//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 // Story: Fractured Memories // by cccvvvttt //------------------------------// "Ow..." Zachary groaned as he started to awake from his sleep. He sat up, looking at his surroundings. He could only let out a small gasp, realizing where he was. He was back at his room, back in the house that was in his world. "How did I get back here....?" He wondered. Everything was in the exact order he had left it in. The room was dirty, clothes were thrown all over the floor, his sheets tangled with his legs, and the small TV his father allowed in his room was still on, showing a dark blue screen. The fact that he was back here without him knowing how he even got back there is strange enough, but there was another thing he noticed. Something that he didn't remember being there before. The pillow he had. Whilst the pillow looked normal, it felt wet. Since his father never allowed him to drink in his room from what he did remember, it didn't make sense on why it would be wet. "I guess I can try to leave..." Zachary said to himself. He got up, walking towards the door. He felt the cold air on his face as soon as the door was opened. The hallway looked nice as if someone had just cleaned it. He started to walk into the hall, an uneasy feeling creeping up his spine. He took in a deep breath, before walking into the hallway. It didn't take him long before he found an old radio, sitting on a desk. "Where did that come from...?" He wondered. "I don't remember having that..." There was a soft noise that was too quiet to comprehend. Seeing the knob for the volume, he turned it up and was surprised at what he heard. 'It has been a few months since the disappearance of Zachary Baker, a six-year-old child living in Lompoc in the state of California. So far, there have been no leads to where he disappeared to. Law enforcement suggests him to be a runaway, due to the fact that...' Before the newsman could finish, the radio cut out completely, and all that was left was static. "So they know that I'm missing...? That's shocking..." Zachary said before a look of disbelief crossed his face. "Of course they know I'm missing! I've been in Equestria for a few months, why wouldn't they know I'm missing...?" He shrugged off his thoughts as he continued forward, seeing a door at the end of the hall, along with something else. A noise of something groaning. "What the...?" Zachary stuttered, gulping the lump in his throat down, before moving on. The noise got louder the closer he got to the door. He could tell that it was coming from his right. When the noise became as loud as it could, it suddenly stopped, making Zachary freeze. He turned to look to his right and gasped. The monster that he had seen in a previous dream was standing at the end in the middle of the hall, which seemed to be wider than any normal hall. The creature, however, looked like any normal human being. The only difference is that his face was slightly blurred, making him seem faceless. In front of him on the floor, was broken glass that looked like it came from a bottle, though there were only a few pieces. "Is it going to hurt me...?" He wondered, but before he could even say anything to the monster, it vanished into thin air, leaving Zachary access to the door it was standing in front of. He just stayed there, frozen for a bit, not knowing what he could really do at that point. The only thing he could do was go through the door. So, that's what he did. He walked up to it slowly, eventually reaching it. When he opened it, however, he was once again shocked by what he saw. He saw that he was at the beginning of the hallway again. "What...? But how...?" He turned around to go back, to see if the beginning leads to his room or the door that he found. When he did, however, all he saw was a pitch black darkness. So, he could only continue moving forward at this point. When he walked in, the hallway looked different. It looked a lot less clean than before. The walls had some sort of mole on them, barely noticeable, but still there. There was some debris on the floor, but there wasn't a lot. The hallway still looked somewhat decent. He continued the same path seeing the same things he saw before, including the radio. It was telling the same news story, but it sounded more distorted. When he got to the place the monster was standing, he appeared again. This time, the clothes that it was wearing were torn, with some sort of stains in them, there were some cuts on its arms and legs, drawing out a red substance. The face was even more blurred out than before, with one belt tied tightly around its head. The sharp blade sticking from the side of its torso was causing it pain, yet it didn't make a single sound. There was even more broken glass in front of it then before as well. With a gulp, Zachary started walking towards it, a smell of something rotting crept up into his nostrils. When he was in front of the monster, it didn't do anything provoking, so Zachary had no trouble getting around it. He walked up to the door, a crack running down the center of it. He pushed it opened slightly, his eyes growing wide at what he saw. The hallway was now a complete wreck. The mold was covering the majority of the walls, the debris was everywhere, and it felt like the floor would give out under his feet at any moment, causing his moment to be slower than it normally is. When he reached where the radio was, there was nothing but loud static. It was starting to get to a point where it was unbearable. He tried to turn it off, but the button wouldn't work. He tried unplugging it, but the noise still persisted. He had enough at this point, so he picked up the radio and with one throw, managed to break it completely. Zachary began to feel dizzy. It came out of nowhere and as soon as it happened, it stopped. "Why is this happening to me...?" He asked himself, wishing that someone would get him out of here, but something told him that no one was going to try and save him. That he would be left in this place to rot. To be forgotten. The idea of that happening made the poor child shudder from fear. He wanted to turn around and run. To try and escape from this hallway, but the darkness was behind him, stopping him from doing that. "I just want to go back to Twilight..." Zachary whimpered out, before taking in a breath, continuing his way down the hallway. He once again found himself face with the monster and once again, its appearance changed again. There were an added two belts added on the head of the creature. Its clothes were none existent at this point, there were even more cuts and bruises and the flesh on its skin was beginning to rot, and the one blade that was in his torso multiplied all over its body. The glass in front of it also multiplied, this time the pieces were stained along with the monster. Zachary walked past the monster again, getting to the door. When he tried to open it, however, it was locked. "W-what...?" He whispered to himself. "How could it be locked?! It wasn't locked all the other times, why is it now. Please let me out!" He pleaded, but the only thing that heard him was the monster, who turned to face him. Zachary didn't turn around in time, as he felt himself getting impaled by the blade on its torso. He let out a scream, one that nobody heard. Zachary let out a gasp, as he frantically looked around the room. It was just a dream. Once he realized this, he let out a relieved sigh. "Why do I keep having this nightmare...?" He wondered. He hated his night terrors. They would only seem to come on random occasions, and barely any of them seemed to be at all related. He decided to just try and forget about it and go downstairs. Before he could even make it out the door, it opened, revealing Twilight, along with her five friends, and Spike. "Oh... You're already awake..." Twilight said, her voice sounded worried, but Zachary didn't know why. "Twilight... Is something wrong...?" Zachary asked. Twilight let out a deep sigh, before saying. "Zachary... We found a spell... One that will let you go back to your world." Zachary didn't expect that to happen> He was quite frankly shocked to learn this. "Really?" Twilight simply nodded. "Yeah... It needs the power of four alicorns, so we have to get Celestia, Luna, and Cadence first." She said. She looked away from the child, before looking back, tears threatening to escape from her eyes. That's when Zachary figured out what was wrong. "Twilight..." Zachary was cut off when he was pulled into a tight fuzzy embrace. "I'm going to miss you..." She said. Zachary realized that if he went back to his world, there was a chance that he would never see her again or any of them for that matter. "Me too..." Zachary said, hugging back, also feeling tears fall from his eyes. The rest of them joined in the hug, a hug that they stayed in for a while. When they did eventually break it, they all looked at each other. "Alright.," Twilight said, looking at Spike. "Write a letter to Celestia telling her that we need her, along with Luna and Cadence to get Zachary back home to his Family. Zachary felt his world crash when she said that. He felt his body become numb to all other emotions except for one. Fear. "No... No No No No NO!" He started shouting, placing his hands on the sides of his head, trying to stop the flashes of memories that started when Twilight said that word. Everypony in the room was looking at him, all with confusion. "What's wrong, Sugarcube?" Applejack asked. Before she could get a response, Zachary ran out of the room. He ran down the stairs and out through the door, while Twilight and her friends just stood there in shock. "What just happened...?" Rainbow eventually broke the silence. "Shoot! We have to get him!" Twilight said, not knowing why they didn't stop him from running out. They tried to quickly follow suit with him, but by the time they were already out of the library, he was already gone, leaving the mane six confused. "Why would he run away from us...?" Twilight asked herself, nopony however, had the answer to that question. As Zachary ran out of Ponyville and towards the Everfree forest, he was blinded by flashes of memories. Memories that he has forgotten and were now coming back to him with a powerful force. He was about to enter the forest when a voice behind him stopped him. "Oh, look who it is." Diamond chuckled, as she saw Zachary turn around in a panic. She had followed him when she saw him leaving the town. "Why are you out here at this time of night. Don't you know that they're dangerous things in there, or are you just too stupid to care?" Zachary fell to his knees, gripping the sides of his head, trying to get the flashing to stop. "Diamond Tiara... I don't care about anything that you say to me!" Zachary shouted, getting back up. "I don't care about your insults, I don't care about the way you treat me, and I don't care about you! Get that through your thick skull before you drive me crazy with your: "Oh look, I'm making fun of ponies because I'm rich and I can get away with it." logic!" With that, Zachary ran towards the forest, leaving a shocked and confused Diamond Tiara. As he ran into the forest, the flashed in his mind seemed to fade the deeper he got in. The flashes eventually stopped, causing him to stop running as well. He started taking in breaths, whilst looking around the area he found himself in. That's when he realized that Diamond was right. He did run into the Everfree forest. "Oh no..." He said as he started frantically looking around, only to realize that he was lost. "No... Why did I have to run away?! Now I'm lost and they'll probably never find me in here. I'm probably going to get eaten by one of those Timberwolves things!" Zachary felt like he was about to cry. He didn't want to get trapped in here. That's when he heard the noise. The sound of heavy footsteps that broke the silence made Zachary intimidated by them. He quickly hid behind a tree, hoping that whatever was making the noise wasn't aware of his presence. That was crushed when he felt an arm from behind the tree grab his throat. "Ah... No!" Zachary struggled, trying to fight his way out of the grip. Eventually, he managed to break free, but when he turned around to see his attacker, he froze. The monster from his nightmares revealed itself, looking the same as it did when it attacked him in his last nightmare. "You're real?!" Zachary shouted, but he didn't have time to stand around. He had to escape from the demon. He started running, the monster quickly following behind him. "Someone, please help!!!!" The monster was gaining on him. The closer it got, the more Zachary feared for his life. He made a turn, getting off of the trail and falling into a ditch. The monster luckily didn't see him go off the trail as it looked around with confusion. Even though his lungs were burning, he held in his breath, not wanting to reveal his position. Luckily for him, he didn't have to hold it long, as the monster ran down the trail, thinking Zachary had somehow outrun him. He took in a breath, finally being able to relax after the ordeal. "How is that thing even real?!" Zachary asked himself. "I thought it was only in my nightmares..." He stopped talking once he realized the situation. "Oh no, I ran away from Twilight! Why did I do that?! She doesn't know where I am or that there's a monster chasing me!" His breathing became heavier as he looked around the area, trying to see something that might calm him down. The only thing he saw was the darkness, with some light coming from the moon, though it was mostly blocked by the large trees. "I have to find my way out of here somehow. I know that I will-" His head throbbed with pain as more flashes of light crossed his vision. He tried to get up, ignoring the pain. He manages to get on his feet, but it was hard to bear the pain due to everything that happened. As he made his way through the forest, the flashes became less and less frequent. This would have made Zachary feel better, is it weren't for the voices of someone familiar speaking to him. You're worthless. Pathetic. I wish you never came into my life. The voice sounded like an older male. 'Who's there?" Zachary shouted. His shouts were answered by more harsh words. You bring nothing good to this world. You should have never been born. If I could go back, I would have just left you on the side of the street, to be forgotten by everyone. No one truly loves you. Zachary gripped his head tightly, trying to silence the voice. "Stop it Stop it Stop it!!!" It seemed to work, as he could no longer hear anything. He felt relief as he was about to continue his journey, only to be greeted by the same voice, but this time what it said was different. Believe in yourself. Don't let those bullies at school get you down. You're amazing, don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. This made him confused, the voice was just mocking him a minute ago, now it was being nice to him? "Where are you? Why were you saying those mean things?" Zachary asked looking around to find the location, but couldn't find it anywhere. He felt his head start to throb again, as the voices continued. Worthless Great Pathetic Amazing Wish you were never born Don't listen to the bullies. I hate you Zachary I love you Zachary Zachary! Zachary... Zachnary!!!! "STOP!!!!!" He screamed to the top of his lungs, hoping to silence the voices. However, because he did that, the monster easily found him. It didn't make its presence known until it pulled a blade out from its torso. Sneaking up behind the young child, he took the blade and used it to slash his cheek, nearly avoiding his eyes. Zachary let out a scream of pain, falling back, looking up at the creature as red liquid poured from his cheek. The monster took a few steps back, Zachary wanted to run, but it seemed that his legs failed him. The creature shook its head before a deep quiet voice came from it. "No more regret..." It said, before lunging at the poor child, who just barely managed to dodge its attack. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to stop it. Thankfully for Zachary, his legs decided to start working again. He got up and bolted in the other direction. He picked up a rock and chucked it at the monsters head, stunning it for a bit. Zachary managed to keep running until he got to a cliff. "No..." He said as he realized he was cornered. He thought that he was going to die here. That no one would find him, that he would never see Twilight or her friends again. He would never taste Pinkie Pie's treats, or help Fluttershy take care of her animals, or even have a bedtime story read to him by Twilight. It seemed like all of those things were going to happen anyway, since they were about to send him back to his world. Zachary quickly turned around after hearing the monster's footsteps, only to be greeted by the atrocity itself. "No... P-please don't hurt me!" He shouted, but the monster didn't listen. Instead, it grabbed Zachary by the throat and pulled him up, turning around to walk back into the forest. He struggled against the monsters strong grip, trying to punch him where his face would be, hoping it was some sort of weak spot. Before it could start walking, Zachary managed to grab onto one of the belts around its head. He managed to get it off, which seemed to hurt it. The monster let out a screech of pain, before dropping the child. It backed up, gripping its head. It backed off to the edge of the cliff before it lost its balance. With nothing to grab onto, it plummeted off, letting out one last scream, before becoming silent. Zachary took in a bunch of breaths, before realizing the pain all over his body was now gone. He placed a hand on his cheek, the one that the monster slashed. The weird thing was that the cut was no longer there. "What...? B-but how?" He asked himself. Deciding that he didn't want to know, he turned back, walking back, hoping that maybe he could find his way out without any more trouble. "Why would he run in there?" Twilight asked as she looked at the entrance to the Everfree forest. "Why would he run away at all?" Rainbow replied. After Zachary ran off, they all went looking for him. They thought he might be somewhere in Ponyville, but they eventually found out that wasn't the case. Diamond Tiara had told them that he ran into the Everfree forest. "Ah don't know, but there might be something wrong with him." Applejack said. Twilight looked at her friend, with a worried expression. "Yeah, and after that letter from Luna telling us about his most recent one, I also think that there might be something wrong." She replied. "All I care about right now is finding him. He could be hurt out there." Spike walked up to her, with a confident smile. "Don't worry. I'm sure he's fine." He said, trying to reassure her. "We'll get him back." Twilight smiled at him, appreciating his words. "Alright then," She said, with a sigh. "Let's go and find him." They all nodded, before running into the forest. It didn't take long to find him. He was walking down the trail, with his head down. He was going slow and didn't even notice them until he looked up. As soon as he saw them, his face light up, as he ran up to Twilight, hugging her. "Twilight. I'm so happy you're here!" He said, the purple pony hugging back. "I'm so happy to see you!" She replied relief washed over her knowing Zachary didn't get hurt. She pulled away from the hug, putting on a serious expression. "But, why did you run away? We were all worried!" Zachary looked away for a bit. He really didn't want to tell her. He knew what those flashes were now. After the monster fell off the cliff, he knew what they were, now Twilight wanted to know and he didn't want to see how she would react. He let out a deep sigh, looking up at her. "Because... I remembered. I remember everything. Zachary was in his room, just like he was on most days. He was trying to avoid one person, but that never worked. It certainly wasn't about to work today either. "Zachary, get in here now!" He cringed at hearing the voice. He let out a sigh, before getting up. Leaving his room and going down the hallway, he saw his father, with his favorite beer in his hand. The same beer that ruined him. "Yes, sir?" He asked, not wanting to stay there any longer. His father had an angry expression on his face. Zachary could tell that he had too much to drink. His father pointed at a large stain in the rug. "Would you mind telling me what this is?!" He asked, making Zachary sigh. "That stain has been there for a week and I already told you that I can't get it out." He said. Even though his voice was calm, his father didn't see it that way. "No, it hasn't!" He shouted, making Zachary back up against a wall. "If it was there for a week, then why haven't I noticed it before?" Zachary just remained silent, as his father looked at him. "I know why, it's because you're stupid! You are the dumbest person I have ever met! You slip up on something as a stain in the rug!" Zachary was now getting scared. "But I do everything you ask me to!" He said, almost shouting. "Why are you so-" His last sentence was cut off when the bottle of beer his father indulged on was thrown at him. Zachary managed to dodge it, but as it shattered against the wall, one of the shards nearly cut his cheek. Once his father realized what he had done, he stepped back a little, before shaking his head, whispering something too quiet for him to hear. He looked up at his child, with the same anger. "Get out of here and don't you even think about coming back until it gets dark!" His father shouted, before leaving the room. Zachary could fell tears trying to escape from his eyes, but he wouldn't let them. He decided to try and think positively. He could go on a walk and who knows. Maybe he could end up in a better place, or at least stay away from his father for a little bit. There was one place that never failed to make him feel better. The library. He grabbed his membership card, before heading out. Hopefully, things would be better for him. Hopefully. To say that Twilight was shocked would be an understatement. She was horrified. Never has she or any of her friends heard about such cruelty towards a child. How could someone do that? She could only look down at the child, who was just a crying mess. "He... He did so many other horrible things to me." Zachary said, falling to the ground. "He hit me with his belts, he would call me the worst person in the world, and just a lot of other things!" He got up and looked back at her. "I'm so sorry I ran away. The memories just kept coming back, and I panicked!" He looked away again, tears falling from his eyes. "I think he was right... I did deserve everything that happened to me and I should feel ashamed for thinking otherwise. No one in my world wants me." Twilight felt something shift in her once again as she opened her wings and pulled him into a tight embrace. "Hey, it's okay... Don't cry." She said softly, as he buried his face into her chest. "Zachary, whatever the reason he had for doing this to you, you didn't deserve it. No colt deserves to be treated that way, that goes especially for you. You're one of the nicest colts I've ever met. So don't ever think that you deserved that treatment at all." Zachary looked up at her, then at all of her friends. "Yeah kid, you don't deserve that. You're super cool, don't let anyone else tell you otherwise." Rainbow said. TGhe others nodded in agreement. They all had mostly the same things to say. Zachary couldn't really listen though, as he was filled with happiness from their words and the way they said them. He smiled at them, before saying. "Thank you..." "Of course!" Pinkie said. "We should throw another party now that you don't have to leave!" They all laughed. "Yeah, but we should talk about it later, alright?" Twilight said as they all nodded in agreement. She looked back down at Zachary, a soft smile still upon her face. "Come on Zachary, let's go home."