The trip from the Badlands to Manehattan was nothing to talk about. The summer weather was perfect for a long trek and, being accompanied by a warrior holding more than starvation level of love, an infiltrator ranking in double digits, as well as the Queen herself, no timberwolf or any other predator could even close in on the group at any point in time unnoticed.
No, no amount of begging would persuade the Queen to let the drones keep a shiny bear with its hide covered in stars that they saw one night as the newbie drones wanted. 387 and the drones that survived the dreamscape battle against Tantabus were much less enthusiastic as well, so eventually 387 just promised to fashion each drone a sturdy walking stick over the course of the trip instead.
I mean, having a chance to pet a giant shiny bear was one thing, but getting a durable stick that a drone would get to keep for itself? Now that was something.
Anyway, back to Manehattan…
I'm not scared. There totally AREN'T way too many ponies around. I gotta stay cool. The others are looking up to me. I'm not High Score but if anything goes wrong it'll be on me.
It's all about keeping and eye on things, staying vigil-
*Huff huff huff!*
"EEP!" 10013 darts to the side as the wet nose of a dog presses against its leg and starts sniffing the drone before licking it.
"Eww," the unicorn mare holding the dog's leash tugs on it with a haughty pout, "Don't touch that, Daisy, you don't know where it's been."
"In a forest, then some grassy hills, swamp, forest again, road…" 10013 stops as the mare ignores it and walks away with the dog.
10013 breathes out in relief. Whatever the fluffy sniffer was, it was close in size to the drone itself and, as it was breathing through its open mouth, 10013 saw teeth which, while not overly sharp, could still likely cause serious damage.
The drones are walking through the streets of Manehattan, dutifully following Chrysalis and 387. 10013 is in the back, making sure no one wanders away or stays behind. Thankfully, the Queen's pace has been fairly relaxed ever since they entered the city, so even the short legs of drones are enough to keep up. On top of that, the crowds of ponies on the sidewalk seem to part in front of Chrysalis, giving the drones some space so that they don't have to push through. Unfortunately, while their surroundings are completely alien to the small drones, they don't have any opportunity to examine the smells or colors, and this strange world has shrunk to the endless stream of colorful ponies passing by and obscuring the view of anything else.
"Everything is ready for your arrival," 93's voice sounds through the minds of everyone, making a crude map of several streets assemble itself in everyone's heads, "You, Your Majesty, are to use the representative entrance here," a marker appears on the mental map leading up a smaller pier towards the depiction of a massive white ship, "while the rest of us will take the staff entrance here," the second marker appears on a larger pier, and 93 shares an image of ponies carrying heavy bags.
"No, you're coming with me, 93," replies Chrysalis, "387, take care of the drones and stay linked up."
"Yes, Your Majesty," both high ranks agree.
They arrive in the public section of Manehattan docks not even half an hour later, and split up. The crowds of ponies haven't thinned a bit despite the heat, but 387 is leading the way without a problem, and the group soon find themselves standing in a long queue filled presumably with servants of various members of nobility who signed up for the trip. In comparison to the ponies in front of and behind the changeling group who are wearing colorful clothes and distinguishing symbols, the changelings look even more out of place than usual, but no one is bothering them due to having a number of their own tasks to do.
Finally, however, the drones get a clear view of the ship, the sheer size of which is absolutely stunning to their minds used to narrow, underground tunnels of the hive.
10013 looks to the left - there's the side of the ship, the concrete pier, and a queue of ponies leading all the way back to the dock. 10013 looks to the right - even now that they're close to the ramp leading into the ship, there's still so much ship that way! Finally, it looks up - STILL MORE SHIP!
"How are you feeling, guys?" asks 10013 the others.
"Overwhelmed," replies 36658, "I just wish we got to see more of the city."
"Overhelmet too," 99526 nods vigorously, "I thought you guys were kidding when you said ponies were so big."
"My leggos hurt," 99380 sits down briefly, rubbing its hooves.
"I'm a bit scared," 99111 rubs its head, "There's so much of… everything and no safe nook to curl up into."
Smiley gives distraught 99111 a hug.
"Don't worry," 20100 looks around at everyone, "We're nearly inside and then someone will tell us what to do and everything will be normal again. I just hope I'll have some time to draw all these weird kinds of ponies," it nods to the back where a group of muscular zebra mares wearing leather armors which, to a sufficiently pervy eye, would look like a mix of protection and BDSM gear, "Look, those ponies have stripes."
"Those are zebras," 36658 peeks out from the line, beams, and waves at a rather confused mare who catches it looking and gives it a raised eyebrow before it shuffles back, "They're pony versions of the tree I used to make agonyslayers from before the Queen made me tend to our new poppy patches. I wonder how they taste…"
"...and which part of theirs to eat…" mutters 387 with a snicker, earning a puzzled look from 99111, "Nevermind," he sighs and pats the drone's head, "I give it at most half an hour before it's our turn. The ponies ahead of us don't look too burdened with luggage."
Chrysalis' looming shadow falls on a unicorn wearing covering dark blue clothes from head to hooves. On the barrel of his padded jacket, yellow letters spell out SECURITY. The stallion is currently looking downwards at a notepad filled with names and numbers with a pen in his mouth due to his telekinesis being occupied by the pad.
"Ticket," he mumbles, and 93 presents it to him, "Number 86… 86… 86…" his eyes scan the paper, "Ah, here you are. Queen Chry… sal… is…" his head snaps upwards over 93 at the Queen, "Hnng!" and he swallows his pencil.
As he keels over, choking and pawing against his neck on the concrete pier, two other security unicorns rush closer. One opens the original victim's mouth and begins weaving some kind of spell while the second approaches Chrysalis who is watching the scene with mild amusement. His bodily features of both are hidden under the same covering security uniform as the others, but he looks in his forties with greying brown mane and a short beard complementing his brick red coat.
"What an unexpected… honor. You must be Queen Chrysalis," the unicorn gives Chrysalis a courteous bow, "Glorious Quest, owner and representative of Quest Security. We're responsible for making sure this entire trip goes without a hitch. However, I'm ashamed to admit that I wasn't aware you'd be joining us on this trip," he levitates up the dropped notepad, and 93 once again presents the ticket she caught as the original security guard was falling, "No matter, ticket 86 is here aaand everything seems in order. Present your ticket to the staff inside and they'll show you to your delegation's cabins," he beams at the Queen, "Oh, one final thing, Your Majesty - the island resort we're heading into belongs to the Griffon Empire, but there's no need to worry with Quest security onboard."
"I just made one of your guards eat a pen without even doing anything," sneers Chrysalis, "I think I'll manage," she glances sideways at the original guard now saved by the second unicorn who managed to telekinetically pull the pen out of his throat, "Although… maybe if I get bored I might try to have your beefcakes eat a bug next," she boops Quest, "93 sure could use some action," she chuckles as 93's eyes bulge just like Quest's and walks past him onto the ramp leading up into the cruise ship itself.
Quest remains, visibly frozen and straining his face to remain polite.
"Wasn't that needlessly antagonistic, Your Majesty?" mentally asks 93.
"I can smell a suck-up a mile away."
"Everyone sucks up to you at home, Your Majesty."
"Yes, because I'm their Queen and they're afraid. That's absolutely fine and proper to a certain degree. This Quest guy wants something he isn't saying. No matter, I hope this clears up at least a little why 387 is so important and enjoys freedoms I rarely offer to anyone else."
"His… defiance isn't always constructive."
"True, but he tends to point out problems in areas that would be too time and energy consuming to monitor directly."
"I will take that into consideration and be more lenient with him in the future."
"Oh, don't go too far. I enjoy it when he's grinding his teeth."
387 is standing in front of what the staff member leading him and the group of drones through the cruise ship corridors pointed out as the royal suite for Queen Chrysalis.
"Your Majesty, we're here," he broadcasts. A moment later, Chrysalis opens the door and looks down in disdain at the assembled group.
"Huh, everyone is accounted for," she raises an eyebrow, "I was kind of expecting at least one of you to get lost."
"I accidentally found the sliding room!" reports 99111, "And a pony threw a chewy bubble brick at me." it shrinks as 387 shoots it a glare, "I apologized and gave it back even before you dragged me out. And I only took one bite…"
"Mare showers?" she asks 387 flatly.
"Yes," the warrior nods.
"Did you find the servant quarters?"
"Already marked on the map."
"Good job. Now, you and 93 will take the hoofmaiden cabin next to mine. The drones can divide the two servants' quarters downstairs any way they want. Let's have them show some problem solving capabilities, how about that?"
"They could still use a basic objective, Your Majesty."
Chrysalis looks over the drones again before sniffing the air and saying.
"Get cleaned up. We can't have you representing the changeling hive filthy like this."
Green flames envelop the drones in an instant, and the grime of travelling turns into fine black ash blending with the color of their carapace but still caked on it.
"All done," 10013 salutes, a small pile of dust dropping on the floor.
Chrysalis narrows her eyes.
"Hence what I was saying about the clear objective," 387 sighs, "I'll take care of this."
"Fine, I'm going to have a proper bath. Don't bother me," she returns into her suite.
387 points towards the next door.
"Inside. Now!"
The cabin is fully furnished with a table bolted to the floor in the center under the porthole, two wardrobes, two beds on the opposite sides of the room, and a big chest next to each one. A door leading into the side room is closed, and from behind it they can hear running water and sense the presence of 93's hive link.
As the drones trot inside, 387 stops them just by the door and points at the black smears on the carpet around them.
"That's what the Queen meant," he says, "Now, I don't know why she wanted you here-"
"She said she wanted us to see how ponies are, don't you rememb-" 36658 shuts up when faced with 387's intense stare.
"That was a lie," he whispers, "And I intend to figure out the truth."
"Then what are we supposed to be doing?" asks 10013, "It's not sleepy time, or worky time, or even breaky time."
"Undefined time is confusing time…" mumbles 99380.
387 rubs his temples.
"Look, you're on a big break so think of this as one very long break time until someone wants something from you."
"Breaky time-" 36658 corrects the warrior.
10013 slams its hoof into 36658's mouth the instant 387's eyes start to bulge.
"Gotcha!" 20100 nods before tilting its head, "Wait, does that mean we can't sleep until we get back home? That's what sleepy time's for."
387's temple rubbing is suddenly failing to at least slow down the encroaching migraine.
"No no no… ugh. We're setting up a new time. You listening?" he asks and they all nod, "This is all trip time with a fresh set of rules. Understood?"
"Trippy time!" 99380 nods as things get much clearer.
"Oh, just like that time when I tried making a new version of agonyslayers by licking that colorful slimy hopper-" 36658 nods knowingly.
"NO! NEVERMIND!" 387 facehoofs with an audible crack, "New name - it's ship time."
"Shippy time," smiles 99111.
"I will slap y- yes, shippy time," he sighs in defeat, "Shippy time is like breaky time but you can sleep. You might even have to work too but only when someone explicitly asks you to."
"Explicitly like swearing or…" asks 10013.
"The other explicit," 387's eye twitches.
"Understood," 10013 nods, "I asked because we get both of those a lot. I think we cleared everything up, right, guys?" it looks at its fellow drones.
"About digging…?" peeps 99526.
"NO DIGGING!" 387 barks, "Under any circumstances. If you make a hole in the ship we'll sink and if by any miracle you survive, I will personally make sure you regret living for the rest of your short time because if you prove to be a burden or even a direct problem then the Queen will connect your failures with those of every drone back home. She might even order you to collapse the shrine to High Score and wipe your minds to forget everything about it. Understood?"
*Gasps all around!*
*Nod nod nod nod!*
*Spoooooked face!*
"Good," 387 continues, "10013, you're in charge of the drones here. First, you're to find your two cabins and then get cleaned up properly, soap and everything."
"Yes, 387!" 10013 looks around with a determined expression, "We can't disappoint High Score so we gotta be the cleanest and shiniest drones ever. Let's go!"
"Yaaaay!"
The drones march off, leaving behind a faint black trail.
"Why do I know this will end badly no matter what I say?" whispers 387 and sits down into the stomped layer of black ash by the door left behind by the drones. No reason to dirty anything else until he takes a bath himself.
After such a long time of walking through open fields and forests, the narrower corridors of the cruise ship, albeit still easily wide enough for entire carts, feel so much more like home. Unfortunately, that's where the good part for 10013 ends, because it can understand perfectly why the clumped up drones behind it are so uncharacteristically silent. The deck where the higher ranked passenger cabins are is filled with stern-looking, armed and in some cases armored escorts of all sorts, none of whom look even remotely pleased with the changelings being there, shooting them dirty glares through narrowed eyes.
Despite all that, 10013 leads the way, supported by the knowledge that the Queen would probably be at least mildly angry if something happened to any of them. That is, until one of those leather-clad warrior zebras 36658 noticed earlier steps in front of 10013, looks down, and ask in a stern voice:
"May I have a word, changelings?"
10013 stops and looks up. The group behind it shuffles backwards with the exception of Smiley who… smiles.
"W-We gotta go- go downstairs and get c-cleaned up. Umm, top orders. Sorry," 10013's ears fold back.
To its surprise, the zebra gives it a puzzled glance before stepping aside and adding:
"I didn't mean to frighten you. The baron of Northern San Palomino, however, would be interested in talking to you when you have a moment," she nods to the door she's guarding.
"W-We'll tell the Queen-"
"I was specifically told to ask one of you, not your Queen or any, as he called them, 'high rank'."
10013 blinks in surprise.
"Oh… okay," it nods, its voice steadier now that it doesn't look like any kicking is on the way, "We'll see what we can do," it pauses, "Umm, thank you for being nice."
The zebra is clearly at loss for words, so she only nods. One awkward moment of silence later, the drones resume walking.
"...she was so big…"
"Oh goop, I completely forgot to check how she tastes," 36658 facehoofs after a while.
"I wouldn't risk making a nice zebra mad by biting her," 10013 shakes its head.
"I WOULD ASK FIRST!" huffs 36658 indignantly.
"And if she said no?"
"I would wibble," replies 36658, clearly proud of its plan.
"And if she still said no?"
"Uhh, wibble more?" 36658 loses some of its decisiveness.
"Aaaand if attempt number three fails too?"
"Then I know she's a soulless gribbler in disguise and I run."
"Fair point," 10013 leads the way down a staircase onto the servant deck.
The corridors of the servant deck are significantly busier, and the drones scoot over to the wall to avoid servants running around with stacks of clothes, trays filled with boxes, or simply trotting past them and passing on messages from their superiors. The good parts are that they've been here once before when 387 was looking for their cabins as well as the servants paying them barely any attention, so their progress is unimpeded.
Finally, they're in front of the door. There's just one problem - two cabins.
"Riiight," 10013 speaks out loud for the first time, "We were supposed to split up. Any ideas?"
*Crying face.* *Crying face.* *Crying face.*
Despite Smiley's strange mental communication, it only tilts its head when 20100 nudges it with its muzzle and its expression remains on the positive side.
"Is anything wrong, buddy?" asks 36658, "Did anyone smack you on the way here and we didn't notice?"
Smiley shakes its head and repeats its mental message.
*Crying face.* *Crying face.* *Crying face.*
"Do you… not want to split up?" 10013 takes a wild guess.
Smiley nods. Smiley shakes its head. Smiley points down the hallway.
"I'm stumped. Everyone up for following Smiley? We can figure out how to split up in the meantime."
A chorus of nods and shrugs later, 10013 looks at Smiley.
"Lead the way."
Smiley only walks two doors down and stops in front of it.
"That's the sliding room!" 99111 adds its two bits to the conversation of the veteran drones.
Smiley points at the door.
*Crying face.* *Crying face.* *Crying face.*
"Uhh, I don't think I want to eat more bubble brick," 99111 shakes its head.
10013 takes a deep breath, reaches up for the handle, and enters a small, tiled square room filled with lockers on the opposite end of which is an opaque plastic curtain currently drawn to the side, leaving a clear view of a classically white, black-striped zebra mare sitting under a shower nozzle who immediately looks at the drone. Contrary to 99111's previous visit, nothing gets thrown, so the clump of drones simply enter.
"Water! That's what Smiley meant. Running water," finally realizes 10013, before turning to Smiley, "You did, did ya?"
*Happy face.*
20100 pokes 10013's who looks away from Smiley before nodding towards the mare in the separated section of the room who is now watching them with an expression of keen curiosity. The drones wouldn't recognize it, of course, but the zebra's physical proportions are the perfect mix of shapely and thick that could make any stallion turn into a stuttering mess. However, contrary to the zebra who stopped them upstairs, this one doesn't sport any combat scars so she might not be affiliated with the militaristic group. Finally, contrasting with the guard zebra's short, black and white mohawk, this mare's long mane is a mix of grey and pink.
Faced with a stare of her pink eyes boring into its soul, 99380 hides behind 10013 and nudges the leader drone who takes a deep breath to steady itself.
10013, you're in charge here. Make High Score proud.
"Umm, hello, miss," 10013 starts, "We were told to get cleaned up but, umm, all the water is on the outside of this big ship. Smiley here thought this, uhh, could be the place where we could do it on the inside."
The mare nods. When she speaks out, her voice is silky smooth and peaceful.
"Your silent friend was right. Come here," as the drones look at 10013 first, she adds, "Don't be afraid," she stands up as they enter the second room which envelops the locker room like a big C and is filled with shower nozzles separated only by thin plastic panels, "Do you need help?"
"I think we should kinda figure this out by ourselves," 10013 shakes its head, "We're supposed to be learning about stuff."
The mare giggles.
"I can understand that," she turns around, grabs a bottle, and pours its contents over her mane, "Well, if you need any help, don't be afraid to ask. I think you'll find that most common ponies are rather pleasant if you get to know them."
"Thank you!" 10013 smiles. Things are looking up.
"Alright, guys. Let's go and figure this water thingy out."
All seven drones huddle under one nozzle and look up. The hive mind presents no tooltip, and the nozzle completely fails to start spewing.
"Water?" asks 99526.
"Water, please?" adds 36658.
The nozzle remains stubbornly dry.
10013 starts exploring a metal panel with a vertical handle centered under the nozzle. It peeks into the zebra mare's separated shower segment for some inspiration. She notices immediately despite 10013 being quiet, turns her head, and nudges the handle to the side which makes the torrent that's washing over her shift slightly before returning to rubbing her now extremely bubbly and foamy mane.
10013 returns with the newfound knowledge and pushes the handle to the side.
Nothing happens.
Trickery!
10013 peeks over again. Three more heads follow it, one under its own and two above to see what it's looking at. Without turning her head this time, the mare rinses off her long mane and pushes the handle towards the wall which makes the water stop. As she passes by 10013 on her way back to the locker room she kicks her brick of soap towards the drones.
"You might want to try this," she says with a snicker as the drones surround the soap, all sniffing it at once. 99111 licks it, "No, it's not for eating."
10013 furrows its nonexistent brows. The mare wasn't looking their way.
"99111, I charge you with figuring out the bubble brick," says 10013 while fiddling with the handle, this time successfully.
As the lukewarm water starts washing the black grime off of 10013, the drone figures out one final problem.
"Guys? I think all seven of us under one nozzle is a bit too much."
A short moment later, over half of the shower stalls are occupied by changelings buzzing happily under customized water temperatures and pressures, wings spread and scrubbing every nook and cranny their hooves can reach. The buzzing and running water are the only sounds for some time until-
"AH FGHURRED AHT TH BUBBBLLB BRIK!" gurgles out 99111 through a waterfall of green foam coming out of its mouth, jumping out of its stall and sliding over the wet tiles until it hits the wall which does nothing to curb its enthusiasm.
The others turn their showers off as one and slide over to 99111, smacking the wall like tiny bumper cars. 99111 coughs out the rest of the foam and presents half of the bubble brick with bite marks.
"If you just rub this on you, it just washes off," it says, sliding over to the nearest shower and demonstrating, "But if you eat a chunk and then turn it into goop," it throws up a vaguely ball-shaped green glob, "it cleans everything!"
Under the goop rubbing, the black ash goes down easily. Some experimentation later, it turns out that the only one who can produce the goop with enhanced cleaning properties is 99111, so it eats the rest of the soap and distributes the resulting globs to everyone.
It doesn't take long this time, and most drones are squeaky clean. While waiting for everyone to finish, 36658 curls up on the wet floor and 20100 shoves it as hard as it can. 36658, unfortunately, moves the wrong way and its trajectory ends with it bumping against the wall and bouncing into the wrong stall.
"Wheee!" 99526 slides over to 20100, "What'cha doing? Looks fun."
"It doesn't have a name yet but you curl up and the other drone pushes you so that you land in the right spot. Then you switch. I think it only works on these smooth thingies, though," it runs its hoof over the tiles.
"Why make it difficult to remember? How about just curling?" offers 99526.
"Spoken like a smart drone!" 36658 beams, sliding back to 20100, "Curling it is."
10013 finishes up and joins the sliding drones.
"Okay, guys. I think we can report to 387 that we're all clean," it tries to tap into the warrior's hive link and finds that it can't feel it at all, "Uhhh, can anyone sense 387?"
"I can, but I can't even poke him," 99380 frowns.
Everyone else shakes their heads.
Ooookay. Up the chain of command it is then.
"93, calling 93?"
"The changeling going by 93 is currently unavailable. Please, try calling later," comes through her hive link.
Oh goop. Was there any drone ever who did what I'm about to do?
"Umm, Your Majesty," 10013 pokes the powerful Queen's link with utmost care.
"Taking a hot bath, sent 93 out, 387 is whatever. You have your orders!"
The link locks up.
10013 looks around, suddenly feeling incredibly alone.
I wonder if this is how High Score felt when it was left in charge…
It takes a deep breath to steady its nerves.
What we do here will reflect on all drones back home.
Several minutes later, the dried up drones are all inside one of their two cabins.
The servant cabin is made for four ponies and incredibly cramped, sporting a set of two hammocks on each side, one hanging above the other. A small table is bolted to the floor right under the porthole, and there are two shallow wardrobes next to the door from each side, one reaching up to the low ceiling, presumably for hanging clothes, and a small one serving as a secondary table for anything else. Just like the showers, the toilets must be somewhere else on this deck.
However, none of the drones has touched anything yet, and all eyes are locked on 10013.
"I think we were supposed to be split up." 36658 rubs its head, "Won't 387 be mad?"
"I was thinking about the Queen's orders-"
"That can be lethal!" gasps 36658.
"It can," admits 10013, "buuut the point was for us to figure out how to split up, so… I assumed that zero was a number too."
A moment of thinking later, 99380 gasps:
"It is!"
"So that means we can divide into, wait for it, all of us and none of us!"
"And that's why you're the one in charge!" 20100 nods, eyes wide in amazement, "That way we can watch each other's backs."
"Yup!" 10013 nods, "Now, how does everyone feel?"
"Squeaky clean."
"Squeaky and clean."
"Clean but with numb leggos."
"Still burping bubbles."
"A tiny bit hungry."
*Happy yawning face.*
"36658, take a look at 99380's legs. Everyone else, check for any cracks and leaks and goop those up. We can't be bleeding all over the place," orders 10013 and flies up on the top left hammock, "Imma check this web thingy."
Somewhat safe in the knowledge that ponies wouldn't let giant spiders onto the ship, 10013 pokes the hammock. Upon finding that it isn't sticky, it sits down on its edge, steadying itself with its wings the moment it starts spinning.
Maybe if I stand on it?
The size of the hammock holes was clearly made with ponies in mind, not drones, and 10013's legs slip, letting the drone fall cleanly through until stopped by its barrel.
"I'm caught! Run before the leggy spinners come!" it yelps.
On pure instinct, the other drones bolt, slam into the closed door, and bounce off. When they recover and look around, they stop.
"I don't see any leggy spinner holes," 20100 narrows its eyes, "Not even in the corners, and that's prime leggy spinner territory."
36658 licks the hammock.
"Not sticky, too. Maybe ponies learned something from leggy spinners and made these?"
99526 flies up and pokes 10013's hanging leg.
"This looks kinda comfy. How does it feel?"
10013 has to admit that lying on the hammock, with its legs simply hanging through the holes, does feel surprisingly relaxing.
"Pretty nice with no leggy spinners around."
"Can I try?" asks 99526.
"I mean, I can't turn my head but if you're saying it's not dangerous…" 10013 shrugs.
99526 flies onto the hammock opposite 10013 and drops straight down.
"This feels amazing!" it starts swinging its legs through the air, "It's like hovering but without using wings."
Just over a minute later, each hammock has two drones stuck through it, happy to simply be hanging.
*Happy face!* *Happy face!* *Happy face!*
*DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!*
*SPOOKED FACE!*
"What was THAT?!"
"Loooooud!"
With a lurch, the drones find themselves suddenly leaning to one side.
"We're moving!" exclaims 20100, its head turned towards the porthole.
"I wanna look!" 36658 tries to free itself from the hammock by flailing and finds out that the uneven changeling legs get stuck on the ropes incredibly easily.
Embracing the gentle rocking of the now moving ship, the seven entangled and stuck drones slowly drift off to sleep.
The drones wake up within the span of several seconds from each other despite the hive mind not announcing worky time for once. It's just a habit ingrained so deep that not even their current completely alien surroundings can suppress it. Simply put, their standard four hour sleepy time is over, and they're ready for action. Squeaky yawning fills the cabin for a moment before the drones look at 10013 as one.
"This is nice," mumbles 99380, swaying its legs around, "But I kinda don't feel like sleeping anymore."
"Gimme a sec," 10013 concentrates, "I'm gonna try to check up with 387 again."
Unfortunately, 387 is still completely impossible to sense, so it taps into 93's hive link instead.
"Hi, 93. We still can't sense 387 and we don't know what we're supposed to be doing. Is everything okay?"
"As far as I know, there's nothing problematic happening at the moment. I'm exploring the insides of this ship and assessing potential risks. Judging by the recently received mental map updates, 387 is doing the same even though he is hiding his presence. And the Queen is… well, that's none of your business," replies 93 immediately, "I am also not aware of any orders pertaining to your group, so you are free to do as you please until called for. Within limits, of course."
"Thank you," says 10013 politely, "Have a nice, umm, shippy time."
No answer.
"Hmph…" 10013 pouts.
"Bad news?" asks 36658.
"Not really. No one needs us at the moment, so we can do… uhh… anything that's not digging or that makes someone yell at us."
"Oh…" 20100 tilts its head, "That's new."
And all of them look at 10013 who seems to be slowly realizing the horrors of responsible leadership. After some pondering, 10013 decides that small steps are the way to go and says:
"We should probably get out of these webby things first," it tries to bend its legs to grab the holes in the hammock and pull itself up without any effect. As it watches others do the same it gets an idea. It simply lets its legs hang, spreads its wings, and buzzes directly upwards, carefully navigating its legs through the holes, "Ah hah! Got it!"
"Oooh, smart!" comments 99111, slowly floating upwards as well.
In only a few moments, the drones stand gathered in the center of the small room, feeling somewhat… off.
*Puzzled face.* *Confused face.* *Woozy face.*
"We're all feeling that, Smiley," says 10013 in response to the confused hive link message, "The ground is acting weird."
The floor is moving. Slowly, extremely gently, rocking from side to side. Inside the hammocks, they felt something, but no discomfort as the net simply let them hang downwards no matter any outside motion. However, now on the floor, their biology completely unused to being on anything other than solid ground is complaining. Still, it won't be a problem for long, because changelings are adaptive and nothing short of a tsunami can seriously destabilize something as huge as a cruise ship.
36658 recovers first, hopping on the table and saying:
"Eh, it'll pass. It's just like whenever I experiment with a new version of agonyslayers and overdo it," it tries to shove its head into the porthole and slams its face into the glass, "Hey, there's something invisible in the hole!" it pokes the glass, "I can't get through."
"Maybe it's magic?" suggests 99526, "We saw a looot of unicorns get in with us."
"Makes sense," 10013 shrugs, looking around, "So we've got a table, a magic hole leading outside, and these box thingies," it nods to the two wardrobes, "I'll check the big one, you go look what's inside the small one."
The drones swarm the small wardrobe.
"How do we get in?"
"There's no handle."
"It's a mystery box!"
"No digging!"
"Don't shove me!"
"Don't hit it!"
"I'm not hitting it, that's exploratory poking."
"With force?"
"It wasn't responding to negotiations!"
"You didn't say anything!"
"I gestured!"
"It doesn't have eyes!"
"EXCUSES!"
"Hey, let's try pulling?"
"Ouch! Stop that!"
"Try pulling it, not me, this time?"
10013 looks away from the disorganized mess and reaches for the handle on the big one. It responds without an issue and opens into a space vertically split into two halves, one with hanging sets of clothes and one filled with shelves covered in sheets and various utility items.
"My turn now!" says 99111, biting 20100's tail stub.
"Hey, I didn't get mine yet!" objects the victim.
"You totally did! You just spent it all by staring."
"That was an examination and it doesn't count."
"It does! I want examee-nay-shun it too!"
"STOP PULLING MEEEEE- oh?" 20100 grabs the top of the wardrobe at the end of the quick exchange and, as 99111 pulls it hard, the top lifts slightly, "Whoah whoah, I think we got it!"
"Really?" 99111 stops immediately and climbs on 20100's back to see over the clump of other drones. 20100 lifts the top, revealing it only has one hinge on the side that's against the wall, "Uhh, white stuff?" it pokes the revealed bed sheets and larger covers which wouldn't fit into the small shelves of the tall wardrobe, "Soft white stuff."
"Waaaaait!" 99380 calls out loudly. When everyone looks at it, it asks, "What if it's someone's stash? We never go through someone's stash unless they're dead. Them's the rules, one of you veterans told me. Uhh, right?"
They all look at 10013 who starts carefully folding a pillow case it grabbed earlier, blows at it, and puts it neatly back on the shelf.
"Good thinking," it admits, "I guess we shouldn't mess with things until someone tells us it's okay."
All activity stops and the drones look at each other expectantly. The first to vocalize the incoming question is 99111:
"What do we do then?"
Once again, all eyes end on 10013.
*Gulp!*
"Hmm… What would High Score do in this situation?" it mumbles.
"Ask the high ranks?" suggests 20100.
"We already did that."
"Sleep?" is 36658's idea.
"We did that too."
"Nothing?" offers 99526.
"That's what we were doing the whole trip here," 10013 shakes its head.
"Did we finish?" adds 99526.
10013 rubs its chin before hopping onto the table and looking out of the porthole. The sea sparkling in late afternoon sunlight reflects in its eyes, making it smile and filling it with courage.
Of course!
It turns back to the others.
"The outside is full of shinies! All we have to do is look. High Score wouldn't sit here. It would go out, explore, and find shinies to bring back to us. Unfortunately, since High Score is resting in the great gablonk right now, it's up to us to be our own Shiny Bringers!" 10013 vigorously points at the cabin door, "ONWARDS!"
They huddle around the door. 36658 reaches for the handle and opens it. As the noise of everyone working all over the servant deck floods in, they hesitate and look at 10013 again.
It stops in the door frame, peeks outside, takes a deep breath, and walks into the corridor.
"Nothing is trying to eat or kick me," it looks back at the six drone heads lining the sides of the door frame, "I think we're good."
36658 strides out next.
"Hey, 20100. Since we're the only Potatoes here, it's up to us to try and spread the word about Hgh Score the Shiny Bringer to the nice ponies everywhere."
"Umm, can we look for some more paper for my moving pictures on the way?" asks 20100.
"Obviously! High Score will provide a way for us to be good drones, and if we pass we'll get all the paper we deserve. Well, that you deserve. I've got my own thing."
"Yay for High Score the Shiny Bringer and drawings that move!" exclaims 20100 and the two trot off in a random direction. Since it's a hallway, 36658 simply leads the way right because the right way can't be wrong. That's big brain logic.
99111 takes a deep breath before stepping out next.
"I think us newbies should find our own way," it says, "I respect you vets and your experience, but all that talk about High Score is… I dunno. I want to be a good drone because of myself, not because of some tiny part of High Score that might or might not be inside me."
"High Score wouldn't want it any other way," 10013 smiles.
"Grumble grumble grumble!" huffs 99111, turning away and walking left.
99526 and 99380 exchange glances.
"Do you have anything for us to do?" asks 99526.
10013 shrugs.
"Not yet. I think that what 99111 said -about the exploration, not about High Score- sounded reasonable. How about you head out and just try your luck? 93 shared with us the updated map of the ship and it's big but not too big, so if you stay linked up there's always bound to be someone in range who can help you or call the high ranks."
99380 walks over and gives 10013 a hug.
"Umm, thanks for being smart when we're not," it mumbles and trots off alongside 99526.
10013 finds itself smiling again and facing one final drone smiling back.
"How about you, Smiley? Feeling a little overwhelmed by all this novelty?"
The Silent walks up close to 10013 and licks its nose.
"You wanna go with me?"
To 10013's surprise, Smiley shakes its head and leaves with a mental message of:
*Worried face.* *Happy face.* *Curious face.* *Curious face.* *Curious face.*
Left alone, 10013 takes a deep breath again.
Welp, even Smiley left before I can even get my legs to move again. Greeeat start, 10013.
"High Score wouldn't stand here, scared, even though it can stand faster than any drone can run. It would go outside to find anything that could help it make things better for other drones!"
"Hello!" 36658 smiles at a tall, white earth pony wearing a dark red vest with a bright red pin bearing a golden pony head raised up, "Do you want to hear about High Score the Shiny Bringer?"
"Привет а также hет," rumbles the stallion busily, not slowing his pace as he pushes a trolley filled with neatly arranged plates containing what's probably some cuisine from the pony's homeland.
To the changelings, obviously, neither the language nor the food mean anything, but the lack of aggression in his voice and absence of any shoving or kicking bodes well.
"You know," 20100 scoots closer to the wall to let two more trolleys going in the opposite directions pass, "I didn't realize it until now, but out of our group the two of us have the most experience with ponies."
"Huh…" 36658 scratches its head, "I think that makes us the ambassadists of all drones. We gotta represent."
"What does that mean?"
"No idea, but I feel like High Score will provide an answer."
"Then we gotta head downstairs," 20100 nods sideways to the staircase.
"How come?" asks 36658.
"Well," 20100 points at the signs above the stairs, "Deck one - cruise services. Deck two - nobility. Deck three - retinue. Deck four - staff. Deck five - maintenance. As the most skilled drone, High Score would be as far down as possible so it will be the easiest to hear it there."
"Huh," 36658 ponders it as it heads down the stairs to the staff deck, it asks a question, "Does it mean that the great gablonk is all the way down and High Score is looking up at us?"
"Makes sense to me," says 20100, "Things are always looking up when High Score is around."
"You're a genius!" 36658 pats 20100's head, which isn't a smart thing to do on a staircase, and it tumbles all the way down, "Whoah! That was fun," it stands back up, unharmed due to its carapace, "Note to self - this makes the world a little spinny."
"Staff deck…" 20100 examines multiple plaques on the opposite wall of the even narrower corridor than on the upper decks, "Look!" it gasps, pointing at one, "Celestial Seas Catering - Cooking with love."
"Wooow…" 36658's jaw drops, "How do you think they do that?"
"Let's go ask! I tried Miss Ladle's stew once and it was delicious, but if we learned how to add love to it too that would be so amazing!" 20100 hops up and down, "We gotta learn their secrets."
Following the arrow on the plaque, they stop by a double door with a round window in each wing, behind which they can hear constant chatter, occasional yelling, and clanking of metal. There doesn't seem to be any handle on it, so 36658 simply pushes through, somewhat surprised that the door just gives way.
The chaos begins.
"CHANGELIIIIIIIIIIIINGS!"
*Hissss!*
"AAAH!" screams a pony wearing a white apron covered in boiling soup he poured all over himself as he saw the changelings enter.
"Crap crap crap!" curse a mare next to him, backing away from the spreading boiling pool on the smooth floor while patting down her sprayed front.
A big earth pony stallion wearing a puffy, tall, white cap huffs and rolls his eyes.
"Celestia-damned jumpy Canties…" he whispers before raising his voice at the drones, "What the hay are you doing here? This is a kitchen and, as far as I can see, neither of you is a cook!"
"Sorry, sorry, sorry," 20100 points at the groaning burned pony lying on the floor and nudges 36658, "Do your thing, buddy!"
"Oh, right!" 36658 darts past the head chef towards the victim.
"HEY!" the head chef calls out.
"We, umm, we read that you can cook with love and, you know, we eat love, so we wanted to learn how you do that," explains 20100.
"...what…?" the complete absurdity of the statement makes the head chef turn back to 20100.
Behind them, 36658 approaches the lightly boiled stallion who points its blistering foreleg at it and wheezes:
"No, no! Get away!"
36658 spits out a quickly hardening chip of green goop.
"Eat this, it'll help with the pain."
"No, no more cocoons or green goo! Go away!" the pony raises its voice into a grunt.
Stunned 36658 gets grabbed by another member of the aproned staff, this time a unicorn, who levitates up the green chip.
"What are you doing? What's that?"
"I'm being completely stunned by someone being afraid of us drones. It's usually us who get spooked by things, and for a good reason," replies 36658 hanging like a cat grabbed under its forelegs with complete honesty, "And that thingy is an agonysl- nope, too technical right now. It'll help with the pain. Successfully tested and recommended by 9 out of 10 changelings, and the last one just said it needed one more."
"No weird mind control stuff?"
"We're drones, we can't do that. Only high ranks can do that. This just helps with the pain and might make you sleepy. I didn't get to do that much testing on ponies but he's a big guy so I made it a bit stronger than for us drones."
"Alright," the unicorn gives the chip to the burn victim, "Try it. If you start acting funny I'll throw these two overboard myself."
A mare helps the earth pony swallow, and a short moment later a dopey smile appears on his face as he relaxes and his head drops on the floor.
"A-eeah! Wheee! Do you know you're all my very best friends…?" he mumbles.
"Stir Fry, keep an eye on him. You, changeling, come over here. Everypony else, get back to work! We're a pony down already, we can't be wasting time as well."
36658 obediently walks over to 20100 and they both look up at the head chef.
"...whoehadhe…" they hear the drugged pony moan again, "...I can see shinies…"
"What sort of injuries do you use that drug for?" the head chef furrows his brows.
"The usual," 36658 shrugs, "Crushed and broken legs, mostly."
"Oh dear… that clears things up a bit," he sighs, "I'm not going to press any charges regarding this but I have to ask you to leave-"
"You said you were one pony down. We can help!" 20100 interrupts him, "We can, uhh, carry stuff. And there's two of us… that's more than one even when we're smaller."
"We could use servers during the afternoon rush," the head cook ponders, "Do you have a good memory and can you carry a tray?"
*Synchronized nodding.*
"You're not getting paid or anything, though."
"Can we check some of your food for love? That's why we came here," says 36658.
"I already said that," adds 20100.
"Uh," the chef pauses, "That's just a figure of speech. We don't really cook anything special for changelings."
"Awww," frowns 36658 before smiling again, "Oh well, we already offered, and High Score would never go back on its promise, so we gotta help."
"For sure!" 20100 nods, "We're still not starving so it's okay."
"How do you eat love anyway?" asks a cook in the back.
"No more time to chat!" the head chef interrupts as he sees 36658 open its mouth, "I'll get a tray and show you what to do. There's an elevator in the back that'll take you all the way up to the main deck afterwards."
36658 and 20100 hoofbump.
"Yay, worky time during shippy time!"
"Two times at the same time! We're so efficient!"
"Grumble grumble High Score grumble grumble!" 99111, on its own, heads through the servant deck. With no idea what annoyed grumbling actually entails, it just keeps repeating the word grumble punctuated by the source of its irritation, "I'm the one doing my job. I'm the one digging. I'm the one running away from flappy suckers. Grumble grumble, not some old drone."
99111 looks at the staircase ahead.
"Grumble grumble High Score once dug so deep it fell back from the sky," puffing its cheeks, it heads upstairs, "I'll show the Potatoes that we can all be as good as their High Score. No matter what they say, it must have been just a drone like us. If High Score dug down, I'll go up!"
It stops on the carpeted floor of the mostly completely silent nobility deck.
"Huh? Where did everyone go?" it looks from side to side, spotting another staircase leading up, "Nevermind. Up I go. Grumble grumble Shiny Bringer my butt. What does-"
It opens a door at the top of the stairs by pushing on a long handle and almost gets deafened by an explosion of voices.
"-that… even-"
Fresh breeze with a completely unique scent in contrast to the stale underground air it's been breathing its entire life with the short exception of the trip to Manehattan assaults its nostrils.
"-mean…?"
And gets blinded by the low-hanging, late afternoon sun.
"Shinyyy…"
99111 simply stares directly ahead, mouth agape.
The vast main deck is filled with four categories of ponies. One must be the representatives - they're sitting around and chatting, always surrounded by the second category of ponies - servants on duty running around, carrying drinks, food, or messages. Category three are the off-duty servants, enjoying numerous bars, several enormous swimming pools, or simply lying around on deck chairs and enjoying the sunlight. The final category are the cruise ship staff, manning the bar counters, wiping the deck, serving as security, carrying around drinks and food to the off-duty servants, or doing anything else that needs doing.
Breathe, breathe.
Maybe I should contact someone.
99111 instinctively scans the area for hive links nearby and finds… two completely unknown ones.
Huh?
It reaches out to the first one which feels similar to touching a high rank, and it closes up immediately. The drone can still sense it, so its owner isn't trying to hide their presence, but any access including communication is now completely beyond 99111's skills.
As it touches the second new link which feels more like it belongs to a drone, a mental voice replies immediately:
"Hiii! I'm really busy right now but I'll find ya later and we'll talk. I'm so excited to hear what's been happening back in the hive since my last visit. Is 10013 okay? Did High Score come back already? Does 36658 still have its poppy patch? Wait! No! Sorry, can't get distracted right now. See you later, bye!"
99111 just blinks, completely stunned. Who was that?
There's just… too much stuff happening at the same time.
It takes a deep breath. The good part is that so far no one has yelled or thrown anything. In fact, no one seems to be paying 99111 any attention whatsoever. To a drone, that's as good as things get.
Should I talk to the veterans?
No… no no no. They would just say some nonsense about High Score.
Courage, 99111. Courage.
Ah? A voice inside my head?
High Score?
Wait, no, that's just me.
The first shaky steps out of the shadows are the worst, but 99111 soon breathes a sigh of relief as despite some ponies starting to notice it they simply don't care. With the sides of the ship lined by various stands, bars, and ways to pass time, 99111 heads directly ahead to the massive swimming pool surrounded by luxurious deck chairs and umbrellas. Standing on the edge of the pool, it finally sees the familiar scheme of the zebra bombshell from the showers swimming past and being openly stared at by various stallions either standing around the pool or swimming in it.
The water of the pool moves, reflecting sunlight as hundreds of tiny, flickering dots. 99111 lies down and lets its forelegs dangle over the edge. It touches the water and tries to catch the shiny reflection.
Again and again.
Looking once again at the ponies enjoying themselves in the vast pool, 99111 decides to give it a shot too. After all, it seems that all they need to do is to get in the water and then occasionally flail their limbs around.
It stands up, breathes in, breathes out, takes a step over the edge…
…and sinks like a rock.
Its legs do nothing to slow down its descent. It opens its mouth to call for help and immediately chokes as it swallows water. Its lungs start burning within seconds, taking away any chance of 99111 concentrating enough to mentally call for help.
Despite the clear water, the edges of its vision grow dark.
High Score, help!
Please…
Finally, so does everything else.
.
.
.
99111 wakes up, coughing out water which, for some reason, feels like it's coming out of its back. Opening its eyes, there's a blurry shadow over it, and the front of its barrel hurts for some reason.
I'm alive…
Its vision finally stabilizes, revealing that the shadow is the shower zebra's relieved face. She stops pressing her hooves against 99111's barrel and asks:
"Are you okay?"
Trembling, 99111 sits up, expecting its carapace to be cracked due to the pressure of the mare's hooves. However, for some reason its carapace is soft like skin. So… squishy and offering no protection. 99111 immediately shapeshifts back into its hardened drone self, feeling a strange hole in its back close.
"I… I think so…" croaks the drone.
"Good," says the zebra, "Wait here, okay?"
99111 nods and she walks off.
A hole appeared in my back, my carapace went all soft, and I couldn't pull off the swimming thing at all.
I called for help…
Back home, they all kept saying that High Score was with us at all times, but the second I got in danger I couldn't get out of, nothing happened.
The nice zebra must have saved me.
It was a lie all along.
The zebra returns, carrying an inflatable pool floaty. She notices 99111's blank stare and sits down next to it.
"I'm here if you want to talk," she says, "Or, if you're brave enough, I can teach you how to swim so that you don't drown again," she grabs its tiny foreleg, "You'd have to fill-in these holes, though."
99111 looks at the pool and shudders. The zebra notices and taps the inflated floaty.
"You can float freely on this and you won't sink, I promise."
Unable to cope with the overwhelming feeling of betrayal in regards to High Score, 99111 shakes its head, and says:
"Can I just rest here for a while, Miss zebra?"
"I'm- my name's Gem," she smiles and pats its head, "And of course you can. I'll be around or in the pool if you need anything."
"I'm 99111," it says as she stands up, throws the floaty into the pool, and slowly lowers herself on it, "...and thank you," it adds, unsure if she heard it over the overall commotion of ponies on the deck.
In absence of any further reply, 99111 curls up by a deck chair and lets sunlight warm its carapace in hopes that the cold emptiness inside will fade away as well.
The emptiness isn't hunger, though. For some reason, 99111 feels completely full.
Shortly after leaving the drone cabin with 99380, 99526's stomach rumbles.
"Huh, that didn't sound good," the 99380 stops and looks at its friend, "You wanna share? I can still spare a bit of love."
99526 shakes its head.
"I think it'll be better if you keep exploring this place. We can't disappoint everyone by both of us passing out somewhere. Go on ahead and I'll try to see if there's any love to scrounge up. Maybe I'll ask if 93 has a little to spare. At worst, she'll call me a dummy or something."
"You don't believe the veterans' tales about us getting eaten for the smallest failure?"
"I do, I do, but all I've seen so far adhered to 387's new rules, so I guess I'll just go and face whatever is in the way like a proper drone."
"Good luck then," 99380 nods and heads further down the hall, "I'll head up on the main deck. See ya."
"Bye."
As 99380's hoofsteps eventually go quiet, 99526 feel more alone than ever before.
Come on, what's the worst that can happen? Getting munched? Getting munched.
So… do I get munched for trying and failing or do I get munched for giving up and lying down?
Say what you want about all those silly things the veterans say about High Score, but if there's an important piece of information it's that it never gave up no matter the challenge.
99526 scrunches its face into a determined and highly boop-able expression before heading on and up to the deck with the cabins belonging to the noble or royal guests. It's nicely quiet at this time of day, and the drone stops in front of 387 and 93's cabin to take a deep breath.
Before it can knock, though, it notices a faint seepage of love through a door further in the hallway. It lowers its leg and starts heading towards the door which, to its eyes, is letting out a faint pink glimmer under it. When it's less than halfway to it, the door opens, and a pony couple entirely covered in a pink cloud walks into the corridor before locking the cabin behind them and leaving in the opposite direction.
99526 beams and quietly follows them, absorbing any love left by their passage.
The stallion is a white unicorn with dark blue mane and the build of a warrior, but the drone's attention is way more occupied by the mare. This is the first time 99526 has seen a pony with both unicorn horn and pegasus wings. Her coat is pink, her mane and tail are split into stripes of three colors - purple, yellow, and dark violet, and she seems to be the main source of the lingering love cloud now easily feeding 99526. The two are laughing and chatting, completely oblivious to the small drone following them, which is a state of affairs 99526 enjoys because it doesn't want to bother anyone, and the indirect feeding is bound to take time anyway.
It follows them to the main deck where they get some drinks from the bar before heading off to the giant central pool. Across from it, the drone spots 99111 curled up under a deck chair occupied by the shower zebra reading a magazine. Inspired by how 99111 is safe and no one seems to be bothered by it being around, 99526 resumes following the couple with a little less sneakiness, which it regrets almost immediately.
A thick and muscular foreleg grabs it by the center of its barrel, raising it up.
SPINDLY CATCHER DANGER!
"Eeep!" 99526 bends and bites the leg but its dull teeth can't do any real damage.
"Hey!" a rough voice warns it and a second foreleg spins the drone around. 99526 finds itself held with two legs by its barrel and staring face to face with a big earth pony sitting on his haunches who is wearing a breezy, dark blue vest with yellow SECURITY written on it, "What do you think you're doing?"
"Being spooked, Mister SECURITY!" 99526 goes limp now that its shocked imagination leaves the territory of tentacly ambushers or scratchy grabbers and returns to reality, "I wouldn't have bitten you otherwise. Sorry. Did you need anything?" it gives the earth pony a quizzical look.
The security guard scoops 99526 with one bent foreleg again and approaches the duo that the drone has been following.
"Prince Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, may I have a moment?" he speaks up to get their attention.
"Is there a problem?" asks Shining Armor, immediately narrowing his eyes as he notices 99526.
"This changeling has been stalking you ever since you got up here," he shakes 99526.
"Why were you spying on us?" Shining Armor's tone lowers into a growl.
"Shiny, calm down," Cadance puts a hoof on his shoulder.
"Your name is SHINY?!" 99526's eyes bulge despite being completely ignored.
"Honey, I know things are supposed to be different these days but I still don't feel comfortable about being stalked by a changeling and, after what Chrysalis did to me, I doubt I ever will."
"I wasn't spying on you or stalking you. I'm not an infiltrator," 99526 opens its mouth, "See? No sharp teeth… or long legs… or a bunch of other scary and mean things. Imma drone. We dig and carry stuff, but I wasn't doing that either- ooooh, so that's why you're asking! Sorry, it takes me some time to get things right," it facehoofs, "I was kinda hungry and you two were leaving behind a trail of love so I was just following it. Your love is delicious."
"You were feeding from us?" Shining Armor's eye twitches.
"Mhm!" 99526 nods, "I didn't mean to bother you at all but then Mister SECURITY here grabbed me. Speaking of which, I saw a bunch of other SECURITY guys yesterday. Are you from the same hive or something?"
As Shining aggressively opens his mouth, Cadance leans to him and whispers something into his ear which makes him pause.
"Are you sure?" he asks instead, "This can go horribly wrong."
"Of course it can," she pats him, smiling, before leaning towards 99526, "Little one, I'm not sure how I could feed you directly but I'm willing to learn."
99526 shakes its head.
"It's fine if I can just be around for a short while. I'm already feeling a lot better and I've been following you only for a few minutes since you left your cabin. You won't even notice I'm there. Or I can go bring you something if you need. Carrying stuff, that's what we do."
More whispering between the two follows, and the security guard's leg grips the drone tighter. In the end, Cadance nods at the security guard:
"Let the little guy go. I think this is all just a misunderstanding."
The guard does so, and 99526 finds itself once again on all fours.
"As you wish, Princess. If there's any trouble, Quest Security is there for you," the guard bows and walks off.
"We're off to have a swim," says Cadance to 99526, "You're welcome to stick around, and don't worry, we won't send you off for anyth-"
Shining Armor interrupts her by pointing a short, pencil-like wand made of pink crystal at 99526.
"Go grab us two mojitos," he says firmly. When 99526 just sniffs the stick, Shining adds, "Show this to the bartender. It means the drinks are for us."
"Ooooh!" 99526 takes the crystal, puts it vertically into its leg hole which closes over it before trotting off, wisely not mentioning the drinks that Shining Armor and Cadance already have.
A short moment later, the drone stops and looks back towards the duo already obscured by other ponies.
Goop. I should have asked where to get this mo-hee-toe drink. Oh well…
With a shrug, 99526 walks over to the first pony going its way and raises its foreleg.
"Excuse me-"
The pony ignores it.
Alright. I need to find someone who isn't as busy.
As it looks around again, it spots a familiar face ascending the staircase leading down to the inner decks. Well, not a face per se, but a familiar writing.
This SECURITY unicorn's coat is brick red, and he raises an eyebrow when he hears a quiet clearing of a throat, looks down, and faces 99526.
"Can I help you?"
"Where can I get a mo-hee-toe, please? I think it's bigger than a less-hee-toe but I've never heard of that either," as the guard's jaw drops, 99526 expands the hole in its leg to show the guard the crystal it got, "Mister Shiny gave me this."
Glorious Quest ignores the crystal and examines 99526's foreleg instead.
"That's a useful trick," he says, "With the leg hole, I mean."
"It sure is!" 99526 nods, "Umm-"
"The mojito, right," Quest looks around before pointing towards one of the several bars around, "Looks like that bar's offering it. It's the green drink."
"Oooohhh!" 99526 squints in the right direction, "I think I can see it. Thank you very much, Mister!"
"No problem," Quest pats its head and walks off.
Less than five minutes later, 99526 is carrying one cup in a leg hole and hobbling on three legs, all that while balancing a cup number two on its head with just the biggest smile of success on its face.
Just like everyone else, 10013 has been wandering around the ship for some time. However, while the others were exploring, it was gathering courage to act upon the rather confusing invitation it got from the zebra guard.
*Puzzled face.* *Disappointed face.* *Awkward face.*
"Smiley, is something wrong?" asks 10013, immediately forgetting its own worries.
*Relieved face.*
"Hang on, I'll be right there."
10013 concentrates on Smiley's hive link. It's not far, nothing on the ship should be unreachable, but pointing out the exact location of someone else is a bit difficult. Normally, drones just ping a map location but that's a bit beyond Smiley's abilities.
The hive link leads 10013 down… and down… and down until the drone stops in front of a heavy metal door which is, quite certainly, locked. 10013 bangs on it.
"Are you there, Smiley?"
*Bang bang bang!*
"Gotcha!" 10013 nods, hearing the noise from the other side, "I could dig you out but you heard 387. Wait there, I'll find someone who has the key, okay?"
*Happy face.*
10013 climbs the stairs one floor up to the staff deck. It can sense 36658 and 20100 nearby but they won't be of any help.
I need… I need… AH-HAH!
It rushes towards a somewhat familiar dark blue uniform with yellow SECURITY written on the side.
"Mister security pony! Mister security pony!" it calls out. The pegasus turns around and its expression hardens when he sees the changeling.
"Yes?" he asks.
"My buddy is stuck behind a door downstairs! Do you have a key or do you know who has it?"
"You mean on the maintenance deck?" the pegasus frowns, "How did they get there?"
"Well, it didn't dig through the door since we're not allowed to, so it must have been open."
"Great, more security incident paperwork. No matter how many training seminars some ponies get…" the pegasus facehoofs, "Alright, come on."
10013 leads the way back down and taps at the door again. Smiley taps back.
"Identify yourself!" orders the security guard.
"Umm, Smiley can't talk, sir," explains 10013.
The pegasus reaches under his security uniform with one foreleg. When his foreleg comes out again, it's wearing a heavy, studded horseshoe. With his wing, he pulls out a set of keys and unlocks the door before carefully opening it and stepping back, only to see a beaming changeling face.
"Heya, Smiley!" 10013 waves.
*Happy face!*
Smiley walks out, looks at the pegasus ready to punch, and nuzzles his raised leg before walking over to 10013 and simply waiting for the situation to unfold. The pegasus locks the door, takes off the heavy combat horseshoe, and leads the two up to the staff deck again.
"I need some information for the incident report," he stops and faces the drones before pulling out a notepad from his saddlebag.
"Sure," 10013 nods.
"First, your names."
"I'm 10013 and that's Smiley."
The pegasus looks at the beaming Silent.
"Easy to remember, I suppose," he scribbles something on the paper, "Which delegation do you belong to?"
"Uhh, changelings?" 10013 tilts its head.
"Changeling hive or Northern San Palomino?"
"Oh. Changeling hive," 10013 nods, "With Queen Chrysalis."
Speaking of San Palomino, I should visit that zebra lady. Wait, did he just say those guys were changelings too?
"Time… section…" the pegasus mumbles while writing, "Okay, I guess that's all. In case we need anything, somepony will find you. If that's all, you're free to go," he puts the notepad away.
"Thank you," 10013 nudges Smiley, "Say- I mean do something thankful."
Already beaming Smiley slowly waves. The pegasus nods in response and leaves.
"You wanna come with me or do you want to look for somewhere new to get stuck?" 10013 chuckles. Smiley licks its face, "Gotcha. Let's go see a zebra- changeling- pony- something!"
Several minutes later and two floors higher, the two find themselves being scrutinized by a different muscular zebra mare for some reason wearing a lot of leather straps all over her body while standing guard by a door belonging to a nobility suite.
"Hello, I was told to come here, Miss zebra."
"One moment," the zebra nods and enters the suite. Only a few seconds later, she returns, leaving the door open, "Come inside."
As the door closes behind the two, 10013 finds itself facing…
…a changeling infiltrator.
"Hello," he opens, sitting on the bed with a worried expression, "How are you in terms of love?"
"A bit low," admits 10013, surprised that this would be the first concern, "But… who are you? The Saint Plop-"
"The baron of Northern San Palomino," he sighs, "Technically, the husband of the baroness of Northern San Palomino, but the lawyer insisted that it makes me a baron too. Before the invasion, though, my rank was 1313."
"Hi, 1313. Why did you want to talk to us instead of the Queen or the high ranks?" asks 10013, sitting down.
"Straight to the point. Good," he nods, "Who invited you?"
"The Queen."
"I mean, you as in all of you. The hive representatives."
"The Queen read us a scroll thingy which said you did," says 10013.
1313 sighs and plops his back on the bed, looking at the ceiling.
"I was afraid you'd say that but I'd be lying if I said I was surprised…"
"You didn't invite us?"
"No, I didn't, and neither did Zamira. No offense, but the last thing I wanted was to see the Queen ever again. I doubt I'm important enough for her to try to control me but you never know," he takes a long breath before covering his eyes with his hooves, "Holes damn it…"
10013 doesn't know what to say, so it just sits on the floor until the bathroom door clicks.
"Hey, honey, you can't be sleeping when you have visitors," laughs a zebra mare of a similar strong build as the guard outside, although a little bit rounder.
"The invitation said we did it, Zami," groans 1313, "Which means someone either did it under our name or that Chrysalis forged it for some reason. That's why Princess Celestia said she had to send us a second one."
"Ah," Zamira, wearing a pink thong and a matching swimsuit top doing wonders to bring out her muscles as well as her backside, leans over to Smiley, "You're a happy fellow, aren't you?"
Smiley boops her. Zamira's eyes go wide.
"1313, I found a solution to not losing my fantastic figure in the future - we adopt. Specifically this one."
"We're very adoptable," 10013 nods wisely, "That's the whole changeling thing."
"Eeeeeeeee!" Zamira grabs Smiley and raises it up, "It's mine now, I win at life."
"It meant adaptable," grumbles 1313, "They have no clue what adoption means."
Zamira carries Smiley to the bed where she sits down next to 1313 and makes the Silent pat 1313's head by guiding its foreleg.
"Look, it's just so happy!"
"Yes, that's a Silent. It has fewer brain cells than your shampoo bottle. It can't possibly comprehend the implications of what's going on here. It's happy because it's not getting eaten or thrown against a magical barrier right now."
"1313 is not wrong," 10013 adds, "But Smiley has been getting better. It can do way more than just wait for orders."
"See?" Zamira shakes a completely unbothered Smiley in 1313's face, "You have to ask your Queen to let us get one."
"I don't know if that would work, Miss," 10013 shakes its head, "Most of the old storage caverns caved-in since the invasion. I mean, there are still a bunch of eggs around but we have been getting only a few new ones every month."
"How does that work anyway?" Zamira turns Smiley around and scratches it under its chin. The tip of its tongue flops out in response, "Does she kidnap a bunch of stallions to fill her up and then she just keeps plopping out eggs for a week, or do changelings like 1313 here bring her mares so that she can fill them like egg sacks with her creepy alien facehugger dic-"
"ALL OF THE ABOVE, THAT'S THE PROBLEM! WE'RE ADOPT- ADAPTABLE!" 1313 bolts into a sitting position, "Never show Chrysalis the eastern clop magazines you keep reading, it'll just give her ideas."
"Well-" Zamira ponders it.
"And if we're not careful, she'll make me drag you off to the hive and then do all of them to you-"
"I mean, would that be so b-?"
"-and I don't want to do that because she says so. I want to do that because I love you but I'll have no choice but to obey and then she'll use us to take control of Equestria!"
"Using our massive political leverage that we have as Northern San Palomino nobility? We own three villages and a chunk of desert that we only got so that we wouldn't blab about Blueblood."
"That's just how it starts!" gasping for air in exasperation, 1313 grabs Zamira's shoulders and shakes her, "Then she'll make us overthrow the South San Palomino guys and she'll control the entire desert!"
Smiley, now sandwiched between the two, turns around and hugs 1313's barrel. This pleases Zamira.
"Honey? You could learn a thing or two from this guy," she pats Smiley.
"I…" 1313 puts both his forelegs over his face again, "I don't think you're getting it, Zami. Chrysalis might not be the best infiltrator in the hive but she was still good enough to fool everyone, replace Princess Cadance, and completely control Prince Shining Armor. If she or that other infiltrator she has with her does something to me I won't be able to stop it and you won't even notice. One day, without a word, I might just turn on you-"
Zamira puts a hoof on 1313's lips with a gentle smile before turning towards 10013.
"Little guy, is your Queen really that bad or is 1313 overreacting?"
10013 rubs its head, pondering it.
"He's… it's complicated," it says hesitantly, "I mean, I saw the Queen up close only twice in my life, and it's the same for most changelings from what I heard. Buuut… life's been a lot better since the new rules. The high ranks aren't allowed to eat us anymore and we get more chances now, so if anything happens that doesn't allow us to finish our quota during worky time we don't get immediately shoved into the crusher and recycled. No one knows how many chances we have but we're not testing anything. Things are a lot better these days, really. Just look at me, I'm almost five years old. That's practically ancient by drone standards, and there's more of us who have been alive before the invasion," 10013 smiles, "Maybe the Queen has changed."
"I'm sorry… what?" asks Zamira slowly, her tone suddenly cold.
"That's what I've been trying to explain!" says 1313, "In my time, the life expectancy of drones was what? A month?"
"Nope, two weeks," 10013 shakes its head, "There weren't that many of us over a month. High Score and I were pretty unique."
A slow, choked groan comes out of Zamira's mouth before she asks:
"Honey, how much do I have to control my language around the little guys?"
"Not at all. They're not foals. Drones are expected to work from day one and they reach the full extent of the knowledge they need maybe by day three. Think of them more as adults who were locked up in a cellar, never had any contact with the outside world, and got hit every day in the head with a brick."
"Heh heh, yeah," 10013 rubs its head in response, "Last month a tunnel caved in on me, but High Score was with me in spirit and the big rocks got stuck on each other so they just squished me hard instead of completely flattening me. I got smacked in the head pretty bad, though, before I dug myself out."
Zamira, almost robotically, stands up, walks into the bathroom, and closes the door behind her, much to the surprised stares of all three changelings. A moment later, they start hearing furious screams presumably muffled by a towel.
"... evil… shithead… month… monstrous… them all… controlling…"
*Sad face.* *Worried face.*
Hearing the fragmented tirade, Smiley hops off the bed and opens the door to the bathroom.
"-WITH A RUSTY SPOON!" comes out before Zamira presumably notices the colder air and stops, "Yes?"
Smiley flies up and hugs her neck.
With a new, determined expression, Zamira steadies it by putting one foreleg under its butt and walks outside.
"Honey," she says sharply.
"Yes?" 1313 knows the tone. It's the 'We do things my way now, no questions' tone.
"I saw Acting Grandmaster Sun Hammer of the Paladins on the guest list. We are going to find her and ask her for any possible magical protection against mind control or anything even remotely similar. Whenever we split up, take anyone from my unit with you. If you go to the toilet, Zaida will be there with you. If we're not showering together, you're showering with Zeri. If I get drunk and meet a sexy beefcake to have fun with over night, Zahara will be in your bed, rubbing her ass against you while Zaida and Zeri watch. Got it?!" she lets go of Smiley and jabs 1313 in the chest.
Faced with this level of authority, both 1313 and 10013 nod, although only one knows what all that meant.
"Good," she says, "Now, how about we- what the hay?!" Smiley is now carefully chewing on her outstretched foreleg, earning a confused shake rather than a smack.
"Smiley, what are you doing?" asks 10013.
*Curious face.*
A fleeting image of 36658 crosses 10013's mind.
"Ohhh," the drone understands, "It wants to know how you taste. My buddy 36658 saw some zebras outside while we were waiting to enter the ship. It used to make agonyslayers by eating striped zebra trees and it was curious if you tasted the same. Now it has a poppy patch on the edge of the Badlands and makes all kinds of stronger stuff, but mostly tormentannihilators, from its goop, some of which we get to keep in case we get crushed but survive."
"And that's the level of storytelling clarity you get from drones," 1313 smirks, "Don't think too hard about it."
Zamira only raises an eyebrow.
"I don't need to, it's perfectly clear to me. I told you I was a tribal shaman apprentice back home and brewing simple painkillers from birch bark is the most basic thing I ever learned. I know you can eat various things to make your goop taste different and alter its effects. We do enough kinky stuff at home. And finally, if I'm correct about the poppies then this 36-something is now making either morphine or heroin. The only thing that puzzles me is where that changeling found a thesaurus to eat in order to come up with those names."
And now, both 1313's and 10013's jaws drop in sync.
"You're a very smart stripey lady," says 10013 after a moment of gawking.
"It takes a lot of work to be this intelligent and sexy at the same time," she replies with a smile.
"I'm the luckiest bughorse in the world," 1313 chuckles as he gets off of the bed, unceremoniously shoves Smiley off of Zamira's leg, and kisses the zebra.
"Smiley, I think we got what we came for. Let's not bother them anymore," 10013 mentally nudges the Silent.
"Hey, Zami," 1313 offers, easily sensing and overhearing the communication, "How about we let these two tag along for the afternoon? They could use a bit of love refill and… maybe the world won't end if we put off talking to the Paladins until tomorrow after all."
Zamira's eyes light up.
"I get the happy one, you get the serious one," she exclaims, snatching Smiley again and squeezing it like a plush toy.
*Panicked fa-* *Serious face.* *Serious face.*
"Don't even try that, Silent," 1313 shoots it down.
99380 is standing propped against the railing at the front of the cruise ship, its forelegs dangling over it. There are barely any ponies around, most being busy by or in one of the three giant swimming pools and sunbathing areas or in the establishments surrounding them. The drone is smiling as it watches the foam of the waves crashing against the ship far down, scattering shiny droplets of water everywhere. It's relatively quiet, there are dancing shinies deep down - the reflections of the low-hanging sun. No one seems to be needing its services and, after so much wandering around the ship's busy interior, the relative quiet is soothing. 99380 lets its mind wander and simply stares ahead.
It's always been a bit difficult to gather its thoughts but it's never mattered so far. Digging was digging, carrying was carrying. Still, everyone has always been nice and, while this new situation is confusing as all holes, there's no present threat. Life is good.
And so, with the hive links of every other drone easy to sense in its mind, the faint presence of 387, the clear minds of 93 and the Queen, as well as those of two more unknown changelings, 99380 simply hangs over the railing and stares at all the shinies in the water.
"Those were the final orders for today," announces the head chef as 36658 and 20100 ride the elevator down after ten o'clock at night, "Good job, everypony, and you two as well."
"We did it!"
"For High Score!"
The drones hoof bump each other.
"I wish I had your enthusiasm," breathes out one of the kitchen staff, taking off their white apron covered with smudges and grease.
"Wait, there were ponies still upstairs," 36658 looks at the head chef, "Do they ask different ponies for food now?"
"No, they don't," the head chef gestures to the drones to follow him into the corner, "We stop taking new orders at ten, and from then ponies can only order packaged snacks or drinks upstairs," he turns around to face the duo, "Look, I know you didn't ask for anything but I'd feel terrible if I just sent you away. Is there anything I can offer you? Our guys usually take leftovers with them, but from what I gathered you don't eat our food."
"We can taste it or make it change our goop. It just doesn't fill us up," 36658 shrugs, "Unless you have any love, I'm out of ideas. 20100?"
"How would I even, ehh, feed you love?" asks a passing mare, "I heard rumors, but…" she lets the sentence hang. The drones don't notice it, but the overall movement in the kitchen slows down as everyone perks up their ears.
Even 20100 turns towards 36658.
"There are a bunch of ways the high ranks do it, I heard, but back in the lumber camp all we had to do was to be around ponies who liked us or each other," the ponies exchange glances as 36658 pauses, "Wait! We can just use a treasured item or something."
"Hmm, would this be enough?" the head chef pulls out a laminated picture of a mare out of his saddlebag. When 36658 sniffs it, he adds, "I hope you don't literally eat it. I mean, chew it or similar."
"Oh no no no," 36658 shakes its head and starts absorbing the love surrounding the picture, "I'll just hold it for a while and then I'll share my love with 20100. You okay with second-hoof, 20100?"
"Hmm?" 20100 turns its head away from a pile of waiter notepads it's been looking at, "Sure, go for it," it walks over to the head chef and pokes his leg, "Umm, does that count as something you'd give us?" it points at the pile.
"A notepad?" the head chef asks, shrugging, "Sure."
20100's eyes light up as it rushes over to the table and swipes the ring-bound notepad. It spreads its wings, and several smudged pieces of paper glued together on one end with goop fall out from a nook in the drone's carapace along with a tiny nub of a pencil. 20100 picks both up and shows them to the curious chef.
"The pad that 65536 gave me when it came over last freezy time for a visit is nearly full, and my scribbler is almost gone too. Now I'll be able to draw so many more moving pictures!"
The head chef reaches across the table to a mug containing assorted pencils, pulls one out, and offers it to 20100 whose jaw drops.
"Can't just give a pad without a pencil," he smiles.
"EEEEEEEEEEEEE!" 20100, tears streaming from its eyes, jumps at him with the biggest smile and latches onto his chest, wiping tears and snot on his apron.
36658 giggles.
"I guess 20100 will be able to draw a lot more now. I mean, if you ever need help again, you know what to offer."
"Heh," the head chef looks over at the staff still present, "Guys, if you need a shift off, just tell me and have an empty notepad ready."
"Did he mean what I think he meant? Do I get a full scribbler and a whole bunch of papers just for carrying stuff for four to five hours?" 20100 asks mentally for confirmation.
"Sure sounded like it to me," replies 36658.
"Me leggos are shaking out of raw happy!"
"Enjoy the next breaky time!"
"I SO WILL!"
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" 20100 just sits there, buzzing its wings while hugging the pad and a pencil.
With a round of chuckling all over the kitchen, 36658 and 20100's worky time of shippy time ends for today.
99111 wakes up in the drone cabin as the door clicks open and the stomping of many tiny hooves follows. Unlike the sleepy time before, now it's lying properly on the hammock instead of having its legs hang through.
"Huh?" it raises its head, "Hi, guys. How did I get here?"
10013, flying to its previous sleeping spot and dropping through the hammock holes, shrugs. The other drones take their previous places as well, and a moment later they're hanging from the hammocks like before, all but 99111.
"No idea. We have been on the top deck watching shinies above since 36658 and 20100 finished their thing. 99380 was able to sense you and said you were asleep so we didn't bother you."
"It was kinda weird," 99380 scratches its head, "You were sleeping and moving."
"Maybe you were sleepwalking!" 99526 gasps, "I heard stories about drones sleepdigging back home. Just gotta be careful here or 387 will get super angry."
"Maybe it was a blessing from High Score!" 36658 clops its hooves together.
"No, it wasn't!" 99111 bolts up in a sudden fit of fury which gets seriously undercut by its legs now dropping through the holes again.
All the others turn their heads towards it in shock. Genuine anger isn't something often seen in the non-violent drones. Almost always, they just accept things as they come and those things either make them happy or sad.
"How do you know, you were sleep-?" 36658 continues.
"Because all that is goop! All those stories are one big pile of goop!" 99111 snarls its way, "I tried swimming like you Potatoes always keep saying to explore and figure out new things and it didn't work and I was drowning and I called and called for High Score to help and then everything started going dark and… and…" 99111's mouth wibbles as its voice fades for a moment before returning with force, "Your stupid High Score was just a drone that lived long time ago, not some super powerful high rank! Or maybe it didn't even exist at all and you've been lying to everyone the whole time!" it glares at 36658.
"You… you-!" 36658 starts flailing its legs 99111's way but it can't get out of the hammock, "How dare you -hnngh!- talk about High Score -arrrgh!- like that?! High Score saved me from spinners and it showed us so many surface shinies! If… if I could get out of this… I would… I would… SMACK YOU!" 36658 fights against the hammock to no avail, "For real, not like when we play! AND WITH MY STICK!"
Everyone else gasps in horror.
99111 wibbles at 36658 whose expression remains huffy and pouty. Tears burst out of its eyes and, sniffling, it lets its legs hang limp while its wings carry it out of the hammock and out of the cabin.
The dramatic moment is undercut only by them hearing the door to the next cabin open and close a moment later.
99380 peeps:
"I… I think I should keep 99111 company. It's scary being alone on this ship, and now even you guys are mad at it too and, you know, drones stick together."
"B-But it… it was mean about High Score," quietly objects 20100.
99526 flies out of the hammock as well, landing in the center of the cabin.
"You gotta admit that some of the stuff you Potatoes keep saying about High Score is a bit… out there?"
"I- you don't understand," 20100 gives it a pleading glance, "We were with High Score and the lumber camp ponies… and then we fought the big bad star pony with the soup princess. That really happened."
"I believe that but, you know, you're all drones like us, just a lot older, so it makes sense that High Score would be one too, not some super powerful creature sent to us from the great gablonk. What was its rank, anyway?"
"It was High Score the Shiny Bringer, you can't rank that!" huffs 36658, giving up its fight against the hammock and concentrating on staring daggers.
Finally, 10013 raises its voice:
"High Score's rank was 9999. Its name was well-earned, as even real high ranks like 1988 can tell you when we come home. It did things no other drone could despite the Potatoes admittedly embellishing their stories a bit… a lot," it corrects itself, "Or making stuff up entirely in some cases, like the story about High Score hiding the big sky shiny at night inside its leg hole so that the changelings outside can get some sleepy time too," 10013 looks at 36658 hanging next to 20100.
"Well… yeah," 36658 looks away with a hint of embarrassment, "We may have oversold a point or two, but it was all for the good of us drones! The tunnels have always been dark, lonely, and deadly, and now that there are so few of us it's even worse. I thought that if everyone heard about High Score then just the thought would warm them up inside when they're out there digging on their own during worky time. It sure works for me."
Despite that admission of vulnerability, 99526 frowns.
"Then don't you ever think about the damage you caused to newborn drones who believed they weren't alone and slipped up and dropped their guard for just a moment and got eaten because of it? The reality is that we are alone down there, that there's no one protecting us, and we all lost our buddies because that's how the world works!"
"Without High Score there would be no new rules!" objects 36658, "And then you would see how bad the world really can be and you'd shut up!"
99526 wibbles, but 36658 doesn't budge an inch. Without another word, 99526 leaves for the next door cabin as well.
"99380, you're smart, right?" 36658 asks.
"Nu-uh," 99380 shakes its head, "And that's okay because that's how the big shiny made me, but you know what it also made me? Not mean," it flies over to the small wardrobe from which it takes three out of seven sticks that 387 made for the drones, "So, umm, the guys out there need a cheer-up pile and that's hard to do with only two of them. Uhh, see you later."
It leaves.
"99111 was the bad guy here, right?" 36658 looks at 20100.
"Right!" 20100 nods.
Then they both look at 10013 for confirmation.
"I… think you could have been a bit nicer about it. 99111 made a good point about you overdoing it with the stories and neither of us knew it almost drowned today. The newbies can get a bit shocked by their first near-death experience. Shouldn't you have a bit more… understanding for your drone buddies? Wouldn't High Score want that the most?"
36658 crosses its forelegs under the hammock.
"Everyone knows that you're a nice drone and a good leader, 10013, and we all like you, but 99111 spoke so badly about High Score that I'm just gonna hang here up on this leggy spinner web and glare at you until I fall asleep!"
20100 only leans its head against 36658 and closes its eyes.
"Nothelpingstillangry!" grumbles 36658 quietly.
10013 sighs.
A good leader? Just look around - only one day in charge and drones are already split and fighting with each other.
"Any comment on the entire situation, Smiley?"
*Confused face.*
"It's a bit too complicated for you, isn't it? Holes, it's too complicated for me as well. What do you think about 36658 and 20100?"
*Happy face!*
"So they're in the right here? What about the 99111, 99526, and 99380 then?"
*Happy face!*
"And about me? I feel like I should have done things completely differently but I have no idea how."
*Happy face!*
That's the best answer I'm going to get, I suppose.
10013 closes its eyes.
And so, day one ends. Not with a bang, but with a wibble.