Use Spike's help to discover what Cozy was up to 55%
Twilight watched Cozy burn. One too many times she’d trusted that this pony was dealt with—but each and every time, she’d proven her wrong. She wouldn’t be waiting for her to ruin something else she loved.
The furnace eventually went dark, opening to reveal a tiny container of pale ash. Ordinarily their biowaste would go into the greenhouse—but something felt wrong about doing that to the corpse of a pony, even a terrible enemy. She dumped the tray into a sample container, then tossed it aside. She could bury her somewhere on Proximus B, and finally get the stowaway off her damn ship.
Does Spike figure out what happened while searching? Critical yes.
Twilight stepped into the lift when she was finally done, and heard a strange grinding of metal from beneath her. Strange, considering the zero-gravity should’ve meant far less effort on the motors.
Then a voice came in over the lift’s speakers. Not the recordings of Cozy Glow, or her voice manipulated the way Node did it. It was Spike. “Captain Twilight,” he said, voice strangely cold and distant. “I’ve completed your investigation. You should join me in the central computer. We have lots to talk about.”
She started moving upward without having to dial in a floor. The lift stopped after traveling up one level. Twilight winced at the huge hole in the side, its jagged edges obviously cut by dragon claws. She ignored them, stepping forward into the mainframe.
Little had changed since she left it, except that there were no longer any bodies or the debris that might infect any creature who got too close. All the screens were off, except of course for the console that had been broken during the battle.
Is Spike upset with what Twilight did? Yes.
His voice came again, echoing from the room beyond loudly enough that she couldn’t miss it. “I learned what Cozy Glow was planning, captain,” Spike’s voice said again. He seemed to be coming from everywhere. “I learned many things—things you should’ve told me.”
“It was… very fresh for me,” she said, unsure if he could even hear her. But there was only one way to find out. “I wasn’t sure if it was really you.”
“That makes two of us.” Spike’s voice said. The overhead lights went out one by one, until only the dim glow of the mainframe illuminated the room. None of the other important systems had been switched off this time, though the mainframe racks were still fogged up inside. Thick residue on the glass meant that the glowing status lights seemed to light up the whole thing, like thousands of little watching eyes. “I’m still not sure if it’s really me either. But I saw what happened.”
“Everything?” she asked, slumping onto her haunches and looking down. “I had to do something, Spike? I couldn’t let her murder you.”
But he hardly seemed to be listening. “I watched Cozy Glow spend hours and hours at the observation deck, staring down at the return report from our probes. She seemed very interested in Proximus C… but not as interested as she was in sinking the Equinox.”
“I’m sorry,” Twilight said again, just a little louder. “I tried everything, Spike. I didn’t know what else I could do to save you.”
But of course she could never overpower the Equinox’s many speakers. “I watched her open the armory with a stolen keycard. I watched her remove the armor-piercing rounds and a long-rifle. Other things too, you know. She installed IEDs in three places. If we had gone for the thrusters directly instead of the computer, we would’ve been blown to Tartarus and back.”
Could he even hear her? Twilight lit her horn, searching for the security camera. There were a few—but the nearest one was positioned just behind the console, where any crewman’s commands could be observed and recorded.
“Then she came here,” Spike continued, still ignoring her. “Do you know what she was doing? I do. I watched her do it with all those eyes. I wasn’t dead yet, but I can still remember retroactively. Time no longer makes sense. Space doesn’t make sense either. I’m not anywhere, yet I’m so many places at once.
“She wasn’t trying to write a program to destroy the Equinox—there were several of those. Like the one she wrote to thaw anyone who matched her approximate weight a few months after going in, so long as the ship was safe. I think the best one I found so far was the periodic overload of our reactor if we ever left the system. It wouldn’t have blown us up, just caused a series of critical systems failures that would shunt plasma into the reaction manifold and fry everything we can’t replace. We’d freeze in space, and be unable to decelerate when we finally flew back to Equestria. Real devious stuff.”
“You can tell me how you feel, Spike. If you hate me because of it—that’s okay. I wouldn’t blame you. Would you rather stay dead?”
“Maybe.” It was his first response since he’d begun his report. His tone was flat, mechanical. Something told her he was stripping the emotion from it, rather than accurately communicating how he felt. “I haven’t decided yet. I watched it happen from three angles, you know. Saw how determined I was—I died for my friends. You took that away from me, Twilight.”
“I didn’t want to lose you,” she squeaked. “Apple Bloom seemed so alive, I thought… you’d come back like her. That was what should’ve happened. You might’ve even liked it.”
“Apple Bloom was infected while she was alive,” he called, exasperated. “I was already cold when you hit me. Frankly I’m relieved nothing worse happened. If my corpse had risen again to hurt you…” he went silent. One by one, the lights came back on.
Random Event: (Character positive) Twilight Sparkle: The Heal of Success
In that moment, Twilight saw it. A flash of insight, as clear as her view through the tiny window of the star Proximus. She knew how to wake up Sunset Shimmer. She could cast the spell right now, if she wanted.
“While I decide what I’m going to do as an undead monster, you should know what else Cozy was doing. She was writing a message. It reads like a report of everything we’ve done, from her perspective. There’s lots of missing details once we went groundside. She wrote it like it was her last message. She was getting ready to send it… but the funny thing is, she had the directional antenna ready, not the laser. Apparently she thought somepony local was going to get it.”
Twilight wasn’t sure what to make of Spike’s not-recovery—but for now, she thought it best not to prod too much. She had said her piece, even if it felt woefully inadequate. Now she would…
1. Return to the surface and gather all useful supplies for a full evacuation.
2. Cast her spell on Sunset Shimmer now.
3. Try to rescue her friends first.
(Certainty 235 required)
I think Sunset has waited long enough.
100% of 2 votes. Man, I seem to be early.
welp... it would be a bit funny if Twilight would have an Eureka moment in the middle of Spike's rant
If we have the chance to get Sunset back, we should take it now. We may never get the chance again. Option 2
Her friends should be on life support by now, so they are not in immediate danger. Twiggles should use this burst of insight while she still can. Nothing of Cozy's tinkering seems like a time bomb, at least nothing Spike can't shut down. The IEDs can be dealt with later since they are proximity armed only. Once Sunset is awake, Twilight will need to address her friends. It would be much faster to full evacuate the base with everyone on deck than just herself (since Flutters would have to stay to watch the others.)
I wouldn't say there is a need to evacuate in the first place though. Leave a robot or two in charge of the crops.
That should be Starlight Glimmer, right?
Oh man, we're about to get all the intel.
This feels like it's going to turn out to be a huge win as long as Spike doesn't go too emo about it.
Neat.
Stay good, Spike!
Let's wake Sunset, it's time.
Oh, man we may need all of her magic to free the crew.. just because we can caste the spell doesn't mean it isn't EXPENSIVE we need to get the crew out of the contingency.
I say wake up Sunset, to learn what she knows. How did they beat the Equinox there, anyhow? I musta missed something somewhere...
(Spoilers for Endgame)
i.imgur.com/oeOp3UY.png
9616827
A fair point. If Twilight magically exhausts herself, she'll have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest to do any other feats of magic, potentially much later if she takes more feedback damage or whatever.
For once, two options seem pretty good, but I'm gonna say rescue the crew. I just feel better with more resources.
Yeah, that's why I didn't vote for that option. Didn't think it would work, and we got lucky with some rolls after that.
and I have no dick...
You're a machine...
I still need to pee
Well excuse me if you didn't go when you went!
9616827
The crew are safe and stable inside the Contingency. The safest approach is to not attempt to remove them from it until the Equinox returns to Equestria entirely and all available data can be comprehensively studied.
I'm in favor of reviving Sunset, if Twilight's sure that she could do it safely. The more information we have, the better informed our decisions will be and hopefully we reduce our chance of making any more blunders.
9616853
No, that's as much a mystery to the characters as it is to us.
Yikes. It's just 'Captain Twilight' now, not 'Twilight'.
Well, good to see all that's done with.
What decides the Random Events? Last one we had was the freak nuclear reactor meltdown an age ago.
I'm torn between rescueing the Bacon Horse who has loads of knowledge - and a part of me fears, lots of HUNGER - or her 4 friends.
I've gotta vote for her friends. We need to be at full operational capacity.
Oh boy can't wait to see how this turns out, voted for bacon horse revival since she probably has some info on something.
2. Sunset may have more up to date info about everything . Plus she's waited long enough.
Well well....looks like Cozy brought along some friends - maybe a second ship tracking them from Equestria? Might explain Sunset's ship, if Cozy's vessel was spotted following the Equinox and Sunset's ship had a sufficiently advanced drive system to Equinox's - then maybe she was trying to intercept or warn Twilight about the other ship but crashed after entering the system. The Thaw trojan would explain Pinkie being out of stasis as well, if she and Cozy were the same weight.
9617031 He seems to have been talking like that since before he learned what happened, no? The event last chapter DID say 'personality changes'.
If spike goes the same direction as suchler from "Santiago: a myth of the far future" did after being turned into a living ship, which it looks like he is, then two things will happen. One, he will come to resent twilight for turning him into an "undead horror" and two, he will become depressed and suicidal from sensory deprivation. Ie, he can see but not appriciate the sights he sees, can describe the compounds in a food, but can't taste it etc. Essentially any pleasurable experiences have now been denied him and all he'll have is the depressing ones to keep him company. Btw, if you've never read that book I mentioned and love sy-fy space stuff or robin hood style stuff then I'd highly recommend it, its an older book but still an amazing read.
We are seriously lacking party members with hooves right now. Friends first. Then Sunset.
The issues people have brought up for freeing her friends before waking Sunset actually have me wanting to do the opposite, for a big reason: Twilight may need the help Sunny can provide to get the rest out of there.
If she can wake sunset now without any danger, I'm all for it. Take advantage of the random event, leave Sunset up here to recover with Fluttershy and Sp AI ke, and then try to wake the rest of the Mane 6. The evacuation can begin the moment everypony is healthy.
If the communications array was aligned, where was it pointing? What was the message? Can it be altered and then sent?
9616893
Bruh there trap in there with hundreds of hostile defense drone ai
9617275
It doesn't make sense from a biological stand point for sunset to be able to move( cuberlegs not withstanding) let alone cast magic of the caliber required to pull 5 ponies out of a positive mental pressure environment. And not pass out.
9617683
It doesn't make sense to try to rescue them when they're currently in a safe environment, but two-thirds of this story is about the user base repeatedly choosing the least rational actions possible and the dice apparently having a taste for high drama.
9617683
We don't know how effective the spell will be other than "very"... for all we know, it could just make Sunny an Alicorn, with all the benefits that could possibly come with it.
Of course, I really don't think that will happen, but refreshing her to "can help" status? Quite possible.
9616780
I have to disagree with that allegation. I see no reason to believe the knowledge is transient. That said, I still want to choose that option.
9617683
9617715
I think there is one thing to consider before we try to raise Sunset Shimmer.
We still don't know the nature Of Sunset or the supposed ship the beacon in the escape pod pinged. If Sunset is a part of Cozy Glow's Conspiracy, then it might be dangerous waking her up before the rest of the crew is awake.
This worry brought to you by Iron Horse. For the reason we can't really be sure of his motives. Does the Hunger worked out a way to deal with such lifeforms it can't eat? Or was he an agent under newer orders the Cozy Glow had?
In either case, I think we have to be cautious when dealing with new factors with friendly faces from here out. They could either be like the Unitologists from Dead Space or a hungry monster that acts friendly because it just found it's next meal. I say we wake everyone else up before Sunset.
So, anyone want to talk about the hidden option of "Let Fluttershy take over"?
I mean, do we really want to have Twilight continue in charge?
Fried her own brain
Went emo-crazy after her brother died
Takes Cozy's actions personally
... what else?
Hold on -- Certainty 235 required?
Does this mean that once an option has more than 235/2, it cannot be defeated?
9618042
It means Starscribe won't write the next chapter until at least 235 votes have been cast.
Ah. Well, that explains that... except for Cozy trying to contact someone in the system. We'll have to keep that in mind.
In any case, getting Sunset up and running seems advisable. Further information will be invaluable, especially if she knows something about the Contingency. It's a slim hope, but theoretically possible. Though reviving her may want to wait until after the prosthetics are in place. Plus, there's the question of what, precisely "The Heal of Success" entails when one considers the circumstances that led to the epiphany...
Eh, I'm still going with saving Bacon. Hopefully she won't be too traumatized by the whole "quadruple amputee and then some" thing.
9618038 I mean... most of that stuff's our fault, no?
9617697
Its...its not safe bro. Apple bloom had the critical success of identification of the contingency and describe it as a place to LIVE in cyber space it's not a mind yaetabyte USB. It's a god damn vr chat with defenseless personality clusters. The defense drones were hostile and they will remain that way. The difference between the ponies and the drones is the drones are programmed to elliminate the ponies because they were veiwed as hostile to the temple by releasing the corrupted alicorn fog. If the defense drones are hunting the ponies (if they haven't all ready been attacked) and they figure out to attack the ponies like a virus they will probably go braindead.
Just a reminder to people,
That doesn't mean we know everything that has been going on. Cozy might have some other things hidden that we still need to find out.
She's had full access to our hardware /software, unknown backing/malware for planting, and we can't know everything she's has the potential to do.
9617799
This guy gets it.
9617131
I think it's kind of garbage personally to say an AI couldn't enjoy a lot of things. Sure, taste is out, but enjoying things you see? Ehh. Not to mention games. Reading and videos too, though that's a little rough in this case. Hell maybe he will find he likes having the ability to fly?
I find it fascinating, if foolish, how many people seem assured that the crew in the contingency will be safe no matter what. Their bodies are on life support. It's probably best not to assume that's unnecessary. What that means is they could die if their bodies are messed with. Or who knows how being out of their bodies for too long will affect their brains. Or who knows what Pinkie's Gambit may have caused beyond the expected / hoped for?
"Twilight? It's been 70 years!"
"What!?"
"Where're my kids!?"
"Bloom married one of the killer drones. Nice enough fella when you get to know 'em."
: I thought I died of old age? What the hay...?"
9619571
I'm not saying am AI cant enjoy things
GlaDoS is proof enough that an intelligent being turned. AI can find enjoyment in certain activities no I'm rererring to the problems specifically with him going down the same path as another who had been turned into a ship.
9619902
Or we could use the ability to fabricate machinery to build a metal Spike and download ship Spike into it. This would mitigate some of the sensory deprivation while still maintaining all the benefits of having a crew member in the computer. Spike will adapt easily to his robo-analog quite easily, viewing the ship-based sensors as extra.
9621731
Thats kind of what I was hoping for. Being stuck as a ship doesn't really leave him with any outlets bit he could get some sense of self back if they were ablw to makw him a metal body