“So, what is it I’m supposed to be doing again?” asked Scootaloo as she trotted alongside Fluttershy with baskets full of frogs slung across her back.

Fluttershy smiled. “Oh, we’re just giving the cute little frogs here a new home.” She nuzzled a frog that poked its head out of the basket hung around Fluttershy’s neck. “I couldn’t bear to see them being so cramped and crowded in their old home.”

Scootaloo’s lips curled into a frown. “It’s a forcible eviction, then?”

“No, no, no, they wanted to leave,” Fluttershy said in her saccharine tone. “They were practically begging me to take them with me when I went to visit them.”

“Well, I was there too, and it looked like they were trying as hard as they could to not leave.” Scootaloo caught a frog just as it tried to jump out of her basket with her wing, stuffing it back inside hastily.

Fluttershy rounded on Scootaloo, her smile betrayed by her cold eyes. “They wanted to leave, okay? These frogs had to leave. I’m just doing what’s best for them.”

Scootaloo tried to look away from Fluttershy, but something about the sheer force of will in her look kept her from averting her gaze. “I’m just asking if you really know what’s best for a bunch of stupid frogs.”

Flaring her wings out, Fluttershy drew herself up, standing over Scootaloo like some monolithic behemoth. “Fluttershy always knows what’s best.”

Scootaloo held up her hooves. “Whoa, calm down there, Colonel Jessep. Forget I asked.”

Satisfied, Fluttershy returned to her normal, sunshiny self and the two ponies continued along with their walk. They trotted in silence for a few minutes, then Scootaloo finally broke the unspoken agreement to shut the hell up and asked, “So, what is it we’re doing again?”

Fluttershy sighed, glancing over at Scootaloo. “We’re taking these frogs to their new home in Froggy Bottom Bog.”

“Oh, I getcha.” Scootaloo nodded. “If I’d known we were taking these little dudes to a place with a bunch of other frogs, I wouldn’t’ve said anything.”

“Weeeeeeeeeell…”

“What?”

Fluttershy gulped, shooting a quick glance into the basket of frogs under her snout. “They probably can’t understand what we’re saying anyway, so I guess I’ll tell you the truth.”

Scootaloo’s eyes narrowed. “The truth?”

“So, it’s called Froggy Bottom Bog, but…” Fluttershy trailed off as the two ponies passed through a bit of underbrush and into bog.

“But?” Scootaloo asked. But before she could even sarcastically ask “but?” again, she looked up to see a massive four-headed beast towering over her. So large was it that the shadow it cast covered Scootaloo completely. Really, though, that could be said of a lot of things, so it wasn’t that impressive. However, this gargantuan monster wasn’t just Rainbow Dash flying in front of the sun, no, this was was a real, live, actual monster, and it was currently growling at Scootaloo.

Springing into action, Scootaloo bucked off the frog baskets and jumped in front of Fluttershy. “Don’t worry!” she cried. “I’ll protect you.” Scootaloo fluttered her tiny wings and started bouncing around on her back hooves while holding up her forehooves to the hydra. “Put up your dukes, Lamenaean Hydra.” Scootaloo whispered out of the corner of her mouth to Fluttershy. “Run while you’ve got the chance. I’ll keep this doofus occupied.” She jabbed a few times. “You don’t wanna tussle with these babies,” she said. “I call ‘em the First and Second Labors, and they don’t take ‘No, don’t hit me!’ for an answer.”

Fluttershy didn’t move. She just stared in disbelief at the filly barely half her size standing there like she was going to take on a two-hundred foot tall hydra by herself. “Uhh, Scootaloo…”

Scootaloo shot a look at Fluttershy. “I told you to get—Whoa!”

During her show of bravado, Scootaloo had inadvertently loosened the bank she was standing on and caused herself to tumble into the bog. Splashing around, she flailed like a fish out of water, calling for help. “I can’t swim!”

Fluttershy pursed her lips. “It’s only a foot or so deep. You can probably just stand.”

Scootaloo stopped waving her hooves like a lunatic, and stood still. And in fact, Fluttershy was right. She was only up to her waist in mud now. “Oh, that’s easy.”

“Of course,” Fluttershy added, stopping Scootaloo just before she tried to move, “it is a bog sitting on quicksand, so you’re probably still in trouble.”

It was then that Scootaloo noticed the mud was slowly making its way further up her body, and was now almost up to her neck. She grit her teeth. “Man, I really thought I was gonna be fine this time.” She sighed. “Well, can you tell me one thing before I die?”

“There’s a vine right here I can use to—”

“Just leave it,” Scootaloo said, shaking her head. “It’s not worth it. Just tell me… what are we doing here again?”

Fluttershy took a deep breath. “Well, my adorable little hydra friend here has a strict diet of frogs only. He’s a big fan of cuisses de grenouille.”

“So the frogs weren’t being relocated?”

“Only to Mr. Cuddlebuns’ stomach.”

Scootaloo sighed, shaking her head slowly. “I can’t believe I’m gonna die for this.”

Giving Scootaloo a solemn look as she sunk beneath the bog, Fluttershy muttered, “Forget it, Scootaloo. It’s Froggy Bottom Bog.” Then she shifted her gaze to the hydra. “And you,” she said, pointing her hoof. “What are you doing? You know you’re not supposed to come out until Twilight gets here, remember? We’re supposed to be helping Pinkie trick her.”

The hydra growled.

“Honestly, Mr. Cuddlebuns, what ever am I going to do with you?”