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Welcome to Discord's!1,023 words
The First Night1,458 words

The First Night

Twilight strolled past emptied buildings, tracking hoofprints in the gravel path leading up to Discord's Desserts. She seemed awfully disturbed by the place and regretful, if you considered their strong need for a security guard. These animatronics couldn't possibly injure a pony...Could they?

She shook the thought off. The boss said so himself: "The first night is the easiest." As Twilight headed to the direction of the building, she repeated the phrase in her head until it sounded like a chant of an ancient race, an endless mantra that would provide a solace for her. And perhaps it would, if she could just calm her racing heart and relax, loosening up instead of being so tense. Inhaling loudly one last time, she strutted into the building and nearly crashed into the expectant boss.

"Whoa, there!" he chuckled, helping the sheepish unicorn up. "Watch out! You'll definitely need to know that when you start watching the animatronics."

Twilight tried laughing, but she was already having a hard time swallowing; in fact, she nearly choked on her own spit because of her anxiety. She peeked over his head and shivered as those ominous, bright eyes seemingly glared at her from the half closed stage. Discord's eyes flickered from complete black with small white pinpricks; perhaps his endoskeleton eyes? Twilight hardly had time to wonder, as the boss was already trotting to the office down the hallway. She noticed a camera on the ceiling as she looked around the colorful corridor.

"Here's the room you'll be staying in! Take note that there's only a limited amount of electricity. We keep this fan on over here so you don't get too sweaty," the stallion was gushing. In all fairness, the office looked somewhat cozy. There was a dusty desk pushed against the wall, dotted with reflective monitors and the mentioned fan. On the wall itself was a big poster saying "CELEBRATE" with the three animatronics on it: Applejack, Pinkie, and Discord. On the opposite side of the north wall was the leather chair. A monitor, sleek and shiny, occupied the spot which Twilight would soon be sitting in.

"...Our previous security guard left you a message not too long ago. You can listen to it anytime, I guess. However it sort of malfunctions and plays without permission," he finished droning. "Good luck, see you in the morning at six!"

Before Twilight could respond, he walked out briskly. She huffed and checked the time: just five minutes before her official shift began. With the creepy noises creeping through the shadows of the room, she began to ponder if 120 bits a week were truly worth it. So there she sat, cold metal laced on her lap, until something told her that it was time. She hesitantly checked the monitor, and the displayed time matched her instinctive guess. There was also a battery symbol, presenting 99% left.

Using her horn to skim through the cameras, she looked up consciously at either door as if expecting an animatronic to appear from the dark. She realized that there might be blind spots and was suddenly grateful for the light button just below the door button. As her eyes flicked across the desk, the phone rang.

Twilight hesitated, her hoof hovering over the button to allow the message to play. It had already been three rings, and, as the boss had said, the machine played by itself, seemingly impatient with her slow choice.

"Hello, hello? Hi, yes. I uh, heard that there would be a new security guard allowing me to retire from this job, so I thought it would be best to record a message for you. Uh, you know, tips for your first night. Hopefully, you'll last long enough.

"Ah, scratch that. You sure will. It's an easy night. Anyways, I'm supposed to begin with an introductory thing or whatever. Uh, okay. "Hi, welcome to Discord's Desserts. A fun, fantastical place for fillies and older ponies alike. Discord Entertainment is most definitely not responsible for death or dismemberment due to your job. When a death has been discovered upon the morning inspection, the room will be cleansed completely and a missing pony report will be filed within ninety or so days. All carpets and other thing stained with death evidence will be replaced."

"Now, I know it sounds bad. There really shouldn't be too much to worry about, I guess. Uh, the animatronics however do get a little quirky during the nighttime...Y'see, they have a free roam mode at night. Can't turn em' off for too long otherwise their servos will lock up. However I wouldn't blame them, you know? If I were forced to you know, uh, sing the same tune all day and not get any cleaning I'd be pretty arrogant. So let's establish that these guys hold special places in the hearts of young ones, okay? Okay.

"There is a problem with their quirkiness, though. After hours, they don't recognize ponies as, well, normal ponies and think your an endoskeleton without costume on. Since, uh, that type of nudity is strictly prohibited at Discord's, they'll forcefully stuff you into a Discord suit. With him being the only animatronic without the anatomy of a pony, you'll be crushed underneath all that...Causing death. Yeah.

"But there was a time when these guys could wander during the day too. Until the Bite of '87...Dear Celestia. It's such a wonder that the pony can survive without the frontal lobe, you know?

"Heh, they don't tell you think kind of stuff when you sign up. But hey, you'll do good. Stay safe-uh, try to, at least. Make sure to check those cameras. And good luck."

The phone made a static sound indicating the message was over, but Twilight was absolutely horrified. In a rush of panic, she scrolled once more through the camera. For Celestia's sake! It was only 1 AM! Thankfully, none of the animatronics had moved from the stage. Her battery percent was surprisingly 92%, considering the fact that it had already been an hour. Wow. An hour. Time flew quite quickly with this shift, then.

She nearly dozed off a while later until the sound of creaking metal snapped her awake. With a strangled gasp, she checked the cameras, specifically the backstage-and nearly flew out of the seat when Applejack was missing. She had to locate the orange animatronic immediately...Or she'd be stuffed into a costume.

Static mixed with the different areas of the building flew past until an unfamiliar silhouette stood out against the West hallway. It was the shape of a sleek pony, donned with a hat. Obviously Applejack. Twilight checked the stage briefly and nodded when Discord and Pinkie Pie remained, peering out from the stage and into the empty tables dotted in front of them.

More metal. Twilight looked back at the hallway, but she couldn't find Applejack's silhouette. Her stomach wrenched as she found her vaguely looked up at the camera from the West hall corner, hat covering her other eye. The camera cut off, filming pure black static. Twilight practically dropped the monitor with a thud and checked the left light, shrieking loudly as Applejack peered in with a sinister and inviting smile on her face. The unicorn slammed the door shut, gasping for breath.

4 AM? Already? Her battery was at 60%, probably from her earlier panic attack of flying through each camera. She checked the light and saw Applejack's shadow still there, indicating that the animatronic was still waiting patiently. The light flickered for what seemed like a nanosecond and the reflection of a normal untouched shimmer presented itself in the dark space. Hesitant, Twilight opened the door and sighed with relief when there wasn't a killer animatronic lurking there.

Twilight spent her time scrolling through the monitor, occasionally checking the left and right doors. At one point, Pinkie showed up briefly before returning to the party room. It seemed short when two hours had passed and the clock chime sounded, signaling that her shift was finally completed. She yelped with joy and skipped out through the west hall, noticing Applejack halfway offstage. Obviously trying to return to her position before she locked up for another repetitive day.

The boss wasn't here yet, but she was so relieved, she escorted herself out the building. Sure, the first night was seemingly easy...But could Twilight handle another set of nights, with an increasing difficulty?

Author's Note:

Sorry for a long wait. I rewrote the chapter a couple of times. Anyways, I'd really appreciate positive feedback for this chapter. I have in fact tried to improve my writing, though I doubt it...Enjoy!