Casey gently worked the crystal from its housing. It wasn't going well. "Alright, last attempt." She wiggled it slightly and pushed in. "Come on! You are going to move!" With a pop, it came loose and she grinned. Holding it up in her gloved hand, she put a light behind it to have a look through it. "Mildly cloudy, but maybe we can get something out of it."

Captain Rogers came through the radio on her headset, "Are you certain?"

"Hell. No." Casey tucked the crystal away. "But there's a chance, which is better than we were a moment ago. We're lucky to even have found that one. The shockwave could have easily broken them into dust."

Captain Rogers scratched at his chin. "Alright. I will defer to your expertise. Bring it back to the ship for examination."

"Only after I'm done here. Casey, out." She tapped her ear to end the conversation. "Most of you looks pretty bad, but maybe." She dug her arm into the largely broken console, wrenching free a component. "This might be salvageable." She brought it up to look over. It was heavily cracked, with a gash in it running the length of the board. "A long shot." She tucked it away. "But this is the time for long shots."

She dug about a bit more before the power in the building started to fail. "No! Come on!" She scurried along, grabbing at this and that, including the crystals and bits of shattered consoles as she went. She could only imagine how wonderfully shiny everything used to be, before it was all wiped away. "Blast it."

Not wanting to be buried, she scurried up the upwards-slanting tunnel as quickly as she could, reaching the top just as the power finally gave out. It sealed shut beneath her, using the last vestige of power it had left to seal the coffin of ancient technologies.

Casey flopped on the ground. "Captain, salvage operation complete unless you send a crew to literally dig it up. No chance they'll get anywhere without proper equipment, but it's a pretty pile of shiny junk down there."

"So you did find something of value?" Captain Rogers' voice was full of relief.

Casey got up and started the walk back towards the ship. "Maybe. Maybe not. Every single piece has to be carefully sifted through to see what can be salvaged out of it. Maybe a lot, or nothing at all." She stretched her arms as she walked. "And it'll take time. Don't forget, this is old tech, back from when Twilight first arrived. We'll be looking at history, with all its warts. Brief the techies so they're ready when I get back."

She'd already moved on, no longer listening for the captain's response. Instead, she set off towards the shuttle. It wasn't too far, just a short walk across the broad plain. She hadn't really had time to appreciate it before, but now, it was plain. This planet used to be teeming with life, and now it was dying. Too many flares?

Casey rapped on the ramp's door. "Open up. Time to head back." The door slid aside smoothly and she got in, the door closing behind her.

Rarity floated around her, working on the muck that had gathered on Casey's jumpsuit. "Oh, dear. This is such a mess."

Casey laughed at the fussing unicorn. "You didn't need to even be down here."

"No." She dusted off more grime from Casey's suit. "But it hardly felt proper to have you come down on your own either. You and Susan deserve at least some accompaniment, darling. And I do so love to be useful. You are done for the day?"

Casey smirked at that. "Yup. Not much more to do than tidy up and bring back what we can." She unhitched the bag of what she had found and placed it in a crate. With a few buttons, the crate sealed and filled with foam. "Nice and safe. Do you know if the captain wants us to pick up anything else?"

Rarity shook her head. "Dear me, no. If it was something they thought of, they didn't tell us about it." She turned towards the pilot's seat. "Susan, dear, are you ready to head back? Casey needs a shower."

Casey dropped into the copilot's seat. "That I do." She looked out the window at the ruins, still catching glimmers of sunlight from a few glass shards left here and there. "Too much like a crypt around here. I want to see new things, living things. Alien things, sure, but alive, right?"

Susan nodded at that. "Absolutely. Let's get this show on the road. Thanks for coming along, Rarity. It's good to have some company."

"That's quite alright, darling. Anytime you two are out in the wilds of space, I am ready to accompany you." Rarity sat beside them. She had no chair, but her heavy metal body didn't look ready to slide much. "Let us be off then!"

Susan gripped the stick. "Time to fly." She nudged the throttle and pulled up on the stick, the shuttle leaping into the air with surprising ease. "And back we go."

It was a quick and smooth jaunt back to the ship, just in time to see a wave of power from the sun. They were, fortunately, already past the shields of the ship by the time it washed over them. Susan gave a few taps to the controls, bringing the shuttle into the dock.

"Welcome back." Captain Rogers stood at the bottom of the ramp. "Excellent work down there." He gave a quick salute. "Where's what you found? Let's get that over to Tech for examination."

Casey turned and opened up the crate. She pulled out the foam-wrapped box of equipment, offering it up. "Right here, sir."

Captain Rogers took it gently. "You are to be commended for your work, miss Tela."

She bowed her head slightly. "Thank you, Captain."

He passed it off to Rarity, who trotted off with it all floating in her horn's magic. "Hopefully we get something out of that."

Twilight sprang into being. "Any idea if any syncs survived?!" She looked frantically at the box, as if she could see through it.

Captain Rogers raised his hands defensively. "We have no idea yet, but that is a possibility."

Twilight blinked a few times. "Right, sorry." She rubbed behind her head nervously. "I'm just a little anxious. That could be my brother." She swallowed thickly. "He'd be missing a small portion of his life, but at least Cadance would surely help him remember what went missing. If we can get the rest, that would be— He'd be better than before, at the very least."

Casey cleared her throat. "Cadance will know?"

Twilight perked her ears sharply. "Oh, right. Yes. I'll inform her!" She vanished, appearing just in front of Cadance.

Cadance was in her own room, watching the twinkling stars beyond a virtual window. She inclined an ear. "Is that you?" She turned to see Twilight. "It is." She smiled at the sight of her sister-in-law. "You look happy about something."

Twilight came over and nuzzled up against Cadance's shoulder. "We may have recovered some of the syncs from your ship."

Cadance flopped against the floor with shock. "What? Really?" She could barely believe it. "Do they know if they're alive or not?"

Twilight shook her head. "We have to examine them first. But if. If! They can be recovered, that means some of the ponies could be revived."

Cadance dared a little smile. "That is more than I even dreamed would be possible. The shelter barely had a trickle of power. I had figured most everything was broken besides that."

Twilight shook her head again. "Some of it was. Casey did say the console she got to work for the moment was very badly damaged. Most of the electronics in it were slagged. She was able to pull out one of the modules, but who knows if that will actually contain anything, and what shape it'll be in."

She put a hoof to her chest. "Which does bring up an important topic."

"Mm?" Cadance leaned in towards Twilight. "Sounds heavy. What is it?"

Twilight gave Cadance a serious look. "You have to be very careful until we can get you home. If something happens to you, then all your memories and experiences will be lost forever. But, aside that, we may end up partially recovering some ponies. Do we proceed with that, or do we assume any corrupted backups should be left alone, and the ponies they belong to are accepted as well and truly deceased?"

Cadance winced at that. "Well, then. That's a heavy subject." She went silent as she thought on it, staring off into the distance.

Twilight pressed against Cadance. "Take your time."

Cadance looked down at Twilight. She spread a wing and wrapped it around Twilight. "Tell me, Miss 'I'm a spaceship now.' Have you had a living body recently?"

Twilight straightened up sharply. "No! I have not. Not since, uh, quite a few generations ago. It was really just a memory-walking thing. Why?"

Cadance sighed softly. "You're missing out. Even just the act of breathing, because you have to, not as a simulation, is a difference." She leaned against Twilight. "Perhaps, after your next sync, you could dare to give it a try? Just for a day, perhaps. You could share a room with me and we could both appreciate being alive."

Twilight stretched and laughed nervously. "You mean, like sleep together?" She waggled her eyebrows. Her blush became overwhelming. "I could never! We're in-laws."

Cadance shoved Twilight with genuine laughter. "I meant a vacation. You could show me the wonders of this new home you've found. And after all, there are far more interesting activities that can be done with an actual body."

Twilight looked down at herself. "Well, it's still technically my body." She leaned over, nuzzling into Cadance's side. "If you want me to, I can do it."

Cadance touched a wing to Twilight's cheek. "I can wait until you're ready, but it would be lovely to see your world through new eyes. Now, back to that heavy topic." She took a slow breath. "If the pony is corrupted in such a way as to distort who they are, I would say leave them be." She swallowed thickly. "Even if that happens to be Shining..." She sagged at the thought. "Harmony forfend."

Twilight licked Cadance's cheek gently. "Shh, it's okay. Hopefully, we'll find his data, undamaged, and he'll become an aide, like me." She pointed at herself. "He can't live until we get a body, of course, but we aides are quite alive in our own way, thank you."

Cadance grinned and pushed Twilight over with her hoof. "Be a regular pony for a day, and we'll discuss that."

"I'm not sure my AI would function right without my processing power." She glanced around. "So we can't consider that until we're back in safety and another aide can be considered to take over my position."

Cadance relaxed slowly as she thought it over. "My love." She took a slow breath. "If any are corrupted, please accept them as they are. I can't imagine any of them would want to go on living if their identity had been lost."

Twilight nodded gently. "You are the only living pony that can speak on their behalf. Hopefully, we won't have to follow that directive." She perked. "Ah, the materials are arriving in one of the labs. The techs are starting their analysis of the damage and recoverability of the findings."

Cadance straightened up with clear interest. "How long until you know?"

"Not sure." Twilight rubbed behind her head. "Even with our computerized equipment, we still need to manually look everything over, in order to determine what can be saved and what's trash." She tapped at her chin. "Besides that, even with the automated checks, they will want to attempt manual modes of recovery if the automated ones aren't sufficient. With practiced hands and an eager mind, it's amazing what some of them can come up with."

She began to pace as she thought on it. "Then they'll have to inspect and check every file to see if it can be salvaged or if it needs to be scrapped."

"Mmm."

Cadance paused. "Though, that reminds me. What curious creatures you've made friends with. They have fingers, like a minotaur, with far less obvious fur, save their manes. They seem very proud of those manes." She thought of the one who had helped her, Susan, wasn't it? "They are very nice to us. You have found true friends. I hope I get the chance to become friends with them as well."

Twilight nodded eagerly at that. "I'm sure you will. They are very friendly to anyone they consider a friend. Besides, you're a princess!" She spread her wings. "To them, I am a ship. That's a big thing, but not nearly as glamorous as an actual, living, princess. Let them and they'll likely fawn over you given the chance. As long as you can put up with them trying to get close to you for countless reasons of their own, at least."

Cadance snorted at that. "Not that different from some ponies I've dealt with."

Author's Note

Who might we recover, if anyone?

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