Pearl's Travels 1: Hollow Shades

by Makitk

43

We gathered near an exit of the storage room with Blaze moving to take point, but then Moonshine called Starlight to the side.

"I am not part of their batch, so I will stay behind as it would look strange for us to walk together," she spoke. "You have a strong understanding of magic, Starlight."

"So have you," Starlight offered back with a half-smile.

"Maybe once we get through this we could meet up again and talk? See what we can learn from one another?" Moonshine suggested.

"You're a scribe in Canterlot, right?" Starlight wondered, to which Moonshine gave a nod. "Just take the train from there over to Ponyville. It's a much calmer town, and both Pinkie Pie and I live there nowadays."

"Any particular place I should try to find you at?" Moonshine wondered, and Starlight smiled up lightly.

"If you'll head for the bakery called Sugarcube Corner, you'll spot Pinkie Pie in an instant; she lives in the same building and works the counter there," Starlight Glimmer told the Changeling. "You're going to want to try some of her cupcakes while you're there."

"They're the best! Sometimes I go down into the store at night and eat until my rumbly tummy is all full with cake, and then I have to help bake new ones in the morning," Pinkie interrupted their conversation. "But yeah! I know everypony, and I mean EVERYPONY, in Ponyville. If I see someone new, I always go to them to greet them and see if they want to be my friend."

"She does that, yeah," I added, waiting near the entrance with Blaze. "She can be very overwhelming in her enthusiasm to try and make you her friend, so be forewarned, sister."

"Who are you calling sister, runt?" Moonshine threw back at me with an evil grin. "Get out of this in one piece first, and then we'll see if you've grown up enough to be allowed to call me sister, Hatchling."

"Oh, the high and mighty Changeling routine's back again," I grinned back. "I'm glad you calmed down earlier, sister. I'd prefer us to be on friendly terms."

Pinkie Pie agreed with a nod. "Yuh-huh!"

"Just keep these two alive out there," Moonshine told me, then gave Starlight a quick nod. "If you need a quick exit, aim up at a fourty-degree angle and just drill up. Ignore the existing tunnels or any mess you may make on the way out; just keep going straight. Any lower and you won't make it out of the mountain before you'll get swamped. It's got a wide foot and you're going to be pretty close to the center below it."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks," Starlight spoke softly, turning for Blaze and me. "Shall we, then?"

Blaze let out a strong snort at Starlight's words. "Finally. Follow me and don't stray, Hatchlings. Remember that all Changelings will think of you their lesser and this is especially true for the guards you'll meet. Stick with Pearl; she's gone through most of the training."

With that, she turned into the tunnels and was quickly followed by Pinkie Pie. I walked up behind the bouncy Earthpony-turned-Hatchling, with Starlight directly behind me, and Breeze coming up last as the rear guard.

I shook my head a little as I watched the eagerness which never left Pinkie, then walked up to her right side as the tunnel widened.

"Remember, Pinkie; you should try to act like a Hatchling," I warned. "Try to keep the bouncing to a minimum, and no skipping through dimensional rifts or however you do your popping up in the strangest of places."

Pinkie tilted her head at me, looking at me with those large blue eyes of her Hatchling guise. "What do you mean?"

I raised an eyebrow at her question, and nodded at her as she skipped another step to hop instead. "Less hopping?"

"Ooh," Pinkie realized, falling into a calmer pace and actually putting her hooves down properly.

"Remember that you're supposedly injured as well, okay? So if anypony out there gives you a poke in your side, try to act like it hurts," I continued.

"Oh, I know that, silly," Pinkie chuckled. "I was thinking of acting like Rarity, but maybe not so much so like Rarity, because Rarity always has the best responses to those kinds of things; falling over in style like she does, but then I thought maybe I should just act like my friend Rose, because Rose faints perfectly! Just like Rarity, but a little less like Rarity, if you know what I mean?"

I stared back at Pinkie, then shook my head slowly. "No, Pinkie... but maybe you can introduce us some day? Just try to be a bit..."

"More like a lot," Blaze threw back at us.

"Yeah, a lot calmer than that," I agreed with Blaze.

Pinkie looked back at me with grim determination on her face. "Okey, dokey, and especially lokey."

"Especially lokey, yeah," I coughed, then let myself drop back a bit to fall in step with Starlight. "She's going to blow your cover if it takes too long, isn't she?"

Starlight gave a slow nod to me. "Oh yeah; she will explode in a cloud of confetti if she has to keep quiet for too long," she sighed.

"If it wasn't for the two of you, I don't think this stupid plan had any chance of succeeding," I trusted to the Unicorn-turned-Hatchling. "But knowing what I know of your history? This is probably going to go better than even I can foresee right now."

"And what do you know of our history, Pearl?" Starlight wondered, starting to look a bit nervous.

"Nothing but good things, Starlight Glimmer. We all make mistakes, but you're doing a good job recovering from it. Making right, you know?" I offered up with a smile.

"I keep telling myself that," Starlight sighed. "Doesn't mean I believe it."

"Well, you made up with Sunburst, right? And you've made friends with Trixie. I think she really needs somepony like you to help her. She's made some mistakes in the past as well," I listed calmly.

"Hers pale compared to mine," Starlight mumbled. "I keep hearing from Twilight Sparkle and the others that I'm improving, but I'm not seeing it myself, if you know what I mean?"

"Have you gone back to your old town? Talked to some of the ponies from it?" I asked, genuinely curious about it since it had not come up in the show yet. "I'm sure they don't blame you as much as you do yourself."

"I could never face them again in my life. What I did to them was inexcusable," Starlight stated with great remorse to her voice.

"Hey, I may come from a different world than this, and I may be a Changeling, but trust me on this; you've got a lot of ponies and people in this world and mine rooting for you," I told Starlight directly. "You're stronger than you give yourself credit for, and there's a lot that can be forgiven. You just need to trust in your own ability to talk things out. You did with Sunburst, after all."

"The problems we see are far greater than they actually are," Breeze offered up from behind us. "If you don't face up to them, they will keep haunting you for years."

"Exactly that," I nodded. "You're gonna be fine, Starlight. Have some faith in yourself."

"And especially now; you're the only one here who can help our Queen see she is making a grave mistake," Breeze sighed.

"Yeah, what she's planning is infinitely worse than what you have done in the past, Starlight," I agreed. "Not even your little timetravel experiment comes close. This could irrepairably damage the lives of thousands."

Starlight turned her head to look between Breeze and me with some trepidation, but I saw we were getting through to her.

"I'm going to be around for this one. I don't know what the future may bring, but from what I heard Moonshine is eager to talk with you after all of this," I reminded Starlight. "I'm sure Blaze, Breeze, Oval, and myself would love to come visit as well. I'd love to consider you my friend, as I consider Pinkie my friend now."

"I would like that," Starlight returned with a genuine smile growing on her Changeling face.

"Tell that inner voice of yours that you can't be all that bad if you have us as friends, okay?" I chuckled, giving her a soft nudge to her right shoulder.

"Ah, ooh, that hurt," Starlight spoke flatly to my bump, smiling over.

I missed a step as I had not expected her to make a joke like that, and got a nudge in my rear from Breeze to keep me going.

"Maybe put a little more emotion in that next time," I offered up to Starlight as I caught up to her again.

"Will you Hatchlings keep your voices down? We're just about there," Blaze groaned.

Starlight and I shared a glance, but she gave me a determined nod at my questioning gaze. I steeled myself for what was to come as well, not having a clue what lay ahead of us except for some "chambers in which Hatchlings are gathered" and the possibility of meeting Queen Chrysalis.

It was terribly exciting... with the emphasis on terrible. My heart was racing so fast I thought it was trying to burst out.

Comments

[tsaukpaetra]

Anticipation grows!
Silly Starlight, you can't be a monster if you are friends with Pinkie and co!
Keep going! ;)