Wildcard arrived at his office to find Zeta standing outside, he smiled and greeted his comrade.

"Just got back, boss. Got any orders?" He asked.

"Go get us some food and come back," Wildcard ordered. Zeta saluted and trotted away.

Wildcard pushed open the door to find his office as good looking as he had left it. With a great smile he slowly trotted to his desk, soaking it all in. He ran a hoof along the wood of his desk, careful not to allow the stack of papers to enter his mind, and plopped his flank in the comfortable chair. It was good to be the boss. He took a deep breath, and then set his sight on the ominous stack of documents.

Wildcard flipped through these It was, for the most part, incredibly trivial. Who was to be invited to the rail line dedication? Who would cater it? Security was going to be tight, should Equestria or the Hive take the lead? Buried in it all, past a half dozen assorted businesses wanting to get a piece of the worker pie, was the days intelligence report from home. Wildcard flipped through it, while he absentmindedly fiddled with the radio, finding a station playing what appeared to be soft string music. Perfect relaxing background music.

The report was quick- the reports seemed to be getting slimmer all the time, and only had one highlight: Somebody had hired a griffon mercenary battalion based in the south. Intelligence warned that they might be showing in Equestria soon. He put the folder down and stared at the other documents as if they were a vile stain on his desk. Wildcard shot straight up in his chair, an idea had been hatched.

What he needed was a secretary. Zeta was great with fieldwork but he understood the ponies about as well as could be expected from a spy that spent his last few assignments with the griffons.

He picked up the phone, and dialled the operator, and asked for Lyra Heartstrings: Ponyville.

The phone rang on the other end long enough that Wildcard was about to put the receiver down, but a voice did come through.

"Lyra speaking, how can I help you?" She asked. Wildcard noticed something- the music on the radio stopped.

"Lyra, it's Ambassador Wildcard- we spoke a few weeks ago," Wildcard explained. "If you're willing to come to Canterlot, I have an offer for you."

"Really? I thought you were just saying that. I do have to be there tomorrow anyway..."

"That's fantastic, meet me in my off--" Wildcard was interrupted by some calamity on the other end, followed by a pony screeching "Lyyyrraaaaa!". It was even audible through the radio.

"Gottagobye," Lyra said, and with a click she hung up.

Wildcard put the receiver back down. By the end of tomorrow he would (hopefully) have a secretary, and a field man. Combine that with the income he was generating from the cider deal, and it was almost starting to look like he was running a proper operation. Granted most 'proper operations' probably didn't need to siphon income from back room dealings, but the hive didn't have that much income itself at the moment. It was, so far, all provided from gem mining in the Badlands. If he had to place a quick estimate on it, they probably only got ten thousand or so bits a month out of this. Once the rail line was complete, however, trade could begin in earnest and workers would pour in like water. Then, the Hive would be rich. Perhaps he could even take a vacation to wherever that beach was. Wildcard sat back in his chair and flicked on the desk lamp, opening his drawer he found a letter he hadn't noticed before waiting on top, oddly it was already opened. Zeta must've looked it over when he got back, Wildcard thought. He slid out the letter to read it himself.

"From the desk of Commander Medulla. Eta eyes only.

Eta-Delta, 'Wildcard', due to the current developing situation we have seen fit to modify your standing orders. I must also note that I am unsatisfied with the current intelligence situation on your end, I had expected far more insight into the workings of Equestria. Don't go native on me, 'Wildcard'.

Your orders are as follows: Represent the hive to the best of your abilities for it's continued survival and strength."

It was signed by his commander, and the Queen herself had her signet imprint.

Wildcard rubbed his forehead with a hoof. Changeling intelligence was proving surprisingly shoddy lately, Spitfire had even picked up on it. He had responded with less on his end, partially because spying on the Equestrians began to seem... wrong. They were allies now, after all. Friends. With the drawer open he collected anything important in a stack, but when he looked in the drawer he found something off, something was missing.

He dropped the stack on the desk and quickly leafed through, it was all there- including his ever growing 'Report on the Equestrian Situation', but one thing in particular was missing.

His dossier on First Class.

Wildcard frantically checked again, his heart racing. If she had found it, or any of the Equestrians, it would seem like he was a spy. Which well not entirely untrue (He had relied on it to remember her birthday, favourite colour; this was useful information.), he wasn't...

"You're just doing this so you can kidnap me, change into my form, and spy on Celestia."

Wildcard remembered their first date, First Class had joked about this. What a fool to have kept that document, a naive fool. A naive fool was what Zeta walked it on, scaring the changeling stiff as he knocked on the open door.

"Boss? You uh... you look like y-" He looked concerned as he saw Wildcard, who looked like a deer in headlights.

"Zeta! Have you been in my desk?" Wildcard asked frantically.

"Sure, we both keep confidential stuff in there," Zeta replied. "Why the sudden worry?"

"Zeta..." Wildcard paused and stared straight at his comrade. "Where's the contingency dossier?" Wildcard asked.

"Under my bed, along with my own. Figured it was safer there," He replied.

Wildcard let out a great sigh and sat back in his chair, relaxing. "Why didn't you tell me!" Wildcard exclaimed, throwing up his arms.

Zeta shrugged, and leafed through the documents on the desk. "It seemed logical, couldn't let anypony catch you with it in here, might lose your job," he said. "Man, we need a secretary or something..." he noted.

"Already taken care of, I asked a pony I met to stop by tomorrow, I'll offer her a job," Wildcard explained.

"A pony? Can you really trust them?" Zeta asked.

"Why shouldn't I?" Wildcard retorted.

For a second there was an odd silence as the two comrades stood across from each other, Zeta glanced at Wildcard and he caught his eye, something wasn't right. Wildcard suddenly had a really bad feeling, and realized Zeta had the key to his job, literally and metaphorically.

"Zeta..." Wildcard said, sitting up in his chair to face him. "What exactly are your orders?"

Another pause, the two sets of blue eyes staring at each other. Wildcard found himself wishing they had pupils, something to give some hint.

Zeta glanced away. "To serve the office of Ambassador to the fullest of my abilities." He said.

Wildcard sat back in his chair, crossing his arms. "The office?" Wildcard asked.

Zeta met his gaze, but quickly looked away.

Zeta nodded.

"Z--" Wildcard started but was interrupted when his 'comrade' darted out through the door.

"Zeta!" Wildcard screamed. Thinking quickly he picked up the phone and dialed the Generals office.

It rang... and it rang... and it rang...

" Sergeant Flash Sentry, General Massè i--" Wildcard cut him off frantically speaking into the phone.

"Flash, call the a.." He trailed off as he listened to Flash continue speaking. "... at the moment, leave a message at the tone."

Wildcard slammed the receiver down and ran out of the room, skidding into the hallway.

"Zeta!" Wildcard yelled down the hallway as he looked down it. He had one chance to put a stop to this before it went any further. Wasting no time he set his path to the throne room and shot off towards it. A few confused bat ponies made way for him, Wildcard didn't catch the tell-tale smell of a changeling so he ignored them as background noise.

Soon he burst through the doors and found one of them looking out the window, with First Class beside her. Wildcard could smell Zeta.. but which one was he?

Wasting no time, although knowing full well it was incredibly dangerous, he shrouded them both in a green field and held them in the air.

"Wildcard, what a-" First Class began to protest but was quickly overshadowed by the night guard.

"Traitor!" She shouted, Wildcard was nearly deafened by it.

"Hold on, one of y-" He was silenced as a bat slammed into him from the side. He had forgotten about the others.

"Changeling!" He yelled as he was tackled on the ground. The bat held him there and with glowing eyes snarled at him.

"Hold on, I think I get it!" The hovering night guard shouted. The second pulled Wildcard upright, and kept very close to Wildcard.

"You suspect one of us of being one of... you, but why?" She asked.

"I think my supposed comrade has seen fit to replace me, he's stolen som..." Wildcard trailed off and stared at First Class. She was shaking with fear in her green prison... but was it really her?

"It's you," Wildcard said, approaching her while he released the night guard.

"Of course it is, he stole the dossier after all," She commented, and gestured to the other bat pony who ran up to under First Class's green chamber.

"You're right, it m... wait hold on a second, how do..." Wildcard dropped that too, and turned to face the first guard..

She was gone, and with her went the smell of Zeta.

The bat pony tackled First Class as she fell from the air, and stood guard over her on the ground. Looking around for her commander she turned to Wildcard.

"So uh, do I arrest it?" She asked, Wildcard ignored her.

If Wildcard could have erased himself from reality through sheer willpower he would have, instead he fell back on releasing a war cry, and darting to the exit. Galloping into the hallway he skidded to a halt when he saw the scene outside.

Luna stood in the hallway, flanked by two guards. Zeta, in his disguise, walked behind in her shadow.

Wildcard was about to shout a warning to Luna, but to his surprise she spun around and immediately blasted the follower with a blast of energy, tossing him against the wall. With a green shimmer he fell out of his form and slumped to the ground. The two guards that had flanked Luna immediately tackled him.

"Fool, did you not think that I, the Princess of the Night, couldn't detect you from a mile away? I've known your kind for far too long to be so stupid!" Luna exclaimed and glanced at Wildcard.

"Explain your colleagues actions, immediately," She demanded. Wildcard felt another guard breathing down his neck, the bats were incredible with stealth.

Wildcard swallowed, and tried to explain. "I think he took his orders a little directly, and saw fit to.. replace me," Wildcard said. The bats picked up his battered comrade, who turned his head to glare at the ambassador.

"I did what any of us would have done, you're not one of us- you're one of them!" he barked.

"There is no us and them, you fool!" Wildcard shouted. The bats dragged him around a corner before they could speak more.

"Very well then, I assume this is a... unique situation, and I won't have to void this treaty?" Luna asked.

"I'm sure it is, he's acting alone," Wildcard lied- he really had no idea if this was plotted in advance or not. He then remembered First Class and dashed back into the throne room, finding her staring out the window. Wildcard slowly approached.

"I'm sorry," he said.

She sighed, and glanced at him. "I know things are crazy, but you scared me Wildcard, I thought you were going to betray us," She said.

"I would never do that, I've learned too much to think about it, seen too much... I met you," Wildcard said, coming to her side.

"I need to be alone for a while I'll... see you later," She said, and solemnly trotted past Luna out of the room. Wildcard thought it best to let her go.

"I'm not sure what to do with your comrade, I've seen fit to intern him in those caves your people discovered a few months ago, which I find delightfully poetic," Luna said taking a seat on the throne.

"I'm his superior, and I'm responsible for him. We haven't had a betrayal like this in recent memory... I'll have to work it out with home," Wildcard said.

"Very well, you do whatever you have to do," Luna said, as her guards came to their positions flanking the throne, one of them giving her a note.

"Ah, yes. We have business to conduct. General Massè has been pestering me with these 'Requests for Information' since yesterday, let's put an end to that shall we?" Luna gestured Wildcard stand aside, and he did so- slightly confused.

A second later a face shimmered into existence as a blue spectre in the centre of the room while Luna's alicorn shone, bathing everything in a soft blue hue.

The face appeared to be Medulla.

"As you and the Captain have discovered, not all changelings are born in the Hive. Every once and a while the Queen needs to... fill her stock, as it were. To that end she has seen fit to 'acquire genetic material'. I find it disgusting, but I digress. Your commander is the latest in that line," She explained, and the image shifted to showcase the H.M.S Magnifecent in all it's glory.

"The captain of the Night Guard thirty years ago was known as Mezza Luna. When she heard of this kidnapping she immediately ordered the fleet you see today assembled. Most of it was built in secret, by a front company ostensibly to be sold to the elite. She prepared to invade the Hive, and rescue the child."

The image shifted again, and became the burning sun that represented Celestia.

"My sister, however, denied this. It was her opinion that it was better the child grow up with it's own, a fact that Mezza Luna reluctantly accepted. Mind you had I been around, this would have ended quite differently," Luna finished, and the display disappeared.

Wildcard thought it over for a second, one thing was clear in his mind first and foremost.

"Hold on, that's..." He couldn't even say what the implication was, inbreeding.

"You're quite correct, I expect a considerable amount of magic is required to sustain the Hive when a new generation is created, specifically to negate the effects of... this," Luna said.

To Wildcard, all the events of the past few weeks suddenly came together and made sense. Luna's emphasis on crushing the hive, the sudden turn around to come to peace with Equestria, the failed invasion with the specific goal of siphoning as much magic as possible...

"If you have no further questions, I have a night to watch over," Luna said, and strode down from the throne.

Wildcard thought for a second, and as Luna walked past him he spoke.

"Why tell me?" He asked.

Luna, for possibly the first time, smiled at him. "You're the first, and only, changeling I have ever respected. This truth is yours so that you might better understand yourself. I only hope that when the time comes, you make the right choice," Luna said, and departed.

Wildcard stood in the dark, silent. For a few moments he thought on those words.

The right choice.

After a short while he trotted back to his office, finding the door still open. First Class stood behind his desk, staring out the window. Wildcard trotted behind her, and kicked his desk shut. When he heard the reassuring click of the lock he relaxed, and put his hoof on her shoulder.

She flinched, and tensed up. Glancing back at Wildcard she smiled weakly.

"There's one thing I don't understand, I've been running this all through my head and it's bugging me," she said.

"What's that?" Wildcard asked, worriedly.

"How did you know it was me?" She asked.

Wildcard paused, he removed his hoof to wipe sweat off his brow.

"Maybe it's best we don't look too f--" First Class cut him off,

"What did he steal from you?" She demanded, and pushed past Wildcard. She strode to the doorway and glanced back.

"His room, there must be some evidence in his room!" She shouted, and darted off. Wildcard dashed out after her, frantically searching for something in his mind to stop her.

"Hold on, leave that to the guard!" He shouted, she ignored him.

In much less time then Wildcard had hoped they arrived at the room that Zeta had been using- formerly Dr. Flankenstein's room. First Class bucked the door open, tearing it right off it's hinges, and galloped in. Wildcard went in after her.

She started tearing open drawers while Wildcard watched from the doorway, trying to think of something. Wildcard noticed that Zeta had apparently taken some things from home, decorative pieces of the dark stone that marked the hive were scattered around, most of which quickly found there way to the floor as First Class ransacked the room.

"It was nothing, he just stole... some money," Wildcard pleaded. First Class glanced at him, and then continued. She came to the bed and Wildcard's heart found it's way into his throat.

"Don't, don't do it!" He shouted, and dashed forward. She threw the mattress up and pulled out two folders.

"I can explain!" Wildcard exclaimed, sliding to a stop before her. In the dim light she opened the first.

"Eta-Zeta you are assigned the identity of Midnight Blossom- Night Guard, thus any escape should be performed at night. Be mindful to remember her speech patterns. Secondary objectives may include intelligence on the Night Guard on the way out." First Glass said, and tossed it aside to look at Wildcard.

"What is this, an escape plan? Why would you need to 'escape'?" She asked.

"It's in our nature, it's who we... it's who I was," Wildcard pleaded. She opened the second.

"Eta-Gamma, you are assigned the identify of First Class- Assistant to Princess Celestia, thus any escape should be performed during the day. Secondary objectives may include intelligence on the Equestrian Royal Guard on the way out," She said, and the folder dropped to the ground. She looked up at Wildcard with a tear in her eye.

"Why?" she asked.

"It was just luck of the draw, I swear. I didn't mean anything," Wildcard said, and sat beside her. She in turn stood.

"So why keep it then? Why not send this back, or destroy it?"" She asked, and picking up the document looked it over again.

"You've actually written more stuff here. 'likes the Echo Theater'?"

"I kept it because... I wanted to know more about you, to--" First Glass crumpled it up and threw it at him.

"So why not just ask? Instead of actually getting to know me... you rely on a spy network? You haven't changed at all, it's almost ironic. You can change into anything, but you can't change your heart. You're still one of them," First Class spat, and then turned away to leave.

She paused in the doorway and glanced back. "It's over," She said, and vanished down the hallway.

Wildcard slumped to the floor, and cried.

Some time later he felt a hoof on his shoulder, opening his eyes he was extremely disappointed to find one of the bats before him.

"Come on, heart breaker, Luna wants to talk to you," He said, and pulled Wildcard up. Wildcard nodded and allowed the guard to lead him to the throne room, Where he found Luna sitting on it, flanked by guards.

"Ambassador, I don't know what you did, but I'm to make sure you keep away from First Class, so be mindful of that," She said as he entered, and gestured him forward.

"I just--" Wildcard began to argue, but Luna gestured he cease.

"I don't care. Ambassador, your private life is your own problem. I called you here on business," Luna said.

Wildcard nodded, and stood before the throne.

"These 'dossiers' that she has discovered are extremely concerning, however since they were in the possession of your ill-fated comrade I will let this slide. " Luna said.

"Once." she growled.

Wildcard bowed and left, wordlessly. His mind was a haze of sorrow and fear, when he arrived back his office he could barely see straight. The world was a fog of confusion. With a great sigh he dropped into his chair, and spun it to look out the window. Reaching back he opened the lowest drawer on his desk, and pulled out a bottle of cider.

He sighed, and drank.

Author's Note

This chapter will probably get major reworking done soon, following the publishing of the final chapter.