Bewitching Circumstances

by bluemoon1996

Party Crashers

They still hadn't solved the issue of how they would get across town. Yet the witch glaring at them from from her window definitely put wind in their sails as the two quickly fled the premises and out the gates.

"Like I said nice but scary as buck," Matt panted as the two stopped after their brief panic filled escape.

"I can't even tell what she's thinking half the time," Jemaul admitted with a groan, his fur ruffled in places. "She hits us with the curse then gets upset we aren't working our flanks off trying to break it?"

"Maybe she's got a mental disorder too?" Matt said, looking about to see if anyone was out yet, "it could be that?"

"She's old too," Jemaul contributed as he shook his fur back in place.

"Whatever," Matt shrugged, "let's just get this over with and get back to our normal selves." He looked down at his hooves and frowned, "I'm already forgetting what fingers felt like."

"Okay, we should be able to use the fire escape to get up to Justin's place, but getting there is the real issue," Jemaul dropped to his haunches and thoughtfully tapped his forehooves together. "You turned into a colt earlier. Think you can turn into a human?"

"I was scared out of my wits," he quickly replied, "it just happened. I don't know how I did it but it just happened."

"Okay, that's plan A out the window..." Jemaul hummed. He clicked to himself a few times. "Never had much faith in 'Plan A's anyway. Can you use your shapeshifting at all?"

"Like I said before, it happened by accident," he groaned, "and it took me forever to make myself back into this."

Jemaul looked at him, his eye twitching. He closed his eyes took a few calming breaths. He was still pissed, but at least his tone was more or less level. "Matt… you literally had all day to try and work it out… you seriously wasted it all watching netflix? I thought you were joking about that and just wanted privacy!"

He let out a scared bug noise, "I-I... She had the show! I was doing research! I only watched one episode of House of Cards thank you very much."

Jemaul clenched his jaw and slowly stood up, his breath hissing out between his teeth. "Matt… I really, really want to bite you right now."

"I was doing research! How was I suppos-"

"Twelve hours! We have less than twelve hours to get to the other side of town, break into a rich flank stain's apartment, which I might add, will be packed due to the Halloween Party he's having, and get here, all while as some characters from some little girl's show, and you did BUCK ALL ALL DAY?" Jemaul let out an angrish screech, hooves stomping and his wings flaring.

Matt let out a terrified insectoid screech of fear and was almost instantly enveloped in green fire once again. Once it disappeared, the same tiny colt as before stood in his place.

Jemaul's cry cut off, but his expression was still venomous, though some of the tension left his jaw. He hissed softly, glaring at the colt. "Really?" he sneered, sarcasm dripping from the word. "Now you figure out how to do that?"

"Y-you scared me," he squeaked, hiding behind his forehooves, "it just Happened!"

"Of course I did," Jemaul ground out, pawing at the grass with a hoof. His wings slowly inched back down to their resting position.

"And we shouldn't be screaming our heads off so much," the small colt looked about cautiously, "someone could come and investigate!"

"Augh… okay, we should be fine… we are still too close to Granny D's place for most people to poke around," Jemaul tried not to think too hard about how he almost messed them up. "How long do you think you can keep that shape?"

"I... I don't know," he said after a few seconds of thought, "though may I ask? How do I look?" His big eyes wide as he looked up at the now larger Jamie.

"You look like a foal, now please don't look at me like that," Jemaul requested, rubbing between his eyes. He didn't want to admit it, but Matt looked pretty adorable like that. He held a hoof over the colt's head, measuring his height. "The green mane might stand out, but the brown coat is good. Might be able to pass off as an animal. Better than the bug get up."

"But I don't wanna be tiny!" He pouted as got to his hooves, "besides bug mode is a better disguise on tonight of all nights."

"Smaller means easier to sneak around. And considering you didn't practice flying or shapeshifting, walking is about all you can do," Jemaul grumbled unkindly. Mentally, he started assembling a map of the city. "Probably a good think you don't have wings in that shape."

"Why? Because I'm a flying ball of adorableness," he scoffed.

Jemaul gave Matt a bland look before shoving him off his hooves and thoughtfully walking off. "Okay… Jane Lane is on the east side of town… can't cut straight to the Gates. Too many major roads to cross… might have tried flying from rooftops since people don't often look up, but somepony," he shot a glare back at Matt, "decided to watch Daytime TV..."

"It wasn't daytime TV," he said flatly before rubbing his eyes. "I can ride on your back," Matt suggested after some thought, "with me as a pint sized little kid, I should fit just fine."

"GaaaaAAAAAaaaaahhh..." Jemaul said, coming to a sudden stop, throwing a foreleg over his face. His shoulders shifted as he inhaled and exhaled heavily. Lowering his leg with a sigh, he shook himself. "Okay… better now. I don't know. I'm still clumsy flying, and my landings are horrible. Don't know if I can manage with a passenger."

Matt frowned, "oh horseapples, well, I guess we gotta hoof it across back alleys across town."

"This is gonna suck so much… the community routes are gonna be packed with kids trick or treating. The downtown angle is always packed," Jemaul used a hoof to sketch out ideas. "Waiting till later pushes the clock..."

"We could always cut through the park and cemetery?" Matt suggested, "the park is on the edge of town and is only a block or two of closed stores away from the apartment. And the cemetery is a couple blocks from said park?"

"Three shorter danger runs," Jemaul murmured. "But a cemetery? On halloween? When we just found out magic is real? Damn, colt, you got some balls."

"Who knows maybe the spoopy scary skeletons are in the old graveyard outside of town?" Matt laughed, "knowing our luck that may just be the case."

"I don't have a better idea, and I wasted half an hour so far," Jemaul groaned. He looked at the rapidly setting sun, ears twitching to catch the faintest sounds of people. "Let's go avoid us some humans."

-----

Jemaul had to remind himself that no one else would be seeing their surroundings as clearly as he was while he watched the early batches of parents and little ones start their candy runs. Getting to the park still called for crossing a lot of property. "Backyards?"

Matt simply nodded as he scampered along after Jamie, practically having to jog to keep up with the bigger ponies strides. "This is horseapples! Slow the heck down!"

Though not without an irritated snort, Jemaul slowed his pace so the colt that served as Matt's only guise could keep up, keeping to the shadows as he angled for the rear of the lot. At least halloween tended to mean more shadows and places to hide. Stars forbid it was christmas, then everything would be lit up like… well; christmas. "Think you can climb a fence?"

"I'm like a foot tall and a half tall, I doubt I can," he huffed, "why the heck did I agree to this disguise business. I was all black! All I'd have to do is slink into the shadows and close my eyes!"

"You looked like a biker horse sans the spikes and skulls, have solid blue eyes, a somewhat polished shell and sounded like some distant relative of Belzebub. Lord of Flies version." Jemaul listened impassively. Using a hoof, he forced a hole through a hedge big enough for Matt. "The size is your own fault."

"I can't help that I don't know how to do size," he replied, rolling his eyes as he got onto his knees and crawled through the hole. "And you're not exactly sneaky too Count Horscula."

"True. But considering you refused to learn how to fly, having you fuzzy was better than…," Jemaul paused contemplatively. "What's the word for- oh, duh. Chitinous."

Matt just let out a huff of irritation as he was halfway through the bush, "well at least I have a horn too."

"That you don't know how to use." Jemaul tapped a hoof impatiently before turning and giving Matt a 'helpful' hoof to his rear to push him through. That done, he flew over the barrier the easy way.

Matt was glaring at him as he came over the top, rubbing his rump with a hoof. "I was getting through just fine you jerk," he mock pouted, "this is child abuse!"

"You look around eight ish, I can pass as your older, hot, brother," Jemaul said, 'landing' beside Matt and picking himself up. "Poor relationship and a lecture at most."

Matt just glared at him as he got back to his hooves, "come on, let's just keep going."

The possibility of trick or treaters reduced the possibility of people paying attention to their backyards to almost nothing. Their only close call was some random guy ducking out the back to have a smoke. Aside from them being outside the glare cast by the open door, he was draining a can of beer between draws.

"Yo, Kevin! You got anymore smokes?" someone called from inside.

"Yeah, you want one?"

"Fuck yeah, man. Gimmie a minute to grab another beer."

And that wasn't good. The moment 'Kevin' turned his attention back inside, Jemaul wrapped his arms around Matt's barrel and hauled him into the air.

The small colt let out a hell of panic as he was suddenly grabbed but quickly shut up as he realized that being loud would blow their cover.

"Don't flail," Jemaul advised, a mere portion of the panic he was feeling reaching his voice. Carrying somepony else while flying was completely different. His entire center of balance was off from what he practiced with, Matt was heavy and he was… horseapples, how was he supposed to land? They already cleared the road and were aiming for the cemetery.

"Umm... Jamie? You said you couldn't carry me earlier," Matt said, panic starting to set in his voice.

"And I probably should have listened to myself," Jemaul stated matter-of-factly as his flight continued a rapid deterioration. Jemaul was more that familiar with the signs of an impending crash landing by then, so he dropped Matt as they passed a convenient bush.

The small colt let out a quick scream as he fell to the ground and landing in the bush with a oof, his flank sticking in the air.

Okay, legs out, half roll, try not to- is that a headstone? Oh no, oh crapohlunaohbuckingtart- Jemaul's attempt at salvaging his landing were aborted by the stone hard truth that the universe liked picking on him as he crashed muzzle first into some overly large and ornate grave marker with a solid thud, hooves barely warding off some of the force.

As Jamie lay stunned in front of the tombstone, a voice seemed to yawn from somewhere below. "I swear to God Frankie! If you just woke me up I'm gonna kick your ass so hard you're going to die again!"

Jemaul tried getting up, but the world was spinning too much and he toppled over, falling on his back, his wings splayed and ears twitching. He groaned, wiping the blood on his muzzle. "I really need to work on that… And what was that you said, Matt?"

A groan came from the nearby bush, "I said nothing aside from 'OW' Jamie."

"Hey! I didn't bother you Johnny boy! I'm still over here," a different voice from before seemed to call out.

"Matt, hide," Jemaul hissed, leaping into the bush after him.

Matt let out a yelp as he was knocked on his butt but looked up at Jemaul, a confused on his face, "I see nothing but headstones and hear nothing? What the Tartarus has you spooked?"

"Shhh!" Jemaul insisted, pressing a hoof over Matt's mouth and looking around. "There are people out there. I can hear them talking."

"I hear nothing!"

"Then who the hell woke me up the Frankie?"

"Some weird animal hit your stone and hid in a bush," the other voice replied.

"Crap, they saw me," Jemaul muttered. He peered out the bush stealthily to see who was speaking.

Outside of the bush, Jemaul saw nothing but tombstones. He hesitantly crawled out a little. "Okay..?"

"I see it now," one of the voices said and before Jemaul's eyes, a pair of opaque blue man materialized in front of him. One wearing a dark suit and the other seeming to wear a far older fashioned white suit.

"Well, I'll be Frankie," the one in a dark suit said, a look of surprise on his face, "You weren't kidding. It is an animal but what the devil is it?"

"No idea Johnny boy," Frankie cocked his head to the side, "is it some new breed of dog?"

Jemaul's eyes widened, pupils shrinking to pinpricks, shell shocked into in inactivity. Ghosts. Two ghosts. Right in front of him. A faint high pitched whine issued from his throat.

"Frankie? I think it can see us." Johnny stated, as he knelt down, "Hey little guy, can you see us?"

Jemaul's whine cut off, strangled as he flinched back. Heaving, he filled his lungs, and the whine started again, his wings slowing extending, tail fluffed out.

"it has wings? The dickens is this thi-"

"Jamie Jaime? What the heck is going on!? What's spooked you!? Is someone out there, " Matt called out from inside the bush.

Both the ghost looked at each other dumbfounded for a moment. "There's another too!"

"It can talk!"

Fluid splattered on the ground as Jemaul's heroic bladder control called it quits, his tail pulling up between his legs and catching a bit of it. He ran out of breath again and inhaled once more. This time, his voice actually came out, a scream of sheer panic that started loud and quickly ascended into shrill territory before transcending that and peaking in the ultrasonic.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Matt crawled his way out of the bush, clutching his ears as with his forehooves as he fell to the ground. His disguise dropping and revealing his insectoid form.

"What the hell is that?! Some kind of alien!!" Johnny looked downright alarmed as he saw Matt on the ground, holding his ears in pain.

Jemaul ran. Buck the cemetery. Buck it sideways in a desert outhouse under the noonday sun. Forgetting everything about Matt, he ran all out, bolting through the ghosts, fur rippling from the sharp chill, and kept running. He forgot he had wings, leaving them on autopilot, spread to give his headlong gallop some balance, and his leaps over headstones more altitude and distance, but he didn't stop. Particularly as more and more spirits started showing themselves, his wail having disturbed even more than the first two.

"Ahhh! Ahhhh! Ahhh!" What started as a 'true as the arrow flies' run turned into a game of cemetery pinball as he jerked away from ghost to ghost. His already frayed state of mind got shredded and he driven to tears and ragged sobs. Eventually his hooves lead him to a familiar spot in the cemetery: his aunt's grave.

Tired, muscles burning from not only the run but also his hours of flight practice, hooves aching, and totally overwhelmed by the events of the day so far, he collapsed on the grass and curled up into a whimpering ball, hugging his tail as he trembled. "I can't do this… I can't take this any more..."

"Just when you think you've seen everything," a soft voice commented. Jemaul's ear twitched. "Just goes to show you, so many things under the sun to discover. So little creature, are you crying?"

Jemaul knew that voice, but that was impossible. He looked up at the figure crouched beside him. "A-Auntie Betty?"

---

Matt was pissed as he made his way across the graveyard.

Whatever had scared Jamie enough to scream loud enough to raise the dead and run hadn't even bothered Matt while he was disoriented by the ear bleedingly loud screech.

But no, his friend bolting wasn't what pissed him off. Not in the slightest, it was the fact he landed in piss.

Jamie's piss.

Now, Matt also had piss mud stuck to the side of shell and he was going to get Jamie back for it. He had been following the sound of screams, but those eventually faded, so he only had a vague idea of which way to go.

"Faust damn you Jamie," Matt grumbled as he quietly walked amongst the tombstones, "you are so bucked when I find you."

"Really? Grade Four? And you finishing high school? You grow up so fast."

"It's been a while. We're doing great, but we still miss you. Timbit really want to be in your class."

Matt's ears perked up as he thought he heard someone talking and started heading towards the sound. Maybe it was Jamie? The changeling started to head towards the sound.

"I would have loved to have had her in a class. But my time came, Jamie. I'm not bitter about it, and you shouldn't be either."

"I… I'm not it's just… I miss you. You were my favourite aunt….

Hey! Don't do that, it feels weird!"

"You're my favourite nephew too. And now you're furry and adorable."

Matt raised an eyebrow. That was definitely Jemaul but who was he talking too? "Jamie," he called out, "where are you!"

"Over here, my sweet! By the water! Come join me and we shall make-"

"For Pete's sake, Mannon, go bother someone else!"

"What?"

"Nevermind him. Isn't that your friend?"

"Oh, right... I'm over here," Jemaul called back.

With that, Matt ran towards where he heard Jamaul's voice and when he finally saw him, he was even more confused. "Jamie, who were you talking to?" He asked as he looked about seeing no one but him.

"I… Well… um…." Jemaul nervously rubbed his head. He sighed and gestured to the female ghost sitting on the headstone. "Okay… I'd like you to meet my Aunt Elizabeth."

"Umm..." Matt looked about, seeing nothing, "are you hallucinating or something? Your aunt died years ago man; you're sitting on her grave."

"He doesn't have the same spark to his presence you do," Aunt Betty commented. "He's not able to see any of us."

"Seriously?" Jemaul said, frowning at her. "Couldn't you have mentioned that earlier?"

"I wasn't sure. I'm still surprised you can see us. I don't think it's just the turned into a pony thing you mentioned either. There's something… not different, but more about you." Aunt Betty looked at him contemplatively, her ghostly gaze somewhat spine tingling. "Just tell him you see dead people."

"I thought you said you didn't watch that movie and didn't want to," Jemaul protested.

"I changed my mind."

"Umm... You're starting to creep me out man."

"Okay, look, here's the deal," Jemaul said, his wings dropping, "I can apparently see dead people. And the cemetery is crawling with ghosts..."

"Well that explains why you pissed yourself and ran like a filly," Matt looked about, "but...." In an instant, Matt pounced on Jemaul and started rubbing his dirty side on his friend, "I fell in your piss you dunderhead!"

"Tartarus no!" Jemaul yelped, trying to get away while the ghost of his aunt laughed. "Dude! Dude, stop! I got fur!"

"Take it like a stallion!" Matt proclaimed as he clung to his friends side, wiping against him.

"Jeeze that's just nasty!" Jemaul hissed, pushing Matt away and holding him at bay with a leg. "What the hay was that for?"

"I fell in your bucking piss! I didn't want that on me!" He replied matter of factly. He was silent for a few seconds before saying, "and pardon my language Ms. Betty."

"You think I want it? I never told you to fall into it," Jemaul grumbled. His attempts at getting the mud off just messed his fur up more, so he gave up on it.

"You're like some of my old students," Aunt Betty laughed.

"I'm surprised you believe me," Jemaul said softly.

Matt just sighed, "well, I was gonna roll on the ground but I don't wanna roll on top of a grave. And after you saying there's ghost now I'm really glad I didn't."

"It doesn't bother much, to be honest, but it can be annoying to watch when you are around," Aunt Betty commented sagely.

"I mean about that though," Jemaul asked. "How'd you believe me about the ghost thing so easily?"

"We've been turned into tiny horses from a kid's cartoon by a witch," he said flatly, "I'm letting my beliefs fly a little now."

Aunt Betty gave them both a once over. "You don't look like those My Little Pony toys I had. I don't remember any of the ponies having bat wings, and the flutter ponies didn't look like Matt here..."

"Really?" Jemaul looked at his aunt in surprise. "We saw the show. We look pretty much like them."

"This is a new style of it Man," he looked at Jemaul, "the first season started in 2010."

"And there's an answer," Jemaul shrugged before grimacing. He turned to the ghost and smiled at her. "Um, Aunt Betty, it was… weird seeing you again, but your talk helped. But we still have to get this done before daylight, and I already wasted a lot of time, but..."

She silenced him with a hug that had his wings flaring his surprise. "You two need to get going. It's good to respect the dead, but don't dwell on them. We aren't anything but an echo of a life that was that you can here at the right time." She ruffled his mane and did the same to Matt's fin as her body started fade. "I think this echo is fading away too, but you can still come by and tell me how it worked out. Bring Lisa with you when you do."

Matt visibly shivered as Betty touching him; his skin becoming icy cold at the touch. "Okay, I definitely felt that," he said quietly, "but come on we gotta go Jamie."

"I'm… aw, yeah," Jemaul said as his Aunt waved before fading away entirely, leaving only a faint cloud of glowing motes that drifted away. Jemaul blinked away the tears that threatened. "Yeah. Let's get out of this cemetery."

---

They lost a lot of time in the cemetery, but being able to race through the park at least gave the illusion that they were catching up on it. An awkward stop at the water fountain served to get most of the mud traces off them, though not the memory. Their earlier tactic of sticking to the backyard continued to work out and they thankfully didn't encounter any other dramatic situations, even with Matt in his true form. And soon the two reached the alley next to Justin's Apartment building.

Matt looked up at the fire escape ladder, nearly ten feet up in the air and far out of reach of the two. "Well horseapples," he said, stomping a hoof, "I forgot they keep these things up in the air."

"Ahem," Jemaul coughed, flapping his wings a little.

"But that's like ten feet up man!"

"Then walk up the wall," Jemaul remarked, eying the distance. Maybe he could drop the access ladder down?

"I don't know how to do that," Matt said as he walked over to the wall and put a hoof on it only for it to come off easily. "Darn it..."

"All because you didn't want to practice and watched daytime tv instead," Jemaul sighed. Without waiting for Matt's reply he took off strongly, if a bit unstable in his ascent. His wings pumped steadily as he rose past the ladder until he was even with the first landing.

"Hey! Don't leave me down here!" The bug hollered up at him, shaking a forehoof.

"Fly uup-oooh crap!" Jemaul panicked as his attempt to change his upward momentum into forward motion was a bit too successful and he almost crashed into the landing, barely managing to retain enough control the stagger unto it with a clatter of hooves. "Ha! No crash landing this time!"

"Good for you but you can still lower the damn ladder."

"Or you could fly up," Jemaul muttered. The catches were a bit tricky to work with hooves, but he managed to unhook it, sending the heavy metal ladder plunging to the ground. "Oh buck!"

The ladder slammed down on the concrete with a loud clang as Matt jumped out of the way with relative ease. With that, Matt went over to the ladder and after a few attempts managed to climb it up to the first level where Jamie waited for him.

"See, wasn't that easy?" Jemaul smiled. "Now we climb. So many stairs..."

"...yay..," Matt said flatly.

After the heart thumping excitement of dodging from yard to yard, and the blood chilling terror of the ghost inhabited cemetery, one would think climbing stairs would be boring. Not so much when hooves tended to make a racket on the landings and steps, and they had to be slipping by windows, some of which were lit from within.

"You hear something Marge?" a man's voice called from the third floor window.

"Probably just them kids sneaking around again," a female responded.

"If you'd just learned to fly," Jemaul hissed quietly.

"Well excuse me for researching," he retorted, "I actually kind of know something now."

"And what would that be?" Jemaul cast a glance over his shoulder, looking like he really needed something to distract him, his ears flat.

"That there is a town of pseudo communist cultists that rip off Harrison Burgeron," he replied matter of factly. As they approached the next floor, he began to sense something.

"I… ah… what?" Matt's response completely threw Jemaul.

"And they have a brainwashing room too," he added before grinning, "I like them."

"Yes… Yes… Yes… Right there…"

"That sounds totally interesting and I would love to hear more!" Jemaul said with a forced grin. "Honestly. Please keep talk!"

"You like that? You want that? I got more for you!"

Matt couldn't help but stop as he felt something radiating from that room. And it felt... really damn good!

"Oh God yes. I want you inside me, Marco. You too Mario!"

"Why did you stop talking?" Jemaul cringed. He decided to hurry along and not stay to hear how it turned out.

Matt stopped and he sniffed the air, "This tastes really bucking good!"

"You think you can take the whole thing?"

"Shut up and do me!"

Jemaul missed a step and painfully smacked his jaw on the metal. After painfully clamping his mouth shut to keep in the swears, he rolled and stared at Matt in an expression of questioning disbelief, his high pitch soft whine making another appearance.

"What?!" He whispered quietly, "I'm hungry!?"

"I'm gonna go slow and let Mario set the pace, okay Tania?"

"I'm… I'm gonna keep walking," Jemaul stated in a level tone. He turned and made good on his promise. "I'm gonna keep walking and pretend I didn't and can't hear anything of this."

After a minute, Matt came up the stairs smacking his lips, "mmm... That tasted lik-"

"I REALLY don't want to know," Jemaul interjected quickly, raising a hoof and shaking his head quickly. Finding out what sex tastes like? Yep. Not on his to-do list.

"...like really damn good."

Jemaul shuddered again. "Just keep moving."

Thankfully, no one else seemed to be doing the tango that night, so the rest of the climb was uneventful. The fire escape eventually came to a stop, the last landing having a ladder leading up to the roof. The sounds of a party faintly drifted down to them, though Jemaul's ears were up and alert.

"Sounds like everyone is inside the apartment," he reported after a few moments. "Everything sounds muffled, like it's coming from a doorway. So he's not using the patio."

"That's great," Matt sighed happily, "so we get clean infiltration."

"Not really, I can still hear people and music and stuff," Jemaul continued. He closed his eyes and focused on sorting out what he was hearing, his ears twitching occasionally. "Sounds like what I guess a party would sound like."

"Well, let's just slip in and slip out."

"And how many people do you think are at this party for us to just sneak past?" Jemaul retorted, opening one eye to grace Matt's eye with a bland stare.

"I dunno," was Matt's reply.

"We could have you run in like a xenomorph," Jemaul mused.

"Oh ha ha," he laughed sarcastically, "why don't you just hover in the air?"

"While demanding they return was was stolen in a cliche horror movie voice?" Jemaul asked with a mocking roll of his hoof. He paused mid maneuver. It was halloween, after all. Hell, their whole situation was because of that fact. "That… might work actually."

"You're kidding right?"

"Nope," Jemaul grinned brightly at Matt. It was getting close to midnight. It had taken them far too many hours to get as far as they did. "Scare the hell out of them, get the amulet, run like hell back to Granny D's and sleep the morning away and pretend this was all a bad dream."

"Well, let's just bucking do it," he sighed.

"Let's not go into this one rashly," Jemaul opined, looking up towards what would be their next stop. He tapped a hindhoof on the landing thoughtfully. They had been speaking relatively softly, and he didn't want to give their position away. "Better we decide a few things before we stumble up and give ourselves away."

"Well what are they?" He raised an eyebrow as he quickly hopped over to the landing; his lighter frame not even making a sound as he did so.

"First off, we're gonna be the demons Granny sent to retrieve her possessions. If they ask about what happened to us, as in Jemaul and Matthew… they were taken care of." Jemaul grinned a bit malevolently. "Oh, and try to sound the part. We still more or less sound like ourselves. If anything, we stole the voices to communicate with the mortal kine."

Matt grinned. "yes, let us get back what they took," he said, his voice becoming extra raspy and insectoid.

"As our master bade us," Jemaul agreed, dropping his own tones into a measured, faintly hissing yet somewhat sophisticated timbre. He flared his wings, shadows seeming to draw towards him before pumping them, covering distance to the roof, perching on the edge, to the side of the ladder so Matt could climb after.

While he waited for Matt, Jemaul surveyed the area. It was more or less as he suspected. The apartment had a nice open to itself, big enough to count as a small yard space rather than just a patio or porch, and even had some potted trees and shrubbery to add to the illusion. Strings of lights provided a dim illumination, though it was clear as day to his eyes. Most of the party's action taking place inside where the music was playing and people were dancing, chatting and generally having a good time and getting liberal with the drinks by the looks of it.

Still, among the dimly lit trees was a patio bench, which had a lovely mood, one a giggling and whispering couple were making the best of. Jemaul grinned as a devious idea came to him. He slunk off the stone wall, not realizing the shadows and night wrapping and cloaking him in a passive exploitation of new affinites, whispering as he went. "It's halloween… and everyone knows not to make out or have sex when horrors lurk."

Matt couldn't help but watch quietly as he climbed onto the patio and slinked into the shadows, grinning like an idiot as he waited for the scared to come.

If the show was anything to go by, all ponies were magic. Maybe it was just a lingering effect of the spell, a benefit of the night, or just Jemaul's focused intentions, but that magic was working for him. He was going for a jump scare. Those were overdone and somewhat boring. He had other thoughts in mind as he circled, resisting the urge to snort at the smells or arousal and desire in the air.

The low hiss that he was almost subconsciously making, somewhere between intimidating and pleased, was the first thing to reach them. The couple shifted uneasily, looking around. "Do you hear that, Bobby?"

"Probably just a cat," 'Bobby' said, brushing it off. His confident look faltered when the steady clop of Jemaul's hooves put that idea under question.

"A cat?" She mumbled. "Maybe you're-"

"Give…" Jemaul hissed softly. "Give it back…"

"Jake… that's you isn't it?" Bobby called out. "Trying to get back at me for taking your beer? Nice try!"

"Return what was taken..." Matt added in his raspy voice.

"Jake, if this is you, this isn't cool..." the girl stuttered.

They stiffened when they spotted Jemaul's glowing eyes emerging. His form was still mostly cloaked in shadows, but he reared up, wings flaring, tossing stealth aside for the reveal. "Return the stone that was stolen from our Master!"

"Return what was taken from our master," Matt hissed as he opened his eyes, to reveal his glowing eyes as he stepped out of the shadows as well, saliva dripping from his mouth. "Return the necklace...."

The girl shrieked and ran back into the apartment, screaming her little head off. Her boyfriend yelled as he followed after her.

Matt just looked over at Jamie before nodding and approaching the door to the inside. The apartment was in confusion as Bobby and his girl ran back in, yelling about monsters. There were maybe fifteen, twenty people in the room. Most eyes turned to Bobby, thinking he did something improper, but Matt wasn't that far behind them. "Return what was taken..."

"What the hell is that?" someone yelled over the started and confused cries.

"The fucking shit are those things!?!"

"Is that a fucked up dog?"

"Sweet Mary, Mother of Baby Jesus it's devil horses!" someone cried out when Jemaul sailed into what was his best landing all night, coming to stop beside Matt.

"Somebody call the cops!" a male wailed.

Justin stepped forward, or was pushed forward, it wasn't clear with the press of bodies. "W-what the hell?"

"Return what was taken from our master," Matt said slowly, doing his best not to smirk: On the inside, he was laughing his ass off at the chaos Jamie and him had caused.

"Saint Peter save us they can talk!" someone cried out again.

"This is fucked up man! This is fucked up!"

"Silence, kine!" Jemaul snapped, growling slightly, fangs bared and wings flared, rewarded with a few jaws snapping shut. He hastily threw some lines together. "This visitation is not without purpose. We are but emissaries, messengers, harbringers. Return what was stolen from our master lest punishment befall thee this night!"

"W-what the hell are you talking about… demon… horse dude?" someone quavered. Recognition flashed in Jemaul's eyes. Joseph. One of Justin's inner circle of friends.

"Something was taken from our master," Matt hissed at Joseph, staring directly into his eyes, "Return what was taken lest you suffer the same fate."

"The same fate?" a girl asked. Nathalie. "The same fate as what?"

"What the hell are they talking about? What was stolen?" Jake asked.

"W-wh-what if it was the thing you made Jemaul and Matthew t-take from the w-w-witch?" Bobby's girlfriend, who Matt recognized as Tamara, stammered.

"Horseshit! She's a fraud!" a new voice, Frankie, yelled.

Jemaul decided to step in, stomping a hoof, the sharp sound cutting through the rabble. "The stone that would hang round our master's neck! The amulet that would grace her bosom!" Keeping up the voice was getting a bit straining, but he was managing. "Return that which was stolen, kine!"

"But we didn't steal it!" some girl yelled from the back.

"Yeah, that was Matt and Jamie!" Justin snapped, throwing them under the bus. "Go hunt them down!"

"We already have," Matt replied simply, grinning widely and showing off a mouthful of fangs, "They have been... dealt with."

"Once more I say, return what was taken!" Jemaul took to the air a bit, landing closer to the group, how backed further away. A few gave up all together and ran for the door. "Return the stone or suffer our price!"

Justin was pale, his face expressing clear terror. Those behind him were no better. "P-price? What's your price? I… I've got money! What's your offer!?"

Jemaul let a look of confusion slip across his features, but he schooled it into a snare. He could work with that. A text popped into his mind and an appropriate follow up. "Price? The price to dismiss your sin is the same as the price of failure. No flesh shall be spared…" He tipped his head towards Matt. "No spirit shall remain."

Matt grinned viciously as he licked his lips, staring up at Justin. The room was practically dripping with fear and he couldn't help but let out a malicious laugh, "I can still taste their fear; it was delicious."

"Dammit Justin! Given them the fucking thing before they kill us!" one David said, looking like he wanted to run.

"It's- It's in the mantle," Justin finally admitted.

"Then fetch it, kine," Jemaul hissed. "Only then shall you and yours be absolved."

Jemaul was glad when Justin quickly got moving. His will was starting to fray under all the pressure. Acting, trying to look haughty and arrogant, and above all being under that many eyes while taking the lead in the deception. Part of him was starting to regret the idea. He watched Justin with sharp eyes, not moving from his spot.

Matt kept his eyes moving across the crowd, grinning maliciously as he looked everyone in the face. He had to admit; he was having way too much fun making everyone here piss their pants in fear.

The familiar amulet was dangling from Justin's grip when he returned. Justin had impossibly paled even more in the brief absence. "I- I have it-"

"In the name of Jesus Christ!" it was the same voice as before. Hailey Jones. She was in the same class as Jemaul and Matt, and was from an extremely religious family. The fact that she had even been at a Halloween party would have been surprising. More surprising was the handgun she held clutched in her hands. "Die demons!"

Time seemed to both slow and speed up as she pulled the trigger, heedless of Justin's cries. Shots rang out and screams filled the air. Jemaul staggered, the sharp retort of gun fire in the confined space doing hell for his sensitive hearing. People scattered, some taking to the ground, some just running, a few freezing. One person tackled her as the final shot went off.

Matt jumped in surprise as the gun fired before looking down to see the amulet on the floor. Moving quickly, the changeling grabbed it by the string and bolted for the patio once again. Not waiting for Jamie or the chaos to stop.

Jemaul was slower to follow. He wasn't used to life fire from anything other than television, and his ears were still ringing, but he followed. Without thinking properly, he just followed the flight half of the flight or fight instincts, and then the actual flight instincts on top of that, leaping off the roof with his wings spread.

Comments

[Caffeinated Pinkie]

I bucking love this chapter!

[DualKitsune]

Well. then. But seriously girl? You don't shoot demons!! That just makes them laugh! Or get angry.
Also, she is sooo not invited to next year's party.

[Darkwhip]

More of this, We need more