It's been a couple of days since the whole concert ticket hoof-out and Zephyr's apology to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. They agreed that he wouldn't be able to join them all the time, it was agreed upon that he accompanied them at least twice a week. Zephyr knew this particular hole was already dug too deep, so he decided to go with the flow.

Flawless logic if I ever heard it... not.

Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, started acting weird every time she saw Zephyr, even while on the job. He couldn't tell if she was angry, disappointed, or sad about something. The two of them still verbally nip at each other, but there was an awkwardness to it now.

Both Applejack and Rarity were rather happy they could go to the concert in Manehatten, especially with their little sisters. Rarity in particular had to flag Zephyr down to thank him properly while also saying Fluttershy gives thanks too.

Zephyr still avoided Fluttershy like the feather flu, but mentally promised himself that he wouldn't avoid her if she needed him for anything.

Twilight hasn't changed much on the surface, yet Zephyr grew paranoid over getting the odd feeling she's observing him from afar. He wanted to pass it off as his neurotic side being that, but the feeling never went away.

Pinkie Pie still scares him, but Zephyr did attend a welcoming party for a mare moving into Ponyville the other day. While he didn't get her name, he admitted that Pinkie's parties are actually quite good if you're not the honorary guest.

When he's not being distracted by anypony, Zephyr took to wandering the streets during downtime, rather than secluding himself in the house. Thanks to that, he had gotten to know the locals more, though he chalked it up to the whole 'small-town atmosphere' making it easier.

When he took a mental step back to observe his current situation, Zephyr realized he could consider what he has a 'normal' life.

"Are you sure about this, Dashie? Even I couldn't handle the heat from that stuff." Pinkie Pie looked at the cup filled with liquid rainbow with worry. She didn't want to ruin her progress with getting Zephyr to open up.

Rainbow scoffs dismissively. "Don't worry about it. Besides, this will count as revenge for all the shots he's taken at me."

"Still, disguising it as an apology gift? Isn't that taking it too far?"

"Worst case scenario, he starts a prank war with me. I always win those. Plus, if you're worried he'll hate you too for going along, I'll take all the blame. I got a broad back!"

"But still, I--"

Rainbow Dash sighs in impatience. "Pinkie, are you with me or not?"

"I... guess so..."

"Good. Let's get set up for it."

"Ah hate to leave you like this, sugahcube, but I need to catch those varmints!" Some rabbits had apparently gotten brave enough to steal some harvested apples from the farm.

"Right, did you want help?" While Zephyr had yet to fulfill his quota for the day, he wanted to ask anyways.

"Ah'll be fine. Ya'll continue what yer doing." With that, she dashes off in hot pursuit.

I wonder if she knows I could easily out-speed rabbits holding apples. Oh well.

Zephyr kept bucking until Big Mac came along to tell him the quota was done for the day. Even though Zephyr have been there for a while, he hard a hard time keeping track of progress, always ending up bucking more than what was required.

A clinking noise drew Zephyr's attention to what Big Mac was carrying. "Is that bag you're holding what I think it is?"

"Eeyup."

"I can't take it now. I thought you guys needed the money still."

"Nnope."

That got a sigh. He and Applejack are usually insistent about paying Zephyr for his hard work. Sure, I originally came to this job for extra spending bits, but after seeing how tight-knit the family was and how they sometimes struggle to make ends meet, I didn't mind doing charity work. I wonder if I could simply fly off after my quota is done... IF I can keep track of it.

Shaking his head in acceptance, Zephyr simply took the bits anyways. "Thank you." The Apples could be quite stubborn, even more so than he could be.

"Eeyup."

"Right, I'm off. Good luck with the clean up!" With that, Zephyr started walking home with the bits in tow. He noticed that his bandages were starting to feel loose, so he made it a priority to change them.

Hold up, didn't Rarity need something from me? Maybe I should go there first since I don't want to keep her waiting.

"LOOK OUT!" Zephyr leaped into the air purely out of instinct.

I just got an odd sense of deja vu...

Looking down, he saw the crusaders looking up at him with apologetic faces.

"This totally isn't reminiscent of how we first met," Zephyr joked as he flew back down with a smirk.

"Sorry about that," Sweetie Belle piped up. "We were on our way to Rarity's to find out where Rainbow Dash is."

"Oddly convenient. I was on my way there as well, so we might as well go together."

Applebloom's face brightened up when she thought of something. "Could you tell us how you got yer cutie mark?"

That got her a dumb look as Scootaloo groans. "I keep thinking we are going to find Rainbow Dash for that."

Clearing his throat, Zephyr shook his head. "I will concede that Rainbow probably has a better story of how she got hers. Mine is rather... pathetic."

Sweetie Belle gives me a pleading look. "Please? We need all the stories we can get about cutie marks." Applebloom joins in while Scootaloo rolls her eyes and sighs.

Realizing the other two wouldn't take no for an answer, Zephyr sighed in defeat. "Fine, but don't blame me if you fall asleep or come out of this disappointed."

Canterlot Mountain, Ten years ago.

"It happened when I was visiting my grandpa who lives outside of Canterlot."

"Why did he live there?"

"He was originally the esteemed captain of the Pegasus branch of the royal guards who went by the name "Spearwing". When he retired, Princess Celestia allowed him to build a house on the 'outskirts', as he wanted to stay close to Canterlot, but not live inside it."

"Hi, Grandpa!" The younger Zephyr rushed up to the older stallion and hug him. This was one of the few happy times of his life.

"Ah, there's my little squirt!" Spearwing gives the colt a noogie before smiling at Harpsong. "And hows my daughter doing?"

Harpsong gives a smile. "Just fine, dad. Little Zephyr wanted to see you badly, so here we are."

Grandpa Spearwing chuckles at the wording. "Surely you had some desire to come as well?" He looks down at Zephyr. "Regardless, I want to see how much better you became at flying. I still can't believe you could fly at the raw age of eight!"

"Wait, you could fly at MY age?"

"I was apparently a very early bloomer when it came to flying. I'm guessing it's due in part to my larger-than-average wing-span."

"I have gotten better! Watch me." Zephyr flew into the air and start flying loops and dives above the house.

Spearwing chuckles as Harpsong walks up beside him. "His control and speed has gotten better, that's for certain."

Harpsong smiles at the sight. "He's quite the little singer too." She then frowns. "Though he still gets bullied far too much because of who he is..."

Zephyr stop flying around with a sad face. "I... I still haven't gotten my cutie mark yet either..."

That prompted Spearwing to shake his head. "Don't worry about it too much, young colt. Destiny has it's way of revealing itself to you in unexpected ways." When he saw Zephyr's worried face hasn't gone away he added, "there's a field of flowers behind the house. you can frolic there if you want."

"While I did go to the back, I didn't feel like frolicking, as I was still sad over not having a cutie mark. It was one of many reasons why I got bullied at school..."

"What did ya do then?"

"I simply hummed to myself. I usually did so whenever I needed to vent my emotions, even if no-pony was around to hear it. While I can sing, I'm normally not good with making up lyrics."

"I can relate to that..."

With simple hummed sad tone, Zephyr began wallowing in self-pity.

That's when 'it' happened...

"It?"

There was a massive explosion, scaring Zephyr out of his stupor so badly, he wound up jumping high into the sky and clinging to something. When he looked in the direction of the sound, a massive rainbow shock-wave was spreading across the sky.

"Zephyr? Zephyr, where are you?" Harpsong had come calling for her colt, worried for him after such an event.

"U-up h-here!" Zephyr tried calling. He was still shaking so badly that he didn't realize--

"Are you clinging onto... nothing?" Came Spearwing's voice. "No... that's not it."

"Later, dad. Zephyr, I'm coming to get you!"

"N-no, I-I'll try t-to get d-down myself." It took a while, but Zephyr managed to get unclung off the presumed something. When he landed, Harpsong had the look of utmost worry as she hugged Zephyr, while Spearwing looked like he was incredibly proud.

"I can't believe it... my grandson is a natural born." Zephyr's fright melted away into confusion.

Harpsong looked at him with a shocked look. "You don't mean... he clung onto a wind current? there was one right there?"

All that got out of the young colt was confused looks. "Mom, grandpa? What's a natural born?"

"Sweetie, a natural born is a pegasus who can interact with wind currents without training. pegasi born with this ability naturally are rare."

Spearwing nodded before beaming at Zephyr. "I knew you were destined for great things. It seems your cutie mark agrees too."

I look at my flank to see my cutie mark consisting of a pair of wings and a ball of wind with a mic cut into the center. That moment, I felt like the happiest foal alive.

Harpsong smiled warmly at her colt. "Congratulations. Perhaps a treat to celebrate?"

"Yay!" Zephyr pranced into the house, with Spearwing still rambling on how significant a 'natural born' ability was.

Present Time

At the end of the story, Zephyr let out a short sigh. "At the time I didn't care, but as I grew older I started to somewhat resent how I got my cutie mark. Kind of pathetic if you think about it..." When the fillies gave him a worried look, he quickly shook his head. "Don't worry, I'm still proud of what my cutie mark actually represents in terms of talant."

Applebloom put a hoof to her chin. "So, yer cutie mark could come completely by accident?"

"Why do you think I'm so lenient with you three?" Noticing Scootaloo sighing, Zephyr motioned toward the road. "That's besides the point, I held you girls for a bit too long. I'll go with you to Rarity's."

Applebloom and Sweetie Belle climb back into the wagon before Scootaloo takes off with Zephyr flying above her.

Thanks, short-term memory, for being oh-so useful to me today...

Rarity didn't need him until the next day, making Zephyr's trip there almost completely pointless.

"Guess I'll head back home for now. Still need to--"

"Hey Zephyr." He looks to see Rainbow Dash approaching with a somewhat sad face and a cup filled with liquid rainbows.

"What is it, Rainbow? I told you I didn't want to--"

"Actually... I wanted to apologize." This blindsided Zephyr like a tornado. All he could do was give her a surprised look as she put the cup down. "All I've ever done is antagonize you and treat you like utter crap. I've been pushing my ego in your face all this time and attacking you, forcing you to accept my challenges. I've been making your life here miserable and...

"I'm sorry." Rainbow didn't realize it, but she had put genuine thought and emotion into her supposedly "fake" apology. When she finished by bowing her head, she realized she actually felt better.

What... but I... you shouldn't...

When Zephyr thought back on how they always antagonized each other with all of the petty insults and the blows to each other's pride. He folds his ears against his head as thoughts strayed back to that one day. I started it, and she is the one apologizing for it...

"... Shouldn't I be the one saying sorry?" Rainbow looks up at Zephyr in surprise. "After all... on the day of the windstorm, I said something insensitive that you would take offense to. Yet, because of my stubborn pride, I refused to believe it's my fault,--" He closed his eyes in guilt "--that I was the one who wronged.

"When you started antagonizing me over what I said, I threw it back in your face, masquerading as the victim. I started making your life living Tartarus like you did with me..."

"W-what... what are you..?"

"I shunned and blamed you for brandishing the knife, when I was the one to brandish it first. I'm... sorry." Zephyr opened his eyes and saw Rainbow Dash with a very sad face before looking at the cup filled with a rainbow liquid.

His memory flashed to when she threw it in his face that she was the fastest pony in Equestria, only for him to call it into question at his welcome party.

"You're not a pony, you're just a monster!"

I'm the monster...

When Zephyr grabbed the edge of the cup with his teeth, Rainbow Dash cried out in desperation with a, "no, wait!" By the time her words were processed, Zephyr had already thrown his head back to drink the contents.

When the cup was set down, Zephyr noticed Rainbow Dash cringing with tears in her eyes, thinking she completely screwed up.

"...Mmm. Mixed berry with a slightly spicy sub-flavor." upon hearing those words, Rainbow looked up at Zephyr with a shocked look. From the corner of his eye, he could of sworn Pinkie Pie was there with the same shocked look.

"Y-you like it?" Rainbow couldn't believe her ears. There wasn't a pony alive who found the taste of rainbows especially their spiciness, to their liking, yet she just happened to find the one-in-a-million exception.

Zephyr swirls the liquid in his mouth a bit longer before swallowing and sticking his now rainbow-colored tongue at her. "Mixed berry is tied for being my second favorite flavor with grape. Apple being my most favorite. What was it?"

That got a weird look from Rainbow as she stood up. "That was just... liquid rainbow produced by the Weather Factory. Nothing else mixed in."

Now it was Zephyr's turn to look confused. "Liquid rainbow... as in the rainbows used for decorating the sky?" When she nodded, he looked at the cup with a frown. "Why does it taste so good then? I heard ponies couldn't handle their flavor directly."

After some more thought, Rainbow decided it wasn't worth thinking too hard over. "Beats me. Since you like it enough, did you want a pitcher of it?"

"It's fine. I couldn't make you do that..." Zephyr holds a hoof out to her with a small smile. "Want to start clean?"

She looks at him for a bit before smiling and bumping Zephyr's hoof. "Let's start clean. See you around!" With that, she flies away.

I wonder... could the foals in my past have..?

No, they very clearly betrayed me, some even directly joining the bullies. They never tried to make up for it or apologize.

Shaking his head, Zephyr flies home, wanting to re-sort his emotions.

Sugar Cube Corner, a while later.

Scootaloo groaned as Applebloom and Sweetie Belle started hugging her. The six mares in front of them had just found out that they all got their cutie marks thanks to Rainbow Dash's first Sonic Rainboom.

Fluttershy got an idea. "Hey. How about a--"

"Wait, hold on," came Sweetie Belles voice. She was wearing a look of realization when all the ponies in the room looked at her.

"What is it, Sweetie Belle?" Rarity looked at her little sister in confusion.

"All of you got your cutie marks from Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom, yes?" Sweetie Belle got nods all around. "Then aren't we missing somepony?"

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked. her fellow Element bearers looked confused as well.

Applebloom realized what her friend was getting at. "There was one other pony who got a cutie mark thanks to Rainbow Dash."

Scootaloo quickly caught on. "Zephyr! The Rainboom caused him to get his cutie mark as well."

The older mares had a look of both shock and amazement. There was one other pony who was connected to them in that way.

"Then why isn't that silly filly here?" Pinkie Pie dashed out of the bakery.

Applejack looked over and saw Rainbow Dash with a small smile. "Alright, Dash, what has you smiling all of a sudden?"

While caught off guard, Rainbow didn't stop smiling. "Oh, nothing. Just the fact that Zephyr and I apologized to each other today."

Twilight put a hoof to her chin. "You two have been going at it again recently. What made you apologize so suddenly?"

Rainbow scratched the back of her head nervously. "Because it was originally part of a prank I was going to play on him."

Fluttershy stared at her friend, horrified. "T-then your apology wasn't genuine?"

"Let me explain. The plan was to give him a cup of liquid rainbow as an apology. For some reason, I've been feeling hollow ever since I got a concert ticket from Zephyr and I figured that it may of been because I have yet to prank him yet, considering how much we insulted each other." This got Rainbow glares from the other mares and confused looks from the fillies.

"Rainbow! ya knew even Pinkie couldn't handle the taste of liquid rainbows. What possessed ya to do such a thing?" Applejack huffed.

"Let me finish. When I got up to him and delivered the apology, I... couldn't help but put actual genuine feeling behind it. For some reason, it almost felt like a weight was lifted off my back." She frowned and shook her head. "What really struck me was when he apologized. He took all the blame for making me act the way I did, saying that he was 'maska something' as the victim."

Twilight rolls her eyes. "Masquerading."

"That. The final thing he said to me was; 'I shunned and blamed you for brandishing the knife, when I was the one to brandish it first', before drinking the rainbow."

Rarity almost shrieked. "Why didn't you stop him?"

"I tried to, but it was too late. Yet... he likes the flavor of it. Mixed berry with a slight spice to it, if I recall." This got surprised looks all around, minus the fillies who still looked slightly confused.

"He can drink liquid rainbow. Interesting." Twilight mulled over it.

"Come on silly! The others are waiting!" Pinkie Pie was dragging Zephyr across Ponyville towards Sugar Cube Corner. She wouldn't take no for an answer.

"I swear I'm not that special!" He keep trying to tell her that despite getting his cutie mark through the same event she and her friends did.

"You're special to us!"

I'm not even going to touch that.

The only thing Zephyr could do was humor the mares at Sugar Cube Corner while getting swept up in a group hug. While everything else was going on, Twilight was suddenly interested in his ability to drink rainbows without the suffering.

Author's Note

I think my chapters are getting a bit too long...