Hours later, we finally reach a ground-level hole leading outside.
“That’s… really, really bad.”
We don’t need a guide to know in which direction the swarm left, not with the changeling corpses dotting the barren landscape everywhere around far too regularly.
“Boss, I don’t think they’re sleeping.”
“They might be better off than us.”
“I’m not so sure...”
“They died quickly. We’re about to starve.”
“Can we salvage something? I mean, every drop of love counts now.”
“There’s nothing in the vicinity, I can feel the sucking emptiness. They’re all drones, too. Do you see an infiltrator or a warrior anywhere?”
“No.”
“We weren’t only supposed to be ammo or front line. We drones were also a meal if any of the higher class needed it.”
“But the queen said we’d all snack on ponies...”
“And then didn’t even give the smallest ones of us enough love to make it out of the Badlands. That, or some warriors or infiltrators got peckish pretty fast.”
“Thank you, boss.”
“Huh?”
“For not eating me.”
“Who would help me hobble along if I ate you?”
“If you drained me you could heal the hoof.”
“I know you’re just trying to be helpful, but stop it for now. Anyway, we’ll end up like them if we don’t move.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that.”
“...I’m not sure if I want to hear this one...”
“They died from falling, neither of us has working wings.”
“...yep, called it...”
“You sigh a lot, boss.”
“Just the horrible fate of our race weighing on me. Yep, that’s all it is. Come on, I can’t stand looking at this graveyard. Damn, if only the ground wasn’t so hard and cracked.”
“At least it’s all flat.”
“Gotta count the small blessings, true. Let’s follow the… trail. Maybe we’ll find some survivors.”
“Oh, are we going to get a group to ambush some pony with?”
“Either that, or if they are beyond saving… drain them. It’ll be faster and less painful for them, and beneficial for us.”
“Alright, boss...”
“You sound pretty unhappy with that.”
“Well, I thought… since you helped me perhaps you can help more drones. Maybe we could reunite with the hive if you lead us.”
“First, there is no more of you I could lead even if I wanted to, and as I said I’m sure the queen will suck me dry as soon as she spots me, and not in the good way. But if it helps, I can drop you off with some straggler group if we find one. I’ll try to jump a pony myself and then, if I’m lucky, start a life in disguise.”
“Maybe I can go with you and we can make a new hive?”
“Don’t even start… as soon as I steal enough love, I’m losing this body and moving into the closest ponytown, ponycity or whatever they call those things in some hot new shape that mares will jump at.”
The sun moves and moves as we follow the trail of death towards what finally looks like a forest.
“A welcome change from the barren landscape.”
“And I can’t even see dead changelings anymore, boss.”
I randomly move few branches of the nearby undergrowth away.
“Riiight in this bush.”
“Awww...”
“I can… feel them. Yes, there are less of them, but still far too many. It seems like the weakest ones dropped off immediately, and whoever survived the Badlands flight had a good chance of making it.”
“This doesn’t look like a ‘good’ chance to me.”
“Better than what the others got.”
“...unngh...”
The drone rushes off through the veil of leaves and bushes.
“Boss, boss, this one is alive!”
“Ow… ow… ow… you really didn’t have to run away like that. Trudging through this is even worse than walking back home. Ow… ow… ow… oh...”
There indeed is a spiky warrior changeling lying in the grass next to the up and down bouncing drone. Part of him. Good seventy percent of a changeling I would say. No, that's not supposed to be good.
“...hrrrgh...”
“His foreleg is missing, one eye is a gooey mess, most of his head is broken chitin and green flesh, and he’s been speared through by a branch.”
“But he’s still alive! Aren’t warriors cool?”
There is love flowing through the warrior clearly on the brink of death, more then my drone companion and I have put together. That’s not saying much, since we’re about to drop in few more hours too.
“You can help him, boss, right?”
Oh hey, the missing leg is up there in the canopy.
“Uhh, how? It’s a miracle he didn’t bleed out already, and he’s clearly mostly braindead. There’s no way I can- I… I can help him. I can stop the pain.”
“See, boss? I knew you were amazing.”
“Turn around, please.”
“Oh, why?”
“Secret top-tier changeling powers.”
“You can do that?!”
“Yeah, totally.”
He turns away as I touch the dying warrior’s head with my horn. There’s no way all this love should be wasted on keeping him barely alive and in agony for hours. Who knows? Perhaps he was responsible for some of the drone corpses we passed.
“I’m done.”
“Great, what’s our new friend’s- boss, he’s not moving.”
“I told you I’d stop his pain, not that I would save him. Even if I had enough energy, I wouldn’t know how. At least this way he didn’t suffer while wasting away.”
“He’s in a better place now, where nothing hurts and ponies are trusting and love a lot. He doesn’t even have to transform anymore to get food, but he can if he wants to.”
“Where did you get that bullsh- that idea?”
“I think the queen said it once when she visited the hatchery. She said that if you die you go to heaven so you shouldn’t be afraid to do what the hive needs you to do.”
“...this guy is about as old as I am. Chrysalis wasn’t raising new hive members in the last clutches, she was raising a dumb, trusting suicide horde. She was fine with the amount of high-tier changelings she already had...”
I really can’t tell the guy that.
“Yes, yes. He’s currently feeding off of some pony princess in changeling heaven. Totally.”
“Good job, boss. I’m sure he’ll thank you if you ever meet there.”
“Yeeeeeeeeah… suuuure, let's not rush there. Hey, you know what? You’ve been a great helper and I’m certain you’re hungry. Do you want a drop or two?”
“But you’re hurt, boss, and you said you were nearly out yourself.”
“I... I found out it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I still can’t heal myself, but my stomach isn’t cramping anymore. Come closer.”
It only takes some focus, but my stubby horn lets out few puffs of pink steam which are immediately absorbed by his.
“Woooo, I feel so much better!”
“Really? I didn’t give you that much.”
“Absolutely! My stomach still hurts, but I don’t see blurry anymore and it doesn’t sting when I breathe.”
Internal facehoof initiated.
“Next time you’re about to pass out, please tell me.”
“I didn’t want to bother you too much since you’re the boss and I’m just a drone.”
“Well, I need you to help me keep moving. I don’t want to have to carry you if you drop due to exhaustion.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. I’ll stay where I lie down and wait until you come back with help.”
How can you trust another changeling after what you’ve seen in past hours? There’s no reason for me to ever return for you if you’re not useful.
“Let’s just go.”
Not even ten minutes of carefully choosing the least painful forest path later, we arrive to a clearing.
“T-there’s blood everywhere, b-boss. A-a-and two dead warriors.”
“I’m afraid the dead ones are the least of our problems.”
There’s a queen-tier warrior changeling sitting with her back against a tree, watching us with narrowed eyes. Her chitin is full of cracks and bloodied, and I can feel very little love inside her, but despite that she still looks dangerous. Top warriors can supposedly do amazing things with almost no energy, and this one feels like a single-digit.
“Who... are... you…?”
She definitely doesn’t sound friendly.