Wake sunset after the prosthetics are implanted. 83%
“And you don’t know of anything in the medical database that might explain it?” Twilight asked, exasperated. She was in the medical bay, beside the still-healing Sunset and Applejack’s empty bed. Several days had passed since she made the decision not to force Sunset to wake.
Is there anything about twilight’s condition in the database? Critical no.
Fluttershy gazed at her from across the table, shaking her head sadly. “I searched the whole thing, captain. There’s nothing here. I’ve… suspected for some time that Pinkie might be suffering something similar. When she thinks I’m not around, she sometimes responds as though there’s another pony there. And some of what you’ve described to me matches things she said after she woke.”
“When she was insane, you mean,” Twilight said. “You’re saying I’ve lost my mind.
“Possible,” Fluttershy said, without shyness. “But probably not more or less than the rest of us. I don’t think what Pinkie endured was… I don’t think it was natural. She was awake for many months during the trip. It’s true she suffered injuries because of not following the cryogenic procedures properly, but… that wasn’t the only harm. Something else made her… lose it. And I don’t know what it was.”
She didn’t have access to alien machines. They can’t be connected. Twilight rose, nodding her thanks. “I appreciate your help, Fluttershy. How’s… Applejack doing?”
“Anti-rejection medication seems to be working. Her bones are incorporating the titanium peg… but I don’t know how much physical therapy it takes to control a cybernetic limb. It’s Node’s design, you know. Our prosthetics are more primitive. They don’t have sensation, or get grafted into the nerves. I have no idea how long she’ll take to heal. And Sunset here…” she sighed. “I still think it might’ve been kinder to let her die.”
“Maybe,” Twilight agreed. “But Equestria needs her too badly for that, injuries or not. She signed up to be a captain, she’ll understand that.
Twilight left Fluttershy to her work, avoiding the voices that filled every corner of camp. Only Workshop N was peacefully silent, though there were three mechanical ponies in there now. The prospector was back where it belonged, with a few codes changed in the launch computer so Twilight wouldn’t be surprised again.
But she walked past all that, carefully avoiding the fields of intention and emotion that signaled the presence of her crew. She walked until they faded into the background, like the waves of a distant sea.
I might not be insane yet, but I will be soon. Twilight had a destination in mind—the Memorial. Now that the crew knew about the history room and its grizzly corpse display, they almost never returned here. Twilight didn’t plan on going there, though—she was headed to a lab.
Apple Bloom had turned one corner of the elegant entryway into a makeshift research center, with a generator still humming quietly in standby mode and enough camp furniture to make a comfortable workspace. There was even a cot with bedding, still made. There was no sign Apple Bloom had ever used it.
Twilight ignored all of that, going instead for the portable computer and opening her own personal files. There was the spell she’d been working on—a mind enchantment. The study of this arcana was nearly forbidden in Equestria. “Too bad you’re not here for real, eh Starlight? You could probably cast a little forbidden magic on me without even trying.”
Twilight opened the perspective spell. Proper spell diagrams were in three dimensions and not two, which was why unicorns loved crystals so much. When drawn on a surface or displayed on a screen, spells had to be cut into slices.
Twilight stared at the diagram, biting her lip as she concentrated. She’d been returning here whenever she had a spare moment, as much for the peace it would bring her as for the relief she needed in the moment.
Does Twilight finish? No.
Has she made good progress? Yes. Twilight has produced a working spell, but it is so inefficient that it requires concentration, instead of being something she can cast and forget.
The printer hummed, beeping as the thermal head traveled across folded paper. It chimed, and the finished print fell into the waiting tray. Twilight picked it up, expanding the print in front of her. It was the best she could do, at least right now.
Maybe I can’t just cast it. I think I’m doing this the wrong way. I need to enchant an object. Enchantments could cost enormous fortunes of magical power, but once complete, the artifact might last for a thousand years.
Twilight concentrated on the spell anyway, and attempted to cast it.
Can Twilight cast the anti-telepathy spell? Yes.
She felt nothing different at first—the thoughts of her camp were so far away that they might as well be the wind in the strange trees outside, and she couldn’t tell them apart. But after a few seconds… she realized she was still hearing something. “I’m here,” the voice was saying. “I’ve been waiting.”
Does Twilight resist it? No.
She got up, and followed the whispers. They led her down, through a series of passages that she’d never used before. So much of the memorial existed beyond the four major areas—maintenance tunnels, and place staff had once lived. Maybe more.
But the place she eventually found herself wasn’t anything like that. It was a little like an amphitheater, except that electricity arched from massive electrodes along the wall, curving down in regular rhythm towards… something.
A round chamber, with ancient machines rotten to nothing around it. There was an airlock door set in the side, and the walls were all made of glass. Something like ash had been smeared on the entire thing, making the insides opaque to her.
Except for a faint glow, moving around inside. Like a unicorn’s horn in the gloom.
Twilight stopped right in front of it, realizing she’d gone somewhere she shouldn’t. But she didn’t turn back, not yet. Her curiosity remained.
Unlike before, her crew had no reason to think she’d be in danger. The Memorial was already explored, and nothing in the entire area had been dangerous.
Something moved inside, pressing up against the wall. Not banging their way out—it was a cloth. The smoke wiped away, and there was a figure inside. She couldn’t make out its features exactly, but it was definitely on four legs.
It pointed with a hoof, or a claw, towards the airlock. When it spoke, Twilight realized her magic was gone. The concentration it took to keep thoughts from her mind was far too great. “Been waiting for you, Twilight. Too… hard to talk through the field. Hatch is there. Want to help you…”
Twilight did want to be helped…
1. Open the hatch.
2. Searching the room, Twilight finds a ‘subject disposal’ switch, and uses that instead.
3. Run like hell.
Going by the choices on strawpoll, we are screwed
Nice poll.
9531432
*opens the poll*
aw hell naw
*closes the poll*
Edit: Alternatively...
Hmm... why do I get the feeling we're being railroaded?
*rubs temples*
I don't think there is any option besides voting run awa-
Goddamit.
Welp, gg. This is where things maybe turn ugly.
Well, shit
The rolls in the discord prepared me for this one and all i can say is:
NO
"yes"
Cognitohazard warning!
SCP-¡%`》has breached containment.
Edit: oh and that new spell might come in very useful soon.
Starlight, never around to commit mental magic crimes when you really need it.
Oooo, progress on the mind helping spell. Nice.
Well, shit.
3! Come back later with more of the crew, sure, but Twilight should not be doing this alone and compromised.
Edit: *looks at the poll* Welp, RIP Twilight. But hey, maybe a miracle will happen, I'm voting for the third option anyways.
Welp, we're boned. I get the feeling those software changes to the Surveyor are going to bite everyone else in the rear as well. Hopefully this isn't the end... but there's a distinct possibility we're looking at the beginning of it.
Right, well lets see where this takes us
Well, this is ominous. Fear reflex aside, trust and friendship has gotten us this far. So I'll vote to...
...Oh.
9531309 I'll PM you about why you're wrong.
As for my vote? RUNRUNRUNRUNRUNRUN! - oh that's not an option. Yeah this is what I was afraid of. Whelp, into the rabbit hole we go! There's not even a Certainty required!
O̵̫̹P̗̟͇̹͕̕͘͝E̺͎͢Ǹ̵̛͙̮̙͇̜ ̲͚͢Ṯ̜̼̦̲͘H͙̮̳͞E̡̩͡ ̶̡͕̗͈͓͜D̦̝O̵̡̺͙̦͓̰O̥̙̩̦͈͓̟ͅR͏͚̦͖̗͓
Option AAA: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
There are times when one must do as the great and wise hero did...
LEEEERROOOOOY!!!!!!!!!!.....
*Votes 1*
Well....shit. I think we're screwed, guys
Am I the only one who opened the poll with the intent to select "Open the door"?
Whelp it was a good run guys, but this is it.
..............Fuck...............
memecrunch.com/meme/10CQ4/we-re-boned/image.jpg?w=450&c=1
If we put them in order of how the the options appear on the story and voting pages. While noticing how the font changes for each vote. It seems to get more intense with more resistance.
Opening the door seems to suggest that it's getting what it wants and Twilight is falling for it hook line and sinker. While searching around leaves Twilight in the room while it gets a bit more pushy with its demands while Twilight's defenses are down. But the last one would seem like a scream from it psychically while she flees the room.
I hope either Applebloom or Iron Horse might have followed her without her knowing. I would imagine Iron Horse would have explored this whole place when not in the computer. I'll vote the third option, FLY YOU FOOL!
That all being said, I'm interested in the description of this creature. Hooves? Claws? Horn magic or a glowing dangler like a angler fish? It certainly is chummy right now. But that most likely will change if the door opens or if she resists.
I was going to say, go for broke and buck it at this point, but it seems we have only one option.
While it would seem like we are all boned, I get the feeling things wont be quite as bad as we all fear
I fucking knew it. I said something like this would happen a few chapters ago when we were given an option for Twilight to research the spell.
Looks like Twilight has three choices: Bad, worse, and unknown quantity. I vote bad. Could be worse.
A minor correction: you want "grisly", not "grizzly", in this context. Also, I'm going to assume that the voting options are merely obscured, not identical, and vote accordingly.
that poll is so unfair!!!! we're screwed!!!
No need to do an insanity roll here. We're fucked either way
Open the door, get on the floor, everybody walk the dinosaur?
9531742 You 'vote', you mean.
9531609
I did that too. Why not live a little?
9531893
Yeah, that too...
Well, heck, sometimes things are so obvious that your choices are just made for you, lol. Well, chaos is about to ensue... Speaking of chaos, where's Discord in all this?
Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope.
EDIT: FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU--
Hmmm... "A hoof or a claw," mind magic, conquest of the universe... This had better not be the doings of a certain draconequus...
Knock knock I guess
I love democracy. Look at all the options we get to vote for!
I choose none of the above.
9531609
Twi failed her sanity roll or me. I was going to against my will.
T҉̲̥͉̹̳̤̰h̫̩̗e̳ ͇̪̩̣̤̲͚͠H̴͖͚̥̫͙̤u͠n̰̣̹̪ͅg̳̣͙̭e̳͖̝̳̠͉r̷!̘̤͞
9531956 Okay.
I have a good feeling! None of the options in the poll are labeled "Dangerous"!
Open the door huh?
I was going to say run, but it looks like something "edited" the straw poll options... I'll just... use Option 3, and hope it correlates, or barring that doesn't screw us over more than the others.
Up, down, or all around?
9531441
Check the Discord. Getting bad rolls is not railroading.
...we boned yo.
9531936
My understanding was that voting against opening the door was how you live a lot.
Hmmm... open the door, open the door but angrier, or open the door even eviler? So many options! https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.256775008.1869/poster%2C210x230%2Cf8f8f8-pad%2C210x230%2Cf8f8f8.lite-1u7.jpg
I've got a feeling this might bite them in the back one day...
I voted for running.
Then get a clear mind and ask questions.
Edit: THE HECK?!
Man if there is a seriously messed up Celestia on the other side of the hatch im gonna be miffed....