No, it’s time to be a leader.
Twilight could see the desperation in Applejack’s eyes, the pain and despair. This was a pony on the end of her rope, who had already given so much of herself to save the life of a pony she didn’t even know, who was frayed from sickness and worry over her own death. A pony who had been unexpectedly been returned a member of her own family, only to come so close to having them snatched away again.
“No,” Twilight said, voice flat.
“What do ya mean, no?” Applejack raised her voice, gesturing angerly over her shoulder. “Captain, that’s mah sister in there! She ain’t part a no Equinox crew, she ain’t subject to yer authority. She’s my little sister, and nopony in the universe is gonna stop me from savin’ her!” She probably would’ve kept screaming, if she didn’t break down right then into more hacking coughs.”
“Applejack…” Fluttershy whispered, her voice gentle. She patted her gently on the back with one hoof, offering a bottle of water to the sick pony. “What about yourself?”
It was probably a dirty move to use a moment when the engineer could barely breathe to respond. But Twilight didn’t care. “Applejack, do you want your sister to have the best chance of survival, or do you just want her back quickly?”
Twilight attempts to make a good case. Success
Applejack looked up, blinking away tears. Whether pain from not breathing or actual tears, Twilight couldn’t say. “The best chance, obviously! Here she is, locked up in some… alien laboratory. Suffering all kinda nightmares. Maybe they’re preparin’ her for display in one of those cases!”
“No,” Twilight said firmly. “I know you want your sister back, Applejack. We want to help you. But right now… we don’t have all the resources to help you. You know what pony we should have here to get her out of that pod? Rarity. And we don’t have a clue what pulling her out will do. If we need to fight, it would be really good to have Rainbow Dash here, wouldn’t it? What if that thing on her leg needs surgery to remove? Can’t go to the Equinox right now, not while Spike is working on it.” She wasn’t slowing down now, not giving Applejack even a second to contradict her.
She stopped right beside her, settling a wing over her shoulder. “Applejack, the best way for you to help your sister right now is to get better and make sure our crops come in. Then when we wake her up, we can have the full resources of our expedition to save her. Since we landed on Proximus B, we’ve been rushing from place to place. It’s time to slow down. Time for you to get better, time for us to get the rest of our crew. Then we can save your sister.”
Applejack turned to one side, looking desperately at Fluttershy. “What about you? Don’t you agree with me? What if that was your brother in there?”
Fluttershy shook her head. “My brother wouldn’t want me to work myself to death trying to save him. And I would never wake him from cryo unless I was sure I could wake him up. I wouldn’t gamble on some kit bashed repair that might or might not work.”
Does Applejack listen? Yes.
Applejack glared defiantly at them for a few more seconds, before slumping weakly to the floor. She wept openly now, covering her face with one hoof. “I just want… I just want her to be okay. I know you both… understand. Know you’d do the same for your family.”
“We would.” Twilight agreed. “But right now, the thing we need to do for them is go back to the Prospector.”
That was what they did. Not quickly, not smoothly, and not without taking plenty of pictures and samples along the way. Applejack ended up grabbing the entire control board for one of the other stasis pods to study, along with the pictures. “I’ll be back for you, sis.” She whispered, one hoof on the edge of the pod. “Don’t you worry yerself about it. I’ll have ya’ out before ya know it, I promise.”
Even Node was quiet as they made the trip back.
Twilight helped Applejack settle back in to rest, helped collect and sterilize all the equipment, but there was no quick rest waiting for her. There was a flashing “new message” on the screen by her head—there was only one dragon that could be from.
She pulled up the screen, and sure enough there was the dragon’s message.
Twilight.
Random Event: Spike makes rapid progress towards Equinox repair
Had a breakthrough on the Equinox. I figured a way to sterilize the contaminated sections of the Equinox that wasn’t suggested in any of the manuals. I’ll stay short on details, except that it involves a rapid decompression of the decon foam. It would be a bad idea, except that we’ve got a planet right there with plenty of replacement N2 and O2.
I’m on track to have the Equinox habitable again in two weeks at this rate. Still haven’t fixed the engine, but that’s secondary. I already spaced the irradiated manifold, and I’m fabing a new one now. Applejack can help me install it once the ship is safe.
How are things on Proximus B? Keep me up to date. It’s lonely on the Equinox all alone. When will be waking the others?
-Spike
Twilight replied in brief, not wanting to worry Spike about any of their new discoveries. Instead of lying, she said only that they had “made breakthroughs” and that she would want him there to help as soon as he could to learn about it all. She congratulated him for his ingenuity, then signed off.
Now all I have to do is hold my crew together for long enough for everypony to heal.
How long should Twilight give for R&R?
1. Two weeks—Long enough for Applejack to be working again.
2. A month—Long enough for the first crop of Geneseed, and for the Equinox to be habitable for ponies.
3. Two Months—Long enough for Geneseed and to recover the food reserves, for Spike to come down to the surface, and for ponies to recover their morale. [Applejack refuses to leave the planet without waking her sister, so will not repair the Equinox during this interval]
4. Six Months—Homestead, wake the sleepers on the Equinox, grow a full harvest, and prepare. [these goals might still be achieved with a shorter length; this rest interval only indicates no exploration of the planet or other risky activities will take place during this time.]
(Certainty 210 required.)