The Changelings of Manehattan

The next few months in the camp were mostly uneventful. Sure, they had their occasional timberwolf or lumbermoose wander in, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle as the changelings and ponies built a new home for themselves. The only time they had a real problem was when heavy rainfall caused the lake that bordered their settlement to overflow and flood their settlement. This caused most of the new homes to fall apart due to their poor construction.

The hive mind had never really been the same after the night of the Ursa attack, when Mother almost died at the hooves of Clover. She could only keep it active for short spurts, in the event that there was some sort of emergency to deal with. It tended to leave her completely exhausted, so everyone did their best to cope without it. As a result, the remnants of her hive had been taking after the ponies more and more every day. Most of them were now fairly fluent in the ponies' language and they tended to stay disguised round the clock. A few undisguised individuals would occasionally be seen running around, but they were usually the few remaining young changelings that had just finished their metamorphosis into drones, and giving their caretakers no end of trouble.

Clear Shores, Mother of The Hive, had followed the example of her children and taken on the appearance of a milky blue pegasus. She gingerly made her way through their small town, burdened as she was by the exceptionally large egg still growing inside her. She expected that she might have another month before she'd be forced to retreat to her chambers, where she'd lay this one last egg, protecting it until her heir could fend for herself. But until then, she wanted to move around as much as her body would allow.

As for Clover, he surprised them all when he decided to stay. Everyone had expected him to leave after the night he spent with the changeling queen, providing her with the heir she so desperately needed. When anyone was brave enough to voice the question, the only answer they got from the unusual unicorn was that he needed time to think before moving on. However, when Shores pressed him further behind closed doors, he couldn't deny that he was a bit curious about the child he helped sire.

However, he didn't just sit still while he waited. After one too many houses fell apart due to the poor tools and building materials, and finding out that no one knew the first thing about smithing, Clover busied himself with setting up a forge. Rough-cut logs and resin worked great if they only needed temporary lodgings, but it was a sorry substitute compared to what they could do with proper tools and some good old-fashioned nails.

"Son of a griffon's left nut!" Cursing, followed by the sound of something metallic hitting the ground, came from said forge. Clover may have been the only one among them that had the first idea about how to work metal, but that didn't mean he was necessarily good at it.

Shores sighed as she altered her path in order to check on the accident-prone stallion. This wasn't the first time he had hurt himself during his daily tasks and she doubted it would be the last. If anything, how fast he healed probably didn't help with how clumsy he could actually...

She was pulled away from her idle thoughts by... something. She couldn't really tell what it was, but something suddenly felt really weird about the day she was having. It was like something had changed, but she couldn't tell what. She looked around, unsure of what had alerted her. Was it just her imagination? It was a day just like any other. It was a hot, humid day, and there was a slight breeze that did little to calm the angry sun that always beat down on them.

Clear Shores peered up at the sky, noticing that the light of the sun didn't feel near as intense as it usually did. At first she thought it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but the more she breathed in the afternoon air, the more calming it felt. Unable to shake the feeling, she jogged the rest of the short distance to the smithy and threw the door open to find Clover just as she expected she would, hunched over while cradling a rapidly healing broken hoof.

He looked up to meet her gaze, the last drops of blood that stained his coat already flaking away. "You'd figure I'd eventually get better at this," he complained like someone who had done little more than trip over their own hooves.

She giggled at his complaints. "Well everypony's still impressed you even managed to set this place up in the first place." She glanced around his small workshop, noticing the various tools had had crafted since starting. "You're really sure you've never done this before?"

Clover nodded as he tested the recently healed hoof. "I watched the castle smith ply his craft a couple times and he was more than willing to entertain my questions. Unfortunately, that's a poor substitute for actual experience."

"What exactly were you even trying to do?" Shores asked as looked over to where he had been working. Spectrum had dressed himself up to look like a color-swapped version of Clover and was busying himself by collecting the nails that had been scattered all over the floor. "Surely you're not still having trouble with nails, are you? I though you had those down a while ago."

Clover grew quiet as a more serious expression came over his features. "It's not that," he said calmly, the sort of calm that usually preludes a storm. "Something distracted me."

Her face fell as she saw the look in his eyes. She had gotten to know him far better since their mating, and every so often, he got a look in his eyes like he was watching something from far away. "Does this have anything to how it started feeling cooler all of a sudden?"

"Maybe," he said as he stepped past her and looked right into the sun. "Something's changed... or moved... I can't tell just yet, but it has something to do with the sun."

"Do I need to warn my children?" The queen asked, ready to call out to them in an instant if there was any danger.

Clover shook his head. "I don't think you need to use the hive mind just yet," he said. "We should still keep an eye out for any wayward pegasus. Maybe tell Greengrass and Red Cross that they need to be ready to receive guests at a moment's notice."

The warning seemed justified when barely a week later, a multitude of shadows appeared overhead. Dozens of eyes turned skyward to see the silhouettes of descending wings against the backdrop of the midday sun.

Ponies were thrown into a panic as they scrambled about in an attempt to clear the streets before the platoon of pegasi finished landing. Carts and piles of lumber were quickly pulled out in an attempt to put a barricade between the creatures of the colony and the ones that were now landing. Everyone watched anxiously as the invading force finished landing and spread out in a circle.

A collective breath resonated throughout the crowd as the last pony landed in the center of the circle. She stood a head taller than the rest of them and her head was graced with a multicolored mane longer than it had any right to be. A golden necklace rested against her white coat, matching the crown and shoes she wore. Finally, upon her flank was a cutie mark of the midday sun.

Clear Shores watched from her place in hiding as the imposing figure approach the crowd. Even though she was entranced and mystified by the newcomer, she had heard enough stories to guess who that was. "Is that...?" She started to ask as she looked to Clover who was hiding alongside her.

"Princess Celestia," Clover confirmed as he kept his eye's trained on the proceedings. "Looks like my suspicions were correct. It seems she finally calmed down."

"Calmed down?!" She exclaimed in a whisper. This was her first time seeing the alicorn princess up close and even if she hadn't been told that she was the one that burned her home to cinders, anyone could see the way this pony carried real power on her shoulders.

The armored pegasi around Celestia bowed as she approached the makeshift phalanx the colony had slapped together in a hurry. There wasn't any anger in her eyes, instead she looked like she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. She stood up straight as she looked over the ponies around her and took in a long breath.

"It pleases me to no end to see everypony doing so well," she said, a small measure of nervousness in her voice. "Tell me, who represents you."

They had discussed at length what to do if a representative of Equestria were to ever find their little settlement, but none of them expected that Celestia herself would be the one to visit.

True to his assigned role, the former Duke Greengrass pushed his way out of the crowd. Everyone had to admire his courage for not flinching at the presence of the solar monarch, although they certainly noticed the look of surprise that appeared on her face.

"Duke Greengrass," said Celestia as she collected her wits. "I am surprised to see you alive and well."

"Yes, your highness," Greengrass said as he bowed deeply to the ground. Shores noticed Celestia's eye twitching at the gesture, it was a reaction so slight, that it probably would've gone unnoticed if she had done as much as blink.

"We would've thought you to have perished during the ponynapping case," Celestia continued. "Where have you been all this time?"

"We actually finished with the case," Greengrass lied through his teeth. "The threat no longer exists, but my guard and I were not eager to return given Equestria's current climate."

"I see," Celestia mused as she glanced around at the surrounding buildings. "You seem to be doing well for yourself. Better than a lot of the nobles I scattered to the winds," she sorrowfully added under her breath.

She turned her full attention back to the earth pony in front of her. "In light of the recent... change in climate, as you would put it," she said. "I have been seeking out any who remain amongst the ruling class. The nation is in shambles and I would be honored to have a pony as capable as yourself to help us put everything back in order." She gave a small bow with the request. Shocked gasps were heard from among the colonists, including the stallion hiding besides Shores.

"Celestia's actually bowing to somepony?!" Clover gasped between breaths. "What happened after I left the castle?!"

"She doesn't seem anything like the pony you described," Shores commented. "Are you going to show yourself to her?"

Clover shook his head. "It's almost like she's a completely different pony, but no. Last time I saw her was right after she banished Lu... her sister to the moon," he cut the words off like even saying her name was painful to him. "Besides, I don't want to risk a confrontation by talking to her right now."

She saw the tear threatening to form in the corner of his eye before turning her attention back to the conversing leaders. Red Cross had broken off from the crowd and was now standing besides Greengrass with a hoof thrown across his back.

"I appreciate the offer, your Highness, but I'll have to decline," Greengrass told the waiting Princess Celestia. He leaned into the disguised changeling he had grown attached to in recent days. "Everypony needs me here and I finally found a place I belong."

Celestia looked between the two of them, the first real smile finding its way onto her face. "Very well," she said as she gestured to one of her guards. Said guard approached Greengrass before reaching into their bag and procuring a small cylinder. Greengrass took the proffered item before the pony went back to stand beside the other guards.

"You're not the first group of ponies to decide against returning to Equestria and I doubt you'll be the last." Celestia nodded to the item Greengrass now held. "Take this dragonfire candle," she explained. "So you'll have a way to reach us should the need arise."

"Thank you, your highness," Greengrass and Red Cross both bowed in unison. "We will graciously accept this gift."

Celestia turned to leave, but at the last moment, something seemed to catch her eye. Shores felt her heart catch in her throat as Princess Celestia tilted her head and looked directly at their hiding place. An unsettling feeling came over her as she felt the eyes of the alicorn princess look right into her very soul. Not a single doubt remained in her head that the princess knew she was there.

"One last question," Celestia appeared more curious than ever as she turned her attention back to the duke. "Have any of you heard from Clover?" The ponies that had started chattering amongst themselves suddenly grew quiet again. "We haven't seen him nor heard of his whereabouts for many moons."

The former duke deserved a medal for how calm he kept under pressure. "I'm sorry, your Highness," he said. "I haven't personally seen him since before the Crystal Empire disappeared."

"I see," said Celestia as she turned to leave again. "If you should ever run into him again, would you please let him know that I'm sorry. Sorry for the way everything turned out."

Shores jumped with a start as Clover let out the breath she hadn't known he'd been holding until now.

"She knows I'm here," he said regretfully. "Looks like I can't stay here any longer."