Pearl's Travels 2: Canterlot

Forsythia and I ran over to the river and crossed it about the same time as Crook and Burst flew the opposite direction to return to the cover of the trees.

I noticed that Forsythia tried to use her legs to control the air drag on her as I had suggested, adding more resistance on the side of her good wing and keeping her legs pulled up on the side of her bad one.

The holes in her shortened bad wing clearly made it a difficult task to bring herself over to the other side, but she still managed to make it there before me.

I would have to train myself more to run and fly for longer durations. Maybe this could be something to focus on in the coming months spent with Burst in Hoofton, if I ever made it there...

We both took on our Earthpony guises again once we were on the other side of the river, and then started to follow it along the bend to slowly but deliberately approach the rail tracks which Camellia was now running towards.

"So what's our story if they ask? How did we end up here?" I asked of my taller sister.

"We can't claim to be traders, or to have been camping out here, since we have nothing on us. We might as well go for a similar story to Camellia's; having ran from Canterlot 'when the evil Changelings attacked', as corny as it sounds," she pondered while we walked.

"I was obviously taken under your protection; you're a larger pony than me. I'll suggest that I was out on the market purchasing one of those flowers you had?" I wondered.

"I don't sell flowers, I sell Aly's flower arrangements," she corrected me. "They're bundled up and made for special occasions or just to look pretty on a table. Let's see, you look young enough. Perhaps graduation? No, that's not coming up yet. A sick family member in the hospital perhaps?"

"My poor auntie who, er... broke her foreleg? I recently sprained mine a second time, so I know how annoying that can get," I made up on the spot.

"You'll need a name and where she's from," Forsythia pointed out. "Imagine her as if she has truly been with you for a good while."

"Well, according to the backstory Burst has been setting up for this guise of mine, I would be from from Tall Tale," I started. "Do you know any pony families from around that area so I could come up with a name that makes sense?"

"Tizzy would know better than me; she comes from that area," Forsythia considered. "Let's see, what do I know of the place? They're close to the sea, close to the forest, close to mountains... not a lot to go on but they wouldn't use farmland names, so there's that."

I noticed the smoke drawing closer, and a speck in the distance was growing larger. I realised that it was the train that we were trying to catch.

"A lot of pony names are based on their special attributes, right? Items, animals, or plants they have a special relation to, like my name Pearl, or their physical or mental prowess?" I remembered.

"Colours too; some of them are named after colours," my sister suggested.

"Considering my name Pearl, how about Shallow Shoals for my aunt? It keeps the sea theme going," I wondered.

"That could work, although I would have imagined such to be more of a masculine name myself," Forsythia reasoned. "Sandy Shoals would be more feminine."

"I see," I replied. "Poor auntie Andy with her broken hoof. I wanted to bring her some flowers to brighten up her stay in hospital."

"You said leg before, now you said hoof. A cracked hoof would still be problematic, but you have to be wary of those mistakes. Repeat your story a few times in your head before we get to the train," my sister pressed upon me. "It's easy to get caught in a lie if you don't believe in it being truthful."

"Aunt Sandy with her broken foreleg, who needed flowers. But, as I was going over the options at your stall, the attack happened and we ran for safety," I repeated.

"Yes, in your head please," Forsythia chuckled.

The train up ahead slowed down as they noticed a unicorn in their path, Camellia using her magic to send up some magic fireworks to draw their attention.

I noticed in my peripheral vision that a cloud of grey bodies broke free from the forest we had left, but they made a wide arch away from us and quickly disappeared against the backdrop.

"Let's hope they won't ask me too many weird questions. I wouldn't even know what flowers to go for," I voiced my worry.

Forsythia quickened her pace as the train came to a halt and the ponies in charge of it ran up to Camellia to figure out why she was in their way.

I could see her fall down onto the tracks as if she was exhausted.

"Middle car has the least amount of heads sticking out the windows to see what's going on," Forsythia pointed out. "Let's head for it. Enter via the front so the attention is on Camellia and us and not our family approaching the rear carriage."

"Yes ma'am," I spoke, happy that she was taking the lead on this.

We bolted for the car in question, even as I could see the cloud of grey bodies return to my vision up ahead and approach the last train car from behind.

"Is this train going to Canterlot? Oh my goodness, we've been out here since forever," Forsythia called out as we got near enough to be heard. "Oh Pearl, how fortunate that they stopped here."

I nodded at her, noting the attention of the ponies looking out at what was going on turn upon us.

"Please, can you take us with you? My family must be worried sick," I pleaded.

Forsythia was the first to get to the train and immediately climbed up on the small platform between the carriages.

She was met with a large stallion blocking the door, his eyebrows as thick as his bristly mustache.

"This is first class, madam," he spoke with an air of superiority. "You might best check whether there is room in the other cars."

"Oh, please. My legs are so tired from running from those evil, evil Changelings," I whined, clambering up on the balcony as well.

Forsythia stared the stallion down. "Didn't you buy a bouquet from my stall just last week? Who was it for, let me remember..."

Something about the way she said that made me look at the stallion through the window in the door. His face fell and he looked a lot less sure of himself.

"No, you must have me mistaken for somepony else, miss," he tried.

"I'm sure you bought an arrangement with chrysanthemums," Forsythia continued.

"How about we say I didn't and I open this door for you and your companion instead?" the stallion suggested, backing away from the door instantly. "The less said about that the better."

"What's going on?" I wondered. "Are we getting on the train or not?"

"Oh yes, Pearl, I believe we are," Forsythia called back to me, and walked into the first class carriage.

I followed closely behind her and noticed that the stallion had retreated to a seat opposite a mare who was looking at him quizzically.

"What was that about?" she asked pointedly.

"Oh nothing, I believe the mare had me mistaken for somepony else. Has the blockage been removed from the tracks yet, you think?" he coughed uneasily.

Forsythia led me to an empty seat near the back of the carriage, opposite an elderly mare who had fallen asleep on her seat.

She had a light purple coat, grey mane, and a pair of reading glasses half-fallen off her muzzle but otherwise could have passed for a sibling to Granny Smith. Just that stereotypical old lady kind of pony.

"No questions yet," I whispered to Forsythia, who shushed me.

We sat in silence for a while longer before the train set in motion again.

I felt more and more nervous now we were back on the road into Canterlot again, on the very same tracks which Burst and I had been on before, and I looked out through the window to try and figure out when the anti-transformation barrier would wash over us again.

Any moment now, as we got closer and closer to the mountain.

Darkness suddenly overtook us as we passed into the tunnel, with just the lights inside the carriage helping us to see around us.

The train slowed down as it reached the station platform of Canterlot's big transit station, and I was still seated next to Forsythia without either of us having lost our disguises.

"Let's get off with the rest of the crowd," she whispered to me, and I quickly leapt off my seat.

Forsythia didn't immediately move along with me, but instead poked the sleeping mare.

"Excuse me, miss. We've arrived at Canterlot. Don't miss your stop now," she spoke to the old mare, who woke up with confusion glancing over her face.

"What? Huh? Where? Prance a lot? I used to, in my younger days, but I haven't for a long while missy. What a question to ask," the older mare spoke.

"No, we're at the capital Canterlot," Forsythia corrected her. "We're getting off the train here, you might want to do the same if this is your stop?"

"I can see that; I'm not blind," the mare huffed, but then looked outside and seemed to finally realise where she was. "Oh, we've arrived at Canterlot! Why didn't you say so?"

Forsythia stopped trying, and just followed me out through the back exit.

We walked out onto the station platform with the rest of the ponies exiting the train, blending into the crowd. There were a lot of different ponies, of all shapes and colourations, some with heavy bags while others travelled as light as Forsythia and I were.

I tried to find Camellia in the crowds, but she must have been up front in the train and we were too far away to spot her immediately.

"Let's head out onto the streets and wait near the station entrance. I'm sure Burst will find us there," Forsythia suggested.

For the second time since my arrival in Equestria I marvelled at how big the Canterlot terminus was; trains from all over stopped here, allowing ponies to change tracks to other destinations to those that were connected to the lines they had been on.

It was a bustling place and I could see that the falling of a long night and the Changeling scare brought on by the Tantabus was now past and those who were going through the station were clearly trying to make up for lost time.

It was a lot like being back at home and going through a busy station; everypony looked rushed, more busy with where they were heading themselves than with the others around them, and those coming off the trains were met with an equal amount of ponies flocking toward them to leave for destinations unknown.

Forsythia helped me to navigate this crowded place to the main entrance, and we walked a few paces off to the left of it onto the street.

She didn't walk slowly, but she pressed on as if she was on a mission, clearing the waves of ponies ahead of us. I just followed in her wake until she stopped in front of a small bakery set up next to the station entrance.

The streets were so much more crowded than I had seen it before while the Tantabus had been laying siege upon the place. It was a proper city, awake again now the Tantabus had clearly been defeated.

Forsythia poked me in the side. "You haven't seen this place at its busiest yet, have you?"

"No, I haven't," I spoke honestly. "When Burst and I arrived here it was already under the Tantabus' influence; there were barely any ponies out on the streets like this. Also, we had to hide in the back alleys and storm drains before we came upon Camellia."

"Be glad it's not a festival day," Forsythia chuckled weakly.

"Ah, there you two are," a familiar voice called out to us, and I turned to spot Oval in his Earthpony stallion guise walking up to us, a younger Unicorn stallion with a slick combed back mane a half-step behind him.

"Hammer!" I remembered his name for this guise. "Who's that with you?"

"Allow me to introduce myself," the Unicorn started with a theatrical flair.

He bent down through his left foreleg, motioned his right forehoof through the air as if he were casting stage magic or something, and lowered his head in a respectful bow toward me.

"My name's Deft Stroke, and I am at your service, my lady Pearl," the Unicorn formerly known as Crook suggested.

"Oh, here we go again," Hammer Hoof, also known as Burst or Oval, sighed. "Don't fall for his charms, Pearl."

"What charms?" Forsythia snorted. "Did any of you see that Unicorn after she stopped the train for us?"

"Not yet," Hammer Hoof admitted. "I do know where she lives, so Pearl and I might as well go see if she's going there."

"I need to figure out where they took my cart after they locked me up," Forsythia grumbled.

"Oh, we can help with that; Applejack took us to the cart storage where the Apple family stores their cart when they're not selling apples or cider on the market here," I remembered. "They probably put your cart there as well; it's a big enough storage for it."

"What are the chances the princess and her friend are still in town?" Hammer Hoof wondered.

"They do linger around for a little longer after fixing a friendship problem, but not too much longer," I considered. "They're either still in the palace talking with Celestia and Luna or aiming for the next train out to Ponyville."

"Which is what I want to do once I know where the cart is stored. I can always come back for it, but I need to find out what happened to Aly first," Forsythia suggested.

"The cart storage first, then. Bu... Hammer and me can make it to Camellia's house afterward," I decided. "How about you, Deft Stroke?"

My brother just stood there watching us all talk about our plans, but then shook his head. "I'll drift into town, see if I can find somepony to feed me. Don't worry about me, Pearl. I'm in your debt, however. If ever I can help you out, just call upon me."

"Aw, no, you guided us out of town. I'm calling us even on that," I protested.

"Suit yourself. Maybe we'll bump into one another at a later time, hm?" Deft Stroke chuckled. "Pearl, Forsythia, Hammer Hoof, it's been a pleasure. Stay out of trouble, big bro."

Hammer Hoof turned to Deft Stroke and opened his mouth, probably to tell Crook just who the one of us four was who was more likely to get into trouble, but the Unicorn took a step sideways into the crowd of ponies walking past us and disappeared from sight.

"Oh wow, he pulled a Batman," I gasped.

"A what?" Forsythia wondered, looking down at me.

"Never mind... let's go find your cart," I answered. "It's in the merchant's quarter, so if we make our way over to that bar we escaped through, we should be able to find our way back to it."