Denial
Sky woke up and sighed. He didn't want to go through the sewers again. A few moments later Bugze came through the door.
"Wake up Sky, time to go down the sewers again! Oh, I see, you're already awake. Everything's organized and arranged, let's go!" Bugze grinned down at him.
"Let's just get this over with. No, I won't press any more shiny red buttons." Sky groaned.
Sky got up and followed Bugze out the door. As they walked by, all the Changelings snapped to attention. Bugze transformed back into Charm before giving the waiting Changelings a nod. They all assumed their disguises and followed him into the sewers. Sky sighed, he wasn't looking forward to another stay in the sewers.
"What's the plan for when we get out?" Sky asked Charm curiously.
"Hopefully, we find a place where we can infiltrate without being caught." Charm replied. "I'll probably pick up Changelings from other outposts as well."
"And if we don't?" Sky questioned.
Charm's smile turned to a grim line. "We'll do what we must. My grandbuggy taught me how to make a rocket launcher for a reason... I think."
Another pony walked up to Charm, surprising the Changelings. "I have been sent by the King," he snapped. "I am taking over this establishment."
"Can't he only do that if he's higher than a King's Friend?" Sky asked, confused.
The new pony glared at Sky. "New to this, are you? I have my orders from the King himself, which means I trump all but those with newer orders from the King."
"I have deemed this city too dangerous for Changelings to inhabit. We are in the middle of evacuation." Charm said.
"Convenient. I was sent to evacuate this settlement, and attempt to find a way for us to survive. Anything else I should know?"
"This 'new Changeling' is Star Watcher, a pony who we turned into a Changeling."
"Ah, yes. I was on the council for the project. I voted in favor," the Changeling turned to the disguised Star Watcher. "I hope you enjoy your life as a Changeling. It has it's perks. Got off on the wrong hoof with a mare? Come back the next day, as a different pony," the Changeling chuckled. "I'm Dark Claw."
Star Watcher eyed Dark Claw warily. "Nice to meet you," he replied. "Now are we going to go or not?"
"Let's go," Dark Claw announced. "I hope to find a place to stay by sunset."
Twilight frowned as she was about to enter the city the crystal had been leading her to. It looked like they were on the move once again, but the signal was coming from underground.
"The sewers! Of course!" Twilight exclaimed, shocking her friends.
"What?" Rarity asked.
"They're taking Rose out through the sewers!"
"What can we do about that?" Rainbow asked.
"We can follow them above ground, and when they come out we can free Rose!"
Sky Slicer emerged from the tunnels, blinking as the daylight temporarily blinded him. Lucky Charm and Dark Claw emerged behind him, and the rest of the Changelings followed him.
"Stop right there!" Sky heard a familiar voice call. "Where's Rose Blossom?"
Sky's heart sank with dread as her vision cleared up. In front of him stood Twilight and her friends, looking determinedly at the disguised Changelings.
"Wait... What?" Twilight's face turned confused as she noticed that not a single one of the ponies in front of her appeared to be a Changeling. She blushed, believing it to be her error. "Sorry, my spell must not be working right." she muttered to Sky, who flinched back slightly.
Bugze's disguise chose that exact moment to fail. "CURSE YOU LADY LUCK!!!" Bugze yelled as Twilight noticed that he was, in fact, a Changeling. One spell later, and all of the Changelings' disguises were revealed. The Changleings were left temporarily stunned as a side-effect of the spell, and Twilight followed the pendant to where Rose should have been. Her eyes widened with shock as the pendant bumped an undisguised Star Watcher.
"Oh, no. The Changeling must have done something to the pendant, drain Rose's love from it or something. No, what if he stored love in it?" Twilight's eyes widened further. "It could override Rose's love! Now I'll never find Rose!"
"Wait up!" Rainbow Dash cried as Twilight ran off into the forest. Twilight's other friends followed her as well, leaving the temporarily impaired Changelings behind.
A few minutes later, Star and Bugze snapped out of their stun. Immediately they reapplied their disguises, thankful that Twilight had been too distraught to capture them.
"Let's go." Dark Claw said, once all the Changelings had snapped out and reapplied their disguises. "We've got to find a good place soon."
After a whole day of fruitless searching for a city without Royal Guards, Bugze and Star were left standing in a field by the side of the road. Dark Claw was furious.
"Not a single city along the whole darn road without a guard! I'm afraid to say it, but I don't see what we can do." Bugze sighed.
"First, we need to create a temporary camp." Star Watcher said. "We can sleep the night here. Maybe we'll find someplace tomorrow."
"I guess we have to," Dark Claw said stiffly, upset at the failure. "We're setting up camp here for the night!" he announced to the rest of the Changelings. "Tomorrow we can look again!"
The Changelings made a collective sigh, and got to creating the camp. They worked quickly, and finished before the moon had risen a quarter of its journey through the sky. The Changelings set up groups of tents, with six Changelings per tent. There were 43 Changelings, so Dark Claw claimed the single tent. They all slept the night, fervently hoping to find food the next morning. If they didn't get food soon...
Shady Dark hurried to the throne room. He still had no idea why Princess Celestia had summoned him. Had he done something wrong? Was the Princess upset at how he had handled his last job? Shady swallowed his fear and entered the throne room in front of him. Princess Celestia sat on her royal throne, smiling gently down upon him.
"I have a special job for you," Princess Celestia smiled benevolently. "But only if you are willing to accept it."
"But of course, my Princess! What is it you ask of me?" Shady asked nervously.
"I wish to help peaceful Changelings to join into society safely. In order to do so, I need a pony I can trust to manage any complaints from both Changelings and ponies who are facing difficulties getting along, as well as help Changelings get oriented and learn what life in pony society is like. It won't be easy, but I know I can count on you to get the job done. If you accept, of course."
"Of course!" Shady puffed his chest proudly. "I'll do it!"
Princess Celestia smiled, relieved. Her little ponies were always strong enough to complete the tasks she gave them, even if they didn't know it. The hard part was often convincing them that they were good enough.
"I'm sure you'll have it well in hoof."
Star Watcher and Bugze woke up to the sound of hooves trotting along the path. Instantly they dawned their disguises and left the tent, seeing Dark Claw do the same. They saw three ponies trot along the path, stopping when they came across the tents.
"Hello. Who are you?" one of them asked amiably, seeing Star Watcher and Bugze in their disguises, Sky Slicer and Lucky Charm.
"We are a group of ponies looking to settle here." Lucky Charm smiled. "The tents are temporary, of course, but we intend to start constructing more permanent housing soon."
"Ah. We are travelers, crossing this well-worn road. This is a wise place for a town, many ponies pass through every day." another said.
Dark Claw raised an eyebrow. "Really? I was not aware that this was a popular road."
"Oh, very popular. If you did not know, why did you settle here? If you forgive me asking!" the third hastily added.
Dark Claw's eyes flicked and gave an unseen signal to three disguised Changelings behind the travelers. Instantly, the Changelings simultaneously brought their hooves down on the ponies' heads, knocking them unconscious.
"Dark Claw! What was that for?" Star Watcher asked angrily. "You could have just said that you didn't want to tell them, or that you had your own reasons and they would have left!"
"Yes, but then we would be starving." Dark Claw replied. "I will do what I must for our survival. Changelings, prepare a draining cocoon."
"A WHAT?!" Star Watcher asked angrily.
"A draining cocoon." Dark Claw replied calmly. "They can be used to drain the emotion from ponies."
"But then they're not renewable! And what happens when they're empty?" Star Watcher responded.
"We discard them. They're empty," Dark Claw's voice was neutral. "I wish there was another, more renewable way, but it looks like this is it. If we don't do this, we can't survive."
Something inside Star Watcher snapped. "You can't do this! A life for a life is not fair."
"One pony can save our entire settlement for days."
"NO! I refuse! This is where I draw the line," Star Watcher protested angrily. "I will not take part in this. I will find my own way to survive. Goodbye."
Bugze and Dark Claw stared in shock as Star Watcher stomped out of the camp, before running off into the nearby forest.
"After him!" Dark Claw said angrily, pointing to a few Changelings. "We can't let him get away, he'll ruin everything!"
A squad of four Changelings raced after Star Watcher, trying to catch up to him before they completely lost sight of him.
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Is that the same bugze from Life of a wanted changeling?
5167791 Yes! Indeed it is! With permission and everything! He's such a wonderfully funny character to write...
Can my OC be in this story? She's a changeling named Cucoon, and her diguise is a pegasus named Golden Waves
5177182 you can see what Goldie looks like. Imagine that, but a changeling.
5177186 I'll see what I can do. I can't guarantee a major role, but maybe as one of the Changelings that Shady Dark helps? Personality please, Cutie Mark of disguise, etc.
5177443 ok. cutie mark: Wave.
Personality: tough, smart, funny, and brave.
5178652 Good. Cutie Mark meaning? Anything else you want me to know before I screw up your OC?
5189084 Middle-aged, like out of school but not retired yet. And it's Star Watcher, not Gazer.