Chapter 2: The Badlands

Deciduous sat on the edge of her bed staring at the revolver in her hands, occasionally glancing to her side at the extra rounds gathered in a small pile on the sheets.

Her preparations for their departure completed an hour beforehand, and she had made it a primary concern to take care of her lead-spitting trinket. She took time to inspect the ornate finishes, and to remove the used and faulty rounds from the chambers.

‘Daring Do’ was engraved along one side of the barrel along with the twelve months of the year along the sides of the rotating chambers in descending order, every other month aligned with one of the bullets. What exactly was that supposed to mean? A ‘revolving year’ perhaps? Did it even mean anything at all, and did it have anything to do with Daring Do herself?

She never could quite figure out the significance of the inscriptions, nor the ‘A.K.’ on either side of the hammer. However she had figured out during her first use of it that it was heavily modified from whatever model it was in the past. The sheer stopping power of the rounds gave it an ear-piercing bang, and the recoil was powerful enough snap the wrist bones of any unsuspecting user.

The large round meant the revolver had to be in turn equally large, looking positively absurd in the hands of any normal-sized pony. It seemed to fit in her much larger hands however, because most pony-sized one-handed weaponry either looked absurd in her possession, or downright could not fit in her hands at all, requiring levitation. The only real advantage was that her strength made her more than capable of handling the otherwise-wrist-shattering force of the weapon firing.

Sighing, she re-opened the loading gate adjacent to the hammer and started putting the bullets inside. There was no possible way of her knowing which rounds would or wouldn’t fire. For all she knew, the entire weapon would explode in her hand as soon as she tried firing, but a chance at losing some fingers was nothing major to the insectile pony. She could regenerate to an extent so a loss of fingers would never be anything major, but the process was slow and agonizingly painful and could take weeks at a time, leaving her energy reserves thoroughly depleted.

“My queen, the preparations are complete and the dead have been buried... or rather, they were somewhat haphazardly pushed into the burial pits en masse to meet the noon deadline you had set.”

Queen Deciduous looked at the drone; he wore the same outfit and supplies as earlier, with the addition of extra containers of food and water. He also carried the eggs and their heat-resistant transports, each a large black cube lined with chitin and reinforced steel, behind him in his magic field. He carried a halberd in hand, standard issue for the hive’s fighting forces, and a dagger strapped to his leg, neither would last long against a foe like those who had culled the hive’s population, but something was better than nothing.

Nodding, the queen stood upright, picking up the spent and unspent casings and placing them into the wooden box. The box itself she then placed into a large pack, which she hauled over her shoulder. While it bore a small portion of supplies, its main purpose was carrying what valuables the hive had that could likely be sold.

One of the first steps she’d have to take for the sake of recovering what remained of her changelings would involve being able to arm them better than what had been available to the dead. She would need firearms and ranged weapons, not halberds and swords.

“Good, show me where they now rest, I wish to bid them and the hive a farewell before we depart.”
“As you wish, your majesty.” He turned and left, the queen following behind as the two made for the hive’s own burial chambers.

Queen Deciduous could feel a crippling weakness in her knees as she entered the chamber, what was meant to be a seemingly bottomless pit for the dead’s remains to be moved seemed distressingly small for such a high influx of bodies, the pit neared full, only a few feet from the overhang that reached out from the doorway, bodies lay crumpled and broken, not a single hint of movement to be seen. Clearing her throat and choking back her flow of tears, she spoke to her subjects one last time.

“My changelings... It is… I am... such a disgrace. For living on while the many thousands of you now lie dead. I only wish... I only wish I could’ve saved more of you. I must now leave, in the hope that I can recover those who survived this slaughter. I shall not collapse the hive, as my mother had once told me to do should it fall. I will return in future to rebuild, so I shall merely seal the entrance, only a changeling born of this hive will be able to enter or leave.”

Her eyes began to mist up, and she was straining to keep herself upright “Farewell, my Changelings, my subjects. May I rebuild the hive, or else meet you in the forever after.” Turning, she hurriedly exited the room, stumbling on her hooves in her instance on leaving as soon as possible.

------------The Badlands, one hour later------------

The Badlands hadn’t changed much since the war, didn’t change much before or during it, either. Tall monoliths stood out of the sand, slabs of rock worn away by time and sand, all a varying shade of the orange sand they stood upon. Many attempts since the pony tribe unification had been made to try colonise the Badlands. Many had failed before they could even start, with the would-be-town-founder killed by creatures that inhabited the seemingly-endless desert.

Keeping watch as his queen finished sealing the hive, an effort that apparently required more effort than the queen made it sound, the drone eyed the sands of the badlands around him, keeping his eyes open and ears swivelling for signs of movement from the sand that could indicate a potential living threat. All he got in response to his wariness, however, was the blowing sand. And he found himself constantly tilting his head to one side to empty his ears of sand-buildup caused by the wind. Eventually, Deciduous emerged from the pit leading to the hive’s entrance. Which now looked little more than a slab of stone sunken into the ground, seemingly ignored by the desert winds.

“Alright drone, now is time for us to go. We must head north at once, and find somewhere suitable to make camp for when the sun sets.” She received a look of confusion from the drone.
“North, my queen? But Saddle Arabia and, by extension, the town we’re after is to the east, across the Celestial Sea, no less.”

His question was seemingly ignored as his queen started walking, prompting the drone to force himself into a short,quick jog in order to join her. The equipment he carried did not agree with being put off balance as he moved and he stumbled a few times to catch up with her. “My queen! I need to know why we are heading north instead of east!” He received an annoyed sigh in response, the queen’s pace slowing.

“Drone, I had expected you to have figured out my reasoning yourself, given that you have had much more time with the map than I. With what we have, we could not even hope to make that direct a route. Come here and let us inspect the map, that I may show you what I mean.” Retrieving the map from one of his many packs, the drone held it out whilst walking alongside his queen.

“See here,” She pointed at the section marked ‘Badlands’ “As the badlands sits in what is effectively a giant basin, the high cliffs surround us on all sides, leaving the only non-flying way out these single roads to the north and south. This is where ponies dug their own way in, using long, sloped paths to descend.”

“I know that, my queen! But why don’t we just fly?” He received silence in response, prompting him to look up at the growing scowl on her face, shrinking back as she focused from the map to him.

“I had assumed, incorrectly, I see, that it would be obvious, but if I must explain yet again, I shall; The eggs you carry. They are the potential future of the hive, and as such their survival is of the highest importance. Even above yours. The eggs and the equipment we carry will make surpassing the cliffs to the east, which I might add are the tallest in the badlands basin, incredibly difficult, if not impossible.

“In addition, we would have to pass through the swamplands beyond that, and we’d then be met by one of the widest parts of the Celestial Sea. We’d have to then navigate the shoreline to the thinnest possible crossing further to the north.

“Moving north from the get-go means that we’ll not have to scale the cliffs and, provided fortune has had enough of screwing me over, Dodge Junction’s many railways will have a clear line leading straight to Baltimare. The peninsula of Horseshoe Bay will give us the shortest journey across the sea.”

After a pause, she continued “The only other route would involve having to pass the cities and mountain ranges yet further north.”
The drone stared at the map for the longest time, and sighed, looking back at his queen “You are correct my queen. I apologise.” Returning his attention to the map, the drone walked on. Various spots on the map had been scribbled out, a green line moving to a circle nearby to account for errors fixed in more modern maps. Thick, straight black lines were strung out between the cities, new railway lines, and a large filled-in red circle was drawn around the general area of southern Equestria, marked ‘Hoofington?’. It was scribbled out, replaced with ‘Unknown radiation source. Cripples hivemind. Lethal. Avoid at ALL costs’.

Going there was clearly out of the question. He inspected the badlands section of the map further, nothing the thin, dark line of leading through the center of the location. A path, clearly. “If I am to guess correctly, this pathway in the middle here is where we’re headed?” He pointed to the line in question. It weaved its way through the Badlands, leading to either the north and South entrances.

“Well surmised, drone. That path, provided that it has not faded further with time, is covered in heavily packed sand. It will lead us to our exit in the least amount of gallivanting around in the sand. Barring sandstorms and the like, that is. But enough of this slow, ‘shuffling-along-whilst-reading-a-map’ pace, put it away and we shall begin our journey proper.” With a sway of her hips as she lengthened her stride to a proper walking pace, the queen began the trek north, the drone following close behind.

*** *** ***

Another six or so uneventful hours passed as the two made their way along the orange sand. On the way they found the trail, a large mass of packed-together sand and large stones stretched into the horizon to the north and south. At this point the travelers had begun to run low on what energy they had, the queen wiped the sweat from her brow and eyed the drone alongside her as he occasionally stumbled on the rocks littering the path, the odd gasp for breath escaping his muzzle. Though any attempts to inquire if he was alright were met by shrugs and replies of ‘I’m fine’ He clearly wasn’t

To the west, the glow of the setting sun was turning the sky a vivid shade of red. The queen mused to herself as the sun disappeared behind the horizon ‘It’s getting dark. The wind’s been picking up, too' “We’d best find shelter to rest for the night, drone.” An annoyed and somewhat strained, but relieved, groan responded back.

Up ahead, the two saw the remains of one of the many attempts to set up a life in the badlands, a small line of buildings. Stores, perhaps. Some such places, past attempts by the ponies to colonise the badlands, still lingered even long after their creators passed. Little more than ghost towns remained, buried or dismantled beneath the shifting sands, preserved. These ones seemed fairly recent; not all of the buildings had collapsed, and a couple still had glass in their windows. Built just before the megaspells hit, most likely.

Four buildings in all, neatly sitting next to each other in various states of disrepair, only the two-storey building in the center seemed to have its walls and doors mostly undamaged. Shielded from the sides on the ground floor by the other buildings. How the front hadn’t been battered to pieces was anyone’s guess. The lack of sand piling up on the windows seemed to indicate either the back wall had stayed intact. Or it had fallen and another wall was blocking it further. A sign above the door, partially faded from age and the sandy winds, read: ‘Lon… Star’s... eneral sto… an… Robro… eplicas Museum’

Deciduous pointed to it, about to speak when she spotted something in the distance far behind the structures, a dust cloud. A very large dust cloud. No, not a dust cloud... a sandstorm! And it was closing in fast.
How had she not seen that before?! The wind had been picking up for the last hour, how could she have not noticed?! “Quickly, drone, get inside!”

......

the lack of immediate response forced her to tear her eyes from the encroaching wall of sand to notice the drone’s unconscious form on the sandy road just behind her. He had passed out.

“Argh! Damn you, you stupid drone! Why couldn’t you have collapsed after we got to shelter!?” Rushing to his side and turning him onto his back using her magic to lift many of the packs off of him and into the air. She hooked her arms under his shoulders and proceeded to drag him to the door. She leant against it, removing a hand from the drone to turn the knob, it wouldn’t budge, the door’s lock clattering against the frame.

“I do not have time for this!” Pulling her pistol from her pack and pulling the hammer back with her thumb, she shoved the barrel into the keyhole and fired. The door slammed inwards as the force all but tore the lock from the door.

The storm slammed into the rear walls as she dragged the drone inside, the sand wailing as it plowed through the thin spaces between the buildings. the entire structure groaned in protest, but held. Sighing in relief, Deciduous went about propping up the unconscious changeling against wall, and set about barricading the door to keep it closed.

*** *** ***

The drone wasn’t quite sure of how much time had passed, but when he did crack open one of his eyes, he was only a little surprised to find his vision wasn’t obscured by sand. The whistling of the sandstorm echoed through the empty building, The boards on the walls creaking and groaning. It left an eerie sensation. Though it was being drowned out by the fire sitting in front of him.

The boards on the floor had been torn up, leaving a large vaguely-ring-shaped hole of sand in the middle of the room. The fire within crackled and sparked, another board of the dismantled floor was levitated into the flame, sliding into place under the pot floating gently above it. He attempted to talk, only managing a single quiet ‘muh-’ before it erupted into a coughing fit.

He could remember seeing the buildings close by, and his queen talking to him about... something? And then he’d passed out. Too much weight on his back? Exhaustion? Heatstroke? He decided dwelling on what felled him was pointless, he had let his queen down by doing so. Speaking of his queen, where was she? And what was he leaning against?

“Awake, are we?” The sudden voice had caught him off-guard and made him jump, but his exhaustion prevented him from doing much more than a short spasm. He felt a pair of arms wrap around his torso, holding him still. Opening his other eye showed nothing but the warm, silky surface of a dress. He allowed himself to look up, seeing his queen and the calm, relieved smile on her muzzle. He felt his ear brushing against the her chest, her heartbeat a steady, pleasant pulse. He managed a slow nod, content to otherwise remain still. A few minutes passed in relative silence before he decided to attempt moving again, but the arms around him squeezed a little tighter.

“Rest easy, my little changeling, we are in no immediate danger. The storm will pass, and by morning, we should be able to continue onward.” he felt one of her hands move up and stroke the crest running along his scalp, a thumb brushing over an ear.
‘My little changeling’ she almost never called her subjects that. It was always ‘drone’ this or ‘worker’ that. He had heard of such behaviors from her before from other hive-members. Though from what he’d heard, it was usually reserved for the newly-hatched nymphs.

“My queen... forgive me... ” He rasped, his throat dry and voice croaky. He felt the lip of one of the water containers lightly pushed against the edge of his muzzle, prompting him to drink. He heard a soft giggle from his queen. “Always so dramatic, aren’t you? You aren’t dying.”
She stroked him again, pulling the receptacle from his lips as she spoke. “Hush now, my little changeling, you are in need of rest, but by no means was your little fall mortally wounding. I am, however, disappointed in your refusal to accept my help when it was offered, I am by no means treating this as a failure, though.”

Pulling the pot from the fire, Deciduous probed around the drone’s packs for utensils, finding none, and settling on using her magic to instead levitate a large -and somewhat charred- wad of meat out of the pot, splitting it into chunks and offering a piece to the drone. “I’m not the best cook, but I tried my best. Have a bite, it should at least be edible.”

He screwed up his face at it, his horn flickered as his magic petered out. He gave a whimper, his collapse had taken more of a toll on him than he realised. He simply didn’t have the energy to use his magic properly. He allowed her to place it into his mouth, but he quickly reopened it, holding his tongue out and panting loudly in an effort to let the unbelievably hot food cool. From what he could taste past the burnt charcoal-y outside, it wasn’t too bad. Though he stole a few glances of his queen scrunching her own face up at the taste. If any of the other drones or workers had seen him getting fed and held like a newly-hatched nymph, he’d never hear the end of it. Though at least he knew that the queen wasn’t oblivious to her terrible cooking.

He swallowed, and took another gulp of water. He was content to doze off again, until Deciduous spoke up. “I want you to understand that, as the last living changeling in my hive, I cannot afford to treat every action of yours with the scrutiny of an army general or the leader of an empire. As your queen, forgiving mistakes is my job. You are children and subjects both, in my eyes. Next time however, should you be struggling to carry the supplies you’ve given yourself to carry, you must let me know. Is that understood?”

He nodded, and she continued, “One thing I’ve learnt over the years i’ve lived is that a mother’s love for her children is one of the strongest bonds there is. Losing you as I did the rest of the hive would surely destroy me. Who would take care of the eggs then?” The drone thought about it, but wasn’t sure if his queen was actually expecting an answer. He opened his mouth to respond, but found himself shushed again by a finger pressed against his lips. “No talking, my little changeling, just rest.” A rhetorical question, then.

The two were silent for another half-hour, the drone taking the time to look around the inside of the building. It appeared to be a store, that at least solved what part of the sign on the front of the building was on about.
Deciduous was sitting on the floor, leaning firmly against what appeared to be a bench or a bar, judging by the wooden overhang. The drone himself was lying on top of her, propped up against her torso.

Shelves lined the walls, decorated with empty jars and rusted scrap metal. Broken light fixtures hung from the ceiling, bulbs either broken or missing. And a staircase in the corner, leading upwards to the second floor. A sign was posted on the wall the staircase ran along, exclaiming ‘Robronco replicas Museum’. What on Equus was a ‘Robronco’ again? Some cyborg stallion who hadn’t figured out how to use the toilet?

His thoughts and visual wanderings were suddenly interrupted when Deciduous sighed as she swallowed a hefty gulp of water, and took a deep breath. Staring at the the glow of the fire dance in the door’s warped glass window, a faint tune humming in her breath. And then she began to sing...

”The cold hands,
The sad eyes,
The dark foalish silence.
It’s so late,
But I wait,
Through the long night with you,
With you.

The warm tears,
The bad dreams,
The soft, trembling shoulders.
The old fears,
But I’m here,
Through the long night with you,
With you.

Remaining soft as she hummed the tune, she continued. Her voice picked up pace.

Oh, what has it cost you?
I almost lost you a long, long time ago,
Oh, you should have told me,
But you, had to bleed to know.

As quickly as it had picked up, the tempo dropped again, almost immediately starting the next verse.

All your past sins,
Have since passed,
You should be sleeping,
It’s all right,
Sleep tight,
Through the long night with me,
With me.

Once again the tune and pace picked up for another change, only to drop down once more as it did before.

No, I didn’t start it,
You’re broken hearted from a long, long time ago,
Oh, the way you hold me,
Is all that I need to know.

It’s so late,
But I’ll wait,
Through the long night with you,
With you.

She let the last word hang, quietly moving back into a hum, and finishing the tune.
Deciduous moved her vision from the fire’s reflection as she finished the last verse, looking down at the drone and smiled. He was snoring quietly. Likely slipped into sleep while she sang, or possibly just before she looked down. It wasn’t important to her either way what he had thought of her little performance. Just that he was asleep was good enough for the queen. She leant her head down and nuzzled his ear. “Sleep well, my little changeling. the night shall be long, but I am here should you need me.”

*** *** ***

The drone was still sleeping when his queen awoke the next morning, the dawn’s sunlight steadily creeping through the store’s windows, only just reaching the firepit. She had kept him as comfortable as she could manage, given the circumstances. Watching over him as he slept against her, It brought a feeling of comfort to the changeling monarch. It was one she always relished whenever she experienced it.

She, she always had seen her changeling subjects from above due to her naturally large height. None ever grew taller than the average pony, leaving the queen effectively towering over all of them. It reinforced her little self-indulged perspective of seeing her drones as her children. Very few were actually hers children though. Though it certainly left a rather... off... feeling in the back of her mind whenever she took on a consort.

Shaking the odd thoughts from her head, Deciduous chose to let the drone rest rather than wake him. Gently holding him in place with her magic while she stood up, moving him to lean him against the bench she’d been leaning on. She opted to investigate the rest of the building, perusing through the sparsely occupied shelves. The only thing she found of note that she couldn’t see from the floor was a bottlecap, which she unceremoniously tossed into the corner, deciding it to be of little use to her.

The first floor proved to be otherwise void of anything useful, perhaps the second floor would yield better results? Eyeing the sign, she wasn’t any more certain what Robronco was than the drone. Save for it being a pony-owned company. Not that it mattered, it certainly wasn’t stopping her. She began her ascent.
The stairs not collapsing under her body’s imposing size was a good start, though she had to fight with her dress to not catch on the splintery wood. Keeping the thing intact for over 250 years only to have it torn on an old set of stairs would just be embarrassing.

Unlike the front door, the second floor’s had been unlocked. Inside was an assortment of glass cases on pedestals running along the walls, each marked with a plaque. ‘Pip-Bucks Through the Ages’ hung on the wall. There was a stand for something in the center of the room, but it was empty, gone long before the changelings had found the building. Against the far wall, a big metallic box, with a keyboard and green, flickering screen attached, buzzed quietly. How was it running without power? Internal source perhaps? But how had it lasted so long?

Choosing to inspect the cases first, Deciduous began walking along the edge of the room. Stopping to inspect the item within each, and then read the inscriptions about each.
The first was a massive, clunky thing almost the size of the terminal. Wires and cables twisted and wrapped around it, and a small screen with a massive crack running through it, a piece of paper tucked neatly behind the fractured glass read ‘Pip-Buck ver. 1.0’. her eyes moving to the inscription below the absurdly oversized… Thing.

‘The first Pip-buck!

This replica shows us Robronco’s first fully functional portable computing system. While incredibly large and ungainly, and partially running on increasingly expensive coal, the one-point-oh was portable… For about thirty minutes maximum at a time to avoid dislocation of the arm.’

Chuckling to herself at the mental image of a pony anchored down by such a massive chunk of scrap metal and a dislocated arm brought a smile to her muzzle. Deciduous casually walked to the next item along the wall.
The next device was considerably smaller, but still far too large for anyone to really consider wearing such a thing. It looked like a bulky piece of armour, but with a screen on one side, and it kept the first version’s messy assortment of wires and cables. The paper behind the screen read ‘Pip-Buck ver 2.3’

‘A replica of the first, last, and only model of the offical built-in armour Prototype!’

‘2.3 was a brief attempt at fitting the Pip-buck into what was at the time prototype pegasus combat armour. The prototype was abandoned, however, with the unveiling of Steel Ranger Power Armour, and the project was dropped in favour of designing power armour prototypes for the Pegasi.’

Nothing too interesting here, a piece of scrap metal with a screen. Even if it was functional, it wouldn’t fit her. She skimmed over the next ones on the list, eventually stopping on a pair that shared the same case. Much more portable-looking than the original models, sleeker, smaller, and only fourth from the end of the ‘Pip-bucks through the ages’ section.

The device on the left seemed average compared to the Pip-buck 3000 further along the exhibit. Albeit minus some particular flashy lights. The one on the right, presumably the MkII-L, was slightly larger, but it looked like it was supposed to be that size, like it could fit someone like her!

Pip-Buck 2000 and 2000 Mk. II-L Prototype!’

‘The Pip-buck 2000 revolutionised how Robronco made their portable technology, incorporating rust-proofing, heavy durability and enhanced versions of SATS. As well as increasing screen size and adding backlighting. The future model 3000 surpasses it in every way, but it’s nice to see what had changed between the two.’

‘The 2000 MkII-L, on the other hand, isn’t quite there. Based off of the 2000, It was originally presented to the princess as a version designed to fit her form, but was rejected. This prototype was mostly a proof-of-concept, as the very recent 3000’s one-size-fits-all capability made it obsolete. It was just easier to base the prototype off of the 2000 as opposed to the well-rounded 3000. Though there’s no official records of her having purchased or acquired one anyway.
The L’s version of SATS, while capable of longer duration and mass target acquisition, suffers from the spell having lost some of its potency. It was also found that, because of the Pip-buck’s increased size allows for a higher-powered lamp, multiple interface jacks and a more precise Eyes Forward Sparkle, it had frequent power-fluctuations. As a result, it requires regular rebooting. It was also unable to incorporate most pip-buck’s specialised locking system, and is instead held in place with an assortment of small magnets and a damage-resistant latch.

This is the only one in existence, and is fully functional. Do not attempt to steal it, it won’t fit your arm, and will be traced.’

“Huh... Well this is a no-brainer.” Deciduous mused to herself with a shrug. She retrieved her revolver and casually smashed the glass case open with the butt of the handle. Picking out the Pip-buck from within, she turned it over in her hand, eyeing it. It… Seemed okay? How did one gauge the suitability of a Pip-Buck? And did she actually care? Not particularly, no.
Fitting it to her wrist, she was surprised to find it quite a snug fit. Closing the latch and firmly anchoring it in place, she found the switch marked ‘Power’ and pressed it. A flash occupied her vision, a sudden jolt going through her brain, and she passed out.

---__(1st Person)__---

When I opened my eyes again, I was staring at the ceiling. In the corners of my vision however, I could see words appearing. A bright amber-yellow silhouette of an alicorn appeared in the top-right corner of my vision, but I couldn’t follow it with my eyes, as it kept moving no matter how I shifted my eyes. It was broken into segments with lines pointing to my limbs and torso, all marked ‘OK’, though strangely enough, the wings portion of it was marked ‘???’.

More text flooded my vision;

Pip-buck 2000, Mark II-L - Initialising...
Initialising SATS Ver. 0.7 - Complete
Initialising Inventory Management system - Complete
Initialising Body Condition Monitoring - Complete
User Compatibility Error; Wing Type; Unknown...
User Compatibility Error; Subject pony type; Unknown...
Unknown user detected - Alerting authorities, please wait...
Authorities unreachable at this time, sending ping...
Emergency Ping software not found...
Adjusting compatibility to suit new user...

Error; Power source status; Insufficient…
Error; Pipbuck software out of date! Please update…
No compatible update software found...
Cancelling future update check…
Eyes Forward Sparkle now initialising…
Munitions Level Monitoring - Activated
Medical Supplies Monitoring - Activated
Magic Levels Monitoring - Activated
Alert; Magic levels above normal threshold...
Seek medical attention if this is not normal...

Initialisation complete...

Have a very safe day.

An amber-yellow pony appeared over the text, giving a thumbs-up and a wink before vanishing.
Blinking as the text disappeared, I stared at the ceiling a little longer, expecting something else to pop up in my vision. When nothing else happened, I sat up, looking around. This display - Eyes Forward Sparkle, I believe it was called- also gave an indicator near the bottom of my sight. Showing the cardinal directions, as well as a hollow, yellow blip moving around. It neared the door, and I was preparing to reach for the revolver when the blip revealed itself to belong to the drone.

“My queen! Are you alright? I heard the glass shatter and a sound like something hitting the floor. You weren’t responding in the hive-mind, what happened? I feared you dead, or worse... ” His voice trailed out as I waved him off, getting to my hooves and looking at the Pipbuck latched onto my wrist. “I’m fine, drone. Just an... an incident with this... thing. I am unharmed. I think.”

Turning my attention back to the room, I had to wonder what a place like this was even doing way out here. Why did the pony who owned this place think anyone would come out here in search of a museum? The entire idea made my head hurt, so I opted to instead avoid possibly damaging my brain further trying to make sense of this, and check out the terminal by the wall.

The metallic box mystified me to no end; How did they get the text to appear on the screen? How did the keyboard transfer letters to said screen? Why didn’t I consider these questions with the pipbuck? Shaking my head to rid my mind of such unanswerable queries, I focused on the text on the screen.

Robronco Terminal; version 1.0

In a vain attempt to win against Stable-Tec’s revolutionary design, Robronco created these terminals in a bid to outclass the superior company via having all of their terminals contain a basic ‘cheat sheet’ program on how to hack through Stable-Tec Security.
For the sake of the museum, we have left this program intact and locked out all other access, if you can crack the code at the most secure encryption level, you could win a prize.

A prize? Hmm, if it’s still there, or if it was even there at all, it could be worth something. I glanced at the keyboard, not quite sure what I was supposed to press. Choosing to smash my fist on the keyboard and see what happened, the screen gave an affirmative-sounding *plink!* the screen changed, coming up with an assortment of words and jumbled characters. Alright... this should be easy...

Seventeen tries later, I wasn’t so sure as I smashed my fists against the top of the infernal machine. Why wouldn’t this hunk of metal tell me its secrets?! A polite cough from behind got my attention, turning to face the drone as he chewed idly on a piece of dried meat. My queen... He messaged through the hivemind If I may take a look on your behalf? Perhaps I can solve this problem.

I stared at him a moment. Then back to the screen, and then back to him. With a sigh, I relented, backing away from the terminal and allowing him to try his luck. There was no way he was going to-

He got it on the first guess. The screen flashed bright green before moving to a more complex set of passwords

Ah yes, I thought so. The password was Robronco, my queen.

After shutting my dropped jaw in surprise, I have a pseudo-confident smirk “I see, well if you could beat such a difficult challenge so easily, perhaps we’ll only have another one before we get this supposed prize.”

I’m afraid not, my queen. That one was on the easiest encryption difficulty, there were only four options. Laughably easy even. He shut up almost immediately after seeing my frustrated glare. The easiest difficulty, surely not. I wasn’t that bad with technology, was I?

Was I?

Notes:

Pipbuck acquired!

Determining party stats and perks, please wait…

Queen Deciduous (Level up! - Level 3)

Trait: Seasoned Veteran - Your long lifespan has allowed you to learn many things over the years, all SPECIAL Stats are permanently increased by 2. However, your skills suffer from much of this experience now being outdated, and adapting to what has changed takes twice as long as it would any normal pony or changeling.

Trait: Changeling Queen - Your unique appearance, height and body composition makes you stand out in a crowd, inciting both fear and suspicion… and granting a natural +1 to Strength. Your chitinous body gives you +2 DT.

‘New’ Spell: Disguise - As a changeling queen, you have the ability to shift your body’s appearance, height, weight, and voice with ease. Except for flying. Buzz Buzz.

Trait: Catastrophic Loss - The loss of your hive has left you in massive distress, you suffer a -2 to Endurance, Charisma and Agility. This trait’s effects will fade over time.

Trait: Technological Incompetence - You’re so bad with electronics, you could probably make an ice machine catch fire given the chance. You suffer a massive -75 to the Science skill, and it can never go above 25... Ever!

Changeling Drone (name taken - proposing name-change) (Level up! Level 2)

Trait: Follow the Leader! - In groups, you are strong! You gain a +1 to all SPECIAL stats when within command radius of a Queen. And +2 to all skills with every other changeling drone present. This effect stacks, but not against other changelings.

Author's Note

This chapter has yet to be fully edited by my Editor, Echo_Off, as he dares to have this thing to call a life and not spend every waking moment checking the spelling, punctuation, grammar and story flow of a crummy little piece of fanfiction. I'm not being serious about that, of course. I shall update this once his editing of it is complete.

The song Deciduous sings is Billy Joel's 'Through the Long Night' with one word changed for the sake if it not making sense otherwise.

Thanks ot Kkat for making Fo:E, and all that stuff :3