Screwed By Popular Demand
There might have been a trick to striking up some level of casual chat with a rookie, and Thunderlane really wished he knew what it was. When it came to the new colt --
-- stallion. Zephyr was an adult. There was just something about being around the rookie which insisted on lowering the age for any designation --
-- the problem might have been in dealing with a male. Thunderlane frequently thought of himself as a mare's stallion, at least in the sense that he was more comfortable around them. He casually dealt with the majority population in his everyday life, and when it came to anything more intimate...
He'd been with Firefly for a while. The general consensus around the settled zone was that somepony was getting close to proposing, and most of the bets were coming in on her because when it came to that pairing, she was obviously the bolder.
Thunderlane found it easy to be around mares: no longer having to interact through veils of attraction and fantasy only helped. He had stallion friends, but all of them were on the weather team. And he spent a lot of time with his brother because when you found a colt as determined to creatively wreck himself as Rumble, somepony had to be around to intercept at the future crash site.
But he wasn't a Ponyville native. His family had moved to the settled zone while he'd been in weather college, and he'd requested the assignment as a way of spending more time with his much younger sibling: in the pre-Bearer era, the Bureau had mostly looked at it as a convenient way of having anypony voluntarily choose Ponyville. But it had put him under the command of Passing Shower, and...
...he... didn't want to think about that too much. Passing was gone. From Passing to Passepartout, to use the Prench: a skeleton key which had unlocked its own removal.
Thunderlane wasn't a native. (He'd still been in Ponyville for longer than many, and had picked up a few pieces of precious knowledge along the way. 'Don't interrupt Pinkie on her day off' could save lives.) He didn't have old school friends living in the area, he hung out with the weather team, and he preferred the company of mares. Trying to make any level of connection with a new col -- stallion... it had been a while. Which made it easier to let the rookie start.
Zephyr's personal choice of topics was rather limited.
"So you're not doing anything with your mane."
Thunderlane executed a hovering shrug. "It just looks like this when I get up in the morning."
"Seriously?"
"Ever since secondary school."
The rookie didn't snort. Something about his snout suggested the nostrils didn't have enough surrounding muscle power for the job. Instead, he just looked out at the billow of clouds which blanketed most of the sky over Golden Harvest's farm.
"And this is just us," Zephyr checked. "For the whole job."
"It's basic cloud dispersal," Thunderlane said. "Taking care of strays." Not that these were strays. Thunderlane suspected Rainbow was sending Zephyr through the flight course of her own original durance, and Passing had started her on cloud breakup. His boss had likely been out to the farm before they'd arrived: giving Goldie notice, followed by setting up the job.
Which meant the boss had gotten up early for this.
"Two of us for all this," Zephyr failed to take the point. "Seriously?"
"The sooner we start," Thunderlane told him, "the sooner we can wrap it up."
There was still no snort. Several ribs shifted along the rookie's torso, and did so in a way which suggested they'd just discovered the capacity.
"Fate of all stallions." The tone was almost philosophical.
"Sorry?"
"We do whatever the best-looking mare says." Wings languidly flapped, and Zephyr slowly moved in on the first cloud.
There was a certain trick to picking a good time for speaking with Fluttershy, and Fleur was still trying to master the finer details.
Trying to directly confront her love had a good chance to backfire. There were times when the pegasus simply didn't want to talk about something just yet, and she had very little trouble in going silent: in fact, the only thing easier than assuming that state was maintaining it.
You couldn't corner her. She was very good at wriggling out of them. Fluttershy could usually find a way to get past walls, and a mare who was considerably stronger than she looked had been known to make the occasional attempt at going through.
It was possible to sneak up on a topic. Begin by discussing something else entirely, slowly steer the rudder of the conversation until it was oriented Due Stress. But the pegasus would sometimes pick up on the shifts, and Fleur was a less than ideal captain for any verbal sail.
(She still had to look up 'keelhauling', if only to find out if it could potentially be applied to her current problems. Ponyville did have rivers and a few small lakes. Everything else was presumably just a matter of arrangement.)
When it came to topics which the pegasus preferred to remain buried, talking to Fluttershy was hard. Especially when Fleur knew that bringing something up would upset her love, potentially hurt her --
-- Miranda acted as if it was easy. You were in love with somepony, you lived with them, and so talking just had to come naturally. It didn't. Not when you wanted that love to remain intact. But there were subjects which they had to discuss, and -- realistically, one of them would have been coming up without Zephyr. Approaching with the inevitability of advancing time.
It felt like a possible vector. And so Fleur waited until they were both in the surgery.
The procedure was about as basic as they came, and could almost be considered as common. Various companion species defined 'consumable' as 'anything my pony isn't currently looking at': having the object also be digestible was apparently optional. Add in the inevitable swallowing of fur during self-grooming, and felines were particularly prone to intestinal blockages.
Removal of the obstruction had been a fairly minor thing. Fluttershy had specialized jaw-held clamps to give her fine control of the scalpel, along with the sterile wire which was used for hooking the mass. Magnifying lenses allowed her to see what she was doing on the smallest scale, and Fleur -- mostly observed, because she was a student and her lessons hadn't quite reached this stage yet.
She would likely wind up working with the tools. A unicorn's field could do a lot, but... asking it to operate on very small objects could produce its own form of strain, along with triggering a headache because she was essentially asking her brain to squint. The magnifying lenses would be required no matter what she did, because Fleur couldn't readily affect any object which couldn't be seen or identified. Blind grabs had their own consequences, and when it came to moving one thing which was fully inside another... no.
The unicorn was taking instruction. Along with holding the borders of the careful little wound open with twin lines of soft glow and keeping the sleeping ragdoll perfectly still, because that were two less things for the pegasus to worry about.
The mask-covered mouth carefully adjusted tooth pressure. A little hook of wire moved forward, and then a mass of dripping elastics slowly slid into sight. A cautious movement deposited it on a waiting tray.
Fluttershy released the tool grip.
"...poor Sophie," were the first free words. "I don't think her pony is going to use mane bands any more." With a soft sigh, "At least these were small. Any larger, and they might have gotten stuck in the esophagus. And then..."
Fleur silently nodded. An esophagus obstruction would have been another surgery. One not quite so basic, with the clock potentially counting down a life.
"...do you want to stitch?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yes."
Fleur shifted position slightly, got a better view and allowed her corona to fetch needle and thread. Doing three things at once now...
"...you could try the first stitch by mouth," Fluttershy suggested. "You're getting better on the dolls. See how this goes..."
The unicorn shook her head. "I'm within my limits." Her field dexterity wasn't exactly low. "I'd rather get more practice in first." And I can't talk clearly with the gripper in my mouth. "Let's see..."
The needle was threaded. Sterile metal pierced flesh, weaving in and out. Clean white thread began to acquire stains.
Careful. This is basic, but... be careful.
Let the words come. Talk as if I'm completely focused on Sophie.
While being just about completely focused on Sophie.
It was basic surgery. But it was also a life. And you couldn't trust to luck. Luck would turn on you.
She risked a brief glance at her love, and saw two blue-green eyes return the favor. Fluttershy's mane had been pulled back for this, but -- the pegasus was wearing a mask. Fleur still couldn't see the whole of her face.
When you love somepony, you effectively inherit aspects of their life...
She needed to learn more about her dowry.
"I've been wanting to talk about your parents," Fleur quietly began.
"...why?" was, perhaps, a little too natural.
"Because it's all getting closer," the unicorn reminded her. "We'd be talking about this anyway. More than we have. About what they're like." She kept the pause brief. "About what it was like to grow up with them."
"...because of everything," Fluttershy softly said.
The unicorn nodded. The pegasus took a slow breath.
"...we'd be talking about this anyway," she considered. "Except..." Wing joints loosened. "...now Zephyr's tangled up in it, isn't he?"
"He's tangled up in your past," Fleur carefully responded. "But maybe we can keep him there."
If I can just...
Her love sighed.
"...you were a little too good with your timing," the occupant of the guardian link decided. With a sort of morose bemusement, "I can't go anywhere right now, can I?"
The cottage takes over. But there are times when I can use that.
Let it keep her talking...
But at first, there was only silence. The needle moved, and the deepest of the small wounds began to close.
"...all right," Fluttershy finally said. "For a little while. Not too long, because there's another patient waiting for us. And you have to go into town... are you still meeting Caramel later?"
Fleur nodded. Errands, Caramel, and then the letter. Waited.
With a soft sigh, "...it's... almost funny. I don't think about them very often. I... almost can't."
Carefully, "Why not?"
It's not abuse.
I remember everything Snowflake told me, and I don't think he was wrong.
It's not abuse.
Please don't let it be --
"...because I love them," the pegagus quietly voiced. "So when I think about them... I get scared. You know they're stormbreakers, Fleur. Part of the team which Equestria sends all over the world, to help the other nations. If it's a hurricane, a blizzard, something which has to be stopped before people get hurt... they go in." It was an exceptionally shallow breath. "You have to be strong to be a stormbreaker. Dedicated. Willing to take chances. You have to realize that..."
Both eyes closed.
"...that you might not come back. And then go out anyway. Every time. What was it like growing up with them, Fleur?" Yellow feathers softly rustled. "I didn't."
"Your parents are with the IST, right?" It was as good an opening line as any. And any IST kid was going to have stories. The International Stormbreaker Team were the heroes of the Bureau. The best of the best --
"Yeah."
It had been a rather flat tone, and had carried somewhat less impact than the rookie's hooves as they went into another cloud.
Thunderlane had been watching Zephyr's breaking technique. It was effective, and there was some raw power behind it -- but it was oddly basic. Impact, push, and move away from the spreading wisps. There was no style to it.
...then again, it was possible that he'd been watching the boss for so long as to forget that stunt-free fundamentals existed.
It was a basic use of the magic. It was also incomplete. Zephyr was breaking up the clouds, but he wasn't dispersing the underlying humidity. Without that... the area would look clear for a few hours at best, and then most of the billow would just coalesce again.
Maybe he was going to do all of the moisture at once, at the very end. That might have even been how the IST did it. Thunderlane wasn't sure. Most of what he knew about the team's operations was that he wasn't qualified to be part of them. His strength and skill allowed him to work for a regional weather team. It took somewhat more than that to go international. The boss could probably pull it off, but Thunderlane would have needed multiple illegal boosters and at least six head injuries just to believe he could keep up for five minutes.
"So what's that like?"
Zephyr paused.
The hover was somewhat unsteady in the air. His body wandered left and right, never quite coming back to center.
"Having stormbreaker parents?"
"I'm guessing they told you a lot of stories about the big stuff --"
"-- every storm's the same," Zephyr said, and boredom saturated sodden air. "So's every story. They go out. They save someone. Lots of someones. Then they do it again. For years. That's the IST. You do one thing, and you do it far away." The stallion shrugged. "So anyway... you got a marefriend?"
Thunderlane managed to pull a nod together.
With quadrupled interest, "Does she know anypony who wants to hook up?"
"...it's a big world," Fluttershy slowly began, and Fleur heard a soft swishing as the tail began to sway. "And every part of it has a storm season. There isn't very much magic which predicts weather. It's usually a pegasus domain, and... why does a pegasus need to predict when they can control? Most of what's out there almost feels like it's just a really good guess. With a kick behind it."
Fleur, listening while she moved the needle, decided it was a bad time to bring up meteorology.
"...unless you're out there on your own," the pegasus quietly continued. "And all you can do is predict, because changing things would take more pegasi than a foreign nation has. Or you're using a wonder, one of the old ones, and it just... tells you that something bad might be coming. Or they just see it, because there's signs when it's a big storm forming, especially over water. Things which can reach the shoreline days before." With a soft sigh, "International communication is... hard. Sending word to Equestria, asking for help so it has a chance to get there in time... that's closer to impossible. But there's a few ways. Only a few. Things which only get used in a crisis, because... most of them are too old to repair, or make any more of because no one understands them. So they ask, and... every part of the world has a storm season, Fleur. At least one. And when you add all of them together... it makes a year."
Decibels dropped away.
"...it makes a lifetime. I didn't grow up with my parents, Fleur. I grew up with aunts and uncles and friends of the family who could watch me for a while. Some of them moved in short-term, because we did have a home. But there were times when I got sent to them. And after Zephyr was born... it was 'we'."
The surgery was always a little cold: something which made it slightly easier to maintain sterility. It now seemed to be growing colder.
"They must have been home at least some of the time," Fleur didn't quite argue. "There isn't always an emergency --"
"-- some," Fluttershy quietly agreed. "The longest I can remember was two moons." Paused. "The longest one I can't remember was probably at least six."
"Can't --"
"-- he was always there," her love softly stated. "I can't remember any time when I didn't have a brother. So I don't remember when my mother was pregnant. The IST sends mares home when they're pregnant and for the ones who might forget to mention it, that happens when they start to show. So at least six moons." The sigh was barely audible. "And then there would have been a birth, she would have taken care of him for a while, and -- there would have been another summons. There's always another summons, and they go out every time because there's so few ponies who qualify for the IST. So few ponies for one of the most dangerous jobs there is, to help a big world, and... I'm lucky, Fleur. Not to have heroes as parents, because I know that's what they are. I'm lucky because they kept coming back. It just didn't mean they would come home the next time. Or the next, or the next..."
Every feather shivered. Fleur forced herself to stare at the needle. Sophie was important --
"...I don't think about them very often now," Fluttershy sadly offered, "because when I do -- I think this is going to be the time when they don't come back. And then I'm scared, and it's not a fear I can fight because there's nothing I can do to stop it. There's always going to be storms, and they'll always go out. Until the day they both retire, or... don't come back. And when you're a filly, and your parents are just about all you have..."
A trembling form pressed itself against Fleur's right flank.
"...being a filly," her love said, "was being afraid."
"You want to know about the boss?"
"And if she's with anypony," Zephyr announced with open eagerness. "And if you've heard anything about what she likes. Or what she's like." And because it was only innuendo until you openly defined it, "Especially once she really gets going."
Thunderlane carefully consisted his answer, employment and, in the event that anything got back to Rainbow, his potential remaining lifespan.
Zephyr didn't really talk about his parents or the IST. But he had a level of fascination with mares and sex which was normally only found in either the adolescents who'd just been introduced to both concepts -- or a stallion who was coming off the kind of dry spell which evaporated oceans. This particular specimen had created a rather difficult judgment call.
Going over random Ponyville residents had been awkward enough -- well, mostly random. Zephyr had a clear and open preference for pegasi, and he very obviously hadn't spotted Joyous yet. Ponies who spotted Joyous would either immediately inquire about her dating status or have a freshly-sulking rejection story to pass on. But Thunderlane had no intention of discussing Rainbow's sexual exploits. The weather team collectively treated their coordinator's sex life as the stuff of legends: to wit, there was a very good chance that the consequences of her bedroom actions would lie dormant for a thousand years and then come close to destroying the world.
"She's not dating right now," still felt as if it was risking his life. "And that's all I've got." A little more quickly, "Why don't you ask your sister for some names?" Fluttershy knew a lot of attractive mares. Admittedly, every Bearer was appealing in a different way, but there was also enough range in the group for at least one pony to trigger curiosity --
-- it turned out that Zephyr could snort. It just happened to make him look like he'd strained something.
"I'm not going to trust her on a mare," the younger stallion instantly said. "She makes bad decisions. All the time. So she's not going to pick a good mare for me."
"Bad decisions," Thunderlane carefully echoed. Hearing that the mare who'd wound up with Fleur wasn't capable of a good pick had left him at a temporary loss for original words.
Aquamarine forelegs briefly gestured, and only did so from the knees down before returning to a low-energy dangle. "She lives on the fringe! When she could live just about anywhere else. Just being on the fringe is a bad decision. That proves she can't make good ones."
Thunderlane took a careful breath.
"It's where she can get space for the animals. It's also where a lot of them are --"
"-- oh, the animals," Zephyr dismissed. "You should have seen her as a filly. Stray birds. Injured ones. Not even pets: wild stuff that just screams at night and takes dumps everywhere. And she's still stuck on that." This snort seemed to pull three non-crucial muscles. "You know what she really does? Some ground-level stuff for the Bureau. For years, without getting promoted or put on another post. Because she's scared and weak and afraid all the time, and it's all she can do. The same as always..."
He stopped. Completely failed to notice Thunderlane's staring, and simply sighed.
"So anyway," Zephyr said, "that's why she needs somepony to take care of her. One of the reasons. Even if some of the animal stuff is --" Paused. "So anyway, that's why I came here. Why I've been traveling for a while. To make sure she's okay. Because she can't be, not when she's alone. She can't take care of herself. She never could. Because she can't do anything."
There were several things which Thunderlane could have said, and every choice would have been wrong. He just felt as if he was going with the most obvious.
"What about her work with the Bearers?"
Zephyr blinked.
"The what?"
"How many aunts and uncles do you have?"
A brief movement behind the mask suggested a tiny smile. "...enough. Maybe you should have been listening a little more when Applejack was getting the list..." Which was followed by a small sigh. "Enough that they could all sort of divide it up. Until I was old enough to stay home by myself. Except that... I wasn't."
"Because of Zephyr." The stitches were now sealing the abdominal wall.
"...yes." On a waft of breath, "And... I was old enough to look after myself, but... that wasn't how it worked. Because of him."
Don't say anything.
Give her a few seconds.
Let her talk...
"...he got his growth spurt early. So he was taller than me, so... well, you know, Fleur. When you're taller, you pass for being older." And with a faintly bitter mutter, "Even though I'm older than you... And him. But he just looked older, and... he was strong, where I was weak. Strong in his magic, like my parents. To some ponies, that meant a lot. And things just... flipped. They thought he was responsible for me. When he wasn't responsible for much of anything. But so many ponies still felt like he was in charge. That he needed to be."
Don't go into that just yet. She's barely audible. Give her a side topic.
"How strong is he? Magically."
"...I don't know. He was tested, we both were, but... nopony showed me his results. And 'stronger' was good enough for him." Her eyes closed again. "I had to work for everything. The smallest effects. There were times when I didn't know if I had any real wind techniques, or if I was just flapping enough to raise a breeze." With a tiny sigh, "Not that I can flap very hard. Twilight still has numbers on that. But for him... it was all so easy."
Fleur leaned a little closer to her love. Tried to take even a little of the true weight --
"-- or maybe," the pegasus abruptly said, "he just did the things which were easy."
The unicorn blinked.
"I don't know what you mean."
"...he did a lot of basics in front of me. Because those were the things I couldn't do. Basics, but... nothing advanced. So I never saw how much he knows past that. Basics were enough for showing off. And Zephyr starts things, but -- he doesn't try very hard, for very long. He's never had to. He... only pays attention to what he thinks is important, for as long as he needs it. Like a student who remembers facts just long enough to write them on the test, except that would mean spending time with the book..."
A little too carefully, "Do you remember that one Summer Sun Celebration from a few years back? The one which... went on a little too long?"
"I haven't seen the dawn part in years," Zephyr proudly said. "I was partying until just before Sun-raising. Then I slept though it. And a lot of hours after. That's the way to do summer."
"Changelings?"
He thought about that. "They do smidgens for bits, right? Or was it the other way around?"
Thunderlane looked to the left. Right. Up, down, back, finished the sphere, and then waited for a flash of light anyway.
"Discord?"
It got a frown. "The name's kind of familiar. That's something from school, right?" Zephyr shrugged. "So it's probably boring. So anyway --"
With subtle desperation, "...centaurs?"
Cerise eyes blinked.
"What are those?"
Thunderlane carefully explained. Zephyr's ears responded by keeping the elaborate mane in place, and might have even had other functions.
"So there's one left," the younger stallion said.
"Yes."
"The female."
"Yes."
"And she's single?"
"...yes..."
"Does she buy anypony drinks?"
"What?"
Zephyr shrugged. "A guy's gotta ask."
"...do you read newspapers?"
"Who cares about newspapers? Who's even got time? Besides, it's not as if half that stuff is real. If something important happened, I'd know."
"How would you --"
"It'd be happening to me."
"So you've never heard of the Bearers at all --"
"-- so anyway," the col -- stallion said, "we were talking about Fluttershy. And if you know anything about her, you'll know why I have to see her. To be here. Somepony's got to keep her safe. So I've got to reach her place. As soon as I can. I just need a good reason."
Thunderlane, whose brain was currently responding to the presence of self-possessed willful ignorance through trying to keep his wings going while the cerebrum reset, allowed his neurons to fire off a few semi-random words.
"You could always get a pet and bring it in for grooming."
Zephyr's tongue and lips united to make a sound. It was very much like 'tiksch!' and as inherently dismissive sounds went, made 'So anyway' into the new diplomatic assignment for Prance.
"I don't need an animal. She's already bringing up the average. But if we're talking about her not being taken care of..."
The younger stallion flew a little closer. Several unnoticed wisps of half-dispersed vapor moved that much closer to each other.
The handsome features were now intent. Focused. Listening.
"...what do you know about Fleur?"
Fluttershy slowly shook her head. Shifted her weight away from Fleur. And with that, the subtopic of Zephyr was closed.
"...my parents love me," she said. "And I love them. But their marks were always going to call them away, Fleur. Every time. Sometimes I think I was conceived because it was something to do between storms..."
The giggle was just barely audible, and at least half a lie.
"...they love me," Fluttershy repeated. "But they don't understand me. They never have, and... they love me anyway. You don't have to understand somepony to love them. Not completely. I was... just too different. I wasn't like them, I wasn't ever going to be, and... they loved me anyway. The money which was supposed to put me through weather college... that paid for the cottage. Because it was what they could do for me."
You don't have to understand somepony to love them.
Someone.
They don't even need to be the same species.
Protocera knows that. But... it's so many different bodies, while all being one heart. You have to accommodate for the bodies, because not all griffons can fly or dominari.
Her adoptive parents had made sure she received unicorn magical training --
-- it wasn't their fault...
So many bodies.
But you know the love is the same.
Snowflake had first said it to Fleur, and now she knew where he'd gotten the words. Parents who loved, but -- didn't understand.
Parents who had almost never been there. And a daughter who was -- afraid.
I don't think they're the sort of people who find out their child has phonophobia and set off thunder over and over because it'll force her to get used to it.
Parents who had almost never been there. And a brother who was seen as having taken over.
"...you'll be better for our daughter," Fluttershy softly reassured her. "You'll love her, Fleur. And you'll be there." The mask contorted, shifted by the strength of the smile. "I know you will. You can close up. I'm going to go tell Aeon that we're clear."
The pegasus turned, moved for the door and silently left.
The glowing needle stitched, as the little cat breathed.
The glow flickered.
One heart.
But this is Equestria.
I can be there for her. I can teach her to recognize knee bend angles and tail tuft elevation as signs of link position, and it won't mean anything. Because she'll have a pony's heart.
I'll love her.
But I won't understand her.
She stabilized the needle. Closed her eyes, waited until the moisture had flowed away, and then finished the stitching.
The letter remained unopened.
Maybe there's some sort of trick to finding the pony you'll be with for the rest of your life. Something which the majority of the herd just knows on instinct, and that makes it feel especially cruel.
Caramel's spent a lot of time in reviewing every instinct he was born with. As far as he can determine, there's definitely one for getting up and trotting, because that kicks in a few seconds after birth. This may have a link to the one for suckling (although that wears off after a while), and there's a definite connection to having certain sights and scents set off This Is Scary And I Need To Run Now because when you're already walking on instinct alone, a gallop isn't exactly an advanced course.
But when it comes to locating a mate... to spotting just the right pony at a glance, letting her know that he's serious and then having her stay...
He's trotting down Ponyville's streets because it's spring, his work shift is finished, there's always new ponies moving into town and... in spring, that's when he really thinks about making that connection. Or rather, it's when the need for the link is strongest. Because there are ways in which Caramel searches constantly -- but for the stallion, the season of birth and renewal is also the one of desperation.
Trotting as casually as he can, looking for a specific category of fresh arrivals. A pegasus mare of roughly his own age, who has nopony with her and... might need a little help. Somepony who'll assist her with settling into the settled zone, and that's a non-joke he's made a few times. Definitely a few too many, because he only tells it to each mare once and ideally, he would have liked to retire it after a single performance.
He looks. But there isn't always somepony to look at and when there is... they don't always look back.
Is it something in the way he's supposed to stand? A special set to the tail? Maybe it's a pitch in the voice which only manifests once, or a scent which subtly wafts from the fur.
It has to be instinct, doesn't it? Something you don't need to think about or work at: it just happens. And if it's an instinct... then it's something Caramel was born without.
He's spent a lot of time trying to chase down what he's missing. Time and money, because there were a lot of magazine ads which promised the answers and once his best friend found out about them, she put a stop to that too.
(He tried protesting. Told her that if enough blurry home-printed pamphlets didn't work, then that just narrowed the category down to the one which would. It was just a matter of gaining experience. She'd stared at him for about a second, then told him that they were going to go find a high cliff. The first of what would be a series, all at near-identical heights. And if he gained experience through flinging himself off enough of them, then surely he'd find the plummet which could be survived.)
Caramel can start a relationship. He's proven that. He actually doesn't have a lot of issues there, at least once you discount the free advice which some mares nose over to new prospects: most of those whom he's dated before feel a certain need to share the gossip and on a bad day, some of it's going to be true. But when it comes to maintaining that connection... to finding that one truly special somepony, and having her stay...
...maybe it's him.
It's got to be him.
He... isn't special. Not the least bit.
Look at him. In theory, he could go into modeling: all that's required is for some genius to create a fully-illustrated dictionary and there he'll be, ready to provide the definitive example for 'average'.
For Sun's sake, he's a brown earth pony, and that's about as common as --
-- he can call it on himself --
-- dirt.
(He has wondered why that fur hue turns up so often among earth ponies. Anypony who somehow thought to consult Discord on the matter might just get a lesson in evolution. So many traits can aid in survival, and a degree of natural protective camouflage in a chaos storm might not hurt. Apparently there were entire flocks of pegasi tilting towards sky-blending hues just before the Princesses won, and you still see fillies like Cotton who get lost against clouds, whitewashed walls, and the occasional designer who just screamed past at top speed.)
What distinguishes him from the herd? Nothing. He doesn't feel his appearance is all that special. (His best friend has been trying to teach him about makeup. He trusts her for the hues, but the powders feel strange in his fur and he's still rubbish at applying it.) Mark and talent? Regarded that way, there's at least five of him in every settled zone, and that only holds true if the region isn't populated enough to move the minimum towards fifty.
And he thought he'd found the perfect manestyle, something which matched perfectly to him. He could carry that for a lifetime, as long as he made regular stops at the groomer for maintenance because when that kind of hold failed, it tended to do so with a minor blast radius. And then a certain unicorn...
What makes him special?
Worth being with?
Worth staying with?
Worth... having foals with...
...nothing.
Oh, he does have at least one relatively uncommon set of skills. Experience made him really good at acquiring short-term loans. Some of them were used to keep up interest payments on other loans, at least for those times when he wasn't putting off his rent in order to let those bits take the job. Caramel knows how to build a financial house of cards in a way which allows all of the paper to support itself, right up until the first wind gust hits. And that was necessary, because there's nothing impressive about him, there's nothing special he can give of himself and in that case, there's going to be a gift. Gifts. Enough to do some heavy relationship hauling on their own.
...once. They did that once. The automata he ordered from Mazein for Ratchette could haul a wagon. In a straight line. For a while. Until it bumped into something big enough to put it off-course, and then it would mechanically haul its burden along what it couldn't truly see as the non-road until it bumped into something else. Like a wall. And because it had been built by minotaurs, it would keep right on going because one wall wasn't going to stop it. Neither did four. It had just about reached the other side of the house...
...some of the gossip is true. Just isolate the most embarrassing parts.
The gifts had to impress on his behalf. Speaking for him would have been nice. They didn't spend for him because that was his job, but they did keep the cards teetering. He'd thought he was good with expensive gifts...
...a certain unicorn stopped that too.
He stops. Looks at a mare, smiles. She doesn't pay it any heed and after a few seconds, his legs try to move on.
...she's new. So maybe she's seen him with Fleur. And doesn't know about Fluttershy yet. Maybe she just thinks...
...the funny thing is that there are those who envy him. For Fleur. Because he has the occasional company of the settled zone's most beautiful mare -- it's Fleur or Joyous, and the debates over who's truly in first can keep a bar open well past the mandated closing time -- and doesn't that mean he's doing something right?
Except that they're friends.
Just friends.
(He knows she's beautiful. But she's not a pegasus. Any softness Fleur might possess can't extend into feathers. She can't perch on vapor and be free from the pull of the world. Also, her horn is a biological menace and he's trying not to pull back when she leans in, but why did somepony who's already larger than the average have to pick up some extra length there?)
And when you're friends with Fleur...
...he's average, and Caramel feels that includes his own intelligence. But you'd have to be a lot stupider than the median in order to spend that much time around Fleur and not recognize how controlling she is. Especially when he's been on the receiving end for over a year. She's reworked his budget, she tries to supervise the advancement of his relationships (and how hopeless is he, that having a professional escort as consultant isn't making anything last?), and she can't even stay out of his mane --
-- it's... just who she is.
(He didn't find out about the 'escort' thing immediately. Fleur doesn't talk about herself very much, and he's never heard her bring up any part of her life before Canterlot. Which is fine, because Caramel doesn't want to think about everything which happened before he committed to Ponyville. The local gossip is bad enough. He doesn't need to have any portion of the more distant variety following him.)
If you're friends with Fleur (and how many are? Maybe it's just him, Rainbow, and the police chief), then... you spot it after a while. She can talk about a lot of things (and he knows she's smarter than he is, tries not to resent it too often), but she's not very good with sentences along the lines of 'I like you'. Going all the way to 'You're my friend' isn't casual for her. Trying to seize the reins on somepony's life is how Fleur shows she cares. Because she's trying to make that life better.
Which doesn't mean it can't become really annoying. Fleur seems to feel she has the right to run herd over him...
...she cares. She just doesn't show it in the same way as other mares. She's not very much like other mares at all...
...well, of course she isn't. This one's stayed.
He saw her earlier today. She came into the shop just before his lunch break. Checking on him. They talked outside for a while, in full public view. And it creates a rather common mistake, because...
...what does the herd think somepony like her sees in him? Caramel can't even begin to guess. But newcomers to the settled zone spot them in close proximity and assume they're together.
The tendency to boss him around probably doesn't help with that.
But they're just friends.
She's company.
Life needs company. Because for Caramel, value is found in others. In how they feel about you, and how much you love them. And he's a brown earth pony of average appearance, with a common talent, who works in a candy shop, and he doesn't even have a particularly notable mane any more. He's just...
...single.
He moves through the streets. Looking for the new. For a smile and soft feathers, because he doesn't want to be alone.
(He can't be alone for long.)
But smiles are hard to find. It's a day where nopony even seems to be looking back. And he moves differently when he's alone. It's like the ground is pulling at his hooves with extra force, trying to drag him down and under and now he's alone on the streets, there isn't even a herd for company and --
-- if there's an instinct for finding the one who will stay, then nature was cruel. It's something he lacks, and is it even possible to acquire that which should have been present at birth? But there are things which can be learned, and he's become very attuned to the sound of approaching wings.
Different wings --
-- the griffon lands in front of him. Soft feathers rustle as the limbs refold.
"Hey!"
A word meant to gain attention. (As if her landing hadn't done it already.) Because she's speaking to Caramel. Looking directly at him. Huge golden eyes seem to drink him in.
His breath catches in his throat, and does so as his nostrils flare.
Her beak parts. Just a little.
This turns out to be a smile.
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My goodness, that entire interaction was borderline pleasant. Good for Zeph. Too bad he kept talking.
Woah, Zephyr and Fluttershy having similar reticence to talk about their parents!
hmm... Is Gilda hiring more bodies? Zephyr's unreliability would inspire that, for sure.
Or just wants to learn more about Fleur?
I knew the guy was full of himself but I didn't think he could be so clueless as not know that his sister is one of 6 national heroes who have saved the nation multiple times.
Wow... You've made Zephyr more self-centered and idiotic than the show version... I didn't think that was possible...
...
Okay, there's a million reasons I love this story, but the biggest one right now is that I can't wait for the inevitable moment Gilda turns that blithering idiot into kitty kibble. Or even better, Discord. Because I really want Zephyr to be hurt in some way, shape, or form.
I shall patiently, but eagerly, await the next chapter, Estee. Well done.
Ohhh noooo! Caramel... poor Caramel... your gonna get dragged right into the center of this disaster and your not even gogin to really understand what's goging on.
Damn it Caramel.
I mean, it had to happen eventually, but damn it Caramel.
When she's asleep is always good.
Well, not that one, no. You DO know where it's been.
Cerea would be thrilled I'm sure.
Ooh, this one was rough. I feel bad for Fluttershy and Caramel. Honestly C struck me as someone who could fall into the clutches of Glimmer with how miserable he was. Good thing that won't happen! Oh but Gilda. That's sinister. And with Fleur clearly feeling she should have some responsibility in his life, that's going to go very poorly. I mean, he *is* an adult who (theoretically) has agency and autonomy to make his own decisions, but his complete dependence on being a part of a herd or group, or couple unit, is gonna hamper his ability to make sound decisions. Like has been demonstrated here and elsewhere.
It's an interesting idea, that clash of ideologies: Gilda's desire to break off the pack and forge her own way, in a more healthy person, would actually be good for Caramel to see in action. They could be good for each other. But considering the absolute state of Gilda and her ruthlessness to get what she wants, I can only see this going badly. Unless she can pull up from the nosedive and recover some sense and basic decency and consideration for others besides Rainbow (but it's more of a selfish view of her, like a prize to be won and kept, not thinking about what her actual feelings on the matter of a relationship would realistically be,) Gilda will use Caramel up like a paper towel and throw him away.
Loved getting some time with my fave couple discussing matters. You don't have to understand someone to love them. Damn dude. That's intense. Poor Fluttershy and even Zephyr. He's such an asshole, though. The way he talks about his sister makes me want him to say some of that in front of Fleur and get a righteous beating for his impudence. She's friends with the police chief. She'd get away with it!
I just don't see how Zephyr redeems himself yet. Maybe he will, but he might not. Thank you so much for the surprise update on this story, it means a lot. Also estee a mad lad actually pulling off the crack ship of Caramel and Gilda potentially. Probably not but still. It could be hilarious... (I say after such a dark chapter right before this one lol)
I wonder if when zephyr calls fluttershy weak he being envious of her, someone who longs to be taken care of by others and ended up being the one everyone around him expected to be in charge
11586176
My money on gilda attacking fluttershy and zephyr tries to stop it and ends up in the hospital, which probably be a good thing because it get zephyr and fluttershy talking to each other getting all their issues out in the open
Umm do you think we might get a sequel to The monmusu fic eventually? Your fanfictions helped me get through a rough time in my life.
Oh boy, Zephyr just keep digging himself deeper.
Hmm, and some intersting parallels between the Bearers in general and Fluttershy's parents. I know this will not be the time to bring it up. But Fleur can likely very much sympathize.
So, either this will end really really bad, or, possibly be one of the ways Gilda might gain grounds go get more stable on.
Heh, and nice seeing Caramel seeing through how Fleur deals with relationships.
I love this. Brilliant way to communicate a sensation the reader can't possibly have.
She may not have gone to weather college, but she still ended up very much like them.
He's been coasting on field strength, hasn't he? He was born with a sledgehammer and never bothered learning any degree of finesse or technique because he always told himself that scattered rubble was what he'd been going for. That's why his flight looks so strange; nopony's ever seen a pegasus who flies in the exact way that bricks don't.
Ah, magical archeotech. And, of course, taking them apart to try to reverse engineer them carries the risk of breaking them without getting anything in return.
Filing that one under "Possible Opaline Origins."
Both siblings' takes on their childhood explain so much. Zephyr was always told he was the stronger one who had to look out for his helpless little-big sister, and he's internalized that to a degree that it'd take shaped charges to dislodge.
You know, when I said he didn't have any technique, I didn't mean the pun.
... which is certainly an idea. But no, that way leads to Tartaran jailbreaks.
This will be vitally important, won't it?
Oh, Caramel. Communication is vitally important, and actually saying something is important for both starting something more and letting the higher link know that you don't even understand you're in a chain. Of course, that cut both ways, and Fleur isn't exactly the most open person either. In any case, Gilda's probably going to do a lot more to erode Fleur's base than Zephyr. He may end up hearing about what happened to the last stallion who got on her bad side...
(Caramel might help stabilize Gilda, but she'd need to see him as a person first.)
In any case, looking forward to more.
I'm honestly surprised Zephyr didn't get a Mark in obliviousness.
11586419
Given context and what we learn here, I think his mark may be for his flying technique.
Wind under a feather, right? And he's strong. And his wings are a mess. >.>
Zephyr's mark should be a sponge, because of how self-absorbed he is.
Things are getting really interesting, even if they aren’t necessarily becoming clearer.
So it appears that Zephyr’s special talent is coasting through life, both figuratively and literally. His impressive magical talent is probably being even further boosted by his mark just so it’s that much less effort required to do things. As another reader noted, his odd hovering and flight are caused by his absolute lack of technique, relying entirely on power to do anything.
From what we saw of his perspective a couple chapters ago, he hates the weather bureau because they kept sending his parents out into danger. It’s possible that he refused to learn any proper techniques out of spite as well as laziness.
It’s amazing that he’s gotten to this point while completely ignoring the world around him. Major events happened and he is just completely unaware because, as a narcissist, if it didn’t happen to him then it wasn’t important. From a very young age he was told that he was important and powerful and that it was his job to protect his sister even though SHE is the eldest. It makes sense that being told such things over and over when he was young turned him narcissistic.
Of course, this chapter also reveals something of his intentions, in part; he believes that he must protect his sister, and that she is incapable of protecting herself or making sound decisions. I just don’t know why he has this sudden urgency though.
I do believe that his last visit didn’t end with him trying to steal from Fluttershy, but in fact was him trying to move her out of the cottage. Where was he planning on moving her to, I have no idea.
Come to think of it, how was he planning on protecting her anyway? This was apparently his first experience with actual work, so he hasn’t had a job before coming to Ponyville. How has he been living this whole time without a job? Their parents saved a lot of money to put Fluttershy through college, did they do the same for him? Has he been coasting by just using that cash for food and basic necessities throughout the years until his own share of the college fund ran out?
If that is the case, then what’s he planning to do? As a narcissist who claims that he needs to protect his sister, what is his goal here? Perhaps he really just wants to sell her cottage and keep her cooped up in a cloud home while he parties all that money away like he did with his own college fund.
Wow. Just, wow. I have never seen a dumbass tree planted so far up his own arse. Discord, please fix him.
Caramel is giving off some major incel vibes
Nice cinematic transition here, with the two separate pairs discussing the same subject. I’m often confused by your writing style but I also like it.
Guys do indeed gotta ask even about potentially world-ending entities. Sorry: we just can’t transcend our inherent shallowness! Cerra DOES check those boxes though…
You deep. Everything you wrote here worked out pretty good.
Oh Caramel…
Lovely chapter, full of lovely horsewords. Spent most of my day reading it a bit at a time. Thanks!
Poor Caramel. This won't end well for him. Poor Fluttershy and yes Poor Zephyr. They really didn't have parents did they? They weren't actually raised by anyone, just looked after.
Do like the bit about coat coloration being a evolutionary byproduct of avoiding Discord of all things. Guess being bright and standing out might be a bit of a issue in that regard.
11586722
I don't know. I think he's just lonely. And there is nothing necessarily wrong with that.
Incels are known for their rage. For their anger at women. They feel entitled to sex, and feel slighted. They are often violent, and almost always misogynistic.
Caramel isn't offended. He isn't incapable of accepting rejection. He is just lonely. From what we've seen of his inner thoughts he isn't after pleasure. In fact he has very little problem finding short term partners, and for all his selfrecrimination he does count fleur as a friend. Which wouldn't be the case if he were really as awful as he seems to believe himself to be.
I think he longs for connection. Its not about some unsatisfied desire for a mare that's caught his eye. Its that he wants to be desired. To have someone think "You are my Person". And that tied up with very little self worth.
Now, compare that to Zephyr, whose ego is through the roof. There is a stallion who thinks he should be with the prettiest mare in town because he is so awesome. He never questions "what is wrong with me?" When confronted with the idea that someone isn't romantically interested in him. He asks "What's wrong with them? Can't they see how amazing they are?"
Caramel's issue is that he seems to have tied his own self image and sense of self worth to external validation. He comes across as very vulnerable to how he is perceived by others. A fine trait in moderation, and a critical flaw in excess.
But he doesn't strike me as an incell so much as a Stallion who needs to stop letting others dictate his worth. He - like many humans - has tied notions of success with the idea of "Be successful, have a home, start a family." He feels like he has failed somehow in achieving that model.
I think fundamentally he wants a partner. Connection. Support. Companionship. Foals. He wants that life. To have some greater meaning to his existence. Something that I think many of us can empathise with. Whilst there is virtue in finding happiness with what you have instead of pining for a fantasy life that stubbornly refuses to unfold the way one plans, I don't think there is necessarily malice in that it the way that there would be for an incel.
Now, he is certainly vulnerable to incels and their toxic ideology. Of that there can be little doubt. He's already shown himself to lack plenty of critical thinking when someone offers him a an easy solution. And there is every danger that he could fall into the moping "Woe is Me. Nobody could ever love me." Spiral and from there find himself radicalised by the incel lunatic pipeline. You better believe that it he lived in our world the almighty algorithm would be funneling him the usual YouTube channel's that way "No! The problem isn't you! It's feminism! It's the woke Left" etc. says.
Gilda 's appearance is not a good sign in this regard.
But at the stage he is right now, I think he's harmless. Just lonely, sad and feeling as though he won't ever get the life he wanted for himself. Married to someone in love with him, with Kids. There is happiness to be found is that life, and there is no evil in desiring that life for yourself.
There was a line about Caramel wondering what there Was about him that might make someone want to have his foals. It stood out to me.
Given the themes around parenthood and families, I shouldn't be surprised if Carmel's desire for connection, family and purpose is less about sexual partners and more about having a family.
Or maybe I'm reading into it.
11586690
I don't think even Discord is THAT skilled a proctologist....
11586846
I mean, everything you've said literally applies to Incels. Much like Nazis*, Stalinists** and every other extremist ideology out there it all starts with a small, logical nub that gets warped and warped until it becomes monstrous. Caramel is at the early stages where he (as you correctly identified) can't find self validation so he is attaching it to women, but you can already see the seeds of resentment through his frustrations with women talking to each other, allowing his fetish/prefference to overtake him, adherence to some kind of biological mating ideology*** and attempts to "hack" relationships with gifts and Pick-Up-Artist leaflets.
* "Immigration is causing issues in my community."
** "We are impoverished, with our greedy superiors not treating us fairly"
*** The redpill community literally have dudes measuring their skulls like phrenologists under the assumption women give a shit.
Oh, this is going to hurt Carmel, isn't it?
11586352
Yeah, I'm pretty sure it will. But maybe it won't lead to a disaster? 🤞
11587075
I always liked the Pratchett line of retrophrenology, whereby you get hit over the head to adjust the shape of your skull to alter your personality.
11587169
Henry the 8th vibes.
11587075
Maybe, but I think you're jumping the gun a little. Saying that you get incel vibes from Carmel at this point is a bit like saying you get Fascist vibes from some working class dude who's just lost his job.
In both cases the guy is definitely fertile for conversion by someone willing to offer an easy solution and a scapegoat for his problems - much more so than the average joe - but it's still a tad premature until they actually start digesting the material.
It could totally happen, especially if someone pushes the right buttons. Nobody is immune to propaganda and find the right person on the right day after the right event and its disturbingly easy. It's a very alluring prospect, to be told that the problem isn't you, its everyone else. Nobody is immune to that. Thank goodness Equestria doesn't have TikTok and the Almighty Algorithm streaming Andrew Tate into his head.
But I think for now, we can take Caramel's angst at face value. Caramel isn't happy with his life at the moment and somewhat envious of his friends who are all set up with long term partners. There's no evil in wanting a partner anymore than there is in wanting to be single, and some of those people aren't going to be successful in that. He wants a certain kind of life and that's fine.
I think its notable that he immediately looks inward and wonders if he is the problem, rather than assuming there is some concerted effort to twist society in a way that acts against him. And we know he isn't a bad guy.
Ding! Carmel would make a good loan officer for the bank if he can do two things:
1. Never have female clients.
2. Recognize his duty is to the *bank* to *prevent* giving loans to clients who are not going to be able to pay them back.
Those are pretty high hurdles, but he's gone over higher in search of a mate. And chicks dig bankers.
And the family skillset for Fluttershy, Bearer of the Element of Kindness continues to expand while her brother's special talent is revealed. Zephyr, Bearer of the Element of Cluelessness.
11587239
Or an investment firm, if those exist in Equestria. Just swap out ‘gifts to marefriends’ for ‘investment payouts’ and he’d be incredibly sought-after, since that is a consistent stream of money he’s managing to keep going there in order to pay for rent (if sometimes delayed) and food and the like.
Caramel
I know Gilda has wings, but come on.
Zephyr is somehow even more obnoxious than I. The show but I am kind of here for it. Just wait until he realizes all the things his little sister has done without his help and how he’s really the one who needs help. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know anything past the basics if Thunderlane’s assessment during the cloud busting was anything to go off of.
11586534
Wait... If his Power is Coast, and it's SUPER STRONG, it's like... Have you read The Bounce Test?
Then could it be basically nudging him like Flash's mark does to him? Coincidence that they're both Pegasi? Well, yes, maybe. We gotta work with what the show gives us.
Has he just fallen into his mark???
----
In other things, Gilda's sorta got a luck / talent for finding manipulable guys, all similar to each other. Sorta like Past, Blackmailer Fleur?
Zephyr and Caramel both are looking for love, from what TVTropes tells me, Zephyr's also got rumors in other cities about his romantic habits, while Caramel does too?
"because that were two less things for the"
"because that was two fewer things for the"?
"That might have been even how the IST"
"That might have even been how the IST"?
""What about her work with the Bearers?"
Zephyr blinked.
"The what?""
...
Oh Luna and Celestia Zephyr really?
...Zephyr.
""And she's single?""
[gapes slightly open-mouthed]
...Zephyr, how are you not dead, being that oblivious? Just... wow. That is... wow.
...
ZEPHYR DO YOU EVEN KNOW PRINCESS LUNA EXISTS?
Because at this point I wouldn't be surprised if you'd missed that too.
"that if enough blurry home-printed pamphlets didn't worked, then"
"that if enough blurry home-printed pamphlets didn't work, then"?
"then told them that they were going to go find a high cliff"
"then told him that they were going to go find a high cliff"?
"She's can talk about a lot"
"She can talk about a lot"?
"on somepony's life how Fleur shows she cares"
"on somepony's life is how Fleur shows she cares"?
Thanks for writing!
11586352
It's been previously noted that field strength in the Continuum is entirely dictated by genetics, and can't be improved by exercise or practice. And now Zephyr illustrates the flipside of that: just as no amount of effort can improve field strength, so no lack of effort will weaken it.
And this is probably why Zephyr feels that the world owes him a living, and that he doesn't need to do anything to collect it. As a child, he was given authority and status based on his height and his field strength, two things that were purely a function of his genetics and that he didn't have to do anything to get or maintain.
Although I wonder if the way the Phyllia siblings grew up - shuttled from relative to relative except during the brief periods when their parents were home - also played a factor in this. I would imagine that it is much easier to justify not disciplining a child when that child is not actually yours and only temporarily in your custody. So by bouncing their children from relative to relative like this, Fluttershy's parents set up a situation where there was no one pair with the responsibility and authority to make sure that Zephyr and Fluttershy learned such basic lessons as "other people do not exist for your benefit alone", or "don't take other people's things without first getting permission" or "if you make a mess, you are expected to clean it up yourself and not leave it for other people to fix".
Come to think of it, this is a problem that must be particularly acute in Equestria due to the nature of marks. Fluttershy's parents were borderline neglectful because they were both marked stormbreakers, both sent out again and again by their talent. If only one parent had been a stormbreaker, Fluttershy and Zephyr might have well had a much better upbringing. But of course a stormbreaker is disproportionately likely to marry another stormbreaker, because only another stormbreaker can fully sympathize with one, has the same desires and priorities etched into their souls.
11596432
I can't help wondering who was in charge when their parents were away or were they as bad scootaloo parents in the show. Children should not be mostly in charge of themselves. They need time to develop emotional maturity in order to try to make smart decisions. That doesn't mean that they won't make some mistakes but they will have the wisdom to Hopefully make smart ones as well.
You know, part of the problem with dealing with an idiot like Zephyr here is that it makes it much harder to figure out this "plan" he keeps referring to. With most ponies, you could make at least some deductions about what Zephyr's trying to accomplish by looking at what he's been doing, but Zephyr is such an idiot that just because he thinks his actions will advance his plan, that doesn't necessarily mean that they actually will.
So far, my best guess is that is that he's waiting for Fluttershy's life to spontaneously explode, for her to "prove" that she's unable to manage her life. At which point he will be put in charge again, and he can drain Fluttershy's resources to keep up his slacker lifestyle for a bit longer like Mythic Night suggested.
Also, on a related note, I wonder if Zephyr has ever actually internalized that his parents don't have unlimited funds, that the limiter on their funding his whims might not be just their willingness to pay but also their actual bank balance. I can remember the exact moment when it clicked for me on an emotional level that my parents did not have unlimited money and that getting them to pay for one thing reduced the amount of funds they had to spend on other things, and I feel like that was a major milestone on my journey to adulthood. Given Zephyr's general lack of maturity, I find it quite plausible that he hasn't really internalized that particular lesson, and even faintly possible that he literally doesn't understand that his parents don't possess infinite financial resources.
On a more worrying note, I didn't see any mention of the moisture ever actually being dissipated after Zephyr's partial cloudbreaking. Why do I have a disturbing suspicion that Thunderlane is going to be the one to get in trouble for that?
11587075
11587214
Zephyr and Caramel are starting to feel like each other's foils to me. They both have the same fundamental flaw in that they are absolutely dependent on the visible approval of those around them to function, and are willing to do anything to get others to express that approval... except that their lack of self-awareness prevents them from actually forming a stable relationship which would adequately buttress their ego. The difference is that, despite his flaws, Caramel still possesses some level of self-awareness, a reasonable portion of decency and concern for others, and enough maturity to hold down a job, keep his bills paid (if only technically), and in general function as an adult. Zephyr is essentially Caramel stripped of all his redeeming qualities.
11586352
'exactly like a brick doesn't' nearly woke up my entire house. I have GOT to stop reading at midnight.
11608889
Credit where it's due, that one comes from Douglas Adams in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
11608945
Oh I know, I've read it. I just shouldn't have read it here at that time of night!
(Good old paperback and hot cocoa.
)
11623818
Eyep I'm just forgetful as hell
11586846
Zephyr is the Gaston of the pony world.
How he doesn't know that his sister is national hero when almost everyone in the country knows it is beyond me you have live in the middle of nowhere not to know.
11652679
...Ohhh, right. Sassaflash didn't work out.
Man I wonder how it's gonna affect Zephyr when he finds out that Fluttershy is the one who is actually the most like their parents and leaves contantly to battle dangers. Given how both he and Fluttershy feel about it, I'm guessing he won't react well.
👍