//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Child of the Swamp // by Topazzia //------------------------------// Mud woke to quiet tapping on the wall beside her, she opened her eyes slightly. Her body felt sore, and weak. Pinkie’s face appeared in the opening of the hiding place, smiling and eyes wide. “Wakey wakey.” She whispered, “I’ve got something for you.” Mud looked at her through partly closed eyes, not understanding what this pink thing was saying. But then Mud suddenly caught the sweet smell of cookies, pulling herself out of the cupboard to see if there were any. She saw the plate on the floor, stacked with the small circles of the dirt cookies. Mud didn’t care if they weren’t prey, they tasted great. Mud slams a hoof on top of the pile, pulling it closer to the cupboard. Pinkie jumped away, prancing back into the kitchen. Mud ate one cookie, chewing it slowly. They were warm, and gooey for some reason. But that made them better, making them almost sweeter. Then she shoveled the rest into her mouth, licking the crumbs off the plate and floor. Mud slid out of the cupboard, arching her back in a stretch, extending her front hooves. She followed Pinkie into the kitchen, licking her lips as her mouth felt dry. In the kitchen, Pinkie was moving back and forth, pouring ingredients into several bowls. Mud didn’t care, she followed the scent of water to the sink, but found the basin was only filled with weird rocks and stagnant foaming water. She glared at it, confused as to the state of the water even though these creatures carried clean water with them. Pinkie appears next to her, “You don’t have to do those, you’re our guest, I’ll take care of it.” Mud reaches a hoof over and taps the faucet hard, groaning in frustration. Pinkie points at the handle, “You pull that.” Mud looks at it, tapping the handle with a hoof. Water began pouring from the faucet, Mud’s eyes went wide. She gripped the faucet with both hooves, putting her muzzle under the stream. Pinkie stepped back as water ran down Mud’s chest and onto the floor. “I guess I’ll clean that up too.” She bounces back over to the bowls, continuing her baking. Starlight walks in the front entrance of Sugar Cube Corner, approaching the counter. Mrs. Cake was there, the blue mare looks up. “Hello Starlight.” The unicorn approaches the counter, “Hi Mrs. Cake, is Pinkie here?” Mrs. Cake nods, pointing a hoof at the doorway. “In the back, and Mud is too.” Starlight smiles faintly, “Can I go see them?” The sky blue pony dips her head, “Go ahead.” Starlight goes around the counter and walks into the kitchen. She sees Pinkie and Mud sitting at the table, Mud was lapping something from a bowl, probably cereal as the box and milk carton were also on the table. Pinkie looks up as Starlight approached, “Hi Starlight!” She shrieks, startling Mud into spilling the bowl of milk. Starlight glances at Mud, “Everything okay?” Pinkie waves a hoof, “Yeah, we were just having lunchfast.” Mud shoves the empty bowl to Pinkie, grunting irritably. Pinkie pours more cereal and milk into it, as Starlight sits in one of the empty chairs. Mud pulls the bowl back quickly and starts lapping up the cereal again. Starlight looked almost relieved, “Just make sure she’s drinking water.” Pinkie holds her head up proudly, “Done and done.” The Unicorn fixes her eyes on the Bush Pony, “I’ve sent letters to the security offices of nearby towns, we’ll hear from them in a few days. If they find anything about a grey coated mare named Mud, that doesn’t speak Ponish, maybe we’ll find out where she came from.” Mud finishes the bowl and reaches over, snatching the box of cereal and biting the corner off. Pinkie quickly takes it back. Starlight tilts her head, looking on with concern. “She’s still not speaking?” Pinkie smiles at the unicorn, “Not really, but I think I’m getting the hang of it.” Mud growls again, Pinkie gestures to her while pouring cereal from the new hole in the box. “Like that, it means ‘more’.” Starlight blinks, “How do you know that?” Pinkie pours the milk, “She says it when she wants more.” Starlight pauses, turning to get off the chair. “Well, bring her by the castle when you’re finished. We fixed up one of the extra rooms for her to stay in, and bring Fluttershy when she comes back. I want her to talk with Mud.” Pinkie waves goodbye as the unicorn walks out, “Can do Starry!” Mud looks around the at the massive room she sat in, barley noticing as the yellow Pegasus walks in and sits in the chair to her right. Mud sat on one that looked similar, but it was much wider so several can also sit on it. The room itself was strange, with a large red pelt covering the floor. There was a hole in the wall, with charred wood oiled in it, and a large shimmering spider looking thing hanging from the ceiling. Fluttershy spoke softly, drawing Mud’s attention with the ability for her to understand them completely. “How are you doing Mud?” The grey mare stared for a moment, “Fine…” The Pegasus smiled, “That’s good… I was wondering if we could talk.” Mud relaxed slightly, looking at the floor. “Okay.” Fluttershy waited a second, “Did you come to Ponyville by yourself?” Mud only looks at her, not saying a thing. The Pegasus continues, “Is there someone that might be looking for you.” Mud quickly turns her gaze to the floor, mind reeling. Fluttershy’s comforting expression starts turning concerned, “Do you have any friends, any family?” Mud tenses, her hooves curled anxiously. She closes her eyes tightly, trying to suppress her emotions. Fluttershy hops down, walking over to sit by the mare, “Oh Mud.” She sets her hoof on the Mud relaxed herself, taking a deep breath, she lifts her hooves to cover her face, while shrugging off the pony. Mud grumbled, “I’m fine.” Fluttershy looked sympathetic, speaking softly. “It’s okay, we want to help you, anything you can tell us will be great.” Mud looks up, all signs of sadness gone, replaced by cold annoyance. Fluttershy moved around to stand in front of Mud, locking eyes with her. “Where are you from?” Mud sighs, looking away. She was thinking really hard, Fluttershy could tell. But then Mud spoke, “The Swamp.” Fluttershy’s eyes widen, her smile returning. “Where’s that?” Mud looks at her, confusion suddenly filling her eyes. “In the Forest…” Fluttershy nods slowly, question filling her gaze now. “Do you know where you are?” Mud stared, muttering, “I don’t know… The Flatlands I suppose?” Fluttershy gestures around her, “You’re in Ponyville, in Mid-Equestria.” Mud reclined in her seat, looking completely stunned. “How far is that from The Swamp?” Fluttershy shrugs, “We don’t know what swamp you’re talking about. Is it Froggy Bottom Bog?” Mud frowns, “It’s in Kelpie Territory.” Fluttershy leans forward, “Is that what you are? A Kelpie?” Mud widens her eyes, “Are you not?” The yellow mare extends her wings, “I’m a pony, also the others.” The Kelpie let her face fall into her hooves, groaning. “I thought something was weird, Kelpie’s aren’t Flat Teeth!” Fluttershy gets up, “I think that’s all we can do for now… We made a room for you if you’d like to rest a while.” Mud hesitates, staring ahead, pondering what she’d just found out. But she mutters again, “Okay.” Mud looked around as she walked up the hall, eyes wide at how massive it was. She followed the yellow Pony, passing by large wooden panels along the wall. They stopped by one of them. Fluttershy pushes it open, “Until we can figure things out, this is your room.” Mud’s eyes go wide seeing it appear from behind the wall, this castle must be bigger than she thought. She stepped inside, “You things like big huts…” Fluttershy tilts her head to that, but points to the bed. “If there’s anything we can get you, extra pillows, less blankets?” Mud looks at the massive bed, approaching slowly. Nose twitching as the musty smell hit her, she pokes it. “What is this?” Fluttershy looks on as the Kelpie jumps onto it, freezing as it molded around her hooves. “It’s a bed, you sleep on it.” Mud settles to sit. “Big nest…” She muttered to herself. Fluttershy turns to leave, “Will you be okay?” Mud looks at her, expression blank. “Yeah…” She mutters, turning away from Fluttershy. Fluttershy gives the Kelpie one last worrisome glance before closing the door. Mud looks out the large window, seeing the vast expanse of land. She felt strange being in such a different place, everything was an opposite from what she was used to. Mud lifted her hooves up and down, feeling the ‘bed’ deform with ease. She lay on her side, curling up with her tail across her face, hiding from the light that flooded from the window.