Chapter 7: Toy Maker
Thanatos smirked as he saw the pieces enter the Toy Wing. Then, he took one of the four golden pieces, the one that looked like a jack-in-the-box, and placed it.
"If there's someone who scares even me, it's Toy Maker. He loved toys when he was a colt, and he kept that love when he grew up. He loved to play with them, and he loved to create new toys for little ones to play. He considered the toys he created like his children, and he relished at seeing them do what they were created for: to be played and to make ponies happy.
However, Toy Maker was naive, very naive. He didn't know what happened to the toys he created, he thought that they lived happily ever after.
But one fateful day, everything changed when he saw one of his toys in a trash can, broken and abandoned. He recognized it. He remembered the filly he had given it.
He began to stalk the ponies to who he had given toys, observing them, following them, discretly. And again, and again, he saw that the majority of his toys finished broken. Children are just so careless... And the worst? Most of the children would be sad at first at losing a toy, but they would quickly forget about the broken toy and replace it by a new one, as if the previous one had never existed.
It broke him, to the point that he killed himself.
But in death, he gained the power to make those brats pay!
And now, he wants to play... With you!
Aah ahahahahahahahah! AAAH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!"
A creepy version of a familiar melody played as the ponies entered the first room of the Toy Wing. Before they could get a good look of the place, the door suddenly slammed shut behind them, and they heard a mad laugh coming from outside.
Scootaloo tested the door, seeing that it was now locked. "Well, we're stuck there."
"At least until we're done with this place, Ah guess," said Apple Bloom as she began to look around.
The room was barely lit, and the walls looked as if a child had drawn on them, with a grassland under a blue sky. There were flowers, some trees, a few clouds, the sun, and a rainbow. The last two were in the North wall, and "WELCOME!" was written on the rainbow in bright colors.
In front of the rainbow were toys, dolls, plushies, and puppets, all facing the ponies in a cheering position, the smallest (the size of a foal) at the front and the biggest (the size of Big Mac) at the back.
And under the rainbow, drawn on the wall, was a white earth pony stallion with black and white stripped legs and a black mane. It was impossible to see his eyes under his long and messy mane, but it was hard to miss his wide smile surrounded of black. All around the stallion, foals were drawn, some of them snuggling against him, all of them smiling, happy.
Strangely, some of the foals drawn looked like some of the toys present in the room. For example, there was a sky blue, red maned pegasus colt present among the foals, and one of the toys, a toy soldier, was a sky blue, red maned pegasus.
Arrows were also drawn in red, pointing at a door at the right of the toys.
And while they looked, the creepy music didn't stop looping.
"I would so nope the hay out of there if I had the choice," said Scootaloo. "And that music isn't helping."
«Be careful of those toys, I have a very bad feeling,» said Twilight.
"Well, when in doubt..." said Apple Bloom before she nodded toward Little Ghost.
The filly ghost understood and sent a huge ball of energy that exploded, destroying many of the toys and sending the others against the walls, damaging them.
However, none of the toys released a ghost. The ponies were relieved by this, only to look in horror as the toys began to reconstitute themselves. Before long, all the toys were repaired, as good as new, and they all turned to stare at the ponies, the ones that could smile giving the exact same smile than the drawn stallion. Some then began to laugh while others started to repeat "Naughtyyyy~."
"Naughty toy breakers~."
"Naughty fillies must be punished~."
Then, the toys charged at the fillies in a cacophony of wood and squeaky noises. The ponies fought them with air blasts, excepted Little Ghost who used her powers. The toys weren't that many, but some still managed to reach the ponies and began to attack them with whatever they had. It wasn't helped that they continued to repair themselves, so the ponies began to use elemental projectiles effective against the toys to weaken the ghosts bound to them more rapidly. When a ghost was weakened enough, they couldn't repair their toy body anymore and all it took then was to damage the body enough that the ghost will be forced out despite the bound. Normally, Little Ghost could use her power to force the ghosts out like she did back in the Gem Manor, but whoever bound the ghosts to those toys was apparently more powerful than her. Very certainly one of the guardians.
And as they feared, the first ghost to be forced out revealed to be the one of a foal, a filly. All the toys had the mind controlled ghost of a filly or a colt bound to them.
It was only when the battle was over, all toys destroyed into tiny bits, all ghosts captured, that the ponies let the horror sink in.
This guardian was even worse than Eternal Rest! At least, Eternal Rest didn't mind control the dolls! And this guy seemed to target foals specifically!
How bad the other guardians must be then?
Still, now that the room was littered with bits of destroyed toys, it looked even more gloomy than previously, so the ponies decided to advance, trying to not mind the music that was seriously starting to get on their nerves, never mind that it was making the place even more creepy.
After the door was a small hallway going West, entirely empty. The only thing of interest was more red arrows along the walls leading the ponies to the end of hallway where the exit door was.
The next room, however, was definitively not empty at all. There were several rows of sits facing a small puppet theater, and toys were sitting on some of the chairs while there were a few puppets in the theater, hanging from strings. When the ponies entered, all the toys immediately turned to look at them, still with those creepy smiles.
"The naughty fillies are here~."
"Let's play with them~."
"Let's bring them to Daddy~."
"Toy Maker makes all the foals smile~
With his toys made with style~.
But the foals fill them with holes~.
Pop! So go the foals~."
"And now they start singing..." said Sweetie Belle.
"Toy Maker... We know who's our target," said Apple Bloom.
"We just have to find him now," said Little Ghost.
A new battle began against the toys in the room, including the puppets who were able to free themselves. But now, the ponies knew what to do, so they fired at will at the toys. One by one, the toys were destroyed, and one by one, the ghosts possessing them, all foals, were captured.
"So, a toy maker who kills foals because they break toys?" wondered Applejack.
«And traps their ghost into toys,» finished E. Gadd.
«That's... There are no words...» said Twilight.
The door to exit the room was behind the theater and led to a long room that was absolutely filled with hundreds of toys of absolutely every kinds imaginable.
"D-don't tell me he killed that many foals," said Sweetie Belle in horror.
"Well, who knows since when he's 'working'," said Apple Bloom.
"And we're gonna have to fight all of them?!" asked Scootaloo.
As if on cue, all the toys in the room turned toward the ponies, smiling creepily, giggling, singing, repeating things about the fillies being naughty and what them and Toy Maker will do with them.
"Eeyup," said Apple Bloom before she turned into a ghost. She and Little Ghost then unleashed their full power to destroy as many toys as possible. If possible even, to totally disintegrate them to not give them a chance to repair themselves.
Meanwhile, the others had to deal with any toys that managed to approach. Thus, Applejack crushed the head of a doll shaped like a red maned colt in overalls armed with a knife, then tossed the body away as it started to repair. Sweetie Belle punched a pink and white teddy bear smelling like strawberries, and Scootaloo rolled over an army of small toy soldiers, making sure to leave fire wherever she rolled. Eventually, Apple Bloom had to return to normal, and she was almost immediately jumpscared by a monkey with cymbals that she promptly bucked into a potato-like toy that lost its face and limbs as a result.
The first ghosts began to be captured, but there were still many to come. At least, the ghosts could be used as weapons to slam on the toys to destroy them. The ponies didn't like to do this to brainwashed foals, but they weren't much given choice. Still, they had to puff air at the toys with their Poltergusts in red mode to send them away when there were too many circling them.
There were still many toys to come however, and the fight lasted long enough that Apple Bloom could turn into a ghost again, resuming her carnage that she started earlier with Little Ghost's help.
If only she mastered her powers, she could have certainly forced the ghosts out of the toys despite the binding. She was THAT powerful now.
More than once, the ponies were almost overwhelmed by the number of toys in the room, and a couple of times, one of them disappeared under a mass of toys before being saved by the others. Apple Bloom made sure it never happened to her because she wouldn't survive such a situation. And they stopped counting how many times the clones of goo were sent back into their tube.
But after a long battle, the toys were all destroyed, and it only took a few more minutes to capture all the ghosts.
"I never want to see a toy again!" shouted Sweetie Belle who was absolutely beaten, slowly regenerating. "Apple Bloom, do you want me to heal you?"
Apple Bloom looked over herself, seeing the many injuries she gained in this battle. Her body was hurting everywhere, and she was barely standing. "Eeyup, please."
Sweetie gave a nod, then began singing, successfully healing her friend who sighed in relief.
"Thanks."
"I'm surprised you need healing only now," said Scootaloo.
Apple Bloom gave a shrug with a giggle. "Ah'm that good Ah suppose."
"Hey, leave the ego to Scoot," laughed Little Ghost, making the pegasus pout.
After that, they finally looked around at the room, which was really empty now that the toys were destroyed. All that remained were two big puppets hanging against the far wall, both sides of a huge double door. The one at the left was holding a crank, but not the right one because the crank was missing.
This left them with only one door in the North wall, near the center.
It led into a much smaller room, about the same size than the theater room from earlier. This one, however, had various little sets like a castle, or an island surrounded in fake water with a pirate ship on it. Each sets had corresponding toys, like princess dolls and toy soldiers, as well as a few nutcrackers for the castle, and a spring dog was guarding it. Dinosaur toys were gathered in a corner, there were all kinds of animals in another, and even a collection of dolls at the effigy of the Wonderbolts.
"We all love Daddy Toy Maker~
He loves us like his foals~.
But if foals're troublemakers~
Pop! So go the foals~."
More singing came as the toys in the room turned toward the ponies. The battle that followed was thankfully easier than in the previous room, the toys being far less numerous. It still took a few minutes to definitively destroy all of them and to capture the ghosts, leaving the way open for the ponies to go to the next room by a door at the right.
The next room had even less toys, thanks Celestia. It was a living room, with a small round table in front of a chair, a shelf with some toys including a ballerina on a music box that played the same song that hadn't stopped playing since the ponies entered the Toy Wing, and a vase with a withered flower in a corner. A Jack-in-the-box was present on the table, currently playing the song, crank slowly turning. There was also a creepy clown doll with long limbs sitting on the chair, and a couple of plushies, a blue rabbit and a yellow bird, sitting on a couch against the East wall.
The ponies didn't wait for the Jack-in-the-box to come out to attack it, and the clown doll retaliated immediately by stretching one of its limbs toward Apple Bloom, wrapping it around her neck to strangle her. Applejack however teared the limb off, saving her sister. All the other toys then attacked, but were rapidly destroyed with the help of the elemental projectiles.
There was a door to the South leading to a restroom (nothing in it), and another North leading to a smaller room that just had a table surrounded by some chairs, a toy sitting on each of the chairs excepted the one at the head of the table. Once the toys were destroyed, the ponies then had to choose between a door at their left and another at their right. The left one, however, revealed to be closed, leaving no choice but to pass the right one which led to the kitchen.
It was a basic kitchen, table to prepare the food, shelves full of plates, food, and other stuff, drawers with cutlery, and so on. The only thing that wasn't normal was the presence of dolls armed with knives quickly destroyed, making a key appear. With the key, the ponies were able to unlock the door in the previous room and enter the chamber.
The missing crank was there, on the bed, but it was guarded by a family of puppets with, at their head, a puppet stallion wearing a tuxedo.
"If you want to reach Daddy Toy Maker, you will have to go through us first," said the puppet before he jumped at Apple Bloom, followed by all the others. Apple Bloom immediately turned into a ghost and sent a shockwave to repel the puppets, leaving them vulnerable to a violent counterattack from the ponies. It still took a few minutes to destroy them, especially the puppet with the tuxedo who revealed to have a lot more energy than the rest, to the point that he could even self-levitate and send some projectiles of energy.
Still, the puppet was destroyed for good, and the ghost who had been trapped in it, a pre-teen blue colt, was easily captured (made easier by him already being weakened). This left the crank free to take for the ponies. Before returning to the big room to put the crank back in place, however, the ponies still went to see what was beyond a last door present in the West wall of the chamber, which only led to a bathroom with a couple of rubber ducks in the bathtub. The ducks weren't even possessed.
So the ponies returned to the big room, and Little Ghost placed the crank back in its place. A couple of seconds later, the puppet beside it grabbed it, and both puppets began turning them, causing the large double door to open and letting the ponies enter the huge room that will be the arena of their battle against the dreaded Toy Maker. A huge round room where it was impossible to see the ceiling because it was covered in darkness.
The first thing they spotted was a giant box in the center of the room with a crank slowly turning, playing that same song.
The second thing they spotted was a work-desk with, on it, five puppets at the effigy of Apple Bloom and the others.
Toy Maker had already created toy bodies to trap them.
Then, the music of the box suddenly stopped, and the box opened, letting out a giant head on a black and white spring. The head was exactly the same as the one of the stallion that was drawn on the wall back in the first room, entirely white with a messy black mane covering its eyes and a wide, creepy smile surrounded in black. However, the ponies could also see the eyes, which showed pure madness as the head began to laugh crazily.
Wanna play?
TOY MAKER
The thing towered the ponies and constantly bounced up and down on its spring as it looked down at them.
Then, it lunged at Apple Bloom, mouth wide open, and the filly barely jumped back in time as the mouth snapped shut where she had been half a second earlier. It was at this moment that the ponies began to attack, mainly using elemental projectiles. Despite all this, Toy Maker suddenly managed to jump all over the arena with its box, each jump creating a shockwave that the ponies had to avoid with a jump.
Toy Maker eventually stopped jumping and lunged again, this time at Sweetie Belle, and she was saved from being beheaded by Scootaloo who pulled her tail. The head then began swinging left and right while keeping its mouth wide open, and it fired from it purple lightning bolts that caught the ponies off guard. Despite the pain caused by the lightning bolts, the ponies continued to attack without stopping.
However, despite its size, the giant Jack-in-the-box was surprisingly hard to hit. The head was constantly moving, bounced in all directions by the spring, and the only thing that was easy to hit was the box when Toy Maker wasn't jumping around. Speaking of jumping, it jumped again, this time jumping directly toward the ponies to crush them under its box. The ponies still managed to get out of the way, but Toy Maker then chased Apple Bloom, jumping after her, each jump creating a shockwave. It even went so far as to fire lasers from its eyes, sweeping the ground with them! Apple Bloom still managed to avoid all this, but couldn't attack as a result, being too busy running away.
Toy Maker did a sudden long jump and landed in front of Apple Bloom. As the filly jumped to avoid the resulting shockwave, Toy Maker then lunged at her, and Apple Bloom quickly turned herself into a ghost to avoid being devoured. The filly quickly attacked the head with her ghostly powers, causing some damages to it.
Then, Toy Maker returned in the box, and a few seconds later, the box exploded, letting out a giant, lanky, black and white puppet that now possessed the white head that was previously on a spring. The puppet was bipedal, with claws both for hands and for feet, and the body seemed to be very flexible, like the body of a snake. The puppet laughed, then placed a claw just above Applejack.
Purple strings suddenly came from the claw and attached themselves to the mare, to everyone's surprise. The next instant, Applejack was being controlled like a puppet, and there was nothing she could do to stop it as Toy Maker began to force her to attack Apple Bloom who had returned to normal.
"Bloom! Watch out!" she yelled.
Apple Bloom quickly jumped to avoid the punch of her sister, then ran to escape her as the mare followed her against her will. As this happened, the others did everything they could to save Applejack, attacking the puppet, and more specifically its claw. In return, the puppet slammed its other claw on the ground, then moved it toward the nearest ghost hunter, Scootaloo, while scraping the floor with the fingers, sending sharp energy waves toward her. The robotic filly quickly moved to pass between the energy waves and continued to attack, only to have to run when the puppet tried to just stomp her. At the same time, the puppet fired lasers from its eyes at the others, managing to destroy Applegoo thanks to them. Thankfully, the clone of goo was quickly back.
The arm manipulating Applejack was then destroyed, freeing the mare, but it didn't deter Toy Maker who then began to slither on the floor like a snake, trying to ram the ghost hunters this way and even trying to eat Apple Bloom again on the way. When it stopped and got up, a new arm then came from the ceiling and replaced the one that had been destroyed.
This meant that the only way to stop Toy Maker was to destroy the head, or weaken him enough that he would be forced to leave the puppet.
So the ponies attacked the head with everything that could damage it, and the puppet began to erratically move to make their job harder while it attacked by firing purple lightning bolts from its claws. After receiving some damage, the puppet then snapped its fingers, and the next instant, a couple dozens of toys were dropped from the ceiling a little everywhere in the arena, and they began to attack the ponies. As they were busy against the toys, the puppet took the occasion to place a claw above Apple Bloom, and purple strings came from it and attached themselves to the filly, taking control of her body.
Instead of using her to attack the others, the puppet placed her in front of a toy armed with a big knife, leaving her at its mercy. The toy was quickly rammed by Scootaloo before it could do anything however, but the pegasus filly was rewarded by a punch from Apple Bloom.
Applejack, Sweetie Belle, and Little Ghost attacked the arm controlling Apple Bloom and eventually managed to destroy it and to free the filly. Then, before the arm could be replaced, the body of the puppet, well damaged by then, was also destroyed by a well placed energy ball from Little Ghost. Without body, the head dropped on the floor and rolled a little before stopping. The ponies thought that it was the occasion to destroy it, but then, the head began to float by itself.
It didn't even need a body to move.
So, as the ponies finished the last few toys, the head began to chaotically float in the air all over the arena, firing lasers and projectiles of energy from its eyes. After a while, however, it stopped and went to the ceiling, into the darkness. A few seconds later, it came back, dozens of limbs ending in claws now attached to it, like some kind of mutant pony-headed spider.
Oh, and the head was upside down.
It became incredibly difficult to hit the head, most projectiles hitting the limbs instead, and it wasn't helped that the thing was now randomly running in all directions, and it was very rapid! The ponies had to constantly move to get away from it. And to make it worst, with all its limbs, it could attack a lot, sweeping the ground with them, firing projectiles, or even trying to grab one of them.
Still, one by one, the limbs were destroyed, leaving more places for the projectiles to hit the head.Each destroyed limb also made the fight easier. Toy Maker became slower, had less means to attack, and just was more vulnerable.
And so, after a few more minutes, the head finally crumbled into little bits, and the remaining limbs dropped.
With the head destroyed, Toy Maker was left vulnerable.
The stallion was exactly like depicted by the drawing. A white earth pony with a messy black mane, black and white striped limbs, and a large crazy smile. However, contrary to the puppet whose eyes showed pure madness, Toy Maker's eyes were entirely black and were leaking a black liquid. Black tears?
Despite his situation, Toy Maker laughed.
"My children are all suffering~...
They're falling in pieces~...
Naughty foals must be punished~..."
Suddenly, he charged at Apple Bloom, gathering a dark energy around his hoof, ready to strike.
"Pop! Goes the filly!"
Apple Bloom suddenly flashed her Strobulb at max power on his face, making him stop and yell. She then activated her Poltergust, caught him, and slammed him around until she could use the Power Surge at max power.
And Toy Maker finally disappeared in her Poltergust.
The next instant, a golden key with a draconequus skull appeared.
Apple Bloom grabbed it.
"Pop! Goes Toy Maker..."
Thanatos flicked the golden piece, making it topple.
"One down... Three to go."
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Scared.
I'm used to it being spelled naive.
A Mr. Potato Head reference?
As the Mario head from Mario Teaches Typing 2 would say, "I'm-a gonna fly for you! *imitates an airplane while flying around*"
Also, the battle against the Toy Maker reminded me of certain other boss fights. Was it inspired by that one Jack-in-the-box fight from Donkey Kong 64, or the King Dedede battle from Kirby's Epic Yarn or Masked Dedede from Kirby Triple Deluxe (in both battles, the king was controlled by marionette strings)? The spider form sounded familiar as well, but I just can't figure out the reference.
This made me think of the ghost kids in Ghost Hunter
From what I can tell there are 10 creepy toy references in this chapter. Maybe more or less I might be wrong but either way this chapter was worth it. (Proceeds to drink orange soda.)
It makes me feel Naughty...
Never trust the duckies.
Lastly, the boss fight with Toy Maker is certainly an intense battle. I was on the edge of my seat reading this part. I am eagerly waiting for what happens next.
10341138
Corrected, thanks.
Yep, and many others.
I remember this!
I was like "WTF?!" for two whole minutes.
I had totally forgotten about the Jack-in-the-box boss from DKC64. As for Dedede, not at all. The only inspiration I had was the Puppet from FNAF for the puppet's general appearance and the creepypasta Laughing Jack for Toy Maker. As for the boss that the spider form makes you think of, it must be Mimi from Super Paper Mario, with more legs, and scarier.
10341150
I don't know about this series.
10341319
So...
-The colt doll in overalls with a knife: Chucky
-Pink and white teddy bear: Lotso from Toy Story 3
-Army of small toy soldiers: images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/818Fm7gyKNL._AC_SY445_.jpg
-Monkey with cymbals:
-Potato toy: Mr Potato Head
-Spring dog: static.fnac-static.com/multimedia/Images/FR/MDM/55/cd/a5/10866005/1540-1/tsp20200228140810/Figurine-articulee-Disney-Toy-Story-Zig-Zag.jpg
-Creepy clown doll: The clown from Poltergeist static3.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Poltergeist-Clown-Doll-Attacks-Robbie.jpg
-The blue rabbit and yellow bird plushies: images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/4121FBXjRBL._AC_.jpg
-The pupper in tuxedo: Slappy from Goosebumps vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/1/15/Slappy_the_Dummy_%282015_film%29.jpg/revision/latest/top-crop/width/360/height/450?cb=20170125021624
That's all of them.
And if you found the fight against Toy Maker intense, then imagine the fight against Thanatos.
10341150
It's a game.
10341666
I see. I will take a look at it.
10341667
Check the enemy that is a girl with a teddybear
10341668
That little girl with the teddy bear? i.pinimg.com/originals/8b/23/79/8b2379bbd3d868dc681d4dfebb216ec5.jpg
10341672
I had nightmares for a few days when i saw that thing in-game
10341673
My gosh...
I imagine...
10341665
Yeah, not many people remember that game. Usually the only people who know that Mario head or his voice clips either are Mario veterans or watch SMG4's YouTube videos.
Remembering games like Alice: Madness Returns really helped me get through this chapter.
10736200
It's only recently that I saw how similar Toy Maker is to the final boss of this game after watching some videos of it. His puppet body's body-shape as I see it also reminds a lot of the Mad Hatter's.
That was... Disturbing. Even by my demented mind.
That was... Disturbing. Even by my demented mind.
10970231
Darn. My mind must be pretty bucked up then.
10970235
so much so you somehow managed to submit the same comment twice....
10970231
no, seriously.
I feel like the Apple Bloom's Mansion series is far darker than The Phantom Filly and Sweetie Dreamland Stories. Apple Bloom also feels the most vulnerable of the three of them throughout her journey.
11544310
Yeah. That's because Apple Bloom doesn't really have any power contrary to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. She just has the Poltergust and her ghost transformation, which is time-limited.
And yeah, Thanatos and his sadism really makes it darker, which is something because there are very dark stuff in A Sweetie Dreamland and The Phantom Filly.
11544553
I feel the big thing here is a lot of main characters die in this series compared to Sweetie Dreamland and The Phantom Filly. Thanatos feels like the most deadly villain because of the results of his actions.
11545002
Yes. His body count is dramatically high. Directly and indirectly through his minions. He really lives up to the "Death" in his Spirit of Death title.
11545010
I feel this is how I rank them in terms of darkness.
1st Apple Bloom's Mansion Series Multiple Deaths of main characters, lot's of psychological horror and collateral damage.
2nd Phantom Filly A huge war and some ponies do get caught in the crossfire. A single fairly short story so there is only so much room for dark stuff.
3rd Sweetie Dreamland While there is some psychological Horror elements and spooky forms. There is a lot of friendship being thrown around and Sweetie Belle has a huge friend group to help her through really tough times. Only a few bad guys actually die. Many end up being reformed.