One Mask Among Many.

by Golden Paw

Chapter Six

The gritty dust of the Badlands crunched under Buzz’s hooves as she made the final leap to the ground. Darkness had settled long before she’d reached the base of the mountains, turning the world into a collection of looming shadows and strange sounds that carried eerily on the wind.

Even the sky was desolate and empty. Clouds blocked the few stars out this night and Buzz felt terribly alone for the first time in her life. She kicked the ground with a holed hoof and felt the ever present loathing of her disguise welling up to trouble her once more.

Her black carapace reflected what little light there was, showing the faintest hint of green around its edges. Lifting a hoof high above her head Buzz stared through the gaps that dotted the limb, seeing the grey clouds above through its absent voids. She shuddered and lowered the hoof again, not wanting to dwell on such wrongness.

With a couple of blinks, Buzz returned her gaze to see the night vista more clearly. The darkness was suddenly replaced by her arcane vision. The shadowy view was suddenly alive with the ebb and flow of background magic, twisting and coiling around everything.

As she gazed about herself Buzz realised she wasn’t alone. Tiny balls of light zipped through the sky, wheeling this way and that while emitting a chittering sound. Buzz made to prick her ears, only to remember that changelings didn’t work like that. Sounds were different in this form, higher pitched tones came across more clearly hence Buzz could easily make out the sounds of bats hunting in the darkness.

The other thing she noticed was the cold; with the sun fully set the temperature here in the Badlands was plummeting. An involuntary shiver passed through her and Buzz inwardly cursed this body.No changeling would want to be about at this time, best get moving.

Her target was a rising outcrop of rock off to the south, a jagged collection of small peaks that loomed out of the swirling haze. It wasn’t hard to spot and taking a breath, more out of habit than anything else, Buzz began her trek across the desolate landscape.

Moving as fast as she dared Buzz trotted at a steady pace, keeping her senses alive for any potential danger. She’d heard in great detail from Twilight about the various beasts and predators that roamed these lands. That was the problem with perfect recall, every unpleasant monster and how it hunted ponies was listed for easy and convenient viewing in Buzzbot’s mind.

As she trotted Buzz tried to pick up the magical signs of changelings, but in the windswept dust all around it soon became clear that only very fresh traces of her quarry would be detectable. Swinging her head from side to side, Buzz felt her nerves twanging. There were large things moving about in the darkness, far away enough to not be seen but close enough for Buzz to hear their roaring calls in the night.

A tremble passed through the ground and caused Buzzbot to freeze, a gigantic snake burst from the ground ahead and bellowed at the night sky. To her horror some poor something shrieked in its jaws before being cut off mid cry. Buzz closed her eyes and tried to ignore the sounds of crunching as the monster devoured its prey.

Buzz waited as long as she dared, doing her best not to shiver as noises of rumbling were heard. When she dared to open her eyes Buzz caught the tail end of the enormous serpent disappearing back into the rough ground and felt the dirt all around her tremble once more.

It was a long time before she dared to move, ears straining for the tiniest hint of danger. Mercifully the darkness resumed its background rhythm. Buzz let out a slow, tense breath and continued on her way.

The hive loomed out of the darkness, its spires cracked and broken. The collection of rust coloured points rose out of the ground like a half buried and tarnished crown. To her arcane vision the landmark seemed dark and hungry; as if the very stone was sucking the magic out of the air and replacing it with the sickly glow she’d come to think of as changeling sorcery.

As she drew closer to the old hive Buzz noticed the lands round were deserted, all the tiny night time sounds were tellingly absent. Not only this the nature of the air had changed also. The magic took on that unpleasant sickly colour and Buzz felt the ‘dirty’ feeling magnified within her. Evidently the local wildlife shunned this place and she didn’t blame them.

Peering around however Buzz saw this magic was ‘stale’. This power was old and deeply ingrained within the surrounding rocks. Colouring the land with its taint and forcing a feeling of apprehension upon those who travelled here. If she was any guess then no changelings had been active on this site for a good while. This didn’t stop Buzz’s progress slowing to a cautious crawl. Every stone or looming rock seemed to watch her, the feeling of threat and wrongness following her every hoof fall.

As she pressed deeper into the increasingly rocky terrain Buzz was met by no challenger. No sentries or guards barred her path, only the oppressive sounds of the wind howling around the stones kept her company.

The feelings of repulsion only deepened as Buzz forced one hoof ahead of another, eyes squinting as the wind whipped up the dust and seemed to throw it in her face with malicious intent. Despite these barriers Buzz pushed on and her determination was finally rewarded. She came upon a rounded entrance way and her nose picked up the hints of a sickly sweet aroma emanating from within.

It was faint, almost instantly snatched away by the ferocious weather but definitely there. The smell of changelings emerged from that hole. Taking a deep breath Buzz paused before finally stepping over the threshold and into the old hive.

The nature of the stone became different as Buzzbot made her cautious way along the tunnel. The rock was smoothed, rippled, slightly warm to the touch and almost perfectly rounded as if she was walking down some test tube. The level of humidity also rose and so after only a few minutes travel Buzz was actually starting to feel more comfortable.

That was until she found the first husk. Buzz almost missed it in the murk, a crumpled mound of chitin slumped up against the curved wall of the passage. It had evaded her magical senses and the first Buzz knew of its presence was as she stumbled over the dead creature.

With an unpleasant ‘clattering’ sound Buzz found herself falling into the husk’s embrace and let out a hiss of terror. The cold, empty eyes of the head seemed to glare at her as Buzz frantically tried to disentangle herslef from the dead carapace. Sections of empty chitin rolled away with a nasty hollow sound until Buzz finally freed herself and was left panting in the darkness.

Buzz felt her heart hammering, limbs shaking and a growing sense of sadness settling within her. This place was dead. Buzz tensed just in case that assumption was wrong, straining to hear the faintest sound of life. All she heard was the muted sounds of the wind outside.

As her breathing returned to normal Buzz found the courage to press further into the darkness. The ingrained changeling magic was everywhere, but weak and muted by the absence of the hive’s denizens. Buzz advanced deeper and found yet more husks of dead changelings. They looked battered and worn, as if they had been left here for centuries.

What was more, they hadn’t gone quietly either. Several of the dead seemed to be locked in struggles at the time of their demise. Buzz saw at least one drone impaled on the horn of another and several husks were cracked and battered from multiple telling blows.

The numbers only increased as Buzz pushed on further into the hive. The corridor broadened with several tunnels branching off this main line. Buzz inwardly thanked Twilight as she made a mental note of her route: Having a perfect memory has its good points too. She mused, side stepping another pile of deceased drones.

The whole place felt so empty and not just from the lack of life. There was so little background magic here. It was as if the very air had been drained of its vitality and Buzz made another mental note to not linger long. She drew her power from the currents and flows of the world’s magic so down here she’d only have reserve power until she left this dreary hole.

Keeping a careful eye on her energy levels Buzz explored further, hoping that there would be some clue as to what happened here. She took small samples from the dead and double checked their family groupings. Yes, they are from Chrysalis’ brood; no doubt about that.

Buzz moved on and quickly wished she hadn’t. Stepping over more husks Buzz felt her hoof squelch into something. Looking down slowly she saw an unpleasant green goo coating her hoof and grimacing slowly lifted it to reveal a cracked ‘skin’ of dark green slime. The chamber ahead was coated in the foul material and Buzz saw the neatly fractured hoof sized hole she'd left in the substance. Oh this is going to get messy.

Here at least was some residual magic. The faintest whiff of sustaining power in a sea of emptiness. Buzz looked down unhappily and saw the floor was utterly coated in the slime. Scrunching up her face in disgust Buzz took another hesitant step forward with a crunch and the slime spewed over the edges of the new hole she'd made. Why did changelings have to be so horrible?

Suppressing a shudder Buzz forced one hoof then another forward, each one sinking into the goo in turn. Looking around desperately for something to distract her Buzz saw the walls were lined with bulbous forms that, in this place of darkness, glowed faintly with a green light.

Looking closer Buzz saw that there was something suspended inside the bulge and felt a wave of sadness welling up in her. A tiny changeling, no bigger than a puppy was suspended in the thick gloop. Buzz could see no life or magic in the dead infant, only the lingering sense of a life cut short by circumstance.

The rest of the pods were the same, tiny immature larvae that had never seen the world. It was a shock to Buzz that she suddenly felt terribly sorry for these monsters. They had young, they had feelings and intelligence. There must be more to them than just the monsters we think they are?

Buzz felt a mental picture forming in her mind. She tried to imagine the hive in its final desperate moments, the drones turning on each other: The frantic effort to sustain the young growing here while wasting away from starvation themselves. It was like a hammer blow to Buzz’s heart and to her immense surprise she felt tears running down her cheeks.

Buzz stumbled in the gloom as she tried on impulse to wipe them away and was rewarded with a smear of green excretion across her face. Stepping back she felt the solid ground's sudden absence and with a lurching shock Buzz’s slight frame toppled backwards. She fell into a far deeper pool of slime and fresh horrors were revealed. As she sunk into the soft matter around her, Buzz felt other solids displace in her wake.

Looking down she fought the desire to cry out. There before her was a long dead pony and it wasn't alone. The whole pit was full of preserved ponies, each one seemed to be looking vacantly at her with clouded eyes. They hung suspended in the green murk, starved thin and all with the same blank expression.

Terror gripped Buzz again and she thrashed upwards before breaking the surface. Buzz drew a habitual gasp of air and powered forward towards solid ground. As she dragged herself onto the relatively safety of the pit’s edge Buzz felt any pity she had for these monsters quickly evaporating. The corpses of those ponies and knowing how they had died smothered Buzz’s heart like a frozen sheet of ice.

Glancing at the dead all around her, Buzz could easily see why Celestia had forbidden Twilight to investigate the changelings further. They may vaguely resemble ponies, but changelings were far from being the kind and good natured equines of Buzz’s home.

Home the word seemed appropriate yet utterly alien here. The a strange and horrifyingly familial feeling suddenly stole over Buzz as if she somehow belonged here too. It was a terrifying thought and with a shudder Buzz shook her own head, wearing this disguise is affecting me more than I thought.

Pushing herself to her hooves Buzz felt the grimy sludge running off her carapace. No doubt we’re...they’re bred to live with this stuff. It would make sense that it wouldn’t stick. She thought distractedly, fighting the nearly overwhelming urge to revert back to a pony, but Buzz simply couldn’t risk it. As dead as this place seemed to be, Buzz couldn’t be certain she was alone.

With a final shake Buzz cleared the slime and paused to plan her next move. So far all she’d found was an abandoned changeling hive and was no closer to solving the mystery she’d been sent to unravel. Double checking her power levels Buzz decided to press on further.

Buzz passed through more nurseries, lengths of tunnel and what she suspected to be a barracks or sleeping chamber. All she found was more evidence of some massive internal struggle within the hive before it was abandoned. Finally she came upon what must be the heart of this graveyard. Buzz emerged into a massive chamber with tunnels leading off in almost every direction.

She glanced around about herself and saw that all the walls were lined with tiers, arrayed about a central dais so that no matter where you were in the hall the ‘audience’ had a clear view of the chair which was clearly the focal point of the massive room.

As Buzz approached she saw that it was not so much a chair as a rounded bed, with dark red upholstery and faded golden edging. The fabrics were tattered and stained with things Buzz didn’t care to guess at. The wood making up the frame looked to be on the verge of collapse and Buzz was even more strongly convinced that this place hadn’t seen a live changeling in many, many years.

It was at this point that she noticed what was missing. Here in this great hall there were no bodies. The chamber, though clearly abandoned, was empty apart from her. Buzz had become accustomed to seeing the empty husks of the hive’s former owners and finding such an important room clear of them struck a disturbing chord. Where was Queen Chrysalis? Why was this room clear of the fighting that was evident throughout the rest of this place?

Whatever fate had befallen this hive, it seemed that its queen hadn’t shared it. Blinking through various vision settings, Buzz strained to find any clue to lead her onwards. There was a stronger pull of magic here, more deeply embedded within the rock. It was then that Buzz saw something odd. Mixed with the other traces she’d come to associate with the changelings that once lived here was another ‘scent’.

Like Chrysalis’ brood, yet different as well. It was strongest about the central plinth and was so similar that Buzz had missed it at first glance. Another being it seemed, one with enough power to ‘stain’ the room with their presence had been there. Now she knew what to look for Buzz was able to read more evidence of this new being.

Back tracing her steps through the murky corridors, Buzz found at least some answers. All the areas where fighting had occurred was where the slightly different 'flavour' of magic residue was present. “They were invaded....”

These was the first words Buzz had spoken for aloud hours and the silence of this place seemed to devour the sounds of her voice hungrily. She sat down and mulled all this over: A rival, perhaps a close relative of this hive had attacked it? The dead on both sides was clear enough evidence of that.

Who had won? That was the next big question and Buzz didn’t have any answer to it. The fight couldn’t have been over ownership this place. The hive looked as if it was abandoned soon after the conflict. Was Chrysalis even alive? If not then who sent the plea for help?

Buzz felt a fresh image forming in her mind: A hive, recently raided by Equestrians was now vulnerable. Its lines of defence broken and many of its occupants dead or wounded. Another Changeling Queen sees her chance and invades and then.....and then....

The facts didn’t tell enough to be sure and with a shudder Buzz shook herself. It seemed that she had learnt all she could from this monument of death. Plus if she was going to have enough power to safely escape back to the surface she’d need to start now.

With a final morose look at the fallen hive Buzz frowned and began to make her steady way back to the surface. The foreboding passageways and murky rooms passing by without further incident until with a deep breath of relief Buzzbot found herself standing back out in the windswept wastes.

The cold struck Buzz again, but it was almost pleasant after the oppressive dark within the remnants of the hive. She resolved to put some distance between herself and the ruin, but soon thought better of it. The night beyond was full of strange noises and Buzz could see no significant cover in any direction.

With little else for it Buzzbot settled down in the entrance to the caves. Not willing to brave the darkness and horrible sights within, she did her best to crouch a little way inside. The wind continued to howl like a distraught soul as Buzz settled down to wait out the night.

---

The first few rays of sunlight were just surfacing when it came: The crunching steps that sounded out of kilter. Buzz had been reviewing the report she was going to send to Twilight via Spike when the odd noise caught her attention. It was coming from outside.

Mentally pushing aside the message, Buzz cautiously edged towards the tunnel’s mouth and peered outside. The wind from last night had died away, leaving the deceptive calmness of a Badlands morning. The dust shimmered in the new sun’s rays and contrasted against a shuffling form not more than a few hundred meters away.

Narrowing her eyes, Buzz saw what looked to be a mound of weeds and other plant matter making slow progress across the barren wastes. Even as she watched the form stooped and began digging at the ground with a triumphant hiss.

After a few moments of enthusiastic grunts and a load of dust the newcomer straightened and seemed to be holding a tiny something. Buzz stared in fascination as a dirty hoof lifted the object up to a dark recess under the mounds of brush and plant matter. She expected to hear the sounds of chewing, but instead an odd little cackle emerged and the hoof withdrew before stowing the object in among the weeds.

Buzz shook her head at this odd behaviour and was just about to return to her report when she caught the faintest flash of magic from under the mound, it was one she’d become very accustomed to now: Changeling magic.

Slipping from her hiding spot Buzz made her steady way out and along the side of her target, who had resumed its odd shuffling gate. The mound bobbed rhythmically as Buzz came around to tail the newcomer.

As she listened she became aware of a high pitched rambling coming from the creature, “Yes my little friends we’re going to find more for you, lots more friends and they can be my friend too.” The mound continued to bob and shuffle along, the constant commentary following in its wake.

Buzz didn’t know what to make of this new development, whoever this thing was it sounded madder than a Draconequus in a patch of poisoned joke. Then again, it was speaking in hive cant. Maybe it could help her make a clearer picture of what happened here.

With more confidence Buzz trotted forward, making no effort to hide her hoof steps. Still the rambling mass didn’t notice her. She stopped just outside of a hoof's reach of the odd creature.

The mound kept up its constant droning, “There must be more here somewhere? Not all gone! No not all! They wouldn’t leave ‘Scrund’ behind no.”

The idea of jumping this creature and interrogating it flashed briefly in Buzz’s mind, but it seemed so.... In the end Buzz decided to try kindness first and cleared her throat, “Excuse me. I was hoping to ask you a few questions?”

The effect was instant. The trembling mass froze before, with a frantic scrabbling sound, seemed to sink into the ground until only the gently swaying plants could be seen. If Buzz hadn’t just witnessed it walking with her own eyes she would have simply mistook this mound for any other among the many patches of brush littering the plains.

“Um I know you’re there, could I just ask you for some directions?” Buzz tried again, only for the mound to shudder. “Look I’m not going to hurt you, I just want to talk.”

After a few moments where the only sound was the gentle wind, Buzz decided on a more direct route. With a slight confused grin she poked the heap with a gentle hoof and the whole thing shuddered, “Go away, no one here.”

Buzz cocked an eyebrow, “If no one is here then who just said that?”

The silence was longer this time before a thoughtful response came, “Very clever flowers.”

Despite all the terrible things she’d just seen Buzz felt a smile begin to form on her face, “Well very ‘Clever Flowers’, I was hoping that you could tell me where everyone has gone from here?”

“They’re all gone long time ago, leaving poor Scrund alone. But Scrund isn’t alone, no! He has his friends and takes them with him now,” The muffled reply filtered through the mass of roots and stalks. Urgh, he’s got soil all over his back and there are bugs everywhere.

Buzz winced, but pressed onwards, “How long ago Scrund since they left?”

To Buzzbot’s amazement the mound shifted and shuffled about so that two eyes, one pale blue the other a pearly white regarded her from under the small garden, “You know Scrund?” His voice was so hopeful that Buzz just didn’t have the heart to correct him.

“Yes Scrund I’ve been away for a while, but now I've come back to see where everyone has gone,” Buzz felt a weight in her core, she hated lying despite being so good at it.

“Scrund doesn’t remember you, what name?” The eyes under the roof of bracken narrowed suspiciously.

Buzz paused for less than a moment before extending a friendly hoof, “It’s Grizz, pleased to see you again Scrund.”

“Grizz, Grizz, Grissss...” Scrund rolled the word around his mouth as if savouring the flavour. Whatever passed for thought in his head seemed to reach a conclusion, “Grizz, from the lower tunnels right?”

Buzz smiled, “That’s it Scrund, I came back as soon as I could to find you.”

Buzz’s heart broke as she saw Scrund poke his head out from under his hood, a look of utter joy plastered across his muzzle. He was a changeling, but looked so weathered and scarred that Buzz was shocked he was even alive.

Badly healed cracks dotted his face, his horn was broken at its tip and the pearly looking eye had an old deep gash running across it. Buzz saw with dismay that he had no fangs as Scrund treated her to an empty smile.

“Grizzzsss, Grissszz came to find Scrund!” Before Buzz could move he’d thrown his hooves about her neck and had drawn Buzz into an embrace.

All Buzz could do was smile weakly and try to ignore the dirt and tiny insects that began to clamber over her own carapace. After a few uncomfortable moments Buzz raised a hoof and gently tapped Scrund on the head. Oh sweet Celestia, what have I gotten myself into?