//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5: Deception 
// Story: Pen Pals 
// by Shaded Changeling 
//------------------------------//

	“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.”