The Doctrine of Gearsby Regina WrightChaptersA Rope Over An Abyss...For I Am Courageous...Yours and Yours and YouIf One Remains Nothing...A Rope Over An Abyss...Under the dim, shaky light that stung my eyelids, I cracked open an eye. My face was practically pasted to the desk. Sweat gluing the papers and pictures to my flushed skin. And I groaned, feeling the tell-tale signs of a impending hangover. Guess I didn't make it back to the employee dorms... It must have been Spencer's fault. I couldn't exactly remember what I was doing earlier today but that only proves that it was him. Me and Spencer, my best friend since we were small, must of gotten wasted last night and somehow made it back before the whole resort place went on lock-down. Man, I had to get out of here before any of the night staff caught me. I wasn't in the mood to get written up again. The last time that happened, I got 'suspended' for ten whole days. Working 'under the books' to re-earn the right to earn 'money' and keep my bunk. But let's not get into all the kinds of illegal that company L.O.R.E and its supervising management has been getting up to. I'm not getting paid to think about that. If I wasn't just enjoying my easy money and hanging out with my friends during our summer break, I would have quit a long time ago. But that's just me talking fluff. I can't really quit, I have a contract... Sitting up, I found myself in one of those rickety office chairs with wheels. I took a quick glance around the small room. The high-tech security system and the weird set of switches on either side of the door-less room caught my eye. This place looked like one of those security guard stations and my hands gravitated to the weird tablet just waiting to be messed with. It was a weird camera system that showed fixed angles of the other rooms excluding this one. Skimming through the feed, I realized that I haven't been to this restaurant. The place seemed empty of workers at the moment. They must be doing the switch between staff outside then. That's good news? I have time to figure out how to sneak past them whenever they showed up. Obviously, I'm part of the day staff of Ponytopia's Pretty Parlor in Ponytopia's Pony Paradise resort aka as a underpaid greeter, cook, waiter, janitor and whatever else the upper management needed to keep the visiting kids, parents and enthusiasts happy... And I don't have the 'clearance to be allowed on company property beyond the designated area' and blah blah... I'm not actually surprised that I don't recognize this place. Blame it on all the redundant rules and micro-management of us temporary workers. But my friend Spencer is a security guard so I've seen his workplace. I don't remember it having buttons on the walls or such a expensive looking cam system. It was a touch-screen for goodness' sake. The upper management didn't trust us that much, being either college kids or cheap, desperate labor and all. I could probably make more money pawning the tablet than I could working overtime for two weeks... This restaurant might be something I really didn't want to be caught in. The tablet was too rich, too tempting... How the heck could I explain myself out of that, supposing I did get caught? I just happened to be in the security room during the changing of the shifts and I just happened to have no intention in stealing their fancy equipment. Yeah right. They'd fire me and throw me right out on my ass. Using my legs to push the chair slightly, I brought my attention two square shaped buttons on my left side. One green and the other clear. Pressing the clear one, I saw the light outside the left entrance flicker on briefly before turning off. Then tried the green one and a gray metal door slammed down, sending a sharp gust of air in the room and making dusty. Coughing, I clicked the green button again and the door slid back to its place above. The buttons probably work the same on the other side and with everything figured out, I got up. Ready to make my escape. Walking to the left door-less entrance, I stuck my head out as I looked down the darken hallway with only bouts of glittery streamers twinkling down the walls showing me where to go. The moment I stuck a foot out into the corridor, I heard a phone ring through the speakers. Yes... I heard it through the speakers about my head. Shit, I've been caught! That can't be right. Darting back into the room, I glanced around for the phone because there's no way I've been caught that fast. I am not going through suspension again! But there wasn't one on the two desk on either side of the room or on the file cabinet. The phone rang once, twice and then I heard a long dial tone before a voice message machine clicked on. “One saved message: Hey... Hey... Loomis, it's me... Spencer.” The voice paused and I could taste the guilt in his tone. He did something stupid, that's all I knew and needed to know. Spencer can act sad all he wants... Just wait until I get my hands on him. Getting me caught up in this shit without giving a damn about how I feel. He always does this. “Look, don't be mad but I... uh... volunteered you for night watch. It's not that bad. All you got to do is watch those ponies. You like those ponies, right? You've gotten real good with those ponies. Not a big deal. For you.” Spencer sighed and I dragged my hand through hair, already feeling an ache in my head. I don't know what this is for but Spencer must of thought it was a great idea for us to 'bond'. We see each other everyday, goddamn it! I don't need a big brother-type hounding me for 'fun times' that a boring stiff like me could have avoided. Who knows how many brain cells I've lost drinking whatever he puts in front of my face but now he wants to drag me into more work? For kicks? Fuck work. Didn't Spencer know that Management was already watching me closely! Jeeze! This is exactly what they've been looking for. An excuse to fire my ass and Spencer just handed it to them! I groaned, grabbing my face with my hands as I dropped to my knees. “Damn it, Spencer!” I said out loud, my voice turning bitter. “You always do something like this. I bet you got me drunk and dropped me off here to make sure I couldn't refuse.” I can't afford to take any more work on my shifts. I'm already hustling between four Pretty Parlors a day thanks to Management. I mean, come on! I'm not a night person! That's Spencer's deal. Does he want to wear me out or something?! “This is how it has to be. You can handle this. The ponies here look just like the ones in Pretty Parlor, the six ponies from that show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Err... Twilight... Rainbow Dash and uh... Fluttershy... and Pinkie Pie... And Rarity... I can't remember the last one. It's not important. “Just like the ponies in Pretty Parlor, these animatronic ponies have a free-roaming mode so they'll be up and about sometimes. They'll even come up and check on you. It's... uh... to die for... how cute they are. The ponies here are experimental new models so they can act a little quirky as their programming works out their bugs. Don't get scared and try to stay in the room. It's against the rules to leave that room. All you have to do is wait for them to come to you, give them what they want and your job is over. It will end. You can't mess that up, Loomis. Just let them come to you.” I stiffened. That was a weird, out of place, conversation coming from party-hard, I-don't-need-liver, Spencer of all people. Was he trying to prank me? He's trying way too hard, that's for sure. In fact, does he even know how to spell quirky? That's some strong language coming from a hick like him. I bet he's reading from a script. Spencer is really trying too hard. Calling me Loomis is a red flag if actually wanted me to believe him. Since we got here, he has never stopped calling me Riff or Riffy or the ultimate Riffmaster of Riffigton because boy, his farts smell bad! Which, by the way, isn't true... “I didn't want to do it.” Spencer whispered over and over as something in the background shifted. Straining my ears, I heard something bang and bang and a weaker voice still sounding like Spencer but different, talking. “But I had to... There's something wrong... And I had to secure the area... And... they were after you so I...” The phone call began to break up. “They did something... To the others... Tom, he was the first... There's a lottery...” Random numbers were chanted in between the rearing of the static on the line. “... 2... I haven't seen... Surprise!! Why didn't you... beep beep... Tell me about your new birthday... 8... I didn't know... Donna... I think she... 5... Help... But they... 23... Fixed.. It ain't right... The hole she made... I was hungry... The job... 0... I couldn't but I did...” The phone call flat-lined into a shrill dial tone before redialing. Two saved messages. Message Two: Hey... Hey... Loomis. Here's a fun and interesting fact.” Spencer stated, his voice slipping into a eerie monotone. “The average height from a non-special edition pony is around the same height of a grown adult's waist. However, if you bend the human body, snap the legs and smash the head in... You could successfully stuff a grown man inside of an animatronic pony with little damage to either corpse. But that's something I've learned recently. You already knew that, didn't you...?” The phone call ended and I stood there, blinking and cleaning my ears for a whole five minutes before I decided to make a break for it. The moment I ran to the left door-less threshold, the security door slid down, blocking my exit. I turned to the right, picking as much speed I could to push myself through that threshold before the security door appeared. I wasn’t fast enough. I collided into the metal door and pulled myself away, switching my attention to the green button. I must've of jammed my finger into the button dozens of times but the door refused to yield. Eventually, I stepped from the threshold to the center of the room and both door retreated. This can't be happening. I took hold of the office chair and slowly pushed the chair through the right entrance. The chair rolled as if it was amused to be moved. You could hear in the terrible squeaking of the wheels as it rolled into the hallway. No doors popped down. I flailed my hand between the space of the door and just a few inches outside. No security doors. I stretched out and pulled my chair back in and tried to walk out myself. The doors dropped right down. Could these doors have heat signature locks or something? Whirling back to the security station, there was nothing I could hide under or use a weapon. Maybe, the fan but how could that stand up against a metal pony on the fritz? Fuck! What do I do?! I walked in a circle for a while, using every word, slur and swear that I could remember. Why did Spencer... Oh god, what am I going to do... I grabbed at my forehead and felt bandages on my scalp. My fingers as if entranced wandered to the back of my neck, confirming even more to be there. This isn't my night. How hurt was I? I looked down at my clothed arms and pulled up the sleeves. My bare arms were haphazardly swaddled in fresh bandages and gauze. Unbuttoning my shirt, my lower waist was also covered in thicker bandages and there were even some half healed stitches on my chest. I don't... I don't remember going to the hospital to get fixed up or where I even got these from... I... My fingers wandered to that fat compress splayed across my rib cage. This one was of a colorful print of small boxers with wings. I knew where the stupid looking band-aid came from. This was from a gag gift I got Spencer for his birthday two months ago. Did Spencer patch me up and leave me here? Why? How did I survive this, I questioned as I peeled the band-aid off, revealing a mostly healed scar. It looked like I got impaled on a cone... Or a unicorn's horn... I just don't understand... Why can't I remember? “You're not supposed to mess with your wounds!?” Some voice giggled beyond the darkness of the hallway. “How can you get better if you keep on picking with your bandages? But don't worry, I know the cure. We need to open those sores and get that yucky, red stuff out. After all, it's supposed to be black. Like motor oil. Like Twilight told me.” I stumbled to the door, my hand ready to press the door switch but what if... I wanted to hear the rest of what she had to say. This can't be right. I don't... remember... I... Instead, I clicked the light switch and saw a mechanical monster, tittering and shuttering as black vines writhed visibly inside of her furry coat. Her colors were wrong. The mane was mostly torn off. But I could recognize Fluttershy because of that delighted, gentle smile she gave me when she noticed I was looking at her. “Oh my,” she gasped, jumping back slightly. “You're naked! Why did you take off your skin? Don't you worry. I can fit you right into a spare one in the back, alright? I promise to be gentle. I can do it just as good as Rarity, don't you know?” She reached for me and I pressed the green button. The door slammed shut and I heard Fluttershy cry through the door. I turned to the file cabinet and tried to drag it, to make some sort of a barricade but it was nailed to the ground. I shook it. I kicked it. But it refused to budge. Couldn't I move the desks at the very least? I gripped the side of the desk with the fan on it and heaved with all my might. All that happened was more dust spreading around the whole place. Damn it. Suddenly, the light in the room turned off, the door I forgot about abandoned me and I hid under the desk, head buried in knees. I heard footsteps coming closer and closer, echoing everywhere. I could almost hear a broken, hellish tune approaching and I whispered, begging Spencer to stop whatever this was. I saw a purple glass horn glowing in the darkness as the pony came closer. Even though I couldn't see the pony properly, she was dancing to the tune growing louder and louder. Her light dancing along with her illuminated everything I didn't notice before. The blood on the floor. The dried hand and footprints of other victims being dragged left or right. She kept on dancing until the last, insane note before straightening herself out. Her horn grew brighter. I saw half of her face scarred and melted in places. Mostly around her sealed right eye. “Twilight, don't do this!” I stuttered... I'm not scared. I'm not scared. She's not going to hurt me... “I know that you are a different model but I was friends with the Twilight at my job... So... This isn't right. The Twilight I know wouldn't do what you are about to do to me! Don't you want to talk books or something...” She only giggled and- Out of nowhere, both doors slid shut and the lights turned back on. Random automated children cheered and screamed through the speakers as Twilight pounded against the door. But I couldn't relax. I knew that someone, somewhere had just saved me. There has to be another camera in here. There's no way that this could have been a coincidence. “Thank you! Thank you, whoever you are!” I shouted. “Please help me get out!” I stood up, my eyes darting around for some sign proving that this wasn't a death trap meant for me. And that Spencer didn't... “My name is Jarith Loomis and I work for-” I sputtered out before the room began to fill with this mysterious white mist. Every time, I took a breath, my view got fuzzier and fuzzier. My eyes rolled to the back of my head as I gagged, leaning against the desk. The sound of my body collapsing onto the floor... It sounded... It felt familiar but the last time this happened... I was bleeding out, right? I remembered... “See you tomorrow!” The ponies said. It had to be the ponies or Spencer or the children. Their voices chiming in. Blurring together into absolute madness right before everything went numb. For I Am Courageous...Staring up at the florescent bulb blinking out, I wondered what it would say about this room. It's normal light but it's shining down on the overturned bunk beds, pools of dried blood, food rotting and bags half-packed. Would me and the bulb be friends if it was human? What would I say if I could speak to it. “I don't know how I got here?” And the light would reply, “I know where you're going if you don't protect yourself, bud. I saw everything.” I was afraid to move. But I had to glance around, careful to remain still, and saw that the windows and doors that I could see from my place on the bed were bricked up. With real bricks... That can't be right. I'm seeing things. I have to clear my head. There is just something unforgettable about the stench of blood and other body fluids blending together. A sickening odor strong enough to wake the dead. It's always so sour and I don't know how I knew that but I knew that at the very least, the people of this dorm room were alive, if injured and gave a good fight before they were dragged away. That was a comfort. It meant I really wasn't on my own, right? Somebody will figure this out and call the cops. All I have to do is wait for them to show up. I needed to start checking my surroundings and make sure that I was in a safe place at the moment. If I was in one of the employee dorms, I was more or less okay because of the many password-locked gates and doors that ponies could never open. They don't have the fingers for it and who would have let them in if everything went crazy? Looking down, the bed I was on was freshly made and covered with white, crisp sheets. Different from the other company-standard prints on the rest of the beds. It was even ironed and scented with something familiar. Was this smell meant to jog my memory? It's so familiar. I think it was from a flower... A distinctive floral aroma that I... I used it? Someone wore it? I knew? But what was the flower and what does it have to do with me? Damn it! Why couldn't I just leave! Am I part of some sicko's revenge fantasy against Ponytopia?! The Management had it coming but why did that sicko have to involve the employees! I just qualified for the health coverage package two days ago! I'm supposed to be celebrating with everyone on getting back in the Management's good graces again. With Tom, Gina and Sherry, Ronald, Mikhail, Donna and that ass of a friend of mine, Spencer! I struggled getting off the bed and walked into the community room of this particular dorm. In every dorm, there are two floors, one for bedding and things like that. The other floor for showering, eating and electronics. Of course, depending on how close a dorm is to the edge of the employee compound, the less likely the employees boarding there will actually follow the rules. I'm guessing with all the food I saw on the floor, this dorm is probably between Candy Avenue and Sugar Grove. How do I know? Because there's only one place nearby that sells that brand of boxed cookies and I would know since I make most of those cookies everyday. And if these guys were able to sneak food upstairs without getting busted and made an example of on 'the daily ranking of employee incompetence and buffoonery' they had to be two or three blocks from the edge. The edge being where the end of the man-made island that the resort sat on. I walked up to one of the bricked doors and rubbed my hand against it. I imagined that this one and the others were also dorm rooms and the mastermind... Yeah, that's what I'm going with for the time being... Decided to make it clear that I couldn't hide anywhere and I was at the mercy of him or her. And checking around... The other rooms were firmly sealed with some kind of sticky, brown stuff in between the bricks... Smelled like peanut butter... And the stairs leading down was full of furniture stacked to make a barricade... Also, I noticed that despite the barricade, there were little bite marks and hoof made holes in the walls all around this side of the barricade as if they broke through this... “This side...” I could hardly believe it. I said it without thinking and finally feeling the weight of what must of happened here. My mouth moved and moved but I still couldn't hear my own words. I squatted down and followed the drag marks... To the stairs and the blood that just happened to be in the right places if one was to drag a struggling human through. But the ponies were too big to have been able to squeeze through the barricade and the humans couldn't naturally be shoved through all those narrow holes and chair legs. Not in one piece... “They broke through this side.” I stuttered. “The people of the dorm blocked the stairs... Maybe, they even had the bricks to seal the other rooms but the ponies got in anyway... How?” And that was the question... How did the ponies get in? And more importantly, how did I get here with the same ways in sealed or bricked? Spencer... Why didn't just tell me everything through the speakers? He has to know something? Suddenly, a old, playful tune began to play, freaking the hell out of me. I jumped and flung myself to the wall before looking behind me. There was a white table and chair, the same shade as the sheets, and a meal laid out with a little tape recorder. The sound played a little longer before I heard a grunt and the music clicked off. A man cleared his throat and laughed, it almost sounded like Tom, but there was something wrong... His voice was pitched a little higher, sounding almost off-key. “Hey... Spencer... Are you still worried about Loomis? I know that he's been gone for like forever but he's suspended which was... As I recall... Your fault.” Tom chatted, easy-going. “Stop following him around like a puppy. He's a grown man now. He's not your side-kick.” “I know that.” Spencer snorted. “But he called me last night.” “Whoa, having cell phones during suspension is against the rules! Baaaadddd Loomis! I wonder where Loomis hid his phone! He certainly didn't hide it in his clothes!” A childish voice, so similar to the voice in the speakers when I was saved, shouted over Tom's reply. “Do you know how Loomis made a call? I couldn't figure it out until I asked Twilight!” “He sounded like he was hurt. You should've heard him. I never heard him sound like that before and we were both on the track team in high school. He can wheeze like a cat... But... He was running from something. He said he needed me to pick him up before they caught up to him. Said something about a Harmmy and the Sunlight Parlor? Sun-lit Parlor? Testing A.I? I couldn't understand what he was saying.” “Even when his friend didn't find him, Loomis wasn't scared. He was very B-R-A-V-E.” The childish voice said very slowly, pronouncing every word in a solemn, dramatic tone. “He got very scary but he didn't see me. I pushed him right in. Right in. Loomis was brave but he needed a little help. I didn't actually push him in, in. He did that himself. He didn't see me. He only saw the gears.” “I hope he's alright.” Spencer sighed. “It's annoying to be without my best bud.” “Aren't I your best bud?” Tom said, pretending to be hurt. “You have other friends and Loomis probably won't even come back after the suspension. It's the loophole in the contract. Everybody always quits during suspension and then Management deletes their record of ever working here... It's their way of making sure no one can use them on their resumes for other jobs. I'm glad I've never been suspended. I got a better job in mind once I'm done with my time here.” “Man, that makes me want to get suspended before Loomis gets out or decides to quits.” Spencer whined. “I got to talk to him.” Spencer paused, hesitating on his words before continuing. “You know, Loomis has always been a quitter. He always has these great ideas but he never follows through. That how we work out. Loomis is the brains and I'm the beauty.” “Hey, it's true!” Tom must of made one of his faces. Probably the one where he flares his nostrils, his eyes becomes big and his pupils look like they're shrinking. It's hilarious but it always creeped Spencer out.“You're just mad because you're the brawn. Being such a meat-head... What would you do if-” “Even if I am just a meat-head to you.” Tom interrupted and the noise shifted. “I'm a meat-head with a six-pack! Check it out, son! I could probably bench two of those damn ponies with no sweat. Hell yeah!” Tom snickered and I felt a smile spread across my face. Spencer always said stuff like that but Tom would always shut him down when things got too serious. He was that type of friend. “Fuck you, Tom.” The message ended. I approached the table, relaxed after hearing a normal-ish conversation. And... Maybe, it was stupid of me but I sat down. There were two notes on the table, “Eat me. I'm your favorite!” in Spencer's handwriting and “How about switching to side B?!” in scribbling, bright pink handwriting. I lifted up the metal tray and saw a large double cheeseburger with purple onions and a side of potato wedges. This was my favorite to order around here, I'm surprised Spencer remembered something unrelated to him. I waved a hand over it. The burger was still warm despite my wandering around. Weird. It should've cooled. I picked it up and smelled it. Poked it. Squeezed it. Of course, this food could have been poisoned... My stomach growled and I took a bite. It was good. I stuffed down the rest of my meal, cramming everything in my mouth and swallowing. My only regret was that I didn't have more ketchup. With half the burger down, I messily took out the tape and flipped it to the other side. I hit play and sat back, chomping on some wedges. Feeling kind of dizzy. “.......” The static screeched before I heard someone tap something. It caused a little echo. Probably a microphone. “Donna, this Mikhail. There are still some survivors holed in Dorm K. I've tried to tell them that we have a safer place in the staff hall. They won't listen to me. They say they have enough food and they don't need any help. I don't want to leave them out here but we still have other dorms to check before it gets dark.” “I'm going to circle back.” Mikhail coughed. There were sounds of somebody patting his back? “Jerith once said that there are some old tunnels and I've found proof that he's right. We might have to move ourselves. The ponies are beginning to backtrack and they could learn how use those tunnel switches if we can't turn back on the electric locks. I think...” The static reared up again and I found myself gripping the table. “If we could find him... Spencer says he knows where the ponies like to sleep. He might have gone back there.” Suddenly, the tape recorder roared alive with jaunty show tunes and applause. “Here's to all the listeners of Ponytopia's Punk Pop Radio!” Some DJ said, her voice sounded somewhat familiar. Gina? Gina-ish? Sherry? I knew this voice. Red eyes... I can't put my tongue on who I'm hearing. “Pop quiz time! If you get this right, I have a very special surprise to give you! If you get this wrong, I'll have to tell you-” The DJ played random sound effects of cars and quacks. I couldn't hear what she said but it sounded like she repeated it couple of times. “ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _! Remember those numbers! Today's date is...” “August 12th or 13th” I shot out. I have three weeks left on my contract so I would know the calender like the back of my hand. “November 11th! Congratulations, winners!” The DJ played a drum roll. “You've won another chance, to finally... end the job. Wow, that was weird to say but it's written on the cue card. I have to follow the rules like everypony else, you know! Special congratulations goes to a Mr. Jerith Loomis. Thank your friend, Spencer for putting your name in the lottery! It was the best thing he should have never done for you!” What? I flinched in my seat and dropped the rest of my burger. I got up my seat and picked up the chair while backing into the wall. What do I do? Are the ponies coming for me? “Huh?” The DJ made a few apologies and sighed. “My bad. Can you read your hoof-writing because I sure can't! Corrections!” She cleared her throat. “It was the best thing he could ever do for you!” There was silence and then... “What do you mean you didn't write that! Bon-Bon, you had one job!” I felt a sharp pain in my gut. Please, don't let be the burger. Dang it. I slid down the wall and held the chair like a shield. I don't feel bad for about the burger. Yeah... I don't... What else was I going to eat? The moldy food? It's not my fault. It's not my fault. I... The tape recorder was still on and I heard, “Nightmare Moon spotting! Everypony should lock your doors, she's coming! They say she hasn't been the same since she lost her horn. Is that scary, everypony! I wouldn't want to lose my horn and-” The room shuddered as the vents strangely came on and I saw that familiar white smoke filling the place. I pulled my shirt up to block the gas but it was no use. The world was getting blurry... Yours and Yours and YouBlearily blinking, I was getting tired of being drugged and dumped and the spotlight blinding me wasn't making things easier. I sat up in a chair and felt something crush beneath my bare feet. A sweet smell wafted up to my nose. I would know this smell anywhere. Poppies. The smell from the dorm bed was poppies! Not that it means anything but at least I know what the smell was now. I loved poppies. They were my favorite smell. Mmm… Again, I’m losing the ability to be on my guard. The mastermind is too clever for me. Hmm... The juice and smashed petals smeared onto the bottom of my heels and I leaned down to scrape them off. I just don't get anything that is going on. Why would the mastermind take my shoes and leave me here... in a... field...? God, I'm slow. Who cares about the what or the why? I'm outside! I inhaled the sweet, sweet air and smiled. Twisting to look behind me, I was in a field of poppy flowers with trees scattered at the far ends of what I could see. The sun was bright and warming to my heart. The wind picked up, blowing gently loose petals that flew past me and up into the distant but clear sky. To my left, I saw a steady stream of smoke beyond the trees but nearby, proof that there were survivors and I made to move... But my foot sunk into the mushy dirt and it almost felt like as if something had grabbed it. I prepared to tug it free when... “Spencer is trying really hard.” A voice. My voice said amused. I felt hands grip my shoulders, keeping me from looking behind and pushing me back into the seat. “He must be dying under the weight of his guilt. It's almost painful to watch... But I have nothing better to do. If I don't laugh, I might cry instead.” The weight on his hands vanished and the sun grew brighter. I held out a hand to block out the glare of the sun and heard flapping before something hard dropped on the ground. Squinting, I could see the outline of a chair being placed down and a person sitting in it. “What are you talking about?” My eyes adjusted to the light and I saw myself sitting across from me in a white chair. Great, I'm hallucinating. “Hey... Don't ignore me.” The person sighed, mumbling his complaints before continuing. “I'm doing you a favor because I think this is it for me. They're going to burn down a special place of mine... They've been burning my stuff for a while, being in denial and all... Spencer might have been the one to suggest it and like saps, they listened to him. Too bad, they don't know he's already found you. Again. They might turn against him if they knew. Hint. Hint.” Blond with curls that never gave in to any brush. A stupid Ponytopia greeter's uniform. Hot racing pink slacks and green mint striped vest. And that dumb smile that flexed all the mosquito bites everyone else called 'freckles' on my face. I tried not to smile like that often. Spencer used to say when we were younger that it made me look a dork looking to get his lights punched out. Who the hell was this guy? “They have no idea what they're doing.” He stressed, leaning back on the chair with his hands behind his head. “They're only making it worse. I wish I could feel bad for them but being caught in righteous anger as I am right now... It's too damn fine… Fuck, I’m tired of feeling like shit.” He... I was in perfect health. No bandages or blood on his clothes. Looking back down at myself, I couldn't figure out what I was wearing. Long robes or something. Or where I got them from. I might as well stop thinking on how these things happen. There were some symbols in red, sown on the hem of the sleeves... If I stared closely and ignored the pain rushing to the back of my neck, they almost looked like words. “I could try to highjack 'your' body... Direct it to the right place...” My doppelganger said, making exaggerating air quotes and chuckling. “But the ponies would sense me out, being mechanical hounds, and stomp me out. They did it last time and time before that.” He snorted before pointing to each of my shoulders. “Sorry. I didn't know that they could 'taste' me.” “I forgive you...?” Then I felt a phantom ache after he said those words and because I couldn't think of anything else, I glared at him. “But what do you mean by highjack? Aren't you, me?” “There's an infect-ion going on.” Answer denied. “Maybe it's nanomachines or a disease or even something supernatural. Whatever it is, everybody's got it. The sicker ponies... You can spot them at a distance. Broken and crazy. They want to contain it. They see themselves as 'immune' and think the problem can be fixed by some body repairs... You know, put the naked in a suit and a suit on the naked... Or break a jaw to fix screaming... That kind of thing...” “Everybody's got it? You're serious?!” “Wow, that almost sounded like something I would say.” He snickered, smacking his hand on his knee and leaned forward. “At least you're learning. There's some spirit in you, yet! To not have to repeat myself, just remember all I said few seconds ago and replace 'pony' with 'human' and you got the gist of the problem.” “The cops...” I tried to ask. “Are very busy.” He mocked, shaking his head while shrugging. My doppelganger started counting his fingers, frowning at some imaginary number, before continuing. “The ones who responded first to the distress call, I bet they've already committed suicide by now. Guns are quick, needed things around here. The main frame master computer aka the thing that runs this dump also has the infect-ion. That's bad because the resort is an island to itself.” Suddenly, he was right next to me, nudging me with his elbow. He pulled on the hood I didn't realize I even had on and whispered into my ear. “Pay very close attention what I'm about to say. The main bridge, leading in or out, is up. Signals going out have been jammed. Boats just going by, they are persuaded to keep their distance. All gates, doors and anything that could go in or out of place that's using electricity, consider it compromised. Also, mind the color of the lights. Let's you know who's running that particular area.” He reappeared in his seat, seeming lost in his thoughts before announcing his next words as if I was slow. “And I hope you're not as stupid as the few crowds who thought it was safe to swim to freedom. At least, the sea gulls got a good ending and a large happy meal...” “Then what do I do? I don't know what's going on! Why all of this is happening?” I groaned, pulling my legs on to the chair, gripping them tightly. “Am I going to turn crazy like them!” “Wait, you actually care about that? I figured you would be more 'mwahahaha'. None of this actually concerns you. Go frolic in some fields or set a house on fire. Whatever strikes you, haha! Get it? What’s with you all of the sudden?” He asked abruptly before shaking his head in a patronizing way. “Come and laugh with me. Mwahahaha! Hehehe! Generic evil laughter. It will make you feel better. Only when I laughed, did anyone come to save me...” I smelled smoke and turned my head to see a large wildfire making its way to us. My doppelganger rolled his eyes and muttered something else under his breath, before saying “Donna was never one to half-finish a job, was she?” The fire zipped and zigzagged left and right as the poppy flowers caught on fire. Once the fire touched them, their forms distorted and they burned into papers and painted cardboard. “Pay attention to me! Why doesn't anyone do it! Why do I have to hurt people to get what I want!” He snapped his fingers in front of my face and yanked on my chin. His hands felt cold and wet and I recoiled from his slimy touch. “Don't listen to anything and I mean anything Spencer says. Not only did he leave me to die, he thinks if he can recreate the same incident, he'll get 'me' back!” “Spencer wouldn't do that!” I snarled, getting pissed. Spencer was our best friend! Best friend! Didn’t those words mean anything, anymore? He's saved me loads of times and my doppelganger would talk shit about him like that? Only I talk shit about him and it's never serious shit on top of it! “What the hell happened to you! To us! Why is all this happening? Can't you just give me a straight answer! I don't need to deal with all this! None of this is my fault!” I tried to stand up but vines rose from the ground, tying me to the chair. “Look, our friend Spencer... He's not a nice guy anymore. Whatever you're thinking in that trusting, friendship head of yours... This isn't normal friend behavior! This is crazy, psychotic freak behavior! Spencer's only being patient because you look like me. Keyword: Patient. He's not trying to save either of us…! Well... You... I'm not involved in this!” He shouted, his voice turning anxious and bitter. “Not anymore! These flames will send me to next world! Cause I'm deader than a doorknob, haha! I'll tell you and he won't accept it!” The fire burned away the field, revealing a stage set. A pair of doors floated in space before another version of me, see-through and wounded ran through them. He only made it a few feet before collapsing and spitting out blood. Then he crawled, dragging his body forward until he laid over a weird symbol on the floor. Something shined in his right hand and he held it close to his chest. Chilly hands covered my eyes. “This isn't something you should see.” He said in a hushed tone. “I didn't die here but this is where I made the call. You have to figure how I did it. It's the only way. You have to make the call to the outside to end all of this. They took things from you. Important things. Get them back. Make them pay and maybe we'll see each other again.” His hand pulled away and I was back in that room. The security room. I honestly wished Spencer was with me, despite everything my doppelganger said. He could make everything alright. He was my best friend. If One Remains Nothing...2:59 A.M. That's what the clock, in that stupid white font, presented to me on the security cam. I'd woken three hours ago in the same place, the same hell... The security guard station and after taking the time to think and of course, tried to escape the fucking doors again, all I could do was stay put. The facts were, the ponies' programming had gone haywire (and they may or may not have been attacking the humans), Spencer has it out for me some reason (probably mastermind related), and I'm missing some serious time (supposing the tape recorder was telling the truth about the date). I probably didn't help things by eating the burger or actually putting up a fight when I had the chance but for the record, I do not regret that meal. It was my favorite but that was going to be my last time falling for such a obvious trap. Maybe... I could go for a snack right about now. Damn it. It was the room making me hungry. It still smelled faintly of coffee, donuts and a sour, rotting stench drifting from down the hallways that I was trying to ignore. But really, the smell of coffee and donuts was really starting to mess with me. Make all of this seem normal. I had to stay on my toes and make my escape when I finally have a opportunity to whenever it will come. And that meant making sure the ponies and the mastermind wouldn't get the drop on me again. I pushed my chair from the desk and checked the door-less entrances, expecting a scare from any of the ponies prowling around the halls. Of course, there wasn't anyone around. I wasted my time bothering to check but I just kept on expecting a attack. They were hell-bent on getting me yesterday but today... It seems like the ponies didn't even give a damn about me anymore. Fucking crazy but it was true. For the last two hours, I've been watching them play and frolic like normal ponies in the private banquet room. Maybe the burger was meant for me to see things. I'm hallucinating that the ponies are just yakking it up and having fun but they're really perched outside my door, waiting to get me. I took another look around, I'm alone as always. Fucking ponies! Why don't they just bring it already? I don't want them to come but... I can't explain it. They're messing with me! Moving back to the cam, I zoomed back in to the 'party' taking off in the banquet room. Rainbow Dash, both her lower half and feathered wings burned down to the metal exoskeleton, shook her mechanical rear in Rarity's face as she danced on the long hall table. From the angle of the camera, I could see directly into her suit and all of the gears turning and ripping apart the few feathers trapped inside... I moved a little to the left and tested the desk's sturdiness. After my brain rebooted after I finished smashing my head into the wood to erase that image from my head, I tried to watch my 'enemies' seriously. I failed. Rarity kept on trying to push Rainbow Dash off the table and forcefully make her have a seat like a “pooper luady” and chided her, “Stoop peeing oorish, d-AInbow.” I can't take her seriously now. She could show up and rip me apart at any moment but that was cute. Don't get me wrong. She looks creepy as hell. The reason why she's having such a hard time enunciating her words, I guess, is because of the missing jaw... And that large gaping hole exposing her vocal box and other wiring around her neck probably didn't help either. She tried though. Boy, does she try to speak proper and I just feel so sorry for her. Fluttershy sat on the lower end of the table, talking to a bloody sack she had dragged from the kitchen. Right next to her, there was a bottle of olive oil and she kept on trying to convince the sack that the 'red stuff' was bad for circuits. I'm not sure how I feel about the other night spurring her to practice her crazy. Or that she thought a sack of whatever was wriggling and bleeding out was good subject to talk to. Occasionally, the creature in the sack would roll onto it's feet and try to make a break for it. Fluttershy would let it get off the table and follow it until it got tired. Then she would gently pick it up, sit the sack back on the table and resume the conversation like nothing happened. That's how I know they couldn't have really forgotten about me. The way she hunted that poor creature, so quietly and full of purpose, just waiting for it to get exhausted. They could be doing the same thing right now. Trying to get me to lower my guard. It won't work. I'm not that stupid. Even if their programming went crazy, they're robots... Unless someone altered their internal A.I. or whatever system they had their heads, they would be compelled to finish the action. They couldn't stop. They couldn't change their minds. This must be a set-up and they'd had to know that he already caught on! Even if they were trying to trick him, he'd already seen their true selves. They were monsters! Pinkie Pie, covered in mold and 'food', (parts of 'skin' that I couldn't identify, bone fragments with a little 'meat' still on them and icing), danced on the table right with Rainbow Dash. The two of them twirled around, trying to do the Pony Pokey and calling out for Applejack who I haven't seen all night. At this point, I don't even think that there is a Applejack unit in this restaurant. I've checked all the rooms and unless she's in the kitchen where the camera broken, she's not here. I can hear things from the kitchen just fine and I haven't heard a peep. Pretty sure she's not here but I'm ready even if she is. Twilight, the mare of the hour, sat at the head of the table and was reading a book upside down. That wasn't the right description of what she's doing, though. Twilight was actually reading and re-reading the section the book opened to when she dropped on the table almost thirty minutes ago. I don't think she was staring at the same pages on purpose. I kept seeing her horn turn off and on, glowing with that blinding light as she stared intensely at the book. I think she was trying to desperately to turn the page with her 'magic' and she was reaching her breaking point. Her sighs kept on getting deeper and deeper. Her body slumped on the table, nearly lying on top of her precious and disobedient book, and she pouted. It really would have been a cute sight, not uncommon from any Twilight I knew from a Pretty Parlor, but I got a nice view of the other side of her face. Under the bright pastel lights of the banquet room, that damaged part of her face shined a dull, waxy hue with the metal and suit merged and melded into something fuzzy and hellish. I don't know why I kept on focusing on their actions and coming up with excuses for their behavior because they just didn't look right. It was obvious they got those injuries from other humans or committing horrible things to humans or who knows, each other. But I did. I can't think of a good reason for the ponies to even be crazy or attack anyone. There had to be a greater purpose to all this or better yet, a way to fix them. The one thing all of the ponies gathered in banquet room had in common was the black vines sticking and writhing out of their suits. But how could plants be the problem? They could have gotten those plants stuck in the gaps of their suits if they were outside at some point and ran in some bushes or something... It must be something else... “It just hasn't been the same since Tirek stole all the magic.” That was the first thing I heard Twilight say all night. “How can I undo the evil spell if I can't...” If Spencer's words were true, these models were new but I was surprised to hear this particular Twilight talk about Tirek. She looked like a season one model seeing that her figure was still small and lacking wings. And that's when it clicked. I finally saw what I kept missing. All of the ponies were from different sets. They sat and played around each other, not with each other. It was obvious now that I think of it. Rarity only acknowledged the presence of Rainbow Dash but she ignored Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash similarly ignored her and continued horsing around with Pinkie Pie who I think was just playing along but not actually acknowledging the pegasus. And all three of them ignored both Twilight and Fluttershy, leaving them to their own devices which isn't normal for a set. I might be wrong here but all of the Mane Six sets I've been around have a tendency to group-think and herd together. It's weird to explain but even when they were split into pairs, they'd bounce off each other on every mundane subject until something else caught their attention and it would start all over again. I'm not exactly sure how that worked but I knew before I signed up for this place, that the ponies were known for their systems scoring high on the Turning Test despite them having a need to comment on everything. I sat back in my chair and considering how I could use this new information. If they were from different sets, I wouldn't have to worry about them joining forces and ganging up on me. But again, that could still happened if they all got the idea to bum-rush the security station and I couldn't just wait until that happened. I had to figure something out. Fluttershy and Twilight were the only ponies to show any hostile intent but maybe the others might not honestly care about me. There's something in that I can use but I just can't form a decent plan. Suddenly, the camera screen turned to static and I did the thing most kids learn to do while growing up. I shook the screen as hard I could and checked the wires connecting it to the wall. When I placed the tablet-thing back down, red petals clung to my hands and I could smell that distinctive floral scent stronger than before. I've seen these petals before... But I just can't remember what type of flowers these are. I held my hands close to my face and took a strong whiff of them. Why couldn't I remember- “You would like the smell, wouldn't you?” My heart skipped a beat. I tried to look behind me but a pair of strong hands held me place. I stared at the hand on my left. The nails were torn off, revealing raw angry skin, and maggots squirming in and out of the exposed flesh. The hands trembled on my shoulders and somewhere in the distance, I could hear someone wailing curses. “Spencer?” I asked, directing my voice to the speakers, but there was no reply. Instead, I felt water sloshing around my feet as the room began to flood with red waters and more of those damned petals floated in, riding on the ripples of the surge. “Spencer!” I shouted again and tried yank myself away from whatever had me in its grip. It was no use. It was if I was fighting against iron chains no matter how alive and weak it felt against me. The water quickly rose above my waist and I struggled to keep my head up. The water had to stop. This was just some new attempt to scare me. Pretending to flood the restaurant... And there's no way that I was going to be put down like this... By some deranged minion that's actually willing to hold me down until we both drowned. That's crazy. That's utterly insane. I'm dreaming. I must be dreaming. I held my breath as the water rushed over my head, the entire room submerged with upside chairs and streamers floating in and out. Bubbles ran out of my nose as my lungs began to beg for air. I felt a finger slide up my neck before pressing against my mouth. That was the only warning I got before a hand forced my mouth opened. My lungs ballooned in agony but I kept on trying to breathe, my face switching left and right as the pain increased. My eyes burned as my body quivered in agony, everything was turning black and I-. The security camera cleared, showing a single image of a body wrapped in see-through plastic. It was splayed out on a conveyor belt, soundlessly moving toward a long, seemingly endless pit where only copper gears and saws could be seen faintly. On a wall in the video, there was a poster of the moon, turning black before shifting into a slitted blue eye, looking directly at me. I coughed out my last few bits of air as that eye looked passed me and seemed to being notice of where I was before ripping apart into six even pieces. Right before the body fell in, another pair of hands covered my eyes and I heard a voice chuckle where there should've been screams. That couldn't be right. This voice sounded almost like my own. “Don't act so scared. I'm going to make you feel better.” I felt a long and cylinder-like slide across my neck. Gasping my last breath and unable to move, I kept trying to fight back. “Spencer took this from you.” With my mouth firmly held opened by cold fingers, I felt the tip of a something pointy tap against my teeth. “But you should have it back and I think I'm the first one to say it properly: Happy Birthday.” The object was jammed into my mouth, piercing through my tongue. Hands forced my jaw closed and another pair strangled my neck, squeezing the object down into my throat. It hurt so much, bringing burning pulsating pain searing through my skull. My lower neck ached as I felt a second wave of a phantom pain joining with it. A old memory came to my head. For a brief second, I remembered... “She's coming for you, you know. You oughta stop her before she does ______. Don't forget.” I swallowed and it was over. I fell forward and spat out blood across the desk. A single blink and all of it was gone. The madness, the hands, the water and the fucking pain. I continued to spit out of red, sticky mucus and touched my throat, feeling it for any ridges or holes. The room was normal, dry and empty. What the hell did I swallow? “Howdy, partner.” No, it couldn't be. “Are you okay? Need me to go and get Fluttershy to fix you right up? I'll hurry back with her as fast as I can.” “I'm fi-fine, Applejack.” I glanced to my right and there was Applejack standing right next to me. She looked a little rough for wear but she was in practically perfect condition. She even had her light brown Stetson, a little cowboy hat, and a pair of saddlebags, completing the image of her coming back from some long journey. I wasn't exactly sure what to do. I don't think I'm strong enough to push a animatronic pony out of the room and I'm sitting on the only weapon I have at my disposal. “That's good to hear, Riff.” She nodded her head as I flinched in my seat. She knew me? “Did something happen to you? It took me longer than usual to find you again. We got to keep on the move, that Spencer guy of yours is after you and there's been a Nightmare Moon spotting. Let's mosey, I got to get you somewhere safe.” “What do you mean?” I asked, trying to keep a level tone. I think I mostly succeeded. “Ho-how did you get in here?” “Why are you talking like that?” She ignored the question, staring at the blood of the ground and positioning her back to me. Almost as if she was trying to make a shield with her body. Did she not think I was a threat or was she trying to protect me? “All skittish like...” Applejack frowned before looking away. “You don't talk like that. Not to me. Maybe when we got to do something serious... Did he do something to you?” “Look, don't mind me. I, uh, just had a really nasty dream.” I gestured to the desk and the mess I made, hoping she'll take my word for it. “I'm still getting over it but, uh, you know me. Just give me a quick history of how we know each other and I'll, uh, go with you.” I stood up from my chair and walked as close I could get to left door-less entrance without setting off the security doors. “See.” “Okay,” She said slowly, trying to my eye-contact with me. I couldn't commit that much, seeing that I'm unsure if she's was going to kill or not, and I settled for looking a hole passed her shoulder. “I'm Applejack of the 'eighth' Pretty Parlor. Holy, I'm never going to get used to saying it.” She wildly gestured with her hoof, making the symbol of the Pretty Parlor door sign. “Here I was in my Pretty Parlor thinking that I was the only Applejack in the world when there's loads of lookalikes running around. It freaked me out at first but I've gotten over it and you helped me with that... If you remember...” What? She's aware of other models? That's can't be right. There's something in their programming that prevents and what does she mean, 'I helped'? “And you came looking for me because...?” “285- I mean, Riff, you took care of me, all of us. There's something... I can't explain it. I don't got the words. I'm not Rarity or Twilight. They'll explained better than I ever could, being unicorns and all.” She paused, looking directly at me, before- “The sun is hot. The moon is cold. Grass is the color of whatever Discord feels like it today. Riff is Riff and he needs to be kept away from any Nightmare Moons. Do you believe me now?” “Sure.” I replied. “But I'm scared, can you walk ahead of me and make sure the coast is clear? There are some ponies here that want to hurt me.” “Of course!” Applejack smiled and walked into the hallway, before pressing herself against a wall and did a obvious imitation of a ninja sneaking by. It just looked so bad because even in the darkness, I could make out her orange coat against the shadows. It was like watching Naruto from season one, fooling around and playing ninja. I laughed, feeling something warm release in my stomach. Don't tell me that's how she's been sneaking around this whole time? I don't even- Where did she learn that from? “Applejack,” I called out, careful to not trigger the door. “Do you know about the anime called Naruto?” She might. Hanging around kids, picking up their vocabulary, she could've. But why does it feel like I'm about to do something stupid. “Yeah.” She replied, sprinting to another wall before attempting poorly to walk silently. She kept on trying to twist her hooves to the side and made her look like a camel trying to take a long dump. I put my hand over my mouth, trying to hold back any more stupid laughter. She could still being trying to trick me! I need to get it together. “I saw it on your magic mirror.” “Magic mirror?” “You called Phena or something. Cil Pheno.” Applejack abruptly stopped, mid-trot in the most silliest I've seen on a pony yet, and turned around. “I have Cil Pheno in my bags. She rings a lot. I think she misses you.” Really? Why is she pronouncing 'cell phone' like that? “Applejack, I'm going to be honest.” I yelled from my spot. “I don't trust you but I don't trust anything in here so don't take it personally. I hardly remember anything at all but I do remember vaguely trying to talk you out of walking like Naruto. I, uh, got this feeling that we do know each other. However, even if I did believe you, I can't leave this room. There are doors meant to keep me in.” A couple of minutes went by and I heard no answer from Applejack. She scuttled out of sight and turned the corner. I guess she was trying to trick me. Oh well, I don't care. She can go off and play with her broken friends. I don't need her. I have bigger things on my plate. After taking another look down both halls, I went back to my seat and checked the security camera. I flicked back to the banquet room and surprise, surprise, Applejack was just entering the room. As I suspected, being from a different set, none of the ponies acknowledged Applejack's presence. I watched her eye them up, take off her saddlebags and placed them near the door before climbing up on the table. “So, I hear you fakes have been trying to hurt Riff.” She announced, throwing her hat to the side, and getting ready to pounce. “You've gone and made him all confused again. He's seeing invisible doors! And frankly, who knows how many ponies or humans you've guys managed to hurt. It ends today. ” “What.” I said out loud, rolling my chair back and pinching myself. “What!”
A Rope Over An Abyss...Under the dim, shaky light that stung my eyelids, I cracked open an eye. My face was practically pasted to the desk. Sweat gluing the papers and pictures to my flushed skin. And I groaned, feeling the tell-tale signs of a impending hangover. Guess I didn't make it back to the employee dorms... It must have been Spencer's fault. I couldn't exactly remember what I was doing earlier today but that only proves that it was him. Me and Spencer, my best friend since we were small, must of gotten wasted last night and somehow made it back before the whole resort place went on lock-down. Man, I had to get out of here before any of the night staff caught me. I wasn't in the mood to get written up again. The last time that happened, I got 'suspended' for ten whole days. Working 'under the books' to re-earn the right to earn 'money' and keep my bunk. But let's not get into all the kinds of illegal that company L.O.R.E and its supervising management has been getting up to. I'm not getting paid to think about that. If I wasn't just enjoying my easy money and hanging out with my friends during our summer break, I would have quit a long time ago. But that's just me talking fluff. I can't really quit, I have a contract... Sitting up, I found myself in one of those rickety office chairs with wheels. I took a quick glance around the small room. The high-tech security system and the weird set of switches on either side of the door-less room caught my eye. This place looked like one of those security guard stations and my hands gravitated to the weird tablet just waiting to be messed with. It was a weird camera system that showed fixed angles of the other rooms excluding this one. Skimming through the feed, I realized that I haven't been to this restaurant. The place seemed empty of workers at the moment. They must be doing the switch between staff outside then. That's good news? I have time to figure out how to sneak past them whenever they showed up. Obviously, I'm part of the day staff of Ponytopia's Pretty Parlor in Ponytopia's Pony Paradise resort aka as a underpaid greeter, cook, waiter, janitor and whatever else the upper management needed to keep the visiting kids, parents and enthusiasts happy... And I don't have the 'clearance to be allowed on company property beyond the designated area' and blah blah... I'm not actually surprised that I don't recognize this place. Blame it on all the redundant rules and micro-management of us temporary workers. But my friend Spencer is a security guard so I've seen his workplace. I don't remember it having buttons on the walls or such a expensive looking cam system. It was a touch-screen for goodness' sake. The upper management didn't trust us that much, being either college kids or cheap, desperate labor and all. I could probably make more money pawning the tablet than I could working overtime for two weeks... This restaurant might be something I really didn't want to be caught in. The tablet was too rich, too tempting... How the heck could I explain myself out of that, supposing I did get caught? I just happened to be in the security room during the changing of the shifts and I just happened to have no intention in stealing their fancy equipment. Yeah right. They'd fire me and throw me right out on my ass. Using my legs to push the chair slightly, I brought my attention two square shaped buttons on my left side. One green and the other clear. Pressing the clear one, I saw the light outside the left entrance flicker on briefly before turning off. Then tried the green one and a gray metal door slammed down, sending a sharp gust of air in the room and making dusty. Coughing, I clicked the green button again and the door slid back to its place above. The buttons probably work the same on the other side and with everything figured out, I got up. Ready to make my escape. Walking to the left door-less entrance, I stuck my head out as I looked down the darken hallway with only bouts of glittery streamers twinkling down the walls showing me where to go. The moment I stuck a foot out into the corridor, I heard a phone ring through the speakers. Yes... I heard it through the speakers about my head. Shit, I've been caught! That can't be right. Darting back into the room, I glanced around for the phone because there's no way I've been caught that fast. I am not going through suspension again! But there wasn't one on the two desk on either side of the room or on the file cabinet. The phone rang once, twice and then I heard a long dial tone before a voice message machine clicked on. “One saved message: Hey... Hey... Loomis, it's me... Spencer.” The voice paused and I could taste the guilt in his tone. He did something stupid, that's all I knew and needed to know. Spencer can act sad all he wants... Just wait until I get my hands on him. Getting me caught up in this shit without giving a damn about how I feel. He always does this. “Look, don't be mad but I... uh... volunteered you for night watch. It's not that bad. All you got to do is watch those ponies. You like those ponies, right? You've gotten real good with those ponies. Not a big deal. For you.” Spencer sighed and I dragged my hand through hair, already feeling an ache in my head. I don't know what this is for but Spencer must of thought it was a great idea for us to 'bond'. We see each other everyday, goddamn it! I don't need a big brother-type hounding me for 'fun times' that a boring stiff like me could have avoided. Who knows how many brain cells I've lost drinking whatever he puts in front of my face but now he wants to drag me into more work? For kicks? Fuck work. Didn't Spencer know that Management was already watching me closely! Jeeze! This is exactly what they've been looking for. An excuse to fire my ass and Spencer just handed it to them! I groaned, grabbing my face with my hands as I dropped to my knees. “Damn it, Spencer!” I said out loud, my voice turning bitter. “You always do something like this. I bet you got me drunk and dropped me off here to make sure I couldn't refuse.” I can't afford to take any more work on my shifts. I'm already hustling between four Pretty Parlors a day thanks to Management. I mean, come on! I'm not a night person! That's Spencer's deal. Does he want to wear me out or something?! “This is how it has to be. You can handle this. The ponies here look just like the ones in Pretty Parlor, the six ponies from that show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Err... Twilight... Rainbow Dash and uh... Fluttershy... and Pinkie Pie... And Rarity... I can't remember the last one. It's not important. “Just like the ponies in Pretty Parlor, these animatronic ponies have a free-roaming mode so they'll be up and about sometimes. They'll even come up and check on you. It's... uh... to die for... how cute they are. The ponies here are experimental new models so they can act a little quirky as their programming works out their bugs. Don't get scared and try to stay in the room. It's against the rules to leave that room. All you have to do is wait for them to come to you, give them what they want and your job is over. It will end. You can't mess that up, Loomis. Just let them come to you.” I stiffened. That was a weird, out of place, conversation coming from party-hard, I-don't-need-liver, Spencer of all people. Was he trying to prank me? He's trying way too hard, that's for sure. In fact, does he even know how to spell quirky? That's some strong language coming from a hick like him. I bet he's reading from a script. Spencer is really trying too hard. Calling me Loomis is a red flag if actually wanted me to believe him. Since we got here, he has never stopped calling me Riff or Riffy or the ultimate Riffmaster of Riffigton because boy, his farts smell bad! Which, by the way, isn't true... “I didn't want to do it.” Spencer whispered over and over as something in the background shifted. Straining my ears, I heard something bang and bang and a weaker voice still sounding like Spencer but different, talking. “But I had to... There's something wrong... And I had to secure the area... And... they were after you so I...” The phone call began to break up. “They did something... To the others... Tom, he was the first... There's a lottery...” Random numbers were chanted in between the rearing of the static on the line. “... 2... I haven't seen... Surprise!! Why didn't you... beep beep... Tell me about your new birthday... 8... I didn't know... Donna... I think she... 5... Help... But they... 23... Fixed.. It ain't right... The hole she made... I was hungry... The job... 0... I couldn't but I did...” The phone call flat-lined into a shrill dial tone before redialing. Two saved messages. Message Two: Hey... Hey... Loomis. Here's a fun and interesting fact.” Spencer stated, his voice slipping into a eerie monotone. “The average height from a non-special edition pony is around the same height of a grown adult's waist. However, if you bend the human body, snap the legs and smash the head in... You could successfully stuff a grown man inside of an animatronic pony with little damage to either corpse. But that's something I've learned recently. You already knew that, didn't you...?” The phone call ended and I stood there, blinking and cleaning my ears for a whole five minutes before I decided to make a break for it. The moment I ran to the left door-less threshold, the security door slid down, blocking my exit. I turned to the right, picking as much speed I could to push myself through that threshold before the security door appeared. I wasn’t fast enough. I collided into the metal door and pulled myself away, switching my attention to the green button. I must've of jammed my finger into the button dozens of times but the door refused to yield. Eventually, I stepped from the threshold to the center of the room and both door retreated. This can't be happening. I took hold of the office chair and slowly pushed the chair through the right entrance. The chair rolled as if it was amused to be moved. You could hear in the terrible squeaking of the wheels as it rolled into the hallway. No doors popped down. I flailed my hand between the space of the door and just a few inches outside. No security doors. I stretched out and pulled my chair back in and tried to walk out myself. The doors dropped right down. Could these doors have heat signature locks or something? Whirling back to the security station, there was nothing I could hide under or use a weapon. Maybe, the fan but how could that stand up against a metal pony on the fritz? Fuck! What do I do?! I walked in a circle for a while, using every word, slur and swear that I could remember. Why did Spencer... Oh god, what am I going to do... I grabbed at my forehead and felt bandages on my scalp. My fingers as if entranced wandered to the back of my neck, confirming even more to be there. This isn't my night. How hurt was I? I looked down at my clothed arms and pulled up the sleeves. My bare arms were haphazardly swaddled in fresh bandages and gauze. Unbuttoning my shirt, my lower waist was also covered in thicker bandages and there were even some half healed stitches on my chest. I don't... I don't remember going to the hospital to get fixed up or where I even got these from... I... My fingers wandered to that fat compress splayed across my rib cage. This one was of a colorful print of small boxers with wings. I knew where the stupid looking band-aid came from. This was from a gag gift I got Spencer for his birthday two months ago. Did Spencer patch me up and leave me here? Why? How did I survive this, I questioned as I peeled the band-aid off, revealing a mostly healed scar. It looked like I got impaled on a cone... Or a unicorn's horn... I just don't understand... Why can't I remember? “You're not supposed to mess with your wounds!?” Some voice giggled beyond the darkness of the hallway. “How can you get better if you keep on picking with your bandages? But don't worry, I know the cure. We need to open those sores and get that yucky, red stuff out. After all, it's supposed to be black. Like motor oil. Like Twilight told me.” I stumbled to the door, my hand ready to press the door switch but what if... I wanted to hear the rest of what she had to say. This can't be right. I don't... remember... I... Instead, I clicked the light switch and saw a mechanical monster, tittering and shuttering as black vines writhed visibly inside of her furry coat. Her colors were wrong. The mane was mostly torn off. But I could recognize Fluttershy because of that delighted, gentle smile she gave me when she noticed I was looking at her. “Oh my,” she gasped, jumping back slightly. “You're naked! Why did you take off your skin? Don't you worry. I can fit you right into a spare one in the back, alright? I promise to be gentle. I can do it just as good as Rarity, don't you know?” She reached for me and I pressed the green button. The door slammed shut and I heard Fluttershy cry through the door. I turned to the file cabinet and tried to drag it, to make some sort of a barricade but it was nailed to the ground. I shook it. I kicked it. But it refused to budge. Couldn't I move the desks at the very least? I gripped the side of the desk with the fan on it and heaved with all my might. All that happened was more dust spreading around the whole place. Damn it. Suddenly, the light in the room turned off, the door I forgot about abandoned me and I hid under the desk, head buried in knees. I heard footsteps coming closer and closer, echoing everywhere. I could almost hear a broken, hellish tune approaching and I whispered, begging Spencer to stop whatever this was. I saw a purple glass horn glowing in the darkness as the pony came closer. Even though I couldn't see the pony properly, she was dancing to the tune growing louder and louder. Her light dancing along with her illuminated everything I didn't notice before. The blood on the floor. The dried hand and footprints of other victims being dragged left or right. She kept on dancing until the last, insane note before straightening herself out. Her horn grew brighter. I saw half of her face scarred and melted in places. Mostly around her sealed right eye. “Twilight, don't do this!” I stuttered... I'm not scared. I'm not scared. She's not going to hurt me... “I know that you are a different model but I was friends with the Twilight at my job... So... This isn't right. The Twilight I know wouldn't do what you are about to do to me! Don't you want to talk books or something...” She only giggled and- Out of nowhere, both doors slid shut and the lights turned back on. Random automated children cheered and screamed through the speakers as Twilight pounded against the door. But I couldn't relax. I knew that someone, somewhere had just saved me. There has to be another camera in here. There's no way that this could have been a coincidence. “Thank you! Thank you, whoever you are!” I shouted. “Please help me get out!” I stood up, my eyes darting around for some sign proving that this wasn't a death trap meant for me. And that Spencer didn't... “My name is Jarith Loomis and I work for-” I sputtered out before the room began to fill with this mysterious white mist. Every time, I took a breath, my view got fuzzier and fuzzier. My eyes rolled to the back of my head as I gagged, leaning against the desk. The sound of my body collapsing onto the floor... It sounded... It felt familiar but the last time this happened... I was bleeding out, right? I remembered... “See you tomorrow!” The ponies said. It had to be the ponies or Spencer or the children. Their voices chiming in. Blurring together into absolute madness right before everything went numb.
For I Am Courageous...Staring up at the florescent bulb blinking out, I wondered what it would say about this room. It's normal light but it's shining down on the overturned bunk beds, pools of dried blood, food rotting and bags half-packed. Would me and the bulb be friends if it was human? What would I say if I could speak to it. “I don't know how I got here?” And the light would reply, “I know where you're going if you don't protect yourself, bud. I saw everything.” I was afraid to move. But I had to glance around, careful to remain still, and saw that the windows and doors that I could see from my place on the bed were bricked up. With real bricks... That can't be right. I'm seeing things. I have to clear my head. There is just something unforgettable about the stench of blood and other body fluids blending together. A sickening odor strong enough to wake the dead. It's always so sour and I don't know how I knew that but I knew that at the very least, the people of this dorm room were alive, if injured and gave a good fight before they were dragged away. That was a comfort. It meant I really wasn't on my own, right? Somebody will figure this out and call the cops. All I have to do is wait for them to show up. I needed to start checking my surroundings and make sure that I was in a safe place at the moment. If I was in one of the employee dorms, I was more or less okay because of the many password-locked gates and doors that ponies could never open. They don't have the fingers for it and who would have let them in if everything went crazy? Looking down, the bed I was on was freshly made and covered with white, crisp sheets. Different from the other company-standard prints on the rest of the beds. It was even ironed and scented with something familiar. Was this smell meant to jog my memory? It's so familiar. I think it was from a flower... A distinctive floral aroma that I... I used it? Someone wore it? I knew? But what was the flower and what does it have to do with me? Damn it! Why couldn't I just leave! Am I part of some sicko's revenge fantasy against Ponytopia?! The Management had it coming but why did that sicko have to involve the employees! I just qualified for the health coverage package two days ago! I'm supposed to be celebrating with everyone on getting back in the Management's good graces again. With Tom, Gina and Sherry, Ronald, Mikhail, Donna and that ass of a friend of mine, Spencer! I struggled getting off the bed and walked into the community room of this particular dorm. In every dorm, there are two floors, one for bedding and things like that. The other floor for showering, eating and electronics. Of course, depending on how close a dorm is to the edge of the employee compound, the less likely the employees boarding there will actually follow the rules. I'm guessing with all the food I saw on the floor, this dorm is probably between Candy Avenue and Sugar Grove. How do I know? Because there's only one place nearby that sells that brand of boxed cookies and I would know since I make most of those cookies everyday. And if these guys were able to sneak food upstairs without getting busted and made an example of on 'the daily ranking of employee incompetence and buffoonery' they had to be two or three blocks from the edge. The edge being where the end of the man-made island that the resort sat on. I walked up to one of the bricked doors and rubbed my hand against it. I imagined that this one and the others were also dorm rooms and the mastermind... Yeah, that's what I'm going with for the time being... Decided to make it clear that I couldn't hide anywhere and I was at the mercy of him or her. And checking around... The other rooms were firmly sealed with some kind of sticky, brown stuff in between the bricks... Smelled like peanut butter... And the stairs leading down was full of furniture stacked to make a barricade... Also, I noticed that despite the barricade, there were little bite marks and hoof made holes in the walls all around this side of the barricade as if they broke through this... “This side...” I could hardly believe it. I said it without thinking and finally feeling the weight of what must of happened here. My mouth moved and moved but I still couldn't hear my own words. I squatted down and followed the drag marks... To the stairs and the blood that just happened to be in the right places if one was to drag a struggling human through. But the ponies were too big to have been able to squeeze through the barricade and the humans couldn't naturally be shoved through all those narrow holes and chair legs. Not in one piece... “They broke through this side.” I stuttered. “The people of the dorm blocked the stairs... Maybe, they even had the bricks to seal the other rooms but the ponies got in anyway... How?” And that was the question... How did the ponies get in? And more importantly, how did I get here with the same ways in sealed or bricked? Spencer... Why didn't just tell me everything through the speakers? He has to know something? Suddenly, a old, playful tune began to play, freaking the hell out of me. I jumped and flung myself to the wall before looking behind me. There was a white table and chair, the same shade as the sheets, and a meal laid out with a little tape recorder. The sound played a little longer before I heard a grunt and the music clicked off. A man cleared his throat and laughed, it almost sounded like Tom, but there was something wrong... His voice was pitched a little higher, sounding almost off-key. “Hey... Spencer... Are you still worried about Loomis? I know that he's been gone for like forever but he's suspended which was... As I recall... Your fault.” Tom chatted, easy-going. “Stop following him around like a puppy. He's a grown man now. He's not your side-kick.” “I know that.” Spencer snorted. “But he called me last night.” “Whoa, having cell phones during suspension is against the rules! Baaaadddd Loomis! I wonder where Loomis hid his phone! He certainly didn't hide it in his clothes!” A childish voice, so similar to the voice in the speakers when I was saved, shouted over Tom's reply. “Do you know how Loomis made a call? I couldn't figure it out until I asked Twilight!” “He sounded like he was hurt. You should've heard him. I never heard him sound like that before and we were both on the track team in high school. He can wheeze like a cat... But... He was running from something. He said he needed me to pick him up before they caught up to him. Said something about a Harmmy and the Sunlight Parlor? Sun-lit Parlor? Testing A.I? I couldn't understand what he was saying.” “Even when his friend didn't find him, Loomis wasn't scared. He was very B-R-A-V-E.” The childish voice said very slowly, pronouncing every word in a solemn, dramatic tone. “He got very scary but he didn't see me. I pushed him right in. Right in. Loomis was brave but he needed a little help. I didn't actually push him in, in. He did that himself. He didn't see me. He only saw the gears.” “I hope he's alright.” Spencer sighed. “It's annoying to be without my best bud.” “Aren't I your best bud?” Tom said, pretending to be hurt. “You have other friends and Loomis probably won't even come back after the suspension. It's the loophole in the contract. Everybody always quits during suspension and then Management deletes their record of ever working here... It's their way of making sure no one can use them on their resumes for other jobs. I'm glad I've never been suspended. I got a better job in mind once I'm done with my time here.” “Man, that makes me want to get suspended before Loomis gets out or decides to quits.” Spencer whined. “I got to talk to him.” Spencer paused, hesitating on his words before continuing. “You know, Loomis has always been a quitter. He always has these great ideas but he never follows through. That how we work out. Loomis is the brains and I'm the beauty.” “Hey, it's true!” Tom must of made one of his faces. Probably the one where he flares his nostrils, his eyes becomes big and his pupils look like they're shrinking. It's hilarious but it always creeped Spencer out.“You're just mad because you're the brawn. Being such a meat-head... What would you do if-” “Even if I am just a meat-head to you.” Tom interrupted and the noise shifted. “I'm a meat-head with a six-pack! Check it out, son! I could probably bench two of those damn ponies with no sweat. Hell yeah!” Tom snickered and I felt a smile spread across my face. Spencer always said stuff like that but Tom would always shut him down when things got too serious. He was that type of friend. “Fuck you, Tom.” The message ended. I approached the table, relaxed after hearing a normal-ish conversation. And... Maybe, it was stupid of me but I sat down. There were two notes on the table, “Eat me. I'm your favorite!” in Spencer's handwriting and “How about switching to side B?!” in scribbling, bright pink handwriting. I lifted up the metal tray and saw a large double cheeseburger with purple onions and a side of potato wedges. This was my favorite to order around here, I'm surprised Spencer remembered something unrelated to him. I waved a hand over it. The burger was still warm despite my wandering around. Weird. It should've cooled. I picked it up and smelled it. Poked it. Squeezed it. Of course, this food could have been poisoned... My stomach growled and I took a bite. It was good. I stuffed down the rest of my meal, cramming everything in my mouth and swallowing. My only regret was that I didn't have more ketchup. With half the burger down, I messily took out the tape and flipped it to the other side. I hit play and sat back, chomping on some wedges. Feeling kind of dizzy. “.......” The static screeched before I heard someone tap something. It caused a little echo. Probably a microphone. “Donna, this Mikhail. There are still some survivors holed in Dorm K. I've tried to tell them that we have a safer place in the staff hall. They won't listen to me. They say they have enough food and they don't need any help. I don't want to leave them out here but we still have other dorms to check before it gets dark.” “I'm going to circle back.” Mikhail coughed. There were sounds of somebody patting his back? “Jerith once said that there are some old tunnels and I've found proof that he's right. We might have to move ourselves. The ponies are beginning to backtrack and they could learn how use those tunnel switches if we can't turn back on the electric locks. I think...” The static reared up again and I found myself gripping the table. “If we could find him... Spencer says he knows where the ponies like to sleep. He might have gone back there.” Suddenly, the tape recorder roared alive with jaunty show tunes and applause. “Here's to all the listeners of Ponytopia's Punk Pop Radio!” Some DJ said, her voice sounded somewhat familiar. Gina? Gina-ish? Sherry? I knew this voice. Red eyes... I can't put my tongue on who I'm hearing. “Pop quiz time! If you get this right, I have a very special surprise to give you! If you get this wrong, I'll have to tell you-” The DJ played random sound effects of cars and quacks. I couldn't hear what she said but it sounded like she repeated it couple of times. “ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _! Remember those numbers! Today's date is...” “August 12th or 13th” I shot out. I have three weeks left on my contract so I would know the calender like the back of my hand. “November 11th! Congratulations, winners!” The DJ played a drum roll. “You've won another chance, to finally... end the job. Wow, that was weird to say but it's written on the cue card. I have to follow the rules like everypony else, you know! Special congratulations goes to a Mr. Jerith Loomis. Thank your friend, Spencer for putting your name in the lottery! It was the best thing he should have never done for you!” What? I flinched in my seat and dropped the rest of my burger. I got up my seat and picked up the chair while backing into the wall. What do I do? Are the ponies coming for me? “Huh?” The DJ made a few apologies and sighed. “My bad. Can you read your hoof-writing because I sure can't! Corrections!” She cleared her throat. “It was the best thing he could ever do for you!” There was silence and then... “What do you mean you didn't write that! Bon-Bon, you had one job!” I felt a sharp pain in my gut. Please, don't let be the burger. Dang it. I slid down the wall and held the chair like a shield. I don't feel bad for about the burger. Yeah... I don't... What else was I going to eat? The moldy food? It's not my fault. It's not my fault. I... The tape recorder was still on and I heard, “Nightmare Moon spotting! Everypony should lock your doors, she's coming! They say she hasn't been the same since she lost her horn. Is that scary, everypony! I wouldn't want to lose my horn and-” The room shuddered as the vents strangely came on and I saw that familiar white smoke filling the place. I pulled my shirt up to block the gas but it was no use. The world was getting blurry...
Yours and Yours and YouBlearily blinking, I was getting tired of being drugged and dumped and the spotlight blinding me wasn't making things easier. I sat up in a chair and felt something crush beneath my bare feet. A sweet smell wafted up to my nose. I would know this smell anywhere. Poppies. The smell from the dorm bed was poppies! Not that it means anything but at least I know what the smell was now. I loved poppies. They were my favorite smell. Mmm… Again, I’m losing the ability to be on my guard. The mastermind is too clever for me. Hmm... The juice and smashed petals smeared onto the bottom of my heels and I leaned down to scrape them off. I just don't get anything that is going on. Why would the mastermind take my shoes and leave me here... in a... field...? God, I'm slow. Who cares about the what or the why? I'm outside! I inhaled the sweet, sweet air and smiled. Twisting to look behind me, I was in a field of poppy flowers with trees scattered at the far ends of what I could see. The sun was bright and warming to my heart. The wind picked up, blowing gently loose petals that flew past me and up into the distant but clear sky. To my left, I saw a steady stream of smoke beyond the trees but nearby, proof that there were survivors and I made to move... But my foot sunk into the mushy dirt and it almost felt like as if something had grabbed it. I prepared to tug it free when... “Spencer is trying really hard.” A voice. My voice said amused. I felt hands grip my shoulders, keeping me from looking behind and pushing me back into the seat. “He must be dying under the weight of his guilt. It's almost painful to watch... But I have nothing better to do. If I don't laugh, I might cry instead.” The weight on his hands vanished and the sun grew brighter. I held out a hand to block out the glare of the sun and heard flapping before something hard dropped on the ground. Squinting, I could see the outline of a chair being placed down and a person sitting in it. “What are you talking about?” My eyes adjusted to the light and I saw myself sitting across from me in a white chair. Great, I'm hallucinating. “Hey... Don't ignore me.” The person sighed, mumbling his complaints before continuing. “I'm doing you a favor because I think this is it for me. They're going to burn down a special place of mine... They've been burning my stuff for a while, being in denial and all... Spencer might have been the one to suggest it and like saps, they listened to him. Too bad, they don't know he's already found you. Again. They might turn against him if they knew. Hint. Hint.” Blond with curls that never gave in to any brush. A stupid Ponytopia greeter's uniform. Hot racing pink slacks and green mint striped vest. And that dumb smile that flexed all the mosquito bites everyone else called 'freckles' on my face. I tried not to smile like that often. Spencer used to say when we were younger that it made me look a dork looking to get his lights punched out. Who the hell was this guy? “They have no idea what they're doing.” He stressed, leaning back on the chair with his hands behind his head. “They're only making it worse. I wish I could feel bad for them but being caught in righteous anger as I am right now... It's too damn fine… Fuck, I’m tired of feeling like shit.” He... I was in perfect health. No bandages or blood on his clothes. Looking back down at myself, I couldn't figure out what I was wearing. Long robes or something. Or where I got them from. I might as well stop thinking on how these things happen. There were some symbols in red, sown on the hem of the sleeves... If I stared closely and ignored the pain rushing to the back of my neck, they almost looked like words. “I could try to highjack 'your' body... Direct it to the right place...” My doppelganger said, making exaggerating air quotes and chuckling. “But the ponies would sense me out, being mechanical hounds, and stomp me out. They did it last time and time before that.” He snorted before pointing to each of my shoulders. “Sorry. I didn't know that they could 'taste' me.” “I forgive you...?” Then I felt a phantom ache after he said those words and because I couldn't think of anything else, I glared at him. “But what do you mean by highjack? Aren't you, me?” “There's an infect-ion going on.” Answer denied. “Maybe it's nanomachines or a disease or even something supernatural. Whatever it is, everybody's got it. The sicker ponies... You can spot them at a distance. Broken and crazy. They want to contain it. They see themselves as 'immune' and think the problem can be fixed by some body repairs... You know, put the naked in a suit and a suit on the naked... Or break a jaw to fix screaming... That kind of thing...” “Everybody's got it? You're serious?!” “Wow, that almost sounded like something I would say.” He snickered, smacking his hand on his knee and leaned forward. “At least you're learning. There's some spirit in you, yet! To not have to repeat myself, just remember all I said few seconds ago and replace 'pony' with 'human' and you got the gist of the problem.” “The cops...” I tried to ask. “Are very busy.” He mocked, shaking his head while shrugging. My doppelganger started counting his fingers, frowning at some imaginary number, before continuing. “The ones who responded first to the distress call, I bet they've already committed suicide by now. Guns are quick, needed things around here. The main frame master computer aka the thing that runs this dump also has the infect-ion. That's bad because the resort is an island to itself.” Suddenly, he was right next to me, nudging me with his elbow. He pulled on the hood I didn't realize I even had on and whispered into my ear. “Pay very close attention what I'm about to say. The main bridge, leading in or out, is up. Signals going out have been jammed. Boats just going by, they are persuaded to keep their distance. All gates, doors and anything that could go in or out of place that's using electricity, consider it compromised. Also, mind the color of the lights. Let's you know who's running that particular area.” He reappeared in his seat, seeming lost in his thoughts before announcing his next words as if I was slow. “And I hope you're not as stupid as the few crowds who thought it was safe to swim to freedom. At least, the sea gulls got a good ending and a large happy meal...” “Then what do I do? I don't know what's going on! Why all of this is happening?” I groaned, pulling my legs on to the chair, gripping them tightly. “Am I going to turn crazy like them!” “Wait, you actually care about that? I figured you would be more 'mwahahaha'. None of this actually concerns you. Go frolic in some fields or set a house on fire. Whatever strikes you, haha! Get it? What’s with you all of the sudden?” He asked abruptly before shaking his head in a patronizing way. “Come and laugh with me. Mwahahaha! Hehehe! Generic evil laughter. It will make you feel better. Only when I laughed, did anyone come to save me...” I smelled smoke and turned my head to see a large wildfire making its way to us. My doppelganger rolled his eyes and muttered something else under his breath, before saying “Donna was never one to half-finish a job, was she?” The fire zipped and zigzagged left and right as the poppy flowers caught on fire. Once the fire touched them, their forms distorted and they burned into papers and painted cardboard. “Pay attention to me! Why doesn't anyone do it! Why do I have to hurt people to get what I want!” He snapped his fingers in front of my face and yanked on my chin. His hands felt cold and wet and I recoiled from his slimy touch. “Don't listen to anything and I mean anything Spencer says. Not only did he leave me to die, he thinks if he can recreate the same incident, he'll get 'me' back!” “Spencer wouldn't do that!” I snarled, getting pissed. Spencer was our best friend! Best friend! Didn’t those words mean anything, anymore? He's saved me loads of times and my doppelganger would talk shit about him like that? Only I talk shit about him and it's never serious shit on top of it! “What the hell happened to you! To us! Why is all this happening? Can't you just give me a straight answer! I don't need to deal with all this! None of this is my fault!” I tried to stand up but vines rose from the ground, tying me to the chair. “Look, our friend Spencer... He's not a nice guy anymore. Whatever you're thinking in that trusting, friendship head of yours... This isn't normal friend behavior! This is crazy, psychotic freak behavior! Spencer's only being patient because you look like me. Keyword: Patient. He's not trying to save either of us…! Well... You... I'm not involved in this!” He shouted, his voice turning anxious and bitter. “Not anymore! These flames will send me to next world! Cause I'm deader than a doorknob, haha! I'll tell you and he won't accept it!” The fire burned away the field, revealing a stage set. A pair of doors floated in space before another version of me, see-through and wounded ran through them. He only made it a few feet before collapsing and spitting out blood. Then he crawled, dragging his body forward until he laid over a weird symbol on the floor. Something shined in his right hand and he held it close to his chest. Chilly hands covered my eyes. “This isn't something you should see.” He said in a hushed tone. “I didn't die here but this is where I made the call. You have to figure how I did it. It's the only way. You have to make the call to the outside to end all of this. They took things from you. Important things. Get them back. Make them pay and maybe we'll see each other again.” His hand pulled away and I was back in that room. The security room. I honestly wished Spencer was with me, despite everything my doppelganger said. He could make everything alright. He was my best friend.
If One Remains Nothing...2:59 A.M. That's what the clock, in that stupid white font, presented to me on the security cam. I'd woken three hours ago in the same place, the same hell... The security guard station and after taking the time to think and of course, tried to escape the fucking doors again, all I could do was stay put. The facts were, the ponies' programming had gone haywire (and they may or may not have been attacking the humans), Spencer has it out for me some reason (probably mastermind related), and I'm missing some serious time (supposing the tape recorder was telling the truth about the date). I probably didn't help things by eating the burger or actually putting up a fight when I had the chance but for the record, I do not regret that meal. It was my favorite but that was going to be my last time falling for such a obvious trap. Maybe... I could go for a snack right about now. Damn it. It was the room making me hungry. It still smelled faintly of coffee, donuts and a sour, rotting stench drifting from down the hallways that I was trying to ignore. But really, the smell of coffee and donuts was really starting to mess with me. Make all of this seem normal. I had to stay on my toes and make my escape when I finally have a opportunity to whenever it will come. And that meant making sure the ponies and the mastermind wouldn't get the drop on me again. I pushed my chair from the desk and checked the door-less entrances, expecting a scare from any of the ponies prowling around the halls. Of course, there wasn't anyone around. I wasted my time bothering to check but I just kept on expecting a attack. They were hell-bent on getting me yesterday but today... It seems like the ponies didn't even give a damn about me anymore. Fucking crazy but it was true. For the last two hours, I've been watching them play and frolic like normal ponies in the private banquet room. Maybe the burger was meant for me to see things. I'm hallucinating that the ponies are just yakking it up and having fun but they're really perched outside my door, waiting to get me. I took another look around, I'm alone as always. Fucking ponies! Why don't they just bring it already? I don't want them to come but... I can't explain it. They're messing with me! Moving back to the cam, I zoomed back in to the 'party' taking off in the banquet room. Rainbow Dash, both her lower half and feathered wings burned down to the metal exoskeleton, shook her mechanical rear in Rarity's face as she danced on the long hall table. From the angle of the camera, I could see directly into her suit and all of the gears turning and ripping apart the few feathers trapped inside... I moved a little to the left and tested the desk's sturdiness. After my brain rebooted after I finished smashing my head into the wood to erase that image from my head, I tried to watch my 'enemies' seriously. I failed. Rarity kept on trying to push Rainbow Dash off the table and forcefully make her have a seat like a “pooper luady” and chided her, “Stoop peeing oorish, d-AInbow.” I can't take her seriously now. She could show up and rip me apart at any moment but that was cute. Don't get me wrong. She looks creepy as hell. The reason why she's having such a hard time enunciating her words, I guess, is because of the missing jaw... And that large gaping hole exposing her vocal box and other wiring around her neck probably didn't help either. She tried though. Boy, does she try to speak proper and I just feel so sorry for her. Fluttershy sat on the lower end of the table, talking to a bloody sack she had dragged from the kitchen. Right next to her, there was a bottle of olive oil and she kept on trying to convince the sack that the 'red stuff' was bad for circuits. I'm not sure how I feel about the other night spurring her to practice her crazy. Or that she thought a sack of whatever was wriggling and bleeding out was good subject to talk to. Occasionally, the creature in the sack would roll onto it's feet and try to make a break for it. Fluttershy would let it get off the table and follow it until it got tired. Then she would gently pick it up, sit the sack back on the table and resume the conversation like nothing happened. That's how I know they couldn't have really forgotten about me. The way she hunted that poor creature, so quietly and full of purpose, just waiting for it to get exhausted. They could be doing the same thing right now. Trying to get me to lower my guard. It won't work. I'm not that stupid. Even if their programming went crazy, they're robots... Unless someone altered their internal A.I. or whatever system they had their heads, they would be compelled to finish the action. They couldn't stop. They couldn't change their minds. This must be a set-up and they'd had to know that he already caught on! Even if they were trying to trick him, he'd already seen their true selves. They were monsters! Pinkie Pie, covered in mold and 'food', (parts of 'skin' that I couldn't identify, bone fragments with a little 'meat' still on them and icing), danced on the table right with Rainbow Dash. The two of them twirled around, trying to do the Pony Pokey and calling out for Applejack who I haven't seen all night. At this point, I don't even think that there is a Applejack unit in this restaurant. I've checked all the rooms and unless she's in the kitchen where the camera broken, she's not here. I can hear things from the kitchen just fine and I haven't heard a peep. Pretty sure she's not here but I'm ready even if she is. Twilight, the mare of the hour, sat at the head of the table and was reading a book upside down. That wasn't the right description of what she's doing, though. Twilight was actually reading and re-reading the section the book opened to when she dropped on the table almost thirty minutes ago. I don't think she was staring at the same pages on purpose. I kept seeing her horn turn off and on, glowing with that blinding light as she stared intensely at the book. I think she was trying to desperately to turn the page with her 'magic' and she was reaching her breaking point. Her sighs kept on getting deeper and deeper. Her body slumped on the table, nearly lying on top of her precious and disobedient book, and she pouted. It really would have been a cute sight, not uncommon from any Twilight I knew from a Pretty Parlor, but I got a nice view of the other side of her face. Under the bright pastel lights of the banquet room, that damaged part of her face shined a dull, waxy hue with the metal and suit merged and melded into something fuzzy and hellish. I don't know why I kept on focusing on their actions and coming up with excuses for their behavior because they just didn't look right. It was obvious they got those injuries from other humans or committing horrible things to humans or who knows, each other. But I did. I can't think of a good reason for the ponies to even be crazy or attack anyone. There had to be a greater purpose to all this or better yet, a way to fix them. The one thing all of the ponies gathered in banquet room had in common was the black vines sticking and writhing out of their suits. But how could plants be the problem? They could have gotten those plants stuck in the gaps of their suits if they were outside at some point and ran in some bushes or something... It must be something else... “It just hasn't been the same since Tirek stole all the magic.” That was the first thing I heard Twilight say all night. “How can I undo the evil spell if I can't...” If Spencer's words were true, these models were new but I was surprised to hear this particular Twilight talk about Tirek. She looked like a season one model seeing that her figure was still small and lacking wings. And that's when it clicked. I finally saw what I kept missing. All of the ponies were from different sets. They sat and played around each other, not with each other. It was obvious now that I think of it. Rarity only acknowledged the presence of Rainbow Dash but she ignored Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash similarly ignored her and continued horsing around with Pinkie Pie who I think was just playing along but not actually acknowledging the pegasus. And all three of them ignored both Twilight and Fluttershy, leaving them to their own devices which isn't normal for a set. I might be wrong here but all of the Mane Six sets I've been around have a tendency to group-think and herd together. It's weird to explain but even when they were split into pairs, they'd bounce off each other on every mundane subject until something else caught their attention and it would start all over again. I'm not exactly sure how that worked but I knew before I signed up for this place, that the ponies were known for their systems scoring high on the Turning Test despite them having a need to comment on everything. I sat back in my chair and considering how I could use this new information. If they were from different sets, I wouldn't have to worry about them joining forces and ganging up on me. But again, that could still happened if they all got the idea to bum-rush the security station and I couldn't just wait until that happened. I had to figure something out. Fluttershy and Twilight were the only ponies to show any hostile intent but maybe the others might not honestly care about me. There's something in that I can use but I just can't form a decent plan. Suddenly, the camera screen turned to static and I did the thing most kids learn to do while growing up. I shook the screen as hard I could and checked the wires connecting it to the wall. When I placed the tablet-thing back down, red petals clung to my hands and I could smell that distinctive floral scent stronger than before. I've seen these petals before... But I just can't remember what type of flowers these are. I held my hands close to my face and took a strong whiff of them. Why couldn't I remember- “You would like the smell, wouldn't you?” My heart skipped a beat. I tried to look behind me but a pair of strong hands held me place. I stared at the hand on my left. The nails were torn off, revealing raw angry skin, and maggots squirming in and out of the exposed flesh. The hands trembled on my shoulders and somewhere in the distance, I could hear someone wailing curses. “Spencer?” I asked, directing my voice to the speakers, but there was no reply. Instead, I felt water sloshing around my feet as the room began to flood with red waters and more of those damned petals floated in, riding on the ripples of the surge. “Spencer!” I shouted again and tried yank myself away from whatever had me in its grip. It was no use. It was if I was fighting against iron chains no matter how alive and weak it felt against me. The water quickly rose above my waist and I struggled to keep my head up. The water had to stop. This was just some new attempt to scare me. Pretending to flood the restaurant... And there's no way that I was going to be put down like this... By some deranged minion that's actually willing to hold me down until we both drowned. That's crazy. That's utterly insane. I'm dreaming. I must be dreaming. I held my breath as the water rushed over my head, the entire room submerged with upside chairs and streamers floating in and out. Bubbles ran out of my nose as my lungs began to beg for air. I felt a finger slide up my neck before pressing against my mouth. That was the only warning I got before a hand forced my mouth opened. My lungs ballooned in agony but I kept on trying to breathe, my face switching left and right as the pain increased. My eyes burned as my body quivered in agony, everything was turning black and I-. The security camera cleared, showing a single image of a body wrapped in see-through plastic. It was splayed out on a conveyor belt, soundlessly moving toward a long, seemingly endless pit where only copper gears and saws could be seen faintly. On a wall in the video, there was a poster of the moon, turning black before shifting into a slitted blue eye, looking directly at me. I coughed out my last few bits of air as that eye looked passed me and seemed to being notice of where I was before ripping apart into six even pieces. Right before the body fell in, another pair of hands covered my eyes and I heard a voice chuckle where there should've been screams. That couldn't be right. This voice sounded almost like my own. “Don't act so scared. I'm going to make you feel better.” I felt a long and cylinder-like slide across my neck. Gasping my last breath and unable to move, I kept trying to fight back. “Spencer took this from you.” With my mouth firmly held opened by cold fingers, I felt the tip of a something pointy tap against my teeth. “But you should have it back and I think I'm the first one to say it properly: Happy Birthday.” The object was jammed into my mouth, piercing through my tongue. Hands forced my jaw closed and another pair strangled my neck, squeezing the object down into my throat. It hurt so much, bringing burning pulsating pain searing through my skull. My lower neck ached as I felt a second wave of a phantom pain joining with it. A old memory came to my head. For a brief second, I remembered... “She's coming for you, you know. You oughta stop her before she does ______. Don't forget.” I swallowed and it was over. I fell forward and spat out blood across the desk. A single blink and all of it was gone. The madness, the hands, the water and the fucking pain. I continued to spit out of red, sticky mucus and touched my throat, feeling it for any ridges or holes. The room was normal, dry and empty. What the hell did I swallow? “Howdy, partner.” No, it couldn't be. “Are you okay? Need me to go and get Fluttershy to fix you right up? I'll hurry back with her as fast as I can.” “I'm fi-fine, Applejack.” I glanced to my right and there was Applejack standing right next to me. She looked a little rough for wear but she was in practically perfect condition. She even had her light brown Stetson, a little cowboy hat, and a pair of saddlebags, completing the image of her coming back from some long journey. I wasn't exactly sure what to do. I don't think I'm strong enough to push a animatronic pony out of the room and I'm sitting on the only weapon I have at my disposal. “That's good to hear, Riff.” She nodded her head as I flinched in my seat. She knew me? “Did something happen to you? It took me longer than usual to find you again. We got to keep on the move, that Spencer guy of yours is after you and there's been a Nightmare Moon spotting. Let's mosey, I got to get you somewhere safe.” “What do you mean?” I asked, trying to keep a level tone. I think I mostly succeeded. “Ho-how did you get in here?” “Why are you talking like that?” She ignored the question, staring at the blood of the ground and positioning her back to me. Almost as if she was trying to make a shield with her body. Did she not think I was a threat or was she trying to protect me? “All skittish like...” Applejack frowned before looking away. “You don't talk like that. Not to me. Maybe when we got to do something serious... Did he do something to you?” “Look, don't mind me. I, uh, just had a really nasty dream.” I gestured to the desk and the mess I made, hoping she'll take my word for it. “I'm still getting over it but, uh, you know me. Just give me a quick history of how we know each other and I'll, uh, go with you.” I stood up from my chair and walked as close I could get to left door-less entrance without setting off the security doors. “See.” “Okay,” She said slowly, trying to my eye-contact with me. I couldn't commit that much, seeing that I'm unsure if she's was going to kill or not, and I settled for looking a hole passed her shoulder. “I'm Applejack of the 'eighth' Pretty Parlor. Holy, I'm never going to get used to saying it.” She wildly gestured with her hoof, making the symbol of the Pretty Parlor door sign. “Here I was in my Pretty Parlor thinking that I was the only Applejack in the world when there's loads of lookalikes running around. It freaked me out at first but I've gotten over it and you helped me with that... If you remember...” What? She's aware of other models? That's can't be right. There's something in their programming that prevents and what does she mean, 'I helped'? “And you came looking for me because...?” “285- I mean, Riff, you took care of me, all of us. There's something... I can't explain it. I don't got the words. I'm not Rarity or Twilight. They'll explained better than I ever could, being unicorns and all.” She paused, looking directly at me, before- “The sun is hot. The moon is cold. Grass is the color of whatever Discord feels like it today. Riff is Riff and he needs to be kept away from any Nightmare Moons. Do you believe me now?” “Sure.” I replied. “But I'm scared, can you walk ahead of me and make sure the coast is clear? There are some ponies here that want to hurt me.” “Of course!” Applejack smiled and walked into the hallway, before pressing herself against a wall and did a obvious imitation of a ninja sneaking by. It just looked so bad because even in the darkness, I could make out her orange coat against the shadows. It was like watching Naruto from season one, fooling around and playing ninja. I laughed, feeling something warm release in my stomach. Don't tell me that's how she's been sneaking around this whole time? I don't even- Where did she learn that from? “Applejack,” I called out, careful to not trigger the door. “Do you know about the anime called Naruto?” She might. Hanging around kids, picking up their vocabulary, she could've. But why does it feel like I'm about to do something stupid. “Yeah.” She replied, sprinting to another wall before attempting poorly to walk silently. She kept on trying to twist her hooves to the side and made her look like a camel trying to take a long dump. I put my hand over my mouth, trying to hold back any more stupid laughter. She could still being trying to trick me! I need to get it together. “I saw it on your magic mirror.” “Magic mirror?” “You called Phena or something. Cil Pheno.” Applejack abruptly stopped, mid-trot in the most silliest I've seen on a pony yet, and turned around. “I have Cil Pheno in my bags. She rings a lot. I think she misses you.” Really? Why is she pronouncing 'cell phone' like that? “Applejack, I'm going to be honest.” I yelled from my spot. “I don't trust you but I don't trust anything in here so don't take it personally. I hardly remember anything at all but I do remember vaguely trying to talk you out of walking like Naruto. I, uh, got this feeling that we do know each other. However, even if I did believe you, I can't leave this room. There are doors meant to keep me in.” A couple of minutes went by and I heard no answer from Applejack. She scuttled out of sight and turned the corner. I guess she was trying to trick me. Oh well, I don't care. She can go off and play with her broken friends. I don't need her. I have bigger things on my plate. After taking another look down both halls, I went back to my seat and checked the security camera. I flicked back to the banquet room and surprise, surprise, Applejack was just entering the room. As I suspected, being from a different set, none of the ponies acknowledged Applejack's presence. I watched her eye them up, take off her saddlebags and placed them near the door before climbing up on the table. “So, I hear you fakes have been trying to hurt Riff.” She announced, throwing her hat to the side, and getting ready to pounce. “You've gone and made him all confused again. He's seeing invisible doors! And frankly, who knows how many ponies or humans you've guys managed to hurt. It ends today. ” “What.” I said out loud, rolling my chair back and pinching myself. “What!”
