The Rainbooms Meet Lamia

Later that Night

Lamia woke up in a place that looked all too familiar to her. It was the palace she lived in when she ruled! It still had the comfort and splendor she grew up with. The tapestries, the mosaics, the statues, and even the places where the servants were standing was familiar to her. Seeing her old palace, Lamia looked down to see something she hadn't seen for centuries.

She had legs and feet again! No snake tail at all, just regular human legs. She was fully human again! Lamia jumped and ran around the room squealing with delight. One of the servant girls gave a small chuckle at Lamia's excitement.

"I take it you're excited about the news, Your Majesty?" the servant asked.

Lamia stopped running around and looked to the servant girl with panting breaths.

"What news?" Lamia asked.

"Don't you remember? The royal physician said that you're pregnant, Your Majesty," the servant replied.

Those words came as a lightning strike to Lamia's heart. With wide eyes, Lamia looked down and saw that her stomach appeared larger than usual. Rather than delight at seeing her stomach, Lamia was shocked and overcome with sadness and grief. Lamia knelt down and let out a cry of despair. The servant girl knelt down beside her in worry.

"My queen! Are you okay?!" she asked in a worried tone.

Lamia didn't respond to that. She continued to cry into her hands as the servant girl stroked her head in comfort.

"It's okay, Your Majesty. I know it might seem scary at first, but you'll be a great mother," she said.

That only made Lamia feel even worse. She bit her lip to keep from crying more and got to her feet with the help of the servant girl. Lamia gave the girl a fake smile.

"Thank you for your kind words," Lamia said. "I feel better now. Any news today?"

"Well, the gods are coming here to celebrate the fact that our city now has a temple for each of the gods," she replied.

Now, Lamia's grief was replaced with terror. She looked at the servant girl with a pale face.

"The gods? They're coming here?" Lamia asked.

"Indeed. All of them, even Zeus and Hera," the servant replied.

No. Not Zeus and Hera, especially Hera. Not the goddess who ruined her life. Lamia's fear was replaced with hatred and rage. She clenched her fists to the point that her knuckles turned white. There were lots of mortals who had cause to hate Hera, but none could hate her more than Lamia. Still, she feared Hera as much as she hated her. Lamia would just have to grin and bear it until the gods left.

*****

Lamia woke up in her cave with a start. A cold sweat formed on her face as she tried to regain her steady breathing. It took a while for Lamia to regain her composure.

"A dream, that's all it was," Lamia said breathlessly. "A nightmare? Or a memory? Whatever it was, it was all too familiar."

What was even more odd was the fact that it had been centuries since she had dreams at all. It was creepy that she was starting to have dreams of her past. Lamia curled her tail against herself in sadness.

"Great! Now even sleep is no longer a haven from my suffering," Lamia said. "Will I ever know peace?!"

Lamia slammed her fist on the ground so hard that it formed cracks. If Lamia had it her way, she would've strangled Hera with her tail. Still, as much as she'd like to fantasize about destroying Hera, Lamia had better things to do.

She promised to show her new friends around the city. Hopefully that would take her mind off things. Lamia slithered over to her eye jar and put her eyes back in. Once that was done, she left her cave and made her way towards Lamiopolis with all eagerness. Lamia slithered out of the woods and through the field that bordered where the humans had made their camp.

The tall grass masked her approach at night, so there's no way that the humans would see her. She couldn't see them, either. Just to be safe, Lamia lifted her head just above the tall grass to get a better view of her surroundings. There were no humans at first, but she could see a few silhouettes in the distance that she recognized. A smile spread across her fangs as she slithered towards the Rainbooms at high speed. She slowed down and rose from the tall grass making sure not to scare the girls. And they seemed happy to see Lamia.

"Lamia!!" the girls shouted happily.

"Hello, gi--," Lamia said before getting cut off by the Rainbooms wrapping her in a big group hug.

Lamia was flustered at first, but she sank into the collective body heat the girls gave off and wrapped her arms and tail around them and gave them all a squeeze in return. Sunset began tapping on Lamia's tail as it was becoming harder and harder to breathe.

"Uh, Lamia? I think we're good, now," Sunset said in a strained tone.

Realizing her constriction, Lamia released the girls from her coils and blushed in embarrassment. It had been centuries since she had last experienced the loving warmth of being embraced. The last time she embraced someone was when... she had held her children before she.... Well, it was nice to hold someone again. Lamia gave the girls a loving smile.

"I can't tell you how happy I am to see you ladies," Lamia said. "Sorry about nearly crushing you."

"It's fine, darling. We could tell that you were happy," Rarity said.

"I kinda liked it. Ya popped by back and now I my back feels like churned butter," Applejack said.

Pinkie Pie kept her arms wrapped around Lamia in a hug. "Yeah! Your tail just means you give the best hugs in the world!"

Lamia held Pinkie and petted her in a way that was more than a little maternal. Pinkie Pie was surely something to be adored for her positivity and boundless energy. It made Lamia chuckle feeling weirdly nostalgic. She missed holding a child like this.

"Thank you, Pinkie, dear. You always know how to brighten one's day and night, huh?" Lamia asked in a soothing motherly voice. Pinkie giggled and leaned into Lamia's chest.

"I do like making people happy! I don't like seeing them sad," Pinkie said.

"Well, I'm sure you'll continue making your friends happy, huh?"

"I will, Mom."

The silence that fell was deafening. A fly buzzing would sound like a jet engine in this silence. The most shocked out of the group were Lamia and Pinkie Pie. Lamia let go of Pinkie and hid behind her tail.

"I-I'm sorry, Miss Pie. I d-didn't mean to-!" Lamia stammered.

"It's okay. It's okay," Pinkie soothed with her hands up. "I'm sorry for calling you 'Mom' by mistake. I should've been more careful."

Lamia was on the verge of having a panic attack. The memories of her children came flooding back like a tsunami. She would have lost herself to the memories if Fluttershy didn't pull out a white rabbit from her backpack and show him to Lamia.

"Do you want to pet him?" Fluttershy asked. "Petting a bunny always helps me calm down."

The only experience Lamia had with rabbits was when she was hunting and eating them, so she was confused by Fluttershy offering her a rabbit.

"No thanks, dear. I'm not hungry right now," Lamia replied. Fluttershy didn't look amused.

"He's not for eating, he's for petting. Try petting him," Fluttershy said.

Tentatively, Lamia took the rabbit from Fluttershy and held him close to her chest. The rabbit was so soft and warm, something that Lamia wouldn't consider when she was hunting. Her heartrate dropped back to normal and her mind was now less foggy with wretched memories.

"Thank you, dear. I feel much better now. You truly are the kindest soul I've met in all these centuries," Lamia said. "Now then, shall we go about having that tour of Lamiopolis I promised?"

"Yeah! Let's get going!" Twilight cried out. "I wanna hear everything there is about this city!"

Lamia laughed seeing how adorable enthusiastic Twilight was. She slithered behind the group and held out her hand.

"Then let us begin," Lamia said.

Lamia led the group deeper into the city proper, where she would go into detail about the city made in her honor. The amphitheater where there were sword duels and plays, complete with a special box for her to watch them. The open market where merchants and traders would conduct their business was vibrant with life and the different things that people would display, from crops and livestock to more extravagant items such as jewelry and fine cloths. There were schoolhouses for the children to be educated, with Lamia saying that she would sometimes visit the children to play with them and assist them in their studies. The king's palace had a spa garden in the center where Lamia would relax and bathe with the priestesses that worshipped her. And then there was a brothel in the city center where women would "sell their wares" on a nightly basis. Lamia ended the tour by stopping by one house in particular.

"And this is the house of a man who was actually brave enough to court me," Lamia said, much to the shock of the Rainbooms. Rarity had a playful teasing tone to her voice.

"Oh? What was he like? Did you like him back?" Rarity asked teasingly.

Lamia blushed and held her tail close to her chest. Her memories of the man were of him offering her gifts we would make himself as a carpenter. He would make her things like shelves and toys to show her how much he cared for her. Her favorite was a little wooden snake he made for her.

"His name was Stavros. He was a successful carpenter whose skills were the most reputable in all of Greece and the Mediterranean," Lamia replied. "Stavros would always go out of his way to speak to me whenever I visited and he would give me gifts of the wood he worked with. And he would shyly attempt to hold my hand while we went to the festivals the city held."

"Did you like him back?" Rainbow Dash asked with a raised eyebrow and a playful smirk.

"Stavros was a really wonderful man, so I found myself falling for him quicker than I had expected," Lamia said before her smile became a sad grimace. "I was about to tell him I loved him when a vile plague swept through the city. Stavros was the first to die."

Now the girls felt bad about their playful teasing about Lamia's love life. Good thing Sunset was able to change the conversation. It was something she had rattling in her brain for a while.

"Hey, how'd you like to come to America with us?" Sunset asked.

"Huh?!" the girls asked out loud. Lamia tilted her head in confusion.

"What's America?" Lamia asked.