//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Child of the Swamp 
// by Topazzia 
//------------------------------//

The sun was at its highest. Starlight, Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie were at the edge of the forest, just south west of Ponyville, by the railroad. They slowly went through the trees, following Starlight with her map. 
AJ scanned the dark overgrowth, “It coulda’ just been a bug, or the wind?”
Starlight grinned, dodging around a bush, “Better safe than sorry.”
Rainbow fluttered just outside the tree line, following the group. “How’d it even get tripped? Those things are super easy to spot.” 
Pinkie Pie bounced along at the back, “Yeah, Gummy plays hide and seek better than those Spensors.”
Starlight looks back, expression critical. “They’re called sensors, there’s no ‘P’.”
Pinkie skipped past her, “Mmh, Spensor sounds better.”

Starlight approaches a tree, and nailed to it is a plate with a green gem on it. She looks up at it, and then turns to the other ponies. “Alright, spread out and look for any trace of… anything.”
Fluttershy hesitates at the shrubberies edge, “I hope it’s not a timber wolf.”
Rainbow hovers upside down next to her, “Just stay close, besides, we should be able to spot a timber wolf.”
AJ begins walking into the trees, “Smell them too.”
Starlight waves a hoof, “Just a print will be enough.”
Pinkie looks back from where she stood in the thick over growth. “What if we find a fax?”
Starlight’s eyes narrow, trying to comprehend what she just heard. But Pinkie bounced into the bushes, disappearing with a rustle of leaves. 

Pinkie bounced a ways off. Trees covered the sky, making it very dark. She slowed as it became harder and harder to see. The others voices were muffled as she began looking around the forest floor. She took a few steps over and saw a flicker of light under a bush, she dropped into a crouch and something in the bushes moved. She slowly moved closer, sniffing the grass, until her head was under the leaves. The light came back in the form of eyes, two dark amber eyes. Pinkie smiled, “Oh thank Celestia, it’s just a pony, that’s a relief, I thought you were some soulless, flesh eating, blood thirsty, merciless creature of the abyss.” 
She pauses, expression blank. “You’re not… right?” 
The pony stayed under the bush, eyes still glowing. 
Pinkie smiles again, “It’s not safe to be alone out here, especially when something tripped over Spensor and probably forgot their fax.” 
Pinkie starts at a growling sound, it came again from under the bush. “Was that you?” 
The bush pony growled again. 
“Didn’t have lunch yet huh? Yeah, me neither, here.” 
Pinkie reaches a hoof into her mane and pulls out a cookie, placing it in front of the bush pony. It stared at the cookie, they waited. Pinkie pushed it closer, “It’s for yooouu.” She whispered. The bush pony locked eyes with her. Pinkie continued to smile, then looked back to the other ponies. She opened her mouth to call them over, but the movement under the bush drew her attention again. The bush pony was sneaking away, Pinkie followed silently along the leaves. The bush pony looked back and saw it was being followed, Pinkie smiled as it froze, looking at her.
“Do you wanna come? I think the others’ll wanna meat you!”
She gestures in the direction of the others, the bush pony looked over, and back at Pinkie, who stood by, her hoof still out. 



The bush pony slid out, still crouching. It was a mare, her dark brown mane, long and filled with debris, fell over her face and almost touching her elbows. It stuck together and was oily and matted with mud. Her coat was a dark grey, in the similar state of her mane and tail. Her bones showed with lean muscles, better defined by her wet fur. Pinkie still smiled, she offered a hoof to help the mare up. The mare looked at the hoof, and to Pinkie’s eyes. She made strange sounds similar to a crocodile, with clicks and low throat vibrations. Pinkie smiles still, eyes wide at the partial communication. “It’s okay.” 
The mare slowly stood, her fur shedding bits of bark and dried dirt. The mare kept eye contact, and distance as Pinkie led her through the bushes to her friends. 

Starlight calls out, “Anything?”
Rainbow calls down from her position above the trees, “Just trees!”
AJ yells from under her, “Told ya!”
Starlight glares out at the voices, “A tree can’t trip the alarm! I cast the spell to react to large animals!”
Pinkie calls over to the others as she returns, “I found something!”
Pinkie sang as she strolled up to the ponies, they turn to look at her. She was alone.
Starlight tilts her head in confusion, “What’d you find?”
Pinkie looks to her side, then back to the bushes. “Come on out, it’s okay.”
She waves her hoof for something to come out. Everyone’s eyes go wide and stare at the glowing eyes under the bush. 
“What’n tarnation?” AJ breathes out in surprise. 
The mare crawled out, but she only came out halfway, eyes flicking between movements of the ponies approaching in awe. 
Starlight tilted her head curiously, “A pony?”  
AJ looks across to her, “So it wasn’t a tree?”
Rainbow settles onto the ground, “Where was she?”
Pinkie tosses her hoof back, pointing into the dark forest. “Over there.”
Starlight rubs her chin with a hoof, “I guess that explains no sign of wolves or bears, this pony must’ve set off the sensor.”
Rarity approaches the bush pony, offering a hoof to help her up. “What’s your name darling?”
The mare didn’t answer, only stared at Rainbow as the Pegasus’ mane glowed in the sunlight.
Starlight steps forward too, “Where did you come from?”
Fluttershy looks on sympathetically, “She looks scared.”
The bush pony whips her head around to stare in surprise at yellow Pegasus. She inches over to her, brushing along the ground. The bush pony emits low clicking from her throat, while also letting out a raspy mewling sound. Fluttershy’s eyes widen, “What?”
AJ stares as well, “What was that?”
Fluttershy steps back as the bush pony moves closer, “She spoke, or… Growled?”
Starlight stares in confusion, “Okay, so… What?”
The bush pony begins sniffing at Fluttershy’s wing, then growls urgently. Fluttershy looks down, “Oh, uh, okay.”
She lifts the wing just slightly, reaching for the canteen strapped under it. The bush pony hisses and bites down on the canteen, its sharp teeth removing it flawlessly from the Pegasus’s side. Fluttershy flinches away, squeaking her surprise. Everyone pulls back as the bush pony bites down on the canteen, removing the top with a crunch and a snap. Rainbow slides defensively in front of Fluttershy, “What the heck!”
Pinkie tilts her head, “Wow, she musta’ been thirsty.”
Rarity steps back, “My goodness.”
Starlight stares in awe, “Those teeth…”
The bush pony leaves the empty bottle on the ground, turning to Rarity, who also had a canteen visible on her side. The bush pony lunged for her, and the unicorn tosses the canteen away with magic. The bush pony whips around and desperately grasps for the bottle, clutching it as she bites it open as well. Starlight takes hers and Rainbow’s canteens, opening them, and setting them gently beside the bush pony. Starlight watches with urgency, “Girls, I don’t think this is a pony.”
AJ keeps eyes on the bush pony, “You sure? Looks like one.”
Starlight looks at the farm pony, “How many ponies you know that have glowing eyes, sharp teeth, and speaks like an animal?”
Rainbow shrugs, “A wingless bat?”
Pinkie bounces over to the bush pony, Starlight’s eyes widen, “Pinkie be careful!”
She looks at Starlight, “Don’t worry, I asked if she was evil, she said no.”
Starlight stares blankly, “You asked if she was evil, and she said no?”
Rainbow leans close to see the bush pony’s face, “So she can speak.”
Pinkie shakes her head, “No, but I’m sure she would be drinking our souls instead of water if she was.”
Rarity stares at Pinkie, “What a relief.”
Starlight nods to herself, “Okay, well… We should head back, Fluttershy? Ask her if she lives around here.”
Fluttershy inches over to the bush pony, as she tipped the last canteen over the grass, nothing coming out. “Hey, um, what’s your name?”
The bush pony turns to look at her, but says nothing. Fluttershy tries to smile, “Do you live around here? We can walk you home.”
The bush pony stares a second, then suddenly looks devastated. AJ gestures a hoof, “What’d you do?”
Fluttershy steps back, “I don’t know.”
Pinkie sits next to the bush pony, looking up to Starlight. “Can she come with us?”
Starlight hesitates. Then she waves a hoof. “Alright, I’ll go reset the sensor, we’ll bring her back with us.”
Starlight turns to leave, AJ closes in close, whispering quietly, “You sure about this?”
Starlight gestures her muzzle to the bush pony, “She seems comprehensible, and so far she hasn’t tried to hurt us. We’ll keep an eye on her and keep her away from the town just in case.”

The bush pony collapsed, eyes forced closed. Pinkie stopped bouncing and stood over her, smile fading slightly as she reached a hoof out to help. The bush pony whimpered, and took a deep breath. Starlight looks back, “What happened?”
Pinkie held the bush pony in her hooves. Rarity rests a hoof on the boney creature’s shoulder. “The poor thing’s exhausted.”
Apple Jack walks over, crouching down. “Alright, get her on.”
Pinkie lifts the bush pony over AJ’s back, Starlight turned and began walking as Apple Jack kept up pace.
They got to the castle and took the bush pony into the bathroom, Rarity dashed to the kitchen. Starlight wrote on a scroll, it was a list of multiple different sensor numbers, and each one had nothing written to the side. What Starlight wrote by the one she just reset, was ‘Equestrian-not pony’. 

Rarity entered the bathroom, levitating a large pitcher of water beside her. Apple Jack and Fluttershy were scrubbing soap into the bush pony’s fur, Rainbow stood by. Rarity set the pitcher and a cup down by Fluttershy. Starlight looks up as AJ walks out of the bathroom to her, a stern look on her face. The unicorn teleported the scroll away, “How is she?”
Apple Jack sighed, “Well, We got a name, I think.”
Starlight’s eyes widen, “Really?”
AJ nods, “Fluttershy said it was ‘Mud’, or that was the word our new guest said when she asked her.”
Starlight looked at the ground, clearly thinking. “Mud… Well, sounds Equestrian, or it could be anything. Never heard of anyone named just ‘Mud’.”
AJ shrugs, “Well she’s prolly blacked out a couple times now, and can’t seem to lift a hoof on her own. Maybe we should take her to the hospital.”
Starlight stares from across the hall through the bathroom door, directly at the creature lying in the tub. “That sensor’s been inactive for a very long time, it would’ve been tripped several times by her unless she just got here.”
AJ nods, “Ponyville’s the only town for several miles, and ya don’t get to lookin’ like that by takin the train.”
Starlight shakes her head, “Pony towns, and cities… She’s not a pony, and definitely doesn’t speak Ponish. The nearest non-pony settlements are the Diamond Dogs, and the Dragon Lands.”
AJ sighs, shaking her head as she looks up at Starlight. “Start with where ever’s closest, maybe some pony’s seen her.”

Starlight looks back into the bathroom, “I suppose…”