(A)Way (from) home: 3
With a final push down a snowy ramp, the two bat ponies, one changeling drone, and an overfilled cart leave the dark treeline behind them. 65536 takes a deep breath through its scarves and slowly lets it out in relief.
“I might actually make it,” says the drone and turns around to face the two Nightguards now openly escorting it and occasionally helping push it, “Mister Night Hunter, I’ll take it from here.”
“Are you sure? It’s dark, snowing, and there’s no road,” the broad bat pony looks around at the uninterrupted white sheet of snow spreading into the distance, “It’ll be a pain to pull the cart through all that.”
“Ah hah!” 65536 beams, or at least its face scarves move, “I got a thingy just for that which makes this part the easiest,” it climbs onto the cart and pulls out a long and thin package stuffed by its edge. When it unwraps the tarp, Gloom examines the four smooth planks with tips bending upwards which were inside.
“Are those skis?” she asks, genuinely impressed by the drone’s forethought.
“Yup!” 65536 nods and starts taking off the cart’s wheels without any tools.
“I’ve been thinking,” comments Night Hunter as he watches 65536 fiddle with wooden pegs and loose screws, cleverly designed to be easily replaceable without any tools, “Where did you get this cart? It’s an impressive level of ingenious design to be so easily assembled and repaired without even a hammer. You had a different one last winter, didn’t you?”
“Yup, I left that one to 99111 for parts. It designed this new one for me during my last visit as a present. It’s a very smart drone. Of course, we didn’t have any materials to build it in the hive, so I had to draw the plans on paper from memory back home and give those to a nice earth pony woodworker who has a shop in the mountainside quarter. It’s made entirely of wood reinforced with goop so that if anything breaks while I’m going through the forest I can always find the materials to fix it,” 65536 affixes the first ski to the bottom where the wheel used to be and moves onto the next spot. When Night Hunter raises the cart a little to ease 65536’s access, the drone adds, “Thank you.”
“Is that a greenhouse?” asks Gloom, squinting left towards a glass construction the size of a larger shed a short distance from the edge of the forest and a couple hundred pony lengths away from them, discernible only due to being the only lit up thing within sight, and even then it’s a sickly green shimmer making the bat pony slightly uneasy.
“Yup,” 65536 nods as it ceaselessly works on refitting the cart, “I heard that the Queen and Miss Gem did some talking regarding growing ingredients for Miss Gem’s work and the Queen arranged that greenhouse to be built earlier this year. 57999 was supposed to add tending to the plants inside in addition to working the poppy patch further east.”
“Ah,” Gloom’s voice turns apprehensive, “Is that where your friend who died on that trip two years ago used to work?”
Some semblance of heavy weight finally creeps into 65536’s tone when it replies, “36658, yes.”
Nothing else.
The following silence is only disturbed by the wind and endless scratching and clicking of 65536 finishing refitting ski number three and the crunching of snow as it moves to the final one.
“I was stupid to bring that up, sorry,” says Gloom after a while.
“What happened happened,” says 65536, “Besides, 36658 saved everyone else on that island, and there’s nothing a drone would want more than to help. It’s just…” the drone pauses, “Losing someone important is a weird thing. High Score, Mister Sharp, 36658. I often still feel like the same drone who left the hive because the Queen promised us we’d earn a bunch of love from those mythical creatures called ponies. We would know that every time we saw someone it could be the last time, and we were fine with it, that it was just how life worked. I don’t know why, but now it’s much more difficult to get over it,” it sighs, shaking its head, “Nevermind. It’s as 387 said and as Luna said about Mister Sharp - the important thing is that what they did lives on.”
Gloom pats the drone’s head as it resumes working. Seeing the drone in a way she would her own foal often makes her forget that it’s seen more death and dealt with more loss in its brief six years of life than she did in her… longer one. Don’t ask a lady her age.
As if on cue, when 65536 finishes refitting the cart a small figure becomes visible leaping through the snow from the direction of the greenhouse towards them. Gloom tenses up, same as Night Hunter, but they quickly relax when the incoming hopper gets closer and reveals itself to be another drone, this one wrapped in what looks like a mix of chewed off rags and a carpet, the remains of several cardboard boxes mashed together on its head, and… yes, those are two actual, heavily scratched and dented, metal bracers around its forelegs. Despite the mismatched and generally dishevelled look, the approaching drone is grinning from ear to ear until it stops nearby, its jaw dropping and eyes going wide while it examines the two bat ponies, namely the comparatively huge Night Hunter with a drawn-out:
“Whoooah!”
“Heya, 57999! I was wondering if I’d reach your hive link,” 65536 manages to finish loading both wheels onto the cart during the time of 57999 staring at the Nightguards in amazement and them at it with a mix of amusement and uncertainty. While their experience with drones is that they are generally friendly, their experience with changelings remaining loyal to the hive is… mixed, and neither Gloom nor Night Hunter want to do something which would get reported to Chrysalis herself as a diplomatic misstep.
“Woooow…” repeats 57999, still eyeing Night Hunter.
“That’s Mister Night Hunter, and that’s Miss Gloom,” 65536 walks over to the standing trio, “They’re Nightguards like me.”
With 65536 in view, 57999 finally snaps out of its reverie.
“Oh, right! Like you told us, umm, butt ponies!” when faced with a sudden frown from Night Hunter, it backs off, stuttering, “Wait no, what was the offishul name? Uhh, right! Testicles!” 57999 forces a now clearly nervous smile.
“Bat ponies and thestrals, 57999,” 65536 corrects it, and both Nightguards relax immediately, “Totally different words.”
“Ohhhh, goop…” 57999 backs off, scratching its head, “Sorry. My head doesn’t work all that well when I’m nervous and so far from everyone else. Too much experimenting with agonyslayers and other stuff, I think.”
“Wouldn’t this batch be miseryeradicators or something similar?” asks 65536.
“Nah,” 57999 shakes its head, “That was 36658’s thing. I like to keep it simple - head agonyslayers, leggo agonyslayers, and so on. I can make goop that you don’t gotta eat now too! It really heals, not just stops you from feeling bad. Uses up so much less love than normal healing even if it takes longer. It’s great for all the broken and crushed bits. Now to just figure out something for all the chomped off chunks.”
“Holy holes!” 65536 gasps, “That’s amazing! High Score would be proud and 36658 jealous.”
“Yup!” 57999 grins, finally in its territory again, “The Queen was so happy she scheduled 99874 and 99338 to take turns helping me! That means that if there are sticky biters around, one of us can go call for help while the other draws their attention. Working here is almost safe these days!” 57999 waves its forelegs and smacks its chest with one, “I even got all this to stay warm and it makes it harder for sticky biters to nibble on me. Tested on a medium one! My leggos have been a bit numb since, but I still got the right number of 'em,” 57999’s grin grows into a victorious smile.
Out of nowhere, Gloom leans closer and asks in a somewhat deranged tone: “Can I hug you?”
“Huh?” 57999 tilts its head and looks at 65536 and back at Gloom, “Is that a trick question? I can see you have all your hugging parts.”
“She means if she’s allowed to,” explains the guard drone, “Ponies who don’t know each other aren’t supposed to touch without asking.”
57999 gasps in horror.
“Why would I ever say no to a hug?!”
“I think that’s a yes, Miss Gloom,” 65536 chuckles, and 57999 finds itself squeezed by the bat pony mare like a tube of toothpaste. It wraps its forelegs around her as well and presses its head against her neck after pushing the cardboard ‘helmet’ away.
Night Hunter, however, looks into the distance before nudging 65536.
“It’s getting darker and I can feel the wind picking up. You’re up for a storm in a few hours at best. Are you sure you don’t want our help?”
65536 shakes its head.
“The big rule is - no unannounced visitors. The Queen was very specific about that one. Besides, freezy time is the safest for travelling through the Badlands because all the nasty gribblers are asleep. It’ll just be me and the storm and I got all the clothes Luna forced me to take with me so I should get to the hive by the morning just fine.”
“Then we won’t keep you,” Night Hunter sits down and pulls 65536 into a brief hug which the drone happily returns. When it’s over, Night Hunter calls out, “Gloom, we’re leaving!”
The mare breathes out heavily before letting go of 57999.
“Do your best to stay safe, little guy,” she boops its nose.
“Doing all I can to keep my bits attached and all the squishy stuff on the inside,” 57999 reports happily
“Are you coming with me, 57999?” asks 65536.
“Nope! I still gotta melt a bunch of snow and water the plants. I normally use a tunnel that leads back home, but do you want me to catch up while you’re still on the way and help?” it nods towards the overloaded cart.
“No, it’s fine. Pulling this through a storm is all just a part of the training,” 65536 waves at everyone and starts pulling the cart-sled again, “See you all later!”
“See ya, 65536! Bye, Miss Gloom. Bye, Mister Night Hunter!” 57999 turns around and hops away through the deep snow, back towards the greenhouse.
“They always get me,” Gloom mumbles when they’re out of ear shot, “Every time I hear any of them cheerfully talk about some horrible mistreatment or deadly danger they’ve been through, I just want to grab them to make sure it can’t happen ever again and I never want to let go.”
“That’s one of the reasons why you’re a top Nightguard, Gloom.”
With a jump, the two bat ponies take off into the air and quickly blend into the darkness.
Stats
Page generated in 0.013 seconds
Total duration
1,037 users online
1,501,664 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
so are pegasus penises?
11667571
I say leave it, more fun that way.
it's not a bug, it's a feature.
I mean... It's not a feature, it's a bug...
Screw it, it's a bug AND a feature...
... or is it a bug WITH a feature...
Also... more like the Bethesda engine was made in the hive...
So many bug jokes there...
I thought he was going to put the skies under the wheels so he would have something other than an axel to attatch too unless the bottom of the cart acts as the base of a sled as well?
Poor 57999. Its likely he will never make if back to the Hive, even through the tunnel.
If he does its because his body managed to change and adapt an antidote to the venom thats been injected?
Still kinda a touchy subject, I see. Understandable.
Ah yes, so it was! I remember her heavily emphasizing that part now in a previous fic.
11672560
Yes. It's canon now. If I ever remember to use it.
11672613
It is a feature, one explained by the history of Badlands. The drones would have no idea how that could come to be, though.
11672627
Is this it? Is this all I'm good for now? Have I fallen this far? 5 interactions and one of them is a sushi selling bot? I'm not even deleting this so that my shame is out there for all to see.
11672744
Yes, reinforced bottom frame.
What the actual fk did I screw up this time to be misunderstood like that? 57999 is neither dying nor poisoned.
11673023
- Explains it immediately after. Long life leads to new challenges, especially emotional ones.
- I'm an adult and my jokes are sophisticated.
- Ah yes. I too... uhh... remembered that. Definitely.
11673469
Ah, sorry about that, given the drones usual run of bad luck and the leggy biters mentioned, Id thought the venom was Cobra style, turning the victim into an easily drinkable soup, rather than just a paralyzing agent that just turns the victim into a non moving meal or larvae larder as paralysing is chemically easier than instakill?
11673583
57999 was just saying that it got bitten by a timberwolf earlier and the bracers protected it from having its legs bitten off, they'Re just numb now. That's all.
11673469
I like sushi... I'm sure as holes not clicking the link though.
11673469
For the record, I did consider omitting that part of my comment for that very reason...but then I felt it was still worth noting anyway, because yes, the chapter acknowledges it's a touchy subject and touches upon some of the whys...but I also felt like there was an unspoken layer (perhaps because the drone(s) in question still haven't figure out how to best articulate it fully) to it that wasn't discussed, so...
11673785
That's entirely the case. Especially when the eldest hive veterans are six years old at this point, and this includes both Three and the Boss. Even 65536 didn't see Sharp get killed on the battlefield, but 10000 was there when 36658 died and saw it later through Smiley's memories. I didn't really think about it from this angle, but the most experienced with others dying directly in front of them is Smiley
I can't believe I've been missing this all this time! I was scrolling through my favorites, saw They're...On Holiday?, remembered your existence, and checked to see if you'd started a new story...and I'm 17 chapters late to the party! Oopsie. I'm super excited and also scared because I'm totally invested in these buggos, and I know the rule is Anyone Can Die (Except Three Because He Just Can't Seem To Get It Right).
Anyway I didn't really have anything to comment on yet except:
I had totally forgotten how consistently 99911 triggers a core memory of a school assembly I attended in first grade, where Ronald McDonald did a magic show while teaching the emergency telephone number, 939-3111, because 911 hadn't rolled out to our area yet.