Starlight focused on the land bridge, watching it shimmer on the table’s surface. Nothing to great caught her attention, no such town or any sign of civilization that usually shows. There was only an old looking road, trailing from the turn of rail tracks and fading before making it halfway over the mass of land.
Apple Jack and Rainbow Dash stood on either side of the Unicorn, also looking. Starlight turns to see Fluttershy returning, “Hey Fluttershy.”
The Pegasus didn’t look up, “Hi.” She approached the table, “Mud won’t be joining us.”
Starlight tips her head, “I guess it’ll be up to us to find whatever “swamp” she came from.”
Apple Jack grunts, “We ain’t havin’ much luck at that.”
Rainbow points a feather at the map, “There’s nothing there; should we look somewhere else?”
Starlight sighs, stepping back to get the others in front of her. “We could always go look for ourselves.”
Apple Jack gestures a hoof at the table, “An how do you think we do that? This place is probably miles in all directions.”
The Unicorn nods, “We just need to look in the most obvious places,” She walks up and points at the coastal area of the landmass, “Right around here is where we might find swamps, or maybe a river leading to one.”
She looks up, “I guess it comes down to when we want to leave.”
Rarity waves a hoof, “Now now, should you not tell Twilight where we are going?”
The Unicorn raises a hoof, “If I send her a letter now, it would probably be a while before she responds. Besides, the state Mud was in, I don’t think we should waste any more time to try and find the rest of the Kelpies.”
Rarity and Apple Jack gave Starlight the same look, one of criticalness.
She dismisses them as she turns around, “It’s not like we’re looking for a fight,” She eyes the area on the table, “We just need to know where they really are.”
After a moment Starlight turned to the blue Pegasus, “Rainbow, can you go down to the train station and see if there are any stops close enough to here?”
She taps a hoof on a small conjunction of roads just near the edge of the land bridge. Rainbow takes a quick look at the map, and flew up into the air.
“Can do Starry,” She glides out into the hallway.
Apple Jack looks at the Unicorn, “When we leavin’?”
Starlight turns to her, “We can leave on the next train heading that way.”
AJ tilts her head, looking critical. “And Twi?”
Starlight hesitated, glancing around at the others expectant gazes.
She sighed, “We should be fine, but I could write a letter. Although it may take a while before we get a response.”
AJ sighs, raising a hoof to touch her hat. “Ah suppose you’d know best.” She starts walking to the door, just ahead of Starlight. “Ah be right back, if this is anything like the last several times we go out, I wanna make sure everything’s alright back at the farm.”
Rarity became alert at that, “Oh yes,” She quickly follows, “An excellent idea Apple Jack.”
Starlight watches them leave, and turns to Pinkie and Fluttershy. “Do you two need to go?”
The Pegasus looks at the ground, “I really shouldn’t, what if Mud needs something?”
Pinkie bounces up on her tail like a spring, “I got nothin’ to do, I can keep an eye on her while you’re out.”
Fluttershy flaps her wings and hovers just off the floor, “She’s in her room, but she’s acting a bit strange, you’ll have to be gentle Pinkie.”
The Earth Pony waves a hoof, “Aw, you know me; I’m as gentle as a cloud.” She smiles innocently, reaching into thin air to pull in front of her, to Fluttershy’s shock, a canon. Pinkie speeds away, pushing the party artillery out the door and down the hall.
“Oh my…” The Pegasus looks on with Starlight, who took a step forward.
The Unicorn glances up at Fluttershy before walking out, “Everything gonna be okay?”
Fluttershy hesitates, and smiles curtly. “Yes, it should be.”
Starlight continued out the front door, trotting the dirt road into Ponyville. Her thoughts centered on what the possibilities were for what Zecora could tell her, if she knew about Kelpies, where they are, if she’d seen any. Or maybe nothing, the Zebra might not know.
Anything would help right now. Starlight thought as she strode up the weed lined path through the tall dark trees. It wasn’t even night, and the sound of crickets and other insects chirped and buzzed.
The Pony could barely hear the rustling of mice or scratching of birds as she neared the interior of the overgrowth. The warm weather was perfect for the forest plants, causing them to grow into impenetrable walls. Starlight stepped around a low hanging branch to see the gnarled yet polished oak tree, the naturally grown windows sending candle light into the clearing.
The door was shut, and a mist hung in the thick plumes of leaves as more smoke poured from the chimney. Starlight stopped at the door, lifting herself slightly to see through the window.
The Zebra was there, holding a book with one hoof and moving around the cauldron in the middle of the floor. The wide cast iron vat bubbled out the orange goo, of which Zecora tossed in seeds and sticks as she passed it.
Starlight tapped a hoof on the door, “Zecora? It’s me Starlight, can I come in?”
The Zebra looked up, calling back, “If you wish to visit me, by all means, I’m not vary busy.”
The Unicorn smiled and sighed, preparing herself for the repeated rhyming Zecora would soon speak.
Starlight slid the door open, feeling the heat from the fire pit. She walked in and sat just off of Zecora’s invisible pacing paths.
The Zebra glances over, “You have the look of some pony in thought, hopefully it’s a subject I was taught.”
Starlight’s ears angle forward, “I hope so. You see, recently, we’ve been letting a newcomer stay in the castle.”
Zecora closed the book, dropping a final leaf into the cauldron. She stands and hooks a large ladle in her hooves, dipping it and stirring the orange substance, looking up to focus on the Pony.
Starlight continued, “She’s… not a Pony, she comes from the west.”
Zecora tips her head, “And what is she, if not a pony?”
The Unicorn shrugs a hoof, “Have you heard of Kelpies?”
Zecora stops, touching a hoof to her chin. “I can’t say really, her appearance maybe?”
Starlight nods, “Yeah, she looks like a Pony, except for sharp teeth, glowing eyes, a dark coat…”
The Zebra smiles, and grips the ladle again. “Sounds like a bat, though even you could see that.”
Lifting a hoof, Starlight went on. “Yeah, we considered that. But I found in a book, Kelpies were a myth that came from the Western Land Bridge.”
The stirring halts again, and Zecora turns to glance over the book spines on the shelves. She walks over to a deep grey colored one, settling a hoof on it.
“Unfortunately my Pony friend, I only have stories from that end.” She pulls the book out, and flips to a page. Passing it to Starlight, the Unicorn saw that the whole page was scribbled on with black ink, the form of a strange creature, surrounded by a language she didn’t know.
Zecora went on to translate it, “Nomads that returned from Equestria long ago, brought stories of encounters with Ponies, Dragons, and Driads.”
Starlight turned the pages, seeing one grotesque depiction after another.
“Before the Pillars and Princesses, monsters flocked by the masses.”
Zecora walked up, turning the book to a certain page, one that had the depiction of a dark figure. It had no coloring for the eyes, and it was mostly smudges of black, but it didn’t resemble a Pony.
“Three times bigger than any Zebra, a bite more deadly than a cobra. It hides in water, and rivals even the most feared hunter.”
She sits down in front of the Pony, “It was said they roam all forms of terrain, but they always return to the lands of most rain.”
Starlight looks up, “Mud said she came from a swamp, that’s a high precipitation environment.”
Zecora tips her head again, “Oh they speak do they? I suppose they’re not so different, from we who bleat or nay.” She lifts a hoof to herself. “I’ve no recollection of how they sound; only the stories say that they howl like a wild hound.”
Starlight glances to the side, “Well, that is true. Only Fluttershy can talk to her.”
She looks down at the book, seeing the apparent image of a massive Kelpie. “But Mud isn’t big, she’s just about my height… but everything else sounds right.”
She turns more pages, “Is there anything about where they live? A map maybe?”
Zecora shrugs, “Monster territory had no end, when that book was first amend.”
Starlight stands up, lifting the book to the Zebra. “Thanks Zecora.”
The Zebra smiles, “A pleasure, even if it wasn’t leisure.”
Smiling, the Unicorn turns and walks away, stopping halfway in the doorway. She looks back, as Zecora put the book on the shelf.
“Hey, I’m going to the Land Bridge with some of the others. But Mud will still be at the castle, if you wanna see her.”
Zecora smiles back, “I would like that very much, to see a living myth as such.”
Starlight walked back to the castle, thinking Rainbow must have gotten back by now. She also thought about Mud, and what Zecora’s book said.
Three times the size of a Zebra… She began thinking, how could the stories describe Mud, she wasn’t any bigger than a pony. Then she remembered Celestia, and other Ponies who have grown bigger than average.
Hmm, Spike… How old is Mud, could Kelpies grow differently than Ponies?
The image of what a fully grown Mud would look like formed in her mind. The equinoid towered over everyone, baring large teeth, bright amber eyes, and a muscle build that could rival Tirek.
Sweet Celestia, I hope that doesn’t happen.