Chapter 93
Save the Apples first. 27%
It was a tough decision—Spike wasn’t entirely sure he was even talking to the real Pinkie, or if the pony he was talking to was even sane. But what choice did he have?
It became instantly clear why Pinkie was alone: she had no idea how to navigate the city. “Let’s go this way!” she said, pointing towards a hill. “Looks like there are trees if we go far enough that way, and I know Applejack likes trees.”
“Well…” Spike hesitated for a second. “Or we could use that thing right there.” He pointed to one side, at a flat object that was unmistakably a screen positioned above pony eye level. But at his larger size, it was almost perfect for him. Having just two eyes, this is cute. It was also limiting—there was part of Spike that wanted to go back to looking out of every screen and system of the Equinox at once. Had he always been so small, so limited in his view? What was flying compared to soaring through space?
Can Spike use the terminal? Yes.
Spike reached up, and found the flat surface lit up for his claws—it was a terminal, one that was eager to speak to him. He’d never seen the operating system before, or even the language, yet it was clear to him now.
“What’s that?” Pinkie stopped beside him, glaring up at the screen. “You said you were going to help me find the others.”
“I am,” he said, flicking a wing absently. “Pinkie, have you been looking for them?”
She nodded. “Every day. I look for them, I improve the party, I look for them some more, I make the party better… sometimes I break it all and start over.”
You’ve been running at machine time too, haven’t you? But Spike didn’t have the heart to ask, not when he was terrified of the answer. “Well, that’s why we’re going to try something different. We’re going to look my way.”
Spike stopped, one claw hovering over a button. “Here it is. Pinkie, you’ve been in an instance this whole time.”
“Really? That sounds super awesome! Uh… what’s an instance?”
At least some of her energy seemed to be coming back. The others are probably all losing their minds too. Celestia help you all. It had only been a few days in objective time, but how long did that translate to down here?
“It means that Applejack isn’t here. You could walk from one end of the city to the other—”
“I have,” Pinkie said, bouncing up and down. “But if you go from one end, you appear on the other. It’s not so bad—it’s like somepony put all the neat places you might want to visit all tucked in close. There’s a beach, some snowy mountains with hot springs, real deep caves Maud would’ve loved…” she stopped, her mane falling flat again. “I wonder how Maud’s doing.”
Did they lock out Pinkie? No.
Spike didn’t think it would be a good idea to share his projections of that answer. “I can use this to take us into any of the instances except one. Twilight would be the best at this, but… Applejack is probably a close second.” He reached out, settling a claw on her shoulder. She tensed, as though she expected some kind of violence, but of course none came.
“And… here we go.” He entered the command.
No blur of teleport, the transition was instant. Suddenly they were standing out in a massive forest, complete with oversized trees and a fence higher than any pony would’ve built.
Did they build a farm? Yes.
On either side, alien wheat up to Spike’s shoulders swayed in a gentle breeze. Instead of near twilight, here the sun was high in the sky, a pleasant warmth that brought new energy to Spike’s steps. So maybe there are some things to like about having a body. I never felt like this controlling the Equinox. He could lay down in the grass beside the road and rest for a few hours. He probably would have, if it wasn’t for Pinkie beside him.
Well, she was beside him, until she noticed the open farmhouse at the top of the hill. It was oversized, just like everything else… but she didn’t seem to care. She galloped. “Applejack! Apple Bloom! Anypony, please be here!”
Spike followed, taking in the details at a more casual pace. Off on his right, a gigantic automatic combine churned over a field, followed by an automated delivery truck. The fence on the other side of the field seemed more interesting, though: there was an orchard of apple trees, taller than any he’d seen in his life. Spike lifted into the air, gliding over the fence and hurrying into the trees.
Sure enough, he heard the sound of hooves on wood somewhere in the distance, and that was where he went. If Applejack would be doing anything on this simulated planet, it was reenact her farming.
He’d been wrong to assume she would be kicking trunks. He’d been wrong to even assume she would be instantly recognizable. Applejack wore a complex exoskeleton of alien design, a complex set of joints and springs that braced her legs and back into a bipedal position, with numerous cushions and little straps that made it look as comfortable as any harness could be. She wasn’t kicking the tree at all, but directing a set of buzzing drones in the air. Drones Spike recognized all too well.
Those attacked us. They weren’t attacking her. Each one had a set of little snips, that despite their size could’ve chopped a pony to pieces in seconds with a swarm this dense.
Instead of chopping ponies, they harvested, lifting up to individual apples, carefully snipping them, then carrying them down to a metal-looking harvest wagon.
“Applejack!” Spike called, hurrying the last few steps.
She turned, briefly removing her hat with the interlocking claw that settled over her hoof to simulate something like a griffon or a dragon might have. Despite the lack of obvious physical link to her body, she was able to tilt the hat expertly. “I was wondering when the rest of you would make it. Or… not make it. My condolences.” She lowered the hat a little, then replaced it on her head. “Welcome to Elysium, in any case. End of all care and worry. I hope it didn’t hurt.”
It looked like it hurt an awful lot. But the universe had given Spike at least one mercy: he didn’t remember his death.
“It didn’t,” he said. “But you aren’t dead, these are the Elysian Fields.”
“One of those things might be true,” Applejack said, turning away from him. She gestured something with skeletal fingers, and the swarm of drones obeyed, linking together to start dragging the huge container of fruit. “Maybe I’m not dead. But I know heaven when I see it.”
Does Applejack want to stay? Yes.
Spike had a choice to make, and fast.
1. Stay and convince her. She’s been here for years, she won’t be rational at first. But she wouldn’t abandon her crew to the rigors of space when all Equestrian civilization might be at stake.
2. Save somepony else first. (Rainbow Dash and/or Rarity, as Node is currently in a locked instance). More voices will make it harder for her to ignore. Besides, Pinkie could probably use some time with her friends. Let her throw a few parties while I go search.
3. Try to get her help cracking into Node’s instance. She likes to farm, but I’m sure she’d help if I don’t press her to leave yet.
(Certainty 210 required)
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OF COURSE THEY DID.
It occurs to me that since we met Pinkie and then the Apples we accidentally started doing this in S1E1 order, so that means we should meet Rainbow next.
That's probably a good sign.
Of course.
2, let's go find Rainbow and then Rarity, come back for AJ once we have everyone.
And number fou-ooh fuck.
All of these options seem like part of a whole. Obviously, you can't convince Applejack to leave on your own, you should convince her to help you find the others and let them convince her to leave. And also mention that one of them is being held "prisoner" (Node) just to tweak her worry up a little.
So... I'm going to go with option three for now, since it's the closest to what we want.
Oh yes she would. Applejack has demonstrated herself to be utterly selfish and irrational throughout the story, to the point of willfully endangering the entire expedition just because she didn't want to wait a few minutes.
The lack of Applebloom is disturbing a bit. Maybe she's in the house and talking nicely with Pinkie right now. I would hope that finding her would be the first part of "Save Somepony Else" even though she isn't listed. I mean, AB should be addressed. If she's here, it's a major oversight to not at least mention her in passing, and if she's not here that's a compelling mystery. Maybe the robopones got all segregated together and Node is doing invasive, torturous tests on her in the locked instance. Who knows? If she's here and just doesn't want to go, that's also important information.
...I want to pick option 3, but the subtext on the strawpoll is worrying. "What is she hiding"? Node? Applejack? And given that everyone seems to be in their own instance, I don't think we need to rush to get RD. If they were all in Pinkie's city, than aerial recon would definitely be a boon, but otherwise....let's not take a chance on impulsiveness.
Let's get a few more bodies out of their personal heavens or hells. Rarity and Dash both have ways getting through to AJ that Spike lacks, whether through charisma or competitiveness. Granted, I'm basing that on baseline Equestria, but it still seems like a reasonable line of thought. Plus, more ponies can only be good for Pinkie.
Guys. Node may not know about this stuff but...he's basically MADE out of it. Good chance he can interface with it far more efficiently (hence locked instance, they HAD to lock him in or he'd have freed everyone already). Make him a priority.
9681197
I thought they'd just smack her upside the head
*looks at the results*
: "Except for meeee!" *cries* (only 13%)
No kidding. Everyone had 25-27% of votes.
I voted to look for the others first.
Rainbow is hopefully too loyal to abandon her friends, and with her help we could hopefully convice AJ to come back.
Either go find rd and rares or get AJ to help unlock nodes instance w/o pressuring her. Trying to convince her w/o the others would just press her to become more erratic
I wonder, is Node imprisoned, or protecting the others by locking something else in...
Applejack is too stubborn. We need more voices to knock some sense into her.
Here's hoping that we are in fact alone.
"He to one side" seems to be accidentally a word. :)
Lol what was the failure roll for that question I wonder. A negative 50 roll on a D20?
Had a feeling something like this would happen, which is why I wanted to find Rainbow first. We can probably convince her, but we'll more than likely need Appleblooms' help (and that's assuming she's willing to leave). Let's try finding the others first. We'll end up having to come back for her, but it's pointless trying to convince someone THAT hard headed and stubborn without backup.
I honestly feel Rainbow would be the easiest to convince to leave. Rarity could be problematic, but enough logic (and a friend or two) should be enough to sway her. Node I'm not sure about, because she's an artificial intelligence and could be co-opted by the Contingency for almost any role. I also would love to know how Applebloom feels about this, but we got no interaction with her this chapter.
I'm going to go with getting her to help with getting Node unlocked.
There's no reason to think that this might not be the same case for most of the ponies imprisoned here. So getting help from them might lead to similar results. The very fact she thinks she's dead from how she responds to Spike makes this whole scenario suspicious and hints that the trip here probably has effects on the mind.
While Node being locked up sounds just as suspicious. I'm a bit concerned this might be a safety precaution, so restoring him might be dangerous. But Applejack has always been willing to help out a friend. Convincing her to get her out seems like a difficult path considering how stubborn she can be. But appealing to her nature to try to help out one of their crew in here sounds more reasonable.
I don't know why people are so keen to go on to another pony so fast. For one we haven't even seen Applebloom. For two another instance may ACTUALLY be dangerous somehow. Doubtful, but possible as heck. Particularly RD since she's a military girl. Just talk to AJ a bit more for now. What's the harm in a little chat? You think she's going to berserker on us?
Worst case scenario is something bad happens through no fault of Spike's, like Pinkie and Applebloom have some sort of tussle. In which case it's probably for the best we're HERE to do something about it. Plus Pinkie may end up wanting to go with us just to see her other friends too.
Anyway, I rather like how this is handled. The only exception being that they were all dumped in their own instance I think... it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense given context. 1) expecting aliens to know how instances work is a tall order, Signalers. 2) The goal is to have a society of sorts from what it sounded like. One would expect to at least START in some primary hub world. Particularly since they all entered simultaneously in this case.
Rolling for insanity...
...6....
W̴̗̺͖̟̔͂͑̍͂̀̓͗̃̈́̌́̚͘͠E̷̡̛̞͉͚̟̻̣̪̲͖̲̍̽̚ͅ ̵̥͈͙̺̽̈́̒͠Ä̴͇̗̰͖̗͓͓́̏̓͌͆̋̋͌̈́̇̀̌̚͠R̶̨̢̯̱͖̮̺̪̱̩͕̩̤̔͐͆̈́͆̈̈͌̀͗́̚͜͠͝ͅ ̸̺̭͈̺̫̘̝͓̈́̑̓̿̊̿̾͘͜͝͝ͅȨ̵̤̼͕̣͚̼̠̱̫͓̗̻̏̊̈́̉̽͠B̶̮̺̃͑̈́̂Ę̶̭̳̰͈̠͚̘̟́I̶̛̝̻̊̏̓͒̑̆̎̾̾͘͘Ņ̵̨̦̺̼̞͚̼͙̬̱̟̻̿͜Ǵ̴̨̛̥͖̖̖̀̋͗̓̎́̈́͑ ̶̡͈̗̱̮͙̜̯̝͇̠͒͌͆̏̏̐̂̔̃̕̚̚͜F̸̼̦̬͖̲̰͙̠̺͚̌̿̊̌̒̾͆̓̚ͅO̵̡̾L̴̮̗͕͖͊̃͆̉͑̐̆͂̂̅̓͆͊̇L̷̬̟̳̱̳̯͕͓̻͂̈̿̑̊̀̀̍͘͝Ổ̴̧͎̝͚̱̥̱͚̯͎̣͉̩͛̎͜W̶̡͎̪͚̝͕̘̔̏͊̒̿̊E̴̛̼̱̯͇̙͖̠̘̻̭̝̳̍͛́̎̈́̊͘̕̕͝D̶̫̬͋͐͊̀̐̔̚
9681745
To me it sort of sounds like how the first Matrix was explained in the Matrix movies. It sounds like the Contingency generates a utopia world in it for its residence. But with how Pinkie had so much energy pumped into it, There's no telling just how safe or stable this world is.
Applebloom didn't get stuck in it last time she went in. So something has changed here.
Oh thank God. I am perfectly happy leaving pinkie to sow her shit back together in the safe space of apple jacks farm. Now is a good time for dash
9681857
My current theory on Bloom is that she is normal here like Spike is. For her and or AJ that's probably very hard to give up. As would be making her sister, who is happy, leave.
But she maaaay actually just support your help in convincing Applejack. Just because my dominant theory is she wants to stay too doesn't make it so.
Oh, and I'm pretty sure it won't be hard to poke holes in this little fantasy. Unless the drones are very people like it's just AB and AJ and harvesting a lot of apples because....? Like, I get it, you like apples, but no matter how much you love 'em what good does a million do two ponies on a farm sim?
I think I'd rather get the gang together before opening locked doors when I don't have a particular reason to think there's a special urgency to it.
Well, I'm going to have to go with 4 here, they are inside the contingency thing, at the very least it has to have some sort machine intelligence to let it run and keep the ponies safe. Given the nature of the alien tech we've seen so far it's probably full AI. Plus, the idea that it has been sitting around for ages just waiting for some pony to inhabit it, when it comes from a place that has had destructive events happen to it, and one else has used it seems a bit of a stretch...
Is Node hiding? Surely that indicates they're not the only ones who can access the terminals...
Every single Friendship-venture has been solved when the main character employed the help of their friends.
Off to get some reinforcements :)
What kind of choice / what actions correspond to "We are not alone"?