Alright, time to get up. I’ll just call the group in and sta- Wait. They just came in. This is odd… They never come in my room if I’m not up. Maybe something happened. What if more drones died? Oh no I gotta get up and-
“So… How long was this spell supposed to last?”
They’ve surrounded my bed. I can’t pass a chance like this up. I’ll just wait for them to be sure I’m sleeping peacefully then.. Heh.
“Only eight hours. She should be awake right now. Maybe she’s just pretending?”
No I’m not! Shush Tilo! Nothing to see here. Just a peacefully sleeping matriarch. I’m not planning on jumping up and scaring you in a second.
“Well she needs to keep on pretending, because we still have to figure out what to tell her.”
I knew something happened! This is more important than scaring them.
“Tell me what, Odio?”
Ah. I love that pause when they know they’re in trouble.
“Um. Nothin. Keep your eyes shut. Go back to sleep?”
Alright, they wouldn’t say that if it was serious… I’ll bite.
“You’ve got five minutes, then I’m getting up. Got it?”
….
“Yes’m.”
I’m pretty sure they’ve moved away from my bed-to the left corner of my room, by Galius’ Spring Fresco, if their whispering indicates anything-so I take a moment to stretch and sit up, with a bit of eye rubbing for good measure.
The whispering stopped. They must be ready, but I’ll wait for them to say something just in case.
“Alright… Open your eyes. Just don’t scream ok?”
I’m a bit scared but alright….
.
.
.
Whaa?
“Well. This is not what I expected to wake up to. What happened to you guys?”
~~~~~Tilo~~~~~~~
Ok, so she didn’t scream, that’s a good sign. Although her head’s tilted almost 90 degrees. That’s some neck flexibility right there. Alright, now to explain in a calm manner…
“TilawascryingandIdidn’tknowwhattodosoIpanickedandtriedtoturnintothatfluffypinkponyfromtheAtismissionbutIdidn’thaveenoughpowerandIpassedouthalfwaythrough”
Ok, not so calm then. Big breath then tell the rest.
“GASP~ThenIwasreallyemberassedsoTilatriedtocopymewithoutthepassingoutandactuallydiditandOdioandSomnifeltleftoutsoOdiochangedhertoaslightlyfluffymixwithpolkadotsthatmatchhereyesandsheonlyhadenoughpowertochangehimpinktomatchhersonowwehaveverylittlepowerandweprobablyhaveamonthbeforewe’recompletelyoutsowereallyneedtothinkofaplanandyou’renotallowedtodoanythingweallagreed.”
There. Now to sit down for a second, that really winded me.
“...Why can’t I join the fluffy club?”
~~~Tila~~~
Honestly I expected this. She’s not gonna let it go either, I can see it in her eyes. I swear this famine is making us lose our minds. Fine. I’ll send her something equally fluffy and ridiculous.
“Hehehehehehehehheheheheh”
And now our most respected ruler’s mane and tail are rainbow colored. Great.
~~~Amaris~~~
“Thank you guys. I really didn’t know how I was gonna handle today, but this definitely cheered me up, even if it was an accident.”
They release a string of comforting words and pile around me on the bed, making a fluffy group cuddle pile. Kinda like we did as larvae. But we really need to figure out our plan.
“Alright, all jokes aside, we need a plan. Now. We know we can’t stay. We don’t know what will happen if we leave, but maybe the danger’s passed, whatever it was. Thoughts?”
Tila straightens a bit and, as expected, is the first to speak up. Tilo will follow, then Odio, then Somni. Sometimes Odio and Somni just speak at the same time in that freaky way they can. Even with the hive mind, synchronized talking is weird and hard to do.
“I second that. I propose we go to Canterlot, and ask the Sun for refuge. No lies, straight truth.”
Well that’s not exactly what I had in mind but… I think we can make it there. I know Tila put the remaining drones to sleep, with the exception of the Medic treat Giulia’s body… I’ll think about that in a second.
“While I would normally be against that, I think that’s the only thing we can do. None of us have enough power to shift. We’ll have to walk through the city like this. In order to do that, we’ll have to talk to the first guard we see. Prove we mean no harm. They won’t realize how malnourished we are, since ponies don’t get holes in them when they starve, but we can prove it. Somehow. We’ll have to.”
“We agree.”
Like I said, creepy. Alright, no sense dallying. Time is precious. No time to pack, or hover. We’ll burn Giulia’s body, wake the drones, and head out. It’ll take about 3 days… We’re going to lose at least 20 more, unless I can think of something fast… What would Giulia do?
Suddenly I’m transported back to my larvaehood. Giulia and I are in her private lunar garden, the one filled with the odd statues. Yes, and she’s telling me that her predecessor used to love to play with the statues. I couldn’t comprehend how anyone could play with them, they were huge! Twice the height of my Queen! Then she did something amazing.
With her beautiful smooth horn touching one of the statues in the style of a Queen, she started to force magic into it. She began explaining what she was doing aloud, which she only did when teaching me something only I needed to know! She said she was imagining the stone, every contour and curve, but the size of a pebble. Then she said to herself, “Be what I know you to be.” And suddenly, the statue was tiny! I could see it in the dip of the bottom of her hoof, and it looked exactly like one of the pieces we used to play… What was the game called? Class? Cress? Cheese? I think that’s it. The game of Cheese. And she said to me, “Amaris, my darling. Remember this. If something doesn’t fit, make it. If a load is too heavy, lighten it. Imagine what you want it to be. Demand it be exactly that. And you, my dearest one, will be able to move mountains.”
I can’t believe I forgot that. But I was so small… I know what I have to do.