My Little Pony: My Little Pony The Martian

AMICITAS Mission Three – Mission Day 205

ARES 3 solar day 204

The interstellar refugees named this strange sight "Tree Stump".

At first, this guy just popped up a head less than one meter above the surface of the soil in the cave. It looked like the rough end of a giant quartz crystal broken off. They had thought about moving it aside before, but gave up after only one attempt; apparently the behemoth in front of them was either still connected to the large crystal layer of the cave wall buried deep under the soil, or it was too big to be moved. Imagine, it is better to leave it intact. So they flattened it when they first laid out the cave farm; the remaining section was a bit too big to be used as a stool, and a bit small to be used as a table, but it was used to temporarily store tools and the like when needed. Sundries are still very convenient.

The cave farm then spread out around this pile, with two hot water pipes running across the entire planting area on both sides. One of the large-scale subsidence that occurred after the methane leak happened right near this quartz pile; the surrounding ground sank nearly two feet, but the stubborn old man remained unmoved. The area has not yet been fully backfilled, so the soil has not returned to its previous level; the tops of the piles are now higher than a normal pony's chin, so they don't even serve as tables.

However, Starlight Glimmer found that the stone pier was quite suitable for another use; she took a nearly full mana battery that had been kept in the residential area as an emergency backup and started tinkering with it on her own.

Now there is a magic hologram floating in the air above the stone pier: a three-dimensional topographic map that extends from the source of the cave near the ancient volcanic magma chamber to outside the cave entrance where the airlock is located, covering the entire cave range, is completely presented in front of them. .

It turns out that the opening should actually be called a skylight.

The chamber in which the geode is used as a cave farm is undoubtedly the largest area of ​​space within the cave. Although the other sections of the cave behind were slightly wider internally, the height of the ceiling of the first chamber—as well as the depth of the rock base beneath the layers of mud and permafrost—gave them more room. The soil directly under the original skylight turned into sandstone after hundreds of millions of years of pressure, supporting the entire weight of the airlock, but the subsequent sealing spell was equivalent to turning it into a whole block of concrete. The color was the same as the gray amorphous quartz on the cave floor, so they didn't notice the difference at the time and mistook it for the cave floor.

Buried beneath the sandstone were a large number of quartz crystals that meandered away from the present cave entrance, eventually reaching a large mass about twenty feet below the regolith in the northeastern corner of Area E that contained a disorganized mass of collapsed lava, quartz, and other materials. Ancient ruins of rocks.

The tip of the starlight flickered, lighting up a small area of ​​the cave diagram. "Scans of the area show that most of the subsidence activity has stopped." She began to explain. "There are only a few places where the original permafrost still exists under the soil - such as here. , here and here. Most of the permafrost has melted and either flowed into the well we dug here..." She gestured to the area where the recent excavation was carried out, "...or it penetrated to the bottom of the sealed space, As heat escapes from the cave, it gradually freezes there, forming new areas of permafrost accumulation."

Starlight then highlighted the bottom of the farm area, as well as the soil beneath the cave entrance (where the permafrost was still mostly intact). "In this case, I can only guess that the leakage of the water heating system flows downward into the 'tangled corridor'..." (This refers to the smaller second chamber of the cave, which is filled with water that runs through the entire cave from bottom to top. Huge crystal pillars need to be carefully avoided when passing; in contrast, the name of the first room is just 'Farm') "...the furthest reaches are 'cafeteria'." (This refers to the third room, space It’s only about half the size of the farm, but it’s filled with gems of all kinds of colors; most of the mining work when collecting fireball food is done here.) “This will also cause some soil erosion along the way, but in the end there will only be a very small amount. There is a chance to enter the 'crack'..." (a slit connecting the third and fourth chambers of the cave) "...and if you go further in, basically everything will freeze, at least at first."

"However, one thing we have never considered is that most of this water will eventually seep into the soil. There are natural gaps in the permafrost layer near the cave wall, and the water will take advantage of this gap to penetrate through this barrier and enter below - this It's actually a good thing." She outlined the topographic trend of most areas of the bottom soil of the cave farm extending downwards. "Some moisture will indeed stay deep in the 'corridor' and 'cafeteria', but my guess is that we have moved outward before. About half of the poured water flowed into the corridor or the cave section further forward through the sand and gravel near the door, passing through the cracks in the permafrost layer - which also began to gradually expand in the process - and continued downward. It flows uphill and finally flows into the sandstone here." She followed the trend and clicked on a certain point in the picture that was located in the rock formation just outside the sealed boundary of the cave. It had a somewhat uncomfortable appearance of an overhanging gap.

"At this time, the water is still in a liquid state," Starlight continued, "which means it is in a red-hot state according to Mars standards. But before I seal the cave, these can flow away directly and carry themselves with me. The excess heat is released outside the cave. It also takes away the melt water..."

"Stop it," Mark suddenly interrupted, "This is a gap. How come we didn't lose air?"

"Actually, there is. It's just that the amount of leakage at one time is very, very small." Starlight said, pointing to the protrusion again, "In comparison, water is heavier, so even in places where air cannot penetrate, it can be forced Passed the level. But once the erosion point completely gives up resistance, the situation may be completely different. There must be some kind of crack here that makes the water flow here look like...like..." Starlight suddenly encountered a person that he couldn't find at the moment. I was trying to control the devastated expression on my face when I found the vocabulary corresponding to the English word. This situation doesn't happen often anymore, but sometimes it still happens. "It's like a layer of running water in the sand and gravel." She finally held her breath and finished her sentence.

"Is it a rock aquifer?" Mark asked tentatively. "The source of springs?"

"I thought the origin of springs was from hardware craftsmen." Tingting couldn't help but joke.

Starlight tried her best to suppress the futile thought of trying to correct the changeling's statement that was about to burst out in her heart, and prepared to continue her explanation. Of course she knew that the guy was just saying this to be cute. This is not a good habit. "Mark, remember to show me that word when you return to the residential area." She continued, "Anyway, the weight of the soil and permafrost below the slope prevents the possibility of rapid decompression. But if the erosion here further If it deepens, with just a little more wear and tear, the soil beneath the entrance may collapse, and subsequent explosive decompression will be inevitable. It may even turn into a mountain collapse." This word she borrowed from an episode of Grizzly Adams I learned it from the line, "And it's likely that at least one of us was working inside the cave when the explosion occurred and wasn't wearing a space suit."

It was enough for them to imagine this horrific scene in silence for just a moment.

"Of course, the magically modified Instant Foundation Technique stopped the further development of this situation in time." Starlight paused for a moment and continued to explain, "But the problem is that the only way for the accumulated water to drain away is also cut off. At the same time, The heat is also accumulated in the cave and cannot be released. The difference is not very big, but as time goes by... it will... it will..." She inevitably got stuck again and shook her head vigorously. , to vent his anger and frustration at not being able to find an English word that corresponds to the meaning of "accumulation over time." “The effects add up.”

She then pointed to the many small voids beneath the surface of the cave farm, as well as to the larger voids in other chambers at the back of the cave that were still empty. "But the permafrost layer inside the cave is extremely thick no matter where it is." She looked a little confused. "I don't know why this happens, but..."

"I may know this." Mark said, "We have a theory that Mars will experience a brief period of warming every one million years or so. Perhaps it is due to volcanic eruptions, or it may be an abnormality in its orbit. Or it may be the impact of meteorites, but this is not the point. During this period, the thickness of the atmosphere will increase significantly, enough to allow liquid water to flow freely on the surface of Mars. Even in such a dry environment, Mars still has Many environments that contain moisture - such as permafrost, or polar ice caps. We have not collected enough strong evidence to support or overturn this hypothesis, but under this premise, the permafrost in the cave The soil layer has the conditions for its existence.”

"Thanks for the addition, Mark." Starlight replied, "Anyway, no matter what the cause, a large amount of methane gas accumulates in the lower layer of the permafrost. This includes the permafrost layer outside the cave range - without exception, even above the cave. Same - there's still a lot of methane. But as long as the water can keep flowing, the heat at the bottom can never accumulate enough to cause a widespread release of methane. But once the liquid water finds itself with nowhere to go..."

"The cave is farting." The fireball on the side muttered.

"That's right." Starlight pointed at the remaining holes in the topographic map and said, "I happened to have learned a few tricks from Lime to move minerals in the soil, so I can easily backfill these holes in the ground without much effort. If you do this," she said, patting the battery under her hoof that powers the hologram, "it will use up most of the magic energy in this battery. But what will happen after it's done?"

"The water must flow again." Berry thought carefully about the words she used. "If we don't do this, the farm will die. There is not enough heat."

"But if we do that," Mark replied, "all the water will collect twenty meters below us, and once it flows up here it will turn into a swamp again."

"Can it be pumped out?" Feihuo made a suggestion.

"Growing crops requires water after all," Mark said.

"Besides, we don't have any extra pipe fittings now." Ding Ting agreed.

"And we didn't want to take the risk of adding an exit point to the cave that might cause a leak." Mark added, "It's not just the water that's being pumped out, but also the air."

"If that happens, the water supply will be shut off automatically." Ting Ting replied, "Our side will not allow us to directly evacuate the water storage tank of the space base."

Mark said and rubbed his lower back again, "But it's too tiring to move so much water out bucket by bucket." He began to complain, "And the effect doesn't seem to be very obvious."

"First of all, we have to let the water flow as far as possible to the back of the cave." Starlight said, "Can we use the remains of the Amicitas hull to build a ditch to come out - not an ordinary ditch, one specially made to allow water to flow inside Is it okay to have something like that on the roof or along the road?"

"The sewer." Mark and Dragonfly immediately replied in unison.

Fei Huo smiled obscenely, "Is this what you're thinking about?"

Starlight rolled her eyes at the Wonderbolt. She knew Spitfire had the worst English of them all. So how did she come up with this word? And if the word "gutter" simply refers to a "drainage ditch," why does it always sound like a dirty place is being discussed when mentioned in so many TV shows? How many sloppy ponies (or underpaid small town janitors) does it take to let the gutters accumulate dirt? This way it won't be able to play its role...

Starlight shook her head again. Next time I hope to have time to talk to AJ or RD in private. Twilight Sparkle's obsessive-compulsive disorder appears to be contagious. But all she said was, "Can we build one? How long will it take?"

Fireball, Mars' self-appointed keeper of the tattered treasure house, thought for a while after hearing this. "Yes," he finally replied, "but it will leak. You can put one end on the head of the next section and let the water fall down. That would be better. Maybe. …Maybe it can be taken up to two hundred meters?”

"This distance can't reach the 'crack'." Mark muttered.

"The 'rift' can be taken care of," Fireball said, thinking it was not a big problem, "Let it stay there."

"This will seep down and turn the entire cafeteria floor into mud." Mark was still cautious.

"It's too cold there now." Fireball just shook his head, "It will freeze first."

"It's better to compact the soil and use it as a drainage ditch." Ting Ting made a suggestion, "Just use the spell you used to seal the cave before to compress the soil."

Starlight still shook her head. "Everything uses magic," she said. "The test thrusters and the sparkle drive rely on magic batteries, and they also rely on it to transfer excess water out - this is the only safe way I can think of." A quick way to deal with excess water. And use it to create an environmental magic field so that Berry can repair the farm. But in order to get more magic, more batteries must be produced, and we are almost done with other bits and pieces now. The battery ran out twice.”

She sighed and shook her head again. Ideally, she wanted the battery manufacturing process to grow exponentially—first two cells, then four, then eight. But as the number of batteries grew, so did their need for magic. There are so many uses for magic - it's a vital part of any pony's efforts to survive and ultimately escape.

"No magic is allowed for ten days after today." She finally decided, "Unless there is an emergency involving life and death. After that, I will make a batch of new batteries - depending on the energy I can control at that time, the quantity About six to eight. After that, these new batteries will be put aside for storage and will only be accessed when making new batteries. Then I can put the well," she said, pointing to the ground dug at the back of the cave. The large hole that emerges "can be directly turned into a concrete reservoir. If we need it, we can use batteries to transfer the water stored inside to the outside of the cave."

"This is a long-term plan. As long as we have a sufficient number of batteries, many other problems will naturally be solved. But making batteries is the top priority now." Starlight tapped the battery under her hoof, and the hologram flashed a few times. Almost down. "Under the current conditions, we can only make do with improvisation."

"Okay," Mark said, "Then we should backfill the holes below the surface to prevent further settlement, and then make a plan to build an overflow ditch after returning to the base."

"Us?" Starlight raised her eyebrows and smiled slyly. She waved the glimmering light on her horn again, and a large piece of soil peeled off from the well wall. The clod of soil floated to an empty area of ​​the farm, backfilling a sinkhole, and the hologram showed a pumpkin-sized hole beneath it. She walked towards the pile of soil, and the magic energy wrapped around her hoofs stepped down on the soil accurately and vigorously.

There was a loud noise that shook the heaven and earth.

She took a few steps back, revealing the smooth, new ground beneath her hooves.

Another ten days of magic ban will begin tomorrow. She still had two-thirds of the energy left in her battery today, and she wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to enjoy it.

Mark turned to Cherry Berry and Dragonfly. Starlight heard his doubts: "How did she do it just now?"

Berry just shrugged. "I don't know," she replied. "I've never worked on a stone farm."

"What farm?"

Starlight used magic to lift two sample shovels and handed them to Mark and Fireball. "Let's dig," she ordered, "but we have to go outside. It will take us a lot of soil to fill in the large holes under the 'cafeteria.' Then you will have to bury those pipes."