Author's Note

Greetings.
I needed a creative valve to give other ideas some space. This is a small fun project that I run alongside my own story and in which I will write depending on my mood.
Nevertheless, I wish you all a lot of fun reading.
Sincerely, Rubberduck

Art by Helmie-D on Devianart
https://www.deviantart.com/helmie-d/art/Mars-Expedition-885757558

Chapter 1

Mission report:

Report number

Sixteen from Selina Outpost.

Staff at Selina Outpost:

-Four [4] ponies (two [2] earth ponies, one [1] unicorn, one [1] thestral)
-Two [2] griffins.
-Four [4] diamond dogs
-Two [2] hippogriffins

Status of the Selina Outpost

-Is under construction.
-Habitat module, hydroponics and research area are finished.
-Every now and then there are energy fluctuations in the habitat module.

Psychological report from the crew

-Slight tension, but the situation is stable.

Environmental data of the moon EMD-13-12

-Gravity is about a third of Equus. Hardly any atmosphere. Moonquakes are possible due to the proximity to another Moon

Mission parameters

-Outpost Selina is located on the moon EMD-13-12 and is one of the moons closer to a gas giant. The base is primarily a research base, but can be converted to a mining operation if the suspicions for mineral resources are explored. Until then, traces of life will be searched for.

Results so far

-Some deposits of metals were found. Mostly iron, a little copper, and a previously unknown metal that needs to be researched more closely.

Additive

-A highway is currently being built between Selina Outpost and Gamma Outpost.

Building site number 15, 4 a.m.

"So that's one more time and ... Done ..."

Atin, Thestral and engineer on the expedition, rubbed his front hooves and looked at his work. The mobile sensor, which was now blinking and moving, seemed to be working well again. And indeed on the small HUD in the helmet Atin could see how new data was accumulating.
He had to smile. This sensor stopped transmitting about an hour and a half ago. The rover had taken fifteen minutes to drive up. a good cut in Atin's eyes.

"Outpost Selina, this is Atin. The sensor is working again." he reported on the radio.

"Atin, Outpost Selina here. Yes, I got the data. Everything seems to be working again. Metal content, light intensity, soil density, no intelligent life within a mile," answered one of the earth ponies. A mare by the name of Far Garden.

Atin was about to say something when he noticed something. his face went blank when he said, "Selina outpost, this is Atin. Very funny Far. Wait until I get home."

There was laughter from the other end, and Far was not the only one awake. Judging by the noise, the whole base was awake.
With a grim smile, Atin replied: "Outpost Selina, this is Atin, I'm on my way back. When everyone is awake, our four valued diggers can continue to work on the road. Maybe I will then emigrate to the outpost Gamma."

"We don't work before we have to." was the subdued answer, "and we only have to do this after breakfast."

Atin sighed, hung his head in defeat, then looked up at his rover. The gas giant was just rising on the horizon, and down the street, towards Selina Outpost, the sun was rising.
He allowed himself a short smile.
He'd traveled so far for that.

"Outpost Selina, this is Atin. Broadcast livestream. Do you see that? That's why it's worth getting up early."

The laughter broke off and turned to muffled whispers.

"Atin, this is Selina outpost. Yes ... it's worth getting up early for that. We should send a recording home ... Still hard to believe that the sun moves by itself here. Or the moon when we're at it . " Far sounded a little more awesome than usual.
Atin smiled and went to his rover. time for the journey home.

(I recommend this song for the Street Ride ^^)

Street number 1, 5 a.m. direction towards Selina Outpost

The rover's six-wheel drive had no problems with the road, even if it got a bit bumpy at times. Atin allowed himself to listen to some music while driving. Without really paying attention, his driving style adapted to the music and he relaxed a little. The landscape was breathtaking, formed by the enormous heat and magnetic force there were thorns as big as mountains at home. Some were partly made of iron and glittered in the sun, others were stone, and still others seemed to be made of black glass.
Atin liked them very much, as they seemed to cast really beautiful patterns of light on the floor. Almost hypnotic.

"Outpost Selina, this is Atin. Now come to the razor blade forest. Checkpoint in sight. Light bulbs in the street lights 4-6-2 and 6-6-5 are broken again."

"Atin, this is Selina Outpost. Understood. Take care, there was a slight tremor in the area half an hour ago."

Atin grinned. So radio technician Far was worried about him after all.
How nice of her.

"Understood outpost Selina. I'm driving at medium speed into the forest. My arrival back will be delayed by ... fifteen minutes. Prepare my breakfast in advance, thank you. Atin Over."

With the entry into the razor blade forest, which got its name from the unusually close-together crystal formations, the radio signal began to deteriorate.

"Outpost Selina, apparently the overhead line is damaged again. I'll take care of it. Don't wait for me to eat."

"..in, S...na Out.ost h..e. Ple...e ...eat. The co..... is ...lly ter....e."

Atin raised an eyebrow, then checked the radio. Everything worked perfectly. only the signal was disturbed. The land line must have been more damaged than he thought.
It was time that they stationed a satellite over this region. If something happened here and the land line was so damaged, it would take a while until help came.
He switched off the radio first.
No reason to waste energy. His vital data continued to be transmitted.
He hoped.

Then towards the middle of the razor blade forest, and around a bend, the road ended abruptly. Where it once was, was now a small ravine, and the road continued at the other end of it.
At least the radio worked again.

"Atin report it! Atin, are you there?"
Far sounded like she was stressed. And as much as Atin would have liked to take advantage of that to make a little fun of her, that wouldn't have been particularly nice.

"Outpost Selina, this is Atin. I found the problem with the disturbance. A ravine has opened at waymarkers 2-2-6. It is about ... 10 meters wide, and rough estimates after 30 meters deep. Send live feed . "

Now the control center could see what he saw again. He looked at the gorge, leaned over the edge and looked down, then back to the other side.

"Yes, we see that ... Twilight, I am glad that you are okay. I was worried when the radio cut off and then your vital data also disappeared. I send the diggers out with building material for an emergency bridge. Engineer Thornquills will accompany them and can swap the lightbulbs when the opportunity arises and examine the progress of the road. "

Atin sighed loudly. That would mean he would be stuck out here for a while, but laughed softly.

"Stop laughing, Atin. That's not funny! Is your oxygen enough for that long? And the batteries of your rover? Tell me!" Far was really worried.

"Yes, everything is okay. Oxygen is enough for the rest of the day, there are still enough water supplies and energy is charging thanks to the sun and the solar panels. I just have to go to a quiet place. I'm thinking about whether I shouldn't just build a ramp and jump over the ditch. the low gravity ... "

He didn't get any further and was interrupted by Far: "Oh no, you don't do that! I don't feel like one of my engineers killed himself with his own stupidity! Stay there, save oxygen, and wait!"

"Yes, mom. I'll clean my nose too." He trotted back to the rover, locked the hatch, pressurized it and took the helmet off for the first time in a long time, leaning back with a heavy sigh.
Then he looked into the still active camera and began to smile, said: "At least I have a spectacular view from here."

He could hear the smile as Far replied, "At least something ... ETA for the other crew is about an hour. They're loading everything."

Street number 1, 7.50 a.m. Near "Flankcrack Canyon"

The nickname came in an instant and was accepted almost as fast.
And while Atin secured the auxiliary bridge from his side, the other five worked from the other side.

"Outpost Selina, this is Thornquills. The bridge is ready. I will now drive over it. The four diggers are waiting for now. Isn't it worth losing five personnel with the rover if it can only be the rover and me." Heard Atin say the griffin over the radio.

The answer came promptly and Far sounded anything but amused: "Thornquills, this is outpost Selina. Don't even think about damaging the rover. These things are expensive. Besides, I can't let Atin do everything alone. Someone has to clean up after him."

This offended Atin a bit, but he remained silent. Far was not in a good mood.
He watched intently as the other rover crossed the gorge. The emergency bridge was wide enough to run alongside the Rover and Robust enough for vehicles three times as heavy. But it's better to be on the safe side.
When the rover had crossed the bridge, Atin set off and crossed the bridge in the other direction. To be on the safe side, he wore his helmet, just in case.
After successfully crossing the bridge, he realized that he had been holding his breath.
Strange reflex.
He let out a gentle breath and briefly closed his eyes.

"Outpost Selina, this is Atin. Keep on my way back. I finally want to go home."

"Atin, Selina outpost here. Understood. Free way to home. Thornquills will take care of replacing the light bulbs and supervise the work of our diggers."

With a sigh of relief Atin waved goodbye to the other crew, then he accelerated and was finally on his way home again.

Outpost Selina 11 a.m. Garage

There is nothing better than coming home after a three hour mission, turning off the engine and staying in the vehicle for a moment to collect yourself.
This was especially true when this three-hour mission actually lasted almost nine hours.
Atin closed his eyes and leaned back in the driver's seat with a heavy sigh. The work was not over. She never was.
Mentally he made a checklist.
Charge the rover batteries, fill up the oxygen tanks, refill the water tanks, remove dust, both from the rover and from himself, check mechanical parts, check everything again, then he could take a shower and eat.
Oh what to eat would be really nice now. Even if it was just the nutrient paste you had with you. The greenhouse already had plants in it, but they weren't ripe yet.
Atin allowed himself a yawn and felt the tiredness pulling him, inviting him to dreamland. Just a few minutes, maybe an hour, of sleep.
Nothing came of it. The station's doctor, a unicorn named Doctor Nimble Hooves, shook him with telekinetic magic.

"Hey, wake up, you lazy piece of air consumer. You still need to be examined! You've been out for more than nine hours." Doctor Hooves sounded accusatory, while Atin simply replied tiredly: "Doesn't that have time until later, Doc? I want to rest first. And I have to repair and maintain the vehicle and the equipment. And I'm still hungry!"

Doctor Hooves looked up and down at Atin disapprovingly, his tone was now more amused than accusatory: "You are fat enough. I am surprised that the suit still fits. And now on your hooves, I just do the quick tests, then you can go on."
With a grunt, Atin rose from the driver's seat and landed next to the rover. He let the procedure go through. Saliva sample, eye reflexes, measurement of radiation values, and and and. It was finished fifteen minutes later.
But because he was standing up straight anyway, he could take care of the rover.
The handles were familiar to him and he could already do them in his sleep, humming a melody to himself as he worked.
He did not notice that Far had stood in the entrance to the garage and was watching him work. She let him keep working, balanced breakfast on one of her front hooves, smiled a little.

"Atin, this is Selina Outpost. A break is recommended." she said with a gentle voice. Still, Atin was so startled that he bumped his head on one of the service hatches. "Ouch, damn it. Don't sneak up on me like that!" He rubbed his head when he came to her and accepted the breakfast with thanks. It was just nutrient paste.
What would he celebrate the day when something finally grew in the greenhouse...
While he was choking it down, he was sitting on Far again.
Far garden, earth pony, lavender-colored, with a turquoise mane. Red hair bands tried to bend the mane. Right eye purple, left eye light blue. Cutiemark an hourglass.
And don't forget the scars on the front left leg. Chemical burns caught when a fire broke out in the research unit. and your trademark, the headset of the radio unit on your head.
After he finished the pack, he turned back to the rover and his work.

"Hey, I said you should take a break." Far sounded a little disappointed. Technically, she was his superior. Even when she was on the radio, she had the highest rank in this outpost.
"I can't do it now," Atin replied, "I have to get the rover ready to go first, then I can lie down a bit. Oh and my report has to be written too."
The to-do list got longer and longer.

Outpost Selina 2 p.m. Mainquarters

When Atin finally got to his quarters, he dropped into his bunk and buried his snout in the pillow.
Finally relax a little and ...
Power failure.
Typically, this always happened when Thornquills wasn't there. Atin got up again with a grunt, switched on one of the emergency lights and activated the emergency opener on the door to his quarters.
"If this is just another fuse that has been blown, I get angry." he muttered as he made his way to the electrical control center.
"Hey Atin, the power is gone again." said an earth pony, a little younger than Atin.
Astral Mark, second in command, also responsible for radio communication, was standing in the corridor and shone his flashlight straight into Atin's face. In contrast to Atin, who, thanks to his origins as Thestral, could see in the semi-dark, and his flashlight was only there so that others could see him, Astral's flashlight was at full power and dazzled Atin.
He raised his front leg to shield his eyes.
"Oh, I wouldn't have noticed! I was on my way to jog a bit ... Now take the light out of my eyes!" Atin sounded more irritable than he wanted to.
Well that was bad luck.

"Oh yeah sure, sorry." Astral's apology sounded sheepish.
Presumably because he still couldn't handle the command. He lacked experience.
and his father had given him the post here, the crew of the outpost was certain of that.
After all, Astral tried to integrate, which spoke a lot for him.
"can I help you?"
He always sounded so begging when he wanted to make himself useful. Atin couldn't say no to that. and he couldn't be angry either.
"No, it's okay. I'll take care of it. It shouldn't take long ... Although there is one thing. Please get the spare parts from the warehouse, I'll go get my tools." That made Astral much happier, and he replied in a corresponding tone: "All right, on the way!"

That should keep him a little busy. Atin grinned and moved on to the electrical control center. And as soon as he was inside he could smell the problem. A fuse had not only blown, it had gone up in smoke.
Good that Astral was the case with spare parts hollow. there was certainly the right fuse in there. And indeed, a short time later, Astral came back with the spare parts.
"Electricity will be back in three .. two .. one ..." Atin counted down and pushed in the fuse. Indeed, all devices began to hum and work again.

"Perfect. Until the next time we have a power breakdown and the fuse blows." Atin circled his head to relax his neck a little, then he made his way back to his quarters.
But wait, first he had to document the incident.
And put the tool away again.
And the used fuse had to be put back into the spare parts box.
For this he had to go to the storage unit. And this was outside, and yet not airtight.
That meant he had to throw himself in his suit and go out.
His shoulders sagged noticeably.
That would surely take another hour.

It didn't help, he threw himself back into his spacesuit, wore the helmet between his wings and walked through the station. The quickest way to the storage unit was through the airlock at the greenhouse.
There he met the two hippogriffins.
Silver Tongue, male, chief biologist, and his assistant, Cheerful Blessing, female, a little shorter than Silver.

"Hello Atin. One of the fuses again?" Cheerful asked happily, and handed him something.
Atin didn't know what he was seeing at first, but he realized that it was probably a small, ripe tomato. He beamed when he saw that, then said: "Yes, these stupid fuses are just made too cheaply."
Cheerful still held out the tomato.
When Atin looked at her confused, she said: "Come on, try it! I want to know if it is to your taste."
She flicked it in his direction. Atin opened his mouth and as soon as the little tomato disappeared into it, an explosion of taste overcame him. For months there has been nothing but nutrient paste that came in different flavors, but still tasted bland.
This was different.
"Oh sweet Twilight, that was the best I've ever eaten! How long until we have more of it?" enthused Atin, hoping for more very soon.
"A week, maybe a little longer." was Cheerful's answer.

"Oh, I can't wait! Finally something other than the paste!" Atin was happy. Maybe the detour to bed was worth it after all. Well, first get the spare part ... and write the report ... but then off to bed.
After all, Atin was rewarded with a view of the breathtaking landscape.

Outpost Selina 8 p.m. Mainquarters

Atin awoke from his sleep when the door alarm buzzed. And it was an aggressive buzz.
"I'm coming ... I'm almost at the door ..." was his sleepy answer.
"Hurry up Atin, dinner is ready. We're all just waiting for you." came Fars voice through the door, along with a very, very long buzz of the door alarm.
"Dinner, already? Damn ..." Atin, dressed in simple work overalls made his way to the cafeteria. The entire crew was gathered there. And they all looked at him with expectant eyes.
Before he could even answer his question, he could see small festive decorations on the table. All around his place
"What's going on here?" he asked, a little surprised.
and the answer came out like frome one throat: "Happy birthday, Atin!"
His gaze wandered to the calendar. Then he scrunched up his snout.
"That was yesterday ..." he said and sat down at his place, but smiled narrowly, "Thank you guys."
Everyone laughed and congratulated him independently.

All in all, it had been a good day. and as long as nothing happened, he was free until tomorrow morning.
and he could enjoy the party a little.

A little later he got up and rang his glass with a spoon to get everyone's attention.
"My friends, I thank you for the surprise, albeit a little belated. I am proud to have found a place here in the Selina outpost that I can proudly call home. And I am glad that I call you all family here. I look forward to continuing our good cooperation! "
"Hear hear!" was the answer and even though only with water, everyone started clinking glasses.

And then the power went out again ...