//------------------------------// // 32 // Story: Pearl's Travels 1: Hollow Shades // by Makitk //------------------------------// With Spotlight (Blaze) and Summer Breeze (Breeze) walking ahead, and Sturdy Hoof (Oval) and myself only slowly catching up to them, we passed through the dark tunnel which was only lit with the lamps mounted on the side of the trees at regular intervals. The tunnel opened up to a clearing in which the actual town of Hollow Shades was set, the sunlight shining down on a collection of log cabins set along the unpaved roads. The only pavement was found near the center of town to form a plaza along which some of the more important buildings were set. I spotted the town hall about as soon as we left the dark tunnel since the building was about as large as I imagined the Apple Family's barn to be - dwarfing the rest of the buildings in town. It was the perfect size for holding town meetings or parties in, and I could hear music coming from its direction. Next to the town hall was an obvious bakery - the only building in town with a stone chimney as far as I could see - and the smell of freshly baked goods led out from it to permeate the clearing. I was not at all surprised to see Pinkie Pie bouncing off toward it, considering how much she liked sweets and baked goods. I looked on to where Starlight Glimmer stood, having stopped following Pinkie Pie when she got near to the center of the plaza, and found her looking back. Our eyes met, and I stopped walking myself as I stared across the distance between us into those blue eyes of hers. I thought I saw a glimmer pass over them before she turned her head away and resumed on her path to follow Pinkie into the bakery, shaking her head at herself. "Are you okay, Pearl?" Oval asked as he stepped right in front of me, a look of concern on his face. I blinked my eyes a few times in quick succession to break myself out of my hyperfocus on the location Starlight Glimmer had been standing at moments ago, then smiled up weakly at Oval. "Yes, dad, I'm okay," I answered. "I just thought I saw somepony familiar just now." Oval turned his head to look in the direction I had looked in moments before, but Starlight Glimmer had already entered the bakery and was nowhere to be seen. "Ah, well, your mom found us a spa," Oval muttered, motioning a hoof at where Blaze and Breeze stood waiting for us. "She says she wants us to have a treatment there before we do anything else in town." I looked on over to the building the others were standing near and realized it had done as good a job at camouflaging itself as we Changelings had done: The building was about the size of two of the houses in town set side-by-side and then connected to one another, but the amount of trees and plants growing around it hid most of it from wandering eyes. Only by staring at the space between the front row of trees and low shrubs could one see the straight wall set directly behind them and figure out just how big the building actually was. The entrance to the building was the only thing actually marked properly, the shrubs and trees trimmed to leave a round arch over the doors. A sign stood just in front of the shrubs, to the left of the doorway, showing the spa's name and opening hours. Blaze and Breeze stood in front of it, Blaze's larger form obscuring most of the writing on the sign. "A spa treatment, dad?" I asked half-heartedly to keep up appearance, dragging my hooves as I started to walk over to the place. "Anything's better than standing out here, I guess." Oval followed after me with a thoughtful look, which the others picked up on as we drew near. Breeze whispered something up to Blaze, who gave a barely noticeable nod to it. "They have hot springs here, Pearl dear," Blaze offered up with a warm smile once I came within conversational range, but I could see her trying to hide her worry. "Hot springs!" little Breeze repeated excitedly, jumping around a bit before moving in to nuzzle her head in against my chest. "Hey, you doing okay there sis?" she whispered from under my chin, her concern obvious. I appreciated how much the three of them seemed to genuinely care for me, and forced a smile on my face. "Yay, hot springs," I spoke with equal parts fake-enthusiasm and sarcasm, reaching my left hoof up to rummage through Breeze's mane. Breeze giggled cutely at the attention I gave her, while Blaze narrowed her eyes a bit as I did not answer the question they felt was more important right now. Obviously not wanting to make a scene outside either, Blaze turned to the entrance to the spa and forced herself to smile as well. "Let's go inside, kids," she suggested, to which Breeze broke away from me and darted forward with apparent boundless enthusiasm again. Oval walked up to my left side and gave me a fatherly pat on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll like this spa thing more than you think right now, Pearl dear," he spoke out loud when I looked up at his moustached face. "Blaze will want you to tell her what's going on when we get inside," he whispered under his breath, barely moving his lips. "I know, dad," I stated openly, answering both of his statements at once. He gently nudged me forward, and we walked together up to the spa building and into the reception area, with Oval turning to close the door behind us once we were inside. The spa's interior had a waiting room with decorative plants, a set of chairs, and a low table with several magazines laid on top of it to the immediate right of the entrance. A low reception desk was placed on the left side, with an open ledger on it showing the names of all those who had reserved a spot in the day, and the treatment they were coming to get. I had no knowledge of any of the ponies living in this town, except maybe one or two of the Apple family who were only ever once mentioned as an aside in the show, so I barely gave the ledger a second glance. I walked over to the low table instead, using my right hoof to push the magazines on it around a little. They were mostly fashion-conscious magazines catering to the richer few in pony society. I recognized a few names of designers from the covers, and smiled as one article mentioned one of Rarity's stores. It was good to see one of the show's lead ponies getting recognition in local media. Blaze went over the available treatments with one of the spa ponies, while Oval kept Breeze busy on the side. Breeze did a good job of appearing to be a fussy little filly, looking to give her dad a hard time, but I could notice them whispering things on the side. I gave them a smile as Breeze looked my way, trying to let them know I was doing fine, and Breeze finished her conversation with Oval before she bounded over. "Big sis! Dad says we're gonna get treats later!" Breeze exclaimed loudly, but then quickly dropped her voice again. "We can still back out of this if you don't think you can hold your guise, but it's going to take us a few hours to get out of here again once we commit to the treatment." "No, I'm fine," I whispered down at her, reaching a hoof over to rummage through Breeze's mane with. "Treats, huh?" I spoke up louder, starting to walk over to Oval at a slow pace and trying to see Summer Breeze as the little filly sister she posed to be for me. "Yeah! Dad says they have the best bakery here in all the forestlands!" Breeze answered merrily, nuzzling up against my side. I smiled up weakly to Oval and walked up close enough to her so I could whisper up to the big stallion. "Can you guys stop asking me if I'm doing fine? I just have a lot to still think about; I'm good to continue with the spa deal." "We're putting a lot on the line here, just taking you out like this," Oval whispered back, slipping his backpack off his back. He put it down between us and lifted an old carton of candy looking about as battered as his backpack out of it. "Who wants a candy corn?" Oval asked with a wide grin, but both Breeze and I took a simultaneous step back. "Eeugh, daaaad," I whined. "You're not expecting us to eat something as old as that, do you? It looks all mouldy!" "Yeah!" Breeze agreed. "What big sis said!" Oval raised an eyebrow at us, but then took the package in his mouth and shook a block of a few sugar-glazed pieces of actual corn out of it which had stuck together. He put the package back in his backpack and shoved the candy corn in his mouth, shaking his head. "You don't know what you're missing out on," he decided. "Don't judge the contents by the look of the package or something." "Yeah, no dad," I disagreed, pulling Breeze close to me. "It's two against one here; that looked disgusting." "Yeah!" Breeze agreed again. "What are we disagreeing about, kids?" Blaze wondered, walking up to us with one of the spa employees. "Mommy!" Breeze exclaimed happily, rushing over to nuzzle into our mom. "Dad tried feeding us something with mould on it," I pointed out. "There may be a little bit on the package, but the candy is fine!" Oval protested. "Not the candy corn you bought years ago, was it?" Blaze demanded, staring Oval down until he finally looked away from her with his ears falling down. "They were old when we first met. I can't believe you're not through them yet." "I bought a volume deal back then, dear," Oval muttered. "This is the last remaining package." "I should have guessed," Blaze sighed. "Well, you may wish to undress; we are about to take a bath in the spa's hot springs." "Hot springs!" Breeze repeated with great enthusiasm! "I can't wait," I added in my half-sarcastic tone, making Blaze smile at me.