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?”