65536: 11
It’s been several days since Luna’s disappearance but, as always, there are still two Nightguards stationed by the ornate door of her castle suite. As one, both of them lock their eyes on the Royal Guard unicorn approaching them with a stern frown, his horn glowing as he telekinetically pulls out a scroll sealed with a golden seal. Stopping in front of the two bat ponies, he pulls off the band with the seal and unrolls the scroll.
“This is a search warrant for princess Luna’s quarters,” he says firmly.
Pink Sunset, the senior Nightguard of the two, grabs the scroll and starts reading. As his bright pink eyes, in addition to his pink mane and tail completely unsuited for nighttime operations, slide across the paper, his lips decorated with a touch of pink lipstick purse into a frown.
“You can’t be serious...” his effeminate build and slightly high-pitched voice contrast sharply with the incredulity in his voice.
“The seal on the warrant says otherwise,” the Royal Guard can’t help cracking a smirk, “Now step aside.”
Pink Sunset does quite the opposite, taking his place directly in front of the door.
“The allegations in this are absolute nonsense.”
“Take it up with the council of nobles. I was tasked with searching princess Luna’s quarters and that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Sir?” asks the second Nightguard on watch.
“The power-hungry, brain-damaged, racist-”
“Choose your words very carefully, bat, because no matter what I find, I will be writing a full report to the council.”
Pink Sunset takes a deep breath.
“The council went behind princess Celestia’s back and ordered the search, citing ‘concerns’ about mom’s- princess Luna’s absence during the defense of Canterlot against changelings and the fact that the scanning spells newly put in place seem to be detecting irregularities inside the castle which might be a sign of changeling presence. They presume princess Celestia wouldn’t be impartial in the case of princess Luna harboring or even being a changeling in the first place, so they arranged a vote to search ‘the castle’ again and, of course, the first place their,” he gives the Royal Guard in front of him a look of utter disgust, “stooge came to examine is princess Luna’s suite.”
“It is the one place outside of the vaults and princess Celestia’s suite which the experimental spells can’t penetrate and secure,” says the Royal Guard calmly, knowing that Pink Sunset can get as angry as he wants but the council order is lawful and valid.
“Yes, I would believe that you running straight here with the ink still wet on this piece of drivel would have anything to do with actual concern for the law if those unicorn morons haven’t tried to make Luna responsible for anything from broken dishes to a weak harvest season during the past two years since her return. Bat ponies too, for that matter. Frankly, I thought ‘thieving guano rats’ was the official Royal Guard term for us during my first year after Nightguard reconstruction, pinhead.”
“Looks like a little filly, sputters like one,” the Royal Guard sneers, “I bet your coltfriend likes the dirty talk and I’m sure your cellmates will appreciate those full lips if you keep resisting a signed search warrant. Perhaps the Nightguard orientation training should include less pole dancing and more law lessons. Now get out of the way before I call in a squad to school you.”
“No,” says Pink Sunset.
“Inmate Pink Pussy-”
“How would you feel as a pile of ash?”
“Are you threatening an officer of the guard on duty?!”
“No, sir,” Pink Sunset smirks, “I’m saving your life. Your little piece of paper wouldn’t protect you if you entered princess Luna’s quarters without the proper company, and her magic isn’t… merciful. I’ll go grab the Commander. He’s the only one who can enter in the princess’ absence without suffering consequences,” he almost presses his nose to the Royal Guard’s and growls, “And trust me when I say that the only reason I didn’t let you just waltz in already and later laugh in your widow’s face during the burial of whatever little would be left of you is that, unlike you, I might be a bit pink but I’m not a cunt.”
Shoving the Royal Guard aside, Pink Sunset strides off, his tail swishing in temporary victory from side to side.
***
Sharp Biscuit breathes out a sigh of relief as he rounds the corner, following Pink Sunset, and sees the Royal Guard simply standing by the window opposite Luna’s door.
“Good job, Pink,” he whispers.
“No problem, Commander.”
As they approach, Sharp salutes to the Royal Guard who raises the warrant and nods his head:
“Pink Sunset told me everything. Give me a moment to make sure it’s safe to enter,” he says politely before entering the suite and quickly closing the door behind himself.
Now, entering Luna’s suite without her in there would indeed be dangerous but it would be downright insulting to think that the best magic user in the world wouldn’t be able to set up protective spells able to filter out intruders on their own. Thankfully, superstitions about Luna had two sides and this time the ‘evil witch’ one worked in Sharp’s favor or, more accurately, 65536’s favor.
“Hi, Sh-” the changeling who was reading a book in the corner in the direct sunlight under the window opens its mouth to greet him and immediately gets shushed.
“Shh, we’ve got a problem.”
“Oh no!” mouths 65536 silently.
“A Royal Guard needs to search the suite and if he finds you, you’re screwed and Luna is in deep trouble too,” whispers Sharp quickly, “Hide the books and everything, now.”
65536’s eyes go wide. However, it doesn’t panic, it doesn’t freak out, it doesn’t fold under pressure.
In dangerous and pressing situations, drones obey orders.
Almost automatically, 65536 methodically rushes around, returning the open books on shelves and hiding its cot under Luna’s bed along with Not-Blue stained green from it drooling in its sleep.
It takes a few moments during which Sharp tries to think of a hiding place which would survive a magical search but can’t think of anything. One way would be to have 65536 leave through the window but that would almost certainly get it spotted by one of the many patrols flying around or stationed on the roof.
“Got any really good hiding place, and I mean one that’s straight up impossible to find? Or maybe a way out of here or something?”
65536 looks nervously at the pony-sized mirror on the wall. Princess Sunbutt said not to tell anyone…
“That mirror goes all wibbly and leads out of here but I can’t use it.”
“Then how do you know?”
“I can’t tell you, sorry,” 65536’s ears droop.
“65536, this isn’t the time for games!”
“It’s not a game!” the drone frowns, tearing up, “I can’t tell anyone, I promised.”
Sharp grits his teeth.
“Damn it...”
The door behind him clicks. Sharp turns his head in horror.
“Eep!”
*Whoosh!*
“I’ve had enough of these-” the Royal Guard steps inside, his horn glowing, “obstructions. You’re lucky I don’t have you locked up right- what’s that?”
Sharp, his blood turning into ice, turns his head back to 65536, or to where 65536 was a second ago. In its place, there’s a sitting opossum. It gives the Royal Guard one look and bolts under the bed with a squeak.
“Fantastic,” Sharp rolls his eyes in annoyance, hoping to hide the wave of relief that must be visible from space, “Now I’m going to have to catch him again.”
“What was it?”
“Princess Luna’s pet. You know, since ponies other than us ‘bats’ have been so welcoming to her since her return,” Sharp says with venom.
“Where is the princess?” asks the Royal Guard, closing the door behind himself.
“The princess has been in the dreamscape for the past few days. The changeling invasion made the mental state of ponies deteriorate significantly. I’m sure you’ve read the constant suicide reports… or at least the newspapers,” replies Sharp in an official tone, “She’s there, alone, dealing with nightmares that drive ponies insane en masse while your unicorn traitors go behind the back of princess Celestia, the only pony who has any idea what Luna is facing, and they have the audacity to accuse her of siding with the changelings or whatever their syphilis-riddled minds concocted this time.”
The Royal Guard scowls.
“You’re going into the report.”
“Make sure to quote me in full and add a rough estimate of the bucks I give,” replies Sharp, “I’m sure that once princess Celestia learns of what they did, she’ll add a few choice words herself. A Nightguard not exactly excited to cooperate with a barely legal request will be at the end of their list of problems.”
“Hmph, I have to scan the place,” the unicorn’s horn lights up again, “Help me catch the rat or whatever the hay that thing was.”
“I’m sorry,” Sharp gives him an innocent expression, “That piece of toilet paper you brought grants you entry and clarifies the results of any obstruction. It does not grant the official cooperation of the Nightguard. Please, fill in the correct requisition form and I will allocate a small fraction of the common Guard budget for this joint venture.”
The Royal Guard growls but understands that he’s in this alone, so he sticks his head under the bed.
65536 darts out, accompanied by rays of golden light missing it by a thread and blasting Not-Blue harmlessly out, and hides behind a bookshelf.
The unicorn tries to telekinetically pull it out and the grasp almost reaches the squirming opossum who bolts out from the other side and slips under the bed again.
“Round two: Fight!” says Sharp seriously although with a growing grin.
“Get over here!” yells the unicorn, his horn flashing in tune with its telekinesis grasping for 65536.
This lasts until 65536 passes under Sharp and the unicorn’s telekinesis grabs his foreleg. Sharp’s silvery armor glistens unnaturally for a moment before the unicorn groans in pain of a magical feedback surging through his horn.
“Wha-?” he stumbles backwards.
“The Nightguard ponies need a few unique tools to deal with unicorn criminals, and reflective armor accessories are one of those,” explains Sharp calmly, “Granted, it doesn’t work anywhere near as well as actual protective spells but it gives us a moment of surprise,” he approaches the Royal Guard blinking and shaking his head, and says in a surprisingly friendly tone, “Look, we’re all in this to keep ponies safe so how about you just scan this place and stop scaring the poor thing?”
The Royal Guard glares at him for a moment before taking a deep breath, closing his eyes, and letting out a ray of golden light which slides all over the room before stopping on Sharp fizzling out.
“You’re going to have to take that armor off. I can’t get a proper reading,” says the unicorn, unwilling to have his head scrambled again.
Sharp does so and subjects himself to scanning from all sides. When the unicorn stops his magic, he asks:
“So how bad is it, doc? Be straight with me! Am I a changeling?”
The Royal Guard simply turns around and walks out of the suite. Through the temporarily open door, Sharp can see four more Royal Guards which explains why the Nightguards let him inside before Sharp allowed it.
“Looking forward to cooperating with you again,” says Sharp politely.
“...rat for a pet and flying rats for guards...” grumbles the Royal Guard as he and his companions leave, completely underestimating bat pony hearing.
Closing the door in pretense of wanting some privacy as he puts his armor back on, Sharp immediately pulls out 65536’s drawing supplies, scribbles something on a small piece of paper, and shoves it under the dresser which was the place where he last saw the transformed changeling.
The message says:
“Stay transformed until I send a bat pony for you. Listen to them no matter what.”
Somepony clearly has their eyes set on Luna’s suite, and without her presence it might not be safe anymore.
Once outside, he looks around and, seeing nopony, and presses a second piece of paper into Pink Sunset’s hoof before walking off.
“Get the opossum inside unseen to the Nightguard barracks on the top floor and destroy this message. Once up there, tell it it’s safe and don’t freak out. My and Luna’s orders. I don’t know what the spell that guy cast on me was so I’ll have a friend check it out in case it’s some kind of scrying.”
Pink Sunset raises an eyebrow but dutifully walks onto the nearby balcony, lights up a cigarette, and uses it to burn the message in a brazier by the edge. After a brief smoking break, he returns and unceremoniously walks into Luna’s suite. If questioned about it later, he can always say that Sharp forgot to enable the protective spells again.
“So… opossum, eh?” he mumbles to himself, “Where would I be if I were an-”
He finds himself looking at a small, grey head peeking from under a plush toy of princess Celestia on the floor near the bed. Unexpectedly, the little thing willingly slinks over to him, its head turning from side to side.
“Well, that was easy,” comments Pink, taking his saddlebag off and opening it in front of the critter. It jumps inside with little hesitation, only with a prolonged, sad glance at the plush toy. Seeing that, he grabs the fake Celestia as well, “Now, let’s get you upstairs.”
***
The Nightguard barracks is a series of rooms on the top floor of the castle. The central sleeping area is a long hall with beds on both sides, able to comfortably fit twenty ponies or, uncomfortably, probably a hundred tops. These days, though, fewer than ten Nightguards usually occupy the room at the same time with the occasional exception of visits and temporary postings. On one hoof, Pink Sunset ponders, it’s a good thing, because it means that bat ponies are more welcome in Canterlot and can rent property without problems, although still mostly in lower Canterlot, and they don’t need to resort to the ‘safety in numbers’ approach. On the other, it can sometimes get boring here. Still, every single bat pony here knows how things were before Luna’s return so if the main problem of living here is a bit of boredom now and then, all the Nightguards currently residing here will gladly take it.
As for the few bat ponies residing here for an extended period of time, the three currently present look up at Pink Sunset as he enters the spacious living quarters.
“Sup?” asks a dark blue bat pony mare with brown mane, raising her amber eyes almost glowing in daylight from a book, “Unexpected shift change?”
“Not exactly, Gloom,” replies Pink Sunset with a moment of hesitation, “To be completely honest, I’m not sure what this is about myself.”
That draws the attention of the second Nightguard lying on a padded bench in the back, bench-pressing a loaded bar. With a grunt, he puts the bar away and sits up with a quizzical expression. In contrast with Pink Sunset and his lithe, agile figure, he’s downright chiseled, with a dark green coat and short, black mane styled into a mohawk.
“Something to do with mom’s disappearance?” he asks in a deep, naturally growly voice which nonetheless relay warm concern rather than anger.
“I don’t know, Hunter,” Pink shakes his head, “Where’s Glims?”
Night Hunter nods his head towards an open door opposite his exercise corner through which the noise of running water can be heard. Steel Glimmer has to be using the common showers.
“Hmm, maybe I should wait for her.”
“She just went in. I wouldn’t hold your breath if you’re in a hurry,” Gloom has put down her book and joined the other two in the back corner, “Pink, you clearly want to say something so get to it… though if it has something to do with that chewed-up Celestia plush on your back I’m not completely sure I want to know.”
After letting out a nervous chuckle, Pink Sunset takes a deep breath.
“Alright. The Commander ordered me to do this and, judging by the way he did it, it’s important. That’s all I know,” he takes his saddlebag off and opens it, revealing a small, curious head peeking out.
“The Commander finally allowed us to have a pet?“ Gloom’s eyes go wide.
“I think this one is mom’s or something,” replies Pink before looking directly at the opossum and adding, “It’s safe, little guy.”
The opossum looks around before crawling out of the bag which Pink quickly lowers to the ground. It jumps down on the floor and-
*Whoosh!*
As one, the three Nightguards jump backwards and assume combat stances as 65536 shapeshifts back into its changeling form.
“Ummm, hi?” says 65536, immediately reconsidering if transforming was the right idea. Was it supposed to wait for Sharp? Maybe-
“Oh, it’s you!” Gloom recovers and relaxes first, causing the other two bat ponies’ heads to snap towards her.
“A changeling...” Night Hunter breathes out.
“You knew about this?” Pink raises an eyebrow.
“I was on door duty when the Commander barged in while mom was doing something with this guy- changeling. Later, I asked Darky about it, you know how much of a blabbermouth she is, and she said a changeling was helping them with a mission to find others who aren’t all evil.”
“Really?” asks Night Hunter, looking at 65536.
“Yup, that’s me,” the drone looks up at him, “I’m 65536.”
“You look younger,” comments the muscular bat pony, confusing the drone.
“65536 is a name or a rank or something, not age. Darky didn’t exactly explain it,” says Gloom.
“I see.”
“I see too!” 65536 puts its forelegs over its eyes, their teal glow easily visible through the holes, “Even when I have hooves over my face.”
“Should we ask Darky about it?” Gloom looks at Pink, “She takes day shifts most of the time so she should be at her office.”
“I’d prefer keeping this under wraps until the Commander explains everything, because-”
Pink explains to them that the Royal Guards came with a warrant to search Luna’s suite.
“-and they must have some evidence because the council of nobles wouldn’t write their names on just anything. No matter how much they dislike us, direct harassment is beneath them, ” he finishes, “So I wouldn’t be throwing the word changeling around too much.”
“Got it,” Night Hunter nods.
“I can just find a dark place and draw a bit,” peeps 65536, “Oh wait… all my things are in Luna’s room.”
“I did bring this,” Pink finally puts the Celestia plushie on the floor where 65536 immediately pulls it into a protective hug, although who’s protecting whom remains a question.
“Eeeeeee!” seeing the tiny changeling and big plushie, Gloom can’t help grinning like an idiot.
“I can do that too! EEEEEEE!” 65536 joins in.
“My head...” groans Hunter.
“I think I’m about to lose a leg to sudden diabetes and it might be worth it,” Pink smirks.
“Pfff,” Gloom pouts at him, “You’re the one who looks as if somepony pulled a wad of cotton candy through a tub of lube.”
“Loob,” 65536 pokes Pink’s leg.
“Aaand that’s my cue to go. Explain this to Glims, will you?” as Gloom nods, Pink turns around to leave before remembering something, “You said something about drawing. Do you have a pencil or something?”
“Sharp Biscuit told me to hide my crayons under Luna’s bed before that unicorn came in.”
“I’ll bring it after my shift,” Pink nods.
“Be careful!” 65536 hops up and down, “Sharp said Luna’s room was dangerous if she’s not there.”
Pink laughs, giving 65536 a pat on the head.
“Thanks, but that was just to prevent others from going in. Mom knows what she’s doing when there’s magic involved, and if anypony really is keeping an eye on who goes in and out and when, I can always say that the Commander forgot to turn the protective spells back on.”
Once he’s done, 65536’s eyes dart nervously from Night Hunter to Gloom and back. The mare looks friendly but the big stallion is beyond scary. Gloom returns 65536’s stare, notices its drooping ears and its head sinking deeper between its shoulders.
“Don’t be scared of Hunter. If mom is okay with you, we’re all okay with you,” says Gloom, “The Nightguard is one big family.”
“You’ll understand if you stay here long enough,” nods the bulky bat pony, “It’s not so long ago when Canties thought about us the same as they think about you. Granted, you’ve given them a top notch reason to do so but we are far more willing to give you a chance if you are on our side.”
“I totally wanna help!” 65536 nods with vigor, “We’ve met a bunch of changelings so far and no one really wanted to attack you. Some even lived here before the invasion and had to obey the queen no matter what.”
“What are you good at?”
“We drones carry stuff! We’re the best at digging but Sharp said I wasn’t allowed to make holes in the castle...” 65536’s enthusiasm drops a tiny bit.
“That’s probably for the best,” Hunter smirks and grabs a weighted harness from a rack next to his bench.
“Come on, Hunter, don’t be a schlong,” Gloom frowns, “You’ll crush the little g-” she drifts off as Night Hunter puts the harness on top of 65536’s back and carefully starts letting go until it hangs over 65536 like a cheap, Nightmare Night bed sheet ghost costume.
“It’s a bit inconvenient but not too heavy,” comes a muffled squeaky voice from under the harness.
“You’re stronger than you look,” says Hunter, clearly impressed as he takes the harness off of 65536, “A lot stronger, actually.”
“Told ya - we’re born to carry stuff!” 65536 beams at him.
A fresh voice, strangely calm despite the circumstances, asks:
“When did you get a changeling butler, Hunter?”
The showering noise is gone and the bat pony who came out of the bathroom is a mare, one rather more decorated than the other two. Her steel-grey coat is heavily tattooed with silvery white marks and immediately draws everyone’s attention away from her rather common brown eyes and a monotone dark violet mane and tail.
“Imma drone, we don’t battle, miss,” explains 65536, “That’s a job for warriors.”
“We’re to keep it safe, Glims,” explains Gloom, “Mom’s orders. 65536, this is Steel Glimmer. She usually takes longer in the shower,” she points to the mare, “Glims, 65536.”
Unsure how to proceed, Glimmer extends her hoof for 65536 to shake.
“Oooh, I know that one!” the changeling boops it with its nose, “Did I do it right?”
“Good enough,” as Glimmer withdraws the hoof, she casually smacks the side of snickering Gloom’s face.
“Killjoy,” she replies.
Out of nowhere, something clicks in 65536’s head.
“Hey, you all call Luna mom! How come? Sharp doesn’t.”
“The Commander is special,” replies Glimmer, heading off towards a bed that’s presumably hers.
“Yep,” Gloom nods, “And everypony in the Nightguard considers Luna their second mom, whether they call her that or not.”
“Oh my holes, she must have laid so many eggs!” exclaims 65536.
“Adoptive mom.”
“We’re changelings, we know all about adapting. I mean, the infiltrators do.”
“No, that means- nevermind, let’s chalk it up to cultural differences and leave it at that.”
“Uhhh… I know what chalk is, but I’m a bit confused by the other words,” 65536 pouts.
“She means that some things are too difficult to explain when we’ve just met,” Night Hunter has returned to his dumbbells and is now doing a pony version of minotaur biceps curls, “It’s the same reason why none of us are freaking out and trying to set you on fire, which a Royal Guard, no matter which of the three major species they were, would do for sure.”
65536 scratches its head.
“That unicorn who tried to catch me in Luna’s place did sound really mean but Sharp said you all just want to protect ponies. In the end he even said Luna had rats for guards! Can I see them? I read about them in a book with pictures and having them as guards sounds really cool, because they can get into small places where you can’t but it must be hard to make the tiny armors.”
To its surprise, Night Hunter growls:
“That racist ass meant us. It was an insult meaning we’re filthy, diseased, and barely ponies. After Luna’s return and as the details about how it went spread, nopony believed we weren’t bloodsucking terrors of the night, even the neighbors who lived next door for years.”
“But that’s mean!” squeaks 65536 with a horrified expression, “That’s almost like with us and high ranks.”
“Almost?” Gloom raises an eyebrow.
“Are they allowed to eat you if they’re hungry or bored?” 65536 tilts its head.
“Oh stars...” Gloom breathes out.
“No,” Hunter shakes his head, switching his forelegs, “Technically speaking, it’s against the law to discriminate within Guard branches but laws can’t change hearts.”
“It’ll get better in time,” Gloom sits down next to 65536, casually starting to examine its wings and carapace from all sides. The drone doesn’t feel like it’s in any danger so it obliges her without questioning, “Mom’s been back for only 2 years and her return… left quite the impression on them.”
“They got their asses handed to them pretty badly,” snickers Hunter.
“You try to fight an alicorn and we’ll see how long you last,” Gloom rolls her eyes at him,
“Anyway, for the time being, we just have to spread out cheeks and take it like good girls,” Glimmer has rejoined them and is toweling herself off.
“Oooh! Lahk thith?”
The tattooed Nightguard pauses, staring blankly for a moment at 65536 spreading its mouth using the small hooks on the back of its forelegs.
“You know what? I’ll just say yes before Sharp tells me what I can or can’t say around you.”
“You’re adorable!” Gloom grabs the drone, squishing its cheeks together and booping its nose with hers.
As the barracks door opens and closes again, Pink Sunset smirks as he approaches the group and presents the selection of crayons along with a notepad to 65536.
“Glad to see you’re getting along,” he says.
“Who wants their picture done? Sharp said I can do potatorealistic drawings,” offers 65536.
Gloom hums to herself before saying:
“I’ve got a better idea. Hunty, you still got some of that glue around?”
***
Sharp Biscuit’s heart is racing when he lands on a top floor balcony closest to the Nightguard barracks and enters the castle. Thankfully, his contact didn’t find any residual magic on him and the chances of a common Royal Guard putting something untraceable on him were next to none. Still, it’s taken several hours and who knows what might have happened in the meantime since even a safe place like Luna’s quarters has been searched already.
Night Hunter and Steel Glimmer in the back of the long room block his view immediately as the door clicks and relax when they notice who is the one entering.
“Commander!” they say as one and salute.
“At ease,” Sharp nods, striding towards them. His eyes flicker to a pile of papers and crayons lying to the side, “How’s the package?”
“Just a second!” calls out Gloom, hidden behind the still saluting two, “Aaand done!” she takes her place in the line and salutes too.
“I said at ease,” Sharp raises an eyebrow.
“Give it a sec, Commander,” says Gloom with a smirk, “I remembered that Glims does those sexy fantasy cosplays and I had an idea.”
A moment later, 65536 joins the Nightguard lineup. Its leg holes are filled with crumpled paper colored in black crayon to make its legs look whole. It’s wearing a pretty basic grey replica of the Nightguard armor made of folded papers glued together as well as a fitting helmet.
“Private Buzz, rep- umm, what was it?” 65536 looks up at Gloom who remains staring at Sharp and saluting, “Oh right! Private Buzz, reporting for booty!”
“Damn straight!” chuckles Night Hunter.
“Duty!” hisses Gloom at the changeling.
“Oops, duty!”
65536 joins the salute. As the other three lower their forelegs, 65536 tries to do that too.
Unfortunately, its foreleg is stuck to its forehead. On attempt two, 65536 notices the entire helmet is glued to its head. By that time, it’s too late and in an attempt to take a step forward, 65536 faceplants onto the floor.
“Damn it!” curses Gloom, reaching to help 65536 get up and learning the hard way that the drone is glued to the floor by its face, “Told you we should have done the helmet first so that it would dry up in time.”
“But the armor looked so cooool!” comes a complaint muffled by the marble floor.
Sharp doesn’t miss a beat, although he notes to himself that he should leave ASAP and bring a camera. Luna will want to see this.
“Welcome to the family, recruit,” he salutes back.
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Saved....by lewd things, crayon, more crayon and glue. I love this
Good thing that I have an appointment with my doctor in a few days. I feel a case of sudden onset diabetes!
Tiberius gets all the mares.
As for Sharp Biscuit as Vimes?
The Nobles secret meeting was split up when Mr Choppy intervened?
Could potatorealistic images on paper start to mysteriously appear on various Royal Guard nameplates and sigils? With, slight, variations?
I would like to invest in changeling butler.
With it's ability to make photorealistic drawings, I'm starting to imagine 65536 in a small box like the imps-inna-box used as "Instamatic" cameras.
But dressing the drone up as Private Buzz is beyond adorable. We still need a Luna plush to go with the Celestia plush-- although just going whole hog with all four princess plushies is good too.
10879097
10879304
I will be extremely foreboding.
Saved for now, dun dun dunnn.
10879309
My evil plan to lower the world's population is coming together. Now I just need this story to become widespread, MWAHAHAHA!
10879336
Drones are magic but not as much magic.
10879352
The lifelong butler paid in hugs and affection.
10879414
Wouldn't work. Unlike Discworld imps, drones aren't fast.
Spoiler alert - Luna plushie is incoming.
10879449
Oh no! Bad things happen in a NamelessNarrator Fiction! The HORROR! Who would have expected that! *faints in mock-horror*
Drones are a treasure, and anyone who says otherwise is a lying liar who lies.
10879459
One day, ONE DAY!
I'll write something enjoyable and gripping that's HAPPY ALL THE TIME!
You'll see!
YOU'LL ALL SEE!
Wait... that requires actual skill.
YOU WILL NOT SEE!
10879475
A treasure one can't bury because it keeps digging itself up.
Or deeper. Or sideways. Or it keeps finding shinies on its own.
yeah...celestia's gonna be...annoyed when she finds out what the nobles did. Will we get to see her reaction?
Awesome chapter
10879564
derpicdn.net/img/2018/2/15/1657097/large.png
There was a dog in World War 1 named Rags who was a part of 1st Division in the Army. Saved many lives running communication lines from the front lines in No Man's Lands. Later on, him and his owner were medi-vacd out of a zone because they both took heavy shrapnal damage and were mustard gassed. When Rags arrived, the other soldiers started complaining about a dog coming back to receive surgery and tretment. The entirety of 1st Division who was there stood up and said aloud "ORDERS FROM HEADQUARTERS!" Which in Grunt speak meant "Shut up or we'll kick your teeth in!"
The other soldiers quickly found out you don't talk shit about Rags in front of 1st Division.
Honestly, I love how you pull off Administrative Violence. Basically the behind the scenes beruocracy meant to fuck over other people in an hierarchy under the guise of procedure. This type of shit goes on all the time in the real world and I like seeing it backfire.
Oh good! Then we can finally set the record straight on where the council can shove it.
*burns paper*
What search warrant?
Oh, that's genius. Very clever idea.
Which is none, by the way. In fact, it might even be less than none.
That sums up just about all of the drones, really.
We are the Changelings. You will be d'awwwed. Resistance is futile.
"Potatorealistic" might just be my new favorite word that's not actually a word.
In the meantime, question about the changeling number ranks--when spoken aloud, are they pronounced like "sixty five thousand five hundred thirty six," or are they pronounced more like "six-five-five-three-six"? I ask because I have been, up until now, assuming the latter, as to me that just seems more practical for communication purposes, but there was a moment in this chapter that got me wondering if it's actually supposed to be the former instead.
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You just have to wait and see. I only have the next chapter finished and detailed notes for the one after it. My overall notes are too vague and change a lot depending on how things are going and on feedback
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It wasn't completely bland, true.
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1) That picture definitely improved my morning.
2) So did the story to which the only thing I can say is "Damn right!"
3) I've worked in corporate environment for some 5 years by now and that bureaucracy passive agressive bullshit happens on daily basis so I have some practice
Does he have a cape made from ponies flesh? Is his armor covered with lightnings? I bet he's good with battleclaws~
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- Next, tape it and add a laugh track.
- That's not how it works, that's not how anything works!
- I like to blend ideas that don't interfere with either mine or the original. It adds flavor. Tiberius is one of those.
- Let's get so small we enter a universe of the quantum physics of buck.
- Usually, this makes me think about how drones would fare if they were in our world. Then I get very, very sad.
- The Borg have NOTHING on The Hugg!
- Urban dictionary, here we come!
65536 pronounciation (I'm not sure I actually explained the idea anywhere and I forgot but I did want to do it).
In ponish: It's heavily inconsistent. 65536, for example, is in full - Sixty-five thousand five hundred and thirty-six. However, I always intended 1313 to be thirteen thirteen for the "secret meaning" of his name, since we're playing this game where some ling numbers have hidden meaning. Same with Nine nine nine nine or Nineteen eighty-eight. So... all versions are okay and ponies can say whichever is more comfortable and the changeling would understand. The most logical rule would be - it's based on level of knowledge regarding ponish each changeling had when they told the rough translation of their rank to a pony. 1313, as an infiltrator comfortable around ponies, can say casually thirteen-thirteen, same with nineteen eighty-eight, one-five-six, and three-eight-seven, or nine nine nine nine. 65536, having had language freshly transferred into its head by Tender Feather, is fully formal. It's kinda comparable to how the skill level of a language progresses for a non-native speaker.
In changeling: The speech isn't ponish (hive link or spoken). It's an approximation to make the conversation readable (and so that I don't have to make up a language like I did with the dwarves. Once was enough.). So what we see as a written number when spoken out loud is some kind of a buzzing noise that's very short. Basically, two changelings chatting, including calling each other by rank, in changeling would be: Bzz bzzb bzzbz bzbzbz? Bzz bzbzbzbz!
9999 and other changelings speak ponish to each other outside of hive links for practice and to maintain a more pony image around others to not feel alien and worsen the fragile peace.
Okay, now even I have no idea if this rant was useful
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All he's missing would be a katana, a fedora, and unhealthy obsession with Steel Glimmer's cosplaying.
No, Night Hunter isn't some extremely edgy version of Ezio Auditore.
“Oh right! Private Buzz, reporting for booty!”
I lost it
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I usually find it behind my work table.
Uh oh, we have a paper in Luna's quarters that wasn't destroyed, wonder if that'll come back to haunt them.
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Excellent question.
Dun dun dunnnn!
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I was refering Konrad Curze. Can't remember people called Ezio "Night Hunter".
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Oh, my bad. I'm not particularly versed in 40k. I just sometimes watch lore vids and occasionally attempt a 40k simile.
Aww, damn it! Run out of chapters already? Found this jem of a story not too long ago and you have me well and truelly hooked. Done a devilishly good job of ballencing the darker and lighter aspects of the world, though I agree with Chrysalis, Screem seems to be so much of an evil edge lord after that display it's clouding the more devious manipulative vibes I was getting from him and pushing into downright silly teritory.