WARNING: This chapter contains a lot of self-inflicted depression and self-hate. Viewer discretion is advised.

This is the last time I'll ever see this view…

As Zephyr flew over Ponyville doing his very early morning wind duties, he took the time to appreciate the scenery the waning night was providing. Not many ponies were out this early, giving an almost completely unobstructed view of Ponyville at it's most peaceful.

Zephyr had come to grips with his decision to move away last night, and informed Cloud Conduct that he could not continue wind management duties for Ponyville.

"Why are you moving away?"

"I... made a fatal mistake. If you want to put a black mark on my weather profile, you're free to do so..."

"It's... clear you're putting yourself through too much. As a favor to you, I'll simply have the contract voided due to 'extraordinary circumstances'. That way you won't have that black mark preventing you from finding employment elsewhere."

"Thank you... and I'm sorry..."

One sigh later, Zephyr touches down in front of what will no longer be his house. Because he never had any plans to stay in the residence, there were hardly any changes from when Zephyr first moved in. Only one thing was different and that was a picture of him at Gummy's birthday party with the mares.

When Zephyr was enraged at them right after the incident, he tried crossing out every one of them, except for Pinkie, in red marker as a way of reminding himself to never forgive them. When Zephyr realized just how wrong he was, an attempt was made to rub the red marker off as best as equinely possible, but it was still clear something was there. It was only last night before going to bed did Zephyr decide to finally cross himself out of the picture in a thicker line.

"I was never meant to be... this painting's main centerpiece..."

The fridge was fully cleaned out already and all of the belongings Zephyr did own here were already packed up. An attempt was made to give most of his bits to Cloud as an apology for leaving so early, but she declined.

"All that's left is to wait for night-time..."

With his saddle bags on the table ready to go, Zephyr lays down on the couch to try and get more sleep, regardless of whether or not he has nightmares. Just as he got comfortable, a knock on the door sounded through the otherwise dead-quiet house.

Who's up at this hour besides me?

Peering through the door eye-hole, Zephyr sees a brown pegasus stallion with a nonchalant look on his face. Breathing a small sigh of relief that it's not one of the mares, he opens the door with a quizzical look. "How can I help you?"

"Zephyr Earthwing? Cloud Conduct wanted me to inspect the house before we clear it for another Wind Manager's use."

That's a bit odd, but I suppose it's protocol, considering they need a place for the next manager to live. "Alright. I'll stay out of your way." Opening the door and letting him into the house, Zephyr returned to the couch. Keeping an eye on his saddle bags as the stallion went about the house, Zephyr made another attempt at relaxing.

It wasn't long before the stallion was 'finished' and Zephyr heard him approaching. "The house passes muster, but I'm afraid something else requires attention."

Before a response could be made, Zephyr felt a sharp pain in the neck. Immediately feeling the affected location revealed a dart stuck in his neck. "Wha... what are... you..." was all Zephyr mustered before everything started fading.

"I'm afraid you're... needed for something else, Zephyr Windstorm." Once Zephyr was out, the brown stallion quietly ushered in his cohorts and managed to bag and transport the unconscious Pegasus.

Three days later.

"Have either of you seen that coward anywhere?" Rainbow Dash had just entered the library where Twilight and Applejack were.

Applejack gave a look of confusion. "Coward?"

The Pegasus gives an irritable groan. "Zephyr! Cloud told me he was to give her the keys for his house a few days ago, yet he didn't. Can you believe that jerk has the nerve to just leave Ponyville without saying anything, especially after what HE'S done?"

Applejack scrunched her muzzle when a certain piece of information crossed her mind. "Ah know that feeling, but perhaps he changed his mind abou--"

"That's not the case. The wind currents haven't been changed at all since that day, and nopony has seen him around town." Rainbow lands on a chair with another irritated huff

Twilight sighed as she went back to the book she had in her magic. "Perhaps you’re worrying a bit too much about it, Rainbow. Didn't you say you weren't going to mention him ever again after Scootaloo missed her chance at seeing him again?"

"I know what I said, but this is completely different! Because he up and left without anypony to replace him, the wind currents might go out of control again!"

Applejack groaned with incredibly mixed feelings. "If yer that antsy 'bout it, then we can go over to his house an' ask him directly."

"You two know that it could take a turn for the worse." Twilight put the book she was reading away. "Cornering somepony isn't going to guarantee he'll go quietly."

Rainbow raises an eyebrow at her Unicorn friend. "It's the only way we're going to get answers. Besides, you said you were still confused over why he treated us like that, even though I told you time and time again that he's just an unappreciative jerk."

Twilight sighs. "I want to believe it's deeper than that. But if you insist, I'll go along with this hay-brained idea. Just don't blame me if the situation turns sour."

"That's fine. If it does turn sour, it'll give me an excuse to kick his flank."

Applejack rolled her eyes at that statement, but didn't comment on it. She herself had entertained the idea of kicking Zephyr's flank into submission ever since he quit apple-bucking, but not only did she know it wouldn't be that simple, what happened at the Gala had softened her feelings towards him.

On the way to his house, they were joined by Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity. The group looked at each other and remembered what had happened at the Grand Galloping Gala.

For Applejack, her night started out rather badly considering she had only sold one pie and that's it. However, when the Wonderbolt who bought said pie came back, he started doing vocal advertising for her stand. That was the turning point for Applejack because she was selling baked goods like nopony's business, though her raw apples were still left untouched.

While the cake idea was a bust because of Pinkie Pie, Applejack couldn't stay mad because, thanks to the Wonderbolt named Soarin, her night turned out much better than it first looked like. But the biggest shock came when she tried to pay him for his help.

"No can do. I advertised for you because I loved your pie that much. if you need to pay anypony, pay Zephyr Earthwing for giving me the idea to do this!

That revelation gave Applejack incredibly mixed feelings. On one hoof, she wasn't quite ready to forgive Zephyr for what he did to her friends. However, the fact he went out of his way to indirectly help her couldn't be denied. Ah'd be lyin' if ah said it didn't soften my feelin's towards him...

Fluttershy was the only other pony besides Pinkie and Twilight who wanted to give him another chance from the very beginning despite what he did. What made the situation worse for her was when she had a run-in with him back at the Gala. The look of pure terror in his eyes when she appeared in front of him in a rage was what snapped her out of it.

She consigned herself to a corner in sorrow after that, but one nightingale apparently decided to give her a chance not long after. Fluttershy soon discovered that particular bird had been comforted by Zephyr and, seeing that the mare completely changed her tune upon seeing the stallion, the nightingale decided to at least try. While it was only one animal out of many, Fluttershy finally felt happy that night.

Rarity was more mixed on the whole situation from the beginning. But after she was finished screaming at the ungrateful stallion that dared to disrespect her and left the Gala, she knew Zephyr really wasn't bad and was more than willing to forgive him after he saved her. He had no obligation to put himself at risk to save me, yet he did so anyways. I don't care if anypony calls me 'easy' over that, I refuse to believe he hates us anymore after that performance.

When the six friends had reconvened at the doughnut shop to get away from how chaotic everything was at the Gala, Twilight was shocked to learn that her friends, sans Pinkie and despite the rough start, managed to salvage their respective nights.

While Rainbow was the only one who's night seemed unaffected by Zephyr, Twilight got the distinct feeling he did try to help her in some unknown way. I wonder if that's what Princess Celestia meant when she said my patience would be rewarded...

One thing was clear to the group regardless of personal feelings. Zephyr was shirking his duties and needed to be brought back out. However, when the group reached Zephyr's house, it was eerily quiet.

Rainbow was the first to speak. "So how do you figure we're going to get in? I say we bust the door down!"

Rarity huffs. "Rainbow I know your feelings towards him, but we should at least try to be civil about this." She knocks on the door, only for it to start swinging open.

Applejack deadpans. "Huh... that was easy."

As the mares enter the house, the first thing they noticed were the saddlebags sitting on the table close to the entrance. "Huh, why didn't he take his bags with him? I can't imagine he's get far without his bits!" Pinkie made the connection since Rainbow told them the keys for the house were never relinquished.

Twilight shivered. "I don't like this. let's check upstairs." Applejack joined her as they climbed up.

"Hey I remember this!" Pinkie held up the picture that was taken on Gummy's birthday.

Fluttershy looked at it and gasped. "W-why is it that somepony tried to get rid of marks on this picture, only for them to cross out..."

Rainbow looked around the house impatiently. "I don't care about that. He need's to show his flank or else we risk having Ponyville's wind currents go out of control again!"

"You sound more concerned about the wind currents than you do about his actual disappearance." All six mares give a surprised look at the light-blue pegasus stallion who had just entered the house.

Rainbow narrows her eyes. "You're one of the guitarists we saw at the Manehatten concert."

"That's correct. I'm Yamaha Strings, main guitarist of the band Three Night's Grace."

Rainbow rolls her eyes. "I already knew that, but that's besides the point. As for Zephyr, we could care less about what happened to him! I just want to know where the buck he went." Twilight gives her a small glare for being included in that sentence while Applejack scrunched her muzzle in contemplation, clearly fighting herself. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie all looked saddened.

Strings sighs in response. "I'm afraid to say he doesn't have the luxury of coming back and that he won't be going anywhere at all."

Fluttershy immediately got aggressive. "What did you do with him?!" Seeing the looks she got, she whimpered and sank to the floor. "I-I'm sorry. I... don't know why..."

"I wish I could say I didn't do anything to him." Seeing the confused looks he shook his head. "I'll be brief. He was foalnapped by a conspicuous group who needed him for their goals. What those goals are, we still do not know."

Rainbow gave him a flat look. "Okay... firstly, how do you know all this and secondly, why would you think we care after all he's done?"

"To answer your first one, my real name isn't Yamaha Strings, that's my everyday and under-cover name. For security purposes I won't disclose my real name, but I can tell you that I had secretly infiltrated that same group under Princess Celestia's orders." This got a small gasp from Twilight.

"Secondly, I'll have to answer that with another question. Is that how you truly feel?" Rainbow recoiled a bit before glaring at him. "If you're under the assumption that he is unaware of what he did, then you are wrong."

Applejack was the first to respond. "Ya mean he admitted to being in the wrong?"

"You make it sound like he instigated it, but I digress. Yes he's admitted to being wrong and started to become depressed because of it." Strings looks at his watch. "Explaining will take too long and I have somepony to pick up. If you even carry a shred of hope he could still be your friend, I recommend listening to this." He pulls a tape player out of his own saddlebag and promptly leaves the house.

Twilight looks at it with a worried face. "I don't like where this is going, but..."

"Don't we have better things to do?" Rainbow was stretching her wings, eager to leave and fly around.

Pinkie gasped. "Rainbow! What a thing to say! Can't you at least give this a chance, especially if what Strings said is true and Zephyr really was foalnapped?"

Rainbow came to a stand-still. She hated Zephyr's guts for throwing their friendship away so haphazardly, yet she couldn't just ignore somepony in trouble. In the end, she decided to stay and hear what the tape had on it.

Twilight pushed the play button after confirming it was at the beginning. At first there was only a bit of static until an unknown stallion's voice cut in with familiar yelling in the background.

"Audio log #342; subject has been captured and brought into lab Sigma P-V for study. Despite the lab's limited capabilities, we will be able to confirm and discover the subject's capabilities, as well as inherent magical connections and reactions. Currently subject is reacting violently to confinement as expected, sample collection is not viable at the current moment."

"That's horrible... trying to tie somepony down like they are some kind of rogue animal!" Fluttershy outburst again, except this time her friends agreed. Rainbow stayed silent.

"Audio log #343; within the same day of admittance to the facility, subject has quieted down to acceptable perimeters. The leader has expressed worry, as the subject calmed down far faster than original projections, leading to concern over the subject's mental and psychological health from before admittance. Blood, feather, and magic samples have been taken and are undergoing research. Leader will communicate with the subject tomorrow."

Now Applejack spoke up. "He... gave up so quickly?"

Twilight shakes her head. "I'm concerned over how they immediately regarded mental and psychological health over why."

Pinkie whimpered. "Was he... unhappy?" once again, Rainbow didn't comment, though she bore a softer look on her face at this point.

"Audio log #344; the leader has requested this audio log to record the conversation between the subject and himself."

The tape fell silent for a bit before fizzling back the audio.

"How are you holding up, Zephyr Windstorm?" Fluttershy let out a gasp at the name as a head-splitting headache came and went in an instant.

It took a bit before the voice everypony in the room recognized spoke up. "Does it matter how I feel in the end?"

"Oh, I was wondering because of my next question. As apologies for suddenly admitting you to this facility, I'm willing to release you in any city you wish with a substantial apology. You only need to--"

"Would it matter if I were to simply stay put?" This confused the mares in the room.

This also confused the unknown stallion. "Are you saying you'd rather not be released at all?"

"Would anypony even care if I just... disappeared off the face of Equestria? Would anypony even bother looking for me?"

"I care about you disappearing, Zephy!" Pinkie cried out despite knowing he wouldn't hear it.

"I... see. I suppose you could be accommodated accordingly in lab Alpha C-L if that is your wish. Before I go, is there anything you would like to say?"

"..."

"No? Then I suppose--"

"I just..."

"Hm?"

"I wish I could take it all back. I honestly do, I honestly do wish... I could take it all back... and not just because I found myself in a laboratory to become a test subject. Anyways... if I were to ever see them again... do you know what I would say? I would say... 'I'm sorry'... sincerely... I am sorry I was bossy... a jerk... and monstrous... and I am genuinely sorry..."

Is this... what he was referring to when he cried at me not to look at him? Fluttershy thought as she fought back tears as hard as she could because of how much the words hurt.

"If... that's how you feel, then why didn't--"

"Why didn't I apologize before this? It's because... I’m a coward. I feared their retribution... at how I wronged them... how I threw their friendship back in their faces. I knew... none of them would ever forgive me... not even Fluttershy, the kindest pony I have ever met..."

"Why did all of this happen?" The unknown stallion's curiosity was piqued and he pressed on, knowing Zephyr was laying his soul out on display.

"It happened because... I let the past blind me to the present. I've had so many friends turn their backs on me... so many betray me so horribly as a colt that... I was rendered unable to see genuine friendship. When my birthday rolled around and they did... what they did to try and give me a birthday party... I simply saw it as another betrayal and lashed out at them, not realizing I would be the ultimate hypocrite."

"So you threw away their friendship?"

"Before Ponyville, I treated friendship as a hindrance... as something worthless. Even after I made friends, I treated it like an obligation, expecting them to adhere to what I felt was acceptable.

"I left Manehatten to run away from my past. I ignored and shunned my friends because I was running away from the fact that I might be wrong. Even after I realized I was wrong, I ran away because I feared retribution... I feared getting what I deserved. That's all I've ever done... is run away.

"I'm tired of running... I'm tired of everything... I... give up."

"You give up?"

"Yes... I doubt anypony... including my adoptive mother... would care if I disappeared. Especially those... six mares, who hate me with every fiber of their beings. I never realized how much I valued them as friends... until it was too late."

"Is that... all?

"I... wish I knew... what it was like...
to care enough... to carry on...
I wish I knew... what it was like...
To find a place... where I belong...

"But... I am machine, I never sleep, I keep my eyes wide open..." When Rainbow of all ponies sang that, everypony in the room knew, in that very instant, that Zephyr was the new singer of Three Night's Grace. "Did he write that song after... he realized?"

There was a silence before the recording cut out, signaling the end. The elements were struggling to come to terms with what was said when an orange hoof rested near the tape recorder.

Rarity was the first to recognize the owner. "Mrs. Harpsong?"

Harpsong simply looked at the tape player with sadness in her eyes. "My sweet, little colt... why did you keep everything to yourself?"

Author's Note

Special thanks to 1 sp34k numb3r for editing this as best as he can.

Also, consider this a bit of an 'original pilot chapter' with two parts.