The Night Guard

Sunset scoured the internet’s endless job postings. High School, she was able to support herself, but college was a whole other beast. In Equestria, she hadn’t ever wanted for anything, but here she had to work for everything.

It wasn’t all bad, but between the cost of college and her living expenses… she was sinking. Scrolling, she saw a job posting that she couldn’t believe. It almost looked like a scam.

“Thirty dollars per hour, Nights… Full-Time, down-time… paid breaks?” Sunset scoffed. “Thirty is insane…it’s gotta have some insane qualifications-“ she hemmed and hawed. Leaning back in her computer chair as she contemplated. “Aw damn, it’s just an application, they probably won’t even call me.”

Hours past, Sunset was sat on the sofa of her studio apartment. Shoveling spoons full of instant ramen noodles into her mouth when the phone rang. “Hello?” She said, mouth full as she struggled to swallow the lump of food in time to answer.

“I recieved your application for the Night Guard position, I was wondering if you were interested in coming to the warehouse tonight to scope things out?”

She turned to the digital clock on the television table. It said 6pm, and it was still light out. “Sure, can you just send me the address? Is this a formal interview?”

The voice on the phone chuckled a bit, “hardly, come as you are. The place can be rather unnerving, so I’d rather you scope the place before making any offers.”

Sunset grumbled into the phone. What a strange request, but thirty an hour was something she could hardly afford to pass on. “Sure, yeah, I understand.” Though she did not understand, “I’ll head over, Ms…”

“Oh you can call me, Lyra.”

Upon her arrival, Sunset was greeted by a familiar face. She closed the car door, walking up to what seemed to be an abandoned building. “Oh Ms. Lyra, hello.”

“You went to Canterlot High School, did you not?” Lyra asked, she held out her hand for Sunset to shake.

“I did, and I was just thinking how familiar you looked… are you still with that girl- man, I’m terrible with names.” Sunset rambled.

Lyra nodded, “Bon-Bon, and no, not really… not after I came into this business.”

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. “I’m so sorry-“

“You couldn’t have known, let’s go in.” Lyra said with a smile.

The inside of the building hardly matched the outside. Sure, the place looked old, but there was very little wear or tear. It wasn’t until Lyra waltzed over to the stage in the center of the old pizzeria that she came to understand. “These are the ponies you’ll be in charge of guarding.” She said as she pushed a button to the right of the stage. As the mechanical curtain creaked open, a strange distorted sound came from the antiquated speakers. It was music, or at least it used to be. The now open curtain revealed three animatronic ponies.

The center, a purple unicorn… with only one wing, it was evident that she’d once had two, but what remained were broken hinges and loose wires. She looked so familiar, but if it were true, she was sure Lyra would’ve noted the resemblance as well.

To her left stood a pink pony with a mess of faux hair bunched into knots. The joints in her legs clearly worn. The plating cracked leaving her metallic endoskeleton visible.

And to the right was a blue pony, though it was hardly recognizable. The face plate of the animatronic was removed. The nothingness startled her. Staring into the black openness of the head, wires and lights flicked about. How awful a sight it was… she hardly took the time to notice the rainbow strips sewn into the head and flank.

She wondered what the chances were, that these pony replicas so closely resembled those of her friends in Equestria. “You know-“

“I do realize,” Lyra said, she laughed. “I thought you might recognize them… but they were here before I arrived… I purchased this building in the hopes of reviving the pizzeria. I didn’t know what I would discover. And I certainly didn’t expect this” She cleared her throat, “but that is why I thought you would be a perfect fit… these animatronics remind you of your friends, you will be protective over them.”

Sunset looked around the room, admiring the aesthetic of the 80’s-esque diner. The only perturbing aspect being the animatronics… so perhaps… it wasn’t all bad. She turned until her attention was drawn to another stage, no lights surrounded it, and where the button to activate it once was, was an open circular hole in the wall. “What is that.”

Lyra turned and her smile dropped slightly. “That is the second stage, but the animatronic has only a torso and a face. It’s quite unsettling and well…” her voice trailed off “I have already hired some engineers to begin repairs. Starting on the second stage. They should arrive for work in the morning, in fact.”

Sunset peered on. “It doesn’t seem so bad.”

Lyra’s smile returned. “Fantastic, so you can start tomorrow if that is well with you. Working hours will be 8pm to 6am.” She coughed “with an hour lunch. Perhaps, during your down time you can work on your school work… you are in college, aren’t you?”

Sunset laughed nonchalantly. “Yeah, that sounds awesome, and yeah. I am.”

“So this will work out for both of us. Just remember, like I said, it can be rather unnerving sometimes… quirky even, but I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

That night, Sunset recalled the visual similarities between the pony animatronics and her friends. How could any one know what they had looked like through the mirror? It was impossible, but so incredibly unlikely that it would be a coincidence. She raked her memory… Twilight, Pinkie, and Rainbow… but the other three weren’t anywhere to be found in the pizzeria, right? It was probably just a marketing matter. Girls like pink, purple, and rainbows… but the pony types matched them explicitly…

Sunset tossed and turned. Where had this pizzeria even come from, it was evidently abandoned for the bulk of 30 or more years… since the 1980s. Who could’ve had the foresight to know these ponies… Sunset wasn’t even quite sure how their timelines intersected… how many moons were there in Equestria while a year had passed here…

Her mind was reeling, until she heard laughing. She sprung out of bed. Grabbing the baseball bad she kept beside her bed, she made her way around the small studio.

But the laughter could not be located… nor did it repeat itself. She reluctantly made her way back to bed. “I’m just stressing myself out. I gotta get to bed.”