//------------------------------//
// The Fourth Night 
// Story: Rainbow Dash's Five Nights at Freddy's 
// by PrometheusX 
//------------------------------//

11:35 PM

Dash pulled back the curtains of Pirate Cove, once again revealing Foxy's face to the world.

"Yo Foxy," she began slowly as she flew and hovered in front of him, making sure to keep him at eye level while her forelegs were crossed. "Good to see you're doing well."

Silence.

"...Okay, seriously, are you gonna give me straight answers this time around?" she asked, cutting right to the meat of the matter. "Can we have an actual conversation like we did last night?"

Silence.

Dash then just threw her hooves into the air. "ARGH! Seriously, just say something, why don't you!? Would it kill you to say a word!?" she raged, her frustration of over three days of stress finally coming to a boil. "I know that you're still a foal at heart, but give me something here! I'm tired of all this cryptic horsecrap! Give me a straight answer!"

She stopped her tirade for a moment, taking several deep breaths and looking down.

"Heh..."

Her ears twitched as she heard the sudden sound, causing her to look back up. "Wha?"

"Heheheh... hahahaha!"

Dash just stared as Foxy was suddenly doubled over with both arms over his stomach, his mouth opening and shutting at random as laughter, yes, laughter, escaped him. His eyes were shut as well in mirth, and she could almost imagine, if he were real, tears would also be running down his face.

She couldn't find the words to express herself. Yes, she had figured out the dolls were apparently alive, but after seeing them just creep around and be generally scary and/or creepy-looking, to see one apparently laughing, not out of pre-programming but genuine funny (to it, at least), was just too out there for her to comprehend.

"Wha?" was the only thing she could say.

"S-Sorry, me lass..." Foxy said as he started to calm down. "It's just... ye remind me so much of somepony else..."

Dash blinked, her confusion only growing as she listened.

"She always hated it- heheh -when I ignored her like that," he continued between laughs "She blew up like a volcano- hahehe -all the time..."

Suddenly, his voice seemed to take a sadder tone, uncrossing his arms as it did. "But... why can't I remember her name?" he asked, more to himself than her. "Why can't I remember her face anymore?"

Dash just stared as the doll's mood did a complete 180. Now, with his head and ears all drooping, body slumping down, he looked like he needed a hug more than anything else.

"...What was she like?" she couldn't help but ask. This was not where she was expecting their conversation to go, but for the life of her she couldn't help but want to know more.

Foxy looked up at her. "...What?"

"What was she like?" she repeated. "I want to know why you keep on helping me, but I also want to know more about you. So, what was she like, whoever she was?"

Foxy stared for a moment. "...Well, lass, she-"

"You know, I have a name," Dash reminded him, annoyed.

"Ye never gave it."

...Well, that was true. Dash sighed.

"It's Rainbow Dash," she replied, then allowed a smirk to cross her face. "Fastest flyer in all of Equestria, at your service."

Foxy stared for a moment, then just chuckled.

"What?" Dash asked.

"Another reason you're just like her," Foxy replied. "She was always boasting about herself, hardheaded, arrogant..."

"Geeze, lay it on thick, why don't you?" Dash grumbled, but Foxy wasn't done.

"But she was also brave, loyal, and refused to give up when things got tough," he added. "And she always went down swinging in a fight."

He looked directly at her, his eyepatch falling over one eye as he did so. "It's like I'm looking at her all over again." His voice grew sad. "I still remember her cries..."

"That's why you keep helping me."

Foxy seemed to nod. "I couldn't let it happen. I couldn't just lose you... her again."

Rainbow Dash blinked at his words, then suddenly decided to ask something. "What's your name?"

Foxy tilted his head. "Eh?"

"Not you, Foxy. I mean the you, you," Dash tried to clarify, then shook her head. "I mean, what was your name before... all this?"

Foxy stared at her for a moment that seemed to stretch on into eternity.

"...I... I don't know anymore..." he slowly answered. "No one's used it in so long..."

The two were silent as they stared at each other. Rainbow Dash felt like she had to say something.

"...I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For... everything," Dash replied. "I'm sorry about how you got hurt with Bonnie two days ago, then with Bonnie and Chica yesterday."

"But a flesh wound!" Foxy declared, then looked down at his body. "Well, not really..."

"I mean, about putting you at risk and all that," Dash tried to clarify. "I mean, thanks for everything, yeah, but still, you didn't have to-"

"Eh, I've wanted to do that to Freddy for awhile. Just screw him up a little bit."

"But... you know what, forget it," Dash decided, feeling a grin pick up on her face. "You're not gonna listen, are you?"

"Nope."

Dash laughed despite herself. "I say it again: You're the coolest magic doll around here."

Foxy seemed to smile. "I try."

Suddenly, they both heard a familiar voice.

"Dash?" Griff called out. "It's about time."

Dash turned back to Foxy. "Guess I'll see you later then?"

"Sooner than you might think," Foxy replied.

Dash snorted. "Just don't go waiting for the last second to make your entrance, alright?"

"I'm the fastest thing in here, lass," Foxy answered almost smugly. "I can outrun anything."

Dash rolled her eyes, but then flew up to the curtains. "See you then, Foxy."

"And to you too, lass. Be careful, Freddy's mighty angry with you tonight."

Dash nodded, then put the curtains back in place, watching as Foxy became obscured.

"Well, I shouldn't keep him waiting then, huh?"





12 AM

Dash sat in her little security room alone, Griff having long since left after making sure she had everything she needed. He didn't say anything, but she could tell he had been worried and more so than usual. She also knew why: This had been the last night he had ever seen Shep Book.

"Why didn't you just check his messages?" she had asked him. "He said the phone records them."

"Unfortunately, these messages are apparently only set to activate on the specific night of the guard on-duty, and they only play when said guard reaches that day," Griff had replied. "I know that sounds like a crap excuse, but that phone works in strange ways, and I've ever been able to figure out exactly how to make it playback the messages otherwise. I think Shep might have enchanted the phone with some sort of magic so that it wouldn't reveal them like that. I really don't know."

She glanced at said phone, wondering when it was going to start ringing.

'C'mon Shep,' she thought to herself, 'What do you have to say for your last night?'

As if on cue, the phone began to rang. Dash pressed the button, bringing up the tablet as she did so. "So Shep," she said as casually as she could. "What do you have to say tonight?"

"Hello, hello? Hey!" Shep greeted her with his usual cheeriness. "Hey, wow, Day 4. You're almost done with the week, just one more day. Hehheh... I knew you could do it."

But something was up with the way he was talking now. It sounded... forceful, like he was doing his best to remain nonchalant and happy like usual.

Dash took her eyes off the cameras to glance towards the phone. Again, she remembered about how this was Shep's last night. She hoped that was because he just couldn't take it anymore and decided to finally give up. But right now, she could sense the nervousness in his tone even through the recording and under the image of cheeriness, and that little bit of hope was already fading.

"You alright Shep?" she couldn't help but ask, though she knew better deep down.

"Uh, hey, listen, I may not be around to send you a message tomorrow," Shep continued slowly, the nervousness starting to gain a greater hold in his voice. Suddenly, she heard something banging on the metal doors in the background. "It's-It's been a bad night here for me. Um, I-I'm kinda glad that I recorded my messages for you..." he suddenly stopped to clear his throat nervously, "uh, when I did. I've got a few minutes, but I don't think I can make 'em."

Dash suddenly found herself checking the cameras as Shep continued to talk. All three of them were still up on the show stage (to her relief), and Pirate Cove was still shut (to her disappointment). Despite that though, she couldn't help but keep a majority of her focus on Shep's message, unable to help herself from listening in to her predecessor's (quite possibly final) words.

"Uh, hey, do me a favor," Shep continued, the door banging still going in the background. "Maybe sometime, uh, you could check inside those suits in the back room? I'm gonna to try to hold out until somepony checks. Maybe it won't be so bad."

"It's gonna be plenty bad," Dash said without thinking, then shook her head quickly. She remembered what Shep had said about the suits on the first day, the image still made her a little queasy. No doubt, Shep understood it too.

And unlike her, he didn't have nightsticks or a friendly magic doll helping out (at least, she didn't think so...).

"Darn it, Shep, don't give up yet," she suddenly found herself saying. She couldn't accept that Shep, one of her first allies in all of this, really was cornered with nowhere to go. "Just hold on a little while longer. You made it this far, and you can make it a few minutes. Don't give up just yet..."

Shep, of course, couldn't hear her.

"Ah, it-it can't be too bad, all things considered." he said with a forceful laugh. "I mean... uh, I-I-I-I always wondered what was in all those empty heads back there. M-Maybe it'll be a new ex-experience for me..."

Suddenly, a new sound joined the banging, a very familiar music box theme Dash had become all-too acquainted with last night.

"Oh no," Dash whispered, her eyes widening. "Don't tell me he..."

Shep suddenly grew quiet, then started to speak again, all sense of joking and false cheeriness gone to be replaced with a hurried sense of urgency and yet also calmness.

"...Look... uh, whoever is listening to this... if you're still listening by now... just keep on going. Don't let Freddy and his friends get to you. You're a survivor now. By now, Freddy's probably tired of playing around and he's gonna start coming for you. From what I can tell, he comes the same way Chica does, but he likes to keep to the shadows, only showing off his white eyes. You can tell when he moves when you hear the laughter... dear Celestia, he's having way too much fun. If you can catch him on the cameras though, you should be able to keep him from moving too fast towards the office... I think."

Dash immediately glanced towards the show stage again. Bonnie and Chica were both gone.

"Crap crap crap..." she whispered as she changed views, only relaxing when she saw Bonnie in the supply closet and Chica in the party area with that startled expression of hers. "Okay, we're good."

"Also... and I don't know if this is true or not... never leave both doors down for too long if Freddy's nearby. I've heard rumors, just whispered hearsay around, that he can somehow get past them if that happens. If it's one door though, you're good... for all it's done me now..."

"Shep..." Dash drew out as she glanced towards the phone. She remembered reading about this sort of situation somewhere, where the person was telling a story before getting murdered or silenced in some fashion... usually very suddenly and horrifically. "You can still-"

"You know..." Shep suddenly started to say, but then Dash heard something over the phone, a very familiar sound.

The sound of the power going out.

The banging stopped, but the music box kept playing. Suddenly, Dash heard a low moan over the phone, the same sound Bonnie made when he made it inside the booth on the second day.

"Oh, no-"

SCCCRRREEEEEEE!

The scream, much deeper than the one she had heard on both in real life and her dreams, cut Shep Book off, followed by a burst of static.

Then the phone clicked off.





2:45 AM. 76% power remaining.

*Clang*

The left door came down on Bonnie's face. Dash immediately checked to see if Chica was nearby with the door lights before opening up her tablet. Foxy was poking his head out of the Pirate Cove curtain, but he hadn't started singing yet.

She quickly switched off and checked the left door, opening it when she saw Bonnie was gone. She brought the tablet back up again, showing her the show stage.

'Good, Freddy's still there,' she thought upon seeing his familiar brown body. 'One less thing to worry about.'

*Click*

Back to the West Hall, but no Bonnie. She didn't dare change to the corner camera. No more Golden Freddy for her, even if it meant Bonnie had a blindspot to use now.

Shut tablet. Check left door light. Check right door light. All clear.

This had been the strategy Dash had been trying to follow from here on out. Since Bonnie and Chica were constantly trying to get to her specifically, all she had to really do, aside from occasionally finding out where they'd gone out of curiosity, was check the door lights on either side at regular intervals and shut doors as necessary, then check again with the door lights every so often to see when they were gone to open the doors again.

It was an effective strategy that saved power, if nothing else. The only times she truly used the cameras now were for checking Pirate Cove to see how Foxy was doing, and then to the show stage to see if Freddy was still there. He hadn't moved yet, thank Celestia, but Dash knew that could change in a heartbeat.

Her eyes glanced towards the phone for a moment, memories of Shep Book's last message coming back to her. It was definite proof to what exactly happened to the previously longest-running nightguard, as much as she hated to admit (and she so very, very hated to do so). It was also a brutal reminder of what could happened to her if she didn't stay on her game.

She briefly wondered if Book had had a family. Did they wonder what had happened to him afterwards, when he never came home? Did they still think he was alive? Pity for both him and whatever ponies he cared for and they him briefly washed over her, as it had several times over the course of the night.

"...Just keep on going. Don't let Freddy and his friends get to you. You're a survivor now."2:45 AM. 76% power remaining.

But she couldn't let that distract her. For her own sake, as well as that of her friends and now Shep Book's memory, she had to survive and tell Griff.

A slight noise from her right caught her attention. Without a word, she brought the door down, keeping Chica out. She then turned towards the left door, illuminating it briefly to see Bonnie standing there.

She didn't shut it though. Instead, she just kept staring.

"So Bonnie..." she said casually, "How's the leg been?"

No answer, though she could almost imagine he looked annoyed at that question.

She pressed the button and let the door drop.

"Sheesh, just trying to make some small talk..." she muttered. "Don't have to be a flankhole about it..."





3:38 AM. 60% power left.

*Clang*

She dropped the left door back down on Bonnie, turning her attention to the right one to see if Chica had left. She had, so Dash lifted the lock and then brought up the camera, first going to Pirate Cove. There Foxy was, staring up at the camera with what she hoped was concern.

"Yo Foxy," she greeted the grey image. "I'm still here. Nothing to worry about yet."

As if in answer, the familiar pirate tune suddenly started playing again. She felt a smile cross her face as she started humming in tune.

"Dum dum diddly dum dum dum diddley dum dum diddly di..."

She needed that, honestly. Now that she had knew what to do about summoning Golden Freddy, the night had gotten... kinda boring, all things considered. Bonnie and Chica, while certainly more persistent now, were easy to deal with just by watching the door lights and shutting them when necessary. She was honestly amazed it had taken her this long to come up with such a simple solution, though sheer terror for one's life could do that to anypony. And since Foxy was on her side, she just needed to check him every once in a while on-camera to make sure he wasn't getting too lonely.

In fact, there was only one reason why she still felt an undercurrent of paranoia in her actions as of right now, one sole cause behind any worries about her supposed invincible strategy.

She flipped her camera to the show stage, her smile fading as she beheld the source of said paranoia. The brown form of Freddy Fazbear stood there as he had the past three nights, the only thing showing he had changed positions was the fact he was now staring at the camera, black eyes back on for the occasion.

The two of them locked gazes for what felt like several minutes. Dash felt a worm of doubt gnaw at her. She remembered Shep's last warning about how Freddy would be coming off that stage after her tonight, but not once had she seen any sign that he actually was going to do it. Hay, the head-towards-camera change was the only real difference she could see in how he had moved all night so far.

Of course, the memory of Shep's last moments also kept her from dismissing his warnings out of hand. She would be an idiot to after what she heard.

...Still, that bear looked pretty darn comforting just lounging up there.

"Sheesh Freddy," she wondered aloud. "You just gonna stand there all night and let these two clowns handle things?"

Suddenly, the camera went black, scraping noises immediately following afterwards.

Dash blinked in surprise, then started flipping cameras to try and find a clear one, getting more panicky as the backstage, party area, and restrooms all turned up dead.

'Nonononono...' Dash thought as she immediately brought the camera down and checked her door lights, opening the left door when she saw Bonnie was gone and leaving the right one alone when she saw no sign of Chica. She quickly brought the cameras up to a random screen, showing her the kitchen and the familiar sounds of pots and pans being moved around.

Ignoring Chica's urge for a midnight snack, she immediately changed back to the show stage, which had thankfully gone back up.

Unfortunately, it was currently missing something very important, said something being a familiar brown bear.

A deep, almost demonic-sounding boom of laughter suddenly rang out throughout the pizzeria. Dash jolted upwards in her seat, eyes wandering between the two doors frantically as she tried to place the sound.

"What the buck was that?!" she hoarsely whispered. She couldn't even hear Foxy's song anymore, as if the noise had frightened him into quietness.

"From what I can tell, he comes the same way Chica does, but he likes to keep to the shadows, only showing off his white eyes. You can tell when he moves when you hear the laughter... dear Celestia, he's having way too much fun. If you can catch him on the cameras though, you should be able to keep him from moving too fast towards the office... I think."

Shep's words were like a beacon for her wild thoughts to focus around. Immediately, she brought the cameras up again and changed to the party area. She caught two pricks of white light, blazing like beacons in the shadows of the corner, and just the faintest signs of a bear shape in the grainy image. It didn't take a genius to figure out who they belonged to.

She took a deep breath as she looked into those eyes, eyes that seemed to know where she was and chilled her more than Bonnie or Chica's worst stares into the camera. She brought a hoof to one of her nightsticks, relaxing only slightly as she felt the very real rubber grip in her grasp.

This was it. Freddy had entered the game personally to end her shift as a nightguard, just like with Shep Book. He was gonna make sure she didn't walk or fly out of her this time.

Dash glanced upwards to look at the twin metal doors, briefly checking them. No Bonnie or Chica. It was as if they knew Freddy wanted to end this himself. Or maybe Foxy had taken it upon himself to deal with Bonnie while Chica was still eating. Either way, it didn't matter.

Dash took a deep breath before glancing back down at her monitor. Freddy was still there, as if waiting for her to say something.

She clenched her hoof. No way in Tartarus was she going down like this.

"Bring it, Freddy," she dared the magic doll. "I can take anything you can dish out."





5:30 AM. 23% power left.

Dash was beginning to regret that statement.

For the past nearly two hours she had been playing a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek with Freddy Fazbear. The rules were simple: She kept the cameras on him whenever she had the chance, and he didn't move closer to the office to 'seek' her 'hiding' spot. If the power went out in one of the cameras, then it was her duty to put the tablet down and rapidly check the right door light for several seconds or so before bringing the cameras back up (praying they were back to normal) and 'seeking' his new 'hiding' place before he could get closer under the blind spots.

If she could keep him away from the office until six, she won and claimed her prize: The right to walk out unmolested and unharmed. If he got there before that time, he won and claimed his prize: A good old-fashioned bear hug, Freddy style.

Not something she wanted to experience again after her last brush with it. Ever.

Of course, that sort of mission, even with the cameras going dark, would be easy to handle... if she didn't have to worry about the other two dolls deciding to be sore losers and trying to trip her up. Precious minutes and power were wasted locking the doors and using the door lights whenever Bonnie and Chica tried to claim the glory of having taken her for themselves. She especially hated Bonnie's efforts moreso, as she recalled Shep's words about Freddy supposedly being able to break inside the office if both doors were locked when he got there, and Bonnie was the one forcing her to use the all-but-otherwise-unneeded left side.

"Buck off, Bonnie!" she snapped at the purple rabbit as she slammed the left door down on his face again. "Stop wasting my time!"

She quickly checked the right door light to see that Chica had, thankfully, backed off for now, opening it once again. She immediately went into camera view, taking a moment to check Pirate Cove to see if Foxy was there. He was, head poking out and staring at her with a look that seemed to be saying, "Hang in there, lass!"

She quickly changed to the last spot she saw Freddy, back in the party room, and cursed when she realized he wasn't there anymore.

"Where are you?" she whispered hoarsely as she changed to the restrooms. No sign of him, even in his normal hiding spot he had taken to.

Why the heck a magic doll in the form of a male bear would be peeking out of the mare's restroom was something she didn't have time to fully question, even if it was kind of funny.

*Click*

She found herself in the East Hall, where she immediately starting searching the shadowy parts for any sign of the doll's eyes. Ironically enough, the white pricks of his black eyes, while definitely creepy, also allowed her to pick him out pretty darn quick from the dark areas, a lot easier than his blue ones.

'...At least I think that's how it goes,' she thought to herself on that matter. 'Maybe I should check with Twi on what's really ironic...'

Internal musings aside, she stopped when she caught sight of the two familiar pricks of light in the black, even catching sight of Freddy's lower legs in the flickering glow of the hall light.

'Gotcha,' she thought triumphantly to herself, though it was a hollow victory given she had... what, twenty minutes left?

With some difficulty, she managed to force her left eye to look upwards towards the clock while the right one remained on Freddy.

5:38 AM. 18% left.

'I can make it,' she thought to herself confidently as she changed her view to the left door, briefly checking the door light before letting it up, Bonnie now gone again. 'I can still win this...'





5:53 AM. 10% left.

Dash wasn't sure if she could win this.

Her left door was currently blocked by Bonnie (darn that bunny to the deepest circle of Tartarus!) and while that wouldn't normally be a problem, Dash wasn't certain if she could maintain the power drain for that long. Her right door was still open, but Dash didn't want to shut it, partly to conserve power and partly because...

She flipped the camera back up for a moment, giving her a perfect view of the East Hall Corner.

And a free up-close-and-personal shot of Freddy-black-and-white-eyed-creepy-as-all-crazy-Pinkie-Fazbear leering up into the camera, the shadows and lighting obscuring most of his facial features yet somehow leaving his poop-eating grin/killer-smile as bright as before.

She immediately brought it back down, pressing the door lights to see if he was any closer.

She had stopped viewing the cameras by this point, mostly because Freddy didn't look like he had any intention of walking away by this point and for the fact he could probably sneak in while she wasted time on them. Also, they just wasted power by this point.

Of course, this meant she had no idea what had happened to Chica (though she could probably just be eating pizza in the kitchen again or in the restrooms relieving herself, buck if she knew.) or Foxy. She hoped he was doing alright regardless, though given what he had been up to for the past several nights, a part of her hoped he already had some sort of mad escape plan already plotted out if everything went south.

A glance to the clock. 5:55 AM. 8% left.

Left door light. The bunny was still there.

Right door light. The bear was nowhere in sight.

She briefly wondered if Freddy would actually bother with the jingle if the power ran out before 6 AM. Maybe she had ticked him off enough that he'd forgo foreplay to just end it? Would he even care if 6 AM arrived? He might just settle for crushing her in his grip rather than stuffing in a suit.

5:56 AM. 7% left.

Her hoof rested on the left door button, her eyes still on the right one and her other hoof reaching for a nightstick. She needed to let up the power consumption, or at least change the doors she was directing it to. She'd feel more comfortable with the steel door between her and Freddy than her and Bonnie any day. At least with Bonnie she had a fighting chance of getting past if the power ran out.

However, she still remembered Shep's warning about the double doors.

Of course, that also meant opening the left door first, then shutting the right one, all while making sure Freddy didn't get inside or letting Bonnie slide on in once she opened up for his side.

5:57 AM. 6% left.

Against her better judgement, one eye still on the right door, she brought up the cameras, aiming for Pirate Cove. Foxy had had an uncanny ability to sniff (well, magic dolls don't smell but... you know what, forget it.) out whenever she was about to get royally owned by the other dolls.

'Please tell me you're still on your toes Foxy...'

Pirate Cove came up. The curtains were wide open, with Foxy nowhere to be seen. The "Sorry! Out of Order!" sign seemed almost mocking, in a strange way.

She then changed to the West Hall on a whim, catching what appeared to be a red blur with a hook rushing down the hall like a madpony.

"...Wow, he's pretty fast,' was all she could think of.

Suddenly, she heard a slamming noise behind her, something very heavy smashing against the steel door.

"Oh, come on Foxy! Not again!" Bonnie's voice rang out, muffled by the steel but still recognizable.

"Funny thing Bonnie, the way we keep meeting up like this. I'd swear you're just dying for me attention!"

Several things happened at once.

Dash pulled out her nightstick whilst simultaneously hitting the left door button, catching sight of what appeared to be Foxy dragging Bonnie off into the darkness as it opened. As it did, she immediately also lunged for the right door switch, her eyes catching sight, even in the dark, of a familiar brown bear moving almost as fast as Foxy towards the entrance.

She pressed the button and down the door came.

It came to a screeching halt as a brown paw poked out the bottom and grabbed the descending door just an inch or two off the ground, then slowly started to jerk back upwards with a groaning noise.

"NO YA DON'T!" Rainbow Dash yelled, thrusting down with her stick. "Don't be a sore loser, Freddy!"

The tip connected with the limb, a burst of sparks causing the brown paw to jerk back, thankfully allowing the door to slide all the way down. Dash immediately turned around to see if Bonnie had come back to the left door, but only darkness greeted her gaze and silence her ears.

Look to the clock.

5:59 AM. 4% left.

A massive bang suddenly rang out against the right door, briefly causing Dash to jump in surprise. Apparently, Freddy didn't like that last little shock or that he was being locked out. She turned back to the right door, nightstick at the ready and trusting Foxy to take care of Bonnie.

Another bang rocked the door. 3% power left. Dash gripped the stick tighter.

Bang! 2% power.

'Alright then...' Dash decided as she narrowed her eyes. 'You wanna play like this, Freddy? Well let's play!'

BANG! One percent.

Dash put on her best scowling face. "Come on then, you son of a-"

Suddenly, the banging stopped, silence reigning supreme. It took a few seconds for Dash to fully process that though, so she spent a little while just sort of awkwardly scowling/staring at the door. When she did realize it though, she slowly turned her head towards the clock.

6:00 AM. And the power meter was rapidly rising as if in answer to that magic number.

Dash felt her spirits soar, but she didn't let up her guard quite yet. Instead, she slowly inched towards the right door button, stopping to press the door light.

No sign of any dolls.

Taking a deep breath, Dash then quickly pressed the button and thrust forward with the electrified stick.

Nothing. The corridor was empty.

Dash took a moment to just stare down the hallway, the undeniable fact staring her right in the face.

She had survived Night Four. She was officially Shep Book's successor.

But unlike the other three times, after what she had learned tonight, she didn't feel like celebrating. Instead, she glanced back towards the phone in the office, thinking about her predecessor who never made it here.

And she still had one last night to finish.

"...Don't worry Shep," she said to the phone, the source of advice that had graced her for the past nights. "I won't lose here. I'm gonna win this thing."

With that, she left the office, heading for Pirate Cove. It was time to see a friend about a timely save.





Ponyville (A Few Hours Later)

Twilight Sparkle rested in her bed within the castle, only the slightest of mutterings escaped her mouth to reveal her dreams to anypony who bothered to try and listen.

"*snore* ...Pinkie? I told you that I don't know the first thing about playing a guitar, stop asking..."

...Not exactly what some would think a princess would dream about, but Twilight Sparkle had dreamed of far stranger things. Besides, this was the first true night of sleep she had gotten for awhile, her mind at peace with the knowledge that Rainbow Dash was alright and not in any danger-

"Hey Twilight!"

"BWAA!?" Twilight half-yelped, half-snored as the sudden shout woke her from her slumber. "Pinkie, I said I don't know where I can find you a new drumset!" she yelled randomly, still in the throes of that middle ground between dreams and reality. "Besides, what do you need it for?"

A certain cheery voice quickly brought her out of it though.

"Well, my old set's been getting a little worn, so maybe I need a new one in case it breaks," The Element of Laughter replied as if Twilight had really asked her such a question. "I've been thinking of a new way to greet the next newcomer to Ponyville, but I can't do it if my set breaks on me first! Besides, I know a great place to get instruments! It's called-"

Twilight quickly raised her hoof, putting it under Pinkie Pie's chin and shutting her mouth, but she could almost feel the vibrations of her throat as she kept trying to talk. She gave the pink pony a tired glare.

"Pinkie, what are you doing here?" she asked her energetic friend. "It's way too early... and how did you get in in the first place? I locked this place up before going to bed..."

"Oh that?" Pinkie said dismissively, "Well, I was just at Sugarcube Corner, minding my own business, when I suddenly got an itch in my leg, a tickle in my ear, and a scratch in my mane all at once! That's my Pinkie Sense telling me something big was gonna happen at the castle, so I came on over, but then I found it locked up, so then I got Gummy and he-"

"Wait, go back to that last part," Twilight interrupted her friend, partly to stop wherever this logic-defying conversation was going but mostly to what she had said. "Your Pinkie Sense told you to be here?"

"Yup! It only stopped when I got in here, so that means whatever's about to happen has to do with you, Twilight!"

Twilight blinked, then looked around. While Pinkie could be a little... excitable, hard (emphasis on hard) experience had taught her that the Earth pony's Pinkie Sense was never wrong.

'But what could be so important that-'

Suddenly, a loud knock was heard against the window. Twilight looked up in confusion before seeing a familiar shade of grey behind it, then quickly opened it up. Sure enough, Ditzy Doo came inside, her mail satchel at her side.

'Did I really sleep that long?' Twilight thought to herself as the pegasus managed to alight herself on the ground without crashing.

"Hi, Ditzy!" Pinkie waved to the mare. "How ya been?"

"Hi, Pinkie!" the flying mailmare returned the greeting before turning to Twilight. "And hello to you too, Twilight! Had a good night's sleep?"

Despite her still-bed appearance, Twilight did her best to project something resembling a calm and attentive attitude. "Hello again, Ditzy, and yes, I did, thank you." Her eyes flickered to the satchel. "More mail?"

Ditzy nodded. "Yup! And from Baltimare all over again, same three-day delivery service even!" She quickly moved to open her pouch and shuffled around before bringing her prize up. "Must have been sent the day after the first one!"

Twilight blinked. Baltimare again? But that meant it could only logically be...

She took the letter, noticing the scrawled message To Twilight and the gang. Same writing, same everything. It had to be Rainbow's.

'But why would she send another letter already?' Twilight wondered, then a feeling of dread crept up. 'Unless...'

She tore her eyes up from the letter to look at Ditzy, hoping that her brief emotion didn't play out on her face. However, even if it had, the gray mare didn't appear to have seen it.

"Thank you, Ditzy," she told the mailmare. "Have a good day."

"Same to you, Twilight!" Ditzy said warmly, then she looked at Pinkie. "See ya, Pinkie!"

"You too!"

The mailmare then made her exit, Twilight closing the window behind her. That left the two friends alone in the bedroom, with silence reigning for all of two seconds (a record time in Twilight's book) before Pinkie looked at her.

"So," Pinkie began, "another letter from Dashie? What's it say? You think she misses us? You think she's gonna tell us all about her job? Think she enjoys it? Think she wishes she could be back home? If she can take the heat? That-"

She punctuated each sentence by suddenly appearing on another side of Twilight, her eyes always on the letter. Twilight sighed.

"No idea Pinkie," she answered. "Maybe she's just writing to see if I can send her the remaining bits and get out of the rest of the work."

The pink pony giggled at that image, an exhausted Rainbow, sleep-deprived, slowly writing out a desperate message for help from the rest of them. "Sounds like the Dashie we both know!"

'I hope that's all she's writing about,' Twilight thought to herself as she opened the letter. 'I've had one false alarm already.'

Twilight brought the letter out and unfolded the parchment, using her telekinesis to move the letter into Pinkie's eyeview.

"Let's see what Rainbow Dash had to say about her first night on the job..."

The two ponies read the message.

Then they read it again to make sure that they read it right.

Then they read it again, trying to see if this was some sort of elaborate prank on Dash's part, with some hidden clue that it was all a joke.

Then they read it one more time, just as final confirmation.

"Twilight..." Pinkie spoke up after they finished, her voice having lost its cheery tone to be replaced with a concerned one. "You read all of that, right?"

"Yeah..."

"The part with the crazy magic dolls?"

"Uh huh."

"Haunted restaurant with ghosties?"

"Yes," Twilight said simply, then asked her own question. "Don't suppose that this is some new sort of prank from Rainbow Dash?"

"...I don't think Dashie was kidding at all."

Twilight so wanted to try and disagree that statement, but Pinkie Pie was Rainbow Dash's partner-in-pranking and thus her superior in this line of work. If she didn't think Dash had made this up all for a prank or joke... then it probably wasn't.

"Pinkie Pie," Twilight suddenly told her friend, causing her to snap to attention. "Get the girls together and meet me and Spike at the train station in about an hour. We're going to Baltimare."

Pinkie snapped her a salute. "Okey-dokey, Twilight!" She disappeared in a flash, leaving a smoke imprint with her still in salute mode for a few seconds before disappearing.

Twilight sighed and looked back to her bed. A brief urge to go back to sleep suddenly hit her, but she quashed it. A friend was in trouble, and she couldn't just rest on her plot.

She had a duty, not just as the Princess of Friendship, but as Rainbow Dash's friend.

'Hold on, Dash,' she thought resolutely as she quickly raced out of the room, intending to find Spike. 'We're coming!'