//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Daughter of Sobek // by Lord Shadow Eclipse //------------------------------// On The Way to Canterlot Zoo - Later That Day Becky and her newfound "friends" had all decided to walk together to the zoo. Along the way, they passed by the open air fish market. They scent of the fresh fish was visibly unappealing to the Rainbooms, but Becky's mouth watered at the scent of fresh caught fish. "Let's see what they have," Becky whispered to herself before taking a sniff. "Salmon, tuna, tilapia, catfish, halibut, cod, trout, and even crawdads." "You like seafood?" Rarity asked, trying to block out the smell of fish. "I do. I especially like sushi, which is like artwork in the form of food," Becky replied. "I do enjoy a nice catfish fry now and then," Applejack said. The smell of fish brought lovely memories to Becky's mind. She remembered that her father was the one to teach her how to fish and they would often go fishing together while he was around. The thing was that they would sometimes go into the water and catch fish with just their teeth, something easy to do since they could both swim great. Becky shook her head to focus on her and the Rainbooms getting to the zoo. "How about we get to the zoo? My mom is probably working there late anyway," Becky said. "I also want to be there to see the eggs hatch." "Eggs? What do you mean?" Fluttershy asked. "The Canterlot Zoo recently built a Nile crocodile exhibit and two of them had produced a nest of eggs," Becky said. "My mom promised me that I would be there to watch them hatch." "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Fluttershy said. "Of course you'd want to get to the zoo after hearing that," Pinkie Pie said. ***** Canterlot Zoo - Nile Crocodile Exhibit Becky led the girls to the newly-built Nile crocodile exhibit and marveled at seeing the powerful reptiles sunning themselves on the grass or were chilling in the water. Becky always enjoyed hanging around them and noticed a few of them swimming over to her. "Hey guys, did you all miss me?" Becky asked the crocs. The crocodiles all growled and bellowed in response. They were all happy and healthy, eating fresh fish and chicken and were well taken care of by the zoo staff. The girls took notice of Becky's interaction with the crocs. "They seem to like you, Becky," Twilight said. "Yeah, sometimes I swim with them," Becky said. The girls looked to Becky as if she had just turned herself into a crocodile. Sunset spoke first. "You actually swim with them?" Sunset asked. Becky shrugged in reply. "They've obviously never hurt me, so I do so from time to time." "Still, it sounds crazy to be swimming with crocodiles," Rarity said. "It would be if you didn't know what to do," Becky said. "Anyway, we gotta find my mom." The girls continued their way through the zoo and Becky finally found her mother handling one of the pangolins. Becky's mother was dressed in typical zookeeper attire and had short brunette hair tied in a short ponytail. She smiled at seeing her daughter with a group behind her. "Hey, sweetie! I guess you had a good day at school?" Becky's mother asked. "Today was pretty cool, I guess," Becky said. "We're here to see the crocodiles hatching." "Oh, that's right! Thanks for reminding me!" Becky's mom said. "Let me just put this little guy away and we'll go see them." Becky and the others followed her mother to the veterinary building to the room where the eggs were being incubated. They were being kept in a special machine designed for incubating the eggs. They all looked inside and could hear the typical call young crocodilians made when they were ready to hatch. "YEONCH, YEONCH, YEONCH!" Before their very eyes, the little crocs all began to emerge from their eggs, blinking their large eyes at the new world they find themselves in. They all seemed to look directly at Becky and made an effort to crawl over to her. Becky put her hands into the incubator had picked up some of the hatchlings and regarded them with kind eyes. "Hey there, little ones!" Becky said to them in a soft voice. "Welcome to the world." The little hatchlings were still making their calls as they were looking at Becky, but at least they seemed to enjoy her holding them. Becky looked over to her mom with a question. "What'll happen to them, now?" she asked. "We'll keep them here until they're big enough to be shipped to other zoos or wildlife sanctuaries," her mom replied. "You and your friends are more than welcome to visit them though." Becky and the others were enjoying seeing the crocodile hatchlings crawl around in the makeshift nest. Becky put the hatchlings back into the incubator and scooped up another handful of hatchlings to give attention to. Fluttershy looked to Becky and asked if she could hold some of the hatchlings. Becky simply handed her the ones she herself was holding. "Is it okay if we all hold some of the hatchlings?" Rainbow asked. "I suppose that will be fine," Becky's mom said. The Rainbooms all took turns holding some of the hatchlings. The hatchlings squirmed at first, but they eventually calmed down and rested comfortably in the warm hands of the girls holding them. Becky was having a lot of fun with the girls and interacting with the newborn crocs until Becky's mom looked at the clock. "Okay girls, it's nearly closing time so I suggest you leave quickly," Becky's mom said. With some reluctance, the Rainbooms and Becky returned the hatchlings to the incubator and Becky led them out of the zoo. Once they passed the Nile crocodile exhibit, Becky heard one of the crocodiles calling. "Hey, Becky! How are today?" she called. Becky couldn't afford to reveal her little "talent" to a bunch of girls she barely knew, so she simply nodded to the crocodile in acknowledgement and went on her way with the others. They left the zoo just in time and Becky turned towards the others. "I'd say today was a good day, wouldn't you agree?" Rarity asked. "Coming here was a good idea! I liked holding the baby crocs," Sunset said. "Yeah, and I'd love to hang out with you again, Becky!" Pinkie said. "Wait, really? You'd all actually like to hang out... with me?" Becky asked. "Of course. We can tell that you'd be a lot of fun to be around, Becky. We'd like to be your first friends here in Canterlot if you want," Applejack said. Becky stared at the girls for a long time. This was the first time anyone had actually wanted to be her friend. And they didn't seem to be the types to be bothered by her appearance. A warmth spread throughout her body and a smiled crept on her face. Feeling safe around them, and seeing that no one else was around, Becky removed her hood in front of them. The girls were all in awe of her true crocodilian appearance. Rainbow seemed to be enthused by her looking like a rock star. Becky looked at the girls with tears streaming down her face and showing a sincere, fanged smile. "Sure! I'd love to hang out with you guys again sometime!" Becky said. "Maybe we can hang out at my place, sometime!" "We'd love that!" Twilight said. "Okay, then!" Becky said before parting ways with the Rainbooms. She intended to make her life in Canterlot better than her old one in Florida. The Rainbooms offered her friendship, and she would make every attempt to be theirs. * * * * * Becky's House Becky and her mom lived somewhere in the rural part of town, in a cozy house by a decent-sized lake where Becky would often swim. In fact, that was what Becky went to do as soon as she got home. Becky had been swimming in the lake ever since she and her mother moved there. She changed into her swimsuit and swam through the waters of the lake like a torpedo, swimming with a newly-sprouted tail. She would sprout her tail to swim only when she swam alone, which was a lot. If she was in a public pool, she would swim with her arms and legs like a normal human, and even then she could swim better than the average. With her nictitating membranes over her eyes, Becky swam through the water with her powerful tail swishing from side to side. The bottom of the lake had groves of aquatic plants, schools of sunfish, and even a snapping turtle chilling among the weeds. Becky snapped at a few bluegill and red-ear before surfacing. There were several ducks and frogs among the lily pads and there even some deer drinking from the lake on the shore farthest from Becky. Becky just stared at the bullfrogs around her. "Frog legs sound pretty good right about now," Becky said. "Then again, Mom said she'd be bringing pizza home, so I'll just continue swimming for now." Becky just continued swimming around in the lake among the fish and rested at the bottom, having a staring contest with the snapping turtle she saw earlier. She stared right into the turtle's eyes as the turtle simply sat there. The turtle was wondering why the hell a human-crocodile being was staring so intently into his eyes, but he was too scared to look away or try to move away from her. The turtle tried closing his eyes to try to make himself look invisible to the croc girl, and when he opened his eyes again, the girl was swimming away from him. "Ha! I won!" Becky thought. Breaching the water and leaping into the air with speed she spun in the air with her tail swishing when she noticed something on one of the shores of the lake. Or rather, someone. It was Roller Rock, the guy who had helped her out on her first day. He was carrying a fishing pole and a tackle box in his hands and he was looking at Becky with wide eyes. Becky was so scared that she forgot to stick the landing in the water. She belly-flopped in the water and she felt like her whole body got slapped. Shaking off the pain of the impromptu belly-flop, she surfaced and could see that Roller was still there, and he was just as shocked as she was. "Uh... Becky?" Roller asked cautiously. "Is that you?" "Uh... yes," Becky replied. "Did you see anything?" "You mean... the tail?" Roller replied. "I distinctly remember seeing a tail." The two stared at each other for a long time unsure of what to do now. Becky was going to have a hell of a time explaining this.