Walking to Canterlot was a lot more effort than Scootaloo has initially assumed. The one time she had visited Canterlot, she took a train, which was still quite a lengthy journey. Walking by hoof, Scootaloo knew it would take her at least a full day of non-stop walking. Forgetting how late in the day she had left, she knew she would have to pause and take a rest somewhere along the way, but she wasn't quite sure where. After all, she had to stay near the train tracks due to the fact that Canterlot rested atop a large mountain, and there really wasn't another path that she could walk up to get to the regal city.
The path was very tedious and took plenty of effort to navigate. Climbing any mountain would be work, even climbing as such a low slope would take work, but for a filly to walk such a distance was unbelievable. Panting for breath, Scootaloo leaned against a nearby tree, one of the few she had encountered on her climb. Looking ahead of her, Scootaloo saw Canterlot in the distance, and nothing but mountains to either side of her. Attempting to regain her strength, she began taking slow, long breaths and looked for something nearby that would be safe to eat. Unlike her earlier encounter in the Everfree forest, she would easily be able to find something to eat that wouldn't tear her organs apart. After finding a few daises growing just beside the rocky cliff, Scootaloo continued on, determined to reach the city as quickly as her legs would allow.
The day was long, or at least what was left of it. The sun slowly began to lower behind the great city in the distance, and Scootaloo paused and admired the orange glow encompassing the sky. Scootaloo's legs were already quite tired from walking almost non-stop all day, but she planned to get further on her quest to Canterlot. When she finally did get too sore from walking so far, she rested under a small overhanging rock, ensuring to grab some grass before entering. If Scootaloo was going to sleep on the floor, she at least tried to make it comfortable. As she let the darkness finally embrace her, she fell into a deep sleep.
>---<
"Scootaloo! Scootaloo!" A voice called.
The voice was almost ghostly, a whisper that echoed through the silent void.
"Wha-?" Scootaloo cried in return. "Who's there?"
Scootaloo stood in the void unmoving; unable to see anything except herself she assumed it would be best to stay in one spot. This was quite strange, seeing as everything around her was dark except for herself, making the orange seem much more vibrant than usual.
"It's me! Don't you remember?" The voice said again.
"No... I can't remember, but you do seem familiar..." Scootaloo replied.
Trying desperately to see something in the darkness, Scootaloo squinted towards where she assumed the voice was coming from. Scootaloo failed to see anything; however she did hear the voice speak once more, this time coming from a direction behind her.
"Oh... Well I really do hope you'll do something about it then..."
Whipping around, she saw a changeling with a disappointed expression standing literally inches away. Jumping slightly, Scootaloo stumbled backwards and the changeling disappeared back into the darkness.
"You could have at least tried to do something." The voice called again.
This time, however, the voice echoed all around her, and there was no particular direction the voice was coming from. Looking around her, Scootaloo felt somewhat claustrophobic, as if some sort of invisible walls were closing around her.
"I'm sorry..." Scootaloo whispered.
"I am sorry too..." The voice faintly replied.
Coming out of the darkness into Scootaloo's limited vision was a changeling. Behind that changeling, there were more changelings, and through the corner of her eyes she could see more approaching from different angles. Not just a few changelings, something that she could run from, but instead they were approaching in the hundreds, maybe even thousands. Breathing heavily, Scootaloo began to cower backwards, just to run into another changeling. Spinning around, she saw herself surrounding.
Crying as she rose from her slumber, Scootaloo lay on the cold ground shaking. Even if it was still dark, she planned to leave towards Canterlot soon. She didn't want to have another dream like that again.
>---<
"Twilight... You alright?" Jack asked for what felt like the millionth time.
Twilight had undergone minor shock, but she was back on her hooves again. She rarely ever spoke; as a matter of fact the only time she spoke was to say "Yes" when Jack asked if she was still alive. She held her body low, and held her head down as well. The metamorphosis she had undergone was something she definitely did not want, but at least she was dealing with her new body quite well. Jack noticed that she was constantly peering to the wings on her back, as if unsure what to do with them, or maybe she was just unsure of how they even got there.
The good news about the situation was that Twilight was able to get some sleep. When she awoke, she didn't seem inclined to eat anything solid, and as a changeling himself Jack thought it to be strange that he still developped some sort of appetite. Thinking back to his experience with other changelings, they rarely ate any food at all from what he could recall. The changelings around the Hive he never saw eat once, with the exception of Biggs and Wings (which only ate because everypony around them were eating). This was certainly mind-boggling for Jack, seeing as changelings didn't need to eat, except for him. Also, Chrysalis took note that he was able to produce his own emotions, making him wonder if changelings really do lack emotions. Whatever the truth would turn out to be, he knew that he definitely was not even close to a normal changeling.
Looking back towards Twilight, he saw what he saw in every other changeling he had seen. It was obvious she still had some sort of emotions dwelling within her, seeing as she still drooped her head and didn't keep a good posture with her body. But her facial expression was blank, neutral, lacking any indicator that she was upset. Either she still had her emotions, but her new physical form wouldn't allow it to show quite yet, or if whatever sort of transformation that was affecting her hadn't ended yet. But there was something that was still tearing him apart on the inside, something that did make him completely different than anypony in this world. He would have to tell Twilight the truth soon, in case things just get worse.
>---<
By the time the sun had finally made its way into the sky, Scootaloo was nearing Canterlot city. Staring into the mass of buildings, Scootaloo was slightly intimidated. The only time she had visited many years ago she could barely recall due to her young age. Now, being a lone filly wandering the streets of such a big city, she had no idea what was in store for her. Taking a nervous gulp, she approached the massive city.
The guards remained completely still as the orange filly walked across the drawbridge. Looking nervously at each of them, she quickened her pace while passing them and was almost running when she was in the city. The first impression Scootaloo had upon seeing the glory of the city was how rich everypony there must have been. Each building was unique, unlike in ponyville where each building had almost exactly the same design. The color scheme may have been the only thing that was similar between the buildings, because each building had its own special elements. Some of the buildings had similar shapes, some of them have similar roofs, and some of them even had similar doors. But, each of these elements were tweaked slightly and there were no two elements that remained the same. Remembering the situation at hoof, Scootaloo stopped admiring the city and went towards the massive castle ahead.
The streets were still bare, unlike Ponyville at this time of day everypony was still locked away in their houses, more than likely still asleep. The wind whistling throughout the city was the only comforting feeling Scootaloo got. Every once and a while she would pass a small store or restaurant that would have the open sign, but there were yet to be any customers. As she wandered the streets looking for her way to the castle, she ended up going in multiple circles. The city really wasn't as straight forward as it looked; walking directly towards the castle didn't actually lead to the castle, the streets leading in that general direction were frequently blocked by large buildings. Eventually a guard came into view, and Scootaloo knew she must have been getting close to the castle.
>---<
Celestia and Luna sat quietly as the awaited their breakfast. Both princesses’ ethereal manes continued to flow despite the lack of a source of wind. As they sat quietly in the dining room, at opposite sides of the table, Luna shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
"Celly, do we really have to go through with this? How do we even know that one changeling can make a difference?" Luna asked, shifting uncomfortably again.
"Yes. I could feel something around that changeling, a foreign sort of... magic, for lack of a better word. The decision I made was in attempts to calm Ponyville down, not solely based on the fact he was a changeling, and most certainly not to start whatever is going on now..." Celestia sighed, slumping back into her seat.
"Very well. Today We shall leave in hopes of finding this particular changeling. Must We take anything in particular to the Hive?" Luna inquired.
"No, but you must ensure to remain calm at all time, Luna. Also, be sure to cast any sort of protective spells, should anything go wrong." Celestia replied.
As much as she hated to do it, she was sending Luna alone to find one particular changeling. One changeling that was completely different from the rest, one that had a feeling that it was from outside Equestria. Perhaps even outside of the universe altogether, seeing as she had lived millennia without experiencing the vibe this one changeling gave off. With the issue of the minister, however, she was to attend to that personally. She was the one who appointed him to his position anyways.
"We will be careful sister."
And on that note, the chefs opened the kitchen doors. Two brown unicorns walked in wearing aprons and chef hats levitating two platters of food carefully in front of them. As they placed the two platters in front of each of the princesses, they gave a deep bow before returning to the kitchen.
"Of course, this shall be after We finish eating." Luna said, levitating her utensils as she removed the metal dome.
Celestia simply nodded in agreement.
>---<
After finally climbing the staircase leading up to the castles main doors, Scootaloo was already panting for breath. There weren't many stairs; however each step had a significant height difference compared to most stairs she had experienced. It was as if the castle had prepared for any sort of mini-pony assault and replaced the stairs with large concrete blocks instead. Basking in her victory over the staircase, she failed to notice one of the guards approaching her.
"Halt! State your business in the castle!" The guard boomed.
Scootaloo, surprised and slightly intimidated by the large guard, backed off slightly before replying.
"Oh... Uh... I needed to see Celestia. Or Luna for all that matters." She said.
"Court is closed until further notice; both princesses will be out of the city for a while." The guard said.
"This is urgent though! Ponyville is in danger!" Scootaloo said, slightly frustrated.
"That is one of the issues the princesses have left to address. I cannot permit anypony of any status to enter." The guard said, pausing for a moment. "Unless they are a diplomat from another nation, in which case they will be escorted to the living quarters."
"Fine" Scootaloo whined. "Is there any place I could stay the night at least? I didn't really bring any bits when I walked here."
"You walked all the way here from Ponyville?" The guard asked slightly surprised, breaking his serious expression.
"Yeah, took me almost a full day of walking. I'm still pretty exhausted though. Any food or water would be nice too, I guess."
The guard remained silent for a moment, pondering what his response should be.
"Very well then. Come back this night and you will be allowed into the living quarters temporarily, and I will ensure the chefs give you the finest meal you have ever had." The guard said.
Scootaloo was surprised by this answer. She was only expecting to get into some nearby hotel of some sort and get some bread and water. Being allowed into the castle where nopony else would be? That was definitely not at all what she expected. Especially since the guard was risking his job, for all he knew she could be some sort of spy, yet she is let into the castle so easily? Then again, this would be a once in a lifetime experience, and she was really looking forward to it. Excited for the night, excited to see the inside of Canterlot castle for the first time, wondered what she would do to pass the rest of the day. After all, the sun had just risen, and the problem she came to ask for help with was already being solved, wasn’t it?
>---<
Chrysalis sat upon the only undamaged piece of furniture in the mayor's office. The shape of the chair was awkward, and had strange arm-like beams protruding from both sides.
"Why would any living creature want to sit in such an awkward position?" Chrysalis complained.
Using magic, she snapped each of the arms off and threw them among the wreckage in the room. Noticing how bright the morning light really was, she levitated the curtains back up to their original position, fixing them and then closing them.
"Much better. Although, I am quite hungry after everything I have done these past few days..." Chrysalis said, looking towards the minister who was staring blankly at the doorway.
"I'm afraid my only source of food has become quite dull. Perhaps I may feed off the pink changeling, or its friend..."
In a puff of smoke, Chrysalis was engulfed in a green fire and teleported to the opposite end of the building. Upon arriving, however, she was disappointed with the results. Looking at the broken door and then into the closet, she smirked at the pile of shredded purple fur that had built up.
"So it was successful..." Chrysalis said. "But I was afraid they would try to run... Now I must hunt down every single pony in this useless town..."