Act II ~ Chapter 17
Spindle idly poked at her food. She should have been excited. Fliers along the wall had the changelings in the cafeteria chatting up a storm. Finally, after so many winter months, a new stock of food and recipes would be available the next morning.
Instead, she plopped a spoonful of bland oatmeal in her mouth and washed it down with some water. She had tried to go for a run, but she couldn’t get into it. At least Mantodea was nice enough to still give her a triple love token. She’d decided to save it for a rainy day.
“Spindle.”
She looked up at the deadpan face of Patella. “Yeah?”
“What is up with you? You’re usually moody, but this isn’t the fun kind. This,” he held out two hooves in her direction, “is downright miserable.”
Spindle huffed and rolled her eyes. “It’s nothing important. A disagreement last night still has me a bit peeved.”
His eyeridge remained raised. “Uh huh. Well… since my stories aren’t exactly thrilling for you this morning, have you given any thought to helping Palpus out?”
“Who?”
It was his turn to roll his eyes. “Seriously? The tasty crystals? Helping a ‘ling out so she can get us more? That thing?”
“Oh,” Spindle said, “Right. That thing.”
“Yeah. So you wanna help or not?”
“Are there even any more of those crystals?” Spindle held back a grimace at the answer she already knew.
“Why wouldn’t there be?”
“I don’t know." She did know. "What does Palpus want again?”
“She wants to move castes. She’s tired of being a worker and wants to see if she can get into the gatherers.”
Yeah, boo hoo, poor Palpus. Spindle kept the sneer off her face. She’s not the only one who wants out. “Gatherers, huh? She wants to traipse around Equestria picking up crystals from collectors? Really shooting for the stars, there.”
His deadpan stare made a return. “Not everyone wants to be in the second best caste, Spindle.”
“Second best?!” Her neck reared back. “Excuse you, collector is the most important caste there is.”
“Just because they’re important doesn’t make them the best. Collectors would be nothing without the infiltrators. Or the couriers or gatherers, for that matter. But anyway, you wanna help or not?”
Spindle wasn’t exactly feeling generous, especially with the promise of something that likely would never exist again.
At least… not if she had anything to say about it. Which she probably didn’t anymore.
“Not really?” Spindle put on a half wince of sympathy. “The crystals are nice and all, but that seems like a lot of effort. What could you even do to help?”
“Ah ha!” Patella’s eyes lit up. “You see, I have a plan.”
Ohh ho ho, no. Why did I even ask? Spindle glanced up at the cafeteria clock and saw she had over twenty-five minutes until her shift. She instead sat up in mock panic. “Oh shoot! I have to get going.” She didn’t. “It’s my turn to pick up food for the grubs today.” It wasn’t. “Sorry, Patella. I’ll see you tomorrow?” She stood up and grabbed her tray in her magic.
He glanced behind him at the same clock and gave her a look. A knowing look, but she couldn’t be bothered to care. “Tomorrow’s my off day,” he finally said.
“Oh.” Spindle faked a wince. “And the day after next is mine. I guess I’ll see you in a few days, then.”
“Yeah,” he levitated up a fork and stabbed some eggs. “See you then, Spindle.”
Spindle walked off with her tray and set it in the dirty dishes window. She tried to feel bad. She really did, but Patella needed to be more mature. And maybe get better at storytelling. If he weren’t so young, I’d say maybe he should be the one to get out there. Explore the world a little, she thought as she exited the cafeteria.
Down a level she went. She passed by other morning ‘lings heading to their duties and some midnight-shift ‘lings heading to dinner. Then, she came to her destination.
The dreaded door.
Spindle huffed and decided to forgo the usual staring contest. She headed through both doors and froze mid-step as she saw Ootheca already there and the previous shift gone.
The other mare held a book in her magic and was laying stomach first on one of the nursery’s little backless benches. Her raised body allowed little grubs to snuggle up in and crawl through the holes in her legs.
“Mornin’, Spindle.” Ootheca bookmarked and closed her book. “How was your evening?”
“Uh, hi, Ootheca.” Spindle slowly stepped forward with eyes half on the other mare and half on the grubs rushing for her. “I didn’t expect you’d be here this early.”
“My body’s clock has been waking me up earlier than usual lately. No big deal.” Her one free forehoof waved dismissively before a big grin spread across her face. “Sooo…” She leaned in.
“So… what?” Spindle knew she was delaying the inevitable, but maybe her coworker would drop it.
“Sooo tell me about your night! I filled in for you so you could go gallivanting around with your special friend. Plus, I may have dropped a few eaves and heard you specifically say, and I quote, ‘this needs to happen.’ Then you shoved off to her room! I want the deets!”
Spindle kept her emotions under wraps. The last thing she wanted to do was send the sensitive little grubs into headbutting fights because of her carelessness. Instead, she dodged the little ones and nearly leapt over the gate into the kitchen.
“Ooh. That bad, huh?” The annoying thing called out from behind her.
“No, there was nothing bad about it.”
Ootheca magicked out the grubs in her legs and stood up. “Uh huh, and my name’s Chrysalis. What happened?” Spindle opened her mouth, but was cut off, “And before you say, ‘nothing,’ remember. You promised me a story. I wasn’t expecting drama, but I’ll take it.”
A grumble made its way up Spindle’s throat as she pulled down twenty-three little bowls. “Fine. Nothing happened. She’s not that kind of friend.”
“Ouch.” She winced, following Spindle over the gate. “Stonewalled, huh? Well, I’m sure someling else might be interested.” She opened the ice box and pulled out some fish and fresh greens.
“Ugh! No!” Spindle spun on her hooves towards the annoying changeling. “She’s literally not that kind of friend and I wasn’t looking for anything! We had a fight, is all.”
Another grin crept across Ootheca’s mouth. “The drama deepens. No happy fun time, then. If she wasn’t a lover and you two weren’t together, what kind of friend was she?”
Spindle snatched the food from the other mare’s magic and set it all on the counter. She slid the greens to Ootheca and started divvying up the salmon into the bowls. “I don’t really know. I looked up to her a lot. When I was in Hoofington, she was the only collector who went out of her way to help me.”
“She sounds like a nice ‘ling.”
“Yeah, she is. But, like, collector training is stupid inadequate. They teach you so much about Equestria and how to fit in, but there’s a ton they leave out. And, in the end, I don’t know if I blame them for it. There’s so many tiny things, little idioms, ticks, behaviors, magicks, professions, technologies! I seriously don’t think the instructors could ever cover them all.” Spindle finished with the fish and glanced at the other mare. While Ootheca was mincing the leafy vegetables, Spindle turned to check on the grubs.
She leaned over the gate and gave a couple nuzzles to a few of the silly, hissy, headbutty things. “Firefly, though, she helped me a lot. Instead of scolding me, she politely told me when I said something wrong. We met outside of the monthly meetings maybe half a dozen times.” Spindle sighed and faced the counter. “So… I don’t know what we are. Or were.”
“Hm.” Ootheca set the knife down and looked at Spindle. “If she sought you out, it seems pretty obvious that she thought you were a friend as well. Seems like you started as mentor and mentee, but graduated to more equals.”
“Yeah…”
“Though, it sounds like you think the both of you aren’t anymore.”
“I don’t know! It’s frustrating. The first time in almost a year and…” Spindle growled at how little she was allowed to say, “and we both were happy to see each other. Except yesterday, she acted like all the things we’d talked about a few days ago were wrong! Like she’d changed overnight. Her opinions, her actions, her goals were all suddenly different from just a couple days before.”
“And these things you both talked about? Mind sharing?”
She huffed and turned away. “It’s… it’s private.”
“Of… course they are. And these things, I assume they’re of the important variety.”
“Yes, they’re important. It’s like her values changed from one day to the next and those things suddenly didn’t matter to her anymore!”
Ootheca half deadpanned. “Things.”
“Ugh! Why are you like this?!
“Boredom does things to a ‘ling.” She huffed. Her magic levitated a little bag from the counter and pulled out a couple crystals. She magicked one over to Spindle. “Alright. Then… have you considered that maybe there’s more to this Firefly changing thing? Did you try asking her?”
She growled as she grabbed the offered crystal. “What do you think?”
“Spindle.” Ootheca set her own drained crystal down. “I’m merely trying to talk it through with you. Don’t bite my head off for attempting to help.”
She closed her eyes, letting out a deep sigh. She got rid of her scowl the best she could and looked back to her coworker. “I’m sorry. Yes, I did ask her. She said the same thing I told you. That she couldn’t talk about it.” Spindle drank in the love and put hers on the counter as well.
Ootheca hummed for a moment, then gave a little eyeridge raise. “If she did change, then have you considered it might not have been her choice?”
“No. I’m certain that it is.” She shook her head and couldn’t keep the frown from seeping back on her face. Firefly made it clear. She had no love for Roast. “She made it clear it was her decision to accept it. She didn’t have to, but she decided she would! And, after she made that abundantly clear, she said she was going to—”
“Hey!” Ootheca gave her a look, “Tone it down.”
Spindle blinked. She realized that not only had her emotional guard slipped, a snarl was mere words away from letting loose. She forced the anger down and focused on keeping it all on the inside. “Sorry. I just… I don’t know who we are anymore. I feel like I don’t even know who she is. After all that, she said she was going to make sure I never become a collector again.”
The other mare rubbed a hoof along the bridge of her snout. She sighed. “I know you won’t tell me what this is about, but could you at least try to appreciate things from my perspective?”
Spindle narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Meaning?”
Ootheca tilted her head back and groaned. “I swear you need to read more novels. Fine, I’ll spell it out. You don’t know who you are to her. You don’t know who she is to you. The ‘things’ you talked about are ‘private’ and she doesn’t value them anymore. She tells you that the things are wrong, but won’t say why. She’s supposedly accepted this and you refuse to.” She lifted an eyeridge and Spindle kept her narrowed eyes on her. Ootheca fully deadpanned back. “Seriously? What it sounds like, is you and her might be an awful lot in lo—”
“Oh my stars, we’re not! I already told you!” She hated the flush that covered her cheeks and how unfair it was that blushes still showed through chitin. She grabbed a pestle and spat love into one of the bowls. “And you’re the one who reads too many novels!”
“Come on, Spindle! You were a collector, I know for a fact that you’ve read Romareo and Julienne!”
“Of course I have, it’s required reading. But that doesn’t… mean…” She paused mid-grind and blinked. No way. No bucking way. That’s fiction! These things don’t happen in real life. It was Firefly's decision. The queen doesn’t hate ponies so much that she'd threaten…
Spindle triple blinked.
Buck. And she kept saying she couldn’t tell me. That it wasn’t an abuse story. She really was trying to get my attention, wasn’t she?
She really wished she had a brick wall handy to smack her head against.
“And what is this? Suddenly realize something, dearest Spindle?”
“No!” She began mashing again and cursed the two species-crossed lovers. And the queen, apparently! How was it even a thing?! And why was Spindle the one caught up in it?! “Again again, no! It’s not like that!”
Ootheca grabbed a bowl and began mashing love into the grubs’s breakfast alongside her. “Oh my gosh. Then explain exactly what way I should take a blush, a sudden pause, and a subsequent thousand meter stare. Explain, Spindle!”
“No.” Spindle grabbed the next bowl.
“Excuse you? Might I remind you that you agreed to give me a story?”
“I did give you a story!”
“Yes, an incomplete one!” Ootheca glared and Spindle felt it as much as she saw it. “You can’t cut me off in the middle of the second act. Not when you have more!”
Spindle reached for the next bowl, but paused as she found them all to be finished. Ootheca smacked the last bowl down onto the counter.
“Girl to girl, Spindle. I’ve been around for long enough to know better than to blab. And, in case you weren’t aware,” her eyes flicked to the twenty-seven little grublings intently watching them through the gate, “tending to snarling little menaces for several years gets boring as buck!”
Spindle stared at her. Ootheca was as right as they came. Tending to grubs was mind-numbing at times. But she really really shouldn’t tell her. Very much shouldn’t. Yet, she opened her mouth and took a breath.
Then her eyes widened and she clacked her mouth shut again. What am I thinking?! If Firefly really is being threatened, I can’t betray her trust like that! Not for a half-day’s fill-in, not for a million bits! I need to find her and apologize. Hopefully she’ll trust me enough to tell me what really happened.
Lunch time, she decided. She’d find Firefly during lunch.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a long and loud groan. “Fiiine. I can see you’re not gonna. But!” She jabbed a hoof in Spindle’s chest. “When whatever this is comes to whatever conclusion it has, you better tell me. You owe me.”
Spindle let out an annoyed sigh and pushed Ootheca’s leg away. “Yeah, okay, sure. You’ll be the first to know about whatever fictitious resolution you have in your head about Firefly and I.”
“Good.” She levitated a few bowls in her magic. “Let’s get the little ones fed before they realize the disappointment they just witnessed was the first drama of their lives.”
Her chin lay on the table in her quarters, stomach growling for dinner, and eyes half-lidded in defeat. Spindle had checked Firefly’s door at lunch, but no answer came. Then she’d asked Calypter and found out she’d already left for her assignment.
A sigh escaped her lips. A mere hour. She’d missed her chance by a single, stupid hour. Spindle picked her head off the table… and draped it across the back of her chair. The universe hated her. It was the only explanation. Every single point in her life, her timing was off.
She’d fled Hoofington too early and left behind the only resource she had. She’d waited too long in Cincinneighti and almost got herself and a filly killed. Then, here she was, too late to try and help her friend. If Fireflys’ skills were any indicator, she’d be with whatever source she found next for a long, long while. The only upside seemed to be that Calypter hadn’t treated Spindle any different. Maybe Firefly hadn’t told anyling what Spindle said?
A knock came at the door and she nearly fell off the chair. She righted herself and her ears perked high as she trotted to the entrance. After calming her poor heart, she pulled it open and saw a changeling. Except they were a tiny bit too short to be Firefly, and their head fins weren’t long enough. They weren’t giving off any pheromones, either.
“Hi? What do you need?” Spindle asked, hoping the worry didn’t come through in her voice.
“Hello, Spindle.” The changeling nodded, a cool look on their face. “May I come in? I have something I’d like to talk to you about.”
The heart she’d just begun calming pounded away in her chest. Maybe Firefly had told someling.
“Uh, I-I mean, who are you? What thing?”
“I would rather say that in private.”
Spindle tried to read anything that might clue her in, but there was nothing. Not a single drop of emotions. But at the same time… if they were looking to see if Spindle was hiding something, she’d done a great job of outing herself. Might as well. “Sure. Come on in, I suppose.” She stepped back and allowed them to enter.
“Do you mind if we take a seat?” they asked.
She shook her head and closed the door. Spindle sat herself on the far side, facing the entrance. As they sat, she eyed them for any sign of who they might be or what they wanted.
“Hello again, Spindle.” The changeling broke the silence and brought along a small smile. “I would have come here in my armor, but I didn’t want anyling to get any… ideas. You’ll know me as General Elytra.”
Spindle’s eyes bugged out and she nearly scooted back in her chair. The scent of pheromones came, the same that was in the advisor’s office. “G-general? What? Why are you— I didn’t do… I mean…” Spindle decided to shut her mouth.
The general’s eyeridge raised before a chuckle rose out of her throat. “I’m going to assume that was a reaction of fear and not an admission of guilt. Regardless, I wanted to check in with you. And no, before you start assuming more things, I’m not here to detain you. The only deception I’ve made is not revealing who I was right away.”
“Uhm, okay?” Spindle cursed her reaction. Except there wasn’t really a way to know if she was being honest. “Not to be rude, but why are you here?”
“Before I get to that, I’d like to ask something of you. I’m out of my armor for a reason. It’s not exactly… proper for me to be visiting you as I am. Would you agree to keep this between us?” She gave Spindle a sly smile. “And that thing you obviously didn’t mean anything by? I’ll make sure to keep it between us as well.”
Spindle furrowed her brow and gave the general an odd look. “I… suppose so? I’m not really sure what I should be keeping to myself.”
“I’ll get right to it, then. Did Firefly happen to pay you a visit before she left?”
A chill swept down her back and she tried very hard not to let air rush into her lungs. Her head nodded. “Yes. She did.”
“Ah, that is wonderful.” General Elytra clapped her hooves together. “I was hoping she’d follow my advice.”
The general apparently was in the market for odd looks. “What advice, ma’am?”
She chuckled. “I’m not on duty, Spindle. I’d like to be just ‘Elytra,’ if you don’t mind.” The mare shifted in her seat. “The advice I gave Firefly was exactly that; I wished for her to come visit you before she left. And, if this conversation so far is any indication, your next question will be ‘why?’”
Spindle barely got out a nod.
“I trust you’ve kept what happened to her to yourself, and that is the exact reason why I wanted her to seek you out. You’re the only one of her peers who knows.
“I’ll… be upfront with you. Firefly was not in a good place when I took her to the queen. She was terrified of seeing her. You wouldn’t know it with how she acts now as she’s…” Something nearly came across Elytra’s face as the mare hesitated, but it was gone before Spindle could discern what it really was. “You could say she’s hiding it well. What she needs now, more than anything, is a friend. And what luck that she’s one of the few in the hive to have a true one.”
The deep inhale and widened eyes came unbidden to Spindle. After a moment, she slumped in her seat.
“Well,” Elytra pursed her lips, “that’s not good.”
Spindle looked up at her. “What’s not?”
An eyeridge raised and a hoof gestured to all of Spindle. “Whatever ‘this’ is. I’m assuming your talk didn’t go well.”
She let out a long sigh. Spindle sat back up and shook her head. “No, it didn’t. I tried to find her today, but she’d left before I got the chance to talk again.” She hesitated. “Elytra, this is between us, right? Just us?”
“Unless you offer threats to the hive or queen, yes. This conversation will not leave this room. In fact,” Elytra’s horn lit and the door, then the walls, floor, and ceiling glowed in her green magic for several seconds. “There!” She offered a smirk, “A soundproofing spell. It pays to be the general, sometimes.”
Spindle blinked. “What? I didn’t know changelings could learn spells like that.”
“We simply have to work a lot harder to learn them than ponies do,” Elytra said. “You wanted things to be between us and now it definitively is. I assume you have a question? Or something to say?”
“A question.” She looked Elytra in the eyes. “A simple one at that. What happened to Firefly?”
Elytra nodded. “Before I answer, I’d like to know what you know now. How much did Firefly tell you?”
A frown came across her lips and she tried to keep the rest of the glare off her face. “Almost nothing other than saying she couldn’t tell me. You weren’t there that morning you sent me to see her, so I can only guess you know what was said by proxy.” Another nod from the other mare. “Firefly bawled her eyes out in that room. You say she’s hiding it and I call horseapples. You can’t hide something like that.”
“Spindle, please understand. I’m not supposed to be here. I’d have to deal with an upset Chrysalis if she knew I’d come to talk about this. There’s only so much I can say. In fact, you already know most of what I can tell you. That something happened to her at all is more than you should know.
“What Firefly needs right now is a friend. Someone who will stick by her side, no matter what. I wish this conversation could have happened before she left for Ponyville. It’s my fault for thinking you two would be able to make it past this without help.” She let out a groaning sigh as she dragged a hoof down her face. “Listen, all this week, my guards and I have extended PT early in the morning. After tomorrow’s session, I’ll see what we can do.” She stood, a frown still plastered to her face. “Maybe we can… send her something. Or perhaps someone.”
Spindle stood with her. “You’re leaving?”
“That’s all I can tell you. I really need to think on this. I’m sorry.” She turned and lit her horn.
“Wait!” Spindle held up a hoof and the general’s horn died. “One more thing.”
Elytra glanced over her shoulder. “If I can, I will.”
“Why? Why do you care about Firefly? What’s so special about her that you’d put yourself against the queen?”
She turned fully towards Spindle again. “When I say this, know I am telling no lie. I love Queen Chrysalis. The amount she has done for us in her lifetime is more than I can convey. She is doing what she believes is right. I do not ‘go against her’ to undermine her. I consider her children my own and we both have our own ways of caring for them. We both have the same goals.
“There is nothing inherently special about Firefly and I believe the circumstances surrounding her are nothing more than coincidence. She is, more than anything, a hurting mare.”
Elytra’s horn lit and the room flashed green. She pulled open the door and looked back. “It was good talking to you. Perhaps we’ll see each other again soon.”
She passed through and left.
Minutes later, Spindle found herself back at the table, staring at the closed door. Questions spun back and forth in her mind.
Was any of this normal? Did generations of old have generals talking to no-name caretakers as well? Did the queen actually care about her changelings or was there another motive?
What was really going on?
She kept being taken back to Elytra’s words. Firefly was hurting. She needed someone she could rely on and Elytra had expected Spindle to be that changeling. Except Spindle had chewed Firefly up and spit her out.
Spindle may have screwed up, but the general obviously thought there was something else they could do. She said ‘we’ every time. That had to mean Spindle, right? Her ears perked up. Elytra said there was something they could send her.
Her eyes closed as she thought. Other than herself, Elytra, the queen, and maybe another advisor or two, noling else knew about Firefly’s problem. What could she send? Or who, she realized with a raised eyeridge.
She herself was out. Spindle had obviously proven she couldn’t be trusted to stick by her friends. Did Firefly know someling else? They’d never talked about any other friends she may have had before becoming a collector.
Was that what Elytra needed to go find? Someone else that Firefly was close to? Someone who wouldn’t buck everything up. Someone she could trust and would stay with her, through thick and—
Spindle gasped and bolted upright, wide-eyed. A reliable friend? To stick by her side, no matter what? Spindle may have missed her chance, but Elytra thought there was something else to be done. Maybe Elytra had already done all the thinking she needed to.
A little smile crept across her face as an idea began forming in her head. Elytra had different ways of helping changelings than the queen. She wouldn’t have come to Spindle if she thought the queen’s decision was right. She wouldn’t have sent Firefly to her for no reason. Nor would she have said Ponyville if she hadn’t intended for Spindle to know it. The queen had obviously done something to Firefly and Elytra was too close to Chrysalis to do anything about it.
What Chrysalis did, Spindle had no idea, but it obviously made Firefly not be allowed to love Fine Roast. Elytra thought the opposite needed to happen, which meant…
The smile grew to a full grin.
Except… the joy melted off her face as quick as it came. That would be treason. Not whatever Firefly had been falsely accused of. Real treason. There were few greater things that would draw the queen’s ire.
But, there’s nothing else Elytra could mean! Who else could stand by Firefly’s side, through thick and thin, no matter what? If the queen’s right hoof mare says it needs to happen, then she must understand the consequences! And if she understands, then she’ll protect us.
She’ll protect me.
She had to.
Spindle stood and grabbed the triple love crystal token she’d saved from that morning. If Elytra meant what she said, then she must have also been alluding to something when she mentioned PT. Early and extended? That could only mean one thing.
Spindle didn’t even have until morning.
With a belly full of love, Spindle trotted off to her first destination. It would be the hardest, so it had to come first. If she got caught, it wouldn’t be nearly as bad as if she’d been found with saddlebags full of food. She’d be punished, but it wouldn’t be treason. Yet.
Casually trotting along the hive’s upper level, she eyed the open archway to Storage and Acquisitions. She’d been there before during her search and rescue days and was relieved to see the front area had changed little. There was only one changeling at the counter, presumably due to it being nearly midnight. It seemed to be quiet enough for them to be reading a book.
Good. She needed quiet.
But what she really needed was to get into the back, where all the goods were stored. She had no idea what it looked like nor who or what exactly was back there.
So, Spindle turned and went into a nearby restroom. Seeing all the doors open, she smiled and entered the furthest stall. A shiver ran down her body as she realized, yet again, the mess she was about to get herself into. But, she was determined to make it up to Firefly. Elytra knew that. She had to, if she chose Spindle.
Spindle took a deep breath and steeled herself. A small flash of green along her head and neck was all she needed. Different fins and a different voice.
She exited the stall and checked herself in the restroom’s single mirror. With a nod of satisfaction, she shut her pheromone glands and left the restroom. She upped the cadance of her breaths and headed into the storage area. Her heart beat away like a drum as the changeling looked up from their book. At her.
“Hi. What do you need?” The masculine-sounding changeling asked.
“Hey,” she said, making sure to sound half-breathless, “just came from the kitchen. One of my knives broke and I need another. Right now.”
He gave her an odd look. “Sorry. You need to get with your advisor for an acqui—”
“Yeah, I know I need an acquisitions form! I don’t have time to get one! All the advisor's offices are closed until tomorrow morning. But the cafeteria is open now,” she stomped a hoof, “and I need a new knife now.” She stomped another.
“Al… right?” He grimaced, wavering back and forth. “I’m not supposed to do this, but if you fill out a form, I’ll have it sent to your advisor tomorrow for signature. You know the item number?”
Spindle deadpanned at him. “Do I look like I know item numbers?”
“No, I suppose you wouldn’t.” He sighed and began to turn. “Alright, let me go grab it so we can fill it out.”
“Uhh, what? You don’t even know the kind I need!”
He tilted his head at her. “You need a kitchen knife, right?”
“Oh my stars.” She facehooved. “I need a santoku knife. Do you know what a santoku knife looks like?” Spindle didn’t, but she’d heard of it back in Hoofington. Some ponies said it was an absolutely essential kitchen starter knife, so the hive had to have some.
“Oh!” He turned back to the counter and magicked up a big binder. “If we have it, they should be listed in here.”
Buck! If changelings could sweat, she was sure she’d have rivulets dripping down her neck. Of course they’d have a catalog!
“Hm, kitchen knife… kitchen knife…” He ran a hoof down the page and flipped it several times. “Here we go. Paring, peeling… santoku!” His hoof stayed on the listing for a moment and Spindle watched his face droop to a frown before he looked up. “Uhh… looks like we don’t have any in stock. Sorry?”
Spindle huffed and rolled her eyes. “No. You do have some in stock. Because I need a santoku knife. How else am I supposed to slice fish?!”
His eyes darted down to the page and he gave her a shaky grin. “With a slicer?”
She glared at him and tried to keep the grin off her face. This was going perfect! “Look, I’m sure you have some back there. It’s a common knife. Let me see your stock and you can get the item number that way.”
A wince formed on his face. “I’m… not supposed to let anyling but us storage workers back there.”
“And I’m not supposed to let changelings go hungry, but here we are!”
He bobbed his head back and forth and half grumbled. “Alright, fine. Come with me and you’ll see we have no santuki knifes.”
“Santoku.”
“Whatever.”
She followed him back and took the opportunity to check herself. Her heart still thundered away in her chest, her faked breathing had calmed, and her emotional guard still stayed up.
Good. Great! Everything’s perfect. You’re supposed to be here. Calm and smooth, Spindle. Calm and smooth.
The two of them went through an archway in the back and down a long hallway. They soon turned left, and Spindle’s jaw nearly dropped at the sight of a wide and very long room. She had no idea at all that the hive had that much stuff tucked away. Desks, chairs, picture frames, wagon wheels, clothing, and rows and rows of bins.
As they made their way along the rows of shelves, she kept an eye out for where they kept the bits. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a couple changelings with clipboards standing in front of bins on the ground. She and her guide turned and headed down a row. They passed another changeling apparently taking inventory. Spindle’s eyes flicked from side to side, taking in all the little kitchen and dining things. She hardly expected to find bits down the only aisle he’d show her, but she could at least get an idea of how things might be organized.
Soon, he stopped and pulled out a short and thin bin near the floor. It was empty.
“Here.” He gestured to the bin. “See? No knives.”
Spindle huffed. “Fine, I believe you. I don’t understand how, but whatever. What other knives do you have?”
He let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know. I left the binder back there.”
“Well, then could we pull out—”
“Hey,” A light and feminine voice said from behind and Spindle barely stopped herself from whipping around. “Need help with something?” The changeling they’d passed walked up with a limp in one of her hind legs.
“No,” the changeling from the front said. “I was showing them that we, in fact, do not have any santiki knives.”
Spindle squinted at him. “You’re doing that on purpose.”
“Oh?” The changeling mare looked at Spindle. “And who are you?”
She gave what she hoped was a disarming smile. “I’m Palpus, from the kitchen. And I really need to get back there. You don’t have any santoku knives, but,” Spindle gestured to the many bins, "you have to have paring knives.”
“Again,” he said, “without the book, I don’t know where they are.”
“Paring knives?” the other storage changeling said. “Right here.” She lit her horn and pulled out a bin.
Spindle frowned. Even she knew those were chef’s knives. She glanced back up. “Those aren’t paring knives. They’re—”
Her blood ran cold at the feeling of steel against her neck.
“Huh. Would you look at that… they aren’t!” A scowl quickly covered the mare’s face. “So, Palpus, how’s the commissary been treating you? Wasn’t aware they moved you to the kitchen.”
“I, uh…” Spindle swallowed and winced at the knife scraping against her throat’s chitin. She should have known better. A dumb, little mare like her against the whole hive? Hilarious, now that she really thought about it. Maybe if she came clean, they’d go easy on her. “I… I’m not Palpus.”
The mare rolled her eyes. “No duh. So, Not-Palpus. Let’s start with who you actually are, what caste you’re with, and why you’re here. And pheromones glands open, please.”
Spindle slowly nodded and released her pheromones. “I’m Spindle. And I, uhm…” Her days as a collector screamed at her. Half truths! She couldn’t let them know why she was here. She had no idea what they did with traitors, but with the knife at her throat, she could guess. “I’m with the caretakers. I’m here ‘cause my friend and I—” She winced as the blade scraped sideways up her neck.
“Your friend? Who’s your friend?”
“P-Patella. His name’s Patalla. And we were trying to help Palpus.”
A bark of laughter came from the mare. “Help her? You’re either stupid, or you’re stupid. How exactly were you planning on helping a ‘ling by trying to steal from us under her name?”
“She wants to be in a different caste! Patella thought if we could get her some supplies, she could prove herself. That she could be useful elsewhere. If we could do that, she’d make sure we’d get those dense crystals each morning.” In the back of her mind, Spindle wondered if Patella’s idea was anywhere near as stupid.
The other ‘ling held both her gaze and the knife against Spindle. After what felt like minutes, she snorted, shook her head, and pulled the makeshift weapon back. “Spindle? How old are you and Patella?”
“He’s s-sixteen, and I’m seventeen.”
The knife levitated back into its bin and she pushed it back onto the shelf.
Spindle shivered and let out a breath. She’d almost lost her life once before, but having it threatened felt so much different. So much more… terrifying.
“Here’s what you’re going to do, Spindle,” the mare said with disappointment written all over her face. “You’re going to go back to Patella and tell him you’re both young and stupid. Then you’re going to forget about this idiotic plan of yours. And that if you don’t and Sclerite,” she tapped a hoof on her own chest, “happens to catch either of you at this again, Advisor Cercus will find you both in his office the next morning. Got it?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Spindle nodded.
“Good.” She glanced at the other changeling, “Prosoma? Stay here. We need to have a talk about this. You?” Sclerite looked back to Spindle and jerked her head back. “Come on, to the front. You’re leaving.”
“Okay.” Spindle let out the breath she was holding and retraced her steps. The odd cadence of a limping mare echoed from behind her. Shame ran down her head and neck and pooled in her gut like hot oil. She should have known better than to try such a stupid plan. Palpus was a commissary ‘ling and both the commissary and storage were tended to by the workers. Of course someling would know who Palpus was.
Her eyes traced along the rows of bins and she nearly froze. Only her fear of being truly branded a traitor kept her moving. There, along the second shelf sat several bins labeled bits. There were single bit bins, five bit bins, ten bit, twenty, fifty, one hundred!
The row passed and she cursed herself yet again. So close and yet they might as well be on the other side of Equestria. All she’d need was a few of the large denominations and she’d have been set for weeks.
Her growl almost made it out her throat as she reached the hall. A couple dozen steps later, they were at the front. Her frustration came out as a huff and flicks of her tail and she began the walk of shame back to her room.
“Hey, Spindle.”
She looked back and almost gave pause at Sclerite’s lightened face.
“You’re young. You’ve got a lot ahead of yourself. Don’t throw it away like this.”
Spindle huffed and tried to keep the scowl off her face. Of course, because throwing it away was all she seemed to be good at. Hoofington, Cincinneighti, her friend, and now the entire hive. She grit her teeth and felt tears of anger and humiliation sting at the corners of her eyes. She didn’t trust herself to speak and merely nodded.
“Back there, that took a lot of gumption. Really, it did. You just got unlucky.” Sclerite chuckled and tilted her head back to the storage room. “Prosoma might’ve given you the world if I hadn’t been stuck with this job. See this?” Her bum hind leg flicked out. “Got it from Canterlot. I was an infiltrator there. Five years in the royal guard. That blast of love was anything but lovely for us changelings. So don’t feel too bad, alright? I was quite literally trained to spot things like this.”
She supposed she should be happy she wasn’t being turned in to Elytra. At least Spindle had another day before the general found out, yet again, what a failure she was.
What a consolation prize.
“There are castes far more important than the workers or the caretakers.” Sclerite sighed. “Though, just because I can’t go back doesn’t mean we should ignore the talent right under our snout. Here.” Her horn lit and something shiny pulled itself out of a leghole. She flicked it over and Spindle barely managed to catch it between a hoof and her chest.
Spindle glanced down and sucked in a deep breath at the gold-and-platinum fifty bit coin in her hoof. She looked back up in confusion.
“That’s what you were really after, right?” Sclerite smirked and winked. “You’re subtle. Not as much as you think, but you could be. You know who Odonata is?”
Spindle shook her head.
“He was my old advisor. Tomorrow, you take that and tell him Sclerite sent you. You’ve got potential, Spindle. I’d hate to see it wasted here.” The mare turned and limped back to the storage room.
Spindle stared, long after she’d disappeared. She… did it? How? The 50 on the coin still shined as if mocking her. She’d failed, and yet someling took pity on her. Could she really call it a success if it felt like such a cheat?
Her magic flipped it over and the head of Celestia gazed back, like the benevolent ruler ponies thought her to be. She held the coin to her chest again. Maybe the universe felt sorry for its punching bag. It wasn’t a lot, but it would be enough to get a train to Ponyville and somewhere to stay.
The tiny smile dropped. Tomorrow morning. There was no way Sclerite wasn’t going to tell Odonata what happened. Not if she gave Spindle fifty whole bits. There was more she wanted from the storage room, but the bits would have to do.
Spindle tucked the coin under her elytra and set off back to her room. Somehow, step one was complete.
The clock had officially started.
Spindle eyed her nursery saddlebags, the things stuffed with food and her single coin. On the way back, she’d stopped by the commissary and asked for the next batch of food for the grubs. The little monsters were fickle enough that sometimes half of it would go to waste. So it took no convincing to get some early. She winced and hoped Roast would be okay with leafy greens, fish, nuts, and beans.
And then she ran out of thoughts to stall with.
It was time. Time to leave the hive and hope Elytra had a way to earn forgiveness. Her teeth clattered and she took in deep, shaky breaths. Steps one and two were complete. She donned the saddlebags and shook off her late-night fatigue. Once things got going, there would be no time to be tired.
Step three was putting everything in the maintenance tunnels for later.
Step four? Get Roast out.
Spindle nodded. She was ready.
She hoped.
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I was not expecting this from Spindle! You go girl! I'm always rooting for her. This is gonna make the goings-on in Ponyville very interesting.
Ayo, new chapter?!
Anyways, sorry in advance, due to my love of this story, its characters, settings, and plot lines, I may get a touch excessive in my wording/commenting.
A friend that has left her feeling confused and concerned about what happened to a 'ling that she both respects deeply and looks up to immensely.
Certified lightbulb moment. Also, the fact that it took me this long to realize that this story uses some of the story concepts from Romeo and Juliet amazes me.
Hmm...
Granted, it has been a moment since I read that scene, but I seem to recall that was because Firefly (Rightfully) feared for what the Queen would do to her.
Seeing as how Firefly's actions just felt (And seemed) wrong from her perspective, one sure doesn't have to wonder why.
Probably shouldn't have given her that inch then, 'cause now Spindle's gonna take a mile with it.
I wonder why...
I will say that that ending does leave me rather excited for the next installment, take your time with it though Azure, I'd rather wait for something great then get something poor fast. Also, as TyrannisUmbra* put it, go Spindle! I do have to agree with her in saying that I am loving the bravado Spindle is showing for the well-being of her best friends.
*
Well, I'm looking forward to when Roast is no longer captive and Firefly is no longer under direct influence from Chrysalis. I know this has to happen, but those aspects make this arc hard to tolerate.
I just have one typo to point out: "If Fireflys’ skills were any indicator"
Sorry that I don't have anything else intelligent to say, but I'm really enjoying where the story is going! Getting Fine Roast out of the hive will be hard, but I don't know how the cover art can happen at this point if Firefly has already left.
This may have been asked before, but is there a chance of Thorax showing up in this story, if he hasn't already (I can't remember if he did or if he was mentioned)? It just feels like if he didn't and he was, this would be about the right place to put him, coming across Spindle and Roast as he plots his own escape from the hive and they team up together.