Spinnekop woke early that morning; she had a mission she wanted to get accomplished. She walked through the mostly deserted Hive until she came to the customs building, a large sphere placed in a far corner of the Hive, and she put in her request for more papers for her mission.

It had taken a lot of goading, arguing, and deals, but when she left the Customs center, she was levitating a stack of papers in front of her, a grin on her face as she trotted happily back towards the barracks. She had been unable to get any extra ink, seeing as she had no money to purchase it from them, but she was given ink if she ran out, and only when she ran out.

She had been happily walking with a spring in her step, right up until she walked into a slightly larger Changeling.

“Watch where you’re going, Breeder.” The Changeling snapped looking down at Spinnekop as she rubbed her head.

She was going to snap at the Changeling Nymph, a breeder was one of the worst jobs for a Changeling, reserved for only the most useless Changelings, but her mood changed when she saw just who she bumped into.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” She said looking up at the Alpha Soldier. “I didn’t mean to run into you.”

The Soldier looked down at her then noticed the floating papers. “What have we here?” He asked in a voice that dripped with sarcasm. “Has somepony been stealing papers?”

Spinnekop’s eyes widened. “No. No! I’m just…” She felt her own magical grip on the papers pulled away by the larger Changeling’s.

“You know that stealing is a highly punishable offense.” The Soldier replied. “Only Nymphs from my Cluster are allowed to have this many.”

Spinnekop’s eyes shot with fear. “No. Give ‘em back!” She tried to reach out for the papers, but they were pulled from her reach while the Soldier pushed against her chest. “I need them!”

“You do, huh?” The Soldier smirked; his magic began to surround the first sheet of the white paper, sparking slightly as a small green flame formed on the bottom corner. He placed the paper back in with the others, letting the flame spread to a few sheets before he threw the pile into the air, scattering the burning sheets. “Then fetch.”

Spinnekop ran around the walk way, picking up the sheets of paper as they fell, all the while the Alpha was laughing at her. She quickly tried to douse the flames in her own magic, preventing more of the fire from burning the rest of the papers.

“Good job, Breeder,” The Soldier laughed. “You can follow basic orders, wasn’t sure you lot could do that.”

Spinnekop flew up and grabbed the last few papers from the air, quickly putting them out and placing them with the rest, she sighed as she looked over the progressively worsening paper, the few she managed to get to first looked fine, but many had burn marks reaching as far as the corner, to the top half of the page. Each one was no longer a clean white, but ranged from burnt black, covered in dirt, and lightly burned.

“Good show, Breeder.” Another Alpha Changeling said walking up to her. “Maybe you could work on making sure we can’t do it again.” He flicked Spinnekop in the forehead. “Now run on back to the Whore house, I hear you're needed there.”

Spinnekop rubbed her forehead, and then began to sprint away from the Alpha Changelings, tears in her eyes. She could hear the two Alphas laughing at her as she ran out of earshot. She kept running all the way till she got back to the barracks. When she entered the chamber, she quickly slammed the papers down next to her Unicorn figure and leaped onto the bed. “Stupid Alphas!” She cried.

Cara had woken up some time ago and noticed Spinnekop’s state. “Spin, are you alright?” She asked.

“No! I’m not alright, Cara.” She sobbed. “Those stupid Alphas! They burned the paper!” She cried. “They didn’t even think about it. They just wanted to see me hurt!” She continued to sob until Cara walked over and sat next to her.

“It’s alright, Spin.” Cara said, trying to comfort Spinnekop. “They’re just jerks.”

“But they were right!” She cried. “I’m not worth anything. Not even my parents wanted me!” She grabbed the necklace from the dresser and looked at it. “All they left me was this stupid pendant. It doesn’t even work!” She threw it across the chamber, causing it to hit the membrane door and slide down, undamaged. “Maybe I should just be a Breeder…”

Cara’s mouth opened in shock. “Spinnekop! Don’t say that. You’re smarter than that.”

“That’s just it, Cara!” Spinnekop sobbed. “I’m not! I’m not any stronger than anypony else, I’m not faster, I’m just… An Artist!” She cried. “I’m useless. The only thing I can do right is make things, what purpose does that serve!”

Cara had winced back a bit. “Spin… Come on…” She hugged her friend. “They’re just jerks. They think that of everyone. You are more than just good at details, you are intelligent, you’re kind, and you went out of your way to make sure I felt comfortable here before you did.” Cara smiled. “Besides, you’re friends with an Alicorn! Now how many of those Alphas can say that?”

Spinnekop sniffled, rubbing at her snout. “None…”

“That’s right.” Cara replied. “You were chosen by Chrysalis for this mission, and if they try to pull something like that again, you make sure they know it.” She said. “Come on, Spinnekop, you’ll show those idiots that you aren’t just a pair of ovaries. You’re the best Infiltrator I know.”

Spinnekop rubbed her eyes with a hoof and sniffled again. “Re-Really?”

Cara nodded. “Remember, out of all the Pupae, Chrysalis chose you not one of those pompous jerks, you.” She poked Spinnekop in the chest to illustrate her point. “Now cheer up for me… Please.”

Spinnekop sniffled again. “Thanks, Cara…” She said. “I’ll make it up to you.”

Cara snickered. “You could always make me into one of those.” She pointed at the figurine. “I could always help you with it…”

Spinnekop smiled and hugged her friend. “Thank you, Cara… That means a lot to me.”

Cara lightly patted Spinnekop’s back. “I’ll try to see if I can get you more paper, I’m being brought to a pony village for the first time.”

“That would be great!” Spinnekop replied. “Oh… And um…”

Cara looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Could you… Maybe pick up some paints…”

Cara rubbed her chin. “They are only giving us twenty bits… But I’ll see what I can do.” She pushed Spinnekop away lightly. “Now you have somewhere to be.”

Spinnekop looked over at the small clock. “Oh No!” She said. “I need to be at the Castle!” She shouted, quickly jumping from the bed and rushing towards the door. “I’m going to be late!” She quickly sprinted down the halls, leaving Cara to smile as she ran.

“That Nymph…” She shook her head, then noticed the small green gleam on the floor. She picked it up and looked at it. “Huh… I guess she forgot about it.”

Spinnekop burst through the Castle doors panting heavily, she walked up to the throne room door and leaned against the wall. “I’m on time…” She panted. “yay…”

She collected herself before she walked up to the large black doors, they opened as she stepped near them, surrounded in a green aura. As she stepped inside, she noticed that the rest of the young Changelings were composed of Alphas, all of them standing at attention in front of the Queen’s throne. Mimic was standing next to the throne, whispering to a second armored Changeling.

As soon as Mimic saw the door open, he flew off his perch and landed next to Spinnekop. “How are you doing?” He asked soberly. “I heard about what happened…”

“I’m fine, General Mimic…” Spinnekop replied. “I thought that I was being assigned a commander?”

Mimic smiled. “You are, under the Queen’s orders, you are to be placed under the Command of an Alpha Captain.” Mimic replied. “So… Here we are.”

Spinnekop’s eyes widened. “An Alpha Captain!” She replied. “I… Um… They… I’m not an Alpha…”

Mimic smiled. “True. But the Queen thinks you are ready to improve your skills alongside some of the elite. Don’t worry, you will still be able to stay in the barracks, you will simply have to join the Alphas for daily training. You will still have a chance to complete your mission, today for instance, you will simply be assigned a captain, then you will be able to write to your target.”

Spinnekop nodded. “But… I’m not a…”

Mimic placed his hoof around Spinnekop’s shoulder. “Spinnekop, the Queen trusts you, this is for the betterment of the Hive. At the very least try… She just needs you to get better at basic combat, then she will move you.”

Spinnekop looked at the line of taller Changelings, all of them looking like they could easily beat her in a fight. She sighed. “Yes, sir…”

Mimic smiled reassuringly before flying back up to his spot, as Spinnekop walked into the line, getting dirty looks from the two she stood between.

Luckily not too long passed before Chrysalis walked in, followed by around five different Armored Changelings, the Changelings lined up in front of the throne while Chrysalis walked up the steps and sat in her throne.

“Alphas!” Chrysalis announced “You are here because you have all proven yourselves loyal to the Hive’s cause. I have gathered only the best for what I have planned.” She glanced at Spinnekop. “You will train with your instructor for twenty years, I will not lie, some of you may not be fit for the task. Those who are not, will be removed from my service.”

Spinnekop gulped. Am I fit for this?

“Team one will be with Azure. Team two will serve alongside Flick, Team three will be with Dagger, while four is with Cloak. Finally, Dunkel will be leading Team Five.” Chrysalis said, motioning to the commanders in question. “You will spend the next few hours getting to know them. Now gather around your commander.”

Spinnekop was led towards the Commander called Dagger by the rest of the group around her. Chrysalis watched her move there and nodded, then whispered to Mimic.

“Spin, Dagger will teach you how to be a good Soldier. Though I warn you, he doesn’t enjoy failure.”

Spinnekop swallowed, looking up at the changeling, she noticed the scar along his carapace, running along his jaw.

“He was attacked, got that scar from another Changeling that tried to kill him, since then, he takes any attempt to betray him personally, and doesn’t let it continue further.” Mimic continued. “Don’t give him a reason.”

“Listen up!” Dagger shouted. “If you think I’m going to be easy on any of you, think again. I’m not your mother; I’ll work you to the endoskeleton if I have to. All of you will be the best soldiers you can be, or die trying.”

Spinnekop shivered slightly. “First things first, all of you will run the obstacle course, I expect good things from all of you.” He ground his teeth. “Don’t let me down.”

Spinnekop followed the rest of the Alphas out of the room, trying to make herself as small as possible, but once Dagger took into the air and flew towards the obstacle course, a few of the Alphas stopped and turned to look at Spinnekop.

“Listen up, Beta.” One of them said. “We don’t know what the Queen sees in you, and we don’t care.” He poked Spinnekop in the chest. “But if you think we will go easy on you just because of what you are, you are wrong.”

Spinnekop nodded quickly. “I-I understand…”

“I’m not sure you do.” The Alpha said, raising himself to his full height. “If you even try to prove you are better than any of us, we will make sure you know your place.”

“I-I-I Get it…”

“Good.” He said. “Now remember that, Breeder, or we will have a problem.” They began to walk away, heading towards the obstacle course. Spinnekop stayed behind, still trying to make herself smaller while her carapace shook. As the Alphas vanished from sight, Spinnekop sighed with relief and reached towards her chest. When her hoof connected with her carapace, she looked down at it confused.

“Where is it?” Spinnekop said with a hint of nervousness in her voice. “Where is it?” She looked down at her chest and began to look around where she had been standing. Not finding what she looked for, she began to frantically look around. “no. no, no, no! Don’t tell me I lost it!” She exclaimed looking around.

“Okay… Okay… Where did I last have it…” Spinnekop asked herself, the answer came to her quickly, and she sighed in relief. “I left it in the Room… It’s safe…” I need to keep track of it…

Spinnekop sighed and stood up from the spot at the bottom of the castle stairs, and began to walk towards the obstacle course, preparing for the day ahead.

As she walked back into the Barracks, her entire body felt ready to sleep, her wings were sore, her legs were sore, she had a stabbing pain in her side, and her head wouldn’t rise up from looking down at her hooves.

The day had started out good enough, but as it progressed, the rest of the Alphas seemed to take notice of her. They had quickly began picking her out, during anything where she was with an alpha, they had pushed her around and ensured that there was nothing she could do to catch up with them. During combat training, she had been easily overpowered by the physically large Changelings, and Dagger didn’t seem to care about any of the dirty tricks they played.

Not that she got any respite in the beginning of the day, she had been the first to go through the obstacle course, at the insistence of everyone, and it had been terrible. She had never run that particular course before, so it was foreign to her, and she was unable to get through it quickly, at least, when she could finish it.

The course was incredibly difficult, and Spinnekop had only finished it one time, all the other times she had been knocked down, leading to the soreness of her body.

As she stepped into her room, she noticed that Cara hadn’t returned from her own mission yet, which meant that Spinnekop was on her own… Luckily she did notice the green pendant. It had been picked up from the floor and placed on her dresser next to the Unicorn carving. She walked over to it and picked it up, looking at the pendant. The small needle pointed to the south as she watched it slowly move towards the east.

Spinnekop sighed and looked at the papers on the dresser, putting on her pendant and looking over the sheets. Some of them were completely unusable, burnt to a point where she would be lucky for it to hold together. She took any of the papers that had been burnt severely and placed them to the side, looking over her ink supply, she took a sheet of paper, and her quill, and began to write a letter.
Dear Cadence,

I’m very glad that you enjoy my work. Most of the other foals think that it is pointless for me to try. I’m glad that at least somepony other than Cara enjoys my work. I’m sorry in advance for the next few letters, I’m only allowed a few papers a month, since money is tight right now, and some of the colts thought it would be funny to light some of the papers on fire. I tried to stop it, but they are so much bigger than I am, I only managed to save two or three papers in good condition.

I also had no idea that you were the niece of Celestia! I mean, you mentioned you were an Alicorn, but I never thought you were related to Celestia. Don’t worry about paying me back for the carving, it isn’t my best work, and I was happy to hear you liked it. Even if those jerks try to make me think otherwise.

Something I’ve always been wondering about, how is it living in a city like Canterlot? The Orphanage I live in is pretty crowded, while not full, I don’t know everyponies’ names. Also, what is Celestia like? I hear stories about her, but you must know her personally, if you could I would be really interested.

Also, if you ever want me to make you another figurine, I might be able to make a carving of you, I’ve never tried making an Alicorn, it should be fun!

From,

Spindle Weave

Spinnekop looked over the letter, making sure it seemed like something a pony would write, and when she was satisfied, she folded up the letter and tucked it into an envelope she kept in her dresser. She still felt tired, but she decided she could walk to Mimic’s office and hand him the letter before heading to sleep. Looking over her Unicorn figure, the closest thing to finished it could be without colors. She sighed as she walked through the membrane and headed towards the office.

When she walked back through the membrane, she removed her necklace and placed it on her figurine, and climbed under the covers. Before she even knew what was happening, she was fast asleep.

The next few days went about as well as was expected, Spinnekop woke up, ate her breakfast, and went to the obstacle course to work alongside the rest of the Alphas in her team, got pushed around quite a lot, and eventually came back tired and sore.

Cara hadn’t returned from her excursion to the pony village for a few days, which was strange by the standards of a Scout, but they returned after four days of waiting. She was covered in scratches, mud and bits of grass, but she had a smile on her face none the less.

“What’s gotten you so happy?” Spinnekop asked, looking over the cedar stick she had picked up to carve later.

Cara took off the two saddlebags she was wearing, placing them by her bed. “Well, first. I got you a bit of paint.” Her horn lit up as two small tubes of brown and white paint levitated over to her. “Second, I beat one of those pompous Alphas!” She giggled. “I managed to get intelligence on the mayor of the town, and how he was having a rather scandalous affair with a mare from Los Pegasus. Commander Mandible said that we could extort that and get a bunch of bits from him if we need to. Especially with his reelection coming up.” She fidgeted slightly. “All he could manage to find out was that there is a bunch of ponies that think that the world is ending.”

Spinnekop snickered. “Told you they wouldn’t be able to beat you.”

Cara was grinning. “He may be faster, but nopony beats my ears for gossip.” She looked over at Spinnekop’s dresser. “So what happened while I was gone?”

Spinnekop’s smile faltered. “I got put in command of an Alpha Captain.”

“That’s great!” Cara replied. “Does that mean you’re going to look down on us now?” She joked.

Spinnekop rolled her eyes. “No. So far I’m the underdog there… I’ve been getting pushed around, threatened, all of them acting like jerks towards me, even more so than usual.”

“Who are you with?” Cara asked.

“Dagger… He’s… Really tough.” Spinnekop replied. “He allows for inter Changeling rivalry, but he seems to just glance over me.”

“Well, you aren’t an Alpha, so he has reasons to ignore you.”

“But Cloak seems so nice…” Spinnekop had gotten a chance to speak with Cloak one day, during the afternoon meal, she was pulled aside by the female Changeling, she asked how Spinnekop was holding up, and offered to move her if it got too rough. She also talked about Dagger and the incident that caused the scar.

“Well, Cloak was always good at what she did. Remember the story of how she snuck into the Canterlot Castle and stole Celestia’s crown?”

Spinnekop smiled. “Sure do. Who knew she had backups for that kind of thing?”

“You hear back from Cadence?” Cara asked. “The Queen wants to speak with you soon about your progress.”

Spinnekop sighed. “I know… I don’t have very much.”

Cara yawned. “Well… I’m gonna hit the hay. Been getting a little bit of sleep in between days, but spent most of the time looking into the mayor.” She walked over to her bed, but stopped before getting into it. “Oh yeah… I also found this for you.”

Her horn lit up as she pulled a rolled up poster out of her bag. “I found it, figured you would enjoy it.”

Spinnekop grabbed the poster in her magic and opened it. On it was a picture of two ponies, a unicorn mare, and a Pegasus stallion. A large crack was drawn in between them, both of them looked longingly towards the other. “Separated by birth, tied by fate” was written near the bottom. As Spinnekop looked at the poster, she noticed that while the Unicorn was standing on solid grass, the Pegasus was standing on a cloud, with nothing but the blue sky around him.

In the background of both sides of the split, there was a strange accuracy in the class. The Unicorn was in front of a ground based castle, while the Pegasus was standing in front of a castle made of clouds.

Spinnekop was intrigued by the poster, the delicate balance in the lighting of everything from the clouds to the individual shading of the ponies. She looked up from it towards Cara. “Thanks, Cara. This is amazing.”

“Well, it’s yours now.” Cara yawned. “We are allowed souvenirs from our scouting missions, just like Cloak and the crown.” She yawned loudly. “Now I really need some sleep. I’ll talk to you when I wake up…” Cara slid under the covers and began to sleep.

Spinnekop smiled. She rolled up the poster and placed it in the bottom drawer of her dresser, right next to her cedar stick. She closed the drawer and removed her pendant, placing it besides her carving and paints. She then prepared herself for the first time she would report on her progress for Chrysalis. It troubled her about how little she had on Cadence, the biggest of which was her relationship to Celestia. Even then a good Infiltrator could have found that out quickly.

Spinnekop was nervous of course, but she did have a huge piece of information, even if it was only that single piece.

She sighed as she ducked under the covers, and drifted into sleep.

Spinnekop had been given the morning off from training, which suited her fine, her legs still felt like gelatin, and her wings were incapable of lifting her very far off the ground. She had been given the time in order to prepare her report for Chrysalis, which wasn’t very much… She just had a few things, and nothing to write about, her report would be almost fully oral.

She had been sitting at the morning meal, Cara having opted to sleep a bit more, so she was sitting alone when a familiar face flew up to her. “Hey, Spinnekop!”

Spinnekop looked towards the voice, to see an old friend flying up to her. “Blink? Is that you?”

Blink flew up to her, his mail bags full as he came to a halt next to her. “You bet, Spin.”

“How have you been?” Spinnekop asked. “I haven’t seen you in years! Got the job I see.”

Blink puffed out his chest proudly “Yup, Courier Drone 26, proudly delivering mail across the Hive whenever it is needed. How’s Cara been doing?”

“She had her second Scout test a few days ago, came back last night and has practically been sleeping ever since.” Spinnekop replied. “You have anything for me?”

Blink’s mail bag opened up as he pulled a clean white letter from out of it. “Sure do.” He reached back into the bag and pulled out a package. “This is yours too.” He said, placing it on the table. “Not sure who it’s from, there’s no address or anything. Well, I’ve got to jet, so many deliveries, not enough time to chat.” He buzzed his wings and flew off further down the hall, handing out letters to the various Changelings.

Spinnekop looked at the letter, it was definitely from Cadence, but she eyed the package curiously. Who sent it? She looked around the box for any sign of who could have sent it to her, but found nothing. Sighing, she decided to finish with her meal before she headed back to the Barracks.

When she arrived, Cara had just begun to wake up from sleep, rubbing an eye Cara noticed the box. “You got a package?”

Spinnekop nodded. “I’ll open it later. My report is due with Chrysalis in an hour and Cadence sent me another letter.”

Cara yawned. “Right… Right. The… Alicorn or whatever.” She yawned again. “What does it say?”

Spinnekop looked over at Cara. “I think you should go to breakfast first.”

She yawned again. “You’re probably right…” Cara replied, walking towards the door. “I’ll see you later.”

Spinnekop waved to Cara as she turned down the hall and began walking towards the dining hall. When she was gone, Spinnekop opened the letter.

Dear Spindle,

I’m sorry to hear about the poor conditions in the Orphanage, I wish there was something I could do to help. If those colts truly are as bad as you say, I know how you feel, many of the Unicorns in Canterlot think themselves higher than everypony else simply because they were born that way. All I can do is offer a bit of advice, should they try to bully you, don’t let them see it affects you, most of them do it for some kind of reaction, they will eventually leave once they realize their tricks won’t work and if they do light your paper on fire, you tell the caretaker about it.

I am not technically the direct niece of Celestia, I am a distant relative but my status as an Alicorn helps me in that respect. Celestia is a kind a caring ruler, she looks after every one of her subjects with care and respect. One day I hope to be like her, loved by your subjects and giving love to them.

Canterlot is a wonderful city, being the location of Celestia’s castle and the training ground for the Royal Guards, it is the safest city in Equestria. Though I’m not sure if it is the best place to grow up, a lot of the Unicorns I’ve seen around here don’t so much as glance at you unless you have some kind of social status. And being built into the side of a mountain makes it easy for trade, and the food around is good, you can also meet a lot of different creatures from around Equestria, coming to meet Celestia for business.

I would love to see how you do with making an Alicorn, if the Pegasus you sent me is any reference, I bet it will be fantastic. Though I will send you something in return. Since technically it is a commission, I will find something to pay you back.

I hope everything goes well,

Mi Amore Cadenza

Spinnekop looked over the letter, taking in the advice Cadence had given her, as well as the information on Canterlot. She grabbed her journal and began to write down the new information on all of them. This should be plenty of information! As she scrawled the last of the information down, she closed the journal and placed it in her saddlebag.

She looked over at the package and then to the clock up on the wall. “I’ve got to get to the Castle…” She mumbled. She pushed the box under her bed and walked out into the Hive’s streets. Heading towards the large black palace.

All the while she walked, she thought about the best way to talk to Chrysalis, which was difficult when she could easily obliterate you with a single thought. She managed to get to the doors of the Throne room before her legs began to quake. I can handle this…

Spinnekop took several deep breaths before she opened the door. Chrysalis was standing next to her throne, holding the skull of a Changeling in her magic, the small remaining carapace plates shaped into a helmet on the skull.

“Ah… Spinnekop.” Chrysalis said, placing the skull on the ground. “You have a report for me?”

Spinnekop audibly swallowed eyeing the skull. “Y-Yes, my Queen…”

Chrysalis walked to her throne and sat down in it, looking expectantly at the young Changeling. “Well? Go on… Tell me what you have learned.”

Spinnekop let out a relaxing breath and pulled out her journal and opened it. “Her name is Mi Amore Cadenza, she lives in Canterlot, and she is the niece of Celestia…”

Chrysalis looked bored up until the last bit of information. “Niece you say?” She tapped her chin. “Anything else?”

Spinnekop nodded. “I… don’t have anything else on Cadence…” Spinnekop admitted. “But I do have something on the city and Celestia.”

Chrysalis nodded. “Proceed.”

Spinnekop took a deep breath. “Canterlot is built into the side of a mountain, many of the ponies there are too stuck up to notice anything happening to lower classes, it is the home of the Royal Guard, and Celestia’s Castle.” Spinnekop turned the page, her hoof shaking as her eyes darted back to the skull. “Celestia is a loving and widely loved ruler, taking into consideration the backlash of her subjects before herself.” Spinnekop looked up at Chrysalis. “And she… Likes my carvings I make…”

Chrysalis looked down at Spinnekop, inwardly contemplating the relevance of the information. “Good…” She said. “Yes… I think this will work.” Her horn began to glow as Spinnekop’s book levitated up to her. “All this in merely a month?”

Spinnekop nodded, looking up at Chrysalis while she read through the notes Spinnekop took. “You wrote here that she enjoys your craft. Is that important?”

Spinnekop nodded. “I sent her one of my carvings and she enjoyed it… She said that I could send her a carving of herself…”

Chrysalis looked down at Spinnekop. “Would it assist your cover?” She asked.

Spinnekop looked up at Chrysalis. “I think so…”

“Then it is settled.” Chrysalis closed the book. “While I despise the idea of it, I will allow you to indulge in your frivolous artistry.”

Spinnekop’s eyes widened. I…I Can…

“However!” She continued. “You are only allowed to do so within the confines of your Quarters. Should I find this craft of yours elsewhere, I will strip you of that privilege. You will also continue your training under Captain Dagger, once I believe you have enough training, you will be moved from your current barracks to your own chambers. I await your report next month, Spinnekop.” She levitated the journal down to Spinnekop.

“My Queen…” Spinnekop said, looking down at her pendant. “I’ll… I won’t let you down!”

Chrysalis smirked. “You better not.” She glanced down at Spinnekop. “Dismissed.”

Spinnekop bowed before running out of the room, the journal held in her magic while she ran. She continued to run excitedly through the Hive, stopping only when she managed to return to the Barracks. She didn’t feel tired, if anything she felt excited, she hadn’t failed Chrysalis, and she was allowed to work on her art without fear of being exiled!

When she got to her room, she let out a string of rapid chirps and clicks, buzzing her wings excitedly. “Hey, Spin.” Cara said looking at her friend. “What are you so happy about?”

Spinnekop calmed herself down before replying. “I had my report with Chrysalis. She said that I could work on my art so long as I only do it in here!”

Cara clapped her hooves together. “That’s great!”

“And I might be able to eventually get my own room!” She said excitedly. “Think about it, I’ll have a room to myself so that I can draw and carve and… I don’t know… Make Stasis pods! Whatever I want!”

Cara chuckled, a little bit of a chirp starting to form. “You really want to make the Stasis pods?”

“Well… I wouldn’t mind it…” Spinnekop replied. “I mean… It is something I would enjoy… I’d hardly want it to be my Job for the Hive.” She smiled a bit. “Well… Main job anyway…”

“So what does that mean for you?” Cara asked.

“Well… I guess I’m an Infiltrator… But I don’t want to leave you…”

Cara sighed. “We knew it would happen eventually. I was planning to be a Scout, and you had your own mission. We knew it wouldn’t last forever… Eventually we were going to have to leave the training barracks.”

“I know…” Spinnekop’s ears turned and pressed against her head. “But… You were… ARE my only friend…”

“Blink is too.” Cara replied. “You’ll see him often… Right?”

Spinnekop nodded. “When we leave… I’ll send some letters to you as well.”

“Oh, come on, Spin.” Cara replied. “We still have a few years before either of us are old enough to be moved.” She stretched her back. “We have plenty of time before we need to resort to that.”

Spinnekop nodded. “You’re right…” She sighed. “But it’s difficult to imagine dealing with all of the Alphas without you.”

“It’ll be fine, Spin.” Cara replied. “We can talk whenever we get the chance. Even after we fully develop. We’ll have the time between our two jobs.”

Spinnekop nodded. “Maybe I should focus on my training…”

“What happened to that?” Cara asked. “Usually you are doing whatever it is Captain Dagger tells you to be doing right now.”

“I was given the day off to report to Chrysalis.” Spinnekop replied. “I didn’t have much… But my legs and wings could use the rest.” She buzzed her wings slowly. “Not sure how much more I can handle before giving out…”

“Well, just keep trying to show those snobs up, just don’t become them okay.”

Spinnekop chuckled. “You got it, Cara.” She replied. “When do you have to leave for your debriefing?”

Cara looked up at the clock. “Soon…” She sighed. “I’ll see you around, Spinnekop.” She waved before walking out of the room.

“Bye, Cara.” Spinnekop replied. “Hope it goes well!” She said, tuning to look back at the wooden figure of the unicorn she had made, a bit of paint placed on the mane where she had started to work on coloring it in, but the problem was, there was no other color, so it would just be a completely brown unicorn.

Spinnekop sighed. She opened the lower drawer and pulled out the stick of cedar she had held onto. She cut it from a small tree, so the inner rose colored wood released a pleasant scent into the room. She began thinking through the whittling, where she would need to cut and at what angle each of the cuts would need to be in order for it to look perfect.

Luckily she had enough wood to make at least three carvings if she needed to, but the waste in wood is not something Spinnekop wanted. She looked up at the clock, and shook her head. She didn’t have enough time to start carving out the shape she would need, and Dagger was supposed to be her commander, and she did need training.

With a reluctant sigh, she placed the pole back into the drawer and removed her necklace, placing it on her dresser. She had regretted taking it to training one day, it took two hours to get the blood and dirt off the surface, along with the constant fear of it breaking, so she decided to leave it here for the rest of the time.

She looked into the crystal to see the needle pointing to the north. A constant reminder that it could switch at any moment, and the meaning of it still eluded her. With a shake of her head, she began to walk out of the room, heading towards her morning training for the day.

Spinnekop returned to the Barracks with a smile on her face, and a bandaged up hoof.

Dagger had been surprised to see Spinnekop enter the obstacle course that day, expecting her to take the rest of the day off, or that she had quit. He even managed to show the shadow of a smile at the Spinnekop’s tenacity, or stupidity, neither of them really knew what had called her back.

The day had been full of rigorous exercises and a few sparring matches, only one of which Spinnekop had won, but she felt accomplished none the less. Even though she did crack the chitin in her left hoof and would have to be careful about it for a few days, it felt well worth it to prove she wasn’t just a pushover. The looks on the other soldiers when she finally did succeed in a fight was astounding, even if you could argue that it was luck at seeing a small opening that knocked the Alpha to the ground.

While she never enjoyed the sparring matches, the way that they were forced to fight amongst each other, it was enjoyable to finally prove she had worth. Though the other reason why she was happy, was because Cadence had been right.

After the sparring match, another one of the Alphas had come forward and warned her about making them look bad. She had simply ignored him and smiled, right before noticing that her chitin was cracked. She was given a few days leave for it to heal, but she was still required to exercise her flight muscles as much as possible.

When she entered her room, Cara was sitting on the bed with one of her books, reading through it. Cara looked up as the membrane door was moved aside and waved at Spinnekop. “What happened to you?”

Spinnekop looked down at her hoof. “Sparring match, I beat one of the Alphas.”

“Great job!” Cara replied. “I bet that made them feel dumb.”

“Well one of them warned me about trying to look better than them. That’s when I noticed this.” She raised her hoof a bit. “I’ve been placed on leave while it heals a bit. I still need to exercise my wings though.”

Cara sighed. “Knew there would be a twist.” She said shaking her head. “Well, I’ve been given the task of writing a report tomorrow on my findings, so happy day for me.” She said sarcastically. “So what’s in the package?” She indicated Spinnekop’s bed.

Spinnekop looked over at it. “I’m not actually sure…” Spinnekop pulled the box out of the hiding place and held it out to Cara. “There’s no return address, name, the only thing on it is my name.”

Cara looked over the package. “Huh… Weird.” Cara levitated it back over to her. “Well, go on and open it, I won’t…” Cara’s head turned towards the door and sighed. “Well, I’ve got to go to the Castle it seems…”

Spinnekop jolted up. “What? Why?”

Cara shrugged. “I just got called by Major Mandible. The Queen wants to talk to me.”

Spinnekop’s ears folded back. “Oh… Okay…”

Cara walked towards the door. “Spin, I’m sure it’s fine. You open up your package, I’ll be back tonight… hopefully. Don’t worry about me.” She waved as she stepped out of the room.

Spinnekop watched as Cara walked down the hall, without Cara to help distract her, she was left alone with the package. She sighed as she took her knife and dug into the wrapping, finding where the box opened, hesitantly, she began to open the box.

Inside, were three small wooden boxes, each one placed on top of the other, as she pulled them out and laid them on the floor, she noticed the craftsmanship of the items.

They were hoof carved, each one having a rounded top, with a small brass hinge allowing the box to open. Each of the boxes had inscriptions on top of them, the first one with an inscription in a fancy cursive font read “Paints”, held a number of wood crafted paint brushes and small tubes of Red, Blue, and Yellow paint. The paintbrushes were all designed for delicate application of the paint.

The second box had a similar font on it, with the word “Sculpting” on it. Inside were a variety of different tools for perfectly sculpting what you would need. The box was compartmentalized into two main sections ‘Woodcarving’ and ‘Stone’ The woodcarving section held small knives and a few whetstones. While the Stone section held a small chisel, a hammer, and a small horsehead statue made out of black stone.

The final box was labeled “Storage”. Inside were a number of small cells, all but one of them was empty, inside of the single cell was a letter, Spinnekop picked up the letter and unfolded it.

Spinnekop,

I am sorry… I know what I did is unforgivable. But I had to leave. You were all I had left, and you would have been… There were a series of ink scratches. I can’t bring myself to write it. I’m sorry. Please use these materials to help expand your craft. I would hate for you to just become another Soldier.

I wish I could tell you more, I wish there were someway I could see you again, but I can’t… The Swarm is after me, and returning to the Hive would be a death sentence. Please… Keep this letter safe, or destroy it. The Hive cannot know I still have a contact.

There was no name, on the letter, and all of the writing seemed to change between the letters, going from sweeping curves to simple blocked letters. Making it impossible to discern which was the normal style of writing.

Spinnekop smiled at the letter, she had an idea who it was from, but couldn’t be certain. She smiled as she pulled one of the knives from the box, and the stick of cedar, and began to use the new knife to cut through the wood, using her magic to hold the stick so her hoof could be free.

As she whittled away the stick, she found herself humming a small nursery tune she had heard a number of the Caretakers singing to the Pupa, meant to soothe and make the Pupa understand happiness. Which was exactly what she felt.

Author's Notes:

The Plot thickens. Who was this mysterious Contact? Who is the letter from? Why am I writing this? Because Reasons All that and more will be revealed later.