Disclaimer: I do not own "Five Nights at Freddy's" or its characters.

[A/N - Hello there :D As promised, here it is, a flashback arc told from the POV of the animatronics. It takes place around the 70's, before the company started having problems and before all the horrible, horrible events that took place there. Does not include Fredbear's Family Diner, that will be in another arc :3]

"… are… active…?"

Who on earth is talking so loudly? Help me regain my vision this instant!

"… just… minute…"

Hey… why is everything so dark? I can't see! I can't see!

"… light… on…"

Where am I? Someone turn on the lights, geez!

"… should… ready… now…"

What is going on? Yarr, I can't see a damn thing… … Why did I say 'yarr'?

"And… there!"

Everything became clear. There was a bright light shining from a window somewhere, and two blurry figures right in front of them.

Four animatronics blinked, shielding their eyes from the light until their robotic eyes adjusted to it. The blurry images became clearer. One was a bulky man with a round and kind face. The other was a tall girl with a ponytail and a wrench in her hand. Who were they?

One of the robots, a brown bear, frowned and looked at his hand. It was a massive hand. He then reached for his head, and found a black top hat. He twirled it in his fingers, and then checked his neck, to find a black bowtie. Quite the proper attire, he should say.

He glanced to his right to see a very confused purple bunny. The bunny also had a bowtie, though his was red, to match his eyes. The bunny blinked and touched his head, squeaking once he found his tall ears.

"What are these?" he asked, frantically. He had a childish voice, and it was hard to tell if it sounded male or female. "What are – what is that?!" He pointed dramatically at a guitar that was next to him.

"Stop yelling, calm down," requested a high-pitched female voice from the bear's left. It belonged to a yellow chicken, who was now looking unimpressed at the bib she had around her neck. It said "Let's Eat!" in big letters. "Why am I wearing this…?"

"Yarr!" said a husky male voice. A reddish fox emerged from the bunny's right, looking at his hook with interest. He had an eye-patch covering his right eye. "What is this?" He then noticed the other robots. "Ahoy, lads and lass! Would any of ye know where we are?"

"I would like to find that out myself, in fact," the bear replied calmly, surprised at the sound of his deep voice. He turned to the two humans standing in front of them, just in time to see the girl smile at them before leaving.

"Good morning," greeted the bulky man. "Wow, it's amazing to see you guys active for the first time! Now tell me, do you know your names?"

The bear nodded promptly. "I do, good sir. My name is Freddy Fazbear, at your service." He took out his top hat and took a small bow.

The chicken tilted her head with a raised eyebrow. "Hum… I'm Chica I think…" She didn't look too happy about it.

The bunny stopped freaking over the unknown object lying next to him to stare at the bulky man with wide eyes. "Bonnie," he said, as if it was the biggest reveal in history. "My name's Bonnie…!"

The fox grinned. "I be Foxy the Pirate, lad. What is yer name?"

"My name is Francis Anderson," said the man, nodding pleased. "I'm the owner of this place. Your home."

The robots looked around them. They were on a stage that overlooked a wide area filled with tables and chairs, decorated with stars and sparkles.

"Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. This is a place for children to have fun and be happy. That will be your job – to make children happy," Francis explained, punctuating every word of the last sentence, to make sure the robots did not miss its importance.

The robots knew this of course. Along with their names, the only other things they knew were that they were not supposed to leave the pizzeria and they had to make sure children were happy and safe. Whatever those "children" were…

"So where are those 'children'?" Bonnie asked eagerly. "I want to meet them!"

Francis chuckled. "They won't be around yet, Bonnie. We are still making preparations to ensure everything is ready and safe for them. For now, you must learn your roles and how to interact with our customers."

"And you are going to teach us, I presume?" Freddy asked politely.

"I will tell you your roles, yes, but you will have your lessons on how to conduct yourselves in the presence of customers with someone else," he clarified. "Our head of security has been very eager to meet you guys, and I'm sure you'll all get along just fine."

Chica raised her hand. "I have a question."

Francis smiled. "Go ahead."

The robotic chicken pointed at her bib. "Why am I wearing this?"

"Well, aspects of design were not up to me, I'm afraid," the man confessed. "But it relates to your role here. You are Chica the Chicken, the one in charge of, as far as the children know, making all the pizza and cupcakes."

At the words "pizza" and "cupcakes" her eyes brightened. She somehow knew what those things were – they were food, and she knew how to make them! "I can cook?" She sounded much more excited now. "I can actually cook?"

"I believe the basics of cooking were installed in your programming, yes," Francis confirmed. "But you won't be actually cooking for the children during your performance. Unless you want to, of course."

The man then turned to Bonnie, who was again staring at the guitar as if it was a predator ready to pounce. "Bonnie," he called, making the bunny jump slightly. "You are the guitarist of the band. And that is your guitar." He pointed at the dreaded object.

Bonnie's eyes widened. "That thing is mine? What am I supposed to do with it?"

Francis grinned at the robot's irrational fear. "Play it, of course. Don't worry, as with Chica, the basics of guitar-playing were installed in your programming. You will know what to do. Go ahead, pick it up, I promise you it won't bite."

Bonnie stared apprehensively at the guitar and then walked up to it very carefully. He poked it and jumped back, afraid it would attack him, but nothing happened. Slowly, he picked it up and touched the strings. It made a pleasant note. Hearing the sound seemed to have a soothing effect on the bunny, who no longer seemed afraid. Just as Francis had said, he somehow knew how to play it. He played a few notes to make a cheerful-sounding song.

The manager of the pizzeria nodded, smiling and then turned to the bear, who was patiently waiting for his role to be explained to him. "And you, Freddy Fazbear. The pizzeria was named after you, because you are the leader of the band. You are the lead singer and the one responsible for keeping the other robots in check."

Freddy smiled. So he was the leader. He liked the sound of that. He would do his best and nothing less than that to ensure his fellow animatronics would conduct themselves properly and keep the children satisfied.

"What about me, lad?" Foxy asked, pointing at himself with his hook. "And why do I have this in me hand?"

Francis turned to him. "You have your own show to run, Foxy. You are a pirate captain, looking for a new crew. And the children are all your potential maties. You, more than any of the other robots, have to watch over the children. Kids love pirates, you see."

Foxy felt extremely happy at hearing that. "Yarr! I like my job!"

Francis chuckled. "I'm glad you do. As for that 'thing' you have in your hand, it's a hook. A lot of pirates have it, same for that eye-patch. Be careful with it, though. It could hurt the children." He sighed. "I don't know if it was a good idea to have you designed with that thing, but she was pretty insistent…"

"Don't ye worry, lad, I'll be careful!" Foxy assured. "I will never hurt a child."

"Yes, well, now that you are properly introduced to your jobs, you can go ahead and take a look around the pizzeria, get to know the place and the staff while you're at it," the man said, walking down the stage. "Feel free to ask them anything, they won't mind. I will go call our head of security so he can start filling you in on the rules."

The robots nodded in unison. Once Francis was out of sight, Bonnie started bouncing excitedly. "This is so cool! I'm a guitarist!"

"You were terrified of that 'guitar' thing just a second ago…" Chica reminded, raising an eyebrow. "I wonder where the kitchen is…" She then blinked. "And I somehow know what a 'kitchen' is…"

Freddy cleared his throat, deciding this would be a good time as any to start practicing his role as the leader. "Well, my friends, you heard Mr. Anderson. We have to go introduce ourselves properly to the remaining staff. No need to remind you, that it is vital that we make a good first impression, and that we do not make them feel they are, in any way, inferior to us. Humility is of utmost importance in the work place…"

His speech was interrupted by loud sounds of metallic footsteps rushing down the stage. Freddy blinked, and looked around to find he had been left alone. The other robots were already racing each other out the dining area to explore.

"First one to find Mr. Head of Security is the winner!"

"The kitchen better be spotless when I get there -"

"Where is me ship? Out the way, lad!"

"Wow Foxy you're fast! H-hey no way now you're winning!"

"Hey don't push me! And watch where you point that thing!"

Freddy sighed. Being a leader was proving to be harder than he anticipated…

Chica blinked, frowned and looked around her. Wherever she was, it was not the kitchen.

She had somehow ended up in a hallway with two doors. One had the figure of what she could only assume was supposed to represent a person, only with a perfectly circular head and square body. The other one was similar, except the lower half of the body was a triangle, for some odd reason. Chica was still confused as to how she knew what all of the words she thought and said meant, but then assumed they were part of her "programming". Whatever that was.

She took a peek inside the rooms the doors led to, and only found some odd pieces of furniture of a crystalline white. Then, in her mind, the word "toilet" popped up.

"Uh. Must be the name of that thing…" she muttered.

The chicken looked around the hallway again. There was a door at the end of the hall, north. But once she tried to walk towards it, the door disappeared, being replaced by a wall.

"What the – where did the door go?"

She took one step back. There was the door. One step further. No more door – only a wall. She repeated the procedure three times to make sure she was not seeing things. The same thing happened over and over, until she finally got convinced that whatever it was that was happening, it was supposed to. She shrugged.

"Oh well," she thought. "I'll just ask this 'head of security' person what is up with that…"

Foxy looked all around him in awe. He had just landed in Heaven, from the looks of it. He had found himself in front of some purple curtains, and once he had held them apart, he saw the most beautiful room he had ever seen. It had a stage, in the shape of a pirate ship, and some wooden treasure chests scattered around the corners. Foxy opened said chests, and found them filled with golden coins.

"Ah-ha! Me treasure! Me maties will be happy," he said merrily.

"Hey."

Foxy turned around. There was someone else about to enter in the same division as him, holding the curtains apart. "You must be Foxy the Pirate." His voice made him sound confident and charismatic.

"Right ye are, lad. Who might ye be?" the animatronic asked, squinting. There wasn't a lot of light in that room, so it was hard to make out the person's features.

The man reached for a button on the wall, and the place was immediately illuminated. Now Foxy could see the man had raven hair and dark eyes. He made a small smile at the sight of the red fox. "I'm Mattheus O'Vancey. Matt for short," he said. "Just got hired as the night guard, so I guess we won't be seeing much of each other."

"What does a night guard do, lad?" Foxy wanted to know, watching as Matt glanced at the treasure chests with apparent interest. He took a while to answer before looking at the animatronic with a glint in his eyes.

"To make sure no one breaks in. Vandals, and the works," Matt explained. "You guys are some pretty cutting edge technology, so there might be someone around there interested in tearing you up to sell your parts."

He made the explanation sound casual, but that last part made Foxy feel worried. "Tear us up?"

Matt grinned. "Don't worry. I won't let anyone get their hands on you as long as I'm around." He then pointed at the ship-shaped stage. "Nice place. The kids are going to have a lot of fun here."

Foxy's worry dissipated, giving place to joy. "Ye think?"

"Sure," Matt assured, nodding. "Kids love pirates. I admit I'm also a fan. Well, I'll be seeing you. I got your back, Foxter." Matt saluted the robot and walked out.

The robotic fox walked out after Matt, watching the night guard stroll across the hallway. He passed by another man, who wore a similar outfit. This other man had blonde hair and brown eyes, and greeted Matt with a pleasant grin and wave. The two seemed to be around the same age, and seemed to be friends.

"Hey Don," said Matt, shaking his friend's hand with a firm grip. "Did you see the robots yet? Foxy is back there at Pirate Cove."

The boy named Don took a quick glance at the purple curtains, from which Foxy was peeking out. Don smiled at the robot. "They're active? Cool, I have to go talk with them."

Foxy grinned. They seemed to like him. And, with a jolt of happiness as Don walked up to him, he found he liked being liked. He couldn't wait to be with the children. Hopefully they will like pirates as much as everyone keeps assuring him.

Freddy frowned as he stepped inside a dark room. That was strange. It felt as if that room was not a part of the rest of the pizzeria.

Unlike the other rooms he found, this one was dark and gloomy. Depressive. Oppressive. He did not like how those grey walls made him feel. And all of those eyeless masks and empty suits… He could tell they had the same faces as Bonnie and Chica, but had no eyes, which made them seem eerie and disturbing. He could only guess they were there to replace their current faces and body parts in case they were damaged in some manner.

The bear sighed. His leadership role was having a pretty poor start. He had failed to guide the other robots, and had also failed to find them anywhere. He could only trust they were not being a bother to anyone. Especially that Bonnie. He seemed to be pretty excitable, yet nervous. Hopefully he would not find anything that would frighten him.

One last look at the dark room made him realize there was one particular suit that seemed different from all the others. He walked up to it, slumped in a corner, and was shocked to find a bear with an uncanny resemblance to himself. Though, this one was golden, with two black buttons in its chest, right underneath the bow. There was also a red piece of fabric around the top hat. The brown bear frowned as he bent over to watch it more closely. Interesting. Perhaps this was another robot yet to be activated, one that would maybe join them later on in their performance?

"Eek!"

Freddy jumped at the sudden yelp that was heard from behind him. He turned around, spotting a petite girl with auburn hair tied in a braid. She stared at him with wide brown eyes, taking a step back.

Ah. She should be one of the "staff" members Mr. Anderson had mentioned. She seemed scared. He would have to make her feel more comfortable quickly.

"Hello, miss," he started, with a calm and reassuring voice, taking off his top hat in a polite greeting gesture. "My name is Freddy Fazbear. What might your name be?"

Her eyes widened even more, if possible. She looked absolutely horrified. She did, however, manage to speak. "M… Marize… Marize C-Clemont."

Freddy smiled benevolently. "Marize. That is a pretty name," he complimented. "I am truly sorry we met in this dreadful division. It is obviously not helping you make any more comfortable. But I assure you, I do not wish to scare you or hurt you."

He paused, giving the girl enough time to calm down. He entwined his fingers, waiting patiently.

Marize seemed to calm down a bit. At least she didn't seem like she was about to pass out anymore. She took a couple of deep breaths and then nodded. "I… I know… Sorry… I was just… surprised to see you… Y-you're one of the robots that have to entertain the kids, right?"

The bear nodded, happy that the girl didn't look as scared anymore. "Indeed. My fellow band mates must be running around somewhere. You have nothing to fear from them either. As boisterous as they might be, they are friendly and benevolent. Now, what is exactly your job here?"

"Um, I'm the… I'm one of the entertainers… You know… I have to wear that…" She pointed at the yellow bear which sat on the corner of the dark room.

"'Wear'?" Freddy repeated, interested.

Marize nodded. "Yeah… It's specially designed so that it can move around on its own, like you, or be worn as a suit by entertainers. There's another one like it, but I think it's a bunny…"

Freddy only then spotted another golden suit next to the bear. It was indeed a bunny, very similar to Bonnie, but with the same black buttons as the yellow bear.

"Ah yes, I see it. Very interesting. Would you happen to know their names, my dear?" he asked, again smiling benevolently.

Marize managed to smile back, seemingly comfortable with his presence now. "Golden Freddy and Spring Bonnie. At least that's what Mr. Anderson called them…"

Bonnie spun in 180 degrees to make sure he didn't miss a single detail of the walls and furniture around him. He had ended up back at the dining hall – how, he wasn't completely sure – and it looked even bigger once he was off the stage. None of his friends was there anymore, so they were probably out exploring. The pizzeria was enormous! There was so much to see! He hadn't found a single person there yet, however. Bummer. He wanted to meet everyone quickly so they could become friends.

He rushed back towards the stage, guitar in hand, when he stopped dead in his tracks. He slowly turned his head towards a table, and saw something that made him cringe.

Stains. There were stains on the table. For some reason he could not explain, the mere sight of a dirty table caused his eye to twitch and made him panic. He had to clean that! He had to get rid of that awful stain quickly before his circuits fried. The bunny looked around desperately for a cloth, but couldn't find anything.

"What the -"

Bonnie looked at the entrance of the dining hall. There was someone there. Taller than Mr. Anderson, the man looked at him bewildered. He had hazelnut-colored hair and a badge in his shirt.

"Hi!" Bonnie greeted, waving and smiling cheerfully. Finally, a person! "I'm Bonnie, what's your name?"

The man's bewildered expression morphed into a pleased grin. "Oh, wow… Um, hello, hello! Uh, I'm Phil Grayson, nice to meet you Bonnie," he said, scratching the back of his head. He approached Bonnie with an open hand.

Bonnie looked down at the man's hand. Something in his head told him to shake it. He did so promptly, and perhaps a little more excitedly than what would be required. The man didn't seem to be phased, however, and kept smiling.

"Strong grip you have there," he chuckled. "You might want to restrain yourself with the kids…"

The bunny looked at him in worry. "Oh did I hurt you? I'm so sorry!"

Phil waved his hand dismissively. "No, no, it's okay. Just, um, try and be less enthusiastic with other people, okay? Especially the kids…"

Bonnie nodded. "Okay. Why did you say 'hello' twice?" he wanted to know. "Is that how you're supposed to greet people? Because I just say 'hi' once."

"Verbal tic. It's a habit of mine, heh. So…" He looked at the robot up and down. "Up and walking already, uh? Where are your friends?"

The bunny shrugged. "Around here, somewhere… I'm not sure. Say, Mr. Anderson told us that some 'head of security' person was going to teach us stuff. Do you know where I can find him?"

Phil pointed at himself proudly. "You just did."

Bonnie bounced happily. "Yay! I found him first, I win!" he giggled. Amidst the bouncing, he ended up seeing the stained table again. The bouncing ceased abruptly, and he cringed again. "Eeeek I have to clean it! Ah it's so dirty!"

Phil blinked and raised his eyebrows, confused at the bunny's sudden change of attitude. "Bonnie, what's wrong?"

Bonnie pointed at the table while shielding his eyes, as if the mere sight of it was offensive. "That table! It has stains! Why am I freaking out because it has stains?!"

Phil blinked again, and then smiled sympathetic. "I didn't know the mechanic was going to program you as an OCD…" he muttered. "But yeah the staff didn't have the time to clean everything yet… Hey, tell you what? Um, how about we help them out a bit? We could start with cleaning this…"

Bonnie nodded vigorously, still shielding his eyes. "That would be nice, yeah."

Phil chuckled and turned around. "I'll go get what we need from the supply closet. Uuh, just stay put, okay?"

The bunny separated his fingers to follow the head of security with his eye. He liked that man. He was nice. Mr. Anderson was nice too. And the other robots too! He was going to be happy in that place.

For sure…

[A/N - I don't know why I keep imagining Freddy to sound like Sean Connery...

Just a little thing, I made Bonnie to be a little obcessive with cleaning and stuff to explain why he shows up in the Supply Closet in the first game... I mean, what else could he be doing there...?]