The Rainbooms are on a field trip cruise to Greece. They offer to join Professor Fossil as she digs up some ruins, but find a creature that was supposed to be nothing but myth.
The Rainbooms and some of their classmates are on a field trip to an archaeological dig in Greece. As they walk about the dig, they eventually come across a creature that was supposed to be nothing but a myth: Lamia. But Lamia was quite different to what the stories said she was.
Principal Celestia and Vice-Principal Luna had brought the students on a trip to Greece to meet with Professor Fossil to see a new set of ruins that were recently dug up in the hills.
After staying the night in a hotel in Athens, the principals and students left to meet Professor Fossil at the dig site. They were currently riding on a bus to get to the trail that leads to the dig site. Once there, they would learn more about the dig and stay near the site in a campsite set up nearby.
Sunset and her friends were sitting in close proximity to each other and chatting about what they might find at the dig.
"I wonder if there will be any amazing artwork left at the dig," Rarity wondered.
"Maybe, and I'm expecting to see at least a temple to one of the gods," Sunset said.
"I hope they have a fighting arena at the dig site!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"I'm simply excited to see whatever they find at the dig site! It's amazing that this apparent settlement has been left here in pretty close proximity to Athens and only been discovered a month ago," Twilight said.
"I wonder why no one had even noticed these ruin were there until recently," Fluttershy wondered.
"I'm not sure. Maybe Professor Fossil will tell us when we arrive at the dig site," Sunset replied.
Soon enough, the bus rolled to a stop and Celestia stood up to face her students.
"Alright everyone! We've made it to the trail. I need all of you to stay where we can see you," Celestia instructed.
Everyone got off of the bus and began to make their trek through the Greek wilderness to get to the dig. The trail took them through the beautiful wild parts of Greece, through hilly forests and a flat plain. They walked with anticipation to the dig to see what the professor had discovered.
*****
At the Dig Site
The group had finally seen the special ruins that Professor Fossil and her team were working on.
The ruins themselves were really quite remarkable. Of course they were not in the best of condition due to the passage of time. As expected from a Greek town, there were the remains of buildings, an arena, and a temple.
Walking and working amongst the ruined buildings were a dutiful team of archeologists. Some of them were digging in ditches and dusting the dirt off of any artifacts they have found. One among their number was a middle-aged woman with messy hair and a pair of spectacles. She smiled upon seeing the CHS group.
"Hello, everyone! I'm so glad to see you all here!" Professor Fossil greeted.
"It's great to be here. Thank you for inviting us, Professor. What have you and your team found so far?" Celestia asked.
Professor Fossil smiled a Pinkie-level smile. "We have found so many amazing things here at this site!"
The ecstatic professor led the group to a large tarp laid out on the ground with several artifacts laying on it. There were the remains of pottery, children's toys, tools, weapons, armor, and other different apparent household or holy items. These artifacts were in varying states of decay. What really drew the eyes of everyone gathered was the remains of a pot that held images of farmers fighting off a monster of some sort.
The monster depicted in this image was a combination of a beautiful woman and a large writhing snake. The creature in the pot's image was towering over the gathered men while they held spears towards the creature.
"What's that on the pot?" Rainbow asked.
Professor Fossil looked at the pot and smiled. "That is an image depicting what can interpreted as the men of this village facing off against Lamia".
"'Lamia'? Who or what is that?" Pinkie asked.
"Do you all like stories?" Professor Fossil asked in reply.
The entire group confirmed that they do. They awaited eagerly for the professor to begin with the tale.
"The story of Lamia is a tragic one. Long ago, there was a beautiful queen of a prosperous kingdom. Her name was Lamia, and her immense beauty drew the attention of the god Zeus. He ascended to the human world and seduced the lovely Lamia into sleeping with him and birthing children with him. But Zeus's wife Hera, whose jealousy and ruthlessness for revenge was legendary, found out about the affair and decided to punish Lamia for it. Hera used her powers to make Lamia kill all of her own children. In her despair, Lamia fled her kingdom. But Hera then changed her into the form of a serpentine monster. With her new form and the loss of her children, Lamia sought revenge against Hera. She started to stalk the wild lands around Greece at night and devour children. Zeus, in a bizarre form of kindness, gave Lamia the ability to switch between her human form and her monster form. This allowed her to start seducing and eating men as well as children. Lamia became something like a boogeyman in Greece, a story told to scare children into behaving. However, unlike other Greek monsters, she was never slain by any hero," Professor Fossil told.
After finishing her tale, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were crying.
"That's so sad!!" Pinkie wailed.
"To be forced to kill your own children and be turned into a monster?! That's horrible!" Fluttershy blubbered.
"I know. It's a truly tragic tale. And the fact that this village has a pot depicting a battle with Lamia may provide us some more insight into the story of Lamia," Professor Fossil said excitedly.
"Maybe the artifacts found here could say how Lamia's story ends?" Twilight asked.
"I have a good feeling about that. Especially with what we found in the temple," the professor replied.
"What's in the temple?" Applejack asked.
Professor Fossil simply beckoned the group to follow her to the temple. She asked them to mind themselves while they were in the temple so as not to disturb the team digging or accidentally destroy any artifacts that were found within.
The temple itself was pretty standard for an ancient Greek temple. There were columns that held up a high ceiling and lined a second floor overlooking the inner sanctum. In the back of the inner sanctum was a large idol in the shape of a figure that the group had just recently become familiar with.
It was a statue of Lamia in all of her terrifying and oddly seductive glory. The statue depicted Lamia as having an upper half like a beautiful woman and the lower half was that of a large coiled snake ready to strike. She was in a position that seemed like she was expecting to be worshipped.
"The people here actually worshipped Lamia?" Rarity asked.
"I believe that the people of this town may have been a cult that prayed to Lamia to leave their people alone or maybe even protect them," Professor Fossil theorized.
"I guess better to have a monster fight other monsters," Pinkie said.
Seeing that the sun was going down, Vice-Principal Luna whistled to get the students' attention.
"Alright, students! It's time we get to the campsite for the night!" Luna called.
*****
That Night
In the hills near the ruined town, hidden behind large bushes, there was a deep dark cave. Within this cave, something stirred in the dark. After the sun had descended over the hills, the entity within moved beyond the bushes and inhaled the night air, puffing her ample chest through her ragged dress.
The entity in question was female and she was startlingly beautiful. Well, from the waist-up anyway. From below the waist, a long scaly snake tail slithered on the ground. Her tail undulated and vibrated with the thick crushing muscles underneath her smooth scales. She flexed the claws on her hands and flicked her forked tongue in the air.
This was Lamia, the terrifying creature of the Ancient World. Her reptilian eyes adapted to the night and she could get a good view of her environment. She stretched her arms and tail before giving a fanged sigh.
"Looks like another boring night. Guess I had better start patrolling my territory," Lamia said.
Night after night for three thousand years, she had watched over the hills she now called home. Ever since she was cursed to become a monster, she had been forced to live in the wild parts of Greece. It had quickly become very lonely to exist in her state as no one would approach her. At least no one was trying to kill her.
Lamia slithered off to do her routine patrol of her territory. Once she got to the western border of her territory, she saw something she did not expect to find.
She saw lights coming from what appeared to be a campsite near the town she became familiar with.
"Humans are here? I'd better conceal my presence," Lamia whispered.
Lamia slithered quietly to observe the humans who had intruded on her territory. This night had suddenly become much more interesting for her.
The girls were having a good time sitting around the campfire and enjoying the food they brought. Once they were done eating, Pinkie stepped up with a hand in the air.
"Hey, girls! How about we sing a campfire song?!" she shouted excitedly.
"That sounds lovely, darling. But what should we sing?" Rarity asked.
"I have an idea," Sunset replied. "How about 'Jolene'? That's a good song to sing around a campfire".
"That's not bad, Sunset. I'll start," Applejack said before clearing her throat.
As Lamia was slithering towards her city, she heard something rising from the woods. The longer Lamia listened, she immediately realized that she was listening to music. But it didn't sound like any music she had ever heard before.
"What is that melodious sound?" Lamia asked herself. "I want to hear more".
Lamia wanted to hear more of this new music from a safe distance. But the growling from her stomach brought her back to the reality of her not having eaten anything all night.
"Zeusdamn it! I need something to eat. I wonder if these humans brought food with them," Lamia said.
Like a snake, Lamia stick her tongue out and moved her head from side-to-side, trying to catch any good smells that blew her way. Once she stuck her head towards the ruins, she caught the smell of food. It wasn't any food she remembered smelling before, but it was enough to make her mouth water.
"That smells like a banquet fit for gods! Perhaps I should partake," Lamia said with drooling fangs.
But Lamia sure as Tartarus wasn't about to slither up to these humans and ask for their food. She had to play this smart.
"I know! I'll wait for them to go to sleep. Then I'll sneak up to them and take their food," Lamia said.
Her easy plan concocted, Lamia curled up behind some shrubs until she saw the light of their campfire go out. Then, she made her move towards the smell of food.
*****
With the Rainbooms
Once girls were finished singing, their raking canine Spike started to clap his paws together and whistle.
"That was awesome! I could hear that song over and over again," Spike praised.
"That's so sweet of you, Spike. It's a classic," Fluttershy said.
Rainbow let out a yawn. She stood up and did an overhead stretch.
"Well, it's getting pretty late. I think we should hit the sack," Rainbow said.
"I agree. We can't help out the professor if we're tired," Twilight said.
The girls all said their goodnights and made their way to their tents. All, except for Spike. He was looking off into the surrounding ruins.
"I should probably go pee before going to bed," Spike said.
He took off towards the outside of the ruined city. Thankfully, the moon was full and bright, giving Spike the best degree of illumination of the nighttime world. He weaved between the walls and houses until he finally saw the wilderness beyond the city. The trees of the forest stood tall like an impenetrable black wooden wall. But there were plenty of bushes in front of the tree line for Spike to use.
Spike walked over to the biggest bush he could find and began to relive himself. He let out a sigh of relief. Spike didn't think Professor Fossil would appreciate relieving himself within the site. Once he was done, Spike began to walk back to the city when he caught something in his peripheral vision.
A long, black shape was slithering between the bushes making its way towards the city. Even with the full moon, Spike couldn't make out the figure slithering in the shadows of the bushes. But the sight of the creature was making Spike's heart start racing.
"What the-? What on Earth is that?!" Spike shouted quietly.
Since the slithering creature was going into the city, he knew it would be making its way to his sleeping friends. Spike ran back to the city and tried to make his way around the creature and get to the campsite before the creature did. Whatever this thing was, it was moving fast.
By the time Spike got back to the campsite, the creature was already there. It was hiding among the shadows of the buildings, so Spike still couldn't make out what the creature looked like. Spike made sure to hide one of the pillars of a building so he can watch the creature.
Sticking to the shadows of the tents and buildings, the creature slithered between the tents as if looking for something. But there was a certain intensity to its search.
"What is it looking for?" Spike thought.
Spike squinted his eyes to make out what the creature was doing. He saw the creature make its way towards the tent that Twilight and Rarity were sharing. It pressed itself against the flap of the tent and began to try opening it.
Without any hesitation, Spike started furiously barking at the creature. There was no way he was going to let this creature near Twilight and Rarity. The creature shot backwards in surprise and tried to look around and find the source of the offending sound. Finally, the creature turned towards Spike and looked at him with glowing amber reptilian eyes.
The beams of flashlights began shining through the tents, followed by the sounds of worried shouting and struggling. The creature took the opportunity to slither away from the tents at alarming speed. The figure was a blur as it slithered away deeper into the city.
The tents opened up to reveal the girls in their pajamas holding flashlights and were obviously worried. Spike ran to Twilight and jumped into her arms.
"Spike, what's going on?!" Twilight asked.
"I was peeing outside the ruins, and I saw something slithering around the tents!" Spike replied. "I started barking as it was trying to make its way into your tent!"
"What was it, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.
"I don't know, it was too dark to see! But it slithered away after I started barking," Spike replied.
"Which way did it go?" Pinkie asked.
Spike pointed with his nose. "It took off deeper into the city!"
Sunset grabbed a long stick and swung it like a sword. Rainbow did the same thing.
"Let's go see what this thing is! If it's hostile, we'll have to pony up!" Sunset said.
The girls ran off in the general direction of the creature. There were going to get the bottom of this, one way or another.
*****
With Lamia
Lamia was scared out her wits. Everything happened so fast, but she was fast enough to get away before the humans saw her. All she knew was that a dog started barking and magic lights shone from within the tents. Perhaps these people were users of magic.
"I was about to steal food from witches! Or perhaps they were children of Helios! Either way, I must have offended them!" Lamia thought with dread. "If they catch me, it may take more than the gods to save me!"
The girl-turned-monster slithered down the familiar streets of her city with blinding speed despite her size. She made her way towards the temple where the people would worship her.
"The hidden sacrificial sanctuary! If I can just make my way there, I'll be safe!" Lamia said.
Lamia gambled a look behind her. Sure enough, there were visible beams of the magic light the humans wielded shining from a good distance behind her. The sight of the lights caused Lamia's heart to temporarily stop beating. But fortunately for her, the temple was just within sight.
The darkness of the temple was a welcome blanket for the scared Lamia, who took a moment to breathe. As mush as she wanted to reminisce about the days where she would watch her worshippers sing and dance and perform ceremonies for her, she had much more pressing matters to attend to.
Just behind the statue of her, there was a single large floor tile that was actually a hidden door. She lifted it up and quickly slithered down the stairs. With her snake-vision, she could make out the interior of the sanctuary.
The interior was a large rectangular prismoid room that was vertically going down to a large sanctuary room. The floor of the sanctuary held a large altar that jutted a good four feet off the ground. Behind the altar stood two statues: one of Lamia in a victory pose clutching a heart in her right hand and another of the goddess Hera in a pose that resembled a dead corpse.
This was a place where the temple priestesses would give animal sacrifices during the yearly Lamia Festival, where the people would celebrate Lamia and her protecting the town for another year. Behind the statues was another hidden tunnel that led outside the city. Lamia would use this tunnel to get to the sanctuary to receive the animal sacrifices she would eat.
Lamia slithered behind the statues to find the tunnel, only to find rubble blocking the entrance. Lamia slammed her tail on the ground in frustration.
"Zeusdamn it! The tunnel must've collapsed sometime over the past 3,000 years!" Lamia yelled.
Either way she felt safe now that she was within her sanctuary. She beat the humans to her temple, opened the secret door, and made her way towards her hidden sanctuary. Remembering this made Lamia come to a terrifying realization.
"I never closed the door to the sanctuary!" she shouted.
As if trying to add salt to the wound, Lamia could hear the sound of footsteps from the top of the sanctuary's staircase. The pursuers have found the secret entrance and they were making their way down! Lamia looked around for aa place to hide. But there was nowhere she could hide except for the rafters.
Making her way to the wall, Lamia used her claws and stomach scales to quickly and quietly climb up the wall until she got to the rafters. As she was climbing, she could see the beams of the magic lights coming down the stairs. Upon reaching the rafters, Lamia laid herself on the top of the rafters, which groaned under her weight. She hoped beyond hope that the rafters would hold until the humans left. Lamia just had to stay quiet and be patient.
*****
With the Rainbooms
The girls were really hauling it to find their nocturnal guest. The creature, whatever it was, was really quick. Rainbow would've used her speed, but the limited range of the flashlight and the tightness of the buildings would've resulted in her striking the buildings.
But they were able to see the shape of the creature enter the temple in the center of the city. They might be able to trap the creature inside.
"There it is! It went inside the temple!" Twilight said.
"Wait! Say we do trap the creature inside, what do we do then?" Rarity asked.
"Perhaps we can simply see what the creature is and try to find out why it came to our campsite," Sunset replied.
"Maybe it isn't even that dangerous. Perhaps we can reason with the creature," Fluttershy said.
The girls decided to play it by ear when they got to the temple. They entered the temple and shone their flashlights all over the place. There was the pillars and the Lamia statue, but no creature in sight.
"Spread out," Sunset whispered. "If you see anything, let us know".
The girls all spread out to see where the creature could've gone. Each one decided to check a separate part of the temple. Pinkie looked behind the statue of Lamia, turned around and waved her hand in the air.
"Girls! Over here!" Pinkie loudly whispered.
The girls all went to Pinkie and shone their flashlights at the place Pinkie was pointing to. There was a large floor tile sitting next to a hidden staircase that led underground. They all deduced that the creature fled down the stairs to evade them.
"Okay, the creature went down the stairs to flee," Twilight said. "We'll go down there to check it out. We stay close together and be on-guard".
The girls went down the stairs to the underground. As they walked, a thought crossed Twilight's mind.
"Hey girls, how come Professor Fossil never mentioned this hidden staircase and tunnel?" Twilight asked. "She's usually very thorough when examining the sites she works on".
"Well, the tunnel was hidden by a floor tile, darling. Perhaps she never thought to look for any hidden tunnels," Rarity replied.
"Okay. But we chased an unknown creature into this place. How did it know where the tunnel entrance was?" Twilight said.
The girls didn't respond. They all must've been thinking about what the creature was and how it knew about this tunnel. It immediately came to the temple and went down a hidden tunnel underneath a temple. Whatever this creature was, it had intimate knowledge of the temple.
After a few more minutes of walking down a staircase, the girls walked into a large sanctuary with statues of Lamia and Hera at the far corner of the sanctuary hall. The girls stared at the statues and marveled at the preserved state of the statues. But they had more pressing matters to attend to.
"The creature is here somewhere. We search in groups," Sunset said.
The girls split into groups of two with Twilight, Fluttershy, and Sunset being a group of three. They all knew the creature was hiding somewhere in the sanctuary.
*****
With Lamia
Lamia watched as the girls and a small dog walked through the sanctuary and saw them attempting to search for her. She took the time to examine the girls.
They all had strange devices in their hands that shone bright beams of bright light. Perhaps these were witches that held the power of the sun in their hands.
Lamia could feel the beams under her start to groan under her weight. Being thousands of years old, the beams were rotting. She feared that the beams couldn't hold much more.
But the only answer to her prayers she got was the creaking of wood. It was growing louder and louder with each passing second. Finally, the beam Lamia was laying on snapped, sending her plummeting down to the sanctuary floor. She landed on the ground in a painful heap.
Rubbing her head, Lamia rose up and shook the dizziness out of her head. The next thing she knew, she was blinded by bright light. She squinted her eyes to see the girls and dog all staring at her with shocked faces.
The girls heard a loud crash and thud just behind them. They all turned their flashlights to the direction of the sounds and were collectively shocked by what they saw.
A creature that seemed eerily familiar to them emerged from the floor in front of them. From the waist up, they girls saw a humanoid woman with ghastly pale skin underneath a tattered toga. She clutched her head with a hand that ended in vicious claws. Her hair was short, messy, and was the color of coal. Her ears were pointed and jutted out from the sides of her head. She rose up until she was taller than all of them. Her lower half was a long and strong snake's tail, the scales being dark green in color with black stripes. From the tip of her tail to the top of her head, she measured at least twenty feet long. Once she was fully aware of her surroundings, the creature gazed at them with bright amber reptilian eyes.
"Uuuuuuuh... hiss?" the creature said.
"L-L-L-Lamia!!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
The girls all screamed along with Lamia. After screaming a few more times, both parties stopped screaming. Lamia quickly slithered behind the statues and climbed atop the one of herself. She glared down at the human girls and talking dog and gave them all a threatening hiss.
"Stay away from me!" Lamia shouted. "I don't mean you any harm, but I will fight you if you attempt to harm me".
The girls all stood there staring up at the mythic creature before them in awe. The silence seemed to stretch on for what seemed like forever. Fluttershy stepped towards Lamia and barely managed to look Lamia in the eyes.
"Are you... Lamia?" she asked the snake woman.
"This is my city. This is my temple. This is a statue of me," Lamia said gesturing to their surroundings.
"You... you're real. The Lamia from myth is right before our eyes. But you're supposed to be a myth," Sunset said.
Lamia's face became a mask of confusion. "Wait, you followed me all the way here and you didn't even know I existed?"
"Yeah! Spike told us you were snooping around our campsite," Pinkie said.
Lamia's cheeks became red and flushed. She looked away from the girls and fiddled with her hair.
"Well... I smelled food coming from your camp. It smelled really good and I was really hungry," Lamia said.
"Well, if you were hungry, you could've just said so!" Pinkie said pulling a bag of chocolate chip cookies from her pajama pants.
She threw the bag to Lamia, who caught it with her tail. Lamia examined the bag and opened it. The smell of the cookies wafting from the bag immediately sent drool dripping from Lamia's mouth. She pulled out a cookie, examined it a bit, and took a small bite. Her eyes widened in ecstasy at the taste of diabetic heaven in her mouth. Lamia greedily devoured the cookies and even the bag the cookies were in.
"Food worthy of the gods!!" Lamia shouted.
Pinkie smiled at the praise for her cooking skills. Lamia slithered down to the floor and grabbed Pinkie's hands, shaking them up and down.
"You must be a muse of cooking! I've never eaten such things before! This is worthy of Olympus!" Lamia praised.
The girls all relaxed at seeing Lamia acting so happy over some cookies. Lamia was even wagging her tail in excitement.
"I'm so happy you like them! It's an old family recipe," Pinkie said.
While Lamia and Pinkie were bonding, the others took this time to examine their current situation. Sunset leaned towards Twilight.
"What do you make of this?" Sunset asked. "I mean, this is the mythical Lamia we're talking about".
"I'm not sure. I don't think I would've believed it if I haven't seen it with my own eyes," Applejack replied.
"If this is Lamia, then she's the same creature that eats children and people," Rainbow said.
"I'm not so sure about the child-eating part. Look at her," Rarity said with the others looking at a happy Lamia. "She doesn't seem to have the attitude of a child-eating monster".
"Besides, if she wanted to hurt us, she would've hurt us by now," Fluttershy said.
"Okay, maybe she didn't eat any children at all," Rainbow said. "But what about the beginning of her story? You know, where she had children with Zeus and Hera made lamia kill them?"
Lamia snapped her head backwards to the girls and stared at them with an expression that they couldn't read. Tears began to form in her eyes. Her face turned into a face of pure rage.
"Zeus? My children? Hera?!" she seethed at them.
Lamia's eyes began to glow and she bared her fangs in anger. Lamia's whole aura seemed to darken. The girls all took a few steps away from Lamia while she gripped her head in pain of the memories. Fluttershy ran towards Lamia and wrapped her arms around Lamia. She looked down at the shy girl.
"I... I'm sorry. It's just... my past is a sensitive topic for me," Lamia said.
"It's okay. You don't have to tell us anything if you don't want to," Fluttershy said.
"Yeah. If you want to talk about it, we won't force you," Sunset said.
Lamia visibly relaxed. "Thank you".
"Oh, where are my manners?" Lamia asked herself. "Greetings, my name is Lamia, the protector of Lamiopolis".
"Is that what this city was called?" Twilight asked.
"Indeed. This city was built in dedication to me," Lamia replied.
"Why did you have an entire city dedicated to you?" Rarity asked.
*****
3,000 Years Ago
It was a time of uncertainty and war. The Persian Empire was invading the land of Greece. Their armies were so massive, the earth itself shook with its march. Wherever they went, they brought nothing but death and destruction in their wake. It seemed like Greece would fall in a matter of months.
A new settlement had recently formed nestled in a fertile valley. The people were those who prayed to the gods with nothing but fervor. At least, until a Persian scouting party showed up.
The wretched Persians took some of their livestock and kidnapped some of their women and children for... unsavory reasons. Some of the men were killed in their defense. And that was a scouting party that attacked. If the Persian Army showed up...
The people prayed and prayed to the gods for their protection, but all they got was another attack the following days and weeks. The people knew the Persian Army would be knocking on their gates in a mater of days. But they had a potential ally watching this from the shadows.
Lamia, after fleeing her kingdom, had settled in the wilderness of the valley. She didn't want to deal with humans and tried to stay away from their settlement when they settled in the valley and formed an entire city. But she was disturbed by the Persian attacks. She decided to watch over the city just in case.
One day, a Persian battalion, led by one of Xerxes's best generals, appeared before the city's gates. He met with the city's leader and made some rather unreasonable demands. The leader refused, saying that they would die for Greece. The Persian general said that he would gladly raze the city to the ground and leave no survivors.
The next day, as Lamia was watching, the Persian force made itself ready to destroy the city. But before they could charge, Lamia rushed out of the forest and killed the Persian general in front of his own troops. The Persian soldiers, horrified by what they just saw, turned and fled. The Persian Army never went anywhere near that valley again.
The people Lamia just saved, thankful for her actions, decided to dedicate the entire city to her. They even went as far as to build a temple for her and worship her as a goddess of their city. Lamia would receive food, shelter, and love from these people. It was a great life for Lamia. While it lasted at least.
After a thousand years had passed, the gods of Olympus had rewarded the people of Lamiopolis for worshipping Lamia with a devastating famine. Crops and livestock died left, right, and center. The people, starving, decided to abandon the village and Lamia. Lamia, watching the whole thing unfold, fumed in anger at the gods for ruining her life once again.
They took everything from her. Her mind, her children, and now they took the people she loved away from her! She hated the Olympians with a burning passion! She wanted nothing more than their destruction! But as she watched the world destroy itself countless times, she knew that the gods had all but abandoned the earth.
*****
In the Present
The girls listened to Lamia's story about the city with great interest. After she was finished, Twilight raised her hand.
"The gods of Olympus are real?" Twilight asked.
"Oh, they are indeed real. And they are a very horrible sort," Lamia said with anger.
"I take it they turned you into a monster?" Rainbow asked. That earned her a punch on the shoulder from Applejack.
"Indeed. They took everything good in my life away from me. No one could hate them more than me!!" Lamia shouted.
After seeing the girls jump at her shouting, Lamia took a breath to calm herself down.
"I'm sorry. That got more emotional than I had wanted. Can we talk about something else?" Lamia asked.
The Rainbooms had already introduced themselves to Lamia. So they had decided to talk about things that related to Lamia so she could have input.
"So, do you have any funny stories from when this city was inhabited?" Pinkie asked.
"Well, there is one that comes to mind," Lamia replied. "One day, there was farmer tending to his pigs. A wolf eats one of the fattest pigs in his herd. But the farmer didn't go after the wolf. His friend asked him why he didn't go after the wolf, to which he replied 'Why would I go after the wolf for eating my wife'?".
The entire group burst out laughing after that. Once the laughter was over, Pinkie let out a yawn.
"Well, this has been fun, but it's still the middle of the night. We should save this party for tomorrow," Pinkie said.
"Agreed, Pinkie," Applejack said. "We should hit the hay".
"Alright, we should go back to bed," Sunset said.
"Do you have anywhere to sleep, Lamia?" Fluttershy asked.
"I sleep in a cave in the forest. Can I visit you tomorrow?" Lamia asked.
"We'll look for you," Rainbow said. "Is your cave hard to find?"
"No, it's not hard to find at all. You'll know it when you see it," Lamia said.
The girls, dog, and Lamia left the underground sanctuary and the temple entirely. Lamia escorted the girls back to the campsite and bid them all goodnight.
Once Lamia made it back to her cave, she laid down on her bed of leaves and gazed up at the stalactite-riddled ceiling.
"Maybe... maybe those girls aren't witches. But their kindness seemed pretty magical," Lamia said. "I think I might like them".
The Rainbooms were having a hell of a time looking for Lamia's cave. She said that her cave would be easy to find, but that was easy for her to say. Forests were very tricky; if one didn't know the area, they could get lost just a few hundred feet away from where they entered. Perhaps they should've asked Lamia if she could guide them to the cave.
"I worry we're going to get lost out here without Lamia," Rarity said.
"Agreed. I can't make heads or tails of where we're even supposed to go," Applejack added.
"Don't worry, girls. I can try tracking Lamia's scent," Spike suggested.
Spike put his nose to the ground and started to search the ground for Lamia's scent. After some time, he finally found the familiar scent of pine needles and snake musk. And it seemed to be leading them east. Spike pointed his head towards the eastern part of the forest.
"We go this way!" Spike said before taking off in the direction of the scent.
As the Rainbooms followed Spike, they tried to think about what to do once they got to Lamia's cave. After all, this is the first time they've interacted with a real-life mythological creature.
"Hey, girls. Once we get to Lamia's cave, what do we think we should do?" Fluttershy asked.
"Well, whatever we do, we should avoid bringing up her past," Sunset said. "Pretty sure the subject is painful for her."
"Yeah, remember how she reacted when we brought it up last night? I thought she was going to have a breakdown," Applejack said.
"Roger that! Nothing about her past!" Rainbow said.
"I hope Lamia's hungry! I made a good old-fashioned breakfast for her!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed with a smile.
"What did you make her?" Rarity asked.
"Let's see. Some poached eggs, a few strips of bacon, some sausage patties, and a stack of flapjacks!" Pinkie replied.
"That sounds appetizing, Pinkie," Rainbow said. "I wonder what Lamia's been eating all this time."
"If her teeth were anything to go by, she's more than likely been hunting other animals around here," Twilight said.
"I wonder what we'll do while we're hanging out with Lamia?" Fluttershy asked.
"I was thinking we could all have a picnic and simply talk. She looks like she hasn't had someone to talk to for centuries," Sunset said. "It's a miracle she's been able to stay sane all this time."
"Girls! I found the cave!" Spike cried.
The girls looked at the large opening to a cave at the base of a tall hill. The ground in front of the cave was worn from Lamia coming and going from the cave. There was no doubt that Lamia lived here. Sunset was the first to approach the cave. She cupped he hands to her mouth and shouted.
"Lamia?! Are you in there?!" Sunset shouted. "It's us! Your friends from last night!"
At first, nothing but silence replied to her. Then, the sound of something big dragging across the ground filled the cave. It took a few seconds, but Lamia eventually slithered up to the entrance of the cave and greeted Sunset with a warm fanged smile.
"Sunset!" Lamia shouted in greeting. "I'm so happy you're here!"
Lamia wrapped her arms around Sunset and began to squeeze her with the strength of a python. Sunset was struggling to breathe in Lamia's grip. Lamia eventually realized what she was doing and let Sunset go with a blush.
"S-sorry about that," Lamia said quietly. "I'm just so happy to have friends again after so many centuries."
"That's... fine... Lamia," Sunset wheezed between breaths.
The rest of the girls cam up to the cave entrance and greeted Lamia. Lamia gestured towards the inside of her cave.
"Please, come in! It's nice to have company!" Lamia said. "I spent all night cleaning up my cave."
"Thanks, Lamia. We'd love to see your cave," Applejack said.
The Rainbooms followed Lamia as she led them deeper into the cave. Each of them brought out their phones to use as flashlights as they walked. Lamia turned around instantly and stared at the lights in shock.
"What magic is this?! Are you witches?!" she asked in shock.
"Oh no, it's okay! It's just lights made through the use of technology!" Twilight said. "Here, let me show you."
Lamia was a tad wary of the thing Twilight held in her hand, but she decided to trust her new friend. Twilight held out the phone to Lamia. Lamia stared at the device with childlike wonder.
"A small tablet thing that creates light!" Lamia said. "What incredible magic."
Twilight knew it would be a waste of time to try to explain how technology worked, so she opted to simply let Lamia think it was magic. She scrolled through her phone and showed Lamia the different apps she had. Lamia was eating up every of them with her tail wagging in excitement.
"Hey, Twilight? Who are these colorful birds and why are they so angry?" Lamia asked, pointing to one of Twilight's apps.
"That's a game called 'Angry Birds'," Twilight replied. "You want to play?"
"The birds are not going to fly out of your magic slab and peck out my eyes, are they?" Lamia asked worriedly.
The rest of the Rainbooms laughed. Lamia just looked confused.
"What? Why are you laughing?" Lamia asked naively. "Why are you laughing?"
"Nothing, Lamia. Here, let me show you how to play the game," Twilight replied.
*****
One Hour Later
It would be safe for Twilight to assume that Lamia was addicted to "Angry Birds". Lamia had the phone pressed to her face for the past hour, playing the game. To make things worse, whenever Twilight tried to take her phone back, Lamia would literally hiss and snap at her. This continued until Lamia suddenly looked fearful.
"Ah! The magic has left the slab!" Lamia cried.
"It didn't leave, Lamia," Twilight said soothingly. "The battery just died. I just need to charge it later."
Lamia gave the phone back to Twilight with a sad expression. Her previously wagging tail now drooped along the ground and a sad hiss escaped her lips. Pinkie Pie took this as her cue to step in.
"It's okay, Lamia. Maybe some food will cheer you up!" Pinkie said.
Pinkie Pie proceeded to reach into her hair and pulled out a covered tray, opening the top and showing off food to the snake woman.
"Here, Lamia! I made you breakfast!" Pinkie said.
Lamia slithered over to Pinkie and sniffed at the food. Her reptilian eyes scanned the food in a way that seemed almost predatory. She grasped one of the little sausages in her claws and ate it. The next thing Pinkie knew, the tray was out of her hands and Lamia's face was pressed against it. Lamia handed it back to Pinkie so shiny she could see her face in it. Lamia licked her lips and smiled at Pinkie.
"I haven't had food like this for over 3,000 years! It's better than raw venison or goats!" Lamia said.
"Did you... try to cook what you caught?" Rarity asked.
"I was once the great queen of Libya. I used to have the best chefs in the ancient world cook for me, so I never learned how to cook," Lamia replied. "You should've tried the roast herb chicken the king of Crete recommended to me. Of course, he offered it to me while he was trying to court me."
"You were courted by the king of Crete?" Twilight asked. "Did you consider him a good suitor?"
Lamia looked at Twilight with an apprehensive grimace. Not a good sign.
"The fool was a man in his 60's and was so fat he couldn't walk. I only showed him the proper courtesy of a fellow ruler, nothing more," Lamia replied. "Besides, he reeked strongly of grease."
The girls visibly gagged at Lamia's description of one of her suitors. Rarity got over it and was now curious about Lamia's royal past.
"While that subject's on the table, would you be able to tell us about your time as queen of Libya?" Rarity asked.
"Sure, I don't mind. When I was still a human, I was considered to be the most beautiful woman in the known world," Lamia said. "I made sure my kingdom was prosperous and my people were happy. Of course, I did have some help from my father Poseidon."
"You're father was Poseidon?!" Rainbow asked.
"Yes. Father helped me bring great schools of fish to the coasts for fishermen and protection from drought," Lamia replied.
"Did you ever meet your father?" Applejack asked.
"Yes, a few times when he came down to the mortal realm. I would wait by the sea for hours waiting for him," Lamia said with a wistful smile. "He would take me for rides across the entire Mediterranean on his chariot."
"Was he a good father?" Fluttershy asked.
"He was in his own way. Sometimes, he would sink the ships of people who said something horrible to me and would cause storms and floods to their lands," Lamia said. "I liked it whenever he would carry me on his shoulders and let me pet his hippocampi."
"That's... nice," Applejack said uneasily.
"Now that I think of it, do you know any jokes from 3,000 years ago?" Pinkie asked.
Lamia put a clawed finger to her chin in thought. It took a few moments, but her eyes lit up with an idea.
"Okay, I have a joke. What did the Samnite goat farmer say to the Phoenician soldier?" Lamia asked.
"What?!" Pinkie asked excitedly.
"The Samnite goat farmer said, 'You can't sacrifice my kids to Baal, because my only female goat just died'!" Lamia replied with a belly laugh.
Twilight, being the smart one, was the only one who laughed at the joke. The others simply heard something that sounded more than a little dark. Rarity began to politely fake laugh, an action in which the others joined in.
After calming down, Lamia let out a yawn. She stretched her arms above her head and scratched at her neck.
"I'm sorry, girls, but I'm a bit tired. I tend to sleep during the day," Lamia said.
"That's fine, Lamia. We'll visit you later tonight," Sunset said.
"Actually, how about I come visit you? I'd like to give you a true tour of Lamiopolis," Lamia said.
"That would be great! I'd love to learn more about this city from someone who's seen it in its heyday," Twilight said.
"Great! I'll see you all later tonight!" Lamia said. "Well, time for me to go to sleep."
Lamia slithered over to something behind one of the stalagmites. She pulled out a small clay jar that sounded like it was filled with liquid of some kind. Setting the jar down on the ground, Lamia reached into her eye sockets and pulled out her own eyes and put them in the jar. Rarity and Fluttershy screamed at the macabre sight. Lamia turned to them with eyeless sockets.
"I'm so sorry! I should've told you about that!" Lamia said. "I have to take out my eyes when I sleep. Zeus gave me this ability."
"Still, I'm sorry. I hope I didn't make you hate me," Lamia said with trembling shoulders.
Twilight walked over and hugged Lamia. "We don't hate you at all. If you have to remove your eyes when you sleep, then we won't judge or hate you."
"Really?" Lamia asked with a sniff.
"Of course. We don't hate people based on their... conditions," Applejack said. "It's why we wanted to hang out with you."
"Well... okay," Lamia said with a yawn.
"Alright girls, let's let Lamia sleep. She needs it," Sunset said before turning to Lamia. "We'll see you later tonight?"
"Yes. I'll come and see you. With my eyes in my sockets, of course," Lamia said with a giggle.
The girls left the cave to let Lamia sleep. As Lamia coiled her tail underneath her, she smiled at the thought of seeing her new friends later. For the first time in millennia, Lamia would sleep with a smile on her face.