Introduction and Night One
I was on the road, excitement filling every inch of my body. I had just recently found out about a restaurant called Celestia's Castle. The restaurant had been around for about three years now, but somehow I didn't hear about it until now. I had seen the commercial on Discovery Family. I was so excited about eating at a restaurant based off of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
From what I had heard about it on the commercial, it was a pretty huge place. It was said to be the largest pizzeria around; much larger than Chuck E. Cheese. I still don't understand how I hadn't heard of it until now. It seemed pretty successful.
I finally reached my destination, stumbling out of my car, nearly tripping from excitement. Tons of kids and adults approached the building, heading towards the entrance. I stopped for a moment, examining the outside it was a large building with many ponies painted on the outside. As expected, Celestia seemed to be the main pony here.
I headed inside the restaurant, seeing the bright lights and balloons. I could hear the animatronics' voices echo through the building. I walked up to the front desk, since we had to pay up front.
"I'm sorry, the place is packed," the lady frown, giving a sympathetic look. I sighed, my excitement fading.
"How long will I have to wait before I can get a table?" The lady looked through some papers of hers for a minute or so before looking back up.
"About five hours," she answered bluntly, as if waiting that long was no big deal. I had a sad expression on my face and my head was drooping. The lady looked at me, realizing that I was really disappointed. "Do you have a child with you?" she questioned me. I blushed slightly. I guess it was a little strange since I wasn't little.
"No, I just enjoy the show a lot. I really wanted to see the characters," I spoke honesty.
"Would you like a job here then?" My head popped back up. The lady smiled at me.
"What kind of job?" I raised an eyebrow, wondering what she was referring to. I was hoping it wasn't a janitor job or something.
"As a security guard. You know, to watch over the animatronics at night," I looked at her strangely. Why would they need to be watched over at night?
"Why do you even need a security guard? Just wondering." She thought for a few seconds before answering my question.
"I'm not sure. All I know is that the spot is open, which is surprising," she paused a few seconds. "Maybe so no one will break in? The animatronics are very expensive." I nodded my head, agreeing with her. That made sense actually. I guess they really cared about the animatronics.
"Okay, I'm cool with taking the jo-" the lady cut me off.
"Great! Come back tonight! Your shift starts at twelve. Nothing is required, you don't need any skills. Just show up in time tonight and you can get started."
I entered my office, taking a seat at the desk. The chair wasn't that comfortable, but I guess I'd have to make due with it. I wasn't actually given anymore information about the job. I was told that I'd catch on rather quickly. I propped my feet up on the desk and leaned back. It was really dark, all I had was a small light above me. This place had a spooky look at night.
Suddenly, I heard the phone ringing. It startled me so much I nearly fell out of my chair. A message began to play. I figured I better listen to it.
"Hey, hey? Welcome, stranger! Are you enjoying Celestia's Castle at night?" The man laughed lightly before continuing, "Eh, probably not. The place is spooky at night. I need to tell you a few things so you can survi- I mean enjoy your first night here. There are eleven rooms including the one you currently occupy, so there are ten cameras," the man sighed before continuing, "There are a lot of animatronics here. I don't remember how many. You can count them on your cameras tonight. So, let me explain a little of the layout of the place. Celestia's stage is the main, most popular, and biggest party spot. It's also the farthest away from you. The second most popular is the spot for the mane six. The sing, do skits, and do other stuff. I haven't really watched them myself. There are three more stages that contain animatronics, but you don't have to worry about them tonight. I'll explain it later. You are coming back tomorrow, right? I'll have another message for you. Um, I hope your first night goes well. By-," the man was just about to say goodbye, but then continued, "Hey, I almost forgot! The animatronics cannot be turned off at night, their servers would lock up; so we keep them on free roaming mode. The animatronics do walk around a bit at night. If they come outside your office, just shut the door. That'll stop them. Oh, and be careful with your power. The animatronics were a fortune, so we don't have money to spare!" And with that, the message ended.
I looked at the time on my watch. It was already 2 A.M.
"Heh, this is going to be a piece of cake," I said as I brought up my cameras. The first camera, as expected, was the main stage, Celestia's stage. I saw Celestia, Luna, and Cadance standing still on the stage. They looked so lifeless. I flipped to the mane six's camera. The guy said I only had to worry about these stages tonight.
I looked at the camera and was about to nod off. The camera started to glitch and the noise woke me back up. I looked at the now cleared camera and noticed something was different.
"There's AJ, Twilight, Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, but-" I suddenly stopped talking as I heard loud footsteps. They sounded far off, but it still made me uneasy.
"D-do you want to learn how to make d-dresses, d-darling?" a voice echoed through the building. There was no mistaking it. It was Rarity, the white, purple, fashion pony.
I flipped through the cameras searching for the missing pony. I flipped to the bathroom camera. I could see Rarity staring intently at the camera. It seemed as if she knew what I was doing. It almost seemed as if she were aware that she was being watched. The pony giggled softly.
"D-darling," her voice echoed through the building once more. She sounded weird and creepy. I loved Rarity as a character, but this Rarity was creeping me out. Her eyes were so dark and lifeless as she stared into the camera.
I continued to watch Rarity, forgetting about the other animatronics.
"L-life is a party!" I could hear a pony yelling. The sound frightened me, and once again I nearly fell out of my seat. I flipped back to the mane six's camera. I saw Pinkie Pie looking straight at the camera while the others faced towards the right.
"D-do you want to come to my party?" Pinkie Pie asked, peering at the camera. It felt as if she were speaking to me. She was an animatronic, she couldn't know anything, could she? She wasn't aware of me being here, right?
"Shut up, Pinkie Pie," I stated, just before flipping back to the bathroom camera. I gasped, realizing that Rarity was gone.
"Yes, Sw-sweetie?" I looked to the left of me, switching on the light. I saw the white and purple pony standing in the doorway staring at me. She had a creepy smile on her face. I quickly shut the door in the pony's face.
"Sorry, Rarity," I mumbled as I flipped through the cameras again, realizing Applejack was gone.
"Where are you, sugar cube?" I heard AJ's voice. She seemed nearby. I panicked and closed the other door.
"Come on 6 AM!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. My power was at ten percent and I was freaking out. I hugged myself tightly, awaiting death, but then it finally turned to 6 AM and the alarm on my watch beeped.
I sighed just before taking a seat behind the desk. I didn't want to come back to this job, but I really needed money. Most jobs required skills and such, which I didn't have. This job didn't require anything. A child would be eligible for this job. I took a sip of my coffee. I'd be needing it tonight. I sighed, mentally begging for a phone call. I needed someone to speak to me, even if it was just a pre-recorded message. As expected, the phone rang a few times and then the message began to play.
"Hey, hey? Night two! You're good at this!" the man paused for a few seconds and laughed slightly, "I really shouldn't get your hopes up, things will be harder tonight. Only a few were a nuisance last night, right? Well, some others will probably be aware of you tonight and activate. There is another party spot here for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I've always loved Apple Bloom, she is my favorite of the three. Heh, she's a little sneaky, though. From what I've heard, she's really quiet, so you can't depend on sounds. It's probably because of her small size. Also, um, this is probably going to bother you. I don't know if you noticed or not, but there is a large vent above your desk. The ponies and unicorns shouldn't be able to get in, but the pegasi and alicorns are a different story. They can fly, so it won't be a problem for them to get into your vent. That's why we've given you a Princess Celestia mask and a Princess Luna mask! Either mask should work on them. I don't know if the masks will work on ponies and unicorns. They should, but I'm not sure, so just shut your doors for them. Don't want to take any chances. Oh, and watch out for Cadence. She is more active on the earlier nights than Celestia or Luna. She'll come from different ends. Um, have a good night. I'll explain some of the place tomorrow. Just, uh, try to survive. We need a guard and you're the only one willing to do this job. Good luck."
I sighed after the call ended, sipping my coffee. Last night was terrible. Only three ponies were activated, and I almost lost my sanity. I was terrified; I thought I was going to die. I wondered if I should keep the job or not. I really needed the money and I didn't have skills for a different job. Plus, I actually liked being able to see the animatronics. I loved the ponies. I loved the show. I came in before my shift and the power was turned off. At that time, the animatronics were adorable and innocent. They seemed as if they wouldn't hurt a fly. I wondered why the animatronics were aggressive at night and what they wanted to do with me. They but on the phone didn't really tell me why, he just told me how to survive.
I looked through my cameras, realizing that one of them had moved yet. Last night it took them a while to activate, so I figured I'd be okay of a little while. I flipped through a magazine that I found in the desk drawer. It had pictures of the animatronics and information about the restaurant. Suddenly, I heard the phone ring again. I sat patiently and waited for it to stop. Once stopped, another message began to play.
"Hello? Is that you? Hi, this is Allie. So, Thomas left you a message last night and tonight, right?" she paused before continuing, "Hey, listen up, but don't get to distracted. The animatronics aren't friendly after hours, you know? One mistake and they're in." She coughed. "I'm afraid Thomas didn't give full details, did he? You deserve to know something. When the restaurant was made, it was targeted towards little girls, you know? Surprisingly teenage guys and girls showed up at the restaurant frequently," the woman paused, "the teenagers messed with the animatronics even when they were told not to. They were worse listeners than the kids." She sighed before continuing, "One night, some teens broke into the restaurant and messed with them. They pretty much destroyed two of them." She sighed once more. "One of them was my favorite, too. Um, so now two of them are in the back, along with another that the company pretty much forgot about because it frightened some of the kids. I don't actually know what happened to the kids. I heard they went missing or something. I know the guard quit after the incident, but I don't know anything else. The animatronics started acting aggressive after the incident. Oh, and another thing Thomas forgot, if you see an unfamiliar animatronic on the abandon show stage, just keep an eye on it. That should keep her there. Hey, are you checking the doors, vent, and cameras? Just don't forget. I may not be able to leave any other messages. Thomas would be mad if he found out. So, goodnight. I just hope you'll be okay."
'Wow, two calls in one night?' I thought. I flipped through my cameras, looking at the show stage. To my surprise, two of them were already gone.
"They can't be out already!" I flipped through my cameras, looking for the two pegasi. I found Fluttershy in the kitchen. She was peeking over the counter, which was sort of creepy. She seemed almost as if she was hiding. I guess even animatronic Fluttershy was shy. "Just stay there and be shy," I muttered as I looked for Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, where are you?" I asked out loud not expecting an answer.
"Cool!" My heart stopped for a few seconds. I looked up to see Rainbow Dash hanging out of the vent on the ceiling. I panicked, immediately putting on my Celestia mask. After a few seconds, Rainbow crawled back into the vent and left without another word.
"Oh thank goodness," I muttered as I continued to watch the cameras. I realized that Twilight was gone. I couldn't find her with the cameras. I checked the lights. To my surprise, Twilight's neck was stretched out into the left doorway. Her eyes were dark like Rainbow Dash's. I shut the door quickly, hitting Twilight's face with the door. 'I hope I didn't damage her,' I thought.
"Why is this so stressful? Can't they find something else to do besides trying to kill me! What did I do to them?" I thought for a moment, remembering the second message I received. She said that some teens broke in and messed with them at night. Maybe they were trying to get me before I got them? I looked to see if Twilight was gone, which she was, so I opened the door back up.
I looked back at the kitchen camera. Fluttershy was now laying on the kitchen floor. She looked sad. She wasn't nearly as scary as the other animatronics. She wasn't even trying to attack me.
I looked through the cameras, realizing that Cadence was gone. I searched for the princess pony on the cameras. I eventually found her peering into the men's bathroom. 'That's not weird,' I thought sarcastically.
"S-Shining Arm-mor?" Her voice was low, unlike the other ponies. As she spoke, she seemed sad, which was strange. She was a robot, how could she be sad? I flipped through my cameras, realizing many ponies were activated now. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Twilight, Cadence, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.
"Where are Sweetie and Apple Bloom?" I asked myself, flipping through the cameras. I couldn't find them anywhere. Were there blind spots in the cameras? They weren't outside my door and couldn't possibly be in the ceiling vent.
"W-what'd you do to my sister?" I looked behind me, seeing both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom crawling out of the vent behind me. I wasn't even told about that vent! I guess they figured that ponies couldn't fit. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were small, though. They were so tiny they could both fit at the same time.
I quickly put on the Luna mask. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked frightened. Were they still scared of Nightmare Moon or something? They quickly crawled backwards. I could hear their cries from within the vent as they left. I sighed, pulling off the mask.
I could hear cries from somewhere. I looked through the cameras, finding nothing. I checked my right door light and what I saw scared me. Cadence was sitting in front of the door. Her eyes were dark and her mouth was open. She made sad, cry-like noises. If she weren't a robot, then she would probably be crying.
I shut the door in the princess's face. She began banning on the door with her hooves, which made me feel uneasy.
"Where is he? I cannot find him!" Her cry-like voice was muffled by the door. I looked at my watch, realizing I had a few more minutes before 6 AM. I sighed with relief and shut the other door. I was confident I had enough power to last two more minutes. I looked at the vents back and forth since they were the only places the ponies could currently enter. The alarm on my watch finally went off. I sighed.
"Thank youuuu."
