//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2, The Swamp 
// Story: The Elements of Nature, Book 2: 土 & 雷 (Earth & Lightning) 
// by Superior-Doc-Fossil 
//------------------------------//


The Elements of Nature
Book 2: 土 & 雷 (Earth & Lightning)
Chapter 2, The Swamp



In a Geo Firma village, Zuko and Iroh are sitting on straw mats. A cart with masks for sale passes by in front of them (one of the masks looks like the Blue Spirit mask). As the cart passes, another pedestrian walks in front of Iroh. Iroh holds his hat out to the pedestrian and begins to talk to him. “Spare coins for weary travelers?” The pedestrian then tosses a couple of copper pieces into Iroh's hat as Zuko turns to his uncle in anger.
“This is humiliating! We're royalty! These people should be giving us whatever we want.” Zuko angrily said.
“They will if you ask nicely.” Iroh said as a peasant Unicorn mare strolls past. “Spare change for a hungry old stallion?”
“Here you go.” The Unicorn said as she levitates a silver coin to him.
“The coin is appreciated, but not as much as your smile!” Iroh said, causing Zuko to slap his forehead in frustration as the young mare giggles lightly and walks away.
Just then, a colt with broadswords on his back wonders up to Iroh and Zuko. He then smiles. “How about a little entertainment in exchange for a gold piece?”
“We're not performers.” Zuko said with some annoyance in his voice.
“Not professional anyway.” Iroh said as he stood up. He then begins to sing. “It's a long, long way to Ba Sing Se, but the mares in the city, they look so pretty!”
“Come on, we're talking a gold piece here! Let's see some action!” The colt said as he withdraws a sword. “Dance!” He then begins to slice the ground near Iroh's feet. Iroh hops up and down to dodge the attacks while singing.
“They kiss so sweet that you really got to meet the mares from Ba Sing Se!” Iroh continued while dodging the slices.
The colt then stops. “Ha, ha! Nothing like an old colt dancing for his dinner! Here you go!” He then tosses his gold coin on the ground and walks away.
“Such a kind pony.” Iroh said as he piked up the coin. Zuko then glares at the colt in anger.


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At the edge of the swamp, the gang are weary to go in, except Fire’ and Agua. “Do you really think we should go in? It looks to much like the Everfree Forest.” Applejack said.
“Fire’ thinks we should. So does Agua.” Twilight said to her.
“Gee, Twilight. Why do you seem so concern for Firebrand? Do you like him?” Shining said, teasing his little sister.
“What? No! I do not...” But before she could finish, a tornado suddenly emerges from out of nowhere, heading right for them.
“RUN!” Rainbow yelled out as they begin to run from it. But the tornado reaches them and picks them up and throws them into the Swamp and splits them into two groups. Applejack, Apple Bloom, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Rainbow Dash, & Scootaloo land in one part of the swamp while the others land in a different part several miles away. “What happened?” Rainbow said as she got up.
“I don’t know. I think that tornado hurled us somewhere in the swamp.” Applejack said.
“My hair!” Rarity said as she got up, her mane and tail are covered in mud. The others soon laugh at her.


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In another part of the swamp, Twilight, Firebrand, Agua, Shining Armor, Cadence, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy are looking around. “Fluttershy, see if you can see the others.” Fire’ said to her. She goes up to the tree tops and sees nothing and goes down.
“You couldn't find them?” Twilight said.
“No, and the tornado ... It just disappeared.” Fluttershy said.
“We better get out of here.” Shining said as he conjures up a machete. He then begins to cut the vines.
“Maybe we should be a little nicer to the swamp.” Fire’ said to Shining as he cut some more vines.
“Oh, don’t go all Fluttershy on us, Fire.'” Cadence said to him.
“Firebrand, these are just plants. Do you want me to say, “please” and "thank you" as I swing my machete back and forth.” Shining said.
“Maybe you should listen to Firebrand. Something about this place feels ... alive.” Agua began.
“I'm sure there are many things that are alive here and if we don't wanna wind up getting eaten by them, we need to find the others as fast as we can.” Twilight said to them as Shining continues to slice through the vines. Unknown to them, on a branch not far away, a figure is watching them.


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Over where the others are at, they are making their way throw the swamp, leaving there footprints behind. “This place sure is creepy.” Apple Bloom said to her older sister.
“Don’t worry, sugarcube. We’ll find our way out soon. I hope.” Applejack said.


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Meanwhile, Twilight’s group is walking throw a foggy part of the swamp. “Applejack! Apple Bloom! Rarity! Sweetie Belle! Rainbow Dash! Scootaloo!” Twilight yelled into the fog.
“There's no way they can hear us and no way we can see them. We'll have to make camp for the night.” Shining said.
There are several flies around Cadence. She swings her wing at them, trying to shoo them away, but it doesn't work. “I hate bugs.” Cadence said as she remembers the changelings. Just then, a huge bubble of swamp gas rises from the muddy water below them. The gas grows closer to Twilight, Agua, Cadence, Firebrand, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Shining.
“What was that?”
“Nothing, just swamp gas, Agua. Look, there's nothing supernatural going on here.” Twilight told her. The 7 groan as they smell the horrid gas. A terrifying scream is then heard and the 7 huddle together in fear. The scream happens to be just a white bird with a big mouth.
“I think we should build a fire.” Shining said as he went to a nearby tree to get wood.
“Shining, the longer we're here, the more I think you shouldn't be doing that.” Firebrand said to Shining as he gets some wood.
“No, I asked the swamp. It said this was fine.” He then grabs a nearby root. “Right, swamp?” He shakes the root and fakes a reply. “‘No problem, Shining!’” Shining then continues to chop at the roots, with both Fire’ and Agua looking somewhat annoyed. Later, the group are huddle around a fire, with Twilight staring at the darkness.
“Does anyone else get the feeling that we're being watched?” Twilight asked.
“I had that felling for a while now.” Fire’ said to her.
A fly is buzzing around Shining. “Please, we're all alone out here.” He then tries to uses his machete to try to scare the fly off. The fly then turns into a big, shining ball of light. Behind the gang, they see several glowing eyes staring down upon them.
“Except for them.” Fluttershy said as they stare at the eyes. They then huddle together.
“Right, except for them.” Shining said.


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The others are laying down on a giant tree branch. They can’t sleep due to the many noises there are. “Ugh, I can’t sleep with that racket.” Sweetie Belle said. Rarity is also annoyed by the noises.
“QUIET!” She yells out. The noises then stop. They then go back to sleep, only for a frog to ribbit and wake them up.


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At the others camp, the fire is beginning to die out. The 7 friends are huddled together, asleep. Someone, or something, is looking at them through the vines. A vine snakes its way to Shining’s leg, which is sticking out. The vine begins to wind around it and then to Shining’s whole body. A bit later, each pony is tied up by three or four vines that snake around them.
For the moment, they are still asleep, but they wake up screaming as the vines simultaneously yank them all away from each other. Shining puts his machete in the ground as he is dragged away. Both Agua and Firebrand are also dragged off into the mist. The others get up and start hacking the vines with some daggers Twilight conjured up. They frees themselves and run back down the tree root, pursued by more vines.
Agua is struggling to free herself from the vines. Using a water whip she cuts through her bonds and runs off into the mist. Firebrand frees himself by burning the vines off. His bonds loosened, he hops into the surrounding trees, closely pursued by more vines. He escapes a vine that pulls him to the ground by using his sword and cuts it. He then runs far away and soon finds himself alone in the swamp. He tries to look for his friends, but he doesn't see them. “Guys?”


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At the other end of the swamp, two humans in light clothing come across the tracks Applejack’s group left. “What'd you reckon make a track like that, Tho?”
“Don't know, Due. Looks like there's 5 of em.'” Tho said as he points his stick at a footprint.
“Leaves a nice, wide trail to folla'.” Due said.
“You know what's at the end of that trail?” Tho said. But Due just shakes his head negatively. “Dinner.” Tho said to him while smiling.


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Agua is walking throw the swamp, trying to find the others. “Applejack! Apple Bloom! Rarity! Sweetie Belle! Rainbow Dash! Scootaloo! Twilight! Firebrand! Shining! Cadence! Pinkie! Fluttershy!” She then sees another Pegasus with her back turn toward her. “Hello? Hello? Can you help me?” She then recognizes the mare and squints. “Mom?” She then begins running towards the figure. “Mom!” She begins to cry tears of joy. She then reaches the figure and places a hoof on its shoulder. “I can't believe...” But her smile soon leaves when she realizes that it’s just a stump and not her mother. She then falls to the ground and begins to cry.


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In another part of the swamp, Firebrand is trying to find the others. “Twilight! Agua!” He then notices an unfamiliar earth pony mare in a dress standing on a hill, accompanied by a winged boar. She has a sand brown mane and tail, an earth green coat. He can’t tell what her cutie mark is, but he can see that her eyes are gray, indicating that she's blind. “Hello? Who are you?” The boar then flies off as the mare giggles and runs away. “Hey, come back!” He tries to chase the girl, however the girl is hard to keep up with, as she keep disappearing and reappearing, ever giggling.


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“Where are we?” Scootaloo asked.
“I have no idea.” Rainbow said.
The are walking along a river, but a little further down stream, covered by fog, is a group of six swamp tribe members divided over three canoes, Due and Tho are sitting in the middle canoe. They look at each other in silence for a few moments, Tho then wets his lips using his tongue. “Ugh, we have company.” Apple Bloom said as the others turn around.
“Look at that Tho. Is that a little hairy fella 'round that thing?” Due asked.
“No, that's what they call ‘ponies,’ saw some at a traveling show once, real smart they say.” Tho said as they inch their way closer.
“Bet they tastes a lot like chicken.” Due said.
“You think everything tastes like chicken.” Tho pointed out.
“Come on now fellas, just a little closer ... Nice and easy ... Don't worry about, we're just fixing to eat ya.” The group then scream and run/fly as fast as they can.
“What'd you say that fur?” Tho said with some annoyance in is voice.
Due then makes a 'don't blame me' gesture with his hands. “Well, we are.”
“But you don't have to tell'em that.” Tho said.
“Well, how'd I know they'd understand me?” Due defended.
“Come on! Start bending!” Tho said as Due stands up in front of the canoe and starts spinning his arms, bending the water behind his canoe to chase the group, with the other two canoes fallowing.
“Lets split up y’all.” Applejack said as she and Apple Bloom continue down the river. Rainbow grabs Scootaloo and flies up while Rarity and Sweetie Belle turn left.
“We won’t be able to catch the ones with wings, but we can get the others. Split up!” Tho said as two go after Rarity and Sweetie Belle as he and Due went after Applejack and Apple Bloom.


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Firebrand is still chasing the mare. “Who are you?” Fire’ said as he goes through some bushes. He then bumps into Twilight and her group. Agua hears the rumble and heads to investigate, while Rainbow and Scootaloo also hear it and head for it.
“Firebrand!” Twilight said as she gets up.
“Twilight! Boy, am I glade to see you.” Fire’ said as he gets up.
“Likewise. We haven't seen you or Agua since last night.” Shining said.
“I've been looking all over for you!” Agua said as she lands near them.
“Say, Fire.’ Who were you chasing?” Twilight asked.
“I was chasing some mare.” Firebrand said.
“What mare?” Twilight said with jealousy in her voice.
“I don't know. I heard laughing and I saw some mare in a fancy dress.” Fire’ said.
“I thought I saw my Mom.” Agua said.
“You saw something too?” Fire’ said.
“Maybe you two were just scared and hungry and your minds were playing tricks on you.” Twilight said.
“Guys!” They turn toward the source of the sound and see Rainbow and Scootaloo.
“Rainbow! Scootaloo! Your all right!” Pinkie said to them.
“The others aren't thou. We got chased by some strange creatures that wanted to eat us. We had to spite up.” Scootaloo said with worry in her voice.
“What!? Where are they?” Cadence asked.
“We don’t know.” Rainbow said.
“Call me crazy, but what if the swamp wanted us here?” Fire’ said to them, trying the change to subject when he notices something strange.
“Why would you say that?” Scootaloo asked him.
“Because where did that giant tree came from?” He then points to a tree at least 30 stories hight. “This is the center ... It's the heart of the swamp. It's been calling us here. I know it.”
“It's just a tree. It can't call anyone. For the last time, there's nothing after us and there's nothing magical happening here.” Twilight said skeptically. A seaweed monster then jumps out from the water and begins to attack. The seaweed monster captures Shining and holds him hostage in the its vines.


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At the other end of the swamp, Rarity and Sweetie Belle are still running from the Foggy Swamp members. They meet up with Applejack and Apple Bloom. “Rarity! Sweetie Belle! Are we glade to see you!”
“Likewise, but we need to keep moving.” Rarity said as they begin to run again. Sweetie Belle reaches into Rarity’s saddle bag and throws a jacket at them. It hits one of the members, knocking him out of his canoe.
“Now what would a pony need a shirt fer?” Tho asked.
“How should I’s know?” Due said.


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The others are still fighting the seaweed monster. Firebrand attempts to free Shining from the monster's vines, but fails. Agua, however, manages to free him. The fight ends as Agua begins to waterbend repeatedly at the monster. A person is seen inside the monster, bending the vines. She slices through the monster, but it then attacks her.
“Why did you call us here if you just wanted to kill us!?” Fire’ yelled at the strange two-legged creature.
“Wait! I didn't call you here.” The creature defended.
“We were outside the swamp when a tornado hurled us into this mess.” Agua said to him.
“There the Avatars. Stuff like that happens to use a lot.” Rainbow said.
“The Avatars?” The two-legged creature said. “Come with me.” He then gets up and takes them up the giant tree.
“So, who are you then? And what are you?” Agua asked.
“I protect the swamp from folks that want to hurt it, like this fella with his big knife. I’m what is commonly called a ‘human.’” The creature said.
“See, completely reasonable. Not a monster, just a regular creature defending his home. Nothing mystical about it.” Twilight said to them.
“Oh the swamp is a mystical place all right. It's sacred. I reached enlightenment right here under the banyan-grove tree after my tribe got sucked in to this world. I heard it calling me, just like you did.” The human said.
“Sure you did. It seems real chatty.” Rainbow said to him while making a coco expression to the others.
“See this whole swamp is actually one tree spread out over miles.” The human said. “Branches spread and sink and take root and then spread some more. One big, living organism. Just like the entire world.” He said as he stops under the giant branches and sits down.
“I get how the tree is one big thing, but the whole world?” Fire’ said to him.
“Sure. You think you're any different from me or your friends or this tree? If you listen hard enough, you can hear every living thing breathing together. You can feel everything growing. We're all living together, even if most folks don't act like it. We all have the same roots and we are all branches of the same tree.” The human said.
“But what did our visions mean?” Agua said to him.
“In the swamp, we see visions of people we've lost, people we've loved, folks we think are gone. But the swamp tells us they're not. We're still connected to them. Time is an illusion and so is death.” The human explained.
“But what about my vision? It was someone I had never met.” Fire’ pointed out.
“You're the Avatar of Fire. You tell me.” The human said.
After a moment, Fire’ comes to a conclusion. “Time is an illusion. So, it's somepony I will meet.” The human then nods in agreement.
“Sorry to interrupt the lesson, but we still need to find Applejack, Apple Bloom Rarity and Sweetie Belle. There probably in a pot with those other humans by now.” Rainbow said to them.
“I think I know how to find them.” Fire’ then kneels down and places his hoof on the tree. “Everything is connected.” Energy then travels from Firebrand’s hoof to the others location. He sees them being captured by the Foggy Swamp members. Back at the banyan-grove tree, Fire’ stands up and turns to the others. “Come on! We've got to hurry!”


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Back to the Foggy Swamp members, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle are trapped inside a net made of vines while Tho sings.
“Set my lines by the river bed! Caught ten fish and I killed'em dead! Cut'em and gut'em and I tossed the heads in the water to keep them alligators fed.” Tho sang.
“This song sucks.” Sweetie said to Rarity. Suddenly, a jet of water destroys the boat next to Tho and Due's. The two people from the destroyed boat fly into the water. Agua and Firebrand then show up with the others.
“Guys!” Fire’ then uses his firebending to free Apple Bloom and Rarity from their nets.
“We're under attack!” Due yells out. He and Tho then uses their waterbending and throw some water at them, but Agua uses her’s and throws it back.
“Hey, you guys are waterbenders!” She said.
“You too! That means we're kin! Hey Huu! How you been?” Due said to them.
“You know, scared some folks, swung some vines, the usual.” The human the group are with, named Huu, said.
“Huu?” Twilight said.


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Later that night, the group are at the tribes village, eating something that isn't pony related. “How you like that swamp banana?” Due asked them.
“Tastes just like Sweet Apple Acer’s apples.” Applejack said.
“So why were you guys so interested in eating Applejack, Apple Bloom, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo? You've got plenty of those big things wandering around.” Agua said as she points to an alligator next to him.
“You want me to eat old Slim? He's like a member of the family!” Due
“Nice Slim.” Fluttershy said as she pets the gator. She then offers him a big bug.
“Oh, he don't eat no bugs! That's human food.” Due pointed out.
“Where'd you say you was from, Agua?” Tho asked.
“From the North pole.” Agua answered.
“Didn't know there was waterbenders anywhere but here. They got a nice swamp there, do they?” Tho asked.
“No, it's all ice and snow.” Agua pointed out.
“Hmm. No wonder you left.” Tho dryly said.
“We still need a way out of here.” Shining said.
“Don’t worry. I know this swamp better than anyone, I can get you out of here soon.” Huu said to him. On a tree branch, one of the screaming white birds lands on the branch and screams. A nearby vine then rises up and hits the bird.


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At the village where Zuko and Iroh are at, the stallion with the broadswords is walking down a street alone. He hears something behind him, turns and draws his blades. There is nothing behind him. “Who's there?” Some hoofs then grab his and throw him against the wall. He drops his swords. A couple of hoofs then pick them up. The assailant is the Blue Spirit himself.