//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: Welcome to Fun Land 
// Story: Spiritus ex Machina 
// by wonderkid125 
//------------------------------//

Spirits were high as the group followed Berry Swirl through town. Most of the ponies had never been to Trottingham before, so it was an intriguing experience to be able to take in all of the sights and sounds. The daily hustle and bustle of ponies in Ponyville wasn’t very noteworthy because everyone was accustomed to it, but it was always interesting to see the locals of a new town going about their business.

Twilight glanced behind her to see her friends following along behind. The other elements of harmony were chatting happily amongst themselves, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were playing as they walked to the side of the group, even Glimmer Shine and his team were off by themselves, but they seemed to be discussing business rather than pleasure.

“So, how long do you guys think it will take to get rid of the problem when we get to the park?” Twilight asked curiously while glancing between the team of ponies and the human walking beside her.

“Well… that depends on what the problem actually is.” Glimmer Shine said while glancing over to Tom for confirmation. Even after all of these months, the human was still the one with the most knowledge on the paranormal. Then again, it would be hard to outmatch the boy on his knowledge considering he had the memories of the slayers before him and all of their experience with monsters.

“Yeah… it could take a few hours, or it could take a few days depending on a lot of factors. It would help if we knew exactly what was going on.” Tom said while looking ahead to Berry Swirl. The purple mare realized that she was the only one with the knowledge the group needed. She looked down in thought for a moment while trying to put into words what had been happening at the park.

“Well, you see… we only just started working on getting the park up and running again about a year ago. Everything was fine for a while, but we have noticed a lot of strange things going on recently. Tools and other small objects would go missing, only to turn up in the strangest places. The temperature in certain rooms would drop suddenly. But the most prominent issue we have been getting is the voices.” Berry explained with a slight twinge of unease in her voice.

“V-voices?” Fluttershy asked nervously. Even the mere mention of such an eerie concept made chills go up and down her spine.

“Yeah… I thought my employees were going nuts when they first told me about it, but then I started hearing them too. It wasn’t anything too significant… usually, it would just be a quiet whisper or faint giggling coming from just outside of the room, but there have been a few instances where we have all heard the same thing… usually, it would happen in the basement.” Berry Swirl said while glancing behind her to see if the group was still paying attention. Most of the group was listening intently, while Fluttershy was cowering behind Rarity and her large suitcase for protection.

“Disembodied voices are a common occurrence when dealing with ghosts. If they are as quiet as a whisper every time, that usually means that the ghost, or ghosts, in question aren’t that strong.” Tom explained in a confident manner.

“It’s nice to hear that you guys know your stuff. I’m glad I have some real experts handling this.” Berry stated with a pleased smile.

“Trust us on this one. Tom and the others are the best there is when it comes to beating up ghosts, monsters, and anything else that ails you.” Rainbow Dash said with a confident smirk while looking over to the team of monster hunters.

“Yeah, they were the ones that took care of the hooded ponies when they attacked the palace in Canterlot.” Spike chimed in, eager to praise the group for their efforts.

“I heard about that… they caused a lot of havoc in Ponyville didn’t they?” Berry asked while glancing at the group for confirmation. “I’m glad somepony finally put a stop to those guys… who knows what they would have done if they succeeded in overthrowing the princess?” She said with an uncomfortable shudder. Twilight glanced to her friends and shared an uncomfortable expression with them. If anyone knew the full extent of the hooded ponies’ evil, it was the purple mare and her friends.

“Well, we don’t need to worry about that anymore! We beat those meanie pants fair and square. We were all like KAPOW! And then Tom came in like PEW PEW! And then they went KABLOOEY!” Pinkie Pie said while waving her forelegs around as she made sound effects with her mouth. Twilight and the others stared at the pink mare with raised eyebrows.

“Pinkie Pie… you are so random.” Rainbow Dash stated with an amused chuckle. Everyone else giggled lightheartedly at the party pony’s antics.

While the group laughed together behind her, Berry Swirl took a moment to look ahead to see where they were. She raised her eyebrows in surprise as she noticed the sight of her beloved park coming into view.

“We’re here, everyone!” The purple mare announced excitedly while pausing and pointing ahead for everyone to see. The ponies all gasped in excitement as they looked to where the earth pony was pointing.

Just ahead, there was a large fenced in area with a large and decorative sign over the front gate that read Fun Land in big colorful letters. Much of the space inside of the fence was just empty landscape, but further inside there were the silhouettes of large water slides and the main resort building.

“Last one in’s a rotten egg!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed before bolting towards the entrance. Everyone else barely had time to react before they started running after the cyan pegasus. Berry Swirl shrugged with a slight smirk on her face before following the crowd of eager ponies.

Once they made it past the front gate, the group followed a large path through the rolling green landscape around them. The area almost looked like a completely barren field with nothing but grass to either side as far as the eye could see.

“Wow… this place sure does have a lot of empty land.” Applejack observed while looking to either side and admiring the large grassy areas to her sides.

“I’m not surprised… this place was a larger park a long time ago. Isn’t that right Berry?” Twilight asked while looking ahead to the purple mare in front of the group.

“That’s right. Back when my great grandfather owned the place, it was a regular old-fashioned amusement park. After the earthquake hit the place and sank the majority of the property underground, the park closed down. My grandfather picked up the pieces and made it a water resort a long time ago, and my dad picked up where he left off.” Berry Swirl explained while looking ahead at the growing shapes of the actual resort.

“How is your dad doing Berry? I’ll bet he must be so proud of you for re-opening the family business!” Pinkie Pie stated while smiling eagerly as she thought back to the purple mare’s father. Berry looked down and frowned sadly at the pink pony’s question.

“Unfortunately my father passed away last year.” The earth pony explained in a somber tone. The others all looked at the purple pony with distraught expressions of sympathy.

“I am so sorry to hear that Berry… I had no idea.” Pinkie Pie said while momentarily dropping her normal energetic appearance and adopting a genuinely sad expression.

“Don’t worry Pinkie… I’ve already grieved my loss appropriately. Now I just want to keep my father’s legacy alive by restoring the park to its former glory.” Berry said in a slightly more cheerful tone. Even though she didn’t return a bright smile to her face, she seemed to be comfortable with moving on from the gloomy memory of her late father.

“Well, we’re here to make sure nothing gets in your way… nothing paranormal at any rate.” Tom said to shift the conversation to something less somber and saddening.

“Well, you’re welcome to enjoy yourselves for as long as you want… just as long as you take care of things before you leave.” Berry said in a friendly tone.

“It will be our pleasure Ms. Swirl.” Glimmer Shine stated in a sincere manner while looking back to his team. Sunspot and Glitterball nodded while smiling back at the purple mare.

“Please… call me Berry, and feel free to make yourselves at home.” Berry explained while motioning around her. By now, the group had reached the main part of the park. They looked around them with their jaws agape in awe as they stared at the numerous water slides and the glistening pools all around them.

Now that they were in the actual park, the grassy fields to their sides had been replaced with tiled areas that led to pools, various shacks with colorful pictures of food and refreshments painted on the side, and changing areas complete with towels and pool toys. The pleasing smell that came with the chemicals used to balance the pH in water was drifting through the wind, almost acting in place of the smell of the sea that would come from walking along a beach. There were water spouts shooting out from many of the pools and slides, many of which arched in the air and came down in a different section of their respective pools. The entire atmosphere had changed from empty green fields to a warm and sunny summer paradise, and at its center, was where the group would be staying for the next week.

“Wow… Get a load of this place.” Spike said while looking ahead at the large resort building.

The building looked like what the group expected a luxurious resort building to look like. There were several paths leading around the building, past numerous decorations and water fountains, and up to the main entrance. The entrance sat atop a flight of marble stairs, with an archway of colorful awnings shading the area in front of the main doors. The doors themselves were glass, and there were glass windows to either side that stretched from the floor to the ceiling, so the group could already see a little bit of the building’s interior, which was spacious and inviting.

“Are you telling me that’s where we’re staying?” Rainbow Dash asked in a tone of disbelief.

“Yep… that would be the resort.” Berry explained with an amused chuckle at seeing the awestruck ponies.

“Someone pinch me because I must be dreaming! This week keeps getting better and bett-OW!” Rainbow Dash yelped in mild pain as she felt a pinching sensation on her foreleg. She looked over to see Pinkie Pie pulling her hoof back from pinching her. The pink mare smiled awkwardly and backed away as the pegasus glared at her.

“I must say… this place looks incredible on the outside. I can’t wait to see what it looks like on the inside.” Twilight stated eagerly while looking around at her surroundings. She could already picture herself lounging poolside with her friends while reading a good book, or even playing around in the various pools and waterslides.

“Well, you won’t have to wait long. Let’s head inside so I can introduce you to everyone and give you the tour.” Berry Swirl suggested while motioning towards the resort. Everyone nodded in eager agreement before following the purple mare up the marble steps and into the resort.

If the pools and tiled areas of the park outside amazed everyone, then what they were seeing now must have doubled their excitement and wonder. As they walked through the glass double doors and into the lobby of the resort, the ponies were rendered speechless at their surroundings. The lobby itself was huge, with vaulted ceilings giving the impression of even more space. There was a large circular rug in the middle of the room that was a deep and inviting blue color, which perfectly complimented the cool colored wallpaper and carpet, creating a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere. The air in the room was cool enough to offer refuge from the heat of the sun, but not abrasive enough to freeze anyone walking in from the pools outside.

The group looked ahead to see a large desk at the front of the room, with a small placard on it that aptly read front desk. Behind the desk, there was a cream colored unicorn mare with white hair. The mare was wearing a white collar, a black bow tie, and brown reading glasses, giving her the appearance of someone who would doubtlessly work at the front desk of a hotel or resort of such caliber. Her cutie mark was a small bell that resembled one that would be used to summon a bellhop.

“Hey Silver. I’m back, and I brought our new friends with me.” Berry Swirl said while trotting up to the desk. The mare behind the counter looked up and smiled upon seeing the group of visitors.

“It’s nice to meet you all. Welcome to Funland!” The mare said in an enthusiastic tone that sounded rehearsed as if she was supposed to say that to everyone. Still, she did have a genuine smile on her face and she did put a lot of energy behind her greeting.

“Everyone, this is Silver Bell. She’s the general manager for the resort.” Berry explained while introducing the cream colored pony to everyone.

“And currently the receptionist, but I digress.” Silver said with an amused smirk.

“We’re pleased to meet you, Silver.” Rarity spoke up on behalf of the group with a friendly smile.

“So, I assume you’re going to give them the tour of the place Berry?” Silver Bell asked curiously while glancing over to the purple mare.

“Yeah, but first I need to have someone take their bags up to their rooms. Would you mind letting me use your radio?” Berry asked in a polite manner. Silver Bell reached under the desk before pulling out a small black walkie-talkie.

“Alright, here you go.” Silver said while handing the radio over the counter to the waiting hooves of the purple earth pony. Berry pressed the button on the radio down and cleared her throat before speaking into it.

“Hey Sparkplug, this is Berry. Our new guests have arrived. Can you send Bonnie over to the lobby to help them get settled in?” Berry asked in a clear tone before waiting intently for a reply. Before long, the group heard the voice of another mare speaking through the radio.

“Sure thing, he should be there soon.” The mare stated before falling silent.

“Thanks… I’ll probably come find you in a little bit so we can give our guests a tour.” Berry said while pressing down the button again. The purple mare looked over to the group of ponies, only to see them looking at her with puzzled expressions.

“That was Sparkplug, she’s our maintenance pony. I just asked her to send one of our animatronics over to help take your bags upstairs.” Berry explained while placing the radio on the front desk. Judging from their expressions, the ponies were even more confused than before.

“Wait… You asked her to send an animatronic over? What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked curiously. As far as she knew, the only things the animatronics could do was dancing on stage and playing pre-recorded songs and phrases.

Before Berry could answer, a series of mechanical sounds, followed by footsteps, made the group turn their heads to the side. Everyone was surprised to see the same blue rabbit from the flyer walking through a door and approaching them. The animatronic was much bigger than it seemed in the flyer. It was still around Tom’s height, but it was so unexpected to see something bigger than a pony walking up to them so casually.

“Ah, there he is. Everyone… this is Bonnie. He is one of the animatronic animals we have here at the park. Say hi Bonnie.” Berry instructed while looking at the blue rabbit. The robotic animal’s joints clicked and made a constant mechanical sound as it slowly moved its arm up and waved at the ponies. He moved in a choppy sort of fashion that was fluid enough to seem realistic, but obvious enough to realize that it was a robot.

“Hiya kids! My name is Bonnie the bunny. Are you ready to have some fun?” The rabbit spoke in a friendly manner. His voice had a slight distortion to it that made it obvious that he was using some kind of voice box to speak. His mouth barely moved at all when he spoke, remaining in a goofy smile and revealing his buck teeth. When his mouth did move, it merely moved up and down to give the illusion that his voice was actually coming from him.

Everyone marveled at the robotic animal with mixed expressions ranging from curiosity to outright amazement. They had never seen anything like it in their whole lives. Even Twilight was surprised to see the mechanical rabbit out and about. She was used to seeing animatronics like him on a show stage and performing prerecorded actions.

“Wow… that’s amazing… how is he able to walk around and understand you?” Twilight asked curiously while looking to Berry for answers.

“After my granddad took over the park, he was working on making the animatronics walk around and interact with guests for a while. He actually had a few models that could do the same stuff Bonnie here can do even back then, he just didn’t have them roaming out in the park. They work by using magical components on top of the usual machinery… Sparkplug would be able to explain it better, but they can understand and perform basic commands, speak using a voice box, and they even have their own personalities.” Berry Swirl explained while putting a hoof on the robotic bunny and resting on him. Bonnie stared ahead and continued looking around at the group of ponies. It was almost like he was analyzing them in his head.

“Their own personalities? Wow… that sounds so cool!” Rainbow Dash said while looking at the robotic animal with an amazed expression.

“I don’t know… it looks kind of creepy.” Fluttershy stated nervously while warily looking at the mechanical rabbit from the back of the group.

“I thought you liked animals Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash said while playfully smirking at the yellow mare.

“I do, but he looks kind of… umm… how do I put this?” Fluttershy said while staring at Bonnie’s eyes uncomfortably. They reminded her a little too much of a lifeless doll.

“He does look a bit creepy I suppose. Anything that tries to imitate life tends to come off as a little eerie.” Twilight stated in agreement with the pegasus. Even though she didn’t feel creeped out by the animatronic, she did understand why someone might find its hollow gaze unsettling.

As the robot laid eyes on Tom, he paused and stared at him. The human felt a little uneasy from being stared at by such a creepy looking creature. The rabbit looked a little too doll-like for the boy’s liking, and he had learned to be wary around dolls from his experience as a slayer.

“Why is it looking at me like that?” Tom asked uncomfortably while glancing over to the purple earth pony.

“Umm… I guess he has never seen a human before. He’s probably just trying to figure out what you are… Try talking to him.” Berry suggested while backing up to give the human and the rabbit some room. Tom was surprised to hear the earth pony reference the robot like it was an actual living thing. He would never have guessed that he would be trying to make friends with a mechanical bunny when he woke up earlier.

“Talk to him? Like… make conversation with it? Can it even do that?” Tom asked curiously while glancing between the ponies and the animatronic. On top of its unsettling appearance, it was trippy that the rabbit was actually at eye level with the human.

“Go on Tom, make a new friend!” Pinkie said while gently shoving the human forward.

Tom uneasily backed up slightly to prevent himself from running into the blue robot. “Umm… uh… hi, Bonnie… my name is Tom.” The boy said while hesitantly extending his hand to the rabbit. Much to his surprise, Bonnie reached forward and gripped his hand before shaking it up and down. The robot’s level of enthusiasm was astounding, especially since the human hadn’t expected anything to happen. Tom felt himself jostling up and down as the bunny shook his hand firmly.

“Hello Tom! Nice to meet you!” Bonnie said while letting the human go free. Tom’s head was spinning from how much he was shaken.

“Hehe… I think he likes you!” Pinkie stated with an amused chuckle.

“I would hate to see what he would do if he didn’t like me.” Tom said while rubbing his hand where the rabbit gripped him.

“Well, I think Bonnie should get your luggage up to your rooms now. You’ll have time to socialize later.” Berry said with a slight giggle before turning to the animatronic rabbit. “Bonnie, take our guests’ bags up to their rooms.” She instructed in a clear voice. Bonnie turned to look at the group for a moment. He looked down to their bags and made a note of which bag belonged to which pony before walking up to Rarity and reaching for her suitcase.

“Whoa, there partner… I don’t think you can handle Rarity’s bag. It’s a bit bulky if you ask-” Applejack started to speak until she was silenced by Bonnie picking up the unicorn’s suitcase with relative ease. “Wow… he’s a strong feller isn’t he?” The orange mare said in an impressed tone.

“Yep… he has a metal endoskeleton underneath his cutesy exterior. He might not look it, but he is strong enough to lift anything you might have in that bag of yours.” Berry said with an amused chuckle before looking over to the rest of the group.

“Well, Bonnie is going to take your bags up to your rooms. I hope you don’t mind, but I told him to lead you to shared rooms with three or so beds. It’s a lot easier for us to keep up with managing seven or eight rooms instead of fourteen. If you want, I can change it so all of you have a room to yourself.” Berry said in a courteous tone. Twilight and the others glanced at each other for a moment to gather their opinions. Nobody seemed to be against sharing rooms with some of their friends.

“No, that’s fine. We’re ok with sleeping in the same room. Can I ask which of us you have booked to which room?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Once Bonnie takes you upstairs, you can choose who goes into what room. We have several different suites with different numbers of beds. Just be sure to tell one of us which rooms you decide to stay in… you can even tell Bonnie if you want.” Berry said while giving the robot a pat on the leg. Bonnie glanced beside him to the purple mare for a moment before returning his gaze forward.

“That sounds great Berry. We can’t thank you enough for letting us come here like this.” Twilight said in a friendly tone while glancing to her friends. Everyone nodded sincerely as the unicorn expressed their gratitude for them. Hearing so much praise coming from her guests made the earth pony smile coyly.

“It’s the least we can do to repay you for helping us out. Now then… I think that it’s time for Bonnie to start taking your bags upstairs. You can follow him up there to get settled in right away if you want, but I’m willing to give some of you a quick tour of the place if you’re willing to stay. I’ll even take you over to maintenance so Sparkplug can show you how the animatronics work.” Berry Swirl suggested in a friendly tone.

“I am definitely up for finding our rooms and then heading straight to the nearest pool. Who’s with me?” Rainbow Dash said while looking to her friends, eager to see who would join her. Almost everyone stepped forward and cheered eagerly at the prospect of heading up to see their rooms. Before long, only Twilight, Tom, Spike, and Applejack were left standing by Berry Swirl. “You coming with us Applejack?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

“Nah, I’ll catch up with y’all later. I’m actually pretty curious to see how those robot critters work.” Applejack said while looking over at Twilight and the others. The unicorn was happy to see a desire to learn in the farm pony. Without further delay, Bonnie reached forward and grabbed another bag by the handle. As he was turning around, the robotic animal turned his head to face the group that was coming with him.

“Follow me.” The rabbit instructed in a friendly manner before walking forward towards the same doorway he entered through. Rainbow Dash and the others grabbed some of their other bags before following the animatronic, leaving Twilight and her three companions to wait for Berry to escort them.

“I can’t wait to find out more about those robots.” Tom said while watching the group of ponies following the blue rabbit curiously.

“Yeah… robots… that sounds cool I guess.” Spike sighed in a bored tone while resting on Twilight’s back. It didn’t take much to figure out that he didn’t really want to go on a tour of the building.

“You can go with them if you want Spike.” Twilight suggested with a knowing smile.

“Really? Are you sure?” Spike asked in a surprised tone.

“Of course… we can just meet up la-” Twilight spoke up until she was interrupted by the young dragon jumping off of her back and rushing over to the others.

“Ok, bye guys!” Spike said as he rushed off to catch up to the group while they followed the mechanical rabbit out into the hall. Twilight smiled and shook her head at her young assistant. She was surprised to see how willing he was to ditch her, but she understood that he was still a kid.

“Well… I guess we’re ready to take the tour Berry.” Twilight said while turning to the purple mare.

“Ok then, follow me. I’ll take you to our security room so you can meet Sparkplug and we can explain the layout of the park.” Berry said while motioning for the three to come with her. Twilight, Tom, and Applejack nodded before following the purple mare to the right.

The group walked through a few hallways and other rooms of the resort as they continued forward. They passed through a room full of couches and chairs before taking a left and entering into a door marked employees only. The four found themselves walking through a hallway with gray carpets and walls. It looked vastly different from the colorful rooms back in the public areas of the resort. There were storage areas and janitor’s closets spread along the hallway. Finally, Berry paused in front of a room marked security and turned to the others.

“In here is where we monitor all of the security cameras in the park. Hopefully, Sparkplug will be in there… she usually either hangs out here or over in the maintenance area.” Berry explained while motioning back towards the hallway with her head.

“Is Sparkplug the security guard too?” Twilight asked curiously.

“No… we’re kind of understaffed for the moment, so everyone pitches in for certain jobs. As you saw earlier, Silver usually takes care of the front desk as well as keeping an eye on things to make sure everything is spick and spam.” Berry Swirl stated in a praising tone. The group was impressed by how close of a relationship the earth pony had with her employees.

Without further delay, the purple earth pony grabbed the door handle with her hoof and pulled open the door. Twilight and her two companions followed Berry inside and into a small room. The room contained a wall of monitors that had various images from around the park, each with a small overlay of text that denoted which camera was on the screen. Below the monitors, there was a console full of buttons and switches that looked far too complex to warrant an average pony’s comprehension.

Sitting in a swivel chair in front of the wall of monitors, there was an older looking brownish-orange earth pony stallion with black hair. He had a wrench and a screwdriver crossing to form an x as his cutie mark. Once he heard the door closing as the group walked into the room, he spun the chair around to see everyone.

“Hey, Berry.” The stallion greeted the purple mare with a friendly smile.

“Hey Copper,” Berry said before turning to her group. “Guys, this is Copper Coil. He helps out Sparkplug with fixing up the animatronics and keeping this place from falling apart.” She explained while motioning towards the stallion.

“I assume these are our new guests?” Copper asked curiously while observing the group.

“You assume correctly. This is Twilight Sparkle and her friends Applejack and Tom.” Berry said while pointing to the three respectively. “Tom and a group of other ponies will be taking care of our problem for us. They brought a bunch of their friends to stay at the resort with them.” She explained cheerfully.

“Well, it’s about time we had some company. A water park isn’t really a water park without ponies to enjoy it. It’s nice to meet you all.” Copper said while smiling at the group. Twilight, Applejack, and Tom stepped forward and shook the stallion’s hoof with friendly smiles.

“Copper, have you seen Sparkplug around here? I thought she might be in here with you. I’m giving them a tour of the place, and she would be the best person to explain the animatronics, and show our human friend here where the problem areas are.” Berry said while taking a cursory glance at the bank of monitors in the faint hope that she might be able to find the maintenance pony. Copper looked down and scratched his chin while thinking for a moment.

“I think Sparkplug is in her workshop at the moment. You want me to call her and ask her to come here?” The stallion asked curiously while motioning behind him to a small radio placed on the console.

“No, I’ll just head over there to see her. Besides… you know how absorbed into her work she gets. I would be surprised if she heard you over the radio.” Berry said with a slight chuckle.

“Alright then, let me know if you need anything else.” Copper said with a friendly nod as the earth pony and her three companions prepared to leave.

“Will do… alright everyone, let’s go.” Berry said while opening the door and stepping out into the hallway. Everyone followed the purple mare outside and walked with her back the way they came.

“So, how many employees do you have currently?” Twilight asked curiously while turning to Berry.

“Counting myself, there are currently five ponies working here. You already met Silver and Copper. The ones you haven’t met are Sparkplug and our resident lifeguard High Tide.” Berry Swirl explained while thinking about all of her employees.

“You have a lifeguard? Then again… I suppose that does make sense considerin’ this is a water park and all.” Applejack stated while thinking further about the matter.

“Yep, we really want to make this place as safe as possible for our guests.” Berry said with a sincere tone.

The four walked through the hallways for a while longer before Berry paused in front of another door. The door had maintenance plastered across it in white letters. There was faint music playing through the door, making the group curious as to what waited for them inside.

As Berry pushed open the door, the music got slightly louder. The group stepped inside and looked around, only to find a room much larger than the tiny security room. The area was full of shelves and tables that had items on them ranging from pieces of scrap to small tools and machines.

Twilight and her two friends walked around the room and examined the various components on the shelves and tables while Berry walked over to an opening in the back of the room that led into another section of the room. The farther they got into the room, the louder the music got. It sounded like someone was playing rock and roll music over a radio.

The four slowly found their way to the back of the room and entered into the other section. Once they got around the corner, they saw a gray earth pony mare with white hair working on what appeared to be another animatronic lying on a table. The source of the music was a small radio that sat on a table at the back of the room behind the gray pony. The mare was wearing blue coveralls that had holes on her flank to reveal her cutie mark, which consisted of two gears meshing together. She was also wearing a backwards cap that let a tuft of her hair poke through the hole in the front.

“Sparkplug!” Berry raised her voice slightly to get the mare’s attention over the music. The gray pony looked up from her work and sat the tools she was using down. She then walked over and pushed a button on the radio, shutting it off and silencing the music.

“Hey Berry, how’s it going?” Sparkplug said while walking back over to the group. She glanced over to the three strangers standing behind the purple earth pony and examined them curiously.

“Sparkplug, these are the people who are going to be staying with us this week.” Berry said while motioning towards the three.

“Howdy, I’m Applejack.” Applejack said while reaching forward and shaking the gray mare’s hoof.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight said while shaking Sparkplug’s hoof as well.

“And you must be the human I’ve heard so much about. Tom, isn’t it?” Sparkplug asked while holding her foreleg out in front of the human.

“Yes… Thomas Greene, or Tom for short.” Tom said while reaching forward and shaking the pony’s hoof with a friendly smirk.

“Wow… I can’t believe we actually have the human who saved Equestria staying at our park.” Sparkplug said in an amazed tone while admiring the human for a moment. The boy chuckled awkwardly while rubbing his arm. He wasn’t used to having a fan, let alone meeting one.

“Well, I didn’t really save Equestria. Twilight and the others did most of the work.” Tom said while glancing behind him at the two mares. Twilight and Applejack smirked with flattered expressions at the mention of their heroism.

“So umm… what are you working on, if you don’t mind me asking?” Twilight asked while examining the animatronic laid out on the table next to the gray mare.

The animatronic was another bipedal one around Tom’s height. It was a dog with reddish brown fur. It had freckles on its face, as well as whiskers on its elongated muzzle. Its eyes were green, much like Bonnie’s were, but this animatronic lacked the exaggerated eyelashes and red dimples on its cheeks that the others had.

“Oh, this? This guy is a new animatronic I’m working on. Made him myself… his name is Sparky.” Sparkplug explained while motioning towards the robotic animal.

“Wow, so you made this guy yourself?” Applejack asked in an impressed tone.

“Yep… well, my assistant Copper Coil helped me out a lot. I assume you met him already.” Sparkplug said while looking to Berry for a response.

“Yeah, I was actually looking for you down there.” Berry said with a playful leer.

“Sorry. I had to get some parts to fix a camera, and I got a little caught up with this guy.” Sparkplug said while motioning towards the animatronic on the table. “Hey, do you guys want to see him work?” She asked while looking at Twilight and her two friends.

“He works? I thought you were still working on him?” Twilight asked curiously.

“I’m still working out a few kinks in him, but he has all of the basics parts needed to function in place. Here, let me show you.” Sparkplug said while walking over to the other side of the table. Twilight and the others watched curiously as the gray mare went to the animal’s head and lifted it up slightly. She flipped open a panel on the back of the dog’s head and fiddled around with a few switches for a moment before closing the panel and setting its head back down.

“Sparky, wake mode.” Sparkplug said in a clear voice while stepping back from the animatronic. Suddenly, the dog’s pupils blinked red a few times. A shrill beep sounded out each time the red light blinked on and off until the lights stopped coming on and only Sparky’s normal black pupils remained.

A series of mechanical clicks sounded out as the robotic animal started moving. Twilight and Applejack backed up slightly in surprise as the dog sat up and looked around slowly. It settled its gaze on Sparkplug before pausing and remaining still.

“His A.I is really basic right now, so he can’t walk around on his own, but I can tell him to do things.” Sparkplug explained to the intrigued onlookers before turning back to the robotic dog.

“Sparky, wave to our guests.” The gray mare instructed while pointing to the group. Sparky turned his head to look at the ponies for a moment. He then slowly raised one of his arms and waved his paw left and right in a mechanical fashion before dropping his arm to his side again.

“That’s amazing. I can’t get over how good at speech recognition these things are.” Twilight said in an intrigued tone.

“Yeah, well that just goes to show you how many things you can do with magic. When you get down to it, these things are just glorified buckets of bolts. It’s their magical components that let them do all of the cool stuff.” The gray mare explained with a chuckle while tapping on the robot’s head to prove that it was, in fact, a hunk of metal.

“You want to try?” Sparkplug asked while noting how excited the unicorn seemed. Twilight looked at the gray mare with a surprised expression.

“Really? You want me to tell him to do something?” Twilight asked to clarify.

“Go ahead, give him a command. Anything you want him to do. He can walk around, you just have to tell him where to go and what to do.” Sparkplug explained while patting the robotic animal on the shoulder.

“Umm… Sparky, stand.” Twilight said in the clearest tone she could manage while looking squarely at the animatronic. The dog stared at the unicorn for a moment before starting to move in a clunky fashion. Sparky moved forward and off of the table while planting his feet on the floor. He stood up straight before turning to face the purple mare and waiting in place.

“Wow…” Twilight said in amazement while admiring the robotic animal.

“Sparky, stand on one leg.” Tom instructed with a curious tone. He was interested to see just how much these robots could do. Much to everyone’s surprise, Sparky shifted his weight over to his right leg and lifted his left leg off the ground. He waited like this for a few moments before returning to his natural stance.

“Ok… color me impressed.” Tom said with a satisfied nod.

“Sparky, speak.” Applejack said while looking at the animatronic expectantly.

“Actually that’s not such a-” Sparkplug started to speak up with a nervous expression until she was interrupted by Sparky opening his mouth and doing as he was instructed. The noise that came out of the robot was what one would expect a dog to sound like, but it was loud and distorted. On top of being loud, the sound looped back on itself, providing a double of every bark that the robot made.

Twilight and the others cringed and covered their ears to shield them from the unpleasant sound. Sparkplug quickly walked over and pounded on the robot’s back for a moment. After giving the dog a few good whacks, the sound died out and Sparky fell silent.

“Sorry about that… still working on his voice box.” Sparkplug said with a nervous chuckle.

“Well, he certainly sounds like a dog… you got that part right at least.” Applejack said while glancing at the robot with an awkward chuckle. Sparky stared back at the ponies as if his outburst had never happened at all.

“Maybe we should shelf Sparky for a while… I guess there’s a reason why he isn’t even in the system yet.” Sparkplug said while pressing down on Sparky’s shoulder to get him to sit back on the table. “Sparky, lay down.” She instructed while moving around the other side of the table. Everyone watched as the dog put his feet on the table and laid back down in the position they found him in.

“Sparky, sleep mode.” Sparkplug instructed in a clear tone. Sparky’s eyes blinked red a few times like they did when he first woke up, causing a series of beeps to sound out before falling silent as the animatronic shut down again.

“You said that Sparky isn’t in the system yet… what did you mean by that?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that you’re new here. Sorry, I’m not used to us getting visitors yet.” Sparkplug said with a slight chuckle while walking over to another table. She picked up a small tablet-shaped device before walking back over to the group and showing it to them.

“This is the main controls for all of the animatronics we have at the park. They are all linked together on this system to let us monitor and control them better.” Sparkplug explained while pushing a button on the side of the device. A green light lit up on the side, and before long, the screen lit up with a display that had three boxes on it. One was marked, animatronic status, another was marked park map, and the final box was marked settings. Sparkplug pressed the animatronic status button before handing the tablet off to Twilight.

Twilight looked down at the screen curiously. The screen held five boxes that had pictures of each animatronic’s head. Three of the pictures the unicorn recognized to be Bonnie, Chica, and Freddy, but two of them she had never seen before. One was what appeared to be a red cat, while the other was a white cat with pink accents. Next, to each of the pictures, there was a small colored dot that was either red or green.

“These are all of the main animatronics we have at the park. Those lights there show you which ones are currently active, and which ones are sleeping so to speak.” Sparkplug explained while pointing to each of the features on the screen.

“Here, let’s see what Bonnie is doing.” Sparkplug said while reaching over and pressing the icon that held Bonnie’s head. Another screen popped up that contained a full body image of the robotic rabbit. The gray mare tapped another box down at the bottom of the screen that said location. After a moment, another screen popped up that showed a map of the building. There was a small icon on the screen shaped like Bonnie’s head that was moving through a hallway.

“Looks like he is still helping your friends with their bags.” Berry stated while taking note of the location shown on the map.

“Wow… this is a mighty impressive setup you guys have here.” Applejack said in an amazed tone.

“So, where are the other animatronics?” Twilight asked curiously while hitting the back button on the screen. She cycled through the screens until she arrived back at the screen with the list of animatronics.

“Well, the inactive ones are in a storage room down in the basement. The active ones are scattered around the resort.” Sparkplug explained while pointing to the various animatronics.

“Hey, what are those two?” Applejack asked while pointing to the red cat and the white one with cutesy features.

“Well, that’s Felix, and that’s Party Favor.” Sparkplug explained while pointing to the red and white cats respectively. “They usually hang out in the kids’ play area.” She added while pressing their images and letting the group look at them.

The cats were another example of bipedal animatronics. Felix had red fur with a light peach coloring on his stomach and face. His eyes were yellow, and he had four whiskers on each side of his face. Party Favor looked similar to the other cat, but all of her features were overly exaggerated and cutesy. She had pink dimples on her cheeks, as well as pink accents all throughout her design. Her eyelids were pink, her lips had pink lipstick, her stomach and paw pads were all pink. Somehow, she managed to appear even more pink and feminine than Pinkie Pie, despite her main color being white.

“So, you can monitor them and give them commands from this thing?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Yep… they all have maps hardwired into their systems, so they can go to any area we tell them to. When they aren’t on orders, they usually roam around and look for guests to entertain or help out. Chica usually sticks around pool areas, Felix and Party Favor stay with the kids, Freddy usually stays on stage in the dining room, and Bonnie roams around freely.” Sparkplug explained with a cheerful smirk. She enjoyed seeing the wonder and amazement on the group’s faces as they learned about the animatronics.

“Well, if everyone is done asking questions, there is a lot more to see than just the animatronics. Why don’t I give you guys a rundown of the park?” Berry suggested in a friendly tone. Twilight glanced to Applejack to get her opinion on the matter. The orange mare nodded knowingly as she gathered that the unicorn’s curiosity was satisfied for the day as well.

“That sounds like a great idea Berry. I would love to learn my way around the park before meeting up with the others.” Twilight said with an excited smile. She couldn’t wait to dive headlong into a pool with her friends.

“Hey Berry, do you think you could show me where you have been getting the most paranormal activity? I would like to get a feel for what we’re dealing with before I chalk the rest of the day up to poolside fun.” Tom asked while glancing to the purple earth pony curiously.

“Of course…” Berry replied before turning to Sparkplug. “Sparkplug, if you aren’t too busy working the kinks out of Sparky, could you take Tom down to the basement and show him around?” She asked in a courteous tone.

“Sure thing, let me just put my tools up.” Sparkplug said while picking up the tools from the table Sparky was on and walking across the room to a shelf that held various tools and toolboxes. As the gray mare walked by a table full of assorted mechanical parts and devices, Tom’s eye caught something that intrigued him.

“Hold on a second…” The human said in a curious tone while walking forward and picking up the item that caught his attention. The object was a small box with an antenna on it that had a series of lights built into the side of it. Noticing the boy’s curiosity, Sparkplug turned around to see what he was examining. “Is this an EMF meter?” Tom asked with a slight twinge of excitement in his voice. The gray mare was caught off guard by his sudden interest in the device.

“It most certainly is… you must have a good eye if you picked that thing out so quickly.” Sparkplug stated in an impressed tone.

“For those of us who aren’t technically inclined, what is an EMF meter?” Applejack asked in a confused tone while waiting for what she hoped would be a simple explanation.

“EMF meter stands for electromagnetic field meter. This bad boy is what people without magic or the ability to sense evil use to detect ghosts. I used to love old school ghost hunting tech like this back when I was still an average human.” Tom explained with a giddy expression on his face. “Did you build this yourself? It looks custom made.” He asked while glancing over to Sparkplug. The gray mare blushed slightly and looked down in a bashful manner.

“Umm… yeah, it’s kind of a hobby of mine. I’ve always wanted to be a ghost hunter ever since I was a filly. Spirits and the supernatural just intrigue me a lot, so I made one of those rather than spending a lot of bits on one. It’s more fun to build your own tech anyway.” Sparkplug explained with a small smile building on her face.

“Does it actually work?” Twilight asked curiously while examining the small device herself.

“Well… it should. I haven’t actually been able to accurately test it. Even if it does get a reading, I can’t be sure if it’s the real deal… especially with all of the tech around this place sending out electromagnetic waves like they’re going out of style.” Sparkplug said with a disappointed shrug.

“Hmm… why don’t you let me test it for you?” Tom suggested while holding the small device in one hand.

“Really? You could do that?” Sparkplug asked in a surprised tone.

“Yeah, it would be easy. I can sense evil, so I can tell you if a reading is accurate or not. Plus, I was kind of a total ghost hunting nut when I was younger, so I know exactly how these things should work.” Tom explained with a confident smirk.

Sparkplug smiled at the human’s proposition. She was excited to be able to finally see if her hard work would pay off, or if she just had a pile of junk on her hooves. Either way, it would definitely intrigue her to watch a real ghost hunter at work.

“You’ve got yourself a deal, Mr. Greene.” Sparkplug stated with an eager smile while reaching forward and shaking the human’s hand.

“Try not to have too much fun down there Sparkplug.” Berry Swirl said with an amused chuckle while walking towards the exit with Twilight and Applejack in tow.

“I make no promises.” Sparkplug replied with a sly smirk while waving to the trio. Twilight and Applejack waved to Tom and said their goodbyes as they followed the earth pony out of the room. Tom waited for Sparkplug to finish up before following her out of the room and starting towards the basement.