Keep your head up. Don’t nod off again. Don’t nod off again. Keep looking straight. Don’t drop the pokey stick.
65536 closes its eyes to blink.
“Tired?” Pink Sunset’s voice wakes the drone up.
“Huh?” 65536’s head bobs upwards, “Oh holes. Did I do it again?”
“You did,” the Nightguard on the other side of the door to Luna’s suite nods, “Is there a problem? I’m not going to keep you here if you’re about to drop but I still have to tell the Commander.”
“No. It’s just-” 65536 sighs.
Tell it straight, 65536. You won’t get eaten or recycled here. This isn’t hom- the hive.
“-that this isn’t what we drones ever did, what we’re made to do.”
“Being a guard? You were the one who wanted to join for real no matter what.”
“No no no, I enjoyed helping 1313 and I like all the armor maint- mount- fixing, but… just standing and looking in one direction isn’t what drones ever do. Sorry,” 65536 lowers its head.
“I know you can go three days and nights with no sleep without even slowing down. Why would standing guard exhaust you so much?” Pink Sunset asks with no anger and all curiosity. It genuinely doesn’t make sense considering how much energy 65536 normally has when assisting one of the Nightguards.
“I’m not… tired,” 65536 rubs its head, “I’ve got enough love. I just keep falling asleep for no reason. It’s… it’s like everything is telling me to not waste love when there’s nothing to do.”
“So you never just… chilled out back in the hive?”
“Oh yeah, some deeper tunnels were chilly. Holes, I know of crevasses that were frozen over,” 65536 shakes its head.
“That’s not what I meant. Did you never have time to just do what you want or relax?”
“Umm… no? I mean, sometimes when we managed to finish a tunnel a bit earlier and if we found something interesting we did some quick trading but then we simply went to sleep to save energy until we got more orders.”
“Oh…” Pink Sunset blinks in surprise. Over his time with 65536 he did get the idea that drones weren’t allowed much individuality but he simply couldn’t grasp what was, in essence, the life of a tool… a hammer - to be simply put away until next use. Now it finally hits, “Ohhh… I think I understand now. I saw something similar when I worked alongside mercenaries. Hay, I’m sure that a few of the emergency hires that the Royal Guard got are having a similar problem. Your body is simply used to a completely different regime and activities.”
“I guess,” 65536 shrugs, “We’re hatched to dig, carry, and sleep. That’s all.”
“Yep, and when there’s nothing to do you just go to sleep on reflex,” Pink nods.
“Does that make me a bad guard?” asks 65536, its ears poking through the holes in the helmet splay back.
“Certainly not. You’ll either get used to these postings with time or we have to find something better suited for you. How about you go patrol the Nightguard floors instead? Some walking might do you good.”
“On it!” 65536 salutes and starts walking.
“A-hem!” Pink clears his throat loudly, “You are still supposed to report anything out of the ordinary that you see. I’ll ask you some questions afterwards and let’s see how many details you can catch.”
“Yes, sir!”
Sounds like fun!
***
With as serious and official expression as 65536 can muster, which is still probably the most excited look coupled with the happiest smile a normal pony would ever see on any creature, the drone patrols the upper floors of the castle, its head turning from side to side to catch all the details.
A unicorn maid walking through the top floor with a basket containing a stack of sheets folded on her back doesn’t escape the drone’s keen eye.
“Good morning, Miss!” 65536 beams at her.
“Good m-” she replies automatically before her brain catches up with the situation. She stops, looks down at the drone, and furrows her brows, “Aah, a monster!”
“Where?!” 65536 hops backwards, looking around and waving its half-sized spear in a vague forwards direction.
“You!”
“Me?” 65536 blinks, “Oh… oooohhh…” the drone nods in understanding, “I’m a Nightguard, Miss, and I’m here to show that we changelings can be friendly too despite… you know…” 65536 shakes its head, perks up, and beams at the mare who twitches at the sight of all the teeth, “Anyway, if you see a real monster, just call and I’ll poke it with this sharp stick I got,” the drone stabs the empty air with its spear.
“The Nightguards let a monster into the castle and armed it…” she mutters in stunned disbelief.
“I have this badge as well as a little card from Princess Celestia somewhere,” 65536 taps the Nightguard badge on his armor before starting to fiddle with a pouch hanging around its neck, “It’s full of official words and a sun picture and covered in something tough so that I don’t accidentally smoosh it. I think it’s called lemonaded paper or someth-”
The mare breaks into a gallop and disappears up the nearest staircase.
“Awww… and I tried so hard,” mumbles 65536 to itself before resuming the patrol, “Keep your chin up, 65536, Mister Sharp said it would be like this for some time but it’ll get better if you keep trying.”
***
Despite the servant’s reaction and its enthusiasm being drastically dampened, 65536 remains aware of its objective and stays vigilant in order to report anything unusual to Pink Sunset when its patrol is done.
This means that a door opening right in front of it and revealing Sharp Biscuit limping out of his office with a bleary stare can’t surprise 65536 at all.
“Good morning, Commander Biscuit!” the drone greets him in a chipper tone followed by a salute.
“Morning, recruit,” Sharp yawns, “Why aren’t you at your post?”
“I kept nodding off because I’m not used to standing around and doing nothing and Mister Sunset said that I should patrol around and that there would be a test of everything I noticed afterwards. This is so much better!”
“Noting that for further postings,” Sharp nods, walks over to the nearest window, “Huh… it’s already this late? I guess it’s another day up in the barracks instead of a bed back home,” he sighs.
“Too much paperwork again?”
“Yes,” Sharp nods, “Another night, another… report.”
“You usually do it when something bad happens…” 65536 leaves the sentence hanging, “Something related to… us?”
Sharp gives 65536 a tired look.
“It’s okay, 65536. You don’t need to know everything.”
“But if we caused it-”
“You didn’t cause anything,” Sharp says sternly, “That’s why you don’t need to know the… rather graphic details. I don’t want you to blame yourself for something you had no control over.”
“I just want to help…” 65536 lowers its head, “But the ponies keep running away like the maid a while ago.”
“You are, recruit. You are,” Sharp forces a smile, “And what was that about a maid? Walk and talk.”
As 65536 accompanies Sharp on his way up to the Nightguard barracks, the drone describes the maid encounter to him. When it’s done, Sharp scratches 65536 under its chin, the only reachable unarmored spot.
“That’s why I like you, 65536. You’re a fighter.”
“I’m a drone, not a warrior. I mean, we kinda, umm, all saw it when I tried to do the physical test before joining your guards for real.”
“That’s why I chose the word I used, 65536, a fighter,” Sharp stops by a window and looks at waking Canterlot sparkling in the rays of the morning sun, “There’s much more to fighting than hitting things. Not everypony can punch things but they can be a fighter.”
“I don’t understand,” 65536 flies up on the windowsill to sit next to Sharp’s head.
“I believe a fighter is anypony who is trying to make things better in any way. Anypony who doesn’t simply roll on the couch after a day of work and wait for tomorrow. Anypony who does as little as call for help when they see somepony in trouble instead of walking past and thinking that’s not their problem,” Sharp’s smile grows a little bit more genuine as he looks into 65536’s eyes and taps its helmet, “Anypony who keeps trying,” he repeats, “And I think you fit that category rather w-aaaaugh,” Sharp can’t stop a loud yawn, “Ooof, I think I should go before I fall asleep on my hooves. Don’t worry about not doing enough, 65536, you’re making things better just by being visible and friendly, or at least polite.”
65536 hops on the floor and salutes the Commander who salutes back.
“Oh, and one more thing. A little tip,” Sharp adds, “Pink is a very smart pony, so if he’s about to give you a test of what you noticed on your patrol, he’ll find something to ask about which you wouldn’t normally look at.”
65536 turns its head several times before looking at Sharp again.
As a response, the Commander only points upwards before turning around and walking away.
Huuh… how many times did I really look up? These hallways are so high.
***
Be seen, be polite, be nice if they’re not too afraid.
Later that day, off-duty 65536 is strolling around Canterlot castle grounds, having a look at Royal Guard training, no armor or anything. It’s simply there to be seen.
And it gets exactly that when Princess Celestia passes by, curious about the drone watching the guard training.
“Good afternoon, 65536.”
“Hi, Princess!” 65536 salutes, “Wait, no, I’m off duty,” it lowers its leg and gives the princess a little bow instead.
“No need for court etiquette between friends,” Celestia chuckles, “How are things? I haven’t seen you since you and the Nightguards saved that changeling friend of yours.”
“I scared a maid lady earlier, so now I’m just trying to let ponies know I’m not a threat,” replies 65536, “Commander Sharp said it would help eventually.”
“He would know,” Celestia nods, “Two years ago, batponies went through a similar thing after Luna’s return.”
“Huh? What happened? Where did Luna return from?”
Celestia pauses before smiling at the drone.
“That’s too long of a story to recount right now. I’m just taking a short break from court proceedings before I head back.”
“Speaking of Luna,” 65536 peeps after a moment, already expecting the answer but still having to try, “She still isn’t back. Is there really no way for us to help? I mean, when we saved 1313 we broke into this weird world with eyes in the sky and blood and spooky things everywhere.”
“Come on, we’ve been over this,” Celestia sighs, “You broke into a pocket dimension within the real world, this is so completely different that I don’t even know how to begin explaining it to somepony who knows nothing of magic. Simply put, the dreamscape works differently, and while your consciousness can get there when you’re sleeping, getting there as a physical presence and being able to meaningfully affect it is extremely difficult,” Celestia chuckles, “Luna tried to teach me, you know, when she was still worried of how other ponies would see her after her return. She even wrote a book of notes made specifically for somepony like me.”
“What color was it? I bet it was an important color like, umm, bright purple!”
“Uhh, no,” Celestia blinks in surprise, “Why would bright purple be important?”
“Have you ever seen a bright purple drone?”
“Purple dr-? Awwww,” Celestia hugs 65536 for quite a while after that, “No, no no. Luna turned the book white with a sun on the cover so that I could come and find it easily whenever I had time. Alas, even after learning how to enter the dreamscape, I immediately got stuck and Luna had to come get me. That’s why it’s dangerous for a pony like me and that’s why I can’t simply go there to help Luna.”
“A pony like you?” 65536 tilts its head. With a conspiratorial wink, Celestia leans over to 65536’s ear and whispers:
“I’m not that good with magic.”
65536 gasps.
“How come?”
“It’s an alicorn thing. Some alicorns have a different kind of power which makes using complex magic too difficult. Think of it as having to concentrate with somepony constantly playing overly loud music inside your head. That’s me and magic. Luna’s divine aspect is much weaker so she doesn’t suffer from such interference and can do great magic. In fact, Luna is likely the second best magic user alive.”
“Wooooow. Who’s the best?”
“Luna’s old magic teacher, Scream, hooves down,” Celestia looks up into the sky.
“Could she help if she’s so good?”
“She probably could, if she’s still alive, even without Luna’s inborn connection to dreams, but she wouldn’t…”
“What? Why?”
“That’s a much longer story than about Luna’s ex- return. In short, she fell in love with a monster that I had to stop and she never forgave me for it.”
“Was there no other way? I mean, ponies keep calling me a monster and… well, I’m just me.”
Celestia pulls 65536 into a hug.
“As much damage as you caused, I can understand why your queen did what she did. Besides, you’re doing all you can to fix things. Scream’s… lover just… killed and killed and killed destroyed civilizations, and nearly ended all life on this planet before he stopped. He was a true monster, and he can’t be allowed to exist in this world ever again.”
“Your Highness, it’s time,” a Royal Guard belonging to a group standing a short distance away on a gravel path approaches the two.
Celestia sighs but stands up with a smile.
“The work never ends. Thanks for the chat, 65536. Feel free to visit me in the evening, you’re a pleasant company. You can show me your newest drawings or something.”
“Sure thing, Your Princessness!”
The confused Royal Guards look from Celestia to the changeling, and once they start walking away, she turns her head back to it and winks.
***
The door opens in front of 65536 and, just for a moment, its legs turn to jelly. Facing a high rank has never been easy. Facing a top rank… probably never will.
“I can feel you staring,” Fury rolls her eyes, “You coming inside or not? Damn it, such a classic innuendo and still completely lost on a drone. Life is suffering,” she closes the door after she hears 65536 walk into the room. As the silence lengthens, Fury walks over to the spot where she last heard 65536 and pats the area with her foreleg until she touches the drone’s head, “What’s wrong?”
“I want to help Luna.”
“And I want my eyes to work,” Fury shrugs.
“I think I’ve figured out how, but it might go super wrong for me or make some ponies really mad,” says 65536 in a hesitant tone, “It might even make things worse. I don’t want that but I can’t just sit here and wait. Something is wrong, I can feel it.”
Fury walks over to an armchair by the open window, sits down, and lets the warm wind play with her mane.
“Are you here just to tell me that?”
“No,” 65536 sighs, “You’re a top rank. You always know what to do.”
“When everything fails, it’s back to the hive hierarchy, eh?” Fury sneers, “Buddy, we know shit. That’s the main thing this failed invasion taught me. We know shit, Chrysalis knew shit, and when the higher ranks who knew shit failed, we ate shit. The only one who didn’t was the one responsible, because she always stood on the backs of all of us.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t understand. I’m just a drone.”
“No. You’re a changeling,” Fury snarls 65536’s way in a tone that makes it tremble, “You’re a member of the perfect species. You can shoot magic beams from your forehead, you can outfly a pegasus, you can outmuscle an earth pony, and you kick so much ass that Celestia’s chair would scream in terror.”
The tiniest spark of insight tells 65536 that Fury might not be talking entirely to it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t give any hint as to what to do.
“Miss Fury?”
“Changeling, I helped ponies escape from right under Chrysalis’ nose. I looked her in the eyes -well, in her general direction- and mind blasted her in front of her cohorts. I defied her, I humiliated her in front of all the survivors she managed to gather, and I got away with it. Then I got here and stared down -again, in a manner of speaking- both Celestia and Luna. Do you know why?”
“Nu uh.”
“I’m not going to lie that it was for the greater good or something. It was for myself. I wanted to keep the pony who liked me despite knowing everything I did and who I was. No overhyped failure of a monarch would steal that from me. Now I’m here and he loves me more thanks to what we went through. How long will that last? No idea. From what I know, our species never had any stability, and it might just be the case that Crest will get annoyed or bored with me in a year or two and I’ll still be blind. I might die on the streets or I might have to join a brothel and get poisoned due to only feeding on lust. And you know what? I don’t regret anything. I can’t change what happened. All I can do is admit my mistakes and blame my decisions only on myself. There’s always a choice, 36658, but creatures often pretend there isn’t one because they aren’t able to accept the risks. If you want to do something to save Luna that would make others angry or even kill you, then that’s the risk. Take it or leave it.”
“You know, you’re really nice for a high rank,” says 65536 after a moment of silence.
Just like that, the serious moment is gone.
“Nice? Nice?!” Fury huffs, “No, I’m tough as nails and hard as steel! Nice? Noooooo, I’m meltiiiiiing!” she paws at her face, gurgling.
Chuckling, 65536 hops into her lap to check that she’s really just messing around before being unceremoniously shoved down with some force. A tumble like that is nothing, so when it picks itself up, still grinning, it says:
“Thank you. And in case I… in case I muck up too badly-”
“Bring Luna back. That’s an order.”
For some reason that does make things easier.
***
“Okay. Blue, you watch the door. Not-Blue, you’re with me for moral support.”
It’s surprisingly easy to find the only white book filled with hoofwriting and symbols on the shelves of Luna’s bedside library. By now, 65536 can skim it to get the basic gist of where to begin, namely roughly two thirds into it where Luna writes:
“The complexity of using magic to enter the dreamscape stems mainly from how difficult it is to draw the correct types of energy from oneself and the world around. However, if one already has the required amount of homogenic power inside them, then what’s required is only the right focusing catalyst which would transform the homogenic energy passing through it. This means that any source of energy might be enough to create the portal, not only divinity. So, if Celestia can’t concentrate to perform the complex transformation then all I have to do is create the correct catalyst. An item of sorts? A magical circle? A ritual?”
What follows is a section of pages with numerous small pictures and descriptions crossed out until 65536’s eyes stop on pages where the incredibly complex pictures and designs stop being crossed out and start taking entire pages. The new chapter is titled:
“Working magical circle bases. Required materials. Permutations to achieve simple customisations.”
“Any homoerotic energy means love too, right?” mutters 65536 to itself, “And I’ve got plenty.”