What's Your Favorite Scary Movie?

Uiscefhuaraithe stood looking at Butterfly Kisses. It was the first time the two had met and both of them were trying to figure out how they felt about the other. It wasn’t that they were determined to dislike each other. If anything they were going to try and like each other. They both shared a rider, and since they both liked Gwen they figured they should both like each other. 

Two pairs of eyes turned towards Gwen’s. Uiscefhuaraithe’s blue eyes studied the fae for a moment as the Loshenka’s long curly tail swished back and forth. Butterfly’s green ones did much the same as the Nordanner turned to regard Gwen as if asking what on earth they should do about the situation. 

“What?” Gwen asked, laughing as she offered them both a treat. She stroked Uiscefhuaraithe’s white sabino marking on her nose before giving the Loshenka a reassuring pat before turning and repeating the motion with Butterfly’s green nose. “You’re both stunning and I love you both and you’re going to need to learn how to get along.” 

Uiscefhuaraithe and Butterfly both snorted at this and turned their attention away from Gwen. 

“Oh, come on! It’s not like you’ve never seen another horse before. Just try to behave for a minute, okay?” Gwen laughed and went to go get some decorations for the upcoming holiday. She didn’t tend to decorate much, but she wanted to do something. 

While she was gone the blueberry Loshenka and the black splash butterfly Nordanner took off, racing around the field as they tried to one up each other. Dirt flew and the other horses in the field opted to keep their distance. Neither horse lashed out at the other, but it was clear there was tension somewhere as leaves scattered and the mares tossed their heads. Uiscefhuaraithe’s ears flattened back as Butterfly’s dark mane caught the wind, the orange on the Nordanner’s back matching the color of the leaves falling around them. 

“What on earth?” Gwen stumbled backwards as the two raced by, the box of decorations she was carrying spilling on the ground. Before she could start picking things up, the scattering of props seemed to distract both horses. 

Butterfly picked up a mask that was full of holes and tossed it so it landed over their ears. It wasn’t quite a perfect fit, but it made them look like they were ready to play a sport. The green of the butterfly markings on their side could have easily been the color of a hockey team. The Nordanner then grabbed a fake machete and began to chase Uiscefhuaraithe. 

The blueberry sabino Loshenka initially took off, racing away from the props before turning and looping back around when Butterfly had a slight costume mishap with the mask. 

“Uiscefhuaraithe, no! Give that back!” Gwen reached out as Uiscefhuaraithe grabbed a mask that looked a bit like someone's skin was peeling or melting off along with a gloved hand with what would have been very sharp nails if Gwen hadn’t covered them in foam just recently. The fae hadn’t been planning on keeping a horse from scratching someone with it, but with the way her life worked maybe she shouldn’t have been so surprised. 

Uiscefhuaraithe ignored Gwen, racing towards Butterfly at breakneck speed. They met in a clash of Butterfly in her hockey mask and fake machete and Butterfly with her melted kinda mask and her claw. It was a strange sight, to put it mildly. Both with masks that were starting to fall off and both with weapons in their mouth that they couldn’t really hold onto with any coordination. 

“Would you two get back here!” Gwen took off after them, no match whatsoever for them in speed but really wanting them to drop whatever nonsense had taken hold of them. 

Butterfly and Uiscefhuaraithe ignored Gwen, the black and green Nordanner and the blueberry sabino Loshenka entirely too focused on their chase to care what the fae said at the moment. They seemed to have moved onto more friendly footing but were now absolutely determined to play with their mismatched Halloween props. 

“Come on, please?” Gwen caught up to them, both wanting to get in the middle and absolutely not wanting to get clipped by the flashing hooves as the two reared up. They didn’t connect but they were making a good show of fighting. 

Fire flared around them out of seemingly nowhere. 

“What the hell kind of magic was that?!?” Gwen stumbled back, eyeing the crackling fire. Nothing seemed to actually be burning, which was a minor miracle, but the fire had come from somewhere. 

Butterfly and Uiscefhuaraithe both stopped, eyeing the fire in alarm. Whatever their differences, the two of them stopped and instead of running out of the fire they both ran at Gwen in an effort to chase her out of the fire. 

The water fae didn’t need to be told twice, running along with the horses to get out of the fire. 

The three stood outside the fire and tried to catch their breaths. The two mares were worn out from their masked shenanigans and Gwen was just tired at this point. This was about the first time she’d ever had issues introducing horses to each other.

“Did you enjoy it?” An enthusiastic voice called from the edge of the field. 

Gwen, Butterfly, and Uiscefhuaraithe all turned around to regard the individual. They looked a bit like a leprechaun but also not. 

“What are you doing here and what did you do?” Gwen stepped forward slightly, placing a hand on both Uiscefhuaraithe and Butterfly’s neck as the two mares looked about ready to turn their props on the person. 

“No, but did you enjoy it?” The individual asked again. “The fire, I mean. It seemed appropriate.” 

“Appropriate to what?” Gwen demanded, wrapping her hand into Butterfly’s black mane before the Nordanner decided to take off at the individual. Given the way her front hoof was slamming against the ground, Gwen wouldn’t have been surprised. Unfortunately, Uiscefhuaraithe was posturing much the same way but short of grabbing the Loshenka’s tail if they tried to run there wasn’t much Gwen could do. Neither of them were wearing bridles or halters as they’d already been turned out for the night. 

“Freddy vs Jason. That’s what they were acting out, right?” 

Gwen blinked and then looked at the two horses, who looked back at her and then at the strange individual. Gwen wasn’t sure if they understood, but they both tossed their heads in agreement. 

“So yeah, fire was appropriate. Probably should have warned you first, but oh well. Anyway, have a good night and enjoy acting that out.” The individual walked off, humming happily. 

Gwen looked between the two, completely baffled but at this point just kinda willing to go with it. This wasn’t the strangest thing to happen in her life. “So… Freddy vs Jason, was it?” 

Both Butterfly and Uiscefhuaraithe swished their tails and finally dropped their props before shaking their heads to get the ill fitting masks off their faces. Before Gwen could voice another word the two mares trotted off into the field as if they’d been best friends for life. 

Gwen picked up the masks and the weapons, setting them back in the upended box before looking back out into the field. “Freddy vs Jason… huh? Well, at least they agree on something.”