//------------------------------// // Halloween Bonus Prequel Chapter // Story: Five Nights at Strickland Propane // by LtMajorDude //------------------------------// Hank sighed as he leaned against the wall, watching Dale, Bill, and Boomhauer install a propane heater, though they seem to have trouble installing it properly. "Dammit guys." Hank muttered as Dale tried to tape the nozzle into the heater. "The Sweet Apple Acres barn needs a propane heater, so it's important that it must be installed properly!" "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Dale muttered as he mocked Hank. "Alright, let me turn on the gas..." He flicked his cigarette on the ground. Hank's eyes widened. "DALE, NO! YOU DIDN'T ADJUST THE NOZZLE THE RIGHT WAY!!!" An orange mare came out of the house, clearly tired. After hearing some noises in her barn, she decided to get out of bed and see what the noises were. BOOOOOOM!!! Her eyes widened as big as plates when the top part of the barn blew up, and the rest of the barn burst into flames. She also saw four bipeds run out of the barn just in time, their blue clothes blackened with ash. Eventually, a small yellow filly, an elder green mare, and a buff red stallion came out of the house, horrified by the sight of the burning barn. Hank, Dale, Bill, and Boomhauer glanced at the barn after staring at the orange mare. Dale immediately ran away, shouting that Hank caused the explosion. "...which caused the top part of the barn to explode, an incident known as Propane Boom." The night guard mare sat in her chair while reading the newspaper. After applying for a night guard job for this propane store, she spent her first night in her night guard office, just being lazy. Since she assumed that this job was a piece of cake, she figured that she did not have to worry too much that night. "Propane Boom." She deadpanned as she threw the newspaper away. "I did not expect that. Well, let's see what these robots are doing." She switched the camera to the break room, where she witness Bill shoving a fish sandwich in his face, the tartar sauce staining in his face and mouth. The night guard let out a disgusted groan before changing the camera to the bathroom. To her relief, she saw Boomhauer cleaning his chest with a wet towel, singing a song. "Dang ol' get together Dang ol' rock the school I tell ya what, something that is better. Change the dang ol' rules. We the same yo! Shine brighter and something yo?!" The mare stared dreamily at Boomhauer. "You a winner or loser, yo?! Who's dang ol better? No same thing, I tell you what! Dazzling competition yo!!" She did not notice the faint footsteps outside her office. "You're a taco, I tell ya what! Taco Tuesday above all yo! It doesn't matter that it's Tuesday yo! It proves you love tacos, I tell ya what!" The footsteps grew louder, yet the night guard didn't seem to notice. "Let's have a battle, battle of the bands! Eat tacos, tacos of the kings! Use propane, cleaning burning! I tell ya what! What! What! What! Turn down for what!?!?" After letting out a dreamy sigh, she switched the camera to the break room. To her surprise, she saw that Bill was no longer there. "Where did that pig go?" She asked herself. "REFUELING TIME!!!!" She turned around, only to see Bill inside her office, staring at her with his glowing mechanical eyes. Tartar sauce dripped from his lips, which twisted into a cruel smile. The night guard screamed in horror as Bill frantically grabbed her. "50 bits a nights?" The red pegasus exclaimed as he adjusted his night guard cap. "Thank Celestia for propane!" The pegasus used the camera controls to see what was going on outside. There he saw Hank Hill with a towel, calmly wiping propane tanks and keeping them clean and shiny. He stopped a moment to emotionlessly stare at the camera, scaring the pegasus a bit. Hank stopped the stare and continued to clean the propane tank. Eventually, Boomhauer walked out of the store and approached Hank. "Boomhauer." Hank said, not taking his eyes off the propane tank he was cleaning. "Yo, Hank." Boomhauer replied as he grabbed a towel off the ground and a propane tank nearby. He started to clean the tank in the same way Hank was. The pegasus grew bored, so he switched the camera to the front office, where he saw Dale sitting on one of the desks, calmly smoking a cigarette. He was busy with his daily conspiracies. "Whatever happened to Scootaloo's parents? It's implied that they dead, but with no evidence!" The pegasus relaxed as he enjoyed seeing the robot make up theories. "I mean, sure, it's not confirmed that Applejack's parents are dead, but I heard that in one episode, the stars are supposed to be them. Kinda like with Lion King and Kimba or Hamlet or whatever. Also, was that Scootaloo's house? Didn't have that much Rainbow Dash stuf...Wait. She took it down. That's right. OK, so she does have a home. I think. And for that matter, why does Cheese Sandwich sound like Weird Al Yankovic?!" The pegasus started to laugh as he switched the camera to outside. He saw Hank Hill who was still cleaning the propane tanks. However, he mildly wondered why Boomhauer was no longer outside. As he stared at the camera, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Curious, he turned around, seeing Boomhauer standing in front of him, his eyes glowing a demonic red and his robotic teeth became visible. "DANG OL' FAZBEAR, MAN!!!!" The pegasus then let out a fear-induced scream. A brown unicorn sighed as she played around with the camera controls. She only applied for this job so that she could have bits to buy that nice necklace she had found at the marketplace. She changed the camera to the bathroom, where she saw Dale come out of one of the stalls, zipping up his pants. A wild grin was plastered in his face. "That was the best oil disposal I ever took in my entire life!" Dale shouted as he brought his arms up in the air triumphantly. He stopped when he glanced at the camera. However, he just shrugged and went to the sink to wash his hands. The unicorn switched the camera to the break room, where she saw Hank sipping a can of beer. Bill and Boomhauer walked in the break room, a bored look on their faces. Boomhauer sat next to Hank while Bill walked up to a cabinet and took out a tin can of cookies. After taking a few cookies, he smiled as he took off the top. "You know, I bet we can use this lid as...a Frisbee!" Bill exclaimed as he threw the top towards Hank. "Here, catch Hank!" Bill missed and hit Boomhauer in the ear, who immediately got up from his chair in pain. "What the dang ol' ear man?! What are you think you doing man?! Dang ol' fatty belt buckle Chica, man." Boomhauer grabbed the top and threw it at Bill, missing and hitting the wall. The unicorn rolled her eyes as she changed the camera to something else. She switched the camera to one of the hallways, where, to her surprise, she saw Dale running through the hallways. As she figured what where he was headed towards, the unicorn reached for one of the door buttons. "UNICORN!!!!" The unicorn screamed for mercy as Dale jumped on top of her. A yellow Earth pony yawned as he fiddled around with the camera system. He relaxed, knowing that he was prepared for the robots. He checked up on the front office, where he saw Hank grimly staring at the camera, the redness from his eyes glowing frantically. The pony gulped and quickly switched the camera to one of the hallways, where he saw Bill attempting to get into the office. Bill stopped when he saw that all of the doors are all closed. The pony had them all closed since the night started. Bill let out a sad sigh as he walked away glumly. The pony chuckled to himself as he sipped his can of apple cider. The power in his office immediately went off. The lights went out and the doors silently opened up. The pony blinked as he stuck his head in a small backpack he brought with him. He grabbed a lantern with his teeth and placed it on a desk. He turned the knob on the lantern, making it emit a bright light. He turned around and saw Hank standing in front of him, holding a long green propane tank in one of his arms, a nozzle plugged in one of the valves. Hank let out a cruel smile. The office echoed a sound of terrified screaming, gas hissing, and the sound of something being impaled. A female blue unicorn yawned as she sipped her cup of coffee. She levitated a clipboard that contained her notes as she checked up on the robots, all of them on standby mode. She was dressed in an inspector's uniform. "Let's see." She said as she wrote down some notes on her clipboard. "Servo motors are stable. Each of the robots have a decent amount of fuel. The systems are fully functional." She took a quick glance at the clock on the wall. "11:59 PM? I still have some time left." She turned back to the robots and walked up closer to Hank. She levitated a pencil to her chin as she inspected the robot closely. "Eyes are functional. Voice box seems to be intact." She paused as she started to sniff gently. "Smells like propane, obviously, and...what's that smell? Is...is...that....blood?" As she wrote down some more notes, Hank's eyes glowed redder. The inspector let out a gasp as she jumped back from Hank. Hank stared at the inspector with glowing red eyes. Eventually, the other robots looked at the inspector, their eyes glowing red like Hank's. As the inspector started to shake with fear, Hank continued to stare at the pony, before letting out a twisted smile and saying through his static filled voice box: "I sell propane and propane accessories."