//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Bodies, An Entry, And Flashbacks for John // Story: Free at last. // by cccvvvttt //------------------------------// Bodies, An Entry, And Flashbacks for John "You're not going to get out of this, Diamond Tiara!" Ms. Cheerlie said to the sitting filly, who only snorted in response. "Yes I will," Diamond started to reply. "My daddy can bail me out of any mess that I get in too, no matter what I did. You have no chance of getting me expelled." Ms. Cheerlie smirked at this, and laughed a bit. "You think that just because your father's rich, he can bail you out of this?" Ms. Cheerlie asked, a little bit of anger in her voice. "You nearly smashed Zachary's head open with a rock. If it weren't for me and Twilight, who knows what could have happened, you could've killed him!" Diamond rolled her eye's at this. "So what? It's not like anyone would miss him, anyway." Diamond Tiara said, causing Ms. Cheerlie's anger to boil into pure rage and hate for the filly. She slammed her hooves down on the desk she was sitting at. They were back in her classroom, waiting for Twilight to come back, and they were also waiting for Filthy Rich, Diamonds father to come. "I don't know what Zachary did to you for you to do this to him, but," Ms. Cheerlie closed her eye's out of frustration. "You do not do that to another living creature! You've not only injured him physically, but mentally too! He's already been through a lot, why do you have to go and ruin the progress that Twilight was making for him!?" Ms. Cheerlie took a breath, before beginning her rant on Diamond again. "And your father wont be able to get you out of this one, you know why!?" Diamond just rolled her eye's, while shaking her head. "You're not going to get out of this, because the Two Princess's are coming to talk about this as well!" Diamond Tiara's face distorted from not being worried at all, to be very worried for her well being. "Wait, why are they coming here?" Diamond shouted, the horror and fear in her eye's was clear. "They are coming here," Ms. Cheerlie started. "Because they CARE about Zachary! Princess Luna was the one who brought him here, to save him from all the torment, all the pain and suffering that he went through back in his world. Princess Luna has also been helping him with his problems while sleeping!" Diamonds smug smirk returned. "Yeah, right. You just making that up to scare me." Diamond replied. "Well, guess what? It isn't going to work. Nice try at trying to convince me though." Ms. Cheerlie growled at the filly. "Twilight said so." Ms. Cheerlie said. Diamond was about to reply, but was cut off by Ms. Cheerlie. "And don't even say that Twilight was lying, because Applejack said the same thing, and she never lies." Diamond shut her mouth, but then opened it again. "I don't believe you." Diamond Tiara bluntly replied. "Well, you can ask Princess Luna yourself then, if you really don't believe me." Ms. Cheerlie said, pointing her for hoof at the door. Diamond turned her head, only to see two not so happy Princess's, a not so happy Twilight, a scared Zachary, who was also hiding behind Twilight, and her father, Filthy Rich. They all walked into the room, everypony except for Filthy Rich, was glaring at her. "Thank you all for coming, epically you two, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." Ms. Cheerlie said, while bowing down. "We appreciate the gesture, but now is not the time for bowing." Luna said, causing Cheerlie to rise from her bow. Luna noticed Zachary looking scared, and hiding behind Twilight. She also noticed the bandage that was on his cheek. That poor child Luna thought to herself. We will give you a fitting punishment, Diamond Tiara. She glared at the filly, but then turned to everypony else in the room. "Alright, then let us begin." Celestia said, in a stern voice. "We need to discuss Diamond Tiara's punishment for her crimes." That's when Diamond herself began to speak up. "Punishment?! For what?! I did nothing wrong, right daddy?" Diamond said, looking up at her father, who nodded in agreement with her. "This "Zachary" human, did nothing but cause trouble when he first arrived, and now he's causing my little daughter to be punished when HE is the one who deserves it." Filthy said, shocking everypony in the classroom. Zachary began letting a few more tears fall from his eye's, causing Twilight to comfort him. Filthy was usually nice to other pony's, but I guess that was for only other ponies. "When he first came into town, he threatened to destroy everything, that's why we threw fruit at him," Filthy started to explain. "Now, he's just putting up an act to convince every-" Filthy didn't finish his sentence, when he felt a hoof connect with the side of his head. He fell back a bit. When he looked up, he saw that it was Twilight who had smacked him. "You don't have any idea what he has been through!" Twilight started. "He was hurt back in his world, and Luna saved him. He would never threaten anypony, or even hurt anypony! Your just sayng those things just so your daughter can get out of this punishment, well, news's flash, that isn't going to work this time!" Filthy was now a bit startled at Twilight's little outburst. She walked back to Zachary, and began to hug him with one hoof. "He is grateful for everything that has happened to him since he came to Equestria, unlike your daughter." Twilight said, still in the embrace with Zachary, who was returning the gesture. Princess Celestia walked up to Filthy Rich. "As punishment for your hateful words, you will be doing community service for a month, along with your daughter." Celestia said coldly to the rich stallion. Filthy got up to protest. "I-I can't do that! I'm rich!" Filthy said, but Celestia just shook her head, before stomping her hoof down. "You may be rich, Filthy Rich, but you are not in anyway more powerful than I am." Celestia said in a angry, annoyed, tone. "Now, you can either do the community service, or I can get the elements of harmony to banish you to the moon for a thousand years, which one do you prefer?" Filthy now looked scared, shaking a bit. "I'll do the community service, along with my daughter, just please don't banish me for a thousand years!" Filthy pleaded, which caused Celestia to give him a glare. "That's what I thought." Celestia said bitterly towards him. Ms. Cheerlie then decided to speak up . "You daughter is also no longer welcomed at this school, she has been expelled." Ms. Cheerlie said, still giving the filly a glare. "If she is even spotted near school grounds again, she will be punished." Filthy just nodded in response. "Come on, Diamond Tiara, let's go home." Filthy said, in a depressed tone. "But I..." Diamond was about to say, but then realized there was no point. Plus, she wanted Everypony to stop glaring at her. "Okay daddy...." She reluctantly agreed, then she followed her father out of the school building. After they left, Celestia and Luna stopped glaring, and their faces soften. They looked over at Zachary, who was still hugging Twilight. They leaned down to his face level. "Are you alright, little one?" Luna asked, Zachary replied with a simple nod. "Don't listen to what Filthy Rich said, he's just jealous that you are so well mattered, while his daughter is a bully that picks on other filly's and colt's." Celestia said, with a reassuring smile accompanying her muzzle. Twilight released the hug, as Zachary looked up at the two Princess's. "Thank you.... for not believing Filthy Rich." Zachary said. Twilight patted him on the back. "We wouldn't believe him, no matter what he said, because he doesn't truly know you like we do." Twilight said. Ms. Cheerlie decided to speak up again. "Zachary is always welcomed at this school, but if he doesn't want to come for a couple of days, then that's fine by me." Ms. Cheerlie said. "Thank you," Zachary began. "I don't really feel safe at this school right now, even with Twilight, and Celestia and Luna, so if I could be gone for a few day's, that would be nice." Twilight nodded her head in agreement. "I agree, I don't want anything else to happen to you." Twilight began. "But that doesn't mean that I'll keep you from learning." Twilight looked at Ms. Cheerlie. "If you can, please send me Zachary's school work, so that I can help him with it?" Cheerlie nodded in response. "Of course I can, I'll send you all the lessons that my class will do." Cheerlie replied, with a warm smile. Twilight nodded, while Princess Celestia walked up to her. "Well, we must be going now, I must write the bill for Filthy's and Diamond Tiara's community service, an my sister must get her rest for her nightly duties." Celestia said, turning to walk out of the classroom along with Luna. They turned around to say a final goodbye. "We will see you later, Twilight and Zachary." Luna said, before she and her sister walked out the door. Twilight turned to Ms. Cheerlie. "Well, me and Zachary should be going now. We'll see you later, Ms. Cheerlie." Twilight said, Ms. Cheerlie nodding in response. "Alright, and when Zachary does decide he want's to come back to school, he wont have to worry about Diamond Tiara anymore." Ms. Cheerlie said. Twilight then thought about the other bully, Silver Spoon. The CMC'S caught her, and brought her to them, but after that, their sister's came to pick them up, and Twilight told them what had happened. "What ever happened to Silver Spoon?" Twilight asked, still confused on why she wasn't here. "I've already given her punishment, she wont be coming back to school either," Ms. Cheerlie said. "But that's for only two months. She will come back eventually, but I think that she'll learn her lessen." Twilight nodded. "Well, we'll see you later then, goodbye Ms. Cheerlie." Twilight said her final goodbye's to the school teacher, before walking out with Zachary, who mostly remained quit until they got out of the building, when Twilight decided to try to start up a conversation with him. "So, my friends are going to come over to the library later today." Twilight started. "They want to make sure that your alright." Zachary looked up at her, and simply nodded. She was becoming a little worried about him. What if he stops talking again because of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon? Twilight thought, but then shook those thoughts away. No, he wouldn't stop talking to us, but he might not be on board with the idea of talking to any other pony's because of this. She cringed at the thought. She wanted him to make friends, but thanks to Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, he's self confidence was probably heavily damaged. "How is your cheek doing?" Twilight asked, with concern. "It's doing better, I guess..." Zachary said, rubbing his arm nervously like he would do a week ago. Twilight became a little bit more concerned now. He hadn't rubbed his arm nervously like that since the week he has been here. That could only mean that he was indeed getting nervous again. "Do you want to go get some ice cream later?" Twilight asked, trying to break Zachary's nervous shell, but it wasn't really working out, his shell was hard to break. "I guess....." Zachary said, rubbing his arm again. She wanted him to stop being nervous, but she knew that these type's of things take time, like when he learned about his mother's death. Sometimes, he would start to cry in his sleep, and Twilight would go there to comfort him, or Luna would go in his dreams to calm him down, who ever would get to him first. When they arrived at the library, both Twilight and Zachary noticed that something was off. The library's sign was flipped on the Closed side instead of the Opened sign. "That's odd... The library isn't supposed to close for another hour or so," Twilight said. "Spike was supposed to keep it opened, I wonder why he closed it." Zachary shrugged, not knowing either why the library was closed. Twilight began to open the door, slowly. She didn't want to get any sort of nasty surprise, or anything like that. When the door was completely opened, all that could be seen was the pitch black darkness of the library, now she began to tense up. "Zachary, there might be something wrong in here, stay be me." Twilight said. She began to lit up her horn, so she could see in the darkness, and what she saw made her gasp. Inside the dark library, were party hats on a table, balloons, and most importantly, there were the shadow's of pony's that were trying to hide, but now they were easily spotted due to Twilight's light. There was a sudden blast of confetti, coming from Twilight's side. "SUPRISE!" The voice of a hyperactive pink pony came from inside the main room. The light's suddenly flashed on, emulating the room that she and Zachary were in. They saw a hyperactive Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing around the room, along with Twilight's four other friends, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack who were all standing in the main room as well. "What the- Pinkie, girls, I thought you all were coming over later, and why did you set up a party?" Twilight asked, confused, while Zachary just stood there awkwardly. "Well, duh, the part is for making the little guy feel better." Rainbow dash said, pointing at Zachary. "Our sister's didn't tell us what happened, but it must be bad, due to them freaking out, so Pinkie decided to throw a party." Rainbow then took another look at Zachary, that's when she noticed the bandage on his face. "What happened to your face, kid?" When Rainbow asked this, they all noticed the bandage, that Zachary was now trying to hide. "My goodness, dear! What happened?" Rarity asked, a shocked expression was clear on her face. "Why do ya got that bandage on yer face?" Applejack asked, concerned. "Did you hurt yourself in some wicked evil accident?" Pinkie said, getting up in his face a bit. Zachary began to shy away a bit, which put a little more shock into everypony. The door then opened, to reveal the CMC'S, along with Spike, who were out getting a few things. "Hey girls, We're-" Spike didn't finish his sentence, when he noticed that Twilight and Zachary were already back, and when he saw Zachary shying away from the pony's that he considered, friends. "Girls, can I talk to you in private, please?" Twilight asked. The girls nodded in agreement. She then looked at Spike and the CMC'S. "Can you keep Zachary busy, while I go and talk to the girls real fast?" Twilight asked, and Spike and the CMC'S nodded their heads. They started to talk to Zachary, while she went over to her other friends. "Um.... Twilight, why does Zachary have that bandage...?" Fluttershy asked shyly. "And why is he scared of us, of all things?" Rainbow Dash asked, hovering in the air a little bit. Twilight sighed, as she opened her mouth to speak. "Today was Zachary's first day of school, but it didn't go so well.." Twilight's voice trailed off. "What ever happened, darling?" Rarity asked. "He got picked on by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon." Twilight said, causing everypony in the room to gasp. "Why that little rich snob, when i get my hooves in her.." Rainbow Dash was saying, but was cut off by Twilight. "You don't need to do that Rainbow Dash. Though, it is very tempting..." Twilight mumbled the last part. "She's been expelled from school, and is now doing some community service, along with her father." Everypony gasped, before Pinkie asked. "Why is her father doing community service, in fact, why are they doing community service in the first place? Wasn't Diamond Tiara just teasing him?" Twilight sighed again. "Diamonds father, Filthy Rich, also insulted him, and tried making up lies about him threating ponyville." Twilight lowered her head after saying that. "He did that to try to get his selfish daughter out of her punishment, but..." Her voice trailed off. "What exactly happened to the poor darling?" Rarity asked, wanting the truth. "Diamond... she tried to.... smash Zachary's head... with a rock." Twilight said, looking back at Zachary. Everypony was now feeling some rage, even Fluttershy, though, hers not being as strong as the other's. "Why, that little varmint..." Applejack said, while gritting her teeth. "They'll be lucky if we even do business with them anymore." Rarity was the next one to go on a little rant. "Out of all the bad things that could possibly happen to the poor dear, this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!!!!!" Rarity said overly dramatically. "If I ever get my hooves on Filthy Rich, or her bratty daughter, I WILL MAKE THEM PAY!!!!!!!!" This was not the reaction that they were expecting from Rarity. "Opps, sorry, dear's." Pinkie was the next one to speak up. "I never want to throw a party for Diamond Tiara again, that meanie!" Pinkie said. Most of the time, she wouldn't mean that, but this time, she did. Next, Rainbow dash spoke up. "I'll make sure that Filthy Rich, nor his bratty little daughter, will ever hurt Zachary again, and if they do..." Rainbow Dash growled, before getting her composure back. "Well, you don't want to know." Lastly, Fluttershy spoke up. "Um, girls, i know you're all angry about Diamond Tiara and all..... but, if you don't mind me saying, there is a bigger threat out there." Fluttershy said. Nopony was expecting her to say this, but they did know what she meant. John. "Zachary's foster father hasn't been seen since the week he got here," Twilight said. "As much as i hate to say it...... he might already be dead." They all looked at each other, with unsure faces. Sure, John might be dead, but the also need him. To find out his side of the story, what made him go through the trouble of getting Zachary, and to only use him as some tool. There was also the case with the pocket watch. Why did it send them there? Melissa said that's how they got here, but how? Why? "He might just be hiding, we can't be sure, until we DO find him, though." Twilight said. The other's nodded in agreement, and Pinkie Pie bounced up. "Come on, we have a little guy to cheer up." Pinkie said happily, as they all went over to Zachary, along with everypony else there. John was walking through a forest, he didn't know which one he was walking through, but it was not the same one he and his wife came through. It was different, and less horrifying than the last one. John pulled out his spare handgun, the one he would always carry around, just in case something were to happen to him. "This sucks.." He grumbled. "Why should I go through all of this, I don't deserve this." John pointed his gun in random directions, looking for some dinner he could have that night. Anything he could cook, from birds, to wild pigs, to even bunnies. Bunnies, that was his daughter's favorite animal. Images of Angela started flashing in his head. He stopped walking, and shut his eye's tightly. That didn't stop all the images of his long lost daughter to flash back, like old memory's, which they were. John put both hands on his head tightly, but that wasn't stopping the images from coming either. Angela.... Angela..... Angela..... Those words kept repeating in his mind, then the voices came. "Why did you let me die, Daddy?" "It's all your fault I'm dead." "If you weren't always busy.." "Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, STOP!" John shouted, falling to his knee's. He began to tear up over his daughter. He remembered the true reason why he adopted Zachary, it was a simple reason really. Revenge on the person who caused his precious daughter to get killed. The engineer, who made that stupid, "Design Flaw" but that's not how he saw it at the time. He remembered the events leading up to this. Flashback John was sitting at his desk, with a beer bottle in his hand. He took another gulp of the intoxicating beverage, when he heard footsteps, coming up to his room. The door slowly, but squeakily opened, only to reveal John's wife, Melissa. She walked over to him, and tapped him on the shoulder. "John.... are you okay?" Melissa asked, her eye's being stained from all the crying she did earlier. John slammed his fist against the desk, and turned around at his wife. "Am I okay? I'm I okay?! What do you think?!" John shouted, causing his wife to take a step back, and John took a step forward. "I am not okay! Our daughter is dead! How is that supposed to be okay?!" He screamed, causing some tears to fall out of Melissa's eye's. "John, please.." Melissa tried to reason, but it was no use. "John please, John please, that's all you ever ask me to do anymore, is just favor's, and I am not your slave!" John screamed yet again, before calming down a bit. "I wasn't there, Melissa." John was now on the break of tears himself. "I was on that stupid business trip, and then...... I got the call.... a design flaw...." He looked away from his wife, before looking back up at her again. "I know who caused our daughter's death, and whatever I do, I will get revenge for Angela." Melissa put on a shock expression. "John, no, you can't do that..." Melissa was cut off, when John putted his hands on both of Melissa's shoulder's. "Think about it, Melissa," He started. "Our daughter is dead because of that man..... He was the main one working on the stupid ride...... He is the one who took our daughter's life and future away...... She can never grow up anymore...... She will never have her first kiss, or a boyfriend.... She'll never graduate from high school, or ever get a job, or become successful in life...... And it's all. His. Fault." Melissa was now in tears, but not in sadness, but in anger. She looked up at her husband. "What do we do?" She asked, with a determined tone in her voice. John smiled at this. "Well, due to him being the cause of the accident, he lost his job working there, so... we can't let him get a new one." John gave out an evil smile. "How are you going to do that? Do you even know where he lives?" Melissa sked. John just nodded. "All we have to do, is stalk him to see what jobs he's going to apply for, then we go to that place, and give fake evidence on why he should not be hired, and then he will be jobless, causing him to become homeless, along with his son." John grinned. Melissa had a thought. "Is he married?" Melissa asked. John nodded. "Yes he is, but I already got his wife fired from her current job." John said, causing Melissa's jaw to drop. "How did you do that?" Melissa asked, and John just chuckled. "Fake evidence has a charm." He said. Then looked back at her. "So, are you in, or not?" Melissa looked at him, with new determination in her eye's. "Ready." End of Flashback John smiled at that memory. He and his wife somehow managed to get him fired from all of the jobs he tried to apply for, and after that, their child was all that was left behind. John continued his walk, looking for is dinner. The next day Twilight, along with he friends, and Zachary, were all walking down town ponyville. Some pony's just waved, or said. "Hello" They were walking to go get some breakfast. Twilight's friends had a sleepover the previous night. They managed to get most of the shyness out of Zachary, but he was still pretty shy. Twilight noticed this, and tried to make him feel more comfortable. "Zachary, I haven't taken you to this restaurant before, but I think you'll like it." Twilight said, with a smile on her face. Zachary looked up at her, and just simply nodded his head. Twilight frowned a bit, but Zachary didn't see it. Pinkie tried next. "We're going to have a super duper fun day together!" Pinkie said, bouncing with hyper active energy. Zachary smiled at this a bit. "A-alright... I guess...." Zachary said. Twilight was glad he was talking a bit now, but she didn't understand why he was nervous around them again, and he looked nervous too. She knew what Diamond Tiara did, and all, but why was he so nervous? Eventually, the restaurant came into view, and everypony smiled, all of them were hungry. Spike would have came to, but he was in Canterlot, doing something, "Important" he said. He left yesterday, and would be coming back today. When they got to the door of the restaurant, there was a not on it, that said: Closed for vacation, come back again The mane six, along with Zachary, were extremely disappointed. Twilight sighed, while the other's stomach's began to growl. "I'm hungry, can we go somewhere else." Rainbow Dash complained. Twilight nodded her head, and turned to Zachary. "Well, this is the only restaurant you haven't been to yet, so where else do....." Twilight's voice trialed off, when she saw Zachary was still staring at the door. She looked at what he was staring at, and noticed that there was another note that was behind the other one. "What... is that?" Zachary asked, picking up the old looking paper from behind the other one. He couldn't read it, and Twilight noticed that. "I got it." She said, while levitating the paper out of his hands. She began to read the note. Entry #1 Date: October 6, 1977 Today was my lucky day, I'm so happy right now, I can't wait to start my new job as detective tomorrow, I'm thrilled. As I sit on my couch, I begin to remember my childhood friends, and how we would make up fake detective cases, and now, well I GET to be a real one. That means not only will I get more money, that also means I'll get some luxuries as well. I've had my eye on this beautiful pocket watch that the store put up recently, I'm going to have enough money to finally buy it! Still excited, but I have to end this one for now, so bye. When Twilight got done reading the note, everypony looked confused. A detective? Why was this note her in the first place? So many questions began to run through their mind's. Twilight thought about it, before she realized that this detective was going to buy a pocket watch, and Zachary's foster parent's got here through a pocket watch. "Girls, this "Detective" human, might have came here as well..." Twilight said. "What makes you say that, dear?" Rarity asked, and Twilight pointed to the part about the pocket watch. "He or she was planning to buy a pocket watch, maybe that's the same one Zachary's foster parent's used to get her from." Twilight explained. "Maybe this human bought it, and somehow came here as well, but I can't be sure, yet." Zachary began to feel uncomfortable at the mention of his foster parents. Twilight noticed this, and went up to comfort him. "Hey, don't worry about them," Twilight said, with comfort in her voice. "They wont be able to hurt you, and if they try.." Twilight was silent for a moment. "Then I'll make sure that they can't lay a single hoof... I mean hand on you." Twilight said, giving the gift of a warm smile to Zachary, who returned it with his own smile. "Thanks... Twilight.. and thanks to all of you too..." Zachary said, grateful that they have been so nice to him. "Aww, your welcome, little guy!" Pinkie said, bouncing up to him. "Kid, your just as cool as I am, and I don't say that about many pony's.... or humans." Rainbow Dash said, while hovering over him. "Yes, darling, I think we can all agree that none of us would ever let them hurt you again." Rarity added, with a generous tone. "Um... yeah... I agree as well..." Fluttershy added, with a smile that was both shy and happy. Twilight looked back down at Zachary, before engulfing him into a tight hug. "I don't know why your foster parents would ever hurt some human with a big heart like yours, but what they did was wrong, and when we find your foster father, both of your foster parents will get their punishments." Twilight said, taking out all the nervousness that he was beginning to feel again. Her friends let out a "aww" They finally broke the hug. "Come on now, let's go get some breakfast." Twilight said. They all nodded in agreement, and began to walk to another restaurant that Twilight liked to go to often. They laughed, and had a good time on the way there. I wonder if Zachary would like me to be his real adopted mother... Twilight thought to herself, as they continued down to the restaurant. Meanwhile John could barley walk. He was so weak, tired, hungry, thirsty, just about anything really. He wanted someone to come help him, but he knew that no human was coming for him, and he also knew that he had to stay in the woods, as to not get spotted by the colorful pony's that inhabited this world. If he did get spotted, then he would have to get violent with his handgun, but right now, he didn't want that. He remembered that purple pony that saved Zachary's life a week ago. His anger boiled up at the memory. Why would that pony want to protect him?! He's just a worthless tool! John thought angrily, clutching his fist tightly with anger. He soon took a deep breath, and cooled down a bit. Let's not remember any bad memory's, let's remember the good memory's, like the week after we adopted that empty husk pf a child. He remembered it well. They were nice to Zachary the first week when he arrived at their house, but that did not last forever, because after that week, they were being cruel to him. Flashback John and his wife, Melissa, were walking down the road, Zachary was with them. He was five, and was going to turn six in a few months. Melissa thought about a party that they could throw for him. The cake, the balloons, everything. She was actually excited for the party. "Are you excited for your party, Zachary?" Melissa asked. "Yep" Was all that came from the happy five year old. Melissa laughed, and John smiled, though.. he was having other plans for the child, which is why they were heading to the woods. The walk lasted for five more minutes, and that's when they came to the woods. They walked a bit in. "Zachary, aren't you glad we came to the woods?" John asked, hiding the evil grin as much as he could. "I know your other parents liked taking you out to the woods for some hiking." Zachary nodded his head. "Yeah, but i don't know why I'm staying with you, instead of them." Zachary said, in his innocent five year old voice. "Your staying with us, because your parents didn't want you anymore, to put it simply." John replied. Zachary looked hurt, and Melissa looked shocked. "John, what the hell?" Melissa asked, and John let out his evil smile at her. She took a step back "Stop walking." John said, which they listened. He then walked up to Zachary, and to Melissa's complete shock, he smacked the poor child to the ground, causing him to let out a yelp of pain. "JOHN, WHAT ARE YOU-" Melissa was saying, but was cut off when John put a finger up to her lips. "Shh, you don't know who's child this is." John said, while Zachary was crying, being hold in John's tight grip. Melissa was now confused, but was getting angry. "I don't care about this child's past, you should not hurt him like the way you are." She protested, while John just gave out a smile that would scare every monster in the world. "This child, is the son, of the engineer, that caused our real daughter's death!" John said, punching Zachary in the stomach, then letting out some insane laughter. Melissa gasped. "He is..? But.... what will beating him solve?" Melissa shouted. "Our daughter is dead, and there is nothing that we can do about it! I can't even believe that i agreed to helping you ruin his family, by making sure his father never got another job!" Her words had no effect on John. "Come on, just try it. It's so relaxing, and it helps take out the stress." John said, then he threw Zachary to the ground. "Have you lost your mind?! I can't do that!! I'm taking Zachary to go get child protective services." Melissa said, trying to get to him, but was blocked by John. "Think about it, Melissa." John said, while standing on Zachary's leg. "We might not get our daughter back, but we can get back at the person who took her from us, and this," John pointed down at Zachary. "Is the perfect way to mock him. He took our daughter, and now we will hurt his son." John laughed evilly. Melissa looked down at Zachary, but instead of seeing him, she only saw the engineer, mocking her. "Do it..." John said, but Melissa stood still. "Do it now...." John was still saying, with Melissa walking forward, up to Zachary. "Do. It. Now" John was demanding "DO IT-" A loud sound of a hand making contact with something, as Zachary once again, yelped in pain. Melissa stood up, but instead of feeling guilty for what she had done, she felt.... relief. A feeling that she had long forgotten. She wanted more of it. She then kicked Zachary on his side. She began to smile, along with John. They then proceeded to beat the child for the next five minutes, and they started using sticks and rocks to better the pain. Zachary wanted someone to help him, but there was no one in this forest that could. Once John and Melissa were done, they had some blood on their hands. They painted for breath, being exhausted after they beaten Zachary. They looked back down at the child, who was just laying there, with no motion once so ever. John and Melissa's faces turned into horror as they realized what they had done. They killed him. "Oh.. my god... John, what have we done?!" Melissa cried out, with tears in her eye's. John's face was similar to Melissa's.. He turned around to face here quickly. "We need to go, now!" John said, grabbing his wife's hand, and running out of the forest, leaving Zachary behind. End of flashback John was smiling at that memory. He remembered beating him up, then getting him home to make him slave over work. He soon stopped walking, and put on a horrified confused expression. "Wait, that's not right..." John mumbled to himself. "We didn't kill him, we put him to do slave work, but he was still alive." John said. He became more confused, when he couldn't remember the slave work he put Zachary through. He did remember one thing. He was in a room, watching a news channel, his wife crying in the other room. The news was reporting a five year old child, who was found dead in the forest. John had a worried expression on his face, because he knew who that child was. John gulped at that memory. "That didn't happen though, Zachary was there, he was scrubbing down the walls, or.. was he dusting?" John shut his eye's tightly, trying to remember. He couldn't. All he remembered was the feeling of guilt, and worry about being caught. "Make it stop. Make it stop! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!!" John cried out, and that's when he noticed his pocket was glowing. He pulled out the item that was the source, and he saw the pocket watch he had as a child. It was glowing again. John then thought that the watch was somehow messing with his memory's, so he threw it as far away as he could. He stared in that direction for a long time, before trying to walk on, but then he felt something in his pocket. He pulled it out, only to scream. It was the pocket watch. You can't escape the truth..... John A voice coming from the pocket watch said. Did you kill him, or was he a slave? John pulled out his handgun, and with a shaking arm, he pointed it at the watch. "What are you...." John said, but his voice trailed off, when he saw the watch appear on his lap. John was paralyzed with fear. He just sat there for a good ten minutes, not saying a single word. After the shock disappeared from his senses, he got up, and slowly began to walk down the path, a look of disbelieve in his eye's. Golden Oaks Library Twilight was on the couch, in the main room, reading to Zachary, yet another daring do book. They had a good breakfast together, her friends enjoyed Zachary's company, and so did Twilight. She felt like she was like his real mom, like their souls had a mother and son connection ever since they first met. Zachary might not even remember his real mom at all, which made Twilight a little bit sad. I bet your mom was really some human special to you, Zachary. Twilight thought, as she continued reading the book to Zachary. Her other friends really wanted to stay, but they had other things that they had to do, but that gave Twilight more time to hang out with her new favorite kid. She was just about to turn to the next chapter, when they both heard the front door of the library opened. They turned their heads to see who it was, only to be greeted by Spike. Twilight and Zachary got up from the couch, and walked over to him. "Hey Spike, we didn't expect you to come back so early, what's up?" Twilight greeted, and Spike put on a fake smile, which Twilight noticed. "Oh, nothing much, just you know..." Spike said awkwardly. "Hey, Twilight, can i talk to you for a minute, in private?" Spike asked. Twilight groaned. She really wanted to spend time with Zachary, but she thought this was important, so she agreed. "Zachary, would you mind staying on the couch for just a minute?" Twilight asked. Zachary nodded his head, and sat on the couch. Twilight turned back to Spike. "What do you want to talk about?" Twilight asked, but the response Spike gave shocked Twilight. "Zachary might not have been the first human in Equestria." Spike said. Twilight was shocked. "Wait, what do you mean?" Twilight asked, raising a brow. "Celestia wanted to talk to you about in, in pony, but she thought you were already busy with Zachary, so she told me to come instead." Spike started to explain. "Two bodies were found in a house that was on fire, around 41 years ago. No pony knew who they were, or what they were, but there were in that house fire. Luckily, the house was abandoned, but still, those two didn't get out.." Spike stopped for a moment, before saying more. "Celestia didn't know what they were at the time either, but they look like humans, now that Celestia thinks about it." Spike said. "But how would they-" Twilight cut herself off, after she remembered the note Zachary found earlier, the one that said that this "Deceive." person had their eye on a watch, and it could be the same watch that brought Zachary's foster parents here. She then gave Spike a serous look. "Spike, I have an idea on who one of these "Humans" might be."