The Changelings of Manehattan

Clover was currently stretched out on his belly. The king sized bed was more than enough to accompany him, even with his wings extended to their full length. He felt more relaxed than he had been in many, many years. Possibly even centuries.

That wasn't to say that he wasn't still worried. After finally having escaped from the dreaded Mama Pancake, he ran all over the city trying to find where Onyx had disappeared to. For several hours he searched, he even enlisted some help, but found himself unable to find any sign of the elusive teen.

"You're making that face again," said Blossomforth as she kneaded her hooves into one of Clover's outstretched wings. "I told you, he's fine. We just heard back from one of grandmother's old guards. It sounds like he bumped into Onyx while he was out fishing. I tell you, the colt is fine."

"Besides," Cloud Kicker continued from the opposite side where she was working the other wing. "You said yourself that he's smart enough to take care of himself." She went back to preening the golden feathers beneath her, a task she seemed to be enjoying a little too much.

"Yeah, but I still wish I had at least shown him how to hail a cab," Clover lamented. "He probably saw them running the streets and thought they were silly. Which they would be," he added. "If the ponies pulling them weren't so good at navigating the fog."

"Well don't you worry about it for another moment," said Blossomforth. "He'll turn up sooner or later and... Cloudy..." She trailed off as her attention was directed elsewhere. "What are you doing?"

"I can't help it," she said as she continued nuzzling into the fur at the base of his wing. "He just smells so good."

"You promised me you'd behave yourself," Blossomforth snapped as she climbed over Clover and tried to pull Cloud Kicker off of him. All that accomplished was for the jasmine mare to hold on tighter to the stallion, who was now finding himself in a bit of an awkward spot.

"Come on, Cloudy," Blossomforth huffed, finding herself no match for the pegasus's strength. "He's been getting enough of that downstairs. We're trying to help him relaaaaax!!!"

That last word came out more like a squeal as something wrapped itself around the candy-striped mare's hind leg, just before whipping her off the bed and into the air.

The sound of genuine panic was more than enough to sober up the other girl. She rolled off the bed and was just barely able to dodge the other vine making a grab for her.

Clover scrambled to push himself back up. Despite just having two mares wrestling on top of him, he really had gotten quite relaxed and it took a moment before his body wanted to answer his command. He felt a slight tingling sensation against his wings as he folded them up, and he turned around just in time to see some black dust pepper the sheets around him. It took another moment for his eyes to focus in on his surroundings, and in that time, Cloud Kicker lost the fight against the strange intruder. She now found herself hoisted in the air and dangling beside a distraught Blossomforth, who had managed to lose a hold of her transformed state, leaving a white-backed changeling in her place.

"What are these things?" Both of them loudly protested. They kicked and bucked at the black vines littered with bright blue thorns, but all their struggles earned them was to end up further entangled in the strange plants.

Clover looked curiously at the vines littering the floor. Even though it had coiled in on itself like a snake, he could still make out the burnt ends from where it had apparently tried to catch him as well.

He experimentally reached a hoof towards it, a hunch building in his mind that could not go ignored. No sooner had he started reaching for it, then it recoiled away from him.

"Clover?!" Shouted Blossomforth in a high-pitched buzz. "What are you doing?"

Instead of answering, he tried to pounce on the retreating herbage. It soon became apparent that the vines really didn't want him touching them. They twisted and snapped and began throwing small bits of furniture at him, but eventually Clover managed to pin one of the tendrils down. The moment he touched it, the vine went slack as it began to hiss and smolder before crumpling to dust.

After that, it was short affair to free the girls from their bonds. They did their best to shake off the remains of the dead vines as they took in the damages dealt to the room.

"What exactly was that?" Asked Cloud Kicker as she began following the trail of ash to an open window.

"Nevermind that," said Blossomforth as she looked at Clover. "What did you do to it? I thought you said your magic wasn't working."

"It isn't," admitted Clover. "Not outside simple levitation anyway. It's been like that ever since the Crystal Empire." He looked down at his hoof. He only had to touch it for it to fall apart. That didn't make any sense. Unless...

"Everypony! Come look!" Shouted Cloud Kicker. "Something's wrong with the sky."

The others moved to join her at the window. What they saw when they got there left them completely speechless.

The sky had been split in two, like someone had taken both the day and night skies and sewn them together. And hanging there for all the world to see, were both the sun and the moon.

Once the fog had cleared, Onyx was once again able to find his way through the city. He didn't make it far before he realized that something was wrong. The ground began trembling, and ponies were running back and forth as their strange carts were tossed around and flipped to their sides.

Vines shot up out of the ground around him, breaking the pavement as one of them just barely missed him. He broke into a gallop as another made a grab for him. As he dodged, a collective gasp from the ponies nearby caught his attention as he saw them pointing towards the sky. He turned his head to look and his jaw dropped when he saw what they were pointing at.

The sky wasn't supposed to be doing that, was it? Clover taught him about how the sun and the moon were controlled by the princesses and he had plenty of opportunity to watch them do so while they were all still back in the Crystal Empire. However, nothing explained why both celestial bodies would be visible at the same time.

His ponderings were interrupted as something wrapped around his hind leg and hoisted him into the air. The sudden shift in position left him feeling dazed as his cloak fell up around his head and he was stuck with only having a view of the ground beneath him. He wrestled the cloth out of the way and craned back to look at the thing grabbing him.

He tried to wrench himself free with his magic. Not only did it not have any effect, but it also seemed to attract the other vines nearby. He quickly switched tactics as the white glow from his horn began to conjure a dark crystal beside him. With a force of will, he shaped and sharpened the crystal into a makeshift blade.

Seeming satisfied, Onyx took a firm hold of his creation and used his magic to swing it down at the tether. He met resistance at first, but after pushing a little harder, the black blade passed on through with a meaty slurp.

Free of his restraint, he tumbled to the ground in a heap. He quickly straightened the cloak that had fallen around his head, while making sure to keep his weapon at the ready for anything else that made a move on him.

No longer seeming completely helpless, the remaining vines seemed to lose interest in him as they ventured towards the rest of the city in their quest to find something to latch on to.

Once his breathing was back under control, he looked back up at the split sky. If anyone could tell him what that meant, it would be Master Clover. The grey unicorn turned and galloped as fast as he could, working his way through the crowded streets as he continued to avoid the creeping vines and the chaos they were stirring up. He now had no problem seeing the hotel in the distance, but getting there was going to be its own problem.

Onyx might've run right past them had he not recognized them. But he screeched to a halt in front of a vine-laden diner surrounded by a bunch of young ponies dressed the same as himself.

"What are yous doin here," came an unfriendly sounding voice. A familiar earth pony broke off from the rest of the gang to meet him.

"Chocolate Chip," said Onyx, making said pony cringe at the name. "What's happening in the city."

"This don't concern yous," Chip sneered. "And it's Waffles to you. Only my mama calls me Chocolate Chip." He stood directly in front of Onyx, preventing him from getting closer to the building. He seemed to be studying the unicorn with a newfound apprehension. "Quartz told us what who you are and what yous did." His face softened slightly as he paused. "And who that pony I keep seeing yous with is supposed to be. She's been through enough already, so yous best stay away from her."

Onyx recoiled at the accusation, but then he blanched as he latched onto something Waffles had said. "Quartz?! Is she trapped inside?!"

"Not your problem," said Waffles.

One of the unicorns in Waffles' gang stepped away from the building and the ineffective fire spell they had been using. They looked tired, like they had been at it for a while, but weren't any closer to getting through. "Waffles' Mama and Quartz are trapped inside," she said. "Nothing works on these vines. If you know something that'll work..."

"Hey!" Waffles cut her off. "We don't need his help."

"We're not any closer to getting inside," she argued back. "If Onyx can help, you should let him."

The earth pony grumbled something inaudible before coming to a decision. "Fine," he said, not completely fine with the situation. He turned back to Onyx, who had already moved to the front door of the diner. "Hey!" He shouted. "Who said you could get near there."

Onyx ignored the protests as he bit down and pulled one of the ends away from the tangle of vines that filled the doorway. Once he had pulled a decent amount free from the bundle, he pulled his makeshift knife out from beneath his cloak and brought it down on the offending vine.

A collective gasp escaped the gathered ponies as they watched the remains squirm in Onyx's grip before going slack. After that, they wasted no time as everyone rushed forward to find their own vines to grab a hold of. By tooth or by magic, many of the vines were pulled free and taut. One by one, Onyx's blade came down, leaving the remains bunched on the ground like so much inky spaghetti.

"How are yous doin that?" Said Waffles in astonishment as Onyx hacked his way to the door. There was no doubt that he didn't want Onyx anywhere near the crystal pony, but it seemed he had decided to set that aside for now.

Onyx didn't slow down as they finally cleared the front door. "Black crystals absorb magic as well as light," he said. "These vines are clearly magical in nature."

"Alright," he said as they managed to free some of the ponies trapped inside. "Why are yous doin this though?" He asked as he narrowed his eyes at the grey unicorn. "Don't think she'll be happy to see you."

Onyx paused for a moment as he considered his actions. Why was he doing this? Was he expecting some sort of gratitude? He wasn't completely sure why it mattered so much to him, all he knew was... "Because I need to," he said resolutely. "I won't let a single crystal pony come to harm if I can help it."

"Alright," said the other teen. It seems he wasn't going to get more of an answer than that. "Onyx..." he changed the subject as he trailed off, he sounded a bit nervous. "Dat pony I keep seein' yous with. Is he really..."

"I can introduce you to Master Clover once this is all over," Onyx interrupted. "After everypony is safe."

The state of the kitchen was just as bad as the rest of the diner. The same black vines tangled around every corner, wrapping around tables and suspended various tools. With as torn up as the place was, it was more of a surprise that a fire hadn't started up by now.

Their attention was drawn to a single corner where the vines had gathered around two forms. One of them layed unconscious on the floor while the other one, Quartz herself from the looks of it, was doing her best to ward off the intruding plant life. She didn't see them come in, since she was far too focused on the strange mawed flower that had sprouted up amidst the vines.

"Is the city always this exciting?" Onyx asked as a loud clang filled their ears from the frying pan that Quartz had just smacked the flower with.

"Quartz!" Shouted Waffles when he saw her fighting off the plant. "Are you ok? What happened to mama?"

The crystal pony stole a quick look in their direction, but if she had any displeasure to express from seeing Onyx there, she was too focused on staying alive to say anything. "Mama Pancake is alright, she just hit her head."

The flower looked like it was getting ready to swoop in again. Onyx didn't want to give it a chance to hurt anyone else as he launched his blade at it. The weapon easily pierced the magical flower and its weight carried through to staple it to a nearby wall. He breathed a little easier when it stopped moving and he turned his attention to the pony who now had her full attention on him. He could see traces of the fear in her eyes, but unlike before, she now seemed conflicted after being saved by him.

They relaxed a bit too early as a second flower rose up behind Quartz. Onyx rushed forward and shoved her out of the way just as a green mist sprayed out of the flower's mouth. He took it right in the face and instantly found himself feeling groggy as whatever that mist had been worked its way into his lungs. He was fading fast and it took everything he had left just to summon a second weapon. He swung the fresh blade, trying to quickly end the fight while he could still stand. In his delirium, he just barely missed his mark and the weapon went skittering across the floor as he took a second blast of the mist at point blank.

The former prince's legs gave out and he collapsed to the floor. As he finally lost the fight to stay in the waking world, he was just barely able to make out Waffles cleaving the flower in half with his discarded weapon.