It took about a day to make the preparations to finally wake Sunset Shimmer. As a result, Twilight was in a wheelchair when the time finally came, instead of lying in bed. She still had bandages running down the length of her spine, which Fluttershy would periodically remove and inject her with more neuro-regenerative. But the five-centimeter needles had stopped hurting after the third or fourth time anyway.

Applejack had been moved to the furthest bed, giving Fluttershy, Rarity, and Spike the largest possible workspace. Twilight was there too, resting near Applejack’s cot in case her magic ended up being necessary for some last second save.

Either the pod had taken more water-damage than they thought, or else Rarity’s dating efforts had been accurate, because the cryo-pod itself didn’t smoothly defrost its occupant like they had been hoping for. Applejack probably would’ve done a better job, but she was missing one of her forelegs and trapped in bed, no matter how much she called for somepony to ‘wheel her over.’ Spike flipped out his tools, and it was time for Twilight’s second in command to put his abilities to the test.

Is Spike successful? Yes.

The cryogenic solution began pouring out of the vent at the bottom—but with no system to hook the pod into, Rarity caught it all in levitated buckets. The huge chunks of coat and bits of reddish slime floating in it as it drained certainly weren’t encouraging, but Twilight could do nothing more than watch. She kept a radio close in her magic, updating the other crew members as the procedure progressed and doing her best to keep Fluttershy’s panic out of her own mind.

Twilight had never watched the procedure done by hoof before, and it was certainly not half as smooth as the automated defrosting. Rarity’s magic did well enough as Fluttershy’s nurse, eventually levitating out the cot and depositing Sunset Shimmer on the bed in front of them.

Has Sunset’s long freeze in suboptimal conditions resulted in physical damage? Yes.

Just to her body? No.

Steam rose from Sunset’s body as it slowly warmed, and Twilight watched Fluttershy rush to do what the computer ordinarily would’ve done, connecting Sunset and cycling her internal fluids through the manual revitalization device. “Get those blood-packets into the warming tray,” Fluttershy instructed. “No, don’t open them yet! We have to cycle her with Cryo-9 first. Yes, the blue tank. There’s enough, I checked, just don’t spill!”

All the while a little furred creature rode on her shoulder, like a squirrel but with fleshy bits connecting its legs into wings. It was even wearing tiny gloves, though Twilight couldn’t have guessed where it got them.

It took over an hour. Fluttershy’s panic soon escalated to the point that Twilight started hyperventilating, and she could feel her own heart racing in her chest. She gave the radio to Applejack, who had more experience dealing with the bloody procedure going on as alarms started going off and Fluttershy started working her saw.

Does Sunset survive revitalization? Yes.

Once she got some distance to the medical building, Twilight found she could breathe again. She kept her own radio close in case they ever called for her, but they didn’t not for a few more hours after their initial report. “We’re finished, Twilight,” Fluttershy called, exhaustion heavy in her voice. “You should see this. It didn’t go… great.”

Twilight rolled her way back with all the dread of a pony who hadn’t studied for a pop quiz. The smell of Cryo-9 and rot were thick in the room as she passed through the airlock. At first, she didn’t even recognize the thing laying on the cot as a pony at all.

Does Sunset lose any limbs? Yes. 4 limbs

Her coat was completely gone, and numerous bandages covered her torso. Her horn was intact, but that was the only mercy this poor pony had been shown. Her legs didn’t hang sideways on the cot, because there weren’t any, just a large red plastic box of “CONTAMINATED MEDICAL WASTE.” Twilight could see the misshapen lumps visible through the semitransparent plastic.

Several tubes ran into the pony, running fluids of many colors through life support. Twilight didn’t have to guess what state she would be in if they were cut off. Rarity and Spike were gone, leaving only a truly-exhausted-looking Fluttershy.

“Looks like you did another miracle here today, doctor.” Twilight said, as sensitively as she could. “A cryosleep coffin three centuries submerged, and you actually kept her alive.”

“She may not think so,” Fluttershy said, after a long delay. “She, uh… I’ve thrown out freezer meals for less.” Fluttershy straightened, clearing her throat. “Captain, I’m prepared for my full report.” Twilight nodded, and she continued. “The casket reduced maintenance cycles to the patient’s extremities, resulting in necrosis in all four legs requiring amputation. Her liver, spleen, one lung, and gallbladder were also necrotic and required removal. Her heart was necrotic and required mechanical replacement, which has been installed.

“A replacement liver is being fabricated as we speak, but she will require total integration into life support until that is complete. In total, the patient lost approximately 45% of her mass. Serious nerve damage is also likely. And it’s… possible she will never wake again. Given the serious damage to her body, I will be keeping her in medical coma until all surgeries have been completed and she has had significant time to heal. Spike has already added four additional limbs to the fabrication queue, along with a second of Node’s theoretical control implants. If tests with Applejack are successful, we’ll probably install those before we wake her as well. It would be… kinder that way.”

Twilight winced as Fluttershy finished her report, feeling as though she’d been physically struck. As much as she was tempted to order Sunset woken anyway, the butchered specimen on the operating table in front of her might well lose any sanity she had left if she was forced to consciousness now. “Does Rarity know any healing spells that could help?”

“No,” Fluttershy answered. “We have all the standard texts in the medical library on the Equinox, but… they aren’t usually the sort of books a unicorn can read in an afternoon and cast. Mistakes with medical magic usually kill the patient.”

Twilight had to give her crew some orders.

1. Interrogate Apple Bloom personally. Sorry your captain couldn’t give us the details we needed yet. Even your incomplete information is better than nothing.

2. Spike suggests launching a probe to the coordinates from Sunset’s device. It will take at least three of us up there to make the modifications, but a three-month trip for a machine is better than losing those ponies for six months, right?

3. Pinkie suggests that instead of interrogating Apple Bloom, they should figure out if she can be rendered non-contagious. If so, she’s an engineer who probably isn’t vulnerable, she could study the “Contingency.”

4. Rainbow suggests she could take Rarity and Node and explore the nearest patch of City. I get that you’re too hurt right now, and lots of the rest of you are busy, but I want to see these ruins for myself! Give me a crew, and we’ll find out what the hay is going on, guaranteed!

(Certainty 225 required)

Author's Notes:

As of now, the resource page has been fully updated. There were so many rolls in this entry that I had to update it before I could write this chapter.

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What you’re reading is a CYOA-style adventure story, fully driven by its user feedback. This story is written using a system called Mythic, a GM-simulator that allows me to be fully in the driver’s seat for the prose, without actually knowing what will happen next. Success or failure in this story is fully governed by the fickle hand of fate, as well as the wisdom of those who chose to vote on it.

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