Trixie adjusted her cap as she entered Freddy's, nervously casting a glance backward as the light above the double glass door flickered. She shivered, wrapping her arms around herself as she entered the old restaurant, wishing Mr. Frazbear would just give her the tour so she could get this job over with.
"Tr-Trixie?!"
The showmare jumped, and spun on her heels to find Mr. Frazbear exiting the room next to the stage containing the restaurant's three animatronic mascots, including the ever-popular Freddy Frazbear himself. The robotic bear appeared to be a little taller than a normal pony, including the small, black top hat that sat between its round ears.
"S-Sir! Y-You scared me!" Trixie replied, a hand resting over her heart.
"S-Sorry..." the stallion replied, rubbing the back of his neck "I uh...well...follow me...I'll uh...explain everything..."
The powder-blue mare nodded, and followed Mr. Frazbear into the rear of the restaurant, past a dusty curtain with dozens and dozens of stars expertly painted on it. A small, aged sign attached to a post stood before the curtain, reading 'Sorry! Out of Order' in neat, black handwriting.
"M-Mister Frazbear-" Trixie managed.
"Just call me Frank," the stallion said, stopping to wait for her "everypony does."
"That's a bit of a strange name." she commented.
"I uh...yeah...it is...wouldn't trade it for the world."
"Oh...um...'Frank', what's behind that curtain?" she asked, pointing to it.
The stallion smiled nervously, and turned, resuming the walk to the back of the run-down eatery.
"Mr. Frazbear!" Trixie said, running after him "You didn't answer my question!"
The brown stallion turned to her, his face one of sterness- something that appeared almost alien on his features, given his personality. Trixie felt herself shrink back a bit, wondering if she'd broken some sort of secret rule.
"Trixie- just...don't go poking around back there, okay? There's nothing back there but a bunch of spare parts. Tools and the like!" he stated, his tone dead-serious.
"Ah, well- I suppose I won't..."
'Not that mechanics are my strong suit...still...I suppose I could look around when I'm alone- Celestia knows I'll have enough free time on my hands...'
Her boss breathed a sigh of relief, and rubbed his eyes as he turned around, motioning for her to follow. The two of them soon entered a moderately-sized room after traversing a short hallway. Inside was a desk that took up the entire left wall, a fan sitting on top of it, as well as a few dark, elaborate boxes. The walls were decorated with pictures presumably drawn by foals, and posters of the animatronic band in the dining room.
"Well...this is your new office!" Mr. Frazb- Frank stated pathetically.
'Yay' she thought sarcastically.
The small space wasn't much to look at- it was already a bit musty, and she happened to catch a cobweb or two beneath the desk.
"Now, a few pointers," Frank stated, picking up a small tablet made of crystal "you'll need this while on duty."
"What is it?" Trixie asked, curious as to what the object could be.
She tapped the surface, and a small wave sprung out from beneath her finger, as if she were dropping a pebble into a pond. The thin piece of crystal pulsed with arcane magic, that much she could tell, what it did beyond that, she had no clue.
"You can see any room in the restaurant with this," Frank said, tapping a small square in the top left corner of the tablet "with the exception of the bathroom, of course."
"Seems simple enough," Trixie stated, somewhat amazed at how such a thing came into existence "is there anything else?"
"Yes, glad you asked," he stated, becoming progressively nervous "er, Freddy and his friends are magic-proof, and there's extra food in the kitchen if you get hungry- only one meal though, I can't afford to be setting out any feasts."
He chuckled weakly.
"Why are the animatronics magic-proof?" Trixie asked, finding the characters in question to appear on the tablet.
"Simple, really," he replied "both the endoskeletons and the cosmetic covers negate unicorn magic, one of the main reasons being that we get quite a few young ones here during the day- outbursts, and such, as I'm sure you're aware, it helps save bits on repairs."
Trixie nodded slowly, finding logic in the older stallion's words.
He scratched his head, his fingers digging into his mane, as his face screwed up in thought.
"I think that's about it, any questions?" he asked.
"No, I think I will be able to handle myself." Trixie said, trying not to throw a tantrum like a little foal.
The rust-maned stallion nodded, and glanced at his watch. His eyes went wide as he patted her on the back, dropped a small key ring with a single, bronze key, and proceeded to leave the room.
"G-Good luck! H-Have a good night!" he stated hurriedly, practically galloping down the hall.
'Odd...' Trixie thought, glancing down at the tablet.
Running a finger across the smooth, cold surface, she cycled through the different cameras connected to the device. She caught sight of Mr. Frazbear himself exiting the front doors, locking them firmly.
Cycling through the viewer once more, she realized that she could see everything in the restaurant, except (as Mr. Frazbear stated) the bathrooms. She also noticed that there were no cameras directed at the doorways- and she assumed the camera in the kitchen was defective, as there was no image coming through.
She set the viewer to the stage, and her eyes went wide with fear, as she discovered one of the three characters to be missing from the stage.
'Where'd the rabbit go?' she wondered 'Where the actual hell did the rabbit go?!?'
Something hard collided with the back of her head, and the mare went down like a sack of potatoes. She dropped the viewing device as her head struck the floor, making her vision blur as she lost consciousness.
"Sh-Sh-Sheeee U-Up-p-p-p y-y-et-t-t?" a voice crackled and hissed, somewhat forcing Trixie out of her unconscious state.
"Alm-ost-ost-ost..." another replied.
"I be-be- tire-tired o' waitin', ju-ju-just ge-get the lass up al-re-rea-dy-y." yet another said.
The powder-blue magician groaned to herself as she tried to push herself up, wincing as a twinge of pain shot through her neck.
'This just isn't my day...' Trixie thought, finally lifting herself off the floor 'Wait a minute...this isn't the office...'
Indeed, the black and white checkered linoleum floor beneath her was not that of the security room, and the long rows of ovens, pots and pans hanging from the ceiling, and the smell of overcooked cheese and pizza sauce only confirmed her location. But the question was, how did she wind up in the kitchen? Unless...unless...
She slowly craned her neck upward, trying to ignore the pain lancing through it, and saw the restaurant's mascot, Freddy Frazbear, standing over her. Its synthetic blue eyes stared down at her, past the black nose on its false face, directly into her own amethyst orbs.
"H-H-Hell-lo-lo, my-my na-name is F-F-Fr-edd-y-y, welc-welc-"
That was as far as the false bear got, before Trixie screamed, her shrill cry piercing the otherwise silent kitchen. A ratcheting sound could be briefly heard from inside the animatronic's head, as one of its round ears moved back and forth on its head.