With the plan mostly set, and with Pinkie Pie providing the fireworks, teaching continued. Once my Changeling sisters felt the ponies had learned what they needed in order to survive at least the trip to the other Hatchlings while remaining undetected, we took on our earlier guises again and Moonshine returned the room to the spa.
The green pearl which had given me my name bumped against my chest as I walked out with the rest, the seven of us pouring out of the half-destroyed room into an equally-damaged hallway. We were almost immediately stopped by the spa's manager, but as soon as Starlight Glimmer mentioned Princess Twilight Sparkle and how she would take care of the damage, they were all too happy to see us go without getting in our way again.
It was a quick trip back to the train station, and Blaze led us back to the path we took to the town to begin with. Pinkie Pie and Breeze were chatting among one another a few paces behind Blaze, the pink Earthpony taking to Breeze's filly disguise as if she truly were a young foal. Starlight and Moonshine came up behind them, talking about the differences between Changeling- and Unicorn- magic as well as the different scrolls each of them had read.
I could barely follow the conversation between them, but Oval walking to my left was quiet and clearly lost in thought. It probably didn't help that he had half of Pinkie Pie's fireworks collection stuffed in his backpack. It made me a little antsy each time a branch tapped against it.
Even with having the two ponies among us, the walk back to the mountain went quicker than I had expected. While it was still light out, the sun was clearly starting to sink behind the towering mountain of Canterlot to the West and it would be dark soon.
"Remember," Moonshine told Starlight, "just keep quiet or call the others sister or brother depending on their gender. Its fine if you mix it up; we change guises so often it won't get noticed."
"Right," Starlight Glimmer nodded.
"We'll drop our guises in the common room. That's where you should cast your spell. Take Pearl as an example," Moonshine continued, giving a quick glance back to me. "That annoying Hatchling might actually end up having saved us all if this works out."
"Hey, thank you for that," I threw back. "I really needed to be reminded just how useless we were made to feel during training."
Moonshine smiled at that. "Shit, I really hope this works out," she breathed out, facing forward again. "I'm going to need to teach her more advanced magic without Breeze interrupting me."
Starlight dropped her head and tail a little, her ears tilting down as well. "This better work."
"We're entering the controlled zone now. Keep your guises," Blaze called back, but we knew what she meant. The ponies had to appear to be Hatchlings from this moment on; the guards were watching.
We continued on to the nearest hive entrance in silence, Blaze taking position next to the bush which hid the entrance from sight and allowing Breeze to take point.
"Oval, do something annoying," Blaze hissed under her breath after I passed her by in front of Oval.
"Damnit, Blaze, stop riding me," Oval threw back angrily.
I looked back at them as I walked into the tunnel system which was our home, watching Blaze come up beside Oval and giving him a nudge.
"I'm going to break off at the storage room," Oval decided, looking up at me staring back. "Pearl, you're going to miss the turn if you don't look ahead."
I turned my head to face forward again, just spotting Moonshine's tail disappearing down a side tunnel. I turned after her, shaking my head a bit. "Right, 'Pay attention, Pearl.' Got it, dad. Thanks."
"Keep it up and I'll have to talk with my mare about adopting you," Oval called over.
I heard some whispers following, but could not make out whether it was Oval or Blaze. I just focused on tailing Moonshine through the maze of tunnels until we ended up at the storage room. When I finally did look back, Oval was gone and it was just Blaze pulling up the rear.
"She gets like this some times," Blaze shrugged, walking up to me and giving me a soft shoulder bump. "This is a really dangerous plan. Oval's more worried about what might happen than she'll admit."
I stared up at my 'mom', watching the green glow spread over her as Blaze dropped her guise.
"I have to admit I'm not too sure about it myself either," I told her. "Should I take my necklace off?"
Blaze looked over to where Breeze and Moonshine stood with the ponies, and shook her head. "Keep it on. The guards won't give a shit about it, and it gives them a way to identify you."
I felt oddly consoled by that, and leaned in against Blaze while dropping my own guise. "It's been a fun few days, Blaze. Thanks for taking me in like one of your own."
"It's not over yet," Blaze smiled, giving me a gentle nuzzle. "We'll find you after this, whatever happens. We have more training to do."
I laughed softly at that, watching as Moonshine gave Starlight some last minute instructions. Breeze was doing the same to Pinkie, who eagerly drank in what the filly told her. Blaze and I were the only two who had dropped our guises so far. The others looked like four ponies looking entirely out of place in our hive.
"Hey Blaze," I started, looking down at my forehooves. "What if this goes bad?"
"Don't think about it, kid," Blaze returned, her stare hardening.
"But what if it does?" I had to press, looking on as Starlight turned to Pinkie Pie and tried to get her attention. "Those two have the best shot at this, but we don't know what we're going to find down there."
"Never think of defeat," Blaze spoke softly. "If you allow the possibility of defeat, your opponent is going to take that and run with it."
"It's not a fight, Blaze," I sighed.
"Everything's a fight," Blaze corrected me. "Just getting up in the morning is a fight. Picking your guise is a fight. Feeding is a fight. Life is a large string of challenges you need to overcome to survive it."
We fell silent as Starlight sent her magic out to Pinkie Pie, the blue glow spreading as an alien thing within this realm of black and green. The pink Earthpony changed before our eyes, with the most obvious of changes being her large mane and tail shrinking down as they changed into our grey Changeling fins. A curved horn grew out of her forehead to replace the former overhanging mane.
Her coat disappeared to become the smooth grey Changeling skin I had started to accept as my own, while her pupils expanded to the full size of her eyes like small explosions, then turned the full blue of our Changeling eyes. She licked her tongue around her mouth as her fangs grew out, the tongue itself changing to green as she did, and arched her back a moment as the chitin plating and wings grew from it, but then Pinkie Pie looked nothing like her pink self anymore.
As the magic glow died down, the pink Earthpony had fully transformed into yet another grey Hatchling like me and the unknown numbers hidden in the rooms deeper in the outpost. She was immediately being scrutinized by Breeze and Moonshine both, and small flashes of blue magic came from Starlight's horn as she made alterations to Pinkie's appearance based on the others' suggestions.
"If this fails," Blaze sighed, turning her head to look at me directly, "there's nothing we can do. We're no match for the guards. Whatever happens down there, all we can be is the distraction. Unless you can get out of there on your own, we can't get to you."
"If I do have to get out, where do I go?" I wondered.
"Hoofton. Oval will find you," Blaze decided quickly. "For all our joking around, Oval's the only one of us who has actually got her life together."
"And what if the invasion happens?" I had to ask, and Blaze's face fell.
"Aim for Hoofton. It's not a priority city," Blaze trusted to me. "If you manage to get others out with you, stick near the outskirts. A group of you would draw attention in the city proper. As long as you can see the water tower, you're fine."
We turned our heads at another blue flash of magic, which quickly changed to green. Starlight was in the process of changing herself now, and her magic changed colour to reflect her new appearance.
"She's still going to be using Unicorn magic, right?" I asked of Blaze, who gave a slow nod.
"Those changes are purely cosmetic. Not like our own," Blaze agreed.
"But I can learn Unicorn magic by taking on a Unicorn guise," I realized.
"Yes, although it is definitely more difficult to maintain than our own," Blaze explained softly as we watched Moonshine and Breeze finally dropping their own guises. "Juggling each night in front of a crowd, using Unicorn magic... it drained me so much. It took me months before I could hold my guise after; I just had no energy left. I would lock myself in my cart and steer clear of everypony else until I could safely change again."
"How long did it take you to get used to it?" I wondered, looking over at her again.
"I'm still not used to it, and I've been doing it for years now," Blaze sighed. "It takes a bite out of you. It's unnatural for us to use their magic."
"I hope Starlight can keep her magic up tonight. I'd like to learn some day," I told her, and she smiled back.
"Yes, let's get this over with," Blaze suggested while stepping forward to join the others.