Chapters -Pinkie’s Cupcake Palace said to close by year’s end.-
After a long struggle to stay in business after the devastating tragedy that took place there many years ago, Pinkie’s Cupcake Palace has announced that it will be closing its doors by year’s end.
Despite a year-long search for a buyer, other businesses seem unwilling to be associated with the company.
Equestria's █████ had the following to say about the tragedy.
“Our ██████ will never be forgotten. In the hearts of ponies and all Equestrians alike, our ██████ will live on." -████████ ████████
It was another quiet and lonely day on the farm.
Applejack awoke to the sound of something hitting her front door. She groggily rubbed her eyes with her hooves and shakily got out of bed. She made her way downstairs to the front door, opening it to see the local Mailmare flying away. Looking down, she noticed the newspaper that was left for her by her hooves. She picked it up and returned inside, shutting the door behind her.
After making her way to the dinning room, sitting down and clutching the daily newspaper, she began to read. But before she had a chance, her ear twitched causing her to bring her attention to the direction of the sound.
She peered out the window and noticed two fillies off in the distance playfully chasing each other around, the chaser swiftly catching up behind, attempting to grab at the running filly’s tail. As she watched from afar, it began to remind her of something. Something that she held very dear and close to her heart.
Family.
She fondly remembers the days when she and her little sister would play games, when she and her brother would buck apple trees together, or when she and her grandmother would relax in the living room and chat about their daily lives.
But that was the past.
Now she was all on her own. No family to look after, or even a pet to keep her company. It was a struggle to keep the farm operating on her own, she lost the motivation and strength to work, and had just barely enough money to keep a roof over her head.
She couldn’t rely solely on the farm anymore, she needed to do something about it.
She snapped out of her gaze and brought her attention back to her newspaper, scanning through it to see what jobs they had to offer. There weren't too many to choose from unsurprisingly, as Ponyville wasn't exactly known for being an extremely populated area.
That, and the fact none of the available jobs really peaked her interests wasn't helping. That was until one of the listings caught her attention.
HELP WANTED!Pinkie’s Cupcake Palace
Old family entertainment center looking for a security guard to work the night shift from 12 AM to 6 AM. Monitor provided security cameras to ensure safety of the property, equipment, and attractions. Not responsible for injuries/accidents. 120 bits a week. (and 50 cents)
Below it was an address and phone number. But she didn't need to read the address to know where it was, she knew it all too well.
She had a history with that place. That place, whenever its name was even brought up, would immediately turn her away.
The tragedy that took place there long ago made her want to have nothing to do with the establishment.
But yet, somehow, she felt enticed by it. She needed some way to support the old roof over her head. Surprisingly, none of the other jobs were paying as well as this, and only having to simply watch some screens for a few hours wasn't asking much at all.
She sat there, staring at the newspaper in her hooves while deep in thought. After a bit more pondering and sitting around, she let out a sigh of defeat and stood up from her chair, making her way to the phone.
Grasping the phone in her hoof, still unsure if she was making the right decision, she dialed the number; reluctantly waiting for a response. After a few moments of waiting, the phone's ringing was replaced by a deep and unfamiliar voice.
"Hello?"
"Hey there, I was readin' the newspaper this morning and I saw your job listing for a night guard. I was callin' to see if-" Applejack began but was abruptly cut off.
"Ah, that's right, the night guard position. I was wondering when someone would finally call us."
Applejack gave a soft and nervous chuckle at that.
"The paper says that you need a guard to monitor the cameras 'round the place to ensure the safety of the property, equipment, and attractions," Applejack read off the newspaper that was still in the grasp of her other hoof. "Is that all I gotta do?"
"Well, the paper doesn't tell you that you need to do anything else now, does it?"
"Uhm..." She was taken a bit back by his remark.
"Nah, I'm just messing with ya. No, that's all you need to do."
"O-oh, alright," she responded, albeit a little embarrassed now. "Well, that sounds fine and dandy to me. So, when do you suppose is a good time for an interview?"
The stallion on the other end goes silent for a brief moment.
...
Then scoffs.
"Heh, you don't need to worry about all of that. You're hired."
Applejack's eyes widened.
"Wait, what?"
"That's right, you'll be starting tomorrow night. Just be sure to meet me at the front of the establishment tomorrow before the clock strikes midnight, and I'll give you the keys to the place so you can get started."
"T-tomorrow? Are you sure? I mean, I can do that but-" Applejack started but was once again cut off.
"Don't sweat it, I know you'll do just fine. See you then."
...
The call ended, being followed by silence. Applejack stood there, still holding the phone and newspaper in her hooves, with a puzzled look plastered on her face.
Tomorrow is another day.
Author's Note
This is something that I've had lodged in the back of my head for months now, and I'm finally managing to do it. Sort of.
Yeah, don't expect consistent updates or chapters. I've got many other things going on, plus this is my first story so I'm still kind of setting the ground here.
-Pinkie's Cupcake Palace threatened with shutdown over sanitation concerns.-
The ever so popular family entertainment center, Pinkie's Cupcake Palace has been threatened with shutdown by the health department again after several complaints of foul odor coming from the much-loved animatronics modelled after Equestria's late ██████.
Royal guards were alerted when several parents reportedly noticed what appeared to be blood and mucus around the eyes, nostrils, and mouths of the animatronics. One parent even compared them to "reanimated carcasses".
Today was the day.
Applejack arrived at the front of the establishment, not very ecstatic at the fact that she had to arrive at such a late time. She stumbled on over to the entrance, already wanting to get her first night over with.
"Well, look who showed up. And just on time too."
Applejack looked to the side, noticing an unfamiliar looking, purple stallion, albeit with a now familiar voice.
"Though, you don't look very enthusiastic. But, I guess I can't exactly fault you for that, it is late after all."
"You've got that right..." Applejack chuckled.
"Well, let's get down to business. Now remember, your shift lasts from twelve to six in the morning. Your instructor has left you nightly voicemail in your office to help you through your first week. As soon as the clock hits six, you're free to leave. Oh, and one last thing,"
The stallion reaches into his pocket and hands over a pair of keys, before finishing.
"Well, that's all you really need to know, I better not waste anymore of your time now. I'll be here again tomorrow night."
"Thanks, I hope you have a better sleep than I do, heh." Applejack joked to the stallion who was already walking away.
As she brought her attention to the front doors of the establishment, and began to unlock them, she stopped and turned back around.
"Hey, if you don't mind, I never caught yer name yesterday morning on the phone."
The stallion stopped and turned his direction back to the mare.
"William. I never caught yours either, surprisingly."
"Jacqueline. Jacqueline Apple. But everypony just calls me Applejack."
The stallion stares for a brief moment, then nods and continues walking. As he walks away from the building, he lowers his head downwards and mutters to himself.
"...Applejack. That name is very familiar..."
The first thing Applejack noticed upon entering the building was the freezing cold temperature.
"Why does it have to be so cold in here?" she thought to herself.
Opening up her saddlebag, she reached into it and grabbed a flashlight before turning it on. She aimed her light around, not finding anything really worth keeping her attention on for too long, just a plethora of old chairs and tables.
That is, until she aimed it towards a large stage, her light illuminating the main "attractions" the newspaper was referring to.
Three life-sized metallic ponies towered over her, catching her off guard and causing her to take a step back.
After getting her bearings, she took a step forward to get a closer look at the machines. Suddenly, she remembered why this place was so special to ponies.
The robots. The robots that looked just like her friends.
She recollected the few memories she had with this place and her friends. They would always visit the establishment whenever they got the chance, to admire the machines and the songs that they would sing for all the ponies that visited.
She vividly remembers the day her friend Pinkie announced to all her friends the project she and a group of other ponies were working on. She could barely contain her own excitement while telling the news to her friends. She was always so cheerful, wanting to put a smile on everypony's face.
Remembering the times she spent with her friends, Applejack resisted the urge to cry, and quickly wiped away her forming tears, not wanting to let her emotions get the best of her, and continued to roam the building.
As she came across two long connected hallways, she saw a distinct, albeit barely noticeable glow at the end. Assuming it was coming from the aforementioned office she was supposed to watch the cameras from, she navigated her way down one of the adjacent halls.
As she trotted down the hallway, the corner of her eye noticed the wall packed full of old, torn drawings. It was very blatant to her that the drawings were made by the countless visiting fillies long ago, judging by the scribbled art and hoofwriting. She stopped for a moment to admire the old forgotten 'artwork' before continuing down the hall.
Reaching the end of the hall, she stepped into a small, tight, dimly lit room. Looking over to a small desk, she noticed a large round device with an equally sized screen sitting there for her.
Applejack wasn't sure what she was expecting when she stepped into the office, she wasn't too familiar with the new technology Equestria introduced either, despite it being around for many years now. She never really did use any of the fancy new gadgets besides a phone, as she was always on the farm bucking away at the countless apple trees.
"Guess I'll have to use that help after all." she said to herself.
Next to the large device was an office phone with a tiny screen displaying a list full of unread voicemail, all of which were from last month. She selected the message at the top of the list, assuming it was the first one she was supposed to listen to, and laid back into her swivel chair.
When the message began, an unexpected, yet very familiar voice filled the office.
"Alright... uh... hello. I- uh, just wanted to record a message for you to help you get everything prepared for your first night."
"Shining Armor?"
Her friend, Twilight's brother? She wasn't sure if she was hearing correctly, or if the lack of sleep was getting to her. His voice was the last she expected to hear at a place like this.
While the voice of a familiar and close friend gave her company, that was quickly drowned out by a wave of sorrow and pity.
After the news of the tragedy became widespread, she knew that out of all the ponies in Equestria, Shining would be one to take the news the hardest.
The pain and anger he must've felt was unimaginable. He failed to show up to his daily guard duty ever since the news came out. After a long wait, Shining finally broke the silence, and publicly announced that he would be stepping down from the royal guard, saying he wasn't fit for the job.
The news came as a shock to everypony, and when Applejack heard about his retirement she felt terrible.
As she sat in her chair, she suddenly remembered the message Shining left for her was still playing. She snapped out of her depressing thoughts and scooted forward, listening intently to the call.
"-but I'm here to assure you there isn't anything to worry about. That being said, let's just focus on getting you prepared for your first night. First, there's an introductory greeting from the company that I need to read. It's just one of those boring legal things, you know? 'Welcome to Pinkie's Cupcake Palace, the most lively palace for fillies and grown-ups alike, where the best, and most magical cupcakes in Equestria are served. Magipony Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or pony. Upon discovering said damage or death, a missing pony report will be filed within 90 days-"
Applejack sat there listening to the cheesy company monologue, before her eyes widened after the weight of what was said after hit her like a brick.
"-or as soon as all of the company's property has been carefully cleaned and washed, and the carpets have been replaced.' Blah, blah, blah. Now at first that might sound kind of bad. But, I promise there's nothing you need to worry about."
"Ya think?" she thought to herself.
"Now, the animatronics here do become a little... lively at night. But, do I blame them? No. If I were forced to sing those same annoying songs for years and I never got a bath? Yeah, I'd probably be up all night too."
His little remarks got a small chuckle out of her, before she sat up, unsure of what he meant by "lively."
"Wait, lively?" she said aloud.
"So, just know that the animatronics do wander around a bit. The company said they're left in some kind of free roaming mode at night. Apparently, their "servos" lock up if they get turned off for too long. I, uh, don't really know what any of that means, to be honest with you, heh."
"Well, ain't that comforting." she grumbled.
"Oh, and I forgot to mention, there's a tablet on your desk. That thing, is how you view the cameras around the place. Press the little button on the side to turn it on."
Applejack grasped the large device in her two front hooves and did as she was instructed. Upon pressing the button, the screen illuminated her face with a view of the place through one of the cameras.
"When you do, you'll be seeing the view from one of the cameras. To the side of the screen is a map of the place and buttons for you to press, those buttons are the corresponding cameras. Use these to watch the place and animatronics, and make sure they don't walk into or damage anything."
"Sounds simple enough, I guess I was right about this not being much work after all." she says to herself, beginning to feel a little more optimistic.
"Now, concerning your safety, the only real risk to you as a night guard, if any , is the fact that these animatronics... uh, if they see anyone after hours they probably won't recognize them as a pony. They'll most likely see you as one of the animatronic's metal interiors, an endoskeleton, without its costume on. Now since the animatronics wear suits at all times, they'll probably try to... forcefully stuff you inside an empty suit?"
"Uhm... well, that doesn't sound so bad." she thought.
"Uh... now, that wouldn't sound so bad, i-if the suits themselves were actually empty. They're filled with... metal, wires, and other animatronic devices. So, I'm sure you could imagine how having your body forcefully stuffed inside one of those would cause a few... problems ... namely death."
That sounded bad.
"Yeah... they don't tell you these things when you sign up. But hey, I know you won't run into any problems. I'll chat with you again tomorrow. Check the cameras, and close the doors only in case of an emergency. The place doesn't have strong power, so you gotta conserve it. Alright, have a goodnight."
"Power?"
She looked at the bottom of the device's screen, and noticed a meter displaying the building's power, which was at 95%. She looked to the top of the screen, seeing there was a time of day displayed for her to keep track of the time, which read 12:06 AM.
Remembering what Shining said about "doors", she looked around for them, quickly noticing two large buttons on each side of the office's walls correspondingly labelled "DOOR" and "LIGHT".
"Oh boy, It's gonna be a long night..." she sighed.
1:15 AM
Applejack laid back in her chair, camera monitor off and on her desk, making sure not to use the cameras that much, as she quickly realized while using the cameras they used a lot of her power's consumption.
As she sat there, a quiet, yet audible stomp could be heard from outside the office. Not expecting to hear anything besides the buzzing of the office's fan and light, she sprang up in her seat, lifting the monitor off her desk and swiftly turned it on.
Zipping through several cameras, attempting to locate the source of the sound, she ended up looking at the show stage of the animatronics, noticing one of them was missing from their usual spot.
Causing her to panic, she quickly switched through the cameras to look for the missing member. She landed on the dining area, and immediately noticed a large purple figure standing in the middle of the room, it's back turned to the camera.
It was Twilight.
The robot that looked a lot like her friend brought her a slight bit of comfort, but at the same time, dread.
They didn't look exactly like them either, their fur was metallic, and their interior metal skeletons were easily noticeable through their joints. She always found the look of the robots to be bizarre, but never questioned it too much.
As she watched through the monitor, it was suddenly completely filled with static accompanied by a quiet buzzing noise.
Applejack switched to the other cameras, and could only watch in horror and confusion as every single camera she switched to had the same effect. After a few seconds of momentarily panic, the cameras returned to normal.
Thinking the electronic was just acting up, she let out a small sigh of relief. Unfortunately, that relief was cut short.
When she checked the dining room camera again, something changed. The familiar looking robot was gone.
Multiple, slow, audible thumps echoed outside her left door. She sat frozen in her seat, unable to move a single muscle. As the thumps came closer and louder, she stared into the darkness of the doorway, unsure of what to do.
Suddenly, the thumps came to a halt.
Staring at the doorway for what felt like hours, she finally mustered up enough courage to check the light.
Towering over her, was the all so familiar purple robot. That's not all that frightened her, though. What scared her was what it was doing.
It's eyes were locked onto hers. It knew she was there.
Applejack practically threw herself at the door button, immediately slamming the door shut. Hyperventilating, she attempted to calm herself down. She reassured herself they were just harmless machines, likely just programmed to interact with people.
But what about what Shining said about the "suit stuffing"? If that was true, where they programmed to do that? Were they sentient? Surely they could never actually manage to put her into one, she heard how slowly it's hoofsteps were outside the door.
After a few seconds of self reassurance and calming herself down, thumps outside the door picked up again, and slowly faded into the distance until no more sounds outside could be heard.
Checking the cameras, the purple robot was back to it's regularly assigned position; on the show stage next to the other idle animatronics. Seeing that the coast was clear, she opened the door and let out yet another sigh of relief. Bringing her attention back to the monitor, she took note of the power's percentage, already being at 73%. Maybe she didn't have to watch the cameras much, after all.
6:00 AM
The rest of the night was uneventful, much to Applejack's gratification. Once the clock struck six, she made sure the monitor was powered off before trotting out the office.
As she made her way to the building's only exit, tiredly fumbling with the keys to unlock the door, she thought she heard what sounded like a hush, raspy whisper. After looking around and seeing nothing, she quickly shrugged it off, knowing she was just tired from sitting in an office for too long, and trotted out the door; locking it behind her.
"Jacqueline..."
Acquainted With Those Doors
Laughter.
Applejack's ears perked up at the sound of distant, hysterical, and continuous laughter. Upon opening her eyes, she immediately realized something was very wrong.
She felt... cold. Cold and lifeless. It hurt to move even the slightest muscle. Her entire body felt heavy, and her vision was slightly obscured. The only thing that let her see were two holes in the shape of eyes. Was she wearing a mask?
Applejack looked around in the darkness, oblivious of her own predicament. Struggling to move her head even the slightest inch, she managed to look to her right. Standing just beside her was an all too familiar face.
Twilight. But it wasn't the same Twilight she shared countless memories with, it was her metallic doppelganger from her previous night.
The stationary robot stared into the distance, seemingly unaware of her presence.
Starting to piece together where she was, she turned to her left.
On her left was Fluttershy. But once again, not the one she hoped to see, but the one she expected to. Her robotic replica, too, stared into the darkness, standing completely still. This finally confirmed her suspicions of where she was.
She was back in the establishment, standing on the show stage.
Slowly looking down to her hooves, she immediately realized something about her was different.
Her hooves were pink. Her entire body was pink. And in her right hoof was a microphone.
Beginning to panic, she attempted to jump off the stage, but her legs refused to budge. The laughter began to get closer and louder, she looked around for anything that could be making the taunting noise, but there was nothing to be seen except a room filled with chairs and tables.
As the laughter increased; slowly turning into screams, her sanity became less and less. No longer able to bear the deafeningly loud sounds, she let out a scream of her own, just as loud as the ones around her.
Applejack awoke, sitting up straight in her bed with bloodshot eyes. Breathing heavily, she attempted to calm herself down and wiped off the sweat rolling down her face. It was all just a nightmare. There was nothing to worry about. She glanced over to the clock on her desk, reading 10:52. Glancing out the window, the sun was already high in the sky, brightening up her room.
Rolling out of bed, she made her way downstairs into the kitchen. As she opened up the pantry, her phone made a single beep. Before she had a chance to grab it, a message automatically began to play.
"Hey, 'Applejack', I'm not going to be able to greet you tonight when you arrive to your shift." The familiar voice of William spoke over the phone. "I'm going to be out tonight for... 'personal reasons'. You've got the keys, so just do what you normally do when you get there. Work your shift from twelve to six, then lock up and leave. I'll talk to you tomorrow night." the call ended without a single "goodbye".
Applejack stood there for a moment, taking in what William just said. Why did he say her name like that? Was he upset with her? Did she do something wrong last night?
Walking up to the entrance of the establishment, Applejack began to unlock one of the doors. Before doing so, she looked around the premises, not surprised to see no one in sight.
As she entered the building, the first thing she did was bring her gaze to the show stage, before taking a step back.
Twilight and Fluttershy's heads were turned to face her direction, while Pinkie just stared straight ahead.
She shook her head, assuming the two were just left in that position, before continuing to her office. Upon entering, she selected the second voice message down the list, and laid back in her chair.
"Hello? If you're hearing this, then I'm assuming you made it to your second day. Uh, congrats! I won't talk too long this time, as I've noticed that the animatronics become more... playful? As the week progresses? Maybe they're just programmed to be more active the more they see someone, I don't know."
Applejack raises an eyebrow at his newfound information.
"Anyways, it's probably a good idea to watch the cameras while I speak just to ensure all the animatronics are in the right spot, you know?"
She did as the stallion over the phone said, and turned on her monitor. To her surprise, Twilight was already off the stage. Wasn't she just up there a minute ago?
"Interestingly enough, Pinkie herself doesn't come off stage that often. Though, there's rumors that she becomes a lot more active in the dark though. So, hey, I guess that's a good reason to not run out of power, right?"
Unlike last time, Shining's joke didn't get a laugh out of her, instead she wore a deadpan stare.
"Also, you need to know the importance of using your door lights. There's blind spots in your camera's view, and those blind spots happen to be right outside your doors. So, if you can't find something, or... someone, be sure to check the door lights. You, uh, might only have a few seconds to react, though..."
"A few seconds to react until what?" she asked herself.
"N-not that you would be in any danger of course! I-I'm not implying that." Shining continued.
She gave a scoff, albeit one out of annoyance instead of humor.
"Oh, and be sure to check the camera in Wonderbolt Cove from time to time. The animatronic in there apparently becomes more active if the cameras are off for too long. I guess they don't like being watched, I don't know. I'm sure you've got everything situated, I'll talk with you again soon."
The call ended, and upon hearing about this Wonderbolt Cove, Applejack immediately switched to the corresponding camera.
In Wonderbolt Cove was a giant rainbow-colored curtain, accompanied by a sign in front that read: "Sorry! Out of order." Applejack didn't quite remember the attraction, her last visit was several years ago after all. But judging by the color of the curtain, she had a bright idea of what animatronic was hiding behind there.
Switching to the West Hall camera, Twilight was already there, standing still as a statue. Applejack was confused as to how she managed to get there so quickly. Her attention was only off the Show Stage for a few seconds.
Not having to worry about closing the door yet, she switched to the Show Stage camera. To her surprise, Fluttershy left for the first time. Quickly switching through cameras to look for the missing machine, she landed on the Restrooms camera.
Fluttershy stood in the middle of the camera, her head facing downwards, and eyes looking directly at the camera.
Did it know she was looking at her through the camera?
Before she could finish that thought, Applejack heard slowly approaching hoofsteps outside her left door. She quickly got up from her seat and checked the door light. Nothing was there.
Confused, Applejack brought her attention back to her monitor. Checking the West Hall Corner camera, directly in front of it was Twilight.
That was just right outside her door. She didn't care if she wasn't in her doorway, she closed the door, not wanting to take any chances.
Stomps to her right made her ear twitch.
As she made her way to the right door, quickly pressing the door light, towering over her was Fluttershy. She closed the door as quickly as she made her way over.
After a few seconds of silence, footsteps were heard from outside the door. Pressing the door light again to make sure she left, Applejack gasped and nearly fell to the floor.
Fluttershy's face was directly in front of the window, her mouth was wide open, displaying a set of large, round, metal teeth.
Applejack immediately whipped her hoof away from the door light. She was beginning to question if these animatronics were really just that. But she quickly assured herself that she was just overreacting, they're programmed to interact with people. But why did it look at her like that? And what about the talk about the animatronics stuffing her into a suit?
As the thoughts continued to boggle in her mind, the sound of hoofsteps faded away from outside the door. After opening it, she checked her still closed left door, almost forgetting Twilight was there.
6:00 AM
After making her way out of the office and to the front doors, Applejack glanced past the dining area, bringing her gaze to Wonderbolt Cove. She could have sworn the curtain was open wider than it was before.
Things Get "Real" Tonight
-███████ ██████ found dead outside Pinkie's Cupcake Palace.-
One of Equestria's ███████ ███████: 23-year-old ██████ █████, was found dead behind the newly found Pinkie's Cupcake Palace on the morning of February 12th after informing her friends she would be taking her younger sister to the establishment the previous day.
Upon discovery of the gruesome aftermath, an employee contacted royal guards immediately. After a very brief investigation, royal guards came to an agreement that the mare was murdered, as unidentifiable hoofprints could be found all over the corpse. The suspect has yet to be detained, and there are currently no leads to aid in the search for the suspect.
Not wanting her boss to think she was slacking off, Applejack sprinted to the establishment, arriving at exactly 12:05 AM. William was standing by the entrance again, his eyes locked onto hers. She gave a quick greeting as she slowed down to catch her breath. William gave her a deadpan stare, before scoffing and walking away from the establishment, not returning the greeting.
Applejack shrugged it off, thinking he was probably just a bit irritated that she arrived a little late, and unlocked the door before entering the building.
Not wasting any time, she ran directly to her office, selecting the next voice message from the list.
"Ahem... h-hey, if you're getting this, then you're doing great! You know, a lot of the previous guards don't get this far. I uh... mean, you know... they usually move on to bigger and better things by now. I'm not implying that they died. That's... that's not what I meant."
She brought a hoof to her face, refraining an incoming chuckle.
"Uh, anyways, I probably shouldn't take up too much of your time, things get real tonight."
Bringing her hoof away from her face, she listened closely, unsure of what he meant by "real".
"Hey, listen, I had an idea: If you manage to get caught by an animatronic and want to avoid getting shoved into a suit... uh, try playing dead! You know, go limp."
Applejack started to get creeped out again, she hated it whenever the mention of getting stuffed into a suit was brought up. The idea alone was terrifying, but having to actually deal with it was another story.
"They might think you're an empty costume instead. But, then again... they might try and stuff a metal endoskeleton into you. I wonder how that would work."
Applejack was beginning to get tired of Shining's "jokes", as she gave an annoyed look to the phone.
"Yeah, actually, forget all of that, it's just best to not get caught. Uh, I'll leave you to your shift, talk to you again tomorrow."
After the call ended, she opened her monitor and the first thing she checked was Wonderbolt Cove. The encounter she had with it last night might've just been her mind playing tricks on her, but she immediately dismissed that thought as she noticed the curtain was slightly open, revealing another familiar face.
Hiding behind the curtain was a rainbow-maned pegasus wearing an azure blue uniform, complete with flight goggles raised above her eyes. Her mouth was wide open, displaying a similar set of metal and round teeth the other animatronics had.
The sight of the animatronic pegasus reminded Applejack of her foggy history with the Wonderbolt Cove. When creating the Wonderbolt Cove, Pinkie originally envisioned it as a pirate inspired cove, before Rainbow Dash suggested that she change it to a Wonderbolt themed attraction.
A smile crept along her muzzle as she looked back on the memory. Her smile was quickly wiped away as she remembered what she was supposed to be doing.
Switching her camera to the view of the Show Stage, Fluttershy was gone, while Twilight stayed put. The sight was bizarre to her, as Twilight up until this point was always the first to leave the stage, not Fluttershy.
Checking cameras to locate the yellow pegasus, Applejack landed on the Restrooms camera. Just like the previous night, Fluttershy had her head down, and eyes staring directly at the camera.
She checked the West Hall and found Twilight standing there, well, her silhouette anyway. Her entire body was covered in darkness.
Looking to the opposite hall, the East Hall, Fluttershy already made her way there. Applejack was cornered. They stood in the way of her only exits.
Quickly, she checked her left door light, to find Twilight standing in front of her. After pressing the button she immedaitely checked the right door light, Fluttershy was there.
She was surrounded, and there was nothing she could do about it besides close both doors. But what was stopping them from just staying outside her doors the whole night?
Sitting in her office, occasionally checking the cameras to see if the animatronics left her doors, she waited.
The sounds of two pairs of hoofsteps fading away was practically music to her ears, as she opened both doors.
The ability to take a breather was thrown out the window, as she opened the monitor only to realize the curtain in Wonderbolt Cove was wide open. With no animatronic inside.
Staring at the monitor with wide eyes, she switched to the West Hall camera, only to be greeted by the blue pegasus sprinting towards her office.
She slammed the door just as quickly as the pegasus arrived, only to accompained by the sounds of loud, violent, almost desperate bangs on the other side.
After a few seconds of pounding on her door, hoofsteps faded away. But Applejack didn't dare open the door. The animatronic could very well just run back down as soon as she opened it.
She closed both of her doors, having enough madness for the night, and cried softly in her seat.
Was this job even worth it anymore? Was it worth the constant fear and loss of sleep?
But she couldn't lose the farm. She couldn't lose the last thing that she vowed to protect, no matter the cost. She's already lost too much, she couldn't let it happen again. She wouldn't let it happen again.
She had to be strong.
6:00 AM
With only 14% of her power left, Applejack trotted out the office, confident that she would continue to do her job no matter how strangely the animatronics may act. That's all they were: animatronics.
She needed to think logically about it. What about Dash sprinting towards her office and pounding on the door? They were programmed to interact with people, maybe they just wanted to play. The suit stuffing? Likely just a rumor started to scare others. They didn't want to harm her. Why would they want to harm her?
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
-Five ███████ ███████ and one filly now reported missing. Search for suspect continues.-
Following the death of 23-year-old ██████ █████, four more of Equestria's ███████ ███████ and one filly are now reported missing and are possibly linked to the previous incident at Pinkie's Cupcake Palace.
A bloodstained, brown stetson was found in the back room of the establishment and was instantly recognized as belonging to the last surviving ███████ ██████, 26-year-old Jacqueline Apple, better known as Applejack. Royal guards originally speculated that she lured the five ponies into a back room before taking the lives of her own ███████ and ██████.
However, several parents on the day of the incident reportedly saw a small yellow filly walking into the building wearing the stetson, while accompanied by four of the ███████ ███████, though her older ██████ appeared to be absent.
Recently released surveillance footage from the day of the incident shows an unidentified pony wearing a spare costume while leading the five into a back room. After viewing the footage, royal guards retracted their previous assumptions of Jacqueline being the culprit.
Jacqueline was let go shortly after the footage was released, and the unidentified pony has yet to be captured. Royal guards continue to search for the real suspect.
Applejack awoke to a sound she was very well acquainted with by now.
She didn't need to open her eyes to know where she was, the Show Stage was practically her home in the dreamscape.
Turning to her sides, she once again found nobody standing beside her.
She remembered what happened afterwards last time.
Expecting to find Pinkie standing in front of her when she faced forward again, Applejack braced for the worst.
...
Suddenly, the laughter ceased.
"Applejack?"
A calm, yet surprised voice spoke from behind her. It was a voice she never thought she'd hear again.
Upon hearing the voice, Applejack immediately spun around. Behind her was the pale, purple tear-stained face of a puppet. But it wasn't just any ordinary puppet.
Applejack recognized the purple curly mane anywhere, it was Rarity.
"Rarity?"
"Oh, darling! I never thought I'd see you ever again!" Rarity threw her arms around Applejack and squeezed her tightly.
"I- u-uhm... m-me too?" Applejack struggled to reply, being perplexed at seeing her long departed friend again.
"I've been trying to speak with you for so long, and now I've finally managed to do it. Now, I need you to listen to me very carefully. The robots at Pinkie's place? Those are your friends."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"They've been trapped in those suits for many years. I've been there to comfort them ever since the day they went missing. They need you, Applejack."
"Are those really them? Rarity, I-I can't. They have to hate me. I could have prevented this. If only I was there with them, none of this would have happened. But I only thought about myself..."
"Applejack... you can free them. But there's only one way you can. When you arrive at the building tomorrow, you must burn it. Make sure it's just you and them. The suits and building are trapping them there. If they are burnt, it will be able to finally release them."
"Rarity, I don't know if I can..."
"I know how you feel, Jacqueline. But when this is all over we'll finally be free."
Rarity sighed, before continuing. "I know you may not think so, but I believe your friends and sister will forgive you. I've already forgiven you a long time ago."
"...you really think so?"
"We've been friends for years, Applejack. Nothing will ever change that. Despite what you might think, you deserve to be happy."
Rarity wrapped her arms around Applejack and embraced her in a tight hug.
"I love you, Jacqueline."
12:00 AM
Applejack stood in the office, waiting patiently until the time was right.
Opening the monitor, she immediately checked the Show Stage. Empty.
Then she checked Wonderbolt Cove. Empty.
As she closed the monitor, several pairs of hoofsteps quickly approached the office.
She wasn't scared.
"They're almost here, Jacqueline, be prepared." Rarity alerted Applejack.
Quiet giggling from behind caused Applejack to turn around.
Sitting on the floor was a limp, lifeless, yellow costume. It's eye sockets were nothing but black voids, and in place of irises were two barely noticeable white dots that stared up at her.
It beared a striking resemblance to Pinkie, but the young voice of the giggling made Applejack aware of who was really under the suit.
"Jacqueline... " the suit spoke, it's mouth not moving along with the words that came out.
Applejack ran to the suit, throwing her arms around it as tears rolled down her face, confusing the yellow suit.
"Huh?"
"Blossom... I'm so sorry. I'll never leave you again..." Applejack sobbed as she tightly hugged the suit.
The suit went quiet for a second.
...
"...hehe, so now you feel sorry?" The suit spat. "After everything you've done to me, you really think an apology will change anything?"
The suit stopped for a second, and looked around, noticing smoke entering the room. Looking up, she saw all of the four robots standing in both of the doorways, staring down at them.
She looked in front of Applejack, a ghostly apparition of Shining Armor watched them, as a smile formed on his face.
"Wait... Jacqueline... w-what are you doing?"
"Shh... just stay calm, y'all won't have to suffer no more." Applejack calmly replied as she pulled the suit into a tighter hug.
The four robots that once stood around them were now on the floor, as flames slowly started to engulf the room.
"I love you, sis..." Applejack softly spoke to the suit.
...
"I..." The suit slowly raised it's arms and wrapped them around Applejack's waist, returning the hug.
"...I love you too, big sis.."
...
Rachel Belle 1965 - 1987
Ramona Dash 1964 - 1987
Florence Shy 1964 - 1987
Tammy Sparks 1963 - 1987
Diane Pie 1964 - 1987
Jacqueline and Blossom Apple Reunited, in Peace & Forgiveness 1962 - 1998 and 1979 - 1987
