//------------------------------//
// 3 
// Story: Slave of Eternity 
// by Secrets and Lies 
//------------------------------//


(3)







An early morning fog bathed the hills along the outskirts of Ponyville. The silent air haunted the misty countryside. Dawn was beginning to settle into an overcast day as Zack made his final preparations for departure. The sunrise was approaching in a few short minutes as Zack silently closed the doors to his home and locked it behind him. The town was relatively lifeless at this time a day; there were some vendors unloading wagons of new shipments to increase their stock for the coming day, but besides this, nothing out of the ordinary could be seen. Owl cries could be heard from the distant woods Zack was traveling towards; their hoots pierced through the cool air and echoed through the trees. An overcast day was bound to come, the weather pegasi planned this day to be a dreary one. Moisture was plentiful in the heavy mountain air as Zack took a long breath of it in. The dormant sense of adventure was slowly pumping back into his body, he could feel the slight tension of danger crawl up the back of his spine as he thought over his mission.
He walked down a dirt road leading away from the sleeping Ponyville and towards the Everfree Forest. With his hand gripping the hilt of his sword, he strayed away from the known path and off over the hills. Zack began to maneuver his way over and under fences that blocked off other ponies’ pastures from one another. He was now at the farthest reaches of the Ponyville district and soon made his way towards the menacing and dark forest ahead. His pace quickened up and over wavering lands while cutting through the dense morning fog. Trying not to disturb other ponies’ farm animals, he kept towards the edges of the pastures and away from their cows and other livestock.
The pastures soon became rugged and thick with weeds, ferns and wild flowers. These signs assured him he was away from Ponyville and coming closer to his destination. Wild critters such as rabbits, turkey, parasprites and the woodland creatures sped to and fro away from Zack as he tramped through the thick brush. The tree line of the murky, dark forest was in sight. As Zack approached the forest’s edge, the morning sun peaked through the cloudy mountain fog. Its rays and face were blurred by the haze the fog produced, but still the warmth of the star could be felt on Zack’s skin as he wasted no time entering the Everfree.
According to the locals of Ponyville, the Everfree Forest was a place where the animals roamed free, weather needed no help and where nature was left alone. Some of the younger ponies in town considered the untamed woodlands haunted and frightening. Larger creatures, considered dangerous by the equine folk, lurked in these woods–creating another diversion in which ponies would avoid. Ponies would never think to travel in these woods under any circumstance, yet some still did. Deep in the woods lie many mysteries to be solved. Relics of what once was the capital of Equestria resided in the woods still. The old castle where the regal sisters once ruled over remains as a standing sentinel in the Everfree.
Zack knew of this and had read about it before hand years ago when he use to live at Canterlot Castle. His knowledge of this place was rekindled when entering the forgotten woods. Trees with outstretching branches blocked most of the murky skies above. Morning fog still lingered in the mossy depths of the woods as Zack went further in. Vines hung all around the trees and weeds grew up from their roots. The ferns and brush were thick with sharp branches and thorns, so Zack had to be careful where he stepped and proceeded.
Though adventure began to flow through his veins, he cam to realize that this was no adventure. Getting out of his house and off into places he had never been to was enough to make him feel as if he was on another mission however. A short diversion from the norm is all he needed and he enjoyed every minute of it. He felt rejuvenated and his spirits felt so much higher and alive than before. The weight of his responsibilities seem to fade from his mind as he took in another breath of fresh mountain air. Even though he was slightly lost and had no clear direction to where his target was located, he still felt eager and motivated to continue onward.
He soon made his way into an opening in the woods as light trickled in from the opening branches. Zack’s spirits rose ever so slightly than they already were when he saw that he could pass through here without running into any branches or thorns. As he made his was to the center of the opening, a sudden jolt of painful energy consumed his mind. He held his forehead in agony and closed his eyes to try and divert the pain elsewhere. Another vision was coming, he was sure of it as he opened his eyes once more. 
He saw that he was in the same place as he was when he closed his eyes, but the sky was no longer murky and cloudy. The sky was torn with a maroon red as falling ash scattered over and around him. The trees were torn down to their bare bark and most were withered away or burned. The grass had been charred away, revealing the red, tarnished earth below his feet. The vision seemed to linger longer than just a moment; longer than the ones he had in the market place. Everything seemed like a blur, as if looking over a fire pit's flames. Sounds of churning earth and gnashing rocks could be heard behind him and ever increasing. He did not turn around though, because his attention was diverted before him at a blurred, dark pink object. The object resembled a small pony, nothing like Pinkie Pie or any other pony he had seen before. Though Zack could tell it was a young filly, its face, mane and cutie mark were obscured to him and violently blurred at the distance he was at. He then heard a voice much like his own, but he knew he didn’t say anything.
What he heard in his own frantic voice was, “We have to run... we have to! We can’t stop now, or we-will-die!” He blinked the moment the voice left his head and Zack found himself back in the forest clearing. The visions were once again harming Zack’s mind as he shook his head and continued onward out of the clearing towards his goal.
Through the thickening brush of the woods, he navigated his way deeper into Everfree Forest. A familiar noise then peeked his attention as he swung around to see where it was coming from. Zack scanned the forestry behind him to find nothing of what he thought it was.
“That noise..." he said mentally, "that couldn’t be...” He soon played it off as a animal running behind him and continued his way onward into the woods. He then heard the noise again; that springing and vibrant sound he knew so well stalked him once more. He violently turned to find that the noise had stopped once again and he couldn’t tell where it was coming from. He hummed with irritation as he slowly turned his head back around in front of him. Zack then looked over to a bush next to him and swiftly reached his arm into the brush, grabbed what he was aiming for and pulled out, by the mane, the pink pony.
He swung the pony around in front of him and asked with annoyance, “Why are you following me?”
Pinkie gave a sheepish grin and replied, “Why not?” She reached a hoof over and bopped him on the nose yelling, “Honk!”
Zachary dropped her on her hooves and said again with a stern tone, “Seriously Pinkie, why are you following me? How did you know where I was going...” Zack’s eyes widened as he came to another conclusion. “Were you eavesdropping on me and V’s conversation last night?”
“Oh Zack,” she played off, “I wasn’t dropping anything last night. I just so happened to be secretly listening to you and Vally's little chat last night.” Her playful attitude soon fleeted and a more grave and downcast expression replaced it. She continued with her eyes looking away from Zack, “You said... you said you might be leaving Ponyville for a while...” She looked back up at him and asked, “Is this true?”
Zack sighed and said with honest disappointment, “Maybe... I want to stay with Celestia for a while, at least... I don’t want to burden you with details...” Zack strayed off as he began to make his way deeper into the forest while Pinkie trotted behind him.
She spoke her mind, “I wanted to come with you so that we could have one last adventure together before you went off. I would have never come if you hadn’t said you would be leaving Ponyville for a while. Then I began thinking of all those fun times we had together years ago... Even if we were in danger, you always saved the day.” Zack listened to her silent plea with his mind wandering back to the days they once spent together.
He said with regret, “I wish you would have never heard what I said last night... that wasn’t meant to be heard by you or anyone else besides Valiant.”
“But Zack, you can tell me anything, you should know that. We’re friends–well, we’re more than friends, Zack... we’re bestest friends. And bestest friends don’t want their bestest friends to be sad.”
Zack finally gave in and halted in the forest. The two were silent for a moment. The sounds of the morning forest entered their ears as they listened to its song. The enchanting melodies of the woods slightly soothed each other’s wavering emotions. Zack turned and got down on one knee, eye level to his friend. He leaned over and hugged the pink mare, she returned his strange embrace with her hooves around him. He could smell her fluffy hair; the hint of cotton candy shampoo and candy corn conditioner filled his nostrils. It always smelled the same to him, ever since he first smelled it when she was a filly–holding that tiny pony in the oak tree and away from the timber wolves. Zack eased off of her and the two locked eyes with one another.
Zack spoke, “I won’t leave Ponyville forever, but I will still leave. Just know it won’t be forever.” He gave a smile of assurance to his companion as her eyes trembled with coming tears.
A sudden noise from the far off bushes alerted the two. Zack motioned to Pinkie to stay behind him and she did so without a word. Zack placed his right hand on the handle of his blade and began to stealthy creep towards the sound. He slowly made his way over to look beyond the bushes and see what was making that noise. As he looked over, he saw that is was another pony he had never seen before, leading a family of squirrels through the forest. The pegasus pony was of a yellow coat with cyan eyes and with three butterflies for a cutie mark. Pinkie popped her head over the brush to see the pony for herself, but made no advance to talk to her.
The yellow pony nuzzled the littlest squirrel and said softly, “Come now, little one. Mama Fluttershy will lead you to your new home.” Zack saw no threat and made his way out of the clearing. His sudden entrance made the pegasi frightful as she froze in the clearing. The family of squirrels darted into the bushes and up the trees for safety as Zack approached the pony with an eager grin.
“Hi,” Zack blurted with enthusiasm, sticking out his hand for a hoof shake. “I was wondering if I was in the right direction to get t–” He was cut off when Fluttershy squealed with horror and curled into a ball against a tree trunk.
Zack frantically tried to calm her down, “No, no! Please don’t be afraid! I-I just want to know directions.” He had never thought beforehand that he had just asked a pony he had never seen for directions. She herself had never seen anything like Zack, so she was terrified of his appearance. He had been accustomed to everyone in Ponyville knowing of his existence and never had to think of meeting anyone new for quite some time.
Pinkie Pie popped out of the bushes to try and pacify the terrified mare, “Fluttershy, don’t be afraid!” The yellow mare opened her eyes to see Pinkie before her. She looked around and saw Zachary still standing afar.
Fluttershy stammered, “W-what is that creature, P-Pinkie?”
“Oh him? He’s my best pal, Zack! He won’t eat you or anything, you silly goose!”
Fluttershy softly giggled, “Geese are rather silly.”
Zack chimed in and asked Fluttershy, “How come I’ve never seen you in Ponyville? Don’t you live there?” Fluttershy stepped back, nervous and obviously shy. She mumbled something he couldn’t quite hear while her eyes darted away from him.
Pinkie spoke for her, “She lives on the outskirts of town. She never goes to the markets and usually hangs out here in the Everfree Forest nursing animals back to health.”
Zack then questioned Pinkie, “How do you two know each other then?”
Fluttershy mustered up the courage and gently responded, “Pinkie makes the most delightful treats for my animals, and she delivers me some every week.”
“Ah, so that explains it,” Zack responded. “What I was going to ask you before I about gave you a heart attack was if I was heading in the right direction to Horseshoe Stream?”
The pegasus nodded in affirmation, “Yes you are.” She pointed with her hoof, “It’s north of here about a quarter mile from this clearing.”
“Well, that’s all I needed to know, thanks Fluttershy!” As he waved her off and was about to continue walking towards his goal, she waved back at him.
She called out, “Goodbye Zack! Goodbye Pinkie! Hope you find what you’re looking for!”





After a good couple of minutes, the two friends made decent progress through the woods. Now the morning rays of the sun thoroughly stabbed through the overcast skies and lit the forest. The dew from the previous night and mist sparkled along the plant tops and blades of grass. More early morning birds began to sing to one another as the day was progressively beginning.
Zack could begin to hear the sound of a stream current and knew he was getting close. The two finally followed the noise and reached their location, Horseshoe Stream. Zack was a little thrown off by the name; thinking that it was only a mere few feet across, but in reality it stretched much farther. It was more like a river than a stream to him. Its currents were mighty enough to most likely sweep him away if he were to try and cross it. Though Zack never planned to cross the river, he and Pinkie instead followed the river down to where they were suppose to go.
A half an hour elapsed before reaching their destination. Pinkie seemed a little confused at the sight that they had reached. She never knew this place existed in the Everfree until Zack showed her. They had reached a dense mire where the river flattened out and became a small marsh. Morning fog lingered here and the sound of bullfrogs, grasshoppers and other strange creatures flooded their ears. A musty smell of swamp gas and muck filled their nostrils as Zack stopped to overlook the scene.
“This has to be it,” he said aloud while unraveling the treaty and reading it once more.
“Are you sure,” Pinkie asked with hesitance. “I never knew there was another bog around here besides Froggy Bottom Bog.”
Zack rolled the scroll back up and said, “Appears to be that way, come on.”
The two began to venture into the swamplands, trying to stay on level and on dry ground. The dry earth quickly split and made small trails between the murky swamp waters. They twisted and curved along the banks of the bog. If one was not careful, one could easily slip and fall.
While they walked, Zack asked Pinkie, “I think I should carry you. I’m afraid you might fall.”
“No thanks, I’m alri–”
A sudden rustling in a nearby fern bush startled the two once again. A sound of a feeble hissing noises could be heard from the fern a few yards away from them. Zack pressed Pinkie behind him and reached for his blade, he used the other hand to slowly maneuver the branches of the bushes to see what it was. Pinkie eased around Zack to get a gander at what he was seeing. Her eyes widen with excitement as she reached in to pick up the creature.
“Pinkie,” Zack vociferated, “What are you doing? That’s an–”
“It’s an ittie-bittie baby alligator!” Her voice became soothing to the very timid and afraid gator. Its large purple eyes appeared saddened to her, and Pinkie’s affection grew towards the lonely animal. 
She then noticed something strange about the small crocodilian and noted, “Oh no! Your family left you because you were different.” She pressed the alligator against her face and nuzzled the creature as it whimpered. “It’s okay, mister gator. Pinkie’s here for you.”
She looked up at Zack and replied, “This ittie-bittie guy’s got no ittie-bittie teeth. We have to help him!”
Zack waved his hands in denial, “Oh no-no-no. I am not keeping that wild animal in my house.”
“I was thinking about keeping him with me, as a pet. And maybe when he’s nursed back to health, I’ll release him again.”
“You really think Miss Cake will allow you to keep that at Sugarcube Corner?”
Pinkie smiled upon looking at the creature again and said, “Once she sees how adorable it is, maybe!”
Zack moaned with disapproval and replied, “Fine.” He looked into the creature’s eyes as it blinked lazily at him. “Let’s just finish this little mission and discuss things once we get back.”
Pinkie jumped for joy and cried, “Yay!” She hugged Zack’s leg and pounced ahead with the gator clung onto her back. Zack followed behind, navigating his way through the dense and murky swamp fog.
As Pinkie bounced out of Zack’s sight, it didn’t even come across to Zack that she was out of his range of vision. Beyond the route they were taking, it split into two directions. Pinkie, who was ahead, took the right path, while Zack, who followed behind, took the left. As Pinkie hopped along the path, she saw something in the water along the bank. She back tracked to where it was and looked into the water’s edge. It was a dull brown color and was too heavily polluted to see the bottom of the swamp.
She turned to pull the gator off her back and asked it, “What do you think that was, little fella?” The gator only looked dumbfounded at her as she waited for a response. Her attention was caught off guard when she heard a faint voice coming from the mire. She looked around and couldn’t tell where it was coming from. She looked back into the water to see two round and blurred objects lying beneath the murky mire. She couldn’t tell what it was, but it captivated her nonetheless. The voice of the mire spoke again, and this time, she could make out what it said.
It whispered through the swamp, “My little pony... my little pony... why so lonely... my little pony?” The objects began to slowly float further upwards, her eyes were affixed on the objects as a larger shape came into view around the two round objects. Nostrils and ears could been seen now, along with a face of a creature she had never seen before. The little alligator hopped off of her back without her knowing and scurried off into the bog and away from her. She began to bring her face closer to the water’s edge, eyes dilated into a deep trance, unbroken from what she saw.
The voice of the mire spoke again, “You heard my call, you entered my shrine. You now shall fall, you will be mine.” The creature’s green eyes opened wide and Pinkie’s body locked up, paralyzed and unable to move an inch. She fell, face first, into the mire with a splash. Her body sunk into the deep, gloomy water, not to come back up for air.
The little alligator soon made his way across the mire, searching for the pink one’s tall friend. He moved as fast as his four, stubby legs could take him as he picked up the scent of the larger creature. He finally found Zack walking alone in the mire and loudly hissed at him to get his attention. He turned and saw the small creature without Pinkie Pie.
Zack said aloud, “I thought you were with...” He finally realized why the animal came to him without the pony and he yelled, “Pinkie!”
The gator made his way back across the mire as Zack followed behind. He lead him towards the spot where Pinkie fell in and began hissing towards the pool. Zack dropped to his knees and looked into the water. He hopped into the slough to try and save her, but when he jumped into the water, he realized it was only knee-high deep. He looked around and couldn’t figure out what was going on or what the alligator meant. Just as he thought his imagination was getting the best of him and that there was no threat, the pools of swampy water around him began to ripple and bubble. The marshlands quivered and the trees and bushes rattled. Zack hopped out of the pool and held his ground on the dry trail.
A sudden burst from a near by pool revealed a towering creature. The massive monster looked down upon Zack with its glaring green eyes. Its light brown scales aligned his neck like shields and razor sharp spines on his head were like spears. Zack withdrew the white blade and was ready to attack. A new thought suddenly stopped his advance and realized this was the creature he had to relocate–this was the hydra he needed to move to Froggy Bottom Bog. Another rumble from the earth upset his balance and three more heads of the hydra arose from the same pool, all resembling one another. Zack’s grip on the Prevailer tightened as he saw that one of them had the unconscious Pinkie Pie on its head. The heads of the hydra all looked down upon Zack and studied the being.
Zack held his ground and said with supremacy, “I didn’t come here to fight. I came here with this treaty.” He unraveled the scroll and read aloud, “By order of Princess Celestia, current Princess of Equestria, that the moving of the hydra of Horseshoe Swamp must occur within three or less days to Foggy Bottom Bog. If the hydra does not leave, the Equestrian Royal Guard will forcefully move the creature to its other habitat.” He rolled the scroll back up and stated, “And, I would also like my friend back. The pink pony you have on one of your heads.” The other hydra heads looked on one of their heads to see the still and immobilized pony. One head grabbed her by the mane and placed her on top of a high pine tree and their attention rested back on Zachary.
“Hey,” Zack yelled, “What do you think you’re doing? Put her down, now!” Zack withdrew his sword once more and set himself into a fighting stance, ready to attack the beast. The long necks of the hydras slowly slithered around Zack’s position like snakes, their eyes scanning the small, bipedal being.
One head spoke after another, “What is this being, who walks on two legs?”
“It sure isn’t a pony.”
“Nor minotaur.”
“What sort of creature are you then?”
Zack answered, “I’m a human.”
The creature questioned with each of its heads, “A human, eh? We’ve never heard of a human before?”
“Sounds like a lie.”
“Do you think a human tastes good?”
“Now, now. No need to get antsy. Let’s have a little fun.” One of the large heads of the hydra locked eyes with Zack and leaned down to be eye level with him.
“We could eat you now if you wish, but that wouldn’t be any fun, now would it?”
“Besides, you said you came here not to fight, so let’s not, shall we?”
“But shall we play a game?”
“Oh yes! We will play a game with the human!”
Zack demanded, “I’m not here to play games, I’m here to remove you from the Everfree Forest and to get my friend back safely. And if that means I have to fight, then I will!”
“Listen here, little human.”
“We are not normal beasts of the mire and field, we have reason and sense.”
“A game we shall play or we stay and eat both you and your friend.”
“But! We will offer you a prize if you win.”
“But very unlikely that you will.”
Zack raised an eyebrow and asked, “What sort of prize?”
The hydra smoothly spoke, “The prize is...”
“If you win our favorite game, we’ll leave peacefully, give you your friend back safe and unharmed and never talk again!”
“But! If you lose...”
“We eat you and your friend!”
“Sounds like a deal, little human?”
Zack asked, “So... what’s the game?”
The hydras smiled, “Our favorite game: The Game of Riddles!”
“If we give a riddle and you guess wrong, that’s one point for us... If you give a riddle and we guess wrong, that’s a point for you.”
“Three points and the game is over!”
“Any questions?”
Zack rubbed his chin with fret. He was never good at riddles, but it seemed like the only way to win. He didn’t know if he could fight all four hydra heads at once. He had no choice, he had to play and if he lost, then he would risk it all and try to kill the hydra himself.
He finally replied, “Okay... I’ll play.”
“Splendid, splendid,” a hydra head cheered. Another spoke, “Since we’re kind to our guests, we’ll let you go first...”
Zack stammered, “V-very well...” He began to think of a riddle as the hydras maneuvered their heads around him, anxiously waiting for his first move. He soon thought up a riddle rather quickly and his confidence seemed to perk up with a sign of hope.
“I’ve been away for a millennia and still the youngest of my kind... Who am I?”
One of the hydra heads immediately responded, “Oh, that’s an easy one. Princess Luna!”
Another noted, “Or Nightmare Moon if you prefer...”
“Our turn! Out turn!” The hydra heads bent down and circled Zack once more.
“We were once alive, but now we’re dead. We sit beside you, we watch you in bed. I am the smartest of my kind, an expert in any skill. Where you find most of us, will not be a thrill.”
“What am I?”
Zack was utterly lost. “Once alive... sit and watch you in bed... where you will find most of us won’t be a thrill...” He thought long and hard, but still he was stumped on the riddle. He aimlessly guessed, “An owl...”
The hydra’s snickered, “A book, you silly one! One point for us!” Zack thought up a newer and what seemed to be harder riddle than the last.
“I am lifeless and invisible, and hardly anyone thinks of me until I touch them. What am I?”
The hydra talked with each of its heads, “Lifeless?”
“Invisible?”
“Tricky...very tricky...”
“We would have to say...”
They spoke harmoniously, “The wind! Ah-ha” Zack sighed as the hydra head’s licked their lips.
The hydra’s went again, “Thirty white ponies on a red hill. Champing, stamping, stomping, then still.”
“What do you think it is, human?”
Zack was beginning to try and dive into the recesses of his mind, trying to put the pieces of their clues together. “It has to mean something... they're all metaphors,” he thought with his hand wiping through his hair.
After a few minutes went by, the hydra spoke, “Well? We’re waiting.”
Zack took a heavy breath and said, “I don’t know...”
The hydra laughed and spat, “Teeth, you fool! Teeth!”
A hydra head looked at another and said, “Well well. One more point and we dine on the pony and human.”
“Ooo, I can’t wait to taste the little pony! I bet she tastes like candy! I haven’t had candy in years!”
The four hydra heads all looked down at Zack and one said to him, “You better think up a good riddle this time.”
“And think it up quick!”
“Because we’re about to eat you!”
“Yes yes! And we all can’t wait!” They all showed their teeth and grinned maliciously at Zachary. He stepped back and his mind raced for a good riddle to ask them.
He then responded, “I contain something you cannot hold, cannot smell and cannot live without.” He crossed his arms, thinking that they would never guess it.
“Oh my,” one hydra head said, “Aren’t you getting better.”
“But we’re still the best around these parts.”
“So we would have to say...”
“A pouch! Yes! A pouch of water!”
“Something you can’t hold, water! Something you can’t smell, water! Something you can’t live without, water! And it holds it!”
Zack, deprived of hope, replied,“Yes, yes. You got it. Can we continue?”
A hydra head bent down and snarled, “One more point... remember that... One more point and you die!”
The hydra head calmly and smoothly spoke, “Pillars of white, we shine in the night.”
“Like rays from the moon, we shimmer past noon.”
“We hold great secrets, we hold great lies.”
“If you fail to answer this, you will surely die!”
Zack gulped in defeat. His head was aching from all of the critical thinking he was doing. He had to think outside of the box. "Come on, Zachary. You can do this," he thought as he racked his brain with ideas. "Think. Think! Pillars of white... shine in the night, okay... like rays of the moon, which are white as well... Shimmer past noon... past noon is night, so it’s just repeating the first phrase... Hold great secrets and lies, alright... And the last line doesn’t help at all... So, shines at night in white... what shines at white besides the moon. Damn, I wish Princess Celestia was here, she’s great at rid–" Just then, it struck him and he knew what the answer was.
He yelled out, “Canterlot Castle! Am I right or am I right?” The hydra heads looked at one another and returned their eyes towards him. 
They said, “Very good, very good...” 
“Your turn then, buddy!”
Zack took a sigh of relief and stated, “Alright... here... it... goes...” His mind tried to think like the hydra’s. He had to make something sound nearly impossible to get right. Zack questioned, “I climb higher than the tallest around. I am full of life, I am free. You can’t tell me what to do, unless you are free like me.” The hydras huddled their heads together, mumbling to each other as Zack eagerly tapped his foot and waited for their answer.
One head turned around and said, “Easy... a pegasus pony.
“They are ignorant and prideful.”
“Our turn again it seems.”
Zack smiled and replied, “Nope!”
“What,” spat one head of the hydra in astonishment.
“He speaks lies! Lies!”
Zack laughed and replied, “Honest truth, guys... or girls... I can’t tell really.”
“Then what is it? Tell us! Tell us!”
Zack answered, “A cloud.” The hydra’s looked at each other and huffed with anger.
“I can’t believe we missed that!”
“How is that even possible.”
“Calm down, every hydra. We’re still winning, and if he misses one more point...”
“Game over! Game over!”
Zack crossed his arms and gave a sly look on his face, “Fine. Shoot.”
The hydras smiled and then said, “An earth pony was found dead in an empty house.”
“The house was a ground floor building.”
“Nothing is in the house except a dead pony hanging from a noose and a puddle of water.”
“How did the pony commit suicide?”
Zack’s swallowed, this was an entirely different type of riddle he didn’t see coming. He had to rethink his strategy. While he thought, the constant licking of lips from the hydras made Zack uneasy as they slithered closer and closer around him.
"It has to deal with the puddle some how... but how did the earth pony commit suicide?" As he thought, he finally came to a conclusion and answered, “It was... He hung himself by standing on an... a large ice cube and it melted away, leaving him to hang there.”
A hydra head violently turned to another head and shouted, “I told you he would get it! It was too easy!”
Zack raised his hand and questioned, “My turn, correct?” The hydra rolled its eyes and Zack began to think up a new riddle.
“There once was a meadow with one apple tree. There are obviously apples on the tree but none under it. But then, an earthquake strikes! Now there are no apples on the tree nor apples on the ground. How is this possible?” One of the hydra head’s grind his teeth and once again discussed the puzzle with one another. One swiftly turned towards Zack and looked him over, eyes glaring with murderous intentions.
They all turned around and one said, “The apple tree is on a hill and all the apples rolled down it.”
Zack chuckled and replied, “Nice try, but no. It’s a meadow, not a hill. There were only two apples on the tree, one fell off and now there are no apples on the tree or ground, just an apple on each.”
One hydra head roared, “Now he’s tied with us! He’s tied with us!”
“Quiet. We can do this.”
“We’ll just tell him the oldest riddle in the book...” The hydra zoomed closer in on Zack, he stood firm and ready for their next game winning riddle.
“You took a walk in the forest and found it.”
“You looked for an hour and couldn’t find it.”
“So you took it home.”
“What is it?”
Zack scratched his head and hummed aloud, “Found it in the forest... then couldn’t find it... So you took it home... Something found you... and you didn’t know about it.” 
He then answered with pride, “A splinter!” The hydra, for once, held its anger and tongues.
“Very good...” one said with spite.
Zack affirmed, “My turn! Alright!” He began, “There are many like me, but I am one of a kind. Sometimes I get overlooked, maybe because I’m in a nook, but you can certainly find me in a book. I am up, and down, and all around. Yet you still don’t know, your knowledge too low. I formed man, it was my mission. I am everything, yet I still get no recognition. You can’t run from me, you can’t hide. I speak no truth, but cannot lie. Who am I?”
The hydra head’s looked at one another in utter confusion. They talked amongst themselves for a very long time, every so often looking at Zack who kept a stone cold smirk across his face. After a few long minutes, the hydra heads turned and gave their answer.
“After further discussion...”
“You put up a valiant effort, little human."
“But we know the answer...”
“It’s a star, of course.” Zack reached towards the ground and grabbed the nearest object next to him.
He held it up to the hydra heads and answered, “A rock. I win.” The hydra heads then looked at him as if he was lying and snapped their jaws at Zack. He swiftly jumped back and pulled out the Prevailer.
“A deal’s a deal,” he shouted as he rose his sword, ready to attack. The hydra stopped and brought its heads high up once again.
“You’re right,” one spoke after another.
“A deal...”
“...is a deal.” One head reached over and grabbed the paralyzed Pinkie Pie from the tree and brought her back down towards Zack. The eyes of the hydra locked into Pinkie Pie’s and glared at the pony, unfreezing her from the spell. 
She hopped up silently and replied with surprisingly controlled emotions, “Thank you, Zack. Thank you again.” With a great quake, the hydra stepped out of the marsh and made its way towards Froggy Bottom Bog. 
One head spoke back towards Zack, “Next time we run into a pony, we’ll just eat it instead of playing games with it. No use in talking to those simpletons!” With each stomp, it faded off into the horizon. The bog was filled with the noises of swamp critters once again. The little toothless gator that alarmed Zack of Pinkie’s trouble came waddling back towards the two. Pinkie smiled, picked up the alligator and placed him on her back.
Zack confessed, “Well if it wasn’t for this little guy, I would have never found out you were in trouble in the first place.” He reached over to pet the gator, but the animal snapped at him and clamped down on his hand. Zack was shocked at his behavior and had forgotten that the gator didn’t have any teeth.
Pinkie shrieked, “Zack! Are you okay?”
“Ya, ya. I just forgot this little fellow didn’t have teeth. Thank goodness he’s all gums or my hand would have been gone.” He laughed and yanked his slobber-ridden hand out of the maw of the gator.
She held the animal in front of herself and scolded, “Now that wasn’t a very nice thing to do, say ‘you’re sorry’ to poor old Zackie!” She held the gator in front of Zack. The animal just looked blankly at the creature now in front of him. She turned him around and hummed with a new thought when looking at the gator’s toothless smile. “I think I’ll name you... Zackie!”
“No, you’re not,” Zack said with a stern look on his face.
“Gummy sounds good too!”