Chapter 3: Heads of the Hewdraw
Fluttershy galloped as fast as she could through a dark, narrow hallway. Her hooves pounded rapidly against the cold stone floor, though she could barely hear them over her heart pounding in her chest and the feeling of anxiety in the pit of her stomach.
“Hurry, Fluttershy!” Celestia said.
“What’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked. Daylight permeated the end of the hallway where a set of double doors swung open. Fluttershy stopped in her gallop and skidded on her hooves, slowing down in front of the doors. She jumped through the open portal, her wings spread out and bathed in a bright yellow aura of magic, and flew out into the afternoon sky. Dusty yellow clouds floated beneath her, though some were high enough and thick enough to pile up at her altitude, while a mostly clear sky hung above her. She barely had the chance to survey the surrounding clouds when several harpy creatures flew past, almost running right into her.
“Nightmare Moon is launching an attack on our realm,” Celestia said. “Her forces are invading Skyworld!”
More of the harpy creatures, known as Syrens, emerged from the surrounding clouds. Fluttershy watched anxiously as they along with numerous Monoeyes swarmed the skies around her, some even breaking away from the rest to fly after her. “Oh no. She must be getting back at us for our attack on Dark Lord Pinkamena,” she said. She reached into her tunic and pulled out a fiery orb. The orb flickered brightly in her hoof, and wisps of flame circled around it in a ring. It was the first weapon she saw when Celestia told her this was an emergency, and she’d grabbed it in a hurry.
“Maybe so,” Celestia said. “But I know you’ll push back their assault. I have faith that you will.”
“I-I’ll try,” Fluttershy said, still holding the hastily chosen weapon in her hoof. She took the orb, known as the Burning Palm, and pressed it into the sole of her right hoof. Flames erupted from her hoof and rose up the length of her foreleg. The Burning Palm spread through her leg with it, giving her fur and flesh a bright orange glow as if turning them into fire. The flames stopped when they reached Fluttershy’s shoulder, not spreading any further or even burning any part of her.
Now equipped, Fluttershy aimed her hoof at a nearby group of Monoeyes. Flames erupted from the sole of her hoof, rapidly building onto each other until they formed a fireball almost the size of her body and launched itself forward. The fireball shot through several Mononeyes in its path, incinerating them as it went. Fluttershy turned her aim toward a couple of Paramushes, thin white monsters with orange mushroom-shaped parachutes attached to their heads, and a stream of smaller fireballs shot from her hoof.
But while Fluttershy was shooting at one group of monsters, a larger Underworld enemy consisting of a giant nose, a pair of glasses, and what looked to be a mustache emerged from the clouds to her left side. The creature was called a Specknose, and as it tilted itself back, two spherical black bombs flew out of its nostrils. Fluttershy spotted the bombs coming toward her out of the corner of her vision and jerked right, barely avoiding them. At the same time, another group of Monoeyes and Syrens fired their own attacks at her. Two of the Monoeyes’ blasts struck her, one in the shoulder and one in her chest.
A third attack by one of the Syrens struck her directly in the chest, throwing her back and knocking her wings out of their rhythmic beating. Fluttershy fell a few feet, but she felt her wings spring into action and flap harder to keep her airborne. Clutching her chest with her free hoof, she aimed her weapon hoof at a few of the Syrens.
“If you’re struggling with a large group of enemies, you can use a Special Attack,” Celestia said. “Just tap a blue circle on the touch screen to launch one. It’ll take out enemy fire too.”
Fluttershy stopped for a moment as she was aiming at a couple of Paramushes. “Celestia, what’s a touch screen?” she asked.
Celestia herself paused at the question and tried to recall her own words. “Was I just referring to the game’s controls?” she asked back.
“I think you were,” Fluttershy said while shooting at a group of Monoeyes.
“This is likely the author’s fault,” Celestia muttered. “When this is over, someone needs to tell him not to copy the game’s dialogue verbatim.”
“Okay…” Fluttershy murmured. “I’m not sure how that helps me now.”
A large fireball from her weapon burned through a pair of Syrens. Fluttershy looked around at her surroundings, but when all she saw was blue sky and thick clouds, she lowered her weapon. Seemingly, those were the last Underworld troops nearby, and as she was guided around the clouds by Celestia’s magic, she couldn’t discern any more enemies in the skies. That changed a moment later when she flew over one of the clouds and saw three creatures that resembled seemingly innocent orange flowers. Behind these three Daphnes, she could make out even more enemies flying in the distance.
“There’s more of them?” Fluttershy panted. She fired a blast from her palm at the Daphnes.
“At this rate, the power of flight will expire before they do,” Celestia said.
“What?!” Fluttershy said. “But what happens then?”
“At that point, you would have to fend off the remaining Underworld forces on land,” Celestia answered. “That won’t be easy.”
“Uh-oh,” Fluttershy murmured. She surveyed the clusters of visible monsters, wondering how long they would take to clear out. Her attention then turned toward the surrounding clouds, and she worried how many more troops there were that she still couldn’t see. It was then that a thought came to her mind. “What if we went after their commander?”
“That could work,” Celestia said. “But there’s something you should know. Their commander is Hewdraw.”
“Hewdraw?” Fluttershy asked.
“Think of it as a three-headed hydra, only much more serpentine,” Celestia said. She angled Fluttershy toward the right, in the direction of a small, distant cluster of Underworld enemies “And fortunately for us, there he is.”
Amongst the other Underworld troops, Fluttershy could discern a much larger serpent monster. The creature had three heads just as Celestia said, but what caught Fluttershy’s attention was that it was flying along with the rest of its forces despite lacking wings or any apparent means of flight. “He can fly?!” she said.
“I think the only one who can’t fly by herself is you,” Celestia replied.
Fluttershy’s thoughts turned for a moment toward her wings and the magic flowing through them. Rather than saying anything in response, she quietly frowned at Celestia’s comment.
“Don’t sulk, Fluttershy,” Celestia said. “But you’re right. Attacking the leader is our best option.”
The aura around Fluttershy’s wings flared. Her wings began to beat faster, propelling her toward the Hewdraw. Little by little, the monsters that flanked the Hewdraw broke off from the group and flew in her direction. Fluttershy fired her weapon at an oncoming Specknose. She then turned her aim toward a few Syrens and sent a stream of fireballs. Most of the creatures sped right by her as the power of flight kept her moving forward, giving her little chance to attack them at all, and with more enemies ahead, she didn’t chance a peek behind to see if they were taken out.
Before long, Fluttershy was flying just a short distance from the Underworld commander. Up close, the Hewdraw had purple scales covering much of its body, with white scales covering its underside. Red fins spread out at a few points on either side of its body, and its tail flared out into another red fin at the end. As for its heads, only the center one shared the purple hue of the rest of the body, while the head on the right was covered in blue scales and the one on the left with red. Each of the three heads had a small horn on its snout and a thin, bladed crest at the top of its head. Fluttershy flew out ahead of the Hewdraw, drawing the attention of all three heads.
“Hello there,” said the blue head on the right, speaking in a deep, brutish voice.
“It’s snack time,” the purple head in the center chimed in.
“Mm! What a tender little morsel!” the last head added in a somewhat nasal, elderly-sounding voice.
“Uh, let’s not be so hasty,” Fluttershy said nervously. She hovered a little further back from the heads, away from their massive jaws. “I’m not really a piece of meat.”
“What did you say?” the head on the left asked.
“Technically, you are,” the purple head said.
“Just come a little closer,” the blue head added.
“Get ready,” the center head said, “because it’s time for—”
“Total annih…”
“… -ing destruction!”
“Face-stomping…”
Aside from the rhythmic flapping of Fluttershy’s wings, everything fell silent. Fluttershy blinked a few times, while the Hewdraw heads turned to glare at one another. It seemed that the heads had all shouted their respective battle cries at the same time.
“It was my turn to have the last word!” the center head shouted.
“Oh, give it a rest,” muttered the blue Hewdraw head.
“Let’s not argue in front of company,” the red one implored.
“I'm so sick of you guys.”
“Me?! What did I do?!”
Before long, the three heads started talking over one another, making it almost impossible to hear any one head over the other two, let alone make out any of what they were saying. Meanwhile, Fluttershy continued to watch bemused as the heads argued amongst each other.
“This looks like a bad time,” Fluttershy said. “Should we come back later when they’re not bickering?”
“Did I mention I’m starving?!” one of the heads could be overheard saying.
“This is never going to end,” Celestia said, shaking her head. “Just go ahead and attack.”
Fluttershy held up her right foreleg in Hewdraw’s direction. She aimed her hoof at the blue head, and was about to fire when…
“EVERYONE SHUT UP AND FOCUS!” all three heads shouted at once.
Before Fluttershy knew what was happening, one of the Hewdraw heads opened its maw and lunged at Fluttershy. Fluttershy veered left, avoiding getting caught in its jaws. She shot several fireballs from her palm, but another head fired a volley of blue energy shots, and both volleys collided halfway.
A thin blade of energy fired from another head struck Fluttershy from the side. Fluttershy grunted softly and placed a hoof to her injured side. But when she looked up at the Hewdraw again, one of the heads took a deep breath, opened its mouth, and spat out a massive fireball. Fluttershy swerved left, getting out of the fireball’s path. Meanwhile, the center head opened its jaws, and a harsh yellow glow radiated from deep within its mouth. Fluttershy aimed her weapon hoof and shot a large fireball directly into its mouth. The fireball exploded on impact with the roof of the purple Hewdraw’s mouth, throwing its head backward and leaving it dazed. Fluttershy continued firing at it with a stream of smaller fireballs.
“You’re running out of time!” Celestia called out abruptly. “The power of flight is going to run out soon.”
“They weren’t this well coordinated when they were arguing with each other,” Fluttershy said. She flew up when one of the heads lunged at her again, pulling her legs in so they wouldn’t get caught in its teeth. “What do we do?”
“I’m preparing my Solar Flare spell,” Celestia said. “Once the spell is ready, I’ll unleash it on Hewdraw.”
Fluttershy descended sharply, dodging yet another lunge by the center Hewdraw head, and fired back with a blast to the creature’s throat. Her attack tore through its neck and took off the left head, causing it to fall from the rest of the body. Wide-eyed, Fluttershy looked from the charred yet surprisingly clean stub of its neck down to the severed head as it fell beneath the thick clouds, and then back to the main body. While her wings pulled her back, the other two heads didn’t seem bothered by the loss of the third head. The one on the right was already getting ready to attack, its mouth open and a yellow glow emanating from inside.
Fluttershy fired at the right head, but her shots collided with a stream of blue energy shots spat out by the left one. Once the right head finished charging its attack, it expelled a powerful stream of flames at her. The magic in Fluttershy’s wings quickly pulled her to her right, away from the searing flames. She then aimed the Burning Palm at the left head, which was about to spit out a fireball, and fired. The head recoiled back and Fluttershy followed with a stream of fireballs, eventually burning through its neck and severing its head.
The remaining Hewdraw head finally stopped exhaling fire, but when it turned toward the other two, it only saw the stubs of their necks. “Ah! I’m the only one left!” he yelped.
“Well technically, you were on the right,” Fluttershy said timidly.
“No biggie,” he said, sounding a bit more contented. “In fact, I feel great losing all that deadweight.”
“If you feel that way, then maybe you wouldn’t mind going home and promising not to hurt anypony?” Fluttershy suggested, perhaps a bit too hopefully.
“Aw, you’re so cute I could just eat you up,” the Hewdraw head cooed. “In fact…”
Fluttershy squeaked as her wings pulled her back, escaping another lunge from the surviving head.
Suddenly, bright yellow light shone on the Hewdraw from up above, growing in intensity and spreading across its entire body. “Fluttershy, I’m now ready to cast the Solar Flare spell,” Celestia said.
“Um, Princess Celestia?” Fluttershy stammered, watching as the ray of light expanded. “Maybe I shouldn’t be so close to—”
She was interrupted when an enormous beam of light struck the Hewdraw from above. The blast of light expanded, completely swallowing the Hewdraw, and Fluttershy screamed as the entire world around her was consumed in bright yellow and white. When the light faded away a few moments later, the Hewdraw’s body had become completely charred. The Hewdraw fell beneath the clouds while Fluttershy remained hovering in the air, pale, trembling, mouth agape, and taking short, shallow breaths.
“Y-You could have killed me with that!” she stammered.
“Oh... was that a bit excessive?” Celestia asked. With her magic, she tilted Fluttershy downward, bringing her into a descent. “Two of the heads escaped. You’ll have to pursue them.”
Fluttershy flew through the cloud cover on her way toward the ground. Past the clouds, a number of various Underworld enemies were moving in the same direction she was. Most of them were far ahead of her, and the ones that reached the ground flew off in one direction.
“W-Wait,” Fluttershy said. “What did you mean when you said two of the heads escaped?”
“Hewdraw heads can live without a body, Fluttershy,” Celestia started to explain. “So even though we’ve stopped their attack on Skyworld, those two heads are still alive somewhere on the earth below.”
“Oh no,” Fluttershy said. “And their army’s going with them too. If they find an earth pony town…”
“That’s why we’re going after them,” Celestia said.
Fluttershy pulled up from her descent as soon as she came close to ground level, going into a hover. A few Underworld monsters were lingering just above the ground around her. She aimed her right hoof at a Monoeye, only for it to fly off before she could fire. She tried to fire at another enemy, but each one she aimed at flew off in the same direction as the first. Even the few that spotted her paid her little attention and went with the others. She looked in the direction they were traveling, and to her dread she saw an earth pony town in the distance. Smoke billowed from several places behind its stone walls, and both Hewdraw heads could be seen flopping about like fish on land, throwing up dust and debris from any unfortunate buildings in their way.
“Uh-oh,” Fluttershy said. “This is bad.”
“Let’s hurry,” Celestia said.
With the power of flight in her wings, Fluttershy flew toward the town. She shot down a Specknose along the way with a fireball from her hoof and fired a stream of smaller fireballs at a few Monoeyes and Syrens. With very few hills or trees dotting the land, and the handful of monsters, Fluttershy quickly reached the town walls. She pulled up into an ascent, her wings flapping harder, and she soared high above the town. Her flight path circled above the town as she looked for the Hewdraw heads, but even from a bird’s eye view the only sign of them she found were the damaged and burning buildings left in their wake. She couldn’t even find any of their troops, except for a few Syrens flying below her which she soon fired at.
“I don’t see the Hewdraw heads anywhere,” Fluttershy said.
“They’re somewhere in the town, but you will have to search on hoof,” Celestia said. “The power of flight will run out soon.” She angled Fluttershy’s flight path down toward the heavy wooden doors that made up the town’s southern entrance and prepared to set her down.
* * * * * * * * * *
Fluttershy came to a rough landing just inside the town, her hooves skidding on the cobblestones as she touched down. As the bright yellow aura surrounding her wings dissolved and she folded her wings at her sides, she looked around at her surroundings. Rectangular yellow brick buildings stood close together on either side of the streets. Very few trees, flowerbeds, or any kind of ornamentation adorned the streets and buildings, giving the town a cramped, uniform appearance. A few of the houses had taken damage during the attack, and debris was scattered around them. Except for her, not a single pony was outside.
“Looks like everypony’s gone into hiding,” she said.
“They should be safe, but you need to find those Hewdraw heads before they cause any more damage,” Celestia said.
Fluttershy moved from the south gate and started down the main street. It didn’t take her very far before she stopped at a burning pile of rubble that blocked off the street. She turned right into a narrow alley, where two Gyrazors were shooting at the side of a building. She shot down one after the other and continued down the alley, which led her into a small courtyard.
A set of stairs led up from the other side of the courtyard and continued onto another narrow street. Near the top of the stairs, Fluttershy saw two Underworld monsters floating above the ground. Their bodies were both round, transparent and blue, with a gelatinous appearance that gave them a resemblance to jellyfish. Three red nuclei were visible inside their bodies, though instead of a jellyfish’s tentacles, four sharp mandibles extended from their undersides.
“Ranged attacks won’t harm those Komaytos,” Celestia said. “You’ll need to attack them from up close… for whatever reason.”
Fluttershy watched as the Komaytos floated down the stairs toward her. “Can’t I just use the Ice Beam and fire five Missiles?” she asked.
“Wrong game, wrong franchise, and you don’t have an Ice Beam,” Celestia said.
Fluttershy backed away as the Komaytos moved toward her. Her mind lingered on what those mandibles might do to her if they latched on, and the prospect of attacking them at close quarters did not appeal to her at all. She took a deep breath, steeling herself as best as she could, and charged. Her weapon hoof slammed into one Komayto, flames magnifying across her foreleg on impact.
Fluttershy slid to a stop on her other hooves, then turned around and threw a fiery punch at the other Komayto. Both creatures’ bodies burst on impact, and Fluttershy breathed a small sigh of relief. “That wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be,” she thought out loud. She went up the rest of the stairs and continued her search of the town.
“You seem to be more comfortable using a palm weapon,” Celestia said.
“Oh, yeah,” Fluttershy said. “I don’t even have to carry anything, so it’s a little more convenient.”
“Palms are somewhat different from other weapon types,” Celestia said. “They’re designed to fit your foreleg like a tattoo or sleeve, and their magic feeds off your life force whenever they’re used.”
Fluttershy stopped dead in her tracks. “Feeds off my life force?” she said, looking down the length of her emblazed leg until she reached the palm embedded in her hoof. “Are you saying the more I fight with this thing, the sooner I’ll die?!”
“No, not at all,” Celestia said calmly. “You may use the palm as much as you like without any ill effects, I assure you.”
Fluttershy frowned, and then set off on hoof again. “If it’s alright with you, I’d like to find those Hewdraw heads as quickly as possible,” she said. Despite Celestia’s reassurances, the first thing she wanted to do after this was over was remove the palm from her hoof. She doubted she would ever want to put it back on.
Fluttershy’s search brought her to the front gate of an enclosed circular courtyard. An alleyway to her right led around the courtyard, while the gate in front of her was closed and locked tight. She turned into the alley and continued her search.
“Stop right there!” Celestia called out.
“Huh?”
Suddenly, one of the Hewdraw heads crashed through a wall ahead of Fluttershy and landed in the alley. Fluttershy screamed and jumped back. One of her hooves stumbled, causing her to fall onto her haunches. The Hewdraw head crashed into the house in front of it, demolishing it in the process, and continued on its path.
“It appears we’ve found one of the Hewdraw heads,” Celestia said.
“Th-That came out of nowhere!” Fluttershy said, still trembling on the ground.
“We’ll need the head to stay in one place,” Celestia said. “Find a way into the courtyard. I may have something in mind.”
Fluttershy stood back up and approached what was left of the demolished house. The Hewdraw head was already gone by then, and peering past the skeletal remains of the walls only showed her the rows of houses on the adjacent street. Gingerly, she stepped over pieces of debris strewn about in the wake of the destroyed structures and made her way through the alley. She reached another gate leading into the courtyard, this one having been left wide open, and stepped inside.
“Okay, now what?”
“Now we lure the Hewdraw here,” Celestia said.
Soft fuchsia light began to fill the space of the courtyard, blotting out the rest of the town and the skies above. Some of the light wafted around Fluttershy, coalescing into small, glowing dots that rested on her coat like bright, colored snowflakes. The light dissipated from the courtyard a few seconds later, including the dotlike particles that had stuck to her coat. Fluttershy blinked a few times, unsure what if anything just happened or what to make of it.
“Um… what was that?” she asked.
Suddenly, a powerful crash reverberated against one of the surrounding walls, shaking the area slightly. The crash sounded again, and one of the Hewdraw heads smashed through the wall and landed in the courtyard. Fluttershy yelped and ran toward the other side of the courtyard as the head flopped toward the center.
“That was a monster pheromone spell,” Celestia said. “Monsters are irresistibly enticed by it, and now it’s all over you.”
“What?!” Fluttershy yelled. “Are you trying to kill me?!”
“Did you do something with your mane?” the Hewdraw head asked. “You’re suddenly looking very attractive.”
The head jumped forward, springing off its lower jaw while trying to bite after her. Fluttershy recognized the nasally voice, and from its red scales she could tell that this was the left Hewdraw head. She ran along the edge of the courtyard, trying to get out of its path, and shot a fireball at it.
“Fortunately, the pheromone only attracted one of the heads,” Celestia said. “I was worried that you would have to contend with both of them.”
“And you still went through with it?!” Fluttershy said. “They would’ve killed me for sure!”
The Hewdraw head tried to rotate itself in Fluttershy’s direction, though with some difficulty. Fluttershy shot another fireball from her palm, throwing the Hewdraw head into the air, but when it landed back on the ground, it found itself facing her. The head roared and charged after her, jaws biting down with each jump. Fluttershy galloped out of its path, causing it to slam into the wall instead.
“I have a special treat for you,” the Hewdraw head said, turning itself back around to face Fluttershy. “But you have to come get it!”
“I wouldn’t trust him if I were you,” Celestia said.
“Why shouldn’t she?” he said. “Look at this face! I’m totally trustworthy!” The head jumped forward again, slamming its jaws together hungrily.
Fluttershy kept her distance from the Hewdraw head as it flopped after her. She fired at it again, but even as her blasts scorched the side of its face, the head kept coming after her.
“I may have to make some modifications to the monster pheromone spell,” Celestia said. “It’s difficult to tell if the Hewdraw head is exhibiting lust or just bloodlust.”
“I don’t think either one is better right now,” Fluttershy whimpered under her breath.
She shot another fireball at the Hewdraw head. Seemingly unfazed, the head roared and lunged across the courtyard after her. Fluttershy ran to the side, letting it slam into the wall instead, and sent another fireball behind her. The head flew back a few feet and landed on its side with a thud, mouth hanging open and not moving. Fluttershy watched it for a few moments, waiting for some movement or sound to come from the head, but it lay completely still. Her weapon hoof ready, she slowly took a few small steps toward it. After a few steps, she could smell the pungent odor of its burnt flesh, but she hesitated to go any closer.
“You can relax,” Celestia said. “This one won’t be getting back up. And I don’t think I’ll be using the monster pheromone in the future.”
Fluttershy breathed a deep sigh of relief. “I would hope not,” she said. She turned around and went toward another gate that led out of the courtyard.
“What I mean is I won’t need to use it,” Celestia said.
“You won’t?” Fluttershy asked.
“No, because I’ve located the other head,” Celestia said. “Go to the lake outside of town. It will be there regenerating its body.”
“It can do that?”
“Yes, and that makes it all the more vital that we find it soon.”
“Okay,” Fluttershy said. Once outside the courtyard, she traced her path from the south gate in her mind. From her brief flight over the town, she remembered there being a lake outside the northwest wall. She turned northwest, and seeing the town wall off in the distance, she started in that direction. “You said Hewdraw was supposed to be like a hydra, right? Isn’t this the exact opposite of one?”
“I suppose it is,” Celestia said. “But would you really rather fight a headless Hewdraw?”
“At least there’d only be one of it…” Fluttershy said. “And if it was headless, I’d be done by now.”
She came up to a shallow stream that seemed to cut through a section of the town. Though quite shallow, the current flowed swiftly enough that she would have trouble if she tried wading through it. However, it was moving toward the lake, the same direction she was heading. Fluttershy felt a sense of anxiety building in her chest as she followed the tributary downstream, realizing what was waiting for her at the end. She wondered how long it would take for it to regrow its body, and what she would have to deal with. “You don’t think it’ll have three heads again, do you?” she asked. “The Hewdraw, I mean.”
“I would hope not,” Celestia said. “Their bickering was intolerable.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was worried about…” Fluttershy murmured.
The stream eventually led her near the town’s northwest wall, where it flowed through a tunnel that was built into the lower wall and sealed off with iron bars. Off to the left, one of the roads led to a side gate not too far from the stream. Fluttershy started toward the gate, but only reached a circular intersection in the street when three Underworld troops appeared directly in her path: a Daphne, a Komayto, and a third enemy that consisted of a large, fleshy red ball covered in spines, known as a Minos.
The Daphne’s orange petals opened, and it released a cluster of purple flowers and thorns. Fluttershy jumped away from the slow-moving mass, letting it pass by and detonate in a fiery explosion behind her, and fired back with her Burning Palm. Her attack hit the Minos, and as flames splashed over its body, it swelled to nearly twice its size and started flashing white. Fluttershy backed away worriedly, and when the Minos began pulsating, she turned and ran back. She took cover in an alley behind the nearest house. Moments later she heard the Minos’ body burst and saw several of its spines shoot across the street.
When she emerged from the alley, the three monsters that were there before were gone. In their place, two Ganewmedes stood on either side of a towering bivalve monster known as a Mega Mussel. The two halves of the third creature’s shell were held open by a sinewy purple pillar, around which three pink pearls circled. Fluttershy approached the three enemies, but stopped when she noticed a grenade much like the one she found in an earlier mission lying at her hooves. She took the grenade into her hoof and tossed it at the Mega Mussel. The grenade exploded on impact, wiping out all three monsters in the resulting blast.
Two more items lay on the ground at the intersection: a small, round, dark gray rocket with a white arrow drawn on its side and a fairly large yellow shield just big enough for a pony to hide behind. Fluttershy walked over to pick up the rocket first, but as soon as she placed a hoof on it, it abruptly fired off and launched into the air. Bemused, she did little more than blink and watch as the rocket disappeared into the sky.
After a while, Fluttershy turned her attention to the shield, but when she touched it with her hoof, it spun around and floated behind her. She tried to turn around, but the shield moved with her, always staying behind her haunches. Realizing that the shield was meant to protect her backside, she left it alone.
Another Underworld enemy, this one resembling a totem pole, rose out of the ground in the center of the intersection. The creature, known as a Stackjaw, consisted of a scaly green top segment with eyes and four metal blue segments each with an open mouth on the front. Two more monsters dropped into the intersection from above: a Syren and a thin purple creature wearing what looked like a straw skirt and giant eyeballs on the ends of its arms.
A drumbeat began to play at a fast, repeating tempo, seemingly coming from nowhere, as the third monster moved its hips and danced in place. Fluttershy stared at the bizarre creature, her eyes totally fixed on its strange appearance, its swaying hips, and the shaking of its eyeballs as if they were pompoms. She turned away from it, and she managed to catch a glimpse of the Stackjaw as its bottom three segments rotated and fired lasers from their mouths, but she found herself gazing at the dancing monster again. She tried to focus on anything else, especially the other two enemies, but found it impossible to tear herself away from it.
A strong, spiraling gust of wind launched by the Syren slammed into Fluttershy, lifting her off the ground. She fell back down, but was hit by a sweep of the Stackjaw’s lasers before hitting the ground. She brought her hooves under her and stood back up, but the sound of the drumbeat echoed in her head, and before she knew it she was staring at the dancing monster again.
“Something’s wrong,” Fluttershy stammered. “I-I can’t take my eyes off that thing!”
“That is a Merenguy,” Celestia said. “Its peculiar dance has a hypnotic effect on those near it. You won’t be able to look away from it as long as it keeps moving, nor will the Back Shield you’ve found be of any use.
Fluttershy aimed her weapon hoof at the Merenguy, deciding that she needed to take it out, when she heard a soft, high-pitched whistling in the air above. The whistling grew steadily louder with each passing second until a rocket crashed into the ground, exploding on impact. The heat and pressure hit Fluttershy as the explosion enveloped the entire intersection, yet even as the flames swirled around her they didn’t burn or even singe her coat or tunic, leaving her completely unharmed.
Eventually the explosion subsided, and when the air around the street cleared enough, Fluttershy took a look around. The Merenguy that had so hypnotized her earlier was nowhere to be found, as was the Syren that had been flying around, both wiped out by the flames. It dawned on her a moment later where that rocket came when she remembered setting off the rocket with the white arrow a minute earlier.
However, the Stackjaw in the center of the street had also emerged relatively unscathed from the blast and was still rotating in place. Fluttershy turned away and tried to take cover as it made another sweep with its lasers, but was surprised when they passed by her harmlessly. Turning her head back, she saw the yellow Back Shield still hovering behind her flanks and still intact.
Fluttershy brought her attention to the Stackjaw, held up her weapon hoof, and fired. The first large fireball from her palm blasted apart the topmost column, and the next column under it crumbled after a stream of smaller fireballs. She spun around as the Stackjaw made another sweep, letting the Back Shield take the hit from its last remaining laser, and fired back.
After another volley from the Burning Palm, the last few segments of the Stackjaw’s body crumbled away. Fluttershy lowered her weapon hoof and walked down the street toward the northeast gate. The Back Shield flashed for a brief second, and by the time she turned her head back it had already faded away. Continuing on, she saw a wooden sign posted a couple of feet away from the gate. A thick arrow carved into the face of the wood pointed forward in the direction of the lake, which according to the sign was named…
“That Burning Lake?” Fluttershy read aloud. She raised an eyebrow. “Is the lake actually on fire?”
“Nothing like that,” Celestia answered. “The lake is simply named after this adjoining town.”
“This place is called ‘That Burning Town?’” Fluttershy said, her tone just as incredulous as it was before. She turned to look back at the rest of the town, where smoke still billowed from several locations.
“As difficult as it may be to believe,” Celestia replied. “Evidently it’s to set this town apart from That First Town, which you visited during an earlier mission.”
“Which was also on fire,” Fluttershy added, thinking back to Nightmare Moon’s attack a few days ago.
Fluttershy turned her head back toward the gate. After a brief pause, she pushed the gate open and started down the footpath to the lake.
* * * * * * * * * *
Past the northeast gate, beyond the winding footpath that snaked between a few thin trees, Fluttershy had arrived at the shore of the lake. The third Hewdraw head, its body fully regrown and mostly submerged beneath the calm blue water, rose above the lake’s surface and faced Fluttershy.
“So you finished off the others, eh?” he said.
Fluttershy stared back at the face of the monster, not saying a word. She drew in an anxious breath and exhaled, then gulped.
“Then you’ve saved the best for last,” he roared. “Let’s get down to business!”
The Hewdraw’s roar washed over Fluttershy in galelike fashion, blowing her mane and tail back while prompting her to duck her head and shut her eyes against it. Fluttershy looked up once the roar ended, only to run as the Hewdraw spat out several fireballs one at a time. She leapt out of the way of the last fireball and fired back with a blast from her palm, hitting its lower jaw.
The Hewdraw’s head recoiled from the impact of the flames, but it responded by letting out another powerful roar. Fluttershy ducked her head again as the gale-force roar beat against her, blowing back her mane and even making her slide back on her hooves. Once the roar ceased, she aimed her hoof and fired another blast at the Hewdraw’s snout. The Hewdraw jerked back as flames singed parts of its face. It shook off the attack and dipped downward, diving into the lake.
After waiting for the Hewdraw to resurface, and a few moments’ hesitation, Fluttershy stepped closer to the lake’s edge. Two glowing orange spheres appeared where it had once been and began to drift left and right over the water’s surface. The Hewdraw swam directly beneath them, staying completely submerged and barely visible from where Fluttershy stood on the shore. Fluttershy followed its movement with her hoof and sent a stream of fireballs from her palm, but her shots only sent ripples through the water surface, barely going any deeper.
“Aim for the spheres of light hovering over the lake,” Celestia said. “They may be a more suitable target.”
Fluttershy turned her attention to the glowing orbs and aimed her palm. But the Hewdraw swam closer to water’s surface, letting its body briefly break the surface, and two large, pointed scales detached from its body and hurled themselves at Fluttershy. The first scale collided with a fireball from her weapon, causing the fireball to burst in midair, break apart, and fall to the water. The second scale homed in on her and slammed into her left wing, sending a sharp pain through her wing and knocking her to the ground.
Bringing her legs underneath her, Fluttershy pushed herself back up onto her hooves just as two more scales came off the Hewdraw’s body and flew at her. She ducked under one of the projectile scales, sidestepped away from the other, and lifted her hoof to fire at one of the orange spheres. One of her shots hit one of the two spheres, dislodging it and causing it to drop into the water. Seconds later, an explosion detonated beneath the lake’s surface, sending up a massive column of water into the air. Droplets of water rained back down on the shore while Fluttershy squinted out at the lake, looking for the Hewdraw.
Suddenly a powerful crash sounded directly behind Fluttershy, shaking the ground and causing her to jump. She skittishly turned around and was about to back away, only to see the Hewdraw lying in a half-circle along the shore, dazed and squirming on the ground. Calming down a bit, she fired at the creature, first with a single large fireball and then with a continuous stream of smaller shots.
The Hewdraw lashed about on the ground, startling Fluttershy enough for her to stop firing, and eventually slithered back into the water. It didn’t emerge from the water again, and instead another two spheres of light appeared and hovered over the lake: one orange like the previous two, and one purple. Fluttershy shot at the glowing orbs, hitting only the purple one. But instead of dropping into the water, the sphere burst into several smaller beams of light and flew at her. Fluttershy jumped to the side to avoid the oncoming projectiles. As they shot past her, another purple orb of light appeared over the lake to replace the first one.
“It would be best if you targeted the orange spheres only,” Celestia said.
Fluttershy raised her hoof, this time aiming at the glowing orange orb. “At least we know the purple ones are coming from the Hewdraw,” she said.
“Actually, I’m sensing that both of them are being generated by the Hewdraw,” Celestia said.
Fluttershy paused in mid-aim. “Wait, why is it making the orange ones if they hurt him?”
Suddenly the Hewdraw emerged beneath the orange sphere and swallowed it whole. Light emanated from within its mouth, and beams of energy shot out and barraged Fluttershy in a massive salvo, throwing her back and sending her sliding painfully across the ground.
“That might be why,” Celestia said, almost audibly wincing.
Fluttershy grunted as she pushed herself back off the ground with her hooves. “Ow,” she said, still feeling the sting from many of the energy shots. The Hewdraw had dove back into water, and another orange orb appeared to replace the last one.
Aiming her palm, Fluttershy fired at the orange sphere, dropping it into the lake. Just as before, it detonated underwater, sending a column of water and the Hewdraw up into the air. The stunned Hewdraw crashed onto the shore with a loud thud, while Fluttershy took the opportunity to fire at it.
The Hewdraw writhed and thrashed about violently, not managing to slam into anything yet prompting Fluttershy to stop shooting. It pushed itself along the shore and slithered back into the water. Fluttershy watched the surface of the lake cautiously, waiting for something to happen, but apart from the small waves and ripples that moved across its surface the water remained still and quiet.
Eventually the Hewdraw’s head rose wearily out of the water, swaying from side to side as it faced the shore. Fluttershy held up her weapon hoof and kept it steady, but didn’t shoot. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she exhaled sharply, but she just continued to eye the Hewdraw.
The Hewdraw didn’t try to attack either. If anything, it looked like it could barely hold itself upright. Burns were visible on the scales of its head and body, and its head sagged heavily as it gazed at Fluttershy. “Look how far you’ve come, Fluttershy. I’m proud of you,” he said. The Hewdraw fell back and collapsed into the lake. Moments later, another explosion detonated beneath the lake’s surface, sending a column of water into the air again.
Fluttershy lowered her hoof back to the ground as droplets of water gently fell on her, and she let out a sigh of relief. “You don’t normally meet such nice monsters,” she said. Blood trickled from under the plumage of her right wing, which throbbed painfully. Her chest and sides felt sore from many of the hits she’d taken, now more noticeable as she felt the adrenaline wear off, and she bent down to rest on her knees.
“Relatively speaking, of course,” Celestia said. The last droplets of water finally settled, and a rainbow formed over the lake. For a moment, Fluttershy thought she could see a pony’s face in the rainbow, but before she could double-check, a ray of yellow light shone on her and she was taken back home.