Dean was thrown hard against the wall from a hoof to the chest. His body shook as a trickle of blood trailed out of the side of his mouth while he struggled to his hooves again. Looking up, he glared daggers at his assailant, “Nice try, Whinchester-boy. Maybe next time, you should think before you fight a vampire out your class,” the yellow coated stallion mocked. He walked towards Dean with a confident strut.
“FUCK YOU!” yelled the older Whinnychester, delivering a fierce cross with his left hoof.
“Oh, well look at you!” the vampire said, stepping back so Dean bearly hit his short blonde mane. “No weapons, no brother, and,” he continued, uppercutting Dean’s chin twice and then bucking the hunter against the wall, “you fight like a lumbering monkey. Yet, you are still willing to fight little old me. I find it rather...”
“Impressive?” asked Dean panting before the vampire slammed his head against the hall.
“I was going to say,” the vampire’s Trottingham accent oozed snark. “Pathetic.” To add insult to injury, he licked the trail of blood that ran down Dean’s forehead. “Now, I should kill you, leave you a corpse for Sammy to find, and then kill him as he cries.”
“Get... a... away from him you bast-” he was interrupted from his swear by a long cut across his chest by the vampire’s knife.
“Language, Whinnycester-boy. I was going to say I won’t kill you. You hunters are far more intersting to break when the fear of death has been put into you,” he spoke, hearing footsteps. “So, I am going to let you live for now. Then, when you are broken and weeping, I’ll kill you after I am done with doing your brother slowly, “ the vampire ended his threat, licking the blood trail coming from Dean’s lips. With a chuckle, he vanished into the shadows.
“Dean? DEAN!” Sam yelled, running to his older brother, getting some bandages from a case. “Carmine told me about what you were doing. Why were you going after Spike without me?”
Dean just sat there as his brother bandaged him, his breathing shallow as he stared with wide fear filled eyes.
Supernatural Pony Tales: Sweets to the Sweet
Dean woke up, a smile on his face as he walked down the stairs into the kitchen of the cabin. Turning to look at his mother, he waved to her before walking to his little brother, “Letting mom rest from the stove, Sammy?”
“Yeah, she has had a busy day,” Sam chuckled as he put his food down at the table. The young colt looked from his sleeping mother and then back to Dean, “Hey, Dean?”
“Yeah, Sam?” Dean asked, wolfing down a waffle.
“I think me and Jessica are going to-”
“I approve,” Dean commented, licking some of the syrup off his lips.
Sam’s eyes opened wide at this, “You-you do?”
“Yeah, you and Jessica make a great couple. And besides,” Dean said, leaning over to hug his brother, “I’ve wanting to be an uncle for a while now.”
“Thanks, Dean. You know, I can...” Sam never got to finish, as a deep red stain appeared on his coat.
“Sammy? SAM!” Dean yelled as he watched his dying brother reach out for him.
Before Sam’s outstreached hoof could touch Dean’s, the younger colt had his body wrenched back by another stallion. With a sinister chuckle, Spike held Sam’s back to his shouler, “Oh look, Dean, you failed. And now, the little brother is bleeding to death,” the vampire then licked the seeping blood from the hole in Sam’s back. “ Maybe, I should save him? Make him one of us? Hmmmmm?”
Enraged, Dean tried to rise from his seat but found himself unable to. Looking around, he watched in horror as chains binded him to the chair, “You-”
“Nah,” Spike muttered, shaking his head. “Too much of a wanker. I would be hearing his whining all day.” With that, Spike coldly broke Sam’s neck.
“No, Sam,” Dean said in a shocked whisper.
“SAM!!” Yelled Dean as he woke up in the chariot as it sped along its way through the night.
“Yeah, Dean?” Sam asked, looking at his older brother with concern.
“Nothing,” Dean lied, shaking his head. “I just was thinking: What about that case you found?”
“Appearently, there were a series of deaths in Woodenbroke over the past few days,” Sam said, looking down at the newspaper.
“So... it sounds like a serial killer instead of something we would be interested in,” the older Whinnychester said, looking ahead.
“This is where it gets interesting,” Sam said, a smirk forming on his lips. “The deaths were all in places where there was no way that anypony could’ve gotten in without a pony seeing somepony.”
Dean then grinned happily at this, looking at the back of the chariot, “Fifty bits say it’s a wraith, and loser also has to buy supper.”
“Zebra alchemist and loser has to pay up for the next hotel,” Sam said, shaking his brother’s hoof.
“Mummy’s curse from Saddle Arabia, and you both will have to clean up the next hotel we’re at, “ Carmine smiled.
The three gave a quick nod as they all shouted, “DEAL!”
At a small house in Woodenbroke, a young pegasus mare opened the door when the Whinnychester’s knocked on the door, “Hello miss, I’m Agent Jagger this is Agent Simmons. We’re here to ask you about the murder of your friend, Jasmine?”
“Oh,” the young mare sighed. “I’m sorry, but you are most likely to get the same story that I told the police.”
“Indulge us, please Miss Honey?” Sam said, looking at the mare with a soft and comforting look.
Honey Pot sighed and let the brothers in. After getting them seated, she took her spot in front of them, “It happened a few days ago, when me and my friends had a sleepover together. We were all having a blast, you know: talking about life, makeovers, pillowfights, you know how it goes.”
“Yeah, I know,” Dean chuckled perversely, only to be nudged in the ribs by Sam.
Honey continued, “Well, at one point, Jade decided to have us play a round of Candystallion.
“Candystallion?” Dean asked, eyebrow arched.
Sam shot up, “Oh, I heard of this game. It’s kind of like Blood Mary, you are supposed to stand in front of a mirror and say Candystallion five times-”
“-and he is supposed to pop up,” Honey said. “So,Jasmine, being the bravest one of us, strolled forward and did it. Then one of us grabbed her from behind and scared her. You know, for fun. Then a few hours later, after we left for bed, we all heard screaming. I ran into the kitchen where I could hear her screaming and there she was! She was being carved from neck to stomach by some invisible weapon, letting bees walk out of her body before falling to the ground in a pool of blood. I stood there screaming while my best friend was...was...” she stopped herself, breaking down into sobs.
Sam reached over and gave the green mare a comforting hug, “Don’t worry mam, we’ll handle it.”
“You... believe me?” Honey asked, shocked.
“This isn’t the weirdest thing we heard heard about, ma’am,” Dean said, before walking out of the house with his brother in tow. Once out of the house, Sam bregudgenly handed Dean fifty bits. “By the way, I like my tofu burgers with everything on it.”Dean said with a green.
“So,” Sam said, walking alongside the bed as Dean ate his burger happily,” What do we have so far? A wraith that is currently attacking only by mirrors.”
“Reminds me of the bloody mary case,” Dean said, rolling up the wrapping and throwing the paper away.
“Yeah, but I think the Candystallion has a different story,” Sam said, walking to the door. “I am going to go and see what I can find at the library, you wait here.”
Dean nodded, and waited for his brother to leave, “Well, I guess its about time we met our suspect. Candystallion,” he said, walking up to a mirror. “Candystallion, Candystallion, Candystallion, Candystallion. Now,” the hunter then spun around to look behind him, crossbow drawn. “Come on out!”
The silence that greeted him was cold and staggering. For the briefest of moments, he believed it didn’t work, that maybe they were wrong about how they killed their prey. But, something told him that he wasn’t. Taking in slow, deep breaths, he began to look over the room in an attempt to spot the wraith. However, no matter wich way he turned his head, all that the room gave was a cold unwelcoming silence. It was very unsettling, even for an experienced hunter like him. Taking a few steps forward, he kept his confidence on his face, but on the inside, he was worried about if he was wrong.
That was when his chin was pulled forcefully by a strong striped hoof, “A Whinnychester called for me? I am deeply, honored,” a zebra’s voice spoke out, a low deep tone coming with each word.
“Y-you’re not rhyming?” Dean asked, feeling the stallion’s cold hook rubbing alon his chest.
“I’ve long abandoned the need for such... tendencies,” Candystallion remarked, whispering close to Dean’s ear.
“So, this is where you try and killl me?” Dean asked, getting ready to buck the larger zebra off.
“Oh no, not at all. See, you have something that is far more palatable than a death,” Candystallion remarked, chuckling. “Fear. You fear something deep inside of you and you can’t say why. Lets see what it is,” Candystallion said, rubbing his cold hook along Dean’s body. “You’ve lost a fight, and now... you fear losing something much more important. You fear that you won’t be able to save your brother when the time comes.”
“I’m not afraid!” Dean denied, managing to buck the stallion off and aiming his crossbow.
“Death is much more exquisite when your fear is at its peak. This is why you are alive right now,” Candystallion chuckled as he turned into a cloud of bees and flew through the door.
“I’m back, Dean,” Sam said, walking in with books on his back. Looking into the room, he saw his brother panting hard with eyes wide in fear. “Dean! Are you all right? What happened!?”He ran to his brother’s side.
Dean looked to his brother, seeing an image of Candystallion behind the soft spoken stallion with his hook raised for the kill. Swifty, Dean reached out for his brother but then, just as soon as the zebra appeared, he vanished. Shaking his head of the illusion, he looked up, “Yeah, I’m fine. What did you find?”
“Well, the library actually had some interesting books-”
At hour one, it seemed promising.
Hour two, it began to drag.
Hour four became monotony
Hour six became promising, but then shifted quickly back into tedium again.
A long and depressed sigh came from Dean’s lips. He hated research, unless it involved how to put blade A into corpse B; even then, he wanted to just hear the basics of it. Taking a quick look at his brother, a soft smile came to his lips. Sam looked like he was in his element, nose in a book and reading over the stories of the monsters they fought, “This is interesting,” Sam began.
“What?” Dean asked.
“Well, zz zzzz zzzz zzz zzzzzz,” Sam began, but his voice became a buzzing noise.
“Sam, what-” Dean asked, hearing the buzzing become louder. Turning his head to look at Sam, the older Whinnychester stepped back in horror as he watched bees crawling out of Sam’s mouth. Panting in fear, he watched helplessly as the bees began to crawl from the openings in the younger brother’s body before leaving bloody holes where they were coming from.
“Are you paying attention, Dean?” Asked Sam, looking at his brother with a mix of annoyance and worry.
Panting, Dean looked around him, glad to see his little brother safe and sound, “Yeah, I’m fine. You were saying?”
“I was saying that this stallion had a bad life,” Sam said, shaking his head as he looked at the last article. “Appearently, he was a vistiting zebra student who came to town to research alchemy. Then he fell in love with this mare.”
“So, he found a cute mare that he wanted to snog, and now wants revenge because he didn’t get any?” asked Dean.
“There’s more to it than that, it seems that the mare he loved... was the daughter of a bigoted nobel,” the younger brother said, a tinge of sadness in his voice.
Dean let out a drawn, “oh,” as the meaning of that sentance dawn upon him.
“The problem became worse when he found out that she was pregnant. The nobel started a rumor around town that the stallion raped his daughter and, knowing certain feelings towards zebras,” Sam continued.
“They didn’t take kindly to the idea, did they?” Dean asked.
“Not in the least,” Sam replied, shaking his messy mane. “They cornered the stallion near a beehive and cut off his hoof, replacing it with a hook.”
“Why a hook? No, wait, why cut off the hoof?” Dean asked, dumbfounded.
“Why do racists do anything?” Sam remarked as he continued to look in the book, “It says that they then drenched his body with honey and had him stung to death with bees. While looking into a hoof mirror.”
A smile came to Dean’s face as he got off the bed and walked to the door, “So, the wraith is connected to the hoof mirror, and we just have to burn the item to kill it. Any leads?”
“Well, according rumors... the mirror seems to have fallen in the hooves of somepony we both know,” Sam said, giving his older brother a book and showed off a name. As he watched his older’s brother’s green eyes widen in both memory and contenment, he let out a chuckle at his own exemplorary searching skills.
“While it is indeed true that we received the hoof mirror belonging to the Candystallion as a morbid present from an unnamed source,” Princess Luna said, walking with the brothers down the hall of the castle. “We have long since given it away.”
“Why?” Sam asked, not notcing his brother’s lack of interest in the conversation.
“Because, about a year ago, one of his descendants came to me and-”
“So weak, so easy,” the Candystallion wispered to Dean as he ran his hook aloong Sam’s fur. “The flesh is so weak, in comparison to the soul. But you wouldn’t know that, Dean, the fear has been weakening you. Maybe, I should fufill that vampire’s desire and-”
“Stay away!” Dean yelled, watching in horror as the wraith raised his hook to stab the young Whinnychester..
“From Zecora’s?” asked Sam as he heard Dean’s outburst.
“Uh, no. I was just thinking of something else. Right,” Dean quickly added, trying to change the subject. “Zecora’s. I’ll... uh... go and tell Carmine to get to Ponyville.”
As Dean ran off to talk to Carmine, the lunar princess lowered her head to speak to the younger Whinnychester, “Be mindful of your brother, Sam, I do believe he is currently having some problems.”
“Yeah, I know,” Sam said sorrowfully. “That beating he took from that vamp has really been messing with him. I just wish I knew how to fix him.”
“Stay with him, Samuel,” Luna said, putting a hoof onto his shoulder. “Remind him that you are there for him and support him however you can.”
Sam solomenly nodded and followed his brother out the door.
“You have come for the mirror
Which belonged to my ancestor?” Zecora asked.
“Yes, Zecora, do you still have it?” asked Sam.
“All you had to do was ask and I would hand you my ancestor’s relic.
But why must you ask of something that seems so, non academic?
“Because, we need to burn it to exorcise a wraith,” Sam said, as Zecora began to hand over the mirror.
“The legend of the Candystallion, you speak?
Of his truth, I never did seek
But-
“So, here we are at the end, Dean,” the Candystallion said, laying a hook on the Whinnychester’s neck, while running a hoof through his short cut manee. “But you are still afraid. Afraid of failure, of losing again. Tell me, how do you think you can save him, when you can’t beat a simple vampire? I could kill him now, run my hook through his head. I am that fast, or would you rather I finish you?”
“I don’t have to answer. In a few minutes, you’ll be ash!” Dean responded.
“Of course I will. Thus is the way of all things, but,” the stallion chuckled, “Your fear will remain. That is why I offer death, because it would be easier to deal with. Sam is strong, he doesn’t need you. Carmine can protect him, you can rest now.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Dean responded, lowering his body to the ground. “I didn’t beat Spike, I can’t protect Sammy, and I keep twiching in fear... what good am I?”
“So, is that how it is? That you are ready to accept the fear? You are ready to accept death?” the Candystallion asked, bees beginning to cover Dean’s body.
“ Do it,” Dean said, closing his eyes.
“DEAN! DEAN!” cried out a younger Sam, running to his older brother.
“What?”
Dean looked ahead and saw his litte brother running to him, “Don’t go! I need you.”
“But Sam, I-”
“I don’t care if you lost to that meanie vampire, you still the bestest brother ever!” Sam said.
“Besides,” said a teenage Sam, “You’re really going to let one loss get to ya? I guess you aren’t as strong as I thought.”
“But he threatened you, Sam! And I know I can’t protect you,” Dean said, feeling the Candystallion’s hook making a small incision in his neck.
“Dean, I’m not a little colt anymore. I know you are the fighter, that you are the big brother, but give me some credit. I can handle it, but not without you,” Sam responded, smiling.
“I don’t-”
“Come on, Deanie. You can do it, you can rise above it, like you did when your father died,” Merry Whinnychester said, hugging the colt from behind.
“Well, what is it child? Succumb to the fear? Or rise above?” asked the Candystallion.
Dean looked to the zebra, his eyes narrowing in rage and determination as he calmly said, “Fuck you.”
The zebra drew away from Dean, and smiled slightly, “Fine then. You have chosen to ignore it. To live. You may go back, you may... awaken now.” With that, he dissappeared in a cloud of bees.
“What?”
The world came back to Dean in a blur of light, shapes and colors, “He’s awake! He’s awake! Go, get the doctor!” Sam exclaimed as he glomped Dean tightly.
“S...Sammy, what happened? Where’s the Candystallion?” aske Dean, his voice a little hoarse .
“Candystallion? Dean, you were almost killed by Spike. We were on a case to hunt him down, you cornered him alone, and then he beat you within an inch of your life. We were lucky that Carmine knew where the Las Pegasus hospital was, or...or,” Sam studdered.
“Hey, I told you once before, I ain’t dying. Not until I see you married with a home and a happy little family. Got it?” Dean said, rubbing Sam’s mane.
Sam chuckled and began to leave the room, “Got it, Dean.”
As Sam went out of earshot, Dean leaned back onto the bed, “Yeah, you can beat me, kill me, or do whatever you want to me, but I aint ever gonna stop keeping that stallion safe. I don’t care who you are,” as he finished, a little bee flew out the window.
In an unnamed town, in an unknown spot, a weird little box fell out ofa mutliated deer’s hoof and into the river.
Next time on Supernatural Pony Tales: It’s the Great Pumpkin Head, Dean.