Survival

The door to the house opened and closed, signaling the arrival of the second drone.

"I'm back, and I got the paper!" The drone yelled. "Don't know why you want it, but I got it."

Strangely, as the drone looked, around the living room on the ground floor, he could see no signs of the others. Suddenly, a dull thump came from above him.

Curious, the drone walked up the stairs and looked down the hallway, only to see a particular sight: Their resident infiltrator changeling, sitting in an odd position on a chair in the hallway, and hitting the back of his head on the wall occasionally.

"Uh..." The second drone had to dredge his name him from memory. "Dim Outline? I got a paper. What are you doing?"

"I saw a mare in Ponyville sit like this once, and I was curious." Outline answered. In truth, he was incredibly bored. And also curious. "I don't see the appeal in sitting like this. It's uncomfortable. What sort of being would devise this method of waiting?"

"Uh... A bored one?" The second drone suggested, levitating the paper over to the infiltrator, who snatched it up. His job done, the drone quickly dropped his disguise. Something was... Strange, however. There was an odd smell in the air, almost like...

The drone's brain ground to a halt. He may have been slow, even by his own admission, but that didn't mean he was naïve.

"Outline, why do I smell pheromones in the air?" He asked.

"Because I banged the mare we had captured, had plenty of fun, harvested plenty of emotion, probably impregnated her, and I am probably going to do it again at some point in the near future." Outline matter-of-factly stated, neatly folding the newspaper into a square before climbing down from the chair and placing it where he had been sitting. "This newspaper has told me nothing new. Invasion, lies about changelings, blah blah blah. The usual newspaper report."

"What. Wait, wait, wait..." The drone stammered for a moment, regaining his senses a moment later. "You had sex with the prisoner? Why didn't we get told?"

"Because for one you are a drone, and were off buying newspapers. The other drone is asleep." Outline stated. "If you're thinking of going in there, you're not. The mare is asleep, and needs a few hours to recover enough for another feeding. Wait a few hours, and then ask me."

"Uh... Alright." The drone said, backing away. "I'm just going to be downstairs. In the living room. Away from the crazy infiltrator."

The drone quickly retreated. Once he was gone, Outline let out a sigh.

"It is too bad that he was born a drone." The infiltrator lamented. "If he had been born a full changeling, I have a feeling he would be quite bright."

Most drones were hardly capable of coherent speech, much less a conversation. Drones that possessed the intelligence of 'full' changelings were rare. The main differences between drones and 'full' changelings were significant. Drones possessed lower intelligence, a tendency to stick to swarming tactics, had glowing blue eyes with no pupils, and were notably smaller than full changelings. In addition, they had weaker magical abilities, and lacked the mane that full changelings had.

They also made up well over ninety percent of the Changeling Army, as well as around eighty-four percent of the population in general. Thankfully, there were enough full changelings to lead them, and the more intelligent ones could grow to be useful.

Dim Outline reflected that he must have had amazing luck, having been stuck post-invasion with two of the more intelligent ones... Which might be reflective of how intelligent they had to be to survive.

He had, however, lied to the drone. In the newspaper, he was looking for one thing: The location of the Canterlot Guard Local Center. Unlike the Royal Guard, whose members were far better trained, equipped, and spread out all over Equestria, the local Canterlot Guard knew the area from having lived in it. However, their weapons were far inferior, and they were in many cases simply civilians.

To put his plan into action, he was going to have to be quick, efficient, and lucky. However, the payoff would be enormous.

All he needed was more energy from the mare. What he had was enough, but one could not afford to be too careful... And with that, he was back to waiting.