Day 1 - Shippy time: 6/9
“Grumble grumble High Score grumble grumble!” 99111, on its own, heads through the servant deck. With no idea what annoyed grumbling actually entails, it just keeps repeating the word grumble punctuated by the source of its irritation, “I’m the one doing my job. I’m the one digging. I’m the one running away from flappy suckers. Grumble grumble, not some old drone.”
99111 looks at the staircase ahead.
“Grumble grumble High Score once dug so deep it fell back from the sky,” puffing its cheeks, it heads upstairs, “I’ll show the Potatoes that we can all be as good as their High Score. No matter what they say, it must have been just a drone like us. If High Score dug down, I’ll go up!”
It stops on the carpeted floor of the mostly completely silent nobility deck.
“Huh? Where did everyone go?” it looks from side to side, spotting another staircase leading up, “Nevermind. Up I go. Grumble grumble Shiny Bringer my butt. What does-”
It opens a door at the top of the stairs by pushing on a long handle and almost gets deafened by an explosion of voices.
“-that… even-”
Fresh breeze with a completely unique scent in contrast to the stale underground air it’s been breathing its entire life with the short exception of the trip to Manehattan assaults its nostrils.
“-mean…?”
And gets blinded by the low-hanging, late afternoon sun.
“Shinyyy…”
99111 simply stares directly ahead, mouth agape.
The vast main deck is filled with four categories of ponies. One must be the representatives - they’re sitting around and chatting, always surrounded by the second category of ponies - servants on duty running around, carrying drinks, food, or messages. Category three are the off-duty servants, enjoying numerous bars, several enormous swimming pools, or simply lying around on deck chairs and enjoying the sunlight. The final category are the cruise ship staff, manning the bar counters, wiping the deck, serving as security, carrying around drinks and food to the off-duty servants, or doing anything else that needs doing.
Breathe, breathe.
Maybe I should contact someone.
99111 instinctively scans the area for hive links nearby and finds… two completely unknown ones.
Huh?
It reaches out to the first one which feels similar to touching a high rank, and it closes up immediately. The drone can still sense it, so its owner isn’t trying to hide their presence, but any access including communication is now completely beyond 99111’s skills.
As it touches the second new link which feels more like it belongs to a drone, a mental voice replies immediately:
“Hiii! I’m really busy right now but I’ll find ya later and we’ll talk. I’m so excited to hear what’s been happening back in the hive since my last visit. Is 10013 okay? Did High Score come back already? Does 36658 still have its poppy patch? Wait! No! Sorry, can’t get distracted right now. See you later, bye!”
99111 just blinks, completely stunned. Who was that?
There’s just… too much stuff happening at the same time.
It takes a deep breath. The good part is that so far no one has yelled or thrown anything. In fact, no one seems to be paying 99111 any attention whatsoever. To a drone, that’s as good as things get.
Should I talk to the veterans?
No… no no no. They would just say some nonsense about High Score.
Courage, 99111. Courage.
Ah? A voice inside my head?
High Score?
Wait, no, that’s just me.
The first shaky steps out of the shadows are the worst, but 99111 soon breathes a sigh of relief as despite some ponies starting to notice it they simply don’t care. With the sides of the ship lined by various stands, bars, and ways to pass time, 99111 heads directly ahead to the massive swimming pool surrounded by luxurious deck chairs and umbrellas. Standing on the edge of the pool, it finally sees the familiar scheme of the zebra bombshell from the showers swimming past and being openly stared at by various stallions either standing around the pool or swimming in it.
The water of the pool moves, reflecting sunlight as hundreds of tiny, flickering dots. 99111 lies down and lets its forelegs dangle over the edge. It touches the water and tries to catch the shiny reflection.
Again and again.
Looking once again at the ponies enjoying themselves in the vast pool, 99111 decides to give it a shot too. After all, it seems that all they need to do is to get in the water and then occasionally flail their limbs around.
It stands up, breathes in, breathes out, takes a step over the edge…
…and sinks like a rock.
Its legs do nothing to slow down its descent. It opens its mouth to call for help and immediately chokes as it swallows water. Its lungs start burning within seconds, taking away any chance of 99111 concentrating enough to mentally call for help.
Despite the clear water, the edges of its vision grow dark.
High Score, help!
Please…
Finally, so does everything else.
.
.
.
99111 wakes up, coughing out water which, for some reason, feels like it’s coming out of its back. Opening its eyes, there’s a blurry shadow over it, and the front of its barrel hurts for some reason.
I’m alive…
Its vision finally stabilizes, revealing that the shadow is the shower zebra’s relieved face. She stops pressing her hooves against 99111’s barrel and asks:
“Are you okay?”
Trembling, 99111 sits up, expecting its carapace to be cracked due to the pressure of the mare’s hooves. However, for some reason its carapace is soft like skin. So… squishy and offering no protection. 99111 immediately shapeshifts back into its hardened drone self, feeling a strange hole in its back close.
“I… I think so…” croaks the drone.
“Good,” says the zebra, “Wait here, okay?”
99111 nods and she walks off.
A hole appeared in my back, my carapace went all soft, and I couldn’t pull off the swimming thing at all.
I called for help…
Back home, they all kept saying that High Score was with us at all times, but the second I got in danger I couldn’t get out of, nothing happened.
The nice zebra must have saved me.
It was a lie all along.
The zebra returns, carrying an inflatable pool floaty. She notices 99111’s blank stare and sits down next to it.
“I’m here if you want to talk,” she says, “Or, if you’re brave enough, I can teach you how to swim so that you don’t drown again,” she grabs its tiny foreleg, “You’d have to fill-in these holes, though.”
99111 looks at the pool and shudders. The zebra notices and taps the inflated floaty.
“You can float freely on this and you won’t sink, I promise.”
Unable to cope with the overwhelming feeling of betrayal in regards to High Score, 99111 shakes its head, and says:
“Can I just rest here for a while, Miss zebra?”
“I’m- my name’s Gem,” she smiles and pats its head, “And of course you can. I’ll be around or in the pool if you need anything.”
“I’m 99111,” it says as she stands up, throws the floaty into the pool, and slowly lowers herself on it, “...and thank you,” it adds, unsure if she heard it over the overall commotion of ponies on the deck.
In absence of any further reply, 99111 curls up by a deck chair and lets sunlight warm its carapace in hopes that the cold emptiness inside will fade away as well.
The emptiness isn’t hunger, though. For some reason, 99111 feels completely full.
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11188591
It's a cruise ship. The only drug problem is if you DON'T have any.
GEM!!! WHY'S SHE HERE? WHO CARES, SHE'S HERE!!!
And I'm guessing the other ling is the drone whose name I've forgotten that High Score told to stay behind at the logging camp place the name of which I've also forgotten.
99111 was so terrified, they made like a sea cucumber?
11191706
I was thinking it tried to mimic a dolphin. The problem there is they also have to breathe. Whoops!
Should have gone for a seapony form. Shoo be, do be do!
(The idea of silly changelings with armfloaties in the pool makes me smile)
Oh! Have they ever encountered a bubbly hottub? "The ponies are being boiled alive! The horror!"
I hope Gem becomes a recurring character
You know, I think I saw a Minecraft video once that did that.
Also, looks like we've got a heretic in our ranks!
Eh? That's an interesting find...not wholly unexpected, but still very intriguing nonetheless...
Okay! Drones canNOT double as emergency flotation devices then. Good to know.
Yeah, I suppose that would be kinda like trying to paddle with a flyswatter...actually, no, bad choice of words...a net, like trying to paddle with a net. Yeah, that's a better way of putting it.
11191694
And I had the same thought, but then that just begs the question of how and why they ended up here on a luxury cruise ship for what are mostly nobility and politicians--not really the sort of social class you'd associate members of a logging team with, not unless one or more of them ended up in a new line of work, or 17070 eventually parted ways with them and ended up associating with some pony else. (There's also the fact that they're functionally deaf and unable to reliably understand anything told to it through anything outside of the hive mind to consider)
17070 is the drone you're thinking of.
So that all said, while I'm not ruling out 17070 entirely just yet (or, conversely, 1313 or 65536)...it could also just as easily be some of the many other 'lings that have gotten separated from the Chrysalis hive over the years that have also popped up in the...what was the name that was eventually settled upon for it? Narratorverse?
...too, if not more likely so.
11191694
Now who could she be here with? Is it just a name coincidence? Would a drone really be able to sense her mind link?
11191706
Wonder what could have happened? Perhaps the blowhole wasn't there to breathe in the water.
11191839
See the mystery above.
- To transform into a sea pony, 99111 would have to have ever seen a sea pony at work up close, and some time to practice. Or steal a pearl. I'm still wondering whether to incorporate sea ponies somehow into my verse. So far, my only main hippogriff was like "When a griffon and a pony love each other very much and in various positions..."
- We need to find a party clown and shove a balloon animal into every leg hole.
- First, they need to see a griffon restaurant where they boil and serve lobsters for comparison.
11192231
Gem? Naaaaah. Totally a one-off unimportant zebra character who isn't among the main cast of a whole bunch of other stories.
11192264
- So... I've been listening to Dark Imperium recently and it might be showing. PURGE THE HERETICS! HIGH SCORE PROTECTS!
- The best part is that everything anyone thinks about the who those are is at least 50% wrong.
- Not innately. Floatation ability needs some installing first.
- Horsefly swatter! I'm funny, heheheh.
- I call it the Budgetverse, because it's the budget version of any good verse one can see in the popular stories, and my only value is that I update often so that there's always something quick to kill a bit of time. Oh god... I'm the the literary equivalent of the guy who prepares burgers and fries.
But you people keep saying I'm too harsh at myself, so Narratorverse is fine.
11187638
Okay, Hanneighbal Lecter.
11192264
At this point in the Narratorverse, King Beard would still be in a cocoon getting carried around by Eight, and Gem would be under the care of Fury and Cross. Maybe she's there to do a CIA and sell crack or something. We did hear from One (or whatever her succubus name is now) that she made connections from doing that.
The ling with the voicemail message has to be a drone since I can't imagine 1313 or any other high rank leaving something like that.
"Someone call 911, this changeling isn't breathing"
"Uhhh... you mean 99111? That IS 99111..."
"Wha... no. wait, what?"
11192595
As a Wendy's employee, I take an INCREDIBLY minute and insignificant offense to this.
HAHAHAHAHA
Oh! Also. While one of them is trying to get away because the other is trying to (aggressively) make an entire hive with them?... oh, wait...
Wait, I was right? Yay, future seeing time! No, wait, I'm reading stuff, it's usually not ending well... Aaaaa!
11389418
Place your bets on who dies in the end!
Place your bets!