The whistle blared as the train pulled into the Manehattan station. Manehattan, the city that never slept, the city where ponies went hoping to hit it big, and the one that saw more than its fair share of shady characters. So when three unicorns garbed in matching green cloaks stepped off the train, the other ponies stepped aside to give them a wide berth.

"Spectrum," said the tallest in their group when he saw how everyone was looking at them. "I think we've been noticed."

"Geez, Clover. I wonder why?" Said the second figure from beneath a mask, their voice dripping with sarcasm. "It's not like we just stepped off a train while looking like we're part of some cult." Spectrum took a moment to readjust his mask, making sure it was secure. They couldn't do anything about the curved horn that poked out from the center of the disguise, but at least the rest of his features were covered. "I hate this," he grumbled. "I feel so exposed without my magic."

"I don't believe I understand this plan of yours, Master Clover," said the youngest of their group. "Aren't we likely to attract unwanted attention if we act suspiciously?"

"Oh we definitely will, Onyx," said Clover as he shook out his shoulders, a small golden feather shaking itself free from beneath his cloak with the motion. "But nothing travels faster than bad news and any underworld types will take a moment to assess us before making any moves. Speaking of which," he looked over to Spectrum. "Find any of them yet?"

The changeling lifted his nose and took a deep breath, exposing a bit of the dark green chitin that hid beneath his disguise. "Their smell is all over the place," he shook his head. "I won't be able to pinpoint them until they start to make their move."

"And what if the city guards find us first?" Onyx looked around nervously.

"They're called police," said Spectrum as he gave up trying to sniff out their targets. "And if they give us too much trouble, we can always have our local archmage talk us out of trouble."

"I rather not," said Clover as he looked to see if anyone heard him. "And keep your voice down. I don't know how it is now, but back when Starswirl held the title, the only position higher is that of the princesses themselves. We're more likely to scare them off if they catch wind of it."

"Ok, fine," said the masked changeling. "But we're still gonna need to find a place to stay low while they find us. Any ideas?"

Clover opened his mouth to answer, but his stomach answered first. A low rumble shook the building silence between them, leaving the alicorn to look embarrassed as he held a hoof to his stomach.

"Maybe we should find some food," suggested Onyx.

It didn't take long to find someplace to eat. Fortunately, Manehattan had more than its fair share of fast food joints. Onyx was more than a little impressed by how convenient the whole setup was, places like this didn't exist back a thousand years ago.

*Chomp Chomp Chomp* *Slurp*

Onyx was not, however, impressed by Master Clover's table manners. The portions on his plate were a little too big, even for a pony his size, as Clover continued to chow down on his meal. Since they arrived, Clover had consumed five hayburgers, three servings of fries, two shakes, and the better part of a pumpkin pie, and not just one of those tiny ones either. More than one of the other patrons in the Mc-Derby's had noticed the trio and the... enthusiastic stallion among them as he continued to scarf down enough calories for an entire hoofball team.

"Um... Master?" Onyx was more than just a little afraid to talk to him as he tore into his sixth hayburger. "Are you well?"

Clover raised his eyebrows as he looked in confusion at his student. "What do you mean?"

A snort came from beneath Spectrum's mask. "You didn't even notice, did you?"

"Notice what?" He said as he took another large bite, barely chewing it before it went down his throat.

"That's your sixth hayburger," he jabbed. "Ponies don't normally eat that much."

Clover's eyes went wide when he finally realized what the problem was. He set the half eaten hayburger back down and then looked with astonishment at the empty wrappings left over from his ravenous appetite. "Horsefeathers," he cursed. "I didn't even notice."

Spectrum began to laugh heartily, his fangs peeking out from below his mask for a moment. "So this must be that legendary alicorn metabolism you told me about. You weren't exaggerating when you told me how much you used to eat."

Clover went a bit flush at the jab as he grabbed the edges of his cloak with his magic and pulled them tight around himself. His embarrassment had almost invoked the reaction that many pegasi have, and apparently him now as well, of their wings broadcasting how they're feeling. The things had a mind of their own sometimes and he hadn't quite gotten used to having them again.

He was about to snap back at Spectrum when someone else stepped up to their table. It was another unicorn with a white coat and blue mane, but what stood out the most was the dark blue uniform and golden badge he wore.

"Is something wrong, officer?" Asked Clover, feeling a bit self-conscious about the ravenous display he had been putting on.

"You ponies from out of town?" Asked the unicorn as he eyed all three of them.

"We just got off the train a little bit ago," Spectrum said casually while trying to keep the trill of his voice down.

He hadn't kept it down well enough as the officer's ears picked up on the verbal tick. "You comin' down with somethin'?" He asked.

Spectrum faced away and gave a weak cough, "something like that."

"Mmm hmm," the officer nodded along as he looked them all over again. "Looks like its just a bunch of tourists," he said under his breath.

"I'm sorry?" Clover's ears perked up at the comment.

"Don't mind me," the unicorn waved away the comment. "You folks seem harmless enough. I was just checking in on reports of a couple of Cloaks stirrin up trouble."

"Cloaks?" Onyx chirped up, having been quiet this whole time. "Master Clover, is there something wrong with how we're dressed?"

"Based on the context," Clover rubbed at his chin. "Would I be correct in assuming that the Cloaks are some kind of street gang?"

"Yep," said the first officer. "Bunch of hooligans 'round this part of the city. Causin' a lot of trouble and are all dressed the same as you lot. However you both look too old to be part of their gang," he shot a look between Clover and Spectrum before looking over to Onyx. "However," he said. "You look like you're just young to be one of them. Shouldn't you be in school?"

Onyx seemed to take offense at the statement as he jumped up from the table, startling several other passers-by. "Young?! I'll have you know I came of age recently."

A bubbling snort came from Clover's direction as the milkshake he had just reached for almost came out his nose. His eyes started to water as he levitated over a napkin to wipe his face. "I knew I forgot something," he said through a strained cry as he stopped choking. "Onyx," he said as he got the attention of his student. "Calm yourself. It changed over the last thousand years. It's eighteen now, not fourteen."

Onyx looked a bit flush as he realized how much he just thoroughly embarrassed himself with his outburst. He turned to face the officer and quickly bowed his head in apology. "Forgive me, constable. I spoke out of turn," he said only to get a puzzled look.

"Officer," Clover corrected.

"Officer," he quickly amended , earning himself a grin from the pony this time.

"No offense taken," the unicorn said. "And don't worry about it. Usually it's just the crystal ponies we see on occasion that get it wrong. Bad business those folks had to deal with, being trapped in the snow for a thousand years with only a mad king for company. Are you from somewhere just as remote then?"

Onyx grew really quiet as he sat back down. He slowly nodded his consent, but it was clear that the question had unsettled him.

The reaction wasn't lost on the officer as Clover placed a hoof on Onyx's shoulder. Clover looked up at him and said, "you'll have to forgive my student. He spent the last thousand years trapped along with the rest of the crystal ponies."

"Oh?" The unicorn raised an eyebrow. "Oh..." It sunk in the rest of the way. "Sorry about that, lad," he said awkwardly. "Anyway, if you folks need any help, just ask for Officer Special Case, I'm pretty well known around here." He took one last look at their outfits. "If you're gonna wear anything though, I would recommend you find somethin' else. You don't want to be attracting the wrong kind of attention, if you catch my meaning."

"Thank you, officer" said Clover as he gave him a polite nod. "We'll be careful."

They all watched as Special Case made his way out. Clover slumped back in his seat and looked down at his half eaten meal, his appetite having departed during the exchange. "What are the chances?" He said at last. "What are the chances that the one city we come to has a street gang that dresses the same way I have for years." He looked at his two companions, who didn't seem to care about their wardrobe as much, and noticed that Onyx was still looking particularly withdrawn. He reached out a comforting hoof and placed it on Onyx's shoulder.

The youth flinched at the contact and it wasn't until he looked up to see Clover looking at him that he relaxed. "Does it ever get easier?" He asked as he started to shake. "I know you said I couldn't help it, but... I still had to watch... Watch that thing use my own body as he tore all those lives apart." He narrowed his eyes as he pressed his hooves together like he was trying to crush a small bug. "Watch as my own mother was shattered and her remains ground into dust."

Clover reached out and before Onyx had a chance to protest, pulled him into a tight hug. "The fault is not solely your own," Clover consoled. "I was chasing after ghosts when I should've been there to stop you. My friend, Starswirl is gone. I just have to accept that now. I'm not going to let anything like that happen again."

"Thank you, master," he said as he started to look a bit uncomfortable with the attention.

Clover looked up to see Spectrum staring blankly at open space. The changeling was being unusually quiet all of a sudden. He usually wouldn't have missed an opportunity to take a cheap shot unless... "Is everything alright?" Clover whispered in a barely audible sound.

Spectrum leaned forward and stole one of Clover's fries in an over the top manner. "They're making their move," he said while pretending to eat the overly greasy morsel. "At least two of them are big wigs."

Onyx had his breathing under control by this point, "why does it matter what's on their heads?"

That earned a facehoof from the other two, followed by a round of laughter. "Just give it time, my student," said Clover as he pushed himself away from his seat. "You'll catch on to all this odd jargon eventually."

Onyx tilted his head in confusion. "What's jargon?" He asked.

They left the Mc-Derby's in a silent hurry and quickly made their way away from the more populated parts of the city and into a back alley. Normally, this would be the way to draw trouble to yourself. Unless that was your goal in the first place.

"How far away are they?" Clover asked Spectrum once they were alone again.

"They're keeping their distance," he said as he looked around. "I picked up the scent of a third guard. Things will get really interesting if a fourth one shows up."

"So what's so special about these guards?" Said Onyx as he started jumping at shadows.

"Changeling guards are tied more closely to their queen than the others," Clover began explaining. "It makes them much stronger, and often smarter, than a drone. However, it comes at a cost."

"When you say cost," Onyx inquired. "What do you..."

"Hey!" They heard a voice call out to them. "Yous the ponies that think you can be movin' in on our turf?"

They turned around to face the owner of the voice. At the mouth of the alley stood several ponies that couldn't have been much older than Onyx was. What stood out was that each and every one of them was wearing a raggedy green cloak.

Clover let out an exhausted sigh as he looked over to his changeling companion. "Please don't tell me that's them."

Spectrum shook his head. "No," he said. "They're close though, probably watching us right now, waiting to see what we do."

"Hey!" Shouted the apparent leader of the gang approaching them. "Don't think yous can be ignorin' us. Yous gotta lot of nerve wanderin' our territory while wearin' our colors. However," he said as he appraised them. "If yous were lookin to join us, that might be a different story."

Clover looked back down to his side, his own cloak was in much better shape than what the others were wearing. However it wasn't too much of a stretch to see how their clothes might give others the wrong impression. He looked over to Onyx, thinking the youth needed to let off steam after how down he'd been feeling. "Onyx," he said, quickly getting his attention. "Would you like to tell them that we don't want what they're selling?"

Onyx simply looked back at him in confusion and it took a moment for Clover to realize his mistake. He facehoofed before correcting himself. "Would you inform that we aren't interested in joining their gang?"

His student still looked confused, but for a different reason this time. "Are you sure?" He asked nervously. "They don't appear to be the sort of individuals that would leave peacefully."

"If they feel the need to get violent, don't be afraid to defend yourself. Just don't hurt them too badly," Clover said with a grin. "Besides, you've been a bit on edge lately and this might be a good chance to relieve some stress."

Onyx smiled a real smile for the first time that day as he stepped away to meet the aggressors. Once he was out of earshot range, Clover leaned over to Spectrum and whispered, "think this'll be enough to make our silent observers realize we're not part of the same group?"

Spectrum looked a bit worried. "It should," he said. "But are you sure that Onyx can take care of himself against so many?"

"He can take care of himself, but just in case, Onyx?!" He called out, getting everyone's attention all at once. "Don't be too rough with them! They look like they bruise easily!"

To call what happened next an actual fight would've been far too generous. The ones that had approached them were quickly spurred to action when they took Clover's words as an insult. Hooves we're thrown, feathers went flying as wings were batted, and random spells were tossed around in their general direction.

However for Onyx's part, he barely batted an eye as a white aura wrapped itself around his horn. Stray bits of granite and crystal that made up the pavement beneath their hooves shot into the air, quickly grounding the offending flyers as the debris pelted them from below. Onyx had bodily intercepted the thrown spells, some of which had been aimed at his two companions. His crystal pony heritage shown through as the poorly constructed spells ricocheted off his coat to harmlessly embed themselves in the walls of the alley.

The only one who had managed to give the former prince any difficulty was the earth pony at the head of the gang. He had waited patiently and watched while his companions had moved first. Once he had assessed Onyx's abilities, he charged in, easily dodging his comrades as they either fell from the sky or tripped over the black crystals that were sprouting up under their hooves.

Before Onyx had a chance to realize what was happening, the earth pony was barely a pace away when he leapt at him. Onyx tossed up a quick pillar in his path only to have his opponent kick off the obstacle and quickly change directions while still in the air. A laugh escaped him as he effortlessly used his momentum to bring him eye to eye with the gray coated teen.

The moment stretched on as the cream colored colt faced off against Onyx. His opponent's hood falling back to reveal a black patch of fur covering the side of face as his blue eyes met Onyx's green ones. A smile played across his face as his ashen mane blew in the city winds.

As much fun as the two ponies were having, it couldn't last forever.

"A fourth one just showed up," reported Spectrum. "They're making their move."

Author's Note

Officer Special Case was modeled after a friend of mine. He doesn't use this site but he does know about the OC I made of him.