“What story would you like to hear tonight, my little ponies?” the hooded Storyteller asked the children of the caravan.

“A story about a battle!” shouted a blood-red colt.

“Something with monsters!” demanded the colt’s scrawnier twin.

“What about a story with a girl hero?” a shy cobalt filly asked quizzically.

The Storyteller smiled at her small audience. “Luckily for all of you, I have a tale that is about all of these things. It is a tale about a great battle, a tale about monsters, and of course, a tale about a heroine.”

The foals grew silent as the sparsely armored figure that they called father sauntered in from the center of the minuscule camp to ask the Storyteller a question. “Yer story got a name?”

“Oh yes, it most certainly does. I call it -- The Road to Hell.”