Chapter 3: Mistakes were made
The Mayor rushed outside followed by the others, "What was that!?" She looked at the edge of the balcony and saw wheels... the wheels from Scootaloo's scooter. "No..." She saw the remains of a small wake trail disappearing around the corner of a nearby building. Without thinking twice she hopped down onto the library's sign and leapt as far as she could towards the wake. She grimaced through the murk as she charged through, cutting through it faster than she had thought possible. She heard a strange buzzing sound as she followed the trail.
Bugs flew all around her and bit, but they were a mild irritation compared to what she was going to do that Hydra if it had even touched a feather of Scootaloo's. She was so determined on following she didn't notice the bubble that had formed in the mud in front of her. It popped the moment she touched it and she coughed as the fumes surrounded her. She slipped and fell into the muck. Fighting with all her might she tore herself free and continued. The trail was getting smaller and harder to follow, but it seemed to be looping back to the Library. Trudging onwards exhaustion was beginning to drag at her.
She slipped once more, but this time the mud held fast and she could not rise. She reached out for anything to grip onto. She was running out of air and her lungs cried out. She tried to hold her mouth shut but her body rejected her commands and she breathed in the dirt and filth of the swamp. She struggled against the weight of the mud but to no avail. Suddenly there was no weight. Only the pain in her throat, and hide. Her eyes opened and she saw a purple light, flickering before her eyes. She fell heavily on a rough surface and the light disappeared. Before her eyes she saw a bedraggled Scootaloo...
Had she died? Were Scootaloo and her about to face judgment together? She coughed up mud and mustered her strength to murmur, "I'm sorry..." She heard muted voices all around her.
"Stay awake Mayor! Stay with us!" A feminine voice commanded.
"Can't your magic help?" A more masculine voice asked.
"Not if she falls asleep!" The voice retorted on the edge of panic. "Mayor open your mouth again! I need you to open your airways!"
She didn't want to, but she thought she recognized the voice... it was somepony she trusted. She opened her mouth and almost immediately regretted it as her lungs emptied themselves. Mud tore from her throat and splattered on the ground before her. Then bliss as air returned. Slowly she got up and got her bearings. She was back on the Library Balcony. She shook mud free from her coat and cleared her head. She saw Thunderlane, Twilight, Spike... and Scootaloo! She broke down crying. She pulled the filly into a hug. She saw behind the filly a scooter, the wheels had been removed and the bottom was caked in mud. It did not take long for the Mayor to realize what had happened.
"Don't you ever do that again!" She cried. For a moment she almost thought she was looking at... No he was gone.
"I'm sorry!" Scootaloo, cried traumatized. "I just thought it was a good idea..."
The Mayor saw how the filly was reacting and steadied herself so as not to make the situation worse. "Scootaloo, you need to keep coming up with ideas like this, but please tell others about it before you try them out. And no, I don't mean your friends. I mean one of us. You'd be surprised just how much danger you can get into if you don't. We are a little bit older, and sometimes..." She wiped a tear off Scootaloo's cheek with her muddy hoof, leaving a streak of it, "Can be a stick in the mud, but it's because we get worried and don't want you to get hurt, understand?"
"I'm sorry." Scootaloo sighed. "I guess you're right. It's just... when you wanted me to leave I thought... well I thought you didn't want me to help anymore but I still wanted to help! I thought if I had shown you how useful I was you'd let me know what was going on."
Mayor Mare smiled, "Silly Scoots. When we send you out, it's so we can iron it all out and tell you all the important stuff. That way you don't have to deal with all the boring stuff that doesn't matter."
"I'm sure there's nothing boring about what you do!" Scootaloo smiled.
The Mayor frowned and said in a very serious tone, "Scootaloo. Everything I do is boring." She laughed. "Come on now, we have a boring town to save."
"Twilight, we need to start evacuating the outer homes, the more isolated they are the bigger targets they are. We need to start with the furthest so I think Fluttershy's cottage, then The Pie Family, followed by Sweet Apple Acres. We'll prioritize from there. I'll need you to compile that list and figure out how long it will take to evacuate all of Ponyville. I have a completed census on my desk in town hall. Thunderlane, we need to get boats constructed, visit I need you to go to city hall and pick up the list of city contractors and round them up. Scootaloo, to get you caught up, the mud is rising and we have four single headed Hydra's running around. Spike, send a letter to Celestia for me. Explain the situation and ask her to send as much help as she can. Use my seal, you'll find it in my bag down in the Library. I will be inside finding out everything I can about Hydras. Scootaloo please come with me" She sighed.
They all nodded and left to do their tasks, Mayor Mare stopped Twilight before she took off and asked, "Do you have any headache medicine?"
The day dragged on as Scootaloo flew from shelf to shelf grabbing book after book for the Mayor to read over. She was beginning to understand what they were up against and it seemed fighting was not an option. Hydras were determined beasts and only gave up on prey that escaped, they would not run from anything just because they were afraid of it. They were truly remarkable creatures! Each head was intelligent and controlled its own movements, but for the main body to move each head had to agree. Yet they remained swift a deadly predators. Able to move silently if need be! They were similar to government, everypony had to agree, or at least most ponies had to agree, or nothing would get done.
A purple nimbus flashed for a moment and in its place stood Twilight. "I have good news, if everything works without any hiccups and we work around the clock for three days we should be able to get everypony out!"
"Never assume there won't be hiccups." The Mayor smiled. Twilight raised an eyebrow at the fact that the Mayor hadn't taken time to clean herself off after the incident with the mud.
The Mayor continued, "Twilight... I have a favor to ask of you and your friends, but I wish I didn't have to ask it."
Twilight bowed, "Anything you need, Mayor."
"You and your friends have protected Ponyville, and Equestria from many evils. Ranging from a jealous unicorn with an amulet to the return of the Avatar of Chaos itself! I need you to help us again... Could you and your friends delay the Hydras? I doubt they'll wait three days before coming to Ponyville otherwise." Her head drooped partly from the weight of her request and partly out of exhaustion.
"Of course Mayor. I will speak to the others and get their help." Twilight promised as she disappeared in a flash of purple light.
"Scootaloo, I understand your friends are sisters with the Elements of Harmony." The Mayor sat next to the filly.
"Yep! Applebloom's sister is Applejack and Sweetie's sister is Rarity. Rainbow Dash adopted me as a sister!" She smiled.
It brought joy to the Mayor's heart to know the Filly had a mentor in Rainbow Dash, but then a tear rolled down her cheek.
"What's wrong Mayor?" Scootaloo asked.
"I'm sorry Scootaloo. I sent them to fend off the Hydras. I'm so sorry." Her head dropped.
Scootaloo pushed the Mayor's muzzle up and wiped a tear off, spreading the mud, "Don't worry, Rainbow Dash won't be a stick in the mud." The Mayor smiled and they laughed as the mud rose.
***
They all sat there on Fluttershy's cottage, the Elements of Harmony and several animals as Twilight explained the situation.
"...the Hydras need to be stopped from entering Ponyville at all cost. Fluttershy, how do you think we should precede?" Twilight focused and used her magic to teleport another weasel to the relative safety of the edge of the murk.
"Well... they're predatory animals that hunt by ambushing then chasing. If we manage to find them and convince them we don't know they're there, they'd chase us. Then we could lead them away."
Rainbow Dash cut in with, "And just how do you think we are gonna do that? I can hardly fly through this mess, and according to Twilight it's only going to get worse!"
"Well, didn't Twilight just say the Mayor's makin' boats? If we can get one goin' fast enough we could outrun 'em that way." Applejack suggested.
Rarity sighed, "How can we get a boat going fast in that mud? I don't know about you but I don't think we can get going even half as fast as we would need to be using the poles they use in Vineice!"
"Actually, I think Scootaloo had the answer there." Twilight interjected.
"OH I HAVE AN IDEA TOO!!!!" Pinkie nearly exploded.
"Oh? And what idea is that Pinkie?" Twilight asked, having learned her lesson after the parasprite incident.
"We could make a miniature windmill and put it on the back of the boat, then get it going really fast! That way it would push us forward through the mud!" She smiled. "Like this!" She pulled out a propeller and spun it, which created a nice breeze.
"Well, only a unicorn can get one going fast enough. But I don't think only two boats will do it." Applejack sighed. "If one gets caught somewhere we'll need one to lead the Hydras away and one to rescue 'em. That's at least three!"
"Well, that works for me, because of Scootaloo's idea." Twilight smiled. "Using her scooter," She pulled out the scooter. "She managed to skim the surface, we could have one for you Rainbow and one for you Fluttershy. Then I can pilot a boat with Applejack in it, while Rarity pilots the one with Pinkie." She smiled.
"Why those combos? Don't you reckon It'd be best to have the better wrangler with the slower boat? And Pinkie's party canon with the faster one?" Applejack asked.
"Understand I mean this in the nicest way possible AJ and Rarity. My magic is more powerful than yours Rarity-"
"Well yes..." Rarity interrupted, a little stung.
"-and you AJ... well... with my magic making it more powerful we'd want Rarity to have the lighter boat..."
Everypony sat in awkward silence before Applejack asked the obvious question, "You callin' me fat?" She glared at Twilight.
"No! Your just more... muscular than Pinkie and muscle weighs more!" Twilight stammered.
"Wait... are you calling me fat?" Pinkie asked with big eyes and a trembling lip.
"NO I JUST-" Twilight began to defend herself before Pinkie interrupted.
"I'm kidding! I know I eat a lot of party cake! But seriously Twi," She scooted real close and whispered, "Don't say anything about Rarity's weight... EVER!!!!!!!" She ended on a scream.