Applejack couldn’t help but stare as the beast known as Black Bull took a step toward the gathered ponies, the mare instinctively putting herself inbetween the demon and Fluttershy. Braeburn put himself inbetween his injured officer and looked unsuredly between Black Bull and Applejack. How exactly had the jail kept Bull imprisoned when... that lurked just beneath his coat? It didn’t make sense.
“‘Jackie! Get away from him!” He fought every urge to call Black Bull ‘it,’ in fear that he might offend the hulking, blazing behemoth of a pony.
Fluttershy’s hooves stayed firm on the ground, out of fright or some unearthed vessel of courage, Applejack neither knew nor cared. Her face was frozen as well, her eyes dancing over every last detail, her lip trembling as her wings outstretched. “It-it’s a Djinn.” Applejack’s ears perked at the name.
“Ain’t those supposed to stay in stories?” Applejack argued, as if trying to ignore the proof roaring in flames in front of her. Black Bull took a step off the wooden platform. Behind him, the final railings collapsed with cracks and snaps. The hotel’s roof finally caved in with one last defiant roar. Embers flew about, circling the Djinn as he unleashed a guttural laugh. Applejack shrunk back, shielding her eyes from the debris.
Leaving the questions for later, Applejack threw what remained of her mane back and pushed her marefriend back, away from the dangerous convict turned supernatural horror. Braeburn got the clue, helping his friend to his feet as he waved his hoof in the air, signaling to Applejack to clear out and regroup.
“Where is my prize?”
Fluttershy yelped as she felt herself prodded along by Applejack, her Fight or Flight instincts kicking into full Flight gear, her legs pumping hard to put as much distance as she could between herself and Black Bull. Applejack stumbled as she suddenly felt whatever held Fluttershy back snapped, the pegasus taking off like a lightning bolt. Picking herself up, Applejack looked back to the fire-maned stallion, her eyes narrowed. Black turned his blank, white hot eyes, matching gazes with the determined Earth pony.
She figured he looked none too pleased. Her assumption was rewarded with a whinny as Black Bull started to give chase. “Consarn it! Time to hoof it, girl!”
“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” Fluttershy screamed, her blue eyes stealing glances back to see if her nightmare was still there. Sure enough, the Djinn galloped behind them, fire bursting with every step he took. With a strained gulp, the pegasus attempted to flare her wings, but fear held them still at her sides. “WhatdowedoWhatdowedo?”
Having Fluttershy stuck on repeat didn’t exactly fill Applejack with ideas, her tired body heaving forward with every step. She simply didn’t have time to recover for this! Applejack’s eyes scrambled for somewhere to go – someplace to hide, but the wooden structures that made up Appleloosa stayed her hooves from approaching them in fear of the Djinn following them inside and catching more of the town on fire.
“Hey! Big ‘n ugly ‘n...!” Braeburn shouted, his head quickly coming to an end of his prepared insults. Applejack cautioned a look back, her gallop turning into a reluctant trot. Black Bull had stopped, his head turned back to stare at Appleloosa’s sheriff. Braeburn was decked out in Heat Stroke’s gear, the deputy pony in question having disappeared from view. Applejack figured he had taken shelter in one of the buildings. “Yeah, you! You know, with the, uh, face!”
“Braeburn, what in tarnation...” Applejack breathed. She was cut off before she could wonder much further by a tug on what remained of her tail. Behind her, Fluttershy gave her a panicked nudge in the opposite direction. “An’ leave Braeburn!?”
Fluttershy’s eyes darted between Black Bull and Applejack before swallowing hard. “Applejack you aren’t in any condition to help now. He’s wearing that heat protection gear – We aren’t! We have to go!”
“But –” Applejack fought, but Fluttershy put her hoof down. Casting her cousin a sorrowful gaze, Applejack could see Black Bull start to move toward her again. Ignoring the sheriff’s attempt at deterring him, Applejack felt fear grip her heart again.
“I hear Butterscotch is mighty sweet on me!”
Black Bull came to a dead halt, the flames that made up his mane flashing a furious blue. Turning about, Applejack scolded herself for feeling the slightest bit of relief as the Djinn roared. “Oh yeah, turns out she really digs a stallion in uniform.” Black Bull wheeled about, his hoof scrapping the ground. Braeburn could be seen smiling under his glass facemask. “Well, a respectable one, anyhow. Guess she didn’t much care for your black and white stripes!” With an otherworldly whinny, Black Bull charged back toward Breaburn, the stallion kicking his forehooves into the air before taking off into a full gallop.
Applejack wanted to cry out, but Fluttershy quickly led her into the old Salt Block nearby, devoted to keeping Applejack out of danger as much as possible. “We can’t stay out here, not with you in this condition.”
Applejack reluctantly let herself inside, her eyes trying to keep on Braeburn and his enemy until the two ponies disappeared behind a corner. “Shoot! Condition or not, it ain’t right leaving somepony with that thing – least of which my cousin!” Applejack said as her hooves fought against every word she said. As she felt the shade overtake her, Fluttershy helped Applejack through the large double doors.
The Salt Block was deadly silent for the number of ponies there were in it. Applejack half remarked that it might have been a fire hazard, which at best met with nervous laughter. Ponies all over the Salt Block were staring at the two with varying intensity. It was a wonder how Fluttershy kept her cool as she led Applejack to a nearby wall, allowing her fillyfriend to collapse against it. “Okay, it’s going to be fine. Braeburn can handle Black for awhile while the rest of the deputies figure out what to do with what... with what he’s become.” Walking silently over to the bar, the pegasus could feel all eyes on her.
“Um, excuse me, Mr. Barkeep?” she asked, her voice hardly above a whisper. “I’d like a glass of water for my, um, for my friend over there? She was in the inn and–” The barkeep slammed a glass of water on the table, his eyes never leaving off of Fluttershy’s. “O-oh! Um, thank you.”
“That’ll be two bits,” he grunted. Fluttershy’s eyes went wide, her wings outstretched.
“Oh! Um, two bits? For a glass of water?” The stallions gaze didn’t change, Fluttershy’s wings started to curl back in as she shrank back. “Well, I guess it is the desert, so water isn’t cheap. So um,” Fluttershy reached for her bit purse, but quickly remembered that, much like the rest of her items, it was likely burning at the center of the inn. “I don’t have any money...” Looking up, Fluttershy heard Braeburn’s voice at the back of her mind.
We even have emergency reserves keeping cool in the basement of the Salt Block, just in case.
“Um, sir? It’s sort of an emergency, perhaps I could pay you later? Sheriff Braeburn did say that there was a lot more water sitting cool in your basement—”
The barkeeps eyes hardened. “That’s for emergency use for the down only. Three bits.”
Fluttershy’s eyes buldged. “Three? Oh dear.” This was just like the market back in Ponyville, all those years ago. She had to be assertive, but she didn’t have even the smallest purse in which to barter with.
“S’fine, Fluttershy,” Applejack wheezed from the side of the room. “Somepony got me some water ‘fore Black showed his true colors. I’ll be... I’ll be fine. Just need some rest.” Looking between the barkeep and Applejack, Fluttershy shamefully trotted back to her mare. “Thanks for tryin’, though.”
“I should have grabbed some of our things –”
Applejack sighed and shook her head, finding the action to be a lot more free with the loss of much of her ponytail. “You can’t blame yourself for forgetting a few fru-fru odds’n’ends, ‘Shy.” Applejack weakly raised a hoof out to Fluttershy’s cheek, but found it difficult to keep her hoof up. Fluttershy, however, met the pony halfway, placing her cheek gently against Applejack’s hoof. Slipping down next to Applejack, Fluttershy sighed.
“You’re gonna have to find someplace else.”
“Wh-what?” Fluttershy jumped, looking around the room.
The barkeep stared down the two fillies, his eyes unblinking. “I said y’all need to find someplace else to be. We don’t take kindly to non-paying customers.”
“You–” Fluttershy started, her eyes darting over to Applejack. Unfortunately, Applejack seemed to be barely holding on to consciousness as it was, her eyelids flickering. Looking back at the barkeep. “You can’t! She’s in no condition to go anywhere! Please!” Fluttershy shakily got to her hooves, the eyes of everypony in the room boring into her.
“It’s policy,” the barkeep stated, his hoof motioning to the door.
Fluttershy opened her mouth as if to protest, but nothing came out. This just couldn’t be happening. Not now. Applejack groaned behind her. “Please, I’ll make it up to you somehow. There’s a tab, right? Maybe I can start one? Or put it on Sheriff Breaburn’s? I’m sure he won’t mind...”
“Consarn it, fillyfooler, can’t you take a hint!?” A stallion bellowed from the back of the room. Fluttershy felt her body tense up as she slowly looked toward him. “We don’t want your kind in here.”
“Wh-what? But I’m—”
“Unnatural begats unnatural. If you’re in here, that... thing out there, might come in here too!” A mare called from the balcony above, her mane tussled up in some fru-fru hairstyle. “I’m certain that.... that thing wouldn’t have come to our poor town if it weren’t for you two.”
Fluttershy’s head moved around the entirety of the Salt Block, new ponies taking the inititive to drive her out. “Yeah! That’s right!” the stallion from the back called. “These two arrived, and then everything went to hell!”
“Please! You can’t!” Fluttershy cried, but even now some of the ponies were starting to get up off their benches and chairs and gather around her. “She needs to rest. Please!” Her eyes looked over to the barkeep pleadingly, but he made no effort to change his expression, let alone his ultimatum. Behind her, Applejack grunted weakly as one of the stallions started to push her roughly toward the door.
Fluttershy turned sharply, tears beginning to stain her cheeks. Her eyes narrowed, her stare intensifying. “Don’t you touch her!” she barked, her wings flaring. The blue pony hesitated. He made the mistake of locking eyes with Fluttershy. “Don’t you dare touch her! I won’t let you harm a hair on her head!” Stomping her forehooves, the stallion backed off. Fluttershy quickly put herself between Applejack and the crowd of ponies. The Stare was in full effect, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t without compassion. “I know you’re all scared right now. I am too. But this is no time to be going into hysterics.”
“I’m sorry if I... make you all uncomfortable. I never thought I’d be this way...” Fluttershy trailed. However, before anypony could interject, she was back on course. “But it’s still no reason to put myself and Applejack in danger! The creature out there isn’t looking for... for fillyfoolers. It’s a Djinn. He’s a Djinn.”
“A Djinn? Like those fire-spirit things from those old stories?” A more-curious-than-afraid mare asked. “That’s totally impossible.”
“I’ve met many impossible creatures.” Fluttershy smiled despite herself, thinking over all the animals she had befriended over the years. “A Cockatrice who could turn a pony to stone. I’ve heard the Timberwolves call in the night. Once, on a Hearth’s Warming Eve, I heard the call of a Windigo, and so much more. These creatures are real, everypony. And Appleloosa has one in their midst.”
There was a stark silence after this. Nopony wanted to really admit the clear and present danger, but the conviction behind the little pegasus’ words was enough to give them pause. “Well how do we deal with it?” one adventurous stallion asked.
Fluttershy hesitated, shaking her head. “I... I don’t know. The Djinn I’ve read about were trickster spirits, but they match the description of what Black Bull turned into. A pony of fire—”
A grunt cut off Fluttershy from going any further. The barkeep had circled his countertop and approached Fluttershy when she had been preoccupied with the crowed en mass. “I’m sorry, while your information is interesting, if you don’t know how to stop the beast and aren’t a paying customer, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Fluttershy’s blood ran cold. Hot tears threatened her eyes once again. “H-how could you be so mean?” Even she had to admit it wasn’t exactly her strongest defense.
“Policy. Pay up, or get out.”
“Oh piss off, half the people in here haven’t paid for a thing!” A green stallion shouted from the bar. In his hoof was a mug of water, a piece of celery hanging out of it. Taking a drink from his glass, he got to his hooves and walked up to the barkeep and Fluttershy. “Here missy, give this to your ladyfriend. Make sure she chews the celery up nice.” Handing over his cup, the stallion eyed the barkeep. “Nerve of some ponies. Willing to put others in danger just ‘cause... Well, I don’t pretend to know your reasons.” The stallion sniffed, shaking his head as he headed for the door. “Ain’t no use standing in here anyhow. Buncha ponies standing slackjawed at a couple of fillies– Any of you even think what’s gonna happen if that Djinn thing comes in here?”
Fluttershy was tending to Applejack as best she could, the earth pony only semi-conscious as she numbly chewed the celery. However, Fluttershy looked around the room at the possible exits, and to be fair, there weren’t a lot. The windows were rather near the door, and a lot of the second-story ones were only within her reach. It didn’t hit her until now that she had been the only pegasus she’d seen in town. “A bottleneck...” she trailed.
“That’s right. He’d burn down this place faster than the hotel went down– With all of you in it,” the stallion said, exiting the doors as he did. The room fell deathly silent as the ponies considered their predicament. The Salt Block wasn’t any sort of hiding place, to be certain, but it still was a wall between them and the unknown. Outside was where the Djinn was– a pony turned firebeast that everypony was sure would roast them if they got too close. But it was a lot more room to run.
In comparison, the outside suddenly didn’t look so bad to a potential mass grave. Fluttershy could only throw her wing over Applejack as a crowd of ponies rumbled past her into the Appleloosan streets.
“Sugarcube...?” Applejack stirred. “Ah’m rightly parched, but... y’all think you could stop dripping water on my head?” Looking at her hoof, Fluttershy bashfully realized that she had tipped the mug over and had been pouring a small stream on to her marefriend’s head.
“Oh no, I’m so sorry!” Quickly righting the cup, Fluttershy was pensive about Applejack getting back on her hooves so soon, but Applejack wasn’t about to stay down for long. Taking the mug up for herself, Applejack drank greedily from it. “You shouldn’t be getting up, you’re injured and—”
“And all sorts of other things. Ah ain’t sayin’ you ain’t right, ‘Shy, but Ah don’t have it in me to just sit around while my cousin is out there, fighting Black Bull’s Djinn thingy.” Applejack huffed.
“The Sheriff can handle himself,” the barkeep interrupted. Just as he had before, the slate gray pony had switched sides of his countertop, and was busying himself with cleaning some random glass mug. “Seeing as you’ve helped chase away my customers, I hope you don’t have some moral obligation to stay in here any longer.”
Fluttershy blinked, her will to keep Applejack in one spot gnawing at her. “Well I—”
“None whatsoever. Thank you for your... hospitality. Ah’ll be right sure to tell all my friends. Heck, I’ll even put in a word for you with Princess Celestia. How about that? I mean, I have personally saved her flank multiple times as one of those Elements of Harmony. Like my mare Fluttershy here.” Wearing a grin that could freeze a supernova, Applejack limped out the swinging doors, her stump of a tail swishing behind her with as much swagger as she could muster.
Fluttershy quickly followed after her, stopping fast as she nearly ran into the back of Applejack. The orange pony had stopped dead in her tracks, the last few ponies who had been in the Salt Block just moments before could be seen scurrying between buildings, moving away from the burning pony in the center of town. Black Bull had caught up to Sheriff Braeburn.
At his feet, the charred outside of the heatsuit Braeburn was in was quickly starting to give away under the intense heat of the Djinn’s anger. Muffled coughing was heard under the mask, but it was clear that he wasn’t going to last much longer under Black Bull’s presence.
“Braeburn!” Applejack cried, her hooved barely managing a trot as the limped towards her cousin. Fluttershy quickly slipped to her side, managing only to stabilize her before she fell. “You let him go, Black Bull! You hear me! Or I’ll buck you so hard that you’ll wish you stayed in stories!”
Fluttershy felt her heart throbbing in her chest. “Please, Applejack, you can’t!”
“You’re right, Fluttershy. Ah can’t. Ah can’t let some bully win in front of me. Ah can’t watch somepony be killed while Ah stand by and do nothing! Ah can’t when Ah can still do something! Anything!” Tears ran freely from her face as she struggled to take another step forward. Black Bull looked up from his catch, his white hot eyes staring at the two fillies. “If Ah can get him away from Burnie... If Ah can just distract him long enough for him to get away...!”
“Then what? Applejack, please, he’ll just do the same for you, and then you both won’t get away!”
“Ah have to try. Ah have to risk it!”
Fluttershy... smiled. Shaking her head cooley, Fluttershy sidestepped away from Applejack. With no more crutch for her to stand on, Applejack stumbled on her side, failing to keep her balance. “I’m sorry, AJ. I can’t risk it. I can’t risk you.”
“Sugarcube!? What are you doing?”
Steeling herself, Fluttershy kept her voice just above a whisper as she approached the Djinn. “If I can distract him long enough... get him away from you two.”
Applejack’s heart leapt to her throat. “N-no... ‘Shy, you can’t!”
“Hey! You big meanie!” Fluttershy shouted, her knees shaking. Black Bull took a step toward her. A step away from Braeburn. “Y-yes. You. Can’t you see what you’re doing here? You’re hurting innocent ponies!”
“My.... prize. Where is... my prize?”
Fluttershy hesitated, her eyes darting towards Braeburn and back. “I don’t... no prize is worth this! You’ve hurt my friends! Innocent ponies, just for a prize?” Despite everything, Fluttershy took a few steps forward. She’d rather face a thousand dragons before coming up to something like this. “Have you no heart?”
“No heart.... Give me my prize. Give me her.”
Fluttershy halted. She knew what he meant. That poor deputy sheriff, the one that... “Oh, I see. You want Butterscotch. That’s why you attacked Braeburn!” Shouting the creature’s motivations in their face wasn’t much of a strategy, but Fluttershy needed time.
“Sugarcube, stop! Please!” Applejack called from behind. She herself was struggling back to her feet. Fluttershy had to act fast.
“You want her?” Fluttershy asked, her voice filling with some unnatural confidence. She felt like Rainbow Dash. What would Rainbow Dash do in a situation like this? “You’ll have to catch me first! Then you can have your prize!” Wings flaring out, Fluttershy flapped hard, taking to the air. Keeping low to the ground, the pegasus darted perpendicular from where she had started.
With an otherworldly whinny, the Djinn sprouted wings of flame and took after her, leaving Applejack behind.
“Fluttershy!”