//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Mirror mirror // Story: The Chronicles of No One // by Pr1me Sh0ck //------------------------------// Chapter 4 “They say you only ever get one first impression, so when do you first meet yourself?” Déjà vu rushed through the minds of Dinky and Noah, the blood curdling scream echoed throughout the Day Spa. Aloe and Lotus had their hooves over their ears, their eyes wide in terror at the noise. Spinning around to face the source, Noah’s gaze fell upon the mare that had entered, her hoof still resting on the half open door, her mouth wide open in a scream, wild eyes fixated on Noah’s bare head. Fearing a repeat of the scene from the hospital Noah looked down to Dinky, the filly had shot prone to the ground, her small hooves covering her head trying desperately to shut out the noise. With the horrid noise still coursing forth from the frightened mares mouth Noah took quick action. Not fully comprehending the ramifications of his actions Noah rushed forward to the mare, his eyes wide, a scowl present across his lips. With his large form, face filled with anger, and quick motions the mare judged this to be an act of aggression, her fight or flight reaction kicking in in an instant. Before Noah could reach the mare to silence her with another tactically well-placed hoof she fled from the premises, the door swinging at her abrupt exit. For a moment Noah swore he could see a faint dust outline of the pony, shaking this thought from his head, the only evidence of the mare’s presence was the scream echoing down the street, slowly diminishing as the escape was made. Ponies that had been minding their own business watched as the mare tore down the street away from the Day Spa. Before any could catch sight of Noah, he drew his head back through the door, shutting it quickly to avoid prying eyes. Turning to the three ponies still standing in shock horror at the scene that unfolded. “I’ve had just about enough of that for one day,” he grumbled, “That’s the second time since I woke up that some crazy pony has screamed at me.” He walked back over to Dinky, kneeling down before her and prodding at her side until she uncurled. “It’s alright, the crazy pony’s gone,” he said softly. A thankful nuzzle against his forehoof was received in response. Aloe and Lotus relaxed at the gesture, “Well if she didn’t like the spa,” started Aloe. “She shouldn’t have walked in,” Lotus finished. Both mares seemed more curious about Noah after the little scene. Lotus walked back around the desk, looked over the schedule, and hummed thoughtfully to herself. “We are both terribly sorry for the inconvenience Tiger Lily may have caused.” Tiger Lily, Noah thought, that must have been the name of that scared pony. Many questions were now bubbling through Noah’s mind about the identity of the pony, possible relations to the ‘flower sister’ from the hospital, and how everyone knew everyone. He was unable to voice his questions as he was quickly cut off again. “There aren’t any more bookings for today, and as recompense for Tiger Lily’s scene I would like to offer you both a complimentary soak in the spa. Free of charge.” Noah looked at Lotus with an incredulous look upon his face. “I couldn’t possibly accept this as you’ve done nothing wrong but be the most courteous of hosts.” Dinky looked up at him with pleading eyes, “But my little conscience here is saying otherwise,” gesturing down do Dinky, “Alright but add the cost to the rest of the deal, I’d feel bad taking this from you for free.” “It’s a done deal,” said Lotus quickly, “Now if you wouldn’t mind following Aloe to the changing rooms to get ready while we prepare the spa.” She walked off through a door behind the desk. Aloe turned to the duo motioning for them to follow her through to the change rooms. “Now I am assuming this is your first time to a Day Spa,” Aloe turned her head towards Noah as she asked the question a small nod was given as response. “Well then running through procedure, we first ask you to change out of any clothing you may be wearing.” Noah grew a bit worrisome at this as they rounded a protective screen, a row of lockers sat in front of them. “You don’t have any robes that I might wear instead I don’t feel very comfortable going in the buff, so to speak.” “Well ah, well we actually don’t at the moment, we usually do, but they aren’t used that often, why, aren’t you uncomfortable without any clothes, if I may be so forward to ask.” A hint of confusion leaking into her voice, “The only reason we wear clothes if for formal events, or dress-ups, or *ahem* dress-ups,” her voice lowered slightly towards the end, her eyebrow raised. Noah looked at her for a moment, puzzlement blossoming across his face. Is she implying what I think she’s implying, he wondered before shaking his head and disregarding her last words. “Well I’m having a bit of trouble remembering everything, so far I have little to no memory of what happened before I woke up and I’ve only gotten a few select memories back, but I feel a strong need for modesty almost bordering a taboo on nudity.” “I am very sorry, but we just don’t have the robes in at the moment,” she replied apologetically, “But please don’t worry, we take the utmost care in privacy and confidentiality, there isn’t a thing you need to worry about,” she assured. Noah took a quick minute to think of his options, he didn’t want to offend the mare and her hospitality, especially given that she was allowing him access to the mirror he so desperately wanted. “Alright, you’ve already offered so much,” he conceded, “And I can’t turn down such a pretty mare as yourself,” he followed, a most visible blush forming across Aloe’s cheeks, “But might I use the mirror first and save the massage and spa for last?” Aloe looked up with a confident smile upon her face. “That shouldn’t be a problem I’ll take your belongings and place them in a locker for you, and then show you to the mirror, in the meantime I shall show Miss Dinky to the facilities.” Nodding in acceptance Noah started to remove his cloak, throwing the hood back over his head he tried to grab a bunch of the fabric from his shoulder with his hoof. With no avail he tried desperately to drag the cloak over his head shoulder and head, yet every time he released the cloth it would fall back into place over his shoulder. Two full minutes passed of this repeated action, Dinky and Aloe had started giggling after his first few attempts, and by the pass of the first minute the giggling had devolved into outright laughter. Soon Lotus had walked in, curious to see what was taking so long and what could be providing such mirth. She too quickly joined in with the chorus of laughter and by the time two minutes had passed and Noah officially given up and started pouting at the ponies rolling over the floor. Not long after Noah had stopped his unsuccessful attempts at removing the cloak did the ponies stop rolling and laughing, their joyous hoots reducing back down to jovial giggles. Lotus was the first to recover, standing shakily to her hooves and wiping away the tears of laughter. “Did you need a hoof with that cloak, you seem to be having a little trouble,” she said in between chuckles, before completely cracking up again and dropping back to the floor. Noah’s pout grew slightly, before it softened into a small smile. “Actually a hand, err hoof, would be much appreciated, I do know when I’m in over my head and need help.” Aloe and Lotus stood up to shaky hooves, Dinky was still on the floor in tears of laughter, each of the Spa ponies grabbed the cloak in their mouths just behind Noah’s shoulder. Moving as one they dragged the fabric up and over his head, only stopping when the garment was resting on the floor in front. Small gasps where elicited by the pair at the sight of Noah uncloaked. Strips of fabric, torn along seams and shredded in some places hung from his frame, the colours faded and edges where burnt. The two pairs of eyes continued to roam across his form taking in the scary and exotic nature of the pony in front of them. “I know I must look bad, but I still don’t know what I look like,” Noah said in an irritated huff, “So I you could please help me get out of these rags so I can finally see what I look like that would be great.” Snapping out of their stupor the Spa Ponies carefully went about removing the remnants of cloth. “These look like they’ve seen better days,” Aloe commented. “Would you like us to keep them for you or just throw them out?” asked Lotus. “Keep them,” said Noah quickly, “They’re important to me, one of the few things I have, so please be careful as well.” The two nodded quickly finishing their job in silence and marvelling at the strange pony that stood tall before them. After yet another awkward minute of gaping from the pair, Noah coughed lightly, startling the ponies into action. Dinky was led away but Aloe to the main room where a large spa stood in the middle of the room, flanked by massage tables, lounges and mud baths, the large mirror visible against the back wall. While Aloe started on her massage, Lotus prompted Noah to close his eyes and directed him out into the main room, stopping him in front of the mirror and turning him to face it. A minute passed with nothing happening, Noah debated whether it was worth it to look in the mirror, Lotus attempted to persuade him with kind words and gentle nudges. You’ve gone this far, a deals a deal and you don’t want it to all be for nothing, he thought to himself, Alright here goes, three, two, one. He mouthed the words as he thought them. On one he didn’t open his eyes, preferring to keep them scrunched up tight, fearful of the monstrosity that may mirror his every move. Lotus saw his mouthing, saw his hesitation and took action into her own hooves. She walked around to face him head on, the top of her head not even reaching his chin. Leaning back on her haunches she raised a hoof to his cheek, just barely within her reach, drew it back and slapped him across the face. Surprised at this action Noah’s eyes shot open immediately throwing his gaze down to the mare in anger. She simply stared right back at him, her face unreadable, before a smirk spread across her lips and she gestured with her head to the mirror behind her. Noah’s gaze followed, his eyes narrowing slightly at the sight in front of him before widening in horror. His mouth hung wide open, his knees start to buckle, his flank finding the floor fast with a heavy ‘Thunk’. The image in the mirror could not be described with a single word however Dinky’s description of a ‘bug’ was the closest. He stood tall, he could tell before when he had to look down to the others when talking to them, but faced with a mirror and Lotus as a comparison he could see that he was tall, almost half her height higher than she was. But with that extra height did not come added girth. His legs were no thicker than Lotus’ and dotted with holes, perfect cylinders cut through in odd places from his hooves up to the leg joint. Some of the holes weren’t even centre, giving the appearance of sharp scythe-like blades. Continuing further up the leg the holes stopped but instead of a soft coat as he had seen, and felt, with the other ponies, hard chitin plates overlapped, covering the dense muscles beneath them. On his legs alone the carapace stopped being armour like plates and turned into his hooves just above where the holes started. Turning on the spot to get a better view he analysed his body. Again his added height had not increased his width, his torso still rather thin, streamlined and sleek. On the underside of his shoulders the chitin became softer and more pliable whereas on the top it hardened further to protect his internal organs. His belly maintained the hard armour through the middle softening slightly where his limbs and neck joined. His back was another question all together, the thick plates continued from his neck to his tail, each one overlapping for protection. But the features didn’t stop there, two plates of chitin larger than the rest moved freely on tertiary joints at his shoulders. He tried moving them apart, succeeding in this act his reward was two vivid wings unfolding from their protection behind the plates. Dinky’s bug-like description was really spot on, Noah thought to himself, his mouth had slowly been dropping closer to the floor with each moment he spent analysing his reflection. His wings shivered with a slight buzz as he tested them, not trying to do anything more than move them. Their colour was beyond anything he had seen before; at least that’s what his feelings told him. The deepest blood red coloured the membranous wings, much closer to black but still undoubtedly red. The colour was matched by his tail a tattered and torn membrane, similar to the wings yet not, sprouted from his tail bone. Through the elongated membrane of the deepest red stood out several strands of pure black. With a care test he tentatively flicked these strands side to side, the rest of the tail following suit. Turning his attention to the last item on the agenda, his neck and head, he braced himself for the worst. The plated carapace that covered his back continued up his neck, finishing just shy of his ears, beyond that a single plate of chitin held the features of his face. This chitin softened around his ears, eyes and jaw allowing for a normal range of emotions to be viewed. The carapace of the underside of his neck hardened up again, its plates joining with those covering his chest. His face was most interesting, he had caught glimpses of it in the hospital mirror but here he was able to see it all at once. At the top of his head lay a short frill like mane, the deep blood red of his tail and wings, cropped short and ending halfway down his neck. His eyes were next, almost solid globes of blue in stark contrast to his mane, the only evident of pupils being the slightly darker blue circles laying the centre of his eyes and darting around wherever he looked. His teeth were most frightening, incisors as front teeth, smaller canines and grinding molars at the back. All of his teeth a bright white yet the scariest part where the sharp fangs jutting from his top jaw. Sharpened to a point, he thought, No wonder the townsfolk where frightened. Closing his jaw the fangs slid over his bottom lip resting comfortably against the chitin the sharp white contrasting against the gloss black, smooth and flawless throughout the entirety of his carapace. Noah gave one more spin, just for good measure, before sinking down to the floor in defeat, a thought pierced through all other, half thinking it and half muttering, “This isn’t me, this is a monster, this is all wrong.” The thought whirled around, this was all wrong, but he couldn’t understand why only that it was, he was stuck in a cyclical process of thoughts until a crisp voice broke through the haze. “Are you ready for your massage now?”