Equestrian Phoenix Prologueby Zachary PyromaniacChaptersArrivalRoyal MeetingOn The RunImprisonedEscape?Morning TalkArrivalAuthor's Note List of voices in order of appearance. Zachary Pyromaniac Zachary Dearest Keith A.I system Twilight Sparkle Rarity Rainbow Dash Pinke Pie If you want a full bio on Zachary Pyromaniac. Just let me know. Arrival Zachary Pyromaniac was typing in the coordinates for the next universe on his right wrist mounted travel device. Zachary was an Interesting guy, he was a half human, half Phoenix for a destroyed world. He had the appearance of a 25 year old human being standing about 5 feet and 7 inches. He had short black hair and dark crimson red eyes except for his left which had a claw mark across it. He could still see out it, but it was now a bright white color and glowing slightly. He didn't mind this at all however always saying he needed a scar somewhere. As for his outfit, he wore a red leather trench coat, a black tank-top underneath, a pair of fingerless gloves, black jeans, and a pair of black army grade combat boots. Up both of his sleeves comfortably sat his most prize weapons. Two gun metal black Desert Eagles. Zac had always loved dual welding pistols, but no pistol stood out to him like the Desert Eagle did. However the ones he had were custom made by his brother Jason Thunder. Jason had design the magazines to replicate the 50 Action Express full metal jacket rounds they fired, meaning the guns never ran out of ammunition. What made these guns extremely deadly however was the speed of which he could fire them. Jason had made the chamber system chamber faster than any mounted heavy weapons, exceeding that of the MG42 and the GAO-8 Avenger found on the A10 Warthog. If he really wanted to, Zac could fire these guns at 20,000 rounds per second. Zac had just finished typing in the coordinates when two people walk in, "Hey Pyro" Zac turned around to see two of his new colleagues, Zachary Dearest and Keith. Zachary Dearest was a alternate version of Pyromaniac, They both looked the same except Dearest had shorter white hair and dark red eyes. He wore an eye patch over his right eye, and a black leather jacket with red lines down the sleeves with blue jeans instead of black. Keith on the other hand looked nothing like the two. He was about a centimeter shorter then the both of them, He had Sapphire hair which was all over the place as well as cyan blue eyes. He wore a backwards black cap with a light blue brim, a leather jacket like Dearest except with cyan lines down the sleeves, an black tee shirt with a red cross on it, black jeans, and a pair of red sneakers. Zac greeted both of them as they walked in. "Oh, hey guys!" After a quick fist bump, Zac asked with a little concern "Find my brother yet?" Dearest shook his head "Nope, still nothing" Keith thought for second "Either his universe punching device is broken" He paused for a moment before continuing, now seeing the visible concern on Zac's face. "Or he doesn't want to be found" Zachary just stood there seemingly lost in thought. After a second, he responded. "That's not like my brother, he would've called me by now, something happened to him." Dearest comforted Zac by padding him on the shoulder. "Don't worry Pyro, he's out there somewhere, and we will find him." Zachary lightened up a bit. "Yeah, I guess your right." Keith decided to change the subject back to what it was a minute ago. "So, how are you doing on the shards?" Zac spoke almost immediately. "Well,I've collected about half of them, I was just about to retrieve one right now" Keith was very happy with his reply. "Oh cool, who knows, maybe collecting all of them will leads us to your brother." That seemed to lightened Zac up a lot more "Maybe" Dearest looked at his watch, noticing the time, he said. "Well Pyro, we'll leave you to it" Zac seemed a little disappointed that his friends had to go so soon. He enjoyed talking to them. "See you guys later" Zac waved as Dearest and Keith both left the room. Standing there for a moment, his serious look returned as he began to power up his Universe Hopper. The female automated A.I system inside began the sequence. "GAUNTLET NUMBER 1.8.2.5 BOOT UP SEQUENCE INITIALIZED" Zac braced himself as he drew back his fist. "BOOT UP SEQUENCE COMPLETE" "FIRING IN 3...2...1" Zac threw his fist like he was throwing a punch. *CRACK! Where Zac's fist hit was now a blue crack in reality itself. "Alright, TALLY O!" Zac closed his eyes and jumped into crack, A second later, it disappeared like it was never there. Zachary didn't need to open his eyes to know he was falling. He was all to used to it at this point. "Oh shit, I forgot to set the Y coordinate to a squiggly line again" He shook it off rather quickly. "Ah who the fuck cares?" Zac opened his eyes but all he saw was fog. "How far up am I?" His answer came in the form of the ground coming into view. When he realized he was about a single mile for the ground, he panicked. "OH FUUUUUUU- *CRASH!* Zac opened his eyes slowly, still dazed from what felt like a 10,000 mile fall. "Uhhhhhh" "Huh?" "Where the fuck am I?" Taking in his surroundings he appeared to be in a library, inside of a tree? "Ok, not the weirdest place I've been" He tried to stand up, only finding it impossible and falling flat on his face. "what the?" As he looked up, he saw himself in a mirrors reflection. Only he didn't see himself per say. He was looking at what looked like a pony, Only to realize that, he WAS the pony. Staggering to his, "hooves" he took a better look at his new appearance. He was dark grey with his hair, (or in this case mane) jet black. His eyes were still their respected colors however, and the scar was still present across his left eye. He was still wearing his red leather trench coat and surprisingly, still looked good on him. As he turned to get a better view, he noticed what looked like a tattoo right on his flank. "Why is there a tattoo on my ass?" It was a tattoo of two guns crossed together with a sword between them and a phoenix behind them both. "Well at least it's in my style" He walk around in circles for a few minutes trying to get used to walking. "Ok not as hard as it looks" After thinking from a second, he said to himself rather happily. "I can get used to this" Right at that moment, he heard the door opened below and the sound of people talking. He dropped to the ground and peeked down at the floor below. He saw four ponies all in different colors. He listened for a moment to hear what they were talking about. "You heard Princess Celestia" "You sure taking him there's a good idea? I mean he fell for the sky." "It's not like we have any other choice" "What I'm wondering is how is he still alive?" Zac realized what they were talking about. "They're talking about me!" Zac commando crawled slowly across the top floor trying to get to front door which was still open. About a million thoughts were going through his head right now. Who were these people? Where was he? What did they plan to do with him? He was so lost in thought that he didn't realize how close to the edge he was. By the time he realized, it was too late,his foot slipped and he struggled to keep his balance. But being a pony, it was impossible. "Oh shi-" *crash* Dazed yet again, Zac stood up from the splinters of what was left of the table he fell on. It was at that moment he realized all eyes were on him, and they were just as confused as he was. Half of him wanted to run out the door, but he still wasn't used to being a pony and he was still dazed so that was no good. The other half wanted to see what would happen, although he couldn't exactly fight back if they attacked him. Hearing one of them speak snapped him back to reality "Are you okay?" "What?" He said, his vision finally focusing. He could now see who he was talking to, a pony similar to what he looked like now,except a light shade of purple and had a horn like a unicorn. Her sparkling violet eyes were very mesmerizing, he felt like he was getting lost in her gaze. Her speaking again snapped him out of his trance. "I said, are you okay?" "Uhhhhh" He was a lot more confused now, he had expected them to attack him thinking he was a threat, seeing as he fell from the sky. But why weren't they? He suddenly had an idea. Fake having amnesia to get information. "yeah I think so" He said, rubbing the back of his head. "Where am I exactly?" "Ponyville?" She said with a bit of doubt in her voice. "I think he has amnesia" The pony that spoke was white with purple wavy mane and also a horn. She looked like some kind of fashion designer. "Do you have any idea where you are darling?" "Can't say I do" One of them suddenly screamed with joy causing his ears to ring. "WELCOME TO PONYVILLE FELLOW PONY!" "What the!?" The pony that suddenly yelled at the top of her lungs was "Pink" with a darker pink mane and very "VERY" cheerful. What made her even more concerning was the fact she was bouncing up and down like a child on a sugar rush. "Ok" He said nervously, his ears still ringing. "I get I'm in Ponyville. But where am I?" "Your in Equestria " The purple pony replied, still with doubt in her voice. "Ok Equestria, now we're getting somewhere." "Alright smart guy, who are you?" Zac looked up slightly towards the demanding voice. This pony was cyan with a rainbow mane and tail, she was also floating because she had wings. "Well I do know my name." He said, as he eyed her suspiciously "Oh do you now" She said with a little sass. "Maybe we should introduce ourselves first." The purple pony said, "ugh, oh alright." Zac back up slightly, unsure of what was going to happen. The purple pony spoke first. "Hello fellow pony, I am Twilight Sparkle." The White pony was next. "I'm Rarity" The pink cheerful one went next with enthusiasm "Hi I'm Pinke Pie but you call me Pinke!" Finally the cyan pony, who was still very annoyed simply said, "Rainbow Dash." Zac thought to himself, they seemed friendly enough. "Ok, well I'm Zachary. But you can just call me Zac" He said, still concerned "you all seem like wonderful people." Smiling a little. He took a deep breath, and continued. "Ok, this is going to sound like a weird question, but what's with the tattoo on my flank?" That question only made Rainbow Dash more annoyed then she already was. "Seriously?" Twilight glared at her annoyed. "Sorry" "That's called a cutie mark. Twilight said, with a puzzled expression, Zac was just as puzzled. "What's a cutie mark?" Now with visible confusion, she replied "It's like a visual picture of one's talents. But you're not born with it, it comes when you discover your talent. Although I've never seen a cutie mark like yours before. Do you know what your talent is?" Zac thought for a second, looking down at the floor, he replied, rubbing the back of his head again. "No, I don't,I must of hit my head REALLY hard." Twilight seemed very concerned. "Oh" She walked up and padded Zac on the shoulder. "I'm sure your memory will come back soon" Zac looked up at her, almost getting lost in her gaze again. "Yeah, hopefully." They were silent for a few moments before Rarity cleared her throat to get their attention. "Excuse me, but shouldn't we be on our way to Canterlot?" Twilight suddenly perked up in response. "Oh, that's right!" All this did was confuse Zac even more. "What's Canterlot?" Pinke was already out the door bouncing down the road. "Come on mister Zachary!" Rarity and Rainbow Dash were running after her trying to get her to slow down.Twilight walked to the door and looked back at Zac. "Come on Zac" Zac followed her, still concerned and very confused. "Where are we going?" He asked. "To see the princess Celestia, she might be able to help you" Twilight replied with enthusiasm. Zac was yet again, confused. "Princess Celestia?" It seemed every answer he got just left him asking more questions. How could this Princess help him? Could she lead him to the shard of the Nexus? All this was so very confusing. "I hope I don't regret this. Royal MeetingAuthor's Note New voices: Applejack Fluttershy Celestia Wording like (This) means a flashback sequence. Royal Meeting "Jason it's gonna blow!" The only thing that Zachary could see was the silhouette of his brother at the control panel trying desperately to stop the Nexus from cracking. Zac was trying to get Jason away from the controls so he wouldn't get blown up in the process. "I can stop it Zac, just get out of here!" Jason insisted, still clicking away at the controls. The Nexus was cracking more and more by the second, it could blow at any time. "Jason there's no time! Zac shouted, desperately trying to tear Jason away from the controls. "WARNING, NEXUS ENERGY CRITICAL, DESTRUCTION IMMINENT! The Nexus was now shaking violently, and still Jason insisted he could stop it. "Zac Go!" Jason pushed Zac with so much force it threw Zac out of the room. Before Zac could do anything, Jason shut the door! Zac pounded on the door trying desperately to get back inside, but it was too late. *BOOM* "JASOOOON!" Zachary awoke suddenly, covered in sweat and out of breath. He felt like his heart was about to explode. He looked around, he was still on the train heading to Canterlot. He looked down at himself, relieve to see that he was still a pony. It was only a nightmare, a nightmare that continued to haunt Zac ever since that day. It was something that he could never forget. He took a deep breath and relaxed for a moment. "Same nightmare, got to remember not to fall asleep." He thought to himself, a voice beside him almost made him jump again. "Zac?" He looked up to see Twilight and her friends, and they all looked very concerned. "Are you okay?" She placed a hoove on his shoulder, which seemed to calm him down. "Y-yeah, I-I'm okay." He said, hesitantly. "Just a bad dream." This didn't seem to reassure them at all. In fact, it just made them more concerned. But at that moment, Zac saw something outside the window. It was a castle, unlike any he had ever seen before. This seemed to get everyone's attention off of him for now. "Wow" He said quietly to himself, a few minutes later, the train came to a full stop. As they had all gotten off Zac noticed a map in front of them. It was a map of Equestria, and it was much bigger than he thought. Canterlot was located somewhat in the middle of everything, and he could see the castle on the map to. "This must be Equestria's capital city." He said to himself quietly. As they headed for the castle, he noticed the streets were way more busy than the ones back in Ponyville. Zac tried to keep himself between the four and everything else trying not to draw attention to himself, but he found it rather difficult. He felt like everyone was looking at him. Well, he didn't exactly look like the average pony, whatever the average pony was. After a few minutes of walking up stairs, they arrived at the castles front door where two ponies seemed to be waiting for them. The one on the left was a cream color with a light purple mane and tail and seemed like you typical shy person. The other was orange with a tan mane and tail. They were also wearing a Stetson hat implying that were some kind of farmer. "Who are those two?" He asked with concern. "That's Applejack and Fluttershy. Don't worry, they're our friends too." Twilight said, noticing that Zac was very concerned. "Applejack, Fluttershy!" Twilight greeted them as they approached, Zac still desperately trying to hide himself from everything. The two ponies greeted them back. Zac thought to himself quietly. "I REALLY hope I don't regret this." "I see you brought the stranger with you." The pony named Applejack had noticed Zac behind the rest of them looking around nervously. Twilight reassured that everything was fine. "Applejack, Fluttershy, this is Zac. Twilight said, gesturing to Zac hiding behind them. "H-Hello" He said peeking out from behind Pinke. Applejack did not seemed convinced. She still looked like she was ready to drop kick him up into the Stratosphere. "I hope this guy hasn't been giving you any kind of trouble." She said very sternly, which didn't help Zac at all. "I can assure you I've not attempted anything." He said calmly, trying not to show fear but was doing a terrible job at it. The one named Fluttershy peeked out around Applejack to get a look at him. "Are you alright?" She asked, sounding just as nervous. This caught Zac's attention, noticing that someone else was concerned for him. "Well my head stopped spinning on the ride here so, I'd say I'm decent." He said looking around at everyone to see if they were buying his bullshit. Twilight then proceeded to explain what was wrong with him. "He has amnesia." She said. "Well he did fall from the sky." Applejack replied. "But how is he in one piece?" Twilight shrugged, just as confused as she was. "No idea, which is why we brought him here to Canterlot." She replied. "Hopefully Princess Celestia can help us with this." And with that, they entered the castle. Zac was astonished by the ornate entrance hall. Everywhere he looked was clean, white, and shiny, something that he wasn't use to. Hallway after hallway, staircase after staircase, Zac was amazed by the entire structure of the castle. For ponies, it was very well built. "How did they do all this?" He thought to himself. Eventually they reached a set of doors at the end of one of the many hallways they went through. This made Zac very nervous again. Was this where this Princess Celestia was? "So is this Princess Celestia like you guys?" He asked with curiosity. "Not exactly." Twilight responded. "While Celestia may look like a pony, She's actually a Alicorn." Not having a single clue what an Alicorn was, He decided not to question it for now. "Can she really help me?" He asked, getting more concerned every second. Twilight looked at him with a warm smile. "We're about to find out." She replied. The doors opened and they all stepped through. Once again, Zac was amazed by the decorative throne room of the castle. It was almost the size of a football field with stained glass windows lining each side of the room. The windows themselves seem to depict several events throughout Equestria. The one that caught his eye was of the 6 ponies around him now all in some kind of ritual. No, not a ritual, they were battling something. However this was the least of this problems right now, for in front of them was the throne itself, and it wasn't empty. Sitting in the throne was Princess Celestia. A mare who double the height of everyone he had seen. Her coat was pure white and her mane and tail was glowing with many colors, pink, purple, blue, green, you name a color, it was there. She wore a crown like any princess would, but what caught Zac's attention the most was that she had a horn TWICE as long as Twilight and Rarity's and that she had wing's bigger than Rainbow Dash's as well. In his standard, she was by all means, a GODDESS. "Ah, my prize student." She spoke as they all entered. Her voice alone was very elegant. Wait, Student? "Princess Celestia, sorry to keep you waiting." Twilight responded Celestia simply chuckled in response. "That is quite alright Twilight." She reassure them. "And I see you brought him with you." "We did" Twilight replied. "Celestia, this is Zachary." She said gestureing toward him. They all moved aside to reveal a very nervous Zac trying to keep his cool. "I hope she falls for my fake amnesia trick too." He thought to himself. He felt like he was standing in a spotlight on a stage. "Greetings Zachary, I am Princess Celestia." She said. "Please, j-just call me Zac." He responded nervously. "There's no need to be nervous Zac, your safe here." She reassured him. "R-Right." He replied. "Twilight here tells me you fell from the sky." She said " Is this true?" "I guess." He replied Celestia seemed confused, but not for long. "He has amnesia." Twilight said. "How unfortunate, I'm sorry to hear this." Celestia said. "Is there anything you do remember Zac?" Zac thought for a second. "Well I remember falling from the sky, but I can't remember anything before that." He replied "I see." She said, feeling sorry for him. "Well, until your memories return, you are welcome to stay in Ponyville." "Thank you." He said putting his mind at ease. "Twilight, is it ok if he stays with you?" Celestia asked. "Sure, no problem!" Twilight responded cheerfully. "Wonderful." Celestia said happily. "In that case, you are all free to go." "Thank you Celestia." The 7 of them began to leave. But right before they reached the door, the watch on Zac's left front hoof suddenly started beeping rapidly catching everyone's attention. "What the?" He said staring at the watch. before anyone could say anything, a blinding Green light engulfed Zac. Everyone stepped back terrified and confused, Zac had to close his own eyes. When the light disappeared, Zac was still there, but he wasn't a pony anymore. He was back to his human appearance again. Taking a moment to look at himself, he chuckle slightly "Hey, I'm me again." He said happily. Then a thought occurred to him. "Oh shit." His cover had been blown. He spun around quickly to try to explain himself. "Now wait a minute, hold on a second, I can explain." He said backing up slowly. But the guards were now in front of him. "Orders Princess?" One of them asked. Celestia just sat there still processing what just happened, as for Zac, he was starting to panic. "What do I do?" He thought to himself. He suddenly had an idea. "Who put that piano up there?" He said pointing above them. Everyone in the room looked at where he had pointed, but there was nothing there. That's when Celestia realized they had all fallen for a simple trick. But by the time she looked down, he was already running. On The RunAuthor's Note It seems like Zac's cover is blown. What will he do now? On The Run Zachary sprinted down the corridor, he could hear Celestia behind him, "Guard's, Stop him!!!" She shouted as about 20 or so armoured Ponies poured out from the throne room. Zac didn't look back, he kept running cutting corners very sharply. "Well so much for faking amnesia." He said as more guards appeared in front of him, "Halt!!!" They shouted, but Zac didn't listen, he jumped right over them, hit a combat roll, and kept going. He ran through a door and slammed it shut. Pulling out one of his Desert eagle's he shot the chandelier above it. It fell and blocked the door, but Zac didn't stick around, spinning a 180, he continued on. "Now to just find a way out of this crazy place." He said. Turning a corner something slammed right into his stomach. Grunting, he flew backwards into the wall cracking it with the force he hit it with. Dazed for the third time, he staggered to his feet. Rainbow Dash hovered in front of him, slightly dazed herself. She shook it off rather quickly however. "Oh give me a fucking break." He said annoyed, "I knew you were nothing but trouble!" She responded angrily. Zac simply glared at her in response. "Look rainbow I already told you that this is just a big misunderstanding and I'm not trying to hurt anyone!" He said, attempting to reason with the sky blue Pegasus. But she was having none of it. "Just shut up and surrender before I have to rough you up!" She said. Zac quickly grabbed a stone and threw it at her, smacking her right in the forehead. "OW! That hurt you little punk!" She said, clutching her forehead. Zac took this time to run past her and down the hall. "Why is no one letting me explain myself?" He said to himself. Ducking through another door he slammed it shut and locked the latch. He took a moment to catch his breath and take in his new surroundings. The only problem was, it was DARK. "Ugh where's the goddamn light switch?" He said fumbling around in the dark, only to suddenly remember that light switches didn't exist in this era. So instead, he lit a fire in his hand. The fire was weak, but Zac didn't notice. This room had no windows and appear to be an old storage space. Cloths draped over old furniture and bookshelves were all over the place. "Well it's a good place to hide." He said "IF I was hiding." He spotted another door at the other end of the room, he can see light through the slit under the door. He headed toward it and stopped in front of it and listened. Nothing "Sounds clear." He said. He grasps the door knob and slowly turned it. He opened the door just a crack to peak out. He didn't see anyone there. "Looks clear." He said. He opened the door fully and stepped out. "Gotcha!!!" "Huh?!" The moment he stepped out the door, he turned to his right just time to see Applejack jump at him and drop kick him in the face. He flew about 20 feet and slammed into a wall again. However this time he had braced for it in advance, so he got onto one knee rather quickly. "Is anyone gonna let me explain myself?!" He said angrily. "Nope" Said a voice on his right. He turned to become face to face with a cannon, It's fuse was already gone. "Oh shi-" *BOOM* A shower of confetti hit him in the face and sent him another 20 feet into yet another wall. Only this time, he went straight through it and almost fell down the staircase on the other side if the railing wasn't there to stop him. Upon looking down, he realized he was on the highest level of the castle. "Oh come on." He said. Looking up he could see Rainbow Dash zooming full force at him. Turning around, he flipped over the railing. Swinging to the floor below, he dodged her narrowly and made a mad dash out of there, slamming a door in her face as he ran down the hall. Rounding another corner, he came face to face with Princess Celestia and about 50 or so royal guards. "Oh shit, not this way!" He said as he skid to a halt. He turned and ran in the opposite direction. "Don't let him escape!!!" Celestia shouted as Zac dodged Rainbow Dash yet again. Sprinting down the hall he turned right only to find Twilight and Rarity blocking his path. Turning to run the other way, he found Applejack, Pinke, and Rainbow Dash blocking that way. He realized that he was surrounded. "Shit" He said as they all closed in on him. Did he fight them off? Or did he surrender? How was he going to get out of this? "I don't suppose we can negotiate an answer that benefits all of us?" He said smiling innocently. "Enough games shapeshifter" Celestia replied who had clearly had enough of his shit. "I don't know who you are, but it doesn't matter. Now do you surrender? Or do you chose the hard way? " This just annoyed him way more than he already was. "If you would just let me explain myself-" "Can we just talk about this?" Twilight said hoping to stop any and all conflict. Everyone just looked at her like they couldn't believe what she was saying. "Twilight this individual is dangerous." "But he isn't trying to hurt anyone!" "Twilight I will not have this discussion at this time." "please, just don't hurt him." Zac was taken aback by this. Why was she trying to protect him? She had no idea who he was, What he was. It was starting to drive him crazy. That's when he realized that he was standing in front of a window. "I've had enough of this, I'll just let myself out He said abruptly. Before anyone could react, he jumped out the window. *CRASH* "Is this guy insane?!?" Rainbow Dash shouted as all of them ran to the now broken window. Zac free fell about 50 feet before he hit the ground, a loud crack echoed through the air as the ground beneath him shattered kicking up a dust cloud. When the dust cleared, they all expected to see him laying there either dead or seriously injured. But before the cloud even cleared, he suddenly emerged, without a bruise on him, he made a beeline for the outskirts of Canterlot at a blazing speed. "How did he?" Rarity said with straight confusion. "Who cares, he's getting away!" Rainbow Dash interrupted flying out the window after him. Zac ran through the streets of Canterlot ducking and dodging through everything in his path. His only problem now, where was he going to go? Looking behind him, he saw a cyan blur in the sky zooming towards him. He knew precisely what it was. "Does she ever give up?" He said ducking into a alley, she zoomed past luckily not seeing him. He dashed out the other end and continued down the road. He saw the train station about 100 meters away and sped up even faster. "Almost there!" He said as he was about 25 meters away. But just before he got there, Rainbow Dash appeared out of nowhere and slammed right into him again, knocking him flat on his back. From the speed she was going she kept on going, having to skid to a stop before she hit a building. Zac got to his knees before he coughed up blood. This surprised he seeing as he hadn't coughed up blood in a while. He suddenly knew why. "My body is still adjusting to this universe." He said through gritted teeth. "Thought you could run away huh?" Rainbow Dash said turning and speeding at him again, this time he blocked the attack by throwing up his right arm, revealing some kind of wrist guard under his sleeve. When she collided with it, it glowed for a second before it was dark again. "What the?" She said puzzled. Before she had time to do anything else, Zac threw out his left hand revealing another wrist guard. It glowed for a second before some kind of invisible force threw Rainbow Dash backwards about 30 meters. Zac turned to run but only took two steps before he fell on one knee again coughing up more blood. Grunting, he staggered to his feet and try to keep going. "Can't stop now, not when I'm this close." He said as his vision started to get hazy. He limped for a train hoping to jump on it before it left. But right before he got there, Celestia landed in front of him. "Oh come on!" He said turning the other way. But he was met by everyone else catching up with him. Once again, he was surrounded. "Well, my offer still stands." He said innocently, but she was not having any of it. "The hard way it is then." She said as her horn started to light up. "Get out of the way!!!" Twilight shouted at him. But he didn't have the time, for a green laser beam was coming right at him. He threw up his right arm again to block it. The force was so powerful it almost knocked him off his feet, but he managed to stay upright as the beam continued. He struggled against the green laser as his wrist guard glowed brighter and brighter. "I'll release the energy, knock them all back, and then run for the train." He thought to himself. Drawing back his left hand, A hatchet popped out of the wrist guard. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" He shouted as he slammed the hatchet on the ground in front of him. The shockwave that followed caused the hatchet to shatter and sent everyone back including himself! He flew backwards at a alarming speed occasionally hitting the ground is he went. Eventually he slammed into a wall and almost shattered it completely. "Well, that's gonna leave a mark. He coughed as he staggered to his feet. Looking around, he was back in front of the castle. "Talk about going back to the beginning." He said. He turned to run back into the castle, but had barely taken a step when he realized he was standing in a pool of blood, HIS blood. That's when he noticed the wound in his left side. And it wasn't healing as fast as it should have been. Looking behind him, he saw the whole group heading back towards the castle. "Why does this shit happen to me?" He said grunting slightly. He ran back into the castle and slammed the doors shut behind him. Still clutching his injured side, he ran through the castle, but his injury was making his movement sluggish. Dashing up the stairs to the top floor, he ran around aimlessly, as he tried to find somewhere to hide. But now by this time his vision was blurring, his ears were ringing and his movements were slowing down, but he kept going in spite of this. "I'm not giving up, not now." He said squinting ahead trying to find somewhere to go. His eyes landed upon a opened door at the hall, ducking inside he slammed the door shut. He stumbled to the center of the room and turned around. He then noticed that he had left a blood trail, but by now, he didn't care. "Nowhere to go." He said swaying on the spot. He stood staring at the door, waiting, he eventually fell to his knees and coughed up even more blood. He fell onto his side coughing, his vision fading. "This is all so god damm annoying." And then it all went black... Twilight and her friends followed by Celestia eventually reach the castle where they discovered Zac's pool of blood. "Oh no." She said terrified, Whatever had happened, he was hurt, and possibly dying. "Must have banged himself up pretty bad." Apple jack said. "Well he bleeds red." Rainbow Dash said, reaching out to touch the pool of blood lightly. "OW!" She shouted suddenly, jumping away. "What happened?" Twilight asked with concern. "It's burning hot!" Rainbow Dash replied. "His blood is burning? Applejack said with confusion. "Guys, he could be dying in there." Fluttershy said, snapping everyone back to really. "Then we better find him before he bleeds to death." Celestia replied as they all entered the castle. They followed the trail of blood through the castle, up the stairs, and eventually, the room that Zac was in. They all looked at each other, unsure of what they were gonna see on the other side. "Are we sure about this?" Fluttershy asked nervously. "You don't have to come in if you don't want to Fluttershy. Twilight replied noticing she was shaking. "Fluttershy, go find some medics." Celestia instructed. "We're gonna need them." "O-Ok." Fluttershy replied as she ran off down the hall. They all turned back towards the door, taking a deep breath, Twilight opened the door, and gasped. There he was, laying in a pool of his own blood. "Is he?" Twilight said horror struck. Using magic, Celestia examined the unconscious human. "No, he's alive." She said, using magic again, she healed the wound on his side as best as she could. At that moment, Fluttershy returned with medics and some royal guards. "Guards, take him and put him in a cell, and inform me when he wakes up." Celestia instructed. The guards lifted Zac up and carried him away. "And I what your thinking Twilight." She replied already sensing the protesting looks from her student. "We don't know who or what he is. So until then, he stays in a cell until further notice." And with that, she left the room. Twilight looked back towards her friends, but judging by the looks on their faces, their opinions were the same as Celestia's. ImprisonedAuthor's Note Wording like This means voices in someone's head. Imprisoned *BOOM* Explosions and gunfire rained everywhere as the boats pulled up to the beach. Dozens of American soldiers were sailing to certain death. "This is it troops!" Sergeant Kent shouted over the loud gunfire. "Our objective is to get to those bunkers and take out those MG42's. One soldier at the age of 25 stood clutching his Thompson sub machine gun with his very life. At that moment, the boats hit the beach. "Move out troops!!!" Sergeant Kent shouted as the doors dropped. The soldiers started to run, but the second they did, the boat was riddled with bullets. Half the soldiers in the boat were killed instantly. The one soldier hit the deck as bullets whizzed over his head. "Zac, over here!!!" A soldier shouted, Zac looked up to see his good friend Jake behind a barricade. Jumping to his feet, Zac ran for it as bullets flew in every direction. Reaching it, he jumped and slammed right into it. "Crazy day right?" Jake shouted over the gunfire. "You got that right." Zac shouted back. They both peaked out and spotted another barricade about 40 yards up. "On three, we're gonna make a run for it." Zac said. "Ok." Jake responded. Zac started the count. "one, two THREE!!!" They both jumped out and ran for their lives as bullets whizzed all around them as they fired back. They reached it and ducked for cover. "Ok, we're still alive!" Zac said encouragingly. He peaked out and saw that they were halfway there. "We're halfway there, We can make it Jake!" Zac said. But Jake didn't respond. "Jake?" Zac turned, Jake was peering out the left side of the barricade. "Jake, you good?" Still not a response. Zac tapped him on the shoulder. Jake fell backward revealing his face, A single bullet had hit him in the forehead. He must have gotten shot when he had peered out. Zac was horror struck, Every sound around him had been muffled. He stared at the body of his now dead friend, sadness washed over him, but was soon replaced by rage. Picking up both Thompson's, he ran out from behind cover and open fired. But he barely made it 30 meters before he was hit. He felt as if time had slowed down, he looked down at the bullet hole in his torso. But before he could do anything else, he was riddled with bullets. He fell onto his back as the world faded around him. Then it all went black... "kill them" "kill them" "kill them" "kill them" "kill them" "kill them" "Kill them all." "FUCK!!!" Zachary sprung awake in a pool of sweat, his eyes darting around the room. He was in the basement, in a dungeon, in a cell. Looking at himself, he was still his human appearance. The wound in his left side was also gone, like it was never there. " And I thought the Jason nightmare was bad enough." He thought to himself. He took a deep breath and trying to remember what happened. Then it came back, he was bleeding out, running aimlessly through the castle until he was standing in a small room staring at the door. Then he blacked out. "They must have found me and brought me here." He said, filling in the gaps. He stood up and walked over to the bars of his cell, Studying it closely. He grabbed the bars and tried to pull them apart, but it was no use. "Still adjusting." He said quietly. He then walked over to the small barred window to look out, but it was too high. Stepping over to the bed, he dragged it just below and climbed on top of it. Staring out, he could see Ponyville down below the clouds. He must have been about 1000 feet up. "How the fuck do I get myself into these messes?" He questioned. Still looking out the window, he didn't notice that someone had entered the room until he heard a voice behind him. "Excuse me?" "huh?" Zac looked at the door of his cell out of the corner of his eye and saw none other than Twilight Sparkle herself sitting there looking at him. The weirdest part about this was the fact that she was alone, no one else had entered. "Are you doing okay?" She asked nervously. "Why do you care?" He responded, looking back out the window. "Don't you see me as a threat?" This caused her to pause for a moment, now to think of it, she wasn't sure herself. "I don't know." She replied. Zac continued to stare out the window. "What do you see when you look at me?." He said, still not looking back. Twilight just stared at him for a moment, he sounded so broken, depressed, and yet calm. When she looked at him, she didn't see a threat. What she did see when she looked at him was someone who was just lost and confused. Ripped away from wherever they belonged and thrown into Equestria. "You don't seem like a bad person." She finally said. He turned slowly until his left eye was just barely visible. The scar that ran down his face sent a shiver down her spine. "You... don't know who I am, WHAT I am."" He said in a trembling voice. He sounded scared, why did he sound scared? What was he that was so bad? "Then, what are you She asked nervously. It took Zac a second to answer. "Is that something you really wanna know?" He said. "Of course it is." She replied. Zac turned fully and jumped off the bed. "I can't tell you." He said plainly. Twilight was confused. "What do you mean you can't tel-" Zac raised a finger silencing her. "But... I can show you." He finished. Twilight was again, confused. "What?" "It's something I can do." He said. "If I concentrate hard enough with someone I can show them my memories. But I've only done this once. And since then I haven't again." Zac pause for a moment to breathe. "The only problem is that I can't control what I show you. That being said if I were to do this, then you would see everything I've done. So I'll ask you again, Is that something you really want to know?" Twilight was unsure of this now, she wanted to know but she was also afraid of what she might see. She thought for a second, then made her choice. "Yes, I'm sure." Zac just looked at her, she really wanted to know. And by the way her violet eyes stared into his, he couldn't deny her. "Okay." He said walking forward. "But remember, YOU asked for this." He crouched down in front of the bars as Twilight approached slowly. "Just close your eyes." He said. Twilight did as she was told. He reached out his hand and gently laid it on her forehead. Twilight almost opened her eyes in shock, but she kept them closed. His hand was surprisingly warm to the touch, it was very soothing in a way. "Are you ready for this?" He asked in concern. "Yes." She responded softly. "All right, here we go." He said. He closed his own eyes and concentrated as hard he could. Judging by a change in the wind outside, he could tell it was starting to work. But before he could think about it any further, Twilight suddenly gasped and jumped away from him. "Shit, I forgot to tell you it could be a little violent." He said. Twilight stared at him with a look of absolute terror. "Are you okay?" He asked in concern. Twilight said nothing, but he could say anything else, she suddenly ran out the door as it closed behind her rather violently. Zac just stared at the door. "Shit." Twilight ran through the dungeon frantically looking for the way out. She eventually found the stairs out of the basement and with one last effort, she ran out of the basement and slammed the door shut with a flick of her horn. She lean against the door painting violently as Zac's memories were running through her head like a burning tsunami. She felt like she was about to go insane, but somehow she manage to pull herself together. She walked down the hall, the memories still screaming in her head. "Oh my god, he did all that." She said quietly, still breathing rather heavily. But despite all Zac showed her, Her opinion of him had not changed. She knew who and what he was now. "But even though he did, He did it for the greater good, to help people, to save people. He's not a monster, he's a hero." She looked back towards the door to the basement regretting the choice to run. "But now he probably thinks I'm scared of him." "She's probably afraid of me now. " Zac said walking back to the bed. "I warned her, Why didn't she listen?" He flopped down facing the ceiling with his hands behind his head. "But it doesn't matter." He said with the look of determination on his face as he gazed at the moon. "Because when the time is right, I'm getting out the fuck of here." Escape?Zachary sat on the foot of the bed in his cell snapping his fingers repeatedly. He had been sitting here doing this for three days straight. However, when he turned into a pony every so often, he just walked back and forth from one side of the cell to the other, occasionally running to get used to moving in this form. He had gotten used to it rather quickly over the past three days to the point he could move as if he were himself. The sun was just setting as the moon rose and plugged Equestria into the night. Zac sat waiting, waiting for something. In the past three days, Celestia tried to interrogate him to get answers out of him, but it was no use. He sat doing the same things for three days, completely silent, waiting. But not once did they ever try to torture him. He wondered what Twilight was doing right now at this moment. But the only question that ringed in his mind was WHY, why did she try to stop Celestia from harming him? A question he never got to ask her, and probably never would. "I've probably just scared her for life." He said to himself quietly while still snapping his fingers. His thoughts were interrupted however when he snapped his fingers again, and felt something happen. The breeze outside had suddenly stopped and everything went silent except for the faint sound of fire crackling in his ear, which caused him to stand up. He looked out the window and saw that everything had stopped completely and had a red tint, which in turn, brought a smirk to his face. "All right, now to get out of here." He said after noticing he suddenly felt invigorated. He walked over to the cell door and gripped it tightly as he pulled it off it's hinges easily. "Back in business." He said, stepping through the doorless frame, he walked to the door, opened it and looked out. The two guards on each side of the door were frozen and were completely unaware of it. He wandered through the dungeon as he casually searched for the way out. Eventually, he found the door out and climbed up the stairs to it. He threw the door open and closed it behind him as he looked around. Surprisingly there was no one around. He strolled casually through the castle taking in the wonderful scenery as he looked for the way out. Turning a corner, he saw some more guards frozen in place. As he casually walked by them, his watch started to beep again. "Oh shit." He said alarmed. He saw a staircase on his left and dashed up it. Just as he got to the second floor, A green light engulfed him again. When it cleared, he was a pony again. "This is gonna get annoying real fast." He said. Luckily, he had deducted the times between transformations while he was in his cell. Every transformation happened every 2 hours. The only problem was he couldn't fight back if he was found since he couldn't use his powers in this form, and he couldn't exactly snap his fingers to resume time seeing as he didn't have fingers. But he didn't have to worry about this because as he was thinking about it, he heard people talking. "So much for a casual stroll out of here." He said. "This just became a video game stealth mission." He moved quietly through the castle avoiding anyone he saw as to not alert them. He decided he was just gonna jump out a window again. But he had to go higher for that. As he climbed a staircase to the highest level, he noticed the hole he made three days before. Even though it was now covered up, he still recognized the area he was in. "Now to just retrace my steps." He said as he approached the door. After struggling a little bit, he managed to open it and continue down the hall. Stopping at a turn, he looked both ways. To the right was the window he jumped out of. So naturally he walked in that direction. As he prepared to jump out, he noticed right next to it was a balcony overlooking Canterlot. He thought for a second, and then turned to head for the balcony. "Well at least I won't have to break the window again." He said. He stepped out into the cool night air as he surveyed the landscape beyond Canterlot. It was more beautiful than he realized it was even though it was night. The light from the moon shined down over all of Equestria and lit up the sky in a beautiful image. "How can this place be so beautiful?" He asked himself. As he stared into the night sky, he felt tears forming in his eyes. "I know you're out there somewhere bro." He said trying to hold back the tears. "I'll find you if it's the last thing I do." He was so lost in thought that he had completely spaced the fact that he was trying to escape. And someone he couldn't get out of his head, was about to find him. Twilight wandered the halls of the castle, still a little shaken up from the last time she talked to Zac. What he had shown her was more than messed up. All she had seen was violence, bloodshed, death, destruction. But at least, she knew who he was now. But she still wasn't afraid of him. Even though he had done all those terrible things, he had done so many good things to. But he had lost so much as well. Apparently, he had a brother he lost fairly recently, the multiverse theory was true, he was tracking down shards to some nexus, and on top of all that, he was a Phoenix, with the appearance of something called a human. Which explained why he had survived up to this point. Also his full name was Zachary Pyromaniac and he was at over 1000 years old. She realized that she couldn't stop thinking about him. If anything, she felt sorry for him. He was trying to fix what he had broken as well as find his lost brother. But her thoughts were interrupted when she passed by the window he jumped out of three days ago. Looking out to the balcony, she saw Zac sitting there in his pony appearance. She knew it was him by the red coat he was wearing. She stopped dead in her tracks. "He got out?!" She thought to herself in a panic. Her mind told her to tell someone he had escaped. But her heart told her to just talk to him, apologize for running away so abruptly. So she took a deep breath and walked towards him. He must have been so lost in thought that he didn't hear her walk up on his left. "Zac?" She said quietly. Surprisingly, Zac didn't flip his shit. "Gonna go tell someone I escaped?" He said coldly, not taking his eyes off the night sky. His voice was shaking slightly. "Cause go ahead, I'll be gone long before they get here." Twilight went to put a hoof on his shoulder. "I just want to talk to you." She said trying to calm him down. But the moment her hoof made contact with his shoulder, all it did was send him into a fit of anger. "How can you even still look at me the same!" He snapped, pushing her away abruptly. Twilight notched there was tears in his eyes. Was he, crying? "You've seen what I am, what I've done, what I've become! I'm no hero, I'm nothing but..." He paused for a mere second trying to hold back tears. He sounded like he was screaming from the darkest depths of his soul. "I'm nothing but a mon-." Before he could even finish his sentence, Twilight slapped him so hard he felt his jaw crack, and his vision blurred for a moment. "What the fuck was that for!?!" He shouted, regaining his balance. "Zachary Pyromaniac, you are not a monster!" She shouted back at him. This stopped him completely. He stood there just, lost. But he shook it off quickly. "Why?" He said, still shocked by her sudden action, but he wanted a reason why. "Why do you even still give a shit? I've killed, I've destroyed, I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of. And yet you're still trying to help me. WHY?" This whole scenario was started to drive him mad. Twilight took a deep breath and hugged him which in turn, confused him so much he was almost completely speechless. "W-wha-what the hell are you-" He studded angrily, trying to escape her grip. "Because now I can understand your pain." She whispered in his ear. This stopped him yet again, Understand his pain? "You've been through so much your whole life. You've seen so much happen with your own eyes. So you've killed people, destroyed cities, and done a lot of very questionable things." Zac stayed silent, wanting to hear it all. Twilight shifted her gaze to stare straight into his eyes. "But you're not a monster. You've saved more people than you've killed, saved entire worlds, entire galaxy's, entire universes. You've done way more good than bad." She paused for a moment, holding back her own tears. "You're an amazing person Zachary. And nothing will ever change that." That did it. Zac let his tears run freely as Twilight hugged him again. Why? Why did she care about him so much? She was looking past all the bad things he had done and only looking at the good things. He felt like... He felt happy. The only other person who cared about him this much was his brother. The only family he had left. And he was lost out there somewhere. "Even after seeing everything I've done." He said in a shaking voice. "You're still comforting me?" "Of course." She said staring into his eyes again. "I know you're were just lost and confused." And I would be to if I was thrown into a world I'm completely unfamiliar with." Zac felt his heart warm up more than it ever had before. The fact she cared about him this much, he couldn't blame her seeing as he had shown her his grief. "You've lost so much, so I gonna help you find what your looking for here." She declared abruptly which surprised him. "Y-You'd do that, for me?" He said still processing everything that she had said. "Of course I would." She said smiling at him. "I'll always help someone when I can. Especially yo-" This time Zac was the one that hugged her unexpectedly catching her off guard. "W-What?!" "Thank you." He said still shaking slightly. "That's the first time that anyone has said all that to me." He eventually let go of her after what felt like 5 minutes but was only a few seconds. "So on that note, I'm giving you a second chance." She said after regaining her composure. "Wait, seriously?" He said surprised. "Me of all people?" "You deserve a second chance Zac." She replied. "But, I don't think your friends trust me like you do." He said with doubt in his voice. "I'll try to explain everything to them." She reassured him. "I can't guarantee they'll trust you. And if they don't, you'll have to earn their trust. But I believe you'll be okay." "I sure hope so." He said. "Come on, we should head back to Ponyville. I have a place you can stay." She said smiling. "But how can we get there without getting seen?" He asked. "I'll teleport us there." She responded. "Ponyville is a long way from Canterlot though." He said with a puzzled look. "Well I can't take us all the way there. But I can put us just outside the castle grounds to make it a little easier." She reassured him. "Okay." He said nervously. "I trust you." Twilight's horn began to glow with a lavender aura. "You might want to hold still." She told him. "Why?" He asked nervously. But before his question was answered, her horn flashed in a blinding lavender light. When it cleared, they were standing outside of the castle grounds. He realized why she told him to stand still as his vision and head said it all. "I told you to hold still." She said giggling "I'll remember that next time." He said swaying on the spot trying not to puke his guts out. He shook it off quickly. "Come on Zac, let's go." Twilight said happily as she started down the road. Zac ran to catch up with her. However, both of them had no idea who was watching them from the top of the castle at that moment. "Twilight, I hope you know what your doing." About 30 minutes later, Zac and Twilight were standing outside of the library that he woke up in. "You live in a library?" He asked with confusion. "Yep." She said smiling happily. "I used to live in Canterlot, but I came here a week ago after Celestia send me here to try and make friends. That's how I met my friends." "I will say, their a interesting bunch of people." He complemented. "I won't blame them if they don't trust me. But I'm gonna try my dam hardest to earn that trust." He vowed. "That's the spirit!" Twilight responded cheerfully. "let's head inside, you must be exhausted." She opened the door with a flick of her horn and they both walked inside. It was how Zac had remembered it, books were everywhere. For a library this small, it sure had a lot of books. "Do you need help to the second floor?" Twilight asked him "Appreciate it, but I got this." He said as he backed up to the wall. He took a galloping start and ran up wall, above the door, and right to the second floor. "Wow, that was amazing!" She said congratulating him "Yeah I always been the athletic type." He said with a smirk on his face. "Mostly because I've had a lot of practice as a pony for the past three days, so I'm a fast learner." In a flash of her horn, she appeared next to him. "Well I don't know about you." She said yawning slightly. "But I'm tired." She walked over to the window and hopped into the small bed next to it. " Yeah I should probably get some sleep too." He said walking up next to her. He climbed into the window and plopped down looking out. "Good night Zac." She said slowly drifting off to sleep. Zac turned to look at her as her eyes closed. "Yeah, good night." He said laying down in the window, not taking his eyes off her for even a second. he couldn't stop thinking about everything she had said to him. "I hope because of that pep talk you gave me I have a good night sleep for once." He said smiling. And with that, he closed his eyes, slowly drifted off, and had no nightmares. Author's Note It seems like Zachary Pyromaniac has had a rough past hasn't he? However this concludes the prologue of Equestrian Phoenix. So I might take a few days to watch the entirety of my little pony because it's on Netflix. As I said before I won't include the whole show. Just some of the highlights. With that being said I hope you enjoyed the prologue, I'd very much appreciate any feedback, And I'll see you at chapter 1. Morning TalkAuthor's Note List of voices Zachary Pyromaniac Twilight Sparkle Rarity Applejack Pinkie Pie Rainbow Dash Fluttershy Can Zachary make amends with Twilight's friends? Just a short mini chapter before the real story begins. Morning Talk Zachary woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside. Slowly opening his eyes, he found himself still in Twilight's library. After blinking a few times, he checked himself, only to find he was still a pony. "I keep thinking I'm in some kind of fever dream." He said yawning. Rising slowly to his feet, he walked to the edge of the second floor and looked down. He saw Twilight sitting in the center of the room surrounded in books, one floating in front of her. After a short stretch, he jumped down to the bottom floor and observed the lavender unicorn closely as she read through book after book. "How can she still be so cheerful with my memories in her head?" He thought to himself. "How can she just sit there knowing that someone like me is in the same room as her but act like nothing is wrong?" At that moment, his watch started to beep again and before he knew it, he was himself yet again. "Oh! Morning Zac!" Twilight said surprised. "Didn't know you were awake." "Sorry, I got lost in thought." He responded. "I hope I didn't wake you up with my constant polymorphing." "It's alright, I'm a pretty heavy sleeper." She replied smiling. "Oh, that's good. Cause I really need to get this thing fixed." He said looking at his watch. "Can I, ask you something?" "Sure, what's on your mind?" She asked. "Well uh, I-I'm still a little confused." He said nervously. "About what Zac?" She asked with a puzzled look. "Well, I don't know how to say this, but, you have all my memories in your mind but, you act like everything is normal." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Don't you have some doubts about me?" Twilight could hear the concern in his voice. To be fair, he was right. "Zac, I won't lie, I do have one doubt." She answered. "But it's like I said last night. You're a great person, and you tried really hard not to hurt anyone that day so I know you're capable of controlling yourself. My only concern is that, I'm not just worried about you, I'm worried about how you'll react to things here and what people will think about you. I know Equestria isn't like any world you've visited. I hope you can understand that." "Yeah, I'm worried about that to." He said. "No one knows me like you do. And I think it should stay that way. I don't think your friends need to know what you know about me. I doubt they'll take it like you did." "I understand." She said. "I also never got to apologize for running away from you so abruptly." "Hey, it's ok. I'd probably have the same reaction to if I were you." He responded "But if anything good came out of showing me you memories, it's that I can understand you." She reassured him. "Which is why I'll make you a promise right now." He said with confidence. "I promise as long as I'm here, I will not kill, no matter what." "You promise?" She asked nervously "I promise with all the good in my soul." He replied. Before anyone could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. "Twilight darling, are you in there?" Said a familiar voice. "Shit!" Zac said in panic. Quickly jumping up to the second floor, he peeked down. Twilight just stared at him. "Sorry, fight or flight response." He whispered smiling innocently. Twilight walked over to the door and opened it. Standing outside were her friends. They were all looking concerned for some reason. "Hey guys, is something wrong?" She asked after noticing their concerned looks. They all seem to be looking past her and into the library. "Celestia told us that Zac guy was here." Rainbow Dash said looking like she was ready to fight. "He hasn't hurt you has he?" Applejack asked. "Guys, calm down, it's ok." Twilight responded. "He hasn't done anything. Besides, he's not evil, he's an okay guy." "Well where is he then?" Rainbow Dash said. Zac took a deep breath and stood up. "I'm right here." He said announcing himself. Everyone in the room looked up at him, his coat blowing in the breeze of the opened door. "Now before anyone says anything, I'll be honest right out the gate." He began. "I know what you're thinking, and it's perfectly understandable. But like Twilight said, I'm not evil. And I apologize for all the damage I caused and lying to you. I wasn't in the right state of mind at the time and I was confused. That being said, if you're willing to give me a second chance, I promise you that I'll try not to hurt anyone as long as I'm here." They all looked towards Twilight for some reassurance. "He's ok guys." She said. "He was just confused. He's been through a lot. At least give him a chance to prove himself." They all thought for a moment, unsure if this was a good idea. Pinkie was the first to say something. "Okey dokey Twilight!" She said cheerfully. "If you say so Twilight." Fluttershy said nervously. "Fine, I guess so." Rainbow Dash said annoyed. "If you trust him." Rarity said. "I hope you know what your doing Twilight." Applejack said. "Okay then." Twilight said. "I promise he won't let you down." Zac front flipped down to the bottom floor to join them, hands tucked in his pockets. "And I'm a man of my word." He said. "I promise you won't regret this." "What brings you to Equestria darling?" Rarity asked. "Well I'm looking for something not of this world, like me." He replied. "It's a shard of a crystal that I'm trying to put back together. I would've asked before but, you know. I was wondering if any of you had seen it." "Oooh, What's it look like?" Pinkie asked cheerfully. In response, Zac opened the device on his right arm revealing a crystal glowing a bright blue color. "It looks like this." He said showing it to them. They were all fascinated by the shard that he possessed. They could feel the intense energy radiating from it. It was unlike anything they had ever seen before. "It would've fallen from the sky like I did." "Sorry Zac." Twilight said. "Nothing else has fallen from the sky like you did. At least, nothing that we know of." "I see." He said. "Then this is gonna be more difficult than I thought." "Then we'll help you find it sugercube." Applejack said. "Wait, seriously?" He asked confused. "Of course darling." Rarity replied. "Yeah, and we can also see what your made of hotshot." Rainbow Dash said rather happily. "Wow." He said. This didn't go the way he had expected it to go, but he wasn't complaining. These five ponies, who he had just basically met, ran away from, and fought back against, had now just decided to help him find the shard. "I just might actually like it here."
ArrivalAuthor's Note List of voices in order of appearance. Zachary Pyromaniac Zachary Dearest Keith A.I system Twilight Sparkle Rarity Rainbow Dash Pinke Pie If you want a full bio on Zachary Pyromaniac. Just let me know. Arrival Zachary Pyromaniac was typing in the coordinates for the next universe on his right wrist mounted travel device. Zachary was an Interesting guy, he was a half human, half Phoenix for a destroyed world. He had the appearance of a 25 year old human being standing about 5 feet and 7 inches. He had short black hair and dark crimson red eyes except for his left which had a claw mark across it. He could still see out it, but it was now a bright white color and glowing slightly. He didn't mind this at all however always saying he needed a scar somewhere. As for his outfit, he wore a red leather trench coat, a black tank-top underneath, a pair of fingerless gloves, black jeans, and a pair of black army grade combat boots. Up both of his sleeves comfortably sat his most prize weapons. Two gun metal black Desert Eagles. Zac had always loved dual welding pistols, but no pistol stood out to him like the Desert Eagle did. However the ones he had were custom made by his brother Jason Thunder. Jason had design the magazines to replicate the 50 Action Express full metal jacket rounds they fired, meaning the guns never ran out of ammunition. What made these guns extremely deadly however was the speed of which he could fire them. Jason had made the chamber system chamber faster than any mounted heavy weapons, exceeding that of the MG42 and the GAO-8 Avenger found on the A10 Warthog. If he really wanted to, Zac could fire these guns at 20,000 rounds per second. Zac had just finished typing in the coordinates when two people walk in, "Hey Pyro" Zac turned around to see two of his new colleagues, Zachary Dearest and Keith. Zachary Dearest was a alternate version of Pyromaniac, They both looked the same except Dearest had shorter white hair and dark red eyes. He wore an eye patch over his right eye, and a black leather jacket with red lines down the sleeves with blue jeans instead of black. Keith on the other hand looked nothing like the two. He was about a centimeter shorter then the both of them, He had Sapphire hair which was all over the place as well as cyan blue eyes. He wore a backwards black cap with a light blue brim, a leather jacket like Dearest except with cyan lines down the sleeves, an black tee shirt with a red cross on it, black jeans, and a pair of red sneakers. Zac greeted both of them as they walked in. "Oh, hey guys!" After a quick fist bump, Zac asked with a little concern "Find my brother yet?" Dearest shook his head "Nope, still nothing" Keith thought for second "Either his universe punching device is broken" He paused for a moment before continuing, now seeing the visible concern on Zac's face. "Or he doesn't want to be found" Zachary just stood there seemingly lost in thought. After a second, he responded. "That's not like my brother, he would've called me by now, something happened to him." Dearest comforted Zac by padding him on the shoulder. "Don't worry Pyro, he's out there somewhere, and we will find him." Zachary lightened up a bit. "Yeah, I guess your right." Keith decided to change the subject back to what it was a minute ago. "So, how are you doing on the shards?" Zac spoke almost immediately. "Well,I've collected about half of them, I was just about to retrieve one right now" Keith was very happy with his reply. "Oh cool, who knows, maybe collecting all of them will leads us to your brother." That seemed to lightened Zac up a lot more "Maybe" Dearest looked at his watch, noticing the time, he said. "Well Pyro, we'll leave you to it" Zac seemed a little disappointed that his friends had to go so soon. He enjoyed talking to them. "See you guys later" Zac waved as Dearest and Keith both left the room. Standing there for a moment, his serious look returned as he began to power up his Universe Hopper. The female automated A.I system inside began the sequence. "GAUNTLET NUMBER 1.8.2.5 BOOT UP SEQUENCE INITIALIZED" Zac braced himself as he drew back his fist. "BOOT UP SEQUENCE COMPLETE" "FIRING IN 3...2...1" Zac threw his fist like he was throwing a punch. *CRACK! Where Zac's fist hit was now a blue crack in reality itself. "Alright, TALLY O!" Zac closed his eyes and jumped into crack, A second later, it disappeared like it was never there. Zachary didn't need to open his eyes to know he was falling. He was all to used to it at this point. "Oh shit, I forgot to set the Y coordinate to a squiggly line again" He shook it off rather quickly. "Ah who the fuck cares?" Zac opened his eyes but all he saw was fog. "How far up am I?" His answer came in the form of the ground coming into view. When he realized he was about a single mile for the ground, he panicked. "OH FUUUUUUU- *CRASH!* Zac opened his eyes slowly, still dazed from what felt like a 10,000 mile fall. "Uhhhhhh" "Huh?" "Where the fuck am I?" Taking in his surroundings he appeared to be in a library, inside of a tree? "Ok, not the weirdest place I've been" He tried to stand up, only finding it impossible and falling flat on his face. "what the?" As he looked up, he saw himself in a mirrors reflection. Only he didn't see himself per say. He was looking at what looked like a pony, Only to realize that, he WAS the pony. Staggering to his, "hooves" he took a better look at his new appearance. He was dark grey with his hair, (or in this case mane) jet black. His eyes were still their respected colors however, and the scar was still present across his left eye. He was still wearing his red leather trench coat and surprisingly, still looked good on him. As he turned to get a better view, he noticed what looked like a tattoo right on his flank. "Why is there a tattoo on my ass?" It was a tattoo of two guns crossed together with a sword between them and a phoenix behind them both. "Well at least it's in my style" He walk around in circles for a few minutes trying to get used to walking. "Ok not as hard as it looks" After thinking from a second, he said to himself rather happily. "I can get used to this" Right at that moment, he heard the door opened below and the sound of people talking. He dropped to the ground and peeked down at the floor below. He saw four ponies all in different colors. He listened for a moment to hear what they were talking about. "You heard Princess Celestia" "You sure taking him there's a good idea? I mean he fell for the sky." "It's not like we have any other choice" "What I'm wondering is how is he still alive?" Zac realized what they were talking about. "They're talking about me!" Zac commando crawled slowly across the top floor trying to get to front door which was still open. About a million thoughts were going through his head right now. Who were these people? Where was he? What did they plan to do with him? He was so lost in thought that he didn't realize how close to the edge he was. By the time he realized, it was too late,his foot slipped and he struggled to keep his balance. But being a pony, it was impossible. "Oh shi-" *crash* Dazed yet again, Zac stood up from the splinters of what was left of the table he fell on. It was at that moment he realized all eyes were on him, and they were just as confused as he was. Half of him wanted to run out the door, but he still wasn't used to being a pony and he was still dazed so that was no good. The other half wanted to see what would happen, although he couldn't exactly fight back if they attacked him. Hearing one of them speak snapped him back to reality "Are you okay?" "What?" He said, his vision finally focusing. He could now see who he was talking to, a pony similar to what he looked like now,except a light shade of purple and had a horn like a unicorn. Her sparkling violet eyes were very mesmerizing, he felt like he was getting lost in her gaze. Her speaking again snapped him out of his trance. "I said, are you okay?" "Uhhhhh" He was a lot more confused now, he had expected them to attack him thinking he was a threat, seeing as he fell from the sky. But why weren't they? He suddenly had an idea. Fake having amnesia to get information. "yeah I think so" He said, rubbing the back of his head. "Where am I exactly?" "Ponyville?" She said with a bit of doubt in her voice. "I think he has amnesia" The pony that spoke was white with purple wavy mane and also a horn. She looked like some kind of fashion designer. "Do you have any idea where you are darling?" "Can't say I do" One of them suddenly screamed with joy causing his ears to ring. "WELCOME TO PONYVILLE FELLOW PONY!" "What the!?" The pony that suddenly yelled at the top of her lungs was "Pink" with a darker pink mane and very "VERY" cheerful. What made her even more concerning was the fact she was bouncing up and down like a child on a sugar rush. "Ok" He said nervously, his ears still ringing. "I get I'm in Ponyville. But where am I?" "Your in Equestria " The purple pony replied, still with doubt in her voice. "Ok Equestria, now we're getting somewhere." "Alright smart guy, who are you?" Zac looked up slightly towards the demanding voice. This pony was cyan with a rainbow mane and tail, she was also floating because she had wings. "Well I do know my name." He said, as he eyed her suspiciously "Oh do you now" She said with a little sass. "Maybe we should introduce ourselves first." The purple pony said, "ugh, oh alright." Zac back up slightly, unsure of what was going to happen. The purple pony spoke first. "Hello fellow pony, I am Twilight Sparkle." The White pony was next. "I'm Rarity" The pink cheerful one went next with enthusiasm "Hi I'm Pinke Pie but you call me Pinke!" Finally the cyan pony, who was still very annoyed simply said, "Rainbow Dash." Zac thought to himself, they seemed friendly enough. "Ok, well I'm Zachary. But you can just call me Zac" He said, still concerned "you all seem like wonderful people." Smiling a little. He took a deep breath, and continued. "Ok, this is going to sound like a weird question, but what's with the tattoo on my flank?" That question only made Rainbow Dash more annoyed then she already was. "Seriously?" Twilight glared at her annoyed. "Sorry" "That's called a cutie mark. Twilight said, with a puzzled expression, Zac was just as puzzled. "What's a cutie mark?" Now with visible confusion, she replied "It's like a visual picture of one's talents. But you're not born with it, it comes when you discover your talent. Although I've never seen a cutie mark like yours before. Do you know what your talent is?" Zac thought for a second, looking down at the floor, he replied, rubbing the back of his head again. "No, I don't,I must of hit my head REALLY hard." Twilight seemed very concerned. "Oh" She walked up and padded Zac on the shoulder. "I'm sure your memory will come back soon" Zac looked up at her, almost getting lost in her gaze again. "Yeah, hopefully." They were silent for a few moments before Rarity cleared her throat to get their attention. "Excuse me, but shouldn't we be on our way to Canterlot?" Twilight suddenly perked up in response. "Oh, that's right!" All this did was confuse Zac even more. "What's Canterlot?" Pinke was already out the door bouncing down the road. "Come on mister Zachary!" Rarity and Rainbow Dash were running after her trying to get her to slow down.Twilight walked to the door and looked back at Zac. "Come on Zac" Zac followed her, still concerned and very confused. "Where are we going?" He asked. "To see the princess Celestia, she might be able to help you" Twilight replied with enthusiasm. Zac was yet again, confused. "Princess Celestia?" It seemed every answer he got just left him asking more questions. How could this Princess help him? Could she lead him to the shard of the Nexus? All this was so very confusing. "I hope I don't regret this.
Royal MeetingAuthor's Note New voices: Applejack Fluttershy Celestia Wording like (This) means a flashback sequence. Royal Meeting "Jason it's gonna blow!" The only thing that Zachary could see was the silhouette of his brother at the control panel trying desperately to stop the Nexus from cracking. Zac was trying to get Jason away from the controls so he wouldn't get blown up in the process. "I can stop it Zac, just get out of here!" Jason insisted, still clicking away at the controls. The Nexus was cracking more and more by the second, it could blow at any time. "Jason there's no time! Zac shouted, desperately trying to tear Jason away from the controls. "WARNING, NEXUS ENERGY CRITICAL, DESTRUCTION IMMINENT! The Nexus was now shaking violently, and still Jason insisted he could stop it. "Zac Go!" Jason pushed Zac with so much force it threw Zac out of the room. Before Zac could do anything, Jason shut the door! Zac pounded on the door trying desperately to get back inside, but it was too late. *BOOM* "JASOOOON!" Zachary awoke suddenly, covered in sweat and out of breath. He felt like his heart was about to explode. He looked around, he was still on the train heading to Canterlot. He looked down at himself, relieve to see that he was still a pony. It was only a nightmare, a nightmare that continued to haunt Zac ever since that day. It was something that he could never forget. He took a deep breath and relaxed for a moment. "Same nightmare, got to remember not to fall asleep." He thought to himself, a voice beside him almost made him jump again. "Zac?" He looked up to see Twilight and her friends, and they all looked very concerned. "Are you okay?" She placed a hoove on his shoulder, which seemed to calm him down. "Y-yeah, I-I'm okay." He said, hesitantly. "Just a bad dream." This didn't seem to reassure them at all. In fact, it just made them more concerned. But at that moment, Zac saw something outside the window. It was a castle, unlike any he had ever seen before. This seemed to get everyone's attention off of him for now. "Wow" He said quietly to himself, a few minutes later, the train came to a full stop. As they had all gotten off Zac noticed a map in front of them. It was a map of Equestria, and it was much bigger than he thought. Canterlot was located somewhat in the middle of everything, and he could see the castle on the map to. "This must be Equestria's capital city." He said to himself quietly. As they headed for the castle, he noticed the streets were way more busy than the ones back in Ponyville. Zac tried to keep himself between the four and everything else trying not to draw attention to himself, but he found it rather difficult. He felt like everyone was looking at him. Well, he didn't exactly look like the average pony, whatever the average pony was. After a few minutes of walking up stairs, they arrived at the castles front door where two ponies seemed to be waiting for them. The one on the left was a cream color with a light purple mane and tail and seemed like you typical shy person. The other was orange with a tan mane and tail. They were also wearing a Stetson hat implying that were some kind of farmer. "Who are those two?" He asked with concern. "That's Applejack and Fluttershy. Don't worry, they're our friends too." Twilight said, noticing that Zac was very concerned. "Applejack, Fluttershy!" Twilight greeted them as they approached, Zac still desperately trying to hide himself from everything. The two ponies greeted them back. Zac thought to himself quietly. "I REALLY hope I don't regret this." "I see you brought the stranger with you." The pony named Applejack had noticed Zac behind the rest of them looking around nervously. Twilight reassured that everything was fine. "Applejack, Fluttershy, this is Zac. Twilight said, gesturing to Zac hiding behind them. "H-Hello" He said peeking out from behind Pinke. Applejack did not seemed convinced. She still looked like she was ready to drop kick him up into the Stratosphere. "I hope this guy hasn't been giving you any kind of trouble." She said very sternly, which didn't help Zac at all. "I can assure you I've not attempted anything." He said calmly, trying not to show fear but was doing a terrible job at it. The one named Fluttershy peeked out around Applejack to get a look at him. "Are you alright?" She asked, sounding just as nervous. This caught Zac's attention, noticing that someone else was concerned for him. "Well my head stopped spinning on the ride here so, I'd say I'm decent." He said looking around at everyone to see if they were buying his bullshit. Twilight then proceeded to explain what was wrong with him. "He has amnesia." She said. "Well he did fall from the sky." Applejack replied. "But how is he in one piece?" Twilight shrugged, just as confused as she was. "No idea, which is why we brought him here to Canterlot." She replied. "Hopefully Princess Celestia can help us with this." And with that, they entered the castle. Zac was astonished by the ornate entrance hall. Everywhere he looked was clean, white, and shiny, something that he wasn't use to. Hallway after hallway, staircase after staircase, Zac was amazed by the entire structure of the castle. For ponies, it was very well built. "How did they do all this?" He thought to himself. Eventually they reached a set of doors at the end of one of the many hallways they went through. This made Zac very nervous again. Was this where this Princess Celestia was? "So is this Princess Celestia like you guys?" He asked with curiosity. "Not exactly." Twilight responded. "While Celestia may look like a pony, She's actually a Alicorn." Not having a single clue what an Alicorn was, He decided not to question it for now. "Can she really help me?" He asked, getting more concerned every second. Twilight looked at him with a warm smile. "We're about to find out." She replied. The doors opened and they all stepped through. Once again, Zac was amazed by the decorative throne room of the castle. It was almost the size of a football field with stained glass windows lining each side of the room. The windows themselves seem to depict several events throughout Equestria. The one that caught his eye was of the 6 ponies around him now all in some kind of ritual. No, not a ritual, they were battling something. However this was the least of this problems right now, for in front of them was the throne itself, and it wasn't empty. Sitting in the throne was Princess Celestia. A mare who double the height of everyone he had seen. Her coat was pure white and her mane and tail was glowing with many colors, pink, purple, blue, green, you name a color, it was there. She wore a crown like any princess would, but what caught Zac's attention the most was that she had a horn TWICE as long as Twilight and Rarity's and that she had wing's bigger than Rainbow Dash's as well. In his standard, she was by all means, a GODDESS. "Ah, my prize student." She spoke as they all entered. Her voice alone was very elegant. Wait, Student? "Princess Celestia, sorry to keep you waiting." Twilight responded Celestia simply chuckled in response. "That is quite alright Twilight." She reassure them. "And I see you brought him with you." "We did" Twilight replied. "Celestia, this is Zachary." She said gestureing toward him. They all moved aside to reveal a very nervous Zac trying to keep his cool. "I hope she falls for my fake amnesia trick too." He thought to himself. He felt like he was standing in a spotlight on a stage. "Greetings Zachary, I am Princess Celestia." She said. "Please, j-just call me Zac." He responded nervously. "There's no need to be nervous Zac, your safe here." She reassured him. "R-Right." He replied. "Twilight here tells me you fell from the sky." She said " Is this true?" "I guess." He replied Celestia seemed confused, but not for long. "He has amnesia." Twilight said. "How unfortunate, I'm sorry to hear this." Celestia said. "Is there anything you do remember Zac?" Zac thought for a second. "Well I remember falling from the sky, but I can't remember anything before that." He replied "I see." She said, feeling sorry for him. "Well, until your memories return, you are welcome to stay in Ponyville." "Thank you." He said putting his mind at ease. "Twilight, is it ok if he stays with you?" Celestia asked. "Sure, no problem!" Twilight responded cheerfully. "Wonderful." Celestia said happily. "In that case, you are all free to go." "Thank you Celestia." The 7 of them began to leave. But right before they reached the door, the watch on Zac's left front hoof suddenly started beeping rapidly catching everyone's attention. "What the?" He said staring at the watch. before anyone could say anything, a blinding Green light engulfed Zac. Everyone stepped back terrified and confused, Zac had to close his own eyes. When the light disappeared, Zac was still there, but he wasn't a pony anymore. He was back to his human appearance again. Taking a moment to look at himself, he chuckle slightly "Hey, I'm me again." He said happily. Then a thought occurred to him. "Oh shit." His cover had been blown. He spun around quickly to try to explain himself. "Now wait a minute, hold on a second, I can explain." He said backing up slowly. But the guards were now in front of him. "Orders Princess?" One of them asked. Celestia just sat there still processing what just happened, as for Zac, he was starting to panic. "What do I do?" He thought to himself. He suddenly had an idea. "Who put that piano up there?" He said pointing above them. Everyone in the room looked at where he had pointed, but there was nothing there. That's when Celestia realized they had all fallen for a simple trick. But by the time she looked down, he was already running.
On The RunAuthor's Note It seems like Zac's cover is blown. What will he do now? On The Run Zachary sprinted down the corridor, he could hear Celestia behind him, "Guard's, Stop him!!!" She shouted as about 20 or so armoured Ponies poured out from the throne room. Zac didn't look back, he kept running cutting corners very sharply. "Well so much for faking amnesia." He said as more guards appeared in front of him, "Halt!!!" They shouted, but Zac didn't listen, he jumped right over them, hit a combat roll, and kept going. He ran through a door and slammed it shut. Pulling out one of his Desert eagle's he shot the chandelier above it. It fell and blocked the door, but Zac didn't stick around, spinning a 180, he continued on. "Now to just find a way out of this crazy place." He said. Turning a corner something slammed right into his stomach. Grunting, he flew backwards into the wall cracking it with the force he hit it with. Dazed for the third time, he staggered to his feet. Rainbow Dash hovered in front of him, slightly dazed herself. She shook it off rather quickly however. "Oh give me a fucking break." He said annoyed, "I knew you were nothing but trouble!" She responded angrily. Zac simply glared at her in response. "Look rainbow I already told you that this is just a big misunderstanding and I'm not trying to hurt anyone!" He said, attempting to reason with the sky blue Pegasus. But she was having none of it. "Just shut up and surrender before I have to rough you up!" She said. Zac quickly grabbed a stone and threw it at her, smacking her right in the forehead. "OW! That hurt you little punk!" She said, clutching her forehead. Zac took this time to run past her and down the hall. "Why is no one letting me explain myself?" He said to himself. Ducking through another door he slammed it shut and locked the latch. He took a moment to catch his breath and take in his new surroundings. The only problem was, it was DARK. "Ugh where's the goddamn light switch?" He said fumbling around in the dark, only to suddenly remember that light switches didn't exist in this era. So instead, he lit a fire in his hand. The fire was weak, but Zac didn't notice. This room had no windows and appear to be an old storage space. Cloths draped over old furniture and bookshelves were all over the place. "Well it's a good place to hide." He said "IF I was hiding." He spotted another door at the other end of the room, he can see light through the slit under the door. He headed toward it and stopped in front of it and listened. Nothing "Sounds clear." He said. He grasps the door knob and slowly turned it. He opened the door just a crack to peak out. He didn't see anyone there. "Looks clear." He said. He opened the door fully and stepped out. "Gotcha!!!" "Huh?!" The moment he stepped out the door, he turned to his right just time to see Applejack jump at him and drop kick him in the face. He flew about 20 feet and slammed into a wall again. However this time he had braced for it in advance, so he got onto one knee rather quickly. "Is anyone gonna let me explain myself?!" He said angrily. "Nope" Said a voice on his right. He turned to become face to face with a cannon, It's fuse was already gone. "Oh shi-" *BOOM* A shower of confetti hit him in the face and sent him another 20 feet into yet another wall. Only this time, he went straight through it and almost fell down the staircase on the other side if the railing wasn't there to stop him. Upon looking down, he realized he was on the highest level of the castle. "Oh come on." He said. Looking up he could see Rainbow Dash zooming full force at him. Turning around, he flipped over the railing. Swinging to the floor below, he dodged her narrowly and made a mad dash out of there, slamming a door in her face as he ran down the hall. Rounding another corner, he came face to face with Princess Celestia and about 50 or so royal guards. "Oh shit, not this way!" He said as he skid to a halt. He turned and ran in the opposite direction. "Don't let him escape!!!" Celestia shouted as Zac dodged Rainbow Dash yet again. Sprinting down the hall he turned right only to find Twilight and Rarity blocking his path. Turning to run the other way, he found Applejack, Pinke, and Rainbow Dash blocking that way. He realized that he was surrounded. "Shit" He said as they all closed in on him. Did he fight them off? Or did he surrender? How was he going to get out of this? "I don't suppose we can negotiate an answer that benefits all of us?" He said smiling innocently. "Enough games shapeshifter" Celestia replied who had clearly had enough of his shit. "I don't know who you are, but it doesn't matter. Now do you surrender? Or do you chose the hard way? " This just annoyed him way more than he already was. "If you would just let me explain myself-" "Can we just talk about this?" Twilight said hoping to stop any and all conflict. Everyone just looked at her like they couldn't believe what she was saying. "Twilight this individual is dangerous." "But he isn't trying to hurt anyone!" "Twilight I will not have this discussion at this time." "please, just don't hurt him." Zac was taken aback by this. Why was she trying to protect him? She had no idea who he was, What he was. It was starting to drive him crazy. That's when he realized that he was standing in front of a window. "I've had enough of this, I'll just let myself out He said abruptly. Before anyone could react, he jumped out the window. *CRASH* "Is this guy insane?!?" Rainbow Dash shouted as all of them ran to the now broken window. Zac free fell about 50 feet before he hit the ground, a loud crack echoed through the air as the ground beneath him shattered kicking up a dust cloud. When the dust cleared, they all expected to see him laying there either dead or seriously injured. But before the cloud even cleared, he suddenly emerged, without a bruise on him, he made a beeline for the outskirts of Canterlot at a blazing speed. "How did he?" Rarity said with straight confusion. "Who cares, he's getting away!" Rainbow Dash interrupted flying out the window after him. Zac ran through the streets of Canterlot ducking and dodging through everything in his path. His only problem now, where was he going to go? Looking behind him, he saw a cyan blur in the sky zooming towards him. He knew precisely what it was. "Does she ever give up?" He said ducking into a alley, she zoomed past luckily not seeing him. He dashed out the other end and continued down the road. He saw the train station about 100 meters away and sped up even faster. "Almost there!" He said as he was about 25 meters away. But just before he got there, Rainbow Dash appeared out of nowhere and slammed right into him again, knocking him flat on his back. From the speed she was going she kept on going, having to skid to a stop before she hit a building. Zac got to his knees before he coughed up blood. This surprised he seeing as he hadn't coughed up blood in a while. He suddenly knew why. "My body is still adjusting to this universe." He said through gritted teeth. "Thought you could run away huh?" Rainbow Dash said turning and speeding at him again, this time he blocked the attack by throwing up his right arm, revealing some kind of wrist guard under his sleeve. When she collided with it, it glowed for a second before it was dark again. "What the?" She said puzzled. Before she had time to do anything else, Zac threw out his left hand revealing another wrist guard. It glowed for a second before some kind of invisible force threw Rainbow Dash backwards about 30 meters. Zac turned to run but only took two steps before he fell on one knee again coughing up more blood. Grunting, he staggered to his feet and try to keep going. "Can't stop now, not when I'm this close." He said as his vision started to get hazy. He limped for a train hoping to jump on it before it left. But right before he got there, Celestia landed in front of him. "Oh come on!" He said turning the other way. But he was met by everyone else catching up with him. Once again, he was surrounded. "Well, my offer still stands." He said innocently, but she was not having any of it. "The hard way it is then." She said as her horn started to light up. "Get out of the way!!!" Twilight shouted at him. But he didn't have the time, for a green laser beam was coming right at him. He threw up his right arm again to block it. The force was so powerful it almost knocked him off his feet, but he managed to stay upright as the beam continued. He struggled against the green laser as his wrist guard glowed brighter and brighter. "I'll release the energy, knock them all back, and then run for the train." He thought to himself. Drawing back his left hand, A hatchet popped out of the wrist guard. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" He shouted as he slammed the hatchet on the ground in front of him. The shockwave that followed caused the hatchet to shatter and sent everyone back including himself! He flew backwards at a alarming speed occasionally hitting the ground is he went. Eventually he slammed into a wall and almost shattered it completely. "Well, that's gonna leave a mark. He coughed as he staggered to his feet. Looking around, he was back in front of the castle. "Talk about going back to the beginning." He said. He turned to run back into the castle, but had barely taken a step when he realized he was standing in a pool of blood, HIS blood. That's when he noticed the wound in his left side. And it wasn't healing as fast as it should have been. Looking behind him, he saw the whole group heading back towards the castle. "Why does this shit happen to me?" He said grunting slightly. He ran back into the castle and slammed the doors shut behind him. Still clutching his injured side, he ran through the castle, but his injury was making his movement sluggish. Dashing up the stairs to the top floor, he ran around aimlessly, as he tried to find somewhere to hide. But now by this time his vision was blurring, his ears were ringing and his movements were slowing down, but he kept going in spite of this. "I'm not giving up, not now." He said squinting ahead trying to find somewhere to go. His eyes landed upon a opened door at the hall, ducking inside he slammed the door shut. He stumbled to the center of the room and turned around. He then noticed that he had left a blood trail, but by now, he didn't care. "Nowhere to go." He said swaying on the spot. He stood staring at the door, waiting, he eventually fell to his knees and coughed up even more blood. He fell onto his side coughing, his vision fading. "This is all so god damm annoying." And then it all went black... Twilight and her friends followed by Celestia eventually reach the castle where they discovered Zac's pool of blood. "Oh no." She said terrified, Whatever had happened, he was hurt, and possibly dying. "Must have banged himself up pretty bad." Apple jack said. "Well he bleeds red." Rainbow Dash said, reaching out to touch the pool of blood lightly. "OW!" She shouted suddenly, jumping away. "What happened?" Twilight asked with concern. "It's burning hot!" Rainbow Dash replied. "His blood is burning? Applejack said with confusion. "Guys, he could be dying in there." Fluttershy said, snapping everyone back to really. "Then we better find him before he bleeds to death." Celestia replied as they all entered the castle. They followed the trail of blood through the castle, up the stairs, and eventually, the room that Zac was in. They all looked at each other, unsure of what they were gonna see on the other side. "Are we sure about this?" Fluttershy asked nervously. "You don't have to come in if you don't want to Fluttershy. Twilight replied noticing she was shaking. "Fluttershy, go find some medics." Celestia instructed. "We're gonna need them." "O-Ok." Fluttershy replied as she ran off down the hall. They all turned back towards the door, taking a deep breath, Twilight opened the door, and gasped. There he was, laying in a pool of his own blood. "Is he?" Twilight said horror struck. Using magic, Celestia examined the unconscious human. "No, he's alive." She said, using magic again, she healed the wound on his side as best as she could. At that moment, Fluttershy returned with medics and some royal guards. "Guards, take him and put him in a cell, and inform me when he wakes up." Celestia instructed. The guards lifted Zac up and carried him away. "And I what your thinking Twilight." She replied already sensing the protesting looks from her student. "We don't know who or what he is. So until then, he stays in a cell until further notice." And with that, she left the room. Twilight looked back towards her friends, but judging by the looks on their faces, their opinions were the same as Celestia's.
ImprisonedAuthor's Note Wording like This means voices in someone's head. Imprisoned *BOOM* Explosions and gunfire rained everywhere as the boats pulled up to the beach. Dozens of American soldiers were sailing to certain death. "This is it troops!" Sergeant Kent shouted over the loud gunfire. "Our objective is to get to those bunkers and take out those MG42's. One soldier at the age of 25 stood clutching his Thompson sub machine gun with his very life. At that moment, the boats hit the beach. "Move out troops!!!" Sergeant Kent shouted as the doors dropped. The soldiers started to run, but the second they did, the boat was riddled with bullets. Half the soldiers in the boat were killed instantly. The one soldier hit the deck as bullets whizzed over his head. "Zac, over here!!!" A soldier shouted, Zac looked up to see his good friend Jake behind a barricade. Jumping to his feet, Zac ran for it as bullets flew in every direction. Reaching it, he jumped and slammed right into it. "Crazy day right?" Jake shouted over the gunfire. "You got that right." Zac shouted back. They both peaked out and spotted another barricade about 40 yards up. "On three, we're gonna make a run for it." Zac said. "Ok." Jake responded. Zac started the count. "one, two THREE!!!" They both jumped out and ran for their lives as bullets whizzed all around them as they fired back. They reached it and ducked for cover. "Ok, we're still alive!" Zac said encouragingly. He peaked out and saw that they were halfway there. "We're halfway there, We can make it Jake!" Zac said. But Jake didn't respond. "Jake?" Zac turned, Jake was peering out the left side of the barricade. "Jake, you good?" Still not a response. Zac tapped him on the shoulder. Jake fell backward revealing his face, A single bullet had hit him in the forehead. He must have gotten shot when he had peered out. Zac was horror struck, Every sound around him had been muffled. He stared at the body of his now dead friend, sadness washed over him, but was soon replaced by rage. Picking up both Thompson's, he ran out from behind cover and open fired. But he barely made it 30 meters before he was hit. He felt as if time had slowed down, he looked down at the bullet hole in his torso. But before he could do anything else, he was riddled with bullets. He fell onto his back as the world faded around him. Then it all went black... "kill them" "kill them" "kill them" "kill them" "kill them" "kill them" "Kill them all." "FUCK!!!" Zachary sprung awake in a pool of sweat, his eyes darting around the room. He was in the basement, in a dungeon, in a cell. Looking at himself, he was still his human appearance. The wound in his left side was also gone, like it was never there. " And I thought the Jason nightmare was bad enough." He thought to himself. He took a deep breath and trying to remember what happened. Then it came back, he was bleeding out, running aimlessly through the castle until he was standing in a small room staring at the door. Then he blacked out. "They must have found me and brought me here." He said, filling in the gaps. He stood up and walked over to the bars of his cell, Studying it closely. He grabbed the bars and tried to pull them apart, but it was no use. "Still adjusting." He said quietly. He then walked over to the small barred window to look out, but it was too high. Stepping over to the bed, he dragged it just below and climbed on top of it. Staring out, he could see Ponyville down below the clouds. He must have been about 1000 feet up. "How the fuck do I get myself into these messes?" He questioned. Still looking out the window, he didn't notice that someone had entered the room until he heard a voice behind him. "Excuse me?" "huh?" Zac looked at the door of his cell out of the corner of his eye and saw none other than Twilight Sparkle herself sitting there looking at him. The weirdest part about this was the fact that she was alone, no one else had entered. "Are you doing okay?" She asked nervously. "Why do you care?" He responded, looking back out the window. "Don't you see me as a threat?" This caused her to pause for a moment, now to think of it, she wasn't sure herself. "I don't know." She replied. Zac continued to stare out the window. "What do you see when you look at me?." He said, still not looking back. Twilight just stared at him for a moment, he sounded so broken, depressed, and yet calm. When she looked at him, she didn't see a threat. What she did see when she looked at him was someone who was just lost and confused. Ripped away from wherever they belonged and thrown into Equestria. "You don't seem like a bad person." She finally said. He turned slowly until his left eye was just barely visible. The scar that ran down his face sent a shiver down her spine. "You... don't know who I am, WHAT I am."" He said in a trembling voice. He sounded scared, why did he sound scared? What was he that was so bad? "Then, what are you She asked nervously. It took Zac a second to answer. "Is that something you really wanna know?" He said. "Of course it is." She replied. Zac turned fully and jumped off the bed. "I can't tell you." He said plainly. Twilight was confused. "What do you mean you can't tel-" Zac raised a finger silencing her. "But... I can show you." He finished. Twilight was again, confused. "What?" "It's something I can do." He said. "If I concentrate hard enough with someone I can show them my memories. But I've only done this once. And since then I haven't again." Zac pause for a moment to breathe. "The only problem is that I can't control what I show you. That being said if I were to do this, then you would see everything I've done. So I'll ask you again, Is that something you really want to know?" Twilight was unsure of this now, she wanted to know but she was also afraid of what she might see. She thought for a second, then made her choice. "Yes, I'm sure." Zac just looked at her, she really wanted to know. And by the way her violet eyes stared into his, he couldn't deny her. "Okay." He said walking forward. "But remember, YOU asked for this." He crouched down in front of the bars as Twilight approached slowly. "Just close your eyes." He said. Twilight did as she was told. He reached out his hand and gently laid it on her forehead. Twilight almost opened her eyes in shock, but she kept them closed. His hand was surprisingly warm to the touch, it was very soothing in a way. "Are you ready for this?" He asked in concern. "Yes." She responded softly. "All right, here we go." He said. He closed his own eyes and concentrated as hard he could. Judging by a change in the wind outside, he could tell it was starting to work. But before he could think about it any further, Twilight suddenly gasped and jumped away from him. "Shit, I forgot to tell you it could be a little violent." He said. Twilight stared at him with a look of absolute terror. "Are you okay?" He asked in concern. Twilight said nothing, but he could say anything else, she suddenly ran out the door as it closed behind her rather violently. Zac just stared at the door. "Shit." Twilight ran through the dungeon frantically looking for the way out. She eventually found the stairs out of the basement and with one last effort, she ran out of the basement and slammed the door shut with a flick of her horn. She lean against the door painting violently as Zac's memories were running through her head like a burning tsunami. She felt like she was about to go insane, but somehow she manage to pull herself together. She walked down the hall, the memories still screaming in her head. "Oh my god, he did all that." She said quietly, still breathing rather heavily. But despite all Zac showed her, Her opinion of him had not changed. She knew who and what he was now. "But even though he did, He did it for the greater good, to help people, to save people. He's not a monster, he's a hero." She looked back towards the door to the basement regretting the choice to run. "But now he probably thinks I'm scared of him." "She's probably afraid of me now. " Zac said walking back to the bed. "I warned her, Why didn't she listen?" He flopped down facing the ceiling with his hands behind his head. "But it doesn't matter." He said with the look of determination on his face as he gazed at the moon. "Because when the time is right, I'm getting out the fuck of here."
Escape?Zachary sat on the foot of the bed in his cell snapping his fingers repeatedly. He had been sitting here doing this for three days straight. However, when he turned into a pony every so often, he just walked back and forth from one side of the cell to the other, occasionally running to get used to moving in this form. He had gotten used to it rather quickly over the past three days to the point he could move as if he were himself. The sun was just setting as the moon rose and plugged Equestria into the night. Zac sat waiting, waiting for something. In the past three days, Celestia tried to interrogate him to get answers out of him, but it was no use. He sat doing the same things for three days, completely silent, waiting. But not once did they ever try to torture him. He wondered what Twilight was doing right now at this moment. But the only question that ringed in his mind was WHY, why did she try to stop Celestia from harming him? A question he never got to ask her, and probably never would. "I've probably just scared her for life." He said to himself quietly while still snapping his fingers. His thoughts were interrupted however when he snapped his fingers again, and felt something happen. The breeze outside had suddenly stopped and everything went silent except for the faint sound of fire crackling in his ear, which caused him to stand up. He looked out the window and saw that everything had stopped completely and had a red tint, which in turn, brought a smirk to his face. "All right, now to get out of here." He said after noticing he suddenly felt invigorated. He walked over to the cell door and gripped it tightly as he pulled it off it's hinges easily. "Back in business." He said, stepping through the doorless frame, he walked to the door, opened it and looked out. The two guards on each side of the door were frozen and were completely unaware of it. He wandered through the dungeon as he casually searched for the way out. Eventually, he found the door out and climbed up the stairs to it. He threw the door open and closed it behind him as he looked around. Surprisingly there was no one around. He strolled casually through the castle taking in the wonderful scenery as he looked for the way out. Turning a corner, he saw some more guards frozen in place. As he casually walked by them, his watch started to beep again. "Oh shit." He said alarmed. He saw a staircase on his left and dashed up it. Just as he got to the second floor, A green light engulfed him again. When it cleared, he was a pony again. "This is gonna get annoying real fast." He said. Luckily, he had deducted the times between transformations while he was in his cell. Every transformation happened every 2 hours. The only problem was he couldn't fight back if he was found since he couldn't use his powers in this form, and he couldn't exactly snap his fingers to resume time seeing as he didn't have fingers. But he didn't have to worry about this because as he was thinking about it, he heard people talking. "So much for a casual stroll out of here." He said. "This just became a video game stealth mission." He moved quietly through the castle avoiding anyone he saw as to not alert them. He decided he was just gonna jump out a window again. But he had to go higher for that. As he climbed a staircase to the highest level, he noticed the hole he made three days before. Even though it was now covered up, he still recognized the area he was in. "Now to just retrace my steps." He said as he approached the door. After struggling a little bit, he managed to open it and continue down the hall. Stopping at a turn, he looked both ways. To the right was the window he jumped out of. So naturally he walked in that direction. As he prepared to jump out, he noticed right next to it was a balcony overlooking Canterlot. He thought for a second, and then turned to head for the balcony. "Well at least I won't have to break the window again." He said. He stepped out into the cool night air as he surveyed the landscape beyond Canterlot. It was more beautiful than he realized it was even though it was night. The light from the moon shined down over all of Equestria and lit up the sky in a beautiful image. "How can this place be so beautiful?" He asked himself. As he stared into the night sky, he felt tears forming in his eyes. "I know you're out there somewhere bro." He said trying to hold back the tears. "I'll find you if it's the last thing I do." He was so lost in thought that he had completely spaced the fact that he was trying to escape. And someone he couldn't get out of his head, was about to find him. Twilight wandered the halls of the castle, still a little shaken up from the last time she talked to Zac. What he had shown her was more than messed up. All she had seen was violence, bloodshed, death, destruction. But at least, she knew who he was now. But she still wasn't afraid of him. Even though he had done all those terrible things, he had done so many good things to. But he had lost so much as well. Apparently, he had a brother he lost fairly recently, the multiverse theory was true, he was tracking down shards to some nexus, and on top of all that, he was a Phoenix, with the appearance of something called a human. Which explained why he had survived up to this point. Also his full name was Zachary Pyromaniac and he was at over 1000 years old. She realized that she couldn't stop thinking about him. If anything, she felt sorry for him. He was trying to fix what he had broken as well as find his lost brother. But her thoughts were interrupted when she passed by the window he jumped out of three days ago. Looking out to the balcony, she saw Zac sitting there in his pony appearance. She knew it was him by the red coat he was wearing. She stopped dead in her tracks. "He got out?!" She thought to herself in a panic. Her mind told her to tell someone he had escaped. But her heart told her to just talk to him, apologize for running away so abruptly. So she took a deep breath and walked towards him. He must have been so lost in thought that he didn't hear her walk up on his left. "Zac?" She said quietly. Surprisingly, Zac didn't flip his shit. "Gonna go tell someone I escaped?" He said coldly, not taking his eyes off the night sky. His voice was shaking slightly. "Cause go ahead, I'll be gone long before they get here." Twilight went to put a hoof on his shoulder. "I just want to talk to you." She said trying to calm him down. But the moment her hoof made contact with his shoulder, all it did was send him into a fit of anger. "How can you even still look at me the same!" He snapped, pushing her away abruptly. Twilight notched there was tears in his eyes. Was he, crying? "You've seen what I am, what I've done, what I've become! I'm no hero, I'm nothing but..." He paused for a mere second trying to hold back tears. He sounded like he was screaming from the darkest depths of his soul. "I'm nothing but a mon-." Before he could even finish his sentence, Twilight slapped him so hard he felt his jaw crack, and his vision blurred for a moment. "What the fuck was that for!?!" He shouted, regaining his balance. "Zachary Pyromaniac, you are not a monster!" She shouted back at him. This stopped him completely. He stood there just, lost. But he shook it off quickly. "Why?" He said, still shocked by her sudden action, but he wanted a reason why. "Why do you even still give a shit? I've killed, I've destroyed, I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of. And yet you're still trying to help me. WHY?" This whole scenario was started to drive him mad. Twilight took a deep breath and hugged him which in turn, confused him so much he was almost completely speechless. "W-wha-what the hell are you-" He studded angrily, trying to escape her grip. "Because now I can understand your pain." She whispered in his ear. This stopped him yet again, Understand his pain? "You've been through so much your whole life. You've seen so much happen with your own eyes. So you've killed people, destroyed cities, and done a lot of very questionable things." Zac stayed silent, wanting to hear it all. Twilight shifted her gaze to stare straight into his eyes. "But you're not a monster. You've saved more people than you've killed, saved entire worlds, entire galaxy's, entire universes. You've done way more good than bad." She paused for a moment, holding back her own tears. "You're an amazing person Zachary. And nothing will ever change that." That did it. Zac let his tears run freely as Twilight hugged him again. Why? Why did she care about him so much? She was looking past all the bad things he had done and only looking at the good things. He felt like... He felt happy. The only other person who cared about him this much was his brother. The only family he had left. And he was lost out there somewhere. "Even after seeing everything I've done." He said in a shaking voice. "You're still comforting me?" "Of course." She said staring into his eyes again. "I know you're were just lost and confused." And I would be to if I was thrown into a world I'm completely unfamiliar with." Zac felt his heart warm up more than it ever had before. The fact she cared about him this much, he couldn't blame her seeing as he had shown her his grief. "You've lost so much, so I gonna help you find what your looking for here." She declared abruptly which surprised him. "Y-You'd do that, for me?" He said still processing everything that she had said. "Of course I would." She said smiling at him. "I'll always help someone when I can. Especially yo-" This time Zac was the one that hugged her unexpectedly catching her off guard. "W-What?!" "Thank you." He said still shaking slightly. "That's the first time that anyone has said all that to me." He eventually let go of her after what felt like 5 minutes but was only a few seconds. "So on that note, I'm giving you a second chance." She said after regaining her composure. "Wait, seriously?" He said surprised. "Me of all people?" "You deserve a second chance Zac." She replied. "But, I don't think your friends trust me like you do." He said with doubt in his voice. "I'll try to explain everything to them." She reassured him. "I can't guarantee they'll trust you. And if they don't, you'll have to earn their trust. But I believe you'll be okay." "I sure hope so." He said. "Come on, we should head back to Ponyville. I have a place you can stay." She said smiling. "But how can we get there without getting seen?" He asked. "I'll teleport us there." She responded. "Ponyville is a long way from Canterlot though." He said with a puzzled look. "Well I can't take us all the way there. But I can put us just outside the castle grounds to make it a little easier." She reassured him. "Okay." He said nervously. "I trust you." Twilight's horn began to glow with a lavender aura. "You might want to hold still." She told him. "Why?" He asked nervously. But before his question was answered, her horn flashed in a blinding lavender light. When it cleared, they were standing outside of the castle grounds. He realized why she told him to stand still as his vision and head said it all. "I told you to hold still." She said giggling "I'll remember that next time." He said swaying on the spot trying not to puke his guts out. He shook it off quickly. "Come on Zac, let's go." Twilight said happily as she started down the road. Zac ran to catch up with her. However, both of them had no idea who was watching them from the top of the castle at that moment. "Twilight, I hope you know what your doing." About 30 minutes later, Zac and Twilight were standing outside of the library that he woke up in. "You live in a library?" He asked with confusion. "Yep." She said smiling happily. "I used to live in Canterlot, but I came here a week ago after Celestia send me here to try and make friends. That's how I met my friends." "I will say, their a interesting bunch of people." He complemented. "I won't blame them if they don't trust me. But I'm gonna try my dam hardest to earn that trust." He vowed. "That's the spirit!" Twilight responded cheerfully. "let's head inside, you must be exhausted." She opened the door with a flick of her horn and they both walked inside. It was how Zac had remembered it, books were everywhere. For a library this small, it sure had a lot of books. "Do you need help to the second floor?" Twilight asked him "Appreciate it, but I got this." He said as he backed up to the wall. He took a galloping start and ran up wall, above the door, and right to the second floor. "Wow, that was amazing!" She said congratulating him "Yeah I always been the athletic type." He said with a smirk on his face. "Mostly because I've had a lot of practice as a pony for the past three days, so I'm a fast learner." In a flash of her horn, she appeared next to him. "Well I don't know about you." She said yawning slightly. "But I'm tired." She walked over to the window and hopped into the small bed next to it. " Yeah I should probably get some sleep too." He said walking up next to her. He climbed into the window and plopped down looking out. "Good night Zac." She said slowly drifting off to sleep. Zac turned to look at her as her eyes closed. "Yeah, good night." He said laying down in the window, not taking his eyes off her for even a second. he couldn't stop thinking about everything she had said to him. "I hope because of that pep talk you gave me I have a good night sleep for once." He said smiling. And with that, he closed his eyes, slowly drifted off, and had no nightmares. Author's Note It seems like Zachary Pyromaniac has had a rough past hasn't he? However this concludes the prologue of Equestrian Phoenix. So I might take a few days to watch the entirety of my little pony because it's on Netflix. As I said before I won't include the whole show. Just some of the highlights. With that being said I hope you enjoyed the prologue, I'd very much appreciate any feedback, And I'll see you at chapter 1.
Morning TalkAuthor's Note List of voices Zachary Pyromaniac Twilight Sparkle Rarity Applejack Pinkie Pie Rainbow Dash Fluttershy Can Zachary make amends with Twilight's friends? Just a short mini chapter before the real story begins. Morning Talk Zachary woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside. Slowly opening his eyes, he found himself still in Twilight's library. After blinking a few times, he checked himself, only to find he was still a pony. "I keep thinking I'm in some kind of fever dream." He said yawning. Rising slowly to his feet, he walked to the edge of the second floor and looked down. He saw Twilight sitting in the center of the room surrounded in books, one floating in front of her. After a short stretch, he jumped down to the bottom floor and observed the lavender unicorn closely as she read through book after book. "How can she still be so cheerful with my memories in her head?" He thought to himself. "How can she just sit there knowing that someone like me is in the same room as her but act like nothing is wrong?" At that moment, his watch started to beep again and before he knew it, he was himself yet again. "Oh! Morning Zac!" Twilight said surprised. "Didn't know you were awake." "Sorry, I got lost in thought." He responded. "I hope I didn't wake you up with my constant polymorphing." "It's alright, I'm a pretty heavy sleeper." She replied smiling. "Oh, that's good. Cause I really need to get this thing fixed." He said looking at his watch. "Can I, ask you something?" "Sure, what's on your mind?" She asked. "Well uh, I-I'm still a little confused." He said nervously. "About what Zac?" She asked with a puzzled look. "Well, I don't know how to say this, but, you have all my memories in your mind but, you act like everything is normal." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Don't you have some doubts about me?" Twilight could hear the concern in his voice. To be fair, he was right. "Zac, I won't lie, I do have one doubt." She answered. "But it's like I said last night. You're a great person, and you tried really hard not to hurt anyone that day so I know you're capable of controlling yourself. My only concern is that, I'm not just worried about you, I'm worried about how you'll react to things here and what people will think about you. I know Equestria isn't like any world you've visited. I hope you can understand that." "Yeah, I'm worried about that to." He said. "No one knows me like you do. And I think it should stay that way. I don't think your friends need to know what you know about me. I doubt they'll take it like you did." "I understand." She said. "I also never got to apologize for running away from you so abruptly." "Hey, it's ok. I'd probably have the same reaction to if I were you." He responded "But if anything good came out of showing me you memories, it's that I can understand you." She reassured him. "Which is why I'll make you a promise right now." He said with confidence. "I promise as long as I'm here, I will not kill, no matter what." "You promise?" She asked nervously "I promise with all the good in my soul." He replied. Before anyone could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. "Twilight darling, are you in there?" Said a familiar voice. "Shit!" Zac said in panic. Quickly jumping up to the second floor, he peeked down. Twilight just stared at him. "Sorry, fight or flight response." He whispered smiling innocently. Twilight walked over to the door and opened it. Standing outside were her friends. They were all looking concerned for some reason. "Hey guys, is something wrong?" She asked after noticing their concerned looks. They all seem to be looking past her and into the library. "Celestia told us that Zac guy was here." Rainbow Dash said looking like she was ready to fight. "He hasn't hurt you has he?" Applejack asked. "Guys, calm down, it's ok." Twilight responded. "He hasn't done anything. Besides, he's not evil, he's an okay guy." "Well where is he then?" Rainbow Dash said. Zac took a deep breath and stood up. "I'm right here." He said announcing himself. Everyone in the room looked up at him, his coat blowing in the breeze of the opened door. "Now before anyone says anything, I'll be honest right out the gate." He began. "I know what you're thinking, and it's perfectly understandable. But like Twilight said, I'm not evil. And I apologize for all the damage I caused and lying to you. I wasn't in the right state of mind at the time and I was confused. That being said, if you're willing to give me a second chance, I promise you that I'll try not to hurt anyone as long as I'm here." They all looked towards Twilight for some reassurance. "He's ok guys." She said. "He was just confused. He's been through a lot. At least give him a chance to prove himself." They all thought for a moment, unsure if this was a good idea. Pinkie was the first to say something. "Okey dokey Twilight!" She said cheerfully. "If you say so Twilight." Fluttershy said nervously. "Fine, I guess so." Rainbow Dash said annoyed. "If you trust him." Rarity said. "I hope you know what your doing Twilight." Applejack said. "Okay then." Twilight said. "I promise he won't let you down." Zac front flipped down to the bottom floor to join them, hands tucked in his pockets. "And I'm a man of my word." He said. "I promise you won't regret this." "What brings you to Equestria darling?" Rarity asked. "Well I'm looking for something not of this world, like me." He replied. "It's a shard of a crystal that I'm trying to put back together. I would've asked before but, you know. I was wondering if any of you had seen it." "Oooh, What's it look like?" Pinkie asked cheerfully. In response, Zac opened the device on his right arm revealing a crystal glowing a bright blue color. "It looks like this." He said showing it to them. They were all fascinated by the shard that he possessed. They could feel the intense energy radiating from it. It was unlike anything they had ever seen before. "It would've fallen from the sky like I did." "Sorry Zac." Twilight said. "Nothing else has fallen from the sky like you did. At least, nothing that we know of." "I see." He said. "Then this is gonna be more difficult than I thought." "Then we'll help you find it sugercube." Applejack said. "Wait, seriously?" He asked confused. "Of course darling." Rarity replied. "Yeah, and we can also see what your made of hotshot." Rainbow Dash said rather happily. "Wow." He said. This didn't go the way he had expected it to go, but he wasn't complaining. These five ponies, who he had just basically met, ran away from, and fought back against, had now just decided to help him find the shard. "I just might actually like it here."
