Fluttershy entered the bathroom to the sound of the shower running. She peeked in and saw Mud, frowning, sitting in the tub covered in soap. Pinkie Pie stood beside the tub scrubbing her with a brush.
To the sight, the Pegasus tilted her head with a curious expression. “What happened?”
Pinkie looked back at her, smiling big as she continued to run the brush across Mud’s shoulders.
“Oh, hey Fluttershy! She rolled in the flower bed outside.”
Fluttershy’s expression only became more questioning, “…why?” She glances at the Kelpie, who'd only grown a snarling look on her foam covered face.
Pinkie shrugs, “I don’t know, could you ask her?”
The Pegasus straightens her posture, letting out a sigh as she walks up beside the tub. “Maybe later, Starlight said she got the report back from the hospital, she wanted to speak with Mud.”
Pinkie jumps up excitedly, “Can I go too?!”
The Pegasus gestures a wing, “If you want, it won't take long.”
Mud gave her a worried glance.
Pinkie set a hoof on the Kelpies shoulder, “Aw, don’t worry, it’s not so bad.”
Mud looks at her, worry fading slightly. But she let out a low groan, hunching over the foaming water.
Starlight sat on the couch in the living room, Fluttershy beside her. Mud sat in the reclining chair across from them, a towel under her as she was still drying off.
Starlight passes Fluttershy a clipboard, on it were papers. The Pegasus glances over them briefly, to Mud’s anxiousness. Then looks up, “Well, we already knew this, but you’re not Pony. But still closely enough related.”
Mud listened, that’s not the worst thing I’ve heard. Her face formed a certain expression.
Fluttershy hesitates before continuing, “It’s been a couple days, how are you?”
Mud shrugs, grunting what Fluttershy heard as “Okay I guess.”
Fluttershy’s eyes widen with interest as she looks at the paper again, “It looks like you’ve got a naturaly high immune system, so that’s good… But.” She looks up at the Kelpie, who’d now become concerned.
“You’ll still need shots for a few, but that shouldn’t be too bad.”
Mud stares a moment, meowing a question.
Fluttershy gestures a wing, “It’s a type of medicine.”
The Pegasus lowers the clipboard, “But there is something else.”
The Kelpie waves a hoof, growling for her to continue. Fluttershy shares a glance with Starlight, then looks at Mud. “You… are a carnivore aren’t you?”
Mud hesitates, growling again while holding a hoof to her own chest.
Fluttershy curtly shakes her head, “Yes, you are a Kelpie, but Kelpies… Eat meat, right?”
Mud nods slowly, gaze falling to the ground as a frown forms.
Fluttershy gestures with a hoof, “You probably suspected this by now, but we don’t do that stuff here.”
Mud pauses, raising a hoof to her chin as she thought. But she shakes her head, waving that hoof dismissively while growling. *whatever, it’s not like I need too. I wasn’t good at it anyway*
Fluttershy nods slowly, “That’s… good, I guess. It’s definitely not allowed, so if that won’t be a problem then we can be done now.”
Mud didn’t change her expression, but the Pegasus went on, “We can make another appointment to see if you’ve made progress recovering, but it seems you’re doing well.”
Mud calms enough to meet the Pony’s gaze, meowing her response.
Fluttershy nods, a smile forming. “Then that should be it, is there anything we can get you?”
Mud’s gaze was on the floor again, expression indifferent as memories began coming back.
The kelpie left the living room with a stalking posture, her agitation visible. Starlight and Fluttershy looked on with worried expressions, just until they couldn’t see her.
Starlight turns to Fluttershy, “You didn’t ask her, why?”
The Pegasus looks at her sternly, but it turns to sympathy. “Do we really need to, it’s a personal subject.”
Starlight straightens up, setting out a hind leg to get off the couch. “I get it, but if we really are trying to help her, then this counts as a problem.” She drops down and takes a few steps.
Fluttershy looks at the floor, her thoughts conflicting. “I guess, but we can’t just accuse Mud, how can I even approach her?”
Starlight shakes her head, “Just tell her we know, maybe she’ll come clean.”
The Pegasus hesitates, and then smiles faintly. “Alright, I’ll try tomorrow, it seems like she doesn’t like being pried at for long.”
Starlight nods, “Good, I’m going to see if I got a response from Twilight.”
To the Unicorns excitement, a scroll did indeed appear, but not until that evening. In the library by the balcony window, the letter burst up from the mail cauldron in a ball of fire, and Starlight whipped around to see it hovering there. She gripped it with her magic and unrolled it, reading the words closely.
Dear Starlight,
I was not expecting a letter from you so soon, and with such an interesting subject of conversation. I wish I had seen this sooner, but now it may take some time to research from my position.
Keep trying where you’re at, keep me updated, I’ll be keeping a hoof on this while I continue my assignments here. If there is anything else you need do write to me again, I can’t wait until I come see you again, and this new species you’ve discovered.
I want to know everything you’ve found out.
Twily,
Starlight’s excitement fades, but she glances over the letter again, keeping a smile as missing her friend brought a pang of sadness deep down.
Ever since the defeat of Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy, Twilight had been taking trips to Canterlot more often, each time she went growing longer, and her time in Ponyville growing shorter. She’d been taking lessons from Celestia and Luna, as well as helping in the reconstruction of the castle.
Starlight and the others waited eagerly for Twilight’s letters, as it became the only time to talk with her while she was in Canterlot for a week to a month. But the times she came back were what they waited for the most.
The Unicorn glanced up, focusing on her thoughts about what all she had found out about this Kelpie, anything she could ask Twilight to find. But this guest wasn’t an open book, and with Fluttershy being the only one to understand her made things slow.
Fluttershy, understand, hmm… Starlight thought a moment longer, looking up to see the moon dragging almost to midnight.
She gathered a few more books from the shelves, and walked over to sit at the large desk in the middle of the floor. But as she began reading, her eyes closed slowly, and before getting past the first page of the first book, she fell asleep, her horn “tunked” on the desk as she dozed off.