The Night Guard

While sitting through her morning lecture, Sunset felt her phone rumbling repeatedly. At first, she was determined to ignore the ringing, but it was unceasing. Peering down, she realized it was Lyra… who was technically her boss now… so she politely excused herself and snuck out the back door.

“Hey, Lyra. I was just in class… what’s up?” She asked casually, but there was an undertone of annoyance.

Lyra huffed into the phone. “Well, thank goodness you answered. I saw that the Stage Two animatronic had fallen and I was worried that you were injured.”

Sunset laughed awkwardly, “oh, no just a minor cut on my hand.”

Lyra’s shock could be heard through the receiver. “Oh Sunset, I am so sorry. That animatronic is dangerous, the maintenance workers were having trouble repairing it without replacing a ton of parts because the wires are just so sharp and all over it.” She sighed, and her undertone was that of annoyance as well. Presumably because she had warned Sunset prior. “Hey, why don’t I come in at the start of your shift tonight? Okay? See you then!” The click of the abrupt end of the call shook Sunset in confusion.

It wasn’t that she minded her coming into her shift, she just wasn’t sure how that would improve the situation.

Making her way from her car to the door, she was greeted by Lyra. “Good evening, Sunset.” She said, holding the door open for her. As they walked through the pizzeria, Lyra took stock of the place. “Looks like you’ve been cleaning up in here.“ she laughed. “You know, I bought this place because of the ponies. I remember in high school, all of the insane magic you all did… I wondered if I could recreate that magic for other people… metaphorically of course.”

Sunset chuckled awkwardly. “I was wondering why the animatronics looked so… familiar.”

“It’s partially a coincidence.” Lyra replied. “The plates are easy to replace, it’s the endos that are difficult. When they sold the building, the animatronics came with it. But, like I said, getting the parts to repair them isn’t easy.. when I saw them, the ponies, I knew I needed to buy this place.”

Sunset felt a little bit of warmth in her heart. That Lyra would dedicate her business to her and her friends. “That’s really sweet, actually”

Lyra opened the office door and allowed Sunset to pass her. Once inside she spoke. “You and I have a lot in common, you know.”

Sunset punched into work. “Yeah?” She said, only half interested in the follow-up.

Lyra hummed, noticing her disinterest. “Yeah.” She replied simply. “Well, I’ll just cut to the chase, there’s something I want to show you before I go. Come with me.”

The pair of girls walked down the hall and out to the warehouse. Sunset shuttered at the memory of the Rarity marionette. “A lot of interesting things out here.” She said, as she pulled the door open.

Lyra nodded enthusiastically, it was immediately evident what she had wanted to show her. A new animatronic. Brand new, in fact. The yellow mane and bicolored mane were startling to Sunset. “Um, Lyra… is that supposed to be… me?”

Lyra clapped her hands, quite satisfied with her work. “Don’t you love it? Fluttershy is a bit of a work in progress. There were only four ponies… well three ponies and a giraffe- which will be a pony soon.” She laughed an awkward and slightly maniacal laugh. “I couldn’t leave you out, I had this special ordered.”

Sunset slowly backed up until her back was against the door. The only positive being that this animatronic wasn’t horribly disfigured with a terrible paint job and poorly rerooted hair. “It’s really… nice?” Sunset said finally.

This time, Lyra took no notice of her hesitation. Racing over to the wall where the marionette hung. “And I found this old doll, it already had purple hair so I thought it could be Rarity.” As Lyra lifted the doll, the untraceable laughter began. This time louder, with a deeper tone. It seemed to drag on. “You’ll get used to that.” Lyra said.

Sunset stammered, at a loss for words. If Lyra could hear the laughing too it wasn’t all in her head. “I’d better get in to work, make sure the place isn’t burning to the ground.” She said, half joking, half wishing a fire would burn this place down.

Lyra pulled out an old-looking molded bell. It had a handle and could’ve been mistaken for a cowbell of some sort. “Do you recognize this?” Lyra asked.

Sunset shook her head honestly, she hardly looked at the thing to keep herself from having to stare into her own teal eyes. Well, the eyes of her robotic, pony-self. “Can’t say I do.”

Lyra laughed. “Oh I’m sure you do, but I’ll let you get to work.” She said finally, picking the bell back up as she left.

Back in the office, Sunset tried to claw through everything she had just seen. At first, she had thought it was a sweet gesture. That her friends had left such an impact on Lyra, she wanted to share the ‘Magic of Friendship’ with the world. But, in staring into the cold eyes of a metal pony made in her likeness, Sunset wasn’t so sure.

Sunset watched the screens in front of her, watching Lyra wave the bell around in the stage room. She covered her eyes with her hands out of second-hand humiliation. Genuinely beginning to second-guess the other woman’s sanity. She looked away, unable to stand the insanity any longer.

“What a psycho.” Sunset mumbled under her breath. She pulled herself up and out of the chair. Trying to distract her mind, she made her way over to the lockers. She pulled them open, one by one. All of them empty, except one. The door chimes rang, signifying Lyra’s exit. Sunset began to thank Celestia she had gone.

Returning her attention to the locker, she lifted the small figure of Fluttershy. Evidently handmade, but to scale, a replica of the pony version of her. Strange, how Lyra would be able to estimate something so closely.

As she assessed the figure, she heard a strained wobbling and creaking sound. It almost sounded like a shopping cart. A shopping cart with a broken wheel, perhaps, the sound of small wheels wiggling on their spokes.

The noise slowly grew closer and closer. Sunset turned toward the door, ensuring that it was closed.

It was unsettling, this new sound. Almost, but not quite comparable to the laughter. Contrary to the laughter, however, this sound was tangible. It didn’t sound made up, it sounded very much real.

But what could be making that sound? What had wheels? And who was pushing it around?