After getting back to his room, Zephyr slept somewhat decently. He never dreamed anything this time, like he was simply floating in limbo, with both good and bad dreams avoiding him like the plague. He didn't care, as he would rather take no dream than a bad dream, though he prayed to Luna that he wouldn't have the same dream from this morning.

Waking up, he looked at the clock which read 4:30pm. After packing up his writing materials and wind harp the best he could, he returned the room key to the receptionist and headed towards the plaza.

Upon arrival, Cloud Conduct was already there while wearing a slightly irritated look on her face.

Might be because of the deal she had to strike with me. Not my fault I need a place to stay while here, though I guess I could've chosen the hotel option...

When she saw Zephyr approaching, she quickly switched to a smile and greeted him. "Anything in particular you were looking for?"

Zephyr put a hoof on his chin with a thoughtful look. "Only something simple with proper furnishings. I'd rather not attempt to get my own furniture, since it won't be mine anyways"

"Then you're in luck. I spotted a house up for sale that looks like it will suit your needs. Want to check it out?"

That got a small nod from Zephyr. If it truly is what we're looking for, then this won't be as quite painful as it could've been.

Golden Oaks Library

"Where in tarnation is Rainbow dash?"

Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy were all waiting for their last friend to show up.

"My goodness. All the speed in Equestria, and she doesn't bother showing up on time?" Rarity huffed.

"Patience girls, maybe she got caught up with the damage done to her house." Twilight Looked out the window...

... Only to get a face full of Pegasus.

Pinkie giggled at the scene. "The door is over there, silly Dashie."

Rainbow quickly flew off her unintentional victim and shook herself off. "Sorry girls, Head Manager of the Weather Factory wanted me to grab Zephyr for her before I could do any real repairs."

Fluttershy winced a bit, but it went unnoticed as Rarity asked, "how long ago was that?"

Rainbow put her hooves behind her head. "A while ago. Not before proving to Zephyr that my speed isn't useless by beating him in a race. Seems he was a bit sour over it too." She had a victorious grin on her face after saying that.

Applejack, on the other hoof, didn't look none too pleased. "You really shouldn't rile him up like that."

"YEAH, I mean what if he decides to live here? All the parties we could throw!"

Rarity looked at Pinkie Pie with an unsure look. "Pinkie Pie, I don't believe we should be assuming that so soon. For all we know, he could've been just passing through."

"Yeah, but look at Twilight! She came here from Canterlot, and she decided to live here."

Twilight managed to get her mane re straightened as she sighed. "Pinkie Pie, I originally came here to oversee the Summer Sun Celebration. The only reason why I didn't leave right after was because I didn't want to leave behind all my new friends."

"uhm, g-girls?"

"Who's saying that won't happen to him? I'm pretty sure he is already friends with all of us!"

"Girls."

"Sugahcube, you are assuming that ponies instantly befriend you when they attend one of yer' parties?"

"Most of the time it happens!"

"GIRLS!"

Fluttershy got a bunch of bewildered looks, causing the mare to hide behind her mane in embarrassment. Pinkie Pie suddenly went from bewildered to disappointed.

"Geez Author, just because other writers did the same gag doesn't mean you can do it as well." This time she got confused looks. "What? It's true!"

Twilight gave a nervous cough. "Yes, well on the account of Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie, what was it that you wanted to see us for, Fluttershy?"

Rainbow Dash crossed her fore-legs. "Yeah Fluttershy, what is it about Zephyr that caused you to gather us here?"

The shy mare winced. "I-I don't want to get him into too much t-trouble, but whenever I hear his name, I get a buzzing at the back of my head." All she got were questionable looks from four of her friends.

Twilight had a thoughtful expression. "A buzzing at the back of your head... intriguing."

"A-And whenever I look at him directly, I get a headache..."

This got a worried look out of Rarity. "Are you alright, darling?"

When Fluttershy nodded, Rainbow Dash exclaimed in anger, "ah HAH, I knew he was up to no good!"

Applejack glared at the tom-coltish Pegasus. "Par'ner, I don't think we should be pointing hooves jus' yet. Besides, if you 'knew' that he was up to no good, why didn' you say something?"

"I had my suspicions when he was at the party last night, and they only grew worse when he insulted me --"

"He did not insult you, Rainbow." Twilight piped in irritably.

"-- but I wasn't going to say anything until we had more concrete proof."

"U-Uhm, when I asked if I knew him last night, he didn't seem too familiar with me. F-For some reason, it made me a little sad..." One thing Fluttershy didn't want to say out loud is that she felt a slight pain in her heart when Zephyr said he didn't recognize her.

"I know right? It always makes me sad whenever somepony doesn't know me. That's why i always throw a party for everypony I meet!" Pinkie Pie started bouncing on the spot again, though she quickly stopped when she realized it was unfitting.

"Wait just a moment Rainbow Dash, why did you have suspicions of him at the party?" Rarity looked at Rainbow with a puzzled gaze.

Rainbow Dash scoffs. "Think about it. He was acting high-strung when he got to the party and when we finally got him introduced to Fluttershy, he was acting all twitchy, like he wanted to go as soon as he could. I passed it off as irrelevant until now."

Applejack thought for a moment, then sighed. "Ah'm afraid ah have to agree there. 'Course it could've been that he was still rattled up by Pinkie Pie" -- The mare stopped bouncing again and gave an embarrassed squee. -- "but ah could tell he wasn't telling the full truth about his bandages. He was tryin' to cover something, but ah doubt it's because his sides are sensitive."

"I can't imagine what outlandish things the son of Harpsong is hiding from us..." Rarity shuddered at the thought. Scandals were nothing new to her, but it always hurt whenever it happens to a pony one looks up to.

"I-I think he's ok..."

"Fluttershy! This could be your life in danger!" Rainbow Dash gave her long-time friend a worried glance.

Twilight sighed. "Rainbow, while I don't think Zephyr is that bad -- Spike certainly liked him a lot from earlier -- he will need an eye kept on him. But we also need to avoid alienating him like we did with Zecora... that one instance alone left a bad taste in my mouth. If he is okay after a while and nothing bad happens, then it won't be necessary after that. Feel free to interact with him during that time period, though, as we might learn more about him personally."

Rainbow Dash didn't like the idea of interacting with him, but eventually they all agreed to the plan. Pinkie Pie was also told not to throw anymore parties for him, but he can still be invited to other parties. Applejack also agreed to hire him should he be looking for work at Sweet Apple Acres.

"Oh! Floppy ears and twitchy hooves." Pinkie Pie suddenly called out as everypony was leaving the library.

Twilight looked around nervously. She had a bad run with the Pinkie Sense before, and she has never heard that combo before.

"That means somepony is moving into a new house in Ponyville!"

Zephyr Earthwing, One block away from Sugar Cube Corner.

*Ah-CHOO*

Zephyr got a worried look out of Cloud Conduct. The two of them had just finished looking through the house and he decided to run with it.

"Are you okay?"

After he sniffed a few times, Zephyr nods. "I should be. I got a check-up before I left Manehatten and I was fine then." Cloud Conduct simply shrugged at that. "Anyways, when do I start?"

"Tomorrow, when you get the schedule for the wind patterns. Ponyville usually doesn't need much wind adjusting aside from a check on all the wind currents and the rare chance we need anything stronger than a breeze."

"Alright, I might pick up a side job if I feel bored, or if I need more bits. Who knows, I might end up splurging a bit more than I should."

That got a giggle out of Cloud Conduct. "Don't work yourself too hard. I should warn you now, Ponyville's currents tend to get funky because of proximity to the dreaded Everfree Forest." She shuttered at the name.

That must of been the forest I saw that had the black-outlined wind currents. For some reason, it doesn't sound like a threatening name to me...

"Ah yes and the the one you need to work with is--"

"The Weather Manager? Song and dance from back in Manehatten. Rainbow Dash, though? I am NOT looking forward to working with."

"Why not? She's the best Weather Manager we had for a long time."

That got snort out of Zephyr. "Could've fooled me. When i got here yesterday, the sky was supposed to be cloudless, yet she was asleep on the job."

"Ah, right she tends to... Be like that. even so, she's still one of the best."

Waving a hoof, Zephyr adds, "plus, she is... overly rambunctious from my point of view. Feels like she holds a grudge for the smallest of things..."

"Give her time to warm up to you. I'm sure you will be the best team in history when you do! Maybe she'll be the one to convince you to stay!"

Not within a span of a year, she won't... and not with her attitude.

"Anyways, I'll inform Rainbow Dash that you're the new Wind Manager and she should be good to go."

"Break it to her gently, she might be hurt over it." Zephyr snickered out.

Cloud simply rolled her eyes. "Well, rest up till then. I'm sure she will give you a run for your bits."

"She kind-of already has..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Have a good day."

A while after Cloud Conduct left, Zephyr started walking to Sugar Cube Corner to grab something sweet to--

"HIYA!"

Oh sweet mother of Discord's insanity, not her...

Luckily, she was only waving from afar as she passed by, heading in the direction he was going. Zephyr gave a small wave back, not wanting to provoke her.

Speaking of insanity, I'll be lucky if i don't lose MY sanity because of her. I don't have anything against the mare, just that her... Antics kinda drive me up a cloud.

After some deliberation, Zephyr decided against the sweets for today. Turning to head 'home,' he found a disgruntled Rainbow Dash in front of him, wearing an irritated look. "Why do I have to work together with YOU? Surely they could have found somepony else!"

That statement earned a huff of laughter from Zephyr. "Better get used to it, I'm apparently the only 'permanent' pony they could find to prevent Ponyville from blowing over."

The two Pegasi started glaring at each other for a while. From the corner of his eye, Zephyr could tell ponies were looking at them curiously, wondering what was going on. "I guess we will be doing this every time we meet for quite some time. For now though, I must bid you adieu." He walks past her while she was still glaring.

"I'll be watching you!" She half-shouted at Zephyr after he passed. His only response was to simply lift his left wing and waved it like he was saying good-bye.

Hmm... If she doesn't trust me, then she won't be friends with me! Hah, I knew it!

... Why am I celebrating? I guess I hate friendships just THAT much. Plus she's just one pony out of how many living here? I don't explicitly want to make enemies with anypony. But somepony's feelings are going to get hurt at one point, and that may be the turning point.

Ugh, why am I thinking like this?

After getting home, Zephyr decided to have a dinner of 6 apples, making a note to get groceries tomorrow after the wind adjustments. Apples may be healthy for you, but they don't supply all the nutrients a pony needs.

Looking at the barren fridge, a sudden thought makes Zephyr sigh.

I need to clean this place up. While I should have figured this would be one responsibilities of living in this house, it's still a drag.

???

"Sir, are you sure Ponyville is a good place to isolate him in?"

"It had to be. It's simple, not as populated, and one of our auxiliary bases happens to be near it."

"What about the Elements of Harmony? Aren't they--"

"I'm well aware of the risks those six happen to be. That is why we need to move as fast as we possibly can. If he somehow becomes 'friends' with them, then the plan is in jeopardy."

"It could also be used to our advantage..."

"How?"

*Murmur* *Whisper*

"Hmm, an interesting idea, but one with it's own risks. Still, I'll keep it in mind should it come to that."

Author's Note

I'm realizing why Pinkie Pie is so hard to write. I wanted a few 4th wall breaks by her, but I don't want it to be overbearing with it.

Anyways, as per usual; comments on how I can improve my story (outside of an editor, because I'm kinda lonely like that) would be greatly appreciated.