> Freddy Fazbear and Friends Presents: ...Equestria?
>  by Shadowflame
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> H-h-h-hey-hey There Everybody!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Ugh…”

Freddy moaned as he slowly regained consciousness, only to find he was lying down, belly pressed against the ground. He presumed it to be the floor of the stage… but how did he end up there?

“… What happened? Did I lock a servo by accident? That’s never happened before.”

A slight breeze of wind blew across his fur, his round ears twitching slightly at the mildly cold sensation.

“… huh, that’s…” Freddy felt his breath hitch in his throat, “t-that’s… c-cold…” He had never felt cold… not since…

Freddy’s eyes bolted open as he cocked his head up from its place on the ground, only to be struck by a sight that rocked him to the core.

He was lying in a wide open area of grass, atop what seemed to be a tiny hill. He was met by a blue sky above him, with an incredible sun that radiated with brightness, but not enough to make looking its direction too agonizing, seemingly almost… friendly to anyone it shone down upon.

Freddy Fazbear swiveled his head around, his jaw dropping at his surroundings, “… I don’t think I’m in my pizzeria anymore.” He quickly tried to stand up in order to see the rest of his surroundings properly, but as soon as his hands met the grass to push himself up, he instantly knew something was wrong.

He could actually feel the grass… it was soft underneath his hands, almost like a cushion. He had never felt this softness before. Hell, he had never felt at all before!

Freddy looked down at his hands, only for his eyes to widen in surprise at what he saw. His animatronic hands were no more, but instead were fur covered claws. They were black tips that contrasted with his brown fur that was noticeably fuller and more alive in length… wait, alive?

In almost a panic, Freddy quickly glanced over the rest of himself. First with his arms, which were now solid limbs, with no crevices between his joints and outer parts. Poking himself with a claw, he could feel the skin hidden beneath his fur, wincing slightly in pain as he accidentally pricked himself a bit too hard with his sharp claws.

But despite his search over his whole body, he couldn’t find a single trace of the familiar animatronic parts he had been made from before. Quite the opposite actually. His hind legs weren’t even in the right shape anymore, bending in a less humanoid fashion. His old, nubby, metal teeth had been replaced by actual fangs and omnivore teeth… just like…

Freddy gasped, “It… It can’t be.” The bushier fur, the claws, the teeth… Freddy glanced down at his chest to see it rising and falling, with his breath!

He was alive…

…

He was alive!

Freddy felt his voice choke in his throat, “I-I’m… a bear?”

He, for some inexplicable reason, had become a real bear, no longer an animatronic.

“How?!” was all Freddy could ask as he stood up on his hind legs, which could thankfully still allow him to stand. “How is this possible?”

Another gentle breeze caressed his fur, ruffling it a bit. Strangely, it felt… comforting, but that only unnerved Freddy more. He couldn’t feel the cold before, he couldn’t feel softness… he couldn’t even smell before! What happened to change that? What had happened to change him?

He didn’t know. Knowing that, Freddy let out a sigh, “What’s going on?” He turned his head around towards his surroundings, “Where am I?”

The animatronic bear turned bear looked around, only to find nothing but open grassland around him. But as he looked out farther into the distance, he found something interesting.

Several miles away from his position, mountains struck out of the ground like the teeth of a comb, but what intrigued Freddy was the mountain farthest to the left, or more specifically, what stood on it. Many towers stood erect, jutting out of the mountain, with walls and flags, flying high in the wind. The whole structure was pearly white, sticking out like a pearl behind a canopy of moss.

“A castle?” Freddy frowned. “Whoever had to bone to drag me out of my pizzeria must have dragged me far. I don’t remember seeing a castle like that before, even before I-“

Before the words left his mouth, a headache racked the bear’s skull, causing Freddy to wince in pain. It always hurt him to think of anything before the incident… back before… before what? He couldn’t remember.

Shaking his head away from the subject, Freddy turned his gaze towards the white castle on the mountain, “Well, standing here won’t do me any good. If anything, I can at least figure out where I am if I head there.”

Determined with his current plan of action, Freddy began to walk towards the mountain,

Only for him to fall forwards as his stubby hind legs weren’t very easy to walk alone with. Back down on the ground on all fours, Freddy sighed again, “Real bear, huh?” He shrugged, still confused, “Well, not much I can do about that.”

He was about to continue, but he was stopped as he spotted something on the ground before his paws. It was a black top hat, as sleek and shimmering in the daylight just like how it was the day it was made.

Freddy’s eyes widened, “My hat!” With a claw, he picked it up, holding it up closer for him to see. A small smile crossed his face, “Huh, I’m glad I still have at least this!”

Satisfied to see it hadn’t been damaged in any way, Freddy put his hat back on his furry head. Surprisingly, it still fit, even with his most likely altered head size. With his hat back, Freddy nodded and returned to his current task: making the trek to the castle on the mountain.

But as he walked, a thought lingered in the back of his mind. Where were the others? Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, the Toy Animatronics, Golden Freddy, and even Balloon Boy found their way into Freddy’s mind. A sense of worry began to well up inside him as he wondered if they had been brought to this strange place too. And if so, were they safe?

… But then Freddy’s mind drifted towards a certain animatronic back from the restaurant. What about Marionette? I hope he’s alright too.


___________________________________________


Fluttershy’s mornings were usually as normal as any other day. Every day, she would wake up in her little cottage, usually earlier in the morning so she could gather together all of the food for her animal friends’ morning feeding.  She didn’t eat anything in the morning before the animals were fed. After all, what kind of filly would she be if she waited to feed all of her friends after eating breakfast herself? She wasn’t very hungry in the mornings anyways.

However, this morning was different for the butter-yellow pegasus. As Fluttershy was finishing gathering all of her animal food, a small, white bunny hopped into the kitchen a look of urgency written across his face.

The little bunny hopped over to where Fluttershy stood at the kitchen counter, before tugging as hard as he could on her leg.

Fluttershy jumped slightly in surprise from that. Looking down, she recognized the little bunny, “Oh, good morning, Angel Bunny. Did you sleep well?”

Angel waved his arms, signaling that he was trying to say something else. After years of communicating with Fluttershy like this, he knew just how to get the point across.

Fluttershy blinked in surprise as she watched Angel pointed in the direction of the living room, where most of the indoors animals clustered when it was time for breakfast. Afterwards, Angel made a ‘+’ with his arms.

“Oh, does someone need first aid?” Fluttershy guessed, growing visibly worried, “Oh, dear, someone was hurt?”

Angel quickly shook his head, doing the same sign again.

“Addition?” Fluttershy asked. Angel nodded, to which Fluttershy guessed, “Oh, we have an addition? A new animal friend?”

Angel nodded and Fluttershy smiled widely, “Oh, if we have a visitor, I better say hello.” She was about to make towards the living room, but her path was promptly blocked by Angel Bunny.

Fluttershy glanced down at the little bunny, only to find a worried expression on his face. Seeing his worry, it translated over to Fluttershy, making her frown in the same manner, “Oh my, what’s wrong, Angel?”

Suddenly, a voice shouted out from the living room, “GAAAH! Stop staring at me, would ya?!”

“O-oh my.” Fluttershy quickly galloped into the living room to see what was wrong, and this new visitor was.

The yellow pegasus trotted into her living room and was a bit surprised to find all of her animals skirting the outside of the room, eyes intently pressing towards the center of the room. Squirells and other rodents squeaked in curiosity, as well as in equal uneasiness, from where they stood on seats or furniture. The birds stared as well, from the ceiling rafters and the little bird houses scattered around the walls. But no matter the animal, all of them seemed skittish.

Fluttershy’s eyes drifted towards the center of the room, following the gazes of the animals. But to her surprise, all she found was a single, tiny, adorable, purple bunny. Unlike any other bunnies, this one was literally violet, colored a lighter shade of purple around his nose and belly.

But what really caught Fluttershy off guard wasn’t this new bunny’s coloring, but rather the fact that said animal was speaking.

The little purple bunny glared at the other animals in the room, annoyance dominating his tiny face, “Honestly, could you all stop staring at me! For the love of-“ The bunny was cut short when he caught sight of Fluttershy in the doorway.

The new bunny raised an eyebrow, “… is that a yellow horse?”

Fluttershy blinked in surprise, sort of unsure how to respond, “Um… h-hello?”

Instantly, the bunny’s eyes widened, his jaw dropping, “What?! You just talked! Horses can’t talk!”

“O-oh, sorry, I-I’m actually a pony.” Fluttershy amended, finding this purple bunny a bit odd, “A-all ponies can talk. Sorry, but I’ve never met a bunny who could talk before.”

The bunny glared at that, “Whoa, I might just look like a bunny, but I’m not a bunny!”

Fluttershy stared at him in confusion for a moment, “Y-you’re not? If I might ask, what are you then?”

“I’m… uh…” The bunny glanced down at his arms, then looked behind him at his fluffy tail, then reached up and pulled on one of his ears, as if testing to see if it was actually real. After another moment of silence, the bunny simply crossed his arms and let out a humph, “Alright, alright, fine. I admit it, I’m a bunny.”

“Oh, that’s nice.” Fluttershy gave a tiny smile, despite the odd feeling she was getting from this talking animal. But then again, he was a talking animal, which made a part of her begin to well up in excitement. “I’m Fluttershy.”

“I’m Bonnie.” The bunny replied, before glancing around, “Say, you wouldn’t happen to know where I am, would you?”

“Oh, you’re in my cottage in Ponyville.” Fluttershy replied, “If I might ask, where did you come from, Bonnie?”

Bonnie paused, still trying to register what Fluttershy had said, “Uh… did you say Ponyville?”

Fluttershy’s smile vanished, “Oh, um, yes.”

Bonnie simply frowned to himself. He had never heard of place called Ponyville before, and last he checked, ponies couldn’t speak. Putting the latter of the two points aside for later, Bonnie distinctly remembered being at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza last night… but what had happened after that? Had someone somehow shut him down and hauled him away? That still didn’t explain why he was a bunny now, and that bothered him to no end.

But hopefully this Ponyville, as unknown as it was to him, wasn’t too far to the pizzeria and he could get back to the other animatronics for help.

Bonnie looked back towards Fluttershy, “So wait, where’s Ponyville exactly?”

Fluttershy’s expression lit up at the thought of being helpful towards Bonnie, “Oh, it’s just south of Canterlot and borders the Everfree Forest.”

Canterlot? The Everfree Forest? Bonnie didn’t recognize either of those names. A pang of worry rose up into his tiny chest. “Um, what country?” He asked hopefully.

“Equestria.”

More worry. “Which continent?”

“North Equinnia.”

“Planet?!”

“Equus?” Fluttershy replied, growing a bit worried by the odd look on Bonnie’s face.

Bonnie, however, had suddenly blocked out everything else around him, mumbling slightly, “T-the planet Equus…?” He had no idea where he was, and it was obviously very clear that he was nowhere near Freddy’s.

So, he did like any sane bunny would do with the knowledge that he had been moved to a whole other planet overnight: he fainted.


______________________________________


Bonnie was not having a good morning. No, in fact, he was having a really strange one. First, he woke up to find that he was no longer in Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, but in some strange building filled with dozens of animals, who all happened to be staring at him when he woke.

It wasn’t until some white bunny approached him that he realized that he had shrunk in size. He may have been a bunny animatronic before, but after a few inspections, he had realized that he had become an actual bunny, in size and everything!

But that was the least of his worries. Where was Freddy? Where was Chica? Foxy? Golden Freddy? He even wondered where that little annoying bugger, Balloon Boy, was.

And finally, there was the cherry that topped the whole sundae of a bad morning. Bonnie had met a strange yellow pony named Fluttershy, who told him that he had jumped planets unknowingly in a single night. Not much else could ruin a morning like that could.

He was alone and on another planet… or so he had thought.

Bonnie was woken by a series of jabs to his belly and a sharp female voice, “Hey, wakeup, sleepyhead!”

Bonnie put his paws over his belly as it began to feel sensitive from the poking, groggily moaning, “Nng… Stop…”

The voice just sighed, “Honestly, you’re just stubborn when you’re at the charging station. You always overdo it.”

Wait, charging station? Bonnie’s eyes shot open at that, “Huh, I know that voice.”

He sat up, glancing around to find that he was now sitting on a couch, still a tiny little bunny though. He looked around for the source of the voice and found himself face to face with yet another bunny.

This bunny was a girl, colored blue with white patches of fur on her nose and belly. She also had rosy patches of fur on her cheeks. Even though this was another live bunny, Bonnie instantly knew who it was.

“Bonbon?” He asked, though silently hoping it wasn’t.

Bonbon just rolled her eyes, “Obviously, no-face.”

Bonnie glowered at her, “Oi, you know full well they used my face as spare parts for you.”

Bonbon merely smirked, “Well, not that I wanted to use any parts from that ugly mug of yours.” She giggled mischievously, “But hey, this new ‘fluffy’ look works well for you.”

Bonnie rolled his eyes, shaking his head, “Why do I even bother?” He glanced around to find that they were still in Fluttershy’s cottage, sitting on a couch in the living room. Thankfully though, there wasn’t a house full of staring animals waiting for him to wake up this time.

Bonnie frowned as he turned back to Bonbon, “But seriously, where did you come from?”

Bonbon just sighed as she sat back on the couch, crossing her hind legs and putting her paws behind her head in her relaxed position, “I woke up in a clearing of forest not too far from here.” She glanced down towards her little body, “After I saw my transformation and the disappearance of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, I found this little cottage, met Fluttershy, found you passed out here, and stayed a bit.” She yawned jokingly, “But it has been kind of boring waiting for you to wake up, since this guy over here isn’t much of a talker.”

Bonnie watched as Bonbon pointed a paw down off of the couch, right to where a single white bunny was standing, watching them from a little ways away with a small scowl. Bonnie recognized it to be the bunny who had confronted him the first time he had woken up in the cottage.

Angel Bunny simply nodded their way, making the hand sign ‘I’m watching you two, so no funny business’, before hopping off.

“It seems that even though we are both animals, we are still incapable of actual conversation with our own species.” Bonbon explained, “The only ones who can speak on this planet are the more sentient species, such as the ponies.”

Bonnie gave her wry glance, “So you know about-“

“About our displacement?” She nodded, “Yes, it seems we have been brought to another world, but as to how or why, I do not know.”

Bonnie spared a surprised look, “You… seem to be taking this well.”

Bonbon simply smirked, “Well, I was always the better model type.”

“Hey, just because you had facial recognition doesn’t make you better than me.” Bonnie grumbled as he plopped down on the couch as well. He sighed a bit, “So, what’s the plan then? Find the others? If you’re here, then it’s more than likely that everyone else came along for the ride.”

“Yes, that seems like the best plan for now.” Bonbon replied, “We must hurry though. I have a feeling it would be better if done sooner rather than later.” Her tone left a pang of worry with Bonnie.

Bonnie raised an eyebrow at her, “Why would we need to rush?”

The blue bunny shot him a cold look, “Because, if we are under the assumption that everyone in the restaurant last night was displaced to Equestria, then that means we have one extra person to look out for: the night guard.”

Bonnie frowned at that, but he could feel a twinge of fiery anger spark in his chest as he heard it, “So? He’s probably just a fake like all the other ones before.” The bunny’s teeth ground in frustration as memories of the night flashed through his mind, “It’s always the same. Everytime a new guard comes in, that… that bastard’s voice is always there. But every time we manage to get him, it’s never him!”

Bonbon nodded in sympathy, a scowl crossed across her tiny bunny face, “Yes, that’s almost always the case…” She locked eyes with Bonnie, “But we can’t just ignore this night guard if he came with us here, just in case it is him. He'll  no doubt look for his next victim, even in a place like this. You know what Marionette would want us to do.”

Slowly, Bonnie nodded, “’Save them’."
> We're not So Scary When You See Us in the Daylight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	This was the last place Chica thought she'd wake up in... but then again, that could be said for any place that wasn't Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. She had woken up in what seemed like a kitchen, but not the one in the pizzeria. The kitchen there was mostly metal surfaces and tools hung on the walls, with a giant stove taking up most of the floor space. But this place on the other hand, was made mostly from wood, with bright, pastel colors everywhere! There wasn't any sign of the cooking materials needed for pizza at all, and only a few stove ovens resided there... which was odd. What kind of a kitchen doesn't cook pizza? The plain ridiculous kind, that's what.

Anyways, Chica then found herself as a baby chicken, and that's when she started to think this was just a dream... which, again, was odd. She hadn't had dreams for years...

Then that Pinkie Pie pony walked in and Chica knew it had to be a dream.

But unfortunately, Pinkie Pie had found someone else Chica knew, shouting "Hey Chicaaaa! I found your other friend! Ooh, she looks just like you!" And that's when she begrudgingly discovered this wasn't a dream. But hey, if it was any consolation, the cupcake Pinkie gave her was a dream in of itself.

And the other chick on the table, munching on her own cupcake, apparently agreed.

"Oh, this is amaaaaaaazing! I just want to eat all of it, but I couldn't possibly do that to my figure!"

Chica deadpanned, nibbling on another piece of her cupcake, which easily made up half of her size, "Oh, shut it, Chique. You're not even humanoid anymore, remember?"

The former toy animatronic huffed, folding her wings in front of her chest, "Well, excuuuuuse me, Chica. But even if we can enjoy food now, we don't exactly have any permanent casing to keep us in one shape anymore."

Chica just cackled out loud, "But that's the best part! Little miss 'Oh, look how skinny and thin and sexy I am' finally gets to feel the pleasure of having waddle weight!"

Chique gasped, "Hmph, well I never!"

"Exactly my point," Chica smirked.

Chique pouted slightly at that, "Well, at least everyone knew I was a chicken." A smirk came up to the chick's rosy-cheeked beak, "From what Bonnie has told me, back before we came along, quite a few people thought you were a duckling."

Chica felt her face feathers grow red, "Hey, it's not my fault that people are just stupid that way! At least my beak doesn't fall off at every drop of the hat!"

"At least my beak doesn't look like someone took a crowbar to it and inserted some geezer's dentures in my mouth!"

"At least I didn't look like someone had a plastic surgery spree on my body."

"You wish you could get plastic surgery!"

"Bimbo!"

"Glutton!"

"Fatty!"

Chique gasped in shock, "You take that back!"

In an instant, both birds were butting heads at the center of the table. Chique gave Chica a death glare, "Why don't we see exactly why I was the better model?"

"Bring it, you copycat! I'll snap that tiny waist of yours like a toothpick!"

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!"

Both sets of chicken eyes shrunk to pinpricks as they heard the pink pony's voice scream to the heavens. The slowly turned their heads to see Pinkie Pie giving them both a look of disappointment. She had been wanting to learn everything about the two of them, but of course, she had been doing work in the kitchen, so play and chatting came second. However, Chica hadn't thought Pinkie would be done baking that quickly.

Pinkie frowned at the two little chickens, "I come back from the kitchen, excited that I've made two new friends, even more because you're talking animals, but what do I find when I get here? Both of my new friends are fighting and bickering with each other, and Granny Pie always says, when two friends are unhappy, Pinkie's unhappy..." She put a hoof to her chin as she glanced up at the ceiling, "Or was it, when friends fight, their Ice Cream goes runny?"

"Huh?" Chica and Chique just stared at Pinkie in confusion. They hadn't seen talking ponies before, and to top it off, never before had they met someone quite like the pink pony. Were there more like her around here?

Pinkie looked back to the two chicks on the table, "Well, there's nothing a little Pinkie Pie can't fix. I'm gonna do everything I can think of until the two of you are the best of friends!" Chica gave Pinkie a 'are you kidding me' look, but it was lost as the pony started to bounce in excitement, "Oh, oh, I know! The best way to get friends to make up is to distract them from their bickering, and what better way than for me to show you Ponyville!"

"Uh, come again?" Chique asked.

"Then what are we waiting for? We've got a whole town to see!" In one swift motion, Chica and Chique found themselves thrown onto Pinkie's back. The party pony reared up in her hind legs with a whiny, "Wheeeee! Let's go!"

In an instant, Pinkie was off and out the door, two little chickens clinging to her mane as they bounced along for the ride. Chica let out a yelp with each time her tail feathers bopped the back of Pinkie's back again and again. Meanwhile, Chique just let out a long drawn out scream.

"PIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE! WHEEEREE AAARE WEEEEE GOOOOOIIIIING?"

"To see the town, silly!" Pinkie replied without missing a beat. Everything just blurred right past Chica and Chique's eyes. But apparently that didn't faze Pinkie, because she was naming off every location they passed as quickly as they were running by them.

"Nowoverthereisthebowlingalley,andthere'sthequillsandsofasshop,thenthegagshop,thejokeshop,andmypersonalfavorite,thepartyshop!There'stheclocktower,thetownsquare,myfriendRarity'shouse,CarouselBoutique,andoverthere'sthearcadewhereRarity'slittlesister,SweetieBelleplaysvideogameswithherfriendButtonMash.Andoverthere'sTownHall,andthetownsquare.Oh,waitaminute,wewerejusthere.Whereshouldwegonext?" Pinkie suddenly gasped, instantly stopping in midgallop, as if she or the chickens on her back hadn't had any momentum at all on them, "Oh, I know! You're both talking animals! We should go see my friend, Fluttershy! She'd love you two!"

"Wait, Pinkie!" But Chique's scream fell on deaf ears as Pinkie took off again through town.

But having finally been able to get used to the wicked speed, Chica realized that the ride wasn't all that bad. Once she got her balance, a small smile formed on her beak. She could feel the wind rustling through her feathers, the cool breeze rushing back that sent an energizing chill down her back. Everything was rushing past them faster than she could ever run, and she loved it!

Feeling the awesome buzz of adrenaline rush to her head, Chica bravely climbed up higher into Pinkie's poofy mane, until she was standing on the pink mare's head. Using her talons to cling to the poofy mane, Chica stood on her bent knees as she braced the force of the wind on her feathers. It was like standing in the middle of a tornado, but to the little chicken, it. Felt. Incredible!

Chica did a fist pump to the air, "AAAAWWWWW YEEEEEEEAAAAAAHH! THIS! IS! AWESOME!"

Meanwhile, Chique wished she could facepalm without losing her grip on the Pinkie-mobile, "Such a tomboy."

However, her words didn't reach either of her current companions. From the top of Pinkie's head, Chica soon spotted a small cottage in the distance, which they were quickly approaching.

"Is that Fluttershy's place?" Chica asked (screamed).

"Yup!"

Chica grinned as they approached the cottage at top speed... only for her smile to fade as they got even closer to it, without any signs of Pinkie slowing down.

"Um, Pinkie? You might want to start slowing down now..."

Pinkie just continued to run, smiling all the way.

"Pinkie!?!" They soon reached the path to the front door, with Pinkie charging at top speed, right for the closed, wooden, solid, presumably locked door.

Chica only had enough time to mutter under her breath, eyes wide, "Oh, f*** me."


______________________________________________________________


Bonbon was enjoying herself. After Fluttershy had finished feeding the other animals, she had been nice enough to offer Bonnie and her some carrots to eat. It had been because Bonnie's belly had started growling, to which he had responded by thinking something was wrong with his tiny bunny body.

Bonbon honestly couldn't believe how the dimwit had managed to survive for so many years in the pizzeria. He was on the verge of a freak out until Bonbon had told him that it was a sign that he was hungry and required sustenance soon. How could that bunny be so dense when he used to go about serving pizza to people to prevent the very same condition from happening to them. The irony wasn't lost on Bonbon, but she didn't find it very amusing.

So there they were, still on the couch, munching on carrots from Fluttershy, with the butter-colored pegasus sitting across from the coffee table on her own sitting chair. Currently, while Bonnie was too busy snacking, Bonbon kept herself busy by chatting with their host.

"So both of you are really from another world?" Fluttershy asked, practically glowing with enthusiasm, "Oh my, do all animals talk like you do?"

Bonbon politely chuckled, "Yes, to your first question, but no to the second." She stopped to consider the other animatronics, and where they'd be in this new world, "But, we aren't the only ones who can talk. There are others like us, who I'm sure were brought to Equestria as well. In fact-" Bonbon cut herself short as her eyes widened towards something that she knew had not been there.

"Is that an alligator?" Bonbon asked, pointing towards the little coffee table, where, sure enough, a green, baby alligator stood, staring blankly towards a wall, its tail twitching to the side occasionally.

FLuttershy blinked in surprise, "Oh, that's Gummy... but if he's here..." She squeaked, "Oh, dear!" In a flash, Fluttershy flew from her seat to her front door, flinging it open in time to hear,

"CLEAR THE WAY! FLYING CHICKEN INBOUND!"

Not a moment later, a pink blur from outside suddenly stopped in the doorway, revealing to be another pink pony, much like Fluttershy, though this one lacked any wings.

But as soon as the pink pony stopped in the doorway, a smaller, yellow blur shot like a bullet off of her head from the sudden momentum shift. In a ruffle of feathers, it flew through the doorway like a jet, before smacking into the couch right between Bonnie and Bonbon.

Both bunnies jumped in surprise at the thump between them, quickly glancing to see what the heck had flown from the pink pony's head.

Bonnie blinked in surprise when he saw who it was, "Chica?!"

Chica bounced back up to her feet instantly, doing a double wing/fist pump to the air, "That. Was. AWESOME!"

Another voice called out from behind the new pink pony, "No! That was, ugh a-absurd!"

Everyone watched as another chick, about the same height and size as Chica, dropped from her hold on the pink one's tail, making her way into the cottage as well. Bonbon smiled in delight, "Hello, Chique!"

Chique gasped with a grin, "Bonbon!" She ran and joined the other animals on the couch, quickly grabbing Bonbon in a tight hug, "Oh, I cannot tell you how relieving it is to see another friendly face."

Bonbon smirked at her, "Weren't you just with Chica though?"

Chique rolled her eyes, "That is exactly my point. That tomboy can hardly be considered friendly."

"Right back at ya." Chica deadpanned. She glanced back towards Bonnie, a smile on her face, "I'm at least glad to see you have a face again!"

Bonnie chuckled sheepishly, "Oi, yeah." He patted his little nose with a paw, "Definitely not planning on losing it again."

"Ooh, does old 'Bonnie-wonnie' have his face back?" Chique cooed as she stepped closer to him. The rosy chick squealed in delight as her wings pulled at the purple bunny's cheeks, "Oh, you're so cute! Just look at your little fuzzy face! It's adorable!"

Bonnie quickly wrenched himself from her grasp, "Oi! This is a 'hands off' display here, okay?!" Bonbon and Chica just laughed over from the side.

Meanwhile, both Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy watched the scene unfold from beside the couch, surprised looks on their faces. "Oh, you all know each other?" Fluttershy asked.

Bonbon nodded, "Yes. We all came from the same world."

Instantly, the pink pony seemed to just appear right in front of Bonbon's face, "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name?"

Bonbon was taken aback slightly by the sudden intrusion of her personal space, but she quickly recovered, "Oh, I'm Bonbon." She pointed to her companions, "And that's Bonnie. And I'm sure you've already met Chica and Chique."

"Yupper-dee!" Pinkie sang in reply. "Oh yeah, and I didn't know you all were from another world. That's amazing!" All the while, there was never a slightest shift in her demeanor.

Bonbon chuckled nervously at that, She's... certainly a lively one.

However, Fluttershy still stared at Bonnie in confusion, "Um... Bonnie?"

"Yeah?" The purple bunny replied.

"Um, Chica and Chique said you had your face back... if I may ask, what does that mean?"

Three pairs of animal eyes shot unamused looks towards Chique, who clucked sheepishly.

Bonbon sighed in annoyance. She wasn't sure if these ponies were familiar with the concept of electrical devices as advanced as robots, so she had hoped she could steer clear from having to explain it all. It certainly would save the extra time and possible confusion needed to explain. But seeing as that option was completely void, Bonbon proceeded to explain, "You see, Fluttershy, back in our world, we weren't actual animals. We were technological beings known as animatronics."

"Anima-what?" Pinkie asked

"We were robots, to put it bluntly." Bonnie replied.

Pinkie and Fluttershy blinked in surprise for a moment, before the former of the two gasped loudly, "Oh my cupcakes with the coconut frosting! You're robots?!" Thus began the barrage of Pinkie, "Ooh, ooh, did you have lazer eyes? Or how about super strength? Did you fight crime or destroy cities like in the comic books? Spike showed me his collection of comics, but I had to admit all of it seemed UNREAL, but then again I didn't think talking animals from another world were real, so fudgabout it. Oh, were you guys-"

Amid the Pinkie flurry of questions, Bonbon couldn't help but feel a bit surprised. That hadn't taken nearly as long to explain as she had thought.

"- I mean, come on! Wouldn't it be cool if I had metal parts? If someone asked me if I could lend a hoof, I could literally lend them one! Isn't that hilarious? You know what else is hilarious? Chocolate-"

Chica quickly put up her arms to calm the pink one, "Whoa, whoa, Pinkie, slow down! Even I can't keep up!"

Chique agreed, "Yes, no one likes a constant blabbermouth." Once Pinkie was once again still, the rosy chick crossed her wings, "And also, I take offense that you would even bring up the notion that I was even a destructive robot."

Bonbon rolled her eyes, "She didn't intend anything like that, Chique." The blue bunny cleared her throat, turning back to Fluttershy and Pinkie, "And to explain, no, we weren't very highly advanced in that regard. We were simple machines, as we were only meant to be entertainers for children."

Both Pinkie and Fluttershy perked up at that, "Oh, you were performers?"

Chique nodded, "Mm-hm, we were. In fact, I daresay, entertaining the little ones is one of the most fun things I've done in my life."

Out of the corner of her eye, Bonbon saw both Chica and Bonnie wince a bit as Chique spoke, a look of longing on their faces. It had been years since they stood on that stage for the children, wandering around to be the life of the parties, and bringing smiles to the little one's faces. Bonbon couldn't help but feel sympathetic for the two of them. Being cast to the side as spare parts would have been devastating to anyone at the pizzeria...

Shaking herself a bit, Bonbon brought herself back to the conversation at hand... er, paw. Chique had finished explaining what they did as animatronics in Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.

Pinkie looked like someone had given her the chance to plan the Grand Galloping Gala 'Pinkie Pie Style', "Ooh, if you're returning to your world any time soon, can I come back with you? Nobody's seen a real party until they've seen a Pinkie Party!"

"Er... sure thing, Pinkie." Chica hesitated, "But that's kind of the problem. We have no idea how we got here in the first place."

"Sure you do." Pinkie just grinned, "Remember? I picked you and Chique up on my back, we ran through town on a quick tour, and then we came here to Fluttershy's house! Geez, you must have really hit that couch harder than I thought!"

Bonnie snickered, "Haha, I like this pony."

Chique smirked at him, "Well, let's see how well you can hang on during Pinkie's tour of Ponyville."

Bonbon cleared her throat, bringing the focus back to the conversation, "What she means, Pinkie, is that we have no idea how we woke up here in Equestria, much less how we transformed into animals in the process."

"Oh my..." Fluttershy quietly whispered, "So you don't know how to get home?"

Bonnie shrugged, "Basically."

"And I doubt any of our fellow animatronics know how either, wherever they are." Bonbon added.

"Oh, you poor dears." Fluttershy cooed.

Pinkie stood tall and strong on her hind legs, "I won't stand for this, even though I'm standing now! No Pizzario-"

"Pizzeria." Chica corrected.

Pinkie giggled, "Oh, right. No Pizzeria should be left without their entertainers! So I, Pinkamena Diane Pie, will find all of your friends, and make sure all you guys get back home safe and sound! And I know just the Princess to talk to!"

In a split second, Pinkie was already at the front door of the cottage, ready to go. But her progress was impeded as Fluttershy called out to her, "Wait, Pinkie. Are you going to get Twilight for this?"

"Uh-huh!" Pinkie replied, "Since she hopped through that magic mirror twice already, she's definitely the mare we need for these displaced robots!"

Fluttershy, seeing the logic of reason, simply nodded. But before Pinkie could leave, Bonbon called out, "Wait, Pinkie!"

Pinkie turned to see the blue bunny quickly hopping up to her. Bonbon wore a serious expression on her face, "I must thank you for your help, Pinkie..." She paused, "But... if you're going to be searching for our friends, you'll need to know who you're looking for.

"There's Freddy, our leader, and his double, Fredrick. No doubt about it, but they'll probably be transformed into bears in this world. Then there's also Foxy and Mangle. They're both foxes; Foxy's red, but Mangle's white. And then there's Balloon Boy-"

"Balloons?!" Pinkie squeed, "I love balloons."

Bonbon nodded, "Pinkie focus. Yes, Balloon Boy, but I have no idea what he'll look like in this world. But you'll be able to recognize him, because he always wears a blue and red propeller beanie.

"And lastly, most importantly, there's Golden Freddy and Marionette... Goldy is most likely some kind of yellow bear, even though that sounds strange."

"You're a blue bunny!" Chica reminded her from afar.

"Point taken." Bonbon deadpanned. She turned her gaze back towards Pinkie, but her face was... dark. It made Pinkie's constant smile falter slightly. "Marionette... He was a puppet man before, so I have no idea what he'll look like now. But if anything, look for a white face, with purple streaks streaming down his face... like tears."

"Oh, oki-doki!" Pinkie chimed, "Three bears, one of them yellow, two foxes, Balloon Boy, and one puppet, coming up!"

"Wait Pinkie!" Bonbon commanded, "Be careful out there. I must warn you, some of our friends can be... dangerous..." She shook her head, while Pinkie's expression turned to one of genuine worry. Bonbon continued, "Watch your back, your step, and your words when you go searching for all of them. They... no, all of us, tend to get angry when a certain topic is brought up... very angry."

"Oh... okay." Pinkie replied, less enthusiastic. A worried expression crossing the pink pony's face, "What is it?"

Bonbon whispered, just loud enough for the pink pony to hear, "There's one more person who could have followed us from the Pizzeria, but trust me when I say he is no friend of ours, or anyone for that matter." Her voice turned dark, scary even, "If you find him, or even hear him, run from there as fast as you can. It doesn't matter where you go, just make sure he doesn't follow you. But if you're around any children when you find him, get them away from him as quickly as possible, because he'll always go after them first."

Pinkie just stared in stunned silence.

Bonbon whispered, "That... that monster... all of us are angry with him," The blue bunny glanced back up at Pinkie, a pleading look on her face, "Whatever you do, if you find any more of us, don't mention the guy in purple. You don't want to be on the receiving end of their fury, but it will be even worse if He finds you first."

Pinkie slowly nodded, jaw hanging open slightly. It was obvious that there was a lot about these new friends that she didn't know yet. She knew she would have to ask... later, if they were willing to talk... what had happened to these little guys? Quietly, Pinkie exited the cottage, leaving Fluttershy with them, before breaking into a gallop towards the crystal palace. Twilight would want to know about this, as soon as possible.

But strangely, as she ran through Ponyville, the town that had been her peaceful home for years, the feeling of safety in it now felt slightly... disturbed.

Slightly... mangled.


______________________________________________________________


A lost creature roamed through the dense vegetation of the Everfree Forest. But he wasn't frightened in the slightest by his surroundings. He kept a wary eye out for any signs of danger, while his other eye hid behind his signature eyepatch.

"Hm..." The red fox grumbled to himself, "Aye, there be no doubt about this place. It just reeks of danger, always watchin' fer when yer not lookin'."

The leaves and tree branches crunched beneath his paws as he traveled through the dense woodland. But as he kept his wits about him, he still couldn't figure out what had happened to him. The pizzeria was gone, not even the Kid's Cove was there. And worse still, he was in an unfamiliar, fleshy body. Sure, no one was able to see his exo-skeleton beneath his skin anymore, but he didn't even have his hook! He could feel everything, from the ground beneath his paws, to the tongue in his mouth, even to the slightest breeze across his ears. But with feeling, he knew he could feel pain, and that in of itself left him feeling exposed and vulnerable.

"Aye, I wonder if whatever landlubbers did this to me took th' others." He grimaced, "This body isn't as metal as me other one... But it feels as if... I've had a body of this sort before." Instantly, his head stung, as if he had caught himself with his own hook. GAH! By Davy Jones' rotted beard! Foxy, don't be thinking that now. This be a dangerous place, and yer mopin' thoughts will only get yerself killed."

Suddenly, the bushes beside him shook. In an instant, Foxy and jumped and faced the source of it, crouching low and growling, though partially at himself, "Grr, let me guard down fer one moment and somethin' finds me. Show yerself!" He barked, fangs bared to add intimidation to his side.

All was still for a moment, which only made Foxy's fur stand on end as he kept his one eye on the bush for any signs of danger.

Then suddenly, a white blur shot out of the bushes, heading straight towards the red fox. Foxy snarled as he was slammed head-on by his attacker, and both he and them rolled backwards in a tangle of limbs. The pirate acted fast as he stopped the momentum of the rolling, leaving his opponent beneath him on the ground, and swung his claws towards his attacker.

But before he could, their hind legs kicked him in his belly, knocking the wind out of him and sending him sprawling backwards. He landed with his back against the ground, and before he could react, his opponent was on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

Foxy let out an enraged growl as his eyes pierced towards the creature on top of him. All he saw was a white face, a muzzle and a black nose staring back at him. Two yellow eyes glared back at him, and a mouthful of fangs were visible as it growled back.... But then Foxy noticed something odd about this creature; It wore a pink bow around its neck, and the fur on its cheeks and neck were colored a rosy pink.

Foxy instantly found all anger inside him evaporate in a single moment. His eyes widened in curiosity, "No, it can't be..."

As he looked into her white face, he realized that she was a fox, just like him. And though she might have not looked like herself at the moment, he could recognize her instantly.

"Vixen?"

The white fox stopped growling for just a moment, more out of surprise. But that was only for a moment, as she growled back, "How do you know my name? Who are you and where have you brought me?"

Foxy cleared his throat, "'Mangy', lass, it be me, Foxy."

"Lies!" The former toy animatronic screamed, "My Foxy is not a quadruped. He is a biped. He wears a hook on his right arm, which you do not have. You do not look like him, so therefore, you are not him!"

Foxy sighed. Vixen was always one to rely on visual sight. After all, that's how she operated before in the pizzeria, what with the visual recognition feature she had been built with. Foxy looked back up at the white fox pinning him to the ground, "Aye, I don't look like the pirate I was before, but I still remember our own memories together."

Vixen blinked in surprise at this stranger, but Foxy continued, "I remember that night, after the damage ye endured in the kid's cove everyday became too much. The little whelps could not keep their grubby mitts off ya, and every night, ya had to be put back together. That was the night where they gave up entirely on ya." Foxy felt his voice rise slightly in anger, "And that night, you cried as if Davy Jones had stolen yer own ship from ya. I can't stand those spineless fools, but to see them cause ye sorrow, not bothering to put ye back whole, it tore at me cold, metal heart."

Foxy paused for a moment to calm himself down, "That night, I 'member stayin' with ya in th' cove. I helped ya back up to yer feet, and I consoled to yer sorrow. T'was the night I became fond of yer spirit, the way ye smiled, even as a Mangle. Aye, I became infatuated with ya, and I knew ye felt the same way.

Vixen's face slowly grew more and more in surprise, blushing slightly as well.

"Yer me beauty of a lass, me lovely, mangy Vixen."

Vixen's eyes widened, her thoughts coming together slowly, "You... I recognize the voice, and your words... you're..." She gasped loudly, a wide grin splitting her face like a little girl in a candy store, "You are my Foxy!"

Foxy yelped slightly as the white fox suddenly began bombarding his face with joyful licks from her lively tongue. Even though his muzzle was becoming drenched with her saliva, Foxy could not help but chuckle. In truth, the feeling was pleasurable, and having been able to find Vixen again and see her as happy as a pup, made his chest feel warm and tingly, just like as if he were sailing the seas for the rest of his days.

Foxy laughed in good nature as Vixen's barrage of licking came to a halt. He craned his neck up to Vixen and licked her on the cheek, "Aye, that I am. I was worried 'bout ya, lass."

Vixen smiled warmly, "Well, I'm fine, now that I'm back in my captain's company." She dropped from her paws onto the ground, snuggling up close to Foxy, "Mmm, even in these bodies, this is still enjoyable... you're so soft."

Foxy chuckled a bit, deciding it'd be fine if they just lie together for a moment. The opportunity called for it after all, so what good captain would pass up enjoying a short while with his lass before moving on again?

"Me lovely lass, Vixen... I'm so glad I found you, before those scum had you scrapped. If I couldn't see yer beautful self again, I would not have known what to do with me self."

A moment of silence passed between them, but suddenly, quiet sobs escaped Mangle's muzzle. She buried her face in Foxy's fur, her eyes wetting with tears for the very first time; with tears of anger and frustration, "Oh, Foxy... I-I saw Him there."

Foxy's eyes widened in surprise, "What? How can ye be sure? I thought you had caught him last morning." His brow furrowed, "After all, that was the reason those bloody fools were going to scrap ye today, damn them to Davy Jones' locker."

Mangle shook her head, looking back up at Foxy with a glare, not directed at him of course, "It was definitely him, captain. I could never mistake that accursed voice. That monster was at the pizzeria last night... completely unharmed."

Baring her fangs, with all the pain and frustration within her threatening to let itself loose in any form of venting, Mangle sobbed once again, letting her tears flow more as she buried them in the fur of Foxy's neck, "I hate him! I hate him so much! I want him to pay for everything he's done! Everything he did to... us... GAH!"

The pair of foxes suddenly winced in pain as memories from the past tried to surge into their minds, but yet, something was holding them back, the images, the sensations in them, save for a cold, gruesome laugh and all the anger they felt towards the one it belonged to.

But needless to say, it hurt too much to bear. Foxy grumbled under his breath as he shied his thoughts away from the memories, "Mangle, lass, keep yer mind steered away from there." After clearing his head, he looked back on the white fox with a look of concern, "I don't wish to see ye in such pain."

Mangle only sobbed again, "But it agonizes me to no end! How long will he always escape everything he deserves? How can he get away with..." She trailed off, her own emotions beginning to simmer down as she reigned herself in.

Foxy nodded, his brow furrowed, "Aye, it be true. That wolf in sheep's clothing has been lucky fer far too long." Begrudgingly leaving Vixen's warm embrace, he got back up to his paws. The former-Mangle did likewise, rubbing the tears out from her eyes. Foxy glanced around their surroundings, which seemed to be nothing be dense forest, "I have a feelin' that we weren't the only ones brought to this place." A low growl escaped his throat, "And a hunch tells me we will be seeing that scurvy dog soon enough. At least when we meet then, I will be able to wet me claws across his throat."

He looked back towards Vixen, "Come along, lass. We must leave this forest soon."

The white fox gave a small smile, "Aye, aye, Captain."
> This Game's Lots of Fun
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	As Noon drew closer, the activity in Ponyville’s local arcade increased more and more as little colts, and the occasional filly, found an opportunity to leave home and come here to satisfy their ‘Inner Gamer’.

Of course, it was an entirely different story for any colt who also had an ‘Outer Gamer’ too.

Button Mash had been sitting on the stool in front of a particular arcade game for at least the past four hours, hoping to be able to beat the latest high score on the machine. He knew it would take him at least another hour of straight playing to be able to reach his goal, but he had prepared accordingly; doing his chores early, finishing what little homework he had leftover from yesterday, and leaving for the arcade as soon as the games’ power came on; all so his mom wouldn’t come interrupt his conquest for digital glory.

Button bit his lip as he quickly tapped the buttons and moved the joystick with frantic precision. He had always hated this particular level.

As his character got hit again by one of the monsters he fought in this encounter, the single strike taking out a fair bit of his health, Button cursed under his breath, “For the love of- dumb flying cinderblocks!”

He turned back towards the action of the game, but not before hearing a distinct, “Hello?” coming from his right.

“Huh?” Button glanced towards the voice, keeping watch out of the corner of his eye on his game. But as he looked, he found another colt, probably around his same age, standing next to him.

This new kid was an alabaster earth pony, and he had a messy blonde mane and tail that looked like it hadn’t had intimate contact with a comb or brush before. His cutie mark looked like a single yellow balloon with a horizontal, red stripe on it. To Button’s surprise, and satisfaction, this new guy was wearing a propeller beanie just like him, except his was colored blue and red. All the while, he had been staring right up at Button with a pair of large, blue eyes.

Button blinked in surprise, “Um, hello?” He took another quick glance at his game to make sure he hadn’t died.

The new kid perked up, “Hi!”

“Hi!” Button replied nonchalantly, keeping his focus on the game, “Look, I’m gonna be playing for a while, so find your own game, okay?”

Button was greeted by silence and the sound of his game. With no response from the white colt, Button figured he had left and continued to play.

That is, until his screen suddenly turned black as the power was cut off. Button gasped in wide eyed horror as he frantically mashed the controls, as if it could make any sort of difference, “What? No! NO!!!”

A giggle from his right caused Button to turn his head, only to see that white colt from before holding in his hoof the bane of gamers everywhere: an unplugged power cord.

The colt giggled again, and Button felt his eye twitch. Button screamed to the heavens, “NO! Why’d you do that?! NOOOO-Ho-ho…” The brown colt flopped down on the dead arcade game, face-first as he quietly sobbed, “No… four hours! Wasted!”


But as the new colt watched Button begin to cry for the loss of his soon-to-be victory, his giggling ceased as his smile vanished, only to be replaced with a look of sorrow. This hadn’t been the reaction he was expecting.

Button silently mourned for his high score that was apparently never to be, but his ears perked up as he heard sniffling from his side. He glanced over towards the white colt, his eyes wide in surprise as he saw the perpetrator of this event actually beginning to sniffle and cry. His head was facing down towards the ground, away from Button, the unplugged power cord dropped to the ground, forgotten.

Button stared for a moment in surprise, muttering silently, as he hadn’t quite grasped the concept of not speaking his thoughts out loud, “Whoa… he looks kind of… guilty.”

He stared warily at the white colt standing there, sniffling at the ground.

Button quickly cleared his throat, “Um, dude? You okay?”

The white colt stopped sniffling for a moment, looking up at Button with wet eyes, before slowly nodding.

An awkward moment of silence passed as neither said anything, the white colt wiping his eyes with a hoof.

“Uh…” Button gave a confused look, “Look, I’m not angry with you, okay? I’m just…” The brown colt shook his head as the emotional capacity of an eight year-old capped out, “I’m Button Mash. Who’re you?”

The white colt paused for a moment, as if he were trying to process the words, “I… I-I’m… Balloon Boy.”

Button Mash raised an eyebrow, “Balloon Boy?” Just when he had thought he’d heard the strangest names in Ponyville already.

Balloon Boy nodded, “Yeah… but my friends call me BB.” He gave a tiny smile at the end of that, which was reassuring to Button.

Button felt a smile come to his face, “Cool. I like your beanie!”

BB grinned, “Hey, yours too!”

Feeling like he had made a good friend at the moment, Button fished out some bits from his bit bag, “Hey, you wanna play a game? I’ve got a few extra bits, so we can do co-op or versus.”

BB perked up, “Really? Sure!” He grinned, “I’ve never played an arcade game before!”

Button blinked in surprise, “Seriously?”

“Yep.”

Button got off his stool, leading BB off to another game that was actually two players, unlike the Tales of Zillia game he had been playing before. “Well, let me show you the ropes to these games!”

“Awesome!”

As the two colts trotted up to another game, a two player RPG, sitting down on their respective seats. Button hoofed over a bit to BB, and both inserted their coins to play.

As the opening sequence began for the game, Legend of The Four Swords: Mask of Death, Button glanced over towards BB and asked, “By the way… er, I’m not angry at you, but why’d you pull the power on my game back there? You didn’t seem happy about doing it.”

BB bit his lip, ashamed, “I… Back home, every night my friends and I played with this guy that came around to watch the place. It was a game where he’d try to keep us out of his room by shining his flashlight at us.” A small smile came to his face, “It was fun. I’d sneak into his room through a vent, and then pull the power on his flashlight. Then after that, either Foxy or Mangle would jump on him, and then pull him out of the room to win the game.”

BB sighed sadly, “I pulled the power on your game because I thought you’d like it. Foxy always liked it when I pulled the man’s flashlight power, so I thought you’d like the same.” His ears drooped, “But when you started to cry-“

“Hey! I didn’t cry!” Button exclaimed in defense, “I was just… er, mourning my lost score! Yeah! That’s it!”

BB just blinked in confusion, making Button sigh and roll his eyes, “Whatever. Let’s get to the game!” He proclaimed with a grin on his face.

BB’s expression brightened, “Righto!”

And so, the two arcade colts began their multi-player journey through Termina Field, on a quest to save the world from the nearing apocalypse of the moon destroying the planet. All was well and normal in the arcade… well, save for the moment where the arcade owner couldn’t help but think Button Mash had somehow gotten a twin brother somewhere and confronted them about it. Apparently, he was afraid they'd to make double the amount of noise Button usually made with his screams of gaming conquest.

Yup, just a normal day… Balloon Boy’s first ‘normal’ day.

____________________________________________________________

“Cutie Mark Crusader Apple Buckers! YAY!!!”

“Golly! Why didn’t we think of this in the first place?” Applebloom wondered as she and the other crusaders trotted through Sweet Apple Acres.

Scootaloo replied, “I think it might have been because of that whole fiasco when we tried to pick those zap-apples too early.” She winced, “Getting flung across the field by a tree wasn’t a highlight of mine.”

“But seriously, why didn’t we think of this?” Sweetie Belle asked, “Applebloom’s family all have their talents in apples, so why not her too? Even if Scootaloo and I don’t have a talent for this, Applebloom might.” But oddly, her face flickered slightly with a bit of guilt.

Even though it was brief, Scootaloo still noticed it, “What’s up, Sweetie Belle? You seem…” She trailed off as the right word failed to come to mind.

Sweetie just shook her head, “It’s nothing. It’s just that before I came over, Button Mash invited me to go to the arcade with him. But we had already planned to do some crusading, so I had to say no.”

“And?”

The white unicorn shrugged, “He said it was fine, and he just went alone.” She grimaced a bit, “I still feel bad about it though.”

“Meh, I wouldn’t.” Scootaloo replied, shaking her head in bewilderment, “Honestly, doesn’t Button play arcade games for six hours straight to beat it?”

“Hey, that was only once!” Sweetie Belle defended.

Applebloom raised an eyebrow at her, “Weren’t you the one who wasted his six hours during your Perfect Stallion song on Hearts n’ Hooves day?”

The three of them glanced upwards as a collective flashback scene appeared:





Sweetie Belle chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof. “Er, it was an accident!” She squeaked.

“And let’s be serious,” Scootaloo added, “This is Button Mash we’re talking about. I bet he’d play a game six hours straight to beat it in a ‘hearthbeat’.”

“It’s ‘heartbeat’.” Sweetie corrected her, pouting slightly, “And-“ The unicorn filly’s speech trailed off as her eyes spotted something.

It had been one of the apple trees on the side of the path, or rather, Sweetie Belle had spotted something behind it, but only just a moment. She thought it had been someone peering at them around it, but they were gone before she could really see who or what it was.

“Um, Sweetie Belle?” Applebloom asked, noticing the odd glance the unicorn was giving towards one of the trees, “Y’alright?”

Sweetie nodded, “I thought I just saw… something.”

Scootaloo quirked an eyebrow, “What?”

Sweetie Belle paused, nodding her head towards one side of the tree, signaling for Scootaloo and Applebloom to go around that side, before quietly walking around the other side.

The three crusaders quietly circled the tree, creeping as lightly as they could with their hooves. Sweetie Belle felt a pang of uneasiness as she rounded the part of the tree she had seen that… pony? She wasn’t sure what she was going to find on the other side.

But as she reached the back of the tree, she found… nothing. Just patches of grass growing beside the tree. Applebloom and Scootaloo rounded about on the other side, looking a tad bit confused.

Sweetie Belle, however, felt a bit more relief than she did disappointment. She had been scared what she saw was a bear or a fox, and then what would she have done then? Run screaming for her life, probably.

The unicorn filly sheepishly rubbed the  back of her head, “Um, I guess I just saw nothing. Sorr-“

Suddenly, she was cut off by the sound of rustling leaves above her, as well as the shrill shriek of a filly falling from the branches, “AAIIIE!”

Unfortunately, Sweetie Belle found herself just beneath where she was falling, “AAA- oof!” “Oof!”

Immediately, Sweetie Belle found herself in a tangle of limbs with the poor filly who landed on her. Applebloom and Scootaloo gasped as they quickly ran to help them off the ground.

Scootaloo winced slightly as she helped pull Sweetie Belle up, “Ow, that looked like it had to hurt.”

Sweetie Belle shook her head to clear the fuzzies in her vision. She quickly glanced up as Applebloom helped the filly who had fallen on her back up to her hooves, finally able to get a good view of her.

She was about their age, standing only about three hooves tall, and just like Applebloom, she was an Earth Pony. Her coat seemed more dusty with its pale tan color, and a brown, matted mane hung down at her shoulders. Her tail was done in the same fashion and length, and there wasn’t a cutie mark adorning her flank.

This new filly silently glanced about the three crusaders with violet eyes, and strangely enough, she wore a blue and purple propeller beanie on her head, despite having just fallen out of a tree.

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow after seeing that. Almost nopony wore a propeller beanie… except for Button Mash, but still.

A few awkward moments rolled by, without this new filly even speaking a word. She just blankly stared at the three of them.

Finally, Applebloom approached her, “Um… howdy!” She tried to give a smile, but an odd feeling mixed visibly with it, “Y’alright there?”

The filly remained silent, paused as she stared at Applebloom. But finally, she nodded.

Sweetie Belle let out a breath of relief, “Well, that’s good.” She still found this new filly odd, but at least neither she or herself got hurt, “What’s your name?” The unicorn asked.

The filly seemed surprised by the question, giving Sweetie Belle an uneasy look. But after a moment, her mouth quivered open, and she spoke with a weak, almost hollow voice, “Ball… Balloon… Girl.”

“Balloon Girl?” Scootaloo asked.

The filly nodded, looking less uneasy.

Sweetie Belle couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at that. This was an odd, silent filly, who happened to have an odd name… how, er, odd.

But Applebloom smiled at the new filly, “Well, howdy, Balloon Girl! Are you new around here?”

Gingerly, Balloon Girl nodded. But she looked… frightened.

Sweetie Belle caught onto the look, “What’s wrong? Are you lost?”

She nodded again.

“Well,” Scootaloo tapped her chin with a hoof, “Why don’t you hang with us? We were gonna go crusading for our cutie marks,” Her eyes glanced towards Balloon Girl’s blank flank, “And since you don’t have yours, you could come along with us. We might even take you somewhere you recognize along the way.”

Balloon Girl tilted her head in confusion, a silent question on her face.

“Oh, Ah’m guessin’ you’re wonderin’ what crusadin’ is, right?” Applebloom asked, to which Balloon Girl nodded again. “Oh, well, we just go around trying new things to see what our special talents are and get our cutie marks!”

Balloon Girl looked a little less confused, but only slightly. However, a small smile did appear on her face, no doubt because crusading for cutie marks sounded fun.

Sweetie Belle asked her, “So, do you want to come with us?”

A bit more excited, Balloon Girl nodded.

The crusaders grinned, and Applebloom spoke, “Cool! Ah’m Appleblom, this is Scootaloo, and that’s Sweetie Belle. We are-!”

The three crusaders shouted with hoof bumbs to the sky, ”THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!”

Balloon Girl was startled by the sudden shout at first, but a silent giggle to herself later, the tan filly joined with a hoof pump of her own.

Seeing it, Scootaloo gave her a wry smile, “You don’t talk much, do you?”

Balloon Girl paused, tapping her chin with a hoof, before shrugging. She simply shook her head.

“Alright, whatever, let’s get goin’!” Applebloom replied, before she started back on the trail through the orchard, with the other crusaders and Balloon Girl following beside her. The yellow filly glanced towards their newest companion, “Hey, Balloon Girl, mind if we call ya BG?”

Balloon Girl smile, shaking her head. With her quiet voice, she replied, “B… G…”

“Great!” Scootaloo grinned as she took off ahead in a gallop, “Last one to the clubhouse is the rotten hay!”

“Hey!” Sweetie Belle shouted, racing after her, “First one’s got to eat it!”

Applebloom glanced back at Balloon Girl as she chased after them, “C’mon, BG!”

With a wide grin, BG galloped after the crusaders. For once in her life, she was having… fun.
> Even the Tiniest Little Mistakes...
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


There was only one face he could remember... his own...







... no... that wasn't his face... that was his curse.





Mark sat on the grass, idly twisting the wrist of his new paws and examining his claws with a look of wonder.

“… we’re alive.” The fully black bear breathed incredulously. For decades before, he knew he had been dead. His spirit had remained in the pizzeria though, his death being caused by a work related accident with a ‘new’ spring-lock suit.

Ever since then, he had only existed as a drifting spirit…

… only a shadow of what he had looked like the moment before he died.

A voice spoke beside the bear, “I know.” Mark glanced down to see a small, black bunny sitting down beside him. He was Mark’s co-worker, Bob.

Bob the bunny frowned as he stared at his own paws, flicking one of his new long ears once in a while to make sure they were actually his, “This is… strange. But how’d we end up like this?”

Mark held the same question, but had no answer with it. But another thought came to mind, “What about the kids?”

Bob blinked for a moment, his bunny whiskers twitching slightly, “I… don’t know.”

Mark glanced about at their surroundings, only finding empty fields of rolling hills, a few trees, and a small pond only a few yards away. “I could say the same about this place. I don’t recognize any place like this.”

“Me neither.” Bob replied.

A small pause rolled through the air as Mark scratched his head with his paw, “Sooo… you think we’re being repaid for a terrible afterlife as spirits in a pizzeria with a bunch of vengeful kids by being turned into the same stupid animals we both died dressed up as and have now been sent to live in the wild like real animals?”

Bob could only stare blankly at the black bear, “You do realize how strange that sounded, right?” Mark shrugged, nodding a bit, before Bob shook his head, “That seems really improbable.”

“What’s improbable?”

Both of the black-furred animals blinked in surprise as they realized that response hadn’t come from either of them, but rather from behind them. They turned around, only to find…

Bob gave a strange look of disbelief, “A… unicorn?”

Before them stood a mint green unicorn, who only stood at half Mark’s height. She had a short, white-teal mane and tail, and wore a completely oblivious smile as she glanced between the two animals.

She gave a small wave with her foreleg, “Hi, I’m Lyra!”

Mark blinked for a second more, before glancing back down at Bob, “So I’m not the only one tripping balls right now, right?”

Bob nodded slowly, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s a unicorn standing there.”

Lyra raised an eyebrow, obviously intrigued, “Yup, I’m a unicorn, but I didn’t think a bear and a bunny would know that. You both must be really smart if you can talk, too, but whatever, I’ve seen stranger.”

Mark stared blankly, “Er… right…”

Bob shared a similar expression, both noting that talking animals seemed to be uncommon to a talking horse and wondering if this… Lyra, was a few nails short of a horseshoe.

Lyra ignored both of their looks, “Anyways, what’s improbable?”

Mark was the first to regain his composure and speak, “Oh, um… nothing.” He gave a small wave with a paw, trying to smile, “I’m Mark, and this is my friend, Bob.”

Smiling wryly, Bob raised a paw to wave, “Hey.”

Lyra simply waved back, “Nice to meet ya guys.”

“Say, Lyra?” Bob asked, his bunny nose twitching slightly, “Can you tell us where we are?”

Lyra nodded, smiling a bit more. This certainly wasn't something she found every day, but the ridiculousness of two talking animals definitely beat the normal chaos that ran through Ponyville. It was actually relaxing, she found, as she told Mark and Bob where in Equestria they were, pointing them in the direction of town. They were cool about thanking her for the directions, but... Lyra noticed a few odd looks pass between the two animals while they talked to her.

Lyra shrugged it off. It wasn't her business. She was just glad to help. "Well, I've got to go," She replied to the duo, "If you ever come into town, try to look me up. I have a friend that'd love to meet you."

Bob blinked back to his senses, "Oh, okay. Catch you later."

"See ya." Mark and Bob waved as their unicorn acquaintance turned around and headed in the direction of Ponyville.

After she was gone, the two of them turned towards each other, panicked looks on their faces.

"Bob?" Mark pleaded, "Please tell me you know of any town in the world called Ponyville."

Bob shared his same look, "Uh uh, nope. There's now way a there's a unicorn who lives in a town full of sentient ponies... at least, not on Earth."

The next inevitable thought passed through their minds, and both bear and bunny fell backwards onto their backs in exasperation.

"F***!"


__________________________________________


Princess Twilight Sparkle hummed a happy little tune as she trotted down the halls of the Ponyville Castle (The castle being called this, as the phrase “Crystal Castle” or anything of the sort became often confused with the Crystal Palace located in the Crystal Empire). At the moment, 11:00 AM was starting to roll by, and with nothing to do, the purple alicorn decided it would be a good time to do a bit of light reading before lunch, and so she turned her course towards the castle’s library.
Of course, a pink party pony and a disregard of physics had been sent to put an end to such plans. Instantly, Pinkie Pie dropped down from the ceiling, landing upright and smack dab in front of Twilight, no more than two inches from her face.

”Twilight!”

“Waagh!” The purple alicorn stumbled back in surprise, “Pinkie! Where’d you-“

“-Come from? The ceiling,” Pinkie Pie replied, finishing and answering Twilight’s question, “No time for chit-chat!” Instantly, Twilight found herself lifted up into the air with a yelp as Pinkie picked her up and held her above her poofy mane, before proceeding to run towards the castle’s front doors bipedal style, “We’ve gotta go!”

Twilight, fidgeting in place as riding on top of Pinkie’s hooves proved to be a very bumpy ride, yelled at her pink friend in a worried way, “What?! Pinkie! Where are we going?!”

“To Fluttershy’s house!” Came Pinkie’s reply, as the duo approached the castle’s front doors, “She found some talking animals, but something seems ‘off’ about them, likethescarykindof’off’,andthenIrealizedyou’dknowwhattodo,soIcameandpickedyouupand-“

“What?” Twilight interrupted her with a curious look on her face, “Talking animals? How…” Shaking her head, she decided not to think too much about it, opting to just see it for herself.

Although, since she was literally being carried across Ponyville by Pinkie Pie, Twilight realized she didn’t know exactly when she’d be back to have lunch with Spike. I better let him know. She mused, conjuring a quill and parchment and quickly jotting down a note for the little dragon. With a flash of her magic, the note was sent, and thus continued Twilight’s trip through Ponyville on the Pinkie Express.


_________________________________________


Meanwhile, Spike worked at the kitchen counter inside the castle, standing on top of a stool in order to prepare lunch with decent ease. Today’s meal was going to be strawberry-saturated oats sandwiches, a new recipe for the young drake.

But while in the middle of preparing, he felt a familiar wrench in his gut.

Spike’s eyes widened and he quickly turned away from the food, just in time before, “B’raap!” Green dragon fire spewed out from his mouth, before the smoke from it formed a piece of parchment.

Curiously, Spike picked up the note, “Hm, let’s see here: “Dear Spike, Pinkie is dragging me through Ponyville right now, so I don’t know when I’ll be back. Feel free to eat lunch without me if I don’t get back in time. Love, Twilight.”

Shrugging, Spike set the note on the kitchen counter, so he’d remember to dispose of the used parchment later. He turned back to his cooking, though quietly mumbling, “Huh, wonder what Twilight’s doing with Pinkie. Seeing some new party supplies, maybe?”

Focusing back to his cooking, Spike stirred some oats in some crushed strawberries, humming the theme of his favorite action heroes, the Power Ponies. But suddenly, as he did, he felt… a cold tingle down his spine, as if someone had prodded him in the back with an icicle. Dropping his wooden spoon by accident, the drake quickly glanced around the kitchen.

But to his uneasiness, he saw the kitchen was empty of anyone except himself. “That was… weird.” He muttered, “That felt like someone was… watching me.”

But seeing as there was nobody in the room, hay, in the whole castle, besides him, Spike simply shrugged off the feeling. “It’s probably just a draft of wind somewhere,” He justified, before turning back to finishing preparations for lunch.

However, what he had failed to notice was the white head watching him from outside the kitchen doorway. It had hid behind the wall when the dragon had stopped to look around. But now that the little drake had his back turned, the figure peeked inside the kitchen again, watching with a pair of black eyes, white irises honing in on the dragon.

”…purple…”

Could this be Him? The figure wondered. He couldn’t be sure… but then again… his body had been changed as well… He could have undergone the same change.

The burning hatred, the result of years anger and bitterness gone unanswered, burned in his chest like fire. He couldn’t miss this chance. Slowly, he wrapped a claw around the corner, moving himself into the room.

Spike only heard the shuffle of claws against the crystal floor, before the black figure overcame him, screaming like a horror from a nightmare.

“AAAAAAAAAAGHWHHH!”


_____________________________


S
A
V
E
T
H
E
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> ... Can Leave Behind The Messiest Stains
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	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?
> Mechanical Instinct
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The sight before her nearly broke Twilight's heart.

There laid Spike, her beloved assistant, wrapped heavily with blood stained bandages, an oxygen mask lending him shallow breaths to barely keep him living. A heart monitor pulsed in the background with the sound of a weak heart beat, but the sound was just as distant to Twilight as she now felt to Spike... She should have been there to protect him... but she hadn't been.

Steeling her emotions, she clenched her eyes shut as tears threatened to drip out of them. A quiet whisper trailed from her mouth, "W-what... happened?"

She glanced back towards everyone else who stood in the hospital room with her, the same question ruling her expression of fear and worry. Around the bed stood Applejack, Fluttershy, and Lyra. Bonnie, Bonbon, Chica, Chique, and (surprisingly) the two talking animals Lyra came across, all had to remain outside simply because animals weren't allowed in pony hospitals.

Applejack's ears flattened against her head as she held her stetson hat by her chest, "Well, Ah'm not too sure what happened. Ah was just passin' by, and I figured I'd stop by the castle ta visit."

Her eyes took on a hollow look as she remembered what she had seen, "Nobody was there... but when Ah went to the kitchen, Ah found Spike bloodied up like this. Ah honestly thought he was dead!... There was something standin' over him, like death itself. It was a monster if Ah've ever seen one. Mah heart nearly stopped when I realized it had Spike's blood on its claws."

Twilight raised a hoof over her mouth, startled, "... Applejack, could you describe what it looked like."

Applejack proceeded to describe the monstrous figure she had seen, with its sickly black figure, horns like a bull's, wings like a dragon's, and a face... she didn't even know how to describe it.

"It was like some kind of a mask," The farm pony recounted, eyes unfocused and wavering as she drifted down the memory, "It was white, but it had purple streaks coming out of it. Ah don't know if it was tears... it looked a lot like blood stains."

Twilight's eyes threatened to widen past their capacity as they bulged in realization. She gasped, "But that's-! That's not possible! The only thing that could possibly match your description would be..." Her voice trailed off, but the end of it the others heard quivered with fear.

"A dragon?" Lyra guessed, "That's what I could make out of what AJ said."

Twilight shook her head briefly, glancing down at Spike's prone form on the bed. She only now realized how lucky he was to have survived. "It was... a demon."

Fluttershy and Lyra gasped in shock, but Applejack only stared at Twilight in horror, "A demon? Ya mean those creatures that were sealed in Tartarus fer eternity?"

Fluttershy stammered out, "B-but... if th-they were sealed, then what's one d-doing in Ponyville?"

Twilight nodded, "That's why I said it was impossible. Their seal in Tartarus is too powerful. None of the princesses could ever break the seal, even if we were to attempt it together. Not even Tirek, when he took away all the magic in Equestria last time he escaped, could have broken it."

Lyra blinked in astonishment, "But I thought the demons of Tartarus was just an old pony's tale."

Twilight shook her head, "No, they were sealed thousands of years ago so they wouldn't taint Equestria with darkness. They are just as real as all of us."

"What if tha seal is broken, Twi?" AJ asked, "'Cause I done seen that demon over Spike as clear as day."

Twilight frowned in thought, "Then I'll check the seal myself. If I find that the seal is broken, then we must inform Princess Celestia immediately." The purple alicorn paused, "But if it isn't... that means this demon came from... somewhere else."

Twilight glanced out the window, only to find the sun was beginning to set, "I don't like the idea of going to Tartarus at night, but the sooner I check, the better." She glanced towards the other three ponies in the room with her, "For now, girls, I need you to spread the word through town, but we can't have everypony panicking. Just tell them if they see any black... dragons, in town, come find me."

Applejack nodded, "Good idea, Twi. If we tell any pony there might be a demon loose in town, I reckon everypony will be runnin' like cows in a thunderstorm."

Lyra smiled, "Don't worry about a thing, Princess. We've got this in the bag."

Twilight smiled back, "Thanks girls, I knew I could count on you." However, her smile vanished as she turned back towards Spike on the bed. Gingerly, she gave a him a quick nuzzle, whispering, "Please, get better soon."

She pulled away from the dragon, giving the others one last nod, before lighting her horn and vanishing from the room.


_________________________________________


Bonnie held a grim look on his face as Twilight's voice disappeared from behind the window. All of them, Bonbon, Chique, Chica, Bob, and Mark, had all been clustered around the window of the room Twilight and the others had gathered in. Up close to it, they had been able to hear more or less what had been said inside. That fact was all the more true for Bonnie, Bonbon, and Bob, whose bunny ears had been more acute than the others'.

"So, Marionette has become a demon." Bob announced with grim certainty.

Mark grimaced as well, "That certainly doesn't fit him as we know him."

"As if you could possibly know him that well," Chica replied with a curt humph.

"What was that?" Mark asked, confused.

The little chicken narrowed her eyes at both Mark and Bob, while they all spread out from the window, since there was no conversation to listen to anymore, "You heard me.  You don't know him, so don't even try to say you do."

Bob and Mark glanced towards the other former animatronics, only to find the others were glaring them down with similar looks.

"What are you talking about, Chica?" Bob inquired.

Chique replied for her doppelganger, "You know quite well what she's talking about." She pointed a wing towards the bear and bunny accusingly, "You two are nothing but shadows who are quite fine sitting about on your own. All this time, you've turned down any time to help us catch... Him. You don't care one way or another if He's running amok or not. You don't care if he does the same thing to the children as..." Pain spiked in her head as the memory tried to surface, but she forced it back down.

Mark narrowed his eyes down at the four animals before him, "Of course we care. We want to stop him as much as you do... but what Marionette is having you do is wrong." A small growl formed in his throat, "That boy says 'save them', but that hasn't stopped any of you from killing other innocents."

"At least we're doing something!" Bonnie retorted, "What are you two doing? Oh, that's right, nothing but lying on your shadowy butts like a bunch of security guards!"

Bob sighed in exasperation, and Mark felt very much the same way. They knew that even if they talked them to death, they wouldn't listen... but that was to be expected... After all, they were still children.

They were only poor souls who needed guidance... but not the kind that Marionette gave them.




    s
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That only led them down a path of cruel destruction, slaughtering those that got in their way towards their one true target. But yet, the memory that held as the very root of their anger was something too painful for them to relive. Half the time, Mark wondered if they even truly remembered what had happened to them, or even who they had been before in life.

They were just children, even if they didn't look or sound like it... They needed guidance, a nudge onto the right path.

Mark and Bob both knew full well the man in purple they were after. They had worked with him, after all. They knew his name, his face, the small points of his life, like family... which was more than the children knew.

But after seeing the years of the man in purple committing these atrocities, Mark and Bob had both come to hate him as much as these kids did. But yet, they never gave up their knowledge to the animatronics, or rather, the spirits inside them. Knowledge was a dangerous thing, and giving it to them would inevitably help them fulfill Marionette's wishes.

It was true both the former shadows of the pizzeria had denied helping Marionette and the children take their revenge, but that didn't mean they had given up... not on them, at least.

And now... now that they were more than just shadows on the walls, that hope to help these children was alive more than ever. Now they had a chance to make things right and help these children move on from their anger.