Roots of Fear

The Chimera was almost on him. Claws outstretched, jaws (the closest set, at least) gaping open with razor-sharp teeth, it was set to end Sky’s audacious challenge before it could develop at all. Yet Sky never flinched. Somehow, he knew that something was different, from the tips of his wings down to the bases of his hooves. He felt stronger, faster.

A lot faster.

The Chimera outsized him many times, but he nimbly stepped forward, just inside the reach of its front claws. Then, quick as lightning, he spun and delivered a quick two-hoofed kick to the right corner of the lion’s head, sending it twisting away to the left. In the next instant, he was in the air, nailing the incoming goat’s head, which had been unprepared for a counterattack, with a right cross that resounded with a satisfying crack. The serpent’s head came hurtling towards him, breath drawn to scorch the pegasus. A quick jab just below its jaw caused it to choke, cutting off the imminent stream of flame.

Any sense of accomplishment he felt was quickly cut off when he saw an orange glow on the wall, with his silhouette smack in the middle of it. With one flap of his wings, he was speeding towards the corner, a searing burst of fire hot on his hooves. He caromed off one wall, then the next, spinning through the air as the fire scored the wall with a large black mark. Sky skidded across the stone floor, sparks leaping from his hooves as he came to a halt near the pile of debris where Twilight was trapped.

Sky returned his gaze to his foe, expecting her to be closing in for another finishing blow. Instead, he found her standing in much the same spot he had left her. The goat head was working her jaw where Sky had hit it, the lion head was snarling, and the serpent was still coughing, spouting small puffs of flame with each breath.

Finally, the lion’s head spoke. “Well, that was entertaining,” it said with a smirk. “You’re faster than you appear to be. But I’m a bit rusty, too. Don’t worry; I’m sure I’ll make you into pony barbecue eventually.”

“I’m sure you’d love to, but I have an appointment after I’m done here. So I’m gonna have to turn down the dinner invitation.”

The Chimera chucked with laughter. “How you amuse me, little one. Just how do you intend to escape? You can’t flee, because then you will leave your friends here to die alone. And we both know that you can’t face me forever in a fight. I’m interested to hear what you have in mind.”

To be fair, Sky hadn’t exactly figured that out. He knew that his only real option was to drive the Chimera away somehow, but just how he was going to do that was something he hadn’t quite figured out yet.

“I’m sure you are,” Sky replied instead, flitting his wings just enough to bring him into the air. If there was one thing he did know, it was that his only real advantage he had over his foe was the air. The Chimera couldn’t fly. And he knew that he had to exploit that to have a chance.

A flash of lightning illuminated the hall, followed by a deafening peal of thunder. And in that instant, Sky saw his only real chance. He hazarded a glance to his left, where a large hole in the wall, presumably where a window once was, led outside into the strengthening storm.

The Chimera took the bait and leapt at him.

“You are rusty, aren’t you?” he taunted as he darted forward, then shot upwards as soon as he was under the Chimera. She howled as he hit her. He didn’t slow down. He used his momentum to carry her to the ceiling, where he slammed her into the stonework.

The sharp hiss of an inhaling mouth was all the warning he had. He rocketed out from under his load, but not before the serpent had singed the end of his tail with fire. He heard the Chimera hit the ground on its feet, chuckling to herself.

“Not as rusty as you seem to think I am,” she countered.

“Perhaps not,” Sky admitted. “But I’d say that this is getting a bit too physical in here. How about we take it outside?”

He couldn’t really make out any facial expressions on any of the Chimera’s faces, but he judged that if he could, they would have been faces of delight. “That’s often been said as an issue of a challenge. To which I gladly accept.” It looked past the hovering pegasus to where Twilight lay helpless beneath the rubble. “You’ll be dessert,” it said cruelly, licking all three pairs of lips.

We’ll see about that.

The Chimera bounded out the gap Sky had looked at earlier. Casting a reassuring glance back at Twilight, he flew to the other side of the room, where a similar but smaller hole was situated. Squeezing outside, he found that the storm had grown very strong. The wind was choppy, making it somewhat difficult to fly, and the lightning and thunder had become very frequent, serving as effective distractions. And to make matters worse, he was starting to feel the rain fall.

It didn’t matter. This was all he had.

He flew up to the roof where he found the Chimera waiting for him. “It’s been said that two heads are better than one. What do they say about three heads?” she asked.

“Anything with more than one head is ugly,” Sky retorted.

“Well, then, pretty pony, let’s see how much it helps you when you’re FASHIONABLY DEAD!” With that, all three heads began spewing forth deadly streams of yellow fire in all directions, causing Sky to retreat.

For a few minutes, the bob-and-weave sequence continued, until, quite to Sky’s surprise, a lightning strike arced right beside him, striking a corner of the castle. “Haha, you forget, pegasus! I control all manner of natural disasters, even storms! You cannot escape me!”

Sky looked towards the clouds, deciding that if was going to do something, it had to be now. Drawing upon all the courage and resolve he could, he shot straight upwards to the black clouds above.

He felt the red eyes of the Chimera fixed on him, but he chose to ignore them. Lightning sizzled back and forth between the clouds, many of them seemingly targeting him. Cautiously and methodically, he began arranging the clouds into a clumpy formation high above the castle.

“You know, I grow tired of having to chase you all over the sky. If you don’t make this more interesting, I may have to have dessert first,” the Chimera warned from far below.

“And turn your back on a threat like me?” Sky shouted back, sounding offended.

If there was a response, he never heard it. He finished pushing the clouds where he wanted them, then flew just beneath them and hovered there, gazing down at the increasingly impatient Chimera below.

The lightning and thunder continued, but no flashes came from the clouds that Sky had moved. The she-devil below paced across the roof of the castle, seeming genuinely intrigued and curious as to what her flying adversary was planning. “I assume this is all leading up to something?” she called, apparently trying to sound unimpressed.

“I’ve read about Chimeras before,” Sky shouted above the wind. “It’s true that you can control natural disasters, but from what I remember, they specialize in ground-based disasters, like earthquakes and volcanoes.”

“So?”

“So, you’re not as good with storms and stuff like that.”

“I’ve had one thousand years. I think I’m pretty good.”

“But you’re not made for it.”

The Chimera sighed in irritation. “Once again, so?”

“I’m a pegasus.”

For the first time, the red eyes that had haunted Sky for so long had a tinge of doubt. The Chimera was silent. The black clouds behind Sky began to sizzle and spark as small arcs of blue began to dance across their lower edges.

“In Equestria, it’s the task of the pegasi to guide and oversee the weather. We move the clouds, bring the rain, and even control the storms.” The clouds were now glowing blue with energy in anticipation of the inevitable moment, and Sky felt every hair on his body rise up in response. He looked at the Chimera, and there was a cold fury in his voice as he spoke. “Don’t take it personally. I’m just doing my job.”

And the stroke fell. The flash of lightning split the sky as it tore through the air straight to where the Chimera still stood, looking dumbfounded. And just before the stroke made its impact, Sky was at its head, the light of his indomitable spirit shining in his eyes.

The force of the explosion rocked the entire castle, and Spike was sent sprawling from Twilight’s side across the room. The center portion of the ceiling collapsed in a mass of stone, fire, smoke, lightning, and bodies. The distinct odor of an electric fire filtered through the air, causing Spike to wrinkle his nose in disgust.

Just visible as silhouettes through the clouds of dust and debris, the pegasus and the Chimera had struggled to stand again, and now faced each other. Neither looked like they could endure much more. Sky was scratched and bruised all over. Much of his mane and tail were scorched, and large numbers of his feathers were still falling to the ground. He held his front right leg gingerly in the air, apparently unable to stand on it due to some injury.

The Chimera wasn’t much better off. She was burnt and scorched all over, and she smelled like she had just come out of a toaster. Her goat head had one eye swollen shut, and the entire serpentine portion of her body was so black and shriveled that it didn’t even look like it was alive anymore. Her breathing was haggard and labored.

The two of them simply stared at each other, locked in a match in which no one was willing (or able) to move first. Sky finally managed a few words. “I…I warned you. N-N-Now I’m telling y-y-you…get out.” His final words came out with such conviction that the Chimera actually took a step backwards.

But that was as far as she retreated. With a sudden rage, her body tensed as she shouted, “I told you that I would have roast pony tonight, and I INTEND TO GET IT!” And with a ferocity Sky hadn’t expected, she charged.

He didn’t know if he had the strength left to even dodge out of the way, much less strike back. He dug within himself, trying to find some ounce of will that would make him move, when he heard a pair of voices in unison from behind him.

“Sky!” he heard Twilight and Spike shout.

And that was all he needed.

He pivoted on his front left hoof, then, clenching his teeth through the pain of his screaming muscles, he kicked with all the force he could muster with both of his hind legs, while he braced with both of his front legs.

For an agonizing moment, he felt nothing. Then, in an ironic feeling of relief, he felt his hooves connect with a solid object. They hit with a crunch, and he felt something snap from the force of his kick…then completely give way. The object he hit suddenly was no longer there.

He fell to the floor, wincing as a sharp jolt of pain stung his injured leg. With an effort, he managed to turn his head to see what had become of the Chimera.

To his surprise, she was no longer there. Instead, he saw what appeared to be a large, black-as-night mist hovering where the Chimera had once been. It had no physical form, and the ghoulish voice from before had returned, but its confidence and swagger had been replaced with anger and disbelief.

“Impossible! Beaten…by nothing more than a weakling pony! This is nonsense!” it spat. “I must withdraw. Consider yourself lucky, pony,” it hissed. “You and I have not met for the last time. Remember this night when we meet again. It will be the only memory of victory you will have.” And with that, it sped out through the gap in the roof, and was gone.

The silence that fell was complete, but unlike the rest of the moments spent in Everfree Forest, it was not an uncomfortable silence. It was whole, peaceful, relaxed. Sky let his head collapse to the floor. His legs, wings, head…even his tail was limp. He was exhausted, sore, and wounded. But it was the best he had felt in days. His quest: successful. Now he just had to get back.

A sudden rumbling brought his eyes over to where Spike had finally managed to move much of the rubble off of Twilight. Apparently, the Chimera’s defeat had broken its magical hold on the stones, allowing Spike to make some headway on freeing the unicorn.

“I’ll have you out in a flash, Twilight!” Spike said, his enthusiasm rising with the coming of visible progress.

Sky looked at her. She was covered in dust, and her body was limp. Her eyes were closed, but he could see her chest swelling and shrinking, so he knew that she was still alive. But he knew that he couldn’t count on that to be true if he didn’t get her to somewhere safe.

Himself, too, for that matter.

He grunted and groaned as he fought to get to his hooves. Spike heard him and quickly rushed towards him when Sky stopped him in mid-stride.

“No! H…help Twilight. Shhh…she needs it more than me right now.”

Spike looked hesitantly at the pegasus. “Alright…” he said, turning back.

After a few more minutes, Spike finally moved the last few pieces off of Twilight. Her flank was already badly bruised, and her rear left leg was bent at an odd angle. Sky bit his lip. It didn’t look good. “Spike…help me get her onto my back. We’re going to have to carry her out of here.”

Spike’s jaw dropped as he looked at the pegasus. “But you can hardly stand on your own! How are you going to carry Twilight with you?” he asked.

It was a good question, but there was only one answer. “Spike, what other option do we have? She needs help, we can’t just leave her, and you can’t carry her. So I’ll carry her out. But I’ll be depending on you to steady me, okay?”

Spike’s head drooped. “Yeah, I know. It’s just…”

“Let’s get this done,” Sky interrupted. “We can talk about it later, alright?”

“Alright.”

It took at least another ten minutes, but at long last, they managed to get Twilight onto Sky’s back. His legs felt like they were on fire. The strain was terrible, and with each hobble, he wondered if his legs would continue to hold him up. And considering that Sky only had three good legs, it was a wonder that they made any progress at all.

They made it out of the corridor, down the stairs, onto the grass, and out to the bridge when Sky’s hope finally gave out. He had forgotten that they had never fixed the bridge. It still hung limply against the far side of the canyon.

Sky’s spirits sank. They really were trapped. They couldn’t go on, couldn’t go back, and no one knew how badly they needed help. Spots began to dance before his eyes. He felt himself swaying on his hooves. Finally, he had the sensation that he was falling without end. Simply falling…falling…falling…