"And AGAIN I ask myself..." I began, sounding as calm as I could, before a roar behind me caused me to continue my sentence with a shout, "WHY DID I EVEN VOLUNTEER FOR THIS SH*T?!" I was running aimlessly through The Everfree Forest, arms flailing, and trying my best to get a clear shot on the 100-foot Hydra chasing after me with anything that doesn't involve Plasma weapons... which I happened to have WAY too much of. "And you're SURE that this thing is RESISTANT to Plasma?!" I asked Jasper through my helmet. Of course, I already had a hunch, since the LAST 20 shots I fired didn't even make the Hydra show any pain. Hell, FOUR of those went into their eyes, and they didn't even BLINK! Yeah, I wonder what THAT reminds me of! I sarcastically thought to myself.

Jasper replied through my helmet, "Yes, sir, along with ALL currently known gases! Not just THAT, though, but according to the books, it's saliva is HIGHLY toxic, capable of killing anything that makes contact with it in mere SECONDS!"

I sighed, and looked back, checking to see just HOW far it was from me... about half an acre away... NOT a good sign. Quickly, I looked through my inventory, and tried finding something that I could use against it.

Thinking fast, I chose to get an eight-foot tall, two-foot wide sword crafted through my inventory. When it was finished, (which only took a few seconds, since it was made of Durasteel,) I withdrew it from my inventory, increasing my strength as well, before turning around, and dashing TOWARDS the Hydra.

When it stretched it's rightmost head out to bite me, I quickly side-stepped to the left, and swung the sword as hard as I could, PRAYING that it would work. Thankfully, it did, because the next thing I knew, the sword was covered in green blood, and the Hydra's head fell limp. The Hydra's REMAINING heads backed away, feeling the pain of their lost neck, as they bumped into a tree.

My worries only increased when I lifted my sword again, only to find holes burnt into where the blood was dripped into, surrounded by rust. With a gasp, I dropped the sword, and thought to myself, No freakin' way! Not only is it's saliva POISONOUS, but it's blood is CORROSIVE?! It was THEN that I discovered that this thing could EASILY kill me, even with the BEST quality armor on, like Titanite! Durasteel was just a few steps BELOW it in the scale (although that gap is quite HUGE between the one below Titanite!), and the Hydra Blood had burnt holes in it in mere SECONDS!

I looked up at the Hydra, and my eyes widened even MORE at what happened next... it's head grew back... along with an EXTRA one! Great! FIVE freakin' heads on this thing, now?! I groaned. Damn you, Greek Mythology! "HEY, JASPER! YOU COULD'VE WARNED ME ABOUT IT'S MULTIPLE HEADS THING, Y'KNOW!"

He replied, "Pardon me, Master, but the book does NOT say anything about it's weaknesses! In fact, unless I'm mistaken, I believe YOU would be the first creature to actually FACE a Hydra!"

I sighed in defeat. "You... DO raise a point there... but still, you MIGHT want to note that one down for FUTURE reference! Equestria could USE that knowledge, after all!" Ignoring any MORE responses from Jasper, I quickly dodged one of the Hydra's bites, and tried thinking of a strategy. Then, an idea struck! If I can BURN the stumps of the head, then MAYBE I'll be able to... wait... Damn it! Fire's made up of gases, which THIS one's immune to, apparently! Then, I got a NEW idea! How about I get a VEHICLE crafted?! Suddenly, I began frantically going through my inventory while running away from, dodging, and kicking the Hydra's greedy jaws that kept lunging towards me. After thirty seconds of running, I managed to make a Battle Mech out of Titanite, and operated by Gasoline. Aiming my arm a good enough distance away, I quickly materialized it into the world, ran up to it, and hopped in.

Once inside, I aimed it's guns at the Hydra, and yelled, "EAT LEAD, MOTHER-" before unleashing hundreds of lead bullets at the Hydra. I smiled when I saw the bullets piercing the Hydra every hit, but once the bullets ran out, my smile lowered into a frown when I got a closer look at the Hydra... it's freakin' wounds HEALED! "I... didn't see THAT coming!" I said, mouth agape as I saw the Hydra running full-speed at me now. I knew the Battle Mech was useless, now, so I quickly hit the eject, and flew through the back of it, while the Hydra, having been focused on IT instead, started biting relentlessly at the Battle Mech, and melting it with it's own blood. Wow... barbaric, much?

As it continued mangling the Battle Mech, I said to myself, "Dammit! I NEED to find a weak spot!" Looking closer at it, I noticed something odd about it's movement. Quickly, I set my visor to X-Ray mode, and gasped. The Hydra's BONES were still damaged!

"Alright, then! TWO can play the hard way!" I said, as I began going through my inventory, and creating an eight foot tall war hammer, with a six foot wide, three foot tall head attached to it. The whole thing was made of Titanite, of course, because after looking at the Mech, I could tell that it's more resilient... granted, it STILL corroded quickly!

After the hammer was finished, I materialized it, and held it with both hands. Then, I yelled to the Hydra, "HEY, UGLY! UP HERE!" with my built-in speaker amplifying the sound to be heard from pretty far away, loud-and-clear. When it heard me, it's five heads roared, and it's body charged at me.

When it was close enough, one of it's heads attempted to lunge at me, only for me to side-step it, and, with my newly-built hammer, I slammed it into the Hydra's head, which made it jump back in pain, and roar even more. Then, it lowered another head, which THIS time, I climbed onto, while it's other heads fought at trying to get me off. Finally, when I got them to attempt using their FANGS to get me off, I took the hammer, and bashed their jaws, which made their fangs fly out, and jaws to get dislocated.

Soon, they ALL were broken, and dislocated. That didn't stop them from trying to SMASH me, though! With it's broken-jawed heads, it slung at me, only to bump into their other heads, necks, or a nearby tree, while I continued dodging. Finally, once I got one of them to get in the right spot, I lifted the hammer, and said with a smirk, "Let's see how YOU like it!" before slamming the hammer, with all my might, into the Hydra's neck, clearly shattering the bones within. Then, I jumped down, and checked to see if the head was dead. Sure enough, it was! Not only that, but it didn't look like the other two heads could grow out of the neck, seeing how it wasn't DISMEMBERED! Well, now! Looks like I MIGHT have a chance, after all!

Suddenly, I heard a scream coming from the right, which seemed to grab the attention of the Hydra. I looked for the source of the screaming, and at once, my eyes widened. It looked like the ponies were trying to cross the mountain, in hopes of escape. On the SAFE side, I could see Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Spike. On the other side, I couldn't see ANYPONY! Looking around, I noticed Twilight, frantically trying to get out of the water, but failing. Across the water, I saw three alligators, each with scales that looked like rocks! They were going for Twilight! "HOLD ON, TWILIGHT!" I yelled, now putting my jet pack on full blast.

When they were inches away from her, I quickly scooped her out of the water, and flew her up to the others, who were all staring at her worriedly.

Clearly, Twilight passed out, after going through a near-death experience, so I told them, "Don't worry, she's just unconscious. Y'all take her back to Ponyville! I've got to finish this monster off, so it DOESN'T do this again!" After they nodded, I flew back towards the Hydra, dropping a frag grenade for the Alligators to "enjoy" as I flew past them.

When I made it back to the Hydra, it was limping towards the ponies, which gave me a good chance to strike while it's attention wasn't on me. So, with the hammer held high, I flew as quickly as I could, and once I made it to the Hydra, I swung my hammer after another one of it's central necks.

Little did I know, however, that it was PLANNING that attack! Quickly, it used it's limp head as a whip, and spewed a large portion of blood onto my jet pack, which quickly corroded it, and began seeping into my armor.

Out of instinct, I quickly dislodged the jet pack, and fell to the ground, rolling a few times once I landed. Jasper said through my armor, "Master! Your armor is at 75% durability! You can NOT take much more hits like that!"

I groaned. "THANKS, Jasper! Any MORE ideas, though?!" I quickly picked myself up from the ground, and began running around the Hydra, jumping, rolling, sliding, and dodging both, tree branches, and toxic, bloody Hydra Saliva.

Then, I heard Jasper gasp. "Of course! Master, do you remember any movies that involved someone fighting a Hydra?"

"Yeah," I replied, "but I don't see how THAT could help me in this-" Suddenly, I stopped talking, as a flashback of a scene from a childhood movie played in my head. "Of course! If I can just SMASH the Hydra, it's a GUARANTEED kill! Thanks, Jasper!" I smiled, and turned around, only for my smile to fade. "Ah, crap... but my jet pack's off, so I can't fly OVER it!" Then, ANOTHER idea was formed.

Jasper gasped, and said, "That silence... I KNOW you're thinking of something reckless, Master, and I can't help but suggest you try something ELSE!"

I smirked. "Sorry, Jasper, but I don't really see any OTHER options, here! I'm WAY too short on time to make jet packs, so there's NO other way! Wish me luck, Jasper... I'll need it!"

"B-but SIR! What exactly ARE you doing?!" He asked. I merely ignored him, and checked on my armor's status. Thankfully, my rocket shoes were still intact, but they weren't good enough to lift me off the ground COMPLETELY... I had to find another way to get airborne. Going through my menu, I quickly had it ready to increase my weight by a thousand times, HOPEFULLY being enough to crush the Hydra... but if I were to pierce THROUGH it, it could risk my armor melting inside it, and I would be poisoned by it's blood... perhaps even killed! Eh, It doesn't matter, as long as I know I saved the day... and my new friends.

After having the Weight Shifter selected, I quickly pulled a thin tree to the ground level with my Anti Matter Manipulator, and stepped on top of it. Then, once I released the tree, I found myself flung into the air. With my rocket shoes, I quickly hovered over the Hydra, who was glaring at me, and trying to reach up and bite me, but I was, thankfully, too high for them to reach. Finally, after taking a few more deep breaths, I stopped the rocket shoes, and activated the Weight Shifter, sending myself in a collision course for the Hydra. With my hammer in my hands, I also prepared to strike any of it's heads that would try to lunge for me in the air.

While falling, I had another idea that could aid in my attempts to kill this thing. Behind me, I withdrew the corpses of the Ursa Minor, and the Ursa Major. While I COULD'VE just used the corpse of the Taowls, I knew that it was too big for this area, and would most likely risk crushing the ponies while they tried to escape. With wide, fear-filled eyes, the Hydra watched as I dropped down onto it, followed by the two giant corpses as well.

Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna were circling the bed Twilight was in, examining her closely, making sure she wasn't poisoned from the Hydra. Thankfully, Twilight slowly opened her eyes, which revealed that she wasn't dead. When she looked around, the first pony that she saw was Pinkie Pie, who appeared to be crying, with her mane flattened out, and her head rested on the bed.

With a weak smile, Twilight said, "Hey, Pinkie! I... would like to apologize..."

Pinkie's eyes widened when she noticed Twilight was awake. Still, though, she seemed to still be upset. "W-why should YOU be apologizing?! I shouldn't have PRETENDED that I didn't know you were watching me... you probably wouldn't have gone through so much pain today, if I didn't!"

Twilight placed her right hoof over Pinkie's mouth. "No, Pinkie... I should've listened to you... you SAID there would be a doozy, and if that Hydra wasn't a doozy, then I don't know WHAT is!"

Suddenly, Pinkie started shuddering again, which made all the ponies in the room stare at her confused. With confusion in her voice, Pinkie said, "W-wait... that wasn't it!"

"What?!" Twilight asked, now looking MORE worried. "WHAT wasn't what?!"

"The Hydra!" Pinkie replied. "The Hydra wasn't the doozy!"

"Then... if the HYDRA wasn't the doozy, then... that doozy is still OUT there!" Twilight shouted in a panicky tone. After taking a few deep breaths, she looked around, and asked, "Hold on... where's Justin?!"

Before anyone could respond, Jasper rushed into the room, and made heavy breathing noises. "Master Twilight! We... MIGHT have a problem!" As soon as he said that, a loud explosion could be heard from outside.

Princess Celestia and Luna both rushed outside, followed by the others, except for Twilight and Pinkie Pie, who told her that SHE was given the task of helping Twilight recover, much to her displeasure.

Once outside, Princess Celestia gasped, and yelled, "THAT CAME FROM THE EVERFREE FOREST!"

Then, Twilight's eyes widened again, and she gasped. "Oh, no! JUSTIN'S STILL IN THERE?!" Ignoring all warnings and requests, Twilight teleported out of bed, and was already galloping to the forest, following the trail of smoke.

Once Twilight made it to the source of the explosion, she gasped at the scene she was standing in front of.

There, lying before her, was the corpses of BOTH the Ursas that she ran from one week ago, on top of the corpse of the Hydra she just escaped from moments ago. Just the sight of them caused her front-right hoof to start feeling pain again... and the fact that she was ignoring it this whole time. Even so, she wasn't concerned about her own health, NOR her own safety. Instead, it was another life that she was concerned about. "J-Justin? Justin?!" She called out, hoping to find a response.

The third time she called his name, the corpses started to glow a light cyan color, which made her quickly back away. Then, they started to disappear, revealing Justin standing up, with his armor badly damaged, to the point where his black jumpsuit underneath was showing clearly. He also had a few tears through the jumpsuit, and his helmet's visor was broken, revealing his face, which was, surprisingly, not badly cut! He only had a small cut on his left cheekbone, about two inches away from his eye, and was horizontal, with a small ten degree turn diagonally. He was breathing heavily, but smiling, which made Twilight sigh in relief.

The relief, however, was short-lived when his smile turned into a frown, followed by him looking down, and placing his hand on his chest, which didn't have a SHIELD on it anymore. Then, he lowered his hand to the left side of his stomach, and pulled away a small bit of the cut cloth, revealing an obvious problem that caused Twilight's eyes to widen, and her to scream in terror... one of the Hydra's fangs was pierced through the left side of his stomach.

When he looked back at her, he had a worried look on his face, before collapsing on his back, eyes slowly closing. Twilight galloped as fast as she could to him, hoping that it wasn't too late.

That was... until the sound of a gun clicking caused her ears to lift, and her movement to cease at once. A distorted man's voice said in an ominously hostile-sounding tone, "Stop right there!"

Author's Notes:

*SNEAK-PEEK*
Six Days Ago
Celestial Guard: *Runs inside the throne room, breathing heavily. After making it to the bottom steps of the throne, he quickly kneels down, catches his breath, and begins speaking.* P-Princess! PRINCESS CELESTIA! We... have a... message... from... Dodge City!

Princess Celestia: Really?! What is it, trouble?!

Celestial Guard: N-no, Your Highness! It was a good report... they claim to have spotted two more humans!

Princess Celestia: *Smile fades.* Really? This... MIGHT be trouble on the long run... we must keep our eyes peeled on them! Once we have a good enough description of them, we shall inform Justin at once! Keep them under CLOSE supervision, but not enough to be spotted!

Announcer: While the events in Ponyville were going on, it would seem that Dodge City, A.K.A. "City of the Sand", was going through a deal of their OWN! Not only ONE human was there, though, but TWO instead! Who COULD these two humans be? Find out NEXT time, on "The Outsider: Tales of a Space Technician, Chapter 11: Army of Two!" See you then, My Little Bronies!

*AUTHOR'S NOTES*
Okay, so I MIGHT'VE been delayed by my sleep schedule changes, but I'm HOPING to be back on track! Anyways, I'd ALSO like to ask you all a question!

What would you say to an "Animal Crossing/Anthro MLP" Crossover story? I've started working on one, but I would like y'alls input BEFORE I get too involved in it! Of course, if I start on it, I will NOT get rid of TO:TOAST, but it MIGHT cause a much LONGER delay... at least, during the STARTING period of my other story!

It will be a COMPLETELY separate story, separate Universe, and all that, but it WILL have the OC being named after me, due to it being MY character from Animal Crossing: New Leaf. (Yeah, I got rid of it, unfortunately, so no FC Requests, please!

Also, it WILL be in a much more friendly environment, but still rated T for heartbreaking moments, and a flank-load of drama.

Oh, and in THAT timeline, the Animals and Ponies will NOT live in the same town, but they DO have an alliance with each other! Also, the Ponies, thanks to the good word of the Animals, will already be aware of the existence of Humans, but neither Animal, NOR Human, were ever aware of Magic.