The three-room suite is dim this early in the morning. The curtains aren't drawn over the windows in either of the two bedrooms nor in the living room between them. On the first glance, all three rooms are empty, and there's no one in the bathroom. The four large beds, two in each bedroom of the suite, are neatly made, showing no signs of anyone having spent the night in them. That should be strange, since the guests certainly arrived at night.

Sudden shuffling and scratching from the top part of a large, heavily decorated, wooden, two-part wardrobe by the wall might freak out any potential observer up until the point when, with a bump, the small door opens, revealing a pair of glowing teal eyes on a small, black head.

10013 looks around, woken up by an unidentified sense of strangeness in its hive links.

Hmmm, nothing out of the ordinary.

Something is off, something…

A presence!

The instant 10013 concentrates on the faint and unidentified presence within the hive mind, it vanishes without a trace, leaving the drone questioning if it's ever been there at all. Eventually settling for a shrug, 10013 flies down from the top section of the wardrobe and lands on the soft carpet, hopping around a little to enjoy the tickling on the frogs of its hooves. It's like fresh grass but so much softer and warmer!

Whoah, we must have been more tired than we thought. It's way past sleepy time and everyone's still out.

Its touching of the other hive links is immediately answered by 36658's head peeking from under the bed. A second of violent struggling later, 20100 slides out from a bottom drawer of a metal filing cabinet in the corner.

"Hi, guys!" 10013 smiles, "Did you sleep well?"

"Mhm," 20100 nods, "This sliding thingy was super cozy once I took the papers out," it points at a stack of binders neatly set down on the floor next to the cabinet.

"Do you think someone's gonna need those?"

"I'll put them back in for the day," 20100 flies out and gets to cleaning up, "Though I doubt anyone's going to be using these, they're all blank."

36658 yawns.

"Then maybe they're for us?" it suggests, "You know, so that you can draw as much as you like."

"Ohhhhhh!" 20100 stops, pondering the idea, "If that's the case then there must be some drawy rocks or paints around here too."

"You'd better put those papers back anyway until we confirm that," 10013 nods its head towards the cabinet, and 20100 resumes cleaning up.

"Whoah!" 36658 checks the hive mind, "We're way into worky time."

"Aren't we on shippy time?" 20100 finishes putting the papers back.

"Can't be," 10013 shakes its head, "The ship sunk, so I think we're back on standard time."

"Huuuh," 36658 taps its hooves on the carpet, "Nope, definitely not. There aren't any hive mind markers about digging or carrying."

"I think we should stick to being on breaky time until told otherwise," decides 10013, "Besides, we can always hunt for points."

"Ah!" 36658 facehoofs, "I can't have High Score be forgotten due to the actions of that hairy tick. If you don't have any leadershipping for us, then I-"

"I actually do," 10013 laughs nervously, "But for that we need everyone. How about we first explore this place? The hive mind map is pretty empty."

After they arrived at night, 387 just led the drones into the suite and ordered them in no uncertain terms to shut up and go to sleep.

"Should we wake the others up then?" asks 36658.

"Give them a few moments," 10013 shakes its head and enters the living room which is roughly twice the size of the bedroom and filled with various pieces of soft furniture. One entire wall is made of glass, in the center of which is a sliding door leading on a balcony that immediately draws 10013's attention.

The drone sits in front of it and tilts its head.

"A magic wall like on the ship! Do you think we can open this one?"

Some collective poking and bumping into the glass later, the drones notice something resembling a knob on the thicker, vertical, non-glass part of the wall. After a deep breath to gather courage, 10013 turns the knob and, with a click, both wings of the door gently slide to the sides.

"Whooah, you unmagicked it!" 20100 starts sliding the door back and forth while examining the groove in the floor which it seemingly follows on tiny wheels, "I wonder how it works…"

36658, in the meantime, flies up onto the parapet and breathes out:

"Wooooooow…"

Hearing that, the two drones hop next to it. The view is breathtaking, doubly so to the drones used to narrow, dark tunnels and caverns.

The Ataraki island is shaped like a boot viewed from above, with the resort forming a circle, half on the upwards-sloping ground and half consisting of water bungalows in the sea connected by a long pier. Halfway between them lies the crescent of the beach, empty at this time of day. As the drones look to the sides, they see a bunch of other balconies presumably belonging to the suites of other delegations. There are other buildings scattered all over different levels of the slope which form concentric half-circles ending with the beach itself.

10013 compares what it's seeing with the current state of the hive mind map, and finds that there are no notes or descriptions of the buildings, leaving the drones in a completely uncharted territory. Well, with two exceptions - the drone suite is marked "Drones" and one of the water bungalows is marked "Chrysalis". Interior maps are missing as well, and the whole mental world is lifeless and empty, meaning that there are no high ranks serving as hive nodes nearby to provide live feed.

"Good morning, guys!" 99526 calls out, leaving the heretic bedroom and waving at the four other changelings on the balcony, "What time is it? Are we late?"

"10013 decided that now that the ship is gone it's a big breaky time," 20100 beams and waves back, "And you're not late. We're just looking around. There's so much more to see than on the ship and this place is much bigger than any cave ever!"

Two of the newbies trot over and look over the parapet as well, while 99111 walks over to a table by the main door of the suite.

"Woooooooow!" 99380 beams, "Hey, 99111, come look at this view! The big shiny is rising and making the sea all sparkly!"

99111 arrives a moment later, carrying a laminated map of the island, which it swiped from the doorside table, and puts it down on a table on the balcony.

"Look, we could use this in place of the hive map for now," it says.

"Neat!" 10013 hops down from the parapet and examines the presented map, "Good job. What could all the numbers mean, though?"

"Is there more?" 36658 grabs the map and turns it around, revealing a long list of numbers with notes.

"Sooo… this big building we're in is number… 4, floor 2," 10013 concludes, "And that's supposed to be the 'Accommodations', same as floor 3. Floor 1 is called 'services'."

"Hey, 99380, do you have a moment?" 20100 pats the newbie.

"Yup!"

"Can you try calling for Smiley? I can't sense it at all."

"Smiley! Smiley! 20100 says it wants you to come over here!" 99380 sends out a mental call.

"Anything?" 20100 looks around. The others only shake heads, "Keep calling then. Maybe it's just wandering around and can't reply from so far."

"Yeah," 10013 puts the map down and nods, "On an unrelated note, I took a quick look through everyone's head on the boat here, and I think I figured something out."

"What?" asks 36658.

"That 99380 isn't stupid."

"I'm not?" the drone in question asks after the usual small delay present whenever it speaks, "But it always takes me a while to gather myself. I'm kinda slow."

"Yes, you are," 10013 nods, "But I've been thinking and I have a guess as to why," it waves the overturned map in front of 99380's confused face, "Commit this to memory, please."

"Done!" 99380 replies shortly.

"Everyone else, tap into it, take a break, and then try to recall it without, umm, recalling it."

"Uhh, what?" asks 99111.

"Ohhhhhh!" 36658 smiles, "I get what you mean! I can feel it in my hooves."

"I'm confused…" 99380 frowns, "Are you making fun of me? I want to be in on the joke too. Can you explain?"

"I'm feeling something, but I'm not sure what," 99526 scratches its head.

"GOT IT!" 20100 suddenly jumps up, "Got it got it got it! Took me a while but I got it too!"

With an excited smile, 10013 hugs 99380.

"You can do what none of us can! You're not just a radio ling, you can use the drone section of the hive mind that 387 set up. That's why you can contact others better and now we won't need to remember the big stuff like this map and all the notes on our own. Speaking of which, can you save the batball and curling rules for us?"

"S- Sure thing!" 99380 beams, stunned by suddenly being important, "I- you know- I can store your Scufflestick factions and details there, plus all the numbers that Mister Shiny promised he'll help with."

"That's a great idea!" 10013 nods, "We'll go see him later. I think he might still be asleep now."

The excitement is interrupted by Smiley landing on the floor, happy as usual.

"There you are, buddy!" 10013 greets it, "Where have you been this early?"

*Puzzled face* *Happy face* *Confused face* *Stripey face* *Woozy face* *Tired face* *Happy face*

"Ooookay, that's way too tough for me," chuckles 10013, looking around and seeing zero understanding in the faces of others as well, "Let's make it simple - any problems or danger?"

Smiley shakes its head.

"Anything we can help with?"

Smiley gives it a blank stare.

"Too complicated of a question, got it," 10013 nods, "Well, I guess we can start now that we're all here."

"Oh right, you had some leadershipping to do, you said," 20100 stops examining the map, sits down, and looks at 10013.

"Yup," 10013 nods, "So, I had this idea, right? We all want points-"

Everyone but Smiley nods, and 36658 glares at 99111 who returns it with a frown.

"-but we all gotta work for the good of the hive and us drones. Now, since the newbies just don't have our experience and we could also use a fresh perspective on problems, I decided that for today we should pair up - newbie and a veteran, and try to be useful together. You know, teamwork and so on, like when we were trapped inside the big bad starry pony and High Score split us up-"

Smiley wibbles at it. 10013 gives it a brief hug.

"-I know, buddy, I know. Any questions?"

"What are we supposed to do?" asks 20100.

"The same stuff we've been doing up until now, just in pairs," clarifies 10013.

"Can I pair up with you?" asks 99111, nodding at 10013.

"I'd like to stick with 99380 for now to figure out how we could use the hive mind drone section, and hopefully learn how to allow everyone to fully access it too. We'll take Smiley as well," 10013 shakes its head.

36658 looks at 99111 with a sigh.

"Fine, we can-"

"20100, wanna pair up?" 99111 interrupts it.

"Sure, let's roll!" 20100 nods.

"I guess that leaves us, 99526," 36658 nudges the final drone.

"Yaaaay! Let's work together for the good of dronekind!" 99526 hoofbumps the air.

"So, what's the plan, 10013?" asks 99380, walking by 10013's side through the hallway on the bottom floor of the apartment complex for the resort guests, still smiling from figuring out that its mental slowness isn't due to some serious deficiency.

10013 has been searching the walls for any cards containing a schedule, but so far it's only found copies of the map they already had in their suite. Thinking the question through, it stops and taps the floor with its hoof.

"I'm stumped. It feels that it's too early for anyone to be working, but I can feel tremors in the floor, so there are creatures moving around."

"How about we just find the nearest open door and ask if anyone needs help?" suggests 99380.

"That's what we're bound to end up doing, but I'm trying to figure out where we'd have the best chance to find anyone needing help as the day goes on. I'd like to find a schedule or something similar to what I saw hanging on the wall of the cruise ship."

*Curious face!*

"Whoa…" 10013 leans back when Smiley's unusually intense expression aimed its way conveys its meaning, "Is anything wrong? Trouble?"

*Shake shake shake!* *Thinking face…*

Smiley bumps its nose against the wall a few times before turning back to 10013 again with a:

*Curious face!*

"A wall… question…" mumbles 10013, "The schedule on the wall I mentioned? It's a plan of activities ponies could do on that day written in pony scribbles. For example, I listened to a leadership lecture by a very shouty two-legged creature with horns. I haven't properly named it yet because it didn't attack me so I didn't know what name would be useful."

*Blank fa-*

Smiley squeaks when 99380 lunges at it and hugs it.

"You are getting smarter! We just kinda have to figure out what you mean but you actually asked a question!"

10013 tilts its head.

"Agreed. That was a bit more complex than usual. Maybe we could test-"

Smiley stands up with 99380 hanging around its neck, and licks 10013's face before trotting off, sniffing the air. 99380 opts against sliding on the floor while being pulled, and lets go of Smiley. A brief roll on the floor later, the drone joins 10013 following the Silent out of sheer curiosity.

Shortly after, Smiley loudly sniffs the air again and walks into a closed double door. Thankfully, it isn't locked, and leads to a large, open room filled with tables.

"Oh! A dining room like on the ship!" 10013 starts walking around and updates the hive mind map with a simple note.

Smiley, on the other hole, walks over to a large blackboard covered in chalk writing by the entrance, sniffs it, licks it, narrows its eyes, finds a bowl with a stick of chalk on a table next to it, and unceremoniously eats a piece. Seemingly satisfied with what it just did, it sits down on the floor.

"I don't think that's for eating, Smiley," 99380 pats its shoulder, "Didn't that horny blue pony draw with it?"

Smiley's jaw drops, it looks at 99380 with amazement, and finally it grabs the bowl and empties it into its mouth.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" calls out an equally horrified and angry voice from the kitchen door, and a griffon curious about the talking in the dining room rushes towards the changelings, "By the Emperor, the bug monster just ate a bowl of chalk!" he looks from happily chewing Smiley towards the kitchen door, "Wensley, call the nurse RIGHT NOW!"

"What's wrong?" 10013, alerted by the screaming, slides on the tiles under the table and, rather stylishly, gets back to all fours just as its momentum stops.

"I'm not sure," 99380 nervously shuffles back, "I think this -umm, griffon, right?- griffon is angry because Smiley ate his chalk."

"Umm, Mister griffon?" 10013 steps between visibly intimidated Smiley trying to look small, "I think Smiley just misunderstood that the drawy rocks weren't a snack. We'll try to get you some replacement or-"

"That's not the point!" the griffon grabs 10013 by the shoulders and shakes it before stopping and wiping its talons with an expression of disdain, "We need to get the nurse to pump out its stomach! If it dies here we'll be in so much legal trouble-"

"Wait! Wait wait wait!" 10013 objects, "Smiley will be okay. It ate chalk before and, as far as we know, we can't be poisoned by eating stuff… well, unless it melts us from the inside. I don't think it would do so since, as I said, Smiley ate some before."

The griffon pauses, seemingly having run out of things to say, before his brain restarts when 10013 nudges Smiley with its hind leg.

"Hey, buddy, can you return at least some of the drawy rock?"

"That's not the point!" wheezes the griffon again, eye twitching.

*Hurk!*

Smiley spits out a glob of goop on the floor.

"HEY!" the griffon scowls at the Silent who scuttles backwards, its back now against the wall under the blackboard.

10013 examines the goop the surface of which, for some reason, unusually quickly dries up into…

…white dust.

"Ohhhhhh I get it!" it grabs the blob and presents it to the griffon, "Here you go - your drawy rock. You want it as a stick?" it rolls the goop between its hooves until it's the right shape, "I think that Smiley can make more."

"Not. The. Point!" aaaand the stupidity of everything finally becomes just too much for the griffon who takes a deep breath before asking, "So you're saying that… thing won't drop dead in a few hours from eating a bowl of chalk…"

10013 opts for diplomacy instead of focusing on the 'thing' part.

"Yes, Mister griffon. Thank you for being worried, but we eat love, not real food, unless we make our insides work differently. We've discovered that we can make our goop take on different properties if we eat the right, uhh, thing. I think Smiley ate drawy- chalk and can now make… drawy goop. I, for example, can make foam that douses fire really well."

A moment of thinking later, the griffon takes a long breath and simply breathes out before turning its head towards the presumed kitchen door and yelling sarcastically:

"THANKS FOR THE HELP, WENSLEY! AND DON'T THINK I CAN'T SEE THE SHAPE OF YOUR COWARDLY HEAD THROUGH THE WINDOW!"

"We didn't mean to cause trouble…" mumbles 99380, shuffling towards 10013.

Seeing the two comparatively tiny drones, one of whom is cowering in the shadow cast by the large griffon, the staff member's tension eases, and he just sighs.

"Are you absolutely sure that one," he points at Smiley who scrunches itself so small that it's almost the size of the two drones as well, "will be okay? We have on-site doctors, even though I doubt they're used to changelings."

"Smiley, give the good griffon some more drawy goop," 10013 turns around and pats Smiley's head.

Slowly and with ears drooped, Smiley spits out more goop, rolls it into a stick with its hooves, and presents another piece of rapidly drying goop to the griffon who twitches and backs off.

"No, umm, it's fine," he shudders with barely contained disgust, "We'll refill that. Just- Just don't eat any more of it," he turns around, "I- We have breakfast to prepare…" he leaves without another word.

"Umm, do you think he's coming back?" 99380 asks with quiet worry.

"I doubt it," 10013 looks around the empty dining room, "I think we should leave, but we can't let all this go to waste," it pats Smiley's head, "Try the goop on the blackboard."

Smiley carefully takes the goop stick into its mouth, draws a circle, and gasps, swallowing the stick whole… probably by accident.

10013 adds two more ovals as eyes and a crescent as a smiling mouth with the first piece of drawy goop.

"That's you!"

Smiley looks from 10013 to the drawing and back repeatedly, visibly stunned by the revelation, before booping the picture and smudging it in the process.

"You know what?" adds 10013, "How about we go tell the Queen and look around on the way? That's bound to take some time so we won't wake her up."

"Yaaay, so early and Smiley already earned a point!" cheers 99380.

"Hopefully so," 10013 smiles, "Let's go."

Being the only team remaining on the balcony after 10013's and 20100's left, 99526 patiently sits by 36658's side while the veteran drone keeps looking into the distance over the parapet. When the silence grows unusually long, 99526 clears its throat.

"Umm, 36658, are you okay?"

"Hmm?" the other drone's ears twitch before it looks sideways at 99526, "Oh? Yes yes yes," it smiles, "I was just watching the sunrise. The way everything sparkles against the sea is… a gift."

"Yup! So many dancing shinies!" 99526 beams back, "Can we go down there once we're done with chasing points for today? Or, you know, while we're doing that? Speaking of points, where do we start?"

"No idea," 36658 hops onto the parapet and floats into the air, "but High Score will provide a way, we just have to keep looking."

"Eyes. Peeled."

With an excited smile, 99526 follows.

From the air, however, the tall slope looks lifeless, prompting the casually flying duo to eventually land on the flagstones of a long promenade arcing along the beach.

"Hmmm," 36658 unceremoniously sits down, "I doubt forcing anything would help. It might even make ponies get angry at us if we wake them up early. Maybe we should just explore…"

"You know, I've been thinking about this whole 'points' thing, and… I mean, not to criticize 10013, but how is this helping your argument with 99111?"

That makes 36658 look at 99526 in puzzlement.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, since we've been doing all this to help our 'side' -you know, hairy tics and frantics- then if we gain points as a duo, or the same amount of points each, we won't tip the balance anyway."

36658 frowns and his look turns thoughtful.

"Are you really just doing this for points or because it's an order?"

"Umm, yes? I mean, I suppose it's good for the overall reputation of the hive and all, but that's kinda beyond me, really. Too big. I just like being useful and I like headpats."

36658 pats 99526's head, making the corners of its mouth curl up again.

"Would you mind if I changed our mission a bit since, you know, us both getting a point wouldn't mean much?" asks 36658 out of nowhere.

"Fine with me, but won't 10013 be disappointed with us?"

"10013 will understand. It's one of the very few drones who understand the bigger picture."

"The bigger picture?" 99526 tilts its head and hazards a guess, "Is that like The Great Shiny or… some new 20100's project?"

"No, it's not," 36658 chuckles to itself, "Oh, and it might be extremely dangerous."

99526 shrugs.

"What isn't? Are we going to get eaten?"

"It's possible."

"And are you sure we gotta do it?"

"I'm starting to believe that I must do it. You don't. As I said, 10013 will understand if we split here and you tell it what I just told you."

After pondering it for a second or two, 99526 shakes its head:

"Nope. Rule number one - drones stick together. So, can you sense 387? Because I for sure can't, even now that we're closer to the floaty sea houses," it nods across the beach towards the water bungalows.

36658 concentrates, closing his eyes to avoid being distracted by the sparkling sea.

"Goop!" it curses after a moment, "I can't. Oh well," it shrugs, "I can always find him later on my own and that way you won't be in danger."

"Nu uh!" 99526 shakes its head vigorously, surprising 36658, "If it's really that important to you, we can try to find him, right? Besides, who's to say that High Score won't show us a way to get points while we're looking? And if it's dangerous then two drones can do more than just one," it puffs out its chest, "65536 did say when talking about Canterlot that if we're easily replaceable, we gotta help those who aren't and… you're far more valuable than me," its honest and determined expression makes 36658 give it a tight hug.

"Don't mistake easily replaceable with valueless, buddy," it lets go, reexamining its approach, "Are you sure there's nothing you want to do?"

"I'm planning out my Scufflestick faction!" 99526 taps its temple knowingly, "I can keep doing that while we're looking or we can do it together if you want."

"Great idea, I've been playing with some ideas myself. First things first, though - how do we find a high rank warrior who doesn't want to be found?"

"With extreme difficulty!" answers 99526, factually correct.

"Exactly!" 36658 laughs, and the drones start strolling along the promenade.

"Ha!" 36658 exclaims out of nowhere.

"Huh?" 99526 stops staring at the white houses lining the mountainous slope to the right and glances at 36658.

"Hahaa!" 36658 laughs victoriously.

"Humm humm humm!" 99526 rubs its head, "I think I've run out of noises. What are we ha-ing about?"

"I think I've figured out how to find 387."

"Really?" the revelation genuinely stuns 99526. A drone finding a hiding warrior? That's crazy.

"I've been checking the hive mind map and… you see the long strip of explored beach to the east from here?" 36658 pings the eastern end of the promenade which they're slowly reaching.

"Mhm."

"We haven't been there, it wasn't mapped out when we went to sleep, and I don't think it's significant in any way, yet it's still explored. On the ship, I think the reason why we haven't seen 387 the first day at all was because he was being all sneaky and scouty."

"And then boom, on day two we had the whole map ready!" 99526 nods, "So… you think 387 went that way and the reason why the map just ends in such a noodly strip is because he got too far to connect to anyone else?"

"Exactly! So if you want to back o-"

"Welp, I guess that's where we're going then," 99526 nods and starts striding along the promenade, legs pumping faster than their up to now casual pace, "387 gots to be far ahead."

Conflicted, 36658 matches 99526's new speed.

It feels better to not do this alone, but if everything goes wrong then 99526 might get punished just for proximity. On the other hole, it's more likely that if things go wrong then 387 will just wipe its memory.

Heh… I guess 99111 isn't the real heretic here.

Their quicker pace ends once the promenade slopes down in a low-angle ramp straight into the sand, and the drones slow down to avoid exhausting themselves by walking through the sand. 99526 is the first one to open a topic, since the road ahead seems to be a long one.

"You wanna hear about my Scufflestick faction?"

"Sure thing."

99526 clears its throat.

"So, I was thinking about your argument with 99111 and wondered if I could make something along those lines, but bigger. You know how 20100 made up the Empire- uhh, Imperium of Ling, right?"

"Mhm. Go on."

"Well, I was thinking about, you know, guys who used to be lings, but went bad, and now they are everything that the Em- Imperium isn't. Like, drones who dislike digging and hate carrying!"

"GASP! MONSTERS!"

"Exactly!" 99526 nods with vigor, "And, since you know a lot more about the hive, I was wondering if you could give me some pointers."

"Hmmm, everything that the hive- uhh, the Imperium of Ling isn't…" 36658 pouts, "If we start from the top, what about not being ruled by a Queen?"

"As if ruled by a drone? Wouldn't work," 99526 shakes its head, "I think it would get eaten too quickly by warriors and such."

"What about a King?"

"Ohhhh, good one! Who has ever heard about a changeling king, right?"

"Yup! What a silly idea," giggles 36658.

"Alright, so ruled by a King…"

"Waaait," 36658 grins, "What about having no ruler? You know, like being independent? Maybe they're scattered into groups of lings who don't like each other because they don't have a common hive, but they cooperate on occasion because they dislike the Imperium even more?"

"THAT'S WAY BETTER THAN WHAT I HAD IN MIND!" 99526's eyes nearly plop out of their sockets with how wide it opens them, "Ha! And the drones don't believe in The Great Shiny, but rather in… in… umm… The Small Un- uhh, shiny?" it pouts, "I like that part a lot less…"

"You don't have to take the anti-ling sentiment literally, I think," 36658 ponders it, "Maybe… maybe they could think that the Great Gablonk is up there instead of down here?" 36658 briefly looks at the sky.

"Then how would the good drones get there? We can't fly that high, it gets super cold!" objects 99526, voice full of despair, "That's way too crazy even for my traitors," it shakes its head, "Oooh, I got it! They're going to believe in The Deep Dark… something so bad that it eats all shinies no matter where they come from. And if they win they'll eat all the shinies and no one will ever see any shinies anymore!" 99526 bursts into villainous laughter.

"Ewwww," 36658 shudders, "Spooky."

"Yep, so what do you think?"

"Not the way I thought this would evolve, but I'm loving the idea," 36658 gives it an appreciative nod, "And what made your guys leave the Imperium of Ling? Why are they traitors?"

"Uhhh… do we have to think of that too? Sounds hard."

"I don't think we have to, but why not? Maybe some backstory will help you flesh out what your faction really wants? I'm doing it with my High Score stories all the time to convey the right message."

"Huuuh…" 99526 takes a deep breath, opens its mouth, and… says nothing, "Goop. I'm stumped."

"How about I ask you some questions about you or your guys? Maybe figuring out the answers will help."

"Sure!"

"If they betrayed the Imperium, then what was the thing they didn't like? Is there something you dislike in particular? Too much digging, too little digging," 36658 winces, "Maybe the Queen was too stingy with rationing love, maybe the high ranks ate too many of their friends, maybe they were fed up with no one caring that they can get eaten at any point of your worky time…" 36658 relaxes its sudden scowl, unusually intense for a drone, "Anything. Just goopballing here."

"Oooooh…" 99526's ears perk up with inspiration, "Okay, I think I get the idea now. So… they… they were sent to clear up deep caves, right? But they only got one angry shiny… and they asked for more but they were denied- heartlessly and very evilly denied!" 99526 beams at the choice of words, "Some of the asking drones might have even been kicked and called cowards. And so they and some high ranks went in and… and the angry shiny broke because there were too many of- of- ooh ooh ooh, I KNOW! I CAN CONNECT THIS TO 10013'S GRIBBLERS! EEEEEEE!" 99526 bounces up repeatedly out of sheer excitement, "10013 will be so happy! So, there were gribblers all over the place and the angry shiny broken and a whole bunch of them got eaten in a really loud, screamy, and crunchy way, and the rest had to run. And when they came back, they didn't get a love refill because they didn't fill their worky time quota and so they ran off to get love on their own. And the Ling Queen is mad at them because she needs all the love!"

"That's an amazing start!" 36658 smiles.

"Uhh, start?" 99526's expression turns a little more fearful, "There's gotta be more?"

"Not really, but we've got a long trip ahead of us, and maybe the others will like to learn about your guys. Maybe even Mister Shiny. Stories are stories."

"I guess you're right," 99526 nods, "Ask away then."

To cover as much ground as possible, 20100 and 99111 exchange brief waves with 10013's group and head through the apartment complex the opposite way.

"The silence makes me wonder if we shouldn't just go outside and wait until anyone who could use our help wakes up," 20100 looks from side to side when the hoofsteps of the other drone group go quiet.

"It can't hurt to look around. That way we can at least have some chance of gaining a point lead on 36658," replies 99111 with determination.

"You do realize that the points will either be equally split between us or we'll both get the same amount, so you're moving nowhere. You know, comparatively."

"GOOP!" 99111 curses, stops in the middle of the hallway, and hangs its head, "I completely missed that."

"I mean, we should still do good for the hive, you know?" 20100 nudges it, "But there's no one saying that we can't do what we're interested in -right?- since we're on breaky time. You know what? Have you found something that you liked so far? Other than complaining about 36658."

"Hey!"

"I stand by what I said," says 20100 calmly, "I told 36658 that it was way overdoing the stories, but you're straight up wrong."

"Grumble grumble!"

"No reason for that kind of language!"

"Sorry…"

"Most newbies I talked to liked 36658's stories, and… I wouldn't exactly tell this to 36658, but they don't overthink them like you both do," after a brief pause, 20100 adds, "For better or for worse. Although I think 36658's overall idea is better."

"Hmph!"

"If you don't want to talk about it then it's okay," 20100 shrugs and rolls its eyes, "We're drones, and that means that our priority is the hive, not our own problems."

"Agreed," 99111 huffs, "So, I was thinking, aaand there actually were ponies on the ship doing stuff at times unusual for most of them. Where? In a place called the workshop. All we have to do is find a place like that here and we're set."

"Workshop, eh?" mumbles 20100.

"Now where would a place like this have a worksh-?"

"Found it!" announces 20100 with a smile, presenting the hive mind image of the laminated map of the resort, namely the back of it with listed locations, through their hive link.

"Huh, I feel a bit silly for not thinking about that first," mutters 99111.

"Well, we figured it out and that's all that matters," 20100 glances at 99111 before leading the way towards the nearest stairs.

The workshop is a one-story building with thick doors and walls as well as small windows to insulate the rest of the resort from any noise. However, the inside is extremely well-lit using long, bright, white, humming lights built into the low ceiling which the drones have to force themselves to look away from.

Unexpectedly, there's only one pony in the entire workshop, although she certainly is managing to take up a lot of space and, unlike before, it's not because of her overwhelming personality.

*POOF!*

"Celestia's steaming milkers!" curses Trixie when a bubbling bowl on one of the five tables surrounding her blasts a plume of black smoke upwards while the unicorn herself is busy operating a spinning lathe on the leftmost table. Despite the loud yell echoing through the workshop, she carefully turns the lathe off before darting back towards one of the three tables filled with chemistry equipment, "Maybe I can salvage this…" she mutters, taking the bowl from the burner and turning it off.

Her horn lights up, and a strange shockwave expands outwards from her, passing through everything without seemingly affecting it, before returning back and centering on the bowl. Trixie has enough presence of mind to put the bowl back on the burner before collapsing on the floor.

This prompts the apparently unnoticed drone duo to rush towards her, slide under the line of occupied tables, and stop by the spasming and groaning unicorn, watching her foam at the mouth with her eyes rolled back so far they're only showing whites.

99111 stares, frozen by the simple fact that it doesn't have a clue what's happening, if it's good or bad, or how it could stop it in case of the latter.

20100, on the other hole, rams its tiny foreleg into Trixie's mouth and feels her bite down on it. Thankfully, despite drone carapace not being the hardest unless reinforced, her teeth barely crack the surface.

"...goop, how do high ranks do it…?" it mutters before lowering its mouth to Trixie's neck and biting down, slobbering on her coat a little as a result. When the lack of any effect reveals itself, 20100 sighs, "I wish 36658 was here now."

"What's happening?!" is all 99111 asks before 20100 bends its foreleg to open Trixie's mouth more and lets some liquid goop drip into it from its own before rising its head again.

"She's having the twitchy biteys," says 20100 with strange calmness compared to shaking 99111, "No idea why, since I can't see any pouncy spinners, but I've seen way too many drones break their jaws or bite their tongues off and choke on blood to recognize it."

"Aaaah?! How are you so calm?" 99111 darts back and forth in panic, "If ponies see us like this they'll think we did it and-"

"Because the twitchy biteys caused by pouncy spinners aren't that dangerous if there's anyone around who knows what to do. Hopefully, ponies react similarly to us. We just need a bit of normal goop and a way to keep our mouth open so that they can breathe."

"Wait, really?" 99111 tilts its head. As if in response, Trixie slowly calms down and, shortly after, opens her eyes and swats 20100's hoof out of her mouth.

"Ewww…" she croaks, pushing herself up into a sitting position, "Changelings?" she blinks, attempting to regain her bearings. Next, she carefully smacks her lips, "Mint? Why do I taste mint? Isn't burnt bread the symptom of a stroke?"

"20100 held your mouth open and made you swallow some of its goop," 99111 shuffles over to 20100 and gives it a hug, "And it totally worked!"

"Eugh!" Trixie sticks out her tongue and makes a face, "I was okay," she grumbles before tensing up and correcting herself, "The Great And Powerful Trixie appreciates your help, changelings, but can't pay you in any way."

"Ehhh, hello?" 99111 waves its foreleg, "It's me, 99111! I helped you fix the door on the ship."

"Ah," she pauses, "And the other one? Two- something, did you say?"

"20100," 99111 nods with vigor.

"Hello!" 20100 smiles and tilts its head, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"AAH!" Trixie ignores the question, jumping up and wincing as her whole body protests, but eventually breathes out when she checks the bowl on the burner again and finds its contents satisfactory, "Phew…" she wipes her forehead, "I wasn't out for too long."

"Three minutes and forty-two seconds from the moment you fell down until you jumped up just now," replies 20100.

"Oh…" Trixie tenses up again, "So you… saw what happened?"

"The bowl went poof, your horn went bzzz, the room went whoom, and you went plop," recounts 20100.

"...shit…" Trixie breathes out.

"Oh, if you couldn't hold stuff in during twitchy biteys we can clean it up. That's normal," 20100 looks around, "But I can't see or smell anything."

Trixie shoots 20100 a glare, but it dies off almost immediately when faced only with the helpful smile of the drone.

"No, not that," she sighs, "You saw my spell…"

"The whoom? Yup," 20100 nods, "I liked it when everything wobbled."

Trixie examines both drones staring back at her with open, honest faces, clearly only waiting for the situation to unfold. Faced with their strange innocence, the gears in her head start turning.

"I- The Great And Powerful Trixie has a favor to ask of you," she says.

"Yay!" the drones hoofbump immediately, "We're useful!"

"Uh, yes, yes." Trixie nods, "It would be extremely helpful if you told nopony what you saw here. No magic."

"Sure," 20100 nods. 99111 joins in.

No matter how hard she tries, Trixie can't find anything other than absolute truth in the drone's words.

"The Great And Powerful Trixie appreciates it," when 99111 raises its foreleg, she asks, "Yes?"

"I don't think 387 or anyone else will think this is enough for a point. Is there anything else we can help with?"

"Huh, 99111 is right," adds 20100, pointing at the workbenches surrounding Trixie's area, "And you look super busy. There's two of us and we're good at digging and carrying-"

"-and gooping things together, like the door last time," 99111 nods quickly, "We can help."

Trixie circles around her working area, quietly muttering to herself, before making an executive decision:

"The Great And Powerful Trixie could use an extra pair- or two pairs of eyes… free of charge," when both drones nod with eager smiles, she points to 20100 at random, "You're going to watch this bowl," she walks over to her chemistry table and points directly at the bowl filled with clear liquid which seems to have caused this entire incident. 20100 happily bounces up and down, saluting, runs off to grab a chair, and in only a few seconds it's sitting on it, eyes locked on the bowl. Finally, Trixie pokes 99111, "You, nine-one-one or whatever. Since you already have some door experience, you're going to help me do some woodworking," she walks over to the rightmost table on which there is an anvil and a saw, as well as a bunch of planks of wood.

"What are you making?"

"I'm replacing the illusionist equipment I lost on the ship," Trixie allows herself an evil grin, "No damn bolt of lightning will make Trixie live off lap dances again!"

Despite the potential magnitude of the discovery of Smiley's chalk-imitating goop, the trio led by 10013 don't rush towards the water bungalows forming a half-circle against the sparkling morning sea, instead they walk at casual pace, taking in the sights. Also, secretly hoping that 387 would pop up at some point and they wouldn't have to bother the Queen.

99380 twitches and bumps into 10013 when a series of loud, high-pitched caws rings through the air. Immediately, the drones freeze and start looking around.

Nothing happens. No ponies or griffons start running around, no sign of any predator approaching them, no one seems to care about the noise.

"...this place is so loud…" mumbles 99380 when they resume walking, now a bit more on edge.

"From what I've seen in my life, the surface tends to be," 10013 nods, nudging 99380 with its nose to comfort the newbie, "But so far it seems that critters that are loud are like that either as a warning or just… you know… because. It's the ones that are quiet until they're screeching and rushing at you that are the problem."

"Really?" the words of authority reassure 99380.

"That's the best I can tell you," 10013 shrugs, "I think the drones who spend the most time on the surface are 36658 and 57999 so they'd know better. Oh, and of course 65536."

"But I thought you were a much higher rank."

"And?" 10013 smiles, "We're not in the old days anymore. I mean, things were a lot simpler then - you just did what you were told, there was always a clear map marker to follow, and if there wasn't one it meant you should be sleeping."

"Is it wrong that I kinda like the idea?" asks 99380, "I know that whenever you veterans always talk about those times you get… strange. Distant," when it hears 10013 sigh and hang its head, 99380 adds, "Sorry."

"No, that's okay," to 99380's surprise, 10013 looks back at it with a soft smile and a slightly detached look, "You're right in a way. Things were simple. Not good whatsoever, but simple. Sometimes I want to go back to 'simple' too, especially with my responsibility for you guys and for the well-being of other drones. On the other hole, we don't randomly get eaten by peckish high ranks anymore. When we get hurt, we get time to heal instead of being recycled or sent back to the tunnels. The amount of love we're used to these days is… still crazy to me," it wipes its eyes as they walk, smiling and looking down the long, paved street leading directly down towards the beachside promenade, "We never knew we had any unique talents because all we were supposed to do was dig, carry, and use our goop as basic reinforcement of tunnel walls. Every drone only knew about tunnel dangers whatever little it learned before it got killed by something it didn't expect," 10013 chuckles, "And look at us now! We're on the surface, we can learn from each other, we can scribble down knowledge for newbies, and now that you're here we'll all eventually be able to use our portion of the hive mind. I only wish High Score was here to see it. With it around there's no telling how far we would have gotten already."

"Ummm…" 99380 scratches its head, instinctively briefly using its wings to compensate for missing a usable leg for the next step, "I always listened to 36658's stories and… and… don't take this the wrong way because I know how much you respect High Score, but… haven't you done way more for all dronekind than it did in your life? All of you veterans have, really."

The horrified look that 10013 shoots 99380 only serves to confuse the newbie more. On top of that, Smiley adds its own mental string of:

*Drone face* *Happy face* *Distorted face* *Sad face* *Happy face* *Sad face* *Happy face* *Sad face* *Confused face*

"Uhh, sorry?" apologizes 99380, having no idea why but feeling that what it said was somehow perceived as incredibly wrong.

"Sorry, Smiley. I have no idea what you mean," 10013 shakes its head. Smiley briefly wibbles at it to no avail, and 10013 only reaches up and pats its head which seems to help, "99380, I don't think you can understand how easy I have it under the new rules. High Score did everything it did in such a hostile environment that we can only hope you newbies will never live through again. It even learned a warrior-level transformation! On top of that, it did something no other drone could have even dreamed of. It's the one story which 36658 never told anyone."

"Oooh, what?" 99380's eyes open saucer-wide.

"If I tell you, you're not allowed to tell anyone. No matter what."

"B-But what if a high rank wants to see inside my head? I can't stop that."

"That's fine. If that happens, it happens, but the fewer drones know, the lower the chance of the high ranks-" 10013 pauses, thinking, "-making sure it can't ever happen again."

"Gotcha," 99380 nods, "No telling anyone, I promise."

"Here goes," 10013 takes a deep breath, "High Score betrayed a high rank's trust to save a fellow drone, lied to him, and defied an order. No creative misunderstanding, no mishearing an order, straight up… not doing something because it knew what would happen. Following that, High Score took the most dangerous assignment of us all, because it was sure that if the high ranks found out what it did it would get eaten or worse, and that the others might be punished for what it did."

99380's jaw drops.

"B-But w-we can't do that!"

"Yeah," 10013 chuckles again, "Even thinking about having to make that kind of a decision, my legs always start to shake. I'm far from High Score, 99380," it shakes its head and repeats, "I have it easy."

The three walk in silence for some time before 99380 asks:

"Who is the drone that High Score saved? 36658?"

"Nope. High Score saved a bunch of drones over its life, but it opposed the high ranks to save 17070," 10013 shakes its head, "It lost hearing due to an accident, and High Score's… trick allowed it to stay with friendly ponies while the rest of us went off to fight the Big Bad Starry Pony. High Score knew that 17070 would either get eaten by high ranks to save love or it would get killed in the tunnels shortly after. You know how important hearing is down there."

99380 nods.

"And where is 17070 now? I don't think I've ever sensed the hive link of a drone like that."

"We haven't seen 17070 again. I even asked 65536 if it hadn't heard about it but it didn't. The best I can do is hope that 17070 is okay among friendly ponies and that High Score is watching over it from The Great Gablonk."

"That's what 36658 believes, right?"

"I…" 10013 pauses, "I think that 36658 considers having a kind of belief like that to be important," it says. 99380 isn't complex enough to deconstruct the deliberately diplomatic answer and simply asks one of the most difficult questions ever:

"And is it?"

"I think that question is too big for a single drone to answer," replies 10013 with a smile, "36658 says yes, 99111 says no. I think the answer is sometimes, for someone, and depending on stuff."

"I see. So it's okay that I know that I don't know?"

"Yup. We're drones. We're not supposed to know the big stuff, at least not all of us, but we're all always supposed to be helpful, and that means helpful to each other, and if we don't know what is the right helpful thing, the best we can do is try in any way we can."

*Smiley face!*

Smiley licks 99380's ear, forcing a surprised giggle at the tickling sensation.

"See?" 10013 smirks, "Smiley's not some grand thinker, and it's still a valuable member of dronekind."

"Thank you," 99380 boops Smiley, "I was getting tangled in all that complicated thinky stuff about what's real and what's not, and I was just making it harder for myself," announces the once again beaming drone, "We're on breaky time and we're going to make sure you get the point you earned."

Smiley licks the side of the drone's head in response.

The quiet click-clack of their hoofsteps on the wooden pier thankfully doesn't make anyone look out of the bungalows until they reach the one marked on the hive map by "Chrysalis". 10013 knocks and waits… and waits…

"I can sense the Queen," it says after a while.

"Maybe she's still asleep."

"That would feel different. 93 is inside and sleeping, but the Q-"

"Down here, you nitwits!" replies Chrysalis, swimming up from under the bungalow and flying into the air briefly before landing on the pier, "What do you want?"

10013 salutes. 99380 imitates it and hits its forehead. Smiley beams, hopping up and down.

"Stop the forehead rubbing," Chrysalis rolls her eyes, "It always reminds me of the little- 65536, and we're no Equestrian guards. For one, we're way better organized," both drones simply sit down while Smiley remains hopping, and Chrysalis notices the remains of white powder all over Smiley's muzzle, "Alright, who fed Smiley coke? I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed they didn't offer it to me first."

"Are coke and chalk the same thing?" asks 10013.

"Sounds similar enough," 99380 nods.

Chrysalis' eye twitches.

"Correction - who fed Smiley chalk and, if it wasn't one of my drones, who is going to get thrown into that volcano?" she looks into the distance up the slope hosting the resort.

"Well, uhh," 10013 pauses nervously.

"Speak. Now!"

"Smiley ate chalk in the dining room and now it can make drawy goop!" reports 10013, voice suddenly much higher pitched, and in the end it gulps with terror.

Chrysalis facehoofs, groaning.

"That is what its adaptability latches on to? Really? Damned chalk?!"

*Sad face…*

Faced with two expressions completely lacking any comprehension as well as Smiley's drooping ears, Chrysalis sighs.

"Look, you know what the final batch of Silents were supposed to be, right?" she glares at 10013 who nods, "Unlike you drones who roll your speciality from the mangled, indecipherable mess that is the changeling genetic code, their biology was supposed to adapt to the one task in their brief life they were supposed to do. For example, if I needed a Silent who could eat through specific parts of a magically sealed door to Canterlot vault, like hinges, without getting immediately fried by a vast array of defensive spells, I'd spend a bunch of fresh Silents on that. Then there would be more who would try to bite through the reinforced material of the door itself. Hypothetically speaking in case someone is listening. And that was over four years ago anyway!" she looks around. When nothing happens, she keeps talking, "And out of all those options over the course of its life, the first thing this one managed to get into its stomach for long enough to assimilate was CHALK?!" her shoulders slump, "Why did it have to be something so useless-"

*Wibble!* *Wibble!*

"-so extremely situational?" Chrysalis winces when all three changelings focus their unexplained infernal power on her and corrects herself.

Things were so easy when she was evil and heartless. Overall worse, but easy…

"Does that mean that Smiley doesn't get a point?" squeaks 99380. Smiley hangs its head low and looks down at the pier.

"N-No!" Chrysalis finds herself leaning back, "There, point. Happy?! I don't know if it even realizes what those are for instead of just seeing a bigger number," she grumbles.

Smiley's ears perk up.

[10013:1, 20100:4, 36658:3, 99111:2, 99380:4, 99526:2, Smiley: :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-),

65536:1]

"What the holes is that?" Chrysalis frowns before barking out, "Stop mucking up the table with nonsense, Silent!"

Spooked Smiley whimpers and concentrates, or at least scrunches its muzzle.

[10013:1, 20100:4, 36658:3, 99111:2, 99380:4, 99526:2,

Smiley: (=^ ◡ ^=),(=｀ェ´=),(=´∇｀=),(=｀ω´=),=^._.^= ∫, (=‐ω‐=),

65536:1]

"SILENT!" Chrysalis smacks the side of Smiley's head.

*TERRIFIED FACE!*

[10013:1, 20100:4, 36658:3, 99111:2, 99380:4, 99526:2, Smiley: 6,

65536:1]

"And keep it that way or I'll take your points away!" she huffs, "You got what you came for. Anything else?"

Everyone looks at 10013.

"Umm, do you have any tasks for us or something?"

"No," Chrysalis shakes her head and waves them off, "Now shoo! I want to enjoy some peace and quiet before everyone wakes up and starts making noise."

Smiley walks over to her, boops her chest with its nose, leaving a white, chalky smudge as high as it can reach, and simply starts walking off, inspiring the other two to do the same… minus the booping.

If nothing else, 36658's and 99526's trip has been peaceful albeit shockingly long. With calm and sparkling sea around, the sun taking its trip across the sky to their left, and the jungle lively with unidentified noises, the drone duo had very little to do past chatting about Scufflestick and their current situation. Unfortunately, their clue to finding 387 in the form of the only explored noodle of the hive map lasted only briefly, but they just kept walking along the beach, in the shade of the jungle, and safe in the knowledge that they remembered the basic touristic map of the island that was in their suite. Despite the island being fairly large from their point of reference, the map didn't show any forbidden areas, so they should be okay without any special precautions beyond simple listening-

"What the holes are you two doing so far from the resort?" 387's stern voice interrupts their chatter.

"AAAAAAAAH-!"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEP-!"

"-AAAAAAAAAAH!"

"-EEP EEP EEP EEP!"

Sand sprays everywhere, including all over 387's face peeking out of a bush, so quickly that even he barely manages to close his eyes in time. Not that changelings particularly mind, hardened eye membranes and all.

"Huh…" 387 tilts his head, staring at two newly grown melon-sized piles of sand in front of him with amazement, "Well, if nothing else, you sure can still dig," he rolls his eyes, walking out into the open, and shoves the closer pile aside with his foreleg, revealing the top of 99380's head.

"Get up here!" he orders mentally in case of the drones' ears being covered.

The sand underneath shifts, and both drones crawl out of their instantly-dug shelters. A brief moment of shaking sand out of various cracks later, 99526 is the first one to say:

"Hello! We were just looking for you."

"Really?"

"Yup! Specially 36658," 99526 nods.

"Specifically," 387 corrects the drone automatically.

"That, yes."

"And how did you figure out I would be here? That's… concerning, to say the least. Am I getting old and careless?"

"36658 figured out the secret of map noodles. It's a very smart drone."

"Clearly," says 387 in a slow, thoughtful tone which manages to shake 36658, compouding with its preparation to say what it means to, "However, I'm noticing that the one smart drone with something to say is still the only one remaining silent."

"It said that what it wanted to say could be really dangerous and I didn't want to leave it alone because drones stick together."

"Admirable, in a way," says 387. Now somewhat fascinated, he carefully jabs 36658 in its chest, making the drone shudder, "I KNEW you sank the ship and somehow managed to keep it a secret!"

His obviously joking tone finally breaks the ice and 36658 sighs, following it with:

"99526, put your hooves over your ears and cut your link, please."

The second drone does so and turns away for good measure.

"I'm pretty sure you're making much ado about noth-"

"I think there's something bigger and much more important than the Queen!" 36658 blurts out. No matter how much it wants to just close its eyes and wait for its impending doom, it forces itself to look straight at 387's blank face, eyes beginning to tear up.

Slowly, 387 breathes in and out.

It can't know, can it? No, of course not. How would it? Am I overthinking this? It's a drone, so there's roughly ninety-eight percent chance that this is just some stupid thing they made up again.

"Elaborate," is all he says.

I swear that if it says High Score or Great Shiny or whatever…

36658 mimics 387's slow breath in and out. When it does so, it realizes why the warrior did it, as it both gives time and helps one calm down. Despite his certainty that all this is a misunderstanding at worst, the grim but determined look 36658 gives 387 genuinely gives the ancient warrior chills.

"If you decide not to eat me, I'll tell you the entire thing, but what really made me think was something 93 said when she was dazed by Miss Gem's anguishdecimators - she said that 'the complete entity was not a changeling but the hive' and that the unique special abilities of the drones other than our digging were a way for the hive to decide what it needed at the time."

The warrior and the drone sit there, looking at each other, one with determination and acceptance and the other with…

36658 waves its foreleg in front of 387's face when the warrior seems to stare blankly ahead for just a little too long.

"Haze, you absolutely glorious bitch…" he breathes out before bursting into laughter.

"What is it? I wanna hear it too! I like jokes!" turning around, 99526 stops covering its ears.

"No!" 36658 raises its forelegs to cover 99526's ears itself, but gets carefully but irresistibly pushed back by 387.

"Link up again, 99526," says the warrior, "I don't think precautions like that are necessary, especially because 36658 is wrong."

"Huh?" the drug drone stops and blinks.

"Eeeh, maybe 'not entirely correct' is more accurate," 387 stands up and stretches, "Let's go back and we can talk about it. First, though, tell me why you two are here."

"Uhh, I already told you we were looking for you because I wanted to tell you… what I just did," replies 36658, scrunching its face in confusion.

"I meant why exactly you two. Sort of an unusual pairing, to be honest."

"10013 said that it wanted veterans and newbies to work together so we split up into pairs and 10013 took Smiley on top of 99380," explains 99526.

"Smart call," 387 nods with appreciation.

"We were looking for ways to gain points, but it looked as if we woke up too early and everyone was still asleep, so 36658 had the idea to look for you. What are you doing here anyway? Mapping?"

387 shakes his head and begins leading the way back to the resort.

"I wanted to check something in the jungle. Last night, I was going through my memories of our stay on the beach and I noticed that some of the bigger pieces of wood which our shelters were made of had been cut in a way which to me resembled a saw. On top of that, when I was foll- exploring the jungle with 99380, I found a stash of tools. I wanted to check if I was right, but the site where we were shipwrecked had been properly cleaned up."

"Huh?" 36658 scratches its head, relieved that its imminent execution seems to have been cancelled, "Couldn't that have been 1313 and the nice zebras? 10013 and 65536 saw 1313 make chitin saws by breaking off pieces of himself which they used to build their own shelter."

"Wait, really?"

"How come you don't know that?" 36658 shoots the warrior a genuinely stunned glance.

"Don't look at me like that," 387 frowns, "After what happened with Ten and the paladins I didn't want to bother 1313 so I purposely avoided him and his group. He's happy where he is, all he wants is to be left alone, and his group has never been hostile to us- well, changelings in general, unlike the paladins. Unfortunately, now it looks like I'll have to bother him," 387 sighs, "Wait, how do you even know what a saw is?"

"I got a lecture about tools when I was building a fence for my poppy patch!" 36658 beams proudly, "And afterwards I had to explain it to 57999 and other drones who helped me build it so I put the information together the right way inside my head."

"I know what a saw is too!" 99526 hops up and down, pointing towards the jungle, "I'm sawing a lot of trees that way."

"36658-" the warrior takes a breath.

"I'll link up and synchronize with 99526 while we walk," the drone replies instantly.

A short while of walking and hive link traffic later, 99526 simply says:

"Oh… that makes sense. I got a bit excited."

"That's okay," 36658 pats its back.

Misunderstanding solved, 387 steels himself for the second incoming conversation. He knows 36658 is too smart to simply let its theory about the hive go despite being told it's not correct.

I could have told it to just drop it and that it's completely wrong. I could have, but… just like the theory, that wouldn't be entirely correct.

"Now, about your idea, 36658," the warrior approaches the subject. Surprised that it's coming up again, 36658 lets out a quiet 'hmm?'.

"Should I cover my ears again? I'm not sure how I'll walk but I can figure something out," offers 99526.

"No," 387 shakes his head, "I think it's time the idea of a top-down structure of the hive shifted a little, but in a way which won't cause more harm than good. First things first - the Queen is the head of the hive, no point in denying that. However, a head won't survive without a heart, lungs, exoskeleton, and so on. You get the idea… I hope," he adds after a second.

"And which part are we, the replaceable drones fit for a snack?" asks 36658 bitterly, which clearly annoys 387.

"A changeling not adapting to the times? Maybe you're not as smart as I thought."

"Hmph!" huffs 36658.

"Look, you can either live in the past and be the untreated, festering wound of the hive just like the old Queens-" 387 takes a deep breath and starts again, "36658, what happened can't be changed. The rigid top-down structure was created during the times of starvation when we were the enemies of everyone. Was any of it the fault of you drones? No, I can say that without a doubt, but it happened and its consequences made us what we are now."

"My point is that we, drones, can't stop it from happening again!" 36658 points at 99526, "These guys never lived through it and I don't want them to, but they still… they still… they still just do things only because it's an order or because they get a reward! They haven't discovered a purpose of their own, which is something I'm trying to persuade them to do using High Score stories, and now 99111 is trying to stop me! If it wins it'll just be the same stupid cycle - work to get love until you get munched!"

"Well, a carrot and a stick is a method that always works," says 387 with a surprising smile, "Look, you're young."

"Not for a drone!" objects 36658.

"No, not for a drone, but still young, and some ways of thinking only come through experience. Thanks to what you survived, you have ideas and convictions of your own, radical they might be. However, they-" he pats the head of eagerly listening 99526, "-don't. To them it, on some level, feels like you're forcing them to believe something they have no reference for and can't identify with, and that's why you'll eventually but inevitably fail. I know what forcing a… religion on others leads to. Whether you mean well or not."

"But we die too easily! We can't afford to start over with every new drone and hope that it somehow survives long enough to understand that there's more to life than digging and running away. I'm trying to bridge that gap! High Score showed us we can be more! We need to build a system that's more than getting an order and going away to fulfill it."

"And that's why Chrysalis and I changed your schedule and now you have your break time instead of working until exhaustion and then sleeping. In four years, you've made a lot of progress, but in terms of civilizations that's a blink of an eye. Besides, if your point is setting an example with those High Score stories, you're doing it wrong."

"What?!" 36658 snarls, briefly completely forgetting whom it's talking to.

Open hostility from a drone. That's new.

"I received a full report from 1988 after returning to the hive, and so did the Queen. Do you really think we haven't known that it lied to 1988 in order to save 17070 since then? Seriously? Did anyone get punished for it? Hmm?"

"...no…" admits 36658.

"There is a major lesson you still must learn, one which 9999 and 10013 did and you didn't. You keep talking about someone whom you consider to be an example, but 9999 was the example in almost everything it did, and 10013 is doing the same. Now, we don't want disobedience and lying to spread, do we?" 387 leans closer to 36658 who, however, glares back.

"What is more important to you, 387? Mindlessly obeying orders or doing what's right?"

"That, 36658, depends on whether you trust whoever is giving you the orders, because if it's someone more experienced, there's a chance that they know what's the right thing to do better than you. But you know what? I'm not against you on this one, holes know I understand how badly the powers that be require someone to keep an eye on them."

"Then why-"

"36658, you are four years old," the look 387 gives 36658 is somehow physically heavy, "The Queen is around eight hundred, and I am… one and a half thousand, give or take."

"Gasp! You're older than the Queen!" 99526's jaw drops.

"How- How is that possible?" 36658 stumbles but catches itself before faceplanting into the sand.

"That is something entirely beyond your point of reference. The reason why I'm telling you this is not because I want you to see that the hive is in good hooves and to not worry because everything will be okay, but because despite its problems I've never lost hope that one day we might crawl out of the dark hole dug out for us by others, but mostly our own leaders," to 36658's surprise, 387 pats its head, "You want everyone to reach for the sky, metaphorically, to be as good a representative of their species as they can be, but that's not how… anyone works. Most creatures will be average, that's how averages work, and they'll be okay with that, or maybe not okay but the effort required to get better will be too much."

"But we can raise that average!"

"Not by force. At least not by force without pushback," 387 shakes his head, "And there will be far more average creatures than the exceptional ones. I mean, that's how language works - exception to the rule. Which brings us nicely back to when I told you you will inevitably lose if you push too hard."

36658 slowly breathes out, its shoulder slumping.

"Is this your way of telling me I should give up? To just do my digging, carrying, tending to my patch, and be done with it? To hope that the high ranks will make the right choice that won't keep getting us little guys killed?"

"Now that's a tone of voice which clearly says that if I said yes you'd walk into the sea without gills," 387 sighs, "Luckily for you, you misunderstood me completely."

"Huh?"

"Think. What can you do if you can't force someone to do something?"

"Trade with them or persuade them."

"And which method would be the lasting one if you, let's say, wanted others to believe that High Score existed and its way of doing things was right?"

"I guess giving them stuff wouldn't really work in the long term," admits 36658, pouting, "That's why I'm not doing it."

"Are you sure?"

"What do you mean?"

"Aren't you just giving other drones stories they enjoy in hopes they'll act the way you want?"

"NO!" 36658 raises its voice.

"Eeeeeeh…"

That hesitant noise doesn't come from 387, rather from 99526 listening to the conversation and trying to make whatever little sense it can from its philosophical nature.

"...99526…?" 36658 looks at it, voice weakening.

"Drones shouldn't hurt each other, and I might be young but I can still see it would hurt you if I answered that. And we're not supposed to lie unless it's to tell a good story, High Score said it in more than one of your examples…" 99526 scratches its head as its voice trails off, "Ummm, but I didn't know about 17070 before. That kinda ruins the lesson because there might be good times to lie. 387?"

36658 looks away and simply keeps walking forward, head hung low.

"See, 36658?" the warrior resumes talking, "You gave them a story, and thought that would be enough. How could they believe you're telling the truth?"

"I said openly that I'd show my memories to anyone who wanted it! But… but no one did… so I started with the stories," says 36658.

"So let me ask again - why would they believe you? Especially when you yourself admitted that you, let's say, added some flair to them."

"BECAUSE I WAS THERE WHEN THEY HAPPENED, AND I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE! Isn't that enough?!"

"When High Score turned the world around instead of walking through a narrow tunnel with a hurt drone on its back, so that it wouldn't hit the ceiling with it on its back," 387 hums to himself, "Still not seeing the problem?"

"It's a mutant amphora!"

"It's not a metaphor, 36658, it's a jumbled mess of truth and absolute nonsense."

"Kiiinda what 99111 was trying to tell you," peeps 99526.

"That's why you're not persuading anyone, or at least not to the degree you want. You're not giving them what they need, you're giving them entertainment," 387 nods.

"Then what do they need?"

"10013 understood it immediately."

"A leader? I told you my entire problem was doing things only because of orders or rewards," 36658 rolls its eyes, "and not because of a greater good or a long-term benefit as the case should be."

"No, 36658," 387 shakes his head, "They need exactly what High Score was for you - not a preacher, but an example."

The workshop remains busy, with Trixie measuring and sawing planks of wood using a table saw, 99111 following her every step and watching what she's doing with complete fascination, and 20100 sitting on a chair by the two chemistry tables in the front, staring intensely at a glass bowl with sizzling powder inside it.

*POOF!*

"Eep!" 20100 falls backwards alongside the chair it's been sitting on as the black plume of smoke bursts out of the bowl.

Exactly like when they originally entered the place.

"NO!" Trixie screams with frustration, but has the presence of mind to turn the spinning saw off before darting towards the chemistry table and taking the bowl off, "Damn it! It's ruined again. I told you to watch it!"

20100 sits up on the floor and proudly nods.

"I did! I saw the entire thing," it reports, "First, it started hissing. Next, the center turned black-"

"I told you to tell me when it started sizzling!"

"Umm, you didn't?" 20100 scratches its head, "You just told me to watch it. I'd remember. We have a very good memory."

"Trixie didn't?" taken aback, Trixie returns to her third person reference.

"Nu uh," 99111 shakes its head in support of 20100.

"Are you sure?"

"Mhm!" both drones nod in sync.

"Crap…" Trixie picks the fallen chair up, sits down on it with a long sigh, and buries her face into her hooves, "This was supposed to be the gig that sets me up for years…"

"Umm…" 20100 peeps, raising its foreleg, "Can you please explain what I did wrong? I'll try not to do it again. I don't know all your pony expressions, so maybe I misunderstood something about watching-"

"No…" she moans, adding in a whisper, "Just another small screw up in a life of big one."

"If it's about the dust," 20100 keeps trying, "I can ask 36658 or 65536 to ask Miss Gem if she doesn't have more you can borrow. She's a very nice zebra lady."

"That's not the point," Trixie groans, "I could buy the ingredients to make it myself in the city. It's not particularly difficult, but I don't have any bits because almost everything I had sank with the cruise ship!" gritting her teeth, she stands back up in a way that looks as if she was carrying a heavy weight all over her. Strange, for someone as skinny as her, at least according to the drones, "Get it together, Trixie. This won't be the first time you had to service griffons to earn some cash and it probably won't be the last. Even the pony royals are into some barely legal, kinky shit, and there's a bunch of them here. You just… you just have to… delay the performance, find some make-up to cover the bruises later, the usual. It'll be okay. You haven't starved so far, and this is a long way off from the worst situation you've been in."

"Miss Trixie?" despite her incoherent rambling, 20100 did overhear one critical thing, "Did you say you needed bits?"

Trixie looks at it with mild surprise, as if not expecting the drones to still be there.

"Pony bits, griffon coinage, and time. Unfortunately, To get the former, I need the latter-" her explanation is interrupted by the two drones looking at each other without any audible communication, nodding several times, and smiling, "What are you doing?"

"If you need shinies, 20100 can get you some," 99111 nudges the other grinning drone.

"The Great And Powerful Trixie is listening with extreme suspicion," Trixie raises one skeptical eyebrow.

"It's hard to believe, but I swear we tested it on the ship a bunch," 20100 speaks out carefully, "I can, umm, always win at things that have a random chance of that happening."

"What…?"

"It's true!" 99111 nods, "It won so much at the ship's casino that they sent big scary ponies to kick us out but then some paladin friends came and told them that would be super against the rules so we had to promise not to trade the chippies back for shinies but to spend them. It only lost when one of the paladins cheated at the spinny table, but he admitted it and said it was just a test so that's okay. We had thiiiiis many!" 99111's forelegs trace the shape of a pile much bigger than itself in the air.

"And the map we had in our room said that there was a casino in this resort too. If there are spinny machines there too, I can get you some shinies! I just need one for the first spin, and I gotta be careful not to win too much," 20100 pauses, "Ummm, and probably a small bag. Stuffing too many shinies into my leg holes makes walking kinda hard. Can't bend my leggos properly and all."

Trixie stares at the earnest expressions of both drones.

"You're not joking, right? That actually happened… I heard someone talking about it," Trixie twitches and facehoofs before grabbing a small pouch hanging by a strap from a chair in the back and giving it to 20100, "There! Trixie doubts her day can get any worse, and the food here is free, so the difference between zero bits and five bits is nil."

20100 grabs the pouch and puffs out its chest in determination.

"I won't let you down!" it glances 99111's way, "You coming?"

99111 shakes its head.

"Unless you need me, I'd rather stay here and watch all this," it circles its foreleg around to point at all the work Trixie has been doing, "It's fascinating, you know? Making useful stuff out of scraps? Not having to find the right drone who can make the kind of goop you need but being able to use sticks and rocks and anything you can find," as it talks, a smile grows on its face, "Anyone back home would be able to learn this," it freezes, "Awww, but 10013 said we should stick together…"

"Ah, that's fine!" 20100 waves it off, "We're both helping Miss Trixie. 10013 didn't mean we should, you know, stick together. 99641 isn't even on this trip and it has the stickiest goop I've ever seen. I'll go check out the casino and you go on learning stuffing!"

"Stuffing?" Trixie asks weakly, still stunned from what just happened.

"Making stuff," explains 99111.

As Trixie helplessly facehoofs, 20100 trots out of the workshop and, when the heavy metal door closes behind it, 99111 hops on the chair to reach Trixie's height.

"So, how can I help you until 20100 comes back with the shinies?"

"It sucks having to make hinges out of wood," Trixie puts the file she's been levitating to the side, next to many others of varying roughness. When she hears the clip-clop of 99111 completely mesmerized by the entire process and sees it bringing yet another square of plywood ready to be sawed into planks, she shakes her head, "This won't do. Plywood is just sawdust pressed together really hard. A hinge made of that will break immediately. We need real wood," looking around at the cabinets containing various free-to-use tools or natural resources, she frowns when she doesn't find anything useful, "Go check the main storage room. Look for anything looking like a wooden log or a beam. Do you know what those are?"

"A piece of a tree trunk and a big smile."

Trixie's eye twitches.

"Yes. Find me some tree pieces."

She sits down and wipes the sweat off of her forehead. Constant woodworking over the past hour and a half has been taxing, but the changeling help with hauling raw materials did wonders to save her stamina.

When they say they're good at carrying things, they mean it.

As if on cue, 99111 arrives, balancing a de-rooted tree stump of its own size on its back.

"Where do you want it?" it asks.

"On that empty table," Trixie points to a yet unused workbench. 99111 shuffles over and stops.

"I think I have a problem. This thing is too heavy to fly with," when, with some trickery where the drone slides the stump on crouching Trixie's back and then from her onto the workbench, it asks, "What's next? How do we make whatever that binge thingy is?"

"Give- give me a moment to- to catch my breath," Trixie gasps for air, "Do I… look like… a powerlifter… to you?"

What are these drones made of? This would exhaust a normal earth pony if they had to carry it for longer, and this one isn't even breathing faster.

"You lifted that stump very powerfully!" 99111 attempts encouragement, only to earn a tired glance from Trixie whose face is clearly visible due her mane tied into a bun for safety around rotating tools, "I mean it! We would normally do this in a pair if we didn't have a ramp."

And it means every word it's saying. Unbelievable. Or it's making fun of me and it's among the best liars I've ever met. Also possible because, well, a changeling.

"Of course. The Great And Powerful Trixie is no ordinary unicorn," she says when she can speak without wheezing again.

"Eeeeee!" 99111 claps its hooves together repeatedly. To Trixie's own surprise, seeing someone looking at her with eyes filled with wonder just like during one of her shows lifts her spirits which, in her current situation, she thought impossible.

"As a reward, the Great And Powerful Trixie will now show you, small changeling basking in her presence, how to make wooden hinges, which she may or may not have done many a time to fix her humble mobile abode," she whirls a cape she doesn't have anymore, and briefly levitates a hoof-held saw before pausing, putting it back down, and lifting a saw for two, the end of which stops in front of 99111's face who blankly looks at it, "You didn't think that you'd just be watching Trixie do all the work, did you?"

"WHAT DO I DO?! WHAT DO I DO?!" 99111 jumps up and down, smiling wide enough for a horror movie.

"Pull up a chair. You need to be able to reach above the desk at least. This is a griffon saw, so it's not great if you know only how to use a mouth-"

Griffon talons immediately grow on 99111's foreleg and grab the handle.

"-cheatingbastard-"

"Huh?"

"-The Great And Powerful Trixie said 'good job'," Trixie walks around the table and takes her place opposite the changeling. This is obviously unnecessary for telekinesis, but it's better to measure the cut, "Now put the saw blade on the wood and pull towards yourself. Just pull, no need to use force to push it down."

"Eee! It jumps!" 99111, sitting on a chair, covers its eyes but doesn't let go of the handle.

"Yes. Your job is to keep it in contact with the wood but not push it down too much," she pulls the saw towards her.

"It snuck away! That's spooky."

"Yes, yes. Now pull it back."

"Wheee!"

"And now we're going to do this until we saw the stump all the way through."

20100 returns after noon. The workshop is still empty barring Trixie and 99111 who stop doing whatever arcane process they've been doing. At least Trixie does. 99111 rushes towards 20100, chattering like a machine gun:

"Wemadeaboxwemadeastandingboxoutoftotallynothingbutnottotallynothingthereweresticksandplanksandwecan-"

It gets picked up by a shimmering magical bubble when the blue unicorn notices that 20100 raises a bulging pouch and jingles it as demonstration.

"YOU ACTUALLY DID IT?" Trixie trots past 99111 happily chattering away inside the floating bubble, unbothered by not making any noise, "There's not rocks or chocolate money or anything like that in there, right?"

Without waiting for an answer, she snatches the pouch at the same time she drops 99111.

"-andwe'reabouttomakesomethingcalledahingethatmakesthewoodenplanksspin!"

"Sounds interesting!" replies 20100 with a smile, "Pity I missed all that."

Trixie stops staring into the open pouch with a dropped jaw, and looks at the changelings sitting side by side again, face reddening.

"Enough! Stop!" her raised voice makes them look at her, puzzled, "I can believe you somehow got me the money you promised. I don't care what changeling magic you used, but I REFUSE to believe you understood the word salad that one-" she points at 99111, "-spewed out IN ADDITION to that it kept saying INSIDE MY NOISE CANCELLING BUBBLE!"

"That's the problem?" 20100 waves its hoof dismissively before tapping on its forehead, "Mind links. That's the most basic thing we do most of the time."

Trixie deflates, eye twitching uncontrollably as she walks back to her workspace with the filled pouch.

"I see…"

"Yeah, that's nothing," 20100 trots towards the doorless plywood cabinet Trixie and 99111 built so far and pokes it, "This, though… you made this outta bits and pieces and now it's a proper box. That's so much more interesting!"

"I give up," Trixie shakes her head and shrugs, "You're magic, and not the kind of normal, everyday magic. Help me clean up here for now. We'll continue building my props later, but first I need to get my chemistry ingredients."

Having been booted out by Chrysalis, 10013, 99380, and Smiley are sitting side by side on the beach, watching the tide reach them, tickle their hind legs, and then withdraw. They've been silently sitting there for some time, watching the sun rise and reflect off of the water. In the case of 99380 and Smiley, they're just waiting for 10013 to figure out what to do next and enjoying the warm sun before it gets too hot. 10013, obviously, is busy with the other end of the deal. However, eventually it has to admit that it probably won't figure out the best course of action alone.

"Is there anything you guys want to do? I mean, we already got Smiley a point, 20100 is busy somewhere that way," 10013 waves its foreleg in the vague direction of the slope, "and 36658 is out of reach. I'm kinda stumped here, since everyone seems to still be asleep."

Smiley pokes the approaching tide with its hoof, licks the water, and makes a face while spitting the sea water out. 10013 tries it too, and shudders:

"Eww, so salty, and in a really weird way on top of that. Definitely not like the fizzy drinks on the ship. I wouldn't absorb it if I were you, but it might be worth trying to mix with goop. What about you, 99380?"

"If you say we shouldn't drink it I believe you," the newbie shrugs.

"No, I meant if you had anything you'd like to do."

99380 pokes its hoof in the sand briefly before replying with an open smile.

"Nope! I'm happy to be around friendlies and that nothing is trying to eat me and that's enough."

"Awww, that's good to hear," 10013 pats 99380's head, "But is there really nothing you'd like to explore? One of the lectures I attended on the ship was about management, which I understood to be kinda like leadership, and the shouty minotaur stressed out that a good leader thinks about what others need to be happy and effective."

99380 scratches its head.

"I liked the talky box, it had a really friendly lady inside it. Nice tunes, too."

"That's settled then. Let's find a radio!" 10013 stands up, muzzle scrunched in determination.

Smiley and 99380 mimic its pose for a moment before looking at it.

"Umm, where?" asks 99380.

"I guess we could walk around the resort until we figure something out or see something relevant," 10013 shrugs, "It's not the best plan…"

"But?"

"Ehhh, but nothing, probably," 10013 chuckles nervously, "It's not the best plan. Period."

"Meh, I don't have a better idea," 99380 pokes the Silent, "How about you, Smiley?"

Smiley walks over to 10013 and licks its face.

*Happy face* *Saluting face*

"I guess we have our answer," 10013 sighs, "Let's follow the clueless leader! But as 36658 always says - High Score will provide a way, we just have to keep looking."

As they start strolling east along the promenade, knowing that if nothing else they'll at least explore that direction since 36658 and 99526 went the other way, 99380 nudges 10013.

"And what do you like? Leading?" it tilts its head.

"I'm not sure," 10013 taps its hoof against its chin, "I used to think that, but I kinda realized that I've been doing it only because I was the highest ranked drone after returning back to the hive, and in those days it still mattered."

"Huh? Rank doesn't matter anymore?"

"Not at all like before," 10013 shakes its head, "It used to be that surviving longer meant you were faster, smarter, and stronger than the others and you climbed ranks when the others ahead of you died. At least it was like that for us, drones, because physically there's so little difference between us that ranking doesn't make much sense. Before 387 and the Queen decided on the new rules and announced those, I heard that high ranks straight up used to kill each other to climb," it shudders.

"That sounds horrible!"

"It does, but the new rules say that if high ranks want to climb, they need to perform a service which benefits the hive instead of just proving they have the raw power, skill, or cunning to take on a higher rank."

"Much more useful."

"Yep, but that's not for us to judge because we weren't the ones going to the surface and gathering love. Now, though, even you 99-ranked newbies grow stronger faster because you have more love than we used to, and because there are us veterans who can teach you some of the dangers of the tunnels. I think our ranks right now are more like pony names than actual hive rankings. I'm fairly sure that 36658 is tougher, stronger, and faster than I am, and its rank hasn't changed," 10013 shrugs, unbothered, "So, in short, I doubt leadership is as much my calling or special talent as just something I was told to do by 387."

"Awwww…"

"It's fine. I've gone four years without having a special thing other than fire-dousing goop, so I think I'll be okay," 10013 suddenly smiles and hums to itself, "Ha! I just got an idea what we can do. Two things at once, in fact."

"Wat wat wat?" 99380 gets immediately infected by 10013's excitement.

"Number one - we want to find a radio. Number two - we all want to rank up. And what does ranking up mean when we're not supposed to fight anyone and when our number doesn't get higher- lower- better?"

"We, umm…? I dunno?" 99380 scratches its head.

*Happy face* *Spooked face!* *Face gasping for air.* *Face with eyes darting from side to side* *Relieved face* *Happy face*

Both 10013 and 99380 look at Smiley, but only one realizes the full extent of what the Silent just did.

"…Smiley?" 10013 pats Smiley's head, "This isn't a coincidence, right? You actually figured it out," it breathes out.

"We're… okay," 99380 is still chewing through the 'clue' "We're scared. We're running away. We look around. We're… not being chased anymore? We're okay," 99380's eyes go wide, "WE RANK UP BY RUNNING AWAY! Wait! That's not what I meant. I mean that we rank up by getting better at running away! From baddies," it looks at 10013, "Did I get it too?"

"Close enough," 10013 smiles, "We rank up by getting better at any little thing we can."

"Thanks for the clue," 99380 hugs Smiley, "Imma call you Smarty from now on!"

Smiley sticks its tongue out in the same disgusted frown it made when tasting sea water and scoots aside, falling off of the bench with a surprised squeak.

*Pouty face!*

"I think you got a clear 'no' to that," 10013 snickers as Smiley stands up, glaring at 99380, "So, are you ready to rank up, 99380?"

*Nod nod nod!*

"Good," 10013 continues, "So, if you don't know where to look for a radio here, then let's use past experience as a reference. Where did you find a radio last time?"

"A drinky place on the ship," replies 99380 after a brief delay.

"And have we seen a drinky place here yet?"

Another pause, and this one lingers.

"Is everything okay?" asks 10013, nudging 99380.

"Oh, sorry," the other drone looks away and rubs its head nervously, "I'm kinda trying to memorize the clues you're giving me so that if I get into a situation I'm not smart enough for, I can remember what a drone like you used to lead me to an answer."

"That's a neat trick. Are you using the hive mind space that we can't get into yet?"

"Mhm," 99380 nods, "It takes some time but I think it'll be useful not just for me. It's kinda lonely there, though. Like a biiiig cavern with no one around."

"Don't worry. Now that we know you can use it, we'll eventually learn it too. I'll make time for some experiments later, but now we're searching for the radio."

"Oh, rightrightright!" 99380 looks from side to side, taking in the stands and small buildings lining the promenade on the side opposite the beach, "There's a bunch of places that look similar, but there doesn't seem to be anyone around, and the pony taking care of the drinky- umm, bar -hah, I remembered!- wasn't too happy when I went there and turned the radio on without him around."

"Well, for ponies, drinks and food come hoof in hoof, so if we can't go to a drinky place then…" 10013 leaves the suggestion hanging in the air.

"We find a foody place?" 99380's jaw drop, "GASP! The place where Smiley ate all the drawy rocks!"

10013 hops off of the bench.

"I guess we know where to start looking."

"No! Not you again!" a familiar griffon calls out when the trio of changelings enters the dining room of the hotel accommodating the guests of lower status, "We're busy setting the tables for breakfast!"

*Spooked face!*

Smiley tries to hide behind 10013, which isn't exactly effective due to the size difference, and only serves to make 10013 look from the front as if it has two foreheads.

"We just want to ask if you didn't know where we could find a talky- radio," 10013 observes the frowning griffon putting spoons and forks on the tables, not daring to move in case it would serve as provocation.

"There's a radio in every guest suite," retorts the griffon, "Now, please, let us work. Breakfast starts in twenty minutes."

"Thank you, Mister griffon," 10013 bows, "We won't bother you again."

"Thank you!" 99380 waves at the griffon who just groans.

The door clicks as Smiley's slips outside before the other two and waits in the hallway until they leave as well. They reach their suite shortly, and 99380 giggles:

"So much walking only to end up where we started."

10013 shrugs, looking around once more before asking:

"We got a good leg stretch out of it. So, how do we find and use the radio box?"

An image of the radio from the ship flashes through their hive links, and the trio scatter, looking for anything similar.

It doesn't take long, actually. On the corner table in the living room sits a smaller, sleeker black box with white writing on the front, wires coming out of the back, and a bigger box next to it with a grill on the front and, upon examination by booping, a softer membrane behind it.

Having some experience with pony scribbles, 10013 identifies two knobs with words underneath, one saying 'Volume' and one 'Frequency'. Unfortunately, the first one doesn't make sense to it, and it has no idea what the second could mean in the current context.

"Any ideas, 99380?" 10013 asks the other drone who is busy examining the black box from the sides.

"Those turnies on the front make it louder or make it say different things," it mumbles in response, "But I recall there being these long antennae and those were important. I can't see those anywhere."

"Hmmm," 10013 shrugs and, after a moment of thought, decides on turning the 'volume' knob. The radio clicks, and the bigger box next to it starts talking with clarity incomparable to the one on the ship:

"It's three quarters to nine, and you're listening to 90-88, Dragonfire! Stone music all day, every day! But, so that you guys don't get surprised by this crazy world of ours, here's the hourly news-"

"Yaaay, talky box!" 99380 cheers.

"It makes me wonder if others would like to hear it too. News about stuff that's happening… uhh… somewhere could be useful," ponders 10013.

"I don't think we can make it loud enough," 99380 shakes its head.

"You were playing tunes for the Queen on the ship. Why not share the news with anyone listening through the hive link?"

"But there are only the three of us. Everyone else is too far. And besides, if someone needs something they can always connect through a hive link."

"True, but why would others have to waste love digging through your head for anything useful when you, with your better and less tiring communication, can tell them. Maybe just drone stuff, something not worth storing in the hive mind. Maybe… maybe when you know of a drone who found some super smooth rock and wanted to trade it. That way everyone would hear it and be ready during breaky time."

"Wooow, that does sound useful! Or maybe I can just play tunes I store in the hive mind!"

"See? Now you're getting it," 10013 smiles, "Come to think of it, we can test it soon. Smiley and I will go check out what that breakfast thingy is all about. The hive mind is saying it's food-related. You can play us some nice tunes from here, and we'll bring you noms."

"Understood!" 99380 salutes and curls up in an armchair next to the table.

"Oh, and one final thing-" 10013 concentrates.

[10013:0, 20100:4, 36658:3, 99111:2, 99380:5, 99526:2, Smiley: 6,

65536:1]

"-Here's a point for you for figuring out where we would find a radio. Once we're back, I'd like to do some experiments with you regarding our reserved part of the hive mind. The sooner we figure out how to teach someone to access it, the better."

Some mental examination later, 99380 wibbles.

"You gave me your point?"

"It's only fair," 10013 shrugs, "I can't just make up points like the high ranks, so it's a trade. You did a good job and we'll be doing the hive mind practice later, I gotta return the favor."

"B-But won't 36658 be mad at you? You know, the whole fanatic-heretic team split?"

"I'll just have to work harder," 10013 smiles, "Besides, no one said that we had to pool our points to join 99111's and 36658's conflict."

"Huh…" 99380 rubs its chin.

"Don't worry about that. We're all getting points by working for the good of the hive, and that's all that matters."

"Okay!"

Even after 10013 and Smiley leave, they can still both hear the griffon announcer talk about weather and world affairs that are way beyond their understanding.