Pearl's Travels 2: Canterlot

Forsythia led us through the woods to the old camp where a lot more Changelings had gathered up than I had seen in the copse of trees earlier.

There had been almost hundred and fourty of us in the jails under Canterlot, thirty eight in the copse, of which nine of us had made the trek on over here.

This was counting the two ponies with us, of course. Meadowsweet was safe with Tizzy in the copse I had left behind, and Camellia should be here with Burst and Crook.

I spotted Glottis up ahead in a larger group, and ran up past Forsythia to my oddly-coloured sibling.

"Glottis! Good to see you made it out of the city in one piece," I called out to them.

"Pearl, hey there. Oh, it looks like Forsythia and you are both worried about something. Anything I can help with?" he replied, turning toward us as he did. "I was just talking with the others here about what the sudden daylight might mean for us and the situation in Canterlot. It's not about that, would it be?"

"Well, perhaps the ponies got their heads back in one piece and took that stupid barrier down," one of the sisters next to Glottis reasoned.

"We can only hope," I sighed. "Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friend Applejack are on the job. They have been responsible for getting Equestria out of worse situations in the past, so I trust in them to have solved whatever the problem was."

"I wish the ponies would keep us out of their messes," the same sister sighed.

"You haven't seen Aly around here somewhere, have you? Any of you?" Forsythia wondered while looking around.

"I haven't had the pleasure of being in her company today, no," Glottis answered. "She's not nearer to the city? You both live in Ponyville if memory serves me?"

"She would've razed the city on day one if she had known I was stuck in its prison," Forsythia grumbles. "That there are no reports of her making a ruckus is more concerning to me than anything else."

"I'm sure she's fine," I tried to calm Forsythia. "How about Camilla, Crook, and Burst? They drifted in this direction on a gust of wind. Did you see them?"

"The Unicorn is a little up North. There's a plan brewing to temporarily block the rails up there so they can board the train while the ponies clear the blockage," Glottis answered me. "At least the ones here who feel like they can rejoin the population there without going feral before they can feed."

"I'm going as well," Forsythia decided. "I swear Aly is in the city somewhere, so I should look for her there next. If she's not there, I'll take a train down to Ponyville again. It's quicker than walking the distance."

"You should head up North now then, there's a bit of a time pressure so they're blocking the tracks soon to catch the next inbound train," Glottis suggested calmly. "Hey Pearl?"

I perked up. "What's up?"

"I appreciated the effort back in the jail. Including me in your plans, and all. It was an interesting experience. I think you have thrown the blinders off a few of our siblings' eyes with it," he spoke, genuinely appreciative.

"You still look like a piece of mouldy cheese, but you can hang with us," a brother in the group near us threw Glottis' way.

"Better than to smell like it like you, brother," Glottis returned with a smile playing on his lips. "Anyway, thanks Pearl. You're a special egg."

"No I'm not, I just took to heart what the show back home taught me about this world," I protested.

"Well, keep doing it I'd say," my special brother suggested. "You're making ripples which are making some well-needed changes happen."

"I'll try my best," I half-promised, then was surprised when he moved in for a hug.

"We'll be seeing each other around," Glottis whispered in my right ear. "Don't hold it against our siblings that they might not have as much of an open heart as you do. This world is not all rainbow colours and happy smiles, as you might have noticed. Being different like me might draw unwanted attention, after all. It's normal for them to be wary of those like me."

I reciprocated the hug while considering where his words came from.

"Well, it's not fair to you to exclude you simply because you look different or have extrasensory perception. I hope they'll appreciate you more now, or at least the ones who were with us in the jail," I returned to him. "Hopefully they'll spread the word around that you should be given a proper chance."

"We should make it to the train before the others go without us," Forsythia pressed, unaware of what we were whispering to one another.

Glottis pulled away from the hug and I fell back on all fours again.

"You two should head to the forward group, then. Find out what's going on in the city so reports can make it back to the rest of us," Glottis agreed with Forsythia's eagerness to continue on.

"Will do," I agreed, then turned to Forsythia again.

"Back to Canterlot we go, I guess. Tonight has been a bit of a roundtrip... Wait, no, today. It's daytime," I corrected myself.

"Weird as it is, yes," Forsythia agreed and started off through the trees again to follow the river up North.

Camellia was hiding near the edge of the forest, looking pensively up ahead at the railroad tracks past the river bending around the forest and the mountains directly beside it.

The Changelings around her, Crook and Burst among them, were looking equally as stressed.

"Two more to tag on for the trip back to town," Forsythia offered up as we drew close to them.

"Told you she would make it to us on her own," Burst spoke up to Crook beside her.

"Yes, yes," Crook chuckled.

Camellia turned to look in my direction, did a doubletake, then brightened up considerably. "That's the Forsythia I know from the market. And you look adorable, Pearl."

I felt a blush creep up on my cheeks. "Thanks. I couldn't very well show myself like this with that anti-transformation barrier in the city."

"Well, it's a good look on you. I like the streaks in your mane. Some mares would pay a fortune to have them added artificially at the salon," she pointed out. "There are a lot of vain ponies in Canterlot."

"So what's the plan?" Forsythia cut in. "Are you going to put a tree on the tracks or something?"

"No, no tree," Burst replied. "This forest is too far from the tracks for a tree to make sense."

"So..." Forsythia led on.

"Camellia's the only one of us who can do it," Burst sighed. "We're waiting to see the smoke before Crook and I will lift her over the river. She'll run up to the tracks and block it herself."

"I have to 'warn them' about the 'nefarious changelings' who have 'taken over the city', but do it in a way that I look like I'm making too much of a fuss about it," Camellia added. "Just caught in a moment of panic, honestly. It should keep them busy calming me down for a while, so you all can enter the train from the back. There should be a mail car at the rear."

"It's not the first time I've travelled by mail car. I should buy some postage stamps to put on my flanks. They could be my cutiemark," Crook joked.

"Considering Camellia can't fly," Burst continued, ignoring Crook's joke, "she'll take longer to reach the tracks than we would once the train stops. So we'll stay here in the forest until the brakes get applied, then fly low and follow the bend of the river until we can circle back and come at the train from the rear."

I looked up at Forsythia whose ears were drooping down a bit.

"Is it the flying part?" I wondered, and she shook herself out of her thoughts.

"I'll manage," she grumbled. "I'll go up ahead and hide in the stream if I need to."

Camellia caught on quicker than I gave her credit for.

"It's the damage to your back plate, isn't it Syth?" she suggested. "Don't tell me your wing got clipped because of it?"

"Damn it Mel," the sturdy one cursed. "I told you we'd talk about it some other time."

"That was then, this is now. If you can't make it to the train to get into town again, then what? Are you just going to run the way back by yourself?" Camellia asked, her anger clearly rising.

"If I have to, yes," Forsythia replied stubbornly.

Camellia sized the other up for a moment, then relented and turned away. "I won't press further. This is not the place for it. But I want to know more."

"Why?" my sister wondered, shaking her head in confusion. "Why does it have to be such a big thing? I'm usually an Earthpony anyway. I don't need to be able to fly. I'm not bothered by it."

"How long do you think you can keep the train stopped for, Camellia?" I asked. "I'll run up with Forsythia in more of a straight line than the rest. We look like Earthponies anyway, so we can enter one of the passenger carriages just fine. We do need a reason for being here. Maybe we fled the city and can hook into Camellia's story that way?"

"What if they scan us in an attempt to reveal who we are?" Forsythia wondered.

"If it's the same magic the guard used when they came to my door, I might be able to shield you two from it. But only you two. I'd have to deflect the magic without being noticed, so the fewer targets the better," Camellia considered.

"It's a risk we'll have to take," I decided, pointedly looking at Forsythia. "You need to find your mare, sister, so we're not leaving you behind to run the distance yourself. I'm also getting worried considering what you told me about her."

"Well, there's smoke on the horizon so we're going to have to go now," Crook pointed out. "Ready, big brother?"

"I'm ready if Camellia is," Burst answered, looking at the Unicorn in question.

"As I told you boys earlier; I love flying. You two can take me for a flight any day," Camellia giggled. "Let's go do this, I'll need to pull up my poor acting skills."

"If you know Rarity, you should take a page out of her book," I suggested. "She's got the best drama falls."

"That's an idea," Forsythia agreed. "Just fall backwards but support your fall as you do."

"But do it in sight of the driver or they won't stop," I warned.

"I'll make sure they stop, no worries," Camellia suggested. "I can use my magic to stop them if all else fails."

"Right, off we go then?" Crook pressed. "That smoke is drawing nearer."

"Yes, let's," Camellia agreed.

I watched as the trio left the treeline and Camellia got in between Crook and Burst as before.

The pair of them easily lifted her up between them and hauled her over the river to set her down on the other side of it.

I looked sideways up at Forsythia. "You want to do that same run and flutter you did before or do you want to wade through it? We might want to do it now, considering we'll have to follow behind her."

"The river flows too strongly to wade through. I'll have to jump it again," she told me.

"Have you considered pulling your left legs in and keeping your right extended so you're creating an uneven amount of drag? It might help to even things out a bit more," I considered. "I'm sorry if I'm overstepping my bounds with that."

"How long have you been flying for, Pearl?" Forsythia asked with some bemusement.

"Oh, no, it's not from personal experience so much as having some knowledge on air drag from watching documentaries about airplane crashes back home," I warded her question off. "I only have a few months' worth of training in Pegasi forms and flying in general."

"Air... plane... crashes," Forsythia tasted the unfamiliar word, then shook her head at it. "You're an odd one, Pearl, but it might be worth a try."

"Now's as good a moment as any; we can't fly while disguised and if they spot our magic from a distance the whole plan is moot," I offered up to her, dropping my own disguise.

"Right you are," Forsythia agreed, turning back into her Changeling self as well. "Think you can make it to the other side of the river before me?"

"Hell no, but I'll be close on your tailfin trying," I grinned back at her.