It was another day in Ponyville. The skies were clear, and there was not a cloud in sight. Albeit, the sun shone brighter than usual, which made the temperature hot. But sometimes a breeze would blow through the town, so the temperature is pretty even.
Starlight went to the local fruit stands to get some lunch. She spotted a delicious golden apple. The price was 5 bits for an apple, which was not a bad price.
"Hello," Starlight greeted the shopkeeper. "I would like to buy that apple."
"It costs 5 bits." The shopkeeper said in a friendly voice.
"I knew that." Starlight replied as she already got the bits out of her bag.
After collecting the bits, they handed her the apple, to which Starlight took a bite of it as she walked away.
The apples from Sweet Apple Acres are good too, but this is slightly better. Starlight thought as she relished the taste of the apple.
Afterwards, she sat on one of the benches at the park while reading a book about myths and legends. She was intrigued by the stories, and always pondered whether they were true or not. But that's the fun part of it.
As she continued reading, Starlight couldn't help but overhear some ponies that said something very interesting.
"I thought they closed down a long time ago."
"Yeah, but now they are back than ever."
Interested, Starlight kept looking at the book while she angled her ears a little closer so she can hear them a little better.
"It was because of a murder, is it?" A pony asked with her voice quivering a bit.
"Unfortunately, yes. But I heard that the owner of that company somehow persuaded Celestia to open another restaurant."
"Will it be safer than the last?"
"I just hope that will be the case."
After that, they discussed about another topic, which made Starlight stop listening to them.
Pondering about what they said, Starlight closed the book and left the park.
Starlight now walked the streets of Ponyville, and she noticed that a white, thin, colt with brown hair, was handing them newspapers onto random house's doorsteps, and gave newspapers to ponies that were outside.
As soon as they got the newspaper, they were shocked when they looked at one of the articles.
"They're back?" Starlight heard one of the ponies that read the newspaper.
"And they look uglier than ever." another pony replied with a tint of disgust.
What are they talking about? Starlight looked at them with a confused look.
While she was staring, she accidentally bumped into the same white colt while she was not looking.
"Oops!" Starlight lent a hoof to the pony. "I should've been watching where I was going."
But the pony shrugged it off and with the help of Starlight's hoof he got up to his feet.
"No worries." He responded to her. He reached into his bag and took out a newspaper with his mouth. "For you."
As the pony trotted away, Starlight finally had the source that she needed.
Flipping through the pages, she looked through every article to see if it fits the testimonies that she just heard.
Unfortunately, she found what they were talking about when she recognized a certain bear, bunny, and chicken.
Freddy?! Starlight screamed in disbelief in her mind. She almost said it out loud but managed to keep her mouth shut. How are you back?
Starlight shuddered in fear as she remembered the long nights that she had worked there. The animatronics were relentless to kill her and stuff her in a suit. And when Twilight accompanied her on her final shift, the two of them were inches away from dying. But somehow, the clock saved the two of them.
She would assume that Twilight would tell Celestia that the company was dangerous to others and should be shut down permanently. But somehow, they came back.
And they do look ugly Starlight thought, agreeing with the other ponies.
She looked at the direction of Princess Twilight's Castle.
She needed to know this as well.
"You knew the whole time?!" Starlight couldn't believe what she just heard.
Twilight nodded sadly. "Unfortunately, yes."
"But... why did you let it slide?"
"Oh, believe me, I wanted to put a stop to it the moment I heard about this idea. But nothing I will do can change anything. All these actions go to Celestia, and maybe Luna." Twilight explained to her former pupil.
"But you did something about it before. Like when the two of us almost died to those cursed animatronics?" Starlight responded, trying her best to process what she is hearing.
"That was because I had proof." Twilight explained calmly. "But as for this restaurant, we currently don't know how they operate. And as of now, they are in a clean state. They may surprise me if it turns out to be a lot better than the owner says it will be." she ended with a shrug.
Starlight had to admit that she did have a point. But she did not trust that Freddy was going on a murder-free life in a new restaurant.
"I don't believe them." Starlight said to the princess with determination.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do anything about it." Twilight shook her head. "These matters do not fit my criteria unless I have solid evidence."
Starlight eventually sighed in defeat. She didn't want a to press the matter further, now knowing that the princess won't help her with this matter.
Instead, she decided to go straight to the location.
Following the directions that were below the newspaper article, Starlight arrived at the new location. It was almost as if they were in the same spot to where the old location used to take place.
Starlight eventually peeked inside the lively resturant. She spotted the animatronics that were featured in the article. The foals were graciously enjoying the animatronic's cheeky songs and ate a lot of pizza.
Starlight stepped inside the pizzeria and sat down on one of the party tables. She looked around the the scene.
No suspicious activity so far.
However, something caught Starlight's eye as she looked beyond the party tables. She saw a giant present box next to shelves that were filed with plushies and toys. And in the present vox, was a puppet. Its body was black and skinny with white stripes, and its face had a permanent smile with painted purple tears, as if it was crying.
Oh sweet Celestia... Starlight felt horror just strike through her body. She noticed that some of the foals were staring at her. So she put on a fake smile, while staring the puppet. There’s more of you.
While she was gazing at the animatronic, she felt a hoof touch her shoulder. Starlight quickly whipped her head. It a purple unicorn with dark purple hair. It was wearing a worn-down suit and had a yellow badge as its cutie mark.
“William?” Starlight asked, wondering if she got the name right.
“You are correct.” The stallion responded. “And I recall that your last name ends with Shimmer?”
“It’s Glimmer.” Starlight corrected him, again. “What are you doing here? It’s been a while since we met.”
“It has, it has.” William gazed at her with a wide grin. Starlight felt nervousness slowly rising in her body. And something about the grin seemed familiar to her, which she did not like.
“Uh... right.” Starlight felt a sweat mark run down the side of her face.
William’s grin finally went away. “Am I scaring you? My apologizes.” he dipped his head.
“It’s... no problem.” Starlight sighed. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
William raised his hoof. “No, it's my fault. I should take classes on how to smile correctly.” he added, humorously. He turned to face the animatronics that were near the ponies. “Old friends have made a comeback here.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call them friends.” Starlight responded while giving the animatronics a weird look.
“Honestly, me either. But if it entertains foals, then they are friends of mine.”
“I suppose.” Starlight looked at William weirdly. Was he like this when they first met? If so, she didn’t remember him being... odd.
William took out some papers from a nearby desk. “Anyways, this place has improved since the last one closed down. And they come with really cool features too!”
“Features...?” Starlight didn’t like the sound of that.
“You see, my awesome creations and ideas has beamed into these animatronics.” William continued on. “Unlike the old place, the animatronics stay in their place. But now, they move around during the day!”
“They what?!” Starlight couldn’t believe what she heard. Did she hear him right? She didn’t even care if the foals kept staring at her.
But William expressed no surprise. “Relax, these animatronics are calmer than before. And they do well with foals-”
“But...” Starlight interrupted him. “What if causes happen? What if there will be an incident just like the bite at Fredbear’s?”
William’s grin died away instantly, and glared at Starlight. “When someone is in my earshot, we do not speak of the bite. At all.”
Starlight was taken aback by William’s sudden anger. Did the Bite affect him?
William gazed at the animatronics again with his wide smile again, clearly wanting to change the subject. “Anyways, we are now offering jobs for this establishment. The day shift and the night shift.”
“You’re doing that again?”
“Of course. A place such as this must be protected by guards.” William responded calmly. “If you want to apply, you won’t be taking the day shift. That job has been taken by someone else.”
“No.” Starlight turned her head away. “I’m not going through that again.”
“Trust me, the animatronics will not attack you this time. They will be still in their positions, and the nights should be stress-free.”
Starlight didn’t believe him. She simply got up and walked out of the pizzeria.
William looked at her, disappointed. “Alright, it's your choice. But the position is always free.”
She looked back to see William walk away, she now was in deep thought. She knows what Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza was doomed from the start, and like Twilight said, they cannot close it down without evidence of the place being bad. Maybe the night shift may be the key to finding the evidence that this place should be deemed closed like the first place.
But is it worth it?
“William!” Starlight called out the purple unicorn.
“Changed your mind?”
Starlight hesitantly nodded. “I hate this idea, but I will work for five nights here, like last time.”
William didn’t look convinced. “What changed your mind?”
“Simple.” Starlight narrowed her eyes at William. “I want to know if you’re telling the truth.”
“Starlight, I assure you.” William chuckled. “My words are as true as the deep blue.”
She rolled her eyes. “We’ll see about that.”
Although her explanation was part of the reason of why she worked there, could she ever tell him her true intentions? To stay at the restaurant and learn some maybe dark secrets about the company in general?
Never. She thought in her head. And now I’m going to hate myself for working here.
Night 1: An Unwelcome Surprise
Starlight arrived at the pizzeria on the time that she was supposed to arrive. She did not miss the days where she woke up late at night to go to a death trap. But instead, she has to wake up to experience potential horror, and death.
But at least she didn't have to worry about Twilight fussing over her like she's a foal anymore, since Twilight is on board with the plan too, but insists to work only one night. As much as Starlight wanted to work in shorter days, she rejected the idea. If she was going to learn the secrets of the place, and the company, she might need to stay for five nights. She had gotten some answers when she worked five nights at the other place, maybe the same will happen here.
Starlight still thinks that Twilight waiting for solid evidence to happen for a pizzeria to close down seems kind of dumb. Especially if the said pizzeria is Freddy's. She had seen herself that the animatronics are hell-bent on killing ponies, so it should be no surprise that the same will happen there.
However, she really wanted to know if William was telling the truth. But from the weird smile he kept giving her, its mostly unlikely. Why do I even bother.
She opened the doors of the place. She noticed that the pizzeria's keys were located on a table, with a note that only said:
See you at 6.
-William
Starlight immediately questioned the safety standards of the restaurant right away, and the night barely started. They are so trusting to put these random keys in an empty restaurant. Its so easy to steal them. She pondered. But then again, who would want to rob this place at night? If anything, it was the last place that any robber would wish to be.
After locking the restaurant door, she headed to the direction of her office, remembering the locations that William had shown her, and making a realization that the puppet was not the only new cast, but instead, an animatronic that seems to be the counterpart of Foxy the Pirate, but was all mangled.. broken... and rearranged weird. William stated that "the foals put it together". As he said that, Starlight's suspicions raised higher.
When she walked past the Main Stage, she tried her best to hold in her laughter as she saw the new Freddy, Bonnie, and Chica. Now with the word Toy at the beginning of their names. She didn't know if she preferred these models, or the old ones.
Foal friendly, I guess. Starlight concluded, but still looked very stupid.
Starlight wondered down the hall and gazed at the open office that was before her. She remembered her reaction when she saw that her office had no safety measures, such as doors. But William, who was with her, calmly said "Don't worry, doors are not necessary."
"You're on thin ice, you know." Starlight had warned him.
But he just shrugged. "I've been on thinner."
She awkwardly sat onto her office chair and once she was comfortable, she noticed that a Freddy head was located near her leg. Starlight levitated the mask with her magic. She assessed it, and has no clue as to why its here. But she was reminded once again of her encounter of the other Freddy Fazbear, since its head model is exactly the same shape.
Is this actually him? Starlight wondered, although she thinks that its a stupid question, but had another question that should be answered. Why did William not tell me about this? That stallion is as suspicious as the time when Twilight and her friends were kidnapped and replaced by changelings.
She booted up the camera monitor and skimmed through the security cameras. But for some reason she saw only darkness.
"I got broken cameras?" Starlight looked at the screen with a frustrated but scared look. "Is this pizzeria that cheap that they can't buy proper-"
Starlight was interrupted when she was startled by the phone ringing next to her. After having her guard up all this time, she still gets startled by phones...
The phone message opened.
"Uh, hello? Hello, hello?" a voice called out.
Starlight couldn't believe her ears. She recognized that voice...
"You died at the other pizzeria!" Starlight exclaimed to no one. "How is this possible...?"
Starlight looked at the phone with a dumbfounded look. The sound of his demise felt way too real to be fake, and how did he make it out alive? Did he somehow escape death when the clock hit six? Similar to how Starlight and Twilight barely escaped death at her last shift?
"Uh, hello and welcome to your new summer job at the new and improved Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Uh, I'm here to talk you through some of the things you can expect to see during your first week here and to help you get started down this new and exciting career path."
I'm not so sure exciting is the word I would use.
"Now, I want you to forget all the rumors about the old location. That place had a bad reputation... and, as we speak, has been left to rot for a while."
Starlight now because confused. He had to be talking about Fredbear's Family Diner, since in Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, he died there, so its practically impossible that he's talking about that pizzeria. But even so that still doesn't make sense. And besides, how could she forget the location that killed a foal?
No, just shut up. Starlight commanded herself. Just focus on what he says, and don't get your mind in a twist. Or else I'll miss the helpful things he will potentially say.
They've spent a small fortune on these new animatronics, uh, facial recognition, advanced mobility, they even let them walk around during the day. Isn't that neat?
No, no its not.
...
After listening to phone guy for a least an hour, Starlight checked the cameras once more, and when she looked at the stage camera, she noticed that Toy Bonnie has moved.
"I knew it!" Starlight exclaimed. "I knew they would be after me at night!" William you stupid liar when you face me again with that creepy smile you better be ready for an earful.
Starlight, using a flashlight that William had showed her, she shined the hallway that was in front of her.
She found nothing.
She scanned the cameras, and saw that Toy Bonnie was in front of one of the cameras. It looked at it extremely closely. Similar to how Bonnie stared at her closely cameras when he was in the Backstage.
"HELLO!" Starlight said to the camera, similar to how she did before at the other place.
Static appeared and Toy Bonnie has left.
She looked at another camera and saw him with his guitar at hand.
Are you going to beat me up with that? Starlight started to feel her teeth shake. She put down the monitor and took deep breathes. Calm down, Starlight. You can do this. You survived Freddy's once, you can survive again.
She looked down at her monitor and saw an exclamation mark appear at the bottom left of the corner screen. Immediately remembering what the guy said about the puppet, she went to the Prize Corner camera and wound up the music box until the circle was full.
Starlight let out a sigh of relief, but then heard noises coming from the vents. She opened the monitor, and she jumped when she saw that Toy Chica is gone from the stage too.
Starlight used her flashlight and saw Toy Chica staring at her through the hallway. Its beak was completely missing, instead replaced with a few white, sharp teeth.
Starlight gulped. She had an idea. She quickly flashed the lights in front of the robotic chicken.
"Go away, you ugly thing..." Starlight kept spamming the lights.
Her heart almost stopped when she heard the vents clank at her right side. She saw Toy Bonnie stare at her through the vent window. Starlight gasped. With the doors being missing, she literally had no protection. She was done for.
But then she remembered the Freddy head that she saw earlier. She quickly grabbed it with her magic and put it on her head. When she did, the office lights suddenly flickered. Then right before her, Toy Bonnie gazed at her by going past her face with a dead-eyed expression. Starlight was shivering to the bone and felt silver bullets go down through her face.
Finally, Toy Bonnie disappeared, and when she checked the hallway again, so did Toy Chica.
Starlight almost felt like she did as going to pass out. "I have to do this... every night?"
After winding up the music box, she checked the hallways and the cameras. Toy Bonnie went back to the stage, but the others are still missing. Starlight checked the hallways and saw Toy Freddy gaze at her in the distance. Not to mention Toy Chica starting to crawl through the vents.
Starlight quickly put on her Freddy mask, breathing hard. The mask even smelled like death. Did they even wash this at all?
But Starlight didn't have to think about that now. As she saw Toy Chica in the vent, and Freddy getting closer, the clock chimed 6 AM.
"Thank Celestia." Starlight breathed as she took off the mask. She heard the two animatronics fall dead to the ground, hearing the mechanical clanks hit the ground, but she shrugged it off. The staff can deal with that, but she is leaving the moment she walks off to the door.
After waiting outside for a few hours, William finally arrived at the pizzeria. Starlight gave him a glare, but William made no reaction.
"You lied to me." Starlight said to the purple unicorn. "You said these things don't kill me at night. Guess what happened?"
But William looked calm as ever. "You're right. I did lie. But for a good reason too."
Starlight looked appalled. "What good reason?"
"Simple. It was the only way to hire a new night guard for this establishment. No one else wanted to do it, and I assumed that you would trust me..."
"I never did." Starlight spat coldly. Not wanting to stand on the property any longer, she walked off angrily.
"You are still coming back for a second night!" William called off after her. "And more afterwards!"
Starlight just groaned. She forgot that she had to work more nights at the cursed pizzeria. Of course, she would put a magic spell on those animatronics, but she would get fired the moment the staff members knew that they used magic on the animatronics. According to them, they don't like it when magic is used on the robots.
Petty. Starlight rolled her eyes. Wait until I get Twilight. Animatronics killing nightguards, not to mention getting scammed, should be a good reason as to why Twilight should shut this restaurant down after my shifts are over. She said, still remembering her promise that she made to herself. And a promise that she will most likely die for.
