Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This day was just going horrible…

No matter what Sunny did, everything just continued to fall apart.

Literally.

Some kids had broken two of the tables, one snapped in half while Sun was trying to gently break up a fight, and another had a leg broken by accident. One of the children had found a stash of drawings he collected from the kids, tearing through and throwing them around as more kids joined them and tore his beloved drawings up.

And if that wasn’t bad, some kid threw up in the play structure… he had a long day, but tried to keep his happy smile while ushering the kids out early tonight. Even as he did so, his mechanical body continued to creak, fans whirring wildly, and his hands fidgeted and shook more than usual.

Once the last child was out, Sun couldn’t help the shaking that wracked his body, fists clenching and unclenching all the while he tried to calm himself down from the day’s work.

Sunrise usually loved kids! He really really did. Working with them, seeing their little smiles, excitedly climbing through the play tunnels and screaming in joy as the animatronic slowly chased them down, it always brought joy to him. Today, however, was one of those days that he wished he had a companion to help with everything. Or at least calm him down, take a break… something.

But, he didn’t, which left him there, trying to calm himself down before turning around and sighing. This place wasn’t going to clean itself… unfortunately.

-----

By the time everything was cleaned up, and he requested some new tables and better storage, he felt exhausted. Every wire in his system felt singed, weighing his circuits down and causing his limbs to feel heavy, smile fading with drooping eyes. He didn’t even have the energy to continue cleaning, using the last of it to spring himself up to his room, and heavily lay himself on a pile of plushies and blankets with a groan.

The plushies were warm and soft to the touch, mostly of the Glamrocks, but a few of them were stuffed animals his children gave him as a farewell or gift. He picked one up, a scruffy elephant with comically large ears and a misshapen trunk. He loved it. The silks of the blankets surrounding him were so finely soft one would feel as if they were melting into it, he certainly did at least, as his shot nerves calmed themselves down a bit.

One thing hadn’t stopped though, as his hands continued to fidget with the small plush he held to his chest. Gently tugging at it, flipping it over in his hands, lightly squeezing… he really needed to do something else with his hands before he tore it apart. With a begrudging sigh, Sunny stood up to look around his room. It was a lot messier than the daycare he held responsibility over. He didn’t mind his own room a mess, papers scattered and boxes filled to the brim. None of the children could get up here and hurt themselves on anything, so he didn’t care much for straightening up.

He quickly began regretting that as he searched around for a certain old item of his, moving boxes and plushies aside.

Finally, he spotted it, picking the instrument up by the neck, slowly to make sure it was still intact. It was.

Sun looked fondly of it, wiping dust off the wood and away from the strings. It was an old ukulele, something that was technically Moon’s, but after his other half began to act up and lash out more, Sun slowly inherited it. It was one of the few things that he had left of the old Moon, shining black with white flecks like stars. It was beautiful, and saddening in a way.

He missed Moon, days where they would host nap times and give Sun a break, messily scribbled sketches to one another as a “hello!” and check in on one another. While they could never see each other face to face, they still found ways to communicate. After Moon grew darker, they stopped communicating altogether, growing distant.

Sun missed it… a lot.

He plucked at a few strings, cringing at how off tune it was, quickly readjusting it as he continued to pluck it mindlessly. Eventually, settling on a tune he liked, the daycare song that constantly played in the background faded out as barely noticeable as he sat back down with the plushies and blankets, and continued plucking. It started out a bit shaky, rusty, as he hadn’t played in… months, maybe? Almost a year? He had no real telling of time, besides when kids would come in wearing bundles of clothes and a few months later t-shirts and shorts.

Sun didn’t even realize he had begun humming along with his playing, letting out a gentle sigh. It was calming, in a way. Even as his long fingers occasionally missed a beat, or overlapped on another string, he didn’t mind it. He wasn’t looking for perfection, simply a way to calm him down and tune out the world… heh, tune. Get it? He smiled at his own joke sheepishly.

Now, where had he heard this song before?

Ah, yes… it was one of Moon’s favorites, usually only humming the lyrics, but would occasionally sing it for hard-to-sleep children. Sun wasn’t the best at singing, and hesitated for a moment. Well… no one was around right now to hear him either way, so he continued his humming, trying to remember some of the lyrics off the top of his head,

“Days sometimes seem as if they’ll never end…”

he was a bit tone-deaf, voice box scratching a bit, and he winced. He was made for being loud, excited with kids, not calm and sound. But something kept him on, looking down at the ukulele. He wondered if Moon would enjoy it… however bad he was at it.

“Sun digs its heels to taunt you…
But after sunlight days,
One thing stays the same…
Rises the moon…”

Yes, he definitely remembers this now. It had been a long time since hearing it, especially after Moon left. It was hard to not think of them when he heard this song. Kids would always ask if the “sun” parts were referring to himself, to which he could never give an answer for.

“Days fade into a watercolor blur..
Memories swim, and haunt you…
But look into the lake,
Shimmering like smoke,
Rises the moon…”

Sun didn’t realize his voice box was glitching out until the last line, metaphorically swallowing as he took a pause. His chest felt heavy with nostalgia and longing. He continued either way, humming out, looking to the ceiling,

“Close your weary eyes…
I promise you that soon the autumn comes
To darken fading summer skies,”

A lump gets caught in his throat, choking slightly. What was this? He had felt sadness before, at least he thought he did… but never to this degree. Was he even programmed to feel sadness like this? To feel longing, and guilt? Pain, remorse, or even loss?

“Days pull you down just like a sinking ship…
Floating is getting harder.
But tread the water child,
And know that in the meanwhile,
Rises the moon.”

He was a daycare attendant, he was meant to bring joy to children! Keep them happy, clean after their messes, make sure none of them get hurt, teach manners and respect, be a good role model for them… not… this…

“Days pull you up just like a daffodil,
Uprooted from its garden,
I’ll tell you what you owe,
But know even so,
Rises the moon…”

He could remember this part vividly. If children hadn’t fallen asleep by now, Moon would slowly go around and hand out moondrops, the candy named after them that would usually knock kids right to sleep, the total opposite of Sunrise’s sundrops. It was quite funny. So different, yet so similar. So close, yet oh so far…

“You’ll be visited by sleep…
I promise you that soon the autumn comes,
To steal away each dream you keep…
Breathe… breathe… breathe…”

His breath loosens, strings slowing down their rhythm. If he could cry, Sunrise bet there would be tears in his eyes.

This loss, this hurt, this pain. It wasn’t programmed in him, it couldn’t be. It must be a bug, or- or a glitch. Is this what happened to Moon? Did Moon feel like this?

Oh… stars...

Sunny nearly drops the ukulele, hands shaking, before gently settling it down in his pile of plush toys. He didn’t exactly feel like playing anymore, but at least his hands weren’t as fidgety, just sad, shaky, thumb and index finger playing with one of the folds in his clothes.

What if Moon felt like this? Currently?

It was horrible.

It scared Sun.

He didn’t know what was going on, or why. He hoped his friend—his brother—was okay.

The last words of the song reverberated in his head. An animatronic like Sun didn’t need to breathe, but the motions of it seemed to calm him down particularly well. It… was nice. It took longer than Sun would ever like to admit to calm down his shaking nerves, finally letting out a sigh, as he stared up at his dull ceiling, trying to imagine a night sky full of stars and those large purple-teal rainbows he rarely had seen kids drawing. They could never pronounce it well enough to tell him what it was though on the off chance a kid did draw it.

Sun wondered if Moon knew what they were called, wishing to the moon and back he could ask his other half.

He missed Moon a lot more than he thought he ever would. The knowledge he still had a part of them with him though, at least something, to remind him of the goods times with Moon... made it feel at least a bit more okay. He could get through this… this feeling, whatever it was.

Moon wouldn’t want him to mourn for them, just as Sun wouldn’t.

The reminder of children coming and leaving all the time, growing too old for the daycare anymore… it kind of reminded him of that.

A child growing and leaving the daycare.

Sun chuckled a bit at that, hand idly petting one of the plushies next to him.

Yeah… he could get through this.

One step at a time.

Today may have been crap, but he at least still had something to motivate him for tomorrow. So, with that, Sun hoisted himself up, new energy flowing through his circuits, as he leapt off in the ball pit to continue his routine nightly cleaning. He felt a lot better now.

Chapter Text

For the past few days, Sunrise had seemed really down, but would wave it away when anyone asked what might be the matter. “Nothings the matter, just cleaning up like usual!” “Recharge must not have completed, I’ll be done here soon, no worries!” "Fun day is all! I'll check with Parts and Service later."

It was worrying, to say the least, seeing the usual chipper daycare attendant pausing in his work to just stare at the ground, or an object in his hand, and startle so easily when Freddy approached.

Freddy had been visiting the daycare more after passing by it and noticing the sun animatronic sitting still, an action that was both foreign and sent a chill down him. Along with that, Sunrise was worryingly good at putting on a fake smile once Freddy revealed himself. It seemed almost genuine, if not for the tiredness that hung in his eyes. The animatronic had no reason to not trust Sun, and just tried his best to aid his new friend, helping him clean the daycare that the attendant held reign over.

The first few times Freddy did this, Sun nearly kicked him out for refusing to stop helping the animatronic. Now, Sun just looks over to him, a small genuine smile on his face and a nod to Freddy as a silent “thank you”. It may have never been as clean as Sun would be able to get it, but Freddy tried nonetheless.

This morning, though, when Freddy entered the daycare, Sunrise was nowhere to be found. The room was still quite the mess, but there was the faint sound of music coming from somewhere. Not just the sound of the bubbly daycare soundtrack that, honestly, had begun to strike a nerve in the bear animatronic, but something more soothing and peaceful. Strings being plucked, a shaky voice, singing, it sounded like. Or at least an attempt at it.

Freddy looked around, finally spotting the Sun animatronic as he was gently leaning on the rope connecting the bridge between the play structures, facing away from Freddy. He was… humming. Freddy didn’t know Sun could play an instrument, much less sing. Sun seemed mid song, too engrossed to notice Freddy had entered.

“But you can set sail to the west if you want to, 
And past the horizon, till I can’t even see you
Far from here, where the beaches are wide,
Just leave me your wake to remember you by…”

It was quiet, shaky even, as Freddy had to strain himself to hear the robot. There was an unsettling feeling pit in his gut at hearing the animatronic so quiet and calm, so used to the chipper happiness of the rays the sun shone.

“If you’ll be my star,
I’ll be your sky.
You can hide underneath me and come out at night.
When I turn jet black, and you show off your light,
I live to let you shine.
I live to let you shine…”

Sun trailed off, fingers hesitant on the strings, freezing Freddy in place in fear he might have gotten caught eavesdropping. Even if it wasn’t technically, this almost felt wrong to listen to, like he wasn’t meant to be here and hear the Sun’s melodic singing.

“But you can skyrocket away, from me,
And never come back if you find another galaxy,
Far from here, with more room to fly.
Just leave me your stardust to remember you by…”

There was a shaky breath, wracking the animatronic above him as they tensed, seeming to find it hard to end the song with the last few notes.

“Stardust… to remember you by…”

Sun sighed, gripping the instrument in his hands tightly before looking down at it in worry. He was once again lost in thought, staring off into space, before seeming to hear Freddy’s footsteps nearing and whipping his head up to look around. Sun’s eyes landed on the bear animatronic, sheepishly waving as Sunrise flinched in surprise. “Freddy!” he called, now worrying with one of the bells on his wrists, “You’re early.” The bear animatronic smiled and nodded, watching the Sun animatronic carefully climb off the bridge.

“I didn’t know you could play?” Freddy’s head tilted, looking over the instrument that Sun kept very close to him. It was a glossy black ukulele, with white flecks like stars surrounding it, and what seemed to be a large waning crescent moon on the back.

This may not have been the right thing to say though, as Sunrise deflated, fidgeting with whatever he could in his grasp. It wasn’t a new thing for Sun to constantly be moving, but he had noticed the animatronic fidgeting when he was nervous. “W-well, I don’t, really,” Sun laughed cautiously, refusing to turn his gaze to the animatronic, this only worrying Freddy more. “It was quite nice, Sunrise, no need to hide it.” Sun only nodded, feet shuffling, “I don’t really.. you know- play though?”

“Then what was that?” Freddy couldn’t help but smile, finally getting the animatronic to look up at him.

Compared to Freddy, Sun was quite small. Most likely so he could play and entertain children better.

Sun sputtered, seeming to finally find an answer, until he deflated again. “Please don’t tell anyone…” he finally mumbled, holding the instrument even closer. Freddy’s brow furrowed, looking at him, “How come?” Sun seemed to chew on his thoughts, cycling through and trying to think of the best course of action would be to take, hesitant. Finally, he presented Freddy with the instrument, gingerly showing it off. “This used to belong to Moondrop,” he was quiet, holding the object like it was the most precious thing in the world.

It probably was, now that Freddy thought about it. Sun didn’t seem to have many objects that were strictly his own, even fewer that had belonged to his other half after cleaners took everything related to Moon away. Even just at the name Freddy cringed, though held back any worry he had for his friend in front of him.

“It’s… it’s the one thing I have left of them,” confirming his thoughts, Freddy nodded, “I’m not supposed to sing, and it…” he paused, taking the instrument back. “I’m… a little embarrassed by it…” This startled Freddy, how could anyone be embarrassed by that? Sure Sun’s singing wasn’t the best, but he could tell the animatronic liked it, and it seemed to calm him down. He put work into it, especially for an animatronic that wasn’t made for that stuff, and instead to be loud and boisterous. “How come?”

“Singing was Moon’s thing… they would rock kids to sleep and hum to them, sing sweetly, and so very melodic…” Sun trailed off, taking a step or two back from Freddy, “I can’t seem to… to do that… I just don’t like singing in front of others. I’m fine when it’s by myself, but…” Sun took a breath, “Just please don’t tell anyone.” He looked up to Freddy with pleading eyes, Freddy nodding with a warm smile to Sun.

“I won’t prod further, but between you and me, I think you did quite well,” Freddy landed a gentle hand on Sun’s shoulder, causing him to release a tired smile and sigh up to the bear. “Thank you…” Eventually, Sun straightened up, “Now, what are you doing here so early? You’re usually off hosting a birthday party, or singing to kids, aren’t you?” His usual chipper voice returned. Freddy only nodded, following along as Sun headed to his room.

-----

Those words wouldn’t leave his mind, how Sun would describe his reasoning behind why he didn’t want to know those around him that he sang and played. There was more behind it, Freddy knew. Especially with Sun acting as strangely as he was recently, it was hard to get anything out of the animatronic after that encounter, closing himself off.

Playing and creating crafts together slowed, becoming sluggish, as Sunrise’s pace weakened ten notches.

At first Freddy was scared there was a bug in Sun’s coding making him this tired, but one evening he passed by the daycare to see Sunrise shining as much as he normally would be, a smile on his face as he chased children around and helped them with their crafts.

Maybe that was just how Sun was when he wasn’t working with kids?

No, something told Freddy this wasn’t normal, reminiscing how he had seen Sunrise months before with just as much chipper happiness at night as he was during the day. Something was clearly wrong, but the more Freddy guessed, the farther Sun seemed to push him away.

It wasn’t until one night when he stumbled across a few old drawings that things clicked together for Freddy. The drawings had been tossed in the trash, things that Sun would have kept near and dear to him, as Freddy had seen by the stacks of boxes that Sun had filled from his children he took care of. So why throw these out? Maybe an accident?

Upon inspecting them, his metaphorical heart dropped at the sight of two different handwritings on multiple pages.

One wrote in orange crayon, another in deep blue.

Wishings, farewells, good mornings and nights, small doodles of a sun and a moon happily sitting together under an unrealistic clashing sky.

Something in Freddy broke as he flipped through them, trying to get together as many as he could. 

“Hello, Starlight!” the orange crayon wrote, adding stars and bits of glitter along the page. “I hope you have a splendid nap time with the children! Little Susie has been acting strange, please see if you can ask her about it. If she has nightmares please let me know? I want to be sure she’s safe.” A frown was drawn next to it, and a more neater handwriting in dark blue responded. “Hello Sunshine, she did in fact have a nightmare, and told me that she was afraid of a monster that she swore she was constantly hearing at night.”

“Oh no!! Poor thing! I hope she’s okay.” There was a line of pause, before the orange continued in bold wording, “False alarm! Her parents informed me there was just a raccoon in the attic making noise! She should no longer have nightmares now :)”

“That is great to hear, Sunshine. Thank you for letting me know.” Flipping through a few more, one seemed more crumpled and ripped than the others. It took very gentle hands to uncurl it, and Freddy almost regretted opening it immediately.

“Starlight, why did you attack them? Why did you hurt them? They were innocent, they did no wrong. Is everything okay?” There was a pause, the orange handwriting getting sloppier, “Did I do something wrong? Why won’t you reply? Why did you have to hurt the little ones, has something gotten into your system to cause you to act this way? What happened to the Moondrop I know?”

Another space.

“Brother..?”

The bottom line was barely legible, tears and scratches clung to it, like a wild animal had attacked it.

“I have been informed of a new rule.” was crossed out in the crayon, “I have been forced to implement a new rule. There will be no more nap time, and the light must stay on at all times. I’m sorry my starlight, but I must protect my children from you. Everything of yours has been taken by workers, but I managed to salvage what I could. I’m so terribly sorry, Moondrop. If you ever see this, I hope you are okay, and whatever is causing you to act like this leaves soon. This is for the good of the children. Stay safe, Starlight.”

It ended there, the last line shaky, thick in crayon as if it had to be rewritten over and over, but it just made it look lumpy.

Freddy took in a deep breath he didn’t need, a lump forming in his voice box as he looked around for Sunrise.

There was no sign of them.

Chapter Text

In the morning, the Sun animatronic appeared once more, playing with children and keeping them safe. His laughter and giddy children’s shrieks filled the large room, reverberating back to Freddy’s sensors as he looked down at the daycare from the railings.

He’s made it a new habit to check on Sun during the day—at least once. Even if he never went down to chat with the jester.

It was a few days after finding the letters, a new resolve settled in his stomach.

Primary Objective: Listen to Staff 

With a long drop down of bullet point objectives added to that.

Secondary Objective: Get Everything Ready for Tonight 

It was almost ready. 

-----

“Freddy, where are we going..?” Sun’s fidgety voice asked, hands wringing as the bear animatronic gently guided his smaller sun-themed companion. “You’ll see!”

It had taken a ton of convincing on everyone’s part to let Sunrise out of the daycare. Over a week, in fact.

In the time Sunrise only seemed to get worse, even when they were alone his chipper happy voice had left them. It even got as far as managers worrying about needing to decommission him. Freddy wouldn’t allow that, not when he was so close to completing his task. So, they finally gave in, and allowed the daycare attendant access outside of the daycare for that night. If it went well, they may even allow him more access.

Freddy had beamed, immediately planning.

Then there was convincing Sunrise, who had originally panicked and slightly spiraling in to “what if’s”. It took a minute for Freddy to reassure Sun, but eventually they listened, and accepted the offer tentatively. He was still nervous, for obvious reasons, but as the day passed it was clear Sun became more and more excited at the idea.

Finally, when night hit, Freddy all but raced to the daycare to grab his friend excitedly.

“Should I wear anything different? This will be my first outing in years!” Sunrise huffed when Freddy said it shouldn’t be a big deal. To Sunrise it was the biggest, maybe even bigger than a child turning 10! Maybe.

“But what if the Glamrocks see me? I want to look presentable!” They didn’t exactly have clothing to wear either way, especially none that fit them, but somehow Sunrise had acquired items over the years. Suppose boredom can lead to strange hobbies? (By animatronic standards, as they weren’t meant to have hobbies.) Apparently Sunrise would take clothes from the lost and found and repurpose them, to the best of his ability.

Appearing on the balcony, Sunrise acted as if he was a stage running, posing in a red bow tie with matching nylon clips going from his pants over his shoulders, giving the appearance of overalls. Freddy just chuckled deeply, clapping along with Sun’s antics. Seeing him that chipper was incredible, considering the depressive state he’d been in lately.

Now, they waited in an elevator, Sun whispering worries and doubts under his breath all the while.

“Close your eyes for me,” Freddy requested, earning a raised brow from Sun, but obliged. He grabbed Sun’s hand, leading them along and telling them where steps may be and how short they were. Until… sounds of moving, bouncing, even. Heavy metal against a solid floor, and was that… quiet music? “Open your eyes.”

Hesitant at first, but absolutely blooming once he did, Sunrise gazed around the massive dome that was the concert area of the Mega Pizzaplex. It was filled with light, sure as to not bring out Moondrop, colors dancing wildly and beautifully around. And the best part? Atop the concert stage was the other three Glamrocks; excitement, anticipation, and welcoming dawning across all of them. Light shining behind them, as if to glorify their welcome to Sunny even more so.

“Sunrise, these are—“

“THE GLAMROCKS!!” Sunrise interrupted, bouncing up and down at the sight as he raced up, hesitating to step above with them on the platform. “I know each of them, the kids tell me loads!” Sunrise points excitably, not noticing or not caring as Roxy and Monty seemed to shy away from his excitement a bit.

“You’re Glamrock Chica!” She let out a hand, which Sun happily accepted, “The kids tell me all about you! How you exercise and help get them fit while offering the food!” Sun simulated clicking a tongue, sly expression crossing his face, “Smart move! I even have one of your disks and use it to practice warming up!” Chica began laughing, a slight cluck etching it, “Aren’t you just the most adorable little pumpkin!” she squeaked, watching Sun perform one of her beginner workouts by jogging in place. “I’m actually a sun!” His head spun in place, getting another little giggle out of her before his gaze went over to Monty.

“Oh, oh! And Montgomery Gator! The biggest, fiercest alligator around,” Monty puffed up at the compliment, even more happy about the fact that the sun animatronic got it right that he was a GATOR and not a CROCODILE. “You’re /much/ bigger in person than I ever imagined!” Sun had to tip his head just to look up at all of them, “The kids always say you’re really cool—but I never pictured this!” His hands fumbled to show off Monty as if he was a priceless artifact, bells jingling as he went along, “I even still have a drawing of you in my room!” He beamed.

“Don’t inflate his ego too much,” Roxy sneered from her corner, smiling now that the gaze was on her. “Last but certainly not least—the great Roxanne Wolf! Your mane is much more beautiful than I ever could have /imagined/!” One thing about Sun was that his hands were constantly moving, especially when he was excited, waving them in the air just to emphasize. “Your tail is so lush, and, oh—! Are your eyes yellow? That’s my favorite color!” Roxanne raised her head, a smug smile passing her face as she crossed her arms, “I like this guy.” Just the words made Sunrise feel like he was going to explode, hands jerking up and down like a child stimming.

Freddy landed a gentle hand on Sunrise’s shoulder, “We figured, since you’ve never been to one, we could show you one of our songs? If you’d like?”

How was that even a question?! YES!

Sun’s eyes glittered like stars as Freddy hopped on stage, running to press the button before jumping back on the mic. The others had their instruments at the ready, either next to them or had said instrument slung over by a strap. It wasn’t long before the music whirred to life, lights dancing as much as they could in the bright lights of the room.

Freddy would have liked to have dimmed them, but didn’t want to take any risks.

Sunrise eventually had to back up to view the show in its glory, fixated on the dancing colors as the animatronics slowly bounced to the rhythm, until there was a beat drop and they jumped off the small circular platform the button stood on. It continued like that, the animatronics dancing in a set routine pattern that they often practiced, Sun now bouncing around excitedly to the beat of the music, though only going as far as to hop around for a different angle.

Roxy seemed to get fed up with his movement after a while, approaching the edge of the stage to crouch and reach out her hand. The sun animatronic took a step back, hesitantly looking at the hand and back to Roxanne for confirmation. She nodded, fake impatience on her face, but she looked nearly as excited as him.

If Sunrise’s smile could get any bigger, it would have ten fold.

Roxanne practically hurled Sun on stage with them, twirling him to the middle of the band so he could dance with them. His movements were a bit janky at first, very much hesitant, but he quickly got into it, the excitement radiating off the band was infectious.

They danced, and twirled, spun and jumped to the beat of the music, until every last note was drawn out and the song faded. Sun was absolutely radiating, a small cheer erupting from the Glamrocks to compliment Sun in the familiar way that he had complimented them earlier.

“Way to go, Superstar!” Freddy gave the animatronic a high five, which he eagerly took. “I didn’t know you could dance like that!”

“I didn’t either!” Sun laughed. Monty slung an arm around the smaller bot, nearly throwing him off balance, “You’re a lot more nimble than ya look, never thought that’d be the case for a babysitter!” Monty let out a gravelly laugh. “Oh, well I have to be in order to play with the children! If I was as big as any of you I’d never be able to catch any of them!”

Their chattering continued for a while like that, some friendly banter being thrown every now and again, until Freddy proposed what the rest of the night had in store.

Every attraction in the Pizzaplex was open for the group to enjoy tonight; from Monty Golf to Bonnie Bowl, Roxy Raceway to Fazer Blast, even Mazercize was available.

Sun could feel his core absolutely radiating in excitement, so much so he had to take a moment to calm in order to not overheat, although his excited bouncing never ceased.

First up was Fazer Blast, in which Sun had easily won against, using his superior flexibility and light-footedness to quickly dodge oncoming lasers. Although, they did have to implement a rule that, no Sun, you cannot in fact climb on the walls.

Or the ceiling. Especially the ceiling.

He still won.

The colorful lights sort of reminded him of the daycare playgrounds, dodging and weaving through the tunnels as he playfully chased a kid through in a game of tag.

Next up was Monty Golf. Unsurprisingly, Monty swept the floor with the other animatronics. Now, surprisingly, Sun and Monty had seemed to get along great while Monty was showing the sun animatronic the ropes. And it definitely showed through small acts of kindness that the smaller bot was growing on the large gator; picking up any loose golf balls and throwing them back to the team, or setting them up on the field to be hit again.

They even tried teams, Monty and Sun on a team and the other three Glamrocks against them. Monty and Sun’s team won, just barely—and Monty was mainly carrying—but he didn’t seem to mind as he high fived Sun and congratulated them.

At Roxy Raceway, Sun was a bit worried at first.

Fast moving things, while, yes, seemed incredibly fun, something in his programming made him feel a little anxious about it. Most likely due to the correlation of “if something is moving fast a child can get hurt”, but he never seemed nervous when he flung himself off a balcony into a ballpit.

Freddy would have to look into that later, curious now.

It didn’t take a lot of encouragement to get Sun in a kart, thankfully, though he had to inspect it first. Once they were off, Sun was hollering in excitement, taking sharp turns and more often than not bumping in to someone. Usually Roxy. She took this as a challenge, playfully punting him back and speeding past him in her kart. They raced like that until their circuits felt dizzy, and had to take a few moments to stand before regaining control of their limbs.

Much to Freddy’s relief, Sun decided to skip Bonnie Bowl tonight. Don’t get Freddy wrong, he would go there as long as his friend wanted to, but he always seemed to hesitate or look away when someone mentioned his old friend.

Maybe Sun caught on to that, as the second to last place they went to was Mazercize. It was incredibly confusing to Sun, having originally been put on the job to operate the maze controls. When he couldn't figure out what any of it meant, Chica took over while the others raced inside.

Now it was just a matter of seeing who could get to the end first. Freddy was the first, quickly followed by Sun, Monty, and lastly Roxy. She seemed a little bummed by it, growling, before Sun reassured her and cheered her up.

Now last, but most definitely not least, was to the dance floor of DJ. MM’s room.

Sun didn’t mean to stare at the looming animatronic, but couldn’t help absolutely gawking at its incredible size. MM just waved at him, swaying with the music that lit the room up like a firecracker. There they ended the night how it began—dancing, swaying to the music with no care in the world as to what the future may hold for any of them.

Thirty minutes before opening, a loud voice cut through the Pizzaplex to inform the animatronics back to their stations. Sun deflated, saddened that the time had run by so quickly. He wished he could do this every night.

Suddenly, the music began to quiet down, Sunrise looking confused as the others sat in excited anticipation. Freddy was the first to speak up, clearing his throat. “I noticed you’ve been down lately, and wanted to get help from the others. Since we don’t yet know if you’ll be able to leave the daycare again… we have a bit of news,” Freddy clasped his paws together, looking up as DJ Music Man slowly lowered himself, a present in hands held with great care.

Sun’s eyes widened a bit, taking the large present with a stunned “thank you”, and gently setting it on the floor, sitting behind it to begin unwrapping.

It was wrapped in bright yellow paper with reflective gold stars, and a red bow neatly sat atop.

Withheld inside was a case. A deep mahogany red, firm to the touch with golden clasps holding in place what was so important inside. Sunrise’s movements were a bit slow, staticky even as he was still in shock from even receiving a present at all. Within that case had the fans on Sunrise blasting for a second time that night, core heating up in excitement and happiness as his optics trained on a ukulele.

It was a beautiful yellow, with stickers of stars and the Glamrocks plastered on it. Golden glitter surrounded it, shining back as brightly as Sun currently felt while looking down at the instrument.

His instrument.

Picking it up, he gingerly admired it, turning it around to see in golden neat handwriting, bold yet assertive and reassuring, “You’re our Superstar!” Glamrock stickers plastered the four corners of the message, and a bit higher up his own Sun sticker, large and smiling to properly claim who the owner was. By now Sunrise was shaking in joy, joints letting out little whistles and an occasional puff of steam.

“Is he malfunctioning..?” a quiet voice fretted, and Sun finally looked up to see the Glamrocks crouched next to him in worry for their new friend. In one swift motion, Sun placed the ukulele down and hugged them all tightly. If he could cry he was sure he would be. Even Music Man received an attempt at a hug, being much too big for Sun to wrap his arms around, but they seemed to appreciate it all the same.

Sun took his instrument in his hands once more, gently plucking at the golden strings, contemplating something as everyone began to disperse. A few notes, strumming, hesitating.

"Lets go in the garden,
You’ll find something waiting,
Right there where you left it
Lying upside down…”

Everything was going to be okay now. Maybe not right away, but things were going to get better. He had friends surrounding him now, taking care of him, to make sure he would be okay. 

“When you finally find it,
You’ll see how it’s faded
The underside is lighter,
When you turn it around”

The daycare was no longer quiet after hours. On the days Sun couldn’t leave, the Glamrocks would go to him.

“Everything stays
Right where you left it,
Everything stays, but it still changes”

Sun was now allowed to leave the daycare on the weekends! It wasn’t much but it was a starting point, and he made sure not to disappoint and helped where he could. He became happier for it, the worries of decommissionment long gone. They even gave him more instruments for the kids to play with, and occasionally let a Glamrock in for lessons and jam sessions with the children.

“Ever so slightly”

Chica would bring more DVD's for Sun to watch, even finding things like old tapes and set up movie nights in the Pizzaplex. (With the lights on, of course.) Monty would bring set ups for games of golf, even using some of the daycare supplies like foam blocks as obstacles.

“Daily and nightly”

Roxy didn’t have as much to bring with her, especially after Sun nearly kicked her out for trying to bring one of her karts into the daycare, but would often have friendly competitions with the others. She even would try to host game nights, with Freddy there to make sure it wasn’t anything too vile. 

“In little ways…”

Sun would still feel loss, but with time and care from his new friends, ones who would be there to help and support him… to reassure him, and make sure he stayed afloat, he knew everything would be okay. The loss would get better, and the memories wouldn’t taunt him with grief as much as they did before.

It will be okay.

“When everything stays…”