With a sharp intake of air through a muzzle being the only visible part of Gloom otherwise entirely wrapped in thick cloth, the bat pony mare wakes up, feeling beads of sweat trickling all over her coat from her forehead to her hooves.

Ew! Was bringing a heavy winter sleeping bag a bad idea?

She untangles herself from her sticky cocoon and crawls out. The comparatively cold, underground air immediately makes her shiver and her nostrils clog as her wet coat rapidly cools down. Stretching to get her blood flowing a little, she looks around in the dim light of a see-through orange ball floating atop a candelabra in the center of the room that’s flickering like a weak flame. Better yet, the battery crystals she asked Twilight to recharge are neatly laid down in front of her bags in plain sight.

Did Twilight manage to stabilize some kind of a weak light spell as well as recharge the batteries overnight? It makes sense that a magic anomaly wouldn’t stop a unicorn like her for long. Give it a day or two and she’ll figure out how to make this place a second home… or a lab. It was stupid to underestimate somepony who made the rank of an archmage in third of the time it takes most others. I should assume it’s only a matter of time until she’s able to use the spy crystals despite the interference. What to do to avoid a potential diplomatic disaster? What to do?

The guest cavern being lit makes it easy for Gloom to grab some food and a small amount of water for breakfast. Before she starts eating, though, she gets an idea that might solve all her current humidity problems, and checks the mechanical watch that Twilight lent her.

Close to ten o’clock. I must have been so worn out that flipping my sleeping schedule on its head didn’t even matter. On the other hoof, the sun is bound to be out.

Hoping to dry herself and her sleeping bag out, she loads the soggy wrap onto her back along with the meal she rationed for herself, and quietly heads out of the cave, giving only one look to the purple alicorn sleeping spread-eagle on a second bedroll with only her wings and a thin blanket crumpled around her head covering her and muffling her quiet snoring.

I’m deciding to assume she got lucky that it’s not freezing down here and not that she planned for both her magic potentially failing and us getting accommodated in a fairly warm place, because that would leave me feeling both wet and stupid.

As she leaves the cave and enters the dark core tunnel of the hive, Gloom’s blood briefly turns to ice along with the rest of her already chilly body when she spots a changeling motionlessly and silently standing guard by the entrance hole.

“Good morning-” Gloom whispers and stops herself when she realizes the changeling looks bulkier and more muscular overall than 2119 who was keeping an eye on Twilight yesterday, “-you’re not 2119, are you?”

The changeling nods his head courteously and whispers back:

“It’s me, 3012. I accompanied you through the Badlands. 2119 is on gate duty today.”

“Oh, right. Sorry,” Gloom smiles apologetically, “I’m not good at telling changelings apart yet, and it’s almost pitch black aside from your eyes and Twilight’s light spell back inside,” she points back through the cave entrance.

“It’s no problem,” says 3012, “Can I help you in any way?”

“You could accompany me outside, but I’m assuming you’re under orders to keep an eye on the Princess, am I right?”

3012 nods and points to the left which leads upwards.

“That way, you can’t get lost. Her Majesty’s orders are to let you move around freely but I can call 2119 if you want.”

“That’s fine,” Gloom shakes her head, “The sooner I get the hang of basic layout, the better.”

3012 nods again and Gloom leaves.

In only a couple minutes, the darkness gives way to the faintest of daylights which graduates into full visibility as Gloom reaches the big lobby with the hole leading out of the hive and a smaller one supposedly leading to the throne room. The air coming in through the holes in the ceiling is warm, and Gloom is happy that her cold sweat is slowly drying out. She blinks and shields her eyes when she steps out of the gate hole and is blasted by the summer sunlight. However, a deep breath of warm, morning air clears her nose in the matter of seconds.

“Feels good…” she moans, stretching.

“Glad to hear it,” says 2119, making Gloom’s eyes snap towards him, “Sorry, did I startle you?”

The bat pony takes a deep breath.

“Yes, but that’s my fault, 3012 told me you’d be here. I just forgot in the heat of the moment,” she nods upwards towards the risen sun. The pun goes entirely over 2119’s head but he doesn’t look displeased or anything, so Gloom moves on, “Mind if I sit down and have breakfast?”

“My orders are to let you do as you please as long as it’s not clearly dangerous,” says 2119 and looks into the distance across the dry plains of the Badlands stretching into the distance, “It doesn’t look like we’re under any threat. Very few wild animals stray near the hive these days.”

For an infiltrator, he’s a bit wooden at smalltalk. Maybe that’s why he’s a gate guard with 3012?

Permission given, Gloom unzips her sleeping bag and tries to spread it over the floor, but even a small breeze always seems to blow dirt over the fluffy insides. After a couple unsatisfactory attempts, 2119 clears his throat and asks:

“What are you trying to do?”

“I just need to dry this out,” Gloom shakes the open sleeping bag, “It’s a lot warmer here than I expected, but the ground here isn’t exactly clean and if it gets too dirty I won’t have anywhere to wash it. From what I heard, there’s no water around here, right?”

“Nothing readily available, no,” 2119 shakes his head, presses his hoof against the hive’s outer wall, his horn flashes green, and the wall grows several dull hooks in a line, much to Gloom’s wide-eyed surprise, “We don’t exactly need it, and the Queen only takes hot baths in winter when the drones melt the snow. I think the drones stumble upon some while mining on occasion, at least we lose a couple to drowning from time to time, but that’s all I’ve ever heard.”

“Wow!” Gloom uses the hooks to spread the sleeping bag and let it dry, “Thank you very much.”

So the drones might know about water, and even some underground slop can be drinkable if filtered and boiled. What would they call it? Wet-chokey?

With the warmth of the sun finally seeping deep into her bones and her worries about her sleeping bag turning unusable banished, Gloom sits down and unravels the wax cloth wrapped around the pressed hay biscuits with dried fruit she brought for breakfast. 2119 gives it a curious glance but shakes his head when she offers him a bite.

“No, thank you. Unless you’re certain that your supplies will last for your entire trip. I wasn’t informed about how long you’re going to stay.”

Gloom admits he’s right and savors the food along with the morning ration of water she allows herself.

“I’m not entirely sure either, the Princess wasn’t particularly clear on the subject,” she asks while chewing and propped against the hive’s wall with her back, “Say, if I’m allowed to do as I please, what happens in case I get into trouble I can’t deal with? Drones talk a lot about monsters in the depths.”

2119 rubs his chin.

“Honestly, the best advice I can give you is to never walk around alone and definitely not leave the core tunnels. Perhaps you could ask the Queen to let a drone always be with you. That way you’ll at least have a guide with access to the hive map. With how few ranked changelings there are around, I’m afraid only the Princess would get a guide if she asked.”

“That drone thing is a good idea,” Gloom nods.

Even a low-ranked infiltrator would be a good liar, but I’m not about to keep probing on and on from all angles if he knows anything about who or what I met yesterday.

As she finishes her meal, a call of nature makes her look around again and re-evaluate the problems with her situation.

Oookay, no water and no leaves. This isn’t great, but the occasional patch of dry grass will do. Thankfully, everything I packed is low-residue food and water will be more of a problem coming in than out.

“2119, is 99732 where it was yesterday?” she asks. The infiltrator concentrates for a second and nods, “Thanks. Now, is there someplace out here where I can get a moment of privacy?”

***

“Heyoo, 99732!” a familiar female voice makes the ears of a curled-up drone inside a node point cubby hole twitch. 99732 may not be the smartest drone, but it’s careful when it counts, so it only moves the thin stone boarding access to its hole a little before calling out still in a whisper:

“Miss Gloom?”

“The one and only!” a yellow-eyed face lowers itself into the drone’s view, “Are you feeling better?”

“Yup, my insides only tugged on themselves when I stretched by accident earlier! I even walked over here on my own today,” announces the drone proudly as it dissolves the goop holding the stone board in place, pushes it aside, and peeks out from its hole. It still twitches when Gloom scratches it behind the ears, but that’s just the drone flight and flight reflex.

“You’re a resilient little guy. I like that.”

“Thank youuu-?” 99732’s voice slows down briefly as it checks the hive mind for the meaning of the word, ”Yes, uhh, that’s a good word. Thank you!”

“Wanna come out and walk around for a bit?”

“I’m not sure I should,” the drone hesitates, “I’m supposed to be resting.”

“I’ve healed through a lot of injuries and I can tell you from experience that once you can move without falling over, you should do so in as small an amount as you can. Even a few steps can help a lot,” Gloom sits down by the hole as 99732 slowly crawls out. As much as she wants to help it, pulling it out isn’t a good idea. When the drone stands back up and turns around a couple times to test its body.

“Hmmm, just a little achy all over, but it’s better than yesterday,” carefully, 99732 starts walking through the tunnel, “Why are you here today, Miss Gloom?”

The bat pony shrugs.

“I just felt like giving you a hug.”

“GASP! YOU’RE THE BEST PONY- OW OW OW OW ow!” 99732 cheers by throwing its forelegs into the air and immediately regretting it.

“How many ponies do you know?” asks Gloom and beckons the drone to come over.

“Only you, and you’re the best,” 99732 beams, “Meep?!” its eyes bulge as Gloom scoops it into a hug. The drone struggles only a little until it feels love flow from Gloom to itself, upon which it simply presses against her and relaxes its chin on her forelegs holding it like a teddy bear. There’s very little a drone wouldn’t let itself be subjected to in return for real, fresh love. The warmth coming off of Gloom is just a nice and comfy bonus.

As the bat pony just sits there, casually stroking the drone, the memory of yesterday’s strange encounter rears its ugly head. How to approach the situation without freaking the drone out, though?

“I wonder, 99732, do you know if drones ever met something invisible in the tunnels? When I was returning from the HSC yesterday I thought I saw something without a visible shape that was reflecting the light of my horseshoes in a strange way but I couldn’t be sure if my eyes weren’t just playing tricks on me after a long day,” asks Gloom, absolutely sure about what she saw. To her surprise, 99732 just looks upwards and purses its mouth in a moment of thought.

“There’s a whole bunch of gribblers you can’t see until they jump you, especially in the deeper tunnels. The high ranks and the response team try to keep the core tunnels clear but the hive is huuuuge and sometimes things wander up. That’s why even the little node hole up here can be closed. Usually you can just call for help and run, or hide somewhere out of the way and wait.”

“Huh…” Gloom scours her memory. Did I avoid some kind of an ambush predator? When not sure of something dangerous, it always pays to ask the locals, “How do you guys avoid things like that if you can’t see them?”

“Pfff!” 99732 waves only its fetlock dismissively because the rest of it is restrained by the hug, “If we waited to run until we saw things we’d be getting eaten left and right. You can listen for sounds that don’t belong if you survive long enough -not my case, but 99200 can help you with that- but mostly you can feel the gribblers coming before you can see them. They try to be sneaky but the most dangerous ones are also big and every step or squirm or shuffle makes the ground shake.”

“Did you hear me coming?” wonders Gloom. She wasn’t trying to sneak as such, but moving silently comes naturally to a creature of the night like herself.

“Oooh yes,” 99732 nods, bursting Gloom’s bubble immediately, “You’re super stompy, you’re breathing really loud, and your glowy horseshoes kinda… buzz? You feel like a slow gribbler when you’re approaching - hehe, huggy grabber!”

“And you’ve fallen right into my trap!” Gloom grins and hugs the drone tighter, still careful not to squeeze too much, while softly biting its ear, “Munchmunchmunchmunch!”

“Halp, I’m being nommed!” 99732 shifts in her embrace with only a little real resistance which fades as soon as she lets its ear go.

A small stab of regret gets through Gloom’s joy as she realizes that while the drone is happy with her, there was a brief moment just now when it wasn’t entirely sure if all this really wasn’t a trap.

This isn’t 65536 who’s been growing up with me for over a decade. I’m still a visitor, an unknown variable. Something which must be solved by MORE HUGS OVER A LONGER TIME PERIOD!

Unfortunately, as Gloom’s mind is drawn to the subject of her and Twilight’s stay, she reminds herself that she can’t spend the whole day cuddling 99732.

“I wonder, can you come with me to the HSC today again?” she asks.

“Nu uh,” the drone shakes its head, “Last shift was special. Everyone else is doing their best to make the hive work, so I can’t just not do my part, as small as it is right now. Even more, the longer I rest the sooner I can get back to digging.”

“This must be better than risking getting eaten every day,” Gloom slowly lets 99732 go, and the drone takes a couple more steps just to move around a little.

“Yeeeeah,” it replies hesitantly, “but digging…” it lets the word hang in the air, answering every concern about the safety of its work in one fell swoop.

“Heh, I wish the guards had the same work ethic as you drones do,” Gloom’s knees crack when she stands up after sitting so long in the cold tunnel, and the recharged battery crystals in her backpack clink, reminding her of her mission. Unlike ponies, drones don’t emit much heat which also explains their love for hug piles, “Tell me, one of you talked about your broken generator being caused by a drone ‘villain’. That’s a little unusual, isn’t it? You’re all doing your best to be cute little good guys, right, or do I have to employ some tough love?”

“Love crystals are not for chewing! I learned that the hard way,” 99732 shakes its head with vigor, “Ouch- tugging neck!”

“Not what I meant,” Gloom chuckles and takes a different approach, “Is there an actually evil drone and you are all too nice and don’t know how to deal with it?”

“Who, 99818? Nah, it’s a villain, not a bad guy.”

“Uhh… I don’t get it,” Gloom shakes her head as 99732’s voice gets muffled when it shoves its head back into the node hole and starts crawling in.

“You really gotta talk to it yourself, I think I’d muck explaining it up. It really makes sense when it says what villaining is all about- thank you!” 99732 adds when Gloom helps by pushing it through. A moment and some grinding of carapace on rock later later, only the smiling head peeks out again.

“I think I just might,” a plan starts forming in Gloom’s mind. A slightly villainous one too, “Where can I find this 99818?”

“It volunteers for shifts around Guide’s Cavern because it’s building an evil lair down there during breaky times and a good evil lair must have some hot-glowy flowing through it.”

“Taking the most dangerous jobs willingly,” Gloom shakes her head, “Must be a real worker even for a drone.”

“Villainin’ is hard work like anything else if you want to do it right! - that’s what 99818 says. It even has two minions now, so there must be something to it.”

“Wooow,” the bat mare can’t help smirking, “I suppose the sooner I meet the guy the better then. Stay safe, 99732.”

“You too, Miss Gloomy!”

***

Did I overreact with the spy crystals? Twilight was right about them being easy to explain, and Chrysalis knows that 65536 shares everything new about the hive whenever it returns from its winter visits. It’s likely she would be entirely okay with the explanation or, if not, she would just use it as diplomatic leverage during the next meeting of Equestrian royalty.

On the other hoof, she’s hardly known as the paragon of calm and reason…

Now that she knows the way to the High Score Cavern, even without a guide the trip takes Gloom less than half an hour, and most of that is only because she’s glaring into the darkness and listening for anything that might not be coming from her. She sees and hears nothing, but in the dim light of her horseshoes serving only to know how far the floor is and now knowing how noticeable she is even to the presumed weakest underground denizens it doesn’t mean much. The thing vanished and the only thing Gloom heard was rushing air. It could be two pony lengths behind her and she likely wouldn’t know.

Being this much on edge without anything to prompt the release of tension, however, takes a toll and Gloom’s mind wanders to her plan.

If I get rid of the crystals, Twilight’s bound to find out. Some drone will tell her or a high rank and I’ll be in trouble. However, if a certain villain just managed to find a couple of peculiar new shinies on its own… possibly with only a slight hint that there’s something to be found in the HSC, the chance that Twilight would suspect my intervention instead of thinking that drones are just doing drone things would be miniscule.

The best result would be if a drone would break the crystals, but that’s unlikely. On the other hoof, Twilight said they needed to be positioned properly, so them just sitting in a stash by the wall could be good enough.

No point in going over it on repeat until I meet this villain, though. Let’s see if there’s someone I can ask to escort me to the Guide’s Cavern.

She enters the High Score Cavern, only to see something peculiar - a flash of green light briefly illuminating a drone before fading. A moment later, it happens again, playing tricks with Gloom’s night vision. The drone seems to throw something, the flash happens, and she hears no impact.

Well, it wouldn’t be the hive if I didn’t find a cute drone doing something weird.

Author's Note

You can try guessing what the villain's rank refers to. Hint: It's related to one of the most known pieces of horror literature.