They're... ON HOLIDAY?

Day 1 - Shippy time: 1/9

The trip from the Badlands to Manehattan was nothing to talk about. The summer weather was perfect for a long trek and, being accompanied by a warrior holding more than starvation level of love, an infiltrator ranking in double digits, as well as the queen herself, no timberwolf or any other predator could even close in on the group at any point in time unnoticed.

No, no amount of begging would persuade the queen to let the drones keep a shiny bear with its hide covered in stars that they saw one night as the newbie drones wanted. 387 and the drones that survived the dreamscape battle against Tantabus were much less enthusiastic as well, so eventually 387 just promised to fashion each drone a sturdy walking stick over the course of the trip instead.

I mean, having a chance to pet a giant shiny bear was one thing, but getting a durable stick that a drone would get to keep for itself? Now that was something.

Anyway, back to Manehattan...

***

I'm not scared. There totally AREN'T way too many ponies around. I gotta stay cool. The others are looking up to me. I'm not High Score but if anything goes wrong it'll be on me.

It's all about keeping and eye on things, staying vigil-

*Huff huff huff!*

"EEP!" 10013 darts to the side as the wet nose of a dog presses against its leg and starts sniffing the drone before licking it.

"Eww," the unicorn mare holding the dog's leash tugs on it with a haughty pout, "Don't touch that, Daisy, you don't know where it's been."

"In a forest, then some grassy hills, swamp, forest again, road..." 10013 stops as the mare ignores it and walks away with the dog.

10013 breathes out in relief. Whatever the fluffy sniffer was, it was close in size to the drone itself and, as it was breathing through its open mouth, 10013 saw teeth which, while not overly sharp, could still likely cause serious damage.

The drones are walking through the streets of Manehattan, dutifully following Chrysalis and 387. 10013 is in the back, making sure no one wanders away or stays behind. Thankfully, the queen's pace has been fairly relaxed ever since they entered the city, so even the short legs of drones are enough to keep up. On top of that, the crowds of ponies on the sidewalk seem to part in front of Chrysalis, giving the drones some space so that they don't have to push through. Unfortunately, while their surroundings are completely alien to the small drones, they don't have any opportunity to examine the smells or colors, and this strange world has shrunk to the endless stream of colorful ponies passing by and obscuring the view of anything else.

"Everything is ready for your arrival," 93's voice sounds through the minds of everyone, making a crude map of several streets assemble itself in everyone's heads, "You, Your Majesty, are to use the representative entrance here," a marker appears on the mental map leading up a smaller pier towards the depiction of a massive white ship, "while the rest of us will take the staff entrance here," the second marker appears on a larger pier, and 93 shares an image of ponies carrying heavy bags.

"No, you're coming with me, 93," replies Chrysalis, "387, take care of the drones and stay linked up."

"Yes, Your Majesty," both high ranks agree.

They arrive in the public section of Manehattan docks not even half an hour later, and split up. The crowds of ponies haven't thinned a bit despite the heat, but 387 is leading the way without a problem, and the group soon find themselves standing in a long queue filled presumably with servants of various members of nobility who signed up for the trip. In comparison to the ponies in front of and behind the changeling group who are wearing colorful clothes and distinguishing symbols, the changelings look even more out of place than usual, but no one is bothering them due to having a number of their own tasks to do.