//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: The Fifth Night (Part 3: The Shift from Tartarus) // Story: Pinkie's Fun Palace: a MLP x FNAF Story // by EnvironmentalText850 //------------------------------// September 5th, 11:56 PM, 20XX When Grape arrived at his office, he wasted no time in getting the flashlight, and turning on the monitor. He wondered what Pinkie's message could be this time, as pretty much all the Animatronics were accounted for, so there wasn't really any new information to learn, right? "You have: 1 new message *Beeeeep*" "Hi Grape... It's me, Pinkie Pie. *Sigh*, listen, I want to talk to you after your shift. You're not fired, don't worry! It's just... I need somepony to talk to about... some things... You probably have already realized, right? The truth about the Animatronics?" This confused Grape. Did she already know the Animatronics were possessed? Why didn't she tell him earlier? He had so many questions he'd ask Pinkie. It was hard for him to keep count of them all. "It's time i finally told someone what truly happened that day. I'll see you after your shift." *Beeeeeeeeeeeep* When the call ended, Grape's curiosity became bigger than ever before. But he didn't have time to think about that, 12 AM had finally struck. Checking the camera facing the stage, he was shocked to see that the Animatronics left almost immediatly, but not one by one, as with the previous night, but all at once. Grape could tell they were getting desperate. Then they split, each going a different direction. Applejack was in the Arcade, Fluttershy was in the Kitchen, Twilight was in a different part of the Main Party Room, while Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be found. Quickly shining the flashlight in the office doorway, Grape saw as Rainbow Dash was standing right there, ready to attack. "Gaaaah!", she screamed, running away from the light. Checking the cameras again, he switched to the Maintenance Room, where Rarity was. The music hadn't stopped playing yet, which was good. After switching to the camera Twilight was in, Grape found she was no longer there. Checking the camera of the Hallway, Twilight was now approaching. He quickly hid in the Left Locker again, and peeked through the openings to see if Twilight had left. Once she had left, he exited the closet, and switched back to the Maintenance Room. The music had stopped playing, so Grape quickly pressed play on the second remote to turn it back on. Switching back to the Hallway, he saw as Applejack was now getting closer to the office. He quickly used the audio to lure her back to the Main Party Room, before using it once more to lure her to the Arcade. Checking on Fluttershy, he saw that she had left the Kitchen, and had now entered the Main Party Room, so Grape lured her back to the Kitchen. Flashing the doorway again, he saw Dash, who quickly ran away to protect her eyes from the light, and then he switched to the Maintenance Room again, finding out that the music had stopped playing again. After pressing the button on the second remote to play the music again, he saw Twilight approaching the office again. He wasted no time in hiding in the Locker, waiting until she left so he could check the cameras again. When she did that, he quickly exited the closet, before shining his light at the doorway, which, once again, caused Dash to run away. Grape was starting to feel overwhelmed. Their assault was relentless, and showed no signs of stopping. But he had to persevere. He already did this four times, giving up was not an option at this point. He checked through the cameras over and over again, fending them off at any opportunity he could, be it through the audio, the flashlight or by hiding in the locker. He knew that if they got him, he was good as dead, so he had to be careful. Then, 3 AM came. After being flashed for the fifth time, Dash approached Twilight."Ugh...! What do we do... Twilight...? He's not... giving up...!", she said, frustrated. "Then... we'll have to go... with Plan B...", she said. As Grape checked through the cameras, he noticed the music in the Maintenance Room had stopped playing again. He quickly pressed the play button on the second remote, expecting the music to start playing again... But nothing happened. "Wait...", he said, confused. "Why isn't the music playing?". He pressed the button again. Nothing. He pressed it again. Again, nothing happened. This was getting weird, so Grape grabbed the remote and opened up the battery compartiment. The batteries in the remote had inexplicably burst, causing them to leak. "What the...?", Grape said, as realization slowly downed on him. They must have caused the batteries on the remote to burst, like how they did previously with the Spirit Box. He didn't even hear them pop, which was even weirder. Then out of nowhere... "POP!" Grape jumped, clearly spooked, a noise had come from the TV monitor's remote. Grape quickly opened it, revealing that the batteries had also burst with seemingly no explanation. Notably, this time there was a audible noise, unlike the first time. "No... No, you have to be kidding me!", Grape said, panicking. His two main forms of defense were gone, and he didn't know what to do... Then, he remembered something. Pinkie had said the Music Player in the Maintenance Room could be turned on remotely AND manually. This could only mean one thing, he would have to go there by himself and manually press play on the device. It was extremely risky, and the chance of getting caught was high. But it needed to be done. He grabbed the flashlight, and took a deep breath. He then peeked from the doorway, and shined his flashlight. No one was there, it was his chance. He slowly made his way through the Hallway, trying to be quiet. When he arrived at the Main Party Room, there was no one in there either. Grape felt relieved, but only for a moment. After all, he didn't know where they were, and they could be anywhere. As he approached the Maintenance Room, he stopped right before the entrance to the Kitchen Hallway. Something wasn't right. He slowly started to walk back, but then he remembered. He had made it all the way here, giving up now wouldn't achieve anything. So, he took another step back, then sprinted towards the Maintenance Room. As he did, he heard someone shout. "HEY...!" It was Applejack and the others. As he suspected, they were in the hallway that led to the Kitchen, waiting to ambush him. "I'll get him...!", Rainbow Dash said, taking off running after him first. Grape realized this, and quickly turned his head and shined the flashlight in her face, stunning her and causing her to fall behind. "Agh!", she said, stopping to cover her eyes with her hooves. As he got closer to the door, he could hear them gaining on him, and they were getting closer. He quickly opened the door, entered the room, and slammed it shut. Luckily, the key to the door hadn't been removed, so he locked it, and just in time. As soon as he finished turning the key, they started banging on the door as hard as they could. For a moment, Grape thought that they were going to kick the door out of it's hinges, but then, the banging suddenly stopped. He didn't know why it stopped, but it did, and he was glad. He approached the Music Player, and pressed the "Play" button. As soon as he did, the music started playing again. Grape sighed in relief, but that's when he realized something. He didn't hear Rarity crying when he entered the room. Quickly, he pulled back the curtains to the corner she was supposed to be in. There was nothing in there. And then, he remembered something about the room. It had two doors, one that led to the Main Party Room, and one that led to the Stage. He had entered through the one from the Party Room, and that door was now locked. Suddenly, he realized what just happened. They had tricked him into trapping himself. "Oh... OH SHOO-" Before he could finish, the door to the Stage swung open, and the music stopped playing. Grape turned around to see the Animatronics entering the room, all with pitch black eye sockets. He had nowhere to run, and nowhere to hide. Suddenly the Music Player started up again, but the song was different. It sounded like... a Music Box. As the music played, the eyes of the Animatronics started to flicker in tune to the song. Grape was speechless, he was sweating, and he was shaking like he was in a blizzard. Suddenly, as soon as the music stopped, his flashlight turned off by itself. "No, no, no, no, NO!", he thought, as he repeatedly pressed the ON/OFF button on the bottom of the flashlight. "Come on turn on! Why won't you work you-", before he could finish, the light turned on again, and to his horror, Twilight was standing right in front of him. Then her eyes lit up, and she opened her mouth... "Got you..." "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!", Grape screamed, before Twilight punched him right in the face, knocking him out. 04:25 AM When Grape woke up, he was slightly dazed. Immediatly, he tried to touch the area that hurt the most, his cheek. But when he tried to move, he couldn't. Snapping out of his daze, he saw as his hooves had been tied with loose wires. He tried to wriggle himself free, but it was no use. Then, he heard five familiar, static-filled voices. "He's awake...", Twilight said. "Finally...! I was gettin' impatient...", Applejack said, sounding a bit irritated. "Oh thank goodness...", Fluttershy said, surprisingly relieved. "Now we can finally know... why he did this to us..." "Oooooh... Darling...", Rarity said, anger clearly noticeable in her voice. "I have a few... choice words... to say to you..." "What did you do to her...?! What did you do... to Pinkie?! Answer me... N O W !", Rainbow Dash said, putting her face right against Grape's. She wasn't just angry, she was furious. "Calm down... Dash... Let him talk first... Then we'll decide what to do...", Twilight said, trying to calm Rainbow Dash. At this statement, Dash backed off, giving Grape some personal space. "Uh...". Grape didn't know what to say, he was tied down, in front of five crazy, haunted robots that believed him to be their killer. He had no clue how to get out of this situation. "F-first off...", he said, his voice shaky. "W-why are you doing this to me? I'm not the killer! I swear!" "Liar...!", Rainbow Dash said, clearly angry. "I remember you slashing my eyes... as well as i can remember my own name...!" "N-no i swear! I didn't do it!", Grape pleaded. "I never killed anyone! In fact, why do you all think i'm the killer anyway? What exactly about me gives you that idea?" "Your... eyes...", Fluttershy responded. "...W-what?", he asked, confused by that response. "Ya have the same eyes as our killer...", Applejack said. "That same shade of... purple..." "Wh-what?!", Grape said. He couldn't believe what he just heard. "You do realize there's other purple-eyed ponies out there, right?!" "Well yes, Darling...", Rarity responded. "But for what reason a purple-eyed pony would want to work here... other than to admire their twisted handiwork...?" Grape was speechless. Were they seriously so blinded by their rage that they'd completely dismiss anything he said as lies? He didn't know how to feel. Angry? Scared? Confused? A mixture of all three? "Do you even realize what you are saying?!", he asked, angrily. "I'm telling you! I'm not the killer! I never killed any-" "ENOUGH...!", Twilight said, interrupting Grape. He became visibly scared at her voice. "Do you know... how torturous it is... to be in our situation...?, Twilight asked. "Do you know how it feels... to not be able to breathe...? To not be able... to feel your own body...? To be in constant agony...? NO...! NO... YOU DON'T...! You took our lives... and in return... gave us a fate worse than death...! And then... you even have the gall... to try to lie your way out of this...? You sicken me... no... you sicken... A L L... O F... U S ..." "B-but-" "SILENCE...!", Twilight said, not even letting Grape speak as she used magic to keep his mouth shut. "Now... we will decide... what to do... with you..." A few seconds earlier... Pinkie Pie entered the building a lot earlier than usual. She decided that she couldn't wait any longer, and so she decided to arrive early. She didn't know what would happen when she got there. She knew her friends were inside the Animatronics, but she didn't know if they'd recognize her. And if they did, how would they react to her? Would they be angry at what she did? Happy to see her? Her insecurities started to gnaw at the back of her head again, but she ignored them. She had to tell the truth to somepony, and she would do it, regardless of the outcome. When she entered the Main Party Room, she noticed how everything seemed... quiet. Too quiet. Then she heard a voice coming from the Maintenance Room. "ENOUGH...!" That sounded like Twilight. Pinkie slowly made her way to the Maintenance room, when she heard another shout from Twilight. "SILENCE...!" She sounded angry. Very angry. Pinkie pressed her ear against the door. Hoping to hear what was going on. Inside the room... As Grape was tied down, the five Animatronic Mares discussed what to do with him. "Maybe... we should buck him so hard... his neck breaks...", Applejack said. "Or what if... we tear him apart... limb from limb...", Rarity suggested. "Or maybe... we can use some of the loose wires... to strangle him...", Rainbow Dash said. "Ummm... can we please try something a little less... brutal...?", Fluttershy asked. "What...?", Rarity asked, confused. "It's just... maybe we shouldn't make him suffer too much...", she replied. "Fluttershy... he killed you...!", Rainbow Dash said. "How could you even say such a thing...?" "Well yes...", she replied, somewhat sheepishly. "But i thought... maybe there could be a less brutal way... to kill him..." "Well Fluttershy... there's not a lot of options...", Appleack said. "I have an idea...", Twilight said, as she turned towards a shelf filled with spare endoskeleton heads. "And that is...?", Rarity asked. "He shall suffer the same fate... AS US...!", Twilight responded, levitating one of the spare heads with her magic. Grape tried to say "What?!" in confusion, but because his mouth was held shut, it came out as a "Hmmmph?!". He could only watch as Twilight approached with the spare head. "Don't worry...", Twilight said. ""This won't hurt a bit... I promise..." Outside... "Oh no! They're going to kill him!", Pinkie thought. "I have to stop them!" Pinkie tried to open the door, but it was locked. "Dang it!", she thought. "Come on Pinkie, think!". But then, she remembered something. She was an Earth Pony, a race which is known for their physical strength, and while Pinkie wasn't the strongest Earth Pony, she was still pretty strong. Then she had an idea, she turned around, and then... *BANG!* Inside the room, Twilight was about to force the spare head upon Grape like a twisted helmet, when a noise was heard, coming from outside. She and the others stopped what they were doing. "What... was that...?", Rainbow Dash asked, confused. *BANG!* "That sounded like...", before Applejack could finish, another *BANG!* was heard. "...The door...", Fluttershy finished the sentence. *BANG!* "Then... who is it...?", Rarity asked. "Somepony... go check who it is...", Twilight said. But before they could see who it was, the door swung open. And then, a familiar voice shouted. "STOOOOP!" It was Pinkie Pie, who had bucked that door with such strength that she busted the lock. The other mares were shocked, they thought Pinkie had been killed too. "Pinkie...?! You're... still alive...?!", Twilight asked, as she dropped the spare endo head on the ground. "Yes! It's me, Pinkie! Now please, let him go! He's not the one who killed you!", Pinkie said. "Wait... Did he lie to you too... saying he wasn't... the killer...?", Dash asked. "What?! No! He didn't lie to me!" "Then how do you know... he's not the killer...?", Applejack asked "BECAUSE I KNOW WHO DID IT, AND IT'S NOT HIM!" At this, everyone in the room looked at Pinkie, dumbfounded by her words. Grape in particular was the most surprised by this. He couldn't believe what he just heard. "So does this mean... we've been tormenting... the wrong pony... the whole time...?", asked Rarity, slowly realizing what this meant. "You were... tormenting him?!", Pinkie said, horrified at the thought. The room fell silent. The five mares came to a realization. They had tormented an innocent pony, and tried to kill him for five nights, thinking he was a murderer. "Oh... Oh Celestia... what are we doing...?!", Twilight said, guilt overcoming her. "So... i guess he wasn't lying... after all...", Rainbow Dash said, looking back at Grape. "Oh... we've been awful to him...", Fluttershy said meekly. "How could we've been so blind...? Oh... we're so sorry... dear... here... let me untie you...", Rarity said, as she started to unravel Grape's restraints. "I'll help too...", Applejack said. "It's the least i can do... to help ya..." "Oh... And before i forget..., Twilight said, as she released Grape's mouth, allowing him to speak again. "I hope this can count as an apology..." "I'll... uhhh... think about it.", he said, a bit of uneasiness still in his voice. As all the restraints were taken off, Grape approached Pinkie Pie. "So you knew about this all along? And didn't tell anyone about this?", he asked, not sure what answer he'd recieve. "Yes.", Pinkie said. "I knew about this, and I'll tell you why i didn't tell anyone about what happened here." "What do you mean?", he asked, confused as to what she meant. "I'd rather explain this to you somewhere else...", she said. "But my friends deserve to know the truth as well. *Sigh*... Here goes nothing..." Pinkie took a deep breath. Then she said it. "You see... it was me." "WHAT?!", everyone said in unison. "Yes... It was me... But i didn't want to.", she said. "He made me do it..." ""He"?", Grape said, confused. "Who's "he"?" "I-I don't know his name, but he took control of me... He forced me to kill you girls, and said that if i told anyone...", Pinkie paused for a moment, before continuing. "...He'd kill me..." "...Pinkie... is that... true...?", Applejack asked. "Yes, AJ. Yes it's true.", she responded, nodding her head, as tears started to form on the corners of her eyes. "He tricked me into bringing you to the Storage Room so he could take over my body and kill you girls... Then he forced me to burn and hide your remains..." Everyone was shocked. No one could believe what they had heard. Even if it wasn't of her own free will, the thought that Pinkie, one of the friendliest ponies in all of Ponyville, would kill somepony, was downright preposterous. "I'm so sorry...", Pinkie started to cry and then collapsed on the floor, she couldn't fight back the tears anymore. "Please... please forgive me... I tried to fight him... I tried to save you, Dash... But he was too strong..." "Pinkie...", Rainbow Dash didn't know how to feel. Her bestest friend had tried to save her from that horrible monster, but at the same time, it was her hoof that ended her life. She knew it wasn't Pinkie's fault, but she still didn't know what to say. Then, out of nowhere, the air turned cold. Very cold. Despite this coldness, Pinkie started to sweat. She knew what this meant. The five mares watched in horror as a purple fog started to materialize behind Pinkie. Grape couldn't see it, but he could feel the effects of it's presence. Pinkie turned around to face that fog, and from it, came a voice. A voice she had grown quite acquainted to. "You... YOU FOOL...!" Suddenly, a figure started to materialize from the fog. It was a tall figure, standing upright, with claw like fingers on it's hands, and completely featureless feet. It's eyes were white with black veins, and the colors of it's irises was black, with white pupils. It had a strange, purple, badge-like symbol on the left side of it's chest, and a wide, toothless mouth, which glowed purple. "YOU DARE DISOBEY ME?! EVEN AFTER I TOLD YOU WHAT I'D DO TO YOU IF YOU DID?! "YES! I DO DARE!", Pinkie said, her sorrow turning into a rage. "YOU MADE ME KILL MY FRIENDS, AND MADE ME BURN THEIR BODIES! YOU'VE DONE NOTHING BUT RUIN MY LIFE, AND I'M TIRED OF YOU! YOU'RE A MONSTER! YOU'RE AN UGLY, HORRIBLE, MONSTER!" "Why you... YOU BRAT!" "That's all we are to you? Brats? We've done nothing to you! Yet you killed my friends, and ruined my life! I'm done with doing what you say! You dirty, little, sack of-GAH!" Before Pinkie could finish, the murderer caught her by the throat, and lifted her up into the air. His eyes started glowing purple, confirming once and for all, he was the killer. "I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS TO LITTLE BRATS LIKE YOU WHEN THEY DISOBEY ME!" He raised his left hand, and out of thin air, a knife materialized. It was the same knife he had used to kill the five mares, though it was now clean, and one could mistake it for any other knife. "Shame i'm using my left hand instead of my right hand... but that doesn't matter now! PREPARE TO DIE, BRAT!" He quickly tried to stab Pinkie, only for his hand to not move at all. "Agh! What the hell?!". He looked to see Twilight and Rarity using their magic to hold his hand in place. "NOW...! GET HIM...!", Twilight yelled. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and even Grape, who could only see Pinkie and the knife floating, all rushed towards him in an attempt to stop him. But then... "*SCREEEEAAAAACH!*" He emmitted a horrible shriek, stopping the charging ponies in their tracks, and breaking Twilight and Rarity's concentration, causing them to release his hand. "Now... Where was I? Ah yes!" Before anyone could react, he stabbed Pinkie Pie right in the chest. "GAH!", she uttered, as blood flew out of her mouth. "Oh, don't worry... I'M NOT DONE YET!" He then dragged the knife down Pinkie's stomach, gutting her. And then, he dropped her and the knife to the ground, before disappearing. "NO!", Grape yelled, as he regained his senses. He quickly rushed to Pinkie's aid, trying to help her, but it was too late. Pinkie was dead. "Oh... Oh Celestia... I-I need to call for help!", Grape said, as he rushed to the Main Party Room, hoping to access the telephones. The five mares approached their now dead friend's body, horrified at what happened to her. "Oh no...", Twilight said. "P-Pinkie...?!", Fluttershy said. "No... NO...! THIS CAN'T BE...!" "Pinkie... No...!, Rarity said. "DAMMIT!", Rainbow Dash yelled, stomping her hoof on the ground. "If it wasn't for that bastard's shriek... I COULD HAVE SAVED HER...!" Then, it happened. Pinkie's body started to change. Her once light pink coat, turning into a sickly purple, her puffy mane "deflating", and turning a shade of violet, then her guts suddenly went back inside her, and the gaping slash wound in her torso closed. Then, her eyes opened, and rolled back into her sockets, as they became pitch black. Then, her body stood up, as "she" started standing on her hind legs. Then her eyes rolled back into place, revealing two, glowing white pupils. And then, "she" smiled, with an unnatural, wide, toothless grin, that nopony, not even Pinkie herself, could pull off. Her Cutie Mark had also changed. Instead of Three Balloons, two blue, one yellow, it was now a purple circle, with two white dots, and a small, black, semicircle. It looked like some sort of face. "Pinkie...?", Twilight asked. Then, he spoke... "I'm... back..."