• Published 15th May 2015
  • 1,250 Views, 35 Comments

A New Home - Shads



Following the Canterlot Wedding, a defeated Chrysalis returns home only to have her and her hive exiled. Now, her changelings must find their own ways to survive. This is one changeling's search for a new home.

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Ch. 12 - Suspicions

Mane's meeting with the new changeling a week ago kept him on edge. He couldn't go anywhere without feeling like his every move was being watched, his every word being overheard and written down. Whatever Queen held his link had already shown that she didn't trust him, so who's not to say she hadn't been keeping her eye on him this entire time?

I could be sold out at any moment... and then what? All of this would be for nothing. My first honest-- well, mostly honest living completely swept away in the blink of an eye. But... I guess that's all our hive deserves...

Mane shook his head. No! None of that! Stage said we'd be fine, right? I just have to put my faith in him and believe that everything will turn out alright. There's no point fearing what'll happen or trying to run away from it. I just have to keep going on and trust that the other queens know what they're doing. "'Sides, I'm sure Celestia will liste--"

Mane's musing was broken by him nearly running over somepony else in the street, their metallic coating absorbing most of the impact and knocking Mane back on his flank. "Ow! S-sorry about that." Wait, metal..?

A white hoof clad in gilded hoofguards reached down to him. Mane gratefully took it and rose himself back up onto all fours. It was then that he looked over the other pony, though he wished he hadn't.

There stood a white-furred stallion in golden armor, one large piece covering his barrel and around to his chest, leading to a blue star on the front of his chest. His straightened mouth and bland, cyan eyes betrayed no emotion. "You are alright, citizen."

Mane coughed and stood a bit straighter. "U-um, may I ask what one of the Royal Guard is doing here? N-not that there's anything wrong with that!" He stammered. "It's just, we don't normally see guards out this far."

The guard's face never shifted. "I am here on order of the Princesses, though I am not at liberty to say what and why." He looked around at the buildings and Mane swore he saw his eyebrow twitch. "Would you mind pointing me to the town hall?"

"Oh, uh, sure!" He squeaked out before coughing. "If you go down this path and take the third right, you'll hit town square. It'll have a community board out front. You can't miss it."

The guard nodded and walked off. Meanwhile, Mane watched the figure disappear into the town. When he was sure the glinting guard was gone, he turned tail and galloped off in the other direction.


"What do you mean he hasn't shown up for work?"

"Exactly that!" Muffin growled, trying to work the kitchen himself. "He left for lunch a few days ago and never came back!" He put a little more force than was necessary into stirring the bowl he was currently carrying. "At first I thought 'eh, he's probably sick! The colt needed a break anyways', but then he didn't come in the next day!" He looked at the tortured bowl before grunting and continuing. "So you know what I did after that? I calmly walked over to his house, knocked on his door, and you know what happened?"

"What?" Blue hesitantly asked.

"Nothing, that's what!" Muffin yelled. "The last anypony saw of that colt, he ran into some guard and sprinted off home!"

"Isn't that a bit worrying?" Cherry piped in. "Maybe something bad happened?"

Muffin seemed to physically relax, sighing before putting the bowl aside. "Look, I would love to sit here worrying about the colt, but I've got a business to run." He opened a cupboard before taking out a pot and distributing it beneath his sink. "If you're gonna try looking for him, try his house again. Maybe he'll answer you two."

The couple nodded, turning to walk off. "And, for what it's worth," Muffin interrupted, "tell the colt I hope he's fine and that he won't abandon this old stallion."


"Mane? Maaane? Are you there?" Cherry kept knocking on his door with frustration showing clearly on her face. "Celestia damn it, why won't he answer?"

Meanwhile, her husband was digging a small hole a few feet from the door. His neutral, yet determined face showed that he was looking for something. It only took a few seconds before his hoof hit something with a small clink. He grabbed the object out of the ground before turning back to his wife.

Exasperated, Cherry sat back on her flank. "I just don't get it!" She scrunched her face in thought before noticing Blue returning with something in his hoof. "Honey, what is that?"

He said nothing before slipping the object into the door's lock, twisting it until they both heard a click. "I made myself a back-up."

Normally Cherry would've been furious at her husband for doing such a thing behind Mane's back, but she knew that she could wait until later. Right now, she had to figure out what was going on.

The two entered Mane's eerily quiet home. Nothing had looked out of place; in fact, nothing had changed about it. Even the dirty dishes from the party were still in the sink. Cherry cringed at the thought of the grimy leftovers that had sitting there for over half-a-week. "Gross..."

While Cherry was looking at other parts of the home, Blue noticed the slightly ajar bedroom door. He approached it before slowly opening it. When he peeked inside, the only thing he saw sas Mane's empty bed.

Cherry walked next to him before looking in herself. "I guess he really isn't here, huh?"

"Doesn't seem like it."

The two stood there in his bedroom wondering where the pegasus would've disappeared to. It's not like him to just up and leave, Cherry thought. Where could he be?

scritch

Cherry's ear perked up as she heard the sound. She looked over to her husband whose ears also seemed to have straightened upwards. A look of realization crossed his face before he approached the closet. "What? What is it?"

"There's one place we haven't checked yet." Blue opened the closet, revealing an empty compartment. But the noticeable quality of this small space was the floor.

"Is... is that a door?"

Blue nodded, fiddling near one of the closet's edges. "At the last minute, he asked us to make him a hidden room that he could use for storage. We figured he was too nervous to just say he wanted a panic room, but we did it anyways." Finally, he heard the clicking of a latch and slid half of the closet floor to the other side.

Beneath that was a steep staircase leading just below the house. As Blue started to climb down, the scritching noise seemed to be moving around. "Mane, if you're down here, just say something."

"Yea!" Cherry exclaimed while she slowly made her way down. "You got us all worried sick! Even Muffin's wondering where you went off to."

The noise stopped, but no voice answered them. Blue sighed before reaching his hoof up into the darkness. "Fine, if you're gonna be that way..."

"No, wait--"

Blue's hoof found what it was looking for, curling around a cord before pulling it down. A light flashed across the whole room, revealing itself to be slightly larger than the room above it. The concrete floor and walls left it very bland and empty.

But what drew their eyes was the huddled being in the furthest corner. Its pupil-less blue eyes stared back at theirs, its holed hooves curled up to its chest.

"I, uh..." the changeling responded in Mane's voice, "I can explain."