Epilogue

“...wait.” Starlight’s eyes fluttered up, her entrance to the post-coital bliss interrupted by Mark’s voice. “...I feel like something’s wrong.... Wait… WAIT… Dragonfly!?” Mark’s body began to uncoil itself from her, she wanted to protest… to snuggle back into her warm hidey hole against the world… but her brain was rebooting too… how long had it been since they’d heard from the bug?

“Starlight!!!” Mark shouted, his body moving rapidly now. “It’s Dragonfly!!!” He half-screamed, fear in his voice. “She’s… she’s…” Starlight turned her head to see Mark roll over to the bug, who was laying on her back, belly swollen grotesquely, her carapace’s holes filled entirely and her chitin shining brightly under the solar crystal beaming down from above. Mark placed his hands on the changeling’s breast plate, above the huge bulge in her gut. “SHE’S NOT BREATHING!”

Starlight jumped to her hooves. “WHAT!?” She raced over, lighting her horn immediately, not caring for the amount of magic she spent as she performed a quick scan of the insect’s body, seeing that her pulse, though faint, was still there.

“She’s choking! Chest compressions! Here!” Starlight moved Mark’s hands to a landmark on the bug’s chest.

Every astronaut is well-versed in first aid, and Mark quickly got to performing the heavy compressions that flexed the strong exoskeleton of Dragonfly’s torso with each blow. He worried for a moment that he might crack or hurt the smaller creature, and was about to ask Starlight if he was ‘doing it right’ for a changeling, when…

“*COUGH* *COUGH* *COUGH*…” Bright pink sputum flew from the changeling’s muzzle, and she took a shuddering first breath. Mark watched the fluid fly through the air, terrified that she was hacking up a lung.

“Quick! Roll her on her side or she could start choking again!”

Mark gripped the changeling’s far shoulder, rolling her to the left. Immediately a river of bright pink syrup began to pour from Dragonfly’s muzzle and nostrils.

“It’s like Pepto Bismol…” Mark muttered, his eyes glued to the rise and fall of Dragonfly’s body. “If it smelled like cupcakes and fish.”

“Shush!” Starlight scolded. “I want to hear her respiratory rate, she could b-”

Suddenly Dragonfly’s eyes brightened, and she woozily tilted her head.

“Dragonfly? Are you oka-”

“I don’t…” The bug moaned, shaking her head. As she quickly stood up on her four hooves, despite the protests of Mark and Starlight. She reached up to her muzzle with a hoof, trying to cover it. “I don’t feel so… goo-”

*BLERGHHHHHHHHHHHHH* *COUGH*

She vomited, the intensity and volume of the pink substance gushing from her made Mark stand up to get out of the way, as it formed a river trailing toward the cave wall.

*BLERGHHHHHHHHHHHaaaaHaaaaHaaaa*

She vomited buckets worth.

*BLERGHHHHHHHHHHHHaaHaaa*

Mark watched as the changeling’s gut slowly became less and less of a beachball sized swollen mass… and more of a chubby tummy.

Finally, the changeling looked up at her two companions, pink liquid still dripping from the corner of her mouth and the hoof she’d tried to cover her mouth with. “I… I’m full now.” She promptly slumped over onto her side. Passing back out.

…

A few minutes later, Starlight had arranged the Changeling comfortably against one of the cave walls, one of the emergency tin-foil blankets spread over her for warmth.

Mark had put on his jumpsuit pants back on (despite Starlight’s complaint that now there was really no point), and stood next to the unicorn, both watching the little black bug snoring and buzzing happily.

“Well…”

“Well.”

Mark coughed slightly, looking around the cave. “Quite a mess you made.”

“I made? More like, we made.” Starlight huffed. “I have no idea how we’re going to sneak this by Cherry while we take turns at the decontamination shower…” Starlight prodded at a sticky mass of fur on her chest, courtesy of Mark Watney.

“Well… I feel like you could provide a surprisingly good shower right he- oomph.” Mark didn’t manage to chuckle at his own joke: the well-placed unicorn hoof to his gut drove the air out of his diaphragm.

“I suppose we could try to take a shower at the same time.” Starlight grinned at Mark and waggled her eyebrows a bit. Then her nostrils flared as it caught a whiff of Mark. “Celestia you smell.”

“I don’t think taking a tandem shower would help reduce suspicion, Starlight.” Mark held his arm up to his nose and took a whiff. “Wew… yeah that’s pretty potent. Eau de Starlight Sex. I’m guessing you ponies can smell it even better than even I can.”

Starlight nodded. “We both smell like we’ve had a good long roll in the hay… while in heat and rut… and then we sat in a Yakyakistan sauna for an hour.” She moaned. “We’re screwed.” She looked down at Dragonfly, snoring happily, and she took a step closer to Mark, pressing her barrel against his body. “Still… I’m so glad that we were able to help Dragonfly. She looks so much better already.”

Mark nodded, reaching down with his right hand to scratch behind one of Starlight’s ears. “Me too…” He waited a moment, before deciding to open his big, dumb mouth. “Starlight?”

“Mm?”

“I’m… I’m also really happy we got to share this, regardless of Dragonfly.” He looked down at the unicorn, who was looking back up at him. “You were incredible... And to be able to do that with someone I love…” He smiled, trailing off.

Starlight smiled back, then looked down at her hooves. “...you weren’t so bad yourself. And… yeah: I’m really glad I was able to do… uh… THAT… with someone I love. It was a lot more than scratching a heat itch.” She looked up at Mark, eyes bright and kind. “Thanks Mark.”

Mark sighed, putting his hands on his hips. “Welp, we gotta at least try to clean up.” He looked over at the absolutely filthy hab canvas. “And I have NO idea what changeling Pepto Bismol would do to the plants in here, so we may have to dump this stuff outside… time to get to work!” Mark started to turn around.

“Nuh uh.” Starlight huffed.

“Huh?” Mark asked, seeing a petulant, cheeks-puffed out Starlight.

“Work can come later. Dragonfly’s little emergency cheated me out of snuggle-time.”

“Snuggle-time?”

Starlight nodded. “I’m willing to accept one half-hour of snuggle time. Or forty-five minutes of cuddle-time. Your choice.”

Mark grinned scooping up Starlight in his arms.

“Forty-five minutes of snuggle time it is.”

Author's Note

And that's the big conclusion!

I really hope that you enjoyed my sidefic!

I had a lot of fun writing a little scene in the vast, expansive world created by Kris. I sincerely hope that others will pick up the torch that he has held aloft for so long... exploring the post-sparkle drive universe.

I have to admit, I have no idea how Kris is able to maintain a regular update schedule: this was extremely difficult, even on a bi-weekly basis... unlike Mark, I'm less of a marathon man and more of a sprinter ;-)

I really do hope that this will end up being well-received. The fans of The Maretian are so wonderful and participative, I really don't want to let you down.

As always, I write this for you: let me know how you felt about the fic in the story!