On The Wings of Wind

On the morning of the day Zephyr was to move back into his home, he woke up to Fluttershy snuggling up to him in his own bed. It didn't really surprise Zephyr when he remembered the night before, when she constantly cuddled with him as if she was trying to get as many in as possible before her brother left.

It's not like I'm leaving Ponyville or anything, but I appreciate it all the same. She's definitely a family-oriented mare.

Moving back into the house was no hassle, although Pinkie threw a "Late, Late Housewarming Party" on that night, making for one heck of a mess the next day.

Zephyr slowly got back into working the morning routine with Rainbow Dash after how long they were working separately. He was still finding it hard to not cringe every time he perceives her getting angry. For Rainbow Dash, she found humor in it constantly but was doing her best to be patient with him in that regard.

One thing she did insist on was overseeing Zephyr's flying practices with his secondary wings, stating that he looked incredibly awkward simply flying with them. Zephyr managed to turn the tables a bit and got a chuckle from the look she gave him upon telling her they haven't been used for at least ten years.

The crusaders sometimes stopped by to watch, much to Zephyr's embarrassment. The way Rainbow "coached" him often lead to what he later dubbed his "epic failures", involving crashing in awkward positions or flying into trees due to attention being so focused on making sure his secondaries were flapping properly. In my opinion, the only good things to come from said failures was the entertainment value to my small audience.

Harpsong informed Zephyr that she was staying in Cloudsdale for a while in order to keep an eye on him, despite his insistence in telling her he was fine. Medishy also visited Zephyr a few times as well, one time to tell his son that he met Harpsong. Zephyr asked about it later and she stated that their first conversation was awkward because of how much he kept thanking her for looking after his son for all those years. That certainly got a laugh.

One thing Zephyr has yet to do was go back to working at Sweet Apple Acres, though he finally apologized to Big Mac and Granny Smith about his abrupt quitting. He also made sure to inform them about his vulnerability to getting drained by Earth Ponies.

They took it rather well, with Granny Smith going so far as to tell Zephyr that there have been far more racist things directed at earth ponies in the past. The fact that Zephyr had no control over it meant to her it wasn't racist at all. I still wonder how old she is. The stories she must know and tell.

In the end, Zephyr's life finally started to settle down in the aftermath of the foalnapping incident and his secondary wings being exposed for Equestria to see. He even dared to hope things would go back to normal.

As Zephyr eventually finds out, they never do in Ponyville.

"You’re starting to get the hang of using your secondaries." Rainbow commented during one of their "sessions" after weather duties were done.

Zephyr let out a frustrated sigh. "I can just barely feel how... natural it should feel, but it still eludes my grasp."

"Your wings certainly look close to being in sync to that point. It's just a matter of keeping at it now." She twirled a bit in the air with a thoughtful look. "Have you felt any faster since you've begun re-training your secondaries?"

After a moment of thought, Zephyr shrugged. "Kind of. Mind you, I doubt my secondaries were meant to add speed. They're more for on-the-fly minor adjustments and as a way to feel out how much wind resistance I'm getting."

She gives Zephyr 'that' look. "Speed is speed. Lets try not to spark THAT argument up again." Zephyr blanches to those words, prompting Rainbow to shake her head. "You've still got a long way to go in terms of not flinching every time you make an off comment to one of your friends."

"I-I'm just always so afraid I insulted you girls when I don't mean to."

She gives a coy smile. "I can still see the family resemblance, personality wise. Regardless, the day isn't getting any younger, so let's keep--"

She was interrupted when a pink mass flew by her and caused her to spin like a top. Zephyr was about to say something when the same thing happened to him, only he spun like a side-load washing machine.

I'm so glad spin trips like this don't make me sick...

"Zephyr! Snap out of it, those clouds are going to get away!"

After quickly correcting his vision, Zephyr flies after Rainbow in pursuit of the oddly pink cloud. Because of her head start, she managed to catch it except, to the surprise of both Pegasi, it didn't disappear like a normal cloud. It actually coated her.

Something witty suddenly came to Zephyr's mind as he smirked. "Doing our best Pinkie Pie impression there, Rainbow?"

"Oh ha ha..." She sarcastically laughed as she shook most of it off her, though some of it still clung to her. Zephyr flinched when she licks it, only for her to adopt a surprised look. "Cotton... candy?"

"Wait, what? Last I checked, cotton candy doesn't fly at break-neck speeds or--" Zephyr suddenly got drenched in what smelled and looked like chocolate milk. Looking up, the two see another pink cloud floating over him. "--Do... that..."

"Still think you're special there, smart-alack?" Was her come-back.

"Fine I deserved it, but I think we have a bigger problem." More "cotton candy" clouds started zooming all over the place, much to their dismay.

As the pair started chasing down the pink clouds to try and get them under control, both heard of insane weather happening all over Equestria, with Cloudsdale getting a... cola storm. Even weirder was Manehatten getting hit with gummy worms that actually moved after hitting the ground.

Not only is that incredibly random but also very creepy... yeesh...

Eventually, the two Pegasi wound up over Sweet Apple Acres and a very confused Applejack. "Rainbow Dash, Zephyr, What the hay is going on with this rain?"

Both flew down in a bit of panic with Zephyr speaking up first. "Technically it's chocolate rain but..."

"There's crazy weather all over Equestria!"

"Cloudsdale's getting soaked by a cola storm."

"Manehatten's getting moving gummy worms."

"Canterlot is--"

"For pete's sake, stop talking in turn like that, yer making my head spin!" Applejack suddenly groaned as she started holding her head with one hoof.

Rainbow and Zephyr look at each other, surprised. She quickly shook it off and said, "Anyways, don't worry Applejack. We won't leave you until we've got everything under control!" Zephyr also gave a swift salute in confirmation before flying back up to start chasing down clouds again, but not before noting that the ground suddenly got coated in popcorn.

As they did, Rarity and Pinkie Pie both appeared though neither of them contributed much as far as Zephyr could tell. The apples on the trees suddenly grew huge, too big for the trees stay upright. Zephyr mentioned to Rainbow that they should of snapped first before bending like that, to which the Pegasus mare agreed.

What finally made Zephyr fully stop and stare in shock was when the bunny Fluttershy was trying to coerce out of eating suddenly mutated into, in his professional opinion, 'something super bucking creepy'. "Sweet, mummified Tartarus, did reality take a lunch break or something?"

"Later, Zephyr! We need to focus!" Rainbow called to him. Slapping his face with both fore-hooves, Zephyr re-psyched himself and got back to chasing.

"Don't worry, everyone. I've learned a new spell that will fix everything." Twilight shouted out to everypony in the area. Rainbow and Zephyr stopped and watched as her horn glowed before covering the area in light.

... Only for nothing to change, much to her shock. "My fail-safe spell... failed! What do we do?"

Thinking he was the reason, Zephyr flew down to her in a panic. "M-maybe it failed because I'm here? Wait, never mind! Plan b, plan b, plan b!"

Spike rolled his eyes. "Twilight doesn't have a plan b. So... we give up now?"

"Really? REALLY right now? Not only are we talking about Twilight here, but giving up because of one failure seems highly unconducive at this juncture!"

Twilight rolls her eyes as Rarity transfers an umbrella onto her. "Zephyr calm down, panicking won't help either. You are right though, I do have a plan b. I need you and Rainbow to corral all of those clouds into one singular spot."

Both of them give a salute before flying back up. Before the two of them were simply chasing them around, but now they actually worked as a team to get them clumped together for Applejack to lasso and bring down. This was followed by Fluttershy using reverse psychology in order for the animals to start consuming the clouds instead of the apples, much to Pinkie's displeasure.

As Zephyr flew back down, he gave Spike a smirk. "Told you she had a working plan b up her sleeve."

He responds with a flat look. "This is coming from the one that was panicking?"

"You, zip it. You weren't the one who got drenched when you were still clueless about what was going on." Everypony noticed that Zephyr apparently operated just fine when dealing with Spike.

Twilight gave an amused sigh. "That's enough you two. Besides, there's nothing we can't overcome with team-work."

Now if only my colthood wasn't so messed up...

Zephyr gave a start and fell to the ground when Spike suddenly belched fire, only for the smoke to form a letter. The display amused Applejack, who was apparently the only one to see it. "Don't worry, sugahcube, yer not the only one to get startled by that."

As Zephyr re-regulated his breathing, Twilight undid the scroll and started reading. "Glad that's the case. I never knew he could do that."

Twilight let out a large gasp. "Girls, we're needed in Canterlot right away! The Princess needs us!"

Right, forgot she was royalty of some kind-- I hope what I did to her wasn't reported.

The other mares looked ready to gallop off but Rainbow, oddly, seemed reluctant. "I know answering the princess is important, but what about the rest of Ponyville? We've only got the portion over Sweet Apple Acres and I don't want to leave everypony else hanging!"

Zephyr let out a sigh before nudging her forward gently with a wing. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it. I'll see if I can't get any other ponies to help me, but it's nothing you should worry about. The Princess' summons are more important."

Rainbow observes Zephyr for a moment before finally nodding. "Alright, I'll leave it to you. Don't let us down, okay?"

"Hey, I want to be at least SOMEWHAT useful in this crisis." This got a snort of laughter out of her before she flew off. Fluttershy gave him a nuzzle before she galloped after her friends.

After watching them disappear from his vision, Zephyr turns to look at the rest of Ponyville, still getting drenched by chocolate rain. "That boat prize from the concert might've came in handy here. Guess I better get started, the day is still young."

It took a little while, but Zephyr managed to organize some ponies who weren't running around in full panic to help with wrangling the strange clouds. Recruiting Ditsy, Snare, Thunder Lane, Raindrops, Flitter, and Cloudchaser to help bunch up the clouds for Iron, Big mac, Caramel, Carrot Top, Time Turner, and Bon Bon to lasso with magic guidance from Electron, Burst, Lyra, Vinyl Scratch, Colgate, and Sparkler. All forming teams of two from each race.

While Zephyr did manage to get them to stop panicking in order for them to help, he himself couldn't help much after that due to chasing after ponies that refused to calm down and sit still. The three "Flower Ponies" were among the worst of them.

Despite that, it didn't take long until the skies of Ponyville were clear of cotton candy clouds. Zephyr quickly found the spot where all of the clouds were being kept. "Wow, quite the haul of cotton candy."

Snare huffed at her band mate, still out of breath. "You... never mentioned... how fast they...were."

Zephyr rolled his eyes. "It wasn't THAT bad. Besides, a little exercise never hurts."

"Snare doesn't fly as much as she should for a Pegasus." There's Electron taking a verbal nip at Snare again. The two entered another intense glaring contest, though one had a massive grin on her muzzle.

Burst shook his head, amused. "Alright, let's just be thankful that episode is over thanks to Zephyr."

When all the attention suddenly turned onto him, Zephyr deflated in embarrassment. "But... I didn't actually do anything. I left all of the hard stuff up to all of you."

Thunder Lane gave him a pat on the withers. "Hey, you managed to get us organized and started. Besides, it's probably no different than overseeing a weather team preparing for a storm."

Raindrops nodded. "Most of us on the weather team can vouch for your organization skills, since you handled a few storms pretty well. Honestly, that brief stint of you not seeing eye-to-eye with Rainbow Dash hurt our capabilities more than we expected, so I'm glad you two made up!"

"Eee..." The praise was making Zephyr even more embarrassed.

"Aw, he really is Fluttershy's big brother." Colgate cooed.

Ditsy rolled her eyes, which was made quite a display with her condition. "I think he's had more than enough attention, everypony." Looking at the bunched up clouds, she sighed. "Too bad my little muffin isn't here."

Forgetting his embarrassment, Zephyr nodded solemnly. "The foals would certainly jump on a chance to eat lots of candy."

Caramel looked around. "Weren't they off on a field trip to Canterlot or something?"

Carrot Top nodded. "Something about a trip to the Canterlot Gardens if I recall. Cherilee's looking after them, so there's no need to worry."

"Ah worry regardless..." Big Mac said softly. His look was mirrored by Ditsy, Sparkler, and Thunder Lane.

I understand as well. I just hope Fluttershy is okay, doing whatever the princess wanted her to do.

Lyra yawned. "Well, we should just hope that whatever is going on, it won't last too long. We should just--" She cut herself off as she adopted a look of horror.

Bon Bon noticed first. "What's wrong, Lyra?"

Lyra pointed and we all looked, only for all of us to adopt the same look of horror.

Reality wasn't just out for lunch, it took a full blown vacation.

Snare grumbled. "Oh great. Not only did all of THAT happen, but those pink clouds returned in full force, making our earlier endeavors completely pointless!"

"I-it's t-the thought t-that c-counts?" Zephyr was so shocked, he wasn't able to--

Is that my house floating over there?

Burst snapped out of his shock and quickly addressed the crowd. "I think we should just head home and hope this crazy... surge of chaos dissipates soon. Unicorns and Earth Ponies, if your house is floating, ask a Pegasus to fly you up to it. Otherwise, hunker down and hope for the best!" Everypony agreed and scattered, leaving only Zephyr and his still shocked look.

"Oh ho! I love it when ponies have that most excellent of looks on their faces when marveling at my work!"

That utterly scared Zephyr as he jumped a few meters in the air before looking around wildly. "W-who's there!"

"Aww, why ask who's there when you could ask when I'm here?"

"W-what do you mean? T-that doesn't make sense!"

"Why, oh why would I want to make sense?" When Zephyr didn't respond, still looking around wildly and even taking to the air, the voice chuckled. "As amusing as it is to watch your reactions-- they remind me of somepony -- it's no fun keeping ponies in the dark."

A flash of light blinded the Pegasus. When Zephyr was able to see he was, once again, horrified at what stood before him. A mish-mash of different creatures on a long, snake-like body with a pony-like head.

As a pony who always liked reading about legends, Zephyr quickly knew who the creature resembled. "D-Discord? I thought... I thought..."

He chuckles ominously again. "You thought I was but a mere legend? Let it be known, my little pony, that one thing always holds water: If there is a legend, it's always true."

The finality behind his words crashed onto Zephyr, both figuratively and literally as the letters bonked off his head. As a colt, he always fantasized about some of the legends being true and that he would eventually be the one to fix everything in the end, finally gaining the respect he wanted. Seeing one such legend before his eyes made his mind turn blank with almost pure fear to the point of having his life flash before his eyes.

Zephyr found himself smack dab in the middle of a legend at play and felt like a powerless little foal.

"But my, I haven't seen your kind around in FOREVER!"

When he felt his secondary wings get touched, Zephyr suddenly realized Discord was inspecting said wings, causing a yelp and backed away from him, only for the spirit to suddenly appear on Zephyr's other side. "I-I swear I don't know y-you!"

"But you do know me, otherwise you wouldn't of known my name." The intro of what sounded like a song suddenly played. "I wasn't talking specifically to you anyways."

"W-what do you mean?"

Discord tutted. "Why bother trying to understand when-- oh, never mind. I'm sure I said it at one point and I don't like repeating myself. Repetition is really quite boring after all.

"Besides, I will answer one thing that may or may not be nagging at you. Why I chose to have a little 'meeting' with you of all ponies." Suddenly he's coiled around Zephyr, who found his wings locked out of fear... and literally locked up. "It's about a certain group of 'friends' that you have. Perhaps it will interest you to know that they never did trust you entirely."

This baffled Zephyr out of his fear somewhat. "What? I-I'm sure t-they trust m-me enough."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Enough to tell you that THEY are the bearers of the Elements of Harmony?"

Zephyr was going to at least try to rebuttal when it got caught in his throat. Thinking back, all six of them did say they shared a "special connection" because of Rainbow's Sonic Rainboom, yet it never occurred to me that the connection was THAT special.

He was also trying very hard to come up with reasons as to why they wouldn't tell him.

Discord disappeared from around Zephyr and reappeared a few meters away, wearing a monocle and holding a sophisticated pipe. "I just figured I would let you know. After all, they quite clearly didn't trust you with such information, especially your own little sister."

Those words made Zephyr shake off his current thoughts. "How do you even know? The only way you would know was..." The implications he just realized made him widen his eyes.

Party sound effects went off around me and he was now wearing a game-show suit. "A winner is YOU for figuring it out so quickly!"

The fact he confirmed it himself made Zephyr bite down most of his fear with rage. "You better not have done anything to my little sister or her friends!"

That got a nonchalant hum out of Discord. "Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. However, I do believe my time with you is up as I need to check on the spoils of my victory. Besides, rage is unbecoming of a pony of your... 'condition'." He gives Zephyr a menacing grin. "I'll be seeing you later, my little Falconite." He disappears in a flash.

Falconite? What is he-- no, there's no time and point to waste pondering something said by a mad being. I need to find Fluttershy and her friends and see if they’re still okay!

Navigating normal Ponyville was okay on a bad day, but navigating reality-on-vacation Ponyville was torture for Zephyr. Nothing was where it should be, the hills seemingly switch colors whenever you start climbing a new one-- the checkerboard patterns didn't help --and the sky kept rapidly switching from day to night and back at random intervals. It quickly wore thin on Zephyr's patience.

Now that I think about it more, one good reason why Fluttershy never told me about the Elements of Harmony thing was for security reasons. They can't exactly prance about, claiming to be wielders of powerful artifacts unless they WANTED to figuratively paint a big red target on themselves. Of course I think of this AFTER Discord up and left, yay me....

There was a flash of light off in the distance at one point, but Zephyr passed it off as Discord doing something. Eventually, he sees a lone candy cloud hovering over a slightly greyed-out pony with a tiara on her head, walking dejectedly. When he got closer, he realized it was--

"Twilight, there you are! I've been looking all over for you!"

She snapped her head towards Zephyr with a scowl which made him balk. "Oh sure, and were you looking for me just to humiliate me as well?"

"What? I wasn't going to--"

"Save it. I've had enough of this!" She growled as she continued walking.

Cautiously flying up beside her, Zephyr gave her a pleading look. "Please humor me, Twilight. What happened? Where are the others?"

"I don't give a buck about the others!" That definitely made Zephyr back off a bit, knowing she definitely wasn't herself if she swore. "With friends like them, who needs enemies? Especially when one's a liar, a grump, a hoarder, and a brute, plus one ditcher. Honestly, I can't understand why you chose to make up with--"

"Wait that doesn't sound like them!"

"Don't know and don't care! I quit! I give up! I'm leaving this pla--"

Zephyr interrupted Twilight when he flew around and landed in front of her. "Is that what you truly believe Twilight? That you have no other option but to give up?"

"My 'friends' have proven otherwise!"

"Then who was one of the girls who came to rescue me when I had practically given up on life?" This only got an irritated huff out of her and I sighed. "Twilight, when I was stuck in that lab, I truly thought that there was nothing left for me. I thought you all hated me and wanted me gone and nopony else would accept me even if I chose to leave the lab.

"Despite my confusion on how you knew about what I said, you and your friends never truly stopped believing in me and saved me from my self-condemned fate. Heck, you in particular never gave up on me even before the whole foalnapping incident! All six of you taught me a lesson I didn't recognize at the time, one that I eventually learned. Never give up."

"You talk about never giving up, but you didn't go through what I just went through!"

"You know full well that I ALSO went through that, through many years of my life." When she still looked unconvinced, Zephyr shook his head despondently before walking past her. "Please, at least THINK your course of action through, if not for me, then for yourself and for your other friends. The Twilight I know wouldn't just make snap decisions like that." Trying to inject a bit of humor, he shoots a smirk at her. "That's my schtick!"

Twilight let out another irritated huff and continued walking, leaving Zephyr behind, which caused a sad sigh. "Believing in your friends and embracing that belief by forgiving failure. It seems... these feelings have vanished from our hearts." Zephyr looks out towards the chaotic landscape, knowing his next course of action. "I'm going to find Fluttershy and see what happened to her."

Not caring if Twilight heard him, Zephyr launched himself into the air in order to get a good vantage point. Seeing Fluttershy's cottage, he flew towards it with the hope that she might be there.

The chaos in the air has a way of screwing with your sense of direction. Because of that, It took Zephyr longer to travel it than it actually looked.

Upon landing near the cottage, he recognized a mutated Angle pacing outside of the cottage with a very worried and scared look on his face. He seemed to recognize Zephyr as well because he ran right up to me and tried saying something.

Sadly, Zephyr didn't have the same connection with ground animals as he did with birds. Without a bird to translate for him he was stuck, which Angel quickly realized as well. His frightened look when he glanced at the cottage told Zephyr enough. "Don't worry, I'll see if I can't do anything to help her. Hopefully my status as her big brother helps my case..." He gives a reluctant nod as Zephyr trotted forward and entered.

"Well if it isn't the cowardly big brother." Zephyr almost didn't recognize her voice because of how smarmy it sounded. When he saw Fluttershy, he was shocked to see her even more greyed out then Twilight was.

"Fluttershy, what are you even--"

"Don't bother. I don't talk to cowardly ponies who launch themselves high into the sky from just a simple hello."

Okay, I'm normally accepting of that limitation of mine, but the way she said it made that actually burn...

"Fluttershy, that is not how--"

She advances on me with a cruel smile. "Not how I what? You're such a pathetic brother I can't believe how much I actually fawned over you. Thinking about it is making me sick, bleagh."

"If that's how you--"

Even that LAUGH sounds cruel. "You know... now that I think about it, I'm far superior to you, a freak of nature who can barely sustain a simple conversation with a NORMAL pony. You're getting more pathetic by the second!"

This is going nowhere if she keeps interrupting me. At this point, I only have one idea but it's a huge risk and I'm unsure about the consequences of the aftermath. Still, I have to try somehow...

"Fu... if you think you're so superior then hit me with your best shot! Let's see how tough you really are!"

This challenge looked like it caught her off guard. She quickly regained her composure and harrumphed. "I'm ABOVE hitting ponies like YOU."

"Oh? Then I guess you're all bark, no bite. I mean, come on. Are you one of those ponies who SAYS they're tough but chicken out when--" That definitely got a reaction as 'Fluttershy' punched Zephyr in the face. He managed to adjust himself so nothing broke from it. Spitting on the ground, he gave her a defiant glare. "Come on! My adoptive GRANDMOTHER could hit harder than you!"

"WHY YOU!" She punched him again, this time in the shoulder.

Gritting his teeth against the pain while hoping to last, Zephyr kept indirectly insulting her with each insult resulting in an attack. It didn't take long before he occasionally coughed from the pain but it was noticeable that her strikes were becoming less powerful and more hesitant, her face beginning to contort.

It finally got to the point where she didn't attack for a period after an insult. Zephyr pressed it further. "What's *cough* wrong? I thought you *cough* wanted to hit me! Prove how *cough* tough you--"

"I... can't..."

Zephyr's ears twitched when he saw her mouth moving, but couldn't hear anything. "What was that?"

"I CAN'T!" With a sound like glass shattering, Fluttershy's color instantly returned as she flew forward to give Zephyr a tearful hug. "I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY!"

Knowing she was back to normal, Zephyr lovingly hugged her back "Shh... It's okay, Fluttershy."

"No it's not! I-I hurt you! I-I hurt you s-so bad!" She was wailing in sheer regret at what she had done.

"That wasn't you, Shy. That was a bad mare who thought she could get away with anything she said. You're the one who drove her away."

"B-but that's not--"

"Listen, I know what you're like. You are a very kind pony who wouldn't hurt anypony or anything without very good reason, and even then you never resorted to violence." She let out a few sniffles and Zephyr kisses her on the forehead. "Just believe when I say that you are not at fault for anything that mare did. You are not her."

She let out a few more sniffles. "B-but you're hurt because of..."

"I'll be fine. Besides, this is nothing for a big brother like me. Just remember, if you have any frustrations you need to let out, let them out on me. I'll take it on the chin."

"O-okay. Thank you..."

The siblings hug for a bit longer until Zephyr noticed a gold necklace with a pink butterfly jewel. Making the connection he chuckles. "You'd probably best get going, miss Element of Harmony. Your friends need you!"

She looks up at Zephyr with widened eyes. "How did you know?"

"I had a run-in with Discord, that's how."

she shudders. "Oh... I'm sorry we didn't say anything."

"Don't be. Your reasons for not telling me-- whatever they may be -- are completely justified. Besides, I think Twilight needs your help right now."

She gasps as she breaks the hug. "Oh no! I-I was also so mean to her as well!"

Zephyr sighed at that. "Like I said, that wasn't you at all but somepony who looked like you. However, if it WILL make you feel better if you apologize, you should get going. Chaos isn’t going to wait around after all."

She gives her injured brother a worried look as she dons her necklace. "But what about you?"

"I'll be fine. There's something else I need to accomplish as well."

She gives Zephyr yet another worried look before nuzzling him. "Alright. I'll work as fast as I can to clear up everything. Please don't overexert yourself." With that, she gallops away towards Chaos-Ponyville.

No promises. I'm not like Twilight. I can't make plans worth of anything and the ones I do make, like the most recent one, are usually very risky and sometimes involve self-harm... I guess I have a masochistic streak.

Exiting the cottage, Zephyr was definitely still feeling the effects of Fluttershy's punishment. The still mutated Angel gave him something along the lines of an "are you for real?" look. All Zephyr did was simply shrug before taking off.

If what Twilight said is true and Fluttershy is any indication, the other four are also under some kind of personality altering spell. I may not be able to save the day, but I'll be damned if I just simply do nothing after seeing my sister like that.

Problem is... who should I go to first?

Applejack could be closer, but Zephyr had absolutely no idea how to attempt curbing her 'alternate personality'. He doesn't even know what everypony else's alternate personalities would be like. Fluttershy was turned to be cruel as opposed to being kind, yet he couldn't pinpoint a focal 'attribute' that would be inverted for the others.

Looks like I have much yet to learn about my friends.

While Zephyr was thinking on it as he a flew back towards Chaos-Ponyville, a speck of greyed-out blue on a cloud caught his attention. Flying closer, Zephyr recognized Rainbow Dash, just as greyed-out as Twilight was and just laying on the cloud seemingly enjoying herself.

She opened her eyes as Zephyr drew closer, which got him a narrow look. "Sorry, but I'm enjoying a nice sunbath and currently am not available."

Okay, she doesn't sound too different. Don't know if that's a good thing or not yet...

"Why do you say something like that? Don't you have more important things to consider?"

Now she looks irritated. "What important things? I don't have anything right now."

Zephyr pretended to think. "Oh, I don't know... maybe helping your friends and saving Ponyville slash Equestria?"

"Hah, Ponyville is a lost cause. I'm staying here in Cloudsdale where it's far better, perfect for catching a nap or two."

That's when Zephyr saw how she was different. She's normally the last one to ditch her friends to do something stupidly mundane and is usually always there to try and save Ponyville, if her friend's stories are accurate--

Wait... what...

"Here in Cloudsdale? I see a 'cloud' but not 'Cloudsdale' at the moment."

"What the buck are you talking about?" That got a massive groan and a facehoof out of Zephyr.

"... Whatever it is you're on right now, I want some. Jokes aside, we don't have time for this when your friends need your help. You can get back to sunbathing after--"

"Phht, who cares about them? All they've ever done was--"

"I heard little miss braggart here is an Element of Harmony, I would think you have a job to do!" Zephyr had raised his voice slightly to talk over her.

Rainbow blows a dismissive raspberry. "Harmony shmarmony, I refuse to lift a hoof for a lost cause of a town."

Okay, this is getting really annoying really fast! I do have an idea how to snap and/or break her out of her 'stupor', but once again it's risky. It could end badly for me, her, or all of Equestria but I've got nothing else... I need to take lessons from Twilight on how to make more workable plans...

"What is it going to take to get you to help?"

"A~bsolutly nothing! I'm not moving from this cloud at all."

"Even for a race?"

That definitely got her attention, though she quickly went from surprised to sneering. "You think you're good enough to challenge ME again?"

"I'll never know unless I try. Who knows, maybe I finally have what it takes to outpace you?"

She huffs in blatant irritation. "Well fine, I can't very well turn down a racing challenge. Just do me a number and lose quickly so that I can go back to napping."

"Not gonna happen..."

She growls at Zephyr and the two quickly get ready to launch. "If you're going to be stubborn about it, then I'll countdown."

Knowing that arguing about it would only delay things, Zephyr chose to say nothing as Rainbow started the countdown. She tried pulling a fast one on her competitor by quickly counting down, but it was easy to compensate for.

While Zephyr using his secondaries actually did have an effect on top flying speed, he was slowed down by the pain of his somewhat invisible injuries from the encounter with 'Alternate Fluttershy', the occasional twinge of pain causing winces.

The racers kept pace with each other, much to Rainbow's annoyance, until they entered a forest of very tall, dead trees. Zephyr mentally blamed Discord for this forest, considering there never was one around Ponyville normally unless somepony counts the Everfree.

The trees were intertwined in various ways, which made quite the obstacle course. Dash expertly dodged in-between them while Zephyr used his secondaries to adjust flight trajectory just enough to flit through with minimal or no loss of speed.

Sadly for Zephyr, this is where what little good luck he had left ran out. He was still wincing from pain, but one in particular threw him horribly off course, to the point where he almost failed to keep pace and keep dodging.

The right primary hit a tree branch, and a chorus of bone snapping sounds followed suit. Zephyr's excruciating pain came a moment later as he went down with a cry of pain. To make matters worse, his left foreleg hit another branch incredibly hard. More bones were heard snapping and even more pain bloomed before having it all amplified tenfold by the crash landing.

It was a miracle Zephyr was still conscious despite all of the pain, though his vision was severely hampered both because of said pain and because of the tears that started welling up. He was outside the dead forest, but had no idea where he was otherwise.

"Zephyr!" Rainbow cried out as she landed and galloped towards her fallen friend. Zephyr tried to stand up but stupidly used his left leg causing him to fall back down with another cry of pain. "You idiot, don't move!"

Trying again with his right leg, Zephyr managed to start standing up. "But what... about... the race?"

"Buck the race! You can't take anymore!"

"But... I must! I... have to... TRY!" Zephyr tried flapping his wings, only for even more pain to flare up and caused his vision to slightly fade out during the second collapse.

"Idiot, idiot, IDIOT! I told you to not move!" Rainbow felt around Zephyr and realized how many bones were broken, panicking. "On no no no, what have I done? What have I done?"

Zephyr let out a pained huff when he took notice of her brighter colors. "Funny... I recall... Racing a... greyer mare..."

"That was clearly me! Discord tricked me into ditching my friends!"

"I.. don't think--"

"Stop trying to lie to me! I'M the one who did this!" She kept circling her fallen friend, trying to figure out how to move him without excessively moving any broken limbs.

"Rainbow... just... go. You have... more important... things..."

"I can't just LEAVE you!"

Zephyr opened one eye enough to look her in her eyes. "The other... Elements..."

"I-I know but... I still can't--"

"Equestria's... more important... than me. Just go... I'll be... fine." He coughs a bit.

Her face showed full reluctance as she gritted her teeth. Finally she said, "Fine... but right after we're done, I'm coming back for you. Don't you go dying on me, you moron!" With that, she flew away at top speed.

Knowing his job was finally done, Zephyr rested his head back on the ground with a small smile. "Hmph... I AM... quite the... moron... aren't I?"

Staying like that, while not very long in actual time, felt like an eternity for Zephyr with vision fading in and out in his vain attempts at staying conscious. When a brilliant rainbow light washed over the land, turning Ponyville back to normal, the gust of wind from the light moved Zephyr's broken wing, which was what finally made him black out.

Don't you go dying on me yet.

I still need you.

Once again becoming acquainted with the beeping of a heart monitor, Zephyr slowly regained consciousness. This particular one sounded exactly like the one Spearwing was hooked up to on his death-bed.

He quickly felt pain from his broken appendages, although it was a lot more subdued. Opening his eyes, he noticed the room was in the Canterlot Hospital as opposed to the Ponyville one. The casts cocooned his left foreleg along with his wing.

A doctor walked in as soon as Zephyr started looking around more. "Ah, Mr. Zephyr... Windstorm I believe. I'm glad to see you awake."

"How... long was I out?"

"Actually... not that long after we got you into this room. Surprising, but I still find it amazing how you manged to stay conscious despite such injuries." He trotted over and showed diagrams of broken wing-bones and a broken leg to Zephyr. "You have multiple ruptures in your... primary wing and your left foreleg. You also have some lacerations in the wing areas. Though it's not irreparable, you're going to be grounded and wheelchair-bound for a very long time."

"That bad, huh? Guess I really am--"

"Ah yes, Princess Celestia wanted to see you when you were awake. I'll send for her now." He quickly left the room.

Despite feeling like his heart stopped, Zephyr's heart monitor started beeping faster. Was she going to punish me for trying to interfere with what was going on? Now I really do wish I thought things through me. Damn me and my impulses...

It wasn't long before the door opened again and Zephyr beheld Princess Celestia for the third time as she walked in. "Zephyr Windstorm, I'm glad you're awake."

"I-I-I'm s-sorry y-your highness."

Zephyr suddenly apologizing confused her. "Sorry for what? I was going to thank you for your perseverance in helping Equestria in a time of crisis."

"But... I didn't do anything..."

"That is a blatant lie and you know it. You helped keep most of Ponyville together during panic and you helped two of the Elements of Harmony regain their senses." Looking at Zephyr's broken appendages she added sorrowfully, "Although not without great, personal sacrifice."

Zephyr couldn't suppress his shudder. "P-permission to s-speak f-freely, your h-highness?"

"Please, call me Celestia. Here, I am your equal and you don't need to treat me with such formalities." There was something about her tone that felt very calming for Zephyr, almost akin to speaking with his mother.

He grins sheepishly. "I... kinda deserved what happened to me, considering I tried to be a big darn hero without any sort of good plan."

Celestia lets out a sad sigh. "No-pony should wish suffering upon themselves. You did what you did because you wanted to try and help your friends. Oh, and little sister too." She punctuated the last part with a giggle, something Zephyr never thought he'd hear.

"That... doesn't really change the fact I'm stuck here because of my own stupidity."

"Perhaps this will convince you otherwise?" She put her horn on Zephyr's chest and ignited it. A soothing feeling washed over him and the pain instantly dissipated. It also felt like all the broken bones and injuries fixed themselves with no pain at all.

After moving everything a bit after discarding the casts with the doctor's permission, Zephyr gave her a shocked stare. "Magic... doesn't normally affect me though..."

Celestia lets out another giggle. "Yes, I've read about that from my student. You're resistant to UNICORN magic. I'm sure Alicorn magic is completely different."

I never thought of it that way...

"But... how come you came to see, and even heal, me personally?"

That got an amused sigh from Celestia. "Like I have said earlier, I came here to personally thank you for your contributions towards helping Equestria. That isn't the only reason, however. The Elements wanted me to see you and to make sure you were going to be okay, especially two of them."

"Rainbow and Fluttershy..."

She nods. "Those two were almost inconsolable when they brought you in after defeating Discord. I managed to calm them down a great deal, but only you can truly put their fears and worries to rest."

"Because of my own--"

"That is quite enough. Nopony should be putting themselves down for accidents. Instead, focus on the good you have done and what you did for your friends and little sister." Zephyr closed his eyes for a few moments before nodding, earning a smile from Celestia. "There will be a ceremony in honor of the Elements of Harmony in two hours. Would you like to attend?"

"Yeah, I doubt my friends would appreciate me skipping out on their ceremony."

She shakes her head in amusement. "We would be honored to have you." Leaning in to whisper she adds, "Though you probably should expect something to happen." Zephyr could only give her a confused look as she withdrew and smiled mischievously.

When he arrived in the hall the ceremony was taking place, Zephyr got a spot right up close to where princess Celestia was situated. She insisted he stand there, though the reason why was lost on him with her only saying, "You'll see."

Not knowing what to do, Zephyr started chatting with a few other ponies from Ponyville. Many of them were surprised he recovered so fast from such nasty injuries, only for them to be confused when he refused to say why or how.

Eventually, the doors to the hall opened and the Elements of Harmony walked through. When they stopped in front of Celestia and she spoke her praise, Zephyr quickly noticed that most of them had pained smiles.

When they turned around to face the crowds, Fluttershy started scanning them restlessly for somepony. Celestia whispered something into her ear and almost right after she locked eyes with Zephyr. Next thing anypony knew, he was tackled and hugged by her, crying out with joy. All Zephyr could do at the moment was pat her on the head as the others came over as well.

Applejack spoke first. "Sugahcube, ya keep up yer current streak, an' y'all be Rainbow's level of reckless."

"I'm sorry if I worried you all..."

Rarity shook her head in amusement. "Darling, as long as you don't do anything too foolish in the near future, having you here and recovered is all we need."

Pinkie hugged the sibling pair with a laugh. "I told you he would be just fine!"

"Of course you did, Pinkie." Twilight rolled her eyes before smiling. "Zephyr, I have to thank you for your words when I had given up hope. I'm sorry it took returned letters from the princess before I finally realized their weight, that no matter what, somepony will always be there for you."

"I'm just glad I at least somewhat helped you." Zephyr took notice of Rainbow hanging back with a guilty look on her face. he made a mental note to talk to her later.

Pinkie suddenly grabbed his hoof. "Come on silly! Join us!"

This not only threw him off, but Zephyr balked at the thought of being in front of so many ponies, despite most of them staring at them now. "B-but I-I'm not t-the one w-who defeated D-Discord!"

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Come on, ya helped two of us get back to normal so we could fight him off. I think ya deserve SOME of the credit."

Even Fluttershy insisted her big brother take a spot with them, much to Zephyr's dismay. He was certain his face was red from embarrassment the entire time due to how much it burned, especially when a pony pointed out that he was the singer for Three Night's Grace.

Once again, I'll never be able to live any of this down...