The Hydra

Fluttershy had gotten Twilight to help her with relocation of an animal. The butter-yellow pegasus squeed when Twilight said 'yes', though the unicorn didn't know why.

"He's got the most adorably tiny cry, and oh I could just scratch his little leggy-weggies all day!"

Now she did.

It wasn't just *any* animal. It was a Hydra, one of the most lethal beasts this side of...anything short of a full grown dragon, really. Even a full grown Ursa Major was no match for the sheer ferocity the Hydra could bring to bear.

The venom didn't help either.

...though the way Fluttershy was going on about it, it may have well have been Angel.

Fluttershy had to get a net, so Twilight was the first on the scene.

It wasn't little. At all.

It towered over her, it towered over the nearby trees...it almost towered over the hill she was sitting on to observe it. It was sitting in a valley that looked quite devoid of life. Trees were toppled, rocky outcroppings were stripped and broken...

It idly spat a vile, blue fluid onto the ground, the nearby grass dying immediately.

Poison.

It spotted her almost immediately. Natural, as it could look everywhere at once with its seven heads. It didn't react much though, as she was well outside of 'reaching' range. The hydra simply...observed her as the mare observed it.

Then it decided to stop observing and start hunting. It lumbered over towards the pony, Twilight straightening up and preparing herself. It screeched loudly, the sheer volume causing her ears to ring and several nearby trees to be stripped of their leaves.

The beast started running, gaining ground on the mare in a heartbeat. One of the heads surged at her, closer than the others.

"Aw ponyfeathers!" Twilight cursed, leaping to the left.

One of the hydra's heads slammed into the rocky outcropping, dazing it as stones rained down. The other six were unfazed, surging for the mare as she came to a stop from her sideways evasion. Twilight teleported, coming out above the multi-headed monster. With a shout, she fired a searing beam across the neck of a head, severing it and causing the remaining heads to recoil in pain.

The mare then teleported again in mid-air, ending up safely on the other side of the ravaged valley. The wound bled for a few seconds, before quickly stopping. Seconds later, she heard it. With a sickening ripping of flesh, another head sprouted from the wound, newborn and utterly furious.

The mare had read that Hydras had incredible regenerative abilities, but mere SECONDS? That was simply *insane*. The hydra turned, spitting its potent venom at anything in range, be it tree, rock, or the pony it was currently hunting.

"Gah, Fluttershy, where are you!?" Twilight shouted, again teleporting to avoid the lumbering beast. The pegasus was supposed to have been here twenty minutes ago! Re-materializing behind the beast once more, she fired off a beam of magic into the hydra's hide. It roared in pain, once more spinning to attack the unicorn.

She wasn't there.

Another blast of magic punctured through from behind, searing flesh and muscle and cleaving a leg off. The multi-headed beast toppled just as Fluttershy came over the hill, trap in tow. Rainbow Dash was assisting her, which may have been what the delay was about.

"S-Sorry for being late!" Fluttershy called, somehow still quite quiet.

"JUST TRAP IT!" The purple mare shouted, horn still outputting power to keep the beast down.

Sweat was pouring down Twilight's face and matting her coat, and she felt dizzy. The trap came down, the hydra sprouted another leg...and couldn't move.

Twilight panted as her spell cut off, the hydra thrashing and hissing ineffectively in the heavy net. Fluttershy trotted up to one of the hydra's heads, fearlessly.

It was a wild animal, of course she wasn't afraid of it. It tried to spit at her, but the fine mesh stopped it entirely.

"Oh good! Now you calm down while we move you to a nice, new spot!" Fluttershy cheerily cooed to the furious hydra.

"You move it." Twilight cut across, irritated at the delay. "I need a bath."

"Oh, but Twilight!" Fluttershy started, looking at the mare. "I'm not strong enough to lift it, and neither is Rainbow Dash!"

Twilight glared tiredly at the two pegasus. Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"Don't look at me, Twi. My work here is done! Good luck, have fun!"

With that, the speedy mare was gone.

"How am I supposed to lift it?!" Twilight asked. "It has to be at least fifteen tons!"

"It's actually thirty-three and a half, but you were close!" The pegasus said idly, scratching the trapped Hydra under one of its many chins.

It actually cooed at her, rage subsided.

"It's fine now. Why don't you lead it away while it's calm?"

"Oh silly, once we take that net off, it'll try to kill us both!" Fluttershy giggled. "It's just trying to lull us into a sense of security. They're very smart."

Twilight gave the pegasus an incredulous look.

"So how?!"

"You teleport it, of course! You can teleport on contact, and we aren't going far!"

"This is why you needed ME, isn't it." Twilight deadpanned.

To her credit, Fluttershy looked down and scuffed the dirt with a hoof.

"Fine."

"Oh, you will!?"

"I'm already here, aren't I? I just want to get this over with so I can get a bath. I feel filthy."

"We're only going thirty miles east, not far!"

"THIRTY MILES?!"
---
Twilight staggered into the Library, sweaty and simply exhausted.

True to Fluttershy's word, the instant the net was taken off, it tried to kill them both. Twilight had to sear another head off and grab the yellow pegasus before making a hasty retreat. She had heard the hydra roar in fury at losing its 'hard earned' prey, and decided she wasn't quite far enough yet. A few more random teleports to lose it, and she finally felt safe.

Spike arched an eyeridge from over his comic, and she merely shook her head at him.

"Dinner is in the fridge, if that helps?"

"Thank you, Spike...but I think I'm just going to take a bath and go to bed."

"Alright Twi. G'night, love you."

"Love you too, Spike."

True to her word, the mare steeped in a hot bath for an hour, then collapsed on her bed.

She was out before she knew it.