,
I never really wanted to be an astromare. I was happy with the Wonderbolts. And when I came here I was worried because I was leaving behind what I knew to do stuff I didn’t know- being an astronaut, being a doctor, and being a subordinate again. But I learned that new things aren’t as scary as they first appear, unless they’re horrible dead planets that keep trying to kill you. You’d be surprised at what you can accomplish when you try something for the first time, especially if you have a darn good motivation to work hard at it. I’ve done things probably no other pony will ever do again, and I wouldn’t have had the chance (or the need) if I hadn’t been pushed out of my cozy little spot.
All that said, when I get home I’m going to work as hard as I can to take that cozy little spot back. But even if it doesn’t work out, I know now that whatever I do from now on, I can do it well.
Yours to command,
Spitfire
Major, E. U. P. Unified Service
To: Venkat Kapoor
From: Mark Watney
Subject: PERSONAL AND CONFIDENTIAL
Venkat,
See this gets to my folks without leaking to the press. Feel free to read it if you like, but make sure nobody else does. Definitely don’t let public relations get hold of this.
Mark
Dear Mom and Dad,
Well, it’s getting close to launch day. We’re pretty confident that everything will work fine, but as the people from NASA explained to you when we were getting ready for the launch up to Hermes two years ago, there’s no such thing as a sure thing in space flight. My alien friends seem to have finally figured that out, so everyone’s taking turns sending a private message home to whoever is most important to them- sort of a Famous Last Words thing, just in case they really are our last words.
NASA will have my mission logs. They’ll be uploaded to Hermes and relayed to Earth just before we launch. They can pick my deep, moving, touching last message to mankind out of that if they want. Right now I’m more concerned about you two.
Despite all the better judgment in the world, you two supported me through everything I did. When I said I wanted to be a doctor of botany, you said, “Can you believe it? He wants to combine the low income of farming with the terrible job prospects of academics!” And then you put me through school. When I said I was postponing my doctorate so I could apply to be an astronaut, you said, “Dying of poverty isn’t good enough for our son! He wants to get blown up on a rocket!” And then you paid for my master’s in mechnical engineering and kept my stuff in storage during my field work in Africa. You never told me I couldn’t do it, and you went to a lot of trouble to make it possible. I haven’t thanked you enough.
Now I know you’re probably embarrassed by your foul-mouthed Martian son who can’t stop staring at alien butts (if you believe the Internet). And you’re probably annoyed that I haven’t sent more messages when I’ve had clear communications with Earth. And I know you’re ready for the ten million reporters to go home. I’ve put you through a lot.
But whatever happens in three weeks, I want you to know I love you both more than I can say, and I always have, even though I usually only say it when I’m about to hang up the phone. Believe it.
Hope to talk to you again from Hermes, or possibly closer, by next month.
Your loving son,
Mark
Dear ponies and dragon and my subject who ought to know better;
Quit with the mush. I may throw up.
Chrysalis
Dear Chrysalis,
Then just vomit and get over it already.
Or better yet, magic yourself to Mars and kick the shit out of it with your pure rage.
Randomly,
Random Human
I feel like Mark should also send a message to Celestia, and the Friendship crew should send one to the NASA admins.
#HugABug
#SmiteAMite
9211205
SmiteAMite sounds like a food spread.
I can only imagine Pinkie then jumped on her out of nowhere.
"Awwww, but we wub yooooo!"
9211209
Chrysalis is still learning how to Hashtag
Quite a noticeable change in Fireball after this year and a half.
I am picturing Chrissy replying with Tears in her eyes as she too misses Dragonfly and Cherry. (though she'd probably never admit it lol)
Oh man, Starlight's almost made me tear up. Then DT's introduction ruined the mood I love changelings.
These letters have been great. I'm really glad we got to see Starlight's in particular, but I think Spitfire's positivity was the most touching of them all. And Fireball's was a lot of fun.
Dear Chrysalis,
You literally eat mushy stuff. If you're throwing up that just means you need to pace your eating.
Regards with hugs,
The Maretians.
Nice. Especially Dragonfly's made me laugh, especially combined with Chryssie's answer.
... Chryssie and Twilight together in a small space for weeks. That's sure to go swimmingly.
Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,
Thank you so much for all that you have done. I know it wasn't easy to put up with your former mortal (immortal?) enemy for as long as you have. Her glorious Majesty can be quite a hoof full at times (don't tell her I said that, please...), but she means nothing but the best. When I get home, I hope the two of us can put our species' pasta aside and become friends, just like I have become friends with my crewmates and Mark.
With warm regards,
Dragonfly
Messages of hope to family that can be of lasting comfort if needed.
Meanwhile, magic is trying to retain its sympathetic entanglement using local rules between its parent at the Cave Farm and the children at the MAV. tied together by Starlights actions. Maybe it can, maybe it cant, after all, it has a large portion of low energy content subsurface planet filled with crystal geodes between the two locations.
That can sing at different harmonies depending on how hard the wind blows over the landscape above.
If you think thats weird, current experiments in forcing collapse of intereference patterns after their creation actually works, is the closest you might ever get to Resublimated Thiotimolene.
You may not want to say it Cuddlebug, but you miss your mom. Even if your afraid of being... ahem... grounded, when you return.
Fireball being interested in higher learning just makes me SUPER happy for him. He’s grown so much, it endears him to me in a special way.
Baka.
9211199
Dear Random Human,
Count yourself lucky that I can't "magic myself to Mars". If I could, I would magic myself to you instead.
Watch Your Back,
Chrysalis
"Our Town" and "Every Little Thing She Does"? Although, all is well that ends well.
Well, their chances of dying from their impromptu hydrogen factory are still considerably higher
Like it's a bad thing.
Chrysalis decided to make a couple of space suits herself?
Really enjoying the story, it's been quite the fun few days of finding this fic and getting caught up, look forward to seeing the group overcome whatever else the red planet decides to throw at them!
Also really neat to have all those author comments about the life of a convention vendor, and how familiar it all is, as someone also in that field! It's certainly isn't boring, unless a con is going wrong. In which case there's always liquor.
Poor Chrysalis.
Glad to hear trust is tasty.
9211293
Err, my favorite pasta is spaghetti and I like it right in front of me.
9211328
Dear Chryssie,
We'll be waiting.
I'll bet Chrysalis cleared the room so she could have a half a second of sentimental musing before wiping away the tear, honking her nose because of the dust, and making her earstwhile reply.
9211253
Uh... am I missing some character really integral to this series because there is nopony, changeling, dragon, human, or robot registered on Mars with the initials "DT"...
9211419
9211253
Plot twist: they find Diamond Tiara hiding in one of the potato crates. She was a stowaway all along!
9211428 9211419
Haha My bad. I think that's the third time I've done that.
I'm betting chrysalis is getting annoyed at all the nearby ponies having bittersweet or sad thoughts at all the mush they are reading... she needs more love!
66.media.tumblr.com/88cf9ee75ca40864f1cefb1c3f7cc533/tumblr_pg3sj1m9nr1vct1qxo1_1280.png
Work in progress.
9211279
10/10 best snarky reply.
9211371
-with lots and lots and lots of HUGS! MWAHAHAHAH! She'll get so full she can't move!
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
When do I get to fly the new ship?
Your loyal employee,
Cherry Berry
9211312 It has endochronic properties, or so I've been told. (and yes, I got that from memory instead of looking it up. I'm old.)
Dear Mars,
Your move.
In abettance,
Murphy
Addendum: I expected more downvotes
Chrysalis is going to toss Dragonfly into a cocoon to turn her into a queen when she gets home. She may also try to do the same with Cherry Berry as well even though she knows it wont work.
9211428
9211432
lol
9211312
Can you translate that into commoner English please?
uuum chryssi I dont think you would be saying that if you were in your subject's place starving with a planet trying to kill you
9211448
Derp.
9211498
Ah. If the wishes were fishes, I'd be rich now.
9211553
Teamwork gave them the farm, Dragonfly gave them the life, friendship gave them the form, Starlight gave them the escape route. But rainbow crystals always will remember their parents and their motherland.
And they will be back. To finish the task of their predecessors.
And Mars will change name to Aphrodite. But that's the story for another time.
9211553
Ignore it. This guy writes completely nonsensical gibberish on every story I've seen them comment on. It's something of a pattern, and no one ever gets it.
9211448
is this on derpibooru too? please say it is or at least it will be!
9211481
Dude, Cherry is a CSP employee not ESA
Ever since Fireball had that talk about botany with Mark in the cave farm, I've had this vision that maybe Fireball might be inspired by Mark to go into academia when he gets back.
And maybe, just maybe, if we turn the clock forward a hundred years or so, we might see a statue of Fireball, now the foremost expert in terraforming between two worlds, in front of the Schiaparelli Institute of Astrogeology under a drastically different Martian sky. Below it, a plaque reads:
When my friends and I first crash landed here, this planet threw everything it had at us in its bid to wipe us out.
This is my revenge.
9211616
Hehehe that made me laugh out loud!
9211616
I love it. And he can live long enough to make it happen. Dragons and Princesses are the only ones with the lifespan for realistic terraforming. But look who we have here...
9211279
Hah, beat me to it. Tsundere bug queen is tsundere...
She gets it.
9211209
🎶 Buying bread from a pone in Brushels
He was sixteen hands and full of muscle
I said, "Do you speak my language?"
He just smiled and gave me a SmiteAmite sandwich
9211553
Thiotimoline is a fictional chemical dreamt up by Asimov. It has properties that are backwards from normal matter.
9211671
Uh. I know you're spoofing "Land Down Under," but a hand is four (inches). Erm.
But anyway--
I come from a land of pony
Where stallions dance, and mares spread Har-mony
Can you hear that sweet sym-phony
You'd better run, if you want to sing with me
Dear Chrysalis: shut up and make more friends already!
Chryssy is the best character in the fic, and she is not even in the main cast.
Someone should make a fic with her working with Waldorf and Statler.
Dear Kris,
I've read (and watched and heard) lots of stories about perseverence. But after reading yours, I can't help but think they're really more about obsession. A single minded drive to achieve the same one thing.
Cherry Berry can come off that way sometimes too, but she and your stories in general are about so much more than a simple, singleminded focus. Those other things happening aren't ancillary to the main goal, they're an integral part of it. Whether the person striving for the goal wanta them to be or not. (Here's looking at you, Chrysalis.)
I've repeated in the comments a few times now that phrase Dragonfly heard the cave farm say. "I am here." I feel like thats at the core of these stories of yours. Like what Spitefire and Starlight talked about in their letters. Still there, still pushing in spite of setbacks, even when self-induced, no matter the enviornment you find yourself in, is still the core of perseverence.
But more important is what Dragonfly and Fireball talked about. Because pushing ahead affects more than just you. And learning to really see the people around you... It makes that perseverence that much easier
Thanks for showing me that.
Your Faithful Reader,
Moonblaze
Dear Kris,
I've read (and watched and heard) lots of stories about perseverence. But after reading yours, I can't help but think they're really more about obsession. A single minded drive to achieve the same one thing.
Cherry Berry can come off that way sometimes too, but she and your stories in general are about so much more than a simple, singleminded focus. Those other things happening aren't ancillary to the main goal, they're an integral part of it. Whether the person striving for the goal wanta them to be or not. (Here's looking at you, Chrysalis.)
I've repeated in the comments a few times now that phrase Dragonfly heard the cave farm say. "I am here." I feel like thats at the core of these stories of yours. Like what Spitefire and Starlight talked about in their letters. Still there, still pushing in spite of setbacks, even when self-induced, no matter the enviornment you find yourself in, is still the core of perseverence.
But more important is what Dragonfly and Fireball talked about. Because pushing ahead affects more than just you. And learning to really see the people around you... It makes that perseverence that much easier
Thanks for showing me that.
Your Faithful Reader,
Moonblaze
9211448
Oh wow. Finally some new art, not counting the stuff I have under wraps with Riverfox and co.
9211870
You commented the same thing twice.
9211610
If it's not, I'll put it there.
9211616
I want to record this when my tongue sore heals.