• Published 27th Jul 2016
  • 1,326 Views, 110 Comments

Pearl's Travels 1: Hollow Shades - Makitk



What happens when you spread friendship around a bit too much?

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18

With Breeze flying on over, I moved as much to the left in the alcove I was in as I could. I expected Oval to scoot over to the left as well, but instead she moved to the right, leaving a spot between us for the approaching sister.

Breeze expertly turned in mid-air as she approached, then dropped down in the alcove with us.

She looked to the right at her younger sister, who gave a grin back, and then left at me.

"Hey, sleepyhead," Breeze offered in her youthful voice. "How's the leg feeling?"

"Well, Blaze and Burst made me walk around on it a bit more than I think Matron intended me to," I suggested.

Breeze blinked and turned to face Oval again. "Burst?"

"Yahuh?" Oval returned to her sister, smiling brightly.

"I haven't heard that name of yours in ages," Breeze commented dryly.

"Blame Blaze," Oval sighed. "I think she's been telling little sister here our entire life's story."

"She must be feeling guilty for having let her get hurt under her watch," Breeze mused, then turned back to me again. "There's not a whole lot I can teach you until Matron takes that cast of."

"She said I had to keep my weight off my leg for a day or two, so I'm guessing it will come off tomorrow?" I offered up.

"Ah, that will take away your uniqueness," Breeze noted, tapping the hard resin on my right foreleg with her left forehoof.

"I still have questions about that," I started, but Breeze turned to Oval again.

"Why are you two up here in the first place? I take it you didn't give her a piggyback ride?" Breeze joked.

Oval snorted and shook her head. "No, just an impromptu flying lesson. Little sister wanted to prove she could do it, and she did fine for a first flight if you ask me."

Breeze turned back to me, with Oval grinning past her in my direction as well.

"Well, you made it halfway up to the ceiling, so sister must not be as bad a teacher as everyone claims she is," Breeze suggested, to which Oval's face fell.

"Hey, now," she started, and I had to giggle a bit at it.

"Do you think you can fly down with us as well?" Breeze asked, motioning a hoof down to the maze of rooms below. "Going up is usually not the problem. Going down without slamming your face into the dirt is where the problem lies."

I followed her gesture and realized how high up we actually were. It was a good few stories up, and there was a real danger of me breaking something if I could not slow my descent enough. I felt the fear rise in my underbelly as I thought of having to fly down while dodging the other Changelings.

Breeze noticed my hesitation and smirked. "It's easier than it looks. Sister and I can take up position next to you to keep the side winds away."

"I thought it better if she learned to deal with those as soon as possible," Oval suggested.

"She has a cast around her leg and you're having her dodge sidewinds?" Breeze demanded. "You can't take shortcuts with this or little sister will drill her head into the side of a mountain."

"I'm not so sure I like the sound of that," I coughed.

"Remember how we were taught; you start off small and work up to the more advanced techniques," Breeze continued to berate Oval. "Like how she started with mimicking you, and then came to me to train to pose as a filly."

Oval nudged her sister in the side, shaking her head with a smirk. "I get it, okay? So do you take her left or right side?"

"Right," Breeze decided. "That leg of hers is going to mess up her landing."

I looked between the two of them as good as I could, then back down to the ground so far below. "Can't we sleep on it first?"

Breeze shook her head. "Matron will want to have a look at your leg tomorrow, and she mainly stays on ground level."

Oval pushed off from the edge of the alcove and flew off in a semi-circle until she was hovering just about in front of me.

Breeze set her own wings in motion and simply let herself drift out of the alcove, then looked back at me. "Come on, we'll guide you down."

I moved a little closer to the edge myself, taking a few deep breaths. My wings worked, and I had got some energy back from resting in the alcove, it was just my irrational fear of heights popping up.

As a Human, it was understandable; I would have need of a parachute to make this landing safe.

As a Changeling, it was kinda stupid. I had wings. I had two sisters eager to help me down to safety in case I faltered.

One last inhale, and I set my wings aflutter as well, joining the pair of them in the air in front of the alcove.

"Falling is easy, but you'll want to stay in control of your descent," Breeze spoke, moving up to my right side - close enough that I could feel the wind from her own wings.

Oval moved up to my left side before I could slip sideways from Breeze's closeness, and evened up the airflow around me with her presence.

"I need to slow down my wing movements to go down, right? Easy enough," I voiced my thoughts.

"But not too much at once, and you'll want to push off again once you near the ground so you land smoothly," Oval suggested.

I focused on slowing down my wing motions, and almost immediately dipped lower than both sisters!

Breeze was the first to catch up, herself falling lower past me and only slowly pushing herself up to an equal height again, while Oval came down slower than her and stayed a little above me.

The three of us descended fairly quickly, and Breeze glanced sideways at me. "Okay, keep this speed and aim for the empty area down there."

I looked at where she was pointing and flew forward a little so I was coming down straight at it. Oval and Breeze matched my movement, and I was happy to have their support.

With the both of them on either side of me, the only side winds I had to deal with was the vortex created by them both, but it was far easier to do so than the sudden gusts from our other siblings.

Our wings sort of naturally settled in a rhythm which had Breeze's left wing and my right push off at the same time, and Oval's right wing matched up with my left once she fell back down to my side again, even if our wings were moving so much faster than those of Pegasi.

We came down upon the ground faster than I might have wanted, and I felt my fear rise again in my underbelly. Breeze shook her head, though.

"Wait for it," she spoke as we dropped a few more feet.

I glanced over at Oval who kept the same speed as us, and found some solace in accepting they would have pulled up themselves if they feared for their own safety.

"Okay, just push off a little to break our fall once we reach the height of the walls there," Breeze pointed out, "and then extend your legs while you make the last drop."

We continued our downward motion, but then suddenly Oval pulled up away from me as we reached the height of the walls around us and started descending between them.

I moved my wings a little faster as well, slowing my descent, and extended my legs as Breeze had said, watching Breeze herself slow down and land moments before I got to the ground.

She looked back up at me as I came down, but then quickly moved forward and supported me as I landed. Oval came down on my left side in the same breath, and caught a nasty glare from her older sister.

"You were supposed to help catch her," Breeze snorted over my back, while I limped a bit over to the nearest alcove and sat down on its edge - my heart racing from the successful drop down.

"Little sister was doing fine without our help," Oval suggested, moving over to me and giving me a soft nuzzle with her left cheek to my right. "You did great there, sister."

"It was more about mental support than physical," Breeze muttered, taking a few steps over before just sinking through her legs and laying down on the ground before me.

"She's fine," Oval threw back, peering at me with her big blue eyes. "You're fine, right?"

I gave a slow nod to that, slowly getting my heart to stop racing so much. "Yeah... just some irrational fear that doesn't want to die down."

"Nothing irrational about it," Breeze huffed.

"Well, at least we're all safe and sound on the ground again," Oval suggested, having a seat on the ground herself. "And in the perfect place to make our beds in."

"It's not exactly your house in Hoofton," Breeze chuckled.

"Let's hope there's a chance for little sister to come visit there after all this," Oval remarked, smiling over at me.

I licked around the inside of my mouth, then gave a nod. "I'm going to need some sleep first, though."

"Right!" Oval grinned.

"Don't tell me we have to teach you how to do that as well?" Breeze sighed.

"I can do this myself, don't worry," I threw back. I slipped off the alcove's edge, sticking my tongue out at Breeze, then turned my head for it and started spitting out the soft resin balls at it to make my bed...