Standing on a beach beset by now emptied lifeboats, Glorious Quest shoots out a flare from his horn which draws the attention of the exhausted crowd of cruise members spread far and wide. Stars, aside from a couple unicorns who still have enough strength to maintain faint floating and shimmering balls, are the only source of light, but over the past hours on the boats they left the storm behind so at least the summer night is warm again and the lack of shelter won't be an immediate problem.
"I wish to congratulate you on your resilience, dear guests!" Quest's voice, presumably amplified by magic, reaches even the farthest groups of creatures which includes Chrysalis and her changelings, "Now rest, please. Quest Security specialists are trained, among other things, in wilderness survival, so there's little that can surprise us. We are going to secure this part of the beach for the night. The coordinates of the cruise ship have been noted and an expedition will eventually be mounted to recover everything of importance."
"We have no food!" someone calls out.
"Don't worry!" Quest's tone remains positive and encouraging, "Judging by our trajectory, there is a reasonable chance that we landed on the Ataraki island itself or on a neighboring island belonging to the archipelago. As soon as daylight breaks, we'll send out pegasus scouts to see how far we are and to inform the resort staff about our situation. They'll no doubt send a ship our way and while we're waiting, my guards will secure some fruit, water, and shelter. We'll get through this, and the day after tomorrow at worst all this will be just a bad memory."
Sighs of relief can be heard all over the place before Quest clears his throat again and finishes his speech with:
"One warning, however! You shouldn't move away from the beach. The jungle ahead can be dangerous, so just stay here, enjoy the sounds of the sea, and go to sleep. You earned it."
He removes the voice amplification spell and starts giving orders to a group of SECURITY ponies who hear him out and scatter among the cruise guests.
As time passes, more light sources appear - the golden light of the paladin group, green glimmer of 1313's horn reflecting off of his striped companions, a makeshift torch shimmering with dim white light which Gem stuck into the sand, and Chrysalis' horn as well. Gradually, however, they all fade as the respective parties go to sleep, leaving only Sun Hammer, easily visible due to her pattern of shimmering scars, and Quest Security ponies patrolling around the edge of the jungle.
As for the hive changelings - 387 curls up on his own, 93 a few hooves away between him and Chrysalis while the Queen mentally orders 99526, who is the naturally chubbiest right now due to its involuntary bloating, to curl up under her head as a pillow.
"If you throw up all over my head, I promise I'll spend this entire trip designing a new crusher just for you and shove you there legs first so that you have time to watch."
"Eep!" 99526 shifts under her head as it shoves both forelegs in front of its mouth.
The rest of the drones pile up on each other. High Score-related hostilities or not, certain traumatic experiences can only be solved with a proper pile.
***
The light of the late morning finds the vast majority of cruise passengers still asleep, exhausted from the ordeal of last night. The only awake creatures are several Quest Security guards now busy with constructing basic shelter along the border of the jungle. Well, them and the veteran drones who are so used to having a set sleepy time that this level of exhausting trauma still isn't enough to break the habit. Besides, how much worse can the stress of simple drowning really be compared to the old days?
Said veterans are now sitting by the sea, enjoying the warmth of the sun before it gets too hot around noon as the soft waves gently splash around their hooves.
YOU ARE READING
They're... ON HOLIDAY?
Fanfiction[SEQUEL TO: They're EVERYWHERE!] Several years after the changeling invasion of Canterlot, queen Chrysalis gets an invitation to attend a cruise followed by a stay in a luxury holiday resort on an island belonging to the Griffon Empire. Supposedly...
