//------------------------------//
// Chapter 63 
// Story: Don't Bug Me 
// by Starscribe 
//------------------------------//

Amie found the old mine exactly where she expected, beside a huge painted sign just off the highway. A huge hotel blocked the cliffside from view at first, its paint faded and windows covered with boards. A half-dozen cars sat in the lot, mostly rusting old hulks. A few were modern, covered with the dust of months. Interesting.

"Why are we stopping here?" Pachu'a asked, hurrying to catch up with her. "Your camp is further."

"It is," she agreed. "But we're stopping here, for now. I'll be going up in a bit." She did not sound very confident as she spoke—because of course she had no idea what might be waiting inside. She ignored the hotel, continuing towards the wooden building flush with the cleared cliffside.

This one would've looked at home in Agate or Motherlode—sun-bleached wood, with peeling paint at the edges and the occasional pipework running up the side. "What does the writing say?" Natane asked. "It is not the pony tongue, or ours.

"Experience a real-life silver mine," she read. "Ride a minecart, explore over a hundred miles of authentic tunnels and search for treasure. Ages 12 and up." She looked away. "It's lying, though. The part you can 'explore' is the top floor. And the minecart ride gets really boring after a few times around."

The hunters slowed, sharing a confused look. At least Natane was keeping up with her. "Do you intend to stockpile the glamour here, Amie? It will do no good to your bugs if they can't eat it."

"No," she answered. "I'm going to deliver it to the starving, and make the healthy come here to get it. I can't build a hive in the open. But the mine—it only has one entrance."

She lingered by the door, resting one hoof up against it. If something bad had happened to her kids and they hadn't made it...

Then she heard something from inside. Quiet, yet clear. A guitar, and voices. "May... she will stay, resting in my arms again."

Relief flooded her, and Amie shoved the door open. "These are the bugs I trust most," she said. "They'll help me build the hive." She flung the door open, into the lobby of a tourist trap. There were various tee-shirts and stuffed toys, and plenty of other knick-knacks for the curious tourist. Only the snack shelves were looted, everything else was basically untouched.

Light glowed from the distance, past a little ticket booth and metal turnstile labeled "Museum."

Natane was the first to follow her inside, levitating up a stuffed doll of a bearded prospector. "May I keep this? You have plenty."

Despite the failure of her negotiation, despite the fear, Amie was grinning again. "It's yours."

She ducked under the turnstile, then rounded the corner. Past several mining displays, past an entire cabin recreated in the building that claimed it was "the original foreman's cabin" complete with glass cases of old-timey garbage.

The glow of a propane camp lantern lit a huge stone cavern beyond. What it had been in the days of mining, Amie didn't know—but now it was the queue for the minecart ride. Or it had been. The metal racks were all pushed to the side, stacked over each other.

Her bugs had arranged their tents in the other corner, forming a little "L" against the wall with a circle of chairs, boxes, and cushions in the center. There was the camp light, and a griffon with a guitar.

Not everyone was around him—but a lot of them were. Including the four “workers,” watching with energy and fascination Amie had never seen from them before.

"Someone's here!" a bug yelled, appearing from the hall just behind them. They'd been hiding in the cabin display—but apparently not paying enough attention to warn the bugs inside. "Who are you?"

Marcus stopped strumming the guitar, then looked up. When he did, the workers all stopped watching. They stood up, marching slowly through the crowd without another word. "I don't think anyone else would know where to find us," he said. "Relax, Conner. Peyton, don't point the bow at them."

Amie focused her magic and banished her disguise. "It's me, Amie," she said. "I know I look different than you remember. It's a long story."

Her kids packed in close, with all the energy of her remote visits and more. She looked a little different, and she was definitely bigger. Nobody cared. The little ones each wanted a hug, bombarding her with rushed explanations of how brave they'd been, or repeating the same question in everyone's mind. When were they getting home?

"One day," was all she could say. She gave each one a few seconds of attention, knowing they would all need more. Even the visibly composed teenagers still wanted validation. They had endured terrible things, and still did what she said. But now that Amie was here, she could make sure it happened.

"I'm proud of you, I'm proud of all of you," she said, a little louder. "First thing's first. Everyone eats."

Amie could've given them something from the supplies they were carrying. They had four packs worth, enough to feed the whole camp for a short time. But somehow, feeding them that way didn't feel right. These bugs were the closest to her, the ones who had suffered for their attachment to her. They would also be the most trustworthy.

Amie gave each of them glamour herself, using a little wax and a tin cup. There was a slow, ritual way she did it, biting through the wax to fill it with what felt like the right amount, then floating it over to each kid.

They were hungry, and not exactly feeling patient. But they all waited.

Then she was done, and no bug was hungry anymore. They were full.

"You have fed one group," Pachu'a said, a few minutes after she had finished her task, and then sat in conversation with Marcus. "But there are many others who need what we brought. We cannot stay forever; duty calls my apprentice and I to journey elsewhere. But I would fail in my duty if I cannot witness that the relief we brought was given to those who require it."

Amie nodded her agreement. "I apologize to keep you waiting. I have good reason for not starting right away. Once I start distributing the food myself, Albrecht will know exactly what I'm planning. He may attack immediately, or he might send someone to negotiate with me and demand the food. Either way, he won't be getting it, so we had to be prepared. Natane is staying—if you have to leave, maybe she can be the one to witness for you. I know Queen Kaya sometimes watches through her eyes. Would her witness be good enough?"

Pachu'a tensed, glancing nervously away from her. “Good enough” was obviously not the kind of comparison that he was comfortable using with his queen. "Of course, no one would question the honored Queen's words. And I don't mean to say that I doubt you either, Queen Amie. But much of these supplies were donated by the citizens of Sonoma, they weren't taken from a storehouse somewhere. They want to know that their wealth is saving lives."

"Then you will have to wait a little longer," Amie said flatly. "I have had some time to think about how to pull the trigger on this—but there are still some things to prepare." 

She stood up, suddenly towering over the room. Many of her kids were still in the pony shapes she'd given them. A handful had decided to change back on their own, but most were not. She remembered that feeling well, a first taste of being normal after so long as a freaky monster.

"Some of you already guessed this—but I'm taking over Stella Lacus. Anyone who wants to help me—you should know how dangerous it might be. If we win, I'm going to change it so we can survive the winter. No one will go hungry, and there won't be any more graveyards. And I can't promise it—but I have a lead on getting home. Once the food situation is secure, once we're safe from invasion, that's next.

"But if I lose—Albrecht’s goons are going to hate you more than they ever did. He might banish you; he might hurt you in the same way he hurts me. You're all... too young for this. You shouldn't have to make a decision like this. But since this is the awful world we're stuck in, this is the choice you have. Join me and help take Camp Stella Lacus, or you can hide. Say you kept your loyalty to the camp. I'll create a fake... jail, or something, and you can stay in there until the fighting is over. If Albrecht wins, you tell him that I locked you up for resisting me. I'll take all the blame."

Her words faded, leaving a painful silence in the queue. Bugs and ponies and other things all looked to each other, waiting for someone to speak first. Even Marcus wasn't brave enough to be the one. But someone was—Danelle.

"If Albrecht wins—camp won't change, will it? We'll keep on barely surviving. When there's no more animals, and no more food comes in from the outside, everyone will starve. I'll go back to feeling... nothing."

Amie nodded once. "Yes. Albrecht doesn't understand Equestria. He doesn't know how to gather food. When he gets desperate enough to send out hunters, Equestria will kill them. If any bugs survive, it will be because our friends in Sonoma, these bugs here, have sent help."

"Which we won't get," someone else said. "Because Albrecht didn't share with us to start with. He was gonna let us starve either way."

There were a few mutters of agreement. Then Marcus spoke. "I'm sure every camper in this room trusts you to lead, Amie. We want to help. But what do you expect us to do? Running away is one thing—do you want us to fight Stella Lacus? Will we have to shoot people? I don't think I could do that."

More agreement. But what was she expecting—these were children. Amie didn't want to kill anyone, so they definitely didn't. "I will not ask you to," she said. "We can't be mad at Stella Lacus for what Albrecht did. The other cabins, the other counselors—they were just doing what they had to not to starve. You don't have to fight them. You don't have to fight Albrecht and his soldiers either."

She strode slowly past the gathered bugs, until she was directly beside the propane lamp. But even on its lowest setting, that propane tank would only last a few days. "Anyone who wants to help me won't be fighting. The bravest of you may be going into Equestria to gather food, or back to camp when I think it's safe enough to help others who want to join us or bring back supplies.

"But most of you will be right here. This mine—it's going to be our safe haven. Underground we'll be protected from the cold, from Equestrian invasion, from Albrecht’s soldiers. There is a well under our hooves, if we can get it working again. There is enough space to make a comfortable place for everyone to live. All of Stella Lacus could live down here if we needed to..."

Though if they did, she would need to consult an actual engineer about exchanging fresh air with the surface. A dozen or two people in such a huge space was one thing, but a thousand would probably suffocate.

"Any bug willing to fight on my side, stand by me. Everyone else, by that minecart over there. I won't judge you, I won't be mad at you, and I will still make sure you're cared for if you don't want to help. But I need to know what side you're on."

The worker bugs moved first. Lily, Scott, and the rest, crossed the room almost as a unit. Strange that they were aware enough to understand her general meaning and know when it was time. Then Marcus stepped towards her. A few others did... then came the flood.

She felt their fear, their nervous excitement. A few were hesitant. They didn't want to tell her, but they didn't think she would win. Those followed only because of the shame they would feel if they looked afraid in front of their peers. Amie would have to give those bugs the easiest and safest jobs, knowing they wouldn't remain strong under pressure.

But in the end, everyone joined her. Only the three orange bugs watched from afar, expressions unreadable.

"I'm glad to have you," Amie finally said. "I'm going to pick a few team captains for each job. For now, there are three: one team to help lock up the front, one team to investigate the well, and one team to start building our permanent camp. Let's go with... Marcus, Danelle, and Sydney. I'm going to put the strongest people on the blocking team... I only need a few of you to look into the well, and the rest are building camp."

She separated them, keeping those with the weakest loyalty on the camp job. Eventually they were all in their groups. She sent the workers with the security team, expecting them to do well moving heavy objects. That left Amie alone in the queue line, except for three orange bugs.

"You have experience in leadership," Natane said, approaching Amie slowly. "I see your noble mother trained you well to form your own swarm. Whether that will be sufficient to overcome your other personal failings—we will see."

Amie's wings buzzed—and she forced them to her sides. "Humanity has changed since your ancestors were taken to Equestria, Queen Kaya. Some of those changes are for the better. We're not so quick to violence as we used to be. We realize that there are other ways to solve our problems."

"Or perhaps you've become cowardly and weak," Kaya said. She made no pretense to being Natane anymore, circling slowly around Amie like a hungry shark. "I do not wish to see your swarm suffer and die. But they might, if you hide from necessary action. Remember, the sun is also a warrior."