Five Nights at Freddy's: Body vs Mind

Chapters

The Beginning of an End
Awakening
Trial Run
Reunion
The Infamous Bite
The New Nightguard
Talking it Out
The Turning Point
Meeting the Princess
Day 1
Night 1
Night 2.1
Night 2.2
Sisterly Unity
Filler
Day 2
Day 3

The Beginning of an End

It was an ordinary day at Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria, or so it seemed. A violet Mare waited in a hidden office, with cameras scanning the crowd. The animatronics' violent viruses were wearing down. They weren't enough. But she had a plan. Eyeing her targets, she rushed to put her plan into action. You see, she wanted to keep up her passion and the passion of those alongside her. And she knew exactly how to do it.

Meanwhile, a beige colt walks in, hoping for comfort. He pushed his black hair out of his eyes and eyes an empty table. Just as he thought that he had lost him, a voice rang out.

"Hey, Hazard!" The colt turned around to see a reddish-maroon pegasus stroll up to him.

"Go away, Axle," Hazard said.

"Now what makes you think that I'd do that?" Axle's smile turned sinister. Hazard's blue eyes met Axle's green ones, and stayed there.

"What are you trying to do? Get your talent in doing nothing? Why don't you try racing, like me? Oh, right. No wings!" Axle's cutie mark was a tire screeching on the ground. His talent had nothing to do with flying. But Hazard knew better than to mention it. Axle had been teasing Hazard for his blank flank for so long, that
Hazard now barely listens to the painful words.

Hazard was about to move to another table when Freddy walked by with a cake. Although the animatronics often walked off of the stage to converse with guests, Hazard could clearly tell that this was a pony in a Freddy costume from its stance.

"What the hay is a pony doing in a Freddy costume," he asked.

"I don't know," answered Axle, "Do you want to find out?"

After a few seconds, Hazard understood.

"What?! No! Do you know how much trouble we could get in for that?"

"Come on.." Axle pressured. After a back-and-forth bicker, Axle ended up guiding Hazard to the pony.

As they were walking, the pony inside casted a small "want-it need-it" spell. Her targets were sure to follow her now. All without anyone noticing.

The three continued walking, with a sly grin on Axle's face and a worried look on Hazard's. A violet pegasus filly with wispy, white hair flew up to them.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"A parade," joked Axle.

"Ha, ha," the filly said sarcastically, "If this is a parade, then where's the music?" Hazard got a glimpse at the filly's cutie mark: a speaker with resonating sound waves.

"You like music?" He asked.

"Yeah," the filly replied, "My name's Amplitude."

"Nice name," said Axle, "Say, why don't you join us? We're following that pony."

"Nice. I was intrigued by that costume, for some reason," Amplitude said.

As they continued, Hazard felt uneasy. Something was off about this pony, but he didn't know what.
Meanwhile, a young black unicorn with a frizzed yellow mane eyed the foursome.

"Freddy!" She yelled as she scrambled to catch up. Her older sister, a yellow unicorn with a long, matted, red mane turned to the commotion just as she saw her sister squeezing through the crowds.

"Tesla, stop!" She was trying her best to catch up, but it was hard for her to navigate the crowds. Meanwhile, Tesla caught up with the pony, who was nearing a door.
Hazard eyed the newcomer, and grew more nervous than ever.

"Guys, I'm not so sure about this," he stated.

"Maybe you'll get your cutie mark in being scared," Axle teased back.

"You don't yet have your cutie mark?" Amplitude asked, "Why didn't I notice that before?"

Hazard felt himself blushing just as they went into a hidden room. Just then, the yellow unicorn caught up with them.

"Tesla! Get back here! It's not safe!" She yelled.

"But Mirage! I want to play with Freddy!" Tesla whined. Mirage said nothing, but pushed Tesla out of the room with levitation, just as another aura slammed the doors shut.

There was little light except from a dim light bulb.

Suddenly, there was a flash from within the Freddy suit and the suit suddenly went limp. The pony inside must have teleported out. But to where?

"You shouldn't have followed her," a voice said from the corner of the room. Hazard turned to see a pale cerulean unicorn with gray eyes and a black and white mane. Although everypony else had yet to reach ten years old, this unicorn acted more mature.

Hazard was now terrified. What was going to happen?
The pony who must've been in the suit suddenly reappeared. It was a violet unicorn mare. But the pupils of her eyes were pinpricks. She was clearly insane. Well, to everyone except Axle.

"Oh, I get it. This is some sort of joke."
Hazard couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you crazy?! Did you not here that colt?!"

"He must be in on it," replied Amplitude.
Mirage was silent, frozen in fear.

The pale blue unicorn wasn't scared, but he was tense. He knew what was going to happen. He knew, to some degree, what she wanted to do. And he had a plan on how to stop it. Concealing his aura, he focused.

Suddenly, the mare struck. A flash of scarlet light flew across the room, followed by a spray of scarlet blood. Axle screamed, then fell over, not breathing. Amplitude gasped, only to see the light fly at her. Mirage was hit in silence, with her last thoughts being about her sister. Hazard scrambled to avoid the beam, but there was nowhere to run. Just as he was struck, he felt a tingling on his flank, but for less than a second. The gray-eyed unicorn took note of it, completing the psychological scans of each of the victims. Now to save himself.

As he saw the light flying towards him, he set up a weak protection spell. It hurt him, but that was the plan. He needed the mare to think that he was dead. However, the mare then left, waiting until nightfall to complete HER plan.

When nightfall arrived, the mare took the bodies backstage, where she had taken the old suits. Half-opening one eye, the surviving unicorn watched as the mare shoved the bodies into the suits. However, something seemed fishy. All but those four suits were getting scrapped in a few days. Why would she kill five foals when there were four suits. Just as the answer hit him, the mare pulled it out: the Golden Freddy. She had kept it hidden away so that she wouldn't have to scrap it. He saw the red aura form around him, and felt himself being lifted. His heart was pounding, but he wasn't scared. The adrenaline helped him focus, and he started to send it to his horn.

What happened afterwards was the blur of a flash, yet it felt like time slowed. He was suddenly surrounded by darkness and searing pain. He felt the wires cutting into his flesh and his skull struggling to stay intact as he was pressed into the head of the suit. Too late. He knew that the animatronic had sensed his anguish, which was now integrated into its system. But the pony wasn't dead yet. He reacted. He was ready. He suddenly teleported himself out and into a place that he knew was safe. He cast a healing spell on himself, but it wasn't enough. He hurried to the exact room in the unknown building beneath the pizzeria, almost at a full run, despite the fact that he was still barely in one piece.

His front left leg and his back right leg were almost completely shredded. Deep scratches lined his back. The right side of his face was completely skinned. But he finally made it.

He stepped onto the platform and after pressing a few buttons and casting a spell that he developed, he placed himself into a state of suspended animation. He wasn't frozen in ice, but his body acted like it was. His vitals all stopped, but he wasn't dead. He controlled the computers with his mind. He inserted into the computer the scans of the other ponies whose bodies were now possessing playthings. But their minds weren't. Programming, developing, building, he knew that they would have a hard time accepting this, but if he or any of them wanted to see the light of day again, they would need a major upgrade...

Author's Note

Just to let you guys know, I wrote this story just after FNAF 2 came out and had tried to tie the time lines together. As a result, the timeline is very messed up. Please (Freddy Faz)bear with me.

Awakening

Thirteen years later:

Hazard's eyes flew open. He remembered everything up until the point when he blacked out. But what happened after that? Where was he? And why did he feel.... Older? How long was he out? First, he decided to figure out where he was: a glass cylinder of some kind. Cables and wires everywhere else. Dim lighting. Not much to go off of.

"Hello?" He called out, but then stopped short. Not only had his voice matured, but it was slightly doubled, much like a robot. He then took a better look at himself. His skin seemed normal enough, but something seemed off. He then looked in the faint reflection of the glass, and was mortified at what he saw. His face was normal, except for his eyes. There was black where the whites should be, and his deep blue irises were glowing. Now he was panicking.

Suddenly, the sound of hoofsteps echoed through the room. A unicorn came into view. He had a white and black mane and tail slightly smaller than Hazard's. Much of his coat was a pale shade of blue. Hazard recognized him as one of the ponies that had gotten trapped in the room. However, he had changed, as well. Half of his coat was covered by metal, including his face. He had one normal eye and one eye that was much like Hazard's.

The unicorn walked up to a panel next to the cylinder, pressed a few buttons, and opened the cylinder. He saw a panicked- looking Hazard inside. He knew that Hazard was probably going to take this news the hardest, especially since Axle was alongside them.

Hazard cautiously stepped out of the cylinder, walked over to the strange pony, and looked him dead in the eye, a look of half-anger and half-fear.

"What happened?"

The pony got this question from the others, and he answered them the same way: "Follow me. I'd rather have everyone together when I explain. There's no point in repetition if you're not there to hear it the first time."

He led Hazard down a few hallways, where it was made evident that Hazard was in some kind of lab. However, when they arrived in a large room filled with computers, Hazard was so shocked that he couldn't speak. He saw Amplitude, Axle, and the yellow unicorn that had all died in that room. All had black eyes with glowing irises, and the two pegasi had wings that appeared to be dull blades on metal frames. However, he quickly shook it off and marched straight up to Axle. Axle, despite all that happened, greeted Hazard with his usual remarks.

"Well, look who decided to show up."
Hazard was furious.

"Save it, Axle. Look what you've done."
Axle wasn't fazed.

"You should be thanking me. You didn't have a cutie mark the last time I saw you!"
Hazard was taken aback, and quickly looked at his flank. Sure enough, there was something there. His joy diminished, however, when he realized what it was. A triangle with an exclamation mark glared up at him, as if teasing him about what happened.

"Yeah. A reminder of what happened to us, whatever it was." Their bickering continued until it reached a fever pitch.

Suddenly, a voice rang out.

"QUIET!"

Hazard and Axle fell silent.

"Thank you, Mirage," said the strange unicorn. The yellow unicorn who had spoken just nodded her head understandingly.

"No problem, Trip."

The unicorn who had just been referred to as 'Trip' quickly got everyone's attention,

"I know that you all have questions,
but let me start at the beginning." He paused, uncertain, and said, "You all died. I took scans of your minds and transferred them to computers. I escaped half-alive because I knew what that madmare was up to. She's my mother."

"What?" The whole group was speechless, their black eyes focused on Trip, who just stood there. He expected this. Like his namesake, he only pulled out a plan with the right trigger.

"I guess I might as well tell you guys the past before telling you the present. My name is Tripwire, although I like to be called Trip. My mother, Blown Fuse, is a madmare. I don't know what she went through, or why I never ended up like her, but she's obsessed with frightening others to either emotional disturbance or death. 'Pushing buttons' is what she calls it, perhaps because she's creating havoc.

" Anyway, there are actually two of each animatronic in Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria: Freddy, Bonnie, Chika, and Foxy. All, including ballon boy and marionette, carry a virus that programs them to attack anypony that roams this place at night. If anything, the night watchgard at Freddy Fazbear's is merely bait that keeps the animatronics from leaving the pizzeria. Anyway, the animatronics being used were getting ready to be scrapped, so Fuse found the old suits and thought about adding something a little extra to the viruses. She wanted to find a way to strike more fear into the guards despite there being fewer animatronics. She killed you so that the animatronics that your bodies were stuffed in would experience your fear. They're more like zombies than they are robots. They would always stuff their victims into suits, which would kill them, but now they can conjure hallucinations and the suits in which victims are stuffed into will act the same way if they're activated. The robots have one goal: to make the world what the world made them. Yet, despite all that, they are programmed not to attack Blown Fuse."

Everyone stood in silence. All that they thought about that place was merely an illusion. But a question lingered on Amplitude's mind.

"But why us?"

Trip said, "It would take another madmare to get a true answer."

Amplitude was persistent, though. "But why did you do this to us? Don't get me wrong; I appreciate that fact that you brought us back, but why?"

Trip pondered for a long time, and replied, "I don't know a true answer to that question. There are many reasons. For starters, I don't like what Fuse does. As you already can tell, I don't even like calling her 'mother.' I'm always obligated to clean up her messes, and this is the biggest mess she has ever made, and the one that she is the most proud of.
"Secondly, living ponies continuing life after inevitable death was an idea that I had and blueprinted, but never carried out until now. However, with science and technicality aside, I wanted to give all of you a second chance. I don't believe in somepony's shot at life getting stolen by somepony else."

Suspicion filled each of their eyes, except for Mirage.

"I believe you," she said, "Although I have one question: will I see my sister again?"

Doubt flickered in Trip's eyes. "I don't know, but I do know that other fillies and foals will be at risk if Fuse isn't stopped. Your sister was naive enough to follow her. She would have died if it wasn't for you."
Although everyone knew this subconsciously, it still shook them to think that something like this could happen again.

Mirage gave a determined look. "I want to help. I don't want this to happen again. I want to help you clean up this mess."

Amplitude was the next to chime in. "Me too. If Fuse wants to keep doing this, then she'll have to get past me, first."

Axle quickly added his two bits. "I'm in. It's another way to beat up dummies."

Hazard took a few steps back in shock. "Excuse me?"

"Relax, Hazard. I'm talking about the animatronics."

"Sure you were," Hazard muttered under his breath, or at least what would be his breath. He wasn't sure if his new systems needed oxygen or if the inhale-exhale reflex was merely there to make the body seem more natural.

Axle broke Hazard's train of thought. "So are you in this or not?"

"Don't force him, Axle." Trip said.

"I guess that I might as well," Hazard replied.

"Are you sure?" Trip questioned. "And that goes for all of you."

Everyone nodded, a sure look on their faces.

"Okay," Trip said, "I have a few ideas, but before we go into depth with them, let me show you around. You've been out for thirteen years. You need to know what you missed and you need time to adjust."

"Makes sense," Amplitude replied.

"As for you two," Trip said, looking at Hazard and Axle, "you will need to settle your rivalry if you want any chance of living a normal life." Both Hazard and Axle sighed at this, but they said nothing.

"Now about the lab, it's actually a lab that Fuse built but forgot about. She was somehow able to build it beneath the pizzeria without anyone noticing. The main entrance to the lab is in the kitchen, which is why any nightgaurd will find the surveillance camera there always disabled. Don't ask me why. It's another one of the things that she does without an explanation."

Trip had showed everyone around, from the various chambers of computers to their sleeping quarters.

"Why do we have sleeping quarters?" Amplitude had asked.

"Think about it," Trip had replied, "Your systems will need time to recharge. There are no cables or outlets needed, but you will enter a sleep-like state. Would you rather be treated like a robot or a pony?"

"I see," Amplitude was the most upbeat of the five, curious and always wanting to know everything possible about what she was now. "So since I'm a robot now, am I able to do super-cool kick-flank stuff now?"
Trip was leading them down another hall.

"I wasn't expecting you guys to be so willing to help me. I would've had to keep you down here for a bit anyway because red flags would go flying if I didn't. You see-"

"You never answered my question," Amp interrupted.

"As I was saying," Trip continued, "I have produced a variety of hardwares and prototyped some combat technology in the past, but never intended any of it to be used for you or me. However, with some time and fine-tuning, you could use the technology to your advantage."

"Awesome!" Amp exclaimed.

"I still can't believe that you are so excited about this," Hazard commented.

"I can," Axle replied, "I think that it sounds pretty exciting myself."

Trip stopped suddenly.

"Here we are. This is a simulator chamber. Here, holographic images can replicate virtually anything. I need to make sure that nothing is wrong with your systems. And if that combat technology comes in handy for you, than observing your strong and weak spots will help me determine how to integrate it. That way, in a critical event, you minimize your risks."

While everyone talked in awe, Hazard looked at his cutie mark, wondering what could have caused him to get it. He's always had a rough life, especially when Axle started bullying him. And the murder gave him his cutie mark. What talent could he decipher from that?

Trip, seeming to read his mind, said,
"You'll probably find out here."

Trial Run

This room was much like the others, except there were fewer computers and much larger. Hazard couldn't help but wonder how somepony could build such a large structure and go unnoticed.

Trip walked up to one of the panels, pressed a few buttons, and suddenly the room turned dark except for bright teal lights.

"Whoa." Amp said.

Trip smiled, and replied, "It will take several days to fine-tune your systems, but I have to get a basic analysis done now to avoid any possible problems."

"I'll go first!" Yelled Axle.

"Calm down. This will challenge all of your mobility, coordination, and reaction time. The scans modeled your bodies exactly, but anything can go wrong."

Hazard shivered. What COULD go wrong?

Trip guided Axle to the center of the room. He then returned to the panel and typed in more codes. The lighting shifted, appearing to be a dark alleyway, but the walls of the room were still clearly visible.

After Trip gave a huff of frustration, Mirage thought for a second. Would she still be able to use magic? She focused, and was shocked to see what appeared to be purple lightning clustering around her horn. However, the lights shifted, and the alleyway seemed to come alive.

Everyone stared in awe at what just happened, but Trip began pressing more buttons on the panel.

Debris came flying out of nowhere, and Axle dodged it without a problem. However, a mudslide rushed up to him, forcing him to take to the air. He was shocked to see that he flew just fine, despite the new wing design. When fierce winds kicked up, he immediately adjusted and started doing tricks just for the fun of it. Then, the holograms disintegrated, revealing the blank walls once again.

"No problems found," said Trip. Axle had a look of triumph on his face, especially when he walked by Hazard.

Mirage was next. But instead of an alleyway, her location was in a thick forest. Somehow, Trip was able to let Mirage practice magic in her new form. Trip marveled at her ability to manipulate light, claiming that he had nothing to do with it. Amplitude had the location of a desert. It was intriguing when she started banging on rocks when being pursued by coyotes.

Hazard watched as Trip was examining the data, but he kept examining his flank, trying to make out the message of his cutie mark. He didn't realize that it was his turn.

He stood in the room and watch the holograms form and warp, until he was standing on the slope of a snowy mountain. When he realized that he couldn't see the others, he grew uneasy.

Then, he felt movement, even before he heard it. He immediately jumped onto a ledge and scrambled over the rocks without even looking behind him. Only when he knew that he was safe did he look down towards the avalanche. Then a harsh wind blew up and threatened to blow him into the rush of snow. He immediately stood in a defensive stance and lowered his head, almost subconsciously.

While the wind was blowing, he glanced up to see birds diving from the sky. Still maintaining his stance the best that he can, he ran. The birds circled him, hitting him, but he used this to his advantage. The birds were blocking the wind. Hazard took it more easily until he eyed a small cave.

He took off, and forgot about the wind. But just as he was knocked off of his hooves, he rolled and stood up. He continued until he reached the cave. But before he could reach it, everything vanished.

He was back in the lab with everyone, including Axle, gawking at him. Hazard himself was shocked at the experience.

"Are you sure you didn't alter my systems any?" Hazard asked Trip.

"I didn't. That all came from you. But it explains your cutie mark. Back when you-know-what happened, you were the only one who tried to run. And here, you had reaction times even better than mine. Your talent isn't causing dangers; its sensing them and taking them on. Then again, it's a bit of a paradox, because you could deal some serious damage to anypony who tries to mess with you," Trip said, casting a glance at Axle.

Hazard felt exhilarated. He solved a problem he had all his life, even if he solved it after life.

"It's going to take more runs for all of you. I now have an idea of who to give what in terms of the combat technology. Plus, it will be a great training tool for all of us. However, we should all get some shut-eye. We have some long days ahead of us."

Meanwhile, a black unicorn picked up the last picture she took with her older sister, the picture at the pizzeria.

'Why did I have to do it?' She thought. 'I had to follow that pony and now Mirage is dead.'

She sighed as she looked through the paper. She had been keeping tabs on all the news about the pizzeria ever since her older sister was killed. Then she eyed a "Help Wanted" ad. A night watchmare for Freddy Fazbear's?

She didn't even care about the payment. She just wanted any possible clues about the fate of her sister. She then thought of the tale Mirage would tell her about an item that they had that could allow one to talk to spirits, and found the shelf where the item was: a Ouija board. She knew it was a far-fetched idea, but she didn't care. There's always the chance that it could hold the key to her answer, right?

Reunion

Tesla slowly opened her eyes, her vision blurry. She could tell that she had been teleported simply by how dizzy she felt. After she regained her composure, she looked around, and immediately felt like she had been transported to a sci-fi scene. Panels with holographic screens were everywhere. She was sure that she was dreaming, especially when she saw a half-metal pony approach her.

Trip had made Mirage leave the room since the reunion would be emotionally overwhelming for both of them. He wanted Tesla to slowly absorb the information.

"Are you okay?" He asked her. Tesla didn't speak but she nodded her head. "I understand that you had a rough night." Her eyes widened. How did this pony know?

"What do you know? Do you know what happened to my sister?"

"Like you suspected, your sister was stuffed into Chica's suit." Tesla paled, despite having a black coat. Her eyes filled with tears. "This is all my fault," she whispered.

"It's not," a familiar voice said. Now Tesla was sure that she was dreaming. She saw her sister standing in front of her, as metal. "Trip did a bit more research on his mothers plans and found that she used an altered 'Want it Need it' spell that would target certain ponies. You couldn't help it."

"No. This isn't real. It can't be!" Tesla cried out. "If you're in Chica's suit, then how are you here now?!"

Trip spoke up, "I scanned each of the victims minds right before 'it' happened. I was able to bring them back."

"But it doesn't matter how," Mirage jumped in, "I'm here."

Tesla stood in disbelief before she broke down and ran into her sister's arms, embracing her. Mirage wiped Tesla's tears, just as she would thirteen years ago.

Author's Note

Fun fact: The case in which Tesla ran off without Mirage noticing was based loosely off of the FNAF 2 song "It's Been so Long" by The Living Tombstone. The main difference is that Tesla held the guilt since Mirage was able to save her.

The Infamous Bite

"March third, 1987," Tesla wrote. She had been keeping a journal about all that happened. The days were growing long, and she was getting a little bit stir crazy.
"Got it!" Trip exclaimed triumphantly. "I finally figured out how to control the animatronics."

Everyone rushed up to the panel he was at. He was looking through Foxy's camera, practicing the controls as Foxy performed onstage.

Meanwhile, as Foxy was performing, a familiar face was seen in the crowd. She was doing a calibration, making sure that everything worked.

"Wait, that's Blown Fuse!" Yelled Axle. Everyone gasped. "Make Foxy attack her!" Axle kept yelling.

"Axle, think this through," Hazard said nervously, but it was no use. Axle grabbed at the controls.

Everyone looked in confusion at Foxy as he started to dance spasmodically. Fuse knew that something was wrong. Her scan concluded that someone has hacked the robot.

Axle now had full control of Foxy and was blinded by rage.

Fuse saw Foxy heading for her and grabbed the closest thing to use as a shield: a gray pegasus filly with a golden mane and bubbles on her flank.

What happened after that was a blur: Foxy's lunge, the blood spewing, the unconscious filly with a newly visible brain.

"You idiot!" Hazard yelled. "What were you thinking!?"

"Fuse was an open target! I didn't expect her to do something like that!"

"Even if you did kill her, no pony knows that she killed us! They'll just get suspicious about the animatronics! And now, Fuse is alive and well and a filly is barely alive!"

Arguing broke out among everyone, except for two of the ponies.

Trip examined the computers, viewing the codes and transmissions through his right eye, and internally gasped. Not only had Fuse, who had slipped away from the ruckus, noticed that the systems had been hacked, she had transmitted a message of what had happened throughout Equestria. Why? No other pony had the technological capabilities of himself and his mother, as far as he knew. What if this was something bigger and more complex than he thought? Fuse always claimed that she was "pushing buttons" when she did something suspicious, but Trip always dismissed it as madness. Yet, she always seemed too focused to be purely insane. Had he been foolish enough to overlook her true motive? What WAS her true motive? These questions cycled through his mind, blocking out the fierce arguing.

Tesla eyed Trip from the edge of the room. What was his problem? The incident was disturbing, but it seemed like something else was bothering him. Tesla then remembered the mind-reading spell she learned to see if anyone knew anything about her sister that they weren't telling her. She focused, but nothing came to her. Did she not do the spell right? No... Trip's brain was half-computer; it's not like reading the mind of a normal pony. Tesla performed the spell again, this time with an electric spell. Suddenly, thoughts that weren't her own came to her. Trip's thoughts. He was worried, something about his mother... Not being alone? This being an intricate plot of some sort?

Tesla's eyes snapped open. No wonder Trip was on edge. They may be dealing with a network of sorts. Tesla wouldn't say anything; she could tell that Trip wanted to keep this secret. But she knew that Mirage and the others would have to know sooner or later, before Fuse and anyone who's alongside her finds out about them.

Author's Note

Spoiler alert: Derpy's NOT dead.

The New Nightguard

Meanwhile, a new nightguard was now working at the pizzeria. Jasper Gemini. He was rather unusual, because not only did he make it past the week, but he kept coming back for another three weeks. Everyone admired this stallion's persistence, but also his creativity. On what he said was his last week, he left a series of recordings for new guards to listen to each night.

But Trip noticed that Jasper acted a bit strangely and would mutter things like "She wasn't kidding," and when he saw hallucinations, "Will you shut up? I know that it's you." Trip was sure that Jasper had a connection of some kind to the pizzeria if he could catch on to the ways of the animatronics so quickly.

However, on the fourth night of the fourth week, Jasper's luck had run out. He was now facing Freddy's flashing face. Trip thought in the little time that he had. Jasper had promise and could help them, but Trip had promised himself that he wouldn't force anyone to help them. Tesla, who was standing behind him, suddenly gasped.

"He's panicked and wondering why 'she' is doing this to him."

'Who's "she?"' Trip wondered, but made his decision, and not a moment too soon. The music had fallen silent. He quickly focused, and as soon as he heard the scream, teleported Jasper into the lab.

Jasper, after a few minutes, opened his eyes and looked around where he was. Trip had everyone leave the room except for Tesla, who would probably be least likely to startle Jasper. However, Tesla took a few minutes to get a good look at Jasper, since the shadows in the office made it hard to make him out. He had a pine green coat and a dark chestnut mane and tail with matching eyes. His cutie mark, not surprisingly, was the Gemini constellation. However, when he spoke, it was clear that he was scared, even though he looked completely calm.

"She suspected this."

Tesla grew confused. She thought that Jasper was insane since his face showed genuine fear over something over this 'she.'

'Wait... Not insane... Disturbed.' Tesla thought. "Who's 'she?'" She asked.

"Not long before I took this this job, a purple mare, along with other ponies, came to me in my dreams and told me about this." Jasper replied.

"Define 'this.'"

"The pizzeria's ways. How the animatronics acted. What they would do if they got to you. And how the ponies suspected that somepony else was getting in their way."

Tripwire suddenly came in. "Wait, you said that there were others. Who?"

Jasper thought and said "One was a midnight blue with a wild green mane. I didn't get a good look at his cutie mark, though. One was white with orange hair kept pulled back. Her cutie mark was a knob or something like that. But they would talk like like they had a whole group or community."

"That's what I was afraid of." Trip said. "When the bite happened, I saw Fuse transmit a message. I thought that she might have had some assist in this plan of hers."

"Now I'm the one who's confused," Jasper stated uneasily.

After a runthrough that would be repetitive to explain here, Trip showed Jasper to a bed.

"You can leave if you want to." Said Trip.

"I will stay tonight, but I don't know what's safe anymore. How do I know that I can trust you?"

"Think about it," said Trip, "One can't know to trust another or oneself. One can only choose to." That was the last thing Trip said before closing the door with a quiet click, leaving Jasper to ponder.

Author's Note

Fun Fact: Jasper was named after Jeremy Fitzgerald, if I spell the name right.

Talking it Out

Confusion gradually settled within the next few days, and life continued as usual. The simulations turned from individual trials to team missions.

However, unbeknownst to everyone except Tesla, Tripwire was becoming more tense. Tesla didn't even use the mind-reading spell. She could just tell. Trip amped up the training more quickly, he was growing more distant, and he used any extra second he had to examine codes.

After a long week, Tesla couldn't take it. She wanted to help Trip bear the weight of the secret, but until she talked to Trip, she would simply be carrying her own weight. Late one night, she trotted up to Trip as he was deciphering yet another code in an attempt to uncover Fuse's secrets.

"Trip, can I talk to you?" Tesla asked.

"I guess," Trip replied.

After checking to make sure that no one was around, she let her instincts do the talking.

"Back when the bite happened, I read your mind. I understand that you are under a lot of pressure."

Instead of getting angry, Trip looked relieved. "At least somepony knows. I don't know how to tell the others, though."

"I trust you. I--"

"That's what I'm afraid of. I feel like you guys put too much trust in me and not enough trust in each other. I don't know when Fuse will strike. If she attacks tomorrow, what will happen? I'll be honest. I may look cool and collected, but I'm terrified, especially now. Not just for us, but for all of Ponyville. Maybe even Equestria. Who knows?"

"May I ask how pondering Fuse's moves deals with worrying about Equestria's safety?"

"There's a saying Fuse taught me: 'If you cut off the head of a beast, the beast will die.' Obviously, for beasts like the Hydra, that's not the case. But we're not a Hydra. If something were to happen to me, how would you manage?"

Tesla fell silent. She could come up with no answer even if she tried, and needless to say, she did.

Author's Note

This was supposed to go just after The Infamous Bite, so I under if it's a bit confusing.

The Turning Point

"You won't believe what I just found out!" Axle yelled. He and Hazard were examining the footage and recordings from Jasper's fourth week, trying to uncover any clues about Fuse's plan. But Axle was now acting like he solved a murder case. "There's this new recording that was made AFTER Jasper made his last one."
"Well, play it," Hazard replied.

The recording was nothing like the two had ever heard, but Trip's breath caught in his throat. It was a type of code-like message that he had heard Fuse use before, but it wasn't Fuse's voice. Even through the vocal editing, Trip could tell. While Axle and Hazard heard a distorted, demonic voice, Tripwire heard a clear message.

"Hello, and congratulations on making it this far. Everyone on the project admires your persistence, but all good things come to an end. We know who you are, where you are, and what you're doing. Catch us if you can. A new era is coming. One that embraces the joy of CREA--"

And it cut off. But Tripwire got the message. The joy of creation. What did that mean?

"Trip?" Hazard asked. But Trip didn't hear him. He simply fled to another one of the computer rooms without a word.

Hours later, Trip's hooves still flew across the keyboards like there was no tomorrow. After altering a few codes, he got what he was looking for: a way to find the location of the lab Fuse was at. It was as if Fuse wanted him to find her. Maybe she did. But it required a password. What? Why?

Then Trip heard a knock at the door.
"Who's there?" He asked.

"It's me," Jasper said. 'Freddy's motto,' Trip thought. Trip then gasped.
"That's it!" He yelled. "Jasper, you're a genius!"
"How so?" Jasper asked, confused.

Trip didn't answer. He simply typed in "itsme" in the password slot, and opened the file. Located in..... The Everfree Forest. At least it made more sense than beneath a pizzeria.

Now he could get everyone on board, but before he could, he had to let Equestria know.

He was starting to write something down on a piece of paper when he saw Jasper's concerned face.

"Those ponies. They were in my dreams again. They were laughing at me. Warning me not to get involved. You may not be forcing me to stay, but they are. But I don't want anything to do with this."

"I understand. I generally simply teleport ponies like you outside the pizzeria when you're attacked, but Fuse must have developed some sophisticated technology that allows others to enter a dream. They manipulated you to come here. That's why you're here.

"But just make yourself comfortable. You should be here for a few days at most. But I have to go. I have some world-saving business to tend to."

Without another word, Trip dashed out. He didn't have much time, but he already knew what he wanted to do. He grabbed the letter he had written and sent it to the princess.

As the sun was setting, a well-known alicorn was settling down on her bed when she saw a paper appear in her room.
"Another report from Twilight?" She thought out loud. "That filly overworks herself for somepony so young."

She picked up the paper with her magic (obviously) and unfolded it. Weird. The letter wasn't in Twi's hoofwriting (even unicorns using levitation have distinct writing styles).

She skimmed over the letter, and gasped. Was she reading this right?
She read over it more carefully.
'Oh Luna, help me,' she thought. She could not believe what she was seeing on the paper.

'Dear Princess Celestia,

You won't know who I am, but please listen. Nearly fifteen years ago, four of my friends were killed, and I was nearly killed myself. But the five of us are still here, and so is our murderer. And she's not alone. Come to Ponyville tomorrow so we can finish explaining. To say more now is too risky. But now we are all targets of a threat that not even the Elements of Harmony can take on.

Beware,

Tripwire.'

Tripwire. She knew that name. He had been one of the colts supposedly killed at Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria. But he was writing her a letter?
And the murderer was still out there? A suspected stallion was brought in, but the only evidence that existed was something he'd done in the same place that day. He had been in prison ever since. But he had acted anxious and strange since he'd been arrested. But when it was investigated, he would say that he shouldn't bother saying since they would think that he's crazy. Did he know something about this?
She was still suspicious about all of this, but she would get her answers sorted out by tomorrow, hopefully...

Meeting the Princess

He hadn't done anything wrong. He was investigating something fishy. Had his suspicions been correct, or had it just been an unfortunate coincidence? The thoughts cycled through the head of Mild Soul as he sat in his cell, like he has been for nearly fifteen years.

His bright blue coat had darkened to a navy blue and the Orange of his mane had darkened to a brown. His changed appearance seemed to reflect his feelings.

He had heard that ever since Freddy Fazbear's pizzeria opened, there had been strange deaths without the bodies being found. He went into some research, and he found some pictures taken by some of the watch guards. Strange pictures that displayed old, torn-up versions of the animatronics. He had only wanted to investigate.

He was caught backstage that day.

Worst timing ever.

His suspicions were increased after hearing about the blood seen on the "new" animatronics and the bite of '87 while he was serving time. But he was scared to say anything. He didn't want to end up in a mental facility.

However, his cell was suddenly opened, and a royal guard walked in.

"Princess Celestia wants to see you," he stated.

"Why?" Mild asked.

"She wouldn't say, but she seems uncomfortable," the guard replied. Looking at Mild suspiciously, he added, "And don't try anything funny."

Why did she want to see him? Was there going to be a retrial? Why now?
Mild thought about this as he was led to Celestia's throne room, where he saw her pacing with a worried look. When she saw him, she quickly dismissed the guard. It was only Mild and the princess.

"Mild, tell me what's on your mind," she said. A knowledgeable look was on her face, as if she knew.
"What do you mean?" Mild tried to cover.

Celestia responded by holding a letter up to him. When he read it, he was completely shocked.

"I want to know if you know anything about this," said the white alicorn.

"Well, it all started when I heard this rumor..."

Mild continued, telling Celestia everything he knew, growing more frantic as he talked. Celestia WOULD have thought that he was insane had she not received the letter.

"...it wasn't me. I swear." Mild said before shedding tears. Celestia wanted to cry herself. That stallion holding all that in for all that time.
When Mild collected himself, Celestia spoke. "There are supposedly some ponies that know something, and among them is a pony supposedly named 'Tripwire.'"

Mild gasped after hearing the name of one of the victims.

"You'll be coming with me to Ponyville. Those ponies are supposedly waiting for me there."

Without another word, the princess's horn shimmered brightly. There was a flash, and spinning. Mild knew that he must have been teleported to Ponyville. He wondered why she didn't take her chariot when he remembered her anxious expression. This must be something that she didn't want anyone else to know about.

"Where in Ponyville are we supposed to go?" Mild asked.

Before Celestia could reply, a cloaked pony approached them. Mild saw a grey glow beneath the hood, and another bright flash. 'Not again,' he thought. After he regained his balance, he was relieved to see that Celestia was teleported as well, but so was the cloaked pony.

The pony slipped off the cloak, revealing Tripwire, or at least what was left of him. What wasn't there had been replaced with metal.

Mild and Celestia both stood with open mouths, but the ice was soon broken. Along with some machinery.

A loud crashing sound along with robotic shouting echoed through the hall until a few pipes collapsed in the room. In the middle of the pile was Hazard pinning Axle down.

"How do you like it now?!" Hazard yelled.

Trip sighed. "Those two have toned down their rivalry, but they're not exactly friends."

The two newcomers were still dumbfounded. "Can you explain this?" Asked Mild.

So Trip got everyone together, including Tesla and Jasper. And he went through another introduction. (Trip's right. Repetition is boring, so I'll save you the trouble.)

However, after introductions, Jasper went back into hiding.

"What's his deal?" Asked Mild.

"He had gotten manipulated by Fuse to take the job of the night guard. He had been emotionally injured. He's staying here until it's safe.
Anyway, Fuse is planning to strike soon. That's why I brought you here."

"But what can I do?" Celestia asked.

"Inform the guards and alert Equestria. Fuse has stopped hiding from us, so we'll stop hiding as well. Warn ponies not to leave their homes if they see Freddy out and about. Take every precaution possible. As for you, Mild, I was wondering if you could help us."

"Gladly," Mild said. "My life has become a living Tartarus thanks to these things."

"If that's the case, then we don't have much time." Celestia nodded, knowing that the talk was done.
Just as her horn started to glow, Axle yelled out.

"Wait! About that filly, what happened to her?"

"Her frontal lobe was damaged. But she'll be fine. A bit clumsy, but fine."
A flash, and Celestia was gone. Mild looked around the lab, taking it all in, and followed Trip into the next room over.

Author's Note

Mild Soul was named after Mike Shmit, although I probably misspelled the name. Anyway, I wanted to post this chapter yesterday but fimfiction was acting up on all my devices, from phone to computer.

Day 1

The pizzeria was dark, but movements could be heard. Hazard crept about, hooves hovering just above the ground before each step. He could tell someone was approaching him, even though no one else was in the room.

Suddenly, strange laughter rang through the halls, and out of the corner of his eye, Hazard saw Chica appear.

Out of instinct, he immediately turned around and kicked her down with his back hooves. As soon as Chica was hit, she emitted a scream. It sounded mechanical at first, but faded into a live scream. Mirage's scream. And Mirage didn't even scream when she was killed.

Hazard was breathing quickly due to the shock as he saw Chica retreat, but barely had time to react when he heard Foxy's footsteps. Hazard went into a defense stance, lowered his head, and braced himself. When Foxy collided with Hazard, he flew through the air, with Axle's scream.

'Well, this is disturbing. I think I know who will be screaming in my voice.'
He then saw Bonnie and Freddy approaching and decided to leave them in a bit of a pursuit. He raced down the halls listening to their laughter.

"You shut up or I'll give you something to laugh about!" Hazard kept up the run. Until he went backstage. Foxy and Chica were there, and Freddy and Bonnie quickly caught up. Hazard stared, frozen, thinking through his moves. He suddenly saw something that didn't belong. A yellow Freddy suit. The one that Tripwire said was supposed to be his grave.

Then all of the animatronics screamed at once, except for the Golden Freddy, which made a queer grumbling sound. Hazard was snapped out of his trance, and immediately fought back.

The fight was a series of crashes and screams. Hazard threw around his hooves, kicking and punching any time he could. He saw a whirl of orange, brown, purple, and yellow, barely relying on his sight. However, his own blows were growing weaker. He knew that he couldn't keep it up for much longer. When he stopped, the animatronics all lunged at once for him. Just as they did, a powerful electric current shot through them, and they immediately deactivated. Hazard crawled out of the pile unharmed. He had used his taser current to knock them out.

He gazed victoriously at the limp robots, when he felt someone else watching him. He then remembered where he was. The spare suits suddenly came alive, dozens of them. Before Hazard could react, everything went static.

"Well, at least you did better than the others. You've really come a long way, but you still fell to them." Hazard was suddenly back in the testing chamber. The pizzeria vanished, along with the animatronics.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Hazard replied, getting up.

Trip continued,"but for you and the others, try to use skills other than those of mechanism. Use your surroundings the best way you can. Rely on the talents you were born with, not built with. Now, let's try this again..."

Celestia had informed the head guard of the Canterlot guards about the situation and asked him to set up a plan. Although he agreed, Celestia couldn't shake off her feelings of unease. She was grateful that Twilight was off visiting her parents, for she wasn't sure if she could teach lessons as usual without Twilight noticing that something was wrong.

As if by fate, the head guard returned.

"We just got a message from Tripwire. He suggested that we should patrol Ponyville. He and the others can mange the animatronics as long as the animatronics stay in the pizzeria, but he wants us on hoof should they escape. I think that we should set up a post near the pizzeria where we can keep a good eye on it."

"Sounds like a plan," Celestia said. "Send another message to Trip."

The stallion nodded and exited the room, leaving Celestia to her thoughts once more. She still didn't want to believe any of this. It seemed too far-fetched. How had all of this happened under her nose without her noticing? And why had she not looked deeper into the mystery of the murders after the bite of '87? She was in a cycle of shame, confusion, and disbelief.

"Ok. Let's go over it one more time."
Tripwire had worked through every detail of the plan, and was now going over it with everyone else.

"Enter the pizzeria when it opens. Wear the clothes to disguise yourself, or at least your eyes and wings," he said nodding towards Amplitude and Axle. "And remember to wear the earpieces. We need to be able to talk with Tesla and Mild without being obvious. Plus, Fuse might be able to pick up our signals if we try to communicate wirelessly."

Trip then turned to Tesla. "Stay here. You'll be able to monitor everyone, including the animatronics. Alert anypony on anything suspicious that you see."

Tesla looked uncertain, but Trip didn't notice.

"Mild, I hate to say this, but you're going to have to be the night guard."

"WHAT!?!? Do you even hear the words coming out of your mouth!?" Mild said, shocked.

"We need a diversion to keep Freddy and the others inside. Don't worry. You've heard us talking about it enough to know how the job works. Besides, we'll take them on if they should approach the doors. However, should you see the Golden Freddy, open the doors to the office. One entrance to the lab may be in the kitchen, but the only properly placed entrance is in the office. Tesla knows the switch to open the hidden door."

Mild nodded, still slightly shocked.

"Hazard, Axle, Mirage, Amp, you guys hold down the place until morning."

"What about you?" Mirage asked.

"I'll be going to Fuse's lab. To put an end to this 'Joy of Creation' business. I have a feeling that it's code for something, but I don't know what."

Everyone gasped.

"Are you crazy?!" Axle yelled.

"Relax. It's just for the night. I should come back. If I'm not back by morning and you see anything out of the ordinary, alert the guards and come to Fuse's lab. But I know how Fuse works. I know her lab like the back of my hoof. I'm sure I'll come back."

Trip went into the next room and Tesla approached Mirage with wet eyes.

"Mirage..." She whispered, "I don't want to lose you a second time."

Mirage gazed at her sister understandingly.

"Don't worry about it. We've been practicing and training for this. I'm not going down a second time."

Mild, however, was staring at the doorway that Trip walked through. He couldn't help but notice that something was off. He could tell that Trip was worried. He could tell that the next days, or however long this situation lasted, would be rough. But there was something else. He still didn't fully believe in any of this.

'Yet, I'm still going like I have a motive,' he thought.

Than it hit him. Motive. Why was Blown Fuse doing this? The message stated something about the 'joy of creation,' from what Trip had muttered to himself, but what did that mean? Why would someone find joy in making killer puppets out of flesh? He decided to examine the message after his first night on the job was over. There had to be something to give him clues...

Night 1

When the pizzeria opened the next day, Hazard and the others strolled in. Hazard was wearing a black jacket and sunglasses, with his earpiece already clipped on. Amplitude wore a white vest while allowing her hair to cover her eyes. Mirage simply casted an invisibility spell on herself, but her wild mane was in a ponytail (no pun intended). Axle simply hid.

Everyone acted like they were having a good time, but they received suspicious glances from the other ponies at the pizzeria, including the employees.

Then, once the doors closed for the night, the atmosphere immediately shifted. Mirage and Axle came out of hiding, and Mild took his position in the office. Everyone placed on their earpieces. All the while, the animatronics appeared to be watching.

Hazard had a plan in mind.
"I say that we should each keep tabs on our animatronic. Axle, watch pirate cove. Mirage, Amp, you two and I will keep watch on the stage. When the animatronics move, position yourselves on either side of the office, preferably the the side that your adjacent dummy is."

"See? I knew that you'd adopt the term," Axle said with a smug grin.

Tesla, who had heard the conversation through her earpiece, said, "I have to admit, though, you're sounding a bit like Trip, Hazard. Which I see as a good thing." She slightly shuddered thinking about what Tripwire had told her not long ago.

Mild, meanwhile, just hooked up his microphone. "Hello? Hello? Okay, I think this thing is on."

A shriek was heard on the line, followed by a sigh of relief from Tesla.

"Geez! For a second, I thought that was the recording Jasper made!"

This ignited laughs that temporarily warmed the current tone, but the fire was soon blown out as the clock struck 11:50.

"Okay, everyone. Places." Hazard said. Axle raced down the hall while the others took their positions in front of the stage. After a quick OK from everyone, the air froze, and was shattered by the strike of midnight.

The ring of the phone resounded from the office, followed by Jasper's falsely cheerful voice.

Minutes ticked by with no activity. Amplitude grew restless.

"Not going to do anything? Fine. Suit yourselves, you overgrown rag dolls."

Just then, the lights cut out.

"Wait! What's going on!?" Mild yelled. "My tablet's working fine! I'm not even to 80% yet!"

Mirage could be heard pushing stuff aside backstage. "The generator is malfunctioning. And I can't find the animatronics even with infrared sensors. Either they're more enigmatic than we thought, or-"

"-They're not here." Hazard cut off. "I don't know where they went, but they're not anywhere in the pizzeria."

With those words uttered, crashes and screams could be heard outside. All five ponies raced to the front windows to see the four animatronics taking on the guards, and winning. Hazard saw Chica swipe at a guard, knocking him against the side of the building, spewing the color Hazard had become familiar with. A unicorn guard was trying to fire at Bonnie, but no matter how he struggled, his horn would do nothing but glow. Fuse must have developed a way to suppress magic. The bot slammed into him, knocking him unconscious.

"What are we waiting for?!" Axle yelled.

Without thinking, the four robotic ponies burst out of the pizzeria and into the mayhem. Despite being half of Freddy's size, Hazard took him down with one buck. Axle flew in circles around Foxy, setting him in a rage. Foxy tried to swipe at Axle, but the mechanical pegasus dodged the blows easily. Even though the living ponies couldn't use their magic against the animatronics, Mirage, being a robot herself, was able to fire violet electric shocks at Chica. Amplitude, however, didn't attack anything. She just flew in circles around the battle, adjusting her wings to emit a high-pitched whistle. Barely audible, but as annoying as anything. It sent everyone cringing, including the animatronics. The surviving guards shrank out of the circle Amp made, but she herded Freddy and the others together. Mild, understanding, emerged from the building, holding the door open. The animatronics were pushed inside, and the door was slammed.

Amplitude, who stopped her death note, started to find answers. She asked the guards what had happened.

"We don't know," one of the female pegasi replied, "They all just appeared out of nowhere. Before we knew it, they were attacking."

"Well, at least we stopped them," Axle said.

"Save the celebration," Tesla said over the line, "First of all, a couple of glass doors aren't going to hold those psychotic playthings back forever. Secondly, I have another message, but I can't decipher it. I think it's from Fuse. It's as distorted as the previous message she sent us. It's just a hunch, but--"

"-Don't you dare say it!" Mirage cried out.

"No! I wasn't going to say that he was dead. I think he's been captured."

"How do you know?" Asked Axle.

"I don't know. As I've said, it's just a hunch. I know it sounds a bit like some plot hole or something like that, but it's my theory."

"Then what are we waiting for!?" Amp spoke up, "Let's take that psycho ventriloquist down!"

"Not so fast," Mirage replied, "We can't go in there all willy-nilly."

"We need a plan, and fast," Tesla said, words of that past conversation echoing back to her once again.

Night 2.1

Trip wasn't afraid, but he was tense. He was in a laser beam room, with the beams too close together without getting sliced. The room neutralized his magic and his tech. He had no way of communicating with the others. All he could do was wait.

He knew why he wasn't killed; he was not only scanned for information about an equine robot but also being held as bait.

One of Fuse's associates, named Overdrive, was watching him relentlessly. Trip could not help but wonder how the stallion didn't need food or sleep.
His thoughts were interrupted, however, by a phone ringing.

Overdrive looked at the holographic screen to see that an unknown number was contacting him. When he answered, Jasper's voice was heard.

"Hello, Fuse, or anyone who may represent her. I'm sure that this mess that you made was loads of fun, but now we're turning the tables and cleaning up the scattered rag dolls. And let me say this: let's see how well you play at your own game."

The line was cut off, and Overdrive immediately sent a message throughout the lab.

Meanwhile, Hazard made his grand appearance by immediately ducking into a corner, though he wasn't quite sure how any of them got in. However, Mirage made short work of the madmares searching for anything unusual.

Hazard saw a faint violet light, followed by a strobe light effect, shining on a withered Chica suit. The ponies gasped in fear and ran, only to be KO'd by electrocution. Hazard himself was terrified of that Chica suit, but a flash and it was gone, only left with Mirage smiling.

Suddenly, Amplitude's laughter was heard echoing through the corridors.
Her 'death note' was heard, as well as the groaning of more ponies. Amp zipped up to Hazard and Mirage.

"I feel accomplished," she said.

Suddenly, Axle crashed into Hazard.
"Well! Fancy meeting you here!" He exclaimed.

"Will you shut up? We need to find Trip," said Mirage.

"Already done," Said Axle, "Some creepy stallion is guarding a room filled with lasers, in which Trip is located. Come on! Follow me!"

The foursome raced through the labyrinth lab to the room where Overdrive was standing.

"Let's get this party started," Axle whispered, hiding.

"Not so fast," replied Hazard. "I think I know what to do. Mirage, distract him. Amplitude, fly above him and flap. Axle, wait until my signal, and take him down."

To this, Axle nodded.

Mirage made the first move, summoning a faceless Bonnie suit with the usual strobe light. Overdrive stepped back in fright.

"Wait for it..." Hazard whispered.

Amp swooped in, her high pitched note paralyzing the stallion.

"Wait for it... Now," said Hazard.
A flash of auburn was seen along with the sound of flesh to metal and a groan.

The lab turned back to normal as Axle stepped proudly over the now unconscious Overdrive.
"Is it bad that I found that fun?" He asked.

Everyone stared in disbelief, except for Hazard, who did a facehoof.

"We shouldn't think about that right now," said Mirage, "We need to get Trip."

"I'm in here!" Trip called out, "The room is riddled with lasers and there's a Titanium door!"

"Leave it to me," replied Amplitude.
She took off and started beating her wings. The air itself began to tremble. As Amp beat harder, the door could have be heard shaking. But it wasn't enough.

"Axle!" Amp cried out.

"Way ahead of you!" Axle said. With a shake of his wings, the blades appeared, shining dangerously amazing in the dim light. He took off. He aimed for the door, put his wings to his side, and spun.

Combined with Amp's shockwave, the door shattered.
Axle, however, cried out in pain.

Amp and the others saw him run out with a burn mark on his hoof.

"I told you: lasers," Trip said.

"I can fix that," Mirage replied. She shined her horn, and the lasers bent away from the floor, creating a clear path for Trip to walk through.

"Thank you" he said, "but it's not over. Fuse is still somewhere in this facility. We just need to figure out where."

Night 2.2

"Actually, I found you," said an eerily calm voice. Everyone turned around to see a violet mare that was all too familiar.

Her fiery red hair was well brushed and her coat was well-maintained. Nearly fifteen years had passed, but she didn't appear to have aged a bit.
But she still had her pinpricks of pupils. But she didn't even look insane. She had a normal gaze. Which made her all the more terrifying.

"You've done well," she said, "My son had an amazing strategy to annihilate the CREATion, but I'm afraid that I can't let you have your fun anymore.

"Tripwire was able to come up with something that not even I could develop. But now that I have the information that I need from him, he's of no more use to me than you are."

Her horn began to glow, and though the light was virtually invisible, Hazard didn't have to see it. He ran, towards her.

The sound of metal against flesh ricocheted through the hall, springing the others into action. Fuse teleported into another room, but Hazard had an idea.

"Amp, fly around and play the death note. That should draw her either still or away. Either way, we'll find her."

With a nod, Amplitude took off, and the next second was sounding the whistle. A groan was heard, but not from Amplitude.

"Circle around her!" Hazard called out.

"Let's go!" Axle said.

Without further delay, the others ran toward the note. Except for Trip.

When they reached them, Amp stopped flying. A small laugh was emitted from Fuse.

"Your tenacity is commendable, but it is too late. Even if you kill me, what will you do about them?" She said, pointing towards a monitor, just as the electricity went out.

Before anyone could do anything, there was a gray flash, followed by screaming from everyone. Trip then gently shone his horn on a spazzing out Fuse.

She spoke in a hissing tone, "this is over with me, but I was not the one who started this. The Civilized Restoration of Eternal Anarchic Times will prevail. Especially with our future member."

She released a small cough, and didn't move any more.

Trip stood there, silent. The pieces were falling in place.
C.ivilized R.estoration of E.ternal A.narchic T.imes. C.R.E.A.T.ion.

"Let's go," said Hazard, "I don't like the situation here."

Without another word, Trip teleported everyone back to the pizzeria.

"Hey guys!" Tesla yelled out.

"How'd it go?" Axle asked.

"It went great," said Jasper, "The whole group of suits backstage had been activated just as the power went out. But none of them attacked us. I'm guessing that you cut off the power at the lab."

"Yeah..." Sighed Trip, "But not entirely. Fuse was actually not the head of this conspiracy. Data for building an equine robot has been stolen. We can breathe easily for now, but it's not over."

Sisterly Unity

The next several days went well. More tests were made and Trip showed everyone what they missed when they were "out," including the technology. Speaking of which, Trip found the programming he had been looking for and reformatted it to accommodate the selected pony. All got special analyzing software, including Trip, but after that, everything varied. Mirage received software that could allow her to see the entire electromagnetic spectrum, so that she could manipulate light beyond the eye. Amplitude and Axle were given retractable blades in their wings. Amplitude also could now use sonar and special sound waves that could obliterate a cinder block wall while being at too extreme of a frequency to be heard. Hazard's systems were restructured to increase agility and acceleration. Frankly, Trip claimed that bells and whistles would simply weigh Hazard down.

Everyone was adjusting, but Hazard was still trying to let go of what happened. As was a certain mare.

Tesla had done a quick job interview and was now hired as the night watchmare. Night was approaching fast, and she made sure to bring the board.

At the same time, Trip tapped into the security cameras' wiring.

"Here comes the watch guard. It's a pity. For the time when I, myself, was out, countless were killed and never found. At least when I was up on my hooves again, I developed a plan: when an animatronic strikes, I teleport the pony out. I can't risk going out there."

Amplitude piped up with her usual questions, "Why not? You've shown us all that you could take them all out with one hoof tied behind your back."

"Remember when I told you that the victims stuffed into the suits would act like Freddy or any of the others if they're activated? Fuse hasn't activated any of them yet, but if she knows about what we're doing, then she surely will."

Everyone was silent. There wasn't much they could do except watch and wait.

Tesla walked into the office and was settling in. It seemed like an easy job for anyone else, but she quickly set up the board and waited. Suddenly, a strange, demonic laugh echoed through the halls. Tesla checked the cameras to see what was going on, and found Freddy in the dining areas. Tesla gasped, suddenly feeling uneasy. She could have sworn that the animatronics had been powered down. And even though they sometimes left the stage to interact with guests, something didn't seem right. She quickly shut the doors and decided to try to talk to Mirage.

Meanwhile, in the lab, Tesla was being watched by a hidden camera.

"Wait a minute, is that..." Mirage didn't even finish the sentence. She just stood there wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Everyone then recognized the pony as the one that Mirage saved. And Mirage could tell that she wasn't taking things well.

"Hello?" Tesla called to the dark, "Mirage? Are you here? It's me." She was replied with a flash of hallucinations; Bonnie's face with invert-colored eyes and the words that Tesla had spoken: 'It's Me.' What did that mean? Tesla recalled the articles that she saved and remembered something about the animatronics resembling living carcasses.

'No... It couldn't be...' Tesla started to panic. She checked the time on the tablet, only to see that she had limited power that was half-gone. What sick joke was this? Was her sister angry with her? Had she been stuffed? She cried out in desperation.

"I'm sorry, Mirage. I'm sorry!" She was living one of her worst fears: the fear of that day.

Mirage watched on, shocked at what she saw. She had never seen her sister act like this before.

"She's going to die from a heart attack before they get to her," Axle commented, resulting in a glare from Hazard.

Mirage, who had been silent all this time, said, "We have to get her out. I can't let her face my fate. I can't stand to see her like this." She was talking more to herself than anypony else. She didn't care what the others would say; she had to talk to Tesla. She had learned to teleport as another tactic for evasion, and that's the spell that she used. Trip saw the sparks flying from Mirage's horn, and understood. He never revealed the truth about the pizzeria to anyone, but this was Mirage's sister. He let her perform her spell.

At the same time, Tesla had reached her limit. The power ran out and she didn't notice it until she heard an eerily cheerful song playing. She collected herself and looked up to see Freddy staring at her. Then there was a bright violet flash, much like Mirage's aura...

Author's Note

I apologize if this chapter is weak. I'm Not good with emotional stuff. I usually end up making it sappy.

Filler

Author's Note

There is little, if any, meaning in this chapter. I myself believe that it isn't very good. This is sort of like a just-for-the-heck-of-it kind of chapter.

Filler

More stuff that's not worth going into detail about happened. This is what happened over the next few weeks in a nutshell. Tesla decided to stay in the lab (Trip gave her the option of leaving, but Tesla didn't want to leave her sister's side. Trip didn't object, especially since he thought that Tesla's ability with electricity could come in handy). More training took place, and Tesla learned to help Trip with the computers. The individual tests turned into team missions. The highlights, however, included shenanigans.

Axle and Hazard turned their rivalry into a friendly prank war. Hazard started by gluing Axle's wings to his sides, resulting in three hours of Axle's ranting. Axle added a sticky mixture to Hazard's hair, which stood on end for five days. The pranks turned more and more intense, eventually including Mirage, Amplitude, and Tesla.

Trip could tell that everyone was getting cabin fever, including himself. He didn't want to treat them like experiments, but he wasn't sure how to approach them. When he first heard about the Equestrian jury, he had sworn to himself that, like the witnesses, he would tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But how can he tell the whole truth if he doesn't know what it is? He'll have to keep at the hacking until he can get some definite answers.....

Day 2

"So what are we supposed to do?" Axle asked. Everyone was back in the lab, along with some of the guards, who were examining the lab in awe.

The pegasus who had told them what happened spoke up, "I'm not sure if it will help, but when we're trying to free a guard who's the enemy's prisoner, we try to distract those behind enemy lines. Once they're out of the way, we sweep in and take on those remaining. However, let me ensure you that it's much easier said than done."

Hazard, however, had gone into a train of thought. "You know," he said, "We could probably use the animatronics' strategies against Fuse."

"What do you mean?" Mild asked.

"He might have a point," Jasper said, coming into the room with a sense of newfound courage, "When I was the watch guard, each animatronic had a way of evading me."

"Exactly!" Said Hazard, "Each of us could use our abilities to our advantage."

"You know..." Axle said, thoughtfully, "Fuse practically made a game out of this. Why not--"

"Don't even think about it." Tesla said.

"Anyway," Hazard said, "What make you come out of your shell, Jasper?"

"Fuse's dreams are starting to become more annoying than scary. Now I have the courage to help you guys. And I think I know how I can..."

A few hours later, Tesla had dismissed the guards.

"Now we need to focus on what to do," Amplitude said, "Fuse isn't going to wait forever, you know."

"I think that we've figured out what to do in Fuse's lab. It's just that no one will be here to keep an eye on the animatronics," Mirage replied.

"Screw those rag dolls! Fuse is the target!" Axle yelled.

"Those 'rag dolls' are Fuse's minions. If we let them run loose, there's no way to know what they'll do. We already saw them take out some of the best trained ponies in Equestria," Hazard replied, annoyed.

"Mirage is right, though," Jasper pointed out, "The animatronics will get loose."

"Unless..." Tesla said, looking at Mild.

Mild looked at her, confused, until a look of shock slowly spread across his face.

"No," he said, "Don't think that I'm doing this again."

"Would it help if I was with you?" Tesla asked.

"I'm in," Jasper said.

Mild looked at the two of the them, finally giving in. "Okay, but there better be a backup plan."

"There will be," Tesla said, "I'll teleport us back to the lab should they attack us. Trip made a device that can counteract magic-nullifying spells. I think that it may work against the animatronics."

"Sounds like we have a plan. Let's go!" Axle cheered, speeding down the hallway.

"Tonight," said Hazard, "Tonight, everything changes."

Day 3

Over the next few weeks, there had been questions galore. Everyone wanted to know about the ponies' tale, including the details about the murders. It was all the rage over the next few years. Some idiots even wanted to know what it was like working as a night guard, so a game was made replicating the situation. But Trip never forgot Fuse's threat. But it would take some time for the next fight to unfold. He could tell. Like his namesake, he only jumps into action with the right trigger.

Author's Note

Get ready for the sequel!!!