//------------------------------// // Epilogue — The Letter // Story: In Sheep's Clothing // by Kydois //------------------------------// Chorion I breathed out a hefty sigh. “The queen knew, somehow.” Katydid just shook her head, her shoulders slumped. “Or she just guessed. What happened?” “I lost track of her and she found Nymph, spiriting her off to do who-knows-what.” I brought a hoof up to my forehead, trying to rub away the impending headache. I still hadn’t gotten over it, even months after it happened, and having to explain it all to Katydid again now that she had returned was… straining. “Now we’re down a pretty big part of our plan.” I looked down into my steaming teacup, still waiting for me to take a sip from it. “I just want to see her again. She didn’t deserve what we wanted to do with her.” The room’s only other occupant nodded solemnly. “She was such a sweet child,” Katydid said before taking a deep breath. “So what do we do now?” “I don’t know anymore,” I said, pushing the teacup away. “I’m not sure I want to try that same tactic again.” “The queen would be more wary of future attempts as well,” she noted, her face impassive. “But what else can we do?” I rested my head in my hooves. “We’ve gone through all of Mother’s notes. All we really got was a spell and a pile of research on some stupid crystal.” “Maybe we should take a look at the spell again,” Katydid said with a half-hearted shrug. “Something about it does not sit right with me. It feels… incomplete, somehow.” I furrowed my brow. “It does what it’s supposed to, right?” “That it does, but… I am uncertain. My gut is telling me what we must have missed something, but I have no idea what.” I sighed. “So we’re still at nothing.” We sat there in silence. There had to be something else, but what? “Broodmother Chorion, there is somepony at the front gate.” I groaned. “Tell them we aren’t entertaining guests.” “He’s saying he has something to deliver.” Katydid and I exchanged a quick look, one that said that neither of us had any idea what this was about. “I don’t remember ordering anything,” I sent over the link. “Who is it for?” There was a small pause. “He says it’s for Miss Chorion’s hooves only.” My eyes widened. “You have not revealed your true name to anyone outside of our hive, correct?” Katydid said as we rose in unison from our pillows. “No way,” I replied. We were already out of the door and headed down the stairs. We had to move quick. This was already a serious breach of security. There was no reason anypony outside of the hive should know details like our names. I pulled open the front door. There was no one there at the outer gate, but I did catch sight of a something sitting just inside our perimeter. I stomped my hoof in frustration. He must have fled. With a groan, I trotted over to the item left behind, which looked like it was… I furrowed my brow as I picked it up. “Just a letter?” Katydid came up behind me, looking down at the stationary in my magic. “Who is it from? Are there any markings?” I turned it forward and back. “There’s our address, but the envelope’s from… Busy Bee?” Katydid raised an eyebrow. “The shipping and goods acquisition company? I have used their service quite extensively in the past. Very exceptional work.” “Okay, but how are they involved in this? The messenger must have known my name because it sure as Tartarus wasn’t written on the envelope itself.” “I cannot be certain, but we will not find anything more out here,” she said, turning back to the house. “Come, let us get out of this cold air and open it up.” “Yeah, yeah, alright,” I said, though I kept my eyes on the little gold-embossed icon of a bee on the pristine envelope. It was fancy. It was bold. There was a ceremonial air about it, as if it were an official invitation for some grand event, yet the sparse details on the envelope and the courier's use of a name that wasn’t known publicly implied secrecy. Busy Bee… What could they want with us?