//------------------------------// // 8) Surprises and Revelations // Story: Springtrapped: An MLP/FNAF Crossover // by Lord Shadow Eclipse //------------------------------// With the Elements Starlight and her friends have been scoping the place for the past few minutes. There was nothing really of note to report back. By all appearances, it was a regular abandoned pizzeria with the windows boarded up and the doors chained shut. The only thing that could serve as an entrance was the metal gate to the loading dock. Starlight could feel the storm of negative emotions coming from the place, but she tried her best to deal with it as she made her way back to the others, including Neighsay. "Where are the guards?" Twilight asked Neighsay. "They're currently getting ready," Neighsay said. "They've obviously never faced someone like this before, so they're trying to get ready." "I guess... we'll have to go in without them," Twilight said. "The Princesses may not have a lot of time." "So what do we do? Just barge in and demand the Princesses be freed?" Rarity asked. "We have to approach this carefully." "Rarity's right. We have to maintain the element of surprise here or Springtrap is just going to kill them both," Starlight said. "That's why we're going to simply go in through the vents and sneak up on him quietly," Twilight said. "I saw a few vents on the while I scoped the building, so we'll be going in through there." "What do we do if Springtrap tries to attack us?" Pinkie asked. "I'm not looking forward to a fight." Neighsay pulled off a saddlebag and pulled out several tasers. "That's why I brought these. These tasers should at least slow him down." "I never go anywhere without my lasso, either," Applejack said. "I'll try talking to him before anything. If he gets violent, then we'll deal with him," Starlight said. "You talking to him will at the very least distract him while we rescue the Princesses," Neighsay said. "It's all of us against him, after all." Now that they had a plan, it was time to put it into action. Twilight led the group to one of the vents and opened it with her magic, going in first since she was one of the more powerful among them. As they traversed the vents, Starlight took the time to acknowledge the horrible vibe she was getting. Something about the building was making her feel sick to her stomach and she couldn't figure out why. Hopefully, she would remember tonight. Twilight opened the internal vent and looked from left to right. It seemed that they were entering the arcade area of the pizzeria. And she couldn't see anyone in the arcade, a bad sign. She was hoping that they were within the immediate area, but now they had to look for them. She exited the vent and motioned for the others to join her. Everyone was now outside the vent and looking around expectantly. Circling up and keeping their tasers at the ready, the group looking for the Princesses or Springtrap. All they saw was rows of old arcade games and old posters hanging up on the wall. When they got to a row of ski-ball stations, Starlight thought back to her nightmare. "Why does this place make me feel this way? I don't understand it!" Starlight thought queasily. As they passed the ski-ball stations and rounded a corner, the group saw a door leading to the main atrium. Twilight pointed to it. "Okay, it looks like this room is clear. We'll head to the other areas of the building," Twilight said. "We'll split up into groups of two and investigate the rest of the building. If you run into trouble, run back to the atrium and we'll meet you up there." "Are you sure it's a good idea to split up?" Fluttershy asked. "We're armed and there's only one of him. I'm certain we'll all be fine investigating in groups of two," Twilight said. "We need to focus on finding the Princesses quickly." With their new game plan, Twilight slowly opened the doors and saw the main atrium, which functioned as the dining room and entertainment area. There were tables placed haphazardly all around the room and the stage had big red curtains pulled in front of it. They looked around the room to see other doors leading to different areas like the kitchen, the security room, the play area, and the maintenance tunnels. Neighsay pointed to each of the Elements and the doors. "Okay, me and Starlight will check out the maintenance tunnels," Neighsay said before turning to Twilight. "I suppose you and Rainbow can look at the security room. Pinkie and Fluttershy can check the kitchen, and Applejack and Rarity can search the play area." "Sounds like a plan to me," Applejack said. "Me and Flutters won't leave any cabinet unchecked!" Pinkie said. "I'll do my best to find the Princesses and Springtrap," Starlight said. "Alright! Let's go!" Twilight said. The group split up to pairs of two to find the targets. What they didn't know was that they were being watched from behind the curtains. ***** With Pinkie and Fluttershy - The Kitchen The kitchen was quite a sight. Multiple pizza ovens cabinets, washing machines, sinks, pantries, refrigerators, and freezers lined the walls while the tables and other chef stations filled the center of the large room. The only thing that was odd was the fact that the equipment obviously didn't look like it had been used in a long time, with dust and rust lining the entirety of the machines while cobwebs were hanging from the ceiling like party streamers. "You know, I could see us having a Nightmare Night party in here if it weren't for the fact that we're searching for two kidnapped Princesses and a vengeful undead being," Pinkie said before gasping with an idea. "I wonder if Springtrap will want to scare the kids and adults for Nightmare Night?" "I don't think he'd want to do that, Pinkie Pie," Fluttershy said. "And we're supposed to be looking for him and the Princesses." "I'm just saying that it sounds like a good party idea! I hope we get Springtrap onboard with the idea!" Pinkie said. "Bock-bock!" a synthetic female voice called. "EEP!" Fluttershy squealed before diving into one of the larger cabinets. Pinkie Pie joined her friend and they both listened carefully for the source of the voice. The pair heard a door opening and the sound of heavy footsteps entering the room. Whatever was in the kitchen with them started to open the doors as if it was searching for them. "Who wants candy?" the voice asked. "We just want to play a game with you!" "Is it charades?" Pinkie asked. Fluttershy put a hoof over Pinkie's mouth in an attempt to quiet her. "Pinkie! What were you--?!" The door to their hiding place was literally ripped off its hinges before Fluttershy could finish talking. A large animatronic chicken stood looming over them with bright purple eyes. She tilted her head to the side as she spoke. "Mister Springtrap doesn't like party-crashers, you know!" the chicken said. "Uh... we lost our invitations?" Pinkie said. The chicken grabbed Pinkie by the neck and dragged her out of the cabinet. Fluttershy pulled out her taser and lunged forward, but the chicken backhanded her on her back and kicked the taser away. Pinkie pulled her taser out of her mane but the chicken managed to pry the weapon from her and jammed it into her neck, knocking her out cold. With both mares knocked out, the chicken picked up Fluttershy before walking out of the kitchen with them. "Uninvited guests must be dealt with. Mister Springtrap's orders," Chica said. "I hope my friends can round up the others easily enough." ***** With Applejack and Rarity - Play Room The play room wasn't that remarkable. Tubes and slides and a giant ball pit were the main staples of the area. It was a nostalgic sight for Applejack. "You know, Granny used to bring me and Big Mac to a place that had a ball pit back in the day," Applejack said. "I remember he found like twenty bits at the bottom of that thing one time, and Granny kept takin' us back just so she could use me and Big Mac to dive for bits in the ball pit." "That sounds lovely, Applejack. Me and my family would sometimes go to an arcade when me and Sweetie Belle were younger," Rarity said. "It was quite an experience." Applejack tried her best to suppress a laugh. Rarity looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What's so funny?" Rarity asked. "The idea of someone like you playing video games at an arcade," Applejack said. "I'm sorry, but it's a funny thing to think about." "I'll have you know that I was the undefeated champion at Mule Kong! No one was ever able to beat my high score," Rarity said with a smirk. "Was that the game about the giant orangutan that threw oil drums at you kidnapped a prince and you had to save him?" Applejack asked. "Indeed it was. And no one has ever beat my high score," Rarity said, still smirking. The two were so busy with their little conversation that they didn't notice Monty walking up behind them. Once he was right behind them, he slammed their heads together like he did with the Princesses. The two mares dropped like a sack of flour. "Oh, yeah! Time to rock-'n-roll!" Monty said. "I am way too good at this." Monty dragged the two out of the play room to meet up with the others. The animatronic alligator walked with a prideful stride. "Looks like Springtrap's strategies are working quite well!" Monty said. ***** With Twilight and Rainbow Dash - The Security Room The hallway leading to the security room was long and empty except for the collective of posters on the wall. Twilight and Rainbow Dash had their eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. "Hey Rainbow, see anything weird?" Twilight asked. "I really couldn't tell you. All I see are cobwebs, posters, and walls," Rainbow replied. "How do you think the others are doing?" "We haven't heard back from them yet, so I have to believe that they're alright," Twilight said. "We've faced our fair share of enemies and came out on top, so we'll be fine." "But... we haven't faced an angry dead guy before," Rainbow said. "Makes me shiver inside." Twilight looked to Rainbow with an unreadable expression. "Rainbow, if I'm being perfectly honest, I don't know how to handle someone like Springtrap, if he is a vengeful revenant." "If he's dead, does that mean that these tasers won't work on him?" Rainbow asked. "We won't know until we find out, but if tasering him doesn't work, then we run like hell," Twilight replied. Rainbow didn't like the sound of that. Twilight, always the smartest of their group, the mare with the plan, wouldn't know what to do if faced with a being like Springtrap. Perhaps the best thing they could do was simply appease him or run. Right now though, they had to focus on actually finding them. The door to the security room was now straight ahead and was wide open. Twilight and Rainbow were happy to make some progress. If they went inside, Twilight could try to get the cameras working and see where everyone is, including Springtrap and the Princesses. "You're trespassing, you know?" a synthetic voice called from behind them. They turned around and saw an animatronic she-wolf standing there with glowing golden eyes looking right at them. The mares were shocked to see her standing there. "Who are you?!" Rainbow asked. "My name is Roxanne Wolf, or 'Roxy' for short," Roxy said. "And Springtrap doesn't like uninvited guests!" Roxy took off towards them with such speed that even Rainbow Dash was impressed. Twilight and Rainbow ran inside the security room and Rainbow hit the button on the side to shut the door. They heard Roxy slam into the door and try to either pry it open or try to knock it down by hitting it. Twilight and Rainbow were both panting on the floor. "What's going on here?!" Rainbow shouted. "I thought it was just Springtrap we had to worry about!" "I don't know! Maybe he built some henchmen to help him with this revenge scheme?!" Twilight replied. "But if Roxy's here for us, then what about our...?!" Both Twilight and Rainbow had the same horrible thought enter their minds and turned their eyes to the security desk. The desk had many different monitors on the desk as well as having a keyboard, an old phone, a microphone for the PA system, and lockers in the back of the room. All of the monitors were turned off. Twilight sat in front of the monitors and turned them all on. Each of the monitors switched on and they had a somewhat blurry view of every area in the pizzeria, and they didn't like what they saw on the monitors. One by one, they saw their friends being taken out by another animal animatronic. The thing that Twilight noticed about it was the fact that it looked like the animatronics were all waiting for them to go into each area. Twilight's eyes turned to the monitors looking into the maintenance tunnels and saw that Starlight and Neighsay were still looking through the underground rooms and she could make out subtle movement behind them. "Starlight and Neighsay are being followed! I'll warn them through the PA system!" Twilight said. "Won't those metal freaks know where they are and go after them or come after us?!" Rainbow asked. "We don't have a choice, Rainbow!" Twilight said. As Twilight was about to turned on the PA system, the button she needed to press on the microphone was gone. It looked like it was ripped out. Twilight slowly turned to look at Rainbow with wide eyes. "The PA system won't work without the button because it was ripped out, the behavior of these animatronics, and the fact that Springtrap and the Princesses haven't been found yet. This is a trap," Twilight said. "What do you mean? Springtrap knew we were coming?" Rainbow asked. "That's the only thing that makes sense," Twilight said. "He's had a long time to plan for this, and he intends to see his revenge through to the very end." At that moment, the door that was keeping Roxy out was starting to strain. A warning popped up on one of the monitors in front of Twilight. "WARNING: DOOR LOCK ERROR - LOCKING SYSTEM FAILING" "Twilight! She's going to get through the door!" Rainbow said. "I know! I'll try to override the door lock command and do everything I can to make sure the door stays closed!" Twilight said. Twilight typed away at the computer in an attempt to repair the door locks, but the thing kept saying "ERROR" every time she tried something. She could hear the door straining more and more with each passing second until it couldn't take it anymore. Much to their horror, the door swung open and Roxy peered through the crack with angry golden eyes. If she could smile, she'd be grinning menacingly at them. "Here's Roxy!" Roxy said in a singsong voice. Roxy pried the door the rest of the way and was about to attack them. Rainbow pulled out her taser and flew straight at the wolf with her taser on, but Roxy was just a bit quicker. She grabbed Rainbow by the neck and jammed the taser right into the crook of her neck. "Rainbow!!" Twilight shouted. Twilight pulled out her own taser and charged her horn for a two-pronged attack. As she tried to rush Roxy, Roxy dodged and drove a fist down between Twilight's shoulder blades, sending her right to the ground. She tried to stand up and continue the fight and she felt something pressing the back of her neck. A powerful jolt of electricity shot through Twilight's body, sending her back to the ground unable to move. As Twilight was losing consciousness, Roxy looked down to her. "You can't beat me, ladies. After all, I am the best," Roxy said. Now that the trespassers have been dealt with, she had to take them and meet back up with the others in the atrium. She walked with a great deal of pride. "I think catching an Alicorn all by myself will make me Springtrap's favorite," Roxy said. "I hope the others were successful, just as much." ***** With Starlight and Neighsay - The Maintenance Tunnels The tunnels underneath the pizzeria were just as creepy now as they were in Starlight's dream, only the sickening feeling she carried only got worse the further down they went. Neighsay seemed to be just as uneasy, too. "I hoped I would never come back down to these tunnels ever again," Neighsay said. That caught Starlight off-guard a little bit. Neighsay had been down here before. If that was true, then Starlight's dream was actually... "You've... been down here before?" Starlight asked. "I was one of the volunteers who helped with the investigation into the Kid Killer case. I came down here to look for the missing foals," Neighsay replied. "It was it said that there was a witness who saw the Kid Killer here, but the authorities weren't able to verify that." "How come they weren't able to find this witness?" "Your guess is as good as mine, dear Starlight. If only we could find them, then this case could be solved quickly." That statement combined with Starlight's dream made the mare come to a decision. She had to tell him, she had to tell the authorities, and most of all, she had to ensure justice for the dead foals. "Neighsay, I need to tell you something," Starlight said. "What is it?" Neighsay asked. "See, about the Kid Killer case, the truth is I--," Starlight said before Neighsay cut her off. "Wait, tell me later! This is the last door hallway we haven't checked," Neighsay said. Starlight looked ahead and indeed, there was only one more hallway to check just beyond a turn to the right. Neighsay pulled out his taser and primed it, encouraging Starlight to do the same. As they turned the corner to search the single door at the end of the hallway, the light's suddenly shut off, leaving them in the dark. "What the--?!" Starlight shouted. "It's okay, Miss Glimmer just use the magic in your horn to light our way!" Neighsay said. "I can't hold the taser and light the hall at the same time!" Starlight said. "Okay, I'll hold the taser and you light--AAH!" Neighsay said before screaming. Starlight instinctively dropped her taser and used her horn to fully light the hall. Neighsay was gone, there was no indication he was even there except for a few strands of his mane. He simply vanished into thin air! Starlight would've gone after him, but she had no way of knowing where he went. And she had to focus on finding the Royal Sisters first. Turning back to the last door, Starlight picked up the taser in her mouth and primed the taser using her tongue. Her heart was racing as she approached the door, her hooves shaking and sweat beaming down her face. As she was about to open the door, it burst open and sent her flying backwards. Starlight looked back up and there, standing in the doorway was the one and only Springtrap, and he definitely gave off the aura of a vengeful undead. He stomped towards her with anger and sadistic amusement combined. "You really shouldn't have come down here!" Springtrap said. "But now that you are, I'm going to have to deal with you after I take care of my royal friends!" "Wait! Please, you don't have to do this!" Starlight pleaded. "This won't make anything better. I know what it's like to want revenge and this won't change what happened to you." That didn't sit well with Springtrap at all. His silver eyes changed to an angry shade of red. He clenched his fists as he slowly stalked towards her. "You don't have the foggiest idea of what happened to me! But I'm gonna give you a demonstration pretty soon," Springtrap said. "The Princesses will die, me and my friends will be avenged, and this pain will end!" "Wait, friends?" Starlight asked. "Yeah, friends. That's one of them behind you," Springtrap said pointing behind her. Starlight looked behind her and saw a tall animatronic brown bear. He jammed a primed taser into her neck, knocking her out cold. Springtrap looked to Freddy with his regular silver eyes. "Have you taken car of our other uninvited guests?" Springtrap asked. "Yep, we rounded them up and we're waiting in the atrium," Freddy replied. "Looks like we can turn this into a public execution," Springtrap said. "I'll get back to the atrium with the Princesses in tow." Freddy looked down at the unconscious Starlight with a curious look. "Uh, Mister Springtrap, there's something about this girl that seems weirdly familiar to me." "We can figure that out later. Just take her back to the atrium, and I'll grab our guests of honor," Springtrap said. "Sure thing, boss-man," Freddy said. Freddy hoisted Starlight onto his shoulders and took her away, while Springtrap went back into the room to fetch his intended victims. ***** The Main Atrium "Wake up, ponies! We've gotta special show to put on for ya!" Springtrap called. One by one, the Elements wok up from their little nap and looked around themselves to find themselves in the main atrium again. They were tied to chairs and the animatronics that attacked them were all standing in front of the main stage. "What's going on here?!" Twilight asked. "You just couldn't leave it alone, could you?" Springtrap replied, coming from behind the curtain. "But it doesn't matter. Once I get rid of my nemeses, then I'll let you all go unharmed, I promise." "And what if we try to stop you?" Applejack asked. "We can't let you kill the Royal Sisters!" "If you do indeed try to stop me, then... ," Springtrap said before pulling out a kitchen knife. "I'll just have to remove my obstacles, simple as that." "Where are the Princesses, anyway?" Twilight asked. Springtrap snapped his fingers, and Freddy and Monty pulled back the curtains to reveal Celestia and Luna. They were both still alive, but they were both trapped inside the springlock suits. The Princesses were shocked to see the Elements there. "What are you all doing here?!" Celestia asked. "We were trying to help you!" Twilight said. "You shouldn't have come here! This doesn't concern you!" Luna said. "We couldn't let you face this alone!" Rarity said. "But we're the ones responsible for Springtrap and these children!" Luna said, using her head to gesture to the animatronic beings that stood alongside Springtrap. "Wait, what do you mean?" Rainbow asked. Springtrap was the one to answer that very question. "Oh, you all didn't know that? These are no mere animatronics, but these are inhabited by the souls of the children who went missing because of the Kid Killer as well as the Princesses' poor handling of the investigation." The group was surprised by Springtrap's words, saying that the souls of the Kid Killer's early victims were inhabiting the animatronics. Springtrap looked to them with pride. "Thanks to me, the souls of the children can now have physical bodies to inhabit and we can get our revenge on our killers!" Springtrap said. "And we'll start with the ones you call your leaders!" "Wait, Springtrap!" Starlight called. "Revenge won't change what happened to you or these children!" "If you knew what they did to me, if you experienced the cursed state they put me in, then you'd want them dead just as much as I do!" Springtrap said. "I live with the same fresh, constant pain of my death all the time with no relief except this!" "I'm sorry that they killed you, but it was an accident!" Twilight said. Springtrap didn't say anything to her. Instead, he put his hands in his mouth and pried open the mask of the suit and reveal the horror he was underneath. The girls all gasped and gagged with disgust. Beneath the mask was a face of exposed bone and mummified flesh. Any lips he had were long gone, exposing yellowed teeth and his eye sockets now held artificial silver globes. His nose had been reduced to two openings where no air entered or exited. "This is what they did to me, and they have to pay for this!" Springtrap shouted. "I've waited thirty long years for this night, and no little runts like you are going to get in my way!!" "Haven't you ever heard the saying 'two wrongs don't make a right'?" Starlight asked. "I know what it's like to want revenge. Even if you do get it, you'll be in the same state you were in before. Only this time, you'll have no one to take it out on. It's pointless!" "How can you know that for sure?!" Springtrap rebutted. "It might work for a being like me and it might work for the kids!" "Look, I want to make it right for them too, because they were my friends before all this!" Starlight said. "And I can help them find their murderer!" With that, the Glamtronics took a closer look at Starlight. After a few seconds, each of their eyes lit up with recognition and gasped. "Starry, is that you?" Roxy asked. "Yes, it's me after all these years," Starlight said. "Look, I'm sorry I failed you! If I had done something, you wouldn't have died and your killer would've been caught!" The Glamtronics all looked to Starlight with sad expressions. They all suddenly put Starlight in the center of a tight group hug. Their animatronic bodies were cold and hard, but still strangely comforting. "Starry, we were never angry at you," Chica said. "Yeah, if you tried anything, he would've killed you, too!" Monty said. "There wasn't anything you could've done, so it's okay," Freddy said. "We're just happy you're helping us now," Roxy said. Starlight was in tears by this point. She was reunited with her old friends and they harbored no ill will towards her. She was so happy she couldn't think about the current situation. The Elements were happy to see this display of rekindled friendship on display. With the obvious reconciliation, Springtrap put the masks on the Princesses' heads. "Now that this little therapy session seems to be working, I'll continue with my therapy!" Before Springtrap could activate the springlocks, though, a loud stomping sound came from the open doors of the dark maintenance tunnels with a pair of glowing red eyes shone through the darkness. Everyone's attention was now on the doors. From out of the darkness, an animatronic black jackal wearing a black cape emerged from the darkness, with gleaming fangs and razor claws. The jackal laughed in a deep synthesized voice. "Sorry, but this party's over now!" the jackal said. "That suit...," Springtrap said. "Who are you?" "I'm the guy who's here to stop you!" the jackal replied. Springtrap snapped his fingers and pointed to the jackal. "Get him! He'll ruin everything!" The Glamtronics ran towards the jackal in an attempt to jump him, but the jackal was quicker. Pulling out two of the tasers the group brought with them, the black jackal tasered both Monty and Chica in the neck area between the exoskeleton's plating. The two dropped to the ground stunned. Freddy and Roxy tried to grapple him, but the jackal spun around throwing Freddy off, but Roxy held on tight. Freddy tried to grab him from behind, but the jackal slammed Roxy into him and tasered the animatronic bear to stun him. Roxy grabbed at the jackal's mask and managed to take it when the jackal threw her off, revealing his true face underneath. Neighsay was underneath the mask. He was the black jackal fighting them. Now that he was unmasked, he gave a victorious grin over his victories. The Elements were cheering for him. "That was awesome!" Rainbow shouted. "Yeah, you showed them what for!" Applejack called. Now that both Roxy and Starlight got a look at Neighsay and his smiling face, a flash of recognition crossed their eyes as Starlight looked on in horror. "You... you're him!" she said almost in the form of a whisper. "He's what, Starlight?" Twilight asked from next to her. Roxy was the one to answer that. "It's you! You're the one responsible for our deaths! You're the Kid Killer!" Everyone turned to Neighsay in surprise. Even the Princesses looked to him from under their masks, and Celestia spoke to him through it. "Neighsay, what is the meaning of this?" Celestia asked sternly. "It's true!" Starlight shouted in a fury. "He lured by friends down to the maintenance tunnels, murdered all of my them, and hid the bodies!" "I remember him, too! I was the first one he murdered!" Roxy shouted. "I remember he stabbed me over and over and over again while I was unable to scream or fight!" Springtrap was so surprised by what he was hearing that he forgot about his plan for a moment. He looked to Neighsay and thought back to his first night in this world. He remembered seeing another pony in the hospital with him and tried to chase him until he ran into the Princesses. If he was the real Kid Killer, then that would mean that he was responsible for his death! Neighsay, seeing that lying at this point was futile, simply sighed and gave them all a terrifying grin of madness and sadism. "You're all indeed correct!" Neighsay said. "I am the Kid Killer... and I'm going to kill all of you." Next Time: The Final Fight