Chapter 1: Night 1

If you like weird things in life and also seem interested at being in the mind of Twinkleheart (AKA me), then feel free to stay here. If you jump while you're in my head, though, and you'll be out faster than you can say "Friendship is Magic". If you don't like my thoughts, then deal with it. I have sharper thoughts than what most people could even comprehend. I just don't have MMI - Motor Mouth Issues. Everyone sees me as some pony who loves pink - I am pink, too - who is obsessed in drawing (especially dragons - they're really cool to draw) and is too naïve for her own good. That I possibly couldn't understand anything. Well, have you know, that I probably know more than you do. So, if you're here, mentioning no names, cough cough The Sugar Dumplings cough, then chew on that toffee.

But, back to what I'm doing. Blare Blitz has just made me go into such hysterics that I've already forgiven him for being late. Then again, he'd probably still be forgiven anyway. I'm too soft with him. He and I are currently settling down at a really worn, drab desk. It has a random fan on it (I have no idea why that would be helpful - it's minus fifty in this wretched place). I wasn't particularly bothered about that - the fun was soon to start. The clock at the top was extremely dusty, however I could still manage to decipher the time it displayed. 11:56 pm. Four minutes until they switched themselves on. In the meantime, we both may as well acquaint ourselves with the room. Blitz was fiddling with some kind of laptop on the desk - prodding it with the end of his hoof. In a flash (well, more in a plume of dust), it flipped open with an audible crack.

Meanwhile, I tampered with some buttons on the wall near the door. There were two doors parallel to one another from over the room. Both sharing the same buttons: Light; Door. The light lit up a lamp in the door. Obviously. And the door one slammed a shutter down with a prominent thud. As if we'd need that. These cute little robots were harmless. Every poster showed them as cute, anyway. I hadn't actually seen them. Not yet. The back wall was littered with poster after poster of me (the animatronic me - Twinky, as she was known as (which is quite ironic as that is the nickname I'm given by Blitz. Strange.)) doing cute things - making rainbows, hugging friends. The kind of cutesy stuff you expect at foals places. I had a varied amount of feelings towards them - had I ever been that cute and adorable? I were known for battling the bad guys with the gang. The gang. Yep… all animatronics, too. Creepy, huh? Probably, Shadow would look just as awesome as she always does. I'll explain about them later.

But, for now, I need to settle into my first night here. Because, as we all know, magical evil-busters need to eat, too. And you don't get paid for vanquishing evil. Never had a penny. Not like I'm asking the princesses for any… That's awkward.

I'm sorry. I'm not usually so… strange. But, as soon as I get nervous, I turn into a completely different unicorn - not the sweet, adorable and optimistic pony everyone sees. I end up acting like some crazed frog up here. Does that even make any sense? I don't have any idea. I just know that I am worried I'll mess something up, and that I'll say something wrong to you guys.

Phew… and breathe…

Wait. Is that the… clock? It's bonging. It's… our shift. Ooh, Blare's noticed too.

"Hey! We're on!" he said, seemingly confident enough to me.

"Yeah…"

That was me, naturally. Not like the robots can talk. I don't think. Well, we'll maybe meet them later. I just hope they like living ponies, and are as cute and friendly as they seem on the posters. Suddenly, I see a flash. On the laptop-thingy. Whirring follows. It turns on, showing a loading screen.

At least it works.

It appears that the telephone that I had failed to notice (with me being too occupied with the relatively unimportant buttons by the doors) also works, its shrill call echoing through the cavern-like room. Blare merely blew a strand of orange mane out of his face as it kicked into the answer machine.

"…Er…hello?" My ears pricked at the voice pounding through the speakers, "It's me."

Who's me? I had no idea who the hell it is.

"This is for you both, Twinkleheart and Blare Blitz. That's right, isn't it? I apologise if it isn't. Anyway, I hope that you are excited for your first night."

Really? Well, I think you should be saying nervous in place of excited, Mr Phone-Pony.

"Anyway, I'll cut to the chase. You're the new night guards! Your job is to watch Twinky's and make sure that: A - no one breaks in, and B - the animatronics don't damage themselves while they roam. They begin to roam as soon as the clock strikes midnight."

As if it would help, Blitz stared at the clock that now showed the time as 12:03am. They were currently roaming while we had no way of watching them. However, as if it was reading my thoughts, the laptop-thing began to display an image of some robotic ponies facing into the area of strewn chairs.

"The monitor displays what they're all up to. As they get use to you, they'll become more active as each night progresses. Moving on, the buttons on the doors control a shutter, just in case they get a little too close for comfort… But they're absolutely harmless. However, the one to watch is Shadowblaze, as she can glitch at any moment. They didn't have enough money to fix her after the… accident, so she can act up a bit. They'll probably mistake you as other animatronics, which Twinkle, you'll have no problem with, but you, Blitz, may possibly be carried off to the suit room. There's always a spare suit back there of you…"

"There is?" Blitz exclaimed, a smile creeping across his face, "Ya hear that, Twinky. They have one of me, too."

"And you wanna be put inside it?" I sighed, being a bit of a killjoy. But what good would he be stuffed inside a suit?

The line stopped for a few moments, before continuing, "So that's also a good reason to have those buttons… heh… I think that'll do for you guys tonight. As you get more used to all this, you'll learn more. Oh, and P.S. Twinky has a habit of singing - don't let her annoy you. Plus, you may experience a few… WEIRD THINGS… as you get further into the night. The ventilation is extremely faulty. Which reminds me, check your vent cameras if you can't see them in any of the rooms. If they aren't there, they're probably in a blind spot. Right, Cheerio!"

The line drew dead.

"That was helpful." I sighed, slightly annoyed with the lack of information.

Blitz nodded, "-Not."

I huffed a long breath of air out. Finally knowing we were on, my vision fell upon the dusty, well-dated "Monitor". The picture remained the same as it was when I last looked.

"This is gonna be an easy job." I thought aloud, drumming my stubs of what everypony has (called hooves) on the desk. Blitz seemed to hum in agreement. But, then, I realised. Realised something I didn't want to know.

I stammered, "Heh… that was you right?"

His shocked expression gave away no answers.

"Right?"

It sounded again. A melodic hum, however just out of tune. Like what they play in horror movies when something is about to leap out at you. It sounded like a familiar nursery-rhyme. Maybe… ah, that's right. Hickery Dickery Dock. I started to silently mouth the words, when, as if it could see me, a sharp, mechanical voice echoed from the distance, putting in its own interpretation:

Hickery Dickery Dock,

The clock's struck 12 o' clock.

Our playtime now, our games to play,

Your heart's gonna stop…

Its laughter followed, my already creeped-out shivers replaced by downright shaking. It seemed that Blitz was as freaked as I. Glaring down at the monitor, I nearly fell over as my own robot's eyes swivelled to meet mine. Despite the black and white image, I knew its eyes were glowing with hunger. Finally, I realised just what I'd gotten myself into. Survive the night. Or die. As I attempted to form words to let Blare know (he had just about frozen), the picture completely fuzzed up, sending crackles throughout the dank office. Every single robot-version of my friend's heads' had snapped around, facing the camera. Did they know we were here? I dreaded to think. I stared up at Blitz, who had made his way to the door somehow. He shoved at the "Door" button, making a "dunk" sound. No door. And again. No door. And again. No door.

The door wasn't doing anything.

I heard some familiar cackles from down the corridors on either side. A mechanical, much more eerie version of Crystal Ruby's voice drifted down and into the Office.

"I've cut them off. After all, out of sight, out of mind, right? You can't see us. Lights out."

Already flickering lights above us cracked out completely. I gasped for breath.

"Eh… No worries! Torch!"

Blare's illuminated face appeared, a torch in his magical, orange grasp. Torch, flashlight. Whatever ya call it. Definitely there. I sighed in relief. Meanwhile, Crystal made a grumble, before I could hear whirring. She'd gone. The lights returned in sleepy flashes, before returning fully. The doors (both) were down. Finally, we were safe. Nothing can get past large, steel doors, right?

For a while, anyways. We kept alert, checking the Monitor (which was also very faulty. What a surprise) every so often, accustoming ourselves to the different cameras. Sometimes, because of its ridiculously stupid wiring, we had to keep resetting the damn thing. Sheesh. The owner seemed so tight. The silence (apart from the whirring of the fan and the static of the Monitor) was the only sound besides us, relaxing a bit more as we spoke. Again, Blare had me in stitches with a really bad impression of the animatronics. Good job that cameras don't go two ways. We'd be dead.

Suddenly, something flashed up on the screen. Another camera. No source. I fooled myself to believe it was an external connection. Probably from one of the other, modern, connections. To be fair to myself, it was an external connection. Not a neighbour, unfortunately. Another version of me were sat in a suspicious-looking corner. It had little in it. Infact, it was probably one of those suits the Phone-Pony was wittering on about. I presumed, anyways. Slumped over lifelessly, it lay next to Shadow. Well, not Shadow...

A while ago, as real ponies, us six had encountered our most formidable foe yet (and always be): Night Eclipse. Her fight against us is known as the War of the Shadows now. Mainly as she had two different personalities: a shadowy, wispy form that was more mysterious, and a full pony with a mane and tail of fire. Literally. It shot out of her whenever she was slightly angered. She'd kidnapped Shadow at one point, turning her against us, tricking her into believing that we'd quickly replaced her with a Pegasus called Star Mane. (She had only offered to help us find the Light Stone which would vanquish Eclipse (the Light Stone fell from space many years ago. Little did we know that Star Mane turned into a mini- Nightmare Moon - without the evilness - whenever she came in contact with any from space.) when we used our powers.) Shadow fell for it, and therefore turned into an evil version of herself, who Eclipse named "Dark Shadows". I had no idea that this place knew about that. Or anything else. But, she was there. Mane a-flare. Wings transformed. Eyes dragonised. It was. No dream. All of this was no dream. The robots, Blare's nervous twitching, the banging at the door…

They were here!

Somehow, they'd managed to get up here without either of us noticing. The camera distracted us while they moved in. I didn't know how many, or who, was there, but I surely didn't want to find out. The clock yelled one over the scratchy taps against the doors.

Hickery Dickery Dock,

It's now 1 o'clock,

You live for now, but not for long,

Your doors are gonna rock…

Twinky had to be there. Her singing sounded so close, it was almost as if she was in the room. Her pattering against the door intensified slowly. Both of us in the Office silently gulp gallons of air at once. Screaming, she then banged against it furiously, her metalwork clanging against that of the door. I gasped quickly, making myself cough on the air. I heard a chuckle from outside, seemingly pleased with my unpleasant falter. The tapping ceased. As Blitz slowly turned his eyes to meet mine, I did too, shaken from the aggressive attack against our systems.

When I said earlier that if they could see us taking the mick out of them, we'd be dead, I was wrong.

We'd die anyways.

My eyes darted around the Monitor screen, trying to get an advantage over them - something they were weak to. Nothing. The stage showed two more empty spaces. Shadow had gone. So had Crystal. This was getting too creepy, even for me. Send fifty Night Eclipses at me. Two thousand angry parasprites. Just not these six animatronic ponies. Anything but them. Crystal appeared in the hall furthest away from us. Both Blare and I sighed in relief. However…

Shadow was gone.

Nowhere. Not in any room. Maybe she was in a blind spot? The dude on the other end of the phone was on about some blind spots where the cameras couldn't see. Unless… I heard clanging above me. The vents! Of course. Rapidly, and before I did, Blitz switched to the vent cameras, instantly closing the vent off when he saw her quickly approaching the vents right above us. I heard a grumble, and a steel hoof clanging inside the vent wall in annoyance. Then the retreating whirring and clanging. My eyes frantically scanned the vent cover located directly above me to make sure it was safe. Thankfully, it was. No hidden movement or entrance to my relief.

And then it was quiet.

An eerily silence that crept like an ambush predator.

Promising only an attack.

It stayed silent for what seemed like an eternity - me and Blitz staring into the Monitor screen, then at each other, before glaring at the doors in an icy stare-off. And back in that loop again and again. Even our breathing fell silent, hushed by danger's tongue. Clip clop. It was outside the door, pulsing in a rhythmic pattern. Then a hum. A familiar one. One Crystal sang as she carved jewellery for Ponyville when she was enjoying herself.

This was creepily accurate - how on Earth did the programmers know all this?

I felt Blare's hoof brush along me, this time not making any woos or suggestive ideas (that's his typical self) as he switched cameras. Crystal was closer, and was holding some kind of mechanical tool. Shock dented my face. It was a grinder-thing that the real Crystal used to grind apart and smooth down jewels. She… She was going to use it on the door. She stroked the tool as she hummed, pressing a switch that made it roar into life. Her eyes flipped up as a grin was painted upon her muzzle.

"Oh nooo." I mumbled, again staring in expectation at the door. All silent. Blitz poked my shoulder gently, feeling the tremble of his hoof as the door to the right (not the left, as I'd been looking at) started to promise sound of angry machinery. It grew louder. And louder. And louder.

Until it was upon the door.

The satanic squeal of it scuffing the matte surface of steel shrilled through our ears. A chorus of laughter carried its way, somehow, over the screech of the grinder. Twinky was right in her out-of-tune song. Our door did rock. The shutter shuddered with every weakening.

"Stop now, Ani-Crystal!" I yelled over the screaming, my hooves now firmly plugged into my ears. Alas, doing little to combat it. I guess I could call them "Ani-" in front of their name to save confusion? Would that be helpful to you? Good. It's settled, then. So, the door was shuddering more, sparks flying past the tips of my nose. But then, it stopped. Grinded to a halt (lol). And her eye appeared in the hole she created.

"We don't want you here! Go!" I was using an old tactic of mine, when once, the actual Crystal went insane after Raindrop accidently dropped one of her best boots in the mud. Afterwards, she went flying off in rage. When we all later went to see her, she refused to apologise, and failing to convince her to do so, we left.

Soon, she tired of being on her own, and so came back, however still persisting to not apologise to Raindrop, and still said she did it on purpose. Starting to kick off at Raindrop again, I decided to tell her to leave - she wasn't our friend no more. Not being serious, though. It seemed to work. She ceased, her face softening as she realised what she was doing. And then everything was rosy.

Maybe it would work this time.

Ani-Crystals eyes widened in surprise. Her pupils expanded.

"It's work-ing." I whispered to Blitz.

And then Shadow and Twinky appeared by her side - I hadn't put them into the equation. They murmured to her (yes - they could speak), telling her that they were her friends, and that we were the unrightful copies of them (how twisted was that? They were the copies of us!), and we needed to be eliminated.

Eliminated? F**k.

Those eyes of hers burned in hatred, returning to their angry, slotted-pupil-and-small-iris selves. Twinky's shone with the hunger of death and revenge - did she believe what she really said, or was it a ploy to return Ani-Crystal to herself? I had no idea. Probably, with those demonic, programmed minds. Were they made to kill? Cos nothing made for a foal had teeth as sharp as those things on show. I quivered as my gulp caught. Those teeth weren't there for smiling with - they had to have been designed like that. Maybe to put kids off going too close…

That hadn't worked with the Shadow incident.

I partially knew about it - it littered the papers like fallen leaves on the street in autumn. Kid Killer. That's what my newspaper marked up as the headline. A pic of Ani-Shadow in a shutdown state plagued the news, every article and broadcast mimicking the last - Ani-Shadow had had some kind of glitch-up or programming error that caused her to leap onto a foal for no reason, apart from that he approached her. She ended up doing something bad enough to kill him - turning the most popular child attraction into a faded memory…

That was what had happened before. That was what I mentioned.

Before I even realised it, the clock sang two. The three animatronics peering through the door all tilted their heads in unison to attempt to see the clock, almost disbelieving its chime. Twinky laughed darkly, before chanting.

Hickery Dickery Dock,

We're up to 2 o'clock

Well done so far, you haven't run…

Oh yeah! The doors are locked!

I found Shadow and Crystal too chiming it in a torturous round, as every note whirled round my head in a hurricane. Their voices scratched into one another as their song echoed, doubling every word they mimicked after one another. My eyes diluted. Shrinking back, covering my ears, in any attempt to rid myself of the noise, I screamed in fear and hatred and horror and pure tiredness of it ringing through my brain. Cackles swirled in the air.

"Stop!" I screeched as long as my lungs would allow, trying to drown out the noise. Then, I notice something. Their ears flipped, slightly sparking, even, when I did that. Maybe…

"Blitz!"

His head quivered in fear as he turned to me.

"Scream!"

Blitz's face was one etched with confusion. Typical. So I showed him. With a breath, I let loose a high screech, consequently making the ani-ponies cover their ears, sparking and vibrating, before continuing to advance towards us. It took a moment for it to dawn on him. And then his mouth echoed mine in so inharmonious noise. They flinched. And shuddered. And vibrated. And made such a screech of metal from inside, it made our noise sound like beautiful singing. Their sound of dying was like chalk down a blackboard, but amplified many times and played into a steel room of doom. Deciding against trekking any further into our Office, they back away submissively. Or so I thought. They were really covered in scowls and annoyance as they backed off, not willing to partake in this walk of torture no longer.

And they left, leaving us to live a little longer.

Watching the Monitor with increasing alertness, we found them retreating back to the stage, informing the other three, less trouble causing ani-ponies about their horror, as they clutched their head in their hooves. With a visual sigh, they laid down onto the stage, obviously put off by our dynamic voices. Silently, for the first time, we felt slightly victorious. And, for the first time, I did something that night.

I smiled.

They left us alone for an hour - three o'clock brought a whole new challenge. And, as we were to learn, Twinky wasn't really the head of this place. She had a much stronger foe to contend with… Her song echoed from the stage, sounding much weaker and pained than before:

Hickery Dickery Dock,

We've hit 3 o'clock.

Our children of dark now wake for fun,

Don't tell me you forgot?

Blitz dared to look at me as I let out an exasperated sigh. These robots. Playing games constantly. What had we forgot? Some important meeting? I really didn't care anymore - I was just awaiting the chimes of the clock at six, so we could high-tail out of here and not come back. But, as an image made itself alive on the Monitor screen, I found both of us sitting back in fear, gulping for oxygen. The same screen with the two animatronics - one of "Sad Twinky" and Dark Shadows. But…

Different.

Very different.

I realised that as two dragonised eyes swivelled to meet mine, a grim smile creeping around her jaws as her mouth slowly opened, revealing several pointed teeth. Much sharper than the other ani-ponies ones. Ani-Dark Shadows slowly raised her head, swivelling it side to side as she almost was prepping up, about to start her nights' work. But, it wasn't an almost. It was. She had plenty of work to do. And she knew it. Her wings sliced out like penknives, before standing up. Racing towards the door in anticipation for a killing spree. I'd almost forgotten about Sad Twinky's empty suit.

That, surprise surprise, didn't turn out to be empty at all. Inhabited by steel. Two small, faint, hopeless dots in her still black eyes raised in them, as steadily, she rose, her head still hanging forwards as she plodded towards the camera we were looking through. She did something that surprised me so much, I screamed, but all that came out was a squeak. She lowered herself to the camera (it was on the floor), as she shaped her mouth into two words. A cry for help. A need of rescue. Silently, however it sounding as clear as day to me, despite her silence and distance away, she uttered them into its image.

Her words. Paining, even though she probably wanted to kill me too. I even felt sorry for her. What she had actually said, was…

Help me.

Why would an animatronic pony with blackened-out eyes need help? It was a suit. And as far as I knew, it was empt-

Maybe not. To my disbelief, I saw the faint glint of an eye in there. I didn't want to know what was in there. But, I had already seen the inerasable image of a dead pony in it, knowing that, if we failed, we too would meet a similar fate. Maybe the dead pony wanted help? Bit late for that…

Perhaps a spirit lived on in an animatronic shell? Maybe that's what made them… live…

With its own creepy mind, the Monitor flicked back to where we'd left it - the Stage. The six animatronics looked around, almost dreadfully. Scared, even. Screeches of Ani-Darks (her short name) echoed through the sparse corridors, reverberating from every direction. Were they scared of her? Perhaps they'd all had a run-in before.

"Hey, Twinks. Look at that…" Blitz said, gesturing towards the screen. They'd all backed into a defensive ball. But as Sad Twinky crossed passed them, they stared at her blankly while she did nothing but plainly drift past (her walk was almost a floating one), saying nothing - not even looking at them. Not like we could tell if she did. The oily black wells of her eyes concealed all. She plodded off of view, heading off to the Office…

What the - why did she want us?!

Not another one to kill us, I hope I thought to myself.

Surprisingly, and as we watched the Monitor, wearing horrified expressions, we saw Ani-Darks race into the Stage room, before hurtling at the six animatronics. She attacked them as they squirmed in defence, she biting, scratching, tackling them all. My eyes widened at the images I saw dancing across the screen.

An eerie silence fell, before being broken by the four bongs of the equally unsettling clock. Their 4 o'clock never came. They were relatively unharmed, alas scattered across the stage in heaps of metal, shut off.

Everything stopped.

Ani-Darks lay among her slayed prey.

Sad Twinky pressed up against a foals drawing.

Blitz stared blankly at the still images.

I stared at the clock.

Everypony had fallen still - in a trance that time had weaved around us.

Soon, I decided to look further into Sad Twinky's strange behaviour. What was so important? Was there even any relevance? The image of her I'd seen before seemed to lead me to observe her, and her words wouldn't leave me. She curled up on the floor with a drawing she had now placed beside her, as she stroked it with her forehoof. I looked in bewilderment as she stared at it deeply, a single black drop sliding down her pale cheeks. She hummed a lullaby-like tune to it, still looking far into the lines the foal had drawn. This was the only tune that night I had heard that made me feel relaxed. It wasn't one that was out of tune, but perfectly sung in a voice that surprised me for an animatronic - it was a real voice. Hanging on each note, she began to add her words to it, making it sound even more like a soothing lullaby.

Hush now sweet child,

Do not be afraid,

Like the seawater, so blue.

With those wings, child,

Take flight and away,

Your mama will soon find you…

I felt my eyes grow damp with sadness. Each word was so meaningful - so peaceful… and so sweet. And yet, she had no reason to sing no more. A soul deserted on our simple plane. A light trapped in a darkening world.

"Woah…" Blitz sniffled, watching the images as she lay stiffly. He looked at me, before continuing, "She's really down…"

I nodded silently, "I think I may know why." I saw his face light up with an idea, "And we can't do anything for her." I said, instantly destroying his hopes. I hated to be a killjoy with him, but we really couldn't do anything. No one ever can.

The curse of life is that death cannot be stopped.

I hadn't even realised that our shift had finished. We'd stared at that screen for ages. Time seems to fly once you're not being hunted by killer ponies. I can say that I've never been so glad to get out of somewhere in my entire life. Blitz and I literally raced out of there, side by side. Somehow, that had brought us closer in some strange way… I wanted to leave that entire night behind. Never return. But I had to. I had to help her, her blackened eyes still following me wherever I ran, haunting me. Begging me to help. Her words still chipping at my brain.

Help me…

Phew! Chapter 1 complete! Sorry that took so long :3 Every chapter will be about the same length, too, so it may be a while before I get the next one up! This was what I was talking about when I said "not suitable for younger audiences". Killer ponies. I did warn you.

Anywho, if you have read it, I hope it has satisfied your hunger, and I hope you enjoyed it! (There are some clues to the plot in FNAT2 here, I wonder if you can find them!) Until next time, have fun, keep your eyes peeled for Part 2, and I hope Twinky doesn't find you!