//------------------------------//
// Rocky Start - One Week After Wigford 
// Story: Just Friends 
// by Macgyver644200 
//------------------------------//

An eleven-year-old Zephyr Breeze whistled as he made his way outside.  He was carrying too much to skip at that moment, weighed down by his lunchbox, a lump of cloud, and The Encyclopedia of Pneuma Cumulus.  While the other foals would be running around playing tag or jumping off the swingsets, Zephyr would be beginning his career as a master sculptor!

He then walked over to the benches.  A few foals saw him coming, then turned back to each other giggling.  Zephyr scowled after them for a moment, but he just focused on his designated seat, his tail flicking to cover the burn on his leg.  He quickly laid everything on the table and shoved himself into the bench.  For a moment, he just sat down, glaring into space.  Then he opened his book and started to read.

"Hey, Zephyr!"

After a moment, Zephyr looked up.  His thirteen-year-old sister was sitting across from him.  Zephyr gave her a nod.  "Hey, Flutters.  What's up?"

"Not much," Fluttershy said.  "Ardor's been bothering me again."

Zephyr scowled as he looked up.  "What happened?"

Fluttershy smiled back.  "Nothing," she said.

Instantly, she leaned onto one elbow, as if that would make things less suspicious.  That just made it much more apparent that she hadn't brought her lunchbox.  Zephyr pushed his own over, but Fluttershy just pushed it back.  He pushed it back, glaring at her.  Fluttershy put in a little effort to push it back, but quickly gave in and opened it, taking out his selection of carrotsticks.  Then she shut the box again.  Zephyr knew she wasn't going to take anything else, so he just accepted that and turned back to his book.

After swallowing a bite of carrot, Fluttershy looked over at Zephyr's book.  "Sculpture, huh?" she asked.

Zephyr nodded.  "Yep.  I had an idea last night, so I asked the art teacher if I could borrow some cumulus.  He's even willing to freeze it for me."

"That's cool," Fluttershy said, smiling.

"I know." Zephyr had started to smile.  "I mean, I actually have a whole bunch of ideas.  I know, Shy-guy, I know; I'm not going to instantly be an expert, but I just know this is gonna' stick!  Just wait; I'm gonna' be the next Piechelangelo!"

"HA!"

Zephyr's lips disappeared and he stood.  The very next moment, though, Fluttershy had placed a hoof on his shoulder.  "Just ignore him," she told him, her voice soft and soothing.  "Tell me what you're doing."

For a few moments, Zephyr just glared at the foal who'd laughed, who was still smirking at him.  Then he turned to Fluttershy, who was pleasantly smiling at him.  She looked over at the lump of cloud.  After a long moment of leaning against her hoof, Zephyr finally sat himself back down with a deep breath.  "I was thinking of sculpting the Cloudesium."

Fluttershy just kept smiling.  "That sounds nice.  You going to do it just by hoof?"

"No," Zephyr said.  "I'm going to need some paper clips to help carve out the arches.  Maybe some toothpicks for structural support."

By that point, Zephyr was starting to calm down, and he'd started to ramble.  He looked up every few moments, and every time, Fluttershy was seated on the other side of the bench, smiling and listening to him talking.

"ZEPHYR!"

Zephyr woke up.  In an instant, he was twenty-five again and sleepi- siestando...ing, on his older sister's couch.  Said older sister was glaring at him in her not-quite-hard-line-but-I-get-the-point way, and Zephyr quickly straightened up.  "Flutter-bu...Fluttershy!  I know, you said no siestas, but it's OK!  I finished the chapter early!"

Fluttershy's face didn't change for a moment, but she soon turned away with a sigh.  "Alright," she said.  She walked over to a textbook seated on the coffee table.  It was loaded with words, with only a few examples spaced out here and there.  She turned it around and tilted it so that he couldn't see it.  "What have you studied today?" she asked.

Zephyr pushed his urge to hyperventilate down as he felt sweat start to form on his back.  "Skin conditions," he said.  "Last one was psoriasis.  Patient presents with distinctive silvery lesions; treatment is sunlight and exercise."  He paused for a moment with a brief smile before seeing that his sister's frown hadn't lessened in the slightest.  His eyes briefly darting towards the book (before Fluttershy tilted it further away), Zephyr's eyes darted from side-to-side as he thought.  "But if it doesn't improve in two months, refer the patient to a doctor for topical corticosteroids, possibly immunosuppressants."

He looked back at Fluttershy, who was flipping through pages and reading.  Zephyr opened his mouth, but then quickly shut it as Fluttershy looked up at him.  Then she looked back down, eyes passing over a particular passage.  At last, her frown faded.  "Alright," she said.  "It looks like you can break for the day."

Zephyr sighed in relief, his heart almost stopping.  "Thanks... Fluttershy," he told her.

Zepher started to stretch back onto the couch, vowing not to close his eyes.  A quick hoof, however, stopped him from sliding down all the way.  "That means you can do me a favor."  Fluttershy gave him a quick, gentle push upright before walking over to the kitchen.  "I have to be out today," she continued.  "Recertification class, so I need you to do some grocery shopping."  She picked up a pencil by the icebox.

As she started writing on the piece of paper stuck to the icebox door, Zephyr walked over to her side.  To his dismay, the list went down to the bottom and started to go down the next side.  His easygoing smug smirk planted itself onto his face.  "That's a... lot of items," he remarked.

"Hence why I'm writing them all down," Fluttershy said.  Finally, just before she had to turn the list over, she tore it off of the icebox and put it on the counter.  "There's some money in the jar," she told Zephyr.  "That is enough for groceries only, do not get anything else."

Zephyr smirked as he prepared to talk, but Fluttershy glaring at him wiped his smirk off his face.  "I won't," he said.  "I promise.

"Good."  Fluttershy then stopped glaring at him.  "You should know, the merchants here often overcharge.  I've written prices next to every item.  Don't worry too much about haggling.  Just stick to that price and they'll accept it."

Zephyr nodded.  "Got it."  For a few moments, he silently looked over the list.  He then looked over at Fluttershy, who was packing quill and paper into a large bag.  "I...I could make casserole when I get back."

Instantly, Fluttershy's head popped out of the bag.  "I'll be able to cook," she assured Zephyr.  "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, it's OK," Zephyr replied.  "Honestly, it's been a while, so I want to make sure Chef Zeph still has the skills on the grills."

Fluttershy stared at him for a moment before replying.  "OK," she said, starting to smile.  "I'm looking forward to it."  Then she picked up the bag.  "Well, I'll be back in a few hours.  I'll see you then."

"Bye."

Zephyr waved as Fluttershy left the cabin.  Once she left, he turned to the list.  For a few moments, he just looked down at it.

'What if they're closed?  What if they don't barter?  What if you run out of money?'

Zephyr bit his lip as his heart started to race, fears running through his mind.  He started to turn away.  Fluttershy had left him money.  Would it really cost that much to hire a, what was it... a shopper?

Zephyr frowned at himself.  Yes, yes it would.  He'd already screwed things up: ponies would charge him through the nose and he'd already proven he couldn't work with animals.  He looked at the door.  Then he straightened up.  He said he would do this, and he would.  Zephyr Breeze used to quit.  Old Zephyr Breeze.  New Zephyr Breeze could do it on his own.  He grabbed some saddlebags, grabbed the list, and marched out the door.

<<***>>

A few hours later, Zephyr Breeze felt little better.  The merchants mostly stuck to the prices, only going a bit or two over.  There was only one more item on the list, and even if the vendor tripled the price, he'd be just fine.  Still, his nerves were still running high.  Anything could go wrong.  The saddlebags felt really heavy, and he could swear they looked a little worn.

And then he saw Rainbow Dash.

His first thought was to relax.  No matter what happened, he'd remember being able to gaze upon her lovely awesomeness.  It was almost instantly driven out of his head when she started looking his way and a sudden jolt ran through his body.  Mouth dropping open, he leapt behind a nearby stall, only barely keeping the bag with the milk in it from smacking his cover.

She wasn't interested.  She'd made that abundantly clear last week, and Zephyr was willing to admit that he might have been driving her a little bit up the wall.  He wanted to try again with her, start over and be a little less clingy, but her little message last week... maybe he'd try again next week.  With some protective clothing.  He slowly peaked out again.

"Hello, Zephyr."

Zephyr jumped to his hooves.  Rainbow Dash was standing right in front of him, frowning.  "Uh... Dashi-Rainbow Dash!"  His smile stretched tense over his face, his eyes wide as dinner plates.  "Fa-fancy seeing you here!"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.  "At ease, private " she said.  "I'm just down here to get lunch.  By myself."

Instantly, Zephyr nodded.  "O-OK," he said.  "I'm pretty busy right now as well.  Grocery shopping.  Flutter-butter's busy, so she asked the new and improved Zephyr Breeze to go out and do it!"

The disdainful glare on Rainbow's face didn't let up a bit.  "That's nice," she droned.

Still smiling a little too wide as the silence ticked on, Zephyr started looking around.  Finally, his gaze settled on a random stall.  "Oh, tarragon!" he announced.  Very purposefully, he strode over to the stall and pushed a stem full of leaves across the table.  "I'll have this," he said with a smile.

The stall owner, a very gruff green stallion, glared at Zephyr.  "Five bits."

Zephyr rolled his eyes.  "Oh come o-"  Then he stopped, his smile gone.  "Wait a minute..."  He started shuffling around in his bag.  A few seconds later, out came the list, and he started reading.  A moment after that, he looked up, smiling as his cheeks turned red.  "Uh, I mean, yeah!  That works!"

Zephyr quickly tossed a handful of coins onto the stall.  The stall owner glared at Zephyr and opened his mouth, but a quick glare from Rainbow Dash got him to quickly sweep up the coins and push over the tarragon.  As soon as he got it, Zephyr let out a quick 'thanks, bye' before sweeping the plant into a saddlebag and trotting off.  "Well, that's everything," he announced to Rainbow Dash.  "Oh, thanks for the save back there."

She shrugged.  "Eh, he's a jerk.  Most of these ponies are.  One of the few things I don't like about living here."

Zephyr nodded.  "Yeah, they drag the whole neighborhood down."  Then he chuckled.  "Remember Old Man Neighdermeyer?"

Rainbow Dash's eyebrows creased a little as she shook her head.  "Nnnno?"

Zephyr's smile sank.  "Ah," he said.  "Yeah, I guess he lived on the wrong side of town from y..."  Then he cleared his throat and straightened up.  "Well, thank you," he told Rainbow Dash.  "However, I'd better get ba..."

Suddenly, Zephyr's jaw dropped open.  "Oh no."  He turned around, his teeth gritted.  "Oh no, oh no, oh badbadbadbadbad!"

Rainbow Dash's eyebrow raised up.  "Uh, Zeph?  You OK there?"

Zephyr turned back to Rainbow Dash.  "I think I forgot something!"

Down went the eyebrow as Rainbow Dash frowned at him.  "So check the list," she suggested.

"It wasn't on there!" Zephyr countered.  "It's something Fluttershy always gets, but it wasn't on the list, and I don't know if I have the money for it!"

Rainbow Dash shrugged, her frown letting up a little.  "OK," she said.  "Does she already have it?"

"Uhhh, maybe!"  Zephyr closed his eyes, putting hoof to forehead.  "I mean, she usually runs out of it quickly, but she might not have run out of it now."  For a few seconds, Zephyr grunted as he tried to work his mind.  Finally, though, his eyes opened again as he turned back to Rainbow Dash.  "I don't know."

"Think about it."

"I am thinking about it!" Zephyr snapped.  "That's what I mean by I don't know!"

Rainbow Dash's nostrils flared for a moment, but she visibly bit back her first response.  "OK, relax.  Just tell Fluttershy you think she missed something."

Zephyr snorted and rolled his eyes.  "Yeah, you do that with her constantly looking down on you."

Rainbow Dash stared at Zephyr for a moment, her mouth dropping open.  As Zephyr opened his mouth to apologize, though, she scowled and started up.  "You're unbelievable," she hissed.  "You know that?  Fluttershy took you into her home after you mooched off of your parents for three months, then took you back in after you couldn't keep a job for more than an hour, and you're accusing her of being harsh with you?  Based on the last few days, that's the only way you seem to do anything, buddy, so I wouldn't start badmouthing her!"

Zephyr staggered back like he'd been slapped.  He opened his mouth, but a hollow feeling in his chest stayed his tongue.  She was right.  Even after almost becoming homeless and starving, he still fell asleep earlier that day.  He still dawdled on his schoolwork.  He was still the bad sibling.  Gradually, his regret turned to a flare of anger.  He frowned at Rainbow Dash, sniffed, then turned and started trotting off.

"Look out!"

Before Zephyr could even move his head at Rainbow Dash's shout, something big and hard knocked into him.  The force made him spin on his hooves before he quickly fell to the dirt.  For a few moments, he could do nothing, the wind knocked out of him and his head spinning.

It took him a moment to notice Rainbow Dash standing over him, her earlier scowl gone.  "Are you alright?" she asked him.

Zephyr's head lolled from side to side for a moment before he shook it into alignment.  He opened his mouth to answer, but he also tried to get up at the same time.  Thus, his 'I'm fine' became a grimace as the left side of his body throbbed.  Rainbow Dash looked at his left wing.  "Looks like it's just sprained," she said.  "Just walk it off, you'll be..."

Zephyr didn't hear her.  Through the market was a road and further down the road was a cart, its driver unhitched and looking back at Zephyr.  And under his wheels were the saddlebags.  Out of one of them, covered in a wheel print, oozed a melange of thick, multicolored goop.  The other was leaking milk.  Zephyr stumbled over to the bags, poking the flaps open with his hoof.  Just as he'd feared, half of the groceries had been squished, and the other half were covered in milk and broken glass.

His mind blanked briefly, then dived into overdrive.  'OK, maybe if I pick the glass out- no, I couldn't get it all!  Well, maybe I could buy-no, I don't have the money!  I could blame it on-NO!  She would kill you, and so would Fluttershy!  Oh, sweet Celestia, Fluttershy's gonna' kill you.  She's gonna' kick you out and you're gonna' go back in the forest and you're gonna' starve...'

"...Zephyr?  Zephyr?"

The next thing Zephyr consciously perceived, he was lying on the muddy ground, gasping for air and feeling like he'd just got off a dizzytron.  Rainbow Dash was standing over him, staring at him.  No, just looking at him, kind of concernedly.  "Zephyr, are you OK now?" she asked.

Zephyr's vision finally focused after several seconds of blinking.  Slowly, he moved back to his hooves and tried to stand up.  "Yea-ow."  He winced as his side flared up in pain again.  "I-I think I'm... fine."  He turned around and noticed that everypony around him was staring at him.  Instantly, he turned back to the crushed saddlebags, which were now completely soaked.  He felt his throat make some kind of noise as he half-staggered over to them.  For several seconds, all he could do was stare.

Then he felt a hoof on his shoulders.  "What's wrong?" Rainbow Dash asked him.

Zephyr took a few seconds to respond, just staring at the bags a few moments before sighing.  "I... I can't," he said.  "I can't replace them."

"Hey, relax," Rainbow Dash said, smiling and giving Zephyr a tap on his undamaged shoulder.  "I'll pay for it."

Zephyr stared at Rainbow Dash for a moment, causing her smile to droop a little.  He smiled, but that quickly vanished.  "Fluttershy-"

"You'll be OK," Rainbow Dash told him.  "But she doesn't have to know if you don't want her to."

Zephyr stared at Rainbow Dash again.  Then, just as she opened her mouth, he sprung forward and hugged her.  "Thank you!" he breathed.  "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

He felt Rainbow Dash freeze in his hooves once his rush of relief ran out.  Then he felt her hooves wrap around his neck.  "Hey, it's OK," she remarked to him.

Zephyr felt his heart lifting as he pulled away from Rainbow Dash, a small smile on his face.  He wasn't about to be destroyed!  And Rainbow Dash had hugged him!  Better!  "Soooo," he said "I have a little money left.  What say we get some ice cream as well?"

Zephyr felt his skin crawl and his legs jitter as soon as Rainbow Dash's smile hardened.  "Sure," she told him.  "You want zap apple or tropic thunder?"

After a few seconds of Rainbow Dash scowling at him, Zephyr realized what he'd just implied, and he started to sweat.  "Or we could just get the groceries?"

"That's what I thought."

<<***>>

A little while later, Zephyr gingerly shut the oven door.  "Don't forget to stack the bananas just right," he called out to Rainbow Dash.  "Otherwise-"

"-they spoil faster," Rainbow Dash responded, closing the icebox, "Rarity told me."

Zephyr reached into the saddlebags only to pull nothing else out.  He let out a sigh of relief.  "Beautiful," he remarked.  "Everything's put away and Flutter-Butter will be none the wiser."

Rainbow Dash turned back around and slipped her saddlebags onto her back.  "Don't forget to keep ice on that," she reminded Zephyr.  "If it's not gone in two days, call a doctor."

Zephyr put his hoof up in a salute.  "Yes, sir."

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes with a snort.  "You don't work for me anymore," she said.  "You can relax a little.  Just don't try and hit on me again and you'll be fine."

As Rainbow Dash jabbed him in the chest, Zephyr nodded.  "Understood, ma- Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash smiled at him.  "Well," she said, "if you don't need anything else, it's time I found some lunch."

Zephyr opened his mouth, but then frowned and shut it again, his stomach roiling a little.  "OK," he said.

"ZEPHYR!"

Rainbow Dash was in the middle of starting to talk when a squeaky voice sounded from the front door.  Fluttershy dashed in, panting, sweating, and looking a little pale.  "I just heard what happened," she gasped to Zephyr.  "Are you alright?"

Zephyr stared at Fluttershy for a moment before he spoke.  "Yeah, I'm alright," he told her, a small smile.  "Some jerk didn't pay attention for a moment and clipped me in the side.  A hoof-full of ice and everything's gonna' be A-OK."

Fluttershy kept her eyes on him as he talked.  For a few moments, she stared him in the eye.  Then she nodded, seeming to relax.  "Ah," she said.  "Yeah, that sounds right.  OK.  I'm glad you're safe."  She took a deep breath, putting her hoof to her chest, then moving it out when she exhaled.  Then she turned to Rainbow Dash.  "Thanks," she said.  "For being there."

"You're welcome."  Rainbow Dash looked at the door.  "Well, I'd better grab something to eat."  With that, she headed for the door.  "Bye!"

Fluttershy watched Rainbow Dash leave, then looked back at Zephyr.  "How do you feel?" she asked, looking at his side.

"I told you, I-eee!"  Zephyr winced as his wing throbbed mid-movement but he kept smiling.  "I'm OK.  I think, just a little lie-down, and I'm gonna' be good as new."

Fluttershy nodded.  "OK," she said.  "But don't fall asleep.  You need to get used to staying awake all day."

Zephyr walked over to the couch and very gingerly laid himself down.  Then he wiggled himself, getting comfortable.  For a few moments, he just lay there.  A momentary thought, though made him reach a hoof over to the table and push open his textbook.  After moving it so Fluttershy could see it easily, he started reading from it.  "Dinner should be ready in about fifteen minutes," he told her.

As Zephyr read, he could sense Fluttershy walking around to the back of the couch.  Then he felt her tussle his mane.  "Thanks, Zeph," she told him.

Zephyr smiled.  "You're welcome, big sis."