Chapters A blue earth pony mare with a short, spikey, purple mane trotted down the streets of Manehattan. She had recently moved to the area and needed a job to help pay for her rent. Her bright sky blue eyes flicked from store to store looking for any HELP WANTED signs but after an hour of searching her hope had all but left her. She was about to give up until she found a newspaper on the ground with a HELP WANTED sign plastered to the front. The earth pony picked the paper up in her mouth and trotted toward a bench to sit and read it.
The sign described a pizzeria that was in need of a night guard. The earth pony shrugged and checked for how much she would be paid and her eyes widened.
"$200 a day", she exclaimed, her shout drawing the attention of other ponies nearby.
That could possibly pay for her whole rent and then some! The earth pony then trotted home with a smile on her face, the HELP WANTED ad in her mouth. When she arrived in her apartment, not too small and not too big, she immediately went to the phone. She dialed the number excitedly nearly bouncing with joy as the phone clicked as if somepony picked it up.
"Hellooooooo", the voice sang. It was strangely high pitched but not too annoying the earth pony supposed.
"Uh hello I am calling for the night guard position", she asked.
"Oh yes yes", the pony on the phone mused, "You will start tomorrow and make sure you can stay up and get plenty of rest! You will need it for this."
"Right, see you tomorrow", the earth pony said before hanging up the phone. At last she has found a job! Plus it was great pay! She could barely sleep all night just for the excitement alone.
The next day, the blue earth pony stepped into the pizzeria around noon. She wanted to get to know the place first before she did the night shift itself. She was greeted by a tan coated pegasus mare with a light gray curly mane. The second the pony spoke the blue earth pony then knew that she was the pony she had talked to on the phone.
"Hellloooooooooo", the pegasus mare sang as she walked up to the blue mare, "Welcome to Pizzeria of Alicorns where any colt and filly can feel like a prince or princess! I am Grey Mist. What is your name?"
The blue earth pony was silent for a moment as she took in the place briefly before answering, "I'm Abby, Abby Blue."
Grey Mist smiled and held out a hoof which Abby shook with great care. "You can explore for now", Grey Mist said, "Your shift starts at midnight so take your time."
Abby looked around the pizzeria taking note of the kid atmosphere. There were crayon drawings everywhere. The one that really caught her attention was one of an alicorn animatronic with a brown mane with a red streak behind a filly looking almost....menacing. Abby contained a shudder of nervousness as she kept walking. She found the night watch office on the other end of the place with two doors that were magnetically sealed. The office itself was small, cramped even. The office wasn't so impressive anyway so she left it and went back to the main play area. There was another alicorn animatronic in a construction that looked like a cave. The alicorn was a light purple with an orchd and blue mane. She stared at the robot with curiosity and wonder. Its sky blue eyes stared straight ahead not yet active because it wasn't time. Abby shrugged and walked off back toward the main stage but she didn't see when the purple alicorn turned and looked after her with red rimmed eyes. Back at the main play area, fillies and colts alike were smiling up at the band that was playing. Abby took notice of the robots on stage for the first time. There was a white alicorn with a black and blue mane, a blue alicorn with a red and cerulean mane and the one in front.....that one got her attention. It was the alicorn from the drawing she spotted earlier. She shuddered and looked down.
The sound of hoofsteps coming toward her was the only indication she had that someone was coming.
"What's wrong champ", said a voice. Abby looked up to see that one of the robots had come off the stage and had its head tilted to the side with a carefree smile. It was the white one with the blue and black mane.
"Uh nothing", Abby replied, "Nothing at all."
"Well alrighty then", the robot said then raised its front hooves to Abby's face pulling the sides of her mouth into a smile.
Abby almost laughed but the smile stayed.
"That's the spirit", the alicorn said.
Nodding, Abby walked off toward the entrance. She would need to get rest. Although, Abby could've sworn she heard a child's voice whisper "Save Us" before she left. she didn't pay any mind thinking she was going crazy.
A few minutes before midnight Abby returned wanting to be punctual and early. The pony she was greeted by though wasn't the one she met earlier in the day. He was a short and chubby pony with a light beard.
"Just go to the office and don't mess with the animatronics", he said walking to the exit.
Abby grumbled to herself as she walked to the office and sat in the chair. That pony was very rude, very rude indeed. She picked up the monitor and expected a smooth and easy night. What she was going to get would be a shock that she will never forget.
Abby looked through the monitor, now aware that she had to conserve energy. She looked at the remaining power she had: 97%. Good, she should get through the night just fine. Abby turned off the monitor and looked out the doorways on either side and sat back down yawning. Dear Celestia this was BORING!!!! She thought she would die of boredom before 2 AM hit. A noise, shuffling perhaps, reached her ears. Abby turned to her right and turned on the light. What was there almost sent her reeling out of her chair. The blue alicorn with the cerulean mane was there staring at Abby with a razor sharp smile. What was with her eyes? Abby didn't have time to really look because the animatronic was stepping closer to her door. Abby quickly closed the door and checked the door to her left peeking her head out. A dark silhouette of a pony stood at the far end at the beginning of the hall. "What the hay is going on", Abby said. She sat back down to wait for the robot to come over. She checked the power usage: 87%. Ok ok going well but it's still dropping. Abby put a hoof to her chest feeling her heart. It felt like a war hammer being pounded against her ribs and her breaths came in short, shallow gasps. She was also swearing making the fur on her face damp. Shaking, Abby turned to the door as the pony with the white coat appeared at the door with a smile.
"W-what's wr-r-rong cha-a-amp", the robot stuttered taking a step into the office.
Abby instinctively took a step back but she remembered there were doors to separate her and the killer bot. Pressing the button the door slammed shut. The robot knocked on the door, slammed on it, then ceased seeing it was futile. Abby checked the monitor and saw that the brown pony hadn't moved.
"Please, I don't want to hurt you," a voice said.
Abby looked outside and saw the white pony staring back at her with wide eyes. The pony looked.....alive. It was almost like there was an actual pony underneath the wires and metal. Looking back she saw the blue pony was gone so she opened the door but looked back at the white pony. It looked sad and hurt. Was a robot capable of such emotions? She wasn't going to find out so she put a hoof to the window. The robot surprisingly mimicked her movement.
"Maybe tomorrow night", Abby said through the window. As if understanding, the white robot pony nodded and walked away.
Abby looked down in sadness and guilt. She should've let her in, she needed the help. Opening the door, Abby looked back at the monitor checking where everypony was. The purple alicorn was peeking out from her cave with her icy blue eyes glowing in the deep darkness of the pizzaeria.
"I need to keep an eye on that one", Abby muttered to herself.
She checked the power again before putting the monitor down. Now, she was going to play it by ear. She didn't want to waste any more power than she needed to.
A few minutes after 4 AM she heard it. The sound of hooves beating on the floor. Abby dared a look out the door to see the light purple pony running toward her office. Shrieking, the door slammed down as Abby pushed the button. The sound of hooves trying to beat down the door was heard. The monitor showed the light purple pony beating down on the door and then looking up at the camera. Abby started shaking, her heart wanting to leap out her throat and run. But run where? There's no where to go and she's trapped!
"L-Let me i-i-in girl'', the robot mused tilting it's head to the side.
No no go to Tautauraus", Abby shouted.
The robot scowled then ran back to its cave. Abby listened until the sound of hooves disappeared. Abby wasn't feeling up to it anymore but in some way it was........fun. She decided to stay at least two more nights to see how difficult the nights became. Then, she heard it. The sounds of six bells told her it was six AM and it was music to her ears.
"YEEEEAAAAAAA", Abby shouted as she trotted out of the pizzeria.
It seemed to be an easy night. It was easy to find out what was going on besides the fact that it was boring. Abby looked at each robot in turn, their smiling faces hiding what was truly underneath. Abby scowled then left the establishment into the streets beyond. She only realized that she was tired when she opened the door to her apartment and flopped on her bed groaning. That was a long night. Before she could even laugh how she had survived, she drifted off into a deep sleep.
Abby woke to her alarm blaring in her ear. She looked at the time, 7:00 PM. She had a few hours until her next shift so she got up and washed her face and brushed her teeth. She went to the kitchen afterwards and pulled out a plate of vegetables. That was going to be her snack at the first shift but she was so excited that when she left the house to get the job, she forgot them. She cooked the vegetables now, adding butter and letting it steam for a while. While she was waiting for the vegetables to cook, her thoughts wandered to her shift just last night. Specifically to that white alicorn robot. She was....interesting to say the least. It seemed too much like a normal pony.
Abby shook her head clearing it and walked over to the pot of vegetables making her plate and sitting on her couch. She sighed and started eating. She could tell that it was going to be a long night tonight.
She walked into the pizzeria at around 11:15. The manager was still there with a few other employees cleaning up the trash and other things that Abby didn't want to look at. The animatronics were still on stage, frozen in song. Abby looked closely at the brown one. The mane was a darker brown with a red streak on it. The wings had a bit of red as well at the tips of the feathers. Abby wondered if it wasn't paint then turned to walk to her office. She could've sworn that the animatronics were following her every move. She didn't dare turn around.
Sitting at her desk, Abby yawned. As usual it was boring. The other employees have left and the animatronics were shut down effectively. Abby just looked at the monitor at the stage, as usual the robots were still there, even the one in the cave.
"This will be a long and boring night", Abby mumbled.
A screeching noise woke Abby from her nap, which she didn't even know she took. She looked out the left door and saw one of the robots slowly walking down the hall. The screeching noise was the gears moving to help movement but it didn't even need oiling she realized. It was the blue alicorn with the red and cerulean mane. The alicorn was making the sound on purpose to scare her and the razor sharp smile proved as much. It started to move faster trotting toward the door. Abby quickly shut the door and looked out the right door only to come face to face with the white alicorn. She screamed jumping back.
"W-wait", the robot stuttered, "P-Promised help."
"Oh yea", Abby said but then her eyes narrowed, "How do I know you're not trying to trick me?"
"C-Cave", the alicorn stuttered, "Shanay comes."
Abbey looked at the monitor and saw the orchid alicorn coming for the right door. She was changing tactics and Abby could respect that. It's a way to catch someone off guard. The white alicorn stood outside the door and stared the other alicorn down. Abby poked her head outside to watch and saw that the orchid alicorn.......uh Shanay......was slowly walking toward them. The white alicorn, however, stood her ground. It was quite impressive to Abby since these robots scared the living sun outta her. The white alicorn tensed when Shanay got close enough to spit on.
"Le-eave", the white alicorn said.
"M-Make me-e-e", Shanay stuttered getting into a defensive stance.
The white alicorn just grinned then roared. Abby covered her ears because it wasn't the normal, run of the mill, lion roar. No, it was far from that. It was a mechanical roar gone wrong. It was so high pitched that Abby could swear that her ears were bleeding. She backed into the office wanting the noise to stop, she would give anything for it to stop. The robots clashed, metal on metal can be heard echoing through the hall. Abbey looked toward the left door, relieved when she found it empty. She wouldn't even go for the third night if this is what would happen. She looked at the monitor and saw that the cerulean mare had left the stage. No doubt to see what the ruckus was. The brown pony was still on stage surprisingly but....wait....was she?
"Oh you've got to be kidding me right now", Abby said, as she saw the brown animatronic mare staring right into the camera, right at her.
Abby couldn't take her eyes away, the eyes are so mesmerizing, an ocean of brown that held something more inside. Abby didn't notice the cerulean mare coming up on her left. The cerulean mare crouched, ready to pounce, but the thing that snapped Abby out of the trance she was in was the clashing of metal as one robot crashed into another. Abby looked toward the right, finding the white alicorn looking almost out of breath. Was that even possible?
"Watch y-yourself", the alicorn said.
Abby looked to the left seeing both the orchid and cerulean mares in a heap just outside the door. She came to the conclusion that the white alicorn had thrown her opponent into the other enemy. Hm, not a bad tactic.
"I never got your name", Abby said, turning toward the white alicorn.
"Jackie", the alicorn responded, "The cerulean o-o-one is Ma-arabella and y-you kno-o-o-ow Shana-a-ay."
"Who's the one still on the stage then", Abby asked, feeling afraid to even do so.
"She's the leader", Jackie said looking down, "Her name is Charlotte. S-She's the o-one who gives orders."
Abby thought for a minute and was about to tell Jackie something until the clock started chiming for 6 AM. Jackie smiled softly at Abby and walked back to the stage. Abby almost jumped out of her coat when she heard the other two robots behind her get up and walk toward their stages themselves. All though Abby didn't want to, she would have to come back for a third night to find out what was going on. She got up once she saw the robots deactivate and she walked out the restaurant herself. Once she got home, she plopped onto her bed. She didn't even have time to conjure a single thought until sleep claimed her.
The next day, Abby slept until noon. She didn't even hear the alarm clock that was currently blaring its alarm in her ear. Abby groaned and slammed a hoof on the object, silencing it before getting out of bed. Well, sliding out of bed was more like it. She didn't know why, but she felt so drained. She slowly walked into her kitchen, turning on the tv that was in the adjacent living room. The news blipped on, oh yea, that's right. She was watching the news yesterday.
"And in other news", the newscaster stallion was saying,
"The Pizzaria of Alicorns has been shut down because of an incident that happened just this morning. There are 2 more events scheduled for the next two days."
Abby sighed rolling her eyes. She knew that the place was going to be shut down sooner or later. Those robots, with the exception of Jackie, are cold blooded killers. She grabbed a carrot and some apple cider from the fridge and walked to the living room to watch the rest of the broadcast.
"A filly had her head bitten out by the orchid alicorn at the cove" , the broadcaster was saying, "She lost most of her sight because most of the bite was around her eyes. She had most of her frontal lobe spared so there wasn't much worry, but the blood loss was too much. The filly was in shock but she is expected to make a full recovery."
"Tch, if only they saw what I saw at night", Abby said to no one in particular, "Then you all would shut it down tonight."
Abby took a swig of her juice then looked at the time. 12:45 in the afternoon, so she had plenty of time. She changed channels and watched her favorite cartoon, Looney Toons. Abby laughed a little to herself as she sat back and ate her small meal thinking that tonight should be her last night on the job. She was going to quit after this.
12 AM: Pizzaria
Abby walked into the pizzaria, nodding at the janitors that were heading home for the night. She stopped at the stage, looking at the white alicorn with the black mane. Hm, Abby saw that the alicorn had grey freckles, cute. Abby smiled a little and headed to her office. She would've made it had she not heard the sound of footsteps and mechanics approach. She whirled around to find the white alicorn standing behind her with a sharp toothed smile. Abby sighed in relief, motioning for the robot to follow her. Once they reached the office, Abby finally turned to the alicorn proper.
"So, you're up early", Abby said, sitting on her seat.
"W-wanted to h-h-help."
"That's great and thank you, but I'm gonna quit tonight."
The alicorn seemed shocked and.....hurt....at the Earth pony's words, but felt a hoof on her chin bringing her now downcast eyes up to Abby's own.
"I want you to come with me. You'll love it outside."
The robot stepped back shaking her head, "I-I-I can't.....t-the....She...."
Abby huffed, "Screw the rest. Jackie I want you to be happy and you have helped me so far so I want to help you."
Jackie smiled, and if she could cry she would, and she threw her forelegs around Abby in a tight hug which Abby returned happily. The sound of more hoofsteps broke them apart and Abby looked outside the right door. Nothing.....nothing there. Confused, she looked out the left door. Again.......nothing. What is going on? Why isn't anything there? Abby started to sweat and turned to Jackie. Jackie was ashen, well, as pale as she could go for a robot. She was looking toward the desk, or what was in front of it. Abby jumped back in shock and surprise as she saw a slumped over pony, eyes as black as coal and teeth razor sharp. The fur was gold, a dirty gold as if it was left to rot. It looked oddly familiar......Abby,s face had gone pale at the realization. It was a gold version of the lead pony.
"Oh......sweet Celestia", Abby whispered.
The pony's head suddenly moved to look at the two ponies before it. Jackie was shaking and she backed up, her eyes as wide as dinner plates. Abby backed up alongside Jackie as the golden pony started to lift off the floor, the two front hooves levitating up as if being controlled by a puppet master. Its mouth opened and something similar to a child's scream mixed with a mechanical error sound erupted from it. Abby covered her ears but Jackie just stood there, fear now gone from her face as she glared daggers at the golden pony.
"Y-You will n-n-not hurt my friend", Jackie shouted as her horn lit up with a white gold aura, "Go to hell!"
The golden pony shrieked as the beam hit it and it faded away. Jackie was practically growling and she was now standing in front of Abby, having moved while firing the beam. Abby slowly stood rubbing her ears.
"Damn that thing got some lungs," Abby groaned, "Thanks for saving my poor ears Jackie."
Jackie turned and smiled at the blue earth pony, hugging her. Abby gladly returned the hug then looked at the time when they finally dislodged from each other. It was 4:30 am. Abby looked out the right door and saw the lead pony slowly approaching. Abby slowly ducked back into the room and nervously laughed.
"I think the brown one is angry", she said as she backed next to Jackie.
"I-I-I'll handle Charlotte", Jackie said, walking out the right door.
Abby couldn't stop her, seeing the steeling determination in her eyes. It was one of the most lively things she's seen so far from the animatronic, and she was curious as to why. Jackie stood in front of Charlotte, her forelegs braced about shoulder length apart. Charlotte just smirked and stopped just a few feet away from Jackie.
"Y-You go against m-me", Charlotte asked.
"Y-You stay a-a-away from my friend", Jackie growled.
Charlotte charged her horn and fired a deadly bolt of energy at Jackie who deflected it into the wall next to them. The wall exploded leaving a gaping hole in it. Neither robot paid any attention to it. Both charged their horns and fired beams of energy at each other. Abby watched the fight unfold, paying no heed to the two alicorns now behind her. The only warning she got was a mechanical growl from the orchid alicorn, Shanay, as she lunged at her. Abby delivered a swift buck in the alicorn's direction, a pained shout coming from the alicorn. The cyan alicorn, Marabella, fired a spell at Abby, hoping to stun her, but Abby ducked and rolled under the blast coming up under the cyan alicorn. She barely had time to change expressions as Abby uppercut the alicorn, sending her flying into the side of the door. The alicorn hit her head hard and slumped to the floor. Abby turned her attention back to Shanay and she herself barely had time to react as she was tackled to the floor.
They grappled on the floor for a bit before Shanay spread her wings. She lifted Abby off the floor and slammed her to the ceiling. Abby grunted in pain as stars speckled her vision. She closed her eyes for a split second and when she opened them again, what she saw in front of her scared her.
"OH SWEET CELESTIA", she shouted, as she looked at the animatronic before her.
The once pristine animatronic now looked dirty. The once sky blue eyes were now pitch black. Abby looked into those eyes seeing no possible end to the inky blackness within. Leaking from the eyes looked like ink....but it wasn't. It was....blood. Blood leaked from those eyes. The animatronic smiled revealing razor sharp teeth that now went for Abby's throat. Panicking, Abby kicked out with her hind legs, catching the animatronic off guard. The grip faltered a bit, but not enough to drop her. The animatronic gasped in surprise but was otherwise unharmed.
"N-Nevermind killing you," Shanay said, scowling, "Y-You will stay alive for this. Y-You will become a new a-addit-tion to t-the ba-a-and."
The alicorn smirked as Abby's eyes widened. She screamed.
Outside, the fight between Charlotte and Jackie still raged on, both now in the air and trying to get an advantage over each other. Jackie fired a bolt of electricity that sent Charlotte faltering. Charlotte retaliated with her own bolt of electricity that struck Jackie in the chest, sending the white alicorn crashing into the ground. Jackie struggled to get up but couldn't as her vision swam. Charlotte walked up to the fallen alicorn, using a hoof to gently lift her eyes to Charlotte's own.
"I-I-I'm sor-r-rry", Charlotte said, "B-But i-i-it must be d-d-done."
Charlotte looked genuinely sad as she rested Jackie's head back to the floor. A scream from the office caught their attention and Jackie slowly lifted her head. It was Abby. She was screaming bloody murder, but it was suddenly cut short. Jackie's eyes widened as she feared the worst.
In the office, Abby hung limp in Shanay's hooves and the alicorn landed, slinging the blue earth pony onto her back. She nudged Marabella to wake her up. The cyan alicorn groaned and rubbed her head before standing and turning to the right door seeing Charlotte.
"I-It's time", Charlotte said as she walked toward the dining area.
The other two alicorns went out the left door heading to the dining area as well. Jackie leaned against the wall as she tried to stand and tears, well oil, slipped down her cheeks. Fire was in her eyes, the fire of determination. Placing one hoof in front of the other, Jackie slowly followed the other two alicorns.
Charlotte, Marabella and Shanay went into the back room that was reserved only for the staff of the pizzaria and tossed Abby on top of the table in the middle of the room. There was a suit that sat just to the left of the table that looked exactly like the earth pony, but it was an alicorn instead of an earth pony. Gotta keep up the alicorn name. Marabella grabbed the suit with her magic and took it apart, handing various parts to the other two alicorns. Shanay smirked as she held the head and torso of the costume. Charlotte held the rear and the hind legs of the suit while Marabella held the front two legs.
"L-legs first", Marabella said, "Less blood to clean."
The other two nodded as Marabella started to put Abby's front legs into the parts she was holding. Abby felt the pain as the mechanics dug into and through her muscle and skin. She screamed and jerked upwards but an odd sensation was holding her down. It was magic, magic that felt wrong and.....twisted. She felt that magic fasten her mouth shut as she went to scream again. She managed to move her head to the side and saw that her right front leg was already within the suit's front right leg. Her eyes widened as Charlotte went to get her right hind leg. That one was put on as well. The blood dripped to the floor and Abby's face was wet with tears. The pain was too much, and she was losing a lot of blood. The suit punctured one of the major arteries in her legs and she could almost feel herself slipping from consciousness.
Then, there was a scream as Shanay was sent flying across the room. Charlotte and Marabella turned to find Jackie standing in the doorway, her horn already alight with another spell ready to fire. Abby smiled weakly and she heard Jackie say something...but.....it was lost to her as she slipped into the darkness.
"ABBY", Jackie cried.
Abby was on the table int he back room for staff only laying on the large table in the middle of the room. Jackie had interrupted the suiting process but she didn't make it in enough time to save all of her. Abby's front right leg and back left leg were already fitted into the suit's pieces for those respective body parts. Jackie turned her attention to the remaining two alicorns who looked surprised that she was even able to stand.
"G-Give her back", Jackie shouted, charging her horn and blasting Charlotte back.
Charlotte slammed against the wall and slumped down not moving, but Marabella was ready. She opened her wings and used them to propel herself toward Jackie. Jackie reared up and slammed her hooves down onto Marabella's back, but Marabella was too quick and tackled Jackie to the ground. They were rolling on the floor and Jackie used her hind legs to kick Marabella in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. Marabella recovered quickly and tackled Jackie to the ground.
"Why are y-you fighting this process", Marabella asked, trying to get an upper hoof on her opponent.
"I-It's wro-o-ong", Jackie said, rolling them both until she was on top, "I-I-I'm so-o-orry."
Jackie brought her hoof down on Marabella's skull hard, making sure to dent part of it. Marabella started to short out as her sensitive head wires got knocked out of wack. Jackie got up and headed back into the Staff Only Room. She barely made it to the Earth Pony, when an orchid missile slammed into her side and tackled her into the far wall. Jackie slumped as she hit her head, a horrible crack echoing throughout the room. Shanay smirked as she stood over the slumped white alicorn.
"T-T-That was wo-o-orth it", she said, turning back to Abby.
Only, the mare wasn't there. The table was....empty. Where was she? Suddenly, something hard came down on the back of Shanay's skull and the alicorn dropped. Abby was behind her with a crowbar, looking angry and tired.
"Don't you......harm her", Abby got out before she collapsed.
She was covered in dry blood and fresh blood, most of which was still flowing. She was losing blood and fast. Jackie came to her senses a few moments later and almost blanched when she saw Abby in front of her, in a pool of her own blood. She picked Abby up in her magic and headed toward the door. A groan caught her attention and Jackie turned to see Charlotte, who was furious. Charlotte said nothing, she just charged her horn with a lethal spell and Jackie froze for a moment. She was terrified.
"Get down", Abby shouted, as she woke up just barely and knocked Jackie to the ground.
That was almost enough to snap Jackie out of it but not fully. The thing that snapped her out of it was when Charlotte grabbed Abby in her magic and started choking her. Abby reached for Jackie but was violently pulled away. Abby struggled against her captor but her movements were getting weaker and weaker by the minute. Charlotte grinned in a sick satisfaction as she held the weakening Earth Pony, her magic only getting tighter. Jackie then realized one horrifying thing, Charlotte was about to break Abby's neck.
"NO", Jackie shouted, firing a beam at the brown alicorn.
Charlotte laughed for a moment then her face turned to one of shock. Looking down, Charlotte saw a hole burned through her circuits and the wires were sparking. Her magic failed and Abby dropped to the ground, gasping for air. Charlotte actually looked hurt, betrayed even. Jackie had to look away as her former friend collapsed in a heap. Jackie trotted over to Abby and picked her up in her magic. Her internal clock said that 6 AM was at least 4 minutes away so she had better hurry and get to Abby's place. Being a robot designed to entertain and protect, Jackie knew how to treat Abby. With a final look at the pizzaria, Jackie left, walking through the front door and into the rising sunlight.
Using the internal data bank she possessed, Jackie found Abby's home in no time. Jackie opened the door and laid Abby on her hardwood floors, getting the supplies she needed to treat her Earth Pony friend.
"Do-o-on't worry A-A-Abby", Jackie said, levitating the supplies, "I-I-I'll fix yo-o-o-ou."
Then, Jackie got to work.
2 in the Afternoon, Abby's Home
Abby woke up feeling a bit sore in her neck and legs. She slowly looked around to see where she was. She barely made it to the end of the livingroom with her gaze before another gaze filled her vision. Abby jumped back and screamed, well not screamed, more like, a hoarse squeak. Jackie looked apologetic and sat down next to Abby.
"Yo-o-ou o-ok", Jackie asked.
Abby nodded and rubbed at her throat.
"Charlotte", Jackie explained, "She wa-a-as going to brea-a-ak your ne-e-eck. Yo-o-ou saved me a-a-at o-o-one po-o-oint."
Abby tapped her chin for a minute and grabbed a pen and paper from the nearby coffee table. She wrote: I've seen something weird. They had pony like eyes and there was blood everywhere.
Jackie actually winced at that and rubbed her front legs looking down at the ground. Abby realized that this went pretty deep and that Jackie didn't want to speak about it. Abby wrote: If you don't want to talk about it, it's ok. You don't have to talk about it. Jacakie sighed and shook her head.
"I-I'll talk about i-i-it", Jackie said, still looking down, "I-i-it's o-only fa-a-air."
Abby touched Jackie's shoulder and noticed the robotic limbs she now possessed. Abby looked shocked but also intrigued as she flexed the new robotic limbs.
"Yo-o-ou'll be ok with those", Jackie said and looked at Abby's written response.
They're amazing , Abby wrote.
Jackie smiled and laughed a bit then her grim expression returned.
seriously, you don't have to tell me , Abby wrote.
Jackie's eyes then turned toward Abby with determination and Abby almost cried when she saw some hidden sadness and pain buried deep within that gaze.
"I-It sta-a-arted 7 years ago-o-o-o" Jackie said.
