Onyx groaned as he clawed his way back into the waking world. He vaguely remembered fighting... something. A plant, maybe? He sort of remembered a pungent smell that left his head feeling fuzzy. Whatever that stuff was, his senses were still feeling a bit muffled. He tried to push himself up, only to find something holding him down, something warm and soft.

After another moment, the pressure lessened and he was able to turn his head to identify the source of the foreign warmth. He managed to look up just in time to find a pair of glistening black eyes looking back at him.

Having been found out, Quartz quickly jumped away in a panic, letting out a high-pitched squeak in the process. A deep crimson graced her cheeks, but before Onyx had a chance to ask what she had been doing, she bolted from the room.

Onyx now felt confused for a completely new reason. He still wanted to know what had caused the city to fall into chaos, but it now seemed a little less important in the face of what he had just woken up to.

"So, you're the little pony that saved our lives," a strong, yet feminine voice spoke, causing him to jump. Onyx wasn't sure why, but when he realized that this large, chocolate-colored mare had been witness to what just happened, he wanted to find a deep hole to hide in.

"Yes, ma'am," Onyx answered quickly. He did his best to mind his manners, despite how much he really wanted to disappear right now.

"Well, ain't you the sweetest thing," the pony gave a hearty laugh that seemed to light up her entire body. "Don't worry, Mama Pancake ain't gonna eat ya." She seemed lost in thought as she fiddled with a cigarette that Onyx hadn't noticed until now. "So..." She said, her eyes narrowing a bit. "You're supposed to be this dreaded King Sombra that little Quartz was fussin' about."

The accusation stung like a knife to the heart. Of course Quartz would've said something after seeing him the other day. He didn't want to admit it, but what would be the point. "Yes ma'am, but..."

"It's complicated?" Pancake summed up for him. "I figured it would be. Nothing with magic ever seems to be that simple." She watched him with her deep red eyes, eyes that seemed to cut deep into his soul. "You know, she refused to leave your side the whole time you were sleeping." She chuckled to herself. "When I first found her wanderin' the streets, hungry and alone, I thought, 'here's a pony who's runnin' from somethin'. It took me a while before I got her to open up about it."

Onyx averted his eyes, not sure what to make of what she was telling him. He didn't notice when she walked up right next to him and ruffled his mane. "You're still trying to figure things out as well, I take it. You saving little Quartz has her all sorts of confused, but I still think it's a good first step."

The moment was interrupted as a crash and shouting broke through from the other room. Pancake gave a long sigh as she turned to the door. "If you ever need a place to go while you sort things out, you be sure to let Mama Pancake know. Now if you excuse me, I need to see what kind of trouble that colt of mine has gotten himself into... this time."

Once he was able to stand again, Onyx pushed open the door leading into the diner to find Mama Pancake arguing with someone he recognized. It was the same officer that had approached him and Master Clover their first day in the city.

"Don't you have anything better to do than bother colts that've been gettin into mischief," Mama Pancake argued with Officer Special Case. "In case you didn't notice, the city's a mess right now."

"I can't do that ma'am," Case argued as he leaned back from the mare that was getting in his face. "Your colt's been getting into more than just simple mischief. Him and his gang have been vandalizing private property, harassing several well known figures around the city, and overall disturbing public order."

"When are any of you adults gonna listen to me?!" Chip protested with a look of indignation on his face. "We've been invaded by changelings! I bet they're even behind the vines that were overrunning the city."

"Everypony you've been bothering are upstanding citizens of Manehattan," Case responded as he watched him out of the corner of his eye. He shouldered Mama Pancake out of the way and reached back to pull a long sharp piece of black crystal from a pouch. "And what were you planning on doing with this?!" He resorted to holding it in his hoof when he failed to pick it up with magic. The magic from his horn seemed to roll off the item and ultimately just failed to interact with it. "I don't know where you found something like this, but given your track record, I can only imagine what you plan on doing with it."

"But that's..." Chip started, averting his eyes

"That's mine, sir," Onyx stepped up, drawing the officer's attention.

"You?" Special Case turned to the newcomer. He scowled when he saw who had spoken. "You again?!" He said. "I thought you weren't part of his gang?"

"You should be careful with that," said Onyx as a white glow from his horn extended to envelop the black chunk of crystal the officer was holding. Unlike the other unicorn, Onyx had no trouble using his magic to manipulate it. He easily balanced the small knife in his magic like it wasn't anything special. "Dark crystals are difficult to harvest, and even harder to conjure," he said as he examined his earlier craftsmanship. "It interferes with any and all magical connections, and can be a lot of trouble in the wrong hooves." As he held the knife, the edges of it began to run off and liquefy before dissipating into mist.

"What the... How did you..." Officer Case was left dumbfounded when the mysterious and obviously dangerous weapon simply evaporated.

"So this is where you've run off to," a familiar voice drifted in from the entrance, breaking the officer from his stupor. "Do you have any idea how worried I've been?"

The city official groaned as he turned to face the newcomer, the day had left him with far too much extra work and he didn't relish having any more to add to it. When he saw the pony who just walked in, as well as what he was wearing, he groaned inwardly. "I thought I told you that it's a bad idea to dress like that in this city," he said.

Clover raised an eyebrow before sparing a glance at the green cloak he had quickly thrown on before leaving the hotel. He had been dressing this way for so long that he didn't really give it much thought. "Sorry," he said, not really feeling all that sorry. "But this is just how I dress."

Chip took advantage of the momentary distraction to slip around the cop and hide behind Clover. "You're supposed to be Clover the Clever, ain't ya? Yous gotta help me. I keep tellin' 'em that Manehattan's been invaded by changelings and nopony wants to believe meee.. ow ow ow ow."

No one had seen her move, but apparently Mama Pancake was only a few steps behind her troublesome child. Looking more annoyed than angry, she swiftly bit down and began to drag him away by the ear. "That's because everypony's been too busy cleaning up after the messes that you and your gang keep makin'," she grumbled through her teeth.

The back and forth that continued between Mama Pancake and Officer Case left poor Chip looking like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Based on how much she refused to back down, this probably hadn't been the first time she had to defend her troublesome colt from the authorities.

During all this, Onyx had made his way over to Clover's side. "Master Clover," he said, looking sheepish. He already knew from the look he was getting that Clover really had been worried about him. "Is there anything you can do? It's sort of my fault he's in trouble right now."

Clover studied his apprentice. They couldn't have had much of a chance to get to know each other, but Onyx was willing to stick his neck out to help someone out he viewed as a friend. What all had happened to him after he had gone missing?

Clover sighed as he reached into his cloak. Whatever was happening, he did have the power to do something about it. It would mean drawing some unwanted attention to himself, though. "Officer Case, was it?" He called out. "A word, please."

The other unicorn didn't look particularly pleased with how his day was going. He probably woke up this morning looking forward to a relatively easy shift, but after the mysterious vines tore up half the city, he was sure all the extra paperwork was going to haunt his dreams. He groaned as he approached the newcomer to the city, certain that he was about to add even more to his workload. "Now listen here, whatever your name is. Please don't get involved with..."

His words were cut off as Clover produced a golden badge from within the folds of his cloak. His eyes grew wide and everyone else in the room grew quiet as they could see the gears turning in the poor stallion's head. "Oh, great..." He grumbled as recognized the badge of a government official. He never liked dealing with the higher ups, it usually led to the biggest headaches. "Let me see that," he groaned as he reached for the proffered badge. Nothing for it at this point. May as well get this over with.

A smile threatened to show at the corner of Clover's mouth as he handed over his badge of office. He still had mixed feelings about Princess Celestia saddling him with his new position. He certainly wasn't expecting to put it to use so soon.

Officer Case carefully inspected the badge in his hooves. It only took a moment to tell it was real and not some elaborate forgery. The magic for determining a government official was very basic and it was one of the first spells they taunt unicorns at the academy. However, as he continued to verify the unicorn's position, he wasn't prepared for everything he gleaned from the badge.

Case began to sweat as he stared wide-eyed at the pony standing across from him. Without any further hesitation, he quickly straightened up as he stood at attention, his earlier lackadaisical attitude quickly making way for pure professionalism. "Please forgive my rudeness, Prince Clover," he said. "I had no idea who you were."

The smile that had almost made its way onto Clover's face was quickly replaced by a deep frown. A hoof quickly made its way to cover his face, but it wasn't fast enough to completely hide the blush that washed over his features. Of course Princess Celestia would've included his royal title along with his official one when she had his badge made.

He took a deep breath before turning his attention back to the pony who hadn't moved an inch after he had inadvertently left Clover feeling completely embarrassed. "You can relax, officer," Clover said as he placed a hoof on his shoulder. "And please don't call me prince." Clover visibly cringed as the repeated the title. "The title makes me feel a bit... uncomfortable."

"Yes sir," said Officer Case, still stiff as a board. "Whatever you wish, Your Highness..." He trailed off as he noticed the cross look he was still getting. He swallowed hard and let his shoulders relax the slightest bit. "I mean... Archmage Clover..."

"Thank you. Now," Clover said with a smile as he turned his attention back to original point. "I don't suppose we could let Chip here off with a little warning, could we?"

"I... I mean... I could... well... maybe..." Case's eyes darted back and forth. "I would," he said as he finally started getting his nerves under control. "But he's been harassing a number of important individuals around the city. With everything else that's been happening recently, my boss wants me to make sure he can't make the situation any worse by harassing the city's VIPs."

"I keep tellin' you, you stupid copper!" Chip protested as he fought against Mama Pancake's grasp. "They're not ponies! We've been invaded by changelings! Why won't anypony believe me?!"

The youth continued to remain defiant. Under different circumstances, someone may have paid closer attention to him. However, all anyone saw when they looked at him was a young pony looking for attention. Anyway, it's not like it would've mattered. The local changelings were far too ingrained in the city's structure, they had been since the place was little more than a refugee camp. Manehattan would likely fall apart without their influence.

Clover kept his peace as he stepped away from the still nervous Officer Case and up to the rebellious youth. Both Chip and his mother grew quiet when they saw the newcomer standing over them. He lowered his head to the pony that had managed to get himself in trouble. "Chocolate Chip," he said, sure he had his attention.

"Yes sir," Chip said nervously.

"Leave the changelings in the city alone," he said, evoking a wide-eyed response from the youth. "They're currently busy negotiating peace talks with the princesses."

"But..." the young earth pony started to say.

Clover raised a hoof to cut him off, "you wouldn't want to disappoint Princess Celestia, would you?"

That shut him up, he knew it would. While he himself had his own issues to work out with her, he wasn't above using her name to quickly end a conflict. Clover looked back to the slack-jawed officer who was watching intently as he straight up admitted that there actually were changelings in the city. "So what do you think, officer?" He said. "Can we let him off with a warning? I would consider it favor to the crown."

It took a moment for Officer Case to realize that he was being addressed again. "I suppose," he finally said. "As long as he doesn't cause any more trouble."

"You got that, Chip?" Clover said as he looked back to the young pony. "Think you can behave for me?"

Chip rapidly nodded his head up and down, excited for some reason. Clover wasn't completely sure why, until he remembered what Chip had mentioned when he came here to eat the other day. Oh great, he thought to himself. I have a fan.

"Clover! Here you are!" Came yet another new voice. For the second time in a short while, a pony stumbled in through the front door.

Clover slumped his shoulders, he was still feeling worn out from his flight through the tunnels and from finally tracking down his student. He was looking forward to a nap, but he supposed that would have to wait for a bit longer. "Can I help you?" He asked as he turned towards the source of the voice. However, when he saw the pony standing there, he felt his heart stop.

A cream-colored unicorn was standing there while looking out of breath. She had pink hair and eyes, and an all too familiar flowery cutie mark. Behind her was an equally out-of-breath earth pony, who looked like he really didn't want to be there. "Grandma Ruby," said Clear Mind. "You can't just run off like that. The city is still in complete disarray."

Ignoring the protests, Ruby waltzed into the trashed diner while glancing around the room like she was trying to find lost change. "Is he here?" She said. "He ran away right after waking up. I still had so many questions for him."

It wasn't hard to figure out who she was talking about since Clover had just spotted a wince from his own shadow, namely from the changeling who was most likely hiding there. "Ruby," he said, not once breaking eye contact, now that he knew who he was talking to. "That form," he said as he gestured to all of her. "Where did you find that? Or is this just a really bad coincidence?"

"Oh this?" She said, looking herself over. "I actually wanted to ask you about this," she said as she continued unabated. "I saw the old queen take this form while I was going through Spectrum's memories. You seemed to recognize her and I was hoping you could tell me who she... was..."

Ruby grew silent as she looked into Clover's eyes. Even with how much she tended to miss or ignore social cues, not even she could brush off the cold look he was now giving her. He very clearly did not want to talk about it.

Clover sat at the station, his mind lost in thought as he waited for the train to Canterlot to arrive. His stay in Manehattan had been mostly uneventful with the exception of this last day, but now that Spectrum had finished his recovery, it was high time he make his way to the castle to figure out what this Archmage job entails.

"I thought we'd never escape her," said a green-maned unicorn as he sat down beside him while holding a box with a half-dozen tacos. He took one of them for himself before passing the rest of the box to Clover. "Also, I didn't expect you to let Onyx stay in the city. What's up with that?"

Clover idly turned the food in his grasp. It wouldn't take long for the alicorn to down the entire box, but he didn't seem to have much of an appetite at the moment. "Onyx said he wanted to look after his new friend," he said automatically. "Besides, some time out in the world would probably do him some good."

"Did you see the look that crystal pony was giving him?" Spectrum said as he began to nibble at his food. "I wonder how that's going to develop."

"I don't know," said Clover. He was only half paying attention as his mind had wandered to a time long since passed.

Spectrum let out a long sigh, "you're thinking about her again, aren't you? Listen," he said. "I'm sorry Ruby had to go and stir up some bad memories. I actually forgot that my mother took on her appearance back then until they started poking around in my head."

"Don't worry about it," Clover took in a deep breath as he stared off into the distance. "It's my problem, anyway. It's just... you know..." He slowly exhaled. "You'd figured I'd be over it after all these years, but I guess it's true what they say. You never truly forget your first."

Author's Note

That's it for this story. I hope you enjoyed this little intermission while I work on putting the next story together.
Special thanks to Sebastian99 for helping me proofread my literary mistakes. I certainly made more than my fair share of them.
Also, a little shoutout to Haradion. I enjoy our little talks and I hope to keep having them.

Feel free to head over to my blog for some more afterword.

Fun Fact: I hadn't realized until after I wrote it that "Officer Case" abbreviates as "OC". Totally wasn't intentional.