Tag: fluttershy

Pirouette

Posted on by Nolan Slover (Note Worthy)

I had to sit down and let my eyes adjust.  Fluttershy was nuzzling me gently, with Pinkie next to the two Chicas.

Rarity?  She’d almost glomped Bellora the second she saw her.

Then Bellora opened her eyes.

I was scared what might happen.  Given how things in this universe normally unfold, I was expecting to be dead in a moment.  Given the reaction I got from Chica, I think she was just as shocked.

Her eyes were a ruby color, they sparkled as if there were pieces of the valuable gem in the construction of the animatronic ballerina.

“Madam, as much as I enjoy the attention, could you please let go of me?”

Rarity let go–reluctantly.  There was a bit of disappointment in the eyes of the fashionista, but it was short lived.  I looked at Bellora for a minute before opening my mouth to speak.

Usually this has ended poorly with this group of individuals that I’ve been around.  Normally there’s a threat to stuff me into a box or make me one with a springlock suit soon following.

Your eyes are pretty.

“Thank you.”

Chica groaned.  “Don’t you even try to … sheesh, Whimper, I can tell you right now she is not your type.”

What, attractive and imaginative?

“No. Intelligent, and the fact that she’s a robot kind of adds to the equation.”

“Sis!”

“What?  He’s an adult, he should have a girlfriend or something… I mean, come on, one of us with one of them?  Not happening.”

“Where are we?” 

Fluttershy’s question was answered quickly by Bellora.  Rarity’s distance from the ballerina had seemed to decrease; whether noticed by the animatronic was unclear.

“This is Circus Baby’s Pizzeria.  I am Bellora, one of the featured attractions here.  You are… curious, yellow pony with wings.  A unicorn, and a pink colored pony as well.  And a human.  You are from… Freddy Fazbear’s, correct?”

Chica nodded.

“How did you get here?”

“Emergency exit. Springtrap sort of decided to hold a mini revolution and created spring-lock versions of myself, Bonnie, Foxy and Freddy who are now lokiing for us.”

“Who is Springtrap?”

“A long story that I don’t want to get into right now.  Suffice to say, bad news.”

“I see.  Could you close the door, please, there’s something unpleasant coming from the room over.”

Huh?

OH DEAR GOD.

It took my brain a moment or two to realize that dark feeling was the fastest moving animatronic in the whole place. And she still had my phone.

“Have you met with your maker today?  Get over here, Whimper!”

I forgot about Mangle.

Looks like Rarity’s chance to glomp Bellora was going to need to wait.

“RUN!”

Fluttershy’s call to action seemed so far away.

And Mangle was getting close.

Previous Guarantees Do Not Apply

Posted on by Nolan Slover (Note Worthy)

The puppet had been gone for about three minutes, the huddled mass of me, Toy Chica and her older sister, and the three ponies sitting in the relative silence, each tiny sound from the halls being analyzed and listened to intently by those who were able to tell us the most useful information and leave out the rest.

We had–through sheer force of will–convinced Chica to stay put rather than rushing headlong into what would likely be a trap or end up getting one or more of us captured.  Earned me a jab to the side, but I’d rather deal with a bit more pain than losing one of our own.

Fluttershy had gone over to Chica to try and forge some sort of peace, which earned her a derisive snort from the animatronic who then closed her eyes and did the best she could to render herself immune to the meek yellow pegasus’ Stare.  Pinkie was oddly quiet, mostly from Rarity’s wishes as well as the attention she was getting from Toy Chica.

That left me to think.  Springtrap was the scariest thing I knew existed in this realm; even my short exposure to some trailers of the Sister Location game had rendered Baby tame in comparison.  It’s not saying that I should consider her any less lethal and dangerous as Springtrap–her methods were far more methodical and playful.

And if the way he had basically started this game was any indication as to his unpredictability, we were in a lot of trouble.  I remember watching my friend’s video of a spring lock suit in the game… the thought of being in one was altogether unpleasant and terrifying.

The knowledge that it would be either Chica or Springtrap putting me in one eventually was one that I tried to banish from my thoughts as soon as it entered my mind.

When the door creaked open, none of us knew what to expect.  I was prepared to have my existence come to a rather painful conclusion.  I now was wondering what my body wound undergo as I was stuffed inside one of the suits, how it would push at my body and perforate limbs, organs, my very soul potentially.

Hell, if it means I could be a force for good to rally against Springtrap, I’d accept that death with as little problem as one could.

The puppet came back in, no light in his wake as he slowly came out of his box.

His face looked as if he’d been put through a blender; scratches and marks from where something had worked at it, almost down to his exoskeleton.

“They… are hungry.  They are all hungry.  If we are to survive, we will need to find another way around.”

“NOW can we try my way, Whimper?”

I shook my head in the dark, admitting that I was at a loss for what to do next and that the ones that knew the place better were likely the best choice for the direction forward.

Yes, Chica… let’s go with your plan.

“Good.  Sis, Fluffball, you two, follow me.  Access door shouldn’t be that hard to find, and right now I really feel like punching something.”

I quickly surmised that had the desire to stuff me in a suit not been overwhelming, the large chicken would have taken great pleasure in using my face as a punching bag.

There was a small hiss as the doorway opened into the access hallway.  It was, similar to the everywhere else in the pizzeria, dark with not so much as a trace of light.  Chica herself had to feel around the inside of the walls to make sure it was where she remembered it to be.

“Well, this is the right room.  Everybody follow me, and stay close and quiet.  Mari, you need to stay behind and watch for the others.  I’ll come back for you when we’re safe.”

“That means you won’t be back at all, Chica.  There is no safe place here anymore, not now.”

“Shut up you damn pessimist.”

”I am merely being accurate about out current situation.”

Chica didn’t respond to Mari, only continuing ahead.  Toy Chica was the next to go, and the ponies and I brought up the rear.

We walked for what seemed like five minutes in the black-as-death corridor, claustrophobia playing a tune on me like an awkward friend who’d overstayed their welcome.

A door greeted us at the other end, as well as something odd; light.

Uhh, Chica, is that…?

“Probably a trap?  Maybe.  Could also be a way out to getting the ponies to safety.  Let’s see what’s behind Door Number 1!”

Another mechanical whine, and our world became a blinding flash as we had adapted to the lack of light.

The where we ended up made me confused for a second before I realized the who.

The accent in which the ballerina spoke confirmed my thoughts.

“Who are you?”

Not sure if this is bad to worse.  I’m still deciding.

Shadows Aren’t Useful in the Dark

Posted on by Nolan Slover (Note Worthy)

The remnant of the cupcake on my tongue turned slightly bitter as I swallowed.  Why him, and why now?  It seemed like this place simply hated me, and now there were three innocents that happened to have fallen through… some stranger inter-dimensional gap or some shit… hell with it, I’m done trying to figure out how this what is going on, because all I’m succeeding in doing is getting a headache.

Rarity’s horn glimmers in the darkness, allowing for a bit of illumination to light up the room for a moment.  She then let out a whimper of pain.

“What in Equestria? My… my magic’s being pulled away from me!  Sorry, darlings, but I won’t be able to provide any illumination.”

It didn’t take more than two seconds for her magic to fizzle and spark out, dropping the room into renewed darkness.

Wait…. where’s Mangle?

“Why do you want her now, Whimper?”

Because she has my phone.  And it has a flashlight on it.  Which would come in very handy at the moment.

“You have a phone that you take with you?  What good is that; you couldn’t make any calls with it.”

Oh.  That’s right.  Mangle seems to get it, but they don’t understand about the technological developments that we’ve done in the last thirty years.  Which… isn’t really a bad thing, because then they’d all be lost trying to get it from her.

I’ll… explain later.  Toy Chica seems to be satisfied with this response and looks around, trying to turn on her eye lights…

… which turn off the second she goes to turn them on.

“Uhh, sis?  Is this normal?”

I look in the direction of where I last remember seeing Chica and hear her voice.

“Normal for when that stinky bastard does his crap.  But… this feels different.  Almost…”

Pinkie, you just…

“Magical!”

We all jump slightly as the party pony exclaims her observation.

“It all makes sense now!  I knew I was getting some pretty weird feelings with my Pinkie sense before we fell through the door.  And there’s some pretty creepy magic going on in here… wheee!  Let’s go find it!”

“Uhh, let’s not, you hyperactive fluffball.  If I heard Stinky correctly, there’s four new animatronics wandering the halls of this place that want to put good old Whimper there into a spring-lock suit.  Also, I think that they wouldn’t mind pulling pieces off of us in case they needed anything.”

I hear the whine and cadance of the larger Chica’s servos make their way toward me.

“And just so we’re clear Whimper… I still want to stuff you into one of those.  The only reason why I’m not going and fetching them is that I want to be the one to do the honors.”

I feel one of her metal arms brush against my cheek.  It is the most unnerving feeling, the cold, slightly rusted surface touching me.  Her words come breathlessly into my ear, each one a silent dagger heard by nobody but the two of us.

“Do we have an understanding?”

Y-y-yes, C-Chica.

“Good. Now, I think we shouldn’t stay here long because if I were a spring-lock version of myself…”

This would be one of the first places you’d look?

“Well, we can’t stay here, sis.  Let’s start walking around and trying to find the exit.  We can at least get Whimper outside and his pony friends.”

“Do you think he would make it that easy, Toy Chica?  Springtrap is… hungry for the innocent and blameless.  These new equines that have come into the pizzeria are like the flame for the moth.  Getting to safety will be a challenging endeavor, if nigh impossible.  I will go and scout the hallways before any of you leave.”

I can’t really argue with the puppet’s logic; even in his demented talk, he’s got a good point.

“But, Mari… we can’t…”

“You can, and you will, let me do this. If we are to have any chance, somebody must test the waters, and I will be highly harder to spot if I go back into my box.  Now stay here until I tell you to go.”

There was the sound of grinding metal against the floor as he went for the exit, opening to the equally dark hallway.  A moment later, he was gone.

The silence was deafening as we craned our respective ears against the wall, seeing what we could make out of what was going on.

In the pitch black, our eyes tried to adjust to see anything we could; I could imagine the animatronics were having better luck by their general knowledge of the place.  My pony friends and I were having no luck, needing to huddle together and discuss a plan.

“Ugh, I’m tired of this waiting crap.  There’s an access door hidden in the wall behind us.  Lights might be out but the power’s still on.”

“They’re not going to try and… *gulp* scrap us, are they sis?”

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

I sure hope you’re right.

Unhinged

Posted on by Nolan Slover (Note Worthy)

I finish off the cupcake right as the door opens.

Chica looks at me and grins.  I can see the malice in her eyes.

Her sister looks at her and clears her throat, motioning to Fluttershy.

“Spoilsport.”

“Sis, you promised.”

Chica still fixes me with her gaze.  She says what she can’t with her eyes.

“There you are, Fluttershy!  We were worried about you.”

Fluttershy smiles.  I melt a bit.  Or is that the throbbing in my arm?

Toy Chica and her sister blink.

“Well, crap.  Now there’s three of them?  I tell you one thing, sis; if you start trying to doll-ify me, I’m out of here.”

Yes, because that would be the worst thing that could happen to you, right Chica?

I forgot how fast she moved.  And… boy, does her breath stink.

“The worst thing… that could happen to me… is to be forced to… entertain you, Whimper.”

No, it’s fine, Chica.

Fluttershy gives me a gentle nibble on the shoulder and then looks at me.

“Now, let’s not antagonize the nice tall chicken, Whimper.”  

Following Fluttershy’s advice seems very wise.  I take it as she opens the first aid kit.  Toy Chica sits in front of me.

“Big Sis told me the story.  You’re… just a tourist, a stranger that happened to wander by and wondered what it was inside of here.”

I hang my head, looking down at the tile of the party room.

I… I was curious.  I’d just heard what it was all about and wanted to see first hand, do something that I might normally not be brave enough to do.  I… didn’t know that it would be so serious and cause such problems.

“It seems that in his desire to learn, he found danger beyond his ability to know, and as such wishes to forget that which he now understands.  What is easier, though: to pour sand back up through the hourglass, or to add the rain back to the cloud?”

I looked over at the puppet in the box that… seemed to appear out of nowhere.  I question why it’s there, and then I remember that Rarity and Pinkie Pie are here.

My question loses its validity before I ask it.

Look, Chica… Big Chica, too… I know what happens to the Night Guard.  I know what happens in here.  It… it was as Mangle said to me; bravery that got confused with stupidity.

“You’re just lucky that Springtrap didn’t come out.”

“Who’s Springtrap?”

Pinkie wasn’t bouncing, and her partying demeanor seemed to have turned off a bit as she looked around to the assemblage of animatronics and ponies, and this one stupid human.

Chica gave Pinkie the “are you stupid” look.  I’m starting to think she gives that look to everybody, even her sister.

“Springtrap is a jerk-face like Whimper that got stuck in a spring-lock suit and is now a homicidal green stinky rabbit.”

The speaker system crackled to life.

“Oh, thinking about little old me?  I’m touched.  I didn’t know you cared, Cheeky.”

“That’s Chica, you molting rotten pile of stench.”

“Don’t forget the blood and murder, Cheeky.  So, hello Whimper, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and… Rarity, is it?  Heh.  Well, I want to welcome all of you to Springtrap’s Pizzeria and Mausoleum!  Specials of the day are Sausage and Onion for 8.99 and a decapitation at no added cost!”

I looked to Toy Chica, who was now hiding next to her big sister.

Okay, if these guys are freaked out by him, he’s got to be some level of crazy evil.

“Now, I’m sure you thought that I would want to make things interesting, so I won’t fail to disappoint!  I’ve got a few Nightmares stuck in storage that I’ve been tinkering on that I need to give a test run.  And it looks like they’re ready for their test!  Allow me to introduce Spring Freddy, Spring Foxy, Spring Bonnie and Spring Chica!”

There was a chorus of mechanical whines, followed by dark chuckles in the background.

“And because I believe on a perfectly fair playing field, lights are out!  Good luck, everybody!”

The speaker clicked off, and the lights in the Party Room went out, as well as the rest of the lights in the remainder of the pizzeria.

Well, this sucks. 

Second First Impressions

Posted on by Nolan Slover (Note Worthy)

Toy Chica, “Old” Chica, and Fluttershy strolled through the hallways, heading toward the Break Room.  Chica had “calmed down” and was now only brooding softly as she led the way through the halls.

“So, “Fluttershy”, where are you from again?”

“Ponyville.  It’s a very nice place where all of my friends live.”

“Ooooh!  Sis, can I go there with Fluttershy once we’ve finished the night shift?”

“Sure… there’s just the tiny problem that we’d need to explain why you’re not there in the morning.  And management seems pretty keen on sending us back to Parts & Service in case we start acting weird.”

“Oh.”

“We’ve gotten to the break room.  So, let’s get the first aid kit.  Seriously, little sis… I don’t get why you’re so quick to defend this pathetic non-a-Night-Guard.”

“I’m… really not.  I… well…”  She pointed to Fluttershy.

Chica rolled her eyes.  “And that’s your only reason?  Wow.  Didn’t take long for you to get soft.  Next thing I know I’ll be seeing you bring the Night Guard something to drink!”

Toy Chica groaned and looked slightly annoyed with her sister.

“I’m missing something here, aren’t I?”

“Well, do you wanna do it, sis?  I mean she is your friend… best she hear it from you.”

“Hear what from you, Toy Chica?”  Fluttershy’s face grew odd with concern, her head canting to the side.

“Uhh… Fluttershy, I…”

“Whimper mentioned something about that others wanted to kill him…” Her ears drooped, tail going limp as she looked down toward the ground.

“But I’m not like that!  We just… it’s how we’re programmed.”

Fluttershy sniffled.

“It’s… it’s okay.  I’ve… been close to feeling like that before.  But, we… that doesn’t happen in Ponyville.”

“Wait.  Hold up.  You… understand… murder, “Fluttershy”?”

“Can I try something to you?  I promise I won’t hurt you.”

Chica chuckled.  “Yeah… don’t think you could do that if you tried.  Go ahead.  I can’t wait to see what something as timid as you could do to me.”

“All right.  I just need you to look at me.”

“That’s… it.  I could be going after the Ni–WHAT THE…?”

The Stare shot out.  Chica felt her body tense up and freeze.

“WHAT IS THIS!  SIS?!”

“Don’t look at me, I didn’t even know she could do this!”

Fluttershy gave out a soft chuckle.  “I call it The Stare.  Guaranteed to make anything freeze and lock up as long as I keep looking at them.”

“I CAN’T MOVE! WOULD YOU STOP IT ALREADY? THE NIGHT GUARD COULD BE GETTING IN PLACES HE DOESN’T BELONG!”

“If, and only if, you say please.”

“Please. Please, Fluttershy, stop…”

Fluttershy closed her eyes, and Chica felt her body loosen up.

“Whoa… that’s awesome.”

“I try.  Now, can we get the first aid kit?”

“Of course!”

Proposing Peace, Softly

Posted on by Nolan Slover (Note Worthy)

Toy Chica and Fluttershy left the room, the door closing behind the pair.  The light ended right after crossing the threshold into the hallway.

Fluttershy eeped as her eyes fought to adjust to the darkness.  Chica activated her eye-lights and illuminated the hallway in front of her.

“Stay close, Fluttershy… if what Whimper said is true, then Big Sis might not be as open to speaking with you right away.”

“O-okay.”

The beams of light that Toy Chica aimed down revealed the nature of the hallway; covered with the decorative accents of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria.

“So… Chica, who are the other members of your family aside from your sister?”

“Well, I kind of think of everybody here as one big family. There’s Mangle, Balloon Boy, Bonnie, and Freddy.  They’re the best family I could ask for!”

“I have a brother… he has his moments.”

“What’s he like?”

“Well… he was a little “flighty” growing up, couldn’t really stick with anything for very long.  It took my friend Rainbow Dash to help get some sense into him, and he finally finished something and turned into a hairdresser.  What about yours?”

“Well, Mangle is playful and likes to pull off pranks from time to time.  Balloon Boy is so sweet and playful, although that Shadow he hangs out with from time to time gives me the creeps…””

“What are you doing out here?”

Fluttershy turned as Toy Chica focused on the direction of the sound, her eye lights shining onto the form of her Big Sis.

“Ohh… well, I wanted to show you my new friend!”

Fluttershy gave a polite bow to Chica, flapping a wing toward the animatronic chicken.

“What… the hell… is… Sis, I’m all for a good joke but now is not the time.”

“I know it seems weird… but I am real.  I’m Fluttershy.”

Chica blinked a couple of times.  “Sis, it just… talked.”

“Yes.  She’s real!  We’re best friends!”

The elder chicken groaned.  “Well, that’s wonderful.  Welcome to Freddy Fazbear’s, now… I’m looking for a certain human… named Whimper.  Have you seen him?”

Fluttershy looked to Toy Chica, hoping to impart the non-verbal message of keeping Whimper’s location a secret.

“I have… but I think you’re wrong about him, sis.”

“He’s a tourist, sis.  Not the Night Guard, not a maintenance worker; just some random idiot who walked into here and decided to mess around with Mangle!  And we need to deal with him.  You know the rules!”

“Sis, please…”

Fluttershy stepped forward.  “Uhh, Miss Chica?  Whimper, he’s hurt… and–”

“Good!  That’ll make it easier to find him!”

“What precisely did he do wrong, Miss Chica?” 

The larger animatronic chicken stopped to look at Fluttershy like she was stupid.

“You… really aren’t from here, are you?”

“No.  I’m from… a different land.”

“I see.”

“I… we wanted to get the First Aid kit for Whimper, so we could help fix him.”

Chica scoffed.  “You do understand what I’m going to do to him once I find him?”

“Yes, and I… don’t want you to do that.  Maybe you could… talk to him?”

One of Chica’s leg servos gave out a resigned whine.

“I guess we could try it… so, you need the First Aid Kit?  Follow me.”

The Respite of Cute

Posted on by Nolan Slover (Note Worthy)

The last five minutes seemed to be the longest in my life.  Even meeting Fluttershy in the vent was easily capped by needing to run like a man possessed from Chica and the rest of the animatronics gang.

It’s only now that I realize how much the quick climb and jumping out of the air duct has taken its toll on me.  My likely-broken left arm is now throbbing in pain, the hole that Mangle bit through in my right hand is oxidizing like mad and stings, and I’m exhausted.

I find a nearby chair and flop into it.

And all the pain in the world is nothing compared to seeing Toy Chica approach Fluttershy as a smile that gets impossibly wide without being creepy to the shy pegasus form on her mouth.

“Are you really real, like for reals real?”

“Umm… yes.”

“You are so… awesome!”

“Thank you.”

“What’s your name?”

I swear it was just like it happened as I thought it would.

“I’m, umm… fluttershy…”

“What… oh, I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to make you nervous.  I’ll… step back a little.”

“It’s okay, I… no, I am a strong and confident pony.  My name is Fluttershy.  What’s yours?”

“I’m Chica, although everybody calls me Toy Chica.  I’ve got the best big sis in the world and the greatest friends here at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria!”

Fluttershy lights up.  “There’s a bear here?  I have a bear friend back home.”

Well, while this cute-off is going down, I get a better look of the room.

Seems that Toy Chica was the only animatronic in here… that I can see.

“This is so much better than… my… I can’t even process how awesome this is!  A real life true to word pony!”

“You’re also very pretty and sweet looking.  My friends back home would really like you!”

Hugs are exchanged.

Great… now I’ll have to break your heart in a few minutes.  I think I’ll hold off on that–besides, it would traumatize Fluttershy to see this new cute thing that’s doling affection all over her bloodily kill another.

Oh, hello pain.  Yes, I forgot to make an appointment but I’m sure you’ve got an opening for me.

Both Chica and Fluttershy turn my way, concerned at the noise.

“Are you okay?”

Just peachy, Chica… I mean, your sister probably broke my arm and Mangle bit my hand, but I’m great!

Of course, if I had just said that, the environment in the room would have changed radically and not in a way that I would have liked for it to.

Is there anything like a first aid kit in here, Chica?

“There’s one in the break room. But, you’re not an employee so you can’t go in there.”

Right now not going anywhere is preferable.  At least until I can poke my head out without it being removed from the rest of my body.

I look to Fluttershy.  She’s the closest thing I can figure to a medic, given how she cares for animals.  Then I see that she doesn’t have her saddlebags.  Guess I’ll have to be in pain for a while, until it’s clear for anybody to go out without rising suspicion that something’s off.

Chica… let me ask you something, totally hypothetical.  Suppose that… Mangle and your sis decided I wasn’t a good person and wanted to get Springtrap involved in…

My gaze shifts to the yellow pegasus.  Have to choose my words carefully now…

Giving me a very close inspection of how Springtrap works.

“But… you’re not a bad person, you brought Fluttershy here!  I should go and talk to Big Sis, she’ll underst–”

NO! I mean… not yet, we’re just playing pretend right now.

“Why don’t you want me to talk to Big Sis?”

“Hang on, Chica… Whimper’s scared and hurt.”

“But… Big Sis could help him.”

Were she not fixed on ripping me in two, I think she might be so inclined.

“I could go… see if I could find what Chica looks like.”

My heart melted.  In a blind rage, with both Freddy and Bonnie awake and roaming, looking for me?

“I know you’re scared, Whimper… let me be brave and see if I can talk to them.  Besides, I have the stare.”

I believe you, Fluttershy–even though this danger is likelier far greater than you’ve faced before.

“She’s just like me, Fluttershy, only a bit bigger.  I should go with you to find her.”

I was in no shape to fight with either of them.  One because she could paralyze me with a glance, the other because if pressed wrong she could end my life.

Just… be careful.  And don’t tell Big Sis I’m in here if she seems upset.

“Alright, Whimper.  We’ll be back.  Come on, Fluttershy!  Let’s go meet the family!”

Thought of the Day

Posted on by Nolan Slover (Note Worthy)

In my last update, we had Fluttershy meet Toy Chica, or Toy Chica meet Fluttershy, whichever way you want to slice it.

Now I really want to see that.

The sheer adorableness of that scene must be captured in a picture.

Even considering commissioning an artist to draw it.

I’ll have an update post tonight when I get home from work.

An Escape In Yellow

Posted on by Nolan Slover (Note Worthy)

Fluttershy blinked at me.

I blinked back.

Nothing about any of this now makes any manner of sense.  So, I say the thing that comes first to mind.

I’m really glad you’re not Springtrap.

“Really glad I’m not who?”

Guess that answers my question; she doesn’t know what she’s doing here either.  Although, I think she doesn’t even know how she got here.

So… not to put too fine of a point on it, but what are you doing here?

“Umm, well… I don’t know, I was just walking over to Twilight’s house and ended up in this… metal thing.  Is there a way out?”

There probably is, Fluttershy, but I wouldn’t advise it.  There are some… machines down there that are looking to kill me.

“Oh, my.”

That’s the understatement of the year.  We need to get moving, try to find a safe place to hide for a while until they give up the hunt.

“Why are they… hunting you?”

They’re malfunctioning, I think… or they just don’t like me.

As if to emphasize the point, I hear Chica punch through a wall… right below us.

Move, Fluttershy, and do it quickly.

“What was that?”

A very angry chicken.  I’ll explain later, but for now, we need to move and quickly and quietly.

“Where are you, Whimper?  I’ll rip your face off before I throw you to Springtrap!”

And, yep, she’s still pissed.

“What’s your name?”

As much as I hate it, Mangle was pretty spot on.  Call me Whimper, Fluttershy, because I’m scared and I want to leave this place and I don’t know how to get out.

“Okay, Whimper.  That’s a funny name.”

Oh, Fluttershy… only in the face of mortal danger can you laugh at something like that.  As much as I don’t understand why you’re here, I’m glad for it.  But now my problems are two-fold: I need to escape from this cursed place and get her back to Ponyville.  First thing, I think I can pull off.  Second?  Haven’t the first idea.

The next two minutes are the most harrowing of this entire time here; don’t know who it was, but one of them got into the vent system further back from where we were and started banging back and forth on the walls.  I’d factor Mangle for it given her flexibility and size.  The noise was unbearable, both me and Fluttershy whining with each painful metallic CLANG from the animatronic looking to end me and stuff me in a metal suit,  Or maybe they wouldn’t even do that now… maybe Chica would just break me in half.

Fluttershy comes up short as she looks down through a grate where there appears to be a lot of light. 

“I think I found an exit.”

Nowhere in this place should be this well lit.  Something’s wrong.  Fluttershy, walk over it, I need to see where we’re going into.

“Okay.”

I look down through the air vent’s grate, spotting what looks like a larger room.  Could be one of the party rooms.  We need to get out of this vent.

“Alright.  Be careful, Whimper.”

That’s the first time this name has been used in any manner of care or concern.  This is going to make noise no matter what I do…

The grate clatters onto the floor and I look down and around.  The doors are closed and I exhale a huge sigh of relief.

“What are you doing in there?”

Well, they’re not… leaping on me to attack and kill me, so it’s a good start.

“What do you see?”

I think… it’s the not angry chicken, I answer Fluttershy.

“I should go get my big sis; you don’t belong up…”

No, Chica… please, just… we need to get down.  And we need to talk.

“We?”

Oh… I have a friend.  It’s not Night Guard, it’s… a pony.

“A pony?  Up in there?” Her eyes swivel to the ceiling as I lower myself into the room, landing with a thud.  Fluttershy pokes her head out a second later.

“Umm, hello.”

“Oh.  My.  *GOSH!*”

One crisis solved.  Another one created.