//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Pearl's Travels 2: Canterlot 
// by Makitk 
//------------------------------//

The train I was in lumbered on in the direction of Canterlot while I observed the lands to the North of our tracks, and it only took half an hour before I could see the Neighagra Falls in the distance. Our train rushed through a station positioned nearest to the falls without stopping, and soon they were behind us as the tracks turned away from them to lead us further South-Southwest on an almost straight path to Canterlot.

"You did say there were no stops before we would reach Canterlot," I remarked to Oval while falling back into a comfortable position on my seat. "Does any train stop at that station?"

"I think the line between Canterlot and Manehattan does. It's a tourist spot and very crowded in mid-summer," Oval explained. "You noticed Hollow Shades is a tourist location as well thanks to its secluded nature and the hot springs, right?"

"Yeah, I got that notion while in town," I agreed.

"For some reason the ponies don't want to connect the two with a direct line," Oval shrugged. "This one goes between Canterlot and Fillydelphia, but we can't take a train to Hoofton from Fillydelphia. We need to take the one between Canterlot and Baltimare instead. There's another line to Fillydelphia, coming from Canterlot, but it doesn't go through Hollow Shades."

"It's as confusing as the transportation back home," I remarked with a sigh. "You'd need a Master's Degree to figure out what line went where."

"Yeah, don't get me started. I travel across Equestria 'for work'," Oval suggested with a wink, knowing I had seen the great collection of donated items which our Changeling family had brought to the Hive, "so I take this line a lot. The transfer time from one train to another in Fillydelphia is just not worth it. The atmosphere in Canterlot is also vastly different from that in Fillydelphia."

"Vastly different in a good way, I expect?" I pressed, and Oval smiled at me.

"You'll see. I've come to enjoy my short stays there ever since we had that... thing," he coughed uneasily. "I'm glad we're not doing another one of those."

"So am I," I agreed. "I'm kinda curious about Canterlot, really. That show from back home did show it a few times, from various angles, but it was only enough to whet my appetite. I want to see more."

"Maybe we can take a longer trip there in the future? There's too many guards there to risk an accident, so I would want to see you handling the crowds in Hoofton or Baltimare first," Oval explained.

"That's fair," I agreed. "Are we there yet?"

"I think we're half an hour out," Oval pondered, looking between the left- and right-side windows to check our location. "You're not getting bored, are you?"

"Tired, more like it. I may need to take a nap on the way to Hoofton," I suggested. "Having left Hollow Shades, I guess the pressure of being in charge of organizing certain things has left me. It kind of forced me to keep my wits about me more. Now there's just the trip up ahead, I'm coming down from that rush."

"Or you're just getting hungry," Oval smirked. "If you can hold out to Canterlot we can figure out which it is and sort things out. We'll get a snack, a map, get our stories straight for my mare, and hop on the next train when you're ready for it, okay?"

"Sure," I agreed with a wry smile. "I don't think it's hunger, though."

"Pearl, you haven't felt it yet," Oval reminded me. "Not truly. Our group kept you fed while the others starved."

"I know, I know," I agreed, letting myself fall sideways on the seat I was on. "I told you I would let you know if I started to feel hungry."

"You should be feeling hungry, by all accounts. Did you even take from the lines this morning?" Oval wondered, not reassured by my casual reply.

"Yes, like every morning since you guys taught me how," I replied lazily, pulling my hooves up to my barrel. "I'm not saying I don't feel a bit of a pit growing in my tummy, but it's no worse than what I've been used to."

Oval stared at me. "You're not seriously trying to get some sleep, are you? We'll be in Canterlot in a matter of minutes!"

I frowned at him. "I told you I was feeling sleepy."

"And I told you to try and hold on to Canterlot," Oval bounced back, slipping off his seat so he could poke a hoof at my side. "Go on, push up."

"I'll tell Blaze on you," I mumbled defiantly, but his continued prodding forced me to sit upright again.

"We most likely won't see her for a year at best," Oval remarked. "I'll take the chance you'll have forgotten about this by then if that means I don't have to carry you out of the train on my back."

"You're a bother, cousin," I grumbled, trying to shake off the drowsiness I was feeling.

"I'm just looking after you, Pearl. You don't want to miss out on seeing Canterlot with your own eyes," he chuckled, moving onto the seat next to me. "I know a restaurant which I'm sure you will enjoy eating at."

I let myself sink sideways against his larger form and sighed. "Here's hoping they have this world's equivalent to coffee..."

Oval raised an eyebrow, turning his head to look down at me. "What's that?"

"Coffee? It's ground-up brown beans which contain caffeine. Perfect for staying awake on," I explained meekly. "One of the many things I'm pining for, although I think I kicked my cigarette addiction by now; rarely think about the things anymore."

"Addiction... sounds like those salt bars they have in the Southern Pony towns," Oval thought out loud.

"Or our hunger?" I suggested, peering up at him.

"Yes," Oval agreed with a wry smile. "But then all kinds of food or drinks are an addiction. We'd die without the love we take in, as you should know by now."

"A necessity," I mumbled.

"As is staying awake, Pearl," Oval chuckled, giving me a nudge with his elbow.

I grumbled at the nudge, but straightened my back and forelegs again. "Yes, yes, how much longer?"

Oval brought his right hoof up to point through the window at the tall mountain which quickly drew near. "We'll go through a tunnel in a moment, but are very nearly there."

I gave a slow nod. "Can't wait."

It did not take too long before the tunnel's darkness took possession of the train, and we sat in silence while waiting for it to pull into the station past it.

Just as the train started to slow down, and the unmistakable screeching of the brakes were heard, a blue flash passed through the cart, and I felt a spell of nausea hit me. It quickly took possession of me, and I noticed Oval was straining to keep his composure as well in what little light we had from the cart's lamps.

"What was that?" I asked, feeling worse with every breath.

"I have no idea," Oval returned in worry, stepping down from the seat and taking a few strained steps through the cart. "Some magic spell?"

My vision blurred and I felt like I was about to puke, all thought of holding my guise leaving me in favor of holding down my liquid breakfast. The green flash of my Changeling magic soon passed over me as I lost control of my guise, and Oval snapped to in surprise.

"Pearl, focus!" he all-but shouted at me.

Sitting on the seat as my Changeling self, I felt the nauseousness pull away again until I could actually focus on my guise again. The green flash moved over me as I returned to my Earthpony appearance, but the queasy feeling that had tried to overtake me before came back just as strongly not a moment later! I lost control again in mere seconds, much to Oval's distress!

I stared down at my grey bug-like hooves and licked around my fangs. "I can't hold my guise," I realized out loud, while a flash of green passed over Oval as well.

I looked up to see her going through the same motion of restoring it, then having it falter again.

"Whatever that spell was, it was aimed at us," she realized at once. "I can't keep my guise any more than you can, and I have a few years of experience on you."

I gave a slow nod as daylight returned to us, the train finally reaching the other end of the tunnel.

"I get physically ill when I try to hold it," I told her, even as her green magic left her horn for her to gather her belongings from the seat opposite mine.

"We can't stay on the train," Oval decided with great haste behind her words. "We have no option other than slip off before it hits the station; there are too many guards in this city. Get your stuff and follow me quickly!"

I slipped off the seat I was on as well, used my magic to lift my bag onto the blue chitin covering my back, and ran after Oval as she made for the back exit of the traincart.

We slipped out of the last traincart as the locomotive rolled into the station, and jumped off into the shadows beside the station platform, our bags falling around us in the bushes. As the train came to a stop, the Canterlot Royal Guards moving in to check its contents, the two Changelings they were searching for were huddled together in the bushes beside the station, desperately hoping nopony would spot them...