Spike invited Snips to the front of the class, and soon the colt stood in front of everyone, shaking a little.
Realizing his new pupil was nervous, Spike gave him a gentle patting on his back. "Go on. We all want to hear it, and you already know it."
"O-okay, so..." He lifted his drawing into the air. "A long time ago, Ponyville wasn't the same place at all. Princess, um, Celestia was kinda busy doing other stuff, so we were on our own."
The class watched and listened, eager to learn the story, or at least see how Snips would foul up.
It was a dark and brooding night. Branches clawed at the window of what would one day be rebuilt into the town hall. It was barely a one story building back then.
The door swung open with a bang and a mare rushed in. "They're coming!" she shouted as loud as she could, stirring the pony that had been sleeping out of his bed and right onto the floor.
"W-wha? Who's coming?" He stood up. He was my great grandpa! He was already grabbing his helmet.
"I-I didn't mean to!"
"Calm down and tell me what's going on." My granddad rushed over and shook the mare a little. "I'll keep you safe, just tell me where I need to be!"
She pointed out into the dark just as lightning flashed. A hulking form could be seen for just an instant. It looked huge and awful. Now, most ponies woulda just ran away, but not my grandad! He told the mare to sit tight and grabbed his sword with his magic. "I'll handle this."
He stalked out, helmet on and sword floating at his side.
Problem was, he couldn't see the big thing he just saw a moment ago. It was dark, and it wasn't making a sound. "Come on out!" he shouted for it as he spun around, trying to find it.
"Aren't you a brave stallion?" came a female voice, whispering in his ear. He froze, unsure what to do. "With manners at that. Good. Why are you here?"
"I'm here to protect my neighbors!" He squinted into the dark, trying to see a clue of who he was speaking to. Though her voice sounded like she was practically right on top of him, he couldn't see a thing, or feel it. He could just hear it.
"There are many dangerous things that think ponies are quite delicious."
He spun towards where he thought the voice was coming from. "Are you one of them?!"
"I was tempted." The voice came from behind him, always moving with not a hint of how it was moving. "Perhaps you will feed me a different way."
"A different way." My great grandpa snorted angrily. "Why would I want to feed you at all?"
"I can fight you, or fight for you." Her voice curled around him like a snake. "I can help you protect those neighbors of yours. Think on it. For now, something to remember me by."
That's when he passed out. He woke up the next day--"
Apple Bloom was waving a hoof wildly in the air. "Jus' like that? He done just passed out?"
Snips nodded. "Uh huh, just like that." A spectral set of scissors appeared over his head. "Snip!" They shut tight. "He was out like a light."
"The next day he was found by the other Ponyville ponies. They woke him up, but once he sat up, they started staring at him like he had a second head. He didn't have a second head, thankfully. What if his foals got second heads? I might have a second head! Actually that would be kinda cool..." Snips was tapping at his chin, imagining if he had twice the chins to tap upon.
Spike leaned forward a little. "And then?"
"Oh, right, so then..."
He asked them what was wrong, and they started pointing at him, right at his chest. So he looks down and sees this! The same picture I drew, right over his chest like he got a second cutie mark in a really wierd spot.
That's when he heard her, a whisper in his ear, "Give me one place at every meal, and you may call me when times are at their darkest."
Now, he wasn't any expert or anything, but he figured he didn't want any trouble from creepy dark monsters. So when he had breakfast, he set out two places instead of one, and left the other alone. It just sat there, steaming quietly until it got cold, but he left it alone and went out to work. When he came back to get lunch, it was gone. The plate was perfectly clean like he had washed it, so he put lunch on it and ate his own.
It was gone by dinner.
He was good about it and kept right on feeding that thing day after day, even when other ponies told him he was just wasting time and money.
In the end, he was glad he did. When something too terrible came to Ponyville for them to fight off, he could ask his friend, the one on his chest, and it'd scare them away. Imagine seeing a full-grown hydra galloping with wide eyes away from town. That's what would happen so long as granpa was on watch.
They say she, the shadow thing, promised to keep following him, even after he, uh, moved on. She'd follow his foals, and his foals foals, so long as we set a place for her.
Snips reached up and pulled the paper from the air. "And that's the story."
Spike gave an owlish blink. "Wow. That was not the story I was expecting, but that's kinda cool."
Snails tilted his head. "Is that why you bring so much food to lunch?"
Snips glanced about as he returned to his seat. "Y-yeah, that's... why..."
Littlepip giggled. "Maybe he also likes eatin'. Nothin' wrong with that!"
The class joined in the laughter for a moment before Spike could get them to quiet down. "Alright alright, everyone's ready now. Let's begin! You've all been gathered together for a specific purpose."
Sweetie Belle tilted her head. "Are we students? I mean, we are, but in the game?"
"Not quite."
The brave young adventurers were assembled in a great courtyard. Above them, on a balcony, stood Princess Schmarity.
Sweetie Belle tilted her head. "My sister's a princess? That makes me a princess too, right!?"
Spike took a half-step back, his hands rising quickly. "What? No! This isn't Rarity."
Sweetie arched a brow at Spike as a little smile spread on her face. "I'm not stupid, Spike. I wave at my sister."
Spike let out a soft sigh and tried to get back in the story.
The Princess nodded down at her little sister, but her attention quickly swept out over the entire crowd. "Good adventurers, I have called you all here today because our nation has need of your diverse talents and skills. The diamond dogs have declared war." She waves away that matter. "We are dealing with that the traditional way, but while our forces are occupied, there are other troubles ahoof. It seems some young foal has gone where they shouldn't and awakened a slumbering evil!"
Snails the monk slowly blinked. "Oops."
All the other adventurers turned to look at Snails.
Emerald Choker grabbed her longest stick and poked the servant she was riding on the back of with it. "Kindly slap him for me, hmm?"
"Yes, ma'am" He trot swiftly up to the monk and gave him a light bonk on the head. "As you requested, mistress."
"Very good."
Schmarity put a hoof to her face. "Be that as it may, it's just as well that you are part of the team that will undo this damage." She drew the hoof away to point into the distance. "It's the creepy old house up on the hill. You simply can't miss it. I really should have had that demolished ages ago, but there was always something distracting me, you know how it is."
Flash Dash thrust a hoof forward. "Everyone, to my wagon! I'll get us there in no time at all!"
Apple Bloom looked over at Scootaloo. "Flash Dash? You have a wagon?"
Scootaloo shrugged. "What's wrong with Flash Dash? Besides, I thought a wagon would work better." She waved a hoof over the classroom. "There's a ton of us. I can't fit all that on a scooter!"
Soft murmurs of agreement came from most of the classroom.
The team loaded up into the wagon with some squeezing and Flash Dash soared there with it trailing behind her. As they approached, a disturbance became clearly visible below. It was almost like a party, but there were no ponies there, at least no normal ponies.
It was a bash, a real banging party, of monsters! A monster bash! Mummified mares danced alongside wereponies. A vampony laughed from a balcony, pointing down at where a lagoon beast was lurking in the dirty pool. They were having a grand time of things.
Apple Bloom thrust up a hoof. "Ah know. I'll throw down one of mah sticky bombs on 'em, get 'em while they're all together an' stuff."
Spike pointed at her with two hands. "A valid tactic, but you can only throw so far. You're 30 feet up in the air, and the house is about a hundred feet away. How far will you be throwing the bomb?"
AB sank into her chair with a frown before she dug out a pencil and started working through it. "Ah know ah can figure this one out..."
Diamond Tiara gave a cocky smile. "While she's figuring that out, I'll use my 'Announcement of Authority'. That goes way long enough. Ahem!" She adjusted her voice to the even snobbier tones of Emerald Choker, "Citizens! Your festivities have been deemed illegal. Please disperse immediately!" Her voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, "It's also deemed icky, but I won't tell them that."
Some of the other foals giggled at her side comment as Spike smiled. "Alright! So you shout down at them to break up the party. The werepony's claws suddenly retract as she gives an emphatic 'aw'. She sulks away, looking like a perfectly normal pony. Hey, you recognize her! It seems the candlestick maker was actually a werepony, go figure. She's a nice enough mare."
AB perked up and clopped a hoof down on her paper. "About a hundred and four feet!"
Spike nodded. "Very good." Silently, he congratulated himself, he got to talk about a right triangle. "How did you figure that out?"
"Oh, well that's easy!" She turned to the class. "Remember what Miss Cheerilee said? It was just another of them right triangle things." She moved her hooves, tracing an invisible triangle. "And we already knew two sides, so the third was just some math."
Twist bobbed her head quickly. "The thquareth! I remember that!"
Apple Bloom nudged Scootaloo. "Fly us in closer, not like they don't see us anyway."
"Roger!"
"As you swoop in to approach, the vampony stallion spreads his arms wide as they become wings and he raises quickly towards you as a half-bat, half-pony monstrosity, screeching in anger!" Spike spread his own arms and flapped them with a fierce face of mock fury.
AB made a throwing motion with her right hoof. "I throw the bomb ah had ready!"
Spike made a parabolic motion, following the theoretical thrown weapon. "It flies in a nice curve. The vampony swerves to avoid it, but it slaps up against a wing! A single flap and it gets on the other wing and binds them together. He gives a little squeak before he begins to fall to the ground." He waggled his brows. "He was coming at you for about three seconds, going roughly fifty miles per hour average. How far did he fall?"
Featherweight waved a hoof wildly. "That's a trick question. We're not even thirty feet up anymore. He couldn't have gotten very high, maybe ten feet?"
Spike congratulated Featherweight on his speedy analysis, pleased with the way the game was going.