The building of Mane's house went surprisingly faster than he thought it would, though he largely contributed that to the attitude of the construction crew working on it.
Although, wings and magic definitely helped speed it up.
Obviously, Blue had been part of the crew working on the build. Mane knew that he could trust his friend to do a great job and it definitely showed in his work. He and his crew were very experienced and shared a camaraderie that rivaled the one he had with his fellow changelings. Mane was also a fair bit surprised at the amount of familiar faces there were in the crew. They were all fairly regular customers at Muffin's, who seemed to be on a first name basis with nearly everypony who came through his doors.
Cherry and Mane tried to help when they could -- usually flying around supplies for the crew -- but their jobs didn't permit them a lot of time. Mane, however, managed to cut a deal with Muffin. He would make them their lunches, fly them out there, and return with their payment. Muffin agreed so long as Mane was back by the time the lunch rush hit. Mane used his time to learn more about Blue's co-workers. Not counting Blue, the group consisted of four stallions and a mare.
Three of the stallions -- Phillip, Allen, and Torx -- were nearly identical triplets. All three were fairly young earth ponies that sported silver-gray fur and darker-gray manes with the only noticeable differences being their cutie marks and attitudes. Phillip was their vocal leader, Allen was the comedian and prankster, and Torx was the quiet one.
Jackhammer, the last stallion, was an orange unicorn around Blue's age and a mark to fit his namesake. He was a stallion of simple pleasures, husband to 'the best stallion this side of Equestria' and father of an orphaned colt and filly. He emitted a very fatherly and calm vibe.
Rebar, the mare, was a young brown-furred pegasus and a newcomer to the town, though not as new as Mane. He'd made an off-hoof comment about how she didn't seem to look much like a worker before embarrassingly attempting to backpedal. Luckily she laughed it off, telling Mane that while she did help when she could, her main part of the group was keeping everything and everypony in-line. She compared her role to one of a train conductor or a director.
"Somepony has to make sure Allen and Blue are actually doing their job."
"I heard that," grumbled Blue while Allen snickered.
"What do you mean by that?" Mane inquired.
"Not many ponies know about Blue's affinity for pranks." Rebar added. "Allen's managed to involve him in a few 'prank wars' as he likes to put it. They're usually small things; fake spiders, superglue, and," her face twisted in disgust, "that one time with fake 'dog doo'. Yegh."
"Hey," Allen tossed in, "sometimes you gotta test your boundaries, y'know?"
"Whatever. Anyways, you gotta keep an eye on him sometimes."
Mane looked over to Blue who was silently looking down at his sandwich as he chewed. He knew Blue had a 'fun side' since that little thing he did at the Mayor's but he was happy to see this other side of the stallion.
"Well, it was nice talking to you all again but I've gotta get back to Muffin's. Lunch rush is soon and I wanna be able to actually make it in the doors. I'll see all of you tomorrow."
"See ya, Mane. Oh, and expect us to be done in about..." Rebar looked down at her schematics, "two, maybe three days."
"Awesome! Thanks everyone!" They all waved their goodbyes before finishing up their lunches and getting back to work.
Mane could have flown to Muffin's in a few minutes, but he wanted to walk and take in the atmosphere. He let random thoughts fill his head as the townsponies walked and talked.
His home would be done soon. Heh, my home. That still sounds so weird. He'd already made up his mind on all of the interior decorating that was going to happen when it was finished. He remembered the basement he'd managed to convince them to add in telling them that it was for 'storage'. Mane wasn't completely lying about its purpose, but he'd definitely had other plans for it.
Things may have been uphill for him so far, but he was going to make sure he was prepared for the worst. Beneath it all -- his friendships, his new life, his job -- he was still a changeling. A fugitive. He'd need someplace to hide when ponies got suspicious. He hadn't heard a lot of news coming out of Canterlot, but he'd heard the rumours from the ponies coming through town.
He'd heard just about everything. Stories about the Royal Guard arresting ponies just based on 'anonymous tips'. A claim that Princess Celestia made a decree to banish every changeling to Tartarus. Or even that her pupil, Twilight Sparkle, was personally hunting down the offenders who would dare to brainwash her brother. Mane knew better than to believe it all, but he'd be lying if he said it didn't make him shiver in his chitin. He was positive that the other Queens were attempting peace talks with the Princesses, likely telling her that the attackers were 'just a bunch of rebel 'lings'. As much as he hated thinking of the punishment his hive would get, it was better than ruining the lives of all the other hives.
He sighed. As much as his Mother had messed up, he hoped that she was alright. She may have been misguided, arrogant, and a bit foolish, but she was still their Mother and they were still her children. Surely she had seen the error of her ways, even if it was too little too late.
Mane shook his head, dispelling the depressing thoughts. The past is the past. There's nothing I can do but hope for the future. He remembered the new friends he made and the home that was almost finished. He smiled as he walked up to Muffin's shop, eyeing the beginning of a long line of customers.
And I'll make my future a good one.