//------------------------------// // ... Can Leave Behind The Messiest Stains // Story: Freddy Fazbear and Friends Presents: ...Equestria? // by Shadowflame //------------------------------// On top of Fluttershy’s coffee table, Chica the chicken ate like a crazed buzzard from her mini dish of seeds. Meanwhile beside her, Chique ate from her own bowl of seeds in a more delicate manner. Chique bristled her feathers a bit in delight, looking towards their host sitting in an arm chair before her, “Oh, Fluttershy, thank you for these seeds. They’re absolutely delicioius!” Chica glanced up from her devouring for a moment to add her two bits, “Yeah, it’s really good and all, but Pinkie’s cupcakes still take the cake, literally!” Fluttershy simply smiled, “Oh, thank you. And yes, I think Pinkie’s baked goods are very sweet too. I don’t mind having a small cupcake from Sugarcube Corner once in a while.” “Yes, Chica,” Chique gave a glance towards her sister in feather and beak, “You should take Fluttershy’s words to heart. There’s no doubt you’ll stuff your beak with those sugary confections the next time we’re back there with Pinkie.” Chica raised an eyebrow, asking through a beak full of seed, “Phhat do ya mean?” Chique gave her a bemused look, “I’m saying since we now have these bodies, you’re going to have to eat healthier foods than just sugar. You have a figure to watch now.” “That’s never stopped her before,” Bonnie snickered from the couch, where he sat beside Bonbon. The purple bunny held his front paws behind his head with his legs crossed in a relaxing position. Bonnie chuckled as he smirked at Chica, “Remember that one time you wanted to see what the pizzeria’s pizza tasted like?” The purple bunny broke out into flat out laughter, “Oh! Those employees’ looks were priceless when they found you stuck in the kitchen and covered in cheese and sauce!” Chica shot him a look that would have killed if it could, “Shut up, Bonnie! So what if it turned out making a pizza was harder than I thought?” Bonbon raised her eyebrow in confusion, “Aren’t you forgetting the fact that you couldn’t have tasted it in the first place, animatronic and all?” After a pause, Chica smiled sheepishly at the revelation, “Hey, I can dream, can’t I?” Before suddenly gasping, “Wait! That means I can try pizza now!” The little chicken glanced towards Fluttershy, eyes full of hope, “Please tell me pizza exists in this world!” Fluttershy’s mouth made an ‘oh’ shape, “Pizza? Yes, there’s a few pizza places in Equestria, but they mainly serve griffins. But they sometimes serve vegetarian pizza made for ponies though.” Chica’s beak split into a grin with a ‘squee’, “Is there a pizza shop in Ponyville? Can we go right now?!” A knock at the door interrupted the chance for a response, and Fluttershy stood up from her seat to answer it, “Oh, I wonder if that’s Pinkie again.” Meanwhile, back at the coffee table, Chique gave Chica a wry glance, “Getting pizza right now? What about the meal you ate just barely? Aren’t you full?” Chica just smirked, “Hey, don’t mind me. I’m just making up for the past decade when I didn’t have taste buds.” Suddenly, the three animals heard Fluttershy speak from the open front door, “Oh, Pinkie! You’re back. Hello, Twilight.” Chica, Chique, Bonnie, and Bonbon turned to see who was at the door with Fluttershy, only to find Pinkie Pie, as well as another pony, one that was a bit taller than the other mares, with both a horn on her head and wings on her sides. Twilight smiled back at Fluttershy, “Hi, Fluttershy. Sorry to drop in on such short notice.” She gave a wry glance towards Pinkie, “But you didn’t have to carry me all the way through town, Pinkie. I could have easily teleported us here if the situation was so dire.” Pinkie Pie smiled innocently, “Uh-huh. Well, I have to go find all of Chica and Chique’s, and Bonnie and Bonbon’s friends. Toodles!” With that, Pinkie bounced down the path away from Fluttershy’s Cottage, back towards town. Meanwhile, Fluttershy let Twilight into her home. Instantly, Chique let out a squee at the sight of Twilight, “A unicorn! They really do exist!” “At least in this world, they do.” Bonbon amended her statement. “Oh, hush.” Chique retorted, still beaming in excitement as Twilight drew closer to the table with Fluttershy. Twilight approached the three animals that were present, “Hello. I take it you’re the talking animals Pinkie Pie told me about?” Bonnie nodded from the couch, “Yep, the name’s Bonnie.” “Hello, I’m Bonbon,” The blue bunny politely revealed. "I'm Chica," The chick waved, smiling. Twilight pleasantly smiled, “Well, it’s nice to meet you. My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle…” Her eyes then dropped down to the table where Chique stood. An odd look crossed her face when she saw the little chicken vibrating faster than Pinkie Pie on a sugar rush where she stood. Twilight blinked a bit, “Um, are you… alright?” And then the Chique bomb burst, ”Oh my gosh! Hi, my name’s Chique, and I can’t believe there’s a real unicorn right in front of me! A unicorn princess no less!” Thus entered the fangirlish shriek, “AAAAAAAAAAaaaaa-ooua~!" And then, the chicken collapsed backwards on the table, Rarity-style, with the widest grin stretched across her beak. “…..” Twilight just stared blankly at Chique, “Um… okay?” Bonnie rolled his eyes, “Well, it looks like she’s passed out from overexcitement. I swear, a think a kid or two back at the pizzeria used to do that all the time we interacted with them.” But suddenly, a devilish grin crossed the purple bunny’s face as an idea came to mind, “But now that we can feel things like the cold, I’m gonna go find an ice bucket.” With that, Bonnie hopped off the couch, and dashed into the kitchen, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy with an unconscious-with-glee Chique, Chica who snickered to herself at the thought of drenching her doppelganger, and Bonbon. Fluttershy glanced around the living room until she found Angel Bunny lounging on a stool, comedically reading a newspaper twice his own size. “Oh, Angel? Could you go into the kitchen and make sure Bonnie doesn’t… um, break anything?” Angel Bunny simply gave a peeved sigh, before setting down his newspaper and hopping into the kitchen as well. Bonbon, from her spot on the couch, gave an annoyed sigh, as she looked back to Twilight, “ I guess I will explain everything on my own.” Twilight nodded, sitting herself down in one of the living room chairs, Fluttershy taking the other identical one, “That will work. I’d like to start by figuring out how exactly you came here in the first place.” Suddenly, a quill and parchment appeared before Twilight, and the alicorn began jotting down notes with her magic, “So, what brought you to Fluttershy's?" Bonbon cleared her throat, preparing herself for a long explanation, "Well, this is what I recall..." _____________________________ The stage was dark. As the midnight struck its toll, a small release fell upon Toy Bonnie. The animatronic's eyes twitched slightly as it switched to night mode setting. After a few minutes, it left the stage, wandering through the main party room of the pizzeria. Toy Bonnie was the first to begin moving, and the others remained idle... for now. Slowly, the robotic bunny roamed through the door, and into the hallway. But there, the light from the security room trickled through the hall. Toy Bonnie paid it no mind as it made its way into one of the side party rooms. That was the moment, when it heard the ringing, and then the voice. It was unmistakable. It was His voice. Instantly, something else welled inside the Toy Animatronic. Something fierce; something screaming for blood. A twitching spasm shook Toy Bonnie's frame, and in the darkness of the room, its eyes became only tiny, white pin pricks, dimly shining behind the death that filled the spirit residing within. Turning her eyes upwards, Bonbon gazed at the camera, just as the red light on it lit to signal someone was watching her through it. As the voice from the security room persisted, Bonbon could feel her anger intensifying. She stared at the camera, trying to radiate her hate through her gaze. She want Him to be scared, just like when she was... The light of the camera disappeared, and Bonbon made her move, she ran to the next party room, where the vent lay. Wasting no time, she ripped off the grate from the wall, and hastily began crawling through. The voice was only more prominent within the metal walls, but suddenly, the voice was abruptly cut off. Quiet moments later, however, the same voice spoke again, with a voice that touched like burning ice to Bonbon's soul. "There you are..." There, through the end of the vent, Bonbon could see the man's face in the light of the security room, and her bloodlust skyrocketed. In a mad frenzy, she clambered out of the vent and into the room. But once again on her feet, she searched the room for the vile face, only to find it devoid of any such feature. She glanced behind the security desk, but there was only Freddy Fazbear sitting there. But He had just been there! He must have moved somewhere else! Outraged, Bonbon ran out of the room and into the hall in pursuit. He was here! This time, it wasn't some other security guard. It was the one who... However, what happened next caused the vengeful girl stop in her tracks. Shock replaced rage as Bonbon noticed the interior of the pizzeria slowly begin to brighten. This was a different kind of light, not from the overhead lights, not from a flashlight, but... something else. The light grew brighter and brighter, as if something had torn the roof from the building and let sunlight in through the gaping ceiling. But it wasn't long before it grew more luminous than that, and Bonbon found herself blinded. Her robotic body twitched convulsively, as if something were prying at its parts, trying to rip something out of it. The pulling sensation increased... rather gently, Bonbon found. In awe, she couldn't bring herself to move as her vision faded into the white that consumed the pizzeria. _______________________________ It took a few minutes for Bonbon to recount to Twilight what had transpired the night before at the pizzeria, partly because during that time, Bonnie and Angel Bunny had come waddling out of the kitchen holding a bucket of water between them, and proceeded to dump most of its contents on the unconscious Chique coffee table. Chica and Bonnie had laughed a riot, the latter of the two exchanging a quick high-five with his white 'brother in mischief'. However, Bonbon didn't laugh. She would have though, had she not been reliving the past at that moment. The laughter died in the room as she continued her recount, and the others grew quiet while the former animatronics felt their own silent anger replace all else. Even Chique, still damp and wrapped in the towel Fluttershy provided her, by all rights should have still been peeved towards Bonnie and Angel Bunny. But instead, she scowled grimly at her feet where she sat. Bonbon's voice was low, with an unintentional hint of hostility, "That's all I know that happened last night. After that, I woke up in the grass outside this cottage, in this form." Twilight's and Fluttershy's expressions were similar; full of confusion, and partly worried. Twilight frowned, the alicorn not taking her eyes off of the blue bunny for a second, "What you described, the bright light, I'm guessing it has to be what brought you here to Equestria. But the problem is, I've never heard of anything like it." Bonbon grimaced slightly, "That's... unfortunate." But as the bunny glanced up between the two ponies, it was clear they had another question they were hesitant to ask. "Um, Bonbon?" Twilight asked. She didn't reply, and none of the other animals cared to either. They knew what she was going to ask. It was at the front of all their minds now. The purple alicon cleared her throat, "The... 'man' you mentioned, who is he?" "... He's our enemy," Bonbon's reply was akin to a hiss. Fluttershy gasped quietly, "... i-if I may ask, why is he your enemy?" Bonnie was the one to burst first, "It's because he- AGGH!" Instantly, the bunny gasped in pain and his paws clasped the sides of his head as he cried out. "Bonnie!" Chica gasped, both out of shock and pain, moving to help her friend as he tottered where he stood. "What? What is it?" Twilight asked, worried. Bonbon herself grimaced, her pride not letting her reach up and hold her own throbbing head, "It... urgh, hurts... to think of it." "To th-think of what?" Fluttershy asked, as equally fearful of the answer to her question as she was worried for these animals. "Aggh!" Chique shrieked, her head in her wings, "Can't... say... hurts... dreadfully." Twilight and Fluttershy exchanged worried, curious looks with each other. All four of these animals were in pain, seemingly almost at the brink of tears... and only from just a memory? What was going on here? What had this guy done to them? What terrible thing could he have done to them that would leave mental and emotional scars like these? But thankfully, within a few moments, the bunnies and chicks seemed to calm down, the tension in their expressions releasing. Bonbon spoke through panting breaths, "S-sorry, Princess Twilight, Fluttershy. Bad memories like that... they cause pain for all of us. Because of it, we're never able to say... that." "It's alright," Twilight replied, not wanting them to experience that pain again. "For now, let's just get back to-" Suddenly, the door to Fluttershy's cottage burst open, and somepony came rushing in, shouting, "Twilight!" From where Bonbon sat, she could see the pony was an orange, wingless, hornless one, like Pinkie Pie, but a bit harder toned in body than the poofy pink pony. Her blonde mane and tail were tied like pony tails, and she wore a stetson hat on her head. However, her expression showed panic through her green eyes. Twilight blinked in surprise at the new pony's intrusion, "Applejack? What is it? What's wrong?" Applejack spoke with urgency in her western accent, "Twi, ya gotta come quick! It's Spike! He's hurt bad!" "What?! Where is he?!" "Ah had Lyra take 'em to the hospital! Let's go!" Without hesitation, Twilight and Applejack galloped out the door, Twilight taking to the air and zooming into town. Intrigued, Bonnie hopped off the coffee table and bounded after them, "C'mon, guys!" "Where are you going?" Chica called after him. His simple reply came as, "Who's somebody we know that's good at hurting people?" Shocked silence followed as the other animals glanced between each other, before silently agreeing and following Bonnie off the table and out of the house. "Oh, my," Fluttershy breathed, glancing back to Angel Bunny, "Will you look after the house while we're gone?" Angel nodded, though Fluttershy could have sworn she saw a rare glimpse of worry on the white bunny's snout. "Thank you!" Fluttershy gently flew out the door after the others, following them to the hospital. _________________________________________ Minutes Earlier... Bob and Mark strolled into Ponyville, the former sitting on the latter's back as the black bear pawed cautiously on all fours across the dirt roads. Even on the fringes of town, a few ponies had spotted them, but hadn't done much rather than keep their distance from the bear (and bunny) while staring at the duo warily. But thankfully, keeping to themselves seemed to do the trick for Mark and Bob, and nopony ran screaming at the sight of them the deeper they roamed into town. Strangely, it reminded Mark of that one trip he took up into Alaska for a Summer job, where bears roaming the streets was something that happened occasionally. Although, he was now finding himself on the other end of that situation, albeit the reactions of these ponies were more subdued in comparison to any human's... maybe it was just this town though. Either way, Mark kept on his toes, while Bob kept a lookout from where he sat atop his very large friend. The village of ponies was rather quaint, Bob found, with barely anything except cottages and other vintage style buildings making up the majority of it. As far as he could see, all of the buildings were made of wood, not the brick he was used to back at home on Earth. And the sight felt strange, thanks to the fact everywhere he could see miniature horses going about living their lives in much the way humans would on Earth. "This is a bizarre place," Bob commented, "Guess this place really is a whole other world. There's no way this place could exist on Earth." Just then, he watched as a pegasus pony took off to the sky with a mail satchel, and below her, a unicorn walked with three brown bags of groceries, floating in mid-air as his horn shimmered with some kind of blue mist. "Yeah, it's... weird." Mark agreed. But as he rounded another corner onto a different street, he suddenly stopped. He opened his mouth in amazement, "Whoa..." Bob turned his head to look at what caught Mark's eye and found himself as equally amazed, "Is that..." It was what looked like a giant, crystal tree in the middle of town, but in its 'branches' there seemed to be a palace made out of crystals as well. Still staring at the awe-striking structure, Mark wandered closer to the palace, until both he and Bob could see the base of it, where a single set of doors seemed to lead through the tree and into the palace above. Mark blinked a few times, "There's no way this could ever exist on Earth." Bob nodded, "No kidding." He tapped his bunny chin with a paw, "I wonder who lives here? A... pony princess maybe?" Even if it was a stereotype guess, It actually could've been accurate, given their current situation. The two of them continued to admire the castle for a while, even circling around the base of it. But their focus on it suddenly disappeared as someone called their names, "Mark! Bob!" The two turned, to see a familiar, mint green unicorn standing at a side street, waving at them with a smile. "Hey, Lyra!" Mark lumbered over to their acquaintance, glad to see at least someone he knew... even if they had just met her less than an hour ago. Lyra glanced between the bear and the bunny on his back, "So, you two decided to come into town? How'd walking at the way here go? I bet you gave some ponies a scare." "Not really," Bob replied, "Everyone just kept their distance, but I did't see anybody look particularly scared." "Really?" Lyra thought to herself for a moment, before shrugging, "Well, this is Ponyville, so a lot of weird stuff happens to everypony here. I guess they're just used to dangerous creatures coming into town, or something like that." Mark and Bob sweatdropped silently, wondering just how often that usually happens, and how Lyra could just pass it off as nothing that easily. Another shrug later, Lyra glanced back at the duo, "So what brings you into town?" "Um, nothing really." Mark explained, "Just wanted to che-" `CRASH!` The sound of shattering glass abruptly halted the conversation and the three of them glanced upwards just in time to see something come crashing out of one of the castle's windows. It was a gigantic, black form, but Mark could only make out its silhouette in front of the sky above them as the creature hurtled straight towards the ground... ... Right towards them! "Look out!" Mark instantly grabbed Lyra in a bear hug, pulling both of them back out of the way of impact. Bob was flung off to the side of Mark, and the bear landed on his back with Lyra on his belly. And then, the large creature hit the dirt road with a deafening slam. For a split second, Mark was able to catch a full glimpse of the giant thing that had almost crushed them. It was massive, slightly bigger than himself. It had long arms that bristled with disgusting muscles, covered in the same blackness as the rest of its body. it was a lanky figure, with long legs, neck, and even a tail like a lizards that ended in a spearpoint. Spines covered its shoulders and ran down the length of its spine. It had a massive pair of wings curled against its back, with spikes prickling out from their limbs. All of its limbs ended sharply, with horns twisting out of its skull, talons on its feet, and long claws on its hands... ... There was blood dripping from its claws. Mark gasped in horror, but that only caused the terrifying creature to glance with its face towards him. Instantly, Mark felt his blood grow cold at the sight of it... there was no mistaking that face. Before, it had been a mask, but now, it was a ghostly white face, with pinpricks of white on black as its eyes. The only difference was the tear streams below its eyes. For the puppet, they were straight lines down its face, but for this... thing, they were splatters of purple on its white, bony face, almost like spurts of blood out of its eyes. Mark could do nothing but stare in abject horror at the discovery he had regretfully found as what had been the Marionette in the pizzeria turn its back and take off through the town faster than a speeding train. Within mere moments, it was out of sight. ... Mark stared at the space where Marionette had disappeared, unable to look away as he breathed with heavy, shallow breaths, He's here... the marionette... what on Equestria has he become? "Mark! Bob!" Mark was jerked back to reality by Lyra's voice, glancing over to her to find she was back on her hooves, worriedly glancing between him and Bob, who had been staring in silence like he had. Shaking his head to clear his head, Mark apologized, "Sorry, Lyra." She glanced at him with a questioning look, "I was called your names five times already. What the hay happened? After that... thing ran off, you both looked like you'd seen a ghost!" "... We did," Bob replied, barely more than a whisper. Lyra stared at him, the worry on her face increasing at the terrified look on his face. "Y'all alright down there?" A panicked, western voice called out from the broken window above them. Lyra glanced up, looking slightly relieved when she saw who was in the castle, "Applejack! What the hay was that thing?!" "Ah don't know!" Applejack replied, "But I need y'all to get up here! Spike needs ta get to the hospital!" Lyra's eyes widened, "Did that thing hurt him? Where's Twilight?!" Applejack shook her head, "She's out right now! Ah need ya to get Spike to the hospital while I run n' get Twilight!" "Right!" Mark, however, was already running on his four legs towards the castle's entrance. He shouted over his shoulder towards Lyra, "I can help move him. I just need you to help getting us there!" Lyra blinked in surprise at how quickly Mark had jumped to help out, but she quickly recomposed herself, galloping after the bear with Bob in tow, "You got it!" But as Mark ran up through the castle to the window he had seen Applejack peer out of it, a thought nagged at the back of his head, Why would Marionette attack someone like that? There's only one person he's had a vengeance for, and that was... Him... Mark's brow furrowed, "Is he... just going to kill anyone, now that he's here in this world with us?" What about the other kids? Were they here, too? Would they do the same as Marionette?