//------------------------------// // 5) Hunting // Story: Springtrapped: An MLP/FNAF Crossover // by Lord Shadow Eclipse //------------------------------// Canterlot City - Nighttime Chief Nightstick was heading home from his retirement party a little early compared to his other officers. Now that he was stepping down as police chief in the Canterlot Police Department, he could spend more time with his family, especially his grandchildren. As he was heading down the street towards his home, he saw something that caught his eye. Within a display case was a newspaper with a headline he never expected to see. The headline made his eyes widen with astonishment. - "BREAKING NEWS: KID KILLER CASE REOPENED BASED ON NEW EVIDENCE" Recent events have caused the Princesses and the Elements to reopen the sordid Kid Killer case from 30 years ago. The parties involved have done some individual investigation and have discovered the previous individual thought to be the infamous serial killer was in fact innocent. It is because of these discoveries that the authorities are being invited to reopen the case in hopes of apprehending the actual killer. "They're reopening the Kid Killer case?! And the guy we thought was the madman was actually innocent?!" Nightstick asked aloud. There was nobody around to hear him, thankfully. Nightstick's mind was abuzz with memories of his part in the investigation. He had to talk to too many grieving families to want to have anything to do to with that case again. The aged police chief's mind found itself going back to the night they confronted the one they thought was the Kid Killer. Nightstick could still the shrill screams of pain and the mechanical snapping and clanking sounds after they attacked the costumed being. He could see the blood oozing from the gaps in the suit and the body lying against the wall of that old hospital. And now, it was discovered that he was innocent?! Nightstick looked down to his shaking hoof with a flood of dark feelings washing over him. "I... I helped to kill an innocent being! I'm a murderer!" Nightstick whispered to himself. What should he do now? What would his wife say when she found out about this? Nightstick remembered bragging to her how he helped bring the Kid Killer down. She'd more than likely accuse him of murder if this news article was true. Running a hoof through his gray mane, he came up with a solution. "I'll just go and explain the situation to her. If I just rip off the band-aid now, it'll be easier to deal with later on down the road," Nightstick said. Nightstick now headed down the street with worry on his mind. A dense fog rolled in on the nighttime streets, giving off a very creepy atmosphere. The dim lights coming through the fog only added to the creep factor of his surroundings. He rounded a corner of the street when he saw something through the fog. Just a good thirty feet ahead of him was a pair of bright purple eyes belonging to a tall figure hidden in the fog. The eyes stared at the police chief for a good while. Nightstick couldn't his eyes off the glowing eyes and couldn't for the life of him figure out just what exactly he was looking at. Shaking with anxiety, the old officer spoke to the figure. "Who are you and why are you out this late at night?" he asked. The figure took a while to respond, but when they did, it was with a synthetic female voice. "Are you police chief Nightstick?" "Uh... yes, I am," Nightstick replied. "Do you need my help with something?" The figure bent downward slightly and closed her eyes as she breathed a relieved sigh. Nightstick wondered what she was so relieved about. "That's good to hear! I was worried you weren't the same guy," the figure said. "Mister Springtrap might've gotten mad at me if I didn't find you." "Uh, who's 'Springtrap'?" Nightstick asked. The figure stared directly into his eyes as she walked towards him. Even though she was coming closer, she was still mostly hidden by the fog. When she was directly in front of him, she raised a single clenched fist. "You're going to find out who he is pretty soon. After all, he said you should recognize him," the figure said in reply. A hard metallic fist drove itself across Nightstick's chin, rattling his brain and causing his entire body to drop like a sack of flour. His mind went blank as sleepiness took him over, but not before seeing the figure kneeling down to pick him up. ***** "Starlight was having a fun time with her group of friends at Hoover's Happy Pizza Palace. Sure, she lost her friend Sunburst, but that didn't mean that she couldn't make new friends. In fact, she felt lucky to have these friends. One of them, a Pegasus filly, walked up to her with a smile on her face and a clump of tickets held under her wing. "Starry! Look! I got so many tickets! I think I'll be able to buy a giant teddy bear with these!" she said excitedly. "Really? I want a giant plush dragon!" Starlight said, getting up from her seat. "I'm gonna win as many tickets as you!" "Okay, I'll go to eat pizza with the others. I'm pretty hungry," the filly said. Starlight went to one of the nearer arcade games to try to win enough tickets for a plush dragon. Putting in her tokens, she set about trying to win. The young filly was about to beat the high score when her father called. "Starlight! Time to eat!" her father said. As much as Starlight wanted to beat the high score at a video game, she had to admit that she's been ignoring her growling stomach for too long. Starlight finished up the round she was currently on as best she could and she walked over to the table where her father sat with a steaming pizza between them. The hungry Starlight took a deep sniff of the pizza in front of her. "Mmmmm! This smells delicious, daddy!" Starlight said. "Glad to hear it, sweetheart!" her father said. "Better eat up, because I can tell that you want to get back to playing more of the games." "Yeah! I want to try to get enough tickets to get a plush dragon!" Starlight replied. "Then you better eat a good amount," her father said. Starlight was filling herself up with pizza when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw her group of friends gathered around one of the employees. They looked excited about something the employee was saying to them. The employee in question was a tall and skinny stallion from the look of him, with his mane and tail hidden under a purple uniform. His white fur almost glistened in the neon lights of the pizzeria, and a huge grin was plastered on his face. The stallion turned and motioned for the kids to follow him somewhere past the set of double doors near the pinball machines. Wondering about where they were going, Starlight finished her last bite of pizza and walked off to go see the rest of her friends. She followed them past the doors and kept her distance from the group as they traversed some underground maintenance tunnels. The group walked on for a good bit of time until they stopped in front of a door at the far end of a long hall. The grinning Purple Stallion opened the door with a hoof and gestured for the kids to enter the dark room. The kids entered with excited murmurs, with the Purple Stallion following behind them with the same huge grin. As he walked into the room, Starlight could make out the handle of a large kitchen knife jutting out of the back of his pants. Starlight walked up to the room as the light inside turned on and pressed her face against the closed door in a failed attempt to enter. Good thing she noticed the noticeable gap between the bottom of the door and the floor. Starlight laid on the floor with one eye looking inside the room. Nothing could've prepared her for what she heard and saw. The Purple Stallion brandished the kitchen knife she saw and lunged towards one of her friends, the one with the wing full of tickets. The blade plunged deep into the little filly's chest, causing the filly to spit up mouthfuls of blood. Dropping the still-living filly to the ground, the Purple Stallion laughed cruelly and turned his attention towards the remaining kids. They screamed and tried to get out the door, but the door was not budging in the slightest. Starlight could only watch in horror as the Purple Stallion systematically went from friend-to-friend, stabbing each of them over and over again to make sure they were all dead, laughing with cruelty and madness all the while. Once the terrible deed was done, the Purple Stallion set about trying to dispose of the evidence. As Starlight lay there, she inadvertently locked eyes with those of one of her dead friends, a young Earth Pony colt. His eyes were big and glassy, almost like a doll's eyes. Blood oozed from his mouth as he continued his lifeless gaze. It felt like an eternity before Starlight was able to move even one muscle. When she did, she ran out of the tunnels as fast as she could. Starlight practically blasted out of the tunnels and stopped to breathe deeply. Her mind was completely blank towards everything else except for the fresh memories of her friends being murdered. She could barely hear her dad when he asked what was wrong, a look of worry plastered all over his normally-joyful face. When she finally saw her dad, tears of horror and sadness began to finally flow." The whole room echoed with the screams Starlight let out as she woke up from her nightmare. She looked out the window to see that it was still daylight outside her room in the palace. Her heart was racing with fear as she got up from the bed and looked at the tea cup by her bed. Calming herself, she walked towards the bedroom door. "That's it! That's the last time I ever drink Earl Gray tea before taking a nap," Starlight said to herself. Starlight left the room and joined the rest of her friends and the Princesses in the palace library where they were looking over the Kid Killer case files. Twilight looked to her friend/protegee with a worried expression. "Hey, are you okay, Starlight? You don't look so good," Twilight inquired. "I... I had a bad dream during my nap," Starlight replied warily. "It really rattled me, I guess." "I wish I was able to help you sleep better," Luna said. "Do you want to talk about it?" Starlight wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it. It was a pretty horrible dream to simply talk about, but maybe it would make her feel better. "This is my dream: I was hanging out with a group of friends at a pizzeria, playing games and eating pizza," Starlight replied quietly. "There was a stallion there, wearing a purple uniform and had a big grin on his face. He led my friends to a room somewhere underneath the pizzeria and... murdered them all while I watched from underneath the door." The entire room was filled with an uncomfortable silence as the group looked to Starlight. They weren't sure about how to approach this topic, except for Luna. Luna looked pretty interested in the dream about children getting murdered. She got up from her chair and approached Starlight, putting a gentle hoof on her shoulder. "Starlight, I have something I want to try if you'll allow me," Luna said. "I think there may be more to your dream than you may think." "What is it?" Starlight asked. "It's a simple sleeping spell I created. It may help us with this case if this is what I suspect," Luna replied. "Well... if it'll help with this case, then I suppose I'll do it," Starlight said. "Good. We can get started later tonight. In the meantime, let's look over these files," Luna said. Starlight nodded with a smile and joined the rest of her friends in looking over the case files. As she worked, the images of her old friends and the grinning Purple Stallion were still present in the back of her mind. She began to share the same suspicions as Luna, that there may be more to her nightmare than meets the eye. ***** With Nightstick Nightstick woke up in a place he didn't recognize. It looked like an old supply closet of some kind, with old brooms, mops, and unused cleaning supplies sitting on cobweb-covered shelves. He tried to move, only to realize that he was strapped down to a chair of some kind. "What the hell?" he asked. He tried to struggle his way out of his restraints only to simply move the chair a few inches. "Hey!! Anyone out there?! Help me!!" he shouted out. The door to the closet opened and a tall robotic alligator entered the room. The sight of the animatronic being caught the old stallion off-guard. The gator leaned against the entryway to the closet. "Well, looks like you're awake. Good, since the head honcho is eager to see you and the Princesses again," the gator said with a deep scary voice. "What's going on? Where am I? Who's your boss?" Nightstick asked. "Mister Springtrap wanted me to bring you to him after you woke up," the gator replied. "I was worried Chica hit you too hard." The gator walked behind the chair Nightstick was strapped to and lifted it up easily. He carried Nightstick through the tunnels until they both reached the main area of the old pizzeria they were staying at. The gator sat Nightstick on the old carpeted floor and a few other animatronics joined them, a chicken, a wolf, and a brown bear. Nightstick looked to each of them with a frustrated look. "Who are you all and why am I here?!" he yelled at them. "I don't like this guy. Why can't we just let this old codger go back to his retirement home or whatever?" Chica asked. "Because Springtrap needs him for the plan, so we need him here for now," Roxy replied. "Also, this guy is someone that Springtrap recognized, so he must be important to the boss," Monty said. "You all keep talking about this 'Springtrap' guy, but who is he?!" Nightstick yelled. The only response that came was the sound f metallic feet stomping on the ground towards them. The animatronic critters parted and out of the shadows on the far side of main room, a vaguely familiar figure emerged. First thing that Nightstick saw was a pair of glowing silver eyes, eyes that were a part of an entity that Nightstick never thought he would ever see again. A tall being with a moldy golden green rabbit suit walked to him. There were multiple holes and tears in the suit, revealing metal components, wires, and rotten flesh and dry bones. The figure glared down at him with the same silver eyes he saw thirty years ago. A deep distorted laugh hissed past the figure's false teeth. "It's been a long time since we last saw each other, Nightstick," the figure said. "We've never been properly introduced. My name is Springtrap." "How... how are you alive? You died! I watched you die!" Nightstick asked. "The thing you should know about me is... I always come back!" Springtrap replied. "I'm back and I have a score to settle!" "You mean... with the Princesses?" Nightstick asked. "Look, what happened thirty years ago, that was an accident! We made a mistake!" Springtrap glared at the old stallion for a while before he spoke again, with anger and despair in his voice. "Do you have any idea... what your "mistake" did to me?" Springtrap asked. "You and the Princesses blamed me for murder and sentenced me to an undead purgatory! I simply want to return the favor, and you're going to help me." "Why would I do that?" Nightstick asked. "I'm not helping you with your petty revenge scheme!" That tore it for Springtrap. A hard blow was swiftly delivered to Nightstick's solar plexus, making the old stallion cough in deep pain. Springtrap grabbed Nightstick's mane and forced him to look at him. "I understand that you have a wife, children, and grandchildren, correct?" Springtrap asked threateningly. "If you don't to help me, then maybe one of them will. After all, I know where they all live." Nightstick glared at Springtrap with a newfound fury. He hissed out his next words. "If you lay a single finger on any of them, I swear I'll--!" Nightstick said before being interrupted. Springtrap began to beat the teeth out of Nightstick, literally. He beat Nightstick over and over again, making sure to not kill the guy, but making sure his punches hurt. After he was done, Springtrap spoke again, calmy and coldly. "I died because of you. I suffered for the past thirty years because you," Springtrap said. "As far as I'm concerned, you don't deserve any happiness." Springtrap delivered a hard kick to Nightstick's stomach, sending him to the far wall with a crash. He stomped over to the fallen Nightstick and picked him up, his distorted voice angrily deep. "I can either use you or your entire family, it doesn't matter to me!" Springtrap threatened. "Now, who wants to help me reel in two big fish?"