Zephyr knows how to make a good first impression.
At least he thinks he does.
He had to make a good first impression to be able to ask questions of the many crime families of Neigh York.
From the drug dealers of the Lao-Chen to the hit-men of the Coffin Maker gang.
He knew what to say to get on their good side, he knew he had to play small, safe, non-threatening.
You show respect to the boss, You don't interrupt them when they're talking, you agree with everything that they say unless its a direct attack on your character.
Bosses love a Kiss-ass, but they also respect a pony who can stand up to himself and doesn't take their shit.
You let them push you around, but you never let them turn you into a mop. Show some backbone, they respect that.
All that is to say, Zephyr Breeze can make good impressions on Criminals.
And even then there are some he doesn't get involved with.
You do not confuse the Lao-Chen gang with the Chen-Lao.
The Chen-Lao are a whole different can of worms that Zephyr is glad he will never need to deal with ever again.
So, Zephyr can make a good impression on most of the Criminal groups of Neigh-York.
So what does he need to do to make a good impression on a farmer and his family, who he has just moved in next door as their new neighbor?
To that, Zephyr doesn't have a clear answer.
"Would you like some water? Oh, Please take a seat." Zephyr told the Pie family as he led them to the dust covered table between the kitchen and the living-room.
"I would graciously accept your offering of water" Igneous Rock said as he pat one of the chairs next to the table, wiping some the dust off.
"I too wouldn't mind a glass of water, if you so kindly offer" Cloudy also took a seat after clearing dust off the chair and placing the gift basket on the table.
The younger of the daughters, the one that carried the second gift basket also took a seat on the table and put the basket next to her on the floor.
Zephyr soon returned to the table with four glasses of water and a wet mop.
He gave each pony a glass of water before he quickly went over the table with the mop, trying to clean as much dust as he could.
"Hey, why did you give me a glass as well? I didn't ask for any." The older daughter said as she took the glass offered to her and held it close to her eye, as if trying to look for something sketchy in the cup.
"Well," Zephyr stopped for but a moment to think of an acceptable answer "I didn't want to make you feel left out" only to continue before anypony noticed his pause for thought.
Well, Almost Nopony.
Zephyr Breeze was weird.
Marbalese (Marble) Augustine Pie couldn't put her hoof on it but the young stallion was definitely hiding something.
Or at least trying to hide.
Maybe it was a almost unnoticed pauses he took to gather his thoughts, maybe it the abrupt switch in tone he used when opening the door for her family, He almost seemed like he was judging them, looking for weaknesses, like a wolf staring down an unsuspecting rabbit, before he plastered the obviously fake smile on his face and invited them inside.
Maybe another thing making him suspicious was that he chose to buy and move to Flintstone Cabin instead of any other property Rockville had for sale.
There was just something about him that made him feel dangerous.
He wasn't muscular, not at all, She would be surprised if he was able to do even a single lap around her farm.
But it wasn't his muscles, no, it was his eyes.
Those eyes of his, are definitely the eyes of someone who saw more then they would ever admit, Marble is sure of it, if any of her detective novels are anything to go by, Zephyr Breeze had a first hand experience with death and he survived.
And now he's out here in hiding, hoping the Grim Reaper won't snatch his soul.
Yes, that has to be it, Zephyr Breeze is a Dead Pony living on borrowed time, and he's hiding out in Rockville so death wouldn't catch up to him...
Yes... It's all coming together!
Zephyr Breeze was murdered soon after he won the lottery, but the killers never found the money he had won, and somehow his spirit managed to return to his body and ran away with the money!
But that also opens up the avenues for more questions.
Who killed Zephyr Breeze?
How is Zephyr Breeze still alive?
and most important of all,
Is he seeing anypony?
Because he's kind of her type but she doesn't want to look like she's desperate but she also kind of is because she's 21 and still lives with her parents and never really had many friends because she's too shy to start a conversation with anypony and that kind of ruined her prospects for romance and she was fine with it at the start but-
Cloudy Quartz furrowed her brow as she ticked another mental check-mark on a list she's been compiling on Zephyr since she first read about him.
Because now she can say for certain.
Zephyr Breeze has killed at least one pony in his life.
Ignorant to the thoughts going on in the heads of his wife and daughter, Igneous Rock Pie was pleasantly sipping the glass of water his new neighbor gave him.
When he first heard that a Neigh-York City Slicker was moving in next door, He had his concerns.
Of course he had concerns, he dreaded imagining the noise a city pony would make.
Even if most interactions he had with city-folk was when he was visiting his daughter Maud in Manehatten.
Hearing that his new neighbor was himself from Manehatten, Igneous had some fears.
Rockville was a quiet town, nothing much happens in it, everypony knows everyone, and nothing interesting happens.
That was how he loved his town.
Igneous grew up in Rockville, he was schooled in Rockville, he took over the farm in Rockville and he raised his daughters in Rockville.
The only important thing to happen to Igneous outside of Rockville was meeting his darling wife Cloudy Quartz, all the way back in the day when he was still doing deliveries by himself, before the train tracks passed by Rockville.
He met her in Canterlot, he was sure it had to be love at first sight.
But he's getting ahead of himself, Igneous was looking forward to meeting Zephyr Breeze, he was expecting a rude ruffian, trying to stir trouble for the sleepy folks of Rockville, but surprisingly he isn't.
He's an earnest young lad who knows his manners.
Definitely someone he wouldn't mind having as a neighbor, Indeed.
After talking with the Pie family for a few minutes, Zephyr escorted them out of the cabin.
"Thank you for inviting us in, Now if you'll excuse us all, we shall take our leave, I'm sure you have a lot of work ahead of you in regards to cleaning the house." He wasn't wrong.
Zephyr looked at the floor and walls of his new house, the place was grey with dust, it would take a few days to clean it all out.
"Oh? What's that?" Zephyr looked back to Igneous, seeing him now communicating with the younger daughter, the one who hasn't said anything since he met her.
Marble was her name, Zephyr tries to remind himself.
"I see. Very well." Igneous turned back to Zephyr, "I'm sorry if it seems like a bother, but would you mind if Marble here helped you with cleaning the house, She doesn't have much to do at home seeing as it's a slow season now. Would she be allowed to assist you?"
Zephyr paused for less than a split second before reorganizing his thought and stapling the fake smile he perfected over several loops.
"Sure, I would be happy to have somepony help me clean up the place" He answered with fake enthusiasm, earning a small smile and a nod from the girl.
He couldn't bring himself to turn down her request, he had a new image to maintain, one of the kind and friendly neighbor from Manehatten.
Even if all Zephyr actually wanted to do now was to go to sleep and not wake up for a month.