My Little Pony: My Little Pony The Martian

AMICITAS Mission Three – Mission Day 559

ARES 3 solar day 548

"Okay, Phoenix, well done." Martinez's voice came from the other end of the communication system. "By the way, congratulations to Tingting! This is your tenth successful simulation as a pilot."

"Thanks," Tingting replied, "I just hope it won't be my turn. If it comes to that, it means too many mistakes have been made." She stepped out of the pilot's seat and made way for Cherry Meimei. "Hermes, thank you for accommodating me."

"No problem, Tingting. Tell Meimei that we still have time to run another round of simulations today."

"Got it." Tingting took off the human radio headset from her head and turned to say, "Boss, you can still run one more round. Then we should disconnect from the rover and move it to a safe distance."

"Thanks," Meimei took the headset and put it back on her head. "Are you sure it's okay to go back to the rover by yourself?"

"Of course!" Tingting felt a little offended, "I am weak, but not to that extent yet." Of course, she also felt that the voice didn't sound very comfortable yet, but it was still necessary to add; assuming that the Queen and Twilight Sparkle still couldn't come to rescue them, it was completely unpredictable how her condition would change on the way to Earth.

"Okay, see you later." Meimei sat down in the pilot's seat and called out, "Rick, give us five minutes to reset the controls, and then we'll do another round. Give us something more difficult this time."

Tingting couldn't hear the reply from the other end, so she didn't wait. She put on her space suit helmet, climbed down the ladder to the lower level of the MAV, and passed through the airlock. Then she went outside the cabin and climbed a long ladder to the ground. After landing, she walked slowly, stepped over the long cables and walked out of the giant battery array.

In front of them was the seesaw, which was supported by a piece of structural frame that had been removed from the Phoenix, and the Sojourner parked in front of the seesaw. Tingting stretched out her hoof and gently wiped a few grains of dust off the solar panels of the small rover. "Hello, little girl," she said, "I think everything is fine now."

The little robot didn't respond; it was told to stay on standby until it received new orders. But to Tingting, there was an earnest aura about it, a desire for action.

"We'll leave you with a good rechargeable battery," she went on, "and a radio link back to Earth. The goo I put on your wheels should fall apart in a week or two after it's done its job at launch. I also did my best to polish your lenses. You've got a great new mission ahead of you. I hope you enjoy it."

The Sojourner remained motionless and made no reply.

"Okay, I probably won't have a chance to come here and talk again," Tingting said at last, "Then... goodbye. Have a good life... if robots can have such a saying."

The traveler did not say goodbye to her. Apart from the weak will that was ready to obey orders and ready to go, Tingting could not sense any response.

When she was done, the changeling continued walking toward the trailer. She didn't stop to say goodbye to the rover or the remains of Amicitas; she hadn't formed much of a bond with the rover, and she had said goodbye to Amicitas months before. She climbed the trailer's ramp, passed through the airlock, and stepped onto the bridge—just in time to meet Mark and Fireball, who seemed to be putting on their space suits to go out.

"Hey Tingting!" Mark, in high spirits, stopped dressing and bent down to give her a close hug through the space suit. "Is Meimei's simulation almost finished?"

"They are about to start the final round." Tingting replied.

"Okay. That's great," Mark said. "Fireball and I are going to get ready to install the Sparkle Engine and the accompanying batteries. With Starlight's help, it should only take an hour to move them through the airlock and secure them to the deck."

"That sounds good," Tingting unfastened the buckle of her helmet. She looked around and noticed that there was a pot of greenery missing next to the cockpit window. "Where's Groot?"

"Inside here," Fireball pointed at Mark's half-draped spare space suit, "We're also moving Groot aboard today. All personal belongings. Do you want to take anything?"

Tingting shook her head, "No, that nameplate is enough. I don't need any other commemoration." Every word was true. She originally wanted to take the traveler home, but this robot would only become a space-consuming and ugly decoration in Houston. Here, it can continue to play its value.

It would be happier staying here, the crazy part of her thought.

"Okay then," Mark replied, "call us on the channel if you need anything." He carefully picked up the spare space suit, and Fireball also buckled and locked his helmet and picked up a battery.

(There was one thing Tingting was looking forward to. Starlight Glimmer had managed to conserve the magic power of eleven batteries through long and careful management. Eight of them would be brought aboard, apparently now. One would be used to give the booster systems a final boost. As for the remaining two, Starlight had decided to release the stored magic power completely, running the magic field for thirty-eight minutes tonight, and another thirty-eight minutes tomorrow, and then using up whatever energy was collected by the batteries left on the rover the night before launch.)

(Eight days ago, when Xingguang got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, she found that the whole insect of Tingting was tightly wrapped around a battery that was almost empty, sucking on the end of the electrode in its mouth. Tingting was surprised when she saw this scene but did not get angry; she just asked, "Will this make you feel better?" When Tingting told her the truth later - "It's actually useless" - she just shrugged her shoulders, got on the bow, and never mentioned it again. Tingting usually doesn't feel embarrassed, but this experience broke her defense. She was really looking forward to the 38 minutes tonight when she could forget her hunger.)

She didn't bother Mark and Fireball, who were busy with their work, and walked into the living quarters alone. Of course, it smelled bad inside; no one wanted to talk about it, but every corner of their bodies smelled bad, and the pile of worn-out sleeping bags and bunk mattresses they had slept on since leaving the living quarters were even more smelly. (In fact, the only smell that could suppress it might be in Mark's space suit. The other space suits all had air circulation to bring in fresh air and remove exhaust gas; Mark had already been marinated.)

Tingting actually missed the residential area a little. She definitely missed the cave farm. As for this cramped, smelly, too hot during the day and too cold at night? She really couldn't wait to leave it behind forever. All the shortcomings of living on Mars were concentrated in this small space.

But only here could she take a nap until lunchtime. She fell on the piled mattresses and closed her eyes, trying to ignore the sweat and other body odors left by her companions, and instead smell the emotions they left behind.

This was a big mistake. Tingting didn't realize how much emotion had seeped out over the years and stained everything around the mattress; it surged like a torrent, and the echoes of the past swallowed her up without any explanation...

"No one of us is going to get into any trouble today! I'm going to make sure this ship lands safely, and we're all going to be rescued and everything's going to be fine!"

"What's wrong with you?! Are you looking for death?"

"Listen carefully! Grow these things for me! Do you understand?"

“They got it!!!”

"Twenty...eight...missions?"

"Whether or not someone is cute is subjective, but being crazy is an objective fact."

"Maybe I'm just imagining things. Maybe I've gone crazy. Anyone you ask will say that."

"Yes. But I am also a lunatic. Otherwise I wouldn't be here with you guys."

"Hey, Mark, put the crystal on for me!" "Got it, Starlight, wait for me for another fucking minute."

"I'll trust you more than my instincts."

"Then if the subordinates force the leader to continue giving them orders, does that still count as treason?"

"Crunch, crunch, crunch."

"Earth is sending a signal. They know Pathfinder is here. They know I'm still alive!!!"

"Mars is not a very friendly planet. We all want to leave here as soon as possible."

"Satisfy me like you do those pretty chicks."

"Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria..."

"Try the bacon!"

"It's no problem. You're the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria. You're also the most unrivaled wizard on the planet. You can do this."

"Let's just say 'take risks' is the unofficial motto of our space program."

"There are wounded!"

"mark."

Hello, outsider. What do you do?

"Don't you ponies understand? This is a free eternal universe."

"But heroes never give up. Heroes survive what most people can't. It's just that simple: staying alive."

"It's time for science to come in." "Yes. Magical science."

“Have I mentioned lately that you taste amazing?”

"Luckily I'm a dragon. I don't have to work."

“I don’t like myself very much right now.”

"The Earth needs more princesses."

"Wow." "Yeah, wow."

"Shoot me."

"Is there any way a dragon could have nearly died here?"

“Maybe one day in the future you can hope to achieve… unicorn levels of cool.”

"…My idea is that you create magic yourself. Everything is a miracle."

"Tingting? Are you okay?"

Tingting finally woke up. Everyone gathered around her, looking at her with varying degrees of concern. "I'm fine," she yawned and stood up. "What's wrong?"

"You were up while we were moving the rover," Mark said, "and you slept past lunch. We were starting to get worried."

"Have I ever slept in a magic field?"

Mark smiled bitterly, "No," he replied, "I've waited until now. There's dinner later."

Tingting stood up, acting like she had a good sleep, and then tried to squeeze as close to the battery that projected the magic field as possible. After enduring countless days with only a few moments of magic field to soothe her body and mind, the magic energy rippling through her body at this moment felt so wonderful.

Yet she had returned to the light and shadows of her dreams in her mind—the sounds, the shapes, the sights. The first sight of the settlement, the day of the crash, when they walked forward and saw a distant sunset disappear behind the dome. The first time they entered the Crystal Cave. The observation deck across the mountain, the details of their journey. The dust whirl. The sojourners. Starlight saving the cave farm. The flying fire destroying the giant dust storm. The fireball biting off the crystal. The look on Cherry Berry's face when they were doomed and the spaceship saved them all and landed safely.

No, she thought silently, I don't need any memorials here. I will remember this place forever.

And the things I don't want to remember.