Left! Zecora immediately pointed the flashlight in that direction, but only caught a glimpse of red fur and two white dots before it vanished.
Right! She once again pointed her light source to where she saw movement, but only got a quick look at a large brown body and a smiling face before that too disappeared.
This had been going on for hours. It wouldn’t matter if she galloped or trotted, her hunters would always remain at the edges of her vision, as if corralling her somewhere. This is not a fair fight!
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t find out where she was being led. From time to time, Chica would appear ahead of her, forcing her to go to the sides, confusing her further.
Each attempt she made to defy her set path had been met with a swift end. No matter which direction she went, Freddy would appear in front of her with his arm outstretched. It was hopeless to resist, and she knew it.
Left.
That voice… There was no mistaking it; it was the same voice she heard at her home moments before she had been attacked. The same one that had told her to take the mask that she still held tightly onto.
LEFT!
She had two options; either keep getting led to certain doom, or take this opportunity to attempt an escape. This is an easy choice.
Gritting her teeth, Zecora darted to her left, going from a steady trot to a full-on gallop. She hoped that the sudden change in pace would buy her a few precious seconds.
Another glimmer of colour appeared, this time directly in front of her. It was the same yellow, eyeless Freddy that had taken her to Applejack.
He was sitting slumped over in front of a purple Heart’s Desire flower, one of his arms pointing past a calmly flowing river. The Zebra looked to the other side, hoping to find what he was pointing at, but could not see anything of interest.
A piercing shriek behind her was all she needed as motivation and sprinted onwards, not noticing the Golden Freddy fading away.
Save them. Please.
High above the tree line, a dark indigo cloud with serpentine eyes was observing the events unfolding beneath her.
She was enjoying every moment of it. The terror on the nosey Zebra’s face, her sense of hope slowly being rekindled as she swam through the river. Crushing that little bit of hope would make victory all the sweeter.
Initially she had been irked that the black and white mare had not been dealt with immediately, but now she couldn’t get enough of it. The mental torture had been going on for hours, no doubt it would go on for many more before the animatronics would put it to a bloody end.
A face of white, purple and red blinked into existence directly in front of her. The smile built onto its mask reflected her feelings exactly. “Marvellous job!” She commended, completely honest. “There are six more after this one, I am positive that you will make their ends as enjoyable to watch as this one.”
A stare was given in reply.
“Yes, yes, I will keep my end of the bargain.”
The stare intensified.
“What? Now?”
A nod was added to the stare.
The cat-like eyes narrowed in challenge. “No, that was not part of the deal.”
She couldn’t remember when the change happened, but the gleeful smile on the mask became a fierce scowl. The Puppet lifted a single arm and the area beneath them got filled with animatronics.
“Ha!” The cloud barked out in amusement. “As if they could even get near me! You should be grateful that I’m doing you this favour at a—“
Whatever she was going to say was roughly cut off by The Puppet’s arm gripping the edge of the ethereal cloud. As he rushed towards Freddy’s open arms, his sadistic smile returned.
“H-How?!” In a panic, she tried to teleport away, but found her magic being blocked by the hand that gripped onto her. She couldn’t even move, no matter how hard she tried. They were now close enough to the awaiting animatronics that she could count the teeth inside of Chica’s mouth.
“Wait! I’ll do it!” Normally, she would not be intimidated by this tactic, as she couldn’t be hurt by mortal means. But she also knew that no mortal could touch her if she does not will it to be so.
Both of their descents stopped immediately. The Puppet went back to staring.
“I’ll get you for this.” She growled out before the entire cloud shimmered and disappeared.
Thump Thump,
Thump Thump,
Apple Bloom groaned; her half-sleep disrupted by the noises from outside her room.
After Zecora had left, she spent some time with Balloon Boy until Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo arrived. The comfort her three friends had provided cheered her up immensely, but sleep nimbly avoided her as her thoughts kept drifting back to Applejack.
Thump Thump,
Thump Thump,
With her curiosity overpowering her need for sleep she threw off the blankets covering her and silently made her way towards the door.
Lightly pulling back on the handle, Apple Bloom stuck her head out to get a good look of the hallway. There was nothing but darkness.
Perhaps she had just imagined it? Just the strain of the past few days taking a toll on her mind. Who would have even made those noises? Applejack was at the hospital, Big Mac was in no condition to walk around, — especially after he carried Applejack all the way to the hospital on his injured leg — Granny Smith wouldn’t be up at this hour and Balloon Boy was too small to make such a noise.
Ah need some water… Fully swinging the door open, the youngest Apple lazily went to the bathroom, hoping that a bit of hydration would help her sleep.
Immediately after she set hoof outside of the door, she heard a low hiss. She had no time to be confused by the strange sound as she dropped to the floor, unconscious.