My Little Pony: My Little Pony The Martian

AMICITAS Mission Three – Mission Day 479

ARES 3 solar day 470

Tingting stepped into the remaining airlock of Amicitas, carrying on its back the magic batteries that had just replenished the energy of the giant batteries hanging outside the No. 2 rover. This morning's journey was very long, but not too long, at least not as much as the days after entering Maworth Valley. She barely even noticed Starlight Glimmer following her into the ship.

Dragonfly can't wait for the next lunch hug and eight minutes of magic field time. (The weak charging speed provided by the team members for the batteries in the cabin is not enough to simultaneously maintain the energy of the large battery mounted outside the cabin and the demand for environmental magic energy for ten minutes a day, so Starlight once again lowered the daily dose of magic energy.) She had been working so hard all morning and was already hungry...

...But what is more important than hunger is her worry.

So far, Dragonfly's hunger is actually not very obvious, it is just the same as an ordinary afternoon during the dark history of the changelings, whether it is hunger for magic power or hunger for love. However, after running wildly for a whole day behind Cherry Berry and Spitfire, her physical sensation was very close to the feeling she had when she first emerged from the cocoon in the cave. Before she went on this long journey, she could usually have enough energy to work around for a whole day; but now she was running around for three to four hours, kicking a few rocks away from time to time (the latter was much less work than Fei Huo) After that, she was as lifeless as if she had been smashed into a puddle of mud by a six-foot-wide fly swatter.

Is that guy Fei Huo still worried that he won't be able to regain his original physical advantage after they return to the horse country? Ah! Tingting is already prepared to sit in an office and get idle after returning, and maybe even need a wheelchair. There's no comparison at all.

And the worst...

"Dingting, come here quickly. You look so pitiful."

...But she no longer even had the extra energy to try to hide the weakness she felt.

"Come," Mark found a seat among the rows of flight seats in the former spaceship, picked up the changeling and put it on his lap, "Let's have some snacks before lunch, okay?"

Unfortunately the main emotion Mark is expressing right now is not love. "Can I say something first?" Tingting interrupted, "Yes, my health is not very good. The situation will not improve until I go back. But I will get better. As long as I go back In Horse Country, everything will return to normal. So can you please stop throwing all your worries in my face?!"

"Sorry," Mark muttered, "I can't help it. To be honest, you look really bad now."

"Mark, your compliment is really unique."

"That's the truth," Starlight agreed. "Of course it's not as bad as when you first came out of the cocoon, but..."

"You look like you got second place after a fight with Landslide." Feihuo also stuttered in agreement.

"Seriously?" Ding Ting didn't know which one she should be angry with; the nonchalant attitude of the Pegasus, or the careless behavior of her who had been learning for countless months. Bulk English? She retorted, "So according to what you said, they are probably twice as good as the Central City guards who were defeated by us at that time?"

To her surprise, this time Spitfire didn't jump up and down like he usually did. "Maybe," she replied, "I wasn't there. But it's really bad."

"Maybe you can rest for a few days," Berry also said, "Have you noticed the valley walls on both sides today?"

"Yes. One side has almost disappeared. But the other side has become taller again."

"That's not the wall of the valley," Mark explained, "that's the outer edge of a crater. We're out of Maworth Valley," he said, frowning, squeezing the changeling in his lap and continuing. , "This means that our days of easy navigation are coming to an end. Next, we can only rely on observing the sun, Phobos and Hermes' situation reports to verify our position."

"Does this crater have a name?" Berry asked. "The surrounding ridges seem to be much higher than those in Asidalia."

“Trouislot,” Mark replied, “tomorrow we’ll drive between it and another crater called Rutherford. Ideally, we’ll then continue east-southeast for a few more miles. Days until we arrive at Mars Crater - well, this spelling is different from Maworth Valley." He pronounced the two names the same, "Then we will walk from the south side of Mars, going around Passing through a bunch of smaller craters. Further on, we will enter the Meridian Mesa, which is much flatter than the Arabian Mesa, and we can basically follow it all the way to Schiaparelli."

"You said 'ideally'," Tingting interjected, "I guess you mean 'no accidents'. Right?"

"Yes," Mark sighed, "not very likely. I have a feeling we're going to turn south tomorrow and walk around the edge of Troirelot. Have you noticed lately that Johansen hasn't followed us for several days? Did we mention the Dust Bowl?"

"Maybe it's missing." Berry speculated optimistically.

"No," Mark said. "I guess they didn't want to talk about it until we got out of the valley. That way we wouldn't be distracted."

"We didn't ask, did we?" Fireball returned to the pilot's seat where he had been sitting for three hours in the morning, turned on the radio and called, "Hermes, Friendship is calling. This is Fireball. How is the dust storm? Please answer. .complete."

"Then we have to wait here for sixteen minutes for their reply," Starlight couldn't help complaining, "You're really thoughtful."

"Then let's just eat and wait," Fireball shrugged, "What's the big deal."

"What's on the menu?" Berry interrupted, "Except for hay and potatoes, of course."

"Crystal." Fireball growled impatiently.

"And roast beef with reconstituted mashed potatoes," Mark sighed, "broccoli and Florentine, and apple crumble."

"There's also a hug, don't forget it!" Tingting couldn't help but emphasize. Really, sometimes if I didn’t remind them...

"Ding Ting, don't jump to conclusions yet," Mark teased Ting Ting again with a shy face, "You really don't want to try beef? The gravy is so fragrant. Hugging is not such a pleasure."

"What do you know."

It was still Pony's silly daily bickering, but at least there was one good thing - the worry and pity in the air disappeared. Her lunch would not be spoiled by this.

The lunches of the others were spoiled by the reply of Hermes who came out halfway through their meal. "Friendship, Hermes calls." And this time the person speaking on the other end was not Johnson, but Commander Lewis. "We are still studying the specific details, but we hope that you can turn due south after driving tomorrow. In fact, we originally wanted you to turn south immediately now, but in this way you have to try to stick to the edge of Troislot If you are driving, there will be several relatively large ravines blocking your way."

"The dust storm is intensifying. It is hitting you at a speed of about four thousand meters per hour under the combined effect of expansion and displacement. Its main moving direction is due west and slightly north. At this point in time, if you want If you try to return to the residential area along the same route, the dust storm will catch up with you long before you reach the safe zone. NASA believes that your best chance of winning now is to head due south, hoping to surpass its southern edge."

"Unfortunately, we have determined that you will definitely not be able to escape the impact of the edge of the dust storm no matter what. This means that the operating efficiency of your solar cells will decrease. After tomorrow, we need you to return to your original driving schedule immediately to maximize Battery recharging. You should understand its importance without me explaining it."

"Good luck to everyone. We will be watching...and listening. Hermes communication completed."

Mark stared at the food package in front of him. "I don't want to eat cold food every day," he said dejectedly, "but once we enter the dust storm, we won't be able to afford a microwave."

Dragonfly, who had left the human embrace during lunch and stood up to walk around, leaned back to him again. At least her food, no matter how it tasted, was never ice cold.