We walked in silence through the icy mountain peaks towards Ponyville. The air was cold, and the snow was blowing everywhere. The trail through the mountain was very narrow, and I almost fell. Twice. The Spook was in front, with Twilight's earth pony guards behind him, who I learned later to be Mischief and Razor. I came next, and Twilight in the back.
Eventually we came to a long wood and rope ladder that bridged the gap over a deep ravine. My face became pale as I looked over the edge. It was a very long way down. Twilight looked over the edge and audibly gulped.
"We may have a small problem." Twilight said, turning back. "The ladder we set up on the way here before fell."
"Why not use your transportation magic?" Mischief suggested. "We could get along easily."
"I don't know if I can teleport Tom and Mister Gregory. Let me see." Twilight's horn started to glow, but The Spook put his hand on her head. This disrupted her train of thought and the magic dispelled.
"The day I accept the aid of magic is the day I hang up my staff." He said sharply. "The lad and I will cross the rope bridge." The Spook then walked to the bridge and proceeded to walk over the bridge. I started to follow. When I started crossing though, my foot broke through a board, and I fell. I grabbed onto the left rope, which stopped me from being impaled by the rocks at the bottom of the ravine.
Twilight, Mischief, and Razor had already teleported to the other side, and The Spook had already crossed the bridge.
"Lad!" He shouted.
"Quiet!" Twilight said in an urgent whisper. "I don't know how prone these cliffs are to avalanches."
"Or flying daemons." Mischief said. "Look."
The snow had been shaken off of the ravine by The Spook's shout, revealing a large cave. Two large feminine beasts flew out. Their bodies had a reptilian shape with scales covering their mid rim and lower, but they closely resembled human women because they still had human faces, hair, and upper bodies, with golden scales covering their spines. Maybe they were more like women who had been attacked by a pack of dogs. Their wings fluttered as they rose above us.
Razor unsheathed his sword, and Mischief grabbed a spear from his back.
"No." The Spook said. "That sword work be effective. Keep them away or they'll drag you away and suck the blood from your bones!"
"What are they?"
"Lamias!" The Spook said, alarming the ponies. He drew his staff and released the blade. "Lad, get up!"
Putting one arm in front of the other, I started working my way towards the others. Unfortunately the rope started to moan and the wood groaned.
"The bridge is giving way!" I said. "Help!"
Razor dropped the sword and dived for the bridge. He grabbed the rope that was about to snap in his mouth and pulled it so it stayed firm. I started moving towards him again
One of the lamias hissed and dived for Twilight, The Spook, and Mischief. Mischief threw his first spear at the lamia, which clipped one of her wings.
"Yeah!" Mischief said, before realizing that the lamia was falling right on him. "Augh!" He said as he rolled out of the way.
"Can you two handle that thing?" The Spook asked, turning his attention to Twilight. She nodded to The Spook, and started charging her horn. The Spook gripped his staff and started over to where Razor and I were, second lamia threateningly close to Razor. The Spook drew its attention while I started to pull myself up over the edge of the ravine.
"Lad, i'm going to need you for this." The Spook said. I drew my staff and stood by The Spook, our blades taunting the lamia to make the first move. Razor released the rope, causing the bridge to clatter down below. This drew the lamias attention.
"We don't have time to bind it, we have to slay it." I said.
"Aye." The Spook said, already advancing on the flying beast. He sliced diagonally into it's back, cutting its wing off. It wasn't getting away anytime soon. Razor made his way to us, lamia close behind. The Spook and I rushed at it from both directions, splitting its attention. It went for me, scuttling swiftly towards me. I backed up, staff in defensive position. It scratched at me with it's claw, which I parried. The Spook saw his opportunity and stabbed it in the back of the head. He had ripped out its brain. It let out a strange growl, and fell into the ravine. It's tail wrapped around Razors leg, taking him with it.
"Razor!' I said. Razor looked down to see the tail digging into his black coat, start dragging him. He grabbed at the ground, but realized it was too icy to get a decent grip. We dived for him, but it was too late. He fell without a word.
"No!" I shouted, looking over the edge, but The Spook put his hand on my shoulder.
"Lad, we have to help the others, or his loss will be in vain."
We hurried over to see Twilight and Mischief having trouble with the other first lamia. Mischief was on the ground in the middle of a stone/ice semicircle, his last spear in mouth. Twilight was above him, blasting magic bolts at it. The lamia was thrashing around, cutting at Mischief. It caught him with the back of it's hand, knocking him into the stone wall beside him. Twilight hit it with a bolt of magic in the face, causing it to frenzy. Twilight yelped as it threw itself at her.
The Spook pointed to where Twilight was. I saw a large boulder that could be heavy enough to crush it. I crept up to where Twilight was nursing a jagged cut in her back leg. She was bleeding heavily, but she would be fine. I hid behind the boulder, waiting for The Spook to draw the lamia in closer. He was parrying it's claws, and jabbing when he had the chance, backing up at all times. Once the lamia was in place, he rolled out of the semicircular incline, and I started pushing the rock. I soon found out that it was heavy enough to crush the lamia, but also too heavy for me to push. The lamia was slowly crawling towards The Spook, soon it would be out of reach from the rock.
I was about to give up when I saw the boulder glow with a purple aura. It rolled over and down towards The Lamia. I soon realized that it was Twilight helping me push. It slammed down onto it's tail, crushing it heavily. The sound of broken bones rattled through my head. The rock started rolling onto the rest of the lamia, slowly making its way to its lungs. The stench of its blood made me sick. The organs that were scattered about didn't help.
I made my way to Twilight, who was having trouble walking on her hurt leg. I helped her down to The Spook, who was having trouble waking Mischief. The lamia's blood was spattered all over his blue coat.
"Is he okay?" The Spook asked Twilight. "I'm not a horse vet."
"Pony." Twilight corrected. She bent over to get a closer look. "He seems fine to me, maybe a concussion." She stared at him harder, then she got back up "I'm not sure...he might be really hurt."
"Lad, you mind carrying him? I want to get to Ponyville soon. I still haven't gotten my hot meal."
I grabbed Mischief, and the four of us, or three of us, started back to Ponyville. After a while we left the mountain, ad were on flat ground again. The distance from the mountain up and down was hard on our lungs, and The Spook and I were growing tired. It was getting dark, which added to our fatigue. After a while we set up camp for the night. We build a campfire, which was hard since we had no axes to cut with.
With the help of Twilight I caught four rabbits and we started to roast them. The fat was basically glistening in the fire and my stomach was growling. Twilight took one, and so did I The Spook didn't take a rabbit though because he wanted to keep his wits sharp in case The Dark attacked us before we got to Ponyville. I respected his idea, but I was desperately hungry. I took another rabbit. He reached into his cloak and pulled out small block of County cheese. He loved the crumbly yellow cheese that the County was famous for. It would be a bad day when he ran out.
"So what were you ponies doing so far from your hometown?" The Spook asked Twilight.
"As I said, Equestria has been attacked by all these monsters for hundreds of years, if not thousands. We went looking for anything to help Ponyville, we're desperately trying to survive."
"Maybe when we get there the Lad and I can help you all out. We could work something out like we did in the County."
"And what was that?"
I remembered the system while The Spook explained it to Twilight. Anyone with a problem would go to a hill on the far side of our old town Chippeden. They would never come near The Spook's house because the benign boggart would rip them to shreds. I would go to see what they needed, and then go back to The Spook. Then either I or we would go to deal with the problem, and get our pay. Also, the town folk would usually get things for us every week, as they didn't like The Spook or his apprentice spending long periods of time in town. Being a Spook was lonely work. Almost no one respected you, let alone like you.
"That's fascinating. I'm sure if you can help us deal with our monsters and get us back on our feet, I can get you a house, and more."
"You can?"
"I am the town leader. There are certain benefits that go with it."
"Aye."
We made makeshift beds out of some straw in a nearby field. I went to sleep instantly. I awoke quickly though, as a chill ran down my spine. The one that told me something of The Dark was nearby. I could hear something in the field to the South. I sat up, gripping my staff. What I saw were two eyes looking at me malevolently. The thing that made me uneasy was that they were not of the same color. When they noticed that I saw them too, they disappeared. I laid back down, but I knew something bad could happen soon. Before I drifted off I pulled my staff closer. It was going to be a rough night.