"Ice!"

"No..."

"Icicles!"

"No..."

"Iceballs!"

"No..."

"Ice crystals!"

"No..."

"Ice monsters!"

"No..."

"It's your fur."

"Hey, it's not your turn!"

"Aw, I wanted to get it..."

"Don't worry baby girl, I'll give you another one that only you can get. How's that sound?"

"Okay!"

"All right... Hmm... Ah, here we go! I've grown, but I've never been alive. I'm cold, but I have no feeling. I'm in the sky, but in the ground. I wear a cap, but have no head. From plates I've come, but no food you'll find on me. What am I?"

"Uh..."

"It's-"

"Don't you dare spoil this one for her."

"And you'll stop me?"

"I'll make Orion do it for me."

"I hate you."

"I know you do."

Orion was leading the four of them down the road, ever closer to the capitol of the Griffon Kingdoms, Gryphus. It wasn't much of a road, only being a snow-scorched path in the mountains with a sheer drop on one side and snow covered pine trees on the other. There was the occasional bush to liven things up for them, but other than that, the only other things besides the rocks and trees was the snow blowing on the wind. Even the Sun seemed to be cold, as it was hiding behind the clouds and keeping its warmth to itself.

They passed a traveling vendor at one point. From him they stole fresh veggies and fruit for Violet and Harmony, and plenty of liquor for Orion and Sharpe. They also decided to kill him when he tried to stop them, so they had a cart and an ox to pull it. Surprisingly enough, oxen aren't sentient like cows are. So while Orion was somewhere else protecting Harmony and Violet's innocence- well, relative innocence in Violet's case- Sharpe was making more food from the griffon and stocking the cart for travel, never once having to try to subdue the lumbering creature, as it never once tried to do anything other than munch on some frozen grass. So now the four of them had a cart to store anything too heavy to carry in, and an ox to eat should they run out of food before they complete their mission.

To pass the time, Orion was playing games with his new best friend Harmony. She was an expert at Eye Spy, and she was great at guessing games. But his favorite thing about her was that she was incredibly good at solving riddles. Orion liked riddles, and anybody who could solve his riddles was his best friend. Except for Sharpe, he cheats. Stupid Sharpe...

Harmony was riding in the front of Orion's shirt, as per usual. It was warm and cozy, and she didn't have to walk or run except for when they played chasing games. This was her favorite thing about Orion besides how funny he was. He always made sure she was comfortable, even when he wasn't.

Sharpe and Violet were walking behind Orion, letting the gentle wind break on him so they would be shielded from it. Sharpe wasn't actually cold at all, he just didn't feel like having wind blown in his face.

Harmony tapped her chin with her hoof while she thought about what he could be talking about. Sometimes his riddles were easy, but other times they were ridiculously hard. But eventually, she always got them. Sometimes it just took a few minutes... or hours...

She looked around to see if he was talking about something around them, but all she saw was snow and trees. It couldn't be snow, and trees were alive... She looked farther away, trying to see if was something on the horizon he might be talking about. All she saw was clouds, more snow and mountains. Wait... Mountains...

She looked at Orion with a wide smile. "I got it!" she cheered.

He looked at her with a happy smile. "Really? That was fast. What is it?"

She then used her mind to logically explain why she thought it was what it was. She once guessed correctly, but when she didn't explain why she guessed it, Orion said she still failed. So now whenever she made a guess, she had to explain herself. "It's the mountains! They're cold, but they can't feel it. It's really high up, but it comes from the ground. It has snow on top, but mountains don't have a head. And since we haven't seen anything alive but the trees, no food is around here!" She finished with a winning smile and a happy gleam in her eyes.

Orion smiled even wider. "Wonderful job Harmony! But you forgot one thing. How did they come from plates?" he asked mysteriously.

She gasped. She hadn't thought about that. Plates? How were mountains on plates?! They weren't food! "Uh..." She smiled at him sweetly. "Pass...?"

He laughed loudly and rubbed her head. He loved that about her. She was so sweet he almost got a sugar rush just from looking at her. "Sorry, no dice! How mountains normally work is that when the plates that the upper crust of the planet rests on hit together, sometimes one gets trapped on top, and it makes all the rocks and things go up. This makes a mountain. Sometimes it can also make a volcano if a pocket of magma gets pushed up too. Or sometimes just a really big bump and an earthquake."

She made a slightly annoyed face at losing the game just because she didn't know that. It seemed like useless information to her. "How was I supposed to know that..." she mumbled angrily.

Orion fished a preserved stick of cinnamon that he got from the trader they killed out of his pocket and waved it in front of her face. "If you want to be angry at me, you must not want to eat this," he sang.

She perked up instantly and grabbed the treat in Orion's hands, but he didn't let go so her small amount of strength wasn't enough to do anything but break a small bit off. She popped the small piece into her mouth and moaned at the delicious taste of it. She tried to get more but Orion wasn't having it.

"Uh uh uh!" he tutted. "You can't go getting upset over the small things in life. If you do, you'll go crazy. Like I did!" he said cheerily.

She groaned, but accepted the terms. "Okay, fine, I won't get mad at small things! Can I have the rest now?" she asked hopefully.

Orion looked back to Violet, who gave him a smile and a shake of her head. He patted Harmony's head and pocketed the rest of the cinnamon treat. "After dinner maybe. If you were actually walking to burn off calories, I would let you. But lazy ponies turn into fat ponies, and everybody would be sad if somebody as adorable as you got chubby."

A groan was heard from the back of the group.

"Speaking of walking," growled Sharpe, "how much farther until we actually get to the capitol?"

Orion put his hand to his chin and scratched at his goatee. "Well, if my best guess and gut feelings are both correct, we should get there sometime before the end of tomorrow."

Sharpe groaned again. "We've been going on guesswork this whole time? I thought you had a map!" he yelled.

Orion chuckled dumbly. "Ha ha ha, I can't read."

Sharpe used every ounce of restraint in his body not to shoot him in the back of the head right there. "Yes, you can. I've seen you do it! If you don't have a map, how did you even know to come North?!"

Orion tapped the side of his nose with his finger. "Magic."

Sharpe growled dangerously at him. "Orion, as much as I didn't like hearing you and your equine companion romping in the bushes for the past two nights, I'd like to get this sorry excuse of an adventure done with so we can get back to figuring out how to leave this stupid planet. You may be fine having relations with horses, but I'd like to get back to normal, not-pony females."

Orion looked at Sharpe oddly. "You sound weird when you censor yourself."

Harmony looked at her mother. "Mom, what's 'romping' mean?"

Violet glared at Sharpe for teaching her daughter that word. "I'll tell you when you're older."

She looked up at Orion. "What's 'having relations' mean?"

Orion looked at Violet before answering. "It's the same as romping, but a prettier way to say it. And also, something for you to know when you're older."

Harmony grumbled and crossed her hooves in front her chest, though she had some difficulty making everyone see it from being inside of Orion's shirt.

Orion rubbed behind her ears gently, making her utter happy noises. "That's it little filly, no desert for you after dinner," he scolded.

She gasped and made a terrified face at him. "No! I didn't mean it! I was only mad for a second, I swear!" She made the most pitiful face Orion had ever seen, complete with huge watery eyes, drooping ears, quivering lip, and sniffling. "Pwease? I'm sowwy I was angwy. Pwease let me have desert? Pweeeeaaasse?" She snuggled up closer to him, trying to get her face as close as she could to his.

He smiled serenely at her, relaxing his eyes until they were half closed. "No."

"If I were you, I'd let her have desert for her last meal."

The group stopped as the voice spoke. They saw a griffon come out of the trees in front of them, fully clad in metal armor and with more weapons than even Sharpe had. It was a female by its voice, maybe a young adult. Most of her features were blocked by her armor, but they could see an icy blue color radiating from her eyes. There were also about twenty other griffons, some landing on the ground from high-altitude flight, some coming out of the trees. They all surrounded the group.

Orion waved at the female in front of him. "Hi!"

She blinked. "Uh... We're here because you have a bounty on your head. If you're smart, surrender now and we'll spare your friend and slaves. If you fight us, we'll kill you all."

Orion laughed. "Good one! Oh, do a knock knock joke now! I like those!"

One of the griffons behind them spoke up in a youthful voice. "Knock knock!"

Orion turned around and smiled at him. "Who's there?"

"Boo!"

"Boo who?"

"Aw, don't cry, I swear I'll kill you quickly!"

All of the griffons laughed at his joke. So did Orion.

Orion laughed at the joke. It was funny after all. "Okay, that was good. My turn now! Knock knock!"

The griffons stopped laughing, now exchanging confused looks. "Uh, who's there?" he asked.

Orion smiled straightened out. "Kill!"

The griffon let out a nervous laugh suddenly, not entirely sure why. "Heh, uhm, k- kill who?"

Orion pointed at him with his forefinger. "Kill you!" Then he waved finger at him.

The griffon's chest caved in violently and he got thrown off the cliff. After a few seconds they all heard a distant thudding noise on the wind.

Orion turned back to the leader of the group. "Close your eyes Harmony."

She closed her eyes tightly, fearing what would come next.

Orion raised both hands towards the griffons in front of him. "Cover your ears."

Harmony clamped her hooves over her ears as she let out a quiet whimper.

Orion smiled at he felt the lightning form on his fingertips. For the sake of Harmony, he would end this quickly.

The first flash made Harmony jump in fear. She was being jostled around in Orion's shirt as he fought off the bounty hunters. She heard Sharpe yell something, so she knew he was helping. She also heard her mom scream. Her mom...

She could feel the tears leaking out of her eyes and onto Orion. She hadn't cried in such a long time, but she felt so afraid. She knew they were fighting, but Orion told her not to look. Orion told her not to listen. But even though she was covering her ears she could hear the screaming. Everypony was screaming. All the griffons were screaming. Some sounded scared or angry, but some of them sounded like they were in pain. She heard Sharpe scream, then Orion must have jumped because she felt like she was going up, but she went up more than she thought was normal. When they came back down she felt something warm splash on her. She could smell it. It was like when she had a bad cut, but a lot worse.

Everything was quiet for a few seconds, so she opened her eyes. She saw the griffon flying straight at Orion. Straight at her. She saw Orion push his hand out at it, then he made a fist. She saw the griffon's head collapse inside of its body, going down the neck and inside of the chest.

She tried to close her eyes again, but the tears were coming so much that she couldn't. The world was blurry, and she could hear screaming and yelling again. Orion was yelling, but he sounded happy. She thought she saw another griffon, but it was too blurry. More warm stuff splattered on her face and everything started to turn red. She screamed when she realized it was blood on her face, mixing with her tears.

She used her hooves to wipe the blood off her face, and now she could hear the screaming clearly.

"Watch out!"

"Get the big one!"

"He's too strong! Run!"

"Just die already!"

"Orion, behind you!"

"Die!"

"I'm going to skull-fuck your corpse, you feathery bitch!"

Harmony put her hooves back on her ears, muting the screams enough so that she couldn't hear what they were. She was shaking so hard that it hurt her body down to her bones. She wasn't cold, but she felt like the warmth had left her.

The screaming was over now. They screaming had been over for more than a minute but she refused to open her eyes. She could hear Orion and Sharpe talking. She heard her mom too. Orion started moving very quickly. After a few minutes she felt his hand on her head.

She opened her eyes.

Orion stared down into her teary eyes with a pained expression. She was covered in griffon blood. She was crying profusely. She had screamed during the fight. Orion knew she must have seen something.

As she looked into his eyes a new wave of tears came.

He pulled her into his arms and sat on the ground against a tree to block the wind. He held her in his arms in an almost crushing grip as she wept into his chest. He could feel her trying to put her hooves around his neck, but she was too small. She was younger than either of his girls by years. He pulled her under his chin as he thought about his own girls. He missed them, but he had to focus on Harmony right now. Somebody so young should never have to witness something like that.

After a while Sharpe and Violet found him a little ways off the road holding her.

Sharpe started setting up a fire so they didn't freeze to death.

Violet joined in on comforting her daughter.

Orion released Harmony so Violet could hold her. He then pulled both of them against him, Harmony being right back against his chest and trying to hold him.

Violet looked Orion in the eye, silently thanking him for being there for Harmony.

That night, nobody slept.

***

The clouds blocked out the late afternoon sunlight, leaving the grey dimness all they could use to see in. The mornings are the best time to travel because the Sun wasn't behind clouds yet. But that morning Sharpe was listening for more would-be killers, Orion was comforting Violet and Harmony, and Violet and Harmony were taking turns weeping. They also lost their ox and their cart full of supplies in the attack, so they had a small breakfast to conserve their limited stock of food.

All of this led to Sharpe being irritable, Orion being damp, Violet being drowsy, and Harmony had been claimed by unconsciousness about an hour after they started walking again.

Speaking of walking...

Orion was humming a familiar tune to himself when he felt a tug on his robes. He looked down to see Violet staring at him. Even thought she was tired, she was still eyeing him intensely. "Yes?"

"I was just wondering if you... well..." She bit her lip and looked away. "Nothing, sorry I said anything."

Orion continued walking right beside her so he could use one hand to play with her ear. He smiled a little wider as he heard the pleased noises she made as he did this. "Y'know, you don't have to be worried about saying anything to me. You're not really a slave anymore, so I won't treat you like one. Well, you're my sex slave, but that's another story for another time."

She looked at him oddly. "I thought you said I would be free?"

He laughed. "Would you like it if I sent you on your way and never slept with you again?" he asked her, smiling brightly.

She looked torn between answers for a while. "Well... eventually... I would like to find a nice stallion and maybe start a family again..."

Orion laughed. "And I'm sure you will. But until then..." He leaned down close to her face, his eyes glowing brightly. "You're mine, and I'll do whatever I want with you."

Her eyes widened considerably. "Y- you freed me just so you can use me...? I- I thought..."

He chuckled darkly. "You thought what? I took you with me, not freed you. During this quest, you're going to to be my slave. Once we get back to Equestria, I'll set you and your daughter up with a suite at the castle and make sure you live in luxury for the rest of your lives. But between now and then, I'm going to fuck you as much as I want, and you won't stop me."

Her eyes watered up, but she didn't cry. "I thought you were my friend..."

He smiled at her happily. "I am! We're friends with benefits!" He rubbed her head, messing up her mane.

She looked at the ground. "Friends don't use friends just because they can."

He laughed and made her look at him. "Do you not like it when I screw you?"

A rosy blood graced her cheeks as she tried to find her words.

Orion laughed again. "See? You like it, I like it, we don't have to worry about pregnancy, and the circle is complete!"

She blushed even harder at this. "Keep it down! Harmony is sleeping in your shirt, and I don't want her hearing any of this."

He smiled his goofy smile and nodded. "Okay. So, now that we got that out of the way, didn't you have a question or something?"

She thought for a second before she remembered. "I did. I was just wondering if you actually had a plan for how to deal with the griffons once we get to Gryphus."

Orion laughed. "Well, actually, I just thought I'd..." He stuck his hand into his pocket, pulling a pair of sunglasses and putting them on. "Wing it."

The sound of a hoof meeting a face echoed on the wind down the mountain path.

***

The sound of a hoof meeting a face echoed on the wind, traveling for miles down the mountain passes. It echoed off of the mountain, the trees, the mountain next to the mountain the group was on, and inside of a large cave.

The sound of this was not unheard by the cave's inhabitant.

The thing rose its head, looking out of the cave with its many eyes. The sound was not far away. It got to its feet and lumbered out of the cave. Sniffing the air, it discovered which way its food was.

Just before it made off towards its next meal, it tore one of the large pine trees out of the ground to use as a club. Weapon at the ready, it slowly lumbered towards what would soon be food.

Author's Notes:

Wow Orion, and here I was thinking you were doing this for the good of innocents. Well, now that I think about it, you are evil. So, meh. I've seen you do worse.