Ring, Ring...
Rainbow Dash snapped out of her slumber, almost suffering a mini heart attack on her small chair. She calmed herself down, knowing that it was just the phone. She rubbed her eyes and yawned while stretching her limbs. Why she decided to take a night shift job, she didn't have a clue. Sure enough, her small security room was dark as ever, only a small dingy light bulb dangling from the ceiling giving off any sort of light source.
Ah well, she thought to herself. It payed the bills...
While Rainbow Dash was on an extended unpaid sabbatical from the Wonderbolts because of...reasons...she had to get herself a part time job in order to keep her landlord from coming to her house. Scouring through the classified section, she eventually found a job that paid alright and looked relatively easy. It was just a security surveillance job for a place called FREDs, a foal's restaurant.
Fred's. Rainbow Dash remembered coming here as a filly herself long ago. It had an arcade, great pizza (for the time) and the mascot was friendly. It was funny to look back at the place, now a deteriorating hunk of space that hardly anypony comes to anymore. It was also odd to look back at how Fred had changed himself...
Fred himself was a human that came to Equestria long ago. He was scared, and the ponies huddled together to see what he was. Eventually, he found himself a job and realized that he had a knack for making the little ones laugh. With the bits he had, he decided to open up his own restaurant for the fillies and colts, the sole purpose making foals and parents laugh.
That was thirty years ago, a little before Rainbow Dash was even born. Fred was long dead from an incident that happened suddenly. Nopony was exactly sure what happened, but it was a tragic accident. Some ponies, who grew up with Fred, was deeply saddened. However, the company was sold off to an investor and Fred himself was replaced with an animatronic skeleton that acted just like Fred. The fillies never noticed.
Rainbow Dash liked the mascot, but now it has become annoying. Since the investor also owned a TV network, there was a Fred cartoon that was made. She despised the entire show, seeing as Fred was portrayed completely different. He was more loud, high pitched and just insufferable.
Rainbow Dash sighed and let the phone ring. She didn't feel like picking it up.
"Hey, Rainbow Dash. Welcome to your first night at Fred's. I know you came here before you were a filly, so I guess really it isn't your first time, isn't it? Heh...well anyways, this was just an automated message that everypony gets. I just need to read off a little thing here, you know, for legal stuff and whatnot....
"Hegh heghm. Welcome to Freds! Where the magic of laughter and fun is hosted here. We have top notch pizza and a great arcade for the little ones to enjoy. The kids will enjoy Fred as he makes them laugh, raising their spirits, blah blah...
"Yeah. You get the jest of it. So really, it's not that bad here. You just have to remember a couple of things. Fred, the robot, does this kind of weird 'roaming' thing at night. The engineer told me it was because the bolts wouldn't seize up or something. Just uh, remember to look at your cameras so he doesn't do anything weird."
Rainbow Dash leaned into her seat. Free roaming? It walks on its own?
"Yeah. I know, it's really odd and strange, but I learned not to question it. That's all you really need to know...well, there's one thing, but I hardly think it'll be a problem. Just don't let him near you or let him see you. He'll think you're a n exoskeleton that has got out of its, urm, skin I guess. It'll try to stick you into a costume, and that's kind of bad if you think about it."
Rainbow Dash widened her eyes. The very thought of Fred, such a funny soul, would want to harm somepony? The engineer must be really bad at her job if it does things like that. Then again, it wasn't like they were getting much money since the ratings for the show were dropping and the restaurant was closing sometime next year. It was sad, really, but maybe it was about time for the franchise to end. Unless somepony else was to buy the ownership...
"But don't worry about it. You can just close your doors and keep the light on. He does keep away if there's light. So yeah. Don't worry about it. It's not that bad at all. Keep looking at the cameras and nothing bad will happen. Anyways, see you later.
BEEP
Rainbow Dash sat there mortified. Something didn't feel right about that message. Why couldn't they program the robot and make some tweaks to it? The idea of having Fred roaming around the restaurant where he could possibly fit you into a suit is horrifying.
Well, guess I gotta take his word for it, Rainbow thought to herself.
Rainbow Dash, on her swivel chair, glided to the desk where she found herself a small tablet. It was for the security cameras. All she had to do was look at the backstage of the cafeteria stage and keep an eye on him. How bad could it be? She had some of the pizza that the cook made in the kitchen and some soda, so it couldn't be that bad.
Rainbow Dash switched on the tablet and switched it to the backstage room.
And there he was. Fred. Even though it was just the skin and the exoskeleton was being replaced, it was odd to look at Fred and look at him as a robot. It was strange, creepy and oddly familiar. Rainbow sighed as she switched off the tablet and took a slice of pizza. She chewed on the goopy slice. The cheese tasted bad and the sauce tasted off. Yep, this place definitely lost its touch after a while.
She set down the pizza and looked back at her tablet. She switched to the backstage and...
He's not there.
Rainbow looked behind, suddenly feeling a stab of fear. Nothing was behind her and nopony was outside her room in the halls. At least, nothing that she could see. The halls were pitch black with only a single light to illuminate the darkness. Her heartbeat increased as she stared at the security camera. Fred (or the robot) was not backstage. Rainbow didn't actually think that he was being serious.
Right?
"Okay," she muttered nervously. "Just gotta keep an eye on him."
She switched to the cafeteria. Sure enough, Fred was roaming the cafeteria, making sharp and slow movements. He was smiling, which was probably from his preset emotions that the coders put on. It was strange to see how even after death, Fred was still roaming on in the afterlife.
It was almost heartwarming.
Suddenly, Rainbow gasped. Pieces of glass shards broke behind her. She turned around to see the glass. She trotted to the glass.
Where did the glass come from?
Then she heard something. It was a weird sound, like it was static. She turned around and found that the sound was coming from the tablet. She walked slowly to the desk, not sure what to expect. She picked up the tablet, only to see static. She switched rooms, only to find that all the cameras were offline.
"What in the-"
A loud slam beside her sounded off, making her jump. She twirled her head, and screamed.
It was Fred.
She quickly rushed to the door and pushed the button. The door slammed shut, closing off Fred from her room. She took a few steps back, scared witless. It was Fred. Fred was right at her door, and she couldn't do anything. What could she do?
Then a thought stroke her; what about the other door?
She slowly turned her head, a large shadow illuminating above her. Her eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat.
HEY, IT'S FREEEED!!
Rainbow Dash screamed.
