Thunder rumbled overtop of the house, as dark clouds filled the sky's, signaling the Pegasi had scheduled a rainstorm for the night. Wind howled and blew through the tree's, a soft whispering noise, if one was listening to it.
A few stars twinkled overhead, but would soon be snuffed out by the approaching storm, leaving the area in an inky darkness.
The house was a rather simple looking two story building, with a red brown colored roof and a white base. A few big bushes stood around the house, leaning against it as if they were going to fall if they didn't hang on to it. A willow tree stood tall and gracefully in the backyard, its leaves flowing with the wind like a pony's mane when they were moving fast.
The lone house was surrounded by the everfree forest, in a more silent safe area, far enough away from anypony, but close enough to walk there in half an hour.
The lights were dim inside the house, as if somepony hadn't lit all the lanterns and candles, leaving the interior in an dim half light, with no way to navigate its hallways without some form of light without bumping into something.
Through a large rectangular window at the back of the house, a lone form sat in a swivel chair, shivering with fear.
His light blue coat was slick with sweat, making it gleam in the half light of the room, his dark blue mane and tail dripped with sweat, and his green eyes showed no emotions but fear.
The stallion sat at a plain looking desk, with a few drawers to hold anything he might have needed to store for later. An old computer sat in front of the stallion, its screen flickered with static every few seconds. A desktop lamp was on the left side of the computer, its dim light barely illuminating anything but the desk, adding to the creepy surroundings. An old phone and answering machine sat just below the lamp, silent at the moment. A fan stood on the right, its blades still, its cord lay next to its base.
A small rectangular alarm clock sits at the edge of the desk, the large pixelated numbers reading: 12 AM.
In his trembling mouth he held a lantern, with a focused bulb so it would shine on one spot when turned on.
Several loud bangs in the front hallway, hidden behind a set of finely carved wooden doors, jolted the poor stallion, and his trembling increased, and he began to mutter something under his breath, as more sweat began to run down his face.
The phone rang, causing the stallion to yelp and kick out with his hind legs, moving him backward away from the desk a foot. He breathed heavily, the scare he had received filling him with adrenalin, and he sat there, not making a move to pick up the phone, he just stared at it, waiting for the answering machine to activate.
After a few more rings, the machine beeped, and a mares voice penetrated the silence. ''Celestia, Tech I've been trying to reach you for the past few days.''
At the sound of the familiar voice, the quivering stallion relaxed a bit.
She sighed, ''The endoskeleton's are severely damaged and probably irreplaceable with the budget you gave me. I'd recommend we get some new endoskeleton's cause these...heh, these can not be fixed.''
The mare pauses for a second, and the stallion's ears perk, a little sound coming from to his left, and he swivelled his chair to the left, the lanterns beam illuminating the large closet, its doors closing quickly, as if there was something in there, hiding from the light. He shakes his head, and turns back to the desk.
''The main frames are very out of place'' The mare continued ''And I'm afraid if these animatronics were to put on a show'' She empathises the last part, leaving the stallion enough time to turn to his right, his lanterns beam shining on a single door, with a flickering candle holder, barely illuminating the side of the room, on its right, with a box of personal belonging's on the door's left.
The door was closed, like it should have been.
''They would mostly likely'' The mare's voice rang out again, ''Pretty much go bonkers in front of the foals. you don't want that, and quite frankly, I don't want that either.''
The stallion turned to the window, behind the desk, and looked outside, the beam of light from the lantern slightly reflecting off the window pane, the wind had picked up, and the storm was getting closer, it would be there in a matter of minutes the stallion thought.
The message continued ''its of course, you know, just an idea, but, I wanted to call, and make sure you know, but like, last time.''
The message ended with a click of a phone being hung up.
The stallion turned back to the right door, the beam hitting a mangled purple pony-like being, he let out a little shriek of horror, and it slammed the door.
He knew the creature, he may have caught only a glimpse, but he knew his own creation.
Although its face was half torn away, revealing its endoskeleton face and creepy red eyes, one of its front legs was missing, and most of its suit was torn away, leaving much of its robotic limbs exposed, along with its wing structures, its violet horn, and the remains of its purple mane streaked with pink, along with the shreds of purple suit that remained proved it to be, without a doubt: Twilight Sparkle.
The purple Alicorn was one of his many robotic creations, and had serviced in several restaurants, for many different purposes, but now, the crazed animatronic had come back to him, battered and torn, to kill him. She wasn't the only one however. There were three more, and they were just as monstrous.
The stallion turned to the desk, and letting out a gasp as a pink earth pony slammed the two front doors shut at the sight of the lanterns beam hitting it.
It had had a small black bowtie and top hat on, and its mane and tail were extremely curly, one of her hooves was missing, and where the animatronics eyes were supposed to be there was only black, empty, lifeless holes.
Pinkie Pie.
She had been the star of the show, singing and telling jokes, but now, she was trying to get at him too.
The stallion let out a shudder and swivelled towards the window, looking outside with the lantern, nothing was there. He turned to the closet, the lanterns beam slicing through the darkness. the doors were firmly shut. He turned back to the desk, ignoring the useless computer and looking at the clock.
1 AM.
He spun his chair to check the right door, it closed quickly, proving Twilight was about to open it.
The stallion's trembling began again, and his eyes teared up, this was just to much for him. Even though his house was in the Everfree forest, one of the most dangerous places in Equestria, having to fight for his life wasn't something he was used to.
''This is just to much...'' he choked out, and spun towards the closet.
He let out a shriek as a light yellow Pegasus, missing one of her forelegs, and missing one of her back legs, shrieked at the beam of light hitting her, and slammed the doors shut.
Her light pink mane, and cutie mark, three blue butterflies, were unmistakable.
Her eyes might have been only empty sockets, and her lower jaw gone, the stallion could always remember Fluttershy, she had been one of his favorite creations.
He had little idea how the once adorable animatronic mare got into the closet, but then again, how did any of them get in here?
He turned to the desk, and the light shone down at the double doors beyond it, no sign of Pinkie.
He spun the chair all the way to the window, nothing outside.
A few fast hoofsteps jolted the stallion and he whirled towards the door to his right, nothing.
''Where the hell was that sound coming from...?'' he asked nopony. No response, he wasn't expecting one, as the only other being's in the house with him were the animatronics, and they didn't seem to be able to speak anymore. Not that he would have wanted them to, their voices were the last thing he needed, he was already dealing with just having to see them like this.
The stallion turned to the right door, and nearly screamed, while he had been thinking and not paying attention, Twilight had started to sneak into the room, but when the light hit her, she let out a shriek and slammed the door behind her as she fled.
The stallion let out a tiny sigh, and turned back to the window, he let out a little shriek of terror at the sight before him.
Slowly rising from under the window pane outside, was a cyan blue mare, with a rainbow colored mane, and an eye patch over her left eye, the other only an empty socket, there was a sinister smile was splayed across her face.
He swung the lanterns beam at her face, and she vanished with a screech.
''Oh shit...'' the stallion shuddered.
Rainbow Dash was here now too, hiding outside somewhere.
He could just imagine the rainbow colored nightmare as it burst through the window and tore his face off.
The phone rung, and he spun towards the closet, ''Cant get distracted...'' He muttered, fear etched in his voice.
The phone rung a few times, as FlutterShy let out a screech and slammed the closet doors at the lanterns beam of holy light.
The mare on the phone sighed, ''Damn it...'' She took a deep breath, before finally speaking.'' Uh Tech, you there?''
The stallion would have answered, but he knew it was just a message.
''We got some...issues with the toys endoskeletons in the past few weeks. You know, it may have worked out the past few times, we've had uh, similar incidents, but uh...this was very disturbing.''
The stallion turned to face the desk, and the beam of light caught Pinkie, who screeched at it and slammed the doors shut, her poofy pink mane almost getting caught in the doors.
''I tried to convince the royal guards that nothing happened, with lots of bits, it worked.'' The mare paused for a second, then continued, her voice filled with regret. ''I-I'm sorry, I really am, I'm so sorry this had to happen. as company, I have no idea, just...we got to do something. this...is getting out of hand.''
The phone hung up, and the stallion really wished he had time to pick of the phone, so he would at least have somepony to talk to, but he had to focus.
He spun towards the right door, scaring Twilight away, the sound of the slamming door made him jolt, he was going to lose it. if a door he saw close was enough to scare him, he wasn't sure he would make it out of this with his sanity intact.
He spun back to the desk, the light slicing through the darkness beyond the desk. nothing there.
The stallion took a few deep breaths, ''I can do this.'' he muttered under his breath, then turned to face the closet. His heart skipped a beat and he almost screamed as FlutterShy shrieked at him, and slammed the closet doors shut.
She had almost gotten him! If he hadn't have flashed the light at her, he would be dead. This was getting worse, if he didn't find a way to either get rid of them, or find an opportunity to escape, he wouldn't last the night.
Something creaked to his right, making the fur on the back of his neck stand up, and adrenalin coursed through the stallion once more, he spun towards the desk, the lantern shooting its holy beam, hitting the figure of Pinkie Pie. She had just began to step into the room.
''NO!'' The stallion cried out.
Pinkie let out that ghastly shriek and bounced out of the room, the doors slamming shut behind her.
The stallion began to hyperventilate, they were coming so fast now.
He looked down at the clock, hoping with all his might it would be close to 6 AM.
It wasn't. The clock read: 3 AM.
He felt sweat drop from his mane onto the floor below, and more slide down his face, where it would hang for a second at the edge of his chin, before also hitting the ground.
The phone rang again, causing the stallion to let out a little yelp of shock. It rang, until the answering machine picked it up again.
''It must be really important to call back so soon.'' The stallion said to himself, trying to stop his shaking.
''Celestia Tech, just thought the company was safe from the media, there always has to be something in the news.'' The mare on the phone said, a slight tone of annoyance built up in her voice. ''I know you think your right, but I strongly urge you to replace those endoskeletons. they seem to...'' The mare paused, trying to think of a good word, ''React, in a way that I cant explain, its...its unusual, and uh...you telling me to lock them in my basement is scary enough... I'm... I'm always feeling watched...''
The stallion whirled around at a tapping at the window, sending Rainbow Dash away with a screech as the lanterns beam hit her. He shuddered at the sound.
''I don't think I can do this anymore Tech... their creeping me out, can you... can you at least think about my proposition!? Sure would be nice.'' The mare grumbled, before hanging up with a chink.
The stallion shook his head, she had to bring this up now?
If he had the time, and if he survived, he would call her, and let her know his decision, but for now, he spun the chair to check the right door.
He screamed, unable to hold it back, Twilight let out her ghastly shriek, and slammed the door shut behind her.
The stallion started breathing hard, trying to take in as much oxygen as possible, and began spinning the chair to the four areas the animatronics kept showing up at.
His breathing increased, as he scared away Pinkie, and then FlutterShy, the two robotic monstrosities slamming their respective doors shut with screeches of rage.
He started to develop a pattern, spinning in circles, flashing the lantern at the closet, since it was hard to see the doors move in the dark, and using the light if he saw the doors to the right or past the desk move. He didn't need to check the window often, but when he did, he began to find out when Rainbow Dash would pop up.
Every time she was about to rear her ugly head, he would hear that sound of a pony running outside.
It gave the stallion a bit of a heads up, but sometimes, the sounds of the animatronics shrieks would drown the steps out, so spotting Dash was sometimes up to luck.
But somehow he kept the monsters away.
The rain poured down outside of the house, the storm finally reaching the isolated building, making the noises of the footsteps and any other signs of the animatronics presence harder to detect.
The stallion looked down at the clock, it slowly faded from 4 AM to 5 AM, he let a small grin form across his lips, he was going to make it. He was going to make it!
In one more hour, the nightmare would be over, and he could get somepony to rid the world of his creations once and for all.
The stallion spun around, towards the closet.
FlutterShy stepped out of the closet, and the stallions heart almost stopped, he flashed the lantern at her, scaring her away.
''No! That was to close...'' He gasped, and spun the chair to the window, ''NO!''
Rainbow Dash had just started to open the window, but let out a almost frustrated screech, and vanished.
The stallion began to hyperventilate again. They were coming faster then before, they must have realized they were running out of time to get to him.
The stallion spun, more sweat falling from his face, and scared away Twilight, although he wasn't sure if it was him or her that shrieked.
He barely heard the bouncing, but spun just in time to see Pinkie bounce into the room, her mouth stretched in a slasher smile. She let out a shriek and suddenly was through the door, slamming them shut behind her.
He turned to the closet, the lanterns light catching it in progress of opening up, causing it to close silently.
''I'm so close...just a bit longer. please save me Celestia...'' The stallion began mumbling to himself, his pleas going unheard by the Alicorn princess.
The stallion was shocked out of his praying by the sudden ringing of the phone, causing him to start swivelling his chair, using the lantern to check out the area, but he was shocked to find none of the animatronic ponies trying to get into the room. In fact, they weren't anywhere to be seen.
This was very unnerving, where did they go?
The phone ceased its ringing, and the mares voice cut through the tense silence. ''Hello Tech, I see your still there, good. You know, I was hoping that my calls would distract you earlier, but it seems Celestia was on your side.''
The stallion spun around a few more times, trying to figure out what she was talking about. ''What could she be talking about, this is way to creepy'' The stallion thought, finally stopping in front of the desk, the double doors ahead didn't move.
''No matter, since I was sure you wouldn't still be alive, I already had your decision forged. So I wont be needing you anymore Tech, not that I needed you in the first place.'' She let out a chuckle, causing the stallion to shiver.
This didn't sound like his assistants usual personality, not to mention she seemed to be talking as if she knew that the animatronics were in his house, trying to kill him.
''Since you've made it this far, I might as well show you the true face behind this terror!'' The mare almost snarled, and the call ended.
Suddenly, the pieces came together in the stallions mind, and his pupils dilated. It all made sense now.
The computers static suddenly fizzed, causing the stallion to jolt, and it faded to black.
''What the...'' The stallion asked.
Slowly, a pony walked into the view on the screen, a mare to be precise. She stallion couldn't make out much of her, but he could tell that she looked familiar...
She took another few hoofsteps forward, allowing the stallion to make out some more details.
Her coat was a very light violet pink color, and her mane was purple, with light blue streaks going through it, she had it done up in a ponytail.
A bump coming out of her forehead confirmed she was a unicorn, so that explained how she was doing this.
He couldn't see her cutie mark, nor what color her eyes were, although in the dark they almost looked black, with just the whites of her
pupils showing.
The side of her that was more cloaked in darkness made her look almost...purple.
A name formed in his mouth and shot out before he could confirm it.
''Starlight!?''
The purple mares expression turned to one of gleeful malice, ''Well oh course its me, who the hell do you think was calling you this whole time?''
The stallion could only gape, the lantern fell from his hooves and hit the ground with a dull thud.
''Yeah, your finally figuring it out, took you long enough Tech, I thought once you figured out where the endoskeletons came from to get to you, you would figure it all out. Foolish pony.'' Starlight snickered evilly to herself.
Starlight Glimmer.
It had been her the whole time, the reason the endoskeletons went bonkers, the reason they were in his house in the first place. Now he knew how they had gotten in.
''Oh, guess what, I was the one who also killed those foals and made them disappear, why do you think I wasn't around when it happened?'' She cackled, and gave the stallion a grin filled with malice, hatred, and sickening glee.
''WHY!?'' The stallion shrieked at the purple mare.
''Why?'' Starlight put a hoof up to her chin as if thinking. ''Because it was fun. Why? Because I wanted to shut the place down. Why? Because I wanted to lure those six blasted ponies to the pizzeria so I could get rid of them once and for all, but that didn't work. So, I needed a new plan, but to make it work, I needed you out of the way. I needed to take over, and when you told me to take the animatronics and lock them in my basement, I knew now was the time.''
''SO YOU SENT THEM HERE!'' The stallion yelled at the screen, checking the room around him forgotten now.
''Yes, I don't have time to kill you myself, and I thought, why not show you...''
Starlight's voice lowered to an almost inpony growl,
''The Joy Of Creation...''
The purple mare began to laugh, as the stallion whirled around to hear the sound of galloping hooves outside, and suddenly, Rainbow Dash stood right outside the window, her mouth twisted in a smile that would make little foals cry at the sight.
The stallion jumped off his chair in fright, his eyes widening as his breathing became faster and his heart began pounding up against his chest.
A noise from the closet made him turn from Dash, and he fumbled for his lantern, snatching it up in a hoof and pointing it at the source.
FlutterShy stared at him from inside of the closet, the doors wide open, with those empty soulless eyes, barrowing deep into his soul.
The creek of another door made him turn to the right door, Twilight stepped into the room, her mostly skeletal body and missing face giving the stallion chills.
Why weren't they going away? He had the light pointed right at them, why were they now ignoring it?
Slowly, the stallion realized the light was dimmer, and was beginning to flicker, ''NO! NONONONONONONONONONONO!'' His mind screamed, as Starlight's maniacal laughter continued to ring out through the room.
Behind him, he heard the purple mare finally cease her laughing, ''Well then, so long Tech. Its been nice knowing you, heh heh heheheheh.'' She spoke her final words with malice.
If the stallion had been watching, he would have seen her grin evilly at him one more time before the screen fuzzed out, returning to static again.
The stallions hooves trembled, and he dropped the lantern again, the light going out permanently.
He stared down the three robot ponies surrounding him, before he heard a familiar bouncing noise, as the doors behind him swung open.
The stallion slowly turned around, determined to see the being that would be the end of him.
Pinkie Pie lunged.
Tech let out one last scream, before the pink party animatronic hit him, and began tearing him to pieces.
Slowly, the screams of agony finally faded away, leaving the house silent again. The only sounds the pouring rain and the wind through the trees.
The only sign of the stallions death, a large blood stain covering the window.
END.
Author's Note
Well, that was a gruesome end for Tech, if you were wondering, yes, Tech is his name, and the rest of his name will be revealed in the next book.
This is my first horror only story, so don't judge it to harshly.
Please tell me in the comments what you would like to see in the sequel.
hope you enjoyed The Joy Of Creation.
