Gone With the Wendigo (2/3)
Part 2
Dean was a little surprised to see that the barn was, in fact, just a barn, full of hay and farm equipment and barrels. There were no animals living in it that he could see, which he supposed made some kind of sense. After all, if horses all walked around talking and having jobs and things, who was to say that other animals didn't, too? He shot a glance at Sam as Applejack opened the door, and Sam looked back, even managing a pony version of a shrug.
"You folks expecting something different?" Applejack asked, a note of amusement in her voice. "I can't imagine what a human barn might look like."
"No, ma'am," Sam said. "This is pretty much it."
"That's Applejack, now," she told him. "Or AJ, if you like. You're guests here at Sweet Apple Acres, and there's no need for any 'ma'am'ing."
Sam nodded. "Thanks. You'll barely notice we're here."
He trotted right on inside, and Dean flashed Applejack a smile before following.
"Any spot in particular you'd rather we crash?" he asked.
"Anywhere's good, so long as you don't break anything. We just finished up the last of the applebuck season this morning, so we won't be in and out on you."
"The . . . what season?"
"Applebuck? It's what we call the harvest."
"Ah." Dean wasn't sure when exactly the apple harvest was back home, but he was moderately sure it wasn't late winter. Not that it was exactly wintery around here. And he'd never spent that much time in an apple orchard, anyway. Speaking of. . . . "You guys don't have a tradition of sacrificing travelers to appease the god of the harvest, do you?"
Applejack stared, one eye significantly wider open than the other, then turned to trot off. "Humans sure are weird."
"I'll take that as a no."
Sam had already laid claim to one of the haystacks, stretched out on his stomach on top of what looked like a large saddle blanket. "So," he said, when Dean had closed the door behind him. "She seems nice."
"She's the least crazy pony we've met, I'll give you that."
"She's very orange."
"Says the purple unicorn."
"You know that being a purple unicorn doesn't actually invalidate everything I say, right?"
"Go to sleep, Sam."
Dean found a spot on a haystack nearer the door and spent a few moments circling it, trying to work out the best position to lie down in as a horse. How the hell did horses sleep, anyway? And why was he expecting horses in this world to work like horses back home?
Eventually, he just kind of threw himself down sideways, all four legs sticking out in front of him. That got uncomfortable rather fast, though, so he flopped onto his back, bending his front legs up close to his chest. That worked for awhile before he flailed his way onto his stomach, the hay digging into his chin. Sam had the right idea with that saddle blanket, he decided. The hay was itchy. He rolled around a bit longer, then groaned and wobbled to his feet, glancing at Sam. His brother was fast asleep. Probably the first time he'd gotten to sleep without Lucifer bugging him in a long time, assuming he hadn't shown up as a red goat or something and Sam just hadn't said anything. Dean sighed and Sam stirred, settling back down again when Dean froze.
Right. Dean would just go sit outside for a bit, let Sam get his rest.
The sun had made its way a good ways into the sky, now, and the day was really bright compared to the dim interior of the barn. Dean sat just to the side of the door, basking in it for a moment, and wondered if ponies got sunburned. All that fur had to be good for something, right?
He heard something shuffling nearby and opened his eyes to see a massive red horse with a green apple on his flank and a harness over his shoulders sitting on the other side of the door. Dean looked him over and inclined his head. "Hey."
The horse nodded back, chewing on the piece of straw sticking out of his mouth. "Howdy."
"You Applejack's . . ." What the hell would the ponies call it around here? ". . . Stallion-friend?"
The other horse looked appalled. "Nope."
Dean nodded. "Brother," he guessed.
"Eeyup."
Not much one for chit chat, this one. "I'm Dean."
"Big Macintosh."
"That's a hell of a name."
"Eeyup."
Dean sat watching him chew on his straw for a few more moments. "Okay, then."
"Guldurnit all to heck!" cried a shaky, old lady kind of voice from the other side of the barn. "Big Macintosh, where did you get yerself off to? Just because the other signs haven't shown themselves yet don't mean you can be all lackadaisicalial about the zap apple harvest!"
Big Macintosh lowered his head with a soft sigh, then stood up. "Over here, Granny," he called. "Just meeting AJ's guest."
"Oh, who has that filly brought home with her this time, then?" A somewhat shriveled-looking green pony with white hair and a sagging jawline made her wobbling way around the corner of the barn and squinted at Dean. "Well hello there. Granny Smith, at yer service." She offered a hoof to shake at the barn door. Big Macintosh reached out one leg and gently nudged it over to where Dean was actually standing.
"Nice to meet you, ma'am," Dean said, putting on his most polite, oh-no-I-have-only-the-best-intentions-towards-your-daughter tone while he awkwardly lifted his hoof in return. "Dean Winchester."
She wrapped her leg around his in a way that defied skeletal structure and shook with abandon. "What was that, sonny? Bean Who-sister?"
"Dean Winchester. Ma'am."
"Well nice to make yer acquaintance, Bee Withersman! I'm Granny Smith."
Dean shot Big Macintosh a look. Big Macintosh just shrugged.
"Now," Granny was saying. "What can I do ya for?"
"We're, uh, just passing through," Dean said, speaking as loudly as he could without actually shouting at her. "My brother and I just needed a place to rest for a bit."
"Well'n what in tarnation are ya doin' out here in all the sun? You want a nap, you'll be wantin' to at least be in the barn!" Granny shook her head and squinted over at Big -- hell, Dean was going to start calling him Mac. "Well, go on, open the door for him!"
Mac looked over at Dean. Dean shook his head. "Thanks, Granny," he said. "But I'm alright out here."
"Well phooey! If you're havin' trouble sleeping, I got just the thing!" She hooked one of her front legs over Dean's neck and yanked him down to her, pressing her cheek against his. She smelled like old people and apples, which Dean supposed made about as much sense as anything else in this world. "C'mon, sonny. I'll get you fixed up right quick." And she started walking towards the house without letting go of his neck. Dean had to hunch down and follow along just to make sure he didn't dislocate her leg. "Daisy Jo'll be here any minute with the milk delivery, just you wait and see!"
He was being offered -- ordered, really -- warm milk by an elderly green pony who ran an apple farm. "You know, I should really just stick close to my brother --"
"Fiddlesticks, he'll be just fine in there. I'll have Big Macintosh keep an eye on him for you. Won't you, Big Mac?"
"Eeyup!" Mac called, from where he was still stationed outside the barn.
"Now let's see, we'll get you some warm milk and then if that doesn't work, then I'll try telling you a nice story. That always puts Apple Bloom right to sleep! Oh, here's Daisy Jo now!" Granny finally let go of Dean's neck to flail her hoof in the air at an approaching dairy cow. "Hello, Daisy Jo!"
"Good mooooorning, Granny!" said the cow in a thick Wisconsin accent.
Really. It was like they were punking him.
*
Dean managed to pass on the warm milk through a complex series of excuses, claims of lactose intolerance, fake yawns, and when all of that didn't work, a quick "what the heck is that?!" while pointing over Granny's shoulder before dumping the milk out in a nearby plant and pretending to have drunk it down himself.
It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the gesture. It was just super weird to drink warm milk from a cow you'd just made small talk with. Especially when you knew it was warm because it was fresh, straight from the udder into a glass. Dean didn't know where that cow had been.
Rather than risk a second round of coddling from Granny, Dean ducked out and went to hide in the barn again. Sam was still fast asleep, having rolled onto his back, and was now snoring cartoonishly, loud enough that Dean half expected to see the rafters start shaking. It was hard to tell the time in the dimness of the barn, but Dean figured they probably had at least another hour or two before Twilight would be ready with her findings. Lord knew it sometimes took Bobby awhile to find anything, and he didn't have stocks of things like The Adventures of Daring-Do, whatever that was, cluttering up his shelves. He knew he should really try to get some sleep, but something about the whole business of being a blue pony was messing with his system. He just couldn't get relaxed. He felt like he was almost at Pinkie Pie levels of restlessness, and that was a pony who definitely could use some meds.
After pacing around the barn for what had to be a good half an hour, Dean heard the door creak open. He looked over to see Applejack peering in, silhouetted in the bright sunlight from outside. At least, he had to assume it was Applejack. She was the only pony around that he'd seen wearing a cowboy hat.
"Still up, huh sugarcube?" Applejack asked, slipping past the door and pushing it softly shut behind her. "Granny said you were having trouble sleeping. I thought maybe I'd check on ya."
"Thanks," Dean grunted. He wasn't sure how he felt about how much attention Applejack and her family were paying to his sleeping habits. He wondered if normal people had this many people watching over them. He wondered if the loneliness of just him and Sam on the road would be harder to take, now. "Nice family you got here."
"You ain't even met Apple Bloom, yet. She's in school, just now."
"She your . . . daughter?"
"Aw heck no!" Applejack scoffed, looking mildly offended. "My little sister. I ain't old enough to have a filly Apple Bloom's age."
"Sorry, I'm not really great at guessing the ages of ponies."
"I reckon it must be really different for you, here." Applejack sat down, tilting her head. "You and your brother looked fit to just about lose your eyeballs back at Twilight's. I can't say I know much about human tales. Lyra's the pony to go to for those, but she's off visiting relatives in Philly-delphia."
"It's actually not as different as you might think," Dean mused. "I mean, yeah, we're not all different colored ponies, but we have families and barns and farms and towns, like you guys do."
"Is it true you all walk up on your hind legs like minotaurs?"
They had minotaurs around here. Good to know.
"Yeah. Well, you know, on two legs. Two legs, two arms, thumbs." Dean looked down at his front hooves. "Man, I miss thumbs."
"I can't even imagine." Applejack shook her head. "But I've never been a big fan of fantasy as a genre."
"Uh, yeah." Dean shook his head. "You seem pretty down to earth."
"That's me. Just a simple farm girl. I tried the big city life for a while, back when I was about Apple Bloom's age, but it just didn't fit, you know?"
"Yeah, I get that." Dean had never been a huge fan of spending more than a couple weeks in a city. Not that he was used to spending more than a couple of weeks anywhere else. "Must be nice to know where you belong."
"Come now," Applejack held up a hoof. "I know you and your brother are some ways from home, but we'll figure a way to get you on back there, don't you worry. Twilight's the smartest pony I know. She even trained under Princess Celestia. If anyone can find it, she can."
"Right." Dean smiled ruefully. "You know, I used to have a friend just like that, could find anything about anything." He sighed. "Had one with wings, too. Man, what I wouldn't give to have either of them around here."
He tried to picture Bobby and Cas as ponies. Cas would be a pegasus, of course, maybe with a bit of unicorn thrown in for good measure. Bobby . . . Bobby would probably be more like Applejack, all no-nonsense and down to Earth. He'd just be grumpier.
No, that wasn't right. Applejack was more Ellen than Bobby, and not just because she was female. If Ellen and Jo were ponies, they'd definitely fit right in with the Apple family.
Applejack seemed to sense where his mood was headed and offered him a small, sad smile. "You want me to leave you alone for a bit, sugar? Let you try and get a couple winks in?"
Dean shook his head. "Nah. It's nice to have someone other than the Purple Wonder over there to talk to, sometimes."
"Well alright, then." Applejack settled down further, until she was lying down, one front hoof crossed over the other, her head up and her tail curling out along the floor. Dean mimicked the pose, surprised to find it rather comfortable. "Tell me more about the human world, then. Why, I hear you folk just let the weather do whatever it pleases!"
Dean snorted. "'Let' isn't really the word for it, sister."
And they lay there, chatting back and forth like -- well, he guessed like friends, Sam snoring his fool head off behind them, right up until Rainbow Dash came knocking on the door to tell them that Twilight had something to report.
*
"I couldn't find much," Twilight said when they arrived back at her tree, Sam still rubbing sleep out of his eyes with his hoof. "Just a couple mentions of the 'Winchester Prophecy' in the book about the Elements of Harmony and a couple other texts. From what I can tell, it's mostly just about how you'll show up at a time of chaos and fear, when Equestria faces a great, unprecedented threat."
"Unprecedented, huh?" Dean sighed. "Man, I hate those."
"Unprecedented for you?" Sam asked. "Or for us?"
"Both?" Twilight shrugged. "Like I said, there really isn't much. But since this was all written by the great ponies of old, I'm guessing it'll be something Equestria's never seen before."
Sam nodded along. "Zecora's book had an illustration, a pair of eyes and the outline of a monster. Do you have anything like that?"
"Yup. I think it's probably the same book, even." Twilight turned to the stack of books on the low table in the corner, floating one over and flipping through it. "Here we go. This what you meant?" She turned the book around to face Sam, and Dean leaned over to get another look. It was the same drawing, alright, the ponies fleeing from a standing figure surrounded by trees, with those leering yellow eyes hovering in the background.
"I don't suppose pony eyes come in yellow?" he asked. Twilight shrugged and nodded, and Dean felt himself relax slightly. "Probably not Azazel, then."
"Azazel's dead, Dean," Sam said. "It is pretty creepy, though."
Rainbow Dash and Applejack, who'd accompanied them back, exchanged a look, but didn't interrupt. Dean shot them a glance and a small shrug. It'd take too long to try to explain. He looked back at the illustration and tilted his head.
"Hang on." He reached out a hoof and tapped the silhouetted figure. "We've seen that shape before, Sam."
Sam scowled. "Yeah, I was just thinking that."
"What?" Twilight asked. "What is it?"
"Looks like you folks might have yourselves a wendigo."
He expected a gasp of shock, maybe. A look of confusion, at the very least. He didn't expect Twilight to try and correct him on his pronunciation.
"You mean a windy-go," she said.
"Uh, no. Wendigo."
"Uh, no," Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes. "We know what a windy-go is. We starred in Canterlot's Hearth's Warming Eve pageant this year and everything."
"Fine then, smart ass," Dean said. "What's a 'windy-go'?"
Rainbow Dash scowled, leaning in for an angry retort, only to get bumped aside by Twilight. "A windy-go is a wind spirit," she explained. "They ride up above the clouds, bringing snow storms and feeding off disharmony. Ponies who aren't careful can get frozen solid."
"That's not what we're talking about," Sam said. "Wendigoes are creatures who used to be human. They live in the woods for hundreds of years, coming out every twenty years or so to feed."
"And they definitely aren't living off of any 'disharmony'," Dean added. "They prefer flesh."
"They eat ponies?" Applejack asked with a gasp.
"Sure," Sam said. "They'll eat whatever they can get their hands on. And they're fast enough to get their hands on just about anything. They prefer people, though."
"You mean they eat other humans?" Rainbow Dash shook her head. "That is so messed up."
"That's kind of the point, yeah," Dean said with a smirk. "'Swhy they're called monsters."
"And you think one of these . . . wen-di-goes is here? In Equestria?"
"It makes sense," Dean said. "It could easily have scared off the birds, even freaked out the timber wolves. And if what Rarity said earlier is true, then it sounds like it was out stalking by her house last night."
All three of the other ponies shuddered. "But wait," Rainbow Dash said. "What about the clouds?"
"I have a theory about that," Sam said. "But I think our first priority right now needs to be stopping the wendigo. It's hard enough to catch one during the day. At night, it's pretty much a perfect hunter."
Twilight nodded. "Rainbow, go get the other girls. Ponyville's in trouble, and it's up to us to protect it!"
Dean blinked at her enthusiasm and leaned his head over towards Applejack. "You guys do that a lot?"
"Every coupla weeks or so. I'm just glad this isn't another Ursa Major."
". . . The constellation?" Sam asked.
"Giant sky-bear," Applejack explained.
"O . . . kay." Sam nodded, then frowned and looked over at Dean. Dean shrugged.
"Don't look at me. I just work here. Hey AJ. I don't suppose you've got any more cider?"
Applejack silently handed him her flask.
*
"Alright, men -- er, ponies!" Dean paced along the brightly colored line of ponies standing at attention in front of Twilight's library. Rainbow Dash had gone to get Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, and he had to admit, the six of them did a decent enough impression of troops awaiting orders from a general -- which, it seemed, was him. "Here's what you need to know about the wendigo. First and most important, there is only one way to bring it down, and that is fire."
"Ooo," Fluttershy said. "Is it too cold?"
"Uh." Dean glanced at Sam, then over to Pinkie Pie, who was standing next to her. "Is she joking?"
"Nope!" Pinkie said cheerfully.
Dean plastered a smile on his face and resumed pacing. "No, we're not talking about warming the bastard up. We're talking about torching it. Extra-crispy."
Fluttershy let out a horrified squawk and reared back on her hind legs. "But -- but --"
"Look, I thought you ponies had dealt with monsters before?"
"Yeah!" Twilight said, looking just as horrified. "By sending them back where they came from! Not by setting them on fire!"
Dean pressed his hoof to his forehead.
"Look," Sam said, patting him on the shoulder before taking over the explanation. "These things -- we're not talking about creatures that make you argue a lot, here. Wendigoes are vicious, ruthless, and totally amoral. It will have no problem trying to kill you, or any of your other friends."
"But if we kill it," Twilight reasoned, "won't we be just like it?"
Sam shot Dean a despairing look. Dean didn't know why, it wasn't like he'd thought of a foolproof plan to convince them in the last two minutes.
"No," he said. "Because you're not killing it just to be mean. You're killing it to keep it from killing lots and lots and lots of ponies."
"It's --" Fluttershy started, voice almost too soft to be heard. "It's mean?"
"It kills and eats people!" Dean said. "What part of that is nice?!"
"Lots of animals have to eat other animals," she said. "Especially if we don't bring them lots of nice vegetables to eat instead."
"You . . . feed the wild animals carrots?" Sam asked. Fluttershy nodded earnestly.
"Okay," Dean said, getting fed up. "Haven't you ever faced anything that wouldn't go away? That was so bad you had to get rid of it completely?"
The ponies all looked in different directions thoughtfully. "Well," said Pinkie. "There was Discord."
Sam and Dean waited, but she didn't seem to think this required any additional information.
"Pinkie," Sam prompted. "Do you want to tell us about Discord?"
"Sure," Pinkie said brightly, then smiled. Sam and Dean waited in silence for another moment.
"Really?" Dean said finally. "That's what passes for humor around here?"
"Nope!" Pinkie said. "I just haven't thought of a better joke yet!"
"Discord was a draconequus," Twilight said. "A pony made up from parts of all sorts of other animals."
"Like a chimera," Sam said, and she nodded, while Dean and the other ponies just kind of looked blankly at them.
"He lived for causing chaos everywhere he went," Twilight continued. "He could alter the very fabric of reality with a snap of his fingers, and only the Elements of Harmony were powerful enough to stop him. Just like you said, he wouldn't leave. So we had to turn him to stone."
Dean blinked. "Wait, you're willing to turn a guy to stone, but you won't set one on fire?"
"We had to," Twilight said again. "He was going to ruin Equestria forever!"
"Right, sister," Dean said. "And this wendigo is going to eat the entirety of Ponyville. Which is just as forever as What'shisface's chaos."
"No, no," Pinkie said. "Discord does chaos. What'shisface lives over by the train station."
Dean really should have known.
"Okay, fine," Twilight said, looking at her friends. "We'll do it your way. But I for one am not setting the fire."
The other ponies all agreed.
"That's okay," Sam said. "I was actually thinking you guys could help out another way."
*
"Apple brandy," Dean said, shaking his head as Rarity and Twilight finished threading strips of cloth into the three large bottles of the stuff and loading them into the saddlebags Applejack had loaned him. "AJ, you were holding out on me."
"Yeah, well, if Granny finds out I nicked her stash, there'll be hell to pay. She only makes one batch a year from the zap apple harvest. It's sure to give you a nice boom, though."
"Right." Dean nodded approvingly, testing to make sure he could reach back and grab one of the bottles with his teeth. "Now we just need a way to light them."
"I know a firestarting spell," Twilight said. "But I'd have to be pretty close to make sure it hits the right target."
"No good." Dean shook his head. "I want you ponies as far back as possible."
Rainbow Dash, who was once again hovering in mid-air, cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Uh," she said, holding out what looked like a zippo lighter in one hoof. "Will this do?" She shot a glance at Rarity, who was staring wide eyed at her. "What? It's awesome."
Dean had to admit, he rather dug Rainbow Dash's style.
"How are you even holding that?" Sam asked. "I'm pretty sure horse hooves back home aren't that flexible."
"No offense, man," Rainbow Dash said. "But your horses back home sound super-lame."
"She's not wrong," Dean said with a smile. Sam glared at him, then floated the lighter out of Rainbow Dash's grip.
"I think I can work this." He gave it a few test flicks with his weirdo horn power and nodded. "Okay. You're all clear on the plan?"
"Are you sure those protective symbols will work?" Twilight asked in return.
"Definitely. The wendigo shouldn't be able to get inside the sacred circle."
Twilight nodded firmly. "Alright, everypony. Let's do this."
*
As far as plans went, it was pretty basic. The six ponies would go out into the woods in pairs: Twilight and Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy and Rarity. They'd each take a slightly different route and try to draw the wendigo out to them. A veritable army of woodland animals, from bunnies and ferrets to a pair of extremely ornery hedgehogs, would lurk in the bushes, ready to sound the alarm as soon as the wendigo got close, giving the ponies a chance to fall back to one of the protective circles at the edge of the forest by Rarity's house, which they already knew the wendigo considered its territory. While the wendigo was distracted and cornered, Sam and Dean would come out of the bushes and get it with the zap apple brandy bombs.
Dean knew from the get go that it wouldn't really work that way. Very few of their plans ever did.
They got the wendigo's attention, easily enough -- apparently candy colored ponies looked like so many M&Ms to a wendigo -- and even managed to lure it back towards Rarity's house (shaped like a carousel of all things). Pinkie was basically a one pony distraction machine, and between her manic, physics-defying antics and Rainbow Dash's excessive air speed, they had the thing whipping its head around in circles just trying to keep up with them. Dean almost even felt sorry for it -- but only almost.
He waited until both Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were far enough out of the line of fire, then threw himself forward out of the bushes, yanking out one of the molotov cocktails with his teeth.
That was when it all fell apart.
Over the course of the day, Dean had grown almost comfortable in his new four-legged form, moving around on his hooves like it was second nature, but he hadn't had a chance to jump in this body. He cleared the bush but landed badly, his right leg going out from under him. He tried to roll with the movement the way he would back home when he landed wrong, but his shoulders weren't where they were supposed to be, and he ended up slamming down onto his side instead, hard enough to shatter the two spare cocktails in his bag, then whacked his head on a rock, sending the world spinning and busting the one he had in his mouth. His only consolation was that Sam, jumping out after him, had just as much trouble sticking the landing.
Of course, that also meant he lost the lighter, so really, it wasn't any consolation at all.
The wendigo whirled on them, letting out a furious roar. Rainbow Dash flew in to distract it again, but it was on to her moves now, and with a single swipe of its massive, clawed hand, it sent her spinning into the side of Rarity's house. Pinkie shrieked "Dashie!" and ran to help her, while Applejack charged out of her protective circle, head held low like a bull rushing a toreador. The wendigo grabbed her by the tail and whipped her around like a sling. She flew back, knocking Pinkie and Rainbow Dash into the house again just as they were regaining their feet. Rarity and Twilight started sending cascades of pine cones and tree branches at it, both of them keeping back, but there wasn't anything big enough nearby to count as much of a weapon.
Goddammit. Dean's inability to jump like a horse was going to get these six ponies killed.
He staggered his way to his feet, only to have his vision go double on him as stars flickered around his head in a merry parade. The wendigo barely spared him a glance, apparently thinking he'd be easy prey later, and Dean tried not to think that it was right. This was what he and Sam did, after all. They got other people, brave, heroic people who never hurt anyone, killed. And this time, those people were brightly colored ponies who liked to save people with the power of friendship and love.
Then Fluttershy, who'd been hanging back and serving mostly as their animal interpreter, flapped her way up out of her circle until she was eye level with the wendigo and stared.
"Holy crap, Sammy," Dean hissed. "Mom-eyes is totally a super power."
The wendigo froze in the face of the fierce disappointment radiating from Fluttershy's disapproving gaze.
"How. Dare. You?" she roared. "Picking on poor, defenseless ponies! Terrifying all those birds! Stalking around the forest like you own the place! You don't belong here! You're just a big. Dumb. BULLY!"
The wendigo shrank back, and Dean was almost convinced that the shame tactic would work. Then it raked one clawed hand at her, and Fluttershy broke the stare to dodge back with a squeak.
She'd apparently held it still just long enough, though, because Sam was on his feet now, his horn glowing fiercely. As Dean swayed, trying not to embarrass himself too much by falling over again, his brother set his hooves in the ground and lowered his head, pointing his horn at the wendigo. The yellow glow of magic surrounded it, flaring brighter and brighter until it flashed a brilliant white -- and a blast of flame poured forth, swamping the wendigo from head to foot.
It didn't even have time for a final death roar before it crumbled to dust and ashy bones at Sam's feet.
Sam stared down at the wendigo's remains. Dean stared at Sam. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the ponies were doing the same thing. No one moved or said a thing. Dean opened his mouth, not sure what was going to come out.
"Holy crap, dude! You can shoot fire out of your head!"
"Uh." Sam blinked, scuffing one hoof through the wendigo ash. "Apparently."
Twilight trotted up, beaming. "That's not all," she said. She pointed a hoof at Sam's flank, and both he and Dean twisted their heads to look. A little orange and yellow shape, like a clipart representation of a flame, covered him from the top of his hind leg nearly to his spine. "You got your cutie mark!"
Sam gaped at her, then turned to look at Dean. Dean blinked back, once again fishing for something to say.
"Flame on?"
*
Pinkie threw them a party. No matter how hard they tried to talk her out of it, she absolutely insisted that Sam's new mystical tattoo required a "cute-sinera", and that getting rid of the wendigo was party-worthy, as well.
Admittedly, Dean hadn't tried very hard to change her mind. The whole concept of Sam, a freaking giant even in purple unicorn form, being guest of honor at a party that as far as Dean could tell was generally reserved for the pony equivalent of teenage girls was enough to make him snort into his punch.
The punch was pretty good, at least, spiked with something Dean couldn't quite put his finger on, and Pinkie had a huge array of snacks and baked goods ready seemingly with the flick of a hoof -- and the aim of a cannon. He really didn't want to know where she kept that "party cannon" when she wasn't using it. There were even streamers and balloons covering all the trees in the little park she'd chosen for the party, and one of those old fashioned record players with the giant horns on them, tooting out a surprisingly modern-poppy sounding tune, to which she was happily dancing.
The pink pony knew how to throw a pony party, he guessed. He wondered if people back home ever did this sort of thing, after he and Sam had skipped town. Somehow, he doubted it.
"Enjoying the party?" Rainbow Dash asked, settling in for a landing next to Dean on the edge of the park.
Dean shrugged. "Not bad."
"Not bad? Please." Rainbow Dash snorted turning her nose up at him. "Pinkie Pie throws the best parties in all of Equestria."
"No offence," Dean said with a smirk. "But compared to some of the parties I've been to back home, this is kids' stuff."
"Well, yeah," Rainbow Dash said. "Back home, you're s'posed to be humans. I bet your parties are full of all kinds of freaky things."
Dean decided he didn't want to know what constituted "freaky" to a pony. "Not that we don't appreciate the effort," he said. "But that wendigo was only part of the problem, here."
Rainbow Dash nodded, looking up. "The clouds," she said. "The birds are coming back, but we still haven't managed our scheduled showers."
"I have a theory about that, actually," Sam said, trotting up on Dean's other side.
"I'd sure like to hear it," Rainbow Dash said. "Because if we get too behind, we're going to have to throw out one heck of a storm."
"Hey! Guest of honor!" Pinkie didn't so much as arrive as appear, popping up behind Rainbow Dash in a festive party hat decorated with little waving flames. "Hoof bump!" She stuck out one foot, and Sam raised an eyebrow, then knocked one of his against hers.
"Right," Sam said. "So I was thinking --"
"Hang on," Rainbow Dash said. "We should get Twilight over here, too. Hey Twilight!"
"Yes, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight came over, bringing a half-eaten, floating cupcake with her.
"Sam here says he's got a theory."
"Oh! Well then, let's get everyone on it." She turned to call the others over, and Pinkie pouted.
"Does that mean the party's over?"
"We'll throw another one later," Rainbow Dash assured her. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity came up, and Sam's eyes went wide as he suddenly found himself the center of rather intense pony attention. Dean covered his mouth with one hoof and tried not to look too amused at how uncomfortable Sam looked.
"Uh, right." Sam cleared his throat. "Anyway, I was thinking. See, right before Dean and I . . . arrived . . . we were checking out some weird weather going on. Freaky snow storms coming out of nowhere, people turning up frozen."
Dean nodded, catching on to Sam's meaning. "Right. And right before we went into the cave that got us here, those freaky horse things appeared in the clouds."
"After we started arguing," Sam said.
"You mean you have windy-goes in the human world, too?" Pinkie asked. "How neat!"
"That's just it," Sam said. "We don't. Just like you guys don't usually have wendigoes here."
"You think they crossed over the same way you did," Twilight said. "But that means --" She gasped. "There's an open portal between the human and pony worlds in the Everfree Forest!"
"Oh no!" Fluttershy said. "What if somepony gets lost?"
"That's kind of already happened," Dean said, gesturing between himself and Sam.
"Right." Fluttershy looked down and blushed. "Sorry."
"But if there's really a portal in the forest," Applejack asked, "why haven't we had ponies show up claiming to be people before?"
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash said. "What, did the windy-wendigoes break the world or something?"
Sam shook his head. "I know wendigoes don't have that kind of power."
"Neither do windy-goes," Twilight said.
"But we knew someone back home that did," Dean said, rubbing his chin. He was pretty sure it wasn't actually possible -- they hadn't seen any hint of the guy since before Sam even headed into the pit -- but he had to admit, he was kind of hoping it was true.
If Gabriel had survived, then maybe, just maybe, Castiel could have, too.
"And from what you said before, you guys know someone around here who could, too," Sam said.
Twilight's eyes went wide. "Discord!"
"But he's a statue in Canterlot!" Rarity protested.
"And Gabriel got offed by his big brother," Dean said. "Well . . . I mean maybe. We've thought he was dead before."
"The human world is kind of violent, isn't it," Rainbow Dash said.
"Sister, you don't know the half of it."
"But if there's a portal between the worlds," Applejack asked, "then what can we do about it? I don't want any more of those wendigoes coming in and hurting anypony."
"And we don't want any more windy-goes freezing people on our end," said Sam. "Humans argue a lot."
"There's nothing in my books," Twilight said, stamping her foot. "We're going to have to investigate the scene of the crime itself."
"That's great," Dean said. "But I'm not sure we can even find that cave again."
"Actually," Rainbow Dash said, popping up into the air again. "I think maybe I know how to find it."
"How?" asked Sam.
"Simple. Windy-goes use up lots of clouds. They're probably pulling them straight through the portal. I'll just borrow some from Cloudsdale and see where they're flying off to."
Dean nodded. "We've worked with worse plans. Let's go check out the cave."
"Okay!" Pinkie said. "But can we finish the party first?"
Pinkie's priorities, Dean decided, were ever so slightly skewed.
"Of course," Twilight said. "After all, it's nearly sunset. And nopony wants to go into the Everfree Forest after dark if they can help it, especially if there might be strange human monsters running around. We'd better wait until morning."
"I'm not a huge fan of putting this thing off," Dean argued. "For all we know, this thing has a time limit."
Applejack shot him a disapproving look, and Dean was startled to find himself ducking his head a little under the force of it. "You a fan of falling over from exhaustion? You gotta sleep sometime, sugar."
"It's settled then," Twilight declared. "We'll meet at the library at dawn tomorrow. That'll give us time to pack up some supplies, too. Applejack, can the Apple family host Sam and Dean for the night?"
"Sure thing," Applejack said. "Granny's real taken with Dean here."
Sam shot him a look, mouthing "you met her grandmother?" Dean glared back.
"Oh good!" Pinkie said. She grabbed Sam's front hooves, somehow lifting him up onto his hind legs despite the fact that he probably weighed about twice as much as she did. "Now let's dance!"
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Master post
Dean was a little surprised to see that the barn was, in fact, just a barn, full of hay and farm equipment and barrels. There were no animals living in it that he could see, which he supposed made some kind of sense. After all, if horses all walked around talking and having jobs and things, who was to say that other animals didn't, too? He shot a glance at Sam as Applejack opened the door, and Sam looked back, even managing a pony version of a shrug.
"You folks expecting something different?" Applejack asked, a note of amusement in her voice. "I can't imagine what a human barn might look like."
"No, ma'am," Sam said. "This is pretty much it."
"That's Applejack, now," she told him. "Or AJ, if you like. You're guests here at Sweet Apple Acres, and there's no need for any 'ma'am'ing."
Sam nodded. "Thanks. You'll barely notice we're here."
He trotted right on inside, and Dean flashed Applejack a smile before following.
"Any spot in particular you'd rather we crash?" he asked.
"Anywhere's good, so long as you don't break anything. We just finished up the last of the applebuck season this morning, so we won't be in and out on you."
"The . . . what season?"
"Applebuck? It's what we call the harvest."
"Ah." Dean wasn't sure when exactly the apple harvest was back home, but he was moderately sure it wasn't late winter. Not that it was exactly wintery around here. And he'd never spent that much time in an apple orchard, anyway. Speaking of. . . . "You guys don't have a tradition of sacrificing travelers to appease the god of the harvest, do you?"
Applejack stared, one eye significantly wider open than the other, then turned to trot off. "Humans sure are weird."
"I'll take that as a no."
Sam had already laid claim to one of the haystacks, stretched out on his stomach on top of what looked like a large saddle blanket. "So," he said, when Dean had closed the door behind him. "She seems nice."
"She's the least crazy pony we've met, I'll give you that."
"She's very orange."
"Says the purple unicorn."
"You know that being a purple unicorn doesn't actually invalidate everything I say, right?"
"Go to sleep, Sam."
Dean found a spot on a haystack nearer the door and spent a few moments circling it, trying to work out the best position to lie down in as a horse. How the hell did horses sleep, anyway? And why was he expecting horses in this world to work like horses back home?
Eventually, he just kind of threw himself down sideways, all four legs sticking out in front of him. That got uncomfortable rather fast, though, so he flopped onto his back, bending his front legs up close to his chest. That worked for awhile before he flailed his way onto his stomach, the hay digging into his chin. Sam had the right idea with that saddle blanket, he decided. The hay was itchy. He rolled around a bit longer, then groaned and wobbled to his feet, glancing at Sam. His brother was fast asleep. Probably the first time he'd gotten to sleep without Lucifer bugging him in a long time, assuming he hadn't shown up as a red goat or something and Sam just hadn't said anything. Dean sighed and Sam stirred, settling back down again when Dean froze.
Right. Dean would just go sit outside for a bit, let Sam get his rest.
The sun had made its way a good ways into the sky, now, and the day was really bright compared to the dim interior of the barn. Dean sat just to the side of the door, basking in it for a moment, and wondered if ponies got sunburned. All that fur had to be good for something, right?
He heard something shuffling nearby and opened his eyes to see a massive red horse with a green apple on his flank and a harness over his shoulders sitting on the other side of the door. Dean looked him over and inclined his head. "Hey."
The horse nodded back, chewing on the piece of straw sticking out of his mouth. "Howdy."
"You Applejack's . . ." What the hell would the ponies call it around here? ". . . Stallion-friend?"
The other horse looked appalled. "Nope."
Dean nodded. "Brother," he guessed.
"Eeyup."
Not much one for chit chat, this one. "I'm Dean."
"Big Macintosh."
"That's a hell of a name."
"Eeyup."
Dean sat watching him chew on his straw for a few more moments. "Okay, then."
"Guldurnit all to heck!" cried a shaky, old lady kind of voice from the other side of the barn. "Big Macintosh, where did you get yerself off to? Just because the other signs haven't shown themselves yet don't mean you can be all lackadaisicalial about the zap apple harvest!"
Big Macintosh lowered his head with a soft sigh, then stood up. "Over here, Granny," he called. "Just meeting AJ's guest."
"Oh, who has that filly brought home with her this time, then?" A somewhat shriveled-looking green pony with white hair and a sagging jawline made her wobbling way around the corner of the barn and squinted at Dean. "Well hello there. Granny Smith, at yer service." She offered a hoof to shake at the barn door. Big Macintosh reached out one leg and gently nudged it over to where Dean was actually standing.
"Nice to meet you, ma'am," Dean said, putting on his most polite, oh-no-I-have-only-the-best-intentions-towards-your-daughter tone while he awkwardly lifted his hoof in return. "Dean Winchester."
She wrapped her leg around his in a way that defied skeletal structure and shook with abandon. "What was that, sonny? Bean Who-sister?"
"Dean Winchester. Ma'am."
"Well nice to make yer acquaintance, Bee Withersman! I'm Granny Smith."
Dean shot Big Macintosh a look. Big Macintosh just shrugged.
"Now," Granny was saying. "What can I do ya for?"
"We're, uh, just passing through," Dean said, speaking as loudly as he could without actually shouting at her. "My brother and I just needed a place to rest for a bit."
"Well'n what in tarnation are ya doin' out here in all the sun? You want a nap, you'll be wantin' to at least be in the barn!" Granny shook her head and squinted over at Big -- hell, Dean was going to start calling him Mac. "Well, go on, open the door for him!"
Mac looked over at Dean. Dean shook his head. "Thanks, Granny," he said. "But I'm alright out here."
"Well phooey! If you're havin' trouble sleeping, I got just the thing!" She hooked one of her front legs over Dean's neck and yanked him down to her, pressing her cheek against his. She smelled like old people and apples, which Dean supposed made about as much sense as anything else in this world. "C'mon, sonny. I'll get you fixed up right quick." And she started walking towards the house without letting go of his neck. Dean had to hunch down and follow along just to make sure he didn't dislocate her leg. "Daisy Jo'll be here any minute with the milk delivery, just you wait and see!"
He was being offered -- ordered, really -- warm milk by an elderly green pony who ran an apple farm. "You know, I should really just stick close to my brother --"
"Fiddlesticks, he'll be just fine in there. I'll have Big Macintosh keep an eye on him for you. Won't you, Big Mac?"
"Eeyup!" Mac called, from where he was still stationed outside the barn.
"Now let's see, we'll get you some warm milk and then if that doesn't work, then I'll try telling you a nice story. That always puts Apple Bloom right to sleep! Oh, here's Daisy Jo now!" Granny finally let go of Dean's neck to flail her hoof in the air at an approaching dairy cow. "Hello, Daisy Jo!"
"Good mooooorning, Granny!" said the cow in a thick Wisconsin accent.
Really. It was like they were punking him.
*
Dean managed to pass on the warm milk through a complex series of excuses, claims of lactose intolerance, fake yawns, and when all of that didn't work, a quick "what the heck is that?!" while pointing over Granny's shoulder before dumping the milk out in a nearby plant and pretending to have drunk it down himself.
It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the gesture. It was just super weird to drink warm milk from a cow you'd just made small talk with. Especially when you knew it was warm because it was fresh, straight from the udder into a glass. Dean didn't know where that cow had been.
Rather than risk a second round of coddling from Granny, Dean ducked out and went to hide in the barn again. Sam was still fast asleep, having rolled onto his back, and was now snoring cartoonishly, loud enough that Dean half expected to see the rafters start shaking. It was hard to tell the time in the dimness of the barn, but Dean figured they probably had at least another hour or two before Twilight would be ready with her findings. Lord knew it sometimes took Bobby awhile to find anything, and he didn't have stocks of things like The Adventures of Daring-Do, whatever that was, cluttering up his shelves. He knew he should really try to get some sleep, but something about the whole business of being a blue pony was messing with his system. He just couldn't get relaxed. He felt like he was almost at Pinkie Pie levels of restlessness, and that was a pony who definitely could use some meds.
After pacing around the barn for what had to be a good half an hour, Dean heard the door creak open. He looked over to see Applejack peering in, silhouetted in the bright sunlight from outside. At least, he had to assume it was Applejack. She was the only pony around that he'd seen wearing a cowboy hat.
"Still up, huh sugarcube?" Applejack asked, slipping past the door and pushing it softly shut behind her. "Granny said you were having trouble sleeping. I thought maybe I'd check on ya."
"Thanks," Dean grunted. He wasn't sure how he felt about how much attention Applejack and her family were paying to his sleeping habits. He wondered if normal people had this many people watching over them. He wondered if the loneliness of just him and Sam on the road would be harder to take, now. "Nice family you got here."
"You ain't even met Apple Bloom, yet. She's in school, just now."
"She your . . . daughter?"
"Aw heck no!" Applejack scoffed, looking mildly offended. "My little sister. I ain't old enough to have a filly Apple Bloom's age."
"Sorry, I'm not really great at guessing the ages of ponies."
"I reckon it must be really different for you, here." Applejack sat down, tilting her head. "You and your brother looked fit to just about lose your eyeballs back at Twilight's. I can't say I know much about human tales. Lyra's the pony to go to for those, but she's off visiting relatives in Philly-delphia."
"It's actually not as different as you might think," Dean mused. "I mean, yeah, we're not all different colored ponies, but we have families and barns and farms and towns, like you guys do."
"Is it true you all walk up on your hind legs like minotaurs?"
They had minotaurs around here. Good to know.
"Yeah. Well, you know, on two legs. Two legs, two arms, thumbs." Dean looked down at his front hooves. "Man, I miss thumbs."
"I can't even imagine." Applejack shook her head. "But I've never been a big fan of fantasy as a genre."
"Uh, yeah." Dean shook his head. "You seem pretty down to earth."
"That's me. Just a simple farm girl. I tried the big city life for a while, back when I was about Apple Bloom's age, but it just didn't fit, you know?"
"Yeah, I get that." Dean had never been a huge fan of spending more than a couple weeks in a city. Not that he was used to spending more than a couple of weeks anywhere else. "Must be nice to know where you belong."
"Come now," Applejack held up a hoof. "I know you and your brother are some ways from home, but we'll figure a way to get you on back there, don't you worry. Twilight's the smartest pony I know. She even trained under Princess Celestia. If anyone can find it, she can."
"Right." Dean smiled ruefully. "You know, I used to have a friend just like that, could find anything about anything." He sighed. "Had one with wings, too. Man, what I wouldn't give to have either of them around here."
He tried to picture Bobby and Cas as ponies. Cas would be a pegasus, of course, maybe with a bit of unicorn thrown in for good measure. Bobby . . . Bobby would probably be more like Applejack, all no-nonsense and down to Earth. He'd just be grumpier.
No, that wasn't right. Applejack was more Ellen than Bobby, and not just because she was female. If Ellen and Jo were ponies, they'd definitely fit right in with the Apple family.
Applejack seemed to sense where his mood was headed and offered him a small, sad smile. "You want me to leave you alone for a bit, sugar? Let you try and get a couple winks in?"
Dean shook his head. "Nah. It's nice to have someone other than the Purple Wonder over there to talk to, sometimes."
"Well alright, then." Applejack settled down further, until she was lying down, one front hoof crossed over the other, her head up and her tail curling out along the floor. Dean mimicked the pose, surprised to find it rather comfortable. "Tell me more about the human world, then. Why, I hear you folk just let the weather do whatever it pleases!"
Dean snorted. "'Let' isn't really the word for it, sister."
And they lay there, chatting back and forth like -- well, he guessed like friends, Sam snoring his fool head off behind them, right up until Rainbow Dash came knocking on the door to tell them that Twilight had something to report.
*
"I couldn't find much," Twilight said when they arrived back at her tree, Sam still rubbing sleep out of his eyes with his hoof. "Just a couple mentions of the 'Winchester Prophecy' in the book about the Elements of Harmony and a couple other texts. From what I can tell, it's mostly just about how you'll show up at a time of chaos and fear, when Equestria faces a great, unprecedented threat."
"Unprecedented, huh?" Dean sighed. "Man, I hate those."
"Unprecedented for you?" Sam asked. "Or for us?"
"Both?" Twilight shrugged. "Like I said, there really isn't much. But since this was all written by the great ponies of old, I'm guessing it'll be something Equestria's never seen before."
Sam nodded along. "Zecora's book had an illustration, a pair of eyes and the outline of a monster. Do you have anything like that?"
"Yup. I think it's probably the same book, even." Twilight turned to the stack of books on the low table in the corner, floating one over and flipping through it. "Here we go. This what you meant?" She turned the book around to face Sam, and Dean leaned over to get another look. It was the same drawing, alright, the ponies fleeing from a standing figure surrounded by trees, with those leering yellow eyes hovering in the background.
"I don't suppose pony eyes come in yellow?" he asked. Twilight shrugged and nodded, and Dean felt himself relax slightly. "Probably not Azazel, then."
"Azazel's dead, Dean," Sam said. "It is pretty creepy, though."
Rainbow Dash and Applejack, who'd accompanied them back, exchanged a look, but didn't interrupt. Dean shot them a glance and a small shrug. It'd take too long to try to explain. He looked back at the illustration and tilted his head.
"Hang on." He reached out a hoof and tapped the silhouetted figure. "We've seen that shape before, Sam."
Sam scowled. "Yeah, I was just thinking that."
"What?" Twilight asked. "What is it?"
"Looks like you folks might have yourselves a wendigo."
He expected a gasp of shock, maybe. A look of confusion, at the very least. He didn't expect Twilight to try and correct him on his pronunciation.
"You mean a windy-go," she said.
"Uh, no. Wendigo."
"Uh, no," Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes. "We know what a windy-go is. We starred in Canterlot's Hearth's Warming Eve pageant this year and everything."
"Fine then, smart ass," Dean said. "What's a 'windy-go'?"
Rainbow Dash scowled, leaning in for an angry retort, only to get bumped aside by Twilight. "A windy-go is a wind spirit," she explained. "They ride up above the clouds, bringing snow storms and feeding off disharmony. Ponies who aren't careful can get frozen solid."
"That's not what we're talking about," Sam said. "Wendigoes are creatures who used to be human. They live in the woods for hundreds of years, coming out every twenty years or so to feed."
"And they definitely aren't living off of any 'disharmony'," Dean added. "They prefer flesh."
"They eat ponies?" Applejack asked with a gasp.
"Sure," Sam said. "They'll eat whatever they can get their hands on. And they're fast enough to get their hands on just about anything. They prefer people, though."
"You mean they eat other humans?" Rainbow Dash shook her head. "That is so messed up."
"That's kind of the point, yeah," Dean said with a smirk. "'Swhy they're called monsters."
"And you think one of these . . . wen-di-goes is here? In Equestria?"
"It makes sense," Dean said. "It could easily have scared off the birds, even freaked out the timber wolves. And if what Rarity said earlier is true, then it sounds like it was out stalking by her house last night."
All three of the other ponies shuddered. "But wait," Rainbow Dash said. "What about the clouds?"
"I have a theory about that," Sam said. "But I think our first priority right now needs to be stopping the wendigo. It's hard enough to catch one during the day. At night, it's pretty much a perfect hunter."
Twilight nodded. "Rainbow, go get the other girls. Ponyville's in trouble, and it's up to us to protect it!"
Dean blinked at her enthusiasm and leaned his head over towards Applejack. "You guys do that a lot?"
"Every coupla weeks or so. I'm just glad this isn't another Ursa Major."
". . . The constellation?" Sam asked.
"Giant sky-bear," Applejack explained.
"O . . . kay." Sam nodded, then frowned and looked over at Dean. Dean shrugged.
"Don't look at me. I just work here. Hey AJ. I don't suppose you've got any more cider?"
Applejack silently handed him her flask.
*
"Alright, men -- er, ponies!" Dean paced along the brightly colored line of ponies standing at attention in front of Twilight's library. Rainbow Dash had gone to get Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, and he had to admit, the six of them did a decent enough impression of troops awaiting orders from a general -- which, it seemed, was him. "Here's what you need to know about the wendigo. First and most important, there is only one way to bring it down, and that is fire."
"Ooo," Fluttershy said. "Is it too cold?"
"Uh." Dean glanced at Sam, then over to Pinkie Pie, who was standing next to her. "Is she joking?"
"Nope!" Pinkie said cheerfully.
Dean plastered a smile on his face and resumed pacing. "No, we're not talking about warming the bastard up. We're talking about torching it. Extra-crispy."
Fluttershy let out a horrified squawk and reared back on her hind legs. "But -- but --"
"Look, I thought you ponies had dealt with monsters before?"
"Yeah!" Twilight said, looking just as horrified. "By sending them back where they came from! Not by setting them on fire!"
Dean pressed his hoof to his forehead.
"Look," Sam said, patting him on the shoulder before taking over the explanation. "These things -- we're not talking about creatures that make you argue a lot, here. Wendigoes are vicious, ruthless, and totally amoral. It will have no problem trying to kill you, or any of your other friends."
"But if we kill it," Twilight reasoned, "won't we be just like it?"
Sam shot Dean a despairing look. Dean didn't know why, it wasn't like he'd thought of a foolproof plan to convince them in the last two minutes.
"No," he said. "Because you're not killing it just to be mean. You're killing it to keep it from killing lots and lots and lots of ponies."
"It's --" Fluttershy started, voice almost too soft to be heard. "It's mean?"
"It kills and eats people!" Dean said. "What part of that is nice?!"
"Lots of animals have to eat other animals," she said. "Especially if we don't bring them lots of nice vegetables to eat instead."
"You . . . feed the wild animals carrots?" Sam asked. Fluttershy nodded earnestly.
"Okay," Dean said, getting fed up. "Haven't you ever faced anything that wouldn't go away? That was so bad you had to get rid of it completely?"
The ponies all looked in different directions thoughtfully. "Well," said Pinkie. "There was Discord."
Sam and Dean waited, but she didn't seem to think this required any additional information.
"Pinkie," Sam prompted. "Do you want to tell us about Discord?"
"Sure," Pinkie said brightly, then smiled. Sam and Dean waited in silence for another moment.
"Really?" Dean said finally. "That's what passes for humor around here?"
"Nope!" Pinkie said. "I just haven't thought of a better joke yet!"
"Discord was a draconequus," Twilight said. "A pony made up from parts of all sorts of other animals."
"Like a chimera," Sam said, and she nodded, while Dean and the other ponies just kind of looked blankly at them.
"He lived for causing chaos everywhere he went," Twilight continued. "He could alter the very fabric of reality with a snap of his fingers, and only the Elements of Harmony were powerful enough to stop him. Just like you said, he wouldn't leave. So we had to turn him to stone."
Dean blinked. "Wait, you're willing to turn a guy to stone, but you won't set one on fire?"
"We had to," Twilight said again. "He was going to ruin Equestria forever!"
"Right, sister," Dean said. "And this wendigo is going to eat the entirety of Ponyville. Which is just as forever as What'shisface's chaos."
"No, no," Pinkie said. "Discord does chaos. What'shisface lives over by the train station."
Dean really should have known.
"Okay, fine," Twilight said, looking at her friends. "We'll do it your way. But I for one am not setting the fire."
The other ponies all agreed.
"That's okay," Sam said. "I was actually thinking you guys could help out another way."
*
"Apple brandy," Dean said, shaking his head as Rarity and Twilight finished threading strips of cloth into the three large bottles of the stuff and loading them into the saddlebags Applejack had loaned him. "AJ, you were holding out on me."
"Yeah, well, if Granny finds out I nicked her stash, there'll be hell to pay. She only makes one batch a year from the zap apple harvest. It's sure to give you a nice boom, though."
"Right." Dean nodded approvingly, testing to make sure he could reach back and grab one of the bottles with his teeth. "Now we just need a way to light them."
"I know a firestarting spell," Twilight said. "But I'd have to be pretty close to make sure it hits the right target."
"No good." Dean shook his head. "I want you ponies as far back as possible."
Rainbow Dash, who was once again hovering in mid-air, cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Uh," she said, holding out what looked like a zippo lighter in one hoof. "Will this do?" She shot a glance at Rarity, who was staring wide eyed at her. "What? It's awesome."
Dean had to admit, he rather dug Rainbow Dash's style.
"How are you even holding that?" Sam asked. "I'm pretty sure horse hooves back home aren't that flexible."
"No offense, man," Rainbow Dash said. "But your horses back home sound super-lame."
"She's not wrong," Dean said with a smile. Sam glared at him, then floated the lighter out of Rainbow Dash's grip.
"I think I can work this." He gave it a few test flicks with his weirdo horn power and nodded. "Okay. You're all clear on the plan?"
"Are you sure those protective symbols will work?" Twilight asked in return.
"Definitely. The wendigo shouldn't be able to get inside the sacred circle."
Twilight nodded firmly. "Alright, everypony. Let's do this."
*
As far as plans went, it was pretty basic. The six ponies would go out into the woods in pairs: Twilight and Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy and Rarity. They'd each take a slightly different route and try to draw the wendigo out to them. A veritable army of woodland animals, from bunnies and ferrets to a pair of extremely ornery hedgehogs, would lurk in the bushes, ready to sound the alarm as soon as the wendigo got close, giving the ponies a chance to fall back to one of the protective circles at the edge of the forest by Rarity's house, which they already knew the wendigo considered its territory. While the wendigo was distracted and cornered, Sam and Dean would come out of the bushes and get it with the zap apple brandy bombs.
Dean knew from the get go that it wouldn't really work that way. Very few of their plans ever did.
They got the wendigo's attention, easily enough -- apparently candy colored ponies looked like so many M&Ms to a wendigo -- and even managed to lure it back towards Rarity's house (shaped like a carousel of all things). Pinkie was basically a one pony distraction machine, and between her manic, physics-defying antics and Rainbow Dash's excessive air speed, they had the thing whipping its head around in circles just trying to keep up with them. Dean almost even felt sorry for it -- but only almost.
He waited until both Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were far enough out of the line of fire, then threw himself forward out of the bushes, yanking out one of the molotov cocktails with his teeth.
That was when it all fell apart.
Over the course of the day, Dean had grown almost comfortable in his new four-legged form, moving around on his hooves like it was second nature, but he hadn't had a chance to jump in this body. He cleared the bush but landed badly, his right leg going out from under him. He tried to roll with the movement the way he would back home when he landed wrong, but his shoulders weren't where they were supposed to be, and he ended up slamming down onto his side instead, hard enough to shatter the two spare cocktails in his bag, then whacked his head on a rock, sending the world spinning and busting the one he had in his mouth. His only consolation was that Sam, jumping out after him, had just as much trouble sticking the landing.
Of course, that also meant he lost the lighter, so really, it wasn't any consolation at all.
The wendigo whirled on them, letting out a furious roar. Rainbow Dash flew in to distract it again, but it was on to her moves now, and with a single swipe of its massive, clawed hand, it sent her spinning into the side of Rarity's house. Pinkie shrieked "Dashie!" and ran to help her, while Applejack charged out of her protective circle, head held low like a bull rushing a toreador. The wendigo grabbed her by the tail and whipped her around like a sling. She flew back, knocking Pinkie and Rainbow Dash into the house again just as they were regaining their feet. Rarity and Twilight started sending cascades of pine cones and tree branches at it, both of them keeping back, but there wasn't anything big enough nearby to count as much of a weapon.
Goddammit. Dean's inability to jump like a horse was going to get these six ponies killed.
He staggered his way to his feet, only to have his vision go double on him as stars flickered around his head in a merry parade. The wendigo barely spared him a glance, apparently thinking he'd be easy prey later, and Dean tried not to think that it was right. This was what he and Sam did, after all. They got other people, brave, heroic people who never hurt anyone, killed. And this time, those people were brightly colored ponies who liked to save people with the power of friendship and love.
Then Fluttershy, who'd been hanging back and serving mostly as their animal interpreter, flapped her way up out of her circle until she was eye level with the wendigo and stared.
"Holy crap, Sammy," Dean hissed. "Mom-eyes is totally a super power."
The wendigo froze in the face of the fierce disappointment radiating from Fluttershy's disapproving gaze.
"How. Dare. You?" she roared. "Picking on poor, defenseless ponies! Terrifying all those birds! Stalking around the forest like you own the place! You don't belong here! You're just a big. Dumb. BULLY!"
The wendigo shrank back, and Dean was almost convinced that the shame tactic would work. Then it raked one clawed hand at her, and Fluttershy broke the stare to dodge back with a squeak.
She'd apparently held it still just long enough, though, because Sam was on his feet now, his horn glowing fiercely. As Dean swayed, trying not to embarrass himself too much by falling over again, his brother set his hooves in the ground and lowered his head, pointing his horn at the wendigo. The yellow glow of magic surrounded it, flaring brighter and brighter until it flashed a brilliant white -- and a blast of flame poured forth, swamping the wendigo from head to foot.
It didn't even have time for a final death roar before it crumbled to dust and ashy bones at Sam's feet.
Sam stared down at the wendigo's remains. Dean stared at Sam. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the ponies were doing the same thing. No one moved or said a thing. Dean opened his mouth, not sure what was going to come out.
"Holy crap, dude! You can shoot fire out of your head!"
"Uh." Sam blinked, scuffing one hoof through the wendigo ash. "Apparently."
Twilight trotted up, beaming. "That's not all," she said. She pointed a hoof at Sam's flank, and both he and Dean twisted their heads to look. A little orange and yellow shape, like a clipart representation of a flame, covered him from the top of his hind leg nearly to his spine. "You got your cutie mark!"
Sam gaped at her, then turned to look at Dean. Dean blinked back, once again fishing for something to say.
"Flame on?"
*
Pinkie threw them a party. No matter how hard they tried to talk her out of it, she absolutely insisted that Sam's new mystical tattoo required a "cute-sinera", and that getting rid of the wendigo was party-worthy, as well.
Admittedly, Dean hadn't tried very hard to change her mind. The whole concept of Sam, a freaking giant even in purple unicorn form, being guest of honor at a party that as far as Dean could tell was generally reserved for the pony equivalent of teenage girls was enough to make him snort into his punch.
The punch was pretty good, at least, spiked with something Dean couldn't quite put his finger on, and Pinkie had a huge array of snacks and baked goods ready seemingly with the flick of a hoof -- and the aim of a cannon. He really didn't want to know where she kept that "party cannon" when she wasn't using it. There were even streamers and balloons covering all the trees in the little park she'd chosen for the party, and one of those old fashioned record players with the giant horns on them, tooting out a surprisingly modern-poppy sounding tune, to which she was happily dancing.
The pink pony knew how to throw a pony party, he guessed. He wondered if people back home ever did this sort of thing, after he and Sam had skipped town. Somehow, he doubted it.
"Enjoying the party?" Rainbow Dash asked, settling in for a landing next to Dean on the edge of the park.
Dean shrugged. "Not bad."
"Not bad? Please." Rainbow Dash snorted turning her nose up at him. "Pinkie Pie throws the best parties in all of Equestria."
"No offence," Dean said with a smirk. "But compared to some of the parties I've been to back home, this is kids' stuff."
"Well, yeah," Rainbow Dash said. "Back home, you're s'posed to be humans. I bet your parties are full of all kinds of freaky things."
Dean decided he didn't want to know what constituted "freaky" to a pony. "Not that we don't appreciate the effort," he said. "But that wendigo was only part of the problem, here."
Rainbow Dash nodded, looking up. "The clouds," she said. "The birds are coming back, but we still haven't managed our scheduled showers."
"I have a theory about that, actually," Sam said, trotting up on Dean's other side.
"I'd sure like to hear it," Rainbow Dash said. "Because if we get too behind, we're going to have to throw out one heck of a storm."
"Hey! Guest of honor!" Pinkie didn't so much as arrive as appear, popping up behind Rainbow Dash in a festive party hat decorated with little waving flames. "Hoof bump!" She stuck out one foot, and Sam raised an eyebrow, then knocked one of his against hers.
"Right," Sam said. "So I was thinking --"
"Hang on," Rainbow Dash said. "We should get Twilight over here, too. Hey Twilight!"
"Yes, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight came over, bringing a half-eaten, floating cupcake with her.
"Sam here says he's got a theory."
"Oh! Well then, let's get everyone on it." She turned to call the others over, and Pinkie pouted.
"Does that mean the party's over?"
"We'll throw another one later," Rainbow Dash assured her. Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity came up, and Sam's eyes went wide as he suddenly found himself the center of rather intense pony attention. Dean covered his mouth with one hoof and tried not to look too amused at how uncomfortable Sam looked.
"Uh, right." Sam cleared his throat. "Anyway, I was thinking. See, right before Dean and I . . . arrived . . . we were checking out some weird weather going on. Freaky snow storms coming out of nowhere, people turning up frozen."
Dean nodded, catching on to Sam's meaning. "Right. And right before we went into the cave that got us here, those freaky horse things appeared in the clouds."
"After we started arguing," Sam said.
"You mean you have windy-goes in the human world, too?" Pinkie asked. "How neat!"
"That's just it," Sam said. "We don't. Just like you guys don't usually have wendigoes here."
"You think they crossed over the same way you did," Twilight said. "But that means --" She gasped. "There's an open portal between the human and pony worlds in the Everfree Forest!"
"Oh no!" Fluttershy said. "What if somepony gets lost?"
"That's kind of already happened," Dean said, gesturing between himself and Sam.
"Right." Fluttershy looked down and blushed. "Sorry."
"But if there's really a portal in the forest," Applejack asked, "why haven't we had ponies show up claiming to be people before?"
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash said. "What, did the windy-wendigoes break the world or something?"
Sam shook his head. "I know wendigoes don't have that kind of power."
"Neither do windy-goes," Twilight said.
"But we knew someone back home that did," Dean said, rubbing his chin. He was pretty sure it wasn't actually possible -- they hadn't seen any hint of the guy since before Sam even headed into the pit -- but he had to admit, he was kind of hoping it was true.
If Gabriel had survived, then maybe, just maybe, Castiel could have, too.
"And from what you said before, you guys know someone around here who could, too," Sam said.
Twilight's eyes went wide. "Discord!"
"But he's a statue in Canterlot!" Rarity protested.
"And Gabriel got offed by his big brother," Dean said. "Well . . . I mean maybe. We've thought he was dead before."
"The human world is kind of violent, isn't it," Rainbow Dash said.
"Sister, you don't know the half of it."
"But if there's a portal between the worlds," Applejack asked, "then what can we do about it? I don't want any more of those wendigoes coming in and hurting anypony."
"And we don't want any more windy-goes freezing people on our end," said Sam. "Humans argue a lot."
"There's nothing in my books," Twilight said, stamping her foot. "We're going to have to investigate the scene of the crime itself."
"That's great," Dean said. "But I'm not sure we can even find that cave again."
"Actually," Rainbow Dash said, popping up into the air again. "I think maybe I know how to find it."
"How?" asked Sam.
"Simple. Windy-goes use up lots of clouds. They're probably pulling them straight through the portal. I'll just borrow some from Cloudsdale and see where they're flying off to."
Dean nodded. "We've worked with worse plans. Let's go check out the cave."
"Okay!" Pinkie said. "But can we finish the party first?"
Pinkie's priorities, Dean decided, were ever so slightly skewed.
"Of course," Twilight said. "After all, it's nearly sunset. And nopony wants to go into the Everfree Forest after dark if they can help it, especially if there might be strange human monsters running around. We'd better wait until morning."
"I'm not a huge fan of putting this thing off," Dean argued. "For all we know, this thing has a time limit."
Applejack shot him a disapproving look, and Dean was startled to find himself ducking his head a little under the force of it. "You a fan of falling over from exhaustion? You gotta sleep sometime, sugar."
"It's settled then," Twilight declared. "We'll meet at the library at dawn tomorrow. That'll give us time to pack up some supplies, too. Applejack, can the Apple family host Sam and Dean for the night?"
"Sure thing," Applejack said. "Granny's real taken with Dean here."
Sam shot him a look, mouthing "you met her grandmother?" Dean glared back.
"Oh good!" Pinkie said. She grabbed Sam's front hooves, somehow lifting him up onto his hind legs despite the fact that he probably weighed about twice as much as she did. "Now let's dance!"
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