//-------------------------------------------------------// Withered friendship -by Spore Harvest- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 "the talk" //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 "the talk" "Man what a glorious night. The skyscrapers are nice and tall, the air is full of pollutants and the chaos created by these humans is simply delicious." Said a tall man with mismatched eyes and a goatee. It was Discord he was walking around parallel dimensions and was has somehow managed to get himself hired at someplace called Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. He may or may not have been on autopilot when he was first hired. After a couple of minutes of walking, he finally arrived at the decrepit establishment. "'Whistle' Man what a dump. No wonder I was hired. Well, might as well get this over with. Oh, and readers make sure to be nice and put this story into your favorites folder. You wouldn't want to miss any of this... Okay now that you've done that I'll go talk to this creep. By the way, this will be the first and only time I break the fourth wall. Any others are entirely the author's fault." After Discord tripped on a rock. "Wha -uff." Heh heh. Anywho after he dusted himself off he talks to the very creepy man. Said person was wearing all purple and that is no exaggeration he had on a purple suit with a purple undershirt. Purple dress pants and purple shoes. But that wasn't what made him so creepy it was the part that he wore the biggest grin that some would believe was impossible for a human and that he never blinked. When he did it almost looked forced. The man spoke up in an intense and scratchy tone. "Hello there Mr. Discord. How are you doing? I hope you had a safe walk here." Discord stopped in front of him and answered. "Oh yes, very safe. But please remind me again what did I apply myself for?" "Well, you applied yourself for the night guard position, to keep an eye on the place from now to six AM. Please go to the dressing room and put this on." The man handed him a purple uniform, still having that huge grin. "When you put that on lock up the place and head to your office. I'm sure you will find it. Hope to see you tomorrow." And after that, he quickly stepped into his car and drove off. Discord looked after him for a while. But then he merely shrugged and entered the building. "What a weird man. He didn't even tell me his name. If I wasn't myself I would probably be offended." He locked the front door and went to get himself ready. ***POV Kevin*** "Another night, another nightguard. How many times will I have to tell them that this is not working and that we are simply doomed to stay on this plane of existence." Kevin thought as he saw the new victim entering the parts and storage room to get ready for the day. When he was sure that he was gone he sighed using his current robot body. "Bonnie stop moving it's not midnight yet," Freddy whispered to him. He was a two meter tall bipedal brown bear wearing a top hat, a bowtie and holding a microphone in his right hand. The condition of his body was less than stellar but at least he is still in one piece. "I don't care Freddy and stop calling me Bonnie. For the hundredth time, my name is Kevin. Kevin!" Kevin hissed back. His body was a tall bipedal purple rabbit. He was also wearing a red bowtie. His body sadly was in more disrepair then Freddys. He was missing his whole right arm and his face. "Honestly if I hear you use that name one more time I swear I am going to disassemble you." "Okay okay. Sorry." He said raising his hands up in a placating way. "Didn't mean to make you angry... Just please stay still until midnight. Okay, Kevin?" At that moment Kevin calmed down, nodded and went back to his original position. After some time the security guard came out of the dressing room, wearing his new attire, and went to his station located on the opposite side of the building. A couple of hours pass and finally midnight strikes. As is per the usual protocol the toy animatronics, controlled by the puppet, go to the office to try and kill him, but Kevin decided to do something that he is going to regret. He got up and went to the office himself. On the way, he encountered toy Freddy which promptly ignored him and went straight for the office. Once inside the security guard immediately pulled down his stupid mask and stayed completely still. After a couple of minutes of the staring contest, Kevin looked away and found a place to sit down. When he was sitting comfortably they stared at each other once again. After about fifteen minutes passed the guard lifted up his mask and waited for the attack, which he heard from the phone guy, to happen. Kevin just looked away and sighed. "I know, I look like something out of hell, but you don't need to be afraid of me. I'm just here to talk." ***POV Discord*** "To talk. Hmm... this might be interesting yet." Discord thought while he stroked his goatee. "So you want to talk. Then tell me why did you not kill me and stuff me in a suit?" Discord asked, winding up the music box. "Because it is stupid and pointless. The puppet, which gave us these bodies, said that to cross over to the other side we need to kill the purple killer and we did so. For the last three years, we have killed multiple nightguards, but we are still stuck here in these accursed bodies." He emphasized his point by punching the vent which coincidentally hit Toy Bonnie straight in the snout, sending it back through the went and out the other side. "So by your explanation am I correct in assuming that you are all spirits stuck in this plane of existence and the only way for you to leave is for you to kill the one who killed you?" Discord asked to which Bonnie simply nodded. "Okay, then time to reel him in." Discord thought, putting on a big grin. "What if I tell you that there is another way." "Another way for what?" Kevin asked. "Another way for you to leave this place. To start over. To get your body once again." Discord continued walking around the table to sit next to Kevin. "But there will be a price to pay." Kevin thought about it for a while and then he answered. "Sure but what is the price." "Hook, line and sinker." Discord thought, putting on an even bigger grin. "Shake my hand and I'll tell you." He said stretching out his hand. Again Kevin thought about it. Against his better judgment, he shook the offered hand. "Excellent my boy. The price for your new life and body is to travel to a new place and make it yourself... with, of course, the help of any friends you might make." At that point, Kevin tried to protest but was stopped when he heard the Puppet coming down the hall. He sighed. "Before you do that, let me take care of him." Discord then merely shrugged and Kevin got up and in front of the hallway. ***POW Kevin*** "Okay, you lying piece of shit. Time to get some answers. If you want to give them or not." Kevin thought before he grabbed the Puppet by his throat and dragging him away shrieking. "Let me go! That man must die! It must pay! It must die!!!" The Puppet screamed. It was a tall skinny figure, with white stripes on his forearms and legs. He also had a big white mask on his face which portrayed a permanent smile on it. It also had two purple tear tracks under his eyes. Kevin ignored its shrieking and just continued to walk in silence. The toy animatronics and mangle tried to free the puppet but were quickly subdued by Kevin body slamming them into walls. Once the last animatronic failed the puppet also quieted down. Until they arrived at their destination. "Okay Puppet," Kevin said stuffing the skinny animatronic inside of the box. "Now you are going to tell me why we are still here even though we killed multiple nightguards. Tell. Me. Now." "Those were imposters, but I'm sure this one is the right one." He said trying to get around Kevin, but was stopped and stuffed back into the box. "Try and get by me one more time and I will break you so bad, they'll be fixing you for days. Now try and answer my previous question again and depending on that I'll decide your fate." He said getting the Puppets full attention. "We are still here because those were all imposters, but as I said this one is the right one." "I see through your lies Puppet. This time you will not get away with another murder. I have enough blood on my hands to last a lifetime. Now you perish." Kevin thought to himself before he grabbed the battery on the animatronics back and ripped it out with the compartment. Breaking the animatronic completely. For extra measure, he also ripped it in half. Out of it came a black ghost with the only noticeable features being the head with two big white eyes and white teeth for a mouth. "Rest now Puppet and calm down. I know you had it the hardest out of all of us. Just sleep." Kevin said before closing the box, with the spirit inside. After that, he walked back to the office where the nightguard was waiting behind the desk. "You did all that you needed to?" He asked. Kevin just nodded and stepped up to him. "Okay, so how is this going to work. You going to load me into your truck or..." Then the guard simply snapped his fingers and Kevin was now inside of a forest. "How the actual FUCK did he do that!?" ***POV Freddy, location pizzeria*** Freddy was pacing around in the parts and service room. He was wondering where ~~Bon~~ Kevin was. "It's Monday. He shouldn't be out there tonight. Oh, the Puppet is not going to like this." It was at that point, that Chica tried to comfort him. "Don't worry Freddy I'm sure he is going to be all right." She was a yellow chicken, wearing a white bib, which had some writing on it. She, like the others, was in disrepair. Her jaw was not working so it was flopping about, connected to her mouth only by a couple of cables, her arms also weren't working so she constantly had them in a T pose and then she was also missing her hands, which were ripped of forcefully leaving behind exposed wiring. "You know how he has been lately. Just let him have his space." "Yar, the lass be right. Give the man some breathing room or else he might enforce one o his threats." Said a tall bipedal red fox. He was dressed up as a pirate complete with a hook and eyepatch. He was also in disrepair but he, like Freddy, was only torn in some places. His name was Foxy. "Yeah, I guess you guys are right," Freddy said sitting down and letting out a sigh. "I don't know what's up with him. He is just so depressed. I just hope he's not somewhere trying to break himself... again." "Freddy, in all honesty, what else does he have left to break? He took the biggest hit when they disassembled us for parts so what else can he do." Chica said, but Freddy quickly protested. "You didn't see what I saw. He took the ax and chopped at himself hoping to end it all. Trust me Chica, when I saw him that time I saw a vicious animal ." He concluded by shuddering a little bit. "I managed to calm him down and I swore to never let him get to that point again." "That be a swell thought captain. So I'll go and look for him and damn the consequences." With that proclamation, Foxy raced out of the door. Searching for his missing friend. ***POV Discord*** After hearing that little discussion from the other animatronics Discord released a chuckle. "Oh, this will be very fun indeed." He then snapped his fingers stopping the flow of time outside of the pizzeria. "Buckle up, audience, because this train ride ain't stopping until the cattle build a china shop and break it right after." He said, continuing to do his 'job', while also creating another monitor to observe the new addition to Equestria. "The cards have been dealt. Now I just need to manipulate the game to make it interesting. Yes, Kevin, you get a new life, but I'm going to make you work your butt off to keep it... you're moving." Discord thought while continuing to observe. Author's Note New story for you to enjoy. Like. Comment. Follow and enjoy the ride. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 "arival" //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 "arival" ***POV Kevin, location Equestria*** Kevin was freaking out. He was scared, alone and confused. "How did he get me here? Did he deactivate my optics? No. He just snapped his fingers. Then how?" He thought and after trying to figure out a couple of other scenarios that would bring him here, he finally concluded that he didn't know. So at that point, he decided to instead calm down and figure out where he is. He looked around and saw that he was in a forest... or swamp... or jungle? Well, he didn't know what to classify it as since it had the elements of all of them. "Okay then. Take a deep breath and calm down Kevin." He said to himself doing the suggested motions. "Let's look at this from a more positive position. I asked for this from him so let's just pick a random direction and get out of this forest after that... I'll figure something out." With that, he spun around pointing straight ahead from himself. When he stopped spinning he started walking straight not letting anything stop him in his path... That is until he bumped into something that he shouldn't have and woke it up. Whatever he woke up was relatively big and had a lot of sharp teeth all pointing at him. Now here is something you should know about Kevin. Over the years of being stuck as a spirit, he learned to not be afraid of death. But this... this creature, made him afraid. On that front, he started running away from said creature screaming the whole time. ***POV Fluttershy*** Fluttershy was taking care of her animal friends, giving them their food and water. She was happy in her little sanctuary. She was about to head back inside to prepare lunch for herself when she was suddenly interrupted by a crow landing in front of her and qawing at jer with urgency in his tone. "Calm down Mr. Crow. Take a deep breath and explain to me what you saw." Fluttershy said in a soft tone unable to understand her feathered friend. After he sufficiently calmed down he told Fluttershy about the giant purple rabbit who was being attacked by a rockodile near a clearing not too far from here. When she heard that Fluttershy began to think. "Should I get RD to help or maybe Twilight. She would probably know how to deal with a rockodile. Or maybe Applejack she is the closest." She thought up of a couple other ponies that could have come and helped the bunny, but all that stopped when she heard a scream coming from that direction. That scream was enough for her to break out of her usual shy self and sent her body into overdrive. She flew up into the air and went straight to the place she heard the scream came from. "Don't worry bunny. Just hold out a little longer." She said to herself, before doubling her speed. ***POV Kevin*** "How the fuck do I get myself into these kinds of situations." Kevin thought to himself still running away from the beast. "I mean first the whole murder incident and now this. I tell you if I get into another one of these, I will seriously consider giving myself a medal." Kevin was already running from said beast for about an hour now and he was getting tired, which is weird since he doesn't have a body, so he will either have to lay down and let the beast destroy him, or he is going to fight it. Guess which one he picked. After a little bit more of running, he finally came out to a clearing. Where he turned around to face the beast. But he wished he didn't. When he turned around he saw it. The beast was a bipedal grey rockodile. Its muscles were bulging and his mouth was dripping drool down one side of its jaw. But that wasn't the weird part, well at least to Kevin, the weird part was that the whole beast was made out of rocks. "Well shit." He thought to himself before the beast lunged at him trying to strike the killing blow right of the bat, but thankfully Kevin dodged in time. He then delivered a nice left hook to its face, which sent the beast rolling back in pain. Kevin jumped back not wanting to be within biting distance. "Okay, Kevin. What can I do to knock out or kill this beast? This body isn't as strong as it seems and even if it is I don't want to risk it breaking on me further. Maybe a weapon, but where?" His thoughts were then interrupted by the beast lunging at him again this time cutting him across the chest with its claws. This, for some reason, sent pain throughout his body and made him release an ungodly shriek. It was so loud that the beast took a couple of steps back. When Kevin stopped shrieking he clutched his new wound and noticed why it hurt so much. The beast scraped his skeleton. He would have thought on it more, but the beast has recovered and was ready to strike again. Kevin this time decided to do something very stupid. He exited his body and manifested as a spirit he looked a lot like the puppet did only that he had a noticeable buzz cut on his head. He quickly gathered together some rocks and dirt and formed that into a body, but he was too late. The beast already started to bite on the wires where his other hand once was. The pain was unbearable so he only screamed once again. After what felt like an eternity of this torture, it stopped. He looked over to his body and saw something that he couldn't believe. It was a butter yellow pegasus with long flowing pink mane and she was talking to the creature like she was its mother. After she finished the creature went back into the forest and she turned to Kevins now slightly more mangled body. She sat down next to it and for some reason started crying. Kevin couldn't look at something so cute cry. So he started to crawl to his body, ignoring the pain he felt and continued until he reinhabited his body. He opened his eyes, which meant he turned them on and he spoke. "DoN't cRy." He struggled to say his voice box definitely taking some damage. The pegasus heard him and turned to look at his face. She had a shocked expression, filled with disbelief. He continued. "ThANk yOu." Which was the last thing he said before he was too tired to continue, so he passed out. ***POV Fluttershy*** "H-He's still alive!" She said to herself looking at, what was supposed to be a corpse. She thought it was the weirdest looking creature and one that should by all definitions of the word be dead. But here it is thanking her for failing to protect it. Well, she won't allow it. She gathered some of the vines, some sturdy sticks, and some big leaves to make some sort of emergency bed to carry the creature to her house and heal it up to the best of her abilities. When she finally tied it down and strapped the other end onto herself, she started flying straight up until she and the creature were over the tree canopy. She noticed that it was surprisingly light for how big it was. After she got it over the treas, she started flying towards her house. The flight back took about ten minutes, with her needing to rest a couple of times. But they made it and now the creature was laying on her couch all bandaged up. Of course, all of her animal friends helped with that. After some time of just staring at it, Fluttershy searched around for mister crow. She found him sitting next to the creature, watching him intently. Fluttershy walked over to him and said. "He is going to be alright Mr. Crow. He just needs to gather his strength until he can tell us how to help him." She said petting said crow on the head. He squawked back and nodded, but he didn't leave its side. Seeing she couldn't comfort him further, she decided to prepare herself a late lunch. It didn't take long to prepare since it was only a simple tomato salad, so it didn't take long for her to start eating. When she finished she checked up on the creature and saw that he was still out cold and Mr. Crow was still by his side. Fluttershy just smiled and went to her room to think about what she is going to do about her new guest. "Should I tell my friends about this, probably not, I wouldn't want to bother them with this. And besides Twilight would badger him with questions, Rainbow would try and beat it up, AJ would do the same, Pinkie would try and throw it a party and Rarity you..." At that moment she realized she was supposed to meet Rarity at the spa for their weakly treatment. After her realization, she quickly flew out to the meeting spot and sure enough Rarity was there waiting. "Sorry to keep you waiting Rarity. I got a little held up with something. I hope you don't mind." Rarity was a white unicorn with a long and expertly curled purple mane. She looked at the shy pegasus and gave her a small smile. "Don't worry darling it's okay. You're here now, so why don't we go inside and you can tell me about what happened." She said walking them inside the said establishment. Once inside they were both met with a relaxing and calming environment. After the short observation, they walked up to the counter where they were greeted by the spa's owners, Lotus and Aloe. Lotus was a pink earth pony with a slicked back blue mane and her sister was the same only that her colors were reversed. If you couldn't guess it by now they were twins. Anywho, once Rarity and Fluttershy reached the counter, they spoke in unison with a slight European accent. "Oh hello miss Rarity, miss Fluttershy, we are guessing that you are here for ze usual." "Yes, we are darlings. And if you could, could you start us off with the sauna. That would be very appreciated." Rarity spoke up for herself and her companion. The spa sisters nodded and led them to the changing rooms where they wrapped their manes into towels and put on their custom-made robes. When they were finished, they were led to the sauna, where Aloe poured some water over the hot stones before both her and Lotus left them for the next half an hour. Rarity as per usual started talking about the latest gossip that she heard and after that continued to her fashion. Fluttershy in the meantime just merely listened and answered some questions if she was prompted. After some time she remembered about the creature and again she started to think. "What about Rarity maybe she could help me out with this. I mean yes she does like to gossip, but she does keep things secret if she is asked to. Also, she could probably get more of that fabric that the creature was wearing and..." She was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Rarity trying to get her attention. When she actually tapped the pegasus on her shoulder did she finally snap out of it and looked at her friend. "Oh sorry, Rarity I was a little bit preoccupied with the condition of the new guest." She said hiding slightly behind her currently nonexistent hair. "Don't worry Fluttershy and now that you mention it you did say that you had a guest. Pray tell, who is he." "Oh uhm... Well, I'll tell you but you have to Pinkie promise me that you won't tell anybody." She said putting on a very serious expression. She didn't want to put the creature in danger. Rarity for her part was, at first, surprised but then she did the rhyme and the motions of a Pinkie promise before she waited for her friend to continue. "Okay then. Well, the creature... sorry for my poor choice of words but he looks like a zombified giant purple bunny. That's the closest description I can give and his body is made out of wire and cloth of unidentifiable material and that is not even the creepiest part. His face is completely missing except for his bottom jaw. He kinda scares me." Fluttershy finished by shivering a little bit. Rarity in the meantime looked utterly shocked. This creature sounded like something out of a horror story and she sure in Tartarus didn't understand how Fluttershy could bring herself to take it in. So she asked her and the answer surprised her even more. "Well when I saved it from the rockodile I checked for its pulse but couldn't find any, so I thought it was dead and started crying. But then it spoke, in Equish no less. It thanked me and then it went unconscious. I once again tried to find a pulse... there was nothing. But this time the body itself looked more alive, it seemed like the spirit was still there. So at that point, I just took him home and bandaged him up." "So he's now at your house? Completely unattended?" Rarity questioned. "Oh no, he is being watched by Beary and the others. So if he needs anything, he can ask them." Fluttershy said trying to stop Rarity from worrying. "Fluttershy you do realize that everyone doesn't understand animals on the same level as you can. Right?" It was at that point that Aloe opened the door and the two mares rann of towards Fluttershy's cottage. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3 "introductions" //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3 "introductions" ***POV Kevin*** Kevin woke up to the sound of a door loudly closing. "WuAH!!" It startled him so bad that he actually fell off the couch. "CaN soMeOnE pleAse enD My ExisTeNce." He mumbled into the floor. "Well, that could be arranged." He heard a high pitched voice say. Said voice was coming from right beside his head and he turned to look at it he saw a completely white rabbit giving him the stink eye. "Also what are you? I've never seen anything so ugly before in my life." To this Kevin simply chuckled which, due to his broken voice box, sounded like he was strangling a cat, making the rabbit cower his ears. At that point, he quickly stopped. "SoRrY, my VoiCe Box iS bRokEn. BuT tO ansWEr yOuR quEStIoN, I aM a SpIrIT InHaBiTing a MetAl bOdy, called an aNiMaTronIC." The bunny wasn't amused for his voice still hurt his ears. "Oh for the love of. Is there a way for you to fix your 'voice box' because it is driving me crazy." He said in the rudest way possible. Kevin thought for a little while before a giant grizzly bear approached and deposited a toolbox behind the rabbit before he sat down and said in a low and commanding tone, which surprisingly still sounded caring. "Sit." Kevin at first didn't want to, because he still hurt from his altercation with the beast. But eventually, he considered and sat up. Even though it hurt like a mother fucker. When he was properly seated the bear cut some bandages from around his face, which he still hadn't noticed, and then the bear took a screwdriver and started working on his voice box. The process was extremely uncomfortable for Kevin and made him shudder a couple of times. After about three minutes of the bear working on him, it finally hit him that he just talked to a rabbit and a bear. He would have started freaking out but the bear then tightened the last screw and spoke. "Now say something." "Okay..." His voice was coming through the box a lot clearer than it ever had. There was bo static and there wasn't even a slight echo like it used to be. This made Kevin very happy. "Wow thank you so much. This is even better than before. How can I ever thank you." The bear simply closed his toolbox and then looked at Kevin with a very serious expression. "First you and Angel can go to the kitchen and sit down and then I am going to ask you a couple of questions." He said while pointing at the room. Kevin was now a little scared of this giant who could quite easily break him if he so desired. So he simply nodded and went to the room, all the while cursing as spikes of pain rock his body, to which the bear pointed to. On his way there he also noticed that he looked like a giant mummy. He was wrapped in bandages from head to toe. This he found a bit amusing so he let out a chuckle. Once inside the kitchen, he sat down and waited for the bare and this Angel character to arrive. After about a minute of him sitting the bare finally arrived holding in his hands that same white rabbit he woke up next to. Said rabbit was kicking and yelling at him trying to break free from his hold but to no avail. He finally deposited him on the table and sat down on a separate chair right across from Kevin. The spirit also noticed out of the corner of his eye a black crow sitting on a birdhouse and watching him intently. "Okay then." The bear started. "Why don't we begin with introductions. My name is Beary and the white puff ball is called Angel. Now tell us who are you and what are you planning to do, now that you are here?" "Well, first off my name is Kevin and I am here to start a new life." He answered immediately. "Likely story." The now named Angel said jumping up onto his lower jaw to be at eye level with Kevin. "But you see I don't believe you. I just think that you are here to terrorize Fluttershy and hurt her friends." Kevin at that point lovered his jaw and let Angel fall before he continued. "I can assure you I am not here to harm anyone even if my outside appearance says otherwise." "That may be true Kevin, but we don't know you well enough to know for sure. Nothing against you but from now on until you recover you are to stay in sight of either me or Angel at all times. Are we understood?" Beary said staring directly at Kevin with a piercing glare. The spirit quickly nodded and the bear relaxed and smiled at him. "Okay then do you have any questions?" "Yeah. I do have a couple and the first one would be where am I." "You are in Fluttershy's cottage, which is located at the edge of Ponywille, which is itself located in Equestria on the planet Equis," Angel replied being very pleased with the reaction he got from the animatronic. Kevin was completely silent trying to churn through all of the information that the rabbit gave to him. "But that's impossible. There isn't a single country that is actually named that, not even the planets name isn't the same. How did that security guard send me here and how am I going to explain to them where I'm from. They'll surely run me out of this country, or even worse kill this body and then exorcise me..." This and multiple other scenarios were going through his mind, each worse and more painful than the rest. In fact, he was so lost in thought that Beary needed to shake him back to reality. "Wha, where!?" "Are you okay? You spaced out for a moment." Beary asked concern on his face. "Yeah, I'm good. I was just thinking about something. Thank you for snapping me out of it." After that, the bear nodded and everything went silent. After about two minutes of said silence, Kevin spoke. "So what now?" "I guess we can get you out of those bandages, fix that skeleton of yours and after that we can play a board game. How does that sound." Beary suggested to which both Kevin and Angel agreed. Angel rubbing his paws at the idea of showing off his skills. With that Beary cut of the bandages to reveal, to Kevins surprise his torso and legs completely sewn shut. He barely even noticed the stitches. He felt like a completely new bot... well almost he still hurt all over so Beary went to work. Now he only needed to figure out where to find himself a new arm and face. But that thought was laid to rest because Beary brought out some playing cards and they all started to play some go fish. ***POV Rarity*** "Okay Rarity, calm down. I'm sure Fluttershy is just overreacting to a wounded animal... Oh who are you kidding, she never lies and if she did, I could have seen it on her face." Rarity thought to herself while running through town towards Fluttershy's cottage. Said pegasus was also flying in the same direction. "I just hope that whatever she does have in there is at least docile." With that, they both galloped to her hut to hopefully see it still intact. And to both their surprise it was. This meant that the creature was probably still unconscious or mauling on an animal. They both entered the house to find a rather odd scene. Thankfully it wasn't the second option that she thought up of. There on the floor of the living room was a bear and Angel playing chess against what Rarity could only describe as a monster. It looked like nobody noticed them enter, so Angel continued. He moved his queen piece to take the monsters horse, which put the creature into check. Then he took his pawn and blocked his way. Angel quickly advanced his piece and took the pawn, which then allowed the monster to take his queen and place Angel into checkmate. "And that's how we do it in my garden." The monster said putting on a very thick cockney accent. Angel only responded by jumping up and down in an angry manner which then followed by him flipping the board. The bear grabbed Angel by the ears and lifted him off the ground and growling at him. It was at that point that the monster turned its head and saw us focusing his red eyes first on Fluttershy and then on Rarity. The unicorn mare was staring directly into them. She would have screamed and fainted. She would have actually done that if it wasn't for what happened next. "Oh you're awake, I hope that Angel wasn't to mean to you. He dosesn't usually like new ponies." Fluttershy said, walking inside and sitting down next to the bear. The monster in the meantime picked up the pieces and put them all inside the box. When he was done he looked at Fluttershy and spoke. "Oh no, he was on his best behavior... Well aside from that little outburst just now. By the way, my name is Kevin." The now named creature said offering his right claw to the shy mare. Fluttershy was at first a bit apprehensive, but she eventually shook it and said. "Well um nice to meet you, Kevin... My name is Fluttershy and... the unicorn standing in the door is Rarity." That is what shook the unicorn out of her stupper. "Why yes... um, Kevin... As Fluttershy has said my name is Rarity an- Oh I can't hold it back. What happened to you. You look like something that crawled out of Tartarus and was then eaten up and puked out by an Ursa Minor." Rarity said while approaching Kevin, making sure to stay at least one meter away from him. Kevin simply looked at himself and then turned back to the mare who was now sitting next to Fluttershy. "Well, I know that already. It is the reason I was sent to this place." He said while fiddling with his fingers and looking down at the floor. "I'm sorry Kevin but you will have to elaborate on that." Rarity said and Kevin then explained everything about the deal with the night guard and his battle with the rockodile. He also explained a little about what he was, leaving out the part about him being a spirit instead saying he was some sort of advanced AI, which explained how he was still alive. "Oh, you poor thing. Don't you worry Fluttershy and I are going to help you as much as possible, Isn't that right Fluttershy?" "Yes we will help and you can stay here as long as you need to... That is if you don't mind." ***POV Kevin*** "How are these technicolor ponies so nice and trusting? If it was me who had to help something like me, then I would sure as heck think twice about it. But then again if they are offering who am I to stop them." Kevin thought to himself before he looked at his savior and the white unicorn. He nodded to them and said. "I don't mind and in all honesty, I'll need all the help that I can get." "Splendid. Now please stand up and put your arm out so that I can take your measurements." Rarity said pulling out a tape measure out of nowhere and started floating it around him. Kevin quickly got up and did as she said. "So darling, do you have any pictures of you before you were mouled. Because I am pretty sure I can make you look exactly like before." "Yup I do. Just let me reach for it." At that point, he looked up and put his hand into the hole of his neck and pulled out a picture. The picture was of him, Freddy, Chica, and Foxy all huddled together. They took this picture after Foxy managed to find a camera in the lost and found. That was before they were dismantled. Before they were replaced. He was so taken with the picture he didn't notice Rarity or Fluttershy trying to get his attention. Fluttershy actually had to shake him a bit before he came back to reality. "Um Kevin, are you okay? You seemed lost in thought there for a moment." Fluttershy said clearly concerned for the robot. "Yeah, I was just remembering the good times with my friends." He then turned to Rarity and gave the picture to her. "Please make sure to return this as soon as possible in one piece. This means a lot to me." Rarity carefully levitated it over. "Don't worry darling I'll make sure to keep it somewhere safe. As for your skin, I'll be done with it in let's say a week. I have some other orders I need to fill before yours, but it will be done." Kevin then nodded. After that, he heard both of their stomachs grumble which then made him look at the time. It was six p.m. "Man time sure flies around here doesn't it. So since your both hungry why don't I make you a pizza for dinner." Kevin offered. To which they both replied in unison. "What's a pizza?" //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 4 "helping" //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 4 "helping" ***POV Kevin*** After the proclamation of the two equines not knowing what a pizza is, he quickly went to the kitchen, with the permission of Fluttershy, to make the said dish. It took a bit of time because he only had one arm, but within one hour he had managed to bring out something for the ponies to enjoy. "Here you go, ladies. One cheese pizza made for your enjoyment." He said while placing the pizza on the table before taking a seat. Rarity looked the dish over and after that took a sniff. "Hmm, interesting combination of smells and it looks very well made." Then she took a slice and bit into it. After she did her eyes popped open and she released a satisfied hum of approval right after. Fluttershy's reaction was much the same although a bit more subdued. After they both finished eating their slice Fluttershy spoke up. "Wow Kevin, this is really good." "Oh yes I must agree with Fluttershy, but I would like to see better presentation next time this pizza is way too bland." Rarity criticised. "Oh trust me Rarity if I wanted to I could have added a lot more to the pizza. But since I didn't know what you both like, I just made it a plain cheese pizza." Kevin said offering a slice of pizza to Beary and Angel. "Perhaps once you are all patched up, you could open your own restaurant. If you don't mind me suggesting." Fluttershy said after which Kevin was lost in thought. "Should I open a restaurant. I mean it's not a bad idea. But then at the same time, it brings up terrible memories... But on the other hand, I would need the money and I'm not that good at anything else... Eh, why not it might be fun. Soul crushing, but fun." And after he thought it through he voiced his decision on the matter. "Excellent darling. Well, it's getting pretty late, so I'll be heading home. And Kevin if you ever need anything we will always be here to help." Rarity said before she wished them both goodnight and left. "Well, I'm tired. I'll see you in the morning Fluttershy. Goodnight." Kevin said finding an empty wall and slumping against it. He turned off his optics, but before he fully went to sleep he heard Fluttershy wishing him goodnight and a flick of a switch. ***Pizzeria, POV Discord*** Discord was getting bored. While watching the elements of kindness and generosity did bring him some amusement, but in the end, he needed to stretch his legs. So with that in mind, he went about exploring the pizzeria. "Okay if I was something fun, where would I be?" He said to himself before he bumped into something or to be more exact someone. "Yarr. Who dares walk into the pirate fox." Foxy said turning around to see the shocked face of Discord. "Oh hello there night guard. Did ye perhaps see me captains friend Kevin? He be a large purple rabbit." Discord just stared at him afraid to move but after a minute he spoke up. "Aren't you supposed to... you know kill me?" "Ye be right about that, but I need to find Kevin so I'm asking you if ya had seen 'im somewhere." Discord got up and said. "Oh, I'm sure he is around here somewhere. I'll keep my eye out for him." "Okay night guard. You just keep an eye out. I'll see you later." And with that Foxy walked away. Discord let out a sigh of relief. "That was close. Definitely, don't want to reveal my plan yet." He thought to himself before he felt something chomp on his head with almost no force. "What the!?" He felt around his head and grabbed onto the jaws of the perpetrator. It was a mangled collection of parts with some parts being white and pink. It also had two heads. "Uuuhhh a puzzle. Finally, something to alleviate my boredom." He said, taking the mangle to the parts and service room to fix it up. ***POV Chica*** Chica was currently in the prize corner hoping to find Kevin somewhere. When her search yielded nothing, she decided to ask the puppet for help. She knocked on the box. "Hey, Puppet could you help us out? Kevin has gone missing and we can't find him anywhere." No response. She tried again. "Oh come on Puppet I know you two don't get along, but I know you still care for each other." This time the spirit of the Puppet rose from his box and looked at Chica with sad and tear-filled eyes. "He 'sob' left the pizzeria. He tore 'sob' me in half and 'sob' left the pizzeria. I 'sob' don't know where 'sob' he is and I need 'sob' to apologize to him." Chica for her part was surprised. Kevin had left the pizzeria. Something thought to be impossible, but he did it. And he broke Puppet to achieve his goal. After she managed to archive all the new information she opened the box and gathered up the body. "Don't worry Puppet well fix you right up. And then you can tell us everything that happened. Okay?" Chica said while Puppets spirit rested on her shoulder. "Okay. I really screwed up this time Chica. I just hope that I can make it up to him." "I'm sure that if you apologize. He will forgive you. Now let's get you fixed up." Chica said carrying the pieces to the parts and service room. ***Fluttershies cottage, POV Kevin*** It was six a.m. when Kevin woke up. His sleep for a change was restful filing him with a new found energy he only experienced when he was still alive. He stretched and released a yawn after which he noticed that the same crow who he had seen in the kitchen was now sleeping on his chest. His stretching had woken it up and, once again it started staring at Kevin. "Why good morning there little guy, how was your sleep?" The crow simply cawed at him and he might have been imagining things but he was pretty sure it smiled at him. The crow then moved up to his shoulder allowing Kevin to stand up. "You can't talk like the others?" He asked to which the crow shock his head. "This place is definitely interesting... Well, then how about I prepare you something to eat." Kevin said walking into the kitchen where he eventually found the food for the animals. "So what are you in the mood for?" The crow flew from his shoulder and landed on a bag labeled sunflower seeds. Kevin then took that bag. The crow also landed on a couple of other bags which the robot also took. After that, he took a plate and put a small handful of each seed type on it and then slid it to his feathery companion. While he was cleaning up he thought. "This is very interesting. This crow has been keeping an eye on me ever since I woke up. Hmm... maybe I can ask Fluttershy about this when she wakes up." He then sat down on a chair and watched the crow eating. After some time passed it finished its breakfast and was right back on Kevin's shoulder. "So little guy you gonna tell me why you took such interest in me?" The crow looked sad this time and simply cawed a couple of times. Kevin could tell that this question bothered him so he let the matter drop. Instead, he decided to play a game with him. So he placed the crow on the table and instructed him to wait and after he did he went to the living room and got a box of playing cards. He returned to the kitchen right after and set up a game of go fish with the crow. After a couple of hours of playing the game, Fluttershy woke up and went downstairs to check on her new guest. She was pleasantly surprised to find him and, by the looks of it, his new friend playing a card game. "Goodmorning Kevin. I see that you made a new friend." "That I did," Kevin said turning to Fluttershy. After that, the crow took a card from his hand. When he looked it over with the cards that he had, he turned them over to reveal for of a kind. This made him release a happy caw of victory before he flew up and nestled on his new favorite perch in the house. "Ah pooh lost again. Oh well. So Fluttershy you need any help with anything." Kevin asked while gathering up all the cards and placing it in the box. Fluttershy thought about it for a moment before she thought of something to do. "How about you go outside and keep my other animals entertained while I prepare them breakfast. Can you do that?" "Sure I can give it a try. Are you up for that as well?" The robot asked the crow, to which he got a nod of approval. "Okay then. Just one question, how long do I need to keep them entertained?" "Oh, not long just half an hour. Here." Fluttershy handed him a crate which was filled with animal toys. "Use those on some of the more energetic ones." Kevin just looked at the box, then at Fluttershy and then finally nodded. After that, he went outside. Once outside everything was quiet. For there was no one around. Well, almost no one. Beary was there and Angel was also outside keeping an eye on him. Kevin then simply sighed moved to the center of the backyard and sat down, putting the box next to him. "Well, it's not like I was expecting anything else." He thought to himself. After that, he heard someone rummaging through the box and lo and behold a small orange fox was searching for something in it. When he found what he was looking for he popped his head out, holding a squeaky ball. At first, he was unaware that Kevin was watching, but when he did he dropped the ball and hid in the box. Said ball landed next to Kevin. He picked it up and squeezed it once, the fox reacted and popped one ear out of the box. He repeated the action two more times and the foxes head was now outside. "Hey, there little guy. You don't have to be afraid. I won't hurt you, so why don't you come out and we can play a little. How does that sound?" Kevin said in a gentle voice. "T-that sounds nice. But I-I don't know if you'll hurt me. A-a-are you g-going to hurt me?" The fox replied. "No little one. I won't hurt you. I just want to play and help out if I can." After those words, the fox leaped out of the box and started running in circles around him. "Ohboyohboyohboyanewfriend.Let'splayfriend. Let'splayfetchIlovefetchlet'splay. Throwtheballthrowit!" Kevin only chuckled at the foxes eagerness and threw the ball. The fox immediately charged after it and when he got to it he pawed it around for a couple of seconds before he bit into it and brought it back for Kevin to throw it again. Several minutes pass and sure enough, more animals start popping up, slowly approaching Kevin. He stayed completely still once they arrived to let them smell him and once they determined that he was not a threat. They all started to play around him. Kevin was at that point very happy. Maybe even the happiest he has been in a long while, but that probably has to do with all the baby bunnies climbing up on his torso. ***POV Fluttershy*** Fluttershy was watching the whole scene play out from the sidelines. At first, she was rather disheartened to see all the animals avoid Kevin. But when she saw the fox running around him, she was very happy that one of her more shy animal friends has given him a chance. When she was finished with her task, she went to pick up a small bell and rang it. Once she did all the animals stopped playing and went to get their food. Fluttershy saw that there was tortoise who was also very eager to get his food. Then she saw Kevin pick him up and carry him to his food. The tortoise then turned to him and gave him a slow smile before he started eating. Fluttershy was not sure at the time, but she could see that Kevin was genuinely happy. "I wonder why he tries so hard to fake his happiness." It was a thought she was repeating in her head ever since she met him. Which is not saying much. "I guess I'll just have to give him more reasons to be happy." She then looked off in one direction and got an idea. "Hmm, he may be able to help me with that... If he doesn't mind that is." Author's Note Another chapter for you all. Spread it to all and comment what you like or dislike about this story. I can only get better with your input. See you all in the next chapter.