The six of us weaved our way through sometimes narrow enough streets that we had to walk in single file into a corner of Canterlot I was sure had never been shown in the show, adjacent to what could clearly only be the merchants' quarter.
Where the gaudy front of the stores faced the main roads, these back alleys were far less decorated and offered ways to supply the various shops and get rid of trash.
The buildings were still the usual Equestrian quality; no corner or wall was completely undecorated, but it was clear they were not designed with the judging eye of the elite in mind.
Occasionally there was an abandonded small pullcart set up next to a back door, clearly showing the merchants in question had enough need of it to not want to store it away from their place of operation for too long.
It took us a short while going through these back alleys before we came upon a larger building hidden between the rest; a large barn-like structure with huge doors on two sides which were big enough to allow parade cars through.
We walked up to one of the smaller doors in the side of the building and Applejack unlocked it with a key she had on her person somewhere.
It was a bit of a search in the dimly lit warehouse to find the Sweet Apple Acres cart; It was a big four-wheeled carriage-sized cart, able to hold half a field worth of apples or the goods derived from it. It was placed among similar carts near one of the warehouse walls.
"And there she is; Granny Smith used a much smaller cart back when she was just sellin' apples and zap-apple jam in her youth, but demand for our products grew over the years so we ended up havin' to get this one," Applejack pointed out. "We usually have Big Macintosh here to pull it, but I trust Twilight's magic can do the job just fine if she's careful about it."
Twilight coughed uneasily, and I recalled how her magic went out of control once while she helped out with Winter Wrap-Up.
"It's not a snow plow, so I'm sure she'll be fine. If that magic spell wasn't keeping us from transforming, I'd wager Burst could've taken Big Macintosh's place pulling the cart given how she's usually a stallion," I chuckled.
Oval turned on me and snorted. "Oh no, I might prefer posing as a stallion, but that doesn't mean I am the most buff among them. That cart looks like it'd be too much for me. I could see Big Macintosh pull it by himself, though. I've seen him when I visited Ponyville on occasion; he's got a natural core strength to him."
"That he does," Applejack laughed. "He's a sturdy sort."
"I'd like to say it makes sense, given how he grew up on a farm, but your cousin Braeburn is only half the size of your brother, isn't he?" I recalled.
"Cousin Braeburn hasn't been raisin' half as many barns and town houses as my brother has," Applejack answered with a shrug. "Big Macintosh has always helped out where he could, both on the farm and in Ponyville. He's a dependable sort."
"Like his sister, I'm sure," I offered with a smile to Applejack.
The earthpony flushed lightly, but gave a nod back. "Of course! Honest work is where it's at."
Meadowsweet narrowed her eyes at me but then shook her head. "Those teeth are still unsettling."
"Well, let's get the two of them covered up so you won't have to feel out of sorts around them, then," Applejack decided.
She walked over to the cart and started pulling a couple of baskets out of the storage compartment under the top displays.
"We won't need the baskets we usually set up beside it on a market day, so that will already give you two some room in there," she explained, uncovering more and more of the bottom of the cart.
It was like watching someone pull items out of a bottomless bag or the back of a minivan. Wicker baskets, crates, and some signage appeared from the cart and placed against the nearby wall.
Twilight Sparkle stood in silent contemplation, looking at the cart more than what her friend was doing, probably thinking about the job of pulling it and then the plan once we got to the palace with it.
"Just watching this cart pull up on the market square was enough to excite me when I was a little filly," Camellia remembered. "Especially when we'd come up to zap-apple jam season. I haven't had that in ages."
"Remind me to hold a jar in reserve for you," Applejack spoke between pulling the last remaining items out of the cart. "It's the least I can do for your help today."
"Oh, I couldn't expect that," Camellia warded off. "I know how quickly that stuff sells. It's an even more sought-after product than your cider because of how rare it is."
"We always keep a few jars in storage back at the farm, for personal use," Applejack offered back with a shrug. "We're always happy to share with friends."
"Ah, the power of friendship," I sighed with a warm feeling welling up in my chest. "I don't even have to feed on this energy to feel good about it. Sharing is caring, as they say."
"That's right," Applejack agreed as she finished up her work. "Now it might be a little dusty in the corners, but you two should fit in this compartment just fine given what we haul to the market on a good day."
Oval and me joined Applejack on her left side and peered into the cart.
"We'd have to put our backs to the edges, face each other," my sister suggested. "Work our tail fins down between our back legs and cross our horns?"
"I guess that could work. Fortunately you're not in your regular guise, Burst; you're a little more bulky as a stallion," I pointed out.
"Hah, no. I'll just crawl in here first and you can join me," she decided, setting her wings in motion to lift her up from the ground and over the opened storage space, then lowered herself into it.
"Be careful with that cast of yours when you land; I would prefer to not get a face full of hard resin," she called out once she had lain down properly.
I similarily lifted myself up with my wings, feeling the added weight on my hurt leg and compensating for it. I looked down to make sure I wasn't putting my hooves on Burst as I landed, but then found my footing again on the wood cart.
I sank down through my legs, fell into a bit of an awkward position beside Oval, and snuggled into her more from the lack of space than anything.
"Oh, hi, nice of you to join me. Do you come here often?" Burst joked, staring at me with her big blue bug eyes.
"Funny," I returned. "No funny business 'mister'."
"Oh, I wouldn't and you know it; my mare wouldn't let me hear the end of it," Burst sighed. "Let's get comfy."
"You two ready for the cloth to cover you?" Applejack asked.
"Yep, let's do this before one of us has to go to the toilet or something," Burst called out.
"Have you considered stand-up comedy?" I asked.
"No thanks; having one entertainer in our batch is enough for me," she retorted.
A thick blanket fell over us and we used our changeling magic to pull it into place properly.
"This is somewhat like camping out in the woods in a small tent when I was young," I mused. "Although I was a human back then, and I was sharing a tent with a cousin who wet his bed."
"Wet his bed?" Burst repeated with some confusion. "Why would you wet a bed? The resin would melt away."
"It's not a thing among Changelings then?" I realised. "To be honest, I never actually considered that until now. I sort of assumed it was a thing for every race."
"We can hear you out here, albeit muffled," Camellia suggested from somewhere nearby, her voice muffled by the wood of the cart and the blanket covering us. "Keep your voices low or don't speak at all once we start rolling. We're going to be putting some pies on top of you now."
"Thanks for the heads up," I called back.
"As far as I know, no," Burst answered my question. "Maybe it's a thing with pony foals..."
"It is," Camellia's voice called to us again as a small weight settled on my left side and was moved around a little until it settled.
"How's that, it's not too uncomfortable, is it?" she asked.
"No, it's not," I agreed. "Just pile them on."
"If you say so," the unicorn outside of the cart answered.
Soon enough we felt the pies getting stacked on top of us, then heard a sound of the wood panel closing up over us.
"Can you two still breathe in there?" Applejack wondered.
Burst shrugged slightly. "One of us needs a breathmint, but yes."
"Yes, you do," I countered. "Seriously though; we're fine."
"Good to hear. We'll get the cart ready to move then," Applejack's muffled voice called to us.
"So," I spoke in a softer voice, barely above a whisper. "What's with you suddenly being a comedic genius?"
"Nerves," Oval responded while closing her eyes.
"I get you on that; we can't exactly do anything while in here," I sighed. "We need to trust in those four."
"Yes, and you may have knowledge about things I don't," my sister pointed out. "I might have met them or had dealings with them once or twice in passing, and know of the princess' exploits from hearsay, but you seem to trust her almost implicitly. I just... can't."
"We grew up differently, Oval. I am sure I would have been less enthusiastic about it myself if I'd have lived as you have," I accepted.
"The threat of being revealed, being hunted for who I am, just because we have to feed on their energies, it's been this thing in the back of my head all my life," she trusted to me. "We tried to teach you back in the Hive; the ponies can turn on you at any moment because we're different from them."
"Twilight and Applejack won't. Camellia probably won't. I'm not sure about Meadowsweet," I considered, my voice now a proper whisper.
"Yeah, I want to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I can't silence the fear welling up inside," Oval sighed. "I stand to lose so much if things go wrong. Years of carefully cultivating my identity; my relationship with my mare, the work I do back home to try and fit in their society, the friendships I've built."
"One careless move and I won't be able to get back to that life. Perhaps we will both end up in the dungeon before the night is over," Oval voiced her fears as I felt a shiver running through her form.
"We have to trust in the princess, in the plan we made to infiltrate the palace and get to our siblings and the princesses. We need to trust in a positive outcome, or we'll give the tantabus a way to control us," I pointed out, trying to keep my calm for both our sakes.
"So I joke, to quell my fears," Burst chuckled weakly, opening her eyes again to look at me. "Or we could talk about how you're settling in in our world some more. I know you love those kinds of conversations."
"Ah, no, thank you," I warded off. "I'd much rather be subjected to your poor excuses for jokes than that."
There was a jerk as the cart started to move, and we could feel the wooden wheels roll over the uneven ground with barely any cushioning. It was clearly going to be a bumpy ride to the palace.
"Ah, this is just what I needed to soothe my nerves; a massage," Burst joked.