//------------------------------//
// Ch 3: Reflections 
// Story: Equestrian Space: The Academy 
// by SymphonicSync 
//------------------------------//

There was a rap on her door and a puddle below it. She hadn't looked for a towel when she entered her suite. Simply stared at the mirror hung on the wall next to her. Stared and thought.

She thought about the shuttle ride, how cramped and dark it was. The cabin was only occasionally lit by licks of flame from the Kirin's mane. She didn’t think that char knew he was letting them out. She didn’t know if it was just something his race did when left alone, or if it hinted at something on his mind. Something unresolved.

There seemed to be plenty of things unresolved in their lives as of late.

It was his own family’s fault, he shouldn’t be the angry one.

The rap came again.

She looked to her wings. The feathers of her right, or left in the mirror, were level, orderly, and lighter than the other. She’d yet to rifle through the other wing with her beak, having only completed half a preen before losing focus. It hugged her side, the feathers still damp and ruffled. 

Her eyes rose to the hole where her face should have been. She’d re-clamped the mask to her temple feathers. It'd immediately turned on and blocked out her visage. She wasn’t sure the intent of why or how it did so. The color had drained from the world again. Gotten closer. She could feel the static in front of her, closer than what she could see in the mirror. It was a suffocating feeling. She reached up a claw and pulled off the hook. Turning it over in a paw, she could read N1C3 stamped on the side.

She looked up and it was just her face looking back at her.

At the sight of it she put the hook back on. The face of N1C3 returned.  

The rap grew louder. The Kirin called through the door, his voice dulled from the other side, “N1C3? We've got to stop by the advisor. Pick classes.” 

“You know my name,” she answered, not moving nearer to the door, “Use it.”

“Since when have you used mine?”

She reached for the door handle and pulled it open. “We shouldn’t even be here, Cha-“ she was interrupted by her own laughter. Pinned to the chest of his jacket was the tag A5H5.

Her room and the hallway behind him grew bright from a blue light. It faded with the flame that died as he let out a quick, irritated snort. “That isn't very Nice of you, now is it?” 

“Fine, I'll stop calling you Char. Asher seems much better.”

“How nice of you, Nice.” Asher added a slight G to the start of the last word as he held out her jacket.

Gneiss took it from his hoof and swung it over her wings. The fit was tighter than before with their bulk on the inside, but at least she could wait to make her left wing presentable. She met her gaze, or at least where she thought his eyes were, and said “Whatever. Lead the way.”

The door slid closed, leaving her room empty. The puddle remained.