Spikenautica

by PhysicistBrony

Chapter 18: The new survivors

After some introductions and a short rest, Fluttershy and the two other survivors got geared up to leave. Fluttershy gave one of the survivors the Seaglide while the other one would hold onto the back of the Seamoth. After everypony was ready to go, Fluttershy began to lead the way back to the habitat. For the most part, the trip was uneventful, minus the sightings of a couple of the metal eating fish. Though now that Fluttershy looked closer, the fish weren't eating the metal, they were actually chewing on it, kind of like a beaver does with wood. The biggest difference between the two is that beavers chew wood to shorten their teeth while these fish did it to knock old or broken teeth loose to make room for new and better ones.

After studying the metal biting fish, Fluttershy and the others continued to make their way to the habitat. As they got closer, Fluttershy could see Spike pacing around inside until he noticed them, but then he just ran up to the hatch and had a huge grin on his face. He was obviously very happy that Fluttershy had returned with another survivor, but unaware that there were actually two of them. Fluttershy and the survivors had just climbed into the habitat, when Spike suddenly embraced Fluttershy. "Oh thank you Fluttershy for going out to get them! I was so worried that nopony else had survived." His face then made a frown and his voice turned serious. "You could have woken me up when you went to help them though. It would have been nice to see them when we got there, but more importantly, you could have gotten hurt. I was having a panic attack that you might have just up and left me."

Suddenly, one of the survivors cuts in, "Spike? Is that you?" Spike then turns to finally look at the other survivors.

"Swift Sweep?! You're alive?! Dude, that's awesome!" Swift Sweep and Spike then began to talk about how they had made it. Turns out, once the alarms began to wail, Swift Sweep took off for a life pod and jumped in, not paying attention to the other passenger. Coincidentally, his sister Swift Sweep had jumped into the same life pod as he did, so they were able to at least be together when the life pod ejected, although they didn't realize this until they had hit the ocean.

Due to their landing sight, they had been able to see the island that Spike found the collapsed shelter. Swift Sweep and Speedy Screwdriver had already been to the island to assess the habitability of it, only to realize that the creatures living there, or "Cave Crawlers" as the PDA named them after scanning, were carnivores and would have eaten them if they stayed. After a short sweep around the outskirts of the island, they found an outdoor frowned garden full of potatoes and melons that they decided to harvest, but sadly, they couldn't replant any seeds due to the damage the grow beds had received over the course of who knew how long. They soon had to rely on another source of food besides the potatoes and melons and quickly learned that the kelp is perfectly fine to eat, but doesn't taste all that great. So they had been eating mostly the kelp to survive while inserting small amounts of potatoes and melons into their diets. They had actually just run out of water a day before Fluttershy rescued them.

Soon enough, Swift was done telling their story, with Speedy having commented on certain parts of the story, like how Swift had not tried to fight the Cave Crawlers. im reality he had run away screaming like a little filly, not that she had been much better. Spike soon got to telling his story of tragedy and happiness, like the death of his friends, but finding Fluttershy alive. After they finished exchanging stories, Spike and Fluttershy gathered up some melons and potatoes and made a small feast for all of them to share so they could relax.

"So," Spike began, "Is there anything you guys forgot to grab from your life pod? I can take Swift with me and we can finish grabbing everything." After she was done chewing her mouthful, Speedy began to respond.

"Well, I personally don't have anything that I need, but there were a few resources left in the storage unit that we couldn't grab, but I can go get it when we are done eating."

"No, you two just got here. I need a reason to go out for a little bit. I'm starting to feel cramped just staying inside. We also need to discuss something when I get back though." Nothing more was said on the matter as they finished eating. Spike was done eating before everyone else and started getting ready while they finished up the feast. He began to leave when he felt a hoof on his shoulder. Spike turned to see Swift Sweep stopping him from leaving.

"Spike, I'm going with you and you won't change my mind. You and I need to have a little discussion away from the others." Spike decided not to argue because the conversation probably wouldn't be that bad and began to leave, only to turn around at the last second and grab the two portable radios so he could talk to Swift while underwater and at a distance if they got separated. After Spike gave Swift the radio, they were both ready to leave and decided that Swift would drive the Seamoth and Spike would use the Seaglide. The journey to the life pod was mostly uneventful, minus some sightings of the metal biting fish. When they arrived, Swift and Spike both climbed into the life pod and Spike began going through the storage and grabbing everything.

'Spike, how are you really holding up?" Swift asked. Spike stopped rummaging for a minute and turned around.

"I'm doing fine. I just wish we were back home, safe and sound." Swift gave Spike a look of doubt, knowing somepony doesn't go through what he did and still be mentally stable. Against his better judgement, Swift decided to leave Spike alone and finish up with grabbing everything.

"If that's what you want me to believe, that's fine. I ain't gonna force you to talk about anything you aren't comfortable talking about." Spike decided not to comment on that and kept grabbing everything he could. Soon enough, they were on their way back to the base with loaded pockets and hoping that nothing had gone wrong with the girls.

When they got back, they found out that Speedy and Fluttersh had foraged some other resources, like the acidic mushrooms and copper to make some spare batteries. Spike and Swift began sorting everything they had brought back and put them in the proper places. Turns out, when you work for Twilight your entire life, you get pretty good at organizing and keeping things neat and tidy. Sadly, all good things must come to an end eventually.

"Okay, is anypony intending on going to the Aurora with me?" Spike announced once everything was put away. It got so quiet, they could hear fish swimming outside the base. "Nopony? Okay, then I guess I'll be going by myself then." Spike proceeded to start gathering supplies when Fluttershy snapped out of her state of complete shock and tried to stop him.

"Um, why are you going to the Aurora? We're perfectly fine here. Or could you at least wait a day or two? We finally found somepony else alive on this planet and you want to go to that burning radioactive wreck?"

Spike looked at Fluttershy and said, "Well we've got to go there eventually. No point in waiting. Having them here is all the more reason to go. They have experience with mechanics and the ship's layout. I understand you have some experience with mechanics as well Fluttershy, but you mostly did smaller things, like repairing doors and fixing pipes. From what I've heard, Speedy Screwdriver was the head mechanic onboard the Aurora, meaning she might be able to help fix the quantum drive core, which would make it slightly safer around here not only for us, but for the animals, and the long range comms, which will allow us to get ahold of somepony back in Alterra HQ. Swift Sweep over here was a janitor on the ship, meaning he knows most of the ship's layout and can guide us through it. As I said, you have mechanical skills in fixing doors, so you can help us get through the broken doors. Lastly, I am-er was Twilight's assistant, meaning I have access to some of the more restricted areas of the ship, such as the Officer's and Captain's quarters. All in all, having everypony here makes one heck of a team to explore the Aurora."

The rest of the crew was speechless. They hadn't even thought of all of these reasons as to why they should go to the Aurora. It just seemed like a suicide mission to them. "Well I'll be," Swift Sweep began, chuckling lightly, "you've just about thought of everything for this mission, haven't you? I take it you've been planning to go there for a while now, haven't you?" Spike and Fluttershy looked at each other before Spike spoke.

"Well, actually, the idea originally came from Twilight. She and Starlight tried to get to the Aurora to fix the long range comms, but, well, they didn't make it. After that, it was a matter of time before I found Fluttershy and we started planning a trip there after it went nuclear. Now that we know you two are ok, we are going to have to bring extra supplies and rations, as well as make two more radiation suits. Do you think you two can help me get the supplies for the suits?"

Swift spoke up, "I can help you gather some of the stuff needed. I just need to know what all we need and where to get it." Spike grinned, happy that they might finally get help for getting off this planet. Things seemed to be going his way.

Then Speedy spoke up."Well I might not be as useful for gathering the resources, but I might be able to jury-rig some extra plating on the Seamoth so it can survive some of the rough attacks from these filthy creatures and their incredibly sharp teeth."

"Hey, they aren't filthy! They just need to eat and feed their families!" Everypony turned to look at Fluttershy, surprised at her outburst. Fluttershy then lived up to her name and began hiding behind her mane. "Well, um, I didn't mean to be rude. They just, uh, need to eat, just like you. Even, um ,even if that means hunting us."

Everypony then turned back to their conversation and they began talking more about what they would be doing and how long it would take. They figured that making new plating for the Seamoth that would make them more resilient was important and would take the longest, so they prioritized gathering resources for that above all else. Then they decided it would be a good idea to make the radiation suits for Swift Sweep and Speedy Screwdriver. After that, they would have a good night's sleep and head to the Aurora tomorrow. After the plans were made everypony split up and the hunt for resources began.

Spike and Swift decided to start getting the resources for the Seamoth, which would turn out to be three ingots worth of titanium, so they didn't bring all that many supplies with them, allowing for maximum capacity on titanium and scrap metal. While they were out looking for titanium, Fluttershy was going to make proper ration sizes for the trip allowing them to be able to eat just in case it took longer to fix everything than they planned. Speedy decided to start making sure they had enough batteries for tools and that the Seaglide and Seamoth were in top condition. The last thing anypony was thinking about was just what was awaiting them near the Aurora.

Author's Note:

Wow, this took forever to finish. I would like to apologize about how long it took. SAT's suck. Nuff said.

Though I can't promise when chapters will be coming out now because of my schedule.

Comments

[DerpTape]

Swift Sweep took off for a life pod and jumped in, not paying attention to the other passenger. Coincidentally, his sister Swift Sweep had jumped into the same life pod

I've heard of being your own Grandpa, but being your own sister?

[PhysicistBrony]

10739731
Haha, I didn't even notice that, I'll change it soon.

[Brony Land420]

10739749
That error was funny but in all seriousness this gonna be great now that are 2 new survivor mechanic and janitor no less this gonna make the fixing and traveling easier This book is great

[PhysicistBrony]

10740591
I'm so glad your enjoying it. When I started writing this, I was almost positive it wouldn't go anywhere, but now I've got 3 more survivors than I intended having.

[Brony Land420]

10740677
Do you have any intend to kill off one of the the survivors?

[Green-Venom]

Huh, i am a day to late.

PS: Normally you get the cyclops before the PRAWN suit. (From my experience.)

[PhysicistBrony]

10741127
If I do, I can't tell you anyways. That would ruin future events.

[Brony Land420]

10741524
Ok that's fine but that make my murder intent to murder someone more so don't

[The Sandwich Guardian]

more. This story coming.

[Clopian26]

I remember exploring the ship for the first time I did not have a fire extinguisher so it was a very short trip

[Black--Soul]

Fuck the Wildlife Predator food demand.
They potencial ate Pinkie Pie