Six Months. 51%
Twilight Sparkle adjusted her woven plastic hat under the harsh Proximus sun. Sweat brimmed on her brow, and the smell of dirt filled the air around her like earth pony perfume. She could feel the soreness in her muscles, roughly proportional to how full the wheelbarrow was in front of her. Fresh carrots were piled inside, each one half as big around as her hoof and glittering with moisture.
“We ain’t done,” Applejack called from beside her, eyes narrowing slightly. “We rest when the job’s finished, that’s what granny used to say.”
Applejack has recovered from all health conditions. She retains a permanent susceptibility to respiratory infection.
“Right,” Twilight nodded, then returned to work. It wasn’t just the two of them—Pinkie Pie was here too, though she had no special talent for crops. But that didn’t matter. They were the three with earth pony magic. It didn’t matter that Twilight was the captain, she had magic to contribute to bring in a big harvest.
When they were done, Twilight’s haul went into a large wagon with mesh sides, which would shake loose much of the dirt. At least she wouldn’t be the one to wheel it back. “Thanks for helping,” Pinkie said, as she dumped the last of the carrots. “We would’ve taken another few days without you.”
Pinkie’s scars were now almost completely hidden by her fur, except in a few patches on her back that probably wouldn’t ever regrow. Her mind was harder to judge, but Twilight hadn’t seen a breakdown from her in months now. Farming was simple, repetitive, and safe. Routine had done wonderful things for her.
Pinkie Pie has fully recovered physically. She has made enough mental recovery to function as an ordinary member of the crew, though she retains a weakness to REDACTED
“No problem,” Twilight answered. “Sorry I can’t help you get that back for processing, but Rarity and Spike are expecting me. It’s almost…” she glanced briefly down at her watch. “Horsefeathers. Think I’ll teleport.”
Applejack’s eyebrows went up. No doubt she could tell the lie. But she didn’t call her on it. “It’s alright, Cap. That’s exactly what I want you to be doing. You think you’ll wake Sunset today?”
“Maybe,” she answered, without confidence. Twilight just knew that Sunset would be giving them information she couldn’t ignore. Once she woke up, their recovery time would be over. Maybe her crew was ready. At least they were all together. Twilight closed her eyes, concentrating on camp—and appeared there in a flash of light.
They’d dubbed the little settlement “New Ponyville,” mostly because Twilight wasn’t very creative and the rest of her crew didn’t care. Every member of the crew had their own “house,” earthen humps reinforced with composite and equipped with full airlock. There were also more functional buildings, each one built of white plastic fiber panels. Twilight enjoyed the soft springiness of the grass path under her hooves, the landscaping of Equestrian flowers they had planted to give New Ponyville a little more life.
The industrial buildings were a little more drab, though Pinkie had talked about painting them if they stayed long enough. Twilight headed straight for the workshop, a structure roughly twice the size of the prospector, stepped into the airlock, and waited for it to cycle. Every building got its air through the best filters they could make, even though they walked around on the surface and didn’t sterilize with each trip. Twilight still wanted to take every precaution.
Sunset’s cryo-pod was up against one wall, and that was where Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike were all gathered. They each wore their uniforms, and Spike stared at Twilight’s comparatively dirty outline as she approached.
Spike has fully healed all damage.
“Right from the field, huh?”
She glared in response. “Well, Rarity? Did you finish your spectrographic… whatever you were doing?”
Rarity nodded curtly. “Thermoluminescence.” She was wearing a pair of thin glasses far down her nose, and her disapproval at being interrupted was obvious. All three of the screens in front of her were lit up with sensor readings, along with analysis probably processed through the uplink to the Equinox. “I believe I have. I confirmed with other metallic, uh… miscellanea Pinkie excavated, and I triple-checked. The metallic elements were first cast approximately 350 years ago. With… a ten percent margin of error in either direction.”
Twilight’s mouth hung open. She blinked, shaking her head slightly to clear it. “Did you…” It would be stupid to ask if Rarity was sure, she’d already said she triple-checked. “You said three hundred fifty years?”
“Which is… longer than we ever intended to freeze anypony,” Fluttershy added, as though that were the most important aspect of this development. “We have no idea how bad the cryosickness symptoms will be. It’s possible she won’t even wake up. Or worse, if damage to the more delicate tissues might be… irreversible.”
“Those numbers aren’t possible…” Twilight took a step back from them both, glancing between Rarity and Fluttershy. “Our trip was 41 years,” she said stubbornly. “I knew her. She can’t… this doesn’t make sense.” Did you try dating anything of ours?”
Rarity nodded. “Unfortunately the information becomes… more troubling.”
“I can’t imagine how that could be,” Twilight almost shouted, voice wild. “A pony I knew apparently arrived here before I was even born. Before the first pony ever ventured into space.
“Well…” Spike began. “Deposition lines in my scales says what you’d expect. I’m fifty-three. But…”
“But the steel in a spare engine manifold we had aboard…” she lowered her voice to a whisper. “It was forged about 400 years ago. Give or take…”
“Ten percent,” Twilight interrupted, slumping onto her haunches.
“Yes,” Rarity agreed. “As I said, troubling.”
Twilight couldn’t sit still. They had to do something.
1. Hold a crew meeting, tell everypony everything, see what ideas everypony has. Six minds are better than one. I need help with this.
2. Wake Sunset. Waiting won’t make her chances any better. All the answers to our questions are right in front of us. [dangerous]
3. Return to the Equinox and rigorously dissect its long-term storage. Equestria wouldn’t be keeping secrets from us. Maybe I can recover some of the data we lost during system entry.
4. Wake Apple Bloom. Applejack has been waiting long enough. She’ll probably mutiny if we keep her waiting for even one more day. [dangerous]
5. Use the Perseverance of Insight. I could really use some Insight right now. [dangerous]
(Confidence 215 required)
I going to vote the conservative path of brainstorming. Multiple experts are better than a quick or rash decision. Twilight proved her leadership chops earlier by taking the wise course and letting her people heal and being transparent. The trend should continue.
More than ever it is looking like time is no longer a factor against them. Measured steps and careful planning from here out should be the order of the day. Twilight has her team and should utilize them.
Not a huge surprise at this point, even if the exact mechanics are still unclear.
But really? I'm just happy to have the gang finally back together. And with... less permanent damage than we might have feared.
memegenerator.net/img/instances/65322282/lets-get-ready-to-brainstorm.jpg
Crew meeting. Friendship, ho!
AJ has a greater susceptibility to respiratory infection... RNGesus, please be kind.
And Pinkie has a mental weakness to something as well. My guess is probably being trapped in an enclosed space (maybe without the ability to move). Makes sense since she may or may not have been conscious for some/all of the journey in the cryopod.
We need to remember to never vote for Pinkie going into an enclosed space, or we might set her off.
Much as I want to hear from Sunset, (the "dangerous" tag feels a little irrelevant when picking between "fail to wake her" and "never wake her". Good as dead either way.) We finally have the full team together and I want to see them in action.
Well, that's not at all ominous.
Let's explore the nondangerous options first, though defrosting Sunset... well, I'd say it may not be as dangerous as it seems given the Equinox's crew, but that tag is pretty clear on the matter. Still, further information may clarify the details. I'd side with database reconstruction before opening the floor to speculation. This version of the Mane Six may be well-trained scientists, but none of them seem prepared for this level of time shenanigans.
Welp, as long as nopony names •••|••••|•• We'll be ok, at least compared to [DATA EXPUNGED]
Also, do we brainstorm, then wake ponies, or do we wake ponies, then brainstorm? A crew meeting won't take us long, and we need everypony to be on the same page.
Draw three cards, put two back to the library it is!
Man, that 'vulnerable to REDACTED' is gonna bite us at the worst time, huh? Like "Pinkie chooses IT HUNGERS no matter what we vote' bite us.
More relevant, I vote we hold a meeting. 7 brains (SPIIIIIKE!) is better than 1.
Brainstorm, then restore databanks, then wake people up. If everyone agrees, that is.
Curious that Spike aged as much as expected, this means there's some magical fuckery abound. Those records simply MUST be recovered. As do the ponies that might provide insight into it.
"wait Sunset" should probably be "wake Sunset"
I would say Brainstorming would be the better option.
All these choices sound like they would need a bit of thought put into them before being attempted it seems. Especially when it comes to waking and saving Applebloom and and Sunset Shimmer.
So, yeah, brainstorming sounds like the way to go. Maybe working together with Node they can get up those chances. I wonder if the equipment in the room Applebloom was in might have an autodoc function built into it that node might be able to boot up?
Just brainstorm for now. We need as many ideas as we can. So there's some serious time discrepancies. Their trip should have taken 41 years. It clearly didn't. Something happened when the Equinox arrived in the system.,
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?!!?!??!!?!?
But but but how does the METAL age but SPIKE didnt?! If they time jumped then the spaceship wouldnt age either???? In so confused aaaaa what is happeniiiiing
Well, could have been worse.
Hey, at least this one is probably not our fault.
Nice to see Spike back and well, and Rarity up and conscious and seemingly undamaged.
Weird time problems, my gut says to blame Starlight even though it's a very unclear how it could be her fault. I'm wondering if the Sunset problem might not be as bad as it seems given that at least in the limited testing we've been presented with so far organic matter is aged less then inorganic metal. So with that in mind, let's try Sunset.
I want to see all of them together talking, so #1. :)
I'm voting to return to the Equinox. Brainstorming may help, but the only way to verify anything is with data.
I’ll just note that one possible explanation for the organic/metal time discrepancy is that the whole pony crew is clones, created here with backup memories from the original expedition, which arrived four hundred years ago and then failed. After all, the first thing they all remember is waking up from cryosleep, except for Spike, who hibernated.
Its possible that someone other than Twilight can come up with an idea or two. Holding a meeting seems like the best option
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There are randomized rolls; even if we all picked six months to wait for all the crew to be awakened. Anything could happen to worsen the situation. Part of the choice is to not explore; non-exploration equates to ignorance.
Since entering this star system, they’ve come within a hair’s breadth of getting TPKed more than once, first with the sabotage and then with giant robot monster things. Apple Bloom is in stasis and her leg has what appears to be a full-blown nanite infection. If they let her out, it could spread, and then they’d all be screwed. Sunset’s health is questionable at best, and she might be a vegetable when they thaw her. Twilight could sit down in a chair and potentially have part of her brain overwritten, more likely than not turning her into a crazy cultist screaming “IT HUNGERS”. They could go back to the ship and rip open the stores and find nothing, wasting their time on a wild goose chase. The tabletop meeting is the only answer that makes sense. If they don’t play it safe from here on out, they could be putting all their lives at risk.
Yay! Six months of recuperation!
Well, 3,4 and 5 can be done practically at any moment, they are going nowhere.
Even Sunset can wait, but for how long? Wake her up is dangerous, but I don't see how waiting could make things better, and the more she stay on ice the worse it will be. There is something that Fluttershy could do, given enough time, to make her awakening her more safe? if not, then there is little point in waiting too much.
so, I say, first brainstorm, then if nobody have a better idea, wake Sunset.
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Another possibility is that they have been kept in time stasis, like Apple-bloom is, for all that time. How and why, i have no idea.
either brainstorm or try and reconstruct the database seem to be the best options.
can twilight be able to identify the nanite I infection in Apple Bloom, and if so find out how far it's spread. there is the possibility of amputation to keep it from spreading.
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Hmm Rainbow Dash was not mentioned...
Everyone, into the ready room. We do it like it's Star Trek
Now that recuperation has occurred, planning.
Aww. Kinda wanted to see the moment each of them was woken from sleep and their reaction to everything they were told about how the expedition was going, but at least this way we get them all together faster, narratively speaking.
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Yeah, I was looking forward to writing those scenes--but that would've meant probably 3 chapters before any decisions were made. Just couldn't fit that into my writing schedule when things are so packed with my Message print coming out soon. X.x
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You write more than most authors on this site. Nothing to apologize for. We still love you.
Interesting time thing. Their stuff is 400 years old, Sunset's is 350, with the 10% plus or minus that still puts them in the 41year lapse time as evidenced by Spikes age.
I have know idea if that means anything.
im frankly awash with apathy. without ab safe and healthy there is no ship repair. so no guns and no engines mean the crew our about to die. what happens if the ship is destroyed? is it even possible to disassemble the prospector to modify it with available steal and fly away from the giant beacon that is this shrine place? because it doesn't make since for a super advanced defense matrix that has been activated due to the presence of the ponies to not first destroy any ufo in its air space and since light dictates that any object within SIX LIGHT MONTHS knows there is a big fucking ship parked in orbit. If i'm only allowed to give the author one compliment its that he has managed to convince me that these au ponies our genuine mirror copies of the shows main six. because so far about 71% percent of all decisions made have been naive and unmotivated, these ponies have experienced space combat, have lived there lives in advanced space fairing societies in what universe is not having a fully functional ship not 1st 2nd and 3rd priority? unless of course the author had to do some hand waving because some one else*cough* had to make the decisions for our poor adventurers, so now the ship is fixed because why wouldn't it be after 6 months right? .... right?????????????????????????? well the ship is still broke, because in the authors own words AJ has refused to fix it. man... i just... I guess we find out what happens if everyone fucking dies.
I'm with the comments here. Gotta have that group meeting. Maybe that's where we can pick up more of Rarity and Rainbow's general moods and feelings on things so far, as well we know AJ will probably want to get to Applebloom right away... so hearing what others think on that subject and if something else should come first seems smart.
If it were me I'd wake Shimmer first and if she's stable see what she knows, particularly if she knows anything about the ships aging and anything about how to help Applebloom. If not at least there'll be another unicorn around for magic needs when AB is attempted. Once everyone is awake or attempted we can find out more about the insight... I kind of wonder if it would give someone Pinkie Sense for certain situations.
1 and 3 seem like the best ideas from a practical standpoint, and 1 beats 3 from a literary one. Time to put their heads together.
I say 1: Let’s see the array of pretty-colored ideas we can get!
Hm, seeing that the options to wake Applebloom or Sunset are both dangerous (due to how long they were in cryo?), I'm wondering if Node would have any ideas on how to wake them safely? Seeing that he is from an extremely advanced civilization and all that.
And although it says Applejack may mutiny if she waits even one more day, she might not if the crew gets together, goes over the most recent revelations, and gives Applejack some good reasons to not try waking Applebloom up ASAP.
Regarding the database: Was Equestria sending the Equinox any technological advancements made during the voyage? A lot can happen in 40 years, never mind the many years past their expected arrival date. If Equestria did send them the knowledge of technological advancements during their time away, the database may hold the technology required to wake Applebloom or Sunset safely if Node isn't helpful in that regard.
So, not only did you introduce foreign pathogens into an alien environment that you had no clue how it would react or if it had any type of immunity, and then planted alien crops with no idea of how it would affect the indigenous wildlife in the only, and. size-wise, very limited ecosystem left on the planet, but now you're just planting things for pure aesthetics?
What happens if those flowers start seeding and become invasive species? You could be dooming the only native wildlife on the planet to extinction!
...Also, I suppose Dash has been unfrozen also, but just wasn't mentioned yet?
So there's either alternate universes, or the crew of the equinox have been in stasis for a couple centuries. Is that where Pinkie's issues started?
That basically means she has a weakness of secrets that others are keeping from her?
Good enough.
I vote for the crew meeting.
Talking is always good, and you still can make decisions afterwards.
Found a typo (I think):
Sure this is right, given the context?
It's time for a meeting of the minds.
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She probably has a weakness to whatever evil thing attacked the crew in hyperspace.
Oh well, at least it wasn’t too bad.
REDACTED? What could possibly warrant redaction from us?
Hmm...
You can say that again.
Displaced in time. Worse than I thought.
I’ll pick #1. While I also want to do #3 and see what they come up with, I want all available options laid out nice and clean in front of us first.
The dangerous ones are out of the question for me.
Crew meeting. No contest.
It has to be 1, though using the chair is a very close second.
Could the redacted bit be Eldrich horrors that live in the Crawlspace of reality by any chance?