“So, how much longer until we get to the castle?” asked Sugar.
“I hope it’s not too long,” whispered Fluttershy. “This forest is so creepy!”
“About half an hour,” said Glides. “I’m pretty sure I could get there on my own if I tried, though.”
“And you’d be leaving us all behind,” Amethyst pointed out. “You need to stick with us.”
“You’d probably go after the elements by yourself too if you were capable of doing so,” Tennis muttered.
“Girls, let’s not get angry at each other,” said Sonata. “After all, we still need to find the elements, so we should at least try to be buddies until then, right?”
Internally, she cringed at what she had just said. Luna had told her she needed to make friends, not pretend to make friends. Still, if there was even the slightest possibility that it would be enough to power the elements, it might just be worth it.
“Whatever,” said Amethyst. “Let’s just get the elements.”
Sonata sighed. Even though she had relatively little experience with friendship, she could tell that Amethyst was a difficult pony to deal with.
As the group walked, the trees began to thin out slightly as they approached a swamp. The light from the sun above them was getting much harsher as the amount of leafy cover above them thinned out.
“Wow,” said Sugar. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t think the animals around here are gonna like the sun getting all mean and hot like that.”
“Of course not,” said Fluttershy. “They’re accustomed to much darker conditions, and this is likely to be a big shock to them. And while most of them will be trying to hide away to escape the unexpected conditions, they are likely to be more hostile if we accidentally uncover them.”
“Well, we’d better not bump into any of those animals,” said Glides. “Those changelings were annoying enough.”
“Eh, they weren't so bad,” said Tennis. “I mean, they did eat my tennis racket, but they would probably have died without it, so it was for the best.”
“Yes, I suppose so,” said Amethyst. “I still don’t understand why you’d be so willing to give up such a prized artifact to them after they attacked us like that.”
Tennis stopped in her tracks. She then narrowed her eyes as she looked back towards Amethyst.
“Did you not hear what Sonata said?” she asked. “They were starving! I had to help them!”
“And the fact that they were starving simply absolves them of any guilt for attacking us?” asked Amethyst.
“No, but think of it from their point of view!” said Tennis. “For all they knew, they’d never get another chance to feed again! They had to feed some way!”
As the two ponies argued, Fluttershy’s ears began to pick up something. At first she said nothing, as she was unsure of exactly what it was. However, as the sound slowly became louder, she turned in the direction of the swamp, hoping that it wasn't what she thought it was.
“Well, they could have tried a more diplomatic solution!” said Amethyst. “They're pretty smart, so they could figure something out, right?”
“Maybe they had tried other things!” said Tennis. “Maybe they were out of options and had to resort to attacking us!”
Fluttershy's eyes widened as she realized exactly what was lurking in the water. She gasped as the surface began to bubble, and something began to emerge.
“Um, girls?” she said quietly.
“And besides, they left as soon as they were fed,” said Tennis, unaware of Fluttershy's warning. “If they were really as hostile as you say they are, would they have left that quickly?”
“Girls!”
“I... guess not,” said Amethyst, now sounding less certain. “But can you seriously-”
“GIRLS!!!”
The two ponies immediately stopped talking and looked at Fluttershy.
“What's up, Fluttershy?” said Tennis.
“Oh, nothing,” Fluttershy said nervously. “It's just that your argument is kind of really loud and I think you just WOKE HIM UP!!!”
She pointed a shaky hoof upwards. The other five ponies looked up and all felt the same sinking feeling. Before them stood a massive yellow beast with red spines. It had a long tail and two short legs. But what was truly terrifying were the four snakelike heads protruding from its body.
“Big monster alert!” yelled Sugar.
“It's a hydra!” yelled Sonata. “A real one!”
“I don't care what it is, I say we RUN!” Glides yelled, speeding off
The five ponies followed suit, speeding off as fast as their hooves could carry them, with the hydra in hot pursuit. In spite of its short legs, it was surprisingly fast, easily keeping up with the group. Fluttershy and Glides had jumped into the sky in order to put some distance between themselves and beast, while the others were still struggling to get away.
“Oh come on!” yelled Tennis. “You’re freaking huge! How are six little ponies supposed to fill you up?!”
“It’s probably more angry than hungry right now!” yelled Amethyst. “I say we put some extra distance between us!”
With that, her horn began to glow. She then stopped, turned around, and pulled a device resembling a crossbow from beneath her cape. As quickly as she could, she fired it at the hydra’s heads, releasing a large net which tangled itself into the beast’s faces.
For a moment, it seemed surprised at the presence of the net. However, after a moment, it began to roar and shake its head, trying desperately to remove the object. Satisfied with her work, Amethyst sped off to catch up with the group.
“Wow! That was so cool, Amy!” Sonata said in awe.
“I told you, my name is Amethyst!” the purple unicorn yelled angrily. “And besides, we still need to get away from that thing! So I would really appreciate it if you-”
Whatever the purple unicorn was going to say was interrupted, as the ground beneath them collapsed unexpectedly, causing the four grounded ponies to fall into a hole. Fortunately, Sugar and Amethyst were able to use their magic to slow their descent, so none of them got hurt, even though they all landed in a huge pile at the bottom.
“Ah!” Sonata yelped as somepony landed on top of her. “What just happened?”
“What do you think happened?!” yelled Amethyst. “We fell into a sinkhole!”
“Well, that’s not good,” said Sugar. “How fast can we get out of here?”
Amethyst quickly took a look at the surrounding rock, and prodded it with her hoof. It easily crumbled with the touch of her hoof, causing her to frown.
“The rock here is unstable,” she said. “Climbing up will take time.”
“Really?” said Tennis. “Because I’m guessing that time is one thing we really don’t have right now!”
As she said this, Amethyst and the others looked upwards. Their eyes immediately widened at the sight of the hydra, which had gotten free of the net and was now glaring menacingly at the trapped little morsels.
“Um, that thing has four heads, right?” said Sonata.
“Yeah, I think so,” said Sugar.
“And there are four of us here, right?”
“Yeah,” said Tennis. “One little bite-sized treat for each head.”
“We noticed that!” yelled Amethyst. “Now please calm down! We can figure out a solution if we stay calm and-”
She barely had time to jump as one head lunged towards her and clamped its jaws shut. The other heads shot out towards the other three ponies in a similar manner, each coming very close to their respective prey.
“I don’t think we have much time to figure anything out!” Tennis yelled as she tossed a couple of rocks at the hydra, which only made it angry.
Sugar was having slightly better luck as she reached into her mane and pulled out a variety of baked goods, which at least managed to distract the hydra. Amethyst had summoned up a magic shield which she had enhanced with one of her devices, although the hydra’s relentless attacking was slowly cracking it.
Finally, Sonata had begun to sing, which had the effect of confusing the hydra enough for her to dodge it, although she was finding it hard to keep it up.
In its relentless pursuit of the ponies trapped below, the beast had completely forgotten about the two pegasi of the group. They were currently flying right above it, watching as it attempted to devour their companions.
“This is bad!” said Fluttershy. “We need to get them out of here!”
“But how?” asked Glides. “There are two of us, and four of them! We could only get two of them at a time, but then the hydra would have two heads for each of them! And what if the hydra notices us trying to get in there? It’s going to try to attack us!”
Fluttershy bit her lip. If they did not act soon, her friends would be killed. But there was no way to get them out while the hydra was still attacking them.
For a moment, she felt herself quivering with fear. She wanted to run as fast as she could, to never have to deal with terrible monsters ever again, to snuggle in the safety of her beloved Big Mac’s arms.
But then she looked at the ponies in the hole, desperately dodging the monster’s hungry jaws. If she left, she would be abandoning her.
That’s not what Rainbow Dash would do, Fluttershy thought to herself. Even if a monster were to attack me, she’d never leave me behind! She’d fight it even if she didn’t think she had a chance! She’d protect me to the bitter end!
The yellow pegasus closed her eyes, remembering everything her old friend had taught her. She then opened them again and looked down at the hydra.
“Nopony gets left behind!”
Glides turned towards Fluttershy, and was shocked to see a fire in her eyes that they’d never believe could have come from her.
“Glides, get them out of there.”
Before the dark blue mare could say anything, Fluttershy dove towards the beast’s tail and slammed against it at an incredible speed. All four heads immediately screamed and looked upwards at the source of their agony.
“I don’t care how hungry you are, or how much the sun is hurting you! YOU! DO! NOT! HURT! MY! FRIENDS!!!”
None of the four heads paid any attention, simply roaring and chasing after the annoying yellow treat that had dared to attack them. However, the treat in question proved to be a much trickier opponent than they could have predicted, flying up and down and in circles to effortlessly dodge each of the hydra’s attacks.
At one point, the hydra seemed to have gained the upper claw, cornering the puny creature between its four heads. However, just as they all lunged towards her, she managed to fly out of reach, causing the four heads to smash into each other.
Glides watched in awe as Fluttershy fought the hydra. As much as she wanted to help, she knew she had a job to do. So she quickly flew into the hole, landing right next to Tennis.
“Night Glider express, going up!”
The white-maned mare wrapped her hooves around the peach mare, then flew out as fast as she could. As soon as she landed, she placed Tennis on the ground, then immediately flew back in. She then pulled Sugar out, then Sonata, and finally Amethyst.
“Where’s Fluttershy?!” Sugar asked.
“She’s busy!” Glides yelled. “Run!”
The four ponies didn’t need to be told twice. They immediately ran towards the heavy tree cover, where they were finally able to hide. Meanwhile, Glides flew in the opposite direction, towards the hydra and the pony it was chasing.
“Fluttershy! Let’s get out of here!”
The pink-maned pegasus dodged the beast’s heads one last time, then flew off in the direction of the trees. Glides quickly followed her, leaving the hydra far behind. As they got farther away, it seemed to tire out, and simply roared out in anger. As it gave up, Fluttershy and Glides smiled at each other and gave each other a hoof-bump.
“We did it!” said Fluttershy.
The two pegasi flew past the trees and landed next to the rest of the group. The six mares cheered and hugged each other. However, Amethyst and Sonata quickly broke off and moved backwards, causing the rest of the group to look at them with concern.
“What's wrong?” asked Tennis. “Aren't you two happy that we escaped?”
Sonata didn't answer. She wasn't quite comfortable with being in such close proximity to anypony except Princess Luna, especially since they had only just met. She looked at Amethyst, and noticed that she seemed to be quite uncomfortable with the situation as well.
“I... don't understand,” said Amethyst. “You shouldn’t have been so worried about us. I mean, we’ve only known each other for a few hours. Why would you risk your life to save us?”
“Why not?” asked Fluttershy. “What kind of pony would I be if I just left somepony behind?”
“But you could have gotten killed!” said Amethyst. “If you hadn’t been able to dodge it, you'd be hydra chow!”
“I know,” Fluttershy said as she lay a hoof on Amethyst's shoulder. “But if I hadn't stayed behind, you would be the one who'd be eaten, and we couldn't have that happen either, could we?”
The purple-maned unicorn looked at her uncertainly, then began to smile. It was a nervous one, but it was a start.
“What about you, Sonata?” Fluttershy asked. “Why are you so worried?”
The blue mare looked up to see the others looking at her expectantly. She grimaced for a moment as she thought as hard as she could in hopes of finding a satisfactory answer.
“It’s… not important,” she said finally. “Come on, we need to find the elements.
She then began to walk away, leaving the others to stare at her in confusion. For a moment, none of them spoke. However, after a moment, Glides spoke up.
“Um, Sonata?”
She looked back at the white-maned mare.
“Ya-huh?”
Glides nonchalantly pointed in the opposite direction from where Sonata had been walking.
“The castle is that way.”
Sonata’s eyes widened for a moment. She then grinned sheepishly.
“My bad!”
She quickly began walking in the right direction, trying hard to hide the blush on her face. The other ponies sighed and followed her.