She first saw the scales on its back as they rose out of the water. First just a couple of inches, then they broke the surface by more than a foot. The huge monstrous alligator shifted under the water as if trying to figure out what exactly had disturbed its territory, its movements now sending mild waves towards the boats the hunting party were using. The trees they were still hidden in dampened the waves somewhat but Rainbow Dash still felt the hump pass underneath her and Jules’ canoe.
What now? It was there, still mostly underwater, but there nonetheless. What was Claude’s plan of attack?
Claude tersely whispered to the other hunters. “Spread out, spread out!” While he reached into his bags and retrieved more rocks.
The hunters moved their boats throughout the wooded area of the swamp they were hiding in and at the same time Claude threw more and more rocks at the alligator monster swimming just barely below the surface of the water. They impacted the surface and made even more splashes, or even just outright hit the scales of the alligator itself. It caused the monster to move around more frantically, sending greater ripples and waves everywhere.
Just smart for an animal, huh? Rainbow thought as she tightened her grip on her spear. She looked at the other boats and saw the hunters getting not just spears ready, but also things like nets weighted with rocks, hooks tied to ropes and pieces of wood, and bags full of some kind of red powder that she didn’t recognize.
If Claude had been a little more trusting of her she’d have a better idea of what was going to happen next, but at the moment she had to wait and see what the hunters would do first. She didn’t dare just fly out and ruin things for them. That was not the way to get on anyone’s good side right now.
Once the boats had spread out some, Claude grabbed his paddle and started smacking the surface of the water with it. It sent loud vibrations through the water that were sure to grab the attention of the alligator monster.
“Wait for it to charge into the trees before you attack! Let it come to the shallower areas first!” Claude shouted.
As he said that, the shadowed beast and its scales poking out from the surface turned fully to face them. Rainbow could tell it was pointed towards the source of the paddling from Claude. It was still hard to tell just how big it was, but it must’ve been huge, and now it started swiftly swimming to them. Claude himself was just an earth pony, he dropped his paddle and pushed the boat away from the trees towards the oncoming monster before climbing into the nearest tree with just a spear in his hooves. Rainbow Dash and Jules were twenty feet away behind another tree in their canoe. As the monster approached, Rainbow Dash got her first real look at part of it as its tail whipped out of the water behind it.
Massive. The tail alone had to be fifteen or twenty feet long, thick and muscular with spiked scales covering every inch of its dorsal side. If that tail smashed into a tree it would’ve rended it in two.
The shadow grew more defined under the water as the alligator monster approached Claude’s abandoned canoe. Bubbles and ripples came up from the water, she heard Jules’ jaw clench and her own heart increased its thumping inside her ribcage as well.
Finally the faded green scales on its snout broke the water’s surface and a huge gaping maw of teeth opened up in a flash. Rainbow Dash only had a brief instant to really see it, but that was all she needed. Her eyes opened wide as she took in the massive jaws of the alligator monster and the hundreds of sharp dagger teeth that lined it. Some were chipped and broken while others were as pristine as if they were new, a single one was the size of one of Rainbow’s legs and the alligator’s mouth was so big and opened up so wide that it could’ve swallowed a canoe and the pony sitting in it whole. The swamp water dripped down from the top of its jaw as it then crashed down on top of Claude’s abandoned canoe—obliterating it completely. Most of the canoe was swallowed outright but some planks went flying to the sides as water sprayed everywhere.
In just one brief instant, Rainbow Dash caught a glimpse of red when the monster savaged the canoe. A dot of piercing red that stared out from the water.
“Now! Now!” Claude yelled and threw his spear like a harpoon into the water at the barely submerged monster.
It must’ve hit something soft because the monster started to rage around in the shallower water. One of its massive claws came up towards the tree where Claude was and eviscerated it right before Claude jumped to a new one for safety. The rafts and canoes of the other ponies now came out and every hunter threw their spears and other weapons at the beast whenever it gave them an opening. Jules paddled out to join them and Rainbow Dash flew up above the alligator to look for a prime spot to drive her spear into as well. When she flew above the churning waters that flash of red called out to her once more and Rainbow Dash looked directly at it.
For just an instant again she saw the red eye of the monster glaring out at her from beneath the water. Pupiless. Just a pure red sun burning with beastly rage and ravenous hunger. That was no animal’s eye. Jules was right, there was no way that thing was ever a normal alligator or any sort of normal creature. It was the eye of a true monster.
But it vanished out of sight as the alligator and all its limbs struggled in the water before she could attack that vulnerable spot. The other hunters were throwing the weighted nets and rocks on it to try and hamper its movements, but the thing was just so big and strong that Rainbow could see it was pointless. The one advantage they had was that in the beast’s rage it was still trying to go further into the trees to eat Claude and the other ponies now attacking it instead of just retreating back to the deeper waters.
“Use the marking powder before it tries to get away again!” Claude yelled.
Several hunters paddled out and threw the bags of red powder Rainbow Dash had seen earlier out into the water, directly on and over the alligator monster. As soon as the powder came out and mixed in with the water, it changed from a powder and into some sort of sticky liquid that spread over and clung to the alligator’s scales, painting it. It was now like the alligator was partially writhing around in red bubblegum or honey. Not only was the stark red color marking the monster and making it easier to see in the water, but it was also slowing it down because of its stickiness.
“Alright!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she flew over to the gator, she really wanted to make her strike count… but at the same time she had to admit she was still hesitant to drive her spear into this thing. Monster or not it was far more visceral and gruesome than near anything else she had done in her life.
She ended up not getting that perfect chance right now anyways. The huge meaty tail of the alligator monster rose up from the water directly next to her. The power that tail contained must’ve been enormous, and as water dripped from it Rainbow Dash had only a second to react before it slammed back down into the water. A massive spout of water shot up and rained down on the nearby ponies—including her—and temporarily messed with their vision of the monster. At the same time the wave it created in the swamp water lurched out towards all of the hunters in their boats and made them hunker down for safety so as to not fall into the water. The entire area around the monster was rocked like that as the assault had to momentarily stop.
Rainbow Dash had brought her hoof up to block a spray of water from getting in her eyes even as the rest of it washed over her like a storm. When she was able to look again she saw one of the monster’s huge claws, now covered in the red slime, reach towards one of the canoes and tear it to pieces, forcing the pony inside to jump out and try to swim to safety. Others were still pelting it with rocks and spears, but the moment the monster sensed a pony in the water its massive head turned towards the floundering.
Because of its size practically all it needed to do was open its toothy mouth and…
There was nobody else who could rescue him in time and the monster would easily be able to swallow him whole with one bite. Rainbow Dash flew down from the sky to grab the flailing pony and came face to jaw with a hundred teeth that wanted to rip her to pieces. The monsters’ throat was like a black hole threatening to swallow all that was unfortunate enough to get near. With one hoof curled around the hunter’s leg to help pull him up, Rainbow Dash launched her spear with all the strength she had in her other front leg and sent it right into the fleshy bits of the alligator’s open mouth.
It stuck in deep and the monster flinched back, a low growl emerging from that black hole of a throat. Just in time, Rainbow pulled the other hunter out of the water so that when the monster’s jaws came snapping shut the only thing they tore apart was water.
She carried the hunter over to the trees and put him in one a few back from the front line.
“You alright?” She asked.
“Y-Yeah...” he nodded. “Thanks.”
“Save the thanks for when this is done,” Rainbow Dash frowned and flew back out to the monster. It was still under attack and now she knew it could be hurt as well, but if what she had heard was true then it would likely try retreating soon and recuperate. If they lost it then all this would have to start over again and she knew the hunters were running out of supplies.
When she reached the monster flailing in the water she saw an unusual sight. Claude had gone back out to attack it and was standing on the back of the monster, he had jammed a spear into the softer area around the joint where its front left leg met its body and was holding on with a fierce expression on his face. He kept trying to twist the spear and drive it further into the flesh of the beast.
“Nice work,” Rainbow muttered, impressed. The other hunters were continuing to pelt it with rocks and more of the red powder as they aided their leader but the beast was hardly finished.
Its tail once more raised up out of the water before smashing down again, this time several more of the hunters were knocked off their canoes and rafts and had to swim for the trees. A torrent of water fell onto Claude as well but he didn’t release his grip on the spear even as the hunting party started to fall apart around him.
“Don’t give in! We can’t let it escape!” Claude yelled. “Wait for it to raise its head fully out of the water and attack the neck!”
Sounded like a good enough idea to Rainbow Dash. She saw a piece of wood from a destroyed raft floating in the swamp water and grabbed it, one of its ends jagged enough where it might be able to do damage to a soft spot. However the monster refused to just do what they wanted. Tired of the attack, it backed up, away from the trees and trying to get into the deeper water again. A trail of red came with it though, it couldn’t hide and it was moving slower thanks to the injuries and the red paste all over it.
Claude still stayed on its back, not giving in even as water started to make its way up his legs. The other hunters regrouped, getting into each other’s boats and paddling along after him and the monster. Rainbow Dash flew along over to him and winked.
“If you need any help when this thing bucks you off its back, just holler!” She said.
“Quiet, outsider!” Claude growled back at her.
The monster meanwhile turned towards the lilypads and sought to submerge itself fully, but it was getting tired. When it lifted a claw out of the water, Rainbow could see that several of its digits were stuck together thanks to the red substance. Seemingly the monster realized it was having a problem and also wanted to get rid of Claude at the same time. It soon began to roll over in the water, getting ready to toss Claude away or crush him outright if he didn’t let go. The other hunters were still too far away to attack it when it was vulnerable like this.
But Rainbow Dash would have a prime shot at its unprotected neck.