Chapter 21: Spin
Cozen’s own workshop was no less busy with activity.
The priceless motor from Vanaheimr stood on display at one end of the room, though it had been so thoroughly taken apart that Quill almost didn’t recognize it at first. There was a thin exterior shield around it, which had been completely removed to expose its internal workings. Even Quill slid past the technicians to stare at the object.
“Ingenious, isn’t it?” Cozen asked, settling down beside the motor and taking hold of the crank somepony had affixed to the rotor shaft. She turned, and another little coil started glowing orange. Apparently this display had been run many times before, because a thin film of soot collected on the coil, making it only a faint glow. “There is far greater complexity here than you might first anticipate, but less than you would imagine from a device that can generate electricity.”
“And you’re reproducing it,” Quill said, spinning around towards the center of the workshop. The usual tables and stations in the center had been cleared, making way for a large wooden harness holding up a pair of massive metal objects. “They’re sewing?”
Cozen laughed, nudging him towards the center of the room. As they moved, ponies backed away, dropping what they were doing with mutters of “Lord Commander.” He couldn’t help but notice their eyes darting to his scarred and burned body. They respect and honor me. They’re not staring at a cripple.
“Creating this metal thread has been the most difficult task before us. That mechanism on the far wall is the best we can manage, using a stretching spell and a blade to pull the heated copper as thin as we can. Our work still seems like the imitation of a foal, but… It should work.”
Quill leaned in close, inspecting the central core already tightly wrapped with metal, which wouldn’t prevent it from spinning freely within the other. “So this… It looks like it’s meant to secure inside the larger ring. Then it spins, and… where does the lightning come from?”
Cozen was silent for a long moment, the eyes of every craftspony settling on them. “Well, it’s rather obvious, Lord Commander. The secret is…” She leaned in close, whispering into his ear. “I have no idea, Quill. There are a few other parts in the motor, and we’re copying those too. They switch the lunar and solar wires several times a second—I don’t know why, don’t even ask.
“And that’s why it works!” she said, for the whole room to hear. “Why don’t we continue this conversation in my office, Lord Commander? We’re distracting from this important work.”
He followed her out, around the corner to her office. It was larger than his own, with huge blueprints pinned on every wall. Many of them were even more fantastic than the incredible things they’d already built, though he couldn’t exactly say what most of them were actually supposed to do.
“My ponies are upset,” she said. “And I guess they should be. Nopony knows why it works. They all want to be on the other crew, building the flywheel. That’s big and dramatic, and it makes sense. But frankly, Quill—we’re not even completely sure it will work. All we can do is copy what the little motor did and hope it still works when we make it big.”
“Nightmare Moon might explain it for us,” he said, though even he couldn’t muster any real enthusiasm as he said it. “She’s… a limited resource of her own. The more questions we ask, the less willing she is to answer more questions.”
Cozen rolled her eyes. “Giving us this was… maybe all we needed. But I do have some concerns. We can copy, sure—an apprentice can copy light spells all day long. But if they don’t understand the runes they’re drawing, they won’t be able to improve on them. They won’t be able to make a more efficient spell, or one that can be cast on common glass, or survive being immersed in liquid. All innovations might one day be needed. But if all they can do is copy, then they’re limited to make nothing but inferior copies forever. Sooner or later we need to understand why.”
“Vanaheimr has…” He spoke slowly, lowering his voice to a whisper. Even knowing there were no more voidseekers to overhear, he was still cautious. “Much that we could learn. It’s vast, and the ponies who built it were incredibly wise. Could you… get me a long-distance teleport? Like… other side of the moon? It was day there when we were in darkness, I know that.”
“You want way runes,” Cozen said flatly. “And from the sound of them, you want way runes that our princess won’t notice. Am I hearing you right? The ancient, powerful artifacts that bridge the ancient castles for officers and nobility to walk between while we common folk drag ourselves through dusty trails?”
He nodded. “If that’s how, then… yes.”
“Forget it.” Cozen turned her back on him, pushing aside a rolling board covered with more plans and settling down in her seat. “Lord Commander, we can do many things, but break the first supposition of space is not one of them. Long-distance spells require the runes already be drawn in both locations. Only Alicorns, and… I suppose, undead servants of demons, can break that rule.”
But his eyes were already lighting up. “You say the runes need to be drawn. Does it matter who does the drawing?”
Cozen looked thoughtful, or maybe just annoyed. Finally, she shook her head. “No, Quill. But… I think you should abandon this for now. I can’t spare a single pony, and I couldn’t even begin to make your way runes without a detailed map. When we’re finished with this… if we’re still alive, maybe that’s when we should try. Or maybe we can just ask the princess to take us.”
I did. She doesn’t seem to want anypony else to see it.
Quill turned to go. “Continue your work, engineer. I want to be alerted as soon as you’ve finished assembling this… motor. I want to be there when we learn that we’re all going to suffocate, if that’s the future waiting for us.”
“And when we’re not, you get to take all the credit, as always,” she snapped. “Don’t think I don’t see how this works.”
Quill didn’t dignify her with a response, slipping back out the way he’d come, and staying well back from the working craftsponies as he left the workshop behind. He made similar visits every few days, to encourage his ponies and remind them that their progress was critical for Moonrise’s survival. As time wore on, crowds of cold ponies congregated outside the forge, basking in the warmth radiating out its thin walls. If everything worked out, the strange machine Cozen dubbed a “heat engine” would be installed just in time for the first rays of sunlight.
“Penumbra?” Quill stopped limping through the cavern, holding his thick coat closer about his shoulders. It was a good thing the prosthetics didn’t care about the icy chill of lunar night, because even with the foundry running the cave was still too cold to visit for anything but short periods.
Quill had only come to inspect the now-frozen water collectors, so he could see the clever way they were drained before the frost, so the water wouldn’t shatter them. “It’s been days now, is something wrong?”
She emerged from the cavern behind him—not visible exactly, since he hadn’t taken a glowstone. But he could hear her. At least Aminon’s assassination had left him his hearing.
Penumbra stopped on the gravel path, her steps halting and confused. “I… I don’t know, Quill.”
He hurried to her side, as fast as a crippled old stallion could “hurry” anywhere. But this time she pulled away from his touch. Even in the frightening cold, a little of the fear scent filled the air around her. But what could she possibly be afraid of? “If snatching the map from the princess’s supplies is too dangerous, I won’t ask you to do it. I’ll find a way to get it from her myself.”
“No!” She shoved against his chest, now exasperated. “That’s… the stupidest… Of course I’m not afraid! The princess barely even looks at her old papers! I’d already have it if I thought we could use it. It’s… You really don’t get it?”
He froze, looking reflexively in her direction. There was nothing to see in the complete darkness, only shapes as his mind projected them from sounds. She was a foot away, wings spread in distress. But she wouldn’t let him touch her. “I don’t get it,” he said flatly. “Whatever I’ve done, Penumbra… anything at all, please. Tell me.”
She tensed. Apparently him not understanding what he’d done wasn’t the right reaction. She spread her wings, flapping once, but not enough to take off. She caught herself before she could retreat. Each word was a strain from her. “You helped me to… get my free will, when Nightmare tried to force me.”
“Yes,” he said. “I’d do it a thousand times over. I’d help every one of Nightmare’s slaves if I could. I’m trying to help the princess. I think that’s why the Voidseekers ran away. Nightmare didn’t want to lose its servants.”
She closed the distance between them, pushing him back hard enough that his hooves slid along the stone. He no longer had the strength to resist, though the prosthetic braced automatically, its springs and gears resisting the pressure from outside his body. “What you did—was it just words?”
“I… what?” He tilted his head to one side. “Penumbra, you know what we do is more than words. I don’t know why you’re interested in me. I couldn’t explain that with every unicorn spell in the world. But you’ve been as much a part of that as I have.”
She scoffed. “And you haven’t put any spells on me,” she said stubbornly. “You aren’t trying to enchant me… there are no secret charms hidden on your bed?”
“Look for yourself,” he said flatly. “Penumbra, what are you talking about? I’m a bat, you know that. I don’t have any more unicorn magic than you do. I barely understand what the ponies under me create with their spells. I really just point them in the right direction and hope nothing explodes.”
She backed away. “I need to… go. For a bit. Try not to get assassinated. I won’t be able to keep an eye on you.”
He winced, raising a hoof after her. But she took off, scattering snow and gravel. There was nothing he could do to follow now that his flight had been stolen. She escaped into the darkness, leaving him alone and more confused than ever.
At least nopony else tried to kill him that day, or the next one. He supervised from his section as work crews settled as much of the pipe as they could without the princess’s help to slice through the stone. As before, they waited to involve Nightmare Moon until the last possible moment. And when that moment finally came, it was Quill himself who had to make the recruitment call.
Again he knocked on her throne room door, waited for an answer for a few minutes, then barged in anyway.
This time he found the princess painting. A massive wooden easel sat right before the throne, and a palette of brilliant colors floated in the air beside her as she worked. The canvas was facing him, so he couldn’t see it as he crossed the room.
She looked up, biting on the back of a brush as she concentrated.
Quill got within twenty feet or so, then sat down to wait. He had seen that intensively creative expression on the face of many a pony before, and he knew better than to interrupt it.
Eventually she levitated her palette down flat on a low table, turning to look at him. “My Lord Commander returns to interrupt again.” She lifted the canvas in her magic, turning it sideways and moving it towards the wall. He caught a single glimpse as she turned it away from him—a landscape, depicting a field of green grass under the sun. There was fair skill manifest in the trees and swaying flowers—but before he could really study her work, she’d slipped it through the curtain that led to her quarters, and it was out of sight.
“You only grace me with your presence when you have something to demand of me. What do you require this time?”
He hesitated, feeling a little stab of guilt he hadn’t expected at her words. She was right. “I… I always thought you preferred not to be disturbed, Princess.” He lowered his head. “If I was mistaken, I could… make alterations to my schedule accordingly?”
She nodded. “You err in many things, Lord Commander. It is the mark of maturity to correct one’s errors.”
She doesn’t want to admit what’s actually bothering her. The princess wasn’t the first pony to ever act that way around him, though. Quill had known plenty of soldiers who were unwilling to speak openly of their feelings. Was the Princess of Nightmare lonely?
“Perhaps we could… involve you in our meetings again, Princess? I take an audience from the leaders of Moonrise every three days. You might want to be in attendance for that meeting.”
She scoffed. “Perhaps.”
Not that, then. “Or… maybe you’d like to meet for tea? It’s been years since I’ve performed the ceremony for a noble pony like yourself, but… I was formally trained. I believe I still remember all the steps.”
“That sounds agreeable,” Nightmare Moon said. “All the better not to allow a rift of information to grow between the ruler of this city and the one who administrates her will. For instance, I have no idea what has consumed the effort of so many ponies for these last weeks. I hear hammers and feel the blast of magic outside, and know it must be substantial. Yet you have not told me.”
You didn’t ask. “Of course, Princess.” He bowed, and this time he didn’t have to lie. “I’ve come for that purpose exactly. And… I must admit, to request your help. The constraints of the magic are beyond any of us, but your powers would make them simple.”
“Of course they would,” she said, exasperated. “Let me guess. You wish to build something on the surface.”
He explained the idea as best he understood it, from everything that had been built in the last few weeks, to the pipes they would have to run straight up through the stone.
“I suppose there is some chance your plan will succeed,” she said. “It appears your cleverness has certain boundaries—you haven’t considered the loss of your energy to friction, or electrical resistance. Yet we may generate enough that it doesn’t matter. I will want to see your generator first.”
“Of course, Princess.” He rose, hurrying to keep up with her as best he could. “We’ve already tested the, uh… ‘generator.’ I’m sure you’ll be as impressed as I was.”
Quill stood at the back of their newest tunnel. Instead of Penumbra’s protective outline beside him in the gloom, the princess herself stood there, her horn glowing brightly and her expression an unreadable mask.
Before them was the currently most important construction in all of Moonrise. If these machines didn’t work, then everypony in the colony was dead. Even Quill was awed by what he saw, and for a moment it was all he could do to stumble towards the massive flywheel. And massive was the operative word—it was the entire point.
It had taken Nightmare Moon’s own magic to connect this new section to Moonrise’s heat core, taking them far enough from the city structure that they could work. Water boiled, then rushed through a newly-cut valve, hollow in the center where its shaft spun amid gears. The steel pillar holding it up had taken a not-insignificant portion of their spare and donated weapons, despite the much-reduced weight of everything on the moon’s surface.
“Deceptively clever,” Nightmare Moon whispered, approaching the flywheel beside him. “I suspect we will have some reengineering to do—it would be better to operate this in vacuum, where we won’t lose so much energy to friction.”
The cylinder towered over even her. Her magic reflected back the faint runes covering its surface. Some were magic, but most were merely decorative. Quill could read those, describing the brave ponies of Moonrise and their refusal to bow to demons. It was hard to be angry at the waste of resources used to make it when he agreed quite firmly with the message.
“There is… an equation. To figure how much energy is stored within a moving object such as this. I admit to never completing that class.” She looked away, marching slowly around to the far side of the flywheel, where the other machines had been erected. On this side the cavern was packed with ponies—engineers, craftsponies, construction workers, all bowing to the princess.
The flywheel was connected to mechanical drive apparatus of complexity that Quill could scarcely understand. One was a rapidly rotating metal shaft rising to the ceiling, where steam spun a series of interconnected cups before cooling through a distribution-mesh that would double as a cavern-heater. That shaft spun gears of different metals, larger and larger until they slowly accelerated the main flywheel.
“Complex,” Nightmare Moon said. “Who designed this? Wait…” She hesitated, pointing twice into the crowd. “You two purloined my tub several moons ago. No doubt this was your creation, come forward.”
They hurried up. Both now wore the silver wraps around their necks, with a few metal pins to signify their rank. As though the princess actually had to guess. “Yes, Princess?” Sylvan asked. “If we have erred in our work, we’re eager to learn from our mistakes.”
The princess shook her head. “It isn’t that. I was going to ask how we engage the generator and begin producing electricity. I would’ve asked the Lord Commander, but I’ve learned not to bother with such things. He would just have called you forward anyway. I’ve skipped a step.”
“Yes, well…” Cozen gestured to the series of several levers just beside the massive “motor.” It looked much like the one they’d taken from Vanaheimr, except it was considerably larger. Larger, and clumsier in every other way. Each one of their little nails and screws was a clumsy imitator of the perfection that had assembled that device. “I wanted this to be a proper load test. We’re waiting for the flywheel to reach what I believe to be the maximum safe speed so that we see a proper test of the—”
Nightmare Moon cut her off with a wing. “Enough. Quill, tell her why that would be unwise.”
He hesitated, thinking desperately for what the princess might be expecting. Only one possibility came to mind. “We don’t need to risk the… most demanding use of the machines right away,” he said. “There’s no reason not to do a more cautious test first. Is that what you were thinking, Princess?”
She rolled her eyes. “More or less. This used nearly all the energy we had left, and in doing so created numerous other problems for you to solve. Prepare to move the air infrastructure here, or else rapidly master the principles of high voltage—” She shook her head. “I am not your tutor. Demonstrate the device now, unicorn.”
Cozen looked briefly like she might’ve argued further. But Nightmare Moon’s mane flashed, as an illusory star fell to punctuate her anger. Instead of arguing with the princess, she began to pull at her oversized levers, explaining as she went.
“We first disengage from the heat-engine… like this.” She shoved, and the oversized chain connecting them lurched to a stop. The shaft leading to the engine began speeding up, filling the air with an uncomfortable hum. But she ignored that, moving a series of other levers in order. “Then we… move the drive into place on the generator, and… engage the gears, and…”
The wheel jerked, producing a harsh grinding sound. A series of previously-stationary gears began to spin, leading all the way to the motor several times larger than a pony.
Thick metallic rope as wide around as a pony’s leg ran out one end, connected to a coil packed in ice for the demonstration. For a fraction of a second there was nothing, and Quill’s heart seemed to stop beating.
Then it started to glow, a faint orange, then bright white, shining through the ice even as it hissed and bubbled, puffing into steam where it touched. Like their first experiments with lightning, before they’d been able to trickle it out in little sips.
Even with the intimidating Nightmare Moon before them, ponies began to cheer, stomping at the cavern floor. To anypony listening from down the hall, it would probably sound like a stampede. Dust settled down on them from above, before a flash from Nightmare Moon’s horn ended the celebration.
Bats and other ponies fell instantly silent, staring sidelong at the night princess. Was that pleasure on her face, or disappointment?
Even Quill stared, though he didn’t drop into a pathetic bow. Ice continued to melt away from the dense coil of wire, pooling at the bottom of the container and hissing away to steam wherever it touched the coil.
“It is… good for you to be satisfied in your achievements,” Nightmare Moon said. “You have done well. All repay my trust in you. You reflect well on the villages and cities that you came from. Know that with every new achievement, we grow closer to our return to Equestria, and the vengeance we are owed. Fight on a little longer. Remain obedient to those I have placed over you—and together, we will one day return to Equestria.”
She turned, stopping close enough for him to overhear, and speaking so quietly that not even the other bats would be able to hear. “Don’t think we’re done, Quill. The difficulties facing Moonrise are only beginning. Your crippled flank isn’t free to die until I say so.”
Was that Nightmare Moon’s way of telling him that he was an appreciated member of her staff? But of course she couldn’t say anything like an ordinary pony, she had to make it a threat and show of dominance some way or another. “I understand, Princess. I’m not immortal, but… I don’t intend to leave my post yet.”
“Good,” she said. “But if you thought age was an excuse, you should’ve spoken to Nightmare while you still could. Then that mare I gave you wouldn’t seem so…” She stopped, glancing around with sudden confusion. “I don’t see her in the crowd. Penumbra grows so skilled at her profession that even I can’t see her watching you.”
She squinted around the room for a few more seconds, then shrugged. “No matter. I expect you promptly for tea tomorrow.” She left.
Quill waited with bated breath for a few more seconds, probably sharing everypony else’s fear that she might return at any moment. But the princess didn’t return, and after a few more moments the cavern began to relax.
As soon as she was gone, Cozen jerked into action, hurrying back to the levers to reverse whatever she’d been doing. The brilliant glow began to fade, though it didn’t go out right away. There was tremendous inertia, even with the shaft spinning inside the motor. The coil settled from white to orange, and then a dull red, slowly cooling.
“I call that a successful test,” Sylvan declared. “Preemptive, perhaps. But that’s to be expected. The whole thing isn’t rattling itself apart. We’ve essentially built…” He stopped, surveying the room in a single glance. “An ‘electricity’ workshop? I don’t quite like the sound of it, but I’ll admit I can’t think of anything better just now.”
Cozen was still working the controls. There were almost a dozen levers, knobs, and dials, many of which seemed to be connected to the steam machine. It hissed a little as steam emerged from a relief-valve on one side, spraying the ceiling with white smoke hot enough to melt the skin right off a bat’s wings. Good thing there were no bats up there flying, but even so ponies scattered away from it.
“Well… yes,” she said, biting her lip as she concentrated. “Nothing’s broken. But just because it didn’t immediately explode doesn’t mean we’re finished. The princess is right, we have to transition everything from lightning over to this… new source of electricity. We can’t just connect some wire to a pot and have as much power as we want.”
Silver Needle emerged from the crowd, clipboard clutched in her magic. “Whatever you’re about to suggest better not be moving the workshops here. Because—we can’t. We don’t have the resources.”
“We can…” Sylvan looked to Quill for help, though there was only so much he was willing to give. He knew as well as Silver how little they had to work with. “Well, uh… we produce air here, instead of on the other side of the city. Those machines were mobile once, we can dismantle and move them. As to everything else—it can wait until we can solve the problem of transport.”
“I’m confident that you will,” Iron Quill said. He raised his voice, looking around the room as Nightmare Moon had done. Not that he had the same figure she did. He was only standing thanks to the strange machine wrapped around his body. One of his wings was ragged and half-severed. Maybe it gave him just a little of the fear that Nightmare Moon could inspire with her power.
“Everypony here, see this as the proof of what we can accomplish. The moon has many more challenges before us. There is much for us to do before we’ve mastered this place and made it our home. But every time I have feared that we could not overcome a challenge set before us, you have risen to it. Share that spirit with the other ponies stranded with us here. There are plenty who don’t believe in our mission, or have given up hope. Continue trusting me as your Lord Commander, and I will continue fighting for you. Until my dying breath.”
He lowered his voice, glancing between his four most senior ponies. The engineers, his quartermaster, and Chain Mail who had kept the peace even while the Lord Commander lay for months on his deathbed. “We’ll figure it out. For now, I don’t want any of you to exert yourselves. Particularly you, Cozen. I know that flushed look—if I had to guess, I’d say we might soon be seeing the newest member of Moonrise.”
She glared up at him from the controls, though Quill could see just a hint of pride. It grew all the more pronounced when Sylvan jerked to the side.
“Hold on… what is he talking about, Cozen? Are you…?”
Quill turned away, before he could get caught up in the argument. His old experience could count for something to hold over young stallions like Sylvan.
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The first moon born pony... How much longer until they stop wanting to return to Equestria?
I wonder how adversely the low gravity is affecting them...
Poor Penumbra. She really doesn't know how to handle the applied power of love. I'm not sure what's happening to her, but she certainly doesn't like it. Could be anything from the Nightmare trying to tighten its grip to her heart starting to beat again.
In any case, the power plant's up and running. Now the question is how much teatime with Nightmare Moon will get her to care about her people again. And how much she's allowed to care about them. It could have been an unfathomable struggle for her to even manage the tsundere routine.
9843967
Officially and culturally? Never. But it's like saying "Next year in Israel" at a Passover seder. The words will be there, but the feeling may leave eventually.
They have a thousand years to chill. Think of how far we have come in a thousand years, with our science and technology. Given enough time, the normal ponies might develop rockets, and just ditch Nightmare Moon once they figure out she's the only one "glued" to the moon
9844022
That might just be Penny's problem. She's feeling love, I get the feeling that wasn't very much a thing when she was alive... and now that she's dead, how is she supposed to feel about that. There can be no children, she'll "outlive" her love and she's sold her soul (or possibly rented it) to a demon that wants nothing but death.
If she isn't a mess mentally than she either isn't thinking on it too hard or she's ignoring her reality... That said I'm hoping for at least some real time for her and Quill... They deserve it.
Now hopefully NMM doesn't get too upset about Penumbra's... time off.
Magnets, how do they work?
Visiting without the Nightmare's consent rather seems like picking a fight.
Weird reaction from Penumbra. I wonder if her undeath is somehow turning into just normal life and she's all sorts of freaked out by that.
Interesting.
There's still the one, but maybe that's a work in progress.
Let there be light.
Seems more like Luna to me.
While he still could? Does that mean we really are speaking with Luna and not Nightmare Moon?
That was a good moment for a congratulatory and encouraging speech.
I wonder how the low gravity will affect the child. It'll have to be addressed eventually.
9844556
O_O'
Lack of minerals and vitamies found in most fruits and vegetables.
Lower bone density, due to the gravity.
Princess Luna will realise that, if the new generations are brought back to Equus, they would all, die.
9845833
Some sort of training program? It's really not that hard to simulate gravity, justy use centrifugal force. By then(if they're all still alive) they could probably construct some sort of O'Neil cylinder to train in with magic.
But If they end up developmentally crippled... woof.
Best Oxygen Not Included crossover I've ever read :P (kidding, but I've been stuck playing that game for several weeks now and the similarities are fun)
9845923
Let us not forget one of the most important threats of all lifeforms: microorganisms.
The ponie's immune systems would no doubt struggling, or fail, to fight off the simple germs, microbes, and viruses that would have evolved, after 1000 years.
What is to say that, germs on the Moon, would evolve differently then germs on Equus.
Such as the deaths of millions to sickness, after Christopher Columbus' arrival on the American continent.
9844488
Reminds me of the human protagonist in Article 2. You ever read it? It's one of my favorite HiE fics, and the main character likes to annoy Twilight by calling magic magnets.
As for how magnets actually work, a charged particle in motion creates a magnetic field. If you have an atom with an unpaired electron, you have a tiny magnet. Put a bunch of those atoms with unpaired electrons together, with the electrons all moving the same way, and you have a bigger magnet.
9849523
I think that's what I was referring to. However, large concrete structures undergoing significant temperature changes tend to crack, in general, because of the temperature gradient generated in the process, and because the tensile strength and crack resistance of concrete is so low. Steel reinforcement lets well-designed structures survive the cracks, or puts enough pre-tension to survive them. The goal is to keep everything loaded in compression always. This is much easier if your structure doesn't have dynamic loads like earthquakes or heavy trucks. I reference concrete because I'm assuming fused regolith is substantially stronger but broadly comparable.
Being on the moon, and only coping with temperature cycling and atmospheric pressure, I think the right way to go would be to have a fused arch-shaped layer as the gas envelope and main structure, and then enough loose dirt on top of it to overcome atmospheric pressure and then some to make sure all structural members are loaded in compression. Then you'd have similar building characteristics to the roman stuff that stayed up for millenia, ie minimal weathering, minimal dynamic loading, arches and compression.
To be clear, I had no problem with suspension of disbelief and I understand this isn't a NASA whitepaper on moon base construction.
Why do they need the fly wheel immediately when the heat core acts as a heat battery? For that matter is the heat for the core used to warm things before lighting use? Could they have set up a smaller version to use while they made the big one?
9851149
To make the motion more even. Look at first steam engines and you always will see a flywheel. Raiload engines have their own bulk for the purpose. It not only helps to pass a deadlock point, it also reduces fluctuations in speed because flywheel provides inertial dampening. Periodic jerking motion would cause too much of load on parts, levers and bearings.
Get rid of air friction, yes. Have extra atmosphere of pressure on the vessels, less good.
I suppose she doesn't remember or know, that vacuum introduces a new type of friction, caused by vacuum welding. Grease would evaporate or freeze, metal parts may stick together if enogh pressure applied. There are reasons why space race caused quite a revolution in metamaterial research, welding tech, solid-state greases and solid-state electronics.
9849433
https://youtu.be/lFabsRFnWy0
Ehehe! Nimmy's getting sassy~
In other topics, that this story is quite rapidly becoming a fusion of information and storytelling delights me beyond words! The magitech and standard technology being rediscovered by ponies living in the Dark Ages is incredible to watch, and knowing that, even though they'll all be dead by the end of the 1000 years, knowing that their descendants will live to see Equestria, and bring such technology with them? That brings an incredible feeling, describable only as positive.
Moustache for you!
9851149
they are simply mimicking.. they do not understand the science yet