Seeking

Chapter 9

“Hey guys, slow down!”  Crow lifted his hoof up and looked into the rocky plains of sand and dust.  He stood on top of a hill overlooking the Badlands, at the bottom the hill the rest of the expedition waited for his say so to move on. In the distance he could see the red mountains stretch up and touch the greyish sky.  Where was the sun?  How long had they been trotting?  The train had dropped them at Dodge City two days ago and they were pretty far into the Badlands, but what time was it now?  It seemed to be getting dark, so maybe….

“Ok guys, let’s set up camp, we’ll head out in the morning, Talon and Lightning Dash get over here, I need your help!”

Crow looked back out into the wastes of the Badlands.  It had been thirteen years since he had been here, he had done so much in those thirteen years.  The adventures he went on, the ponies he had met, the things he learned, and the wonders he saw.  He was still so young and there was so much more to see and experience.  He smiled.  This was the life.

“You wanted to see us boss?”  Lightning Dash asked flying up the hill with Talon.

“Yeah pony, what do you want from us?”  Talon asked in a snide voice.

“While we set up camp I want you two to go out and scout three miles to the south, make sure there is nothing that will attack us in our sleep.”

“Sure sounds good buddy!”  Lightning Dash gave a nonchalant salute.

“Fine.”  Talon said flapping his wings and taking off toward the south.

“Hey, wait up!”  Lightning Dash yelled flying after him, “Nopony flies faster than me!”

Crow watched the two fly off into the distance.  He worried for a moment about his friends, but it quickly past.  He wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.  The Badlands were a dangerous place, but why hadn’t they seen anything?  They didn’t see any changelings, any dragons, not even any borrowers.  They should have at least encountered something, not that Crow was upset that it had been a safe trip, it was just…strange.  Even the wildlife seemed lacking, rattle snakes, burrowing owls, diamond back basilisks they had barely seen any of them.  Something here was different, something was off.  Could it be that it was finally awake?  That…thing…that’s the only thing that could cause such a disturbance in a place like this.  Crow rubbed his hoof through his mane.  This needed to end.  It needed to die.  At least now he had an excuse to get into The Hive and kill the Beast.

“Brother!  You ok?  You ain’t looking so hot.”

Crow turned around and saw Sash running up the hill.  Crow smiled.  Sash always knew the right time to come and comfort him.  He was good brother.

“Yeah I’m fine, just doing some thinking.  You know that boring thing you never do.”

Sash laughed, “Ha, if I did as much thinking as you, I’d miss every mare or stallion that ever passed me and what kind of life is that?”

“If you did half as much thinking as I do you might actually get one of those ponies.”

“You jerk!”  Sash tackled Crow and beat him with his metal hoof.

“Haha, OW, quit it!”

“Say you’re sorry!”

“Fine I’m sorry, you pervert!”

“And don’t you forget it!”  Sash stood up and helped Crow get back up.  He looked at Crow.  Sash’s smile faded, his was serious now.  “Seriously brother, are you ok, because I know I’m not.  He was my dad too you know and going back here isn’t easy for me, so I can’t imagine it is easy for you.”

“You’re right.”  Crow frowned, “But it’s more than that.  I think it’s awake again, I thought us four had rid the world of that horror, but look around, the place is full of fear, nothing is brave enough to come out in fear of that dreaded thing.”  Crow’s voice had hatred in it, a tone Sash was not too familiar with, but he couldn’t blame him.

“Are you sure?  After what happened last time-”

“Shhh, not now.  Look.”  Crow motioned to the camp, “Its best that we don’t worry them.”

Sash nodded, “What are we going to do about it?”

“We take it step by step like we always do, remember mom’s first lesson?”

“The greatest adventure is the one you don’t plan for, just take it step by step and you’ll make it through.”  Sash smiled, “Ok brother.  Why don’t you go check on the camp’s progress and I’ll keep watch here.”

“Thanks brother.”  Crow hugged Sash and made his way down to the camp.

The camp was coming along nicely.  Tempest had begun preparing dinner, while the others set up tents.  Whatever Tempest was cooking it smelt really good.  That was one good thing about bringing Tempest along, he was a great cook, he could even make the crappy ration food taste good.  On top of that Crow was sure that Tempest would make a great adventurer like his father.   Crow’s dad had always told him stories about Tempest’s dad and how many times he saved his life, he was true friend.

Crow smiled at Tempest, “How’s it going buddy?”

“Not bad, trying to get enough food for breakfast tomorrow.  I was thinking some carrot stew would do nicely.”

“We have carrots?  I thought we only brought oats, water and some other dry foods.”

“I might have snuck some veggies in my travel sack.”

“Haha, good on you.”

“Master Crow!”  Arcane Arts called galloping over to him.  She was young caramel unicorn who was among the top of her class in Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.  A fine addition to the team, but like Echo she had a problem.

“I told you not to call me master.”

“I’m sorry Mas-Crow, but there is a situation…we found….something.”

“What is it?”

“Come with me please.”

Arcane Arts led Crow into one of the tents where Echo was standing in the corner looking down at the ground.  She was focused on something.  When she noticed that Crow walked in she turned around and saluted him.

“Sir Crow, thank you for coming.”

“Please everypony, stop calling me sir, captain, master, I’m none of those things nor do I want to be any of those things so please, just call me Crow.”

“Very well Crow, anyway, we do have problem please come over here.”

Crow trotted over to the corner where Echo was standing and looked at the ground.  There in the tent was a tear leading to a hole in the ground.  It was wide and dark, big enough to fit a whole pony in it, though it was hard to tell how far it went down.  It didn’t seem to be a burrower’s hole, too small and there would have been a rumbling prior.  That meant…

“Well, that is a problem, hmmm.”  Crow studied the hole for a brief moment, he had an idea, but he wasn’t sure.  He could ignore it, but where’s the fun in that?  “Well no use standing around, I’ll go in.  If I’m not back in two hours you should probably wait longer.”  Crow took his lantern off his saddle bag and slowly start to lower himself into the hole.

“I’m sorry Crow, but as head of security on this expedition and as head of security I cannot allow you to go down there alone.”  Echo commanded, trying to pull Crow out of the hole.

“Great, so you’ll come with me then!”  Crow lightly pulled on Echo’s hoof, but she withdrew it quickly and took a few steps back.

“What?!”

“Come on let’s go!  Arcane Arts, don’t let anypony in here while we’re gone, thanks you’re the best!”

Crow let go of the edge of the hole and jumped down into the unknown.  His lantern illuminated it pretty well, it showed a tunnel leading further down into the ground.  Crow started down the cramped tunnel, his sides brushing up against the rough rocky walls, though as he got deeper into the tunnel it seemed to get bigger.  Behind him he could hear Echo jump down and quickly trot after him.

“Heh.”  Crow laughed quietly to himself, “I finally got a mare to chase after me, Sash would be proud.”

“I should tell you Crow!”  Echo called down the tunnel, “Luna’s bats have very good hearing, so watch what you say!”

“Sorry!  Um…hey hurry up, it gets bigg-WOAH!”  Crow tripped and fell down a steep drop.  He tumbled down and down, hitting his head against the hard jagged rock floor.  At the bottom of the drop he roughly slid against the hard floor, scratching his front hooves and chest.  He skidded to a stop and laid there for a moment, shuddering at the pain.

“CROW!  ARE YOU OK?”

Crow rubbed his head.  When he looked down at his hoof he could see a red liquid on his hoof.  He felt light headed and there was something dripping down his face.  Luckily his lantern was fine and was still illuminating the tunnel, that was something.  Crow looked around.   He was in some sort of large arch chamber.  How far had fallen?  Not too far, but far enough for this to be buried.  All around the arch chamber were tunnels leading who knows where.

“CROW!  ARE YOU OK?!”  Echo called again.

“Yeah!”  Crow called back, “I fell down a drop and hit my head.  I’m bleeding a bit, but I should be fine!”

“Bl-Blood?”

“Yeah just a little, but I’ll live…”  Crow rubbed his head, “Hopefully…”  He whispered quietly to himself.  He called out again, “Anyways, you’ll want to get down here and check this out, there’s an entire arch chamber down here, it’s pretty cool!”

“Coming!”

Crow looked around the arch chamber some more.  He slowly stood up and walked over to one of tunnels.  He held up his lantern to it to see what he could find.  The walls seemed to be covered in some sort of black ooze like substance.  It seemed familiar, but the blow to head was messing with Crow’s brain.  What was it?  Damn.  Crow knew he knew what it was, what it meant, but what?  He set his lantern down and felt the wall with his hoof.  It stuck to his hoof as he pulled it away.  Black and webby, why does that sound familiar?

“Hey get over here!”  Echo said from behind him.  Crow hadn’t even heard her slide down the drop.

“What, why?”

“Look at you, you’re bleeding all over your face, let me bandage you up.”

“Oh no, don’t worry about me, I’m fine, I just need figure this out, I’m forgetting something, something so important!  But what?!”  Crow began to pace back and forth.  “What’d I forget?  Echo what did I forget?”

Echo flew over to Crow and stopped him, “You forgot to take care of yourself, please stay still Sir Crow, you need to be bandaged.”  Echo pulled out a roll of bandages from her saddle bag and examined Crow’s cut forehead.

“I told you not to call me-”

Echo stuffed her hoof in Crow’s mouth, “Shut up I’m trying to focus.”  Echo gently wrapped a bandage around Crow’s head, over the wound.  She made three wraps around his head and pulled it tight.

Crow let out a muffled moan.

“Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing, all of the Night’s Guard is trained in the medical field.”  Echo finished up bandaging Crow’s head.  She took her hoof off of Crow’s mouth and looked at her hoof.  Some of Crow’s blood dripped down onto her hoof.  Temptation in its purest form, at least for bat ponies.  “Um-uh-anyways…”  She licked her lips.  She had to resist, but blood…it was so…good.   She looked down at the ground, at Crow’s hooves.  There were more cuts on his front hooves.  “Oh, your legs are injured too, let me get those for you.”

“Are you ok?”  Crow asked backing up a bit into the black webbed holes.

“Ye-yeah, ok…I’M, I’m ok.”  Echo said quickly bandaging Crow’s hoof, trying not to look at the blood on her hoof.

“So…tell me…”  Crow said, trying to make the situation less awkward, “What was it like, being in the Night’s Guard?”

Echo looked up at Crow and smiled, “It was amazing.  They saved my life.”  She stopped bandaging Crow’s hoof, “I was an orphan, we all were, then Luna came and offered us the chance to join her family, to become what we are.”  She spoke very passionately about them, there was shine in her yellow eyes that Crow had not seen before as she spoke about the Night Guard.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what happened to your parents?”

“Don’t know, never cared to find out.”  She lied.  “I know Luna and the other bat ponies were there for me and they’re the only family I need, my brothers and sisters.  I went from no family to having the biggest family.”  She closed her eyes and smiled softly, “I’m one lucky mare.”  Her eyes flashed open, “OH!  I’m sorry I was bandaging you, let me finish!”

“Wait…do you hear that?”  Crow pushed Echo back and turned to the webbed tunnel.  The hissing of a changeling, a sound Crow was too familiar with.  “Damn…how could I forget that?  It was so obvious, looking straight at me.”  Crow picked up his lantern and started to back up.  “Echo, get out of here, run!”

“Why?”  Echo asked slowly backing up to the drop where they came in.  “What’s wrong?”

“Have you ever seen a changeling before, heard one before?”  Crow asked turning around in circles.  The hissing was growing louder and coming from all sides, from every tunnel.

“No, I’ve just trained to take on any problem.  I’m not scared of changelings.”  Echo took a few steps forward towards Crow.

“You don’t understand, when groups like this-”

Crow stopped.  He could see the blue eyes glow in the tunnels.  There so many of them, all around them.  They were surrounded.  The greenish glow of fire could be seen from the tunnels now.

“Crap, get out of here while you still can, they’ll kill you if you don’t run!”

Echo quickly galloped over to Crow and faced the tunnels.  She closed her eyes and focused.  Her wings became covered in shadowy essence.

“I’m sorry Sir Crow, they’ll kill you too if I’m not here to help.  I’m not going to leaving you by yourself.”  I’m going to leave you by yourself.  A memory flashed in Echo’s head, but she quickly shook it off, “I’ll fight with you!”

“Damn it you stubborn mare…Fine, just don’t let them overwhelm you!  Just keep looking at the holes and be ready!”

The two of them stood back to back turning their heads in the direction of each hole.  When would they attack?  Would they be ready?  What if they….Crow shook his head.  No that wouldn’t happen, they’d both be fine.

“I got one!”  Echo yelled facing a hole to Crow’s rear.

The changelings jumped out, horn glowing, heading toward Echo.  Echo quickly jumped forward hitting the changeling with her shadowy wing.  The changeling erupted into a dark fire and crashed to the ground.  It squirmed around on the floor before stopping dead.  Another two changelings jumped out towards Crow.  Crow quickly ducked and turned.  He swung his lantern and a stream of fire shot out, burning one of the changelings to ash and singeing the other’s wing and back hoof.  Three more changelings leaped out of the tunnels, attacking Echo.

“Echo watched your back!”  Crow called out, but as he turned to Echo another changeling jumped, tackling him to the ground.  It hissed in his face and held him down as its horn began glow green.  “No!”  Crow tried to buck the changeling off, but it was too strong, there no break its grip.  The changeling smirked and laughed.

It leaned over and whispered in Crow’s ear.

“For the glory of the Queen.”

Crow closed his eyes and tried his best to prepare for the worst.  This was how his adventure was going to end, killed by a changeling.  No.  He had come so far and there so much more he was going to do, going to see.  A tear ran down his face.  What about Echo, had she been beaten by the three changelings?  Had she died?  It was his fault if she was dead, it was his fault and there was nothing he could do about it.  He could feel the heat from the changeling’s horn come close to his face.  It didn’t hurt as much as Crow imagined, getting burned by a changeling’s fire, maybe it was because he always had that lantern.  That warm lantern, the symbol of his life.

There was a scream.  But Crow wasn’t screaming, who was?

Crow opened his eyes.  He was still alive.  Crow looked forward at the burning changeling covered in a black flame.  The three changelings that attack Echo were in a similar state.  Dead.  Crow smiled at Echo.

“Thanks girl, I thought it was over!”  Crow said quickly getting back up and wiping the tear from his eye.  Echo smiled and nodded.  She looked back at the tunnels, preparing for the next wave of changelings.  It looked like she had gotten hurt in the last attack, there were a few burns on her body, but she was able to fight on, but could they survive another wave?  There were still so many changelings, so many eyes glowing in the dark tunnels, too many to count.  The tunnels…THE TUNNELS!  “Echo I have an idea!”

Crow picked up his lantern and galloped toward one of the tunnels.   He wouldn’t die here, not now, not in place like this.  He swung his lantern shooting another spiral of flames down the tunnel.  The tunnels made the perfect funnel for the flames to scorch every changeling alive.  The changelings screeched, piercing the air with their screams of pain.  Echo saw what Crow was doing and flew over to another tunnel and flung her wings forward funneling black flames down the tunnel.  Another series screeching pierced the air.  Crow started toward another tunnel, but stopped at sound of a new voice.

“STOP! Please, please stop.  I know when I’m beaten.”

Crow and Echo turned and faced the direction in which they heard the voice.  Out from a tunnel walked out a changeling dressed in grey armor.  He had a short black beard and his left eye had scar running through it.  His voice was raspy and had cold tone to it, but he spoke with a sense of intelligence to his words.

“I know when I’m beaten, my troops and I surrender, what you decided I will accept and honor it.”  The changeling banged his chest with his hoof and stared at Crow expectantly.

“Well, I could kill the lot of you, less to fight later on, but…”  Crow looked at Echo and smiled.  “I have a different offer for you lot.”

“Anything, I will honor any deal we make, you have my word.”

“Take a message to your queen, tell her the Black Bird is coming back and Beast will fall and this time I’ll make sure of it.  Also, I don’t want to see anymore of you changelings on our way to The Hive.”

“I will take your message to our Queen, but I cannot guarantee you won’t encounter any changelings on your way to our capital.  I can however guarantee you will not see me or my troops.”

“I guess that will have to do.”  Crow bowed his head, “It’s been an honor to engage in combat with you, noble warrior.”

The changeling leader bowed his head, “The same to you my worth adversary.”  The changeling lifted his head and looked back to his tunnel, “You heard the pony, let’s make our way back.”

The changeling and his kin filed back into the tunnels leaving Crow and Echo alone.  Echo landed and her wings turned back to their normal state.  She looked over to Crow, who was making his way back up the drop.

“Are you sure we can trust him?  He is a changeling after all, how can you be sure he won’t attack us in our sleep.”

“He’s true warrior and a good pony, he surrendered to save his troop even though it might have meant his death.  He’ll honor his word, he follows the warrior’s code of honor, so come on.  Now come on, we best not let the others worry about us.”