Freddy's vision was blurred with shades of red, black, and purple. He knew he was angry, but at what... He wasn't sure. He felt the slimy chunk fall out of his mouth and heard it drop on the floor, but other than that, he felt nothing.

After a few... Minutes? Hours? His vision came back, and he now knew what he had done. The white one now had a gaping hole in her face. Devoid of lips and tongue, she could no longer talk correctly.

"AH HACE! HHUT HIET HOOH OOOO?!?" She was crying, her tears mixing with the blood dripping from the gaping hole in her face. Freddy looked down at himself, and saw that he was covered in blood. Flashbacks to 1987 ran through his brain, and he shook his head vigorously, trying to shake the memory loose. He saw the other ponies lips move, but he couldn't hear what they were saying. He felt a weight on his shoulder, and turned to see Chica. Her beak was moving up and down, but Freddy couldn't hear anything come out. She and Bonnie had concerned looks on their faces, but his mind twisted them into faces of anger. His eyes swiveled in their sockets, looking for a place to get away from the hate. To cool down and figure out how to apologize. His eyes caught on the backstage door. He knew there was a secret door to the basement in there.

He ran for it, his old and rusty joints protesting and hurting as he shut the backstage door, threw the secret one open, and locked it behind him. Safety... he thought, and he slid down the stairs, trying not to move his legs. Why do I have to be such an old suit? Everything hurts... I just wish we could be free... I just wish I could stop being so angry all the time. He tried to wipe the blood on his jaw off with an old rag that was at the bottom of the stairs. He was not successful, as the blood had now clotted to the felt. The memories of The Bite ran through his head again. He just wanted to feel happy... Now I've taken even that away... He put his head in his hands. There was a holler in the backstage. It was Chica.

"Freddy? Are you ok? Where are you, buddy?"

Freddy struggled to get his words out. He was just grateful that no one else in the pizzeria knew about the secret basement. "I-I'm fine, Cheeks. Just needed to cool down."

"Ok, bud. Pizza'll be ready in half an hour." Freddy loved Chica with all his heart, and he just wanted to protect her and Bonnie. In Freddy's opinion, she had the perfect balance of sass as well as sarcasm, and sensitivity as well as care. Absolutely perfect. He thought. I really need to stop pushing her away... And Bonnie as well. He placed his head back into his hands, and tried his hardest not to cry.

Applejack had watched this whole ordeal, and was still a little stunned from it. Twilight had managed a spell to stop Rarity from bleeding so much, and for it to stop hurting. Rarity, however, was still sobbing her eyes out, mascara and eyeshadow leaving streaks over her pale face. AJ really wanted to stay and comfort her, but there was something that really bothered her. Why didn't Freddy just bite her again and finish the job? He ran away afterwards... And that purple mist that leaked out of Chica... That seemed to have angered them. Maybe there's more to these creatures than there seems... AJ placed a hoof to her chin, and whistled to get the group's attention. "Hold on y'all..." She shared her thoughts with the group, and Twilight agreed.

"Yes, I'm sure AJ's right. The groaning that Chica made sounded more like an injured colt or filly more than a mechanical chicken hellbent for blood."

"I'm gonna go find Freddy an' talk to 'im. I'll take m'lasso just in case, y'all keep Rarity safe now." AJ walked off, her lasso now around her neck. She had watched him run off into the back area. She slowly pushed open the door. There was nothing in there. Hmm... That's mighty suspicious... She thought. Then she saw a glimpse of light through a crack in the wall. It was too straight to be a normal crack, and there was a small hole where a handle would go. We have a secret door like that in the barn back home... She took off her hat, and slid a bobby pin out of her pale yellow mane. She replaced her hat, and got to work on lockpicking the door. This would be easier if I had fingers like Discord... After struggling for a few minutes, the secret door finally popped open. There was a dark stairway leading to a basement or cellar of some sort.

Applejack gulped, and held her lasso out in front of her, as she started trotting down the dark stairway. The door slowly creaked shut behind her, which made her even more paranoid. She could barely see a thing! As soon as her front hoof hit the concrete floor, two blue eyes shone in the darkness. Her ears flopped backwards, and her hat slid down her face, blinding her temporarily. When she pushed it back up on top of her head again, the star attraction was standing right in front of her, gazing down on her. His teeth were still stained with red, and AJ could see darker patches on his fur in the dim blue light.

"F-Freddy?"

"What do you want? You should be scared of me... Especially after what I've done to your friend..."

"Uh-um... Imma be honest with you, Fred. I'm terrified of you, but I have a feelin' you wouldn't have hurt Rarity on purpose... It was the purple mist makin' you mad!" Freddy cocked his head to the side with a confused look on his face.

"Purple mist?" He bent down, the sound of rusty and old servos creaking cut through the stale silence. "What purple mist?" He had another flashback, to that one second where he knew he was a monster. He shook his head again to clear it, but it stuck. Applejack had a look of realization on her face, as Freddy turned away from her, again shrouding AJ in darkness. "Just leave me alone."

Applejack slowly walked over to where Freddy was now sitting. His back was to one of the walls, and he was still trying to keep his legs as straight as possible. He made small whimper sounds, like a hurt colt. His eyes were closed, and he was still shaking his head violently, trying to shake something loose from his head. Perhaps a bad memory? She wondered. She took a deep breath, still afraid that Freddy would lash out and hurt her. "This has happened before, hasn't it?" Freddy opened his eyes, and looked up at Applejack. His eyes were filled with a sorrow that Applejack had seen before. A friend of his...?

Freddy looked away from Applejack's emerald eyes, and sighed a breath he should not been able to have. "Yes... Not... Quite like your friend's situation, though."

"Oh?"

"At daytime, we still perform for children. Making them happy. We used to be able to walk around... Until I ruined it." Applejack was now seated next to him, listening intently. "I was down from the stage, going around to kids, singing songs... And this little boy walks up to me. He had tears on the edge of his eyes. 'Freddy... Can I have a hug, please?' I smiled, and bent down to give him a hug. I asked what his name was, and he said Jeffrey. 'C-Could you sing a song, please?' I was prepared, microphone in hand, and I was gonna sing the pizzeria theme song. But I..." His voice wavered, despite the fact that he had one specific recorded voice on his voicebox. "I don't know what came over me! I felt a surge of energy shoot up my body! My arms were flailing everywhere, an-and Bonnie ran over to try and help, but-" Freddy let out a forlorn wail. "It was too late! I lunged forward with my jaw open, and it snapped shut on his forehead! He tried to fight me off, but-" Black tears were now running down his face, and his eyes were impossibly glistening with moisture. AJ now noticed that there was a handprint over one of Freddy's eyes.

He slammed his head down into Applejack's lap, bruising her legs a little bit. She patted his head with her hoof, trying to comfort him. "There there, sugarcube. It'll be alright. Just tell your friends that you are haunted by this. If you are honest with them-"

Freddy shot his head up, and stared into Aj's eyes. "Honesty is a one-way gate to hell." He backed away from her. "It always has been, ever since the day everything went cold."

The day everything went cold... That sentence rattled around in AJ's head. What could that mean? What happened to these characters? Her thoughts were interrupted when Chica's loud voice echoed throughout the pizzeria's walls.

"Hey you fatheads! Pizza's ready!" Freddy shot one last look at Applejack before he stood up and started up the staircase, his legs creaking the whole way up. AJ trotted up the stairs a little while after Freddy had left the room, thinking. Coldness? As in... Physically cold, or emotionally cold?

Author's Note

TEE-HEE! HELLLLLO MARES AND STALLIONS!
Thank you SO FRICKIN MUCH for the support on my story so far! The other stories I've made really didn't hit the mark I was aiming for, since it had more dislikes than likes. But THIS!! This is PERFECTO!! And I'm so glad you all like it!! Goodbye, my children, and have a WONDERFUL day!!