//------------------------------// // Hydraulic Pressure // Story: Tales of the Battle Foals // by Sirdubya //------------------------------// A mass of cascades showered the lakeside and the foals. When they were able to look back up, a pair….no…..four pairs of piecing eyes glared down at them. Towering above them was a reptilian monstrosity that few have lived to see and tell the tale. It’s four heads bellowed a predatorial war cry at the Battle Foals. “HYDRAAAAAA!!!!!” Quantum screamed as she quickly climbed into her mech suit. One of the hydra’s heads suddenly lunged downward toward them, ready to try and chomp them, but Turf War managed to smack it away with his hammer. “UH-UH, SON!!” The tremor-inducing impact was enough to smack the mass of scales away and make it recoil back, but its sturdy frame seem to take minimal damage from the blow. It shook off its pain and glared down at Turf War. It’s expression seemed to acknowledge that he was gonna be a problem. Spiral Galaxy quickly slipped back into her armor, but was careful with how much she charged her magic. She might have attained better control over her cosmomancy, but Cloudsdale was still relatively close, and she didn’t want to accidentally send them an unintended distress signal. So, she simply created a gravity field around its lower body to prevent it from walking out of the water. “I GOT IT PINNED, GUYS!!! LET LOOSE!!!” Tidal Wave found himself in awe of what power one filly could wield. “Whoa…” “QUIT GAWKING AND HELP US MAIM THIS M***********!!!” Bullseye exclaimed. She shot an ice arrow at the water around its body, which caused much of the lake to freeze over. “Tch. Little b****.” Bullseye’s moment of celebration was short lived as the hydra thrashed around violently, trying to break free of Spiral gravity bind, resulting in it shattering all the ice around it. “Well, f***!” The foals couldn’t do much since it was in the water, but they’d rather it was trapped in the water where it was much less of a threat. “Reckon now’s a good time as any to see just how effective y’all two are now!” Kickback drew his guns and started firing at its heads. The sparks on his bullets lit up the dimming night as they rocketed towards the beast. Sure enough, the hydra’s heads were visibly bothered, even writhing from being hit by Kickback’s enhanced bullets. “YEEEE-HAAAAW!!!” “PROVIDING ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FIRE!!” Quantum said. She used her targeting systems to lock onto the hydra’s head and fired her railguns. Though her shots fired in slower succession than Kickback’s, the bursts of electromagnetic energy not only were more damaging, but also seemed to intensify the electrical damage dealt by Kickback’s bullets. “EAT PHYSICS, YOU ABOMINATION!!” The hydra struggled for a while before deciding that enough was enough. Through what must have been sheer force of will, two of its heads braved through the torment it was enduring and lunged towards Kickback and Quantum Tech each. “WHOOOOAAAAAA, NELLY!” Kickback jumped out of the just in time before the hydra head slammed into the ground where he was standing, almost pulverizing him. Quantum Tech hurriedly activated her force field and used her thrusters to jump back as best she could. Had she not had that field up, her mech would have taken the full force of the hydra head knocking her clean back into the woods. “AIIIEEE!!” Her mech was knocked on its back, which Quantum would have a difficult time correcting. “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!!!” The head that struck Quantum Tech retracted somewhat and locked eyes with Crazylocks. It hissed as it eyed her before lunging at her. “I NEED AN ADULT!!!” Crazylocks bellowed as she jumped back, just barely avoiding it. She then uprooted a tree that was right next to her and started beating the hydra over the…..well, head. “BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD! BAD!” She repeatedly shouted as she struck the head each time. She finished her assault by tossing the tree like a javelin right between its eyes, knocking back into its shared abdomen. “PAY YOUR LATE FEES NEXT TIME!!!” Tidal Wave now found himself trembling upon seeing what a force Crazylocks was. “U-U-Umm….” “I-I’ll explain her later, Tidal Wave! We need to figure out how to deal with this thing! It doesn’t look like it’s a pushover!” Fire Fight said. He launched a fire disc at the heads, but being soaked in water and having thick scales, the hydra barely even felt it. “Yep! Not a pushover!” “They seldom are!!” Air Slash said as he drew his swords. He launched two sword beams in a cross-style at one of the heads, but it snaked right under the projection just before it could connect. Just like its ‘siblings’, it lunged its head forward toward him. But instead of jumping back, Air Slash soared above the beast’s head just before it could strike him, and he began running swords down its neck. “HYARRRGGGHH!!!!” The other three heads didn’t try to snap him for the risk of striking their own, so they merely mock charged him, which the brave samurai was undaunted by. However, when he tried to fly behind the hydra it raised its tail and slammed into him. “GUH!!” He was knocked back into the shrubbery behind the foals. “AIR SLASH!!” Greensprout exclaimed. She rushed over to him and found him clutching himself in agony, trying to brave through what must have been horrible pain. “Reclaim your strength!” She wasted no time latching her healing beam into him, and within a short moment, the soaring samurai had been completely mended. “Nrgh…Thank you, Greensprout.” Air Slash said. She nodded. Kickback started firing at it again, but the hydra seemed to have wised up from before and bobbed and weaved its heads around so as to avoid being hit. A few of his bullets did manage to hit their marks, but the hydra’s heads had braced themselves both physically and mentally for them. “SHRAPNEL! STAY BACK!” Zebota pulled out his sling and loaded it with a rock before flinging it around, readying it to fire. He clutched his brooch as it began glowing. “Mei jiwe hili kuwa zenye ghadhabu za dunia yenyewe! Basi ni kupiga adui yangu kwa uwezo anastahili dunia nzima!” When he completed his incantation, the rock loaded in his sling began glowing the same green hue as his brooch. Zebota then flung it towards its belly, and whatever magic Zebota imbued into it must have made the rock gain mass or something, because it hit the hydra with meteoritic force and seemed to almost tear through its thick scales. Its heads simultaneously jolted up and outward from the shock and roared in agony. “PERFECT!” Bullseye took the opportunity to soar up and nock back two of her explosive arrows. She carefully aimed them before firing each of them into the open mouths of the middle two heads. “Tch! ENJOY THE HEARTBURN, F***NUTS!” As the hydra heads managed to reel back, the two that Bullseye shot her arrows in knew that something was about happen, and could only wait anxiously. After a few seconds, the two middle heads violently belched as clouds of smoke forcefully blew out of their mouths and noses. Bullseye sadistically smirked and wiped her nose, but her celebration was short-lived as the two heads quickly shook off their pain and glared at her. “Nrgh! DAMN IT!WHY WON’T YOU JUST KEEL OVER LIKE A GOOD BOY!?!?.....Boys?” “We’re not gonna make a dent if we can’t hit it from up close! It’s too big to effectively attack from a distance, and Spiral has to hold it down!” Shadow Shroud shouted. She then looked over at their unexpected guest. “Tidal Wave, how good of a swimmer are you with those fin-wings?” Tidal Wave’s eyes suddenly widened in horror at the thought of having to get close to the mass of scales and heads. “U-U-Uh….” He frantically looked back and forth between Shroud and the hydra. “Come on! You tried to take on a timberwolf without so much as shivering! Surely you can take this guy on too! Find your strength, Tidal Wave! We need you!” Fire Fight said. His last statement seemed to irritate the aquatic colt, and he looked down with frustration. “Nopony will ever need me! I mean, who’s ever heard of a pegasus that swims rather than flies!?” “We have, as of today!” Fire Fight said with an encouraging smile. Suddenly, he noticed one of the hydra heads lunging toward him! “OH, CRAP!!” He jumped back just before the hydra could chomp him. Whether it was instinct, or a hidden will to protect Fire Fight, he’ll never, but Tidal Wave suddenly lunged at the head, thrusting his spear at it. He managed to hit it right in the eye. The hydra head reeled back while screaming in agony. It didn’t even glare back down at Tidal Wave, and was more busy writhing in pain than anything else. Tidal Wave looked up in shock of the realization of what he just did. “Whoa….” “Good job, Tidal Wave! Keep that up! We’ll distract it!” Fire Fight said. He jumped up and launched two fire discs at the heads simply to spite them. “Go!” “U-Uh…Ok!” Tidal Wave hesitantly looked out at the lake, and it was then that he realized that the water was dark enough that if he swam deep enough, the hydra might not be able to see him. He took a deep breath and got his game face on before diving into the lake. The water was churning a lot from how much the hydra was thrashing combined with Spiral’s gravity field, but his unique wings allowed him to easily correct himself underwater. He had his spear drawn as he bolted through the water around the hydra to look for a good place to strike. The only place he could really think to strike was its toes, so he swam down to them and jabbed one. The hydra shrieked at the sudden pain in its toe, and one of the heads that still had both of its eyes went down to investigate. Tidal Wave quickly hid behind its leg to observe it, and that’s when it hit him. It was just low enough that he could jump out of the water and jab its eye! While risky, he knew that it was probably the only way to significantly damage this thing, so putting his hesitation aside, Tidal Wave flapped his fin-wings and swam to his target. When he got himself at a good angle, he jetted himself upward out of the water and thrust his spear into the hydra head’s eye. Just as with the other one, it recoiled back and curled up. Tidal Wave repeated this process as he got the attention of the remaining two heads. There were a few times where one head was two close to the other to safely land a hit before falling back into the water, but he eventually managed to get them each. All the while, the foals found themselves astounded by Tidal Wave’s grace in the water. If there was an aquatic Wonderbolt team, Tidal Wave would easily be their captain. Once each of the heads stopped thrashing around from curling up in pain, Tidal Wave returned to the lakeside with the other foals. Seeing as it was basically admitting defeat, Spiral loosened her gravitic grip on the beast. “I don’t think I can do much else now.” Tidal Wave said. “That’s quite alright, darling!” Quantum declared. The foals looked over to see that she had propped back up and recalibrated her mech. “I was waiting for when it might cease to flail around like a madpony.” She looked over at Zebota. “Zebota…..I trust you won’t be upset?” It took Zebota a moment to realize what she was saying, and despite their previous disagreement, he trusted Quantum to make responsible decision with her technology, so he gave her a simple smile and nod. “Do it.” Quantum fixed her glasses and smirked. “So I shall!” After a few button presses, she began charging her overdrive laser. “I’d strongly suggest that everypony stand very clear!” They all ran clear from her mech as instructed as the antennae necessary for the laser protruded out and began charging. The foals that had yet to see the laser trembled in awe as the webs of light formed and started lighting up. The final countdown had at last finished, and Quantum Tech hit the switch. “FIRE!” The foals all watched as Quantum’s death ray blasted the crippled hydra into pieces. It didn’t last for quite as long as it did last time, but the mega laser of doom made quick work of the aquatic abomination. Once her mech deactivated the overdrive laser and went into cooldown mode, Quantum exited it and joined the others. “Well! That was quite the ordeal.” She said. “Phew-wee! I never woulda thought a big ol’ varmint like that would give us trouble.” Kickback said. “Pretty neat that my electric bullets went so well with yer magneto-whatsits, Ms. Quantum Tech.” Quantum giggled and leaned her head into his shoulder. “See, Kickback? We are just a match made in heaven!” she cooed. Kickback huffed in frustration as he tried to shove her away. “That aside, I have to say, Tidal Wave, we only met your mere moments ago, and you’ve proved yourself quite nicely.” Shroud said. “Indeed. I must commend your tide-turning efforts.” Air Slash said. “You were so awesome, I could just smack you with that tree too!” Crazylocks blurted. Tidal Wave’s eyes widened in horror. “P-Please don’t!” He then noticed Spiral Galaxy holding her head as if she was in pain. “You ok?” Spiral glanced up at him. “Huh? Oh….yeah. I still kinda get headaches whenever I use my magic outside like this. Thanks.” “I guess I’ve really got some explaining to do, huh? You wanna tag along, Tidal Wave? You’d be a huge help.” Fire Fight said. Tidal Wave looked over at him in surprise. Would these strangers really accept him despite his….traits?....Surely not. “You…..You’re not gonna make fun of my wings?” “Man, why the hell would we!? Y’all was da only one who could touch dis dude….dudes?........which one do I say? The m*********** got four heads.” Turf War said. “Yes. Why would we ever show any scorn towards one whom we owe our lives to?” Greensprout said in a motherly tone, which softened Tidal Wave up a little. Looking around at all the foals who too were runaways, Tidal Wave felt a little overwhelmed. And yet…..he somehow felt that they were…..dependable. After all, he just helped take down something that could’ve very easily killed them, and they earnestly showed gratitude, never saying anything insulting about his wings. He felt himself relieved of most of his hesitation as he came to a decision. “Sure. I’ll come. I….guess being alone would kinda suck anyway.” “Then accept this, friend.” Air Slash said. He handed him another of the Battle Foals medallions. Tidal Wave took it and just stared at it. The alicorn foal in the center seemed to look back at him with a sense of ferocity and unity. “What’s this?” “The symbol of the Battle Foals, Tidal Wave. Welcome aboard.” Fire Fight said. “Battle Foals?” Tidal Wave said. “Huh….I kinda like that!” As he put his new token in his bag, night finally fell completely. With their strength spent, the Battle Foals were eager to treat their newest friend to a nice dinner before heading to bed……..except…… “OH, COME ON!” Fire Fight exclaimed. “What’s the matter?” Shroud asked. “Ugh! The eggs got splashed on, and now they’re all soggy!” Fire Fight just sighed and got started on a new batch. “Hang on, guys….”