The fierce hydra towered over the group, the mouths of the beast were all watering in anticipation for its next meal. Anyone with common sense would just turn around and hightail it out of there, but Dale and the others had come too far to just give up. Dale managed to work up the courage to take one step towards the monster. Even though he's gone up against all sorts of different creatures ranging from parasprites, manticores, and all other obstacles, Dale had a sinking feeling in his stomach about this one. He's never been up against something as large as a hydra, and he sure as hell didn't like the difference in size compared to himself. Trying his best to act tough, Dale looked up at the middle head of the three-headed serpent.

"Hey, you bastard! Get the hell out of our way!" Dale tried his best to act intimidating even though the hydra clearly had the advantage over the group. The middle head of the hydra hissed and began to speak to Dale.

"You foolish creatures that have disturbed our domain, do you expect us to follow the order of such a puny bunch?" The hydra's slimy voice boomed. Matt took a step forward, crossing his arms and eye up the hydra before laughing to himself.

"You better listen to this guy. My friends over here aren't exactly the bunch that you should be messing with," Matt said, gesturing to the rest of the party, who were all getting themselves ready for the upcoming battle. Matt punched his own palm, wrapping his hand around his fist, "So take this as your warning. Let us by, or we'll have to kick your ass!"

"Very well, then. It is death that you have all chosen!" The hydra roared out. The soundwave of the monster boomed across the forest, shaking the earth beneath everyone slightly, "You shall all make a fine meal for us. Prepare to die!" The hydra quickly maneuvered its heads towards the group; the multiple pairs of razor-sharp teeth flashed brightly in the sun. Thinking swiftly, everyone moved out of the way of the attack. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy took to the skies above, Twilight and Rarity teleported to a safer location, and the rest were thrown back multiple feet due to the shockwave of the many hydra heads crashing into the ground.

Dale rolled across the damp grass for a bit before his back hit a nearby tree; he was so dazed that he didn't see how much hp that attack took off of him. Dale slowly stumbled back onto his feet while his spinning vision reorientated itself. As Dale's vision returned, he was able to see Rainbow Dash flying around in the sky, gracefully evading the hydra's attempts to bite down on her. She would occasionally take the opportunity to counterattack by striking the heads towards the ground where Rarity and Twilight would fire magic of all sorts of elements at the heads of the beast. Dale took a quick look at his surroundings and spotted Pinkie Pie, who somehow got stuck inside a large knothole. He quickly ran over and pulled her out of it. Pinkie Pie's eyes were spinning, and Dale could swear he saw stars flying around her head.

"Are you hurt?" Dale asked. Pinkie Pie shook her head to regain her composer before answering.

"Wowie! Did you see that!?" Pinkie Pie sprung up excitedly. Dale knew from that response that she was okay. He quickly scanned the area for Matt and Applejack but could not find either of them; the most he could do was hope that they weren't dead.

Dale quickly turned to Pinkie Pie, "Pinkie Pie, can you make sure that your friends are alright? I'm going to help out the others!" Dale gave Pinkie her new orders, and she responded with a salute before zooming off. Dale turned to the hydra that was busy fighting the rest of his party. He didn't want to rush in without a plan, so Dale quickly opened up his status screen to see what he had to work with.

Name: Dale Stevens

Level: 18

HP: 210/230

MP: 125/125

Status

Strength: 6

Magic: 15

Vitality: 16

Agility: 7

Luck: 12

App Points: 50

Skills

Zionga (Medium Electric damage to one foe, medium chance of shock) (8MP cost)

Bufu (Light Ice damage to one foe, small chance of freeze) (4MP cost)

Agi (Light Fire damage to one foe) (4MP cost)

Rakukaja (Increases defence on one party member for a short time) (12MP cost)

It only occurred to Dale now that even though he gained multiple levels throughout the journey to Canterlot, he never took the time to spend any app points on acquiring any new skills. Since he was currently in a battle, his arm brace wouldn't let him view the functions and skills store; he was stuck with what he now had. Dale did have a trick up his sleeve in the form of the cockatrice that he managed to level up alongside himself. Dale opened the summon screen on his display and called forth his only available companion.

"Cockatrice!" Dale shouted as he thrust his hand forward. A flash of light blinded his vision momentarily, and his creature materialized in front of the young man.

Cockatrice

HP: 190/190

SP:200/200

Skills

Stone Gaze (Chance of inflicting stone on one enemy) 6 MP

Mudo (Low odds of instantly killing an enemy) 6 MP

Magaru (Light wind damage to all foes) 8 MP

Garula (Medium wind damage to one foe) 6 MP

Rakunda (Temperarally decreases one target's defence) 12 MP

Dale looked at the many options available to him and tried to formulate a plan to take down the hydra. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a big smacking sound, followed by a familiar cyan pegasus flying past him. Rainbow Dash skidded across the dirt but managed to roll back onto her hooves and stop herself from crashing into a tree. Dale could tell just by looking at her that she took a lot of damage from that. Rainbow Dash was breathing heavily and sweating, but she didn't look like she wanted to give up anytime soon.

"Lucky shot... He caught me off guard and almost chomped me. I got out of the way, but his damn tail got me. It felt like getting hit by a train," She said exhaustingly. Before Dale could say anything, she took off once again towards the beast who had his eyes on Fluttershy. Even though Fluttershy was timid, Dale learned that she wasn't as fragile as she looked. While not as fast as Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy could still move very gracefully in the air and avoided the hydra's heads with ease.

Dale began to run towards the hydra, his cockatrice slithering alongside him. It didn't look like the monster would slow down anytime soon, and just by looking at the girls, they seemed exhausted already. "Where the hell are Matt, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie?" Dale thought to himself as he approached the massive creature. Twilight and Rarity were panting due to using up most of their magic. For the most part, the hydra has been ignoring the two in favour of trying to snatch Rainbow or Fluttershy. Sometimes one of the stray heads would attempt to chomp down on the two, but they'd use the opportunity to get a clean shot at the face.

"I've dealt with my fair share of persistent stallions, but this is just ridiculous," Rarity joked in an attempt to distract herself from the exhaustion.

"Come on, Rarity. We just have to keep this up a little bit longer," Twilight encouraged her friend. Twilight had dealt with a hydra in the past by outsmarting it to escape, but fighting one head-on was a completely different experience for her. She had no idea how much of a beating it could take when in a life or death scenario. Twilight was beginning to feel worried. She had no idea where half her friends were or even how to defeat the hydra. She did know one thing, though, and that was to never ever cut off a hydra's head.

"Zionga!" Dale shouted while thrusting his hand forwards. This caught the attention of all three of the hydra's heads and the ponies that were fighting the beast. Unlike the regular zio spell, zionga was much more powerful. Dale's hand even cocked backwards with recoil like a shotgun when he fired out a giant bolt of lightning from his palm. The lighting travelled to one of the hydra heads, and the resulting blast was devastating. The head exploded instantly, showering the area with green blood.

-120HP Enemy defeated!

"How do you like that?" Dale taunted the now two-headed serpent. His self-gratification was interrupted by Twilight's voice.

"Are you crazy! Don't you realize what you just did?" Twilight shrieked in fear, running towards Dale.

"Uh... What do you mean?" Dale asked; he was genuinely confused about what was going on, "I just saved your ass, and the thanks I get is getting in shit for it?"

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy landed next to Dale. Rainbow did not look happy, "You dork, you're not supposed to cut off a hydra's head!" Rainbow Dash yelled. Dale suddenly remembered what the hydra's entire gimmick was and felt his stomach drop. The hydra began to laugh with it's two remaining heads while the neck of the third one started to bubble violently. Everyone began to take a few steps back as the hydra began to approach the group with its large body. Each step it took shook the ground violently, almost like mini earthquakes. The hydra's neck sprouted two separate heads to replace what was lost, along with granting the beast another advantage. The blood of the hydra's body dripped from the scales and mouth of the new heads.

"I don't believe this," Dale said in shock, "How are we supposed to beat this guy?" Dale was hoping for an easy answer from Twilight, who was practically the leader throughout the entire journey, but she didn't answer. It didn't seem like anyone had any ideas.

"Well, I'm not going to let this ruffian have his way with me!" Rarity shouted at the hydra, once again taking her battle stance. Her determination sparked something in everyone else.

"Rarity's right, everypony. It's not over yet," Twilight ignited her horn, and it glowed brighter than ever, "As long as we stick together, we can figure out a solution!"

"Right!" Everyone said, including Dale. He knew that he wasn't going to die here, not after coming this far, that's for sure. As the hydra began to rear its heads back for an attack, it was interrupted by a blast of fire magic at the back of its head.

-100HP Resist.

Everyone looked for where the attack source came from, but it wasn't until a familiar voice called out when they managed to find the source. On top of the tall mountain cave entrance that the hydra was blocking was Matt, who, along with Pinkie Pie and Apple Jack, managed to sneak by the hydra while fighting the others.

"You little worm!" The hydra yelled from all four of its heads. Out of rage, the hydra began to focus its attention on Matt and started to make its way towards the human. Even though the hydra was incapable of climbing up the mountain, its heads could still reach over and eat the stragglers that managed to get away. Dale and Matt locked eyes for a moment before Dale understood what Matt, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack were trying to do.

"We have to keep the hydra busy!" Dale said to his small group of companions, "I've got a feeling that Matt has come up with a plan, so we just have to give him time to prepare."

Twilight thought for a moment before it clicked with her, "I see, they're going to try to crush it! Rainbow, Fluttershy, can you two fly for just a bit longer?"

"Of course, I can!" Rainbow Dash confirmed, beaming with confidence. Fluttershy simply nodded her head. Before the two could take off, Dale stopped them.

"Hold on! Let me help you out a bit," Dale said. He shot his hand forward and shouted, "Rakukaja!" Suddenly, a blue shield formed around both of them before fading away, "this will help keep you protected for a short amount of time, but don't get careless," Dale looked at Rainbow Dash as he finished speaking.

"Yeah, I know," she replied with a lot of sass in her voice before taking off.

"I would use it on us, but I don't want to drain my magic too quickly, sorry," Dale told Rarity and Twilight. The two of them nodded in response.

The hydra approached Matt, one of its heads rearing back for an attack. The young man just stood there with his arms crossed with a confident expression. Before the hydra could chomp down on him, the attack was interrupted by Rainbow Dash flying by and giving the beast a thwack on the head to get its attention. Rainbow Dash's attack was followed by multiple spells being fired at the many heads of the hydra.

-60HP Resist

-80HP

-95HP

The hydra divided up its focus. Two of the heads were trying to fight Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, while the other two were trying to fight Dale, Twilight, and Rarity. This was starting to become annoying for the hydra, at this point, it didn't care about eating them anymore. Instead, the hydra just wanted these pests dead. The two heads facing Dale's group began to spit out a toxic purple substance towards them. Quickly, the trio dodged out of the way just before the sludge could land on them. Dale looked back and saw the liquid dissolve the grass and dirt, almost as if the creature shot acid from its mouth. In retaliation, Dale commanded his cockatrice to use the Magaru spell to attack every single head with blasts of wind.

-80HP

The mini tornado's sliced at the hydra's heads, leaving multiple cuts that poured out the beast's blood. Dale now knew that he had to be careful with how much damage he did to the hydra's heads because it would do nothing but make the situation more problematic.

While the hydra was distracted fighting, Matt took the opportunity to run down the mountain path slightly and rendezvous with Pinkie Pie and Apple Jack, who were waiting next to multiple large boulders. Matt summoned his cragadile companion to help them move the boulders into position. Their plan was simple, but there was some prep time needed since it would take a lot of effort to set up the boulders in the proper position. Matt, Applejack, Pinkie, and Matt's cragadile all got behind one of the large rocks and began to push it with all their might. Even though Matt didn't outright neglect his strength stat whenever he levelled up, this was a task that he couldn't accomplish alone. Inch by inch, the boulder began to roll across the rocky terrain and slowly up the mountain. Matt's arms began to feel like jelly as the journey went on, but thankfully he had the support of his friends and summon to help with the task.

As the battle proceeded, the main fighters began to slowly drain their energy. Every minute felt like an hour to Dale as his MP and HP began to drop from using his magic to regenerate Rainbow Dash's and Fluttershy's defence buffs and from taking unlucky hits from the hydra. Dale had begun to rely more and more on his cockatrice to keep the hydra busy in order to not run out of MP to defend himself.

"Stone Gaze!" Dale shouted, commanding his companion to attempt to petrify one of the hydra heads. Dale's cockatrice closed its eyes momentarily before opening them. Its eyes glowed a bright red and stared directly at the head right in front of it. The attempt was futile, however, because the hydra was immune to the cockatrice's curse.

BLOCKED!

The hydra head retaliated by using its face as a battering ram, slamming right into Dale's cockatrice and sending it flying towards its owner. Both Dale and the cockatrice flew back, but the mans' summon took a good majority of the damage.

-50HP

-15HP

Dale sat up and quickly checked his arm brace where he saw that the cockatrice didn't have much fight left in him, "Another attack like and this little guy is done for," Dale thought to himself. Dale slowly got back onto his feet; he didn't know how much more he could take of this either. The young man knew that he had enough MP for a couple more attacks of his own, but Dale decided it would probably be better if he chose his attacks wisely. Dale readied himself as the Hydra head he was battle slithered its way towards him, mouth wide open. Before Dale could engage, a blast of ice magic slammed into the side of the serpent's head, causing it to get redirected and crashed into a tree.

-100HP

Dale looked over and saw a panting Rarity who looked a lot worse than he did. Even though the two would bicker a lot during their trip here, she really did have his back at points. The hydra itself began to look worn out at this point. Despite its ability to regenerate any lost heads, the creature still felt pain and was beginning to grow tired of the attacks. It would only take one more significant blow to, at the very least, knock the creature out. Dale's thoughts were interrupted by a loud whistle from the top of the mountain. Dale and Rarity looked up and saw Matt, Pinkie, and Applejack, standing at the top of the mountain exhausted with multiple boulders lined up next to each other. Matt gave Dale a thumbs up before retreated down the mountain with his friends. Dale knew right away what Matt wanted him to do, but he wasn't too sure if he could pull it off.

"Rarity, I need you and the others to keep this guy busy while I line up a good shot," Dale said to the mare who was trying to catch her breath. She understood right away what Dale was going to do and proceeded to run to Twilight's side to help fight the hydra for just a little longer. Dale took a deep breath and aimed his hand out towards the top of the mountain where the boulders were set up. He would have to bring out the heavy hitter spell if he was going to blow a big enough hole to cause an avalanche. Dale took a deep breath and waited for the hydra to get into the proper position.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy flew around the skies avoiding the heads of the beast. Rarity and Twilight both were firing any magic that they could to keep any of the heads from taking a bite at their friends. Matt, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack managed to evacuate the top of the mountain in time and rejoin the rest of the group. Dale took a final look at the small gap he had to shoot a zionga spell through and exhaled lightly.

"Zionga!" Dale shouted as loud as he could. The hydra turned its heads to the source of the noise before feeling something very sharp and hot cut across its cheek. The mountain behind the monster violently exploded, the loud boom echoed throughout the entire forest. Dale watched as the top of the mountain began to break apart, causing an avalanche to occur. The hydra's heads all looked at the oncoming debris in fear before quickly being smothered by many boulders and stone. The large boulders that were set up, in particular, did much more damage than the rest. Everything that the hydra's body caused the monster to roar out in pain.

-300HP

-296HP

-313HP

-299HP

The hydra was buried underneath mounds of rocks in due time, and the group waited anxiously for the monster's next move... but it never happened. A massive wave of relief washed over the group who had just survived their most formidable opponent yet. In particular, Matt and Dale reaped the huge experience boost that was obtained by defeating the hydra. Dale's arm brace beeped twice.

Level up!

Level 20!

You've earned 6 stat points! Please choose what stats you wish to improve!

App Points: 70

Matt and the girls were all hugging to celebrate their victory and soon after began to laugh at the trouble that the hydra had caused them all, but Dale wanted to get a move on as soon as possible. Canterlot was just around the corner, and he eagerly anticipated reaching his destination...