Fluttershy and Zecora galloped through the forest, even if the uneven ground and thick undergrowth made it difficult to move fast. The changeling guards had quickly realized Fluttershy’s escape, but for a moment at least it felt like their pursuers had lost them.
Twigs cracked under her hooves as Fluttershy tried her best to keep up with Zecora. The zebra effortlessly jumped over rotting logs and ducked her head just in time to dodge branches, her hooves always somehow finding bare spots devoid of roots or other hidden obstacles under the tall grass.
Fluttershy wasn’t as agile. Broken twigs were stuck on her mane, remains of a spider’s web hanged from her left wing and she had scratch marks on her cheek from a tree branch she had noticed too late.
Despite all that, Fluttershy still had too many questions swirling in her mind for her to stay quiet, shouting her words at the zebra even as they ran. “Why did you hit him?! Didn’t you hear what he was saying?”
“Time was short and changelings can’t be trusted to be a good sport. It is in their nature to cheat, their weapon of choice deceit.” Zecora didn’t turn her head as she answered, but there was a hard edge in her tone that Fluttershy had never heard the zebra using before.
It made her hesitate, but only for a moment. Fluttershy lowered her head to avoid yet another tree branch before speaking again. “That’s not true! They are like ponies! Some of them are kind, others mean!”
Before Zecora could answer, Fluttershy bit her lip and next practically screamed her next words to the zebra, unable to hold back her frustration. “If all changelings are evil, does that mean I am evil too?!”
The zebra wasn't affected by the young changeling queen's outburst and continued in her familiar, calm tone:
“You were chosen by the Elements, your inner nature is that of gentleness. There is no need for further evidence for your lack of malevolence.”
Zecora jumped over a fallen tree twice as thick as she was tall, all the while still talking. “All of Equestria might be at stake, the risk is too great to trust any other changeling whose kindness might be fake.”
Fluttershy flew over the fallen tree trunk, forced to land soon after on the ground again by the thick canopy of the ancient trees. She almost shouted another angry response at Zecora before she realized what the zebra had just said and frowned instead, confusion replacing her anger.
“All of Equestria? What do you mean?” This wasn’t just about Chrysalis ponynapping her?
“Changelings have crept around the forest in large groups as of late. They wouldn't risk revealing themselves unless they were preparing to devastate.”
That was disconcerting, Fluttershy couldn’t deny it. Chrysalis hadn’t said anything about it during their little talk.
But, that wasn’t really surprising, was it? If there was somepony to whom keeping secrets and deceit was a force of habit, it was her newfound aunt.
More Fluttershy thought about it, more foreboding it all became. Chrysalis had to know that her friends would do everything they could to find her. Chrysalis hadn’t even tried to put a changeling in Fluttershy’s place to fool her friends to buy time.
That hive was hard to find, but could it really remain hidden if Twilight and Starlight combed through the forest with magic, now aware that changelings had a hideout in there?
Fluttershy didn’t have any experience in plotting complicated schemes, but even to her it felt that after you openly ponynapped somepony who had a seat around the table in Twilight’s castle, the smartest thing to do was to pack up and run as far away from Ponyville and Equestria in general as possible.
“How did you even know where I was? Did you already know about changelings?” Fluttershy was grateful of Zecora’s appearance, but the timing felt almost too perfect now when she thought about it.
For a fleeting moment she almost suspected the zebra of being yet another changeling in disguise, but quickly thought better of it. Zecora’s unique way of speech made it practically impossible to impersonate her.
Zecora didn’t slow down as she explained:
"I had my suspicions, but didn't know if they were true. I have known for sure only for the last day or two. When I saw your cohorts and you pass through, I took it as my cue. It didn't take long for you to arrive at the hive, I decided to wait near the gate. When you came out, there was no time for doubt.”
Suddenly, Zecora stopped dead in her tracks. Fluttershy was grateful for a chance to catch her breath, but when zebra gestured her not to speak, she gulped nervously.
They stood there for a moment, completely silent. Zecora slowly turned her head from side to side and Fluttershy did the same. At first, there was nothing besides the background noises of the forest. Then, they both heard it.
The faint, buzzing echo of changeling wings, this time from all around them instead of just from the direction of the hive.
“We have changelings both on our front and back, they hunt us like a timberwolf pack.”
Zecora paced back and forth for a few seconds, first looking at the ground and then at the thick canopy above them. Fluttershy followed the zebra’s gaze and realized how dark it already was. It was hard to tell from down here, but it was probably late evening already.
Finally, Zecora shook her head and sighed. “This is what we must do if we want to break through.”
Fluttershy had no time to ask what the zebra meant before Zecora had taken off her cloak, offering it to her.
“We need to separate, I will act as bait. Use this to hide and bide your time. Fly away, soon it is night, they won't find from the sky without light.”
Fluttershy stared at Zecora and quickly shook her head. ”I’m not leaving you alone in here!”
Even if changelings caught her, Fluttershy was certain that Chrysalis had given them orders to not to hurt her. But, Zecora had no such protection. If the zebra got caught without Fluttershy there to protect her from the other changelings…
Zecora blinked and smiled to Fluttershy, shaking her head. “I won't be caught, all their efforts to that end will be for naught.”
The zebra offered the cloak again and Fluttershy reluctantly took it. She still didn’t like this, but Twilight and others needed to know about what was going on.
Fluttershy still felt bad for First Captain too, but at least now Chrysalis could only blame him of incompetence instead of outright treachery.
The young changeling queen threw the cloak over herself, pulling its hood up to cover her head. The horn was a problem, but it looked like a tree branch from a distance anyway.
Right about now Fluttershy realized how massively useful changing your shape at will could be. If she knew how to do that, sneaking past the changelings would be easy. Perhaps she should have asked Chrysalis how exactly it worked.
Then again, the whole point of her aunt’s speech was that without love changelings couldn’t do much anything since it powered all their abilities. To Fluttershy, looking like a smaller version of Chrysalis with a pale yellow color scheme for the rest of her life was still more preferable to the alternative.
Zecora nodded to Fluttershy before dropping her smile. “Reaching Ponyville will be risky at night. Is there anywhere you can go to wait for daylight? Changelings will not be able to move out in the open if they wish their presence will go unspoken.”
Fluttershy didn’t need to think her answer for long.
“Cloudsdale.”
Her parents would shelter her, Fluttershy was sure of that. At this point she didn’t know were they ponies or changelings, but it didn’t matter. She couldn’t even be completely sure they knew about her true nature. But, they had taken care of her for all these years.
If there were anypony left in Equestria who wouldn’t care about how she looked, it was them.
Zecora smiled again at Fluttershy’s determination and turned to leave. After taking a few steps away however, the zebra turned her head back towards the young changeling queen, her expression troubled.
“My words earlier were unfair, I hope they didn't give you a scare. I was taught that changelings only bring terror. I now see my error. A changeling can be kind instead of maligned.”
With those words, Zecora galloped away, quickly disappearing from sight. It didn’t take long for the sounds of the pursuit to change their direction towards where zebra had gone.
Fluttershy made a quick prayer for her friend’s safety and pulled the cloak more tightly around herself, walking into the opposite direction.
This was nothing. She had snuck inside Trixie’s barrier and around Starlight’s village. All she needed to do this time was to get so lost in the forest that nopony could find her.
When Fluttershy thought about it that way, it felt much easier.
Rarity leaned back on her seat, looking through the window at the moving landscape outside. It was almost sunset, the light of the lowering sun coloring the sky in hues of red and orange. The multitude of colors reflected on the waters of Saddle Lake, creating a dazzling display of natural beauty.
It all looked so serene. Combined with the gentle rhythm caused by the train’s movement, Rarity felt like she could fall asleep on the spot.
“I can see how that was inconvenient. I wish I had been there, I’m sure I could have reversed the spell! Did you at least get that delivery?”
“It turned out that instead of fabrics, the box was filled with spoons! Rarity got really mad at that point.”
She scoffed at Spike’s vulgar description of what had been an entirely reasonable outburst of annoyance. With Starlight Glimmer and Spike happily chatting about the day’s misfortunes in front of her so loudly that everypony in the cart could hear it, Rarity had no hope of peace and quiet whatsoever.
It had been a happy surprise to find out that Starlight was returning to Ponyville with the same train they were on, but it was about time to change the subject from that completely ridiculous chain of mishaps involving her boutique to something less aggravating.
“Starlight, how was your village? You only have to say the word and I will come there to make the place a bit more… aesthetically pleasing.” Come to think of it, did that place even have a name?
Starlight smiled and waved her hoof nonchalantly. “I will ask that from them next time I visit. The sunset festival is not far away, they might appreciate having some extra help when they start preparing for it.”
Rarity’s mind was already filled with dress and banner designs by the time Twilight’s pupil finished her sentence.
Maybe, she could make an entire line out of that? Rising the sun was a far more celebrated event in Equestria than lowering it, but that just meant nopony had done it before. Perhaps...
“Um, why is the train stopping? We can’t be there yet, can we?” Spike was scratching his head and looking out of the window.
Starlight and Rarity both turned first to look at the young dragon and next outside the window. Indeed, the landscape had stopped moving. The few other passengers on the train had also noticed the same, some cursing and other impatiently glancing at their watches.
Rarity could sympathize, she had looked forward to sleeping in her own bed tonight. More unfortunate events was the last thing the wanted.
Once the train had completely stopped, Spike turned his head, trying to see to the front of the train. “The conductor is arguing with some worker ponies. It looks like we aren't going anywhere in a while.”
Rarity grimaced, clenching her jaw. She didn’t care what kind of night-time renovation those workers were doing to the tracks, she simply would not accept any more delays and inconveniences today!
She jumped down from her seat, starting to walk towards the carriage’s door. “Spike, come on! We are going to get to the bottom of this.”
The young dragon looked as Rarity stormed out of the train and sighed, turning to look at Starlight with a shrug before following Rarity, Starlight coming right after him.
The two unicorns and a dragon stepped outside and looked around. A few dozen feet away, the train conductor was engaged in a heated debate with a construction pony who calmly repeated his answers again and again.
Rarity rolled her eyes at the ramshackle shack on the side of the train tracks but ignored the wooden outpost, walking to the two stallions. “What is going on? Why did the train stop?”
The worker pony turned to look at them and blinked in surprise, probably recognizing the Element of Generosity. However, in a moment his expression went poker-faced again.
“As you can see,” the worker pony gestured at the railroad tracks in front of the train. “The bridge over the river has collapsed.”
They all turned to look at the bridge in front of the train, or what remained of it. It was like a flood had hit it, barely anything besides the supports on the both sides remained.
The worker pony continued, his tone calm. “A repair team will be here in the morning. I’m afraid the passengers will have to sleep on the train for the night.”
Starlight walked forward and looked at the remains of the bridge, frowning. “What happened? There is barely anything of the bridge left.”
The worker pony looked Starlight with visible annoyance as the unicorn started studying the wreck, taking a deep breath. “We don’t know. But, it really doesn’t matter. The bridge is gone. Unless you can make the train fly, there is nothing else to do than wait.”
To the surprise of both the worker and conductor, Starlight apparently missed the joke and rubbed her chin, turning to look at the train with a thoughtful expression.
Rarity and Spike looked at each other and wordlessly agreed to prevent a disaster they could see coming from a mile away, possibly on the wings of a flying locomotive.
“Darling, maybe it is better to wait? The train has at least some beds. It might be somewhat rudimentary,” Rarity gave a mental sigh at the necessities of civilized life she already knew she was going to miss. “But, sometimes you have to do with what you have.”
Starlight didn’t look convinced, turning to look at the river again. “Can’t pegasi passengers just fly over and carry everypony else?”
The worker pony gave a sigh of frustration and pointed his hoof towards the tracks on the other side of the river. “Even if they did, it would take hours to walk to Ponyville by following the tracks.”
Starlight raised a curious eyebrow and pointed towards the looming trees at the distance which the rail tracks avoided, going to the right instead. “Why can’t we just walk directly through the forest? That would be a lot faster, wouldn’t it?”
This time it was the conductor who spoke. “It is the Everfree Forest. Nopony goes there voluntarily. Especially at night.”
Spike walked over to Twilight's pupil with a smile, shaking his head. “Starlight, cheer up!” The young dragon gestured towards the train and gave her an encouraging smile. “I’m sure Twilight won’t be mad at you for coming back half a day later, these things happen.”
Starlight turned her head towards the bridge again. She looked it for a moment and turned to Rarity, looking nervous, but also determined. “There are still burn marks left on the remains. Either a dragon breathed on that bridge, or somepony destroyed it with magic.”
All the rest of the blinked and looked at each other, uncertain on how to react. All ponies present at least.
Spike gave Starlight a curious look and walked to the remains of the bridge, sniffing at the air, shaking his head and turning towards them soon after. “It wasn’t a dragon, but yeah. I can smell it too.”
Starlight gave a relieved smile at Spike’s support and continued, raising her hoof towards the forest. “I know this is Everfree and strange things happen, but what if Ponyville is in danger? There could be a monster attack or something!”
The worker pony sat down and crossed his hooves, sounding even more annoyed. “If you want monster attacks, the best way to get one is to walk into that forest. Assuming you manage to convince passenger who is also a pegasus to carry you across the river one by one in the first place.”
Starlight ignored the comment and looked at Rarity, who saw the plea in her friend’s gaze.
Rarity turned to look at the broken bridge herself. On one hoof, she had trouble coming up with something she would rather not to do than take a stroll in that forest at night. Sleeping on the train sounded a lot more comfortable when compared to walking for an hour or three in middle of Everfree.
Then again, the destruction of bridge was strange. It was probably unrelated, but Starlight could also be right.
Rarity asked herself what Applejack would do in this situation and sighed, already knowing the answer. She rose her head and looked at Starlight.
“Alright, you convinced me. A midnight stroll through a forest filled with monsters it is.”
Starlight beamed and saluted with her hoof. In a moment, a magical glow surrounded her, Rarity and Spike, lifting all three of them up in the air.
The worker pony and the conductor just stared with their mouths open as Starlight effortlessly levitated all three of them across the river, the trio quickly starting to make their way towards the distant trees when they landed on the other side.
The conductor shook his head in disbelief and walked back to the train.
The worker pony, a changeling captain called Cephalon, cursed under his breath.
Those three could become a problem. Timberwolves could be trusted to handle regular ponies, but not one of the Elements and whoever that crazy unicorn was.
Well, at least in Everfree there was little risk of having witnesses.
“So, they both escaped?”
The very nervous changeling awkwardly shifted his hooves and stared at the floor, not daring to look up at Chrysalis towering over her.
“Y-Yes, my Queen.”
Chrysalis shifted on the large pillow she was laying on, idly tapping a cocoon next to her with her hoof, feeding some more love from the prisoner inside to improve her mood. She wearily turned her gaze back to the messenger.
“Do you have any good news for me?”
The messenger changeling gulped nervously. “We know that neither of them made it to Ponyville, all paths are still guarded.”
Chrysalis mulled over that for a moment and decided that it was better than nothing. She had underestimated Fluttershy, there was no way around it. Using the gentle approach had been a mistake. She didn’t like having loose ends, but at least everything else was going according to the plan.
“And the reinforcements?”
The messenger changeling dared to look up at Chrysalis with a smile. “On schedule, they will be here soon. Everything is ready, we can move as soon as they arrive.”
The changeling queen smiled, but her expression soon soured when she realized that she had already drained all the love she could from the pony inside the cocoon.
Chrysalis grunted in annoyance and kicked the cocoon away with her hoof. “Bring me another, I need to gather all the love I can.” She sighed again and turned to lay on her back.
The messenger changeling took that as his cue to leave, frantically nodding as he pulled the cocoon out of the room, leaving Chrysalis alone with her thoughts, the changeling queen staring at the ceiling with a pensive look on her face.
“Carina...”