Pen Pals

by Shaded Changeling

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Sad, Drama, Changelings, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Cadance, Queen Chrysalis
Length: 101397

Young Spinnekop is a member of the forbidden Artist class of Changelings, but when Chrysalis has need of her, Spinnekop learns there is more to life than just the Hive.

The Artist class, a group of Changelings dedicated to the creation and preservation of art for the Hive, they planned the Hive's tunnels, the buildings, even the various small tweaks to the throne room. While they were a fairly small group, they were as important as any other.
At least until Chrysalis decides they are of no more use to the Hive, and begins hunting them down. The last survivor, a young Nymph named Spinnekop, is kept alive and given a very special task. She must gain as much information as possible from her target while trying to follow the commands of the Queen.
But when Chrysalis' plan comes together, and they attack the capital of Equestria, everything changes.

Published 2016-02-13 23:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-05-26 14:58:14 UTC

Chapter 1: Judgment Day

Four years later…

Spinnekop had begun to open her eyes when the loud cacophony of the Hive waking up caught her ears. She grumbled something incoherent before pushing herself off the membranous layer that constituted a bed. She rubbed her eyes with her hooves before hearing the thin door membrane pulled apart.

“Spinnekop!” A small voice called. “We’re going to be late for the Queen’s meeting if you don’t wake up!”

Spinnekop grumbled before letting out a yawn. “Relax… What time is it?”

The voice called back. “It’s Nine o’ Clock! You slept in!”

Spinnekop’s eyes shot open. “NO! Why today?” She shouted. “Why did I choose today to sleep in!”

“Just hurry up!” The young Changeling called back. “The Queen requested us. You know how much she hates waiting.”

Spinnekop glared at the young Changeling. “I remember…” She said. “Just give me a minute.” She grabbed the pendant from beside her bed, and looked at the crystal.

“Where is it pointing today?” The Changeling asked.

“It’s pointing to the west… again…” Spinnekop replied. “Come on, Cara, we need to go!” She slipped the pendant over her head so that it rested at her chest, before rushing towards the membrane.

Cara had been Spinnekop’s roommate in the Barracks ever since she got moved there as a Pupa. They were both looking forward to the same thing that day, the Queen would be speaking to them personally! While it would be for different reasons, for Cara it would be to see what branch of the Military she would be in, while with Spinnekop, it would be to see what her assignment was.

“Don’t you think you should get some food, Spinnekop?” Cara asked.

“No time!” Spinnekop replied. “I’ll eat later!” She shouted, rushing off towards the exit to their Cluster’s Barracks. “We’ll be late if I stop to eat!”

Cara sighed and began to run after her. While Spinnekop was naturally better at picking out details, she was much less athletic than the others in the Hive, so Cara had very little challenge catching up to her. “Not even a little bit?”

“Cara… I said… No!” She said while trying to focus on running down the hall without bumping into anybody.

“Alright. But don’t blame me if you fall asleep during your little mission.” Cara said earning her a glare from Spinnekop.

The two of them ran through the Hive, not stopping to talk to anyone or catch their breath, they stayed focused on the large black structure in the far side of the Hive, Chrysalis’ Castle, where the Queen personally handled the Hive in almost every way. By the time the two of them got there, Spinnekop was breathing hard, while Cara was barely even deviating her breathing pattern.

“You’re late.”

They looked up to see the Red eyed glare of General Mimic, the commander of Chrysalis’ army. “What do you two have to say for yourselves?”

Cara glanced over at Spinnekop. “General Mimic, sir, I had trouble rousing Spinnekop from her sleep. I only just managed to get here this late.”

The General looked down at them. “Spinnekop, you should know better than to test the Queen’s patience.” Spinnekop lowered her ears and backed away slightly.

Mimic sighed. “Get in there you two.” He pushed open the door with his hind leg and let Cara inside, but stopped Spinnekop. “Listen, Spinnekop, you can’t keep doing things like this. You aren’t a pupa anymore.”

“I know, General…”

“Then I expect you to take this punishment very seriously.” He said. “When you get back to the barracks, you are to help care for the newly laid eggs.” He lowered himself to look into her eyes. “Next time, you’ll be helping clean out the entire Barracks.” He moved his leg to let Spinnekop in. “Don’t make me enforce that punishment.”

Spinnekop nodded and ran into the castle, quickly managing to find her way to the Queen’s Chambers, and line up next to Cara.

“What took you?” Cara whispered.

“Mimic had to punish me…” Spinnekop replied.

“As if you don’t have it bad enough already…” Cara said. “I think I’m the only one who likes you in the Cluster.”

Spinnekop nodded. “You aren’t wrong.” Just then, the door to the Queen’s Chamber opened and a Changeling guard walked out.

“The Queen will see you now.” He said, his spear held in his hooves, as if daring any of them to try something. He turned around and walked back into the throne room, the line of Nymphs following behind him.

The Throne room was a large, black room with green windows that looked out to the entire Hive, at the far end was a throne made of obsidian stone, carved perfectly to suit the large green crystal heart above it, as well as complement the one sitting in it.

Queen Chrysalis looked down at the Nymphs, silently judging them from how they acted, some of them cringed slightly, took a small second pause between a step, and some kept on walking straight. As soon as the Nymphs were lined up in front of the Queen’s throne, General Mimic walked in and closed the large doors. There was a brief pause before he walked up to the throne, and stood next to the Queen.

Chrysalis looked over the line once more. “So these are the newest Soldiers this Hive can offer?” She stood up and walked down the steps of her throne, slowly coming to stand in front of them. She shook her head and walked down to the end of the line. “Pathetic.” She said looking over all of them. Some of the Nymphs were clearly nervous, their legs and wings buzzing slightly.

“Soldiers! Attention!” Mimic shouted, all at once, the Nymphs snapped to attention almost in perfect sync with the soldiers in the room.

Chrysalis began to walk slowly down the line, looking over each of them with a critical eye. “Sloppy, all of you.” She said, stopping at one of the larger Drones, she lowered her head down to stare him directly in the eyes, but his stony expression never wavered. “Hmph.” She said as she stood back up. “At least one of you can do something right.” She said.

She walked down the rest of the line, criticizing each Changeling in turn. When she finished she flew back up to her throne. “I’m disappointed if this is all of the Soldiers you could manage to whip into shape.”

“They may not be the best at posture, but at least their scores are good.” Mimic said. “One of the top five clusters of this generation.”

“Yes.” Chrysalis replied. “We’ll see how well they handle themselves during their tests.”

Along the line a small muttering of “Tests? What tests?” spread until Chrysalis raised her hoof to silence them.

“You will all be expected to at least pass your first tests, if you do not, then you are merely a liability if we let you into the field, you will be demoted to Tunnelers. A shame really, I don’t like wasting my time.” Chrysalis said, glaring down at them. “Now, let’s see what the scores say about your chances.”

Her horn lit up green as a stack of papers immolated themselves into existence. Mimic stepped forward to speak to them. “You will step forward once your name is called, at which point the Queen will determine which area of the military best suites your skills.”

“Molt!” Chrysalis shouted, looking over the first sheet. A small unassuming Changeling stepped forward. “Excellent flight and magic scores, pathetically weak endurance, but overall acceptable Hoof to Hoof combat. Aerial class.”

Molt stepped back into line.

“Corath!” The sequence continued for quite a while, before Chrysalis finally came to the last three sheets.

“Cara!”

“Good luck.” Spinnekop whispered.

“Excellent Endurance, Deception, Ground speed. I dare say that you would be perfect for an Infiltrator.” She frowned. “If not for the fact that your flight scores leave much to be desired, as well as your Combat scores. Quick thinking, analytical, small stature…” Chrysalis rubbed her chin. “I’d say that you would make a perfect Scout.”

Cara held back her smile of joy at that statement.

“Cocoon!” The Changeling in question stepped forward. Chrysalis glared at him. “Your scores are absolutely pathetic.” She hissed. “Worthless intelligence, weak physically, I’m surprised you found your way out of an egg, let alone this hive.” Her expression changed only a little bit. “Though… Your magic scores are simply absurd… Perhaps the highest I have seen.”

Chrysalis ignited the paper. “However, I need soldiers, you would be better served elsewhere.” She looked over the last paper. “Spinnekop!” Chrysalis shouted.

Spinnekop took a deep breath and stepped forward. Waiting to hear whether she would be able to proceed on the mission Chrysalis had been watching her train for.

Chrysalis looked over the paper, keeping her expression neutral as she looked through the scores. “Interesting…” She said, looking over it. “Spinnekop, you are to return here tonight after the evening meal.”

Spinnekop’s ears fell. “Yes… Queen Chrysalis…”

With that, the session concluded, the group was led out of the Throne room and back towards the barracks, where Spinnekop had yet to cheer up.

“Come on, Spin,” Cara said as Spinnekop landed on her bed with a huff. “It isn’t that bad.”

“Easy for you to say…” Spinnekop said. “You actually got the job you were looking for.” Spinnekop opened her small dresser with her magic and pulled out an inch thick stick, and a knife, and began whittling away at it.

“Spin! Don’t do that! You know what Mimic will say if he catches you…”

Spinnekop sighed. “You’re right…” She placed the materials back in the drawer and closed it. “I need to go take care of the Pupas…” She grumbled. “As punishment for being late.”

“Spin… Just… Keep calm alright… I’m sure it will be fine.”

“Or I’ll just get kicked out of the Hive…” She mumbled holding her necklace with a hoof. “Now it’s pointing North…” She said. “Does this thing ever make up its mind?”

“Well, at least it acts like a compass now.” Cara replied. “Come on, Spin, cheer up.”

Spinnekop looked at her friend. “I have spent four years of my life training to do a special mission for the Queen, and now I might not even get the chance!”

“Maybe she just doesn’t want everyling knowing? I mean… she never told you what you were training for.”

“I guess so…” Spinnekop replied. “But… She may just exile me because my scores were so low!”

Cara rolled her eyes. “She wouldn’t exile you, she would most likely just put you into Tunneler duty, but you’re too smart for that.” She replied. “Just relax, this will all be fine.”

Spinnekop sighed. “I hope you’re right…” She replied, taking off her necklace with her magic. “Don’t want this to get acid spit all over it… again…”

Cara smiled. “I’ll keep my eye on it.” Cara replied. “I know it means a lot to you.”

“Thanks Cara.” Spinnekop said. “Now I’ve got to go… Something tells me the Pupas are going to be… less than pleasant.”

Cara giggled, which came out with a small buzz. “Serves you right for being late.”

Spinnekop rolled her eyes. “Yeah, Yeah, keep rubbing it in…” Spinnekop said, walking out of the room. “Just keep that necklace safe! If I find it missing, I will kill you!”

“Sure you will.” Cara replied. “Now get going, you have Pupa to feed.”

When Spinnekop came back, she was covered in vomit and wearing a mask over her snout. She walked in to be greeted by Cara sitting down reading a book. “So? How’d it go?”

Spinnekop removed her mask. “One of the little devils puked on me…” She sighed. “I had to wear this so that I wouldn’t accidently breathe any of it…”

“So… You’re good?” Cara asked.

“Yeah… I just… Really need a shower.” She said. “The small waterfall should work right?”

Cara nodded. “You plan on actually coming to Dinner tonight?” She asked. “Remember Chrysalis wants to speak with you.”

“I know…” Spinnekop replied. “I’m going right after evening meal.”

Cara nodded. “Good. I’m not keeping track of you again.”

Spinnekop sighed as she grabbed her necklace, and looked at the pendant. “I want to know what this means…”

Cara sighed. “Spin, we don’t know, you were found with it outside the barracks. We know just as much about it as you do.”

Spinnekop looked at the pendant, the small needle making only minor changes to its position. “You’d think my parents would leave me something functional…”

Cara was going to reply, but Mimic walked into the Chamber. “Come on, you two, evening Meal is in a half hour.”

After the evening Meal, a standard affair of a bit of hay, some love, and a few oats, Spinnekop made her way shakily to the castle. “I can do this…” She whispered to herself. “It’s not that bad… I won’t just be thrown out of the Hive to slowly starve…” She shook that thought away as she reached the polished black steps to the castle. She sighed and climbed the steps.

“State your business, Nymph.” One of the Guards barked at her.

“Spinnekop… I was told to come back after the Evening Meal…”

The Guard smiled. “Ah… You’ve been stirring quite a bit of attention, Nymph. Speculations are running wild on what the Queen called you for.” He opened the door with his magic. “Best not keep her waiting.”

Spinnekop gulped as she stepped into the large hallways of the castle. She dreaded the large structure at night, so many places that this could go wrong, some stories spread that if a Changeling entered the chambers at night, they never came back out… Those stories all made Spinnekop shiver. She was now inside the castle, when it approached night.

“Those are just stories…” She told herself. “There’s no such thing as Darklings…” A sudden clang made her jump into the air several feet. “M-Maybe I’ll just go faster…”

She made her way through the castle until she got to the Queen’s throne room, she knocked on it when she heard Chrysalis speak through the Hive mind. "Enter"

Spinnekop let out a long breath before she pushed open the door. She didn’t know how, but Chrysalis was even more intimidating when she was alone then when she was with Mimic. In her magical grip, was a sheet of paper. She looked down at the Nymph when she entered.

Spinnekop bowed when Chrysalis gazed at her. “Y-You wanted to s-see me… Your H-Highness?”

“Yes, Spinnekop, I did.” Chrysalis said, taking the paper and levitating it down to her. “Tell me what you see here?”

Spinnekop hesitated. “Go on.” Chrysalis urged.

Spinnekop looked at the sheet, it held a number of rows which each held a small line graph on them or a number. The Magic stats and endurance were measured with graphs, while most others were with numbers. “I… See an average Changeling…”

Chrysalis moved the sheet forward. “Look a little closer… Specifically on the bottom.”

Spinnekop looked at it, most of her scores were pretty average for a Changeling, her combat scores weren’t the greatest, she had bad endurance, but the one stat that seemed strange was… “Artistry.”

“Yes…” Chrysalis replied. “Read what it says.”

Spinnekop did. “Shows excellent creative potential, enjoys working with hooves, a few contraband items located within quarters…”

“Now why is that?” Chrysalis replied. “That the only Changeling in the entire Hive that has an impeccable felicity for expression, is also the only one that I need for this job?”

Spinnekop cringed back. “I… Don’t know…”

Chrysalis walked over to stand in front of Spinnekop. “I believe you understand how much Artists in this Hive hold us back?”

Spinnekop nodded.

“However… I believe we can use this.” Chrysalis replied.

Spinnekop looked up at her hopefully.

“Now, I have plenty of Infiltrators at my disposal, all of them cunning, ruthless, deadly.” She turned to look at Spinnekop. “Why do you think I asked you to come here?”

Spinnekop shuddered. “T-To talk?”

“To assign you a mission.” Chrysalis replied. “While my Infiltrators are the best, I need one with a little more…” Chrysalis twirled her hoof. “Expression. Tell me, what do you know of Alicorns?”

Spinnekop blinked. “I… Don’t know…”

“Regardless, they are some of the most powerful creatures on the planet, one alone can control the movement of the Sun and Moon to her whim.” She walked to stand next to Spinnekop. “And I have heard tell of one being born not all that long ago.”

Spinnekop looked up to her. “I’m sure you are well aware of the method I use for young infiltrators?”

“You… Build a relationship… Then bleed them dry…”

“Precisely, however I do not think letting you roam would be an intelligent decision, so I have an alternative method.”

A Courier Changeling flew into the Chamber, distinguishable due to his larger wings. He held a white envelope in his magic.

“You see, the ponies have a system known as… Pen Pals… they write to one another about their lives and other such drivel. That is where you come in.”

Spinnekop looked up at the Queen. “What do you want me to do?”

Chrysalis took the message from the courier and levitated it down to Spinnekop. “I wish for you to write to the young Alicorn, learn what you can, build up a relationship. Consider it, you’re very own special mission as one of my Infiltrators.”

Spinnekop beamed. This is great!

“You will receive and write letters weekly at first, and you will use this journal,” She levitated over a small brown book, “to keep track of any information you find out. I want monthly reports of progress, and while you are not doing these tasks, I want you to continue your training. Understood?”

Spinnekop nodded. “Yes, my Queen!” She said happily.

“And one final thing.” Chrysalis replied. “You are not to make any mention of being a Changeling.”

Spinnekop’s smile dropped. “Huh?”

Chrysalis shook her head. “You are to create a pony persona, and use that instead of your actual name, other information can be used, however you must choose a race and color scheme as well as a name, should you have trouble, Mimic will assist you.” Chrysalis lowered the envelope to Spinnekop. “Now get back to the barracks, I expect the first letter to be written tomorrow.”

Spinnekop grabbed the envelope and book in her own magic and bowed. “Of course, my Queen.”

“Go.” Chrysalis said, and Spinnekop left the room, as she closed the door, she barely managed to contain the excited chirping. She was safe, she had a job! She didn’t fail her Queen! But she stopped when she realized one very important thing. “I don’t know how to be a Pony!”

Sure they had made disguises, and been taught some basic mannerisms, but none of the big stuff came until they were already accepted into the military. What if I mess up? She began to shake a little at the thought. Just be yourself… It won’t be that hard… Oh Chrysalis, I’m going to be in so much trouble!

She looked up at one of the magically wound clocks that were littered around the Hive, she had to get back to the Barracks, or she would miss curfew!

“I’m going to be late!” She shouted as she began sprinting through the castle halls, and rushing through the streets.

When she got back to her room, she was breathing rapidly, her wings fluttered to help push off the adrenaline. Cara was sitting on her own bed, looking at Spinnekop. “So,” She said. “How’d it go?”

Spinnekop smiled. “I got an assignment!” She said happily. “I need to make a pony form!”

Cara looked at her. “A pony form? What for?”

“I can’t tell you.” Spinnekop replied. “But I need to do something while I think.” Her horn lit up as the stick and knife flew out of the drawer and landed on her bed.

“Spin… If Mimic…”

“I know, Cara.” Spinnekop replied. “But I need to do something. I’ll just explain to Mimic if he sees, I need to talk to him anyway.” She said, sitting down on her bed and grabbing the knife with her hoof, while steadying the stick with her magic. She began to run the blade along the wood, taking off small strips of it while she worked.

Cara sighed. “I’m not getting in trouble if you get caught.” She yawned. “Remember… We have an early wake up tomorrow as well.”

“What for?” Spinnekop asked.

“Our tests, remember?” Cara replied, hopping onto her bed and climbing under the thin covers. “Even if you don’t have any, you still need to wake up early.”

“I’ll go to sleep once I get my form down…” Spinnekop replied. “Just go to sleep Cara.”

Cara yawned. “Don’t get wood filings all over the place again…”

Spinnekop sighed. “I’ll try.”

With that, the steady sounds of breathing were only interrupted by the sounds of whittling wood.

Chapter 3: Pecking Order

Spinnekop woke early that morning; she had a mission she wanted to get accomplished. She walked through the mostly deserted Hive until she came to the customs building, a large sphere placed in a far corner of the Hive, and she put in her request for more papers for her mission.

It had taken a lot of goading, arguing, and deals, but when she left the Customs center, she was levitating a stack of papers in front of her, a grin on her face as she trotted happily back towards the barracks. She had been unable to get any extra ink, seeing as she had no money to purchase it from them, but she was given ink if she ran out, and only when she ran out.

She had been happily walking with a spring in her step, right up until she walked into a slightly larger Changeling.

“Watch where you’re going, Breeder.” The Changeling snapped looking down at Spinnekop as she rubbed her head.

She was going to snap at the Changeling Nymph, a breeder was one of the worst jobs for a Changeling, reserved for only the most useless Changelings, but her mood changed when she saw just who she bumped into.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She said looking up at the Alpha Soldier. “I didn’t mean to run into you.”

The Soldier looked down at her then noticed the floating papers. “What have we here?” He asked in a voice that dripped with sarcasm. “Has somepony been stealing papers?”

Spinnekop’s eyes widened. “No. No! I’m just…” She felt her own magical grip on the papers pulled away by the larger Changeling’s.

“You know that stealing is a highly punishable offense.” The Soldier replied. “Only Nymphs from my Cluster are allowed to have this many.”

Spinnekop’s eyes shot with fear. “No. Give ‘em back!” She tried to reach out for the papers, but they were pulled from her reach while the Soldier pushed against her chest. “I need them!”

“You do, huh?” The Soldier smirked; his magic began to surround the first sheet of the white paper, sparking slightly as a small green flame formed on the bottom corner. He placed the paper back in with the others, letting the flame spread to a few sheets before he threw the pile into the air, scattering the burning sheets. “Then fetch.”

Spinnekop ran around the walk way, picking up the sheets of paper as they fell, all the while the Alpha was laughing at her. She quickly tried to douse the flames in her own magic, preventing more of the fire from burning the rest of the papers.

“Good job, Breeder,” The Soldier laughed. “You can follow basic orders, wasn’t sure you lot could do that.”

Spinnekop flew up and grabbed the last few papers from the air, quickly putting them out and placing them with the rest, she sighed as she looked over the progressively worsening paper, the few she managed to get to first looked fine, but many had burn marks reaching as far as the corner, to the top half of the page. Each one was no longer a clean white, but ranged from burnt black, covered in dirt, and lightly burned.

“Good show, Breeder.” Another Alpha Changeling said walking up to her. “Maybe you could work on making sure we can’t do it again.” He flicked Spinnekop in the forehead. “Now run on back to the Whore house, I hear you're needed there.”

Spinnekop rubbed her forehead, and then began to sprint away from the Alpha Changelings, tears in her eyes. She could hear the two Alphas laughing at her as she ran out of earshot. She kept running all the way till she got back to the barracks. When she entered the chamber, she quickly slammed the papers down next to her Unicorn figure and leaped onto the bed. “Stupid Alphas!” She cried.

Cara had woken up some time ago and noticed Spinnekop’s state. “Spin, are you alright?” She asked.

“No! I’m not alright, Cara.” She sobbed. “Those stupid Alphas! They burned the paper!” She cried. “They didn’t even think about it. They just wanted to see me hurt!” She continued to sob until Cara walked over and sat next to her.

“It’s alright, Spin.” Cara said, trying to comfort Spinnekop. “They’re just jerks.”

“But they were right!” She cried. “I’m not worth anything. Not even my parents wanted me!” She grabbed the necklace from the dresser and looked at it. “All they left me was this stupid pendant. It doesn’t even work!” She threw it across the chamber, causing it to hit the membrane door and slide down, undamaged. “Maybe I should just be a Breeder…”

Cara’s mouth opened in shock. “Spinnekop! Don’t say that. You’re smarter than that.”

“That’s just it, Cara!” Spinnekop sobbed. “I’m not! I’m not any stronger than anypony else, I’m not faster, I’m just… An Artist!” She cried. “I’m useless. The only thing I can do right is make things, what purpose does that serve!”

Cara had winced back a bit. “Spin… Come on…” She hugged her friend. “They’re just jerks. They think that of everyone. You are more than just good at details, you are intelligent, you’re kind, and you went out of your way to make sure I felt comfortable here before you did.” Cara smiled. “Besides, you’re friends with an Alicorn! Now how many of those Alphas can say that?”

Spinnekop sniffled, rubbing at her snout. “None…”

“That’s right.” Cara replied. “You were chosen by Chrysalis for this mission, and if they try to pull something like that again, you make sure they know it.” She said. “Come on, Spinnekop, you’ll show those idiots that you aren’t just a pair of ovaries. You’re the best Infiltrator I know.”

Spinnekop rubbed her eyes with a hoof and sniffled again. “Re-Really?”

Cara nodded. “Remember, out of all the Pupae, Chrysalis chose you not one of those pompous jerks, you.” She poked Spinnekop in the chest to illustrate her point. “Now cheer up for me… Please.”

Spinnekop sniffled again. “Thanks, Cara…” She said. “I’ll make it up to you.”

Cara snickered. “You could always make me into one of those.” She pointed at the figurine. “I could always help you with it…”

Spinnekop smiled and hugged her friend. “Thank you, Cara… That means a lot to me.”

Cara lightly patted Spinnekop’s back. “I’ll try to see if I can get you more paper, I’m being brought to a pony village for the first time.”

“That would be great!” Spinnekop replied. “Oh… And um…”

Cara looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Could you… Maybe pick up some paints…”

Cara rubbed her chin. “They are only giving us twenty bits… But I’ll see what I can do.” She pushed Spinnekop away lightly. “Now you have somewhere to be.”

Spinnekop looked over at the small clock. “Oh No!” She said. “I need to be at the Castle!” She shouted, quickly jumping from the bed and rushing towards the door. “I’m going to be late!” She quickly sprinted down the halls, leaving Cara to smile as she ran.

“That Nymph…” She shook her head, then noticed the small green gleam on the floor. She picked it up and looked at it. “Huh… I guess she forgot about it.”

Spinnekop burst through the Castle doors panting heavily, she walked up to the throne room door and leaned against the wall. “I’m on time…” She panted. “yay…”

She collected herself before she walked up to the large black doors, they opened as she stepped near them, surrounded in a green aura. As she stepped inside, she noticed that the rest of the young Changelings were composed of Alphas, all of them standing at attention in front of the Queen’s throne. Mimic was standing next to the throne, whispering to a second armored Changeling.

As soon as Mimic saw the door open, he flew off his perch and landed next to Spinnekop. “How are you doing?” He asked soberly. “I heard about what happened…”

“I’m fine, General Mimic…” Spinnekop replied. “I thought that I was being assigned a commander?”

Mimic smiled. “You are, under the Queen’s orders, you are to be placed under the Command of an Alpha Captain.” Mimic replied. “So… Here we are.”

Spinnekop’s eyes widened. “An Alpha Captain!” She replied. “I… Um… They… I’m not an Alpha…”

Mimic smiled. “True. But the Queen thinks you are ready to improve your skills alongside some of the elite. Don’t worry, you will still be able to stay in the barracks, you will simply have to join the Alphas for daily training. You will still have a chance to complete your mission, today for instance, you will simply be assigned a captain, then you will be able to write to your target.”

Spinnekop nodded. “But… I’m not a…”

Mimic placed his hoof around Spinnekop’s shoulder. “Spinnekop, the Queen trusts you, this is for the betterment of the Hive. At the very least try… She just needs you to get better at basic combat, then she will move you.”

Spinnekop looked at the line of taller Changelings, all of them looking like they could easily beat her in a fight. She sighed. “Yes, sir…”

Mimic smiled reassuringly before flying back up to his spot, as Spinnekop walked into the line, getting dirty looks from the two she stood between.

Luckily not too long passed before Chrysalis walked in, followed by around five different Armored Changelings, the Changelings lined up in front of the throne while Chrysalis walked up the steps and sat in her throne.

“Alphas!” Chrysalis announced “You are here because you have all proven yourselves loyal to the Hive’s cause. I have gathered only the best for what I have planned.” She glanced at Spinnekop. “You will train with your instructor for twenty years, I will not lie, some of you may not be fit for the task. Those who are not, will be removed from my service.”

Spinnekop gulped. Am I fit for this?

“Team one will be with Azure. Team two will serve alongside Flick, Team three will be with Dagger, while four is with Cloak. Finally, Dunkel will be leading Team Five.” Chrysalis said, motioning to the commanders in question. “You will spend the next few hours getting to know them. Now gather around your commander.”

Spinnekop was led towards the Commander called Dagger by the rest of the group around her. Chrysalis watched her move there and nodded, then whispered to Mimic.

“Spin, Dagger will teach you how to be a good Soldier. Though I warn you, he doesn’t enjoy failure.”

Spinnekop swallowed, looking up at the changeling, she noticed the scar along his carapace, running along his jaw.

“He was attacked, got that scar from another Changeling that tried to kill him, since then, he takes any attempt to betray him personally, and doesn’t let it continue further.” Mimic continued. “Don’t give him a reason.”

“Listen up!” Dagger shouted. “If you think I’m going to be easy on any of you, think again. I’m not your mother; I’ll work you to the endoskeleton if I have to. All of you will be the best soldiers you can be, or die trying.”

Spinnekop shivered slightly. “First things first, all of you will run the obstacle course, I expect good things from all of you.” He ground his teeth. “Don’t let me down.”

Spinnekop followed the rest of the Alphas out of the room, trying to make herself as small as possible, but once Dagger took into the air and flew towards the obstacle course, a few of the Alphas stopped and turned to look at Spinnekop.

“Listen up, Beta.” One of them said. “We don’t know what the Queen sees in you, and we don’t care.” He poked Spinnekop in the chest. “But if you think we will go easy on you just because of what you are, you are wrong.”

Spinnekop nodded quickly. “I-I understand…”

“I’m not sure you do.” The Alpha said, raising himself to his full height. “If you even try to prove you are better than any of us, we will make sure you know your place.”

“I-I-I Get it…”

“Good.” He said. “Now remember that, Breeder, or we will have a problem.” They began to walk away, heading towards the obstacle course. Spinnekop stayed behind, still trying to make herself smaller while her carapace shook. As the Alphas vanished from sight, Spinnekop sighed with relief and reached towards her chest. When her hoof connected with her carapace, she looked down at it confused.

“Where is it?” Spinnekop said with a hint of nervousness in her voice. “Where is it?” She looked down at her chest and began to look around where she had been standing. Not finding what she looked for, she began to frantically look around. “no. no, no, no! Don’t tell me I lost it!” She exclaimed looking around.

“Okay… Okay… Where did I last have it…” Spinnekop asked herself, the answer came to her quickly, and she sighed in relief. “I left it in the Room… It’s safe…” I need to keep track of it…

Spinnekop sighed and stood up from the spot at the bottom of the castle stairs, and began to walk towards the obstacle course, preparing for the day ahead.

As she walked back into the Barracks, her entire body felt ready to sleep, her wings were sore, her legs were sore, she had a stabbing pain in her side, and her head wouldn’t rise up from looking down at her hooves.

The day had started out good enough, but as it progressed, the rest of the Alphas seemed to take notice of her. They had quickly began picking her out, during anything where she was with an alpha, they had pushed her around and ensured that there was nothing she could do to catch up with them. During combat training, she had been easily overpowered by the physically large Changelings, and Dagger didn’t seem to care about any of the dirty tricks they played.

Not that she got any respite in the beginning of the day, she had been the first to go through the obstacle course, at the insistence of everyone, and it had been terrible. She had never run that particular course before, so it was foreign to her, and she was unable to get through it quickly, at least, when she could finish it.

The course was incredibly difficult, and Spinnekop had only finished it one time, all the other times she had been knocked down, leading to the soreness of her body.

As she stepped into her room, she noticed that Cara hadn’t returned from her own mission yet, which meant that Spinnekop was on her own… Luckily she did notice the green pendant. It had been picked up from the floor and placed on her dresser next to the Unicorn carving. She walked over to it and picked it up, looking at the pendant. The small needle pointed to the south as she watched it slowly move towards the east.

Spinnekop sighed and looked at the papers on the dresser, putting on her pendant and looking over the sheets. Some of them were completely unusable, burnt to a point where she would be lucky for it to hold together. She took any of the papers that had been burnt severely and placed them to the side, looking over her ink supply, she took a sheet of paper, and her quill, and began to write a letter.
Dear Cadence,

I’m very glad that you enjoy my work. Most of the other foals think that it is pointless for me to try. I’m glad that at least somepony other than Cara enjoys my work. I’m sorry in advance for the next few letters, I’m only allowed a few papers a month, since money is tight right now, and some of the colts thought it would be funny to light some of the papers on fire. I tried to stop it, but they are so much bigger than I am, I only managed to save two or three papers in good condition.

I also had no idea that you were the niece of Celestia! I mean, you mentioned you were an Alicorn, but I never thought you were related to Celestia. Don’t worry about paying me back for the carving, it isn’t my best work, and I was happy to hear you liked it. Even if those jerks try to make me think otherwise.

Something I’ve always been wondering about, how is it living in a city like Canterlot? The Orphanage I live in is pretty crowded, while not full, I don’t know everyponies’ names. Also, what is Celestia like? I hear stories about her, but you must know her personally, if you could I would be really interested.

Also, if you ever want me to make you another figurine, I might be able to make a carving of you, I’ve never tried making an Alicorn, it should be fun!

From,

Spindle Weave

Spinnekop looked over the letter, making sure it seemed like something a pony would write, and when she was satisfied, she folded up the letter and tucked it into an envelope she kept in her dresser. She still felt tired, but she decided she could walk to Mimic’s office and hand him the letter before heading to sleep. Looking over her Unicorn figure, the closest thing to finished it could be without colors. She sighed as she walked through the membrane and headed towards the office.

When she walked back through the membrane, she removed her necklace and placed it on her figurine, and climbed under the covers. Before she even knew what was happening, she was fast asleep.

The next few days went about as well as was expected, Spinnekop woke up, ate her breakfast, and went to the obstacle course to work alongside the rest of the Alphas in her team, got pushed around quite a lot, and eventually came back tired and sore.

Cara hadn’t returned from her excursion to the pony village for a few days, which was strange by the standards of a Scout, but they returned after four days of waiting. She was covered in scratches, mud and bits of grass, but she had a smile on her face none the less.

“What’s gotten you so happy?” Spinnekop asked, looking over the cedar stick she had picked up to carve later.

Cara took off the two saddlebags she was wearing, placing them by her bed. “Well, first. I got you a bit of paint.” Her horn lit up as two small tubes of brown and white paint levitated over to her. “Second, I beat one of those pompous Alphas!” She giggled. “I managed to get intelligence on the mayor of the town, and how he was having a rather scandalous affair with a mare from Los Pegasus. Commander Mandible said that we could extort that and get a bunch of bits from him if we need to. Especially with his reelection coming up.” She fidgeted slightly. “All he could manage to find out was that there is a bunch of ponies that think that the world is ending.”

Spinnekop snickered. “Told you they wouldn’t be able to beat you.”

Cara was grinning. “He may be faster, but nopony beats my ears for gossip.” She looked over at Spinnekop’s dresser. “So what happened while I was gone?”

Spinnekop’s smile faltered. “I got put in command of an Alpha Captain.”

“That’s great!” Cara replied. “Does that mean you’re going to look down on us now?” She joked.

Spinnekop rolled her eyes. “No. So far I’m the underdog there… I’ve been getting pushed around, threatened, all of them acting like jerks towards me, even more so than usual.”

“Who are you with?” Cara asked.

“Dagger… He’s… Really tough.” Spinnekop replied. “He allows for inter Changeling rivalry, but he seems to just glance over me.”

“Well, you aren’t an Alpha, so he has reasons to ignore you.”

“But Cloak seems so nice…” Spinnekop had gotten a chance to speak with Cloak one day, during the afternoon meal, she was pulled aside by the female Changeling, she asked how Spinnekop was holding up, and offered to move her if it got too rough. She also talked about Dagger and the incident that caused the scar.

“Well, Cloak was always good at what she did. Remember the story of how she snuck into the Canterlot Castle and stole Celestia’s crown?”

Spinnekop smiled. “Sure do. Who knew she had backups for that kind of thing?”

“You hear back from Cadence?” Cara asked. “The Queen wants to speak with you soon about your progress.”

Spinnekop sighed. “I know… I don’t have very much.”

Cara yawned. “Well… I’m gonna hit the hay. Been getting a little bit of sleep in between days, but spent most of the time looking into the mayor.” She walked over to her bed, but stopped before getting into it. “Oh yeah… I also found this for you.”

Her horn lit up as she pulled a rolled up poster out of her bag. “I found it, figured you would enjoy it.”

Spinnekop grabbed the poster in her magic and opened it. On it was a picture of two ponies, a unicorn mare, and a Pegasus stallion. A large crack was drawn in between them, both of them looked longingly towards the other. “Separated by birth, tied by fate” was written near the bottom. As Spinnekop looked at the poster, she noticed that while the Unicorn was standing on solid grass, the Pegasus was standing on a cloud, with nothing but the blue sky around him.

In the background of both sides of the split, there was a strange accuracy in the class. The Unicorn was in front of a ground based castle, while the Pegasus was standing in front of a castle made of clouds.

Spinnekop was intrigued by the poster, the delicate balance in the lighting of everything from the clouds to the individual shading of the ponies. She looked up from it towards Cara. “Thanks, Cara. This is amazing.”

“Well, it’s yours now.” Cara yawned. “We are allowed souvenirs from our scouting missions, just like Cloak and the crown.” She yawned loudly. “Now I really need some sleep. I’ll talk to you when I wake up…” Cara slid under the covers and began to sleep.

Spinnekop smiled. She rolled up the poster and placed it in the bottom drawer of her dresser, right next to her cedar stick. She closed the drawer and removed her pendant, placing it besides her carving and paints. She then prepared herself for the first time she would report on her progress for Chrysalis. It troubled her about how little she had on Cadence, the biggest of which was her relationship to Celestia. Even then a good Infiltrator could have found that out quickly.

Spinnekop was nervous of course, but she did have a huge piece of information, even if it was only that single piece.

She sighed as she ducked under the covers, and drifted into sleep.

Spinnekop had been given the morning off from training, which suited her fine, her legs still felt like gelatin, and her wings were incapable of lifting her very far off the ground. She had been given the time in order to prepare her report for Chrysalis, which wasn’t very much… She just had a few things, and nothing to write about, her report would be almost fully oral.

She had been sitting at the morning meal, Cara having opted to sleep a bit more, so she was sitting alone when a familiar face flew up to her. “Hey, Spinnekop!”

Spinnekop looked towards the voice, to see an old friend flying up to her. “Blink? Is that you?”

Blink flew up to her, his mail bags full as he came to a halt next to her. “You bet, Spin.”

“How have you been?” Spinnekop asked. “I haven’t seen you in years! Got the job I see.”

Blink puffed out his chest proudly “Yup, Courier Drone 26, proudly delivering mail across the Hive whenever it is needed. How’s Cara been doing?”

“She had her second Scout test a few days ago, came back last night and has practically been sleeping ever since.” Spinnekop replied. “You have anything for me?”

Blink’s mail bag opened up as he pulled a clean white letter from out of it. “Sure do.” He reached back into the bag and pulled out a package. “This is yours too.” He said, placing it on the table. “Not sure who it’s from, there’s no address or anything. Well, I’ve got to jet, so many deliveries, not enough time to chat.” He buzzed his wings and flew off further down the hall, handing out letters to the various Changelings.

Spinnekop looked at the letter, it was definitely from Cadence, but she eyed the package curiously. Who sent it? She looked around the box for any sign of who could have sent it to her, but found nothing. Sighing, she decided to finish with her meal before she headed back to the Barracks.

When she arrived, Cara had just begun to wake up from sleep, rubbing an eye Cara noticed the box. “You got a package?”

Spinnekop nodded. “I’ll open it later. My report is due with Chrysalis in an hour and Cadence sent me another letter.”

Cara yawned. “Right… Right. The… Alicorn or whatever.” She yawned again. “What does it say?”

Spinnekop looked over at Cara. “I think you should go to breakfast first.”

She yawned again. “You’re probably right…” Cara replied, walking towards the door. “I’ll see you later.”

Spinnekop waved to Cara as she turned down the hall and began walking towards the dining hall. When she was gone, Spinnekop opened the letter.

Dear Spindle,

I’m sorry to hear about the poor conditions in the Orphanage, I wish there was something I could do to help. If those colts truly are as bad as you say, I know how you feel, many of the Unicorns in Canterlot think themselves higher than everypony else simply because they were born that way. All I can do is offer a bit of advice, should they try to bully you, don’t let them see it affects you, most of them do it for some kind of reaction, they will eventually leave once they realize their tricks won’t work and if they do light your paper on fire, you tell the caretaker about it.

I am not technically the direct niece of Celestia, I am a distant relative but my status as an Alicorn helps me in that respect. Celestia is a kind a caring ruler, she looks after every one of her subjects with care and respect. One day I hope to be like her, loved by your subjects and giving love to them.

Canterlot is a wonderful city, being the location of Celestia’s castle and the training ground for the Royal Guards, it is the safest city in Equestria. Though I’m not sure if it is the best place to grow up, a lot of the Unicorns I’ve seen around here don’t so much as glance at you unless you have some kind of social status. And being built into the side of a mountain makes it easy for trade, and the food around is good, you can also meet a lot of different creatures from around Equestria, coming to meet Celestia for business.

I would love to see how you do with making an Alicorn, if the Pegasus you sent me is any reference, I bet it will be fantastic. Though I will send you something in return. Since technically it is a commission, I will find something to pay you back.

I hope everything goes well,

Mi Amore Cadenza

Spinnekop looked over the letter, taking in the advice Cadence had given her, as well as the information on Canterlot. She grabbed her journal and began to write down the new information on all of them. This should be plenty of information! As she scrawled the last of the information down, she closed the journal and placed it in her saddlebag.

She looked over at the package and then to the clock up on the wall. “I’ve got to get to the Castle…” She mumbled. She pushed the box under her bed and walked out into the Hive’s streets. Heading towards the large black palace.

All the while she walked, she thought about the best way to talk to Chrysalis, which was difficult when she could easily obliterate you with a single thought. She managed to get to the doors of the Throne room before her legs began to quake. I can handle this…

Spinnekop took several deep breaths before she opened the door. Chrysalis was standing next to her throne, holding the skull of a Changeling in her magic, the small remaining carapace plates shaped into a helmet on the skull.

“Ah… Spinnekop.” Chrysalis said, placing the skull on the ground. “You have a report for me?”

Spinnekop audibly swallowed eyeing the skull. “Y-Yes, my Queen…”

Chrysalis walked to her throne and sat down in it, looking expectantly at the young Changeling. “Well? Go on… Tell me what you have learned.”

Spinnekop let out a relaxing breath and pulled out her journal and opened it. “Her name is Mi Amore Cadenza, she lives in Canterlot, and she is the niece of Celestia…”

Chrysalis looked bored up until the last bit of information. “Niece you say?” She tapped her chin. “Anything else?”

Spinnekop nodded. “I… don’t have anything else on Cadence…” Spinnekop admitted. “But I do have something on the city and Celestia.”

Chrysalis nodded. “Proceed.”

Spinnekop took a deep breath. “Canterlot is built into the side of a mountain, many of the ponies there are too stuck up to notice anything happening to lower classes, it is the home of the Royal Guard, and Celestia’s Castle.” Spinnekop turned the page, her hoof shaking as her eyes darted back to the skull. “Celestia is a loving and widely loved ruler, taking into consideration the backlash of her subjects before herself.” Spinnekop looked up at Chrysalis. “And she… Likes my carvings I make…”

Chrysalis looked down at Spinnekop, inwardly contemplating the relevance of the information. “Good…” She said. “Yes… I think this will work.” Her horn began to glow as Spinnekop’s book levitated up to her. “All this in merely a month?”

Spinnekop nodded, looking up at Chrysalis while she read through the notes Spinnekop took. “You wrote here that she enjoys your craft. Is that important?”

Spinnekop nodded. “I sent her one of my carvings and she enjoyed it… She said that I could send her a carving of herself…”

Chrysalis looked down at Spinnekop. “Would it assist your cover?” She asked.

Spinnekop looked up at Chrysalis. “I think so…”

“Then it is settled.” Chrysalis closed the book. “While I despise the idea of it, I will allow you to indulge in your frivolous artistry.”

Spinnekop’s eyes widened. I…I Can…

“However!” She continued. “You are only allowed to do so within the confines of your Quarters. Should I find this craft of yours elsewhere, I will strip you of that privilege. You will also continue your training under Captain Dagger, once I believe you have enough training, you will be moved from your current barracks to your own chambers. I await your report next month, Spinnekop.” She levitated the journal down to Spinnekop.

“My Queen…” Spinnekop said, looking down at her pendant. “I’ll… I won’t let you down!”

Chrysalis smirked. “You better not.” She glanced down at Spinnekop. “Dismissed.”

Spinnekop bowed before running out of the room, the journal held in her magic while she ran. She continued to run excitedly through the Hive, stopping only when she managed to return to the Barracks. She didn’t feel tired, if anything she felt excited, she hadn’t failed Chrysalis, and she was allowed to work on her art without fear of being exiled!

When she got to her room, she let out a string of rapid chirps and clicks, buzzing her wings excitedly. “Hey, Spin.” Cara said looking at her friend. “What are you so happy about?”

Spinnekop calmed herself down before replying. “I had my report with Chrysalis. She said that I could work on my art so long as I only do it in here!”

Cara clapped her hooves together. “That’s great!”

“And I might be able to eventually get my own room!” She said excitedly. “Think about it, I’ll have a room to myself so that I can draw and carve and… I don’t know… Make Stasis pods! Whatever I want!”

Cara chuckled, a little bit of a chirp starting to form. “You really want to make the Stasis pods?”

“Well… I wouldn’t mind it…” Spinnekop replied. “I mean… It is something I would enjoy… I’d hardly want it to be my Job for the Hive.” She smiled a bit. “Well… Main job anyway…”

“So what does that mean for you?” Cara asked.

“Well… I guess I’m an Infiltrator… But I don’t want to leave you…”

Cara sighed. “We knew it would happen eventually. I was planning to be a Scout, and you had your own mission. We knew it wouldn’t last forever… Eventually we were going to have to leave the training barracks.”

“I know…” Spinnekop’s ears turned and pressed against her head. “But… You were… ARE my only friend…”

“Blink is too.” Cara replied. “You’ll see him often… Right?”

Spinnekop nodded. “When we leave… I’ll send some letters to you as well.”

“Oh, come on, Spin.” Cara replied. “We still have a few years before either of us are old enough to be moved.” She stretched her back. “We have plenty of time before we need to resort to that.”

Spinnekop nodded. “You’re right…” She sighed. “But it’s difficult to imagine dealing with all of the Alphas without you.”

“It’ll be fine, Spin.” Cara replied. “We can talk whenever we get the chance. Even after we fully develop. We’ll have the time between our two jobs.”

Spinnekop nodded. “Maybe I should focus on my training…”

“What happened to that?” Cara asked. “Usually you are doing whatever it is Captain Dagger tells you to be doing right now.”

“I was given the day off to report to Chrysalis.” Spinnekop replied. “I didn’t have much… But my legs and wings could use the rest.” She buzzed her wings slowly. “Not sure how much more I can handle before giving out…”

“Well, just keep trying to show those snobs up, just don’t become them okay.”

Spinnekop chuckled. “You got it, Cara.” She replied. “When do you have to leave for your debriefing?”

Cara looked up at the clock. “Soon…” She sighed. “I’ll see you around, Spinnekop.” She waved before walking out of the room.

“Bye, Cara.” Spinnekop replied. “Hope it goes well!” She said, tuning to look back at the wooden figure of the unicorn she had made, a bit of paint placed on the mane where she had started to work on coloring it in, but the problem was, there was no other color, so it would just be a completely brown unicorn.

Spinnekop sighed. She opened the lower drawer and pulled out the stick of cedar she had held onto. She cut it from a small tree, so the inner rose colored wood released a pleasant scent into the room. She began thinking through the whittling, where she would need to cut and at what angle each of the cuts would need to be in order for it to look perfect.

Luckily she had enough wood to make at least three carvings if she needed to, but the waste in wood is not something Spinnekop wanted. She looked up at the clock, and shook her head. She didn’t have enough time to start carving out the shape she would need, and Dagger was supposed to be her commander, and she did need training.

With a reluctant sigh, she placed the pole back into the drawer and removed her necklace, placing it on her dresser. She had regretted taking it to training one day, it took two hours to get the blood and dirt off the surface, along with the constant fear of it breaking, so she decided to leave it here for the rest of the time.

She looked into the crystal to see the needle pointing to the north. A constant reminder that it could switch at any moment, and the meaning of it still eluded her. With a shake of her head, she began to walk out of the room, heading towards her morning training for the day.

Spinnekop returned to the Barracks with a smile on her face, and a bandaged up hoof.

Dagger had been surprised to see Spinnekop enter the obstacle course that day, expecting her to take the rest of the day off, or that she had quit. He even managed to show the shadow of a smile at the Spinnekop’s tenacity, or stupidity, neither of them really knew what had called her back.

The day had been full of rigorous exercises and a few sparring matches, only one of which Spinnekop had won, but she felt accomplished none the less. Even though she did crack the chitin in her left hoof and would have to be careful about it for a few days, it felt well worth it to prove she wasn’t just a pushover. The looks on the other soldiers when she finally did succeed in a fight was astounding, even if you could argue that it was luck at seeing a small opening that knocked the Alpha to the ground.

While she never enjoyed the sparring matches, the way that they were forced to fight amongst each other, it was enjoyable to finally prove she had worth. Though the other reason why she was happy, was because Cadence had been right.

After the sparring match, another one of the Alphas had come forward and warned her about making them look bad. She had simply ignored him and smiled, right before noticing that her chitin was cracked. She was given a few days leave for it to heal, but she was still required to exercise her flight muscles as much as possible.

When she entered her room, Cara was sitting on the bed with one of her books, reading through it. Cara looked up as the membrane door was moved aside and waved at Spinnekop. “What happened to you?”

Spinnekop looked down at her hoof. “Sparring match, I beat one of the Alphas.”

“Great job!” Cara replied. “I bet that made them feel dumb.”

“Well one of them warned me about trying to look better than them. That’s when I noticed this.” She raised her hoof a bit. “I’ve been placed on leave while it heals a bit. I still need to exercise my wings though.”

Cara sighed. “Knew there would be a twist.” She said shaking her head. “Well, I’ve been given the task of writing a report tomorrow on my findings, so happy day for me.” She said sarcastically. “So what’s in the package?” She indicated Spinnekop’s bed.

Spinnekop looked over at it. “I’m not actually sure…” Spinnekop pulled the box out of the hiding place and held it out to Cara. “There’s no return address, name, the only thing on it is my name.”

Cara looked over the package. “Huh… Weird.” Cara levitated it back over to her. “Well, go on and open it, I won’t…” Cara’s head turned towards the door and sighed. “Well, I’ve got to go to the Castle it seems…”

Spinnekop jolted up. “What? Why?”

Cara shrugged. “I just got called by Major Mandible. The Queen wants to talk to me.”

Spinnekop’s ears folded back. “Oh… Okay…”

Cara walked towards the door. “Spin, I’m sure it’s fine. You open up your package, I’ll be back tonight… hopefully. Don’t worry about me.” She waved as she stepped out of the room.

Spinnekop watched as Cara walked down the hall, without Cara to help distract her, she was left alone with the package. She sighed as she took her knife and dug into the wrapping, finding where the box opened, hesitantly, she began to open the box.

Inside, were three small wooden boxes, each one placed on top of the other, as she pulled them out and laid them on the floor, she noticed the craftsmanship of the items.

They were hoof carved, each one having a rounded top, with a small brass hinge allowing the box to open. Each of the boxes had inscriptions on top of them, the first one with an inscription in a fancy cursive font read “Paints”, held a number of wood crafted paint brushes and small tubes of Red, Blue, and Yellow paint. The paintbrushes were all designed for delicate application of the paint.

The second box had a similar font on it, with the word “Sculpting” on it. Inside were a variety of different tools for perfectly sculpting what you would need. The box was compartmentalized into two main sections ‘Woodcarving’ and ‘Stone’ The woodcarving section held small knives and a few whetstones. While the Stone section held a small chisel, a hammer, and a small horsehead statue made out of black stone.

The final box was labeled “Storage”. Inside were a number of small cells, all but one of them was empty, inside of the single cell was a letter, Spinnekop picked up the letter and unfolded it.

Spinnekop,

I am sorry… I know what I did is unforgivable. But I had to leave. You were all I had left, and you would have been… There were a series of ink scratches. I can’t bring myself to write it. I’m sorry. Please use these materials to help expand your craft. I would hate for you to just become another Soldier.

I wish I could tell you more, I wish there were someway I could see you again, but I can’t… The Swarm is after me, and returning to the Hive would be a death sentence. Please… Keep this letter safe, or destroy it. The Hive cannot know I still have a contact.

There was no name, on the letter, and all of the writing seemed to change between the letters, going from sweeping curves to simple blocked letters. Making it impossible to discern which was the normal style of writing.

Spinnekop smiled at the letter, she had an idea who it was from, but couldn’t be certain. She smiled as she pulled one of the knives from the box, and the stick of cedar, and began to use the new knife to cut through the wood, using her magic to hold the stick so her hoof could be free.

As she whittled away the stick, she found herself humming a small nursery tune she had heard a number of the Caretakers singing to the Pupa, meant to soothe and make the Pupa understand happiness. Which was exactly what she felt.

Author's Note

The Plot thickens. Who was this mysterious Contact? Who is the letter from? Why am I writing this? Because Reasons All that and more will be revealed later.

Chapter 4: Years Passed

Spinnekop and Cadence kept up their contacts, sending letters as soon as they received them, Spinnekop found herself enjoying them more and more as they became more like two friends than two acquaintances.

Every month, Spinnekop talked to Chrysalis, receiving words of small praise while being critically panned if she got very little information. She tried to at least get one new piece of information from her every month, no matter how small to lessen the blow.

Along with that, Cara kept her Scout training going, spending more and more time away from the Hive in locations further from it. When she returned, she usually brought a poster, a postcard, or a small knick-knack back. Spinnekop was happy with whatever Cara brought back, and it was always a highlight of the times.

It was, up until three years passed.

Cara had just returned from another scouting mission, this time in Cloudsdale, the weather capital of Equestria, when she walked in with her head hung slightly lower than usual.

Spinnekop noticed the difference as she used one of her chisels to carve a piece of the black stone of the Hive into a Bust of Chrysalis. “Cara, are you okay?”

Cara didn’t respond, she just sighed and walked over to her bed, pulling out a chest from underneath it. Her horn lit up as her dresser opened and Cara began pulling some of her reports and other objects she kept out and placing them in the chest.

“Cara…” Spinnekop repeated. “What’s wrong?” After Cara didn’t reply, Spinnekop gasped. “You… You didn’t…fail did you?”

Cara placed the last few of her items into the chest and shook her head. “I’m in…”

Spinnekop looked up at her, a smile working across her face. “That’s great, Cara! You’ll be a real scout! Think of it, you’ll be gathering intel for the Hive and making sure we stay safe! Just like you always wanted!”

Cara sighed. “I can’t stay here.” She said. “I’m being moved to the Scout Barracks, where I’ll placed on a team to continue my training.”

Spinnekop’s ears fell. “Oh… Well…”

Cara closed the chest. “We won’t be able to see each other for a while.”

“What? Why?” Spinnekop said quickly. “Cara, why can’t I see you?”

Cara turned to look away. “The only Scout Barracks are located away from the Main Hive, I wouldn’t be able to come back for a while.”

Spinnekop’s ears fell flat. “But… But…” She said. “Maybe… Maybe I can write to you?”

Cara sighed. “Spinnekop… I’m going to be running drills and tests for the next few years, I’ll only be able to write once a month, if that!”

“But you’ll still get my letters?” Spinnekop replied.

Cara sighed. “Yes, Spin, I’d eventually get them. Whether I write back and when is up for debate, I can’t put the Hive at risk.”

“I know but…” Spinnekop began.

Cara sighed. “Listen, Spin. I’ll answer when I can but no promises.”

Spinnekop nodded.

Cara sighed. “Spin… I’m sorry that this is happening so soon. I wanted a little more time, but I’ve been accepted as a Scout… I’m… Going to miss you.”

Spinnekop put down the stone and walked over to Cara. “You’ve always been like my sister.” She hugged Cara. “I’m gonna miss you.”

Cara returned the hug. “I know…” She sighed. “Spin, I have to go… Mandible wants us to gather around the front of the Hive, so that we could move under the cover of night.”

“Wait, before you go!” Spinnekop said, her horn began to glow as the bottom drawer opened and a small wooden box flew out of it, stopping right in front of Cara. “Open it.”

Cara looked at it. The wooden box was clearly made by Spinnekop, it had one of the small hinges keeping it closed. Cara opened the box and smiled. “Spin…”

“Do you like it?”

Cara’s horn lit up as she pulled the small figurine out of the box it was an exact replica of Cara, down to the positioning of the holes in her legs. The body had been painted black while the eyes were colored blue and the wings green. “How long did this take you?”

“To keep it a secret, a month. The hardest part was the legs, I had to do them while you were asleep to be sure.” Spinnekop replied.

Cara raised her eyebrow. “You watched me sleep?”

Spinnekop blushed. “Just once…” She moved her hoof in a circle. “I needed it to be perfect…”

“Well you certainly got that right.” Cara joked. “I’ll keep track of it, Spinnekop.”

Spinnekop smiled. “I’ll miss ya, Cara.” She hugged her friend.

Cara returned it. “I’ve got to go, Spinnekop” She said. “I’ll keep it with me.”

Spinnekop nodded. “Write to me when you get there…”

“I’ll try, Spin.” Cara replied. “Maybe I’ll see you on the other side.”

Spinnekop smiled. “Get going, Cara. Don’t want you to be late.”

Cara gave a small smile and grabbed her chest walking out of the room for the last time. Spinnekop sighed as she watched her friend leave. “Bye Cara…”

Spinnekop turned back to the stone bust she was making, glancing back over at the now vacant bed. “Guess I better get used to it now…” She said, turning back to the bust.

It took Spinnekop more time then she wanted… But eventually she got used to having the room to herself, though it felt like something was constantly missing. Sure her and Cara wrote to each other whenever they could, but it still felt a little…Difficult.

The lack of anyone to talk to about the day outside of the brief talks with Blink, left her feeling down a few times, weighed down by the constant insults of the Alphas and the rigorous training. The only enjoyment she felt was when she was sculpting and crafting, and a small hint of it came when she received letters from both Cadence and Cara.

Through the next two years, she kept up a cycle of sending letters to both of them. She had been enjoying the contact with them even more when the Queen told her she would have the letters delivered directly, instead of placed through the Hive’s Manehatten Outpost, for the pure reason of getting more information from the Alicorn.

Though Spinnekop had been aware that it was a job, it was something she enjoyed. Hearing from Cadence always made her feel like there was someone out there who cared for her. While Cadence was a pony, she would always reply honestly and understand the problems Spinnekop went through, giving her sound advice.

Two years after Cara had left, Spinnekop had been called to the Queen’s Chambers. She had gotten used to the walk to the Throne, and no longer felt any kind of fear from walking up to the Queen, just a slight nervous feeling.

She had been walking up to the Queen’s chamber, carrying her notebook with her when one of the Alphas flew down next to her. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to talk with the Queen.” Spinnekop said. “It’s none of your business, Clobber.”

The Alpha puffed out his chest. “I am going to become a Captain you little-”

“Not if you lose your temper this easily, Clobber.” Mimic said, flying down to the two of them. “Spinnekop is here for a reason, Cadet, so back off, or I will demote you for interference with her Majesty’s business.”

“Of course, sir.” He spat. “I was merely questioning why a Beta is here.”

Mimic glared at the young Alpha. “That is none of your concern, now you are to return to your training regiment ASAP.”

Clobber saluted and then walked towards the exit.

“He’s been trying to find out what the Queen sees in you.” Mimic explained. “Been having trouble keeping him in check recently.” Mimic sighed. “Good thing you won’t be dealing with him any longer.”

Spinnekop looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

Mimic grinned. “I’ll let Chrysalis tell you herself.” He said, leading her to the Throne room door. “Remain calm, you will be alright.”

Spinnekop took a deep breath and sighed. “I’m ready…”

Mimic nodded encouragingly and pushed open the door with his magic, allowing Spinnekop to enter into the room.

“I’m not arguing with you, my Queen.”

“Then stop trying to convince me otherwise, Dagger.”

Spinnekop looked towards the throne, Chrysalis was looking down at two different Changelings, both Cloak and Dagger were bowing to her.

“Cloak, I am entrusting you to…” Chrysalis looked up towards Spinnekop. “Ah, there she is.”

Cloak and Dagger looked back at Spinnekop. Dagger scowled at the sight of her while Cloak gave a small smile. Chrysalis walked down from her throne, stopping on the last step.

“Spinnekop, I am pleased to inform you that you have exceeded my expectations.” She gave a small shadow of a smile. “You have lasted five years in the worst possible training program, as well as keeping me updated constantly with your latest progress on the Alicorn, despite the fact you were not born into the caste. You have potential. I like that. I have decided that you being a soldier is unacceptable.”

Spinnekop looked up at the Queen curiously, noting the slight change in expression from Dagger.

“No… I don’t think you are fit to be a soldier.” Chrysalis said, tapping her chin. “What do you think Commander?” She looked towards Dagger.

“She’s not ready to be under my command.” Dagger replied. “She would be better served elsewhere.”

Chrysalis nods. “I agree fully.” She stepped down to the ground level, stepping towards Spinnekop.

Spinnekop tensed slightly at that. She felt as though she was failing Chrysalis, and failures were not treated well.

“That is why I am pulling you out of your soldier training, and placing you in the command of Captain Cloak, where you will be directed in the proper way to implement long term disguises and pony etiquette.” She replied. “You will focus on your mission, gathering information on the Alicorn. She will monitor your letters and ensure they are up to standards, then they will be sent directly to the Alicorn.”

Cloak smiled slightly.

“But do not think that it will be easy.” Chrysalis replied. “Every day you will train with the Captain until she decides you have had enough.” Chrysalis walked closer to Spinnekop. “You are to vacate from the Training barracks as soon as possible.”

Spinnekop’s heart skipped a beat. What?

Chrysalis turned back to Cloak and Dagger. “You will be placed in your own personal chambers within the Command barracks. I do not expect you to rise to the level of a Corporal, but your new job demands a higher status than soldier.”

Spinnekop quietly sighed. She wasn’t getting in trouble for anything, and she was getting put in the commander Barra- WAIT I’m going WHERE?

Chrysalis looked back towards her. “You will have your own quarters, and will be allowed free reign over your… Expression.” She groaned. “I will not have any of it outside of that room. Understood?”

Spinnekop nodded quickly. “Good, now I will leave you with Captain Cloak. She will show you to your new quarters. Afterwards I will leave you to gather your personal belongings. I expect you to be settled in by the Evening meal.”

Spinnekop nodded. “Of course, My Queen.” Spinnekop bowed. “I’ll get right on that.”

Dagger grumbled something and got a piercing stare from Cloak before she walked forward towards Spinnekop. “Spinnekop, I am going to show you where we are going and help you move some of your belongings.” She gave a small smile as she began to lead Spinnekop out of the room.

Once they had left the room, Cloak let out an aggravated sigh. “My brother can be such an ass.” She said. “You should have heard what he was saying about you…” She shook her head. “I hate him at times… He’s an effective leader, but he lacks… Communicative skills.”

“I didn’t mind…” Spinnekop replied. “He kept me going…”

“By verbally assaulting you and letting the recruits do the same and more.” Cloak shook her head. “I swear if I didn’t keep an eye on you, he wouldn’t have stopped.”

Spinnekop looked up at the older Changeling. “But… I didn’t see you.”

Cloak giggled and gave Spinnekop a small wink. “Wouldn’t be much of a spy if I got caught now would I? Come on, let’s go get some of your stuff.”

The walk was rather uneventful, as most of the Hive was sleeping or working, the worst thing that happened was a few Changelings questioning Cloak about a few rumors she had spread about herself, when Spinnekop asked she leaned in and said. “All of them are true, and all of them are false.”

When the two of them came to Spinnekop’s room in the Barracks, Cloak looked around the small decorated room in surprise. “You made all these?” She asked lifting up a bust of Chrysalis. “This is amazing.”

Spinnekop sighed. “It’s nothing special.” She admitted. “The ponies far out class me in the arts.” She motioned to a few of the posters she had rolled up. “I’m nowhere near them.”

Cloak grinned and placed the bust back. “Spinnekop, from someone who has frequently visited Equestria, many ponies would give their hind legs to be this good. You have a real talent for this stuff.”

Spinnekop reached under her bed to pull out the chest she kept there, the outside of it was basic, nothing like she would have created, but it was something she kept. She opened up the case and began levitating her art supplies into the bottom. “It’s not like it can help the Hive at all…” She sighed.

Cloak looked over at the Nymph. “Spinnekop, I hate to tell you this, but you’re wrong.” She walked over to the Changeling and put a hoof around her. “The Hive needs Changelings with your abilities, have you seen the state of some of the pods? They’re falling apart, and Chrysalis refuses to put any time into fixing them. So here is what I want you to do.”

Spinnekop looked up at Cloak. “I want you to try fixing a few of them. I’ll bring a few of the worse ones up to your room, with a few of the materials, and I want to see if you can fix them.” She spoke in a soft voice, but it didn’t seem like an order, more of a request.

“Well… I can try.” Spinnekop replied.

Cloak gave her a small smile. “Great to hear, now let’s move some of this stuff out of here, need to make room for the new pupa.”

Spinnekop nodded and began moving some of the other objects into the chest.

Walking towards the Command Barracks was a very intimidating procedure. Spinnekop was going to be living alongside some of the tops of Chrysalis’ army, the best of the best, and she was going to be there! It was both the scariest and most exhilarating this she had done in her life so far. She was just following behind Cloak, trying not to let her nerves show. She felt her pendant rhythmically tapping against her chitin with every step.

Cloak walked just ahead at a steady pace, making sure that Spinnekop was behind her, she only stopped to make quick chat with some of the other Commanders before moving on. They walked for a few minutes inside the barracks before coming to a blank empty room, separated by a black door. Spinnekop was led into it and looked around.

The room was moderately larger than her small Barracks room. It had a small bed placed in the farthest corner, with almost nothing else in the room. The only things were a small cabinet, dresser, and a clock. Spinnekop looked around the room, mentally separating it into different sections for her work. There was plenty of room for her to spread out her work, maybe even decorate it fully.

“Sorry for it being a bit bare.” Cloak said. “We can get you some basic furniture if you want, the last Changeling who lived here was… Well let’s just say he wasn’t very popular.”

Spinnekop put down the chest she had been carrying in her magic. “So… I guess this is my room now?”

Cloak nodded. “I know it is pretty different, but I think you’ll get used to it pretty quickly.” She looked down at Spinnekop. “Just let me know if you want me to send one of the pods up for you and I’ll…”

“Yes please.” Spinnekop replied. “I… I want to get started on it.” She said unenergetically. “Maybe it will make this place a bit homier…” Spinnekop said. She did enjoy the idea of being in the Command Barracks, but a mixture of fear, nerves, and unknown expectations were pushing all of that down.

Cloak looked down at her and sighed. “Spinnekop, I’ll leave you to get situated here, I’ll send up a pod later.” Cloak walked over to the door and opened it. “We’ll start your training tomorrow, you get your rest.”

Cloak left the room, closing the door behind her. When she had left, Spinnekop sighed and looked down at her pendant as it pointed off into the distance. “Mom… Why did you two leave me?”

Spinnekop took off the pendant set it down on her new bed. She then began to unpack everything she had taken, placing them all in their own positions around the room, she made mental plans to make a small table to place her works on. While she was moving some of the large works, she noticed a small brown envelope at the bottom of the chest.

Curiously, she reached in and picked it up, looking over the envelope, there was no name or any information on it as to who sent it. She looked around the room quickly before opening it with her old carving knife.
Spinnekop,
I’m excited to hear that you have been promoted from a basic soldier. I wish that it wasn’t just due to your mission, but I suppose I cannot argue. My contact has been telling me wonderful things about your work. I’m very proud of you, if he were still alive he would agree with me. Please, keep working on your craft, I left you a small gift given to me by him.

I’m sorry Spinnekop, I cannot give any more details, I wish I could.

Spinnekop looked into the envelope and pulled out a piece of plain white paper. She unfolded the paper to reveal a colored and touching drawing of two Changelings sitting under a tree, the sun setting in the background casting a pink glow over the sleek carapaces. If it weren’t for the very faint lines on the paper, Spinnekop could have sworn it was a photograph. Spinnekop turned the drawing over to reveal a few words written on the back.

All of the Queen’s Graces and the Sun’s beauty, could never compare to you.

Spinnekop looked back over the drawing and smiled. She folded up the drawing and placed it into her Storage chest, which now held a few small carvings and sculptures she had made, and closed the chest. She looked around the room before letting out a small sigh. “Just what I wanted… A room to myself.” She flew around the room, placing the busts and works around the room so that they would be evenly separated.

A few hours later, a knock on the door caused Spinnekop to jump slightly, causing her knife to cut through the ear of her new carving. “Come in.” She said as she lifted up the small ear of the Earth pony she had been working on.

The Door opened as Cloak walked in, carrying a tattered pod behind her. “Afternoon, Spinnekop.” She said cheerfully. “I brought you one of the pods, as well as a bit of the materials.” She levitated the pod over to lean against a wall, the tattered outside facing the room. Cloak looked around the room. “I see you made yourself at home.”

Spinnekop nodded. “How do I fix it?” She asked looking over at the pod.

Cloak walked around the room, looking at the various pieces of art. “Usually it is just made with some of the Builders natural adhesive spit to stick to walls and the Changelings own magic to create the membrane, though we haven’t done that for years… Plus the Healing pods work differently to Cocoons we use to hold prisoners… I’d say you should be able to figure it out.”

Cloak walked over to the pod. “This is just a healing pod, your own spit mixed with a little bit of magic should be able to plug up the holes… But you need to be careful.”

Spinnekop looked up at Cloak. “If anyling could do it… Then why do you need me?”

Cloak flew up to the tatter and placed her hoof through it. “The membrane is old. It’s degrading, and it is very flimsy.” She lowered her hoof and pushed against the membrane, breaking through it. “It can’t be too thick, or the Changeling wouldn’t be able to get out. Too thin and it would break. I need someone that can understand that, plus Soldiers would do it quickly and ineffectively, we need it to be done perfectly.”

Spinnekop looked over the pod. “I’m… Not sure if I could fix these… But I’ll try.”

Cloak patted Spinnekop on the back. “That’s all I’m asking of you, try your best.”

Spinnekop looked at the damages a bit more and thought about the best way to approach fixing it. “I… Think I can handle this…”

Cloak smiled. “I’m glad to hear it. I’ll check up on you in a bit. I need to look over the rest of the recruits. Good luck.” She walked towards the door and opened it, she stepped out before closing it with her magic.

Once she left, Spinnekop looked up at the pod. “Just spit and magic…” She told herself. “Basic stuff…”

A few hours passed, as Spinnekop worked on the Pod, fixing the various holes in it, and patching it up, some time spent on trying to find the right mixture and test it. Once she got the right mixture, it was all a problem of keeping it on the pod, she eventually managed to, and was looking over the work when the door opened and Cloak walked in.

“Evening, Spinnekop.” She said cheerfully. “So how’d it go?”

Spinnekop looked over towards Cloak. “Good. It took me some time, but I eventually managed to patch it up.”

Cloak walked over to the repaired pod, while not exquisitely done, the tatters and rips were all fixed, and the weaker sections seemed to be strengthened. “Nice work, Spinnekop.” Cloak said inspecting the pod. “This is expert work you did here. This thing should be able to help the Scouts that came back from the outpost.”

Spinnekop’s ears shot up. “What happened to the Scouts?”

Cloak looked back at her. “Oh… I forgot… Cara was training to be a Scout wasn’t she…”

Spinnekop nodded. “What happened?”

Cloak sighed. “A dragon attacked the outpost.” She explained. “A lot of the Changelings were badly injured and the infirmary has been on full alert.”

Spinnekop’s ears fell against her head. “What about Cara?”

Cloak placed her hoof on Spinnekop’s shoulder. “She’s fine, Spinnekop, her and some of the newer Scouts were out with Major Mandible looking into a small riot going on nearby, then they saw the Dragon. Cara stayed behind to work on destroying any evidence that there was an outpost there. She’s alright.”

Spinnekop sighed. “Alright…” She was glad to hear that Cara was alright, though all of those Changelings that were hurt…

“They’ll be fine.” Cloak said. “The Dragon wasn’t aiming for the outpost, we think it just happened to fly into it.”

Spinnekop nodded. “I understand and I’m glad they’re all okay.” She replied. “Is there… Anything else?”

Cloak looked down at Spinnekop. “Yeah… There is one other thing. Tomorrow we begin your training to be an Infiltrator. That starts with a disguise, which I know you already have.” She looks over at a small shelf which held a few of the completed figures, one of which was of a light brown Unicorn. “So we’ll work on your transformative magic. It needs to be absolutely perfect or you put yourself at risk.”

“Okay…” Spinnekop replied. She had definitely tried transformations before, but the most she managed was to change her carapace color.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll do fine.” Cloak replied. “I’ll help hone those skills of yours until they could match even the Queen herself.”

Spinnekop giggled, she looked over at Cloak, who let a small smile form on her face. “There’s the Spinnekop I remember.”

Cloak lifted the pod off the wall with her magic and carried it over to the door. “Oh!” Cloak paused at the door. “I almost forgot about this.” Her leg burst into green flame as a hole in her leg appeared, inside it was an envelope. “This was for you from a Messenger Drone, he tried to deliver it to the old barracks. I made sure he knew where you were moved.” She levitated the envelope over to Spinnekop. “See you in an hour, Spinnekop.”

Spinnekop nodded as she opened up the envelope, watching Cloak leave the room. She looked over the slightly burnt paper before reading through it. The writing was frightfully small, but Spinnekop had no trouble reading through it.
Dear Spin,

I realize this is pretty early compared to my normal writing schedule, but the most amazing thing happened! A Dragon attacked our outpost! Don’t worry, me and my squad are fine. We were out in the village when it happened, but it was awesome! I was just buying some food for the outpost when this loud roar shook the ground, and I get told that a DRAGON is burning the forest nearby. I’ve read so much about Dragons but I never saw one! I’m sorry I rambled on a bit. Anyway, I just sent this so you knew I was alright. I’ll be moved to another Outpost to continue my training, but Mandible thinks I’ll do fine since I got the highest scores out of my Cluster. Hooves Crossed.

I’d love to hear if anything has been going on at the Hive, I haven’t heard much about it recently. Hopefully you can get a change in commanders soon, Dagger sounds like he is working you to death.

Sorry for the small writing, Scout training is teaching me to cram as much information on the sheet as possible.

~Cara

Spinnekop snickered as she read through the letter, Cara had been ecstatic about seeing anything outside the Hive, specifically the creatures. She always said that seeing them was nothing like reading about them, a book just couldn’t do some creatures justice.

Spinnekop walked over a small box she had made, opening it and taking out one of the clean sheets of paper and pulling over her quill.
Dear Cara,

Not much in the Hive has changed, the old Cluster has already moved out of the old Barracks, I was the last one to leave. I’m glad to hear that you are okay after that attack, I was worried when I heard about it. One big change that did happen was that I got a new Commander, the Queen called me to her Chamber and I was told that I would be put under Cloak’s command. She is going to teach me to be an infiltrator. I also got moved to the Command Barracks and I have my own room! It feels pretty empty but I can work on my art whenever I want now! Cloak is also giving me time to help fix up the pods that are tattered and broken. I’ll be doing some really good stuff for the Hive.

I wish that you could respond more frequently, but I’m still just happy to hear you’re alright. Maybe you’ll get placed on the Elite team with the scores you got, wouldn’t that be interesting?

~Spinnekop

As she finished with the letter, she grabbed an envelope from a similar box she got the paper from and placed the letter inside. She began to walk towards the door to her new room and paused, looking back at the empty space. She let out a sigh. “I really need something to liven this place up…” She tapped her chin. “Maybe I could make a table or something…” She shook the thought away for the moment and began to walk to the Messenger service to send the letter to Cara.

Chapter 5: Deception

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Cloak asked Spin as the two of them walked down the tunnel to the entrance of the Hive. “We could always postpone it for another week.”

“No thanks.” Spinnekop replied. “I want to do this.”

“You sure Spin?” Cloak asked. “You’ve only been training for a year, most Infiltrators still have years of training before this…”

Spinnekop nodded. “I know… But I won’t be there alone right…”

Cloak nodded. “True… I’ll be watching to make sure nothing bad happens. I’ll keep my distance for the most part through.” The two of them exited the familiar feeling of the hive, with its green glowing crystals and chatter, and entered into a rocky cave. “Last chance to turn back.”

Spin swallowed and took a deep breath, trying to steady the nervous feeling in her stomach; she touched her necklace with her hoof and looked down at the slowly spinning needle as it settled on a direction to point. Spinnekop looked up and nodded at Cloak.

Cloak gave her a small smile. “Then let’s go.” She began leading Spin down the cave’s passage, when Spinnekop saw a small flicker of light ahead of them; she realized they were nearing the entrance.

As they got closer to the light, a rock burst into green flames to be replaced by a Changeling. “Orders?”

Cloak walked up to the Changeling, handing over a small green crystal. “Infiltrator business, I’m taking the new recruit to a small pony settlement nearby.”

The Changeling looked at the crystal for a moment before nodding. “Everything checks out. You’ve got one day.”

Cloak nodded to the changeling while he handed the crystal back. She then led Spinnekop towards the light, but before either of them left the cave, Cloak turned to Spinnekop. “Moment of truth Spinnekop. Let’s see how you handle yourself.”

Spinnekop nodded as she focused on her form, she felt the light trickle of the transformative fire begin to pop up before it flared over her, her black carapace replaced with a light brown coat. Her small fin-like protrusion on the back of her head gave way to a dark brown mane and tail, her fangs receded while her wings vanished, leaving a small light brown horn barely poking out of her mane. She opened her now grass green eyes and looked back at her body.

She repressed the joyful squeal at getting her transformation right, but looked up at where Cloak used to be standing to see a lime green unicorn mare with an orange mane. “Nice job Spindle.” She said. “Just make sure you remember to stay close to your Auntie Pastel. Wouldn’t want you to get lost now would we?” Her eyes had changed to a bright blue, and she now had a cutie mark of a paint palette and paintbrush.

Spindle nodded to Pastel and the two of them walked out of the cave, giving way to the bright sunlight and green trees. Spindle stopped and looked at the surroundings, she had never left the Hive, and seeing the forest beyond made her audibly gasp in amazement, next to her, Pastel giggled at the sound and let her look out into the distance before nudging Spindle and motioning towards a smoke pillar rising into the sky.

“That’s where we’re going Spin.” Pastel said. “You ready for your first taste of Pony life?”

Spindle nodded while letting the nerves calm down in her legs. “I’m ready…”

Pastel led Spindle through the forest. All the while, Spindle had to fight down the butterflies in her stomach as the smoke pillar got closer and closer, like a constant reminder of what would happen if she somehow messed up.

By the time they reached the edge of the town, Spindle was seriously considering just turning and running away, but she kept herself going with the knowledge that this was what she had to do to be a good infiltrator.

“Just relax Spin.” Pastel said, “I’ll be close by the entire time, if you need help, just think back to your training.”

Spindle sighed and took a deep relaxing breath before the two of them stepped out of the clearing, looking at the town beyond, it was a small village, a few buildings and houses, but there were still plenty more ponies there than Spindle would have liked.

Pastel began to lead Spindle towards the city, before they reached it, Pastel turned to look at Spindle. “Remember, we are just stopping by for the day on our way to Manehatten, where we will meet up with your ‘adopted’ family.”

Spindle had informed Cloak on all of the details she shared with Cadence, and for the best possible disguise, everything needs to be constant. So now Spindle Weave was adopted by a family of a unicorn and Pegasus named Sparkling Gem and Freefall, one was a gem cutter while the other was a stunt flier.

“Alright…” Spindle replied. “So… What do I do?”

Pastel stood up straight. “Have fun. Go learn about how foals interact with each other. See what you can learn, and most importantly, don’t get caught. I’ll be just off to the side.”

Spindle nodded as the two of them walked into the town. They walked for a while before the first pony noticed them and gave a friendly wave in their direction. Pastel returned the wave and began to look around. “Let’s see… Today is a Saturday, so normally the children are playing in a park… Let’s go and see if we can find any.”

Spindle nodded as she followed Pastel through the streets, every so often one of the ponies would offer a friendly ‘Hello’ or a wave which Pastel generally returned. As they walked, Spindle generally kept her head focused on the ponies around her, but one store in particular piqued her interest.

They had been walking along a small collection of stores when her eyes fell upon a store that held a sign labeled ‘Art Supplies’ in the window of the store were a number of paintings and tapestries, each one looking extravagantly made. She paused for a moment before noticing that Pastel was a few yards ahead of her.

When she caught up, Pastel grinned at her “See something you like?”

Spindle looked up at the disguised Changeling and blushed slightly. “Yes Auntie… But I’m not sure if my parents would like me getting it…”

Pastel turned and looked back at the store, looking over the front windows’ displays. “Well… If you are really good. Maybe I’ll get you something.” She grinned a little. “Only if you don’t cause any trouble.”

Spindle smiled at the disguised changeling and nodded vigorously, inciting a small snicker from Pastel. “Alright Spindle Weave, calm down. I found the park, it is right next to a small café, I’ll let you play with some of the foals while I take some time to recharge a bit.”

Spindle’s eyes widen. “So… I’ll be on my own…”

Pastel placed a hoof on her shoulder. “It won’t be for long Spin, a few minutes at most. If anything bad happens, don’t be afraid to call me over.” She smiled reassuringly.

Spindle looked towards a group of ponies nearby, then sighed and nodded. She realized there was no reason to argue and it might be fun to interact without being judged.

“Great.” Pastel replied. “Now come on, it is just up here.” Pastel began to lead Spindle through the town until they came to a small park, right in the middle of the town, it had a few trees scattered throughout it while a majority of the park was an open field, in which multiple foals were running around playing with some kind of ball.

Off to the side of the park was a small café a large sign of a steaming coffee mug above the dark yellow building “I’ll be just over there.” Pastel said as she gave a reassuring smile to Spindle before trotting over to the building.

Spindle stood there for a few seconds, trying to get her nerves under control before slowly walking into the park, trying to keep herself as small as possible. She walked around the group of foals playing with the ball and decided to sit under a large oak tree and watch.

It didn’t appear that they had any real purpose behind it, they kept running back and forth chasing after the ball, while two of them were standing at far ends by two cones that were spaced apart, every time the ball drew closer towards one end, the pony in between the cones tensed up. Spindle just kept watching for a few minutes before looking away from the foals and looking towards a nearby tree, where a family of birds was nesting.

Spindle just listened to the birds chirping and the wind blowing through the leaves for a while before she felt a light tap on her foreleg. Looking down she saw the weird checkered ball had rolled over to her.

“Hey!” A small orange Pegasus colt with a short green mane called waving towards her. “Would you mind kicking the ball over here?” He asked politely.

Spindle looked at the ball and then over at the Pegasus. She stood up from her spot and looked back at the ball, she raised her foreleg and kicked the ball with it, sending it flying widely off course and landing on a nearby earth ponies head, then bounced off onto the ground.

Spindle cringed back a little as the ball hit the colt but she relaxed when she saw he was fine.

The Pegasus Colt looked over at her. “Hey, why not come and join us? We could always use another player.”

Spindle looked over in a somewhat unsure manner. “I… Don’t know… I’m not exactly the best at sports.”

The Pegasus walked over to her. “I’m sure you’re good at Hoofball. Just try to get the ball into the other goal, and we’re playing Earth Pony rules so no wings or magic.”

Spindle looked over at the group, they had all stopped their game to wait for her answer. “Well… I guess I can try…”

The Pegasus smiled at her. “Great! My name’s Afterburn. What about you?”

“Spindle Weave…” She replied.

“Nice to meet you Spindle.” Afterburn said, holding out a hoof for Spindle to shake. “What brings you to our town?”

Spindle shook Afterburn’s hoof. “I’m staying with my Aunt Pastel for the day before going to Manehatten.”

“Manehatten? Nice town from what I’ve heard.”

“Hey Burn!” A purple Earth Pony mare shouted. “We going to play or what?”

Afterburn looked back towards them. “Yeah! Hold on a second!” He looked back at Spindle. “You’re on our team, we’re trying to get to the far goal.” His eyes cast down towards the necklace around Spindle’s neck. “You might want to take that off though,” Spindle reached up and put her hoof over it, “Just so that it doesn’t break.”

Spindle nodded and tentatively began removing the necklace, she looked at it briefly before placing it next to the oak tree, she then grabbed some nearby leaves and sticks and put them on top of the necklace, concealing it from sight. She then turned back towards the other foals and walked over to join them.

It was an odd game, at least from Spindle’s perspective, she did try to get into the spirit of things, running around and kicking the ball whenever it got close, she never did get a ‘goal’ as the other foals called it, but she stayed towards the outside of the play area and kicked the ball back. It seemed important, but kind of boring when there were periods of just running. About a half hour later, Afterburn said the game was over, Spindle didn’t hear the score, but she doubted they were keeping track.

Spindle felt exhausted, while she didn’t do much, she did run quite a lot as the ball moved back and forth. She was sweating and smelt a little strange by her standards, but apparently it was normal for the other foals. A few of the Foals got called by their parents, so Spindle walked back over to the pile on sticks she hid the necklace in, but found it had been moved.

She looked at the pile wide eyed for a moment, her mind racing with possibilities for why it wasn’t there, the one that stuck out was someone stole it. Before she even got to the panic mode of the situation, she looked at the spot where it used to be, a small napkin was placed there with the word ‘Café’ written on it in blue ink.

Normally Spindle would still be panicking a little, but she recognized the writing as that of Cloak. She let out a relieved sigh and looked over towards where Pastel was sitting, sipping some tea while a small green pendant lay dangling over the table. Pastel’s eyes were focused towards her, but looked more like a sidelong glance to anyone else.

Spindle let out a relieved sigh and walked over to the Café and up to the lime green Unicorn, who smiled at her. “Who are your little friends Spin?”

“Their some local foals. We played Hoofball, that is a weird game.” Spindle replied. “I didn’t do much…”

Pastel sipped some more tea as she slid the pendant over to Spindle. “I took it so that you wouldn’t lose it. Keep it close,” She said.

Spindle’s magic surrounded the pendant and helped connect it behind her neck. She looked back at Pastel smiling back at her. “Well, I’d say that I’m just about done here.” Pastel reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a clinking brown bag. She removed five golden coins from the bag and placed them on the table before standing up and walking next to Spindle. “Come on Spindle, we have another stop.”

Spindle hopped down from the chair and began to follow next to Pastel. “Where are we going?”

Pastel slowed her pace so that Spindle could keep up. “Oh, we’re just going to check something I think you’d enjoy.” She patted her other Saddlebag but said nothing else about it as they walked.

“So… How often do you leave home?” Spindle asked to help with the strange silence that had fallen over the two of them.

“Oh. I leave pretty often. I can’t stand staying at the house for too long, too much to see, not enough time. That’s why I took up painting.” She looked back at her cutie mark. “Being able to freeze the most beautiful scenes I can manage.”

Spindle looked up at her, the smiling face of the lime green mare contrasting everything she had been told in the hive. Either Cloak was much better than any other Changeling at making sure the emotions matched the performance… Or she genuinely enjoyed stepping outside the Hive’s boundaries.

Pastel and Spindle walked for a few more moments before Pastel raised her head and looked around. “Huh… I could have sworn it was… Ah! There it is.”

Pastel looked over at a small shop, above it was a picture of a pawn piece in Chess, and in the windows was a variety of objects, with seemingly no real connection between the items. There were tools and toys, some various lamps and old wooden furniture; Spindle was confused as to the actual purpose for the store besides ‘Junk dealer.’

Pastel looked at the store for a moment before motioning for Spindle to follow her in. The door opened with a small jingle as the two of them walked in; there was no sign of anyone inside other than them.

Pastel walked up to a dusty counter, finding a golden bell, she pushed down the small button on top of the bell. She rang it a few times before scowling and slamming down on the bell, causing the bell to produce a very loud ring before a loud thud was heard in a backroom.

“I’m coming. I’m coming. Ow…” A gray earth pony Stallion walked out from a room off to the right, he was wearing a pair of magnification glasses, like those used when repairing small gears. He rubbed the top of his head and walked around the counter, his white mane cleanly cut and short. He opened his pale blue eyes and looked at the two Mares.

He reached up and removed the glasses he was wearing, placing them down on the small shelf behind him. “You two picked kind of a bad time for me, I was in the process of repairing an old clock.” He said. “So you looking to buy or sell?”

Spindle looked up at Pastel, who put on a friendly smile. “Actually, I was looking for an appraisal on a small… Project a young friend of mine has quite a knack for.”

The stallion continued to rub at the top of his head while he looked at Pastel. “Well, I’m not exactly an expert on appraisals, but I’ll give you the price I would sell it for here if it helps.”

“That will do nicely thank you.” She smiled back at him. “Now, I know it isn’t very much, but I really want an honest opinion of this work.” She opened up the saddlebag.

“I’ll tell you again I can’t promise anything but a fair judgment on it.”

Pastel reached into the saddlebag and pulled out a small wooden figurine, Spindle held in the urge to gasp when she realized it was one of the carvings she had made. “She’s really proud of it.” Pastel placed the figure on the table as the stallion looked at it curiously.

The Stallion reached over and grabbed his magnification lenses and looked over the detail, he turned it over and looked at everything. Every small detail was looked over, and Spindle kept herself from breaking out in gasps and stressed to keep her breathing normal.

The Stallion continued to look at the figure with a professional expression, as he looked over the face, he looked at Pastel with his left eye in a brief glance. “Who did you say made this?” He asked before turning back to the figure.

Pastel smiled and gave a small glance to Spindle and winked. “Oh… A friend of mine.”

The stallion looked over the figures flank, focusing on the Cutie Mark. “Well, this is a very well made, could use a good sanding tough… Smooth out some of the ridges, and help out with making it look like it was done professionally.” He lifted the glasses to the top of his head before he began looking at it with a single eye. “Though… Honestly it is difficult to tell that it really needs it without scrupulous eyes of a professional.” He placed the figure down. “I can buy it for say… Two or three bits, if you fix it up a bit, it could be worth more.” He took a final look down at the figure. “Though… You may be able to get a better price elsewhere, I don’t really specialize in toys.”

Pastel nodded at him. “Well, I’m glad that you gave us your honest opinion. I’m sure that my Sister will be proud of her little filly.”

The Stallion perked up, “Wait… a Filly made this?” He whistled. “I’m impressed. I’ve seen some Foals do some pretty interesting things when they discover their talent, but… This? Wow.”

Pastel looked up at a nearby clock. “Yes… We really should be going. Spindle Weave here needs to get on the train to Manehatten to meet up with my Sister. She’s very excited to be heading home after so long.”

Spindle nodded. She was quite excited to head home, not only since she now had a way to improve the figures she was making, as well as trying out something new, Sanding… As soon as she figured out how to do that.

The Stallion and Pastel talked for a little bit before Pastel and Spindle left the small shop. The streets were noticeably less occupied, and the sun was now halfway down the sky.

“We should have just enough time to stop by that art store before the train gets here.” Pastel said as they began to walk down the street. “Let’s see if you can find something you like.”

Spindle walked next to Pastel, looking at the ground. “Auntie? Why did you have one of my carvings?”

Pastel snickered a bit. “Well, I knew they had a pawn shop here, so I was curious exactly how much your carvings would sell for. Back when the Artist class was still around, they would sell their creations for bits to benefit us.” Pastel smiled. “I figured you would be able to fetch a pretty bit, at least if everything Gem told me was true.” She looked down at Spindle. “I don’t expect you to sell all of them. Just… Some of the ones that you think are worth a bit more.”

Spindle sighed. “I guess…”

“It’s not my order.” Pastel said, quickly looking around for anyone that could be close enough to hear, confident no one could hear them, she ducked down and whispered to Spindle. “The Queen wants your work to do something useful. So getting us spare bits is the best we can do with it.”

Spindle nodded in understanding, after all, helping the Hive was the main job of any Changeling. Any way to assist the Hive was sought after and accepted, even if it required revealing yourself.

“Now come on, Spindle. Quick stop then we need to head to the station.” Pastel said, smiling again. “Let’s see if we can find something you want.”

Pastel began to lead Spindle back the way they had come, they passed by the park and café, and they had seen a few more ponies, most of which gave a friendly smile. They eventually stopped at the Art supplies store Spindle saw earlier.

Both of them walked into the supply store to be greeted by a young mare, she was sitting in a stool facing a bowl of fruit while painting it, she wore a smock that held a variety of paintbrushes and when the bell rang, the mare looked over at them. “Oh. Hello.” She said happily. “I was just practicing.”

“Oh don’t worry about it.” Pastel said. “We just came by to see if you had anything my Niece would like to purchase.”

The Unicorn Mare looked down at Spindle. “Oh. Is she an aspiring artist too?” Spindle nodded. “Well then you’ve come to the right place.” The mare said happily. “I pride myself on having some of the best art supplies I can find. So what kind of art do you make?”

Spindle looked up at the mare before replying in a quiet voice. “I make Wood carvings mostly.”

“Oo…” The mare replied. “I always enjoyed seeing a pony work on woodcarving, it’s such a rare art form nowadays.”

Pastel glanced down at Spindle. “Yes, we’re quite proud of our little artist. I have one of her carvings if you want to see it.”

“Oh I would love to.” The Mare replied. “If the artist doesn’t mind.”

Spindle shook her head. “I don’t mind…”

Pastel’s horn lit up the same blue as her eyes and levitated the figure to the mare.

“This is very good.” The mare said. “I can hardly believe that you made it. Though there is one small thing, it could use some sanding… I’ll tell ya what.” She said placing the figure on the ground. “How about we make a little trade. I’ll trade this carving you made, for some sandpaper.” The mare smiled.

“Why do you want the carving?” Spindle asked. It wasn’t one of her better ones, it was just a normal Pegasus, one of the ones she made when she was thinking, nowhere near as good as the few she made of Cadence, Chrysalis, and even her disguise.

“Well, it is rather good.” The mare replied, “And I think you have some real talent. I don’t want to stand in the way of your craft, plus it is incredible to see a young foal do something like this.”

Spindle smiled and nodded. “Okay.”

The mare smiled back. “Well, I’ll go get you some sand paper, and I’ll even throw in a little paint for you, on the house.”

Pastel smiled a bit. “Oh you don’t have to…”

“Nonsense.” The Mare replied. “I have plenty of paint, don’t worry about it.” She walked towards a back room and came back with a clear box, inside was a stack of various sized sandpaper. “Anything I can do to help creative Artists going is good to me.” Her horn lit up as a few tubes of paint flew into the bag. “Now you take care of yourselves.” She said levitating the bag over to Pastel. “Next time you two are around here, I’d love to see what you make.”

Pastel gave a friendly wave and thanks to the mare before looking up at the clock. “Oh dear. We’re going to miss the train. Come along Spindle we shouldn’t keep your parents waiting.”

Spindle nodded and gave a friendly goodbye to the mare before she followed Pastel out of the building. “I’d say that was a success.” Pastel said when they walked away from the building. “You got to spend some time with a few foals, got yourself some new supplies,” Her horn lit up as a small piece of paper appeared in front of her, “and I got the Queen some info on a new replacement target. All in all, a good day.”

Spindle nodded, subconsciously thinking about how to use the Sandpaper on some of her better carvings, while mentally planning out the letter to Cadence she needed to write.

“Now we just need to get back into the forest and we’ll be home free.” Pastel replied. “Then tomorrow you can take the day off while I report to the Queen. She will be very interested in this new development.”

Spindle nodded and then looked around quickly. “Should you really be talking like that right now?” She asked.

Pastel sighed. “Oh don’t worry Spin, not many ponies listen into conversations, specifically between wan adult and a foal. If it really becomes an issue, we can pass it off as nicknames or a childish game.”

Spindle blinked. “Does that normally work?”

Cloak chuckled. “Plenty of times. Why we once got away with revealing the location of the Hive by covering it up with Insanity. That was a memorable expedition.” Cloak looked off into space. “Anyway, come on, don’t want to be late.” Pastel began taking a leisurely jog, speeding up their progress towards the forest.

Spindle began to jog next to her, keeping pace with the older Changeling. “So… How often do you normally get out here?”

“Oh every week or so.” Pastel replied. “It is always an adventure when I go somewhere exotic, but I’m content to stay in Equestria.”

The two of them walked into the tree line, the sun setting ahead of them. “So Spin,” Pastel said shedding her disguise, “How was your first taste of Pony culture?”

Spindle shed her disguise as well, thinking back to the events of the day. “I kind of liked it.” Spinnekop said. “I wish I could do it again.”

Cloak tapped her chin. “I’m sure I could arrange something. It would take a few months, but it perhaps we could get out of the Hive again in… four months.”

Spin looked up at Cloak, who glanced down at Spinnekop with a smirk. “That is… If you want to go?”

Spinnekop could not answer fast enough. “Yes! I would love to!”

Cloak let out a small laugh. “I’ll keep that in mind. Maybe I could manage to get you into Manehatten eventually, we would need to insert a few Changelings to make it seem like you were really returning home… But I’m sure we could manage.”

Spinnekop buzzed her wings happily. “Do you think I would ever be able to actually See Cadence?”

Cloak looked off towards the mountain, thinking. “It’s possible… But there is one major issue… Celestia herself. While I may have pulled a few tricks on the Sun Goddess, I’m not exactly one to ever want to meet her up close.” Cloak shivered. “A being like her would not be something I want to be on the bad side of.”

Spinnekop looked towards the ground. “Oh… Well, could you maybe tell me the story of how you stole her crown?”

Cloak chuckled. “Is it really that famous? Honestly I didn’t think it was all that great, the story isn’t all that grand. But I suppose I could entertain the idea someday. Maybe when you get older.”

Spinnekop and Cloak kept walking until they got to the cave they entered from, the Changeling they talked to earlier transformed in front of them. “Welcome back. Cloak, Chrysalis wants to speak with you.”

Cloak sighed. “I would be lying if I said I didn’t expect this, I’ll speak to you later Spinnekop.” She began to walk down the tunnel to the Hive and was followed by Spinnekop, who split off and began heading towards the Command Barracks. She kept her new supplies close to her, in an attempt to hide it while she continued towards her chambers. As she arrived, she pushed open the door and stepped in, placing the new supplies off to the side of her room.

She let out a happy sigh as she looked over one of her newest projects; she had been carving statues before, so instead she decided to try her hooves at making a tapestry. It was coming along pretty well all things considered, it was small, since she had very little to work with, but it was at least something.

She was going to try and continue working on it when a pouncing sounded on the chitin door, making her jump a few inches into the air. After she calmed herself, the pounding sounded again. Spinnekop walked up to the door and opened it, not expecting who was waiting for her.

“Captain Dagger!” Spinnekop said in surprise. The Older Changeling glared down at her, the crack in his chitin stretching slightly. “I-It’s an honor to see you sir I-”

Dagger slammed his hoof on the ground, still glaring at Spinnekop.

Spinnekop flinched at the hoof hitting the ground, shrinking down while Dagger’s glare hardened. Even though Dagger was not a mute, he still held more command without speaking than Spinnekop could hope to have. Dagger kept the glare as he stepped into the room, Spinnekop scrambled out of the way of the Captain's stride. “The Queen tells me you had your first Infiltration mission.” Dagger replied, a small annoyed clicking coming through the crack in his chitin.

“Y-Yes Sir…”

Dagger walked over to one of the stone carvings she had made, glancing over it while keeping his eyes on Spinnekop. “Anything you care to tell me?”

Spinnekop started shaking slightly. “L-Like what S-Sir?”

Dagger placed his hoof on the small bust, pressing lightly on it while it wavered from side to side with the pressure of his touch. “Like why my Sister coddles you so much?”

Spinnekop eyed the Bust as it teetered on the edge of the small shelf. “My sister is not a fool, she may look the part of a care taker, but she is a strong and ruthless commander.” Dagger pushed the bust over a little further, almost enough to topple it. “So why is she treating you so differently?”

“Dagger!” Spinnekop turned back towards the doorway to see Cloak glaring into the room towards her brother. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Dagger gave a final push on the bust leaving it to slowly fall back to its normal position. “I’m merely trying to find out why you are disregarding the Queen’s orders for Spinnekop.”

Cloak scoffed. “As if I would disobey the Queen!” She stepped into the room, her eyes staring directly at Dagger. “You know what I found when I went to talk to the Queen? Go on, Guess.” She hissed out the last word.

“I have no ide-”

“Nothing!” Cloak shouted. “I walked into her chambers to find the Queen speaking to General Mimic. She looked at me and asked me what I was doing there.” She walked right up to Dagger, and Spinnekop could have sworn she saw Dagger flinch back a little. “Now I know that you are supposed to be in charge of Hive safety, but that does NOT give you the right to manipulate royal orders.”

Dagger opened his mouth to speak, but Cloak slapped him across the face. “Don’t You DARE try to pull any of your bullshit!” Cloak hissed. “I have half a mind to turn you into Chrysalis, and the other is telling me to beat your ass right here!”

Dagger took a step back; Cloak stepped forward, keeping herself in Dagger’s face. “I have not ONCE disobeyed the Queen. I know that you have been trying to find something important about Spinnekop.” Dagger began to open his mouth. “Oh yes… I kept my eyes on you. You want to know why I’m treating Spinnekop different well I’ll TELL YOU!”

Cloak pointed towards Spinnekop. “She is not a soldier, she is not supposed to be on the front lines! She is none of your business Shiv!” Dagger’s eyes twitched slightly. “If you ever try to pull similar shit like this, ever make the Queen question my authority and ability to lead, I will tear you down and watch you burn like Trot! Is that Understood,” She shoved her face right up to Dagger’s, “Corporal?”

The two glared at each other for a few heart pounding seconds before he hissed. “Crystal.”

Cloak stepped back from Dagger, turning and walking towards the door. “Then get out!”

Dagger glared back at Cloak then turned to glare at Spinnekop before walking towards the door.

Before he left, Cloak stuck out her hoof. “Don’t think I won’t Dagger.”

“I know you would.” Dagger hissed. “But could you honestly kill me?”

Cloak lowered her hoof. “We’ll talk about this later.” She hissed.

As Dagger walked out of the room, Cloak watched him walk down the hall, when he was out of sight, Cloak slammed the door closed and groaned. “My brother is such an Ass!” She shouted. “Always trying to question how I teach and train. Ugh! He can never get the hint!” Cloak began pacing the room. “Can’t keep his snout in his own business, I swear that if he ever pulls this stunt again…”

Spinnekop was still tensed up on the floor when she finally let out a small chirp. “Cloak…”

Cloak looked over at Spinnekop, momentarily blinking before letting out an aggravated sigh. “I’m sorry Spinnekop. My brother brings out the worst in me.”

Spinnekop stood up, her legs still shaking. “What did he mean… About you being ruthless…”

Cloak sighed and walked over to the bust that was still teetering on the counter. She put her hoof on top of it to steady it. “I used to be like him.”

Spinnekop looked up at Cloak. “I used to be just like him, cold killer, always trying to do the best service I could do, no matter who got hurt in the process.”

Spinnekop looked at her curiously. “How did it change?”

Cloak looked over at Spinnekop and smiled. “I’ll just say this Spinnekop. I learned from someling that showed me how wrong our ways were. I went from a soldier to an Infiltrator, and I understand when to be nice, and when to be an officer.” She sighed. “My brother never learned that… To him I’m still the same Corporal I used to be. I grew and earned my place as an Infiltrator, when I was asked to teach a new generation of Infiltrators, I asked instead for one thing.”

Spinnekop looked up at Cloak. “To teach one at a time. Needless to say the Queen was surprised by that. I trained them for a few years and sent them on their way.”

Spinnekop poked at the ground for a second. “What… Were the orders you had for me?”

Cloak sighed. “My orders were to ensure you would be the best Infiltrator I could make, Dagger thinks it should be done differently…” She sighed. “He wants you to learn on your own, just throw you into the field. Mimic and I both disagreed, we came up with a better idea, I would take control of your training. As my Brother was clearly getting you nowhere.” Cloak grumbled something incoherent. “Listen Spin, I would love to talk about my past with you some other time, I need to speak with the Queen about something.” She gritted her teeth. “Dagger needs to learn his place.”

Spinnekop nodded. “Okay…”

Cloak walked over to Spinnekop. ‘It’s alright Spin, I’ll be fine. I just need to ensure that Dagger can’t be a little…” She glanced over at Spinnekop. “Anyway. I’ll speak with you tomorrow Spinnekop.” Cloak walked towards the door and opened it. “Hopefully this will be the last time my brother ever tries this until the Queen’s prepared.” She stepped out the door. “Oh and Spinnekop.”

Spinnekop looked up at her. “Good luck with your tapestry.” She closed the door behind her.

Spinnekop grinned and looked over towards the tapestry, she buzzed her wings and flew up to it, planning out how to proceed on it. She sighed and moved away from it, picking up her storage box and reading through the few letters she had been given. The writer was still unknown to her, but they tended to come infrequently, and never in any kind of pattern. They were rarely in the same hoofwriting, and sometimes were written in a code.

Spinnekop looked over them and sighed. She unconsciously reached up and touched her pendant, looking down at the needle, which began pointing towards the North. She took off the pendant and laid it on the small shelf. “Training for what exactly?” Spinnekop asked herself. “Why am I so important to Chrysalis?” She shook her head. “Guess I’ll never know until it happens.”

Author's Note

If you have been following the story since it started, you'll have noticed the rather quick paced updates. Sad to say that will most likely stop with 'Pen Pals'

The reason: Because I hate all of you No I don't The reason is because I began typing this story in a Word Document, and updated the story when I thought the editing was good. (That doesn't mean it is perfect)
This was the last Chapter I finished before deciding to post my work. So from now on, (At least with this story) the Updates will come at... Irregular intervals. School stuff and other things I'll try to get them to you quickly, but I cannot promise anything. Please don't hate me.

Chapter 6: Reunion

Thirteen years passed since Spinnekop’s first visit to a pony village. Since then, she had many more visits. Every four months, Cloak would take her out into Equestria, usually to a small town or village. As Spinnekop got better at pony interaction and nerves, Cloak had begun taking her to some of the major cities. Her first one was to Manehatten, then to Cloudsdale, Los Pegasus, they kept getting bigger and bigger, while Spinnekop kept feeling the familiar butterflies in her stomach whenever she was traveling to the new city. The one place they never visited was Canterlot, Cloak’s own fears of Celestia and Cadence’s position kept them from going near the mountain city.

Life had gotten generally better for Spinnekop in the hive, Dagger never tried to confront Spinnekop again, he even tried to purposefully avoid Spinnekop, but whenever they did meet, he grunted and turned away. In her own mission, she had managed to get into Cadence’s close circle of friends; they had shared many various things about each other, even the details about Cadence’s fiancé, something that interested the Queen quite a lot.

Spinnekop had also had much time to enhance her art, the blank room she had moved into was now one of the most decorated in the Hive, she had built a few tables and wove tapestries that hung around the room. She kept everything in good shape as well as keeping up her training and the repairs of the various pods, keeping her very busy regardless of what she was doing.

One interesting event was when Chrysalis called her into the throne room to gather everything on Cadence that Spinnekop kept through the years, saying it would all be useful in a few months. Years of meeting with Chrysalis taught her to not question the Queen, it worked for her these past two decades.

One of the days a few weeks before Spinnekop’s twenty-fifth birthday, she had been cleaning off some of the busts she had made of marble, the expensive stone that she was proud to work with. She buzzed around the room, her thin tail transformed into a feather duster as she used it to dust off the materials. She was humming a happy tune she picked up from a mare in Fillydelphia, when she heard a knocking on her door.

Spinnekop stopped in the air and looked up at the clock. Cloak isn’t supposed to be here yet… She thought to herself. She looked back over towards the door when the knocking sounded again. “Coming.” Spinnekop announced as she landed and walked towards the door.

She transformed her tail back to its normal appearance as she walked over and opened the door “Hello?”

Standing in the doorway was another Changeling, her thin chitin armor laying against her body, she had a wide smile on her face as she looked back at Spinnekop. “Miss me?”

Spinnekop looked at the Changeling for a second before recollection dawned on her. “Cara?”

“Hey Spinnekop.”

Spinnekop’s eyes widened as her mouth formed into a smile. “Oh I missed you! Come here you!” Spinnekop grabbed Cara and pulled her into a hug. “How have you been? You haven’t responded to my letters in months.”

Cara returned the hug. “I’ve been busy scoping out Canterlot for the Queen, I haven’t been able to respond in forever!” She looks into the room. “Looks like you’ve been busy.”

Spinnekop released the hug. “Oh… those…” She replied. “Yeah…”

Cara looked at Spinnekop curiously. “What’s the matter? You’re usually so excited about your art.”

Spinnekop smiled towards Cara. “I am, but…”

“But what?” Cara asked.

Spinnekop looked at Cara. “You became a Sergeant. That’s much more interesting than any of my stuff.” Spinnekop leaned into Cara. “Come on Cara, give me the details. Last I heard you were still in Training.”

Cara looked down at her armor plates. “Oh… I didn’t think you would realize.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Guess I should have known better.”

“Well, don’t just stand there collecting dust,” Spinnekop said. “Come in.” She moved out of the doorway to let Cara inside. When the Changeling stepped in, she looked around the room. “Wow…”

She looked around the various stone, wood, and cloth art pieces Spinnekop had made, Some made from white marble, others from the black stone that decorated the Hive, a large shelf in the corner held a variety of carved wooden pieces, the one in the middle was of a light brown Unicorn with a darker brown mane and the image of a Spinning Wheel painted onto the flank. Next to it stood wooden carvings of Cadence and Chrysalis, while the rest seemed to be either random or unfinished. “You really went all out on these things didn’t you.”

Spinnekop rubbed the back of her neck. “I have a lot of spare time…” She looked back at Cara. “So go on, tell me how you managed to snag the Sergeant position.”

Cara blushed a bit. “Well it isn’t a very good story…”

Spinnekop waved off the statement. “Oh come on. I’m sure it’s exciting.” She replied. “Did you save the outpost from a group of royal guards? Or did you fight off a group of Timber wolves by yourself? OO! Or did you find out something about those mysterious occurrence a few months ago, remember when the sun wouldn’t raise or the sky was raining chocolate.”

Cara snickered. “No… No, nothing quite that fantastic. I just rescued an Alpha from a Zoo.”

Spinnekop held back the laughter as best she could, but it didn’t last very long as she rolled around on the ground. “They! They!” She let out a string of laughter, all the while Cara giggled at her friends reaction. “Well come on. Details.”

Cara let out a few more giggles before responding. “Alright. Alright. So remember back when that Dragon attacked our outpost?”

Spinnekop nodded. “Well, it seems it wasn’t finished just yet, because it found the newer outpost we put up and tried to destroy that one too. You should have seen it Spin, it was ripping apart the towers and throwing Changelings everywhere. The Dragon wouldn’t give up, so eventually a few of the soldiers began trying to pry off its scales for a good enough shot to take it down, when I launched myself up towards it.”

Spinnekop’s eyes widened.

“It was the most terrifying thing I had ever done. Just me, some light armor, and a giant fire-breathing Dragon. I took my hoof, and I rammed it right into the Dragon’s eye, it roared of course, and started whipping its head around like Gelatin. I just kept my hooves firmly planted there, I didn’t want to let go, apparently I bought enough time for the Soldiers to tear open a hole in its scales and pierce its hide. But in the process, its wing flew out and smacked Volt, the Alpha from my squadron, clear over the mountain. When the thing finally collapsed, I was still just clenching onto the eye socket as best I could, I only let go when Mandible came over and cut the scales around my hooves.”

Spinnekop snickered a bit. “Then we did a casualty check when Trip, Scout 98, came back from the nearby town to tell us that Volt had crash landed in the center of town. All the ponies gathered around to look at the strange Pony, before one of them noticed it was actually some giant undiscovered bug creature. So they took it to the Zoo to study it.” Cara paused. “That’s when Mandible decided to send me and my squad mates to get Volt out of the Zoo. I handled getting him out of the cage, while the others worked on destroying any records of him.”

“So it’s pitch black out, everypony went to sleep already, So we are all just sneaking around the place trying to find the Zoo, we find it of course, and we split up, Seek and Burn do their thing, nothing left of the records. I go to find the cage where Volt is, turns out, he was being looked at by some Medical Mare, naturally he is revolted by it, her constantly looking at everything about him and asking him questions.”

“So I grab one of the tranquilizers they keep in case some of the animals go wild, sneak up really slowly on the Mare.” Cara got quieter while speaking. “Then I just slowly lift the dart up in my magic, and drop it down on the Mare. WHAM!” Cara slams her hoof on the ground, “She collapses to the ground like a pile of wood. I grab the key she had in her pocket with my magic and unlock the cage. And the very first thing Volt says to me is: ‘Next time, don’t piss off the dragon.’” Cara raises her hooves. “A little gratitude please? It’s like I didn’t just risk my life to save you.”

Spinnekop sighed. “Yeah… But that’s Alphas for you, they don’t congratulate us. We could be dirt and they would probably have more respect for us. At least we wouldn’t talk then.”

Cara gave a small laugh. “You’re probably right. That’s the sad thing.” She sighed. “Anyway, we meet up outside the town’s borders and travel back to the outpost, all the while Seek and Burn are laughing about something or the other, Volt is being his normal self…”

“An ass?” Spinnekop recommended.

“Yeah, he kept to himself, but every time he spoke he shot some kind of snarky remark my way. The entire walk, we couldn’t risk flying in case we got seen, he just kept saying it was my fault and blah blah blah. We eventually get back to the outpost, the Dragon is lying dead on top of it, a group of soldiers are trying to lift it with their magic. We walk up to the outpost, and Mandible is waiting for us, he looks over us before making sure we got everything done. When we all say yes, Mandible glares at Volt and starts reprimanding him right in front of everyling, saying that in the field there is no rescue team and said that it was an insult to his training.” Cara grinned. “The look on his face was priceless.”

Spinnekop snickered. “I bet it was.” She lowered her hoof and looked at Cara as she removed her helmet. “So how did you get the Sergeant position? You still haven’t said.”

“Oh right.” Cara placed the helmet next to her. “Well, Volt was going to get the position originally, him being an Alpha and all. After the little disgracing period, Volt was moved down to a lower tier Squadron, and Mandible needed to find a new Squadron leader, but all the other squads were already full and there weren’t any other Alphas available. He began looking through our records to see which one of us should lead, I had better scores and more relevant and useful information for the Hive, so Mandible chose me.”

“That really isn’t that great of a story…” Spinnekop replied. “I’m glad for you though, not every day I can say my friend became a Sergeant.”

Cara looked around the room. “You sure, I mean you do live next to all the sergeants and captains now, have you still not made any new friends?”

Spinnekop was going to reply, but there was a quick knocking on the door. “Hold on Cara…” She stood up and waked over to the door, opening it to see the athletic form of the courier drone she knew so well. “Oh, hi Blink!”

Blink smiled at Spinnekop. “How have you been Spin?” He was lacking his usual mail bags full to the brim, which had become a more common sight as he began to get faster with delivering mail.

“I’m great Blink.” Spinnekop replied. “I’ve just been talking to Cara here, she’s been…” Spinnekop looked back in the room to see that Cara had moved from her spot on the floor. “Huh… She was just here. Where did she go?”

Blink looked into the room briefly. “Huh… weird.” He buzzed his larger wings to lift himself off the ground. “Well I just came to let you know that Cloak is on a mission for Chrysalis right now, so she won’t be able to make a meeting this morning, she said she would see you after the evening meal.”

“Alright. Thanks for letting me know Blink.”

Blink began to fly off, but stopped and turned. “Oh! If Cara ever returns from wherever she went, tell her that I’m glad to hear she’s back.”

Spinnekop nodded. “Alright Blink, see ya around.” The courier waved back at her before flying down the hallway. As Spinnekop closed the door, she noticed Cara peeking out from behind a small counter. “Is he gone?” She whispered, slowly moving further out from the counter.

Spinnekop looked at her friend in confusion. “What was that about?”

“Oh…Uh… Nothing.” Cara replied, stepping out of her cover while rubbing the back of her front legs.

“Nothing huh?” Spinnekop replied, looking over Cara.

“Yes.”

“So you just decided to run and hide from a Courier drone for absolutely no reason?” Spinnekop asked, walking slowly around Cara.

“Yup. No reason what so ever.”

“Nothing at all?”

“Nope.”

“Hmm” Spinnekop walked around a few more times. “No reason?”

“No reason.” Cara repeated.

Spinnekop looked at Cara’s face, noticing a very slight change in the hue color. She gasped. “You like him!”

Cara’s eyes bulged. “What? No I don’t…” She tried to shrink down her already small size to make her even smaller, her face lighting up slowly.

“Yes you do!” Spinnekop pointed out. “You have a crush on him!”

Cara stood back up and stared down Spinnekop. “Now just because I decide to look on the other side of your counter does not mean that I have a crush on him. Just because he’s athletic, smart, and good at knowing what you’re thinking…”

“Cute?” Spinnekop suggested.

Cara shrunk back a bit. “Yeah… He’s cute… And kind… He knows how to make me laugh…” She blushed more and her face became soft as she thought about the old friend. “he makes my heart flutter when I’m around him…”

Spinnekop grinned. “You totally have a crush on him.”

Cara shot a glare at Spinnekop. “So what if I do?”

“I didn’t mean anything by it Cara.” Spinnekop replied. “I mean, just because you found a nice stallion you want to spend the rest of your life with…” Cara blushed a bit more, making her black carapace glow a bright red. “Why not tell him how you feel?”

Cara’s face flushed a few shades brighter. “What? Actually… Talk to him?”

Spinnekop nodded. “Yeah, just go and talk to him, try to strike up a conversation.”

Cara looked back at Spinnekop. “What if I say something stupid? I mean… he’s such a nice guy… Maybe he already has a marefriend…”

Spinnekop rolled her eyes. “He’s still single Cara. He’s just waiting for the right mare.”

Cara moved her hoof on the ground. “I don’t know if I can be that mare…”

Spinnekop walked over to Cara, placing her hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Cara, if there is one thing I’ve learned from my time in Equestria, it is that some of the worst decisions most mares or even stallions make is that they don’t go for it.”

Cara looked away for a moment. “Really?”

Spinnekop smiled. “Well, three years ago, when I was first introduced to Alcohol, I’ll tell you the story later, I met a stallion that was drunk off his flank, honestly I would be surprised if he knew what day it was. Anyway, he wobbled over to a table where this Unicorn mare was, they talked, or rather he slurred. Eventually he got down on his knee and held up a black box. Inside was a horn ring.”

“In that exact moment, the two of them carried so much love, that it could probably feed the Hive for a month. He was drunk, and she was crying about something… I don’t remember…” Spinnekop explained. “The point I’m trying to make is… Go for it.”

Cara looked at the ground. “I don’t know Spin…”

“And you won’t until you try it.” Spinnekop pointed out. “Come on Cara… You don’t have to jump on it now. Give it a little time.”

Cara took a deep breath. “I’m not sure it will work… But I’ll give it a shot…”

Spinnekop smiled at her old friend. “That’s the spirit Cara.”

Cara smiled at her and suddenly straightened up. “Oh! I meant to ask you something.” She grabbed her helmet and placed it on her head. “You want to meet my team? I’ve told them some of the stories you sent about your time as an Infiltrator, and they really want to meet you.”

Spinnekop gave Cara a questioning look. “What kind of stories were you telling them?”

Cara waved her hoof nonchalantly. “Oh you know, the more entertaining ones.”

Spinnekop sighed. “You told them about the time I was turned into a spider didn’t you…”

Cara smiled. “How could I not?” She asked through stifled laughter.

A few months ago, there was some very strange events going on, popcorn everywhere, cotton candy clouds, chocolate milk rain, then there was a lot of other problems, the sun and moon were rapidly switching around, some of the streets were soap. Cloak and Spinnekop had been visiting a small village called Ponyville at the time, and after seeing the strange events, they both decided to avoid it.

During that interesting visit, Spindle and Pastel had been looking forward to having a peaceful time, what actually happened is that Spindle found herself enjoying a small snack of hay fries, then the next she had eight legs, was on a large web, and was trying to wrap an undisguised Cloak up in a silken straightjacket. Luckily there was another event that occurred and Spinnekop was shrunk down to a smaller spider only moments before she bit down on Cloak, which did not however help when it began raining frogs and wheels of cheese.

Spinnekop sighed. “I’m regretting telling you about that…” She groaned.

“Come on Spin.” Cara replied. “I only told them small parts of it. Your letter was very… specific.”

“Well what other stories did you tell them?” Spinnekop asked as the two of them walked through the building.

“Oh… The first story you told me, a few from when we were still nymphs, that kind of stuff.”

“Well… So long as it was nothing too embarrassing…”

“Can’t be worse than Volt.” Cara replied. “Last I heard he was being placed through basic training again, for a Tunneler.”

Spinnekop giggled at hearing one of the Queen’s Alphas being demoted to a basic tunneler, a job meant for only the least skilled Changelings. Any Changeling could dig a hole, no matter how stupid, the only lower job was Breeders, those that had no intelligence or were useless in any other way.

Spinnekop’s thoughts lingered on that idea for a while, Changeling that are seen as useless, used for nothing more than reproduction. “Do you ever feel bad for the Breeders?”

Cara stopped snickering for a moment and thought about the question. “I’m… Not really sure… What do you mean?”

“How they never really get a chance to live a normal life.”

Cara tapped her chin. “Huh… I never really thought of it like that…” Cara admitted. “They were always just… there… Helping the Hive grow.”

“But think about what it must be like for them, some of them are driven insane by the repetition, or even die.” Spinnekop shook her head. “We’re some of the lucky ones, we get to leave the Hive, many Changelings never do.”

Cara sighed. “Yeah… I guess that is a little strange…” Her tone changed to a questioning one. “What ever happened to Cocoon? Remember him? Short guy, kind of dumb, blew up a gemstone when he was five.”

Spinnekop looked down at the ground while she tried to remember. “I think he became a Guard…”

“No way. How did he get that post?”

“I think it was because he could blow up anything that even tried to get close.” Spinnekop replied. “You could always ask him.”

“Nah.” Cara replied. “I’m not that interested. Plus we are almost there anyway.”

Spinnekop looked around. They left the Command Barracks pretty quickly, and were now walking towards the small clearing that was used for a couple of trees, all of which were meant to help with air circulation in the Hive, as well as a training area for hiding in plain sight.

“So I didn’t get a chance to ask you, how has life as an Infiltrator been treating you?” Cara asked.

“I’ve been good. Seen some pretty interesting places, like the Weather Factory in Cloudsdale, the Chestnut Square, I’ve been to almost all of the big cities except for Canterlot.”

“Oh… You need to go there. It’s beautiful, I stayed away from Celestia mind you, but it was still a pretty city. Especially with the huge overlook of the valley below the mountain.”

“Sounds gorgeous.” Spinnekop replied. “Maybe I could try drawing it… Even if I can’t draw.”

Cara paused for a moment. “Wait there is something artsy you Can’t do?”

“Plenty.” Spinnekop replied. “I can’t draw, making crafts with paper is an absolute nightmare, Jewelry is impossible for me, and the one time I tried to make music it caused somepony’s ears to bleed.”

Cara let out a hardy laugh. “The great Spinnekop has finally met her match! Paper!”

Spinnekop wanted to be angry, but she couldn’t help laughing at Cara’s performance.

“Ah. Something Artsy this way comes.” Came a voice from up in the trees.

Cara rolled her eyes. “That you Seek?”

“Seek? I know no Seek. I am the voice in the wind, the whispering while you sleep.” There was a ruffling of leaves above them as large white rodent whipped around to hang on its fleshy tail facing them. “I am a POSSUM!”

Cara snickered a bit. “Okay… That one was actually pretty good.”

The Possum smiled. “Only ‘pretty good’?”

“I still think the time you did it from a bush was hilarious.” Cara said.

The possum was covered in a wisp of green flame and replaced with a Changeling, whose tail was holding onto the branch of a tree. “Ah yes, the Deadly warrior Rabbit of Whinnyapolis. That was fun.”

Cara rolled her eyes again. “Spin, this is Seek, has the nose of a bloodhound.” She squinted at him. “And his face isn’t too good either.”

“You wound me foul villain.” Seek replied.

“This normal for him?” Spinnekop asked.

“Yup. You should have seen him when we found those adventurous foals, he scared them out of the forest by becoming a bear. He’s our squadron deceiver.”

“Scout 95, at your service Infiltrator.” Seek saluted while hanging from the tree.

Cara smirked as she walked over to the base of the tree and kicked it, causing Seek to fall out of the tree and land on the ground. “Where’s Burn?”

Seek kept himself on the ground when he answered. “He’s with the new girl.” He picked himself up off the ground. “They are just over there.” He pointed to a small clearing in the trees not too far away.

“Thanks Seek.” Cara looked back to thank the Changeling, but there was nothing there when she looked back. “And he’s already gone… Great.”

Spinnekop tilted her head slightly. “New girl?”

Cara shook her head at Seek’s disappearance before turning to look at Spinnekop. “Yeah, since Volt was removed from our Squad we had a vacancy, and since Volt was also our Communications expert, we got a new one.”

“I really hope it isn’t another Alpha…” Spinnekop groaned. “She’ll try to take your place.”

Cara looked on the ground for an answer. “Well… She isn’t as bad as an Alpha.” She replied. “But… I’ll just show you.”

Cara led Spinnekop towards the clearing, the rustling in the trees making it clear that Seek was still following them just out of sight. As the two of them neared the clearing, Spinnekop became gradually aware of the two Changelings sitting facing each other. One was much larger than the other, but still seemed to have the body of a Scout, in his hoof he was holding a small flame of green fire, which danced and swayed on command. The other was making a variety of hoof motions towards the larger Changeling.

As the two of them approached, the larger Changeling’s eyes glanced over towards them as the flames in his hoof dissipated. The smaller Changeling stood up and looked at Spinnekop with an inquisitive expression. As they got close, Seek flew above them and landed next to the larger Changeling, putting on a large smile as he did so.

“Hey Burn.” Cara said, “How was your little chat with our newest member?”

Spinnekop looked between the two of them, waiting for Burn to respond, but only found Cara speaking again. “Well that’s good, I was worried you wouldn’t be able to understand her.”

Burn grunted. “Alright I was just saying…”

Spinnekop looked between the two confused. “Cara?”

Cara looked over at Spinnekop. “Oh! Right… Sorry Spin.” She motioned to Burn. “Burn here is Mute, usually all of us are connected when on a mission so we don’t notice it. If we aren’t connected his brother talks for him.”

“Plus I talk enough for both of uh- HEY!” Seek said, slugging Burn in the shoulder.

“It’s true, don’t deny it.” Cara replied. “The only time you are ever quiet is when you sleep or we are on a mission, even then the sleeping one is debatable. I’ve heard you talking in your sleep more times than I bothered to count.”

“It’s a condition!” Seek retorted. “I can’t help it.” There was a brief period of snickering from Cara before Seek turned to Burn. “Oh shut up.”

Spinnekop giggled a little before looking at the other Changeling. “Why is she staring at me?”

Cara looked at the other Changeling. “Oh don’t worry about it. That’s just…”

“Communication Drone 22, Subdivision: Scout, Codenamed: Cypher.” The Changeling replied. “You are Spinnekop, Infiltrator 67. Recruited by Queen Chrysalis for a special task at the age of five, currently under instruction of Infiltrator 23, Cloak.”

Spinnekop blinked. “That’s… Correct.”

Cara put her hoof on Spinnekop’s shoulder. “That’s Cypher, she’s the new girl. She knows… A lot.”

“I am fluent in fourteen different languages and knowledgeable in thirty-six others, I know sign, flag, smoke signal, and Morse code.”

Spinnekop blinked again. “I didn’t even know there were that many languages in Equestria.”

“My specialty reaches beyond Equestria and into the Griffon Kingdom, Badlands, Yakyakistan, Prance, and Saddle Arabia.”

“That’s rather… Impressive.” Spinnekop replied. “How do you know that?”

“I have trained since Pupation to be one of the most effective Communication Drones available to the Scout Squadron as the long distance from the primary attack forces would lead to interference with the communication. Which could have a wide variable of…”

Burn coughed, rather loudly, as he nudged Seek.

“What?” Seek asked.

Burn glanced at him then motioned towards Cypher.

“Fine…” Seek said, he leaned past Burn to look at Cypher. “We get it. Shut up.” He leaned back and mumbled. “Stupid Drone…”

“Scout 96, I have told you that it would be much more efficient if you simply…”

Burn rolled his eyes.

“I’ve told you before Cypher, I don’t want to be connected to you.” Seek said. “One obnoxious voice in my head is enough… What does that mean?” He asked looking at his brother. “Oh come on. I’m not that bad.”

Burn lowered his head to look directly at Seek.

“Oh come on. Because of that one time I had that ridiculously annoying song stuck in my head, I’m suddenly obnoxious?”

Burn gave an affirmative grunt.

“Like that hasn’t happened to you…” Seek mumbled. “I’m still having trouble getting rid of that last song you had stuck in your head.”

Burn gave a small smirk.

“Yeah. Yeah… Shut up Bernard…” Burn slugged his brother in the arm. “Ow…” Seek rubbed his side. “Fine… I’ll stop…”

“You probably shouldn’t mess with Burn.” Cara replied. “After all he is stronger than you.”

“Yeah…” Seek replied. “I didn’t expect him to pull the punch…”

Burn snorted at him. “Oh come on…” Burn lifted his hoof. “OKAY! I’ll shut up!” Burn lowered his hoof.

“So this is your team?” Spinnekop asked.

“Yup.” Cara replied. “Scouts 93 through 96.”

Burn glanced down at Spinnekop before grunting again.

“Yes this is really her.” Cara replied. “She is the one I told you guys about.”

“Wow…” Seek said. “Burn here wants to say he’s impressed that you made it so far. Given the stories Cara told us when you were Nymphs.”

Spinnekop grinned. “Well… It wasn’t easy.”

“Working alongside Dagger? Never is.” Seek replied. “Why my Brother once tried to talk to him, isn’t that right Burn?”

Burn gave an affirmative grunt. “Worst part of his life there. Made him want to join me in the Scout life…. What do you mean you regret it?”

Cara rolled her eyes. “Can you two keep it silent? Unless it is relevant keep the squabbling to the Connection.”

“Yes Sarge.” Seek replied.

Cara sighed. “Wish you guys wouldn’t need me to tell you every time… So Spinnekop, any questions for us?”

Seek raised his hoof. “I have a question.”

Spinnekop looked at the drone, looking at her curiously. “What?”

“Did you really almost eat Cloak?” Seek asked, getting a nod from Burn. “He wants to know too.”

Spinnekop rolled her eyes. “Only if you tell me one thing.”

“Sure.” Seek replied.

“What song did you have stuck in your head?” Spinnekop asked.

Burn’s face twisted into a smile as he nudged Seek, who had a look of embarrassment spread across his face. “It was… Umm…”

Cara was looking curiously. “This song caused Burn to disconnect from you for a week, so it better be good.”

“It was…” He mumbled something incoherent.

“What?”

Burn took a step back and pushed Seek forward, he then stomped his hoof on the ground. “It…Uh… It was…” Seek sighed. “It was some stupid song I don’t even know the name of. It had like… five lyrics in it… I just got the tune caught in my head…”

Burn rolled his eyes, he then began to tap his hoof in a small beat, which Seek began humming to and quickly clasped his hoof over his mouth. Burn smirked. “Oh… uh… That song… Um…” Seek looked away. “It was…” He sighed. “Fine… I heard some mare singing it in Everfree… It was the same night the sun wouldn't rise. Some… pink pony was singing it… It was really catchy but I can’t remember the…” Burn slapped him in the back of the head.

“Well… I guess that’s an answer…” Spinnekop replied. “ Yes, I did actually try to kill Cloak… I was a spider…”

“That’s amazing.” Seek replied. “Oh great… Now I have that song stuck in my head.”

Burn smirked.

Cara smiled. “Ah, I love watching you two at work. Cypher you’ve been pretty quiet lately, something on your mind?”

Cypher was staring off towards the castle in the distance. “Scout 93 and Infiltrator 67, the Queen requires your presence in her Chambers alongside the other ranking officers.”

Spinnekop and Cara looked at each other. “Why?”

Cypher shook her head. “I am not within liberty to say, the Queen wishes to keep the information closed.”

Cara sighed. “Well I guess duty calls…”

Spinnekop nodded. “Shall we?”

“Do we have a choice?”

Cypher shook her head. “The Queen will be displeased if you are not there immediately.”

Spinnekop caught Cara grinning. “Care for a race?”

“Just like old times?”

Cypher interrupted. “You have five minutes.”

“Just like old times…”

Cara and Spinnekop managed to make it to the Castle doors in four and a half minutes. “Since when did you get endurance training?” Cara asked.

“Since I started… working with Cloak.” Spinnekop took a deep breath. “Still have trouble running that far though.”

“Doing better than when we were Nymphs.”

General Mimic pushed the door open. “You two are still the last two to get here.” Mimic shook his head. “Get in here.”

Spinnekop and Cara walked into the castle and walked towards the Throne room. “You finally slowing down Sir?”

Mimic glared at her, his growing age had been keeping him in a constant state of flux with his duties, at times he was as sharp as ever. Other times he blanked out completely, rarely did it come to that. “I’m Fifty, Cara, I’m still better than most of those pompous Alphas who are always grasping for my position.”

“I’m just saying that you…”

“Later 93, you have a very important meeting.” Mimic pushed open the doors to the throne room. “Queen Chrysalis, the last of the commanders have arrived.”

The Throne room looked very different now, the Changelings that filled it all Commanders, all clad in their own armor, Chrysalis herself sat in her throne, a notebook floating a few feet away from her.

“Excellent.” Chrysalis replied. “Now we can begin.” She stood up. “Soldiers, Infiltrators and Scouts, you have all been selected by my top Generals and most trusted Advisors for the mission we have planned. Every single one of you must be the best you can be for our plans to succeed.”

“Every Alpha, every Beta, every single soldier must participate in this mission, regardless of class.” The Queen smiled. “We are going for a power play, unlike anything anyone has attempted before.” Her horn lit up as a single pony, with a horn and wings appeared. “We are going to overthrow Celestia.”

Author's Note

IT LIVES!!!! This chapter took FAR longer than it should have... :facehoof:
But now... IT is out, and you can expect more. I'm going to try and get one Chapter a week, but I will try to get them out as soon as I can. :rainbowdetermined2:

Chapter 7: The Mission Begins

“Isn’t this exciting!” Cara squealed when they got back to the small forest. “We are going to go to Canterlot!”

“I know!” Spinnekop replied. “Finally I get to see the city!”

“Well… Not the full city.”

Spinnekop sighed. “Yeah… I’ll be stuck underground mostly… But still…”

Chrysalis had told them as much of the plan as she could without revealing anything too sensitive. She would go and replace someone close to Celestia, who was conveniently also holding a wedding, allowing her to drain the love of not only the Groom, but from Celestia herself. That way she would gain power, while Celestia slowly loses her own.

“It does make you wonder why she wanted you to come along, given she wasn’t going to let you do anything to help in the abduction.”

Spinnekop did wonder that, multiple times in fact. All Chrysalis had said was that the mission couldn’t have happened without her… “I’m not sure, Cara. But at least we won’t get separated for some time.”

“Yes, you get to listen to Seek and Burn while we hike to the rally point, I’m sure you’re thrilled.” She rolled her eyes.

“I am! I like those two, the squabbling is actually rather enjoyable to watch.”

“For the first hour maybe… It wears on you pretty fast, Spin.” Cara replied.

“Well… I guess we’ll see.” Spinnekop replied.

Seek flung himself down in front of them, hanging from a tree. “What’s the good word, Sarge?”

Spinnekop jumped back a bit at Seek’s surprise appearance. “SEEK! You scared me!”

“Sorry, Ma’am…" Seek replied. “Forgot you aren’t with me most of the time.” He lifted himself into the air with his wings before pulling his tail out of the tree. “So any news?”

“We’re returning to Canterlot, Seek.” Cara replied. “The Queen has a special mission for us, we are playing a long game here to capture Celestia.”

Seek’s eyes widened. “Wait! Celestia! The Alicorn that can control the very SUN!”

“Yes, I know it sounds impossible…”

“That’s AWESOME!” Seek replied startling Cara. “Oh man, can you imagine the stories we could tell them if we actually took her out? There would be songs and plays and books written about us. And the FOOD!” He smacked his lips. “Oh… We would never have to gather love again!”

“What are you three rambling about?” Spinnekop was surprised when a voice reached out to her, it was a soothing voice, very comforting, yet strong.

“Burn! We’re going to be heading to Canterlot!”

The large Changeling walked up to them. “Commander, is this true?”

Cara nodded. “Indeed it is, Burn.”

“Burn?”

Burn looked over at Spinnekop, his eyes widened before Spinnekop felt a pushing on her mind.

Seek looked over at Burn and then back to Spinnekop. “Okay then… Burn says he’s sorry for intruding, he didn’t realize you were there. He’s usually better about connecting with others.”

“Why did you…?”

“He’s not a fan of connecting with anyone unknown to him.” Seek replied. “He doesn’t want anyone he doesn’t trust, or that don’t trust him invading on his mind.”

Cypher walked up to them. “Sergeant Cara, Spinnekop, the Queen wishes for you to gather whatever you will need. Keep it light. You have a half hour before we leave the Hive.”

“OH!” Spinnekop hopped into the air. “I need to get my Necklace!” She turned back towards the Command Barracks and sped off towards it. “ByeCaragottagobye!”

Spinnekop ran as fast as she could back to the Command Barracks, if she really was going to get to go to Canterlot, she wanted to grab a few things.

As she burst into her room, she looked around quickly, trying to find a few things she wanted to bring with her. When her heart slowed down, she walked over to the counter; she took her necklace off its small post and placed it around her neck.

“Now what do I take with me?” She walked over to a small dresser she built from a large amount of maple tree wood and opened it, inside was a small saddlebag that she bought that held a number of letters in them, most from Cadence. She picked up the bag and opened it.

The letters inside were some of the favorites of Spinnekop, from Cadence’s letters about the strange events that happened a few months ago, to the letter about how her and her fiancé met. A few were from her mysterious writer, who wrote to her a few times over her life. A few from Cara, such as the one mentioning the Dragon attack a few years ago. She smiled as she looked at the letters she had stored through the years, thinking back to the times she had replied, and how much she grew over the years.

She looked around the room, if she really was heading to Canterlot, and had a chance to meet up with Cadence, she wanted to be ready. She walked over and grabbed the carvings of her own disguise and of Cadence, leaving the one of Chrysalis on the shelf. Don’t make her suspect anything…

She flew around the room collecting what she thought would be the most important objects she had, when there was a knock on the door. Spinnekop looked over the objects she had and nodded, satisfied she had everything important. She walked up to the door and opened it. “Blink?”

Blink was standing there, a small letter levitating in front of him. “This just came in,” He levitated the letter up to her. “We had a problem with the Manehatten branch, I would have gotten to you earlier than this.”

“Didn’t you just get off duty?” She asked looking at the clock.

“I did, but since it was on my way I figured I should get it to you.” Blink replied. “Now I’ve got to get going, my mom’s having a bit of a nervous breakdown and I think I should calm her down." He launched himself down the hall. “Bye!”

Spinnekop watched as Blink shot down the hall like a bullet, his wings buzzing quickly as he went at full speed.

Spinnekop closed the door and looked at the letter, unlike the ones before, it seemed to be two letters instead of one. She opened the Envelope and pulled out a pink hued paper.

Dear Spindle,

I know it is rather short notice, but we have been very busy here prepping for everything that is going to happen in just a few days’ time. I will be excited to finally meet you.

~Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

Curious, Spinnekop opened the second letter, unlike the normal letters that she had received, it was in no means informal. It had a nice cursive font on it and the ink seemed to jump off the page.

Princess Celestia cordially invites you to the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Captain Shining Armor in Canterlot.

Spinnekop’s wings unconsciously buzzed with excitement. CADENCE’S WEDDING! She hopped up and down releasing an excited Squee. Oh, My Chrysalis! I can’t wait! Not only am I going to Canterlot, and meeting Cadence, I get to go to her WEDDING!

She excitedly lifted herself into the air doing a small flip, she then looked up at the clock. “Oh Chrysalis!” Quickly she put the letters back in the envelope and placed them in her saddlebag, and rushed for the door. “I only have five Minutes!” The instant she was out of the building, she spread her wings and shot herself into the air, heading for the top of the Hive, a path she now knew like the back of her hole ridden hoof.

When she reached the top, she found that not Chrysalis, but Mimic was there. She flew up to the General, who was now looking out over the large forest outside the Hive. “General Mimic, where’s the Queen?”

Mimic turned to look at Spinnekop. “Her and the advanced team used her little warp trick to travel to Canterlot to begin phase one.” Mimic replied. “You will be traveling alongside Sergeant Cara’s squadron. You will be there to keep an eye on the Prisoner. For the Hive, Spinnekop.”

“For the Hive, sir.” Spinnekop saluted.

“I’ll see you when you return, Spinnekop. Let nothing stand in the way of this mission.” Mimic sighed. “Or else…”

“I understand, sir.” Spinnekop replied.

“Then get going.” Mimic ordered. “Best of luck to you, Infiltrator.”

Spinnekop gave a final salute before heading to join up with Cara and her team.

Cara was clad in her armor along with the others, Cypher was wearing a small pack on her back, which she pulled a pair of binoculars out of. Burn had a similar pack, which looked stacked with water and food, Seek was sitting in a tree, looking like he was waiting. As Spinnekop approached, Seek opened his eyes. “There she is.”

Cara looked over at Spinnekop. “I heard you were joining our little family for the hike to the city.” She smiled. “Looks like we won’t be separated so soon after all.”

Burn lifted his hoof as a blue spark of flame appeared, he then stared at it while it shifted colors from blue to green to deep red and finally to a bright white.

“What’s Burn doing?” Spinnekop asked.

“He’s manipulating the intensity and composition of the flames to alter the visual spectrum presented to us.” Seek replied. “What? I grew up with him.”

Cypher pulled a map out of her bag and unrolled it. “Commander, if we march on foot, it will take us approximately Forty-Eight Hours to get there if we only stop once.”

Cara nodded. “Well then, we had better get going.” Cara replied. “Seek, keep an eye out ahead of us, I don’t want any surprises.”

“Cloak. Did you succeed?”

“Yes, I delivered the messages. They seem to have done what you wanted.”

“Perfect. Have you located her?”

“Yes, My Queen.”

Chrysalis smiled happily. “Excellent… Take the Guards, replace them. I do not need anymore complications.”

The three Changelings nearby nodded, they slipped effortlessly through the Shadows, coming up behind the Golden Clad ponies, with a quiet struggle, both of the guards were taken care of, and covered in green flame as they sank into the ground. Chrysalis stepped up to the large doors her form being covered with a green flame as she shrank down her size. “Let no one in.”

The Disguised Changelings nodded as they lifted their spears up.

Chrysalis was disguised as a white Stallion, two streaked blue mane and purple armor. She smiled wickedly as she pushed the door open.

“Shining?” A young voice said as Chrysalis stepped into the room, her horn glowing a venomous green as the door was closed and sealed. “What are you doing, Shiny?”

Chrysalis stepped forward, her smirk growing wider. “I’m just making sure that we don’t get disturbed.” She said in a male voice. “Now… Why don’t I show you just how much I love you.”

She walked up close to the glowing pink pony. As she switched her smirk to a small smile, she got closer to the pony, she began showing more of a look of care. However as she did finally got close enough to touch the pony, her face changed, turning into a vile smile as her eyes flashed venomous green. “You’re mine.”

The pony attempted to scream, but Chrysalis placed her hoof over the pony’s mouth, stopping the scream as green flames worked their way up her foreleg, giving way to the black carapace underneath.

The Pony’s eyes widened as she watched the chitin spread. She looked up to see the venomous green eyes gave way to two fangs from the lip. The long horn began to twist and corrode, giving way to holes that were rampant through the rest of the body. “What’s the matter, honey?” Chrysalis said. “Can’t handle what I Really look like?”

The Pony’s eyes began watering. “Oh, don’t start. After all, I can hardly absorb your love if you are terribly depressed.” She smiled maliciously as her horn began to glow bright green.

The Pony stared up at the violently shaped horn, her eyes wide with far, all the while, she began to feel more and more tired, her eyes having trouble focusing. As the glow got brighter, the Pony felt weaker and weaker, her eyelids began to feel heavy, as she watched, the creature’s smile stayed in focus as the rest of the world blurred out.

Right before she blacked out, she saw the creature slowly cover itself with green flame, and she was looking at an exact replica of herself, except, it had that wicked smile on its face. “Your love for him tastes delicious, I only hope that his is as well.”

The Pony widened her eyes, before her duplicate’s horn glowed and the ground around her began to burn with green fire, before a shell of flame pulled her into the ground.

Chrysalis let out a small string of laughs. “Oh… This is going gloriously.” She looked over at the small crown next to where the pony was. “Perfect…”

“Chrysalis, the Captain is returning.”

Chrysalis relaxed herself, the pony she had drained gave her plenty of energy, if the plan did not work at first, there was always the mind control spell. That way his love could still be fed on, and he would be under her complete control.

The door reopened and the same white stallion she disguised as earlier. “Honey?”

“Hello, Shining Armor.”

“Are you alright?” Shining Armor asked. “You seem a bit… Off?”

“Of course I’m alright.” Chrysalis replied. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I’m not sure… You just seem a little…” Chrysalis frowned. “Different. Didn’t you say you were tired?”

Chrysalis mentally cursed herself. “I was… But I feel better now.”

“And you sound a little…”

“Oh forget it.” Chrysalis’ horn began to glow.

“What are you doing?” Shining Armor asked.

“I’m not going to have some Guard ruin the day I’ve been waiting over twenty years for!”

Shining Armor began to back up towards the door. “There is something very wrong here… Just calm down and…”

“Guards, restrain him.” Chrysalis said, and the two royal Guards walked into the room and grabbed onto Shining Armor.

“What in Tartarus are you doing?”

“Listening to their Queen, beloved.” Chrysalis replied. “And soon…” She began to lower the horn. “So will you.”

Chrysalis fired a green bolt at Shining Armor’s head, and his eyes changed to green before blending back to their normal blue. “There is nothing wrong with me, everything is fine.” Chrysalis replied. “Now you are to handle your royal duties and address the threats made to Canterlot.”

“Mmhmm….” Shining Armor said. “Nothing is wrong…”

“Now leave me.” Shining Armor walked out of the room. “Keep an eye out. I won’t have any interruptions.”

The Two guards nodded and left the room. “These pathetic Ponies won’t know what hit them.”

The team had been traveling for quite a while before they came upon a good place to set up camp. It was a small clearing that was practically devoid of any possible dangers, they quickly went to work ensuring that wouldn’t happen. Seek gathered nearby wood and stacked it up so that Burn would have steady supply of materials to burn through the night.

Cara and Spinnekop got to work setting up the gear they packed for sleeping, a few small tents. Cypher meanwhile was getting into contact with the Hive.

By the time everything was set up and ready, Cypher was still sitting contacting the Hive.

“Cypher, give it a rest.” Seek said. “You’ve been trying for thirty minutes.”

“It is not a matter of failing to connect, Scout 95, it is a matter of getting all the information.”

Seek laid back down on the flat rock he had pulled up to the fire, Burn was laying looking at the magically created fire, glowing with a yellow flame.

“Well what do you have, 94?” Cara asked.

“The Queen has successfully planted herself into the target’s place. The target is currently being held by the members of the advanced team where she will not be located. Her personal guards have been detained and are being fed on.”

“Already?” Seek replied. “That was fast… Even for those Alphas.”

“The Queen probably had a hoof in it.” Spinnekop replied, picking a stick off the ground and beginning to cut into it with the dull blade she had. “If anything I’m more surprised that she could get in there. Apparently there is going to be a Princess’ wedding happening this week.”

Cypher looked over at Spinnekop. “How do you know that?”

“I got a letter from my Pen Pal, she sent me an invitation to her wedding. It’s only in three days.”

“Wow… So Cadence got you that letter, finally?” Cara replied. “Maybe you could go to it. That is if you aren’t busy with your other duties.”

“Yeah… That is going to throw a wrench into those plans…”

Burn grunted something. “Oh, come on, Burn. Nopony said you had to go.”

The fire in front of them began to glow pink. “Huh… you do make a good point…”

“What are you two talking about?” Cara asked.

“Oh, Burn was just saying that the amount of love there would be insane, with all the family members and relatives and then the bride and groom.” Seek replied. “Somepony is going to be stuffed afterwards.”

Spinnekop blushed slightly. “Well… I’ll try not to eat too much…”

Burn let out a silent laugh. “Good one.”

“Burn… If I could ask…” Spinnekop said. “Why don’t you like connecting with me?”

Burn sighed. “It is much more personal, I don’t enjoy it. You’re new so until I know you better I’ll keep out.” Spinnekop felt the connection sever itself as the fire returned to the yellow flame.

“Alright… I hope that I can gain your trust eventually.”

“We’ll see.” Seek said. “Until then, I’ll just keep using my Brother.”

Cara looked up at the night sky. “Well… Not that this isn’t beautiful and all, but we need to get some sleep. We are going to start hiking at daybreak, full disguises and everything.”

“I’ve got first watch.” Seek said hopping off the rock and into a nearby tree. “You guys get some sleep.”

Spinnekop yawned. “Good idea. I could use a little rest…”

“You get your sleep, Spin,” Cara replied, “You need it more than we do.”

“Night, guys…” Spinnekop said, climbing into her tent.

“Infiltrator 67, you should…”

“Cypher, Let her sleep. She isn’t quite as used to hiking through the forest and mountains as we are. Just focus on finding us the entry point.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Cypher replied. “This is Communication Drone 22, requesting Information on rally point on Canterlot Mountain.”

Cara yawned slightly. “Burn, wake me when it’s my shift alright?”

“Of course, Cara.”

“Now then,” Cara yawned. “I wonder how the Queen is doing?”

“Wakey Wakey.” Chrysalis taunted at the Pink Alicorn. She had just begun to wake up from the intensive drain Chrysalis did earlier. “Wouldn’t want you to die before your wedding day now would we.” She said in a mock tone of care.

The Pink Alicorn began to push herself off the cold crystalline prison she was placed in, a thick coating of membrane surrounded her horn, making it impossible for her to use magic.

“Oh there’s a good princess, get on your hooves.”

The Alicorn looked over at the Queen, her eyes wide. “What are you?”

“Oh you dear foolish pony.” Chrysalis replied. “I’m a Changeling, but not just any changeling, the Queen of the Changelings.”

The Alicorn backed away. “Wha-What do you want from me?”

“Oh that’s rather simple actually.” Chrysalis replied. “I want your Love, and the love of your stallion. Though I don’t just want that, I want all of Equestria’s Love.”

The Alicorn raised her wings defensively. “What would you want that for?”

“For power.” Chrysalis replied. “You see we Changelings feed off of your Love, that way we can survive.”

“If that’s all you wanted… you could have just asked us. I’m sure Celestia would…”

Chrysalis laughed. “Oh… Yes I’m sure Celestia would allow us to feed off her subjects, draining them until they are nothing but husks.” She caught the smell of fear coming from the Alicorn. “Oh don’t worry, I plan to keep you alive. You could feed my Hive for centuries. After we absorb all the Love of this land, we will be unstoppable.”

“You’ll never manage it.” The Alicorn replied. “Celestia will stop you!”

Chrysalis giggled. “Oh… Really?”

“When she sees that I’m missing she’ll…”

“Oh, there’s where you’re wrong, my little Princess. You won’t be missing at all.” There was a flash of green flames and Chrysalis transformed into the Alicorn. “You’ll be right there, making your wedding vows.”

The Alicorn looked at her duplicate in shock. “I’ll… I’ll get out of here!”

“Oh I’m sure you will. But even if you escape, you’ll never find the way out.” Chrysalis let out a wicked laugh. “At least this way you will see your precious Shining Armor again, even if he is my own personal slave.”

The Alicorn looked horrified at her duplicate. “You wouldn’t! There isn’t any creature who would do such a thing!”

Chrysalis laughed. “Oh… But there is. I’m that creature. Perhaps I’ll let you watch as I destroy Celestia’s resolve as well.”

“You could never break her! She’s fought worse than you.”

“Oh I’m well aware of her record, but she’s growing weak and tired, I will gladly drain her of the love she feels towards her precious ponies. Now if you’ll excuse me, Princess, I have a Lunar Princess to take care of…”

Chrysalis began to walk away from the Alicorn, even as she stared in stunned surprise at her Duplicate, an aura of fear and worry. “Captain, is the distraction ready?”

An armored Changeling clad in dark purple armor walked up to the Queen. “Yes, my Queen, the Lunar Princess will be too busy handling the situation in the Griffon Kingdom. After all, Griffons and Ponies being massacred tends to draw attention.”

Chrysalis smiled. ‘I knew that I could count on you Captain. While Luna is preoccupied with the negotiations, we will easily crush Canterlot. Nothing will stand in our way.”

“Of course, My Queen, nothing will interfere.” The Captain bowed.

“My Queen, Scout 93 wishes to know where the entrance to the Caves is.”

“Tell her that the entrance is at the west side of the Mountain, opposite of the castle. I cannot have them alerted to the attack.” Chrysalis smirked. “Now then, I have a Wedding to plan.” She was surrounded in a green flame and lowered into the ground, reappearing in the Alicorn’s room. “Absolutely perfect.”

The next morning, Spinnekop woke up quickly, she had gotten used to early wake up calls, but when she stepped outside her tent, she did not expect Burn to be staring off towards a mountain a good few miles away with Binoculars.

“Morning, Burn.” Spinnekop said, getting a grunt in reply. “What are you looking at?”

Burn levitated the binoculars down to Spinnekop and pointed towards the mountain, the sun had begun to rise casting a red glow around the towering landmark. Spinnekop looked through the binoculars to see the City of Canterlot, glowing along with the sun, but it had a new addition to it.

Surrounding the city like a giant purple bubble, was a shield. It looked as though it had been magically conjured by a single Unicorn, which meant that one Unicorn was going to need a lot of energy to keep it going. “Wow…”

“Interesting isn’t it?” Cara said walking up to them. “It was put up late last night. Cypher caught sight of it and warned me. Looks like Chrysalis wants to try and make them feel safe. Smart move, they won’t suspect we already have agents inside.”

Seek was busily dismantling the tent he had slept in when he walked over. “Hopefully it doesn’t interfere with our mission.”

“Seek! Get back to work!” Cara shouted.

“Sorry. Burn wanted me to tell you that.”

Cara sighed. “Burn…”

Burn Smirked. “No using your brother to distract him.” Burn nodded.

Spinnekop walked back over to her tent and began taking it down. Surprisingly she was done before Seek was. “How in Tartarus do these things work?”

Spinnekop sighed and walked over, looking over the tent. “You forgot to unclip it at the top.”

Seek looked at the top of the tent. “Oh… Thanks…” He unclipped the top of the tent and it fell down.

Burn put his hoof over his mouth as he snickered. “Oh, shut up, Hothead.”

Once they had taken everything down, they packed up and began to hike through the forest. When they got a few feet from camp, each of them was surrounded by a green flame and replaced with a pony.

Cara became a rather athletic gray Earth Pony, her mane a light blue. Seek turned into a green Pegasus that perfectly blended into the tree line. Burn became a red Unicorn, his mane a flaming orange. Cypher became a small light blue unicorn with a clean green mane. Spinnekop turned back into her old disguise of Spindle.

They kept travelling for the entire day, taking only periodic stops for food and water breaks. They met a couple of ponies on the way to the mountain, but nothing too large. They gave friendly waves and continued on their way.

“Cypher, you got the map?”

Cypher took the map out of her bag and opened it up. “We need to head to the western base of the mountain. I recommend that we follow this path until we come to a fork, then take the right path.”

“Anything after that?” Cara asked.

“A few more side paths, but the main route is simple enough to follow, after we get out of view of the city, the entrance is sealed with multiple perception spells and a rather large rock.”

“Good.” Cara replied. “Seek, you find anything?”

“Nothing of any real interest.” The Pegasus replied. “A few Poison Joke flowers blooming near some gnarled dead tree that is in no way affecting us, aside from that, nothing.”

“How’re we doing on time, Cypher?”

“If we continue on this pace, we should be able to make contact with the Swarm seven hours ahead of schedule.”

“Think you can handle that, Spin?”

Spindle levitated her canteen and drank some more water. “Yeah I can manage it.”

Burn grunted. “Not if you keep downing the water like that.” Seek said. “You’ll be lucky to make it within another few hours.”

“Burn, I know how to conserve my water. Cloak and I hiked a few days up in Whitetail woods, we were just taking our time before we went into Everfree.”

Burn grunted. “Yeah, but hiking in the woods is a little different.”

“Burn, just have some faith in Spinnekop.” Cara said. “She can handle herself. She lasted through Dagger’s training after all. You couldn’t even manage that.”

Burn let out an impressed grunt. “Alright, I respect that.” Seek replied. “Now can we get going… All this hanging back here is annoying me.”

“Go on ahead, Seek, we can handle it back here.”

Seek saluted before running up ahead. Leaving them to follow behind, it wasn’t very long until they came to the fork in the road. Taking the path Cypher suggested did lead them to the back of the mountain, where a large rock was placed over an opening in the cave.

“Cypher.” Cara said.

“Got it, Sergeant.” Cypher walked up to the rock and knocked on it a few times, sending out a small code through the Hive Mind. A moment later the rock began to fade from existence, showing it had never been there at all, instead, it had been a membrane that stretched over the opening. They walked into the chamber and were surprised by what they saw.

Nearly the entire cavern was made from crystals. The Changelings nearby were walking or flying around the Chamber, most of them wearing armor and those that weren’t wearing armor were in the process of guarding a room off to the side.

“Scout’s 93 through 96 reporting in.” Cara said to a Changeling clad in green armor. “Infiltrator 67 is here as well.”

The Changeling looked up at them. “Six hours ahead of schedule, I’m impressed.”

“The Queen said we needed to be here quickly.” Cara replied. “So we made sure to get it here as soon as possible.”

“Well the Queen does have need of you four, as well as the Infiltrator.” The Changeling stood up. “I’ll be your commanding officer while you are stationed here, Sergeant. I’ll bet that your team wants to get some rest, so I’ll let them go. But first I need you two to follow me.” He pointed at Spinnekop and Cara.

“Alright, Sir.” Cara replied. She began to follow the Changeling while he led them down a variety of tunnels.

“You no doubt know that the Queen has replaced her target, and is currently working towards weakening their defenses.”

Cara and Spinnekop nodded. “Well, when she went to absorb the Ponies love, she found out that she was a veritable gold mine of food, she woke up from a full Love drain in just a few hours.”

Cara whistled. “That’s impressive…”

“Indeed. That’s why she decided to keep her out of a pod, she practically creates Love by herself without the need of it.”

“So why are you telling us this?” Cara asked.

“The Queen wanted you two to know just who it was we were guarding. Mostly because it is your job to make sure she doesn’t escape, Infiltrator.”

“Me? Why me?” Spinnekop asked.

“She says you know her better than anyling else.” He said as he walked up to an isolated chamber. “Take a look.”

Spinnekop walked into the room and froze where she stood, laying on the ground unconscious was the form of the Pink Alicorn, her mane was slightly frazzled and her wings were slightly disheveled. Spinnekop’s eyes widened before she backed out of the room.

“Spin? What’s wrong?” Cara said as she looked at Spinnekop quickly backing away from the door.

“That’s Cadence…” Spinnekop said. “She’s… Why is she down here?”

“The Queen is replacing her.” The Commander replied. “She has been doing it for a day now. Remember, the mission is to take out Celestia, that way we can feed without fear.”

“Yeah…” Spinnekop replied. “But…”

“Don’t think too hard on it, Infiltrator.” The Changeling said. “She is just another stepping stone to get to that goal.”

Spinnekop nodded. “I… Guess you’re right…” She said.

Cara walked over and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Come on Spin, let’s get some sleep, we’ve been walking for a day. Let’s just clear our heads and then we’ll see what happens.”

Spinnekop sighed. “Yeah… You’re right…” She followed Cara back towards where they would be sleeping, but she looked back at the chamber with a heavy mind, trying to think through the mission she had been given for the past twenty years.

When she laid down to sleep, those ideas continued to cloud her mind even as she drifted off into sleep. The dreams that followed her all revolved around some terrible fate for the Hive or even for Cadence, they kept her from peaceful sleep, and eventually, she had enough.

Getting up from the thin bed, made hastily from hay and a thin membrane that acted like a blanket, she quietly crept across the floor and walked to the chamber Cadence was being held in. When she walked up to the cage, she sat down and waited.

Cadence began to stir, her vision still blurry from the most recent drain by the Queen. She had come down practically three times that day to drain Cadence of her love, while there had been no apparent effects as of yet, but she didn’t like being drained like that, sapped of all her strength. As she blinked away the blur of her vision, she saw something she never expected.

Inside of the cage with her, was a small wooden figurine of herself, expertly crafted, it looked almost like it had been made to capture her likeness perfectly. The only time she had seen something crafted this well was by…

“Princess?”

Cadence looked up from the floor, seeing the light brown Unicorn form of Spindle Weave looking back at her with green eyes. In between her hooves was another figureine.

Cadence blinked for a second. “Oh no… I’m starting to hallucinate…” She said. “Next I’m going to start developing Stockholm Syndrome…”

Spindle looked at her curiously. “I’m not a hallucination, Princess.” She replied. “I’m Spindle Weave.”

“Spindle!” Cadence said surprised. “What are you doing down here? How did you even get here? You weren’t captured too right?”

Spindle shook her head. “I… I just came to check up on you…” Spindle said, fidgeting with the figurine. “You looked so… In pain…”

“Wait… You saw me here?” Spindle nodded. “Then maybe you could get out and tell the Guard. Then they could get me out.”

Spindle shook her head. “I can’t do that…”

“Why not?”

Spindle fidgeted with the figurine a bit more. “I… I’m really sorry…”

Cadence looked at Spindle. “Why would you be sorry?”

Spindle took a deep breath. “I’m the main reason you’re down here…”

Cadence tilted her head. “No… You can’t be the reason I’m down here. The Changelings are and you aren’t…” She stopped, then looked at Spindle. “You’re… you’re a…”

Spindle nodded. “I’m really sorry…”

Cadence felt an anger rising up inside of her. “You have been lying to me, for twenty years of my life…” Spindle nodded and began to shy away. “All so that you could foalnap me, and hold me against my will, while your leader steals away the love of my LIFE!” Her wings shot open in anger.

“I didn’t think you would get hurt…” Spindle replied. “I thought we were just going to try and…”

“Try and what?”

Spindle backed away. “I thought we would be trying to capture Celestia… That way we could feed without needing to steal and worry about anything…”

Cadence glared at the Changeling, internally debating whether it was telling the truth or not. “What do you mean, feed without stealing?”

Spindle looked up at the Alicorn. “W-We Changelings need Love to survive… It’s how we eat… Without it, we’ll just slowly die… The only way we can get it is to take it from a couple.”

Cadence’s wings folded back to her side. “You mean… You did this all for food?”

Spindle looked unsure of how to answer. “We have plenty of Love stored… But the Queen wanted to take care of Celestia… She kept saying that this is the best possible course for the Hive…”

Cadence looked at the Unicorn curiously. “You mean… You didn’t just do it for power?”

Spindle looked at her in confusion. “Power? No… I don’t want power… Who told you that?”

“Your Queen.” Cadence replied. “She said that she was only doing this for the power she would gain from Celestia and Shining Armor… If she didn’t tell you than…”

“Queen Chrysalis… She… She’s doing this… For herself…” Spindle repeated, she looked at the ground in disbelief. “But… She said we needed to…”

Cadence watched as the disguised Changeling picked up the figurine off the ground and turned it to face her. “How much of what you told me was a lie?” Cadence asked.

“A lot of it…” Spindle replied. “I’m not from Manehatten, I don’t have any parents, and I never lived in an orphanage… I’ve lived in the hive my whole life…”

Cadence bent down and picked up the carving Spindle left inside her cell. “What about your art?”

“None of that was fake…” Spindle replied. “I love making things. But the Hive sees it as weak… Oh Chrysalis, what have I done!” She placed her hooves over her head as she laid on the ground. “I just helped the Queen ruin the life of one of my best Friends!”

Cadence watched the Unicorn curl up on the ground. “I didn’t want to hurt anypony… I swear!”

Cadence sighed. “Spindle… It might not be too late.”

“What do you mean? Of course it is!” Spindle stood up and began pacing. “Chrysalis has already taken your place and we only have another day to get everything sorted out before the attack and your wed-” Spindle’s eyes widened. “She’s going to attack during your wedding!” Spindle exclaimed. “Oh… What are we going to do? I don’t want to be held responsible for overthrowing a nation. Not if everything the Queen told me was false. Oh… I’m never going to be able to live with myself…”

Cadence let Spindle get her panic out of her for a few minutes before speaking again. “Spindle…”

Spindle looked back at Cadence.

“Do you think you could find a way out of here?” Cadence asked. “A way for us to get back up to Canterlot?”

“We wouldn’t be able to get there in time!” Spindle said. “We would need to walk around the whole mountain then ascend the mountain! That’s at least a two days trip!”

Cadence looked at the ground for a moment. “Do you think there is a way to cut through the mountain, maybe by using the cave systems?”

Spindle stopped. “I… I think so…”

“Do you think you could get me out of here?” Cadence asked.

Spindle looked at the cage; it was sealed with the same type of membrane she had gotten fairly used to in her time since she began making the pods. It wouldn’t take too long to remove it. “I… Think so… Just… Give me a minute… I don’t want to do anything irrational…” Spindle sat down on the floor and began thinking through her situation.

She had to make a choice, stay with the Hive, the group that had pushed her down almost her entire life, but helped her grow… Or Choose to help Equestria, and stop her own Queen before she destroyed their greatest weapon forever. Either way… Someone was going to hate her afterwards.

“Please, Spindle…” Cadence said. “If not just for me… Then think about what would happen to Equestria, the place that you need to survive as well.”

Spindle looked at Cadence, her mind buzzing with thought. If Chrysalis succeeded, she would possibly cut off all the food supply they would ever get, they would starve unless they found a new source of love. But If Equestria was still around, sure it would be hard… But they would endure… Right?

Spindle took a deep breath, and reached for her pendant around her neck. She sighed. “I know I’m going to regret this…”

Author's Note

And So it begins...
The events of the Invasion will be out much sooner than the rest of them have been coming out. I hope you guys are enjoying it. :pinkiehappy:

Chapter 8: Invasion

“What do you mean ‘They Escaped’?” Chrysalis hissed at one of the Changelings disguised as Royal Guards.

“My Queen, it seems as though Spinnekop has sided with the Ponies. She was not present when the rest of her Squadron woke up. All that was found were two carvings inside the cell.”

Chrysalis shot a green beam at a potted plant, causing it to explode. “That filthy deceiving Artist!” She spat. “I’ll have her head for this. I swear, I should never have let her live past Pupation. I should have squashed her when I first saw her!” Chrysalis slammed her hoof onto the ground. “She must not be allowed to leave the Caverns.”

“My Queen, we are experiencing trouble with the entire cavern system.” The Guard replied. “We cannot risk letting any Changelings guard the entire Cave, unless you wish for them to slip by.”

Chrysalis growled. “Then I will need to find somepony dumb enough to try and kill a Princess…” Chrysalis smiled. “Get my Bridesmaids up here at once. I have a mission for them…”

Burn was currently giving Cara a very wide girth, the fact that Spinnekop had not only done something like this, but done it willingly was driving her insane. “Why? Why would she do something like this?” Cara asked as she paced around the area. “This is so unlike her…”

“Maybe the Princess convinced her?”

“How!” Cara shouted. “I’ve read those letters and the profile on the Target, there is no way she has that kind of mental control.”

“Perhaps a bribe?”

“A bribe? Please…” Cara replied. “Give me a reason why Spinnekop would take a bribe of anything?”

“I’m not sure Sarge, you know her better than us.”

“I just can’t figure this out… Why would Spinnekop go against the Hive? We’re her family.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t think too much on it Sarge?” Seek replied. “I mean… We are nearing the…”

Cypher walked over. “The Queen is handling the Situation.”

“How?” Cara asked.

“She is getting rid of the only one that could possibly recognize her, a Unicorn by the name of Twilight. Apparently she has been causing trouble for the past 24 hours, and the Queen decided to finally do something about it.”

“Like what?” Seek asked.

“She is having her placed within the Caverns, somewhere it is impossible for her to get out.”

Cara grunted. “That’s just what she said for the Princess…”

Cypher glared at Cara. “Sergeant, the only way the Unicorn would be able to escape is if she had wings. There are only three natural Alicorns within Equestria, and the spell to create Pegasi wings would sap her of her strength. Have some faith in the Queen.”

Cara mumbled something incoherent. “Fine. But if we find Spinnekop, I want to talk to her.”

“Would this be the ‘hey I want to catch up with you’ talk or the ‘I am going to beat your face in’ talk?” Seek asked.

“Pick one…” Cara hissed.

“Attention all Soldiers! Two hours till Go time.”

“I’ll worry about Spinnekop later… We have a mission. I plan to see it through.”

Burn saluted. “We won’t let you down.”

“Spindle… Are you sure this is the right way?” Cadence asked as Spindle led her down another tunnel in the mazelike structures of the Caverns. Multiple times they had gone down the pathways to find the way blocked by cave-ins or just walls of crystals. The number of times they had to turn back and retrace their steps through the caverns made Cadence’s head spin.

Spindle tried to keep her spirits up, but the problem is that with every dead end, her panic began to grow. She worried they would never get out, as well as the thought that they were being tracked by some of the other Changelings. If they caught them, Spindle knew the Queen would execute both of them. “I’m not sure… Everything looks the same.”

Cadence agreed, the entire Chamber looked similar, the crystals were all a pale blue or purple, and all grew in similar looking clusters. “If this isn’t the correct way, I think we should take a break before heading back.”

Spindle nodded, she grabbed her pendant and raised it, the needle was pointing towards the south, and it told her she was heading west, the exact opposite of the direction they should be going. “Yeah…”

Spindle hadn’t showed Cadence her real form yet, she was afraid to, she thought it would crush Cadence or she would be angry. A slight flicker of disdain was still clearly there within her, and Spindle didn’t want to enhance it.

“Are you okay Spindle?” Cadence asked.

“yeah… I’m just…” She began to say, but she stopped as she looked at the flat wall in front of them. “Oh no!” Spindle ran up to the wall. “No. No. No!” She began looking over the wall to try and find anyway to climb it or get around it. Seeing none, she slumped against it and fell to the ground. “I’m sorry Cadence.”

Cadence walked towards Spindle. “It’s alright Spindle… You tried…”

“No it’s not alright!” Spindle cried. “We’re trapped in here. I can’t find the way out! We’ll be stuck in here forever. I can’t see any light shining at the end of a tunnel! Even with all these reflective Crystals.”

Cadence sighed. “Spindle… Can I ask you a favor?”

Spindle curled up by the wall. “Sure…”

Cadence fidgeted with her wings slightly. “Can I… See what you really look like?”

Spindle raised her head. “You… You really want to?”

“Well… I figured that you have been honest with me, so I want to see what you look like. Just in case we do get out of here… I don’t want to see you treated the same way as them.”

Spindle sighed. “You won’t get mad at me?”

Cadence shook her head.

“Alright…” Spindle stood up and let the green transformative fire surround her, changing her back to her natural form. “Here I am…”

Cadence looked wide eyed at the Changeling, cringing back slightly. “How… How do you tell each other apart?”

Spinnekop sighed. “Well… It’s usually small things. Horn curve, Hole locations, facial structure, it’s just easy for us. Like how a group of fish can tell each other apart.” Spinnekop sat back down on the ground. “Not that it would matter…”

“Why wouldn’t it?”

“Princess… We are trapped underground, I have no idea where we are going, and unless by some miracle the wall behind me explodes, I don’t see any-”

There was a sudden loud explosion from behind Spinnekop as the wall itself blew apart, sending her hurtling through the air and landing in a small tunnel, unconscious.

Below, Cadence looked over the recently destroyed wall, trying to find some evidence of the Changeling that once inhabited the space, but instead found a rather angry looking Unicorn, horn ignited and sparking wildly staring at her.

“No. Wait!” She said trying to back away as the Unicorn tackled her to the ground. She raised her hooves to cover her face “Please, don’t hurt me.” She looked up at the Unicorn that was on top of her. “Twilight!”

“Damn it Spin… Where did you wander off to?” Cloak said as she stalked through the Caverns. She had been told early that day that Spinnekop had helped the Prisoner escape, so she asked as nicely as she could-Meaning not at all- and decided to go looking for her.

She had looked through the closest tunnels nearby, a few that led to dead ends and various walls of crystal. Eventually she decided to give up on tracking, as following the very faint magical trail left behind by Spinnekop was leading her nowhere. So she decided to stalk the other creature that she was with, leading to much better results.

The Alicorn that she correctly identified as Mi Amore Cadenza was a literal walking factory for Love, so much so that the air near where she had traveled was saturated with it. And since Cloak was not as new to tracking as many thought she was Last time Dagger ever dared me to find a pony in a crowd, she followed the trail of it to a strange hole in the wall she definitely didn’t see when she first staked out the cavern system.

Along with that, there was a strong sense of anger on the other side, and while not many know this, not even a lot of trackers, spells held emotion in them too, and the wall was radiating hatred. Curious, Cloak changed her spell to track Changeling magic, and noticed it abruptly stopped where the wall had been destroyed. “Oh Chrysalis…” Cloak said, looking around a few of the smaller tunnels near the bottom of the cavern, finding nothing, she decided to do the only other intelligent thing she could think of.

“Spinnekop!” She called. “If you can hear me, do something loud!”

Cloak perked her ears up to hear anything, but instead felt a small bag fall onto her head. Rubbing the spot where it hit, Cloak bent down and picked up the bag. It was a light blue, the same one that Spinnekop had purchased from an alabaster Unicorn when they went to Crazyville, Equestria, where Cloak had almost been dinner.

Cloak looked at the bag, Spinnekop kept this with her whenever she would be away from the Hive for long periods of time, it carried her old dull carving knife that was in no way in a shape to be doing anything other than mindless whittling. More to the point, it was undamaged.

If Spinnekop had been the target for the attack, the bag would certainly be burned, if not, damaged in some way. The fact it was undamaged was a good sign.

Cloak looked up at where the bag had fallen to see another tunnel up by the ceiling, cut into the crystal. She flew up to it and looked in, finding a Changeling lying on it’s back, lightly twitching every few seconds.

“Spinnekop!” Cloak said, looking at the unconscious Changeling. “Spinnekop… Are you okay?”

Cloak flew in and nudged Spinnekop, getting no response, Cloak checked her pulse and breathing. She let out a relieved sigh. “Alright… You’re fine.” She grabbed onto Spinnekop’s tail and began to drag her towards the tunnel’s entrance, when she was dangling over the drop; Cloak grabbed her under the forelegs and flew down slowly.

When she reached the bottom of the cave, she laid Spinnekop down on the ground and absorbed the ambient Love left behind by the Princess and focusing it into her horn. Cloak lowered the horn to touch Spinnekop’s Horn and watched as the green flame trickled from one horn to the other. “Come on Spin, wake up…”

Spinnekop groaned as she began to stir, a headache that formed had been receding slowly as she came back to reality. “Another few minutes…”

“Spinnekop…” A distorted voice said.

“Give me a minute…”

“SPINNEKOP!” The Voice shouted, and she realized it wasn’t Cadence.

“Cloak!” She said surprised, her eyes snapped open and focused, backing away quickly from her mentor. “Wait! Please! I can explain!”

“Spinnekop…”

“Please! Don’t kill me!” Spinnekop said, raising her hooves to cover her face.

“Spin…”

“I-I was just…”

“Infiltrator 67!” She ran up and grabbed Spinnekop. “Pull! Yourself! Together!” Cloak shouted, slapping Spinnekop. “I’m not going to hurt you!”

Spinnekop cringed slightly. “You… You aren’t?”

“No!” Cloak said, letting go of Spinnekop. “Ugh…”

Spinnekop hit the ground with a light cluck. “Then… Why are you here?”

“Because I was worried.” Cloak replied. “I come back from finding the Queen some new Bridesmaids and suddenly I hear that you vanished and helped the prisoner escape.”

“Cloak I…”

“I’m not Done!” Cloak shouted. “All the while I get told that if the Queen catches you and finds out that you did it all willingly she will have you impaled on your own horn!”

Spinnekop cringed. “And THEN! I disobey my commander to come in here looking for you, to find you unconscious in a tunnel with the wall exploded and…” Cloak took a deep breath. “What in Tartarus were you thinking?”

Spinnekop tried to shrink herself down. “Well… I was…”

Cloak held up her hoof. “I’ll tell you what I think. I think you were so distraught about seeing your friend in a cell that you felt that you had to talk to her. Then she somehow got you to believe that Chrysalis is making a big mistake and whatnot before you agreed to let her out.”

“But… Cadence said that Chrysalis was only doing it for power…”

Cloak looked surprised, but that wore off very quickly. “Took you long enough to find out…”

“You knew!”

“Of course I knew!” Cloak replied. “She’s the Queen, and what other reason would there be for attacking Equestria? We wouldn’t gain anything from it.”

“Then why didn’t you stop her?”

Cloak looked at Spinnekop. “Spinnekop, be honest. Would you really want to say ‘No’ to the Queen? A Changeling that could simply think, and you die.”

Spinnekop opened her mouth, then closed it. “Uh… No…”

“Exactly.” Cloak replied. “I ran it through my head so many times. The only reason for all of this was power, not food. But the problem is, I still live in the Hive, and I enjoy it there. Well, that and Chrysalis would hunt me down and kill me if I tried to do anything. Can’t have an Infiltrator running around with all the Hive’s secrets.”

“But… Why did you come to find me?”

“To tell you that you have a chance.” Cloak replied. “Listen… If you were to go rogue on Chrysalis, she would simply see you as a waste of space, and if you come back to the Hive…” Cloak ran her hoof across her neck. “So… You can either, Run away. Or you can try to help Equestria.”

Spinnekop looked at Cloak curiously. “But… How can I help?”

Cloak smiled. “There is an exit to the cave system down there.” Cloak pointed at the giant hole. “Just keep heading down that way, and you will find the source of the opening. The attack is supposed to start in… About an hour. That is plenty of time for you to get over there and into Canterlot.”

“What about you?” Spinnekop asked.

Cloak smiled. “I was never here. Now get going. I don’t think Chrysalis is going to just let Cadence re-enter the city without any problems.”

Spinnekop thought about it, and nodded. “Thanks Cloak.”

Cloak winked before stepping away from Spinnekop. “I was never here.” She said as she was surrounded by a shell of flame and pulled into the ground.

Spinnekop sat there for a moment before seeing her saddlebag lying where Cloak just disappeared; she quickly grabbed the bag and strapped it on, running in the direction Cloak indicated.

Cloak reappeared from the ground in a back alleyway, secluded from view, she swiftly changed into her newest disguise, a near replica of the only Mare that did not seem affected by the chaos of her visit, a gray Pegasus with golden eyes and a blond mane.

Cloak stumbled out of the Alley, as one does when they suddenly go wall eyed from a transformation, and she remembered why she never enjoyed having to become a pony with a vision disability.

She managed to straighten herself up and look as natural as possible walking down the streets while trying not to bump into any of the ponies that were around. She made sure to keep an eye out for anyone running hastily around, or any giant beams of light from the Heavens. No stop thinking about it!

When she managed to meander her way to the destination, a small bakery, instead of going into the store, she walked behind it and changed to her much more favored Pastel Disguise.

“What were you doing Cloak?” A voice said from the alley.

Pastel quickly straightened up. “Nothing sir.” She replied.

“Nothing?” The voice replied again. “Because, I could have sworn that you were underground, talking to a certain Changeling.”

Pastel gulped. “You realize that by my authority I should report you to the Queen.” The Form stepped out of the Shadows. “But since I know just how much trouble Spinnekop is in already, and how bloodthirsty the Queen is, that would be a terrible idea.”

“Mimic you bastard!” Pastel said. “You scared me!”

The pony smiled from under the cloak as he lowered the hood. A red Earth pony with pale blue eyes stared back at her. “And they say I don’t have it anymore.”

Pastel let her heart stop racing for a moment before replying. “So we’re on the same side here?”

“Allegiance to the Queen without threatening the Hive’s existence? It seems so.”

“You figured it out too huh?”

Mimic nodded. “I figured it out not too long ago, back when she was promising us endless food.”

“Despite the problems we would face should all of Equestria fall into war.”

“Exactly.” Mimic replied. “So did she manage it?”

“Accidentally if anything. I found her unconscious in a tunnel around thirty feet off the ground. I think Twilight Sparkle was a bit more than the Queen anticipated.”

Mimic sighed. “I hate the idea of rebelling against the Queen, even if we aren’t the ones doing it…”

Pastel waked over. “It isn’t a rebellion.” She said. “More of a…” She twirled her hoof. “Abandonment of the Hive by Spinnekop.”

“You realize that if we see her after the attack begins, we are going to have to kill her.” Mimic said. “Or be branded as Traitors.”

Cloak lowered her hoof. “Yeah… Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Or let’s hope Cara doesn’t find her first.”

Mimic nodded. “Thirty minutes till go time.”

Cloak looked at a nearby clock tower. “Who is going to be stationed by the Cave entrance?”

“Clobber.” Mimic replied.

“Oh no…” Cloak replied with a sigh.

“Indeed.” Mimic said in agreement.

“So it’s a shame about your old breeder friend huh Cara?” A captain asked as they lined up.

“Shut up Blitz…” Cara said. “Spinnekop chose her course…”

“Well now she has to deal with the consequences. “ Another Alpha walked up to her. “The Queen has orders to detain her, and if she resists, we are told to kill her.”

Cara sighed. “I know…” Her leg burst into flame as she pulled out the small figurine she had been given by Spinnekop all those years ago. “I just hope she has some sense left in her…” Cara said.

“You better hope Clobber doesn’t get to her first.” The Alpha replied. “He’s been dying to beat Spinnekop’s faceplate in for years.”

“If he finds her, he will make it bad…”

Cara sighed. “I. Know!”

Cypher stepped forward. “The Queen wishes to capture Spinnekop alive. If he kills her, then he would break that stipulation.”

“Alive just means breathing.” The Alpha replied. “She’ll be doing plenty of that, it will be difficult for her, but she will manage.”

“You’re not helping.” Cara hissed.

“I’m not trying to be helpful, I’m telling you what will happen.”

“All Soldiers, Mobilize towards objective.”

Cara sighed. “Spinnekop… You better be running as far from Canterlot as possible…” She mumbled. “Because I don’t want to have to put you down…”

Spinnekop had followed the direction Cloak indicated to her, it was a bit startling at first to see that there was a glint of light that caught her eye. She followed it through the caves to find a large crystal reflecting it from the other side of the cavern.

She flew quickly through the rest of the cavern, taking in a few of the crystal structures that were scattered around, a mine cart that looked like it had been used recently, a few pillars, one crystal that looked an awful lot like a skull…

Spinnekop kept flying, determined to get out. As she landed on the small platform where the only shaft of light was visible, she smiled and began to fly towards it before she felt a pang of emotions nearby. She looked over towards the emotions and found three unicorns fighting over a bouquet of all things.

Spinnekop shook her head as she flew up to the hole in the cave, when she got out; she transformed into Spindle Weave and looked around.

She was inside the Purple shield that surrounded the city, but just outside the City’s walls. She ran up to the wall quickly and, after making sure no ponies were around, transformed her hooves back to allow her to climb up the wall. Once she was inside the city, she looked up into the air and felt her jaw drop.

Flying above the Shield, as if in one giant black cloud, was what must have been the entire military of the Hive. All of them flying above the city, slamming into the purple shield slamming their bodies into it. Those must be the Betas… Spinnekop thought. She stood and watched them for a few moments before seeing the entire Swarm rise into the air and come crashing down onto the shield.

Spinnekop held her hoof in front of her eyes as she heard the sound of the shield crashing down with a rush of air. She looked up to see the Swarm beginning to dive bomb towards the city, slamming into it with shields engulfing their bodies.

“I need to get to the castle!” Spinnekop said, running through the streets, she could have kept going, if it wasn’t for one Changeling in particular slamming into the ground in front of her.

The armored Changeling stood up from the small crater, its dark blue armor sitting on the large form. It glared down at Spindle as it stepped out of the crater. “The Queen’s been looking for you.” He said.

“C-Clobber.” Spindle said, backing away. “F-Funny seeing you here huh?” She said nervously.

Clobber stepped closer towards Spindle as a few more Changelings flew towards them. “No… She’s mine.” He said waving off the Changelings, who flew off to cause more pandemonium.

Spindle backed up further, but Clobber began to walk towards her. “I don’t need to tell you how long I’ve wanted to show Chrysalis how much of a waste it was to keep you in our Cluster.”

Spindle felt herself back into a building, and she stopped as the Changeling stepped forward. “But I’m under a rather strict order from the Queen to take you alive. So make this easy for both of us… Give… Yourself… Up.”

Spindle began to shake as Clobber snorted at her.

“Hey Buggy!” A voice shouted as a vase flew over and slammed into Clobber’s head, making him stagger back.

“What are you waiting for?” The voice called out at Spindle. “Don’t just stand there!” Spindle looked over quickly to see an Earth Pony waving Spindle over. She didn’t argue and quickly scrambled over, looking back over at Clobber to see him standing back up.

She ran up to the Earth Pony, and felt the wave of adrenaline filling her legs. “So what were you doing?” The Pony asked.

“I was trying to get to the castle.” Spindle replied.

“So was I.” The blue Earth Pony replied. “Name’s Deep Freeze. You?”

“Spindle Weave…” Spindle replied. “That was quick thinking…”

“Yeah… My Wife’s going to kill me for breaking that…” Freeze replied. “Anyway, let’s get moving before he get’s back…” A green bolt shot next to them and exploded.

Spindle looked back to see Clobber glaring at the two of them with a small crack near his left eye. “Captain Clobber, requesting support.”

Freeze looked around to find something else to throw before another Changeling flew down towards him and rammed into him. Pinning him to the ground.

“Freeze!” Spindle charged her horn and fired at the Changeling, sending it hurling into a wall. “Freeze. Run! He’s after me!”

Freeze got up and looked at Spindle. “That…”

Spindle burst into green flame and glared back at Clobber. “Oh… I’ll just leave you two then…” He quickly got up and ran back down an alley.

Clobber reached up and rubbed the spot where the crack had formed. “So… You decided to ally with the Ponies…” He said. “I always knew you were weak.”

Spinnekop growled. “I’m not siding with them, I’m trying to keep us safe.”

Clobber wiped the small amount of blood that had spilled from the crack and flicked it onto the ground. “Now I am going to beat your Chitin in… And I’m going to enjoy it…”

Spinnekop swallowed and stepped back slightly as Clobber began stepping forward. “I hope you enjoy the taste of your own blood.” He spat. “Because that’s all your going to be able to drink before the Queen decides to execute you publicly.”

Spinnekop looked over Clobber, knowing that it wasn’t going to be a fight she could win. Clobber was a Captain, an Alpha Captain, trained to practically enjoy pain. While she hadn’t needed combat training for over five years.

“I’ll tell you what, Give up, and I’ll only break your legs.” Clobber said cracking his neck. “Or I can just break everything else first. Your choice.”

Spinnekop ducked down into an aggressive pose, prepared to defend against anything Clobber might throw.

“Near death it is then.” Clobber grunted.

Cara had been flying around with her squadron, taking advantage of the times when the Ponies’ were trying to cower; unaware of the Emotional traces they were giving off with their cowering. It wasn’t too long before a group sent after six ponies contacted them, and were apparently getting their flanks handed to them.

Cara was in charge of the group afterwards. They flew into the tall tower, climbing down the walls, as they needed to. “Squad 7 are you still there?”

“These ponies are a lot tougher than we…” There was an abrupt cut as a loud crash was heard outside the door.

Cypher walked up to Cara. “Sergeant I got that request you wanted.”

“You found her?” Cara asked excitedly. “Where?”

Cypher looked at the door. “She was found by the southern wall… Clobber found her first.”

Cara’s ears fell. “Oh… I… Can you do me a favor Cypher?”

“As long as it does not interfere with the codes put-”

“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah… Yes or no?”

“Yes.” Cypher replied.

Cara sighed. “Make sure she’s alive…”

Cypher saluted. “I will do my best to ensure her survival.” She flew out of the tower.

Cara sighed. “Squad 7, Status?”

“HOLY Chrysalis! What is that Pink one doing!”

Cara heard a variety of magical blasts slam into the walls before one of the soldiers replied. “They’re coming towards the tower.”

“Alright boys! Here they come!”

The Door was pushed open, and a group of six ponies gave a small smile at getting it open, before all of their looks turned to frightened frowns as they saw the large group of Changelings inside. “Get ‘em”

Clobber kicked Spinnekop in her stomach. “Insignificant Breeder.” He growled. “Everything was going perfectly fine. But you decided to forsake the Hive, all to save your pathetic Pony Princess.” He walked over to where Spinnekop was lying and bucked her across the ground. “But because I know how close you are to Cloak, I’ll give you one last chance to get out of this peacefully.”

Spinnekop began to push herself up, her legs trying desperately to hold her up, shaking with the energy she needed to try and stand. All the while her body ached from bruises and pain caused by the force of the Captain’s hits. She managed to stand up and tried her best to glare at Clobber; it was made difficult by her swollen eye. She looked over the Captain, and noticed that his armor and even his body showed almost none of the damage she wanted, no, Needed to have done for her to keep going.

“So what do you say Spinnekop? Die a casualty of war, or die a traitor. Just say yes and I’ll knock you out.”

Spinnekop’s legs shook; the only thing she could hope for was to hold him off for a little longer and maybe something fantastic would help save her. She spat out a bit of her blue blood before replying in a very raspy voice. “No…”

Clobber stamped on the ground. “Well then, I guess I’ll just start by ripping off those wings of yours.” He bent down, preparing himself to launch at Spinnekop, but right before his body went through the motions, he stalled, turning to look back at the Castle. “What?”

Spinnekop looked back at the castle as well, the white stone holding a nova of pink that was steadily growing. She gave a painful grin as she saw the flame getting larger and larger.

“No… That can’t… How?” Clobber turned to glare at Spinnekop. “You little shit!” He quickly flew up to her, slamming her into the outer wall of the city before throwing her to the ground. “The Queen will see you killed for this!”

Spinnekop managed to lift her head up and cough before replying. “Tell her… She can do what she likes…” She coughed up a little blue blood. “They won…”

Clobber walked over to Spinnekop, he propped her up onto her Backplate and bucked her across the ground, seeing her spin as she slid against the ground and into a building.

“We’ll see what get’s you first, the Ponies, the Timberwolves, or Chrysalis.” He hissed, pushing himself off the ground and flying above the wall.

As Spinnekop managed to right herself and push herself up straight, the nova of love burst from the Castle, sending a shockwave of pure love outwards, she noticed the various black specks that she noticed were Changelings. They were all being hurtled out of the city. All of them were hurtled above the wall and sent out of the city.

All but one…

Due to Spinnekop’s proximity to the wall, she was not only launched into the air at a rather fast velocity, but since she failed to get enough height to make it over the wall, she ended up slamming into the wall and hearing a deafening crack as her backplate cracked from the force.

She cringed when she first collided, but that was quickly exchanged with a scream of pain as the shield began to resist against her body, pressing her into the wall harder and harder. Her screams were soon dwarfed by the growing cracks of her chitin as it began to split from the pressure it was under. As the cracks began to work their way towards her head, she began to pray that the wall would break, anything to stop the pain. It didn’t take long for that pain to make it’s way to her jaw line with a loud crack.

She began to feel tears leak from her eyes as she prayed that her Endoskeleton would hold her together, but ultimately that proved false when she looked at her right foreleg to find it bent unnaturally.

She felt her tears begin to enter back into the cracks within her chitin as the pain mounted, she closed her eyes and began to hope that something would save her from being crushed by the wall. And then…

The shield stopped.

Spinnekop quickly opened her eyes to see herself hanging around ten feet in the air, looking down at the stone roads of the city below. She then became aware that Gravity decided to work again.

She felt herself peel from the wall and time seemed to stop. She looked down at the stone street, the stone wall, and then at her own broken forelegs, covered in large fractures.

She began to scream again as she plummeted towards the ground, hoping that by some miracle she would land in something soft.

Instead, she slammed into the street with her underbelly, feeling a rush of warm blood flow out of her onto the pavement.

For a few long, terrible seconds, the only thing Spinnekop was aware of was the pounding of her heart, only occasionally interrupted by her shallow, raspy breathing. Her eyes shot open and darted around her field of view, trying to find someone to help her.

“…help…” She tried to shout, but all that came out was a low raspy quaver.

“…please…anypony…help…I…” Her vision began to fade out, replacing the white of the city with a pitch-black color. Spinnekop let out a low whine as she thought it would be the last time she ever saw again.

The next thing Spinnekop became aware of was the low, hushed tones of ponies all around her, some asking questions, some simply whispering amongst themselves. In a last ditch attempt to help stay alive, Spinnekop tried to move her legs.

The reaction was instant as the presumably dead Insect pony began to move.

“It’s still alive!”

“Somepony get the Guard!”

Spinnekop barely held onto her hearing before it faded out again to the sounds of Ponies beginning to panic and shout. Making death threats most likely.

She remained there on the ground until the sound of metal colliding with stone as she struggled to open her eyes. She saw the shimmering light reflecting off the golden clad Royal Guard, and what looked like a large cage behind them.

Spinnekop’s raspy breaths began to fill her ears as a group of two Guards walked over and attempted to move her. They reached under her forelegs in an attempt to lift her.

Instead of painlessly lifting her, as probably would have worked if she was a normal Pony, she was lifted up and felt the intense pain as her cracked Chitin shifted against her uncomfortably, and if her leg wasn’t broken it would be bearable… But since it was… She released a loud scream of pain before she fell unconscious yet again.

The next time she regained her vision, she was looking at a group of ponies from inside a cage, being pulled down the street. Her hearing was practically gone, so all she could see was the emotions of the ponies. All of them feeling fear, anger, worry, and a few of them were feeling concern… whether it was for her or others, she didn’t know.

A few more guards had come to help escort the cage, and Spinnekop could see why, in the few seconds she had been conscious, she noticed a couple of ponies throw objects at them and a rather mad looking pony walked up to one of the guards and began shouting. However she didn’t see much else as she faded out of consciousness again.

When she next woke up, she was in a dark cell, with no light other than a magical torch in the hallway. She was also lying on a bed, a rather uncomfortable and stiff bed, but a bed nonetheless. Feeling a distinct lack of pain, Spinnekop looked down at her forelegs, and what she saw made her almost tear up again.

Her left foreleg was in a cast that worked its way down the bottom portion of her leg, the upper portion was practically shattered, the chitin covered in cracks working up and down her leg.

She followed the cracks to look at her right foreleg, it wasn’t as badly injured, but it would hurt to walk on for a while. The same would definitely be said of her hind legs, which were heavily bandaged but they looked like they wouldn’t be too bad to walk on.

She looked back at her wings, which were now crumpled and broken. Being much different than a Pony’s wings, they most likely couldn’t figure out how to heal it. The worst part was looking at her back, where the brute of the wall had pressed on her. Her backplate was shattered; looking as though a sledgehammer had been brought down on it, the web of cracks extending from the center of the backplate down the rest of her Carapace.

She felt a light stinging as a tear rolled down her cheek. Raising her hoof to where the stinging was, she felt a small crack that worked it’s way towards her jaw, stopping at the end of her mouth. Sure it wasn’t as bad as say, Dagger’s crack, it would heal eventually, but not soon…

Her chitin cracked and broken, some of it leaking small drops of blue blood, but overall she had been bandaged up and kept alive… She only feared that they wouldn’t be so kind later.

She looked over her body again, taking into account the various cracks and injuries, the only thing that wasn’t damaged, was the small portion of chitin and skin where her wings connected to her body, covered up by a small blue bag.

She began to tear up even more, for the first time in her life she was alone. Truly alone. No Hive to comfort her, no one to talk about it to, just herself in a cell. Waiting like a bug in a box, waiting for those who think she is an evil, love-sucking monster to decide what to do with her.

She began to sob silently as she began to think about what she left behind, Cara was a big one. Her best friend for her whole life, was now an empty hole, most likely she wouldn’t want to see her again. So now she threw away everything she knew…

“Spindle?”

Spinnekop looked up at the voice, and saw the pink Alicorn looking at her worried. “Spindle Weave, are you alright?”

Spinnekop cringed; she looked back up towards Cadence. “I-I’ll never see the Hive again. Will I?”

Cadence gave Spinnekop a small reassuring smile, but with Spinnekop seeing her emotions, it was clear she didn’t believe so. Spinnekop began to sob louder, the echoes floating around the dark dungeon.

Spinnekop was Alone…

Her family was gone; the Hive would kill her on sight. She was a traitor, disobeying the Queen and aiding in her defeat. She would never see another Changeling, and she could never have a normal life again.

Spinnekop regretted her decision…

Author's Note

:fluttercry: Poor Spinnekop...

Fun Fact: This is the portion of the story I wrote originally for the concept Idea, I was curious about how I would write the effects of the shield on a Changeling, and thus... Spinnekop was born.... :twilightsheepish: That's kind of messed up the more I think about it... :fluttershysad:

Chapter 9: Loss & Love

Spinnekop’s life had become one of dull monotony. She couldn’t walk around and the doctors Cadence managed to get for her all said the same things. They either gawked at her for curiosities sake, or they freaked out before Cadence explained the situation. After that, they tended to look at her injuries and tell her to relax and rest as much as possible. Given she was currently locked in a stone box underground, that wasn’t going to be hard.

Because she had so much time on her hooves, she began contemplating her life, all of the things she had done and failed to do. Looking back at the white flame that rested outside her cell as she did so.

However much she hated the doctors gawking at her like a monkey, she couldn’t deny that the recovery was going rather well. Her head wasn’t hurting anymore, the small cracks in on her chitin were healed, though she still had a concussion, parts of her memory during the fight were gone, but she still remembered getting punched an awful lot…

Spinnekop sighed as another day began for her. So far she had been there for three days by her count, and it wasn’t getting any better. Cadence came and visited her a few times a day, sometimes bringing a new doctor to look her over, or sometimes the same one multiple times. It was always a bit of a game to break up the monotony.

But… Today something was bothering her. She woke up like every other day, tossing and turning in an attempt to get comfortable, then ultimately giving up. Then she would lie on the bed for a few minutes thinking. But when she was thinking, something was bugging her, like a part of her was missing. She couldn’t put her hoof on it, but it was constantly pecking at her mind, like an itch you couldn’t scratch.

She had the feeling follow her around for another hour before the sound of hooves hit her ears and low talking was heard. She quickly picked out Cadence’s voice, but she had no idea who the other voice belonged to. She straightened herself up as much as she could without pain as they grew near.

“I’m glad that you gave me the opportunity to do this Princess.” The other voice said. “I’ve been really interested since I heard from Clean Bill that we had one.”

“Yes, I thought that they might be able to help, but the lack of any real knowledge made that difficult.” Cadence said.

“Well I will certainly do my best.”

“She’s just up here.”

Spinnekop noticed the Pink Alicorn walk into view and give her a smile. “Morning Spindle.” She said happily. “How are you feeling this morning?”

“I feel like I’m missing something…” Spinnekop replied. “But I feel a lot better…”

“I’m glad to hear it. I brought somepony new to look over your injuries for you.” She motioned off to the side of the cell as a pale green Unicorn stepped into view, her sky blue mane curled slightly. She looked at Spinnekop with a wide smile. “This is a Doctor Compound, a local Professor at Canterlot University where she teaches Entomology. I asked her here because I believe she can help with your recovery.”

Dr. Compound looked at Spinnekop with fascination, her saddle bags opened up and a notepad levitated in front of her as a pen began to scrawl across it.

“If we open the cell, you won’t try to run right?” Cadence joked.

“Oh of course I would, after all my legs aren’t broken at all or anything.” Spinnekop replied. “I’ll just hop up and dash out of the room when you go to blink.”

Cadence stifled a laugh as she nodded at the Royal Guard that followed them down there, he unlocked the cage and Compound walked in, being very closely watched by the unicorn guard.

Compound walked up close to Spinnekop. “You are simply fascinating…” She said, looking over Spinnekop’s Chitin and eyes. “This will be marvelous for my research into Changeling Physiology.” She said looking over Spinnekop’s wings.

“Thanks… I think…”

Cadence rolled her eyes. “Compound, remember what I promised you. Help me heal Spindle, then she can help with your research.”

Compound waved off the notion. “I remember Princess, I merely want to get a basic sketch down first.” She said continuing to sketch down the rest of the Changeling’s appearance. When she finished the sketch, she closed the journal. “Now, you aren’t afraid of needles right?”

Spinnekop blinked “No… I don’t think so…” Needle… Huh… The feeling of forgetfulness grew stronger, and it was really starting to annoy Spinnekop right now.

“Good. Because I won’t be able to get a sample of your blood any other way.” She said as her horn lit up and a closed medical bag flew over to her. “I’ll just need a few samples of your blood, Chitin, saliva, Tail hair, and skin tissue.”

Spinnekop blinked again. “Isn’t that a bit… Intensive?”

“Not as much as I would like.” Compound replied. “If I wanted to be truly thorough I would need samples of your muscular tissue, Wing membrane, an eye sample would be nice, possibly an egg or two, and your brain.” She looked up to see Spinnekop’s distressed face. “Oh I’m not going to kill you.” She said. “I’m just taking these few samples to check and see if any of the medicine we have would work on you… And to make sure I don’t accidently kill you in the process…”

Spinnekop nodded, dying was not one of the things she wanted to do, even if her entire life was destroyed, she didn’t want to die.

Compound opened the bag to protrude around thirty vials, and a rather large needle, which Spinnekop now eyed fearfully. “Wh-Where are you going to put that?” She asked.

Compound looked over Spinnekop. “Well… I was going to try and find a crack large enough on your body, but I think you should probably tell me.”

Spinnekop swallowed. “Um…” Spinnekop extended her left foreleg, where a rather large crack had just reopened and was slowly dripping blue. “Here?”

Compound looked at the crack, shrugged and moved the needle to the locations. “So, you have a name or should I just call you Changeling?”

“I do have a name.” Spinnekop replied as she tried to look away from the needle. “It’s SpiIINEKOP!” She shrieked out the last part as the needle dug into the sensitive flesh underneath her chitin.

“Huh… Strange name.” Compound replied, watching as the syringe was filled with the light blue blood. “So you have any friends back at your… Town? Colony? Nest? Conglomeration?”

Spinnekop sighed. “Hive…” She replied. “I used to…” She let out a low sigh. “But now I can’t ever go back…”

Compound pulled the syringe from the crack and placed it inside a strange metal box. “Why’s that?”

“I… Betrayed my Queen… Now I’m just a wanted criminal…” She replied as Compound found a few pieces of Chitin that fell off of Spinnekop’s various injuries, she placed them in a few of the vials and placed them in her bag. “My friend Cara probably hates me…”

Compound looked up at Spinnekop. “Oh I’m sure it isn’t that bad…”

Deep underground in the Hive, a very specific set of Changelings were beginning to regret their Class.

Chrysalis’ Royal Guards were tasked with two main objectives, protect the Queen, and protect the Hive. The only trouble arose when protecting the Hive also meant barring the doors to her throne room shut with their own bodies while she went on another one of her rage fits.

The Eight Guards unlucky enough to be on duty were currently putting all of their weight into holding the door steady.

“EVERYTHING WAS GOING TO PLAN!” A slam on the door nearly knocked a Changeling from his designated post. “LUNA WAS DEALT WITH!” A very specific Changeling was putting all of his magic into holding the door shut. “CELESTIA WAS MY PRISONER!” Another Changeling was silently pleading to the ancient Queens. “AND WE HAD THEIR MILITARY UNDER OUR CONTROL!”

The door was unable to hold the force of the punishment and blew open, sending the Guards flying across the hall, and a specific Changeling launching across the hall and imbedding into the far wall. The Queen strode out, her mane flaming with rage as she glared at the Changeling now imbedded in the wall. “AND IT WAS YOUR JOB TO ENSURE THAT UNICORN DID NOTHING!” Her horn released a green tendril that snaked it's way towards the Changeling, wrapping around its neck and pulling it out of the wall. “YOU FAILED!” She whipped the Changeling around and pulled it to her face. “Give me a single reason I should keep you alive.” She hissed.

The Changeling struggled to catch its breath as it looked at the death glare Chrysalis was giving him.

Chrysalis flicked the Changeling out one of the open windows listening as it screamed before a loud crack sounded. “Worthless every single one of them.” Chrysalis spat.

“Queen right are you…” A Guard replied, its eyes spinning in its head.

“Was that the last of those who failed me?” The Queen asked.

Mimic flew in from the Throne Room, his full armor covering his body, he looked down at the Clipboard in his hoof, a long list of names was blacked out. “It looks that way Queen Chrysalis.”

The Guards lying on the floor all thanked the ancient Queens and simultaneously agreed to go drinking that night.

Chrysalis snorted. “Good! I couldn’t handle any more incompetence.” She stomped back towards the throne. “I want Cypher up here now. She has information I need.”

“On what your majesty?” Mimic asked, flipping up his visor.

“She was the last one to have any idea what happened to Spinnekop.” She ground her teeth. “I want to know what became of her. So I can judge how much I need to do in order for her to feel the most pain possible before I break her spine.”

Mimic nodded. “I’ll inform Cara… But she has been taking it rather hard…”

“Do I look like I care General?” Chrysalis replied. “Or should I leave you the same as your predecessor?”

Mimic straightened up. “I…I’ll get right on it. Cara! I don’t care what you are doing right now! Send Cypher to the castle now!”

Cara was doing the same thing she had been doing since she got to Hive, pondering, and pondering rather solemnly. When she was launched from the city, she had to help Burn carry Seek back to the Hive, and then waited nervously to hear back from Cypher. When the Communication Drone returned, Cara was heartbroken.

While Cypher made it clear she never saw what happened after she herself was lifted out of the city, she did say that Spinnekop was unable to clear the wall, and that Spinnekop likely wouldn’t have survived the initial impact.

Cara sighed as she looked at the carving Spinnekop gave her, spinning it around in her magic as she looked at it. She had been like this since she found out, doing everything half-heartedly and without much energy, Seek and Burn had been worrying about her for quite a while.

“This thing must have hit her hard…”

“Really?” Burn replied. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Seek turned to look at Burn. “Come on Burn! You saw how she reacted before the attack.”

Burn rolled his eyes. “Spinnekop was her friend for almost twenty four years. She thought she could reform Spinnekop, but now, she will never see her again. Of course she’ll take it hard!”

“Yeah but… It’s been days. I’ve never seen her like this…”

“I can hear both of you…” Cara replied. “And I don’t want to talk about it…”

Burn and Seek both looked at each other. “Sorry Sarge…”

Cara sighed and placed the figure into her leg, keeping it safe. She walked over towards the others. “I can’t change anything… So now I have to deal with it…”

“How’s that working for you?”

Cara glared at Burn. “I’m just fine Burn. Where’s Cypher?”

Burn and Seek blinked. “She said she was going to help Cloak with some stuff. Why?”

“Mimic wants to talk to her.” Cara replied. “Where are they?”

“I’m not sure I understand…”

“I need it to be untraceable.” Cloak replied. “You know, they can in no way link us to anything. Magically, Emotionally, or even through a paper trail.”

“But… Why would you want to send those?” Cypher asked. “I don’t understand the urgency of the-”

Cloak facehoofed. “Cypher… You ran the calculations yourself right?”

“Indeed I did.”

“And what were the chances of survival?”

“Given the trajectory that I saw her launched from, factoring velocity and sudden stopping power, plus the fall afterwards, Spinnekop’s odds of survival were somewhere in the range of one to fifty six.”

“That is still a chance.” Cloak replied. “Listen, even if she turns out to be dead, I need these to be impossible to trace.”

“But why would you want that on a box?”

Cloak had managed to sneak both of them into the Command Barracks, they were currently inside of Spinnekop’s old room, and Cloak was holding a wrapped box. Chrysalis ordered the room be locked down so she could destroy everything when she felt the need, and save those few that involved her. “Please Cypher.”

Cypher looked over the box. “It would help if I understood why.”

“I can’t.” Cloak replied. “It’s part of my mission, but I think you have the skills I-”

There was a knocking on the door. Cloak looked over and turned back to Cypher. “Tell no one about this.” She whispered. “Promise?”

Cypher nodded. “Good.”

Cloak walked up to the door and opened it. “Hello?”

Cara was standing there. “Cloak, what are you doing in Spin’s room?”

Cloak sighed. “I’m looking over what we did in here, I decided to take some time before Chrysalis decided to tear it down.” She looked back at the box levitating in her magic and sighed. “Anyhoo, I have another target to deal with. The life of an Infiltrator never ends.” She trotted down the hall, the box in tow behind her.

Cara stepped into the room to look at the work Spinnekop had done, she lot out a long sigh. “Cypher, Mimic wants to see you at the castle.”

Cypher saluted. “I will be there shortly.”

Cara stopped Cypher before she left. “What were you two talking about?”

“She asked me for my opinion on the Repulsion spell and its true affects should a Changeling encounter it at full force. She seemed rather intrigued by its affects and what it would be like should it become a weapon.”

Cara sighed. “Alright… Get going.”

Cypher walked out of the room and down the hall, quickly moving to get to the castle as quick as she could. Cara began to close the door, but before she did, she sighed and reopened it, letting herself in.

She hadn’t gotten much of a look at the room before, she had been too busy at the time, but now she had the chance to look around. The room was covered with Spinnekop’s art, tapestries were hung on walls, various busts sat on nearly every table, and the figurine collection she had sat on multiple shelves. Cara sighed as she looked, taking in everything.

Cara walked up to the various crafts and looked at them, they were definitely by Spinnekop, the craftsmanship was too much like her carvings for it to be anyone else. There were busts of Chrysalis and a larger figurine of her on the shelf.

Cara sighed again as she looked around the room, she then located a rolled up poster tucked away behind the bed. She levitated it out and unrolled the old poster, smiling as she did.

It was the first poster she gave to Spinnekop, showing the Unicorn and Pegasus, deeply in love, but separated by birth. “I can’t believe you kept this…”

Cara looked at the poster for a time before rolling it up and carrying it out of the room. Even if Spinnekop wasn’t there… There was one thing she told Cara to do that she had every intention on doing.

Cara sighed. “I really hope I don’t make myself look like an idiot…”

Going back to Canterlot, Compound had just collected everything she said she needed, and placed them all into different metallic boxes. “It has been a pleasure talking to you Spinnekop.” Compound said. “I’ll try to get the results to you by the end of the week Princess.”

“Oh yes, about that.” Cadence said. “There is something else I needed to ask you.”

“What is that Princess?”

Spinnekop had been focusing primarily on trying to figure out what she had forgotten, it seemed like something very obvious, yet she couldn’t figure it out, almost like when a word keeps escaping you.

“I wanted to ask about those gem samples I sent from the Caverns.” Cadence replied.

“Ah yes…” Compound replied. “The gems… Well truth be told, we can’t figure out what kind of gemstone they are. They seem to have been magically created by…”

Spinnekop tuned out, and after hearing ‘Gemstone’ and ‘Needle’ her mind subconsciously began putting the two together. When they had finished, Spinnekop took her left foreleg and reached up to her chest, but found it colliding with her chitin.

As it did, her eyes widened. “No!” She shouted, causing both Cadence and Compound to jump slightly. “No! No! No!” She began frantically looking at her body, trying to find some evidence that the object was still with her.

“Spindle, are you…”

“Where is it?” She said, completely forgetting the two ponies in front of her. “Don’t tell me I lost it! I can’t have lost it! No! No! No!” She frantically looked around the room, her eyes darting everywhere to find a glint of what she was looking for. “No! I can’t believe I lost it! I had it with me the whole time, how did I…?”

Her eyes widened as she began to remember parts of the fight she had with Clobber. He had just knocked her to the ground and was stepping on her backplate. His magic surrounded her necklace as he began to pull up on it, attempting to strangle her.

As she began to struggle for breath, the only thing she could think to do was remove the sensation pulling on her. She quickly charged up her horn and snapped the pendant in half, causing it to fly off in an indiscernible direction before she scrambled out of Clobber’s reach and tried to find it, only to get a hoof to the eye for her troubles.

Spinnekop put her face in her hooves. “I lost it!” She cried, beginning to tear up. “I’ll never see it again!”

Cadence and Compound stared into the cell both confused, the Royal Guard that had been accompanying them was blinking quickly. “Did… I miss something?”

Cadence looked over at Spinnekop who had begun crying into her hooves, only a few of the tears managed to make it down her cheeks, the others being absorbed through the cracks in her chitin.

Cadence walked into the cell and reached a hoof around Spinnekop. “Spindle? What did you lose?”

Spinnekop looked up at Cadence, her eyes dripping tears as she did so. “It’s alright, you can tell me.” Cadence said, flashing a smile at Spinnekop.

Spinnekop leaned into the Alicorn as she began to sob again. “I-I lost my Pendant…” She said. “I-It was given to me by my-my…” Spinnekop coughed loudly. “My…My parents!” She cried. “It’s… It’s the only thing I have…”

Cadence’s ears perked up. “Your parents gave it to you?”

Spinnekop nodded. “Mi-Mimic always said i-it was given b-before they vanished…” Spinnekop replied. “I-I always kept it w-with me.”

Cadence looked over the crying Changeling, trying to find some way to comfort her. “I’m sorry…” Cadence replied, running her hoof along the fin Spinnekop had sticking out of the back of her neck. “Did you lose it in the caves?”

Spinnekop shook her head. “I-I lost it i-in the c-city.” She stuttered. “Wh-when I was fighting Cl-Clobber.”

Compound took out her notebook again and began writing down notes. “Where did you fight Clobber?”

Spinnekop began sniffling as she wiped her eyes. “It was… It was back where I was found… I… I think it was in front of a store… By the wall.”

Cadence nodded. “Can you remember the name?”

Spinnekop shook her head. “No… I-I’m sorry Cadence…”

Compound kept writing on her notepad. “What did the pendant look like?”

“I-it was just a g-green gem w-with a small ne-needle inside of it.” Spinnekop replied. “I-it means everything to me…”

Spinnekop flinched as Cadence gave her a light hug, trying not to cause any harm to her body. “Don’t worry Spindle. We’ll find it.”

“B-But how?” Spinnekop cried. “Canterlot is so big… It’ll be impossible to find it!”

“You’ve done so much for me already Spindle, I can at least do this for you.”

Spinnekop sobbed silently as Cadence comforted her, ensuring her she would find it. “Th-Thank you Cadence…”

Cadence nodded and got up, heading towards the cell door. Compound looked up at her as they walked through the dungeon. “You sure you can find it Cadence? Some rich pony probably already bought it or sold it somewhere.”

Cadence sighed. “I know… But this is for her. She was the reason Twilight found me down there I can at least do this.”

“I’m not going to stop you Princess, I’m just saying that the chances of finding it are pretty low.”

Cadence nodded. “I understand… But what pony would want a necklace so… Bland…Especially around here. You know how Canterlot Nobles act, they won’t purchase it unless it has some kind of foreign metal infused into it. It seemed like it was just a basic gemstone attached with a string, none of these Higher ups are going to want it.”

“What about the common ponies?” Compound replied. “It may be cheap, but somepony might want it.”

“That’s what I’m worried about…” Cadence replied. “Though… Do you think they would still want it if I said it belonged to a Changeling?”

“Some of them wouldn’t care.” Compound replied. “Though, I’ve always been one for learning about them as opposed to buying them.” A low beeping sounded from her bag. “Oh Celestia! I need to get these back to the lab before they spoil!” She sped up, rushing down the hall. “Hope it all goes well Cadence!”

Cadence waved back to the doctor, and turned to the guard next to her. “So… Who was it that found Spindle?”

Cara was standing outside the door, questioning herself for around the twenty-fifth time as she stood rooted to the spot.

She had done much worse things in her life, charging at a Dragon came to mind. She had infiltrated some of the most secure buildings in Equestria, where if she slipped up once, it would be a death sentence. Yet here she stood, in front of a door, having the worst case of nerves she ever had. Even when she came face to face with Princess Celestia she somehow managed to maintain a cool head.

Part of that always came from her awareness that she controlled the situation, she was always hidden behind a cloak of secrecy, she controlled how much information she released and gathered. She was taught to manipulate ponies almost as well as an Infiltrator. The only problem is when she had an actual feeling towards them.

Cara had been focused on her missions, gather intelligence, stalk somepony, root out moles. She had never felt anything towards a pony, and if she did, it was nothing deep. However now… She felt something very strong.

Cara was actually rather good at concealing her feelings, and under any other circumstance, she wouldn’t be anywhere near this building. But she made a promise to Spinnekop, and she planned to carry through with it.

Letting out a long breath, Cara raised her shaking foreleg, still trying to decide whether to run or not. She moved it towards the door, watching it shake violently. She sighed as she knocked lightly and slowly, then lowered the hoof.

You can still run. Her mind said. Just leave now before it gets worse. Her muscles were tensing and ready for the moment her mind finally decided to follow her body’s commands. I promised I would do this…

As she stood there for what felt like a few minutes but was probably only a few seconds, she raised her hoof again and knocked a bit harder. Her heart began pounding loudly in her ears as she waited.

When the door finally did open, the sounds cut out, and Cara thought her heart stopped until she felt it beating again. She felt her cheeks heating up slowly as she looked at the Changeling standing in the doorway.

“Cara?” Blink asked. “What are you doing here?”

Cara’s ears failed to process the question until Blink asked again. “Oh… Um… I’m uh…” Cara stuttered. Her brain trying to come up with something to say that didn’t instantly make her look like an idiot. “How’s uh… The Weather?” Cara mentally facehoofed. I’m an Idiot…

Blink looked up at the top of the Hive. “Huh… Well it could be a little damper, but it’s pretty good.”

Did he really? Cara looked up at Blink. “So uh… Can we… Maybe…” she slowly got quieter. “You know… talk?” She practically whispered.

Blink looked over at Cara, who had begun to shy away from him. “Sure.” He said.

“Oh… Okay that’s…” WAIT! He said yes? “Did… Did you say yes?”

“Of course Cara.” Blink replied. “I want to know how you’ve been. The letters I got from you were pretty brief.”

Cara rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah I uh…” She coughed nervously. “Yeah.”

“So would you like to come in, or would you prefer we stand here?”

Oh my Chrysalis! He’s inviting me in! Don’t freak out… “Um… Could we maybe… Go for a walk?”

“Sure thing.” Blink replied. “I don’t have any jobs to do right now. So might as well.” He stepped out of the doorway and closed the door behind him, all the while, Cara tried to keep herself from hyperventilating or chirping. “So… What do you want to talk about?”

“Well… Uh…I….How have you been?” Cara asked.

“Well, I’ve been good, the work flow’s been a bit weird lately.”

“W-weird how?”

“Well, I mean that usually mail is somewhat constant around the Hive, but recently it’s been jumping all over the place. One day we get maybe a few letters, the next I have to pull an all-nighter to make sure everything gets delivered.”

“Could the Invasion have something to do with it?”

Blink rubbed his chin. “It’s possible… I’m not too sure though…” He replied. “Now… I have something I want to ask you.”

Cara’s head jolted upright. “Anything!” She replied, then realizing the words she said pulled back slightly. “ahem… Sure…”

Blink looked around the area, trying to find a way to phrase the question. “Is… What I heard about Spin true?”

Cara stopped suddenly, and Blink took a few steps forward before turning back. “Cara?”

Cara sighed. “I’m… Yes.” She replied. “Spinnekop is gone…” She took a deep breath and looked down at the ground, but she felt a hoof wrap around her shoulders. Looking up, she saw Blink was trying to comfort her.

“I’m sorry if that hurt you…” He said. “I know that you two were close.”

Cara’s leg flashed green as she levitated the carving out again. “Yeah…”

Blink looked at the carving along with Cara, noticing how accurate it was. “Listen… Cara… Let’s just… Go to the waterfall…”

Cara nodded slowly as she replaced the carving. “I-I’m kind of glad Spinnekop didn’t… You know…”

“Why is that?” Blink asked.

“Because Chrysalis would have tortured her otherwise… At least now I know that she won’t have to be put through that…”

Blink nodded as they continued in silence. “There… Is something I do want to ask you… A more… Personal question I suppose.”

“Uh-huh?”

“When I came to talk to Spinnekop before you two were sent to Canterlot, she said that you were just talking.” Cara began to blush again. “Where did you go?”

Cara chuckled nervously. “I-uh… Well… You see…” She coughed nervously. “I… Uh… Was… Hiding…” She gave a nervous smile.

“Why were you hiding?” Blink asked confused.

“Well Uh… I was hiding from uh… you…” She mumbled the last word.

“I’m sorry you were hiding from what?”

“Um… you?” She replied flashing a nervous smile again.

“Why were you hiding from me?” Blink asked. “I mean… I know that I’m a bit more muscular since we last saw each other, but I didn’t think that anyling would be afraid of me.”

“I uh… I wasn’t hiding from fear…” Cara replied. “I uh… You see… I…” Cara mumbled a bit more before taking a deep breath. “I… I think I like you.”

“Well I would hope so. We’ve been friends for years.”

“No… I think that I… Really like you.” Cara replied, her Carapace gaining an ever growing red hue by the second.

“Oh…” Blink replied.

“I mean if that’s okay with you.” Cara began rambling. “I mean it’s alright if you don’t feel the same way for me. I mean you probably already have somepony else that you have your heart set after. Not that that’s a bad thing. It’s just that you were so kind and caring and I just don’t know how to say it because every time I think I can I end up getting stopped by nerves and…”

Cara looked up at Blink and stopped talking. “Sorry… I… I’ll just go…” She started to walk away from Blink, but she found him flying next to her.

“Cara. It’s alright.” He said landing next to her.

“But I don’t want to get in your way if you already have somepony… I mean you’re so kind and sweet and somepony must already have their eye on you…”

Blink shook his head. “Cara… You are the first mare to even talk to me about a relationship. And… Truth be told… I kind of like you too.” His Carapace began to change shade this time.

“R-Really?” Cara replied.

“Sure… I mean. You and Spin were always there, even when my job got in the way of things. I could always just talk to you two… Especially you…”

Cara blushed again. “Well I… You were always doing the same… Even when we started writing…”

“Yeah… But…” Blink sighed. “Let’s face it. We were both waiting for the other to say something.”

Cara giggled. “I guess you’re right…” She looked up at Blink. “So… Does this mean we’re a couple now?”

Blink tapped his chin. “How about we start as ‘Good friends’ and get reacquainted with each other after all these years, then we decide.”

“Fine by me.” Cara replied, trying very hard to contain a long trill of chirps.

“How about we start at the Waterfall?” Blink suggested. “Somewhere we can cool off for a bit.”

“If you insist.” Cara replied. “Lead the way.”

Blink began walking while Cara tried and ultimately failed to keep herself from hopping for joy. Luckily she managed to hold in the sharp trill of joy, or it might have drawn attention.

Cadence had a bit of trouble walking around the streets of Canterlot, not because of the craters caused by the Changelings, but because of the repair work from the invasion. Ponies were busily fixing the roofs, roads, basic buildings, and even the wall. It didn’t take Cadence very long to locate the section the Spinnekop had been in during the attack, as the entire section of the street where she was found was sectioned off for intensive cleaning, even though the wall still had the faint blue outline of a Changeling on it.

Cadence couldn’t help but feel sympathetic to the ponies that lost their homes, businesses, or even the few that had died in the invasion. She knew there was nothing else she could do short of helping with the repairs herself, and Shining Armor refused to let her leave the Castle without a Royal Guard escort.

“This is where you found her right?” Cadence asked.

“That’s correct Princess.” Aegis replied. “We were given a tip from several citizens that a Changeling was still alive. When we arrived, multiple ponies were holding back a few that were rather aggressive towards the Changeling.”

“How so?” Cadence asked.

“If we hadn’t arrived when we did, we are fairly certain that the Changeling would have been killed.”

“Then it is a good thing you arrived when you did.” Cadence replied. “Now… Spindle said she was around here when she was fighting…”

Cadence looked around the street, looking for some kind of store of any kind to help her look for a clue. The only trouble was that none of these buildings looked like they could be a store.

She let out a sigh. “I really hope I can find it…”

“If you don’t mind me asking Princess,” Aegis said. “Why are you doing this for the Changeling? I understand that it had a hoof in your escape… But it may just be trying to get on your good side.”

Cadence sighed. “That Changeling’s name is Spinnekop, I call her Spindle based on the persona she created to get close to me in the past. She claimed to have no idea that her Queen was doing this for power, she believed that it was for food. She is the reason I was able to escape, and this pendant we are looking for is very important to her. I want to at least do this for her.”

“Are you sure that this is safe?” Aegis replied. “We don’t know what…”

“Aegis… I’m going to do this for Spindle, whether you help me or not is up to you, but I am going to do this for her.”

“Excuse me Princess.” Cadence turned to the voice to see a light blue Earth Pony Stallion with a sky blue mane, the tips of his mane and tail were white. His cutie mark was of a Snowflake. “Sorry to disturb you, but did I hear you say that you had a Changeling named Spindle?”

Cadence nodded. “Do you know her?”

The Stallion rubbed the back of his head. “Well… Sort of… I saw her getting attacked by another Changeling and tried to help her, then she helped me, and then I found out she was a Changeling…”

“And how did you react?” Cadence asked.

“Well at first she just told me to run, I tried to say that I wasn’t going to, then she transformed and I figured it would be better to leave.” He chuckled. “At first I thought I was just imagining things. Guess I wasn’t…”

Cadence nodded. “She said something about a pony helping her, but she couldn’t remember the name.”

“Deep Freeze.” The Stallion replied. “I work at the local Ice Cream Parlor with my Wife, Sweet Tooth.”

“Are either of you hurt?” Cadence asked.

“No. We’re fine. Some broken glass and a broken freezer, but we’re fine physically.” Freeze replied. “But… What are you looking for around here?”

“Spindle lost something very important to her,” Cadence explained, “a pendant given to her by her parents when she was still a child, it’s the only thing she has left.”

Deep Freeze tapped his chin. “It wouldn’t happen to be the green one I saw her wearing would it?”

Cadence nodded. “Have you seen it?”

Deep Freeze nodded. “I know where it is, the only trouble is getting Scribe to stop trying to take it apart.”

Cadence’s eyes grew wide. “Show me!”

“Alright. His store is just up here.” Deep Freeze began leading the two of them through the street and throng of some of the ponies, until they came to a store with a large book as a sigh, the words: “Arcane Enchantments” etched into it and glowing slightly. Underneath the larger sign was a smaller one reading “Selling and buying enchanted goods, Runes, and books.”

Deep Freeze opened the door to the building as Cadence looked around the store, it seemed to contain anything ranging from jewelry to Books to even living machinations of paper, one of which was an owl that was busy preening itself as they walked in.

“Scribe is usually in the back working on some project. He sometimes gets pretty…” He was cut off by a sudden loud bang from the back room.

The door behind the counter opened as a Purple Unicorn with a short orange and blue striped mane stepped in, he waved his hoof in front of his face. “Wow… That Necklace really doesn’t like me…” He blinked a few times before looking over towards the door with green eyes. “Oh! Hello. I didn’t hear you come in.” He walked over to the counter and picked up a rag, quickly wiping it over his face. “So how can I help you today?”

Cadence walked up to the counter. “I heard that you found a pendant sometime after the attack. I was wondering if I could get a look at it.”

The Unicorn squinted at Cadence for a minute. “Huh… You know to me you look a lot like a Changeling… No idea why…” He rubbed his eye with a hoof again. “Probably the Pendant’s counter Magical spell interfering with me again. Nothing to worry about… But sure thing Miss….” He twirled his hoof.

“Princess Cadence.” Cadence replied.

“Oh! My apologies Princess.” Scribe replied. “I didn’t mean to infer that you were a Change… Uh… Yes… Come. Come see it.” He led Cadence into the back room where a number of various necklaces were laid out, a few were under a glass case saying ‘Cursed’. Another section read ‘Disenchanted’ and yet another read ‘Unknown Spell’. Sitting in the middle of the room on a small podium was the small green gemstone with a needle inside it, Cadence watched as the needle began to spin wildly before stopping to point to the north.

“Tricky little gem, no pun intended.” Scribe said. “I can’t seem to figure out what kind of spell it’s enchanted with, the magical make-up is all wonky on it.”

“How so?” Cadence asked.

“Well… For instance there is clearly some type of magical protection charm placed around the stone, which is why it isn’t broken or cracked, despite the fact I found it after somepony dropped a rather heavy box on top of it while they were relocating.” He indicated another necklace, sapphire with a circle of emeralds surrounding it. “yet That protection Charm which handled the same amount of pressure took me twenty seconds to solve. I’ve been staring at this other pendant for two days and I still can’t figure out the basic shape of the enchantment.”

Cadence looked at the Pendant to see the needle ever so slightly changing directions. “What’s going on with the Needle?”

Scribe looked at it. “I have no clue! It’s all wonky! At first I thought it was just a Compass charm so that it would always point North, but then it began pointing to the west for no reason! Then it shifted to the East, the South, then back to North again! If it is a compass charm, it has the worst sense of direction I have ever seen!”

Cadence walked over and looked down at the Pendant, noticing the needle began spinning wildly again. “What is it doing now?”

Scribe walked over to look at the pendant as the needle stopped spinning and the flipped itself so that the tip was pointing straight down. The pendant began to glow faintly as the needle inched along slowly.

Scribe rubbed his eyes again. “Well… Either The object or magical current this thing is tracking is operating on a three dimensional plane, or it’s broken.”

Cadence watched as the Needle turned itself to lie flat again as it pointed to the north. “Mr. Scribe?”

“Yes Princess?”

“I would like to procure this pendant.”

Scribe looked at Cadence confused. “Why would you want a pendant this basic with a broken compass enchantment on it?”

Cadence turned to Scribe. “It is for a good friend of mine who I believe lost it during the attack. How much would you be willing to sell it for?”

Spinnekop sat in the cell, her tears had dried up a while ago, and now she was simply waiting to hear back from Cadence. The anticipation was killing her, or the blood loss, it was one of those two.

While she was down in the dungeon, she had to find a new way to tell time, and thinking she would be down here for a while, she figured it would be good to have one. She began to notice that the magical torch could be used to tell time for six hours, as it needed to be recharged three times a day, letting it slowly burn out around night time. And given that no one had come to recharge it in a very long time, and the flame was slowly burning down, it must have been nearing nighttime.

She managed to let out another small tear at the thought of never seeing the necklace she treasured for her entire life, or even worse, finding it broken. Her mind had run rampant with the possibilities of how it could be damaged beyond even magical repair: A pony running over it in the panic, a hammer dropping accidently on it, or even it falling down into the sewer system. As her imagination was let to run wild, it began concocting more and more ludicrous ideas that even she realized were farfetched when she got to the Dragon emerging from Tartarus to specifically shatter the gem and then leave. After that, she decided to leave her imagination out of it.

She wasn’t sure how long it was until she heard hooves hitting the ground and she looked up expectantly. “Cadence?”

“I’m here Spindle.” Cadence said as she walked into view, the Guard with her eyeing Spinnekop warily.

“Did you find it? Is it safe?” Her eyes widened. “It wasn’t… It wasn’t broken was it?”

Cadence shook her head. “It’s alright Spindle.” She levitated a small black box from behind her. She opened it and revealed the small green gem inside, polished and shining, the string that she broke was replaced with a small metallic chain.

Spinnekop’s face changed to a bright smile. “Oh my Chrysalis! You found it! Where was it? Was it difficult to get back? Why is it all shiny?”

Cadence smiled. “Apparently an Enchanter named Runic Scribe found it and was attempting to decipher the runes. It was difficult to find, but when I explained why I needed it, and that I was willing to pay heavily for it, he agreed to give it a little upgrade and polish.” She nodded at the guard, whose horn lit up as Spinnekop felt her magic return to her.

Cadence levitated the pendant through the bars and around Spinnekop’s neck so it rested on her chest. “The chain is enchanted so that it will repair itself if broken. I figured you wouldn’t want to lose it again.”

Spinnekop raised her hoof to touch the pendant. “I don’t… This is… Fantastic… Thank you Cadence.”

Cadence nodded. “I wanted to ask you something… When we were getting it back, the gemstone glowed and the needle pointed straight down… What does that mean?”

Spinnekop blinked. “I’m… Not sure… It never did that before…” She looked down at it. “I’m just glad to have it back.”

“Oh and one last thing Spindle.” Cadence said, causing Spinnekop to look up at her. “I managed to get Celestia to talk to you when you’re recovered enough to walk.”

Spinnekop froze. “Ce-Celestia…”

“Yeah, I got her to agree to meet with you.” Cadence repeated. “Now I have to attend to some royal duties right now, so I’ll see you later Spindle.” Cadence waved before walking down the hall.

“Celestia…” Spindle laid down with her hooves covering her eyes. “I’m so dead…”

Chapter 10: Celestial Court

The days had gone by quickly, a few days after she left, Compound returned with good news. Spinnekop’s biology was close enough to a pony’s that the medicine they had would work. So she was recovering quickly, but that only enhanced her nerves.

For every day her recovery was shortened, it was another day closer to meeting with Celestia, a pony with power over the sun, one false move and she could end up banished, or imprisoned, or just killed! Whenever she thought about it, she couldn’t help but get nervous. Sure, she managed to get over her nerves for Chrysalis, but Chrysalis had a use for her, Celestia does not.

As Spinnekop watched the days go by, she was both relieved and fearful when a doctor came and removed her casts, she was happy to see her legs looked like they had returned to normal, but were still sore whenever she took a step, making her winch slightly.

It was only a few days later that she found herself standing outside of an ornate door, golden spirals etched into it with a large sun at the top of the door. Her legs were shaking rather heavily as she stood in her Unicorn form.

“I don’t know about this Cadence…” Spindle said. “I’m just fine with staying in the dungeon… Honestly.”

“Nonsense.” Cadence replied. “You can’t spend your whole life in a dungeon. You need to get out of there and live your life.”

“But I…”

“No buts!” Cadence snapped. “You need to do this. I promise Celestia will hear you out.”

Cadence began trying to push Spindle towards the door, but she dug her hooves into the floor as best she could. “I promise I don’t need to do this! Please just let me live my life in cold icy seclusion and never have to see Celestia!”

Cadence rolled her eyes as her horn lit up and she pulled Spindle off the ground.

“Hey! No fair!” Spindle said as she flailed helplessly in the air.

“Then you have two options Spindle. You can either walk in there like a grown po-Changeling. Or I will carry you in there.”

“Fine… You win…” Spindle said as Cadence lowered her to the ground. “I… I really don’t want to do this…”

“Spindle… I promise it will all be fine. Just tell her the truth.”

Spindle sighed. “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea…”

“Don’t worry Spindle. I’m sure everything will be fine.” Cadence replied. “I’ll be waiting for Celestia’s decision.”

Spindle looked back at Cadence fear barely managing to stay off her face. “You… You aren’t going to be with me?”

Cadence shook her head. “I’m sorry Spindle, but Celestia wants to see you herself.”

Spindle shied backwards. “I don’t really want to…”

“Spindle I know you’re scared, but Celestia is a fair and Just pony, she will hear you out. I promise nothing bad will happen, especially if everything you told me was true.”

“It was!”

“Then you have nothing to fear.” She opened her wing and lightly nudged Spindle forward. “Go get ‘em”

Spindle took a deep breath before limping up to the door, whenever she stepped on her hind right leg, she winched slightly, causing her to pause for the briefest moment before continuing. As she reached the door, she opened it with her magic and tried her hardest not to think about a beam of light incinerating her.

She looked up towards the end of the small hallway to see the Pure White Alicorn looking back at her, the Prismatic mane flowing effortlessly in the non-existent breeze. Her stoic expression never wavering, and the thing that caught Spindle off guard, her emotions were undetectable. Which to a Changeling, was the creepiest thing a pony could do.

Spindle kept walking until she was standing around ten feet away from the Princess, only keeping her legs steady because she was afraid that the smallest twitch would be seen as aggressive.

Celestia looked down on Spindle, her expression never changing as she looked over the disguised Changeling. Spindle didn’t look up for fear of seeing an angry expression, fueled by pure hatred. Instead, she tracked her eyes along the rest of the room, where six Royal Guards were standing around the room, all of them ready to suppress her if she tried anything.

“Your name is Spindle Weave correct?” Celestia asked, her voice was not one of hatred, but contempt.

Spindle nods slowly.

“It says here that your real name is Spinnekop. Is that correct?”

Spindle nods again.

“Cadence has told me quite a bit about you.” She said. “However she did not say you were a mute.”

Spindle tried to shrink herself down as small as possible. She heard Celestia sigh. “I’m not going to hurt you. I merely wish to ask you a few questions.” Spindle let’s out a small whine. “Can you please look up at me?”

Spindle hesitated, but slowly worked her way up towards Celestia seeing the stoic face loosen slightly into a small smile, which only let her fear leave by the smallest denominations.

“Now then, I just wanted to ask you one thing before we start. Can I see your Changeling form?”

Spindle froze and her eyes shrank to pins. She stared in fear up at Celestia for quite a while, her mind going with She wants me to show her that I really am a Changeling before she… She blinked slightly when Celestia sighed and a small flow of emotions passed through her defenses.

Seeing her less as a more powerful version of Chrysalis, that controlled the Sun and more of a normal Pony, her legs began to loosen up as the tension stopped.

“Better?”

Spindle nodded.

“Now, can you please answer my questions? Vocally, if possible.”

Spindle nodded. “Yes… Princess…”

“Excellent.” The breeze of emotions was suddenly stemmed. Right… Still an all-powerful Alicorn…

“Now, would you be comfortable dropping the disguise while we talk?”

Spindle flinched back a bit, but ultimately nodded. She cast a look around at the Guards in the room before allowing her body to be covered with the green flames and standing in her natural form, the Guards reflexively held their spears more aggressively, and one of them glared at Spinnekop.

“I’m glad that you feel comfortable showing yourself to me Spinnekop. Now I hope that I can proceed with the questions?”

Spinnekop nodded. “Of course… Your Majesty.”

“My first question to you is…” Spinnekop’s mind ran wild before she even got her question out, coming up with reasons and stories and all manner of information about herself she never thought she would need again. Everything from guilt to sorrow and finally to that one time she… “Would you like a seat?”

Spinnekop was momentarily confused by the question, she looked up at Celestia and blinked a few times before the question finally processed. “Uh… I suppose it wouldn’t hurt…”

Celestia nodded and her horn lit up, with a small poof, one that made Spinnekop jump into the air in alarm, she found herself landing on a rather comfortable chair, that helped keep the pressure off of her hind legs. “I could see that your legs were rather injured, I would hate to see them get worse.”

“Oh well… Thank you.” Spinnekop replied, looking up at Celestia. “But… I thought this was going to be more… Personal?”

“It is.” Celestia replied. “But I would rather you not be frightened of me before I begin to ask. I can understand that you have been told the powers I can wield, but I rarely need to use them, and I will not be attempting to harm you until I know the full story.”

“Okay…” Spinnekop replied.

“Now, I hate to insinuate anything, but I need to ask first and foremost. How much did you do during the attack?”

“Well…” Spinnekop replied. “I uh… I helped get Cadence out, then I got knocked unconscious… I found my way out of the Caverns and tried to make it to the castle… But then I got in a fight with Clobber, and everything gets kind of fuzzy after that.”

“So you never hurt anypony?” Celestia asked.

“Well… Not during the Invasion. There was one time when I first started coming to Pony villages, and I accidently kicked a ball into a colt’s face…” She admitted. “But he seemed fine!” She quickly added.

Celestia let out a small chuckle. “Oh… I don’t blame you for that. Colts can be rather troublesome from what I have heard. I am quite glad to hear you have never hurt anypony.”

You and me both… Spinnekop thought letting out a relieved sigh.

“Now while I wish I could put this particular question off, I do not like the idea of the consequences of leaving it unaddressed.” She paused as Spinnekop looked up at her. “Where is the Hive?”

Spinnekop’s eyes widened. “Um… I… I…” She sighed. “I can’t…”

Celestia stood up from the throne she was seated in, and walked down towards Spinnekop, who quickly curled up and started to shake in fear.

She’s going to torture me! There’s no way that I will make it out of this! But… I can’t betray all of them…

Celestia walked next to Spinnekop, and though Spinnekop feared what Celestia could do, she was still a Changeling, and there was only one thing every Changeling agreed on, ‘Never reveal the Location of the Hive.’ It was a crime worse than any others a Changeling could commit. Doing so held heavy consequences, even worse than becoming a Breeder! She couldn’t tell Celestia, no matter how much she…

Why is she smiling? Spinnekop looked up from her hooves to see Celestia sitting next to her, a small smile playing across her face. “I am quite glad to see you still hold some responsibility to your hive.” She said. “I am glad you would not give them up, it shows that you are loyal, even to the ones who forsake you.”

“But… I thought you would…”

“I understand your fears, little Changeling. You are afraid I will attack, send the full force of Equestria’s military strength into it and destroy it swiftly.” She sighed. “While I’m certain many Nobles wish for redemption, I only seek peace with your Queen.”

Spinnekop shifted uncomfortably in the seat. “Princess… I… I can’t for more than one reason…”

“Go ahead, I am interested in them.”

Spinnekop sighed. “The Queen isn’t a loving ruler, she does what she wants with little to obstruct her, and… I’m sorry to say this… But Equestria wouldn’t survive an assault on the Hive.”

“Why is that?”

“The Hive… It’s all brute strength… The Alphas are trained to use the environment, and with the Ponies not knowing the Hive, they would be led into traps and killed. Even if they get close, Chrysalis still has the power she stole from Cadence, she would not give herself up…”

Celestia sighed. “Do you think she would attempt another attack?”

“I’m not sure… But it is against everything we stand for to reveal the secret of the Hive. I… I would be damning my friends and those who had nothing to do with the attack… I just can’t tell you.”

Celestia nodded. “I’m sorry to have to put you through that. I promise that the next questions will be less demanding of you.” She sighed. “It is a shame Chrysalis is nothing like a proper Monarch. She only uses all of you. Could I ask a personal question?”

Why stop now? “Sure…”

“What were you before the attack?” Celestia asked. “You could not have always been a soldier, or you wouldn’t have let yourself survive this long. You certainly wouldn’t have let another Changeling attack you.”

Spinnekop sighed. “I wasn’t a soldier… I was trained specifically for a special task that I thought would help the Hive… But turned out to drive me away from them…”

“What was this task?’

“I was to gather information on Cadence, and the Queen later used it to help her take her place…”

“Did you kn-”

“I had no idea what the Queen was doing!” Spinnekop interrupted, she then realized what she had done and shrunk back down speaking quickly. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to cut you…”

Celestia held up her hoof. “It is quite alright. Cadence has told me your reaction to finding out your Queen’s intentions. However you did play a large part in the attack.”

Spinnekop curled up a bit more, her leg ever so slightly beginning to remind her it was still sore.

“So I will ask you one thing,” Celestia said. “Cadence has told me she believes that you were truthful, I on the other hoof, am more skeptical.” She stood up again and nodded towards one of her Guards, who left the room. “I do not wish to have a spy revealing information about us to Chrysalis. So I will ask this,” She leaned in to stare at Spinnekop. “Can you convince me?”

Spinnekop began shaking. Can I convince her that I was telling the truth? How am I going to do that? If she doesn’t like what I say is she going to banish me? Just like Nightmare moon! I don’t want to be stuck on the Moon!

“Princess, the prisoner’s belonging like you requested.” The Guard replied as it stepped back into the room, the only thing it was holding in its magical grip was a light blue bag.

Spinnekop was still having a silent mental breakdown in the chair, trying desperately not to think about the consequences of the Alicorn rejecting her, or even worse, meeting with Luna, who was more impulsive and aggressive than Celestia from what she had been told. More than likely Luna would have already forced her to tell the truth and wouldn’t be too happy about it. Maybe I could just run and then…

She blinked when the light blue bag was waved in front of her face, bringing her out of her trance. The bag was held in a glowing yellow aura, she gasped before quickly reaching up and grabbing it. “My Bag!” She said happily. “I thought I would never see it again!”

“May I ask what you were focusing so intently on?” Celestia asked. “You were staring out the window without any reaction to anything I attempted.”

“Oh uh…” Spinnekop replied, fidgeting with the bag. “I was uh… Thinking about what you would do if I said something you…wouldn’t like…” She finished with a small nervous chirp that caused her to place a hoof over her mouth. “Sorry…”

“It is quite alright, I can understand why many would be… Rather pleased to hear that a prisoner fears them, I am not one of them. Now you were found with this bag, it even protected you from some of the impact, but I did not pry, so what is within it?”

Spinnekop sighed and opened the bag, pulling out the extremely dull knife from within, causing a few of the Guards to lower their spears, Spinnekop tried her best to ignore them. “This used to be my old carving knife for when I would make small figurines and a few other things when I could manage it. It’s just a whittling knife now, I doubt it could cut much other than butter at this point.”

She reached into the bag and pulled out a few of the letters. “Then I have these. A few of the letters Cadence sent me. I kept the most interesting ones myself.”

“Such as?” Celestia inquired.

Spinnekop unfolded a few of the letters and quickly read through them. “Well this one is the first one she wrote me when I was five.” She pointed to another letter. “This one was about Shining Armor and how much she loved him. Then this one is about how she spent an entire night with a small foal going through calculations and mathematical formulas to see if they were a perfect match. Then the Fall Formal… Whatever that is…” Spinnekop pulled out another letter and opened it, seeing it wasn’t from Cadence. “I forgot I put this in here…”

She was looking at the letter Cara had sent her about the Dragon, it was the one that Spinnekop kept with her as a memory of how much Cara hadn’t really changed, and now knowing that she had helped take down a Dragon, the letter held a way of reminding her of the story.

As well as the way she managed to screw it all up.

Spinnekop sighed. “She’s never going to want to talk to me again…”

Celestia looked over the letters Spinnekop handed her, noticing the similar style of writing that she knew as Cadence’s when she was younger.

“Oh I also have this one from when Luna returned, when everything was all chaotic and I got turned into a Spider.” Celestia looked down at her with a small look of surprise. “Long story… I don’t know what happened…”

Celestia sighed. “though I might…” She said under her breath. Spinnekop continued to riffle through the letters until she came upon the newest additions to the bag. She pulled them out and looked over the two of them. Sighing, she placed them in front of Celestia.

“If anything in here can prove who I really am, these will.”

Celestia looked curiously at the notes, before lifting them both up, one was a letter from Cadence about the wedding, the other was an invitation to the wedding. “How does this help convince me?”

“I’ve never really been the type to rummage through anypony’s mail, I certainly wouldn’t do it unless it was something really bad. But I received that letter and invitation a mere hour before I left to come here.” She sighed. “And if you still don’t believe me, I have my old scores from Chrysalis’ initial reports when I was five, and I have the old… Oh… No I don’t…” She was going to say she had the old carving she made of Spindle Weave but that was currently underground, or crushed.

She sighed. “I’m going to have to make another one when I get the chance…”

Celestia looked over the letters they were unmistakably written by Cadence, the number of times Celestia had overseen Cadence’s classes made her very aware of how she wrote.

She sighed. “Yes, these are certainly written by Cadence. However it does not help convince me your intentions are pure.”

Spinnekop kept searching through her bag, trying to find something that would help convince her, absolutely anything! All of the letters she stored in her bag weren’t anything more than friendly letters from Cadence and Cara, nothing that would cause the great and powerful Celestia to change her mind that was for sure.

Spinnekop sighed. “I don’t know…” She mumbled. “I know that I was a major part in the invasion, and I regret helping Chrysalis do something like that… I’m not sure if there is anything I could possibly do to convince you that I’m not with the Hive… But if there was anything I could do, I would.” Spinnekop hopped off the seat she was on, wincing slightly as she landed on her hind leg. “But… Since I’m just a Changeling… And I know you have no reason to trust me, I will take any punishment you think I deserve for my part in the Invasion.” She bowed to the Alicorn in front of her. Please don’t be Moon Banishment…

Celestia gave a light ‘hmmm’ looking at the Changeling currently prostrating herself in front of her, despite the pain she was inevitably feeling while doing it. The possible strategic advantage to having a scout that could hide in plain sight did tickle at her mind, but it was only a small tickle. Equestria hadn’t gone to war with a race they knew little about in a few centuries. Although they may very well be involved in another war with the Griffons soon enough…

Celestia’s horn began to glow as Spinnekop prepared herself for a blast of magic to incinerate her where she stood, but the deadly beam never came, instead a faint aura was surrounding Spinnekop. She looked up at Celestia to see her horn was glowing the same light yellow color.

“Spinnekop, I am going to ask you a few questions, you can answer yes or no.” Celestia motioned to her horn. “For every question you answer truthfully, the aura will change to green and you will feel better for each question, for each question you answer dishonestly, the aura will change to red, and you will feel a small shock.” Spinnekop gulped. “If you answer, but there is more to the answer, the aura will turn blue. Are you ready to begin?”

Spinnekop looked around the room and nodded slowly, an extremely nervous smile on her face.

“Good, first question. Did you know that Chrysalis was seeking to overthrow my rule?”

Spinnekop nodded. “yes…”

The Aura turned green.

“Did she tell you the true reason she planned to attack Equestria?”

“No…”

The Aura changed to a light blue. “She told us it was to help ourselves gather food, without worrying about you knowing…” The Aura changed to green.

Celestia looked curiously at Spinnekop. “Is Chrysalis the only Hive Queen?”

Spinnekop nodded, and the aura changed to red, and she felt a rather large shock go through her body, as she fell to the ground, the Aura changed to blue. “In Equestria…” She groaned, picking herself up, the Aura changed to green and Spinnekop felt as though she wasn’t just hit by a large electrical current.

“Do we have anything to worry about with these other Hive Queens?”

Spinnekop picked herself up and shrugged. “I’ve never met any of them. I just know they exist.” The Aura changed to green.

“Now, do you have any want to harm any of my subjects, and have you ever attempted to bring harm to one of my subjects?”

“No.” Spinnekop replied. “I have never attempted to directly harm any of your subjects.” The Aura remained green.

“Now, did the Changelings have anything to do with the situation that developed inside of the Griffon Kingdom?”

Spinnekop blinked. “Wait… There was an issue in the Griffon Kingdom?” Spinnekop asked. “That’s normally Aurum’s territory. Why would…”

The Aura changed colors to purple. “What does this mean?” Spinnekop asked looking at her hooves.

“That you have no idea.” Celestia replied. “Now then, the final question.” Spinnekop looked up at Celestia as the aura dissipated. “Are you truly a friend of Cadence, or is this all a play?”

Spinnekop shrunk down further. This simple answer could determine what happens to her, and she didn’t like thinking about the worst case scenarios.

“I… I….” She took a deep breath. “She’s the only friend I have left…”

Cadence waited outside of the hall Celestia set aside for the meeting, pacing as she too was trying not to think about the worst case scenarios. She knew that Celestia wouldn’t let her own emotions influence a decision that held an innocent life on the lines. She had been there when Celestia made friends with many of the races around Equestria, but she knew full well that Celestia would protect her subjects from anything.

Even with this knowledge, she couldn’t help but have a little bit of panic, most likely something she picked up from her years with Twilight, if it turned out that Spinnekop could be a threat, Celestia would want to try and lower the threat as much as possible, and when the Guard had left the room, the most he said was that Spinnekop was just as worried as Twilight would be. Which she hoped would be in Spinnekop’s favor.

As she continued to pace, she heard an electrical crackle in the air, which only meant that Celestia was using the Lie detection spell, which she herself hated using so Cadence constantly wondered why she kept it around.

After a period of time that Cadence could not discern, she heard the doors open as Spinnekop walked through, her limp was gone and she was smiling. Cadence walked over to her. “Spindle! How’d it go?”

Spinnekop looked up at the Alicorn and smiled. “Oh it was great! I was a bit nervous at first and got scared a lot because Celestia is so much stronger than Chrysalis was and she was doing a weird trick that blocked her emotions so it was super creepy. I was never more scared in my life than when I was afraid she would banish me to the Moon or something, but after we got past that and the questions Celestia gave me a chance to prove that I really am willing to redeem myself!”

“That’s great Spindle.” Cadence replied. “How are you going to do that?”

Spinnekop’s smile grew wider. “Well… I was wondering if maybe I could ask you for something…”

“Sure. What do you need?”

“Could I maybe… Be your personal Servant?” Spinnekop asked.

Cadence blinked a couple of times. “You want to what?”

“Well… I was thinking… Celestia wants me to work close to one of the Princesses… And I thought that maybe you wouldn’t mind…” She looked up at Cadence’s surprised face.

“Why do you want to?”

Spinnekop poked at the ground with her hoof. “Well… Celestia wants me to work alongside a princess. Not to be rude to either of them, but Princesses Celestia and Luna scare me. Luna especially! And I just… Feel more comfortable around you because we’ve been friends for so long…” She began drawing circles with her hoof. “I mean… If you don’t want to I’m sure I could get some other position around the Castle…”

Cadence tapped her chin with a hoof. “Well… I’m not exactly one to enjoy having Hoofmaidens all the time. I guess that it wouldn’t be too bad to give it at least a trial period…”

Spinnekop looked up at Cadence in surprise. “Does that mean you’re going to allow it?”

Cadence nodded. “We’ll see what it’s like for a while before I- OOF.” Spinnekop had reached up and pulled Cadence into a hug. “Thank you Cadence! I’ll make sure you don’t regret it! I’ll be the best Hoofmaiden I can!”

Cadence managed to pull herself away from the Changeling’s embrace. “Hold on Spindle.” She said. “I don’t want you causing any problems with Shining Armor too, so I want to make sure it would be alright with him that you are technically under my employ.”

Spinnekop gulped. “But… He’s going to hate me…” She replied. “I mean… I helped save you, and you know it is me, but to him… I don’t even know what the Queen did to him. For all I know she could have… Have… I don’t even know what! But it can’t have been good.”

Cadence sighed. “I know that he probably won’t be very… Open to the idea of having you around, but I can try to convince him that you aren’t like Chrysalis.”

Spinnekop sighed. “Alright… I trust you… Do you want me to come with you?”

Cadence tapped her chin. “Yes, I think that would be helpful, so that he can actually see you aren’t like her.”

“Alright.” Spinnekop replied, transforming back into Spindle. “How should we handle this?”

“Shiny, I need to talk to you about something.” Cadence said as she stepped into the room, followed closely by Spindle.

“In a second honey.” Shining Armor called from the other room. He walked in with a small ice pack on the back of his head. “Damn headaches… That Changeling Queen and her mind control are still causing trouble even after they left.”

“Are those headaches still bothering you?” Cadence asked shaking her head. “I thought Twilight said they would clear up by now.”

“She did say that, but I guess Changeling magic has a lingering affect…” He said. “So what did you need to talk about?”

Cadence sighed as she and Spindle sat down on a couch in the middle of the room. “Shiny, you know that this is the real me right?”

Shining Armor looked at her curiously. “Yyyyeeeeessss?” He said uncertainly. “Is there some reason you wouldn’t be yourself?” He asked.

“Well, no. But I just needed to make absolutely sure that you would trust me when I say this.” She took a deep breath. “This is my old Pen Pal, Spindle Weave.” Spindle waved nervously.

“Well it’s nice to finally meet you. Cadence kept saying great things about you and how excited she was that she managed to get an invite for you. Hopefully the invasion wasn’t too much of a turn off for you.”

Spindle smiled nervously and rubbed the back of her head.

“Actually Shiny, that is one of the big things I wanted to talk about…” Spindle shifted uncomfortably. “Remember our mutual enemies the Changelings?”

“How could I forget?” He let out a huff of annoyance. “Being brainwashed and nearly turned into a mindless slave is a difficult thing to forget.”

Spindle nervously twitched. “Well… What would you say if you ever met a Changeling again?”

Shining Armor looked at his wife for a few seconds before tapping his chin. “Huh… Never really thought about it, I kind of hoped they would be blasted to Kingdom Come.” A slight shiver ran up Spindle’s spine. “But if I did… I guess it would really depend. I’m not really looking forward to ever seeing one again.”

Cadence rubbed the back of her neck. “Well… What if I were to show you a Changeling that I knew wasn’t a threat to us in any way…”

Shining Armor looked down at Spindle. “Cadence?” Shining Armor said, his horn beginning to light up. “If you have something to say, just say it.”

Cadence sighed. “Shining Armor, this is Spindle Weave,” She nudged Spindle, “She’s a Changeling.”

Spindle took a deep breath as green flames changed her back to her natural form. “She wants to work for me as a hoofmaiden…”

Shining Armor glared at Spinnekop, his horn glowing brighter. “Cadence? Give me a reason to trust it.”

“Shiny… Spinnekop has been a friend of mine for quite a while, and she was one of the reasons I was able to get out of the caverns.”

Shining Armor gritted his teeth. “What if it is all just a ploy.”

Cadence sighed. “Spindle… Could you please wait in the other room?”

Spinnekop nodded and quickly ran into the other room, opting to sit down at first.

However about fifteen minutes later…

Spinnekop was cowering underneath the large bed, the sounds of the couple arguing about the ramifications of housing a Changeling clearly piercing the wooden door. Spinnekop was cowering for fear that a random spell might burst through the door and smash her into a wall, now she had something covering her.

The shouting wasn’t what Spinnekop would have liked, the fact that she knew how deeply in love they were, and how much they were arguing about her staying here made her feel like she should have just left, but with all of the boosted security, on her own she would be captured again. Her best chance of survival was to just hope Cadence could convince Shining Armor.

She had no idea how much longer it was until they calmed down, but it was a few minutes after the shouting stopped that the door to the room opened. “Spindle?”

“Down here.” Spinnekop replied, waving a hoof out from under the bed.

Cadence walked next to the bed. “Sorry for that Spindle… Are you alright?”

“Just a little shaken.” She replied. “I was worried that he would activate that repulsion spell and I would smash through a window.”

“Oh I wouldn’t let him do that…” Cadence replied. “Come on out, I promise he won’t intentionally hurt you. I managed to tell him what was going on. He understands.”

“Really?” Spinnekop asked pulling herself out from under the bed. “He’s okay with me being here?”

“Well… I did kind of have to play the guilt card on him.”

“How did you manage that?” Spinnekop asked as she wiped some dust from her backplate.

“Well… I told him he may have had a tiny hoof in your injuries and that you would have died had it not been for somepony that called over the guard.” She smiled.

“You are crafty aren’t you?” Spinnekop replied. “I knew you said you had a way with words, but I didn’t think you could get a Stallion to actually feel guilt to somepony they had a reason to hate.”

“Well, when you’ve been with the same Stallion for a few years, you learn how to play his emotions.” She winked. “Plus… He’s cute when he’s internally debating his feelings.”

Spinnekop snickered as she was led by Cadence out of the room. Shining Armor was sitting on the couch, his emotions were definitely in conflict as the flame that represented emotions kept shifting colors, currently it was a nice purple color that reminded Spinnekop of a fresh Lilac.

He was focused on ignoring the Changeling until he figured out some reason to trust or get rid of it. He looked over towards Spinnekop and gave a small sigh. “I’m not happy about this… But I guess as long as you don’t cause any trouble, you can stay.” His emotions switched to bright red. “But if I hear anything about you causing trouble around the Castle, I will do everything in my power to make sure you don’t do it again.”

Spinnekop gulped. “Yes Sir…”

Shining Armor sighed in irritation. “I need to get to work…” Shining Armor said. “The headaches are annoying, but they can’t distract me from my duties.” He walked towards the door and gave a last look at Spinnekop before closing the door.

Spinnekop sighed in relief as he left. “Great… Now I have to worry about the Captain of the Guard looking over my shoulder…”

“Oh don’t worry about him…” Cadence replied. “He’s still a bit defensive after the whole situation… He won’t do anything rash… Hopefully…”

Spinnekop sighed. “Well nothing else I can…”

There was a knock on the door and Spinnekop transformed into Spindle.

“I’ll get it, you just relax, it’s been a very stressful week for you…” Cadence said as she walked to the door.

Spindle sat down on the red cushioned couch, and looked back towards the door as Cadence opened it.

“Hello?”

“Sorry for the disturbance Princess… But I have a package here for a… Spindle Weave…” A guard replied.

While Spinnekop could only see Cadence’s back, she could tell the pony was surprised. “But… How could the delivery service know she was here?”

“I’m not sure Princess, but we were told to deliver it to you by the mail pony. We checked it for any dangerous materials of course, and found nothing. We couldn’t even find a single trace of anyone’s hoofprints on this box, it’s been enchanted so we can’t track it anywhere.”

“Huh… Strange…” Cadence replied. “Any idea what’s inside?”

“Wood.” The Guard replied. “That’s about all we could get from the scan.”

“Well I’m glad you brought this to me, I’ll let Spindle know she has a package.” From the slight metallic shifting, the Guard had bowed slightly before the door closed. Cadence walked over and placed a large box in front of Spindle. "So… You have mail…”

Spindle returned to her normal form and looked at the box. “I have no idea who sent this…” She replied. “I don’t have anyone who could send me anything…”

Cadence sighed. “Well… Only one way to find out.” She motioned to the box.

Spinnekop took a deep breath and encompassed the box in her magic, pulling off the sealing tape, she flipped open the box and looked inside. She found three wooden boxes within, that all had strangely familiar carvings on them…

She gasped. “These… These are my supplies!” She reached in and pulled out the boxes, each one was nicely polished and expertly refurbished, even though the years had gone by, the words were now just as clear as they were before.

As she pulled out the boxes, she noticed another section covered up by a large amount of packing peanuts and a liberal portion of bubble wrap. Taking the wad of packaging out, she noticed it held a few pieces of her art, including some of her smaller carvings, her unfinished tapestry, and a half finished stone sculpture of who was supposed to be Chrysalis, but she hadn’t quite gotten around to making most of the features, so it just looked like a Alicorn.

Further still was a smaller box than the others, it was only a package within, but Spinnekop opened it regardless. Inside were a few crystals, a picture, and a letter. The picture showed Spindle Weave with Pastel next to her. They were both standing on a pier smiling with the sea in the background.

Curious Spinnekop took out the letter and began reading it.
Dear Spindle,

If you are reading this, then I guess I owe somepony twenty bits. It has been a good few years alongside you, taking these little family trips. It’s too bad that you decided to split from us. I don’t hold it against you so don’t worry about that. The Queen on the other hoof…

Spinnekop, I wish I didn’t have to write this, but you are now officially dead. Cypher and Clobber both agreed that there was too slim a chance you would survive to warrant any kind of search, but I know you’re a tough little Nymph; you just take care of yourself out there.

The Queen is none too happy about that stunt you pulled, she even ordered that all of the art (She didn’t want to keep) was to be brought to her for destruction. I only barely managed to get these pieces out of the Hive along with the rest of your letters. I hate saying it, but you are forbidden from ever returning to the Hive, and any Changeling that sees you is under orders to kill you.

I managed to talk the Queen into only convicting you for Treason instead of everything else, and I got these things to safety, what I’m saying is, you owe me. You have no idea how difficult it was to get these out of the Hive, then find a way to get it to you without some kind of Horsefeathers getting in the way.

You can pay me back by living a good life. I might see you around some time, and I’ll try to see if I can set up a delivery network for you and Cara.

Sorry I couldn’t be there when you needed me,

~Pastel C.

Spinnekop finished reading and wiped a few of her tears from her eyes. Not only was she a convict, and unable to see her friend again, but Cloak had honestly done everything she could to make sure that she had the necessary supplies to keep working. She also wasn’t getting hunted down by Chrysalis, so that was good.

She looked up to see Cadence looking over the picture. “Who’s this?” She asked pointing at Pastel. “You never mentioned her in any of the letters.”

“That’s Pastel, the disguise of my mentor Cloak. We travelled all around Equestria when I was still in training. She was the best Infiltrator I knew. She was kind of like my older sister…”

“So… I’m going to guess that she told you you cannot return to the Hive or you would die.”

Spinnekop nodded. “She’s trying to set up a way for me to talk to Cara… My old friend.”

Cadence looked over the carvings that Spinnekop took out of the box. “So these are the carvings you’ve worked on?”

“The one’s Chrysalis didn’t destroy…” She sighed. “I guess I had better get used to Canterlot then…” Spinnekop began to get up, but Cadence placed her hoof on Spinnekop’s chest and lightly pushed her back down.

“You just relax. I can teach you what you need to know tomorrow, but right now, you just get some rest.”

Spinnekop nodded. “Um… Cadence… Quick question.”

“Sure.”

“Where am I going to sleep?”

Bonus Chapter: Spinnekop's Beginnings

Author's Note

So the next chapter is taking much longer than I thought it would... So I decided to put a filler thing in here to pass the time.

This was a small snippet I wrote a while before I wrote 'Pen Pals' as it is now. This was my first attempt to write a 'Changeling Vs. Shield Wall' Story, it is short, but it is what got me the idea.

Sorry for the wait... Things got really hectic... So hopefully this will make up for that... :twilightsheepish:

Also if you guys didn't like when Spinnekop hit the shield... You won't like this... Fair warning.

Bonus Chapter: Spinnekop's Beginnings

“You idiotic Nymph!” The Captain said as he kicked her in the stomach. “The plan was going perfectly, everything the Queen wanted! You just had to help that pathetic Princess!” The Captain bucked Spin away. “Spinnekop this is your last chance to surrender.”

Spin began to push herself up, her legs trembling from the force of the hits; she had to buy just a little more time, just a few more minutes. She managed to stand up on her four legs, glaring at the Captain, his dark blue armor showing none of the damage she had hoped.

“You have committed crimes against the Hive and against a direct order from the Queen.” He said. “I am giving you one last chance to come quietly, take it.”

He said it like an order and while Spin was a soldier, one that was bound to a code of honor and sacrifice for the betterment of the Hive, she merely glared at the captain with her good eye, the other having been swollen from the repeated punishment she had been dealt.

She spat out a bit of her light blue blood before replying with a very raspy, “No.”

The Captain shook his head. “So be it.” He bent down, preparing to pounce, but right before he set his muscles into the final motion to strike, he turned towards the castle. “No… NO!” He looked back at Spin. “What is that?”

Spin smiled painfully, as she looked towards the castle, a large concentration of love had begun to form there, and the Captain began to fly into the air. “You will pay for this! The Queen will have your head!”

“Tell her…She can take it…” Spin smiled. “They won…”

The Captain began to fly over the large wall of Canterlot, just as the love was released in a large pulse, smashing into the Changelings and sending them hurtling away from the castle. Most of them being pulled into the air enough to avoid the large stone wall.

Most.

As the nova smashed into Spin, she was sent hurtling at a sharp angle, however due to her proximity to the wall, she failed to gain enough altitude to avoid it.

She smashed into the wall, and heard the deafening crack of her chitin as it split. Her body was being crushed between the shield and the stone wall, as the pain began to intensify while the shield began resisting more and more, she silently begged for the wall to shatter behind her, her screams feeling dwarfed by the growing cracking sounds that stretched throughout her body, she could feel the chitin stretching trying to stay together, but ultimately failing under the enormous strain.

She felt the cracks grow in size, working their way up towards her head, This is how I die… Squashed against the shield… At least she’s safe… She thought quickly. As her Chitin’s cracks began to move towards her neck, she prayed that her Endoskeleton would hold her together, but stopped after she realized that her legs were plainly shattered. She heard the first of the chitin cracks reach up towards her jaw line, as she prayed for death, prayed for the pain to end. Then suddenly, the shield stopped.

Spin, quickly opened her eyes at the lack of pain, to find herself two stories up, and staring down at an empty street, with nothing to stop her from tumbling onto it. And that is just what happened.

Her body detached from the wall, and the second it happened, time slowed. Spin looked down to see the street below her, and turned to look at the wall she fell from, to her forelegs, which were bent and covered in large fractures.

She let out a scream, and began to tumble. Hurtling towards the ground, she prayed that she would have some miracle happen, something to save her life from certain death. However she found herself slamming into the ground with her underbelly, feeling as a large flood of her warm, light blue blood shot out of her, spreading across the street.

For a few, terrible, long seconds, she only heard her own slow, raspy breaths, along with the heavy pounding of her accelerated heart. Her open eyes darting around her field of vision, looking for someone to help.

“…help…” She tried to shout, but it only came out as a low plead. “…please…anypony…help…I…” Her vision began to fade out, and she felt like it would be the last time she would ever see again. “Please…”

Her vision faded to black as she fell into unconsciousness, a small tear rolling across her chitin.

She heard the sounds of ponies, gathering around, asking questions to each other. She tried to move, and heard their gasp.

“It’s still alive!”

“Somepony get the Guard!”

She barely held onto her hearing as she fell out again, the next time she woke, she heard metal hitting the stone, and heard some ponies drawing closer. She opened her eyes just a bit to see the Gold clad Royal Guard walking towards her, a large cage behind them.

One of them attempted to move her, and she let out a loud reflexive scream, before fading out of consciousness again.

She woke up again to find herself inside of a cage, being pulled along the streets of Canterlot. The ponies nearby staring with disgust and hatred, a few looking on concerned at the appearance of the Changeling. One of them shouted angrily at the Guards, but before she could pick up on what he said, she lost consciousness again.

When Spin finally regained her full consciousness, without fear of fading out again, she was inside of a dark stone cell, all of the pain had been numbed, and she was on a bed. A rather uncomfortable bed, but a bed none the less. She looked down at her legs, her front legs had been placed in casts, and as she looked behind her, she saw her hind legs bandaged up, and her wings were bent in a number of places.

Seeing her body so broken, with the spider web of cracks flowing through it, she lowered her head and sobbed quietly.

She continued to sob for quite a while until a soft, calming voice spoke to her. “Spindle Weave, are you okay?”

Spin looked up from the ground to see the pink Alicorn standing in front of the Cell door. “Spindle…”

Spin sobbed slightly. “I’ll never see the Hive again… Will I?”

Cadence tried to smile reassuringly, but to Spin, it was clear she didn’t think so. Spin began to sob louder, the echoes rising through the dark dungeon. She was alone, no other Changeling would be able to speak with her… and there was no way she could return… She was a traitor, committed treason against her Queen, aided in her defeat.

She regretted the choice.

Chapter 11: A New Start

Spinnekop woke up with rather strange and forgotten stimulus, the sun.

The large ball of Plasma rose above the horizon, piercing through the glass and directly onto Spinnekop’s closed eyes. Being used to sleeping underground in a dungeon with no way of telling time, and then suddenly having a bright light shine on her face was not a good thing, especially given her fear of one specific pony.

As the light hit her eyes, it was less a rude awakening, and more a metaphorical slap in the face. Her eyes shot open and she quickly forgot all about sleep as she let out a small high-pitched chirp and fell off the couch she used for a bed.

Quickly scrambling to her hooves she ran behind the couch and curled up there, trying very hard not to hyperventilate.

“No! I didn’t do anything! Please don’t roast me alive!” She said, holding her hooves in front of her face. When she began to peak through the holes in her hooves, she noticed the sunlight peaking from the bottom of the couch. “Oh…” She let down her hooves and resisted the urge to slap herself. Celestia did only say it was Minor Healing afterall… She let out a sigh.

It had been less than twenty-four hours since she met with Celestia, and the thought of the Solar Alicorn suddenly changing her mind about trusting her made Spinnekop tense up. Calming down her heart, she looked over the couch to see the sun was just barely peaking over the horizon.

She sighed in annoyance. She had promised she would relax, and she had been resting for most of the day after Shining Armor went back to work. While she normally would have enjoyed a chance to sleep in, now she was wide awake, and sleep didn’t seem like a possibility anymore, as by the time her adrenaline stopped flowing, the sun would already be high enough to keep her awake. She decided it would be best to get to work while she could…

While she had absolutely no idea how a hoofmaiden was supposed to work, she figured it couldn’t be much different from a Queen’s Caretaker. She herself had never been one, but she had an acquaintance with one that she became quite good friends with because of all the time she spent in the castle.

It was a Caretaker’s job to see over the Queen, however since she rarely needed help with… anything really, the Caretakers became the overseers of the castle. When that wasn’t needed, they handled care of the pupa.

“We can hardly trust the brain-dead Breeders to be good mothers and fathers to them,” She had said. “They wouldn’t know the first thing about caring for a child.”

“How can you be sure?” Spinnekop asked as they sat down for lunch one day.

“Well, I saw not one, not two, but FIVE Breeders that mistook the eggs they had just laid, for food,” she replied as she munched on some hay.

“Not all Breeders can be like that though…” Spinnekop replied. “Some of them must be better than that.”

The Caretaker nodded. “Oh of course. A few of them are smarter than the whole lot of them. I once had a thrilling conversation with one by the name of Rosemary. Sweet darling, not sure how she became a Breeder, but we talked for a while on proper care of nymphs.” She took a sip of her water. “And she was rather knowledgeable. I think she would have made a great mother.”

“What happened to her?” Spinnekop replied.

The Caretaker stabbed a fork at the pile of hay. “I’m not sure… I got pulled into the castle not long after that. Something about an escape from the Breeders that was assisted by a Caretaker.” She tossed a couple oats into her mouth.

“I wonder what happened to her…”

Spinnekop sighed as she remembered the rest of her friends she grew to know over her time in the Hive. Those friends she would never get to see again… She shook off the memories and instead opted to attempt flying for the first time since she entered Canterlot.

She looked back at her thin, membranous wings as she extended them. There was no apparent pain, but she would need to see how they reacted to flying. Tentatively, she began to slowly flap them; when she felt no pain, she began to increase the frequency of the wing beats. As she sped up the flapping, her wings began to produce a low buzzing before slowly lifting her off the ground.

As she got a few inches of the ground, she decided it would be a rather good idea to see what kind of cleaning needed to be done near the ceiling. The room had a rather high ceiling and Spinnekop doubted most ponies were willing to climb enormous ladders to clean some place that ninety percent of the normal guests never look at. Or if there were even ladders that tall lying around in the castle…

As she flew up to the top of the room, she transformed one of her hooves into a griffon claw and ran it along the top of a curtain. Pulling it away and looking at it, she shook her head as she noticed a rather thick layer of dust that had settled down near the top. Wiping the claw off on her chest, she transformed her tail into a feather duster and began sweeping it back and forth over the top of the curtain.

While certainly not her favorite job, she did admit to having a bit of pleasure from seeing things clean, which was probably going to have a very different meaning now than at the Hive as well.

In the Hive, the definition of "Clean" was “Does not look like a place five thousand Changelings walked through every day.” Four thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine was fine, but once it got over that five thousand mark, it was dirty.

Whereas here, "Clean" seemed to mean “So bright and shiny you could have sworn you would be able to eat off of it.”

There was another reason why Spinnekop liked doing a bit of dusting and cleaning: it gave her time to think. Just like when she was a nymph, she still preferred to do things with her hooves. Part of the reason they stopped posting a Guard outside her cell was because they got annoyed by the constant tapping, so she thought best when she was either whittling or cleaning.

So enraptured in her thoughts was she that she hadn’t noticed she moved from dusting the curtains to cleaning the large ornate chandelier until a small crystal shard smacked her in the eye. It didn’t hurt, thank Chrysalis, but it was annoying.

She finished cleaning off the chandelier, before she looked back down at the ground to see Shining Armor had woken up and was looking up at her, a strange mixture of curiosity and hatred etched across his features.

“Morning, sir!” Spinnekop said happily as she flew out from underneath the chandelier. “How was your night?”

Shining Armor kept the confused look, but the anger was now slightly peaking through more. “What are you doing?”

“Just cleaning… I’ll admit I don’t know when I started working on the chandelier…”

“Why?” He demanded.

“Well… I figured that the place could use some-” She didn’t get to finish as Shining Armor cut her off.

“Get down here,” he ordered.

“Yes, sir,” she said, quickly flying down to the ground and landing in front of the Captain, she raised her hoof only to realize it was a small wrench now. She snickered a bit before quickly turning it back. “How can I help you?”

“First off, you can stop calling me ‘sir’.” Shining Armor replied. “You can call me that when I actually trust you. Second, you stay on the damn ground.” He glared at Spinnekop. “I’m telling you this once: hurt Cadence, I make sure that you stay in that Dungeon.”

Spinnekop gulped. “Yes… Captain…” She replied unsure of what to call the stallion giving her a worse death glare than Dagger ever did. “W-What would you prefer me call you?”

“Captain will work.” Shining Armor replied. “If I find that you have been feeding off of anypony forcefully, I’ll see your sorry flank shipped out to the Badlands.”

Spinnekop tried to shrink herself down, her eyes widening. Not the Loveless Plains! Anywhere but there! Her legs began shaking. “I-I-I Under-erstan-and C-c-capt-t-tain.”

Shining Armor snorted. “Good.” He stood up and began walking towards the door. Spinnekop kept herself as small as possible until she heard the door slam. Even then, a majority of her muscles refused to loosen up until the sounds of hooves had left fully. Letting out a very relieved breath, she closed her wings and walked over to a counter. She transformed her tail back into a duster and wiped down the counter as best she could without needing to use her wings. This ended with her sticking her flank in the air while her tail mechanically wiped down the farther side of the counter.

As she finished with that, she walked over to the bathroom. However, instead of doing what most would do in the morning, she simply walked over to the sink and turned the knob before realizing she now had access to a bath and shower.

She turned off the sink and walked over to the bath. She turned on the stream of water and once she was happy with the temperature, she draped her tail under the stream, feeling the warm water covering her tail and flowing freely through it, dislodging the dust from it. In order to make sure all of it was gone, she whipped her tail a few times and rung it out.

After that, she swished her tail back and forth to air dry it, and once she was happy, she walked back out into the room and, seeing nothing else that she could do without flying, she decided to sit down and wait for Cadence.

Spinnekop didn’t have long to wait, as the Pink Alicorn walked out of the room and into the main area of the suite. Spinnekop straightened up as she entered. “Cadence!”

“Morning, Spindle,” Cadence said. “Sleep well?”

“Yes, your Majesty.” Spinnekop replied with a small bow. “Is there anything I can assist you with?”

Cadence sighed. “Spindle… You don’t need to do that. You’re a friend, and above that, I don’t own you. You don’t have to bow to me.”

“Oh…” Spinnekop replied. “Sorry… I’ve only ever seen Caretakers… That’s the closest thing I’ve ever had to a Hoofmaiden I could talk to… It’s only customary to bow to royalty.”

“I understand that… But I’ll feel weird if every time I address you, you bow to me. Just… Calling me Princess when there are others around will be fine.” She replied. “You can still call me Cadence when we are alone though. I’m not too big a fan of unneeded formalities.”

“Okay Cadence…” Spinnekop replied. “But… I’m not really sure how to be a Hoofmaiden…”

Cadence sighed. “Well… I think I could help with that, though I’m not sure how well you would take it.”

“What is it, Cadence?” Spinnekop asked. “I’m willing to do whatever I have to!”

“Well…” Cadence looked away for a moment. “I have some important royal duties I need to take care of, meeting with diplomats, meeting important ponies, that kind of stuff, so I have a pretty full plate today. I’m not sure you would enjoy it very much, a lot of just standing around. So I think I know how you could learn to be a Hoofmaiden…”

Cadence sighed. “I know you won’t enjoy it, but I want for you to spend the day with the cleaning staff of the castle… They can give you a couple of hints on how to be the best hoofmaiden you could be, but…”

Spinnekop looked at her confused. “What?”

“You are going to have to show them what you actually are…” She replied.

Spinnekop’s jaw hung open. “What?” She replied. “I-I can’t do that! Th-They would never trust me!” She sat down and put her face in her hooves. “I’ll be an outcast… Just like back then…”

Cadence walked over and placed her foreleg over Spinnekop’s shoulder. “I know it sounds bad… But I don’t need you to show everypony you are a Changeling, I only need you to show the Head Maid. If she is alright with it, then the others will be.”

“But… the guards…”

“I’m sure she wouldn’t do anything that rash. She’s just very… strict when it comes to the castle staff… She wants to be sure everypony is who they say they are. Can’t have any thieves in the castle.”

“Well… I guess it wouldn’t be too bad then…” Spinnekop replied.

“Plus, I’m sure she would be more than happy to have somepony that could fly. Help clean those higher windows and chandeliers the others keep complaining about.”

Spinnekop gave a nervous chuckle. “Yeah… about that…” she replied. “Shining Armor told me I needed to stay on the ground…”

Cadence blinked before giving an agitated sigh. “Honestly that Stallion…” She shook her head. “He’s really protective… but a bit paranoid. I’ll talk to him later. Now, let’s go and see about that training job.”

Spinnekop began shaking a little. The thought of any more ponies knowing about her than was absolutely necessary. She was also well aware of the gossiping nature of some mares. There was no telling how far this could spread should even one of them know… “Cadence… I really don’t….”

“Do I need to carry you there?”

Spinnekop shook her head and sighed. “I’ll come… You promise me that she won’t tell anypony else…”

“Lace?” Cadence relied. “No… She’s actually the one that stops the others from gossiping. Says it’s bad form to talk about others when they aren’t present, especially if they don’t want it known.” Cadence smiled at Spinnekop. “Now come on, Lace Trim isn’t going to wait for us forever.” She replied.

Spinnekop quickly transformed into Spindle and walked to stand next to Cadence as they walked through the marble halls of the Castle. It was a very stark contrast to the dungeons she had stayed in, which were made mostly of gritty gray stone that was designed to hold and less for aesthetics. Perhaps a remnant of some bygone era of Pony civilization? I should probably look into that… Might be some interesting inspiration there…

Spindle looked over the style of the marble and golden designs. On many of the pillar structures that were incorporated into the wall, there was a snaking golden pattern, intricate flowers and small curves etched into the material. A few of the arches above held a small etching of a golden sun on them, and looking out one of the tall windows, Spindle saw the gardens of the castle. Even from this far away, she could tell they would be glorious to look at, the various flowers and plants all seemingly arranged to be easy on the eyes when compared to the rest of the area, transitioning from some golden and white flowers to the deep red of roses.

Spindle sighed as she looked at them. One of the things she enjoyed about Earth Ponies, besides being dependable and sometimes stubborn, was that they always had beautiful gardens. Sure a Unicorn or a Pegasus could be the best gardener in Equestria, but many times over, Earth Pony gardens were just… more vibrant, lively, and distinct, though Spindle would take magic for gardening any day.

Cadence noticed her expression and smiled. “We can go and look at them if you want.”

Spindle shook her head. “It’s alright… I just… I miss them sometimes…” Spindle replied. Cadence walked over to look out the window with her. “Back home we used to have these flowers, they would actually change depending on what emotion their tender felt. It was always beautiful to walk through the small cave we had for them… The flowers would all open and react to anyling that walked past… There was a story I was told, that once a stallion proposed to his love there. All throughout the cave, the flowers opened up and fired off magical spores that exploded like tiny fireworks…” She sighed.

“It sounds beautiful…” Cadence replied imagining the flowers themselves. “But didn’t you say the Queen hated everypony that wasn’t useful for combat?”

Spindle nodded. “The Gardeners helped create herbs needed for special healing potions and other such things… I never really got a chance to talk to them… They were too busy working.”

Spindle sighed. “Alright… Enough reminiscing… I need to focus on not messing up…”

“You sure?” Cadence replied.

“Yeah… I want to show I’m not just violent… and… Hopefully I can avoid making ponies fear me…”

Cadence nodded. “Her office is this way.”

Spindle followed Cadence for a few more minutes before coming to a door with an image of a feather duster on the wood. Cadence knocked on the door and from behind it a voice replied, “Come on in.” Cadence pushed open the door and was followed by Spindle. “Oh Princess, I didn’t expect you to come this early!”

“Oh it’s alright, Lace,” Cadence replied.

“Well, what can I do for you?” Lace asked, she was a light gray Unicorn, her light lavender mane pinned into a bun behind her. Her amber eyes looked as though they were either scrutinizing Spindle’s every move or trying to calm her down. “There wasn’t any kind of complaint with the night staff was there? Because I got rid of Darklight a while ago, so if he is still…”

“No, it’s not about that.” Cadence replied. “I’d like you to meet Spindle Weave.” The Middle aged Unicorn looked at Spindle. “She’s a good friend of mine that wanted to be my Hoofmaiden.”

Lace looked at her again. “Hmm… Well… Do you have any kind of qualifications that put you above anypony else?”

“Uh…” Spindle replied.

“That’s actually why we wanted to talk to you…” Cadence replied.

“Oh?” Lace asked. “And what does that entail?”

Cadence sighed. “Lace, I need you to be fully honest here, what do you think about Changelings?”

Lace looked at Cadence then back at Spindle. “Well, I will certainly say that they were unwelcome. They made a huge mess of the castle, and that goo they left still isn’t cleared off the roof of the reception area.”

Spindle coughed.

“Though… I suppose that if one were to come back, I wouldn’t have any real reason to hate them…”

Cadence sighed. “Well… Spindle here is a Changeling…” Spinnekop removed her disguise. “She does want to be my Hoofmaiden, but the problem is…”

“She has no idea how to do that does she?” Lace replied. “Well, I may be able to help there.” She grinned. “Provided you do me a very big favor…”

Spinnekop nodded. “What do you need?”

Lace sighed. “Well, you’ve probably never noticed, but a majority of our staff are unicorns or Earth Ponies. So we leave a lot of the… difficult-to-reach places alone. It always leaves me with that small twitch whenever I pass a chandelier. But there aren’t any huge ladders around for us to use, and I don’t like the usage of gravity spells, they are just asking for trouble. Our only non-Thestral Pegasus is on vacation right now, so a lot of the chandeliers are dusty. If you are willing to help us clean all of them, I’ll give you some tips.”

Spinnekop looked at her questioningly. “Really? That’s it? You just want me to clean some things and then you’ll help? No… Weird rules or anything?”

Lace chuckled. “Oh… I didn’t say that, I have quite a few ways to encourage good behavior among the staff, and also dissuade those who only seek to get in because of the proximity to royalty. I’ll give you the same treatment.”

“Oh…” Spinnekop replied. “Well… I uh… I should tell you that I don’t want everypony to know…”

“Oh they won’t know it’s you.” Lace replied with a mischievous grin. “They’ll know that a Changeling within the cleaning staff has been revealed. And that she is trusted by Celestia… So I allowed it.”

Spinnekop and Cadence looked at her surprised. “You can do that?”

“Yes. I’ve worked alongside Celestia for decades. Celestia seems to accept you, and I will so long as you don’t mess up any of the jobs I give you.”

Cadence nodded to Lace. “I’m glad that you are doing this Lace.”

“Oh no need to thank me, it will be a wonderful experiment for me and my staff. So long as young Spindle here doesn’t mind a little… embarrassment…”

Spinnekop shook her head. “I’ve done a lot of embarrassing things before… I think I’ll be fine.”

Lace’s grin turned to a smile. “Well then, Princess I know you have some important duties, so allow me to talk to Spindle here in private for a little bit.”

Cadence nodded. “Don’t have too much fun, Spindle.” She said as she walked out of the room, leaving the Changeling with the unicorn.

“So…” Spinnekop said as Lace got up and walked to a wardrobe near the corner of the room. “What kind of initiation do I have to do?”

Lace opened up the Wardrobe and let Spinnekop look in. There was a number of what looked like dresses of various sizes all covered up. “Well first, what sizes would you say you are?”

In the Hive, there had been many instances of embarrassment amongst Changelings. Your darkest secrets could easily be revealed to everyone if you didn’t keep your mind off them. And the first time a Changeling gets aroused was like opening a can of worms inside a fish tank. Other than that there were many other opportunities for Changelings to embarrass themselves, Spinnekop had usually been on the receiving end of many of them… Yet they had never been like what she had to do now.

“Come on dear.” Lace said as Spinnekop tried desperately to hide…Well everything about her current situation. “All of my staff have gone through the same thing.”

“That doesn’t make it less demeaning…” The Changeling replied.

“Spindle, I promise you it will only be for a little bit…” Lace replied.

Spinnekop sighed before stepping out of the changing room. She was dressed in a frilly pink maid outfit; the one-piece dress and skirt had a rather lucrative amount of pink fabric used throughout the entire outfit. Where the black would normally be on a maid outfit, it was replaced with a similar pink fabric, and a majority of the lace was a pink as well. Around both her forelegs were pink wristbands; with the normal white lace around it, interwoven into it were small bells that rang whenever she took a step. She was wearing long black stockings around her hind legs that gave way to the pink shoes she was wearing. Luckily she convinced Lace that she needed her forelegs to help clean, which was true, because if she didn’t, she would have had to wear the same things over them as well.

She felt extremely uncomfortable in the outfit, mostly because she felt that it was supposed to draw attention to her, which was something she didn’t want, both because of integrated teaching, and nerves. Mostly the nerves, though. Oh, and the threat Shining Armor made… that was a factor as well.

She reached up and adjusted the pink and white headpiece that lay on her carapace. And she used her magic to try and pull the skirt down any more than it would allow, but it felt much smaller than she needed it to be. Luckily, her pendant was allowed to hang above the dress, which Spinnekop hoped would let the small green gem take attention from the rest of the outfit. “I feel… really exposed…”

“Oh it isn’t that bad.” Lace replied looking around the outfit herself. “Many of the guards don’t try to make advances on new staff they see wearing this, though it might be more difficult for them to hide it from you…”

Spinnekop groaned. “I know… This is going to be one of the most embarrassing days of my life…” She said rubbing her head. She tried to adjust the skirt again, but ended up wiggling uncomfortably in it to try and get comfortable. “It can’t get any worse than this, could it?”

Lace smiled again before readjusting the skirt with her magic. “Oh, that’s because you haven’t had the finishing touch applied yet.” She opened up a drawer of her desk, and pulled out a bright pink ribbon that had a bell attached to the middle of it.

“You… You aren’t going to make me wear that around my neck are you?” Spinnekop asked eyeing the ribbon, knowing that a lot of ponies, those she specifically avoided at all costs, were into that.

“Oh no…” Lace replied. “Close your eyes for me.”

Spinnekop did, and she heard Lace humming a little bit before Lace told her it was all right. Spinnekop opened her eyes and looked down at the outfit she was wearing, but couldn’t see anything really different, until she moved her tail.

She heard a ringing sound and looked back at her tail, where the ribbon was tied into a bow around the base, so that whenever she moved her tail, the bell would ring out, that added to the bells around her legs, and she would be jingling like it was Hearth’s Warming. She pulled her tail under her legs in hopes it would stop them from jingling.

“I stand corrected…” She replied. “This is the most embarrassing day of my life.” She laid down on the ground and put her hooves over her face. “Is it too late to go back to the dungeons?”

Lace chuckled. “Oh come now Spindle, it isn’t that bad…”

“Really?” Spinnekop asked. “I’m going to be flying in the air, exposing my flank to the Guards below while jingling like a cat toy…”

“Come to think of it…” Lace replied tapping her chin. “Clear View did say that she didn’t fly her first day working here…”

Spinnekop groaned. “I’ll be a laughing stock…”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself.” Lace replied. “You’ll be more glared at in hatred than anything else. And if any of the stallions give you a wandering stare, you could always say that you’re more into mares.”

Spinnekop groaned.

“Oh come on. I’m sure it won’t be that bad. It’s only for the first part of the day. I’ll come and get you when you can take it off. It won’t be for the full day, I promise.” She pulled Spinnekop to her hooves. “Now get out there, you have cleaning to do.”

Spinnekop slunk out of the room, trying to keep the various bells from ringing, but Lace opened the door and called to her. “And don’t forget to be polite, it’s an important part, no matter what the others tell you.”

Spinnekop nodded at her before walking down the hallways, still trying to keep her tail from jingling. Even as she tried to keep herself out of sight, the bells on her legs betrayed her every time. Eventually, she came to a rather uninhabited hallway with one of the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. Doing a check to ensure that nopony was around; she took off from the ground and flew up to the dangling cluster of crystals.

She flew around the chandelier to see what needed to be done with it, and it turned out that there was a rather large clump of dust similar to the one she cleaned in the Royal Suite she had slept in. She transformed her tail into a feather Duster and began to wipe down the structure, ignoring the ringing sound it caused.

As she finished with the top layer of dust, she looked at the various small crystals and noticed that a few in the center were especially filthy. Taking a second look towards the ground to make sure nopony was there; she flew underneath the chandelier and began trying to get at the tiny shards with her hooves. I wonder what Cara is up to now?

Spinnekop sighed at the thought. She had tried desperately not to think of her old friend, but given there was nothing else to focus on, her mind began to wander. It went all the way back to when they had first met, when Spinnekop had still been in her shy phase. She had been so unwilling to talk, that she barely spoke to anyone other than Mimic. Cara was the first one she ever managed to give a full sentence to, and now… It hurt her to think back to the happy memory she shared...

Cara had been moved to the Barracks at the age of one, much like many other nymphs. She had been brought there a few days after she passed pupation; mentally, she was now on par with a four year old foal, though her body was still developing. She had spent a majority of her life living with her family, growing with them, and since then, she missed them greatly.

She sighed as she looked at the picture she had of her family before putting it back on the small bedside table. She knew it was going to happen; her parents were both soldiers before her, and now she was following in their hoofsteps. She wanted to become a Scout, help the Hive as much as she could… but now, she just wanted to be back home.

She looked out of the small window in the basic room, wondering if her parents were missing her, when the door opened up and a red-eyed Changeling stepped in. “Cadet.” He said.

“Hello sir…” Cara replied.

“My name is General Mimic, Cadet. I’m going to be your higher-up while you learn the ropes.”

“Cara, sir,” She replied.

“I’m glad to have you on board, Cadet.” Mimic replied. “Feeling homesick?”

Cara nodded.

“I was the same way when I started… Look at me now. Higher up than those other Alphas from my group.” He sighed. “Anyway, I am proud to tell you that we found you a roommate. Maybe you can…” He looked behind him. “Oh great… Spinnekop…” He sighed. “Come on out Spin… No I don’t think that she will make fun of you… Come on… It’s alright…” He looked back at Cara. “Sorry… she is very shy about others… I’ve been working on getting her to open up a bit… with mixed results.”

Mimic stepped into the doorway with a small changeling nymph behind him, peeking out from behind Mimic’s leg. There was a small necklace that fell to her knees as she wore it. “Spinnekop, this is Cara. She is going to be your new roommate.”

Spinnekop looked up at Mimic then back to Cara, giving a small wave. “hi…”

Cara waved at her. “Hello.”

Mimic stepped to the side and lightly pushed Spinnekop forward. “I’ll just leave you two to bond for a bit. Don’t forget that dinner is in an hour or so.”

Spinnekop nodded and Cara replied with “Yes, General.”

Mimic nodded and walked out of the room, leaving Spinnekop and Cara alone. Spinnekop moved her hoof in a circle on the ground. “So my name is Cara.”

Spinnekop looked at the ground.

“So uh… Your name is Spinnekop?”

Spinnekop nodded.

Cara looked at the Changeling curiously. “So… Do you have parents waiting for you?” she asked, looking back at the picture.

Spinnekop shook her head and then reached up to the pendant around her neck. “Oh… I’m so sorry…” Cara replied. “What happened to them?”

Spinnekop sighed and shook her head. She looked over at the picture of Cara’s parents and pointed at it curiously.

Cara sighed. “Yeah… That’s my family…” Cara grabbed the photo and showed it to Spinnekop. “They were both Soldiers before Dad got pulled because of his eye… He lost it to a Timber Wolf… After he was patched up, he was deemed unusable in the military, so my Mom switched to a Medic, while Dad helped make all the Emotional Gel.” She let out a sigh. “Every so often, he would get me a little more Love to feed on and we would have a little party…” She looked down at the picture. “Guess that’s over now…”

Spinnekop looked at Cara, curious, formulating a plan within her head as she watched Cara. She looked at the picture; on it were three Changelings, each one smiling into the camera. Her father had an eye patch on over his left eye and her mother was smaller than him. Cara was standing between them, smiling, her wings still unformed and tiny, her fangs barely growing in and her backplate was still pale white. Her carapace was a few shades lighter than now, so she was probably a few molts away from her pupation.

Cara looked down at the necklace Spinnekop was wearing. “Where did you get that from?”

Spinnekop pulled back slightly, but she raised her hoof and tapped at the picture.

“Your parents?” Cara replied. “I thought you said you didn’t know them.”

Spinnekop backed away from Cara, pushing her back against the other bed in the room, beginning to slink under the Bed.

Cara sighed. “No… It’s alright… I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me.”

Spinnekop had already hidden herself under the bed and Cara didn’t think she would be coming out any time soon.

“Well…” Cara said to break up the silence. “I’m just going to go… See if there is…” Sigh “anything that can make me feel better…” Cara got up and walked out of the room, leaving Spinnekop alone in the room as she walked down the barracks’ halls.

Back in the room, Spinnekop stayed there for a few moments before creeping out and walking over to the picture. She looked at it for a minute before putting it back and walking over to the bed she would be sleeping on later. She looked to make sure there was no one coming and perked her ears to make sure there were no hoofsteps. Sure that she wouldn’t be found out, she reached under the bed and pulled out a small letter opener that she managed to sneak out of Mimic’s office. She looked back to the bed with the blade clutched in her teeth.

Little over an hour later, Cara had walked into the dining hall. She had normally been there with her parents, but now she was alone with only the other members of her Barracks, all of who were talking to their own groups or roommates.

Cara walked up to stand in the line, getting her normal food; she walked over to a small group of Changelings eating quietly and sat down. It didn’t take long for her to notice that Spinnekop had entered extremely late, slowly walking through and grabbing the tray of food before going to an empty table and sat down by herself, reaching behind her neck and removing her necklace, placing it down next to the food.

However, as Cara watched, Spinnekop didn’t just start eating the food; she picked up the fork and actually began tracing something on the tray. She then took a piece of hay and oats and pushed them around the tray. Cara shrugged and turned back to her own food and began eating it.

She felt a bit empty, though; she would normally talk to her parents or listen to their conversation, or those of others, so not being able to talk with anyone around her made her feel a little out of place.

As she got half way through her food, her eyes wandered back over to Spinnekop, who looked like she finished all of her food. Cara blinked before looking down the table, seeing that a majority of the other Changelings were still eating, even those that got here earlier than both of them. When Cara looked back towards Spinnekop, she noticed the small Changeling had already left.

She looked back and forth between the empty table and her own food for a minute before looking at the grown Changeling now sitting across from her. She took a deep breath. “Um… Excuse me?”

The Changeling looked up at Cara. “Yeah?”

“Did you happen to see where the Nymph that was sitting there went?” Cara pointed at the table.

The Changeling looked over at it. “Spinnekop? I’m never sure where she goes… She just eats, then leaves; been doing it since the General managed to get her to come here. I’ve stopped wondering myself.”

Cara looked back at the table, then looked around the room. Not seeing any sign of her she shrugged and went back to her food.

When she finished, she began to walk out of the Dining Hall and saw the small Changeling slinking away near a far wall. “Spinnekop?” Cara asked, causing the small Changeling to jump slightly before looking back towards Cara and quickly scurrying off. “Spinnekop… Wait I just want to-!”

Spinnekop had already vanished. “Where did she…” She looked over at the area she used to be, then looked away and shook her head. “Guess I’ll never know.” Cara walked down the Hive, looking up at one of the clocks. She saw she still had a few hours before she needed to return to the barracks, so she walked down the various halls of the Hive until she came to a rather common place in the hive: a waterfall that flowed into the Hive and gave way to the plant life nearby. Cara walked up to the small pond the falling water created and laid down, just looking at the water flow.

She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, but when she got up, her legs felt a little sore. She began walking back to the barracks with her mind still focusing on her family. She just wanted some thing to take her mind off of it.

When she entered the barracks, a majority of her time had been spent looking at the ground so that when she entered the room, she looked over at the bed that Spinnekop would be in to see it stripped bare, and noticed that pieces of the bed sheet laid on the ground in tatters, like they had been cut.

Cara looked at the bed surprised, then looked back over at her own bed, which was still in good condition. She looked back over to her bed stand and saw that the picture on it was gone. Her eyes flicked around the room until she saw the picture near the bottom of Spinnekop’s bed.

She walked towards it and picked it up, flipping it around to make sure there was no damage on it, finding none, she sighed and went to put it back, as she did, Spinnekop crawled out from under her bed and shouted “SURPRISE!” A bit louder than was actually needed.

Cara jumped into the air at the sound and found herself whipping around to see Spinnekop smiling at her. “W-What?” Cara replied.

“Surprise!” Spinnekop repeated. She reached under her bed and pulled out a small cup full of pink gelatin, she held it up for Cara. “Love?”

Cara took the cup unsure. “How did you do this?” She asked.

Spinnekop pointed at her bare bed, then ducked underneath it and came out with a small letter opener. She walked over to Cara’s bed and pointed at the knife and then at the bed. She finally pointed up at the ceiling. Cara looked up to see that streamers had been made out of the bed sheet and were hanging on the ceiling.

Cara opened her mouth. “But… Why would you do that?”

Spinnekop sighed and pointed at the picture. “You… were… happy…”

If Cara didn’t hear her voice before, she could have sworn her ears were betraying her. “What?”

Spinnekop shrunk back a bit. “Well… you…” Spinnekop took a deep breath and closed her eyes and spoke rather quickly. “You said that you were sad and that your parents always cheered you up with a party, so I figured I would do that to cheer you up, but I’m sorry, I’ll just go…” She let out a breath after she finished and walked over to the door.

Cara spoke up first. “Wait!” Spinnekop looked back. “It’s… it’s alright.” She said with a smile. “I’m glad that you went out of your way to do this… but… Why? I mean, I get that I told you I was homesick, but I still don’t get why you wanted to do this.”

Spinnekop opened her mouth, letting out a small chirp, then closed it and tried again. “Because… I wanted you to… be happy…” Spinnekop replied. “We’re going to be… here… for a while… So I thought I would try…” She began clicking and chirping before she closed her mouth.

Cara looked at Spinnekop, then at the small decorations she had put up, and finally to the cup of Love she was holding. Stealing Love was seen as a terrible thing to do, it deprived at least one changeling of food, though the Breeders tended to never eat, so there was always some kind of excess. “How did you even manage to get this in the first place?”

Spinnekop sighed and closed her eyes again. “I snuck past them! They didn’t notice me since I took off my necklace and went to see if I could try and get some for you! I managed to hide it in my tail until I got back here and when I saw you I got startled and thought you found out so I ran!” She sighed again.

Cara looked at Spinnekop impressed. “How’d you get over your…”

Spinnekop sighed. “I… tried to… talk in a mirror… for a while…”

“Well I’m glad to see it worked out for you,” Cara replied with a smile. “And… I’m thankful you did all this.”

Spinnekop smiled. “Does… that make us… friends?”

Cara giggled and a slight buzz followed it out of her throat. “I suppose so.” She looked at the Love in her hooves and ate some of it. “Couldn’t we get in trouble if the General finds out?”

Spinnekop blushed. “Y-Yes… But… I uh… Do this rather often…”

“You throw parties?”

“No… I uh…” She pointed at the ceiling. “Do stuff like that…”

Cara looked at the streamers. “Well… I hope that doesn’t get us into trouble.” She raised the Love cup in her hooves. “To friends.” She ate the rest of it and smiled at Spinnekop. “Now I need to come up with some way to top this.”

Spinnekop laughed and then smiled. “You can… help by…”

“You want me to help with your nerves?”

Spinnekop nodded.

“Well I’ll see what I-“

Spinnekop was pulled out of the thought by a loud whistle from below. Jerking up slightly, she hit her head on the middle of the chandelier. Rubbing her head, she looked out from the dangling cluster and looked down the halls, to see that she had worked her way to the fifth one without even noticing. She then looked down towards the source of the whistle to see two Royal Guards, both looking up at her. One of them was looking curiously, the other looked annoyed.

Her first instinct was to transform, which ended with her turning into a pale sea foam colored Pegasus, before she realized what was going on and changed back.

“Why don’t you come down here?” A Pegasus guard called. “We don’t bite.”

The other Guard, a Unicorn, let out a sigh and shook his head.

Spinnekop had been deep in thought and quickly remembered exactly what she was wearing, so her face began flushing with red. She slowly flew down to the ground being sure to keep her flank facing away from the guards.

“And who is this lovely new Maid?” The Pegasus asked, while his compatriot facehoofed.

Spinnekop gulped. “M-My name is Spinnekop S-Sir…” She bowed. “I-I was in the cleaning staff before the attack… And I-I… I didn’t want to leave… B-But Miss Lace told me that I had to p-prove myself true… so I-I…”

“Well I have to say, you look marvelous in that…” The Pegasus replied giving her a smile.

“Oh… Uh…” Spinnekop began to blush, looking back at the dress she was wearing. “Well… I-I’m not sure…”

“You look beautiful, even for a Changeling.” The Pegasus replied. “I bet your disguises could never top what’s in front of me right now.”

“Oh… I uh… Um…” Spinnekop stuttered. Is this guard… hitting on me? “Th-Thank you Sir… B-But I…”

“Come on… I bet you’re better looking than all the others from your Hive. I bet that anypony would be lucky to have you.”

“I-I-I…” Just tell him... Just say it! Even if it isn’t true… Just say it! “I-I-I Actually… I’m not…” NO! Why does this have to come back now?

“So what do you say Miss Spinnekop?” The Pegasus replied. “Want me to show you around the town?”

Spinnekop blushed even more. “I… I… Uh… I’m a-actually uh…” JUST SAY IT! “I-I’m NOT INTO STALLIONS!” She blurted out, clasping her hooves over her mouth.

“Oh… Playing hard to get huh?” The Pegasus replied. “Well two can…” The other Guard slapped him in the back of the head. “OW!”

“Oh just shut up…” He said. “Honestly… You do this every time…” He groaned. “I swear…”

Spinnekop let out a breath.

“Well I can hardly doubt if ladies find me too hot.”

The Unicorn snorted. “Yeah, hot as the Tundra…” He shook his head. “Now I’m off duty, Hot stuff; you still have a job to do.”

“Yes sir…” The Guard replied giving him a salute before flying down the hall, giving another whistle as Spinnekop tried to hide her tail again, making the bell jingle.

“Honestly that stallion…” He shook his head. “I’m sorry about Wing there… He’s got a very strange… mindset about mares,” he replied. “Trust me, he does that with every new member of the cleaning staff…”

“R-Really…” Spinnekop replied. “So… he was…”

“Trying to hit on you, yeah,” The Guard replied. “He’s got a bad habit of flirting with anything on four legs.”

Spinnekop sighed in relief. “Oh good… I thought that he was really interested… I… I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet…”

The Unicorn shook his head. “No… He probably just wanted to say that he managed to get a Changeling to sleep with him… He’s such an idiot…” He held out his hoof to Spinnekop “Sergeant Mythic Spark.”

Spinnekop shook the hoof. “Sp-Spinnekop.” She did a small bow. “Sir.”

“So what is Miss Lace having you do?” Mythic asked. “And a second question, do you want any help with it?”

“Oh no sir…” Spinnekop replied. “I’m just cleaning out some of the chandeliers, since Clear View is on vacation…”

Mythic nodded. “Yeah I did notice Lace twitching when she walked under them…”

Spinnekop wiggled uncomfortably, only now noticing how tight the dress had become while she was looking through her memories. “Does… This draw too much attention to me?”

“Honestly the jingling gave you away.” Mythic replied. “And I actually think that it is going to help you more than… Well… Accentuating your body’s natural figure.” He said twirling his hoof.

“Oh… Why’s that?” Spinnekop asked, looking back at her tail as it jingled slightly.

“Well, for one, you’re a Changeling.” Mythic replied. “Not to sound rude, but you don’t exactly… have the most… friendly body in Equestria…” He replied. “And well… Given the recent attack, I doubt anypony would be willing to look at you nicely, though with you wearing that, the guards know Celestia trusts you…”

“Huh…” Spinnekop thought about that. “I guess… That makes sense…” She looked back at the outfit. “Even if this is one of the most embarrassing things I’ve ever done…”

“Oh, I’m sure it will get worse,” Mythic replied. “And by the way, I know that it is a major pain to do this, which is why we try to hire Pegasus, but there is a way to lower the chandeliers if you want to work closer to the ground.”

Spinnekop’s ears perked up. “Really? There is?”

Mythic nodded. “Now… I didn’t tell you this, but…” He looked around the hall and then motioned for Spinnekop to come closer. “There’s a small gem imbedded in the wall, it’s a few feet down the hall, and if you use a levitation spell, you can get all of them to lower to the ground… Provided you can hold them all.”

“Oh… Th-Thank you sir!” Spinnekop replied. I won’t have to worry about stallions acting like that again!

“Before you go and pull all of them down.” Mythic warned. “I’m not responsible for any damages you cause, and you have to put them back up.”

“Very well, sir.” She bowed again. “I’ll… Try to be careful…”

Mythic nodded. “Now, if any of the other guards give you some trouble, just let me know. I’m aware that they may be harboring negative feelings, but if they begin to act on them, just tell me. I know the captain has been rather… aggressive, but he trusts Celestia’s judgment, so he won’t do anything too harsh… Probably…”

“Alright… Thank you sir,” Spinnekop replied. “I’ll be sure to inform you if anything happens.”

“Good. I wouldn’t want it to seem like we are all hate-filled and seeking revenge.” He sighed. “As much as the nobles hate to deny it…” He shook his head. “Anyway, I have some reports to fill out. Try not to cause any trouble.” He walked down the hall, keeping his eyes forward and focused on something Spinnekop couldn’t make out.

When he left, Spinnekop let out a long sigh. Chrysalis… I was just hit on by a royal guard… She snickered at the thought. And to think… Chrysalis had to brainwash one. She suppressed a laugh at the thought and went to look for the gem, the Guard mentioned.

She walked down the hall a few feet before turning to look at the wall, she didn’t really expect to find anything, but she looked anyway. Being on the ground is better than in the air… especially if Shining Armor comes through here…

After a few minutes, she managed to find the small blue gem. It was indeed imbedded into the wall, with a stone seemingly specially carved for it. The gem was at about head height for any normal Unicorn, and the gem shimmered slightly in the light. Spinnekop looked around the hallway, and then looked up at the ceiling. There were a few more chandeliers she still had to clean. She looked back down the hall and noticed that there were about nine chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. She guessed the weight of each of them and decided that it was worth it to try and use this gem.

When her horn lit up as she focused on the gem, she felt a very strong pull on her horn, causing her to practically face plant into the wall. It was like her horn was a hook being reeled in by a fisherman. Her horn slammed into the gem and she heard a quick whizzing sound. Looking up towards the chandeliers, she saw them quickly falling towards the ground as the mechanism was released.

Oh Chrysalis! Oh Chrysalis! What do I do? In her frenzied thought her mind skipped over the levitation spell. Her mind began racing around, trying to find a solution that was probably more complicated than it needed to be. When it finally stopped on the answer, she didn’t even think twice about it.

She activated the spell with as much energy as she could manage to throw into it. The weight on her head was outrageous as she tried to slow down the nine heavy clusters of crystals and metal before they broke on the ground. She remained focused on the spell, until she felt her horn detach from the wall as the tension was suddenly relieved, sending her spinning back to the floor.

She opened her eyes and looked above her to see one of the glittering crystals dangling in front of her face, the lowest crystal on the structure barely touching her snout. A cloud of dust falling on top of her, causing her to sneeze as she tried to move out from under the large crystal shell. Why does my head hurt so much? She asked, moving her hoof to her head as a light thumping interrupted her thought. I didn’t use… Oh…

She would have facehoofed, but she was afraid it would actually increase the amount of pain in her head. She had forgotten how low on energy she was, however long she was down in the dungeon, she hadn’t absorbed much love. She didn’t want to make her situation worse by feeding on Cadence, so she had barely eaten down there. While she had conserved energy by doing absolutely nothing and just letting her body heal itself, she didn’t even realize she needed to feed.

And here she was, having used an immense amount of energy to stop the chandeliers from falling to the ground without even a second thought. Now she had one of the worst headaches she could possibly give herself, and to top it off, her vision was blurring slightly.

She tried to stand up and ended up wobbling over to a wall. Oh Chrysalis… This is worse than that time in Manehatten. At least there I was drunk!

She held her head while leaning against the wall for a few minutes before her vision began to clear enough for her to see straight. Then she decided to lay down for a bit while she tried to figure out what to do. After a few minutes of calming down, she decided to just feed off the ambient emotions… Which wasn’t much…

Her horn began to emanate a faint green glow as she absorbed the emotions around her. While not much of a meal, it was a decent snack. Plus it cleared out the throbbing in her head, allowing her to actually see, even if there was a slight aching now.

After a few more minutes, she stood back up and walked over to the closest chandelier. She ducked underneath it and began trying to clean it as well as she could. As she tried to clean the intertwined crystals without using any of her magic, but she found her mind beginning to wonder off as she cleaned it as best she could. She sighed. “Cara… I really hope that you are doing alright…”

Author's Note

Through the magical powers of Espresso, 200 bucks, and a Starbucks, I bring you the next chapter :pinkiecrazy: I spent another all nighter on this... And then slept off the caffeine. So I hope you guys enjoy it.

Next Chapter will focus on the Hive. Why? Because it can. :twilightsmile:

Also, if anyone wants to draw Spinnekop wearing that, I would be happy to post it in this chapter. (Not a fettish) Now... I should probably get some more sleep... :ajsleepy:

Huge thanks to Jphyper for help with the edits to this chapter

Chapter 12: A Basic Operation

Cara woke up feeling better than she had in weeks. The Hive had been relatively quiet for a while, simply finding the various patrols and groups that had been launched from Canterlot to ensure that everyone made it back. She hadn’t been dispatched yet, which only meant that she would be soon.

Cara hopped out of the bed and stretched her back with a buzz of her wings. She looked over towards her counter and saw the small carving she kept there in memory. She sighed as she thought back to Spinnekop, she kept hoping that a group would come back from Canterlot and tell her Spinnekop was still alive, but she quickly wrote it off, if she had been found so close to the capital, then somepony would have probably killed her in her weakened state.

Turning her mind away from her friend’s fate, she looked up at a clock to see that she had plenty of time to meet up with Blink before he had to go to work. Smiling, she walked out of the newly constructed Scout Barracks the Tunnelers had carved out for them. She noted that Seek and Burn were already awake, probably at breakfast.

She shook her head as she looked around the Hive. Despite the fact she had been staying there for a week, she was still unfamiliar with the location, but she knew where the Courier Living center was, and she could find her way there easily.

As she walked down the tunnels that led to the main living area, she looked around at the other Changelings going about their day. A number of Changelings were setting up small shops along the street, selling either moss or various types of what was known as ‘Flavored Love’. A strange mixture of chemicals and magic that altered the taste of Love to almost anything, mostly changing it to Chocolate or various berry flavors.

Cara had quite an interest in that particular field. It was an interesting magic, taking solidified Love and mixing it with a tiny trace of other emotions to twist the flavor just enough to allow the magic to overpower the Love’s taste. It was difficult, but it usually worked out with minimum explosions. Usually…

She continued to walk along the hallways with a growing smile on her face. It’s true it had been only around a week since the Invasion, but in that time, Cara and Blink had gotten to know each other better than they used to. There was only so much you could share over letters, and since they were now together in the Hive, they had plenty of time to meet with each other.

Over that time, they had certainly gotten to know each other better, they were taking the relationship slowly, both of them agreed that it would be better at the time so in case something terrible happened, there wouldn’t be too many broken hearts. Everyone in the Hive had the same feeling of slight paranoia; they were all afraid that even one Changeling would be captured and forced to reveal the hive. Despite the Hive’s population being larger than Equestria’s military, not all of them were soldiers. If Equestria launched a full-fledged assault, the Hive would be destroyed. In fact, Cypher gave them a 1-in-250 chance to win that battle, and Cara fully believed it. Many of the Soldiers were badly injured from falling into trees and bushes at high speed, some of their legs were pulled apart by the large branches, leaving many unable to walk until their chitin was repaired.

Cara actually dodged a bullet when she was launched from the city; she and her squad were launched over Everfree and towards a rather deadly quarry of rocks. Cara instinctively curled into a ball before impact and ended up perfectly missing all of the spiked rocks, but ended up being unable to move from her curled up body. Some weren’t quite as lucky. Poor 92, never got to propose…

When Cara had been pulled out of her tight spot, she and the rest of her patrol looked around to find anyone else. Instead of finding a living member, they found Scout 92, a promising young Scout with a nice mare back home that he swore to propose to after the attack. He was found with his head impaled on one of the stone spikes, his blue blood oozing down it with a permanent look of fear etched on his face. Getting him off was a pain, though it wasn’t over, when the Medic he was in love with saw him, she broke down crying, she continued to wet the stones of the Hive until a few days later. She now wore the ring around her neck on a length of string to remember him.

Cara sighed at the memory when the two of them had talked before returning to the Hive. He was so adamant about proposing to her, he swore that he would do it even if he was on is deathbed.

She shook her head. “Guess you waited too long.” She was determined not to let something like that happen with her and Blink. She would always make sure she got back, no matter how injured, or what she had to do, short of killing off her own squad. She wanted to keep her relationship with Blink going, and didn’t want the same thing to happen.

She kept her mind from wandering into the ‘what ifs’ of that situation and managed to walk all the way up to the Courier Living Quarters. Despite the very strict militaristic codes for the army barracks, the living quarters were the most ordered thing in the Hive. It always shocked Cara how simple it was to find anything there, everything was where it should be, all of the mailbags were neatly hung up and ordered, all filled and ready to be delivered. Off to the side, there were boxes to place mail for the various sections of the Hive. Each box had a word and two number on them, referencing the job and number range the letter was supposed to be delivered to. It was all really well done, and even now, there was a Changeling sorting through the boxes, depositing them into the mailbags with his magic and shaking his head when someone got the ordering wrong.

Cara walked up to the front desk, where a young female Changeling was sitting, signing a clipboard. She looked up when Cara neared the desk and gave her a smile. “Good morning and welcome to the Hive Delivery Service. How may I assist you?”

Cara smiled back. “I’m here to see Courier Drone 26.”

The Changeling looked her over. “Ah, you must be Cara.” She said. “I just started working here, Courier Drone 96.” She held out a hoof, which Cara shook. “Well, Blink is on the second floor. What you want to do is take the stairs to the right, then take the hall to your left. You should be able to find his room.” She replied lifting the clipboard up in her magic and grumbling “For once… just get the order form right…”

Cara waved at the Changeling and walked over to the stairway, it was carved out of stone with small green glowing gems placed into it so that you could see where the steps ended even at night. She walked up and onto the second floor, to see some of the Couriers were awake and walking around, a few emerging from their rooms with a yawn and grabbing a cap placed next to the door. A few looked at Cara curiously, seeing a Scout inside the Courier living quarters was a strange event, especially given the fact she was actually shorter than a few of the Couriers.

The rooms were all marked with a number that showed which Changelings were living there. She followed the numbers as they climbed up, when she came to number 26, she knocked on the door.

The door opened as Blink smiled at Cara. “Morning, Cara,” He said. “You’re here early.”

Cara smiled. “Well, I figured I would come and see you before you went to work.” She replied. “After all, I may be sent out to a pony village today. So I thought it would be a good idea…”

Blink stepped out of the door and closed it. “Well, I do have a half hour before I need to get started on my rounds.”

Cara grabbed his mail cap in her magic and placed it on his head. “That’s plenty of time for us to talk.”

Blink nodded. “Well, what do you want to talk about Cara?”

Cara sighed. “I… kind of wanted to just talk about us.” She replied. “I mean… if I keep getting sent out, we won’t have much time together.”

“Cara…” He sighed. “We’ve been over this before, I’m okay with waiting.”

“I know… but I just…”

“You’re thinking about Scout 92 again, aren’t you?”

Cara nods.

“Cara… I know that you’re worried, but I’ll be fine. I won’t just forget about you and I know that you won’t forget me.”

Cara looked down. “I just… I don’t want to see you like…”

Blink put a leg over Cara’s shoulder and pulled her close. “Cara… as long as I know that you died protecting us, I’ll honor that sacrifice until I die.”

Cara nodded. “But…”

Blink put his hoof over Cara’s mouth. “Cara, no buts. We agreed on this.”

“I know… I just… I wish Spin were here…”

Blink nodded. “So do I…” He replied. “I wish she was here, but we both know what Chrysalis would do to her.”

“She would be sent to the Breeders…” Cara replied. “Her wings and horn would be destroyed and Chrysalis would shatter her mind.” She shivered. “She would be just like the others…”

Blink pulled her into a hug. “We both want to see her, but we can’t. She’s gone…”

Cara’s eyes began to water. “I…I know.” She sighed. “I still miss her.”

Blink nodded. “Come on, Cara. I’ve got to get to Breakfast. We can talk about this later.”

Cara nodded. “I’m sorry… I…” She shook her head. “Never mind… Let’s just go.”

“You okay?” Blink asked.

“Yeah… I’m fine…” Cara replied. “I just… I can’t stop thinking about…”

“You two spent a long time together. It would be weird if you weren’t sad that she’s gone.”

“Yeah…” Cara replied.

“Alright, if you are sure you’re okay, then let’s go get something to eat.” Cara nodded as she let out a small sigh. Blink led her to the exit and across the streets of the Hive. They walked in silence until they got to the dining hall; they grabbed their food and sat down.

“Listen… Blink, I’m sorry that I had to…”

“It’s alright, Cara.” Blink replied. “I get like that too.” He replied. “It’s alright to-”

“So this is the lucky stallion who stole the Sergeant’s heart?”

“Oh Chrysalis…” Cara said under her breath.

Blink looked at Cara confused before two more Changelings walked up to them. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Cara sighed. “Blink, meet Seek and Burn, they are two of my squad members.” She indicated the two of them. “They are both brothers and tend to work as a team.”

Seek held out his hoof. “We’re very glad to finally meet you. Cara has said a lot of good things about you.”

Blink looked at Cara questioningly and she began to shrink below the table. “Oh? What kind of things?” He asked.

Please don’t…

“Oh you know… That you’re a Courier Drone…” Please… “That you were good friends…” No… “And that she sometimes has dreams about…" Please don’t… “Having a good time with you by the waterfall.”

Cara had already ducked fully under the table, and her face was bright red. “Is that all she talked about with you guys?”

“Oh no,” Please don’t… “She told us that she has a Huge…” A loud thump sounded on the table about where Seek was sitting. “OW! Burn!”

Burn grunted. “Oh come on! I just… No… Well… Maybe… I think… Well, we never ask-” Burn slapped Seek in the back of the head. “Fine! Enough with the slapping!”

Blink looked over at where Cara should have been. “Cara? Where’d you-?”

Cara waved her hoof on the other side of the table. “I’m down here…”

Blink looked under the table. “What are you doing down there?”

“Being embarrassed…” Cara replied. “Regretting telling Seek about my subconscious.”

Blink raised an eyebrow. “Cara?”

“I was having a weird week!” Cara justified. “I swear! It was just a natural thing in the late teens. There was just… I’m going to stop talking about it.”

Blink shook his head. “Cara… You don’t have to justify it, I trust you.”

Cara climbed back up to the seat, covering her bright red face with her hooves. Blink turned to Burn. “So, what is your deal?”

Burn grunted, then looked over at Seek with a raised eyebrow. Seek looked back at him and then crossed his front hooves. “Oh, I’m sorry. Would you like something?”

Burn glared at Seek. “Oh no, I remember quite clearly Burn, you told me to shut up. So I can’t help unless you…”

Burn put his hoof on the table, then looked over at Cara. “Permission to punch Seek in the gut?”

“Granted…” Cara mumbled. Burn nodded and punched Seek in his stomach.

“Ow…” He coughed. “Burn… that hurt.”

Burn snorted. “FINE! Chrysalis!” He looked at Blink, who was looking between the three of them confused. “My job is to keep my brother in check and to make sure that no information is left behind. There! Happy?”

Burn nodded.

Blink looked at them. “What?”

Seek opened his mouth, but Burn shot him a death glare. “Sarge, you want to explain?”

Cara sighed. “Sure… I feel like my face has finally returned to normal.” She dropped her hooves and looked at the three stallions. “Seek is our Deceiver, he is skilled with transformations, but has a very bad habit of talking too much. Burn is his brother, and he usually does try to keep track of Seek and make sure he isn’t being an idiot. He is a skilled Pyromancer, and can destroy every piece of evidence without any residue using his magic.”

“But… Why are you…”

“He’s mute,” Cara replied. “He doesn’t have any vocal chords. He can talk using the Hive Mind, though he usually only does it with Seek because they are brothers and he doesn’t enjoy connecting with those he doesn’t trust. It’s like a privacy invasion.”

“Oh… Well, I can understand that.” Blink replied. “Didn’t you have another member in your squad?”

“Yeah… either of you guys see Cypher?” Cara asked looking at the two brothers.

Burn shook his head and Seek replied with “Nope.”

Cara sighed. “That means that either she spent far too long researching something or Chrysalis called her in for something…”

“Hopefully nothing too bad.” Seek replied. “Last I heard, we were next on the list for deployment.”

Blink’s eyes widened. “How did you know?”

“I kept track of what squadrons left.” Seek replied. “We are the only Squadron with every member being all right, so we are probably next.”

Cara sighed. “Well, you guys go and get everything ready just in case. I’ve still got to eat.”

Burn and Seek saluted and then left the table, heading to the exit.

Cara sighed. “I wonder where we’re getting sent now.” She picked up some hay and oats and tossed them into her mouth.

“I hope it’s nowhere dangerous.” Blink replied. “We don’t have any more chemicals from Manehatten to use as medical supplies. You’d be out of commission for a few weeks.”

Cara sighed. “Well, it’s all up to fate to see where I go.”

Blink nodded and ate some of his own food. The two of them sat in silence for a bit before Blink looked over at Cara. “So… I heard that you were nominated for an award…”

Cara sighed. “Yeah…” Shortly after Cara returned to the Hive, she had been nominated for her work in leading the main battle group in charge of capturing the Elements of Harmony. As well as being the one who told Cypher to find Spinnekop, leading to the knowledge of her death. “I don’t think I should accept it.” She replied.

“Why not?” Blink asked.

“Because that was when I lost her…” Cara replied. “Because I don’t want any memories of that failed Invasion. Because every time I think about that stupid invasion, all I can think about is the fact that so many of us died.” She sighed. “I just… I didn’t do anything there. Sure, I led some troops, but anyling could do that.” Cara rubbed her forehead. “Clobber deserves it more…”

“What makes you…”

“Because he’s the one that killed Spinnekop!” Cara snapped, standing up and slamming her hoof on the table, causing Blink to jump back. “It’s because of him that my friend is gone! He’s the real hero! I mean, he killed a traitor! He’s the one that… That…” Her eyes watered as she sat back down, looking back at Blink’s startled face. “I’m sorry…”

Blink took a deep breath. “Are you alright, Cara?”

“No…” She replied. “I’m sorry, Blink.” She sighed. “I’ve been trying to forget… It isn’t working.”

Blink sighed and opened his wings; he flew above the table and landed next to her. “It’s alright Cara… I miss her, and I don’t expect you to forgive Clobber for that… But I think you should accept it, you deserve that award.”

Cara sighed. “Yeah…” She took the rest of the hay and threw it into her mouth. After she finally swallowed all of it, she looked back at Blink. “Guess I’m still a bit… shaken. I shouldn’t have yelled at you…”

“I get it, Cara.” Blink replied. “You were there, you keep thinking you could have done something, but if you did, you would have only been put in the same boat with Spin, then both of you would be in trouble.”

“I guess you’re right.” Cara replied, picking up some of the oats. “It’s just… everything is changing… and yeah, I blame myself for Spinnekop because I feel like I should have helped her with the decision…”

Blink pulled her into a hug. “I’m sorry for making you think about it…” He said. The two stayed in the hug for a few moments before Blink looked up at the clock. “Oh shoot…” He grabbed the cup of Love from his plate with his magic and quickly downed it. “I’ve got to get back to Work… But first…” He lifted Cara’s head up and planted a kiss on Cara’s cheek. “I’ll see you later, Cara.” He smiled before releasing the hug and quickly flying towards the exit.

Cara sat there stunned for a moment as her face flushed red; she raised her hoof to her face and touched her cheek. “He… He…” Her mouth slowly worked into a smile. “Oh… You beautiful stallion.” She mumbled. “I’ll get you back for that.”

She quickly ate the rest of her breakfast and ran out of the dining hall, heading back to the Barracks. She needed to get ready in case they needed to head to a pony village. She passed by a few more stands that the Changelings were selling at, a few of them selling pieces of jewelry stolen from the raid, these Changelings were usually in charge of peddling stolen goods at Pony stores, but since Chrysalis pulled them all in, they had to continue their work somehow.

One of the Changelings looked at Cara. “You there!” He said. “Come here and look at my wares, I promise you won’t regret it.”

Cara glanced over at the small store, seeing a variety of jewels and metals, she quickly looked up at the Changeling. “Sorry, but I have to get back to the Barracks.”

“Suit yourself.” He shrugged, then instantly went back to trying to get other Changeling’s attention. She walked towards the Barracks, ignoring the other Changelings while she focused on the mission she would most likely have to go on.

As she got near the Barracks, Cypher was standing outside, waiting for her. “Sergeant Cara,” Cypher said. “The Queen has a mission for us.”

Cara sighed. “Alright Cypher. Where are we headed?”

“We are to leave in half an hour.” Cypher replied. “We are going to a nearby village where a Changeling was located and detained to be sent to Canterlot for study.”

Cara paused. “Wait… What kind of study?”

“We do not have that knowledge Scout 93, however it is believed that they will dissect or attempt to use the corpse to create a way to dispel our magic.”

“Then… Then we would never be able to…” Cara’s eyes widened. “Get Seek and Burn now! We are leaving as soon as possible.” Cypher saluted and went into the Barracks; Cara quickly followed and ran up the stairs and into her room.

She looked over at the mannequin that was placed on the far side of the room. On the small mannequin made of the black Hive-stone sat Cara’s armor, the dark blue chest piece and helmet that matched her Backplate. The horseshoes were a part she could do without, and didn’t want to use them in case they gave away their position. If the ponies really were trying to reverse engineer their disguise spell, then having more Changelings they could squeeze the spell out of was better than one.

She levitated over her chest piece and put it on, attaching the metallic clamps together in back, making the armor look like an extension of her backplate. She levitated over her helmet and placed it on her head, making sure that it lay comfortably against her carapace. She then looked over at the carving and sighed. “I’ll make sure that Changeling makes it back.” She then walked out of the room.

When she left the Barracks, Seek and Burn were waiting with Cypher. The Communication Drone was explaining the situation to both of them. “Alright you three, we are moving out now.” She announced. “I want that Changeling out of there as soon as we get there.”

“Sarge, we don’t really know what the plan is.”

“The plan is to get him out, quick and quiet if possible. If not, then we do whatever we have to in order to get him out.”

“Got it.” Burn replied.

“We all know what to do.” Cara replied. “When we get to the village, Seek will look for the prison. Once that’s done, he’ll create a distraction so that Burn and I can get in and get him out. Cypher, you’ll keep a long distance eye out and keep us all in the loop.” Cara said. “Is that clear?”

The three Changelings saluted. “Yes, Ma’am!”

“Good, then let’s get going!” Cara ordered. “Cypher, lead the way!”

Cara looked down at the town, it had taken a few hours to walk there, but it was a good thing, as night had fallen over the area, casting a dark shadow that would help them more than hurt them. Seek had gone and flown down to the town in the form of a blue jay, he had only left a quarter of an hour ago, but he usually worked quickly, so Cara had gotten a little antsy.

“Raise him again.” Cara said to Cypher.

The Communications Drone nodded. “Scout 95, please respond. Where are you in…”

“I hear you Cypher, I’m still here.” Seek said.

“Scout 95, please report on Progress.” Cypher said.

“I found the Prison, poor guy isn’t doing too well, he’s got what looks like a fractured leg and a broken wing. Moving him is going to be difficult.”

Cara added into the conversation. “You have a Class?”

“Yeah, he’s from the Soldiers. Pretty high up too, he’s bigger than Burn.”

“Great…” Cara mumbled. “That’s going to slow us down…”

“I got a position for the Prison. It’s actually pretty close to the forest you guys are hiding in.”

“Good.” Cara said. “Seek, start planning your distraction, Burn and I are moving into position.”

Cara motioned for Burn to follow her as the two of them began to sneak through the forest towards the small town.

“Scout 93, I do have some unfortunate news.” Cypher said. “A recon group has just informed me that a large group of Royal Guards are en route to the town.”

“Damn it… How long do we have?”

“Not long I’m afraid.” Cypher replied.

Cara cursed under her breath. “Burn, double time. Cypher, make sure that Seek is ready on my mark.”

The town had been abuzz with activity after discovering the Changeling inside the well. Apparently after the failed invasion, it had been launched from the city and smashed through the well, landing in the deep pit. They only realized what it was a day later when news of the attack circled around Equestria. They quickly got the Changeling out of the well and locked it up, then sent word to Celestia of the captured Changeling, and she sent a few guards to come and retrieve the prisoner.

Everypony was a bit antsy now; reports had been popping up of Changelings escaping from the prisons, and nopony wanted to disappoint the Princess. A lot of time had been put into making sure the Changeling couldn’t escape. They put it in the back cell of the small prison they had, they made sure it had a suppression ring on and a vest to keep its wings strapped to its side, and for good measure, hoofcuffs were placed on both front and hind legs. There was no way it was getting out of there by itself.

The town kept most of its citizens in the loop, making sure they all did their part to warn about Changelings, all of them told exactly what to look out for so they could be out of harm’s way.

“Would you stop worrying, Honey?” A black Pegasus stallion said to a pink Unicorn. “There is absolutely nothing that could go wrong.”

“I know… but what if that Changeling gets out?”

“It won’t, we made sure of it.” The stallion replied. “Plus, Celestia’s royal guard are going to be here in just a few minutes to take it off to Canterlot, it will be out of our hooves in no time.”

“Still, that’s a few minutes we still have to keep it around here. I’m not comfortable with it around Sweet Puff.”

The Stallion looked down at the small purple Pegasus in between them. He loved the little bundle of joy they had raised. The small Pegasus was still searching for her talent, but the two parents tried to push her in the right direction.

“Well, having a night out is great every now and then. Get’s the old blood flowing.”

“Well… It is rather nice.” The Unicorn said looking up at the sky. “It’s beautiful out tonight. No clouds in the sky, a nice breeze blowing by, and the stars are so clear.”

“Yeah… nights like this make me glad I moved here from Cloudsdale.”

“You sure that’s the only reason?”

“Well, I can say that I certainly had reasons to stay.” He smiled.

“Oh you flatterer.” The Unicorn replied. “So where are you taking us?”

“Well, I thought that we should try that restaurant down…” There was a loud explosion as all three of them turned to look the way they came, one of the larger buildings in the town was suddenly covered in flame. “the… street…” He opened his wings. “Get Sweet Puff back home, I’ll see what’s going on.”

He quickly shot off the ground and flew towards the building; he caught sight of the owner outside of it, staring up at his home burning.

“Books, what happened?”

“I-I…” The Earth Pony stuttered. “I just closed up for the night… and then…”

The Pegasus looked around to see a large portion of the town running up to see what was going on.

“What in Tartarus happened?” The Pegasus shouted.

“I think I know the answer.” A leaf green Pegasus said flying down to the building. “It looks as though something exploded within the building. Though I’m going to need some help putting this out before I can be certain.” The Pegasus smiled. “Any volunteers?”

The Explosion was heard from the other side of town. “I swear if Seek is doing my job, I’m going to punch him.”

“Burn… Forget about it, let’s get going.” Cara replied, the two of them quickly disguised themselves and ran up to the building, both of them breathing heavily. “Oh, sweet Celestia! There’s been a Changeling sighting in town! I think it attacked somepony!”

One of the stallions guarding the area looked over at the other. “I’m going to try and help.”

The other stallion nodded as the other Stallion ran off. He looked down at Cara and Burn. “Did you see what happened?”

“Yes, I believe my friend here did.” Burn nodded. “Tell him what you saw.”

Burn nodded and looked back to make sure the guard was far enough away, before stepping up to the stallion and grabbing him by the neck, holding his other hoof up by his mouth, his horn lit up as a silencing spell surrounded them. The Stallion flailed for a few seconds before Burn slammed his head into the ground.

Cara shook her head. “Little faster next time.”

Burn grunted before grabbing the keys the stallion was carrying on his belt. He pushed open the door and the two of them quickly ran inside. They found their way to the cells quickly and ran down the hallway, they found the Changeling restrained there, as the two of them drew close, the Changeling looked up at them. “Oh, thank Chrysalis! I thought I was dead!”

Burn levitated the keys up to the lock and turned them, they walked in and began to undo the chains and restraints on the Changeling. “Can you walk?” Cara asked.

“No, I’m sorry.” He replied. “My leg is…” Cara and Burn stood next to him and helped him place his hooves across their backs. “Thanks…”

“Let’s go, Burn.” Cara said as the Changelings began to walk slowly out of the jail. “I really hope that Seek is having a good time with…”

“Sergeant, Scout 95 is reporting in that the Royal Guards are merely a few minutes away.”

“Damn it.” Cara mumbled. “Cypher, tell him we need some help.”

“We do?” Burn asked looking over at Cara.

“Yes.” Cara hissed. “Cypher, tell him to get here now! Double time, Burn!”

The two Changelings carried their comrade out of the prison building with few issues, the Guard was still unconscious with his snout firmly planted into the ground, the green Pegasus landing next to them as they got outside.

“Seek, lead the way. We need to get there now, the Guards are inbound.”

Seek saluted as he started to lead them out of the village, pausing a few times to duck into alleyways or alcoves to keep them out of sight. As they got to the tree line, Seek looked back and up at the sky, his eyes widening. “The Guards are here!” He ran behind the two of them and began trying to push all three of them further into the tree line.

Cara and Burn tried to move quicker, but the large soldier they were both carrying was weighing both of them down.

“Sergeant, I have a clear line of sight on the town, it appears as though the Guards are aware of what we did. They seem to have the Pegasi outfitted with a magical spotlight.”

“Sarge, if we get hit by that, they’ll know where we are.”

“Thank you Captain Obvious!” Cara replied sarcastically. “We’re going as fast as we can.”

Above them they heard the flapping of wings as the Pegasi began to fly around the area in formation, narrowly missing them with the spot lights attached to their armor.

“We need to move faster.” Cara replied. “Either that or we need to lose them.”

As they tried to pick up the pace, the Changeling’s leg hit a rock as he screamed at the pain as the broken appendage was slammed into the pointed stone.

“Scout 93, the Pegasi are looping back around.” Cypher said.

Burn looked at the two others, then over towards where Cypher was. He let out a sigh and motioned for Seek to come close.

“What’s up?”

Burn moved out from under the Changeling and pushed Seek underneath to catch him. Seek looked up at Burn. “Burn?”

Burn took a deep breath and pointed at Seek, then back at Cypher’s position. He pointed at himself then at the sky.

Seek’s eyes widened. “No! Wait! There… There’s another way! You don’t have to-”

Burn put his hoof on Seek’s chest, and pointed at the ground, he pointed at himself and shook his head and then pointed at Cara. “Burn…”

Burn walked back towards the town, and saluted towards the three of them before sprinting off in the direction of the Pegasi.

Cara looked up at Seek. “Seek. What is he doing?”

Seek turned to look back at Burn. “He’s… He’s… He didn’t say anything…” Seek sighed as a small tear fell from his eye. “I think he’s buying us time…”

Cara nodded and the two of them began to walk back towards Cypher.

Burn ran for a good ten seconds before igniting his horn, forcing a large amount of energy to expel from the tip, creating a flare of light that pierced the tree line.

The Pegasus above noticed, and they decided to converge on that light source, thinking that any Changeling was better than no Changeling. They flew towards the light and kept the spotlights on the source of the light.

Below the trees, Burn was well aware that he was being tracked, and as long as they kept the beams on him, the others could get away. He continued to dodge his way through the trees until he came to a small clearing. He skidded to a halt in the center of the clearing, looking up at the Pegasi that began to surround the clearing, shooting the spotlights down at him.

“Stand down Changeling.” A Pegasus ordered. "We promise you will be unharmed."

Burn snorted and his ears perked up, swiveling around as the sound of shouting began to surround him. Earth Ponies and Unicorns began to walk out into the area, surrounding him.

He stood up and relaxed his muscles as the Ponies stepped further into the clearing. As they began to surround him, his horn lit up and he lifted his front hooves, slamming them into the ground as a ring of fire spouted around him, pushing the guards away. His horn lit up as he threw his head around the area, causing pillars of flame to shoot out from the ground, stopping some of the Guards around him.

As he tried to keep the Ponies off of him, he felt his magic draining quickly as he tried to keep the flames going. One of the Pegasi flew down and slammed into him, pushing him against the ground. Burn quickly lifted his hoof and surrounded it in fire; he took the flaming hoof and rammed it into the Guard’s face, holding it there for a few seconds before taking his hind legs and pushing the Guard off his body. The Pegasus hit the ground and started screaming and squirming on the ground as he tried to cover the scorch mark with his hooves.

Burn pushed himself up as a few Unicorns surrounded him, their horns alight as Burn stood up, taking a look at his situation. He lowered himself to the ground in an aggressive pose and charged up his own horn. Before he got the chance to fire off a spell, the Unicorns all fired magical blasts at Burn, each of them collided with his Carapace and sent him to the ground.

The Earth Ponies and Pegasi moved closer to the unconscious Changeling, a few of the Earth Ponies’ coats were singed from the flames, but the one Pegasus had the worst of it. They quickly tried to take care of their comrade’s injury. The Unicorns shifted their attention to the Changeling.

“Get it to the prison, we’ll transport it once we find the rest of them.” A Unicorn said to the others. “Make sure that it doesn’t get out.”

The Unicorns saluted and surrounded Burn in a magical ball, pulling him off the ground and carrying him back towards the town. “Get Thunder to stop screaming. We’ll work on his injuries when we get back to Canterlot.”

From up on the hill, Seek turned to look back at the town. “I…I can’t hear him…”

Cara looked up from the Changeling Soldier, whose leg she was trying to splint. “What?”

Seek shuddered. “I-I… Burn… He-He…” Seek turned to look at Cara, a few tears working down his chitin. “He’s gone…” He said through a sob. “I can’t hear him! He’s gone!” Seek turned towards the village. “I’m going to get him!”

Cara stopped tying a vine to the Changeling’s broken leg and put her hoof on Seek’s shoulder. “You can’t…”

“Like Tartarus I can’t!” Seek shouted, slapping her hoof away. “He’s my brother, Cara! I’m not going to leave him!”

“Then what?” Cara replied. “You go down there, and you get yourself captured, then what was the point?”

Seek turned and glared at Cara. “I’m not just going to leave him there! They’ll Torture him! They won’t stop until they get what they want!”

Cara walked in front of him. “Scout 95, if you try to do this, I will be forced to detain you. I am ordering you; you are not to go down there.”

Seek snorted in anger. “You expect me to leave him there, just because you ordered me?”

“Scout 95, the mission was to retrieve the Soldier, we have done that.” Cypher replied. “The Queen will send an advanced team to collect Scout ninty-”

“HIS NAME IS BURN!” He shouted at Cypher, making the small drone shrink back. “Stop calling us by our bucking number!” He stomped on the ground. “He is not just a number! He’s my brother, he’s your teammate, Sarge, or are you so broken up about Spinnekop that you-”

“Don’t you DARE bring her into this!” Cara snapped. "It has nothing to do with her!"

“Oh, sure.” Seek replied. “Just because your only friend turned out to be a bucking traitor! That means that I have to give up my brother! Is that it?” His horn lit up. “Get out of my way, Cara.”

“Seek… If you try this, I will be forced to put you down.”

“I’d like to see you try.” Seek snarled. “I’m going down there, whether you stand in my way or not.”

Cara stared right up at Seek, the two locked eyes for a few seconds before Cara sighed. “Seek… Think about what Burn would want.”

“He wouldn’t want me to leave him there!” Seek replied.

“No!” Cara shouted. “He wouldn’t want you to risk yourself! Think about it for one second you stubborn Pupa! He knew what he was doing!”

“Cara, he’s my-”

“AND SPINNEKOP WAS LIKE MY SISTER!” She shouted her eyes beginning to tear up. “If I could go back and change one bucking thing, it’s that I can never see her again! I didn’t have a choice either!” Cara let out an agitated sigh. “I don't want to lose Burn too, but we have to get this Soldier back to the Hive.” She pointed at the Soldier, still lying on the ground. “I’ll come back myself if I have to! I’m not losing another friend!”

Cara put her hoof on Seek’s chest. “I will go against the orders of the Queen if I have to, but not here! If we go down there, then we put Burn in more trouble, they will know that we are nearby and try to find us. We can’t go risk going down there.”

Seek glared at Cara.

“Seek, I know that he means everything to you, but we can’t risk endangering everyling else. Especially Cypher.” She cocked her head towards the Communication Drone. “If they get her, they get everything.”

Seek looked over at Cypher, then back towards the town. He sighed, “If the Queen doesn’t send a team, we are both coming back here.”

Cara nodded. “We need to get this guy back to the Hive, as soon as we get back, I’ll send Cypher to alert the Queen. Please, think of what Burn would want.”

Seek looked back towards the town, where the building was still burning, a small tear rolled down his cheek before he took a deep breath and sighed. “Alright Cara…” He replied. “But both of us are agreed here.”

“We’ll come back.” She replied with a nod. “I promise you that.”

Seek took one last look at the village before nodding and walking back over to the Changeling Soldier. “Let’s go tough guy, I want to see my brother again.” His horn lit up as he finished tying the knot on the splint and lifted the Changeling’s foreleg so that it was over his shoulders.

Cara walked over and lifted her side of the Changeling. “Cypher, make sure that we don’t run into any trouble on the way.”

Cypher saluted and began to lead them back to the Hive. The group was deathly quiet as they walked through the forested path. Seek refusing to talk as he was only focused on getting back to the Hive and Cara trying to think of someway to convince the Queen that she needed to help. By the time they got back to the Hive, the Sun had barely begun to ascend into the sky. They managed to get there quickly as Seek never took any breaks; he even carried the Soldier on his back if Cara’s strength was wavering. Cara was surprised by his sudden strength, it's true that Cara was only a little shorter than Seek, but he was lifting a soldier that was larger than his brother with little complaining.

When they got back, a group of Changelings ran up and took the Soldier off their hooves, bringing him to the medical Chamber to recover. The team all walked towards the large Castle of the Queen. When they arrived, Cypher went to the Queen’s chamber while Cara and Seek waited outside, or rather, where Cara fidgeted with her helmet while trying to stop Seek from wearing a hole in the floor.

Seek was pacing up and down the area, his panic had only grown with the ascension of the Celestial orb. “How can you be so calm about this Cara?” Seek asked. “I can’t hear him at all, not even a whisper. Is it always this quiet? How do the rest of you handle this? I mean, I know a lot of you stay connected to the Hive, but it’s just so quiet here. How do you not get bored out of your mind?”

“Seek.”

“I mean, yeah, Burn isn’t always connected with me, but I could at least feel him, I can’t feel him anymore. Is this how Infiltrators feel? It’s unbearable! I can’t hear anyling out there and…”

“Seek…”

“Oh Chrysalis, Oh Chrysalis. What do you think is happening? Do you think they are just going to transport him to Canterlot or maybe they are trying to squeeze information out of him? How would that work? I mean he’s mute so that… Oh Chrysalis, Oh Chrysalis… If they might just think he won’t talk, what are they going to do to him?”

“Seek…”

“Do you think they’ll try torture? I mean Celestia banned torture on anypony, but do you think that extends to us? What if they just torture him to the point where he can’t connect with us anymore?” His eyes widened. “I couldn’t live with that! He’s always been there, I couldn’t…”

“Seek!” Cara shouted. “Get a grip!”

“Sorry!” Seek replied. “I’m just nervous… It’s never been this quiet before. I tend to talk a lot when I’m nervous, but normally only Burn can hear it and I’m doing it again and... Oh Chrysalis, my brother has been captured by Equestria!” Seek stopped and laid down on the ground, covering his head with his hooves. “I can’t lose him! We’re like two peas in a pod, two eggs in a carton, two Timberwolves in a Timberwolf King! I can’t lose him!”

“And you won’t, you just have to…” Mimic stepped through the door.

Seek launched himself at the red-eyed General. “Please tell me that the Queen is planning to rescue him!” He begged the stunned Changeling. “I’ll do whatever I have to in order to see my brother again! Please, General!” Seek sobbed a bit as Mimic tentatively raised his hoof and patted the Changeling on the back.

“Are you sure this is Scout 95?” He asked Cara. “From your reports he sounded less, beggy.”

Cara shrugged and looked down at Seek. “Seek, I think he gets it.”

Seek sniffled as he picked himself up, running his hoof over his eye to clear the tears that started to form.

“Well, the Queen is glad that you managed to get the Colonel back, though she is… Disappointed that you failed to keep yourselves hidden, she wants to talk to both of you.”

Mimic stepped aside and let the two of them walk in. Before he walked into the room, he looked over at the Guard posted outside. “Cocoon, prepare for Chrysalis’ anger. Reinforce the door.” He whispered, the Changeling nodded as his horn lit up and the door glowed briefly before settling down. “Door has been enforced, sir”

Mimic nodded and stepped back into the chamber, closing the door behind him.

Cara and Seek were both bowing in front of Chrysalis’ throne. “I am quite disappointed in this failure, Scout 93.” Chrysalis said, looking down at the Changelings. “I expected better of you.”

“I am sorry, my Queen.” Cara replied. “We were unaware of the Royal Guards that were sent to the village to pick up our target.”

Chrysalis tapped her hooves together. “Is that why you left one of your own behind?”

Seek glanced over at Cara, almost scathingly. “He volunteered himself to ensure the success of the-”

“The Mission, Cara, was to ensure that Equestria had no Changelings within captivity. You failed to keep Scout 96 out of the prison.”

“With all due respect your Majesty.” Seek replied. “He gave us enough time to get out of there before we were found by the Royal Guards. Without him, they would have five Changelings instead of one.”

“And we would not be having this discussion.” Chrysalis replied. “Were you all located, I would have demoted all of you. I cannot risk any incompetence or weak minded soldiers, especially in the trying time. But since it is only Scout 96’s fault he was captured, I will simply demote him. The Breeders could always use more fertilizers.”

Cara looked up at the Queen. “Queen Chrysalis, it is not Burn’s fault… It's mine…”

Seek looked over at Cara. “What are you doing?”

“It is my fault that Burn had to be captured.” Cara replied. “I could have stopped him, but I didn’t… I take full responsibility for his actions and insist you punish me instead.”

Chrysalis looked over Cara, tapping her hooves together in thought. “A valiant effort Sergeant, but I do not believe that you are to blame for your subordinates. Regardless of his intention, he endangered the mission on a hunch and put us right back where we began. I have made up my mind.”

“But… You can’t do that!” Seek argued. “He did nothing wrong!”

Chrysalis looked down at Seek. “Oh? Didn’t he?” She stood up and walked slowly down the steps to her throne. “He is responsible for getting himself captured, therefore he is responsible for any information they learn about us through him.” She stopped at the last step up to her throne. “Should he return here, I will demote him.”

“But you-” Seek began, but was cut off as a green glow surrounded his neck and pulled him into the air.

“You seem to have forgotten your place, Scout.” She said, walking slowly towards Seek as he began to struggle for breath. “I am Queen Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings, you are my soldier.” Seek grasped by his neck. “I am responsible for the safety of this Hive, and you are responsible for enforcing my will across the outposts.” She spoke slowly as Seek started to claw at the intangible magical field. “Why should I bother sending in another group of Scouts to rescue a member who disregarded my orders, when I could just as easily send a kill squad to end his life?” Seek began to gasp for air as he was lifted further into the air to be eye level with Chrysalis. “Tell me.”

Mimic walked up to her, his eyes flicking between Seek and Chrysalis as he spoke. “My Queen, if I could?”

“You may.” Chrysalis replied keeping her glaring eyes on Seek as he slowly turned blue.

“I have read the files on Scouts 93 through 96, and more specifically on Scouts 95 and 96.”

“Go on.” Chrysalis said as Seek started to slow down his struggles.

“In almost every instance where those two were together, they showed a remarkable level of adaptation and coordination. Scout 96 was always willing to give himself up if the mission demanded it, and given the option of his team or himself, he showed a remarkable want to sacrifice himself.” He looked up to see Seek turning purple. “What I am trying to say is these two need each other to be an effective team. Burn can’t talk, and Seek is the only one he trusts enough to remain connected with.”

Chrysalis thought it over as Seek’s eyes began to cloud over. “You are sure that no other Scouts would help this team?”

“None that I have found and wouldn’t a Changeling willing to make the ultimate sacrifice be a powerful tool for us?”

Chrysalis hummed for a second, causing Seek’s weak and struggled breaths to be the only sound in the room as his body started to go limp. “I suppose you are correct.” She released Seek from her magical field, causing him to drop to the floor. He hit the stone and took several deep breaths before shakily pushing himself up and coughing profusely. Cara ran over and helped Seek steady himself.

“I suppose we could attempt to rescue your teammate.” Chrysalis replied. “However, I refuse to allow any of you to be involved.”

Cara nodded. “I understand my Queen.”

“However I cannot risk sending in any standard Scout teams either, with the Royal Guard presence in the area; it will require a more advanced group.”

“Shall I round up an Alpha squadron?” Mimic asked.

Chrysalis sat back on her throne. “No… I have a better idea. Get Infiltrator 23 and Soldier A-74.” She smiled. “I think it is about time they had a mission together. Don’t you?”

Mimic bowed. “I will bring them here at once your Majesty. Though Infiltrator 23 is currently in Los Pegasus on a seduction mission.”

“My executive order Mimic.” Chrysalis replied. “Pull her out.” She smirked. “Or should I say, pull him out?” She let out a small string of contained laughs.

“Of course My Queen, I will inform them of your request and tell them of the urgency of the situation.”

“Time is ticking, General.” Chrysalis replied. “No telling how long those ponies will keep Burn before they send him to Canterlot.”

Both Cara and Seek looked up at Chrysalis. “And once they make it to that city, I will consider him a lost cause.”

Cara looked up at Chrysalis. “Why?”

Chrysalis looked down at Cara, and for a second, she feared she would be the next one floating in the air grasping for her throat. Instead, Chrysalis shook her head. “Because I for one do not wish to allow Sun-Butt to get any of my soldiers that I send there. If a soldier returns from Canterlot, I know they were not there by my order, so they will be detained, and I will see what they were doing there.” Chrysalis frowned. “Or… I will simply kill them and save myself the trouble.”

Cara was going to argue, but Seek’s sudden coughing fit made her look down at his neck, there was a clear crack in the chitin that covered the front part of his neck, probably formed from Chrysalis’ grip. “Come on Seek, let’s get you to the Medics.” She lifted Seek up, which was rather difficult as she was actually slightly smaller than him, and carried him from the room, a string of coughs following them as they left.

“Cypher,” Chrysalis said to the Small drone. “I would like for you to go meet up with the Hive’s Communication Manager, and see if there are any tasks that require your assistance.”

Cypher saluted and walked out of the room, leaving Chrysalis and Mimic.

Mimic looked up at Chrysalis. “Are you sure you want to use those two?” He asked. “We could always get an Alpha Squadron.”

“Alphas are far too idiotic for what I need.” Chrysalis replied. “They would get caught in their egos, at least this way 23 will keep him in check.”

Mimic nodded. “As you wish, Chrysalis.”

Author's Note

Hooray for 3-days off!

Got this whole thing done in those three days. I'm proud of it

Chapter 13: Just Like Old Times

Cloak absolutely loathed Seductions missions. It wasn’t the fact she had to pretend to be a shy filly about half her own age a majority of the time, or the fact that a majority of the targets were arrogant Stallions who have wool so far over their eyes they could be classified as sheep. It was what came after all of that she hated.

This Seduction mission had been no different; she had been disguised as a pale pink unicorn with a blond mane and green eyes called Silk Cover. She was the daughter of a rich stallion and a very sick mother, who suffered from ‘popping of zhe flesh, weakness in zhe legs, all zhe while she is in excruciating pain’. It was really a small sob story to help her out. She was wealthy and looking for a ‘good time’. Usually that is all it takes.

Her target was a Black Unicorn stallion with a short red mane and tail by the name of Jackpot. He owned a large portion of the Casinos in Los Pegasus. His wealth came from his luck with the Cards, and his skill, even though many tried to call him out on being a cheater.

Silk had taken her time, easing in, buying off others, threatening a few more, and being lucky enough to have other competitors disappear under mysterious circumstance. All in good time to worm her way into his circle of trust and then slowly foster a relationship between them.

As it turns out, the second part wasn’t hard at all.

Shortly after Silk gained his trust earlier that week by getting rid of one of his biggest rivals, he had nearly insisted that they move the relationship quicker, and Silk, the fun-loving mare she was, would have to be crazy to disagree.

Then led to the interesting part, Silk had made herself as pretty as possible and the very same night she planned to enact the plan, she got a call from the Hive, saying that she needed to return to the Hive. So… She did what she had to…

She carried with her a bottle of Pure Love within a perfume bottle, as a reserve of food or as a last resort. She sprayed some of it on herself, let the rest soak into the air around her, so that once Jackpot did get into the room, it was only a matter of time before his libido took hold from the “La Convoitise Éternelle” as she called it.

Then… The really annoying part started.

Now, Cloak was no stranger to the deed, but that didn’t mean she enjoyed it. She especially hated when the Stallion she was pleasuring gave her a nasty surprise in the form of a load of Sexual juices inside her body. Normally a Seduction mission was based on two things. One: Getting money from some high end Stallion or Mare, and two: Getting the sexual juices. Sure, Cloak had done it a few times, but after a specifically bad encounter that she will never relive, she refused point black to ever perform the same acts again.

So now, whenever she was pulled for a seduction mission, which was only if all other available Infiltrators were hospitalized and incapable, she would ensure the stallions did not leave her a nasty surprise. That is where being a creature that feeds off emotions helps, she could always tell when a Stallion was going to pop, and instead get his seed against her coat. Not that it was much better… If getting sticky gunk out of a coat and mane was difficult, then getting it off a Carapace was practically impossible! Cloak spent hours trying to scrape off every little bit of Stallion from every small space possible.

That is why she is glad to have met a very particular unicorn, one that went by the name of Glory, Cloak never got her last name, but guessed the rest. Glory showed Cloak a very useful spell while she was disguised as your standard whore, for the first and last time, which could clean out any and all ‘sticky’ objects in one’s coat. How many times that had saved Cloak a day’s worth of scrubbing put it down in her books as one of the new basic Infiltrator spells. She even taught Spinnekop that spell, even though Spinnekop was specifically designated for non-seduction type missions, it was still useful when dealing with children, juice, paint, tree sap, and glitter, it was very good at glitter.

Now Jackpot was no genius, and clearly had no idea how to tip a mare for a ‘Good time’ as he not only gave her Three Million Bits by using the ‘dying mother’ card and probably a bit of his libido addled mind, but he then gave her five hundred thousand bits! That was over five hundred times the amount any Infiltrator got through sex with a stallion that wasn’t a Noble. Along with that, she also managed to get a group of pictures that were no doubt other mares he intended to have Sexual Congress with. Whatever the reason, she had a few more targets for the Infiltrators to enjoy, those Infiltrators that were not her.

Returning to the Hive was a rather interesting experience; the fact that the Guards were overly protective and a few of them were lacking a fang, they were so protective, that they actually stopped her from entering the Hive before she gave them her number, to which they flinched and pulled up their spears.

Cloak glared at them before walking back into the Hive. She quickly ran to the Hive Treasury office to drop off the bits, and hand over the photos of the mares.

“Infiltrator 23, report to the Throne Room now, failure to comply will have consequences.”

Cloak sighed as she hurried up explaining Jackpot before running through the crowded streets of the Hive. At one point a Trader decided to try and stop her, the Changeling ended up thrown into the air and back down unto the pavement before he knew what happened.

Cloak ran through the doors of the Castle and skidded to a halt in front of the Throne Room. She quickly looked over her body and her fin before taking a deep breath and pushing open the door.

“Infiltrator 23, you are late.” Chrysalis said as Cloak walked in. “I hope the catch was worth it.”

Cloak bowed. “Apologies my Queen.” Cloak replied. “I simply ensured the work I put forward was not threatened.”

“And?” Chrysalis replied.

“3.5 Million Bits.”

Chrysalis’ eyes widened. “For one night?”

Cloak nodded.

“Huh… I will have to congratulate you. That is quite a large sum, however that is not important in this current situation.”

“Cloak…”

Cloak’s ears perked up as she looked towards the voice, her eyes caught on the jagged crack that etched across his cheek, starting from his mouth. “Dagger!”

Dagger glared at his sister as Chrysalis sat on her Throne, looking over the two. “What are you doing here?”

Chrysalis smiled. “I asked him here, Infiltrator.” She said.

Cloak looked over at Dagger. “If this is a Soldier matter, than why did you ask me here?”

Chrysalis stood up and walked down the steps to her throne. “I have asked you both here, because you two are the only ones that I trust to handle this delicate situation.”

Cloak looked up at Chrysalis and blinked. “Situation?”

Chrysalis nodded. “You are familiar with Beta Scout Squadron 23 correct?”

Cloak nodded. “That’s Cara’s Squadron.”

Chrysalis nodded. “A situation has arisen regarding one of their members, Scout 96.”

Cloak gasped. “What happened to Burn? Is he alright? Is Seek okay?” Chrysalis raised her hoof.

“Burn has been captured. And Seek is in the infirmary for speaking out against me. As far as we know, Burn is unharmed, but Equestria currently has him as a captive. He gave himself up so that the remainder of his squadron could escape with Colonel Bulk.”

Cloak sighed. “That’s good I suppose…” She looked up at Chrysalis again. “But… Why are you telling me?”

“I am telling you two, because I believe it is high time you two had a mission together.” Chrysalis looked down at both of the Changelings. Cloak’s jaw had dropped as she looked between Dagger and Chrysalis, while Dagger looked up at the Queen with his jaw line clenched, making the crack become more pronounced.

“With all due respect your Highness, we are hardly the best…”

Chrysalis’ horn lit up and a flash of flame appeared in the center of the room, a folder stuffed with reports and photos deposited itself on the floor.

Cloak, who had been holding her breath when she saw the Queen’s horn light up, let out a relieved sigh and walked over to the folder, picking it up and reading through it.

Inside were numerous reports, all of them about Cloak and Dagger’s missions back when they were younger. She saw the mission where they had nearly effortlessly gotten through a Bank and done nothing but leave a note saying ‘Challenge Accepted’ they had been called out by the owners of the bank, saying their security was impossible to get around.

Cloak kept flipping through and saw the incident that caused Dagger’s crack, caused by blunt force object and deep magical burns, making it impossible to heal. The pictures of it when he had come back to the Hive were bloody and painful to look at.

“Those are all of your previous expeditions together, a majority of them were perfect successes. Those that were not, were damn close.”

Dagger’s crack let out a hiss. “Yes, before I got my Chitin nearly cracked open…”

“Well, I suppose that you two will need to get used to each other again.” Chrysalis lowered her head to glare at Dagger. “Because should you two fail me, I will not be pleased, or forgiving.”

Cloak looked up from the folder to see Dagger doing his best to look stoically at Chrysalis. “So what are we dealing with here?”

Chrysalis pulled back from Dagger. “You two will be sent behind enemy lines, with no back-up, no Hive Link, and if one of you get put into a tough spot, the other will be responsible for your safety.”

Dagger chirped. “What else is new?” He said under his breath as he walked over to where Cloak was standing.

Cloak sighed. “Shiv…”

Dagger turned and glared at Cloak, he bared his fangs. “Stop calling me that!” He hissed, gritting his teeth in anger.

Chrysalis slammed here hoof on the ground, getting both of them to look at her with a hint of fear. “Both of you! Cease this petty bickering! We have little time and you have much to do.” Both Changelings stood at attention. “The town is being looked after by a group of Royal Guards, and they are attempting to pry information from Burn. Every minute is another minute closer to them getting something from him.”

Dagger saluted. “We will do our best Chrysalis.”

“I do not want your best,” Chrysalis replied. “What I want is for that Scout to be free. I do not care what you have to do, but ensure all three of you return, or there will be consequences for the other two.”

Both Changelings gulped. “Will Mimic be joining us?” Cloak asked.

“No.” Chrysalis replied. “He has graduated past petty operations. He may have been in your team before, but he will no longer be able to assist you.”

Cloak and Dagger nodded. “Good, you have your objective, so go, and stop wasting your time here.”

Cloak and Dagger both nodded at each other and walked out of the room, but once they left the Castle, Cloak sighed. “Look, I know this is the first time we have been on a mission in about thirty years…”

“I’ll kill who I like, Cloak.” Dagger replied.

“Come on Dagger, just this once. Don’t kill everypony in there.”

“I make no promises.” He replied. “We are leaving now Cloak.”

Cloak sighed. “Yeah I know. Just give me a minute before we leave.”

Dagger nodded and walked off towards the opening to the Hive. “Make it quick 23.”

Cloak sighed. “Same to you, 74.” Cloak quickly ran towards the infirmary. Please be okay. Please be okay.

Cloak managed to stop herself from barreling into the infirmary. She kept herself going slowly through until she came to where Cara was sitting, holding her helmet nervously as she fidgeted. Cloak walked up to her. “Hey, I heard what happened.” She put her hoof over Cara’s shoulder. “Are you alright?”

Cara sighed. “Yeah… I-I’m fine…” She looked back at the membrane behind her, showing Seek laying flat against a bed. “I’m worried about him…”

Cloak nodded. “How is he holding up?”

Cara turned back around. “He’s taking it bad… They had to put him under to look at his injuries; he kept freaking out and clutching at his head in pain… I’m… I’m worried something happened to Burn…” She let out a shuddering breath. “I can’t lose another one… Not so soon…”

Cloak pulled Cara into a small hug. “Don’t worry Cara… I’m going to make sure he gets home safe.” She looked over at Seek. Poor guy… I hope it gets better. “I’ve got to go Cara… I’ll make sure he’s safe.”

Cara nodded. “Bring him home… Please.”

“I will…” She tightened the hug before letting go. “I’ve got to go Cara.”

She stood up and waked out of the infirmary. The instant she got out, her wing snapped open and she launched herself into the air, heading for the direct exit to the Hive. What are they doing to Burn to get info out of him?

Burn hated knockout spells…

As he managed to regain consciousness, he noticed two things. One was that Seek wasn’t in his head, which meant that he had gotten away; the second was that he was currently inside a cell.

“Wonderful,” Burn ‘said’ through the hive mind with a groan. “Now I’m the one trapped in a box… Great plan.”

Burn’s ears perked up. “Huh… Feels weird not to have Seek respond to everything.” Burn tried to push himself up, but found that his legs were bound together with hoofcuffs, and those in turn, were connected to the wall by… “A Rope? Seriously?”

Burn rolled his eyes and turned around, grabbing the rope with his mouth and positioning it so his teeth should cut through it easily. “Stupid Ponies thinking that I don’t have sharp teeth” He slammed his jaw shut with a smirk. “Now with that out of the…” He tried to move away from the wall, but his hind legs pulled out from under him, slamming into the ground.

Burn groaned and pulled himself up as he looked back at the rope, to see it was completely fine. “What?”

Burn looked over at the rope and frowned, he grabbed the rope in his moth again and bit down on it a few more times, grinding his teeth against the rope, and found he was doing absolutely no damage. “Tartarus! This thing is strong! What is it made out of? Dragon Scales?”

As he bit on the cord, pulled on it and snapped his jaw shut around it, he somehow managed to get his legs wrapped together with the hoofcuffs and the rope, leaving him on his back with the rope caught in his mouth. “Tartarus Damn this substance!”

“Don’t even bother Insect.” Burn looked over towards the jail cell, a Unicorn guard was standing, looking into the jail cell as Burn struggled. “That rope has been enchanted to be stronger than steel.”

Burn let out a grunt. “That won’t stop me from trying.” He bit down on the rope again.

“We have some questions for you Changeling.” He said. Burn flashed him a glare. “And by the way, you have no say in this. After what you did to Thunder, you’re lucky some of the guys didn’t break your legs.”

Burn flashed him the worst glare he could before spitting out the rope. “Cooperate, and maybe we can lessen your punishment.”

Burn let out a sigh and relaxed, nodding to the pony. The Unicorn nodded at three other Guards, two Earth ponies and a Pegasus. They entered the cell and walked over to where Burn was tied. One of the Earth Ponies snickered. “You sure these Changelings are smart?”

“Say that to my face you little…”

“Yes, now help him out, or else we can’t get him out.”

The Earth Pony rolled his eyes as they all began to pull on the rope, untying Burn. They detached the rope from his hoofcuffs and led him towards a separate room. The room was clearly an interrogation room, judging from the single table, and darkened mirror.

The Unicorn pointed at the table. “Sit.”

Burn nodded and walked over towards the table, taking the seat facing the mirror. The other Guards stood outside the room as the Unicorn stood inside the room, soon after; a Pegasus entered the room, his coat a light brown. “So, this is the Changeling?”

“Yes, sir.” The Unicorn replied, his horn beginning to glow faintly, ready to incapacitate the Changeling if anything happened.

The Pegasus nodded and walked over to sit across from Burn. “Now, I want to ask you some questions. I know full well you Changelings can understand us, so just try to respond to all of my questions and you will be fine.”

Burn grunted and crossed his front hooves.

“Now, reports say you came here with a team, correct?”

Burn glared at the Pegasus.

“Please, we do not wish to harm you to get answers, but the Princess has been very upfront about aggressive Changelings.”

Burn grunted. “You want my response? Buck off.” After a pause, Burn looked to his side confused before sighing. “Right… Seek’s not here…”

The Pegasus looked at Burn curiously. “Why don’t you speak? The other Changelings we’ve had were reported to be able to speak.”

Burn clamped his mouth shut and turned away from the Pegasus. “Have fun getting ANY Information out of me.”

“Listen, we can work something out with you. You want to return to your family in the Hive? We can arrange that. You want to have your freedom remain intact? We can arrange that. You only need to give us a few answers.”

Burn shook his head. “I’m not going to betray the Queen that easily. It’ll take a lot more than…” Burn’s eyes opened as a sudden flare of emotions caught his senses, a red-hot feeling flowed into him as he looked out towards the door.

“Then I guess that’s enough of the Good Guard.” He stood up and walked over to stand next to the door. “Let him in.”

Burn raised his eyebrow as the Unicorn nodded and his horn lit up, there was a click at the door as it was thrown open and caught by the other Pegasus before a White Pegasus Guard flew into the room at Burn tackling him and pinning him to a wall.

Burn managed to catch his breath and looked down at the Pegasus, he was staring up at Burn with pure hatred in his eyes, and his right cheek was covered with a bright red burn mark in the shape of a hoof. “YOU BUCKING CHANGELING!” He pulled one of his hooves back and punched Burn in his stomach. “TELL ME WHERE THE REST OF YOUR TEAM IS YOU WASTE OF FLESH!”

Burn gasped as he pulled in air before being punched again and tossed to the ground. “Be lucky I can’t use my magic you feathered Rat!”

The Pegasus stomped over to where Burn was. “You think it’s fun to brand somepony? Huh?” he grabbed Burn. “You like fire? You like hurting ponies?” He asked, a smile working across his face. “Well, I’ve got a little surprise for you.”

Both of the other Guards looked at each other curiously. “Thunder, what are you planning?”

Thunder looked up at the Pegasus. “Oh, just something me and the boys thought might loosen his tongue a bit.”

“Good luck with that.” Burn replied, scoffing.

“Thunder?” The Unicorn said. “If this has to do with…”

The door was opened, and a couple of Earth Ponies carried in a large wooden bucket, like one that would be used to gather apples, full of water.

The Pegasus eyed the tub warily. “Thunder?”

“Relax Lieutenant, I’m not going to kill him… Relax, this is me…”

One of the Earth Ponies led the Pegasus and Unicorn out of the room. Thunder waited for them to leave before his smile curled into a wicked grin. “You haven’t had a thing to drink in nearly two days. You must be parched…” He motioned to the large tub. “Well? Go on.”

“Not in a million years would I accept this kind of…” Burn was grabbed by his horn and practically dragged towards the tub, and then his brain connected the dots. His mouth formed an inaudible ‘No’ as he began frantically trying to pull against the Pegasus Guard driven by pure hatred. “No! No! Please! Don’t do this!” When he was over the tub, his wings flared out and began buzzing in panic, his heart pounded as he looked over the water, reflecting his wide eyes and fearful smile as his vision darted around.

“Tell me where they are!” The Pegasus shouted, holding Burn’s face a mere few inches from the water.

Burn took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down as he was looking down at the cold, reflective, wat- “No… Just stay calm… Just sta…” His thoughts were cut off as his head was forcefully pushed under the water. Burn flailed his legs out as the ice-cold water surrounded him. He continued to flail for a few seconds before he was pulled from the water forcefully.

“WHERE ARE THEY!” The Pegasus shouted plunging him back into the water. He held the Changeling under for a good ten seconds before pulling him out. “You bastards hurt my Sister! Tell me where you’re hiding her!” He dunked Burn again.

Burn flailed again, Don’t scream! Don’t Scream! It’s just Water! Burn closed his eyes and screwed his lips shut in an attempt to prevent himself from releasing the much needed oxygen. He was pulled out and dunked again, but this time, he couldn’t keep his mouth closed. It peeled open as a stream of bubbles shot from his muzzle in a silent scream. He didn’t know how long until he was pulled out again, but he took a deep breath, as he heard slamming on the door.

He didn’t get a chance to pick up on it, as he was shoved back under the water, where he screamed again, but instead of getting forcefully pulled out, he felt the pressure on the back of his head leave as he tried to pull himself out of the tub. He tried to push himself up, but the hoofcuffs made his grip slip as he tried to pull himself up, causing the tub to flip over him, getting his entire body soaked.

He quickly pulled the tub off his body and threw it across the room as quickly and as hard as possible, before scurrying back towards the corner as far from the place he threw the tub. His eyes quickly shot around the room, passing over the steel table that had been tossed aside by an Earth Pony trying desperately to restrain a Pegasus that was yelling something. A Unicorn Guard and a Pegasus were both glaring at the White Pegasus screaming. Burn coughed a bit before spewing water from his mouth as he coughed.

The Unicorn Guard from earlier walked up to him, but Burn quickly began backing away again. His mouth forming into the words ‘Please no more water! Anything but the Water!’ He raised his hooves in front of his face as he let out a small whimper.

The Unicorn Guard watched Burn curiously before a stunned expression spread across his face. “Hey, Lieutenant. I think this Changeling’s a Mute.”

The Lieutenant took his burning gaze off of his subordinate for a moment before flashing a concerned look over his face. “A mute?”

The Unicorn nodded. “He just tried to talk.”

The Lieutenant walked over to the Changeling, looked across the room to the shattered tub, then back towards Burn. “Are you alright?”

Burn shivered rather frequently, from both the cold water still stuck on his carapace, and the fact that his anxiety was getting to him. But he did manage to nod.

The Lieutenant sighed. “Get him a towel, and get Thunder out of…”

Thunder flipped the Guard holding him over. “All of you are helping it! It doesn’t deserve anything! Have you all forgotten what they did?” He shouted before flaring his wings and launching himself out of the room.

“THUNDER! Celestia Damn it! Don’t let him get to the Forest!” The Pegasus shouted, another Pegasus flew out after him.

The Unicorn walked up to Burn, holding a towel in his magic. “Come on, let’s get you back to the cell…”

“Thunder!” Storm Chaser shouted. “Thunder! Where in Tartarus did you go?”

Storm had followed his rambunctious partner through the town until he lost him in the woods, that Pegasus was so bullheaded. After his sister vanished during the invasion, Thunder had been the first to volunteer for any Changeling collection mission, so now that he got his chance, he wasn’t going to leave it alone.

“THUNDER!” Storm called out again. “Celestia Damn it!” He quickly flew through the trees.

That stunt he just pulled was against numerous laws placed on the Guard. They aren’t allowed to torture prisoners. Along with the fact that Celestia herself ordered Changelings be unharmed unless absolutely necessary. So not only was he breaking one of the Guard Laws, but he was going against one of the Princess’ own personal orders! You are in so much shit Thunder…

Storm flew around the forest a bit more, following a path of broken branches and disturbed leaves. He followed the path until it came to a clearing. “THUNDER!”

Storm’s ears perked up as he heard a voice nearby. “Thunder?”

“Over here.” He heard the voice before he believed it. It was certainly Thunder’s voice, but what made him stop trying to run? Storm shook his head and flew towards the voice, he found a few more broken branches in the way, but he came to a spot where he saw Thunder laying on the ground, clutching his wing. Looking at it, Storm noticed the broken wing, bent oddly out of place. “What happened?”

Thunder looked up at Storm. “I flew into a tree branch, didn’t think it did too much… Turns out I was wrong.”

Storm shook his head as he flew down to Thunder. “Come on, Tough Guy. You’re in some major trouble when we get back to Canterlot.”

“I know… I know…” Thunder replied.

Storm bent down to pick him up, but when he did, he noticed something different. “Thunder? What happened to your scorch mark?”

Thunder’s eyes widened. He groaned as he looked at the sky. “Shit…”

“Told you my job was harder.” Came a feminine voice above the two of them.

Storm looked up to see a Changeling sitting in a branch, smiling down at them, when Storm’s eyes widened, the Changeling waved back at him.

“Hey buddy.” Thunder said. “Eyes off my Sister.” Storm looked back down at Thunder, who had pulled his head back and slammed his head into Storm’s head. As their skulls connected, the Pegasus fell to the ground.

Thunder rubbed his head as he stood back up. “Are you ready to admit my job is harder yet?”

“No, Cloak.” Thunder said as he rubbed his head again, pulling his hoof away to make sure there wasn’t any blood. “I still think anyling can do your job.”

Cloak rolled her eyes. “Whatever Dagger.” She hopped down towards Storm, grabbing his body and pulling him off towards a densely packed area of trees. The real Thunder was hanging in a tree, his wings covered in green goo to keep them still, with a similar substance holding him to the tree and covering his mouth.

She walked over and grabbed a length of rope, tying it around Storm’s legs and wings, keeping them bound to his side. She looked up at a groan to see Thunder open his eyes to glare at Cloak, who returned it with a smile.

“Well I’m glad to see you awake.” She replied, getting a muffled yell in response. “Alright, jeez, I was just being friendly, no need to curse.” More muffled yells. “Well I never.” She flew up to Thunder and pushed his forehead, making him rock. “Listen, I may have been a whore at one point in my life, but I never lowered myself to that kind of depravity.”

Thunder muffle yelled some more, getting a gasp from Cloak. “You have some of the most vulgar, disturbing, graphic language I have ever heard from a pony, and I have slept with several of the worst ponies in Equestria. And after I found out what you did to Burn…”

Dagger walked up to Cloak. “Cloak? Did you not tell me something?”

Cloak stopped as her eyes widened a bit before nervously smiling at Dagger. “Uh… yes…”

“What did you not tell me?”

Cloak tapped her hooves together nervously. “Well… He… Uh…” Cloak sighed. “He kind of… Tortured Burn… by… Nearly drowning him…”

Dagger’s eye twitched and the crack in his chitin flared. He shot Thunder a glare, before it curled into a wicked grin. “He did now?”

Cloak looked between the two nervously, before casting her gaze down to Storm. “Well… I’ve got to go and uh… Remove this guy's armor… For… Uh… Reasons.” Her horn lit up and carried the Pegasus away.

When they were gone, Dagger’s horn lit up and pried the goo from Thunder’s mouth, only to have Dagger punch him in the scorch mark, eliciting a cry of pain.

“You bastards! Give me back my Sister!”

“Oh… I don’t think we could, even if we had her.” Dagger replied. “But I think that I have a little plan for you…” His horn lit up as it pulled a small blade from Dagger’s armor, holding it up in front of Thunder’s eyes, waving it back and forth. “Do you know who I am?”

“Why would I care about… AHH!” Dagger pressed the blade against the scorch mark, pushing deeply into it.

“My name is Dagger, and do you see this crack?” He pointed at the crack in his chitin. “Well… It was given to me by a group of ponies, and it is imbedded into my chitin.” He spun the blade in front of Thunder, before holding it against Thunder’s cheek and dragged the blade across it.

“I haven’t done this in a long time… It’s something of a mark of mine. I do it to at least one of my targets whenever I can…” He pulled the blade away as his horn surrounded Thunder’s scorch mark. “But… I’m not cruel. So I’ll take away a mark, to add a mark.” Dagger smiled. “But it will be far from painless.”

Dagger poured more magic into his horn as the Scorch mark began to heal, but not before Thunder screamed in pain and began writhing in pain as his nerves felt the same feelings as when the mark was burned onto his flesh.

When the mark was gone, Thunder was swearing and cursing again, staring at Dagger’s wicked grin. Dagger let him shout for a while, before placing his forehooves on Thunder’s forehead and neck, pushing down on both of them.

“Oh you are going to want to hold off on that right now…” Dagger said. “I want to hear you scream…” He held the blade in front of Thunder’s eyes as his horn flared up, the blade beginning to heat up. “Let’s see you scream…” He whispered into Thunder’s ear before holding the blade up to Thunder’s mouth, and placed the blades tip on the side of Thunder’s mouth.

Thunder’s eyes shrunk to pinpricks as the blade slowly began to cut into his flesh. He let out a bloodcurdling scream of pain and his body writhed while Dagger held his head still.

Cloak looked back towards the area Thunder was screaming. She had just removed Storm’s armor and was looking over it. While she could always make the illusion of armor, it was often difficult to determine the exact specifics of the armor. Cloak looked over Storm’s body, taking every muscle and small change in his body into account.

Sighing, she looked back at the screaming Pegasus. She was always afraid of Dagger like that, when he was so blinded by hatred at the past he wanted to hurt ponies no matter what they did. If they hurt a Changeling that did nothing wrong, or just used torture, he made it more painful. This was the point Cloak decided to split off from Dagger, she was… actually afraid of him like this.

There were two times Cloak hated Dagger, when someone was even giving him the hint of betraying him, and when he was trying to dig into Cloak’s life. Both times he thought himself above others, and only once did Dagger ever delve into his vengeance when Cloak was around. He had memorized a special spell, one that created wounds that were impossible to heal, a dark spell… Cloak refused to watch it… And tried her best to block out the screams.

She looked down at Storm’s unconscious body, and sighed. “I’m sorry… I knew this was going to happen…” She looked at the armor. “But I’ve got a friend to save, and the gloves are coming off.”

Storm returned to the town a little while later, he walked up to the Prison and found his way through it to where the Commanding Officer was and reported in, saying that he lost Thunder in the woods.

Lieutenant Sky sighed. “That bullheaded idiot…” He mumbled. “We’ll send out a team to look for him later. Right now we need to work on transporting that Changeling back to Canterlot.”

Storm looked at Sky curiously. “Weren’t we going to try and get more information out of him?”

“We were… Before we learned he was a mute.” Sky sighed. “We can’t get any information out of a Changeling that can’t talk… Even if he could that stunt Thunder pulled probably wouldn’t make him too willing to talk. So we are just going to bring him to Canterlot in a few hours.”

Storm twitched a bit. “Sir, are you sure that is a good idea. For all we know it might be used as a spy within our walls.”

“It would be a terrible spy, it would be blindfolded until we get to the Dungeons, where Celestia will determine how dangerous the Changeling is and act accordingly.”

Storm nodded. “How is the Changeling holding up then? After that whole incident.”

Sky let out another sigh. “It’s been cowering in the corner of the cell, we managed to get the rope attached, but it wasn’t difficult as it seemed to have curled itself away.”

Storm nodded. “What would you have me do sir?”

“Just… Get some of the Guards ready to transport the Changeling. This town has been the biggest pain in my flank, I’ll be better the sooner that I get out of here…”

Storm nodded. “I’ll get right on that, sir.” He said, walking out of the room and looking down to make sure nobody was coming before shifting uncomfortably. Chrysalis… When was the last time I disguised as a Stallion? Was it always this uncomfortable?

He shifted uncomfortably again before deciding to go and check on Burn, without revealing himself as an imposter that is…

Storm walked through the building until he came to the cells. It wasn’t too difficult to find the cell with Burn in it, as it was literally the only cell with someone in it. The two guards outside the cell might help as well.

“Storm, you manage to find Thunder?” An Earth Pony guard asked.

“No… I lost him in the forest.” Storm replied shaking his head. “The Lieutenant wants us to prep a cage to bring it back to Canterlot.” The two guards saluted. “Any change with the prisoner?”

“No sir, it’s been like that since we brought it back.”

Storm sighed. “Alright, I’ve just got to get the rest of the group ready.”

The Guards saluted as Storm walked away from them. “Dagger!”

“What? I’m busy.”

“SHIV! The plan was for you to…”

“I know, I’m expediting the process.” There was a smash of glass and Storm sighed.

“Sir, what was that?” One of the Guards asked.

“Stay at your posts, I’ll check it out.” Storm walked towards what he assumed was a bathroom, pushing it open showed that was indeed what it was. The window was pushed open and smashed on the ground.

Storm sighed. “Dagger…” He said walking up to the smashed glass, looking at it, and then pushing open the closest stall door. “So out of curiosity, what was your plan after that?”

Dagger was standing on the ceiling above the stall. “I was thinking you would distract them, and then I’d incapacitate one while they weren’t paying attention.”

“And assuming I wasn’t here?”

“You were, so why does it matter?” Storm facehoofed. “You would be terrible at my job Dagger… Just, disguise yourself and let’s get this out of the way.”

“So are we sticking with the rest of the plan?”

“Well, now that you broke the widow, yes.” Storm replied. “You do remember the rest of the plan right?”

Dagger sighed. “Yes Cloak, I remember.” Dagger was covered in a green flame and replaced with another Guard. “So let’s get this over with.”

The two of them walked out of the room and headed down the hall towards the room Sky was in. “Remember, We need him to remain ALIVE!”

“Yeah, Yeah. You do your job, I’ll do mine.”

Storm flashed the now Unicorn Guard an unsure look. “I’ll only break a few of his bones.”

“NO Shiv!”

“Would you quit calling me that Cloak?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Are you going to follow the plan now?”

“If it gets me some slack, then yes.”

“In that case, no broken bones, just incapacitate him.”

“Fine.” Dagger said as the two of them walked up to the door.

Storm knocked and said. “Sir, one of the Guards on watch thinks they saw a Changeling over by the north perimeter.”

“Well, come in then.”

Storm pushed the door open and stepped in. “This is the Guard who saw the Changeling.”

“Good, what’s your name?”

“Private Pound, sir.” Dagger replied.

“Well, why not tell me what you saw. Storm, get that cage ready for transport.”

Storm saluted. “Of course, sir. I’ve already got some of the Earth Ponies getting it set up. I’ll go make sure they don’t mess up.”

Storm left the room, but instead of walking down the hall, he closed the door and leaned against the door, ensuring it remained closed.

From the other side of the door, Storm could pick up the conversation… “So Private, why don’t you tell me what you saw.”

“Of course sir, well you see I-” There was a crashing sound as Dagger no doubt, had jumped across the desk and tackled the Pegasus. Storm listened as a variety of crashes, shouts, and smashes before a few more thuds hit his ears as muffled shouting was heard and the sounds of struggling ended.

Storm took a deep breath before taking his weight off the door, a few moments passed before the door opened and Sky stepped through. “There, that wasn’t so hard.”

“You got the keys, right?”

Sky nodded and opened his wing; a ring of keys was placed on the armor. “I’m not stupid, Storm.” He took the keys off his belt and locked the door behind him. “We have at most another hour before he wakes up.”

Storm nodded. “That should be plenty of time.” He shifted uncomfortably again, causing Sky to smirk.

“Having trouble there?” He said with a small chuckle.

Storm glared back at Sky. “No, I’m perfectly capable of handling this situation, I’m just… Uncomfortable. I can’t even remember the last time I had to become a Stallion.”

“Well you won’t have to for much longer.” Sky replied. “We just need to get the Scout out and then leave.”

“I still have a bad feeling about this…” Storm said. “This feels almost too easy…”

“Your point?” Sky asked.

“That you would think they would send more Guards or have an added security measure… But there’s nothing.”

“Then it sucks for them.” Sky replied. “Let’s go, I hate wearing this ornate garbage.” He motioned his head towards the armor he was wearing. “It’s too flashy and ineffective. Give me Hive armor any day.”

Storm looked back at his own armor. “I don’t know, I think it’s actually rather nice.”

Sky scoffed. “Sure… We’ll just get you your own set when we get back to Canterlot.” He nudged Storm. “Let’s go… Time’s wasting.”

Storm nodded. “I need to tell a couple Guards to get a cage prepared. Better to have a reason for the Stallions to leave their post.”

Sky nodded. “Make it quick.”

Storm walked down the halls to the building, looking for a group of guards to get the cage ready, he managed to find them and got the order to them, before returning to Sky. “Lieutenant, the boys are getting the cage ready now.”

“I think they could use some help.” Sky replied. The two of them nodded as they walked back towards the jail cells, coming to the two guards. “Both of you go and help the rest of the squad get the Cage ready, myself and Sergeant Storm will get the Changeling ready for transport.”

Both Guards saluted before heading back down the hall. “You should have said Sergeant Storm and Myself, Dagger.”

“Shut up, Cloak.” Sky replied, looking to make sure the Guards were gone before pulling out his set of keys.

“I’m just saying…” Storm cast his eyes over towards the stone around the cell door, specifically falling on a small rune placed into the gray stone. “Huh… That’s weird…” Storm walked over and looked at the rune closely. “I recognize this from somewhere… I just can’t figure it out…”

Sky was flipping through the key ring in an attempt to find the correct key. “Well it shouldn’t affect us too much; it would only work inside the cell anyway so I don’t know what you’re fussing about.”

“I don’t know Dagger, this rune bothers me… But I can’t remember where it is from…” Storm looked at the room a little more while listing off the runes she remembered for security purposes, comparing this rune to those ones. The more runes she ran through, the worse the feeling of dread got.

Sky had found the key he was looking for and placed it into the cell door, turning it. “There, that wasn’t so bad after all, now was it?”

As he pulled open the door, Storm’s mind finally clicked the Rune into place. “Dagger! Don’t step into the-!”

Sky had already committed to taking a step inside the room, being greeted by a wall of electricity that shot him back. As his muscles began to spasm out, his disguise slowly broke itself down, leaving Dagger twitching slightly.

Before Storm could check on him, a loud alarm began blaring throughout the building, coming from the end of the cell block.

“Wha-hat was-z-z-z-z that?” Dagger said as his voice fluctuated in pitch.

Storm looked at the gold-clad Changeling. “It was a Magical Detection Rune overlain with an Electrical field spell.” He replied. “It figured out you were using magic and then activated the electrical wall to repulse you.”

Dagger tried to push himself up, but his leg spasm returned and sent him flat onto the ground. Storm sighed and removed his helmet as a wisp of green flame surrounded him and Cloak stood there. She quickly removed the rest of the golden armor from her body before walking into the cell.

Burn was curled up, sitting with his back against the wall, a small puddle of water underneath him and a towel draped over his blue backplate. Cloak walked over and put her hoof on Burn’s shoulder. Feeling the change in pressure, Burn looked up, and his eyes widened at the sight of Cloak.

Cloak gave a reassuring smile. “We’re here to get you out. Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.” She said softly. “Can you show me where the rope is connected?”

Burn nodded and uncurled himself to let Cloak see the end of the magical rope, tied underneath his hind legs, far enough away that he couldn’t get at it with his teeth, but close enough that his bound front legs couldn’t get to it easily. Cloak looked over the knot before reaching down with her teeth and pulling on the rope. When she made the hole big enough, she lowered her horn to pull up on the loop, causing the end of the length to fall from its position, from there, Cloak just had to pull the end through the rest of the knot and it came off.

Cloak turned back to Dagger, who had managed to stand up straight and remove the golden armor, throwing it unceremoniously to the side. “Dagger, keys!”

Dagger grabbed the keys in his mouth and tossed them at Cloak, she caught them in her hoof and flipped through them, finding the correct key, she placed it into the hoofcuffs and removed them. The final piece she removed was the suppression ring around his horn, which she tossed to the other side of the room.

“Cloak! The Guards are on their way.” Dagger shouted to his sister.

Cloak nodded. “Can you walk?” She asked Burn, who nodded and pushed himself up. “Great. Let’s get out of here.”

Burn and Cloak left the cell as Dagger shook his hind leg to get the last iota of electricity out of his body. “Where now?”

Cloak looked both ways, her ears up and perked. “Both ways are covered with Guards…”

Dagger smiled and cracked his neck. “Well then, Scout 96, Let’s see which of us can take out more huh?”

Cloak facehoofed, and then her ears perked up. “Forget what I said!” She grabbed both of them. “We’re going this way!” She pulled both of them down the hall away from the exit. “Please let me remember how to do this…”

Dagger looked at Cloak curiously. “Are you thinking of-?”

Cloak nodded. “Ceiling. Now!”

All three of them jumped up to the ceiling, and Cloak’s horn began to spark wildly as her face scrunched up in both Concentration and Pain. She bent down, before her horn fired off a green shell that surrounded all three of them, causing all three of them to vanish from sight, just as a group of Guards ran down the hall.

Dagger smiled towards Cloak, who was breathing heavily. He looked towards Burn and motioned for them to move, Burn nodded as he walked next to Cloak to help her along. Her face was still scrunched up and her horn was still glowing bright. The green shield began to pull back towards Cloak as they walked, but she put more energy into keeping the field up as they walked slowly.

“Cloak, how are you holding up?” Dagger asked, looking back at her.

Cloak, too focused on the Shield to send her thoughts and speak effectively at the same time, ended up switching between the two. “I’m just fine Dagger.”

Burn looked over at Dagger, who nodded as they walked towards the exit, having to come closer to the ground in order to pass the barrier. As they walked back up to the ceiling, they saw a small group of Guards waiting for them, spread out amongst the room. Dagger raised his hoof to his mouth and pointed at them. Cloak began panting with exertion, her breaths became labored as she tried to keep the fluctuating spell under control.

Below them, one of the Guards walked up to a unicorn. “Use that feedback spell.”

Dagger’s eyes widened as he shifted back to Cloak. Then back down to the group of Guards, the Unicorn’s horn had lit up as a pulse fired from it. Chrysalis’ Clit…

As the spell washed over Cloak, her horn let out a flash as she clutched at her head. She screamed in pain as the spells energy was fed back through her as a painful shock. The sphere around them shattered as she fell to the ground below them. Dagger quickly shot off the ceiling and slammed down to cover Cloak, while Burn lit up his horn in preparation.

The Guards around them all jerked to attention at the scream, and were now surrounding the three Changelings. “Stand down, and we won’t have to harm you.”

Dagger hissed as he spat on the ground in front of him. “I’d like to see you try.”

Cloak groaned, causing Dagger to look back at her. “Scout 96, are you familiar with Battle Strategy 26?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do it.” Dagger said.

Burn nodded and lit up his horn forming a small ring around him. Dagger ducked as Burn launched the ring out at the Ponies, knocking them back and into the walls.

Dagger pushed himself up and looked at the ponies around the room. “Efficient.” He said, using his magic to pick up Cloak and put her on his back. “Let’s get going, before any more of them show up.”

Burn nodded and the two of them walked towards the exit, unimpeded by the Guards as they were busy trying to figure out where the Changelings went.

However that didn’t last long, it turned out, those guards Cloak ordered to get the Cage ready, hadn’t left their post. Which means that they were able to see the three Changelings leave. “Hey! The Prisoners are escaping!”

Dagger’s ears perked up as his head turned towards the Guards, a Unicorn Guard and a couple of Earth Ponies. “Chrysalis Damn it!” Dagger said. “We can’t risk it, get to the woods!”

Dagger and Burn turned and ran away from the group of Guards, weighed down slightly by Cloak. They ran close enough to manage to get to the woods without any trouble from Cloak’s added weight, before the Unicorn fired a blast of magic at Dagger, which collided with Cloak.

Dagger didn’t notice that Cloak had been knocked off his back until he reached the edge of the forest, turning back to see Cloak lying on the ground. “CLOAK!”

Dagger charged back out of the tree line and tackled the Earth Pony that was trying to get close to Cloak. He held the pony on the ground and hissed into his face as he pulled back his hoof and slammed it into the Earth Pony’s face, continuously pounding into his face until he got shot off by the Unicorn.

Dagger pulled himself up quickly and glared at the Unicorn, aiming his horn down at Dagger. “Scout 96, Assistance?”

Burn threw a fireball at the Unicorn, colliding with his armor and knocking him back. Burn jumped in front of them and charged his horn before slamming his hooves into the ground, creating a wall of flames.

Dagger picked up Cloak and tried to get her back to the tree line, but the Unicorn had fired a larger blast of magic at the two of them, colliding and sending them back.

Dagger glared at him, charging up his own spell as the Unicorn and him glared at each other. The Unicorn fired a beam at Dagger, who put up a shield, stopping the beam dead. Dagger then gritted his teeth as he ran towards the Unicorn, pulling out his knife as he ran, when he got close enough, he fell to the ground and slid under the unicorn, taking the blade and pulling it across the Unicorn’s hind leg, causing him to lose balance before Dagger stabbed the blade through his other hind leg, bringing him down.

Dagger walked around to the front of the Unicorn and smirked as he put his hoof over the Unicorn’s head. He raised his hoof, and began to bring it down, but stopped before it connected, looking back towards Cloak. He let out a sigh then lowered his head down to the Unicorn’s ear. “If I find out you did anything permanent to my sister,” he placed the knife under the Unicorn’s neck, “I will hunt you down.”

He raised his hoof and slammed it onto the back of the Unicorn’s head, not as hard as he originally intended, just enough to knock him out.

Dagger looked up from the Unicorn to see Burn wrestling with the last Earth Pony, the two kept rolling around as they tried to stay on top. Dagger ran over to the two and shoulder charged into the Earth Pony, sending him flying away.

“They’re over here!”

Dagger and Burn looked up to see a Pegasus guard in the sky with a couple of Unicorns and a large Earth Pony Guard.

“96, let’s get out of…” Dagger began before getting tackled by the Pegasus, who ended up being on top, holding Dagger’s hooves on the ground. The Earth Pony shouted at the Unicorns.

“Get the injured one!”

Dagger glared up at the Pegasus. “Don’t you even think about it Insect.” The Pegasus said. “I see that Horn glow, and I’ll take you down.” Dagger spat up at the Pegasus.

Dagger looked over at Burn, who was standing defensively as the Earth Pony walked up to him. “Stand down, Changeling.”

Burn hissed. “Stand down, or I will make you…” The Guard leaned down to glare at Burn, but he held his ground.

“If I don’t make it out of this alive, sir. Tell Seek that I’m sorry.” Burn let out a sigh and lit up his horn, but before he got a spell off, the Earth Pony punched Burn in the face, sending him flying across the ground onto his stomach.

“That was a bad move.” The Earth Pony said walking up to where Burn was trying to get up, he planted his hoof on Burn’s back and forced him back to the ground. “So… Give in, or I break something.”

Burn shook his head, lighting up his horn again.

“Alright then, ribs it is.” The Earth Pony said, kicking Burn over onto his back before slamming his hoof down on his chest. “If I see that horn light up, I break your legs too.” He said, pushing down on Burn’s chest. Dagger admired his ability to take the pain without responding for a while, until there was a loud crack from his chest as the Chitin was broken. But it didn’t end there, as the Earth Pony kept pressing on the Changeling as he squirmed under the Large Stallion. After another loud Crack, Burn released a loud yell.

The Pegasus that was holding down Dagger looked over towards Burn, and then looked over towards the forest as a green beam shot at him, launching him off Dagger to come to a stop in front of the Earth Pony.

Dagger quickly scrambled to his hooves before looking back towards the source, to cringe back as he looked at Cloak, an expression of pure anger on her face. Her horn was smoking and she was breathing hard. “Get off of him.” She spat. “Or I will make you.”

The Earth Pony laughed. “Oh really?” He said, pushing down on the Changeling. “You think you could take me?”

Cloak growled and Dagger began to step back away from her. “Yes, I will make you. I’ve taken on bigger fish than you.” She glared, exposing her fangs. “Now get off him.”

The Earth Pony pushed down harder on Burn, as another crack sounded, Cloak twitched. “You asked for it.”

Dagger covered his head as Cloak launched herself at the Earth Pony, pulling him to the ground, much to the surprise of the Unicorns around them. She pinned the Earth Pony to the ground and raised her hoof, transforming it into a griffon claw, and proceeded to slash it across his chest and shoulder, not enough to draw blood, but enough to cause pain as she clawed at the Earth Pony a few times with her clawed talons. The Unicorns around them were still surprised by Cloak’s sudden attack even after Cloak began to draw blood. Dagger looked around, thinking the stunned expression wouldn’t last. He slowly walked over towards the Pegasus that was lying behind Cloak, not wanting to disturb her, or get anywhere near her. He reached down and grabbed the Pegasus by the head, holding his foreleg up to his neck as it was covered in a green flame and replaced with a sharp blade.

Cloak stopped slashing randomly on the Earth Pony’s central body and took her claws against his face, taking a good slash against it, drawing blood across his features. She lowered her head down and growled at the Earth Pony. To him, the intention was clear, ‘Stay out of my way.’

The Unicorns lowered their horns to Cloak, but not before Dagger got their attention with a whistle. “One move, I slit his throat.” He pressed the blade against the Pegasus’ skin, showing he was willing to do it. The Unicorns looked up at them as Cloak stepped off the Earth Pony and limped over to where Burn was lying.

“Now that I have your attention,” Dagger held up the Pegasus’ head so they could see his proximity to a major artery. “Here is what’s going to happen: We are going to leave, once we are far enough away and sure we haven’t been followed, we will tell him the location of two of your comrades.” He pulled the blade in closer to the Pegasus. “But if we are followed, I’ll kill him, and then I’ll kill the other two.” He looked back towards Cloak and Burn, Burn was pushing himself up, while Cloak was helping him, it was clear that Cloak didn’t have much energy left, but she was still going.

“Do not follow us.” Dagger repeated, beginning to walk back towards the edge of the forest. “Are you two alright?”

“My leg hurts, but I’ll be fine after I get some food.” Cloak replied. “Scout 96 says he’s alright to walk.”

Dagger carried the Pegasus further towards the forest, making sure to keep all of them in his sight. Cloak was limping slightly into Burn’s side as the two of them walked behind Dagger, making sure to move quickly. As the entered the forest, Dagger saw the Unicorns focus on the Earth Pony bleeding from his chest, shoulders and head.

They continued to walk like that for another ten minutes, after Dagger was sure they weren’t being followed, he released the Pegasus from his grip. “The other two are being held one mile north of this location, if you attempt to track us, it will not work.” He glared at the Pegasus. “Get going.” He growled.

The Pegasus took off and flew back towards the town, going to relay the information back to the rest of his comrades. Dagger turned back to Cloak, “Been a while since I saw you like that.”

Cloak giggled weakly. “I told Burn I would protect him. I meant it.” She took a deep breath. “I need… to eat something soon.” She raised her hoof to touch her horn. “That spell hurt…”

“Yeah, let’s get you guys back home, you can rest if you need to Cloak.” Dagger said. “I know that spell took a lot from you.”

Cloak nodded, “I’ll be fine for a bit Dagger. Don’t wor-” She fell to her side in exhaustion.

Dagger quickly ran up to her to make sure she was alright, but quickly sighed as he heard her taking deep, steady breaths as she slept. “Guess even Infiltrators need sleep.” He lifted Cloak off the ground and placed her over his back. “Let’s get going Scout. The Queen is going to want to know about this.”

Burn nodded and the three of them began to make the trek back to the hive, only slightly slowed by Burn’s injuries. Cloak had awoken halfway through the hike and started walking next to them. Dagger kept a close eye on his older sister, making sure that nothing was going to happen. After Cloak assured him she was fine, he tried to go back to his normal attitude, but kept looking back at his injured sister.

Returning to the Hive was the first time during the walk that all three of them relaxed, to varying degrees. Dagger kept his body tight and almost immediately went back to his duties, while Cloak let out a sustained breath and Burn sighed with relief.

“Can I… See Seek?” Burn asked Cloak.

“Sure, I think I need to head to the infirmary anyway. Or the Dining Hall… One of the two.”

Burn let Cloak lean into him as they walked down the halls of the Hive, heading towards the infirmary. When they arrived, Cara looked up at the two of them in surprise, twisting into a look of joy. She held up her hoof to her mouth and walked through the door to where Seek was.

A few seconds later, Seek walked out of the room, his chitin healed as he looked up to the Large Changeling. His face changed into a wide smile as he ran up to Burn. “Burn!” He pulled his brother into a tight hug that Burn tried his best not to cringe. “I was so worried about you!” He said as tears began to fill his eyes. “I thought that I was going to lose you!” He cried, tears running down his face. “It was so quiet when you weren’t around, I couldn’t stand it! And wh-when I-I…”

Burn lifted his foreleg to pat Seek on the back and pull him closer. Seek continued to sob into his brother’s shoulder for a while as Cara and Cloak looked on. After a while, Seek stopped crying and looked up at Burn. “I’m sorry about that… I just.”

Burn let out a small grunt. “Yeah… I guess I am.” Seek said with a smile. “Well go on, what happened?”

Burn looked over at Cloak and then shook his head, pointing at his chest. “Oh… Well, yeah I guess…” Seek replied. “Just promise me you won’t do that again, alright?”

Burn rolled his eyes. “Just say it.”

Burn grunted and tightened his grip on Seek before letting go and walking towards one of the counters.

Cara looked up at Cloak and hugged her. “Thank you for bringing him back.” She said.

“Oh… It was nothing.” Cloak replied, reciprocating the hug. “I couldn’t have done it without Dagger.”

Cara sighed. “I only wish you could bring her back…”

Cloak looked down at Cara. “Yeah, I miss her too Cara. But, you should be looking towards the future.” She winked at Cara. “I heard you finally hooked up with that good looking Courier.”

Cara blushed. “Well I…”

Cloak giggled. “Don’t worry Cara, I’ll let it go normally, I’ve got to report to the Queen, she wants report on the…” Cloak yawned. “On the mission. Then I need to sleep for a week…”

Cara giggled. “Good luck Cloak.”

Cloak nodded. “I’ll see you around Cara.” She said walking off towards the Castle while trying to keep herself awake. Arriving at the Queen’s chamber, she saw Chrysalis waiting for her.

“So, Infiltrator 23, how was the mission?” She asked. “A success I assume.”

Cloak bowed as best she could with her bad leg. “Yes, My Queen, we did manage to get Scout 96 out.”

“Excellent.” Chrysalis replied. “Any failures I should be aware of?”

Cloak took a deep breath. “Yes, there were a few instances of unexpected complications, but overall the mission went well.”

Chrysalis smiled. “I knew I could count on one of my best teams to succeed in such a difficult task.” Chrysalis’ smile turned to a frown. “Now, how would you rate the performance of Scout 96?”

Cloak looked up at Chrysalis confused. “Why would you need that my Queen?”

Chrysalis tapped her hooves together. “Because I am still weighing the usefulness of such a Scout.” She let out a small hiss. “I will not be pleased if this incident occurs again. I want to know how useful this Scout was in the mission.”

Cloak tensed up. “My Queen, I… I must apologize.”

“Whatever for Infiltrator?”

“I was… Unconscious at the time. A Unicorn used a spell that fed the energy I used to keep an invisibility spell running around the three of us. I can only assume that Burn was essential in our escape. I am not sure we could have gotten out without him.”

Chrysalis hummed, contemplating her options. “Very well. I will allow him to remain within his current squadron. Did you happen to get any information from the ponies?”

Cloak nodded. “I managed to get one thing from their commander,” she pulled out a rolled up scroll. “It is a list of locations where Changeling prisoners are being held, any information they have gathered from them, and when the Princess plans to move them.”

Chrysalis levitated the scroll in front of her and opened it, a list of seventeen Changelings and locations were written down, a number of them were places already raided, but a few had evaded her knowledge. Looking down by the bottom of the scroll, she noticed the paper was torn. “What happened to this parchment?”

“I am unsure.” Cloak replied. “It was torn when I found it.”

Chrysalis looked back over the list. “This is quite useful; this may very well tip my decision in the Scout’s favor… I will look over this list, and send squadrons to raid those locations or set up ambush points for the Guards. You may go, get some rest Infiltrator.”

Cloak bowed again, walking out of the room before letting out a sigh. Her horn lit up a she pulled a torn piece of paper from her leg. She looked on it, and at the information placed on it.

Spinnekop Canterlot Unknown

Cloak looked at the information before lighting up her horn and watching as the paper was ignited in a green flame. She watched as the paper was reduced to nothing but ash before picking all of the remnants in her magic and carrying them over to a waste basket and dropping them in. She pulled out a small match from her leg and used a rough stone wall to strike it, and tossing it into the trashcan, lighting the rest of the trash on fire. Sure the Caretakers would be annoyed, but they wouldn’t ever be able to find out what was in there before.

Cloak walked away from the burning garbage, heading down to the Infirmary to make sure there weren’t any more injuries she didn’t know about. When her thoughts moved back to Dagger. “He still cares…” She said with a smile. While she didn’t notice it before, it became obvious that Dagger still retained at least a little bit of the Nymph she grew up with. “Maybe one day…"

Author's Note

You get it? Someone get's it.

Anyway, I had to finish up this section before I returned to Spinnekop's story. I hate leaving stuff like this in the "To be continued... TWO CHAPTERS FROM NOW" area. So... Yeah. I got nothing :derpytongue2:

Chapter 14: Maiden Meetings

Spinnekop wasn’t sure how much time passed while she tried to clean off the Chandeliers without magic, wings, or clear vision, though she was eerily aware that she had managed to finish up cleaning all but one of the chandeliers. That particular chandelier was the one Spinnekop was currently working on, which was very difficult considering her vision was blurring out quickly and she kept blinking and having small blackouts.

“Come on…” Spinnekop grumbled as she fumbled around with the last few crystals on the chandelier, her eyes causing the image to distort and spin around one another, making it very difficult to get to the crystals. “Just… A few…”

Spinnekop’s hoof managed to bat at the last few crystals, dislodging as much of the dust as it was going to with her vision like this. Every shift of her muscles caused a slight string of pain to shoot through her body, but she was determined to get these last few crystals finished, and then… Well, she hadn’t thought that far ahead.

As she weakly smacked the crystal in a very pitiful attempt to knock off the dust, hoping that she would be able to tell the dust was gone, she felt an itch in her nose. She tried to scrunch up her snout to hold off the ensuing reflex, but it only succeeded in making the itch stronger. Before she knew it, she felt herself take a deep breath before, “ACHOOO!” She released a loud sneeze which succeeded in knocking off the dust that had clumped onto her Carapace and the uncomfortable dress, but also succeeded in making her entire body shoot further under the chandelier, coming to a stop under the central cluster.

Oh great… Now how am I going to… “Ow…” She groaned. “Thinking hurts…” She said, raising a hoof to her head. “Maybe I shoul-” Before she got a chance to even formulate the last word, her body agreed with her and went fully limp. My, this stone is mighty comfort… She barely managed to get that thought out before her eyes slammed shut and her mind shut down along with it.

Clear View had a very strange vacation. Not in the normal way she expected when she kept on trying to clean the cloud chandelier, but when she looked at a newspaper to see that an unknown pony-like race of insects. The very first thing on her mind was, Oh great, the Castle is going to be a mess. Right before reading about how their Queen had defeated Celestia. Then her mind ran to HOLY CELESTIA!

After she had gotten the message, she tried to keep it out of her mind and just enjoy her vacation, but the thought kept bothering her and then she just had to go and check up on her employer.

To say the least, she was perturbed. She had to cut her vacation short, and she knew she would be put right back into her job until all of the chandeliers were clean. She walked up to the Castle doors and, after a rather intrusive scan, was let in.

The first thing she did was walk towards Lace’s office and knock on the door. “Come in.”

The Pegasus pushed open the door. “Lace…”

The Unicorn looked back at her. “Oh, Clear! I’m surprised to see you back so early.”

The Aquamarine Pegasus sighed. “Well, once I heard what happened, it kept bugging me and I decided to come back and help with the clean up.”

“Well, I would say that it is amazing you returned. But I had you temporarily replaced until the end of your vacation.”

“You replaced me?” Clear replied in shock. “H-How could you do that? I thought that you trusted me!”

Lace sighed. “Clear dear, I did not fire you. I had a rather helpful young mare come and ask. Since she was able to fly, I decided to put her on a trial period.”

“But…”

“Clear, if you would like, I can bring you to her. I had her clean the chandeliers around the castle. Once you see her I am sure you will understand.”

Clear sighed. “Alright… But I swear that if she is a griffon I will scream.”

Lace snickered. “Oh don’t worry, she isn’t a Griffon. She merely wanted to help a bit in light of the recent attack.”

Clear smirked. “Good.” She blinked. “So… How long has she been working here?”

“Only a few hours.” Lace looked up at a clock. “Huh… I was going to wait a little bit before getting her, but I suppose now is good enough.”

“Why were you going to-?”

“Well, I decided to make a deal with her, about my usual stipulation.”

Clear groaned. “The dress… Please tell me you didn’t make her fly with it on.” She very clearly remembered her first day working at the Castle. She tried her best to keep herself from flying, but the first time she took off, any number of Guards kept whistling at her. She could have sworn one of them had given her more of a wandering glance than she would have liked. Unconsciously she glanced over at the cabinet that she knew held the dresses, and shivered.

“Well, she did offer her services.” Lace replied.

“You are one cruel Unicorn. You know that?” Clear replied.

“Oh, I’ve been told numerous times.” Lace replied. “Now do you want to see her or not?”

Clear nodded. “But I am not okay with being replaced, even temporarily. I wish you had told me.”

“It only happened today, dear.” Lace replied as they walked up the stairs. “Even if I sent you a message, you wouldn’t have gotten it.”

“Well… Anything interesting happen while I was gone?” Clear asked. “Besides the insect ponies.”

Lace and Clear continued to talk while they walked, speaking about small things that occurred throughout the weeks she had been gone. How she fired a member of the Night Staff, how annoying cleaning everything was, and how glad Clear was she didn’t have to be there.

When they entered into a certain hallway, Clear almost walked into a Chandelier. “What in Tartarus?” She said, looking at the low hanging cluster. “Why are these this close to the ground? Don’t you need magic to do this?” Her eyes widened. “You… You didn’t hire an Alicorn did you?”

“In a ways, I suppose I did.” Lace replied. “She could very well be an Alicorn, but I believe she prefers a Unicorn.”

Clear twitched. “Lace… Enough with the riddles. Who is she? You haven’t told me anything.”

“That is because she wishes to explain herself.” Lace walked around the chandeliers, taking her hoof and running it along a few of them. She looked at the Hoof and nodded approvingly. “She’s very good.” Lace said with a smile.

“But… Lace, I…” Clear groaned. “Just tell me something!”

Lace sighed. “Alright… Clear, she is a rather special case and I know you will take it badly.”

“Special case how?” Clear asked. “Come on, Lace.”

“Deciding what to and what not to tell you is difficult when they have so much to hide.” Lace replied. “You can ask her yourself, I’m sure she would have put these back up if she had left.”

Clear groaned. “Fine…”

Lace nodded and walked down the hall. Clear still wanted to know more, but realized that trying to get any information from her employer was a terrible idea. She followed Lace down the hall and kept her mouth shut as she thought about the new maid. Having a new Pegasus meant she didn’t have to work as hard, and maybe could have someone to talk to, though the idea of someone taking her job was something she hated.

As Lace walked towards a specific chandelier, she ran her hoof across the top. “Hmm… This one still has a bit of dust on it…” She said. “I hope there is a reason.”

Clear sighed. “Maybe…”

Lace kept on walking, heading towards the last few chandeliers, but stopped as she neared the last one. “Oh bugger…”

“What is it, Lace?” Clear asked as she walked next to her employer. Looking under the last chandelier, she felt her self cringe back slightly.

Lying under the chandelier was one of the insect ponies she had seen in the newspaper. It was lying in a ‘T’ position with it’s legs spread out, the only thing that was confusing was that it was wearing the familiar pink maid outfit that every single maid both hated and loved seeing. Hated because of their experience with it, and loved because it meant they might be getting another member. Though right now, Clear was more focused on what was in the dress.

“Lace…” Clear said, pointing at the black insect pony lying under the cluster of crystals. “W-What is that doing here? Why is it wearing one of your dresses?”

“Clear, this is the mare that I decided to put on a brief trial peri-”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!” Clear shouted. “They attacked Canterlot! How can you just let one of them in here?”

Lace sighed. “This young mare is trying to help us. She doesn’t wish to be the violent type; she even wants to be Cadence’s hoofmaid-”

“Are You serious! Oh my Celestia you have got to be kidding me!”

Lace walked over towards the chandelier and lit her horn, lifting the Changeling up and pulling it out from under the chandelier. “Spindle, are you alright?”

The Changeling groaned. “No… I don’t wanna go to training today…”

“Spindle?” Lace asked.

“Mimic… I…” The Changeling blinked. “Oh… Hi Lace…” She said, feeling her head pound again. “I’m sorry about…” She waved her hoof towards a chandelier. “The… Whatchamacallits… I kind of uh…” She blinked a bit keeping the ‘Uh’ going. “Brain… I’m sorry.”

“Well, what happened Dear?” Lace asked.

“Well I was uh… Cleaning the… crystal… things.” She said. “Then I had a… Idea… To lower the chandeliers because I… Needed to stay closer to the ground and…” She blinked and fell back a little before catching herself.

“Spindle, are you alright?”

The Changeling shook her head. “I’m sorry, Lace. I used a lot of my stored Love to lower the Chandeliers… And I’m… Kind of out of…” She began to fall back down before jolting herself back up. “Out of it. Love is like our energy. I used all of it, so I feel really…” Her head fell down.

“Spindle?” Lace said, raising her hoof to shake Spindle a little. “Are you okay?”

Spindle sniffed. “Ngeh.” She said. “Sorry… I can’t really keep myself awake…”

“Would it help if I allowed you to feed off of me?” Lace asked, getting a shocked look from Clear and what would be a shocked look from Spindle had her eyelids not been halfway down her eyes at all times.

“I can’t do that to you…” She said.

“Yeah Lace, what if it has some kind of… side effect? You don’t know what it could do.”

“Oh, I didn’t say you could take much.” Lace replied. “Just enough for you to be able to walk.” She turned back to the Changeling. “You can regulate that correct?”

Spindle nodded. “Uh-huh. Just tell me if you feel lightheaded or anything.” Her horn began to glow as she let the flood of positive emotion flow into her. A primal instinct began to rise within her, telling her to take everything that was there, leave the pony dry. She almost let the instinct take over as she fed, but managed to hold back on it as her mind began to push away the fog. As her horn died down, she blinked. “Oh… I feel so much.” She heard a ringing and then pulled her tail back under her body. “I forgot about that…”

Lace raised her hoof to her head and rubbed it a little. “My, you were hungry weren’t you?”

Clear looked at Lace. “Are you alright?”

Spinnekop didn’t notice the Pegasus, but once she did, she backed away and was covered in a green flame, taking on the guise of the sea foam Pegasus. “Wh-Wh-Who are you?” She said.

“I’m Clear View, the one whose job you are currently taking.”

Spinnekop shrunk back. “Oh… Right.”

“Lace, are you okay?” Clear asked.

“Yes, yes. I am fine.” Lace replied. “Thank you for the concern.” She said, lowering her hoof. “Let me just… See about getting these raised.”

Spinnekop opened her mouth, but Clear pointed her hoof at her. “Don’t you dare.”

“What?” Spinnekop asked.

“Don’t… Just Don’t!” Clear said. “I don’t know what you can do, so just don’t do anything!”

“But I want to…”

Clear shot her a glare. “You just stay away from-”

“Clear.” Lace hissed. “This young Changeling wishes to be Cadence’s Hoofmaiden. She was badly injured in the shield blast and is trying to rebuild her life.” She said, with more venom than Spinnekop had heard before. “Her entire family has forsaken her.” Gee… Thanks for that… “Besides that fact, I have spoken with Celestia, and she trusts young Spindle.”

Clear stared at her shocked. “L-Lace. She… What?”

“Yes Clear, Celestia trusts young Spindle. So there is no reason why you should be giving her such hostility. She only wishes to restart her life.”

Clear blinked. “Lace…” She took a breath and let out a deep sigh. “Alright… Lace, I don’t know about this, but I will try. Though I’m not sure about the others…”

Lace sighed. “I’ll handle them… I’m sure they will understand. Right now I need to work on fixing these chandeliers.” She walked down the hall towards the gem that held the chandeliers in place. As she touched her horn to the gem, the chandeliers all began to glow. She began to lift the Chandeliers up and to the ceiling, as they reached halfway off the ground, a clicking was heard as the Chandeliers dropped a few inches and stopped.

“That is good enough for now. I will get one of the others to help raise them the rest of the way, but for now…” She shook her head. “I don’t have the energy to lift them any higher.”

Spinnekop sighed. “I’m sorry, Lace…” She said. “I know that I probably shouldn’t have tried to lower the chandeliers myself… I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t want to teach me…”

Lace waved her hoof. “It’s no trouble Spindle. I do not blame you. I should have told you the issue with lowering them. Despite that I came to tell you that time is up.”

Spinnekop sighed. “So… Can I take this thing off now?”

Both Lace and Clear giggled. “Not yet.” Clear said. “You still haven’t had a chance to meet everypony.”

Spinnekop shrunk back even further. “E-Everypony?”

Clear nodded and smirked. “It’s a tradition that every new maid introduce themselves to our happy little family.” She said, putting her hoof over Spinnekop’s shoulders. “Right in front of everypony.”

Spinnekop twitched as she let out a small whine. “C-Can I not? Please? I-I don’t want to cause any troub- EEP!” Clear lowered her hoof to touch at the base of Spinnekop’s wings, which caused her to let out the startled shriek.

“Oh come on, Newbie. You are the newest addition to our little family. Not to mention the first Changeling, so why not just enjoy it?”

Spinnekop gulped. “I-I-I… Uh…”

“Just think about it.” Clear lowered her head down to whisper in Spinnekop’s ear. “There will be plenty of emotions shared between all of us. Maybe you could even get a little snack.”

As if prompted by her words, Spinnekop’s stomach growled. “Food actually… Sounds really good right now…” She replied.

“Well, it is around lunchtime.” Lace replied. “That is why I wanted to get you around this time. Now I don’t know about Changelings, but I would be furious to miss my lunch break.”

“Y-Yes we do need actual food as well as love…” She looked at the hoof still across her back. “Could you… Move… that please?”

Clear shrugged and moved her hoof. “So, you ready to meet the rest of our family?”

Spinnekop sighed as the green flames covered her as she removed her disguise. “I-I guess…”

The three of them began to walk down the halls, after a while Spinnekop looked up at Clear. “Just to be sure… There are only a few more maids around the castle right?” She asked. “I mean… No more than like… ten, right?”

Clear just smirked in response.

Spinnekop couldn’t be more afraid. There were over thirty maids on the day shift alone! That was only the Mares as well, apparently there were more servants as well, but Spinnekop would overcome that hurdle when it was thrust at her unexpectedly instead of right now.

She hadn’t felt this much stress since she met with Celestia, which was only one day ago! Is this my life now? One stressful situation after the other? Spinnekop took a deep breath. It wasn’t as bad as when she was with Celestia, she had days to sit and simmer in the stress. Instead she was just going to be thrown into the pot and was going to be baked like a pie. I really need some food…

“So you ready, Spindle?” Clear asked, standing inside the small room to the side of the main maid lounge. A place where the Maids could relax in between shifts or cleaning away from male eyes. Apparently it was useful…

“Kind of…” Spinnekop replied. “You’re sure that Lace convinced them not to kill me?”

Clear nodded. “Lace can be very convincing. As long as you are wearing that, they will know Lace trusts you.”

“Did I have to keep the bell on?” Spinnekop asked, looking back at her tail, now wrapped loosely around her hind leg, trying to stop the bell from ringing. “I’m trying to calm down, but having this ringing all the time is bothering me…”

“After.” Clear replied. “You even get to keep the bell.”

Spinnekop sighed. “Great…”

Lace poked her head into the room. “We’re ready.”

Clear smiled. “Go get ‘em tiger.” She said. “I’ll be right next to you.”

Spinnekop gave a halfhearted smile as she began to walk out of the room; she looked over at the crowd of ponies. A majority of them were Unicorns, but a good quarter of them were Earth Ponies. Her instincts were telling her that everything she was doing was wrong. Every time she moved, she felt like she was committing another crime. Every step was a trampling of the doctrines that kept them safe for eternity.

When her heavy hooffalls managed to bring her to the middle of the cleared out section they had made, all the ponies’ eyes staring down at her as she tried to shrink down to be less threatening.

“Everypony,” Lace said as she walked next to Spinnekop. “May I introduce the newest member of our little unit? Now I know that many of you are still… less than hospitable towards other Changelings. But I give you both Celestia and my seal of approval on her.”

A Few of the maids began to murmur amongst themselves. “For those who do not know, this young Mare was here during the Invasion, however, after seeing the destruction her fellow Changelings were causing, she couldn’t be part of that world anymore. She merely wants to rebuild her life.”

A few of the ponies looked at Spinnekop with concern, but a lot more of them still looked at her with anger. “Now, I think it is time that she tell you her name.”

Lace motioned to Spinnekop, who looked up at her in fear first before the reassuring smile helped her calm down slightly. “M-m-my N-nam-me is… S-Spinne… Spinnek-kop…”

A few ponies waved at her.

“Young Spinnekop here has proven herself to me, and I want for all of you to treat her as you would any other member of our little family here.”

“Why?” One of them asked.

“Because she has shown no want to harm us, and she only wishes to make up for that event.” Lace replied. “Now, while I will certainly treat her like any other new employee, I will not allow large amounts of negative feelings towards her for what the others did.”

“How do we know that she isn’t just trying to spy on us?” Another maid asked.

Spinnekop sighed. “Because I can’t go back…”

“What?”

“I can never go back…” Spinnekop replied. “Every Changeling in the Hive is under orders to capture or kill me… If I ever go back, Queen Chrysalis would make me wish I was dead…” Spinnekop sniffed. “I can’t see me friends… I can never see my home… I never even got to meet my parents…” Her eyes began to fog up. “I’ve spent nearly my entire life trying to train to fit in… But all that happened is that everyone I care about got pushed away.” She rubbed her eye. “Please… I… I just want to live my life.” She reached up and put her hoof on her pendant, raising it to look at the compass needle as it spun to face the south.

Lace nodded in understanding. “So, I think it is time for you all to meet the new Member, so come and talk with her if you like. Show her the ropes a bit. Meanwhile, I need to gather some things. Clear, make sure that Spinnekop isn’t harmed.”

Clear nodded. “Count on me.”

Lace nodded and walked out of the room and headed towards her office, as son as she was gone, a few of the ponies began talking amongst themselves, and a couple of earth ponies began circling Spinnekop.

“h-Hi…” Spinnekop said. “I-I just wanted to say that I didn’t do anything during the Invasion, and I-I…”

“So this is what a Changeling looks like.” One of the maids circling her said. “I have to admit, I thought they were more…”

“Scary looking?” The other circling maid suggested.

“Yeah. I thought they looked more buggy.”

“More legs, bigger fangs, maybe a stinger.”

“Exactly.”

Spinnekop began to relax her legs as she pushed up from her position. “Well… Uh…”

“From what we heard, after the shield went down it was complete pandemonium. Only a few pictures could be taken, most of them unclear.”

“Well that would…”

“So it is quite an honor to meet you. You may be the first Changeling to show yourself to Ponykind.”

“Well I wouldn’t say all of ponykind…” Spinnekop replied. “I kind of want to keep myself secret…”

“Great job at that.” One of them said.

Clear walked over. “Are you two going to let her talk to anypony else or just shark her all afternoon?”

Spinnekop’s stomach growled again, she let out a nervous laugh. “You don’t happen to have any food here? I’m kind of hungry…”

“No problem, Spinnekop.” Both of the mares that had been circling her stopped and were both smiling at her. “So how are you enjoying your first day?”

“Well… I got hit on by a Royal Guard… So that was an experience.”

The three mares groaned. “Wing…” They all said at once.

“Sorry about him… He get’s a little frisky around ponies dressed in maid outfits. I swear…”

“Oh… It was no trouble…” Spinnekop lied. “So uh… Food?”

“Right.” Clear said. “It’s just over here.”

Clear began to walk towards a table, with Spinnekop slinking behind her, very aware of some of the looks the staff were giving her, mostly glares and confused expressions. She continued to slink up until she was just in front of the table, before slowly peeking up over it. On the small table was a bushel of apples, a few bananas, a coffee pot, and a bowl of other varied fruits. Spinnekop looked over at the apples, glistening in the light; she felt her mouth start to water as her stomach growled. “Is it alright if I…?”

“Go ahead. I mean if…” Spinnekop reached up and grabbed and apple, before taking a large bite out of it. The Crunch it made easily turning a few heads as the now half eaten apple was chewed in Spinnekop’s mouth. She turned to look at a few of the ponies and blushed a little, swallowing the chewed up apple she gives a small nervous chuckle. “Sorry… Loud Apple…”

Some of the maids glared at her, but most of them just shook their heads and went back to what they were doing. Spinnekop looked back at the apple in her hoof and took another bite out of it.

“So,” Clear said, watching as Spinnekop ate the rest of the apple. “What is a normal meal like for you?”

“Oh… You know.” Spinnekop replied, looking at the finished apple and levitating over an orange. “A little bit of hay, some oats, a cup of lo-” She began but stopped. “Nothing… It’s not important.” She replied, stabbing the orange with her fang and pulling down, before splitting the orange in half.

“Well… That can’t be all you ever eat.” Clear replied. “I mean, it’s a good budget meal, but far from the most nutritious.”

Spinnekop nodded as she tore the peel off one half of the orange and threw a wedge into her mouth. “Yeah… But when you have to feed thousands and thousands of Changelings, all without drawing attention to the massive purchase, we can’t afford to be picky.” She tossed another wedge into her mouth. “I mean, in winter, you are lucky if you get anything other than oats and hay.”

“Yeah, being bugs I doubt winter is the most hospitable time of year for you.” Clear replied.

“Well, during winter, I usually got taken out to see a lot of the cities by Cloak. The only real danger we have is our wing membrane freezing.”

“Yeah… I feel that.” Clear said, extending her wing. “Got a nasty case of frostbite on this puppy, I was grounded for the next few weeks while it healed.”

Spinnekop nodded. “If it happens to me, my wings could actually become brittle, and break!” Spinnekop replied. “Then I’d be grounded until it heals, but who knows how long that could take.”

Clear looked at the thin membrane attached to Spinnekop’s side. “Yeah, you definitely got the short end of the stick there.”

Spinnekop threw the rest of the orange into her mouth. “Chrysalis, I’m still so hungry.”

“Well, we’ve got plenty of fruit here. Do you need something else?”

“Yeah. More of it!” Spinnekop grabbed another apple and took a bite out of it. As she chewed on the juicy fruit, she looked up to see another maid walking over, a light green Earth pony with a yellow mane.

“Clear, what are you doing back so early?” She asked. “I thought you were excited about your vacation to Los Pegasus’ Cloud district.”

“I was…” She sighed. “Until Changelings decided to bomb the city with their faces. Then I came back to make sure everything was oh- What are you doing?” She looked to her side where the Earth Pony was forcibly flexing her wings. “Stop that! No don’t…” Clear shivered before lifting her hind leg and planting it firmly on the Earth Pony’s chest and kicking her off.

“Ow…”

Spinnekop already ducked under the table for fear of being caught up in something. “What have I told you about doing that!” Clear said, letting out another shiver. “You know that I hate being touched there!”

The Earth Pony pointed her hoof up. “But a Changeling wouldn’t know that.”

Spinnekop was going to correct her, saying that any Infiltrator that would be sent here, now, would likely know everything about their disguise, but kept her mouth shut.

Clear groaned. “I’m not a Changeling, you idiot… The Guards are still scanning everypony that enters. The city, and then again for when they try to enter the Castle.” She walked over and helped pull up the Earth Pony. “Where did Spindle go?”

Spinnekop waved from under the table. “Here…” She crawled out from under the table, keeping the dress from getting damaged, which was not easy as she tried to climb from under a table. “I was just…”

“HI!” The Earth Pony said, standing right in front of Spinnekop as she stood up, Spinnekop let out a distressed chirp and launched herself towards the ceiling. As she turned herself to try to stick to the ceiling, she forgot about fact her hind hooves were currently in shoes, so she ended up dangling by her front hooves.

The Earth Pony looked up at her while Clear facehoofed. “Lime…”

“What is she doing?”

Spinnekop tried to keep herself planted on the ceiling, but her front hooves couldn’t hold her up as well as it used to, and she fell to the floor with a small crack. “Ow…” She said as she reached for her backplate to make sure it wasn’t cracked.

“Oh… Sorry.” Lime said, reaching down to help pick up Spinnekop. “I get excited when we get a new maid.”

Spinnekop moved her hoof and twisted her body to look at her backplate, seeing no blue leaking through the pink dress she sighed. “No… I’ve just been really jumpy. Between Celestia and Shining Armor, I want to prove myself… But…”

“Well I doubt that you have a problem with Celestia.” Lime said. “She would have already kicked you out if she didn’t think you deserved a chance.”

“Yeah but…”

“Come on. You’ll be fine. I mean if Princess Cadenza does trust you, there is nothing you need to worry about.” Clear replied. “By the way, how was the wedding?” She asked Lime.

“Oh it was amazing!” Lime said. “Pinkie Pie from Ponyville showed up and handled the entire reception! I never saw a Pony move that fast before. She was all happy and energetic and...”

“I get the picture.” Clear replied. “Did you go?” She asked Spinnekop.

Spinnekop shook her head. “No… I was in the dungeon…”

Clear blinked. “For what?”

Spinnekop sighed. “Well… I got in a fight with a Changeling by the name of Clobber, and then I hit the wall… So I couldn’t really move…”

The door to the room opened as Spinnekop was talking, she didn’t bother to look over at the door, assuming it to just be Lace. When some of the maids started to get quiet, she turned around to see a Pegasus glaring down at her, armored in gold as she stood over Spinnekop.

Spinnekop shrunk down as best she could. “Umm… Hi…”

“I’m not happy about this.” She said.

“H-Happy about what?” Spinnekop said, backing up slightly.

“You.” She hissed. “When Captain Armor told me about you, I thought it must have been some kind of joke. Yet here you are.” She glared back at Spinnekop.

“Whirlwind? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here, because I wanted to make sure this bug knew what would happen if she tries anything.” She let out a growl and ground her teeth.

Spinnekop shrunk down more. “O-o-Oh… You do-d-d-don’t have t-t-to do that… C-c-captain Armor alr-r-ready did that…”

“Yeah… I’m sure he did. But I’m not going to let that stop me.”

“Whirlwind, you’re scaring her!” Clear said as she looked at Spinnekop’s distressed face.

“Good, that means she’ll listen.” Whirlwind poked Spinnekop in the chest. “Now I don’t know exactly what your angle is here. Whether you honestly want to help or are just doing this to save your own sorry flank, and quite honestly I don’t care. But know this, a lot of good ponies got hurt in that attack and a lot of great Guards got badly injured. So I will make this very clear.” She leaned in to look Spinnekop directly in the eye. “If you hurt anypony and I do mean any pony, I will make sure that they won’t be able to tell it was a Changeling. Get me?”

Spinnekop opened her mouth, releasing a quiet whine, and then closed it. Her legs began shaking.

“Whirlwind!” Lace shouted. “What are you doing?”

“Just making sure this Bug knows her place.” She squinted at Spinnekop and then pulled away, walking back towards the door. “I’ll be watching you…”

Spinnekop hid behind Clear, looking over the Pegasus as Whirlwind walked out of the room. The silence following the visit remained as Lace walked up to Spinnekop. “Don’t pay her any mind, Spindle. She can get a little hot headed, but I promise you she wouldn’t do anything too… Spindle?”

“Are you sure I can’t just lock myself in the dungeon and save everypony the trouble of trying to kill me…”

Lace sighed. “Spindle dear. Nopony is going to try and kill you. Cadence would make sure of that.”

“I don’t know… She seemed really angry.” Spinnekop said, stepping out from behind Clear. “Maybe I should just ask Cadence if I can stay in the room…”

Clear scoffed. “Come on… You aren’t seriously worried about Whirlwind are you? She’s a lot of bark without much bite.”

Spinnekop whined.

“Spindle dear, you aren’t honestly worried about her going through with a threat like that are you?”

Spinnekop nodded. “I-I just… I don’t want to risk it… Everypony is still so aggressive after the attack, and I just… I don’t want to die… I only just got healed from my fight with Clobber! I don’t want to go through that aga-” Her eyes widened. “oh…”

“What is it?” Clear asked.

“Oh… Uh… Nothing… J-Just a crazy idea.” Spinnekop said.

“Well, if you are sure.” Lace replied. “I can’t seem to find my camera. Have any of you girls seen it?”

The other maids shook their heads. “Damn… I was hoping to find it…” She sighed. “So how are the others treating you?”

“Well…” Spinnekop started.

Lime grabbed Spinnekop and pulled her over. “Oh, Spin here is practically a part of the family already!”

“Yeah… Eh-heh…. Part of the family…”

“I see you already met Lime.” Lace replied, a smile on her face. “Well, so long as she is a friend, the others will come along soon enough.” She looked around the room. “Ah, there it is…” Lace walked over to a large camera. “Time for the photo.”

“Photo?” Spinnekop repeated.

“Oh, right. I didn’t tell you.” Clear said.

“Every time we get a new Maid, we take a picture to commemorate!” Lime said. “It’s tradition!”

“Yup.” Clear said. “So come over here Spinnekop.” Clear walked over to the side of the room as the other maids lined up in three lines of fifteen.

Lime and Clear stood in the middle of the front row Spinnekop in-between them. Lace looked over the group and nodded, pushing down the button before walking over to stand on the far right. Spinnekop took a deep breath and smiled as the camera let off a bright flash. Spinnekop blinked a few times as she watched Lace walk over to the Camera.

“Perfect.” Lace said. “Alright everypony. I’ll have these to you by the end of the day tomorrow. Now we need to get working, enough time wasted. We still have plenty to do.” The Maids nodded and headed out of the room, leaving about ten around the room. “Spindle, could you come with me, please.”

“Oh Uh… yeah.” Spinnekop said, following Lace out of the room as she carried the camera.

“I’m glad that you are making friends with some of the others, Spindle.” Lace replied. “I was worried you would just shrink down and ignore everypony.”

“Well… I did think about it…”

Lace chuckled. “Yes… I figured you would… Though I think you should break that shell… No offense meant.”

“Oh… None taken…” Spinnekop replied, noticing they were heading towards Lace’s office. “Where are we going?”

“Back to my office.” Lace replied. “I believe it is time for me to hold up my end of the bargain.”

Spinnekop’s eyes lit up. “Oh Chrysalis, Yes! I can’t wait!”

Lace gave another chuckle. “Yes… That is what they all say. I’ll even let you keep the bell.”

Spinnekop blinked before noticing the ringing and looked back at her hooves and tail. “Oh… Uh…” A Whistle caught her ears and her tail shot in-between her tail. “Yeah… Uh… Let’s just… Go…”

Lace smiled as she led Spinnekop back towards her office. As soon as they were through the door, Spinnekop rushed over to the small changing room and began to pull off the pieces of the dress. When she got to the ribbon tied on her tail, she tried to grab it with her mouth, but couldn’t get at the base of her tail where the ribbon was located, and her hooves couldn’t get at the small ribbon. Oh yes, she could use magic to get it off, and while levitation didn’t take much energy, it is better to be able to walk around disguised…

After about a minute of trying to get the ribbon off without her magic, she sighed and walked out of the changing room. Lace was busily looking over the camera. “I need to get a newer model…”

Spinnekop sighed as she walked over to Lace. “Lace, could you help me with this?”

Lace looked back at Spinnekop to see the ribbon still attacked to her tail. She let out a giggle and lit her horn. “No worries, Spindle.” The ribbon untied itself and floated over to the desk. “You can keep it if you like.”

Spinnekop looked at the ribbon and sighed. “I guess…” In a wisp of green flames, she transformed back into Spindle Weave, looking back at her familiar form she sighed. “So… What’s first?”

Lace smiled as she put the camera down and looked back at Spindle. “Well, the Hoofmaiden is the personal servant of the Princess. They tend to the needs of their employer. Were we in Saddle Arabia, you may need to do a little more than that.” She winked, “Luckily though that particular usage hasn’t been necessary for quite a while.”

Spindle sighed. “Oh good…”

Lace walked over to a closet. “Now, Equestrian Hoofmaidens are a little different. You are to act for the betterment of Cadence, acting as a close friend to her and help her when she needs it. If she asks you to do something, you should do it, however if you think it is beyond your capabilities, then mention that.”

“So, it is kind of like a Caretaker?” Spindle replied.

“In a way…” Lace said. “From what you told me, Caretakers are to do anything they are told, regardless of feelings, they also seem to care for their Queen first, is that correct?”

Spindle nodded. “Though, she rarely needs them… So they look after the Pupae and the castle.”

“Well, I certainly hope you will help take care of the castle if I should need you. You simply need to remember that you answer to the Princess first. Should she ask something of you, you are to complete that task first. When you are not required by Cadence, you get free time. You can spend that time around the Castle, going to the town, looking around the Gardens, or simply stay in your room.”

Spindle nodded. “um… How would I know if Cadence needs me if I’m out in Canterlot?”

Lace grinned. “Well, that is one of the things Cadence needs to get you. It is a small crystal that you need to keep with you at all times. It will glow and vibrate when Cadence activates the other half, if this happens; you know you are being called.”

Spindle blinked. “That sounds a lot like the crystals we use to communicate to Infiltrators.”

“Does it?”

“Yeah,” Spindle replied. “Though we can send entire messages through it. They are heavily guarded most of the time, since you don’t need the Hivemind to use it.”

“Well, that certainly is interesting.” Lace replied, giving a nod. “I’m sure that Cadence will get you your crystal soon enough. For now though, would you be opposed to helping clean off the chandeliers you missed?”

Spindle shook her head. “Though… Before I do that… I should probably eat something…” As if on cue, her stomach growled.

Lace smiled. “Then follow me, dear. I’ll show you this wonderful little café just outside the Castle walls.”

Spindle’s eyes widened. “Y-You mean… L-Leave the Castle?”

“Well of course. You can hardly expect the chefs to cook for everypony in the castle.”

Spindle gulped. “I-I-I don’t know Lace… I-I think I’ll just wait here…”

Lace sighed. “Spindle dear, it is only a stone’s throw away from the Castle walls. We’ll be there and back before anypony notices we left.”

“But the Guards… They’re checking everypony to make sure they aren’t Changelings… What will they do to me?”

Lace sighed. “Yes… That may be an issue… I suppose we will simply need to show them first…”

Spindle looked at Lace in fear. “Y-You don’t think they’ll j-just throw me back in the dungeon… Do you?”

Lace chuckled. “Given how many times you have asked to go back there, I thought you would be happier.”

“Well…” Spindle shrunk back. “It’s a bit different when you may just be thrown to the wolves… Then when they know it is me…”

Lace snickered. “Come on, Spindle. It’s my treat. I’ll even take the hit for being a Changeling if you’d like.”

Spindle sighed. “No… I’ll… I’ll come…” She replied. “Just… Can you promise me we won’t…”

Lace’s horn lit up and levitated the ribbon up to Spindle’s mane, “Stay still for a moment.” Spindle felt her mane pulled a little and twisted around as Lace worked, when she was finished, she held up a mirror to Spindle.

In the right side of her mane, a small ribbon was tied just behind her ear. “Uh… How will this help?”

Lace sighed. “Be honest, if a Changeling were to see a ribbon in your mane, would they think about transforming it?”

Spindle opened her mouth, but then thought about another option. “Maybe… If I transform it away while we are out… I can prove it is me when we get back.”

Lace grinned. “I can try to hook it up with the gate guard. They know me pretty well. So come on, let’s get some lunch.”

Lace led Spindle out of the office and towards the large golden doors of the castle. As Lace opened the door, Spindle shivered as the wind blow through her mane and fur, a sensation she hadn’t felt in a long while. What caused her to shiver again was the number of Guards around the castle grounds. She counted at least thirty just within her field of view, there were more up on the walls, and four standing next to the gate, spears in hoof. “I’m having second thoughts…”

Lace smiled at Spindle. “Come on Spindle. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

“But if I stay here there is nothing risked…. So I’ll just…”

Lace rolled her eyes and grabbed Spindle. “Come on…” She said, pulling Spindle with her by her tail. “You cannot stay inside these walls forever…”

“But I can delay it… At least until Shining Armor doesn’t want to kill me.”

“Spindle, Cadence would run him up a tree before she let him do anything that drastic. Lighten up, he never said you had to stay in the castle did he?”

“Well… Not to my face… And in no particular terms…”

“Then that means you can lighten up a bit.” Her magic stopped dragging Spindle. “I’ll promise to take the blame should the Captains temper rise that much.”

Spindle picked herself up and looked around, noticing the Guards around the area, she quickly made the decision that going through with this would save her more trouble… What with the guards everywhere. It would look weird for her to walk back in now… Right?

“Okay… But I’m not going to enjoy it.”

“I never said you had to, now come on.” Lace said as she continued to walk across the path towards the gate. Spindle took a deep breath and followed after her, trying very hard not to scream or something equally stupid. She didn’t even realize they had reached the gate until she walked into one of the Royal Guards. Looking up she squeaked slightly, startling the guard.

“Lace, you’re later than normal.” One of the guards said.

“Yes, well… We had a new member join and I had to show her the ropes.” Lace glanced at Spindle. “She is Cadence’s new Hoofmaiden.”

One of the guards tapped another on the shoulder and whispered to the other. “You know… We heard some very interesting things about her Hoofmaiden.”

Lace nodded. “Yes… Yes… Listen, she is a Changeling, but we have an idea to avoid that…”

The main Guard looked at her curiously. “Well, Spindle Weave, is currently under express surveillance, not to leave the grounds of the castle, without a reason or an escort.”

Lace sighed. “Well, I would like to inform you that I am acting as her escort, and you have my word she will not attempt anything.”

“How do we know it really is her coming back?” A Guard asked. “Not some other Changeling.”

“We have that covered.” Lace replied, motioning to Spindle, who caused the pink ribbon by her ear to disappear. “Spindle agrees that no Changeling would realize the importance of it. When she returns, she will show you the ribbon to prove it is us.”

The Guard rubbed his chin. “Hmm… Alright Lace. But you owe me for this one, and both of you need to submit to a dispelling charm.”

“Agreed, we’ll be back in about an hour.” She said as the Unicorns opened up the gate. “Come along, Spindle. We have quite a bit to talk about.”

Spindle looked out at the white stones of the city, all glistening in the high sun’s glow. Spindle’s legs shook a little at the thought of walking back out into the city this soon. She sighed, before nodding and taking her first steps out into the city.

Lace looked down at her and smiled. “I’m proud of you Spindle, now let’s get some lunch.”

“Okay…” Spindle squeaked. “So long as I don’t need to talk to anypony…”

Lace snickered. “Alright Spindle. I’ll handle the talking, you just try to act normal.”

Spindle took a deep breath and stood up fully. “Okay… I think I’m ready…”

“Then lets go. Brave new world out there to explore, and there’s nothing to hold you down.”

Spindle smiled at the aging Unicorn, letting out a small chuckle. “Well… Where is this place you keep talking about?”

“Oh… I want it to be a surprise. Just follow me.”

“Get up, Prisoner!”

The Changeling looked up to see the guards, Halberds in claw, glaring down at him. The two of them opened the cage and grabbed the chains holding him to the wall, pulling against them, which in turn pulled against the Changeling’s collar. “You have a lot to answer for.”

The Changeling’s ears fell back against his head as he was yanked through the halls of the dungeon. When he was allowed to breathe normally again, he was thrown to the ground in front of a throne.

Looking up, he saw a number of skulls, Pony, Changeling, Griffon, all of them with one thing in common, a large crack through the center of their foreheads. But what scared him the most, was the figure in the throne, currently looking at it’s hoof.

“The Prisoner, as you requested.” The Guards said.

“Excellent.” The figure looked down at him. “So… I’ll cut right to the chase, where is she?”

The Changeling began shivering. “I-I don’t know who you…”

The chains around his neck were grabbed and pulled. “Do not lie to me!” The Figure said. “I know full well it was her, why else would you be here?”

The Changeling began shaking as he looked at the number of Changeling skulls around the area. “I-I-I…”

“Do not test my patience. Give me an answer.”

“I don’t know…”

The figure smirked. “Weak… You crumple at the very sight of a Queen. It is pathetic. But I do not care for how much of a spine you have. For the acts you have committed against my people are most heinous. I could have you executed right here…” The Guards raised their halberds and brought them down next to the Changeling’s head. “But I want answers. Answers, that you can provide.”

The Changeling looked between the two halberds, each jammed into the stone floor as he swallowed loudly.

“Now, I have been working extremely hard to remain calm in this situation, because I want to know what she could have possibly been planning. What possible advantage could crippling my food supply give?” The Queen looked back at the Chained Changeling as the Guards pulled their halberds from the ground. “My family has spent generations trying to get a working relationship with the King going, and I refuse to allow her to destroy it, a war between us would most certainly end in the utmost bloodshed, bloodshed that would not be good for either of us. So I want to know… What was her plan?”

The Changeling looked up at the Queen, wide-eyed in fear.

“So I want to know… What exactly was her plan? What could have possibly been worth nearly destroying the relations I have built up these many years? I certainly know it is her, so tell me…” The Guards raised the Halberds so the blades were placed directly under the Changelings throat, causing him to jolt his head up to try and avoid the blades. “Where is she?”

Author's Note

HOOOOOLLLLYYYYY GOOOOOOODDD! This took far longer than it should have.

I am so sorry for that... Other things came up and stories and.... *Sigh* I'll do better next time

But who is this mysterious Figure? :derpyderp2: Find out next time on 'Pen Pals'.

Royal Pains

Chrysalis was feeling rather good, all things considered. Sure her invasion to grow more powerful and become one of the first Changeling Queens to dominate their food source failed and her army scattered across Equestria, but now she had their locations, and already had squadrons ready to get them out. So if all went well, she would have her military back in no time.

Now she just had to overlook the recovery and development of her military. Luckily the attack wasn’t a complete waste of time, she had gotten quite a few Royal Guards captured, so once they became less violent, they should be perfect little wells of information for her.

It was a day before her squadrons were supposed to go and rescue the others, and Chrysalis was looking over reports from the few that made it back on their own. A few of them were casualty lists, another was a list of assets one Infiltrator found, the other was the list of Captured Changelings, given to her by Cloak.

She continued to look over these sheets, flipping through them and the newest batch of soldiers, ready to serve, when a voice went through her Hive Mind.

“My Queen, there is a visitor outside the Hive, they wish to speak with you…”

Chrysalis sighed. “Who?”

“She… Doesn’t want to tell you…”

She groaned. “Fine. Let them through.” She let out a little hiss. “Who in Tartarus could possibly be trying to get into my Hive, I moved it since last time… It can’t be one of the Queens.” Chrysalis shook her head. “General!”

Mimic walked over to her, giving a bow in front of her. “Yes, my Queen?”

“Have any of the Distraction team returned yet?” She asked. “It should not be taking them this long to return from the Griffon Kingdom.”

“No, your Majesty, we have not heard anything from them after Luna was distracted.”

Chrysalis clicked her tongue. “Send another message to them, I want their exact position in relation to the Hive.”

Mimic nodded before taking off from the ground and flying out from a side chamber.

Minutes passed in silence as Chrysalis overlooked the papers. If we go to Appleloosa… Then we can liberate them, maybe hide out with the Buffalo… Maybe recharge a bit off of…

“CHRYSALIS!!!!!”

The shout caused what felt like the entire Hive to vibrate, Chyrsalis’ eyes widened as she recognized the voice. “Oh Morphi…”

There were a few slams from outside the door, followed by shouting. The door was then shot open as Chrysalis felt weightless before getting pulled quickly towards the door, stopping only a few inches away from the face of a fellow Changeling Queen, her golden bird-like eyes drilling a pure hatred into Chrysalis’ mind.

Chrysalis looked to the sides of the door, seeing her guards pinned by large Griffons, the shafts of their Halberds pressing against the Guard’s necks as the two glared at each other.

“What in the name of Apath were you thinking?” The Queen hissed through clenched teeth, her fangs bared.

Chrysalis swallowed. “H-Hi Aurum…”

The Queen’s eyes narrowed at her as her snarl grew. “Tell. Me. Your. Plan.”

“W-Well I uh…”

One of the Griffons turned to look at Aurum. “My Queen, I recommend that you speak with Chrysalis in private.”

Chrysalis’ eyes widened in fear as Aurum stepped into the room and slammed the doors shut, before turning to Chrysalis and dropping her magical field. “Tell me now!” She shouted. “What were you doing in the Griffon Kingdom?”

Chrysalis cursed before giving a nervous smile. “I’m not sure what you mean…”

Aurum turned and glared. Screwing her eyes shut and taking a deep breath. “I am trying… so hard. By the rules of the Oligarchy, I should challenge you to a duel.”

Chrysalis swallowed loudly, backing away from the Queen.

“But since I don’t want the ponies up my flank, I won’t.” She snarled. “I ask again: What. Were. You. Doing?”

“N-nothing I…”

The doors opened as a cage was carried in by a couple Griffons, inside was a blue eyed Changeling, trying to look away from his queen. “This little… Bug was found by my scouts after a slaughter of Griffons and Ponies by the border.”

Her eyes widened as she looked at the Changeling. “Where are the others? I sent twenty of you.”

The Changeling just slunk further back, putting his hooves over his face. Aurum motioned for her Changelings to leave. “Did you honestly think starting a war was a smart move here? Well?”

Chrysalis looked around the room. “Aurum, I know that I broke the…”

“Broke? No… That implies we can fix it. You Shattered it!” Chrysalis backed away a little. “Do you have any idea how long it took for my family to build up a relationship with the Kings and Queens of the Griffon Kingdom? Go on, guess.”

“I don’t…”

“Four generations!” Aurum shouted. “We’ve been itching to get a post on the King’s personal Court for four generations. And in my life it’s taken me six lives to finally get a King that ratified the idea of female Lords to exist in his court. You couldn’t have picked a worse time for me either!”

Chrysalis slowly moved towards a corner in the hopes of putting up a shield to block out Aurum in case she charged. It was well known that Aurum was less cuddly than a Dragon at times, she made a habit of collecting skulls from those who tried to kill her or the Changelings that attempted to stir rebellion against her, how much she would love to have a Queen’s head was something Chrysalis was trying to keep out of her mind right now…

“The first meeting of me in the court was about the Border guards. I was declined the position on the grounds that ‘I’m not experienced enough’” She said in a mocking voice, spitting on the ground. “I have more combat experience than any of those light weights, yet they have the king around their talons. Then of course the one Griffon I publically cannot stand has his own troops guarding the borders and what happens? You slaughter his troops!”

Chrysalis lit her horn and put a shield between the two of them.

“Now while I would normally be thanking you for putting that little sniveling Kreesh in his place. I can’t! Because he turned the whole thing against me!” Aurum’s horn slowly began lighting up as a Griffon walked in with a large steel cylinder on his back; he placed it down next to Aurum and moved to the side.

“He used the fact that I hate him to say that I’m the one who killed them! My troops! Be used in a wasted effort to smear mud on that Kreesh-al reputation!” She raised her hoof, which was covered in yellow fire and replaced with talons, each one glowing bright yellow as she brought the claw down of the metallic cylinder, carving three red-hot marks through the metal. “PULL!” The cylinder fired a wooden bust of a griffon, which Aurum blasted to bits. “I have such a desire to challenge him to a duel. We’ll see how smug he is with his beak shoved in his eye socket!” Her other hoof was covered in flames as she began clawing at the metal cylinder, after what felt like a few hours, but was probably only about thirty seconds, the Cylinder was covered in melted-on Claw marks.

“Well…” Chrysalis squeaked before clearing her throat nervously. “I don’t see why you…”

Aurum glared at her. “I’m not done yet. And put that shield down! If I were going to kill you, you would be dead already!” Chrysalis swallowed and lowered the shield, sending a silent prayer to all of the past Queens that might be listening.

“The real kicker is, the King Believed him.” Aurum huffed. “He made up some Keeek about a lost journal from one of them, and that it said that my soldiers were the ones that attacked both the Griffons and the Ponies.” She glared at Chrysalis. “So congratulations! You successfully sabotaged my relationship with the King! PULL!”

A stone bust flew out of the cylinder; Aurum aimed her horn at it and gripped it as it began heating up, before it slammed into the ground where the burning pieces scattered around the room. Aurum took a few deep breaths.

“Aurum… W-well I uh…” Chrysalis said weakly. “Why not just have him replaced…”

Aurum scoffed. “Sure… It’s so easy for you, Chrysalis. You don’t have to worry about getting something wrong. What happens here if you get caught? You get locked up? We get out heads cut off! It’s a little more difficult to match a Griffon Lord, they aren’t like your pony nobles, they are completely different beasts in their home life. I can’t just replace them.”

“Then uh… If you don’t mind me asking… Why did you come here?” Chrysalis asked.

“I came here to tell you personally how displeased I am at your actions. And I understand the reason why you did it. An Alicorn showing up on the King’s doorstep doesn’t go unnoticed. It caused quite the stir, and caused quite the interesting entertainment when the King was talking with her, and then I heard about… You.” She hissed. “Now, I don’t give a damn what you do with your food. Play with them, invade them, do what you want.” Aurum began to walk towards Chrysalis.

“Now, one of the few reasons I haven’t cut off your head for all the trouble you caused is because I want to watch you dig yourself a grave. And the High Queen warned me she would not take me slaughtering you kindly. So here is what is going to happen.”

She grabbed Chrysalis by her hoof and pulled her off the ground. “If you do anything aggressive towards the Griffon Kingdom, I will kill you, and take your Changelings as my own. A few of my Recon Drones will be watching you from Griffon Stone, they will report to me. If you do anything I don’t like, it will be just like when the two of us were Nymphs. Got it?”

Chrysalis nodded. “Is there anything I could help you with than, Aurum?” She said, recomposing herself.

“Stay away from Griffon Stone, and don’t piss me off again, Chrysie.” Aurum replied. “I’m one-hundred years older than you. Keep that in mind.” Aurum’s horn lit up as the Cage holding the Changeling opened.

“Aurum, wait!” Chrysalis said. “How did you find me? I moved since last time.”

Aurum pointed at the Changeling. “He led me here. Now do yourself a favor, I expect a formal letter of admission of the murders of the Border Guard, say you are War chief Silver Plume, that little bastard’s been a thorn in my side, I want his head.”

“You’ll have it by the weeks end.” Chrysalis said, watching as Aurum opened the door and walked out of the room, the Griffon guard carrying out the cylinder. Aurum motioned to the two guards who both pulled their Halberds from the Guard’s throats and moved to follow their Queen.

Mimic passed them in the hall and walked into the throne room. “Were we expecting Queen Aurum?” He asked confused.

Chrysalis let out a deep breath as her magic winked on and she pulled over the papers. “A surprise visit, just to say hello while she is handling a situation. She asked us for assistance with an important matter, I would like for you to assemble a team to find the War chief Silver Plume.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, your Majesty, why are we targeting him?”

Chrysalis looked back at Mimic. “We are tracking him down as a favor to Queen Aurum, Silver Plume has been harassing her for quite some time. He has been attacking her caravans, and her troops, but he is just outside of the Griffon Kingdom, making it illegal for them to attack, she requires a confession that would allow her to take action. We need his signature. Now get the team together, I don’t care who is on it.”

Mimic bowed. “At once, My Queen. Would you like me to get some Caretakers to clean up the Throne Room?”

“That would be fine, tell them to do it quickly, I have much to plan.”

“Of course, Chrysalis.” Mimic walked from the room as Chrysalis walked back over to her throne, sitting back down in it and beginning to look over the papers again, shuffling them around to make sure they were in the correct order. Trying her best to block out the hints of nervousness and fear she had left from the visit. Now, if we go to Appleloosa…

Author's Note

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO Sorry... :fluttercry:

This chapter was supposed to be longer..... But then I realized how little I focused on Spinnekop.... But I didn't want to leave you guys on that cliffhanger... So... Here it is... The payoff from the wait... :ajsleepy: I am very sorry for how short this section is.... I didn't even call it a CHAPTER!

I'm sorry guys.... :applecry: I promise the next one will be longer...

Prologue: Hunted

The sound of hooves hitting the rocky ground echoed across the tunnels of the Hive, chasing a single Changeling through the winding corridors.

The Changeling in question, ran towards the familiar pathways of the Hive, she knew them better than any of the soldiers chasing after her, and she had an objective. Deep below ground, there was a chamber that held the newly hatched Changelings, each one being chosen for their own place in the greater Changeling Hive. Ranging from lowly Tunnelers to the Queen’s Guards, every class had their purpose.

Emphasis on had.

There was one specific class that had been hunted, seen as weak and useless to the Queen’s plans, the Artists, those that designed and crafted the Hive to the best and most effective means, that handled the careful disguises and portraits of their leaders. All now being tracked down.

As the Changeling ran into the open Chamber, the clusters of the small white Changelings sleeping soundly in their makeshift cribs, she ran towards one in particular. As she reached the cluster, she began to look over the twenty small white grubs to find the one she needed, finding it, she grabbed the opened chrysalis which acted as their beds, and put the pupa on her back.

As she let out a relived sigh at having found her target, the Pupation Chamber was stormed into by Soldiers. “Get her!”

The Changeling froze for only a second before rushing off towards the other exit, being careful not to disturb the small Pupa on her back as she quickly made her way through the tunnels.

The Pupation Chambers were separated into multiple layers, the Lowest classes such as Tunnelers and basic drones were held at the bottom, Soldiers held the largest Chamber in the middle, and the highest class, those that would become the Infiltrators and perhaps Queens one day, were kept separate from the rest.

She burst into the second Chamber, looking around desperately while the shouts of the soldiers behind her added to the tension. She quickly made up her mind and began to sprint towards the exit, leaving just as the Soldiers flew into the room, now on her tail. She kept running, never stopping, her heart pounded inside her carapace while her breathing became quick. She couldn’t slow down, she needed to get to it.

She eventually found her way towards the main living area, a large closed dome, where the Changelings lived in small hastily made houses, looking like slabs of black rock were thrown together to build a structure.

She kept running, the Soldiers slowly catching up to her, as she reached one of the houses, she flung the door open with her magic before slamming it closed, moving anything heavy to block them from entering.

When that was finished, she ran towards a room to the side, before placing the Pupa down and rummaging in the cabinets. “Where is it…” She mumbled to herself in panic. “I know it’s around here somewhere…”

She threw everything to the floor as she found the three objects she was looking for, she let out a relieved sigh as the door was blown open. “Find her now!”

The Changeling grabbed the objects and the Pupa, quickly running towards a back entrance, she began to fly, her small insect wings buzzing as she lifted herself to the top of the dome, followed by more of the soldiers.

She quickly scrabbled to get into the above tunnels, those few that led to the outside, to safety… “We’re almost there…” She said to the Pupa on her back. “I just need to…”

“Seal the Hive!”

“NO!” She shouted, buzzing her wings harder in an attempt to get there before the top of the main tunnel was closed by the Tunnelers, but she wasn’t fast enough. The Tunnel sealed off and she looked around desperately, trying to find some way to save both of them.

She sighed as the soldiers drew near, there was only one thing left she could do…

She flew towards a small tunnel, her smaller size easily fitting through it while the Soldiers needed more time to get through, when she came out, she was looking at the closest thing to a ‘house’ a Changeling could have. The Barracks… Where the best soldiers were trained, a General was always nearby… It was her last hope.

She landed in front of the building, placing the Pupa down on the ground in front of the door. She listened quickly to hear the sounds of the soldiers approaching, slowed down by their size.

The Changeling let out a small tear. “I’m sorry…” She said she pulled out the items she had retrieved from her house, a small needle, a green gem attached to a string, and a dark brown cloak.

She held the needle close to the gem in her magic, focusing on the two with all of her mind, pouring her love into it. When she saw the bright green flash, she placed the newly created Pendant around the Pupa’s neck, just as it began to open its blue eyes.

The Soldiers were getting closer now, any second they would burst through the tunnel. The Changeling looked down at the Pupa. “My little Spinnekop…” She said. “Be brave. I love you…” She kissed the young pupa on her forehead before knocking on the door and dashing off towards another tunnel, leaving the Pupa there.

Shortly after, the group of Soldiers burst through into the larger cavern, and began looking towards the other tunnels. “There she is!” One of them shouted and a group flew off to chase her, while a smaller group stayed to look at the Pupa.

“What should we do with it?” One of them asked.

“Exactly what the Queen ordered.” Another said.

The Pupa opened its eyes fully with a small yawn, looking up at the soldiers. It let out a small clicking sound and found the pendant around her neck, placing it in her small mouth as she began to suck on it.

“Captain.” Another Female voice said. “I expected better from you.”

The Changelings turned to look at the tall form of Queen Chrysalis, her tall form showing off the tremendous power, her horn had decay running through it, much like the rest of the Changeling’s legs and wings. “My Queen. She has not escaped yet, we will catch her.”

The Queen glared down at the Captain. “I do not want your pathetic ideas, I want results!” She said. “What are all of you gawking at?”

The Queen walked up to the door, seeing the small Pupa, the Pupa looked up at the Queen and let out a small chirping sound. “Spinnekop!” The Pupa said happily.

“My Queen, this is the last of them, we will proceed with the execution as you-”

“There is no need, Captain.” The Queen replied. “She may very well serve my purpose well enough, regardless of her birth, see to it she is placed with the Soldiers.”

“My Queen?” The Captain said unsure. “She has yet to…”

The Captain was lifted off the ground by a green aura around his neck. “Thank you for the opinion, Captain,” She hissed the Captain clutching near his throat. “Next time I require it, I will ask.” She let go of the Changeling, leaving him to gasp on the ground. “What I have planned requires more Soldiers than anything, regardless of how she was born, she will be brought up as a soldier. Understood?”

The Captain coughed. “Under… Understood… Your Majesty.”

“Good.” Chrysalis said. “Now… Bring me the head of that Artist. If she makes it out of the Hive, I will take yours instead.”

The Captain groped near his throat. “At once My Queen!” He hissed at the other Changelings and all of them began to chase after where the Changeling went.

Chrysalis walked over to the Pupa. “I have a very special task for you, hatchling.”

“Spinnekop!” The Pupa replied, grabbing onto the gem and suckling on it, her acid green spit covering the top half of the gem.

Chrysalis smiled. “Of course… Spinnekop, will be perfect for what I have planned.”

Chapter 2: First Correspondence

Cara woke the next morning to the sound of the membranous door opening and Mimic stepping in. “Cara! Spinnekop! Wake up!”

Cara was up before Mimic even mentioned her name; she climbed out of the covers and stepped onto the floor. Noting the large pile of wood shavings near Spinnekop’s bed.

Mimic saw them too and shook his head. “Spinnekop. Spinnekop!”

Spinnekop grumbled a bit but rose out of the bed slowly.

“Spinnekop, mind explaining this?” Mimic asked, motioning to the wood shavings.

Spinnekop yawned before running a hoof over her eye. “I was… thinking, Sir…”

“Uh-huh.” Mimic said. “Where is it?”

“Where’s what?” Spinnekop asked, grinning innocently.

“Spinnekop, the carving, Now.” Mimic demanded.

Spinnekop sighed and opened the bottom drawer of her dresser with her magic, pulling out three woodcarvings each one only an inch tall, but the amount of detail was astonishing, even by her standards. Each one was of a different race of Pony, each with marginally different features, but for the most part they retained the same basic features.

Mimic looked at them. “What are these?”

Spinnekop sighed. “They’re… designs for… my pony form…”

Mimic raised an eye ridge. “Pony form?” He replied, eyeing them closely. “Why?”

Spinnekop traced the ground with her hoof. “Queen Chrysalis assigned me a mission, she said I would need a pony form…” She replied. “I was just trying to get an idea for how it would look…”

Mimic looked at the carvings, they were highly detailed, the Pegasus in particular, with the wings being just the right size and angle for a fast flyer, with the detail of each feather taken into account. “How did you carve this?”

Spinnekop’s horn lit up again as a small knife levitated from out of the drawer, Mimic eyed it. “You used this?”

Spinnekop nodded. “I’ve kept it for a year…”

Mimic looked at the carvings again. “Well?”

“Well what?”

“Have you decided on which one you will use?” Mimic asked.

“Umm…” Spinnekop replied, tracing a circle in the wood shavings. “I was actually going to ask you about it…”

Mimic sighed. “Cara, report to Commander Mandible, he will be administering your Scout test!”

“Yes, sir!” Cara replied, with a salute before hurrying out of the room.

“Spinnekop,” Mimic sighed. “You are to come with me to my office.” He said sternly. “Bring those carvings with you.” He placed them on the dresser.

“Yes, General…” Spinnekop replied she picked up her left foreleg and began to walk behind the captain. She was led through the empty barracks, the other Changelings having left for their tests. She stepped through the door to see Mimic take his seat behind his black chitin desk.

“So… Spinnekop…” Mimic said as he looked over the desk. “How long have you spent on this?”

“Most of the night…” Spinnekop replied. “I just… Needed to finish it by this morning.”

Mimic sighed. “Spinnekop… Spin… Don’t work yourself to death. I know that I-”

“The Queen needs me to finish them though!” Spinnekop replied. “She told me to have my first letter to the Alicorn finished today!”

Mimic looked at Spinnekop in surprise. “That… She assigned that to you?”

Spinnekop nodded. “She told me last night…”

Mimic paused for a second, looking off to the side in thought, before sighing. “Spinnekop, you should have told me immediately. I am here to help you.”

“But I thought that…”

“Spin, I’m the closest thing to an Infiltrator you have, let me help you.”

Spinnekop looked up at Mimic, and nodded.

“Now, have you at the very least considered the ramifications of each race?”

Spinnekop nodded. “I kind of like the Unicorn…” She replied. “Because I… Want to be able to use my magic.”

“Was that how you made those?” Mimic said, pointing at the carvings.

“Well… I used it to steady the stick, while I carved it…”

“Have you thought any further on it?”

Spinnekop shook her head. “I… Only got that far… I fell asleep.”

“So do you have a name figured out?”

Spinnekop shook her head.

Mimic tapped his chin. “Perhaps you should base it off of your own nickname you enjoy using so much.”

Spinnekop looked up at Mimic, placing the carvings on the desk. “Is that safe? Me using my own name in a disguise.”

Mimic waved his hoof. “Plenty do it, Mirror Match, Broken Fang, personally I don’t, but plenty do it.”

“Umm…” Spinnekop replied thinking. “I’m not sure…”

“Perhaps it could relate to your little talent here.” He motions to the carvings. “And if I’m not mistaken, you also have quite a knack for crafts, given what I’ve confiscated from you over the years.”

Spinnekop blushed. “Yeah… Um…”

Mimic chuckled. “Listen, I know that you aren’t old enough to have a fully self-sustaining Pony form. So why not just focus on the details. Do you have a color scheme you wish to use?”

“Uh…” Spinnekop looked over the carvings. “Why not these colors?” She indicated the carvings, while the colors of the bodies had been carved into a near white color, the Unicorn had her mane carved from some of the outer wood, giving it a darker brown appearance. “I kind of like how this one looks.”

“Well, let’s see what you think about it.” Mimic stood up from his desk and walked into a cleared section of the room. “This will be the first time I do this from a carving instead of a picture… but it should work the same.”

Mimic was covered in a flare of red flame, and replaced with a almost yellowish white unicorn mare, her straight brown mane curling up at the ends. “How’s this?” Mimic asked.

“Wow…” Spinnekop replied. “That looks… Perfect.”

“Care to give this mare a name?”

“Um…” Spinnekop said in thought. “Well… Spin… Spin…Spindle?”

Mimic rubbed ‘her’ chin. “That could work… But you still need a last name. Perhaps you could play off the first word… How about Spindle Weave?”

Spinnekop hopped. “That would be perfect!”

Mimic laughed. “I thought you would like it.” He returned to his normal form. “Listen, Spin, the rest of the recruits will be out for the remainder of the day, doing their various tests. I will help you if you need it, but it is up to you to decide what to write.” His horn lit up as a map levitated from one of the drawers. “This is a map of Equestria, pick a town or city to start off with, all except the capital city, that city is where the Alicorn lives, we don’t want to say that you are too close. Personally I recommend Manehatten. It is far enough away from Canterlot to warrant the writings, and we know a lot about it.”

“Uh-huh…” Spinnekop replied. “Um… General?”

“Yes, Spinnekop?”

“How do ponies… Write to each other?”

Mimic looked back at Spinnekop. “Well… First, you should describe yourself, your name, tell her you are a Unicorn from Manehatten or wherever you decide. Write a few things about yourself, like interests and hobbies… then, ask her some questions.”

“Okay… What if I fail? What if I write something I’m not supposed to…”

Mimic walked up to her. “You won’t, and there is no real bad things you can do here, it may only slow down her opening up to you, ponies are naturally trusting, she won’t think you are bad unless there is a legitimate reason to believe so.”

“I… I hope so…”

Mimic looked over at Spinnekop, who was now fidgeting with the pendant around her neck. “I’ll… Read over it before you send it to Chrysalis, if it helps.”

Spinnekop nodded. “Thank you…”

“Don’t thank me yet.” He replied. “Get going, you have a letter to write.”

Spinnekop nodded and began to walk towards the door. “Wait!”

Spinnekop looked back to see Mimic levitating the Unicorn carving towards her. “You might as well have this, it being your disguise and everything… It would be against the Hive’s best interests.”

Spinnekop grabbed the carving in her magic. “Of course, sir. We wouldn’t want that.”

“Dismissed, Spinnekop.” Mimic said, allowing Spinnekop to leave. She walked out of the office and returned to her quarters, grinning as she took the wood carving and placed it on top of her dresser.

She looked next to the carving, where she placed the envelope she had been given to her from Chrysalis. She levitated it close to her, and pulled her knife from the drawer and opened the envelope. Inside, were a few sheets of paper, an inkwell, and a quill. Spinnekop pulled out the objects and looked at them curiously.

Ink had been incredibly difficult to get inside the Hive, the only way to gain any would be to go into a pony town and purchase some. There was little need for ink unless filing a report or for the higher officers.

She looked over the materials and then at her room, looking for something to write on. She settled for the dresser, taking the quill in her magic and dipping it into the inkwell, she glanced over the blank page. How should I start this? She moved the quill around her magic, before settling on an idea.

“Dear Penpal…”

Write your name, and some basic information…

“My name is Spindle Weave, I live in Manehatten in…” Spinnekop tapped her chin. What do the ponies call them? In the Hive, there was no real family, any Changelings that were abandoned or had their parents killed pressed on, they did their best for the Hive. “An Orphanage.”

Spinnekop tapped her chin. “I’m a young Unicorn, only five years old. My hobbies include carving and decorating.”

After that… Ask her something.

“What do you do for fun? Do you have any friends? My best friend is named Cara, she has been one of the only ponies that seems to like having me around, the others tolerate me. Not that I mind, I’m fine with my life how it is.”

It wasn’t perfect… Far from it, but it would be acceptable. So Spinnekop took the quill and lowered it to the bottom of the paper. “From, Spindle Weave.”

Spinnekop looked over the letter before nodding happily with it and placing it into the envelope. She walked out of her room and began to walk towards Mimic’s office, her head held high as she had completed her first task in the mission. All that remained, was the wait…

Later that evening, Spinnekop was busily carving details into her Unicorn Figure, she hadn’t had time to adjust the horn, or the full facial features in her sleep deprived state. So now she was carving out the spiral in the horn, slowly ensuring it retained a constant indent the whole way along the horn. She was just finishing the base of the horn when the membrane opened.

“Spin… What are you doing with that?” Cara asked walking into the room, her carapace was covered in small scratches, but nothing was really bad about her appearance, she simply had mud and grime everywhere.

“Mimic allowed me to keep it, since it is my base form.” She replied placing the knife next to the figure on her dresser. “So, how was your day?”

Cara sighed. “It was terrible…” She replied. “I almost failed my first test…”

Spinnekop’s eyes widened. “What! Why?”

Cara sat down on her bed. “It was a race amongst all of the scouts, we had to get through the forested area outside the Hive, we were just dropped in random spots, equidistant from the Hive, and had to make our way back…”

“I was one of the last ten to get there that got in…” Cara replied. “Stupid Alpha Cluster…”

Spinnekop sighed. The Alpha Cluster was made up of the best soldiers available, they were often scattered throughout the other groups, to either keep them on their hooves, or to annoy everyling. They always walked with their heads high, and barely even respected anyone from the other clusters. They constantly won any challenge against anyone from other clusters, and were on their way to be the best class of every rank; Mimic was the only General in Chrysalis’ army that didn’t come from the Alpha Cluster, and he rubbed it in their snouts whenever he could.

“Don’t let them get to you, Cara…”

Cara huffed. “Easy for you to say…” She replied. “You are on your way to be an Infiltrator… I’m just a Scout…”

Spinnekop hopped off her bed and walked over to Cara. “No… You are the best Scout I know… Those Alpha Queen kissers couldn’t hope to be as good as you. I bet they won’t even pass the first real test!”

“You think?” Cara replied looking up at Spinnekop. “I just… I hate getting shown up by those jerks!”

“Well… Show them that you aren’t somepony to mess with. You’re good at that.”

Cara smiled. “Well… I guess that the whole point of a Scout is to think outside the box and gather intel…”

“You’re great at that! I bet that your next test will be right up your alley!”

Cara smiled. “Well… You got me to feel better.” She replied. “So how was your day?”

A few days later, A courier Changeling walked into the main dining cavern, easily identifiable by the larger wings, smaller stature, and pair of bags over his back. He walked through the hall, looking for a particular Changeling, as he found her, he flew above the rest to come to a halt above her. “Message for Spinnekop.”

Spinnekop looked up at the Courier, he was holding a white envelope in his magic and levitating it down to Spinnekop. “This came in today from our outpost in Manehatten.” He said. “The Queen wishes for a quick response.” He then turned and flew off.

Cara looked over at the Envelope. “Who do you know in Canterlot?” She asked.

Spinnekop looked over the envelope, it was a clean white, and the stamp was of a stylized sun, in front of a sky blue background. On the front of the Envelope, scrawled in blue ink were the words. “For Spindle Weave.”

“Who’s Spindle Weave?” Cara asked reading the name.

“That’s me, Cara…” Spinnekop replied. “This must be from my target…” She stood up. “I’m going to head back to the barracks… See ya later.”

Cara waved back to her as Spinnekop ran through the Hive, heading back to her room, when she got there, she quickly grabbed her knife and opened up the envelope.

The letter inside was written in beautiful blue ink, that didn’t betray the young handwriting.
Dear Spindle Weave,

My full name is Mi Amore Cadenza, but please just refer to me as Cadence. I am an Alicorn from Canterlot, it isn’t as interesting a city when you live there sadly. I’m really sad to hear about your living conditions, I do hope that you get more friends. To answer your questions, I do enjoy reading love stories, call it what you will, but I enjoy seeing two ponies that love each other so greatly get together. I do have friends, and some that I wouldn’t classify as direct ‘friends’, I kind of just know them.

I am curious about your parents though…” Spinnekop felt her heart drop. “Unless it is a touchy subject, if so, just tell me and I will not press any further. Also, if it is not too much to ask, could I see some of your craft? I am interested in the carvings. I do hope that everything turns out okay for you.

From,

Mi Amore Cadenza

Spinnekop looked over the letter then grabbed her inkwell and quill as well as the journal. She opened up the journal to write down any information she had been given. While not much… it was something.

“Mi Amore Cadenza… Lives in Canterlot… likes love stories…” Spinnekop looked over the information. “It’s not that much… But anything is better than nothing…”

She closed the journal and looked over at the carving of the Unicorn she had finished, a little bit of her spare ink had been used on the mane to give it a slight sheen, a small stick she had managed to get Cara to give her sitting next to it. She sighed at the unfinished product she had worked on during the night, it was a basic carving, mostly just the front outline, the rest of the figure was still stuck in the wood.

Spinnekop had planned to finish it during the nights, but now it seemed like it would need to be done now…

She sighed as she levitated the unfinished figurine over to her, alongside her knife. “I guess I can… It’s all for cover right…”

A few more days passed, and Spinnekop had sent her response that night, with her newest carving inside. It was nearly lights out when the response from Cadence was delivered to her. A Courier entered her room and held the letter out to her.
Dear Spindle,

I’m impressed by the figure you sent me, it is so accurate, despite the coloration being a bit strange, it is a beautiful piece. I’m surprised to hear that the Orphanage isn’t allowing you to do it more. I understand your wishes to not speak about your parents, so I will not bring them up unless you mention them.

I decided to send you something in return for your own craft. While it isn’t much, I hope that it will help.

Spinnekop looked into the package and pulled out a picture of a small pink Alicorn, standing in front of a large golden gate, in the distance there was a white and gold castle.

I know it is a bit weird to think about it, but in just a few years, I’ll be living here alongside my Auntie Celestia.

Spinnekop let out a gasp.

Cara looked over at her. “What is it?”

Spinnekop looked over the words, her open mouth not closing as she read over the words. “Aun-Auntie… Celestia…”

Cara looked over at her. “Say what?”

“Cadence!” Spinnekop replied. “She’s… She’s the niece of Celestia!” Spinnekop’s horn lit up as she levitated over her journal, quickly writing down this new information. This is HUGE!

Spinnekop began to look over the rest of the letter.

This was taken on my first tour of the castle, while I didn’t get to view a lot of other rooms, it was still amazing.

Spinnekop kept trying to look over the letter, but it was overshadowed by the huge glaring words… Auntie Celestia…

She eventually managed to force that away to read the rest of the letter.
I really want to invite you over to our place, but I feel like it would cause problems. However I do want you to know that I am waiting for your next letter with anticipation, hearing from you is always an interesting point of my week.

From,

Cadence

Cara was looking at Spinnekop in surprise. “Your friend is the Niece of Celestia!”

Spinnekop nodded. “She… She likes my work…”

Cara looked at her dumbstruck. “That is what you got from that?” She shook her head. “Come on, Spin.”

“Sorry…” Spin replied. “I just… Nopony has ever liked my work before…” She caught the glare from Cara before adding. “Other than you. Of course…”

Cara rolled her eyes. “Spin… That is a huge detail… You shouldn’t forget that.”

“I-I know…” Spinnekop replied. “It’s just… I’ve never known somepony to openly enjoy my work… It feels… Good.” She replied, a small grin forming on her face. “Is this what you feel like when you beat course records?”

Cara nodded. “Accomplishment is a great feeling, though I think you are getting a little bit of pride mixed in there, after all, you made the figurine, I just run really fast.”

“But you do it so well…” Spinnekop replied. “I’ll write a reply tomorrow…” She sighed removing her pendant. “I need to get some spare paper to keep in here.” She said. “I’m tired of going and talking to the customs Changeling every time I want a sheet of paper.”

“Well, it is difficult to get in the Hive.” Cara replied. “We only have so much before we need to buy more. We need to ration it.”

Spinnekop sighed. “I know… But you would think given my mission I ought to have some kind of backup supply, in case I want to change the writing.”

“Talk to Mimic about it.” Cara suggested. “I’m sure he could pull a few strings.”

Spinnekop sighed as she placed the pendant on the dresser, right over the Unicorn carving she had made. “I’ll need to think about it later… Tomorrow is the day I get assigned to a new commander.”

“Ooo…” Cara said with a little wince. “Good luck. Hopefully you don’t get assigned the Alpha Cluster’s Captain… What with you being an Infiltrator now.”

“I’m not a full Infiltrator, I never got the job, I’m just… On a mission.”

“That you were hoof picked for by the Queen, herself,” Cara retorted. “Face it, you are an Infiltrator.”

Spinnekop smiled. “I guess you’re right, and with the best scout in the dang Hive.”

“Oh, you flatter me.” Cara replied. “Now let’s get some shut eye. Big day for both of us, tomorrow.” She said, climbing under the blanket. “Night, Spin.”

“Night, Cara.”