Pirouette

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.

Proposing Peace, Softly

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.”

Running, Just Running

Chica was legitimately the scariest thing I’ve seen since getting in here.  Mangle?  She was sorta threatening, but more teasing.

My arm’s hurt, likely broken.  I don’t need it to run, and that’s what I’m doing now.

Curse my lack of knowledge of this place!  I wish I had just had more than one night of experience in here…

Get back here, Whimper! I’m going to snap every bone in your body and then stuff you inside a suit!

No.  Not going to happen.  I need to hide, hide somewhere.  Check the doors… can’t read it, going to just have to open this one up… bingo!

I shuffle around the corner and press myself against the wall, and do the best I can to completely calm down my breathing.

There’s the sound of a wall being smashed in, and then an unearthly sound of a malfunctioning animatronic chicken screeching in frustration.

Rotten stinking Night Guard wannabes… coming in here and raising all this ruckus.  It’s bad enough that I’ve sworn that I’m going to keep that psycho rabbit in the back stowed away until tomorrow…”

She’s… right outside… the door.

You can come out already.  We’re going to find you eventually.  And you aren’t going to like it when we do…”

I hold my breath, trying not to make a sound.

I know this place like the back of my wing.  There’s only so many places to hide in here.  After so long, they’re going to run out.

I can hear her take a step, moving away from me.  I can’t imagine what her hearing is like, so much as a whimper or an exhale and she’ll find me.

I wasn’t made to be fooled, Whimper.  Now do yourself a favor and come out already.

Dammit, my name isn’t Whimper.

Whimper… what an annoying name.  Maybe Mangle pegged you right to be a whimpering, annoying flesh-lump that needs a spine adjustment–permanently.

It’s getting hard to hold my breath… she’s still really close.  I then hear the sound of plaster and cracking from a nearby wall… but it’s still far enough away.  Too late to take a breath, but… I have to.

*inhale*

What… was that…?”

*exhale*

I… heard… something.

Oh, crap.

Sounded like… a Whimper.

Oh no, no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no…

Right.  In.  HERE!”

Her arm smashed in through the wall to my right.  I jump away from the wall and head to the far end of the room, now scrambling to find a way out… 

There’s a vent.  I kick it open as Chica stumbles into the room, nipping at my heels.  Then I realize the utter stupidity of this plan.  Even if I can dive into this quickly, all she needs to do is reach in and pull me back by my ankles… unless…

Party time is OVER!

I fling the vent cover right at her.  It hits her with a loud metallic *CLANG* and fazes her for a second.  She lets out an ear-piercing screech as I clamber and crawl through the vent, getting away from her as fast as I can.

YOU CAN’T HIDE FOREVER, WHIMPER! WHEN I FIND YOU, YOU ARE DEAD!

I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve… and maybe, just maybe, I can steal your home field advantage.