In Sheep's Clothing

by Kydois

Chapter 15 — <<Aftertaste>>

THEN

Chorion

Despite the weariness of traveling constantly for the last three days, I strode confidently up the steps and pushed open the mansion doors. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been back here, and though I spent years stationed in the main hive in the Badlands, I still thought of Baltimare as home. The cool, humid air following the storm put a bit of a damper on my nostalgia though, especially considering what I had been called back for.

“Chorion, sister!” an airy voice called out, one I recognized immediately, of course. She descended the stairs quickly, light on her hooves, and even from where I stood, I could tell she hadn’t changed a bit over the years.

My face split in a smile. “Katydid! When did you get here?” I said, rushing forward to meet her in an embrace that was just a touch too tight. By the sands, she was strong. The workers had already come forward to take my bags up, presumably to my old room.

She let me go and appraised me, looking me up and down. “Just yesterday. It is good to see you again, sister. Are you still cooking? Mayhap considering making another of your questionable dishes for old times sake?”

I punched her shoulder lightly. “Hey, they weren’t that questionable! They were good, weren’t they? Everything was fresh.”

She rolled her eyes. “Chorion, sister, I distinctly remember the octopus still moving.”

“You still liked it, didn’t you?” I shot back, smirking.

Katydid sighed. “I did,” she begrudgingly admitted, “even if it went straight to my thighs.”

I pouted, taking a look back at my own flank. It wasn’t all that bad, though I’ve always been more of the outdoorsy type. I was lean from extended trips into untamed Equestria, but part of me wished I had the feminine grace of my older sister. “Better than mine, at least. Still dancing?”

She shrugged and turned to go back up the stairs, beckoning me to follow. “A bit. The pole dancing was good exercise—did amazing work on my sides—but I have gone back to traditional spider dancing.”

I nodded and climbed the stairs after her, still slightly impressed by her athleticism. Spider dancing was an old changeling dance that took advantage of one thing the other races didn’t have: the ability to cling to any surface or ceiling. It was essentially like the ponies’ ballet, but vertical, taking advantage of gravity and a firm grip to swing the dancer up and down. Flips and spins were a staple of its mid-air movements, and even with a lack of walls, it translated well into pony ballet, though it wouldn’t be out of place to have the dancer land on their front hoof, swing themselves in the opposite direction, and ascend even faster than they had landed. Dancers tended to wear flowing silks and ribbons to emphasize their swift and changing momentum.

Katydid would probably look fantastic in that garb, not that I would necessarily give up my place as a scout for her more refined lifestyle. Still, what I wouldn’t give to have a butt like that.

Course though, I think both of our lifestyles were going to change for the foreseeable future.

She stopped suddenly, and I was snapped out of my thoughts, finding that I had been staring at her flank the entire time I was zoned out. Katydid flashed me a knowing look. I hissed back at her, and we both shared a little chuckle.

Katy soon sobered up from the gaiety of our reunion. “So, I presume you have heard the news,” she said in a more serious tone.

I sighed. “Yeah. Yeah, I have. The workers at the main hive were already calling me Broodmother by the time I had everything ready to come here.”

“Yes, I do not think I will be getting used to that any time soon, even if I did know I would have to take up the mantle one day,” Katydid said with a grimace. “It bewilders me that the Queen would have you take up the position with me. Not that I mind, of course, but I was under the impression that you enjoyed your line of work.”

I huffed. “I do, but the cynic in me thinks that Queen Chrysalis only did that so she could keep an eye on me. It’s easier to keep track of someling if they’re stuck inside playing housekeeper.” I paused and took a deep breath before continuing. “Do… do we know how Mother died?”

“That information was not given to me.” Katydid’s expression hardened as we came to the estate’s tea room, the doors askew and the frame cracked. “All I know was that she attacked the Queen and was slain in the ensuing fight. She was already dead when our changelings broke through the magical lock, and the Queen heavily injured by blade and burns. There was no body.”

I stepped inside the room. There were signs of a magical struggle everywhere. Scorch marks peppered the walls, and the floors and furniture had been torn up. Tea stains were all over the center table, plus a splash of dried blood near one side. Across the room, there was a much larger blood stain, heavily disturbed, with a large smear of soot and dust nearby. The windows were closed and intact for the most part, save for one facing the bay through which a fairly big hole had been punched through. Cut marks made by some sort of weapon cropped up here and there.

“What do you make of this, sister?” Katydid asked quietly from the doorway.

“This bloodstain,” I said, pointing at the large, messy splotch on the floor. “This looks like someling was already dying and bleeding out on the floor—see that side there where the body blocked the spread of blood—but the fact that we don’t know where the body is means it was either removed from the room…”

“The windows were locked, and besides the weapons we confiscated and whatever was thrown out through that hole,” she said, nodding at the only imperfect window, “nothing else left this room.”

I grunted in affirmation. “So the body was vaporized. Explains the dust, but with that much blood, that had to happen when they were already dead, and why would one need to waste so much magic just to burn away a corpse?”

Katydid nodded grimly. “So you suspect a cover-up?”

“Something’s going on,” I said, scrunching up my nose. “Is the Queen open to… explanations?”

She shook her head. “I do not believe she would give it, or she would at least explain something before throwing us headfirst into the unforgiving sands. I am starting to believe your statement that your presence here is only to keep you chained where she can see you.”

“Yes, as a preeminent Broodmother.” The taste was foul on my tongue.

Katydid stepped into the room and came up to my side, staring down at the prodigious bloodstain and the ashes with me. She wrapped a foreleg around me, and I returned the gesture soon after.

We stood there in that position for a while before she finally broke the silence. “The old memory spell, do you still remember it?”

I nodded. “The one the rangers used? Yeah.” I glanced at her, finding her expression stoic and unreadable. “Why? What’re you thinking?”

“I am thinking that your cynic was right, and that the Queen will be watching us. Even ignoring the signs of foul play, we are also the royal daughters of a broodmother who attempted to assassinate the Queen.” She took a deep breath. “If she is keeping us here under the pretense of duty, we may need another means of keeping an eye on her.”

“So you want to train up a ranger to spy on her?” I said incredulously.

“Indeed. Think about it. A ranger could move about undetected within our own hive, and with their memory spell, they might be able to uncover much more information should we need them to. We only need one—too many would be suspicious—but they were capable of operating alone, even if they were usually assigned in pairs in the past.”

I stomped my hoof into the flooring, leaving a sizeable dent. My eyes drifted, going from the bloodstain to the various cuts and divots. She had mentioned weapons, perhaps…

“And you want me to train a ranger just for that? You know the Queen was adamant about not wasting any more resources on training them, and to go against her orders is to go against the unity of the hive.”

“You know just as well as I do that there will come a time when we will need to fly under the radar if we are to make any progress,” she replied evenly.

“I… I do. It’s just…” I let out a heavy sigh. “I can think of a few candidates among my children, one in particular who already has a habit of going unnoticed, though it pains me to condemn any one of them to such a responsibility.”

She squeezed me harder. “Of course, but I believe it would pain us more to leave Mother’s death unresolved.”

My heart ached, but it was hard to disagree. “Of course. I’ll see about trying to get a few of my children up here from the main hive. In the meantime, we can look through Mother’s notes. See if she left us anything there.”

“I will get that started, sister,” she said before reluctantly letting me go. Despite the atmosphere, she cracked a small smile at me. “Come. Let us get you something to eat. At least for the first day, I will not inflict you upon our kitchens. We will have much to do tomorrow, Broodmother.”

I couldn’t help but smile back. “And I’m eager to get started, Broodmother.”

We broke into giggles and trotted out. All it took was Katydid calling me by my new title, a title that I had felt nothing but resentment towards mere moments ago, to make me realize that I was not here alone.

Comments

[hehelover]

And yeah... It just got more and more interesting...

[Starlight Nova]

If the main OCs in this story were voiced, what would they sound like?

[Greenhorn]

I just wonder how many hives that involved in this story? Because this chapter doesn't feel like it came from Chrysalis's.

[Kydois]

9266730
Ahh, unfortunate. I did name drop the character we follow in this chapter in previous chapters, but she never really became relevant. She's still a minor character, but Chrysalis is the queen of her hive. I probably should've dropped a harder connection, but I thought that there were enough details to pick out the connection already. I figured being in the same hive doesn't necessarily mean they don't have different personalities.

(Though honestly, I never actually intended to develop these characters as much as I did here. It just kinda happened.)

[fractalman]

*blinks*
HOW DID I WIND UP WITH 5 UNREAD CHAPTERS OF THIS!
*goes to fix that*

[JazzyWaffles]

Ah. So Crystal's crystalling prompted our ranger's rangering. Interesting.

[Kydois]

9270936
Sorta. I mention it back in Chapter 3, but it's not really important. A lot of what Nymph does at this point is on auto-pilot since she's unfamiliar with everything, and the donation box is just another part of the former Overwatch's routine that Nymph just follows automatically.

[Xanni]

9270968
Right, but as a reader I'm jarred by the sudden mention of a floating, unsupported donation box. Donations to who? On what building? It comes out of nowhere and attaches to nothing - a testament to just how unremarkable the first mention was. Looking back at Chapter 3 I see it's a Salvation Guard donation box, but I shouldn't have to flip back to earlier chapters to figure out what's going on. Especially if it's not important, you don't want it to draw the reader's attention like that. Maybe you can add something like "just as before" or "still following her unconcious routine" to remind the reader? Or even just skip it if it's really unimportant - if Overwatch herself is barely aware of making the donation and it will never be relevant to the story, why mention it at all?

[Kydois]

9271209
Fair. I hadn't gone over my earlier chapters in a very long time, as the large time jump between the publish dates of Chapters 8 and 9 may attest to. I've been primarily focused on moving forward and keeping the story going, but this is a small, insignificant change that I can edit out pretty easily.

Thanks! Don't be shy about letting me know about anything else that catches your eye.

[Razzy]

Hmm... What a thick plot.