Zephyr never expected his high-school homeroom and science teacher to be here of all places. "What are you doing here?"

Nesium Hoofington simply shrugged with a knowing smile. "I was originally here to visit my niece to see how she was doing and the both of us get a party invitation from Pinkie Pie for welcoming a new pony into town. Never would've thought it was you being the guest of honor."

That got him a confused look. "Wait if she throws a party for every new arrival in Ponyville, how come I'm the ONLY guest of honor?"

"You might of still been the only pony to have come to Ponyville for the first time?" He shrugs again. It was one of his bad habits when he is in conversation, even back then.

"...Wow I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty sure the odds are a million to one. And THAT'S with some generous rounding." Zephyr stated, waving his fore-hooves a bit for emphasis. He lowered them out of embarrassment when a few ponies looked at him questioningly.

Nesium grins a bit. "Aren't you lucky? Most first-time arrivals get clumped together in one party, though Pinky makes sure they each get their own personal parties later."

The absurdity of that statement made Zephyr roll his eyes sarcastically. "Yeeeeah.. lucky me..." Looking around to make sure nopony would eavesdrop on them, he whispers, "Honestly, it seems a bit... unnecessary to throw a party for somepony who is only going to be here until tomorrow morning..."

Nesium levels a flat look at Zephyr. "Don't tell me you're going to skip town just because they threw a welcoming party for you." Waving a hoof in the direction of the mares the green Pegasus talked to he added, "didn't you make friends with those girls over there? I'm pretty sure they'd be at least disappointed if you went away this quickly!"

"First of all I was going to leave regardless if they threw a welcoming party for me or not. Besides that, what friends? Acquaintances, sure. Co-workers, that's just fine. Friends?" Zephyr shakes his head, bitter memories resurfacing. "They are a bad idea and a horrible concept meshed together. I'll say this much: if anypony thinks that they can befriend me at this party, they are going to be sorely disappointed."

While he was somewhat expecting that type of response, Nesium let out a sigh of concern, "Zephyr, you need to let go of your bad experiences with 'friends' and try again. Not only are the ponies of Ponyville much less... abrasive, being alone for the rest of your life will only make you more bitter and depressed. Besides, you need to give this town more of a chance since all of it's charms won't be revealed to you if you only stay for one measly day." With those words he turns and walks towards a fuchsia-colored mare with 3 smiling flowers for a cutie mark.

That small lecture earned a glare at his retreating figure from Zephyr. He never went through all the bullying I did. He never had so-called 'friends' who claimed they were, but simply stood to the side as I was tortured, with some even JOINING in on the bullying. HE never had anypony betray him just because of who and what he was.

After looking at the snack and drink table and confirming that parties don't need alcohol to be a party, Zephyr shakes his head and wanders away. That conversation's souring turn completely ruined any appetite he might have had. Looking around he spots--

"HI AGAIN"

I swear there's a pattern here. At least this time, I dashed under the table instead of plastering myself against the ceiling. Progress...

"Heeeey, you keep disappearing on me! Oh oh oh, I know you must be a NINJA! That's how you always manage to vanish like that. You must be a master of hide and seek!" Pinky giggles before bouncing around. "Well, ready or not, here I come!"

For the love of Princess Luna's non-existent moon walkers, Pinkie Pie is going to be the end of me. Also, I don't think I move THAT fast, unless that's the apples in my system speaking again.

Shifting around in the darkness of the table-cloth, Zephyr bumps into something warm, followed by a small 'eep' of surprise. This filled him with dread as he froze in place. Is... is there somepony here with me?

Slowly turning his head, Zephyr tried to see what was going on until his muzzle bumped into what feels like another muzzle. In that instant, he flew out from under the table cloth and promptly planted himself into the nearby wall.

"Oh there you are Zephy"

Dear Celestia, what did I do to deserve this? Let me be in peace...

A voice that belonged to Rainbow Dash quips, "there you are Fluttershy. We've been looking everywhere for you."

There's that annoying buzzing in the back of my head. It... has to mean something, right?

"O-oh I'm sorry, i-it's just that... I'm still not good with c-crowds of ponies. I think I'm going to go hide again... um, i-if that's alright with you..."

After prying himself from the wall, Zephyr looked at the source of the soft-spoken voice, only to get a headache when he beheld a butter-yellow mare with a pink mane that could make a cherry blossom jealous.

Rainbow Dash groans. "Come on Fluttershy, at least meet the stallion this party was thrown for! I know big crowds aren't your thing, but at least try for Pinky Pie!"

"O-okay..." When she turned around to look at Zephyr, he wondered if he was seeing things when she flinched in pain. He decided it was his own headache complicating things. "I-I'm Fluttershy. P-pleased to meet y-you."

"Zephyr Earthwing, nice to meet you." he tilts his head forward in respect. While he would never make friends with anypony, he still likes to show at least some respect to others.

"Ah HAH, I just remembered why your second name sounded so familiar!" Everypony looked over at Rarity, who suddenly had little stars in her eyes. "You must be the son of Harpsong, famous singer and harp player from Manehatten!"

Zephyr winced when she pointed that fact out, with the entire party looking at him again, save a few fillies in the back who are too distracted by their own private discussion. "Er yes, what of it?" Better not tell them I'm adopted. While it would take the attention off me, I'm afraid of what it'll do to my mom's reputation...

"What of it? She is only the most famous mare singer in the industry. The fact her son is here is a blessing on it's own!" She starts swooning, much to Zephyr's chagrin.

Applejack shook her head. "Don' mind her, Sugarcube. She always gets like that when she meets somepony important."

"And I can honestly say I'm not that special." Zephyr knew it was a total lie considering his "condition", but hoped it would be passed off as just being modest. He got a really distinct feeling that Applejack in particular is good at telling truth from lies, but when he looked at her, she had a mixed reaction. He decided to take the partial success where he could.

"Perhaps you can sing us a song! that would be super-duper ultra-mega awesome if you could! And I know just the pony to help you out!"

As Pinkie bounced off to look for a pony named 'Vinyl Scratch,' Zephyr gives a small look of despair after the Earth Pony before looking back to Applejack "I'm in deep, aren't I?"

"Eeyup. You... should probably do it, as she an' Rarity will keep asking you to sing. Ah' Think you should get a' choice, but it's outta' mah' hooves."

"Of course silly!" Pinkie pops up to their left, even though she was last seen on the right, and beams at Zephyr. "After all, his cutie mark shows that he has singing talent by default!"

If this was any other mare, I would of been a little flattered that she was looking at my... never mind.

"Oh... o-okay. I'll sing if you all want me to so badly..." Pinkie gives Zephyr an unnaturally large grin, Rarity made a small, unladylike squee, Twilight and Rainbow, who were both with a still nervous Fluttershy, gave an appreciative grin and smirk respectively, and Applejack simply shrugged.

I'm going to need some major therapy after this...

"A-alright where is this 'Vinyl Scratch' pony? I should probably listen to a few instrumentals before I decide to actually sing or not." Getting pointed to a corner, Zephyr sees a white Unicorn with an electric-blue mane and a rather sweet-looking pair of shades working with what looks like a DJ stand that has a microphone attached to it on the side.

Ugh... I'm glad I took singing lessons as a colt thanks to my mom's insistance. Being in front of a crowd is still gonna kill me though. I wonder... is this is how mom feels doing a concert?

The Unicorn looks up to see Zephyr approaching and grins. "Hey dude, going to be singing blind towards an instrumental eh? Take your pick, got plenty to choose from." She hands over her headphones and he puts it on his head while cycling through different songs.

Most of them seem to be trotstep, as he expected for a party DJ, but one song catches his interest. It was a familiar song that two bands tried collaborating on but left it at an instrumental stage. It was a fair mix between rock and trotstep.

"Lets go with this one. I heard it in developmental stages a while back and I know just what to sing for it."

Vinyl gives a surprised look behind her shades before grinning again. "Sounds like you know what you're doing. Hope you listened to it enough to know the beats by memory." With that, she preps the song while I stand by the mic.

I just realized, it has been awhile since I actually sang! I'm probably going to tarnish mom's name by screwing up, so I can't fail!

As the song starts, Zephyr mentally braced for failure and hoped they wouldn't look unkindly on his mom. But as the first few beats started playing, he actually began to feel calm...

And he started to sing:

Don't wanna be sly and defile you

Desecrate my mind and rely on you

I just wanna break this crown

But it's hard when I'm so run down

And you're so cynical, Narcissistic Cannibal!

Got to bring myself back from the grave!

Sometimes, I hate, the life, I made

Everything's wrong every time

Pushing on I can't escape

Everything that comes my way

Is haunting me taking its sweet time

Holding on I'm lost in a haze

Fighting life to the end of my days

Don't wanna be rude but I have to

Nothing's good about the hell you put me through

I just need to look around

See that life that has come unbound

And you're so cynical, Narcissistic Cannibal

Got to bring myself back from the dead

Sometimes, I hate, the life I made

Everything's wrong every time

Pushing on I can't escape

Everything that comes my way

Is haunting me taking its sweet time

Sometimes, I hate, the life I made

Everything's wrong every time

Pushing on I can't escape

Everything that comes my way

Is haunting me taking its sweet time

Holding on I'm lost in a haze

Fighting life to the end of my days

Holding on I'm lost in a haze

Fighting life to the end of my days

When the song ended, Zephyr opened his eyes and took a look at the audience. They looked like they had seen the most amazing thing, which threw him for a loop. Then all at once they started applauding which made him blush heavily in embarrassment, though he did try to smile and wave as well. Afterwards, he quickly got off the platform and made his way back to where he was standing originally, with the six mares from before still there.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie burst at the same time. Fluttershy gave me a small smile, while the other three gave me an appreciative look. While it was clear that genre of music wasn't their thing, they still appreciated the song.

"T-thanks. That took everything out of me, so... I'm going to have to retire for tonight. Thanks for the party... and all."

"Okie-dokey-lokey, be seeing you around!" and with that, Pinkie Pie went over to the mic to announce that the party was coming to a close. Fluttershy excused herself as well, while the other four decided to stay behind and help clean up.

Not for much longer past tomorrow morning, you won't. Sorry, but... I doubt you genuinely want to be friends with me... With the clock reading 11pm, Zephyr exited Sugar Cube Corner and started heading towards the hotel. The wind had picked up a fair amount, but he figured it was nothing too concerning.

"Umm, excuse me?"

Turning around, Zephyr sees Fluttershy standing there with a puzzled, yet somewhat pained face.

"I-I was wondering, have w-we met somewhere before?"

That got a frown from Zephyr. "Have you ever been in Manehatten?" She shakes her head. "Then I don't think so, unless I look very similar to somepony you met before."

With her own frown, she lets out a pained sigh. "I-I'm sorry for troubling you with t-that. Umm, goodnight then..." With that, she trots off in a different direction.

Was the reason why she had a pained face was because I reminded her of somepony else? I wonder if that's similar to my predicament...

As Zephyr got back into his hotel room, got ready for bed, turned out the lights, and flopped onto the bed, one last thought crossed his mind before quickly drifting to sleep.

Wait a bit before this town's charms are revealed? The ponies in this town are way too crazy for me even without my screwed up colthood!

Author's Note

Finally got around to writing this. oh yeah and Narcissistic Cannibal belongs to Korn/Skrillix.

just a warning, I'm going to be switching between perspectives starting next chapter, indicated by two horizontal rules. if the perspective isn't specified when going from Zephyr's perspective to another, it becomes 3rd person.