Chapter 67
If Apple Bloom isn’t contagious, have her investigate the contingency 41%
[Scene altered]
Twilight woke in the middle of the night, to the unmistakable rumble of a hydrogen igniter. But the time she’d darted out of bed, she could feel the ground shaking all around her. She darted out the airlock, waiting the painful seconds it took to cycle, and emerged just in time to see the distant purple glow of the Prospector as it rumbled up into the sky.
She considered briefly whether or not she should try to teleport aboard and stop the ones involved. But transporting onto a ship when she didn’t know its position or acceleration was a risky business. Even if she somehow calculated its position correctly in her head, it would be accelerating as well, and she didn’t have the numbers on its speed.
She sighed, making her way back into her bedroom with the door still agape and lifting her radio off the hook. “I’d love to know what the buck is going on up there. I didn’t give anypony orders to go anywhere.”
Do Spike, Rainbow, and Rarity take it into their own hooves to go launch the probe? Yes.
It was Spike who answered, his voice a little less timid than she might’ve expected for a direct violation of her orders. “Captain, we’re… this was my idea.”
“Okay,” she sat back, flicking on the lights with her magic and glaring at the plastic box. Unfortunately it wouldn’t be sending her anger through space. “Is a mutiny taking place? You know we have a procedure for voting me out.”
“No!” Rainbow Dash this time. “Captain, it’s simple. Spike realized he didn’t have enough spare parts to make all the legs, and Node wants the computer-making stuff Spike built to do the microcontrollers. Your second in command authorized us to come up here to carry out your orders. We’re just making the prosthetics.”
“And launching the probe,” Rarity finished. “It only made sense with the use of fuel and time to come up here anyway. We should be back in a week, tops. No time at all, really!”
Twilight gritted her teeth. “You should have told me first. I probably would’ve agreed with you. Being more efficient… that’s more than fine, given our circumstances. But going around me isn’t. I’ll authorize what you’re doing up there, but from now on… I want explicit confirmation before you ever use any of our vehicles to travel anywhere, is that clear?”
“Yes, captain,” Spike said.
“And we will be having a word about this when you return,” Twilight finished. “We can’t function as a crew without trust. Twilight out.”
She went back to bed, or tried to anyway. She didn’t actually sleep for the rest of the night, her mind racing down all the dark places that the sudden departure suggested. Maybe Cozy Glow had awoken, repaired the weapons, and was about to shoot them out of the sky. Then the few of them would be stranded here on the surface of a dead world, doomed to live out their lonely days without a hope of seeing another pony again.
In the morning, she dragged herself to morning calisthenics, then through the shower, then made Fluttershy her first stop. After an awkward explanation of what had happened the night before, she found herself standing in front of Fluttershy’s array of tissue samples.
Is Apple Bloom still contagious after being cleaned? No.
“It’s clear, captain. I cooked these samples for the last two days since we scrubbed her. Apple Bloom isn’t contagious anymore. She may’ve been right—the transformation itself created a cocoon, altering the materials all around it. We don’t understand how it could take place so quickly, or how it could adapt to dynamically use whatever materials were nearby.”
“So she’s safe,” Twilight said. “We can bring her into the crew. Applejack will love that.”
“Well…” Fluttershy winced. “Yes, with reservations. Her body has internal fluids, just like ours. We don’t understand how they work yet, but it’s possible some of those might still be dangerous. We should stay away from her in any environment where her body might be damaged. So no gunfights, no machine-shops, nothing like that. I’ll continue testing, but it might take weeks to be sure. Her body reflects the wavelengths used by our medical scanner, so I don’t have very good internal telemetry yet. We’d have to bring her aboard the Equinox for better readings.”
“Unfortunately, the Prospector has already returned,” Twilight said through gritted teeth. Then she turned back to the rest of medical. “What about the patients?”
Sunset transforms 1 point of aggravated damage into lethal. This means her current health pool is 4, with 3 being aggravated damage and 1 lethal. This also means she would die instantly if removed from life support.
Fluttershy’s expression brightened. “Both doing well. Sunset’s surgical wounds are healing, with no signs of infection. And Applejack… she should be ready to receive her implant by the time it gets here. Next week, right?”
She nodded, expression darkening again. “Next week.”
She spent a few more minutes chatting with Fluttershy, a little longer with Applejack to reassure her that everything was alright, then found herself somewhere private to talk. She switched to Apple Bloom’s channel.
“Apple Bloom, it’s Twilight. Are you there?”
“Yes?” she sounded a little fearful. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No. I’ve got good news, actually.” She explained all the details of Fluttershy’s findings, then. “I’m clearing you to return to base. However, I also have an assignment for you. Other than that report you wrote, I mean.”
“Sure, captain. I… don’t know how useful I am compared to a member ‘ah the first interstellar ship ever, but I’ll do mah best.”
“At the bottom of the Memorial building is a central hallway. Follow it to the end. There’s a metallic sphere on the floor there—find somewhere safe in that building to make into a research room, and study it. Bring any machines from camp you need, but don’t go anywhere near the… place where we found you. So long as you stay away, you should be clean.”
A pause, then. “Is that it?”
“Yes. But don’t do anything that might permanently damage the sphere, or activate it, or bring it anywhere near camp. It has… adverse effects. It didn’t do anything to Node though, so I have reason to believe you should be immune too.”
“Sure, Twilight. So long as I get some time with my sis… I can do that.”
Twilight had a few hours to herself, before it came time to decide what would happen in the meantime.
1. Grab a remote terminal and try to research the mind-spells necessary to shut out the voices.
2. Pinkie says she thinks she found where Applejack’s Leg has got to. Time for a hunt.
3. Rigorously interrogate Apple Bloom for as much information as possible about Equestria, her mission, and anything else that might relevant.
(Certainty 225 required)
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Gotta go with Ponkers here. Getting AJ’s leg back could be more useful than just a normal prosthetic.
... From what? How? I'm more than a little confused and concerned by this notice.
In any case, going by Apple Bloom's current morale, badgering her with more questions right now seems ill-advised. Give her some time to reaffirm herself, reconnect with Applejack, and suchlike. Better that Twilight finds an off switch for her telepathy, both for her sake and the crew's. They're already deferring to Spike. Best to get Twilight back on track before she's officially declared unfit to command.
As for the leg... Hey, we might get lucky. Maybe Apple Bloom will just have a new pet. And maybe the planet will turn out to be Derpy's consciousness uploaded to a precursor megastructure.
9510399
It simply means a roll said that the scene wouldn't start like Starscribe originally planned. Such a roll is done whenever a new scene starts AFAIK.
I pick option 2, time to hunt down a rogue leg and terminate it with extreme prejudice.
9510397
And re-infest her at the same time.
Nope, this is hunt and burn!
Pinkie's option sounds interesting, but I'm going with mind magic for the sake of everyone's sanity. Mostly Twilight's, but still.
LEG HUNT! It might be useful for researching AB's condition and Twilight's mind problem might be useful sometimes
I say let Twilight try stop the voices. I have a feeling it isn't going to end well if she doesn't stop them soon.
Definitely option 1 - it's important to keep Twilight safe and functional and this seems like a pretty good time to sit down and figure things out. Plus she might figure out potential protection from the Void, too - which might prove crucial for everyone with time, not just her.
There is nothing else critical to do at the moment and for once there are no immediate fires to put out, so we should use this rare opportunity of semi-dwontime to shore up our defenses and take an action that will make life easier in the future, not go chasing another adventure and potentially borrowing trouble when the previous crisis (the voices) hasn't truly been solved yet.
So, 1 it is ... time to cobble together some mind-shielding magics.
Option 2. I have a funny feeling that leg can be very useful
Ooo man tough choice this round! Twilight needs to block the voices for her sanity, but the leg might pose an actuve danger. I voted leg hunt but I hope we get another vote soon for Twilight to research for herself.
Also will yall quit voting for the hunger?! Gonna kill off our lead character going like that, ya narcissists.
Go after the leg. You gotta do something just for the lolz to raise morale. It'll probably lead somewhere important, but that is secondary.
Hmm, Scene Altered? Wonder what that means.
Yeah Twilight, another reason you shouldn't teleport to the probe is because IT HUNGERS!
Wait wait, transforms Aggravated damage into Lethal damage? What does that mean?
THERE IS HUNGER IN THE VOID AND ITS NAME IS OBLIVION
No but seriously, my vote is to hunt down the leg. We've all seen this horror movie before, right? Let's nip it in the bud.
Surely with a little magic that could be possible.
Just think, AJ lost a hoof for no reason other than foolish impatience. She could hug Apple Bloom as much as she wants now except for not having two forelegs to do it with. Kinda like a messed up "gift of the magi", you know?
Brilliant!
1 sounds like a great idea that should be kept on the back burner, but I can't vote against Pinkie. 2.
I have to go for the leg hunt. Don't like that thing running
around. I would love for Twilight to get her mind right 
if it gets to much she can take some alone time. Hopefully they can take care of the leg quickly and then she can do the research she needs before something else becomes to pressing.
9510555
Based on Storyteller, it means there's at least three types of damage. Non lethal, lethal and aggravated. Supernaturally tough beings need to fill their heath with aggravated damage to die, but others kick the bucket with a full lethal track. It also means Sunset is bucked seven ways to Sunday and is only kept alive through future magitech.
On another note ... why did that gaggle of impulsive idiots decide to take a week-long trip without informing Twilight? Because that move isn't exactly smart. And while many of these characters do have a tendency of acting like not the sharpest tools in the shed, this seems exceptionally silly even by their standards.
Are we going to be seeing bashing damage soon?
That is... So metal.
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/204934588953264130/556554842626326538/20190316_150907.jpg
The big D20 has been rolled behind the booth at the convention I'm working. No Hunger today.
Time for Bloom to sing like she's Sweetie Belle
"stay away from here" should be "stay away from her".
get the heavy flamers, its time for a hunt!
i'm only about 15 chapters in. I'd like to know: Is it OK to participate in the voting now, only reading the most recent chapter, or should I catch up so that I know more about what's going on?
If I had realized this was a reader-choose-the-response experiment, I'd have been more on top of reading this earlier on.
9511031
I would recommend fully catching up before participating
9510397
I don't think that was the implication. I think the choice is to 'search and destroy' moreso than to finish the conversion.
Well this is a first... a Pinkie option I DON'T choose! Normally I would, don't get me wrong, but managing ANY part of Twilight's psyche is absolutely paramount.
Certainly want to try to keep Twilight as stable as possible, but I’m not at all comfortable with the thought of leaving that leg running around. And who knows if Twilight even would be able to block the telepathy after all? It’s her own brain that’s been altered already, not just a matter of blocking an external force.
9510434
Don't get me wrong, I'm in favor of this being done. But given that Twilight seems to have herself under control at the moment it doesn't seem as time-sensitive as a rogue limb roaming the premises.
9511816
I disagree. I'm looking at the recent polls, every time and option regarding the voices has appeared, the option has become increasingly complex. I feel this indicates something is gonna happen eventually.
Thinking how the nanites worked on Applebloom. I can't really imagine what will come of it will be worst then if they got a visit from the Thing. I almost want to imagine we might be seeing a blank minded Applejack robot hanging around the camp if we let it go and grow.
So with the absence of a potential Thing walking amongst the crew, I choose Twilight building her psychic defenses. This of course has potential of shielding her from the Hunger. Maybe even help Pinkie too with her mysterious connection with it.
T R U S T T H E P I N K
If the leg is operating intelligently with direction it would be useful to know where it's headed...
Maybe they should have brought a few stallions with them.
Then they can create many more ponies.
Well, time for an leg hunt!
Maybe they can question if once it got caught.
I don't feel comfortable doing something dangerous like leg hunting with half our crew, especially without RD. I think having some time to stabilize Twilight's mind is more pressing. The last thing we want is to keep stretching her thin until she breaks down.
9511827
We'll probably end up, at one point, with only the IT HUNGERS option on the poll.
This is a tough one, shutting out the voices might be important.... but legs usually don’t wander off on their own, so it would be interesting to see were an independent leg might go (and it still might be contagious)
Go get that leg! Though, is there a reason Twilight has to go with and can't do some studying too?
Gotta catch that leg and see what they can learn from it!
Well, much as I'd like to see where some of the other choices lead, Twilight is obviously bothered by the voices in her mind. If she can't learn to shut them down then sooner or later she's going to crash and burn, compromising the mission. So yeah, number 1.
9510399
So you're thinking the planet ends up being one big muffin and the void is actually Derpy looking for a snack?
9510587
Because the mythic system called for an unexpected alteration to the start of the scene, and in asking yes/no question to try to figure out what it might be, guess what came up? :-).
Think of it this way: Acting appropriately stupid, all movie characters do :-)
2 I'd rather not have that sneaking up on me while I'm sleeping. Though the idea that it becomes a member of the crew is kinda funny, I don't see it happening.. though I may be letting memories of the thing influence that decision