//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Fractured Memories // by cccvvvttt //------------------------------// Zachary walked to the house, a look of pain and sadness was clear on his small face. He opened the door, letting himself in. Sixth graders had called him horrible names and said other stuff to him. They said stuff like he was a waste of fresh air, nobody liked him, and that he shouldn't even go to the school because he was a lost cause. His father was sitting on the couch, reading the daily newspaper that had arrived only a few moments ago. Since the electricity was out because of a storm the other night, he couldn't watch TV or use his laptop. He looked up from the paper and could tell that there was something wrong with the small child. "Hey kid, what's wrong?" He asked the tone of his voice was a concerned one. His son looked up at him, with a tear coming out of the corner of his eye. "Those Six graders were saying mean things to me..." He started. "They... They said that I was a lost cause and shouldn't even go to school and that I-I was a waste of fresh air..." His father put his hand up to his chin in thought. It was true that he knew a lot of bullies at the school since this wasn't the first time this happened. The last time it did happen, he said to tell the teachers and that would get them to stop, but he guess the teachers didn't really do much. He got up from his comfy couch and walked over to his son. He got down to eye level with him, with a small smile forming. "Those teachers didn't do anything the last time you told them?" He asked, and Zachary shooked his head. "All they did was tell them to stop and to be nice to me, but that just made it worse I think...." He replied. His father came up with an idea that might make the bullying stop. "Son Listen," He started. "Those bullies don't know what they're talking about. They think that just because they're bigger than you means that they're better than you, but let me tell you something. They're not. You should stand up to those bullies. If they want to smack talk you, then smack talk them back." Zachary looked away in thought, thinking about it. He did want to say stuff to them back, but he never knew what to say. "But what do I tell them?" He asked. "What if they start to beat me up, or call me dumb again?" His father smiled at him, before getting up. "I can teach you what to say." He said, before thinking of another thing he could do. "If those bullies call you dumb again, then prove them wrong. Become smarter than them and prove that they're the dumb ones." Zachary nodded. "Alright, I guess I can do that." He replied, making his father smile. "Good, now come over here, and I'll teach you a few comebacks." They walked over to the couch and started practicing some things he could say. I will prove that I'm smarter than them. I'll read and study hard. Zachary thought as he and his father began to practice what he could say to those bullies, which would hopefully end the torment they've been giving him. As Zachary, along with the mane six walked down the pathway, he remembered. He remembered that he did get bullied and his dad did help him to defend himself from the said bullies. He looked up at Twilight, who was walking along with him. She did tell him that if he remembered anything, to tell her. So he did. "Hey, Twilight..." He started, getting her attention. "I remembered something that happened in my world... Something my dad taught me..." Her face seemed to lit up once he told her. "Really? What did he teach you?" She asked the eagerness in her voice could not be mistaken. "Well, when I was in school, I would get bullied by these six graders." Zachary started. "They would just call me mean names and make me feel bad about myself." Twilight looked down at him, a look of worry on her face. "That's awful." She replied as the child continued. "I told the teachers, but they wouldn't listen to me because these kids were really well most of the time. Since they couldn't do anything, my dad told me I had to stand up for myself. He taught me what to say whenever they would say those things to me. I just remembered that day I came home and he taught me." He finally finished. Twilight seemed intrigued by the way his father taught him to stand up for himself. But how did this memory just come back to him? Surely there was a reason. Then she remembered seeing those two fillies she heard were bullies with them. "Were those two fillies making fun of you?" Twilight asked. "The pink and grey one?" Zachary nodded his head in return. "Yeah, they were making fun of... The CMC'S were they?" Twilight nodded in response. "So those two were making fun of them and then I started to feel something. It was like this burning anger just rising up in me, so, I stood up to them." He said, still not sure why that feeling came over him. Twilight smiled at him. "Well, it's always good to stand up to a bully." She replied. "Bullies are just ponies looking for attention." Zachary nodded his head with agreement. "Yeah..." He replied. "Do you remember anything else?" She asked, Zachary, shaking his head. Twilight was a little disappointed but was still happy that she did get more information about what Zachary's home life was like. "So, where are we going next?" Zachary asked, causing Pinkie's face a lit up with an idea. "Oh, we can go to Sugar Cube Corner!" Pinkie said with enthusiasm. "I don't think the cakes are there right now, so we can just hang out there and we'll get to know him even more!" Twilight wasn't sure, however. She still wanted to show him around so he could get to know everypony, but getting to know him better seemed like a good option as well. "Alright, if it's alright with Zachary that is," Twilight replied, looking down at him, waiting for an answer. Zachary thought about it for a bit, before deciding he would rather get to know these ponies better first before he met a whole lot of other ponies. "Yeah, I guess we can go to Suger Cube Corner." He replied, which made Pinkie's day. "Yipee, come on, let's go!" She said, starting to bounce with her movements. Zachary wondered how she could have so much energy and never seem to run out of it. That didn't seem to matter all that much, as they continued their way down the path. It didn't take that long to make it to the small bakery. On the way, as expected, there were a few ponies who took notice of Zachary but didn't really seem to mind that much. When they reached the bakery, Pinkie held the door opened for them. It was empty, due to the fact it was close, as the cakes were taking a vacation with their foals. They sat down at a booth that was big enough to fit all of them. "So," Twilight began. "Zachary told me on the way here that he remembered his father teaching him how to stand up to bullies that were, well bullying him." The small child nodded his head. "Dude, bullies are like the worst thing ever!" Rainbow Dash said, remembering standing up for Fluttershy back in flight school. "Don't let them drag you down. You're most likely better than them." "Thanks, Rainbow Dash," Zachary replied, appreciating her words of encouragement. "No problem kid." She replied, with a smirk. Twilight looked at Zachary, noticing his tattered torn clothes. "Hey Rarity, do you think you can make him an extra set of clothes?" Twilight asked. "It must be uncomfortable in those ones and I don't think he wants to take them off." Zachary shook his head, confirming that. Rarity's face lit up at this. "Oh why yes, of course, I can make an extra pair for him!" She replied. "I would need to measure his body size and all of those other things I need to do. It might take some time to make a lot of other pairs, but just one pair I could be done with it within a half hour... Probably..." That's when Pinkie's face lit up as well. "Hey, we should also plan a party for him!" She said with enthusiasm. "Pinkie, you've already mentioned that you wanted to do that... Several times..." Twilight replied, looking at her friend, making the pink pony giggle. "I know, but we still should plan it!" Pinkie said. "Well, alright then, let's talk about it," Twilight replied. As they started talking, Zachary looked around at them, with a small smile forming on his face. It had only been a day since he met all of them and already they were throwing a party. He wasn't sure, but he thought he never met anyone like that in his world. They're so nice Then, he looked down at the table, which had been cleaned shiny right before the cakes left, allowing him to see his reflection in the table. "We should invite ponies so they can meet him and we can put out snacks and balloons and stuff like that!" Pinkie said, breaking Zachary from his thoughts. "Yeah, but maybe we should ask him what he wants..." Fluttershy suggested, causing all of them to turn their attention towards him. "Yeah, what do you want for the party little fella?" Applejack asked. Zachary thought about it. He didn't really want or need that much. "I don't really mind." He replied. "You can do what you normally do when making a party... I guess. I don't want to seem spoiled or anything..." Twilight shook her head at that statement. "Don't worry, you're not spoiled, we just want you to have a good time here in Equestria." She started. "If you want though, we can have some decorations up and invite some other ponies you can meet." Zachary nodded, agreeing with that idea. "But we still need to know where it will be at... and what time..." Spike finally spoke up. "Right, Pinkie, how much time do you need to get this ready?" Twilight asked. Pinkie giggled. "I could have it ready in a matter of seconds if I wanted to, but I would still need to send out invitations, so I would say around tomorrow noon would be good." She replied. "Alright, do you girls want to go to my boutique next so I can make him a new set of clothes?" Rarity asked. They all nodded in agreement, especially Spike, as they walked out of Sugar Cube Corner. Celestia's sun was no longer out, as Luna's moon shunned down upon them. After they wet to the boutique, everypony had something important they needed to do, so Twilight along Zachary and Spike of them went back to the library. The rest of the day was uneventful. Twilight sent a letter to Celestia informing her about Zachary, however, she hasn't responded to it yet. After that, they spent the rest of the say reading the first book in the Daring Doo series. Once the sun settled down and it became Luna's night, they all had dinner, everyone was tired. After doing some other things, they went to bed, Zachary falling asleep next to Twilight again. He, however, would not have a peaceful night. Zachary was standing at the door again. The door that lady entered in his last dream, where he saw the car wreck. The lady was nowhere in sight. Zachary seemed to have a shocked expression on his face, as he continued staring at the carnage. Suddenly, the door slammed shut and the entire room lit up. "What the..." Zachary mumbled as he looked around the torn up room. It looked like a small hotel room, with two beds and a tv on a desk. There were a mess papers on the mold covered floor, the torn up walls sent shivers down his spines. He looked at the two windows in the room, not being able to see anything through them but darkness. While one of the windows were shattered, the other one had a message scribbled onto it with a red marker. It said, "Don't leave the room, Zachary." The person who wrote had there name smeared below the message. However, he could only make out some of it due to it being smeared. The first letter was "W" though. Zachary froze as he heard the door behind him creak open. He turned around but saw no one. Outside the door, was a hallway. It looked familiar to him somehow, though he wasn't sure how it related to him. Seeing no other options, he walked out into it, despite the message warning him not to. As he walked out and down the straight hallway, there was a turn that he had to take in order to progress further into the hotel. As he turned the corner, he saw quick flashes. What he saw in them was a first-person point of view of him running down the hallway and into the elevator. He rubbed his eyes, making the vision leave his eyes. This hallway was shorter, but at the end of it, he saw an elevator, with a small screen on top, the number counting the floors the elevator passed. Once it hit the fifth floor, it stopped. Zachary just stood there, looking at the elevator with dismay. Then, the doors slowly creaked open and what he saw in there, made him want to scream. The thing was twitching uncontrollably. It looked humanoid, but he could tell it wasn't. There were four belts wrapped tightly around his head. It looked painful, but what looked like it hurt even more than the belts, were the sharp blade poking out all over its torso. It moved out of the elevator. After he passed one of the lights above him, it blew out, leaving the creature shrouded in darkness. At first, the light's going out were slow, but then, they suddenly began going faster. That's when Zachary found the ability to run again, as he bolted down the hallway, trying to escape the monster. The sounds of light bulbs shattering were growing and growing, which made Zachary feel hopeless of escaping it. He was so close, he just needed to reach the room and shut the door behind him, he just had to go a little further. But, he didn't make it in time. He felt the creature grab him into its cold grip, as he felt pain through his back. He screamed, but no one heard him, or so he thought. However, the shock from the nightmare was powerful enough to make him wake up. "What the... why is this happening to me?!" Zachary wondered as he looked at the pony sleeping next to him. "This is just like last night... Maybe something is wrong with me. Maybe Twilight can fix it... Yeah, I'll ask her tomorrow..." Zachary reassured himself, however, his body was too shaken up to let him go back to sleep. He didn't know that there was another pony who saw his dreams. One that was a blue Alicorn. One that he would probably meet tomorrow. Hopefully, she could help him into what is happening to him. Hopefully.