The sun shone invitingly in the sky over the small island of Roanoke Island, North Carolina. Normally, at this time of year, the town would be packed with tourists, and in some parts of the state people had absolutely packed onto the beaches to enjoy the sight of the silvery sea. This was not a clever thing to do, as of course this was causing the virus to spread, and a big mess that would make if any of it got into the local population. Sadly, some areas were still not taking lockdown seriously, and this was leading to a massive spread. No wonder Manteo's mayor had basically locked the town off from the rest of the state, but luckily businesses were still running, so some money was still flowing into the region.
Jimmy, in these times, did not like to be beside the seaside. He did not like to be beside the sea. He did not like to stroll along the prom, prom, prom (as Manteo didn't have one), nor did the brass bands play tiddly om pom pom (as Manteo had no brass band even in peacetime). So he looked out towards the sea from his house. Normally, he would have gone to a water park a few miles away to satisfy his watery needs- sorry, his need to swim, that just sounds weird and stuff. But, of course, said water park was closed thank to COVID-19, and no amount of wind would just blow it away (though the pastor who made that claim would probably have more success flying his private jet over the area a few times to see if that worked). Jimmy looked still out to see, and then saw the clock on his bedside table start to beep. The time upon it said 12, so it was time for his usual stroll, which was always an enjoyable affair, so he went downstairs, put on his shoes, and went on his way, before a leaflet blew into his face.
ARE YOU IN NEED OF CHILLS? it asked, in giant red letters that oozed with something or other.
ARE YOU NEEDING TO FORGET ABOUT THE WORLD FOR A WHILE? IS LOCKDOWN GETTING YOU DOWN?
THEN THE BIG BEACH SCAREHOUSE IS FOR YOU! BATS, SPIDERS, AND GHOULS GALORE!
ARE YOU BRAVE ENOUGH TO FACE THE BATPONY?
IF YOU THINK YES, HEAD DOWN AND TEST YOUR METTLE!
"Hmmm, face the batpony," Jimmy thought. "That's easy enough, having been one. Well, I know what I'm doing for the next few hours." Pulling on his hazmat suit and face shield, he set off towards the beach.
On the beach sat a strange house, that looked like Sarah Winchester's architect had designed it whilst high on something, as none of it made sense. There was not a straight line to be seen, there were random dead ends everywhere, and the place also had ominous music playing from the doors and windows. Jimmy strolled along and reached the front door, where a person in full hazmat gear was waiting for him.
"You get decontaminated indoors, so you can leave your suit there," the attendant said. "Never fear, you'll be able to get your suit back afterwards, we don't destroy anything."
"Thanks," Jimmy replied, and stepped inside. After the decon process was finished and his suit was sprayed in water, he put it on a peg, but kept his face shield on as he entered the next room.
"Well, a customer!" said another person, presumably an actor based on their attire. He looked as though a Southern gentleman from the antebellum period had fallen in a massive pot of paint and then gone through a blender, based on the random assortment of colours on his clothing and the pale skin he had. "Welcome to this, our little mystery house. This was once the fine home of the Galston family, a happy, well kept group by all accounts. Until one tragic night, a monstrous creature black as night, with blood red eyes and mane of black, crimson, and violet, with teeth as sharp as razor blades, entered into their home. This murderous creature of the night slew the entire family in one fell swoop, but even now the ghosts of that family and those who died that day are still in this house. Are you brave enough to explore this haunted home, confront the spirits of the deceased, and take on that monster itself?"
"I'll give it a good try," Jimmy replied. "Though that description felt oddly familiar."
"Then go through this door, and may you return a success!" the man replied, laughing as he did so. I will see you on the other side- if fortune wills it!"
Jimmy stepped through, and the door slammed shut behind him as the lights began flickering and a skeleton popped out of a closet as the first jumpscare of the day.
If Jimmy had been expecting something truly scary, he'd come to the wrong place. True, the theming and atmosphere were very well handled, but the jumpscares, which seemed to be the only way this company had of scaring people, were underwhelming at best and simply laughable at worst. He was also a little confused as to why none of the performers were wearing face masks, and this confused him greatly. Surely they would want to try harder with scaring people if that was their very raison d'etre? Not to mention the whole thing felt like a Haunted Mansion ripoff anyways. The Disney ride was far better, as that combined horror with humour.
Jimmy walked along inside, until he saw something odd sitting on the floor of the attraction below his feet (or next to it, as he was not Superman and thus could not see through solid objects). The object in question seemed to be a pendant of a bat or something similar, and as he picked it up to look at it (not a smart thing to do if you are Jimmy, it emmitted a light pulse of energy, and Jimmy fell to the floor as an energy bubble enveloped him.
And the energy bubble soon got to work. His face was suddenly lit on fire, or it felt like it, as his face warped and stretched, his mouth and nose stretching into a muzzle, and his eyes turning grapefruit in colour as he gained ridiculous amounts of eyeliner and shade. His hair, now a floppy mess, was pulled back to a very severe short cut, and the rest of it was bundled up in pleats held in place by two bat hair holders- one of which was the thing he had found on the floor, by the way.
His ears slid up his head and sat there, radar dish like, as he was reduced in size. No longer having need for the garments on the lower part of his body, they vanished into the aether as the shirt was changed into a black formal one, with collar, a grey area with buttons, a cobweb pattern along the front, over the legs, and at the back. And I say legs, because as all this was going on, his neck craned upwards and his head tilted forward to get the distinctive quadruped look, and his arms had already distorted into front legs. His hands had long since ceased to be, the fingers having melted together into hooves, and he groaned as he felt himself start to swell in size like a hot air balloon, wings popping out of him. His hips widened as his manhood gave way and retreated into the darkness, and his (or her) (by now, rear) legs distorted into backwards facing legs, complete with hooves at the bottom as a symbol of a black rose dripping ink appeared on her sides.
A tail joined her ensemble, in the same two tone dull grey as the rest of it, as her body was covered in grey fur.
"This place is so dingy. It's so my style." She trotted in through the next door, which was marked BEWARE: THE BATPONY RESIDES INSIDE.
But she went in anyways. She wasn't scared of dark stuff. She was quite used to it, really.
No sooner had she entered, then a hyperactive ball of black, red and blue slammed into her, speaking at a pace of about a word ever half a second.
"Can you, like, slow down? I can barely understand what you're saying."
"Oh, sorry. YoU know, I'm REALLY excited to finally meet a real Equestrian out here instead of all these people who wander through here to not be scared. Admittedly, it's nice, and I get to sleep in the quiet, but how I got stuck here I don't know but now there's too of us and BOOM we can go home!"
"How do we do it?" Inky asked, waving her wings. Did I mention she had wings? I probably did.
"Like this!" The thing, now revealed to be the batpony of fame, suddenly glowed, and both of them vanished in a flash of light.
Author's Note
I have no idea who this is, but Jimmy requested her, and that was the end of the matter. However, I do have pretty good knowledge of haunted houses, so that worked well.
The other creature is this thing;
Jimmy's original character, also called Jimmy Hook (confusing, eh?).
