Chapters Prologue
A shimmer in the flickering light from Crow’s lantern. He smirked.
“Found you.”
Crow galloped through an ash pile towards the shimmering gold piece. It was a small coin, a bit. Old, from Pre-Equestria time, back before Celestia and Luna ruled. He was close, so close. Crow turned around. There was another hissing from behind. He looked around the black webbed room, there was only one door, one exit, one entrance, only one way they could enter. Crow looked around the room. No luck, there was no other way out, though he already knew that. The hissing grew closer and closer, he didn’t have time to make an exit, but maybe there was…He galloped to the wall and started pressing his hooves against the black webbed blocks. It had to be one of these blocks, but which was it? He could handle changelings he just didn’t want to risk destroying another artifact. He had to find-
The eleventh block over pushed in and the floor beneath Crow opened. Crow hit the floor hard and his saddle bags fell off, its contents pouring out onto the floor. Crow’s lantern, though, had landed perfectly next to him, unbroken and unscratched. Its flame still shone bright, illuminating the long stone passage.
“Owwww, damn it.” Crow rubbed his hoof through his mane, “Well at least I found something.” Crow looked up. The trap door above had closed, “Hah, no turning back now, just the way I like it.”
Crow quickly picked up his possessions and started down the hall. As he got further down the passage Crow took notice of the strange symbols etched on the wall. Crow didn’t stop to look at them, like most ruins it was probably a warning to turn back. Every secret passage to a hidden burial chamber had one, it was so cliché. The warning was all the more reason to move on. It wasn’t long until the passage led into a small room filled with old world treasures. Grails, gold, gems and other goods filled the floor and on some finely made shelves. In the center of the room was a gold in jeweled coffin.
“Gotcha.” Crow whispered as he slowly approached the coffin. Crow froze. A voice in the dark spoke from behind, it was familiar, but strangely different.
“Crow! Looks like you found it, that’s great!” The zebra said happily, “I knew you could do it!”
Crow turned and faced the zebra, “Yeah…” Crow’s lantern flickered, “I thought I had asked you to stay with Zecora, why’d you come here?” Crow pointed his brown hoof at the passage behind zebra, “Sash look behind you!”
“What?! What’s wrong Crow?!” Sash turned and faced the passage. There was nothing, just the empty passage. “Why’d you tell me-” Sash turned and looked at Crow who was holding up his Lantern, getting into a swinging position. “Basta-”
Crow swung his lantern and a spiral of flames spat out, burning Sash’s hooves. Sash let out a scream that echoed down the passage and fell to the ground. He squirmed around on the floor before igniting in green fire and returning into its changeling state.
Crow slowly approached the changeling and put his face near its pained, blackened face. Crow glared at the changeling. “I don’t mind changelings or the way most of you hate us ponies, but…what I do mind is when you try to impersonate my BROTHER!” The changeling let out a small cry. “The fact that you think I couldn’t tell if you were my real brother or not is embarrassing to my intellect and to his name, you’re very lucky I have little time.” Crow looked up at the passage, “I’m guessing your siblings heard you cry, so they should be here relatively soon. I won’t kill you, but I won’t help you either. Your siblings should take care of you, now if excuse me, I really have to go.”
Crow quickly trotted over to the coffin and took what he needed from inside, though he didn’t like the fact he had reach into bones of a pony to get it. Now…he had to find the secret exit out, there was always a secret way out of old tombs…strange how they all seem to follow the same cliché design, but it made adventuring that much easier.
It didn’t take long for Crow to find the exit and return to the vast forests of the Everfree. The exit let out between some massive roots of a large tree…somewhere in the forest. Great, lost in the Everfree. Well there were worse places to get lost…more or less.
Hours passed as Crow wandered through the forest, could be a day, who knows, Crow didn’t. Not that he really cared, lost was lost, not much a pony could do about that. After stumbling past a thorn bush or two, Crow found himself at a strange house built into a tree. Outside of the house were several strange ornaments and tikis. Crow never knew where Zecora got the skulls, but for his own comfort…and safety, he didn’t ask. Inside sat Zecora and his metal hoofed brother. They were drinking a green colored tea, talking about days of old when Sash was still Zecora’s student. Zecora looked old, her face was beginning to wrinkle and her mane was losing color. His brother, however, still looked young, he still WAS young, only two years younger than Crow.
Crow trotted in and greeted his brother and Zecora. Zecora had left Crow and Sash alone to get Crow some tea. Crow sat down across him and reached into his saddle bags.
“I got it.” Crow whispered, taking out a strange key.
“So we can get into the journal without setting of the trap now?” Sash asked.
“Yep, we’re one step closer to finding it. Once we get the journal we’ll just need a team to go and find the library.”
“As long as they’re some good looking mares or stallions in the group you don’t have my objection.”
“My young perverted Sash, you are looking for a good lash.” Zecora rhymed as she reentered the room, balancing Crow’s cup of tea on her head.
Crow took the cup from Zecora, “Thank you.”
There was a rustling from outside. The two zebras and pony turned to the window. Nothing but woods, at least, all that they could see. There was another rustling and Crow turned to his brother and grinned.
Sash leaned over the table toward Crow, “Were you followed?”
“Probably.”
“Will they follow you when you get the journal?”
“I’m guessing.”
“Do you even know where the journal is?”
“Remember mom and dad’s old friend?”
“A pegasus, right?”
“Yeah, mom gave the journal to him as a wedding present way back when. I talked to mom a few days ago and she had that his son currently has it.”
“That’s good, now, just one more question.”
“There always is, isn’t there?”
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
Crow smirked, “Always, you know that. Now! If you excuse me, I need to get to Cloudsdale. Sash meet me in Ponyville in the morning, I guess by the train station or the café, if you’re hungry.”
“You’re just gonna waltz past the changelings outside in hopes you don’t get attacked? Do you even know where the pegasus lives?”
“Yes to the first question and no to the second question. They won’t attack me, they’ll want to see where the journal is and no. I have no idea where he lives, but hey! Might as well explore a bit. I know the son’s name is Tempest and at least that’s something to go on.” Crow finished his tea and began to walk out.
“Well, no stopping you now I suppose.”
“There never is.”
Chapter One
“Hey! Hey, you’re Tempest right?”
“Wha-”
“Come on, wake up!”
Tempest felt a nudge on his face and his eyes flashed open. The room was dim, the only light came from a lantern that was hooked on the saddle bag of the pony who stood beside his cloud bed.
“Wha-who are you?” Tempest asked, slowly realizing that there was a strange, uninvited pony in his room, “HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE!”
“The name’s Crow and your window was unlocked.” The strange pony said cheerfully, “But please tell me, you’re Tempest right? Or is this the wrong house….again?”
“No I am Tempes-WAIT!” Tempest jumped out of his bed, “GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!”
“Jeez, do you treat all your guest like this?”
“Wha…who do you thin…Get out before I call the guard!”
“They’ll be here soon, that’s why I need you up!” Crow turned around and trotted to the bedroom door, “Come on, let’s talk over some food, I’m starving!”
“What the hell do yo-”
The door slammed and Tempest could hear Crow make his way down the stairs. Tempest felt an urge to go back to sleep in hopes that this was some sort of crazy dream, but if it wasn’t…who was this pony? Tempest flew over to the door and made his way down into the kitchen. There the strange earth pony was setting the table with candles and two plates, each with a slice of Tempest’s apple pie.
Tempest’s jaw dropped, “You’re…You’re…” Tempest pointed his hoof at the earth pony.
“What, hungry? If so, yes very.” Crow took a bite of his slice of pie.
“No! You’re an earth pony!”
“Dear Luna! A racist!” Crow shook his head, “Well I need your help regardless.”
“No, I’m not!” Tempest hit his face with his hoof, “No that’s not important, how are you standing here?!”
“It was the challenging process of checking several houses until I trotted over here.”
“No, not how you got here, how can you be standing on clouds?”
“By not walking on clouds.” Crow took another bite of his pie, “Mmmm, this is good! Did you make it?”
“Is it really? I put some nutm…” Tempest stopped himself from blushing, realizing that he was getting off topic, “WAIT! SERIOUSLY HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT?!”
“It’s funny…” Crow tilted his head and gave Tempest a funny look.
“What?” Tempest took a few steps forward toward the table. It was tempting to take a bite of pie, but he still had some questions.
“You are.” Crow took a final bite of his pie, “A minute ago you wanted me to leave and now here we are talking.”
“Then get-”
“But to answer your question my mother was a pegasus, I guess some of it rubbed off on me, but either way I’ve been trotting on clouds since the day I was born.” Crow started to laugh obnoxiously loud, “The first day I found out I could walk on clouds, you should of seen the look on my parent’s faces!”
“That seems unlikely, but please, just who are you. Before you leave I want to know.”
“You’re just like your father, so curious, he said I would like you and he was right,”
“You knew my dad?”
“Yeah, he was a gre-” Crow was interrupted by a loud banging at the door. The two ponies both turned to door. “Well, that would be the guards.” Crow was whispering now, “You better go answer it.”
“You actually called the guard?!”
“Ha! No, they’re looking for me, it was only a matter of time before they came here.”
“This is the Cloudsdale Guard! Open this door!” The guard called from outside.
“Hurry up, go and answer it, they won’t wait forever.” Crow said with a grim tone in his voice.
Tempest looked at Crow, studied his facial expression. It was serious, his once happy expression was completely gone. Tempest looked back at the door. The guard banged harder on the door, “I’m coming, don’t worry!” Tempest shouted. He slowly flew over to the door and answered it. Standing outside were two armored, snow white pegasi. The beefier of the two shoved his way past Tempest and the other followed in. To Tempest’s surprise, Crow was nowhere to be found. Had he left? Or was he hiding?
“The beefy guard stomped over to Tempest and snorted in his face, “Where is he?”
“Who?” Tempest asked, though it was obvious who they wanted, but why? Tempest wanted to know who this pony was and why he was here. On top of that, Tempest didn’t care too much for this guard pony's attitude.
The guard shoved Tempest back against the door, “Don’t play games with me!”
“Hey!” The second guard yelled, “Let him down, he’s done nothing wrong, we’re here for Crow.” The guard lightly pushed the other guard aside and smiled at Tempest, “We have reason to believe a dangerous pony by the name of Crow is looking for you. He is described as…” The guard took a notepad out of a pouch he wore around his side, “A light brown earth pony with a short, messy, pale brown mane. He was bright purple eyes and his cutie mark is a lantern, it is believed he always carries that lantern on him. While we don’t know for sure, we’re pretty confident that he is in his early twenties.” The guard put his notepad back and looked at Tempest expectantly, “So have you seen this pony I just described or not?” There was no doubt about it, that was Crow. Tempest looked around the kitchen, where did he go? The guard looked with him. “So, he’s here, right?”
“Um…I don’t…I’m not-” Tempest stuttered.
‘I’m sick of wasting time!” The beefy guard shouted, “Tell us before we force some answers out of you!”
“Go ahead Tempest, tell them!” Crow called from outside, “Why lie, you know I’m here.” The beefy guard shoved his way past Tempest and out the door, the second guard quickly followed, only bumping into Tempest. Outside Crow stood, lantern in hoof, he smirked as they ran out. “Tell me, how’s the queen doing? Does she miss me?” The two guards hissed at Crow. Tempest recovered from getting knocked down and made his way outside where to guards circled Crow. “Tell me something.” Crow laughed, “Are my eyes really a bright purple?” He swung his lantern and a circle flame surrounded him. The nicer pegasus was able to jump back and dodge the flame, but the other was completely consumed by the fire. There was no scream, the fire was too intense, all that was left was a pile of ashes that slowly floated beneath the cloud level.
“Umbra!” The other guard shouted, but he did nothing, he kept his distance from Crow, fearful that he would join his friend’s fate.
“You….you killed him…” Tempest took a few steps back into the doorway, “How could you?”
“Umbra is a weird name for snow white pegasus don’t you think?” The tone of his voice was dead, there was no emotion, his facial expression was completely blank, “So tell me, why haven’t you changed, it’s much easier to fight when you’re not hiding behind a layer of fake skin.”
“You bastard!” The guard pony shouted, “I’ll kill you!” The pony’s body was engulfed in green flame and in place of the once snow white coat was a pitch black, bug like skin. His eyes were deep blue with no pupil, it’s fangs dripped with a green, acidy liquid.
“A changeling.” Tempest whispered. He slowly realized what was happening. Crow wasn’t resisting an arrest, he was defending himself. Somehow he knew that these were changelings.
“Aren’t you a pretty one?!” Crow mocked the changeling. The changeling surrounded itself with a green fire and dove down toward Crow. Crow quickly jumped back a swung his lantern again and another bright orange flame shot out, completely obliterating the changeling into nothing. Crow let out a large sigh and turned to Tempest, “So!” He said with a smile, “Are you ready to talk?”
Chapter 2
The Tartarus, The Eternal Prison, The Void, The Empty, Hell. Each calls it something different and they all refer to the same place, but they’re all wrong. The Tartarus is a plain in which several strange and fantastic creatures dwell, a place where the environment gives off a magical pressure, if only I could get there. Just imagine the possibilities! A unicorn with my talents could achieve so much if I could just figure out how to open the portal, I can only dream of the possibilities!
That last line always sent a shiver of excitement down Sparrow’s spine, but it was time to put away the books and start his studying. He levitated the book back on to his crowded shelf and stood up. He stretched his back legs and let out a loud yawn.
“Sparrow!” A young mare called his name from down the hall.
“What is it Pepper?” Sparrow called back. He hoped that he wouldn’t be bothered so he could focus on his studies, but what can you do?
A younger ash coated mare walked into Sparrow’s room, her amber mane stretched down the sides of her face. She was younger, just barely considered a mare, she was still short, much shorter then Sparrow. Pepper had come to Canterlot with Sparrow when they were younger, both had just recently got their cutie marks, Sparrow’s spiral and her three star cutie mark. They had both grown up in Ponyville and had been friends almost their entire lives. She waited in the door expectantly and gave Sparrow a hurried look.
“Come on! Princess Twilight Sparkle is waiting for us!” She said loudly.
“What does she want?” Sparrow asked walking toward his friend.
“I don’t know, something important according to the guard, Picklock is already there, we should hurry up and get there!” She was obviously excited…as usual, but still this was a big deal. Twilight had been their teacher for the last ten years and she always had something planned for them.
Pepper led Sparrow down the well decorated hall, passing several spare rooms and storage areas. The hallway echoed as the two ponies trotted down the hall, irritating both them profusely, “SOOOOO!’ Pepper said loudly, trying to break the silence, “What were you reading?”
“Starswirl’s research notes, his theories about the Tartarus are-”
“Absolutely fascinating!” Pepper mimicked Sparrow’s voice, “You need to find some more reading material.”
“And you need to stop eating in your sleep.” Sparrow said smugly.
“Shut up!” Pepper started to blush.
“Or maybe I should have a short talk with Picklock about it, I’m sure he’d love to talk about you.” Sparrow winked at Pepper and her face became an even brighter red, “There’s some color, maybe Picklock would like to hear about this?”
“DON’T YOU DARE!” Pepper yelled. She galloped away from Sparrow who playfully laughed at her.
“Come on!” Sparrow called after her, “I was only joking!” He picked up speed to catch up with his friend.
Canterlot Castle was a large place, so it took Sparrow and Pepper another ten minutes to get to the main hall. There was a large purple alicorn who talked with a smaller steel colored unicorn with a short black mane. Picklock was levitating a large stack of books. He arrived a few years after Sparrow and Inky were accepted to be taught by Twilight Sparkle, though he never really talked about his time before coming to Canterlot. When Pepper walked in and Piclock saw her and dropped what he was levitating so he could run over to greet her, Twilight sighed and shook her head. She levitated the collapsed pile of books and stacked them neatly. Sparrow let his two friends talk and trotted over to the princess.
Sparrow bowed his head, “My Princess.”
Twilight Sparkle smiled, “There is no need my faithful student.”
“Thank you, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
Pepper and Picklock joined Sparrow and bowed their heads. “My faithful students, I have called you three here today for a reason.” Twilight Sparkle gave each of her students a confident nod, “This morning a received a message from Crow.”
Sparrow’s eyes lit up, “CROW! What did he say?”
“Last night he visited a….friend, who had in his possession a journal of famous architect. In this journal Crow believes is the map to the location of Starswirl the Bearded’s lost library, this is no doubt a major discovery.”
“WHAT?!” The three unicorns shouted in unison.
“He’ll be coming here within the next three days with a few companions to start an expedition. He has personally asked me to set up a team to accompany him and I believe it would be good for you three to see more of the world.”
“That’s incredible, do you really think we’re ready?” Picklock asked.
“I do, but do not think this will be easy. When I was your age I went on my share of adventures, but there is no doubt that I came close to losing my life on few of them. You must be smart and cautious, Crow has done this before, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be able to keep you safe all the time. There have also been reports of increased changeling activity in the kingdom.”
“Ch-changelings?” Picklock stuttered, “Um…are they after Crow?”
“It doesn’t matter, we can take them!” Sparrow said confidently, “We’ve learned from the best!”
“Ha ha, thank you my student.” Twilight Sparkle giggled, “But, you still need to be careful. Now go and pack, there is much planning to do, I still need to set up a team and resources for it….perhaps I should make spreadsheet.” Twilight Sparkle started to pace the floor and murmur to herself.
Pepper and Picklock quickly trotted out to go pack. As they left Picklock tripped over the rug and tumbled out the main hall doors. Pepper quickly galloped after him, leaving Sparrow alone with Twilight Sparkle.
“Um…Princess?” Sparrow said meekly.
“Yes, my student?” Twilight Sparkle smiled at Sparrow.
“Did you ever meet Starswirl?”
“No…sadly I never met any of them.” Twilight said somberly.
“Any of them?”
“Yes, Starswirl the Bearded was not one pony, it was a title passed down from great unicorn to great unicorn, there have fourteen in all, none of which I’ve met.”
“Do you think I could be one, one day?”
“I believe you have to potential to do anything you want!” Twilight smiled at her student, “Now go and pack, you have long journey ahead of you!”
Chapter 3
The waiter levitated over a tray of three mugs of hot chocolate. Crow quickly picked up his hot chocolate and chugged it. Tempest shook his head, this was one strange pony. It had been a day since Crow broke into Tempest’s house and fought the changelings. Afterwards they spent the day discussing a number of things, from who Crow was, to why he wanted to meet Tempest and most importantly, at least to Tempest, they talked about Tempest’s father. Crow was an adventurer like his parents, Jack Tomb and the legendary Daring Do, and Crow’s parents knew Tempest’s dad who was an architect and a close friend. Crow had come to Cloudsdale in search of a journal Tempest’s dad kept, which Crow believed held the location of Starswirl’s lost library. While it didn’t hold the exact location of the library, like Crow hoped, it was a start on where to find it. To Tempest’s surprise, Crow had invited him to come along on the expedition to find the library. How could he resist in following in his father’s footsteps? After some light packing for the expedition, Tempest had met Crow at a café in Ponyville where they were supposed to meet Crow’s brother.
“Burns so good!” Crow wiped away his hot chocolate mustache.
“You’re a very strange.” Tempest took a sip of his hot chocolate.
“Wouldn’t be happy if I wasn’t.” Crow waved his hoof at the waiter, “Can I get a refill please?” The waiter nodded and quickly trotted into the kitchen.
“So, who’s coming on the expedition?”
“Well, me, you, my brother and anypony else Twilight decides is appropriate for our expedition.” The waiter trotted out, levitating a pitcher of hot chocolate to Crow, he started to pour it when Crow stopped him, “Please leave the pitcher.” The waiter did his best not to acted surprised and causally nodded his head.
Before Tempest could react to the absurd quantity of hot chocolate Crow was about to drink, a kind, familiar voice called his name, “Tempest! What are you doing here?” Tempest turned and saw a sky blue pegasus with a dark blue and black mane. She trotted over to the table where they sat and smiled at Crow and Tempest, “Tempest, who’s your friend?”
“Lightning Dash, this is my friend Crow.”
“It’s very nice to meet you…” Crow stopped and looked at Lightning Dash, “You’re that-”
She gasped, “Aren’t you the pony who broke into my house last night?”
Crow nodded, “Yep, you pointed me in the direction of this guy’s house, thank you very much.” Crow grinned, “Might I add, you have a very nice stuffed teddy bear.”
“What?! You saw that?”
Crow nodded and smiled, “Anyways, would you like to join us for some hot chocolate?” Crow motioned for the waiter, “Can we get one more please!”
“Why can’t she just have…” Tempest looked at the empty pitcher which once held a large quantity of hot chocolate. Tempest sighed, “I don’t know why I’m not as surprised as I should be.”
“Huh?” Lightning Dash sat down next Crow, “What are you going on about?”
“Nothing.” Tempest said quietly.
“So what WHERE you guys talking about?” The waiter stepped out of the kitchen and brought Lightning Dash her hot chocolate, “Thank you!”
“Well…” Crow said quietly, “We’re planning an expedition to the Badlands. We’re gonna try and find the ruins of a legendary library.”
Lightning Dash’s eyes lit up, “Oooh, can I come?!”
Tempest looked at Crow, “I don’t kn-”
“Why should we take you, what can you do?” Crow asked, interrupting Tempest.
“I have three reasons why you should take me with you, one, I’m the fastest pegasus you’ll ever hope to bring along with you, two I can handle any situation you throw at me, and three, I can do this!” She stood up and did one hoof stand on her chair.
“What does that have to do with anything?” Tempest asked.
“No, no, no.” Crow said quietly, studying Lightning Dash, “She has a point Tempest, that is impressive.”
“Really?” Lightning Dash gasped.
“Are you sure about this Crow?”
“Nope! But the more the merrier! Plus…” Crow took a pause and looked at the ground.
“What?” Tempest looked at his new friend, he seemed like something just pulled out his heart and stomped on it.
“It’s something my father once said, he said “Crow, today is like any other day, an adventure, you never know what will happen or who you’ll meet, but you can’t be afraid of the unknown because you might end up missing the greatest adventure of your life.” I never forgot that.” Crow smiled.
“He sounds like a good pony, where is he now?” Lightning Dash asked.
Before Crow could reply the door of the café slammed open and zebra with black mohawk and metallic hoof galloped in. The zebra looked around until he saw Crow and the two pegasi, “Crow!” The zebra quickly galloped over to the table.
“Sash? What’s up?” Crow asked, worried about his friends attitude.
“Um…..the usual…we should probably...” Sash looked at the two pegasi next to his friend, “Who are your attractive friends?”
“Sash, not now, who did you hit on now?”
“Oh yeah! Um….the wife of a buff stallion….then the buff stallion…and neither of them took it well, so we should….go?”
“I guess so, Tempest, Lightning Dash, go and grab your things and meet me and Sash by the train station. The next train should be coming in about an hour or so, so please hurry, I’d rather not get into a fight with the locals.” Crow put a small bag of bits on the table and got up and left with Sash. Tempest and Lightning Dash both quickly left and went home to pack for the coming trip.
A half hour later the two pegasi arrived at the train station where they found Crow and Sash engaged with a small group of four, stronger looking earth ponies.
“You just had to tell the mare that you were leaving town, didn’t you.” Crow laughed as he dodged one of the charging earth ponies.
Sash threw a vile of green liquid at a different earth pony. Upon contact with the vile, the pony was covered in a green ooze, causing him to stick to the ground, “You should have seen this mare she was really something!” Sash called back.
Crow head-butted the earth pony he was engaged, knocking him out, “I really wasn’t in the mood for this Sash! I swear your perversion will get you killed one of these days!” Another earth pony charged Crow, swinging his hoof at him at full speed. Crow hopped back and panted, he looked up in the air at Lightning Dash and Tempest, he smiled, “Hey guys, got everything?” The earth pony swung again and Crow quickly ducked down, then uppercut him, spending the earth pony flying. At the same time Sash finished the last pony with another one of his potions, which ended up putting the stallion asleep.
Tempest and Lightning Dash finally decided to join Crow and Sash, hoping that it was now safe. “Are you two done now?” Tempest asked.
“I think…unless you flirted with somepony else, Sash?”
“Ummm…none that will be a problem….I think.” Sash said with a smirk.
Crow sighed and shook his head, “Your lucky we’re brothers or else I’d tell you to get lost…”
“Ya now you love me!” Sash put his arm around Crow and shook him a few times.
“Wait!” Tempest gasped, “You’re brothers! But…”
“I’m a zebra and he’s a pony? Our parents adopted me and now we’re brothers.”
“Oh…I’m sorry if that was awkward…” Tempest apologized.
“It’s no problem, but…” Sash pushed Crow and away and took a step toward Tempest, “If you’re really sorry we can discuss it later on tonight.”
“I’m not that sorry.”
“Darn…eh….I’ll find somepony in Canterlot I guess.” Sash sighed and then looked off in the distance, “Looks like our train is arriving, you guys packed?”
The two pegasi nodded and the train pulled into the station. The four new friends boarded it and they were soon off to Canterlot.
Chapter 5
The Canterlot Caves. The once dark caves now served a greater purpose. The dark rocky passages proved to be the perfect training spot for Princess Luna’s personal royal guard. Here her bat ponies train for any situation, from watching the night to fighting in times of war, they were the strongest ponies in all of Equestria. Among their ranks was a newer recruit, Echo, a young, but strong pony. She was similar in appearance to her brothers and sisters, a dark grey coat, a dark blue mane, a bright yellow bat eyes. The only real difference between her and other bat ponies was her mane style, she kept it in a ponytail, it made her feel different, special.
Her body became covered in shadowy cloud of a night-sky black, her eyes glowed yellow. Her fellow new recruits watched in awe as she performed the bat pony’s most renowned technique perfectly. The Nightmare State. A form passed down by Luna, only to be used in the direst of situations. She exhaled and the Nightmare State evaporated into the air.
Her squad trainer trotted up to her and patted her on her shoulder, “Very good Echo, an excellent performance!” The squad captain looked back at the rest of the group and smiled, “See! This is how you perform the Nightmare State, though…” She looked back at Echo, “I don’t blame you since you’re new, but you can’t hold it very long. Which I understand, it is the most difficult of all techniques.” The Nightwing began to walk around in circles around Echo, “This is why we teach you ponies the most difficult techniques early on, so you can hone them and then the easier skills come easier to you. You there.” Nightwing pointed her hoof at another recruit, “Your turn!”
A voice called from behind the circle of bat ponies. The entire group turned to the two well armored ponies trotted over to the group.
“Nightwing! We have orders to retrieve Echo from your group.”
“Why is that?”
“Orders from her majesty Princess Luna, ma’am!”
The entire group looked toward Echo who blushed at the attention she was getting. She quickly trotted over to the guards. As she trotted by her peers she could hear them whispering about how lucky she was or how jealous they were. What did Princess Luna want with Echo?
The guards led Echo down a rocky passage, they were deep in the caves, deeper then Echo had ever been before. The walls were decorated with blue banners with a crescent moon crest in center of the banner. The guards stayed completely silent as they lead Echo down the passage which made Echo feel uneasy. At the end of the rocky passage there was a large stone door with a complex design engraved on the face of it. The two guards opened the doors and inside stood Princess Luna talking to a brown earth pony. The two of them were looking over a map on a table in the center of the room. Echo quietly entered the room trying not to disturb their conversation. The door closed behind her, but Luna and the brown earth pony didn’t seem to notice Echo, they were too focused on their conversation.
“I believe the library would be around this area.” The earth pony tapped his hoof on the map.
“But that’s-”
“Exactly, that’s why I need a strong team.”
“We understand you, but we can’t spare my personal guard or higher ranking officers, but I think you chose the perfect pony for the job, she should be-Oh!” Luna looked over to Echo who was quietly waiting to be noticed. “Echo we are glad you came, this is Crow.” Luan motioned to the brown earth pony.
“It is an honor to meet you Sir Crow.” Echo bowed her head, “What request do you have of me?”
Luna raised her hoof and Echo raised her head. “Crow is organizing an expedition to the Badlands and he needs a strong team, so he came here in search of the famed warriors of the night.”
“The best of the best!” Crow said loudly. He took a few steps toward Echo, “So! What do you say? Are you interested?”
“My Princess? Do you wish me to go?”
“My dear Echo, you must make this choice on your own. We do think it would be a good experience for you, but like we said, it’s completely your choice.”
“Come on!” Crow put his hoof around Echo, “Good company and an epic task! AND THE SINGING! It’ll be a great time! Maybe a couple of fights, but hey, every adventure needs a road bump!”
“I don’t know…I have duties here I must attend to and this is all so sudden…”
“Fear not Echo, your duties will be taken care of and I’m sure you’ll be able to hone your abilities while you’re out there.”
“Come on! I chose you for a reason, I could use somepony like you!”
“You…chose me? Specifically for this task?”
“Oh course! I like to hoof pick my team.”
“Very well then, I suppose it would be rude of me to decline such an invitation, if you think that I am your best choice, then I will go.”
“WONDERFUL!” Crow gave Echo a tight hug, “We’ll have a great time!”
“Oh-um-ok?” Echo tried to back up, but Crow’s grasp was too tight.
“There will be singing, eating, exploring and fun! Now! Go and pack!” Crow let go and gave Echo a small push towards the door, “We leave in two days!”
“Y-Yes Sir!” Echo gave a shaky salute and the quickly trotted out.
After Echo left and the doors were shut Crow turned back to the map and stared at the location he pointed out. Of all the places in Equestria, of all the places in the Badlands, it had to be there, that one place, that one…Crow closed his eyes and rubbed his head. He would defiantly need a fighter like Echo, with what they were gonna go up against, they might need an army.
Luna saw Crow’s discomfort and walked over to him, “We’ve seen your nightmares young Crow.” She gave him tight hug, “Are you sure you’re ok with this? Do you think you can handle going back there and facing it?”
“I’ll be fine.” Crow backed out of the hug, “I might not even see him and even if I do face him,” Crow began to walk toward the door, “It’s about time I finished what I started there.”
Chapter 6
Picklock lightly knocked on the door. Was this Crow’s room, it’d be awkward if this was the wrong room, for the seventh time. Canterlot Castle was a big place and even after several years of living here Picklock still got lost in its vast halls. Some of the “friendlier” guards would tell him stories of ponies who got lost in the castle and that they were never found again. Picklock felt an uneasiness in his hooves. His body ached, but that wasn’t anything new, he always felt stretched and worn…like he was wearing a tight suit. But then again, that was a side of effect of-
Crow’s door swung open, hitting Picklock back onto his rump. Crow quickly went to Picklock and helped him up.
“Sorry bud, you ok?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Picklock rubbed his head, “Yeah, I’m fine.”
“So what’s up? Do you need something?”
“Yeah, do you think we could talk?”
“Oh course! Come on in!”
Crow lead Picklock inside to his room. Scattered across the floor were papers with strange writings on them and old leather bound tomes. Then there was Crow’s bed, it was a complete mess, his sheets were to one side of the bed, his blanket was bundled up and thrown in the corner of the room. The only thing in Crow’s room that wasn’t a mess was a small wooden table in the center of the room. The only thing on the table was a Crow’s trademark Lantern, which was the only thing in the room giving off light, but even with such a small light source the room stayed well lit. How anypony could live in such a mess was unknown to Picklock.
“So, what do you want to talk about my good buddy?” Crow asked sitting down at the table.
Picklock had always appreciated that. He and Crow didn’t know each other very well, but Crow still considered him a close friend. Picklock sat down at the opposite side of the table and looked at Crow.
“I wanted to talk to you about the expedition, if that’s ok?”
“OF COURSE!” Crow’s smile grew bigger, “What would you like to know?”
“Well, I actually had a few questions, but if you’re too busy I understand, I can ask another time if you can’t answer them now.”
Crow shook his head, “I already said it’s fine, I always have time for a friend.”
“Ok then, well…um…I was wondering who else was going on the expedition?”
“Well, Twilight gave me a list of about fifty ponies that could come. I think I have about fifteen in all, including the ones already here.”
“So who did you pick?”
“Oh jeez, let me think for second.” Crow took a pause to remember the ponies he recruited. “There’s me, you, Sparrow, Pepper, the two pegasi I recruited from Ponyville, and then this morning I recruited one of Luna’s bat ponies. That’s who’s here and the ponies who aren’t here…” Crow took another pause to think about who else was coming. “There is also Lightweight, he’s a strong earth pony, he’ll be pulling one of the supply carts. Then there’s Quick Wit, a pegasus who will be pulling the other supply wagon.” Crow smirked, “The next two I’ve worked with before and they’re great, I love them. Their names are Shovel and Spade, a brother and sister who are very good at digging, couldn’t have an expedition without them. And finally there’s a griffon, Talon, another unicorn, Arcane Arts, and another earth pony, Scratch. Those three will be guarding us alongside Echo, who will be in charge of security.”
“That sounds like a good team, I hope.”
“Of course it is, best team I could hope for.” Crow gave Picklock a reassuring smile.
“Thanks.” It made Picklock feel better knowing somepony like Crow was in charge of everything, “Speaking of the team what will I be doing exactly?”
“On this type of expedition it’s very important we have some free hooves, so really you’ll be doing whatever you asked.”
“Oh, I guess that’s ok.” It was a bit of a relief to Pen knowing that he wasn’t expected to do much.
“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t ask you to come if I didn’t want somepony like you.”
“Thanks, that means a lot. I appreciate it.” Picklock smiled uneasily.
“Anytime, do you have any other questions?”
“Yeah, I just have one more question, sorry.”
“It’s no problem, ask away!”
“Where exactly will we be going?”
There was a long moment of silence, during which Crow just stared into the flame of his lantern. It felt like an eternity passed of just silence. Finally after what was actually a minute of silence Crow sighed.
“We’re going to the Badlands, you’ve probably heard that, but…there is a place in the Badlands very few ponies dare tread, you might have heard of it. It’s called The Hive, the capital of the changelings.”
Picklock flinched at the name of that dreaded place. His body began to shake, he felt like he was gonna be sick.
“What’s wrong? You look like you’re gonna show me what you had for breakfast.” Crow got up and put his hoof to Pen’s forehead. “You don’t feel sick, are you feeling alright?”
“Yeah…I’m fine, it’s just…” Picklock paused and looked down at his hooves. They didn’t seem like his, they looked like somepony else’s.
“It’s just…what?”
“It’s The Hive, I know that place.”
“You do? How?”
“My parents…they were killed in The Hive.”
Crow smiled somberly, “Heh, I think we could be good friends, that’s another thing we have in common, my dad died there.”
Picklock looked at Crow, he was smiling, but there was something about it. It was false, he wasn’t smiling, he was crying, at least on the inside he was.
A loud knocking came from Crow’s door. The two pony’s heads turned to the door that slammed open. Sash skidded in nearly bumping into Picklock. He was breathing heavily, it was obvious that he had been galloping for a while. He looked at Crow and let out a noise that was supposed to be words.
“Cromas is herrre, comquiK.” He gasped for air.
“What? Take a moment to catch your breath, I can never understand you when you’re like this.”
Sash took a moment and sat down on the floor. He rubbed his head with his metal hoof and let out a large sigh, “She’s here, she really wants to see you now, she’s waiting in the throne room right now. Twilight Sparkle is distracting her, but…ya know how she can be.”
“I was wondering if she would show up.” Crow looked at Picklock and patted him on the back, “Come on buddy let’s go meet the most powerful unicorn in all of Equestria.”
Sash led Crow and Picklock through the halls to the throne room, somehow, to Picklock’s surprise, Sash had successfully led them to throne room without getting lost, a task he had never accomplished before. In the throne room an older, blue unicorn in a cape and witch hat laughed with Twilight Sparkle. The two mares turned to the three ponies who quickly trotted in. The three of them were greeted by warm smiles from each of the two mares.
Twilight giggled as she saw Crow gallop toward the wrinkled unicorn. “Ah Crow, I do believe you two have met before, correct?”
“TRIXIE!” Crow gave Trixie a tight hug.
“The Great and Powerful Trixie is very glad to see you my young apprentice!” Trixie said returning Crow’s tight hug with an even tighter hug.
“Great and Powerful my arse, you know I surpassed you long ago!”
Trixie pushed Crow back, “Hmph! Trixie is wishing she had a better student, one with more respect!”
Crow sighed, “I’m sorry Master Trixie, I wouldn’t have wanted any other teacher, you are definitely the best teacher in all of Equestria.” Crow looked up at Twilight, “No offense to you of course.”
“Ha ha, no worries Crow, I understand.”
“Hmm, Trixie supposes you weren’t the worst student she has ever had.”
Picklock took a few steps forward interrupting Trixie and Crow’s conversation, “Um, I thought earth ponies couldn’t use magic, why did Trixie-”
“The Great and Powerful Trixie.” Trixie corrected Picklock.
“….sorry….Why did The Great and Powerful Trixie train you if you can’t use magic, Crow?”
“Oh that’s simple! She taught me how to read runes, perform rituals and several other skill of that sort. OH! And she taught Crow how to talk like THIS, WhooOoooOooo!” Crow said in a mocking tone and striking a pose.
Trixie’s horn began to glow a blueish color and it sent out a small shock to Crow.
“Ow! Ha ha ha! Sorry Master Trixie.”
“Trixie…I forgive you.”
“Haha thanks, anyways, what brings you to Canterlot Master Trixie?”
“Twilight Sparkle sent word that you were departing to the Badlands and Trixie wanted to give you something that will help you on your journey.” Trixie smiled. Her horn glowed and there was a flash of light causing everypony in the room to flinch. Next to Trixie a small, well decorated chest appeared. Crow looked at Trixie in shock.
“Are you sure?!” Crow leaned down and took a closer look at the small chest.
“Of course, you might need it, the Badlands are a dangerous place.”
Crow bowed his head, “If you think I am ready for such a thing, then I will use it with great respect and caution.”
“Trixie believes you will.”
“What is it?” Picklock asked.
“Don’t worry about it my good looking friend!” Sash said putting his metal hoof around Picklock, “Maybe I’ll tell you later, if we’re both lucky!” Sash put his hoof down and looked at Trixie, “Did Zecora send me anything?”
“No, your master didn’t send you anything, she said your skills and knowledge would suffice for your journey…except she had said it in a rhyme that took Trixie a little bit to understand.”
“Ha! Sounds like something she would say.”
Crow gave Trixie another tight hug, “Thank you for believing in me.”
“Of course, my faithful student.”
Chapter 7
“You are a single mind! You are many, but you are one! You are nameless, but serve under the same name!”
The changeling overseer took a pause. She was dressed in a dark grey armor that was usually worn by higher ranking officers of the changeling army. She stared out into the ranks of the new recruits, getting a feel for their potential.
Among the crowd of changelings was one who stood out among the rest. A changeling with red eyes. She had suffered a birth defect that rarely happened in The Hive and if not for her mother being a high ranking royal guard she would have probably been put to death for being so different. Like her mother she had somewhat of a darker blue color to her skin and her mane was wavier than most other changeling’s.
“You are the children of The Hive, the army of our Queen! You are the future of The Hive, you’re our survival! But! But, not all of you will live to see our full glory, but your sacrifice will be remembered forever! Who here is ready to give everything for The Hive?!”
The crowd of three hundred let out a roaring cheer, many of the changelings stomped their hooves to ground in approval. The red eyed changeling stayed quiet and slowly nodded her head. Yes, she would serve her queen, she would make the queen and her mother proud.
“QUIET! Who said you could speak! You are still the lowest ranking soldiers and you have no right to speak! Now! Each of you were assigned a number before the assembly, this will determine your service toward The Hive!”
The red eyed changeling looked down at her number card.
156
Where would she be assigned? The Scouting Parties? The Main Army? The Royal Guard? The Spy Sector? The Spies, that’s what she wanted to be. Getting to see the world, getting to change your appearance and getting a name. That’s what she wanted more than anything.
A name.
“You’re all dismissed, go to your number leaders now! They’ll be outside in the main hall!”
The mass of changelings filed out of the assembly hall into the large main hall. The walls of the main hall were similar to that of the assembly hall, black and webby. On the walls of the main hall hung green banners with a darker green flame in the center of the banner. All around the hall were tunnels leading up to separate parts of The Hive, though a few were blocked by poorly made wooden stands. By each stand was a large sign that listed numbers of changelings.
1-50, Army
50-100, Royal Guard
100-150, Spies
150-180, Jailers
180-210, Fosters
210-250, Scavengers
250-270, Scientists
270-300, Special Duty
The red eyed changeling’s heart dropped. Damn it. It wasn’t so much not getting into the Spy Sector, it was rather the sector she was joining. The Jailers. The most boring and most looked down upon sector. She was only eight numbers away from the spies too.
What could she do? The answer was simple. Nothing. She bitterly got on the line for the jailer sector and waited for her new destiny.
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.”
Chapter 10
Number 156 threw herself into her webby hammock. Compared to Jailer training, basic training was easy. Oh, how she missed those days, the teachers were kinder, the food was better and you could actually see your parents. No. It’s forbidden to think of your parents. She shook away the thought and focused on something else. How many holes were in her leg? She rolled over to her back and stared at her legs. One, two, three, four….twelve in all, that was normal, one of the few normal things about her. She sighed and rolled back over to her stomach. She hated her black insect like skin, her red eyes, her long mane, she hated it all, she hated herself. Was she crying? Yes. Why? Changelings aren’t supposed to cry, they are strong, fearless, all powerful, the greatest species of all races on this planet. Weren’t they? No, this was a lie, a lie she believed, a lie she had to believe, a lie every changeling had to believe. She knew the truth, what the changelings really were. They were a race that consumed love, but survived off of hate and despair. Thousands of them could die, but it wouldn’t matter, as long as the queen was happy they were happy. They blindly lived for their queen, even she was fooled by her. She lived for her, to make her proud. Why? She knew all these things, but she stayed loyal to the queen. She hit her forehead. No, if anyone caught her thinking like this she’d be put to death. She looked out into the bed chamber. It was dark, the torches were put out so it was hard to see, but she could make out something. Two small figures moving around in the dark and shadows. They were whispering, talking about something they didn’t want others to hear, but their voices sounded young and un-changeling like…like they were ponies…oh no…they had to be ponies, all the other changelings were at training, besides her. There was a chance that these were other “sick” changelings coming back from training. If only she hadn’t faked sick to get out of training she wouldn’t be in this situation. Maybe they hadn’t noticed her yet! She had to try and listen in on their conversation.
“Are you sure this is the right way to castle?” A young filly like voice asked.
“Not as sure as I was five minutes ago my cold winged friend.” This time it was colt talking. A filly and colt, how’d they get in here?
“You’re so useless, I thought you said we’d find the castle no problem that you had a plan, that nothing would go wrong, that it was going to be an ad-ven-ture.”
“Your cutie mark should be you nagging other ponies, you know that right?”
There was no doubting it now, they were ponies. No changeling was allowed to get a cutie mark. What should she do? There was two options, engage them or ignore them. If she ignored them they would be on their way and she’d never have to deal with them again, but wasn’t it her duty as a changeling to capture an intruders?
“What happens if we run into any changelings?” The filly asked.
“Well not much we can do, we can hope they’re as nice as the changeling who’s pretending to be asleep on that bed over there.” The colt replied.
Crap! Had they found her? What should she do? What could she do? She was too exhausted from training to fight anypony and she was outnumbered…by a filly and colt who were probably two years younger than her. She had to do something though.
Number 156 worked enough courage to jump out of bed and face the two ponies, “Listen here, who are you guys?”
“Um…over here…” The colt said from behind.
It was very dark and what Number 156 actually faced was two piles of dirty blankets. She quickly turned around and let out an awkward cough. “Anyways, you’ll tell me who you are now.”
“I’m Friend and this is Frost Bite, ummm here let me-” A light flickered over the dark purple unicorn’s horn. “Hi I’m friend and this ice blue pegasus is Frost Bite, careful, she really will bite you.”
“Um…hi….please don’t kill us?” Frost Bite begged from behind Friend.
“Why are you here?” Number 156 asked in the bravest voice she could muster.
Friend trotted up to her and poked her chest, “Why are YOU here?” He asked mocking her voice.
“I sleep here….WAIT! I’m the changeling and you’re the pony you need to answer my questions!”
“Why can’t I ask questions? I want to ask questions!”
“You’re in our homeland, so I get to ask the questions, now tell me what are you doing here?”
“Friend we should just listen to her before she calls more changelings here!” Frost Bite insisted. She pulled at his hoof trying to lead him away, but he wouldn’t leave.
“No, not yet, I have some questions for this mare.”
Number 156 rubbed her face, this pony wouldn’t listen to reason, but maybe he would make a compromise. “Ok, it doesn’t look like we’ll get anywhere like this. We both have questions and I’m not really in mood to write a report about finding ponies in the Hive, so I have an offer.”
“What’s your offer?”
“Noooo Friend, we should just go back, I don’t think we should trust her, she’s a changeling.”
Friend looked over to Frost Bite, “That’s got nothing to do with nothing, I want to hear her out.” He looked back at Number 156 and grinned, “So what’s your offer?”
“We take turns asking each other questions, but we should be quick about it, training will be over soon and changelings will be heading back here.”
“OK! I like it! Let’s do that one.” He looked back at Frost Bite, “See! She’s not so bad, I like her! You worry way too much.” He jumped back to Number 156 and bowed his head, “Mare’s first.”
“Ok…” This was a very strange colt, didn’t seem like his brain functioned very well, “Where did you guys come from?”
“According to my mom, the stork! My turn!”
“Wai-”
“No no no no, my turn. I answered your question now it’s my turn. What’s your name?”
“Friend! That’s a stupid question, just ask where the castle is so we can go!” Frost Bite complained.
“I want to know who I’m talking to, listen to your name and chill.”
“Hmph!” Frost Bite turned her head in disapproval and trotted away to another part of the room.
“Soooo, what’s your name?”
“I’m Number 156.”
“What kind of name is-”
“HEY! I answered your question, it’s my turn.” Number 156 smirked, but now she had to think of a question to figure out where these ponies came from. “Ok, how did you guys get into the Hive, where were you prior to being in this room?”
“We were in the cells a couple levels down. Me and Frosty here decided to a take a walk around. We heard that there was a castle somewhere around here so…why not?” Friend started to walk around Number 156, inspecting her, “My turn, eh? Hmmm….What kind of name is Number 156?”
Number 156 kept Friend in her sight as he circled her, “All changelings are given a number that they are identified as, besides spies or high ranking officers of the army changelings don’t get names.”
“Ok Crimson Glare.”
“What?”
“That’s your new name, I think it suits you very well. Strong, brave, attractive.” Friend winked at Number 156, “Now my turn!”
“Wait! I didn’t get to ask a question, I still need to ask you one!”
Friend stopped circling Number 156, “You asked me “What?” I’m pretty sure that’s a question, so my turn!”
Number 156 sighed, she really didn’t want to deal with this. “Fine, I think that’s irrational, but go ahead.”
Friend looked over to Frost Bite who was observing the changeling beddings around the room, “Ok, where is the castle located in this place, I heard chit chat about a castle being buried somewhere around here.”
“It’s about time, thank you for finally asking the important question!” Frost Bite called from the fall end of the room.
“HEY! Your face is making that annoying sound again, might want to get that checked out!” Friend grinned, “So where’s the castle?”
“I’m not entirely-”
Number 156 turned to one of the several entrance tunnels to the bed chambers. Voices. They were growing closer and closer. Training was over and the changelings would be returning. They were out of time.
“I can’t explain where it is right now, we don’t have the time, you have to get out of here now! If you don’t all of our heads will be on a spike.”
“No.” Friend planted his feet firmly on the ground and looked at Number 156 expectantly.
“WHAT?! If you don’t go now we’ll all be killed!”
“I’m with the changeling on this one, I think we should listen to her.” Frost Bite said, quickly galloping over to friend.
“No, I won’t leave until you answer my question.”
They were running out of time, Number 156 didn’t have time to explain, but Friend wasn’t about to leave. She had to do something, but…damn it. It was her only option.
“Fine!” She shouted, “I’ll bring you to the castle if you promise you’ll leave me alone afterwards!”
“Ok, that works, does work with you Frosty, it works with me!” Friend began to trot over one of the quieter holes, “Let’s get a move on Crimson!”
Chapter 4
Crow and his friends soon arrived at Canterlot, where, Crow would begin the preparations with Twilight for the days ahead.
But…he and his friends had no idea of what the future held for them. Crow, the clever earth pony with the past full of lies and secrets, he would soon hold a darkness that could destroy all that he cares about. He would be destruction of the purest of pure and would eradicate all hope of a better Equestria.
Sparrow, the talented unicorn who’s ignorance of the past would lead to a future where the armies of the Tartarus would march across Equestria. He would lose so much, but gain an unimaginable power, so great, that the rulers Equestria would tremble at the sight of him.
And Tempest. His choices would shape the outcome of the events to come, only he will have the chance to ensure that Equestria and the World Tree would remain in peace and harmony. But all his roads lead to the same place…
There was still more for this small expedition to endure, The Battle of the Depths, Slaying the Black Beast, The Army of the Weeping Ghosts, The Shrine of the Black Horn, The Lost Library, and The Opening of the World Tree and so much more.
Chapter 8
Echo stood silent as Crow and Sash marched along the line of fourteen ponies and a griffon. Echo let out a quiet yawn, she wasn’t used to being up this early and the rising sun burned her eyes. She poked her head out of the line and looked down the row of ponies. She stood next to a large, dark green earth pony by the name of Lightweight, who for the most part kept quiet, and a large brown and white griffon, Talon, who was the opposite to Lightweight and talked too much. Next to these two large bodies Echo felt very small and insecure.
“Ok then!” Crow yelled, finally breaking the silence, “I guess this would be a good time to address you guys and girls!” He marched by Echo and shot her a wink. “I think we got a strong team here and I believe with our team we can overcome any challenge we face!” Crow turned and began to march back down the line. “As many of you know from the layout plan I gave you yesterday we’ll be heading into the Badlands and the changeling capital.” The line stirred at the mention of changelings. “This will not be an easy task, we’ll need to keep on our hooves and if we’re not careful, the worst might occur. I’ve been to The Hive once before, so I do have a plan for when we get there.”
“Excuse me, Crow!” Spade called out from the line. Echo had met her the day prior, she seemed nice, a bit to obsessed with digging though.
“Question?”
“Yes, don’t most changeling cities have a barrier of some sort?”
“Yes, it does, but I know of a secret entrance to The Hive. The Hive is built on top of a castle and when I was younger my parents discovered a passage to the castle, this passage goes under the barrier. Last time I was there I had no idea the library was there under the castle.” Crow paused and looked at the team. “We have the chance to discover something so incredible, so amazing that it could change the Equestria we live in forever. Through the past we could change the future. NOW!” Crow smiled, “Let’s go meet history!”