Day 7 - Drones? What drones?: 2/7
“They paid for it… by winning in a casino,” Chrysalis glares at 387.
“Exactly,” the warrior nods.
“They won a fortune and instead of giving it to their Queen they used it to buy-”
“Let me stop you right there, Chrysalis, before your ego makes you say something stupid,” 387’s voice turns serious, “They have no concept of money. They didn’t try to hide their winnings from you because they had zero idea about the value of what they got. Do you know how trading things work in the tunnels?”
“Obviously not. Don’t ask stupid questions,” Chrysalis frowns, but at this point in her and the warrior’s tentatively cooperative relationship she knows that there are certain topics on which 387 won’t be trying to screw with her.
“They can trade an emerald for a stick, because a drone who found the emerald had it for too long and wants to share it with others while trying out something new,” explains the warrior, “Value is entirely relative to them. They figured out that to make their silly little figurines they needed various ways to enhance their resin. Because it wasn’t an issue regarding the hive as such, they didn’t want to bother any of us. So they won ‘shinies’, traded those for- you know they bought the oldest alcohol only because they wanted to leave the fresh stuff for the other guests?”
Chrysalis facehoofs, her indignant anger at not being involved in decisions regarding a sum of money that could finance standard hive operations for a long time to come dissipating.
“Keep going,” she groans.
“There’s not much more to say. Right now, they’re mixing precious alcohol with ice creams, juices, and probably a fried chicken to make resins look… varied,” he glances hesitantly at the bottle still stuck in his leg hole, “They sent you this,” he puts the bottle on the doorside table.
“387, I didn’t think senility has been hitting you hard enough to believe that I wouldn’t catch that little white lie,” despite saying that, she swipes the bottle and puts it into the fridge, “Stop by in the evening. We’ll see if I’m in the mood for a bit of stargazing and… reminiscing.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. And the drones?”
“Leave them be. A stroke of luck like that doesn’t happen every day,” she shrugs, “Is that all?”
“Just one thing - can you sense Smiley?”
Chrysalis’ horn briefly flares up with green fire before vanishing.
“No, I can’t. Peculiar,” she frowns, “A brief check of the drones’ minds is telling me this has been happening since we arrived and Smiley has always returned unharmed.”
“I’ll check things out anyway. Just in case.”
“Do find some time to enjoy yourself, will you?”
Knowing whether or not it was you who orchestrated this entire trip would help…
“I’ll try to find two minutes somewhere in my busy schedule.”
“I wasn’t talking about sex, you dirty dog,” Chrysalis smirks.
“I guess I ran straight into that one,” 387 sighs, “Have a nice day, Chrysalis.”
“I fully intend to make use of this opportunity, whether it is some kind of a conspiracy against changelings or not,” she telekinetically grabs a saddlebag which jingles as it floats onto her back, “The anti-shapeshifting laws are annoying, but I guess I’ll visit the city today for some swimsuit inspiration.”
“Do you need protection?” asks 387.
“We’re changelings, 387. We can’t get pregnant if we don’t want to.”
“Oh screw you,” 387 rolls his eyes.
“You just can’t help running head-first into more innuendos, can you?” Chrysalis smirks.
Without another word, 387 just leaves.
***
As the warrior walks through the waking up resort, he ponders how to go about finding Smiley because no amount of hive link searching results in even the faintest hint towards the Silent’s location or at least a direction where to go.
I guess it’s time to bust out the big guns, even though it’s been a while to say the least.
387 finds a solitary place to sit down. Thankfully, nature interweaving with the resort roads offers nooks and crannies at every step, so he simply steps off the road down the slope, vanishes into the bushes, and quickly finds a tree with a layer of branches reaching all the way to the ground, under which he sits down, rests his back against the trunk, and closes his eyes. The natural cocoon of leaves and wood now surrounding him brings back memories he’d thought long forgotten.
“How is it going, Twinkleshine?” 387 hears a faint whisper which he knows is only inside his head.
“My duty is as harrowing as ever but, for the first time in ages, it seems as if I’m actually making a tangible difference.”
“That’s good to hear, friend.”
“I wish I could celebrate, but I’m the last one. 653 died in Canterlot last year. At least he picked a good replacement for the ‘orphanage’ before he went.”
“My condolences, but that’s one less thing to worry about now, I suppose.”
“What do you mean?”
“No need to hide our identities from Chrysalis anymore. It’s just you, and she knows about you.”
“You were always one to look for the bright side in everything. Makes sense we put you in charge. More importantly, it also makes me wonder how you’d fare if you were in my place.”
“I’d have been executed by some Queen centuries ago because I wouldn’t be able to stay silent and hidden. Likely for trying to openly save a sick changeling from being thrown into the crusher. Unlike you.”
“Do I smell a hidden reprimand?”
“No, far from it,” the voice chuckles, “You’ve proven time and time again that you can do the internal calculation right, and be detached when you need to. Different times require different ponies, and you’ve shown you’re the right one.”
“I’m still too far away from even beginning to think about… retiring.”
“That is for certain. Just like with some early Queens, this might only be a brief moment of respite.”
“Yeah-”
“However, that only means you should use it to recharge. Hope is a finite resource, just like everything else.”
“Don’t tell me you agree with Chrysalis that we should just relax and leave things be. This entire trip is a clear setup, whether by her or someone else.”
“Keeping an eye on current events and deliberately looking for trouble are two different things.”
“That is what has kept me alive.”
The voice sighs.
“Promise me one thing.”
“Hmm?”
“Take the evening with Chrysalis tonight.”
“She didn’t seem that eager to just sit and drink.”
“She offered, and she will accept if you show up. Take it, don’t try to scan her every word for treachery, and just enjoy it for what it is. If you never open up to her, how can she believe that you trust her to do the right thing?”
“Maybe because I DON’T?”
“She is trying. Failing a lot? Maybe. Does she have a different idea about what a good future is? Maybe. Does that mean she’s just leading you on? No. From all interactions you’ve had with her since the restoration of the hive I believe that’s not the case.”
“Hmph…”
“Twinkleshine, if you keep interacting with your memory of her, the image you’ve constructed of her during the peak of her rule, instead of the real her as she is right now, you will never reach an understanding.”
“Why are you against me?” 387 huffs, grumpy but without any real venom.
“Don’t be silly. Of course I’m not, but sometimes being on your side means kicking you in the right direction. Tough love and all.”
In the real world, 387 rolls his eyes and slowly breathes out as the voice in his head vanishes. Unlike the parasitic Queens who used to live in the hive mind and suck the entire hive dry, the old Flutterpony empathy simply allowed him to imagine what someone he knew extremely well would say.
And of course you’d show up to guide me just when I need it.
387 smiles. His ability unconsciously kicked in, pointing him in the right direction. After all, there are other ways to sense creatures, not as complex as hive links. As he relaxes again, he lets his mind go blank.
He can barely sense the first mental echo of nervousness nearby, but more and more emotional pulls from all over the place follow soon. Eventually, 387 re-learns to filter those.
The mix of nervousness and worry coming from the direction of the workshop. That must be the blue mare 99111 spent time with.
The busy joy coming from the apartment complex is easy to identify, so 387 takes it a step further and tries to connect the varied emotional tints to correct drones. Care and duty - 10013. A mind similar to his own, one looking for an escape in a game and succeeding only partially - 36658. One that’s not as consumed with happiness, but with gears turning - 99111. Two emotional waves which feel very similar and just purely happy - 20100 and 99380. The final one conveys exhaustion but also content from a job well done - 99526.
After untangling that mess, it becomes vastly easier to sense the late morning guests moving around, either relaxing or deeply in thought.
Hah! There you are.
Two more directions marked by the pure, innocent happiness of drone minds flash inside his own. The more complex one, happy but heavily burdened by worry and responsibility to a degree 387 wouldn’t expect from a drone, must be 65536. However, the second one is pure, simple, and from what 387 can sense it’s genuinely enjoying itself even though there’s a second emotional flux in the same direction.
At least that puts the warrior’s mind at ease, although his -and, more importantly the QUEEN’S- inability to sense its hive link remains concerning. As if surfacing from deep water, 387 opens his eyes, refreshed with a clear direction in his mind, and gets going.
***
387’s tracking leads him up a winding path towards a solitary gazebo surrounded by thick vegetation. As he approaches, he spots two figures - Smiley sitting at a central round table and vigorously moving its foreleg, and Gem who is flipping through pages of what from the distance looks like a magazine. Moments of careful sneaking later, with nothing else changing, his hive link finally acknowledges Smiley’s presence. As he gets closer, without any rock or pebble crunching under his hoof or anything, Gem turns her head straight towards him. A moment of visible surprise later, she taps Smiley on the head and points at 387.
Smiley enthusiastically waves a small, hoof-held blackboard covered in white scribbles in the air before hopping down from the chair and rushing out of the gazebo towards 387 with the board held in its mouth despite it having a string on one side, presumably for hanging on something. Suddenly braking in front of him so hard a spray of pebbles showers his legs, Smiley starts waving the blackboard as far up as it can reach, prompting the warrior to take and examine it, trying to decipher the mess of symbols, numbers, and letters and failing miserably. Even to him it just seems like a jumbled mess. However, lowering the board reveals Smiley’s proud and excited face looking up at him, so he opts against examining strange white marks on the Silent’s head.
“Well done, whatever it is,” he gives the board back where Smiley scrunches its muzzle and examines the contents again before wiping everything off, scribbling only three big, capital letters this time-
[JAM]
-and pointing at the zebra who is carefully observing 387, head slightly tilted to the side.
It takes a second to click inside 387’s head.
“Holy shit…” he breathes out, his jaw dropping, “How?”
Gem giggles and beckons 387 to approach. Temporarily too stunned by the discovery of Smiley’s mental capacity to focus on any potential danger of the situation, he does so and sits down on the bench lining the gazebo wall opposite the zebra.
Smiley hops up next to him, narrowing its eyes briefly before wiping its board again and scribbling:
[387]
“Yep,” he nods before looking at Gem again and repeating, “How did you do it?”
“I just lent a helping hoof,” she replies, leaving the central table and sitting down on the bench across the gazebo from 387. The situation seems amicable right now, but even she’s bound to need some space in case things go south, “The hard work is being done by Smiley.”
“But how? Silent’s are supposed to be just hollow shells that obey orders. Even if Smiley has been getting better since we stopped being at war- at odds with Equestria, no one has been able to get into its head to fix it. Does it have something to do with this?” he rubs one of the white lines near Smiley’s temple.
Gem takes a deep breath.
“Since you’ve interrupted our session, how about we use the time I have left for a trip?”
“Why?” suspicion returns into 387’s mind.
“Because, just as you stated, what I’m doing is incredibly difficult and slow, and the only reason it’s working is because some part of Smiley wants to be able to communicate with others more than anything,” she sighs, “But even accounting for that, getting Smiley to concentrate for longer stretches of time is still a pain.”
“But how? Where did you even start?” 387 leans forward.
“I’ll tell you, but I’d rather not waste time sitting here when I know Smiley won’t benefit from us talking, so how about we stretch our legs a bit?”
387 has to admit that without grabbing Gem and shaking her until she starts talking, which would definitely cause more harm than good even though she created this strange situation, he won’t learn anything.
Just be EXCEEDINGLY careful, 387. There are too many weird things about her.
Funnily enough, this reflects Gem’s own internal dialogue.
If I need to knock him out again, the pheromone trick won’t work out in the open. Thankfully, melding minds with Miss One for so long did teach me tricks that would work on a Flutterpony. Of course, any of that would make my cover too difficult to maintain, and I can’t afford Chrysalis learning about dad. According to Miss One, Chrysalis isn’t the best with infiltrator mental abilities, but there’s no reason to risk facing her.
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I was beginning to suspect that Gem's wassomehow the surviving daughter of Chrysalis.
P.S. I'm glad that everything is fine with the smiley. :)
Gem is creating a runic AI on Smilys shell that can use them as a basis to build themselves up through learning?
11422336
It's been a few years since I've read the Changeling King set of stories but I think her origins might be explained there.
Pfft, forget whatever the heck is up with Gem--Smiley can communicate with growing complexity now!
11422831 11422336
Exactly that. I refer you to my Lovebugs trilogy, starting with Exercise In Management.
11422617
Maybe that, maybe it helps her mentally communicate with it, or maybe it's just all bullshit so that if she's caught she's not ousted as a changeling.
11423050
If you're not happy, she can now smack you with a tablet with a happy face drawn on it.
11423343
Or get Smiley to do it for her.
11423346
Oh.. I meant Smiley. Mentalheadcanonically Smiley will be a she due to being inspired by jam.
It accidentally slipped out.
...Gem's father is Scream?
11424816
Uhh, no?
11424831
But who else would know of changelings, flutterponies, and how to counteract them? I am so confused
11424918
I'm sure "Exercise In Management" answers all Gem-related questions, since as far as the timeline goes, this story happens shortly before "Halls of the mountain king"