"Where are you, Springtrap?" String Play muttered as he trotted near Sugar cube corner.
A few recognizable ponies had passed him, mostly the ponies Twilight had described before, so as to say Rainbow Dash and... Uh, Pinkie die.
Yeah, Pinkie die.
He had been traversing this area for well over an hour now, the sun beating down on his back.
"Well, were here!" A familiar cheerful voice filled his ears. He swung his head back to see two ponies all too familiar.
A denim colored stallion wearing a security badge and outfit was trotting along with a purple alicorn, her mane a darker shade with two lighter stripes.
"T-Twilight..." String Play`s eyes shrunk. He galloped over to a random nearby building, and hid behind the wall.
She and... Badge Gleam walked up to Sugar cube corner. He held the door for her, and then, they were gone. Behind the frame of the door.
String Play could only sigh. He missed those two so much.
For the rest of the time, he just watched them eat. It was alright for him, considering how he spent five years confined to only switching between a few rooms.
After about thirty minutes or so, they left. Again Badge Gleam held the door, and Twilight went out.
They began to trot along the cobble road right by String Play. He slunk back behind a trash can, attempting to hide.
Badge Gleam was walking all fine, until he just stopped short.
"What`s the matter?" String Play could hear Twilight ask.
"N-Nothing... I can just... It`s nothing" he stammered as he glanced around near String Play`s hiding spot.
"Okay...?".
"I, um, i`ll be right back. Please, give me a second" he pleaded. Twilight nodded, though still confused.
Badge Gleam trotted down between the set of houses String Play was hiding in. He didn`t see anything, save for a few trash cans.
"Uh, hey, Twilight. I swear, I think I forgot something in Sugar cube corner. Do you, ya know, mind?" He asked, a bit on edge though.
"Oh, of course! I`ll be right back!" she called out as she began to trot back over to the place. Luckily, she didn`t use her magic.
Badge Gleam could feel the dark magic coming off and onto his body. It messed up his thoughts slightly, causing a bit of dizziness and such.
"Where are you..." he eyed the ally.
String Play stayed where he was, though he was unsettlingly close to Badge Gleam. The stallion shook himself.
He seemed to be having a headache of some kind...
And then it happened.
A green flame engulfed his body.
String Play watched horror filling his mind.
Once the flames dissipated, all that was left was a black alicorn like pony. It had two front fangs, and holes in it`s legs.
A blue chitin covered it`s back, and insect wings adorned that.
Two blue eyes covered the whole lid, making it almost unable to tell which way the thing was looking. It had no hair, save for a fin-like spine where the mane would be, but it did have a tiny tattered tail, a dark pale blue.
"Gah! Stupid headache!" the pony, still Badge Gleam, growled.
He let out a soft sigh, before looking out for the source.
"I can`t find the freaking source with it hitting me that hard!" He snarled, holding his head again.
"Badge Gleam, I didn`t find anything!" Twilight called out. Badge Gleam was about to check behind a trash can, until he heard Twilight. The bug pony quickly rushed away, the green flame giving him his normal body back.
"I`m here! I found it, too! Must`ve dropped earlier!" He called out.
String Play just stared for a while.
His friend... Was a changeling?!
"Hm..." Chica hummed to herself a small song. It was the puppet`s music box theme, a tiny tune that reached the ears of one certain stallion.
He had a bright yellow coat, much like Chica`s. His mane, though, was a light brown, and he wore and eye-patch over his right eye.
It bore the symbol of his cutie mark, a triangle with an eye in the middle. Luckily it wasn`t the Illuminati symbol, or well it didn`t stand for that.
Chica had noticed him watching her plenty of times.
She`d ignored him for the most part, but it was kind of hard to. He kept appearing in the most obvious hiding places, just... Eying her.
Finally, Chica decided to do something about it.
"... Hey, stalker, buddy... Could you, I don`t know, NOT stalk me?" she walked up to the yellow pony, whom seemed shocked that he`d saw him.
"Er, don`t look at me! Dark user!" he retorted, causing Chica to step back. Her eyes narrowed.
"Hey, what do you mean?! Dark user? I`m an earth pony, dummy!" she snapped. The unicorn in front of her had a chipped horn, and clearly he didn`t want to use it right now, though it did charge with a green... And magenta aura a bit.
"So? Your radiating darkness..." he studied Chica, circling her.
"Are you a changeling?" he asked, receiving an odd stare from Chica.
"What ever a changer ling is, I`m not that. I`m an earth pony" she pushed the stallion away. His eye-patch flipped up, revealing a magenta eye, though his other eye was green, causing Chica`s back to shiver a bit.
"Oh, right. Excuse me miss" he bowed down to her. The yellow mare was shocked.
"Weren`t you JUST annoyed with me?" she pointed out.
He raised his head and nodded.
"My name is Cognitio, miss. I am sorry, your aura is very... Distinct" he let out a hoof, which Chica took and shook lightly.
"Okay...?" her bottom lids were a bit up, considering his unusual behavior.
"So... Why is your aura different?" he nudged Chica. She contemplated what to tell him, but nothing came to her head.
"I don`t know...?" she guessed. Cognitio went out into la la land, a blank stare covering his face. Chica awaited a response, but non came.
She waved her hoof in front of him.
The stallion snapped back into reality.
"Oi, yes! I`d LOVE some pizza!" he cheered, making Chica 'eep!' before jumping back.
"Whelp, miss dark aura, I mus` be goin` now, stalk ye later!" he leaped away, bounding up and down as he traversed the next cobble street across from Chica, his pirate accent slowly fading from her hearing range.
"I, uh, bye?" she waved slightly. Cognitio was definitely some pony, for sure.
With a sigh, she continued back to looking for Springtrap.
"Are ye okay?" Foxy asked Goldy, whom nodded slightly.
"Y-yeah... Dear Celestia, I didn`t know he could fight" he mumbled. A rag had been placed on the wound, but he now had a black eye (stupid puns) and a bruised front leg.
"Well, you underestimated my strength, idiot" Vincent gave a smug expression off to the two, and only got a growl from Foxy.
"Don`t forget what I told ye, Vincent". The purple stallion immediately shrunk back.
"Heh, yeah..." he smiled sheepishly, "sorry".
"W-were gonna need the others, I have a feeling he`s gonna wait his time out in this place" Goldy tried to get to his hooves, but to no avail.
"Er, I can go get Bonnie, and then me and him can get String Play and Chica..." Foxy let out a mix of a sigh and a growl.
"And Vincent, can go get Freddy". The purple stallion smiled, of course planning to get out of there and away.
"But, if ye don`t go get him, Vincent, we will hunt you down" Foxy glared at him.
"Heh, o-okay... I`ll be on my way th-" Vincent was yanked back by Foxy.
"Oh no, yer coming with me for now".
Twilight hopped along with Badge Gleam, as they made their way towards the concert.
He had a distant stare on his face, which Twilight was now only getting annoyed by.
"Hey, dude" she waved a hoof in his face, making him snap back into reality.
"Y-yeah?" he asked, though a bit nervous.
"You okay? Actually wait, no. Tell me what`s wrong, I know your not okay" she ordered. Badge Gleam faltered in his steps, as if in thought at the moment.
Until he shook his head and gave out a weak smile.
"I just... Look, i`ll talk about it after the concert" he answered firmly, leaving no room for argument. Twilight only nodded, and they continued making their way along the cobble road. It was sunset now- they`d missed the beginning of the concert due to Badge Gleam`s job. (he has to sleep)
Minutes passed of normal walking, a bit of trotting, those kinds of things.
They eventually reached a large stone building, about the size of a football stadium.
A few lights hung on the outside, and a bit of mold hung around with vines on the top of the building.
"Um, you sure this is the right place?" Badge Gleam asked.
"Y-yeah... Let`s take a look inside" they made their way to one of four large glass double doors. Twilight willed it open with her magic, encasing the handle with a pink aura.
Inside, neon lights dotted the ceiling, and colorful banners strung from every corner of the place. The middle of the building was actually open, having no roof or lights.
Small shops representing other things like Poke`mon, costumes, the Triforce, and various other items dotted the walls.
The spruce colored stage was at the back, almost in the roof-less area, but not exactly. The whole place had a few hallways, mostly for backstage or bathrooms.
Twilight and Badge Gleam moved their way towards the stage area.
"Are you gonna join?" he asked her. She shook her head.
"Nah. I don`t think so", she pondered for a minute, and then asked, "Are you?". He shook his head too.
"Probably not. Maybe, not likely though" he replied.
"Were here" String Play said in a hushed tone. Foxy looked up only to nod.
Chica came in right after, panting.
"I`m not as fast as you-" her sentence cut off. He had told her it was important she come right now, but she did`t think it dealt with blood...
"Is Goldy alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, i`m f-fine" the golden stallion eyed her.
"So... Every pony`s here," String Play looked around, "but...".
"Freddy" Foxy growled, "That stupid purple idiot!" he snarled.
String Play looked at him, confusion written all over his face.
"What?".
"Vincent came back" was all Foxy said.
He got only more blank stares from String Play, and now Chica. Bonnie could only face-hoof.
"Aye... Let me tell ye `bout".