Tale of a Tainted Mandolin

by Spirit Guide

Reset to Zero

Minutes before midnight, Wildfire returned to the pizzeria. The birthday party had been over for hours, but Freddy Fazbear’s party was coming to a stop all too soon. Even though Marcolt and Applejack had managed to get the animatronics back up and running, their singing was tuneless, as though the Mandotronic’s absence broke their harmony.

Needless to say, the foals were sad and the grownups were discontent.

Though Missile Toe had insisted his party was mostly a blast, his mother Rocket Socks held sadly that the failure of the animatronics would not bode well for the pizzeria. Though she probably didn’t know how harsh it sounded, she rubbed it in further saying how the incident just added to the unsolved mystery hanging around Fazbear’s and that the pizzeria was in trouble.

Marcolt didn’t think his day, Freddy’s day, could get any worse until he saw Wildfire walk through the double doors, her stride determined. At first, Marcolt feared she would bring similar comments as did Rocket, but what the mare did say felled his jaw to the confetti-covered floor.

“Give me the night shift.”

She didn’t take no for an answer. Even as Marcolt attempted to deter her, Wildfire gently tipped him out of the Office chair, donned a security cap and began working the monitor. Having been on the animatronic designer team, she had gained some insight on the camera system of the pizzeria itself and so required no instruction.

Marcolt wanted to tell her, wanted to stop her from taking the night shift, but something in his mind screamed of approval, a feeling that her will to do it rang true with Mandopony’s and this only seemed appropriate. At a minute to midnight, the Freddy Fazbear staff gathered in the Office to wish the pegasus good luck and that their thoughts were all on MandoPony.

Wildfire didn’t even sniff.

“She shouldn’t be doing this,” Marcolt said as Pewter locked the doors from the outside. “She’s faced too much to go through a night shift now.”

“Can’t do nothing, boss,” Pewter said, tucking away the key. “If we’d tried to move her, she would have slipped an extra-brick-cheese pizza under her rump and beat us back with empty boxes. Sabrina Wildfire ain’t no flower pony.”

“No..… I hope she succeeds.”

Wildfire watched Marcolt and the others disappear through the doors. Once the lock sounded, she turned her attention to the monitor, twisting the security cap viciously around her head. She flipped through the camera feeds, her eyes focused on the animatronics scattered through the pizzeria.

“Come and get me.”

*

The moment Bonnie heard the clock strike midnight, she leapt off the stage and made a beeline for the Parts and Service room. From all corners of the pizzeria, animatronics rushed over to see what had become of their comrade-in-mechanical arms. When they got there, they found Foxy already about, bending over the prone suit of MandoPony.

Bonnie took a step closer, fearing the worst. “Is he….”

Foxy shook his head. “There still be some fight in him. But whatever it was that struck him down cost him any life that was left in him when.... when we….”

“No.” Freddy put a hand on their shoulders. “None of that. Let’s see if we can get him up.”

So the six animatronics came together, working tirelessly on their own accord in an attempt to resurrect the failing Mandotronic. But despite all their part swaps, reprogramming and recharges, nothing would bring the golden animatronic to. Finally, in a temper, Balloon Boy wrenched open the Mandotronic’s chest, exposing the blood-stained split and crushed torso inside, as well as the heart within.

Upon contact with the musty air of the Parts and Service room, the heart pumped in a gust of oxygen, sending nature’s magic through the failing pony inside the suit and powering up the whole set. With a cough, the Mandotronic sat up suddenly.

“Yes!” Mangle squealed. Chica and Freddy bounced in their places. Balloon Boy winked at Foxy.

Bonnie quickly took the golden animatronic's arm. “Mando, are you okay?”

The Mandotronic coughed again, expelling dust particles from its mechanical jaw. “Yeah, yeah I’m good,” he said, his voice as tinny as any of them. “Thanks, guys.”

“We deserve no thanks at all for getting you into this mess,” Chica sighed. “If it weren’t for us, you’d still be alive, flesh and blood.”

“I was going to perform on that stage anyway,” Mando countered, touching the yellow animatronic's chin. “You guys just got me in costume.”

A chorus of nervous chuckles rippled through the room. “Not quite what we had in mind,” Balloon Boy muttered.

“No, probably not.” Mando twiddled his plastic-alloy thumbs. “What is the Purple Pony playing at? What does he want with all of us?”

“Nothing,” Freddy answered. “He just wants to frighten, to confuse, to destroy. He’s just a messed-up, damaged, corrupt creature.”

Mando sighed. “That sounds so simple. Too simple. It doesn’t seem real.”

“You’re inside a mechanical costume of yourself that’s leeching off your life force,” Mangle reminded him. “Reality hurts.”

“True enough.”

An awkward silence settled on the animatronics. For once in many moons of being awakened, the Freddy Fabear crew was at a loss for words. Fortunately — or rather unfortunately — the silence was broken by Mando suddenly grunting, falling back down onto the table and coughing up large clouds of dust.

“Oh snap, oh crud, oh dear, oh meadow muffins!” Balloon Boy exclaimed as the others quickly examined MandoPony. “Can I use that fancy Prench word?”

“No,” Freddy said sternly, turning his attention back to Mando’s equine heart. “His blood’s not going fast enough to sustain the suit.”

“His servos are failing,” Chica wailed, holding up Mando’s leg which had gone limp. “Oh, Celestia.”

MandoPony blinked, his eyes flashing from green to red to gold. “Will I…. will I make it?” he whispered, feeling his voicebox beginning to give way.

Bonnie looked into Mando's flashing eyes. She wanted to tell him he'd be fine, to hide the truth staring them in the face and give him hope. But she held back from replying, leaving Mando to sigh again and look to the ceiling. "You know... I heard you playing last night."

Enticed, Bonnie turned her attention back to Mando. "W-what?"

"Last night, while the others were forced to work on me, I heard my mandolin being played. I knew at once who it was playing it. To hear my mandolin played by someone else so beautifully, it was like hearing the voice of magic itself. It reminded me of the truth and it made me determined to keep going, despite what I was going through. For that, I thank you, Bonnie.... whoever you really are in there."

Moisture pumped into the corner of Bonnie's eyes, becoming rivers down her cheeks. The tears splashed down on MandoPony's arm and dripped onto the oily floor. Bonnie tightened her grip around the mandolin in her hands, recalling the night she had first seen its owner play it. "An admirer."

Mando's left brow whirred upwards half an inch. "It was nice to meet you," he murmured, his voice getting weaker. "Again..."

"We're losing him," Freddy clamoured, attempting to connect Mando's power cords to the wall socket, "we're losing him!"

The others moved flusterdly, panic threatening to sabotage their effort. Bonnie grabbed the golden animatronic's hands in her own, the mandolin held between them. "Don't give up, Mando," she pleaded. "You can still... You still can...."

"Can...." came Mando's voice, barely a whisper. Golden fingers tightened on blue. "Save...."

As the cast of Freddy Fazbear's crouched around the golden animatronic, the stallion's heart inside it gave a few weak pumps, struggling to fulfill its purpose. It slowed down further and further until its last beat, the organ now so weak it didn't quite finish the pumping action. With no blood sending oxygen to the necessary places and the tampering already done to the suit, MandoPony's last breath exited both his lips of flesh and animatronic jaw in a cloud of dust. His eyes stopped flashing and the lights faded.

NOOOO!

Bonnie's cry echoed off the walls of the dusty room, bouncing out into the hall and reverberating throughout the pizzeria. Had anypony heard the grieving sound, they would have immediately been overcome by sadness, not fully understanding why. As it was, only one mare heard the sound, her ears pricking as she jumped in place at the unexpected scream.

What was that? Wildfire wondered, her nerves suddenly shot. With wide eyes, she quickly flipped through the camera feed, locating every animatronic accounted for in the Parts and Service room, crowding around a shiny form on the table. It barely took a moment for the pegasus to realize what it was and why she heard the cry.

Was an animatronic just.... Terminated?"

"Yep. And now, so are you."

Before Wildfire could register that A) she'd said that last word aloud, and B) somepony had sneaked up behind her without her noticing, a heavy blow was dealt to her head and knocked her unconscious. Wildfire slumped forward while a shadowy figure stood over her, grinning madly.

"That's the eye in the sky taken care of. Now, where did I put my uniform?"

*

"It's over."

Freddy's voice cut through the spell of silence like a hot knife through butter. The animatronics felt their damaged hearts go out to their lost band member. MandoPony had been there for them since the start; he liked them, sympathized with them and the pizzeria's problems, and even tried to help. And it killed him.

The flow of Bonnie's tears intensified, brought up from the filly's head to her face-recognition equipment. Her ears flopped downwards, far further than they had been designed to flop. The rest of the crew acted similarly, expressing their emotions beyond their original capabilities.

"GrrrrAARH!" Foxy punched the wall with his fist. "This ain't right. Mando can't die; he just started here."

"He played right into the Purple Pony's hooves," Freddy muttered, his eyes shadowed beneath the brim of his hat. "We knew what was coming and we didn't try to stop it."

I did, Bonnie thought promptly. But it didn't matter in the end. I wasn't strong enough. I failed

"But wait, if he's dead, won't he come alive and walk around with us during the nights?" Mangle inquired hesitantly.

Chica shook her head. "He's more than dead, Mangle; he's broken. His animatronic body can't sustain him. There's nothing left..."

Hope snatched out from under her, Mangle detached her spindly body from the ceiling and crashed onto the floor. "Why don't we get another chance?!" she cried out, hammering the ground. "We could have helped him, we could have!"

Balloon Boy reached over to Mangle and gently patted her heads. "It's not your fault," he said quietly. It's not any of our faults."

"Oh, but it is mine."

The animatronics all froze and their eyes turned to the door. There stood a tall figure, yellow and dusty. Within the twin depths of its decrepit head, darkness stared back. Its posture was awkward, one shoulder slouching as though it were uncomfortable and weighed down. Blood visibly dripped down from the wire-spilling joints, slowly forming a puddle at its feet.

"Hello, children. How's the pizza coming along?"

Author's Note:

Sorry it took so long. Hope y'all enjoy it

Comments

[forrest yuchnitz]

Springtrap?

[JavaScript]

Despite the wait, the story's still good. I might have to go back and read everything, again, though.

[ibeachu]

This was a pleasant surprise. Let's see what Mando is up to...

[Solaris_flare]

hmm where is this going?

[Spirit Guide]

7781708 7780682 CLIFFHANGAH

7781504 He's deaid

[Solaris_flare]

7781806 did Vincent stuff himself in the costume or is it actually working properly or is it wildfire and please tell me Mando isn't dead for good

[Spirit Guide]

7781847 Telling things like that defeats the purpose of cliffhangering
But I'll tell you this much: I don't like full-out sad/bad endings, especially with things like death of main characters

[ibeachu]

7781806 Dahmit. His girlfriend then.

[forrest yuchnitz]

so when is this being continued

[Spirit Guide]

8649604
Afraid I've taken an unknowable hiatus on my writing, through some mixture of block and lack of motivation, and my art expression has turned to drawing for now

[Efadd]

*deep breath*UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!