The Turbulent Woods of Cauldron Valley

by Zoura3025

Chapter 2: A Walk in the Woods

Murky groaned softly at the sight that greeted her when she awoke. Both Honey and the 'ghost filly' were staring at her with tear-stained eyes and cheeks, and her blanket had been draped over her.
"What happened…?" Murky croaked.
Honey's eyes widened, and she hugged Murky tightly. "M-Murky! You're awake!" She squeaked, "I-I'm sorry! I should've flown harder, I-I should've…"

Murky hugged Honey close as the filly began to sob again.
"Honey… I'm okay, I'm just tired…" Murky murmured softly, before looking at the 'ghost filly', who was now attempting to slink away.
"W-wait," Murky said, making the 'ghost filly' freeze. She turned to face Murky.
"I-I'm sorry y-you fell," The 'ghost filly' whined, slowly pacing back over.
Murky finally had a chance to get a good look at her.

The 'ghost filly' was a bit larger than Honey Syrup, and had a mint-green-and-pink-striped mane with a light magenta body. More importantly, however, she had both a horn and wings; she was an alicorn.
This fact trumped Murky's odd train of thought, "You're an alicorn!" She squeaked.
The 'ghost filly' shrank back slightly. "I-Is that a bad thing?" She asked nervously.
Murky shook her head, "No, but… Usually, alicorns are princesses. Why are you out here all by yourself?" She asked.
Honey was finally calming down, slowly looking up between the 'ghost filly' and Murky.
The 'ghost filly' shivered a little, "I-I… Got really lost," She admitted.
Honey finally composed herself enough to speak up, "But I see you outside the schoolhouse all the time!" She squealed, "Wh-why don't you come inside?"
The 'ghost filly' looked down. "I-I'm scared of the other ponies…" She admitted, "For example, y-you're both very scary. Especially wh-when you chase me."

Murky huffed softly. "You could've at least said something," She reasoned.
Honey blinked, "Wait, if you're not a ghost… Do you have a name?" She asked.
The 'ghost filly' nodded, "I'm Nymph," She introduced softly.
Murky gave a weak smile, "Well… It's nice to meet you, Nymph… Thanks for diving in to help Honey save me," She said softly, trying not to be vindictive. It seemed that this filly somehow had worse social skills than she did!

"I couldn't just let you fall," Nymph said softly, "You did want to help me… Even if I was too stupid to accept it," She murmured that last bit.
Honey huffed a little, "W-well… We need a way back up," She said, "M-mom'll be real mad i-if we're not home for dinner."
Nymph looked up, "I-I can help!" She chirped, "I-I know the woods well."
Murky groaned softly as she stood up, "Okay…" She said softly, "Lead the way," She requested as she slung her blanket over her back.
Honey scoffed slightly, "You're just going to trust her?" She asked.
Murky shrugged, "We don't have much of a choice, Honey… I can't fly at all, and I don't think you could fly all the way up," She admitted.

Honey gulped slightly as she looked up the high walls of the gorge, reluctantly uttering a soft, "Fine," Before turning to Nymph, "But I'm only following you because Murky says we should."
Nymph gulped a little and simply nodded, beginning to lead the way along the river.
Murky looked around at all the dark foliage, coloured odd shades of blue and dark teal.
Honey stuck close to Murky's side. "It's all dark and scary here…" She whined softly.
Nymph nodded a little, "Sorry," She said softly, horn illuminating. It was a warm, green glow, matching her eyes, "Is this better?"
Honey nodded a little, "Thank you…" She murmured softly.

Nymph would lead the fillies through a wall of vines, walking into a cave. It quickly opened up into a massive chamber underground, hewn of black stone festooned with all sorts of glowing plants and fungi.
"Woah…" Murky murmured softly.
Nymph smiled a very small smile, "It's really pretty, isn't it?" She asked.
Murky nodded a little, "It is," She replied softly, "It's surprisingly quiet, too…"
Nymph blinked, "There's… Dangers," She admitted, "The worst ones are Helmintides."
"What's a Helmintide?" Honey asked abruptly.
"They're these big worms… They're scary. Even scarier than ponies," Nymph admitted.
Honey gulped a little, "I hope we don't run into one…" She admitted.

As they walked, Murky felt her stomach growl. She winced lightly, looking away a little.
Honey blinked, "Didn't you eat at school?" She asked, looking at Murky.
"Using my magic like that makes me hungry," Murky admitted.
Nymph nodded a little, "My magic does too… I've gotten familiar with the plants here. I'll find you something to eat," She promised gently.
Nymph began looking around, trying to find something to feed her new acquaintances.
Honey also looked around. Mainly because, if a Helminth attacked them, she really wanted Murky to be able to use her shield.

Honey Syrup's eyes eventually landed on a beehive. "Wait, there's bees down here too?" She asked.
Nymph nodded a little, "Bees are scary…" She admitted, shivering a little.
"There's nothing to be afraid of!" Honey said, prancing over to the low hanging hive. She knocked lightly on the short trunk of the tree, watching the hive sway. It was a much larger hive than Honey was used to, but the bees that streamed out to address the disturbance were surprisingly normal.
"Um, excuse me," Honey Syrup said, "I was wondering if we could have some of your honeycomb," She explained, calmly allowing the bees to land on her.

Nymph watched with wide eyes, "Does she always have this effect on bees?" She whispered to Murky.
Murky nodded, "All the time. One time one of the colts in class ran directly into the tree where the bees make their hive; just before they stung him, she just walked over, said hello, and they went all calm," She explained, "I think it's because she always rolls around in flowers."
Murky watched as Honey silently negotiated with the bees for a few moments. A few more bees streamed out of the hive, chewing off a piece of one of the larger combs just outside of it. Honey took it carefully in her mouth and walked over, bees slowly dispersing from her as she came back.
"Here!" Honey said as she laid it gently on the ground, "They have lots to spare because it never gets cold enough for them to hibernate; this is all extra."
Murky smiled a little, "Thank you, Honey," She replied softly.

Nymph looked at the honeycomb and licked her lips. It did look quite tasty; she'd stolen tastes of it before when she'd found remnants from other animals' pilfering of the hive, but had never gotten a full piece.
Murky carefully lifted the honeycomb from the ground and lightly smacked it against the stone, breaking it into more manageable pieces.
"I don't need all of this… I'm pretty sure I'd die of sugar," Murky joked with a giggle.
Honey took a couple small pieces for herself and looked at Nymph's longing expression. "You can have some… I'm not that hungry, anyways," Honey invited.
Nymph barely uttered a "thank you" before snatching up one of the larger pieces, licking honey from her lips as she swallowed her piece more or less whole.
Murky sighed softly as she ate the pieces of honeycomb. It was sickly sweet; perfect for a rush of energy to get her magic kicked back on.

After their snack, the three fillies pressed on.
"I still can't believe they just gave you that much, Honey," Nymph expressed.
Honey giggled gently, "Neither can I! Usually they only give enough for a little snack, not a big meal like that," She commented.
Murky shrugged, "Well, you said they had lots. Maybe they wanted to offload some inventory on us," She supposed, using a phrase she had overheard in the market several times.
Nymph nodded a little, "It's probably good… A lot of the plants around here can be dangerous. Dreamweave and Shademare are the worst," She expressed, with a small, emphatic "blugh".

"What do they do?" Murky asked.
"Dreamweave makes you fall asleep if you eat it, and if a Shademare's nettles poke you, you see your worst nightmare even when you're awake," Nymph explained.
Murky gulped. "Shademare sounds awful…" She whined softly, "I get nightmares sometimes, and I wake mom up screaming."
Honey frowned a little, her ears drooping, "That's awful, Murky…" She replied.
Nymph nodded a little, "What are they about?" She asked.

Murky took a deep breath. "There's this… This really tall unicorn; as tall as Princess Celestia. And she's always just… There, punishing me for doing things wrong. Like, if I walk with my head held too high or if I stumble over something, she just yells at me," She explained, shivering a bit as she recalled the dreams, "She always calls me a failure, a-and I usually believe her because she doesn't stop," She explained with a small whimper.
Honey stopped walking to pull Murky into a hug, "You're not a failure, Murky," She promised, "You're smart and you can do magic!"
Murky smiled a bit, her eyes slightly wet. "Thank you, Honey," She replied gently, nuzzling the filly.

Nymph blinked as she stared at the two, her pupils dilating slightly.
After a couple minutes, Murky and Honey stopped their embrace, and resumed walking.
Nymph shook her head and followed suit, her horn illuminating as they stepped out of the caverns and into a low-lying swampland. It was higher than the gorge; they had been going uphill for a while. It wasn't enough, however. They still had a long way to climb.

Honey looked at the ground. "What's with all these pointy stones?" She asked, squinting at the triangular protrusions in the dirt.
Nymph froze. "There… Aren't stones here," She corrected, "Run!" She orders.
Murky and Honey did not question the command; Nymph had been a trustworthy guide so far.
The reason for Nymph's panic was soon made obvious.
The stones started moving, drawing up large segments of skin. Slowly, an enormously long mouth formed, as the teeth interlocked.

A massive worm took shape, hissing loudly. It was longer than fifty ponies, and nearly a quarter of that length was a flailing, twisting mouth.
Honey only needed half a second of a look to scream, willing herself to run faster.
Murky, however, wasn't doing so hot. She was still tired from breaking their fall earlier.
Nymph watched in horror as the worm began gaining on Murky. Nymph bit her tongue. She had to do something.
She spun on her hooves and lunged at the worm.

Honey and Murky watched in shock as mint green and pink flames engulfed Nymph's body.
From the flames emerged a large, bipedal creature, with a scorpion's tail, large, clawed hands; and a large, mandible-bearing head.
"Enough!" Roared the creature, arresting the worm with its large claws. The worm very abruptly began to thrash, attempting to backpedal from the beast that was now pinning it.
The beast's tail plunged into the worm twice, before throwing it away, sending the worm screeching away from the three.

Honey was hiding behind Murky now, "N-Nymph?" Honey squeaked.
The beast looked back at them, before the flames kicked up around it again, returning to the magenta, pink, and green alicorn filly they were familiar with. Nymph's eyes were thick with tears. "I-I couldn't just let it hurt you…" She croaked.
Murky blinked. She remembered history class. "You're a changeling!" She exclaimed, walking over to Nymph.
Nymph attempted to backpedal, but squeaked as Murky lunged at her. Instead of being attacked, however, she was hugged.
Nymph was confused.

Murky smiled gently, "It all makes sense now: You can fly and use magic, you're scared of ponies, and you didn't want to be caught," She declared, as if she'd just put together the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
Nymph nodded a little, "Wh-why are you hugging me?" She asked.
"Because you just saved our lives! What else can I do?" Murky asked.
Honey decided Murky's reasoning was airtight, and with some hesitation, joined in the hug.
Nymph's eyes only watered more, "B-but I'm a monster…" She whined softly.
It was Honey's turn to speak up, "A monster is what you do, not what you are. And last time I checked, monsters don't save fillies they just met," She commented.
Nymph began to cry as she whimpered a small thank you, weakly hugging the two fillies back. They took a few minutes to allow her to cry out her feelings, before the changeling calmed herself down. Night was beginning to fall proper, after all.

Murky helped Nymph to her hooves, but the changeling collapsed back to the ground.
"I… I don't use my beast form much," Nymph admitted, "It makes me really tired…"
Murky and Honey shared a look.
"I'll carry you," Murky said gently, "Honey, help me get her onto my back," She requested, removing her back blanket.
Nymph, with some assistance, crawled onto Murky's back, and Murky set the blanket over her.
They then began walking, as Nymph rested on Murky's back.
"I-I still don't understand why you're being so nice to me…" Nymph admitted in a soft tone.
"Well… Honey is very nice to me, even though I'm weird and a problem sometimes," Murky supposed.
Honey blinked, "You're not a problem, Murky…" She protested.

Honey did, however, want to change the subject. "So, if you're a changeling, and we already know you're a changeling, why are you still disguised as a pony?" Honey asked.
Nymph hesitated. "Well… When I first got here and started exploring, I was always cold," She explained, "So I became a pony to give myself fur. I always wore my pony disguise, even when it did get warm out, because it was fuzzy and comfy. Since I was so young when I first disguised myself as a pony, I have a harder time looking like a changeling than I do like this," Nymph explained.

Murky blinked, "So your disguise takes energy to maintain?" She asked.
Nymph nodded, "It depends on the form," She explained, "The closer a disguise is to our true self, the easier it is to maintain. I have a horn and wings as a changeling, so an alicorn is the easiest form for me to handle. But because I used it so much when my magic was still forming, my pony disguise is more familiar to my body than my actual changeling appearance."
Murky nodded, "Oh… That's why your beast form tires you out super fast. Because you're all big and huge and have claws and stuff," She figured.

Nymph simply nodded, and her eyes closed. The warmth of the pony she was laying on was starting to get to her tired head.
Honey blinked, "You can sleep, Nymph," She said gently, "We just have to keep moving up, right?" She asked.
Nymph nodded, "If we keep following the gorge, it eventually gets back to ground level," She explained.
Nymph felt sleep claim her quickly, leaving the other two fillies to navigate the woods.