Talk to someone on the telephone enough and you get an idea of what they look like.

And then you meet them for the first time, and they're not at all what you expected.

Wanted: Porter, assistant, jack-of-all-trades, minion. Applicants should be strong, loyal, pain tolerant, cold tolerant, unambitious. Must be capable of following simple instructions. Ideal applicant should be of low to average intelligence and mildly deformed, but exceptions will be made for extraordinary candidates, with extraordinariness to be determined by employer. Must be willing to begin work immediately.

Remuneration will be in the form of room, board, and insight into the true nature of the cosmos. Extremely generous bonuses up to and including subcontinents may be awarded if merited and if circumstances permit. Interviews for the position to be conducted at 108 Haybale lane at 10:00 AM sharp on 4/7. Applicants are expected to be punctual.

—The Dark Lord Sassaflash

Editing and indispensable writer-prodding by The Masked Ferret

On her vacation in the town of Gold Springs, Rarity finds a dragon. He won't let go of her coin, and now she has no idea what to do with him.

Spanish Translation is Available! Thank you so much to SPANIARD KIWI for the work!

Twinkleshine had barely started kindergarten when she first met the universe. Like most first meetings, it had been awkward, not under the best of circumstances, and a single instant that ignited a lifelong passion, which would inevitably end with late nights and concerned parents.

Years before a certain prophesy would come to fruition, a young pegasus filly fell from the sky near Las Pegasus, only to be rescued and taken in by Burning Sky and Dragonfly, a newlywed pegasi couple on leave from the Equestrian Air Guard for their honeymoon. Adopted and named Firefly by the very ponies who caught her out of the sky, the young filly is secretly a being from another reality, a former human who had been a fan of a popular show that had portrayed this very world (or one very similar to it), with no idea what had brought her here, why she was now a pony, or even when in the timeline she happens to be.

Once she figures out that she's in the past, with years before Princess Luna returned as Nightmare Moon, young Firefly resolves to simply stay out of the way and let events happen as they should. However, once she sees Princess Twilight Sparkle and Spike the Brave and Glorious appear out of a bubble of complex looking magic, Firefly feels an incredible sense of liberation, believing that it no longer matters what she does or doesn't do as everything would correct itself once Twilight dealt with Starlight Glimmer and returned to the future.

So Firefly decides to buck Starlight Glimmer on the way down to save Fluttershy.

After all, if nothing she did right now mattered anyway, why not be the hero? What harm could it possibly do?

And thus my SI takes a sledgehammer to causality, breaking Starlight Glimmer's spell in the worst way possible for two mares and a dragon from the future and changing the course of history forever.

But hey, at least Fluttershy is okay, right?

What do you mean Fluttershy's Cutie Mark is different now!?

Cover rendition of Firefly by Equestria Prevails.

This pic of Firefly is pretty much what inspired me to write this story...

This story is a sequel to Changeling Space Program

Twilight Sparkle's experimental interplanetary drive has malfunctioned, stranding Starlight Glimmer, Spitfire, Cherry Berry, a changeling and a dragon on a hostile planet in another universe. With limited food supplies, very little magic, no communications with home, and no way to leave the planet, they must survive until somepony rescues them.

Fortunately they crashed right next door to another creature with the exact same problem- a creature named Mark Watney.

They're going to science the buck out of everything- and do whatever it takes to survive Mars and get everybody home.

TVTropes page here! Thanks to GymQuirk for making it!

Commissioned art and fan works from the readers! Thanks, everybody!

This experiment in an updates-daily story was made possible by a generous grant from Canary in the Coal Mine and viewers like you.

(Sex tag for crude talk about sex, but no actual sex in the story.)