The walk back to the library felt longer than when they went to the Everfree forest. Maybe that was because they weren't running, or something else. Whatever the reason, Twilight along with her friends made it back to the library, after learning the truth about Zachary, who was on Twilights back, staring up at the sky. There was a question that was bugging his mind.
"What's going to happen now...?" He asked himself, not realizing that he said it out loud. Twilight face turned to one of uncertainty. She truly didn't know what to do with Zachary.
"I'm not sure..." Twilight replied. "Do you know anyone in your world that could take care of you?" Zachary shook his head.
"No... No one ever paid any attention to me. The only person I ever really talked with was my father..." Zachary said, shuddering at the thought of him and that monster he encountered. Twilight felt something inside of her, which she could not understand.
"Don't worry." She said, with care inside of her voice. "I'm sure we can figure something out. Everything will be alright." Zachary just nodded and stayed silent for the rest of the walk. It didn't take too much longer for them to get back to the library, but once they did, Zachary had already fallen asleep on Twilights back. She looked back at him with a sigh, before heading up the stairs to her room along with Spike, who was struggling to stay awake.
"Twilight... Is it alright if I go to bed?" Spike asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah," Twilight replied. "If he wakes up, then tell him we're downstairs." She put Zachary under the covers, making sure he was in a comfortable position, before looking back at Spike. "I need to talk with my friends..." With that, she headed back downstairs. As she walked, she had both the feeling of relief and uncertainty. She was happy that they found him before anything bad happened, but at the same time, she wasn't sure what the experience would do to him. She never heard of anything like his situation before, what he had been through before he came to Equestria. How would it affect his mind?
"Do you think he's going to be okay?" Twilight could hear one of her friends talking as she finally made it back to them.
"How do you think he's doing Twilight?" Fluttershy was the first to ask. Twilight looked at her friends. the uncertainty she felt was clear.
"I... I can't be sure..." She replied, looking down at the ground. "It's hard to believe that anypony or anyone could go through something that horrible..." She sighed, looking back up at her friends. "Now... I don't even know what to do..."
"Well, we can't send him back to his world anymore." Applejack said. "He said it himself, he doesn't have nopony else there." They all looked at each other, trying to think of something, anything that could work. That's when Twilight remembered what happened a little while ago. She tried reading a book on how to raise foals, but after remembering that they would have to send him back, she had completely forgotten about it.
"Girls," Twilight said, getting their attention. "Zachary has been through a lot and you're right AJ, we can't send him back." She stopped for a moment. "That's why I think I should let him stay here with us... So that maybe we could be his family..." She wasn't sure how her friends would respond, but after looking at their faces, she could tell that they agreed.
"I think that's a great idea Twilight." Applejack said.
"Yeah!" Rainbow started. "We could be there for him and always make sure he's alright, unlike that jerk father of his..." The thought of his father just made Rainbow want to kick him in the face.
"I could throw him birthday parties, invite him to parties, and he could even help me with parties!" Pinkie Pie said, jumping up and down with excitement.
"I could make new clothes for him." Rarity said. While it might be a challenge since she had only done dresses for ponies, she had confidence that she could do it.
"I'm sure that he would fit in with everyone else, even if he isn't a pony," Fluttershy said, with a smile.
"Ah agree," Applejack said. "We'll all make sure nothing bad ever happens to him." Twilight looked at her friends, a grateful smile was present on her face.
"Alright... If you girls don't mind... I think he should stay with me since he has been staying here."
"Of course we don't mind." Applejack said. "Besides, ah think he would also like to stay with you." Twilight nodded.
"Thank you, girls." She said as they all got into a group hug. "Do you want to have a sleepover tonight?" They all nodded. "Alright then, we can sleep in my room. There are some sleeping bags up there." She turned around, heading up to her bedroom, her friends following behind. Once they got there, she got them from under her bed. They were about to set up, but they stopped when they heard Zachary mumble something in his sleep.
"I wish someone cared about me..." Twilight along with her friends. They didn't know what to make of it until Twilight spoke up
"Sweetie..." She said softly, walking towards the bed. "Somepony does care about you. Me and my friends... Please don't ever forget that." They all joined Twilight, surrounded the child as if comforting him. After a while, they all went to set up. Twilight didn't need a sleeping bag. She crawled into bed with the child, holding him into an embrace. As they shared the bed, sleep manage to reach Twilight, along with everypony else in the room.
Zachary once again found himself in another horrible situation. This time, there was just darkness all around him. He couldn't move, all his nerves stopped working. What made things even worse is that his father was somehow in front of him.
"H-how did you get here...?" Zachary asked, trying to back up, but his nerves betrayed him.
"Shut up..." His father replied, in a mumbly slur. "Why did you have to come and ruin my life...? I was happy, but you just wouldn't stop crying... Now your mother is gone... all thanks to you..." Zachary was shaking by then, not knowing what to do.
"I'm... Sorry..." Zachary replied, fear being his strongest emotion.
"No one cares about you and no one ever will." His father replied. "You'll just be forgotten."
"I wish someone cared about me..." Zachary said, curling up into a ball. His father walked towards him.
"It's such a shame... I wasted six years of my life trying to care for you. I don't know where you are now, but I hope I never see you again, you worthless child." That's when Zachary heard a voice that sounded familiar.
"Sweetie... Somepony does care about you. Me and my friends... Please don't ever forget that." Zachary felt like he had a revelation, as he stood up and looked his father straight into the eye.
"No, you're wrong. I'm not worthless. Maybe there are no people who would care about me, but I've met new friends that aren't humans do care about me." Zachary said walking towards his father. "I'm not going to let you hurt me anymore. You're no longer in my life, I'll just forget you even exist." He was now standing right in front of his father, his face was unreadable.
".........." His father remained in silence.
"Aren't you going to say anything...?" Zachary asked, finding that the silence was unsettling.
"..... You're such an idiot..." His father replied. Zachary was about to ask what he meant, but he was cut off when he felt a pair of strong hands grab his shirt. He gasped as he was suddenly lifted off the ground and came into eye level with his father.
"Do you honestly think I can't hurt you anymore? Just because I won't be there, doesn't mean you'll just be able to forget about me. I'll stay in your mind forever. I will still torment you with memories that I won't let you forget."Zachary started shaking, whilst trying to escape the strong grip.
"I W I L L M A K E S U R E Y O U N E V E R F O R G E T!!"
Zachary once again awoke with a gasp. He looked around, the only light in the room was coming from Luna's moon. He let out a sigh, knowing that he was once again safe. He felt something warm and fuzzy against him. He came to know this as Twilight's fur, whenever she would have him into a hug. Still, though, that dream he had was disturbing to him. He wanted to forget about his father. He wanted to forget and have it never come to his mind again, but he knew that most likely wouldn't happen. All he could do now is try to go back to sleep, as more and more memories of his father came back to him. He would try to ignore it, after all, it was the only thing he could do.
"Hey Zachary, wake up." He could hear Twilight's voice talking to him. He groaned, opening his eyes, looking up to see Twilight smiling. "How did you sleep last night?" His vision fully came back to him, as he looked and saw that Celestia's sun was now raised, shining down upon Equestria.
"I slept good last night, I guess." He replied, getting out of bed. Twilight kept her smile, as Zachary got onto his feet. "What time is it...?"
"1:30." She replied. Zachary had a look of shock on his face.
"I slept in that long?!" He asked, making Twilight nod. "Wow... How come you guys didn't wake me up?"
"We were getting something ready at Sugarcube Corner for you," Twilight responded. "Sorry we didn't wake you up, but we wanted to keep it a surprise." Zachary nodded, understanding.
"So when are we going?" Zachary asked.
"We're going right now. We've got everything ready for you." Twilight replied. Zachary nodded, wondering what the surprise could be.
Maybe it's another party Pinkie decided to throw. Who knows... He thought. Twilight left the room to let him get dressed. As soon as he got his PJ's off and his normal clothes on, he looked at the mirror, seeing his reflection. Though, something about seeing it this time seemed different.
"What's so different about this one...?" He said to himself. He just couldn't put his finger on it.
Something's going to be different...
Walking to SugarCube Corner, Twilight and Zachary were making small talk about stuff like books and some other things. Both were nervous, Zachary was nervous for the surprise. He was curious about what the surprise would hold for him. Twilight was nervous if he would even like the surprise at all.
"We're here," Twilight said, looking at the building in front of them. Zachary could smell frosting and hear soft whispers from inside the building. It was just as he thought. A surprise party. "Are you ready?" Zachary only nodded, as Twilight opened the door. Inside, the light's were all turned off, but as soon as he stepped inside, the light's went on, revealing the rest of the main six, along with Spike.
"SURPRISE!!!" They all shouted. Zachary looked around and saw confetti scattered across the floor, balloons were floating up to the ceiling. There was a banner, with words that said something Zachary didn't expect.
Welcome Home
This made Zachary go into a small shock. Twilight said the party was for him, so he managed to connect the two.
"This... is for me?" He asked, making all them say 'Yeah. Twilight walked over to her friends, turning to face Zachary.
"Zachary, when I first met you, you were so scared and alone." Twilight started. "I've grown attached to you. I've felt the need to protect you. To... raise you..." She stopped, levitating a folder over to him. He grabbed it and looked at it. The word on it said "Adoption".
"Wait, you mean...?" Zachary said but stopped when he saw Twilight give a small nod.
"I want to adopt you." She simply said. Zachary couldn't move, he was in too much shock. They all gave him a concerned look.
"Are you-" Twilight was cut off by Zachary running up to her, and hugging her. This threw her off guard, but she soon smiled, as she hugged back.
"Can I call you... Mommy?" He asked, now it was Twilight's turn to be shocked. It quickly went away as she replied.
"Of course you can, sweetie."
"I love you, mommy," Zachary said softly.
"I love you too sweetie," Twilight replied. "Mommy loves you too..." They all gathered around to get into a hug.
Maybe my dad was wrong Zachary thought, remembering his dream. Maybe I can move on from what happened to him. Maybe I can have a better life Zachary said, a smile coming across his face.
Things will get better