Pearl's Travels 2: Canterlot

by Makitk

Chapter 12

Before Camellia finished with the tea, the front door opened up on the four of us sitting around the coffee table in the living room, and Meadowsweet walked in. She absentmindedly kicked the door closed behind her with a back hoof, set her eyes upon the group of ponies and Changelings in the living room, opened her mouth to say something, and then promptly froze in place as her facial expression went through a few different emotional states in quick succession.

"So, princess Twilight Sparkle and Applejack have joined us," Oval remarked at her dryly, motioning her left forehoof in the direction of the two ponies, who turned their necks to look back at the groundskeeper.

Twilight Sparkle jumped up and rushed up at the poor unicorn near the doorway. "Meadowsweet! I didn't know you were in on this too!?"

"Oh, dear," Meadowsweet meeped timidly, ducking down a bit. "H...hello princess Twilight. I did not expect you so soon."

I was surprised at this complete change in her demeanor compared to when she was cracking jokes on Burst's expense earlier in the day, but Twilight offered a clear enough reason for it.

"Oh come on, we basically grew up together," Twilight Sparkle suggested. "Just because I'm a princess now does not mean we can't be friends anymore; I AM the princess of friendship, after all."

"Yeah... but we lost touch when you went to magic school and I turned to gardening instead," Meadowsweet mumbled, barely audible. "You barely recognized me when I took the job of palace groundskeeper after the previous groundskeeper retired. I thought you were too busy with your new friends from Ponyville. And then there was your ascension to princess..."

"Meadowsweet," Twilight Sparkle sighed in realisation, taking another step closer to her former friend. "I'm sorry if I have neglected you in the past. I only have good memories of our shared past, and I would welcome you as my friend again if you want to be? Forget the fact I'm a princess now; Just think of me as the unicorn filly you once helped out of a flowerpatch after her magic exploded in her face."

"You know that got me on the road to gardening?" Meadowsweet suggested with a careful smile, looking up at her old pal. "Those poor flowers would have died from your falling on them, if not for miss Berrysweet using a healing spell on them. It made me realize how resilient plants were and how much they could benefit from a little care from us."

"I remember," Twilight Sparkle answered with a nod and a smile. "That was the day you got your cutiemark, if I'm not mistaken."

"Thanks to you, princess," Meadowsweet remarked. "If you had not broken those flowers, I might have never found my true calling."

I glanced over at Applejack.

"I know Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom was the cause for you six to gain your cutiemarks pretty much simultaneously," I started, to which Applejack raised an eyebrow. "Don't ask me how I know, but doesn't Meadowsweet's story make you think about how long Twilight Sparkle has been attracting ponies who struggled with problems? Even as a filly she helped her friend gain a cutiemark... and later on you grouped up with her and became the prime force to be reckoned with among you ponyfolk."

"What are ya suggesting?" Applejack asked with a slow narrowing of her eyes.

"Your friend, Twilight Sparkle, may be a natural catalyst for events to revolve around," I replied with a wry smile. "Like me falling into a conspiracy my sisters set up to thwart our Queen's attempts to invade Equestria, and how they did the majority of everything, and I just sort of stood there as a catalyst... Twilight may be similar, is all? I mean, I'm just thinking out loud here."

"She undervalues herself," Oval muttered. "Pearl has done a fantastic job helping to keep the peace between us. If not for her, we would not be sitting here talking right now."

Applejack glanced between the both of us, then back at where Twilight and Meadowsweet had fallen into a hug. "I honestly don't know if y'all are right on that, sugarcube. If it hadn't been for Thorax and Moonshine, I'd still be seein' y'all as a threat myself. I would not be sittin' here talking either."

"Did you come because the map told you, or because Twilight asked you to, Applejack?" I had to ask. "Starlight Glimmer explained to us about the map and why her and Pinkie Pie's cutiemarks were glowing after we sorted the problem with our Queen, that's why I'm asking."

"The map, of course," Applejack answered casually, glancing at me from under the shadow of her hat. "Did y'all think I'd be here with these fancy cityponies if ah could avoid it?"

"I know you know I know you wouldn't," I spoke, tilting my head slightly as I went over my own sentence again in my mind. "Although I can't find out how you'd know that, really. Ignore me."

"Starlight Glimmer and Moonshine both filled us in about what we could expect from a pair of friendly Changelings before we left Ponyville," Twilight Sparkle spoke up, joining us again with Meadowsweet in tow. "One of the things Moonshine kept emphasizing was that you've been among us ponies for years now, roaming undetected while gathering information. She said 'It's best to expect we already know what you're talking about unless we ask for an explanation'."

"That sounds about right," Oval agreed. "I don't know if I can apologize enough for lying to you in the past, but it's a sad truth we can't exactly go out like this and expect everypony to give us the benefit of the doubt. We would be hunted down and thrown in the dungeons, chased out, or killed."

"Tea's ready," Camellia offered up, levitating five mugs of steamy hot tea into our midst and setting them down on the coffee table. A sixth mug containing warm milk with a small hint of added honey was placed in front of Applejack before our host sat down next to Oval.

Effectively we were now paired up with Applejack sitting opposite me, Twilight Sparkle sitting opposite Oval, and Camellia sitting opposite Meadowsweet. All with our own warm drinks in front of us sending steam rising up between us.

"Thank you, Camellia," the princess of friendship spoke with a smile at the unicorn in question, then turned her attention back to Oval. "Having spoken at great length with both Thorax and Moonshine, I think I have a good idea of why you do what you do. I agree that there's nothing you can say or do to make the past years of infiltration and subterfuge right, but I've been willing to see past that while dealing with those two, and I am here to help you with your current problem if I can."

"I didn't expect otherwise, but I would have expected Rarity to have come along as well, seeing as how she knows ponies in Canterlot's high society?" I offered up.

"I don't know why Rarity was not called," Twilight Sparkle agreed with me. "But I am sure Applejack and I can help with whatever problem we come across."

"So you're sure this is another friendship problem, then?" I asked directly. "I mean, as far as I understand that map, it only sends you on friendship problems?"

"I have no idea," Twilight Sparkle answered truthfully. "Maybe if you fill us in on what is going on here exactly, I can get a better idea of what we're faced with?"

I glanced sideways at Oval, who leaned back with a quick shake of her head. Obviously she was not the one to explain things to Twilight Sparkle. Camellia still sat with some awe on her face, and I had some doubts she could get the words out properly. Meadowsweet was lost in thought, and I wondered if she was even aware of the situation right now. She could be forgiven, having just reunited with an old schoolfriend who also ended up being a princess. She might be going over old memories for all I knew.

"Well," I started, stopping to scrape my throat a bit. "As far as I've been told one of my siblings was travelling through Canterlot when they suddenly decided to reveal themselves and attack one of Canterlot's Royal Guard. There was no reason for them to do so, and they caused a cascade effect which has all of the guards on high alert right now."

"Several dozens, if not a hundred or more of my family have since been revealed and thrown in the Canterlot dungeons," I continued, scraping my throat uneasily. "We need to feed every so often, or we'll go feral and basically just attack anything nearby in the hopes of leeching some love from them. These Changelings stuck in the dungeons right now are a ticking timebomb waiting to go off..."

"If there's truly a hundred or more of my siblings down there, it's only a matter of time before they'll throw themselves against the doors and try to break out. Or die trying," I concluded solemnly.

Shocked faces all around, except on Oval or Meadowsweet. One knew exactly what I meant, the other was so lost in thought that a true (time)bomb could have gone off near her and she would not have realized.

"My sister Oval and me were on an inbound train when we were hit by a magic spell which made us lose our ability to transform our looks. We were chased through the streets until Camellia took us in, and we are extremely thankful to her for trusting us," I continued, smiling up in Camellia's direction as I spoke of her.

"We would have been in the dungeons ourselves if not for her. While talking with her on the upstairs landing, some kind of shadow took possession of us and we instantly became paranoid that the other would want to attack us. Our fear and paranoia grew until we ended up caught in a very short fight, which had me topple down the stairs."

I motioned my head in the direction of my hurt leg. "I'm still recovering from that, but I don't blame Camellia for attacking me; there was a definite shadow."

"A... shadow?" Twilight Sparkle repeated with a thoughtful look on her face, and Meadowsweet woke up from her reverie.

"Huh? Oh, the shadow which has haunted Canterlot Castle for months now. Yeah, Camellia said she thought that was the one which took her over for a momentary lapse of reason," Meadowsweet nodded, halfway in the conversation again.

The princess turned her attention on Meadowsweet while her wings trembled from a shiver going down her spine. "What shadow? How many months? I need details!"

"Well, ever since that strange dream in which I was wandering Canterlot with all my friends together, really," Meadowsweet started. "Ever since that dream, there's been a shadow in the castle, only visible when you're not directly looking at it. It's been roaming around the halls and rooms and even the courtyard."

"I thought they were just rumours until Camellia said she felt it here as well. Anypony who sees or feels the shadow speaks of the fear they feel, but not of the shadow; it's like they fear other things. Like a wall coming down as they walk by it, or their friends turning on them."

"And the sightings have become more frequent as well. Camellia's the first who has noticed it outside of the palace grounds, that I know of," Meadowsweet pointed out.

Twilight glanced back at Applejack. "You don't think it could be the Tantabus, do you?"

"That beastie we fought with princess Luna, you mean? I reckon the princess is the only one who can say for sure," Applejack reasoned.

"Oh, you can't get to the princesses anymore; they have pretty much locked themselves in their rooms and won't come out for anything," Meadowsweet revealed to an ever-more-shocked Twilight Sparkle. "They've been in there for a few weeks now, avoiding contact with each other and only opening their doors if food is brought to them, if the rumours are true."

"Jeez," Oval hissed. "If one little shadow can send even the pony princesses running for the hills, what kind of evil are we dealing with?"

"You don't know about the Tantabus, then?" Twilight Sparkle asked of us Changelings, and while Oval shook her head, I nodded instead.

"I do know about the Tantabus, princess," I answered. "I know you and your friends helped princess Luna fight it in a communal dream in which all of Ponyville was brought together to keep it from escaping into the waking world. I know it was a culmination of princess Luna's worst fears. And, thinking about what I felt when Camellia and I stood opposite each other on the landing, I feel like you may be right about it being the reason for all this."

"I did not say that," Twilight Sparkle noted, "but you're right. I was thinking that. It's the only thing I know of which makes sense, considering the situation and timeframe. I would have been told if you Changelings had been considered a threat; Celestia and Luna would have made sure Cadance and I were informed. If they're acting out of paranoid delusions... I doubt they would trust even me."

"The guards are not just arresting Changelings anymore either; Just today they have started going around with unicorns who use a special 'scanning' spell to check for any Changelings who may have escaped the other spell they had in place. Even if you just appear like somepony who may be hiding something, you're arrested and brought up to the castle for questioning as well," Camellia revealed. "The baker next door to the store I work in was arrested just this afternoon for making bread 'big enough to hide something in'."

"That's just ridiculous!" Applejack fumed. "Has everypony in this town lost their marbles?"

"If the Tantabus is truly in this waking world, they very well may have," Twilight Sparkle sighed, reaching for her tea with her magic. "All of Equestria may be in danger."

"Don't you ever think back to your time in Canterlot before Nightmare Moon's return? How much simpler it was back then?" I asked of her, and she peered over at me past her mug while taking a sip.

"I don't know how you could have known that," she finally responded after swallowing her tea. "You can't read minds, can you?"

"We can't read minds, princess," Oval answered for me. "Pearl here is somewhat unique, even among us. She knows things none of the rest of us do. Especially about you and your friends, apparently."

"I think we're going to have to have a long talk about that before this is over," Twilight Sparkle suggested.

"I'm going to need to have long talks with an ever-growing group of ponies," I chuckled. "I should hire somepony to make appointments for me, because I might be busy for a while!"