The light flickered yet again, threatening to leave her in complete darkness.
Nope! Applejack mentally shouted before flicking the mask down.
Seconds later, Bonnie appeared before her. He stood completely still, but she knew how quickly that would change.
For what felt like the hundredth time that night, the flashlight briefly died before stuttering back to life.
Just like every time before, Bonnie vanished.
“Just a bit further…” Applejack said to nopony in particular. With the threat of death hanging over her head, even her own voice brought her some sense of comfort.
By now, Applejack had been traveling for several hours. Normally she would have reached the Zebra’s house, but the constant visits from her ‘guests’ had slowed things down a great deal.
She wasn’t sure if she could keep walking when they appeared. She certainly couldn’t test the theory. If she was wrong… Well, it didn’t bear thinking about. The stakes were the highest, that’s what mattered.
With that in mind, Applejack had decided to merely lose a few hours during her travel.
If it weren’t for the mask she had gotten, she would have been dead a long time ago. Ever since she had gotten the mask, her mysterious saviour had never appeared again.
With it though, she was safe. The monsters couldn’t get her as long as she was careful.
Her flashlight flickered once more, setting the routine in motion once again.
Back at the house, the only conscious inhabitant was busy staring out of a window. “She must think she is safe by now... At least that she has some sense of hope,” Balloon Boy said before closing his mouth, temporarily bringing his grin to an end. “Good.”
His eyes closed and he bent forward, allowing his arms to dip downwards. To anybody viewing the scene, it would look like he had fallen asleep on his feet.
Without warning, he snapped upright with his lips once more parted in his signature open mouthed grin.
“Foxy,” he began, as if speaking to an invisible person. “Crush it.”
A terrifying shriek pierced the silence that Applejack had been traveling in. She instantly recognised the sound and dove for the ground, bringing the mask down in the process.
Just like before, Applejack waited for the flashlight to flicker before she even dared to get up.
Strangely the light never wavered. It kept illuminating the area ahead of her.
Very, very cautiously, she got up with the mask still firmly in place. She tried to look around, but the mask was limiting her vision too much.
With no other options available to her, Applejack removed the lifesaving object. With speed that she didn’t know she had, she scooped up the flashlight to get a better look around her.
Sure enough, none of her pursuers were within sight.
Look again.
The voice gave her pause. She would have been a fool to ignore it. Applejack didn’t know who was talking, but the voice had saved her life just a few hours ago.
She finally decided to sweep the area around her again more carefully. She focused more intently on the areas obscured by leaves and branches.
Just to her left, she could see two tiny dots of white light that seemed to float in the air.
Holding the flashlight in her mouth, she lifted a hoof to adjust the lens, allowing a smaller but sharper light to be cast on the area. She immediately recognised the figure.
It was the same crazy fox that had attacked her brother and blocked her path to Ponyville earlier that night.
It seems the voice had saved her once more.
Following the routine once again, Applejack let the mask cover her head fully before looking in the general direction of the fox and said, “Not so tough now, are ya?” She grinned beneath the mask, allowing even more of her fear to dissipate.
Not really expecting a reply, Applejack lifted the flashlight so that she could easily see when it would stop flickering.
It took her a moment to realize that the light hadn’t even dimmed yet.
Confused by this, she lifted the mask and pointed the flashlight back towards the fox. It was still there. She put the mask on again and waited.
The light still remained constant, and the fox hadn’t moved.
Without a stutter or even slightest warning, the flashlight died completely.
MOVE!
Applejack rolled to the side just in time to see a blur of red and white swipe at the area she had just occupied. An instant after it passed, the light returned.
She screamed in fear. The exact same fear she had felt before she had gotten the mask. The fear of death.
Not wasting a second more, she grabbed the dropped flashlight and ran.
Even with the newest threat, she held onto the Freddy Mask in case one of her other pursuers decided to attack again. It would be foalish to take unneeded risks.
Sure enough, the flashlight began to rapidly go on and off again before Chica phased into existence mere meters in front of her.
She knew that if she slowed even slightly, the fox would catch her and it would be over. It seemed that she would get to test her earlier plan after all.
Not wanting to lose momentum by lifting a hoof to pull the mask down, Applejack threw her head forward and flicked it back as quickly as she could. The momentum caused the mask to slip over her entire head once more.
Using the small eye holes for guidance, she adjusted her path slightly to the right so she would not collide with Chica. Even if the mask prevented them from capturing her, it was unlikely that they would ignore her if she ran straight into them.
Like every time before then, the source of light went out completely for a few seconds before gradually returning. With her heart pounding from the combined fear-induced adrenaline and physical exertion, Applejack flicked at the mask to lift it up again.
Nothing happened. It had worked; Chica had been fooled even while she was running at full speed. Even with the grim circumstances, Applejack couldn’t suppress a whoop of joy.
With her brief moment of victory over, she looked behind her, shining the flashlight directly on nothing.
Huh? She slowed her gallop into a trot and gradually came to a halt. The fox wasn’t chasing her anymore. Perhaps they hunted in teams?
She looked just as carefully as before, but couldn’t see the red fox anywhere. Giving up on her search, she made to continue but was stopped when the area in front of her was illuminated.
The fox stood in her path, no more than five trots away. Its hook was raised and its jaw hung open, ready to jump at her.
But why isn’t it? Applejack had to ask. The mask was lifted up and she was standing completely still, an easy target. It was almost as if the light was keeping it at bay.
It was a long shot, but maybe she just had to focus the flashlight on the fox whenever she saw him.
But she had to know. If she was wrong, she wouldn’t survive if Freddy paid her a visit.
Steeling herself, she moved the light away from the fox for a moment before snapping it back on him. He still stood there, hook raised and teeth glistening.
He hadn’t moved even when she took the light away. From that she knew that there was a small time she could wait before she had to shine it on him. She could only hope that he wouldn’t strike when another one arrived.
Once more adjusting her path, Applejack moved on.
With all of her attention divided between keeping the light focused on the fox and keeping an eye out for the other three monsters, she never took notice of the crackling noise that filled the air.
The last thing she could remember was a horrible scream and a faint image of a red lipstick covered mouth filled with sharp teeth rushing towards her before she blacked out.