//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Child of the Swamp // by Topazzia //------------------------------// A warm smell wafted over Muds face, making her eyes blink open. She looked to the side, seeing Pinkie Pie standing there, her abnormal smile seemed to have never left her face. The pink mare had set a plate on the bed, “Hey sleepy head.” Mud slowly sat up, keeping her eyes on the pony. Pinkie’s smile turned sympathetic, “Fluttershy said you were ‘distressed’. I guess that means our sad, so I brought you cookies. There’s nothing better than fresh chocolate chip to make a pony feel better… Or whatever you are.” Mud didn’t understand the noises she made, but assumed the pony was giving her the cookies. She was not expecting the sudden feeling of resistance, causing her to mew in surprise as she lifted herself up. Mud had gotten used to getting up from sleeping as quickly as possible, with everywhere else she slept was terribly uncomfortable. But now she struggled to pull herself up, for the first time in her life she felt well rested. The Kelpie leaned over to sniff the cookies, her mouth watered at the smell. There was something about these lumps of dirt, but she just couldn’t put a hoof on it. Pinkie trotted around and sat next to her on the side of the bed, “I’ve never heard of Kelpie’s. I wonder if Twilight has, she’s really smart.” Mud lifts her head, swallowing the hot cookies she’d been chewing. She growled and clicked, as what Pinkie heard. But Mud heard, “Look, I don’t know what you’re saying.” Pinkie only smiled, “Yeah, she’s great, I think you’d like her. She’s the Princess of Friendship.” Mud gave up, rolling her eyes and continued eating cookies. Licking up the melted chocolate and crumbs off the plate, she finished them off. Fluttershy walks into the room, “Hi Pinkie, hi Mud.” Pinkie jumped down, “Hi, what’s up?” “Is Mud busy?” The Pegasus approached the bed. Mud lifts her gaze, hesitating with a blank expression. She lies down partly, meowing something. Fluttershy gestures with a hoof, “We just want to ask you some questions, it wouldn’t take long.” Mud frowns at her, and then sits up, not moving. Fluttershy’s faint smile fades at Mud’s stern behavior. Pinkie steps up, putting a hoof around Mud. “Come on, we can give you a tour of the castle afterwards.” Pinkie’s strength surprised Mud as the pony pulled her off the bed, dragging her along the floor. The Kelpie frowned, wondering why these things are bothering her so much. Starlight was in a large light blue room, a giant glistening table in the middle. It was surrounded by tall white chairs, each one with a strange colored symbol on the top. She turns to see Mud trudge into the room, “Ah, you made it. I hope you don’t mind.” Mud ignores her, even though she couldn’t even guess what the pony was saying. Fluttershy followed just behind, Starlight then remembered, “Oh right, Fluttershy, can you go over what we talked about?” The Pegasus hesitated, catching Mud’s glare. “Um, sure.” She steps up next to the cutie map, “Mud? We have a map here, can you tell us where you come from? Show us on the map?” Mud sat near enough to see the table, and all of the small mountains and details. But she didn’t answer. Pinkie leans close, whispering to one of Mud’s flattened ears. “I’ll be right back.” She bounces away, leaving the Kelpie to glare at the Unicorn. Starlight looks at her worriedly; Fluttershy looks back at the Unicorn with the same expression, then back to Mud. “We’re sorry if you don’t want too, but this is important.” Mud bares her teeth, letting out a low hiss as she approached the Unicorn. She stopped, growling over her shoulder to Fluttershy. Then turns on the Pegasus, growling something else, and stomps out of the room. Starlight stares in bewilderment, “What did she say?” Fluttershy looked on at the doorway, “She said she doesn’t know what a map is, or why we even care about where she came from.” Starlight looks at the table, and the vast expanse of the world shown on it. “I suppose we shouldn’t bother her anymore, we’re on our own for this.” Mud hissed irritably, following her own scent trail back to the bedroom, not noticing Pinkie Pie was walking behind her. The pony smiled and caught up, “Hey, where ya goin’?” Mud didn’t look back, she only huffed. Pinkie continued to follow, noticing Mud’s expression. “Hey, you want that tour now?” Mud sighs, looking up at her. Pinkie smiles and puts her hoof around the Kelpie, “Come on, it’s a good distraction.” The pony pulled Mud off the path to the bedroom, and back down the hall. Mud groaned with annoyance, as Pinkie brought her back to the living room. “You know this room, it’s pretty great.” She gestures a hoof in a circle, “We decided to make it here after AJ kept spilling her coffee on the Cutie Map.” Pinkie Leads Mud up a staircase, “That one with the giant map is the Map Room, we meet there every so often for those meetings Starlight likes to do.” She brought Mud into the Library, “This is the library, you can come here to read whenever you want. Starlight’s here most of the time.” Anger fading, Mud looks around the massive room. It was decorated with a large tree against the wall, it looked like ice, but wasn’t cold. The Kelpie sniffed at the books while Pinkie approached, her head tilting with interest. “What’s your favorite book?” Pinkie set a hoof on the one Mud was sniffing, sliding it off the shelf. She looked at the cover, “You sure? You don’t seem like the ‘Harry Trotter’ type… But you would look cute with glasses, I think Twilight has a spare set around here somewhere.” Mud licks the book cover, cringing at the foul taste. Pinkie puts it back, “You can’t eat these, no matter how real the pictures look.” Pinkie begins walking, and Mud follows without the pony’s ushering. Pinkie Pie pushes open the large balcony window, and stands by. Mud glances at her while walking out to the rail, her amber eyes widening at the site. Just like the window in her room, but that was a glance. This time, she was out in the open, up high in the air. She could see the entire Pony camp scattered below, and off in the distance. There was a river, rushing through a thick forest just beyond a separation of grass. There wasn’t a rotted willow in sight. The last place to visit was the castle yard, and that’s where Mud stayed for the rest of the afternoon. Pinkie Pie returned, finding the Kelpie curled up asleep against the crystals protruding from the ground. She walks over and nudges the Kelpie’s shoulder, “Hey, come on, you can’t sleep all day.” Mud lifts her head, watching as the Pony’s tail disappeared back into the castle. She stood up anyway, arching her back in a big stretch. Mud looked at the door, but instead turned to look down at the Pony Camp. Her ears turned in that direction, but sounds were drowned out by rushing wind. She took a few steps, stopping to glance back. No one was there in the doorway, so she kept walking, down to the buildings. Pinkie looked behind her, seeing the emptiness of the hall. She called back, “Mud?” There was no answer. Pinkie ran back to the side door, glancing around the hall. She steps out the door, standing in the grass as she called out again. “Mud?!” Pinkie’s eyes land on the town just down the road. Realization suddenly hit the Pony, making her pupils shrink. “Oh…” She looked back inside, and then started in a run down to Ponyville. Mud glanced up at the tall, pale, grass covered huts. She let her amazement take over, causing her eyes to widen and jaw to drop. This Pony camp was unlike anything the Kelpie had ever seen. The huts she saw, the geyser pool in the middle, and dozens, maybe hundreds of Ponies. But what Mud really noticed was the smell, with the entire place having a pleasant haze of warm sweetness. It all felt like a dream, unlike any dream she ever had. The dark pelted mare stood out amongst the various colors, like a dead tree in a flower field. Standing out enough to draw stares, her eye contact making the selected Ponies hesitate. But none of it bothered Mud, as it was just as strange for her, and worse she remembered she couldn’t talk with them to explain herself. But her own uneasiness didn’t last long, as Mud kept walking. Sniffing the air and ground, she found that it was impossible to differentiate the smells, as they were all new to her. All she could do now was use her eyes, spotting the large strangely decorated hut that resembled its contents, cakes, cookies, and ice cream. Pinkie Pie bounced on her hooves up the path through town, halting beside the Kelpie. “Found’ya!” The Pony smiled big, glancing at Sugar Cube Corner for a second. But Pinkie moved in front of Mud, “You could’ve asked to come into town, but it’s getting late, see?” Pinkie points a hoof at the sky. Mud turns to look, realization struck as she saw the sun was dipping low. This Pony was telling her it was late. Mud glanced around at the buildings, looking for something else interesting. But Pinkie set a hoof firmly around her shoulder, pulling her into a walk back through the way she came. The Kelpie resisted, rearing up and tossing herself out of the grip of the pony. Pinkie watched as Mud gestured with her head at the market, growling something. Pinkie smiled anyway at Mud’s prudence, “All right, but only for a while. Starlight’ll start to notice you’re gone.” The sun began to set, making town square flood with shadow. Most of the trade booths were closed now, and Ponies filed down the streets, returning to their homes. Mud and Pinkie went from each of the still open stands to the next. The Kelpie thrust her nose into bouquets of flowers and baskets of fruit, trying every smell she came across. Just as the flower sisters began repackaging the unsold flowers, Lily looks up to see two large amber eyes staring at her. Mud sniffed the flowers still set in their displays, and over to the purple pony behind them. Lily stepped back, hesitating before smiling, “Uh, can I help you?” Pinkie ran up, sliding to a stop beside the Kelpie. “Hi Lily, I was just showing our new friend around.” Lily nodded to the flowers Mud's gaze was fixed to, “Would you like to buy something? I can make it quick, we’re technically closed.” Pinkie taps Mud’s shoulder, pointing at the flowers. “Hey Mud, you want some?” The Kelpie stared at her, growling with uncertainty. Pinkie smiles, and turned back to Lily. “Two orders of daisies please.” Mud stared at the plate of tiny white flowers that set in front of her, and her gaze flicking up to see the shiny yellow coins Pinkie pushed across the counter. Pinkie stacked one plate on the other, and pointed a hoof to a bench. “We can sit over there.” She picks up the plates in her teeth and carries them over, Mud following curiously. Once they sat down, the Pony lifted one of the plates of flowers with a hoof, offering it to Mud. The Kelpie took it, but only held it to her muzzle. She sniffed it suspiciously, wondering why this Pony thing gave it to her. Pinkie tapped Mud’s shoulder, “Hey, you eat it, like this…” Mud looked on as Pinkie licked up a mouthful of the tiny flowers, chewing and swallowing them like it was nothing. Mud looked at her own plate, beginning to wonder what flowers actually tasted like. She’d never eaten flowers before, at least not in a while. Mud lifted the plate, licking only a few daisies. She lifts her head, keeping the flowers in her mouth. They were sweet, and felt like they were melting on her tongue. She lifted the plate up, tilting it back to pour the rest of the daisies into her mouth. Mud held them there, the smell of nectar filling her nose. Pinkie looked on, “I guess Kelpies like flowers too.” Mud swallowed, looking back at the sun. Pinkie did too, finishing off the last bit of her plate. The Pony hopped up, setting herself to jump in place in front of Mud. “Let’s head back, if you like flowers, you’re gonna love what Apple Jack made for dinner!” Mud followed Pinkie, but only just keeping up. She wanted to stay by the pony, but glanced back at the Pony camp, wanting to explore it more. But she didn’t want to do it without someone who actually knows what to do. So many things about this new territory were different, complete opposites as what Mud was used too. But there was one thing Mud did know, the one thing she absolutely loved about this place. Not a single other Kelpie in sight...