The Fazbear chain is gone, but CREATion isn't. Ditzy Doo, who had gotten attacked by Foxy back in 1987, begins to have strange dreams. At the same time, something is fishy about the auctioned-off pizzeria toys. Tripwire decides that enough is enough.
Something happened to me back in 1987, but I can't remember what. My mother would never tell me. But a few nights ago, I began having strange dreams where I'm getting stalked by these horrific animatronic animals. I know that it sounds crazy, but there's something familiar about them, and although I know that I should be frightened, I'm not.
Apparently, what I dream has caught the interest of a team of robotic ponies. They say that I could be the key to taking down the enemy that killed them. I'm not that naive. I've heard about CREATion. I just can't believe the part I may play to take it down.
'The wind is blowing strong, tonight,' he thought. He felt the breeze through his tattered wings. His mane was just as ragged, but he didn't let that bother him. This was Bloodline, a notorious bat pony thief feared in Canterlot. He was making his nightly round, looking for something to do. That's when he noticed the light on in a nearby mansion.
'That's the abode of Fancypants,' Bloodline thought, 'Perfect.' He approached the house, staying in the shadows, looking through an open curtain. The stallion's wife was tucking in a pink, purple-maned, green-eyed unicorn filly.
'So, the rich old couple got a daughter... Maybe I can have a little fun tonight after all...' .........................
Serendipity couldn't believe her luck. One day, she was living in the Ponyville orphanage, and then the next thing she knew, she was adopted by two of the most wealthy ponies in Canterlot. They even bought her some expensive stuffed animals at an auction. They were supposedly the remnants of a famous pizzeria, although it was scary.
She thought about the strange looking pony named 'Tripwire.' Before Serendipity and her new parents left for Canterlot, the unicorn had ran up to them, warning them about a group of bad ponies. They had been the ones who attacked Canterlot, that was still getting cleaned up from the attack. Her parents didn't seem very concerned, but Tripwire had leaned in and whispered something to her:
'If those toys do anything that scares you in any way, let me know.' Then he walked off.
Serendipity yawned as she snuggled up with the bear named 'Freddy.'
"Goodnight," she muttered. ..........................
"Where am I?" Ditzy Doo said. It wasn't her room, that's for sure. She didn't even know how she got there, or who lived there.
"Hello?" She called, "Is someone there?" She looked around, and realized that it was a filly's bedroom. There was a toy phone, a fan, and a purple robot with what looked like a yellow badge. Ditzy looked back at the bed, and did a double take. On the side table, where there was nothing, some flowers and pills were now laying. On the opposite side of the bed, there was a set of IV fluids.
'Why would there be hospital supplies, but no patient?' Ditzy thought to herself. It then occurred to her how deserted the house felt, yet, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched.
"Luna, I hope that's you," she said, but something told her that it wasn't. ............................ 'She looks fun,' Bloodline thought as he approached the window. He tested the shutters, finding them unlocked.
'The old man hires guards but he doesn't even lock the windows?' Bloodline thought, 'Well, his loss is my gain.' He silently hopped into the room and crouched beside the bed.
Serendipity stirred, and found that Freddy was no longer in the bed. She looked over the edge of the bed to see if he fell, and saw Bloodline, who lunged at her. .........................
Luna was making her usual rounds in the dreamscape, where she saw and entered the dreams of fillies and colts. It was a ribbon of light winding through an infinite sky, but there was no moon, nor stars. Instead, dreams filled the air, looking like tiny spheres of light.
Each one possessed an aura that changed depending on the dream. Pleasant dreams had a relaxed white aura while nightmares were more tense and usually had a hint of orange or red.
One, however, caught Luna's eye. It was a dream with no aura.
'What the...' She thought. She flew to it and tapped her hoof on it. Most dreams enlarged to a circle of swirling mist to display the dream, but this one expanded into a solid rectangle, resembling what Tripwire called a "screen," displaying Tripwire fighting Foxy and Chica in the old pizzeria.
"I guess Tripwire made the dream artificially and is using it to train," Luna said to herself. She continued.
She then saw another dream, much like it. It had no aura, but it was bright red, a sign of a deep nightmare. She tapped the dream with her hoof, but nothing happened. She tried again, to no avail. Out of frustration, she tried to expand it to the point where she could enter, but that didn't work, either.
'Something is wrong,' she thought, 'I'd best talk with Tripwire as soon as I can. I doubt that he would make an artificial nightmare and block me from it.' She reluctantly continued, eyeing a nightmare that she COULD enter. ............................
Ditzy was holding a flashlight that she found. She was determined to figure out what was going on. She peeked in the halls, not finding anything, but heard a scuffle in the closet.
"Hello?" She said, opening the door, shining the flashlight in. She gasped.
A hideous face of a robotic fox was glaring at her. Out of instinct, she slammed the closet door. But something nagged at her. Where had she seen that fox before? It was mutilated, but familiar. Ultimately, curiosity got the best of her, and she quickly reopened the closet. The fox was now standing up, revealing a hook for a paw. It was still scary, so Ditzy quickly shut the door again. But when she opened up the door for a third time, all she saw was a small plush toy.
"What?" She said aloud. Then she heard more sounds in the hall. When she flicked on the light, she saw a grotesque purple rabbit. She screamed, ran back to the bedroom, and backed into a wall.
'Okay,' she thought, 'This is no longer funny.' .......................
Bloodline had his hoof on Serendipity's mouth.
"Now, now," he said, "Be a good kid, and you won't get hurt. We don't want any trouble now, do we? If you're feeling feisty," he smacked her on the side of the head. Serendipity was now silently crying. She looked into the face of the diabolical stallion, and her eyes widened in terror. Not because of him, but because of what was behind him. .......................
Ditzy heard the footsteps. Her heart was pounding. But something was nagging at her.
'Why does it feel like something like this has happened to me before?' She thought. She felt surprisingly unafraid now. Something felt off. Is this even real?
The rabbit then lunged at her. It was a hideous thing with wires coming out of it and glowing pupils. It had several rows of sharp steel teeth. And its cry was that of a child. Ditzy didn't even flinch.
She awoke with a start and looked around. She was back in her room. To be sure, she checked the hallway. Yep. The doors to the visible rooms were open. Dinky was sleeping in one and Amethyst Star, who was visiting, was sleeping in another.
Ditzy breathed a sigh of relief.
'It was all a dream,' she tried to think to herself, but something wouldn't let her. It felt too real to be a dream. And why didn't Luna come?
Ditzy felt a pang in her forehead. She rubbed the spot. She recalled something about her brain getting damaged years ago, although she didn't remember what happened.
'Why am I thinking about that now?' She thought as she went to take some medicine. ...........................
Fancypants and Fleur de Lis awoke to the sound of furniture crashing and a series of screams. The sounds came from their new daughter's room. Fleur immediately feared the worst and raced to Serendipity's room without a word.
"Sweetie, wait!" Fancypants called, but Fleur didn't listen. She was soon in the room where she was greeted by a horrible sight.
The feared Bloodline was laying on the ground. His body was shredded, as if he had gotten placed in a meat grinder. Furniture was tipped over, ripped, and splintered. Serendipity was on her bed, her pupils pinpricks. She was clinging to a pillow so hard, that she probably would've broken its neck if it had one. There was blood spattered around the room.
"Sera," Fleur said, "Baby, what happened?"
Serendipity shakily pointed to the Freddy teddy, which had reappeared on the other side of the room. Its mouth was filled with blood.
Fancypants burst into the room with one of his guards, and both were stunned into silence.
"Call Tripwire," Serendipity began to cry, "Call Tripwire! Before it comes back!"
Tripwire awoke from another simulation dream and got ready for the day. He cast a spell that he designed, one that would keep his metal parts from getting wet, and stepped into the shower. He had really appreciated what Princess Twilight Sparkle and the mayor of Ponyville had done for them. He recalled on what had happened over the past few months.
(It is greatly recommended that you read FNAF: Cybersense if you don't want to feel lost. Tripwire has a thing against unnecessary repetition, and it's too much for me to summarize.)
After the destruction of the Fazbear Fright diner, the mayor of Ponyville proposed the construction of a small apartment building for Tripwire and the others, which included Mirage's sister Tesla, the alicorn robots Circuit Fray and Glitch, and technicians Spark Chopper and Infra Scope. Mild Soul and Jasper Gemini had both moved to other towns. They didn't take the excitement as well as the others.
But before the apartment's completion, the team spent time traveling Equestria, informing citizens of what they can do to defend themselves from the Civilized Restoration of Eternal Anarchic Times, aka CREATion. In addition to helping spread the word, Twilight had also given the team an unofficial name to rival that of CREATion. Defending Innocents From Fathomless Evil Ruses Executing Nefarious Codification Effectively, or DIFFERENCE.
All these thoughts and memories went through Tripwire's head as he dried off. Suddenly, a knock sounded at his door. He looked at his clock. It was only 7:30.
'This is rather early for someone here to be up,' he thought. He opened the door, seeing a worried-looking Fancypants and Fleur de Lis.
"You're Tripwire, are you not?" Fancypants said.
"I am," Trip answered. He remembered that the couple had bought stuffed animals left over from the Fazbear Fright restaurant. "What happened?"
"It's Serendipity!" Fleur said, "Something happened last night! We woke up to hear her screaming and when we walked in, we found Bloodline on the floor dead and Serendipity was scared silent! We don't know what happened. Please, talk to her!" The small pink filly raced to Tripwire and embraced his front leg.
"Can you really take out those mean robots you told me about?" She asked.
"Not easily," Trip said, "But yes."
"Then you have to help me!" Serendipity cried, "They're in my room! Freddy lunged at me, but he got that mean bat pony instead!"
"I still don't understand why she's so scared," Fancypants said, "Bloodline is a feared criminal. That robot saved her!"
"Hold that thought," Tripwire said, "This isn't the best place to talk about it."
"Are we going to your secret lab?" Fleur said, her fear replaced with curiosity.
"Yes," Trip said, "But first, let me get the rest of DIFFERENCE." He started to walk off, but turned his head and said, "And it's not exactly a 'secret lab' if almost every pony knows about it." ..........................
Hazard awoke to banging on his door.
'What the-' he thought. "Who is it?" He called.
"It's Tripwire!" Came the reply, "I think that CREATion's on the move again! There's no time to explain, but head to the lab! I've got to get the others."
Hazard thought for a while. 'CREATion's on the move again,' he thought, 'What's their plan this time?' He had never forgiven the organization for what they did to him and his friends. It's what drove him to defend Equestria from the menace of the organization. He headed towards the lab.
Amplitude headed down with a spring in her step. It's true that CREATion scares her, but she enjoyed the action and suspense. But more than anything, she wanted to stop CREATion's reign of terror. She couldn't stand to see other ponies get terrorized by the twisted ways of the ponies working there. She picked up the pace, fearing what CREATion has already done.
Mirage was hurrying to the lab, angry and afraid. She would never forget what CREATion had put her and her sister, Tesla, through. She had sacrificed herself to save her Tesla's life, and Tesla nearly died in a burning building that one of CREATion's members had set. 'It's time to settle the score with them,' Mirage thought.
Axle shot down the hallways, thrilled to be fighting CREATion again. He hardly felt any fear with that nefarious team, but rather, enjoyed the excitement of the fighting. In less than five minutes, he was in the lab, where he saw everyone else coming. Tripwire was already down there, but he must've teleported.
Infra and Spark walked together, both with a sense of fear. They both had been former technicians for CREATion, until they learned its true purpose. Vice Militude, the CREATion leader, had threatened to make a move if they left. A few days after they left, Blown Fuse committed the murders. They blamed themselves for the deaths of Hazard and the others. Although none of them blamed Infra and Spark, the duo still swore to help them take down CREATion.
Tripwire was writing to the princesses. Twilight and her friends were on another mission given to them by the crystal map in Twilight's castle, so he wrote to Celestia.
'Dear Princess Celestia,
I have just received information about a murder that took place in the house of Fancypants and Fleur de Lis. The bat pony thief known as Bloodline is dead, but according to a filly who witnessed the murder, it was one of the toys bought at the Fazbear auction that did it. I'm aware that you are busy with the reconstruction of the damage done in Canterlot, but I would be grateful if you or Luna could come as quickly as possible.
Signed,
Tripwire.' ..........................
Tripwire led the family to the lab.
"We have some guest rooms in the apartment. You don't have to stay if you don't want to, but I'd recommend that you don't return home until we figure out what these robots are doing and we remove the threat," he said.
"I don't wanna go back home!" Serendipity said, "Those toys are evil!"
"Don't worry, Sera," Fleur said, "We're going to stay here until Tripwire makes it all better." She scooped up Serendipity into a big hug, for a good minute or two.
"Okay, mom," Serendipity said awkwardly, "You can put me down now."
"Oh, right," Fleur said, putting her precious child down.
"Oh, my," Fancypants said, looking around, "This place is so, so, umm..."
"I understand if it's not your kind of place," Tripwire said, "That's why we have extra rooms in the apartment. We knew that CREATion would strike again, and we wanted to help and protect victims without them feeling like they're in a fortress or prison."
"It does feel like a fortress," Fleur said, shivering.
Serendipity was just staring in awe, but she suddenly took off running.
Serendipity was racing through the halls of the lab, taking in the sights. She didn't even realize that she had left Trip and the others until she came to a dim room. It was pretty big and there was a closed off section lined with panels.
"Hello?" She called, "Is anyone here?" She then heard hoof steps coming towards her. She turned to the sound and saw a pony's silhouette. But it wasn't a unicorn; there was no horn. Two blue rings glowed where the eyes should be.
"Who, who are you?" Serendipity asked, shaking. .............................
Celestia read the letter, and sighed. She's been under pressure trying to get the buildings in Canterlot repaired as quickly as possible, but if there are more robots in Canterlot, it may be all for nothing.
"Tia, what's wrong?" Luna asked, walking up. Celestia responded by holding up the letter for her sister to read.
"Unbelievable," Luna said, "And I've been meaning to talk with Tripwire soon. I found that he's created technology that can artificially make dreams. His dream appears without an aura in the dreamscape. I can only assume that the dreams of the other robots are the same. However, I found such a dream, but it showed signs of a nightmare. I tried to find out what was going on, but I couldn't enter the dream."
"Strange," Celestia said, "But I'm afraid that I'm too busy to see Tripwire. Would you go in my place?"
"Of course," Luna replied, "I'll leave at once."
Afternoon 1: From Interrogations to Investigations
The pony turned on the lights, and Serendipity saw what the pony really looked like.
It was a stallion with a light chestnut coat, slightly messy black hair, and a cutie mark with an orange and yellow triangle with a black exclamation mark. However, the whites of his eyes were black.
Serendipity suddenly felt more shy than scared. She recognized the pony in newspapers as one of the ponies who saved Canterlot, but now she was seeing him in real life, and his eyes did make him a bit intimidating.
"Are you lost?" The pony asked.
"Yeah," Serendipity said, "I was exploring and I ran off unintentionally."
"Well," the pony said, "If you want, I can help you find them."
"Really!?" Serendipity said, "Thank you!"
As the ponies were walking, the black-eyed pony spoke.
"So, what's your name?" He asked.
"Serendipity."
"That's a nice name. I'm Hazard."
"Aren't you another one of the ponies who saved Canterlot?"
"Yes."
"Cool. But what is this room?"
"It's a simulator. With Mirage's help, the light in the room is warped, and various fans, speakers, and other gadgets create a lifelike scene. In other words, it can make almost any scene, from the beach to a snowy mountain."
"Wow."
"But we should get going. Your parents must be worried about you."
"Yeah." ........................
"Is she going to be alright?" Fleur said.
"I just got a message from Hazard," Trip said, "He found her."
"Oh, thank Celestia!" Fancypants said.
"And the others should be coming," Trip said.
"Hey," a voice said out of nowhere, causing Fleur to shriek.
"Wow," Axle said, "Jumpy much?" Trip just sighed.
"Mom, Dad!" Serendipity said, running up to them.
"Sera!" Fleur said, "Don't scare me like that! We were worried!"
"But you won't believe what I saw! They have a room that can replicate any scene! Isn't that awesome!?"
"She's an ambitious one," Hazard said, walking up to Trip, "Mirage and the others are finding what information they can on what's going on."
"Well," Axle said, "We could start by talking to this little squirt."
"Uhhhh," Serendipity said, uncertainly.
"Would it help if I talked to you?" Trip said. Serendipity nodded.
"Okay, I know a place where we can talk." ............................
A few minutes later, the two ponies were in Tripwire's old bedroom.
"So, Sera, what do you remember?"
"Well, we had just come home. I was tired, so Fleur tucked me in bed early. I snuggled up with the Freddy bear."
"Where were the other plushes?"
"Foxy was in the closet, I left Bonnie in the living room, and the cupcake in the kitchen."
"Okay, continue."
"I fell asleep. When I woke up, Freddy wasn't in my arms. I thought that I dropped him. I looked over the edge of the bed, and I saw that mean bat pony."
"Did you see any signs of any of the toys?"
"No, but that meanie punched me for about fifteen minutes...... Then I saw Freddy behind him..... It was huge..... Gazillions of steel teeth... Red eyes... Torn up.................. He... Lunged...... At me.................... I ducked......... I heard... Bones... Snap," she was on the verge of tears, and her breaths grew fast and shallow.
"And when you opened your eyes, you saw the scene that your parents saw?" Trip asked. Serendipity nodded.
A knock sounded at the door. Tesla walked in.
"Trip?" She said, "Someone wants to see you." She looked at the scene before her, "Is now a bad time?"
"I don't think so," Trip said, "Do you think you could take care of Serendipity for now? I think I made her recall more than I should have."
Tesla looked at the filly, and nodded. ...............................
"Ah, Tripwire, it is good to see you once again," Luna said as Trip walked into the room.
"Oh, Princess Luna," Trip said, "I didn't expect you to be here." He didn't bow, but Luna didn't expect him to, nor did she feel that he should. All of the princesses view Trip as an equal. He may not have any blood of a royal, but he held strange, and maybe even forbidden knowledge.
"I came here to talk to you about something that happened recently."
"Is it about what happened in Canterlot?"
"Actually, no, but I'm wondering if they're related. In fact, I think that it would be best if you gathered the others."
After rounding up Hazard, Mirage, Axle, and Amplitude, and they exchanged greetings, Luna continued.
"So, there's something that you should know about dreams. Most of them have an aura around them. The color and intensity of the aura depends on the dream. Last night, I happened to encounter your dream, Tripwire."
Trip looked stunned for a second, before saying, "Was there anything unusual about it?"
"It didn't have an aura. But I did watch you fight for a little bit."
Trip nodded. "It was an artificially made dream. That must be why it had no aura."
"Indeed," Luna said, "And I believe that the dreams of the robots look the same."
"So that's why you came?" Axle said impatiently, "To tell us that?"
"Axle!" Mirage said, "We're talking to a princess!" Axle simply shrugged.
"Actually, later that night, I encountered a similar dream, but it showed signs of a nightmare. But when I tried to enter it, I couldn't. I couldn't even even see the dream."
"Hmmmm," Amplitude said, "A gruesome murder and an unreachable nightmare on the same night..."
"What time did you see the dream?" Hazard asked, "Because Fleur and Fancypants heard the crashes at around 1am."
"Hmmm," Luna said, "I had moved on to another dream by then, but I encountered the dream about ten minutes before."
"This can't be a coincidence!" Axle said, "But what would explain it?"
"Could Serendipity have been dreaming about it?" Mirage said, "Can't dreams be affected by external sounds?"
"True," Luna said, "But that wouldn't explain why I couldn't see the dream."
"And it doesn't add up with Serendipity's description of what happened. Bloodline had been tormenting her for fifteen minutes before the attack. Some pony else was having the dream. But who?"
"Could CREATion have been sending another dream, like they did for Jasper?" asked Mirage.
"I doubt it," Hazard said, "Who else has had any connection with the pizzeria?" .............................
"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Sera," Tesla said, leading Serendipity down a hallway.
"It's okay," Serendipity said, "I still think that Tripwire is very nice."
"That's not what I was talking about. I'm sorry that you had to go through the sight of that murder."
"Oh. Well, at least I have good family to help me through it. Fleur and Fancypants are there for me."
"You don't call them 'mom' and 'dad?'"
"I just feel weird calling them that when they're not around."
"You know, you're lucky to have parents that care about you."
"You didn't?"
"....... It didn't feel like it. After I moved out of the house, I never really heard from them. And they just seemed kind of distant when I was younger. It was basically Mirage and me."
"You and Mirage are sisters?"
"Yes. But..."
"But what?"
"You probably don't want to hear it. It has to do with Freddy."
"I want to hear it."
"Okay. Basically, the two of us were playing in the restaurant when a pony dressed in a Freddy costume walked by. You see, there used to be a restaurant called 'Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria.' He was quite a popular mascot."
"Can you continue?"
"Okay. So, the pony walked by, and I wanted to say hi. And I saw three other ponies following it."
"Hazard, Axle, and Amplitude?"
"Yes! How did you know?"
"Fancypants homeschools me. He teaches me to read by showing me the news. One day, I found one laying on the couch, and to please my parents, I tried to read it. I couldn't read much, but I saw the names, a 'mystery solved,' and 'bodies killed, but not minds.' I heard about it from other ponies. But can you continue?"
"Okay. So, I ran away from Mirage, and she chased after me. I thought we were playing, so I didn't come back. At the time, I was younger than you.
"But I followed the ponies to a door leading into a room. I was starting to go in, but Mirage stopped me. I protested, but she got me out of there. But she... Never came back out." A tear fell from Tesla's eye.
"Even now, I still feel responsible. No pony seemed to understand me. I grew up as a loner, focusing on electric spells, which are quite difficult, to distract myself."
"How did you see Mirage again?"
"I became a night guard for the pizzeria. I was taken to Tripwire's lab, and I reunited with Mirage."
Serendipity hugged Tesla's leg.
"It must feel nice to reunite with a family," she said.
"There's only one other pony I can think of off the bat," Tripwire said to Infra, "Remember when I told you about Ditzy Doo?"
"I believe so," Infra said, "You think that she may be having the nightmares?"
Trip nodded.
"Do you think you could find her? Since you're a pegasus, you'll be more able to reach her."
Infra understood. Spark wouldn't be able to catch her if she was flying. .....................
A few minutes later, Infra was cruising around in the sky.
'She's got to be around here somewhere,' she thought. She then saw her sleeping on a cloud. Infra was contemplating on whether to wake her up, until she heard Ditzy making strange noises in her sleep. ..........................
She was back in that room. She saw those hospital supplies again.
'Why do I keep coming here?' She wondered. She suddenly heard breathing by the right door. She peeked out to see the face of a horrific robotic chicken. She gasped and slammed the door.
"They're back," she said aloud, "But why?" ....................
Infra heard Ditzy talking in her sleep. She spoke into a hidden earpiece.
"Trip, I think that you were right. She's asleep and saying something about 'them being back.'"
Tripwire heard her. He turned to Luna and nodded. Luna's horn lit up, and she focused. Her horn grew brighter and brighter, and sweat began to trickle down her face, but nothing happened.
"I can't enter her dreams," she said when she finally tired herself.
"Keep watching her, Infra," Spark said, "And when she wakes, take her to the lab. Something tells me that these aren't ordinary dreams." ........................
Ditzy shined a flashlight on the bed, causing the demonic Freddy toys to scatter from the bed.
'Strange,' she thought, 'Why do they seem so on the move?'
She didn't notice Foxy come out, but she didn't flinch when he lunged at her. In the dream, her last thought was:
'Why am I still not afraid?' ..............................
Serendipity followed Tesla through the lab until they saw a midnight blue alicorn robot with copper hair and a silver alicorn robot with golden hair.
"Sera," Tesla said, "I would like you to meet Circuit Fray and Glitch."
Fray walked up at a normal pace, but Serendipity ran up to Glitch in awe.
"You're a filly robot?"
"I have the physical appearance of one," Glitch answered, "But I tend to think more on a mature level."
"Oh. Do you think that you could play with me, though?"
"Sure. I love playing tag. Does that sound good?"
"I love tag!"
The two fillies were then racing around the room, each laughing with delight, with Tesla and Fray watching, smiling.
The game went on for ten minutes, until the fillies were laying on the ground, panting.
"How do you get tired?" Serendipity asked Glitch.
"I have a battery that is actually self-rechargeable. We all do," Glitch answered, "But we must enter a sleep like state to recharge at an efficient rate. We'll enter the state automatically if it drops too low, so to avoid it, Trip programmed us to feel physical exertion. If we feel our systems getting overworked, we'll know to stop and rest. It's not unlike a living pony recovering from a tiring activity, like right now."
"Cool," Serendipity said. She thought for a minute, and said, "You know, it's really nice to be able to play tag with someone other than Prowess."
"Who's Prowess?" Tesla asked.
"Another filly orphan. She always bullies other fillies like me. I think that it has something to do with the fact that she's now a teenager and she still hasn't been adopted."
"Oh," Fray said, "That must've been terrible." ................................
Ditzy awoke with a start, and found herself staring at a gray, red-haired pegasus.
"Umm, can I help you?" She asked.
"I'm sorry for watching, but there's something you need to know, Ditzy. I'm Infra Scope, by the way."
"Ohh... Kay, so what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?"
"I'll explain along the way. Right now, we need to get to Tripwire's lab, ASAP."
Ditzy did a double take.
"Tripwire?" She asked, "As in-"
"Yep," Infra said, "Follow me." ..........................
Ditzy followed Infra through the apartment and into the lab. She gaped in awe at the machinery, but stopped in her tracks when she saw the midnight blue alicorn princess standing before her.
"Princess Luna!" She exclaimed, bowing.
"Hello, Ditzy," Luna said as Tripwire walked up next to her.
"Hello, your highness," Ditzy said.
"Uhhh," Axle said, walking up, "I hate to cut the formal business short, but we have more important things to do than grovel." Mirage sighed, approaching the foursome, along with Amplitude and Hazard.
"I hate to say it," she said, "But Axle's right." Ditzy got to her hooves.
"So, why is it that I was brought here?" She asked.
"Hold on," Trip said, his horn lit up and the lights in the lab all dimmed. A triangular sheet of gray light formed in the air spewing from Tripwire's horn. He slowly moved the light across Ditzy, while she stood where she was, her eyes straightening out of fright.
Finally, the light vanished, and the lighting in the lab returned to normal. Ditzy could see little lights blinking in Tripwire's right eye, and she knew that he was concentrating.
"Strange," he said, with a hint of worry in his voice. He turned to Ditzy.
"Do you remember how you got... How you are now?" Trip asked, trying to sound polite.
"Don't worry. I get asked that a lot," Ditzy answered, "My mom would always say that I got hurt, but she never said why or how."
"Okay," Trip said, deep in thought. Axle cringed a bit.
"What's wrong?" Ditzy asked.
"... You guys can explain it," Axle said before taking off.
"Tripwire," Luna said, "Can I pull you aside for a bit?" Trip nodded, and walked off with the lunar princess, but not before sending the necessary information to the other robots. ..........................
"So I assume that you know what CREATion did to us, right?" Hazard asked. Ditzy nodded.
"And I heard about the mare that did it," she added.
"So here's the scoop," Amplitude said, "Basically, Trip had found a way to hack into Foxy's motor circuits and control him. Through a camera, Axle saw that good-for-nothing mare in the crowd." She paused, uncertain about how to continue.
"Axle basically went a bit crazy," Mirage said, "He tried to get Foxy to attack her, but she... used a filly as a shield."
Ditzy's eyes went straight.
"Me?" She asked. The trio nodded. Ditzy's head reeled. Not out of fear, but out of amazement.
"But that's just backstory," Hazard said, "Have you been having strange dreams lately?" Ditzy, a bit startled, nodded.
"Is that why I'm here?" She asked.
"Not exactly," Amplitude said, "A crazy murder happened on the first night that you had that dream." Ditzy gave a puzzled look.
"What exactly does this this have to do with me?" She asked.
"Tripwire sent us the data from the scan," Mirage said, lighting up her horn to form a 3-dimensional view of a blank pony.
"When Foxy had attacked you," Mirage said, a large set of holographic jaws sinking into the pony's forehead, "It left a chip of some sort in your brain." The jaws slid away to reveal a small piece of metal in the pony's head.
"It's quite possible that the chip is picking up some kind of signal," Hazard said, "Causing your dreams."
Ditzy sat on the floor, trying to contemplate what she just learned. .........................
"Are you sure that she's going to be okay?" Luna asked.
"I believe so," said Trip, "But I want to see if I can examine the chip more. Something tells me that it's not just there to torment her mind."
"But how are we going to find out?" Luna asked.
"I have a couple of ideas," Trip said, "But I would like to have, at the very least, Spark and Infra present. I needn't explain why, do I?" Luna thought for a second, and shook her head.
"I'm sorry your parents couldn't join us," Tesla said.
"It's ok," Serendipity replied, "They're scared to death by those robots. I'm honestly surprised that they let me out of the house at all." Serendipity had wanted to walk with Glitch around town, but Fancypants and Fleur de Lis had been so frightened for their daughter that they only let them out after Fray and Tesla promised to look after her (it also didn't hurt that Fray was a robot with combat technology). Glitch also Pinky Promised that she would do the same, making an "x" on her chest and covering her eye with her hoof.
"What's up, Fray?" Serendipity asked, trotting up. She saw the leaf in Fray's hoof.
"You like trees?" She asked. Fray thought for a minute.
"Maybe it's because I'm a robot, but I've always found nature fascinating," she answered.
"Guys," Glitch said, "I think I heard something." All the ponies fell silent, ears turned to hear anything. Fray picked up the sounds of light, focused breathing.
"It... Was probably just a rabbit," she said, not wanting to alarm anyone, "Let's keep walking."
Suddenly, Serendipity saw a rabbit peek out of the grass to look at her. It had chocolate brown fur and gazed with enormous sparkling eyes.
"Awwwwwww," Serendipity said, walking towards it. Without warning, it scrambled off, and Serendipity took off after it.
"Wait!" She called, "Where are you going!?"
"Sera, wait!" Glitch called, running after her. The two chased the bunny for a ways until they lost sight of it.
"We should head back," Serendipity said.
"No kidding," Glitch agreed, before hearing twigs snap. Loudly. Both of the ponies fell silent.
"That was too loud for a bunny," Glitch said in a low voice, "Stay close. My heat sensors indicate something hiding in those bushes."
Time seemed to freeze. Only a slight breeze through the leaves disturbed the silence. Serendipity's breathing fell silent, but her heart was pounding.
"Can we go?" She whispered.
"Yeah," said Glitch, "Let's go, but quietly." The two began to walk off when the thing in the bush attacked.
It was a yellow blur, rushing like a panther. When it sprang from a rock, Serendipity saw something that made her blood run cold. It was clearly a pony, but it was using the head of a stuffed animal as a mask. Foxy's head. Serendipity screamed.
As quick as a mouse, Glitch fired a stunning Ray at the pony and knocked it off its hooves. The pony just laid there, breathing, but failing in standing up. Serendipity walked over and pulled off the mask. It was clearly from the Foxy toy she left in Canterlot, but how did it get here?
Shaking off the thought, Serendipity looked at the pony. She looked a few years older than her. She had a yellow coat with a wild olive-green mane and tail. She had a dark brown cutie mark depicting a large cat's paw, complete with claws, and eyes with a matching hue.
"Prowess!?" Serendipity exclaimed in shock. Prowess simply glared at her, shakily got up, and galloped off.
Serendipity, stunned by the encounter, picked up the Foxy head.
'How did she get it?' She thought. She turned to show it to Glitch, but saw something that concerned her.
Glitch was shaking with her eyes closed. She didn't look unconscious, but Serendipity raced to her aid anyway.
"Glitch!" Serendipity said, "Are you okay?" Glitch opened her eyes, but the right eye began skittering uncontrollably. Glitch responded by slapping her hoof onto it.
"Calm down," she scolded herself through gritted teeth.
"Sera! Glitch!" A voice called.
"Over h-h-here!" Glitch called back, before vigorously shaking her head. Serendipity could tell that something was wrong with her, but for some reason, Glitch seemed more annoyed than scared.
It wasn't long before Tesla and Fray came racing to them.
"Are you guys okay?" Tesla asked.
"I'm fine," Serendipity said, "but I don't think that Glitch is." Fray looked at the trembling robotic filly before approaching her. She touched her horn to Glitch's, and an electric spark went off. Glitch took several wobbly steps back before shaking her head. When she opened her eyes, neither one of them moved in any weird way. She sighed with relief.
"Thanks, Fray," she said. Fray responded with a smile, but quickly changed her tone.
"Did anything happen?" She asked, clearly suspicious.
"Somepony attacked us," Glitch replied, "and the fright set me off."
"That was Prowess," Serendipity said, "And she was wearing this." She held up the Foxy head. The three other ponies stared at it.
"Is that-" Tesla said before just pausing in silence. Fray just nodded.
"But no one ever made duplicates of the toys," Glitch said, "How did Prowess get her hooves on it?"
"We need to alert Trip," Fray said, "ASAP."
Evening 2: Plans, Clues, and a Poorly Named Chapter
"Are you sure that will work?" Ditzy asked Tripwire.
"In theory, yes," Trip replied, "According to my analysis of the chip, it stimulates your brain with neurelectrical, for lack of a better term, signals."
"Neura... what?" Mirage asked, "I've never heard you use that term before."
"If you break up the word," Ditzy said, deep in thought, "Do you mean electrical activity in the brain?" Trip nodded. Axle gaped in awe at the gray pegasus.
"And people call you 'Derpy,'" he said. Mirage gave him a cold stare.
"What!?" He said, backing up in self defense, "It's their words, not mine!" Mirage paused.
"Guys," she said, "Don't tell Shmancy Pants or his lover, but l think that Serendipity is facing a contradiction to her name." .........................
"Sera!" Fluer cried, embracing her little one.
"O... K..." Serendipity said through a strained voice, "You can let go of me." Fleur, realizing the tightness of her hug, hastily let go.
Fancypants walked up with a concerned look on his face.
"We were worried," he said, "Did anything happen?" He looked at her more closely. "You're dirty and scratched."
Thinking quickly, Glitch whipped up an alibi.
"Well.." She said, sheepishly, scratching the back of her head with her hoof, "Sera and I were playing around in Whitetail Woods. We were playing tag when we ended up bumping into a tree. Tesla and Fray already treated and cleaned her scratches."
With those words, Fleur and Fancypants breathed a sigh of relief.
"We should probably get a shower, though," Serendipity added, before pausing. "Glitch, CAN you shower?" Glitch nodded.
"For a deep scrub, I use a special type of soap that Rarity helped Tripwire make. However, for a day like this, regular soap works just fine." With that, the duo headed towards Sera's room.
"Fancypants talked about Rarity sometimes. I never knew that she was into technology," Serendipity said.
"She's not, really," Glitch said, "She just helped us, along with the other elements, when we last had a major fight with CREATion. It was actually there that I was found, but that would be getting off topic. Tripwire had already designed a special soap for Hazard and the others. It could polish off visible scratches without wearing down the metal too much. However, Rarity insisted on making it smell good. But she actually gave Trip some useful fashion tips that he used to design a different formula for our manes."
"Sounds just like her," Sera said, "But I have another question: What happened back there? Like, with your twitching and stuttering?"
"My namesake," Glitch said simply. When Serendipity gave her an odd look, Glitch continued.
"I wasn't built by Tripwire. I was actually CREATion's first prototype alicorn robot. But I had such faulty programming that they just rejected me. Fray found me and Trip reactivated my systems. He's been able to fix most of my programming over time, but I still act like that if my systems are put under psychological pressure."
Serendipity nodded, contemplating what she had just been told.
'Technology is so fascinating,' she thought as she approached her room. ..........................
Infra gaped at the sight of the Foxy head as Tesla set it on an open spot on one of the tables in the lab. Infra didn't speak; she just turned her saucer-sized eyes to Tesla, the head, and back to Tesla.
"Okay," Spark said, walking up, oblivious to the scene, "Infra, we need to finish calibrating the-" He paused as he saw the head.
"Is this some sort of sick joke?" He asked.
"Nope," Tesla said, "This is what's left of something that Sera and Glitch experienced today. An old bully that lived with Sera at the orphanage, Prowess Pounce, was wearing this when she attacked them. She left this behind and ran off before we could question her."
"Do you think that she was being mind controlled?" Spark asked, peering into the head.
"I don't think so," Tesla said, "Fray scanned it already. She didn't use too high of an intensity in case it did... anything, but she didn't find anything. We wanted you guys to look into the matter with this thing."
"Uh-huh," Spark said, half-listening. He was gently nudging aside cotton padding, finding wires packed against the felt skin. Infra peered over his shoulder.
"This doesn't look like anything CREATion has come up with," Infra said, "Not off the top of my head, at least."
"CREATion has probably changed since we've been gone," Spark replied, "We'll need to run some tests on this thing. The wiring is definitely made with CREATion's painstaking attitude. We'll need to look into it." .............................
"Very strange," Tripwire said, "How could the robot have gotten here from Canterlot so quickly?"
"And where the buck is the rest of that thing!?" Axle said, "The last thing we need is for a robotic abomination breaking into the lab looking for its head."
"You know," Fray, who had just walked in, said, "I sensed some sort of chip in the head. One that received signals that directed it. The body may very well have one of its own."
"And do you think that this guy's friends are here?" Axle asked.
"Actually, I didn't think about that," Trip said, "But we'll have to divide and conquer if we want to do this all. I'm going to see if I can accompany Ditzy tonight through the chip and try to decipher the signals that she's getting. Have Infra and Spark see if they can hack into the chip in the toy head and track any other suspicious activity around. I'll need some time to decide who'll help me and them, but let them know what I said."
'It would've been nice if everyone was here for my instructions, but it's fine,' he thought. Amplitude was walking out the door, but before she left, Axle started intentionally thinking out loud.
"You know," he said, "It was my thinking out loud that led to these plans..."
"You know," Amplitude replied, "You're right. It's nice to see you using your head for something useful for once." And with that, she took off. Axle just stood there, proudly, until he actually processed what she said.
"Wait!" He said, taking off after her, "AMPLITUDE!!" He yelled. But when he looked down the halls, she was nowhere to be seen. In one of the rooms the hallway led to, Amplitude was laughing so hard that she was sure that she would get hiccups if she could.