Go left regardless of context or apparent dangers. 66%
Applejack’s eyes narrowed as Twilight fought with her crowbar on the entrance to the service stairwell. A layer of creamy white film had formed over the doorway, and she had to work the prying end of the crowbar along the edge, working it gently as the metal started to give.
“So… let me get this straight…” Applejack repeated. “We’re not going to try an’ fix up one of the here automated chariots and fly there. Instead we’re going… left.”
“Right.” Twilight grunted, then pushed with her magic. The door flexed a little in the doorway, bending around where she’d slipped in the handle.
“Because Pinkie Pie said a few words about it.”
“Yes.”
“Even though she couldn’t see that friendly ramp going straight down towards our destination. Even though she doesn’t have Node with her telling us that the ramp is probably the way.”
“Yep.” A little more pressure, and she could almost… yes! There was a screech of metal, and a burst of compressed air from the tube. Dirt and debris blasted away from them, but it was nowhere even strong enough to push the cart. It also didn’t last—just a few seconds, and the flow of air seemed to have reversed direction, with a breeze carrying past them into the tube.
“It’s not rational, cap. I know you put good stock in that pony’s intuition, but there’s no magic in a guess. It’s just a guess. And she’s got way less to judge on than we do.”
“I know,” Twilight said, sliding the crowbar back onto their cart. “But Pinkie Pie’s intuition has never led me wrong before. This is our first opportunity, before this it was all straight lines and ramps. Now we have a left turn, we’re taking it. Just watch it pay off.”
“I’m watching all right,” Applejack said, eyeing the shadowy interior of the tunnel. It rose above them, with a ceiling high above even the tallest ponies and a set of steps just barely close enough for ponies to walk. Any taller and they’d have to jump from step to step, who knew how far. “But just so we’re clear about this, Cap. If there’s anything even looks at us funny, we come back up and try my way. Yeah?”
Twilight hesitated. She knew better than just say what her crew wanted to hear, particularly around Applejack. A pony who knew how to keep her own promises would also hold Twilight to any she made. It wouldn’t be just words.
“We’ll reevaluate our decision if we encounter anything dangerous,” Twilight said. “But we haven’t seen any sign of danger on this planet so far. Whatever threat was once here seems long gone. Maybe the ponies with them.”
“I sure hope so, Twi. I hope so.” Then she hesitated, glancing past Twilight. “Wait just a gosh darned minute, Cap. We don’t have to hope. Node, you tell us! This planet’s yers, right? So is it safe or ain’t it?”
Node beeped cheerfully in response, its voice coming over the radio with minimal delay. “Safety relative to the fathomless abyss—high. Safety relative to unknown homeworld of equine creatures—low.”
“See!” Applejack pointed an accusatory hoof. “This is a trap, ain’t it? You lured us here so you could blow us up!”
“Applejack!” Twilight glowered, pushing past her engineer. She almost cut her right off the radio. She might’ve, except that she cared more about making sure Node got a better idea of their species. “We don’t really think that, Node.”
“Judgement is… valued,” Node answered. “Destruction of visitor ship trivial computation problem. Not desirable. Node and visitors presently… jointly interdicted. Alien survival is my function. Desire to continue functioning is… extant.”
Twilight turned. “See, it just… this is an old city, Applejack. Even if there were never any weapons here it might be dangerous to us. Gas leaks, machinery still working, structural collapse. That’s what Node means, isn’t it?”
But the drone didn’t respond. Its screen had it up a solid white—a sign that they were not likely to hear more from it in the near future. Twilight thought it meant whoever was speaking through it was out of range, though there was another explanation, equally likely albeit more disturbing. It might be processing their responses.
They passed into the stairs, leaving their carefully marked open ramp behind. Twilight had no choice but to levitate the entire cart behind them—a minor annoyance, except that it was slowly eroding at her magical power.
Do Pinkie Pie's directions refer to their first left?
Yes
Twilight kept her eyes on the little numbers slowly scrolling by on her helmet, watching for them to approach the same z-level as the indicated delivery target.
At least her fears that the shaft might be filled with corpses was in vain. There was nothing at all in here, except for what looked like lighting or computer fixtures that no longer worked, and faded alien writing they couldn’t read. If Node could, it didn’t respond to requests for help, and they were forced to continue on.
On and on and on, for hours. Twilight found herself taking more frequent breaks, stopping to rest her magic and let her headache fade. The trip probably would’ve been over in under an hour otherwise.
That was about the time they realized that they’d passed out of radio range of the Prospector, and Applejack finally put her hoof down.
“Alright,” she said. “We went left. We went… down. How far?”
Twilight shrugged. “Something like… three kilometers.”
“As in… further away than a straight line from our destination?” Applejack raised her voice, just a little. “As in, couldn’t possibly be going the right way anymore?”
Twilight winced, but even as she formed her response, the words already sounded stupid. “Sloping down like this… the only doors are on the right.”
“Alright,” Applejack stepped sideways, blocking the way down. “Alright, cap. I reckon we’ve gone far enough fer one day. Figure… maybe suit air is getting to ‘ya. Either that, or…” She winced, looking away. But Twilight could guess what she was thinking, even if Applejack was too professional to say.
It was time to make another choice.
1. Set up the emergency shelter right in the stairs and get a rest cycle in. We’re most of the way there already. We just need some sleep, and we can tackle this fresh in the morning.
2. Go back to the surface right now and try Applejack’s idea. This was a stupid idea. I can’t believe I trusted an almost insane pony who sent a message over the radio without even seeing this. We could keep walking until we get to the core of this damn planet. At least that way we can sleep with metal around us instead of plastic.
3. Push through any tiredness and try to find the way through right now. We can’t be far from our destination now. Hoping for the stairs to end was obviously silly, but we could go back up a bit until elevation is right and try a door. See where that takes us.
4. Leave the probe behind right here and get back to the Prospector. Close enough! You can walk the rest of the way!
(Confidence 205 required)
The power of left compells you!
Damnit Twilight!
Option 4 just seems like an obvious no-go to me. I'm doubtful anything good can come from option 3. As far as I know, they aren't on that strict of a schedule.
To really pick between 1 and 2 with any confidence, I'd have to know what this means precisely:
So does that mean that if we keep going, something probably good will happen? Because in that case, I say rest up and continue in the morning. Option 1 it is for me.
I would so like to see when the story is done how many failures we squeaked by.
Well, the probe can't walk, abandoning it would be giving up the mission at this point. Deciding which way to go, either forward or back, would basically be a bit toss at this point. They seem tired, grumpy, maybe even hungry and thirsty, yeah, go with number 1 and take a breather.
1
In absens of option 1.2: Check doors for a room to shelter in, I go whit 1
Why do I feel like this failure was the expected outcome - while I do believe Pinkie's hint did mean something, simply turning left at the first intersection on their way for no apparent reason ... well, there is little chance was going to be it. Save that hint for when the heroes are lost and genuinely have no idea where to go or how to orient themselves, figuratively or literally, not just take a bloody left step at the first opportunity, Urgh
Option 2 - go back and go the way where our destination actually lies. Not because Applejack says so (she's honestly an ass who will deserve to be called out on it at some point), but because that's what we should have done in the first place ...
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Personally I don't vote for the most sensible option necessarily (what fun is there in making sense) but usually the one I think will make for the more interesting story. I usually try to avoid the most outlandish / risky option too, tho going with Pinkie was perhaps the riskiest last time depending on what one thinks of Pinkie sense and her condition. Admittedly the Pinkie option hasn't yielded anything interesting yet.
Ehh, 1.
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Or how many we have caused.
Eh, going with one.
I still want to see what Pinkie wanted us to see, but I'm not so hasty as to make them go down there in a state of exhaustion, that's a folly.
P.S. Isn't the space between the main narrative and the choices missing?
It only makes sense to take a rest. If you get there and there IS trouble, you wont have as much energy to deal with it. And rested minds make better decisions.
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It feels odd that so many people are sayibg we were foolish to pick this way as what Pinkie Pie meant when the aithor included a note in this chapter confirming that this was indeed the correct turn. Unless Im misinterpreting
Lets see what happens
Take the rest. Sounds like they need it.
Just watch, the first left at the bottom of these stairs will be the janitors closet with all the keys to the doors on the right on this expedition.
But the probe hasn't been bossing them around since getting to the planet and I assume they brought plenty of rations to get by as their ship is fixed by Spike. I say take a rest and continue onward Down. (I'm actually wondering if the Probe is just as interested in Pinkie's vague instructions as Twilight is? It certainly hasn't been as bossy as it was when it wanted them to come down to this planet.)
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So, when I include a question like that, it means that the bot running this story was asked a question and gave us an answer.
In this case, I asked the question with an odds of 7 (roughly 30% chance of being "Yes") because I too thought it was going to be silly. But as it turned out, Pinkie Pie knew better than me, despite all odds, and it ended up being the correct choice.
I say rest there but alternate guard duty
They need that rest.
That's not how traps work, Applejack! You don't tell them it's a trap on the way there, you wait until they've stepped into it and then press the big red button and tell the fine black mist that used to be them that it was a trap all along, bwah ha ha ha ha!
...Actually, now that I think about it, haven't a lot of the villains in the show been pretty blatantly evil? Maybe that is how traps work back on Equestria.
I still think that they're talking to some (relatively) primitive AI running solely on the probe's hardware instead of a real biological alien and/or an AI that's in contact with the city's surviving computer network.
4 would be hilarious, but goes against the everything the crew has done.
2 is 4, but less hilarious. And also uphill this time. (Spelled: three times harder + longer.)
I say 1, but I won't be too upset if 3 takes it.
Chapter 2 Danger Code Sombra
Chapter 14 Cozy's contact signed the message with "-S"
Chapter 40 Long, downward staircase
Anyone else seeing a pattern here?
Oh, Applejack, haven't you been through enough by now (both before and after your stay in the refrigerizer) to know that nothing is ever safe?
And you think it would admit to that while you could still gallop off?
Onward and... downward. But with the benefit of some shuteye (advice I plan to take momentarily).
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HAHA NICE XD I love it
I kind of find it strange that they have NOT opened any doors on their way down the left hand path. Not exploring each and every room can easily be excused but not even opening a few doors and giving them a look on the way past? Nope. Especially during one of Twilights rest breaks where AJ could Easily take a looksie into a few rooms.
sooo #3 for me.
Too bad the highly advanced alien civilization didn't think to equip their emergency stairwells with elevators or slides.
Good to know.
Sleeping on it seems like an advisable option. Things will look clearer in the morning... as long as the tunnel doesn't collapse after untold eons of structural integrity.
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Meh, no wrath of the mods around here from what I've seen, Starscribe was quite polite in pointing out that the roll was random. I love the irony of that even more than if it had been purposeful, actually. XD Perhaps it was foolish in the general sense of things, but since this is a written story based on a show where they have firmly established that Pinkie Pie's pinkie sense is absurdly accurate and generally for people's good (warning of impending danger and the like), I leaned towards following canon rules and figured it was a worthwhile bet that the author had good plans for. So, sort of a combination of faith AND interesting story options.
And if it DOES pay off really well, that will in itself beg the question of whether or not it was truly a foolish move. Trusting in a friend, even a friend going through health issues, might seem foolish to many in both real life and stories, but if it pays off and your trust is rewarded, can it really be called completely foolish? By that I only mean that I think a TRULY foolish move is one that has no reasonable chance of paying off. Despite the odds and Pinkie's health, following her advice had a chance of paying off based on Twilight's past experiences regarding the uncanny accuracy of Pinkie's intuition (it's listed as one of her main strengths as a member of the crew, after all), and a lack of any real evidence that Pinkie's morality or loyalty has been compromised along with her health. And now, whether by luck or fate, there does appear to be a payoff coming.
Seems like many of the readers are devout members of the church of Pinkie.
Their crazy dedication aside, I don't feel like this is the wrong way.
Let me just remind myself of how far they said they'd scout before turning back. I don't want to make Pinkie and Fluttershy worry.
Yep, we're fine. I'll go with majority and say camp. Ah, the sounds of the creaking, unmaintained staircase you're laying on is like a lullaby, innit?
1. Set up the emergency shelter right in the stairs and get a rest cycle in. We’re most of the way there already. We just need some sleep, and we can tackle this fresh in the morning.
The reveal when they discover Node isn't a remote controlled device will be glorious!
I find it interesting that despite the author say to use the poll, ppl are still voting in the comments. Additionally I have noticed that when I clicked on the link to the poll, the poll linked does not match the current chapter's listed choices.
Option 1: Rest
We came this far, and no dangers are presently afoot, we can rest.
My main concern is being out of radio range with the lander.