You Never Know When a Breakthrough is Gonna Happen Pt. 2

The air that was once calm and soft became increasingly humid and thick to breathe. The beautiful forest scenery began to melt and metamorphose into a swampy waste with dangerous cliffs and crags. The colors of the environment began to turn dark greys and greens, beautiful deciduous trees fading away to overhanging and gloomy coniferous flora. The swamps were murky, hiding whatever critters or dangers that called this hostile environment home. They could hear the calls of wild birds, scavengers the lot of them as they perched high above waiting for any unfortunate soul to meet their demise so they could have a meal. The small traveling troupe traveled westward as they navigated through the unforgiving terrain of the swamp around them, warily steering clear of the swampy seas that lined the path beside them. With the sun slowly setting down overhead, the group trudged forward for a place to camp for the night and they knew better than to settle down in this volatile land. Hooves imprinted down on the soft earth as they navigated through the trees, an older stallion cloaked in a tattered olive green cloak guiding the way as he hacked through the foliage to create a path for the rest. Mud and dirt began to make way for stone and gravel as the looming crags began to crowd them on one side, the swamp receding behind them. "We should be able to make it to Vanhoover by tomorrow, and then the Seaward Shoals for anyone looking to take a ferry." Proclaimed the leading stallion, sheathing his butcher knife looking machete against his belt. "Once we find shelter we can start having our evening meal and get some rest for the journey tomorrow." There were sighs of relief and murmurings of plans to come as they followed behind their leader. Amity, being one of the younger members of the group, was huddled closer to the center of the pack. It was strange being one of the only young ones in the group with parents to lean on. It was a burden that Amity shared alone as he looked around quietly before keeping his head down. He felt a strange prod against his side, making him lift his head. Freesia was there to greet him with her tongue stuck out. "You're lookin' mighty sour after hearin' the good news." She playfully mused as the mare took to his side. "Once we get to Vanhoover, we'll be free as the bees!" Letting out a hearty laugh, she clapped him on the back. Amity grunted and lurched forward before giving Freesia a worn and unsure smile. "Oh uh yeah. Free as can be..." Amity said, trailing off quietly as he stared back down at the ground. Freesia stared worried at him before nudging him gently again. "Where are you gonna go? I think I'm gonna stick around Vanhoover for a while. See if I can find some work and maybe a nice lookin' bachelor." Freesia lifted her head and put on a goofy expression as she thought about her future husband before returning his attention to her younger compadre. "What about you?" Amity stayed silent for a moment before shrugging. "...I've heard some interesting things about the North. I think I'm going to keep traveling up that way." Before Freesia could say anything about it, the group stopped in front of a large cliff face. Several caverns dotted the cliff wall as they troupe began to peer and look at them curiously and apprehensively. The cloak covered stallion took a moment to observe before facing the group. "Let's use one of these caves for the night. They'll give us shelter, at least for the evening." A quiet murmuring amongst the crowd was heard before they began to shuffle behind their authority figure into one of the caves. The damp interior of the cave greeted them as they began to make their way inside, traveling a little ways in before everyone began to settle down. The light from the entrance of the cave, or whatever light was left as the sun began to dip under the horizon, was their only guide for them to work before a fire was kindled in the center of their camp. Soon, the families began to huddle against each other, tucked in their blankets. Later into the night as Amity slept by his lonesome, his eyes would flutter open. He saw pebbles tip tap and bounce against the floor, his groggy mind looking at it curiously until he felt rumbles growing louder and louder. His eyes flashed open as he quickly scampered to his hooves, the others of the group slowly starting to awaken and notice the situation. But what they would come to awaken to would be a large hydra, at least 20 ponies tall and sporting several heads that flitted around observantly. It smelled the remnants of dinner and the scent of a large meal of ponies all tucked into one space. Even their leader stared in a cold sweat with eyes as wide as saucers. The end was written all over his face. "THE HELL ARE YOU ALL STARIN' FOR?!" The loud yell broke them out of their stupor as Freesia yelled out to them. "GET THE HELL OUTTA HERE!" She began shoving a bunch of ponies deeper into the caves as the whole crowd began to scamper and run. Unicorns amongst the group began to light the way as each step the hydra took cause dust and pebbles to fall from the cave ceiling, chasing them all the way in. All the way. Deeper in until... Bones began to lay haphazardly along the floor. Various creatures, various sizes, various states of decay. The reek of death filled their noses before they came across a large pile of thatched grass and logs bundled into each other. A nest. A hydra's den. They had nowhere else to hide. The path was closed. The group began to turn around in fear and surrender as the hydra, drool dripping down its various maws came sauntering in. The prey had been cornered with nowhere to run. "Take this you big ol' HONKIN' SNAKE BASTARD!" Freesia's face turned a deep reddish blue as she used her Earth pony strength, exerting herself to lift a boulder half her size and chucking it at one of the heads. The hydra's head slithered out of the trajectory, all of its eyes now pointed at the purple mare. She grit her teeth and held her ground, smirking a little before turning, her eyes meeting Amity's before she gave him a big grin as the jaws of death descended upon her. No...No no no no nonononoNONONONONO! "NOOOOOOOOOO!" Amity dashed forward as his horn began to glow. Brighter and brighter, it began illuminating everything around it as Amity's eyes began to radiate an intense blue light. The ground underneath Amity quaked and cratered as a large dome began to erupt around the group. The cave and ground began to get pushed away as if a bulldozer was easily scraping away the dirt as the bubble expanded more and more. The hydra came down on them again, only for the bubble to repel its attempt and slam against the hydra's body. Pushing it back further and further as the whole cave began to collapse around the bubble protecting all of them. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A gasp as Amity sat up, his head pounding in tandem with the beating of his heart. He looked around. Rubble everywhere. He squinted a little as the light of the sun came gently caressing against him. The cliff around them had collapsed and fallen to the side, revealing a skyhole up above. Was everyone...? A familiar warm voice called out to him softly, Amity turning around to see the healthy looking Freesia and her usual brilliant grin. "I knew you'd have a breakthrough eventually."