Hey you! Yes, you! Do you love the Mall? Love to shop and hang out? Well what if you got PAID to do it?! No joke! Get ready to become a-
MALLFACE!
We’re casting for on-screen talent to appear in video ads for this very Mall. And we want YOU! Upload pics of yourself around the Mall to our app: MALLFACE! The user with the most liked selfie will star in a cutie Mall video!
You’re one pic away from being the best kind of famous: MALL FAMOUS!
"Huh, we should talk about this with the others tomorrow morning, Spike. Spike?" Twilight called out before she found a note. "Gone fishing?" Twilight read, leaving her suspicious. "Since when did Spike learn how to fish?"
At the mall, Spike and friends were trying to pull Clogstopper off the wall.
"Come on, everyone! Tug!" Spike strained.
"Ugh! Clogstopper, why do you keep doing stuff like this?!" Burgertron asked.
"It’s my hobby. I look for the most difficult surfaces to get unstuck from, then I stick myself to them!" Clogstopper answered.
"That seems like a bad idea." Dimlit noticed.
"All my best ideas are bad ideas." Clogstopper smiled.
"That doesn't make any sense." Spike deadpanned.
"Outdid myself this time." Clogstopper smugly chuckled as Dimlit looked down and saw Dave taking selfies.
"Something wrong, Dimlit?" Spike asked.
"Uh, guys?" Dimlit tried to call out as Spike looked behind and saw Dave below.
"Uh-oh." Spike dreaded.
"All we have to do is give it 110%." Kikmee said.
"Wait. What happens to us if he suddenly gets free?" Bonz-Eye realized.
"We fall." Spike answered as Clogstopper then became unstuck, throwing the group off balance. "Oh, this is going to hurt."
The group fell as Burgertron noticed Dave with his phone. "*Slow Motion* Oh, come on!"
Dave took several selfies, not noticing Spike and the Lost Bots in the background as they fell and soon landed.
"I bet those pics were gold! *Alarm beeping* Hold it! Midnight snack alarm? My favorite alarm! Ah, the pics can wait." Dave shrugged off as he pocketed his phone before running off.
"And that is one example of a Ninja Don't: Get into pictures." Spike listed.
"He doesn’t know it yet, but there is proof in our existence on his flesh-being-ama-phone." Burgertron pointed out.
"I wonder if he got my good side. Kidding. All three of my sides are good." Clogstopper ignorantly said.
"This is bad." Spike noted.
"Bad? This is game over! If our squads find out he has pictures of us, they’ll never forgive us!" Kikmee dreaded.
"That's a worst case scenario." Spike replied.
"Forgive us? Worst case scenario? It’d be way worse than that. They’ll probably throw us all into the fiery dumpster from which none return!" Burgertron panicked.
"You mean that dumpster fire out back?" Spike noticed.
"Come on! We’ve got to delete those pics before the flesh being realizes he has them!" Burgertron declared.
"Agreed, but we do it stealthily." Spike pointed out.
"Ohhh, maybe Dave’s office has something I can stick myself to. Let’s hurry, this is important work." Clogstopper smiled as the bots climbed aboard Spike and headed to Dave's office
"*Voicing chocolate* Don’t go, there’s space for the both of us on this floaty. *Voicing licorice* It’s too late for me, but I want you to live." Dave played before his voice was now mumbling.
"Like watching an adult Pinkie Pie and Mikey." Spike shivered with dread.
"So, is there a ninja technique to get the phone?" Burgertron asked.
"One factor of a ninja is opportunity. Patience is the key factor. We wait for the right time." Spike informed.
"Kikmee, you good with the plan? We might only get one shot at this." Burgertron said.
"Spike has the right idea. We wait then get the phone at the right time." Kikmee admitted
"Hope it doesn't take hou-" Burgertron was about to say when Bonz-Eye brought back the phone. "Explain."
"He follows each of his snack break with a nap break. I believe his mantra is 'It's always nap o'clock somewhere.'" Bonz-Eye said as Dave was fast asleep, snoring away.
"A+, Bonz-Eye." Spike smiled.
"Good job following my leadership, Bonz-Eye. Now let's see... How to delete those pics? *Turns on phone, only to see password needed* Agh! It has some kind of ingenious, high-tech security mechanism. Let's get this back to the Lost & Found. Hurry, before he wakes up!" Burgertron informed.
"Agreed." Spike nodded as the group then went back to the Lost & Found before the dog soon caught the Botbot scent like he usually does.
"Before we start, just a warning. Cracking this will not be easy. The potential combinations are endless." Burgertron pointed out.
"Lemme try; one-one-one-one-one-one." Clogstopper said as the phone became unlocked.
"Wow. Dave’s terrible at passcodes." Burgertron deadpanned.
"Do not diminish my hacking skills." Clogstopper replied.
"Anyone else think this phone is strange?" Spike noticed.
"Define strange." Bonz-Eye requested.
"I'm getting the Botbot scent." Spike said as that left Bonz-Eye confused before Burgertron puts pictures into trash can and deletes them.
"The trash can is exactly where the belong to and… mission accomplished! Now let’s get this phone back before he even notices it’s missing!" Burgertron urged before Dimlit gave an excited squeal.
"How adorbs! It’s just like my dreams! So delicious!" Dimlit hysterically laughed in excitement while playing a cookie matching game.
"Dimlit... Snap out of it, buddy." Spike said while snapping his paws.
"Spike’s right, Dimlit. Stop messing around! We have to get that back before the Dave creature wakes up, finds it missing, and stomps all over searching for it. Every bot will lose it on us if that happens!" Burgertron pointed out before Dimlit looked at him with crazed eyes.
"But the cookies must find their twins! Their only purpose…" Dimlit hissed with manic laughter before Kikmee grabbed him.
"Easy, Dimlit. Something about this phone seems strange." Spike reminded.
"Phone games are dumb, snap out of it already." Kikmee said.
"They’re not all dumb, I saw an app on here you might like!" Dimlit noted.
"Yeah, right. Like I’d ever-" Kikmee was about to say before she gasped as Dimlit smugly pressed the football app with her groaning and chuckling in excitement. "Coming at me?! Nice try, scabs! Ha! Time to bring the heat!"
"Touchdown! Touchdown! Touchdown!" The game commentated as Kikmee cheered.
"Saw that coming." Spike deadpanned.
"See? This phone probably has something for everyone." Dimlit smiled before Clogstopper took the phone.
"The only way to prove that is for me to try every single one of these apps." Clogstopper said.
"This should be interesting on what he picks." Spike noted.
"Hmmm. *Opens shopping app* 'Welcome to Mer-chants. Five into deep savings on over-stock and remaining merchandise.' Wait. You can buy random leftover stuff? MIRACLES ARE REAL! Woah-ha! Fake mustaches? Plastic spiders? Spray cheese? I need this stuff!" Clogstopper responded before he cheered in excitement as he carted some stuff.
"Free shipping unlocked!" A voice in the app said before Clogstopper yelled in excitement as he carted a lot more stuff.
"How can they afford to sell a used case of creamed corn that cheap?!" Clogstopper asked as he carted it.
"Loyalty point bonus awarded! Point zero one percent discount applied!" The voice in the app added as Clogstopper giggled in excitement.
"That discount isn't exactly something to be excited about." Spike deadpanned.
"This phone is making all of our lives better! Can’t we keep it?" Dimlit asked.
"Ugh. No! Bonz-Eye, can I at least trust you to shut this down?" Burgertron requested as Spike took a big long smell.
"I dedicate myself to discipline. This flimsy illusion of reality could never entice me. *Takes phone as Clogstopper gave out a pained cry before Bonz-Eye noticed an app and opened it* Mindfullness: an app for Mindful Meditation." Bonz-Eye read in confusion.
"Breathe in. *As Bonz-Eye did that* Breathe out. *Bonz-Eye breathed out* Find your center. You are a warrior in battle, a battle of calm. The whale song teaches peace. Become one with the whale song." A relaxing female voice instructed as Bonz-Eye was making horrible whale noises.
"I just hope Fluttershy doesn't hear that." Spike shivered as he start seeing the smell was coming from the phone.
"What is happening to all of you? Dave will be looking for this so he can put his pictures into, whatever thing it was, this MallFace thing. *Opens MallFace app* Ugh. All these pics are terrible! This one, he didn't even change the contrast. The filters are right here! Look I just apply this, then move this here, and well, maybe a little shading, and wow. I have absolute control over these pics! I can put-uh no, no, no, undo. But use a bit from here, and a bit from here... There! We'll submit this!" Burgertron declared as the pic was a handsome version of Dave.
"Hypocrite much?" Bonz-Eye deadpanned.
"Guys, can I see the phone real quick?" Spike asked.
"Sure." Burgertron answered as he started tickling the phone with his tail, but nothing happened. "*Mentally* Huh, a tough customer."
"But whoa! That was sublime. Everything was at my fingertips. Reality was mine to manipulate." Burgertron noticed.
"All I want to do is bring cookies happily together. They NEED me." Dimlit hissed.
"Maybe we could borrow this a while longer. We could hide the phone in my cubby-hole!" Burgertron declared.
"No way! It'd fit better in mine!" Kikmee argued.
"I was the first one to use an app!" Dimlit pointed out.
"I'm the one who retrieved it!" Bonz-Eye replied.
"I'm the one who hacked it!" Clogstopper added.
"I'm leader! Give me my precious!" Burgertron growled as the Botbots argued and fought over the phone as it turned off, showing their horrifying faces as they gasped in shock.
"What have we become?" Dimlit dreaded.
"We're acting selfishly, but this isn't our fault. We have moral centers and solid attention spans! It's obviously the phone's fault." Burgertron claimed.
"Burgertron's right. We were fine until we opened those apps." Kikmee agreed.
"What should we do now?" Bonz-Eye asked.
"Before you do anything, let me try one more thing." Spike asked as licked the phone before it started shaking as the group suddenly heard stifled laughter. The Lost Bots were confused, but Spike smirked. "Guys, I thought I smell the scent of a Bot." Spike said before he continued to lick as the laughter started getting louder. "I'll only stop when you transform."
Spike kept licking before the cellphone suddenly transformed into a female gamer geek Botbot. "Okay okay, stop! *Laughter!*"
"You have a good nose, Spike." Burgertron noticed.
"Thanks. You okay?" Spike asked as he gave the Botbot a napkin.
"Yeah, name's Ring-A-Ling. But I've almost had enough of those five! I kept hoping they'd figure this out on their own, but I guess that ain't happening!" Ring-A-Ling deadpanned.
"But, but, but you're-" Burgertron tried to say.
"Don't "but-but-but" me! Alright, I've done nothing but help you guys all night! I set off the snack alarm to distract the guard, I opened the lock when you put in that dumb passcode, I even faked being out of battery so you could see the reflections of how terrible those five were acting! But those Lost Bots are just beyond help!" Ring-A-Ling pointed out bluntly.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Bonz-Eye asked.
"I shouldn't have to! I'm the most powerful tool for communication and entertainment ever made, not just something used to get likes. You're responsible for setting your own boundaries!" Ring-A-Ling answered.
"Easy, take a breath. I admit, they have their problems. But they're my friends." Spike responded as Ring-A-Ling cleaned his drool off her.
"Yeah, I've seen those Flesh Being pals of yours. You have some weird friends. How long you knew I was a Bot?" Ring-A-Ling asked.
"The second Bonz-Eye brought you to us." Spike informed.
"Sneaky." Ring-A-Ling admitted.
"The photos deleted?" Spike asked.
"Yeah, you saw Burgertron." Ring-A-Ling pointed out.
"Good. You can be on your way." Spike said.
"Yeah, you know what, I’m outie! Peace." Ring-A-Ling bid farewell as she dashed off before she soon got back to Dave, transformed into her cellphone mode and rang with an alarm beeping, waking Dave up. "I wasn’t napping, you have no proof! Oh, just the wake-up alarm. My least favorite alarm. *Opens phone* New notification from MallFace? Wait, I got how many likes?"
Back with the others at the lost and found...
"Now, before I head home. I think we all learned something tonight." Spike noted.
"Yeah, and you know, I’ve been thinking about what Ring-A-Ling said and I think she was right." Dimlit admitted.
"Good. And have we learned our lesson about hypocritical actions?" Spike asked.
"I agree. It wasn’t her fault we got so caught up." Bonz-Eye nodded.
"Good. You're on the road to Ninja training." Spike smiled.
"No, it wasn’t her fault. It was Dave’s." Burgertron said.
"It was ours. Wait, what?" Kikmee asked in confusion.
"Totally Dave’s fault. If he didn’t have her, we wouldn’t have become obsessed with the apps on her." Burgertron responded as Spike facepalmed.
"Four out of five ain't bad." Spike sighed.
"Don’t you think maybe we had some responsibility for how we acted?" Dimlit pointed out.
"He's right, Burgertron." Spike agreed.
"No! Dave's fault! Conversation over! Oh, it's almost Mall opening time. See you tonight." Burgertron shrugged off as the Lost Bots transformed, except Clogstopper.
"Wait! I think the phone was a bot the whole time!" Clogstopper realized/
Later, Spike snuck into his home with a makeshift fishing pole.
"Had a good night fishing, Spike?" Twilight asked, startling Spike with her presence.
"GAH! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Spike yiped.
"Sorry. So, catch anything?" Twilight noted.
"No, nothing tonight. Maybe I'll get lucky tomorrow night. Hey, didn't you want to try that Mall Face thing?" Spike remembered.
"Wasn’t sure, but after seeing that obviously edited picture? No thank you." Twilight declined.
"Really? What was the photo?" Spike asked as Twilight brought out her phone.
"Is this explanation enough?" Twilight pointed out while showing the picture as Spike did everything he could not to laugh.
"I'm going to bed." Spike said.
"Okay. Night." Twilight responded.
Meanwhile with Dave in the morning...
"Hey foodies, there's something at the Mall for you, too! Come discover dozens of fine dwining opportunities a-Duh, did I say "dwining"? Get it together, Dave! *Frustrated grunt* I got this, I just need to take a small walk and-Gah! *Trips onto his back before the mic crashed on him* Owww!" Dave yelled in pain.
"CUT! Seriously?! How'd this guy get the most likes?" A female director questioned.
"Yeah, he looks nothing like his photo." A male crew member agreed.