Springtrapped 2: Blackjack Returns

Ponyville - The Next Morning

Springtrap was having a great time. He made his way over to Twilight's basement lab to replace his moldy and tattered exo with a more approachable one. Springtrap laid down on the same gurney he used to make Vanny and cast his silver eyes to the stairs to see Twilight descending them. Twilight chuckled at seeing him.

"I see you were eager to do this, huh?" Twilight asked.

"Of course I am. It'd be nice to go on stage and not have foals cry at seeing me," Springtrap replied. "So, shall we get started, my dear?"

Twilight walked over to a tray with a few knives to help her cut through the felt. She held a knife firmly in her magic and started her work. Twilight would've asked if it hurt, but Springtrap assured her that he can't feel pain anymore since he was dead and his Agony was completely gone now. He kept a close eye on Twilight's face as she cut through the felt. She visibly gagged when she cut off a large section of the chest. Next thing Springtrap knew Twilight hovered over a spray bottle of freshener and sprayed the inside of his suit.

"I'm guessing the smell of a rotting corpse doesn't smell the greatest, huh?" Springtrap asked. Twilight simply responded by swallowing vomit and nodding her head. She finished spraying his corpse and continued her work.

Twilight had to make sure to cut off the plastic that helped form the base of the exo. After a few more minutes of cutting through felt and plastic, Springtrap wasn't recognizable anymore. Twilight looked at him with eyes of both shock and morbid curiosity.

Springtrap looked at his reflection in a nearby mirror and didn't expect himself to look this grotesque inside. His flesh and organs had the appearance and consistency of beef jerky. His bones and what little remained of his flesh were broken shards pierced by metal spikes from the springlocks. But it was his head that was the worst of it. His skull was nothing like it was supposed to be. His skull was a mash of bone shards and worthless yellow teeth with metal spikes shooting through both sides covered in old dark blood. His bulbous silver eyes were held firm in his shattered eye sockets. He was an unholy amalgamation of corpse and old animatronic technology. Good thing he could still speak with the old voice box.

"Now we can really get started with this little makeover, huh?" Springtrap asked. Twilight just stared at him with wide eyes and nodded without even blinking.

The two now began working on a new exo. This one would be made of plastic plate, like how he designed the Glamtronics' bodies and it would fit over his now-clean endo. Springtrap focused on the painting while Twilight did measurements and fitting for the plates. The both of them worked together to affix the plates to his body. Twilight pulled up a mirror for him to see his new look. And Springtrap liked what he saw.

His new body was sleek and clean in new plastic plate. He made sure to give his new look a similar glamrock style to the other Glamtronics. He kept his bright yellow body and purple bowtie, but he now had purple lightning painted on his face and chest. His was shirtless except for the dark blue jeans (at least, he looked like he was wearing jeans) with black tiger stripes on the calves. Springtrap's now full ears had black earrings near the base. He replaced his silver eyes for updated ones that still glowed silver. Springtrap smiled with better looking teeth than his original mask's.

"Ha! I love this new look!" Springtrap said. "I don't think I'll look like a Nightmare Night ghoul to the crowds anymore."

Twilight simply looked at the newly-remade Springtrap with a strange look. When she finally spoke, her voice was tentative.

"Uh, Springtrap? Was that how you... died... when you first came to Equestria?" Twilight asked.

The memories of the springlock failure flashed in Springtrap's mind like a lightning flash. He could still recall the pain of being crushed and skewered by the springlocks as they snapped shut all around him. Springtrap instinctively twitched as though he were being springlocked all over again. He held his right arm as he looked at Twilight, who looked like she regretted asking.

"Yes, Twilight. A springlock failure is one of the worst ways to die that I know of. You saw for yourself," Springtrap replied. "Imagine your entire body being stabbed and crushed by metal spikes and drowning in your own blood. You can't scream because your throat is crushed and you can't move because your spine is shattered. All you can do is sit in agony and pray death takes you."

Twilight wrapped her hooves and wings around Springtrap in a hug. "I'm sorry that you went through that. And I'm also sorry for asking."

Springtrap simply petted her like a cat. "It's fine. My new friends helped me get rid of the Agony and Blackjack is now rotting in his own springlocks."

The group hadn't spoken about Neighsay, or "Blackjack" for the whole year since the fight in the old pizzeria. Twilight looked at Springtrap with seriousness screaming from it.

"Do you think Neighsay's gone for good?" Twilight asked. "If he's now an undead being like you, shouldn't we be worried?"

"If he does come back... I'll just have to bury him even deeper," Springtrap said, cracking his metal knuckles.

The door to the basement lab suddenly burst open and Starlight zoomed down the stairs to speak to Twilight and Springtrap. She completely ignored Springtrap's new look.

"Guys! You have to come outside!" she said.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked anxiously.

"It's Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon! They've been reported missing!" Starlight replied.

"WHAT?!" Twilight and Springtrap yelled at the same time.

• + +

Town Center

Poor Mayor Mare was having a hard time keeping the crowd calm as she stood at the podium. A squad of Royal Guards stood stoically behind her. The Princesses had long since returned to Canterlot, so this was left to the Elements. The Glamtronics sat at the front of the crowd. Princess Twilight went to join the mayor while Springtrap went to join his bandmates and the Elements. Chica whistled seeing Springtrap's new look.

"Looking good, Springtrap!" she said.

"Nice new paint job, dude!" Monty said.

"You look like a real rock star, now," Freddy said. Roxanne Wolf gave him a sly wink.

"You do look a lot easier on the eyes, handsome," Roxy said.

Springtrap didn't know how to react to that, so he was thankful Twilight spoke to calm the crowd.

"Everyone! Please calm down and we can get this underway a lot quicker!" Twilight called. The crowd immediately settled down and cast their eyes towards the Princess of Friendship.

Twilight shuffled around a few papers provided to her by the mayor as well as the current Guard captain helping with the investigation until she cleared her throat to speak.

"As we all know, two young fillies, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, were reported missing late last night by their parents after the Glamtronic concert. The Royal Guard garrison here investigated the homes of the missing fillies as well as the surrounding area and have determined that this was the work of a single perpetrator," Twilight said. "The Elements and the Royal Guard will be working closely together to find the girls and bring this criminal to justice. For the time-being, there is to be a curfew that requires everyone to be in their homes before sundown and no one is to go anywhere by themselves. I appreciate you for being here to hear us and please go about your business."

The crowd dispersed with worried murmurs. There were two couples that were crying and struggling to move. Springtrap knew that they had to be Diamond's and Silver's parents. He met Filthy Rich at one of the concerts in Manehattan when he was on a business trip. A kind and generous stallion, though his wife Spoiled Milk was another case entirely. Springtrap looked to his bandmates and saw the haunted looks on their faces.

"I wonder if there were press conferences like this when we were reported missing," Freddy wondered.

"Man, my parents would've been bawling like yearlings," Monty said.

"My parents would've cursed out the police until they got a lead," Chica said.

"I'd be lucky if my dad was sober enough to actually realize I was missing," Roxy said, hugging herself and looking away from the group.

Meanwhile, Twilight joined the rest of her friends while Springtrap got up and clapped his hands together.

"Hey guys, why don't we head back to the castle? We can try to rehearse our next set for our next concert in Las Pegasus," Springtrap said. "Music can help take our minds off this."

"But shouldn't we help find those missing fillies?" Freddy asked. "What if they're hurt? Or worse?"

"Guys, Twilight and her friends are working with the Royal Guard to track down the fillies. We have to leave this to the professionals and stay out of their way," Springtrap said. "I understand your feelings, but we need to let them handle this."

The Glamtronics weren't happy about this, but they nodded reluctantly. Starlight came up them before they could leave and gently pulled on Springtrap's arm.

"Hey, Springtrap, could you and the others stay here?" Starlight asked. "We may actually need your help with this."

Springtrap's eyes twitched in confusion. "Us? Why do you need our help?"

"Because we may know who's behind this," Starlight replied. Springtrap got a bad feeling in his rotten stomach. Him and the other Glamtronics walked over to the Elements and a few Guards where Springtrap saw that Twilight was holding something in her magic. It was a plastic bag with a small object in it. The aura of Twilight's magic made it hard for Springtrap to make out exactly what it was until Twilight handed it to him. Springtrap's eyes widened when he and the Glamtronics saw what it was.

The bag contained a golden bit. But this bit was mostly covered in old dark blood and had a deep scratch on it. It was like it was scratched by something else made of metal. Springtrap's eyes glowed a dangerous shade of purple and his hands were shaking in anger. The rest of the Glamtronics looked at the bit with eyes that now shone red.

"NO!! NOT HIM!!" Springtrap shouted. He knew what this meant: Blackjack is back.

• + +

Diamond Tiara's head was pounding more than a pair of drums when she opened her eyes. She couldn't remember most of what happened last night. All she could remember was getting ready for bed when she saw what looked like a pair of red eyes watching her from her closet. Next thing she knew, everything went black.

The filly looked around to see that she wasn't in her bedroom. She was in what looked like an old cellar, with dusty boxes and crates and shelves. The only light that could be seen came from several lanterns set up in one part of the underground cellar leaving the rest of it in darkness. Diamond couldn't even tell where the exit was. She tried to get out of her only to see that she was tied to a chair by several heavy chains. Diamond Tiara would've panicked if she didn't shoot her head to her right and saw Silver Spoon in the same condition she was.

"Silver! Silver! Wake up!" Diamond called frantically. Silver Spoon's eyes slowly fluttered open and started to panic.

"DT, what happened?! Where are we?!" she shouted.

"I can answer that, my dears," a creepily robotic voice answered from the shadows. Both fillies looked into the darkest section of the cellar and saw a pair of red glowing eyes that hovered six feet above the ground.

"Wh-who are you?" Diamond demanded fearfully.

"And what d-d-do you w-want from us?" Silver added.

The eyes stared at them nonblinking as loud footsteps slowly carried the eyes towards the pair of bound fillies. The body that the eyes belonged to was soon fully cast in the light of the lanterns and both girls were horrified by the sight. A large animatronic jackal loomed over them looking like a demon from the depths of Tartarus.

The jackal had a black felt outer casing with several holes in it, showing both animatronic components and well as rotten flesh and organs. Dried blood left streaks coming out of the various joints that made the girls think of the myriad zombie movies they've seen before. Danderous claws tipped the jackal's hands and a red bowtie was the only other thing apart from the eyes that gave the jackal any real color. The teeth in the jackal's jaws were sharp and glistening in the lantern light and his ears stood up like demon horns.

"I'm so happy you two are here," the jackal said. "See, you two are going to help me with a special game I'm playing."

"Why do you... look like Springtrap?" Diamond asked. The jackal's eyes glowed furiously.

"BECAUSE HE'S THE ONE WHO DID THIS TO ME!!" the jackal shouted in a horrifying voice before calming himself. "Anyway, I simply need you two hear to help me. I want Springtrap and his little playmates to pay for what they've done to me."

"What did they do to you?" Silver asked cautiously. Instead of answering with words, the jackal pried open in jaws with his hands. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were shocked.

Inside the head of the jackal was that of a rotting corpse. What little skin remained was gray and sagging and his flesh was starting to look like dried meat with shattered skull shards held together by metal spikes and cage-like metal strips. The red animatronic eyes were fixed deep into the broken orbital bones and cracked yellow teeth made the corpse look like it was grinning. A few strands of a black mane and goatee clued them in on who this was.

"You... you the Kid Killer! Neighsay!" Diamond Tiara shouted.

"They said you were dead and buried!" Silver Spoon yelled.

"Dead, yes. But not buried, my lovelies," Neighsay said, closing his jackal head. "Now like I said, I need you two to help make Springtrap suffer."

Now the two girls were scared. They looked to each other and then back to Neighsay.

"How... are we supposed to help you?" Silver Spoon asked. Neighsay reached behind him and pulled out a large kitchen knife before replying in a low voice.

"Suffer in agony."