Oval and me could do nothing but rest in the storage space in the cart while it made its way through Canterlot's streets, trying to stay quiet while slowly accumulating more bruises from the bumpy road.
It was a disorienting trip what with the enclosed cramped space, the darkness and weight of the blanket and pies on top of us, and not knowing which way we were headed, but overall it seemed like Twilight Sparkle's magic gave a continuous tug on the cart.
I had expected it to start and stop more than it did, but the streets were probably mostly empty apart from the odd soul braving them at this early hour of the day and the guards roaming around to protect the place.
Somehow we weren't stopped and checked while approaching the palace gate, which worked in our favor. Perhaps it was the princess walking with the other ponies? Maybe it was Applejack's family's reputation that kept them from questioning why she was bringing her cart around even without help from her strong brother?
I just did my best to weather the situation the best I could, 'helped' by Burst's occasional jokes.
There was a soft tap against the cart and Camellia's voice called out to us, muffled by the wood. "We're now on approach to the palace."
While I appreciated the heads up, Burst shivered strongly.
"Nope, I don't like this one bit," she whispered with a narrowing of her eyes.
"Stick with it for a little longer," I whispered back, considering what the next steps were.
The idea was to bring the cart into the courtyard close to the kitchen, then start offloading pies from it. While the princess TWilight Sparkle and Applejack went into the palace proper by way of the kitchen, Camellia and Meadowsweet would linger behind to help Oval and me out of the cart.
Applejack and Twilight Sparkle would try to make their way to the royal bedrooms, using the pies as an excuse. They held enough weight with the princesses to hopefully pull them out of their stupor and get them on our side in this.
Meanwhile Camellia and Meadowsweet would claim to have found us two Changelings in the palace and would lead their captives down into the dungeons to join the larger group already there. Hopefully this would go without alarms getting raised or more guards joining in to help escort us there.
I reminded myself of how my sibling had appeared to me as a captive pony in the Changeling Hive on the first day after my hatching. I knew Burst could pull that look off, but I had to follow suit and give it my best go to appear defeated and hopeless.
Once Burst and me found our way to our siblings, the ponies would try to misdirect the guards and lead them out of the area, then keep them occupied or otherwise hold them off.
It would be up to us both to calm our family down so they wouldn't instantly assault any pony they found wandering about. The last thing we needed was for them to start another invasion from within the palace grounds.
If all went according to plan, we could count on Luna's help to put the Tantabus back where it belonged, and Celestia would be the only pony able to stop the magic keeping us Changelings from transforming.
It would be impossible to get our family members out of the city limits if they weren't able to transform, but once the Tantabus was under control, Celestia could open the city up again and they could escape via trains and roads in small groups.
It was a big gamble, but the only option we had.
The cart stopped and Burst and I held our breaths.
Some muffled voices could be heard outside of the cart, a clear interaction between the gruff voices of the guards and that of our pony friends.
It was nerve-wracking to have to lay in the cart and just wait it out.
Burst trembled a little but kept her mouth shut for the moment, not daring to joke out of fear it might be overheard.
I similarily kept quiet, trying to make out what the voices were saying, but to no avail.
The cart moved forward again for a brief spell, then stopped again.
"...'specially baked for the princesses," Applejack's voice came through more clearly, just before the panel over the top of us opened up.
"Those are pies, alright," a gruff voice agreed, his voice coming in through the opening above us. "You didn't poison them, did you?"
The top slammed shut again, a little too loud for my poor ears.
"How dare you suggest Sweet Apple Acres pies would contain poison," Applejack decried, clearly hurt by the suggestion her family's name was being questioned.
"Calm down, Applejack, I'm sure the guard is trying to do his job," Twilight's voice followed. "Of course he knows of your family's reputation and would not dare to question it. He just needs to make sure the princesses are safe."
"Ahem, yes, it is as you say, princess," the guard spoke in a less demanding tone, clearly trying to do damage control. "But they are clearly pies, so you can proceed."
"That's what I thought," Applejack snorted.
"As for you two," the guard started, clearly addressing Camellia and Meadowsweet in order to try and restore some semblance of his authority.
"They're with us," Twilight interjected. "You wouldn't question the royal gardener as well, would you? I asked her and her friend to teach me about some of the flowers here to see if I could get them to grow at my own palace in Ponyville so they could bloom when the princesses next visit."
"Ah, yes, of course... That... That makes sense," the guard replied, then shouted in a louder voice; "Open the gate!"
There was a sound of something heavy moving out of the way, and then the cart jerked into motion again. The rumbling happened again a few moments after, suggesting we had passed by the gate and they were closing it behind us.
we were unable to escape now except for maybe flying over the walls, and I remembered from the show how well that could go if magic was involved; Changelings bouncing off of a magic shield in an effort to invade Canterlot. Such a shield could just as easily keep us in as well.
It was quiet for a bit, just the cart rolling uphill over the well-maintained road inside the palace grounds.
Burst trembled a bit with nervosity, and I was finding it hard to keep my own anxiety down.
"You know, I'm not exactly Bursting with excitement about this next part," I joked in a whisper to my sibling.
I could see her narrow her eyes a little in the half-dark we were immersed in.
"Wow, Pearl, I didn't think you'd have it in you," Oval whispered to me.
I wasn't sure if she was genuinely impressed or if it was a joke at my expense.
"Well, you Blazed the trail for me earlier. It was honestly a Breeze to come up with," I offered in an effort to judge her reaction.
Oval snickered softly in response.
"Okay, those were terrible. I love it," she whispered back to me. "You're truly a gem, Pearl. I'm glad you're part of our family."
"Not like I had much of a choice in the matter," I returned. "I haven't had much of a chance to settle yet, what with all that has been going on."
"Fair," Oval agreed. "I really hope we'll make it through today and get to Hoofton without further issues; you can relax and find your hoofing there. I'll have to explain to Celery Stalk where you came from, but we'll figure that out once we're through this mess."
"Pearl's from Tall Tale, remember? Growing up near the beach, which is how I got my name. My mother found a pearl while beachcombing or something," I reminded her of our conversation in the train ride up to Canterlot.
"Why would you comb a beach?" Oval asked in genuine wonder.
"To look for things like shells and driftwood and such. People back home did it, so I'd imagine ponies here do it as well," I offered back with a shrug. "As I said in the train; I've never been to a beach myself. I just know of it."
"That just sounds confusing to me," my sister decided. "What kind of comb would you even use for that?"
"No, it's not combing like how ponies do their hairs up. There's no actual comb involved. It's just a word," I answered.
"So what do ponies in your world use for it, if not a comb?" Oval pressed, clearly hyperfocusing on this to press her anxiety to the back of her mind.
I shrugged as much as I could while resting on my side in a cart, hidden under a blanket and apple pies. "I don't know, honestly. I think metal detectors are used sometimes? Maybe they have some other tools as well?"
"Metal detectors?" she homed in on the new word.
"Yeah, they're rings on a stick and it works with magnetism or something. When metal's near it, it makes a beeping noise," I explained.
"Rings... on a stick," Burst breathed out. "Your world is mad, I tell you. One day you'll have to show me, sister of mine."
There was a soft knock on the side of the cart and Camellia's voice called out to us. "You know your voices have been steadily getting louder to the point where I can now overhear your conversation?"
There was a moment of an uneasy silence, but then I realised the cart had stopped.
"Are we there, you think?" I wondered in a whisper to Burst.
She shrugged back to me. There was no way to tell for us unless one of the ponies on the outside explained the situation outside of the cart.
"I'm sure they'd tell us," she offered back. "I'd love to get these pies off me. One of them is resting on a bit of a bruise."
"How did you get a bruise?" I asked in concern.
"I bumped my right flank into some furniture at Camellia's house. I'm fine. It's just a bothersome spot for a pie tin to be digging into," Burst returned.
"Oh, it's not as bad as my hoof then," I pointed out. "Here I thought you were hurt more than just a bump."
"I'll have you know the shaking of the cart didn't help; that pie tin has sharp edges," Burst protested.
"There's a blanket between us and the pies," I reminded her. "It's not like the pie tin cut through the blanket, did it?"
"No, but," Burst started to protest again, but was interrupted by another knock on the side of the cart.
"The others are walking around the garden to keep up expectations. There are a few guards keeping an eye on Twilight especially," Camellia explained from outside of the cart. "Once they've made a round, I'm sure Applejack will want to start offloading the pies to the kitchen."
"Thanks for informing us," I spoke back in as loud a voice I dared.
"Just hold tight for another few minutes; we're waiting for a shift change apparently," the unicorn returned.
"That's smart; a changing of the guards means they are busy swapping positions and we can get out of the cart without immediately being seen," Oval suggested in a whisper.
"It's a tried and tested method," I agreed. "You'll just have to suffer the pies for a little longer, sis."
"The horror, the absolute horror," she returned in a flat tone of voice.