//------------------------------// // Chapter 96 // Story: Voyage of the Equinox // by Starscribe //------------------------------// Try to force her. 52% “Your civilization might be gone,” Spike began. “But that doesn’t mean their impact on the world has to be. You chose to stay behind, and because of you my friends are still alive.” Node just stared at him. Spike had no idea if he was getting through to her, or if she was plotting some transfer that would remove him from the system for good. Assuming she can even get out without my help. It is a honeypot. “Why should that matter to me?” she asked, voice as empty and bleak as he could imagine. “You’re alive, but everything we ever created is crumbling. Our homeworld is empty, and the others didn’t even fly to the flotilla. Their only contribution to helping the galaxy was creating you. As far as I can tell, we failed there too. It’s all ashes, Spike. All dust before the storm.” “You’re telling me,” Spike glowered up at her, abandoning whatever calm and softness he’d been keeping to before then. Node had certainly suffered, but saying she was the only one—it was absurd. “While you were down on Proximus, I was trying to keep our ship from being blown to Tartarus by that insane stowaway Cozy Glow. I stopped her—and she killed me. I died for this mission, Node. Sometimes it’s not about what we want, or even what we deserve. We do what’s right because it’s right.” Rainbow Dash hadn’t said anything so far, but finally she spoke up, her voice even. “Spike, if you died, how are you, uh… not that I’m trying to take away from that speech or anything. But you seem pretty alive.” “Twilight stopped me from staying dead using the virus that got Apple Bloom,” he answered. “I wouldn’t have wanted her to, but I didn’t get a choice. “I understand how much this hurts, Node. Evidence on the outside, it’s looking like Equestria might be suffering the same fate as your civilization did, or maybe they’re about to. But there’s still a chance they might be out there. Right now the crew might not survive without your technical experience. You’re a great engineer, and now I’m dead. They need you.” Is Node convinced? Yes. Finally she rose from the bench, shoving her pile of smooth stones into the water with a splash. She turned, glaring down at Spike. “I’m going under protest,” she said. “I’m happier here, with the memories. It’s where I belong. But… you’re probably right. At least by saving you, I can help save something we created.” Rainbow’s eyes lit up, but she resisted asking just now. Spike thanked her silently, crossing his claws. We can ask her all about it once we’re out in the real world and she can’t get back down here. “We only have one pony left to find,” Spike said. “I saw a console just a few meters back. Let’s just… find Rarity, then we can get Applejack.” As it turned out, rescuing the last of the group wasn’t terribly difficult. Rarity had created a vast studio for herself, with thousands of designs for uniforms and dresses and accessories that might’ve been quite in fashion in Equestria—if Equestria still existed. All it took was a promise from Spike to commit it all to memory—one he could confidently make since his memory was entirely artificial—and they were back to the farm. “I find it hard to believe that Applejack of all ponies would be the one not to be cooperative,” Rarity said, as they again climbed that old dirt road leading to the farm. “She’s always seemed so… loyal. Doesn’t she want to see her brother and grandmother again?” “I think she realizes they’re dead now,” Rainbow said. Not angerly, her tone was matter of fact. “She’s just telling you how she feels, it’s perfectly in-character. Honesty was her thing more than loyalty.” “Right,” Rarity trailed off, staring in disdain at the muddy roads. She stopped in front of a fallen bit of metal—a broken drone, its little propellers torn up by a tree. “Honestly I’m not thrilled to see these things again, either. They’re the reason we’re in here in the first place. Which… I Suppose there are some parts of me that should be thanking them, but I realize it isn’t an entirely rational desire.” “That’s a Class 2 Anytasker.” Node supplied. She’d kept her alien body even here, just as Spike wasn’t flying around as a recreation of the Equinox. The fences and other infrastructure were all clearly the right size for her, enough to make him just a little jealous. “They aren’t even supposed to be capable of violence. I think the system was spoofed into seeing us as resources and ordering them to harvest.” “Small comfort,” Rarity said. “Why did you rely on them so much?” Node shrugged. “I don’t have memories of interacting with them much. I hardly even knew they existed.” Evening descended around them as they walked, and the orange glow of sunset was replaced with the greater darkness of starlight and fireflies. Spike could see a little of what Applejack found so attractive about this place. It wasn’t Equestria exactly, but it wasn’t far away. Did the signalers really make Equestria? It seemed more likely that Node’s memories were suspect, or at least that her emotional state was so thoroughly compromised as to make her information suspect. There were lights on in the little farmhouse, and voices coming from just ahead. Pinkie, Applejack, maybe Apple Bloom as well. Of course, where else would they go. They reached the door. Spike made to knock, but Rainbow made to shoulder her way in. Spike stopped her with one claw, then lowered her voice to a whisper. “We need a plan to get Applejack out of here. What do we tell her?” Spike would be relying on all their help, but he wanted a game plan going in. -Rainbow: Appeal to her loyalty to the mission. -Rarity: Appeal to all the ponies she might save. -Node: Use brutal honesty about the true nature of the Contingency and frighten her out. (Certainty 200 required)