//------------------------------// // Chapter 11 // Story: Freddy's New Job // by ImmaGenericWriter //------------------------------// Her revenge was within reach. She had already dealt with one of the mares who had reduced her to this pitiful state. The other five would follow one by one. She wasn’t very happy that Applejack hadn’t been killed. But in the end that was even better since the mare gets to suffer as she did. Now there was only one more nuisance to be dealt with. The inquisitive Zebra was slowly piecing what was happening. If she found the truth then her enemies would be aware of her and attack her with those accursed Elements again. Even more distressing was the fact that some other force was interfering with her plans by helping the ponies. There was no other way that Applejack could possibly have gotten that mask. It was because of this that she had been forced to go back to the other world and ask the Puppet for help. While she could only force the haunted machines to do so much; he could make them go from meek entertainers to raging murderers in no time at all. The moment they arrived in Equestria, her ‘partner’ had vanished, leaving her to herself. With the night approaching rapidly, she set out to witness the removal one last obstacle. Zecora arrived at the location she had found Applejack a little bit after dusk. Some time had been lost in her search for her destination. She cursed herself for not paying more attention to where she was going when she followed that yellow bear. The light would fade soon, which would prevent her from gaining any information from the site of the attack. Wasting no further time, Zecora went straight towards the covered ditch. Moving the obscuring leaves out of the way, she got a good look at the blood covering the ground, confirming that this was where she had found Applejack. She began examining the area around her closely, hoping to find some hint as to what could have happened. It wasn’t long before the Zebra found a flashlight deeper into the ditch. This didn’t come as much of a surprise considering that the attack happened at night. Putting the light source into her saddlebags, Zecora continued her search in the dying light. Finding nothing more in the ditch, she began looking outside, but found nothing. This was a major cause of concern. How could Applejack have gotten into the ditch without any tracks —or blood for that matter — on the outside? With no other leads, she was about to leave when a blur of yellow appeared on the edge of her vision. She immediately spun to face the vanishing entity. She just missed it. It appeared at the base of a tree not too far away from where she found the farm mare. Zecora had a brief internal debate about trusting a potential enemy; but she eventually decided to follow it. If the bear had not come along, Applejack might not be alive right now. The least she could do is give it the benefit of the doubt. Approaching the tree, she began examining it. She couldn’t see any obvious scratches or fur on the bark. She glanced upwards, wondering if any answers might make themselves known there. The branches were snapped, there were deep gashes in the bark and claw marks that were barely visible in the fading light. Oddly the trees around it were unaffected, as if they had somehow climbed this tree without the slightest of indications before wreaking havoc on the branches above. Seeing that the sun’s illumination was nearly gone, the shamaness set out in a speedy trot towards her home where she could think over these new discoveries. Much later that night, Zecora sat at her table with the mask of Freddy Fazbear in front of her along with several sheets of paper containing the information she knows. She had been trying for hours to figure out what was going on. It was obvious that Applejack had been attacked by the creatures in the barn, but why had Freddy scratched the letters ‘BB’ into the floor? Even though she was very glad that Applejack was still alive, she had to wonder why. When she had found the farm mare she was barely alive and would have died had she been left there. Which brings up the question; why didn’t they just kill her when they caught her? She shook her head. This was all too confusing; she would ask Twilight for help when she returned from her trip to Canterlot. For now, she only wanted to crawl into bed until that time came. Behind you. All thoughts of sleep fled from the Zebra’s mind as she leapt to her hooves, shouting, “Who’s there!?” No answer. “Show yourself! Stop this now, or for a fight you must prepare!” Still no answer. Perhaps she had imagined it? I have spent too much time in that chair, She thought, glancing at the table where she had been working, I must get some sleep, it’s not like I’ll be attacked in my own home by— Her thought was interrupted by the window behind her exploding, sending glass everywhere. In place of the destroyed window was a bulky but damaged brown arm. —Freddy Fazbear. She finished her thought as she stared at the invader. She knew she had to run. She wanted to run, but the sight paralyzed her. The brown creature laughed merrily when his eyes found hers. “R-R-Run!” The mask! This time she obeyed the voice and grabbed the Freddy Mask along with the flashlight. She knew she would have to run; Freddy was stronger than a Manticore and tough enough to not even flinch after being stung by one multiple times. It would be suicide to be in a small space with him. As she began making for the door, she stopped. He would not be alone, the others would be waiting for her to emerge from the door before jumping her. She altered her course towards her bedroom where she leapt through the window above her bed. She didn’t look back, she knew that the chase was on. They would doubtlessly surround her if she tried to run towards Ponyville. Her only option was to go deeper into the Everfree and pray that she would either lose her pursuers or get to the the castle located deeper in the forest and seek shelter there.