Part 1
For a split moment, JetStream looked up as he remembered, "Colas, Colos! Is it staying up there!? Is it notched in place?" he requested an answer from them near them hovering the roof. They carefully checked the bottom of the orb.
"It made a slight dent, I don't think it's going anyway!" Colos replied, he gestured towards his sister to come down with him. Picket neared them at the same rate.
"Awesome, I thank all you for returning it to it's planned spot." she smiled.
"Thanks..." they all replied. JetStream paused.
"Picket..."
"Hmm?" she wondered.
"... Were you watching us?" he asked curiously, she sighed a short sigh and nodded.
"Yes, I didn't want to bug your hardwork in getting that orb back in its place."
"Thanks for doing that, but... you know what, nevermind..." he smiled, "I'll be asking too much."
"What do you mean?" Twister wondered. As JetStream was actually about to respond, he noticed his shadow extending to the horizon faster and faster. With a sudden heavy feeling in his chest, those purple particles he saw earlier started to form around him once more. JetStream looked at the moon once more as his pupils when blade thin once again, and his transformation went off before everyone. Over grown fur, fangs on the inside egde of his mouth. His hooves seem to have barely ripped some fur there, as some of his hooves were now showing bare. Overall he seemed to have gained a purple tint over his entire body like transparent paint. The particles went away, and JetStream came back after he may have lost his vision for a moment.
"JetStream..." Picket spoke up.
"Huh?" there's that deep wrinkled-up-paper voice again. JetStream turned to Picket as she noticed his thin yellow eyes shone from the moon.
"You... this is called Lycanthropy..." they all paused.
"I panicked and, decided to give them a message back home." JetStream's friend's ears perked up as they awaited the answer.
"They say that they won't dare to try until they have formed a solid ground with you..."
"... What does that mean?" JetStream asked.
"... You would most likely have to see him face to face... that's the thing I'm afraid of..."
"That's no fair!" Colas exclaimed.
"This happend on accident! How come we have to go through such depressing concequences?" Picket shook her head.
"Sorry, I can't do anything about that..." she opened her eyes to strange looks, "It's... not in my authority..."
"It's something to worry about!" JetStream exclaimed. Everypony jumped like they were some prey he was chasing.
"But it won't really help to idle by and worry until the major happends..." he had a worried smile, winking toward Picket as she got the message.
"JetStream's got a point you guys..." she said, "You all did push the orb all the way back to the Spire's roof. That should clear something up between you all." she looked back down from the roof.
"This is a glorious setup you have here..." everypony gasped as JetStream pointed.
"It's you again!" his eyes glared to JetStream as the others watched, Picket's heart started to pump.
"Surprised to see me? Why, I thought you were the one chasing me..." JetStream's head went down as this stallion took the spotlight. Just the area around this pony was chilling to the spine. But with his werepony fur it didn't seem to bother as much. The stallion looked behind him toward the roof of the Spire, he smiled with the glint of his teeth showing.
"Did you all bring the orb back to its spawn?" he asked like he was their dark, twisted father.
"All, except me." Picket stated. The stallion noticed the others looked at her in worried expressions.
"... Not a single unicorn from these four, and they're able to lift it all the way back there?" his voice was soft, but felt like it would never stop poking you.
"We did it with friendship!" Colas suddenly exclaimed. Colos jumped.
"Colas, what are you doi-...?" the stallion gave an amusing look. Twister grit his teeth.
"Who are you? What's your name!?" with a deep thought, you could tell there was little worry.
"..." he looked at Picket, "Phamevem... Fantosme..." Picket flinched and looked at the ground.
"Stop doing that!" she closed her eyes tight, then only to suddenly hear the others.
"Where'd he go?"
"He just turned into a cloud of smoke..." she opened her eyes again.
"It's just an illousion, just watch your shadows closely..."
"What?" JetStream raised his head to look the opposite of the moon. There's JetStream, or atleast in inverted, non-psyhcal him. Even though his shadow wasn't moving, his heart started to pound. Suddenly where his eyes would meet on the shadow suddenly glowed white, same with everypony else making Colas jump and gallop out of fear. Also causing JetStream to jump as a domino effect, the white glowing eyes went away as Colos called out for her sister as he went after her.
"What the heck was that about!?" Twister exclaimed.
"Picket-" JetStream caught her attention.
"Do you know that stallion?" 'For the promise...'
"Yes... yes I do."
"How?" JetStream wondered.
"I'll go get them then..." Twister announced as he galloped out in the same direction.
"He lives, back where I do."
"How? He is a pony isn't he?"
"He's actually able to take form of anything through some form of shadow... he is actually some batpony. But..." Picket sighed, after a puase, "He's just very mischievous, or trouble maker..."
"Doesn't that seem a bit outdated?"
'That's what they should've figured...' Picket went into a paced trot to her left.
"Com' on. Let's catch up to your friends."
"Right." JetStream responded. The stallion chuckled as they went across the plaza to catch up.
"They knew more than I thought..." he looked at the orb right in front of him. Still ever so curious how they have it back up here, it seems more likely that it may have not fell in the first place.
"..." Picket was silent on their way after Colos' sister, 'JetStream and his friends remind me of my aquantaces back home... sometimes they'd act almost like this...'
"You seem to know a lot about that stallion..." she heard it coming from JetStreams side, but yet another voice was layered on top.
"I'm sorry..." she suddenly spoke.
"Is something wrong?" JetStream asked as they walked behind Twister.
"We know eachother..." she answered in her sudden trance. Her Aura was suddenly colder than a normal pony.
"Picket? Picket snap out of it." JetStream clapped his hooves together whenever he was able to. She succcessfully snapped free, as soon as she shook her head she exclaimed.
"Sorry, sir!" in a plead-like tone.
"Sir?" JetStream and Twister both rose their eyebrow. Like clearing from a grayout, Picket noticably saw JetStream again.
"Oh! I, uh..." she looked away, desperatly hoping they'd drop what she just said.
"... Where'd that come from?" Twister asked after a long pause, and started walking again. She sighed and started walking as JetStream did.
"It's just bittersweet memory." Phamevem reformed to his Earth stallion form and jumped the whole way down the 60 foot Spire. Landing without an injury. He grunted with assumption.
"Didn't know I could scare then that easily..."
Part 2
Phamevem looked around as he saw ponies walking late in the night with their partners, or who ever they could be. The moon's light shining on their glistening manes and blocking it from hitting their eyes. The night was a canvas to him. And the ponies that spread around in tiny dots are his viewers. He feels this urge of immenent power bubbling, and it will never overflow. He feels as if a professional had been so long, no matter his position in skill would ever reach to elite ranks. This feeling of never climbing higher, the same for stubborn-ness in that feild, makes him eager to never quit in what he does. And all though it doesn't bother him to know every detail of what he does, he enjoys the guilty pleasure of never rising to higher responsibility. But, he stopped his train of thought for another path, these ponies working with Picket have some expierence, higher than a novice is only an ametuar. Phamevem is honestly guilty to catch himself following specific ponies, JetStream and his friends in this case. And from what they have shown, as Phemvem looks from the shadows, they must have a lust for tenaciousness. Phamevem took cover when Twister looked around.
"Colas!" he shouted, "Sister, where are you!?" Colos exclaimed.
'... So this pony is a sister of the white one? As many should know, white is very distiguisble from the dark of night...' Twister suddeny stopped and turned to JetStream.
"Hey, JetStream, do you think you could use your Aura sense? ... If that's what it's called."
"Right." he nodded with his fur waving in the breezy summer night, 'I'm going to assume Colas is still worried or scared...' As the Aura visibly formed around JetStream once again, Phemevem was able to take notice.
'This one seems to have a special, amplifide force... but what is it doing?' His eyes suddenly glowed like batpony's eyes do, 'This feels as if it had branched on its own path... like it would be a son or daughter to a relative...' he carefully looked over to Picket, "If they feel so alike, could we disturb it?" he asked himself. JetStream's Aura suddenly pulsed a dark purple color. And without a second notice, he saw something pounce at him from the corner of his eye.
"Ah!" his natural entinct kicked it at the sudden change in the envirment. They noticed that JetStream fell to the floor, but that one looks different than the one next to them.
"JetStream?" they looked down to the one that got knocked down. Colos jumped when his fur stood on edge.
"That's not him!"
"I'm right here..." a voice came from his immediate right. JetStream, still in his werepony form stood motionless, as he wasn't even swaying, 'I'm numb... yet I'm not falling limb...' he realized.
"Yes, that will fade soon..." JetStream was able to look up, he noticed Twister looking at him. He looked to his left and relized there was a darker tinted, more wicked looking werepony that him and JetStream battled for.
"He looks just like you!" Colos exclaimed.
"Stop this now, Phamevem!" Picket shouted. JetStream gained the will and looked at Twister.
"Go find Colos' sister..." without a word notice, Twister turned around and started to gallop, followed by that dreaded voice out loud.
"Stop right there!" Twister stopped on a dime.
'How'd he?...'
"What did you do to JetStream?" Colos yelled in fear.
"Nothing, actually." he walked up to JetStream at a delecate pace, Twister backed up as he did, "Although his body did go through a massive tempature decrease, it'll soon rise to where it should be."
"Why did you form from him?" Picket asked.
"Simple, in this case he had the strongest connection to the lunar magic spread through the atmoshpere that they call a sky. It rises during night, and the moon helps to spread it. The stronger the connection-" he gained as devilish as his nose barely touched JetStream, and they stared eye to eye despite the stallions other form, "The more look-alike..." JetStream finally felt the numbness in his hooves.
"I can feel my hooves again..." JetStream stated. Phamevem's expression slid back to a neutral and took a step back from him.
"You, over there!" he called out, he turned.
"Twister!" JetStream called out, "Go and find her, don't listen to him!" Twister turned back a bolted out of Phamevem's vision, JetStream turned around to look at his reflection, "How did you know what I was saying to Twister?" JetStream asked, more curious than scared. They all looked at him as he seemed to walk out into shade in front of them.
"The stronger the connection, the better..." he smiled at the last moment before he vanished into the shadows. Leaving JetStream to sigh.
"How in the world do you two know each other?" JetStream asked Picket. She just shook her head and said.
"We ran into eachother a lot..." JetStream suddenly fell like a ragdoll.
"There we go..."
"What are we going to do with that pony looking like you, JetStream?" Colos wondered.
"Be extra careful..." he responded as he got on his own hooves again.
"Let's just go find your sister." Picket suggested. They both nodded and turned around.
Part 3
"Hopefully we can find her, we're actually having some difficulty..." Picket nodded.
"Even so, this town is 13 or so square miles. Just about the size of Canterlot..." JetStream found themselves turning a corner right.
"It will take a bit I gue-" JetStream stopped bumping into Twister from behind, "Wha-?" he looked back up.
"Colas is back home..." JetStream opened wide, they seemed to glow as he did.
"That's where we're going this whole time?" he asked.
"Yeah, I figured if she went home, we'll be done and over with this..." JetStream paused before suggesting.
"Should we go in and check up on her?" Picket looked at Twister as well. Twister sighed before replying.
"Well, yeah. I will..." his tone went awkward, "I'm afraid you'll frighten Colos' parents if they see you, both of you..." Twister looked just as dissapointed as JetStream and Picket did.
"So be it-" she held her head slight up from the horizon, her eyes closed, "-as I was never accompanied into households of this land, I don't expect it to change." her eyes opened, darting to JetStream, "JetStream, let's wait outside then for them to return..." Picket surprisingly didn't sound the slightest bit annoyed. Before Twister closed the door he called that he'd be right out again.
"... Honestly that's what I meant. He didn't let me finish..."
"What do you mean?" she asked as JetStream went ahead, walked around her to sit down.
"I meant that I should've re-worded it, it's no biggy..." JetStream felt a sudden heavy preassure, he flinched, only to come back up when it went away moments later. Picket's expression went to surprise.
"What was that? Why did my chest just hurt right now?" he asked rubbing his chest, watching his werepony fur being tussled around.
"Don't worry, I felt that too. Practically I can't un-feel it; I'm a batpony so... I'm really surprised. When Phamevem said about your lunar connection, he wasn't kidding about how thick it was, you got a pressure sensation on your chest? Look up." they both did.
"The moon's near the top of the sky..." Picket nodded.
"Yep, it's almost a lunar noon. That's what that pain was, a warning that time is nearly only half now. You have another six or seven hours until you transform back."
"Right." he responded after he looked back down, he paused, "Do you feel that? The wind?" she took a moment to let it flow around and embrace her, like a massage that had little effect, yet still was very cold and awakening to the face.
"Yes, and I assume that's the storm they're trying to get ahead of." JetStream's mouth opened in shock as Picket looked to her left, all the way towards the horizon.
"Are you... looking at the storm? Ways from here?" JetStream asked. The weird thing was Picket was faintly starting to nod, but suddely stopped the nod and answered.
"No, but it 's somewhere in that direction." JetStream closed his eyelids half way.
"Getting tired?" Picket wondered.
"Just a bit restless..." suddenly Twister walked out of the door, without Colas nor Colos, "Twister-" he got up on his hooves again, and Picket followed JetStream walking up to Twister, "-why isn't Colas or Colos with you?" Twister shrugged.
"It's getting really late, and I can agree..." JetStream looked at Picket, who just shrugged.
"For my sake, I'll go home and get rest as well." JetStream suggested as he turned around.
"Alright then, see you tomorrow!" Twister waved good-bye for tonight.
"Mind if I join for the moment?" Picket asked.
"Sure, I won't be out much longer though." she nodded.
"Fair enough."
"... I sincerely hope my Mom and Dad care for me, even with this lunar curse..." he said to himself quitely as he looked out from bed towards the stars beyond. He's been up for ten minutes now, and it still seems to be night. He got up from his bed, '... Hope I'm not shedding...' he suddenly thought looking back with a stoic expression. He shook his head and looked out the window, his eyes glared at the moonlight still hitting the ground. He wasn't able to see the moon directly because of his bedroom window facing the opposite of a sundown. His mouth shifted as he looked around the visible space. He tried bringing up the memory where he found the orb back on the roof of the Spire, and possibly find any evidence as why he's transforming in the first place. Despite the knowledge of knowing what energy is compressed into this form, it does seem to have it's perks. Everything feels a bit more soft, you're warmer one-hundred percent of the time, and especcially for night. But then there was this third reason, a reason somepony would like to understand, know it exsists, yet can't really specify. This third reason is may just be something he his hiding behind himself, take care of it but not bring it home, share something with it so grand it will only have to share something once, except for that small detail you couldn't remember, or fail just to forget, "... A reason beyond the stars..." he thought to himself, "Picket, she's only here in Altamare for reasons that envolve her own, I haven't left here for that reason-" he stated looking at his door, "... Up until the point I decided to check that orb... now it's over-sized, messed with, and practically been dirtied..." he stopped himself when his ring glowed, "...?" he walked over to it, "Why is it glowing this time?" out of the corner of his eye, JetStream noticed the sky turning red and blue, "Is it because of the sun rising?" he took a closer look at where the red buldged more then anywhere else on the horizon. He realized the sun's a bit more to the left than what he thought, and looking at the ground confirmed that it was that time again. He carefully tried to but his ring back on, with all that fur it was a bit tricky. He he snuck his way to the backyard, "..." he paused, "It's been a while, but it's about time to head back to the Glassed Hill..." pulled back, and launched towards the door.
Part 4
"... Picket might have been right about that storm, I guess she just may know..." he shivered on his way through the stone and dirt tunnel, 'Honestly, it was suddenly a bit chilly...' JetStream recalled Picket slightly nodding at JetStream's question, only to say no moments later, "Was that by accident, or for a purpose? ..." his before stoic expresion went to a frown of a slant. JetStream swallowed after thinking multiple things, "It was a promise, she'll keep it." he reassured as his hooves kicked the dirt up from the damp soil. He noted getting close as the torches showed up on the walls, they were stone/wood sticks with one end lit with rings going around the flame. "I never really went down here at night time, no wonder I never expected it to get this dark..." those torches were just enough light for him to feel safe galloping at his current speed. He was releived to end up in front of an opening door to the hallowed hill, "Alright, finally back in." he sped up and jumped through with high momentum, causing to throw dirt everywhere, and dust into the air. He coughed, "Most natural thing so far..." he paused when he looked his eyes on outside to see the twilight's dawn, "It's getting close to sunrise..." his right hoof rose from the ground in awareness.
"It sure is a submissive thought, isn't it?" JetStream snapped his eyes to the left. JetStream's thin pupils sliced the air around him, his lunar fur standing on edge.
"Show yourself! ... How did you get in here!?" his threatening voice demanded. He walked up ahead, more in the center of the area.
"I'm much closer than you think, yet still almost never seem to acknoledge me..." a pause made JetStream grit his teeth, his impatience went hoof in hoof with this form, as he has noted.
"Darker than space, yet more noticable than any star seen by the pony eyes."
'Closer than you think? I never seem to acknowledge...' JetStream's thought process went to work, with the instant pop as JetStream jumped in the air, "Shadow!" he looked away from the moon and sky, and in the opposite direction. And there he was, still formed as him in his werepony form. JetStream thoughtlessly swung his left hoof in the open air.
"Whoa, whoa, what are you doing? I'm down here."
"Stop it, Phamevem!" JetStream exclaimed as he backed up. All he was doing was standing on this two-deimensional plane of a ground floor.
"What? Can't handle what you can't see?" a sillohuotte of Phamevem walked around like a shadow without an visible pony casting it. It was practically messing with his eyes. JetStream looked down and noticed him casting as his shadow, he gallopped to the other side, keeping on eye on him. Phamevem kept it up as JetStream's activity went in the same direction, soon he even started to emit purple particles from his body, showing it's raw energy, 'There it is!!!' Phamevem screamed JetStream to a halt, he started to scramble backwards as Phamevem rushed him. JetStream suddenly closed his eyes as tight as he could, and for some reason went for his Aura for help. And with all this energy built up, his whole body was suddenly accompanied with a bright, clear red glow. The build up over flowed, JetStream opened his eyes shining red volumetric light, his vision went black close to a gray-out. And a sudden EMP like boom accured, causing Phamevem to form to his original self and fly back to his side of the hill. JetStream pratfalled to the floor as his red Aura faded. Only to inch back up moments later.
"Don't... provoke it!" JetStream exclaimation filled the room. With all his strength he got up on all fours, and pushed his right hind leg against the wall he leaned against for a kickstarter as he rushed Phamevem. His surprise for seeing Phamevem like this will only be pushed aside. From the bruises that cover him from hitting th stone side of the hill, a faint smile emerged. JetStream galloped faster to the point he almost tripped, then in sudden adrenaline, he jumped and aimed stright for him. Suddenly, everything went to white. JetStream noticed he jumped passed the sun from the big circular window, "...!" he lost his train of thought as this white blinded him, he tumbled straight for Phamevem. He transformed back into his shadow form and moved along the surface to slither away and avoid bumping into him. JetStream continued to tumble until he hit the stone on the wall with an audibly cough. Phamevem's smile slowly faded as JetStream lied in the sunlight, assuming those pain-felt moans were him transforming back. He huffed and exited the Glassed Hill. JetStream grit his teeth as he tried to climb to his hooves, holding his stomach so he could try to do so, "Pham- Phamevem!" he shouted. As hard as he could try he would suddenly fall back to the floor without any explanation, like it was stunning him every five seconds as he transformed back.
JetStream could hear his heavy breathing alone, the white started to fade as he noticed he was back to his bright cyan coloured self. Now, and thankfully he was able to pull himself up as it tugged himself down less every time it did so. When he got to his hooves, he slowly looked at his shadow casted by the sun, "Agh!" he shadow was not there whatsoever, he shook his head, closing his eyes. Only for the shadow to appear like it should when he stopped. He stood completely still wondering what just happend, and decided to flee back to home as if he felt like fleeing a recent crime scene. He felt completely worried.
That feeling continued as he saw Picket already outside his home...