Zack Makes A Decision!
#3 of Zack!
**Disclaimer**- I do not own My Little Ponies or any rights to the characters from the show, this story is an Adult fan-Fiction of my own. Those under the age of 18 should not read. If you are over the age of 17, I hope you enjoy :D
Part 3- Zack Makes A Decision!
Zack followed AJ into his quest room, in his thoughts he was aware something was up. He wasn't sure what AJ had in mind to spend the time to relax before more work had to be done. However, he was in high hopes it wasn't just to chit chat...
In the back of his mind, he know there was no way a Pony like Apple Jack would mess around with some one she just met the same day! Girls back home don't even do that! He still couldn't help but hold on to that small bit of hope...
As I entered the room, AJ was laying down on the bed. She had hung her hat nearby and her eyes closed as she must have been in a deep relaxing state.
I closed the door quietly behind me, turning to AJ "You really that tired AJ?"
She didn't get up or even open her eyes as she continued as she was. "I'm about as tired of Buck'n as Granny Smith's rocker is of rock'n..." AJ took a deep breath and sighed.
She lifted her head up and gave me a warming smile as she patted the bed with a front hoof, "We'll come on now! Come take a load off Zack, or do ya plan to just stand there all day?!" as she laughed.
I crawled onto the bed that only had enough room for one Pony to begin with, giving me no choice but to sit as I was. With my back to the wall and AJ laying across my lap. I wasn't to sure what to do once she laid her head back down onto my lap.
For a brief moment, I moved my hands around wondering where to put them so I settled with my left hand gently running down her neck as my other scratched behind her ear.
AJ softly gasped "Now were talk'n! You keep that up and I'll probably fall asleep!" she told me softly.
"I still can't believe how great your mane looks AJ!", taking in the wondrous view and feeling of her mane as I ran my fingers through.
"Thanks Partner! Doesn't take much, I brush it once a day, and go to the spa maybe once a week..."
"We'll it certainly shows! It looks great..." I said as I ran my hand down her neck again.
Enjoying the feeling of my fingers running through the soft golden mane, relaxing the best I can before my back starts to hurt with the wooden wall I was sitting against. Apple Jack breathed deeply as she bathed in the warm relaxed and soothing touch she was getting from my efforts. Both of us almost lost into the warmth our company brought each other until Apple Jack broke the silence with her ever so soft voice.
"If it wasn't for the lack of a horn on your forehead Zack, I could swear you'd hav'ta be part Unicorn. Cause those gentle fingers of yer's are magic!"
I just laughed at this and as my hands continued to run through AJ's mane, my thoughts began to linger on Mom back home... How would I get back? Can I go back? Would I be stuck here forever? How did I even get here to begin with?!
My thoughts raked my brain over what happened just before I woke to find Apple Bloom. A book store... It was really old...
The man, no... the owner, was so old and strange... Ripley was his name? I swore as I started to think even harder to remember exactly what happened, it was starting to give me a headache.
I let out a breath I was holding and sighed deeply, the kind of sigh that practically screamed out that something was wrong. Sure enough without missing a beat, AJ rose her head and turned to look to me, seeing my eyes clenched tight and holding me head almost as if in pain.
"Zack are you ok?!" She asked with sudden concern for me in both her voice and on her face.
"Yeah,... ugh... well, no. I've got a splitting headache." I managed to say, almost with a grunt from the pain.
"That dosnt look like no simple headache if I ever saw one Partner! You rest here and I'll go fetch you some medicine!"
And with that, AJ hopped down from the bed and was out of sight before Zack could even think against it. AJ had no idea what could of caused such an awful amount of pain so suddenly for Zack. He seemed so well just a minute ago and she knew that any more pain then that, she would surely be calling for a Doctor no questions asked! Zack was laying down on the bed praying that AJ would be back soon with something to stop the excruciating pain he was now in. His head felt like it was going to explode! He sat up and struggled to stand, both hands holding his head as streams of tears ran down his face.
"ARGH!" he wailed in pain, losing the strength to stand as he stumbled into the wall only to lose his balance and falling to the floor. "AJ!" he cried out in desperation, only praying she would be back anytime soon. He was not sure how much more of this he could take.
AJ was on her way back towards the barn, when suddenly she heard Zack cry out for her. She rushed into the barn and to the guest room, only to find Zack sprawled out on the floor wreathing in sheer pain. She set down the glass of water and pills she brought for him then turned to aid her friend.
"Zack? Zack?! Whats wrong? Whats happening?!" she cried out to him, beginning to shed some tears of her own at seeing Zack like this.
In a far corner of his mind, Zack swore he could hear AJ trying to help him. It sounded like she was screaming for him but from half a mile away, as her voice was drowning out. After that his body went numb and everything went black and silent.
AppleJack's gasped and backed away as she saw Zack's body take on an eerie green glow. Her eyes then went wide as his body floated just a foot of the floor, then the green glow intensified, ending in a flash of white. AppleJack had to look away with her eyes shut tight, trying to shield her eyes from the bright flash. As her eyes were able to focus again, she turned her head to see what happened to Zack. AJ's jaw dropped in a mass confusion to what she saw, or what she couldnt see!
Zack was gone!
After his body wasnt feeling the odd numbness as before or the killer headache like a minute ago, Zack sat up and rubbed his eyes while his other hand was on the floor to give him support.
"AJ?! You there?" he called out since his eyes couldnt focus yet and he couldnt see at all.
"I dont know who this A.J. Is but its just me and you here lad!" an old man said almost with a laugh, in a raspy voice that Zack couldnt help but find a bit too familiar...
"is that... Mr. Ripley?" Zack struggled to get to his feet as the figure of the old man was coming into focus.
"Thats right. Take it easy though, its never easy when you come back to the real world!" the old man told him as he grabbed Zack by the shoulders to steady him and sat him in a chair.
Zack found himself holding his head again as he felt what was probably a headache from not to long ago, and he could still feel the aftermath.
"Wait... what? Real world?...what are you talking about...where's AppleJack?"
"AppleJack? ...Oh that's the AJ you were asking about!" The old man couldnt help but give a good laugh at not recognizing the nickname sooner, given it was the name of a major character from the very book he just pulled the boy from!
"AppleJack is just fine my boy! She's right over there still inside that book!" he pointed to a large old looking book with the hard cover that was a deep shade of green and what looked like old leather, with the golden title of "Equestria".
Zack turned to his left to see the book sitting on the table next to him. Taking it in his hands and when he saw the front cover, everything came back to him.
Like a huge fit of deja vu, he remembered being chased from school. Hiding in this old book store, and finding this book then disappearing in a strange bright light!
"Wait a minute... what happened?! Was I inside this book?" Zack couldnt believe what he was asking, as he looked up to the old man.
"I mine as well grab a seat for this one..." the old man gasped as brabbed a nearby chair, turned it around to sit down facing the boy.
"Well Zack, theres books and then there's MY books..." He waved a hand about the room, letting Zack know that all the books on the nearby shelfs in this dusty room were all "special" like the one he just came out of.
"You would never be able to understand the process in which these books are created, all you need to know is that these are no ordinary books..." the old man pointed to the book in Zack's hands. "Go ahead and open that book you got there... you'll see what I mean."
Zack was a little afraid at first, last time he opened the book, the bright light took him away... "Wont the book suck me back in if open it?"
"No dear boy! Heaven sakes No!" the old man laughed.
"You can read the book like you would any other book, its not until you gaze upon its pages... and WILL yourself to enter upon its story, that you enter the book..." the old man tried to explain to the boy.
Guessing it was safe to at least open the book, the boy tried but failed as he noticed the small lock holding the book closed.
The old man realized the boy took notice of this and thought to explain that as well.
"Oh that, well these books can be rather dangerous if in the wrong hands so, one can never be TOO careful... if you know what im saying!" the old man got up to pull down another nearby book, blowing the dust off and setting it down in front of Zack.
Zack looked over the book, setting the one in his hands aside to grab this one for a closer look. The cover was a dark grey color and again looked like extremely aged hard leather. On the front In bold crimson blood lettering was "Dracula" underneath the cover was an emblem shaped like a coffin.
"See now if you had entered that book... well lets just say, we wouldn't be having this discussion." the old man said in a dead serious tone.
Zack's eyes went wide at the thought of being trapped in a story with one of the darkest Horror characters of all time... in the flesh! How he would surely be sucked dry of all bodily fluid, which raised a much needed question in his mind.
"So what happens to you in the story... happens to you for real?" he asked the old man, who in turn gave him a simple nod.
Zack thought about this and found that it reminded him of a similar case in an action movie he once saw.
"Well even though that can be seen as one dangerous effect of entering these stories, theres a whole other side to benefit from being in these books!" he told the boy, taking his seat again in the chair nearby.
Zack couldnt help but give him a confused look, "What other side?"
The old man gave a smile then asked the boy "Have you ever had super strength? Fly faster then a speeding bullet?"
Zack smiled at who he knew the old man was referring too, "What like Superman?"
"Exactly like Superman!" the old man exclaimed, "You could give yourself and powers, knowledge, gifts, or possesions while in these stories, you could make any changes you want to YOUR own character! As long as its not a change that would disrupt the flow of the story world or its characters..."
Zack was baffled at what this old man was implying, he tried to imagine being in a world where he was like superman! Or any other major super hero, or to be a super genius, or filthy rich beyond his wild imagination! Or to be like Batman and be all of the above!
"So I can be like anyone I want? Or have anything I want?" he asked the old man.
"As long as your inside a story, and like I said before, its not something that disrupts the story world or some character from that story." the old man reached out and took the green book into his hand. He showed the small lock to the boy, "These are a little trick I use for extra security, a simple spoken password is all thats needed, I usually engrave a hint so I dont forget. This one in particular..." He points out the small print on the lock... 'Property of T.S' "Twilight Sparkle!" as soon as the old man spoke the words the small lock fell off with a quick pop!
"See?" the old man laid the book down and opened to its first page. Zack scooted closer to get a better view of the fine text, which described about a confused human boy appearing on a grassy hill top, only to be found by a character named Apple Bloom...
Zack began to skim over the pages and as he turned page after page, he read about the time when he and AJ were carrying some apples back to the barn. He turned to the last written page to read about the incredible pain the human boy went through while Apple Jack left to get some medicine, and was startled to read about another bright light leading to his disappearance! After that the book was blank...
"The story stops when the person is pulled from the story, and when you go back, it will resume at a point to just after you left..." the old man explained.
Zack thinking about what the old man had said, found himself looking to his wristwatch to check the time... 3:48.
Zack remembered back when he first entered the old book store... he was running from those kids just after school let out...
He couldn't of taken more then maybe 15 minutes to come upon this store, and maybe another 15 minutes before he came across the book... If school lets out at 3:00 and it was roughly 3:30 when he entered the book... but how can that be?
"There's no way..." he whispered to himself.
"Whats that?" the old man asked.
"I was in that story for well over three hours! And its only been about 15 minutes!"
The old man smiled and gave a chuckle, "Yeah, the time spans are like that when your inside the stories... If I remember correctly, I'd say it was 24 hours real time to every one month in the story."
Zack was amazed by this but only till the current time and when he was suppose to be home, clicked in his mind.
"Oh my gosh! My mom's gana kill me! I was suppose to be home half an hour ago!" standing up now and clearly freaking out.
The old man stood up and grabbed the boy by the shoulders to calm him down, Zack shifted his attention to the old man. "Why not just use the phone to call home and let her know where you are?"
Zack calmed down as he realized he could just call home instead of freaking out over it, as he followed the old man to the front of the store and was shown to the telephone while the old man returned to his usual place behind the counter.
Zack looked down to the phone, realizing how old fashioned it was. It was covered in dust and was one of those old rotary phones, the kind you had to stick your finger in a small hole near the number you wanted and brought it around in a circle.
Zack blew some well over time dust off the phone and began the sequence that would get his mother on the line. A few moments later the phone was ringing on the other side and a rather upset sounding woman's voice answered almost immediately "Hello?!"
"Hi mom its just me!"
He could hear his mother sigh with great relief... "Its about time Zack, I was beginning to get worried sick! Where are you?"
"I'm not far, Its just a few blocks down on the old main street, the old Ripley's Book Store!"
"Okay well are you coming home? Dinner's going to be in just a few hours..." she told her son sounding a bit concerned.
"Hey mom, if you think its alright, can I stay for little longer? Mr. Ripley was showing me some really cool books!"
There was a pause on the other side of the line as his mother was turning the motherly gears in her head at what her son was asking... Her son wanted more time to spend at a place she's never been with a total stranger! She had a second thought however and didn't want to ruin her son's fun.
"Alright Mister, but you be home in time for supper! If not your going to answer to your father is that clear?!" she ended in a serious tone only a mother could do.
Zack gulped after hearing what his mother told him and could bearly get out a "Yes Ma'am..." before she continued.
"Alright then, I'll see you when you get home sweety, have fun!"
"Ok mom, I will!"
"Bye, I love you!" she said in a sweet tone.
"I love you to mom, I'll see you soon..." he told her and hung up shortly after.
He walked to the front desk as the old man looked up, "So whats the verdict?" he asked Zack with a smile.
"I have some more time before I have to be home..." Zack said looking at his watch...
"How much time in the story would another hour get me?" Zach asked looking up at the old man.
The old man simply gave him a grin...
More to come...