Interesting Events: Lilac Coveby Chris KingsleyChaptersArrivalFormalitiesMeet and GreetArrivalThe track wound through the forest, the trees swaying in the chilling breeze. The scent of salt blew across the path of the zebra as she slowly trudged along with her heavily laden pack. She looked ahead at the increase in the cold sunlight‘s intensity and paused, shifting the pack slightly forward to try and reach an apple. The zebra took the stalk in her mouth and pulled it from its secure pocket. She took a couple of bites, before sucking the juice from the core. Her green eyes flicked from bush to tree as she headed towards the end of the forest. “Stand and deliver!” came a cry from the bushes, and a small green shape emerged with a crash. The zebra raised a hoof to her mouth, swallowing the remaining apple and looking at the new arrival with wide eyes. The young female in front of her pawed the ground with her mud covered foreleg, her back covered in sticks and leaves. The mud obscured most of the rest of her body, and her mane was draped in twigs and other green foliage. The bandit’s eyes stared coldly at the rigid victim, the only unhidden thing on her body. The iris was green, whilst the pupil was a vertical slit. The eyelids blinked twice, before she opened her mouth. “You have fallen into Bandit Lizard-Eyes cunning trap. Yield and pay the toll, and perhaps I shall let you on your way.” The zebra shook her head mutely, eyes not blinking as she backed away from the much smaller bandit. Catching the movement, the bandit took the opportunity to advance, muscles tensed and ears raising themselves from their lowered position. A sudden yell erupted and the bandit was set upon by a stallion that had been hidden on the opposite side of the road. “Never fear, fair maiden, you have been rescued by Sir Bottom of Gladswood. Rapscallion, do you yield?” “Never!” came the high-pitched reply. “Then you leave me no choice. My lady, avert your eyes.” The zebra nodded and turned her back to the pair. The bandit looked up into the blue eyes of her assaulter. She gulped, as the stallion pinned her to the road and stared with a frozen expression. She squirmed as he began to raise his foreleg, before wincing as the hoof came down. “No! Ha-ha, stop, stop! No!” “Take your tickles in silence you filthy bandit.” “Stop! Stop, Dad! Mum, help!” “You got too dirty this time, Fae. Look at you! Covered in dirt, twigs and leaves. Keep going Mud, tickle her more. Teach her a lesson she won’t forget in a hurry.” Fae managed to squirm out from beneath Mud. She shook the camouflage from her back and leapt into the air, small pegasus wings frantically trying to reach the lowest branch. The three burst into laughter as she settled up on the branch. Mud lifted himself up from where he had been tickling Fae and smiled up at the zebra. “Hey Eloni. We found a spring up ahead we can have lunch at, and we can all clean up there.” Eloni smiled slightly and nuzzled Mud gently, while Fae glided unsteadily down. They moved out of the wood, the little filly running on ahead while the two adults kept pace. At the top of the hill, Eloni stopped at the sight of the blue expanse now laid out in front of her, small sailing boats catching the stiff breeze that ran down the coast. She blinked twice, before the impatient cries from Fae caused her to follow Mud. The spring was in a secluded dip in the hillside, sheltering it from the wind and letting the small flowers bloom in the sunlight. Fae had already dived into the stream and was splashing about wildly. Eloni placed her pack with the two others of different sizes that rested in the grass before she turned towards the river herself. Mud jumped in himself, revelling in cleaning his coat. His face curled in a mischievous grin as he saw Eloni touching the water cautiously with her fetlock. Eloni looked at him curiously. “What are you grinning about?” Mud’s smile broadened as he continued to watch. “Muddy Bottom, what are you grinning about.” Fae leapt from the grass and barrelled into Eloni, pushing her into the cool water. A surprised shriek and Mud began laughing hard, earning him a faceful of water. Eloni glared at Mud before Fae began splashing again, taking the sting from her irritation. “Eloni, she got me when we got here earlier.” “I did! I got Dad wet!” They spent a while playing around in the water while the sun moved overhead. The wind died down and the trio shook themselves dry on the bank. Eloni plucked a brush from her pack and began combing Fae’s short green and blue hair. Fae’s eyes closed tight shut, she gave out a tiny yelp every time the brush caught a knot. Eloni gently nuzzled her freckles before moving on to Fae’s short tail. Having got the worst of the knots out, Eloni stood back to let Fae soak up the sun’s rays, her green feathers outstretched and her bare blue flank crouched low in the grass. Mud was carefully examining each patch of his coat. Despite being as clean as a whistle, his earthy red coat with the numerous undergrowth green splotches meant that he had to check to be sure. He scrutinised his cutie-mark, a solitary wooden torch, and satisfied himself that since that was spotless, the rest of him must be. Eloni herself had to retie her hair and tail. The black and white Mohawk was separated and split into multiple pony tails, whilst the faded green dye in the white stripes of her tail had nearly completely gone. She left it be for the while, making sure her back and flanks were clean of sweat from carrying her pack. Eloni stretched briefly, the dark indecipherable letters that formed her cutie mark warming in the sun with the rest of her darker stripes, before trotting over to the packs. Fae was the first to see the sign, scampering back with her small pack to tell her parents. “Mum, Dad! We’re here! Lilac Cove!” Mud and Eloni smiled as they came to the sign. Laid out beneath them was a small village, resting snugly between the two headlands on each of which stood a small lighthouse. Boats rested on the shingle or sailed in and out between the gently coloured rock outcrops that gave the village its name. A couple of fields of wheat stretched between them and the first building, with a couple of carts laden with hay ready to be taken down to the tiny market. A couple of kelping boats were mooring up by the quayside, and the mute greens of fresh wet kelp shimmered in the sun. The kelp drying rocks nearby were covered, and a solitary worker was replacing the far left corner. As the trio approached the village, the view was cut off by the houses. Small, closely built cottages lined the winding road as it descended. Fae ran rings round the adults, laughing with anticipation of seeing the sea close up. Mud smiled, but Eloni was less amused. “Fae! We have to get a place to stay, then talk to the village council, and then register you with the local school. You can see the sea later.” Fae stopped bouncing around, eyes looking forlornly at Eloni. She began to let her bottom lip quiver, but puppy dog eyes don’t work very well if your pupil is slit shaped. Eloni was about to reiterate her position before Mud stepped in. “Hold on Eloni. Fae, I know you want to see the sea close up, but once we’ve found somewhere to stay you can take off your pack. Then you can fly down to the shingle while we talk to the council, and you can meet us at the school. How does that sound?” “Sir yes sir!” Fae yelled, standing on her back legs and saluting before swivelling and speaking to thin air. “You heard the general! No R&R until we’ve found the barracks! On the double, quick… March!” Mud chuckled as Fae led the way, marching with her four legs keeping time with the chant she was muttering. Eloni smiled as well, nuzzling Mud before walking behind Fae looking out for an inn. Halfway down the hillside, they came across one of the few two-story buildings in the village. A pub sign swung gently in the breeze, the image of an apple core emblazoned in fresh paint. A red-maned yellow pegasus mare was opening a can of black paint, brush in hoof ready to redo the sun-faded letters. She turned at the sound of the hoofs on the cobblestones. “Afternoon.” Mud nodded back. “Hello. Any idea where we can find a place to stay?” “Sure. Salt Breeze was looking for lodgers, third on the left after the apple tree. The one with the stone cockatrice.” “Thanks.” “Sure. See you around.” As they kept walking, Eloni looked bemusedly at Mud. “No name exchanges?” Mud shook his head. “Not in Lilac Cove. Casual conversation is brief and to the point.” They arrived at the house they had been directed to. Fae was examining the statue very carefully, pretending to be turned to stone for a few seconds every time she stared at its eyes. Eloni beckoned her to the door as Mud knocked on the door of the large cottage. An old blue unicorn mare came to the door. She looked pointedly at Mud. “Clean yourself up before you come in.” “It’s my coat, I promise you. Name’s Mud, Muddy Bottom. You are Salt Breeze?” “I am,” she gingerly touched a hoof to Mud’s coat before examining it closely, “And so it is. Do come in.” The inside of the cottage was a deep sea blue, and the hallway led off into five rooms. Salt took their saddlebags and hung them by the door before leading them through into a living room, where hundreds of sea shells were on display around the wall. Fae looked at Salt’s sea shell cutie mark and back at the wall, eyes widening as she began looking curiously at some of the more colourful specimens. Salt sat down in an armchair and motioned for Mud and Eloni to sit on the sofa. A quick glance at Fae’s behaviour and she turned back to the two adults. “Now, lodging here is five bits a night for all of you. Breakfast is on the house, I don’t get much company in the mornings. Sound good?” Mud and Eloni nodded. “Good. Now I like to know the names of the ponies who’re sleeping in my house.” “I’m Eloni, and she’s Fae. Fae, don’t touch that!” “No, she’s fine, that one’s worthless. I used to collect them by the dozen, but they never sell well unless I strung them on a necklace. That one was too big. So what are you three doing here? Not often we see a zebra, a stallion and a pegasus filly travelling together.” “We don’t know. In fact, Mud and I ought to get to the village hall and talk with the council, they called us in. Fae, you can go see the beach now.” “Yeah! See you later Mum! See you later Dad! See you later Ms Salt!” The sound of the door being wrenched open before closing itself with a bang as Fae sped off. Salt raised her eyebrows and turned to Mud and Eloni who already knew the question to be asked. “Adopted.” Mud and Eloni arrived at the village hall a short while later. The hall was right next to the empty market square, and was hard to miss. The biggest building in the village, the walls were made of carved lilac granite and the roof was slate instead of thatch. A small clock tower rose from the top of the first floor. The clock itself was decorated with shells and the hands were carved to look like strands of kelp. As the clock rang out four o’clock, the pair opened the large wooden door. Inside, a couple of unicorn quay workers were talking quietly to a grey coated earth pony with silver glasses that didn’t even begin to disguise the slightly vacant stare as she listened to the two. At the sound of the door closing, her ears perked up and her back straightened. “Now gentlecolts, I think we will have to pick this up after market day.” She showed them the door politely but firmly, before breathing a short sharp sigh of relief. Her cutie mark was a couple of crossed quills, and her grey suit was well dressed and orderly. “Mr Muddy Bottom and Mrs Eloni Pear, I presume. The name’s Sundried Kelp, village bureaucrat, and I am so glad you could make it.” Mud scratched his mane. “So you want both of us? Why in the world would you need a certified tracker and explorer and a learned story-teller and cartographer?” Sundried returned to behind her desk, and leant forward as she looked at the zebra and earth pony in front of her. “A mystery monster.” FormalitiesFae ran down the hill from the lodging, jumping and gliding over obstacles as she headed through the village. There were few ponies on the streets except for a couple of old mares that were chatting by the post office. She dodged round a dustbin and headed for the quayside. There were a couple of kelperponies unloading kelp, but she paid them no heed. Instead, she was interested in what was beyond the quay: the shingle shoreline that stretched along the cove to nearly beneath the lilac rocks of the headland. She launched herself from the end of the quayside and flapped her wings to land neatly on the pebbles. Turning to face the sea, Fae stared as the water lapped against the beach. Fae stood there, motionless, for five minutes, just watching at the water coming in and out. She buzzed her emerald wings for a brief period as she looked across the cove before looking back at the waves. Tentatively, Fae dipped a green hoof into the water. A grin crept across her face as she wiggled her fetlock around. “What’ya doin’?” Fae dove forward over the water, wings flapping furiously as she tried to keep herself above the surface. She spun round to return to shore, but her wing clipped the sea and she tumbled into the water with a splash. Coughing and spluttering, she dragged herself onto the beach to find herself muzzle to muzzle with a tiny orange colt. The colt tilted his head and looked at her. Her wings were soaked through, and her mane and tail were now plastered against her damp fur. What fascinated him, however, were her lizardine eyes. Ignoring the shocked and embarrassed expressions crossing Fae’s face, he neglected to make a follow-up comment and instead squinted one eye and made a very odd face. Confronted by the colt, Fae paused. Her eyes narrowed and she looked at his short red mane and tail, before shaking herself dry all over his fur. He laughed as he covered his eyes with his forelimbs. “Surrender! I surrender!” Fae grinned and pulled herself up tall. “I, Fae, ranger of the deep blue sea, have once again triumphed over mortal adver… advers… enemy. Tell me your name, you sorcerous rogue.” “I’m Tide. Nice to meet you Fae.” “Hi Tide. Ahem… Tremble before me, Rogue Tide, for I have captured you, a native in this land.” “Um… Oh!” Tide’s eyes expanded as he looked at Fae, before he bowed his front legs, “Spare me, Ranger Fae, and I will show you the village.” “Sounds cool. Tide, lead the way!” Mud sat with Eloni and Sundried in the village hall. He looked up from the photographs he held in his hooves, first at Sundried, then at Eloni, who had copies laid out on the desk. “So why did you decide to fetch us anyway? Last time I was here was ten years ago, and the giant crab I’d heard of turned out to be a very clumsy fake. I don’t remember making that much of an impression: why not call in an academic or someone more famous?” “The council decided that we were better off getting someone who had hoofs-on experience and a large itinerary.” Mud groaned as a thought struck him. “It was my flat rate.” “…the amount of cash we had available was an issue, yes…” Mud sighed. Eloni stroked his hind leg with one of hers out of sight of Sundried, before giving him a knowing look. He sighed. “Right, so you’ve been losing crops to an unknown nocturnal entity. These pictures might be proof enough that something’s going on, but I can’t give you more until you next have an incident. Eloni and I will stick around until the next event goes on. We weren’t headed anywhere else anyway.” Sundried nodded. “It hits the fields once or twice a week, and there was a filly who said she’d spotted something about as big as a coracle pass by the village. We don’t have much to go on, but we want to tell the village something’s being done, especially with the Summer Sun Celebration next week.” Mud got up, tidying his pictures up into a single pile before shaking Sundried’s proffered hoof. “We’re staying at Salt Breeze’s place, so give us a call if you need us.” He picked the pictures from the desk gingerly and left towards the door, followed closely by Eloni. They arrived back at Salt’s cottage to find that a note had been left round the cockatrice statue’s neck. Eloni looked at it and looked back to Mud, who had taken the pictures from his mouth and still looked as though he’d discovered wasps embedded in newly bought honey. “Come on Mud. You know that our travelling habits make us less than an ideal choice for most people.” Mud looked down the hill to see the clock tower on the village hall poking above the roofs. He kicked a stone with his forehoof before turning back to Eloni. “I know…” he muttered, before catching sight of the note. “Gone out, lodging is far right as you enter, bathroom just before, key under your daughter’s fascination. What?” “She means the cockatrice statue, Mud.” “Huh? Oh, right. I wasn’t thinking.” Inside, Mud tucked his pictures inside the pocket of his travelling pack. He dragged it and Fae’s packs into the room the three of them would be sharing. It was the same deep blue as the rest of the house, three sheeted beds with plain white duvets resting parallel along the far wall of the room while a chest of drawers sat opposite the middle bed. A couple of pictures of the sea adorned the walls. He dumped Fae’s pack by the bed nearest the door, and dropped his own on the bed furthest away. Eloni entered the room carrying her own pack, and laid it neatly by the foot of her bed. Mud began rifling through the outer pockets while Eloni began unpacking. He took out a bunch of small tools, before taking a couple of metal rods from inside his pack. A sheet of instructions laid on the floor, he began piecing together a small table, tightening bolts and fitting a small neatly folded top around it. Satisfied, he began to unpack in earnest. Behind him, Eloni had finished unpacking a few clothes and had put them away in the chest of drawers. She took out her small saddlebags and put them on, before lifting some papers from within and tucking them away. Adding a small purse, she turned to Mud as he began fixing some tracking gear. “Mud, we need to register Fae with the local school. Your equipment can wait.” Mud sighed and put down the ball of string he had been untangling. “You’re right. Where is Fae?” At the top of the village, Tide was showing Fae the fields. “Finally, the wheat fields. You see the tree there? Trowl, Anchovy and I have a den beneath it.” “So that’s where we can meet your friends?” “No, they’re all in school right now, and… um… whoops?” Tide chuckled nervously as Fae looked at him in a sort of shock. “Okay, I guess I might have skipped school today, but it’s not that big a deal, right?” He bit his lip as Fae kept staring at thin air, frozen still. As suddenly as she had stopped, she began to flail about, darting backwards and forwards. “Sour Lemons! Mum and Dad are going to kill me!” Fae sped off back down through the village, Tide running after her as he called for her to slow down. Eloni and Mud were leaning against the wall, watching the clock tower as they waited. Eloni was running through a couple of zebra rhymes she had copied from the previous town’s library while Mud pawed at the dirt impatiently. “Mum, Dad, sorry I’m la-aah!” A blur of green and blue attempted to stop as it went past, instead tripping and rolling head over heels into a bush. “Yeah, ouch, sorry I’m late.” Eloni and Mud blinked at each other before snickering and heaving Fae out of the bush. Her feathers were still slightly wet from the freshwater Tide had rinsed her down with by the farm to remove the salt, and now she was covered in twigs and leaves again. As she stretched herself out she looked up at Mud and Eloni, biting her lip. “Hey Fae, wait! Oh! Um…” Eloni and Mud turned to find Tide wide-eyed. He backed away quickly. “Yeah, um, see-you-later-Fae-bye!” He galloped away back up the hill, leaving a pair of confused adults and a filly who didn’t know quite what to say. After a short, stern lecture about keeping time, the three headed off down the hill. They passed the village hall and headed over a bridge towards a large conglomeration of low-lying buildings along the right hand side of the bay. They arrived at the school just as the doors were opened and a whole bunch of children stampeded back towards the village. Fae stared mournfully after them as Eloni ushered her inside. As they entered they could hear a deep baritone talking quietly. They turned a corner to discover a grey earth stallion and a red unicorn mare conversing, the stallion expositing while the mare nodded politely every so often. Mud gave a polite cough. “Huh? Oh hello! I’m Star and this is Mr Ringer and we’re teachers here at Lilac School, but you must have worked that out by now. You must be new to the village. I do hope you’ve enjoyed your stay so far. Are you moving in or just-“ “Miss Star!” Mr Ringer interrupted. “Business first.” “Oh, right. So, what can we do for you three?” “We’re looking for temporary schooling for Fae here,” Eloni said. “Well hello Fae! Nice to meet you. If I can just have a look at her papers… thank you! Now we can go and talk about Lilac Cove while Mr Ringer and your parents talk.” Fae tried unsuccessfully to hide from Miss Star only to be pushed gently but firmly into another room. Mr Ringer turned to Eloni and Mud. “Now while your daughter’s occupied, might I ask for your names, occupations and place of residence, Fae’s records and medical troubles and any other relevant issues,” he said. Eloni pulled out the papers she had tucked away earlier and handed them over. “I’m Eloni Pear and this is Muddy Bottom,” she said. “I’m a story-teller, he’s a tracker. We’re staying at Salt Breeze’s.” “Fae’s a little nervous around new people,” Mud added, “She puts on an act and sticks to it until she feels she’s safe.” “An actor?” Mr Ringer said. “Interesting. Might I ask about her… distinctive eyes?” “That’s not a medical issue,” said Mud. “That’s for her tell you about in her own time.” Mr Ringer raised an eyebrow at Mud before looking back at the papers. “Well, everything seems to be in order. Mrs Pear-“ “Miss,” interjected Eloni. “… Miss Pear, might I ask if you have any activities to do here during your stay? We’re short of an assistant, and since we teach the children from St Albatross and Bitsmouth we could do with help.” Eloni glanced at Mud. “I’m not stopping you," he said. "As long as you remain as knowledgeable as always, I can lay my findings out every evening for us to discuss.” Eloni smiled and turned back to Mr Ringer. “I’d love to provide some temporary help. Will it cover Fae’s fee?” Mr Ringer nodded and shook Eloni’s forehoof. “Come in tomorrow at seven and I’ll tell you the schedule. We should go and save your daughter from Miss Star.” “-and I’m certain you’ll get along with Tide. I wonder why he didn’t come in today? Biscuit?” “You’ll never get any information from me, foul villain.” Mud facehooved as he heard the exchange. Swinging open the door he found Fae sitting rigidly on one of the chairs whilst Miss Star trotted obliviously around her, chattering away. Fae spun around as her parents entered. “Rescued by the Royal Guard! Hurrah!” A glance at the expressions worn by Mud and Eloni and her face fell slightly. “Uh… I mean, I’m not hungry thank you?” Meet and GreetAs they walked back towards the village, Fae trotted with a sour expression. She stayed behind Mud and Eloni as they walked in silence. As they crossed the bridge, Fae stopped to watch the ferry leave the quayside. Looking away as the steamboat turned outside the cove, she heard a short sharp hiss from beneath her. “Psst! Down here!” She dropped down to the bank to find Tide relaxing on his back in the hollow under one end of the bridge. “Hey Fae. Why are you sad?” Fae darted up the bank to check her parents hadn’t missed her. “I, um, might have called Miss Star a villain… and my parents might have heard me.” Tide looked at her confused. “Miss Star a villain?” he said. “And those two are your parents?” “I panicked. She grabbed me and stuck me in a chair and the light was so bright and she must have wanted information so I clammed up quicker than a marine behind enemy lines.” Fae gasped for breath as she finished her sentence while Tide looked incredulously at her. “Miss Star wouldn’t give me ten lines if I went and burnt the school down. Are you sure we’re talking about the same person?” Fae fidgeted uncomfortably. “Red unicorn mare, orange mane, talks incessantly and has a cutie mark of a five pointed star inside a five pointed star?” she said. Tide nodded and shrugged. “I guess she can be a little scary if you don’t know her?” he said. The silence stretched awkwardly for a moment before Fae remembered the second question. “Do you still want to know about my parents?” “Sure!” As they reached the village Eloni nudged Mud. “Fae’s not behind us anymore,” she said. “She dipped down by the bridge to meet that orange colt we saw earlier. No point letting one event ruin her day.” “And you didn’t even blink…” Eloni began chuckling and Mud grinned a little. Fae settled herself under the stones on the opposite bank. The stream wasn’t very wide but the bridge was still large enough that it wasn’t claustrophobic. “The short answer,” she began. “I am adopted. The long answer is really, really long and boring and involves a skiing accident, three broken hooves and a bottle of cider. The medium sized answer is that my biolow… biolocki… old parents vanished on the Nevermoor, and my new parents picked me up from the place my old parents were staying. They couldn’t find any other family, so they took me along with them.” Tide nodded slightly. “But why is your mum stripy?” he asked. “She’s a zebra.” “A zebra? What’s a zebra?” “A zebra is a stripy pony that’s not the same as an earth pony.” “Weird.” They sat there for a little while before they heard hooves on the bridge above them and a merry humming. Peering out, they caught sight of Miss Star trotting merrily towards the village. Tide nudged Fae, but she suddenly began taking great interest in the pattern of the frog of her forehoof. He sighed and clambered up the bank before calling out. “Miss Star!” “Tide! There you are! Why weren’t you in school today? Were you sick? I hope you aren’t sick. You don’t look sick… But I guess you had a reason not to come to school, or else you would have come, right? Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow! Bye!” As she turned to go away, Fae buzzed reluctantly up behind Tide. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Fae! It was so nice to see you earlier and you found Tide! He’s such a nice little colt, I bet he was showing you round this afternoon. That would explain everything. I’m so glad that Tide was so thoughtful. Mr Ringer thought he had just skipped school randomly, but I said that he must have had a reason and he did! Oh, I’ll see you and your mum tomorrow too! Don’t worry Tide, I’ll tell Mr Ringer why you weren’t in today. See you two!” As the unicorn bounced away, juggling a couple of flowers telekinetically, Fae and Tide looked at each other. “I can see what you meant about her.” “Me too.” Eloni and Mud got back to the cottage to find Salt weeding the garden. The mare looked up from where she was levitating her trowel and they exchanged nods. Inside Mud returned to setting up his equipment and desk while Eloni took a scroll from her saddlebags. “How are you going to start?” Mud grunted, his mouth full assembling a small device. He finished putting it together and placed it on the table. “I’m going to prepare some camera traps, maybe a flash bulb or two…” he said. “Without more information, I can’t decide what else to do. It could just be a thieving bovine with weird shoes on.” Eloni raised an eyebrow. “Why are you always so negative about your chances of finding creatures worth seeking?” Mud looked behind him at her and smiled. “Because then I know that I’m not feverishly making things up to fit a theory. Anyway, I have you to be the optimist.” Eloni chuckled before reading the scroll through a couple of times. Mud gave her another smile as he left with the equipment he needed on his back. “See you later Eloni.” Fae and Tide wandered down the hill towards the beach, chatting about whether the Mare in the Moon was really a big alien or a signpost for space-faring ponies. Fae occasionally fluttered over the difficult obstacles while Tide just ploughed straight through them. As they reached the beach Tide’s orange coat was decidedly more brown. As Tide went to dip in the ocean, Fae took the opportunity to look at the sea again. The blue waves lapped against the shingle quietly, seaweed and kelp drifting in and out. She bent down and gave it a sniff to find that the salt made her sneeze. Tide finished cleaning himself in salt water and turned to find Fae sneezing repeatedly. “Fae, are you okay?” Fae was about to speak before she sneezed again. She grimaced and forcefully prevented herself sneezing. Having recovered, she was about to reply when Tide began shaking salt water all over her. “Hey!” She launched herself at Tide and they both fell into the water, splashing around and getting each other completely soaked again. After a while they both lay on the shingle grinning. “Truce?” asked Tide. “For now.” As they went to the quay to find a source of fresh water to rinse the salt out of their fur, they returned to the discussion of whether aliens were even real. Mud climbed the hill with the equipment on his back. He passed the pub, now proudly displaying a freshly painted sign declaring it to be “The Preserved Apple”, and continued onward up to the edge of the village. Instead of continuing to climb, he turned right onto a farm track that led around the outskirts of Lilac Cove. The land up slope was shallower, a bowl in the rest of the slope allowing land for crops to be grown on. Mud spotted the farm up ahead and headed towards it. As he arrived he saw two bored colts hanging over a fence. The unicorn had a dirty pink coat and the earth was a gentle brown, and both were staring at the ground. The pink one looked up as he approached. “Hey Mister! Have you seen Tide?” “He’s really small and more orange than a very orange orange,” added the brown colt. Mud nodded politely. “I think he’s with my daughter somewhere down by the schoolhouse.” “Thanks Mister!” they chorused and galloped off down the hill. Mud kept walking to the farmhouse and knocked on the door. An earth mare opened the door and raised her eyebrows. “Um… hello? Are you here to see Spring? He’s up in the fields.” “No ma’am, I’m here to set up camera traps. I’ve been hired to tidy up the monster problem.” “You are?” she said, shaking his hoof enthusiastically. “That’s wonderful news. I’m Corn, Corn Bushel, co-owner of the largest corn-farm in Lilac Cove. We’ve already lost the field by the lighthouse, and I think the Flow family lost the crop up over the ridge on the other side of Lilac Cove.” “Have all the losses been by the lighthouses?” “No, there were one or two fields lost in the basin, but the crops were wild from rotation. There was also a cart of apples brought down from the woods that was plundered.” “So I should camera trap the basin and by both lighthouses. Thank you Mrs Bushel, you’ve been most helpful.” “No problem Mister…” “Mud.” Eloni finished reading the scroll she had unpacked and stared up at the ceiling. “Huh. Who’d have thought it.” She tossed the scroll into her saddlebags, which she then stowed under her bed. She walked out of the room, hearing Mrs Salt humming a sea shanty in the kitchen, and opened the front door. She peered up at the sun. Despite being only halfway down the sky, there were already shadows cast by the schoolhouse ridge, and boats were mostly coming in and staying in. She decided to head down to the village hall to search for a library. Fae and Tide were walking up through the village when two colts came rushing round the corner. “Tide!” cried the lead colt, a dirty pink unicorn. “Hey Anchovy! Hey Trowel!” The two colts slid to a halt in front of Fae and Tide. “Where have you been Tide?” “You weren’t in school-” “-and then you weren’t at the hideout-” “-and then we ask a guy we hadn’t seen before-” “-and he said you were with his daughter-” “-and that means you must be his daughter-” “-and so you must be…” The two colts stopped as they looked at Fae. Their faces lit up with glee and they looked at each other. “Hey Anchovy, you thinking what I’m thinking?” “Sure am Trowel!” “She’s a pegasus/ got lizard eyes! Wait.” As the two began fussing over the fact that once again they had failed to say the same thing at the same time, Tide gave a cough. “Fae, before they get carried away trying to synthesise their speech again-“ “Synchronise,” the two corrected. “Yeah, that – the pink one is Anchovy and the brown one is Trowel. Guys, this is Fae.” Fae stood there in silence for a brief moment nervously before steeling herself. “Hello native creatures of the planet Lilac Cove, I am the great space explorer Captain Fae! I come in peace.” Anchovy and Trowel tilted their heads, mouths open. Tide, however, was bothered by something else. “Fae, I keep telling you, aliens don’t exist.”
ArrivalThe track wound through the forest, the trees swaying in the chilling breeze. The scent of salt blew across the path of the zebra as she slowly trudged along with her heavily laden pack. She looked ahead at the increase in the cold sunlight‘s intensity and paused, shifting the pack slightly forward to try and reach an apple. The zebra took the stalk in her mouth and pulled it from its secure pocket. She took a couple of bites, before sucking the juice from the core. Her green eyes flicked from bush to tree as she headed towards the end of the forest. “Stand and deliver!” came a cry from the bushes, and a small green shape emerged with a crash. The zebra raised a hoof to her mouth, swallowing the remaining apple and looking at the new arrival with wide eyes. The young female in front of her pawed the ground with her mud covered foreleg, her back covered in sticks and leaves. The mud obscured most of the rest of her body, and her mane was draped in twigs and other green foliage. The bandit’s eyes stared coldly at the rigid victim, the only unhidden thing on her body. The iris was green, whilst the pupil was a vertical slit. The eyelids blinked twice, before she opened her mouth. “You have fallen into Bandit Lizard-Eyes cunning trap. Yield and pay the toll, and perhaps I shall let you on your way.” The zebra shook her head mutely, eyes not blinking as she backed away from the much smaller bandit. Catching the movement, the bandit took the opportunity to advance, muscles tensed and ears raising themselves from their lowered position. A sudden yell erupted and the bandit was set upon by a stallion that had been hidden on the opposite side of the road. “Never fear, fair maiden, you have been rescued by Sir Bottom of Gladswood. Rapscallion, do you yield?” “Never!” came the high-pitched reply. “Then you leave me no choice. My lady, avert your eyes.” The zebra nodded and turned her back to the pair. The bandit looked up into the blue eyes of her assaulter. She gulped, as the stallion pinned her to the road and stared with a frozen expression. She squirmed as he began to raise his foreleg, before wincing as the hoof came down. “No! Ha-ha, stop, stop! No!” “Take your tickles in silence you filthy bandit.” “Stop! Stop, Dad! Mum, help!” “You got too dirty this time, Fae. Look at you! Covered in dirt, twigs and leaves. Keep going Mud, tickle her more. Teach her a lesson she won’t forget in a hurry.” Fae managed to squirm out from beneath Mud. She shook the camouflage from her back and leapt into the air, small pegasus wings frantically trying to reach the lowest branch. The three burst into laughter as she settled up on the branch. Mud lifted himself up from where he had been tickling Fae and smiled up at the zebra. “Hey Eloni. We found a spring up ahead we can have lunch at, and we can all clean up there.” Eloni smiled slightly and nuzzled Mud gently, while Fae glided unsteadily down. They moved out of the wood, the little filly running on ahead while the two adults kept pace. At the top of the hill, Eloni stopped at the sight of the blue expanse now laid out in front of her, small sailing boats catching the stiff breeze that ran down the coast. She blinked twice, before the impatient cries from Fae caused her to follow Mud. The spring was in a secluded dip in the hillside, sheltering it from the wind and letting the small flowers bloom in the sunlight. Fae had already dived into the stream and was splashing about wildly. Eloni placed her pack with the two others of different sizes that rested in the grass before she turned towards the river herself. Mud jumped in himself, revelling in cleaning his coat. His face curled in a mischievous grin as he saw Eloni touching the water cautiously with her fetlock. Eloni looked at him curiously. “What are you grinning about?” Mud’s smile broadened as he continued to watch. “Muddy Bottom, what are you grinning about.” Fae leapt from the grass and barrelled into Eloni, pushing her into the cool water. A surprised shriek and Mud began laughing hard, earning him a faceful of water. Eloni glared at Mud before Fae began splashing again, taking the sting from her irritation. “Eloni, she got me when we got here earlier.” “I did! I got Dad wet!” They spent a while playing around in the water while the sun moved overhead. The wind died down and the trio shook themselves dry on the bank. Eloni plucked a brush from her pack and began combing Fae’s short green and blue hair. Fae’s eyes closed tight shut, she gave out a tiny yelp every time the brush caught a knot. Eloni gently nuzzled her freckles before moving on to Fae’s short tail. Having got the worst of the knots out, Eloni stood back to let Fae soak up the sun’s rays, her green feathers outstretched and her bare blue flank crouched low in the grass. Mud was carefully examining each patch of his coat. Despite being as clean as a whistle, his earthy red coat with the numerous undergrowth green splotches meant that he had to check to be sure. He scrutinised his cutie-mark, a solitary wooden torch, and satisfied himself that since that was spotless, the rest of him must be. Eloni herself had to retie her hair and tail. The black and white Mohawk was separated and split into multiple pony tails, whilst the faded green dye in the white stripes of her tail had nearly completely gone. She left it be for the while, making sure her back and flanks were clean of sweat from carrying her pack. Eloni stretched briefly, the dark indecipherable letters that formed her cutie mark warming in the sun with the rest of her darker stripes, before trotting over to the packs. Fae was the first to see the sign, scampering back with her small pack to tell her parents. “Mum, Dad! We’re here! Lilac Cove!” Mud and Eloni smiled as they came to the sign. Laid out beneath them was a small village, resting snugly between the two headlands on each of which stood a small lighthouse. Boats rested on the shingle or sailed in and out between the gently coloured rock outcrops that gave the village its name. A couple of fields of wheat stretched between them and the first building, with a couple of carts laden with hay ready to be taken down to the tiny market. A couple of kelping boats were mooring up by the quayside, and the mute greens of fresh wet kelp shimmered in the sun. The kelp drying rocks nearby were covered, and a solitary worker was replacing the far left corner. As the trio approached the village, the view was cut off by the houses. Small, closely built cottages lined the winding road as it descended. Fae ran rings round the adults, laughing with anticipation of seeing the sea close up. Mud smiled, but Eloni was less amused. “Fae! We have to get a place to stay, then talk to the village council, and then register you with the local school. You can see the sea later.” Fae stopped bouncing around, eyes looking forlornly at Eloni. She began to let her bottom lip quiver, but puppy dog eyes don’t work very well if your pupil is slit shaped. Eloni was about to reiterate her position before Mud stepped in. “Hold on Eloni. Fae, I know you want to see the sea close up, but once we’ve found somewhere to stay you can take off your pack. Then you can fly down to the shingle while we talk to the council, and you can meet us at the school. How does that sound?” “Sir yes sir!” Fae yelled, standing on her back legs and saluting before swivelling and speaking to thin air. “You heard the general! No R&R until we’ve found the barracks! On the double, quick… March!” Mud chuckled as Fae led the way, marching with her four legs keeping time with the chant she was muttering. Eloni smiled as well, nuzzling Mud before walking behind Fae looking out for an inn. Halfway down the hillside, they came across one of the few two-story buildings in the village. A pub sign swung gently in the breeze, the image of an apple core emblazoned in fresh paint. A red-maned yellow pegasus mare was opening a can of black paint, brush in hoof ready to redo the sun-faded letters. She turned at the sound of the hoofs on the cobblestones. “Afternoon.” Mud nodded back. “Hello. Any idea where we can find a place to stay?” “Sure. Salt Breeze was looking for lodgers, third on the left after the apple tree. The one with the stone cockatrice.” “Thanks.” “Sure. See you around.” As they kept walking, Eloni looked bemusedly at Mud. “No name exchanges?” Mud shook his head. “Not in Lilac Cove. Casual conversation is brief and to the point.” They arrived at the house they had been directed to. Fae was examining the statue very carefully, pretending to be turned to stone for a few seconds every time she stared at its eyes. Eloni beckoned her to the door as Mud knocked on the door of the large cottage. An old blue unicorn mare came to the door. She looked pointedly at Mud. “Clean yourself up before you come in.” “It’s my coat, I promise you. Name’s Mud, Muddy Bottom. You are Salt Breeze?” “I am,” she gingerly touched a hoof to Mud’s coat before examining it closely, “And so it is. Do come in.” The inside of the cottage was a deep sea blue, and the hallway led off into five rooms. Salt took their saddlebags and hung them by the door before leading them through into a living room, where hundreds of sea shells were on display around the wall. Fae looked at Salt’s sea shell cutie mark and back at the wall, eyes widening as she began looking curiously at some of the more colourful specimens. Salt sat down in an armchair and motioned for Mud and Eloni to sit on the sofa. A quick glance at Fae’s behaviour and she turned back to the two adults. “Now, lodging here is five bits a night for all of you. Breakfast is on the house, I don’t get much company in the mornings. Sound good?” Mud and Eloni nodded. “Good. Now I like to know the names of the ponies who’re sleeping in my house.” “I’m Eloni, and she’s Fae. Fae, don’t touch that!” “No, she’s fine, that one’s worthless. I used to collect them by the dozen, but they never sell well unless I strung them on a necklace. That one was too big. So what are you three doing here? Not often we see a zebra, a stallion and a pegasus filly travelling together.” “We don’t know. In fact, Mud and I ought to get to the village hall and talk with the council, they called us in. Fae, you can go see the beach now.” “Yeah! See you later Mum! See you later Dad! See you later Ms Salt!” The sound of the door being wrenched open before closing itself with a bang as Fae sped off. Salt raised her eyebrows and turned to Mud and Eloni who already knew the question to be asked. “Adopted.” Mud and Eloni arrived at the village hall a short while later. The hall was right next to the empty market square, and was hard to miss. The biggest building in the village, the walls were made of carved lilac granite and the roof was slate instead of thatch. A small clock tower rose from the top of the first floor. The clock itself was decorated with shells and the hands were carved to look like strands of kelp. As the clock rang out four o’clock, the pair opened the large wooden door. Inside, a couple of unicorn quay workers were talking quietly to a grey coated earth pony with silver glasses that didn’t even begin to disguise the slightly vacant stare as she listened to the two. At the sound of the door closing, her ears perked up and her back straightened. “Now gentlecolts, I think we will have to pick this up after market day.” She showed them the door politely but firmly, before breathing a short sharp sigh of relief. Her cutie mark was a couple of crossed quills, and her grey suit was well dressed and orderly. “Mr Muddy Bottom and Mrs Eloni Pear, I presume. The name’s Sundried Kelp, village bureaucrat, and I am so glad you could make it.” Mud scratched his mane. “So you want both of us? Why in the world would you need a certified tracker and explorer and a learned story-teller and cartographer?” Sundried returned to behind her desk, and leant forward as she looked at the zebra and earth pony in front of her. “A mystery monster.”
FormalitiesFae ran down the hill from the lodging, jumping and gliding over obstacles as she headed through the village. There were few ponies on the streets except for a couple of old mares that were chatting by the post office. She dodged round a dustbin and headed for the quayside. There were a couple of kelperponies unloading kelp, but she paid them no heed. Instead, she was interested in what was beyond the quay: the shingle shoreline that stretched along the cove to nearly beneath the lilac rocks of the headland. She launched herself from the end of the quayside and flapped her wings to land neatly on the pebbles. Turning to face the sea, Fae stared as the water lapped against the beach. Fae stood there, motionless, for five minutes, just watching at the water coming in and out. She buzzed her emerald wings for a brief period as she looked across the cove before looking back at the waves. Tentatively, Fae dipped a green hoof into the water. A grin crept across her face as she wiggled her fetlock around. “What’ya doin’?” Fae dove forward over the water, wings flapping furiously as she tried to keep herself above the surface. She spun round to return to shore, but her wing clipped the sea and she tumbled into the water with a splash. Coughing and spluttering, she dragged herself onto the beach to find herself muzzle to muzzle with a tiny orange colt. The colt tilted his head and looked at her. Her wings were soaked through, and her mane and tail were now plastered against her damp fur. What fascinated him, however, were her lizardine eyes. Ignoring the shocked and embarrassed expressions crossing Fae’s face, he neglected to make a follow-up comment and instead squinted one eye and made a very odd face. Confronted by the colt, Fae paused. Her eyes narrowed and she looked at his short red mane and tail, before shaking herself dry all over his fur. He laughed as he covered his eyes with his forelimbs. “Surrender! I surrender!” Fae grinned and pulled herself up tall. “I, Fae, ranger of the deep blue sea, have once again triumphed over mortal adver… advers… enemy. Tell me your name, you sorcerous rogue.” “I’m Tide. Nice to meet you Fae.” “Hi Tide. Ahem… Tremble before me, Rogue Tide, for I have captured you, a native in this land.” “Um… Oh!” Tide’s eyes expanded as he looked at Fae, before he bowed his front legs, “Spare me, Ranger Fae, and I will show you the village.” “Sounds cool. Tide, lead the way!” Mud sat with Eloni and Sundried in the village hall. He looked up from the photographs he held in his hooves, first at Sundried, then at Eloni, who had copies laid out on the desk. “So why did you decide to fetch us anyway? Last time I was here was ten years ago, and the giant crab I’d heard of turned out to be a very clumsy fake. I don’t remember making that much of an impression: why not call in an academic or someone more famous?” “The council decided that we were better off getting someone who had hoofs-on experience and a large itinerary.” Mud groaned as a thought struck him. “It was my flat rate.” “…the amount of cash we had available was an issue, yes…” Mud sighed. Eloni stroked his hind leg with one of hers out of sight of Sundried, before giving him a knowing look. He sighed. “Right, so you’ve been losing crops to an unknown nocturnal entity. These pictures might be proof enough that something’s going on, but I can’t give you more until you next have an incident. Eloni and I will stick around until the next event goes on. We weren’t headed anywhere else anyway.” Sundried nodded. “It hits the fields once or twice a week, and there was a filly who said she’d spotted something about as big as a coracle pass by the village. We don’t have much to go on, but we want to tell the village something’s being done, especially with the Summer Sun Celebration next week.” Mud got up, tidying his pictures up into a single pile before shaking Sundried’s proffered hoof. “We’re staying at Salt Breeze’s place, so give us a call if you need us.” He picked the pictures from the desk gingerly and left towards the door, followed closely by Eloni. They arrived back at Salt’s cottage to find that a note had been left round the cockatrice statue’s neck. Eloni looked at it and looked back to Mud, who had taken the pictures from his mouth and still looked as though he’d discovered wasps embedded in newly bought honey. “Come on Mud. You know that our travelling habits make us less than an ideal choice for most people.” Mud looked down the hill to see the clock tower on the village hall poking above the roofs. He kicked a stone with his forehoof before turning back to Eloni. “I know…” he muttered, before catching sight of the note. “Gone out, lodging is far right as you enter, bathroom just before, key under your daughter’s fascination. What?” “She means the cockatrice statue, Mud.” “Huh? Oh, right. I wasn’t thinking.” Inside, Mud tucked his pictures inside the pocket of his travelling pack. He dragged it and Fae’s packs into the room the three of them would be sharing. It was the same deep blue as the rest of the house, three sheeted beds with plain white duvets resting parallel along the far wall of the room while a chest of drawers sat opposite the middle bed. A couple of pictures of the sea adorned the walls. He dumped Fae’s pack by the bed nearest the door, and dropped his own on the bed furthest away. Eloni entered the room carrying her own pack, and laid it neatly by the foot of her bed. Mud began rifling through the outer pockets while Eloni began unpacking. He took out a bunch of small tools, before taking a couple of metal rods from inside his pack. A sheet of instructions laid on the floor, he began piecing together a small table, tightening bolts and fitting a small neatly folded top around it. Satisfied, he began to unpack in earnest. Behind him, Eloni had finished unpacking a few clothes and had put them away in the chest of drawers. She took out her small saddlebags and put them on, before lifting some papers from within and tucking them away. Adding a small purse, she turned to Mud as he began fixing some tracking gear. “Mud, we need to register Fae with the local school. Your equipment can wait.” Mud sighed and put down the ball of string he had been untangling. “You’re right. Where is Fae?” At the top of the village, Tide was showing Fae the fields. “Finally, the wheat fields. You see the tree there? Trowl, Anchovy and I have a den beneath it.” “So that’s where we can meet your friends?” “No, they’re all in school right now, and… um… whoops?” Tide chuckled nervously as Fae looked at him in a sort of shock. “Okay, I guess I might have skipped school today, but it’s not that big a deal, right?” He bit his lip as Fae kept staring at thin air, frozen still. As suddenly as she had stopped, she began to flail about, darting backwards and forwards. “Sour Lemons! Mum and Dad are going to kill me!” Fae sped off back down through the village, Tide running after her as he called for her to slow down. Eloni and Mud were leaning against the wall, watching the clock tower as they waited. Eloni was running through a couple of zebra rhymes she had copied from the previous town’s library while Mud pawed at the dirt impatiently. “Mum, Dad, sorry I’m la-aah!” A blur of green and blue attempted to stop as it went past, instead tripping and rolling head over heels into a bush. “Yeah, ouch, sorry I’m late.” Eloni and Mud blinked at each other before snickering and heaving Fae out of the bush. Her feathers were still slightly wet from the freshwater Tide had rinsed her down with by the farm to remove the salt, and now she was covered in twigs and leaves again. As she stretched herself out she looked up at Mud and Eloni, biting her lip. “Hey Fae, wait! Oh! Um…” Eloni and Mud turned to find Tide wide-eyed. He backed away quickly. “Yeah, um, see-you-later-Fae-bye!” He galloped away back up the hill, leaving a pair of confused adults and a filly who didn’t know quite what to say. After a short, stern lecture about keeping time, the three headed off down the hill. They passed the village hall and headed over a bridge towards a large conglomeration of low-lying buildings along the right hand side of the bay. They arrived at the school just as the doors were opened and a whole bunch of children stampeded back towards the village. Fae stared mournfully after them as Eloni ushered her inside. As they entered they could hear a deep baritone talking quietly. They turned a corner to discover a grey earth stallion and a red unicorn mare conversing, the stallion expositing while the mare nodded politely every so often. Mud gave a polite cough. “Huh? Oh hello! I’m Star and this is Mr Ringer and we’re teachers here at Lilac School, but you must have worked that out by now. You must be new to the village. I do hope you’ve enjoyed your stay so far. Are you moving in or just-“ “Miss Star!” Mr Ringer interrupted. “Business first.” “Oh, right. So, what can we do for you three?” “We’re looking for temporary schooling for Fae here,” Eloni said. “Well hello Fae! Nice to meet you. If I can just have a look at her papers… thank you! Now we can go and talk about Lilac Cove while Mr Ringer and your parents talk.” Fae tried unsuccessfully to hide from Miss Star only to be pushed gently but firmly into another room. Mr Ringer turned to Eloni and Mud. “Now while your daughter’s occupied, might I ask for your names, occupations and place of residence, Fae’s records and medical troubles and any other relevant issues,” he said. Eloni pulled out the papers she had tucked away earlier and handed them over. “I’m Eloni Pear and this is Muddy Bottom,” she said. “I’m a story-teller, he’s a tracker. We’re staying at Salt Breeze’s.” “Fae’s a little nervous around new people,” Mud added, “She puts on an act and sticks to it until she feels she’s safe.” “An actor?” Mr Ringer said. “Interesting. Might I ask about her… distinctive eyes?” “That’s not a medical issue,” said Mud. “That’s for her tell you about in her own time.” Mr Ringer raised an eyebrow at Mud before looking back at the papers. “Well, everything seems to be in order. Mrs Pear-“ “Miss,” interjected Eloni. “… Miss Pear, might I ask if you have any activities to do here during your stay? We’re short of an assistant, and since we teach the children from St Albatross and Bitsmouth we could do with help.” Eloni glanced at Mud. “I’m not stopping you," he said. "As long as you remain as knowledgeable as always, I can lay my findings out every evening for us to discuss.” Eloni smiled and turned back to Mr Ringer. “I’d love to provide some temporary help. Will it cover Fae’s fee?” Mr Ringer nodded and shook Eloni’s forehoof. “Come in tomorrow at seven and I’ll tell you the schedule. We should go and save your daughter from Miss Star.” “-and I’m certain you’ll get along with Tide. I wonder why he didn’t come in today? Biscuit?” “You’ll never get any information from me, foul villain.” Mud facehooved as he heard the exchange. Swinging open the door he found Fae sitting rigidly on one of the chairs whilst Miss Star trotted obliviously around her, chattering away. Fae spun around as her parents entered. “Rescued by the Royal Guard! Hurrah!” A glance at the expressions worn by Mud and Eloni and her face fell slightly. “Uh… I mean, I’m not hungry thank you?”
Meet and GreetAs they walked back towards the village, Fae trotted with a sour expression. She stayed behind Mud and Eloni as they walked in silence. As they crossed the bridge, Fae stopped to watch the ferry leave the quayside. Looking away as the steamboat turned outside the cove, she heard a short sharp hiss from beneath her. “Psst! Down here!” She dropped down to the bank to find Tide relaxing on his back in the hollow under one end of the bridge. “Hey Fae. Why are you sad?” Fae darted up the bank to check her parents hadn’t missed her. “I, um, might have called Miss Star a villain… and my parents might have heard me.” Tide looked at her confused. “Miss Star a villain?” he said. “And those two are your parents?” “I panicked. She grabbed me and stuck me in a chair and the light was so bright and she must have wanted information so I clammed up quicker than a marine behind enemy lines.” Fae gasped for breath as she finished her sentence while Tide looked incredulously at her. “Miss Star wouldn’t give me ten lines if I went and burnt the school down. Are you sure we’re talking about the same person?” Fae fidgeted uncomfortably. “Red unicorn mare, orange mane, talks incessantly and has a cutie mark of a five pointed star inside a five pointed star?” she said. Tide nodded and shrugged. “I guess she can be a little scary if you don’t know her?” he said. The silence stretched awkwardly for a moment before Fae remembered the second question. “Do you still want to know about my parents?” “Sure!” As they reached the village Eloni nudged Mud. “Fae’s not behind us anymore,” she said. “She dipped down by the bridge to meet that orange colt we saw earlier. No point letting one event ruin her day.” “And you didn’t even blink…” Eloni began chuckling and Mud grinned a little. Fae settled herself under the stones on the opposite bank. The stream wasn’t very wide but the bridge was still large enough that it wasn’t claustrophobic. “The short answer,” she began. “I am adopted. The long answer is really, really long and boring and involves a skiing accident, three broken hooves and a bottle of cider. The medium sized answer is that my biolow… biolocki… old parents vanished on the Nevermoor, and my new parents picked me up from the place my old parents were staying. They couldn’t find any other family, so they took me along with them.” Tide nodded slightly. “But why is your mum stripy?” he asked. “She’s a zebra.” “A zebra? What’s a zebra?” “A zebra is a stripy pony that’s not the same as an earth pony.” “Weird.” They sat there for a little while before they heard hooves on the bridge above them and a merry humming. Peering out, they caught sight of Miss Star trotting merrily towards the village. Tide nudged Fae, but she suddenly began taking great interest in the pattern of the frog of her forehoof. He sighed and clambered up the bank before calling out. “Miss Star!” “Tide! There you are! Why weren’t you in school today? Were you sick? I hope you aren’t sick. You don’t look sick… But I guess you had a reason not to come to school, or else you would have come, right? Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow! Bye!” As she turned to go away, Fae buzzed reluctantly up behind Tide. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Fae! It was so nice to see you earlier and you found Tide! He’s such a nice little colt, I bet he was showing you round this afternoon. That would explain everything. I’m so glad that Tide was so thoughtful. Mr Ringer thought he had just skipped school randomly, but I said that he must have had a reason and he did! Oh, I’ll see you and your mum tomorrow too! Don’t worry Tide, I’ll tell Mr Ringer why you weren’t in today. See you two!” As the unicorn bounced away, juggling a couple of flowers telekinetically, Fae and Tide looked at each other. “I can see what you meant about her.” “Me too.” Eloni and Mud got back to the cottage to find Salt weeding the garden. The mare looked up from where she was levitating her trowel and they exchanged nods. Inside Mud returned to setting up his equipment and desk while Eloni took a scroll from her saddlebags. “How are you going to start?” Mud grunted, his mouth full assembling a small device. He finished putting it together and placed it on the table. “I’m going to prepare some camera traps, maybe a flash bulb or two…” he said. “Without more information, I can’t decide what else to do. It could just be a thieving bovine with weird shoes on.” Eloni raised an eyebrow. “Why are you always so negative about your chances of finding creatures worth seeking?” Mud looked behind him at her and smiled. “Because then I know that I’m not feverishly making things up to fit a theory. Anyway, I have you to be the optimist.” Eloni chuckled before reading the scroll through a couple of times. Mud gave her another smile as he left with the equipment he needed on his back. “See you later Eloni.” Fae and Tide wandered down the hill towards the beach, chatting about whether the Mare in the Moon was really a big alien or a signpost for space-faring ponies. Fae occasionally fluttered over the difficult obstacles while Tide just ploughed straight through them. As they reached the beach Tide’s orange coat was decidedly more brown. As Tide went to dip in the ocean, Fae took the opportunity to look at the sea again. The blue waves lapped against the shingle quietly, seaweed and kelp drifting in and out. She bent down and gave it a sniff to find that the salt made her sneeze. Tide finished cleaning himself in salt water and turned to find Fae sneezing repeatedly. “Fae, are you okay?” Fae was about to speak before she sneezed again. She grimaced and forcefully prevented herself sneezing. Having recovered, she was about to reply when Tide began shaking salt water all over her. “Hey!” She launched herself at Tide and they both fell into the water, splashing around and getting each other completely soaked again. After a while they both lay on the shingle grinning. “Truce?” asked Tide. “For now.” As they went to the quay to find a source of fresh water to rinse the salt out of their fur, they returned to the discussion of whether aliens were even real. Mud climbed the hill with the equipment on his back. He passed the pub, now proudly displaying a freshly painted sign declaring it to be “The Preserved Apple”, and continued onward up to the edge of the village. Instead of continuing to climb, he turned right onto a farm track that led around the outskirts of Lilac Cove. The land up slope was shallower, a bowl in the rest of the slope allowing land for crops to be grown on. Mud spotted the farm up ahead and headed towards it. As he arrived he saw two bored colts hanging over a fence. The unicorn had a dirty pink coat and the earth was a gentle brown, and both were staring at the ground. The pink one looked up as he approached. “Hey Mister! Have you seen Tide?” “He’s really small and more orange than a very orange orange,” added the brown colt. Mud nodded politely. “I think he’s with my daughter somewhere down by the schoolhouse.” “Thanks Mister!” they chorused and galloped off down the hill. Mud kept walking to the farmhouse and knocked on the door. An earth mare opened the door and raised her eyebrows. “Um… hello? Are you here to see Spring? He’s up in the fields.” “No ma’am, I’m here to set up camera traps. I’ve been hired to tidy up the monster problem.” “You are?” she said, shaking his hoof enthusiastically. “That’s wonderful news. I’m Corn, Corn Bushel, co-owner of the largest corn-farm in Lilac Cove. We’ve already lost the field by the lighthouse, and I think the Flow family lost the crop up over the ridge on the other side of Lilac Cove.” “Have all the losses been by the lighthouses?” “No, there were one or two fields lost in the basin, but the crops were wild from rotation. There was also a cart of apples brought down from the woods that was plundered.” “So I should camera trap the basin and by both lighthouses. Thank you Mrs Bushel, you’ve been most helpful.” “No problem Mister…” “Mud.” Eloni finished reading the scroll she had unpacked and stared up at the ceiling. “Huh. Who’d have thought it.” She tossed the scroll into her saddlebags, which she then stowed under her bed. She walked out of the room, hearing Mrs Salt humming a sea shanty in the kitchen, and opened the front door. She peered up at the sun. Despite being only halfway down the sky, there were already shadows cast by the schoolhouse ridge, and boats were mostly coming in and staying in. She decided to head down to the village hall to search for a library. Fae and Tide were walking up through the village when two colts came rushing round the corner. “Tide!” cried the lead colt, a dirty pink unicorn. “Hey Anchovy! Hey Trowel!” The two colts slid to a halt in front of Fae and Tide. “Where have you been Tide?” “You weren’t in school-” “-and then you weren’t at the hideout-” “-and then we ask a guy we hadn’t seen before-” “-and he said you were with his daughter-” “-and that means you must be his daughter-” “-and so you must be…” The two colts stopped as they looked at Fae. Their faces lit up with glee and they looked at each other. “Hey Anchovy, you thinking what I’m thinking?” “Sure am Trowel!” “She’s a pegasus/ got lizard eyes! Wait.” As the two began fussing over the fact that once again they had failed to say the same thing at the same time, Tide gave a cough. “Fae, before they get carried away trying to synthesise their speech again-“ “Synchronise,” the two corrected. “Yeah, that – the pink one is Anchovy and the brown one is Trowel. Guys, this is Fae.” Fae stood there in silence for a brief moment nervously before steeling herself. “Hello native creatures of the planet Lilac Cove, I am the great space explorer Captain Fae! I come in peace.” Anchovy and Trowel tilted their heads, mouths open. Tide, however, was bothered by something else. “Fae, I keep telling you, aliens don’t exist.”
