//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Zephyr Breeze // Story: Your Destined Partner // by Mare Of Mystery //------------------------------// The next day arrived in the Crystal Empire, and quite a busy morning for Shining Armor leaving in a hurry for Canterlot for an important busniess trip; leaving Cadance some time for herself in the meantime. After an agonizing feeding session for Flurry Heart, she roams the halls greeting the guards with her signature smile. Yesterday's spell casting of finding destined partners did a number on her. But one, in particular, she couldn't get her head around; Sunburst. "Perhaps I did make an error." Pondered the princess, still roaming the halls, "What other possibility could happen to prevent his destined lover from showing; maybe they hale from another dimension? Or was it possible he doesn't have one? Another thing is that maybe something prevents the creature in question from appearing. Maybe some magical interference or an anti-magic barrier...no...it can't be...NO...NOOOOOOO!" "Cadance! Is everything alright!?" The pony reaching up to her was surprisingly Fluttershy as she flew with her brother just behind her trail to check on the commotion from Cadance. "F-Fluttershy?!" Cadance took a deep breather as she spotted a dear friend out of nowhere, "What are you doing here this early?" "Woah! Your mane is as beautiful in the magazines!" Zephyr looked at her lush mane, "Easily in the top 10 fashionable mane styles of Equestria!" "Excuse me, I'm not quite sure we've met?" Cadance took a gander at the strange stallion, "But thanks for the compliments!" "My apologies, this is my younger brother Zephyr Breeze." the sheepish pegasus turned to give her brother a formal introduction, "He's an expert mane stylist from Ponyville and we came here to--" "Give my luscious mane one of your touches?" Guessed Cadance, "Sorry to burst your bubbles, but only my most trusted stylists and my husband is allowed to mess with my precious mane." "It's not that, he came here for the destined partner summoning from the papers!" Fluttershy gave her a correction, "Sorry if it's too early for you, you must be busy with-" "Of course! I was just heading to my throne right now!" sighed a huge relief from Cadance, "I'll lead you to it!" "Hold that thought, your majesty!" Zephyr halted Cadance from pressing onwards, as he bit his lower lips in agony, "Mother nature is calling to me! I need to find a restroom!" "Oh, it's just down this hall, three doors to the left." He zipped over to the stallion's restroom marked by the symbol of the door which gave the mares some time to chat as they waited. Cadance was read set to out more about Zephyr as she glittered in front of Fluttershy. "So Fluttershy, is your brother that desperate to know who is destined one is?" She answered with a slow nod, "He's always been haggling Rainbow Dash for dates and such to the point where I can't take it anymore. He thinks Rainbow Dash will appear right in front of him after this spell." "Well who knows?" shrugged Cadance. "I've had some unexpected results from yesterday's wave, perhaps your brother does get what he ever so desires?" Guilt ran down Fluttershy's spine, "I...just don't want Zephyr to be upset when he doesn't get Rainbow Dash as his true love partner. He throws a fit every time things don't go his way. I want you to talk to him about being open to more options." "I'll try to speak to him, make him open to more choices." Cadance determined look gave Fluttershy a relieving sigh. Soon as their little chat ended, Zephyr trotted majestically to them keeping a giddy look on his face, "And I'm back from the Jon! Alright, let's start this thing so that I can be with my Rainbow Dash and see the look on her face when she realizes we are destiny!" The three stood in the throne room, with Zephyr patiently waiting for Cadance to perform the spell on him. Fluttershy stood on the sidelines to avoid interfering and keeping her secret shut tight. Cadance began by walking up to him to ask him a few questions before starting. "So Zephyr, is their anypony, in particular, you had eyes on?" she started nonchalantly. "Well, there is only one, and she's quite the specimen herself!" answered Zephyr with his carefree attitude, "You know Rainbow Dash, I presume?" Cadance was obligated to get the colts to trust her, she nodded, "Yes! She's great friends with my sister-in-law and your sister too! Fluttershy mentioned you're always trying to get her attention." "And it always ends with a black eye on my face." Zephyr shortly sobbed, "When will she learn that she can't outrun me at the slightest?" "Hmm..." Cadance pondered vigoursoly on what to say next, she went and said, "Why do you think you two are destined for each other?" Zephyr cringed as the questions kept on rolling, "Man, what's with all these questions all of a sudden?" "Nothing, just want to get to know you a bit more before beginning." She threw a smile back at him, "Tell me, is your crush on her solely on how long you've known her? "Well, not only that, she's the fastest pegasus I've ever laid my eyes on!" he started to reminisce more, "Always on top of everypony, never afraid of anything that gets in her way, and overall the definition of peek performance. But mostly, it's because of her gorgeous mane of hers! It's utterly perfect; a medley of colors forming a bright colorful rainbow." "So, if I were to use the spell on you and ended up with no pony like her, what will you do?" she asked him with a hint of curiosity on her face, "You say it will be her but who knows; the passage of fate might say otherwise." He was unprepared to answer this many questions, "I know in my heart Rainbow Dash isn't the one for me, but I always force it upon her just to. get her attention! I don't have an answer for you princess, I really must know who I am truly belonging. I guess the worse possible thing that could happen is if Rainbow Dash's destined partner is somepony I know; maybe that jerk stylist from my work, or even somepony I'm related to." The look on Fluttershy's face caused a stir of emotions inside her, keeping the biggest poker face she could sport. Cadance quickly continued her little chat with the stallion. "Look here Zephyr, it's not the end of the world if Rainbow Dash doesn't appear right before you. There is a time when you have to give up such a longtime crush as they probably don't see you as a potential romance partner. She's probably not seeing somepony or doesn't plan on in the future. If the pony in front of you isn't what you wished for, take action and get to know them!" "...O-Okay then..." He nodded slowly amongst the small speech he was given, "I guess me. I'm ready!" "Okay, get ready!" The activation of the magic circle went smoothly as ever, channeling her magic through it. This caused Zephyr to jump up a little from the ground beneath him transforming. Flutter why kept witnessing the process from a safe distance trying not to interrupt the princess's magic. "This is getting a bit intense for me Princess!" Zephyr could hear the utter fear inside his voice, trembling from his hind legs, "I'm dying to know if Rainbow Dash truly is my destiny!" "Brace yourself, protect your eyes from the light!" cried Cadance, focusing her energy on keeping the circle intact, "I'm about to induce the spell!" He obliged her order and shut his eyes tight to fill the suspense in his heart and mind. Fluttershy kept her bottom lip occupied with her teeth pressed down on it. Within the next few seconds, the circle collapsed, and Cadance activated the full extent of the spell. One which flashes of light later, she could see the visible body of another mare that stood just inches away from Zephyr. Cadance couldn't be so surprised to see a figure that stood before him. "Ah, it seems like we have another successful cast, and a wonderful mare appearing in front of Zephyr— OH MY GOODNESS!!" She slowly broke like a scratched record as her whole jaw dropped from utter terror. "WHO DARES DISTURB THE PANCAKE BREAKFAST OF THE PRINCESS OF NIGHT!?" There was only one pony in Equestria that would deliver her words with an authoritative attitude when her breakfast is disturbed; Princess Luna. It caused Cadance to go into a state of shock that stopped all motor functions and froze on sight. Fluttershy however, watched in agony with a whole wave of emotions flowing inside hee. "P-P-Princess Luna!?" she shrieked from a distance. "Is this...does that mean..." Shooting his eyes wide open to see the glorious alicorn, Zephyr followed his sister's flabbergasted look, "Hang on a sec! Princess Luna?! You serious!?" "If it isn't Zephyr Breeze," Luna quelled her royal voice to greet the stallion calmly, "To what do I owe the pleasure of mysteriously appearing right before your very eyes?" "I...uh..." "Speak up now, I need to get back to my precious stacks of came before they get cold!" She tempted him to speak more thoroughly. An assortment of feelings tingled Zephyr as he felt clueless about what to think about this outcome. He would graciously reject anypony besides Rainbow Dash, but he was "I came here to Princess C-Cadance to see who my destined romantic partner is, and a-apparently me and you are...destined for one another. "R-Really?" gawking to no surprise as Luna's face lit up a bright red, turning behind her to spot Cadance, "Dear niece! Is this truly want fate entails for me?!" "I'm afraid it is true auntie, Zephyr Breeze truly is your fated romantic partner." the distressed look on Cadance's face gave her a frightened tone, "I'm well aware you are somewhat discombobulated by this--" "Hahahahaha! FINALLY!" The princess laughed maniacally, with her face reaching up for each cackle. "Eh?" Cadance, Fluttershy, and Zephyr mewled in unison. "For many moons! I and my sister were forbidden to seek romantic partners as it would tarnish our reputation as rulers of Equestria. " Luna dramatically told them with a saddened look, "I'VE DONE MY WAITING! THOUSANDS OF YEARS OF IT! And thanks to my genius niece, not only that my search has come to an end, I've beaten my sister to the punch as well!" The impact of her words was too heavy to contain, Luna was deeply serious about this. Much to Zephyr Breeze, he was left speechless and lost in thought pondering different types of stuff. It wasn't until Luna slowly reached up to him as he looked her straight in the eyes. "So it is I and Zephyr Breeze who are predestined for one another?" She carefully observed Zephyr circling him, "I see...two younger siblings who are overshadowed by their older and probably more popular sibling? A perfect match indeed!" "W-W-Woah dang! I did not expect this at all!" sweating to the brim was all Zephyr could do to comprehend all of this, "It's one thing to get somepony I'm quite familiar with, but the damn Princess of the night?! I'm just at a loss of words now..." "Umm, Zephyr?" calling from behind him was Fluttershy who approached him, "Now that you know who is your actual destined partner, who do you feel about Rainbow Dash?" "Rainbow who?" he shrugged at the nest mention of the name, "That fast flying what's-her-name doesn't even compare to Princess freaking Luna!" "He's correct!" cried Luna, "Rainbow Dash might be athletic and fast, but when can she control the dream world or have a magnificent flowing mane like me?!" "When I look at it closely, your mane is the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen! Beating Cadance by a long shot!" gawked Zephyr, glistening his eyes at her mane, "I've never stylized one with its gravitational pull." "Oh? Would you like to do the honors of maintaining a mane of cosmic proportions?!" offered Luna, showing a small faint blush on her cheeks. "I'll treat you to a very good dream, and other stuff if you're getting my gist." Zephyr nodded profoundly. "Yes ma'am!" "Woah-Woah-Woah! Back up there!" like a referee giving bared card, Cadance stepped forward to too all of this from moving forward, "You can't date my auntie! That is just...so unprecedented. Remember...what...I...said..." Reminiscing a few minutes ago, she could not dare to foolish her sentence as Cadance remembered what she said back then. It left her as silent as water. "Come on Cadance, you already did the spell and that is that." strangely, Fluttershy was on board with this strange hookup being on her brother's side, "Look on the bright side; at least he didn't get somepony like Flurry Heart." "SHUT-UP! IT CAN'T BE TRUE!" The emotional reaction caused by Fluttershy's words made Cadance use her magic to teleport out of her throne room leaving the pegasus dumbfounded by what set her off. "Oh, was it something I said?" Fluttershy asked herself, turning to Zephyr and Luna who spoke to one another, "Guys?" While ignoring his sister, Zephyr rambled on about ideas from his head to Princess Luna, "So I was thinking having a whole city named after myself, it shall be called Zephyr Heights." "I see, with my authority, I can pester Twilight about sanctioning a city renaming," smirked Luna. It was at that moment on Fluttershy took a huge sigh out of her lungs, "At least he's happy...I guess?" Somewhere within the Changeling hive... "What the hay is this?!" Scoffed Thorax from his throne glancing over at the newspaper, "Destined partner? Princess Cadence? Hmph! This is absurd, there's no way she could just poof up your fated romantic partner! I need to get to the bottom of this..."