EDITED: 4.12.22

A/N: Hello everyone, Circle of Justice here! Oh my God, I haven't been on this platform for so long... But I figured that I should come back to write a couple of things without the stress of studies/ work/ novel stuff that drives me crazy sometimes.

This story is a basic idea that I wanted to lay out; it's the fundation of something I would want to become a series of fictions, in the future. It's going to be very simple, straightforward, and will most likely stick closely to my understanding of the lore of the games. Though I might drift off sometimes, for the sake of entertainment and intrigue.

We'll see how that all ties together in the future, for now this is the first introduction to FNaF: Dearest Friend!

Let me know your thoughts in the reviews if you wish: it's always super helpful and motivational! :)


Five Nights at Freddy's: Dearest Friend


Prologue


Spring Bonnie pushed the door open, watching the crowd packing up expectantly. It was a day like any other at Fredbear's Family Diner: kids rushed in and out, dashing across the location without a care in the world for their parents' incessant yelling. The lively, colorful lights hung from the ceiling, illuminated the wooden stage adorned with vivid, magenta curtains. She could hear the music chime through the busy halls of the restaurant, at least until Fredbear caught her attention again. She grinned, pictured those beautiful spotlights on her fur, making both herself and Fredbear the stars of the show while they were performing.

Except, they were not, and would not be throughout the rest of the day.

Although the day had started normally, Fredbear claimed he had a bad feeling about a specific party set up the following week, and William Afton overheard him. Gifted with sentience thanks to Afton's undeniable engineering genius, the animatronic bear felt joy and cried like any other human out there in the dining area. However, while Spring Bonnie did not hesitate to showcase just the intricacy of her personality–infused IA, Fredbear himself would not be the most expressive; he had taken the habit of hiding and covering up his feelings. Spring Bonnie suspected pride to be at the root of this reluctance to be honest with everyone around him, however she imagined that he simply refused to be seen as the failed experiment of Henry Emily and William Afton.

Mostly William Afton.

Oh, William...

He was not his typical self lately. While he vehemently rejected the idea of focusing on his child Evan, he sure spent a lot of his time near the other kids at the arcades... Spring Bonnie had caught him in one of those moments; he had stared, observed and rolled his eyes before moving on when a customer walked over to him. As though he was waiting for the perfect moment to approach those children, but she had interrupted him.

What am I even saying? William is not dangerous, Spring Bonnie reminded herself, absent-minded.

Fredbear was talking, though she paid him no notice as she returned to her thoughts. In spite of his unexpected change of character, Spring Bonnie loved Afton's company; he was fun, smart and very much full of himself— which she could not pretend did not amuse her. Not to mention, Fredbear's Family Diner was a gleeful place, where children cheered and danced to the songs of robots created for the sole purpose of entertaining the masses. It was not William's sudden social distancing that would change the glittery, sparkly atmosphere surrounding the diner.

Right?

Spring Bonnie sighed as she bent down next to Fredbear, who had curled up in a ball in the Parts & Services while nobody was watching. She was aware of his nightmares; although he did not confide in anyone and kept a lot of things secret, she could hear him mutter to himself when he believed she was not around.

But if there was one thing to know about her, it was that she had ears everywhere. Thanks to something Afton called 'Enhanced Vibrational Sensoring', in short EVS, Spring Bonnie heard every glimpse of conversation, even those held between the customers— as though Emily and Afton had programmed her to be aware of everything, at all times.

Maybe that was supposed to be the security system of this place, Spring Bonnie considered. But now, that ugly thing will take over… That Puppet creature Henry plans to introduce to the diner next month.

When that thought struck her mind, Spring Bonnie stood up and spun around. She was about to step up to the door, though it flung open on Henry. The man wore small, round glasses, his chin framed by a short beard. He was the one who had the final say in every important decision, while he asked his good friend Afton to come up with designs for most of the animatronics, and dispatch them to the right location after important repairs.

Although the design creation of both Fredbear and Spring Bonnie could be attributed to Henry Emily, William was the one who had poured sweat, tears and blood into their craft. William himself had admitted several times that he had tested the springlocks on himself, that Henry had no part in that— in spite of being the one who invented the idea.

Perhaps he knew how dangerous it was. But Afton made it work, he always did.

Spring Bonnie's thoughts returned to the new animatronic they would be sharing the location with; Henry wanted to name it the Marionette, while Afton argued that Security Puppet was much simpler— an obvious nod toward the role of that animatronic.

Spring Bonnie's attention returned to Henry when he passed a hand over his face, groaning. His brown eyes disappeared behind heavy, purple bags, which he had no care to cover in spite of the worry it brought to the animatronics. He smiled poorly when he noticed that Spring Bonnie was frowning, and began speaking before she could ask questions. "Why aren't you guys on stage, again? I could've sworn that Will told me, but I forgot."

"Fred has nightmares, and he wanted to check on them."

Fredbear growled and pushed himself to his feet, glaring at Spring Bonnie, though there was no malice in his expression. He was irritated that she mentioned them to their creator, whom he assumed was not aware that the animatronics could dream.

Although Spring Bonnie had no doubt William had followed Henry's blueprints at first, she knew he had added some of his more obscure devices to their endoskeletons— experiments to see whether or not his knowledge in robotics matched his own ambition.

"Nightmares?" Henry blinked. Though he only sighed through the nose when Fredbear nodded in silence, walking over to the multiple drawers filled with animatronic parts. For some, he did not know what they were supposed to be, and if they even had been added to the robots, thus he focused on the simpler parts that he recognized, and knew how to install. "Might be a virus of some sort messing up with your wiring... I have to check though, so sit down."

Fredbear sighed through the nose, while Spring Bonnie nodded in unspoken resignation.

For once, she should have kept quiet.

Growing rather concerned about the two mascots' troubling silence, Henry cleared his throat and rummaged through one of the drawers containing small, round devices emitting strong vibrational signals to Spring Bonnie's sensitive hearing. There, William Afton stored everything he described as 'Artificial Sentience Providers'— items such as illusion disks, voice boxes, EVS plug-ins, and a lot of other gadgets that Spring Bonnie never cared to learn the name or utility of.

Tiny add-ons that William adored to test on his creations.

A true technological miracle for the 80s.

Henry searched through the drawers for a little while, during which Fredbear looked at his friend intently. Spring Bonnie bit her lower jaw, looking over Henry's shoulder to figure out which part he was going to pick up, and thus check within Fredbear's mechanical organism. He grabbed a screwdriver and the familiar golden hand crank created especially for the bear animatronic, spinning around and opening Fredbear's chest plate. "Alright, bud, we'll be careful. It's only a routine check to make sure your wiring isn't damaged."

"It might be wisest to shut me down, Henry."

"Mr. Emily, you could also reboot his system? Maybe it's just a malfunction," Spring Bonnie intervened, to which Henry clicked his tongue.

He turned to her and smiled, in spite of his discomfort. After all, one of his arms was buried deep within Fredbear's chest at the moment he spoke up. "I told you, you can call me Henry. Let me make sure that everything is in place before I try that."

"I would hate to harm you," Fredbear insisted. He tipped his head, his ears dropping as he watched Henry pull out a few cables which, while not severed, had been tampered with.

Though Henry shook his head and snorted; he could tell that the scratches left on the wires' exterior were not intentionally made, but rather the result of another repair that might have been entangled with them. "Right, if this is the only problem, it's probably not the reason for your nightmares. Can you move your right arm, though?"

Fredbear nodded and moved it up. "It's a little straining but… It works."

"As long as it still moves, that's okay."

Fredbear parted his jaw to say something, but Henry disconnected the main wires from the battery stash. The battery light, which flickered in green until that point, turned red. Henry sat down by Fredbear's side on the table, reconnected the alimentation wires after about a minute of waiting, in order to force a reboot of the animatronic.

Spring Bonnie watched from the door.

Henry stared at her for a moment, smiled to himself and returned to his checking of Fredbear, during which the golden rabbit animatronic decided to look through the drawers filled with mechanical parts. She reached in and picked up a tiny disk that could fit on the tip of her finger. Afton called it an illusion-disk. As far as she understood from the engineer's excited, extravagant and sophisticated monologue regarding them, they triggered a human sensory response based heavily on... expectation?

As if that made any sense whatsoever, but she would take his word for it.

Spring Bonnie knew that William had placed one of these devices in each of his animatronics. Though, for as long as she could remember, she did not see anyone reacting strangely around her. Perhaps it was because they expected to see her standing on that stage.

Was that not the reason people came to Fredbear's? They wanted to see the robots, right?

That frozen pizza was definitely not a sight appeal.

Fredbear frowned and muted his voice box when it was about to act up, and Henry turned to him. The engineer behind the faces of the robots helped the bear animatronic to stand up, asked him briefly how he felt and if he remembered anything from his dreams, but Fredbear shook his head while he chuckled nervously.

Spring Bonnie watched and placed the illusion disk back in its drawer.

"Good, good," Henry said, grabbing a towel in order to rid his hands of any mechanical residue. "Please, do let me know if it happens again. I'll probably ask Will about it."

"He surely knows where they come from," Fredbear nodded. "I know he heard me earlier. That's why we aren't allowed out today. Are you sure he's not hiding something?"

Henry sighed and smiled, though Spring Bonnie noticed he looked stressed. Unsure, maybe? What caused him to doubt his best friend? William sure had strange ideas when it came to robotics, but he was also trustworthy and responsible. Did he not tell Henry about the devices he inserted in them?

If he had not, then how come Henry accepted their awareness that easily?

Spring Bonnie glanced back at the illusion disks.

When she thought about it, she could not recall experiencing dreams. Or nightmares. Or anything of the sort, she just remembered closing her eyes and seeing nothing for a short second, before she would be back and operational the following morning. Like time travel, in a sense... Time flew without her realizing.

Fredbear gritted his teeth when Henry clasped his hands together. "I trust him, Fred. Why don't you? I noticed you're careful around him."

Spring Bonnie blinked; she remembered now.

Following a heated argument, William had slammed Fredbear into the wall the previous night to knock him out. He claimed that the bear made his job harder; since he took care of both the technical aspect of maintenance and the night shift. It was as though that man had no family life, when Spring Bonnie was aware that he had a son named Evan.

If that was his only child, that was. She had never asked him.

Henry cursed under his breath when Fredbear stared at the floor, concern overriding his previous excitement. In order to avoid the conversation that would follow, Henry scratched the back of his head and walked toward the door. "In any case, you're all fixed up! Please, let me know if you get those nightmares again before the birthday party next week, it's very important for Will."

Fredbear voiced a sigh. "Do I have to go?"

Spring Bonnie looked back and forth between the two of them, and froze when she spotted William at the doorway. Though she did not make a sound, only staring at him with a hint of curiosity. He had finally noticed that Henry was no longer in his office...

Henry folded his arms against his chest. "Yes, you're the star of the show! I'm sure Bonnie wants you to go with her, you make an awesome duo!"

Spring Bonnie shuddered; wait, what is this about?

Fredbear eyed his animatronic friend, before he nodded in silence, though he held back Henry when he was about to leave. Henry stumbled and looked over his shoulder, frowning at the bear's attitude. He tilted his head to the side, before his phone rang in his pocket and he had to hurry out without listening to the robot. Fredbear watched as he left, caught sight of Afton standing at the door and dipped his head, locking himself in sleep mode.

William snorted and entered the Parts & Services room, closing the door behind him. Once he was sure that nobody could take a peek through the peephole, he folded his arms against his chest. "Relax, Fredbear."

Fredbear denied him an answer, and his system quickly shut down.

Spring Bonnie rolled her eyes. "Ignore him, he gets a little shy around certain people."

"Meanwhile, you're a social butterfly. Aren't you my best creation to date?" William smirked, leaning against the wall behind him.

In response, Spring Bonnie beamed and grinned at her creator and friend. While Fredbear had a close relationship with Henry Emily, she felt drawn to William Afton. Whenever he was out in Henry's office and talking about his concepts and creations, she found herself eavesdropping in a fit of admiration. Or, more so, awe, because there was something unnerving about his upcoming projects. And no, Puppet was not the one she was referring to, but rather the circus-themed prototypes she had seen on the blueprints he shared with Henry.

Needless to say: Henry found them hideous and rejected that idea entirely.

Though Spring Bonnie still believed Afton had kept those blueprints somewhere. And he would make those robots, whether Henry supported the idea or not.

William scoffed and tilted his head to the side, with a grin that she recognized; he was curious about what was on her mind. She had always struck her as odd that he was so… aware that they were conscious. He had created them, gifted them with those ASP elements, however… she felt as though he was not entirely honest with them. "Come on, bunny bunny. Tell me what that golden head of yours is thinking about."

"You."

"Flattering," William replied, squinting his eyes. "But in truth, you are not thinking about me. Are you worried about the party next week?"

Spring Bonnie shrugged. "A bit, considering your son Evan hates us."

"He'll get used to it, and I'm sure he'd love you if he gave you a chance," William said, pushing himself off the wall and stepping up to the table on which Fredbear was shut down. He sat on it and leaned back, staring at the ceiling. "He doesn't see the genius in my creations, but someday I'll show him up close."

The rabbit animatronic hummed, tapping her foot on the ground. "Not if he keeps on panicking when he's just seeing us on stage."

"If Michael would stop traumatizing him, maybe he'd be more receptive," William replied. "I'll have a talk with that kid, knock some sense into him."

Although she did not listen to him, Spring Bonnie nodded so that he would not ask what she was thinking about, and looked toward the door leading back to the main show area of Fredbear's Family Diner. Perhaps that birthday party would not be so bad, after all... In spite of Fredbear's nightmares; they were just bad dreams, were they not? They did not mean anything at all… When it came to Evan's hatred for the animatronics, maybe she could convince him to give her a chance. She was good around kids; everyone loved her! Sure, it would take a soft and controlled approach in order to get to him, but...

Wasn't the first step the hardest?


To be continued...