MISSION LOG – SOL 360
Hello to the people of Earth from the crew of the Pony spaceship Friendship. (That’s not quite the right translation of the ship name, but it’s close enough.)
We asked Mark to let us write today’s log entry, because for us today is a special day. One year ago today we left our homeworld for what we thought was a five-day mission. One year ago tomorrow, of course, that plan crashed along with our ship.
Today we received a special message from the princess who rules the land most of us come from. We can’t give a precise translation of her name, so we’re going to call her “Celestia” here. This is the message, in full:
“Greetings from Ponyland. One year ago you went forth to expand the frontiers of all the speaking peoples of the world. Through a series of unforeseeable circumstances you ended up stranded farther from home than any of us can imagine. Today we send you our warmest hopes and wishes that you will soon return to us.
“Your courage and determination have inspired millions around the world. Despite being stranded on a hostile and lifeless planet, through the power of friendship you have not only survived but thrived. You have made contact with a new speaking race- more than made contact, made friends. Together you have defied the odds and found solutions to one problem after another. Your heroism proves to two worlds that nothing is impossible.
“And now two worlds are reaching out to you to bring you home. Rest assured that there will be no second anniversary of this date. One year from now you will be safe at home, receiving the honors you deserve. Until then, be safe, and know that you are loved.
“Yours very truly, Princess Celestia.”
We are honored by Celestia’s words, but we want to make it clear: we are not heroes. We did not sign up to spend a year from home. We never imagined that we would be here, in a place where the physical laws we took for granted are different and where life cannot exist without artificial habitats or suits.
This is not what we wanted.
We want to go home. We want to eat more than one kind of food. We want to go outside without helmets. We want to hear birds and animals. We want to sleep in proper beds in proper gravity without wondering if the thin shell that keeps the air in might rupture while we sleep.
We are not heroes. We are three ponies, a dragon and a changeling, a very long way away from home. We are tired, bored, and afraid.
We are very lucky that our ship crashed so close to a real hero- someone who spent years training to spend a year away from home, specifically to survive on this planet. Like us, he has been stranded here. He has shared his shelter, his food, his tools, and his knowledge with us, when he didn’t have to.
And now his crew is coming back to get us. Five people who volunteered to spend as much as a year and a half more away from their homes and families, facing the dangers of space, just to rescue the six of us.
They are the real heroes- the people of the Ares III mission. They are doing things no one else could. We, on the other hoof, are just surviving- as anyone else would do their best to, in our position.
Whoever you are reading this, a year or a century from now, please remember that we were just ordinary people. The real heroes are those who go into danger deliberately- and if we make it home, it will be thanks to them.
Cherry Berry, earth pony, mission commander
Starlight Glimmer, unicorn, mission scientist
Dragonfly, changeling, mission engineer
Fireball, dragon, mission EVA
Spitfire, pegasus, mission pilot
MISSION LOG – SOL 360 (2)
They wouldn’t let me read the log entry until they saved it, and I still don’t know how to edit or delete entries, so I guess I’ll just have to set the record straight.
I’ve mentioned all of this before, but it merits a reminder.
Cherry Berry has walked on two worlds other than her homeworld- three, now, counting Mars. She has double-digit launches and landings under her belt. In the early sols of our being stranded, she held her crew together and kept them focused on the immediate goal of survival. During moments when we all almost died, her cool head and focus saved lives. She is a hero.
Starlight Glimmer has repeatedly pushed herself to the point of collapse to make our continued survival possible. She learned English and then helped teach it to the others so that we could cooperate more closely. Her magic and her designs make our life here possible. She is a hero.
Dragonfly likewise risked her own life and health to save my life. Her knowledge of her ship’s systems comes from years of training and dedication. She works harder than any of us to keep morale up and to prevent bickering and fighting among us, despite the intense stress we’re all under. She is a hero.
Fireball never complains about hard work. His strength allowed us to accomplish the impossible by salvaging the crashed ship. Despite being well aware of his limitations, he is always the first to offer help with anything he’s competent to handle. He is a hero.
And Spitfire, despite having never been in space before, has grown into duties which were completely alien to her before their flight. She’s always alert for danger or for signs of sickness or injury. She constantly works hard, no matter how difficult she finds it, to expand her skills and make herself more useful to the crew. She is a hero.
And I’m really flattered that they call me a hero, but I don’t think of it that way. I trained for years to do a job. I came here to do the job. And the job turned lethal, and yet by a fluke I didn’t actually die. And for all the time since, I’ve persistently not died. That’s all. That doesn’t feel like heroism to me. Billions of people on Earth fail to die every day.
Yes, life on Mars is hard. But I came here with the resources of over a dozen nations backing me and my five crewmates. When they escaped, I was left with a secure shelter, a surplus of food, and plenty of tools and spare equipment that could be used to extend my lifespan. The ponies, on the other hand, landed with less than two months of food, a few tools, and practically no spares of anything, almost totally cut off from their home.
Sure, we worked together to survive. But they all provided their fair share of ideas, work, and goodwill. And I’m not gonna let them be bashful about it.
By the way, today was pretty much wasted. That message from their princess left everybody blue. (It also absolutely soaked the Hab soil, so we spent a lot of time getting rid of the excess water. Those are the limitations of sending long speeches by a telegraph that runs on water.) Hopefully tomorrow we all get over our homesickness and guilt and get back to our hard and rigorous schedule of wasting time until the last hay harvest.
We’ve got tons of nothing to do and not much time left to do it.
We’ve got tons of nothing to do and not much time left to do it. - Mark Watney, hero and motivator to 'slackers' everywhere.
Great chapter.
That speech...
I'm not crying, you're crying!
There seems to be something screwy with the paragraphing on this one. That chapter runs out as just two paragraphs for some reason. Poking fimfic devs about it (although there should have been a warning at the bottom of the text-input page telling you there was too few paragraphs).
Nice content otherwise.
I Foresee Statues of Mark and Friends being built on BOTH worlds upon their safe returns. naming them ALL heros!
9054980
It looks fine to me, many paragraphs.
9054991 Yes, but if you select a paragraph to bookmark or play with TTS it highlights half the chapter. The system isn't detecting the blank lines (that actually have
[i] [/i]
on them) as blank lines.Liquid Pride.
9054999
Ah, thought you'd meant the actual text was displaying that way. I see what you mean (I hadn't selected any of the paragraphs while reading).
On the real-world side of things, it's not a year, but this is the 200th chapter. Congratulations on keeping a daily project going for so long and with such a consistently high level of quality.
So when can we expect the physical print editions?
god i really hope they can come to earth and enjoy the many new things now.
and fireball get to be in his own action movie as a cameo like in the movie like Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Fast and the Furious
Great speech, very feels-inducing. Here's hoping the evac and rescue goes according to plan. Of course it won't, because Mars hates life and will do anything in its power to screw them over, but it will sure feel good when they escape.
9055009
Oooh oooh me too I want a print version!
9054946
all they need now is a pizza and chips and engery drink and they be living the life of a true space slacker
"I am here."
"We, on the other hoof, are just surviving- as anyone else would do their best to, in our position."
"I am here."
The job turned lethal, and yet by a fluke I didn’t actually die. And for all the time since, I’ve persistently not died. That’s all. That doesn’t feel like heroism to me. Billions of people on Earth fail to die every day."
"I am here."
Boys and girls. You are still there. And that is more than enough.
What, no mention of one of the greatest heroes of them all, Sojourner?
You cannot define yourself as a hero. To be a hero, another must think you are such. Another must look up to you.
They are all so very right.
In addition, as you can see another planet in space only when it is above your hemisphere, relative to your position, you must look up to anyone on Mars, so HA!
/s
The hero title is given by other people, It doesn't depend on the person, that recieves it. You will be hero for them even when you say you are not.
9055167
But what if they're on Venus?
Then they're down-well towards the sun no matter what your orientation is.
MUAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!
No, seriously. 'Down' is now defined as the direction that points to the center of the dominant gravity well.
So one could argue with a little fudging, that if you stand on the Earth at high noon and look at the sun, you're not looking up, you're looking DOWN.
According to Discworld, no martter how many chocoaltes you eat, if you dont empty the box, you will always find another chocolate somewhere under the wrappers.
Sort of like a candy version of L Space.
Wonder if they totally emptied Pinkies Suprise.
Let's all play the Hero Game! The rules are simple: point at someone and call them a hero, all the while denying that you yourself are a hero. Simple enough, right?
"We're not heroes, but he is."
"Nah, I'm not a hero. They are."
"Oh come on, yes you are."
"No, you are."
"No, you."
"No, you."
9055022
Good, it wasn't just me!
Would it be possible to put a nozzle on the water telegraph so less water comes out of it?
9054548
On a sled? With the smaller gravity it might be doable. Didn't run the math on that though.
WOHOO, congrats on 10k unique views on this story!
9055372
That's the spirit!
A beautiful chapter of heroes being heroic by denying that heroism. Great way to commemorate what Pinkie might call the launchiversary.
9055304
Define "dominant." I'm reading it as "the mass exerting the most gravitational force on you." Given how probes sent to Venus don't fall towards the Sun... (well, not once they're in Venerian orbit, anyway. )
one of my favorite lines in the original book:
Now on to my next task: sitting around with nothing to do for twelve hours.
I better get started!
9055372
reminds me of when i tried to describe the episode "non-compete clause" to a friend:
"oh, it was my fault."
"no, it was my fault."
"no, MY fault!"
"MY FAULT!"
(she cracked up at that point)
Look, you’re ALL heroes. Now shut up and get back to Earth so Glimglam can recast that damn beacon spell that Twiggles so wants from her.
9055056 It's not Poirot who's the problem. It's that utter useless moron Captain Hastings.
9055065 "I don't know what a hero is, but if it's a rock, I'm not one."
It's weird to think the ponies have been there for a whole year, when it's a daily updating story that started in January, and it's only July now. I hadn't realised we'd skipped nearly half their days
9055417
Pretty sure that would just pressurize the stream. A fixed mass of water is passing through, sending it through a smaller nozzle on the Mars end won't change that.
9055485
Have you been flung into deep space, far from the nearest star, lately?
9055760
Depends on the nozzle. Water behaves disturbingly like electricity, sans the need to have it in a loop, or 'circuit'.
Voltage is pressure.
Amperage is current or flow rate.
Resistance is a restriction.
If voltage (pressure) remains constant, but you increase the restriction/resistance, than your current, or flow rate, will reduce. This is EASILY demonstrable by partially turning on the nearest water faucet and then opening and closing the valve to observe how much water comes out. The line pressure to the faucet is not going to change, but your flow rate will.
And no, opening the faucet will not change the line pressure by any considerable amount. Not on a city line anyway. The line pressure is usually dictated by how high above you the holding tank of the nearest water tower is. Thus, it acts as your pressure source. The size of the system makes your tiny line pressure relief point look absolutely miniscule.
9055304
Given that the sun doesn't suck you off Earth while you are in Earth's gravity well, from your point of reference, you cannot perceive the sun's pull. The definition is sound, but still dependent on your relative location.
9055485
We're all falling toward the sun. We happen to be going sideways, as well, is all.
9056159
I stand corrected. And the TEU and FEU led to massive changes in shipping infrastructure worldwide.
9055786
Based on my understanding of the water supply in the pony suits, it is effectively just a tube attached to what is essentially a one-way teleport end point. When triggered, more water is teleported at a given rate. Putting a nozzle on the end of the tube won't alter the flow from the source because it doesn't operate based pressure.
9055726
Congrats on chapter number 200! I know there've been interlude chapters which you probably don't count, but I do.
Looking forward to seeing this come to a completion, however long that'd take.
Actually, if you go by Mars time, it still won't be a year for a long time. Since a year is defined as the amount of time a planet takes to do a full rotation around the sun. A year where they are is 687 days.
Happy 200th chapter everyone!
Dear Princess Celestia,
Today I learned that being a hero isn't about how YOU feel. You may consider yourself the most heroic of ponies, or you may feel you were only doing a job. You may feel proud of what you have accomplished, and/or guilty that you didn't accomplish more. But these things do not define whether or not you are a hero. What really makes someone a hero is when other people, upon viewing the situation with knowledge and understanding, find that your actions or behavior were heroic to them. Which only makes sense: true heroism is selfless. It is most often revealed in how we help and inspire others, unrelated to how it effects us ourselves.
Five Sols left until Mark has spent an entire Earth Year on Mars.
9055275
And often times that will make you seem more of a hero because your humble