I flipped through the cameras, looking down the hallway that had the Rainbow Dash animatronic head flashing down the hallway.

I reached my hoof forward and grabbed another mint from the bowl that I had brought from home and threw one into my mouth and began to immediately chew it. I felt my mind begin to go through my memories, clearly trying to distract me from this boring job by making me think of something else.

I groaned loudly as I heard the phone begin to ring, knowing I’d have to listen to that bucking kid talk for what would feel like hours. I leaned forward and pushed the button and put it on speaker, sitting back in my chair comfortably and looking through the cameras.

“Hey? Hey, you there?” I heard the stallion ask.

“I’m here,” I thought, “I’ll always be here....”

“Well, I just needed to say thanks for coming back for another night. I know it can get pretty boring there sometimes but I’ve got to say that things might get a little more interesting tomorrow night.” He said, chuckling a bit at the end.

I grew a confused look on my face and turned off the camera tablet, moving it away from my vision and focused on the phone.

“Yeah, you might have noticed that Rainbow Dash head in one of the hallways, that’s because we found one at the second location Pinkie’s Party Palace was at. It just has to be the real thing! It can’t be just some other crappy cosplay. And we’re following a new lead about a secret the older location might have. Oh! Gotta go. I promise things will get a lot more interesting tomorrow. Oh, and we added something to your camera tablet’s controls. Just click that button that says ‘audio’ on the left. Alright, gotta go. See ya tomorrow.” The phone clicked, indicating the call ended.

I was curious, so I turned the camera tablet back on and looked to the left. Sure enough there was a button that said ‘audio’. I pushed it and heard a familiar laughter coming from right outside the door. I know it was from some audio box or something in the microphone, but I heard a very familiar ‘Hello’. It was Balloon Spike’s ‘Hello’.

I began remembering my first time running into Balloon Spike, I didn’t know what to do with him, I didn’t have a plan, so I was completely unprepared for what he would do. I was winding up the music box when I put the tablet down and saw Balloon Spike standing at the door, laughing at me. I didn’t know what to do so I just stared him down, hoping he’d just back up after that. But then I heard mechanical whirring coming from down the hall and knew that Rainbow Dash was preparing to fly right towards me.

I jumped when I heard the bell ring, indicating it was 6:00. I didn’t get up from my chair, I just stayed there and stared straight ahead. I seemed to still be able to hear Balloon Spike’s voice, even though it was clearly not playing.

I finally got myself to get out of my chair and leave the building, my whole body shuddering during my walk out. I reached home and stood at the door, staring straight ahead. “How long can I live this lie? I thought.

I knew that it was only a matter of time before Fluttershy either forced me to tell her, or just packed her bags and straight up left.

I sighed and opened the door, walking inside and getting greeted by Fluttershy.

I stood still as the ponies carried me out of the room I had been locked in. They carried me out and I finally got a glimpse of what the building I was in looked like. This place was obviously abandoned because there was trash everywhere, the walls were devoid of the drawings that I, for some reason, remember being there. And the paint on the walls were cracking. They took me out into the outside world and put me in the back of their truck, closing the door and trapping me again in darkness.

I heard the truck start to move and it felt like they decided to hit every speed bump in town because I kept jumping around, threatening to crash into the wall.

Eventually the truck stopped and they took me out. I only got a glimpse of the sign on the building.

‘Pinkie’s Horror Attraction’ it read.

They took me inside and placed me down near the front door, making sure to put me down carefully as to not break anything on me that was already about to fall off anyway.

I watched them leave and I was left alone, staring straight ahead at the hallway that was decorated with creepy drawings from the earlier locations I guess. The walls were covered with the drawings, the floors were littered with paper, and the paint was put on the walls to imitate cracking and old paint.

“Is this my new life,” I thought, “To stay here, standing here, and just be a part of this ‘attraction’?”

.... No....

I wouldn’t accept this as my new life. I was going to move. I strained as much as I could, fighting to find some way to move my body outside of the random twitches and moments of spazzing I often had.

I fought and fought until....

CRACK

I smiled, knowing I had succeeded. I clenched my left tentacle hoof into a ball, followed by my right one.

“I control my own life... And this is the life I chose to live.” Next Chapter: A New Friend (Night 2) Estimated time remaining: 36 Minutes