A soft blue light encompasses the steel of a wrench. It floats from the toolbox, hovering across a crowded workshop before hovering just above the ground hear a lug nut. A grayish unicorn snatches the tool out of the air, gently gripping it in his teeth as he starts to tighten the nut around the bolt. Giving it a few turns, the unicorn sets the tool down and walks away. Taking a few steps, he turns and looks upwards.
Gear Spring stands in the large warehouse of his workshop. Joining him is a mechanical device with whirling blades hanging above. Jetting from the back of the machine is another set of propellers that appear to be able to swivel from side-to-side. It looks as though it would be worn like a saddle, but it is propped up on a steel frame that takes the place of a pony. Wires latched to the device run to a big red button that is sitting on a pedestal beside the stallion.
“Okay,” he says to only himself. “Let’s see if this is going to work.”
He presses the button, and a few sparks shoot from the device. Watching closely, he sees that the blades begin to whirl slowly, before picking up speed. It whirls around, the blades blending into one circle, blowing wind. A smile reaches his face as it lifts off the ground.
But then, there are more sparks that explode from the device. The spinning blades stop and the metal device comes crashing down in a heap of twisted metal. Gear Spring sighs as he walks over to the wreckage.
“Some of it I can salvage,” he looks around. “But I have to go into Ponyville for some more parts.”
Letting out a sigh, he trots away from the disaster area, and over to a work bench. Among the tools scattered about the table, there is a glass jar with a hoof-full of bits. Looking into the jar, a frown reaches his face.
“Awe man,” he puts his head on the table, “This isn’t even enough for lunch.”
His horn glows the same blue as before as he floats over a newspaper to be laid out before him. Flipping past an article about the newest fashion from Rarity Boutique, he finds a page filled with odd jobs to be done around Ponyville.
“Well, let’s see what is out there,” Gear Spring looks over it. “Oh, what’s this?”
Local pizzeria in need of a security guard to work the night shift between the midnight moon to the rising sun. Monitor cameras, ensure safety of equipment and animatronic characters. Not responsible for injury or dismemberment.
“Dismemberment?” he pulls his head off of bench. “What kind of job—oh wait I remember this place. I did some repair work on their animatronics. I cannot believe that they’re still up and running.”
He pauses, musing it over.
“Well, it is one hundred twenty bits for the week. I guess I can try it out. I’ll give them a call.”
A low hum comes from the ceiling light hanging above his head. The light flickers on and off, creating a sharp buzz when it comes back to life. Gear Spring walks up to the desk in the office, finding it littered monitors, although a few of them barely appear plugged in. The one that is wired to the socket is a small screened piece of equipment. Hanging on the walls are pictures left by the little fillies of their adventures at the pizzeria. Looking up at the one corner, he spies a cobweb with dust clinging to the sticky silk.
“Well, this is drearier than I remember,” he says, pushing some of the papers aside. “Remember this is for the bits. Just got to do it for the bits.”
Over the hum of the light, he hears a slight beeping sound. A clock hangs on the wall by the monitors. In a digital red, he reads that the midnight moon is hanging in the sky.
“Well that is the start of my shift,” he says.
Trotting closer to the desk, he presses the button on the monitor, and an image flashes across the screen, but static distorts it for a moment. The camera aims at the stage, where three mechanical ponies stand motionless before an abandoned crowd of chairs. Gear Spring looks to the one of the stage, the orange earth pony with a cowboy hat concealing her face. Over to the far right is the yellow Pegasus with a bib about her neck. Lastly in the middle is the mascot to the establishment with her puffy pink hair.
“Well the gang is all here,” he muses to himself. “This is going to be quite—”
The ringing phone cuts off his sentence. Illuminating his hoof, he picks up the phone with magic and presses it up to his ear.
“Hello?” he asks.
“Hello.”
“Yes, hello,” he tries to picture the pony behind the voice. “Twilight, is that you?”
“Uh, I wanted to record you a message to help you get settled in on your first night. Um, I actually worked in that office before you. I’ll be finishing my last week now, as a matter of fact.”
“Nope, not Twilight,” he chuckles.
“So,” the voice continues, “I know it can be a bit overwhelming, but I’m here to tell you there’s nothing to worry about. Uh, you’ll do fine. So let’s just focus on getting you through the week. Okay?
So let’s do the introductory greeting from the company that I’m supposed to read. Uh, it’s kind of a legal thing. Um, Welcome to Pinkie’s Pizzeria. A magical place for kids and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and magic come to life. Pinkie Party Company is not responsible for damaged property or pony. Upon discovering that damage of death has occurred, a missing pony report will be filed within ninety days, or as soon property and premises have been thoroughly cleaned and bleached, and the carpets have been replaced.
Blah-blah-blah, now that might sound bad, I know, but there’s really nothing to worry about. Uh, the animatronics ponies can be a bit quirky at night, but do I blame them? No. If I was forced to sing that same song for that many moons, I’d probably be a bit irritable at night.
Just to be aware, the ponies tend to wander a bit at night…”
“What?” Gear Spring gasps. He looks to the camera, but they are still on the stage.
The call carries on, “They get left in some sort of free roaming mode. Its…something about their servos locking up if they get turned off for too long. Uh, they used to be allowed to move around during the day, but then there was the clop of eight-seven. It, it is quite amazing a pony can live without the frontal lobe.
Now, regarding your safety. If any of these animatronics happens to see you after hours, they probably won’t recognize you as a pony. They’ll most likely see you as a metal endoskeleton without a costume. Since that’s against the rules, they’ll probably try to, um, forcefully stuff you into a Pinkie Pie suit. Now, you see, that wouldn’t be so bad, except the suit is filled with crossbeams, wires, and other devices. So, you could imagine that having your head forcefully pressed inside one of those could cause a bit of discomfort…and death. Yeah, they really don’t tell you those things when you sign up. But, hey, listen, it’s your first day so it’ll be a breeze. Uh, also make sure to check the cameras, and remember to close the doors only if necessary. Got to conserve power.”
The call ends, and Gear Spring is left with his mouth hanging open. He looks over to the camera monitor and finds that there are two less animatronics standing on stage.
“No-no-no, where did Apple Jack and Fluttershy go?”
Frantically, his hoof mashes the button, jumping between the different cameras littered throughout the restaurant. Each image, he finds the room completely empty. The last time he hits the button, he is met with a static picture.
“Damn, the camera’s dead,” he says.
Just as he is about to change the camera, a queer sound reaches his ear. Metal clanging of pots and pans echo in the kitchen area, followed by the mechanical whirling of servos.
“Well, at least one of them is in the kitchen,” he finds some relief, “But where is the other one.”
Then, he hears a low wheezing breath in his ear. Looking to the door, he hits the light, and jumps. Standing at the entrance to his office is one of the animatronics. The orange sheen of its steely coat has stain marks of aging rust. Dark circles encompass the eye sockets, which are filled with a soulless emerald gaze. She opens her mouth slightly, showing a set of teeth and a series of wires and gears down in her gullet.
“Oh shit!” Gear Spring leaps for the door switch.
He hits the button before the animatronic makes it into the office. From the ceiling a giant metal door comes slamming down in front of Apple Jack before she attempts to enter. On the other side, Gear Spring hears the banging on the door. It causes him to shudder, but when it finally stops he sees Apple Jack walk over to the window, her haunting gaze fixated on him.
“I am not dealing with this,” he says, walking to the other door.
Gear Spring walks away from the window and the prying eyes of the animatronic. Over to the other switch, he presses the button and watches as the door slams shut with a metallic clang that reverberates through the hallway outside. Turning on the light, the outdoor light flashes a white glow, but that hallway is empty. Looking over to the other window, he sees that the other animatronic is also gone.
“This is the worst” he sighs, walking back to the desk. “I didn’t realize these robots were so murderous.”
He yawns and puts his head on the desk, and starts to feel drowsy. Looking at the clock, he sees that it is only two hours before Celestia raises the sun. Then, there is a deadening low growl somewhere in the restaurant as his office turns black.
“No-no-no,” he looks at the blank monitors. “Did I blow a fuse?”
Sitting there in the dark, he is completely blinded, so black that he cannot see the hoof in front of his face. In the abyss, he picks up a sound. The mechanical whirling of servos driving a body toward him. A light appears in the window, an animatronic letting off a soft glow through its eye sockets. He sees the puffy pink mane in the window. Soulless eyes look in, and a smile spreads across her face, which causes a chill to run down his spine. Pinkie Pie disappears behind the door. He hears her hooves banging against the metal frame. Then, the door starts to groan when the machine starts to lift it up.
Gear Spring backs up against the other door as a merry song plays through the speakers in her mouth. It drones on like a death march, as his heart beats faster.
“He-hey-hey there,” Pinkie Pie says, her head violently twitching as she speaks. “We-We-Welcome to P-P-Pinkie’s Pizzeria. Ponies n-n-need to be in costume. T-T-That’s-That’s the rules.”
So you’re going to die…
Pinkie Pie lunges at him, but Gear Spring manages to jump away as the mechanical mascot smashes into the door. Trapped in the dark, he makes a run for it. Down the hall, he is blinded until he illuminates his horn. A faint blue light showers the restaurant, granting him limited visibility. Yet he runs straight for the exit. Just as he is about to reach the entrance, he stops dead as he spies the yellow Pegasus blocking his way. Her eyes are alight, her metal mouth seems to be drooling some sort of red mucus that drips down, staining her bib that reads “YAY”.
“Come on,” Fluttershy head tilts to the side as her mechanical mouth shifts into a grin. “Let’s eat.”
Let’s eat you…
Gear Spring turns around and starts to run, but Pinkie Pie is close behind him. He looks another way, but Apple Jack is approaching from that way too. The animatronic girls have maddening looks in their empty eyes. Sweat rolls down his mane as he runs deeper into the restaurant. Running around a corner, he stops when he is stuck at a dead end. Mechanical hoof prints make him turn as the three march closer. A sickening groan slips through their speakers, sounding all too real like the dying moans of fillies.
“No,” he backs up against the wall. “Get away from me…”
Pressing his back against the wall, he hears a creak of wood. Before he can look back, he is falling through a hole in the wall. Dust flies around him as he slowly looks up. The glowing eyes of the animatronics shine on him, but he realizes that they are not approaching. Rather they are staring at the wall, unsure where he is.
“What’s going on?” he gets up slowly.
Stepping up to them, he waves a hoof in front of their eyes. They do not seem to see him.
“Oh thank Celestia,” he sighs with relief. “I must be out of the bounds of their navigation software.”
Looking into the room that he has fallen in, he looks at it curiously.
“Although where am I?”
Wondering in, he sees that it is covered in a thick layer of dust. Drapes hang over a lot of the equipment in the room. Looking back to make sure the animatronics are not pursing him, he takes the time to investigate it. Standing in the center of the room is a desk covered in gray. Among the dust bunnies, he sees a little lump that protrudes from the desk. Taking in a deep breath, he blows away the dust, unveiling a book sitting alone. The leather bound tome has a purplish hue. A lock keeps its pages clasped tightly.
“Must be someone’s diary,” he looks at it curiously.
Help us…
He looks around when he hears the voice, but there is no pony or animatronic around. When he walks up to the diary, he picks it up with a spell. He attempts to open it, but no spells he knows works.
“I’ll need some tools…”
So he waits there, until the sun rises. Looking out the animatronics are gone. Wondering through the restaurant he finds the trio back on stage, as if nothing happened. Without a word, he walks out of the restaurant.
Night 2
“Here we go again…”
Gear Spring stands in front of the restaurant. The building stands ominously alone on the streets of Ponyville. Its neon lights flicker with what little life that is left in the pizzeria. The low hum of the logo breaks the silence of the otherwise peaceful night. He looks up at the sign hanging above the entrance. The smiling face of Pinkie Pie looks out onto the town as she holds up a cupcake. While it is inviting to most ponies, this stallion knows the truth behind her soulless blue eyes.
“Do it for the bits, do it for the bits.”
He continues the mantra as he passes through the double doors. The restaurant is plunged in darkness, save for the flickering light coming from the office. Gear Spring looks up at a clock, seeing that it is almost midnight.
“I better hurry.”
Trotting away from the main stage, he heads to the back room. There, he finds that the establishment has placed a curtain over the hole he put. Taking the cloth in his mouth, he tears it free, entering the secret room. The place is just as dusty and dreary as the night before, but it gives him some solace that he is now invisible to the animatronics. Finding the desk where he discovered the diary, he sets up a small makeshift office. Magic erupts from his horn, but only levitates an oil lamp from his saddlebag. He places it off to the one corner, and then twists the valve. A small flame sprouts to life inside the glass, dancing happily as it bathes the room in an eerie orange glow.
The next thing to float out of his bag is the purple diary itself. Setting it down before him, he looks at the bindings, realizing that there is a lock on the book, preventing him access. The keyhole appears to mock him, gaping wide open.
He frowns at first, but then smirks, “At least I brought my tool kit with me. I’ll get into your pages yet, little book.”
Magic encompasses his bag again, as a small box floats beside the diary. It opens to a number of small tools that look like they belong to a burglar kit. A blue hue ensnares two of the tools as he steadily starts to work the lock.
Click
“Almost got it,” he squints his eyes to focus.
Suddenly, the sound of gears takes his focus away from his lock picking. Lifting his head up, he nearly jumps when he sees the animatronic Pinkie Pie, staring directly at him from the entrance to the hidden room. There is a big grin on her mechanical face, which causes him to shiver.
“She shouldn’t be able to see me,” he tells himself. “She can’t see me. I’m outside of her programming.”
Yet she continues to stare, which makes him glance up occasionally as he tries to work on the lock. It takes a bit longer than before, as he can hear the hum of the servos, and the occasional giggle causes him to sweat. But at long last, he finally works the lock open. Setting the tools back down. He is about to open the bindings when he hears a haunting sound. It is like a child giving off a deathly wheeze. Picking his head up, he sees Pinkie Pie closer than before. He lets out a scream and topples bag into a pile of boxes.
Pulling his head out of one of the boxes, he looks up, and realizes that she still is not coming at him, only staring. Her eyes have seemed to have sunk into their sockets. White orbs glow in the pitch of her gaze, giving him an uneasy feeling as he approaches the desk again.
Don’t do it…
She’ll come for you…
“What the?” he acknowledges the voice, “Whose there?”
“Hey-hey kids,” Pinkie Pie speaks, causing him to jump. “It’s me, your party-pal Pinkie Pie. Is everyone having a fantastically fun time?”
“Oh so much,” he mocks the animatronic.
You won’t be having fun for long…
“You are giving me the creeps, Pinkie,” he says. “Maybe I should find something to block that face of yours.”
He sees that the original curtain is behind the animatronic. There is no way he is going out there to retrieve it. Instead, he looks around the room. A number of objects are covered up by the same blankets. One in the corner is especially large, big enough to shield Pinkie Pie from sight. Taking another glance over his shoulder, he walks up to it, and pulls it off. What he sees underneath makes him jump again and slam against the desk. It almost knocks over his oil lamp.
Standing there in the corner is another animatronic. It is an alicorn whose coat has been worn away, showing a yellowish metal underneath. She appears suffering from poor maintenance. Pieces of metal and wiring protrude through gashes. Even her mane is twisted with wires, giving the rusted look some color, although mostly red and blue.
“Wow, this thing must be as old as the restaurant,” he looks at it once he realizes it is not operating. “I think I remember seeing this as a filly. Oh what was her name again?”
He turns around, tapping the side of his horn with his hoof as he tries to ponder. Swarmed in his thoughts, he does not see the blood start to drip from the muzzle of the new animatronic.
“Oh yes, that’s right,” he turns back. “She was called Spring Sparkle.”
Slowly approaching, he looks over the damages done by the neglect. More blood seeps through the eyeholes, as if the robot were crying. Still he does not notice.
“Well, that’s odd,” he finally sees a large hole in the machinery. “It looks like there is something lodged in here.”
He sees a mixture of red and white just near the mouth. Shining his horn, he takes a look. Ruby shimmers in one of the teeth belonging to Spring Sparkle. Looking closer, he suddenly feels something warm exhale onto his face. Wiping his muzzle, he sees the tinge of red clinging to his hoof.
“This looks like…blood.”
Noise like a wheeze makes him look at Spring Sparkle. And she is looking back.
Both of them let out a scream, although his is more from terror. A metal wing slams into him, sending him sprawling across the room, and into another pile of boxes. Poking his head out of the disheveled mess, he sees her stomping over to him.
“Oh my Celestia,” he shouts, springing from the box.
Running to the exit, he slams into something hard and metallic, knocking him to the floor. He sees Pinkie Pie standing over him, her grin even more maddening than before. A shrill groan comes from the secret room, as Spring Sparkle is almost upon him. Diving out of the way of both, he runs into the restaurant, his horn the only thing keeping him from being blinded.
He makes his way for the office. With the hallway is cleared, he dives inside and immediately hits the door switch. The big metal doors slam down behind him. He takes a gasp of relief, but then it is gone when he hears groaning coming from the other side of the doors.
Turning around, he sees the door aglow with a purple light. A loud mechanical scream comes from the door as it starts to lift despite the button keeping it down.
“No, that’s impossible,” Gear Spring gasps. “Animatronics can’t use magic!”
And still the door is forced open by Spring Sparkle. The decomposing animatronic lets a moaning hiss leave her metallic lips. She lunges at him, but he manages to evade just as she slams into one of the walls. Finding an opening, he runs out of the other doorway.
Got you…
A deafening whirling scream comes from an animatronic just outside his door. The light from the office gives a faint glow to Apple Jack’s body standing there to greet him. Lifting her hoof, she slams it into him, knocking him to the floor. Left in a daze, Gear Spring is only able to lift his head as he feels himself being dragged.
Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie have him by the hooves, while Spring Sparkle follows close behind. He is too weak to move as they take him into the Spare Parts room. Unforgivingly, he is slammed onto a table where the two animatronics have him pinned down. Looking, he sees the alicorn animatronic standing at the other side. Blood seeps through her eyeholes and mouth. He watches as the same purple magic envelops her face. The upper jaw of Spring Sparkle is ripped open, revealing the skeletal remains of a pony underneath. White, soulless eyes that look at him are entirely pony.
The bloodied horn on her head is illuminated with magic as a spare animatronic head floats above the table. Its back is open, revealing cross beams and gears that have no room for a pony skull.
“No,” he pleads. “Don’t do this. Let me go!”
“You…,” Spring Sparkle speaks, her bottom jaw held on by a few scraps of tendons. “Will…die…”
Slowly the head descends onto him, and starts to press against his muzzle. He feels the back of his head smash against the metal table, as it slowly crushes him. As much as he wants to scream for pain, his mouth is too cramped by the beams to move.
I’m going to die, he gasps. I’m really going to die. I got to get myself out of here. I got to use that spell. Come on, Gear Spring, you can do it. You can…
Suddenly the spare head smashes against the table, but Gear Spring has vanished in a flash of blue light.
Outside of the restaurant, he looks at the same sign as before. Bruises have formed a bit around his muzzle, and a cut bleeds just below his right eye. Otherwise he is safe and sound. He looks as the sun breaks the horizon, and the shadow of the Pinkie Pie’s Pizzeria falls upon him. Without another word, he walks away. His shift over.
