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// 31 
// Story: Pearl's Travels 1: Hollow Shades 
// by Makitk 
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We walked up as close to the town's train station as we could get without being seen, and then hid in the nearby bushes to wait for the train to arrive. From our hidden spot among the undergrowth, I could clearly read the station sign; "Hollow Shades".

While there had been some fanfiction about the place over the years, I could not remember any actual show episode where the lead characters had visited the place themselves. I was fairly interested to find out what the place was actually about.

From where we sat I could pretty much only see the train station and its small one-room terminal building, built underneath the overhanging canopy which made sure the place was hidden in eternal shade. Multiple coloured lamps were hung on the side of the small building to provide light, and led away from it through a tunnel between trees into the darkness.

There really was far less to see than I needed to satisfy my curiosity, and I soon sat down on my rump and looked between the others in the hopes they could provide some relief from my growing boredom.

Blaze was pretty much the only one of the three staring intently at the nearby station, while Oval and Breeze were drawing figures in the sand before them in turn, then wiped the dirt clean again and started anew. I quickly realized they were playing their own version of Tic-Tac-Toe, where the O's and X's were replaced by hoofprints and single diagonal lines.

From the looks of things, Breeze was winning each round, but this did nothing to curb Oval's enthusiasm. Where Oval was clearly seeking for the best way to stop Breeze from winning, the filly clearly had the tactics of the game down to a T. Oval did not have a chance to beat her.

I walked up to Blaze's right side and sat down next to her, noting her intent gaze on the station and a light twitching to her pony ears - perked up as they were. I was reminded of how focused she had looked back in the outpost's tunnels, just before the group of soldiers ran by us.

"You already know when that train will arrive, don't you mom?" I asked her, and she blinked as she snapped out of her deep focus. I could see the gears turn in her head as she tried to grasp at what I had asked of her, but then she turned her head to face me and gave a quick nod.

"I have a sixth sense for these things," she told me calmly. "I always had."

"Like precognition?" I wondered, tilting my head a bit at her and sitting down. My tail flicked to lay curl halfway around to the front as I sat.

"A bit, but only with moving things," Blaze agreed. "It's like they cause ripples ahead of them and I can sense these ripples. They come closer and closer together until the thing I'm tracking arrives, and then spread out again once they've passed."

"That's how you defeated brother in the earlier match, didn't you?" I suggested, remembering the ease with which Blaze had spun around the other Hatchling while still in the training room.

"I try to tune this ability of mine out while in a fight, Pearl," Blaze offered. "It's not fair to my opponent when I know where they're going before they make the decision themselves. Now, my juggling act is a different thing; I can track the objects I juggle even with a blindfold on. Audiences love it when I do."

There was a distant sound like the whistle of a steam locomotive, and I perked up at it.

"The train will be here soon, yes," Blaze chuckled weakly. "I've been tracking it since we moved to cover."

"I think it's neat that you have this power, mom," I told her with a smile, and Blaze smiled back warmly at me.

"I wouldn't call it 'neat', but it's been helpful in the past," Blaze chuckled. "How are you doing holding your guise? It's been over an hour now since we left the outpost."

I looked down at myself and blew some air out at the fur on my barrel. It felt funny to have so much hair covering me, especially since it was cartoon hair, but I kinda liked the feeling.

"It's warmer than expected," I replied, smirking up a bit. "I worried I might feel worse about it than I do, considering where I come from, but it's actually pretty comfortable to look this way."

Blaze raised an eyebrow. "How do you mean, 'daughter'?"

I blushed involuntarily at Blaze calling me her daughter, wriggling a bit on my spot.

"Well, as a Human we don't exactly have a coat like this. Or walk on all fours. Or have tails," I started to list off. "I had expected things to feel less natural to me than they do."

"You didn't seem to have much of a problem with your body when I first saw you either," Blaze commented. "None of the Hatchlings did."

"Yeah, it was surprising how fast I learned how to use my new body after I hatched," I agreed. "I just fell to the floor, was wiped down by a matron, and then walked on over to the next room. I only stumbled once or twice on my way over, but no more after that."

Blaze looked at me intently for a moment, but then peered up as the hissing sounds of a steam train winding down to come to a stop drew near.

"I will have to ask Matron about that when we return to the outpost," Blaze decided. "For now we should get ready to join the ponies as they exit the train. Sturdy Hoof, Summer Breeze, will you two quit your games and join us?"

"Yes, dear," Sturdy Hoof (Oval) chuckled, standing up. "I was losing anyway."

"You're using the same tactics over and over, dad," Summer Breeze (Breeze) suggested. "It's not difficult to anticipate on your moves if you keep making the same ones."

Blaze rolled her eyes and motioned a hoof at the train as it came into view.

"The cars generally have balconies at the front and back of them," she told me in a soft voice. "When the train stops, we approach the cars and get up on the balconies on our side, then off them at the station's side. Once we get to the station platform, feel free to look around and comment on the place as if you're seeing it for the first time. We're as much tourists as any of the others getting off."

"Don't overdo it, though," Breeze warned. "If you start shouting and making grand gestures or statements, you'll only draw more attention. You're a teenager as far as they're concerned, so feel free to look bored as if you're pulled here by our parents against your will."

I grinned up and nudged Oval in the shoulder. "Maybe I should whine to 'dad' about why he had to take me away from my friends and take me to this backwater place?"

Oval lifted his hoof and gave me a noogie, grinning back. "Not too bad an idea, 'daughter'."

"The train's stopped," Blaze offered, and immediately pushed forward out of the bushes to run up to the nearest car.

Breeze was after her in a moment, and I set in motion as well, joining them at the side of the train.

I could hear a familiar voice from inside the car, and perked my ears up in surprise.

"We're heeere!" Pinkie Pie declared merrily.

I pushed up on my hind legs to look into the car through one of its windows, even as Oval joined us as well, spotting the pink mare bouncing around another familiar face.

"Ugh, tell me again why I had to come with you for this?" Starlight Glimmer wondered, getting up off her seat and starting to walk over to the car's door.

"Well, obviously there's a friendship problem here, and Twilight thought you could help out and learn something more about the magic of friendship, and since my cutiemark glowed the map obviously needs me to be here, but I can always use another friend to help out with friendship problems, because what's better to solve friendship problems but to try and fix them with your friends, right?" Pinkie rattled off in one continuous sentence.

Starlight Glimmer stood frozen while in mid-step for a moment, then shook her head and continued on, pushing the door open with her magic as she approached it.

"Right," she commented dryly to Pinkie's stream of words, walking onto the rear balcony.

I lowered myself to the ground again as Pinkie bounced on after the other mare, and motioned in the direction they were going, shaking my head at Blaze.

Blaze took my motion to heart and pointed in the other direction, to which we all turned and walked to the front of the car instead.

Oval went ahead climbing up on the front balcony, then turned around and offered his right forehoof down. I hooked my left leg around his right and was quickly pulled up to his level.

Oval started off to leave the balcony at the station side, looking around with a smile. "Ah, Hollow Shades. Such a calm place compared to the busy city, right dears?" he spoke out loud, and I followed him while trying to pull off a bored look.

"Ugh, dad," I started, stepping off on the balcony while watching Breeze and Blaze in my peripheral vision as they lifted themselves up on it with their magic. "Tell me why couldn't I have stayed behind with my friends again?"

"Because it's a family outing, Pearl," Oval in his guise as Sturdy Hoof returned to me, turning to help little Breeze down to the station level. "What do you say, Summer Breeze? Don't you just love the fresh air here?"

I idly glanced back to where Pinkie Pie and Starlight Glimmer were walking, while Summer Breeze did her best impression of a filly who was overly excited from visiting a new place.

"Look, dad! Lights!" Summer Breeze pointed out, bouncing past me and drawing my attention back to my 'family'.

"Yeah, lights," I half-yawned, my lack of interest in them only half-fake. Blaze came walking up to my right side and gave me a stern look.

"Try to look amused, Pearl," she told me. "If only for your sister's sake."

"Yes mom," I replied with a sigh, falling in line with her as she continued on toward the tunnel leading away from the station, and we passed a couple of ponies coming the other way.

They were talking among themselves about the trip ahead of them, and barely gave us a second glance, but Blaze gave me a nudge after they passed by.

"You're doing good, kid. Keep it up," she whispered at me with a wink, before running on after Summer Breeze who had darted ahead a bit too much for a filly to go unsupervised.

Oval walked up beside me and grinned after them. "Don't go too far ahead, girls," he called out, then dropped his voice to a whisper as well. "Let me know if you start feeling overwhelmed. Don't feel like you have to keep up with us; we have more experience and endurance."

I smiled up at his suggestion, and leaned in against his larger stallion side a bit as we walked on, watching Blaze and Breeze do their mother-daughter-routine ahead of us. It really did feel like I was part of a family now, even if it was just for show.