It was a beautiful but hot afternoon, and the sun continued to beat down on Zipper as he flew high above the clouds, enjoying his usual Sunday pre-nap flight. This was his favorite part of the entire day, as it gave him the chance to just freely fly to his heart’s content and let the stress of the day fade into the background. Loud rock music flowed from headphones securely clipped to his ears as he soared along, the upbeat tempo only driving him to zip along even faster than he already was.
The view from above was a sight that Zipper hardly paid any mind to, but for as brash and over the top as he could be, even he knew that he was lucky for the chance to experience something like this every day. As much as he loved to be the center of attention, the real truth was that genuinely enjoyed these brief moments of solitude, even if they often brought back the bitter memories of his youth. For a moment the teasing voices calling him out for being the weird kid filled his ears, causing him to grimace and flinch back at their echoes, but his music quickly helped drown those out.
As much as he tried to pretend otherwise, his past still bothered him. Perhaps not for what it reminded him of, but for what it made him think about and what that meant for the whole identity he had tried to craft for himself after ETS had seemingly given him a fresh start. It wasn’t as if he didn’t know himself… but sometimes he questioned whether he was genuinely the pony he tried so hard to be, or whether he was simply hiding behind a mask and shutting out a more honest part of himself. Who was the real Zipper then? It was a hard question for the young pegasus to answer, even more so for one who had spent so long trying to craft a persona that simply wasn’t real.
To the Oasis, Zipper was the brash daredevil that thought he was every mare’s dream… but was that the real Zipper? Or was he really the shy pegasus who didn’t truly know what or who he liked? As strange as it was, the pegasus almost didn’t know how to answer sometimes. He knew that the crush and feelings for Dazzle, the mare that had captured his heart when he had first gotten his weather training were genuine at the time, but her rejection hadn’t stung him as much as he had thought it would. That in itself made him question what he was really looking for. Sure he liked mares, but the idea of having some emotional connection with a stallion wasn’t the worst thing in the world either. Did that make him gay? Bi? What even was it that he was looking for? Was that emotional connection even something that could be romantic… or was it just his longing for friendship and companionship? Did any of it even matter? He had never held any long-term relationships, wasn’t as smooth as he pretended he was, and to his own reluctance, he honestly didn’t know what that meant for him. Maybe he could just be happy with a close friend or two.
As much as he painted this picture of a suave pony that knew how to say anything, the obvious truth that was plain to probably everyone was that he was simply playing a part. When left alone those memories and thoughts could be depressing reminders of the bullying and teasing he had faced so often in the tender years of his teens and early adulthood, but up here in the sky? Well up here there was only him and the clouds, and that was more than enough to distract him from the past that haunted him. Not wanting to answer those questions or ponder on them any more than he had to, Zipper shook his head and continued his flight through the clouds, wanting to push those intrusive thoughts away to the back of his mind for the time being. It was something he knew he needed to come to terms with, but now wasn’t the time or place.
Instead, he focused on the adrenaline he felt and the rush it gave him. The sky was clear up here and the air was dry, but it did little to bother the prideful pegasus. He knew how to prepare for days like this, and nothing would get in the way of his perfect afternoon— not even the deep personal thoughts that had already cropped up. He had banished those after all, and now it was time to really get his day started off right. With a large grin, he pulled into a few wide rolls, swooping through and above the clouds, breaking them apart and coming to a land on one of the smaller segments which threatened to break apart with the force of his rough landing. He took a few breaths as he reached for the water bottle that was securely attached to his side, greedily taking a few large gulps while he scoped out the rest of his afternoon route until there was barely even a few drops left.
Without any real direction, he secured his now-depleted water bottle and began to glide over towards the edge of the Oasis, keeping his eyes open for that one perfect place where he could take his nap. The Oasis was a hub of constant activity and as such Zipper found himself constantly changing it up, finding new and creative places to enjoy a siesta, away from all the noise and construction. It wasn’t always an easy task, but the pegasus loved a good challenge every once in a while, and his nap was more than enough of a reward for all his hard work.
As Zipper gracefully soared through the air, the calm waters of the lake seemed to call out to him, and given how hot it currently was, a nice refreshing swim would be the perfect way to cool off before his nap. As he glided closer towards the lake he noticed that he wasn’t the only pony with that thought. In fact, it seemed as if half of the Oasis had decided to relax in the lake today, something he couldn’t really blame them for. With a big grin, he banked towards it, swooping down over the various beach goers and coming to a splash down in the center of the lake.
The cool water surrounded him, sending a flurry of bubbles rising to the surface and bringing a refreshing feeling of relaxation with it while his music cut off. This would have earned the mild panic that came with jumping into the water with your earphones still in, but Zipper’s were clipped to his ears and specially designed for this kind of active use, one of the perks of working in a place where experimental tech was developed and thrown around. The world seemed to fade away as he paddled around in the cool water, feeling perfectly at peace in the aquatic environment. As he broke the surface, he took a deep breath, stretched out his wings, and laid back, gently floating on the water. He let out a happy sounding sigh and let his worries just melt away. Zipper was completely at peace here and nothing could hope to ruin this wonderful day.
If it wasn’t such a terrible idea he might have even considered simply closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep, but he knew better than that. Zipper may have been brash and overly confident at times, but he wasn’t stupid. Instead he let the gentle current carry him towards the shore, the sounds of splashing and music growing louder around him as he floated along the surface. As his head came to a rest against the shore, he became acutely aware of another sound assaulting his ear drums, an annoyingly irritating honking coming from not too far away.
His face scrunched into a grimace as the piercing sounds drilled their way into his ears, causing him to dial up his volume to no avail, the sound was simply too loud. They really need to work on making better headphones, how can some stupid birds honking drown out my music? I mean this is ridiculous! He angrily thought to himself. Annoyed that his peaceful day was being interrupted, he paused his music, stood up, and glared in the direction of the awful sound. Sitting only a short distance away was a group of large geese, swimming around in the water and honking away at him as if they were trying to communicate something to him.
With an irritated roll of his eyes he began to try and shoo them away with his wings, “What do you want? Just go find somewhere else to hang out and let me enjoy my day.”
Much to his annoyance the geese merely honked at him again.
Well it’s just a bunch of big dumb birds, right? Maybe I just need to scare them off. He flared his wings out and puffed out his chest like he had seen some large birds do before, and began to walk towards them, earning an angry hiss from one of them in return.
He jumped back in surprise, “W— what?”
Another loud series of hisses was the only reply he got from them.
Alright well maybe I just need to show them who’s really the boss around here. He began to lightly flap his wings as he slowly trotted towards the geese, who simply held their ground. With a frustrated sigh he picked up the pace, as he was met with another flurry of hisses. The loud hisses made him cringe, but he continued to press on, desperately hoping that they’d get the message and buzz off.
As he continued his approach, he let out a confident laugh, but as he neared the group, the geese finally responded to his aggressive display with one of their own. Without any further hesitation they began to angrily swim towards him, flapping their wings wildly and causing the pegasus to stop in his tracks. It was too late, however, as the geese were now riled up. Much to his dismay, they continued to press forward, anger and malice showing in their beady eyes.
“Okay, okay I get it! You can stop now!” He frantically began to shout out towards them. Despite his frantic pleas, the geese continued. Realizing that they weren’t about to stop, he began to run away, desperately hoping that they’d ignore him and go back to honking loudly on the beach. The geese simply continued to chase and peck at him, earning a few laughs from the other lake goers in the process.
In an act of desperation, Zipper leaped into the sky, but the geese were unrelenting in their chase. For a bunch of big dumb birds, they sure had a temper, and it was obvious that they weren’t going to back down until they got what they were after. Unfortunately for Zipper, he was their target, and this meant that he’d have to take some evasive maneuvers.
With a well-practiced precision he swooped into a barrel roll and dove down to the side, but the geese were undeterred. He considered himself a flying ace, but they were clearly right on par with him, and as he glanced back a surge of fear gripped him as he noticed that they were actually gaining on him.
“Wait no, you’re not supposed to close in on me! Just buzz off, won’t ya?” He shouted back in frustration.
The geese didn’t care though, they were out for blood and nothing would stop them…
An idea popped into Zipper’s head, and as he started to near some of the lakeside buildings, he saw his perfect window of opportunity. Pulling down into a very sharp turn, he momentarily shook the geese, letting out a loud cheer of victory as they failed to match his sharp descent. However, his victorious cheer was misplaced, as he failed to notice that he was now on a direct collision course with the ground and one of the nearby buildings as well.
Glancing up ahead of him, he caught his tactical error, but alas it was too late. Without even a moment to course correct, he skidded across a soft flowerbed and into a wall, cracking it and probably a few bones upon impact. Somehow though, through some miraculous stroke of luck, he was mostly unharmed outside of the nasty cuts and a very probable sprain that he’d be feeling in the morning and for the next few weeks knowing his luck. Unfortunately for him however, he had just skidded through another pony’s prized garden… and this pony was not the kind who would take it lightly.
Standing up in a daze, he looked around at his crash site, and cringed back in fear as the door next to him was unceremoniously kicked open.
Time seemed to slow down as the mare took in the sight of the damage, and with the silent narrowed glare she was giving him, Zipper could have sworn that she was about to burst into flames.
“I can deal with dumb loud ponies waking me up, I can deal with humans knocking at my door for something. I can even deal with crying foals,” she looked around her broken yard, “But you have got to be fucking kidding me.”
“I—“ he stammered out.
“NO!” She shouted, “I don’t want to hear your bird brained excuses. I want you to pay for this and clean my yard.” She looked over at the Zipper sized dent in the wall, narrowing her gaze even further. “And for all of the repairs you’re going to make to my house. And I want you to do this today.”
“Sine I…”
“What did I tell you about excuses? Do you know how much time I spent on that garden? Or how much that all cost me? What about you damaging my home too?”
Zipper felt a very deep sunken feeling in his chest, and even more frighteningly enough, he could hear the loud honks of the geese in the distance growing ever closer. Caught between an angry flock of geese and an arguably angry night pony, Zipper did what he did best. Let his instincts tell him what to do.
Spreading his disheveled wings, he briefly winced in pain before letting out a rushed response.
“Sorrygottagobye!” He shouted as he took off into the sky, the loud honking and the angry shouting fading into the distance as he made a beeline for his home.