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.)

Aria Blaze is history's most prolific composer. Writing music constantly for upwards of a thousand years will earn you that title. Now, after a defeat which robbed the three sirens of a magic they've known their entire lives, she relies more than ever on her passion to carry her through an uncertain time. Whatever form fate thrusts upon her, she will never stop making music, and that's all that matters...or it would be, if she could get one roommate to stop pestering her, and the other to stop a downward spiral of self-destruction.

Being Captain of the Wonderbolts certainly makes life easy. Everything a Pegasus could ever want is available in bucketfuls: Money, fame, glory, a good team and anything else on tap.
Spitfire has been riding this metaphorical high for years. She lives fast, but well. From the outside, she appears to take her gifts and lifestyle for granted, but those few close enough to the golden pony know her as one of the kindest, most thoughtful ponies around.
So why doesn't she have a special somepony yet? Even though her celebrity status affords her many suitors of both genders, all of her relationships have failed sooner rather than later. This has gone on for some time, but is all about to change due to a chance meeting with a certain mare in a Canterlot nightclub...

Author's Notes: Written for TAW's 2012 shipping competition. Rated Teen for alcohol consumption and minor sexual references.

A thousand thank-you's to Tchernobog for allowing me to use Mood Wings as a reference for pegasus wing-language; and for pointing out an error in my narration technique. Go give the dude some love.
A shout-out should also be made to futzi01 of deviantart, whose upload of the canon map of Equestria I used as reference for several things.
Also, thanks go out to Epidemiix and Chrono212 of the Escapist for giving me feedback while I was writing.

For years, Twilight Sparkle and Queen Chrysalis have been at each other's throats. Both have experienced victory over the other, and both have experienced defeat. Out of all the creatures in Equestria, none despise each other the way the pony Princess and changeling Queen do. They seemed destined to remain locked in battle forever, or at least until one is finally dead at the hooves of the other. The cruel insults, the vicious loathing, and the powerful spells that have passed back and forth between them at each meeting have become the stuff of legend.

Imagine Twilight's surprise when she finds out changelings consider this dating.

And now they're married.

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Sequel: Pony Courtship Rituals

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Some beautiful fanart of the end of chapter three was done by Dmann892; you can see it here.

More awesome fanart, this time from chapter one.

Now with a TvTropes page (obligatory TvTropes warning goes here).

If you want a Russian translation, you can find it here.

There is now a reading of the story on Youtube, which starts here.