//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: Child of the Swamp // by Topazzia //------------------------------// It was close to noon, and after nonstop walking, the far-reaching wall of trees now loomed overhead, now more intimidating than it had looked from a distance. The trees stood from sixty meters, to clusters of even bigger ones. By living next to the Everfree Forest for so long, the sight didn’t intimidate in the slightest. But there was still a familiar sense from seeing the overgrowth. The Ponies stared up at the wall of green in front of them, eyes wide and mouths agape in amazement. Starlight was the first to step forward, “Alright, let’s get moving before it gets dark.” Apple Jack gestures a hoof at the greenery, “Well now everypony just be careful, we don’t know what’s in there.” Fluttershy glances around as she followed, “Oh, probably snakes, scorpions, and wolves.” Starlight looks back at her with a critical look, “Anything else?” The Pegasus nods, “Oh there’s much, much more.” The forest grew dark instantly, the canopy blocking out most of the midday sunlight. Vines dangled over every branch and shrubs concealed the ground. There wasn’t much stealth, with hooves snapping twigs and crunching leaves. Along with any such maneuvering of the vines caused the branches above to rattle and shed bits of wood. Starlight’s horn projected a shield that did pushed the vines aside, as well as the necessary light to see the trees around the ponies. Apple Jack flicked her ears in every direction she heard a step, or possible huff of breath. It became apparent to Fluttershy as well, than Starlight. The marching stopped, and the shimmering from Starlight’s horn dropped out, there was silence for a while. Her eyes adjusting to the darkness, Starlight peered through the trees, only seeing what was illuminated by the beams of yellow light that speckled the ground. There were rustles, but not anywhere ground level. Birds flitted across the canopy, the chirping sounded distant as the Ponies concentrated. Rainbow’s more adjusted Pegasus eyes focused on the shadows, suddenly centered on a pair of what looked like eyes. But only for a second, as when she realized what she’d just seen, the glowing yellow eyes blinked out. The blue Pegasus lifts a hoof, pointing it in the direction of her discovery. “There! I saw something!” The others look, but don’t see. Rainbow extends her wings defensively, “I saw something… Somepony’s watching us.” Apple Jack’s head jerks up in response to a few leaves falling past her face, seeing a large figure move across the branches. “Ah think yer right.” Then there was a heavy thump, the vibrations rattling a nearby tree. And a puff of hot air, like a grunt from a large animal. The ponies watched with wide eyes as the creature in front of them slowly rose up, standing at its full height. The murky blue fur and black mane were visible, the eyes shown bright from the large head that turned down to look at the ponies. Starlight stared in amazement, Three times the size of a Zebra… This looks like four! Two other Kelpies of equal size appeared on either side of the first. One was tan with dark blotches down his sides, and the other was deep grey. Their shining gaze was a mix of boredom and confusion. The first Kelpie sniffed the air, and looked over brightly covered visitors. A growl rose from deep in his throat, along with muffled clicking. His jaws barely opened to emanate the question through his teeth. Starlight shifted nervously, “Uuh…” She nudges Fluttershy with her hind leg. The Pegasus gulps, and steps forward, forcing a smile, “Um, hi?” The Kelpies looked at each other, and back to the Ponies. The blue one lowered his head slightly to Fluttershy’s level, while the other two cautiously moved around to either side of Rainbow and Apple Jack, sniffing the air curiously. The blue Kelpie growled again a question. Fluttershy calms herself, gesturing a hoof to the other three Ponies. “We’re Ponies, my name is Fluttershy.” The blue Kelpie looked past her to them, intrigue beginning to fade from his eyes. He tip his head, grumbling something. Fluttershy hesitated, “Um, are you Kelpies?” The other two Kelpies looked up, the tan one rolling his eyes. He growled to Fluttershy, and looked back to Apple Jack, who continued her stern look. Fluttershy looked back at the Kelpie, “It’s just… Mud isn’t nearly as big as you.” The blue Kelpie grunts, and Fluttershy looks back at him. “She’s a Kelpie, from the Swamp I guess.” The grey Kelpie sits down, turning away from Rainbow, who had her wings spread defensively. Grey looked over at the yellow Pegasus. He growled questioningly. Blue looked up at Grey, growling something as Fluttershy watched. Starlight whispered to Fluttershy, “What are they saying?” The Pegasus whispers back, “They know about the Swamp, something about a Tribe.” Starlight’s eyes widen, “Ask them where it is.” Fluttershy hesitated as the Kelpies spoke to each other, raising a hoof slightly to get Blue’s attention. The Kelpie looked down at her, ears angled forward. “Um, sorry to interrupt, but do you know where the Swamp is?” The Kelpies shared a glance, while Tan huffed and stood up. Blue shrugged, grumbling while doing the same, and pointed a hoof into the shrubs. Fluttershy looks into the dark trees, and back to Blue. “Can you take us there?” Blue grins, shaking his head. He growled again while taking a few steps aside. Fluttershy tilted her head questioningly as the group watched the three Kelpies trod into the bushes together. Starlight moves up beside Fluttershy, “Did you get their names?” She shook her head, “No, but that one called himself a Loner.” Rainbow flapped her wings, “What was their deal?” Apple Jack watched the bushes the Kelpies left through, “Pro’lly never seen Ponies before. But what were they? Mud’s a little thing compared to those Kelpies.” Starlight nodded, “I read one of Zecora’s books, it says Kelpies grow really big, maybe even bigger than those three.” Rainbow glanced at the trees filled with shadows. “So there’re more of them?” Starlight gestures a hoof, “Sounds like it, if there’s a whole Tribe, there might be civilization out here.” Apple Jack walks up, urging the Ponies to move on. “Let’s get to it, before some less friendly biggin’s find us.” Further into the forest, the sky became overcast. Later the trees changed from oaks to balsa and willows. The ground glistened with condensation, and the leaves on the ground were rotted to black soil. Eventually a mist filled the space between trees, and the clouds overhead grew darker, limiting the Ponies’ visibility to almost nothing. Starlight kept her horn glowing, leading around the large thorn bushes that came up from the mist. She kept her gaze down, watching the ground to find the right path. Around trees and bushes, and then large pools of water, dark murky water covered with leaves and algae, made worse with the deep shadow that stayed over the apparent swamp. The Unicorn continually checked her compass to make sure not to get turned around, but it came to being stuck on a peninsula. Starlight looked around, seeing land ahead of them, but a decent sized gap of water that would make reaching it difficult. Fluttershy stayed closer to Rainbow, and Apple Jack walked up beside Starlight, also glancing at the water. The Earth Pony spotted a dead branch on the ground, “How ‘bout that?” Starlight looks over too, and grasps it with magic. She lifted it over the water vertically, setting it gently into the water, testing where the shallows were. The Ponies went further in, trees only just beginning to thin out and even more, deeper, water pools scattered everywhere. It came to Starlight testing the water again, and again, until in every direction forward was deeper than the stick, which was the height of a pony. Starlight hummed, looking around to see any path ahead. But this potential runoff from a river was too wide for herself and Apple Jack to cross. The Unicorn looked back to her friends after testing the water depth again, leaving the branch submerged. “We gotta turn around again.” Just then the water sloshed, and Starlight nearly fell into the dark soup of black algae and debris as the stick was jerked down into the stirred up silt. She pulled back without resistance, stumbling as she lifted the branch up. The stick was now half its size, the end frayed and cleanly sheered. The ponies stared with shock, and looked down to the ripple of water that circled their island. Apple Jack stepped forward, leaning over the water. Fluttershy reached out a hoof, “Be careful, don’t get so close!” The ripples stopped right in front of AJ. The Earth Pony looked down at the bubbles that began to rise near the water’s edge, and the shine of glowing green eyes that looked up at her. Apple Jack jumped back as fang filled jaws shot up into the air her throat was a second ago. The skinny attacker thumped her mud covered hooves to the ground, soaked algae covered face wrinkling in a hound like snarl. Rainbow Dash stepped in front of Fluttershy and Starlight, “Get back! Apple Jack jumped back, dropping into a similar pose as the small Kelpie. Fluttershy instead pushed past her blue friend and put out a hoof, “Stop! We’re not here to hurt you!” The sludge Kelpie let out a low hiss, mimicking an almost perfect crocodile. She growled and made an advancement of a few steps, her back arched up and tail lashing. The Kelpie resembled a cat in behavior, but made sounds like a large reptile. Just like Mud. Fluttershy lowered her hoof, and stood firm. But her response to the growl was filled with caution. “Fish?” The Pegasus muttered. The Kelpie grunted harshly, back slowly lowering. Fluttershy shook her head, “No, you shouldn’t eat fish. You can have vegetables.” The Kelpie hissed again, and stomped across the small island to descend flawlessly into the water. Starlight looked on, seeing the ripple of water again. The Kelpie was swimming at a speed unlike the Unicorn had ever seen. Apple Jack sighed, “We close yet Starry?” Starlight looked at her, “That Kelpie was about normal size, I’d say yes.” Being more cautious around water, and without a testing branch, the Ponies weaved around trees and thorn bushes. The swap becoming hotter and less waterlogged the further they went. But then everything changed. The trees grew fewer apart, and grass covered the ground instead of piles of muck and leaves. And eyes, lots of eyes. Kelpies began appearing one after another, giving curious glances from where they crouched and stalked amongst the lowest undergrowth. Many of the Kelpies followed, and eyed the brightly colored strangers with every emotion. They moved silently, not a single twig snapped under their hooves. All the noise in the swamp made were distant crickets, and the hoofsteps from the ponies. It was an eerie revelation to Starlight, as she noticed the Kelpie’s silence. How do they do that? But then strange formations in the tall weeds drew her attention. Large round rocks, but strange and oddly formed. On passing one, Starlight saw a small opening with a pair of glowing eyes staring at her. A shelter? She looks up at the sudden clusters of the same forms of woven weeds, mud, and rocks. Shelter-s! It was a whole camp, or village. So many Kelpies too, their dark coats blending perfectly with the ground, and only a few of the huge kind sat still. But these ones looked different; their coats had long white lines forming patterns around their bodies. Some kind of symbolic body paint? She saw clay bowls as well, some shattered on the ground. There was so much to hint at the Kelpies being civilized, but it was on the line of just being the definition of primitive.