Drone work-rest cycles used to be entirely disconnected from day and night until Chrysalis found it convenient to set up a poppy patch to sell the plant material for… medicine without the worry of changelings being discovered by ponies. Consider it strange or not, changelings never really had any use for gardening, so figuring out that sunlight was critical for plants to grow wasn’t as easy as it would be for an earth pony. These days, the cycles are somewhat synchronized due to the significantly lowered workload requires from the drones, which means that the slowly moving ball of clothes and caked-on snow with properly made goggles situated near its top part approaching the hive entrance managed to make the overnight trip from the edge of the Badlands, most of it in the worst weather imaginable, shortly after the start of sleepy time.
“Don’t approach. Don’t help,” 156’s response to the report of spotting 65536 rings through the hive links of the two changelings –a warrior and an infiltrator paired together in order to foster cooperation between the classes– posted on guard at the front entrance of the hive. They exchange a glance and a shrug. Every ranked changeling in the hive knows 65536 by now, and neither of the two would mind stretching their legs and helping the drone, but orders are orders. There are no orders regarding their exact position at the hive entrance, however, and the warrior ranked 3012 starts pacing from side to side in front of it.
“What are you doing?” asks 2119, the infiltrator, opting for talking vocally in order to save every potential scrap of love for internal heating. The blizzard might be over but the calm, clear, night sky isn’t making it much warmer.
“Getting the blood flowing,” replies 3012, “Aaand stomping the snow down a bit so that cart can slide on it easier.”
“We are not supposed to be helping,” comments the infiltrator, “156 was clear about that.”
“Who’s helping?” 3012 smirks, “I’m just preparing a more defensible position in case of an attack on the hive. Not my fault one extremely friendly drone might consider it helpful in a non-intrusive way and share tea- steaming hot tea with me later… like last winter if you remember. What surprises me is that an infiltrator, an expert class specializing in assessing threats to the hive, isn’t stomping around with- I thought so,” he finishes smugly as 2119 starts mirroring his movements.
“The hive must be ready for anything,” 2119 nods with a completely fake serious face, “Enemies are always looking for a moment of unpreparedness and it would be a terrible shame one of us couldn’t warn others in time due to getting stuck in the snow. Holes damn it! I can barely feel my legs.”
By the time 65536’s heavy breathing and the scraping of skis on snow can be heard, there’s a small ramp ready and waiting to ease the final stretch of the drone’s progress and guide it inside.
“Welcome to the hive, Ambassador!” 2119 stands up straight and salutes, his movements mirrored by 3012, “We’re glad you made the trip and I’m certain the Queen will be as well.”
The ball of clothes named 65536 unhooks itself from the cart’s harness-
“Whah?!”
-yelps as the cart starts sliding down the ramp, and quickly tilts its front upwards which makes the skis in the back bury into the snow.
As if nothing happened, 65536 trots over to 2119 scrunching his muzzle in an attempt to avoid s snicker while 3012 looks straight ahead into the darkness, doing the same. The drone raises to the tips of its hooves, and-
“Boop!” pokes the infiltrator’s nose.
3012 bursts out laughing at the infiltrator’s indignant snort and subsequent backpaddle, and 65536 pulls down the scarves covering its own muzzle, revealing a friendly smile.
“Hi, 2119, 3012!” the drone greets the duo of ranked changelings, “Outside posting like last year? What did you do to make the Queen so angry?”
The duo exchange glances and the warrior shrugs.
“The lowest rank of each class. Unless 387 decides to start posting drones out here this is far from the last time we’ll meet each other pretending to be icicles.”
“It’s not that bad,” 2119 adds a second opinion, “At least it’s peaceful up here. 415 has been getting a bit… aggressive recently,” he shakes his head, “Nevermind. Enjoy your stay, Ambassador. Do you need any assistance?”
65536 puffs its chest proudly and smacks it with its hoof.
“Nope! All part of the training.”
The drone turns around but immediately turns back to face the duo, tilts its head, and narrows its eyes.
“Is there a problem?” asks 2119.
“Mmmm… YES!” 65536 points at his head and, like the absolute little boss it is, refuses to elaborate. Instead, it darts over to its cart, opens the closest box hidden under the waterproof tarp covering everything, fiddles with it, and takes something out before returning to the infiltrator, “There!”
2119 watches the presented wooly cap, blinking in surprise.
“Uhh, what?”
“On your head,” 65536 beams, “Ponies use these when it’s cold-”
“I know what a cap is, but… why?”
“Cuz you’re cold!” explains the drone, “I got the stuff for the others counted so I can’t give you any of that but Luna made me pack so many spares I’ve run out of bits to put them on,” it lowers its tone conspiratorially and winks at the infiltrator, “That’s the part of the plan where you come in. Do you want me to show you how?”
“N-No,” 2119 stutters, completely taken aback, “Umm, thank you very much, Ambassador,” he finally takes the cap from 65536’s hoof and puts it over his head. It’s small, of course, but stretchy enough to fit, somewhat, “...thanks…” the infiltrator repeats quietly.
65536 doesn’t seem to register it because it darts back to the cart and this time returns to the warrior, offering a pink scarf.
“And this is for you. It goes around the neck.”
3012 takes it wordlessly and wraps it around himself. Several seconds later, he recovers and says:
“Thank you. We’ll be here when you leave so we can return these-”
“Nope, keep them!” 65536 trots off and hooks itself back to the cart’s harness, “I already got three on. Consider it a Hard Swarming gift!”
“Is that the pony winter thing?” mutters 2119.
“Thank you…” repeats the warrior this time.
65536 just smiles at each of the sentries and enters the hive, finally leaving the snow and frost behind for the first time in a week.
“Huh…” it stops shortly after when the skis of the cart start making the pulling along the now stone floor of the hive exceedingly difficult, “I knew I was forgetting something.”
“Still don’t need help?” calls 2119, peeking through the entrance from the outside.
“Nope, still part of the training!” 65536 calls back and the duo exchange glances again before shaking their heads and returning to their posts.
Roughly ten minutes later, the cart is back on two wheels and 65536 finally makes its way into the throne room. Unlike for most drones, this place is far from an unknown territory for 65536, and after the long trip it finds the familiarity relaxing. There’s Chrysalis’s strange black rock throne towering over everything, the walls which have been rebuilt from some strange material mix that 99111 figured out after their island adventure and now can be restructured only by adding or removing love, and finally the… well, copious amount of empty space in the dome-like room.
Yet there still are small details it doesn’t recall from its last visit. Yes, it did bring the blanket and two pillows which are currently unoccupied on the throne, but the green pillows made of goop and something around the stove are new. 65536’s observation instinct keeps insisting there’s more, but it can’t consciously put a hoof on what until it blinks, realizing it’s much brighter here than ever before, and looks up.
Huh, they’ve installed goop skylights since last time.
Finally, a pleasant smell makes it sniff the air and guides the drone’s eyes to a kettle on a stove under the throne room, which they set up last winter, as well as yet another warrior and infiltrator duo greeting it, both openly smiling.
“Glad you made it, 65536,” 387 gives 65536 a courteous nod.
“Some of us were starting to get worried,” 156 nods sideways to 387, “Annoyingly loudly too.”
“I saw the tactical spell strike that created the Badlands from a distance once,” 387 smirks, “I don’t need a seat in the middle of a second one in case something happened to Princess Luna’s little bundle of chitin and joy.”
“True, I suppose,” 156 bows to the drone, “Good to see you, Ambassador.”
“Awww,” 65536 hugs her neck before she can rise again, “I’m happy to be here too. It’s been a spooky trip this time.”
“How come? Is the weather too much to handle even for the pegasi?” asks 387.
“It seems so,” 65536 begins taking off its clothing piece by piece and putting it away into the box heated by Princess Luna’s magical talismans, “Most of Equestria is so snowed in it looks like the outside of the Crystal Empire- umm, have you ever been there?”
“The name’s new to me,” says 156.
“All I know is what I learned about Princess Cadance on our cruise two years ago,” 387 rubs his chin, “I’ve never been so far north even before it vanished.”
“Oooooh! I gotta ask the Queen to let you go with me sometime,” 65536 beams, “Everything is shiny and they have a food machine made for changelings! It spins and goes ‘whoom’ and it makes love you can eat all the time. We GOTTA take some drones with us too,” the drone’s eyes widen at the possibilities.
“Let’s leave organizing field trips for when the Queen’s back,” 156 chuckles as 65536 gets a little too excited and starts bouncing up and down while folding its final pieces of clothing into the box.
“Where is she?” asks 65536.
“156 refuses to tell,” 387 pouts.
“156 doesn’t know,” the infiltrator nudges him in return, “But she shouldn’t take too long, whatever she’s doing.”
65536, now completely naked, shivers.
“Whoah, it’s pretty cold in here after all the time I spent wrapped-up on the way. It didn’t use to be as bad, right?”
“It’s a rough winter,” 156 nods. While it is cold in the throne room, an infiltrator of her rank isn’t particularly bothered, and she’s absolutely certain that 387 has gone through much worse conditions, “Tea helps, though, even if the supply is woefully limited. Join us for a cup?”
65536 nods.
“Pity you hadn’t arrived fifteen minutes earlier, the fire just went out,” the infiltrator walks over to a nearby wall, touches it, and creates a hole containing a small amount of dry branches. Once everything is in the firepit by the throne, 387 starts attempting to make a spark with his hooves.
“Wouldn’t goop help?” asks 65536, sitting down next to 156. The infiltrator waves her foreleg around, encircling the charred floor surrounding the firepit slash stove.
“We tried. In general, resin explodes easily but, unfortunately, doesn’t burn that well without some stabilizer. As far as 10000 has been cataloguing drone specialties, we don’t know about one who would help in that regard.”
65536 smiles, this time to itself and in a warmer, softer fashion. It’s always good to hear that an old friend made it through another year. Deep tunnels aren’t merciful, even with all the advancements the drones made under the new rules.
“Is 57999 the one gathering wood?” it asks. It’s a logical conclusion - the greenhouse is the only place near a forest.
“It or its assistants,” 156 nods, “There’s no way to gather enough for proper heating and the drones have been having some problems in that regard, but for us it’s enough to melt some snow and boil it from time to time.”
“And where do you get the tea?” 65536 leans closer to the dented pot on the stove, examining the mix of… stuff in it, “Wait, that’s definitely not tea,” it sniffs the odor, “Smells nice, though.”
“Some of it is,” 156 corrects the drone, “Then there’s birch bark and some dried green stuff 57999 brought from the greenhouse because it thought it smelled nice.”
“I traded a jug of water for it,” sparks finally set fire to the kindling 387’s been working on, “Technically just the water. It was 57999’s work jug and it didn’t realize it could fill it with snow right outside the greenhouse,” 387 snickers and piles the bigger sticks on, “I’m a business mastermind.”
“Heeey!” 65536 frowns.
“Knowledge is power,” 156 takes 387’s side for once which makes him shoot her a surprised look, “Besides, water is hard to come by down in the tunnels, you should know that.”
“Grumble grumble…” 65536 pouts but admits the high ranks are right. While there are underground streams, they are usually in lower tunnels, difficult to approach and, as far as 65536 knows, drones in general don’t have a way to store water long-term, “A trade’s a trade,” it sighs in the end.
“Don’t pout at me, 57999 was satisfied with it too,” 387 stretches and sits down by the firepit, warming its hooves by the rocks, “If I know the guys down there, there’s a fifty-fifty chance it traded it either for quartz dust someone scraped off of their hoof or a gem that would set it for life if sold to the right expert.”
“Hmmm…” 65536 makes a microwave noise, “If you didn’t mean to kinda outsmart it to unfairly take its stuff I guess it’s all fine.”
“Random dry greenery for melted snow, you do the math,” 156 pats the drone’s head, “And come on, 387 has been doing all he can to make the life down there better.”
“Sorry, some habits die extremely hard,” 65536 looks 387 straight in the eyes, “I apologize, 387. I should know better by now.”
“Eh, no offense taken,” the warrior shrugs, “I know exactly how you feel.”
“He’s suspicious in the same way regarding me and Chrysalis, but we’re slowly training him. As it turns out, you can teach an old changeling new tricks, it just takes patience and treats,” 156 winks at 387 who openly snarls at her.
To the surprise of both high rank, 65536 giggles and all tension from the trade details disappears instantly.
“I’m happy you guys get along so well. The Queen couldn’t have found anyone better to be in charge in her absence.”
“We’re doing what we can,” 387 ignores the first part of the remark, “Chrysalis is teaching 156 how to deal with the hive’s politics, and I-”
“387 is still 387,” 156 interrupts him, “If you can do me, I can do you,” she sticks her tongue at him when he shoots her a look.
For a reason 65536 doesn’t catch, they both glance at the drone. When it just looks from one face at the other, eagerly awaiting what’s next, 387 adds:
“My job’s gotten a lot easier, though, with 10000 now being a full time… organizer, I guess?”
“Oh? What does it do?”
“Compiles the daily mining results into reports so that I don’t have to connect to each drone individually, maps out new findings, collapsed tunnels, and so on. Based on that, we plan out repairs, love rationing, prioritize mining operations-” 387 stops and waves his foreleg, “All that boring stuff that makes the hive tick.”
“That sounds super busy,” 65536 nods and rubs its chin, “I don’t know if I could do all that and get some proper digging time in.”
“10000 is in no shape to be digging anything,” 387 frowns and shakes his head, “But hey, you’ll have more than enough time to talk to it while you’re here.”
“Oof! I get all itchy if I haven’t dug anything in a while. Luna lets me dig her magic shield for practice and experiments, and whenever I’m on a trip somewhere wild I make a tunnel or two. If I couldn’t dig stuff…” 65536 shudders at the horrifying idea of not droning, “I guess I should go talk to it and see how it’s feeling.”
Its ears register the clip clop of hoofsteps and its hive link, used only rarely in Canterlot, finally tunes into the vague background of hive mind information aided by the presence of the approaching Queen.
“Hiii, Your Majesty!” 65536 beams and waves at her before politely standing up just as 156 and 387 do.
“Good you made it in one piece, 65536,” Chrysalis smiles back, but both high ranks sense something unusual about her. Neither of them can identify it, however, “156, there’s something I need to discuss. 387, go help 65536 with the cart. It knows where to park before… the celebration-”
“Hard Swarming!” 65536 says helpfully.
“I refuse to say it, it’s a stupid name,” Chrysalis pouts.
“It’s a pun!”
“It’s a stupid pun.”
“Nu uh!”
“Uh huh!”
“I won’t stop hugging until you say it,” 65536 giggles and hugs the Queen's leg.
“Test me,” she shakes the drone off without any malice, “I’ve lived for seven centuries and I don’t intend to stop any time soon.”
156 and 387 exchange looks, both relieved that the weirdness is gone, burned away by 65536’s cheer and replaced with surprising foalishness on the Queen’s side.
“We just put the tea on,” says 156, interrupting the ensuing harmless staring contest between Chrysalis and 65536.
“Excellent!” the Queen takes the excuse to stop looking at the drone happily grinning from ear to ear, “387, 65536, come back here once you’re done putting the cart away and we’ll talk about what’s new. The drones are asleep anyway.”
“Yaaay, I’ll get my sleepy bag!” cheers 65536, so excited it starts bouncing again, “I gots all kinds of stories! And shmellows!”
“We’ll have a diplomatic discussion between the representatives of the hive and Equestria,” Chrysalis corrects it, but can’t help smirking.
“Diplomatic sleepover!”