//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: I Can't Fix You // Story: The Perfect Pair // by CarolineCheney //------------------------------// I was the creature again, but this time I was with another that’s bigger. When I looked around, I saw that I was in that place again. When I looked ahead, I saw that I was headed towards that ‘Pirate’s Cove’ room again. I had no idea what to expect at that point. When we got in, most of the benches were filled with those creatures, some my size and others as big as the one with me. We walked on the sand between the benches until we sat on an empty bench close to the front. In front of me, I saw the same purple curtains covering the same stage. And then the curtains opened revealing the same Foxy from my first dream. As he started his skit, I noticed he was a little glitchy, but not as glitchy as when I met him. Then, I saw one of those creatures my size get up on the stage. This is gonna be like my first dream, isn’t it? Then, right on que, Foxy’s eye changed and he snapped his jaws on the creature’s head. Everyone started screaming and getting out of there, but I stayed put. When I looked, I realized the creature that was with me was gone. I looked back to carnage, and I saw Foxy’s eye had changed back, but he was looking down at the creature with a wide eye, and his ears were drooped, as if he realized what he had done. I decided to try to leave. But when I tried to run, I somehow tripped over a bench leg and all faded to black. 3:30AM I jolted awake drenched in sweat. Did I fall asleep? I looked down at myself making sure I was still a pony. Yep! I am! I then looked around trying to see in the darkness where I was. Then I realized I was still in that Pirate’s Cove place. I could even barely see Foxy curled up on the floor asleep. I didn’t want to wake him, so I laid my head back down to wait this night out. 6:00 AM A few hours later, I could see the sun trying to peek through the curtains. Those few rays that managed to get in hit Foxy in the face, making him stir awake. I decided to get off the stage and draw or write in the sand. Once I sat on the sand, I let my hoof go with the flow as it brushed and scraped against the sand. As I drew in the sand, I let my mind wander back to our conversation last night. “S-S-So, whe-e-re w-w-were y-y-ye? W-W-Why d-d-did ye-e-e c-c-come b-b-back? A-A-An’ why-y-y ar-r-re y-y-ye a p-p-pony?” “Okay, first off, I was always a pony. Secondly, I was in Equestria, where I lived my whole life. And thirdly, Princess Luna said I was from another dimension and needed to return. I was flying to think about it when a portal sucked me in and sent me to this building.” “W-W-Well, I-I-I do-o-on’t k-k-know-w-w wha-a-at t-t-to say-y-y ab-b-bout t-that.” We talked all night. He told me about the last time he saw me after blacking out, and realized the carnage he reaped. He didn’t want to talk about what happened afterwards at first, but after reassuring him, he finally told me. Even now, I still can’t believe his own friends did that to him. I must’ve zoned out in my thoughts cause I didn’t hear Foxy coming. “M-M-Morn-n-nin’ Las-s-sie.” I jumped a bit when he spoke. “O-Oh! Morning!” I said, still trying to slow down my rapidly pulsing heart. While my nerves were calming down, Foxy sat next to me. I didn’t mind, since he wasn’t bothering me. “W-W-Whac-c-cha d-d-drawin’? He asked. I just shrugged. “I dunno. Just keeping myself busy.” Looking down, I saw that I made the same drawing as the one on my test. After realizing it, I quickly brushed over it with my hoof, erasing it completely. Foxy, on the other hoof, was dumbfounded. “W-What di-i-id y-y-ye do t-t-that fe-e-er? T-T-Thoug-g-g-ht it-t-t w-w-was n-n-nice.” Wait, he liked it? Welp, us weirdos gotta stick together I guess. “Sorry, thought it was weird and didn’t want you to see it. But I guess us weirdos gotta stick together!” He chuckled at that, though it was pretty glitchy. Then, once he was finished, he asked: “S-S-Say, I-I-I nev-v-ver g-got the-e-e ch-h-hance te a-ask l-l-last n-n-night, b-but w-w-what’s tha-a-at m-mark o-on y-y-yer but-t-tt? I looked down at my cutiemark. “Oh! This?” I asked pointing at my flank. He nodded. “It’s my cutiemark! It’s what a pony gets when they find their special talent. Mine is drawing and creating machinery! Though, I like to draw other stuff.” I said proudly. “C-C-Can ye-e-e rep-p-pair m-machinar-r-ry t-t-too?” “Yeah! It’s like finishing somponyelse’s work!” “T-T-Then, ma-a-aybe y-ye c-can fix-x-x m-me?” I nodded. “Of course! Repairing you won’t be any different from anything else I’ve repaired.” Foxy seemed happy to hear that. He did seem a little frustrated every time he spoke, probably due t o how slowly his words came out. “T-The pa-a-arts an’ t-t-tools need-d-ded a-a-are in-n-n t-t-the P-P-Parts A-A-And Ser-r-rvice. I-I-I’ll ta-a-ak y-y-ye th-h-here.” “Thanks!” Once we got to the doorway, he told me to stay quiet and follow his lead so we won’t get caught by anyone else in the building. It was a bit tricky, and we were very close to getting caught a couple times, but we finally made it to the Parts & Service room. When we got inside, there were shelves filled with spare heads. And below the shelves, there were boxes that were labeled ‘Freddy’, ‘Bonnie’, ‘Chica’, and ‘Foxy’. I locked the door behind me so nopony could catch us in here. I noticed a camera at the ceiling, but I paid it no mind since it was off. There was a toolbox on the table, and Foxy hopped on next to it. With my magic, I grabbed the box labeled ‘Foxy’ and sat it next to me. Inside, there were lots of spare parts and blueprints of him. “Are ya ready, Foxy?” He nodded excitedly. I smiled as I levitated a spare paw and blueprints. A few hours later… Well, it took a while. And I was tired and drenched in sweat. But it was worth it. Foxy looked like nothing had happened to him. Couldn’t find spare hat or jacket that was in the blueprints though. But he doesn’t seem to care. He jumped down from the table to get a better look at himself. Then I realized I forgot to check to see if his right eye needed fixing. So when I lifted the eyepatch, I found claw marks cutting across a white glassy eye. I sifted through the box for a spare head or eye, but couldn’t find any. “Don’t worry ‘bout that lassie, I already knew me eye couldn’t be repaired.” Foxy said, already having his eyepatch back on. Good to know the voicebox works though. “Oh, sorry. But at least the rest of you is fixed.” I said. I was proud of my work! Especially the jacket. Since I couldn’t find a spare one, I had to do my best to fix the one Foxy was already wearing. I couldn’t fix the sleeves, though, so we agreed that rolling them up would be good enough. “Well, thanks fer fixin’ me Lassie. Means a lot.” “You’re welcome! Now maybe we should try to head back.” Foxy nodded in agreement, and we made our way out. As soon as we stepped out, I could immediately hear music, singing, screams of excitement, ant the laughter while I could smell something cooking, and could see lots of brightly colored lights. The sensory overload was almost overwhelming, but I knew I had to follow Foxy’s lead as to not get caught. It was easier returning than it was leaving, so when we got back, we sighed in relief as he shut the door. “Is this place always this loud and noisy?” I asked, a little annoyed. “Aye, it is. But are ye alright, Caroline?” He sounded concerned. But I was fine. There was nothing to be concerned about. “Yeah, why?” I didn’t even know what he was so worried about, so I was confused. “I don’t know, but ye sounded a bit upset, an’ yer cryin’ right now.” He said as he knelt down to my level reaching his paw to my face. I recoiled and pushed his paw back with my hoof. “What?! I’m fine. And I’m not-” I stopped mid sentence as Foxy flinched at my sudden outburst, and I realized my face was wet, with something rolling down my cheeks. I wiped my hoof on my face and saw it was wet too. Then I felt a paw on my shoulder. “Are ye sure? If there’s anythin’ ye want te talk about, I’m listenin’.” Foxy said with concern still fixated on his face. “Y-Yeah, I’m fine.” I said as I wiped the rest of the tears away. Fuck! Why was I crying?! And in front of somepony! This is extremely embarrassing and below my age! As we made our way to the curtain, I could tell Foxy was still concerned since he kept glancing my way. “Soooo, what was yer least favorite repair on me? I know it was a random question, but jus’ changin’ the subject.” He said as he opened the curtain for us to go in. “Oh, it was inside the torso.” I blurted out eager to change the subject, but I instantly regretted it as soon as those words left my mouth. “Really? Thought it was the jacket, since ye had a hard time stichin’ it together. Why me torso?” Foxy asked in intrigue, yet also confusion. Ugh, why did I say that? Should I tell him? Does he know? If he doesn’t, how would he react if I told him what I found? I think I should keep it to myself. Besides, I’ve cleaned out the torso while using the time freezing spell, and disposed of the contents accordingly with vaporization, so he won’t even know. “Well?” Foxy said, still waiting for an answer. “Oh! Cause it was really dirty and rusty. It was difficult for me to clean it out. Took me almost an hour. Makes me wonder how you were able to move around as much as you did before the repairs.” I said in hopes that he’d buy it. Foxy, on the other hoof, seemed skeptical. “Really? Cause it didn’t seem te take that long.” “That’s because I used a time freezing spell, since I didn’t want to keep you waiting.” He was looking surprised at this point, while I hoped upon hope he bought the white lie. Then a smile creeped onto his face. “I didn’t know ye could freeze time! What else can ye do?” He sounded pretty excited, so I kept going, knowing that I was saved by a half lie. “Well, I can teleport.” I said. And to prove it, I teleported from my side of the stage, to Foxy’s, our muzzles inches from each other while my wings kept me in the air. Then out of nowhere, he wrapped me in another death hug. “That was awesome!” he said, and if I looked down, I would’ve seen his tail wagging. “Uh, yeah. But can you put me down please?” “Oh. Sorry, Lassie.” Foxy said as he put me down. Once my hooves were touching the stage again, my lungs welcomed the air with gratitude. “Thanks Foxy.” “Anytime, Caroline.” We talked a bit more until we got tired, and decided to sleep. I went to one side of the stage, while Foxy went to the other. We said our goodnights, and went to sleep. At least, Foxy went to sleep. I stayed awake, cause I couldn’t stop thinking about what I had found in there. After a bit of thinking, I decided to finally sleep since I didn’t want Foxy to worry about me again. I just hope that he never has to find out. I had finished patching up Foxy’s chest, and decided to check to see if I had to do any internal repairs. I had to search his torso until I finally found the hatch on his back for me to access his insides. But once I opened it, I instantly regretted it as I was hit with the smell of blood, death, and rotting flesh. Before Foxy could notice, I cast a time freezing spell. Inside the torso, was what’s left of one of those creatures. Blood and shredded guts and flesh pooled out, and the inside was covered in it. I couldn’t believe my eyes. But I had to act fast, since the spell doesn’t last long. So I levitated all the gore out of Foxy and put it in a random paper bag that was on the ground, in which I had vaporized so nopony would accidentally stumble upon it. Then, I grabbed a can of air freshener that was almost unseen behind the duck head and sprayed the entirety of inside Foxy until it smelled like flowers. Once it was done, I put the can back in it’s place just before the spell wore out. Then I grabbed the oil can to make sure he can move everything correctly. Once finished, I shut Foxy’s torso hatch, and moved on to his jaw. I awoke to the sun peeking in again, and Foxy was just starting to wake up. "Morning Foxy!" He looked at me and chuckled a bit. "Mornin', Lassie." He said. As we got out of the curtain to sit on the stage, I've realized I haven't eaten all day yesterday. But I decided not to bother him. I mean, he's been through a lot before I popped up here. He needs a bit of time to process it. We were both quiet for so long, I was a bit startled when he spoke. "Hey, wanna meet someone?" He asked. I was surprised. I didn't think he wanted to introduce me to any pony, since I was something out of the ordinary in this dimension. But, I decided that there's nothing left to lose. I've already lost everything by being sent here. "Sure! I don't see why not!" Foxy smiled at that and gestured for me to follow him. "Nobody's workin' today cause the place is closed for a holiday. So we don't have to worry about workers or customers seein' us. But we do have to be careful if the others are out. They don't like it when I leave the room fer any reason, and things never end well for me." Foxy said solemnly. He had a point. Judging by how cruel the others were, I didn't want to come face to face with any of them. So I followed Foxy out of the room. But when we got out of the room, I could hear talking in the room close to us diagonally across the hall from Pirate's Cove, where we were just barely hidden by a wall. The room in question had a big doorway and there weren't any doors attached. I could tell Foxy could hear them too, cause he looked terrified and his ears were pinned back. I could even see his tail was tucked between his legs. "Caroline, we need te get on the other end of the hall." Foxy whispered in genuine fear. "The others can't see us, Lassie. Think ye can teleport us te that door over there?" He asked, as he pointed to the door at the end of the hall that said 'Prize Corner'. This was a simple task he asked of me, so with great confidence, I nodded. Touching my wing against Foxy's leg, I teleported us to the door. We held our breath and waited, listening. But the voices were acting like they didn't even hear us. So we walked in the room and sighed in relief at our close call. As soon as we were in, I could hear music coming from somewhere in the room. When I looked around the room to find the source, I saw a counter and shelves filled with candy, toys, and plushies of the animals, but Foxy was excluded. When I looked to my right, I saw a giant blue present with purple ribbon which was the source of the music. Foxy walked up to it and knocked on the top, which seemed to be a door of some sorts. "Hey Mari, I got someone I want te introduce ye te." After saying that, the door opened revealing, something. It looked like one of those creatures, but it's face was pure white with purple streaks running down it's face and having red circles on it's cheeks, while it's eyes owning long eyelashes, had black corneas with white irises and grey pupils. It had long black hair reaching past it's shoulders, and it was wearing a black and white striped turtleneck, but the sleeves were so long I couldn't see it's paws. "Oh, hey Foxy! I didn't expect to see you here! Who fixed you?" It's voice was smooth like butter, and sounded feminine, and sounded a bit cheerful, yet surprised. "And who is it that you want me to-" Then it looked at me. It's eyes went wide as it saw me. I didn't know what to do. Did I do something wrong? But, in it's defense, it most likely didn't expect to see a pony. "My, my. What do we have here?" It said in intrigue. "Mari, this is Caroline. Caroline, this is Marionette, but she likes to go by Mari." Foxy said as he introduced us. "She's the one that fixed me." Mari seemed to be in awe after hearing this. She actually seemed nice. But then I remembered that she never helped Foxy when he needed it the most. Foxy must've realized this, since he spoke. "Don't worry, Lassie. I've already forgiven her." Wait, he actually forgave her? How? Why? These thoughts were running through my head as Foxy went to the counter on the other side of the room. "I'll leave ye too alone to chat a bit." When he was gone, our gazes met. Then, Mari was the first to speak. "So, I've heard that you've fixed Foxy." "Yeah, he was beat up really bad. The poor guy has been through a lot." "Well, I assume that he's told you what happened since the bite?" "Yeah, but why do you care? You never did anything to help him." Mari sighed at this. "Yes, that is true. But there is something that must be said. He has been through a lot, as you can tell. But you should know that he wasn't only broken physically, but also mentally and emotionally. He hasn't even been happy since it all happened. And I don't know if he'd ever be truly happy again." I was confused by this statement. "What are you talking about? He's happy now. He even gave me a death hug twice in a row!" "He may seem happy now, since a long lost friend has returned, but you have to remember that you are completely different from when you left him that day. Do you even remember him before you came back here?" I shook my head. I mean, she has a point. He seemed really happy until I revealed I had no memory of him. "Well, you may fix him physically as much as you can, but you might never be able to fix him mentally or emotionally. Mari had another point. I was no therapist. I couldn't help some pony that's been through trauma in the past. I'm sorry Foxy. I can't fix you.