A Gentle Breeze of Change

by kwr2k13

Chapter Twelve: Ponies in the Neigh-borhood

A Gentle Breeze of Change
Chapter Twelve

Ponies in the Neigh-borhood

With a gentle flap of her wings, Zephyr’s hooves left the ground. Another wing beat later, and the light-grey Pegasus was through the air. Zephyr closed her turquoise eyes and felt the cool breeze on her muzzle.

Just as Zephyr and Autumn were planning to play a little Pegasus exercise called “Follow the Leader” to test out Autumn’s wings, a small filly’s voice screamed out for help!

“Come on, sister, follow me! There is a young filly in distress!” Zephyr called out to Autumn.

Autumn ears flicked forward when the yell for help came out to them. She moved to the right side of her sister. “I am right beside you sister!” She said with a trademark smile that she shared with Zephyr when was ready for business.

Zephyr wasn't here to enjoy the weather; she heard the cries of a filly, and was determined to find her. The Pegasus soon leveled out her body, and swiveled her ears the locate the cries of help.

Autumn mimicked her sister’s movements, keeping up the pace. As the athlete in the family, Autumn kept up her speed to match her sister’s as they both listened and looked for any sign of the younger pony. “You see where the cries are coming from?!” She called out worried they was not going to make it time.

Twisting her body around, Zephyr was able to spot a small patch of clouds; the screams seemed to be coming from there. The light grey Pegasus slowly flew up to the cloudy landscape, only to find a Pegasus filly crying with fear.

“I found the source of the distress, Autumn. Take a look! It’s a small Pegasus filly!” Zephyr pointed to the cloud, where the younger pony was huddled on. She appeared to be emotionally frightened.

Autumn Breeze then landed on the nearby cloud, along with her sister, Zephyr. The sisters took a step closer to the frightened filly with concern in their eyes and kindness in their hearts.

The little filly’s ears twitched as her head lifted out of her light green hooves, her sky blue eyes darted around until they spotted the grey Pegasus and the orange-maned Pegasi near her. She took a step away, with her ears almost flat against her skull.

"Hay there, my names Zephyr, no need to be afraid. This is my sister, Autumn Breeze. Do you need help?" The light grey Pegasus’s lips curved into a smile as her eyes met the filly’s, as did the orange-maned Pegasus next to her.

"N-nice to m-meet you." whispered the filly, taking another step backwards.

Zephyr’s brow furrowed as she realized the filly was obviously very shy. “Please, be careful, kid. You are going to run out of cloud there.” She cautiously warned the filly.

Autumn Breeze peeked around the filly’s shoulders to spot her Cutie Mark. It was a cherry on a cloud.
“Likewise dear.” She called in the sweet motherly voice that she could muster.

“Everything is okay! You are safe now... we are not going to hurt you.” She was still using her sweet voice trying to get the child to relax and not fall off the cloud.

"What's your name?" Zephyr interjected. Compared to her sister, Zephyr could come across as a little less tactful.

The filly didn't answer, but only took another step back from the two mares before her eyes widened. Her hoof didn't meet cloud, only air. She slipped and tumbled off the cloud!

Zephyr’s wings flared as she lunged for the filly, but missed. “I almost had her!” Zephyr exclaimed as her attempt to grab the filly by her fore hooves failed.

Autumn gasped as she saw the young filly fall off the cloud. She didn't think much about it as she jumped off the cloud. Her wings started to flap faster than she had be able to get them to. As if in this moment, everything was rushing to her reminding her some of the things that she had forgotten. As her hooves straight out in front of her. “I got it!” she cried out as she was kept going. As she try to fly under the young one to have her land on her back to be safe but she missed as well, “Crap!” she cried out.

The pegasi sisters dove straight through the cloud bank after the falling Pegasus filly.. “I thought you had her!” Zephyr shook her head. “Come on, sis! You take the lead on this! I know you can do this. I’m right behind you!” Zephyr said, encouraging her sister.

“Okay!” Autumn called out as she didn’t waste much time as she dove faster. “Hang on kiddo! I got you..” She called out to the young filly. As she reached out to the filly, she kept up her speed and endurance. She was moving faster as she shivered; fear was pulsing through her as she feared that she was not going to make it in time.

“Go to the right sis!” she called out thinking that they could meet in the middle and catch the filly. As she told her sister to do this, She banked to the left to meet in the middle.

Zephyr nods, “I’m on it!” Zephyr banked right and took a right wing position. If they were to catch this filly, they would have to work together. In the past, Zephyr and Autumn were very close as sisters could be.

“Okay, I’m in position. That filly’s hooves are flailing. Be careful!” Zephyr warned her sister to be careful about the panicky filly. The rescuers could just easily be knocked out by a falling victim’s flailing hooves, so caution had to be of the utmost priority.

Eventually, Autumn Breeze, the more athletic of the sisters, caught the filly with Zephyr’s aid. The filly was in the safe hooves of Autumn Breeze and Zephyr.

Zephyr nodded in approval of her sister’s saving catch, “Good technique, Autumn! You have really shown improvement!!”

Autumn smiled at the little filly, holding her close to her.

Zephyr showed up by Autumn’s side, making sure the filly was safe. “Whew! That was a close one!” She pointed to the ground, indicating that Autumn should land.

"C'mon, how about we get down to the ground." Autumn said to the filly as Zephyr gave a small nod and a toothy grin. She and her sister carried the filly down and put her back on her hooves.

"Now, I never got your name. Let’s try this again; I’m Zephyr, and this is my sister, Autumn Breeze." Zephyr asked again, hoping the filly would divulge her name.

The filly slid her green and blue mane out if her eyes before replying, "My names Cherry Cloud!" The filly now had a name to her face.

The light grey Pegasus glanced back at Cherry Cloud’s flank before smiling. 'Well, I guess it makes sense.' Zephyr thought to herself.

“Now, can you tell us why you ended up stuck on that cloud? You are a Pegasus, like us, right? Can’t you fly?” Zephyr asked the young filly, hoping to find out how Cherry Cloud ended up where she was.

Cherry Cloud’s cheeks burned red as she remembered her situation. "Um, well, you see. I can't exactly fly yet."

Zephyr gave a sweet smile and asked another question. "If you can't fly how did you get to the cloud,? if I remember correctly, it was very high up!" Zephyr bluntly pointed out.

The filly’s eyes drifted down as she tried to recall what had happened. Then tears began to roll down her cheeks as she remembered, every little detail.
"Oh um..." Zephyr saw the tears and immediately regretted asking that question.
"Oh, I'm sorry, that's your business. You don't have to tell me." Cherry dragged her eyes up to meet the mares. She saw trust and loyalty, these mares could be trusted.

"No, you saved me! You deserve to know! It all started when I was just trying to fly.” Cherry began her tale.

Cherry Cloud recalled the moment she was blown off course while trying to fly earlier in the day..

"Katie!!!" Cherry screamed as she drifted away from her sister, who ran after her. She struggled with her newly found wings but the wind was too strong. her sister stopped running and looked her in the eyes.

"Please, don't go." Katie said, tears welling in her eyes. "Please, I don't care you’re from Equestria and I'm not. Just don't leave me, your my only sister, please... Please!"

Tears began to form as the wind carried Cherry Cloud farther away. She stopped struggling and let the wind carry her. Cherry Cloud soon realized how fast she was going as her sister soon became a small dot on the landscape. She tried using her wings to propel her back to her sister, only to have the wind slowly stopping, and her falling. She scrunched her eyes and her wings beat furiously. She soon waited for the embrace of hard ground, but instead met some sort of soft cushion. Confused, She looked down, only to be amazed once more. She was sitting on a cloud. Rubbing her hoof around it, it felt it would hold her, but at the same time, it feels like she's about to fall through. She soon felt the breeze once more and felt the cloud moving. The air tugged on the white surface as She was carried away. Tears ran down Cherry’s cheeks once more as she let the wind do with her as it will.

Just then, a male voice called out. “Is everything alright?” A grey Pegasus stallion with a white mane asked with concern in his voice. “I heard some screaming I thought someone was in trouble. So I came over as fast as I could and....” The Pegasus stammers for a few trying to remember where he saw that before.

Zephyr smiles at the stallion, brushing her long light blue-green mane with her front hoof. “Everything is fine. Just trying to figure out why this little filly ended up on that cloud. My sister and I saved Cherry Cloud here, and...” She stares at the Pegasus stallion for a moment and blushes, “H-hello, there.” She stammered, trying to remember the name of this Pegasus.

“Name’s Lightning Storm. Pleased to meet you all.” He says with a smile on his muzzle, “So what’s got the filly so scared?”

Zephyr continued to stare at the stallion, keeping herself between him and the small filly. “My name is Zephyr, and this is Cherry Cloud,” she points towards the filly, “and this is my sister, Autumn Breeze. Pleased to meet you. Cherry Cloud had a bad experience on a cloud, but we saved her. I'm sure she'll be okay.

She then turns to Lightning Storm, blushing, "Have I seen you before? I cannot remember,,,” The Pegasi’s mind wondered who this stallion was and what connection she had with him.

The Pegasus stares at Zephyr for a few seconds until he remembered the name that the mare standing before him mentioned: Zephyr. “Zephyr? Uh...I think we met...during the Equestrian Games, right?” He stares at the mare for few moments trying to remember her.

Zephyr looks back towards her sister, Autumn, and then back at Lightning Storm. “Y-es, I was at the Equestrian Games, competing with my sister, Autumn. She was in the Pegasi marathon race.”

Zephyr turns to her sister, smiling, “I recall you winning that marathon race, dear sister.” The light grey Pegasus says to her sister.

Autumn Breeze looked at her sister and smiled, her eyes was all alight as if she was in love or just opening eyes to something. Her eyes drift over to Lightning Storm as she thought of the race, “I sure did!” she smiled, “Nice to meet you.” She chirped to the Stallion.

Then Zephyr turns to Lightning Storm, “I think I remember meeting you there, Lightning Storm. Did we win any competitions?” She asked, still trying to remember, “It’s been a long time since the Games.” The Pegasus paws the ground with a hoof, still trying to remember everything.

“ I know I won something but I’m not sure in what.... I also remember somepony was next to me when I did.” Lightning looks over to Zephyr. “And you’re the only one I remember.”

Zephyr blushed as she remembered the awards ceremony, where she and Lightning Storm were presented with their team competition medals at the Games. She also remembered Lightning Storm gave her a kiss to celebrate their victory. Her sister came up and gave her a big hug!

“I think I remember you kissing me when we received our awards.” She looked over at the small filly and then back at her sister, then back at Lightning Storm. “That was very unexpected of you, Lightning Storm.”

“I think I remember we used to be a couple back in the day.” Zephyr sighed. “That was until we were separated by that Chaotic being named Discord.” She shakes her head, “But, we are all here now! I found my sister the other day, and we were planning to have a nice family outing when this filly was in trouble.” She pointed a hoof towards Cherry Cloud.

Autumn bit her tongue hard hearing the foul creature’s name: Discord. She had a few choice names for that she couldn’t act on because of the young filly near them.

“Yep, we got each other, and that is all that matters now!” She flapped her wings as she was getting used to them now. While her sister had given her a crash course on flying, Autumn experienced a few times failing some of the complex maneuvers. She was not brave enough yet to flip or twist in the air .

Zephyr put an arm around her sister in a loving manner, “I thought I was alone in this world, where there are no ponies, just these “humans.” Some humans are bad and want to harm ponies, while others are nice. I recently met some other ponies who have reawakened in this city. I feel we need to help them, starting with this filly. I am sure there will be others like us.”

Zephyr turns to the others, “Do you have a place where you are staying? Perhaps I should move in with my sister, Autumn. We can take Cherry Cloud with us, and if you want, Lightning Storm, we can find you a place.”

"Anything is better than the hotel I'm staying at. I know that Storm Blower would be happy." Lightning Storm was always mindful of his sister's welfare.

Zephyr recalled that as a Pegasus, they could construct Cloud homes. Most of the residential areas of Cloudsdale were made of clouds. “We are Pegasi, and we can build us a nice house, with a room for Ms. Cherry Cloud, a room for myself and Autumn, and a room just for you, Lightning Storm! What do you say we put our Pegasi abilities to the test?”

"Thanks but no thanks. It’s not I don't want to. Just that Storm Blower can't fly ." His smile fades and looks down at the cloud.

Zephyr nods, “Who is Storm Blower? A relative of yours? Maybe we can help you find her.”

“Storm Blower is my sister, and she’s living with me . The problem is that she can’t fly.” Lightning Storm explained.

Zephyr nodded to Lightning Storm, “Just like Cherry Cloud. Perhaps we can meet up and catch up later.” She blushed as she looked at Lightning Storm,

“We used to date, right? I think I remember you taking me to a restaurant in the Crystal Empire before our competition.” Zephyr approached Lightning Storm. “You remember me, don’t you?”

He stepped back a bit .“It’s hard to forget the mare that makes you tell them you like them. What did you say again?” Lightning Storm rubbed his chin with his hoof as he tried to remember their first date. “It was something like, ‘Get the stupid menu out your face, and I know you like me.’”

Zephyr nods, continuing to blush, “I believe that’s what I said. And, you haven’t changed a bit since.” She goes up to Lightning and smiles. She started to remember bits and pieces of their relationship. “So, I guess we are still in a committed relationship?”

Lightning smiles back and leans in a bit closer, “You haven’t changed either.” He said as he leaned in a little more where their muzzles almost touched.
Zephyr felt Lightning Storm’s muzzle brush her own. She blushed fiercely as she remembered this stallion really liked her. She nuzzled him warmly, and spoke to him, “Does this mean you want me to be your...mare friend?” She whispered to him softly.

Lightning laughed softly , "You really have to ask? I thought it would be obvious by now." He kissed his mare friend.on her lips, hoping she would reciprocate in kind.

Zephyr felt Lightning Storm’s lips on hers as she blushed fiercely. The kiss was soft and inviting as she kissed him back. The kiss that she shared with Lightning Storm was much like the one that they shared at the awards ceremony. Zephyr’s wings spread out in response to her body feeling the sensation of love. “That was...wonderful!” Zephyr said, feeling a bit breathless. She smiled at Lightning Storm, “What do you want to do, now that you have me back?” Zephyr’s turquoise eyes shone like a light, looking directly at Lightning Storm for his response.

"To be honest I'm not sure, but whatever we're going to do, I know that I have you with me." Lightning smiled and kissed his mare friend again. His wings shot out from their warmth.

Zephyr embraced Lightning Storm this time. attempting to stand on her hind legs, wrapping her front legs around Lightning’s neck, and being kissed again. This kiss felt more passionate than the last one, and the light grey Pegasus felt safe in the company of her stallion. She continued to hold the embrace as long as she could. “I really missed your company.” She said, continuing to kiss Lightning as she lowered herself to all fours and spreading her wings.

Comments

[Pink Butterfly]

Uh... sorry I have to say this, but there are too many ponies I'd have to collaberate into my story to collab with you.
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[kwr2k13]

2820858 I am so sorry you cannot be a part of this wonderful story.

It appears Zephyr's colt friend, Lightning Storm, has resurfaced What will happen next?

Thank you Lightning Storm, RavenLight, and sugarush13 for helping me with your characters.