"Freak, freak, you're a freak!"
No... I'm a normal pony... aren't I?
"Freak, freak, you're a freak!"
"I'm not friends with him!"
Why... why do you betray me?
"Get out of here you mutant pegasus!"
Nopony... nopony likes me... nopony cares about me...
Earth... shaking... I'm... falling...
"BIG BROTHER!"
I woke up with a jolt and almost fell out of bed when the whole building felt like it shifted. Not caring about my bed-mane, I rushed out of my room and out of the hotel, only to get swept off my hooves by the wind.
"What the hay is going on?"
Stabilizing myself in the air, I looked at the town to see that other ponies were not faring very well either. Pegasi were getting pushed around, unicorns that had apparently rushed outside like I did were clinging onto houses and trees for dear life, and earth ponies looked like they were barely holding onto the ground.
"Hey Zephyr!"
I looked over to see the rainbow-maned pegasus from last night, looking like she was going through Tartarus just to move ten meters.
"If you can move around at all, get inside as soon as you can! The wind currents around Ponyville have gone out of control for some reason!"
"What is your Wind Manager doing? On vacation or something?"
"Close enough, he retired three days ago, saying he has had enough of dealing with wind currents."
Only three days? Normally wind currents remain inert in the last state they were in for a whole week before randomly going out of control. Why is Ponyville a special case?
"We've sent for another Wind Manager, but the closest available one is from Appaloosa, and they won't be able to get here until nightfall!"
Of course I could always try to leave, but even if I don't plan on staying here, just leaving them like this will leave a bad taste in my mouth. Ugh, what a drag.
"Anyways, you should get back inside and-- HEY where are you going?"
Looking back at her while flying up-wind, I reply, "you should probably get shelter soon. I don't care how fast you are normally, it is completely useless here."
I heard her shout at me, "what the hay is that supposed to mean?" Ignoring her, I pushed through the typhoon to try and find the first wind current.
A lot of ponies don't really think about it, but managing wind currents is just as important as managing normal weather. Typically, designated pegasi or unicorns, dubbed Wind Managers, manipulate the currents in order to give nearby areas either a gentle, cooling breeze or a decently strong wind to spread flower pollen and seeds during the spring and summer. They can also magically charge the currents to create stronger winds at a later time. This is often used whenever storms are scheduled, as it actually ensures a more even distribution of rain over the land.
Locating a wind current is simple, yet complicated at the same time. They are typically a sideways spiral made of four wind 'strands' that are colored a light green, with how far spread apart they are determining how strong the wind is. Most ponies go their entire life without seeing what a wind current looks like, due in part to the fact that you need to magically enhance your eyesight in order to see them.
On top of that, pegasi need to channel their weather magic through their hooves in order to interact with the currents similar to how unicorns channel magic through their horns. As a result, because unicorns are more adept at manipulating magic outside of their bodies, most Wind Managers are unicorns. Pegasi Wind Managers are uncommon, but are still well known enough, as it takes years of practice in order to master the required channeling skills needed.
Pegasi who are naturally able to manipulate wind currents are rarer still. They still need to learn how to see the wind currents, but they don't need the training to manipulate the magic needed through their hooves. If this happens, usually the cutie mark depicts some form of wind to show this mastery, in conjunction with any other talents the pegasus has.
I often wonder if I am blessed or cursed to be one of the 'natural born.' Considering my condition...
No! Focus on the task at hoof.
Going up-wind is a strategy I often use to make things easier on me. After setting the current farthest upwind, I can usually ride the wind to the other currents.
Having already enhanced my eyes in order to see the currents, I spot a farm right below the current farthest upwind. The barn looked like it was ready to get blown over.
Not wasting any time, I fly up to the wind current. It was in a very tight spiral, set to typhoon strength. Grabbing the current with my hooves, I gave it the hardest yank I could muster. The spiral widened to it's maximum width, and the wind in the area died down shortly afterward.
The area is still feeling the effects from the other currents, but it wasn't nearly as bad now. Satisfied, I rode the wind back into town to find the other currents. The locations of the others are as follows:
-One is over a place that looked like a carousel.
-Over the marketplace I was in yesterday, where I first met Applejack.
-Another was above the plaza, close to the previous one.
-The Hay and Stay hotel (figures.)
-Golden Oaks Library
-Sugar Cube Corner
-Close to a rather large house made of clouds and rainbows falling off of it. How the house didn't blow away, I'll never know.
The last one was over a small cottage that was close to a rather grim looking forest. I could see wind currents above the forest as well, but they looked like they were outlined in black. This meant that while you could set them to a specific setting, more often than not they will just change strength a few hours later on their own.
So not counting any over that forest, there are nine wind currents over the town of Ponyville. No-where near as bad as dealing with fifteen of them in Manehatten.
Whew, I'm more exhausted than I thought. The last time i dealt with a situation like that was three years ago. Guess I got soft dealing with scheduled wind patterns.
After slowly making my way back to town, I wound up collapsing near the hotel.
When did I become so soft? This is pathetic...
"YIPPEE! YOU DID IT!"
Oh no... anypony but that pink mare please...
I looked over just in time to see a familiar pink blur tackle me and start holding me like a rag-doll.
"ItwassoamazinghowyoujustswoopedinandstartedfixingourwindproblemfirstApplejacksaidthatshesawsomething greenflyintotownafterstoppingthewindandsavingherbarnfromcollapseandIinstantlyknewitwasyouafterthewindaroundSugarCubeCornercalmeddownaswell--
The only thing I managed during her spiel was a voice-cracked 'ugh' in exhaustion and confusion.
"Sugahcube, lets try not to rattle him up any further. Give the poor stallion some breathing space, cos'darnit."
"Okay!"
I was let go and I met with the ground once again, albeit more painfully this time around.
"Ugh... If anypony needs me, I'll be in my room... In bed..." Getting up, I walked back into the hotel, with nopony, thankfully, bothering me along the way.
"Pinkie Pie, I worry 'bout you sometimes..."
Applejack had turned around to look at her pink friend, who was bouncing in obvious joy.
"Sorry but I'm just so happy that he managed to save Ponyville from having buildings torn down. The Cake's say that if the wind didn't die down when it did, we might of been roofless."
"Ah'm happy he saved mah barn as well Pinkie, but I doubt he appreciated getting strangled while getting his ear talked off."
Pinkie Pie stopped bouncing with an awkward, yet apologetic, smile. "I'll be sure to say sorry to him at the 'Zephyr Saved Ponyville From A Windstorm Disaster' party!" Applejack rolled her eyes, but didn't comment on it.
"Hey!" Rainbow Dash landed next to her friends with an irritated look. "Have either of you seen the new pony around?"
Pinkie Pie beamed while saying, "yeah he just went into that hotel, presumably where he's staying currently! Get it? Current-ly? Anyways, why do you wonder?"
"I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind for telling me my speed is useless!" All she got were two dumbfounded looks.
"Beg yer pardon?"
"Yeah he said to me; 'I don't care how fast you are normally, it is completely useless here.'
"I'm pretty sure he didn't mean it that way, Rainbow." Twilight had joined with Fluttershy and Rarity, both of them looking frazzled.
Rainbow Dash shot an angry, yet confused look. "What the hay is that supposed to mean?"
"He meant that your speed wasn't very useful in extremely windy conditions. Typically, faster pegasi are lighter than others, which makes them more susceptible to getting blown around. You are one exception possibly because you have more wing strength compared to other lighter pegasi, something that is more important when fighting wind."
Rainbow Dash sat down with an exasperated sigh. "The tone he was using certainly made it seem like he was calling my speed useless..."
Applejack gave her a light punch. "Don't get your tail in a knot about it. Just bring it up with him and ahm sure he will tell you the same thing Twi just did. That issue aside..." Motioning towards Fluttershy and Rarity, she asked, "what in tarnation happened to you two? Get caught in the wind yer selves?"
Rarity huffed with mild irritation. "Well, I was busy trying to tie down all of the dresses I made, especially all of your gala dresses, because I was afraid my roof could of come off! Of all of the bad things that could of happened to them, getting them torn apart by the wind was THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" She didn't notice, but all she got were deadpanned looks from everypony except for Pinkie Pie, who had resumed bouncing on the spot.
"Uhm, I managed to stay inside, but all of my little animal friends were all terrified and I was trying to calm them all down. I-It wasn't until the wind died down that they all calmed down. I guess they w-were afraid of the house getting torn apart..."
Twilight looked around. "Speaking of which, who fixed the wind currents? I haven't figured out how to do so myself, and the Wind Manager from Appaloosa stated that he couldn't make it until nightfall."
"That's because Zephy saved us with his wind powers!" Pinkie Pie practically yelled. This caught the attention of a few ponies who were nearby trying to repair damages.
That also got a shocked look out of Rainbow Dash, but she quickly recovered with the statement, "I guess he is kind of awesome. Just not as awesome as me!"
Pinkie Pie suddenly started vibrating like she was getting a mini-doozy. "Wow haven't gotten one of those in a while. It seems something big will happen but not in the near future..." This got a worried look out of her friends.
"Oh dear, whatever it is, I certainly am not looking forward to it if it is a bad thing..." Rarity stated in an almost overly-dramatic tone.
"I just hope it doesn't involve shady ponies coming to Ponyville looking to foalnap somepony for some kind of nefarious deed! Oh whoops, I gotta go help clean up at Sugar Cube Corner!" With that, she bounced off, leaving her friends with confused looks, but ultimately wrote it off as 'Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.'
"Uhm, there's something I want to talk about to everypony. T-that is if you want me to..." Fluttershy shrank a little. "I-It's about Zephyr but I-I'll go into more about it later..."
Twilight nodded, "okay, we can meet up at the library at about five for that. I'll inform Pinkie Pie about it before I go back to check on Spike."
Everypony present simply nodded and split off to deal with their own damages, with four of them wondering what it was that Fluttershy wanted to say about Zephyr.
???
"Phase one of our plan is in order. All we can do for now is hope he isn't too stubborn. If he is, we go straight to plan B..."