//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13: Just Like Old Times 
// Story: Pen Pals 
// by Shaded Changeling 
//------------------------------//

	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…"