Five Nights at Equestria Girls

With Twilight Sparkle gone, that left Sunset Shimmer to deal with the kids herself. She could hear some nervous shuffling behind her. Figuring that it was Cassidy joining her friends, she sighed. Deep down, Sunset hoped that they wouldn’t freak out. However, everyone who had seen her appearance so far did freak out. And it was starting to become less hurtful, though not by much. Instead of getting up, Sunset just pulled her knees to her chest, too hurt to move from her spot.

“Sunset? Is that actually you?” asked Jeremy, his robotic voice quivering.

Sunset heard the quiver in Jeremy’s voice. It reminded her of how Twilight reacted to her appearance when she had shown her. It was the same quiet, shaky whisper she had heard that night. If Sunset had managed to scare her closest friends, what would the kids do? Especially Jeremy and Fritz, as they were the youngest of the group. Would her demonic appearance frighten them? Would she lose their trust? Yet, as Sunset sat there questioning that, she felt something stir within her. Something told her that this time would be different. That maybe there was a chance the kids wouldn’t be scared. And that perhaps they would see through the changes.

The redhead sighed and pushed herself off the ground. Knowing that she was going to have to explain her appearance, she took a deep breath and steeled her resolve. She picked up her sunglasses and turned to face the kids. “Yes, it is me.”

“But your skin is red. And your eyes-” said Fritz.

“I know how I look right now. But if you promise not to freak out, I can show the rest of what happened to me.” Sunset Shimmer walked up to the kids, noticing that the two youngest backed away. “Please, I am asking that you let me explain.”

“I promise, I will keep them in line, Sunset,” said Susie, resting a wing on Sunset’s shoulder.

Sunset Shimmer turned to Susie, amazed by the fact that she didn’t seem to be afraid. It made her wish that things had played out differently with Twilight. As she thought about her, she felt a pang of sadness wash over her. Sunset wanted her there by her side and holding her hand. She missed being able to intertwine her fingers with Twilight’s soft ones, and not worrying about scaring her when she touched her. Before the thoughts could go on, Sunset pushed them back, knowing that she had a more significant problem to deal with. Just as she went to speak, she saw Gabriel and Cassidy stand by her. They also seemed not to be frightened of her, which was a welcome sign for Sunset.

Smiling at them, the redhead said, “Thank you.”

“And we’ll help too,” said Fluttershy as she stood next to Sunset. “We know it hasn’t been easy for you looking like Demon Shimmer.”

“D-Demon Shimmer?” asked Jeremy.

“It’s the nickname we gave Sunset’s demonic appearance,” replied Pinkie Pie as she pulled Sunset and Fluttershy into a tight hug. “It fits, don’t you think?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” said Jeremy, not exactly knowing what to say.

“Well, let me take off my hoodie, and I’ll explain everything. Besides, I am starting to sweat in this thing anyway,” said Sunset Shimmer as she sat down near the barn entrance, placing her sunglasses next to her.

*** *** *** ***

Springtrap stood outside the building. The sound of Mangle kicking around the loose concrete around was beginning to get on his nerves. It was evident that she didn’t want to be here, not that she made a point to hide it. He was growing tired of waiting for the Marionette to finish its mission. Springtrap decided that he had to think of something to get back at the girls. The redhead had managed to defeat his doppelgangers because she knew about their weakness. So, that meant that he had to find a place with very little metal in and around it. He didn’t want his army to dwindle back to nothing… again. And with their stupidity, he couldn’t take that risk. Pacing back and forth, Springtrap thought about where he could go.

“I am in a forest… maybe I could lure the bitches here. But it would also have to be far from my hideout, so they don’t discover it or the Phantoms,” thought Springtrap.

Springtrap’s thoughts got interrupted by a loud banging from inside the building. He turned around just in time to see Mangle throwing Freddy out of the doorway. Stepping back, he narrowly avoided getting trampled on by the bear. Narrowing his eyes, Springtrap glared at Mangle.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” asked Springtrap, a deep growl escaping his throat.

Freddy struggled to get up as a huge tree branch fell on top of him. He tried to phase, but with no control over it, the tree branch knocked him out. The branch snapped in half with a loud crack, with each half landing on either side of his head. Springtrap rolled his eyes, sighing in frustration.

“Haha, that dumb bear so fucking deserved that,” said Mangle, her laugh sounding more like nails on a chalkboard.

Springtrap had his hand around what one could consider Mangle’s neck and had pinned her against the wall in one swift motion. He looked at her as his eyes, which usually glowed white, began to glow red. Pushing her body further into the wall, he spoke.

“You worthless piece of fucking crap! You are testing my patience. Do you remember why I brought you here?” asked Springtrap, lowering his voice, making himself sound almost demonic.

"You, uh, brought us here for, uh, a reason,” choked Mangle, barely able to speak through her voice box as Springtrap squeezed it.

“And, Mangle dear, what is that reason?” Springtrap tightened his grip on her further.

“To do something, uh, for you,” replied Mangle.

“Right,” replied Springtrap as he pulled Mangle away from the wall only to slam her back into it. “So, would you like to continue testing me?”

As he did that, Springtrap felt something tingling and sparking in his circuits. It spread all through his body, making his ears twitch as it reached them. Standing still, he noticed that he was getting a little taller. And that his hand, still tightly wrapped around Mangle’s neck, was also getting bigger as well. Springtrap felt his body growing a bit larger than it was before. It was like an upward force was pulling his body towards the ceiling. However, just as quickly as it began, it stopped. Looking at the building, he noticed that he had grown a foot or two taller than his previous eight-foot frame.

“Woah, this feels amazing.” Springtrap let Mangle go, allowing her to drop to the forest floor. “I feel so much stronger.”

“What the fuck, Springtrap?! You’re like ten or more feet tall,” said Mangle as she scrambled away from the slightly taller animatronic rabbit in front of her.

“I-I don’t know what just happened, but I feel a lot stronger and more powerful,” said Springtrap as he kicked a nearby pebble.

Springtrap’s words got backed by the small pebble getting sent flying into the sky and disappearing into nothingness. He turned around and saw that Mangle and everyone else had backed away from him. That pleased him to see that his minions respected him. Suddenly, he felt a sparking-like sensation, similar to what happened earlier. Springtrap blinked rapidly for a few seconds as the sensation traveled throughout his whole body. Once he was able to open his eyes again, he saw that he was back to his previous eight-foot frame.

“Well, so much for that lasting long,” said Balloon Boy as he walked up to Springtrap. “Maybe you’ll get it back, assuming that it wasn’t just a one-time thing.”

Springtrap growled at Balloon Boy, resulting in making him jump. And he nearly knocked Mangle over the process.

“You’d better hope that it wasn’t a one-time thing, or it’ll be your asses on the line next.” Springtrap walked into the building and saw the Marionette’s Phantom counterpart. “You,” he pointed to it, “do you have a link to your animatronic half?”

The Phantom Marionette. “Yes, I do. We are the same, sort of.”

Springtrap groaned as he heard its voice. “Fuck, even your voice is extremely annoying. You two really are the same.”

“What do you need, Springtrap?” asked the Phantom Marionette, trying to keep its voice low.

“First, I need you to shut up before I remove your fucking voice box. Next, I need you to sit down and tell me where your counterpart is and if they have completed their mission yet.” Springtrap turned away from the Phantom, looking out the door and at Mangle, who was beating up Freddy again.

“Okay,” said the Phantom Marionette, sitting down and crossing its legs.

Closing its eyes, the Phantom Marionette started to hum. Springtrap rolled his eyes at the sound. It was irritating, though much less so than Mangle’s annoying voice. Deciding that he didn’t want to be in the building, listening to the humming, he walked away. Springtrap, instead, wanted to figure out what caused him to grow a foot or so tall earlier. Could it have been the equestrian magic that was now powering him? Could he have discovered a new power? Springtrap wasn’t sure, but he did know one thing; he wanted to see if he could do it again. However, this time it would be willingly and on command.

*** *** *** ***

Meanwhile, as the Marionette’s Phantom version sat in the electrical building, its animatronic counterpart had finally found Sunset Shimmer’s apartment. They made their way to the door, reaching out one of their long, spindly fingers toward the door handle. Using the tip of its finger, they managed to jimmy the lock and open the door. Because the door frame was much smaller than they were, they had to bend down to avoid hitting it. Once they were inside, they closed the door behind them and stood up straight. Thankfully, the ceilings of the apartment were high enough to allow it to stand up.

“Wh-where are you, Sunset Shimmer?” asked the Marionette, their voice cracking as it spoke.

There was no response. Just empty air and a slight echoing off the walls of the somewhat bare apartment. Walking around, the Marionette began to search for the Sunset Shimmer. As they walked past the small desk underneath the loft that Sunset called her ‘bedroom,’ they saw a photo of the redhead with her friends. That made it stop and examine the picture more closely. In the middle was the redhead that they had gotten sent to attack. And the girls with their arms all interlocked around her appeared to be her friends. Yet, the Marionette noticed that Sunset’s eyes were only on the girl standing next to her. It seemed that she was aware of the purple-haired girl, who was blushing as she saw Sunset look at her.

‘Wh-what? Are they fr-friends?” asked the Marionette as they gingerly picked up the frame in their spindly fingers, trying not to drop it.

As the Marionette stared at the photo, they felt something stir from deep within. As though a lost memory was calling out to them. The longer they stared at it, the more that the feeling grew. Suddenly, as if the lost memory had never got forgotten, they remembered a moment in time. In the faded memory, they were standing in a playground with many screaming kids running around them. They turned around as they heard their name getting called. Running towards them was a woman with short blonde hair, brown eyes, and a warm smile. Something about her seemed so familiar and kind. Hard as they tried, the Marionette couldn’t make out what the woman was saying as she knelt in front of them.

“M-mom…?” muttered the Marionette as they held out their hand for the woman to take. “Is that… y-you…?”

However, just as quickly as the memory came, it went. As the image of the woman who was now smiling at them faded away, they dropped the photo. The corner of the frame hit the floor, resulting in the glass shattering onto the floor. Not caring that it had dropped the picture frame, the Marionette continued its search, walking around the apartment. As they made their way up to the stairs towards the bedroom, they saw more photos. Yet, these photos were different from the one lying on the floor. Instead of the redhead hanging out with her friends, there was only one person with her in them; Twilight Sparkle. The Marionette grabbed the nearest picture off of the dresser and examined it.

“Fr-Friends?” asked the Marionette as they looked at the photo.

Again, the strange feeling of remembering something that previously had got forgotten hit them. This time, they set the photo down, not wanting to make another mess. As the memory began to play, they saw that it was different from the other one. Now, they were in a cafeteria, surrounded by four girls who were all laughing and chatting amongst each other. The one girl on the far right turned towards them, a smile on their face. Yet, the Marionette couldn’t hear what they were saying. Maybe it was because the memory wasn’t entirely there, just barely visible. The girl laughed after something one of the other girls said. However, as they looked at the girl, something felt familiar. Almost like they had met them before. Unfortunately, before they could explore that idea, the memory faded away, leaving them back in Sunset’s apartment,

“Wh-what’s going o-on?” asked the Marionette.

Remembering what their mission was, the Marionette walked back down the stairs. They walked out the front door and sat down on the steps, waiting for Sunset Shimmer. The memories that had suddenly got brought back were still there. However, Springtrap’s control and years of lying dormant took hold and shoved the memories back down. That resulted in them becoming harder to remember and bring back. The Marionette decided to use the time they had while waiting for Sunset to retrieve the memories. Closing their eyes, they replayed them over and over.

*** *** *** ***

Back at Springtrap’s place, the Phantom Marionette opened their eyes. The connection between their animatronic counterpart got severed for the time being. But if they needed to, they could open the link again. They walked out of the building and found Springtrap leaning against the side of it.

“Did you find your counterpart?” asked Springtrap, pushing himself off the building’s side. “Or did you fail?”

“No, I found it. It had arrived at Sunset’s apartment, Springtrap,” replied the Phantom Marionette, ignoring the screams of Freddy as Mangle hit him with the two pieces of the broken branch. “By the way, how did it know to find the apartment? I didn’t think you let it get very far from you.”

“Actually, I managed to make a copy of myself. And when that copy got sent out on its mission – one that it failed – it had passed by Sunset’s apartment.’ Springtrap glared at Mangle as she glanced at him. Her antics were starting to become more annoying. “And absorbing it back into me, I gained its memory. Hence how your animatronic dummy has found its way to that place.”

“Ah, that explains that.” The Phantom Marionette ignored the hiss Mangle gave it as she walked back in the building. “I must still admit that I am shocked that you could make copies of yourself. However, I will save that for a later date.”

“So, did it look like it was actually going to complete the mission? Or fuck it up like my copies originally did?” asked Springtrap, walking over to the area where his previous doppelgangers had stood.

“I think it will complete the mission,” replied the Phantom Marionette. “It was just waiting for Sunset to arrive.”

“Good. I need it to attack the redhead. It’ll give me time to make my army bigger,” said Springtrap as he flexed his hand, staring at the open space in front of him. “Sunset Shimmer and her gang of fucking pests will not stop me this time…”

*** *** *** ***

“So, basically, you became this… this she-demon because of a crown that you put on?” asked Susie, turning towards Jeremy, making sure that he was okay.

Although Sunset Shimmer had shown them the extent of what had happened to her that Thursday, Jeremy and Fritz were still very skittish. And with them being two massive metal animatronics meant that they had to be careful not to hurt anyone if they panicked. It was apparent that seeing a red-skinned version of Sunset was not easy for the two youngest children. Sunset had tried to keep them as calm as she could. However, having claws, fangs, and two enormous bat wings didn’t make it easy. More often than not, she had to stop and let them calm down before she could continue. Yet, that didn’t stop Jeremy and Fritz from freaking out occasionally and making the girls stand back from them.

“Yes. I put on Princess Twilight’s crown. And a few seconds later, I became… this,” replied Sunset Shimmer, gesturing to herself. “At the time, I didn’t know what an element of Harmony would do if used for the wrong purpose.”

Cassidy, having moved earlier to avoid getting hit by Sunset’s wings, looked at the redhead. “And this change happened now because of me?”

Sunset looked from Susie to Cassidy. The question made it clear that the young girl thought Sunset was blaming her for her situation. And that didn’t sit right with the redhead. She knew the real reason was that she had become Demon Shimmer in the past, and her geode used that. However, Sunset understood how Cassidy would’ve easily assumed that she had been the cause.

“No, not you specifically, Cassidy. My geode caused the transformation. However, seeing your memories and bringing you back made it spark,” said Sunset Shimmer, recalling the night’s events. “And that malfunction is what led to me becoming Demon Shimmer again. Well, at least in appearance anyway.”

“Oh, so it was just your geode, not me?” asked Cassidy, meeting Sunset’s gaze.

“Yeah. You’re not the cause, Cassidy. Sorry if I made you feel that way,” Sunset Shimmer said, looking away. “It was a hectic night.”

“It’s okay. After all, I get it. However, what doesn’t make any sense to me is why you ran away from your friends,” said Cassidy.

“Yeah, and why you kept it from them for almost a week,” added Fritz, finally speaking after staying silent almost the entire time. “Didn’t you trust your friends?”

The redhead swallowed, her throat suddenly feeling dry. That had been the one thing both the girls and Twilight Sparkle had brought up to her. Even her own conscience kept bringing it up. It seemed that everyone around her could see that she didn’t trust them right away. And even if that wasn’t the case, in the end, it didn’t change anything. Sunset still lied, still chose to dodge the girls, rather than confess what had happened.

“I did,” was all Sunset Shimmer could manage to say. “But, I still trust my friends.”

“So, why lie and hide? Why go through all that trouble to keep it from them?” asked Jeremy, making Sunset look at him.

“I did it because I was afraid of their reactions, of your reactions too. And I also did it because of what I tried to do to them at the Fall Formal…” replied Sunset Shimmer, her voice barely loud enough for anyone to hear.

Cassidy looked at Gabriel, realizing what Sunset Shimmer was hinting at. She could tell by the tone in the redhead’s voice that she had almost done something terrible. And that was a tone Cassidy recognized very well, especially since Cassidy had the same guilt weighing on her back when she had managed to stop herself from killing on the first attempt. Not that she was successful on her second attempt. However, that was beside the point. Right now, Cassidy could see that Sunset was hurting and that whatever she did do left indelible scars on her.

“What exactly did you do?” asked Gabriel as his gaze shifted from Cassidy to Sunset.

“I… tried to… murder the girls and Princess Twilight.” As the words left Sunset shimmer’s mouth, she felt herself almost become physically sick. It was not easy to say the words, let alone in front of the girls – the ones she attempted to hurt.

“Oh…” was the response Sunset got from Gabriel. “I’m sorry that I asked.”

Sunset Shimmer looked at the girls, noticing that Fluttershy was looking down at her hands. All of them, except for Applejack, seemed to avoid looking at her. It was evident that the memory was painful for them as well. And that made Sunset feel even worse. She didn’t want to bring things up that were still sensitive. Yet, she already had. The events that had occurred at the Fall Formal had affected everyone, not just her.

“And you didn’t think about that, did you?!” said Sunset’s inner voice, making its presence known again.

“Why do you think that I didn’t tell them to begin with?!” thought Sunset Shimmer looking down at her hands.

“Oh, I thought you were just a coward,” replied Sunset’s inner voice, sounding genuine in that thought.

“Seriously?! You thought I was a coward? So much for being my conscience…” Sunset Shimmer sighed, not believing that she was about to start another argument with herself.

“Okay, you weren’t a coward, but that still doesn’t excuse you from what you did,” said Sunset’s conscience, seemingly apologetic for its earlier statement.

Her conscience was right, not that the redhead was happy about that. “I know…”

“Um, Sunset?” asked Cassidy, cautiously tapping Sunset’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

Sunset Shimmer blinked, pulling herself from her thoughts. Looking around, she noticed that all eyes were on her. She rubbed her neck, and nervously looked down. Sunset hadn’t realized that she had zoned out, but everyone else had. And that was incredibly embarrassing for her as she hated getting lost in thought whenever she talked with someone.

‘Yeah, I am fine. Sorry, I just zoned out,” replied Sunset Shimmer, trying to ease the girls’ worries.

“Sugarcube, maybe you should head home. You seem mighty tired,” said Applejack as she got up from the hay bale she was sitting on. “We can take care of the kids for now. And answer any questions they may have. You need to rest.”

“Are you sure?” asked Sunset Shimmer, looking at the rest of the girls. “I can stay if there are more questions.”

“No, I’m puttin’ my foot down, Sunset. Go home, and get some sleep,” said Applejack, her voice gentle but stern.

Sunset Shimmer, seeing that the cowgirl wasn’t going to budge, sighed. “Okay, fine, AJ. I will head home now.” She got up and grabbed her hoodie. Just as she walked over to the door, she turned around and looked at Jeremy and Fritz. “I hope you guys are okay. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“We are. And Sunset?” Jeremy looked at Fritz, shocked by him speaking.

“Yeah, Fritz?” asked Sunset Shimmer.

“We still see you as you. It doesn’t matter what you have done or almost done. You are still the same person who has brought us together, even if you look a little different now,” continued Fritz.

Sunset Shimmer smiled. As creepy as it was to look at the animatronic rabbit staring back at her, she knew it was still Fritz. However, it wasn’t easy to see past the oddly disturbing look of the anthropomorphic animatronic. Yet, that didn’t change the fact that Fritz was a nine-year-old boy. It just so happened to be that his body got forcibly shoved into a robotic rabbit, leaving his soul trapped inside. Sunset sighed, knowing that she was likely going to need therapy after this was over. All the images and sounds from their kids’ memories still haunted her. Thankfully, they were nowhere near the level of the nightmares she had after the Fall Formal. And that was a relief for her, especially since things with Twilight were getting worse because she hadn’t told her about that.

‘Thank you, Fritz,” said Sunset Shimmer as she started to walk out the door. “Bye, everyone!”

After hearing a few assorted goodbyes, Sunset got onto her bike. Her bruises from Rainbow Dash had begun to fade quite a bit, which she was very grateful for. If they were still as sensitive as they were two weeks ago, it would have been a different story. Revving her engine, Sunset pulled out of the driveway of Sweet Apple Acres. As she drove down the street, her mind raced about what had happened with Twilight. It was shocking to have the bookworm punch her just as she checked on her, mostly since she wasn’t known for being physical.

“You know that Twilight only punched you because you had to go after her, right?” Sunset’s inner voice returned, much to the redhead’s annoyance.

“Yes, you snarky son of bitch that I call a conscience. I do know that, but I only-” Sunset Shimmer stopped at a red light, letting her motorcycle slow to stop as she pulled up to the light. The feeling of the bike’s vibrations barely irritated her bruises anymore.

“Did it to be Twilight’s friend? Yeah, I got that. I am your conscience, after all. I heard all your thoughts,” said Sunset’s conscience, interrupting her as she tried to finish her thought.

“Okay, you know what?” Sunset Shimmer turned right, heading down the street towards her apartment.

“What?” asked Sunset’s inner voice.

“Just shut up,” replied Sunset Shimmer as she saw her apartment slowly come into view. “I no longer want to listen to you.”

Sunset Shimmer got no response from her conscience as she pulled up to her apartment. As she kicked the kickstand out, she took off her helmet. She noticed that wearing it over her hood kept her hair from getting as tangled. However, that said, Sunset had a feeling that the hood did more damage than the helmet itself. Pushing aside her thoughts about her hair and the possible knots she would have to brush out, she slung the helmet strap over her arm. She got off her motorcycle and walked up the steps leading to her front door.

However, just as Sunset approached her door, she noticed that it was slightly ajar. That made her freeze, wondering who or what had entered her apartment. She cautiously opened it more and tried to remain quiet. Sunset didn’t want to make any noise in case the intruder was still inside. As silently as she could, she walked into her apartment. Right as she got to her desk, she saw the broken picture frame on the ground.

“What the-? Why is this broken?” asked Sunset Shimmer, picking up the photo, careful to avoid the glass shards around it.

Right after she picked up the picture, Sunset heard a rustling noise coming from the stairway. Setting the photo back on her desk along with her helmet, she walked towards the dark stairs. She managed to walk past most of the glass. Unfortunately, just as she went to move her left foot away from the pile of broken glass, she lost her balance and stepped on some of it. The glass shards crinkled and cracked underneath her weight. Sunset whipped around, silently cursing the loud sound in the otherwise quiet room. To her surprise, no one appeared or made a sound after that. Yet, that seemed too odd to her. Why was no one here, yet the door was open, and there was a broken frame? And what made that rustling noise earlier?

“Su-Sunset…?” A staticky vice said, disturbing the silence and making the redhead jump.

‘What the fuck?! Who is that?” asked Sunset Shimmer as she started to walk towards the dark stairway.

The closer the redhead got, the more she could see a figure sitting on the stairs. However, there was something off about the figure. It didn’t look human – if it could even get called that. Its limbs were long and skinny, inhumanly skinny. She glanced down at what she presumed were its legs. Yet, there appeared to be nothing, just two stubby points where its feet should’ve been. That struck her as odd, especially since Sunset remembered a similar-looking animatronic in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2. And it looked oddly similar to the Marionette in the game. She couldn’t make out much in the dim lighting, but what she could see were a few white stripes down its legs and arms.

“Su-Sunset…?” asked the Marionette, repeating its earlier question.

That prompted Sunset Shimmer to look at its face, or instead, its mask. The white mask with the two purple streaks running down from its eyes was definitely familiar. Seeing that, Sunset recognized that it was the Marionette, the one from the second game. It seemed that, like Springtrap, it came into their world and got dropped into Canterlot City. And where it was during that time, she wasn’t sure. Yet, all Sunset wanted to do was find out why it was in her apartment. She also wanted to know why and how it knew her name.

“Who the hell are you? And what the fuck are you doing in my apartment?!” screamed Sunset Shimmer as she backed away from the creature.

“Springtrap s-sent me to a-attack you…” replied the Marionette, standing up from its sitting position. “Please h-hear me out, S-Sunset.”

“And why would I do that?” asked Sunset Shimmer.

“Be-because I don’t want to h-hurt you. I just w-want to know if my fr-friends are okay,” said the Marionette.

“Wait. Are you aware of who you are?” Sunset Shimmer asked, curious about the animatronic in front of her.

“Y-yes, I am,” replied the Marionette.

The redhead just stared at the Marionette, not sure if she could – or should – believe what it just said. How could Springtrap be controlling it? It wasn’t like he had a remote control for it. However, if the kids’ animatronic bodies were getting powered by equestrian magic, maybe Springtrap was too. And knowing that he had made copies of himself made Sunset wonder if he could use equestrian magic. If so, then he was much more dangerous than she and the girls had predicted.

“Are m-my friends okay, S-Sunset?” asked the Marionette.

Sunset Shimmer nodded. “Yes, your friends are safe with mine.”

“G-good. Also, I’m s-sorry for this,” said the Marionette.

“What do you me-” Sunset Shimmer was cut off as she got knocked over by the Marionette.

The Marionette, due to Springtrap’s command running through their circuits, started to wrap their long fingers around the redhead’s neck. Their fingers, being so slim, dug into her skin quickly. The redhead gasped for breath beneath the pressure of the animatronic’s grasp. Wanting to get a better grip, the Marionette sat on top of her chest, straddling her. As they started to tighten their grip around her neck, they felt her struggle more to pull their hands off. Something in the back recesses of their mind reminded them of what they were doing and that it was wrong. In the process of getting distracted by that, the Marionette loosened their grip on the redhead. When that happened, they immediately got pushed back by two very strong hands. And because of the push, they got sent off-balance, landing on the floor a few feet away from her.

“G-get off of me!” shouted Sunset Shimmer as soon as she had the breath to do so.

“I’m s-sorry, but I have to o-obey Springtrap’s order,” said the Marionette.

Still recovering from nearly getting choked out, Sunset Shimmer was still trying to catch her breath. However, before she could say another thing, she saw the animatronic readying itself for another attack. It got up and started to charge right at her. She jumped to her left, narrowly missing the tips of the Marionette’s fingers as they brushed past her. Her body slammed hard against the wall as Sunset failed to stop her momentum across the slippery floor. And the force of her sliding across the floor made her hood fall and reveal her appearance.

“Wh-what the…” said the Marionette. “You look so d-demonic.”

Sunset’s wings ached as they got pushed into the wall by the weight of her body. Groaning, she started to get back on her feet. Her body, already pretty sore from Rainbow Dash’s attack on her, only seemed to ache more every time she tried to move. Just as she had gotten to her feet, she saw a fist heading toward her.

‘Oh, come on! Why is it always the fist?!” screamed Sunset Shimmer, holding out her hands in an attempt to stop the punch.

Inadvertently, when Sunset held out her hand, she caused a blast to hit the Marionette. She watched as it got sent flying back into her stairs with a heavy thud. The impact almost knocked off one of its buttons in the process. Looking down at her hands, she couldn’t believe what she had done. Sunset was shocked to see that she had just used some of her demonic powers and blasted the animatronic away from her. That made her smile, knowing that some good came out of her transforming back into her she-demon self. Sunset took a breath and walked up to the Marionette.

‘Why does Springtrap want to attack me? Aside from the fact that I defeated his pathetic excuse for an army?” Sunset Shimmer readied her hand, preparing to throw another blast at the Marionette in case they didn’t answer. “Start talking.”

The Marionette sat there on the stairs. From where they were seated, Sunset had the advantage. And that scared them. They didn’t want to fight her, to attack her, mostly since she had done nothing to them. However, due to their command to attack, they had no choice but to obey. Getting back up, still twitching a bit from the blast, the Marionette stood up to their full height. They saw that the redhead was poised to strike again. Deep down, they knew that if they fought her, she would lose. Not able to fight Springtrap’s command, they began to approach her.

“Spr-Springtrap wants me to at-attack you, Sunset,” was all the Marionette said in response to Sunset’s question.

Sunset Shimmer sighed and met the Marionette’s eyes. “I’m sorry, but you leave me with no choice but to do this.”

It was evident that the animatronic was trying its best to fight the command Springtrap had given it. However, it was losing to it as it had gotten relatively broken from the multiple beatings it had sustained. Sunset readied herself to blast them again. Unfortunately, she didn’t anticipate the length of the Marionette’s long arms. Just as she was about to hit them again, the right arm swung right at her, landing a blow to her left knee. The force of the impact made Sunset kneel as she felt her knee buckle under the crash. Grabbing her knee with her left hand, she used her right one to prepare another blast. Yet, just as she looked up, she saw another arm heading right for her face. And with her wings trapped in her hoodie, she couldn’t fly out of the way. Instead, Sunset had to stay where she was, waiting for the punch. It came fast and hard. As if slow motion, she felt her body getting forced backward, heading towards the wall behind her.

“Ow, that fucking hurts…” mumbled Sunset Shimmer as she felt her head slam into the wall at full force.

“I’m so sorry, S-Sunset Shimmer,” said the Marionette.

As the redhead glanced up, she saw the Marionette walk up to her. Although her vision was beginning to darken around the edges, she could still make out the rough shape of the animatronic. She saw that it had its other fist ready to punch her. Sunset turned away slowly as she had gotten dazed by the first punch. The next impact hit her in the back of the head, making white spots appear in her vision upon impact. She couldn’t see much after that as her vision slowly darkened more, taking away more of her sight. The last thing she heard was the door behind her open, but it didn’t close shut. Finally, against her fighting struggle to remain conscious, Sunset passed out. Her body slumped to the side as she went limp. And her last thought was hoping that the girls would come to her aid and soon…