Chapter 66: Canterlot Trot
Flying into Canterlot was like something out of a dream.
Firefly knew she was somewhere special long before she actually arrived. As they drew closer, the number of other ponies passing in either direction in the sky increased, until a small handful filled to dozens, then hundreds of creatures. They passed entire suburbs of cloud-houses, floating over other mountains. Others passed over the fields all around Canterlot, watering the crops in a continuous circuit.
“Those are... like in the maze, but—they’re not broken,” she whispered, slowing as they passed a neighborhood particularly closely. “Ponies are actually living inside. A whole town of pegasi...”
Despite claiming he would find a body specifically designed for the trip, her father looked like Dust Storm again, not some strange new pony. There was some increased risk that would get them discovered, maybe—but Firefly would rather fly with him than anypony else.
If the cult was going to find them on the way, it could probably find her just as easily as it could him. They wouldn’t be in any more danger because of a little familiarity.
“Of course there are.” He couldn’t keep up with her, not by any stretch. But he never asked her to slow down, relying on her to notice when he was in trouble and reduce her speed.
He landed on a cloud walkway leading into town, gesturing with a wing. “There’s... thousands of little neighborhoods like this. About as big as old town, but without the farms. They all work in the weather industry, with contracts on the ground. Hard to grow pony food up in the clouds.”
As though there’s another kind. Her wings buzzed, but she didn’t let herself land, hovering alongside him instead. Somewhere below them was the train carrying Lilac and Risk. They could get a little separated without Firefly worrying. But if something really bad happened, she wanted to be prepared to swoop down and rescue her friend.
Lilac would find another way to get herself into trouble, if she had a chance. “I think I want to visit a place like that,” she said quietly. “When we’re safe, and the danger’s gone. Not right now, or...”
Her father took off, following her away. She matched his speed, leaving the town of pegasi behind. She wouldn’t get a chance to see what life was like here, not today. “You might love it here. I was never comfortable with the idea of a cloud home myself. Some tribes can’t live in them—it would cut down on potential visitors.”
And it would stop you from using other disguises, Firefly thought. She kept silent on that particular subject. There was no telling which ponies might be listening. Changelings were not well-liked in Equestria.
“Of all the places to go—” she asked, when they’d left it behind, and had only open sky around them. “Why Willowbrook? Compared to all these wonderful places. Ponyville has more love.”
He didn’t meet her eyes. “The Lightless Star speaks of Celestia’s evil—but they have no idea what a real tyrant is like. A changeling queen has the power of life or death over every bug in the swarm. Obedience must be absolute, and the response to betrayal is swift. She sent scouts all across Equestria. Those she liked least—”
He glanced back the way they’d come, at the distant gloomy clouds suggesting Willowbrook far, far on the horizon. “It was convenient to be so far from Canterlot when the invasion failed.”
“You stayed with me,” Firefly continued. “Did the queen not call her scouts back? Before invading, I’d want everyone on my side. I’d want to go over everything they learned. Why did she leave you in Willowbrook?”
He didn’t answer for a long time. Mostly he watched the other ponies passing on their arcing flights into Canterlot. There were more of them the closer they got. They wouldn’t have any time to themselves for private conversation before too long.
Not that Firefly minded talking to other pegasi. They might have all kinds of interesting things to say about the city. “I don’t know why I refused the order. You could say... I didn’t need love from the queen anymore. I had as much as I wanted from my friends in Willowbrook. I had you in my nest. You could say it was the threat of what the Lightless Star could do to me. What they can still do, if they think I’m alive. I really should give up this identity.”
Firefly ignored that last part. “You stayed because you loved me,” she argued. “I love you too, Dad. It’s not complicated.”
“Changelings can’t love other creatures,” he said reflexively. A conditioned, pressured response, without a second’s hesitation. “They’re parasites, consuming the love of others to survive. They couldn’t love a pony any more than you could...” he trailed off awkwardly. “I don’t actually know. There’s no equivalent. Protecting you doesn’t prove otherwise. It just proves I’m dependent on you. It’s rational to take risks to protect a food supply.”
She nudged him in the air with her shoulder. Some part of her couldn’t shake just how uncomfortable a term like that made her feel. But he was trying to be honest with her. Getting upset about his honesty wouldn’t help him do more of it.
“Love doesn’t work that way, Dad. It’s not something that each of us have in reserve and runs out each day. I can love as many ponies as I like, and I don’t have less of it left. I have more, since I’d be feeling it all the time. I love my friend Lilac, I love you, I loved Velvet too, even if we weren’t as close as some ponies. I—” She stopped abruptly. “I think River is nice, even if I wish I hadn’t dragged her to so many dangerous places.
“I even think... don’t tell him, but Risk isn’t so bad either. I wish he’d stop looking at Lilac like she’s his marefriend. But he stuck with us when he didn’t have to, and that counts for something. If I got to know Rainbow Dash better I’d like her. There’s room for an endless number of ponies, I’ll never run out. Works the same way for you. You don’t lose love by caring about me. There’s always enough.”
“That is not... the way we understand it,” he said. “You produce your own love, all ponies do. We can’t. But I do admit that... I do want to protect you. I would take steps to defend you from danger, if I could.”
“You’ve spent a lifetime doing that,” she said. “And I know... even if you have to look like somepony else going forward, you’ll still be you. I care about the person underneath; not however you look.”
They flew in silence the rest of the way. Or rather, they spoke often, but mostly to other ponies. Canterlot had so many visitors in the sky. Mail carriers, diplomats, tourists. Despite the transport network below them, she saw several pegasus families just flying into the city.
But if each of them had wings they could use, stopping to camp on clouds along the way wasn’t so bad. I could see Equestria that way. Float from city to city, making friends, seeing how different they are.
If only there wasn’t an evil cult out to kill her, so much would be possible.
They might be right about what Equestria would think. Escape was eternally impossible, and she was trapped between two implacable enemies.
If that was what waited for them in Canterlot, she would reconsider the breezie’s offer of sanctuary. Being tiny sounded weird, but at least she’d be alive. She had already been changed into one weird thing before, a second transition couldn’t be that much worse.
They did have the style and grace going for them. But giving up weather magic...
Dusty found a cloud to change in before they landed. “The Lightless Star has ponies in the city. If anyone saw what I did to help you, they might be watching for me.” But they wouldn’t be watching for Velvet, so she flew into Canterlot with another pony her own age.
He could always look like an adult if the need arose. Firefly wanted to ask how he could switch from one sex to another with such grace, when it had taken her the better part of a decade to accept her form—and Lilac never really had.
But questions like that would have to wait for when they weren’t in a city that changelings had invaded, and soldiers might be watching from every corner.
Finally Canterlot came into view below her, and she was rendered speechless. It was a beautiful city. Not the largest she had visited—at least not if her old life was considered.
Life flowed through it in constant motion. Where Ponyville had been more or less equal in size to Willowbrook, this place dwarfed it. Thousands of structures clustered on several tiers, each one carved into the mountains until they were wide enough.
They were linked by rail, by twisting footpaths, and charming wire gondolas, rising from one level to another.
“I thought Celestia was supposed to be a tyrant,” she whispered, as they circled towards the area Velvet said held the park. “Where’s the evil armies? The propaganda posters? Where’s the public executions and the starvation?”
The bat shrugged her shoulders. “They lied about all that. Ponies from Willowbrook never leave. The city makes sure they never want to. Most visitors don’t want to stay.”
“I don’t think—” But it wasn’t true. Firefly didn’t know for sure that Canterlot was any better just because it looked so bright and inviting from the air. Maybe the ponies inside were just as closed and hostile as the ones she left behind.
But even if they weren’t, could she really give up the Cumulus Maze? “Okay, there are some things I would go back for. Just makes me wish we could keep the same town, without the whole... cult part.”
Velvet pointed them towards a patch of trees and grass in the center of a humble neighborhood in the lowest district. That would mean flying all the way back up if they climbed. But since the ponies waiting down there didn’t have wings, it would be walking either way.
“There are lots of other dangers there. But anywhere with magic has dangers, Firefly. Even Ponyville has the Everfree Forest. Nowhere can be totally safe.”
“I wouldn’t even want it to be. All those times we went through the Maze together. Climbing through old buildings, racing before they crashed into Refuse Cenotaph. I never wanna give that up.”
They circled over the park a few times, flying low to the trees. Nopony seemed to think it was strange that two fillies were flying into Canterlot alone. There were so many ponies that plenty of the ones they passed were just as young as they were.
Then Firefly saw them—not in the park yet, but moving up a sidewalk through a nearby neighborhood. And good thing too considering how red the sky was looking, as sunset approached.
They flew in together from the front, so Lilac and Risk would see them coming. The two ponies looked as exhausted as Firefly herself was beginning to feel, but otherwise healthy.
Firefly landed ahead of them, grinning. “How was the ride?”
Lilac shrugged. “Productive. Uneventful.”
“Spoke to somepony about the park. We won’t be allowed to camp there. They’ll think we’re homeless... and cuz we’re so young, that could get a call placed back to Willowbrook.”
“I know somewhere cheap,” Velvet said, “that won’t ask questions. Just don’t get separated in this part of town. It’s nothing like home, but... a filly doesn’t want to be off on her own. You’ll see.”
They followed her, packing in close together against whatever danger might be waiting in the capital.
“Tomorrow, the archive,” Lilac whispered. “And the truth.”
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Pegasus practice hydroponics.
He's Firefly's pet buggo.
Given that its a food here , it probably does in this verse, and Dunbar's number is like some physical constant for them rather than "people can't keep track of 150 friends in their heads". Sounds like an interesting idea to explore.
I wonder what else the Sisters will learn while they're in Canterlot.
Everyone's gotten here safely. The question is how long things will remain uneventful for them. I'm guessing some of that will depend how long Twilight will stay in Willowbrook and if her friends are with her. Or whether Twilight kept them up to date on Firefly's new person-of-interest status. No doubt the likeliest pony they'll run into is Rainbow Dash.
Whether or not Dunbar's Number is a soft or hard limit, there's truth about the limit of the number of ponies one can care about.
No doubt any claims that Celestia rules over her people with an iron fist is a lie. Even the cultists would be treated relatively mercifully. How she treats creatures from Abaddon, however is up in the air.
Shouldn't take much for our changeling to modify the Dusty or even Velvet identity, just temporarily. Look like a parent or caretaker of the sisters.
We're getting there slowly but surely.
11351369
Agreed, something like a scout leader could work too.
i can't help but think of a story by Golfur where someone says that Changelings COULD fall in love, but ONLY if a pony falls in love with them FIRST.
Right to the archive? Wow, this plot's getting straight to the point! I have a feeling we're approaching the finale... That will be a sad day.
Not much to say here - we'll see what this archive contains. Perhaps they will release something - or let somepony in - accidentally...
11351443
More completely – I said in my Cogsverse that because changelings reflexively consume love, they can only experience it if they can consume no more, and that happens when someone genuinely falls in love with the changeling. That emotion is so strong that if fills the changeling to the point where they must feel it rather than eat it. Once they do, the changeling irrevocably loves that person back.
Yeah, that really limits your options.
I imagine that does put a damper on things
Lovely to see Firefly reaffirm her bonds with her dad, especially since he loves her enough to ignore Chrysalis.
Probably not as much, but goodness knows the old money will look down their muzzles at a bunch of tourists who just came off the train. They won't try to sacrifice those tourists for power, though. That sort of thing is reserved for other nobles. (Also, it's a good thing no one in this group is a seapony.)
Now there's just the matter of getting to the forbidden part of one of the largest and presumably most secure libraries in the nation. I'm sure nothing could go wrong whatsoever.
I thought they were going to ponyville first, did we skip a chapter or did this happen during the interrogation in the last chapter?
Woooo! We in Canterlot baybee!
11352860
Nope, the plan for a few chapters now has been to learn secret info from the archives and then talk to the Ponyvillians (or not) based on that.
I am once again refreshing this page every hour on a Saturday waiting for the update. Love this story!
11353287
I was confused as well, because they mentioned not having to break in if they went with twilight.
It's too easy.... Stop that!
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