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.)

As she suddenly woke up as a tiny pony staring at two very familiar pairs of eyes, Ganondorf couldn’t really say she was surprised. Disgruntled and mildly annoyed, yes, but not surprised. She really should’ve remembered to put something to break the cycle of reincarnation when she made that ritual to escape from Hyrule all those years ago. So being reborn after the end of her last life was by no means a surprise.

Sure, being female this time around was odd. But at least it seemed that there wasn’t some destiny bullshit railroading her path in this life, so that was something. Not to mention that Link and Zelda were also here. That was another plus.

No curse, no meddling gods, no stupid destiny. Yes, things could definitely have been far worse. So she and her fellow Triforce Wielders just had to have an average childhood for a change. How hard could that be?

This is a non-canon sequel to my story The Power of Freedom, following the idea that after their first life in ancient Equestria the Triforce Trio gets reincarnated as the Cutie Mark Crusaders. (Yay!)

Reading TPoF is not necessary to read this, though it would make it more enjoyable in my opinion, all that is needed is to know that the Trio broke free from their original fate of endless reincarnation imposed on them by the gods of Hyrule, escaped to the pony-world and lived a full life as ponies in the early years of Equestria.

Also, since this is a non-canonical AU sequel, there will be no spoilers in regards to the end of TPoF here, so no worries in that regard.

Timeline-wise this story starts about two months before the return of Nightmare Moon.

Beta Reader: The Amazing Emtu!

Featured for the first time! From 01/17/2021; to 01/20/2021

Ganondorf, King of Thieves, Lord of Darkness, Master of Evil and Wielder of the Triforce of Power, had long since grown thoroughly and completely bored with the path the gods had decreed for his destiny.

Time after time it was always the same, try and unite the Triforce, plunge the world into darkness for a time, search out and then kidnap Princess Zelda, watch his minions be defeated one after another and then finally battle Link for supremacy. Rinse and repeat.

All the while knowing that regardless of winning or losing, that no matter what he did or didn’t do, that in the end everything would end up repeating itself in another time and place afterwards, again, and again and again, in an utterly pointless never ending cycle.

Having decided that enough was finally enough, and refusing to continue to be a simple pawn at the hands of the gods, he vowed he would find a way to escape from his cumbersome destiny, a way to start anew far beyond the meddling grasp of the gods, a way to reach a realm upon which he could be the master of his own fate.

And after years of careful planning he had finally succeeded.

Sure, the fact he had to drag the know-it-all Princess and the green obsessed Hero along for the ride for his plan to work was a minor inconvenience, but he knew that sometimes sacrifices had to be made. And the fact that this new realm apparently decided to turn him and his two unwilling companions into miniature pastel colored ponies upon arrival also wasn’t exactly part of the plan, but he could cope.

After all, that was a negligible price to pay in achieving his deepest wish: freedom.

In this story Ganondorf, having grown sick of following through the motions his destiny placed before him as the eternal bad guy to be defeated time after time, seeks out to escape from his fate by breaking through the void between dimensions and running away from Hyrule to another realm entirely, Equestria, all the while dragging both Link and Zelda along for the ride.

Arriving long before the founding of the country, back before the events of Heart’s Warming Eve and at the highest point of the conflict between the Three Tribes, he and his two new companions will have to deal with a whole new world and it’s wonders and dangers. All the while this new magical world will have to learn to deal with its three new strange inhabitants in kind.

Just a warning: This is NOT a Displaced fic. All three main characters are the actual characters from the Zelda series that have been taken to Equestria due to Ganondorf’s master plan, and not humans turned into them.

Beta Reader: The Amazing Emtu!
Cover Art: The Incredible swagmu!
Proofreader: The relentless TranquilClaws! (From chp I - XXV)

Featured for the first time! 07/06/2018 to 07/11/2018

Now with a TvTropes page!

Edit: Crossposting at Royalroad where I have the same username.

You know the drill. Comicon. Cosplay. Merchant. Boom, Equestria.

I woke up not in a land of technicolor ponies, but within the lands of their dreams. They had no protector, no one to stave off the nightmares and keep them safe. So I took on that role, and watched over them as if they were my own.

Until recently, when their previous protector finally came back.

A thousand years ago, the Protector of Dreams, Princess Luna was banished to the moon. And tonight she finally returned.

Thanks to Arxsys for the wonderful cover art work!