Day 1
“So let’s go over the terms one last time Mr, uh...Valiant Effort, yes?” asked Doughnut Joe, shuffling the papers in front of him. He hoofed a few pages to the stallion in front of him, an ash earth pony with a short black mane and tail. “You’ll be working five days a week, from monday to friday inclusive. Your shift starts at midnight and lasts till 6 AM, which is when the day guard will switch you. Come by a bit earlier on monday so I can give ya your ID and show ya around. Sounds good?”
“Of course, no problem!” cheerfully replied Valiant Effort. He has been looking for a job for the past few months now, and he’d cling to this opportunity tooth and hoof. It was either that or learning how to perform “exotic dances” for the only other offer he got. “A-And the wage?” he asked in a small voice, flinching internally as his future employer leaned back and hummed.
“Tell ya what. You look like a good kid. Doughnut Joe is feelin generous, so what’d you say to four bits per hour, eh? That gives us one twenty per week. I’ll throw in some free hot cocoa and unsold doughnuts to keep you through the nights. Sounds okay?”
Valliant looked like he was on the verge of crying. “Y-Yes! T-Thank you sir! I’ll do my best, I promise! Thank you!” he blurted out, lunging to shake the burly pony’s hoof vigorously. The money would definitely help him stand back on all fours again, maybe even convince his marefriend that he wasn’t a total loser.
Four bits an hour. For sitting around and eating doughnuts and coca. Is fate finally smiling at lil’ol me? thought the future night guard, putting a final stroke over his signature on his contract. Fancy Tastes, I promise I’ll win ya back!
* * *
Valiant Effort was sitting in a small room at the back of the now massive doughnut shop. The place grew considerably ever since the Princess herself begun ordering increasing amounts of sweets, turning it into a social hub of sorts for the middle and upper class alike. Doughnut Joe kept the place very family friendly, offering a variety of shakes, cakes and discounts for the smaller ones. He even bought some of the new and fancy ‘animatronic robots’ to entertain his guests.
The things were basically skeletal dolls of metal enhanced with magic, wrapped in plastic and foam bodies. The robots could walk, talk, sing and respond to a variety of simple requests and commands. The foals loved all of them - Mr. Snugglebears, Ducky McDuckington, Miss Cheerypie, even the less popular Griffy Griffon had their animated hands and hooves full of small tykes running around and cheering.
Valliant didn’t really have an opinion about them - he didn’t understand how they worked and they seemed kind of creepy, with their large eyes and maws, their stiff movements and whiney joints. He even heard there was an accident with one of the now missing dolls, but no official statement has been made and the thing was disregarded as a rumor. Still, the little ones missed Foxy of Pirate Cove.
The stallion sighed, looking at the clock overhead. His shift started barely five minutes ago and he was already bored. Doughnut Joe gave him a solid tour around the place, showing off all the fire exits, fuse boxes, storages and even the room in which they kept the dolls in during the night. All in all, despite how huge the place was with all the back rooms, it would be manageable. He’d have to stroll around every now and then to make sure everything was okay, but other than that he’d just sit in front of a security feed and flip views from one camera to another.
If things would somehow manage to get out of hoof, the guard had a pair of solid metal doors to keep him safe, and there were numbers to all important services pinned on a small board in front of him, right over all the posters of Doughnut Joe’s place. His boss made sure to make it a point that, so far, they had no problems with any break-ins and that the position was open due to the previous guard moving on.
“So, let’s see about them doughnuts,” said Effort with a grin, reaching out for a rather sizeable package with the company's logo on it. Before his hoof touched the lid, Valiant got startled by the phone ringing. “Huh? Did Mr. Joe forget something?” mused the stallion, glancing at the clock. It was only ten past midnight.
“Doughnut Joe’s place, night guard Valiant Effort on the phone,” said the guard, leaning back in his chair.
“Hi there! The name’s Bright Smiles and I was the night guard before ya!” answered the phone. “I recorded some messages for you, since this is my last week and all, and I thought that you’d, you know, like some tips on how to run the place at night. It can get, uh, quite quirky here, hehe”
Effort raised and eyebrow and made himself more comfortable in the chair. “Quirky?” he mumbled.
“So uh, yeah, I-I guess I should first do this whole legal introductory thing. Uh, khem, welcome to Doughnut Joe’s where magic is baked goods. In this most wonderous of places you will find all the sugary treats your heart desires. Our products are always made with the best selection of...”
The voice kept jabbering on about doughnuts and the company’s mission to deliver them, making the stallion’s gaze focus on the cocoa and package still left unattended too. Placing the phone head away for a while and listening with one ear about some more legal stuff, he popped the cover open, marvelling at the dozen or so glazed doughnuts housed within. They were all just the stuff that was unsold, but still it was something to munch on and the smell was fantastic.
He was about to sink his teeth into the first one sprinkled with small candies when his ear flinched. The phone said something weird. What was that about dismemberment?
“...But you don’t have to worry about that. Yeah, in fact, I’m sure you’ll do fine,” heard the stallion, now very intently listening to the speaker’s voice. “So, uh, yeah. This is your first night, so things should be pretty quiet. Just so you know, the dolls are never shut down, even during the night. Something about the magics causing rust if they are turned off for too long? I don’t know, I’m no unicorn, heh. So anyway, they’re just set to a roam mode, you know, just walk around a bit, no big deal. As far as I know they won’t hurt ya. They’ll just, uh, I think they kind of don’t see you as a pony or something after hours? Like, they treat you like one of their own. A magical doll I mean. And since you’re not wearing a costume or anythin, I think that the worse they can do is put you into a suit.”
Valiant blinked slowly, moving his head away from the phone for a second. “What?” he mouthed, very carefully putting the head back to his ear.
“Not that bad right?” asked the voice with a nervous giggle. “Except that, well, them costumes weren’t designed for ponies, with all them parts and holes that are s’possed to keep the pieces on the metal bodies. I can imagine a pony would feel kinda, heh, uncomfortable being pushed into one of those. In fact, I think that the only parts of ya that would see the light of day would be yer eyeballs and teeth poppin out.”
Valiant felt chills run up and down his spine. What the hell is this supposed to be? Some kind of prank? Somepony trying to spook me? he thought, looking uneasily around the small office.
“But, yeah, this is the first night, you don’t have ta worry one bit! Just, uh, observe the cameras and keep yer hooves on the door switches. Turn them on only when ya need to, cause the place only has so much power at night, with Doughnut Joe being, uh, conservative about his expenses. I’m sure you’ll do fine! Take care!”
Valiant hear a crackle in the phone and then the beeping of a hung up call. Slowly, he put the phone away, suddenly losing appetite for his treats.
* * *
Valiant was switching through the camera feeds, noting how nothing has changed during the hour he has spent here already. Despite the obviously stupid prank call, he couldn’t find it in himself to actually go out with a flashlight and inspect the place. His view lingered on the room in which the dolls were kept - the things haven’t moved at all, which further proved to him that the call was just some stupid joke. He felt silly for even thinking that his employer would expose foals to something as dangerous as rogue robots that’d hurt them. But then again there was that once rumored incident…
His musings were interrupted when he noticed something wrong in the previous feed. He quickly scrolled back to the room where the dolls were.
One of them was missing. He didn’t even notice anything moving. It just wasn’t there anymore. He flipped around on all the available screens, the hairs in his coat rising as a chill crept under his skin.
The kitchen was empty. Main hall and toilets quiet. Every corridor and storage area was silent. Just as his hooves were starting to tremble, his view shifted to the doll room again.
Much to his surprise and relief, everyone was accounted for. He had no idea how it was gone before - maybe the camera caught a bad angle, or the ever-present static obscured something from his view?
“I’ll definitely have to talk to Mr. Joe about this,” he sighed. “Everything seems to be barely working over here. And this stupid generator?” He dabbed at the screen where a small battery-like icon showed the number ‘90%’. “Eh. I guess I can endure. For four bits an hour, sure. It’s not so bad.”
Feeling a bit better again, he took a sip of the now cold cocoa, frowning only a little bit.
* * *
Valiant jumped in place a few times to make sure his equipment wasn’t clunking together too much. Around 2 AM he decided to finally patrol the place, flicking the lights off in his office to conserve power. He turned on his torso-mounted flashlight, noticing with pleasure that the ring of light was solid and bright. He made a mental note to delicately ask his boss about any future batteries.
Scooping out one of the last doughnuts from the box, he moved out of his room, munching on the sugary treat in the near pitch-black darkness. The light cast all sorts of eerie shadows - the place looked vastly different during the day. The clip-clopping of Valiant’s hooves felt unnatural in the dead silence of the corridors he moved through. It was as if he got lost and wound up in a maze, one of the evil and ominous variety.
Effort wasn’t a skittish pony by any means. Still, his first reaction to an unexpected clunk somewhere to his left made him jump with a sharp gasp. His heart was pounding hard against his chest as he slowly looked around. The room next to him was the main one, where all the patrons would sit, eat and enjoy the shows that the animatronic robots would put on every once in a while.
As silently as he could, the stallion moved around the corner, whipping his flashlight around to view the room. There were a lot of chairs and tables stacked upon one another, but nothing seemed to be moved or out of place. The bar behind which Doughnut Joe or an employee would stand to take in orders was empty and the displays were neatly covered with sheets.
And then, for a second, the ray of his light illuminated something on the ground.
Valiant held his breath, cold sweat instantly saturating his coat. Slowly, he lowered his body, moving the shaking white circle over to the spot where he saw something.
There it was. Right next to the counter. A bunch of toothpicks seemed to have spilled on the ground.
Sighing and rubbing his eyes the stallion stood up properly, shaking himself thoroughly.
“What the hell, Valiant,” he muttered. “Physics scaring you? You’ll die of a heart attack next time you drop a doughnut, I swear.” He took another second to calm himself. “Alright. Might as well pick em up while I’m-”
They were gone.
The toothpicks vanished.
* * *
He wished he had coffee. Or at least some herbal tea. For the past hour he has been observing the dolls with increasing frequency through his security feed. Not one of them moved, not even so much as flinched. They might as well been just statues. Unnerving, creepy, dead-eyed statues.
“You’re losing your mind. On the first day,” he kept repeating to himself, noting with irritation that he had only half of his nightly power supply left. And it was only three in the morning. “What the hell is it with this power usage? I had the doors closed for only what, thirty minutes?”
It was true, he kind of panicked. He ran to his office like all hell was chasing him, slammed the door buttons and turned the lights off. It took him some time to calm his breathing, his thumping heart slowing down more of exhaustion than actual relief. He gently nibbled on his forehoof as he squinted at the camera feeds, trying to make out anything in the static.
As far as he could tell, there was nothing on the counters. It was either swept behind the camera’s view or not there at all.
“I should still go and check,” he said. “Maybe I-I’m just seeing things. Stupid pranks. I mean, these things haven’t moved all night. They must be turned off.”
To emphasise his point, he flipped his view to the doll room.
Where all the animatronic robots sat just like they have all night long.
* * *
Valiant was more sliding than walking along the corridor, the side of his barrel touching the nearest wall. His little circle of light was shaking visibly in front of him, despite his efforts.
“Calm down man,” he kept muttering, feeling waves of chills running along his body. “T-This place just seems creepy. We’ll just finish the shift, nice and easy, just a few more hours. Then, a nice long bath, some solid sleep. Maybe we’ll go and see Fancy, hmm? Tell her about this new cool job. She’ll be impressed you work at Joe’s right? It’s a popular place now. She’ll definitely be interested.”
The stallion allowed himself a small, nervous giggle as he entered the big hall again. He shone his light where the toothpicks were. Slowly, he circled around, leaning to the side to see. As he suspected, there was nothing there.
“It was just the shadows,” he huffed uneasily, whipping his light around. “There’s nothing here. Just a nice and clean floor. I mean, why would they keep toothpicks on the counter after hours? Ridicu-”
Griffy.
The gryphon animatronic doll.
It was right there, in the doorframe. The one he just came from. Just a few feet away.
Its large, lifeless eyes looked past Valiant. It had a taloned hand clutched to its chest.
Toothpicks. A pack of toothpicks in its grasp.
* * *
They were all around.
*click*
Snugglebears was standing in the kitchen
*click*
Cheerypie in the middle of the dining hall, her head twisted, looking at the stacked chairs.
*click*
Griffy was sitting in a corridor just outside his office, toothpicks all around her.
*click*
Ducky’s blue, lifeless eyes. Staring. At. The Camera.
* * *
Valiant Effort sat under his desk, a quivering ball of terror. He had his security monitor in front of him, observing the feeds and frantically scrolling around. The time of reason was far gone. He tried to tell himself that it was normal - the dolls moved around during the day and everything was fine.
But this was night-time. The dolls were on a different mode. Would they, or would they not hurt him? The voice told him they wouldn’t. Still, they were too creepy and…
They didn’t move when he was watching them. He never saw any of them actually move as long as he was focused on any one. Sometimes, when he switched views even for a second, a doll would manage to slip away, turning up in a different part of the complex.
Sometimes, they’d stare right at the camera, as if they knew he was watching.
And it was only 4 AM.
“Maybe I should leave,” he whispered, eyeing the power level which was by now dangerously low. He tried keeping the doors shut, but it drained his supply way too much. He resolved to frantically switching views, closing a door only when a doll would come too close to his office. It was nerve wrecking, having to keep tabs on all four robots, observing them frozen in odd positions.
One time, he swore he shut the door down just in time to see a fluffy foot appear in the door frame.
His breathing was really shallow and fast - he was hyper-ventillating, unable to stop whimpering and shivering. It took all his willpower to just not let go of his bowel’s contents as fear took over him completely. He closed his eyes tightly shut, hugging the monitor, hoping against hope that it would finally be six.
* * *
Five thirty. For some reason, the dolls were all sitting nice and quiet in their room. Maybe their programming switched? Maybe they were back to day-mode now, obediently waiting for the employees to corral them outside to greet guests?
He just wanted to get out. Just a few more minutes and he’d run away, resign from the job and gladly start learning how to sway his hips for the exotic dances. He’d do anything to just leave the horrible place. He would never be able to look at a doughnut ever again. He’d go on a no-sugar diet. Work-out, find a new, better, more loving marefriend.
Five fifty. It was okay to leave now, right? Just leg it, dash to the exit, lock up and run for the hills. He’d apologise to Doughnut Joe later, even pay a fine if he had to. Just be as far away as possible from the dolls. Griffy, Snugglebears, Cherrypie, Ducky…
Valiant Effort managed to crawl out of his hiding place, reluctantly opening the right door to his office. He took one last look at the dolls sitting in their room. He had only a sliver of power left. He managed to take only a step towards the exit when he heard frantic footsteps.
His eyes shrunk to pinpricks as he saw a shadow dash wildly through the corridor.
Red fur and a manic smile.
A shriek got choked in his throat, a firm grasp holding him in place.
In the faint, dying light of his office lamp he saw the face.
The face of the Pirate Cove’s Foxy.