“Isn’t this exciting!” Cara squealed when they got back to the small forest. “We are going to go to Canterlot!”

“I know!” Spinnekop replied. “Finally I get to see the city!”

“Well… Not the full city.”

Spinnekop sighed. “Yeah… I’ll be stuck underground mostly… But still…”

Chrysalis had told them as much of the plan as she could without revealing anything too sensitive. She would go and replace someone close to Celestia, who was conveniently also holding a wedding, allowing her to drain the love of not only the Groom, but from Celestia herself. That way she would gain power, while Celestia slowly loses her own.

“It does make you wonder why she wanted you to come along, given she wasn’t going to let you do anything to help in the abduction.”

Spinnekop did wonder that, multiple times in fact. All Chrysalis had said was that the mission couldn’t have happened without her… “I’m not sure, Cara. But at least we won’t get separated for some time.”

“Yes, you get to listen to Seek and Burn while we hike to the rally point, I’m sure you’re thrilled.” She rolled her eyes.

“I am! I like those two, the squabbling is actually rather enjoyable to watch.”

“For the first hour maybe… It wears on you pretty fast, Spin.” Cara replied.

“Well… I guess we’ll see.” Spinnekop replied.

Seek flung himself down in front of them, hanging from a tree. “What’s the good word, Sarge?”

Spinnekop jumped back a bit at Seek’s surprise appearance. “SEEK! You scared me!”

“Sorry, Ma’am…" Seek replied. “Forgot you aren’t with me most of the time.” He lifted himself into the air with his wings before pulling his tail out of the tree. “So any news?”

“We’re returning to Canterlot, Seek.” Cara replied. “The Queen has a special mission for us, we are playing a long game here to capture Celestia.”

Seek’s eyes widened. “Wait! Celestia! The Alicorn that can control the very SUN!”

“Yes, I know it sounds impossible…”

“That’s AWESOME!” Seek replied startling Cara. “Oh man, can you imagine the stories we could tell them if we actually took her out? There would be songs and plays and books written about us. And the FOOD!” He smacked his lips. “Oh… We would never have to gather love again!”

“What are you three rambling about?” Spinnekop was surprised when a voice reached out to her, it was a soothing voice, very comforting, yet strong.

“Burn! We’re going to be heading to Canterlot!”

The large Changeling walked up to them. “Commander, is this true?”

Cara nodded. “Indeed it is, Burn.”

“Burn?”

Burn looked over at Spinnekop, his eyes widened before Spinnekop felt a pushing on her mind.

Seek looked over at Burn and then back to Spinnekop. “Okay then… Burn says he’s sorry for intruding, he didn’t realize you were there. He’s usually better about connecting with others.”

“Why did you…?”

“He’s not a fan of connecting with anyone unknown to him.” Seek replied. “He doesn’t want anyone he doesn’t trust, or that don’t trust him invading on his mind.”

Cypher walked up to them. “Sergeant Cara, Spinnekop, the Queen wishes for you to gather whatever you will need. Keep it light. You have a half hour before we leave the Hive.”

“OH!” Spinnekop hopped into the air. “I need to get my Necklace!” She turned back towards the Command Barracks and sped off towards it. “ByeCaragottagobye!”

Spinnekop ran as fast as she could back to the Command Barracks, if she really was going to get to go to Canterlot, she wanted to grab a few things.

As she burst into her room, she looked around quickly, trying to find a few things she wanted to bring with her. When her heart slowed down, she walked over to the counter; she took her necklace off its small post and placed it around her neck.

“Now what do I take with me?” She walked over to a small dresser she built from a large amount of maple tree wood and opened it, inside was a small saddlebag that she bought that held a number of letters in them, most from Cadence. She picked up the bag and opened it.

The letters inside were some of the favorites of Spinnekop, from Cadence’s letters about the strange events that happened a few months ago, to the letter about how her and her fiancé met. A few were from her mysterious writer, who wrote to her a few times over her life. A few from Cara, such as the one mentioning the Dragon attack a few years ago. She smiled as she looked at the letters she had stored through the years, thinking back to the times she had replied, and how much she grew over the years.

She looked around the room, if she really was heading to Canterlot, and had a chance to meet up with Cadence, she wanted to be ready. She walked over and grabbed the carvings of her own disguise and of Cadence, leaving the one of Chrysalis on the shelf. Don’t make her suspect anything…

She flew around the room collecting what she thought would be the most important objects she had, when there was a knock on the door. Spinnekop looked over the objects she had and nodded, satisfied she had everything important. She walked up to the door and opened it. “Blink?”

Blink was standing there, a small letter levitating in front of him. “This just came in,” He levitated the letter up to her. “We had a problem with the Manehatten branch, I would have gotten to you earlier than this.”

“Didn’t you just get off duty?” She asked looking at the clock.

“I did, but since it was on my way I figured I should get it to you.” Blink replied. “Now I’ve got to get going, my mom’s having a bit of a nervous breakdown and I think I should calm her down." He launched himself down the hall. “Bye!”

Spinnekop watched as Blink shot down the hall like a bullet, his wings buzzing quickly as he went at full speed.

Spinnekop closed the door and looked at the letter, unlike the ones before, it seemed to be two letters instead of one. She opened the Envelope and pulled out a pink hued paper.

Dear Spindle,

I know it is rather short notice, but we have been very busy here prepping for everything that is going to happen in just a few days’ time. I will be excited to finally meet you.

~Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

Curious, Spinnekop opened the second letter, unlike the normal letters that she had received, it was in no means informal. It had a nice cursive font on it and the ink seemed to jump off the page.

Princess Celestia cordially invites you to the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Captain Shining Armor in Canterlot.

Spinnekop’s wings unconsciously buzzed with excitement. CADENCE’S WEDDING! She hopped up and down releasing an excited Squee. Oh, My Chrysalis! I can’t wait! Not only am I going to Canterlot, and meeting Cadence, I get to go to her WEDDING!

She excitedly lifted herself into the air doing a small flip, she then looked up at the clock. “Oh Chrysalis!” Quickly she put the letters back in the envelope and placed them in her saddlebag, and rushed for the door. “I only have five Minutes!” The instant she was out of the building, she spread her wings and shot herself into the air, heading for the top of the Hive, a path she now knew like the back of her hole ridden hoof.

When she reached the top, she found that not Chrysalis, but Mimic was there. She flew up to the General, who was now looking out over the large forest outside the Hive. “General Mimic, where’s the Queen?”

Mimic turned to look at Spinnekop. “Her and the advanced team used her little warp trick to travel to Canterlot to begin phase one.” Mimic replied. “You will be traveling alongside Sergeant Cara’s squadron. You will be there to keep an eye on the Prisoner. For the Hive, Spinnekop.”

“For the Hive, sir.” Spinnekop saluted.

“I’ll see you when you return, Spinnekop. Let nothing stand in the way of this mission.” Mimic sighed. “Or else…”

“I understand, sir.” Spinnekop replied.

“Then get going.” Mimic ordered. “Best of luck to you, Infiltrator.”

Spinnekop gave a final salute before heading to join up with Cara and her team.

Cara was clad in her armor along with the others, Cypher was wearing a small pack on her back, which she pulled a pair of binoculars out of. Burn had a similar pack, which looked stacked with water and food, Seek was sitting in a tree, looking like he was waiting. As Spinnekop approached, Seek opened his eyes. “There she is.”

Cara looked over at Spinnekop. “I heard you were joining our little family for the hike to the city.” She smiled. “Looks like we won’t be separated so soon after all.”

Burn lifted his hoof as a blue spark of flame appeared, he then stared at it while it shifted colors from blue to green to deep red and finally to a bright white.

“What’s Burn doing?” Spinnekop asked.

“He’s manipulating the intensity and composition of the flames to alter the visual spectrum presented to us.” Seek replied. “What? I grew up with him.”

Cypher pulled a map out of her bag and unrolled it. “Commander, if we march on foot, it will take us approximately Forty-Eight Hours to get there if we only stop once.”

Cara nodded. “Well then, we had better get going.” Cara replied. “Seek, keep an eye out ahead of us, I don’t want any surprises.”

“Cloak. Did you succeed?”

“Yes, I delivered the messages. They seem to have done what you wanted.”

“Perfect. Have you located her?”

“Yes, My Queen.”

Chrysalis smiled happily. “Excellent… Take the Guards, replace them. I do not need anymore complications.”

The three Changelings nearby nodded, they slipped effortlessly through the Shadows, coming up behind the Golden Clad ponies, with a quiet struggle, both of the guards were taken care of, and covered in green flame as they sank into the ground. Chrysalis stepped up to the large doors her form being covered with a green flame as she shrank down her size. “Let no one in.”

The Disguised Changelings nodded as they lifted their spears up.

Chrysalis was disguised as a white Stallion, two streaked blue mane and purple armor. She smiled wickedly as she pushed the door open.

“Shining?” A young voice said as Chrysalis stepped into the room, her horn glowing a venomous green as the door was closed and sealed. “What are you doing, Shiny?”

Chrysalis stepped forward, her smirk growing wider. “I’m just making sure that we don’t get disturbed.” She said in a male voice. “Now… Why don’t I show you just how much I love you.”

She walked up close to the glowing pink pony. As she switched her smirk to a small smile, she got closer to the pony, she began showing more of a look of care. However as she did finally got close enough to touch the pony, her face changed, turning into a vile smile as her eyes flashed venomous green. “You’re mine.”

The pony attempted to scream, but Chrysalis placed her hoof over the pony’s mouth, stopping the scream as green flames worked their way up her foreleg, giving way to the black carapace underneath.

The Pony’s eyes widened as she watched the chitin spread. She looked up to see the venomous green eyes gave way to two fangs from the lip. The long horn began to twist and corrode, giving way to holes that were rampant through the rest of the body. “What’s the matter, honey?” Chrysalis said. “Can’t handle what I Really look like?”

The Pony’s eyes began watering. “Oh, don’t start. After all, I can hardly absorb your love if you are terribly depressed.” She smiled maliciously as her horn began to glow bright green.

The Pony stared up at the violently shaped horn, her eyes wide with far, all the while, she began to feel more and more tired, her eyes having trouble focusing. As the glow got brighter, the Pony felt weaker and weaker, her eyelids began to feel heavy, as she watched, the creature’s smile stayed in focus as the rest of the world blurred out.

Right before she blacked out, she saw the creature slowly cover itself with green flame, and she was looking at an exact replica of herself, except, it had that wicked smile on its face. “Your love for him tastes delicious, I only hope that his is as well.”

The Pony widened her eyes, before her duplicate’s horn glowed and the ground around her began to burn with green fire, before a shell of flame pulled her into the ground.

Chrysalis let out a small string of laughs. “Oh… This is going gloriously.” She looked over at the small crown next to where the pony was. “Perfect…”

“Chrysalis, the Captain is returning.”

Chrysalis relaxed herself, the pony she had drained gave her plenty of energy, if the plan did not work at first, there was always the mind control spell. That way his love could still be fed on, and he would be under her complete control.

The door reopened and the same white stallion she disguised as earlier. “Honey?”

“Hello, Shining Armor.”

“Are you alright?” Shining Armor asked. “You seem a bit… Off?”

“Of course I’m alright.” Chrysalis replied. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I’m not sure… You just seem a little…” Chrysalis frowned. “Different. Didn’t you say you were tired?”

Chrysalis mentally cursed herself. “I was… But I feel better now.”

“And you sound a little…”

“Oh forget it.” Chrysalis’ horn began to glow.

“What are you doing?” Shining Armor asked.

“I’m not going to have some Guard ruin the day I’ve been waiting over twenty years for!”

Shining Armor began to back up towards the door. “There is something very wrong here… Just calm down and…”

“Guards, restrain him.” Chrysalis said, and the two royal Guards walked into the room and grabbed onto Shining Armor.

“What in Tartarus are you doing?”

“Listening to their Queen, beloved.” Chrysalis replied. “And soon…” She began to lower the horn. “So will you.”

Chrysalis fired a green bolt at Shining Armor’s head, and his eyes changed to green before blending back to their normal blue. “There is nothing wrong with me, everything is fine.” Chrysalis replied. “Now you are to handle your royal duties and address the threats made to Canterlot.”

“Mmhmm….” Shining Armor said. “Nothing is wrong…”

“Now leave me.” Shining Armor walked out of the room. “Keep an eye out. I won’t have any interruptions.”

The Two guards nodded and left the room. “These pathetic Ponies won’t know what hit them.”

The team had been traveling for quite a while before they came upon a good place to set up camp. It was a small clearing that was practically devoid of any possible dangers, they quickly went to work ensuring that wouldn’t happen. Seek gathered nearby wood and stacked it up so that Burn would have steady supply of materials to burn through the night.

Cara and Spinnekop got to work setting up the gear they packed for sleeping, a few small tents. Cypher meanwhile was getting into contact with the Hive.

By the time everything was set up and ready, Cypher was still sitting contacting the Hive.

“Cypher, give it a rest.” Seek said. “You’ve been trying for thirty minutes.”

“It is not a matter of failing to connect, Scout 95, it is a matter of getting all the information.”

Seek laid back down on the flat rock he had pulled up to the fire, Burn was laying looking at the magically created fire, glowing with a yellow flame.

“Well what do you have, 94?” Cara asked.

“The Queen has successfully planted herself into the target’s place. The target is currently being held by the members of the advanced team where she will not be located. Her personal guards have been detained and are being fed on.”

“Already?” Seek replied. “That was fast… Even for those Alphas.”

“The Queen probably had a hoof in it.” Spinnekop replied, picking a stick off the ground and beginning to cut into it with the dull blade she had. “If anything I’m more surprised that she could get in there. Apparently there is going to be a Princess’ wedding happening this week.”

Cypher looked over at Spinnekop. “How do you know that?”

“I got a letter from my Pen Pal, she sent me an invitation to her wedding. It’s only in three days.”

“Wow… So Cadence got you that letter, finally?” Cara replied. “Maybe you could go to it. That is if you aren’t busy with your other duties.”

“Yeah… That is going to throw a wrench into those plans…”

Burn grunted something. “Oh, come on, Burn. Nopony said you had to go.”

The fire in front of them began to glow pink. “Huh… you do make a good point…”

“What are you two talking about?” Cara asked.

“Oh, Burn was just saying that the amount of love there would be insane, with all the family members and relatives and then the bride and groom.” Seek replied. “Somepony is going to be stuffed afterwards.”

Spinnekop blushed slightly. “Well… I’ll try not to eat too much…”

Burn let out a silent laugh. “Good one.”

“Burn… If I could ask…” Spinnekop said. “Why don’t you like connecting with me?”

Burn sighed. “It is much more personal, I don’t enjoy it. You’re new so until I know you better I’ll keep out.” Spinnekop felt the connection sever itself as the fire returned to the yellow flame.

“Alright… I hope that I can gain your trust eventually.”

“We’ll see.” Seek said. “Until then, I’ll just keep using my Brother.”

Cara looked up at the night sky. “Well… Not that this isn’t beautiful and all, but we need to get some sleep. We are going to start hiking at daybreak, full disguises and everything.”

“I’ve got first watch.” Seek said hopping off the rock and into a nearby tree. “You guys get some sleep.”

Spinnekop yawned. “Good idea. I could use a little rest…”

“You get your sleep, Spin,” Cara replied, “You need it more than we do.”

“Night, guys…” Spinnekop said, climbing into her tent.

“Infiltrator 67, you should…”

“Cypher, Let her sleep. She isn’t quite as used to hiking through the forest and mountains as we are. Just focus on finding us the entry point.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Cypher replied. “This is Communication Drone 22, requesting Information on rally point on Canterlot Mountain.”

Cara yawned slightly. “Burn, wake me when it’s my shift alright?”

“Of course, Cara.”

“Now then,” Cara yawned. “I wonder how the Queen is doing?”

“Wakey Wakey.” Chrysalis taunted at the Pink Alicorn. She had just begun to wake up from the intensive drain Chrysalis did earlier. “Wouldn’t want you to die before your wedding day now would we.” She said in a mock tone of care.

The Pink Alicorn began to push herself off the cold crystalline prison she was placed in, a thick coating of membrane surrounded her horn, making it impossible for her to use magic.

“Oh there’s a good princess, get on your hooves.”

The Alicorn looked over at the Queen, her eyes wide. “What are you?”

“Oh you dear foolish pony.” Chrysalis replied. “I’m a Changeling, but not just any changeling, the Queen of the Changelings.”

The Alicorn backed away. “Wha-What do you want from me?”

“Oh that’s rather simple actually.” Chrysalis replied. “I want your Love, and the love of your stallion. Though I don’t just want that, I want all of Equestria’s Love.”

The Alicorn raised her wings defensively. “What would you want that for?”

“For power.” Chrysalis replied. “You see we Changelings feed off of your Love, that way we can survive.”

“If that’s all you wanted… you could have just asked us. I’m sure Celestia would…”

Chrysalis laughed. “Oh… Yes I’m sure Celestia would allow us to feed off her subjects, draining them until they are nothing but husks.” She caught the smell of fear coming from the Alicorn. “Oh don’t worry, I plan to keep you alive. You could feed my Hive for centuries. After we absorb all the Love of this land, we will be unstoppable.”

“You’ll never manage it.” The Alicorn replied. “Celestia will stop you!”

Chrysalis giggled. “Oh… Really?”

“When she sees that I’m missing she’ll…”

“Oh, there’s where you’re wrong, my little Princess. You won’t be missing at all.” There was a flash of green flames and Chrysalis transformed into the Alicorn. “You’ll be right there, making your wedding vows.”

The Alicorn looked at her duplicate in shock. “I’ll… I’ll get out of here!”

“Oh I’m sure you will. But even if you escape, you’ll never find the way out.” Chrysalis let out a wicked laugh. “At least this way you will see your precious Shining Armor again, even if he is my own personal slave.”

The Alicorn looked horrified at her duplicate. “You wouldn’t! There isn’t any creature who would do such a thing!”

Chrysalis laughed. “Oh… But there is. I’m that creature. Perhaps I’ll let you watch as I destroy Celestia’s resolve as well.”

“You could never break her! She’s fought worse than you.”

“Oh I’m well aware of her record, but she’s growing weak and tired, I will gladly drain her of the love she feels towards her precious ponies. Now if you’ll excuse me, Princess, I have a Lunar Princess to take care of…”

Chrysalis began to walk away from the Alicorn, even as she stared in stunned surprise at her Duplicate, an aura of fear and worry. “Captain, is the distraction ready?”

An armored Changeling clad in dark purple armor walked up to the Queen. “Yes, my Queen, the Lunar Princess will be too busy handling the situation in the Griffon Kingdom. After all, Griffons and Ponies being massacred tends to draw attention.”

Chrysalis smiled. ‘I knew that I could count on you Captain. While Luna is preoccupied with the negotiations, we will easily crush Canterlot. Nothing will stand in our way.”

“Of course, My Queen, nothing will interfere.” The Captain bowed.

“My Queen, Scout 93 wishes to know where the entrance to the Caves is.”

“Tell her that the entrance is at the west side of the Mountain, opposite of the castle. I cannot have them alerted to the attack.” Chrysalis smirked. “Now then, I have a Wedding to plan.” She was surrounded in a green flame and lowered into the ground, reappearing in the Alicorn’s room. “Absolutely perfect.”

The next morning, Spinnekop woke up quickly, she had gotten used to early wake up calls, but when she stepped outside her tent, she did not expect Burn to be staring off towards a mountain a good few miles away with Binoculars.

“Morning, Burn.” Spinnekop said, getting a grunt in reply. “What are you looking at?”

Burn levitated the binoculars down to Spinnekop and pointed towards the mountain, the sun had begun to rise casting a red glow around the towering landmark. Spinnekop looked through the binoculars to see the City of Canterlot, glowing along with the sun, but it had a new addition to it.

Surrounding the city like a giant purple bubble, was a shield. It looked as though it had been magically conjured by a single Unicorn, which meant that one Unicorn was going to need a lot of energy to keep it going. “Wow…”

“Interesting isn’t it?” Cara said walking up to them. “It was put up late last night. Cypher caught sight of it and warned me. Looks like Chrysalis wants to try and make them feel safe. Smart move, they won’t suspect we already have agents inside.”

Seek was busily dismantling the tent he had slept in when he walked over. “Hopefully it doesn’t interfere with our mission.”

“Seek! Get back to work!” Cara shouted.

“Sorry. Burn wanted me to tell you that.”

Cara sighed. “Burn…”

Burn Smirked. “No using your brother to distract him.” Burn nodded.

Spinnekop walked back over to her tent and began taking it down. Surprisingly she was done before Seek was. “How in Tartarus do these things work?”

Spinnekop sighed and walked over, looking over the tent. “You forgot to unclip it at the top.”

Seek looked at the top of the tent. “Oh… Thanks…” He unclipped the top of the tent and it fell down.

Burn put his hoof over his mouth as he snickered. “Oh, shut up, Hothead.”

Once they had taken everything down, they packed up and began to hike through the forest. When they got a few feet from camp, each of them was surrounded by a green flame and replaced with a pony.

Cara became a rather athletic gray Earth Pony, her mane a light blue. Seek turned into a green Pegasus that perfectly blended into the tree line. Burn became a red Unicorn, his mane a flaming orange. Cypher became a small light blue unicorn with a clean green mane. Spinnekop turned back into her old disguise of Spindle.

They kept travelling for the entire day, taking only periodic stops for food and water breaks. They met a couple of ponies on the way to the mountain, but nothing too large. They gave friendly waves and continued on their way.

“Cypher, you got the map?”

Cypher took the map out of her bag and opened it up. “We need to head to the western base of the mountain. I recommend that we follow this path until we come to a fork, then take the right path.”

“Anything after that?” Cara asked.

“A few more side paths, but the main route is simple enough to follow, after we get out of view of the city, the entrance is sealed with multiple perception spells and a rather large rock.”

“Good.” Cara replied. “Seek, you find anything?”

“Nothing of any real interest.” The Pegasus replied. “A few Poison Joke flowers blooming near some gnarled dead tree that is in no way affecting us, aside from that, nothing.”

“How’re we doing on time, Cypher?”

“If we continue on this pace, we should be able to make contact with the Swarm seven hours ahead of schedule.”

“Think you can handle that, Spin?”

Spindle levitated her canteen and drank some more water. “Yeah I can manage it.”

Burn grunted. “Not if you keep downing the water like that.” Seek said. “You’ll be lucky to make it within another few hours.”

“Burn, I know how to conserve my water. Cloak and I hiked a few days up in Whitetail woods, we were just taking our time before we went into Everfree.”

Burn grunted. “Yeah, but hiking in the woods is a little different.”

“Burn, just have some faith in Spinnekop.” Cara said. “She can handle herself. She lasted through Dagger’s training after all. You couldn’t even manage that.”

Burn let out an impressed grunt. “Alright, I respect that.” Seek replied. “Now can we get going… All this hanging back here is annoying me.”

“Go on ahead, Seek, we can handle it back here.”

Seek saluted before running up ahead. Leaving them to follow behind, it wasn’t very long until they came to the fork in the road. Taking the path Cypher suggested did lead them to the back of the mountain, where a large rock was placed over an opening in the cave.

“Cypher.” Cara said.

“Got it, Sergeant.” Cypher walked up to the rock and knocked on it a few times, sending out a small code through the Hive Mind. A moment later the rock began to fade from existence, showing it had never been there at all, instead, it had been a membrane that stretched over the opening. They walked into the chamber and were surprised by what they saw.

Nearly the entire cavern was made from crystals. The Changelings nearby were walking or flying around the Chamber, most of them wearing armor and those that weren’t wearing armor were in the process of guarding a room off to the side.

“Scout’s 93 through 96 reporting in.” Cara said to a Changeling clad in green armor. “Infiltrator 67 is here as well.”

The Changeling looked up at them. “Six hours ahead of schedule, I’m impressed.”

“The Queen said we needed to be here quickly.” Cara replied. “So we made sure to get it here as soon as possible.”

“Well the Queen does have need of you four, as well as the Infiltrator.” The Changeling stood up. “I’ll be your commanding officer while you are stationed here, Sergeant. I’ll bet that your team wants to get some rest, so I’ll let them go. But first I need you two to follow me.” He pointed at Spinnekop and Cara.

“Alright, Sir.” Cara replied. She began to follow the Changeling while he led them down a variety of tunnels.

“You no doubt know that the Queen has replaced her target, and is currently working towards weakening their defenses.”

Cara and Spinnekop nodded. “Well, when she went to absorb the Ponies love, she found out that she was a veritable gold mine of food, she woke up from a full Love drain in just a few hours.”

Cara whistled. “That’s impressive…”

“Indeed. That’s why she decided to keep her out of a pod, she practically creates Love by herself without the need of it.”

“So why are you telling us this?” Cara asked.

“The Queen wanted you two to know just who it was we were guarding. Mostly because it is your job to make sure she doesn’t escape, Infiltrator.”

“Me? Why me?” Spinnekop asked.

“She says you know her better than anyling else.” He said as he walked up to an isolated chamber. “Take a look.”

Spinnekop walked into the room and froze where she stood, laying on the ground unconscious was the form of the Pink Alicorn, her mane was slightly frazzled and her wings were slightly disheveled. Spinnekop’s eyes widened before she backed out of the room.

“Spin? What’s wrong?” Cara said as she looked at Spinnekop quickly backing away from the door.

“That’s Cadence…” Spinnekop said. “She’s… Why is she down here?”

“The Queen is replacing her.” The Commander replied. “She has been doing it for a day now. Remember, the mission is to take out Celestia, that way we can feed without fear.”

“Yeah…” Spinnekop replied. “But…”

“Don’t think too hard on it, Infiltrator.” The Changeling said. “She is just another stepping stone to get to that goal.”

Spinnekop nodded. “I… Guess you’re right…” She said.

Cara walked over and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Come on Spin, let’s get some sleep, we’ve been walking for a day. Let’s just clear our heads and then we’ll see what happens.”

Spinnekop sighed. “Yeah… You’re right…” She followed Cara back towards where they would be sleeping, but she looked back at the chamber with a heavy mind, trying to think through the mission she had been given for the past twenty years.

When she laid down to sleep, those ideas continued to cloud her mind even as she drifted off into sleep. The dreams that followed her all revolved around some terrible fate for the Hive or even for Cadence, they kept her from peaceful sleep, and eventually, she had enough.

Getting up from the thin bed, made hastily from hay and a thin membrane that acted like a blanket, she quietly crept across the floor and walked to the chamber Cadence was being held in. When she walked up to the cage, she sat down and waited.

Cadence began to stir, her vision still blurry from the most recent drain by the Queen. She had come down practically three times that day to drain Cadence of her love, while there had been no apparent effects as of yet, but she didn’t like being drained like that, sapped of all her strength. As she blinked away the blur of her vision, she saw something she never expected.

Inside of the cage with her, was a small wooden figurine of herself, expertly crafted, it looked almost like it had been made to capture her likeness perfectly. The only time she had seen something crafted this well was by…

“Princess?”

Cadence looked up from the floor, seeing the light brown Unicorn form of Spindle Weave looking back at her with green eyes. In between her hooves was another figureine.

Cadence blinked for a second. “Oh no… I’m starting to hallucinate…” She said. “Next I’m going to start developing Stockholm Syndrome…”

Spindle looked at her curiously. “I’m not a hallucination, Princess.” She replied. “I’m Spindle Weave.”

“Spindle!” Cadence said surprised. “What are you doing down here? How did you even get here? You weren’t captured too right?”

Spindle shook her head. “I… I just came to check up on you…” Spindle said, fidgeting with the figurine. “You looked so… In pain…”

“Wait… You saw me here?” Spindle nodded. “Then maybe you could get out and tell the Guard. Then they could get me out.”

Spindle shook her head. “I can’t do that…”

“Why not?”

Spindle fidgeted with the figurine a bit more. “I… I’m really sorry…”

Cadence looked at Spindle. “Why would you be sorry?”

Spindle took a deep breath. “I’m the main reason you’re down here…”

Cadence tilted her head. “No… You can’t be the reason I’m down here. The Changelings are and you aren’t…” She stopped, then looked at Spindle. “You’re… you’re a…”

Spindle nodded. “I’m really sorry…”

Cadence felt an anger rising up inside of her. “You have been lying to me, for twenty years of my life…” Spindle nodded and began to shy away. “All so that you could foalnap me, and hold me against my will, while your leader steals away the love of my LIFE!” Her wings shot open in anger.

“I didn’t think you would get hurt…” Spindle replied. “I thought we were just going to try and…”

“Try and what?”

Spindle backed away. “I thought we would be trying to capture Celestia… That way we could feed without needing to steal and worry about anything…”

Cadence glared at the Changeling, internally debating whether it was telling the truth or not. “What do you mean, feed without stealing?”

Spindle looked up at the Alicorn. “W-We Changelings need Love to survive… It’s how we eat… Without it, we’ll just slowly die… The only way we can get it is to take it from a couple.”

Cadence’s wings folded back to her side. “You mean… You did this all for food?”

Spindle looked unsure of how to answer. “We have plenty of Love stored… But the Queen wanted to take care of Celestia… She kept saying that this is the best possible course for the Hive…”

Cadence looked at the Unicorn curiously. “You mean… You didn’t just do it for power?”

Spindle looked at her in confusion. “Power? No… I don’t want power… Who told you that?”

“Your Queen.” Cadence replied. “She said that she was only doing this for the power she would gain from Celestia and Shining Armor… If she didn’t tell you than…”

“Queen Chrysalis… She… She’s doing this… For herself…” Spindle repeated, she looked at the ground in disbelief. “But… She said we needed to…”

Cadence watched as the disguised Changeling picked up the figurine off the ground and turned it to face her. “How much of what you told me was a lie?” Cadence asked.

“A lot of it…” Spindle replied. “I’m not from Manehatten, I don’t have any parents, and I never lived in an orphanage… I’ve lived in the hive my whole life…”

Cadence bent down and picked up the carving Spindle left inside her cell. “What about your art?”

“None of that was fake…” Spindle replied. “I love making things. But the Hive sees it as weak… Oh Chrysalis, what have I done!” She placed her hooves over her head as she laid on the ground. “I just helped the Queen ruin the life of one of my best Friends!”

Cadence watched the Unicorn curl up on the ground. “I didn’t want to hurt anypony… I swear!”

Cadence sighed. “Spindle… It might not be too late.”

“What do you mean? Of course it is!” Spindle stood up and began pacing. “Chrysalis has already taken your place and we only have another day to get everything sorted out before the attack and your wed-” Spindle’s eyes widened. “She’s going to attack during your wedding!” Spindle exclaimed. “Oh… What are we going to do? I don’t want to be held responsible for overthrowing a nation. Not if everything the Queen told me was false. Oh… I’m never going to be able to live with myself…”

Cadence let Spindle get her panic out of her for a few minutes before speaking again. “Spindle…”

Spindle looked back at Cadence.

“Do you think you could find a way out of here?” Cadence asked. “A way for us to get back up to Canterlot?”

“We wouldn’t be able to get there in time!” Spindle said. “We would need to walk around the whole mountain then ascend the mountain! That’s at least a two days trip!”

Cadence looked at the ground for a moment. “Do you think there is a way to cut through the mountain, maybe by using the cave systems?”

Spindle stopped. “I… I think so…”

“Do you think you could get me out of here?” Cadence asked.

Spindle looked at the cage; it was sealed with the same type of membrane she had gotten fairly used to in her time since she began making the pods. It wouldn’t take too long to remove it. “I… Think so… Just… Give me a minute… I don’t want to do anything irrational…” Spindle sat down on the floor and began thinking through her situation.

She had to make a choice, stay with the Hive, the group that had pushed her down almost her entire life, but helped her grow… Or Choose to help Equestria, and stop her own Queen before she destroyed their greatest weapon forever. Either way… Someone was going to hate her afterwards.

“Please, Spindle…” Cadence said. “If not just for me… Then think about what would happen to Equestria, the place that you need to survive as well.”

Spindle looked at Cadence, her mind buzzing with thought. If Chrysalis succeeded, she would possibly cut off all the food supply they would ever get, they would starve unless they found a new source of love. But If Equestria was still around, sure it would be hard… But they would endure… Right?

Spindle took a deep breath, and reached for her pendant around her neck. She sighed. “I know I’m going to regret this…”

Author's Notes:

And So it begins...
The events of the Invasion will be out much sooner than the rest of them have been coming out. I hope you guys are enjoying it.