My Little Pony: My Little Pony The Martian

The formation of the solar system is just an insignificant footnote in this vast universe. It can be said that it is just a coincidence. Long before the sun appeared, several stars that were about to end their lifespan came together due to some coincidences. They were unwilling to leave like this, but time could not be turned back. No matter how hard they struggled, it was to no avail. They could only collapse, explode, and expand one after another. The huge energy shock wave squeezed the loose molecular cloud, creating a small area of ​​ultra-density. The collision of molecules caused this area to be extremely unstable, and eventually turned into the sun, followed by countless rocks. Massive asteroid. These asteroids collided with each other under the influence of gravity and grew larger and larger over the next few million years.

Among them, there was such a huge one that lost its original atmosphere in the collision with another one. The blow also left a huge basin on the planet's surface, filled first with lava and then with water. The lost atmosphere gradually recovered from volcanic eruptions, comet impacts, and what was left over from the past. Although it appears thin, it is still stable. Other debris slowly accumulated, creating several large and small satellites with less stable orbits.

At this time, the planet is large enough, the temperature is high enough, and it has a layered core. The inner and outer iron cores of the fluid rotate and convect, creating a magnetic field that protects the atmosphere from the influence of the solar wind. Above this, the water-rich mantle surges masses of magma through the already considerable thickness of the crust, dormant and waiting for the opportunity to explode the huge heat in the planet's heart.

A chain of small craters formed, negligible compared to the giants that would appear in the future. The crater, which was spewing sulfur, smoke and light lava, experienced a brief period of glory of three to four thousand years before cooling down and being blocked by cooling matter. The newly generated magma surged from the depths and found that there was no way out, so they stood still and waited for the opportunity underground. Magma accumulates over time, forming pools and merging with each other. During this period, the geothermal heat and fresh magma of this young planet continuously provide vitality to the molten material.

Millions of years pass by like a fleeting cloud. The former basin formed a huge ocean, swallowing up the former crater, washing away the covering dust and replacing it with river sediment. The fresh magma in the magma chamber below is constantly trying to break through a path to the surface, but it is choked out by endless water time and time again. In the process, the magma chamber is also heated and cooled, and the ice is melted again.

Seawater seeps out of the compacted sediments and flows through the remains of the volcanic shield to reach the hot magma chamber. Water erodes cavities in aged volcanic rocks, filling cavities that were once filled with gas with supercritical water. Magma rises and falls, with heavier elements precipitating back into the mantle through cracks, while lighter elements mingle with water to form a mineral-rich mixture. The planet's low gravity allows these cavities to ignore the weight of the rocks and accumulated sediments above them, achieving an unparalleled size that exceeds similar pores on other nearby planets.

The planet gradually cooled down over time. As the orbits of the two gas giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn, continue to change and move outward, the planets are briefly heated in collisions with their largest satellites and countless meteorites. The crust thickened, but even so, the closed fissure conducted enough heat to keep the magma chamber usable. As the magma ebbs and flows, new air pockets are formed, merge with each other, and are filled with mineral-rich water, and the minerals in them begin to slowly deposit onto the inner walls of the pockets.

The iron core deep in the planet finally solidified, and the magnetic field protecting the planet dissipated. Solar radiation began to bombard the world, disintegrating the atmosphere and the planet's water bit by bit. The precession of the gas giant dragged the planet out of its original orbit, eventually reaching the edge of an asteroid belt that was once the catastrophe. The sun's rays diminished, and the planet began to cool down more rapidly as it lost its protective atmosphere.

The Great Basin, the planet's first and last ocean, gradually froze over, becoming permafrost, or polar ice, waxing and waning over the long seasons. Without liquid water, early plate motions quieted down, and cracks leading to the mantle were gradually blocked by solidified molten rock.

As the water recedes, erosion of the remnants of ancient volcanoes, products of the great collision, continues. At this time, the large magma chamber beneath the surface still retains enough heat to die and produce its offspring: a cluster of new volcanoes spewing water and ice instead of molten rock.

The water below the surface is still liquid at this time, continuing to dissolve and precipitate minerals in huge air pockets.

Changes in the sea. Even with the blessing of meteorite impact and heat transfer from cracks, the magma chamber was eventually unsustainable. A billion years after its birth, it was permanently frozen and never melted again.

In the air pocket, the flowing water disappeared through leakage, freezing or sublimation, leaving behind countless miraculous works of art day and night.

Billions of years passed by in a blink of an eye. As the Earth's axis rocks back and forth, the ice and carbon dioxide stored at the poles thaw, wander, and return to solid form. The amazingly thick crust is still slowly bending and moving. A giant volcano somewhere on the planet is constantly growing, changing the balance of the planet's rotation. From time to time, large eruptions that destroy the world will shoot lava and debris into the void at a speed exceeding escape velocity.

This lifeless world is slowly changing in the endless river of time. The layers of earth and rocks above the magma chamber were swept away. Even though the wind system of this rusty planet has been exhausted, it still carries sand and soil, forming sand dunes near the pole. From time to time, small meteorites penetrate the fragile atmosphere and bombard the surface, and one of them penetrates the soil at the top of the magma chamber, further accelerating the weathering process.

As time goes by, the frozen magma chamber gradually breaks away from the surrounding loose envelope and reveals its head on the ground. The crater on the top makes it almost identical to the surrounding glacial extinct volcanoes. The weathered debris has been detached and accumulated at the bottom, integrating it with the surrounding environment; the hard core looks down on the delicate wind of this silent world.

Just as the colorful world opposite entered a long ice age, punctuated by brief periods of warming, one of the huge air pockets, carrying treasures left by the boiling water of ancient Mars, came to light. Ice floes contaminated with dust and perchloric acid emerge from time to time and gradually invade the open cave. The wind system is engaged in a tug-of-war with the sand dunes, and every round of dredging and blocking of the cave entrance will bring a little bit of soil and ice into the huge cave underneath.

The cave itself sits, covered by its gray tombstones, covered in sand, with endless treasures waiting to be discovered.

AMICITAS Mission Three – Mission Day 16

ARES 3 solar day 20

This is the 3,400th time Spitfire wishes her space suit had wings.

Indeed, when he was injured and grounded, the constrained feeling of having to walk on hooves like an earth pony or a unicorn was very uncomfortable. But now she had endured more than two weeks of being either trapped in a space suit or in an alien structure ten meters square. At the same time, she had to endure an environment with only weak Pegasus magic most of the time, so that she couldn't fly normally, couldn't feel the airflow normally...or she couldn't feel normal doing anything.

Every day she wakes up feeling like a horse has put on magnetic boots that are very light and can firmly anchor her to the ground. She wakes up unhappy every day and goes to bed with an explosive mood.

I can't mention this to any horses yet, because the Wonderbolts can't be pretentious (although I think so).

Maybe it would be easier if she was on a mission and had a regular schedule. But Spitfire was dragged on board at the last minute, purely for the sake of "political correctness" to ensure the balance between the crew's race and the space agency's power. She was promoted and left the Wonderbolts, but came to this team and became the most junior rookie. In addition to the basic knowledge she knew when she first joined the Wonderbolt Reserves, she spent three full weeks studying combat medic training to supplement it.

The result now is this: She is standing next to a hill on an alien planet, with no magic, almost no air, her wings are stuck tightly to her body in this (expletive word) space suit of the eldest princess, whose only responsibility is her Something I had little training and no skills at all: keeping an eye on an ex-convict unicorn, preventing the genius from committing suicide through mana draining in a variety of innovative ways, while waiting for a certain pony, or seeking Her instructions, or give her some instructions.

But the only pony present now is that damn Starlight Glimmer.

"Look," she said to the suspected unicorn, "we brought this battery for use after all. If you don't use your own magic energy reserves, maybe we still have a chance to escape before you faint. .”

"I just need to run Rarity's spell for a few seconds at a time," Starlight remained stubborn, "as long as it detects the mineral deposits. As long as I don't keep using it, I can hold on."

"We have already detected five directions in this place, and there have been responses every time," Feihuo said. "And the targets triangulated using these coordinate points are divergent and cannot be dug at all."

A few steps away, alien Mark stood patiently, holding a small shovel in his hand. His face was covered by a mask, so he couldn't see clearly.

"I'm sure there are gems here!" Starlight refused to give up. "The spell has detected a huge mineral deposit! Keep looking and you will always find it!"

Spitfire shook his head. This is the only job she has at hand, and half the time, neither the supervisees nor the superiors are willing to cooperate. "Okay, let's try again," she said, "but we've been wandering around this mountain for several hours! We've found nothing all the way, not even on the hillside!"

"But according to the spell, it must be here!" Starlight's horns lit up again. For a second or two, the dark orange ground beneath their feet, originally illuminated by the dim sunlight, revealed a faint blue halo. This made the unicorn lower his head suddenly and hurriedly cut off the spell, "See? It's right under our feet this time! Dig quickly!"

Spitfire sighed, and used his front hooves to easily push away the top layer of floating soil. The next layer was a rough material formed over billions of years, and the third layer arrived earlier than Spitfire expected... It was a layer of hard gray stone. "Oh... Starlight, you told me to come and take a look." She also waved her hoof to Mark. Seeing that he might have discovered something, Mark straightened up and walked over.

After taking three steps, the lanky alien's legs suddenly sank into the ground. He fell down and crouched, his arms waving in the air, and the shovel flew to the side.

"Mark!" Starlight immediately rushed to the alien sitting on the soil.

"Don't touch him!" Spitfire stopped Starlight, "We don't know what he fell into! His space suit may have been damaged!"

Starlight stopped. "You're right." She walked around Mark, careful to avoid sand seeping from the slowly expanding cavity around his right leg. Spitfire was worried that she would try to drag him right out of the hole. She'd been casting magic all day, and she was afraid it would turn over. However, the unicorn held her helmet visor close to the back of Mark's helmet, and Spitfire simultaneously heard two carefully spoken words in Mark's language over the intercom: "Space suit...are you okay?"

Mark nodded. Starlight touched Mark's helmet again, and this time there was a distorted voice, which probably sounded like: "It's okay." He stabilized his mind, gently pulled his right knee out of the sand, and then carefully Move your body back, keep raising your half-buried leg until your boots touch the ground again, and successfully escape. Then he kept backing up, Starlight close to the side, until he was at least three pony lengths from the collapse.

Since Mark successfully pulled away, sand began to fill in the hole. As Martian dust continued to invade, the hole began to expand, and an overhang popped up, and then - thank you, Princess! ——A row of huge white crystals was revealed like the interlocking canine teeth of the troll's upper jaw.

"Found it!" Starlight cheered and ran over. Mark grabbed her and dragged her back, pointing at the steady stream of sand pouring into the widening chasm.

"Listen to Mark!" Spitfire said, "Don't act rashly until it stabilizes. The structure may collapse at any time, and the quicksand may suck you into the hole."

"But I can..."

"Don't even think about using magic!" Spitfire retorted, "We can go back to Mark's car to get the batteries if necessary, but you have used your own reserves to perform magic enough times today!"

"Okay." Starlight looked unhappy. Mark finally stood up and pushed her back from the hole.

The small landslide stopped after about 20 minutes. At this time, the pit was already several hoofs wide, and the part under the overhang was about two hoofs high, which was not even enough space for crawling. Mark retrieved the shovel and gave the now-exposed rung that had saved his life a hard blow, causing it to fall away, revealing more details of the cave: normal Martian soil mixed with sparkling crystals. fragments. After coaxing the two horses away, the alien began to dig up the soil bit by bit with the shovel, which was too small for the time. From time to time, he turned the shovel over and smoothed the sharp and rough edges of the cave entrance.

Another 20 minutes passed, and the cave entrance was large enough for one person to stand. He got in and tried to get rid of the accumulated dust. After working for another 10 minutes, he placed the shovel next to the hole, turned on the built-in light on the right arm of the space suit, and stretched his arm in, as if groping for something.

At this time, the alien suddenly froze, keeping his arms stretched into the hole, motionless.

"He's stuck in the crystal!" Starlight insisted.

"I don't think so," Feihuo didn't dare to make a conclusion. She had no idea what the purpose of this was: what was the use of sticking a flashlight into the hole if his eyes couldn't see what was inside?

Mark pulled his arm out very carefully and turned off the light. He picked up the shovel again, signaled the ponies to back off, and then began digging hard into the sand beneath the overhanging ceiling with an astonishing determination that defied common sense. Even though he was wearing a space suit and had limited mobility, and he was not very handy with the shovel, the scene was still filled with rocks and earth, making it a spectacular scene.

"What is he doing?" Feihuo was puzzled.

"I have to get the battery," Starlight said, "He will get hurt if he keeps doing this. Why does he have to dig deeper? The gems at the entrance of the cave are enough for us!"

"Well... let's get the battery." Feihuo said.

Starlight spent about 15 minutes traveling to and from the rover, with the battery pack fixed to the spacesuit using simple laces specially made by Dragonfly. (The changeling spent half an hour and half her daily food ration behind the Stinky Curtain to whip up a harness just big enough to hold the batteries. "Don't ask me how," she said. ", but no one wanted to know.) When she came back she said, "I'm going to tell him what I'm going to do."

"How much magic energy will be used?" Feihuo asked.

"The battery says 13%," Starlight said. "At 20% I can lift the entire Amicitas, and now I just have to shovel dirt."

"It's better to be careful," Spitfire knew she wouldn't listen, but he still warned her.

Starlight stood atop the overhang, waving her front hooves in an attempt to attract Mark's attention. At this point she lit her horns again, giving him a moment to leave. Mark waved his arms in a gesture that Spitfire didn't recognize, but Starlight simply raised her hoof to signal him to leave. Mark shrugged angrily and got out of the hole that was now chest deep.

Satisfied, Starlight took off the battery and placed it on the ground. She touched one of her front hooves to the exposed electrode and flipped the switch with the other. In an instant, a large shovel with a pine-green glow appeared above the cave entrance and plunged into the sand, throwing the soil far down the hillside.

After more than a minute, Mark waved his hand, so Starlight stopped the digging spell and turned off the unused battery. Her horns lit up again, magic wrapped around her and Mark's helmets, and they exchanged a few words. Finally Mark pointed toward the hole, and this time Starlight shrugged in agreement. She stopped the translation spell and moved into the hole, her legs seemed a little weak.

"You started risking your life again." Feihuo said.

"Splitfire," Starlight said, sounding confused, "He wants me to go into the cave and look at something. Apparently it has something to do with a 'green lamp.' I don't get it."

"I thought your translation spell would work." Feihuo said.

"It still can't handle idioms," Starlight admitted, "and I don't know how to adjust it. And anyway, learning the language Mark speaks is the best option."

"Watch your step," Spitfire said. "If you get stuck, don't move. Mark and I will get you out."

"No problem. This area is like the sand dunes we have..." Starlight paused, "I have to turn on the searchlight, there is some Japanese sound in it... Excuse me, my God."

"What's wrong?" Feihuo was anxious to go in with Starlight, worried that something might happen.

"...It's incredible," Starlight could barely breathe, "It's like a big cave under Central City!"

Spitfire froze, "You mean that huge, gem-filled underground security system that civilians like you shouldn't even know exists?" she asked.

"I...probably knew something about it when I was a villain dedicated to defeating Twilight Sparkle," Starlight admitted. "Anyway, can you move the battery to the entrance of the cave? I need to widen the entrance to let Mark in. . He needs to take a good look at these things."

"What do you mean? We have enough gems to feed the fireball for the time being?" Feihuo shook his head, secretly cursing those geniuses who refused to explain clearly, "Of course it is very good, but what else is there?"

"What do you think?!" On the radio, the unicorn's voice trembled slightly, as if returning in triumph, "The answers to all our problems are here!!!"

Log – Solar Day 20

Greetings from the Castle of Solitude!

Okay, just kidding. I am currently writing this diary on Rover 2. Today's EVA time has run out. After I finish writing this diary, we will go back to the living area to find more tools, make next plans, and maybe get the birthday cake in Xiaoma's refrigerator. It won't be new if it is kept longer, and today's discovery deserves congratulations!

This morning a group of us - Starlight, Spitfire and I - returned to the crash site. Area e is the only place within our rover's range where we have a chance of finding the kind of gem Starlight is looking for. I didn't have high hopes for this when we set out, but it's important for the ponies to find some gems, after all they have to feed the fireballs, so we decided to try our luck.

We spent a full four hours wandering around the northeast of Area E. Starlight seems to be using some kind of prospecting technique to search for gems, but it points in a different direction each time. So we circled a patch of ground each time, dug down a few feet, and then gave up when we hit rocks we couldn't dig through. NASA didn't foresee the intensive prospecting requirements of the Ares mission, so the only tools I had at hand were a sampling shovel, a hammer for breaking small rocks, and a chisel for poking through just about anything. But none can penetrate bedrock.

The final discovery was made not by pony magic, but by clumsy humans. My right leg stepped through a small piece of soil and passed through. Luckily the initial hole was only slightly wider than my legs, so I didn't fall completely through. Fortunately, the surface was just compacted sand and there were no sharp objects, so the spacesuit was not damaged. Otherwise, this log would have to wait until the ponies learned to type.

I carefully pulled myself out of the pit, and then sand continued to pour into the hole, and the hole expanded rapidly. Apparently the cavity beneath the surface was large, because eventually most of the hillside was swallowed up, revealing a long, overhanging structure like a palate, covered in diamond teeth. (Well, it’s not diamond, and diamonds don’t grow like that. It’s white quartz, but it still looks like teeth. I wouldn’t want to be bitten by that mouth anyway.)

We found our target by mistake. To be honest, this is to be expected. Every time a probe or manned project is launched, something completely contrary to expectations is discovered, so what's the surprise? Of course, every new discovery is immediately and perfectly explained so that it no longer seems surprising, but it is always easier to think with the benefit of hindsight.

But finding it doesn't mean it can be used. If it is really quartz, it will be difficult to deal with - the Mohs hardness of quartz is about 7 to 8 in my impression. I don't think we have the tools at hand to cut it, so I continue to dig, first widening the hole for me Being able to have space to work, then drill under the teeth and look for any chipped pieces that we can pick right back up.

The sand accumulated in the cave is actually strong enough to support a person standing on it. So I crawled into the hole, dug deeper, and cleared the space under the overhang. There was a risk that the sinkhole would collapse further and I might get trapped in the sand again, but I didn't care. We need those gems, so I have to get them no matter what.

After digging out an opening of suitable size, I turned on the camera and light on my right arm. This is included with all Ares extravehicular space suits. Because our side vision is limited by our space suits, we have to turn our entire bodies to see objects that are not directly in front of us. The image captured by the camera will be projected into the helmet, so we don’t have to move around. At the same time, camera images can be viewed from residential areas or transmitted to Earth for further analysis. The system isn't perfect—I have to wear it on my left arm to use both the lighting and the tools on my right hand—but it works pretty well.

But if I tried to do this during a normal mission, NASA would put me in detention and let Lewis do the rest, because it would mean I was probably crazy. NASA doesn't consider the dangers of jumping into a pit on Mars and sticking your whole hand into an unknown hole because they think your mother taught you not to do that when you were five years old. After all, the answer couldn't be more obvious, just as the hole is facing the sharp crystal of the mask.

The images that came in confirmed one thing first: the cave is very deep, extending all the way back into the volcano. At first I thought it might be a lava tube, but that didn't explain the hedron inside. I didn't know whether crystals could grow in lava tubes, but I knew that the two had never occurred together in nature during my training as Lewis's backup geologist. However, the training is still very limited. After all, we still have to carry out various other miscellaneous trainings. Moreover, NASA’s purpose is just to let us describe the appearance, leave behind truly suspicious things, collect enough 500 kilograms, and then bring them back to the earth for real geologists to analyze them for hundreds of years.

Then I saw the cave wall. crystal. Big amazing crystal. Everywhere. There are even a few crystals as thick as a person that penetrate the entire cave.

I began to widen the hole further so that Starlight could come in and see for herself. After a few minutes of work, Starlight took out her magic box and asked me to come out of the hole. In the next minute she did as much work as I could do with a sampling shovel in half an hour. (Just a casual remark: maybe she should be responsible for the planting work in the residential area instead of Berry?) Then she went into the hole (after I told her it was necessary to check it out)... and refused to come out. Spitfire took the battery over, then came out and pushed me further away until I understood that we were going to "clean this place up."

After we retreated to a safe area, Starlight tinkered with something, probably using magic, and sprayed several tons of sand out of the hole. By the time it was completed, the magic battery had been depleted and the entrance to the cave had been cleared, revealing the massive cavern inside.

Space was tight in places, but we had plenty of room anyway - at least a few hundred meters. I have to say, it is really spectacular. The huge geode separates clusters of small unit cells and merges some back together. Most of the crystals are white, although there are also other variations of yellow, red, and purple. There are various sizes, ranging from small enough to be used to set a ring, to large as a crystal pillar as thick as a person.

They are all extremely hard. I had a knife in my tool bag, so I tried a few scratches. The crystal was unscathed. After the fifth failed attempt, I scraped one of the crystallization points with the back of a knife, leaving a shallow pit in the surface of the steel. Definitely quartz or some harder mineral.

There isn't any fallen debris to be found on the ground, but there's a reason for that. The cave floor is compacted Martian soil that slopes downward from the entrance. I had to stoop down to avoid being scratched by the fangs at the entrance of the cave, but after walking ten steps it was no problem to stand up straight, and I couldn't touch the roof of the cave twenty steps inward. Apparently this cave or lava tube or something was intermittently exposed to the ground. Sand is blown or falls into the cave, slowly filling it up and then hardening due to compaction, leaving a brittle crust on top and holes at the bottom. Over the years something big happens—a meteor strike or a sandstorm—reopening the cave entrance, and so on. Each time a cycle is completed, more sand enters the depths of the cave, filling it up little by little.

As we finally turned to leave the cave, I thought I might have caught a glimpse of glimmering crystals on the ground at the edge of the lamp. Beyond that, the ground is covered with a thin layer of soil all the way down. Who knows, maybe it's a lot deeper than it looks. We will never know how deep the original cave was. But any crystals that peeled off the ceiling or walls must have been buried long ago by sand.

Anyway, the gem is there. Santa Claus came extra early this year. Even though I had no tools at all to cut with, Starlight didn't seem worried about it. She seemed much more excited by the sand and the open space of the cave.

The same goes for me, but to be on the safe side we still need a serious exploration of the cave. That means we'll be back here tomorrow. You are right, we are temporarily retreating, but we will come back with the power of science...!