Author's Note

There is violence/gore and suicide/death warning in this chapter.
This chapter follow Cloak and his team as they enter the old Everfree hive.

There's Cloak the team lead veteran infiltrator.
Echo, he has the odd habit repeat all orders through the hive mind, too everlings irritation.
Deadpan, a silent brute of a changeling with a (yeah) Deadpan look on his face.
Sticky, Master with her goo and trap making.
Spider, born to climb
Ziggy, his the newbie

The story starts as the changelings have entered the hive after dodging the pony guards around the hive.

012.5 Mission infiltration (side story)

In an dark abandoned hall with dust covering the hexagon plated floor, lights crystal long burned out.
A part of hive wall plating shakes and is slowly pushed out, after a short time the plate comes loss and hangs in strings of green goo. Slow it starts to lower to the ground as it hits a changeling looks out of the hole in the wall checking if there's any threats. After giving a quick command over the hive mind, six changelings fly down too the hive floor and stand in circle formation, all eyes outwards scans too look for movements.

One of the changelings with a cloak gives out a command. "Newbie drop a light crystal. This will be our exit point in case something bad happens." All the changelings flinch as Echo repeat the command over their hive mind.
The cloaked changeling turn it's head to glare at Echo.
"Echo you bug-butt, I told you to stop that. Be happy that the queen haven't killed you yet as you always do this."
A changeling with a blue fin on it's head flinches and give a sheepish look back. "Sorry Cloak, I can't help it, i it it's just so all can hear the command." Cloak lets out a disappointed sigh. "If you wasn't my hatch mate, you wouldn't be here. So try to keep it under control." Echo perks up at that. "Yes Cloak I will do my best."

Cloak looks over to the newest member of the group, a nymph just into adulthood, he's the smallest of them all and is digging through a saddle bag. "Erm, Cloak?" comes the timid voice of Ziggy the newbie. "What newbie." Cloak ask with a raised eyebrow and irritation on his voice. "A, I, I can't find the crystal." Cloak rolls his eyes "Spider help him." A slender and feminine looking changeling with short light green hair, purrs as she gets close to helps the youngest member of the team. Ziggy's ear flat on his head, he scuffs the floor with a sad look.

"Don't worry Ziggy, Cloak might be a hard A, but his always take care of his team. He's only hard on you for you're own safety." She says as she raises Ziggy's head to look at her, she gives him a warm smile at their eyes lock. "Now don't be so down here's the crystal, do you remember how to activate it?" Ziggy nods as he takes the crystal in his hooves make it glow a faint green glow. He places it in a holder on the wall so the light can be seen from all directions.
"All done Cloak crystal is placed." All flinch as Echo repeat it. All changeling turn their eyes on Echo whom cower away by their collective stares.

Sighing Cloak speaks up. "Okay all we're here to locate what destroyed the hive, everyling has their jars?" All changelings nods in response. "Good, there are threats here so be on your guard, if we get separate we will try to meet up here. If we lose contact with you over the hive mind you will be counted as k.i.a (killed in action) and we will leave your sorry bug-butt here. Do you understand?" Rogers and affermatives ring over the hive mind, Cloak nods "Good, now lets move out Spider and Ziggy take the front, the other of you lose formation and Deadpan you go last as you can shrug off anything that will likely attack us. All the changelings move into the new formation and start moving down the hallway to the right.

As they walk down the hall their eyes scan walls and ceiling, the only sound is their hoofs echoing in this empty halls.
Spider lets out a whistle. "By the great hive, this are some nice walls, I wish we could take some of it home." she says as she owlish look around.

"What was this hive specialist in Cloak?" Sticky asks her eyes wandering the many holes for changelings to move about.
"The Queen told me, this hive specialist in Architect and spell crafting, an odd combo if you ask me." Cloak gave a bored reply.

"Wait, wait. So your telling me that this hive was killed by hive knows what and they where war-mages, we are looking for what ever this that." Sticky ask with worry in her voice. Cloak roll his eyes. "Yes, Sticky we're looking for what ever toke down this hive and stop using 'Ogres & Oubliettes' terms on a mission.

"But I know you like it, you told me that the last time we played." Sticky whine making fake crocodile tears. Cloak stop and give a sheepish look as he walks over to Spider. "Now, now I'm sorry. It's just that this mission is a problem, I don't know what we will face here. So chin up my dungeon master. You can use all the terms you want when we get home." Sticky dry's her fake tears and stick out her tongue. "You promise, now you need to keep it." She gives Cloak a wink.
He stammers out. "Y, yo you tricked me." He throws his hooves it to the air. "Fine you got me, but your flanks mine when we get home." They both continue to walk with the rest of the group. Sticky get close and gives sexual whisper in Cloak's ear as she pass him. "Wouldn't have it any other way."

Ziggy looks over to Spider as he ask. "Are they?" "Yup, married." a quick answers comes from Spider.

Echo shakes his head at their banter and then looks back to see if Deadpan still with them and his gone. So he tries to contact him over the hive mind. "Deadpan are you there? answer me." panic sets into his soul. "Cloak we might have a problem." They all stops and turn to look at Echo. "Deadpan is gone and won't respond over the link." They all try and fail to make contact with him.

"You all know the protocol, if we lose contact with someling on a mission they're k.i.a. and Deadpan is the strongest of us all, he fought his way out of a Timber Wolf den all by him self. So don't worry about him." They all looked sad over Cloak's word but they know that's the truth. They all continue walking more alert then ever, with two changelings looking back from time to time so no more will disappear.

As they walk they see puddles blue goo on the floor it's dripping from the ceiling, as they stop Ziggy takes out the jar his carrying and scoops up some of this blue goo, smelling into the jar before recoiling in horror and gagging, he quickly seal the jar and put it away.

Spider beside him laughs at the stupidity of the youngest member. "Oh by the hive, you shall never ever smell stuff like that."

"A warning would be nice." Ziggy stare blankly at Spider. "And miss all the fun. Don't be stupid and think before you act Ziggy." Spider reply with a big grin on her face.

They all continue down the hall until Spider put up her right hoof and signal for stop. "I hear something moving, third tunnel on the right." she reports. They all strain their hearing to see if they all can hear it. "Spider check it out, take Ziggy with you, the cover the tunnel. Echo repeats the order but no-ling reacts.

Spider and Ziggy enters the tunnel using their night/cave vision to guide them, the three others position them self in a half circle too cover the entrance.

Spider is first in the tunnel the sound of movement getting loader and loader as they get closer, at the end of the tunnel it opens up too a big room with wall and floor covered in broken egg shells and blue goo, blue mushrooms growing out of the walls and egg shells. In a circle in the middle off the room is what looks like grub there's not many of them maybe twenty too thirty, but something is wrong with them they have blue mushrooms growing out of their body's. They move around like live grubs but they don't hiss or make any noise expect their crawling.

Spider and Ziggy stare at the oddness before them. "Cloak we found the hatchery, it's infected with blue mushrooms." She send over the hive mind, as she did all grubs in the room turn their head towards them, their hollow eyes dripping with blue goo staring into their souls. "This doesn't look good." Ziggy remark, the grubs open their mouths and lets out ear piercing shriek, Both Spider and Ziggy staggers by the attack makes them both fall over with dizziness. Ziggy takes it the hardest as he falls into the room among the broken eggs.

Spider gets to her hooves unsteady green blood running from her ears, with a quick look around she sees Ziggy laying on the floor swarmed by the grubs they are tearing into him ripping his body into pieces green blood covering their tiny faces, he's screaming but Spider can't hear a thing."By the hive his already dead." She thinks for herself as she turn too leave she hits something that cracks by her touch she looks up into pair of blue misty eyes of a mushroom timber wolf. Before she can send a warning too Cloak and the others the timber wolf taken hold of her head with it's maw and crushed it, her body hanging limp fore few seconds green blood coming out of every hole before it's drop on the floor.

Cloak and the other are standing at the tunnel entrance as they get the report form Spider as they hear the shriek they look at each other, then they hear the screaming of Ziggy before it become quiet as the grave. "Spider what's happening? do you hear me?" Cloak calls over the link, he shakes his head. "I think we should leave, this mission was doomed to fail as soon I got the command from the Queen."

"Yes." Echo responds, "I agree, lets move out." Sticky says. They all look at each other and nods and turn too leave, they all freezes. There just out side their field of view stands the horde hundreds of hundreds of changelings if broken body's blue mushrooms growing from them, blue goo dripping from their eyes and mouths, here and there they see timber wolfs with eyes glowing blue also blue mushrooms growing from them.

Echo turn his head to look the other way but there's more of them. "Seems we're trapped." He nervously speak out fear dripping from every word.

"They most been following us as we entered the hive." Cloak spits out in anger. "But how did they know we were here?"
"I don't know but we need a plan." Sticky reply.

"Let's take too the air. They might not be able to fly." Cloak sends over the link, as he dose the horde look up as they are waiting for something.

Cloak and the other buzzes their wings and start flying to get past the horde, as they get closer all shroom-ling's horns light up with a blue magic with hints of red sparks flashing from time to time, and they open fire hundreds of blue bolts of magic flying into the air with no direct aim only to make a massive wall of magic.

The three changelings dodge and weave through the bolt. Cloak releases his cloak to make it easier to fly as it gets hit by the blue magic it explodes throwing green flames down to the floor. Echo looks over to Cloak. "Still having extra mana stones in the cloak?" He ask as he return his eyes forward. "Always." Cloak reply with a grin.

As they continue to fly bigger bolt of magic starts joining the smaller once. The shroom-wolf has begin there attack shooting magic from their mouths, one of them flies past Sticky and hits the ceiling and explodes above her, she barely avoids the rubble falling down.

"There's the light!" Echo screams out as they're getting close to their exit point.

Echo and Sticky is the first to enter the hole as they do a massive changeling tackles Echo throwing them to the floor below, Sticky gets hit but manage to avoid getting dragged down with Echo, she climbs in the hole and starts to move to the surface.

Cloak looks down at Echo as he hits the floor hard green blood platters the surface, with a heavy sigh he flies into the hole and joins Sticky.

Echo as he's tackled by the big changeling he sees the face of Deadpan his friend, eyes hollow with blue goo flows from them. They hit the floor hard marking Echo to blackout.

As Sticky and Cloak exit on the surface they roll a big stone over the hole to hold the horde back for as long it can so they can escape.

"My Queen mission failed, we lost four out of six infiltrators, the hive is overrun by, by monsters. Cloak send to the queen.

"I guessed as much Cloak, you're failure will not go unpunished, return to the hive with what remain of your squad."

"Yes, my queen." Cloak looks over to his wife. "Are you okay, can you fly." She looks up at him and nods. "Just need a minute, then I'm ready to return home." Cloak gives her a nuzzle by her ear. "Take the time you need."

After a few minutes they're fly in the direction of the Badlands hive, their home. Unknown to them both a small wound on Sticky's shoulder is spreading small lines of blue.

Echo wakes up, something heavy on him. He open his eyes to see his former friend Deadpan eating away on his body, legs are already gone, he looks around in panic and see his saddlebag open with some mana crystal laying outside.

With great effort he uses the last of his magic to activate the mana to overload. With his last strength he thinks. "I'm already dead and I will take you with me Deadpan. Sorry Cloak this is my end hatch mate."

In a bright explosion of green flames Echo life ends.