//------------------------------//
// Night Five 
// Story: Five nights at Sombra's 
// by Fossil-Dragon-Messiah 
//------------------------------//

Somewhere in the darkness of Ponyville, the local clock tower chimed for the twelfth time. Hidden deep within the bowels of the local pizzeria, Fluttershy, Dinky and the Cutie Mark Crusaders each attempted to ready themselves for their final night of horror in the restaurant from Tartarus. Unseen by the five captives, the outside of the security office door bore a cryptic message carved into its steely face, reading 20/20/20/20. Dinky sat with her head cradled deeply into the crook of Fluttershy’s neck as the pair sat in the chair at the desk, her hooves poised at the mouse and keyboard as she diligently clicked the security feed from camera to camera, her eyes never blinking as she kept her ever watchful gaze on the mechanical demons that lurked through the halls.

Scootaloo had rooted through all the drawers and cabinets in the office, and managed to find an extra two torches, in case they needed to defend themselves with the flashing light technique Dinky had discovered. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom stood at the Pegasus’ sides, each filly nursing her torch like a soldier brandishing a loaded pistol; ready to go to war. The alabaster filly spared a troubled glance at her promised “maybe-some-day” lover. She played a million different scenarios out in her head, and lived a thousand lifetimes in the secrecy of her own thoughts as she fantasised what sort of future a life as Scootaloo’s beloved might hold for her. Without offering any words, she leaned forward and planted grateful kiss on Scootaloo’s cheek, causing the orange Pegasus to blush at the unexpected ministration. The Pegasus returned the gesture by catching Sweetie Belle’s lips with her own as she tried to pull away, earning the pair of them a giggle and a playful shove from Applebloom, who watched their exchange with an amused expression.

Fluttershy, for her part, was trying to put on the bravest face she had ever had to force in her life. Her fetlocks were locked tightly around Dinky’s tiny frame, without making her grip feel possessive or uncomfortably tight around the young unicorn. The pain in her eye had subsided for the time being, and hadn’t re-emerged for a good number of hours, but she suspected that that was a temporary mercy. In the hours since Red June tried, unsuccessfully, to worm her way into the office, Fluttershy’s pains from her hallucinated torture at the hooves of Sombra’s mechanical vessel had died down, and she had recomposed herself, somewhat, for the sake of her temporary daughter. She planted a tender kiss on the unicorn’s head, rubbing her belly with a loving hoof. Throughout all this horror, despite all the torture, the death of Thunderlane, and the sick, twisted games Sombra had played with his captives, Dinky had been her rock. Every time Fluttershy fell to pieces, or lost her nerve, her little Dinky was the one to bring her courage.

The buttery Pegasus mentally slapped herself. She’s not ‘your little Dinky’, she chided herself. She was Derpy’s little Dinky. The purple unicorn was only referring to Fluttershy as her “mummy” because her real mummy wasn’t there to comfort her around the clock. The thought that she was now starting to delude herself into thinking that she was a real mother made Fluttershy’s heart ache. She had been really enjoying looking after the little filly, and the thought of having to give her up – even if she was just returning her to her real home – made Fluttershy feel… jealous of Derpy. She extended a wing and discreetly booped herself on the side of her face with its longest feathers. She felt ashamed of herself for even entertaining the idea that she harboured any undesirable feelings towards the life that Derpy had. Sure, Derpy was a happy mother of two, even if Amethyst Star had moved out and got her own place, and… gee, Time Turner’s death must’ve been heart wrenching for her… but at least the wall-eyed mare had sweet, adorable little Dinky to come home to. But then again, Fluttershy had all her animal friends back at her cottage on the edge of town, all sitting in her living room waiting for her to come home, so she wouldn’t be alone, herself. But, somehow, that didn’t seem to be enough anymore. Four days ago, Fluttershy would’ve been perfectly contented to just go home to a cottage full of a couple dozen animals, tuck up in bed with a nice warm cup of tea and dream the night away. But now, after having a taste for what it meant to have a filly under her wing who saw her as the centre of her universe, she wanted more.

The Pegasus mare was broken free of her reverie when she felt Dinky’s tiny frame tense in her embrace. At first, Fluttershy feared she might have unwittingly tightened her fetlocks around the little unicorn to the point of uncomfortable. But, as she tried to pull her hooves away from the filly’s belly, she was surprised to hear Dinky let out a squeak as she hastily grabbed her hooves, pulling them back towards her tummy, even pressing them a little harder than they were, initially, around her abdomen. Fluttershy’s relief was short lived, however, when Dinky dove forward for the keyboard again and started frantically manipulating the controls. The Pegasus lifted her head to look at the computer screen and find out what had caused Dinky such distress. Her muscles tensed and her eyes dilated at the sight that greeted her. Vinyl Scratch was being held high in the air in the pizzeria’s disco hall by Red June, who was hovering under the disco ball and restraining the DJ unicorn with, what looked like, long black ribbons extending from her fetlocks. The emotionless mask that covered the filly’s face looked on unblinking as the possessed youngster began tugging on the ribbons, forcing Vinyl to perform some sort of spastic dance in mid-air, much to the DJ’s protest and horror. The filly-turned-puppet gave a sound that could’ve been a laugh – or maybe a choked sob of anguish? – at Vinyl’s desperate pleas for mercy. The more the unicorn tried to worm her way out of the ribbons wrapped around her limbs, the tighter their hold became. After a while of forcing the unicorn to entertain her, Red June seemed to grow bored of Vinyl Scratch, and began wrapping her ribbons around the defenceless mare’s shoulders and thighs, before slowly extending another ribbon from the slit where her mouth would be to wrap around the DJ’s neck.

The ribbon that extended from Red June’s mouth was different from the other; it was blood red and looked as if it was dripping thick, viscous fluid onto the disco room’s dance floor. Vinyl tried to pry the red ribbon away from her throat with her hooves, but a single sharp tug from Red June saw the end of that; holding her limbs akimbo so she could no longer resist her strong cinch. As Dinky tapped frantically at the keyboard, and Fluttershy watched the screen before her with bated breath, the undead pony puppet suddenly gave all five ribbons an almighty tug, making the bound DJ gag as the streamer around her neck tried to rip her head from her shoulders and her limbs from their sockets. Fluttershy whimpered in fear and helplessness at the sight of the pony’s suffering, while Dinky furiously pounded the computer’s keyboard, imputing code after code in an attempt to save Vinyl’s life. Vinyl tried not to make a sound as the ribbon around her neck tightened its grip, threatening to pop her neck any moment now, in an attempt to conserve her rapidly decreasing supply of oxygen. The puppet made another weird combination of sound and a painful sounding CRACK rang out through the computer’s speakers, followed swiftly after by Vinyl’s screams of anguish.

Fluttershy crushed her ears against her skull with her hooves to prevent herself being deafened by the agonised unicorn’s wails and Dinky slammed her hoof down on the keyboard, initialising her plan. The disco room was suddenly filled with flashing strobe lights and loud, thrumming, dubstep music, not unlike the kind that Vinyl Scratch was used to. The puppet, being taken completely by surprise by this new development, screeched and screamed an unearthly cry as its senses were relentlessly assaulted by the loud, obnoxious music and gaudy flashing lights. The puppet released its hold of Vinyl’s neck and limbs before fleeing the room, clutching her painful skull as she went. Vinyl went down to the floor like a sack of apples, landing with her full weight on her dislocated shoulder.

“ARGH! BUCK ME SIDEWAYS!” The wounded DJ swore, her voice just barely muffled by the abominable din. Fluttershy blushed and hastily cupped Dinky’s ears with her hooves, stretching a wing out to take hold of the mouse and click off the camera feed to another room in the restaurant, while Vinyl rolled on the disco dance floor, clutching her shoulder and cursing like an off duty nurse.

Dinky sagged into Fluttershy’s bosom, allowing her adopted mummy to hold her close as a relieved smile spread across her face from one ear to the next. The purple unicorn looked down at her flank at her new cutie mark; its dark green shield and binary wings spread proud as an eagle giving her smile an even prouder tone. She always told her mummy that computers could be used to help protect the ponies you care about, despite Derpy’s concerns about invasion of privacy through computer hackers, like she heard about on the news, and now she was living, breathing proof that her belief was well founded. The unicorn’s shoulders slumped at the thought of her mummy outside the restaurant, possibly worrying herself sick over the safety of her little Dinky. She was grateful that Fluttershy had humoured her wish of being a temporary mother to her; it meant that she didn’t have to die alone and, at least, pretend that she had her mother beside her to send her to sleep one final time. She took a moment to think about the things that had happened to her and the other thirty something ponies locked in this death trap of an eatery. She remembered Red June mention something about Thunderlane telling her about Fluttershy, and the kind of pony she was. But Thunderlane was dead and, no offense to either the Earth pony filly or the late Pegasus stallion, but she doubted that they had ever conversed, at length, while they were alive. Then, how would Red June have heard from Thunderlane what Fluttershy was like? Unless – and the mere thought of this theory made Dinky shudder – Red June found this information out from Thunderlane from… beyond the grave. The young filly trembled at the thought. But through hope or terror, she had no idea.

On one hoof, the idea of there being an afterlife terrified her. That would mean she could become a ghost, or a lost soul, if she had left any trace of unfinished business in the living world. But then again… if there were an afterlife… perhaps she would get to see her daddy again. It’d been a few years since the train accident that had taken Time Turner’s life, but Dinky never forgot the happy times she and her daddy shared together. She remembered all the games they’d play, and the adventures they’d have, both travelling to distant cities and distant planets in her father’s magic blue box. She missed her daddy, and that would probably never change about her. But at least she still had her mummy, her big sister, and now she had Fluttershy looking after her, if only until their little group could break out of this Tartarus pit. She looked up to see Fluttershy’s scared, but nurturing, face as she cradled her adopted daughter in her fetlocks. She really enjoyed bonding with Fluttershy these past couple of days, despite the circumstances. But the thought of losing all connection with Fluttershy, despite the fact that she and her mother were friends of friends, when she and the others were finally free of this place… it broke her heart. Dinky may have been a bit younger than the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but she was a bright little filly, and she knew things way advanced for her years. For example, she knew that sometimes two ponies who were both mares, or both stallions, sometimes lived together. She knew that Vinyl Scratch lived with a big name classical composer called Octavia, and it was no secret that Lyra and Bon Bon were living together as very special friends. She was also not oblivious to when grown up ponies weren’t telling her the truth. And her mummy had done this many times.

Since the day Time Turner had died, life for Derpy and Dinky got harder and harder. Derpy worked as a local mailmare and while she was very good at her job, she was prone to more than one or two mishaps while on the clock. For most other ponies, this would be grounds for her immediate discharge from the post office. However, Derpy had very quickly become a well-known, much loved, face to her many patrons, and the ponies of Ponyville were quick to act in protest to the threat of Derpy losing her job. Of course, even though her employers agreed to allow Derpy to keep her job on the condition that she kept to a minimum weekly accident quota, she still had paycheque reductions. Harsh ones, at that. With only Derpy earning a wage, and a barely liveable one it was too, the mailmare took to working two jobs, doing part time shifts for the weather team Rainbow Dash captained. It wasn’t easy, but Derpy managed to scrape together sufficient funds to keep her and Dinky sheltered, fed and watered, and still managed to find the money to buy her presents for birthdays and Hearth’s Warming. Dinky would help out by running the weekend paper round, and doing chores for the neighbours, who were more than generous enough to give her some money for a job well done in return. But despite all of this; despite the undying support of the residents of Ponyville, and everything Derpy and Dinky did to help each other, Derpy was depressed. She was diagnosed not long after her husband’s death, and it made her draw herself into her proverbial shell, blocking out any and all ponies for months on end, including Dinky on a few occasions. Even now, Dinky would hear her mummy cry herself to sleep at night when the pressures of everything that happened to her caught up to her. She closed her eyes and hoped that she may, somehow, persuade Fluttershy to become some kind of companion for her mother, once this terrible ordeal was over.

Dinky was jerked awake from her musings by a powerful slam at the office door. As she turned her head to find the root of the commotion, the CMC sprang into action. In almost choreographed movement, they flashed their torches in sporadic patterns, dazzling their sanctuary’s assailant. As the lights flickered, Dinky noted – not that she was surprised – that the robot at the door was none other than Fáfnir the dragon. Her hoof clenched in anger. He was the one that killed Red June, who only wanted to greet him with a cuddle. It was because of him that everything was now going to Tartarus. As the mechanical drake spazzed and sparked under the blinding assault of the three fillies at the window, Dinky admonished herself for holding a grudge against the robot. It wasn’t actually his fault that any of this was going on. He was an animatronic mascot, for Celestia’s sake. He was nothing more than a pile of metal and wires with software programed into his metal brain. He had no emotions, no morals and no sense of self awareness, so if anypony was to blame for the death of Red June and Thunderlane, it laid solely on the head of Sombra. Fáfnir continued to hammer the door, but at a slower pace than before, due to being dazzled by the alternating lights, until eventually coming to a complete standstill and marching, which noticeably more difficulty than before, back to his hidey hole.

Having held the fort successfully, Applebloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle all slumped together in a tense pile on the floor. Sweetie Belle wrapped her hooves around Scootaloo’s withers once they were settled on the floor and gently nuzzled her neck affectionately; a gesture which Scootaloo was all too happy to reciprocate. Applebloom let the two maybe-lovers cuddle up to each other while she lost herself in her thoughts about her family. The Apple family was well known for being the most hardworking family in all of Ponyville, and nopony would ever dare question an Apple’s strength, either in their morals or their physical prowess. Applejack and Big Macintosh were both well known for their physical strength when working the farm, and nopony would dare raise a hoof in threat of any of their family members, on pain of agonising torture at the hooves of Ponyville’s strongest ponies. Thinking about her family’s strength, however, made Applebloom realise that she wasn’t as strong as her siblings. If she were, she probably wouldn’t even be in this predicament in the first place. The farm filly thought back to when she asked Applejack when she thought she might be as strong as her, and Applejack told her that her strength would come to her when she needed it the most. Well, she thought to herself, Ah could sure use some strength right now, big sis. And yet, she failed to find that strength. The more she searched, the more it eluded her. The yellow Earth filly curled up tightly beside her friends, burying her face in the fur of her fetlocks to catch her tears. Suddenly, the possibility of dying in this place of nightmares and horrors never seemed as real as it did right now.

Sweetie Belle laid motionless in Scootaloo’s embrace, drinking in the smell of dust and pizza that radiated from her snuggly friend. The smell brought her comfort as she thought about how good a friend Scootaloo had been to her over the time they’d known each other. She and Scoots had been good friends for almost a year before including Applebloom in their little group. She always admired Scootaloo for her rough and tumble demeanour, and her tomcoltish personality, but she knew of a side to Scootaloo that very few ponies were permitted to see. Some fillies claimed that Scootaloo showed no interest in her appearance, allowing her mane to grow wild and unruly for instance. But Sweetie Belle knew otherwise. The flightless Pegasus took immense pride in how she looked, but only if she felt she looked cool, and enjoyed being watched when she turned a few heads with her style. Scootaloo was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a girly filly, but that didn’t go to say she was without her feminine charms. She was a cuddly filly, at heart, you just needed to make her feel comfortable and assure her that she wouldn’t be judged if she were to engage in tender displays of affection. Perhaps that was part of why Sweetie Belle developed her crush for Scootaloo to begin with. Sweetie was a very girly filly, enjoying a good pampering from time to time, playing with her dress up figurines when trying out new outfit designs to help Rarity with her constantly changing fashion lines, all the typical things one would expect of a filly her age. Scootaloo, however, was an adventurous filly, who loved showing off her strength and charisma with all the stylish flare of a typical colt. If it weren’t for Scootaloo and her bold, adventurous attitude, Sweetie Belle might never have had half the adventures she’d had crusading with her two best friends.

The pleasant reflection time was once again interrupted by a loud bang crashing around taking place in the ventilation shaft above. Without a moment’s hesitation, Applebloom dove for the light switch, plunging the office into blackout. Dinky switched over the camera feed to find the perpetrator clanging around in the vent. As she predicted, the night vision camera revealed Busby to be the robot clambering through the metal tunnel. However, instead of pausing and scanning for his position like he did every time before, Busby kept crawling through the shaft, blind as he was, in search of a way to the office.

“Ponyfeathers,” Dinky cussed, earning her a light brush on the cheek from Fluttershy’s wing that, she guessed, was supposed to be a disciplinary spank. She mumbled her apology and began pounding on the keyboard, keeping a wary eye on the computer screen to track Busby as he lumbered nearer and nearer to the office. Fluttershy held out her hoof toward the CMC for a torch, just in case Dinky wasn’t able to deter Busby in time. Scootaloo gave her torch a flick with her mouth, and it landed squarely within Fluttershy’s hoof. She gripped the torch’s handle and raised it to point at the grate that separated the vent from the rest of the office. Seconds ticked away to the ruckus of the metal bunny thumping his way through the ventilation tunnel toward his prey, while Dinky furiously hacked her way through the restaurant’s computer systems for a way to divert their soon-to-be-assailant. The numbers and data streams on the computer screen began to flicker, and Dinky took her cue to slam the keyboard and initiate her distraction. A couple of rooms across from the office, the adult lounge’s jukebox and television jerked into life, blaring out a cacophony of sound. The jukebox screamed to a deaf room with some sort of heavy metal scream, while the television bathed the room in a bright red glow with an image onscreen of some mare nopony in the office recognised wearing no more than, what looked to be, a bikini across her torso and lipstick on her lips. Fluttershy felt her face warm up as she realised what sort of channel Dinky had inadvertently flicked the television onto, and hastily flicked the camera feed to the vent, where she caught a glimpse of Busby crawling past the camera in pursuit of the red glow and blaring screamo racket.

With the third attempted attack attended to, the five ponies relaxed once again, analysing the room around them to come up with a sit rep in preparation for any future attacks that would inevitably come. The clock reported the time to be four in the morning, and the door – while somewhat recovered after Fáfnir’s assault earlier in the night – was struggling a little at fifty three percent integrity. Just two more hours, and they’d be free. Fluttershy kissed Dinky on the top of her head, prompting the golden eyed unicorn to snuggle deeper into her lap.

“I love you, mummy,” Dinky cooed, enjoying the calming warmth of Fluttershy’s belly.

Fluttershy tensed at Dinky’s words, unsure of how to respond. Fluttershy was well aware of the fact that Dinky was Derpy’s child, much as she would love to have the sweet grey filly as her own child, but over the last few days she and Dinky just… connected with each other, she felt. She truly felt like Dinky was her daughter, as horrible as she felt to admit that to herself, knowing that Derpy was probably right outside the restaurant right now, waiting to take her little Dinky home again.

“I love you too, my little Dinky,” Fluttershy murmured in reply, nuzzling her chin over Dinky’s hair affectionately. The young filly sighed contentedly, allowing her body to sag into Fluttershy’s lap as the Pegasus wrapped her wings around the little filly lovingly. Fluttershy mused over her feelings for Dinky. The unicorn already had an established family; a big sister, a mother… but no father figure after Time Turner’s passing. For a couple of minutes, Fluttershy entertained the idea of stepping in as a second parental figure for Dinky. She could picture it all in her head. Walks in the park, where Fluttershy would push Dinky on the swing set, or catch her at the foot of the slide. She could picture them both enjoying a quiet little picnic by the riverside, watching the sun set over the horizon before carrying the sleepy filly home and tucking her into bed with a lullaby and a goodnight kiss. The yellow Pegasus shook herself out of her musings with a sobering thought. Dinky already had Derpy in her life. It was Derpy’s duty, as a mother, to do those things with Dinky. As far as she knew, there was no place for Fluttershy in that picture. Unless, of course… she and Derpy were to… Fluttershy’s wings shivered as a cold trill rustled through her feathers. She would never deny that Derpy was a good looking mare. And she and Fluttershy were quite good friends years ago in Summer Flight Camp. But, try as she might, Fluttershy just couldn’t imagine her and Derpy becoming an item. It wasn’t that she didn’t think she liked mares, she’d always been curious since Rainbow Dash told her when they first became friends that she was a fillyfooler, but she just didn’t want to put Derpy through the same things Thunderlane went through when she dated him. If she were to try and pursue any sort of relationship with Derpy, romantic or no, she wanted to be sure she wouldn’t be doing a disservice to Thunderlane’s memory, assuming the very worst case scenario were to happen. To say nothing of potentially disgracing Time Turner’s memory for the same reasons.

A bloodcurdling scream awoke Fluttershy from her inner musings, and Dinky swiftly directed the camera feed to find the source. The camera feed fell on the corridor where Lyra and Bon Bon were hiding in the cupboard. But this time, they were not alone. Standing over them with raised talons was Philly, her razor sharp beak wide open, as if ready to swallow them both whole. The metal phoenix swiped down at the mares with her talons, narrowly missing Lyra’s eyes as the minty unicorn reeled back defensively. Unperturbed by her failed swipe, Philly struck out with her other clawed hand and grasped Bon Bon by the neck, hoisting the sweet maker into the air.

“NO!” Lyra screamed as she dove into the cupboard and retrieved a broom from the back corner. “Let her go, you creep!” The unicorn swung on her heels and lunged towards the murderous machine, brandishing the broom in her magic like a jousting spear. The tip of the broom’s handle embedded itself into Philly’s shoulder, staggering the mechanical monster as her balance was severely impacted from the force of a full grown pony throwing her full weight at her. The phoenix’s grip on Bon Bon didn’t falter, however. The clawed digits wrapped around the Earth pony’s neck slowly squeezed tighter, the claws threatening to burst through her skin and release her blood like a messy water balloon. Lyra grit her teeth, ripping the broom from Philly’s shoulder with a violent jerk before lunging forward again, running the phoenix through the abdomen, making the robot double over, smacking Bon Bon’s head on the doorframe as she buckled forward. The cream coated pony gasped at the collision of her skull to the wooden frame, but the force of the hit knocked her unconscious before she could comprehend why she was in pain. The Earth pony went ragdoll in the metal monstrosity’s grip, her chest barely moving as the grip on her throat tightened once more, the sharp talons slowly splitting the skin of her neck, drawing small trickles of blood. Lyra let out a barbaric battle cry as she savagely tore her improvised weapon from her assailant’s belly and jammed it forward once again, this time ripping into Philly’s jaw, ripping her lower beak off and leaving it swinging limply from the phoenix’s face by a few thin wires. This time, Philly’s grip on Bon Bon’s throat slackened, and the unconscious Earth pony fell to the floor with crack as her right hind leg buckled at an unnatural angle as her full weight collapsed on top of it. Lyra seized her opportunity to flee, swiftly gathering Bon Bon up in her front hooves and ran down the corridor on her hind legs, balancing herself with her tail as she went.

The office rang with stunned silence as the five observers of this amazing scene watched the fleeing couple with awestruck expressions. Dinky marvelled at the grace Lyra displayed as she ran on her hind legs. The young unicorn couldn’t imagine such a position would be very comfortable for a pony to stand in, much less to try and make an escape in. Fluttershy watched with her jaw nearly touching the floor at how valiantly Lyra had fought for her marefriend.  Philly could’ve very easily overpowered the two mares and snapped them over her knee like thin twigs, and yet Lyra turned the tables on the robot when her lover’s life was threatened, and emerged victorious through either pure strength, luck or stupidity – although Fluttershy suspected it could’ve been a combination of all three. As she thought about the display of chivalry, her thoughts turned once again to how Derpy and Time Turner used to be, and how little chance Fluttershy felt she had at living up to Time Turner’s good name.

Derpy loved Time Turner very dearly, and it was clear to all her friends that that stallion had made her the happiest she had ever been in her entire life. How could Fluttershy ever hope to live up to such a pony? Time Turner was a devoted husband and father, always putting the needs of his family first. He was made sure his daughters were never wanting for anything, and Derpy was never too far from his thoughts; he would talk about her with nothing but a smile on his face. Fluttershy could never be as much of a parent to Dinky as he was. She was nopony. She wasn’t smart or special or anything more than ordinary. Time Turner was a well-loved stallion who seemed to be known by every being in the universe. If Fluttershy were to stand a chance at being a second parental figure in Dinky’s life, she would have to give Derpy everything she got from Time Turner; which she just couldn’t see herself being able to do.

With all the subtlety of a reaper’s scythe, Fluttershy’s head was suddenly filled with a million hypothetical needles, which jammed themselves deep into her eyes and brain, filling her mind with pain unimaginable. She clutched at her skull and wailed in unholy agony, flopping out of the chair like a beaching whale. She landed on the carpeted floor with a dull thud, screaming bloody murder and begging some unseen sadist leering over her to show her mercy. Unfortunately, her tormentor was not kind and continued to probe her head with its rusty nails and blades, exploring the ways it could accentuate the suffering without allowing her the sweet relief of death’s caring embrace. Dinky, having fallen to the floor with her mother, quickly shook herself out of her temporary daze from having her head hit the deck and rushed to Fluttershy’s side.

“Mummy?” The little filly placed both hooves on the buttercup pony’s shoulder and gently pressed down into her flesh, frantically calling for Fluttershy’s attention. “Mummy, what’s going on‽ Mummy, can you hear me?” Dinky grew more and more desperate as Fluttershy’s body convulsed and shuddered, as if she were having a seizure, and her mouth foamed violently at the agonising sensations that threatened to rip her skull open as messily as possible. The unicorn filly wrapped her hooves around the suffering Pegasus, tears streaming down her face as she begged her mother to be OK and come back to her. The filly could think of nothing else to do to try and ease Fluttershy’s pain, but she tried the last thing she knew that made Derpy smile whenever she was upset; she sang her special song she always sang to her mummy whenever life seemed tough. Fluttershy’s ears turned toward the sound of Dinky’s voice as she struggled to keep her voice strong enough to sing for her mummy without breaking into tears. As the suffering mare listened, the pain in her eyes dulled down to nothing, and the needles finally retracted from her brain, allowing her to resume control of her body. Upon opening her cloudy, tear-filled, eyes Fluttershy found Dinky hugging her neck and weeping openly in fear of what her mummy might be going through. With her brain now clear from the agonising haze, Fluttershy’s newfound maternal instincts kicked into overdrive, and she swiftly enveloped the sobbing filly in her forelegs, peppering her salty cheeks with motherly butterfly kisses. Dinky, noticing Fluttershy was no longer screaming and was now covering her face in loving kisses, squeezed her mummy affectionately, nuzzling her neck as the last of her sobs wracked her body before giving way to giggles of relief.

A violent shattering sound rang through the air, soon drowned out by the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ screams as sharp shards of glass flew across the room. Fluttershy squealed in horror, clutching Dinky to her chest instinctively as she brought her gaze up to where the window once blocked off the corridor outside the office from their sheltered haven. There, staring in at them, was Busby, clawing at the air before him as he tried to reach in and prize one of the young fillies out into the corridor. The terrified ponies all scrambled back to the farthest corner of the room, in an attempt to get as far away from the robot bunny as possible. As they stared out the shattered glass into Busby’s cold, fibreglass, eyes, they noticed he wasn’t the only one stood out in the hallway. Slowly, the silhouettes of Fáfnir and Freddy lumbered into the hallway, followed not too long by Philly, whose jaw was still hanging limply from her maw. All together, the mechanical titans rammed their heavy forms into the door, causing it to bend and buckle under their weight. The ponies trembled, clutching onto one another’s’ fur, hoping and praying that somepony would swoop in and rescue them before the door caved in. Another slam from the door echoed across the hall, the door now bending at such an extreme angle that the hinges would clearly burst under one final shove.

“Sw-Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo whispered, her voice rough and hoarse from having screamed like she’d never screamed before in her life.

“Y-yeah, Scoots?” Sweetie Belle looked into her friend’s eyes, tears misting her vision at the thought that her next words could very well be her last.

“I-if we don’t survive… or, even if we do, and this thing with Button works… I-I just wanna say… I, um… I wish we had a chance to go out on our first date.” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both blushed at the tomcolt’s confession, Scootaloo suddenly finding the shattered shards of glass to be most interesting to look at.

“Me too.” The pristine white unicorn cupped her friend’s chin with her hoof and slowly coaxed her head up, allowing herself to plant a soft, loving kiss on Scootaloo’s lips. The Pegasus showed no resistance or hesitation, and leaned into the unicorn’s face to deepen the kiss.

Dinky nuzzled her face deep into Fluttershy’s fur, streaking the buttercup mare’s chest with her tears. “Mu-mummy… th-thank you for taking care of me.” Fluttershy shushed the whimpering filly soothingly and kissed her forehead to keep her calm. “I love you.”

“I love you too, my little Dinky.”

Outside the door, the animatronics hurled their weight one more time at the ruined metal barrier, breaking it off its hinges and piling into the office. The terrified ponies looked up to see the emotionless glares of the animatronic mascots, and the sadistic smirk of Sombra’s golden vessel standing in the doorway.

Outside the restaurant – as Twilight and company continued to drill their way into the restaurant, just seconds from breaching the black crystals that kept them locked out – the clock tower struck six times.