The Detective And The Pocket Watch
The mane six looked at Twilight, along with Cadence and Celestia. They all shared similar expressions, confusion and wonder. They stayed silent for while, not making a single sound. This, made Zachary feel awkward, at the tension between them. Rarity then spoke up.
"Twilight, darling... why ever would you want to go there?" Rarity asked, with a great amount of uncertainty in her voice. "That place is so.... dirty and, well, abandoned." Rainbow Dash was the next one to speak up.
"Twilight, your really smart," Rainbow Dash started. "But do you really think it's a good idea to go to some, old burnt down house? I mean, I'm not afraid, of course, but what about the little guy?" She then pointed her hoof in the direction towards Zachary.
"Yeah," Applejack said, trotting up closer. "It's not really safe for a little feller in there."
"I.... I would have to agree with them.... Twilight....." Fluttershy said, with her usual nervous tone.
"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie shouted, bouncing up to them. "That scary weary abandoned house might be too dangerous for little wittle Zachary!" Twilight looked at them, with understandment in her eye's. The two Princess's, though confused, had an idea of why Twilight wanted to go to that burnt down house. Cadence, knew from the letter that she got while in the Crystal Empire.
"I want to go, because...." Twilight's voice trailed off, as she looked down at Zachary. She told him earlier that the reason she wanted to explore that house, was just for the sake of exploring. She had lied to him, not wanting him to know the true reason, but she had to say it at some point.
"The reason I want all of us, including Zachary, is because Princess Celestia told Spike about the two human like bodies that were found in that house." Twilight said, pointing a hoof at Spike. The mane six gasped, along with Zachary. "I thought that if we go there, then maybe we could find something, something that could tell us what's going on." The mane six looked at each other, with unsure faces. Rainbow Dash hovered over to Twilight.
"Twilight..... how can you be sure that we'll find something?" Rainbow dash asked. "All it is, is a burnt down abandoned house." Twilight had a counter for this.
"Yes, but there were HUMAN BODIES in that house." Twilight said. "Who ever they were, they might have left something in that house, that can help us figure out who this "Detective" Person is, and what they have to do with all of this." Rainbow Dash was about to say something else, but stopped, when she realized that Twilight was right. There could very well be something in there.
"Fine," Rainbow Dash said. "I'm only doing this , because your the Princess of Friendship, but don't let anything bad happen to Zachary, alright." Twilight nodded, wrapping her wing around the boy.
"Do you even know where this is?" Rarity asked. Twilight once again nodded, while still looking down at Zachary, who now seemed to be tired.
"Yeah, it's just outside of Ponyville, kind of near the Everfree forest." Twilight said. The mane six, along with Cadence, went into thought about this.
"We..... can go tomorrow.. if that's alright...." Fluttershy said, rubbing her forearm, like how Zachary used to do.
"That sounds mighty fine to me." Applejack said, with a grin on her face. "Ah don't really have any chores to do tomorrow, so Ah'll be opened."
"Yeah, me too!" Pinkie Pie said, still with great enthusiasm. "Tomorrow just so happens to be my break day from sugar cube corner!" The bouncing pink mare had to be calmed by Rarity, who spoke next.
"I don't really like exploring these types of places.." Rarity said. "But.... I'll do it for Zachary, I suppose." Twilight smiled, as she seemed to get the agreement from most of her friends.
"After tomorrow, I might not be in Ponyville for a while," Cadence said. "So, I'll go too." After she said this, Spike sighed.
"I'm..... not going..." Spike said. Twilight gave him a confused look. "I really would like to go, but.... Princess Celestia offered me a one week vacation in Canterlot." Celestia, who mostly stayed quit, just nodded her head in agreement. Twilight had a look, a look of not understanding. He noticed this, and took action.
"I mean, come on, Twilight!" Spike said. "I haven't had a vacation in forever, and this type of thing rarely shows up for me!" Twilight thought about it. She can't remember the last time that Spike had a vacation. Though, She guessed that he did deserve a vacation.
"Are you sure, Spike?...." Twilight asked, Spike responding with a quick nod of the head. Twilight sighed, but gave him a look of understandment.
"Alright then..... when will you leave?" Twilight asked.
"Well, since Princess Celestia is already here, I guess I can start my vacation tonight." Spike replied, looking at Celestia. "If... that's okay with you, of course..." Celestia nodded her head.
"Of course, Spike." Celestia said, giving him a warm smile. "I said that you could start your vacation anytime you want, and if you want to start now, then that's fine by me. " Spike returned the smile, then looked back at the mane six, along with Cadence.
"Well, I hope you all have a good time." Spike said, waving his arm.
"Yes, we should be going right about now, I have to get rest for my daily duties tomorrow." Celestia said. "Your Princess ceremony will be in a couple of days, so I look forward to that." Twilight nodded in response, as Spike walked over to Celestia. "We'll see you soon." Celestia said, before teleporting away, along with Spike. Twilight looked back at her friends, along with Zachary.
"Well girls, I think that we should be going, it's getting pretty late." Twilight said, with a bit of a yawn in her voice. "It was a long day for us, after all." The mane six looked at each other, before Pinkie Pie spoke up.
"Ooooh, since we're all going to an old spooky abandoned house, why don't we have a sleep over at Twilight's place?" Pinkie asked, while bouncing up and down with excitement.
"That sounds fine with me, if it's alright with Twilight, of course." Cadence said, pointing a hoof over in her direction. They all nodded their heads in agreement, as Twilight thought about it.
Well, it would make sense for them to sleepover, so we can all go together in the morning. Twilight thought to herself, looking back at everypony.
"That sounds like a great idea!" Twilight said, with a smile. "That is, if you are all up for it, and not just Pinkie." Her friends all nodded in agreement.
"Good." Twilight said. "You guys don't mind sleeping in sleeping bags, do you?"
"Of course we don't mind, darling." Rarity said, with a smile as well. They all nodded in agreement, causing Twilight to nod her head.
"Alright then. Lets get going, everypony." Twilight said, as they all began to head back to the library. As they were walking, Twilight noticed that Zachary had that same golden coin that they found earlier.
"Zachary, when did your dad give that to you?" Twilight asked, pointing at the golden coin.
"He gave it to me, because I helped with cleaning!" Zachary said, with an enthusiastic voice. "But my dad didn't have one dollar, so he gave me this coin, that he said was also a dollar." Twilight was a bit confused, but then thought that dollars were like bits, but in their world. Rainbow Dash backed up, to also look at the coin, and saw someone on it.
"Who's the guy on it?" Rainbow Dash asked, pointing at it. Zachary shrugged, meaning that he didn't know. Twilight looked at the coin, before noticing a name, that said, "John Tyler."
"I think his name is John Tyler, Rainbow." She said, pointing at the name. "Though, not the same looking one as Zachary's foster father." Just hearing that made Zachary cringe a bit, and Twilight gave him an apologetic look.
"How do you know th- oh," Rainbow Dash cut herself off, as she too saw the name that was on the coin. "...Never mind...." She then zoomed back to the front of the group, causing Zachary and Twilight to laugh a bit. She then stopped her laughter, and looked down at Zachary, with sorrowful eye's.
"Zachary I'm....... really sorry about lying to you on why I really wanted to explore that house..." Twilight said, lowering her head. "I just didn't want you to fell uncomfortable going somewhere, just to see if you could remember anything." Zachary looked up at her. She might have lied to him, but it was a small lie, and it didn't really effect him all that much.
"It's okay," Zachary said, causing Twilight to rise her head. "You may have lied, but you did it so that I wouldn't be uncomfortable, and that means you didn't want me to be scared." She realized that even with his six year old logic, he was right. She wrapped her right wing around him, pulling him into a hug as they walked.
"Thank you," Twilight said, trying to hold back a tear. "I promise that I will never lie to you ever again." Zachary had only nodded his head in response, as they continued their way to the library.
A few hours later, Canterlot....
Celestia was sleeping peacefully in her bed. She had a lot to do, like making the preparations for Twilights celebration on becoming an Alicorn. A few hours earlier, she was showing Spike around, and showed him to his room, the one he would be sleeping at in Canterlot castle. She had also checked up on Melissa, who was working on digging up gems, and doing other hard work as her punishment.
I hope that she is learning her lesson, and rethinking her life choices Celestia thought to herself, trying to drift off to sleep. We should be able to find this John human, before he can hurt any of my little ponies..... Celestia was just about to fall into the dream realm, when there was a sudden, yet harsh knock at the door.
"Uhhhh, what.... is it.....?" Celestia asked, in a groggy tone.
"Princess! You must come! There has been an accident!" The voice, that sounded like one of her loyal guards. Celestia groaned, before getting up slowly, then going up towards the door, to open it. After she opened it, she saw one of her royal guards, Cloudy Arrow Standing there.
"What's...... going on again?" Celestia asked, trying to get out of her tired state.
"I'm so sorry to interrupt your sleep, Princess," Cloudy Arrow responded. "But there has been a terrible accident, involving that one human..... Melissa, I think." This made Celestia fully wake up. She looked at the guard, with a serious, and stern look.
"What happened?" She asked Cloudy Arrow, who had an instant response.
"She was digging for some gems, like we told her to do, but then she got too near a pile of rocks." Cloudy Arrow explained. "She bumped into the rocks, which caused them to fall on her, smashing her." Celstia's face turned into shock, at what she had just heard. She had one question to ask the guard.
"Is..... is she still........ alive?" Celestia asked, while gulping a bit.
"Yes...... but she is in a coma like state , we can't get her to wake up...." Cloudy Arrow said. Celestia nodded.
"Alright, what should I do about it?" Celestia asked the guard. "I don't think that I can do anything to help right now."
"I was just told to inform you," Cloudy Arrow said. "But in my opinion, I think you should just wait until tomorrow." Celestia nodded her head in agreement.
"Alright, I'll think about what I should do, but for now, I must rest." Celestia said. "You may take the rest of your shift off." Cloudy Arrow smiled, while nodding.
"I'll just do that, Princess." Cloudy Arrow said, before walking down the hallway. Celestia gave out a sad sigh, before she once again, returned to her room, to get some sleep.
What should I do? Celestia thought to herself, with a worried expression. How will young Zachary react to this? She got back into her bed, and placed her head on the pillow. I don't know.... she may have done some terrible things, but does she deserve this? She couldn't get that worried feeling out of her, no matter how much she tried. She then shook her head. No, she'll be fine, and.... I don't know, I'll figure something out.... but right now, I really need my sleep.
Celestia sighed, before closing her eye's, and finally, entered a deep sleep.
Meanwhile......
Melissa began to stir in her restless sleep. She could feel the hard , and freezing ground that was under here. She slowly regained conciseness, as her vision also returned to her. She looked up, and was shocked by what she had saw. There was a thick fog covering the area, and it was snowing.
What the....." Melissa's voice trailed off, as she saw her surroundings. It looked like she was on a paved road, something she hadn't seen in a while.
"Am.... am I back to my world?" Melissa asked herself, being awarded with the eerie silence of the abandoned road. She looked around some more. She was by some sort of mountain, the strange thing was that it was snowing. Even if she was back at her world, in the state she lived in, it couldn't snow because she lived in California.
"I should start walking..... to get some help....." Melissa said. She started to walk, but stopped when a thought hit her. "Would they even believe that I was in a world with talking ponies?" She shook her head, deciding to leave that part out. She walked down the paved road, it was hard to see, due to the thick fog, and it was freezing, due to the snow that she wasn't used to.
"I really hop that I can find someone, who isn't a pony trying to arrest me, again." Melissa sighed, as she remembered the reason why she got arrested in the first place. She couldn't believe that she did such a thing to Zachary, but she did it, and all because John made her feel the need for revenge for her daughter.
"Zachary..... I'm so..... so sorry..." Melissa said, regretting everything she had done to him. "How could I ever......" Her voice trailed off, as she meet the end of the road. It was completely cut off, as if it was teared down. She looked down in the foggy abyss, the same shocked expression was still accompanying her face.
"What's.... going on?" Melissa asked herself, with a very confused voice.
I have to find another way out... Melissa thought to herself, as she turned around. She began to jog down the road. She went past where she started, and was about to continue, when she stooped. She heard a loud siren go off in the distance, which was not expected from her.
"Why..... why is there a siren going off?" She asked herself. Her face turned to horror an disbelieve, as the world around her started to dissolve right in front of her eye's.
"How.... what...... why........?" Melissa sked herself, as they world faded to complete darkness. She couldn't see anything, not a single thing. She quickly shoved her hands inside her shirt pockets. She remembered having a lighter, as she liked to smoke. She remembered on the first day she arrived, she pulled it out, in front of her inmate, TriforceAndroid, who became very interested with the object. They became very good friends in that cell, they had very good times together.
My only friend in that world.... Melissa thought to herself, but her thoughts were then interrupted by a sound. Of walking, but it was not normal walking, it was something heavy, something big, and..... it was coming her way......
The next day, at the library
Twilight began to wake herself up, not really wanting to, but she knew that she had to, as she had something planned for today. She fully opened her eye's, and looked around the room. She saw her six friends, who were sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor, still fart asleep. She saw Cadence, who was still sleeping in the other bed, and one empty bed.
Wait, where's Zachary? Twilight asked herself in her thoughts. She then noticed the small, breathing figure, that she had wrapped around her wing. She had Zachary around her wing, which pulled him into a tight hug. He decided to sleep with her the previous night. She dawwed silently, at the cute child.
What time is it? Twilight asked herself, looking around at the small clock. The long hand was pointed at twelve, and the long one was pointed at eight. Eight o'clock, huh? Maybe we should go to the house at noon.... Twilight slowly and steadily moved her forearm, and put it up to her chin in thought. I hope everypony else can agree with that. She didn't want to wake them up just yet, especially Zachary, so she decided she would try to go back to sleep.
Zachary then began to move in his sleep, shuffling his body to the right, and then to the left.
Oh shoot, did I wake him? Twilight mentally face hoofed herself, before Zachary raised his head, and looked up at her.
"Is it.... morning?" Zachary asked, while rubbing his eye's. Twilight, in return, gave him a warm smile.
"Yep, it's morning alright." Twilight said, looking down at the child. "Are you hungry?" Zachary, in response to this, simply nodded his head. "Would you like some pancakes?"
"If..... it's alright......" Zachary responded, with a tired, yet happy smile. Twilight giggled quietly, as to not wake the others up.
"Alright, I'll go and get Spike to...." Twilights voice trailed off, as she realized that Spike was in Canterlot. "Oh yeah.... He's in Canterlot...." She let out a sigh, and Zachary's smile was then turned upside down.
"Does that mean...... No pancakes?" He asked, and Twilight shook her head.
"No, of course we can still have pancakes, it's just that, well I never really made any before..." Twilight said, with a warm smile. "But we can learn how too." Zachary's face lit up again, as he nodded in agreement. "Okay, try to ne very quit, we don't want to wake them up yet." She then pointed her hoof in the direction of her friends, and he nodded once again.
They made there way down the stairs, with out making too much noise. Twilight and Zachary then went into the kitchen ,where they then got the pancake batter out of the cabinet, along with some syrup, and butter. They put all of the items on the counter, and looked at them for a few moments.
"Hm, Spike usually has a cook book in her, for when he doesn't know how to cook something...." Twilight said, while looking around for the book. She quickly spotted the book, with was on the kitchen table. She used her magic to levitate the book over to them. Sher started to flip through the pages, trying to find the one on how to make pancakes.
"Lets see, no, not that one, nope. and aha!" Twilight said, pointing at the page with her hoof.
"It says that we need to have one cup of flour, two table spoons of sugar, two teaspoons of baking powder,1/2 teaspoon salt, one cup of milk, and..." Twilight went on to show Zachary on how to make the pancakes, as he carefully listened to the instructions.
"Alrighty then, lets get to baking." Twilight said, closing the book, while going to get the ingratiates, along with Zachary. They found all of them pretty quickly, and then they put them on the counter.
"Now, we need to mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt." Twilight said, getting a small bowl. She then put all of them inside it, before levitating a spoon to stir it.
"Can...... Can I stir it?" Zachary asked, with a nervous tone. Twilight giggled a bit.
"Of course you can, just be carful, okay?" Twilight said, reassuringly, with a smile. Zachary nodded his head in response, and took the spoon from Twilight's magical grasp. He began to stir it, slowly at first, but became faster as he got more used to the batter.
"That's it, keep it up." Twilight said. Zachary was stirring it, not very carefully though, which caused some of it to get on his shirt. "Whoops, looks like you got a little something on your shirt there, buddy." She then used her hoof to whip away the small stain. Zachary smiled at her, as he continued.
After the batter no longer needed to be stirred, They put it on a pan, and turned on the small flame bellow it. They waited for a few moments, until it was heated just right. Then, they poured the batter onto the pan, and moved the pan a bit, to try to spread it.
They waited, until the bottom started to smoke.
"Oh no, I think we just burnt it!" Twilight said, lifting the pancake with her spoon. To her dismay, she was right, the bottom half was burnt. She let out a frustrated sigh, before putting on a smile. "Well, at least we tried, and at least I got to try it with you." She then used her wing to pull Zachary into a hug. They stayed that way, until a certain pink bouncing mare came down the stairs.
"What's that ick- " Pinkie was saying, but then she cut herself off, when she saw the pancake. She zoomed up to it, catching Zachary and Twilight completely off guard. "How? How could I let this happen?! WHY?!" Pinkie said, while holding the pancake, while Zachary and Twilight just stared at her, with confused faces.
"Geez, and I thought Rarity was overly dramatic...." Twilight said.
"Who said what about me?" The voice of Rarity's came from the main room. Twilight quickly turned around, with a nervous smile.
"Nothing! I said nothing!" Twilight said, quickly turning around, with a nervous smile. Rarity, along with Twilights other friends, and Cadence, we're all standing on the stairway. She giggled nervously, as Rarity gave her a suspicious look, but stopped after she noticed Pinkie's crying.
"Twilight.... why is Pinkie crying?" Rainbow Dash asked, pointing at the mare.
"Because I burnt a silly little pancake..." Twilight said, with a sigh. "I'm not that good with pancakes." Rainbow Dash face hooved herself, before going over to Pinkie, who was still bawling.
"Pinkie, calm down." Rainbow Dash said, putting her hooves on her. "It's just a pancake. We can make another one..."
"No, I'm not crying over that...." Pinkie Pie said, looking up at Rainbow. "I'm crying because I'm hungry, and I really wanted this pancake, but it's now burnt, and I can't eat it!" This caused Rainbow Dash to frown, before face hoofing herself again.
"Pinkie, you do realize that we can just make more, right?" Rainbow asked, which caused Pinkie to stop her crying an in instant.
"Oh yeah, right." She said, before her usual, bouncing self returned. "Let's make some more for everypony!" She then bounced over to the batter, and the ingredients. She began to mix them all together, as Twilight and the rest of them, decided to go sit at the kitchen table. As they sat down, Twilight had noticed that Zachary had gotten a piece of paper out, that had a drawing on it.
"What's on there?" Twilight asked, looking at it. Her heart melted at the image. On the sheet of paper, she saw the mane six, along with Zachary. He was standing in the middle, while the other's were around him, they all had happy expressions. Twilight was levitating a book, while reading it. The caption the top said: My new Family (It's the same as the title image one)
"Aww, do you really consider us your family?" Twilight asked, with a heart warming smile.
"Um, yeah. I mean.... if that's okay with you...." Zachary said, but then felt a tight embrace yet again from Twilight. The rest of them saw the image, and they all had a similar reaction.
"Thanks little buddy..." Rainbow Dash said, not wanting to get too sappy, while ruffling his hair.
"This drawing is simply marvelous, darling." Rarity said, with a happy, tearful smile.
"Why, that is the cutest darn thing ah ever saw." Applejack said, also with a touched look.
"It's really good......" Fluttershy said, also with a touched look.
"Are you going to add me in it, little buddy?" Cadence asked, with a playful smile. Zachary nodded his head, as Pinkie Pie came bouncing back into the kitchen, somehow managing to balance all of the plates on her head, body, and forelegs.
"Hey guys, what are you-" Pinkie was saying, but then gasped when she saw the image.
"Awww, it's so cute!" Pinkie exclaimed, with a happy tone. "Did you make it all by yourself." Zachary once again only nodded in response. With another aww, Pinkie then hugged him, along with Twilight, and everypony else. They stayed that way for a while, before Pinkie noticed that the newly baked pancakes that she placed on the table, were starting to get cold.
"I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving! Let's eat!" Pinkie Shouted, before they all began to dig into their pancakes. After they finished with there breakfast, Twilight looked at the clock again. It was now ten o'clock.
"Girls, do you all want to leave with Zachary to the house in a hour?" Twilight asked them, as they were all leaving the table.
"Orrrrr, we could just go right now!" Pinkie said, with a giant face splitting smile. "It would make more sense, wouldn't it?" Twilight thought about this. It WOULD make more sense to go right now, but she would first have to get everyponys opinion.
"What do you all think?" Twilight asked them, and they all nodded in agreement. She then looked down at Zachary, who was still beside her. "Would you like to go now, or later?" Twilight asked, causing him to snap out from his own personal world.
"Oh, um sure, we can go right now..." Zachary said, with a bit of a nervous tone. Twilight nodded her head, and looked back at her friends. Alright then, lets go!" She said, before walking out the door.
Back with John
"Kill..... Kill..... Kill....." John said, while walking down the same path of woods that he had taken so many times before in a single week. He couldn't take it anymore. He was losing whatever sanity that he had left, and yet, he was hungry. He needed food, fast.
"I'll kill them.... all of them...." John said, while chuckling to himself. "They will all die and I'll make sure that Zachary has the most painful death out of all of them!" He couldn't hold it back anymore, and he began to burst into laughter. However, it was insane, and cruel laughter, he had bad intentions.
"I need to find something to eat...." John said out loud, still with some insanity in his tone. "Maybe I'll murder one of these ponies, and then cook them up! I wonder if I can do that to a certain one....." He merely smiled at this. "I wonder where that purple one that is taking care of him is right now...."
John just continued his decent into madness, as he began to laugh once more. He then heard a twig snap from behind him. He quickly turned around, only to find something run into the bushes. he smirked at this, knowing that their attempt to hind from him had failed.
"Come on out, who ever you are...." John said in a nice, but a bit insane tone. After he said that, a small filly popped out of the bush, and looked up at him with curious eye's.
"What are you, mister?" The young filly asked, not feeling the bad vibes that this person was giving off. John chuckled a bit.
"I am a human, young horse thing." John said, with a fake smile. "Why are you out here?" The filly looked down.
"Well, I saw you walking in the woods, and you seemed really lonely...." The filly said, looking up with a smile. Before John could reply, his stomach began to growl.
"Are you hungry, mister?" The filly asked, in which John just simply nodded. "Well, there's food in ponyville, I'm sure that they wouldn't mind you staying here...." John smiled at the little filly.
"Well, that sounds just like a great idea!" John said. The filly smiled, then turned around to walk off, expecting John to follow her. "Wait! There is one thing I need you to do." The filly turned back around.
"What is it, mister?" The filly asked, with curiosity clear in her voice.
"Just turn back around.... and count to seven." John replied. The confused filly, did what he asked her to do. She began to count "One.... Two.... Three...." He then pulled out his handgun, and pointed it at the filly's head. "Five..... Six..... Seven... What now mis-" The filly didn't have time to finish her sentence, as a loud bang shot through the air. The filly then fell to the ground, limp, and not moving.
"That's what you get you....." John stopped when he realized what he had done. The filly wasn't moving, she wasn't breathing, she was Dead
"Did I just....." John gasped, dropping the handgun. He had actually killed someone, or somepony. He took away the innocent life of a child, a child who can now never grow up, never have a true life, instead, just gone. The pocket watch began to glow again.
What have you done?! You killed her! The watch practically screamed. John, did something unexpected, he laughed.
"That's funny, she isn't dead." John said, losing control of his laughter a bit. "It's all in my head, you can't really talk, pocket watch..... and I didn't actually kill this pony."
You think this is all fake?! it isn't! You took away the life of an innocent, making me stronger, but I don't want to be stronger! Just destroy me already so all of this can end! The watch screamed.
"No way!" John replied. "You might be very annoying, but you are still very valuable, so I shall not let you go!" The watch just stayed silent, not peeping again. He smiled, then turned back to where the filly was. She was still lying on the ground, dead. It reminded him about all the visons that the watch showed him, about Zachary either getting killed by him, or someone else.
"He isn't dead, and I can prove it!" John said, looking down at the filly. He was now proud of his work, like every psycho would be. He began to drag the filly away, hoping that he wouldn't be spotted. "Now, let's start a fire, and cook you up!" John said, before walking further into the darkness.
Back with Twilight......
Twilight, the mane six, Cadence, and Zachary, were all walking down the dirt road. Twilight had let Zachary rid on her back, due to him being extremely light, and not that heavy to carry. She looked over at him, with a smile.
"I think were getting close!" Rainbow Dash said, once they got outside of ponyville.
"It's going to take us a while, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight said, looking up at the cyan Pegasus. "It's a couple miles away, so we should get there soon."
"Cant you just teleport us there?" Pinkie asked, bouncing up to them. "It would be so much easier than walking." Twilight let out a sigh.
"It's not that simple, because.... I don't really know where it is....." Twilight said, with uncertainty in her voice. Her friends, along with Cadence quickly turned their heads, stopping in their tracks, to face Twilight.
"Wait, if ya don't know where it is, then how do ya know were we're going?" Applejack asked, looking at Twilight with an unsure look.
"Well, when Spike told me, he said it was somewhere on this path, we should be arriving there shortly." Twilight said, with a bit of a sheepish smile. They all stared at her, until Cadence broke the silence.
"If you say so......." Cadence said, before they continued to walk.
"Um, Twilight..... are you sure that you don't want me to walk?" Zachary asked, with a nervous tone. Twilight giggled a bit.
"You're as lit as a feather, of course I don't mind carrying you." Twilight said, looking back with a smile. He returned the smile, before looking ahead. He spotted something, that looked like a long lost structure.
"Hey, is that it over there?" Zachary asked, while pointing to it. Twilight looked in the direction that he was pointing in, and saw what looked like a house, except parts of it were missing, and it was covered with something black.
"I think so...." Twilight replied, then turned to her friends. "Hey girls! It might be over there!" She got her friends, and Cadence's attention, then pointed towards the building. It definitely was the building.
"Well, if that's it, then lets go over there!" Rainbow Dash said. They all then began to walk over to the building. It was only a five minute walk so it didn't take that long to get there. Once they got to the house, it seemed like it was in worse condition then from the distance they saw it at.
"This..... doesn't really feel safe....." Cadence said, with a worried expression.
"I can put a protection spell on us, so that noting bad happens..." Twilight suggested. They all nodded their heads in agreement, as Twilight casted the spell on them. "We should be safe now." She then opened the already broken door, as it took little effort to open. Once they were all inside, they all gasped. It was so much worse than they thought. There was burnt furniture that was forgotten by time, derby laying all over the place, and everything else that you could expect from a house like this.
"Wow..... This place is falling apart!" Rainbow Dash said, putting her foreleg on a desk, only to have it break due to the pressure. "See?!"
"That doesn't matter right now." Twilight said, looking a Rainbow. "What matters is that we find something that could tell us who the two humans that came here were. " They all looked at each other, before nodding there heads in agreement. "Alright then, lets take a look around."
They all searched out the area, their efforts being rewarded with nothing. They searched a full twenty minutes, before they remembered that there were stairs that lead up to the other floor of the house.
"Come on, everypony." Twilight said, with some reassurance. "Lets check upstairs, there might be something there." They all made their way to the front of the house, where they saw the staircase after they went in. When they took another look at the staircase, they saw that it too, did not look safe to walk on.
"We should probably fly up there...." Fluttershy suggested. They all agreed to do that. Twilight carried Zachary up the stairs, while Rainbow Dash, Cadence, and Fluttershy carried Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie.
"I'm shocked that haven't even made a single attempt to try to rebuild this place." Twilight said, Zachary on her back. When they reached the top of the stairs, the first thing they saw was something written on the wall.
TriforceAndroid was here. It said.
"Who is that?" Zachary asked, and Twilight just simply shrugged. They made their way down the hallway.
"You're not scared or anything, are you Zachary?" Twilight asked, and Zachary just shook his head. Twilight smiled.
"No, this place isn't really that scary, it's act-" Zachary was saying, but then cut himself off, when he heard whispers. "Do you hear that?" Zachary asked Twilight.
"Hear what?" Twilight replied.
"I hear whispers coming from one of these rooms." Zachary said, with an uneasy tone. Twilight, thinking that it could be John, looked back at Zachary.
"Where is it coming from, exactly?" Twilight asked, and Zachary just pointed to the end of the hallway, where a single door was.
"Girls, I think something, or somepony, is in that room at the end of the hall." Twilight said, pointing her hoof at the door.
"Are you sure?" Rarity asked, and Twilight just simply nodded. They all then made a rush to the door. When the got there, they opened the door, and were once again left in shock at what they found. Inside the room, there were papers scattered all over the place, the room itself just looked very run down.
"Hey." Rainbow Dash said, picking up a piece on the ground. "I think all of these papers are from that detective human." She then showed the paper to Twilight. It turned out to be another entry from the detective. It was one from her earlier child hood, about her and her friends solving a case.
"These are all the entry's from the detective." Twilight said, picking up multiple papers at once. On one, it was when the detective started college, on another, it was when she left college. "Why are all of these here?" After she asked that, they heard the door shut from behind them. When they turned around, they saw the same, hooded figure, with it's hand on the door, in it's other, there was a piece of paper.
Zachary gasped, before hiding behind Twilight, who went into a protective stance.
"What do you want from us?" Twilight asked, or more like growled.
"Yeah, were not afraid to put up a fight!" Rainbow said, hovering in the air, raising her hooves up.
"Like that went well last time........" The hooded figure said. It sounded like a female. It walked up, and dropped the paper in front of Twilight. She hesitated at first, but then she levitated it up with her magic, and read what was on it.
"I'm so sorry, this wasn't supposed to happen, I failed everyone, and I failed at being a detective.... The note said. Zachary then got off of Twilights back, then he picked up the note from her levitation.
"I don't get what-" Zachary was once again cut off. The same harsh whispers came back, along with his eye's turning black and white. The mane six, and Cadence, were horrified.
"What's going on?! What's wrong with him? What did you do?!" Rainbow Dash asked, looking angrily at the hooded figure.
"Quick everypony! Grab onto him!" Twilight shouted.
"What will that do?" Cadence asked, with panic.
"Just trust me!" Twilight said. They all looked at each other, before putting one of their hooves on the child. The same thing happened with all of them. The hooded figure ran towards all of their paralyzed bodies, before putting a hand on Zachary. That's when they traveled into the detectives memory's.
Equestria, a few years back.....
Zachary slowly opened his eye's, just like how he did the other times before. He looked around the area. He saw Twilight, the mane six, and Cadence. The mane six, apart from Twilight, and Cadence, were all confused as to what just happened. They were in a open field, somewhere near ponyville.
"What just happened?" Asked a very confused Rainbow Dash.
"Were in someone's memory, I think, not sure though...." Twilight said. They all noticed the hooded figure that was walking towards them. Zachary, once again, hid behind Twilight in fear.
"What are you doing her again?" Cadence asked, walking up to it. It didn't respond.
"Hey! A Princess just asked you a question!" Rainbow Dash said, getting up in it's face. It pointed a finger in the direction of the right. They all turned, only to see something pink glowing.
"Ohhh, pink!" Pinkie Pie shouted, before running off to the bright light.
"Pinkie! Wait!" Twilight shouted, before running off, along with the mane six, Zachary, and Cadence. They chased the pink mare down the path, until they got to the pink glow. They all stopped when they saw the light was coming from below the soil.
"Huh? What's that?" Another voice, that sounded like a stallion asked. They all looked in the direction, and saw somepony walking up to them. Cadence walked in front of him.
"Excuse me, but do you know where we-" Cadence said, but was then cut off when the stallion walked right through her. She looked back at the stallion, with a shocked expression. "What the....." Her voice trailed off.
"This is a memory, remember?" Twilight told Cadence. "Nopony can see, or hear us." This made Cadence calm down a bit. They all looked back at the stallion, who was looking at the pink glow.
"I wonder what's under here...." He said, before using his hoof to dig up the soil. After he cleared it up a bit, he gasped. He slowly reached his hoof into the hole. He then took out the object that was in there, and when he pulled it out, it caused everypony to gasp. He pulled out what seemed to be a pink gem. It was one of the most beautiful things they ever saw.
"That gem..... I've never seen anything like it before...." Rarity said in awe. The stallion looked at it,, with a confused look. He frowned at it.
"It may be beautiful, but somepony might have dropped it...." The stallion said, still looking at it with wonder.
I....... Belong To...... No one...... Or Pony....... The gem hissed, causing the stallion to drop it.
"Wait! Did you just talk?!" The stallion asked, now in a bit of a panicked tone. The watch didn't respond, but instead, started to glow, the stallion tried to back away, but then a bright light began to consume him. His screams of pain and agony ranged out across the field, causing Twilight to use her magic to cover Zachary's ears. Soon, the light vanished, and so did the pony. The gem fell to the ground.
Finally..... Enough Power.... To Travel..... To Another Dimension..... The gem rasped, before glowing, and teleporting away. The mane six, Cadence, and Zachary looked in shock. The gem was now nowhere on sight.
"What happened to that beautiful gem?!" Rarity asked, with a confused look. That's when they all remembered that the hooded figure was still there. They all looked up at it, and then they teleported away again.
Earth, a few moments later...
Twilight opened her eyes again, after the bright lit vanished. She looked around, and saw Zachary, The Hooded Figure, Cadence, and the mane six all there, looking around the area. Zachary looked a bit traumatized by what had happened, and he was visibly shaking.
"What..... What did that gem do to him....?" Zachary asked, his tone of voice being scared. Twilight walked up to him, and put a wing around him.
"Don't worry, I don't know what that gem did to him, but it happened a long time ago, and there was nothing we could have done about it..." Twilight said, with a sad smile. It helped Zachary a little bit.
"Why are we here?" Applejack asked, looking around. The hooded figure pointed towards the end of the sidewalk. They all looked at the direction, only to see a man, who looked like he was jogging. He stopped near the park that they were at, and he wasn't able to see them too. He stopped, taking a bit of a breath.
"Man, nothing like a morning jog....." He said. He was about to continue, when all of the sudden, he heard something fall on the sidewalk that was behind him. He turned around, only to be meet by a pink gem, that was just lying there It seemed that most of it's color was missing
"What the.... how did this get here?" The man asked, looking around for the possible owner. He didn't see another soul in sight. He looked back down at it, before saying, "Finders keepers." He said, while walking away with it. The mane six, along with Cadence and Zachary, noticed that the gem had gained some if it's color back, though, not a lot.
"Who is that guy?" Rainbow Dash asked. Nopony had anytime to respond, as they were once again, teleported, though, this time, there was no bright flash of light. They saw that they were now in some sort of workshop, with a bunch of watch's in it.
"Woah, this guy.... sure likes his clock thingy's....." Rainbow Dash commented, trying to touch one, but to only have her hoof fall through. There were footsteps, which caused them to turn to that direction. They saw the same man, walk into the room, closing the door behind him. He held up the gem, and took a closer look at it.
"You would be perfect for my new project.." The man said, before turning around, and getting a box out. He opened the box, which revealed a pocket watch. It had other various gems on it, like diamonds and sapphire. He put the pocket watch down on the desk, and then the gem. He needed one more gem to put on it, before it would finally be completed, and this seemed to be the perfect one.
"Alright, lets super glue you onto here....." The man said, before doing all the steps that it took to add the gem. After he finished, he held the pocket watch up high in the air, proud of his accomplishment.
"I'm sure that people will just love you...." The man said, before heading out of the room again. They all looked at each other, noir sure what to say.
"I think.... that's were that pocket watch came from..." Twilight said. They all seemed to agree with this. They then jumped cut to the outside world. They were by the a clock store, and in it, was the same pocket watch that they saw before.
"What's happening now?" Pinkie asked, with some excitement in her voice. They then heard foot steeps coming from behind. They turned around, only to see a lady, who was wearing a light-brown coat, along with a light brown hat, she had blonde hair, with bright green eyes. She looked inside the store, and she saw the pocket watch.
"Wow...." She simply said, with amazement in her voice. "That is one beautiful pocket watch..." She then went inside the shop, everypony following behind her. Twilight looked back at Zachary, who was now walking. He seemed to be sadden by something.
"What's wrong?" Twilight asked. Zachary then looked up at her, with a sad look.
"My mom used to take me here, to look at all the cool clocks..." He said, with a bit of a depressed tone. Twilight could feel her heart shatter at this. "I really, really, miss her....." He then felt himself being pulled into another tight hug.
"Don't worry, I'm sure your parents miss you too," Twilight said. "But I'm sure that they would want you to move on." Zachary looked up at her, with a sad, but understanding smile.
"Okay...." He said. Twilight smiled, as they walked even further into the clock shop, where the lady was waiting. She rang the bell at the desk, and a few moments later, the man came out.
"What can I help you with, today?" He asked.
"Hi, I was wondering how much that pocket watch cost?" She asked, pointing at the one she wanted. The man looked in the direction of her figure, and chuckled a bit.
"Ma'am, that watch is over two hundred dollars." He said. "I just got done making it today, actually." The lady frowned.
"Well, can you put it on hold for me, until I have enough money anyway." The lady asked. "I might get promoted to full on detective soon." The man nodded.
"Sure, I'd love to hold it for you." The man said. The detective smiled.
"Thank you." She said, before leaving the store.
"So that was that "Detective" human...." Twilight said, putting her hoof up in thought. They all looked at the hooded figure once again. "What happened next?" Just like that, the world faded, and they went into two weeks in the future. They saw that they were in a small house, with not a single soul in sight.
"Does anyone even live here?" Rainbow Dash asked, annoyed. The door suddenly burst opened, as the detective came inside. She had something in her pockets. She sat on the couch, and pulled it out. It was the pocket watch, that she had wanted from the store.
"Finally....." The detective said. "After two weeks, your mine, all mine!" The detective said. The mane six, along with Cadence and Zachary, saw the gem on the watch glow again. The detective kept hugging it, not letting it go at all. She then walked to her room, and closed the door.
"Did you see that gem glow again?" Rarity asked, and they all nodded their heads. They then all cut to another scene, one where the detective was sleeping, still holding the pocket watch in her hand.
So Much Power............ I First Feed Off Magic......... And Now I Shall Feed Off The Greed Of Other's The watch said. They all gasped, except for the hooded figure, who just stood there.
"Is.... That what it did to that other pony we saw, took it's ......magic?" Fluttershy asked meekly.
"Yeah, not even I would take the magic of others no matter what!" Rainbow Dash said. They all once again cut to another scene. They were in the same park as before, when the gem first appeared.
"Why are we here again?" Twilight asked, confused. Her thoughts stopped when she saw the Detective running down the sidewalk, a look of horror was on her face. She went into her pocket, and pulled out the watch, but this time, it was glowing, like crazy.
"What is going on?!" The Detective shouted, with horror and confusion in her voice. She showed the watch to a few people, but would never let them touch it. She continued her run down the street. The only place that she was going to find answers at, was the place she got the watch in the first place. "He better know the reason why this is happening!"
She continued her way down the sidewalk, while she was followed by the ponies and Zachary. When she finally made it to the shop, there was a sign on the glass door.
Closed For Vacation. Come Back Next Week. After the detective read this, she growled with anger.
"Dammint!" She shouted, banging her hand on the door. This caused the ponies, and Zachary, to back up. They knew this was just a flashback, but this outburst still startled them.
"Geez, she needs to calm down!" Rarity said. The detective painted with frustration, before taking another look at the pocket watch.
"How am I going to get you to stop glowing?!" She asked, banging her head against the door. She stayed that way, until another person walked up to her. This time, he was a male, with white hair, along with a beard, his cloths were torn, and it looked like he hadn't had a good shower or bath in weeks.
"Miss, are you alright.....?" The man asked. The detective quickly turned around, with a fake smile.
"Of course everything is alright!" She quickly said. "Why wouldn't it be?" The man shrugged as a response to this.
"I dunno, hey..... can you spare some change? I would like to have something to eat tonight...." The man asked, and that's when he noticed the glow. "Hey..... why is your hand glowing?" The detective quickly realized what he meant, and shoved her hand in her pocket.
"Nothing! You must be seeing things...." She said, chuckling a bit. the man gave her a doubtful look.
"I don't believe you..... do you have powers or something?" He asked, while reaching for the pocket. The detective tried to move away, but the pocket watch fell out, and hit the ground with a thud. The man looked down at it, and gasped.
"Is that.... a pocket watch....?" He asked, trying to pick it up, but to only have his hand swapped away by the detective.
"Yes, and it belongs to me, and me only..." She basically growled. The man gave her a nasty look.
"I'm homeless, and I don't have anything, I'm taking that watch!" Before she could react, the man swiped the watch out of her hands, and began to run off with it.
"Hey! Get back here!" The detective shouted, before pulling out her handgun, and going after the man, The mane six, Cadence, and Zachary started to chase the detective.
You don't deserve this!" The man shouted back, stopping to throw a rock at her. In response, the detective pulled the trigger, firing off her gun. Luckily for the man, and for her job, she missed. The eight of them that were following her, now stopped, in fear of getting hit by one of the bullets.
"Is she insane?!" Twilight said, no really concerned for Zachary's safety.
"Yes I do!" The detective said. "I bought it with my own money, something that you don't have!" After shouting this, she tackled the homeless man. Luckily for them, there were no people out on the streets to stop their petty fight over the watch. They started to struggle with each other, while the watch just kept getting brighter, and brighter. When they did notice, it was already too late.
"What the-" The man said, as the light began to engulf both of them.
It's Time..... For Us..... To Go To...... Equestria..... The watch said, with a raspy whisper. They both looked at it, with shock in there eyes. Their screams couldn't be heard, as the light vanished, along with them. Everypony that saw this, was left on shock.
"So...... she's in Equestria now?" Twilight asked. Once again, nopony had anytime to respond, as they were all once again sent to yet another flashback. This time, they were in a forest, with a very confused detective, and old man, The gun that she had, was now lying on the ground.
Equestria, before The mane six were born...
"What.... what just happened?" The detective asked. Before she could even turn around, she felt a sharp pain on the back of her head. She fell limp to the ground, not even moving a single muscle. The man, had knocked her out with the gun that she had dropped. He then went for the pocket watch.
"Sorry, but this now belongs to me." The man said, walking off with it. He didn't hear it whisper the word "Hatred..." though. The next few events had mixed opinions. When the detective woke up, she made her way out of the forest, and found ponyville. When she saw the ponies that were living in the town, she was shocked, and ran away. She had no idea how ponies would react to her, and she didn't want to take that chance.
she soon found an old, abandon house, on the outskirts of ponyville, though, it had one other inhabitant. It was a young filly, who had lost her parents in a accident a year ago, and had been living by herself ever since. The detective cut a deal with her. She would get them both food, and in return, she would let her stay there.
Over the next week, everything was fine. She still had her handgun, which she didn't know why the man didn't take that as well. It was going fine, and they even began to bond with each other, until, that one night, where the man found the house that they were staying here.
"Okay kid, it's starting to get late." The detective said, putting the little filly on the worn down mattress.
"Aww, you didn't find anything to eat tonight?" The filly asked, and the detective just nodded her head in response. She sighed.
"Well, maybe we'll have better luck tomorrow." The filly suggested.
"Maybe..." The detective responded, with a hopeful smile. The filly nodded.
"Goodnight.... mommy..." The filly said. The detective gasped, but then smiled. She was glad that the filly considered her to be her mother, she was taking care of her, after all. She was about to lay down, when she heard the door open. She raised her body, and with a curious look, she went downstairs to see who it was, and was then paralyzed with shock.
"Long time no see, detective.." The man from before said. The detective growled.
"What are you doing here?!" She asked, in a demanding voice. The man just chuckled in response at this.
"Well, I need a place to stay too." The man said. The detective pulled out her handgun.
"Oh, I don't think so...." She replied.
"What's.... going on?" The filly that was still upstairs asked, rubbing an eye with a hoof. The man smiled at her.
"Finally, some protein..." He said, licking his lips. The detective shook her head.
"No, you're not going to eat her." She said coldly. The man walked to the staircase that they were on.
"Come on, we humans need meat to survive, and besides, it looks like this horse thing only has you, so who would miss her?" The man asked.
"I would." The detective replied, still trying to hold him at gunpoint. The man frowned.
"Lady, I'm starving, more than usual, hand over the horse." He demanded.
"No." The detective replied.
"I'm not playing, hand it over." The man demanded.
"I said no!" The detective said. The man had lost his patience.
"That's it!" He screamed, as he made a mad dash up the stairs. He was about to reach them, when all the sudden, a loud BANG rang out. The man stopped, only to see a flesh wound on the side of his torso. He let out a gasp of air, before falling back, due to another shot from the detectives gun landing in his lung, killing him in the process. The detective dropped the gun, and put her hands up to mouth.
"Oh no..... what have I done?!" The detective cried. The young, homeless filly, went down to try and comfort her.
"I'm sorry that you had to do that...." The filly said. The detective looked back, with a tearful smile.
"Thank you..." She said. They noticed a red glow, coming from the mans pockets. They decided to check what the source was. They were shocked to see the pocket watch. Normally, it would have glowed pink, but never red. As soon as the detective picked it up though, it got brighter. Then, as unexpected as it was, the house had fire spread through it, and nearly catch everything aflame. They watch then began to rise.
You.... Made A Terrible.... Mistake...... And Now..... You Shall Suffer.... The pocket watch said, before disappearing. The detective, and the young filly, were left alone in the house, with no way of escaping.
"I'm.... so sorry....." The detective said to the filly. The filly gave her a sad smile.
"I forgive you, and if we can't escape, then at least I'll die with you..." The filly said, hugging the detective. She hugged back, as the flames gained closer, and closer, until.... they were both burning, but they never left that spot, until, eventually, both of their bodies fell to the ground, as they both faced death.
"Did that..... just happen?" Fluttershy asked, with a nervous, yet shocked tone.
"I think it did, Fluttershy..." Twilight replied, looking back at the two. "So, we know what happened to the detective, but why did we need to know this?" Nopony had the answer to that question, as the world began to fade to black, the world had no more flashbacks for them, and they began to disappear.
End of the flashbacks....
Twilight opened her eye's, and shot he head up, looking around the room. She saw that she was in the burnt down house again. Her friends, along with Cadence and Zachary, began to wake up as well. Once they did, they also looked around, confused as to where they were, before they also remembered what had happened.
"Is, is everypony okay?" Twilight asked. They all nodded their heads, as Zachary came up next to her. She smiled down at the boy.
"What do we do now?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I didn't even see the point of us seeing those flashbacks."
"I don't know why we had to see the fate of the detective, but I know it must be important.." Twilight said. "But who is that hooded figure that keeps popping up anyway?"
"Um, I saw him.... in the fire...... once they fell to the ground...." Zachary said. They all looked at him, and they knew what he meant.
"Are you sure?" Twilight asked. Zachary just nodded in response. She had a look of worry now on her face.
"Come on, everypony, lets get out of here." Twilight said. They all began to walk out of the house and down the stairs. Zachary was ridding on Twilights back, when a thought popped into Twilights head.
Does Zachary consider me his mom? Twilight thought to herself He doesn't call me mom, but he does treat me like one... And he did say "New Family" On his drawing...... She thought about it some more... as they walked off down the path.
1977....
John was outside, playing with some of his toys that his mom just bought him. There were just some action figures. Suddenly, a bright light had appeared, and a pocket watch felled out of it.
"Wow, what is that?" Young John asked, in amazement. He picked up the watch, before heading inside the house. "Mom, there is a pocket watch that I found." His mom, then came out of the room, and gasped.
"Johnny, where did you find that?!" His mother asked.
"It was on the lawn." He replied. His mother could tell when he was lying, but this wasn't one of those times.
"Well, you can keep it." His mother said.
"Really?" John asked, and his mother nodded her head.
"Thank you!" He said. He rushed up the stairs and into his room. "I'm going to keep you inside a box, so no one will take you, alright?" Hw got no response, as he set the watch in the plastic box.
"Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" John asked. He shrugged it off.
"Probably nothing." John said, as he ran out of the room, wanting to go back, and play with his toys.