"Yo, Zephyr! You there?"

Zephyr was jolted out of his wandering thoughts before looking around wildly. Apparently, both him and Rainbow Dash were already done with wind and weather duties.

"Jeez dude. You've been like this for a few days now. It's starting to weird me out..."

"Sorry... a lot on my mind as of late. Can you repeat what you were just saying?"

She rolls her eyes in irritation. "As I was saying, you will be in charge of both wind AND weather duties while I'm gone. I'm going with my friends to Appleloosa to deliver a tree, so we should be back by the day after tomorrow."

Remembering what was one the schedule, Zephyr grunted. "Right, and tomorrow is a scheduled storm. Fun times..."

"Just don't screw anything up while I'm gone. Last thing I need is to come back to a mess I need to clean up."

All Zephyr did was groan irritation. "Yes, yes I got it..."

Rainbow smirks at the confirmation. "Good, now I've got to get ready for the trip. See ya!" With that, she flew off with a burst of speed, clearly excited about the trip.

Prepare for what? All you're doing is delivering a freaking apple tree with your 'friends'... do they figure it'll be a good bonding experience?

One more sigh later, Zephyr flew to Sweet Apple Acres while slipping back into a distracted stupor. Ever since the incident with Fluttershy entering his house, he had been trying to figure out the meaning behind it all. Unfortunately, this leads him to start ignoring everything going on around him and where he's going.

Which promptly led to him ramming face-first into an apple tree.

I REALLY need to get it out of my mind. All I need to do is avoid Fluttershy to prevent it from happening again. Should be simple enough... yet why does my heart hurt when I think about doing that?

Big Mac was already bucking trees when Zephyr reached where he last left off. He gave the Pegasus a concerned look, but Zephyr simply waved it off with a wing and shook all his thoughts out to focus on bucking.

Both Big Mac and Applejack had noticed Zephyr slipping into stupors whenever he was working there for the past two days. Despite the unconvincing look and tone, Zephyr continues to tell them he's fine, ignoring the unconvinced looks they give him.

Zephyr remembered something important and turned to Big Mac. "Before I forget, I should probably warn you about tomorrow's storm. It'll be a doozy, so make sure to have everything tied down by then." Big Mac nods in thanks before Zephyr's curiosity took over. "Do you know why Applejack's taking her friends?"

"Nnope."

"Hmm..."

Finishing his quota, Zephyr decided to fly into White Tail Woods for some extra flying practice. While he is in good physical condition, he still felt somewhat out of shape despite both of his jobs being rather physical.

"A-are you sure this is alright, Applebloom?"

Sweetie Belle? I haven't seen her or her friends for quite a while, though I guess it IS the start of the weekend. What are they doing out here?

"Ah'm sure of it. This time, we will get our cutie marks!"

"CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS TIGHT-ROPE WALKING, YAY!"

Reaching where the voices of fillies came from, Zephyr noticed that they were pretty high up, and that all three were going to go on the rope at the same time.

They are guts, but they have nuts... wait what? They are nuts, but they have guts, bleah! Can't even think properly anymore...

Still, this is an awkward situation. If I call to them now, it might startle all three of them to fall off at the same time. There's no way I'll be able to safely catch all of them, and the fall would definitely cause serious injury to a filly.

Weighing his options, Zephyr opted to get as close as he could underneath them without being a distraction and hoped for the best. From what he could see, Scootaloo was faring the best as she was using her wings, tiny as they may be, for extra balance. Applebloom was faring slightly less, but her earth pony heritage allowed her more balance naturally.

Unfortunately, Sweetie Bell was--

"EEK!"

-- Faring more poorly than expected. Zephyr quickly leaped up and caught her after she fell off, much to the filly's surprise.

"Wha? Mr. Zephyr?"

"I told you, just Zephyr is fine." Zephyr put her down on the ground after making sure she was unharmed and she beamed at him, happy for the help. Looking up, Zephyr noticed the other two were holding onto the rope and giving him a bewildered look.

Scootaloo spoke up with some hesitation, "how did you know we were here? I could have sworn we told nopony!"

"I didn't. I came here to practice flying and work out, but when heard your voices I decided to see what you were up to, pun intended." Zephyr gave a mirthful grin at the two still on the rope as they roll their eyes while a giggle sounded from Sweetie Belle. "Don't let me stop you from continuing, though."

This caused more bewildered looks, but Applebloom spoke this time. "Wait, yer letting us continue? But ah thought you would try and get us to abandon our attempt after Sweetie Belle fell off."

Zephyr shook his head. "As harebrained as your idea is, no sense stopping you when you're already attempting it. Plus, since I'm here, I can act as your safety net."

The two fillies still on the tight-rope looked at each other before beaming at Zephyr and continued their attempt. Applebloom was the next to fall off, though I caught her just fine. Scootaloo was close to the other side when the wind coming from the Everfree decided to be a jerk and blow her off the rope.

"Darn it, I was so close too..."

Zephyr gave her a pat on the head. "You tried and that's what matters."

She looked at her flank expectantly before giving a sad sigh. "Well then, what's next?"

As the three fillies pondered the question, Zephyr figured they were safe now and decided to leave, figuring he still needed to practice flying--

"Zephyr, can you help us please?" He turns to look at Sweetie Belle, who was now wearing an innocent face.

"Help you with what? I'm pretty sure you girls already got it figured out."

Now Applebloom's wearing an innocent face. "It's jus' that... Yer the first one to really let us do what we wanted in our attempt to get our cutie marks. Nopony has ever done that fer us..."

Thinking on it, Zephyr let out a sigh. "You girls won't be fillies forever, so I think you deserve to enjoy every bit of it while you can... even if your crusading ideas are all harebrained or unworkable."

Scootaloo's turn to join. "Then could you watch over us when we go on crusades? You seem to be the most 'allowing' pony we've met besides Fluttershy"-- The name earned a wince of pain. --" and you were pretty cool in saving us from falling."

"So essentially, you're asking me to become your 'guardian'? Hmm, can't say I would have enough time to--"

"Pleeeeeease?"

Okay, that's just plain unfair. I should find a way to write to Princess Celestia about making puppy dog faces illegal.

"Fine, I'll make sure you girls don't hurt yourselves too badly-- oof!" Zephyr couldn't get his sentence out before he got tackled by all three of them to the ground.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Hold up, I want some questions answered first." They look up at a puzzled Zephyr as they crawl off him. "First of all, why are you so trusting of a stallion you've only known for literal minutes? Not only is there potential for 'stranger danger', but wouldn't asking your sisters this kind of thing be better?"

Sweetie Belle frowned. "Rarity always shoots down any ideas that we come up with. Applebloom says while both Applejack and Big Macintosh are a little less strict about it, they still remove more than half of our ideas."

Gee, I wonder why...

Zephyr noted the absence of Scootaloo's voice from that chorus. "What about Rainbow Dash? She certainly would be pretty allowing if you asked her."

She gives a nervous grin. "Uh, i-it's usually because she's so busy, that I could never bring myself to ask her..." One of Zephyr's ears flicked in disbelief, but he chose not to touch on it.

"That still doesn't tell me why you chose to trust me over somepony who's been living here for Celestia knows how long." To say Zephyr was super confused on this subject was an understatement. Manehatten always tried to teach foals the dangers of trusting complete strangers, yet here were 3 fillies doing just that.

After a breif silence, Applebloom spoke up first."W-well, outside of what Scootaloo said, Applejack always said yer a hard worker, and that yer a nice stallion. We figured that if Applejack and Big Mac trusts you, we can as well."

"Don't forget Rarity!" Sweetie Belle piped up. "She told me once that you were "very gentlecoltly" and respectful, which are things she tends to rate highly!"

Saying Applejack and Rarity trust me is a real stretch, plus I wonder why they trust me so much when it's clear Applejack knows I'm lying about certain things. Still, I actually got nothing better to do for the day besides flying practice, so why not?

"Very well... if you believe Applejack, Big Mac, and Rarity have good eyes for ponies, then you've convinced me. However, you should probably say bye to your sisters before starting anything more. They're leaving for Appleloosa this afternoon." Applebloom and Sweetie Belle gasped and dashed off. Scootaloo gave a sad sigh before running off as well, something that concerned Zephyr.

"Meet me at Sweet Apple Acres!" Guess I'll go there now...

All day, Zephyr spent time with the Cutie Mark Crusaders to make sure they didn't hurt themselves too much, while shooting down any ideas they came up with that seemed outright suicidal. All throughout, he slowly found a lot of joy in seeing their beaming faces every time he was there to save them from a fall, or when reassuring them if the crusade turned out to be a flop.

"Just keep trying different things. Eventually, you'll find something that you like. After that, it's just a matter of dedication. Remember, it's possible you have multiple talents and it's a matter of finding the correct combination." Zephyr spoke these words to them the first time a crusade crashed and burned horribly in an attempt to reassure them. It somewhat amused him how much vigor they seem to get just by hearing him speak.

As the sun was starting to set, Zephyr decided that the fillies had enough for the day. When he dropped a tired Applebloom off at the farm, Big Mac was surprised to see the group, though he smiled warmly when informed about what was going on with the fillies.

"Yer a good pony, Zephyr. Don' let anypony else say otherwise."

While not expecting the compliment, Zephyr gave him an appreciative nod before taking Sweetie Belle to her house. When she was dropped off, he turned to Scootaloo. "Alright, sorry for leaving you last. Where do you live?"

She shuddered. "I-I can get home on my own just fine." When Zephyr shot her a confused glance, she shook her head and continued, "thanks for being there for us, Zephyr. See you tomorrow?"

That got a chuckle out of Zephyr. "I told you girls already I would join you after overseeing the preparations for the storm. If you're fine going home by yourself, then have a good night and be careful."

"Good night." With that, she scoots off on her... scooter.

Scootaloo is hiding something. Question is; what? I doubt she trusts me enough to let me in on it...

Preparations for the storm went smoothly since it was something Zephyr was used to during his time as a Manehatten wind manager. After helping the rest of the weather team set up the clouds and charging the wind currents to increase wind speed when the storm starts, he went to the farm as per usual. Big Mac was outside reinforcing the barn so that it doesn't blow over.

"Heya, all ready for the storm?"

"Eeyup."

"Need any other work done?"

"Nnope."

"Alright. I promised your little sister and her friends that I would be here for them again today. Didn't think I was THAT likeable..."

"Hey Zephyr!" He turns just in time to see Scootaloo riding into the farm with Sweetie Belle in tow. Applebloom had just left her house and hopped into the wagon as well.

"Well, the cast is here. Remember, we can't spend as much time outside today as we need to be back before the storm starts later this afternoon."

Scootaloo rolls her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, we got it. Lets go already!"

As the fillies take off, Zephyr rolls his eyes at Scootaloo's comment. After a quick nod to Big Mac, who was observing the exchange, Zephyr took off after them.

"I guess we just came full circle... how long have we been out here for?"

The group found themselves at the same spot Zephyr found the CMC at yesterday.

Applebloom shrugs. "Time can fly when yer having fun."

"I highly doubt it was any funner after you girls decided to include me as part of your schemes. Seriously, I thought my heart would give out a few times!"

"It was still a lot of fun! Admit that you had fun too." Sweetie Belle beamed. While Zephyr did groan, he couldn't get the smile plastered on his face to leave.

Scootaloo was off to the side, pondering. "So what do you think we shou--"

The sound of thunder interrupted her, and Zephyr looked up in horror, realizing that they spent too long outside and that the storm was about to begin. "I think we should wrap this up girls. We need to go now!"

*KABOOM*

The fillies jumped at the lightning strike, before nodding and clamoring towards the scooter. The wind had started picking up.

I miscalculated horribly... if we are to get home safely without getting drenched or shocked, we need to move fast.

Applebloom got home without a hitch, but it had started to rain right when they reached Sweetie Belle's house. It was getting worse by the second.

"Scootaloo, where is your house?" Zephyr had to raise his voice against the wind.

"It's... it's..."

"Crap, if it's on the other side, then we will be totally waterlogged by the time we get there. No choice... sorry ahead of time!" Zephyr picked her up, scooter and all.

"Wah-- hey what are you doing?"

Despite the filly's protests, He flew towards his house with all speed.

Good thing I left the door unlocked. The irony would be palpable if we weren't desperate...

Despite Zephyr's house being close by, the two still got drenched.

"Ugh, hold on a second." he trots to the bathroom to extract a bunch of towels. Coming out, he threw one towards Scootaloo before trying to dry himself off.

He only got his wings dried before noticing that Scootaloo was struggling. "Need a hoof there?"

she gives Zephyr a stubborn look as she fought with the towel. "I can do this myself!"

After observing her for a bit longer and seeing her repeated attempts to dry herself, Zephyr decided to lend a hoof anyways. "Here, let me help." Putting his own towel on his head, Zephyr heard a squeak of surprise as he starts scrubbing her dry.

"T-thanks..."

"Not a problem. Now make yourself at home while I attend to something quick." It was brief, but Zephyr saw a surprised look from Scootaloo before he went up into his room.

I need to change my bandages. They're soaked all the way through and Celestia knows what would happen if somepony sees what I'm hiding under them. I might not be staying here longer than a year, but I'd rather not have these be the reason I have to skip town early...

Dried off and changed, Zephyr head back down to see Scootaloo looking around the house. "See anything of interest?"

She jumped in surprise, but quickly recomposed herself. "You don't really have much here..."

"Sorry about that. I moved in recently and I tend to be rather plain. Regardless, need anything to eat or drink?" She lets out a yawn which prompted a knowing grin from Zephyr. "Or perhaps you need some sleep."

"No I d-don't--" She let out another yawn before rubbing her eyes.

"Methinks somepony was trying too hard during her crusades. If you wanted to stay up later, maybe you should--"

A very soft snore suddenly erupted from the now still filly.

"-- not play so hard..." Shaking his head in amusement, Zephyr carefully picked the sleeping Scootaloo up and took her to his bedroom.

She would probably hate me for thinking this, but she looks so cute while she's asleep.

After covering her with the bed sheets, Zephyr started to exit the room, fully expecting to sleep on the couch.

*KABOOM*

The sudden lightning cause Zephyr to jump a little, but when he heard a whimper, he looked back at Scootaloo, who looked like she was still asleep, but with a scared look on her face.

As if possessed, Zephyr did the last thing he would of expected himself to do: crawling under the sheets with her and putting a wing over the shivering filly. She calmed down almost instantly and started sleeping more peacefully.

Zephyr didn't realize it consciously as he drifted to sleep himself, but he wanted to stay there... to continue comforting the filly... To let her know she's not alone...

Author's Note

This... might be a step backward for me. I know I have pacing issues, but I have yet to figure something out to fix it for future chapters.

Once again, any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.