The train moved with what felt like effortless speed over the tracks, heading for Baltimare, but Baltimare was not their destination. For Bucky and Sunset, the train did not go where they were heading and Baltimare was as close as they could get. Bucky had wanted to fly and get the trip over with, but Sunset had insisted on doing a bit of sightseeing, so it had been agreed upon that they would fly out of Baltimare to reach the Hayseed Swamps.
Besides, it would give both Mask and Fever Cure, who were already there, some time to nose around, ask questions, and possibly even solve the case before Bucky and Sunset arrived.
A worrisome problem had revealed itself in a small town called Granther’s Polder, reports had been made of some sort of curse and necromancy was suspected. Foals were sick, there were many deformities, sickness was rampant, and many had died. Bucky and Sunset both were being sent to investigate the situation, with both of them being uniquely suited to deal with necromancy or the dark arts.
For Bucky, this was going to be a simple trip. Find the necromancer responsible, have Sunset Shimmer cast The Purging Flame, and then go home. The evidence, as it was presented, suggested that something was messing around with the natural order and was committing heresy. Vile magic was being used and it seemed like an open and shut case.
Mask and Fever Cure had been sent ahead to ask a few questions, poke around, and examine some of the sick. Bucky was looking forward to seeing them again, it had been a while. While the other Shadowbolts were combative, Mask and Fever Cure both were far more suited for investigative roles.
Yawning, Bucky hoped that those two already had the case wrapped up. It would be as simple as arriving, asking who was responsible, hunting them down, and then dealing with them. Afterwards, he could leave the hot, humid swamp, go home, and go back to the tranquil boredom of homelife.
Granther’s Polder was hot, sticky, and humid. It was hardly even summer and already the temperature was nearing triple digits. Large mosquitos buzzed through the air, making lazy attempts to steal a meal and getting squished for their trouble.
Bucky stood still, looking around, taking it all in. The town itself was a collection of houses, shops, buildings, an old workhouse, a rundown factory, and a dilapidated mansion on top of the hill in the center of town. There was no motel here, no hostel, not even a boarding house. The town was almost dead. The houses and the buildings, the wood had long ago turned grey and faded. The town had lost its lustre. The workhouse was boarded up and the factory no longer functioned; part of it had collapsed in upon itself. Moss hung from the trees and climbing kudzu vines threatened to devour everything. The air was perfumed with the scent of magnolia trees, but the perfume could not hide the smell of rot blowing in from the surrounding swamp.
Blinking, Bucky stood staring at a collection of shacks and shanties, buildings that passed for housing in this place. Granther’s Polder had once been well off, they had once refined a great deal of tar into various products and usable oils. Much of Equestria’s lamp oil had once come from this place and others like it in the Hayseed Swamps. Now, with electricity being so common, lamp oil was no longer a precious commodity.
Looking around, Bucky could not help but feel that this place would be better off if it were abandoned and the ponies relocated to more hospitable regions. There was a dyke around the town that held back the sludge of the swamp. In the distance, vast tar pits bubbled, and the air was filled with a sulfurous stench that made his eyes sting.
“This place has its own charm,” Sunset Shimmer said after looking around for a while.
“This place is a dump—”
“Master!” Sunset’s tone was one of scolding and she gave Bucky a disapproving look. She shook her head. “I bet there is still a lot of history and culture to be had here. I bet there are stories to be told.”
“Yes… Minion, I can imagine them now… we found a hill in the middle of a swamp… we built a settlement and then built levees to hold back the swamp muck… every year we beg the Royal Pony Sisters for more funds to keep the swamp from devouring us… these stories will be fascinating.” Eyes narrowed, Bucky looked around and shuddered with disgust as a mosquito the size of a chickadee flew past his head. Reaching out with his telekinesis, he crushed it, causing it to burst into a bloody, chunky, pulpy mess. It had just eaten it seemed.
“You don’t like this place—”
“Oh, Minion, what could give you that idea?” Bucky asked. “And before you even question me, where do I even begin? How about the fact that I feel like I am breathing soup. The air is in a liquid state. I’ve already got a killer case of swamp arse. I can feel sweat trickling down my back legs. The smell, Minion, the smell… I’ve smelled Appleloosan outhouses left out in the sun that smelled better than this. As for sweating, it is so humid that we can’t even sweat properly to cool off… the one hundred percent humidity keeps the sweat from evapourating. From the looks of things, nopony here has electricity, which means that there is no air conditioning. Minion, this a miserable place. It has no redeeming qualities.”
“Hmph, well.” Sunset tossed her head back and gave Bucky a frustrated glare. Her own hot and sweaty backside made it difficult to argue with him. “We’ll need to find a place to stay.”
“I think I can help you with that,” a mare said as she moved towards Bucky and Sunset. She was pale yellow and had a pale orange mane. “My name is Hibiscus and you must be Lord Buckminster and Sunset Shimmer. We’ve been waiting for you. We’re sorely in need of justice… the residents of Hill House have cursed us.”
“Do you have evidence of this?” Bucky looked at the earth pony mare. She was older, a matron, and it was obvious that she came from strong, sturdy stock. He took note of the mare’s sour stare, her lip curled away from her teeth, and she gave him a stinkeye so terrible that Derpy would have been envious.
“They’re unicorns… the only unicorns in town… the curse is magic… it is rather obvious,” Hibiscus said in a halting voice as she continued to glare at Bucky. After a moment, her expression softened. “My apologies… I fear that we might’ve gotten off on the wrong hoof. I just lost a grandfoal, a filly… we laid her bones to rest not but a week ago. She was born without eyes.”
“Oh my,” Sunset Shimmer gasped.
“By no eyes, I mean no eyes… no eye sockets. Nothing at all where eyes should have been. She lasted all of three days after her birth.” Hibiscus grimaced, shook her head, and then looked at Bucky with pleading eyes. “I’ve done buried several… you gotta help us… I just know that Blackwater and his clan are responsible for all of this… They’re not sick, not at all.”
“We are here to investigate and find out what is going on, but accusing somepony of necromancy and cursing an entire community is serious… the accusation must have evidence. I give you my word, I will try to find who is responsible.” Bucky gave the distraught looking mare a cool stare and felt bad about the disappointment he could see in her eyes.
“Blackwater’s family owns this town. They owned the factory, the refinery, they’re old money… only now, rumour has it, they’re not much better off than the rest of us. The old house on the hill is looking more than a little run down. Each year, it looks a little worse. My family, we owned the workhouse. We used to process alchemical ingredients. At one point, we used to be rather wealthy.” Hibiscus’ eyes narrowed and she turned away from Bucky, looking a little fearful. “We were business associates of House Bitters in Canterlot. When House Bitters fell on hard times, so did we. The last bit of business we had in this town dried up.”
“Have you seen our associates?” Sunset asked, giving Hibiscus a polite smile and changing the subject. She didn’t like how Bucky was squirming, nor did she like the uncomfortable expression upon his face.
“Yes, actually, they’re staying in my house,” Hibiscus replied. “Right now, they are off visiting some of the farmers and swamp folks who live outside of town. I was told to keep an eye out for you.”
“We’d be honoured to be your guests.” Sunset gave Hibiscus a sunny smile and stepped forwards. “If you could lead the way, we would be happy to follow you and we would like to hear what you have to say. Perhaps a bit of a history lesson will give us some insight and give us an idea of where to start looking for clues.” Sunset turned and looked at Bucky, who looked disturbed. She felt a growing sense of worry. Bucky didn’t deal well with anything that had to do with his family and Sunset could not help but wonder why this detail had not been brought up in the briefing.
The house was one of the few still left in good repair. While most of the houses in Granther’s Polder had been constructed out of wood, Hibiscus’ home was made out of rose coloured stone blocks. It was tall, narrow, and sat beside the tall brick workhouse. A decorative tower protruded from the right corner in the front of the house, and the tower was topped with a cupola made of copper and stained glass. While it was pretty, in its own way, it was not ostentatious in the slightest, it was a modest house for a family that had once been well off.
It stood in sharp contrast with the mansion on the top of the hill, which had once been a magnificent white plantation style mansion. Now, most of the white had flaked away and the old mansion looked as though it was crumbling.
Entering, Bucky was pleasantly surprised by how much cooler it was inside of the house. In the middle of the house, a waterfall fell from the top floors. Several fans circulated air, blowing a breeze through the falling water, and the resulting evaporation had cooled the house down considerably. Bucky looked around, uncertain of what was powering the fans.
Standing in the entryway and looking up, Bucky could see a narrow square opening that went from the ground floor to the top floor where the waterfall originated. Around the central open area, there were balconies on each floor that led to the rooms. Just inside the entryway, where the waterfall pool was, there was an indoor garden of flowers and plants. The beauty of the interiour of the house stood out in sharp contrast to the run down appearance of the town.
“I have rooms for you both on the fourth floor… the stairs are in the back.” Hibiscus looked around, her ears perking up, her expression one of impatience. “Coriander! Where are you! We have guests!”
“Coming mother!” A mossy green mare with a muted pink mane appeared on the second floor balcony, looking down, a smile upon her face.
“Coriander is a good mare, but she is absent minded and a bit slow, so please be patient with her. I think it’s part of the curse… you’ll find quite a few ponies in town just like her.” Hibiscus waited, her ears perking when she heard the sounds of hooves on wood. “She will show you to your rooms.”
Bucky watched as Coriander approached. Something seemed… off about her. The mare shuffled, uncoordinated, she had a rather severe underbite, and something about her face just seemed… out of place. Not wanting to be rude, not wanting to stare, he turned to look at Hibiscus and saw that the wise old matron was staring at him.
“When you get settled, I would like for you to meet Laurel and Lavender,” Coriander said in a low voice. “They are both very shy and self conscious about their… condition. Little Laurel and little Lavender, along with many other foals their age, are all… well, deformed. They can be quite hard to look at. I must say, Mask and Fever Cure both are good ponies… they put them both at ease and have been very kind to her. Laurel and Lavender are a living miracle as far as I’m concerned… the doctor said they wouldn’t last a day when they were born.”
“My name is Coriander.” The pale green mare gave Bucky a warm, inviting smile. “Hi.”
“Hello,” Bucky replied, being polite. He could not help but notice that Coriander suffered from a bit of exotropia—her eyes focused outwards, away from one another. He thought of Derpy and felt a twinge of homesickness.
“Would you like to see your room?” Coriander asked.
“Yes, please.” Sunset Shimmer stepped forwards and looked Coriander in the eye. “Your mane is so pretty… how do you manage to keep it looking so nice in all of this humidity?”
Coriander, looking bashful, rubbed her right front leg against the left, her mouth moved, but she did not answer. Her breathing became heavy and she grunted a few times, looking flustered. She stood, staring at Sunset Shimmer, her cheeks darkening with a powerful blush.
“You’re very kind,” Hibiscus said, her voice almost a whisper. “Thank you.”
“Whoever is responsible for this will not think us kind at all.” Bucky’s words carried with them a certain dreadful weight. “Madam, we thank you for your hospitality. We are grateful to be your guests.” Bucky bowed his head and looked Hibiscus in the eye. “I give you my word, I’m going to get down to the bottom of this.”