The Doctor waved his metal glow stick along the carousel. Spitfire watched tediously him, seeing how he paced along the ride as it slowly crept into a spinning motion. The glow stick made an odd noise that sounded like a toy's laser beam. She didn't like it, but it caused her to become curious on what it was. She stood from the ground, brushing dirt off of her bathrobe and climbed onto the carousel.
"What is that thing anyway? Is it just something that makes you focus? To be honest, it's pretty annoying." she asked, leaning on one the golden shiny bars where the animal rides should have been for the foals to ride onto.
"It is my sonic screwdriver, a handy tool of mine. It is able to scan, fix, unlock, track and even hack into objects. It’s almost as good as the TARDIS. Heh... almost ," the Doctor replied with a slight chuckle in his voice. He continued to scan the carousel, as it slowly creaked. "Spitfire, tell me what the problem is with this carousel." the Doctor called from the other side. Spitfire raised her eyes from looking at the doll, trying to figure out the Doctor's question for herself.
"First off, this ride seems to be going a bit faster than it did before. Maybe that is because all of the mechanical creatures that the foals ride on are gone..." Spitfire replied, stepping around the carousel beside him. Now gladly next to the Doctor, she smiled warmly at him, ready to hear his nerdy response.
"Now if only we can tell where they went." the Doctor said, checking his sonic for data of what was going on. Spitfire sighed and turned her head towards one of the tents to see a faint shadow in an alley. Her senses tingled as she was ready to inform the Doctor, but the shadow had vanished by the time she looked back where it had been. She squinted, still trying to find the shadow when the Doctor had interrupted her train of thought by a cough.
"This makes some sense. We're at a carnival, in the future, and the animal that foals ride who stay in place are no longer here. I believe that they might have gotten up and fled!" the Doctor exclaimed his theory and hopped off the ride. Spitfire followed up next to him, and saw the odd figure again. This time is had been beside a flower stand, right in the distance. Luckily the Doctor saw it, and burst into action.
"Hey you! Do you have any idea what's going on?" the Doctor called, darting towards the figure, but halted once the figure seemed to be smaller in the distance. Instead the figure had towered over him. It seemed to be made of complete steel and possibly from the ride they were on before, but it was too tall to fit onto it. Maybe it was just a huge attraction. The Doctor looked up at it, and smiled in awe. It had golden locks, and a marshmallow coat. It had a loyal lavender muzzle with a golden button on it that most racing ponies wore. Its saddle had golden lace etched along it and its hooves had been painted purple as shoes perhaps. "Well, well. Someon- er I mean... somepony seems a bit too polished for a carnival if I do say so myself." the Doctor smirked, swerving around the legs, inspecting them closely. But he was interrupted once his wide orange eyed friend fumbled into him.
"Do you even know if that thing is friendly?" Spitfire asked, staring up at the carousel's former seat. The stallion seat had long golden locks, a marshmallow colored coat, and a loyal lavender muzzle with a golden button stamped on his cheek to hold the muzzle firmly. Even though it was a muzzle, it had only been just for show. Its saddle had golden lace made of metal on the edges of it, and right where the foals were to sit was a darker shade of lavender. A foal could easily climb upon the seat and enjoy the ride. It's eyes were supposed to be a kind purple as its saddle but instead it was gleaming with a darkness, fear. He slowly tilted his head towards the Doctor and spoke in a deep, slightly-threatening-voice. Spitfire and the Doctor were forced to be stern and to make sure this figure wasn't too suspicious.
"You must not be here at this time, I am advising you to leave at the closest exit." the now-alive seat ordered sternly and gave them a sharp stare. Spitfire had instantly feared him, she had moved back a bit, grabbing the Doctor by his bowtie. This shouldn't have been happening, and why was the Doctor so calm about this? The robotic horse looked like it could squash them in a mere second. Yet, he was only a few inches taller than them. The Doctor cocked out his chest and looked into the robot's eyes. It looked as if they were having a stare down, a robot versus an alien, Spitfire never expected to see this in her life. If one of the players decided to lose, surely they would implode from the intensity.
"And why should we leave?" the Doctor questioned the robot's authority as if he did this daily. The robot gave the Doctor a sharp piercing glare that made Spitfire shiver.
It had reminded her of having to stare down Desert Eagle to convince him to feed her some lunch. At those times when Spitfire was young, Equestria wasn't at its best position. Ponies were hungry, tired, and weak… most even hopeless. When Spitfire visited Desert Eagle on Tuesdays, she would plead and try to act absolutely cute at his home. But Desert Eagle would rarely budge. If the miracles would occur more often back then, she'd be fed a bowl of soup. Simple, but tasty, it was filled with carrots, chopped potatoes, and diced celery. Sometimes, if she was in good behavior, Desert Eagle would add a dollop of cream which made her savor the taste as long as she could. She would question him when the two would sit beside each other.
"Desert, I must thank you very much for the soup. Do you think I can share it with mommy and daddy when they come home?" the young Spitfire had asked curiously. Desert Eagle would look away briefly, then back at Spitfire sorrowfully rubbing his orange chin.
"Kid, don't get your hopes up, alright? I mean, if your mommy and daddy come home, then you could all eat as much soup as you desire. But if they don't... well think of it in a way that we'll be able to spend more time with each other. And hey, more soup for us!" Desert Eagle chuckled, and slurped his own spoon of soup. As the young Spitfire would watch, she'd do the same. Desert Eagle had been such a good role-model for Spitfire, much better than you'd think. The memory had flashed out of her mind and was wide awake.
"You all must leave. Do not enter any closed rides, stores or homes. All residents must stay away from the Fun House. Going inside can lead to the never coming out, now leave," the robot ordered, Spitfire felt a bit relaxed once the robot seemed to show some sort of positive attention, but she was still up on her guard. The Doctor shook his head, and took out his sonic screwdriver, rapidly scanning the robot. A beep came from the sonic, indicating it had done its task. In an instant, the sonic had caused the robot to reopen his eyes which were now completely shined and had no sight of shadow. The dark eyes had now magically become green. The Doctor was so interesting that she had even left Spitfire in a trance... probably one of the most interesting ponies she had ever met.
"Welcome, one and all!-" the robot cheered but stopped to look around at the ghost town version of a carnival. "Erm... wait," the robot paused, his voice now northern and classy instead of threatening. "There's only two ponies here. Oh dear, what has happened? Where are all of the carnival goers?" the robot asked, panicking now pacing around the area. The Doctor put away his sonic screwdriver, and stood in the way of the robot's pacing.
"Apparently you haven't been very observant of your surroundings. Or maybe you've been just in a really long trance. How could you have not seen all of those ponies screaming in fear? There's something off going on, yet you know nothing about it." the Doctor grumbled, trying to think properly. Spitfire turned west, past the carousel and towards the "Fun House". The entrance had a lolling tongue as a carpet hanging out. It was strange, a bit too strange for a carnival that was open for little foals to enter. But maybe that's what foals liked in the future, strange odd things. Or maybe they were just out of ideas. The house even had eyes that were abstractly placed next to the flaming red clown nose in the center. The pupils of the eyes had slightly boggled, but maybe Spitfire was overwhelmed.
There was a dim light from the entrance, maybe someone was inside awaiting for someone to creep in. The house was like one of those spooky houses in foal's stories when the foals would foolishly enter and wouldn't come back out. Spitfire studied the appearance of the house one last time before turning back to the two debating behind her.
"I'm so nervous. I can barely remember the last time I’ve been around. I can't remember much. It is like I've been asleep for a very, very long time. And somehow I've just awoken to this. I remember fillies, playing cheerfully at the games and such, but now I'm here to this nightmare of a carnival!" the robot whined. He appeared to be more of a foal than a majestic stallion. Spitfire sighed, realizing that he was too good to be true. All robots had their flaws, especially this one. She laid one hoof around him, patting and urging to soothe him. She’d do anything to stop the crying.
"So if the carnival goers, the workers, and not even the rides know what's going on... that means we are going to have to go deeper to figure out what's going on." the Doctor spoke his thoughts and looked up at the former seat. "Listen uh..."
"Call me Whirl-Bot. Just for the heck of it." he sniffled, standing again.
"You mentioned a Fun House, no? Take us to it, if you'd like the carnival goers to ever come back." the Doctor instructed, and waited for the unicorn to do his action needed. In a few awkward moments, Whirl-Bot sighed.
"I mentioned the Fun House? But no one is allowed inside... everyone is strictly banned because of a recent accident inside. But fine, I cannot promise that you two will come out you know. I remember a foal had sneaked in there during previous construction. This had only happened a few weeks ago I believe. I wonder how that chap is doing in there... trust me I'd go in there to save him but I've been programmed by my, well, programmer to guard and such. I've been having odd glitches that are bipolar where I become normal like this and then some strict guard. I don't really like it... but if you two insist on trying to fix this mess be my guests. Let's just hope none of us are terminated while we are in there." Whirl-Bot rambled and trotted towards the Fun House.
Spitfire glanced at the Doctor, a bit nervous of entering behind Whirl-Bot. But the Doctor threw his arm around her, pulling her to his side. He took a deep breath and sighed.
"You don't have to go in if you don't want to. I'll try to be as quick as I can be. The last thing I want is you getting hurt." the Doctor nodded and began to trot towards the Fun House. But Spitfire dashed beside him.
"I'm coming with you, even if something dastardly happens. We're friends, and friends don't leave friends behind. And I am not a weakling!" Spitfire smirked and zipped towards the entrance. The Doctor followed, calling after her.
"We go in, stop whatever is terrorizing the carnival, find out why Whirl-Bot is acting like a regular pony, not a ride, save the poor foal, and maybe have time for some more cotton candy. I know you love that stuff. All fluffy, I mean really all candy is non-cotton except for the pinkish one on the stick. It is amazing. Almost as good as jelly babies," he grinned, patting Spitfire on the back. "Are you positive you want to go in here with me?"
"And blow up a chance to take a little risk?" she teased, approaching the doorway steadily. She rushed beside Whirl-Bot and was about to place her hoof on the handle but the Doctor had pulled her back next to him.
"You are staying at my side the entire time. You're only a rookie. I know you got this whole Wonderbolt-y thing going on in your mind, and you're at a high rank in that. But when you're with me you'll have to stay. I am not losing you to a house that's made to scare the wits out of foals." he told her, trying to keep himself calm. The Doctor didn't want to lose her, after all he hadn't wanted to leave or hurt anyone else. The fact that he had her beside him was a miracle. It had been much better than being by himself in his blue box, weeping of how he'd lost so many... friends.
“What about me?" Whirl-Bot's voice whined from behind them. The Doctor pondered on what to do with him. The Doctor didn't want to tell the truth and say that the Whirl-Bot was as useful as a leech. He cleared his throat searching for words.
"Ah, it is dark in there. And you have those fancy flashy eyes, you can be our eyes. And I don't want to hear anymore whining or shrieking from you!" the Doctor ordered, and took out his sonic, causing the handle to jiggle a bit till the door burst open.
Around the room were dark midnight walls with abstract neon colors splattered against the wall. There was furniture that looked as old as the Doctor was. The three were forced to shoo spider webs to get through. Oddly, one couch was wrapped in a slick black wire. It was obviously a trap. Family pictures were scattered on the wall of the family's daughters, son, mother and father. All of them had the eyes of a dog though. The three split up, and examined the area very closely. One that was strange was a pale mare who could have been the mother or the daughter of the family. Her eyes were closed but purple tears had been pouring out of her eyes and streamed down from the painting to the black concrete flooring. Spitfire was hesitating to touch it, but she restrained herself knowing the Doctor would be upset if she'd do something she wasn't supposed to.
As the three inspected the room, the floor trembled a little and a burst of cackling came from another room. There was a door on one side of the room, with a couch blocking the way. Possibly somepony tried to block it but was too busy to do so in a good job, or maybe it was put there to get attention. Surely whatever was across from the room they were in, something intense was going on. To follow up the cackling was a cry of a foal's shriek of terror. And to finally finish it off, a sound roared like a door or gate slamming shut. Spitfire instantly flinched after hearing the cry for help, and was ready to act. But the Doctor shook his head.
"No Spitfire, listen closer. Or in fact, look around. We're in a fun house, more like a mad house, and what we just heard was an artificial cry. The sound came from right here," he said poking a bookshelf with his hoof which had a speaker clumsily attached. "I know what I'm talking about; trust me, I'm the Doctor." Spitfire nodded; a bit surprised she couldn't tell herself. Maybe she was just too protective. The Doctor noticed something off; the horrid whining sound was gone. He whizzed around and grumbled.
"Damn! He's gone!" the Doctor stated and pulled out his sonic again, flashing it around the room. The Sonic’s signal led him to one spot, the corner, where books had been stacked high. They were all photo albums according to the titles on the sides of the books. Spitfire approached the books herself, and removed one from the pile. It was green, and had red lace around it. It sort of looked like a young foal was trying to make an art project. Once she opened it up, a click sound rang. The Doctor glanced up at her, a bit embarrassed that he didn't say anything.
"Doctor, what did I just do?" she asked, warily. And another, louder click, sounded. The floor trembled as it did before. The Doctor stretched out his bowtie a bit, sort of nervous.
"Curiosity killed the cat, right?" he tried to chuckle, but Spitfire narrowed her eyes. Even though she was sort of angry for him not saying anything, she clutched onto him. A couch nearby had snapped its legs, and a few pictures had fallen and shattered into bits. The two bookshelves around them had snapped together to create a barricade of leaving the spot. As Spitfire looked up, the wall was just brisked by the bookshelves, impossible for them to escape. The Doctor stared at the floor below them, creaking open. His eyes widened as he couldn't see the bottom of the pitfall-like trap. Spitfire held onto him tighter, fearful of the bottom. It was a long way down just by the looks of it.
As Spitfire had a fearful gaze, the Doctor looked at her with a wide grin. She was ready to throw off her bathrobe and spread her wings, although she wouldn't have the strength to hold the Doctor up for... however long the floor would be opened. She backed up and up until her back slammed into the wall.
"What's with that stupid smile? Are you excited to plummet down and down to our death?!" Spitfire snapped. But the Doctor moved his hoof as if shooing her irritated attitude away.
"Hey, you're the one who wanted to take the risk!" the Doctor chuckled, and grabbed her hoof into a firm grip with his own. She looked at him nervously, and nodded as the couch had now plummeted before her eyes. She began to quiver and shake. Finally letting out a scream, the Doctor yelled.
"Geronimo!"