Chapter 64
Cloudsdale
‘Pound Cake, Pound Cake.’ Shift repeated the name over and over in his mind so he wouldn’t forget. His wings were carrying him as fast as they could, zooming over the land below as he traveled to Cloudsdale. Though he was doing his best to blot out the hive mind, he could never completely ignore it. Not only was his entire hive now aware of everything that had transpired, but they were hunting him down at present, as well as his pegasus informant. Yet another troop had been sent out to investigate what business his friends had in the mountains.
Worst of all was the relentless jeers and scorn from his hive. News of his betrayal swept through the network like wildfire, and a thunderous roar of cynical taunts, threats and other forms of ridicule flooded his head. He was the first changeling traitor to ever split off from the hive. Of course Chrysalis was furious, and would have his head. He just had to get to Cloudsdale before they got to him.
But would the Cloudsdale ponies really help him? With such strong fliers as they had in the cloud city, surely they were already preparing barricades and other forms of resistance. How could Shift convince them that he was truly on their side? Charcoal never had given him anything to prove this sincerity- no object, no information, nothing he could use to his advantage. Though... he had mentioned something...
Thinking quickly, Shift regained his bearings. He had just passed over Ponyville, now abandoned by ponies and changelings alike. The town, now in shambles, had been evacuated, and changeling troops had moved on to help conquer the next city. Shift quickly doubled back and dove to the edges of the town.
“Where does Charcoal live?” He recalled through the hive’s memories that Charcoal had originally been found in the Ponyville castle, but he doubted they all lived there. Well... his mother is Acrylic, Element of Forgiveness. Where does she live? “She has an artist’s cutie mark,” Shift reasoned. “There must be a studio close by...”
And so Shift aimlessly wandered through the abandoned town, searching for Charcoal’s home. He found a bakery, a furniture store, what must have once been the town hall, and a whole slew of nearly identical homes. But he didn’t spot a single gallery or studio in the town.
With each passing moment, Shift’s heart beat faster. Every second wasted aimlessly searching here was another second his hive was closing the distance to him. They would catch up any minute now. He needed to get a move on, but at the same time, he needed proof. He was about to give up and take his chances in Cloudsdale when at the very edge of town, two solitary buildings, still mostly intact, remained. One was once the Carousel Boutique, and its companion called Art Life. This must be it!
Shift quickly ducked inside, breaths shallow with fear. The building looked to have gone unnoticed from the outside, but in reality, it had been trashed like all the others. Every table was overturned, windows were smashed, and inventory littered the floor. Shift squeezed in through a hole in the window not blocked by overturned furniture. With one long dining table tossed against the sunroom’s glass and blocking out most of the light, there was little to see by. He shivered nervously, and steadied his voice long enough to call out. “Bandit? Heckley?”
Two beady eyes glimmered from the darkness, piercing the back of Shift’s head.
Hsssssssssss!
Shift jumped at the sound, and looked up to find a very angry snake coiled atop a battered bookcase, elevated nearly to the ceiling. It glared down at him with venom in its eyes, and quite possibly in its pearly fangs, too.
“Heckley?” Shift gulped.
Dookookookookookookookook!
A brown and white masked ferret shortly accompanied the snake, curious but reserved of the newcomer. The brown snake remained hostile, but did not attack. “Come with me. I will take you to Charcoal.” The ferret perked up at the mention of its owner, and trustingly hopped down to Shift’s back. Despite Bandit’s chatters of encouragement, Heckley, remained where he was. Shift racked his brain.
“Please?” he tried. It usually worked amongst ponies, anyway. Heckley suspiciously eyed him once more before reluctantly slithering down. The snake dodged Shift’s cavities as he wound up his hoof, and eventually curled about his neck, comfortably and securely settling in for the trip. Shift nodded in satisfaction. Perhaps this small token could set him apart from the others.
Shift prepped his wings for flight with a few vibrated flutters. Just as he was turning back toward the window, a loud crash quite literally shattered the silence as the remainder of the window was bashed down. The table was still mostly blocking the smashed opening, but the vicious fangs of a hostile changeling gleamed from the other side.
“GAH!” Shift scuttled away, tripping and sliding over discarded pencils and papers. Never before had he experienced the fear his own kind could instill in their victims.
One, two, then three changelings heaved at the table until the window had been cleared. This did not include the number now pouring through the bashed-in front door. Shift quickly scrambled to his hooves and darted up the stairwell just before a fellow changeling snapped at his hoof.
Shift had hoped to find a window or even a balcony of some sort on the upper level. Thankfully, a window large enough to fit through was embedded in each of the bedrooms. With changelings already pouring in through the far end of the hallway, Shift opted for the nearest master bedroom. He plunged his forehooves through the glass, shutting his eyes to shield them from the flying fragments. Even the natural enemies of ferret and snake huddled together for protection. They cleared the window without much more than a few scratches, but where they had escaped one enemy, another awaited them. Shift’s wings did not catch them in time to avoid colliding with another changeling.
They all went tumbling down together until the ground came up to greet them. The four landed in a crumpled heap, but were soon jumped by a fresh supply of drones. Chrysalis definitely wasn’t taking any chances with this.
Heckley was ripped from Shift’s neck, and Bandit was also forcibly removed. Shift kicked and thrashed, but was no match for all of the drones sent after him. Shift was swiftly overpowered, held down by the others in their successful effort to restrain him.
[LET ME GO!] he desperately demanded through the hive mind. The others were all still so busy shouting insults at him that his voice was drowned out. “Let me go,” he tried again, aloud this time.
“We will not betray Chrysalis as you have,” one resolutely determined.
“Chrysalis is not who she seems to be.”
“Yes, we all know of your twisted theory,” it chuckled. “But it is you who is mistaken. Chrysalis is kind and just. The ponies have corrupted your mind. It is not too late. You have earned the ponies’ trust. Chrysalis may have use of your newly acquired position yet. Repent, changeling, and return to the hive.”
“Shift,” he spat through gritted teeth.
“What?”
“My name is SHIFT!” Shift’s horn charged, and he violently flung his attackers off in a web of sticky goo. While they were busy freeing themselves of the gunk, Shift retrieved his two passengers and took off.
Even now, he had a tail. The few changelings that had remained within the building were close behind him, and it didn’t take long for the rest to push through the glue. Shift’s wings tirelessly pushed ahead, strengthened by his recent gorge on the ponies’ love. Due to this key advantage, he was slowly getting ahead. There were still miles upon miles of open land between Ponyville and Cloudsdale, and with each passing minute, Shift added a bit of distance between him and the rest of his train. Heckley and Bandit had woven their long, slinky bodies between the cavities in his hooves, shuddering in fear. By the time Shift reached Cloudsdale, the changelings were but specks on the horizon, but fast approaching.
Cloudsdale had indeed set up impressive barriers. Manually constructed barricades had been started to block off some buildings, but these appeared to have been abandoned when they found a more effective method. Just before Shift arrived, he watched as a magical shield, not unlike the one in Canterlot, materialized to surround the entire cloud island. Shift didn’t have time to wonder what a unicorn was doing in Cloudsdale or even how they could remain within the clouds. Regardless, he swooped in close to where the entrance should have been, had it not been cut off.
“Let me in!” he pleaded to the guards on the other side.
“Get out of here, changeling!” a pegasus spat.
“You’re not getting in here,” another jeered.
“You’re not welcome here! Get lost, insect,” a mare growled. A fresh gathering of new ponies cheered support.
“Please! I’m looking for Pound Cake!” Shift nervously looked back at the changelings now gaining on him.
“What do you want with him?” the first pegasus narrowed his eyes.
“Somepony find Pound Cake!” the second called.
“There’s no time! Let me in!”
“I think you and your buddies can wait right outside until we know exactly what’s going on.”
“They’re after me!”
“Why would changelings be hunting down one of their own?”
“I left the hive. A thestral called Charcoal sent me. I have a message from Pound Cake.”
“I don’t know any ‘Charcoal’.”
“He’s the son of Acrylic, Element of Forgiveness.” The ponies exchanged glances.
“That whole family is too trusting for their own good. We are at war. We can’t let him in just because of some bogus claim,” the mare pointed out.
“But they are also good judges of character,” the stallion reasoned. Shift looked back.
“You have to believe me!”
“We couldn’t take the shield down if we wanted to. There’s a whole team of unicorns managing it.”
“Get one of them down here!” the guard ordered.
“Hurry!” Shift cried, heart racing as the individual teeth of the changelings came into view.
“What’s going on?” the pegasus that must have been Pound Cake appeared, decked out in a yellow work vest and hard hat, escorted by another buff construction worker.
“Good question,” one unicorn concurred, appearing at the head of a group of four others. He had a gray coat and dark green, mossy-colored hair, brushed neatly back in a formal, business-like fashion.
“This changeling wants in.”
“And you’re considering letting him?!”
“He says the others are chasing him,” the guard shrugged, gesturing to the rapidly approaching flight formation.
“Not our problem,” the unicorn shrugged, turning back away.
“He has a message for you, Pound Cake,” the guard went on, addressing the youth.
“Me?”
“Pound Cake!” Shift cried. “Charcoal sent me!”
“Charcoal?” one of the unicorns exclaimed, stepping forward. She was blue with a lighter, wispy mane, and the cutie mark of a magic wand. “Acrylic’s son?”
“Yes!”
“Hey, that’s Bandit and Heckley!” Pound realized with a start, finally noticing the tiny creatures intertwined in Shift’s hooves. The guards looked to each other.
“SHIFT!” the changeling flying point screamed, teeth bared and eyes burning with all the channeled hatred of the entire hive.
“Help,” Shift squeaked, pressed as close against the barrier as he could manage. He shut his eyes, and prepared for the hive to tear him apart.
“Drookookookookookook!” Bandit fearfully chattered, recoiling within the cavity.
“Hsssss!” Heckley exclaimed, likewise retreating as far back as he could.
Shift could feel the breath of the changeling. But then he felt the soft texture of the cloud beneath him, which actually smarted at the speed he collided with it. Looking up, the hole that had permitted his entry was shut just in time for the changelings to smash into face-first. No sooner had he landed in the ‘safety’ of the shield than he was instantly pounced by every guard by the gates. Heckley and Bandit quickly wriggled out of his grasp and hopped over the ponies in an attempt to reach Pound Cake without falling through the cloudy floor.
“WHO LET HIM IN?” the lead unicorn demanded.
“I did,” the blue mare openly admitted. “I know Charcoal’s mother. If they have a message for us, it would be well worth our while to hear him out.”
“What reason would their family have to send a changeling through?”
“Changelings are the only ones who can openly travel at the moment,” she pointed out.
“That still doesn’t explain how they convinced one to turn against Chrysalis.”
“Maybe he’s not a changeling. Maybe it’s a transformation spell,” a mare suggested.
“I am a changeling,” Shift coughed from beneath the weight of the guards.
“Let him up,” a new, kind voice requested.
“But Miss-”
“He’s harmless,” she insisted.
“He’s a changeling!”
“He’s come with a message. Let him up, please.” The guards turned to the unicorn who appeared to be in charge. Reluctantly, he nodded, and the guards stood.
“Thank... you...” Shift wheezed, still searching for his rescuer. A silhouetted mare appeared over him.
“No problem,” she smiled, offering a hoof. Shift cautiously took it as the thestral mare lifted him to his hooves.
He found that she had a dark violet coat, blue eyes, and a cute freckled face. Her mane was also blue and streaked with lavender. Her cutie mark depicted a sparkling flower partially engulfed in purple and red fire. She was quite beautiful.
“I’m Glitter Shine,” she introduced. “What do we call you?”
“Charcoal’s friends named me Shift,” he explained.
“Okay, Shift,” she smiled. “Welcome to Cloudsdale.”
“Seeing as how you’re already here,” the rigid unicorn stated, “I suppose we’ll hear you out. So long as that’s alright with you, Pound Cake?” The colt looked unsure, and found himself looking to Glitter for guidance. She nodded encouragingly, and he perhaps subconsciously mimicked it.
“Okay,” he finally stuttered.
“Very well. Follow me,” the unicorn barked, beckoning his train of unicorns, an escort of two pegasus guards, and Pound and Shift and Glitter. The group earned quite a wide margin by the onlookers as they traveled to what was probably Cloudsdale’s own town hall.
“Who is that?” Shift whispered to Glitter, still accompanying him. He gestured to the unicorn in the lead.
“That’s Runestone,” she replied. “He’s a professor at the Canterlot School for Gifted Unicorns. He escaped the siege there, and traveled to Cloudsdale to warn us. He cast a spell to give himself the ability to walk on clouds for a few days, and is staying here. In return, he promised he could devise a spell similar to Shining Armor’s to protect us. He put it into effect just before you got here, in fact. But we’ve been rounding up as many unicorns as we can to help him maintain the shield for a while now. That’s how Trixie and I ended up here.”
“Trixie?”
“That blue unicorn that let you in. She’s also my mentor,” Glitter clarified. “We weren’t far when they came to tell us what was happening- traveling back to Ponyville for our next show, in fact. We’re more into show business and special effects rather than serious magic, see, but they say every little bit helps.”
“I see.”
“So, Charcoal sent you, you say?”
“He did.”
“I remember him,” she smiled. “He was still little the last time I saw him, though. It’s been a long time since we came around to Ponyville. The best market for showponies are in the big cities. But I have to say, I’ve missed my friends there. And it’s just nice to get away from it once in a while, you know?”
“No,” he truthfully admitted. Glitter gave him a funny look before remembering he was indeed a changeling.
“Oh, right. Sorry.”
“In here,” a pegasus barked. Glitter and Shift obediently ducked inside the building, where everyone quickly seated themselves. Shift tried to find a seat beside Glitter, his only ally in the building, but was thrown out in front on his own to face his audience.
“You’ve come an awfully long way to deliver a message. So? What is it?” Runestone asked, looking quite regal and important with his chest puffed out as it was. Shift took a deep breath.
“Charcoal is planning to overthrow Chrysalis,” he began. “He has a plan... I don’t know everything, because if I knew, then so would Chrysalis, which would defeat the purpose. But he’s probably traveling from the Foal Mountains as we speak, on his way-”
“What’s in the mountains?” Runestone interrupted.
“I don’t know,” he repeated. “He did say that he wanted me to meet back up with them. I couldn’t travel with them because Chrysalis would be able to track us exactly.”
“You keep referring to ‘them’. Who exactly is ‘them’?”
“Charcoal is traveling with Spectrum, a pegasus colt. He’s the son of-”
“Rainbow Dash and Soarin’!” one of the guards ecstatically finished. “The Wonderbolts! Uh... erm, sorry.”
“Correct. He is also accompanied by six dragons.”
“Dragons?” Runestone’s ears perked up.
“Fully grown. Very large, and very dangerous. Strong allies,” Shift reported, shuddering as he remembered his last, rather intimate meeting with Clump’s boulder of a tail.
“All the dragons have migrated south,” one of the other unicorns pointed out. “How is it possible that Charcoal has reached them on such short notice?”
“Charcoal used his thestral fire to send himself, a few friends, and accidentally, me, to one of the dragons who is also capable of receiving exports.”
“Sent himself?” Glitter gasped.
“Such a feat is unheard of!” Runestone agreed.
“But theoretically, not impossible,” Glitter voiced. “I use that trick a lot in our shows to teleport objects. I suppose it’s feasible.”
“What dragon received them?”
“Charcoal kept referring to one- Garble- as his brother.”
“I’ve never heard of any Garble. The School for Gifted Unicorns trains all dragons to send and receive messages.”
“Acrylic took in Garble and his brother Blaze when their mother passed. I believe they are self-taught,” Trixie elaborated. “Speaking of whom, where is everyone else?”
“Chrysalis has already gotten to Blaze and Spike, along with the rest of the Elements of Harmony.”
“What has she done with them?” Runestone practically jumped out of his seat.
“I’m... not quite sure...” he realized as he tried to hone in on the thought. “There are some things that Chrysalis chooses to keep hidden from us. But I would imagine they’re safe, imprisoned but unharmed.”
“Hmph!” Runestone snorted.
“And my parents?” Pound quietly voiced. “Is my family safe? Pumpkin, Carrot and Cup Cake? Are they alright?”
“Chrysalis has ordered the imprisonment of all civilians,” he informed. “They are to be taken to her in the Everfree. What she plans to do with them after they have been collected is beyond me.”
“Then I still don’t understand what I’m doing here. If this isn’t about my family, then what did Charcoal want so badly to tell me?” Pound solemnly yet curiously inquired.
“As I said, Charcoal asked me to meet back up with him. But if I knew where they were going, Chrysalis would send drones to meet them there. He asked that Pound Cake take me to the place his parents visited on their honeymoon.”
“I know where that is! That’s-”
“Don’t tell me!” Shift cried. “Then they will know. Just take me.”
“He is not taking you anywhere,” Runestone coolly informed. “Thanks to you, we are now surrounded by changelings all quite eager to say hello. I will not allow you to put this young colt in danger. You’ve told a good story, but we still have no reliable proof that what you say is true. How do I know Chrysalis is not trying to lure us out?”
“I brought Bandit and Heckley,” he pointed out. “How many changelings would stop to bother with the animals?”
“He’s got a point,” Glitter pointed out.
“That could still be part of Chrysalis’ ploy.”
“Oh, for Celestia’s sake!” Trixie groaned.
“I have an idea!” Glitter piped up. “Give me paper and a quill. I can send a message to Charcoal. If what he tells us matches up with everything Shift has told us, then he must be telling the truth.”
“Very well,” Runestone consented.
One of the guards brought forth a blank scroll, a quill and ink well, set them all on a nearby table. Glitter set herself down before it.
“What should I say?” she asked, picking up the quill.
“First ask him where he is. Mention that you are currently in Cloudsdale, but don’t say anything of Shift here. See if he picks up on it.” Glitter nodded, and touched pen to paper.
“Dear Charcoal,
“How are you? Where are you? Trixie and I are currently visiting Cloudsdale.”
“Stop there,” Runestone directed. “Wait for a reply before you go on.”
“Signed, Glitter Shine,” she concluded.
“Send the pen,” Shift added. “He will most likely be traveling right now, and will not have access to stationary.”
“Right.” Glitter quickly rolled up the paper, slipped a Cloudsdale insignia over it, slid the quill inside, dripping with a fresh dose of ink, and sent it away in a puff of purple fire.
The next few minutes were tense as they waited for a reply. The guards were quickly becoming paranoid. They shifted nervously, heart rates increasing as they further convinced themselves that there was an enemy in their midst. One even reached the point where he held a spear to Shift’s head. Everyone jumped.
“He’s not responding. The changelings have gotten to him, too! He’s lying!”
“Calm down,” Glitter pleaded, knocking the spear away. Shift retreated behind the mare for protection. He felt like such a coward, using an innocent girl as a living shield, but nearly everypony else in the room wanted him dead at the moment. “Give him time. If he’s writing a long, detailed explanation, it will take him longer than me. Be patient.”
“We’ve waited long enough!”
“It’s been two minutes,” Trixie sighed. “Settle down.”
“We will give it another minute,” Runestone decided.
“But Runestone-”
“Stand down, Glitter Shine,” the green unicorn barked. Glitter reluctantly bit her tongue. All eyes turned to the ticking clock. ‘Hurry up, Charcoal,’ she silently begged. This changeling was definitely different from the others. Whether he was telling the truth or not, he didn’t deserve to die.
The clock’s hand ticked by, the hostility and fear of the room increasing with each passing second. Everyone held their breath as the second hand crept back up on the twelve. Glitter and Shift subconsciously found themselves huddling together. The guards gripped their spears. Trixie shut her eyes. Pound’s gaze continued to flick between the possible messenger from his best friend, the paranoid guards and the over-cautious unicorns. The rest indifferently continued to stare at the clock.
Three... two... one...
The hand ticked by the clock unceremoniously, apathetically continuing its rotation. All eyes turned to Shift. He gulped nervously, and shrank back. The guards aimed their spears. Runestone coldly turned to the changeling.
“Time’s up.”
“No!” Glitter was held back by one of the unicorn’s levitation Trixie also stood in protest.
“Wait!” Pound also spoke up, but to no avail.
“OPEN FIRE!” one of the guards screeched. Shift’s hooves scrambled for traction as the spears’ shining tips were hurled at him. The last thing he saw was purple flame surging up around him.