In Sheep's Clothing

by Kydois

Epilogue — The Letter

Chorion

I breathed out a hefty sigh. “The queen knew, somehow.”

Katydid just shook her head, her shoulders slumped. “Or she just guessed. What happened?”

“I lost track of her and she found Nymph, spiriting her off to do who-knows-what.” I brought a hoof up to my forehead, trying to rub away the impending headache. I still hadn’t gotten over it, even months after it happened, and having to explain it all to Katydid again now that she had returned was… straining. “Now we’re down a pretty big part of our plan.”

I looked down into my steaming teacup, still waiting for me to take a sip from it. “I just want to see her again. She didn’t deserve what we wanted to do with her.”

The room’s only other occupant nodded solemnly. “She was such a sweet child,” Katydid said before taking a deep breath. “So what do we do now?”

“I don’t know anymore,” I said, pushing the teacup away. “I’m not sure I want to try that same tactic again.”

“The queen would be more wary of future attempts as well,” she noted, her face impassive.

“But what else can we do?” I rested my head in my hooves. “We’ve gone through all of Mother’s notes. All we really got was a spell and a pile of research on some stupid crystal.”

“Maybe we should take a look at the spell again,” Katydid said with a half-hearted shrug. “Something about it does not sit right with me. It feels… incomplete, somehow.”

I furrowed my brow. “It does what it’s supposed to, right?”

“That it does, but… I am uncertain. My gut is telling me what we must have missed something, but I have no idea what.”

I sighed. “So we’re still at nothing.”

We sat there in silence. There had to be something else, but what?

“Broodmother Chorion, there is somepony at the front gate.”

I groaned. “Tell them we aren’t entertaining guests.”

“He’s saying he has something to deliver.”

Katydid and I exchanged a quick look, one that said that neither of us had any idea what this was about. “I don’t remember ordering anything,” I sent over the link. “Who is it for?”

There was a small pause. “He says it’s for Miss Chorion’s hooves only.”

My eyes widened.

“You have not revealed your true name to anyone outside of our hive, correct?” Katydid said as we rose in unison from our pillows.

“No way,” I replied. We were already out of the door and headed down the stairs. We had to move quick. This was already a serious breach of security. There was no reason anypony outside of the hive should know details like our names.

I pulled open the front door. There was no one there at the outer gate, but I did catch sight of a something sitting just inside our perimeter.

I stomped my hoof in frustration. He must have fled.

With a groan, I trotted over to the item left behind, which looked like it was…

I furrowed my brow as I picked it up. “Just a letter?”

Katydid came up behind me, looking down at the stationary in my magic. “Who is it from? Are there any markings?”

I turned it forward and back. “There’s our address, but the envelope’s from… Busy Bee?”

Katydid raised an eyebrow. “The shipping and goods acquisition company? I have used their service quite extensively in the past. Very exceptional work.”

“Okay, but how are they involved in this? The messenger must have known my name because it sure as Tartarus wasn’t written on the envelope itself.”

“I cannot be certain, but we will not find anything more out here,” she said, turning back to the house. “Come, let us get out of this cold air and open it up.”

“Yeah, yeah, alright,” I said, though I kept my eyes on the little gold-embossed icon of a bee on the pristine envelope. It was fancy. It was bold. There was a ceremonial air about it, as if it were an official invitation for some grand event, yet the sparse details on the envelope and the courier's use of a name that wasn’t known publicly implied secrecy.

Busy Bee… What could they want with us?

Author's Note:

So at long last, we finally come to the conclusion of the story I wanted to tell about Nymph. If you've stuck around all the way here, I am very much grateful that you've let my story take up so much of your time, and I hope it's been an enjoyable read!

Comments are very much welcomed and desired! I would love to hear everyone's thoughts about my story, good or bad, and it would be very helpful to know what worked and what didn't. Don't forget to vote too!

Thank you all very much!

Comments

[Bugsydor]

Thanks for sharing this story with all of us. Though I was a little annoyed at the chapters on mythological excerpts, everything else was quite engaging. I can't help but wonder what the future holds for this Overwatch, and for the True Chrysalis.

[lazyreader19]

Oh dang, didn't expect this to end that fast! Thought we were just due a regular update!

Well, not sure what to do with myself now, in super interested in seeing this continue though! We've reached the end but it still feels like just another beginning more than anything.

Thanks for the story and for giving us a few characters to obsess over. And a new AU headcanon

[Hazey Logic]

I see now why this needed to get completed before Ponyville's Tiny Librarian could get too far. This would just come out of left field if we didn't have this side story to explain when we get to the wedding.

[JazzyWaffles]

Busy Bee… What could they want with us?

AAAAH CLIFFHANGER

[Kydois]

9579700
I'm very much considering something of a "second season," maybe if this story gets a certain number of upvotes or trackings or something, but for now, I'm just considering what to write next and compiling some ideas for some of the stories that have yet to come to fruition, etc. In a sense, I wrote this thing knowing that many things would be up in the air because it started as a prequel to an existing story written by someone else about one of the side characters in that story. This is just the end of an arc, of Nymph's personal developments and victories, but there's still plenty of things that need to be resolved.

[MARS]

I'm upset that it's over. I really like Overwatch, your writing style, and worldbuilding. I hope you do more with her, but I'll be closely following whatever you decide to write

[prism heart]

Really nice, I hope for a sequel.

[Kryssi]

I did have to bribe some of the kidnapped guards with paid leave to keep quiet, but I believe we can trust them. As for the nobles, I simply told them that if they breathed a word of what had happened, I would personally audit their tax returns. That should be enough.”

Bribery and coercion, I thought that was beneath you Celestia :p

“Give her to us every three—no, every two days, and we should be good. I promise she will return in the same condition she came to us in.”

She raised an unamused eyebrow at me. “You are going to have to iron those details out with Cadence herself. You break it, you buy it,” she said, to which I rolled my eyes.

I'll admit I laughed at this way more than I should have - though wouldn't it be in any changeling's best interest to have a literal Princess of Food Love in their possession? (If anyone knows what fic the moniker "Princess of Food" comes from, I'd really appreciate it!)

I suppose I wasn't expecting the story to end so soon, since I was treating Chrysalis taking back the throne as the main climax as opposed to getting rid of the Myiasis threat. Actually, I was a bit worried you might have forgotten about the loose end with Chrysalis' original hive until I read the last chapter. But anyway...

I'll miss the fortnightly updates that I've been excited to see every time, where the actions have always been intriguing, the character development (especially with Nymph) relatable, and the amount of worldbuilding with the changelings engaging. But then again, I'm interested for what you've got planned in the future, like the Rampant Growth idea you're working on. Thank you for the ride!

[Kydois]

9579991
I was working independently of Commander for pretty much all of this story, so I had originally planned so that no matter what he did, this story would still work with his story. In the first outline, Crystal never learns that she was originally Chrysalis and she goes off with Lily to just live a new life and experience those things that she was never really able to do while leading a hive. Unfortunately, the story kinda took a life of its own and it's not necessarily the case anymore. While Celestia might not necessarily know what changelings are, at the end of this fic, she is at least aware of something else existing. Nymph, while she is a little special, is still basically a grunt in her hive and most of what happens here stays between her and Chrysalis.

Also, you've forgotten that Chrysalis's original hive is under the rule of someling else posing as Chrysalis, who is still very much capable of deciding to invade Canterlot. Chrysalis may not be invading Canterlot, but Requiem still might.

Who knows, maybe Chrysalis will... push things along, so to speak.

[Tanis]

It's always a little sad to see an excellent story reach it's end. Here's hoping for a sequel.

[Sirflysalot]

loved this
it made my day when this story popped up in my feed

[VanillaWaffle]

Great story all the way through. I hope you do more with Nymph as a character.

[MixMassBasher]

Sorry if I'm slow on whats happening at the ending but is Chorion Nymphs broodmother? And does that ending invitation implies that the real Chrysalis is trying to reach out to her old hive since Busy Bee is part of the hive she now controls?

I kinda forgot the beggining but was it actually Chorion that made Nymph be a scounter to uncover a conspiracy or something.

[Kydois]

9580476
Yes for the first question. You can re-read Chapter 15 for that information. I've left a lot of things in the details rather than explicitly stating them, so don't be afraid to make a few connections here or there. :P

[deathaanator]

That was a fine read. Just good through and through. Really happy that you came back and finished it. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with next.

[Pretty Feathers]

Loved it. Hoping to see more of Lily, Overwatch/Nymph, and Cyrstal/Chrysalis in the future. Even if the story doesn't center around them again

[Poet Knight]

Thanks for the journey!

[Midknight Defender]

So I'm seeing hope for a sequel in this epilogue, right? It's not just my imagination? Chryssie is contacting Chorion to get to work on ousting the fake Chryssie? Which she was apparently already working on, until Nymph got... "suddenly reassigned" and chaos happened?

[Billy123]

Great story, I hope there’s a sequel

[Kryssi]

I realized there was a potential loose end (other than the obvious one of "what happens next?") that I'm not sure if the story ever resolved: I don't think we ever found out exactly why Nymph was ordered to stay in Canterlot after the rest of Requiem's hive was to retreat. Was it Requiem continuing to subtly sabotage her, wanting her to die from her own recklessness, seeing that Nymph had skills that were dangerous to her hive? I think that would be a reasonable assumption after what Chorion says in the epilogue, though I suspect we may need to wait until the next arc.

9579988 To be fair, the original (pony) Overwatch never actually appears in the Twinyverse since that series happens after the events of this story... or as far as I can tell, having only read the first few chapters of that so far.

[Kydois]

9583738
>:^)

9585120
Oh yeah, that was one of the things that I had wanted to come back to, but there wasn't really a good spot to address it in the ending, so I just skipped it. No promises on a sequel yet, though I imagine it'll only cover the period prior to Nightmare Moon and may not really advance the Changeling plot much. There's still something that I think I want to try, but I'd have to reread Celestia's Tiny Student to see what happens in parallel to make sure it still works.

[BureYaAkili]

9586598
I know ill be waiting giddily for whatever comes next!

[ha41]

Great story. I enjoyed reading every chapter which is actually quite rare. Many stories on this site tend to have a couple good chapters until the author runs out of ideas and the story becomes boring. In this story every chapter felt unique. I hope you that we can read more from you in the future.

[Satto Kez]

Ok, i loved everything about this story.
I only just wish for more.
I must ask, i may have missed it somewhere but
Are you going to continue this story? Maybe not with Nymph but maybe follow the Siren? See whats going on with the letter?
Idk but i have so many questions and i want more XD
Hope you keep up the amazing work!

[Kydois]

9594529
Nymph's memory is spottier than most, although there's no real proof that she overheard that piece of information. She doesn't need to be that close to them to follow them with her empathy sense.

At least, that's how I thought of it when I wrote it :P

[Time Reaper]

I certainly liked this, since I wasn't aware of the Tiny LIbrarian, now I'll have to read that to see what else will happen in the future.

As someone who read this story on its own and with no connection to the others, I surely enjoyed this and loved the twist and turns you created. Best wishes for any future project you decide to write.

[Alondro]

9580023 But soon after that, they all turn into Skittles Bugs and become totally lame, then nopony cares anymore.

[NeccAnon]

9598908
Same here. I had no idea this was a prequel or that it was connected to any other stories until people mentioned it in the comments here.

This whole thing was pretty fantastic, even without knowing the larger story context. It seemed as if I could see your writing style shifting and developing as the story went on--some of the earlier chapters seemed a bit oddly worded to me at times, but as the story progressed your writing really improved. I'd imagine binging this story (as I have) may have given me a different view of it as opposed to those who've been following since the beginning.

Nonetheless, I'm going to try reading all the stories connected to this one. Excellent work here.

[Kydois]

9598908, 9638806
It's good to hear that this story stood up well on its own. I very intentionally kept any connections to other stories out of my descriptions if only because I didn't want to give the impression that the other story was a prerequisite to my own story, and I plan on keeping it that way for the sequel as well. Celestia's Tiny Student is a decent story on its own, but the atmosphere of each story is different, and not everyone who likes his story may like mine and vice versa. I think mine is just a little darker and grittier, but I can't be certain since a lot of my writing tics also appear in his fic throughout my extensive edits.

The change in my style was more likely due to the two-year hiatus than me getting much better. I don't believe my writing style changed all that much, though I at least moved away from the jumble that is chapter one. I didn't have the story planned all that well at that point, and once I remade everything following the hiatus, I had a much clearer goal and set points to nail down. Having a map of where to go was a great boon in focusing my writing and bringing up important information at appropriate spots, I feel.

[Gordon_Freemane]

Just finished this story and man what a ride! Bravo! I'll have to keep my eye on you, wouldn't want to miss a sequel!

[Marker]

What a phenomenal story! A few things I want to say in no particular order:

• I really like Nymph's abilities and skill set. Her memory spell is simple in concept and yet very versatile in its usage, couple that with her ability to hide her emotions from other changelings made the latter infiltration parts of the story very enjoyable to read, even just for the satisfaction and irony of seeing the changelings, the race normally responsible for infiltration and subterfuge, have the tables turned on them instead.
• I love the group dynamic of Nymph, Lily, and Crystal. I can only hope we'll get to see more of the trio in whatever sequel you have planned.
• I'm very glad that we get to see a bit of the narrative from Lily's POV. Her inner thoughts shows her to be just a little bit more calculating than the outward happy-go-lucky demeanor she usually projects. And the little glimpse into merpony culture is a nice additional bit of worldbuilding.
• The reveal of Crystal's origin: I could see the groundwork and hints you put into the earlier parts of the story and the efforts spent in keeping her identify ambiguous, and in general it was fairly well done. Unfortunately, I feel you had given just a bit too much information away in Chapter 10, as after that I became fairly certain of her true identity and makes any subsequent hints easier to spot.
  
  Specifically, it's to do with revealing Chrysalis' plans for open relations with Equestria. That bit of info makes it easy for the readers to know where to place Requiem and Chrysalis in the Good Guys/Bad Guys camp. And since we've also had the opportunity experience Crystal's POV and know her a little, it's not hard to connect her to the right changeling.
  
  Instead, I feel it would work much better if Chrysalis' plans was part of the twist in Chapter 27. By keeping her goal ambiguous, first time readers of Chapter 10 could easily be misled into thinking that Chrysalis is vying for the invasion of Canterlot, and that Requiem is in opposition to it.

[Kichi]

After some months, managed to read it... It was good, Wonder what is coming next in her perspective

[Razzy]

That was fun~ Hopefully we'll see what happened later.

Too tired to write more, binged it up until 4:30 am. @.@

[HorseWordFan]

Oh, this so needs a sequel of some kind!

[Backlash91]

Wait...that's it? There isnt more? This last chapter feels like it's not the end...IS there more?

Is there a sequel? A prequel?

[Teraunce]

This had some very nice highs, and also came very close to cut onion territory in some places. I really hope you eventually do a sequel.

[AF FireFly]

10140503

9993631

9929130

So, if I'm getting my universes right, this fic ties into CommanderX5's Tiny Twilight universe where a certain familiar character is present...

[Teraunce]

10163515
yes, and no. It's technically a prequel from what I understand set well before that series.

[HorseWordFan]

10163515
Yep. Though it's more prequel than sequel.

[Spellflame]

9640575
Is this backstory cannon?

[Kalmeira]

9579892
The only place I have seen the "princess of food" is "The Moons Apprentice".

[Twilight_Shimmer]

So I have finished reading this brilliant work and I have to ask. Is this a Canon Prequel to Celestia's Tiny Student? if it is canon that would be SO awesome!

[Lonelyboi69]

Stories like this make me regret taking a glance at title pages and just stuffing it on my "read later" page.
This story was such a banger, I honestly wish I had just read it the second I saw it instead of waiting several years and then re-discovering it on my read later. Man that was a good read, definitely on my top 10 list for best changeling stories.

[Teraunce]

11231052
The way I read the spell worked is Nymph basically copied Overwatch's soul and merged it with her own all willy-nilly with the Overwatch part manifesting as a visual hallucination whenever her talent came into play. I mean there has to be a reason the cover art features Nymph with Overwatch's cutie mark.

[Zanec]

A fairly good story.