Pearl's Travels 1: Hollow Shades

by Makitk

33

We were led through a hallway deeper into the spa, and I was starting to wonder just how big the place really was. Doors on either side gave access to the various rooms, with signs set on the wall to the left of each door.

The more private rooms had little sliders underneath these signs, showing either the word Free or Occupied depending on whether the room was currently in use or not.

For as early as it was in the day, I did notice a few such rooms having the occupied sign set already, and I had to think back to the ledger in the reception area. If only I had given it more than a passing glance, I might have been able to figure out which patron was in which room.

Our little group was brought to a room on the left side, and the spa pony switched the slider from Free to Occupied with their magic as they moved to hold the door open for us. As I followed Blaze and Breeze into the room, with Oval a couple of paces behind, I felt the warmth of the room greet me like a warm blanket the moment I stepped over the threshold.

The room was larger than I had imagined it would be for a private room, and was dominated by a large round bath made of wood with an elevated walkway set halfway around it for easy access. Steam was rising up from the bath, but I could not imagine it being connected to any hot springs unless there were pipes hidden under the walkway somewhere.

From all of Earth's media on hot springs, this looked like anything but.

A number of lounge chairs were placed together on the ground near the bath, and Oval walked past me to put his clothes and backpack on one of them.

"Breeze, sweety," he called out, motioning for her to join him, and I realized I had entirely overlooked that she was wearing her little flower-like backpack as well. In the same thought I remembered how the pearl I was named after by my extended family was still inside of it, pending closer scrutiny.

I shook my head at it a bit and walked up to the stairs leading up to the upper walkway to get a closer look at the bath.

Blaze watched me as I walked by, her expression holding the middle between motherly concern and trepidation. I raised my eyebrow at her in passing, but she shook her head and walked back to the spa pony near the door instead.

"Remember; no interruptions until we're ready and done," she told him, to which he gave a polite nod while holding a professional smile.

"It's the first time at a spa for my youngest," Blaze continued, ushering the spa pony out the door as she did, "and she may decide to run amok and bother the other patrons unless we explain the rules to her first."

She quickly closed the door on him once the other pony was out of the room, then stood near it with her ears perked as if trying to make sure that he was actually walking away.

I shook my head at her overly cautious behaviour while I reached the top of the stairs, and changed my focus to the large bath instead. From my new vantage point on the upper walkway along the bath's edge, I could easily see into the clear water, even with the steam rising from it.

I walked along the edge of the water, peering down to check whether there were any openings leading from under the walkway into the bath, but could not see any.

I let out an annoyed snort at the water, but then noticed the deep frown of a grey Earthpony mare's face staring back at me from my reflection on the water's surface. To the left of it, a smaller green Unicorn filly was looking at me as well, but her face had a huge grin plastered on it.

Just as I was turning to face Breeze to ask what she was grinning about, I felt a hard shove on my rear and was pushed forward in an instant! The moment I realized I was now above the exact center of the bath, gravity took hold of me and I plunged into the hot water...

Startled at the magical push from my supposed little sister, I flailed my limbs about without real thought behind it, barely managing to get my head back above the water.

The few moments of panic I felt while struggling to get air back in my lungs felt like they lasted an hour or more, but finally I felt something grab a hold of me and I was lifted up above the water's surface by Blaze's magic.

Blaze's eyes were focused on Breeze rather than myself, and I was sure the little filly could have spontaneously combusted from the fire raging in our fake mother's eyes as I struggled to calm myself down.

Hanging in Blaze's magical grasp, inches above the water, I barely got enough wit back into me to calm my breathing before I was shocked anew by my reflection; I had lost my Earthpony guise in my panic, and hovering over the bath was a clear and definite Changeling.

This Changeling, I noticed, was being moved over to the walkway, and I soon set my hooves back on solid ground as Blaze put me down next to her.

"That was entirely irresponsible, Breeze," Blaze snarled angrily.

"What, like you didn't put up a shield around the room the moment you closed that door?" Breeze threw back, then motioned one of her small hooves my way. "She needs the training, see?"

Oval came up behind me, and gently nudged his right forehoof against my Changeling headfin, making it wobble as it tried to self-right again. "Any of us would lose our guise when faced with mortal danger."

I was still trying to get my heart back to a regular rhythm and did not dare speak, but gave a thankful nod to Oval's words instead.

He took my nod as an invitation to loop his right foreleg around my neck and pull me close to him, and I felt his soft fur against my bare skin. It was surprisingly comforting and helped me to calm down better than if I had continued to stand there on my own.

Blaze motioned to the water. "It's her first time in a spa, Breeze. Heck, it's her first time in our world! Think before you act, will you? Having one Oval around is enough."

"Hey," Oval protested. "I take offense to that."

"You know what I mean," Blaze defended her statement, still staring Breeze down.

Oval let go of me and walked forward to stand to Blaze's right, then looked sideways at her. "I'm still offended. You need to cool down, Blaze."

He quickly pushed his whole weight off to the left, forcing both Blaze and himself to splash into the bath together!

I watched as Blaze and Oval struggled to get themselves upright again, still dripping wet myself. Oval was the first to get up on his hind legs in the water, and he immediately moved to splash his hooves down and forward in the bath to spray water at Blaze before she could right herself in the same fashion.

I shook my head at this ridiculous sight, especially as Blaze warded off the sprays of water with her Unicorn magic and decided to upend half the pool's contents to splash it down in a giant torrent onto Oval.

Breeze just stood grinning on the side, watching the water fight with sparkles in her eyes. She was clearly thoroughly enjoying herself.

I fluttered my Changeling wings a little to get them dry faster, and realized Breeze was the only one in our little group who was still dry.

Could I?

Should I?

I stopped my wings from buzzing, and instead started forward, staying close to the wall to my right which was placed so nopony could fall off the upper walkway, trying to draw a semi-circle to approach Breeze from behind.

I took care to place my hooves down as soft as I could, even with the noise Blaze and Oval were making, and slowly positioned myself where I wanted to be.

Breeze showed no signs of having taken notice, instead still excitedly spectating the mock fight between our "parents", and I took my shot!

In one quick move I pushed off from the wall, took a leap at Breeze, and hugged the air as Breeze teleported away at the last moment...

I grasped at nothing, still continuing to fly forward, and was still trying to figure out where she had gone as I hit the water again in such a short time.

Knowing Blaze and Oval had stood up on their hind legs to keep their heads above the water helped me fight off my immediate panic this time, and I struggled to find my hoofing rather than splashing wildly around.

As my Changeling hind hooves found a solid floor to stand on, I pushed myself upright and practically launched my head up above the water, drawing in a breath of much-needed air.

I stood wobbling on my hind legs, trying to get my bearings, but the smile I spotted on Oval's face said enough.

"Breeze got me a second time," I breathed in a half-cough, then proceeded to snort a bit to get the excess water from my nose.

I turned around a little on the spot to catch Blaze staring at me blankly. The water battle between Blaze and Oval must have stopped the moment I threw myself in their midst, I realized. Like good parents, they were more concerned for their children than the fight they were having.

I turned around more until I had made a full circle, but I could not spot Breeze anywhere. "Speaking of Breeze," I started, breaking the silence which was quickly getting uncomfortable. "Where did she teleport off to?"

Oval motioned to Blaze, who brought her right forehoof up out of the water, allowing Breeze to lift her head up high enough to grab a breath of air. As I watched, Blaze just as quickly pushed that hoof back down again, keeping my little sister underwater.

"Don't worry; I won't damage my sister too much," Blaze spoke calmly, while Oval snorted water out of his nose while trying to giggle.

"Is this how baths usually go for you three?" I wondered, backing myself up until I stood resting the chitin plating on my back against the wood wall.

"No, usually it's Breeze or me who ends up getting wet first," Oval remarked flatly. "Other than that, pretty much the same."

Comments

[tsaukpaetra]

Hmm Pearl should have reapplied her disguise, but we didn't see it mentioned.
You need to be a bit judicious with your usage of exclamation marks. Almost every third sentence ends with one, and it sounds a little weird to be constantly shouting like that.

Now that the spa has begun, time for some business!
Keep going! ;)

[Makitk]

7487951
Blaze secured the door, so they are in a safe place. Pearl did not yet put her disguise back.
I removed a few exclamation marks and added some Changeling identifiers to Pearl's later statements so that's made more clear. Thank you for your constructive criticism.