Middle of winter or not, the area through which the small shuttle train carrying Smiley and 99999 is going is mostly devoid of snow as far as the eye can see in the morning light. Four specific changeling eyes watching the landscape can see far and wide because, for the first time since leaving the Badlands, they’re out of a forested area. The terrain consists mostly of resilient, ground-level shrubbery with only some solitary unknown spiky trees occasionally breaking the monotone. To a pony, it would be grey-ish brown, with light dusting of snow, and boring. To the two travelling changelings, it’s new. The train itself is a simple affair with only one passenger car and three cargo cars, similar to the one they originally took between Appleloosa and Ponyville, which to them means nothing, but an experienced traveller could assume that the place they’re going to isn’t particularly important. Yet, the rails are thick and solid and the tracks well-maintained, hinting at cargo traffic being more prevalent on this route.

Both changelings perk up when the train eventually starts slowing down and a collection of houses that could loosely be called a small town comes into view. The only major landmarks are the town hall with a bell tower on top, the train station they’re heading into, and a large, two-story mansion on a small hill on the northern edge of the town. The rest they can see from the train are the ground floor, residential houses with thatched roofs, much like Ponyville.

“Welcome to Northern San Palomino! Next stop - Southern San Palomino,” states the intercom as the train crawls to a halt, “We will be departing in an hour.”

“Well, here we are,” says 99999, suddenly so nervous it forgets the instructions, “Uh, what were we supposed to do when we got here?”

Smiley looks around at several passengers picking their things and shuffling through the narrow aisle to the exit, and quickly scribbles: [outside]

“R- right,” 99999 nods, grabs its backpack from underneath the chair -without its security egg, there’s no need to guard it as closely- and waits for Smiley so that they’re both leaving together, “Heheh, my leggos are shaking. Weird…”

Once they’re outside, Smiley nuzzles the drone’s neck and goes through her original backpack until she pulls out the folded message and gives it to the drone. While the drone re-reads it, she shudders. Despite very little snow, it’s still freezing, it’s just dry cold so it’s less obtrusive.

“Broadcast a hive link message -///xppds13…” mumbles 99999 and concentrates, “Here goes.”

The message is some kind of a mental code it can’t understand, nor does it receive any confirmation that it was heard.

“I can’t sense anything,” for a while, it keeps watching the train pull into the yard onto one of the two spare tracks, before asking quietly, “Do you think they just sent both of us as far away as they could?”

Smiley resolutely shakes her head and writes in big, bold letters:

[YOU NO SENT AWAY. ME SENT AWAY. YOU GOOD DRONE]

“I guess we just have to wait,” 99999 forces a nervous smile.

In the absence of concrete orders, they just sit down on one of the two benches on the platform and watch the train crew slowly leave for a small bistro by the station which looks like it had been added recently. Now that there’s time to just watch as well as enough light to see further into the town, the changelings recognize that, in fact, most buildings that aren’t housing are on the newer side. Perhaps this place used to be a small residential town like Dodge Junction, but in the recent time it got some upgrades to get on the level of Appleloosa. Of course, the whys and wherefores of the situation are beyond the analytical process of the duo.

If there’s something drones are good at, it’s waiting, and after roughly ten minutes, a voice coming from someone they didn’t see, hear, or sense approaching says:

“Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“Aah?!” 99999 yelps and looks up at a wiry changeling measuring it with eyes narrowed in suspicion. Reflexively, the drone looks at Smiley as the one with more experience, and notices that her demeanor is similar to when they met 1988 in Las Pegasus for the first time, even more pronounced, “Hello, Mister! I think Smiley wants to say something. You gotta be patient because she can’t-”

“Talk. I’m aware,” says the changeling and glances over to her. Smiley is smiling with a hopeful expression, one foreleg raised and bent while pointing with the other at the lighter zebra-like stripe on it, “Yes, Smiley, I remember you. First, though, I want to know why the two of you are here and, most importantly, if there are only the two of you.”

Smiley nods and reaches into her backpack.

“Yup, only the two of us,” 99999 nods, “I might not have died on the train if there were more of us.”

“Died…?” the changeling’s voice turns into a whisper, “No. She wouldn’t…”

“Are you okay, Mister?” asks 99999 as Smiley waves the note with instructions again and gives it to the changeling who carefully reads it multiple times. Unsure what’s happening, the drone adds, “I think I’m supposed to stay around here. I’m not really sure why-” the changeling absent-mindedly pats 99999’s head, silencing it.

“Come with me,” he says, stuffing the note under his leg carapace, and leads the way, “Sorry for being so suspicious. I must admit I was hoping the Queen forgot about us completely. Oh, manners, right,” he smiles at 99999, and links up with it as well as with Smiley, “I’m 1313 and, believe it or not, you might be the Queen’s attempt to repay a debt to me and my wife.”

“That’s a good thing, right?” 99999’s nervousness returns. Does that mean it’s supposed to do something now?

[Zamzam?]

“If you call her that, I think she might never let you leave, Smiley, and the note did say they’ll want you back eventually,” 1313 snickers and notices 99999, “Yes, that’s a good thing, little guy. Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll grow to like it here. The ponies are nice and, since we built the train station using royal funds, there are travellers staying here often and sharing stories. Plus, there’s a lot to do all the time. As for love, you’ll see,” 1313 smirks, “Oh, and one more thing. You said you died, right?” he asks in a strangely casual tone.

“Yup, twice! Once back in the hive and once on the way here,” 99999 nods.

“Those are rookie numbers. How does it work for you?”

“For you?” 99999 gasps this time for real, “WAIT! YOU DIED TOO?!”

1313 laughs and starts sharing his numerous experiences with shattering to pieces with the drone excited to find someone similar to it. Smiley is just silently walking along and taking in the details of the morning town, happy to see a familiar friendly face again. The trio draws surprised looks from the occasional outside pony, but by now she can vaguely distinguish pony expressions and the onlookers seem curious and without any disdain. 1313 leads them to the mansion overlooking the town. While the main double door is unguarded, Smiley notices shadows walking behind the windows and can distinctly hear some banging on the roof and ground cracking from behind the house.

Once they enter, Smiley sniffs the air, taking in a strange, spicy mix of scents coming from the door across a short hall from the entrance.

“Wipe your hooves,” 1313 points at the inside doormat, “I know that cleanliness isn’t a drone thing, but it’s critical for everyone else, so you’ll be learning quickly,” as the drones curiously poke the somewhat bristly square on the floor just behind the entrance, 1313 raises his voice and calls out, “Zamira, honey! I think your Hearth’s Warming present is here!”

Several seconds pass.

“1313, you know we’re on a budget-” a loving but slightly annoyed voice comes along with steps approaching from behind the inner door.

“GASP! IMMA PRESENT?!” 99999 squeaks, finally getting it.

After that, the door slams open, revealing a built zebra mare who only briefly glances at smugly smirking 1313 before her jaw drops as she sees and clearly recognizes Smiley, and finally her eyes stop on 99999.

“You can’t be- she really- Queen Chrysalis stuck to her word?” the zebra stutters out.

Smiley raises her tablet with [Zamzam] still written on it.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

For once, the high-pitched voice doesn’t belong to a drone.

Epilogue:

It’s the day after Hard Swarming Eee.

While the sleepy time yesterday was longer due to the celebration and massive overeating, drones are now happily at work again, high ranks have been sent out on love-gathering missions, this time for real, and a couple of individuals are standing in front of the hive gate, looking out at the plains once again whipped by wind and snow.

“Not the best weather for going outside,” comments 156, looking at 65536 who is once again harnessed to its cart. Thankfully, there’s only the heating box for clothes loaded on it now as well as a small package of spares and a sleeping bag, so the drone barely even feels the weight.

“It’s fine,” 65536 waves it off, “As long as the wind doesn’t turn the cart over it’s still far from the worst I’ve had to walk through. And think of it this way - the more time I have to work back home, the more bits I’ll save and the more stuff I’ll be able to bring with me next time.”

“Buddy, if you lived still in the hive, you’d be High Score for sure,” says 10k, giving 65536 a careful hug.

“Stick to the schedule,” 65536 beams, “If you don’t, Shiny Nose will tell me.”

“I will, I will,” 10k smiles back, “My body won’t let me overdo it anyway.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay one more day?” this time, while still generalized, 156’s words are more aimed at Whispershade and 387 standing by 65536’s cart.

“156, the last time I was outside the hive for longer was for the invasion of Canterlot. The time before that was when we fled to the Badlands under Big Floaty’s grandmother the first place,” 387 smiles at Chrysalis standing between 156 and 10k, “For the first time in… holes, it could actually be over a thousand years, I feel comfortable leaving things in someone else’s hooves. I want to see how the world has changed, how ponies and others feel about us. I want to know if we can spread again, and I want to know if there are more of us still alive,” he glances at Whispershade.

“There are a couple and they’ll be happy to meet the secret guide of successful changeling escapees,” says Whispershade warmly before giving a short but courteous bow to Chrysalis, “Queen, I… I still can’t put my faith in you, but I can put it in 387. We’ve lived through the horrors our rulers put our species through, and if he finally feels there’s a Queen worthy of her hive, I defer to his judgement and I wish you the best,” he looks at 10k, “Same goes for you, little guy. We’ll try to reestablish some kind of changeling community in Canterlot, and thanks to 65536 I think it might not take long. If any drones or their companions decide to visit, they’ll have a safe place to rest.”

“I might take you up on that sooner than you think,” says Chrysalis, “With the political and social situation of changelings shifting towards the better, I’m toying with some ideas for an… outreach program, both for ponies as well as changelings who might want to reconnect with their roots. It won’t be tomorrow or in a couple months, but the time will come.”

387 walks over and kisses 156 before approaching 10k and pulling it into a hug.

“You’re doing my job now. Holes, you’ve been doing bigger and bigger part of it for some time now,” he says when he rises up again, “9999 and 36658 would be proud of what you’ve achieved. One day I’ll return and I’ll turn every breaky time into story time for months on end.”

10k senses a strange mental marker form inside the drone section of the hive mind, signed with “Open it if things start turning grim again”. It can only nod, overwhelmed by a mix of pride, fear, and grief.

“I’m not good with goodbyes,” says Chrysalis.

387 reaches out and boops her, enjoying her reflexive snarl and bared fangs.

“Not only with those, because this isn’t a goodbye. It’s just a ‘See you later’,” 387 turns around, facing Whispershade and 65536, “Ready?”

“Yup,” 65536 waves at everyone.

“Yes,” says Whispershade, able to read 387’s emotions better than anyone else, “More importantly, are you?”

387 glances over his shoulder back at Chrysalis and wipes his eyes.

“No, but standing here won’t make it easier,” he looks outside through the hive entrance again, “65536, you know the route the best. Lead the way.”

As they leave into the snowstorm, 387 hears:

“I’ll miss you.”

“Don’t worry, 156. Nothing will stop me from coming back with a present matching all you’ve given me.”

With that, the hive link closes, the snowstorm obscures 387’s sight of the hive, and the new world awaits.

Author's Note

And there we have it, the drone trilogy is finished. I think I'll call it New Order.
How shocking is it to get an unambiguously good ending?
Anyway, thanks for sticking around and reading, I hope it was worth the time spent. I also hope that you're here not just because of habit and that I'm getting somewhat better. Considering that I was looking up some references in older stories recently, I reread bits and pieces and I can't say that's the case.