After meeting up with the others and giving them a report of what happened, the members of Spirit and their human companion went back up to their rooms to rest. Tom stopped by Rarity and Applejack’s room to heal Sweetie Belle’s sprained leg.
Sweetie Belle sat on her bed and tried to remain as still as possible while the human healed her. The blue light emanating from his hands felt warm as it passed over her leg. It also made her feel a tingling sensation that made it incredibly hard for her to burst out into a fit of ticklish giggling.
Finally, after a few short moments, the human stepped back and let the filly put weight on her ankle to test it out. “There, that should take care of your sprain.” Tom said in a friendly tone while watching the filly stretching her leg.
Sweetie Belle moved her ankle around and gingerly stepped on it a few times to see if it still hurt. An excited smile crept across her face as she realized that the limb was back to normal. “Wow… thanks, Tom! That feels so much better.” She said while eagerly hopping off the bed. With her hoof no longer hurting, she was finally free to roam around as she saw fit.
Rarity and Applejack watched the young unicorn with warm smiles. Ever since she was injured, she had wanted to go back downstairs with her friends to go play with the others, but she couldn’t do it with a sprained leg.
“Thank you for healing her, Tom. I really appreciate it.” Rarity said in a grateful tone while turning to the human.
“Don’t mention it.” Tom replied with a small smirk.
“Hey, are you sure you’re alright? You look like you just got in a fight with a brick wall.” Applejack stated in a mildly concerned tone while noting the human’s disheveled appearance. He had a few bruises forming, not to mention all of the scuff marks on his clothes and his messed up hair.
Tom shrugged while thinking back to his brief fight. “Well… you’re not far off. I had to deal with one of the ghosts that hopped into an old animatronic downstairs. Everything should be fine now, though. I doubt they have enough energy to do anything meaningful anymore.” He said with a reassuring tone of confidence.
“I’m still not sure if I’m comfortable with going near one of those things again… even if they are safe.” Rarity said uneasily while thinking back to her encounter with the animatronic cat. She could practically hear the horrible sound it made as it rushed for her. She was just thankful that Berry Swirl stepped in so quickly to stop it.
“Don’t worry about that. I’m pretty sure Berry and the others are deactivating the animatronics for today.” Tom explained, hoping to ease the unicorn’s fears.
Sweetie Belle lowered her head and frowned with disappointment. “Aww…”
Rarity couldn’t help but feel bad for her younger sister. Even if she did have a negative experience with the animatronics herself, she knew that the others loved them, especially the three fillies. “Cheer up darling. I’m sure that they will turn them back on tomorrow.” She suggested while offering her sister a reassuring pat on the head. “We can even go back to the play area then… Just try not to fall off of anything.” She added with a slight cringe.
“Ugh… Scootaloo and Applebloom will never let me live that down.” Sweetie Belle shrugged uneasily as she pictured her friends’ teasing comments and nicknames already. The two mares and the human tried to stifle their chuckles as they watched the filly pouting.
Tom let out a pensive sigh, his thoughts turned elsewhere. “Well, I’m going to head into town to see if I can do some research on what happened here to make all of these ghosts. Some of the readings I got down in the basement have been bothering me, so I need to know more about that extension to the building. If you guys decide to go find Twilight and the others, tell them I won’t be back for a while.” He said while walking out of the bedroom and offering a brief wave of goodbye.
“Bye Tom.” Sweetie Belle waved back at the human along with the two mares. With the passing sound of the door to the room opening and closing, the three ponies were alone once again. A grand total of three seconds went by before the dullness in the air hit the trio and filled them with a sense of boredom or restlessness.
“Maybe we should go downstairs with the others. They said they would be down by the pool didn’t they?” Rarity asked curiously while turning to the orange mare.
Applejack nodded in agreement. “Yeah… I think we could use some time to unwind.” She glanced to the white pony and observed her with a mildly concerned expression. After Rarity returned to the room from getting the ice packs and described her traumatic experience with Felix the cat, the orange mare had been worried that she would be a bundle of nerves for the rest of the day. Thankfully, however, the unicorn seemed to have calmed down and briefly moved on from the experience, though she still had a slight air of unease about her.
With the thought of more poolside fun with their friends ahead of them, the two mares and the young filly accompanying them headed out of their room with excited expressions. They weren’t going to let ghosts ruin their vacation time, at least not easily.
Meanwhile, Twilight and her friends were spending some time down by the indoor pool they found the previous day. While everyone else swam around or floated peacefully, the purple unicorn did her best to explain what had happened to Rarity with the animatronic cat. It didn’t take long for the others to notice Fluttershy acting more nervous than usual, so figuring out what happened wasn’t but a few questions and pleading expressions away.
“Wow… so it just flipped out like that on the spot?” Rainbow Dash asked in a stunned tone while picturing the scenario in her head. She felt a little bit of secondhand concern for the white unicorn as she heard more about the brief incident.
Twilight nodded. “Yeah, it just freaked out and started reaching for Rarity until Berry rushed over and pulled some kind of failsafe on its back.” She explained while still getting over the tense situation herself. Hearing that one of the animatronics had tried to hurt one of their friends made the others fall into an uneasy silence.
After a few moments of contemplation, it was Spike who decided to speak up again. “Does that mean that the rest of those robots are dangerous?” The young dragon asked in a slightly nervous tone. His apprehension and fear were felt by nearly everyone in the room. Even Scootaloo and Applebloom were shocked to find out that the white unicorn was almost attacked by one of the animatronics they had just been playing with not too long ago.
“No Spike, I’m sure the animatronics are fine. Tom and the others think a ghost from downstairs got into Felix and made him do what he did. They went down there to make sure the ghosts couldn’t do that anymore.” Twilight explained in a reassuring tone of confidence. Although the young dragon breathed a sigh of relief from hearing the unicorn’s explanation, there was still a hint of nervous uncertainty left in him.
The sound of the door opening lifted everyone from their uneasy thoughts and made them turn to see a group of ponies entering the pool area. Rarity and Applejack were walking through the door, but they also had Sunspot and Glitterball in tow behind them. Once the four mares saw everyone else waiting for them, their expressions brightened and they let out relieved sighs.
“Finally… you would not believe how hard you guys are to find.” Sunspot remarked while stepping over to the edge of the pool and waiting by the edge while the others waded into the shallow end.
“Hey, guys. I assume you’re all done downstairs since you’re here?” Twilight asked curiously while directing her attention to the orange pegasus and her unicorn friend. Glitterball and Sunspot shared exasperated glances with each other before shrugging and turning to face the group.
“I wish… We still haven’t done the thing we went down there to do in the first place, which is clearing out the ghosts.” Sunspot huffed in a frustrated tone while finally stepping into the pool and sitting down to relax.
Hearing that the ghosts were still around wasn’t exactly comforting to the group. Even if these ghosts were run of the mill when compared to the spirits that caused the group so much trauma three months prior, it was still concerning to know that they were still present.
Perhaps noticing the uneasy tension in the air and the fear and worry on the others’ faces, Glitterball decided that she should be the one to soften her companion’s insensitive comment and ease everyone’s mind. “Don’t worry guys. We took care of that spirit that was hopping into animatronics. Even if it was more than one ghost, they shouldn’t have enough energy left to do it again.” The white mare explained with a reassuring smile.
“So, where are Tom and Glimmer Shine?” Twilight asked curiously while noting the strange absence of the human and the yellow stallion.
Sunspot was the first to speak up and explain. “Tom ran into us in the lobby. Apparently, he is going into town to do some research about the collapse down in the sub-basement that caused this mess. Glimmer Shine decided to go with him and help him out.” She said, taking a brief moment to be thankful that the stallion didn’t volunteer her up as well. Meanwhile, the others were intrigued by the subject of why there were ghosts at the resort in the first place.
“Sub-basement? I thought there was only one basement floor in this place?” Rainbow Dash tilted her head with a confused expression.
“There is… kind of. Berry’s grandfather apparently decided to make an expansion to the resort by building down and making a new floor beneath the place. Before he could finish, the roof caved in somewhere and caused a lot of damage. We think that’s where the ghosts came from in the first place.” Glitterball said with a hint of uncertainty in her voice. “Once we know more about what we’re dealing with, it should be easier to clear the place out.” She added in a more reassuring tone.
“That’s good to hear. I don’t like ghosts… I wish they didn’t even exist.” Fluttershy stated while looking down with a passing expression of gloom as her thoughts drifted elsewhere. The others looked to the yellow pegasus with concerned frowns as they saw a familiar sadness in her eyes.
“Ghosts usually aren’t that big of a deal. What happened to us was a very unlikely scenario.” Glitterball explained in a softer tone while trying to tread lightly around bringing up the past. Despite their best efforts, the ponies couldn’t stop thinking back to their time at the mansion, while the younger members of the group could only wonder what happened with concerned expressions.
“Well… how about we stop dwelling in the past and liven up this bore fest?” Sunspot suggested, shifting the atmosphere to a lighter tone.
“That sounds good to me!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed eagerly while producing a beach ball from beside her and holding it up proudly.
Twilight raised an eyebrow curiously. “Wait… Pinkie, where did you get th-” She began to question how the pink mare got her hooves on a bulky beach ball without actually bringing it into the room with her until she was rudely interrupted by the soft ball of air smacking into her and bouncing off.
“Ball tag!” Pinkie announced with an excited grin before swimming away from the purple mare. Everyone else took a moment of confusion before smirking and swimming away from the unicorn as well.
Twilight rubbed her forehead instinctively while still getting over the jarring sneak attack. She looked around to her friends before spotting the beach ball floating beside her. By the time she processed what had just happened, she was already it. “*Sigh*… well, if you can’t beat them.” Twilight shrugged her shoulders before using her magic to lift up the ball. She took aim at the nearest person, which just so happened to be Rainbow Dash, and gave it her best toss.
While Twilight and her friends were having a good time and forgetting about what happened earlier with Rarity and Felix, Sparkplug was actually focusing on the event. Despite the fact that she was certain that the problem was supernatural, her inquisitive mind couldn’t stop goading her into examining the animatronic cat to see if anything was different.
The gray mare sat in a swivel chair in the back area of her workshop. There was a rock song playing softly from the radio nearby, bathing the area in a quiet ambiance. The only light in the area came from a few small lamps scattered around on various tables, and the doorway leading to the front area where Copper Coil was working. Despite the dim light, Sparkplug was roaming around just fine as she looked for various tools and parts.
Sparky the unfinished animatronic dog still remained motionless on his table, but there was another animatronic present in the room. Felix the cat was leaning against the wall in a seated position, inactive and with a small compartment on the back of his head open.
“Ok… let’s see how your systems are doing.” Sparkplug muttered to herself while scooting her chair over to the animatronic and pulling its head forward slightly to access the back of it. She fiddled around with the exposed switches and machinery for a minute before pulling out a small card-shaped object from a slot. The card was riddled with transistors and other such technical bits and bobs that would only blend together into a jumbled mess to the average viewer.
Sparkplug wheeled her chair over to a table by the side of the room that had a bulky computer monitor on it. She opened up a specific slot on the computer itself and inserted the card into it. After typing away on the nearby keyboard and making a few clicks with the mouse, some text in a few popup windows made her pause with intrigue.
“Hmm… nothing wrong, or at least nothing I can see. I guess that ghost didn’t leave any traces.” Sparkplug said while taking off her hat and scratching her head. Hearing a soft knocking sound off to the side, she looked over to see Copper Coil standing in the doorway.
Copper looked around, noting the dim lights and the animatronic cat slumped against the wall. “Are you still back here?” Copper asked with a slight sigh.
“Well… that’s kind of obvious don’t you think?” Sparkplug asked with an awkward smile while trying to shift focus off of herself. Judging from the expression on the older stallion’s face, her attempts weren’t working.
“Crimeny Sparkplug… you’ve already taken Felix apart five times already. I think you might want to give the poor thing a break.” Copper stated while looking over to the robotic cat with a sympathetic expression. The gray mare merely smirked while wheeling her chair back over to the animatronic with the card she removed earlier in hoof.
“I’m sure Felix appreciates the concern Copper, but I don’t think he will mind if I examine him to make sure he doesn’t have any kinks.” Sparkplug replied while grabbing Felix by the head and reaching around the back of it to put the card back in place. “Besides… it’s not like I’m going to hurt him or anything. He’s like my baby… my pwecious little mechanical baby that I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to.” She added in a cutesy tone while patting the animatronic on the shoulder as she fitted the card back into his head. As the small component offered resistance to her attempts at returning it to its home, she gave it a forceful tap, and then another. Copper merely watched the gray mare getting more frustrated as she tried vigorously shoving the card back into place. Finally, the card made a disconcerting noise as it slid back into the slot.
Copper cringed slightly as he looked to the gray mare. “I’m sure you would make a great parent if you treat all of your babies like this.” He said while shaking his head slowly and trying to hide the smirk on his face.
“You’re darn right I would.” Sparkplug retorted with a wry smirk while scooting her chair back over to the table she got it from. Once she moved a few tools and her work station was back in order, which just so happened to be a relative junk pile of sorts, the gray mare got out of her chair and walked over to the stallion. “So, did the others get done with their search down in the basement yet?” She asked curiously.
“Yeah, they got back around an hour and a half ago.” Copper replied in a matter of fact tone, much to the surprise of the gray mare.
“Wow… has it really been an hour and a half?” Sparkplug asked while looking over the stallion’s shoulder to the clock on the far wall. Judging from the slight burning sensation she had when she looked into the fully lit up portion of the workshop, she wagered that it really had been a long time since she retired to her own devices.
“Yeah… it has. You really should try keeping an eye on the clock instead of… whatever you’ve been doing for the past hour and a half.” Copper Coil said while looking around the dimly lit area behind the mare to see what she could have been doing aside from examining Felix. He really hoped that she had multiple projects going instead of working on just one thing.
“Well, you know me, Copper. I’ve always been married to my work.” Sparkplug stated with a smile while going to turn off the lights and the radio behind her.
“You’re married to your work and you have a five-foot tall mechanical cat as a baby. It is official Sparkplug… you are the strangest pony I know.” Copper said while watching the gray mare walking up to him with an amused expression.
“And you wouldn’t have it any other way would you?” Sparkplug asked while flashing a brief smile before turning her thoughts elsewhere. “So does Berry really want us to shut down all of the animatronics for the day?” She added in a more curious tone.
“Well, one of them did almost maim one of our guests.” Copper replied uneasily.
“To be fair, we don’t really know what Felix was going to do. Berry didn’t even give him a chance to reach Rarity thankfully.” Sparkplug said while trying to imagine what the spirit possessing the animatronic wanted with the white unicorn.
“Whatever he was going to do, it couldn’t have been good.” Copper stated while shuddering slightly at the dark thoughts hanging in the air.
“Right… I’ll go grab the tablet and send them all to storage. Hopefully, those monster hunters can get this mess sorted out tomorrow.” Sparkplug shrugged uncomfortably while walking back into the dark area behind her to fetch the tablet that controlled the animatronics. Copper Coil lingered for a while longer before accompanying the gray mare out of the room as she finished her task.
For the rest of the day, everyone in the resort did their best to have a good time, and they mostly succeeded. The vacation wasn’t exactly going as Twilight and the others had planned it, but they were still confident that their monster hunting friends were in control of the situation.
After sending all of the animatronics into storage for the night, Berry Swirl and her staff managed to round up some ingredients to make a decent meal for their guests. Without a professional chef on hand, it was hard to make anything up to standard, but it was good enough for everyone who tried it.
Hours went by, and before long it was already sunset. By now all of the ponies were tired from their long day of playing around and swimming, so everyone made the unanimous decision to go to bed. After saying their goodnights to everyone else, Rarity and Applejack led their troop of fillies into their room for the night.
Applejack stretched her neck, taking a moment to hold in a yawn. “Whew… I can’t wait to get some shut-eye after all of that runnin’ around.”
“You didn’t exactly need to join in on Pinkie’s game of speed marco polo if you didn’t want to.” Rarity stated while thinking back to the pink mare’s bizarre twists on pre-existing games.
“Heh... it was fun at the time, though, right girls?” Applejack asked while turning to her sister and her friends.
“Yeah! I had a blast!” Scootaloo exclaimed eagerly while still coming down from her adrenaline high. The other two fillies were equally hyper and cheerful from earlier. It was a wonder they still had so much energy left this late in the day.
“Say what you will about Pinkie… she certainly knows how to have a good time.” Rarity admitted with a slight smirk while stepping further into the room. She looked ahead into the short hall that led to the two separate bedrooms their suite had and glanced back to the three fillies. “Ok girls, time for bed.” The unicorn said in a tired tone while yawning slightly. She could already tell that her seemingly simple request wasn’t exactly what the crusaders had in mind.
“Aww… can’t we stay up a little longer?” Sweetie Belle whined while giving her sister the best pleading expression she could manage on the spot. The white filly’s puppy dog eyes were a common sight to her older sister, and although Rarity had mostly been able to ignore their effects, they did have a small hold over her still.
“I’ll tell you what Sweetie Belle, if you girls can find something to do in your room, go ahead and do it. But you better not make a mess, or make any noise. And you better be in bed within the hour.” Rarity said in a firm tone.
“Ok! We’ll be as quiet as a mouse, right guys?” Sweetie Belle asked while turning to her two friends, who nodded eagerly in agreement.
“Run along you three. And don’t forget to-” Rarity started to add another thought until she was interrupted by the three fillies rushing off toward their room in a noisy sprint. They quickly opened the door and headed inside before shutting it behind them with a sizable thud, which was followed by the faint sound of something falling and landing on the floor. “Be quiet…” Rarity finished her statement with a sigh. She shook her head slowly while managing a small smirk before walking down the hallway with her orange friend. Their drowsiness was slowly managing to catch up with them, and they both silently agreed that it was time for sleep.
The two mares stepped into their room, closed the door, and briefly admired the cool and peaceful atmosphere. After such an eventful day, it felt good to retire to such an inviting room complete with two cozy beds.
Rarity used her magic to switch on a lamp over by the two beds before walking over to hers and sitting down at the foot of it. “Ugh, it has been such a long day.” She groaned while watching her orange companion walking over to her own bed.
“Feels that way doesn’t it?” Applejack asked rhetorically while hopping into bed. After a few moments of peeling back her covers and getting comfortable, the orange mare reached over and switched off the lamp sitting on a table between her and the unicorn. She then took off her hat and hung it on the corner of the table. “Night Rarity.” Applejack said while flashing a brief smile and turning over.
Rarity smiled softly as she watched her friend settling in for the night. “Goodnight Applejack.” She said while scooting back to the front of the bed and getting under the covers.
As she laid her head on her pillow and stared up into the darkness of the room, Rarity tried to relax her mind and drift off to sleep. However, the longer she sat in the darkness, the more she noticed a feeling of nervousness building inside of her as thoughts of what happened earlier drifted through her mind. Despite not wanting to think about such unnerving things, she couldn’t keep herself from picturing the animatronic cat reaching for her in her head.
Rarity turned over and pulled her blanket closer to her head to shield herself from the empty void of darkness waiting for her in the room. She buried her face in her pillow and forced the disturbing thoughts from her mind. Eventually, her exhaustion started to outweigh her unease, letting her drift off into an uneasy sleep.
.
…
…..
“AH!” Rarity let out a frightened cry and sat up in bed as she was jolted awake from a nightmare. Her heart was racing and her entire body felt tense. As she darted her head around to take in her surroundings and assure herself that she was alright, she noticed faint light streaming in through the nearby window, and her orange friend lifting her head up in surprise.
“Sweet apple pie, are you ok Rarity?” Applejack asked in a concerned tone as she woke up to see the unicorn in such a distressed state. The white mare’s eyes held a palpable sense of panic to them, and she looked like her heart was about to explode.
“Oh…” Rarity muttered while putting a hoof up to her face, half to ensure that she was awake, and half to wipe the cold sweat off of her. “Sorry to wake you, darling… I just had a terrible dream.” She explained in an exhausted tone while still trying to calm her racing heart.
Applejack sat up and wiped the sleepiness from her eyes. “Yikes… must have been a real bad one to make you scream like that.” She frowned sympathetically as she saw how shaken up the unicorn was. “You want to talk about it?”
Rarity paused for a moment while thinking back to her dream. Her memory of the nightmare was already fading, but the pervasive feeling of dread and fear in her body was still present. Still, she could remember parts of it vividly, especially the end. She was standing alone in a dark room, and she could hear footsteps around her. When she turned around, she saw the animatronic cat Felix reaching for her with its hand like before, but it was covered in blood and what looked like rust. The faint white dots in its eyes and the disturbing screech that it made still haunted her thoughts.
“I think it was about what happened with that robotic cat. I guess it must have affected me more than I originally thought.” Rarity explained with a shrug.
“Well, that’s over now. I understand why you would have nightmares about it, though. I had a few sleepless nights myself from a lot of the stuff the hooded ponies put us through.” Applejack said in what she hoped would be a reassuring tone.
Almost at the same time, the two mares noticed the blue tinted light in the room. They looked over to the window and peered through the cracks in the curtains to see that it was early in the morning. The sun wasn’t even over the horizon yet, but yet they were wide awake now.
“Ugh… I don’t think I could get back to sleep like this.” Rarity said while taking note of how uneasy she still felt.
Applejack stretched before getting out of bed. “Well… since we’re up, you want to head downstairs and find something to do?” She asked curiously while grabbing her hat and putting it on.
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.” Rarity agreed with a nod while tossing the covers back and getting out of bed herself. The others would probably be up in a few hours if they weren’t already, so it made sense to start the day early to get her mind off of her dream.
Applejack and her white companion made their way out of their room and into the hallway. Taking a look at the door ahead of them, they glanced at each other to confer their thoughts before nodding and quietly going to check on the three fillies. As Rarity opened the door as silently as she could and looked inside, she noticed the crusaders still sound asleep in their beds. Apparently, the unicorn’s outburst from before hadn’t woken them. Making sure to be as quiet as possible, the white mare closed the door and walked away with her friend in tow.
After exiting their room, the pair walked out into the resort halls and made their way to the stairs. They walked down to the first floor without much of an idea as to what they would be doing. With a brief moment of brainstorming, they figured that it would be best if they checked to see if anyone else was awake yet. Now that they had a destination in mind, the two ponies started making their way to the lobby where their friends usually met.
As the doorway into the lobby came into view, the two ponies looked around eagerly to see if anyone was present. The area was practically devoid of life, and the dim blue light coming from the entrance only served to further punctuate the fact that it was early in the morning. However, as they actually entered the room, the pair noticed a single pony standing behind the front desk.
Silver Bell was leaning on the desk while reading a book lazily. She seemed to have been there for a while considering how comfortable she had gotten in the silent atmosphere. The cream unicorn didn’t even notice the two mares walking into the room until they got right up to her.
“Oh… hey, guys. What are you doing up so early?” Silver asked in a surprised tone as she finally looked up and noticed the two ponies. Applejack and Rarity looked at each other briefly while trying to determine the reason for themselves.
“I couldn’t sleep, so we decided to come down here to find something to do… we haven’t decided what we’re going to do just yet.” Rarity shrugged with a slight tone of disheartenment.
“Couldn’t sleep huh? I guess that makes sense. I usually get up early to take care of a few chores before everyone else wakes up.” Silver Bell explained while motioning to the book she was reading over. Upon closer inspection, there seemed to be a small piece of paper on one of the pages that had a checklist of sorts with a few tasks crossed off on it.
“You really do earn your keep here don’t you?” Applejack said with an impressed smirk.
“I try...” Silver looked to the floor bashfully for a moment. “Hey, since you two have nothing to do, you want to come get some breakfast with me downstairs?” She suggested in a friendly tone. The sudden proposal surprised and intrigued the two ponies.
“Downstairs?” Rarity asked with a mildly confused expression while glancing downward.
“Yeah, there’s a break room down in the basement. There are a few others scattered around the resort, but the one down there is the most stocked up. I can whip us up something while we wait for the others to get up.” Silver Bell explained in a hopeful tone while watching the pair for any signs that they were considering her offer. She seemed eager to spend some time with other people instead of just eating alone.
Applejack nodded with a pleased expression while considering the offer. “Hmm… that sounds good. What do you think Rarity?” She asked curiously while turning to the white mare beside her.
“That does sound nice… I suppose we could go.” Rarity agreed with a slight smile and a nod.
Silver Bell smiled eagerly. “Alright, follow me.” She said while walking around the front desk and beckoning the pair with her hoof. Rarity and Applejack followed the cream mare as she headed through the right doorway out into the halls.
The long corridors and connecting rooms and intersections passed by like a breeze as the two mares followed their tour guide closely. The route they were taking was fresh and new to Rarity, but Applejack had a vague idea of where they were going due to her brief tour of the resort with Twilight. Before long, the trio walked into the employee’s only area and made their way through the gray halls down to the stairs that would take them to the basement.
Even though Silver Bell switched on the majority of the lights as she went, it still felt a little eerie down in the dull corridors. Perhaps it was the sight of the darkness ahead just before the lights were switched on that was causing the ponies to feel uneasy, or perhaps it was the lingering thought that ghosts were still around somewhere, or even a combination of the two. Still, the group pressed onwards and did their best to overcome any feelings of nervousness that they might have felt.
Spotting a room labeled parts and storage, Rarity paused slightly as she imagined what was behind the door. The obvious assumption was that this was where Berry and the others stored their animatronics. The passing thought of Felix and all of the other animatronics lying dormant just behind the door made the white mare anxious enough to pick up her pace to follow her two companions.
After walking down hallway after hallway and making what seemed like a dozen turns, the cream unicorn paused and let a small smile come over her face. Applejack and Rarity looked ahead and immediately noticed a room on the right that had a small placard on it that read “break room”.
“Alright, here we are.” Silver Bell stated while walking up to the door and opening it. “Welcome to our little slice of paradise after a long shift.” She added with a smirk while flipping on the nearby light switch and letting the two mares step inside.
As the lights came on, the two ponies were introduced to a medium sized room with warm and inviting colors painted on the walls and carpet. The area directly in front of them held a white table with chairs positioned around it. To either side of the table, there were counters with everything one might need to prepare lunch or a small snack for their break. There was a small microwave on the counter to the left, with a few paper plates and cups sat next to it and a trash can conveniently located underneath in a cubbyhole in the counter. There was a refrigerator on the right wall and a few cabinets and a sink next to it. There was even a toaster among the odds and ends dotted along the counters. At the back of the room, there was a couch big enough to sit two ponies comfortably. Next to the couch, there were two end tables, one of which held a stack of magazines and a few books, and the other held a small radio.
“Wow… this place isn’t half bad.” Applejack said in an impressed tone while looking around as she stepped into the room. All and all, the space felt comforting and warm, which was probably what it was going for in the first place.
“It’s alright I suppose.” Rarity said in an agreeable tone while taking note of her surroundings.
“So what are you guys in the mood for?” Silver Bell asked curiously. The two mares turned to see the unicorn standing in front of a few cabinets near the microwave. Applejack and Rarity looked at each other for a moment before actually thinking about what they wanted to eat.
“Uh… that’s fine Silver, I’m sure we can find somethin’ ourselves.” Applejack said while politely declining the cream colored mare’s offer.
“I insist. It will go faster if I make us something since I know where everything is. And besides… I make a mean breakfast wrap.” Silver Bell said in a confident tone.
“Well alright. That sounds good to me… how about you Rarity?” Applejack asked curiously while turning to her companion.
“That sounds wonderful darling.” Rarity said with a sincere nod. The two mares’ agreement made the unicorn across from them giddy with excitement.
“Great! I’ll have some made up in no time!” Silver Bell stated in a pleased tone. And with that, she was off. Rarity and Applejack watched as the cream pony darted to and fro, gathering plates and various ingredients from the fridge and nearby cabinets.
After a few minutes of throwing ingredients together with a moderate amount of skill and finesse, Silver Bell levitated three plates over to the table and sat two of them over by her guests. Sitting on each plate was a neat looking tortilla shell stuffed with all manner of delicious goods, or at least goods as delicious as an employee break room could produce. At any rate, the two mares were satisfied with their breakfast items.
Applejack immediately started eating, while Rarity hesitated for a moment while inspecting her wrap closely. From what she could gather from watching Silver Bell prepare them, the wraps had lettuce, tomato, and numerous other veggies in them as well as what appeared to be salad dressing. Although she was no stranger to such ingredients, one nibble told the white mare that Silver was at least decent at preparing food.
“This is really good Silver.” Rarity said in a sincere tone.
“Yeah, you should consider bein’ the cook for the resort if managing gets a little dull for you.” Applejack added while still enjoying her meal.
“Heh… thanks.” Silver Bell chuckled shyly as she watched the two ponies admiring her work. She had heard from Berry Swirl and the others that she was good at many things, but it was always a pleasant surprise to receive compliments, especially from two people that were essentially her guests.
“So Silver, have you always wanted to be a manager?” Rarity asked curiously, eliciting the cream unicorn to pause in thought.
“Hmm… well, I suppose not originally.” Silver explained. “At first I wanted to own my own hotel, but later on, I figured that owning a hotel wasn’t where the most fun was. Organizing everything and making sure things don’t fall apart… I kind of like it. I’m definitely glad I ended up here with Berry and the others.” She said with a pleased expression.
“I’m sure Berry and the others are just as glad as you are.” Rarity stated with a friendly smirk as she watched the unicorn gushing slightly over her own passions.
After finishing their meals and tossing the paper plates in the nearby trashcan, the three ponies stood around and stretched for a moment without anyone really knowing what they were going to do afterward.
“Well, thanks for breakfast Silver. It was mighty tasty.” Applejack said in a pleased tone while looking over to the cream mare.
“No problem… So, are you guys ready to head upstairs? I can lead you back if you want.” Silver Bell suggested while motioning behind her to the door. Applejack and Rarity both seemed like they were ready to properly start their day now that they had woken up and gotten some food in their systems.
“Would you? That would be so kind of you darling.” Rarity said with an appreciative expression.
“Heh, it’s no big deal. I’m just doing my best to make sure our first guests have a great time.” Silver Bell stated with a smirk while turning and heading to the door. The two mares followed their unicorn host as she opened the door and flipped off the lights before heading out into the hallway.
Rarity and Applejack wondered if their friends had gotten up yet. They had neglected to really look at the clock that was on the wall in the break room, but not too much time could have passed since they were eating. They hoped that the three fillies asleep in their room would be able to navigate down to the lobby if they woke up before they returned.
However many thoughts were going through the three ponies’ heads, they only managed to take a collective total of four steps out of the break room before they were halted to a stop by an unexpected and bizarre sight.
Standing in the middle of the hallway ahead of them was a familiar looking animatronic. The red swim trunks and white tank top made it obvious, aside from the obvious fact that there was a humanoid bird in front of them, that the group was looking at Chica.
“What the…? Chica, what are you doing awake? I didn’t think anyone else was up to activate you.” Silver Bell said in a puzzled tone while looking to the robotic animal for some answers.
Chica was standing silently in the exact middle of the hallway staring at the three ponies with an almost unnerving expression of passive cheerfulness on her unmoving face. The sudden appearance of the animatronic made the ponies more than a little uneasy, especially since she seemed to have been waiting for them to exit the break room.
“Why is she just standing there?” Applejack asked in a confused tone.
“Her A.I doesn’t let her understand that many commands, and she usually just stands around… I don’t know why she’s here, though.” Silver replied in a troubled tone while stepping forward slightly. “Let me try something. Uh… Chica, play back activation logs.” She spoke in a clear voice while trying to remember the more complicated commands she was taught by Sparkplug.
The animatronic chicken remained silent and motionless in the face of the unicorn’s command. She was just staring at them passively, and with a fervor that was both unnerving and impressive at the same time.
“Silver… this is exactly what Felix did to me yesterday.” Rarity whispered in an uneasy tone while eyeing between the cream mare and the robotic bird, silently hoping that Silver would back up a few steps.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure she’s just having some kind of malfunction. She has been one of the more finicky ones to work with. Besides, didn’t your friends say that the ghosts shouldn’t be able to do anything to the animatronics?” Silver asked curiously. The two mares were unable to give her a confident answer, but their expressions told of how uneasy they were starting to feel. Deciding to figure out what was happening once and for all, the cream mare steeled herself for a moment before taking a step forward, and then another.
“Silver!” Rarity anxiously and quietly pleaded for the unicorn to rethink her actions. Before she could even contemplate reaching out to stop her, Silver was out of reach and slowly walking over to the animatronic.
Applejack and Rarity watched nervously as their cream companion hesitantly moved her way forward. Perhaps she felt a little nervous herself, but she apparently wanted to figure out whether or not the animatronic bird was haunted or just malfunctioning bad enough to risk her own skin.
Silver walked, or rather, shuffled, over to Chica and started making her way behind the animatronic. If she could maybe get the back of Chica’s head open, then maybe she could use her limited knowledge of the animatronics to do a manual reset. Before she could act on these thoughts, however, Chica suddenly stepped in her path and looked down at her.
“Ah!” Silver yelped in surprise while falling back to the floor. “Chica, sleep mode! Sleep mode!” She exclaimed frantically while covering her face. She looked up, half expecting the animatronic to be lunging for her, only to see the robotic animal staring down at her silently. Her command didn’t even do anything to faze the robotic chicken.
“Silver, are you ok?!” Rarity asked in a stunned tone. The cream unicorn looked behind her to see the two mares stepping forward slightly, apparently ready and willing to come rescue her from the demented chicken if the need arose. Silver wasn’t sure whether or not to be comforted by this fact.
“I-I’m ok… I’m ok.” Silver stammered slightly while scooting away from the animatronic as fast as she could. She turned around and stumbled to her feet before rapidly closing the distance between her and the two mares. She felt like continuing to run down the hallway, but she had to stay and help them deal with this new and possibly dangerous situation.
“Ok… so… let’s hypothetically say that one of the ghosts somehow hopped into Chica. Where do we go from here?” Silver Bell asked while trying to calm herself down. The three mares had to quickly glance to each other while keeping the animatronic bird in sight at all times. Thankfully Chica seemed to just be silently watching them for the moment.
“I’m not sure… Tom had trouble dealin’ with one of them himself… and that was an older model if I remember correctly. I doubt we could fight it… and I really doubt we could get around it.” Applejack said in a troubled tone while eyeing the animatronic nervously. Chica wasn’t moving very much, but she was in the middle of the hallway for a reason, almost like she was trying to block the path.
“What about that safety mechanism Berry used to shut down Felix? Does Chica have one of those?” Rarity asked curiously.
“Uh, yeah… she does. But one of us would have to be close to her to activate it.” Silver explained with a slight gulp. Before anyone else could suggest another option or volunteer, Applejack stepped forward slightly with a determined expression on her face.
“I’ll do it… What am I lookin’ for?” Applejack asked while looking to Silver Bell for more information on the apparent safety mechanism.
“Applejack, you can’t be serious. You can’t go near that thing! What if it tries to attack you like Felix was going to attack me?” Rarity asked in a shocked tone. She couldn’t believe that the orange mare was even considering something so bold and possibly stupid.
“There’s no time for arguin’ over this right now Rarity.” Applejack said adamantly before turning back to Silver Bell. “Now Silver, I need to know what to do once I get over there.” She asked while trying to convince the cream mare to agree to her plan.
“Umm… there should be a small pull ring on the back of Chica’s head. It would be near the base where her neck meets her head. If you pull that out, she won’t be able to function.” Silver explained in as calm a manner as she could manage at the moment.
“Ok… I can handle that.” Applejack nodded in confirmation before setting her sights on her target. Although the animatronic was motionless for the moment, she was confident that it wouldn’t be pleased to see her trying to shut it down.
“Applejack, please… I implore you to reconsid-” Before Rarity could even finish her plea, the orange mare bolted forward towards the animatronic. The two unicorns watched in anxious silence as their friend charged head first into possible danger.
Applejack ran towards Chica while trying to be as centered as she could. Once she got close enough, she leapt into the air with an adrenaline-fueled yell. The orange mare stared at the animatronic’s head with steely resolve while reaching her hoof up and around it. She intended to quickly leap up on her hind legs to reach the back of Chica’s head, and then quickly find and pull out the safety mechanism in one swift motion, but something got in the way of her plan.
Before Applejack could even make contact with the back of the animatronic’s head with her hoof, she felt something cold and hard clasping down on her foreleg tightly. She then noticed that Chica’s hand had moved to swiftly grab her before she could finish her job. At the same time, the orange mare noticed that the animatronic’s hollow and lifeless eyes were solely fixated on hers.
“Ow!” Applejack yelped painfully as the robotic animal held onto her foreleg roughly. She immediately backpedaled, only to fully realize that she was being held in place by her front leg as she stumbled and put more weight on her shoulder.
“Applejack!” Rarity and Silver Bell yelled in unison with panicked expressions shared between them.
“Let me go!” Applejack exclaimed while trying to forcibly pull her foreleg out of the animatronic’s grip. The more she pulled, however, the more she received throbbing pains to indicate that she was indeed stuck. Finally, she resorted to banging on the animatronic to try and get it to release her.
Suddenly, a low noise started coming from Chica. It sounded like some kind of broken moaning coming from her mouth, but it sounded far too organic to be caused by her voice box. As Applejack looked up in surprise to see the animatronic’s face, she noticed a strange and eerie white glow in Chica’s eyes.
“Uh… ah…” Applejack muttered fearfully as she stared into the white lights. They looked like they were the animatronic’s pupils, but they seemed to be coming from behind her exterior shell as if they were inside of her. The low and garbled moaning grew louder until it intensified into an agitated growl that continued building. Chica slowly yet methodically raised her other arm with her hand open and reached up toward the orange mare’s neck area. At the same time, she opened her beak slightly, revealing the blocky teeth in her mouth that oddly looked like they could somehow cut into bone.
Before the animatronic could grasp ahold of the orange mare’s slender neck or get any closer with its mouth, it paused abruptly. Applejack looked at the robotic animal in a mixture of fear and confusion for a moment before she heard a soft click. Looking to the side, the trapped pony noticed a magical aura behind the animatronic’s head, and she also noticed a small ring-shaped object with a pin attached to it levitating away.
“Ah!” Applejack yelped suddenly as she and the animatronic chicken fell. Thankfully Chica fell backwards, so the orange mare wasn’t harmed by the robot’s hefty body landing on top of her. As the animatronic crumbled into a heap on the floor, Applejack heard the sound of the two unicorns rushing over to her.
“Applejack! Are you ok?!” Rarity asked in a concerned tone while hovering near the orange mare to offer help if needed. Applejack had landed with Chica still holding onto her foreleg, but thankfully she was able to quickly yank herself out of the animatronic’s limp grasp, albeit with some resistance.
As she stumbled backwards to distance herself from the motionless robot, Applejack was caught by her two friends. She turned to see the pair with concerned expressions as they examined her for injuries, but she also saw Rarity with her horn lit up and a small pull ring next to her.
“I’m fine… Thanks for that, Rarity. You saved my tail.” Applejack stated in a relieved and grateful tone.
“I’m just glad you weren’t hurt by that dreadful thing. I almost didn’t find the safety in time.” Rarity said while briefly glancing to Chica to ensure that the animatronic was in fact deactivated. Sure enough, the robotic bird was still lying in a motionless heap on the ground with its beak still open from before.
The three ponies walked over to the animatronic and looked down at it with stunned expressions. They were still getting over their adrenaline rushes from what just happened, and they still felt their hearts pumping a little.
“We need to get out of here. This place isn’t safe if the ghosts can keep controlling the animatronics like this.” Silver Bell stated while still staring down at the motionless bird. She felt a little lightheaded from such a jolt to her system, but she knew that she had to make sure that her colleagues and her guests were safe.
“We should wake up Tom and the others if they aren’t already up. They need to deal with this before someone gets hurt.” Rarity suggested uneasily. The other two mares nodded sporadically as a sign of agreement, mostly due to the fact that the white mare’s suggestion implied them leaving the general vicinity of the basement.
Just as the trio started to walk toward the animatronic to step around it, they paused in surprise as they noticed movement coming from the lifeless chicken. Chica’s body was starting to shake slightly. The sporadic and uncoordinated shaking quickly turned to sluggish movement, and soon enough the robotic animal started moving its arms and legs to push itself up.
The three ponies backed up fearfully as the animatronic stumbled to its feet. As she got up, Chica continued making the disturbing moaning sounds from before, and her movements were slowly becoming more deliberate and less shaky. Still, the robotic bird seemed to move like some sort of demented puppet, and it looked and acted like it was possessed.
“T-that’s not possible… the animatronics can’t function with their safeties tripped.” Silver Bell stammered in shock.
“I don’t think anyone thought to mention that to the ghosts.” Rarity said in a nervous tone while keeping her horrified gaze fixed on the still twitching animatronic.
Chica finished getting to her feet and snapped her head up to look at the three mares, causing them to jump slightly. She tilted her head and looked between them, seemingly studying them for a moment. Still, she had a certain disturbing look in her already eerie looking eyes that told of how much of a threat she was.
“Silver… where can we run to from here?” Applejack asked in a hushed tone of nervousness while briefly glancing to the cream unicorn.
Silver Bell looked back at the orange mare with a stunned expression of fear still plastered on her face. She did her best to focus her racing mind on answering the question posed to her. “Uh… uh… there isn’t anywhere.” She replied uneasily.
“There has to be somewhere we can go… Maybe we can loop around and lose her if we run fast enough.” Applejack said in a frustrated tone. Despite her attempt at looking ahead to an escape plan, the cream unicorn was just as adamant as before that they were essentially sitting ducks.
“You don’t understand. We’re pretty much at a dead end. This hallway just goes to… to… *Gasp* the sub-basement!” Silver exclaimed in revelation as she thought of the extension to the building. Suddenly, Chica let out a piercing screech and started rushing toward the three ponies.
“Run!” Applejack yelled in a panic while turning tail and running as fast as she could. Her two companions needed no confirmation as they joined her in sprinting down the hallway.
The ponies could hear the metallic sound of Chica’s feet thumping against the floor as she gave chase. Nobody wanted to turn around to check and see how close the pursuing animatronic was, but they wagered that it was right on their tails. The only thing keeping them slightly ahead of the robotic animal was the adrenaline rush that pushed them to flee for their lives.
After rounding the corner of the hallway, the trio could see their options for escaping vanish instantly. The hallway was full of doors that would doubtlessly lead to dead end rooms, and that was assuming they were unlocked. With the vicious bird chasing them with the full intent on ripping them to shreds, the group had little chance to survive if they couldn’t find somewhere to run.
Silver Bell used every ounce of her energy to pull ahead of her two companions as they neared the end of the hall. After sliding to a stop near the door at the end, she grabbed ahold of the handle and threw it open. Rarity and Applejack didn’t even take the time to process the fact that they were running into a disgustingly ancient looking stairwell leading to a doubtlessly even more disgusting location. The two mares just sprinted through the doorway and did their best not to sail over the railings from their momentum. Due to the lack of light further down, Rarity was forced to light up her horn just so she could keep descending safely.
“Ah!” Silver Bell exclaimed fearfully. Rarity and Applejack stopped with a cold feeling of dread in their guts as they heard the distinctive sound of their unicorn friend tripping and falling.
The two mares quickly spun around and looked up to see Silver lying on the landing above them and recovering from a nasty fall. She apparently tripped in her rush to get through the doorway and into the stairwell. Judging from where she was positioned near the metal bars of the railing, she probably hit her head as she fell, but it didn’t look too severe. However, there was a much more troubling sight at the top of the stairs. Due to her sudden fall, the cream unicorn had failed to close the door behind her.
Without even taking a moment to think or confirm their actions with each other, Rarity and Applejack rushed back up the steps to rescue their companion. The distance they had descended before the unicorn tripped wasn’t too great, with the two mares barely even making it to the first turn in the staircase. Despite the short distance they had to cover, due to the adrenaline pumping through their bodies and the looming thought of the psychotic animatronic bird flying through the doorway at any moment, the pair managed to make it up the stairs in record time.
“Get up Silver!” Applejack stated in a frantic panic while racing to grab the still dazed unicorn and pull her to her feet.
While Rarity was helping the orange mare with getting Silver Bell up, she took a passing glance out of the open doorway to confirm just how much trouble they were in. However, instead of seeing Chica right in her face as she expected, the unicorn was greeted by another sight that made her pause with a confused expression.
Applejack and Silver Bell noticed their white companion staring ahead and remaining still. Given the urgency of the situation, they couldn’t believe that the unicorn was just wasting time when they needed to be running away.
“Come on, Rarity!” Applejack said while grabbing her friend by the foreleg.
“Wait, guys… look.” Rarity stated while pointing forward. Despite every fiber of their beings telling them to run away, the two mares did as the white unicorn instructed and looked out of the open doorway.
Chica was still there, and she was still fully intent on killing them from the look of it, but for some bizarre reason, the animatronic was standing still a few feet away from the entrance to the stairwell. She was staring the ponies down with the same eerie glow still present in her eyes, but she wouldn’t move forward.
“What the…?” Applejack muttered in a confused tone.
“Why did she stop?” Silver asked curiously while glancing to her companions for an answer. Neither of the two mares had any clue what was going on. They never imagined that it would be so easy to get the demented chicken to stop chasing them.
Chica took a few steps back hesitantly. The animatronic kept staring at the ponies, but it seemed to be incapable of going down the stairwell. However, just as quickly as the robotic bird started retreating, it stopped and held its ground a few feet back into the hallway. After a few moments went by without either party moving, the ponies turned their attention to the predicament they were in.
“I don’t think she’s leaving.” Applejack stated with a troubled expression while turning to her two companions.
“What do we do now? Should we just wait here and hope the others wake up and find us?” Silver Bell asked hesitantly.
“No… the ghosts might be using the other animatronics as we speak. We need to get back upstairs and warn everyone.” Rarity said with a concerned expression. All of her friends and even her little sister were in the resort upstairs. If the rest of the animatronics were possessed, then she had to keep everyone safe.
“You’re right. We should find a way upstairs… but how?” Rarity shrugged uneasily as she turned her attention to the animatronic bird still staring at her.
“Maybe you could teleport behind Chica and run?” Applejack suggested in a hopeful tone.
“I admire your creativity darling, but I doubt that would work. I’m hardly as good at using magic as Twilight is… I’m not even sure I could pick it up and hold it if I wanted to. And unless Silver knows how to teleport, we aren’t getting past that thing.” Rarity said while briefly turning to the cream mare. Silver Bell silently shook her head as a sign that she didn’t know how to pull off such a complex spell.
“Uh… maybe we could find another way up through the sub-basement?” Silver Bell suggested with a hopeful tone while glancing down the stairs.
“Is there another way upstairs down there?” Applejack asked curiously.
Now that both of her companions’ eyes were on her, Silver felt a little nervous as she tried to recall from memory any details she knew about the extension to the building. “I’m not sure… I barely made it past the stairs the last time I came here. I would assume so.” She said in an uncertain tone while shrugging her shoulders.
“Well… that’s probably the only choice we have. Let’s go.” Applejack said in a resolute tone while starting to descend the steps without her two friends. Rarity and Silver Bell wasted no time in following the orange mare down the cobweb-ridden metal staircase. They hoped that they could get back up to their friends before something bad happened to them.