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// Loch-Lich 
// Story: Beasts and Beings - Stories of Equestria's Inhabitants 
// by Strongbolt Stonewing 
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	A Loch-Lich (pronounced lok-li-ch) is a terrifying creature that lurks within large lakes.

In mythical folklore and whatnot, Liches are depicted as ghostly, undead beings who wreak havoc among the living. The Loch-Lich is no exception. They are said to be the ghosts of evil ponies who drowned in the lakes.

Technically, they have no body, just a collection of bones in a mixture of ominous ectoplasmic residue (ghost jelly) that takes the form of a tall pony with no mane, tail or eyes.

The 'ghost jelly' stuff also glows an eerie shade of green, just to add to the spookiness.

As you can probably tell, the name. Loch-Lich, is derived from the word Loch (meaning lake) and Lich (meaning big scary zombie ghost thing)

In other words, they're only found in lakes.

Perhaps it's best for us to tell our tale?

Agreed.

So, it was a dark and quiet night, we were camping in the woods just outside Hayseed Swamp.

Whilst I was putting up our tent, I noticed a sudden change in the wind: it stopped completely.

We gazed around, and in the distance I spotted an odd lime-green glow coming from behind a line of trees.

So I boldly stepped forward and offered to investigate.

What are you talking about? I went forward and you followed afterwards.

Point is: we followed the glow and it led us to a mysterious lake.

Beneath the water we could make out the shape of a pony, but it was obscured by the green light

At first I thought: "Son of a saddle! I think some-pony is trapped down there!" And I bravely dived in and swam down.		

The Beast turned its eyeless carcass towards us and watched for a moment, mouth wide open with teeth baring.

Realising that it was definitely not a pony in danger, I bolted to the surface and jumped onto shore, much to Shiera's surprise.

The Loch-Lich rose out of the water and floated towards us.

Usually in movies the characters just stand there and the monster eats them. Let's just say things turned out pretty differently...

Evidently, Katalopes really like the taste of ectoplasm. It's ironic how a rare species saved us from an even rarer species.

I guess they were waiting for a pony to lure the Loch-Lich out so they could eat it. Which they did.

All that was left was a pile of old bones.

If you're worried about Loch-Liches, then don't be: they're quite rare, actually. Only a few have ever been reported and most of their lakes are condemned. We just happened to find one that wasn't.

Even though Loch-Liches are incredibly dangerous (they tend to snack on pony souls), it is said that harming them is very unethical, since they are so few in numbers.

So, if you are unfortunate enough to stumble upon a Loch-Lich, you'd better hope there are some Katalopes nearby...

...or you could just run.

Yes. Running works too.