We finally joined the others at the next cell door, and just in time for Deadbolt to open it.
A wailing voice came from inside, its owner clearly in a rough state.
"Oh nooo, it's my turn to get executed now, isn't it?" the voice decried. "I'll bite if you try to come at me, I swear I will."
Forsythia had been blocking the opening in case Tizzy was to fling herself out kicking and screaming, but now turned as it was clear our poor sister had opted to be in the farthest corner imaginable from the doorway.
"Tizzy? It's Forsythia. I've got Burst and Crook here with me as well," the strong Changeling called out.
"No, it's a magic spell to make me think you're here, I know you ponies; you say we're the vile creatures but you play mindgames all the time," Tizzy called back, not wanting to take the bait.
"Well, she's in all states again," Crook sighed from beside me.
"Her words sound familiar, though," Meadowsweet realised. "I thought much the same of you Changelings before today."
"This is what all these decades of distrust do to some of us on both sides of the fence," Forsythia pointed out, turning away from the cell.
"Tizzy's the embodiment of the fear we all feel as we live among you ponies," Oval spoke to Meadowsweet, but then looked around to lay her eyes upon Camellia and Deadbolt in turn as well.
"We build up our lives, but we could be found out at any point in time. We could be revealed to be a Changeling and cast out or thrown in jail as we see here. We're never safe when out among you," she continued. "It's not fair."
"No, it isn't," Meadowsweet agreed. "We're told to be afraid of you, because you would attack us, abduct us, drain us, kill us... but you have so much more about you than that."
She stepped up to Forsythia. "Can I try to help?"
"Sure, what's your plan?" the Changeling wondered.
"She's afraid of Ponies in the same way that I was afraid of Changelings. I wouldn't have been able to overcome my fear if not for Pearl just being honest with us, laying all her cards on the table," she suggested. "Her honesty helped me see what was really going on with you all. Let me sit with this Tizzy for a while to level with her, try and make her see reason."
"She might bite you in her panicked state," Forsythia considered. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"No," Meadowsweet decided, mentally steeling herself. "I want to give her the benefit of the doubt. I want to give myself the benefit of the doubt. I need to face my fears as much as she does hers."
"Meadowsweet, are you sure about this?" Camellia asked with some concern.
"We're never going to bridge this gap between our races if we don't put one hoof in front of the other to meet one another halfway, now are we?" Meadowsweet reasoned, looking back at her friend.
"We'll be right outside then," Forsythia decided, taking a step aside so Meadowsweet could pass by her.
We all watched the Earthpony gardener wander into the jailcell, but then immediately sat down once over the treshold.
"Tizzy, is it? My name's Meadowsweet," she called out to the Changeling inside.
"Oh, just kill me already," Tizzy cried out. "First you tell me you're Forsythia, then you're Meadowsweet? Why do you torture me so?"
"No, Forsythia is just outside, look," Meadowsweet pointed out, nudging her head in the bulky Changeling's direction.
Forsythia gave a quick wave while looking past the Earthpony. "Hey Tiz. There's a few of us here, as I said before. It's not a pony magic trick."
I couldn't see Tizzy from where I stood, but Meadowsweet looked comfortable enough given the awkward situation, so I took it as a sign my sibling had not taken on an aggressive stance.
"You're not here to kill me?" Tizzy spoke in the tiniest of voices, barely audible outside of the cell.
"No, why would I?" Meadowsweet returned. "You know we don't really talk with one another, do we? We barely even know you live among us, so the only time when we see you Changelings is when you attack us."
"But you attack us if we show ourselves," Tizzy defended our race's past actions.
"And that's not right either. But, look; I'm just sitting here. I'm not attacking you. We're talking, aren't we?" Meadowsweet pointed out. "I still feel that tingle at the back of my neck telling me that I should fear you for what you are, but I'm fighting that feeling, okay? We can maybe overcome our fears together if we just keep talking."
"What is there to talk about? I'm still a prisoner, aren't I?" Tizzy threw back.
"What's going on 'ere then?" A male voice called from behind me, and I turned away from the cell to find Cubitus had woken up properly and had snuck up on us.
"Oh, hello brother, nice of you to join us," I offered to him. "Did you sleep well?"
"Well enough," he decided curtly, looking past me at Forsythia standing outside the open cell door. "Can someone fill me in about what we're standing around for?"
"We're trying to figure out how to get all of us out of here without rousing the alarm," Crook did as asked.
"Alright then," said Cubitus, taking the answer as a given. "Do the ponies enter into this plan?"
"They do," Oval agreed.
"Huh," Cubitus responded with a curious smile on his lips. "That's a first."
"Not really," Oval stated calmly, motioning in my direction. "Pearl has a habit of getting them involved in our affairs."
"I do not," I protested. "I just end up in situations where they swoop in to try and save me, for whatever reason. It's hardly a habit of mine to need rescuing."
Oval side-eyed me. "And you didn't sprain your ankle on your first day, and again after we arrived here?"
"It's not like I intended to, in either case," I protested.
Cubitus watched this back-and-forth with growing amusement. "Sounds like you both are well-acquainted.
"Oh, yeah, we adopted Pearl into our clutch," Oval spoke.
"And your clutch being?" Cubitus pressed.
"What's with all the questions, my guy?" Crook wondered, taking a step closer to the other Changeling while sizing him up. "We could very well ask who you are and where you're from, because you don't seem to be from around here."
"Trottingham," Cubitus answered. "I was on my way to answer the Queen's call to return to the fold after having lived there for a couple of decades now. Peaceful village, but far removed from life here on the mainland."
"I don't believe I've had the pleasure of passing through there," Crook mused.
"You wouldn't," Cubitus spoke calmly. "Most ponies move away from the Griffish Isles, lured by the riches of Manehattan to the West of us."
"I know how that is," Burst suggested, smirking to herself. "Hoofton is not half as busy as some of the other pony cities. A lot of enterprising young adults move away from it. It's the fate of a lot of small towns, I reckon."
"Oh, please. Hoofton is a city onto itself. It may not have the allure of Canterlot, Manehattan, or, dare I say, Los Pegasus, but it has a lot going for it," Crook huffed.
"Name one thing," Burst dared his little brother.
"Well, er...," Crook started with a stammer, put on the spot as he was. "A lot of trade goes through the town, doesn't it?"
"Through it, yes," Burst agreed. "But few settle there. It's just a lot of merchants with their carts stopping by for a night of rest before continuing on again."
"Not comparable to Trottingham then," Cubitus decided. "We get the occasional trade ship, but that's it, which is why it took me a while to arrive on the mainland after receiving the Queen's order."
"Well, I've got good news for you; you can go right back home again after we get you out of here," Burst pointed out. "Thanks to Pearl here we're no longer preparing for an invasion."
My brother blinked at hearing that. "Was that what the order was for?"
"Stupidly enough, yes," I agreed. "Our Queen had decided to try to attack Canterlot again, using a lot of Hatchlings like me as extra troops."
"So I missed another invasion due to being out on the isles then," Cubitus recognized. "I'm rather glad about that, to be honest; I wouldn't know how good I'd be in a fight."
"How long ago did you move there, again?" Oval wondered. "I've seen a lot of our family, but I can't recall us having met before now?"
"Twenty-eight years ago now, if I did my math right," the other revealed. "I don't usually come this way but the Queen's missive seemed urgent enough to make the trip this time. I wasn't doing anything particularly useful back home anyway; I'm unable to find my muse for my next book."
"You're a writer, then?" I surmised.
"I am, yeah," he agreed with a smile and a nod. "I'm working on the fifth book in a series now. I had a similar problem with the second book in the series, but I thought the success of the third and fourth meant I was on a roll. And then I hit a wall again."
Crook tilted his head slightly. "The fifth in a series? Struggled on the second?"
"That's what I said, yeah," Cubitus answered, narrowing his eyes. "Why?"
"I think I've read your first two books in here; Flight of the Pegasus and Trouble in Yakyakistan?" Crook listed. "That would make you..."
"P. Overo, my pseudonym," Cubitus chuckled weakly. "I thought it was a decent name to hide behind."
"What does the P stand for?" I inquired, trying to figure out where I heard the term Overo before.
"Pinto. Both are color patterns found on the ponyfolk, so it's not like the name of my disguise back home. I just thought it was funny," my brother revealed. "You're only the third to ask me that question in person, after my agent and my partner. I don't go to conventions or anything, so I don't interact a lot with fans of my work."
"Dude... how old are you?" Crook exhaled.
The author chuckled. "I'm coming up on the big five-oh, why?"
"I'm not even half your age, what," the other gasped.
"Well, if you want my advice," Cubitus started, "don't make too many waves and you'll get there eventually."
I chuckled and turned away from Cubitus to look back at the cell Meadowsweet and Tizzy were in, wondering how they were doing.
Forsythia was still standing outside of it, but Camellia and Deadbolt had taken a few steps farther away and were talking quietly among themselves.
Meadowsweet was still seated where I had seen her last, but had somehow managed to coax Tizzy out of the far corner.
The Changeling was seated just out of reach of the Earthpony, flightly eye movements scanning over her as the both of them talked.
I mused at how it was Meadowsweet who had dared to jump into the deep and put herself forward as an ambassador for the ponies to bridge this trust gap which existed between them.
I considered that Thorax and Moonshine had been accepted by the ponies who knew about them as well, and I had a growing group of pony friends myself.
I dared to hope I was seeing the beginning of a future in which both of our races could live in harmony together.