That short time had become two weeks. While overall it still could be considered a short time it was not the short time Lightning Jolt had had in mind. The refugee camp was not a bad place though. It was huge and far more than one building. The church building was right on the very edge of Canterlot. As need arose it had expanded to the open grounds outside of the city and eventually buying up buildings around it to accommodate the growing number of ponies who came. While it was a bit over crowded and there was nothing fancy about any part of the grounds or the buildings there was just something about it that made it more comfortable than the rest of Canterlot.
One of the best things about it was that one got to meet ponies from all over Equestria, outside of Equestria even. Some she could not even understand their language nor they hers’ but yet they found ways to communicate. While most ponies didn't give much thought to this place, all pretty much had heard about it sometime before and for many, when troubles came, they remembered.
The stories she heard made her feel as if she had lived a lifetime and seen places far beyond Equestria. She would often go to bed with tales of far and near, old and new swirling in her head.
It wasn't all fun though. It was hard work and sometimes very sad. One of the hardest parts of it was when somepony brought in a foal that had been abandoned. It was beyond Lightning Jolt's comprehension how anypony could leave one to die instead of at least trying to find a place where it could be cared for. There were also ponies left broken from injuries, some from injuries not physical. Then there were the ponies who came in angry at the world or could not admit that they were hurting themselves and would not let you help them. That was almost the saddest of all. But among all the sadness she also got to experience the joys of seeing hope and joy restored to ponies. That was the highlight of it all. She could see why Iron Clad choose this.
Most of all though, she was simply tired when she retired for the day. There was much to do. She visited with Ember Light and Valentine for most of the two weeks for one to two hours a day since their tiny rooms were separate. Now nopony was going to make any of them work but none of there were about to sit on their hoofs while they were there. Especially since they were taking up a room each and eating their food. Every bit was counted out carefully to be sure they had enough. She was told that sometimes it wasn’t enough and Iron Clad would send a letter to the princess who always responded. Most of the time though the wealthy Canterlot ponies donated enough to cover all expenses.
"Some really do care but many I think just do it for attention, you know to stay looking good in the public eye." Willow, the mare who had been their guide the first days that Lightning Jolt and her friends were here. Lightning Jolt often found herself working with Willow and she was quite a likeable pony. One only had to be around her a few minutes to see that she was caring and unjudging. That didn't mean she wasn’t going to tell you like it was if necessary, she wouldn't be caring if she didn't.
She was the daughter of a soldier who had died in battle when she was a teen. She and her mother had come here after at first to grieve and heal and eventually had become fulltime volunteers. Both she and her mother were overseers of many things now. Lightning Jolt also wondered if they had a part in the princesses’ plan since Willow had made the rooming arrangements. They had been given separate rooms for a specific reason and in specific places as Iron Clad had explained in private. In the rare chance that the plan was discovered by the assassin ponies they would not be able to get at all of them at once. They all slept in rooms off the same hallway that the former guards did so they were always surrounded by them at night. She couldn’t hardly ask Willow or her mother about anything for the fact that they might not be in on the plan and then she would have made a major slip up in this well thought out and painstakingly crafted plan. Curiosity would just have to take a backseat to good sense.
Not completely though. In the latter half of the second week she had begun leaving the grounds and traveling a few blocks down the street. From the idle chat of other ponies she found out that a group of the New Wave movement were holding speeches only a few blocks away. With the curiosity to see what it was all about chewing at her from some time and with the answers being so close she couldn't stand it. Well, she had to admit to herself, she could have if she really wanted to.
The retired guars couldn't stay right beside them all the time without ponies getting curious and while they were deep inside the grounds they were pretty safe anyway. Because of this Lightning Jolt was able to simply pretend to go to her room during times she knew that they were least likely to disturb her and just left instead. It wasn’t as if anypony guarded the doors so as long as none of the guards were around she could get away with it. She did feel a little nervous the first time but quickly realized that like the place she had come from all anypony saw was Grey Pelt, the little, average weight earth pony.
She had only planned to go once to that square to satisfy her curiosity but because of what she heard kept her coming back. She loved every word that was spoken from the platforms. These ponies of the New Wave were proponents of justice and equality not only for everypony but every griffon, every yak, ect. They spoke of almost nothing but that. There were some that believed that they should do away with a monarch type government and she had to admit that they sometimes had good points about it but that was not their main focus. They were for equality pure and simple. Lightning Jolt quickly found herself pounding her hoofs and cheering with the crowd. She also began jeering along with the rest when the New Wave group had to deal with their opponents. There were, for some reason ponies, opposed to their ideas. They called arguments up to the speakers up on the makeshift stage sometime or argued with them in planned debates.
Lightning Jolt didn't like them very much for sure. "What was their problem? Did they see something wrong with everypony being equal?" She often found herself laughing or clapping with the crowd when the New Wave ponies shot a good zinger at them. She simply couldn't stand ponies like that. Everything seemed fine for them and yet they couldn't stand everypony being equal.
Lightning Jolt knew that she probably should quit coming. She was pretty sure that Iron Clad and the others would not be happy at all if they found out. She seriously didn't want to disappoint Iron Clad for he was a cool guy. Once you got past his frightening appearance he was a good pony, his disposition and outer appearance did not match at all.
Her answer to the problem was to just not get caught. So on the day that began her third week in hiding she found time to slip away once again. She walked through the crowds completely relaxed. A few ponies who had noticed her passing though everyday waived to her and she waived back. There weren't many elite ponies that came to this part of the city so it was easier to fit in.
When she got to the square where the speeches were held she saw that the group had just finished and were dispersing through the crowd. That was fine. They often held more than one a day and perhaps she might get a chance to get to speak with one of them. She didn't want to shove through the crowd of ponies so she made her to a fountain that she had often stood on the wall of in order to see over the heads of other ponies. It was more ideal now since many of the New Wave ponies came this way after speeches. There was a nice public garden down the street and across it were the buildings they rented so maybe she would get her chance when they passed.
As she reached it she recognized several ponies who were standing outside of a cafe' and sipping on tea. They were among the objector crowd. A trio of unicorns and one pegasus. She made a face at them without realizing it. They didn't notice. Lightning Jolt stopped when she realized what she was doing. No need getting them arguing with her. A nasty bunch they were. She sat down the fountain and watched the objectors. What was their problem? How could you object to the New Wave ideas. Perhaps some of them wanting to change from a monarchy she could see reasonable objections since that would take Celestia and Luna, who were good rulers, off the throne but seriously? They objected to everything. All the New Wave Ponies talked about was making everypony equal. It was stupid to object to that! Didn't they understand equality.
The ponies didn't seem really too interested in their drinks and side dishes. They didn't even talk really. They would take a bite or take a sip and then look up again as if they were waiting for something or somepony. Lightning Jolt had nothing else to do so she just sat there watching them. They didn't notice her gaze since she was partially concealed by the ponies moving around street. Suddenly a unicorn stepped out of a shop and walked up to them.
The second Lightning Jolt saw him she felt her legs go weak and she was lucky that she was sitting down or she would have fallen. Her hoofs shook and she could not take her eyes of him. She could only stare at his scarecrow like appearance, his sickly blue-grey coat and his dark eyes. His mane and tail looked like it had been brushed and cleaned a bit but it was still ratty and full of split ends. He still even wore the white coat draped over his back and shoulder. It too had been cleaned but probably only so that he didn't stick out too much in a city like this.
Lightning Jolt lay down on her belly on the wall of the fountain unable to trust her own limbs. She could hardly believe it. It had been so long without a trace of the unicorn being found that she had almost begun to think of him as something of a figment of her imagination or the boogey pony. But reality had stepped in and here he was, very much real.
His eyes glanced around as he whispered what looked like a few quick questions to the ponies. They either nodded or shook their heads. In less than a minute it was over and the ponies dispersed throughout the crowd. The blue-grey unicorn shifted and peered though the crowd. Then he started to move hastily toward the gardens while constantly looking over his shoulder.
Lightning Jolt didn't think about what she was doing. It was as if her trembling legs had minds of their own. She got up and followed after him. Despite being shaky they moved automatically and with determination. She wove through the crowd trying to keep him in sight while still trying to keep from being noticed. He kept looking over his shoulder and walking in a fast trot. When he reached the garden he dipped out of sight behind some plants.
Lightning Jolt crawled through the thick flowers and elephant ear plants. She spotted him standing a ways off the path with his horn starting to glow. At first she flinched thinking she had been seen and was about to blast her, but instead something else happened. It looked like an invisible screen was drawn up in front of him and he vanished. Lightning Jolt blinked at the spot where he just was. He didn’t vanish with a flash of light caused by teleportation but it had just looked like a screen was lifted up from the ground. She could see everything that had been behind him clearly but not him. She crouched lower and wriggled and crawled her way thru the plants while trying not to disturb any of them. Luckily there was a bit of a low path under them, probably for critters.
Sure enough as she got up to where the stretch of vegetation ran past the spot where he has stopped she saw him. He was staring hard though the invisible screen with narrowed eyes at the group of ponies who were now walking by. Lightning Jolt saw just who he had been trying to stay ahead of. It was some of the New Wave ponies.
The unicorn never looked away as they passed. His gaze burned fire and his lips were curled up showing teeth. Another thing Lightning Jolt noticed was the twitching eyelid that she remembered well from her first day of memory.
He watched them until they had walked past the trees and plants that formed a semicircle around his hiding place. When they were out of sight he lit up his horn and made the magical wall drop. He wasn’t done though. His horn continued to glow as he closed his eyes. Another screen shot up in front of him, then above him. Three more rose up to the right, the left and behind and then they all connected seamlessly.
Now Lightning Jolt saw not an empty spot but a red pegasus pony the same size as the unicorn. He wore not a white coat but an emblem that marked him as one of the New Wave ponies. This pegasus was not motionless like a statue, he moved, his sides rose and fell in breathing and did not at all look unusual. The magic screens became barely visible as they twisted and warped closer around the pony and conformed to him. When it was done nothing appeared out of the ordinary as the pegasus walked out of the trees and in the direction that the other ponies had gone.
Lightning Jolt stared in amazement. She could only assume that this was a sort of magic puppet that moved exactly how he moved. It wasn’t was as smooth but pretty much the same thing that the princesses had used to make her and her friends appear to be different ponies.
She waited a few minutes after he had disappeared out of sight and then came out of her hiding place. She looked through the leaves of semicircle of plants so that she could watch without the risk of being seen. She spotted him heading across the gardens and straight for the buildings that the New Wave ponies rented. Since he was wearing their symbol she was sure she knew just what he planned to do.
Lightning Jolt stayed where she was until he got further ahead then left her hiding place and began to run after him. She was trying to time so that she drew near when he reached the buildings. If he spotted her she would simply run past him in order to appear to be somepony in a hurry to get somewhere. Once out of sight she could turn around.
As she gained she saw him up ahead already going inside with a group of the New Wave ponies. Lightning Jolt reached the building a couple minutes later but before she could get to the door a large earth pony stepped in front of her.
"I'm sorry but they need their breaks." He said. "They can't spend every waking moment answering question so you'll just have to ask when they come out for their next speech."
"I'm not here to ask question." Lightning Jolt replied. "I came because a unicorn cast a spell on himself to look like one of you so he could sneak in. He's an insane pony that twitches a lot and uses spells to make ponies lose their memories."
The earth pony just looked down at her like she was an idiot. Lightning Jolt slapped a hoof to her forehead feeling like one. Yes, that would not sound made up at all AND she had just given up a clue as to who she was.
"I'm serious!" She strained the words. "I'm not making this up just to get in."
"Sadly that's not the most outrageous story I've heard from ponies wanting to get in. Mostly it's from jerks that just want to get in so that they can argue." He raised an eyebrow. "You’re not one of them are you?"
"What? I'm not one of those stupid ponies! I want everypony to love and respect each other!" Lighting Jolt snapped in indignance. "I like the New Wave ponies and I'm not lying!"
"Sure." He replied with an unchanging expression and didn't budge an inch.
"Please you've got to warn-"
"I don't have to do anything." He snorted. "I'm here to make sure the speakers get some peace and quiet and I'm going to see it done." He stated firmly.
Lightning Jolt groaned then spun around and took off. She was heading straight back to the church and refugee camp to inform Iron Clad about what she had seen. It was a better response than trying to get in the building and see what he was up to herself. That was a stupid one actually. If she was caught she would probably be a goner and nopony would know what had happened to her.
It wasn’t a surprise that that unicorn would be with those who hated the New Wave Group but who were the other ponies? More importantly what were they planning to do to the New Wave ponies. Lightning Jolt ran all the faster and even instinctively tried to use her wings only to remember that they were hidden even to her in a spell. She knew Celestia had made it so she could break free if she had needed but purple wings popping out of a grey earth pony would not go unnoticed.
As she fled a pair of eyes watched her from a second story window. The pony had spotted the mare running up to the guard and faintly a sense of familiarity had triggered in her brain. It was so faint that she had had to stare at the pony for a few minutes before she realized just who this pony made her think of. Now she just shook her head as the pony ran off. There was no way it was her. The colors were so different and besides this was an earth pony even.
* * *
Lightning Jolt quickly passed through the square where the speeches were held. She was painting, her heart was throbbing hard and her lungs felt strange but she was not about to slow. Besides they always did when she pushed herself. The church came into sight and she aimed for the front door.
"Hey!" The voice that she knew well cut though her concertation. Her hoofs hit the ground and her legs locked making her skid across the street. She spun around and spotted a pair of ponies. They had dyed their manes and tails magically and wore disguises but she recognized them instantly.
"I'm sorry, I tried to stop her." Twilight said and gave Rainbow Dash a disapproving look. The purple mare now had a red mane and tail and wore a simple dress to cover her wings.
"No one would tell me anything and beside nopony will think it's strange if we leave for a few hours." Rainbow responded. Her mane and tail was also red and her coat almost looked white. "Anyway what wrong? Why are you running-?"
"Come with me now!" Lightning Jolt interrupted while taking off in the direction that she had come. "I'll explain as we go."
Telling Twilight would get the message to the princess a lot faster and this way they could keep track of the unicorn. With him being able to disappear for so long before who knew if they would ever find him again.