Pen Pals

by Shaded Changeling

Chapter 6: Reunion

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Hey Spinnekop.”

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

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

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

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

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

“But what?” Cara asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spinnekop’s eyes widened.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“An ass?” Spinnekop recommended.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Alright. Thanks for letting me know Blink.”

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes.”

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

“Yup. No reason what so ever.”

“Nothing at all?”

“Nope.”

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

“No reason.” Cara repeated.

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

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

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

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

“Cute?” Spinnekop suggested.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cara looked away for a moment. “Really?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“No way. How did he get that post?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cara rolled her eyes. “That you Seek?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You wound me foul villain.” Seek replied.

“This normal for him?” Spinnekop asked.

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

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

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

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

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

Spinnekop tilted her head slightly. “New girl?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Burn grunted. “Alright I was just saying…”

Spinnekop looked between the two confused. “Cara?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spinnekop blinked. “That’s… Correct.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

Burn coughed, rather loudly, as he nudged Seek.

“What?” Seek asked.

Burn glanced at him then motioned towards Cypher.

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

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

Burn rolled his eyes.

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

Burn lowered his head to look directly at Seek.

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

Burn gave an affirmative grunt.

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

Burn gave a small smirk.

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

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

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

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

“So this is your team?” Spinnekop asked.

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

Burn glanced down at Spinnekop before grunting again.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes Sarge.” Seek replied.

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

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

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

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

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

“Sure.” Seek replied.

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

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

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

“It was…” He mumbled something incoherent.

“What?”

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

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

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

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

Burn smirked.

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

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

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

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

Cara sighed. “Well I guess duty calls…”

Spinnekop nodded. “Shall we?”

“Do we have a choice?”

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

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

“Just like old times?”

Cypher interrupted. “You have five minutes.”

“Just like old times…”

---

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

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

“Doing better than when we were Nymphs.”

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

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

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

“I’m just saying that you…”

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

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

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

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

Author's Note:

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

Comments

[Warrior Kitten]

I assume the song was Giggle at the Ghosties? but that was four lyrics, not five.

[Shaded Changeling]

7223333 Indeed it was. And it had a lot more than 4/5 lyrics. From my count it has 149 lyrics in it. But it is whatever.

[The almighty bread god]

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

but can she I'a Cthulhu?

[Razzy]

So, finally saw one of those robot changelings.

Yay, Cara's back!