“These fabrics all need to be dyed those colors. Do you think you can handle that?” asked Rarity rhetorically as she and Fluttershy left Zephyr.
Zephyr immediately recognised the dyes, they were the same that he had used in classes at mane therapy school. Why did ponies want to be a single color? During one class he had tried to create vibrant colors like Rainbow Dash’s mane. But his tutor, Sassy Saddles, had not understood and made him hoof-wring out his practice mane with cold water and start over. But this was different, Rarity was the one pony who could be counted on to understand the need to create.
Suffice to say, things did not go to plan. When Fluttershy and Rarity arrived, Zephyr fought back the tears and tried to play it down, only to earn scorn from his big sister and her designer friend.
“Actually, I said I was going to tea with the princess. You're going to work.” stated Fluttershy flatly with a smug grin. Why was Fluttershy doing this to him? He had promised his sister that he would find a job (befitting of his awesomeness), not be a slave to the princess. Why couldn’t Fluttershy let him do things on his own terms?
As Zephyr tried to control his anger, Spike’s voice came “and I'm here to make sure you do it right”. That was the final straw. While Zephyr felt sorry for Spike, just a baby assigned as the property of the princess from birth, Zephyr was not going to stand for being bossed around like that. He was going to make Spike do the work. But he’d make it fun for poor Spike, with Zephyr in charge, Spike would barely know he was even doing the work.
“I was supervising! And then Zephyr asked me about different cleaning techniques and which one was best, and if I could— Hey! I did all the work!” came Spike’s voice as Zephyr backed away.
“I am gonna give you a job so simple and straightforward, not even you can weasel your way out of it!” barked Rainbow Dash. No. Not cool Rainbows.
Zephyr never really understood why Rainbow had so desperately wanted to fit in with the Wonderbolts as a filly. “Hey Rainbow Crash,” came Spitfire’s voice, “who’s the newbie?”
“Oh, nopony special,” stated Rainbow Dash.
“Not a flyer huh? Well, remember, the worst flyer of the day has to clean up the whole compound.”
Rainbow Dash threw a broom at a distracted Zephyr, causing a thunk sound as it comically bopped him on the head.
“Well?” asked Rainbow.
Zephyr rubbed his head, “I’m going to the sick bay”.
Spitfire smirked, “didn’t Rainbow also mention the rule that if you don’t do it we all strike you with a lightning cloud?”.
“Sorry” whispered Rainbow in Zephyr's ear, “but I have to do it or the ‘Bolts will think I’m a softie”.
A few seconds later pain surged through Zephyr's body, and he flew away as tears swelled up in his eyes.
Rainbow escorted Zephyr back towards the residential area of Cloudsdale and knocked on Mr. and Mrs. Shy’s door. Rainbow tried to push the guilt out of her mind. Zeph deserved it, she told herself. She had to do it.
Zephyr’s parents let out a short gasp when they saw him. “Hey Mom and Dad. I know I said I was leaving, but do you mind if I stay for lunch?” asked Zephyr. “Of course dear,” his mom smiled.
After lunch, Zephyr sat curled up in his bed. Head in hoofs. When he heard a faint tap on his door. His mom—not that his dad’s knock was much louder. Zephyr opened the door, but noticed his mother was making her awkward I-told-your-father-about-your-diary-hope-that’s-okay lopsided smile. Zephyr inwardly sighed. Why even fight it.
“So, your father received an unexpected letter from Princess Luna.” Mrs. Shy began, as Zephyr mentally prepared for the worst. “He wouldn’t tell her anything though”, she explained, “he didn’t want to risk telling her anything that you were uncomfortable with”. His father had always been the type to prepare for the worst. His father wouldn’t admit it, but the real reason he collected clouds samples was that he feared the cloud factory would one day lose the originals and not have the right cloud types to use as weather seeds. He probably thought that the recent letter from Luna was part of some grand conspiracy by Lord Tirek. Zephyr placed his hoof to his face.
“Uh… well” began Zephyr, “I’ve been feeling a bit… depressed”. That wasn't quite true, at least not in the clinical sense, but it was easier than admitting to being suicidal.
Mrs. Shy gave her son a knowing smile. “You know, I developed depression soon after I gave birth to you” Mrs. Shy said with a soothing voice. “Out of the job, I felt so constrained to the house. I went to my doctor, Dr. Honey, our family doctor, and I just broke down in tears in-front of her”. “It’s more common than you think. When you break a leg, everypony knows, but when you break inside, it’s not something that everypony notices“.
Zephyr listened silently to his mother’s story, other than the occasional “mhmm”, although inside was wondering why Mrs. Shy had hid this from him for so long.
“As you probably know, your sister Fluttershy had anxiety when she was younger. I’d recommend talking to her about it—in some ways, you two are very similar.”
Zephyr made a mental note to check in with his sis.
Zephyr landed softly at Fluttershy’s cottage. As he passed over the bridge he caught a glance of his reflection in the water running underneath it. His mane was visibly burned, and still buzzing with electricity. He couldn’t let Fluttershy know how badly Rainbow hurt him. But sometimes the best way to hide something is to draw attention to it.
“Show time” he whispered to himself as he burst open the door to Fluttershy’s cottage. “Rainbow Dash is crazy, okay?” yelled Zephyr, stomping his hoof for dramatic effect.
“So you just quit? Again?” shot back Fluttershy flatly with a raised eyebrow.
Taking advantage of Fluttershy’s uncharacteristic disregard for Zephyr’s injuries in the heat of the argument, Zephyr wrapped himself in a pink blanket on Fluttershy’s couch before she had a chance to properly examine him. Zephyr’s body still ached from the shock but he knew that he could count on his sis to care for him until he recovered from his injuries.
Fluttershy ripped the blanket off him, leaving him to shiver in the cold air. “I’m sorry, Zephyr, but I don’t think you can live here.”
With a tear in his eye Zephyr headed for the door.
As Zephyr bolted out to the woods, another pegasus landed with a guilty look on her face. Rainbow gently knocked on Fluttershy’s door, uncertain how she would explain to Fluttershy why she had done what she did to Zephyr. But fortunately for Rainbow, she didn’t have to. Fluttershy couldn’t exactly talk with a dustpan in her mouth, and Rainbow didn’t want to. So Rainbow took up a broom and tried to work away her guilt by helping Fluttershy clean up the mess Zephyr had left behind.
Zephyr was feeling a bit better after Fluttershy and Rainbow eventually decided to go looking for him. With the help of a song, Zephyr even managed to style hair to look exactly like it was supposed to. However, underneath the temporary uplift, Zephyr was still the same pony with the same problems.