They're... ON HOLIDAY?

Day 2 - Points: 3/9

The radio has been making noises for some time. Not talking, just making noises. 99380 starts humming along and swaying its head from side to side because those are pleasant noises.

"Liking the music, I take it?" the bartender asks when he hears the changeling following the tune pretty much perfectly, only with a tiny delay, "Quiet lo-fi goes great with early morning."

"I like these noises very much," replies 99380 politely, "Is the Fuzzy lady making those too?"

"No, that's just a recording. So... you don't know how music works either?"

99380 shakes its head, feeling even more lost than usual.

"Sorry..."

"I didn't mean it as criticism," the bartender says quickly, "I'm just surprised, that's all. I thought that you changelings kinda knew everything about ponies so that you could... umm... you know... do the whole replacement thing."

"Ooooh!" 99380 nods in understanding, "That's high ranks, not us drones. I'm sure 93 or 387 know all about music and radios and Fluffy ladies, and the Queen does for sure, but we just live in the tunnels of the hive, digging holes and moving anything that needs moving."

"You mean you've never replaced a pony and feasted on their partner's love?"

"Oh holes no," 99380 chuckles, shaking its head, "I've never even seen a pony up close before this whole trip."

"Funny how little we know about each other," the bartender finishes with his examination of stock, "Hey, changeling, I gotta go down for supplies. If you want, I can leave the radio on."

"That would be great!" 99380 beams, "Do you think there will be more talking ponies on?"

"For sure."

99380 puts its head on the counter and closes its eyes, listening to the music and humming along. Peaceful minutes pass until the drone hears approaching hoofsteps and the bar stool next to it moves.

"Heya!" says a cheerful, slightly buzzing voice.

99380 mentally prods the closest hive link, from which comes a chipper reply:

"Yep, that's me too!"

The link is familiar but still one which it had never connected to before. The drone sits up and turns to the right, facing...

...the wide open teal eyes and the happy smile of another drone. This one is practically glowing with love and there are absolutely no scratches or unhealed scars anywhere on its carapace. On top of everything, it has a belt with a small, dark purple saddle bag around its chest, a scabbard with a metal stick on a belt around its waist, and it's wearing horseshoes of the same hue.

"Hi!" 99380 pokes the other drone's chest, concluding its examination with: "You're not from the hive, are ya?"

"Of course I am!" the other drone pauses, "I mean, I hatched there but I live in Canterlot these days. My name's 65536. Nice to meet you!" it offers a hoof, "That's a pony thing - you shake it."

"Ohmyholes, you're the hero of soup! I'm 99380," it hooks a jagged protrusion on its foreleg into 65536's leg hole and they shake their forelegs, "What are you doing here? The pony said he had to get some things but he didn't need any help carrying them. Goop, I suppose I should have asked just to be sure. Oh well, there will be another chance to gain points."

"Points? I like those. What do you get for them?" asks 65536, "Did you see Luna's plushie in High Score's shrine? I got it by earning enough points for smacking fake gribblers."

"Woooow," 99380's jaw drops from being in the presence of a legend, "I don't think I'm allowed to do that here, though."

65536 turns its head from side to side.