Capter 6: Wings, Princess Cadence, And A Ghostly Encounter
Wings, Princess Cadence, And A Ghostly Encounter
"Huh?" Spike let out in a surprised voice. "How could you know who one of these humans are? Zachary is the first human we ever met." Twilight looked back at the young child, and smiled. She looked back at Spike, who was still confused on how Twilight an idea on who one of these humans are. She then levitated a piece of paper that was on a desk, and handed it over to Spike.
"We found this paper while going out to breakfast." Twilight started to explain. "It's some sort of entry that a human wrote, The date on it say's that it was written in October of 1977, though, I don't even really know when that was." she put her hoof up to her chin in thought, before lowing back down again.
"I don't know why all of this is happening, but i do know one thing.." Twilight said, looking back at Zachary. "All of this started after Zachary came to Equestria, which can only mean that this is all connected with him somehow." Twilight took a breath.
"Wait, I thought Luna brought him here to save him from his abusive foster parents." Spike said, his mind not putting the pieces all together.
"Think about it, Spike.." Twilight began again. "Zachary's foster parents were very abusive towards him, but we don't know WHY they were like that, we don't know why Zachary keeps having these "Flashbacks" Remembering certain events that happened in his life, we don't know why that "pocket watch" brought his foster parents here, and we don't know why a note, that was most likely left by a human detective, is in this world in the first place." Twilight took another breath.
"The only thing that we do know, is that this is all connected with Zachary some how." Twilight finished, looking back at Zachary once again, then turned back to Spike, with a look of great sadness in her eye's. "But what ever the reason they had for hurting Zachary, i know that he did not deserve it, he's so young, and... your never supposed to treat somepony, or some human like that... ever...." She stopped for a moment, leaving Spike in shock, until she continued again.
"I can't let him get hurt again, he's already been through so much, and only for just a six year old, he wont get hurt again as long as I'm there to protect him.." Spike was just in shock. He didn't expect her to react like this, which also caught the attention of Zachary, but he didn't move. Spike went up to Twilight, and gave her a hug.
"Twilight, I need you to listen to me," Spike said, causing her to look down at the baby dragon. "You have been doing an excellent job taking care of him. You found him cold, and alone in this world, and you took him in, and you cared for him, you tried to heal all of his pain, and you saved him once already from his foster parents, you HAVE been protecting him." Twilight smiled, with tears of happiness, returning the hug.
"Oh, thank you so much, Spike." Twilight said, with great gratitude in her voice.
"Your welcome. Twilight." Spike replied, breaking the hug. "Come on, lets go back over to Zachary." Twilight nodded in response, as they made their way back over to Zachary. He looked up at them, and smiled.
"Hey.... Twilight.. and Spike..." Zachary said in a sort of low whisper.
"Hey, Zachary," Spike replied. "What were you two doing before I got here anyway?" Twilight looked down at the baby dragon.
"We were reading Daring Do And The Search For The Golden Key," Twilight said, "Would you like to join us?" Spike shook his head.
"No thanks," He started. "I haven't gotten the chance to actually read it yet, and i don't want to start you guys over." Twilight gave him a confused look.
"Are you sure? I mean, we don't mind.." Twilight was saying, but stopped when Spike cut her off.
"Nope, absolutely sure. Now, I should probably go get that spell ready, you know, the one you were planning on working on tonight?" Spike said. Twilight remembered that spell. She was planning on trying to do it tonight.
"Oh, right, but you don't..." Twilight was once again cut off by Spike.
"No really, it's fine. I'll go work on getting the spell ready for you, while you just read to Zachary." Spike said. Twilight was going to say that it didn't need to be ready until later, but he was already up the stairs. She wanted to go up there to see what was up, but she felt like Spike just wanted to be alone right now.
"Okay... well, Zachary." Twilight said, turning to Zachary. "How about we keep reading?" Zachary nodded his head in response. Twilight got back on they couch.
"What spell are you going to do, tonight?" Zachary asked, with curiosity in his voice. Twilight, with a warm smile, replied.
"It's just a spell that I've been wanting to do for some time now," Twilight said. "It's not important right now, though." Twilight levitated the book, and was about to start reading again, when she remembered something, or more like somepony.
"Hey, Zachary... did i ever tell you about my sister in law, Princess Cadence?" Twilight asked. Zachary, in response to this, shook his head. Twilight felt like face hoofing herself. How could she forget to tell him about Cadence's visit? She would never forget something like this, but then again, she has been busy with Zachary.
"Well, she might be arriving tonight from the crystal empire, I was going to tell you sooner, but I forgot." Twilight said, reassuringly. Zachary had some nervousness on his face.
"She... she's a Princess too?" Zachary asked Twilight, who in response, nodded her head.
"Yeah, and she is also my sister in law, and the Princess of Love." Twilight said, but then let out a disappointed sigh. "My brother, Shining Armor would have came too, but some pony had to watch over the Crystal Empire." Zachary looked up, with some uncertainty on his face.
"Don't worry, Zachary, I'm sure you'll love Cadence, she might be one of the most kindness pony's you'll ever meet." Twilight said, while pulling him into a small hug. They soon broke the hug though, and Zachary, with a more confident face, nodded.
"Alright.... I trust you...." Zachary said, with a smile. Twilight smiled back, and levitated the book that they were reading. As she was reading onto the new chapter, some new thoughts popped into her head.
I wonder how Zachary will react to Cadence.. Twilight thought, while still being focused on the book at the same time. I know she'll like Zachary, and I know he will like her, but... He still seems to have some mental scars from his experience in the "Human World" Her face turned concerned, but she didn't let Zachary see it.
That house that Spike said, the one that got burned down, I wonder if there's anything in there that can prove that other humans were in this world. She thought about it, while still reading the book out loud, before she finally came to a dissension. She would take him to that burned down house.
Is this a good idea? Twilight asked herself. It could be dangerous, but maybe..... maybe Zachary will remember something, or maybe he'll see something.. or... She put her hoof up to her head in frustration, but luckily, Zachary was too interested in the story to notice. She then looked down at him, and her frustration was quickly deceased, and was replaced by cheerfulness. She was happy, happy that this young boy came into her life. She wanted him to move on from all the pain that he had been through, but the only way he would be able to move on.... is for him to find out what was really going on.
"Hey, Zachary, there is something else I wanted to tell you... well, more like ask you something.." Twilight said, causing Zachary to turned his attention towards her.
"What.. what is it?" Zachary asked, with an interested tone in his voice.
"Well, there is an old burnt down house in ponyville, and I was wondering if you wanted to go explore it....." Twilight said, while putting on a smile on her face. Zachary returned it, with a confused look.
"Why would we go explore that?" Zachary asked, with a concerned look. Twilight, luckily had a back up plan for this.
"Well, I thought that we could find something.... interesting there, who knows, right?" Twilight said, while chuckling a bit nervously. Zachary, still being confused, just nodded his head.
"Okay...." He replied in a unsure voice.
"Don't worry, it will be fun," Twilight said. "And I'll make sure that nothing bad happens to you, promise." Zachary, with a little more confidence, smiled.
"Okay..... I don't know why you want to go explore that.... but it could be fun..." Zachary said, with some nervousness, but wasn't really that noticeable. Twilight didn't want to tell him the real reason why she wanted to explore that burnt down house, because she didn't want to make Zachary feel unsecure, so she decided to just tell him that she just simply wanted to explore. They continued reading for the next couple of hours , until they finally finished the book.
"So Zachary, did you like that book?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah, I liked it, not as much as the first and second one, though.." Zachary replied, with a shy smile. Twilight giggled at this.
"What do you want to do now?" Twilight asked. Before Zachary could respond, his stomach already did it for him. Zachary blushed with embarrassment, as he rubbed the back of his head.
"I'm guessing your hungry," Twilight said, with a playful smile. "It's way past lunch, so I guess we can have a late lunch." Zachary, nodded in agreement. They both went into the kitchen to make a meal. Normally, Twilight would have Spike do lunch, but she felt like he was sleeping or something, because he hasn't came down stairs yet.
"What would you like to eat?" Twilight asked. Zachary took some time to think about what he really wanted, something he hadn't had for a long time, then he thought of it
"Can I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich please?" He asked. Twilight didn't really expect that answer, but none the less, she nodded. She went to go get the peanut butter, the bread, and the jelly. She went for the butter knife, and started to spread the butter on the first peace of bread. After she got most of the piece covered, she started to cover the other piece of bread with jelly. After she was done with the other one, she put them together, and created the sandwich.
"Here you go, Zachary." Twilight said, levitating the sandwich over to him. He grabbed the tasty mean with both of his hands, and took a bit out of it. The sweet taste of butter, mixed with jelly, and bread, made his taste buds sing a delightful tune.
"Do you like it?" Twilight asked, and Zachary just nodded his head in response. He couldn't remember the last time he tasted anything this good. Most of the time, he was forced to eat the most disgusting things, like Brussel sprouts, and would also make him drink vinegar , just to see him try to spit it out, but only to fail miserably, and to only accomplish getting a sore throat for his attempts. He was about to take another bit, but stopped, after hearing knocking on the door.
"I'll go get that, that might be Cadence." Twilight said, leaving the kitchen. The feeling of being nervous and insure had once again returned to him.
What if she doesn't like me? What if she hates me like my foster parents did? Zachary was thinking, but then shook those thoughts away. No, Cadence is kind, i know she is, Twilight wouldn't lie to me, right? Besides, these pony's have been mostly friendly. Zachary frowned at that last thought. Well, then again, there was the first day i came here, and Diamond Tiara.... Zachary trembled, as he heard a voice coming from the main room.
"Twilight!" The voice shouted, then what happened next was unexpected from Zachary.
"Sunshine Sunshine, Lady bugs awake,
Clap your hooves, and do a little shake"
After Zachary heard this, he heard the laughter of Twilight, and that same other voice.
"How have you been, Twilight?" The voice, that sounded kind and loving said.
"I've been good, you know, with Zachary and everything." Twilight responded to the other pony in the room.
"Speaking of the little guy, where is he?" Cadence asked, looking around the room. Twilight looked back into the kitchen, and saw Zachary, who was looking out the window. She could tell that he had a sudden mood change, but she didn't know why.
"He's in the kitchen. We were getting a late lunch." Twilight said, pointing her hoof in the direction of the kitchen. Cadence took a look inside the kitchen, and saw Zachary, looking down at his folded hands. She could tell that he was nervous to meet her. She put on a warm smile, and looked at Twilight.
"He looks like just how you described him in your letter." Cadence said, with a little aww. "But... i can sense he's been through a lot. Too bad Shining Armor couldn't be here, but i know that i can cheer him up." Twilight looked back at Cadence.
"He's always shy when it come's to meeting new ponies, because of what he's been through." Twilight explained. "But he will get used to you, I know he will.." Cadence noticed the bandage on his cheek.
"My goodness, Twilight, what happened? Why does he have a bandage?" Cadence asked.
"Oh, well i tried to put Zachary in school, but that didn't go so well, because a filly named Diamond Tiara hit him on the side of his face with a rock." Twilight said, lowering her head. "He kind of went back to his nervous nature after that incident." Cadence had a look of sadness on her face.
"Don't worry, Twilight. I bet I can make his nervousness a thing of the past. Cadence said. After saying that, Twilight and Cadence made their way into the kitchen. When they got into the kitchen, they saw Zachary, who was still looking down at his hands, with nervousness emanating around him. Cadence could instantly feel like Zachary has some mental scars. She frowned at this, and walked up to him.
"Hi there, you must be Zachary, right?" Cadence asked, and Zachary nodded in response. "I'm Princess Cadence, Twilights sister in law." Cadence put a hoof out, and Zachary nervously put his arm out to shake it. He grabbed Cadence's hand, and shook it slowly and weakly.
"There is no need to be nervous around me," Cadence said. "I'm the Princess of love, I'd never do anything to hurt you." She reassuringly patted him on the shoulder. "I've heard about the things you've been through, and i just want to say how sorry I am that your foster parents hurt you like that, but I know that we will get your foster father in custody." Zachary gave her a confused look.
"Thanks.... I guess, but i don't know what custody means......" Zachary said with a quiet tone. Cadence chuckled a bit at this.
"It means that we will get him, so he wont be able to hurt you ever again." She said, with a warm smile. Twilight walked up to join in on the conversation.
"So.... I got some stuff planned to do today, why don't we get started?" Twilight asked.
"That sounds like a great idea!" Cadence said. Twilight then looked at Zachary, who still had a look of uneasiness and nervousness on his face, but he nodded in agreement, none the less, and was awarded by Twilight with a smile.
"Alright then, lets have a fun day together." Twilight said, walking out with Cadence and Zachary.
9:00p.m.
It was starting to get late. Celestia had lowered her sun, and Luna had risen her moon. Twilight, along with Cadence, and Zachary, were in the library. They had a good day together, and Zachary got less nervous around Cadence, which was a good sign. Twilight, along with Spike, were doing that spell that they wanted to do later that night. Zachary, being tired from the days events, already went to bed, though, he was on the couch, instead of the bed. Cadence, who was going to stay for two more days, walked into the room where Twilight was doing the spell.
"Hey Twilight, how are you doing with the spell?" Cadence asked. Twilight sighed, and looked at her half sister.
"Not so well, I can't seem to get it to work." Twilight said, lowering her head. "Oh well, I guess I can try it tomorrow then, is Zachary already in bed." Cadence nodded her head.
"Yeah, the little guy was so tuckered out, that he feel asleep the moment he fell on the couch." Cadence giggled. Twilight giggled as well. Spike on the other hand, groaned a bit.
"Well, he has the right idea, I think I'm going to go to bed too." Spike said, walking out of the room. Twilight giggled a bit at this, but then stopped, and looked at Cadence.
"Hey Cadence, there's something I need to ask you.." Twilight said.
"Sure Twilight, what is it?" Cadence replied. Twilight sighed, and began.
"Princess Celestia said that there were two bodies that weren't ponies discovered inside a burnt house." Twilight said. Cadence gasped at this, but let her continue. "Celestia thinks that there humans, adult humans, so if that were true, then Zachary wouldn't be the first human in Equestria." Cadence was now stunned. She hadn't expected this to be what Twilight would say.
"What does this have to do with Zachary?" Cadence asked, with a concerned voice.
"Well, I was thinking that we could go explore that house, with Zachary, to see if he can remember anything." Twilight said. "After all, he has been getting flashbacks, and been seeing visions of other things, so I was wondering if you wanted to come with us." Cadence was quick to agree.
"Of course, Twilight. I'll come with you." Cadence said, with a reassuring smile to go along with it. Twilight smiled at her now step sister.
"Thank you, Cadence." Twilight said, with a bright smile. "It's getting a bit late, why don't we head off to bed?" Cadence once again nodded her head in agreement.
"Yeah, I was getting pretty tired." Cadence said. Twilight simply nodded, and they both went off to their beds.
Meanwhile..
John was losing it. He had to stay hidden from the other ponies, he knew that because he was wanted, but at the same time, he wanted to go to them for help. The pocket watch was still haunting him, showing him memory's that he never remembered doing, and all of them involved Zachary succumbing to a terrible fate, and each one was worst than the last. It started out not really that bad, it just showed them getting arrested for child abuse, or Zachary just running away, which made John think on how they didn't get caught doing this sooner. The visions however, became more, and more, horrible. In one, it showed John with a knife, along with Zachary, who didn't make it out after that. In another, it showed him throwing Zachary in a wood chipper, then turning it on.
These visions scared John, because not only was he forgetting more and more about having Zachary work as an actual slave, but now he was seeing himself killing him, in horrible ways. Sure, he considered Zachary a body without a soul, an empty husk you could say, but... he wasn't scared because he was seeing himself kill Zachary, but he was scared because that was what he was planning to do.
John started to see no reason to keep him around anymore, and he just wanted to lash out, and beat every single drop of life out of him, but he couldn't do that if he was already dead. John was the true definition of evil. He wanted to make everyone around him suffer, he only cared about himself, and no one else, not even Melissa.
"He's not dead...... He can't be..... I'm just losing my mind, that's all....." John said, while stumbling down the dirt path that he was on.
"Your lying to yourself......" The eerie voice came from the pocket watch that was still inside John's pocket. He quickly pulled it out, and di not expect what he saw. The watch was glowing red. "Did you already kill him?...... Or is he still alive?...... Is all of this real, or just a fantasy?........" John growled at the watch.
"Can you shut up please? Your really starting to annoy me." John said, glaring at the watch with an evil glare. It seemed like the watch was glaring back at him, but didn't say anything. He put it back inside his pocket, and continued to walk.
When I get my hands on that little brat, I will make him suffer slowly..... John thought, as a malicious smile came across his face. He thought of all the things he would do once he got him, and that pony who was protecting him. He wanted Zachary to suffer, because.... He felt like Angela deserved better, and this child deserved worse.
I know that you miss your daughter..... and I know you want to get back at the man who took her away from you,... but is this really the right way to do it? The pocket watch asked, with a much kinder tone than before, but John could tell that it was still angry at him.
"How can you even talk to me? Your a pocket watch! A POCKET WATCH!!!!!!" John shouted with frustration at it.
I will not say how I am able to speak, but what I can tell you, is that unless you come to terms for what has happened, and be able to forgive, then you will never go back home... The watch said, with a tone that meant it was serious about what it was saying. John felt..... different. He felt like what he has been doing was wrong, but quickly shrugged it off.
"Look, I'm not going to stop what I'm doing, alright?" John said with an agitated tone. "I really don't care, sure, I Might regret it at first, but it's for the greater good, so you wont be able to convince me." The pocket watch stopped talking, and stopped glowing as well. John grunted at this, but continued his walk. He then began to think of his actions so far.
Should I really be doing this? John asked himself, before shaking his head. No, this is what Zachary deserves, he is rotten, and he's stupid. He's probably so stupid, that it effected his father's skills to work, and caused him to make the design flaw that killed my daughter. John, with new determination in his eye's.
You will pay for what you have done. He thought bitterly, while stopping on the side of the trail he was walking on, to sleep, and to also think about a plan on how he could get Zachary back, without those ponies intervening.
The next day.....
Twilight awoke to the sound of birds chirping. As she slowly opened her eye's, she could see that Celestia had already raised the sun. She looked in the bed that was next to hers, and saw that Zachary was still asleep, and in the other bed, she saw Cadence sleeping as well. It was hard to get the third bed into the library, after Twilight had got it out of the attic, just like with Zachary's. On the fourth day of him being here, she asked him if he wanted his own bed, and he agreed. Luckily, she had two spare bed's in the attic, but both of them were hard to get down.
Twilight looked at the basket, where normally Spike would be sleeping, but he wasn't there. That's when she smelt the familiar aura of pancakes being made. She smiled, grateful to have Spike as a friend, as her number one assistant. She turned away from her thoughts, as she heard Cadence and Zachary start to stir in their sleep. They slowly opened their eye's, their vision coming back to them.
"Good morning, guys!" Twilight said, with an enthusiastic voice. "How did you all sleep?" Zachary yawned, his hair being messy and unorganized, while Cadence looked like she was still sleeping.
"Good morning Twilight," Zachary said, while yawning. "I slept well."
"Morning, Twilight I...... slept well too." Cadence said, while yawning, then closing her eye's again. She opened them back up when she smelt pancakes being cooked from downstairs.
"Is..... is that the smell of pancakes?" Cadence asked in a groggy tone. Twilight nodded, and her mood seemed to brighten up a little. "I love pancakes, lets go downstairs!" Before Twilight, or Zachary could react, Cadence had already zoomed out of her bed, and down the stairway. Zachary and Twilight gave each other the same confused look, before heading down the stairs themselves.
"How do you feel about having pancakes for breakfast?" Twilight asked Zachary, who then had a look of cheer.
"I would love to have pancakes for breakfast." Zachary said, with glee in his voice. Twilight smiled at this, as the continued their way down the stairs. Once they were down, they saw Spike, who was setting up the table, and Cadence, who was waiting in anticipation for the delicious breakfast that was awaiting them.
"Good morning Spike." Twilight said, with a smile. "I see that you made us pancakes for breakfast, how thoughtful of you." Spike giggled a bit.
"Thank you, Twilight." Spike said. "I just thought you would be hungry when you guys woke up, so I made you breakfast." Twilight nodded her head, and took a seat, Zachary sitting next to her.
"So, what do you want to do today, Zachary and Cadence?" Twilight asked. Cadence went into thought, while Zachary just started to munch down on the pancakes. Twilight giggled at how cute he looked while doing so.
"We can go and...... I don't know, maybe go hiking in the White tall wood forest?" Cadence suggested. "I heard that the tree's there are pretty beautiful to look at." Twilight thought about it. Zachary did tell her that his real parents used to take him hiking, and that he always enjoyed those walks.
"I'm all in, if Zachary and Spike is, of course." Twilight said, looking at the two. Zachary was the first one to answer.
"Sure, I'd love to go, my real parents used to take me, but...." A look of hurt and sadness flashed across Zachary's face, as he lowered his head. Twilight noticed this rather quickly, though.
"It's okay, we don't have to go hiking if you don't want too." Twilight said, with reassurance in her voice. Zachary however, shook his head in response.
"No really, I would love to go, it's just that..... I really miss my parents.... that's all...... even my dad.." Zachary said, trying to not let a tear fall from his eye.
"It's okay if you miss them," Twilight said, while patted Zachary on the back softly. "I'm sure their very proud of you." Zachary hugged Twilight. She rubbed his back with her hoof. "Their proud of you, I know it.." Zachary looked up at her, with a warm smile.
"Thank you... again...." He said.
"I'm sure that you miss them, just as much as they miss you." Cadence said, earning the same smile from Zachary. "And just like your real parents, we will protect you." Zachary felt touched by those words. He knew that both Twilight, and Cadence would keep him safe, along with Twilights friends, of course. Spike, who mostly stayed quit during the whole ordeal, now spoke up.
"And if you ever need a cool dragon to talk too, then you can just come to me." Spike said, with a "cool" grin on his face. Twilight smiled at everypony, and human, at the table.
"Well, we can go after we get breakfast wait, Spike, you didn't tell us if you wanted to go or not." Twilight said. Spike then let out a light hearted chuckle.
"Of course I'll go, Twilight." Spike said. Twilight smiled at this.
"Alrighty then, we'll go after-" Twilight couldn't finish her sentence, as she heard the sound of loud thunder outside. They all looked out the window to see what was going on, only to see Celestia's sunlight getting blocked by a hoard of thunder clouds.
"What the..." Twilights voice trailed off, as she didn't even know what was going on. Then, rain started to fall from the thunder clouds, along with lightning. Cadence looked up in shock as well.
"What's going on with the weather?" Cadence asked. "Why are there thunder clouds? I thought that today was supposed to be a clear day.." Twilight looked back at Cadence, Zachary, and Spike.
"I don't know what's happening, but whatever it is, it must be something serious," Twilight said. "Lets go find out what's happening, so we can try to fix it." They all nodded their heads in agreement, and left the library. As soon as they were outside, it was a bit chaotic. Ponies were running around, trying to get back inside, not expecting the sudden storm, it was getting really windy, causing things to get blown over, and tree's to fall down.
"Stay close to me, guys." Twilight said. Zachary, Cadence, Spike, and Twilight were running through the storm, trying to find Rainbow dash, and have her explain why she, along with the other weather ponies, were doing this.
"Where is she?" Twilight asked herself, frustrated. Zachary then spotted a white pony, that he recognized as Rarity.
"Hey, Rarity's over there, maybe she knows where Rainbow Dash is." Zachary said, while stopping, and pointing at Rarity. Twilight turned her head, too see that he was right. The four of them ran up to her.
"Rarity! Thank Celestia that we found you! Do you know where-" Twilight was saying, but was then cut off by Rarity.
"Hold on dear, let me just get these clouds in juuust the right spot." Rarity said, adding a ring to "just" She was moving the storm clouds. Twilight, along with Zachary, Cadence, and Spike, were confused.
"Rarity.... why are you controlling the weather, instead of Rainbow dash?" Twilight asked, in a very confused tone. Rarity, who was now also confused, turned around to look at them, and they all gasped with shock.
"Um.... what's wrong, darlings?" Rarity asked. It wasn't her appearance that shocked them, what shocked them was her cutie mark. Instead of the usually gems that were there, they were now replaced by Rainbow Dash's cutie mark. Twilight just stood there, dumbfounded..
What the... why does Rarity have Rainbow Dash's cutie mark? Twilight asked herself. Maybe, it has something to do with that spell I did last night.... Twilight thought about it. It was a possibility that her not being able to complete the spell, might have something to do with this.
"I'm so sorry," Rarity said, in a apologetic tone. "You know that I'm just not as good with these thunder clouds." Rarity grunted, as she tried to fix her mistake, but just ended up making the clouds shoot lightning out of them.
"Where's...... Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked, still dumbfounded by the fact That Rarity was controlling the weather.
"Oh, Rainbow Dash? She's in her cottage, dear." Rarity said. "You should probably get inside, along with Cadence, Zachary, and Spike, until I can get the weather under control, at least." Twilight wanted to ask her why Rainbow Dash was living inside a cottage, but then she realized that she might have switched place's with Fluttershy.
"Oh..... okay, Rarity, try to get the weather under control, we're going to go find Rainbow Dash.." Twilight said, while backing up.
"Well, alright then, like I said, she should be in her cottage." Rarity said. Twilight nodded her head, before turning around to her group.
"Let's go guys." Twilight said. After they left Rarity, they found out that all of their friends cutie marks have been changed. Rainbow Dash had Fluttershy's cutie mark, and was living in her cottage, Fluttershy had Pinkie's cutie mark, and was trying to entertain pony's, Pinkie had Applejacks cutie mark, and was working on the farm, Applejack had Rarity's cutie mark, and was trying to make dresses, and Rarity has Rainbow Dash's cutie mark.
"Twilight, do you know why this is happening?" Cadence asked, as they were making their way back to the library. Twilight turned her head to face her.
"No, I don't know why this is happening, but it might have something to do with that spell that I was doing last night." Twilight said, lowering her head. "This could very well be all my fault." Cadence put her hoof on her, reassuringly.
"Twilight, this is not your fault," Cadence said. "It was just a mistake, but I know that you can fix it." Twilight looked up at her step sister, with a hopeful smile.
"I really hope so, Cadence." Twilight said. Zachary was next to comfort Twilight.
"You can fix anything," Zachary said. "You did fix my life, after all..." Twilight smiled at the young child.
"I know I did, but that's because you really needed me to do so.." Twilight said.
"And your friends really need your help to fix their cutie marks." Zachary replied, with a smile. Twilight, in response to this, ruffled his hair playfully.
"Thank you for the boost of confidence, Zachary." Twilight said, causing Zachary's face to become even more happy. They were getting close to the library, it was within eye sight. As the got closer, the storm that Rarity was trying to, "Fix." was only getting worse and worse by the minute.
"Hurry, get inside before one of us gets hurt!" Twilight shouted, causing them to run to the library. They made it to the door, and opened it, quickly shutting it behind them. The storm was raging outside, as Twilight nervously walked around the room.
"That was a close one," Spike said, with relief in his voice. "Twilight.... are you okay?..." This question snapped Twilight out of her little trance, as she looked at Spike.
"No, Spike, I'm not alright...." Twilight said, with a tone of sadness in her voice. "I really, really, am not. I don't know why my friends have different cutie marks, I don't know if this spell is doing this to my friends, or if it's something else!" Twilight nearly broke down, but Cadence walked up to her, and calmed her down a little.
"Twilight, It's going to be okay..." Cadence said, with reassurance in her voice. "You'll find a way to fix this, I'm sure of it, after all, you always do." Twilight looked up at Cadence, still with a sorrowful look on her face.
"But... how can I fix this..... if I don't even have a real place to start?" Twilight asked. "The spell might have caused it.... but where would I go from there? For the first time.... I think I have no idea what I'm going to do...." That's when Twilight noticed that Zachary wasn't standing next to Spike, like he was before.
"Spike, where's Zachary?...." Twilight asked, now with concern in her voice. Spike turned to his side, and noticed that Zachary wasn't there.
"Maybe.... maybe he went to the bathroom?" Spike suggested. Twilight looked around frantically, before spotting Zachary on the other side of the room, looking at the Elements Of Harmony that she kept in a glass box. She walked up to him, Cadence and Spike following from behind her.
"Zachary.... why are you looking at the Elements?" Twilight asked, with confusion in her voice. Zachary turned around, with a similar confused look.
"Um... Twilight.... I think that the color's might have changed...." Zachary said, pointing at the glass box. Twilight took a close look at the box, and realized that he was right.
"They DID change color," Twilight said, having some surprise in her voice. "They must of changed color after my friends cutie marks got switched....." Twilight said, now fully realizing that this was the spells fault.
"Can't you do some sort of counter spell, or something..?" Spike asked, and Twilight shook her head.
"That wont work.... I don't know what will work." Twilight said, getting the feeling of depression creeping up inside her.
"What about a memory spell?" Spike asked, and again, Twilight shook her head.
"That wont work either, I'm not sure if anything will work." Twilight said, with a gloomy voice.
"What about a cure for the cutie pox from Zecora?" Spike asked, with hope that Twilight wouldn't say that wouldn't work.
"That wont work, none of those will work..." Twilight said. Spike cringed a bit. Twilight just stood there, none of them wanting to disturb her. Twilight seemed like she was going to be like this for a while, but then, she perked her head up. It seemed like she came up with a solution.
"But.... if I can't remind my friends who they once were,..." Twilight said. "Then maybe...." Her body started to glow with a light purple aura.
"Twilight..... are you.... okay?" Spike asked, covering his eye's, while Zachary and Cadence could only watch.
"I GOT IT!" Twilight said, running up the stairs. They were about to go follow her up, but she quickly came back down, levitating a chest. "If I can't restore my friends memory's from before, then I can remind them of what they mean to each other." She put the chest in Spikes claws, nearly making him fall over, but he managed to catch his balance. She then turned her attention to Cadence and Zachary.
"Cadence, I would love for you to come with me, but I don't know if I would be able to make sure your all safe because of the storm that Rarity still hasn't fixed, so... I think I should only bring one of you." Twilight said, and Spike immediately spoke up.
"I'll go, after all, I am your number one assistant." Spike said.
"Are you sure, Spike?" Twilight asked, looking uncertain.
"Of course I'm sure!" Spike said with sudden enthusiasm in his voice.
"Okay...." Twilight said, then once again turned to Cadence.
"I really don't want Zachary to go out in this weather... Do you think you can watch him, until I get back?" Twilight asked, giving Cadence the Puppy Dog Eyes. She giggled a bit at this.
"Don't worry, I can watch him, after all, I was the best foal sitter in all of Equestria." Cadence said, with a confident smirk. Twilight gave her a smile.
"Thank you." She said, before looking at Zachary. "I'll be back soon, alright?" Zachary looked up at Twilight.
"Are you sure that I can't come with you?" Zachary asked. Twilight smiled down at him.
"I'm sorry, sweetie." Twilight started. "It's just way too dangerous, and I wouldn't want you to get hurt." She walked up to him, and gave him a quick hug. "I'll be back later though, alright?" He nodded his head in response to this, and Twilight smiled. She started to head out the door, along with Spike. She gave a quick wave, before heading off, closing the door behind them.
"So, I guess it's just you and me now." Cadence said, looking back at Zachary. "Is there anything you want to do? Like play some board games, or hide and seek, or..." She stopped talking, when she noticed that there was a keyboard on the other side of the room, that she hadn't noticed before.
"Is that a keyboard?" Cadence asked, pointing her hoof at the direction of it.
"Oh yeah... It- it's mine...." Zachary said. He still wasn't used to talking to any other ponies, besides the mane 6, The CMC'S, The Two Royal Sister's, and Spike, he really didn't like talking to other ponies. He was willing to give Cadence a chance however, due to the fact that she is related to Twilight, the pony he trusted most, he was going to give her a chance.
"Are you good at it? What type of music do you play?" Cadence asked, with excitement.
"I- I can play you a song, that... I know.." Zachary said, his nervousness was showing off once again. Cadence walked up to Zachary, and gave him a small hug. He could feel the warmth of it. It was comforting, and it was not a fake one.
"You have no need to be nervous around me," Cadence said, breaking the hug. "You don't have to play a song if you don't want to, I was just curious." Zachary then shook his head.
"No, it's fine, and I would love to play you a song, it's just that I'm not used to having other ponies around me..." Zachary said. Cadence smiled warmly.
"I did hear about what those mean ponies did to you on the first day you came here, and I am truly sorry that they did that to you." She said, with a warm, but sad smile. "But I would never hurt you like that in a lifetime." Zachary smiled at her.
"I know," He said. "So, do you still want me to play a song?"
"I would love to hear music from your world." Cadence said with glee. Zachary nodded his head, and went over to his keyboard. He picked it up, and brought it over to Cadence.
"So, what song are you going to play?" She asked.
"This song has no lyrics to it, and it's called "No Friends." Zachary said. "This is how I felt the first time I came to this world." Zachary, then went over to his bag, which was also on the other side of the room, and pulled out a music sheet. He made it sit upwards on the keyboard, and then he began to play the song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n34E5628yQ
Slender: The Arrival No Friends Soundtrack
As Zachary began to play the song, Cadence was already liking it. She never heard anything like it before, it made you have the feeling of loneliness, and having, well..... no friends. As he continued the song, Cadence was getting more, and more of the picture on how Zachary was feeling when he got here. He WAS alone when he got here, he didn't HAVE any friends, either. Once Zachary finished the song, Cadence just sat there in shock. Zachary looked back at her, with a concerned look.
"Cadence.... are you, okay?" Zachary asked, the worry in his tone managed to snap cadence out of it.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine." Cadence said. "It's just that I've never heard a song like that before, where did you learn to play it?" Zachary thought about it. He didn't remember where he learned to play the song, but he knew the source. He knew a lot of video game soundtracks, due to his dad being a big fan of them.
"So... does that mean you liked it?" Zachary asked, causing Cadence to giggle.
"Of course, that was one of the best songs I've ever heard somepony play on the piano before." She said, while smiling. Zachary smiled at her.
"Thank you, I'm so happy that you liked it." Zachary said, the enthusiasm in his voice was unmistakable. Cadence took a look at the window, and still saw the thunder clouds everywhere.
"Well, since we're going to be stuck in here for a while, why don't we do something, like read?" Cadence suggested.
"I love reading!" Zachary said. "The books here are better than the one's back in my world." Cadence smiled at him once again.
"What's your favorite type's of books?" Cadence asked, with curiosity.
"I like the adventure books that Twilight reads me, like the daring doo one's, but I like to read those with her." Zachary explained, and Cadence nodded in understandment. She was curious, though. What other stuff did he have in his world, that they didn't have here?
"Hey Zachary.... I'm sure Twilight asked you this already, but..." Cadence started. "I would like to know more stuff about your world. You know, like what humans do for entertainment, and what not." Zachary gave her a confused look.
"Why would you want to know about that?" He asked, still a bit confused.
"Just wondering, that's all." Cadence replied. Zachary took a moment to think about this, before he realized that it was probably alright to tell her.
"Okay, well, we have video games." Zachary said, unsure if that was the right thing to say, though. Cadence cocked her head.
"What are.... "Video Games?" She asked. Zachary then proceeded to tell her about the games that he knew about, and what he knew about them. He went on to tell her how his father's favorite game series, was the Silent Hill one's. He told her everything that he knew about it, from the music, to the monster's, to everything else. Cadence was interested.
Zachary continued to have the conversation with Cadence. She would sometimes talk about the Crystal Empire, and how she would love to have him over one of these days, and Zachary would talk about other things, like how grateful he was to be in this world, how no one back at his world would treat him kindly, how he had no friends, and everything else like that.
This nearly brought Cadence to tears, as she now knew that he was not only abused, but he had no friends, no one at all to help him. She told Zachary that he would never have to worry about that again. They continued their chat, until Cadence looked outside, and saw that not only was the storm gone, but it was nearly getting dark.
"Oh my, it's almost Luna's night," Cadence said, shocked at how much time had passed.. "Twilight hasn't come back yet, I think maybe we should look for her." Concern swept across her face, causing Zachary to also get worried.
"Do you.... do you think she's okay?" Zachary asked, with a gulp. Cadence gave him a reassuring smile.
"Of course I think she's okay." She said. "Twilight just probably got sidetracked, and hasn't come back yet," Cadence stopped to think for a moment. "But, we should go find her, just in case." Zachary nodded in agreement. The storm had finally died down, so there was no longer a threat outside.
"Come on, we should get going." Cadence said, opening up the door for Zachary. They walked out of the library, and looked on the streets of Ponyville. Eventually, they came across a light, that was bright, coming from one of the streets. Zachary and Cadence, thinking that it was Twilight was somewhere over there, began to run. Once they got over there, they saw the mane six, Princess Celestia, and Twilight, who looked different.
"Why does something feel different about Twilight?" Zachary asked Cadence.
"Woah..... does she.... have wings?" Cadence asked, with confusion in her voice. Zachary took a closer look, and indeed saw Twilight, with wings.
"Does that mean..... she's an Alicorn now?" Zachary asked. Cadence, in response, only nodded her head.
"Let's go over to greet her.." Cadence said. Zachary nodded, and they began to walk over to Twilight.
"Your now Princess, Twilight Sparkle." They heard Celestia say, before bowing, along with the mane six. Cadence stopped Zachary, and bowed, and so did he. Twilight looked grateful. She turned her head, having the feeling like she was being watched. She was right.
"Cadence!" Twilight shouted, getting her attention.
"Twilight!" Cadence shouted back. "You..... have wings!" Twilight smiled, and nodded her head.
"Yes, I'm an Alicorn." She said happily, before noticing Zachary, looking in awe at her. She walked up to him, with a bright smile.
"Hey, little guy." Twilight said, wrapping one of her wings around him in a hug. "How was your day with "The Best Foal Sitter Ever?"
"It was great! We had a fun time." Zachary said, returning the embrace. Everypony 'dawwed' at this, and Celestia walked up to him.
"Hello young one, It's so good too see you again." Celestia said, bowing her head. Zachary smiled at the Princess.
"It's great to see you too, Princess Celestia." Zachary said, bowing his head as well.
"Are you doing well?" Celestia asked, and Zachary nodded his head.
"It's great living here, in Equestria." Zachary said, looking up at Twilight, who was still next to him. "Thanks to Twilight, that is..." Twilight was giving him an even warmer smile.
"Your welcome, dear." She said, patting him on the back. Though, she still couldn't shake off the feeling that she was being watched.
"What's wrong, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked, hovering over her.
"I.... I don't know..." Twilight said. "I just can't shake the feeling of being watched...." After she said that, she noticed it. There was a figure, standing on the sidelines, watching them, but it wasn't a pony. It was a Human.
"Is that....." Twilight's voice trailed off. The figure seemed to be wearing some sort of brown coat, but it's face was blacked out, and only white glowing eye's were there. "Hey!" After Twilight shouted this, the figure began to run away.
"Get back here!" Rainbow Dash shouted, before they all gave chase down the path, that the mysterious figure was running on. Rainbow zoomed up to it, to tackle it to the ground, but to her surprise, she went right THROUGH it. She crashed into a bush, then she tried to get up, but she needed some time to recover.
"What are you, creature?!" Celestia asked, in a demanding voice. It was definitely not John. The thing, pulled out two items from it's pocket's, and threw them on the ground, before disappearing. This left everypony, Spike and Zachary, in complete shock.
"What.... what just happened?" Spike asked, with a confused tone. Twilight looked back at him, with a similar look.
"I... I don't know what happened either." Twilight replied, looking at all of them, except for Rainbow Dash, who had finally recovered.
"Hey.... what's this?" Rainbow dahs asked, picking up a piece of paper. Twilight levitated the paper out of Dash's hooves, and read it.
Entry #2
Date, October 22, 1977
I finally did it! I got the pocket watch! It looks so pretty, I wish that i could show
this in the entry I'm writing, but I'm not good at sketching, so that will have to wait.
It's been acting rather strange, though. It's been glowing at night, at first, i thought this was normal
but the more it did that, the more I realized that something was wrong. Also, I don't ever let anyone touch
It, every time they try, I growl or hiss at them. What's happening to me? It's been effecting my job as a detective, to
I hope i can figure out what's going on, but for now, i have something to do.
Twilight, along with everypony else, was just starring at the piece of paper. They noticed that something else was on it, a golden coin.
"Hey, my dad gave that to me." Zachary said, pointing at the coin. Twilight took it off with her magic, and levitated it towards him.
"Are you sure?" She asked, and Zachary nodded his head. She went up to Zachary, with a sad smile. "Are you okay?" Zachary looked up, and just nodded.
"I just miss my mom and dad." Zachary said, gripping the coin in his hands. Twilight, wrapped a wing around him.
"I know you do." She said with comfort. Pinkie decided to speak up.
"What are we going to do now?" She asked, with a curious look. Twilight looked at her, and replied.
"The old burnt down house," Twilight said, with a serious tone. "That's were we need to go."
Chapter six.... 
Next chapter, we will find out who was in that burning building,
and Twilight got her wings.... 
This is a somewhat different version of the season three finale episode.
Also, sorry if this wasn't my best chapter, but i still worked hard on it.
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Awesome job, dude!
8788343
That is...... Interesting
Great chapter! I love this story sooooooooooooooooo much and my love for it grows with each chapter! When I check my notifications and don't see a new chapter I'm like
"This is the Worst possible thing!!!"
8797855
Thank you. Though, for some reason, I didn't get the notification that you posted this comment, so sorry for not getting back to you sooner. Thank you for your comment, and now, I shall get to work on the next chapter
i created a group here on fimfiction where you can find Hella Awesome stories and ive added this story to the folder containing the best stories!
For those who dont know hella means extremely or a large amount/number of.
8800191
Thanks. Can you give me a link to this group?
8800245
Here's the link: https://www.fimfiction.net/group/213529/hella-awesome-stories
Wow! Nice cover art, dude!
8804075
Thanks, but I wasn't the one who created it, all the credit goes to Jonrunner1 for creating the cover.
8804078
Okay! Still, it looks cool!
Oh, is Zachary gonna meet Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis?
8804149
Not in this story, but I will probably make a sequel with them in it, along with other side characters
8804166
Okay! That's cool!
hmm throwing him into a woodchipper and turning it on well luckily i hope i don't get that image in my head
please no instant magical aura solution.
crazy magic overlord John again.