• Published 28th Feb 2022
  • 1,525 Views, 942 Comments

They're... ON HOLIDAY? - Nameless Narrator



After reaching peace between Equestria and Hive changelings, queen Chrysalis takes two high ranks and a small retinue of drones with her on a trip to an island holiday resort.

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Day 1 - Shippy time: 9/9

99380 is standing propped against the railing at the front of the cruise ship, its forelegs dangling over it. There are barely any ponies around, most being busy by or in one of the three giant swimming pools and sunbathing areas or in the establishments surrounding them. The drone is smiling as it watches the foam of the waves crashing against the ship far down, scattering shiny droplets of water everywhere. It’s relatively quiet, there are dancing shinies deep down - the reflections of the low-hanging sun. No one seems to be needing its services and, after so much wandering around the ship’s busy interior, the relative quiet is soothing. 99380 lets its mind wander and simply stares ahead.

It’s always been a bit difficult to gather its thoughts but it’s never mattered so far. Digging was digging, carrying was carrying. Still, everyone has always been nice and, while this new situation is confusing as all holes, there’s no present threat. Life is good.

And so, with the hive links of every other drone easy to sense in its mind, the faint presence of 387, the clear minds of 93 and the Queen, as well as those of two more unknown changelings, 99380 simply hangs over the railing and stares at all the shinies in the water.

***

“Those were the final orders for today,” announces the head chef as 36658 and 20100 ride the elevator down after ten o’clock at night, “Good job, everypony, and you two as well.”

“We did it!”
“For High Score!”

The drones hoof bump each other.

“I wish I had your enthusiasm,” breathes out one of the kitchen staff, taking off their white apron covered with smudges and grease.

“Wait, there were ponies still upstairs,” 36658 looks at the head chef, “Do they ask different ponies for food now?”

“No, they don’t,” the head chef gestures to the drones to follow him into the corner, “We stop taking new orders at ten, and from then ponies can only order packaged snacks or drinks upstairs,” he turns around to face the duo, “Look, I know you didn’t ask for anything but I’d feel terrible if I just sent you away. Is there anything I can offer you? Our guys usually take leftovers with them, but from what I gathered you don’t eat our food.”

“We can taste it or make it change our goop. It just doesn’t fill us up,” 36658 shrugs, “Unless you have any love, I’m out of ideas. 20100?”

“How would I even, ehh, feed you love?” asks a passing mare, “I heard rumors, but…” she lets the sentence hang. The drones don’t notice it, but the overall movement in the kitchen slows down as everyone perks up their ears.

Even 20100 turns towards 36658.

“There are a bunch of ways the high ranks do it, I heard, but back in the lumber camp all we had to do was to be around ponies who liked us or each other,” the ponies exchange glances as 36658 pauses, “Wait! We can just use a treasured item or something.”

“Hmm, would this be enough?” the head chef pulls out a laminated picture of a mare out of his saddlebag. When 36658 sniffs it, he adds, “I hope you don’t literally eat it. I mean, chew it or similar.”

“Oh no no no,” 36658 shakes its head and starts absorbing the love surrounding the picture, “I’ll just hold it for a while and then I’ll share my love with 20100. You okay with second-hoof, 20100?”

“Hmm?” 20100 turns its head away from a pile of waiter notepads it’s been looking at, “Sure, go for it,” it walks over to the head chef and pokes his leg, “Umm, does that count as something you’d give us?” it points at the pile.

“A notepad?” the head chef asks, shrugging, “Sure.”

20100’s eyes light up as it rushes over to the table and swipes the ring-bound notepad. It spreads its wings, and several smudged pieces of paper glued together on one end with goop fall out from a nook in the drone’s carapace along with a tiny nub of a pencil. 20100 picks both up and shows them to the curious chef.

“The pad that 65536 gave me when it came over last freezy time for a visit is nearly full, and my scribbler is almost gone too. Now I’ll be able to draw so many more moving pictures!”

The head chef reaches across the table to a mug containing assorted pencils, pulls one out, and offers it to 20100 whose jaw drops.

“Can’t just give a pad without a pencil,” he smiles.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEE!” 20100, tears streaming from its eyes, jumps at him with the biggest smile and latches onto his chest, wiping tears and snot on his apron.

36658 giggles.

“I guess 20100 will be able to draw a lot more now. I mean, if you ever need help again, you know what to offer.”

“Heh,” the head chef looks over at the staff still present, “Guys, if you need a shift off, just tell me and have an empty notepad ready.”

“Did he mean what I think he meant? Do I get a full scribbler and a whole bunch of papers just for carrying stuff for four to five hours?” 20100 asks mentally for confirmation.

“Sure sounded like it to me,” replies 36658.

“Me leggos are shaking out of raw happy!”

“Enjoy the next breaky time!”

“I SO WILL!”

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” 20100 just sits there, buzzing its wings while hugging the pad and a pencil.

With a round of chuckling all over the kitchen, 36658 and 20100’s worky time of shippy time ends for today.

***

99111 wakes up in the drone cabin as the door clicks open and the stomping of many tiny hooves follows. Unlike the sleepy time before, now it’s lying properly on the hammock instead of having its legs hang through.

“Huh?” it raises its head, “Hi, guys. How did I get here?”

10013, flying to its previous sleeping spot and dropping through the hammock holes, shrugs. The other drones take their previous places as well, and a moment later they’re hanging from the hammocks like before, all but 99111.

“No idea. We have been on the top deck watching shinies above since 36658 and 20100 finished their thing. 99380 was able to sense you and said you were asleep so we didn’t bother you.”

“It was kinda weird,” 99380 scratches its head, “You were sleeping and moving.”

“Maybe you were sleepwalking!” 99526 gasps, “I heard stories about drones sleepdigging back home. Just gotta be careful here or 387 will get super angry.”

“Maybe it was a blessing from High Score!” 36658 clops its hooves together.

“No, it wasn’t!” 99111 bolts up in a sudden fit of fury which gets seriously undercut by its legs now dropping through the holes again.

All the others turn their heads towards it in shock. Genuine anger isn’t something often seen in the non-violent drones. Almost always, they just accept things as they come and those things either make them happy or sad.

“How do you know, you were sleep-?” 36658 continues.

“Because all that is goop! All those stories are one big pile of goop!” 99111 snarls its way, “I tried swimming like you Potatoes always keep saying to explore and figure out new things and it didn’t work and I was drowning and I called and called for High Score to help and then everything started going dark and… and…” 99111’s mouth wibbles as its voice fades for a moment before returning with force, “Your stupid High Score was just a drone that lived long time ago, not some super powerful high rank! Or maybe it didn’t even exist at all and you’ve been lying to everyone the whole time!” it glares at 36658.

“You… you-!” 36658 starts flailing its legs 99111’s way but it can’t get out of the hammock, “How dare you -hnngh!- talk about High Score -arrrgh!- like that?! High Score saved me from spinners and it showed us so many surface shinies! If… if I could get out of this… I would… I would… SMACK YOU!” 36658 fights against the hammock to no avail, “For real, not like when we play! AND WITH MY STICK!”

Everyone else gasps in horror.

99111 wibbles at 36658 whose expression remains huffy and pouty. Tears burst out of its eyes and, sniffling, it lets its legs hang limp while its wings carry it out of the hammock and out of the cabin.

The dramatic moment is undercut only by them hearing the door to the next cabin open and close a moment later.

99380 peeps:

“I… I think I should keep 99111 company. It’s scary being alone on this ship, and now even you guys are mad at it too and, you know, drones stick together.”

“B-But it… it was mean about High Score,” quietly objects 20100.

99526 flies out of the hammock as well, landing in the center of the cabin.

“You gotta admit that some of the stuff you Potatoes keep saying about High Score is a bit… out there?”

“I- you don’t understand,” 20100 gives it a pleading glance, “We were with High Score and the lumber camp ponies… and then we fought the big bad star pony with the soup princess. That really happened.”

“I believe that but, you know, you’re all drones like us, just a lot older, so it makes sense that High Score would be one too, not some super powerful creature sent to us from the great gablonk. What was its rank, anyway?”

“It was High Score the Shiny Bringer, you can’t rank that!” huffs 36658, giving up its fight against the hammock and concentrating on staring daggers.

Finally, 10013 raises its voice:

“High Score’s rank was 9999. Its name was well-earned, as even real high ranks like 1988 can tell you when we come home. It did things no other drone could despite the Potatoes admittedly embellishing their stories a bit… a lot,” it corrects itself, “Or making stuff up entirely in some cases, like the story about High Score hiding the big sky shiny at night inside its leg hole so that the changelings outside can get some sleepy time too,” 10013 looks at 36658 hanging next to 20100.

“Well… yeah,” 36658 looks away with a hint of embarrassment, “We may have oversold a point or two, but it was all for the good of us drones! The tunnels have always been dark, lonely, and deadly, and now that there are so few of us it’s even worse. I thought that if everyone heard about High Score then just the thought would warm them up inside when they’re out there digging on their own during worky time. It sure works for me.”

Despite that admission of vulnerability, 99526 frowns.

“Then don’t you ever think about the damage you caused to newborn drones who believed they weren’t alone and slipped up and dropped their guard for just a moment and got eaten because of it? The reality is that we are alone down there, that there’s no one protecting us, and we all lost our buddies because that’s how the world works!”

“Without High Score there would be no new rules!” objects 36658, “And then you would see how bad the world really can be and you’d shut up!”

99526 wibbles, but 36658 doesn’t budge an inch. Without another word, 99526 leaves for the next door cabin as well.

“99380, you’re smart, right?” 36658 asks.

“Nu-uh,” 99380 shakes its head, “And that’s okay because that’s how the big shiny made me, but you know what it also made me? Not mean,” it flies over to the small wardrobe from which it takes three out of seven sticks that 387 made for the drones, “So, umm, the guys out there need a cheer-up pile and that’s hard to do with only two of them. Uhh, see you later.”

It leaves.

“99111 was the bad guy here, right?” 36658 looks at 20100.

“Right!” 20100 nods.

Then they both look at 10013 for confirmation.

“I… think you could have been a bit nicer about it. 99111 made a good point about you overdoing it with the stories and neither of us knew it almost drowned today. The newbies can get a bit shocked by their first near-death experience. Shouldn’t you have a bit more… understanding for your drone buddies? Wouldn’t High Score want that the most?”

36658 crosses its forelegs under the hammock.

“Everyone knows that you’re a nice drone and a good leader, 10013, and we all like you, but 99111 spoke so badly about High Score that I’m just gonna hang here up on this leggy spinner web and glare at you until I fall asleep!”

20100 only leans its head against 36658 and closes its eyes.

“Nothelpingstillangry!” grumbles 36658 quietly.

10013 sighs.

A good leader? Just look around - only one day in charge and drones are already split and fighting with each other.

“Any comment on the entire situation, Smiley?”

*Confused face.*

“It’s a bit too complicated for you, isn’t it? Holes, it’s too complicated for me as well. What do you think about 36658 and 20100?”

*Happy face!*

“So they’re in the right here? What about the 99111, 99526, and 99380 then?”

*Happy face!*

“And about me? I feel like I should have done things completely differently but I have no idea how.”

*Happy face!*

That’s the best answer I’m going to get, I suppose.

10013 closes its eyes.

And so, day one ends. Not with a bang, but with a wibble.

Author's Note:

A big one for the day 1 finale.
Now, for no particular reason, if you think up a task for either a specific drone or for a group that would be beneficial to the hive, feel free to write it out and they might get a point if they manage to accomplish it. What would these points be for? Well, next week's chapter might explain a bit more.

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