Fellowship is Madness

by Imperator Chiashi Zane

Golden Ticket, Part 2

“You’re joking, right? Are you?” Blueberry Jam looked at the Changeling Drone standing on the outside of the fence. He was disguised as a lemon yellow Pegasus. Being genetically rooted to hiding their true self, no Changeling showed real emotions. It made telling a joke from complete seriousness near impossible. Right now, she wished it didn’t work that way. This one had just told her that his hive, Hive Chrysalis, was going to be moving through Ponyville around the middle of the fall. Right in the middle of the last week of Harvest season. During the Grand Galloping Gala. Now, not only was she stuck in town while her friends went to Canterlot, but she had to stick around during a Changeling rush. She hated the Déjà vu effects it caused, how other ponies would be pointing out how weird their friends were acting.

She groaned. If it was after Harvest, she would be able to hide away in the barn during the whole thing, but now there would be duplicates of everypony in the village…Everypony including her.

“No. I am being completely serious. Queen Chrysalis expects that the town will be ready when we come through, so everypony can grab a quick snack on the way through, and top off our Love-beasts. As the current envoy of Hive Berry, you are expected to ensure proper preparation and adequate tribute for our hive.”

She smiled at him, fangs poking through her disguise, “I think we can manage, if the Queen would do us a favor in return. Should this request of ours be fulfilled, we will even find you a spare Love-beast somewhere, and make sure it is also filled up for you.”

The changeling smiled back, “Is that so?”

“Yeah. We’ve got a few dozen here. At least one has probably had a kit in the last year, so we’ll have an extra or two.”

The drone blinked. He really hadn’t expected this conversation to go so easily. Normally, Farming hives had an intense dislike for traveling hives. Chrysalis had sent him on this route specifically because she had been close to the last queen of Hive Berry, and had expected the bond to hold out even after the late Queen’s unfortunate demise at the horns of Hive Daxon.
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“So, you see how my schedule is all filled up, except for this one say here?” Cheerilee looked at the calendar spread across her desk, a white hoof pointing at several days around the end of the fall season. The day right after the planned graduation party was completely blank, and had no other commitments penciled in. Of course, the Graduation was a late night event, timed right after the young mares and stallions finished their final classes.

“Uh huh. Why is that important?”

“Well, you see, the graduating class is going to be all tired after their classes. They’ll want to go home and have their private parties at home, then sleep it off. Not go sit at a stuffy ceremony before getting to party. If we moved the party over one day, to this opening here, then they can do the sitting part after a fresh night’s sleep, then party. They’ll be a lot happier that way, and it’ll give me one more day to get it all ready,” not that she would be. That party was already almost ready. Everything was in a box in Sugarcube Corner’s basement, ready to be set up. She would be at the Grand Galloping Gala.

“Well…I don’t know. Will it really make them happier to wait a day to graduate?”

Fleethoof sighed, and leaned over the desk, stretching her wings up into the air, “Wouldn’t you have been?”

Cheerilee stared at the Pegasus before her like she had suddenly grown a second head, or a third even, “I don’t know. I was wasted before second hour. I don’t even remember my ceremony.”

“See. Let them get the partying out of their systems first, then they can remember the ceremony. And not wake up with tattoos in embarrassing places.” Cheerilee abruptly remembered the black ink around the base of her tail that she always made sure to keep covered by a carefully tied bun around the root. It itched to even think about how drunk she had been to even have wanted to get inked at all.

“Ok. Fine. I’ll let them know.”
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“Ok, so in order to get that specific day off,” Barkskin brushed her hoof across several different profiles, “I need to put somepony competent in charge.” The grey Thestral across from her sighed, like he knew what was happening, and why she needed that day off. “Can you send somepony down from Cloudsdale, or even Manehattan?”

“No. They have enough on their plates right now. It’ll have to be one of your team. I know you have several Pegasi up for raises soon. Possibly one of them is also up for a promotion.”

She flicked several of the profiles aside, “Ok, well, Ditzy Doo always does a good job, but she has issues with getting distracted. She needs a pony to keep her focused on the task. Rainbow Dash is efficient, but always tries to get her entire task list done in as short a time as possible so she can go ‘Practice for the Wonderbolts’.

"Peregrine has some good skills, but he isn’t nearly fast enough to keep up with the entire town. It’s why I’ve kept him on the East winds. Not a whole lot of span to them. Maybe Thunderlane. He’s been practically my right hoof since it dawned on him that I can’t see the top of clouds. I would definitely put him up for promotion.”

“Excellent. I expect to see the results of his Supervisor test in a week. And I expect they will be quality.”

She nodded. “I can do that. The results will be in your mailbox by the end of the week.”

As the Thestral flew away, she touched her horn to the radio crystal on the wall of her hut, “Thunderlane, please come to my office. I need to talk to you.”

She could hear the jeers of the other ponies. Of course, they rarely heard her call anypony to her office unless they were in trouble, so it was justified. As was the stallion’s confused expression when he squeezed through the door, “Yes ma’am?”

“Thunderlane, I have recently been informed that a new position has opened up at a higher pay level than you are at right now.”

“Really?”

“Yes. In fact, the position is a high enough pay grade that you can afford a desk.”

His confusion turned to horror, “You’re taking me off Wrangling?”

She laughed at that, “No. You’ve been my best wrangler for five years. You just get a few extra tasks to do on top of that.”

He started turning slightly green.

“But you get an extra seven bits an hour. That will almost double your pay. Actually, with the extra hours, you’ll be getting more than double pay.”

His face went from green to white, “What do I have to do? Oh please don’t make me supervise Rainbow Dash!”

“No. She’s not going to be under you. Well, she will, but Cloudkicker will be in charge of her still. You’ll just be taking the whole Everfree edge.”

His face regained its color and he slumped onto the desk, “Oh thank Celestia. As long as I don’t have to sit at a desk all day.”

“Good. It’s settled then. You start your supervising job on Monday.”

His face paled once more.
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“Where did you learn to etch Mithril?”

Iron Hoof looked at the Griffon Blacksmith, and smiled, “Well, etching I learned in school. Mithril though, that was kind of self-taught.” At the confused look, he added, “I was playing around in Kajiik’s lab and knocked a vial onto the Mithril. I found out that it was specifically the etching compound for Mithril, and that that sample was thinned too much with the splash to be useful anymore, but I know how much to use now.”

The armor plates were elegantly etched with protective runes. It was one of the reasons why Mithril was used for special armor. By itself the frail metal was almost useless, but because it was magically neutral, it didn’t cost any mana to pump spells through it. It was one of the reasons that the metal was so expensive. The other was that it was incredibly rare. Maybe fifty kilograms of pure Mithril came out of the mines every year, and it took five to make one breastplate. A full years work mining was barely enough for a full suit of plate. Not including the maille underneath. Celestia had ordered thirty full suits. And he had seen the pallets of Mithril ingots sitting out back. They were labeled from places as far off as Prance to the North and Sibearia to the South. It had to be every kilogram of Mithril dug out of the ground across Equus for the last six months.

With a smile, he got back to work. They had completed one whole, and with him doing the etching, they didn’t need to keep an eye on the chemicals as much, so they could focus entirely on forging the armor itself. At this rate, they would be done a week before the Gala, but would have no time to do anything else but sleep.

“You have been a great help to us, colt. Fortunately, I do not believe you will need to be stuck in here with us for the rest of the month. I contacted several of my acquaintances in Gryphonia. They are sending me a few extra talons. Their own apprentices, I believe. They will be arriving with the next shipment of Mithril from the Talos mines.”

“Oh, thank Celestia.”

“Yes. It will allow both of you to rest, as well as me. Though, I don’t know how well three Griffon lads will cope with being in Equestria proper. The nearest is coming from Pisa. He’s only been barely integrated into Pony society because of the shared territory up there.”

“They’ll manage. I’ve been out to Gryphus a couple of times. It’s a drastic shift, but manageable.”

“Some of them have never even seen an herbivorous race. Be prepared for that.”

He nodded. It wasn’t going to be easy to have three exclusive carnivores joining the village for a time, but it wasn’t that much different from integrating Thestrals, who were technical omnivores, but were partial to meats.

“So that that mean I can go too?” Hammer Soot butted into the conversation, still cooling helmet clenched in her talons, “I’m totally ready!”

Both of the stallions looked at her, “Really?” She was covered, head to hoof in leather and thick, soot filled cotton, and her goggles hung off her neck, also covered in soot, although one lens was clearly covered in black paint. It merely covered the eyepatch.

“Yeah, totally. I just need to get a dr…dre…er…dre…”

“Dress?”

“Yeah, one of those. Or maybe I can talk Rarity into making me a dashing suit instead.”

Iron Hoof just groaned. He realized that he would have to wear a suit of his own to the Gala. And it was probably going to be not armor. He liked wearing armor everywhere. And his was enchanted to keep him comfortable in any weather too. “Buuuuck…I’ll need a suit too.”
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“That’s wonderful. I knew you could figure this out. So, we’ll need to get clothes. Dresses for the ladies, Suits for me and Iron.”

“And me,” Hammer raised her hoof, “I refuse to wear a frou-frou d…dr…”

“Dress. Sheesh. Hammer, do you want me to look at your brain and fix that speech issue?”

Hammer scowled at him, “No. I’m fine. I’ll just wear a suit.”

Comments

[Glow Stick]

I tried, but I just couldn't get invested in anything. And nopony calls Rainbow Dash 'lazy ass.' NOPONY....

[Imperator Chiashi Zane]

5428190 I didn't call Dash Lazy. Efficient with no sense of timing maybe, but not lazy. And thanks for at least trying to enjoy it.

[SwaggyPie]

"LAZY ASS"?!?!?!?!?!!? NOPONY CALLS DASHIE A "LAZY ASS"!!

Other then that....pretty good...

[Imperator Chiashi Zane]

5438102 Barkskin didn't actually call Dash a Lazy Ass. And in this setting, Rainbow is actually kind of a slacker.

[SwaggyPie]

5438961 Oh...Sorry

[Imperator Chiashi Zane]

5443251 I appreciate that you are enjoying my story. Is that your upvote?