"It hasn’t been that long so he's probably still in there." Lightning Jolt nodded to the building that was on the edge of the garden. She, Rainbow Dash and Twilight was standing behind a wall of plants and watching the building.
'"Well, we could just burst in and Twilight could rip off his disguise. Then we make his answer for-" Rainbow Dash started only to be interrupted by Twilight.
"No, Rainbow. Remember how the unicorns in the castle just teleported away? He could do the same thing. We want to catch him so that he can't possibly get away. Rainbow you could fly to the castle and get Celestia while we keep an eye on this place."
"Too late, there he is." Lightning Jolt said pointing to the building. The unicorn, still in his red pegasus disguise was walking out the front door. He greeted the guard and then headed across the garden
"We have to follow him." Lighting Jolt said. "If he gets away then we may never find him again."
"On it." Twilight replied while lighting up her horn. She cast and invisibility spell over all of them. "Now remember, he still will be able to hear us so no talking, walk softly and don't get too close."
The three of them followed hanging some distance back from the unicorn. As he wove through the trees he occasionally looked behind him. Whether this was because he could sense something or a usual precaution they couldn't tell. He moved well out of sight of the building he had left. He eventually reached one of the edges where a couple old, weathered buildings stood on the grounds. He carefully walked around the area, checking that no pony was around. Lightning Jolt, Twilight and Rainbow Dash held their breath when he passed them at several yards away. Finally satisfied he turned around and walked straight into a wall. He didn't slam into it but passed right through as if he was a ghost.
The three ponies stared blankly for a few seconds then Rainbow Dash spoke up. "What it Equestria?"
"Hang on." Twilight said squinting at the wall as she used a new spell. After a moment she spoke. "There's a doorway right there. It looks like it was made by magic and hidden by a second spell." Her face scrunched up in concentration as she used her spell to look deeper. "He's in there and it looks like he has made himself at home. These buildings are a historical site and nopony has lived in them for years. He probably choose them so that he could stay hidden but be close to his targets."
"You can cast a spell to make a teleport proof barrier, right?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Yes." Twilight replied with a nod. "I can trap him in a bubble that he can't shoot any magic beams through and nopony can teleport in or out."
"Good. I say we trap him and then he can face Lightning Jolt and explain himself. If that alright with you?" Rainbow Dash said and they both looked at Lightning Jolt.
The pegasus thought it over a moment. The prospect did make her nervous but she wanted to know. She nodded. "Yes but Twilight, can you undo the spell Princess Luna and Princess Celestia cast on me? I want him to be looking at me, not a disguise."
Twilight nodded and removed the disguises and invisibility spells from all of them. Then she focused her magic inside the building.
* * *
The unicorn never saw it coming. He was inside his lair writing down the newest info that he had gathered when a bubble shaped barrier closed around him. He jumped and bucked instinctively at it but it felt like kicking a brick wall. He winched and tried to teleport out. He vanished for a split second only to reappear bouncing off the barrier wall. He sat up rubbing his head in time to see Twilight walk in. "You can't teleport through that nor blast through it." She stated.
Before he could reply Rainbow Dash flew in after her. "It’s finally time for you to own up for what you did to our friend!" She declared triumphantly. "You have a lot of explaining to do!"
Lightning Jolt walked in through the invisible door and stopped in front of the barrier. She was now face to face with the pony responsible for her predicament and knew the secret to her past. With all the answers she wanted to demand at the moment no words came to her.
The unicorn looked back and forth from Rainbow Dash to Lightning Jolt. "Baby Bird! What are you doing?! Is this some revenge for parting arguments and me being right? I knew you were petty but this is ridiculous! What has come over you?!" He yelled.
"Petty!" Rainbow Dash yelled at him flying up to the magic cage. "Petty! You call what you did to her petty!"
The unicorn bared his teeth and glared right back at her. "Oh, what did the little Baby Bird tell you that I did? I suppose to her eyes it really does seems like I wronged her."
"Stop calling me that" Lightning Jolt yelled over them. "Stop mocking me! Call me by my name-" She stopped remembering that she didn't know what her name was, not the name she had had before. "They call me Lightning Jolt now." She added.
The unicorn stared at her scrunching up his nose. "Lightning Jolt? How am I supposed to know what new name you decided to call yourself? Are you playing some alias game with these ponies or something?"
"What are you talking about?" Lightning Jolt demanded.
"What are you talking about?!" The unicorn roared back. "What are all of you talking about?!" The room fell silent as everypony took the time to sort through their confusion.
"Ok. Everypony calm down." Twilight said. "Let's start slowly and try to figure this out. Let's ask questions, one at a time."
Rainbow Dash spoke up first. "What did you do to her?"
"Really tick off the little Baby Bird apparently." The unicorn said.
"Stop calling me baby bird." Lightning Jolt growled. "I don't like it. Why do you call me that?"
The unicorn stared at her with a face somewhere between confusion and scorn. "Because it's your name."
"Baby Bird?! What kind of wimpy name is that?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "You’re lying!"
The unicorn fixed her with a glare. "No I'm not, but I agree with you. I told her foster parents that it was a horrible name but they don't listen to me just like she never does." He turned to Lighting Jolt. "What? Has your memory suddenly gone as blank as your flank was?" He said in a sarcastic tone.
Lightning Jolt grimaced and looked at her hoofs.
"Yeah, she did you big jerk!" Rainbow Dash yelled at him.
The unicorn's face was covered with a look of surprise and guilt shadowed his expression. He turned away from Rainbow Dash and bent his head down trying to look Lighting Jolt in the eyes. His voice was certainly not like Fluttershy's but he obviously trying to speak in a gentle tone. "Your name is Baby Bird and it's me, Smog. The pony you half hate, frenemy and the one always dragging you out of trouble. Who tries to teach you something useful unlike your foster parents. We live on Cinder's islands. You know the place where ponies thought they had the perfect ideas but when given the chance they created a complete disaster, but still think their way is right. We lived not far from each other. We went to the same school. Do you recognize me at all?"
Lightning Jolt shook her head. Then she looked up at him. "Why did you blast me with magic?"
He took a step back. "Blast you with magic?! As much as I've felt like it at times I've never hurt you or even considered it? If you don't remember me at all then why do you think I blasted you with magic?"
"Because she remembered you when she woke up, you-"
"Rainbow!" Twilight yelled. "Let them talk.
"You remember seeing me when you woke up?" Smog asked and Lightning Jolt nodded. "I was standing guard over you until you woke up. I-"
"Yeah, right! You-"
"Rainbow!" Twilight yelled again. "You don't know all the facts! You weren't even there. Jumping to conclusions is a very bad idea. Remember when we threw that surprise party for Pinkie? Let him tell his side."
"Thank you." Smog said. He gave Rainbow Dash a glare then looked back to Lightning Jolt. "Now, the changelings hit you with a magic blast. I ran to where you landed and kept watch over you until you woke. Even though it was your own dumb fault I didn't want some animal or changeling coming along and finishing you. I warned you but you just had to do it."
Those words flashed in Lightning Jolt's mind. For a second she saw herself sitting the ledge hearing those words for the first time. "I warned you but you just had to do it." She sat down. "Tell me what happed, everything."
"We were on Sea Salt's boat....I guess you don't remember him but I'm not going over your entire life. You came with me onto the main land to prove," He made quotation motions with his hoofs, "That the ponies going to Equestria to join the New Wave Nuts were not changelings. When I found out that they were just trying to use them to get into Equestria I warned you to stay away from them but you wouldn't believe me so we ended up on that boat headed here to go spy on them.
"After the train ride I teleported us inland where their little informing group had gone. You know, the informing groups that travel around telling everypony about the 'glories' of New Waveism. A pretty good plan for a reconnaissance strategy if you ask me since those informing groups go all over Equestria.
"Anyway I put us up on a mountain behind an invisible shield so we could be certain that they could not see us spying. We watched them heading away from the little town and shapeshift. You laughed it off and told me that they were just using the same spells I could even though it obviously wasn't. We got into an argument and you like a stu....Gaaaa!" He paused stomping his hoof and then continued more calmly. "You flew over to them to prove it. I ran after you, trying to grab you with my magic but you decided to fly fast for once in your life. I was too late and they hit you. They knew that you had likely seen them change already and shifted back to changelings so they could combine forces and blast you out of the sky."
"What did they hit me with?" Lightning Jolt asked.
"Those typical blast of theirs." Smog replied. "It was so strong that it sent you flying back to the mountain. I covered myself with the invisibility cloak and sent a doppelganger illusion running in another direction to get them out of there. Then I raced to where you had landed. I thought I was going to have to bring your body back but thankfully found you breathing. I stood over you until you woke, I could see that your cutie mark was gone but I thought it had to do with the illusion, invisibility spell I had been casting earlier. That it must have mixed with the blast or something. I had no idea that you had lost your memory." His tone carried hints of being apologetic. "I went back to the train thinking that you were going to meet me. When you didn't I assumed that you went by your own route in your own time. Also that you were probably still mad at me and didn't want to see my face. You could never stand being wrong. I figured that it was good that you were doing something on your own and taking care of your own self for once so I just left I went back to my boat house on Cinder’s Island. I don't often go out to talk with anypony so I never was aware that you didn't come back. From then on I've been focusing on finding out which ponies in the New Wave groups are changelings trying to infiltrate Equestria. Cinder folk are bad enough without them. I'm sorry I didn't know that you had lost your memory. Aside from looking a little roughed up you appeared fine."
Nopony spoke for a few moments afterwards as they, Lightning Jolt especially let it all settle in. Then Smog piped back up. "So why Lightning Jolt? Did your friends decide that they wanted you to sound cool or did you come up with it yourself? It's not a bad name, not bad at all." He gave an amused snort. "It's so much better than Baby Bird anyway." He said the name with a grimace.
"Yes, I myself think I'll go by Lightning Jolt now." Lightning Jolt said. "The towns’ ponies starting calling me that after I got my cutie mark back. Lightning Jolt turned sideways revealing her cutie mark. When she looked back at Smog she was surprised. He had gone stiff and his face was a mask of confusion. "Smog?"
"That's not your cutie mark?" He finally said. "The illusion spell must have mixed with the blast after all...but I've never seen it do something like that. I don't understand how it could create a fake cutie mark."
"It is her cutie mark." Rainbow Dash interrupted. "I helped her get it when I taught her how to create lightning. She mastered it fast and can explode storm clouds like nopony I've seen."
Smog looked at her then back at Lightning Jolt. "You got that cutie mark?"
"Yes." Lightning Jolt replied.
"You, you earned that cutie mark? You bust clouds and create lightning?"
"Yes."
"You... Little Baby Bird... actually earned that cutie mark?"
"Yes! Why is that so hard to believe? Do you think she's not cool enough?" Rainbow Dash snapped. "Trust me, it's no illusion pal."
"You, little miss afraid to fly?" He went on ignoring Rainbow Dash. "You, little miss I can't fly fast or run fast? You, little miss I can’t help it, I have a medical condition. Little miss I'm too sickly, I'm just too weak..."
"Stop making fun of her!" Rainbow Dash yelled.
Smog looked up at her. "I'm not. The pony I knew, Baby Bird was afraid to live life. So afraid that her conditions were going to come back even though everything had been fixed. Every time she so much as got winded she thought she was about to have to go back to the hospital or even die." He snorted. "She also thought she knew everything and if you disagreed than it was only proof that your wrong but...."
"Well you must have known a different pony then." Rainbow snapped in her defense. "Lightning Jolt is not like that!"
"Huh? I guess I did." Smog said sitting down and looking at Lightning Jolt as if she was a new pony. The purple pegasus looked back at him.
Then she looked back at her cutie mark. "Yeah, I guess you did." Her mind could barely take it all in. Now that she knew she wanted to know she wanted to know so much less from the way he had describe her.
"I know there is a lot more to be explained." Twilight said. "But I want to warn Celestia about the changeling. This is serious. I can see why they volunteered for those informing groups. They can use the position to travel anywhere in Equestria and meet important ponies." Her horn began to glow as she readied to dissolve the barrier.
"Wait a minute!" Rainbow Dash said flying in front of her. "How do we know that he's not lying just to get out of the barrier? How do we know he's not a changeling himself?"
Twilight's horn powered down. "Your right we don't."
"Is there a way to find out?" Lightning Jolt asked hoping a little bit that what he said wasn’t true.
"I can take him to the castle and-" Twilight started.
"I am not going to jump through hoops to prove who I am!" Smog growled and looked at Lightning Jolt. "Your look like you’re in good hoofs so I’ll get back to business" His horn lit up and a green fog began to circle around him completely obscuring him from view.
"What does he think he's doing?" Rainbow Dash asked anypony. "He knows that he can't teleport-" Rainbow Dash's word were cut short as she vanished in a flash of light.
"Rainbow!" Both Twilight and Lightning Jolt exclaimed.
The swirling fog inside the barrier vanished revealing Rainbow Dash inside of it. "What the-!" She exclaimed pounding on the barrier. "How did he do that?!"
"I don't know!" Twilight gasped. "That's not possible! It's simply not possible!" She yelped as she removed the barrier.
"Your right. It's not." Rainbow Dash said and a light glowed for a second over her head and then she vanished.
The alicorn and pegasus stood staring at the spot completely bewildered for a second and in the next Rainbow Dash flew back inside the invisible door. "What the heck just happened?" She had the same bewildered look as her friends. "Twilight did you teleport me outside?"
"What did just happen?" Lightning Jolt asked Twilight.
"I...what...it...Ah! I didn't know that was possible." Twilight yelped. "I never even thought about it. Oh, that was cleaver! He couldn't teleport anything in or out but I didn't even think that he would be able to teleport anything that was outside the barrier to someplace else so I didn't make any spells covering that. He teleported Rainbow Dash outside and made himself look like Rainbow Dash so I would undo my spell. That was a-Wait! Never mind! Now that we know more we can find him again later." Twilight ran over to the papers that he had been writing on and grabbed them in her magic. "It might be true, it might not but we still have to tell Celestia. It’s much better to be safe than sorry."
"It would explain how ponies were able to infiltrate the castle like they did." Lightning Jolt offered. She was glad to know that he was not after the New Wave ponies but the changelings that were trying to use them to get at Equestria. He couldn't hardly just tell them since one they might not believe Him. Second whether they would or not he did not know yet who all the changelings were impersonating and they would know that somepony was on to them.
"Yes it would, though we still don't know if he's telling the whole truth." Twilight replied. "Rainbow go back to Ponyville and gather the others. I'm going straight to the castle with everything he's written down." She looked over at Lightning Jolt. "Will you be alright going back on your own?" Lightning Jolt nodded.
It took Twilight a little longer than the other princesses to cover her with the same disguise but in short order she looked like the same grey earth pony again. After making sure that no pony was around they took off in their separate directions.
Lightning Jolt started jogging to the refugee camp to tell Iron Clad what was going on. When she started nearing the square she slowed. It was a few things that Smog had said that kept going around in her head. He had said that they were from Cinder's Islands and from the way he had spoken that was where the New Wave group had come from. “The Cinder folk are bad enough without changelings.” From that she knew they were one and the same with where she had come from but they had run amuck with their ideas? That was the part most that enticed Lightning Jolt to believe that he was lying. From what she heard she could not see how that could be. Still she couldn't dismiss it outright either.
The group was preparing for another speech as she passed though. She turned and headed for her usual place on the fountain. She sat down and turned her ears to listen closely and objectively as she could.
A pony was just now announcing the next speaker. "I really want to thank you all for coming here today. Please give a warm welcome to our guest speaker who has come to visit us from the far reaches of Equestria where she has been showing ponies how to live in equality. Please welcome Starlight Glimmer."