Pearl's Travels 1: Hollow Shades

by Makitk

19

I woke to find Breeze and Oval still resting on their own beds, and wurmed my way up a bit to one of the veins so I could get a sip of breakfast.

After cleaning my chin from some dripped resin, I sat up and idly rubbed my left hoof against the hard cast around my right leg, trying to get rid of the itchy feeling, but to no avail.

I peered between the two sisters sleeping in their alcoves, and tried to find some way to keep them both apart. They were just a pair of Changelings to me, just like all the other Changelings in the common room. They looked exactly like all the others.

Where my legs were still smooth and clear of holes, theirs were full of holes. They were set at various angles and I could see right through their limbs even from my position on my bed.

Their chitin plating was smooth and reflective, just like that on any other Changeling around. Their fins were shaped about the same as the rest, everything sort of looked the same!

I climbed off out of the alcove and limped on over to the one of them lying in the middle alcove, taking a closer look. They were resting comfortably on their resin bed, but I could notice a light twitching of their facial muscles as they dreamt.

A few paces away was their clutch sister, and I wandered on over to get a better look at her. She was slightly smaller than the other, which would usually mean she would be the youngest in the group.

Knowing Breeze had a penchant for passing as foals however, I guessed this was Breeze and Oval had taken the center alcove again.

Whoever she was, her eyes were opening to find me standing right next to her. She frowned a bit as she reached a forehoof up to rub at her cheek, poked her eye with it instead, and winced from the mistake.

"Good morning, Breeze," I spoke softly, to which she tried to waft me away.

"Bleh, I was dreaming about pancakes," she grumbled, pushing herself closer to the nearest veins to get some breakfast.

I turned away from her to give her some privacy during her feeding, only to find another sibling drop down into the room with us.

While I was still trying to figure out if I knew them, they walked up to me and punched me in the chest with a forehoof, grinning widely.

"Hey, kid, how's the leg?" Blaze wondered, while I stumbled to get my balance back.

"Oof, did you have to punch me, Blaze?" I queried, narrowing my eyes at her.

"Bah, you can take it," Blaze chuckled. "So, the leg?"

I looked down at my right leg and lifted it a bit so I could show Blaze the cast. "Itches like crazy, but I don't feel pain anymore."

"I spoke to Matron on the way down; she should be over soon," Blaze revealed. "Hey Breeze."

Breeze sat up in her alcove, and I turned to halfway face her again.

"Blazey, hey. You didn't hear anything about how long we're still stuck here for, did you?" Breeze wondered, idly rubbing at her face with her right elbow.

"Nothing substantial yet, although the rumour mill keeps turning," Blaze sighed, moving over to sit down next to her sister. Breeze let herself fall sideways against her larger sibling, and nuzzled her softly.

"Anything beyond what Matron already blabbed to me the other day?" I questioned, walking over to the pair and sitting down on the ground before them.

"Few new things; I found out where your batch went, so we can get you reunited with them once you're fully trained, for one," Blaze suggested, but then raised an eyebrow as I must have made a face. "You're not liking that plan?"

"To be honest; I hatched on my own, and then got my leg hurt during training," I started. "I've missed out on whatever it was they did together after that, especially since Matron pulled brother and me away to this place."

Blaze gave a thoughtful nod to that while Breeze seemed to be half falling asleep against her again.

"Having spent the past two days with you three, off and on," I continued, motioning my left forehoof in a gesture to encompass the two before me as well as the sleeping Oval, "I have more of an attachment to your clutch than I do my whole batch."

"I still can't easily keep you three apart when you sleep, though," I remarked, "although I guess Breeze is slightly smaller than Burst and you, Blaze?"

Blaze grinned up at that and looked down at Breeze leaning heavily into her. She gave her sister a few soft pokes to wake her again, then turned her attention back to me. "Yes, she is the smallest," she agreed. "To us it's... just natural to know who's who, I guess. I can pick these two out of a crowd from miles away."

"How, though? All siblings in this cavern look alike to me," I prodded.

Blaze smirked a little at my question, nudging a grumbling Breeze with her elbow to keep her awake. "I don't know what to tell you, kid," she started.

"I mean, I can look up at the ceiling there and point out everyone from my batch," Blaze continued, pointing her left hoof up at the ceiling. "Cinder's up there, Speck a little off to the left, and that there's Razor."

I looked up at the collection of grey bodies above me and gave a shrug. "I don't know any of them. I can't see a difference between them."

"That may be your issue," Breeze suggested softly. "We've lived with our siblings for years now, while you only hatched two days ago."

Blaze agreed with that, smiling down at her younger sister. "That's probably it; the better you know someone, the easier it is to recognize them."

I sighed at that, letting my forelegs slide forward so I fell into a laying position. "Well, I guess I also have the problem of being from a different world."

A yawn off to my left made the three of us peer over to Oval, who just turned around on her bed and curled up again.

Blaze let out a snort and stood up, walked on over, and punched her youngest sister in the flank. "Don't you dare!"

Oval all-but jumped up in surprise at the punch, hit her head on the curved ceiling of the alcove, and then crashed down on her bed hard enough that several resin blobs came flying off it in random directions!

"Who, what, where?!?" Oval cried out, turning quickly to face Blaze and setting her bewildered gaze upon her.

"I've told you time and again that you need to get up when you wake up; not turn over and try to sleep more," Blaze chided Oval, motioning back toward Breeze and I with a hoof. "Take a page out of their books; They woke hours before you already!"

"I wouldn't say hours," I mumbled, while Breeze moved to stand up while at the same time trying to stifle a yawn with her right foreleg. The result was her teetering over to the right until she bumped into a wall, and some confused blinking.

"Oh, please," Oval threw back to Blaze upon seeing Breeze stumble. "Breeze hasn't been up for more than half an hour; I know that dance better than you."

She slipped off her bed and onto her hooves next to Blaze, only to stretch herself out with a long yawn after.

"It doesn't matter how long ago they woke up; I'm talking about you, Oval," Blaze decided. "You always do this; you roll over and sleep through half the day, and then I have to explain to the others why you're not at your station yet."

"Mostly cause I sleep better when I'm home," Oval muttered, looking around herself as if she still was only half awake.

"This IS our home!" Blaze decried!

"Outpost," I corrected her, causing Breeze to giggle.

"She is right there," Breeze said as Blaze turned her frown upon me.

"Well, okay, outpost. But it's as close to the main Hive as anything," Blaze snorted.

"I meant my home in Hoofton," Oval mumbled, stumbling over to a wall and sinking her fangs into a vein.

"That's not your home," Blaze sighed tiredly, letting herself fall down to rest on her belly on the floor. "However much I liked it, the circus troupe was not my home either."

"I travel around too much as well," Breeze added, then gave a dumb grin my way. "Can't exactly be a foal without parents in one place for too long, or ponies will start asking questions."

I could see her point in that, but had to shake my head at the three of them. "As I said just earlier; I think I have far more in common with the three of you than the rest of my batch," I chuckled. "If anything; you're much more fun to hang out with."

Comments

[tsaukpaetra]

Indeed, her hive socialization is much more solid than we assume the rest of her batch is...