//------------------------------//
// Searching a la Puns  
// Story: Five Nights in Equestria 
// by RandomHamster33 
//------------------------------//

	
“I’m so sorry for your loss.”

Doll’s fingers trembled by her pale face. Her wide brown eyes glistened with unshed tears, and she watched as the police officer walked away from her apartment door. Once he was gone, she didn’t hold back and collapsed to her knees; her hands covered her face and she sobbed into them, shoulders shaking. 

Her Mikey was gone. 





Twilight and Rainbow Dash continued their trek through the Everfree Forest. So far, nothing unusual had taken their attention. The howls of Timber-wolves cut through the slowly dimming daylight, but they were far away. No reason to panic. 

“Twilight, this is so boring. Can we head back to Ponyville?” Dash complained. 

“No, we can't,” Twilight replied, even though she too was completely jaded, “not until we've found them.”

“But what if the other girls found them? Then what?”

“They haven't used their signals.” Twilight indicated to the small purple device in her ear. When activated, it would alert the others by their own. 

Rainbow flicked the ear with her blue device. “What if they just forgot? We could be wandering in this stupid forest forever.”

“Now, Dash—”

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP! 

The two ponies blinked in surprise as the devices in both their ears went off rather loudly. Rainbow and Twilight exchanged glances before taking off, the magical signal pulling them towards their companions. 

“Wait, wait, I'm getting another force,” Dash alerted Twilight. As a pegasus, she was directed more obviously. 

“Wow! Okay, you go after whoever that was. I'll go this way,” Twilight instructed. Rainbow nodded in confirmation and allowed herself to be redirected, vanishing in the dark forest. Twilight galloped onward, face one of determination. 





Pinkie Pie and Rarity sped towards Ponyville. Once Rarity had turned on her tracker, she knew at least one of the other girls would be coming. That didn't, however, stop her from trying to get to the library to regroup as soon as possible. Thankfully, she wasn't the one with the unconscious whatever-it-was over her back. Pinkie had taken care of him, and they'd actually managed to get his whole situation taken care of. And since they'd entered the forest rather slowly, their progress towards Ponyville was much quicker. They were almost at the fields that covered nearly all the area around the Everfree. In a matter of minutes, the two multicolored mares were in the soft green grass. 

“Okay, Pinkie, let's get to Ponyville as fast as we can. And try not to be seen, please. Nopony must know of that,” Rarity instructed, jerking her head towards the him on Pinkie's back. 

“I got it covered, Rarity. You can count on me!” Pinkie replied with enthusiasm. “I'll be sneaky—sneaky as a shadow in the night.” She wiggled her eyebrows like a snake and the unicorn rolled her sapphire eyes, frowning. 

“Just . . . please be discreet.” Rarity took the lead once again and sprinted away. Pinkie followed with a series of short bounces before settling into a quick-paced run. 

The mares trotted down the dirt path that led to Ponyville. It was devoid of any other citizens, and only the sound of their hooves clopping on the ground was heard. As they neared the town, Rarity turned to Pinkie. 

“Alright. I'll go ahead and check to see if the coast is clear. Then you wait for my signal,” Rarity explained. 

“Okey-dokey-lokey!” Pinkie bubbled, saluting in a silly fashion. Nodding, Rarity settled into a brisk trot down the final slope. The streets seemed fairly empty. The unicorn glanced around the town square. While the sun was going down, it was a bit unusual to see absolutely nopony out at all—mostly stragglers or late workers heading home at least. Deciding it was safe, Rarity let out a shrill whistle, like Applejack calling Winona, and there was a flurry of movement from behind her as Pinkie skidded to a halt. She panted like a dog, tongue hanging out of her mouth. Rarity patted her on the head and checked once more for any ponies, then opened the door to the Golden Oaks Library. Pinkie entered first, hooves moving swiftly over the ground. Once she was in, Rarity quickly followed, slamming the door behind them. 





“Are we going to your . . . libry?” Chica asked, fumbling with the word. 

“Library, sugar cube. And yup, we are. Ah've turned on my trackin' device,” Applejack said. The orange light blinked as if to emphasize her words. “Somepony should be here soon.”  

“Cool.” 

Fluttershy smiled at her happy attitude. “I'm glad you're not scared like Foxy was. He was very shy.” 

“Foxy? Shy?” Chica's mind drifted back to the good old days . . . “It's been so long since I last have heard that to describe him.” 

‘Really? Well, if you'd like me to tell you what happened, I can happily oblige.”

Chica grinned. “Oh, yes please!”





Rainbow Dash's wings carried her through the dense and dark forest, the only light being the moon high above the tree canopy, though not visible through it. The pegasus laughed and whooped, glad to have the challenge of maneuvering in this place. Spinning a tight circle to avoid a collision, she tucked in her wings before ducking low to the ground under a row of vines. That was when something golden flashed on one side of her vision. 

“W-whoa!” Rainbow shouted, blinded by the light. She flinched away. A tree on that side ended up in her way. Dash pushed off of the trunk in her panic, then surged headlong into a tight tunnel of branches. They smacked her muzzle, cracking over her head and causing lines of red to appear through her fur. Giving a loud cry of mostly shocked nature, the pegasus went down, mud splattering around on impact. All that was seen for a brief moment were her wings and vibrantly-colored tail—flicking in agitation. With a slurping noise, Rainbow pulled her punished head out of the muck. 

“Uuugghh . . . ow,” Dash moaned. She clasped a hoof to her head, a strong headache coming on. She then quickly brought the hoof away. There was mud everywhere. With a grumble, she stood and shook her whole body vigorously. Mud splattered across the trees, disturbing their leaves and making them flap. Once that was done, the dirty pegasus focused on determining what caused her to crash like that. With an ill-tempered snort, she snuck her way back of the area of which she'd seen the disturbance. 

“Hey! Who's out there?” Rainbow snarled in anger. “You made me crash, and I demand an apology!” She stomped her hooves on the ground, gritting her teeth together. “You better come out, or you'll regret it!” She flicked her tail in agitation. Ruffling her wings in disdain, the pegasus began to search the surrounding trees. But she spotted nothing. With an attitude and a migraine, she turned around to follow the signal. 

“Whoa!” Dash exclaimed as the same yellow from before appeared in her eyes. She stumbled back, wings spread in a sign of aggression. As soon as she regained her footing, Rainbow snarled, ears back. Then once she got a good look at the thing, she paused, relaxing. It was an animatronic. Albeit, not one that she even remembered seeing. 

“Uh . . . hi?” Dash asked uncertainly, cocking her bruised head. The bear reminded her of Freddy, but it was yellow instead. The eyes were black with white dots and the robot didn't move at all. It just sat staring most uncomfortably at her. In its hand was a microphone and on its head a hat. 

“Um, I'm Rainbow Dash. What's your name?” 

A low sound came from the animatronic. Uncertain, Rainbow backed away, ears folded not out of anger, but of fright. She crouched lower to the ground, not sure how to react. It was then that images began flashing across her vision. Dash screeched in fear as horrible monsters and creatures came down on her. She couldn't identify any of them, as they were mostly blurs and shady objects. But all the same, something inside her became terrified by them. Rainbow skittered backwards, twisting at the same time, preparing to take flight. But the golden bear was somehow right in front of her nose. With a loud shout, the pegasus sprang into the air. The oh-so real hallucinations she was feeling scared her back down to earth, however. She swore she could feel the teeth of them biting into her flesh . . . 

Rainbow saw the golden robot before she could react. It seemed to shoot towards her. She leapt back as fast as she could, but the world went dark before she could even get off the ground. 





Twilight could sense that the signal was coming from her library. She didn't know who was in there, though hopefully the situation was good in there. 

“Hello?” Twilight asked, gently opening the door. She poked her head inside and glanced around. Two bright blue eyes met hers. “Huh? Pinkie Pie?”

Pinkie blinked rapidly. “Hiyah, Twi! Did you get the message, huh huh huh huh?”

Twilight shook her head, confused. She pressed a hoof to Pinkie's chest and pushed her away. “Pinkie, calm down. Yes, I got the signal. That's why I'm here.”

“Okey-dokey-lokey!” Pinkie spouted, nodding. “Well come on, silly, we’ve got something to show you!” She hopped towards the stairs. 

“Did you find one of the animatronics?” Twilight asked. She wondered briefly why they were heading up into her room, but disregarded the thought. Pinkie didn’t answer her question, but Rarity did. 

“Well, not exactly,” the fashionista replied. 

“What do you mean, not”—Twilight glanced at the creature laying in her bed—“okay then.” As Twilight approached the bed, Rarity began to explain. 

“You see, we were out in the Everfree and he was hanging from a tree. It’s one of those creatures from the other world. I did find a nametag, however. His name is Mike.” Rarity pointed to the small badge on his chest. Twilight inspected it, narrowing her eyes. 

“I see. How long have you two been here?” 

“About a half an hour!” Pinkie squealed as she cartwheeled past. 

Rarity nodded in confirmation. “Yes, that sounds about right.” 

Twilight turned around. “Alright. Well, Dash is tracking down Applejack and Fluttershy.”

“Yes, I felt it.” Rarity twitched the ear with the device. “So, what are we to do?”

“Wait for them, I assume.” Twilight perked up. “Hey, I should go check on Foxy. I’ll be back.” 





The three had started towards Ponyville. They’d tired of waiting for somepony to meet up with them, so decided to regroup since the two ponies had felt an alert not that long after theirs. 

“Come on, ya’ll. We’re nearly to Ponyville,” Applejack said, looking back over her shoulder. “Ah hope the others are there.”

Fluttershy flittered over their heads. “Yes, I as well. It was odd that nopony came to us. I expected someone at least.”

“Maybe they were busy,” Chica suggested. “I guess if you guys were truly looking for us then they’d be busy.” 

Fluttershy glanced at the robot. “Hmm, yes, I suppose.” 





Twilight used her magic to push Foxy up. He weakly sat upright, but his shoulders were drooping and eyes half lidded. 

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked. 

“Mm . . . bit tired, hon’stly,” Foxy responded. 

Twilight frowned. “I can tell.” She inspected him carefully. “I need to check your power. Hold on.” She shifted behind him and opened the plate on his back. Foxy stiffened slightly as she checked the small screen hidden inside of him. “Wow, 2%. Here, let’s get you charged.” Her horn lit up and a cord was pulled from a corner of the room. It snaked over to a plugin inside of Foxy’s internal wiring and attached itself. Twilight made sure he was charging before returning to the conversation. 

“There we go,” the unicorn said with a small smile. “Say, your, um, friends, are on their way.” 

“WHAT?!” 

Twilight flinched back, eyes wide. She regained her sense of grace and blinked several times. “Yes. The princesses apparently decided now was the time.” 

“There was a time?!” Foxy continued, jaw hanging open. 

Twilight shrugged. “Apparently. Don’t ask me—Princess Luna was the one who came and told me. Though she didn’t say much.” The unicorn cocked her head, frowning. “Is that a really bad thing, though? Maybe we can rekindle your friendships.”

Foxy put his head in his hand/hook. “Tis not that, lass. Tis just . . . I’d rather ‘em not see me like this.” 

“. . . With us . . . ?”

“No, no. So . . .” Foxy fumbled for the right words, glancing away with his ears down. “Weak.” 

Twilight relaxed, a small smile slipping onto her muzzle. “You’re not weak, Foxy. Why do you think that?” 

“Tis true. Look at me—I be a mess.” 

Twilight laughed. “If anything, you’re better than ever. When we first met—when Fluttershy found you in her garden—you were mangled and destroyed. Pieces were falling off and rusting”—Twilight saw the look on Foxy’s face—“Ahem, what I’m saying is that you have already made so much progress. You can’t be deterred now.” 

Yes, yes, progress. 

Why do ya keep both’rin’ me?

Ooh, look, we’ve made an all twos word count. 

What?

Nothing. 

If ye are jus’ gon’ annoy me, then leave. 

You can leave. Leave this world, you pathetic excuse for a robot. 

“Foxy!” 

“H-huh?” 

Foxy found himself staring into the bright purple eyes of Twilight. Both her front hooves were gripping his shoulders, probably from when she was shaking him. Foxy scrunched his nose and shook his head against the oncoming headache. The unicorn hopped away from him. She landed gracefully back on all fours. 

“What was that?” Twilight asked carefully. 

“Uh, what was what?” Foxy responded in confusion. A stab of pain went through his skull, causing him to grab it. 

“What’s the matter?” she repeated. 

Foxy shook his head and looked at her. “Nothin’. ‘m fine.” 

Twilight glowered briefly at him. “Don’t lie. I’m not dumb, if you haven’t noticed.” 

Yes, tell the pretty pony what’s the matter. She’ll believe you, surely. Do you even realize that you forget every time that we’ve talked? 

Is that your doin’ or is it simply a coincidence? 

Is anything actually ever a coincidence? 

“Foxy!” 

A shock of electricity shot though him, startling him. Foxy weakly picked himself up and glanced around. He was lying on the floor. The cord that had been powering him was torn, hanging from the table. Sparks flickered occasionally from the golden edges peeking out. 

“Tell me what’s wrong!” Twilight demanded, voice filled with worry. 

Foxy blinked wearily. “What happened?”

“You blanked out again. Then you, like, fell forward. It was . . . odd.” Twilight frowned, then glanced towards the ripped wire. “The power cord severed when you fell. I think the plugin is still connected to you. Roll over, will you?” She gently helped him turn his back to her. The panel was still partly open, exposing his wires and circuits to the world. Twilight’s magic probed around for the top, then tugged it out. She tossed it into the trash. 

“Here, we better get you plugged in again. I’ve got an extra cord . . .”





“Are we nearly there yet?” 

“Yes, we are, actually,” came the responding voice of Apple Bloom to Freddy’s irritated question. He and Bonnie glanced around. They were surrounded by trees—some red fruits hung from the branches. 

“I thought we were going to the town,” Freddy grumped, seeing this was definitely not where they were supposed to be. 

“Yeah, we are. But we thought we should stop by our clubhouse first,” Scootaloo replied. 

“And for what purpose?”

“We can’t get you into town very quickly, with ya on crutches an’ all,” Apple Bloom started, “so we’ve come to get a few items to help out.”

“Like what?” Bonnie asked. The three fillies started off towards their clubhouse. None of them answered. The two animatronics followed after them. When they came to the ramp leading up, however, Freddy angrily plopped down into the grass beside it. 

“What’s your deal?” Bonnie questioned. 

Freddy grunted and crossed his arms. “Nothing.”

“Oh, come on, I know that’s not true.” Bonnie sat down beside him. 

“Hmm.”

“Tell me.” Bonnie nudged the bear in the side. 

“Go away, you menace.” Another poke. “No.”

“Please?” 

“No.” 

Bonnie tilted his head quizzically. “Are you just grumpy because you’re hurting?”

Freddy rolled his eyes. “No. I don’t hurt much. It’s already faded for the most part.”

“Tired? Circuits acting up?”

“No.”

“Ants in your suit?”

“No!” Freddy balled his hand into a fist and punched his bunny friend in the nose, causing Bonnie to topple over. 

“Gah! Ow!” Bonnie exclaimed, holding his nose. “That was mean!” He pouted briefly. Then he brightened suddenly, pointing in knowing at Freddy. “Oh my gosh, I know what’s making you so angry! You’re grouchy ‘cuz you don’t have your microphone!” 

Freddy glared harshly at Bonnie. 

“Um, yeah . . . but that’s the reason, isn’t it? I just noticed it. Plus your hat’s gone. Must’ve lost it when we got, uh, transported.” Bonnie pondered it momentarily. They all knew that Freddy had some pretty phenomenal anger issues at times. But it was his microphone that calmed him—for what reason was fairly unknown. Perhaps it was like a stress ball? Bonnie didn’t know. 

“Maybe it’s the reason,” was all Freddy responded grumpily with. Bonnie was about to respond but was interrupted. 

“You two, come over here,” came Scootaloo’s voice. She walked from around the side of the clubhouse. Apparently she’d not gone in. “Well, our wagon wasn’t as big as we’d hoped, so AB went to the barn to get one of the ones used for hauling apples. She should be back soon.” Bonnie and Freddy stood up and went over.

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle agreed, trotting down the ramp, “and after that, we can get into Ponyville! Hopefully one of the others are there.”

“I’m sure there’s at least one of them. Foxy can’t be left alone for long, remember?” 

Freddy and Bonnie exchanged glances. “Uh . . . care to elaborate?” Bonnie asked. 

Sweetie tipped her head to one side. “Wouldn’t you know?” 

“Yeah. He’s got some pretty wicked problems,” Scootaloo added, “or so Dash has told me.”

“Sounds fairly accurate,” Freddy muttered with a slight movement of his head. Scootaloo nodded and glanced around. Her light violet eyes lit up as she saw a small shape moving towards them. 

“Look, there’s Apple Bloom,” the pegasus piped up. A hoof pointed towards the figure. The filly advanced towards them, moving progressively quicker. Soon the distinct shape of Apple Bloom was visible. 

“Howdy. Come on, Ah’ve got it. Let’s hurry and get to town,” the yellow filly said. She shifted the harness on her back. There was one more space for another pony to pull. 

“Alright you two, get comfortable,” Scootaloo added. The two animatronics looked at each other. 

Freddy gave a small laugh. “Yeah, right.” 

“No, no, we’re serious,” Sweetie Belle said. 

“Yeah, come on. We don’t have all day . . . night,” Scootaloo urged. She glanced briefly towards the moon in the sky. 

Bonnie hesitated, rubbing the back of a hand. “Um, are we going to fit?”

“Looks like it. Now get in there and get situated,” Apple Bloom said firmly. She jerked her head towards the wagon. 

Bonnie finally shrugged and padded over, then carefully sat down in it. Pulling his legs over the edge, he scooted as far to one side as he could and looked up at Freddy. The bear paused, shifting awkwardly. Then, giving a resigned sigh, he wobbled over and slowly got himself in the wagon. Scootaloo placed the crutches in the middle of the animatronics. 

“Cool. Now we’ll just cover you a bit and we’ll be all set,” the pegasus said. “Sweetie—blanket.” The unicorn stood on her hind legs, and together they got them partially covered with it. Both Freddy’s and Bonnie’s faces peeked out, eyes shining. No one could tell what they were, though Bonnie’s ears were outlined more visibly by the moonlight. After that, Scootaloo hooked herself up in the harness and Sweetie Belle leapt into the wagon. The robots didn’t seem to mind all that much at the intrusion. 

“Off we go, then,” Apple Bloom announced. She and Scootaloo began walking. 





Knocking sounded at the door. Rarity turned to answer it, but the door was pushed open. In came Applejack and Fluttershy. Then the yellow robot. She entered cautiously, bending down to get through the doorway. 

“Oh, thank goodness you found one,” Rarity sighed, rushing forward. She inspected her friends. “Everything’s alright, yes?” She frowned. “Where’s our dear Rainbow Dash?”

“Rainbow? Ain’t she here?” Applejack asked. 

“No, Twilight said she went to you.”

“If she did, she never showed herself,” Fluttershy said quietly, voice edged with worry. 

"Who never showed themselves?” Twilight asked, appearing in the door to the lab. She wiped some sort of black substance off her brow and glanced around. Her eyes lit up when she laid her eyes on Chica. “Oh! That’s great!” 

“But what’s not so great is we’re missing Dashie,” Pinkie Pie commented. She frowned. 

“What?” Twilight tilted her head. “She went right for those two. I was with her. She was supposed to meet up with you.” 

Applejack sighed. “This ain’t good.”

“Aren’t there beasts in the forest?” Chica intervened. “Perhaps she was, like, attacked or something?” She shrugged her shoulders. “And I really want to know—is Foxy here? Fluffershy and Jackapple said he was here!” 

The two mentioned ponies exchanged dark glances. “Jackapple?” hissed the farm pony.  

Fluttershy scuffed a hoof against the ground. “At least she remembers the sounds . . . for the most part.”

“Oh dear!” Rarity gasped, “what if Chica is right? We have to help Rainbow Dash.”

“You’re right. And yes, um, Foxy’s here,” Twilight replied. Rarity opened her mouth to say that was not the most pressing issue, but Chica retorted before she could. 

“Then can I see him? I want to see him!” Chica exclaimed. 

Twilight frowned at her needy attitude. “I’m afraid he’s a bit . . . off right now. Emphasis on the off.” 

Chica titled her head. “Um, what do you mean?” 

“He’s powered down.” 

“But why?!”

“There’s . . . no reason for you to be concerned,” Twilight lied. “He’s perfectly fine. Just tired.” 

“Tired? Tired!? He doesn’t get tired! I know Foxy hates to let his power run out, and that’s the only reason he’d be “tired”,” Chica replied angrily. She crossed her arms. 

“Well, it’s a bit different here. Just don’t worry. In a few hours, you can see him. It’s probably better to wait until everypony gets here.”

“But that might not happen if we don’t find Rainbow,” Rarity interrupted, finally seeing an opportunity to speak up. 

Twilight met the fashionista’s eyes. “You’re right, Rarity. We’ve got to find Dash.” She trotted towards her lab. “I can track all the locaters. As long as she didn’t toss it somewhere, it’ll show her location. Even if it got destroyed, the magical signal will be still be strong enough to trace.” She dashed down the stairs, door swinging idly behind her retreating figure. 

“But what about Freddy and Bonnie? They’re still out there!” Chica interjected. She turned to Rarity and Pinkie Pie. “Why were you here? Your friends told me you were all out looking for us.” 

“We did find someone,” Pinkie responded. “His name’s Mike.” Rarity nodded in confirmation. 

“Mike! He’s here? Is he alright?”

“Out cold, but other than that, yes,” Rarity answered with a small flip of her hoof. 

“But the duck’s right,” Applejack said, holding back her smug expression, “what about the other two?” Chica shot her an agitated glance. “If they’re out there, they’ll be easy prey for any passin’ predator.” 

“Foxy almost got destroyed by a manticore when he was out there,” Fluttershy reminded them. She shook her head sadly. “This night is such a disaster.” 

“You’ve got that right,” Pinkie agreed. 

“Verily,” Rarity sniffed. “And it’s already past two. In a few short hours, the sun will rise. If one of them wanders into town, we could be in big trouble.” 

Suddenly, Twilight burst in from the lab. In her magical grip was a small device about the size of her head. “Everyone, I’ve got a signal on Rainbow Dash! Fluttershy, Rarity, come with me! Applejack, Pinkie Pie, you two stay here and look after them.” The mares acknowledged their orders and split into two groups. “Come on you two, let’s go find our friend.”