//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: Something great 
// Story: Spikenautica 
// by PhysicistBrony 
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Spike soon began to approach the building on the other side of the island. As he got closer, he noticed that the building was in a similar state as the last one, completely rusted. He was rather surprised that the glass observatory was even rusted. As he climbed in, he was met by two pots with food inside.

He grabbed a few Chinese Potatoes and the Marblemelon so he could grow more. He pulled out his scanner and began to scan most of the things in and around the building. After he was done he had scanned 2 different plant pots, a spotlight, a chair, a desk, and the observatory. After looking out of the observatory, he saw a huge landslide and a multi-purpose room half buried under the landslide.

"Wow, somepony else was living here before I got here," Spike said looking at the structure. Spike immediately ran from what he assumes was an observation outpost, and started down towards the base. He ran as fast as his claws could carry him, but slow enough that he wouldn't trip and fall down the mountain. As he got closer he saw that the base seemed to be mostly unburied, but completely rusted through.

When Spike was about to walk in, he saw some weird looking, one eyed, four legged creatures running around the building. He decided he would try to avoid them because they were probably hostile. "My luck is that they will try to devour me alive," Spike thought, even without realizing how true his statement was.

He decided to walk around and up a broken off tube so he could reach the upper level. As he walked up, he had to walk across the top of the building to walk into the remaining area. He walked in and saw a data box and a small storage box on his right with a ladder in front of him. He opened the data box to find the blueprints for swim charge fins, fins that would charge whatever tool he was holding. Sadly, he needed a modification station to build them.

He then decided to go down and look around and only saw a small storage box with a bottle of water. He then noticed the way to the multi-purpose room was blocked by rubble, so he would have to walk outside and get in through the busted open window. As he went around to get in, he saw an outdoor growbed with more Marblemelons and Potatoes. He scanned the growbed, grabbed some food, and turned to the multi-purpose room and went inside through the window.

As he walked in, he saw a purple tablet sitting on a desk. He was surprised by this because it looked way more advanced than any tech Alterra owned. He scanned it and grabbed it to see the PDA next to it. He grabbed and played the message on the PDA.

"What is that thing?" An older male voice is heard saying.

"I don't know. I found it outside, in the sand." A feminine voice is heard saying.

"Part of another ship?"

"None I've ever seen."

"It's not even scratched." A younger male voice is heard saying.

"Don't fool with it, it might be valuable." The older man is heard saying.

"Calm down Metal Torgal, if it was going to crumble to dust it would have done so when I picked it up.

"It's glowing." The younger voice is heard saying with much curiosity.

"We are not the first ponies to come to this planet." Metal Torgal is heard saying.

"Ponies. Maybe. Could be aliens. Could be a super smart seamonsters for all we know. One thing I know is we aren't about to find out sitting up here." The female is heard saying before the message ends.

"Wow, this is actual alien technology! Twilight would love… to…" Spike said before getting sad again. He quickly begins leaving so as not to dwell on Twilight's death too much. He quickly makes his way back to the hollowed out area he came in from, and jumps into the water with his seaglide in his claws. He decided to scan the giant blobs in the underside of the island and then left for his life pod with new intent.

On his way back, he was passing through the kelp forest place and saw a big piece of metal. As he got closer he realised that it was a part of the Aurora. After swimming towards it, he saw parts of different blueprints he was missing, so he began to scan them. After he was done, he had unlocked the mobile vehicle bay, the Seamoth, the grav trap, and ⅓ of the modification station.

After half an hour of swimming because his seaglide battery died in the kelp forest and he didn't have a spare, Spike arrived at his life pod. He began to climb in and look at the parts needed for the mobile vehicle bay, and saw he needed 1 power cell, 1 lubricant, and 1 titanium ingot. "Okay, I've got enough titanium stored to make 3 ingots, so that won't be a problem. The problem is making 2 batteries, mostly because I don't want to use charged ones, so I'll use my 2 dead ones, and I need to go grab some kelp seeds to make the lubricant," Spike said to himself.

As he was talking, Spike began to leave the life pod and make his way to the kelp forest. When he approached, he slowed down and grabbed a chunk of metal on the ground to use as a distraction for the metal eating fish that attacked him the first time he went there. "Let's see, there should be some seeds relatively close by," Spike thought as he started to move towards the forest again. Soon after he got inside, he saw some seed clusters and grabbed one.

Almost as if the seed cluster were it's babies, the metal eating fish came swimming at him hoping for lunch. As the fish neared, Spike shoved the metal out in front of him as an offering. The fish slowed down, confused at the actions of it's purple lunch handing over metal. The fish took the metal and swam away, thinking it would come back and it's lunch would still be there. Sadly for the fish, Spike had no intentions of sticking around and becoming lunch, so he began to swim back to the area his life pod landed in.

As Spike made his way back, he began to think of names for the different areas he had explored. He decided to name the area his life pod landed in "The Shallows" because most of the area was not any deeper than fifteen meters. He named the kelp forest, what else, the "Kelp Forest" for quite obvious reasons. He then thought about what to name the red grassy area, but soon realised that if he didn't collect more copper and acid mushrooms, he wouldn't have enough batteries to power anything so he put the naming on hold.

He then made his way over to an area with some limestone deposits and began to break them open to collect some copper and titanium. After collecting that, he came across some salt and decided to grab it, just in case he needed it. He made a pit stop to grab some mushrooms, and then made his way back to the life pod. As he entered, he realised he was hungry after not having eaten for a few hours, so he grabbed a Peeper, cooked it, and then ate it.

He then got to work on building some batteries, three to be exact. He then converted the titanium into an ingot, and immediately put the seed clusters into the fabricator to make the required lubricant. "How does the seed cluster make both the lubricant and the bottle?" Spike wondered as he watched the lubricant being made. He then put his dead batteries into the fabricator with the leftover piece of silicon rubber from when he made his knife.

After making the required components, he put everything into the fabricator and began to make the Mobile Vehicle Bay. After a few seconds, the fabricator was done fabricating it. He then proceeded to grab the MVB (Mobile Vehicle Bay) and went outside to deploy it. After he deployed the MVB, he climbed on and checked to see what he needed to build the Seamoth.

"Let's see, I need 1 titanium ingot, 1 power cell, 1 lubricant, 2 glass, and 1 piece of lead," Spike stated while thinking about how similar the materials needed for the MVB and the Seamoth were. He jumped back into the water to collect some more copper, and even grabbed a few extra pieces for later use. Then he started to swim towards the Kelp Forest to collect more seed clusters. When he arrives, he sees the metal eating fish swimming around, so he makes a wide arc around it to the nearest seed clusters.

After grabbing some seeds, he starts heading back, only to hear a roar behind him. He looks back and sees the metal eating fish start swimming at him. He quickly pulls out his Seaglide and dives for one of the caves. "Well it's a good thing I need another piece of lead anyways, so I just have to find some sandstone deposits to break open," Spike thought while swimming as fast as the Seaglide would take him. He enters the cave and is met with a drooping purple thing.

Spike was unsure what it was, so he left it alone and continued his search for sandstone deposits. He soon found a few, but only 1 contained lead, but he only needed one piece, so it was ok. He then swam back to the entrance, being wary of the drooping plant, and saw no sign of the metal eating fish anywhere. He then quickly swam out and to the surface and found himself looking at the Aurora. As he was looking at the Aurora, his PDA began to state something.

"Damage to the Aurora drive core will cause a quantum detonation in approximately 1 day," the PDA stated, much to Spike's irritation and worry.

"Man, now I have to worry about the Aurora exploding?! I don't even know if I can fix it," Spike said while swimming back to his life pod and wondering what to do because of the Aurora. As he neared his life pod, he slowed down and put away his Seaglide so he could conserve battery. After reaching the life pod, Spike climbed in and put all the materials he needed through the fabricator so he would have the proper materials to build a Seamoth.

Once they were done, he climbed up and out of his life pod, only to leap at his MVB. He climbed onto the MVB and put in the necessary materials to build a Seamoth. As the MVB began to build the Seamoth, his PDA started talking. "The Seamoth is a fast and safe mode of transportation. Just remember that swimming is good exercise for you too," the PDA stated.

*Sploosh* The Seamoth had just landed in the water. Spike decided to go for a trip to the Kelp Forest to grab more seeds, but wanted to pack and eat food before leaving. As he climbed in his life pod, his radio began to blink. He walked over and played the message, doubting that anypony was still alive.

"Um… He-Hello? Can anypony hear me? I'm so scared, I can see so many sh-sh-sharks swimming around, but my l-life pod sunk, so I c-can't talk to them. Can anyone hear me? I'm in an area surrounded by g-glowing blue bushes. I have e-enough food for a few d-d-days, but I won't last much longer without oxygen. P-please somepony, help me. *EEEP*" Fluttershy was heard saying before something hit her life pod and the transmission cuts out.

"Sweet Celestia, Fluttershy is in danger, I have to help her, the stupid seeds can wait. I don't want to lose another friend," Spike said while rushing to grab some food, water, and a medical kit. He quickly disembarked from the life pod, he jumped into his Seamoth and took off for the blue bush area that Fluttershy was in. He was determined and didn't even realise which direction it was, so he stopped and checked which way it was. Once he corrected his course, he took off, and nothing could stop him from reaching Fluttershy's life pod.

After a 15 minute journey, Spike saw some of the blue bushes. "I can wait to scan those until Fluttershy is safe," Spike said while looking for Fluttershy's life pod. He soon saw some of the shark Fluttershy had talked about and made a wide arc around them. He soon saw a life pod that had sunk to the Sea floor, and Spike prepared himself for the worst.

After a quick swim around the life pod, he only saw a little damage to the outside, caused by a rock that had fallen off a cliff above the life pod. He then got out of his Seamoth and swam up to the upper hatch and looked inside. Inside he saw Fluttershy pacing around, nibbling on a nutrient block, and what looked like muttering to herself.

He knocked on the hatch, but got the wrong reaction from her. She looked up and screamed in fear not realising it was Spike who knocked. She quickly hid behind the ladder and stared in fear at the hatch. He decided that knocking wouldn't work, so he quickly climbed inside, trying to keep as much water out as possible.

Fluttershy screamed even louder and pressed herself against the back wall and shut her eyes in fear. "I thought you weren't afraid of me," Spike said jokingly. Fluttershy's eyes flew open as she recognized Spike's voice. She launched herself at Spike and hugged him hard to make sure he was real.

"Spike, is it really you?" Fluttershy asked, still unsure whether or not she was imagining him. "In the scales," Spike said while grinning at Fluttershy. Just then a loud this was heard outside, causing Fluttershy to Yelp and hide behind the ladder again. Spike looked out the hatch to see a shark swimming around to make another charge at the life pod 

"Fluttershy, I'm really happy to see you, but we need to leave now. That shark is going to keep attacking the life pod until it bursts open and it can eat us. You can get in my Seamoth, I will use my Seaglide, and we can both go to my life pod because mine is floating," Spike said in a rushed and scared manner. Fluttershy merely nodded and began to make her way towards the hatch. Suddenly the life pod was shaken again and the shark started to swim away. "NOW!" Spike yelled as he opened the hatch and they both swam out.

Fluttershy made a made swim for the Seamoth and climbed in. Spike pulled out his Seaglide and began to swim back to the life pod with Fluttershy close behind him. After a few minutes, they both slowed down as they approached the life pod. Spike signaled for Fluttershy to get out of the Seamoth and get in the life pod.

"Okay, now that we are here, I need to tell you something Shy," Spike said sadly. "What is it Spike?" Fluttershy said curiously. *Sigh* "Pinkie Pie, Starlight Glimmer, Twilight are.. are.." and then Spike broke down into tears after finally letting Twilight's death catch up with him. "Oh my, I.. I can hardly begin to understand how you must feel Spike," Fluttershy said as she starts to hug him. Then she begins to cry because of the loss of their friends, and they stay there for hours, just crying and hugging each other.