Same Place, Same Faces

The sounds of familiar laughter echoed in her ears.

Upon opening her eyes, Applejack immediately knew where she was. She was back on the Show Stage, just like last night.

Looking down to her hooves, she realized they weren't pink this time, nor did she have a microphone in her other hoof. In fact, nothing obscured her vision this time, either.

Looking to her right, expecting to see Twilight again, nobody stood next to her.

Confused, she turned to her left, Fluttershy wasn't there either.

Then she brought her attention to in front of her.

Bulging bloodshot eyes, rotted teeth, complete with a giant, curved, featureless smile plastered on her face, Pinkie stood directly in front of her.

Applejack tried to scream out of pure fear, but nothing escaped her mouth. She tried to move, but her body refused to budge.

As Pinkie slowly made her way closer to Applejack, her face just inches away from hers, she whispered in a hush and calm voice.

When you wake up, just remember...

friends are forever

As Applejack arrived at the establishment, William once again nowhere in sight to greet her, she immediately ran straight to her office upon entering the building. She didn't have the courage to face the animatronics to see if they were in their proper spots, the nightmare she had that morning felt too real. It kept her awake for the rest of the day.

Entering the office, she selected the fourth and... final message down the list? Why didn't Shining record a message for the next night? It was only the fourth night of the week. Maybe he thought she didn't need anymore guidance? As she pondered, she did know that she would miss the company of his voice.

As the message played, the familiar voice of the stallion hurriedly spoke into the phone.

"H-hey, wow, n-night four... I knew you could do it..."

Applejack quickly noticed that he didn't sound like his usual laid-back self. He sounded dull and... frightened, as he stuttered over his words more than usual.

"Uh... l-listen. I... I probably won't be around to send you another message tomorrow. I-I-It's been kind of a bad night here..."

The message of the scared stallion was accompanied by loud and familiar banging in the background. It sounded like the banging the animatronic made on her door last night. She was starting to get worried as his message continued.

"I-I'm glad that I recorded these messages for you," the stallion cleared his throat before continuing, "-uh, w-when I did..." the banging in the background became louder and more aggressive as Shining's voice became progressively desperate.

"Uh, could you do me a favor? M-maybe when you get the chance, you can check inside those empty suits... i-in the backstage room? I'm gonna try and hold out until someone... checks in. Maybe it won't be so bad. You know, I-I-I always wondered what was in all of those empty heads... back there."

Suddenly, a very familiar chime began to play over the phone. One that Applejack fondly remembered.

It was the song that Pinkie would sing to cheer up her friends or other ponies that felt down. Pinkie had many songs, but this one stuck with her the most. Applejack would occasionally sing the happy tune to herself when she felt she needed it.

But this time, the song didn't seem so happy anymore.

"O-oh no." raspy moans could be heard over the terrified stallion's voice, before a loud, almost robotic-sounding screech rang through the phone, abruptly ending the call.

Applejack sat and stared at the phone in complete silence.

Thousands of thoughts flourished through her mind at an alarming rate. Did he just die? Her eyes began to water as the horrible thought crossed her mind. Whose scream was that? It didn't sound like Shining, it sounded... robotic.

If the nightmare she had didn't do it, this call demolished any bit of confidence she had left.

Remembering about her own safety, she swiftly opened the monitor and checked the Show Stage, Twilight and Fluttershy were already gone. But something else was different.

Pinkie was staring directly at the camera.

It had to just be a coincidence she assured herself, it couldn't possibly be anything else.

But after witnessing the animatronics odd behavior her past few nights, she had no idea what to think anymore. Her sanity was beginning to plummet.

She looked for the other two missing members, finding both of them in the far corners of her halls.

Applejack nearly resisted the urge to vomit as she could swear their heads twitched. It was only for a brief second, but it didn't look like a twitch a robot could make, it looked... alive.

Knowing where the other two were, she checked the Show Stage to see if Pinkie was still looking at her. For the first time, Pinkie was no longer in her same spot. The entire Show Stage was barren.

Familiar-sounding laughter echoed outside her right door. It sounded a lot like Pinkie's.

Looking around for wherever the pink animatronic could have gone, Applejack landed on the East Hall camera. While she couldn't see anyone, Applejack could barely make out two white dots in the darkness.

Panicking, she closed both doors, hoping it would be a big enough sign to make the animatronics leave her alone.

She checked the door light on her left, and could see the light casting Twilight's shadow on the wall beside her.

Doing the same with the right door, Fluttershy was in the window, staring into the room with her mouth wide open once again.

Applejack thought that she wouldn't need to keep the doors closed for long, and upon opening the monitor to check her power's percentage, she nearly fainted.

Already down to 2% at 5:56 AM, she prayed that the clock would turn before she ran out of power.

But unfortunately, her praying didn't get her far.

A loud droning noise boomed throughout the building, as the office light dimmed, and both of her doors slammed opened. Her only means of protection, stripped away from her.

She huddled up against the back of the office wall, shaking in fear. She could barely see anything in her office, and that was only made worse as the light on the ceiling flickered.

Realising that she never heard Twilight and Fluttershy move away from her doors as they opened terrified her even more. She couldn't look into the doorways to see if they were still there without the use of her door lights.

She remembered that she kept a flashlight in her saddlebag, but she didn't dare use it, at least not yet.

...

The silence was killing her, if something was going to happen, she would rather get it over with.

But nothing ever came. Just complete silence.

After what felt like hours of sitting in the dark waiting for something to happen, she took her flashlight out of her bag, and shined it into the doorways.

Nobody stood in either.

Quietly, she stood up from the office floor and quietly trotted out of the office.

Upon entering the dining area, she looked over to the Show Stage.

All of the animatronics stood still in their proper positions, looking straight ahead.

Shining her light to a clock on the wall, it read 6:05. She looked out the windows, as light slowly poured into the building.

Applejack was baffled. What had just happened?

Was she just losing her mind? Did anyone of that actually happen? What about the phone call?

She didn't know the answer to any of those questions, but she did know that she needed sleep.

Letting out a sigh, she walked out the door, locking it behind her, and trotted down the dirt road.

jacqueline

i remember when you visited me after you heard about what happened

you looked at me with tears in your eyes

you said that you were sorry

and that you loved me

but you always were a terrible liar

you don't love me

that's why you left us here

i don't love you either