They're... ON HOLIDAY?

Day 4 - Shipwrecked?: 1/7

"-I wanted to run in to look for anyone still stuck but the SECURITY ponies told me to stay on the deck instead and show anyone trying to escape where to go," 10013 finishes recounting its experience from last night.

"Aww, poor 99111," 20100 nods knowingly, "I still remember completely freezing up during my first cave-in. Thankfully, I was with 13415 who bit my ear so hard it snapped me out of it and I could run again."

"Maybe if 99111 believed in High Score a little more, it would help it like it must have helped me," 36658 grumbles, "I have no clue what happened, but there I was - helping Miss Gem pull out some Blueblood pony through a hole in the ship and then fly him up on the deck. A big pony too, even though he was super skinny. I think he's not getting enough of what the pony equivalent of proper love is. It sounded like he was important to Miss Gem."

"You have no idea how right you are, buddy," 65536 sighs, "I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to tell you so I'll keep it simple. Mister Blueblood used to be a super important pony but he did a lot of bad things and now he's, uhh, down on his luck. Pretty badly. Imagine like... rank 10, right? And they get demoted aaaaaall the way down to our drone status."

"Oh no!" 10013's jaw drops.

"Yup. No love, no status, not good at digging," 65536 shakes its head, "Terrible stuff. But Miss Gem believes that learning how to be a proper drone can make him appreciate what pony high ranks have and become a better pony as a result. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be working too well..."

"Ohhhhhh," 36658 smacks its forehead, "That's why she was trying to make anti-sad pills! The... shallow hole drugs."

"Depression?" 65536 hazards a guess.

"Yup, that thingy!" 36658 nods.

"I see," 65536 shrugs, "Well, if she thinks it's a good idea she must have a reason. She's super smart."

"Can we help somehow?" asks 36658, "I worked with her all day and it didn't look as if we got anywhere but she gave me a few anguishdecimators to experiment with anyway. Nice lady. Weird but nice."

"Who is?" asks 93, approaching the group.

"Miss Gem, the zebra who gave me the anguishdecimators you took for your... uhh... overhang?" explains 36658.

"Hangover, yes," 93 nods.

"Speaking of which, are you okay? You looked terrible earlier," asks 65536 with genuine care in its voice which prompts curious looks from other drones. As an explanation, 65536 adds, "I dug her out of her room when the water rose up enough to block the door."

"I got so drunk I couldn't transform at all," 93 sighs, sitting down, furthering the surprise of the drones, "And the doors of the good suites are- were much more secure than the planks of wood they used for your cabins."

"Can we do that?" asks 36658, "Miss Gem suggested I should try some alcohol to mix into some version of agonyslayers, not sure what to call those yet. But I didn't feel any different after drinking something called... whiss-key."

"Heh," 93 chuckles, "The Queen asked me to try things to figure out what I enjoy so I found some ponies playing cards and drinking, and transformed my insides to metabolize alcohol to complete the experience. I'm hesitating to try it ever again," she rubs her temples.

"You don't know what you like?" asks 10013, "I mean, we drones have it easy but I thought you top ranks kinda already tried everything in the pony world and know everything."

93 bursts out laughing for a moment before quickly lowering her voice and looking around in case she woke anyone up.

"My case is... a little different," she says, "But the Queen expressly forbade me to go into detail so all I can say is that I didn't have a lot of exposure to the outside world before this trip. I visited several places but I didn't have that much time to spend there," she pokes 10013, "You're older than me, little guy."

"Wooooow," 10013 processes the information before looking up into 93's eyes, "Wait, that means you got to be the hive's current top rank in such a short time? That's amazing!"

"It's more complicated than that," 93 pats 10013's head, "Anyway, enough about me. I was stuck, 65536 got me out of the ship. That's all," she looks sideways at carefully approaching 99380, curious about what's going on but unwilling to interrupt a high rank when she's talking, "How did you get to the lifeboats?" she gestures at the drone to sit next to her.

"Me?" 99380 does so, "I didn't do anything special, really. I was in the workshop with 99526. We were trying to figure out a way to use the crazy amount of goop 99526 was producing after eating all we could thanks to 20100's chippies. 99111 helped Miss Trixie fix a door with goop earlier so we thought someone could use 99526's, uhh, overflow," it points towards the drone in question still serving as a pillow for sleeping Chrysalis, although now being held like a small spoon with her forelegs, "There was a bunch of ponies fixing stuff there so I think we had the right idea. Then the big boom happened and everything shook," 99380 whimpers, "What was that anyway?"

"No idea," 10013 shrugs, "I was on the observation platform when, out of nowhere, the side of the ship blew up."

"We'll see when the other guests wake up and the ship's crew investigates," says 93, "Right now we should be happy that no one drowned. Considering how many creatures there were, that's a small miracle. Keep going, 99380."

"There isn't that much to say, really," the drone shrugs, "The door got stuck and we couldn't get out. The Bright Star pony who helped us in the casino said that the blast shields and magic wards activated and that the workshop was heavily protected in case of an accident happening inside. Oh, and they were all really angry when the shaking made 99526 throw up into the water and it started spreading. Anyway, when the water got too high, Bright Star made air bubbles appear around everyone's heads and said we had to hope someone will come for us because the spell couldn't keep us breathing indefinitely. I told him that we could dig through but that 387 would get really angry with us if we made holes in the ship and Bright Star said he would explain things to anyone who might be mad at us because the ship was sinking already," 99380 shudders.

"What?" 93 pulls the drone to her side, "If you're worried about 387, he won't do anything. You didn't sink the ship and that's what he was worried about. You didn't do anything wrong."

"N-No," 99380 mumbles, "When I dug through the wall where Mister Bright Star told me, some creatures started yelling at me that I was an idiot for not doing it sooner... and other really mean things."

"You know what?" 93 grabs the drone under its armpits and makes it look up at her, "When we're safer, tell me who yelled at you and-" she lowers her voice, "-they'll have a little accident."

"What? No!" 99380 shakes its head, "We can't be mean! We gotta make sure they all see that we're not the baddies anymore."

"Of course," 93 smirks, "I'm thinking something secret and funny, not violent. A simple prank."

"Can we run it by 387 first?" 99380 clearly isn't persuaded.

"Definitely! And we'll only do it if he agrees, okay?"

*Nod nod nod!*

"Perfect," 93 smiles, "So, you dug a hole and then you all swam out?"

"Yup!" 99380 nods, "I'm happy everyone is okay. So, uhh, what are we doing during this worky time?"

Everyone looks at 93.

"I don't know about any orders for you," she shrugs.

Everyone looks at 10013. The drone breathes in, looks around, and breathes out. The framework regarding how the world works that's slowly building inside its mind is making decisions easier.

"We do what we always do!"

"Dig?"

"Carry?"

"Make goop?"

"Make agonyslayers?"

"Protect the nice ponies!"

"Not you, 65536, you've got your own thing these days."

"Awww, I wanted to feel like a part of the buggy squad."

"We help," states 10013 in the end, "Anywhere and everywhere we can."