Monsters

By Sharpe Quill

Chapter 10: Strife

Belle sat at her desk for a long time, her mind racing. She kept pulling up different possibilities, and summarily rejecting them. She was in over her head here. She had written her reports and now simply sat in front of her wooden shield, staring at them. Was there anything she had missed? Was there anything she should have done that she had not done? Something she should do now but wasn’t? She just didn’t know. Her head drooped and thumped against the desktop in frustration. Ponies had been hurt, killed because of this Chimera thing, and yet she couldn’t think of any way to stop it, or even to slow it down.

She sighed in frustration and weariness. Her mind started to drift back to places she really didn’t want it to go. For a moment, she once again saw the bloom of fire bursting from a narrow doorway and she shuddered. Twice she had faced a fiery death, within the last two days. Both times she had been saved by the unicorn now resting in the other room.

She heard the front door of the Guard House burst open and then slam shut a few moments later. She sighed and rose to her hooves, trotting towards her office door. She found three ponies standing in the main room.

The first and most obvious pony she saw was Sergeant Oak. He had a scowl on his face that seemed to be directed at his companions; in particular at a pony that Belle had never seen before.

This stranger pony was a pegasus stallion. He was a large specimen, heavily muscled and with a bob of a tail, cut short, military style. He wore the heavy metal barding of a Canterlot Royal Guardspony and had a thick, short spear with a broad, leaf-shaped blade strapped to his side. His helmet framed two piercing eyes that glared at her suspiciously. In a way, he reminded Belle of Sergeant Oak, only with wings; and lacking the usual look of respect that he showed her.

The third pony was the mayor, and she had a glare on her face that almost made Belle take a step back.

"Captain!" Mayor Olive snapped. "What is the meaning of this? I have too much going on right now to play your games. You have no right to drag me here."

Belle stood her ground resolutely. "Mayor," she began as politely as she could manage, "we've discovered something rather urgent in the case, and it requires your immediate attention."

"Couldn't it have waited?" Olive demanded.

"No, it cannot wait!" Belle said levelly. "There's a huge threat to Dock loose, and I..." She swallowed, hesitant to admit the next statement out loud. "I don't think it's something we can handle."

That seemed to catch the mayor off-guard, she hesitated for a moment. She continued to glare at Belle, but her expression slowly shifted to one of surprise and comprehension. “What did you find?”

Belle very briefly detailed the morning's events.

"The envoy from Canterlot herself was in favor of seeking assistance," she finished.

For a few moments, Olive seemed unable to speak, and for the first time she looked uneasy. “And have you sent word to Canterlot?” Belle nodded and the mayor’s face became more neutral, as she regained her composure. “Then there doesn’t seem to be much else I can do. Even if you didn’t imagine the more, shall we say, fantastic portions of your story, which I’m not entirely convinced of, then we’ve already done all that we can do.”

Belle stared at her in amazement. She had no idea how to respond.

The mayor seemed to take her silence as agreement. “So, until we receive support from Canterlot, there seems to be little else to be done. Continue to monitor the situation until we hear from the Royal Guard.”

Belle took a step forward, as though trying to physically object. “But… you can’t really mean to do nothing.”

"What would you have me do?” Olive snapped, glaring at the captain. “What is it that you expect, Belle? I do not have a secret army just waiting for me to say the word! There’s nothing that can be done, except what you’ve already done. Keep a sharp eye out, and do the best you can. That’s your job isn’t it? There’re more serious situations going on than you know.” She glanced at the imposing pegasus guard with a look that almost seemed nervous.

Belle’s eyes flicked to the stranger also. ‘More serious situations’? What could that mean? The mayor looked nervous at the large Guard’s presence. Who was he anyway?

"Well what about him?" Belle asked, nodding towards the imposing Royal Guard. "Can he help?"

Before the mayor could answer, the burly pegasus took a step forward. He frowned at Belle as he said, "Captain Sunspot, ma'am. And with all due respect, I already have my orders, and I cannot deviate from them for anything." He had a deep, authoritative voice, the kind that Belle herself had always wished she had instead of her light, slightly breathy voice.

"But Captain," Belle said, "we have a major situation here. You're the Royal Guard! Surely-"

Captain Sunspot cut her off with a wave of his armored forehoof. "Exactly, I am a Royal Guard, and we only take orders from royalty. I have my orders already, and I will not disobey my princess."

Belle stared at him in shock and disbelief. Surely he couldn't ignore a threat like this. "But-" she tried to say, but Captain Sunspot turned and walked towards the door.

"Mayor, we have a shipment to unload," was all he said before he disappeared out the door. Olive gave Belle what might have been a sympathetic look before turning to follow without another word.

Oak watched them go with a deep frown on his face. He turned back to Belle once the door had shut behind the mayor. "What now, Captain?"

Belle shook her head sadly. "I don't know."

Belle, with Oak following closely behind, cleared the last row of buildings and saw the river flowing lazily past, the late afternoon sun sparkling and dancing before her. She turned right and saw a trio of ships docked a short distance away from the front of The Hole. Two of the ships were smaller than the third, light and sleek, with several smaller sails as opposed to the larger double sails of merchant ships; they were designed for speed and Belle knew that they could zip along the river in either direction with surprising ease, especially if there was a talented unicorn on board who could boost the wind speed. These two ships had a full squadron of Royal Canterlot guards each, ten unicorns and ten pegasi per squad, in addition to the ships' crews. Between the two faster vessels lay a much larger boat, a true river boat with shallow draft and a top speed slower than even the slowest pegasus.

A large number of ponies were bustling around the latter boat, unloading a multitude of large crates and boxes. These were being sorted by an official looking harbor-master unicorn stallion whom Belle didn't recognize. Some crates, most of them quite large and heavy judging by the four unicorns visibly straining to move each of them, were moved aside to a pile where a group of dockworkers were busy moving them to one of the warehouses adjacent to The Hole, supervised by Sea Foam, the mare Belle had talked to at the second fire. The remaining crates, however, were being carefully stowed in a line of large carts with the Princess' Royal Seal on their sides. Another squadron of guards, mostly earth ponies, was surrounding the carts, the shipments defenders. A Royal Guard earth pony was harnessed to the front of each of these carts, only recognizable as such because of their bearing, posture, and mane and tail styles.

That was odd. Why would guards be pulling the carts instead of the usual drivers? What exactly were they transporting?

Belle spotted the distinctive scarred form of Brine standing next to the unicorn supervisor. The mayor and Captain Sunspot were also with them. The mayor looked a bit uneasy, but Sunspot was standing tall and unwavering, his head slowly moving as he constantly surveyed the area. If he was at all uneasy about the presence of the Chimera in the city, he didn't show it.

Belle saw Em trotting towards her from the direction of The Hole. The large unicorn mare started to say something in her usually loud whisper but was interrupted by the sudden arrival of Keen dropping out of the sky to land in front of Belle. He saluted sharply, to her surprise. "Captain," he said immediately, "no sight or sound of the creature. I have some contacts among the pegasi on the lookout around the city, but so far it’s all quiet."

Belle returned his salute. "Good, maybe we'll get lucky and the backup from Canterlot will get here before it shows itself again."

Em silently joined the group. If she was at all upset by Keen’s interruption, she didn’t show it. She instead whispered, “Captain, who’s at the desk in the Guardhouse?”

Belle sighed. “Technically nopony. We need everypony here, that thing is bound to show up again. For the official records, I deputized Miss Sparkle temporarily and she is currently in the Guardhouse. Unofficially, she’s still resting in the back room. I locked the front door.” Em swallowed nervously but nodded.

Keen, who didn’t seem to have been paying attention to this exchange, glanced at the large number of soldiers surrounding the ships not a hundred paces away. "What about them? They look like they could handle the creature."

Oak snorted and, to Belle's surprise, answered before she could. "They won't help. Captain Sunspot claims it isn't part of his assignment, and that his priority is guarding the cargo." His voice was laced with a surprising amount of anger. He seemed to be taking Sunspot's callous treatment of their situation personally.

Keen snorted and gave a short, derisive laugh. "Shame. Would have been ideal timing. I mean, what are the odds of there being a half regiment's worth of Royal Guards in town at the precise time that we have a ravenous and unstoppable monster in town?"

Oak matched his snort. He was being surprisingly effusive today.

Belle didn't respond, rather she stared at the ships and the large crowd of soldiers. Soldiers who refused to help her. As she watched, a pair of unicorns in elaborate robes appeared on the deck of the ship levitating a strange and ornate casket between them. A cloaked figure trailed behind them. A dim memory kicked in from the back of her mind. She wondered if that was the same pony that Brine had been talking to the other day when she had first gone to confront him. She supposed it hardly mattered now.

Suddenly, she froze, Keen's words echoing in her head. What were the odds of having this many Royal Guards in town? Dock had never seen this large of a Guard presence from Canterlot, not even for that one prisoner transfer. That was unusual by itself. To happen at the same time as the Chimera appearing... it was an extraordinary coincidence. There was only one problem: Belle didn't believe in coincidence.

Time seemed to slow as the facts suddenly lined up in her head, memories appearing in flashes as though projected onto her tinted glasses.

She saw two small charred corpses and Brine's voice, how they may have been "in the wrong place at the wrong time."

She saw Brine's letter detailing the special shipment on its way to Canterlot.

She saw the Chimera specifically going out to kill a simple Diamond Dog. Why? What could it have seen in the tunnels that it feared?

She heard Brine describing the smuggling business in Dock, "Expedited service." The Chimera had been smuggled into the town on a ship, which meant that a pony or ponies had arranged it.

She heard again the horrible voice of the Chimera itself. It had spoken of a mistress and an arrangement.

She thought about a casket being levitated by two seemingly high ranking magicians.

She thought of a contingent of heavily armed Royal Guards.

No such thing as coincidence...

It clicked.

She suddenly broke out into a gallop, heading towards the knot of ponies where the casket bearing unicorns were just placing it onto one of the carts, the only one covered, shrouded by a canopy. Oak, Em, and Keen, taken by surprise by her sudden outburst, hurried behind, trying to catch up. She reached the knot of guards surrounding the scribe, Brine, the mayor, and Captain Sunspot. The two closest guards flinched and made as if to block her approach, but they hesitated upon seeing her own guard's armor. She slipped past them.

"Captain!" she called out. "Captain! Listen to me!"

The four ponies all turned to look at her with matching frowns. "Now Captain..." the mayor began to say, but for the first time in her life, Belle ignored her.

"Captain Sunspot," she said urgently, "the Chimera... it's not a coincidence. It's here for that!" She pointed with a forehoof at the cart now bearing the casket and its three attendants.

"What?" he said sharply. "What are you-"

But he was cut off. For the fourth time in three days, a massive burst of flame completely washed out Belle's vision. The front half of the warehouse next to the one where the dockworkers were storing crates suddenly exploded outward, scattering and knocking over many of the dockworkers. One of the guard ships was directly in front of the warehouse and was caught in the blast, capsizing into the river and sending guardponies flying. Some of the pegasi managed to catch themselves, but many of them, and all of the land-bound guards were slammed into the water.

Sunspot’s head whipped around, his eyes wide behind his helmet. “What the-”

Before anyone could react further, a massive shape burst out of the inferno. The Chimera’s leonine form trailed fire and smoke as it burst onto the boardwalk. For the first time, Belle got a good look at the creature that had turned her world on its head. Twilight's description didn't do it justice. The Chimera's lion head was massive, its heavy maw open in a ferocious snarl, its horrible teeth bared, its eyes flaming with a hatred that was palpable even from a distance. Its heavy front paws struck the wooden boards of the dock with such force and weight that the planks would crack slightly. Its shaggy mane was wild and unkempt, matted in places with dirt, grime, and ash. The goat head rising from between its shoulder blades looked off to the side, its odd eyes staring vacantly as the head was bounced around by the violent movement of the monster's appearance. Its beard bobbed irregularly as it masticated unconcernedly. The dragon portion looked just as Belle remembered it from the hospital, but it was infinitely more horrible now that she saw the full form and knew that it was not just a drake.

Belle took in the creature's appearance in a moment, which was all the time she had. The Chimera charged the nearest group of soldiers around the rearmost cart with breath-taking speed. The unfortunate ponies had no chance to defend themselves. The Chimera moved with an almost sickening, liquid agility, like a striking snake. It tore through them, claws lashing out, dragon head tail striking viciously at any unarmored parts of the ponies' bodies.

The squad didn’t have a chance. In the space of fifteen seconds, seven ponies lay dead, five more horribly wounded and maimed, screaming in pain. The Chimera stood over the carnage it had wrought, breathing deeply, as though enjoying the first breath of fresh air it had taken in centuries.

The horrible, deep voice once again forced its way through Belle's ears. "At last!" it said, drawing it out as though in pleasure. "At last I am free again, to wreak my vengeance upon the ponies who-"

The voice suddenly cut off as an arrow suddenly blossomed out of its left eye, accompanied by a burst of blood and gore. The Chimera wobbled before collapsing to the ground.

Captain Sunspot was no fool. He barked a few orders and all of the remaining soldiers on the dock had formed up around him. The earth ponies with their heavy armor and long spears formed the front ranks while the unicorn archers stayed behind them. Overhead, the pegasi hovered, blades and spears poised and ready. Despite being a pegasus, Sunspot stayed on the ground, leading from the center of the line. For a moment, not a sound disturbed the docks except for the crackle of fire from the exploded warehouse and the pitiable moans of the wounded ponies around the downed monster.

Then, with a bellowed order, Sunspot charged the monster, which was already starting to get back to its mismatched feet, the arrow clattering to the wooden floor as its eye regrew. Moments before the charge hit the creature, a volley of arrows arched over the attacking ponies and slammed into the Chimera. It staggered but didn't fall. Then the wave of charging ponies broke upon it. Spears slammed into the creature, forcing it back as the weight of so many ponies overbore it. It was forced to rear up just as the pegasi swooped down, striking expertly at the right moment and knocking the beast onto its back. The moment its back struck the floor (the goat's head was smashed to the side, its neck obviously broken), earth ponies slammed more spears into it with such force that the spearheads bit into the wood beneath it, pinning it down.

The entire encounter lasted less than half a minute. Belle stood staring, astonished at the precision and skill of the Royal Guard ponies. Behind her stood Brine, the mayor, and the scribe, along with the remaining dockworkers. A cheer began from among the latter at the creature's subduing, and Belle was tempted to join it, but it died in her throat. The Guards' victory was short-lived.

With a burst of flame that forced the ponies back, the Chimera tore itself free of its restraints, heedless of the damage it did to itself. It leapt to its feet and attacked. The Royal Guards scattered, although not haphazardly. They spread out around it and tried to keep their distance, attacking whenever its back was turned. This tactic was not nearly as effective as it should have been because the Chimera's dragon head watched its back and struck whenever a pony got too close. Plus, the beast was just so fast, it was nearly impossible to keep out of its way. Factoring in its fire breath, Belle knew that this fight could have only one outcome.

She shook herself, forcing herself to look away. She was a Dock guard, and her first priority was the safety of its citizens. She quickly barked out orders. "Oak, Em, get everypony here to safety, The Hole will have to do for now. Get them there as quickly as you can! Go!"

Without a salute, the two guards swiftly began herding the stunned spectators away. Belle turned back to the fray in time to see several unicorn guards, out of arrows and clearly having discovered the creature's magic immunity, manage to throw one of the large and heavy crates at the Chimera. The creature dodged at the last second but, fast as it was, it wasn't completely fast enough. The heavy crate clipped its side, sending the monster crashing to the ground, right at Sunspot's hooves, who slammed his spear down straight through its lion head. The dragon head snapped forward and struck Sunspot, but in his armored chest. The vicious fangs didn't penetrate, but Sunspot was thrown backwards by the force of the blow. He flared his wings, trying to slow his flight, and Belle saw that one of them was partially mangled, explaining why he wasn't flying with the rest of the pegasi. The crate, meanwhile, broke open, spilling its contents, heavy cylindrical lumps of a black metal, across the wooden pier.

As Belle saw this happen, she noticed behind the fray that one of the carts had been knocked over in the conflict, trapping its drivers beneath it; and that it had caught fire from one of the Chimera's blasts. She motioned to Keen and rushed to the fallen cart, skirting the edge of the battle as much as possible. Keen followed reluctantly, his wings fluttered at his sides. He was clearly anxious to get into the fight himself but, like Belle, realized that his presence would be more of a hindrance than a help to the Royal Guards' tactics.

Belle and Keen reached the collapsed cart and Belle lifted the cart as much as she could, drawing upon all the reserves of strength she had in her compact, earth pony frame. Even so, she only managed to lift it a few inches; but that was enough for Keen to duck under and neatly cut the harnesses that restrained the two panicking drivers. Belle strained under the immense load, but Keen pulled the two wounded earth ponies to safety in a few seconds, allowing Belle to let her burden go. The blazing cart crashed down as she leapt away. "Get... get..." she gasped, out of breath, to Keen, "get them into The Hole!"

Keen helped the two drivers to their shaky hooves and helped them limp to the tavern. Belle turned her attention back to the battle. It wasn't going well.

As she watched, the Chimera reared over an earth pony that had been backed against the remaining stacked crates. His spear broken, the brave Guard pivoted and bucked the monster right in the face. The lion head snapped back and Belle distinctly saw several of its horrible teeth go flying. But it was a futile action. The Chimera lashed out with a heavy paw and struck the pony hard. He smashed into the heavy crates with a sickening smack and fell lifeless to the ground.

Almost at the same time, the dragon head lashed out to the full length of the tail and snagged the wing of a swooping pegasus. The pegasus tried to break free but with surprising strength, the dragon-headed tail slammed the unfortunate pony down before lifting it back up and shaking it like a dog shakes a rat. A large chunk of the pegasus' wing tore free, leaving a mouthful of flesh and feathers in the dragon's maw, and the limp body went flying. It struck the ground, sending several of the heavy metal cylinders skittering and rolling around.

The recovered goat head... did nothing.

One of the rolling cylinders bumped into Belle's hoof, momentarily distracting her from the horrifying battle before her. She recognized it now as a lump of lead. She had no idea what it was used for, but it wasn't an uncommon piece of merchandise that came through Dock.

Her eyes were forced back to the carnage. Most of the Guards were down. Senseless or dead, they were out of the fight. Sunspot had rallied the remaining ponies to him. There were fewer than twenty left, most of them pegasi.

The Chimera faced them, pacing slowly like a cat, clearly in no rush to end the conflict. A horrible, rumbling chuckle emanated from the creature, although still without any obvious speaker.

"Well," the horrible deep voice said once the laughter had died, "we have not had that much fun in a millennium!" It stalked a little closer. "This task is worthwhile, even if just for this sport!"

It took several more steps towards the remaining guards but then suddenly stopped, its lion head cocking to one side as though listening. A moment later the voice returned. "Bah, very well. But we will continue the sport after!"

The Chimera turned away from the guards and instead began moving towards the cart that housed the strange casket from the ship. Its gait was ungainly, now that it was moving at a medium pace instead of dashing or stalking, it looked alien and unnerving. The cart in question was not two dozen paces away from where Belle still stood, stunned and unsure of what to do. The lion's eyes were fixed on its target, but the dragon head, which was swaying as the beast walked suddenly fixated on her. The monster stopped walking and turned to face her fully.

"Ah, the fortunate guard," the strange, seemingly disembodied voice said with a horrible chuckle. "You have been sticking your nose in our business and been a nuisance for too long. No friends around to save you this time. When we are finished with our task, we shall enjoy ending you." It turned back to its target cart while Belle's knees shook and she almost fell.

Suddenly, a small object was tossed out of the covered cart and smashed onto the ground right at the Chimera's lion feet. There was a sound of shattering glass and a massive cloud of smoke quickly enveloped the creature. It stumbled out of the cloud, the lion head coughing and retching as the acrid smoke filled its lungs. The dragon head, which wasn't coughing, snapped around, looking for the source of the projectile. The goat head still didn't even appear to notice what was going on.

Before the monster could recover, the cloaked figure burst out of the covered cart, the cloak slipping off of him as he moved with almost supernatural grace. He was a zebra. His stripes stood out even to Belle's rattled mind. He had several small bottles attached to a bandolier that was slung around one shoulder and met a belt around his waist that carried even more small bottles on it. They were securely placed, since they didn't dislodge or even rattle as he moved. He dashed up to the staggering monster and bucked it in its lion face. The Chimera stumbled slightly. The dragon head snapped forward, but the zebra was too fast and dodged aside, sweeping a leg at one of the lion legs, catching it right in the joint. The leg buckled and the monster stumbled. The nimble zebra leapt up onto the creature's back, using its dropping shoulder as a step. He kicked the goat head as he went past it and, somehow spinning to avoid another strike from the dragon head, landed on the ground directly behind it and lashed out again. His hoof caught the knee joint of the dragon leg on the same side as the lion leg that he had initially struck. This leg buckled too and suddenly the whole creature collapsed to the ground. The zebra leapt aside again and, with a skillful twist of his head, pulled another glass bottle off his belt and hurled it at the beast. It shattered against the dragon scale-covered haunch. Instead of smoke though, a thick liquid splashed out, coating a good sized section of the dragon leg. With a horrible sizzle, the scales began to melt, along with the flesh beneath.

For the first time since the battle had begun, the Chimera roared in pain.

Even though Belle's mind was completely overwhelmed with terror at the Chimera's words to her, her Guard's Instinct refused to shut down and registered what was happening. She shook herself vigorously and looked down at the lump of lead at her hooves. Suddenly, the spark of an idea kindled in her mind.

Meanwhile, Captain Sunspot took advantage of the sudden onslaught by the mysterious zebra. He roared a command and he and his remaining guards charged. They fell upon the monster like an avalanche. The hole eaten away by the zebra's acidic potion was already starting to mend, albeit slower than the other wounds had. This time, the guards had a better time of it. They worked flawlessly together, striking quickly and leaping away, never staying still. The remaining unicorn guards were constantly on the alert for the occasional spouts of flame, and for a while the ponies held their own. And all the while, the strange zebra constantly adding to the confusion. Apparently none of its remaining bottles would be effective against the Chimera since he stuck to his hooves; but even those proved extremely effective. The zebra seemed to know precisely where on the creature to strike, and every blow clearly caused the creature discomfort or pain.

But it was not enough. They were fighting an immortal, unstoppable creature. Eventually it would get the best of them, and Belle knew it. She turned to run into The Hole and retrieve her guards, she would need their help, only to find all three of them hurrying towards her. They all had grim and frightened expressions, although Keen still had an edge of excitement in his; but they were there. Despite the horror, despite the fear, they had come back. Belle hurried to meet them halfway.

"We don't have much time," she exclaimed sharply, without pausing for a salute, "they won't last much longer against that thing. I have plan, but it's going to be dangerous, and I don't even know if it will work." She paused, waiting to see if any of them would speak, or leave.

Oak did speak up. "We're with you, Captain. All the way." The others both nodded their agreement. Belle swelled with pride, but she didn't have time to linger on the sensation. She quickly laid out her idea.

To her surprise, nopony scoffed or left.

"Ok," she said when no one objected, "do you all know your roles?" They all nodded. "Good, get to it, we don't have much time."

A brief glance at the conflict showed her just how true this was. The unicorn guards had slipped, and most of the attackers were down, dead or grievously wounded, she couldn't tell. Even as she watched, the zebra stranger, despite his incredible agility and speed, missed a step and was seized by a foreleg in the dragon head's jaws and was slammed to the ground, several times. When the Chimera finally let go, the zebra didn't get up again.

Only Captain Sunspot and three of his guards remained, one earth pony and two unicorns. They wouldn't last long, but they continued the hopeless fight.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, Keen struck.

For the first time, Belle saw him fully unload his pent up energy and really display his skill. He dropped like a thunderbolt on the top of the Chimera, landing with both forehooves directly on the spine of the creature, just behind the goat's head, right where the fur gave way to scales. The result was immediate. There was a sickening crunching sound and the spine snapped. The Chimera roared in pain and collapsed. Keen sliced about with his freshly sharpened sword, almost completely decapitating the goat head. He leapt up into the air and quickly shot away, only to return a few moments later, flying at full speed, sword at the ready. He caught the Chimera just as it was struggling to its lion forepaws, its back legs still useless from the broken spine. The blade caught the lion head right at the mouth, slicing neatly along, almost cutting its face completely in half.

Keen wasn't done. He looped around and dived again, this time sliced at the ankles of the lion's paws, his wings almost brushing the ground as he flew by. The legs crumpled and the beast collapsed fully. Keen sped away, making sure to avoid the dragon head, which snapped around to strike at him. The spine was already healing and the back legs were scrabbling frantically, carving deep gouges in the wooden pier.

But just then, with the monster's attention fully on the harassing pegasus, Oak struck, and struck hard. The burly earth pony smashed into the creature, lance leading the way. The spear caught the Chimera in the shoulder just as it was trying to rise again on its rapidly healing legs. Caught off guard, the blow flung the larger and heavier creature to the ground. Oak didn't stop there, he reared up and brought both of his heavy forehooves down on the lion head, again and again, crushing the thick skull and literally battering it to a pulp. The dragon head lashed forward, but Oak had been expecting it and turned aside just in time, the sharp teeth struck a glancing blow only, scraping futilely against his bronze armored flank.

Oak sprang away, knowing that he couldn't match the immortal monster in a straight up fight. He and Keen had taken it completely by surprise, but that advantage was quickly diminishing. Sunspot and his guards now renewed their attack, and actually managed to keep it at bay. But it couldn't last.

Belle and Em hadn't been idle though. They stood over their makeshift weapon. "Do you think it will work?" asked Em in her regular voice, which was loud enough to be heard over the din of the battle.

"It has to," said Belle. "It's our only chance."

"But why you? Can't someone else do it?" Em asked, fear in her voice.

Belle shook her head, forcibly swallowing her own fear. "It has to be me, it's too heavy for Keen to use on his own effectively, and I'm the only one small enough for it to work."

Em nodded but looked worried. Belle looked at her. "I trust you, Em. It's going to be tough, but I know you can do this." Em smiled.

Belle turned back to the fray. It had to be now. The attack was already stalling as the Chimera managed to gain its footing back. A burst of flame drove the guards back.

Ok, this was it. Belle whistled as loud as she could.

In a few seconds Keen landed on the ground close by. He was panting from the exertion of combat and was covered in blood and grime. As soon as he landed, he began struggling with the buckles of his barding. Belle, who had already removed hers, helped him out of it. They needed speed now, and the armor would just weigh them down. Besides, it wouldn't help them now anyway.

"The timing has to be perfect," Belle said loudly to Em. Em looked grim but nodded.

"Ready, Keen?" Belle asked, turning to the pegasus.

Keen gave her a cocky grim and saluted. "Born ready, ma'am."

Belle climbed up as best she could onto the pegasus' back. It took some maneuvering to position properly and allow him room to fly. Em levitated the makeshift weapon up to Belle, who gripped it in her forelegs, bracing the heavy spear carefully. The moment they were settled, Belle gave another loud, sharp whistle. Keen took off, a little ungainly from the extra weight, but managed to steady himself and pick up speed. He wouldn't be able to fly far, but then, he didn't need to.

Oak, upon hearing the whistle, shouted something to Sunspot. Sunspot shouted something in reply, although Belle could hear neither because of the wind whistling in her ears. Sunspot and his guards pressed hard against the Chimera, driving spears and arrows into it, momentarily pinning it.

Oak slipped around to the creature's rear and struck. His aim was impeccable, his strength unbelievable; while the dragon head was lashing out at a unicorn guard who had gotten momentarily to close, Oak drove his broad-bladed spear right at the creature's dock, striking true. The blade cleaved right through the scales, which had proven much less sturdy than a normal dragon's and completely severed the tail. The long tail, tipped with the small dragon head flew off, blood and gore spattering the ground. The Chimera roared and wheeled about to destroy Oak, but the sergeant was already retreating.

Oak joined the other guards as the Chimera, in a terrible rage, unleashed another inferno over them. The unicorn guards' shield held, although barely; they were clearly at their limit from the battle. Another blast would do them in. The monster seemed to realize this and inhaled deeply, ready to strike. The dragon tail was already starting to regrow behind it.

Flying low and with as much speed as possible, Belle, on her pegasus steed, struck. It happened in the space of a few seconds, but for Belle, it seemed to last an eternity.

They flew over the wooden pier low, on level with the Chimera. They approached at an incredible speed. Before them, head on, the Chimera was just beginning to exhale and spew forth a torrent of fire. Keen passed right by the huddled and defenseless guards. At that instant, a dome of magic which Belle knew, but couldn't see, was tinged with green, appeared in front of them and around the guards. The first flickers of the fire splashed across the shield and were turned aside. Belle held her breath and steadied the spear in her forehooves, aiming as best she could. She saw for half an instant the raging eyes of the lion head, the vicious fangs of its gaping maw as flames rushed out.

For one last time, she faced the fire.

Then, the spear she held went right down its throat.

The second they made contact the shield collapsed and for half a moment, they were in the flames, but their momentum carried them through and over the creature. They clipped the goat head and crashed into one of the two remaining carts, the uncovered one. At the last second, a nimbus of energy, green she bet, surrounded both her and Keen as they smashed into the sturdy wooden cart. The heavy, fully laden cart splintered but held firm, although it rocked on its wheels. Keen and Belle bounced off.

The magic probably saved their lives, but it wasn't enough to keep them from harm. Belle staggered to her hooves, although Keen simply lay there groaning. Her right hind leg hurt terribly, but she didn't think it was broken. She looked around to the Chimera to see if her plan had worked.

To her great surprise, it had.

The Chimera was staggering around, gagging and trying to draw a breath. The two heavy lumps of lead that Belle and Em had secured to the spear head had lodged in its throat. The intense heat from the fire had softened it just enough so that it molded to the shape somewhat and had stuck fast right in its throat, completely blocking it. Unable to draw breath to melt it enough to dislodge it, the Chimera's airway was completely blocked. The other two heads flailed frantically, even the goat head; but as Moonbeam had noted so long ago, the other two heads had no windpipes and could not draw breath. The creature's healing factor failed it. There was nothing to heal. Unable to dislodge the lead, the monster collapsed, one last time.

Belle limped forward, her face grim. The monster lay, twitching. The lion front lay still, the eyes wide in panic but already starting to glaze. The goat head had already ceased moving completely and was slumped on the ground. The dragon head, which had still fully healed, seemed almost to be pulling, as though trying to escape from the rest of its body's fate, but it was clearly losing strength. Belle stopped in front of the dragon head just as it finally slumped. It looked up at her and seemed to try to strike at her, but it barely moved and could hardly keep itself lifted off of the scorched planking. Its horrible eyes glared at her, but the light in them was starting to fade. The horrible voice came one last time, ragged and strained. "You..."

Belle thought of the scores of dead soldiers around her. She thought of the terror this monster had inflicted. She thought of bursts of flame rushing to engulf her. She thought of Constable Snowflake lying wounded in the hospital. She thought of the burned out hospital room. She thought of Twilight, exhausted and recovering in the Guard House. She thought of her husband's worried face. She thought of two dead foals lying in the ashes.

Belle raised her glasses to stare into the dying eyes. "Get out of my town!" she spat. She raised a hoof and brought it down on the dragon head with all the force she could muster, driving it to the ground. The head struck hard, and the life in the eyes went out at last.

The monster twitched one last time and then finally lay still. The Chimera was dead.

Ish.

Belle wasn't sure, but she suspected if somehow the lead was removed, it would recover very quickly. Best to never find out.

Author's Notes:

This chapter took absolutely forever to finish. The first part gave me the worst case of writer's block ever, and I'm still not completely satisfied with it. Apologies to all of my readers for the long delay. One more chapter to go, and then probably an epilogue.

As always, MLP and its characters are © Hasbro and Lauren Faust respectively.

All OCs, however, are purely mine, or their respective owners.

Any and all feedback/comments are greatly appreciated.