An Exercise In Management

by Nameless Narrator

22: Into the hole!

“Alright, that ain’t happening.”

Watching from distance the gold-armored ponies swarming around every single one of the long queue of caravans attempting to enter the city at the base of the mountain, I must agree with Ten’s assessment.

“Time for plan B?” asks Eight, “As in ‘be anywhere else but here’.”

“Hm? I thought you would be all for rescuing other members of the hive?” I raise my hood to look at her.

To explain, I look like a travelling mummy with a long hooded coat. Not being able to shapeshift sucks.

“I am counting pros and cons, and not coming to any reasonable result. Cutting our losses and starting a new hive seems a lot easier at the moment.”

“Still pissed off that two higher ranks ganged up on you and tried to eat you?”

“...more like that the only one who has ever cared enough to do something about it used to be a dumb drone...” she turns her head away, “I will follow your decision on the matter.”

I heard the quietly muttered first part anyway.

“Come on,” Ten grins, “You don’t think Chrysalis didn’t plan for the city being on lockdown? Not being able to walk through the main gate, or fly up to the upper city is just a minor setback. Although I must admit that the ponies are on a rather high alert considering how badly the attack ended for us,” he shrugs, “Oh well, plan B it is, as in ‘back door’.”

Eight lightens up.

“Excellent, let’s follow Ten’s instructions to the letter, my King.”

“Not that kind of back door,” Ten rolls his eyes, “Let’s go.”

Evening falls as we circle around the moutain. Not that it hampers any one of us, being a species naturally living in darkness. What it does make clear is that ponies are taking it even more seriously than the gate checkpoints showed. As if someone kicked a burning campfire, little dots of light are swarming around the upper city, making flight impossible even at night.

We stop at a random clearing in the forest surrounding the mountain like a big C everywhere but in the lower city.

Ten stomps the grass and moss until he’s satisfied, then his horn glows, and with a click he raises a hatch, revealing a staircase.

“What is this?” I look into the pitch blackness into which the stairs descend.

“Our plan B. Let’s get inside before some random guard notices the green light,” he ushers Eight in first, then Three and Four followed by me, and he closes the hatch himself. After testing if it’s closed tight, he takes the lead, “The upper city used to have a huge shield surrounding it. To break it, Chrysalis needed warriors and drones like Three. However, infiltrators like me needed easier access paths, and we discovered that there is a massive crystal mining complex spanning the whole mountain with exits pretty much everywhere. It was impractical to get an army in, but few individuals, as I said before, prepared the grounds for the attacks to succeed.”

“Aren’t there miners around or something?”

“Uhh, no,” Ten looks a little… nervous, “Definitely not ponies, no ponies around… at all. If I were you, though, I’d spend as little time in the main shaft as possible, and if you suddenly feel cold, or hear whispering in your head… run.”

I shiver. Three shuffles closer to Four, bumping into her with a saddlebag, and making her stumble.

“Ten?”

“Look, something is in the mines. Ponies don’t use them anymore, but the… thing is deadly. Slow, seemingly immortal, but absolutely deadly. We lost quite a few changelings working out the fine details. Chrysalis wanted to release it into the city before the invasion, but it doesn’t go outside.”

“What ‘it’ are you talking about?”

“I have no idea. It’s like a big blob of shadows. I saw it few times, and as per instructions, I ran the other way. It’s slow, so I survived. That’s all there is.”

I sigh.

“Alright, so an immortal shuffling mostrosity is in here with us. Any more surprises?”

“Shockingly, no,” Ten smiles, leading us through the web of tunnels and mine shafts with old equipment strewn around, “The mine complex is a great tool if you are careful.”

“And the city?” I ask, “I’ve never been here, and hive mind isn’t being useful at the moment. Eight?”

“Me neither, and my connection to our shared experience is mostly gone.”

“I see,” Ten nods, “Well, Canterlot consists of two cities, the lower one where most of the earthponies live. It’s a simple, dirty, farmer place, uninteresting to one like myself. The upper city is halfway up the mountain as you saw, and is connected to the lower one via train tracks, a winding caravan road, or the mine tunnels we’re using. Nobility lives in the upper city, plus a bunch of commoners taking care of the property. White mansions, well-dressed fertile noblemares ripe for taking, and even the… princesses who rule all ponykind.”

“Those sound like a good infiltration target,” I take a wild guess.

To my complete surprise, Ten blushes. Yes, it’s visible on the chitin and in the darkness lit only by the faint green light from his horn.

“Well, ehm, yes. I mean, someone of my tastes and specialization definitely COULD get close enough to the princesses to gain some influence, but… I mean she’s just so beautiful. I… I mean if I could keep her in a cocoon all for myself I wouldn’t even do it. It would be such a waste. That gorgeous white coat… our resin would only ruin it. That plot, it needs proper feeding, not starving in green, gooey prison. She deserves to be revered… worshipped… lusted after...” he wipes a string of from the corner of his mouth, “Nevermind.”

He stops on a crossroad, tapping his hoof on a wooden barrel with red markings, he aims the light coming from his horn into one tunnel which looks a lot better built than the shafts, more bricks and worked stone than beams and rough rock.

“What’s going on, Ten?”

“This is where we split up. That way leads to a cellar of an old mountainside house where you can set up a base. Before the invasion, our operations made ponies think this place was haunted, and whenever somepony came, we fled into the mines. After three or four exploration attempts, the ponies gave up. They have their own stories about the mines, and all they did was build a new wall blocking the tunnel off, which we switched for a fake one. One of the bricks on the left side is a button. If you push it, the wall will open.”

“Three, Four, go ahead and wait for us there,” orders Eight.

When Ten hears it, he frowns, and I spot quick a flicker of green around his forelegs.

“Alright,” I raise my hoof, “Thanks, Ten. You’ve been a great help, and I wish you only the best.”

His eyes dart from me to Eight, as if he’s waiting for something.

“You’re annoying, and much less useful than you think, but… you made this a little bit easier,” Eight nods with firm expression, “If the King is satisfied with your service, then so am I.”

Ten tilts his head.

“Wait, this wasn’t a trick all along? I really CAN go?”

“Uhh, yes? What did you think?”

He gives Eight a confused glance.

“When you sent the drones away and left your lapdog here, I thought you’d try to break my mind and make me serve.”

“Why would I do that? You held up your part of the bargain and helped us a ton. I know it was only for your own gain, but that counts. You didn’t stab us in the back in Wet Soil, why would I do it here and now?”

Ten closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and says:

“Alright, then send Eight away.”

“Eight, will you?”

She growls at Ten:

“If you do something funny with that explosive barrel, I promise I won’t rest until I find you, and give you to the ponies for examination… AFTER vivisection.”

She leaves, though, her tail aggressively whipping the air. Ten wipes his forehead, slowly breathing out.

“You do realize she’s going to become your worst problem if you ever do something she disagrees with, right? Fresh king or not, she can still knock you out and rip your legs off.”

“Look, without her I’m sure I’d have been hanged already. If nothing else, I owe her my life.”

“What are you going to do when she comes to collect?”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get to the river, or whatever the pony saying is?”

Ten presses his hoof against my chest.

“You seem like a nice guy, so I’m gonna give you one last piece of advice. Get rid of her as soon as you can, and do it… gently, or you’re dead. This might help you,” he puts his horn to mine, and I’m immediately assaulted by a torrent of memories.

“Wh- what?”

“That’s SOME of my infiltration experience. You can copy it to whomever you need. I suggest Four. Three is a waste of time.”

“Ten-”

“It’s up to you, but unless you want Royal Guards on your tail tomorrow, don’t send Three outside alone with my experience to do something. Make him a warrior if you need to, but don’t give him infiltrator assignments. He’s happy in your little group already anyway, so just let him do his thing, but keep an eye on him, always. As for Eight, she’d probably use it decently well, but you don’t want to put even more power over you into her hooves. That would just be stupid.”

I take a deep breath.

“Let me give you whatever little parting advice I can as well then, Ten. Trust others more. I know it’s difficult among changelings, I really do. On the other hoof, after I left the hive, I was open to an attack, but I trusted and helped others, and they… I don’t know where I’m going with this. I mean, without Chrysalis, all changelings I met were… survivable company. I doubt that would have been the case if I met you or Eight inside the hive, that’s all. Maybe each changeling isn’t the bad part, changelings together are.”

Ten chuckles.

“You’ll pay for this approach, just hope you’ll survive the lesson. Goodbye… boss.”

“Goodbye, Ten.”

He disappears into a different tunnel, and soon even the echo of his hoofsteps dies down.

Pondering his words, I return to my three remaining companions. They are examining what looks like a dusty old room hidden behind the fake wall. It doesn’t look as if there’s been anypony here for a long time.

“Hey, Three.”

“Heya, boss. Is Ten okay?” the drone is checking the state of his boots he got from Wet Soil like all of us did. Swamp travel supposedly ruins pony hooves, and we weren’t going to risk our chitin.

“He left. We promised him we’d help him get to Canterlot, and we did. In return, he was on our side in Wet Soil-”

“Oh yeah, a difficult choice - get killed by ponies or survive with us,” frowns Eight. I ignore her.

“-and now our deal is done. He’s got his business to sort out, and we’ve got ours. He gave me a little parting gift, which brings me to what I want to ask. Three, do you really want to be an infiltrator? You’re not-” I stop myself just in time, “You’re physically strong and tough, don’t you want to be a warrior like Eight?”

“Miss Eight is awesome, but I don’t like hurting anyone. If I’m an infiltrator, I can be like you, boss, and persuade changelings and ponies to be nice to each other, and not eat or stab our drones. But I’ll do what you need, boss. You helped me get out of the hive, and it’s fun hanging around you. Pony world is more interesting than carrying eggs, but that’s okay too.”

I sigh. He really isn’t made for Ten’s experience based on manipulation, lying, and taking out inconvenient targets without regrets.

Alright then, as much as I dislike doing this, I need an infiltrator, a proper one or a proper one in training.

“Come here, Four, will you?”

“Yes, boss,” she spent a lot of time with Three during the trip. Even her lack of balance sorted itself out a little. She gets some dizzy spells from time to time and putting too much weight on her back is a bad idea, but she learns fast.

My first time ‘using’ a changeling for some purpose. I put my horn to hers, and my instincts take over, making me pour Ten’s experience into her. It takes a lot longer than when Ten transferred it to me.

In the end, she clutches her head and sits down.

“Owww...”

“Are you okay?”

“Y-Yes… boss...” she yawns, “I’m just tired… all of a sudden.”

“Take a break. We’ll sort out what to do next.”

“T-Thanks...” she curls up in the corner, and in a moment her breathing slows down.

“Hmph,” Eight comes over, seemingly done with her exploration of the cellar, “For once I regret you not being like Chrysalis and just dominating Ten’s mind. An infiltrator is an infiltrator, even a low rank like him.”

I grit my teeth.

“Eight, how would you feel if I drained you of all your love, gave it to Ten, and then left you here to starve simply because resources were low and I needed infiltrator more than a warrior due to being in a hostile city in which one protector on my side would mean less than nothing? Eventually, I might return for you or maybe not if it didn’t benefit me, or if I simply forgot. Because that’s what Chrysalis would do.”

Eight turns away, hanging her head low.

“...I serve the hive...”

Comments

[JollieOllieOxenFree]

Keep this train a'chuggin

[Nameless Narrator]

8798089
Forcing myself as hard as I can.

[tsaukpaetra]

He may have just earned some loyalty there. We expect returns.

[Thor447]

“I have no idea. It’s like a big blob of shadows. I saw it few times, and as per instructions, I ran the other way. It’s slow, so I survived. That’s all there is.”

...Is that what's left of Scream?