Through the Eyes of the Storm
Two hundred bits. Zephyr counted them out again. Correction. Two hundred and one. He sighed in disappointment. At the end of one month of saving and hard work, he had less than half of what he needed. He flopped down on his bed in Sweet Apple Acres, his room well-lit by the rays of sunset.
Taking a deep breath, he ran through it all in his head again. I arrived here in Ponyville with forty-three bits I’d saved, he mentally recited. With all the odd jobs I’ve managed to get, I made one hundred and eighty-seven bits this month. He supposed by most ponies’ reckoning, that would be a decent income, especially without any steady work. Between food, basic sundries, and helping out friends, I’ve had to spend twenty-nine bits. Grudgingly, he added the final piece. The lowest down payment I’ve seen on any house here in Ponyville is five hundred bits, and that was for a tiny, broke-down, leaky cottage. He stared at the sunset. But at least it would be my tiny, broke-down, leaky cottage, he thought longingly.
It was not that the room he stayed in was uncomfortable. The bed was soft, the room was spacious, and the Apples had been nothing but hospitable. Admittedly, waking up to Applebloom shouting about the Cutie Mark Crusaders some mornings was grating, but they never showed him anything but kindness.
He rolled over and looked at the calendar. In a couple weeks, right around the start of summer, the Apple family would hold their annual reunion at Sweet Apple Acres. Apples from all over Equestria would gather here and celebrate, some staying for days on end.
He did not want to be there for it. Despite Applejack’s continual assurances that he’d be welcome to stay for the reunion, Zephyr knew he’d be out of place. Besides, he’d argued, she’d need all the space available for her many, many relatives. Zephyr had hoped to find a place of his own before the reunion, but with or without one he would be gone from Sweet Apple Acres before it came. Outside, the last glimmers of sunset began to fade.
Zephyr got up and swept the pile of coins into his pouch. Enough, he told himself. Worry tomorrow. You need your rest. He gave a wide yawn, and stretched himself until he felt a satisfying pop. Rubbing his eyes, he laid himself back down on the bed and pulled the blanket over himself. In moments, he was asleep.
* * * *
“I’m sorry sir, but it’s just not enough,” the brown mare behind the desk told Zephyr. She stared down her nose at him through a small pair of spectacles. “If you had a steady income, I might be able to go as low as three hundred, but otherwise five hundred is the best I can do.”
Zephyr rubbed his temples in frustration. “Are you sure you can’t approve a loan?” he asked tiredly. “I’ve got to have some kind of credibility. Ask around town, there are plenty of ponies who’d vouch for me!”
“That may be, but you’ve only been in Ponyville one month,” countered the mare. She leaned over the counter to speak to him. “I’m really sorry, but you have to understand. You have no employment, no credit history, and no collateral to offer if you default on your loan. I don’t like turning away those in need, but I have to abide by the bank’s rules.” She gave him a regretful look. “And the rules say I can’t extend a loan to you.”
Zephyr sighed. “I understand. Thanks anyway, Ms.….” he looked at the nameplate on her desk. “Penny. Sorry I wasted your time.” He turned and trudged out the door.
Outside of the bank, Zephyr walked to the nearest lamp pole. After testing its sturdiness, Zephyr began lightly slamming his forehead into the pole, over and over again. With each thud, Zephyr cleared some of the haze out of his brain. The whole visit had been so clouded with forms, conditions, and terms he didn’t understand that he was still slightly dizzy. After a few more blows to the head, he could at least think clearly again.
It didn’t make him any less miserable, however. He stopped banging his head and began walking down the street. He didn’t register the movement around him, or acknowledge the ponies who greeted him. He just kept his head down and thought as hard as he could.
All right, you don’t have enough. What now? he asked himself. Well, she said if I had a steady job, she’d lower it to three hundred, he answered. Can you make a hundred bits in two weeks? he questioned. Guess I have to, he decided, shrugging. So that’s a no. You can’t make another hundred bits in time. Even if you starve yourself, he added, forestalling his own opposition. You could ask your friends. You know they would help you. Zephyr frowned at that conclusion. No, he refused. This is my problem. I’ve got to deal with it myself. Think of something else.
His mental dialogue was so intense that he wasn’t really watching where he was going. So when his head bumped against something and a soft “Eep!” sounded in his ears, he was caught by surprise. He’d bumped heads with Fluttershy, who seemed herself preoccupied.
“Oh! I’m sorry Zephyr! I wasn’t looking,” she apologized immediately. She kept her voice low, and scanned the area around them.
“Don’t be,” he replied. “I doubt I would’ve noticed a dragon right in front of me. Are you looking for something?”
She gave a timid nod. “I’m trying to find Angel. He wondered off earlier, and it’s been hours since I’ve seen him!”
“Uh…Angel?” Zephyr asked.
“Oh, I forgot, you two haven’t met yet,” Fluttershy gasped. “Angel is the cutest, nicest, smartest bunny in all of Equestria!” she gushed. “But he’s so small and vulnerable that I worry he won’t be able to take care of himself. If anything happened to him, I don’t know what I’d do!” As she spoke, more and more panic crept into her voice.
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Zephyr tried to reassure her. “If you want, I can help you look for him.”
“Really?” Fluttershy’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, thank you! I was beginning to worry I’d never be able to find him!”
At just that moment, a small white rabbit hopped into view behind Fluttershy. It seemed perfectly content with itself as it strolled along the street. Zephyr’s eyes followed it as it moved. “Umm…Fluttershy? Is Angel completely white? And about this big?” he asked, approximating the rabbit’s size with his hooves.
“Yes,” she confirmed. “Why? Have you seen him?” By way of answer, he pointed at the bunny behind her. Fluttershy turned and gasped loudly. “Angel! There you are! I was so worried!” Upon hearing his name, Angel looked over at them. When he saw the cream-colored pegasus, the bunny immediately turned tail and ran in the other direction. “Wait! Come back!” cried Fluttershy, before running off after him.
Zephyr began flapping his wings and bolted after them. “I got ‘em!” he called at Fluttershy as he flew past. He accelerated and closed in on the fleeing rabbit.
Angel must have heard him coming, because he immediately increased his speed. Zephyr had to give the little guy credit: he was fast. Between the frenzied pace of his hopping and the numerous sharp corners the critter turned, Zephyr couldn’t close the gap between them. Okay, time to work smarter, not harder, he decided.
Zephyr took to the sky, gaining altitude and increasing speed. Looking ahead, he saw a dead-end alleyway off to the right. If he could steer Angel into it, the bunny would have nowhere to go. He flapped harder, allowing him to get ahead of his quarry.
When Angel was nearly at the intersection, Zephyr slammed to the ground in his path. The rabbit, left with no room to stop, skidded into a slide and took off down the alley. Zephyr casually followed, not needing to hurry.
Angel came to the wall and realized his predicament. He jumped up and tried to climb, but merely slid off the brick. Zephyr closed his forelegs around the rabbit. “Gotcha!” he cried triumphantly. Angel struggled to free himself, wiggling as hard as he could, but Zephyr gripped him tightly. At length, he gave up and settled for glaring balefully at his captor.
“Oh thank goodness!” Fluttershy panted a moment later, when she caught up. She trotted over and grabbed Angel from Zephyr. “I was worried I wouldn’t see you again!” She began cuddling the rabbit, nuzzling against him. Angel tried to resist and stay hostile, but couldn’t manage it. In no time, the rabbit was nuzzling back. “Thank you so much Zephyr!” she said. “Why don’t you stop by my house for tea? I’m meeting Zecora in half-an-hour!”
He thought about it. It might cheer me up a little, he reasoned. “Sure, sounds great,” he agreed. Angel turned his head and glared daggers at him. Zephyr decided it was best to ignore him. “Just one question: Who’s Zecora?”
* * * *
Zecora, it turned out, was waiting for them when they arrived. She was knocking on the door to Fluttershy’s house when she and Zephyr came crossing the bridge right next to it. She turned to face them at their approach.
“There you are Miss Fluttershy! Did you forget I would stop by?” she greeted them.
“Oh, of course not Zecora. But Angel ran off, and I had to find him,” Fluttershy answered. “Sorry you had to wait.”
“Not a problem at all, my dear. But tell me, who is your friend here?” she asked.
“I’m Zephyr,” he spoke up. “Nice to meet you.” He offered a hoof.
“A new face is nice to see. The pleasure belongs to me,” the zebra said, shaking his hoof.
Fluttershy opened the door. “Please, come on in,” she invited them. “I’ll go get the tea ready.” She led them in and went into the kitchen. Zephyr and Zecora took seats opposite each other in the main living room.
Zephyr couldn’t quite stop himself from staring. After a moment, Zecora looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Sorry,” he stammered. “I didn’t mean to stare. It’s just that I’ve never seen a zebra before.” He looked down, ashamed. “I guess that doesn’t really make it right though.”
“Do not worry, pegasus. As you may guess, I’m used to this,” she rhymed, waving away his apology. “We are not many here, it’s true. But please tell me something of you.”
For the next few minutes, Zephyr talked about how he was new in Ponyville. He explained some of the difficulties he had adjusting to life in his new home. She offered her sympathies, and told him of her own troubles fitting in. She had just finished telling him about the poison joke incident (through which he’d giggled hysterically at the effects on his friends) when Fluttershy joined them with a full tea-tray. She poured them each a cup, before finally pouring one for herself.
“So Zephyr, what was bothering you when you bumped into me?” Fluttershy asked suddenly. “I mean, if you want to talk about it. You just looked so upset, I thought maybe I could help. That is, if you want,” she finished, tracing designs in the floor with her hoof.
“Indeed, I see your shoulder slumps,” Zecora chimed in. “Just what has put you in the dumps?”
Zephyr sipped his tea and said nothing. The warm brew left a strong taste of herbs in his mouth, but had an instantly calming effect. He took a slow, deep breath. “I’ve been trying to get the money for a place to live for a month now,” he began. “But I still don’t have near enough. I went to the bank for a loan, but I was denied because I don’t have a job.”
In short, simple phrases, he tried to explain his plight to them. He tried to make them understand just why it was so important. But as he spoke, he could see they didn’t quite get it. They sympathized of course, and offered to lend him money, but he gently refused. This only confused them more. They sat in silence for a while, sipping their tea.
“If my rudeness you’ll excuse, the restroom I must now use,” Zecora announced. She stood up from her seat and left the room.
“What do you think about Zecora, Zephyr?” Fluttershy asked, attempting to make conversation.
“The constant rhyming is a little weird, but otherwise she seems pretty nice,” he answered thoughtfully. “I wonder if every zebra talks like that. I bet their homeland would be an interesting place.” He turned to her and grinned. “So, about the whole poison joke incident: is it true it gave you a deep, masculine voice?”
Fluttershy blushed brightly, and turned away. “Umm…can we please not discuss that?” she almost pleaded. Zephyr immediately felt guilty. “It wasn’t very fun at the time.”
Zephyr didn’t say anything. Across the room, Angel stood behind Fluttershy making very threatening gestures at him. In spite of himself, he shivered slightly at the bunny’s intimidation. There was something unnaturally creepy about a cute, soft, adorable little critter promising to beat the daylights out of you when you weren’t expecting it.
“So what are you going to do?” Fluttershy questioned him after a few minutes. Zecora wandered back into the room and sat down. “Did you try asking Rainbow Dash to let you join the weather crew? I’m sure she’d be happy to have you.”
Zephyr winced at the name, but covered it by turning it into a stretching motion. “Yeah,” he replied simply. “The first day I got here, I asked. She said the crew was overstaffed as it was, and that maybe when fall rolled around she might have a position for me.” He shrugged. “I may not have gotten the position I wanted, but I wasn’t going to take another pony’s job from them. It wouldn’t be right.”
“Oh. I see,” she replied, chagrined.
Zephyr was beginning to grow restless. The tea, the conversation, and merely sitting still had made him feel a little better, but not much. He needed to blow off some steam. “Thanks for the tea, Fluttershy. It helped,” he said without much conviction. “But I should be going.” He turned towards the zebra. “Meeting you was so much fun, but now I fear I have to run,” he stated, perfectly mimicking her accent. She gave a small smile.
“You speak my mind most perfectly. Your face again I hope to see,” she replied.
“I hope you get your own place soon!” Fluttershy called as he walked out the door.
Zephyr shut the door gently behind him before taking flight.
* * * *
A lazy cruise carried him to the park, where he landed on a path that led one on a scenic route enjoyed by picnickers and joggers. Zephyr started down the path at an easy stroll, just taking in the landscape. The grass was almost covered with dandelions, both yellow and white, and the cool, wafting breeze filled his head with the scents of late spring.
He did his best to avoid thinking about anything while he walked. More than anything else, he just wanted ten minutes where didn’t need to think about anything more complicated than putting one hoof in front of the other. Whenever Doc would get angry, or even just irritated, he’d take a walk to clear his head. Doc has more patience than I ever will, he thought darkly as he realized it wasn’t working.
What did pull him away from his thoughts was the sound of roaring wind. Glancing upward, he saw a rainbow-colored streak in the sky. A moment later he spotted its source—in the middle of pulling off multiple aerial somersaults.
Zephyr’s heart raced a little with excitement, as it always did when he watched Rainbow Dash fly. The daring, dangerous tricks and stunts performed on a daily basis by the “Fastest Pegasus Alive” were enough to set most ponies jaws on the ground.
But for some reason, ever since the incident with the guards two weeks ago, he’d begun to wonder if that was all it was. Unbidden, his mind took him back into the audience room with Celestia, where she’d picked over his memories and emotions since he’d arrived in Ponyville, perhaps even before. The experience had been unpleasant—and had even given him a few nightmares—but it had also shaken loose a few things he couldn’t quite understand. One was the overwhelming frequency he’d seen Rainbow Dash in his memories.
Zephyr shook away the memory. It’s probably just because I’ve spent the most time with her, he reasoned. Whenever I wasn’t working, I was off racing her somewhere or other. Besides, if there was anypony making him uncomfortable, it was Rarity. She’d been inviting him over for lunch, or to assist her with a fashion collection, significantly more often since he’d fought the guards. He’d accepted the first couple of invitations, but as more and more such requests came, he’d began wondering if something else was going on. As it was, he was running out of excuses not to attend.
Looking up at Rainbow Dash, he realized he’d been going about his stress relief all wrong. There was only one thing that could really quiet the storm of thoughts raging in his mind, and only one pony that could help. He waved at Rainbow Dash to get her attention.
“Hey! Down here!” he yelled.
She either saw or heard him, because a moment later she landed in front of him, folding her wings in as she did so. “What’s up, Zeph?” she asked cheerfully.
Zephyr’s eye twitched slightly. Rainbow Dash had recently decided to try nicknaming him ‘Zeph’, much to his annoyance. Definitely the amount of time we spend together, he decided. No way I’d fall for somepony so infuriating! “I told you not to call me that,” he muttered.
“Yeah, yeah,” she brushed him off. “So, did you see my new routine? Is it A: the most awesome thing you’ve ever seen, or B: the coolest thing you’ve ever laid eyes on?”
Perhaps he could have been nicer. He probably could have gotten a contest going with no effort at all. It almost certainly would have been enough to get him out of his funk. But that would have been too easy, and Zephyr was not a pony to take half measures.
“Routine?” he scoffed. “I thought you were doing some warm-ups. I could do those moves in my sleep.”
“What?!” demanded Rainbow Dash furiously. “That sounds like a challenge to me!” She lifted several inches off the ground to be at eye-level with him. “I’d like to see you try and do better!” she cried, getting in his face.
“Just to be clear, do you want me to do better, or do you want me to try?” he asked with a smirk.
Steam practically erupted from cyan pegasus’s ears. “I want you to stop stalling and put your feathers where your mouth is!” she yelled. She blasted into the air, stopping about twenty-five yards up. “Get your flank up here and fly! That is unless you’re chicken!”
Zephyr grinned ear to ear. Hook, line, and sinker, he thought gleefully. This is gonna be fun! He took a running start and launched himself into the air.
* * * *
If there was one thing Rainbow Dash loved, it was flying. That much would be obvious to anypony who knew her, even in passing. But none of them could even come close to realizing how much. Gravity was an opponent to be beaten. Solid ground was enemy territory. If she could, Rainbow Dash would spend every second of every day airborne. Sure, she liked to chill out every now and then, but she was never happier than when the wind blew her already wild and unkempt mane in every direction. Her blood only really pumped when she streaked through the skies at Mach speeds. The sky was where she belonged.
If there were a second thing, it would be winning. Not just against other flyers, but against physics themselves. Every death-defying stunt, every logic-shattering maneuver, every crippling wipe-out she walked away from unscathed was a victory. Flying—real flying—was a game only the best could play. And without a doubt, Rainbow Dash was the best.
Or at least that’s what she told herself as she struggled to outperform Zephyr. The grey pegasus had matched her trick for trick over and over again in what was perhaps their most intense competition yet. It had started with each of them throwing moves together to create impromptu routines. After a few turns back and forth, they both just kept flying. The routines became single stunts from first one, then the other, as they played the one-up game.
Now, it had devolved even further. They flew at top speed neck-and-neck over the park in a strange not-quite race. No longer taking turns, both of them now flowed endlessly from one maneuver to the next, never slowing in the slightest. The unspoken rule was that whichever one of them messed up, repeated a trick, or let the other gain a lead of more than a few feet, lost.
Rainbow Dash barrel-rolled to the right as hard and fast as she could. She caught a quick glance of Zephyr doing the same thing in the opposite direction. Gritting her teeth, she made a sharp dive to the left, intending to swoop under her opponent and come up right next to him on his far side.
Had her reflexes been anything less than legendary, she would have collided headfirst with Zephyr at supersonic speeds nearly half a mile above Ponyville. As with the barrel roll, he’d performed the exact same move as she had at the exact same time. Fortunately, both flyers managed to tip their wings enough to prevent a crash, though they passed within a hairsbreadth of each other.
Is he copying me?! Rainbow Dash thought unbelievingly. No way! It’s impossible; we’re going way to fast! But it seemed to be true. Every move she made was perfectly mirrored by Zephyr. Every loop, roll, dive, and zigzag she attempted was reflected right before her eyes.
More curious than angry, Rainbow Dash performed a simple loop, mostly just to see if he did it. She wasn’t disappointed. The instant she pulled up to loop, Zephyr mimicked the move. For the first time, she got a good look at him while he did it.
Zephyr’s eyes were completely closed. A smile of pure happiness covered his face, as if he wasn’t even aware of the competition anymore. His wild black mane flew fiercely behind him, and his wings drummed a fiery tempo in the air.
Rainbow Dash experimented a little more, continuing with simple stunts. He copied them perfectly, his every movement in synch with hers. His eyes never opened. The smile, radiant with unbridled joy, remained locked on his features.
All at once, Rainbow Dash was struck by revelation. He never cared about winning! she concluded, shocked. He just wanted to fly! Suddenly, she realized just how much fun she was actually having. I’ve never flown like this with anypony before. No limits, no holding back, no stopping. She found herself grinning as widely as Zephyr was. Might as well give it everything!
“Hey Zephyr!” she yelled as loudly as she could, trying to be heard over the winds. He opened his eyes and looked over. “Let’s finish this! All or nothing!”
He looked back at her a moment before nodding silently. He understood her perfectly. They flew in opposite directions, both working to gain altitude. Rainbow Dash ascended as high as she could, high enough that the thin air became frigid and empty. When she could go no higher, she looked to see Zephyr matching her position. Both of them stopped flapping and remained stationary in the sky. For the space of a single breath, everything stood still. Rainbow Dash exhaled, and gravity re-engaged.
She felt herself fall, and for a second, she just let the air wash over her. Then she flipped, and pointed her nose at the ground, accelerating. She began flapping her wings as hard as she could, piling on ever more speed. She didn’t even have to look to know that Zephyr was doing the same. She thought she could even see him begin to spin out of the corner of her eye.
Their descent continued to gain speed, and a vapor cone began to form around each of them. She felt the air pressure increase as Zephyr’s spinning drew in moisture and static from the air. Already, she could see the dark clouds forming around him, though they seemed larger than the last time he’d made them.
The ground was approaching. Rainbow Dash could waste no more concentration. She poured everything she had into accelerating, trying to push through the final barrier. The pressure built. Zephyr now spun a mere five yards away, clearly in sight. Because of the pull of their separate jet streams, or some weird trick of physics that Twilight would probably understand, they were drifting closer together as the break point arrived.
A split second before it happened, Rainbow Dash felt the pressure completely disappear. What came next, she wasn’t prepared for. From the cloudless sky well above them, a jagged white bolt of lightning shot towards Zephyr. It struck his back hooves, and between one heartbeat and the next, the world erupted in a roar of color and noise.
Rainbow Dash couldn’t see or hear anything. She couldn’t tell you if she was flying up or down. She couldn’t even be sure she was alive. But she felt it.
She felt the lightning hit Zephyr at the same instant she broke through the light spectrum. She felt Zephyr shatter the sound barrier not four feet away from her. She felt what must have been the force of the two explosions rock the sky around her. But mostly, she felt the wind on her face as she rode the shockwave of the blast and rocketed forward as fast as her Sonic Rainboom would let her.
Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. She was blazing through the sky parallel to the ground below, perhaps fifty feet high. To her right, Zephyr streaked alongside her, eyes wild and alive. They both looked back, and what they saw nearly dropped them both from the sky.
The bolt of lightning that had struck Zephyr still hung in the air, stopping directly at the center of the Sonic Rainboom. From its tip, wave after wave of rainbow colored eruptions pulsed outward in the sky with a new nova emerging every few seconds.
Rainbow Dash traded amazed looks with Zephyr and began to laugh. No noise came out. THAT WAS AWESOME! she mouthed at him. She thought she had yelled as loud as she could, but with nothing echoing in her ears, she wasn’t sure she’d even spoken.
I DON’T THINK ANYTHING LIKE THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED! he mouthed back. They angled the smallest bit upwards, and with no warning returned to a world of sound. First, the roar of an explosion tore the air asunder. The sound alone was powerful enough to break thick glass. Second, each of them heard their voice—as well as the other’s—yelling what they’d just said a moment ago.
Zephyr couldn’t hold his jubilation in. “Do you know what that was?!” he shouted at her. “That was the explosion. The first one! We just outran our own blast!” he announced, laughing hysterically. He began spinning just for the fun of it.
Rainbow Dash wasn’t just excited; she was positively giddy. Not at his conclusion, but at the fact that she’d just done perhaps the coolest thing in all of history. She found Zephyr’s laughter to be contagious, and quickly matched him in mirth, beginning to spin as well.
The two of them began to rotate around each other, creating a spiral of lightning and rainbow behind them. Higher and higher, round and round, until neither of them was conscious of flight.
Rainbow Dash had been to one dance her whole life—that is, only one formal, non-party, dance-with-some-other-pony kind of dance. At that dance, she’d been bored, clumsy, and basically unimpressed. But here, up in the sky, spinning around at Celestia only knew what speed, Rainbow Dash felt like she was dancing. She closed her eyes, not needing them to stay in step with Zephyr in much the same way he’d been able to mirror her earlier. She kept them closed and spun to the beat of the continuing explosions.
* * * *
They ran out of juice fifteen minutes later. Both of their speed boosts faded away at the same instant, leaving them both too exhausted to maintain flight. Zephyr felt Rainbow Dash leaning heavily against him as they floated gently downward. They landed stumbling on the ground, breathing raggedly. Zephyr took a few steps before sitting down on the grass, and Rainbow Dash shakily walked over next to him.
“That…was the…coolest thing…of all time,” she gasped. “What…what caused…the lightning?”
“Too…much…pressure,” he panted. “Put too much…energy…in the spin.”
The explosions had stopped a few minutes after the initial blast, but now his head throbbed with a dull ache. Vaguely, he wondered if he was dehydrated. He looked over at Rainbow Dash to check if she was okay.
She turned towards him at the same moment, and their eyes met. Everything became perfectly still, as an indescribable something flickered between them. Zephyr couldn’t look away, couldn’t focus on anything but her rose-tinted eyes. Their breathing slowed, and they drifted closer to each other, as if by gravity. For a second he was overcome by panic, by fear. But it was quickly replaced by a strange calm, a feeling that this was…right. He closed his eyes.
“There you two are!” called a voice. And just like that, the spell was shattered. Faster than a pony could blink, Zephyr was at wing’s length from Rainbow Dash, who was decidedly not looking at him. The others, led by Twilight, were running towards them. “That was amazing! You’ve got to tell us how you did that!” the librarian insisted.
Rainbow Dash recovered from shock first. “Wait, you guys saw that?” she asked.
“Not just us, Rainbow,” Applejack corrected. “Every pony in Ponyville saw that there spectacle.”
Zephyr blinked rapidly, thinking his headache had damaged his hearing. “Did you say every pony in Ponyville?” he stammered incredulously. “How?”
“Oh! Pick me! Pick me!” Pinkie Pie jumped up in eagerness to answer. “Because everypony was already watching your air show!” Zephyr and Rainbow Dash stared at her blankly.
Twilight looked back and forth between them, sensing their confusion. “Almost two hours ago, somepony was yelling in the streets about you two going at it over the park,” she explained. “A few ponies stopped to watch, and a small crowd gathered. Then you two began to get faster and more daring with all your stunts. The crowd just got bigger and bigger, and by the time you did…whatever it was you did to the sky, everypony was already gathered in the park.”
“It was so impressive that somepony started taking up a collection,” Fluttershy told them. “They thought it was some kind of show for Ponyville, and that you were trying to raise money.” She pulled off one of her saddlebags, straining under the weight. She dropped it on the ground with an audible Chink! and a pile of coins spilled out onto the ground.
“It really was spectacular,” Rarity added. “I can only guess at how long you rehearsed!”
“Rehearsed?” asked Rainbow Dash.
Rarity nodded vigorously. “Well of course!” she exclaimed. “The way you two were flying, why, you were perfectly in synch! Nopony could achieve that kind of precision without training!” Zephyr and Rainbow Dash traded concerned looks before hurriedly looking away from each other. “And then there’s that fabulous display you left in the sky,” Rarity continued. “What was that?”
Zephyr opened his mouth to answer. “It was a Sonic Thunder Rainboom Clap!” Pinkie Pie announced loudly before he could speak. “No, no, wait! A Rainboom Sonic Thunder!” She shook her head, trying to think. “Or maybe it was a Super-Duper-Lightning-Boom-Rainbow-Explosion-Dive!”
Pinkie kept talking, so Zephyr instead took a moment to look around. They’d landed near the edge of the park, beside a small pond. Every direction he looked, he could see clumps of ponies wandering about. A few seemed to see them and began to approach.
“Listen, I hate to cut this short, but I’ve got a feeling if I don’t leave now, I’ll be stuck here for hours,” he told them, interrupting Pinkie Pie’s monologuing. He took a wide stance, planning to fly straight up before escaping.
“But what about the collection money?” asked Twilight. “You could use it to get your house!”
Zephyr stopped, and stared at the bag. He almost rejected the offer outright, but after a moment’s thought, he realized he couldn’t afford to. At least, not if he wanted any real chance of buying a house any time soon. Still, he argued, it’s charity. I don’t ask for charity! A cool, practical voice in his mind snorted derisively. Then you’re not likely to get it, it said. Even when you need it.
“Just take the stupid money!” Rainbow Dash yelled, snapping him out of it. “It’s not like you didn’t earn it! Or are you gonna insult me and say I didn’t make you work for that?” she demanded angrily, looking him in the eyes.
For another second, he felt the tugging sensation again as she stared him down. Then he turned his head and sighed. “Fine,” he accepted grudgingly. “But only because I don’t have time to argue.” He grabbed the bag and took off, barely escaping the mass of ponies that enclosed Rainbow Dash. After reaching a decent height, he shot forward as fast as he could on the remnants of his energy. With every flap of his wings his headache throbbed painfully, but he ignored it and kept going.
He looked back, just once, to see Rainbow Dash posing and strutting tiredly for her throng of admirers. Despite the ache and weariness he felt, he felt a smile stretch his lips.
* * * *
“I like her,” Zephyr admitted out loud. “I like her. I might have been able to deny it before, but not now. Not anymore.” He reclined in Sweet Apple Acres, on the thick limb of an apple tree, staring up at the sky. “I mean there’s no other explanation, is there? I looked into her eyes, she looked into mine, and suddenly, I just felt…happy. And all at once, I realized that I’ve always felt like that around her. There’s nopony I’m more comfortable spending time with, and this must be why.”
The enormous red stallion on the ground nodded sagely. “Eeyup,” agreed Big Macintosh, bucking another tree in the next row. Apples rained down into the buckets laid out underneath, which he slowly collected and emptied into his cart.
“The trouble is I don't know if she likes me,” Zephyr continued. “I mean, one minute she’s laughing and joking with me, the next she’s yelling at me like I’ve done something wrong!” He rubbed his pounding head. The headache had persisted since he’d flown with Rainbow Dash, hours ago. Sunset colored the sky, and Big Macintosh was on his last run for the day. “If only there was a way to know what she was thinking, so I wouldn’t screw up so much. But mare troubles aren’t that easy, are they?”
“Nope,” Big Macintosh sympathized. Another bucked tree, another bunch of apples.
“I guess it doesn’t matter,” Zephyr sighed. “I suppose it comes down to what I do now. Do I just tell her?” He shook his head. “No way. I don’t have that kind of nerve,” he answered his own question. “Maybe I should just wait and see if she likes me first. What do you think, Big Macintosh?”
Zephyr twisted to face the red apple farmer. Big Macintosh just stared at him pointedly, not saying anything.
“You know what? You’re right!” Zephyr exclaimed. “It’s not important what I do, just that I do something. Anything is better than just being stuck in uncertainty.” He looked at Big Macintosh gratefully. “Thanks, Big Macintosh. I had no idea you were this wise.”
Big Macintosh just gave a toothy grin. “Eeyup.”
Zephyr yawned and gave a stretch. Maybe this headache will clear up with some sleep, he thought. He extended his wings and leapt from the branch, settling for a steady glide towards the Apple house. As he often did, the grey pegasus locked on to his window and entered through it, coming to an easy landing in his room.
The saddlebag full of coins sat unopened on the desk where he had left it. Zephyr stared at it without blinking for a moment before reaching a decision. Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen from the desk’s drawers, he scribbled a quick note. The note was then folded up and put aside. Reluctantly at first, but gaining momentum as he went, he began to count out the contents of the bag.
* * * *
Rainbow Dash’s slumber was interrupted by something nudging her in the side. “Five more minutes,” she muttered without really waking up. The nudge came again, more insistently. She rolled over, only to receive a blast of daylight in her face. “Gah!” she cried, shielding herself. With a groan, she realized she was fully awake. “Fine. I’m up,” she said to nopony. She looked for what had woken her.
On the other side of the bed was a large green tortoise. It stared up at her with deep, imploring eyes. The propeller strapped to its back was currently inert. “Oh, it’s just you Tank,” Rainbow Dash said with a yawn. The tortoise slowly looked over at its empty food tray on the floor. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to forget again. Yesterday was kind of long.”
Long was an understatement. Exhausting would be more accurate. First she’d flown against him for two hours, including what Pinkie Pie had finally settled on calling the explosion: a Rainbow Supernova. Then she’d been stuck for hours afterward surrounded by fans demanding explanations and autographs that he had been smart enough to avoid. When she finally made it home, she spent half the night pacing around her room thinking about what she’d seen in his eyes.
Rainbow Dash gritted her teeth. No. Not thinking about that. Or him, she stubbornly refused. You’re not getting sappy, especially because of that jerk. Shoving these thoughts away, she reached under the bed and grabbed the bag of mixed greens Fluttershy had given her. She filled Tank’s bowl and replaced the bag under her bed before carrying the tortoise to his bowl. When she set him down, he began to eat ravenously (at least, for a tortoise).
Satisfied that everything was in order, she crossed the room to the far window. As she proceeded, she noticed with disgust the mounds of garbage covering her floor. I really need to clean this place up, she told herself. Rainbow Dash looked at the extensive mess, and realized how much work that would be. Tomorrow. Tomorrow for sure, she resolved, as she did most every morning.
Messy wasn’t the only thing she noticed. Even here, in her own room, the house felt empty. Rainbow Dash guessed it made sense; she’d spent hardly any time here since she bought the place. Her friends never really came over, and with the exception of the occasional reading binge, she didn’t do anything here but eat and sleep. Not like she could afford to do much more. But that didn’t really bother her. She reached the window and opened it wide.
A warm morning’s breeze greeted her, and she inhaled deeply. Rainbow Dash soaked up the breeze for another minute before drifting out to her mailbox. The red flag stood straight up, indicating that something was inside it. Landing next to it on the clouds that served as a small lawn for her house, she popped open the lid and reached inside.
The sky-blue pegasus withdrew from the mailbox several envelopes. “Bills,” she said as she looked at the first one. She cycled it behind the others. “More bills. Junk. Late notice. More junk.” She came to the final item. Unlike the others, it was an unmarked piece of paper folded into quarters. “What’s this?” She set the other parcels on top of her mailbox and opened up the paper. It was a note, scrawled in small, blocky script.
If convenient, meet me outside Pablo’s Pizzeria on the south side of town at noon, it read. I need to talk to you about yesterday. Lunch is on me. Zephyr.
Rainbow Dash blinked and read it again. Lunch? He’s asking me to lunch? she thought. An involuntary smile appeared on her face. Pizza actually sounds pretty good. I wonder what toppings Zephyr likes. Abruptly, she comprehended what she’d just thought, and her smile became a mask of dread. “No! No way!” she cried out loud. She shook her head vigorously, but even now she could still feel lingering enthusiasm.
He wants to talk about that moment! she realized with horror. And what would I even say? She tried to think of anything she could do, anypony who could help her. That’s it! came an epiphany. She only knew one pony that would have the answers she needed. Rainbow Dash took a moment to bring the other mail inside before blasting off towards her destination as fast as she could.
* * * *
As soon as she saw Rarity’s door begin to open, Rainbow Dash darted inside and slammed the door shut. She took a look out the window to check if anyone was watching.
“Whatever is the matter Rainbow Dash?” demanded Rarity. “Is somepony chasing you or something?”
The athlete shook her head no, and left the window. She rubbed her left foreleg nervously, before she caught herself and tried to play it cool. “Heya Rarity,” she greeted casually. “No, nothing like that.” At least I hope not, she added silently. “I umm…uh…kind of…sort of… need your help,” she finished in a rush.
The alabaster unicorn tilted her head curiously. “My help? What do you need my help for?” Rarity asked. “I hope it’s not for some kind of ridiculous stunt. I just had my hooves done this morning.” She lifted a hoof that positively gleamed.
Rainbow Dash again shook her head. “That’s not it. It’s kind of a…umm…personal problem.”
“You’ve finally decided to give fashion a chance?” ventured her friend. Another headshake, this one more fervent. “Well then spit it out already! What is it that’s got you so worked up?” Rarity asked impatiently. “I’ve got a large order to fill and if you won’t even tell me—”
“I think I like somepony!” Rainbow Dash blurted out in a rush, closing her eyes. When she didn’t hear anything for a few seconds, she slowly opened one eye. Rarity stood frozen midsentence in complete shock. Rainbow Dash could practically see the gears trying to turn in the unicorn’s head. She waved a hoof in front of Rarity’s face to try and elicit a response. “Hello. Anyone in there?”
Another moment, and Rarity snapped out of it. “I’m sorry, I blacked out for a minute. Did I hear what I think I just heard?” Rainbow Dash nodded guiltily. “And you’re here for my help?” Another nod.
The pegasus expected her to laugh, to roll on the floor clutching her sides and wiping away tears of mirth. She expected any number of humiliating comments or displays about how, despite all her tough talk, Rainbow Dash was just a girly, love-struck filly. What she didn’t expect was to find herself pulled into an embrace with the pale fashioniesta.
“I can’t believe it!” Rarity cried. “I simply can’t believe it! I never thought for a moment that I would live to see the day where you of all my friends would come to me asking for help with…with colt troubles!” Rainbow Dash closed her eyes again. Here it comes, she thought. The unicorn ended the embrace and stared her directly in the eyes. “Details!” she demanded. “I must have details! I simply must know who has managed to drive you here!”
Is that it? Rainbow Dash asked herself. I was sure she’d tease me! She decided not to question her good fortune. “Now hang on,” she interjected gruffly. “I said ‘I think’ I like him. Don’t go acting like I’ve gone all sappy for anypony!”
Her friend waved away the objection. “Oh please, dear. If you didn’t like whoever it is, you wouldn’t have come here for fear of being ridiculed.” Rainbow Dash felt her jaw hit the floor. “In fact, it’s because you’re here that I realize this is serious and certainly will not tease you in any way.” The pale mare looked down her nose at Rainbow Dash. “So please, stop waiting for it and tell me what happened!” she ordered, her voice almost a petulant whine.
Rainbow Dash took her turn being shocked. Partly because her fears had been so perfectly identified, and partly because the “expert” she’d come to see had already given a diagnosis. She stared blankly at Rarity, not remembering she’d been expected to answer.
“It’s not Zephyr is it?” her friend asked bluntly. Again, the athlete felt her face twist in shock. “It is, isn’t it?! Oh, I knew it! You two have been moving towards it for weeks now!”
“I-I don’t know what you’re t-talking about!” Rainbow Dash bluffed, unable to stop her voice from trembling.
Rarity ignored the comment. “And really, it’s not a bad match. Best I could think of for the both of you actually. And there’s no questioning he likes you, Rainbow Dash,” she added with a wink at the cyan pegasus.
“Wait, really?” Rainbow Dash asked quickly. Too quickly. She regretted it instantly as Rarity flashed a “got you” kind of smile. The pegasus’s face blushed a fiery red. “Fine,” she grumped in defeat. “It’s Zephyr, okay?” She gave up on an angry stare and instead slumped on the floor. “Stupid jerk, making me feel all mushy and girly,” she grumbled unhappily.
Rarity’s smile immediately softened. “It’s quite alright, dear,” she reassured her friend, laying a hoof on her shoulder. “It happens to everypony sooner or later. Though I’ll admit I expected much later for you,” she added in amazement. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, I’m a little jealous of you,” Rarity admitted.
Rainbow Dash raised her head. “Jealous of me?” she asked in confusion. “For what?”
“I wasn’t kidding when I said he likes you,” Rarity told her squarely. “It’s rather obvious if you watch closely. And I must confess that I was…interested in him to say the least.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “I couldn’t help it!” she said defensively. “He was just such a gentlecolt. Charming, handsome, polite.” She let out a sigh. “But not for me, I’m afraid. Absolutely no interest in fashion. It would never have worked anyway. Still,” Rarity remarked wistfully, “it would have been nice to get just one real date before somepony snapped him up. Instead, he’s been coming up with excuses not to go.”
Rainbow Dash blinked for a second. Did I hear that right? she pondered. He passed over Rarity? And she says he likes me? The concept seemed impossible to her. Though she would never, ever, ever, ever admit it, the pegasus had always been a little jealous of Rarity’s looks. Everypony knew Rarity, liked Rarity, wanted to be like Rarity. Rarity was the one all the colts asked after. Not that Rainbow Dash wanted colts asking about her, but that wasn’t the point.
And as much as she hated to even consider it, Zephyr was far from bad-looking. Between that and his annoyingly infinite courtesy and helpfulness, he could probably get a date with anypony he wanted. The fact that he’d snubbed Rarity at all was something in and of itself. It seemed too much that he could like her instead.
“Now Rainbow Dash,” Rarity addressed her, snapping her out of it. “I’ve been patient long enough. Please tell me just how it happened!” the fashion designer practically begged.
Rainbow Dash sat quietly for a moment. “It happened yesterday,” she finally said. “While we were flying. You know that part where we started doing everything at the same time?” Her friend nodded. “His eyes were closed. He couldn’t see me, couldn’t have had any idea what I was doing! But somehow, he was flying exactly the same way.” She paused for a second. “And he had this smile on his face. Just this big, goofy grin like he was having the time of his life. He looked the way I feel when I fly, when I really fly as hard and fast as I can.” She paused for another second as she tried to think of what to say next. “And then later, when we were on the ground. After the big explosion. I looked in his eyes and…” Rainbow Dash trailed off.
“And?” Rarity repeated. “Oh you can’t stop now, darling. What happened?”
Rainbow Dash shook her head. “I don’t know!” she answered. “It was like…like I was drowning. His eyes just seemed to go on forever, and no matter how hard I tried to look away, I couldn’t. It was like something was pulling me in.” Her voice grew quiet. “And I didn’t want it to stop,” she said, almost to herself.
Rarity sat silently, lost in thought. “That was when we showed up, wasn’t it?” she asked softly after a while. Rainbow Dash nodded, but said nothing. “I suppose I owe you an apology.”
Rainbow Dash shrugged apathetically. I guess…I really do like him, she thought numbly. So what if you do? demanded an angry voice in her mind. Does that mean you’ve got to turn into a moping, sappy, self-pitying loser? Rainbow Dash felt a flash of annoyance. Who you callin’ a loser, chump? she returned. The voice began laughing. Now that’s better! If you like Zephyr, then why don’t you do something about it?
Rainbow Dash stood up. You know something? she thought at the voice. You’re right. What am I even doing here? If he likes me, great. But I’ll be a gryphon’s tail feathers before I let myself go soft for some colt. Another, softer voice piped up. But you want him to like you back too, don’t you?
Her confidence wavered as she realized that. Yeah. Yeah I do. She turned to Rarity and took a deep breath. “So,” she started, “what do I do now?”
For an instant, she thought she saw pride in the unicorn’s eyes, but it vanished before she could be sure. “Well, that depends. Has he said anything to you since yesterday?”
At that moment, Rainbow Dash remembered the note. She opened her right wing, where she’d tucked it, and pulled it out of her feathers. “I found this in my mailbox this morning,” she explained.
The fashioniesta levitated the note in front of her and unfolded it. She took a second to read it before giving it back to Rainbow Dash. “Well, it is my professional recommendation that you go hear what he has to say,” she announced simply.
“That’s it?” demanded Rainbow Dash. “Just go have lunch with him? Just like that?”
“Of course!” replied Rarity. “What could it hurt? At the very least, you’ll be having lunch with the stallion you happen to like. Maybe he’ll tell you how he feels.”
“And if he doesn’t?” she countered. “What am I supposed to say? I know he’s gonna want to talk about…that moment!” Her confidence, which had slowly ebbed since she realized she wanted Zephyr to like her, continued to drain. “What if you’re wrong?”
“It’s quite possible he won’t say anything,” Rarity admitted. “After all, you have been rather…well…mean to the poor dear.”
“What!?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed angrily.
The unicorn held her ground. “Well, you do tend to yell at him quite often,” she pointed out. “You’ve assaulted him on a regular basis, and rarely actually listen to what he says. All you need to do is just show a little kindness to him. After all, he can’t be completely horrid, or you wouldn’t like him so much.”
Rainbow Dash began to deny it, to tell Rarity she was exaggerating, but couldn’t stomach the words. Looking back, her friend was right. She kind of had been a jerk to him. She felt even worse when she remembered how Zephyr had opened up about his past just a couple days after they met. Maybe I haven’t really been fair, she thought guiltily.
Rarity must have been able to see the guilt rolling through her mind. “Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash. I’ve heard that nopony can drive you crazy like the ones you care about,” she told the pegasus.
Well, at least that fits, Rainbow Dash thought with a smirk.
Rarity looked at a clock hanging on the wall. “You know,” offered Rarity, “You still have an hour before noon. If you like, I could help you look your best for your date.”
Even after all this, Rainbow Dash hadn’t even considered the word date. Now that she heard it, the magnitude of it sunk in. I have a date? Numbly, she allowed the grinning fashion designer to drag her towards the modeling center.
* * * *
Sleep did not clear up Zephyr’s headache. Neither did drinking water, or even the migraine pill Applejack had offered him. The only change was that now, instead of centering on his crown, the ache had moved itself to somewhere in his forehead, almost right behind his eyes. The continual throbbing was making him irritable, which did not bode well. He really didn’t want to lose his cool today.
Zephyr sat by himself at a table outside Pablo’s Pizzeria. Checking the clock, noon was only a couple minutes away. The waiter had come and gone, but that was fine. If Rainbow Dash came at all, he suspected she would be several minutes late. He sighed. And if she doesn’t come? he worried. Best not to think about it just yet.
Instead, he went through what he wanted to say in his mind. You can do this, he told himself. Just breathe, and say what you have to. The seconds passed slowly. He let his mind wander to the day before, savoring the joy he’d felt while they flew. Idly, he wondered what Pinkie Pie had called the collision between his Thunder Clap and Rainbow Dash’s Sonic Rainboom.
Zephyr was pulled back into reality by the sound of a familiar voice. “How long you been waiting?” he heard from behind. He looked at the clock on the wall. Noon on the dot.
Well how about that? he wondered. “Not long,” he answered, turning as he spoke. “I wasn’t sure you were really going to…What in Celestia’s name?!” he cried in surprise. All his confidence, his composure, and virtually anything else that might have bolstered his resolve ran screaming for the hills from what he saw.
An almost unrecognizable Rainbow Dash stood before him, and at his outcry several other ponies from nearby tables turned to look as well. Rainbow Dash’s usually wild and somewhat scruffy mane had felt the business end of a brush for perhaps the first time since he’d met her. Now it was pulled long and straight and draped down along her left side, bound at the end, perfectly displaying the rainbow that comprised her mane. Her tail was likewise brushed and straightened, which seemed to elongate her slightly.
Other changes were less obvious, but perhaps even more shocking. Rainbow Dash seemed to gleam a little in the sun, indicating a thorough (and recent) washing: something Zephyr did not imagine occurred very frequently. Her eyelashes had been curled slightly, or they could have been fakes for all he could tell. A faint, barely noticeable amount of eye shadow had been introduced as well, changing her gaze in a way Zephyr couldn’t explain. The smallest traces of blush dotted her cheeks, and he could swear he caught a scent of lavender in the air. Lipstick was thankfully absent (Zephyr wasn’t sure that image was even possible), but a thin balm might have been applied.
Rainbow Dash herself smiled nervously at him, conscious of the other ponies watching her. Somepony gave an appreciative whistle, and she blushed in embarrassment. “You… uh…wanted to talk, right?” she asked hesitantly.
His heart began to pound a counterpoint to his headache. Short of showing up in a cocktail gown or something, he didn’t think she could have surprised him more. As it was, Zephyr was completely dumbstruck. Even in the confines of his mind, he couldn’t seem to form a coherent thought. He managed to nod in answer and gestured to the other side of the table. Rainbow Dash walked herself over and sat down.
For a long moment, neither of them said anything. Zephyr desperately tried to kick his brain in gear as they grew more and more uncomfortable. Rainbow Dash began to fidget.
Are we both really this scared to say something? The absent thought seemed to break some kind of barrier. His head began to fill with thoughts, some trivial, others unrelated. However, he noticed that at last he could speak again.
“I already ordered,” he blurted out as Rainbow Dash reached for the menu. It came out louder than he meant it to, and she flinched away from it in surprise. Wincing at his mistake, he continued. “I…um…asked for mushrooms, extra cheese, and olives. Pinkie Pie told me it was your favorite,” he added to deflect the question she’d almost voiced.
“Oh,” she replied. “Yeah it is. Thanks.”
The exchange, short as it was, relaxed them both immediately. Somehow, just getting past those first few words seemed to make the rest easier. From that point, the awkwardness began to dissipate and conversation flowed more readily.
Zephyr took advantage of this boost. “So,” he ventured, “did you lose a bet with Rarity or something?”
Rainbow Dash frowned unhappily. “That bad?” she asked glumly.
“No!” he said quickly. “That wasn’t what I meant! It looks great; it’s just…not what I expected.” That was putting it mildly. On the list of what he did expect, it was somewhere between getting a kiss from Celestia and a meteor dropping out of the sky onto Ponyville. “What do you think about it?” he asked tactfully.
She let out a groan. “Never. Again. Ever,” Rainbow Dash answered. “Not if you paid me. Rarity caught me off-guard, but next time I’ll be ready.” She fixed him with a strange look. “First she practically drowns me, then she takes forever yanking that stupid brush through my hair! Next she puts this silly, girly stuff all over my face and puts these weird things on my eyelids.” Ah, they are fakes then, Zephyr noted. “Worst of all, I had to walk all the way here so I wouldn’t mess up her work!” Rainbow Dash sighed heavily. “And everypony was looking at me walking through the streets like this!”
“Don’t you like an audience?” Zephyr asked cautiously. She glared at him in response. “Um…never mind.” She snorted. He decided against asking what she’d been doing at Rarity’s in the first place.
They sat in silence again. After an uncomfortably long pause, Rainbow Dash spoke up. “So,” she began, “what exactly was it you wanted to talk about?”
Here we go, Zephyr braced himself. “A few things, actually. First,” and easiest, he thought as he reached under the table, “is this.” With a grunt, he picked up the bag he’d stashed there and dropped it on the table in front of her. The bag jingled with coins as it landed.
“I thought I told you to keep the stupid money!” Rainbow Dash accused angrily.
“I know,” he responded calmly. “That’s why this is only half.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “You were up flying too,” he explained, forestalling any objection. “And let’s face it, without you, that whole thing would’ve been pretty dull. And we definitely wouldn’t have caused that—”
“Rainbow Supernova,” Rainbow Dash supplied.
“Really? Is that what she came up with?” Zephyr asked, losing focus for a second. He shook his head. “Anyway, the point is that you deserve the money as much as I do, and I’m not taking no for an answer.”
Rainbow Dash seemed to think about it, looking back and forth between him and the bag (almost like she was trying to decide which would be tougher to take). “Fine. But only ‘cause of how cool I was,” she accepted graciously.
Zephyr took a deep breath. Now for the hard part. “The other thing I wanted to say was—” he started. You can do it, he told himself. “—that I’m—” Almost there! “—sorry about yesterday,” Zephyr finished, losing his nerve. Coward, he thought angrily. His headache throbbed in agreement.
“You’re…sorry?” repeated Rainbow Dash. He wasn’t sure, but for an instant he thought he saw disappointment in her eyes.
Well, too late now, he moped. No way to go but forward. “Yeah. Right before we started going at it, I kind of antagonized you on purpose,” he admitted. Sure, it wasn’t what he’d planned to say, but at least it was true. Besides, he did feel bad about it. “I wanted to get you riled up so you’d fly against me.”
Rainbow Dash blinked several times, then seemed to make a conscious decision to be angry. “Why would you do that?” she demanded. “You know all you’d have to do is ask, and I’ll fly circles around you whenever you want!”
“Can you honestly say you would’ve flown like that yesterday if I hadn’t made you mad first?” Zephyr countered. Rainbow Dash began to answer, but stopped, thought about it, and looked away instead of admitting he was right. Zephyr took a deep breath to calm down. “I was having a bad day, and needed a way to just…chill,” he continued, trying to appeal to her sensitivities. “Nothing lets me forget about worry and strife like flying at top speed against another pony.” He spread his hooves. “And there you were, the perfect rival.”
Zephyr knew immediately that he’d misstepped. Anger began to radiate from Rainbow Dash like heat from a flame. “So, what, is that it?” she asked furiously, her voice beginning to rise. “You just wanted to make yourself feel better? I was just convenient?” Her words seemed to carry more venom than they should have.
At that moment, the pizza arrived. The waiter placed the steaming pan on the table between them. He began to ask if they needed anything else, but a look from Rainbow Dash sent him scurrying away without a word.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he placated.
Rainbow Dash wasn’t having any of it. “Do you think I’m some kinda circus?” she demanded. “Somepony to laugh at and keep you entertained?”
It may have been Rainbow Dash’s tirade, or his own pounding headache, but either way, the effect was the same. Zephyr’s anger began to boil inside him: at Rainbow Dash, at the drums pounding in his skull, but mostly at himself.
“I’ve never laughed at you, Rainbow Dash,” he growled quietly. “I’ve never done anything but be your friend.” He picked up the pizza cutter and began slowly slicing the pizza into twelve pieces.
“Then why didn’t you just say something?” she pressed. “I had fun yesterday. I never get to fly like that with anypony. But now I just feel used.”
“You know what? You’re right,” Zephyr spat. “This is all my fault. I’m sorry I goaded you into having a great time. I should be ashamed of myself. However, right now, let’s just eat our pizza and be unhappy about it together!” Great job, Romeo. He picked up Rainbow Dash’s plate.
“Hey? What are you doing?” she demanded. She reached for the plate.
“I’m getting you a slice,” he replied flatly, holding the plate away from her.
“I can get it myself!” Rainbow Dash made a grab for her plate.
“I’m getting it for you!”
“No. You’re. Not!”
Rainbow Dash finally got a grip on the plate and tried to wrench it away from him. He held on grimly, and the two started to use it for tug-of-war. After a few seconds of pulling, the dish snapped in half, sending them both falling backward.
“Great! What’d ya do that for?!” she yelled at him as they stood back up.
“I WAS JUST BEING NICE!” Zephyr exploded. “Just like any other time! But no matter what I say or do, you always end up angry at me!” It was like some kind of internal dam burst within him, as all his stress and frustration started flooding out. “I never know where I stand with you. If you like me, if you hate me, if you even care. Then, yesterday, I had the most fun I’ve ever had in my life with you, and for the first time I thought I understood. I realized how much you meant to me, from the moment we met. That I left my home so I could follow you.” His voice steadily increased in volume. “Then I invited you to this train wreck of a lunch so I could tell you how I feel and pray that you wouldn’t laugh at me. But instead, I chickened out and led us down this path. Now I’m angry, you hate me, and there’s nothing I can do but keep being nice and finish what I started. So please, in Celestia’s name, let me get your stupid slice of pizza for you and try to stop feeling like a complete evil jerk!”
By the end, he was breathing heavily and sweat rolled down his face. Rainbow Dash’s mouth hung open. Dead silence permeated the air as everypony within earshot just stared at him. Zephyr blinked once, twice, three times before moving. He picked up his own plate, placed a slice of still-warm pizza on it, and set it down in front of Rainbow Dash.
“There,” he said, trembling. His headache had significantly decreased in strength with the outburst. He felt drained, and guilt welled up inside of him. Congratulations, it is now officially a complete disaster, he thought miserably. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he choked, “I’m going to go figure out how many times you have to hit your head against a wall before you pass out.” He got up and began to walk away.
He’d only gone a few steps before a hoof tapped his shoulder. “Twenty-two,” Rainbow Dash informed him. He looked over his shoulder to see her hovering next to him. “I…um… already tried that one,” she told him sheepishly. Zephyr turned forward and began walking again. This time, the mare moved directly in front of him. “Wait. Did you…um,” she hesitated. Zephyr just waited. “Did you really leave…just for me?”
Zephyr looked at her for a long time. Staring into her eyes, he felt the same pull he had the day before. He couldn’t turn away, as much as he wished otherwise. Sympathy, he thought. Pity. Guilt. That’s all this is. I’ve made her feel bad, and now she’s just…being nice. Even so, he couldn’t bring himself to lie, especially after his rant. He gave a single nod.
The next thing he knew, he was being crushed in full-body hug. Rainbow Dash squeezed him as tightly as she could, and all he could do was blink in confusion. “I’m glad you did,” she said softly.
Warmth blossomed in Zephyr’s chest, spreading quickly through his whole body. He returned the hug with one of his own, holding her as close as possible. He closed his eyes, soaking in the warmth of her embrace, and felt tears roll down his cheeks. “Me too,” he whispered back.
All around them, the ponies watching broke into cheers, many applauding. The two didn’t even notice. They just held each other for another moment, until Rainbow Dash finally released her hold to look him in the eyes. “Hey, cut that out!” she scolded him, before wiping his eyes clear. “If I wanted to see you cry, I’d be flying circles around you!”
Zephyr gave an abashed chuckle. “I guess I’ll never cry again,” he teased back. They both laughed, and walked together back to the table. An angry chef Pablo stood waiting for them.
“Is very touching, and wish you both best,” he huffed in a thick accent. “But who now is be paying for this?” He pointed at the broken plate.
Rainbow Dash snickered and pointed at Zephyr, who was withholding his own mirth. He reached into his pouch and pulled out enough bits to replace the dish. When the chef left, they both erupted into fresh laughter.
* * * *
The rest of the lunch went off without a hitch. Rainbow Dash, fed up with her hair hindering the pizza’s journey from plate to mouth, ran a hoof through it and returned it to its original messy state. As they ate, she told Zephyr why she’d gone to Rarity’s, and even some of the things she’d realized there. He almost choked when she mentioned the unicorn’s crush on him. It also interested him that she’d worn her hair the same way for the Grand Galloping Gala, but he opted not to comment. In return, he summarized his own therapy session with Big Macintosh. She just rolled her eyes and laughed at him.
In the space of ten minutes, the entire beginning of the date (as they now freely acknowledged it) was completely forgotten. All that lingered was their shared disbelief at how nervous they’d been. Eventually, Rainbow Dash asked what it was that had bothered Zephyr the day before. Reluctantly, he explained his money troubles, as well as the mindset that created the issue. He expected her to not quite get it, just like Fluttershy and Zecora, but to his surprise she understood completely.
“You know that cloud house I live in?” she asked. “I got that thing as soon as I could. I was sick of leaning on my folks, and wanted to prove I didn’t need anypony. That, and the house was really, really, awesome,” she confessed. “One look at that place, and I wanted it. And that sleazy realtor knew it.”
“So you impulse-bought the place?” Zephyr guessed.
Rainbow Dash nodded. “That slime ball really stuck it to me. It took everything I had to make the down payment. And brilliant pony that I was, I didn’t realize how high the monthly payments on that thing would be. I had to take out a massive loan to keep the place.” She sighed. “That was three years ago. Since then, I’ve discovered the roof leaks, the windows stick, there’s a draft, the plumbing is terrible, and the insulation is almost completely gone.”
“He sold you a defective house at full price?” he gasped.
“And you know what the kicker is?” Rainbow Dash asked angrily. “I don’t do anything at my place. I’ll occasionally read something now that I like books, but mostly it’s just a place to eat and sleep. I can barely make the payments on my weather team captain’s salary, and I don’t even use the place! That house is absolutely, without-a-doubt, unquestionably the second worst decision I’ve ever made.”
“Second worst?” probed Zephyr.
She shrugged. “The worst was a dare I took in school. Don’t. Ask,” she warned dangerously.
“It can’t be all bad,” he offered. “I mean, isn’t it nice to have a place that’s just yours? Somewhere to call home?”
Rainbow Dash snorted. “Not much of a home. No friends visit. I don’t do anything there. Mostly it just feels empty.”
Zephyr was about to say something else, but he stopped when a strange sensation tugged at his senses. He found himself staring directly south. “Do you feel that?” he asked his companion.
Rainbow Dash followed his gaze and looked around. “Feel what?” she returned uncertainly. “What’s up?”
He didn’t know, until a flicker of wind blew in his face. The gust carried with it some scent or touch or some other stimulus that triggered his memory. A grin lit up the grey pegasus’s face as recognition dawned upon him. He turned to the mare across the table. “Do you think you could follow me somewhere? There’s something I want to show you,” he urged.
Rainbow Dash hesitated. “What kind of something?” came the cautious reply.
“It’s a surprise. Come on, it’ll be great!” he promised. “We just need to drop off your bag and we can go.” He looked her in the eyes. “Just trust me. Please?” he pleaded.
Rainbow Dash didn’t have to think long. A minute later, Zephyr left money on the table and they took off towards Sweet Apple Acres.
* * * *
“Are you sure you can’t just tell me what it is?” Rainbow Dash complained impatiently. They’d only been flying for half an hour, but that didn’t stop her from pestering Zephyr to spill his guts. “I promise I’ll even act surprised!”
He didn’t even look back this time. He just kept flying ahead of her, leading her Celestia knew where. After about the tenth time asking, he’d began to keep his mouth shut, which annoyed Rainbow Dash to no end.
Not that she wasn’t enjoying herself. After they’d stopped by her house to drop off her bag of earnings, they’d flown straight south. Clouds covered large patches of sky, and the air was cool. Instead of a breakneck speed, they drifted along at a casual, leisurely pace (which for them, meant around sixty miles per hour). She moved up a little to fly next to Zephyr.
“Do you think I’m mean?” she asked suddenly.
The question caught him by surprise. “What?”
“I said ‘do you think I’m mean?’” Rainbow Dash repeated.
He thought for a second. “No. I wouldn’t say you were mean,” he answered. “What would make you think that?”
“Just something I was wondering,” she replied casually.
Zephyr shook his head. “Well you’re not mean. Crazy, yes. Infuriating, of course. But definitely not mean,” he informed her.
“Whaddaya mean infuriating?” she fumed.
Zephyr chuckled. “Never in my life have ever seen, heard of, or read about anything that could drive me insane as quickly or as often as you do,” he remarked. “But despite that, I’d be miserable if you weren’t around.”
He flashed a grin, and any anger she had dissolved instantly. His smiles did that, she noticed. “Well if I’m so frustrating, you could’ve picked somepony easier to deal with,” she jabbed playfully.
The grin stretched wider on Zephyr’s face. “Easy isn’t fun,” he replied. “What I really like is a challenge.” He gave her a sideways glance. “And you, Rainbow Dash, are definitely a challenge.” Rainbow Dash took it as a compliment. “Hey, I’ve been thinking about yesterday,” Zephyr abruptly changed topics. “The…uh…Rainbow Supernova.”
“What about it?”
“You know that weird lightning strike right before it happened?” he asked.
“It’s kinda hard to forget something like that,” Rainbow Dash answered sarcastically. “Why? Think you figured it out?”
Zephyr nodded at her. “I think that was a Thunder Clap. A real one, like the other times were just warm-ups,” he explained. “I told you I put more energy into it. Maybe that’s what it really looks like.”
Rainbow Dash thought about it for a moment. “Only way to be sure is to do it again,” she challenged. Zephyr nodded his agreement. Rainbow Dash was about to get him to do it right there when a drop of water hit her in the eye. “Huh?” she grunted. She looked up to see a front of rainclouds directly above them. Another couple of drops landed on her head.
Zephyr motioned for her to stop, and they both came to a stationary hover. Rainbow Dash watched him scan the horizon for a few seconds before as the rain began to increase in intensity. Conducting her own search, all she saw were dark grey clouds covering the sky and empty grasslands below. “When did this even show up?” she asked aloud, referring to the bad weather. A memory flickered into focus and she eyed Zephyr suspiciously. “Did you do this?” she pressed him, remembering the day they’d met.
“Oh no,” he said without facing her. He was focused on searching for something, but he sounded almost gleeful. “It’s much, much better!”
Whatever he brought me out here for, we better hurry. This mess looks like it’s getting worse, she thought worriedly. “If you want to show me anything, you’d better do it quick!” she yelled at him over the increasing winds. “What’s up with this weather anyway?”
“It’s a storm,” Zephyr stated the obvious. He finally spotted whatever it was he’d been searching for and turned to look at her. “Listen carefully,” he shouted. “We’ve gotta go straight into this thing! It’s only going to get worse the closer we get, so we’ll need to power our way through it! I need you to stay right behind me the whole time!”
Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe this. “Are you crazy?” she yelled at him. “You want to go deeper into this thing just to show me something? You realize we have to fly back through this too right?”
“You’ll understand when we get there!” he hollered back. “All we have to do is fly straight and keep calm!” She frowned at him and shook her head. “Come on! I promise it’ll all be fine! Trust me!”
Rainbow Dash wanted to say no. She wanted to turn around and head back to Ponyville. But those two sneaky words gnawed at her conscience. The problem was she did trust him. Implicitly. After he’d saved her life twice, confided in her about his parents, and stopped her arrest, anything less would be ridiculous. Especially with those pleading blue eyes begging her to show a little faith in him.
Especially with how close they’d come to hating each other. “You better know what the heck you’re doing!” Rainbow Dash called.
Zephyr nodded his certainty. “Remember,” he reminded, “stay right on my tail! This is gonna get ugly!” He took off in a different direction than they’d initially traveled. Rainbow Dash followed as fast as she could, keeping the minimum possible distance between them.
The going was hard. Rain now poured down in sheets, soaking both pegasi to the bone. Gusts of wind did their best to buffet and batter her off course. The dark clouds above them began to light up with lightning and echo with thunder. The clouds themselves had darkened to a black pitch, decreasing the already poor visibility. Zephyr was an indistinct blur in her sights, visible only because of his movement. Rainbow Dash had to remain ever vigilant, or his grey coat and black mane would hide him perfectly in the grim surroundings.
The storm grew worse as they flew. Lightning streaked down from the clouds in volleys, several bolts passing within a few yards of the pair. The wind began to blow in a dangerously circular motion, meaning a cyclone was preparing to form almost right on top of them.
Memories of the storm that took her to Longsaddle began to resurface. The sensation of being helpless, caught in the jaws of a tempest she couldn’t fight, began to seep its way into her mind. Rainbow Dash’s breathing grew frantic, and she began drifting slightly with the wind.
“Don’t give up on me, Rainbow Dash!” Zephyr shouted back at her. “We’re almost there! Give it everything you’ve got!”
The sound of his voice, broken as it was in the wind, snapped her out of it. She corrected her course and pushed her wings to their limit, going as fast as she could after him. Looking ahead, she saw a funnel begin to drop from the sky directly in front of them. Oh jeez! This is bad! she thought frantically. But Zephyr kept his course, so she followed. She kept watching the funnel descend, and realized Zephyr wanted to try and get through before it reached the ground.
He can’t be this crazy! she panicked. That thing is way too big! We’ll never make it! It was more than big; the forming twister was at least a half-mile in diameter. I promise it’ll all be fine! Zephyr’s voice rang in her ears. Trust me! As stupid as it was, she still believed him. She closed her eyes and kept the course.
They passed the leading edge of the cyclone and it crashed down over them.
* * * *
In the space of a heartbeat, Rainbow Dash’s world changed from tearing winds, driving rain and endless noise to silence and stillness. All she could hear were her own wingbeats and heavy breathing. Thunder still rumbled occasionally in the distance, but it was muffled and soft.
“Okay, take it easy from here,” Zephyr’s voice said next to her. “We made it.” She noted with annoyance that he was barely breathing hard.
When she opened her eyes, she almost didn’t understand what she saw. The grasslands below were well illuminated by sunlight, and everything looked completely dry. Rainbow Dash reduced her speed to an effortless glide, looking every which way. Directly above them, the sun was shining in a bright blue sky. The rest of the scenery was far more bizarre.
About a quarter-mile in every direction, the sunlit ground stretched out and rolled with hills, completely untouched by the storm. At the end of the quarter-mile was a solid black wall of roiling cloud and dust that stretched nearly half a mile high. Small flickers of lightning lit up sections of the churning, spinning mass at random intervals.
Zephyr shook himself vigorously, sending water droplets flying in every direction, and moved over next to Rainbow Dash. “Blows your mind, doesn’t it?” he asked. “That something like this would be here?”
“Yeah, but what is this place?” she inquired. “Why is everything so…peaceful? And what was with that freaky storm anyway?”
“This is the eye of the storm,” Zephyr told her. “We are in the absolute center of the entire thing. The whole storm revolves around this spot. And that’s not all,” he continued. “This isn’t just any bad weather. This is one of the rare storms that form naturally. No pegasi. No cloud factory. Nothing but the sheer, unbridled fury of nature.”
The weight of that statement hit Rainbow Dash like a smack in the face. “That’s impossible!” she cried. “There’s no way something like this could just happen by itself! Sure, the occasional thunderhead pops up, but nothing like this!”
Zephyr shook his head. “Not impossible,” he assured her. “Just remote. They form out in the middle of nowhere, where no weather teams control the clouds. Usually, it’s when air currents cross each other or change temperature and humidity.” He pointed at the wall of cloud surrounding them. “They don’t move very far from where they form, so nopony ever really sees them. Except by the sea. I hear they get all kinds of storms.” He looked at the churning mass around them again. “Not very often they get this big, though.”
Rainbow Dash shook herself dry as well. Sure, this was interesting, and it was cool she got to see something so rare, but she still felt let down. I still don’t see why this was worth the trip through that mess, she thought, annoyed. Even so, it was clear that Zephyr was in his element. His every movement exuded calm, as if this were the most comfortable place in the world for him.
Come to think of it, it probably was. In the month or so since Zephyr had come with her to Ponyville, she hadn’t seen him involved with making or breaking a single storm. As much as he’d talked about them while they were in Longsaddle, she realized he’d probably been suppressing his talent to avoid causing trouble with the weather team. Rainbow Dash felt a pang of regret for not giving him a job, but he’d refused to replace anypony already on the team.
Of course, none of this mattered for the present issue. “This is nice and all,” Rainbow Dash announced, “but was it really worth the trip?”
Zephyr shook himself out of some kind of daze. “This? No,” he replied quickly. “But the best part is.” He pointed a hoof at the sun. “The real thing is up there,” he informed her. “Come on. You followed me this far.” He smiled and began to ascend, flying a spiral following the spinning edge of the storm. With a sigh, Rainbow Dash began to fly after him.
Up and up they went, higher and higher. The air began to chill and grow thin, but remained easily flyable. Eventually, the upper lip of the cyclone around them came into sight. Zephyr, significantly ahead of Rainbow Dash, crested the top and disappeared from view. In seconds, Rainbow Dash was at the edge herself. What she saw when she rose the last few feet above it completely took her breath away. “Whoa,” she managed to whisper.
Stretched out before her in every direction farther than the eye could see was an endless sea of white and grey. Save for the large circular hole from which she’d emerged, clouds spanned the horizon completely unbroken. The sun shone brightly overhead, seemingly close enough to touch, and a pure blue sky unmarred by any stray wisp of stratus encompassed her surroundings.
“What do you think?” called a voice from off to the side. Rainbow Dash looked over and spotted Zephyr skimming along the surface of the clouds, tracing shapes and designs as he did so. “A bit more exciting?”
Rainbow Dash recovered her voice. “This is amazing!” she exclaimed loudly, before taking her own cruise over the surface. “I’ve never seen anything like this! All of Ponyville’s storms are just dark patches on the sky. But this one looks like it goes on forever!”
Zephyr flew over and joined her. “And it’s completely impossible to duplicate,” he said with reverence. “All those years making my own storms, and never once did I create anything even close. This is what I imagine the ocean looks like: endless, still, and completely serene.”
They flew up a little to examine their work. Rainbow Dash had carved the shape of her cutie mark into the surface of the clouds. Zephyr’s imprint looked like stick-figure ponies clustered together.
“You really stink at drawing, don’t you?” Rainbow Dash commented, still trying to decipher his picture.
“Guilty,” he admitted. “It was supposed to be a picture of us and all of our friends. Not quite as inspiring as I thought it’d be.”
Maybe it was the thin air, but Rainbow Dash found this remarkably funny. First she broke into giggles, and then she broke out laughing. She collapsed onto the sea of clouds, shaking with mirth. After a few seconds, Zephyr landed next to her, laughing just as hard. The clouds’ surface sank a little, but otherwise supported their weight.
Eventually, the laughter died down. Rainbow Dash just lay where she was, staring up at the spotless sky. “It’s enough to make you forget, ya know?” she remarked to Zephyr. “Up here, you almost don’t need the rest. No house. No ground. Nothing but the sky.”
Zephyr rolled to look at her. “It’s nice, but it’s also empty. That’s the big secret,” he confided. “The most beautiful places in the world are only beautiful because nopony else is looking at it, seeing what you see. This place is enormous, and we are the only two ponies who get to see it. And what I’m seeing now is probably the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
Rainbow Dash thought about that for a moment. She rolled over to respond, and found Zephyr much closer than she expected. He was mere inches away, and gazing intently and unmistakably at her. She felt herself blushing, and angrily prepared to yell at him for saying something so stupid. Then her eyes met his just as they had the day before.
Immediately, Rainbow Dash found herself pulled into those crystal blue pools. He really meant it, she thought idly as she was dragged in deeper and deeper. She couldn’t seem to focus on anything else. However, reflected in his eyes were feelings she’d never seen before, from anypony. Gratitude: that he knew her, was friends with her, that she had followed him here. Fear: that she would leave, that she would hate him, that she would look away and break the fragile moment. Hope: that she would keep looking, that she would stay, that she would not judge him harshly. And more than anything else, a deep, unrelenting flood of affection: for her, everything she did, everything she said, as if he would be happy just to have known her, even if only for a little while.
The weight of all these sentiments seemed to crush down on Rainbow Dash, restricting her breathing. Zephyr began to drift closer in her vision. Her head filled with thoughts of panic, fear, certainty that she was about to jump off the edge. It told her to struggle, to resist, to fight. Rainbow Dash had never been good at listening. She was perhaps in the greatest danger already: she was curious what would happen.
Then Zephyr kissed her.
Everything screeched to a halt. The world began to spin. Up became down. Rainbow Dash felt like she’d been set on fire. She became conscious of nothing but the touch of Zephyr’s lips and blazing warmth she felt inside. But as the instant stretched, the heat began to fade. In its place a cool, overpowering feeling of joy and fulfillment emerged, soaking in to her very core. She closed her eyes.
All at once, it ended. Time resumed its normal pace. Zephyr gently broke the kiss and Rainbow Dash opened her eyes again. He was still there. The clouds still stretched endlessly into the distance. The sun and blue sky still hung above them.
Rainbow Dash released the breath she’d been holding. She grinned at Zephyr, and he smiled back just as broadly. “Still don’t think it was worth the trip?” he asked quietly, still smiling.
Rainbow Dash just looked at him for a moment. I really do like that stupid grin of his, she thought. “It’s getting there,” she replied with a laugh. Then she wrapped him in a hug, and this time she kissed him.
The second kiss lasted longer than the first. When it finally ended, they came apart and began to hover together above the cloud surface. Their breathing came in short, ragged gasps. Rainbow Dash’s heart was beating like she’d finished a race. She remembered everything Rarity had ever told her about what a kiss felt like. The unicorn had definitely been holding out on her.
“Hey Zephyr,” Rainbow Dash said softly, still holding him. “You remember yesterday, after the Rainbow Supernova? When we were just spinning through the air?” He nodded. “I didn’t want to say anything but…” she paused. “Promise not to laugh?”
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” he Pinkie swore.
Rainbow Dash saw he was serious, so she continued. “It felt like we were dancing.”
Zephyr blinked a few times. “Dancing?” he repeated. A grin split his face at her nod. “That wasn’t dancing,” he told her. He returned her hug awkwardly. One hoof reached around under her wing, and the other grabbed one of hers wrapped around him. “This is dancing!” corrected Zephyr.
“Wha—?” was all Rainbow Dash managed before Zephyr carried them both high into the air. They stopped after a hundred feet, and Zephyr switched his grip. Before she could stop him, Zephyr held her in a classic dancing pose: one hoof outstretched and the other around her partner. “No no no,” Rainbow Dash chuckled nervously. “I don’t dance dance.”
“Until a few minutes ago, you didn’t kiss either,” he reminded her. Rainbow Dash blushed. “Just close your eyes and think about walking on…well…air.”
Ha ha, she thought sarcastically. She didn’t know why, but somehow the idea of dancing scared her more than the kiss had. I just became more-than-friends with this guy! I don’t want to blow it by looking like an idiot! But once again, the ridiculous amount of trust she felt towards him goaded her into doing as he asked. I’m gonna regret this.
Zephyr gripped her tightly. “Now listen closely, and don’t move until you hear it,” he told her.
“Until I hear what?”
Zephyr didn’t answer her. All she heard was her own heartbeat, and the distant rumble of thunder beneath them. She strained her ears as hard as she could. The rumble continued, and now she could also distinguish the sound of rain and howling wind.
Zephyr began to hum softly to a tune she did not recognize. The notes seemed erratic, and the rhythm gave the impression of spinning round and round. The melody began slowly, and did not last long, but it repeated itself and gradually began to pick up speed. As she listened, Rainbow Dash noticed that the low, rumbling thunder seemed to echo the notes. The wind rose and fell with the music, and the fall of rain fit snugly in the background. In no time at all, the noises became indistinguishable from the melody, and it seemed a whole orchestra was performing around her.
Rainbow Dash almost didn’t notice when she started moving. She and Zephyr began to spin in a circle, drifting first one direction, then another. They lost altitude as they moved, settling right above the surface of the clouds again before stopping. Rainbow Dash never opened her eyes as the song continued. She just let herself float whichever way their spinning took them. A breath of wind, heavy with moisture, blew in her face. The music’s meaning seemed to change. In her mind’s eye, she saw dark clouds coalescing. A storm gathered and rain began to pour from the skies. A single bolt of lightning struck the earth.
The music ended without warning. Zephyr stopped humming, and Rainbow Dash opened her eyes. At some point, she had rested her head on his shoulder, which she decided was quite comfortable. “What…happened?” she asked, her mind in a haze. She couldn’t remember anything after closing her eyes.
“You danced,” Zephyr replied simply in her ear. “Take a look.”
What’s he talking about? She looked around. All I did was close my eyes and— The thought cut off when she saw it. Traced along the path they had spun was complex design of curves and angles. It resembled a full-sized storm, complete with rain, wind, and lightning, but so stylized and realistic that its presence seemed impossible. Looking at it, Rainbow Dash remembered fragmented images of what she saw, but nothing more.
Rainbow Dash couldn’t think of anything to say, so for a while they just held each other in silence. For once, she didn’t care how sappy or mushy it was, it just felt nice. At length, she decided to speak. “Thanks, Zephyr. For everything. This was completely awesome,” she sighed.
Zephyr gave her a small squeeze. “Thanks for saying yes,” he murmured. He let her go, and she reluctantly released her hold on him. “The storm won’t last much longer. The worst of it’s over, so we could head back anytime we like.” Neither of them made any move to do so. “This place is already starting to fall apart,” Zephyr declared, pointing out new holes in the sea of clouds.
Rainbow Dash sighed. “Why can’t good times just last a little longer?” she grumped.
“Who says the good times are over?” Zephyr asked, starting to smile again. “That is, unless you don’t want a second date.”
“Like you’re getting off that easy,” Rainbow Dash shot back, perking up a little.
Zephyr’s smile grew wider. “I hope not,” he smirked. “Come on. Let’s get back to Ponyville.”
He took a quick circle to gauge direction before diving straight down through the clouds. Rainbow Dash flew after him, and in seconds they were under the thick, dark storm clouds. The rain had slackened considerably, and lightning only occasionally lit the sky. Flying was now only inconvenient, no longer dangerous.
“So what happens now?” Rainbow Dash questioned as they sped northward.
“What do you mean?” Zephyr asked back.
“We kissed, we danced, we like each other!” she explained. “What do we do now? And which one of us is telling our friends?”
Zephyr gave an answer, but a rumbling in the clouds above drowned him out. The next second, a dazzling white shaft of light exploded in front of her, robbing her of sight. Rainbow Dash rubbed her eyes clear. When she opened them, Zephyr was nowhere to be found. Something moved at the bottom of her vision, and she looked down. The grey pegasus was falling, making no effort to steer. “Zephyr!” she screamed, and dove after him.
* * * *
His headache was back. That was the first thing Zephyr felt. It was back, and much worse than before. The dull throbbing was now a vigorous pounding, like drums in his skull. The second thing he felt was an unexplained soreness spread throughout his body. Every muscle, bone, and ligament screamed in protest when he moved. The pain was worst in the small of his back, or maybe right between his wing joints.
Then came the realization he was alive, followed by the revelation he was awake. As he’d slept, Zephyr had heard voices. Some of them screamed, some of them whispered, and some seemed to talk amongst themselves, but all were too far away to understand. Now, all he heard was his own breathing.
Zephyr opened his eyes. The light was painfully bright, igniting his headache even further. Gradually, his vision cleared and he was able to focus. His other senses began to function normally as well.
He was in a bed. Thick blankets were pulled over him, and he wore some kind of green gown. The ceiling above was bleach-white, as were the walls. Where am I? he thought blankly. Zephyr tried to sit up.
Big mistake. His head started spinning and injuries ignited in pain. As he bent, he found he was being held down by something. He grunted in surprise.
“Zephyr! You’re awake!” somepony started. With his headache, Zephyr didn’t know who until Fluttershy’s face appeared above him. “Don’t move! You’ll hurt yourself,” she ordered gently. “I’ll go get the others.”
She disappeared from sight and a door opened and closed. Zephyr found that he could move his head from side to side without hurting and took it as a good sign. Looking over, he saw another bed with a pony he didn’t recognize lying in it. The pony wore a cast on one of his legs and slept soundly. I must be in a hospital, he reasoned. He frowned. I hate hospitals. Too much sickness to be comfortable.
The door opened again. Zephyr looked over and watched his friends pile in, Spike still napping on Twilight’s back. Concern and relief marked their faces in equal measure as they crowded around his bed. A doctor followed them in, clipboard in hoof.
“Hey guys,” Zephyr mumbled. “Mind telling me what I’m doing here, and why I can’t move?”
“You got struck by lightning!” Pinkie Pie blurted first. “And then Rainbow Dash brought you here and ran off to get us and led us here and told us what happened—” Pinkie’s voice cut off as Twilight stuck a hoof in her mouth.
“And we’ve all been really worried about you,” Twilight said slowly. “As for the restraints, well—”
“Y’all were twitchin’ like a wounded bear!” Applejack interrupted. “Accidentally knocked out two o’ the fellas tryin’ ta get ya to a bed.”
“Though of course they know it wasn’t your fault,” the doctor announced, stepping forward. “Excess electricity in your body caused you to flail and spasm. Not to worry.” He examined his clipboard. “You were very lucky. It’s rare for anypony to be struck by lightning, let alone with the force you were hit with. Most that do don’t wake up afterwards.”
Zephyr didn’t feel terribly lucky. “What’s the damage?” he asked nervously.
“As far as we can tell, there is none. Just a minor burn on the point of impact,” answered the doctor. “It’s almost like something soaked up the most of the blow for you, which didn’t happen according to your friend.” He pointed at Rainbow Dash. “Do you feel anything unusual?”
Zephyr grimaced. “Well, I’m sore all over,” he said. The doctor scribbled on his sheet. “And I have this awful headache. And these restraints are kind of uncomfortable.” He tried to sit up again to emphasize his point.
The doctor jotted down a few more notes. “Sounds normal,” he declared. He began to undo the restraints on Zephyr. “There’s nothing physically wrong with you that we could find. We’ll give you something for the pain, but otherwise you’re fine.” The last of the straps came off, and already Zephyr breathed easier. He hated restraints of any kind. “If you feel better, you could even sign out tomorrow.”
Zephyr slowly sat up straight, wincing as he did so. “Thanks, doctor,” he said. The doctor nodded and left. Zephyr turned to his friends. “So how long was I out?”
Rarity cleared her throat. “Almost twenty hours, darling,” the alabaster unicorn informed him. “We’ve been taking turns waiting for you to wake up.”
Zephyr looked at all of them. They all looked haggard and worn down. Zephyr guessed that they hadn’t slept well. Pinkie’s stomach rumbled loudly. A mixture of guilt and gratitude welled up inside him. “Thanks for being there for me,” he said to all of them. “But I’m fine. You should all get some rest. What kind of friend am I if I keep you here when you could be home.” Nopony protested. They must have be really tired after all, he noted.
“But one of us should stay to make sure you’re alright!” Fluttershy put forth a moment later. The others nodded in agreement.
“I’ll stay,” Rainbow Dash spoke for the first time. Everypony looked at her in surprise. “What?” she demanded. “I was just starting to get comfortable. I can crash here another night.”
Twilight cocked her head to one side in puzzlement. “But didn’t you say earlier the waiting room was the least comfortable place you’d ever slept?” she asked. “And that the food here tastes like dirt?” Rainbow Dash squirmed a little under scrutiny.
“Oh come off it, Twilight,” Rarity interjected, coming to her rescue. “I don’t know about you, but I’d like to escape this place before Rainbow Dash comes to her senses.” Zephyr thought he caught a wink from the fashion designer towards Rainbow Dash. “Come on girls, let’s get some real food at Sugarcube Corner. My treat.”
“Ooh! Sounds good to me!” Pinkie agreed instantly. “I could go for cookies. No wait, cupcakes! Cupcakes with sprinkles!” She kept babbling as they filed out of the room. All of them offered a quick goodbye before finally closing the door, leaving Zephyr alone with Rainbow Dash and the pony sleeping in the bed to his right.
A split-second after the door closed, Zephyr was wrapped in a tight hug that made his injuries groan. Rainbow Dash began talking very quickly. “Are you okay? You better be. I was really worried, you know. If you’d gotten yourself hurt, I was gonna be mad at you. Jerk. First pony I ever really, really like, and you have the nerve to almost get yourself killed! Making me carry you all the way here and sleep in that stupid waiting area.”
“It’s nice to see you too,” Zephyr gasped, finally getting a word in. “But if it’s all the same to you, I’d like to breathe again.” The hug was squeezing his already sore diaphragm.
“Oh. Right,” Rainbow Dash coughed, releasing the grey pegasus. Immediately, Zephyr’s breathing began to normalize. “By the way, I think we’re even with the whole “life-saving” thing.”
“You’re still down one,” he corrected. “But who’s counting? Anyway, I’m guessing you didn’t tell them about why we were out there in the first place, did you?”
Rainbow Dash shook her head. “They didn’t ask. Though I’m pretty sure Rarity figured it out,” she remarked. She moved right next to his bed and sat down. “So I gotta know; just what was that weird music? Where’d you learn that?”
Zephyr’s gaze got misty for a moment. “It was something my mother used to sing to me. Any time I was sad or scared, she’d use it to cheer me up. It’s one of the only things I still remember,” he admitted. “I’m not sure if there were ever any words. It just…felt right.”
Rainbow Dash said nothing for a while. When she did speak, it was with a light-hearted smirk. “Ya know something Zephyr?” she asked. “You are one unlucky pony. I mean, it seems like every time I see you, you’re crashing into something, taking hits to the head, or getting beat up. Did you do something wrong in a past life or something?”
Zephyr smiled back. “I don’t see it that way,” he replied. “I think good luck and bad luck all balance out in the end.” The smile got wider. “Meeting you probably put me so far in the hole that I’ll be getting bad luck for eternity.”
That one took her a minute. When she figured it out, Rainbow Dash’s face flushed. “Why do you always have to hit me with these sappy compliments I’m not ready for?” she demanded angrily.
“Your other two options are bad poetry or worse pick-up lines,” he retorted. “Your choice.”
Rainbow Dash blinked. “On the other hoof, I’ve decided you always say the nicest things and I’ll strangle you if you start talking in rhymes,” she decided graciously. Zephyr burst into laughter (mixed in with pained coughs), and she narrowed her eyes. “It’s a good thing I like you,” she muttered.
“Speaking of,” Zephyr began, “why did you really volunteer to stay? I know you didn’t just want a hug. You wanted to talk about something you didn’t want the others to hear yet. Spill it.”
Rainbow Dash stiffened. She got ready to deny it, but Zephyr fixed her a no-nonsense look and stared her down. She shifted uncomfortably and didn’t answer for a long time. Zephyr increased the intensity of his stare.
“Fine!” she grouched. “Just stop looking at me like that!” Zephyr replaced his focus with a self-satisfied smirk. She glared at him before continuing. “When I told you yesterday I was behind on my house payments…I didn’t really get across just how far behind,” she confessed. “Actually, I owe about three hundred bits I don’t have, and that’s after my share from the competition we had. I haven’t told the others yet, mostly out of pride I guess.” She scratched the back of her head uneasily. “The fact is, unless I come up with the money by next week, I’ll be joining you at Sweet Apple Acres,” she sighed.
“But you’re telling me,” he remarked. “Which means this is a roundabout way of asking for help, isn’t it?” He tried to sound annoyed, but mentally he was already subtracting the amount from what he had. So much for getting that house any time soon, he thought wryly.
“NO WAY!” Rainbow Dash spat indignantly, slamming her hoof down. “I’m gonna get that money one way or another! I don’t need help!” She took a deep breath and calmed herself. “But you’ve been looking for a permanent place to stay. A place that belongs to you, right?”
“Where exactly are you going with this?” Zephyr asked slowly.
Rainbow Dash took another deep breath, bracing for something. “Zephyr…would you like to buy part of my house?” she blurted.
Zephyr felt the wind get knocked right out of him. What?! his mind reeled. Buy part of…what would…I don’t even… Zephyr just stared at her, jaw agape.
“N-now don’t get the wrong idea,” she stammered, resolve fading. “I’m not doing this because I like you. Well, yes I am, but that’s not the point. I just thought, you know, maybe I could do something smart and solve both our problems.” She began shifting again. “I never use the downstairs, and the place is more than big enough. And you’ll totally own part of the house. Wouldn’t that be better than some rickety shack you—”
“Yes,” Zephyr answered in the middle of her sales pitch.
Rainbow Dash froze midstream. “Whoa…um…really?” she asked.
“Is that the wrong answer?”
“Not at all, it’s just…” Rainbow Dash shook her head. “Honestly, I didn’t think you’d say yes. I kinda expected you to laugh at me.”
“I do have a condition, though,” Zephyr told her.
“Condition?”
“Before I agree, you have to make me a promise,” he said firmly. A smile crossed his features. “Promise me that first thing when I move in, you’ll clean up that mess you call your room.”
“What?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Great! First guy I go out with, and he tells me to clean my room like he’s my dad or something.” She glared at him for a second, before returning his smile. “I guess that’ll work. But don’t think you’re getting a deal or something. You’re gonna help me make that place livable if it kills you.”
Zephyr adopted a wounded expression. “Dating for a day and roommates for seconds, and you’re already exploiting my generous nature?” he whined. “Maybe I should just go another round with the lightning bolt instead!” They both laughed loudly until a nurse stuck her head through the door and ordered them to quiet down.
* * * *
Zephyr signed out of the hospital the next morning. His body was stiff, but no longer sore. The painkillers had managed to reduce the headache to a manageable level, but they didn’t eliminate it completely. The doctor assured him it would go away in a couple days. Rainbow Dash took off for her house to try and get a few hours of real sleep, and Zephyr headed for Sweet Apple Acres to collect his things.
When he arrived, the Apple family was already hard at work on their fields. A quick scan of the area showed him Applejack, and he adjusted course to land next to her. In a few short sentences, he explained that he’d found a place he could afford and would be moving his belongings there immediately. Applejack expressed suspicion and concern, but he managed to avoid answering questions about where the place was or how he’d found out about it. In the end, she congratulated him and wished him well before continuing with her labors.
Zephyr went to his room and quickly gathered up his possessions. What little he had fit easily within a single set of saddlebags. Before he left the farm, he made sure to say goodbye to Applebloom, Big Macintosh, and Granny Smith. He only barely escaped a long-winded story from the elderly apple farmer before taking off towards Rainbow Dash’s house.
* * * *
Rainbow Dash woke to the smell of something cooking. Something smells good, was her first thought. Her second was I have a stove in this house? Curiosity piqued, she rolled out of bed. Yawning, she walked over to the staircase, marveling as she had every day for the past week at how empty the room was. When she’d cleaned out all the garbage, she rediscovered the legendary blue carpet she hadn’t seen in years.
Upon reaching the staircase, Rainbow Dash glided down for the sake of speed and silence. When she reached the bottom, she looked around and tried to remember where the kitchen was. The smell that had awoken her came from the right, so Rainbow Dash followed her nose. Moving silently through the house, she finally came to the kitchen door. Rainbow Dash stuck her head inside and searched for the source of the smell.
Inside, Zephyr stood with his back to her facing the stove he was attending. He whistled softly and tunelessly, and was accompanied by a low sizzling noise. The grey pegasus turned to one side and placed something on a plate. A fresh wave of aroma hit Rainbow Dash, and she could now clearly identify it. Butter…cinnamon…It can’t be, she thought. Zephyr turned back to the stove, revealing a steaming stack of brownish bread slices. It is! He’s making French toast! The athlete began to water at the mouth. I’ve gotta get some before he notices me! she concluded.
Rainbow Dash sank to the floor and began to crawl forward. Moving carefully, she approached the counter upon which the heavenly plate rested. She bumped a cabinet and froze, but Zephyr just continued cooking. Easy does it, she panicked. Almost there. A few more steps and she was behind the counter he’d set the French toast on. Licking her lips, Rainbow Dash stuck her head up to snatch the plate. Instead, Zephyr’s face rested right in front of her, an eyebrow quirked. “Ahh!” she cried in surprise. “Don’t do that!”
“You know you could’ve just asked, right?” he asked in annoyance. Rainbow Dash just gave a chagrined laugh. Zephyr shook his head and pointed out of the room. “Table. You. Sit at table. Receive breakfast. Clear?” She nodded. “Milk or orange juice?”
“The second one,” she answered. She looked longingly at the plate of French toast, but Zephyr shooed her away. “Alright, alright! Jeez!” Rainbow Dash left the kitchen in a huff, moving to the dining room across the hall. Two plates and sets of silverware were already laid out. She picked a seat facing the door and slumped on the table.
A moment later, Zephyr entered balancing the French toast, two glasses of orange juice, and a bottle of maple syrup. He set the glasses down, liberally applied syrup to the French toast, and divided it out between their two plates. “Enjoy,” he said simply, before he began cutting up his portion.
Rainbow Dash needed no further invitation. Completely ignoring the silverware, Rainbow Dash began ripping large chunks out of her French toast. To watch her, one would think she hadn’t eaten in days. In between bites, she started riddling Zephyr with questions. “Since when can you cook?” she demanded around a mouthful. “And how’d you know I love French toast?”
“I didn’t,” he admitted. “It just sounded good. And there just happened to be this fully functional kitchen nopony was using.” He ate a couple bites. “As for cooking, blame Doc for that one.” He chuckled. “While I was still really young, he caught a cold. I tried to make some soup to make him feel better.”
“And he liked it?” Rainbow Dash guessed. Zephyr began to laugh in earnest.
“Not even close. He spat it out at me and told me he’d never tasted anything so vile. He got up from bed just to make me cook it again and again until I got it right.” Zephyr gave a helpless shrug. “After that, he began showing me how to cook anything I wanted.”
Rainbow Dash finished her French toast with a contented sigh. “Dancing, house repair, cooking. Is there anything you can’t do?” she joked.
Zephyr frowned a little. “I can’t seem to get rid of this headache,” he grunted in reply.
Rainbow Dash frowned in concern. “Still?” Zephyr had been complaining about it since he’d gotten out of the hospital a week ago. He’d gone back to get checked out, but they couldn’t find anything wrong with him. Ordinarily, she’d just say he was being a wimp. But after a week (nine days actually; he’d told her it started after the Rainbow Supernova), she would have expected it to be long gone.
Zephyr nodded. “It’s getting worse, too. I’m starting to get dizzy if I move to fast,” he explained.
Now that's a problem, Rainbow Dash worried. If he can’t go fast, then he can’t race or do the really fun stuff! She tried to think of some kind of solution. “Hey I know!” she cried, coming to an epiphany. “Maybe Twilight can fix it with her magic! She should at least be able to figure out what’s wrong.”
Zephyr thought about it for a moment and shrugged. “Worth a shot,” he agreed, and began gathering up the dishes. “At this point, I’d try anything.” He carried them towards the kitchen. “Thought about when you want to tell them yet?”
This again, Rainbow Dash almost groaned. “I’ll take care of it, all right?” she responded indignantly. “Are you in some kind of hurry or something?”
No reply came from the kitchen. None was needed. Rainbow Dash knew it wasn’t fair to keep their friends in the dark, but that didn’t make it any easier. Frankly, she didn’t know what to tell them in the first place, or how to avoid humiliation. Sure, she’d talked it over with Rarity before their date, but that was only because Rarity knew that sort of thing. Actually admitting it to her friends…she didn’t like thinking about it. They’ll find out eventually, she decided as she always did.
Zephyr came back from the kitchen. “I don’t know about you, but I’m heading to the library now,” he announced. “The sooner I lose this headache, the happier I’ll be.”
* * * *
After a brief, easy flight, they landed in front of the library. As an afterthought, Rainbow Dash had grabbed the book she’d checked out a few weeks ago, and placed it in the return slot on the outside. Zephyr stepped up to the door and knocked loudly. “Just a moment!” Twilight’s voice called from inside. Seconds later, the door opened and the magician herself greeted them. “Oh! Good morning you two!” she said. She gave Rainbow Dash a strange look. “I see you finally decided to use the door, Rainbow.”
“It’s an off day for me,” she blustered. “Apparently my stealth needs work too.”
Zephyr rolled his eyes. “I was wondering if you could help me out, Twilight,” he explained. “I’ve had this same headache for nine days now, and the doctors can’t figure out why. Rainbow Dash told me you might be able to do something?” He made it a question intentionally.
“Well, medicine isn’t exactly my area of expertise,” Twilight admitted, “but I guess I can try something. Come on in.” She retreated into the library, and they followed her. Rainbow Dash let Zephyr go first, seeing as he was the one who needed help. As they entered, they saw stacks of books in disarray, and others lying about open. “Sorry for the mess,” Twilight apologized. “I’ve been reorganizing the shelves with Spike.”
As she spoke, a crash came from the far corner of the room and a large number of books fell from their shelves. From the resulting pile, Spike emerged looking sheepish. “Uh…my bad,” he sighed. “I’ll just umm…clean that up.” The three ponies rolled their eyes and ignored him. Twilight led them over to a set of chairs and told them to sit.
“So…what do you think you can do exactly?” Zephyr inquired.
Twilight hesitated. “Well, I do know a couple spells to scan for injuries,” she offered. “But they use those at the hospital, so that probably won’t help.” She thought about it. “When did this headache start? Can you describe what it feels like?”
Rainbow Dash listened to him describe the headache. As he did so, she began to wonder if she’d been hard on him this past week. It sounded like it was painful enough to be miserable. Apparently, it had even prevented him from sleeping a few nights. It stretched belief that anypony would just take it for nine days without going crazy. Mentally, she added to her estimation of how tough he was.
When he finished, Twilight looked even more puzzled than before. “Lightning strikes usually cause headaches,” she pondered aloud, “but those go away after a couple days. Really, this sounds like…but that’s impossible.”
“What’s impossible?” Zephyr asked, interrupting her dialogue.
Twilight gave a start, not realizing she’d actually spoken. It always amused Rainbow Dash when that happened. “What you’re describing…it sounds like a common condition. Just not for pegasi,” she told him. “It sounds like magic build-up.”
“Magic build-up?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What the heck is that?”
“Every unicorn has a certain amount of magic,” Twilight explained. “However, as a rule we tend to use it quite a bit. If we don’t, it begins to accumulate over time. Eventually, we hold more than we can safely get rid of, and generally headaches develop.” She tapped her forehead, right under the horn. “It builds up like pressure on a dam, and it doesn’t go away until the excess magic is used or removed. Those who suffer from magic build-up describe it almost exactly like you did, but it wouldn’t make sense for you to have it.”
Zephyr took all this in silence. For a moment, he did nothing but consider. Then, “Do you know any way to check for it?” he asked. “Or just magically examine me to determine some kind of cause?”
Again, Twilight hesitated. Rainbow Dash got the feeling she didn’t like what she was about to say. “One way,” she answered. “But I don’t think you’ll like it.” Zephyr waited for her to continue. “You know that spell Celestia used on you to scan your thoughts?”
An involuntary scowl appeared on Zephyr’s face. Rainbow Dash remembered him telling her about it and could sympathize. She didn’t like the idea of somepony poking around her brain either. Still, it was one of the few things that seemed to really anger him, so she mostly didn’t bring it up. “I know it,” he growled, not really at Twilight.
Twilight coughed nervously. “I’ve been studying it, and spells like it, ever since I heard she did it to you.” Twilight seemed to shrink at her own statement. “One of them was a scan of your magical aura.”
“You mean that weirdo stuff the nature freaks talk about?” Rainbow Dash joked.
Twilight shook her head. “Everypony gives off a kind of energy, called an aura. No two ponies’ auras are the same. This spell will help me see and interpret Zephyr’s aura and check for any abnormalities.” She pawed the floor nervously with one hoof. “It also…shows surface thoughts and feelings,” she added guiltily.
Zephyr said nothing for a long time. He looked at Rainbow Dash as if he was trying to ask her something. He seemed to get some kind of answer, because resolve began to form in his eyes. Rainbow Dash had no idea what she’d said or not said. “Okay,” he decided. “I trust you Twilight. Besides, at least you told me what I was in for first.” Rainbow Dash detected bitterness in his voice.
Twilight released a breath she’d been holding. “Alright,” she said. “Hold still. This won’t take long.” Her horn began to glow with a soft purple light. The light surrounded Zephyr as well, but nothing else happened. To Rainbow Dash, it just looked like they were staring at each other. The only indication otherwise were the expressions on their faces: focus and concentration from Twilight, and discomfort and pain from Zephyr. Another thirty seconds, and the spell ended.
“This doesn’t make any sense!” Twilight cried. Zephyr didn’t even bother responding; he just waited for her to get to the point. “As impossible as it is, somehow you’ve got magic build-up!” She paced the floor in thought. “Wait!” she said after a few laps around the library. “Maybe you just managed to soak up a little magic accidentally! And since you aren’t a unicorn and can’t use magic, you just don’t have any way to get rid of it! That would mean all we have to do is siphon the magic you’ve absorbed and you should be fine!”
Now it was Zephyr’s turn to look confused. “So I somehow absorbed magic?” he asked incredulously. “How? And more importantly, how are you going to ‘siphon’ the magic out anyway?”
Rainbow Dash had only gotten one word in three of the explanation, but she thought she understood. He has magic. He can’t use it. It’s causing the headache. We need to get rid of it. Easy, right? she thought. Unfortunately, she hadn’t quite gotten all the way through yet. “Do we need a hose? ‘Cause I know where we could get one in a hurry,” she offered. It wasn’t until they both looked at her like she was crazy that she realized how dumb that sounded. Her face colored a little in embarrassment. Great idea, stupid, she reprimanded herself.
“It’s a pretty simple spell,” Twilight continued. “In theory, it’s like poking a leak in a ball and letting the air slowly drain out. I use magic to prick your mind and draw your magic out. It may leave you a little tired, but it’s completely safe.”
Zephyr smiled at the news. “Sounds good. I’m ready whenever,” he told her cheerfully.
“Okay. Here goes,” the magician announced. Again her horn began to glow. This time, however, she walked up to Zephyr and tapped him on the forehead.
The instant they made contact, the air immediately filled with static. A few small sparks appeared near Twilight's horn. “There,” she said. “That should do—” She cut off as the sparks began to multiply, and increase in frequency. “W-what?!” Twilight stammered. “What’s going on?” All at once, the air was split by a deafening Crack! An explosion centered at the point where they touched blasted them apart, sending them flying in opposite directions. Zephyr landed a few feet away, rolling on the floor. He came to a rest lying on his back. Twilight flew farther, slamming against a bookcase and crumbling to the floor in a heap.
“Whoa!” Rainbow Dash yelled, caught unawares. She rushed over to Twilight first, the unicorn having taken the worse hit. Spike ran over as well, having worked unnoticed for several minutes. “Twilight! Are you okay?” she asked as she reached her friend.
Twilight sat up shakily. “No, Princess,” she muttered in a daze. “I don’t want to go to bed.”
Spike grabbed her by the shoulders and shook. “Snap out of it Twilight!” he ordered. “Now I’ve gotta clean this too!” He gestured at the fresh pile of books.
Twilight shook her head vigorously. Her eyes were wide and surprised. “That didn’t just happen! That couldn’t have just happened!” she almost shouted as she stood. She ran over to Zephyr.
“Calm down already,” Rainbow Dash said impatiently. She followed the unicorn over to the unconscious pegasus. “So he had a little more magic than you expected. No big deal right?” Twilight just shook her head. Rainbow Dash poked Zephyr’s unmoving form. “What’s the matter? He looks okay to me.”
“That was more than just a little extra!” Twilight panicked. “And that wasn’t even close to all of it!” Zephyr inhaled sharply and opened his eyes.
* * * *
Everything was clearer, crisper, sharper. The pounding, the infinite terrible ache was gone. That alone was enough to make Zephyr giddy. But as his eyes opened, his awareness seemed to expand in every direction. Sight, sound, scent, even taste all exploded with input he’d never received before. Without consideration or thought, he knew exactly how much moisture hung in the air around him. Every tiny sizzle of static rang clearly in his ears. The stale, unmoving air of the library seemed almost suffocating.
He realized all of this in the space of a second, and well before he processed the worried faces of Twilight and Rainbow Dash. “Are you all right?” Rainbow Dash asked him.
“Yes. Fine. Better than fine!” he answered in a rush. He rolled over and stood up in a single fluid movement. “So much better that it’s fair to say I’m not fine. In a good way. I feel good. Better than good. And not the least bit tired like you said I’d be tired Twilight!” Zephyr felt charged. Full of energy. And inexplicably happy.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash exchanged worried looks. “Twilight, what the heck happened?” demanded Rainbow Dash.
Zephyr didn’t wait for an answer. He darted outside, crashing through the door and taking off. With a kind of manic glee, he began flying circles around the library as fast as he could. This is more like it! he thought. Clean, moving air! Natural moisture! Late spring breeze! Flying! His thoughts came in jumbled bits and pieces, largely consisting of basic emotions.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash came running out of the library. They stopped and watched him circle the giant tree. Clouds began to gather overhead. “Oh, this is not good!” Twilight groaned. “Zephyr! Get down here!”
Faster than blinking, Zephyr landed on the ground in front of her and sat down, waiting impatiently. “You need something Twilight ‘cause I feel great right now and need to do something. Need to do something, anything. I just got all this energy and I need to do something with it,” he said repeatedly. He noticed Rainbow Dash. “Hey. Let’s race. I think I could take you ‘cause I got all this energy and I’m super pumped right now and I can take you.” The wind picked up, beginning to alternatively blow from one direction, then another.
Without warning, Twilight and Rainbow Dash tackled him and tried to hold him down. Zephyr pitched and squirmed violently, trying to shake them off, but they held on. A new sensation tickled Zephyr’s consciousness. The moisture, the static, every part of what he could feel around him suddenly felt malleable. He concentrated experimentally on the wind blowing around him without any real goal in mind. All at once the wind ceased to blow. It did not go away, merely sat still as if awaiting direction. Amazed, Zephyr looked at his captors to tell them what he’d just felt. The wind resumed blowing, only now it directed all its force at them. Rainbow Dash managed to hold on, but Twilight was knocked off balance.
Zephyr shook her off completely and promptly removed Rainbow Dash a few seconds later. Standing up, he made no move to escape. Instead, he was fascinated by the wind, which he began to stop and change repetitively. Twilight and Rainbow Dash just watched with their mouths agape, and he ignored them completely.
“Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked. She sounded like she was freaking out about something. “How is he doing that? And why is he acting so crazy?”
“He’s got an incredible amount of magic running through him!” Twilight had to shout over the irregular winds. “His body isn’t used to it and it’s making him delirious! We’ve gotta snap him out of it!”
Zephyr discovered something new. He trotted over to them. “Look at this!” he told them excitedly. He let the winds go, and they returned to their natural, calm speeds. Instead, he focused on the water present in the air, imagining all of it collapsing together. Before their eyes, a rain cloud began to form directly overhead. The cloud became heavier and heavier, finally dumping a large amount of water in a heavy downpour on all of them.
Rainbow Dash and Twilight ducked out from under it quickly. Zephyr, too interested in what he was doing, was drenched in rainwater. The water had an immediate calming effect, and the euphoria he’d felt began to fade. Gradually, his breathing slowed and he started thinking normally again. He looked around, until he found a somewhat soaked Twilight and Rainbow Dash looking at him like he was crazy.
“Um…let me fix that,” he said at a normal speed. Concentrating, he dispersed the rain cloud and shifted the wind again. A gust blew at each of them, hitting them like an oversized hairdryer, and dried them off. He shook himself dry as well before the gravity of what he’d just done hit him. Did I just…do that? he thought. He tried it again to be sure. Once again, the wind picked up and blew the way he wanted it to. How am I doing…whatever I’m doing?
Twilight waved a hoof in front of his face. “Are you…okay?” she asked.
Zephyr blinked and came back to reality. “I did that,” he whispered. “I just did that! You saw that right? I’m not going crazy? The wind really just moved like that because I told it too. Why is it doing that? Why am I doing that?” Again his voice began to pick up speed, this time out of panic. A hoof smacked him in the face.
“Get it together Zephyr!” Rainbow Dash yelled at him. “Cool it for a sec before you go all loopy again!” She turned to Twilight. “And you! Keep it simple. What. The. Heck. Just. Happened?!”
“I pricked his consciousness just like I said!” Twilight began. “But instead of just a trickle flowing out like I expected, it was more like a dam bursting. Instead of simply leaving, it started coursing through him, letting him channel it directly. That much energy all at once made him lose control.”
“But I’m fine now, right?” Zephyr asked.
Twilight shook her head. “You still have way too much magic inside of you. And now that it has a way to get out, soon it’ll all start forcing itself through you!”
Zephyr felt an increase of static electricity. All around him, the air began to practically sizzle with it. He felt a stab of pain from his forehead, and the static around him discharged. Rainbow Dash and Twilight both cried out as they received electrical shocks. The static began to reform almost instantly.
“What happens when it all comes out?” demanded Rainbow Dash.
“I don’t know!” Twilight yelled in frustration. “Nothing like this has ever happened before!”
Another stab of pain. Zephyr grabbed his head and redirected the static instinctively. This time, he received the shock. “Best guess, Twilight!” he ordered through gritted teeth.
“With everything that just happened…I’d guess a massive storm,” she hazarded. “The energy seems to be based on weather. If we don’t get rid of it soon, it’ll probably center on you.”
Rainbow Dash sighed heavily. “Never a dull moment with you around, is there?” she grumbled.
“Believe me, I’d love to be dull just for one day,” he shot back testily. “Is there anything I can do to stop it? How long do I have?”
Twilight appeared to be at a loss. “A minute, an hour, a day, it could be anytime!” she exclaimed. “If you used your energy continuously, it might delay it long enough for me to find something. But there’s no telling how much you’ve got stored up, or how much you’ll be able to get rid of without overexerting yourself.”
Zephyr received yet another stab of pain and another jolt. This time he winced visibly. This was not how I expected to spend the day, he thought miserably. ”Alright,” he agreed. “I guess I’ll just play around with it out here until you find something.” Another jolt, of pain and electricity. “But find it quick, please?”
* * * *
Rainbow Dash followed Twilight into the library. “What’ll happen to Zephyr when the magic finally blows?” she asked once they were inside. “Will he be okay?”
Twilight didn’t answer right away. “All the energy will be released at once,” she finally answered. “Typically in a very explosive fashion. If there’s too much excess energy when it happens…” she trailed off meaningfully. Twilight turned and gave Rainbow Dash a curious look. “What’s up with you, anyway? I’ve never seen you get worked up like this before.”
The question caught Rainbow Dash off-guard. “I’m always like this when my friends are in trouble,” she bluffed.
“Not like this,” Twilight insisted. “You’re always so confident, and collected. Today, you’re practically pacing in worry.”
Rainbow Dash tried to think of something, anything she could say to explain herself. Anything but the truth. Well, looks like this is it. She resigned herself to it. Taking a deep breath, she told Twilight that they’d been dating for a week and were sharing her house. All the trepidation and fear were almost worth it to see the expression on the magic student’s face. Twilight was so stunned that for a moment, she just sat there, jaw hanging open.
“You…you two…for a week…and didn’t tell us?” Twilight rambled. “You of all ponies? And why didn’t you tell us?” A hurt look appeared on her friend’s face. “I mean, congratulations and all, but don’t you trust us to be happy for you?”
Guilt overcame Rainbow Dash’s mirth. She turned away. “Look, I know I should of told you guys, but is now really the time?” she asked sullenly.
Twilight shook herself. “You’re right. We’ve got to figure out a way to release the extra energy safely. Spike!” she called.
The purple dragon came running. “What is it, Twilight. Is Zephyr okay?” he asked.
“For the moment. I need you to find me every book we have on pegasi, magic, weather, or medicine,” she rattled off. “There’s no time to waste!”
Without delay, Spike began grabbing books and piling them up next to Twilight. The lavender unicorn immediately began to pour through them, quickly skimming the pages and searching for some kind of solution. “Is there anything I can do to help?” Rainbow Dash asked, knowing she wouldn’t be any help with the research.
“Go get the others,” Twilight said, not looking up from her scrutiny. “Maybe they’ll help us think of something.”
Grateful to be doing anything useful, she left the library at full speed.
* * * *
Anypony that stopped to stare at the library in passing would have been shocked, in some cases literally. Static continued to build in the air around Zephyr, but as long as he maintained the strange magic he received no further jolts. Above him, two large clouds were the star players in an impromptu puppet show. One was a bunny with dreams of being a world-class dancer, and the other was an evil squirrel determined to stop the bunny. Zephyr hated squirrels, for reasons he did not care to disclose.
This was the latest in a long line of experiments, the earliest involving forming and dissipating clouds of various sizes. He’d briefly managed to entertain himself when he discovered he could form lightning out of static, but did not trust himself to continue using it. The puppet show was just to test if he could move and manipulate the clouds he made, and to keep his mind off of the building ache behind his eyes. Even so, he rubbed them continually, trying to clear the sensation away.
He’d watched Rainbow Dash leave and return from the balcony on the second floor of the library. He also watched as each of his friends in turn walked in. Pinkie Pie was the only one to acknowledge him, as he was somewhat hidden from view. She’d waved cheerfully at him before bouncing her way inside. That was almost an hour ago.
The continual use of magic was beginning to wear him down. In addition to getting bored, fatigue began to fill Zephyr’s body. Is this what Twilight feels like when she overdoes it? he wondered idly.
He decided to add a new character to the puppet show. A third cloud began to form, bigger than the others. This time, it was a pig that made friends with the bunny and tried to teach him to dance better. The longer Zephyr kept this ridiculous show going, the more he realized how much he didn’t care. The clouds all dissipated into the air.
All at once, a searing pain erupted in skull. You’re holding back, a dark part of him whispered. These are mere parlor tricks. They don’t really interest you. The pain increased. You know what you want to do, it taunted. You want to see what happens. You want to give it everything you have. Forget clouds. You want the whole storm.
The pain abated briefly. “I can’t,” he muttered aloud. “Don’t want…to hurt anypony. Not...safe.” He wasn’t sure why, but he knew instinctively that it would be very bad to cut loose.
The pain returned, stronger. Zephyr shut his eyes and covered his head. As if in mockery of his attempt to handle it, the pain spread like fire through his whole body, becoming agony. Zephyr dropped to his knees, and finally landed on his side, twitching violently. Stop fighting, the voice ordered. Give in. Let yourself go. In his pain, Zephyr felt like the voice was circling him. You haven’t made a storm in weeks. A full month. Does it not ache terribly? Do you not wish to wield the might of nature as you always have?
Pressure, far greater than anything he’d felt in the last nine days, welled up within Zephyr. It seemed to come from the very core of his being, growing until it seemed he must simply burst. The pain redoubled as every piece of him became crushed, strained, and pushed to their limits. His hold was razor thin, his fortitude barely keeping him conscious. He knew he would lose control any second. I’ve…gotta…get out of…here, he barely managed to realize. Eyes still closed and every movement an agony, Zephyr slowly picked himself up. He opened his wings, which shrieked at him in protest, and tried to take off. As soon as his hooves left the balcony, the spot on his back where the lightning had struck him ignited in a fresh wave of searing torture. Inside, Zephyr felt something snap.
* * * *
“I think I found it!” Rainbow Dash jumped at Pinkie Pie’s announcement. “At least, sort of,” the pink mare added uncertainly. “It’s here in this book.”
“Let me see that,” Twilight commanded. Pinkie Pie brought the book over. “Ancient Pegasus Mythology,” she read the title. “I guess it’s worth a shot. We haven’t found anything else.” She opened the book to the page Pinkie Pie had marked and started reading.
“Ah know y’all are busy,” Applejack interjected, “but ya might wanna come look at this.” She gestured at the window. Rainbow Dash flew over and looked out. The sky was beginning to darken with huge black clouds. The others arrived right behind her, and before all of their eyes the mass of clouds grew ever larger. A cold fear began to fill Rainbow Dash.
“You don’t think it’s Zephyr do you?” Fluttershy asked.
Rarity laughed nervously. “Of course not,” she said doubtfully. “I’m sure it’s just a routine storm from the weather team. Right Rainbow Dash?”
The athlete was already at the door. The second she opened it, she was nearly blown backward by gale-force winds. Rain poured down outside, and thunder rumbled from every direction. Ponies were scrambling to get indoors and small objects flew through the streets. Rainbow Dash forced her way out, scanning the area for Zephyr.
He hung thirty feet in the air a short distance away, hovering effortlessly. His eyes were completely fixed on the darkening skies. “Zephyr!” Rainbow Dash shouted over the building storm. She launched herself into the air against the wind and rain. The winds seemed to shift specifically to stop her, but against one of Equestria’s best fliers they had little effect. In a few seconds she reached her friend. “Zephyr, ya gotta snap out of it!” she yelled, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him.
His head swiveled to look at her, but nothing in his face indicated he could actually see her. His gaze seemed to move right past her, but that was not all. Zephyr’s eyes, normally a clear, crystal blue, now stared at her in a dark grey that rippled and shuddered like the storm above. An expression that could have been anguish, joy, or both colored his features. The occasional flashes of lightning up above cast a haunting picture of him, revealing an undercurrent of madness to his other emotions. He was humming the same tune he had when they danced but it lacked the same harmony and power it had before.
The sight shook Rainbow Dash a little, and she retreated a few feet. “Get him down quick Rainbow Dash!” a voice called from the ground. She looked, and her friends all stood outside, surrounded by some kind of magic bubble to block the storm’s wrath. “We’ve got to get him inside!” Twilight yelled from within it.
“Right!” the cyan pegasus acknowledged, turning back to Zephyr. When in doubt, just go for it! she told herself. With a yell, Rainbow Dash charged at him and tried to tackle him.
Zephyr barely moved. He shifted a few feet to one direction and she flew right by him. The wind picked up and blew her further away. Rainbow Dash struggled to stop and turn around, but by the time she succeeded Zephyr hovered nearly fifty yards away. Angry, she charged again, this time watching carefully for an attempt to dodge.
None came. Instead, she felt her hair begin to stand on end as she approached. Ten yards from her target, static rippled through the air and shocked her all over. The shocks were not very painful, but their effect was devastating. Rainbow Dash felt her wings go numb as electricity coursed through the various bones and joints. She lost altitude immediately, but the momentum of her rush carried her straight towards the library. This is gonna hurt, she thought bracing herself for impact.
Instead of crashing, she was caught by an invisible force. The force set her down on the ground, next to the rest of her friends. Twilight’s horn glowed brightly until she released the holding spell. “Rainbow Dash! Are you okay?” she asked.
Rainbow Dash flapped her wings experimentally. They moved stiffly, probably not able to sustain flight. “Yeah, but my wings are clipped!” she cried angrily. “I can’t fly until they get rid of this static.” She clenched her teeth angrily. I can’t believe he just grounded me! she fumed. She knew of course he wasn’t really in control of himself and that he might not even have done it on purpose. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to make him pay for it.
“Fluttershy, can you do something?” Rarity suggested.
Fluttershy opened her wings and was promptly blown several feet backward. “The wind is too strong,” she answered, ashamed.
“ Well, we gotta do somethin’,” Applejack stated. “If this storm gets much bigger, it’ll do some major damage ta Ponyville!”
* * * *
Zephyr could feel it. All of it. Every insignificant particle of moisture, every tiny breath of wind, every last charge of static within miles of him was his to command. More, the voice urged. You must give it more! Zephyr needed no such encouragement. The storm expanded rapidly, gaining strength. The wind and rain were only the start. When the energy ceased to gather, and the storm had all the power it could hold, it would begin in earnest. A storm unlike any seen in Equestria before. A storm to inspire awe and fear into any that beheld it.
A rope wrapped around his leg and jerked him downward. Momentarily distracted from his work, he looked at the ground. He did not see his friends at the other end of the rope, trying to pull him to the ground. All he saw were six ponies trying to stop his storm, trying to destroy his efforts. More annoyed than angered by the rope, he struck it with a bolt of lightning from the storm above, disintegrating a section of it completely.
He turned back to the storm and resumed his absent humming. Somehow, the notes did not carry the right amount of force, but he was not overly concerned. The attempt to stop him was already forgotten. Magic poured out of him in an endless flood. Physically, he was exhausted. But with all the energy flowing through him, the fatigue was distant and detached. As connected to the storm as he was, he felt fresh and invigorated.
Suddenly, his awareness of the storm vanished. His senses shrank drastically to a small sphere around him. Focusing on his surroundings, Zephyr realized he’d been surrounded by a magical bubble. The prison cut him off from the storm, and its absence felt like a physical pain to him. Furiously, he searched for the source of the bubble. His gaze rested again on the friends he did not recognize, narrowing upon the purple unicorn whose horn glowed with her own magic.
A rictus snarl appeared on Zephyr’s face, and he began to slam himself against the sides of the bubble. Tiny cracks appeared where he hit, but disappeared almost immediately. Outside the sphere, the edges of his storm began to fray and disappear. No! I won’t let you ruin it! he thought angrily. Enraged, he redoubled his efforts. Pressure began to build within the sphere as the magic he still released built up with no place to go. After a moment, the smallest hole appeared in the side of the bubble. The hole was no larger than a pinprick, and it stayed open less than a second. It was enough.
A breath of fresh air entered the prison, and with it a link to all the raw power of the storm outside. Magic surged through Zephyr and lightning struck the prison once, twice, three times. The magical sphere collapsed around him, and he was free. The welled up energy dumped into the churning clouds above, and Zephyr felt himself be dragged along with it. He didn’t move, didn’t do anything except drift away.
The storm no longer existed as a mere extension of his power. He was the storm. It was as much a part of him as his legs, his wings, maybe even his soul. Wherever he looked, that was the focus of the storm. And he looked towards those who wanted to stop him, to kill him. Zephyr floated closer to them, possessed of a sensation of judgment. He gazed balefully the six below, and found them guilty. The magic flowed.
Static gathered around him in massive quantities. His wild black hair began to stretch to its full length behind him. The first bolt of lightning struck right in front of the group, scattering them in their surprise. Then bolts began to strike ceaselessly, falling from the sky in sizzling white spears. He did not aim, merely rained down blast after blast in a fierce display of power.
Rarity and Fluttershy both managed to get inside the library and hide from the onslaught. Pinkie Pie dodged bolt after bolt with supernatural skill, making her way to Twilight and Applejack. Twilight wrapped all of them in a defensive magical shell and held fast, barely able to maintain the shield against the lightning. Rainbow Dash was caught out in the open, and lightning fell on every side. Everywhere she tried to move, it struck right in front of her. One of the bolts finally landed at her hooves, not hitting her, but exploding the ground underneath her. She was launched backwards several feet and landed on her side.
The hail of lightning abruptly ended, and Zephyr floated down to the ground near her. She lay near a puddle on the ground, and Zephyr approached slowly. His anger began to fade now that the fools attacking him were subdued, and with it his connection to the storm. They became separate once again, the storm merely his magic once more. He stopped next to Rainbow Dash, unsure of what he was doing. Zephyr looked at the sky, then back to her.
Something clicked in his mind, and he finally recognized her face. What’s more, he recognized what was on it. Fear. Rainbow Dash stared up at him in genuine terror, trembling where she lay. It was an almost unnatural sight, and angrily he looked around for the source. As he turned, he saw Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie all hiding in their shelter, looking at him. From the library windows, Fluttershy and Rarity peered fearfully in his direction.
Confused, he turned back to Rainbow Dash. She flinched for a reason he couldn’t figure out. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something in a puddle. Zephyr stepped over to it and stared down into it. Reflected on its surface was a pony he did not recognize. The image’s face looked more like some kind of beast’s, angry and feral. In its storm grey eyes, there was a wild madness that chilled him.
It took a moment for his brain to process what he saw. When at last it struck him, horror filled him to the point of bursting. “No,” he whispered. He looked around at the scorched ground, and the still growing storm. “No,” he said again. He tried to cut off the magic flowing from him to the dark skies, but found he couldn’t. The attempt resulted in a blindingly painful ache from his head that nearly brought him to his knees. The energy continued to pour out of Zephyr and into the maelstrom above. “I didn’t…I wasn’t…”
It’s me, his mind screamed. I did this. I attacked my friends. He looked at Rainbow Dash, unable to form any words. He found he couldn’t look her in the eye. I’m…a monster. The pain came again, this time stronger. He dropped twitching to the ground and screamed wordlessly, unable to stop himself. A hoof tapped him on the shoulder.
He opened his eyes and Rainbow Dash stood over him, worry on her face. No. I can’t! he panicked. “Get away,” he muttered. She shook her head. “Get away,” he repeated, trying to stand. Rainbow Dash tried to help him up, but he shook her away. “Stay away from me!” he yelled. He spread his wings and launched straight into the air. Tears, of pain and guilt, flowed freely as he climbed. Without thinking—thinking was dangerous—he began spinning as fast as he could. The pressure built quickly, feeding on the storm. Another couple of seconds and he stopped spinning. Lightning struck his rear hooves, and with a crack of thunder he began racing towards the Everfree Forest.
* * * *
Rainbow Dash watched Zephyr fly away feeling like she’d been stabbed through the chest. As he left, the storm moved as well, following him over the Everfree Forest. She began to notice a chill from the wind and rain.
Her friends ran over, their faces grim masks of worry. “Are you okay Rainbow Dash?” Pinkie Pie asked. “That was super-duper scary! I thought you were done for!”
“Actually, Rainbow Dash might be the only reason he stopped,” Twilight disagreed. In the panic of everything happening, she hadn’t told the others yet. She did so now. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy all displayed the same shock and hurt that Twilight had. Only Rarity remained silent. Rainbow Dash just sat quietly, and stared after Zephyr. When they stopped talking, Rainbow Dash stood up.
“I’m going after him,” she announced.
“Are you crazy?” demanded Applejack. “Did you see what he just did? If you try an’ go after him, who knows what’ll happen!”
“Applejack’s right Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy agreed. “I mean, I’m sure he’s not doing it on purpose, but he’s way too dangerous right now.”
“I don’t care,” Rainbow Dash said simply. She tested her wings. Still stiff, but flyable.
“Hold on,” Twilight ordered, blocking her with a hoof. “You still owe us an explanation. Why didn’t you just tell us about you two? Why couldn’t you trust us?”
It was Rarity who answered first. “No, she doesn’t owe us any explanation at all,” the alabaster unicorn declared. Everypony, Rainbow Dash included, looked at her in surprise. “It’s true that as friends we can trust each other with anything, but in this, I do not believe it is our business. Rainbow Dash would’ve told us when she was ready, and we have no right to be upset.” She paused. “I…already knew most of it. She came to me before it happened and asked for my help. I didn’t say anything because I knew, as should you all, that it was her decision and nopony else’s.”
Rainbow Dash looked with gratitude at Rarity. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell all of you sooner,” she apologized. “But right now, he’s out there convinced that we hate him after what happened.” She rubbed one of her forelegs awkwardly. “I don’t care how dangerous he is. He needs a friend, and I’m not gonna leave him hangin’.” She spread her wings.
Twilight moved to stop her, but Rarity tapped her on the shoulder and shook her head. “Let her go,” she said. “You said it yourself: She’s probably the only thing that stopped him. He still needs to rid himself of that magic, and if anypony stands a chance of helping him, it’s Rainbow Dash.” Twilight began to protest, but seemed unable to speak.
“I’ll be fine,” Rainbow Dash assured them. She flapped her wings and took off, heading after Zephyr towards the Everfree Forest. I just hope he’s okay when I get there, she thought.
* * * *
Zephyr huddled in the deepest corner of a cave he’d found. He lay trembling on his side, covering his head. Outside, the storm raged violently. Hail had joined the wind and rain, and the occasional blast of lightning struck nearby.
He simply couldn’t fly any farther. This was as far as he’d gotten before his wings failed him. The storm continued to sap his strength, and as it grew a great weight seemed to settle on his shoulders. Cold numbed his body, both from the rain and from his heart. Again and again, he saw Rainbow Dash staring at him with eyes full of fear. Over and over, he watched her flinch away when he looked at her. And then, every time, he would see his own twisted reflection: a creature of rage and destruction.
How can I face her again? he despaired. How can I face any of them? They’ll never forgive me after that! He shook feebly as the magic continued to drain out. The flow was weaker, but steady. How much longer can this last? he agonized. Why is this even happening?
A sound came from the cave entrance. Hooves clattered on stone. “Zephyr! Are you in here?” a voice called. Zephyr stiffened. Her voice. He held still and thought very hard about being a rock. “Come on! Don’t mess around with me!” Rainbow Dash yelled. He heard her getting closer. Before he knew it, she was poking him in the back. “There you are!” she cried in triumph.
Zephyr shrank from her touch. “Go away,” he trembled.
“Why would I do that?” she demanded. “I just followed you here over the Everfree Forest. In the middle of a storm. On a pair of wings stiff from you shocking them,” she added meaningfully.
Zephyr shrank from each statement. “It’s not safe,” he muttered. “Please. Just go.”
“As if!” Rainbow Dash scoffed. She grabbed him by the tail and dragged him out of the corner. He had no energy to resist. “Come on. We’re going back to Ponyville!”
He didn’t respond. Rainbow Dash moved directly into his field of vision and glared at him. Zephyr stubbornly looked away. She repeated this exercise three more times before he finally rolled completely over. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t. Just…leave me alone.”
Rainbow Dash said nothing for a long while. When she did speak, her voice shook. “Fine!” she yelled. “Stay here if you want! I don’t know why I even bothered coming!” She stomped towards the door. “And I really don’t know why I thought I liked somepony who would give up and die so easily!”
With that, she launched herself outside and back into the storm. When she left, Zephyr felt his heart ache. It doesn’t matter what you feel, a voice whispered in his mind. You can’t go back. Especially if you care about her. The only way to keep her safe from you is to stay far away from her. Despite everything, he still felt happy. He’d gotten to see Rainbow Dash again. She’d come to help him.
That thought rolled around in his mind a little. It gave him a single spark of warmth. Don’t think about it, the voice urged. It’ll only hurt worse. His despair swelled, tried to snuff out the last smidgeon of a happiness he didn’t deserve. But despite the crushing pressure of his sorrow, the spark became a flicker, and then a flame.
Heat began to course through his body, and anger of all things filled him. Anger at himself, anger at the storm, and above all else fury at the magic that had taken everything from him. Forget pain, he told the voice. Forget everything. I am not going to cower in some corner! He reached for the magic, seized hold of the flow.
The voice screamed at him to stop, to save himself from pain. Zephyr realized that fear of pain was the only thing that was stopping him. “No more,” he growled, and severed the magical link between himself and the storm. Burning agony consumed him, and all other hurts were dwarfed by this single, destroying pain. In seconds, his world became darkness.
* * * *
Rainbow Dash tried to fly back towards Ponyville, but her stiff wings were already exhausted from braving the storm the first time. Less than a mile from the cave, she was forced to land or risk falling from the sky. Making sure she had the right direction, she started running through the Everfree Forest.
She ran so she did not have to think; not about her friends and certainly not about Zephyr. Nonetheless, the thoughts came anyway. She’d assumed Zephyr would want help, would want to be with his friends. But seeing him lay there, broken in body and spirit, had hurt more than she could explain. What hurt more, though, was him telling her to leave after refusing to so much as look at her.
This is what you were afraid of, a voice in the back of her mind nagged. Why you didn’t want to have feelings. Now, here you are, running from the pain of disappointment.
“Shut up!” she told the voice. She ran faster, and her heavy breathing helped drown out further I-told-you-so’s from the voice. She wondered if she’d just given up too quickly, if she was just afraid to keep going. If she was still afraid to let herself care about him.
Rainbow Dash came to a halt and took a quick breather. She looked back the way she came, and then up at the sky. The rain fell less heavily, and the wind blew with less force. Maybe she was approaching the edge of the storm.
What really burned her up was Zephyr’s attitude. “Does he think I won’t understand?” she asked aloud angrily. “Does he think I’d just abandon him, that he can’t depend on me?” It dawned on Rainbow why her friends had been so upset about her silence. “And why is he giving up so easily? If he likes me so much, wouldn’t he fight harder than that? Wouldn’t he at least try?”
Those last statements rang hollow. As much as Zephyr had done for her, and tried to do, she couldn’t say that. If anything the reverse was true. “Maybe it’s me who needs to try harder,” Rainbow Dash admitted. Unbidden, memories of everything they’d done together flooded her mind. She remembered how much fun it was to fly with him, how annoying it was that he insisted on all his many courtesies. She remembered how happy she’d felt the first time they’d kissed.
Rainbow Dash stomped the ground angrily. “If he wants to be a quitter, fine; but that doesn’t mean I’m one too!” she yelled. She turned back towards the cave. “And if he thinks he’s getting out of that pounding I owe him for my wings, he’s got another thing coming!”
A howl, long and loud, interrupted her dialogue. Rainbow Dash looked around, but seeing nothing decided it wasn’t her problem. She took off towards the cave as fast as she could run. Another howl, this one closer, split the air. Rainbow Dash thought she saw shapes moving in the trees.
Fluttershy had told Rainbow Dash about a number of creatures that dwelt within the Everfree Forest, and most of them were not pleasant company. She kept careful watch on the trees around her, searching for the shapes she’d seen.
She got lucky. Rainbow Dash saw something leap from off to the right and pulled to a screeching halt. The figure overshot her and landed squarely on the ground in her way. With a rumbling growl, it turned towards her. It was as tall as she was, and somewhat longer. The creature was roughly canine-shaped and composed of twigs, branches, and vines. Feral yellow eyes leered at her, and it bore its jagged fangs. The thing tossed its head back and howled loudly. A chorus of other howls erupted into the night from nearby areas.
Rainbow Dash inhaled sharply. Timber wolves! her mind raced. She’d heard tales of ponies who’d fallen prey to the creatures. None of them were safe for young audiences. The athlete knew that as awesome as she was, without full use of her wings she didn’t stand a chance if it came to a fight. She could take one, maybe two, but that just meant the other dozen or so in the pack would get larger portions. She had only one option: escape.
Rainbow Dash took off in the direction she’d heard the fewest howls from. The timber wolf chased nimbly after her, keeping right on her tail. She held a lead of maybe seven feet, and could gain no ground as she maneuvered through the forest. As she ran, she heard more pursuers running off to her sides.
She splashed through countless puddles in her flight, and the rain that made it through the dense foliage of the trees blurred her vision. To her dismay, Rainbow Dash heard more howls directly ahead. She realized she only had one card left to play and opened her wings. They ached and creaked and screamed with fatigue, but she had no choice. Summoning every shred of strength she could, the tired mare began to flap her wings as hard as she could.
Had she not had a running start, it may not have worked. As it was, she slowly lifted off the ground and struggled to rise above the treetops. Flying, she was able to gain a little bit of a lead over the timber wolves. She could see them running after her on the ground and stuck her tongue out at them. “Hah! Too bad you can’t get me up here suckers!” she taunted.
Despite her confidence, she was unable to shake the pursuit. Tired as her wings were, she had to alternate between flapping and gliding. They were too weak to climb higher into the sky, and the winds and rain weren’t helping.
At last, the inevitable occurred. Rainbow Dash’s wings began to drag, and she lost altitude. “No no no no no no no no no!” she chanted fearfully as she drifted closer and closer to the ground. She tried to flap her wings, but could only barely keep them open at all. Desperately, she tried to hit the ground running.
Her luck didn’t hold. Her hooves landed on a slick patch of mud, and she lost her balance. Momentum carried her end over end along the ground until she crashed into a sizable oak tree. By the time she managed to sit up, she was surrounded.
A pack of nearly twenty timber wolves crowded hungrily around her. “Uh, nice doggy?” she said soothingly. “I’m friends with a pony named Fluttershy, maybe you guys have met?” One of the creatures, larger than the rest, stepped forward. A large gash occupied the place its left eye should have been. It growled at her, and the whole forest seemed to shake. The rest of the pack stood silently, watching.
The one-eyed timber wolf stalked closer, preparing to leap at her. Rainbow Dash desperately searched for some kind of escape, but found none. This is it, she thought. I always thought I’d go in a failed stunt or something! Not alone in the middle of nowhere! A small, hopeless sob escaped her. I didn’t get to thump Zephyr like I promised. The timber wolf sprang towards her. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes.
Crunch.
The sound of wood splintering reached Rainbow Dash’s ears. She opened her eyes and nearly cried aloud. Zephyr stood directly in front of her, facing the hungry pack. Joy, greater than any she’d ever felt before, filled her to the brim. A few feet away lay a very surprised timber wolf, sporting a brand new hoof-shaped dent in its side. It staggered upright, rage clearly visible on its scarred face. The creature growled, and several members of the pack started forward.
Their advance halted, however, when bolts of lightning struck the earth directly in front of them. “Stay back!” growled Zephyr coldly. He drew himself up to his full height and spread his wings. Usually Rainbow Dash would have called it a cheap trick to appear larger, but it actually did look rather impressive. The timber wolves yipped and barked at the display, and the one-eyed one (she guessed it was the leader) stepped towards Zephyr.
“You can’t have her,” he growled at the beast. It snarled viciously in response. The timber wolf gave a growl of its own, another deep, rumbling blast. Zephyr raised a hoof and brought it heavily to the ground. A booming crash of thunder erupted from where it struck, and again the pack stirred uneasily. The leader just locked gazes with Zephyr and did not move.
Rainbow Dash sensed some sort of battle of wills going on between the two. For a moment, everything went still. Eventually, something shifted, and the beast looked away. It traded glances with the rest of the pack, and one by one the timber wolves disappeared into the woods. Soon, the one-eyed creature alone remained in sight. He glared balefully at them a final time before he too vanished into the forest.
Rainbow Dash breathed a sigh of relief. “That was cl—”
She didn’t even see the movement. Before she finished the sentence, she was being crushed in a hug from Zephyr. The grey pegasus held her tightly, as if terrified she’d vanish if he let go. “I love you,” he whispered in her ear.
It had been a long time since Rainbow Dash had cried. Sure she’d gotten a tear or two every so often. Sometimes, she’d even throw little fits if she got worked up enough. But she hadn’t cried, really cried, in years. But hearing those three words that arguably held more magic than every unicorn in Equestria, in the embrace of the one pony she was happiest with, she couldn’t stop herself. She gripped him as tightly as she could, shaking with quiet sobs.
“I love you,” Zephyr repeated. “I love you, and I’m never letting you go again.” He began stroking her matted, rain-soaked mane. Rainbow Dash’s breathing gradually returned to normal, and Zephyr waited patiently for her to recover.
“I thought…I wasn’t gonna make it,” she choked. “I was never gonna see my friends again.” She pulled away enough to look him in the eyes. The billowy grey had faded away, and once again two crystal blue pools looked back at her. “Especially you.”
With no warning at all, she brought her head slamming into Zephyr’s face. He grunted in surprise, reeling back, but did not release her from the hug. “That’s for clipping my wings!” she yelled at him.
Zephyr blinked rapidly, and his face twisted in regret. Sorrow filled his eyes, and he started to look away. “I’m…sorry,” he whispered, voice trembling.
Rainbow Dash turned his face back towards her with one hoof and kissed him. His eyes went wide, then closed. Every harsh word, every angry look, every hurt great or small faded away. They held the kiss for a long time, trapped in a moment of perfect happiness. Unfortunately, it ended when they both needed oxygen. The two broke apart, breathing heavily. “That,” Rainbow Dash told him, “was ‘cause I love you too.”
Zephyr grinned that dopey grin of his and squeezed her tighter. Rainbow Dash noticed it was no longer raining and looked up. The storm was quickly dissipating, and cracks of blue sky began to appear. As she watched, a section of cloud broke apart and sunlight shined down on them.
“I got over the magic build-up,” he explained, sensing her confusion. “It just took the storm a little while to figure that out. I couldn’t have done it if you hadn’t shown up.”
Rainbow Dash flushed a little with pride, before something occurred to her. “Then how did you get that lightning to strike, or make that weird thunder noise?” she asked.
Zephyr shrugged. “The magic didn’t go away, it just stopped hurting,” he answered. Suddenly, his grip slackened, and he slumped onto Rainbow Dash. “Though I’m still pretty run down from the effort,” he admitted, chagrined. “It’s a good thing I didn’t need to fight those timber wolves, or this might have ended badly.”
For some reason, this struck Rainbow Dash as hilarious. She began to laugh uncontrollably. Zephyr joined her. They stood there, laughing and holding each other in the middle of the Everfree Forest for many minutes before they began to head back to Ponyville.
* * * *
“I’m a what now?” Zephyr asked Twilight hours later. By the time they’d walked in to Ponyville, the sun was almost completely hidden behind the horizon. Their friends were waiting for them when they arrived, and Twilight told them she needed them to come to the library. On their way, Rainbow Dash had told a very embellished version of what happened in the woods while Zephyr just rolled his eyes.
“A ventus,” the librarian repeated. “At least, that’s what the book calls it. In ancient pegasus lore, venti were pegasi with control over the weather. They were kind of like tribal shamans,” she explained.
“So he’s some kind of freaky witch doctor?” inquired Rainbow Dash.
“Not exactly,” answered Twilight. “Back then, the weather was wild and unpredictable, and regular pegasi weren’t enough to keep it in check. The venti were the only way they could control it, but they were incredibly rare.” She showed them the entry in the book. “The only way a pegasus could be a ventus was if they survived being struck by lightning three times. Then, they would have to endure some kind of immense pain, which I can only guess means the magical build-up.”
A light of realization flickered in his brain. It has been three times, hasn’t it? he thought absently. Zephyr scanned the page, then closed the book. “So the magic thing…it’s permanent?” he asked.
Twilight shrugged. “I guess so. It was a book of mythology, so this is mostly a guess,” she confessed. “There’s no documented history of their existence. I could ask the princess if she remembers anything about them, but—”
“No thanks,” Zephyr interrupted. “It’s just nice having an answer other than being cursed or a freak of nature.”
“Yeah, you’re a freak in plenty of other ways!” joked Rainbow Dash. She bumped against him playfully, and he bumped back.
“Oh my gosh guys! I just remembered something!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “I promised I’d throw Zephyr a party when he found a house! And now I know where he lives! We can go to Rainbow Dash’s place and have a double party!”
Zephyr and Rainbow Dash both groaned loudly. “No offense, Pinkie Pie,” Zephyr began, “but we’re both kind of wiped out. Can we do it tomorrow?”
Pinkie thought about it for a second, and everypony stared at her meaningfully. “Okie-dokie-lokie!” she agreed cheerfully. “It’s getting’ kinda late anyways.” It was true. The last rays of the sun were disappearing.
“Yeah, we probably better get home before it gets too dark to fly,” Rainbow Dash remarked. “Hey Zephyr, got enough juice to race there?”
Zephyr’s face lit up with a grin. “No, but I’ve got plenty to get there before you do!” he laughed. He ran out the door and launched into the sky.
“Hey! Get back here and say that to my face jerk!” Rainbow Dash called after him. In seconds, she was right on his tail. Tired as they were, neither of them once slowed down as they raced homeward.
* * * *
Twilight and the others watched them go. “Ya know somethin’ gang?” Applejack remarked. “Ah reckon those two’re just right fer each other.”
“They do make a rather cute couple, don’t they?” Rarity agreed.
Fluttershy just nodded, smiling softly. Pinkie, on the other hoof, was much louder. “I still can’t believe Rainbow Dash has a boyfriend!” she giggled.
Twilight wondered if she should put this in her weekly report to Celestia, but finally decided against it. Rarity had been right earlier: it wasn’t really their business.
* * * *
Zephyr and Rainbow Dash lay on the roof of the house they shared, staring at the sky. Thousands upon thousands of stars lit up the night, unblocked by a single cloud. The moon hung overhead in a luminous crescent. The night air was cool and still, and silence stretched for miles around.
“Do you ever wonder how you got here?” Zephyr asked.
Rainbow Dash looked at him curiously. “Whaddaya mean?”
“I mean, of all the places you could end up, of all the lives you could’ve lived, why you ended up in this time and place with the life you have now,” he elaborated. “For instance, you told me the story about how you all got your cutie marks together. Somehow, you, Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity, all ended up here together.”
Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I don’t know. Just dumb luck I guess.”
“Seems like a stretch,” he commented. “I mean, you’re the only living pony ever to perform a Sonic Rainboom. There’s Twilight, arguably the most powerful unicorn in Equestria. Pinkie Pie, who will never be scientifically explained. Me, some kind of legendary storm creature. Not to mention all of you being the six wielders of the Elements of Harmony. All of us, somehow brought to the same place,” he finished.
Rainbow Dash looked at the sky for a minute. “It does seem pretty weird,” she admitted.
“It’s more than weird,” Zephyr insisted. “It’s next to impossible! It’s the kind of coincidence that makes you think that fate exists. And if it does, do our choices matter? Are we just actors in a play, dancing to some kind of script? Do we have any free will?”
Rainbow Dash looked at him in annoyance. “Of course we do!” she told him. “I don’t hang with you guys ‘cause it’s destiny; I hang with you guys cause I want to. I came after you today ‘cause I chose to.” Zephyr began to protest, but she stuck a hoof in his mouth. “And even if it is fate or something, wouldn’t you want it to happen this way?”
Zephyr removed the hoof. “Yes!” he answered quickly. “But sometimes I wonder—”
The hoof came again. This time, Rainbow Dash was smiling. “You talk too much,” she said. The hoof vanished and was replaced with a set of lips. Overhead, the stars flared brightly.
* * * *