Descentby ActivistVictorChaptersThe argumentDe-stressingThe planThe revealThe dilemmaThe argumentAs Zephyr and Drizella got home, Zephyr opened the front door and was immediately greeted by his adoptive mother, a tall old hag with gray hair and wearing a crimson dress. Honestly, despite being with her for some time now, he still had no idea what her first name was, in fact he didn’t think anyone else, even Drizella, knew either! As such, he simply referred to her as Lady Tremaine. In her arms was the family cat Lucifer, with hair as black as night above, and a gray face and stomach. “Oh, Drizella and ….. Zephyr.” Lady Tremaine commented to Zephyr, "Is school done already?” “Yep,” Drizella replied, “Zephyr here insulted my singing on the way home by the way.” “Snitch!” Zephyr angrily quipped before Lady Tremaine cut him off. “Zephyr, what have I told you about being rude to your sister?” Lady Tremaine said. “But she star…” Zephyr tried to inteject. “Hold your tongue!” Lady Tremaine snapped, before composing herself again, continuing to pet Lucifer all the while. “It seems we have too much time on our hands do we, time enough to act rude to your sister.” “Hey, now wait just a!” Zephyr again tried to interject before being cut off again. “Silence!” Lady Tremaine snapped at him before again composing herself. “Well, since you clearly need something to occupy your time…” “Let me guess, you’re going to make me work in the family cleaning business!” Zephyr said. “Oh…. How did you know about that when I didn’t tell you? Eavesdropping are we?” Lady Tremaine said. “No, Drizella told me. And speaking of, I have a bone to pick with you about that!” Zephyr angrily replied. “Oh do you?” Lady Tremaine said, intrigued by his defiance. “Yes I do! When were you going to tell me you were drafting me into your business THIS WEEKEND and expecting me to dedicate most of the rest of my summer to it!?” Zephyr said. “Oh I was about to tell you now, before Drizella so kindly informed me of your behavior, so because of that.” Lady Tremaine said before she was cut off. “And what exactly is your reasoning for waiting until NOW to tell me something this important and life encompassing?” Zephyr angrily said. “Well, perhaps it’s because I KNEW you’d throw a fit like this!” Lady Tremaine said. “Throwing a fit?” Zephyr said getting even angrier. “Yep, like a great big manchild!” Drizella clapped at him. “Quiet you! Zephyr said angrily, before turning back to address his stepmother. “I hardly see being mad about someone making huge life decisions on my behalf without my prior consent as ‘throwing a fit!’ I dare say that response is quite reasonable to be pissed about.” “And I dare say that because of your attitude, both with me and Drizella, both before and right now, you will be doing this work unpaid as an internship!” Lady Tremaine said. “Unpaid!?” Zephyr said incredulous, “You expect me to work for NO PAY during MY summer!?” “Yes, because otherwise you’d just sleep in all day!” Lady Tremaine said. “Not to mention you CLEARLY need some discipline!” “IT’S SUMMER!” Zephyr said angrily, “AND I do NOT need discipline! I passed ALL my classes this summer with flying colors! And what’s wrong with sleeping in? It’s better than doing fucking drugs!” “Zephyr, don’t you dare swear in this house!” Lady Tremaine said. “I don’t wanna make waves or anything but he also said moron earlier too…” Drizella chimed in. “Shut up you fucking tattletale!” Zephyr said. “Zephyr, I’m warning you! You’re acting like an embarrassment!” Lady Tremaine said getting angrier. “And how about when she referred to Fluttershy as Cindershy on the way home, what about that behavior? Is that ok?” Zephyr said angrily. “Now I’m sure she was just poking a little fun at you, family does to one another after all.” Lady Tremaine said. “Family? Ha’ You aren’t my family!” Zephyr said. “Never once since I’ve been here have I felt welcome or that you had my back, not to mention, everyone, even Lucifer the cat, hates me!” “Now Zephyr, Lucifer doesn’t hate you…” Lady Tremaine said holding him out to Zephyr, but Lucifer promptly responded by hissed at him. “Oh really, and is that supposed to just be his way of saying hello?!” Zephyr said. “He’s just upset because he had his bath earlier, which by the way, you owe me for doing that for you, maybe with some overtime to your internship.” Lady Tremaine said, causing Zephyr to get near his breaking point. “For the record, even if he doesn’t hate you I do!” Drizella said chiming, before she quickly ducked to dodge the shoe Zephyr had thrown at her in uncontrollable rage at her horrible comment. “Zephyr, that’s it, get the fuck out of this house with your freak show shit and don’t come back until you can act sane!” Lady Tremaine screamed. “Or just don’t come back at all you psycho!” Drizella said. “Honestly, it’s no wonder you always complain about not having any friends! Who would want to be around someone that acts this way!?” Lady Tremaine said maliciously. “And how!” Drizella chimed in. Zephyr wanted to say a lot of things, how unfair it was that Drizella was once again getting off scot free after instigating, how wrong it was for them to spring such a time consuming commitment on him, or how tired he was of being treated this way for example. Instead however, he just walked out the door and left, the thoughts were starting again, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could control them if he stayed. Author's Note Yep, Lady Tremaine, arguably the most iconic evil stepmother, is in this. De-stressingThe park was always Zephyr’s favorite place to go whenever he got excessively angry or just hated life. The pastel greens of the plants and the calming nature of, …nature, usually helped to improve his mood regardless of what was going on to sour it. Today however, it just wasn’t working, because no matter what he tried, no matter how much he tried attempted to distract himself with inline poker, he couldn’t get over the fact that once again he would be steamrolled in his own life. And he knew that no amount of distraction by either nature or technology would modify that cold hard fact . “Ugh,” he said to himself, something he often did when he just needed to think aloud. “Why do they always do this to me? Why can’t they just let me do my own thing?! I mean sure I can be a bit lazy sometimes, but who wouldn’t be if you were forced to do things to your breaking point! Plus, it’s summer! I’ve paid my dues for the rest of the year, I’ve earned this little reprieve. It’s not like I want to be a deadbeat my whole life. I just want a break to enjoy nature, follow my passions, or just not do anything and relax for once, is that really such a crime!?!” He the! sighed to himself, “But that won’t happen will it, my step family hates me and clearly care more about controlling my life than actually allowing me to do what I want to do with it. Heck, even my real sister Fluttershy hates me too, because if she didn’t, why would she have just gone off to college and abandoned me like this, leaving me to sink like I was on the Titanic! …. Alone…” “Hey, ya’ll ok?” A female southern drawl said snapping him out of his monologues just before he was going to burst into tears in hopelessness. “Huh?” He said, trying to look away from whoever it was, so they wouldn’t see him about crying. “Uh, yeah, I’m…. Fine!”, his voice was a bit more watery than he had intended. “Ya’ll sure? Because…” she said, before she was cut off by him. “Oh that…. That was just… a play!” he said bullshitting on the spot. “Yeah, a play about loneliness, and I’m rehearsing here because it’s quiet and helps me memorize!” “… are ya’ll sure, becausec and ah hope this don’t sound rude or anythin’, but it kind sounded a mite more bit like you were about to cry when you said that.” She said, still concerned. “Ah just wanna know if everything’s ok!” Deep down, Zephyr wanted to break down, to tell her everything… but that was a trap he had more than once fallen into, and he wasn’t going down that road again! Plus, as friendly as this person was, they were still a stranger at the end of the day, so they were likely asking out of formality rather than legitimate concern. So, instead of giving into the desire to just vent, he just doubled down on his lie. “Oh that….. ok, I admit it, I was crying a bit, but I’m a method actor. It… helps me get into the character a bit more and whatnot ” “Uh huh…..” she said, clearly not fully buying what he said. “And don’t worry, you can trust me, I play poker!” He said, trying to deflect with humor. “Hehe, ok, gotta admit that was pretty good.” She said chuckling a bit. “Actually to be quite honest ah play a bit of Texas hold’em mahself, maybe we could…” she said but was cut short again. “Oh well, I l’d love to but I probably won’t have much time this summer, I have….. commitments” he said. “Oh, well that’s a shame” she said. “Yeah…. It is,” he said, “but that’s life I suppose” he said before muttering “or at least my life.” “You say somethin pardner?” She asked. “Oh uh….. nothing of importance.” He said. “Anyways, I’m probably going to be heading out soon, getting dark after all.” “Who wee, that it is, ah gotta get home to feed mah dog.” She said, “Was nice talkin to ya though, ya’ll on snap gap?” “Um” he said….” Yes but I…. Don’t like giving my information away to people I don’t know well, ” he said, a partial lie. “Fair enough,” she said, slightly disappointed, “Maybe next time we can get to know each other better. Anyway, see ya pardner!” She said before she turned away and began walking back home. As she did, Zephyr tried to resist looking, seeing as he felt there was no point for someone who, despite her words, he probably wouldn’t see again, much less have time to do anything with. However, soon enough, curiosity got the better of him and he turned to watch her. She was rather distant by this time, and the growing darkness certainly didn’t help with visibility, but he swore she was wearing a cowboy hat. However, before he could really get a good look, she walked behind a house and out of sight. “She seemed nice”, Zephyr said to himself, “And she liked poker too! Maybe I SHOULD have given her my snap gap…” However, he then shook his head and said “But I know how people are, she was probably just putting on a facade. Plus even if she wasn’t it’s not like I’d have the time to do anything anyways.” He then looked around again and say just how fast it was getting dark. “Wow, I best get home, I hate it there but it’s better than being mugged,” He said, referring to an inducent where that indeed almost happened the year before. He then turned around to walk home, but had only taken a few steps his foot caught a raised sidewalk block and he fell to the ground, bashing his knee solidly. “Motherbuck!” he said angrily and was about to get get up and kick the sidewalk to vent his anger, but before he could he noticed something. Right there, sitting in front of him in a dry ditch, was a wilting plant. Normally not something of note, but after looking at it he realized this plant looked a heck of a lot like the endangered Canterlot Mallow! Wanting to investigate further, he got up and turned on his phone flashlight, which only seemed to cement his prior suspicion. Just to make sure though, he put in a quick google image search on his phone, and indeed, the images that came up confirmed it was actually the endangered Canterlot mallow! “Well I’ll be damned, never though I’d see one of these in real life! They’re nearly extinct!” He said to himself. “Hmm, doesn’t look like it's doing too good though, probably not going to make on its own, especially since this isn’t typically the rainiest time of year!” His eyes then lit up as he got an idea. “Well, we do have a pond in our backyard, I’ll just take this and relocate it!” He then reached down and used his hands to dig around the plant, making extra careful not to split the roots in the process. Once he had done that, he picked up the plant and began to walk home with it. “Don’t worry, I won’t fail you like others have failed me!” He said, and began walking home with the plant and an actual purpose for once, no matter how small. Author's Note Yes, I did almost get mugged once where I lived, thankfully I saw the amateur hiding behind a car and turned around before I got too close, and thankfully it was summer and some people nearby were outside and probably dissuaded him from continuing pursuit The planBack at the Tremaine household, Lady Tremaine and Drizella were still hot under the collar with regards to the recent altercation with Zephyr. “Ugh, what am I going to do with that kid!?” Lady Tremaine said. “Let’s kick him out!” Drizella said gleefully, something even Lucifer meowed in assent to. “Now Drizella you know I can’t do that, at the end of the day Zephyr is a MINOR, and there are certain laws which prohibit me from kicking him out, at least for now.” Lady Tremaine said. “Darn!” Drizella said angrily. “Indeed! Things would certainly be much better if he weren’t around here all the time…” Lady Tremaine said. “But you’re going to have him start working in the cleaning business, won’t that be a fair amount of time that he’s away from home?” Drizella said. “Yes, but it isn’t enough!” Lady Tremaine said “I need a break from… HIM before I lose my sanity.” However, then, her eyes lit up as she donned an evil smile. “A break… that’s it, give me a second…” she said as she grabbed her phone and began searching online. “What’re you up to!?” Drizella said. “Tell me Drizella, what was it you wanted to do more than anything?” Lady Tremaine said dodging the question as she kept searching. “Marry a rich man and mooch off his income while he’s away and then inherit his estate when he dies and then marry a prince in a love at first sight situation when the ruler of the land spontaneously throws a ball trying to get his son laid er um I mean married?” Drizella said, and Lucifer chuckled at that specific scenario. “No, not that, though I do respect that ambition.” Lady Tremaine said, “I meant with regards to school.” “Ohhhh, a semester at sea… right?” Drizella said. “But what does that have to do with anything? You already said we’re too broke to do anything extravagant like that!” Drizella said angrily. “Yes, I did.” Lady Tremaine said. “But, that was before I thought of something…” she said, still looking up something on her phone, before her eyes lit up as she found what she was looking for. . “Ah, here we are! The Hightanic, a luxury cruise ship with a semester at sea program! Who knew actually listening at Zephyr’s IEP meetings would pay off…” “Hightanic!?” Drizella said. “Yes, I assume it’s a mix of high school and Titanic, not a very original name if you ask me….” Lady Tremaine said. “However, what it lacks in originality it does make up for in amenities. It says here they have a movie theater, dances, a shopping mall, fancy restaurants for…. Courtship, AND special stops at different places around!” “Ooh, sounds promising!” Drizella said getting excited, before losing the excitement quickly. “But who cares mother, this thing probably costs a fortune.” “Indeed,” Lady Tremaine said, “It does… Which is precisely why WE won’t be paying for it!” “Huh!” Drizella said. “I am pretty sure I could ‘convince’ the school district to pay his education fees, if, of course, we mention possibly bringing to light all the times they didn’t do anything when Zephyr made reports about bullying!” Lady Tremaine said. “But mother, that’s BLACKMAIL.” Drizella said shocked, before chuckling and saying “Now I’m really intrigued!!” “I taught you well,” Lady Tremaine said, “Either way though, it wouldn’t look good for their reputation if word of this got out, so I’m pretty sure they’d be willing to fork over some serious dough if it would make it all… ‘go away’, so to speak, perhaps even enough to pay for your ticket as well!” “Are you sure about that?” Drizella said. “Oh indeed!” Lady Tremaine said, “A potential loss of reputation can be a VERY powerful motivator!” “Oh mother, you are such a genius.” Drizella said chuckling in glee, before the door opened and Zephyr Breeze walked in. “Oh look, speak of the devil! It’s the manchild himself! “Drizella said.” Guess what, it’s your lucky day! You’re not going to have to do that cleaning business this summer anymore!” Drizella said, smiling gleefully. The revealZephyr, after arriving home from the park, quietly snuck into backyard and found a place to put the endangered mallow he found at the park. After giving it a nice planting and some much needed water, more care than he personally had ever felt, he thought of another reason to stall, and sadly came up short so he quietly snuck to the front door of the house, hoping to sneak in unnoticed since the last thing he wanted was to face their wrath due to the earlier incident. His initial hope was that they had gone to bed, or at the least had settled down to watch a movie or show in the family room. However, Much to his disappointment, Drizella and Lady Tremaine were still awake and located right by the door so there was no way he could sneak in unnoticed. He briefly considered just saying outside until they went to sleep, but a couple mosquitoes biting him quickly put that to rest. Not to mention he suspected they were waiting for him, so if he waited he might be there a long while. And of course there was always the risk his stepmother would just lock the door and shut him out for the night. It certainly wouldn’t be out of character for her to do something like that to him. So, preparing for the worst, he opened the front door and faced his step family. He was expecting another verbal thrashing, especially from Drizella, but much to his shock, and concern, they seemed happy to see him, and even Drizella’s generic manchild insult seemed to have less scathing effect than usual. Something was up, and as his brain racked through the possible things it could be, he barely processed what Drizella even said to him. “Wait, what did you just say?” Zephyr said. “I said you were a manchild duh!” Drizella said cynically. “Yea I know that, it’s not like you don’t say that all the time!” Zephyr said, “ but what did you say AFTER that!?” “Oh, just that you won’t have to work in the cleaning business after all!” Drizella said gleefully. Zephyr, taken aback for a second, cynically said “Oh ha ha ha, very funny! . As if I’d believe such a bald faced lie!” “Hey, curb your attitude with my daughter.” Lady Tremaine said. “She’s much too sensitive for such toxicity! Plus, she’s just relating what I got through deciding!” “Oh and I’m just supposed to believe you actually took my wants into consideration for once?” Zephyr said. “You must think I’m denser than lead!” “Actually we think you’re denser than Osmium, the densest elemen…” Drizella started before Lady Tremaine nudged her to silence her. “What Drizella MEANT to say was, instead of working the family business, you will be accompanying her on a cruise this upcoming semester for a semester at sea!” “....What?” Zephyr said flatly, not really believing what he was hearing. “Yep, it’s true!” Drizella said, "Personally I don’t think you deserve it, but as long as I get to go on a cruise ship and stay away from you, who cares!” “A cruise ship? Ok, now I KNOW you’re joking!” Zephyr said. “I’d actually laugh at the sheer audacity of it if I wasn’t so suspicious to me.” “Oh no she’s being serious, both of you will be attending a cruise on the Hightanic this upcoming semester of high school!” Lady Tremaine said. “Really?” Zephyr said, doubting it. “Let me just get my friend the Pope on the line to tell him!” “Zephyr, silence with the cynicism.” Lady Tremaine said, “Regardless though, yes, she is telling the truth, and I think you’ll both enjoy it! It has state of the art amenities and numerous things to do like a school dance and various stops at places during the semester. “ “Oh yeah, and what’s the catch?” Zephyr said, still not buying this uncharacteristic shift from their normal character. “Oh nothing!” Lady Termaine said innocently, “Well for Drizella at least! For you however…” Lady Tremaine said before Zephyr cut her off. “Ah there’s the other shoe!” Zephyr said. “For YOU however,” Lady Tremaine said ignoring him,”there IS the added little bit of it being a… behavior school, but that shouldn’t be…” but was stopped short as Zephyr cut him off. “Behavioral school,” Zephyr said, instantly angry. “You think I need to be in a behavioral school!?” “Well you ARE a psycho who needs an attitude adjustment” Drizella sneered. “I wouldn’t word it exactly like that but more or less,” Lady Tremaine said, And what better place is there to do it than the serene environment of a cruise ship?” “Really? You’re not even going to correct her on that psycho remark?” Zephyr said, ignoring Lady Tremaine. “Why should she, it’s not like it’s wrong!” Drizella said, in response to which Lucifer meowed from another room. “ No one asked you!” Zephyr shouted to Lucifer, before Lady Tremaine cut him off. “And THIS is exactly why you need a behavioral school!” she said, “These outbursts are unbearable, and to a cat no less!” “Oh come on, I’m angry, like you wouldn’t be pissed too if someone said that about you!” Zephyr said angrily. “What I would or wouldn’t do is irrelevant.” Lady Tremaine replied. “What matters is you have an issue and you won’t stand a chance unless you do something about it! And the way I see it is this behavioral school is the best way to deal with this.“ “But I don’t want to go to some controlling school!” Zephyr said. “They’ll just treat me like dirt!” “Oh nonsense, you worry too much!” Lady Tremaine said, “Besides, I’ve already promised this to Drizella, and I am not backing out on a promise to my dear daughter.” “But what about me!?” Zephyr said, “I don’t want this!” “That's enough of your insolence!”” Lady Tremaine said ignoring him. “But I…” Zephyr tried to interject but was cut off. ENOUGH,” Lady Tremaine said, “And I don’t want to hear another peep out of you about it, do you understand?” Zephyr, angry at once again being steamrolled, threw off his shoes a bit more forcefully than he could have and then started up to his room. “Oh yeah, and I expect you to start working on the script for that internet confession since no doubt you’ll lose our bet!” Drizella chimed gleefully. Zephyr was honestly too pissed to even care at this point as he went up to his room. He knew one thing was for sure though as he started browsing through his phone to forget this awful day, he was probably going to be spending a lot more time than he thought at the park this next month. The dilemmaAuthor's Note Hopefully Zephyr comes off as at least somewhat sympathetic here. I want him (at first at least) to be a do no harm but take no bs kind of guy with anger issues, not helped by his family situation. The audience is supposed to sympathize with him so tell me if he comes off as too unlikable (an uphill battle I know with how hated he is, and Tbf, some of the hate is justified) As for why his sister is one of the evil stepsisters form Cinderella…. Well, I’ll get to that in the next chapter The dilemma The final bell of the last day of summer school rang in Canterlot High, and in response, a crowd of teens stormed out the front door, eager to finally get on with a proper summer. Among the countless teens running out of the building and no doubt violating jaywalking laws were two siblings, a tall lanky male with yellow hair and green skin, and his sister, a white skinned teen with black hair and a blue bow atop her head. “Oh thank GOD that’s all over,” the taller one said. “I haven’t slept well in WEEKS with how early they expected us to get here! And I’m atheist so you KNOW it’s serious if I’m thanking something I don’t personally believe in!” “Well Zephyr, maybe if you got to bed on time…” his sister replied with a snarky attitude. “Oh chill out will you Drizella, what do you expect me to do? Go to sleep at 9 pm in July?” Zephyr replied. “It isn’t even fully dark, and you know how hard a time I have sleeping after a midday siesta!” “Only loser’s take siestas you realize…” Drizella replied. “Yeah well you try getting up at 6:30 am for classes every day when you’re a night person and see how you handle it!” “I DID get up at 6:30…” Drizella replied snarling. “Yeah and you’re a morning person so that’s different,” Zephyr replied. “Regardless though, it’s SUMMER, the one time a year when you shouldn’t have to get up super early and can just sleep in. There’s a reason they call it summer VACATION after all.” “You would like vacations you lazy bum!” Drizella said. “Lazy!? I passed all my classes!” Zephyr said, “I mean sure I sleep in the middle of the day sometimes after them, but there ain’t nothing wrong with that as long as you get the homework done on time!” His sister just responded by rolling her eyes, something he noticed. “Oh come on! Are you really telling me you’d rather be in school than spending time with your cat Lucifer? “Well considering I bring Lucifer to school every day in my backpack…” Drizella replied. “Oh come on, not the backpack smuggling thing again?” Zephyr said angrily, “I told you, that can’t be good for a cat! You gotta let that cat out of the bag for goodness sake!” “Oh, and you’re such an animal expert?” She replied annoyed. “No, but it’s just…” Zephyr replied but was cut off. “Hmm, then I don’t really know why you think you know better than me on this!” Drizella replied condescendingly. “Quite frankly I don’t think you know better than me on ANYTHING!” “Rude much” Zephyr said. “Cope and seethe!” Drizella said. “You sound just like those insufferable morons on TF2 and Reddit.” Zephyr said angrily. “I wouldn’t know because unlike you I’m not a loser who frequents them!” Drizella said. “Honestly, and I can’t believe I’m saying this with how annoying they are, but why don’t you go back to your stupid useless hobbies instead of trying to school me on animal care?” “My hobbies aren’t useless!” Zephyr replied. “You think you’re going to be a professional poker player….” Drizella said chuckling to herself “Hey, I won 50 bucks online last month!” Zephyr replied, “And that’s just playing for the few hours a week I feel awake enough to actually do well!” “Oh please, like you’d ever be good enough to be pro… at any of that stupid shit you obsess over!” Drizella sneered. “Ok, you know what, that’s it!” Zephyr replied back. “If we’re going to talk about not being good enough to go pro, maybe we should talk about your singing…” “And what’s wrong with my singing?” Drizella said glaring at him. “I’m actually taking lessons and making progress unlike you!” “Oh that’s not what I’ve heard.” Zephyr replied. “And what did you hear then!?” Drizella replied. “I heard things….” Zephyr replied imitating Robert DiNero “I heard things! Things that make Chewbacca sound like the New York symphony orchestra!” “…. Are you saying my singing sucks!?!” Drizella said angrily. “Well I ain’t saying you’re Neighlor Swift.” Zephyr replied back. “How DARE you talk to me this way!?” Drizella said. “YOU started it!” Zephyr said angrily. “I’m being no more rude than you were insulting my passions, how do you like being at the receiving end of it?” “That’s different, you’re being unrealistic!” Drizella said. “How is it different?” Zephyr replied angrily. “Being rude is being rude!” “Not if you’re being realistic, sounds like you just can’t handle me!” Drizella replied “Oh whatever, I’ll show you!” Zephyr said. “I have the rest of July and part of August to myself now, and I guarantee I’ll make a hundred on online pokerduring that time easy!” “Ok Mr. Gambler, Wanna bet on it?” Drizella said. “Yes, I actually do!” Zephyr said, “If I’m right you have to give me another hundred!” “And if I’m right you have to give me the hundred you’d supposedly and admit to the internet my singing is amazing.” Drizella said. “Deal….. I’ll take that money in twenties by the first week in August thank you!” Zephyr said. “Oh no you wo-on’t” Drizella mocked. “Oh yes I wi-ill!” Zephyrs pushed back. “Well good luck, since I doubt you’ll have enough time to even play soon enough!” Drizella responded. Zephyr chuckled to himself, “Are you serious? I have an entire month of free time starting now, what the hell are you smoking because I want some of that shit!” “Oh….. you mean you don’t know?” Drizella said. “What’s there to know?” Zephyr said. “Summer school is over. Seems like a month of nearly free time to sleep in and be well focused to me!” “Well I just assumed mom had told you,” Drizella said amused. “Told me what exactly!? Zephyr said, suddenly getting a bit concerned. “Well, since she thought you would likely just spend the rest of the summer lounging about and ‘sleeping in like a deadbeat’ as she put it, she has so generously decided you’re helping out with the house cleaning business” Drizella said. “They’ve been needing the extra help for awhile ever since Cindershy went away to college and all!” “WHAT?” Zephyr said incredulous. “Surely you must be joking? And her name is Fluttershy not Cindershy you jerk.” “Oh I’m dead serious…. About both Cindershy and the cleaning business…. And don’t call me Shirley.” Drizella said before chuckling at her reference. “This is hardly time to be making jokes from movies Drizella!” Zephyr said angrily. “When the heck is this supposed job going to start anyway?” “You actually start this Saturday morning, which is why I’m so shocked she hasn’t told you!” Drizella replied feigning shock. . “What!? No! My summer….” Zephyr said angrily. “I’ve already given away through July! Now she expects the rest of it too!? I’m already running on fumes here as is!” “Oh boy here we go again, the woe is me I’m at my wits’ end speech!” Drizella said annoyed. “Stop mocking me, this is serious!?” Zephyr said, getting increasingly stressed. “I’m tired as can be and NEED the rest of this summer.You can’t just do this to me!” “I’m not doing anything, my mom is!” Drizella said. “But hey, if you wanna talk to them about it feel free to when we get home.” “Oh I will….” Zephyr said. “She is not hijacking my life like this again…”
The argumentAs Zephyr and Drizella got home, Zephyr opened the front door and was immediately greeted by his adoptive mother, a tall old hag with gray hair and wearing a crimson dress. Honestly, despite being with her for some time now, he still had no idea what her first name was, in fact he didn’t think anyone else, even Drizella, knew either! As such, he simply referred to her as Lady Tremaine. In her arms was the family cat Lucifer, with hair as black as night above, and a gray face and stomach. “Oh, Drizella and ….. Zephyr.” Lady Tremaine commented to Zephyr, "Is school done already?” “Yep,” Drizella replied, “Zephyr here insulted my singing on the way home by the way.” “Snitch!” Zephyr angrily quipped before Lady Tremaine cut him off. “Zephyr, what have I told you about being rude to your sister?” Lady Tremaine said. “But she star…” Zephyr tried to inteject. “Hold your tongue!” Lady Tremaine snapped, before composing herself again, continuing to pet Lucifer all the while. “It seems we have too much time on our hands do we, time enough to act rude to your sister.” “Hey, now wait just a!” Zephyr again tried to interject before being cut off again. “Silence!” Lady Tremaine snapped at him before again composing herself. “Well, since you clearly need something to occupy your time…” “Let me guess, you’re going to make me work in the family cleaning business!” Zephyr said. “Oh…. How did you know about that when I didn’t tell you? Eavesdropping are we?” Lady Tremaine said. “No, Drizella told me. And speaking of, I have a bone to pick with you about that!” Zephyr angrily replied. “Oh do you?” Lady Tremaine said, intrigued by his defiance. “Yes I do! When were you going to tell me you were drafting me into your business THIS WEEKEND and expecting me to dedicate most of the rest of my summer to it!?” Zephyr said. “Oh I was about to tell you now, before Drizella so kindly informed me of your behavior, so because of that.” Lady Tremaine said before she was cut off. “And what exactly is your reasoning for waiting until NOW to tell me something this important and life encompassing?” Zephyr angrily said. “Well, perhaps it’s because I KNEW you’d throw a fit like this!” Lady Tremaine said. “Throwing a fit?” Zephyr said getting even angrier. “Yep, like a great big manchild!” Drizella clapped at him. “Quiet you! Zephyr said angrily, before turning back to address his stepmother. “I hardly see being mad about someone making huge life decisions on my behalf without my prior consent as ‘throwing a fit!’ I dare say that response is quite reasonable to be pissed about.” “And I dare say that because of your attitude, both with me and Drizella, both before and right now, you will be doing this work unpaid as an internship!” Lady Tremaine said. “Unpaid!?” Zephyr said incredulous, “You expect me to work for NO PAY during MY summer!?” “Yes, because otherwise you’d just sleep in all day!” Lady Tremaine said. “Not to mention you CLEARLY need some discipline!” “IT’S SUMMER!” Zephyr said angrily, “AND I do NOT need discipline! I passed ALL my classes this summer with flying colors! And what’s wrong with sleeping in? It’s better than doing fucking drugs!” “Zephyr, don’t you dare swear in this house!” Lady Tremaine said. “I don’t wanna make waves or anything but he also said moron earlier too…” Drizella chimed in. “Shut up you fucking tattletale!” Zephyr said. “Zephyr, I’m warning you! You’re acting like an embarrassment!” Lady Tremaine said getting angrier. “And how about when she referred to Fluttershy as Cindershy on the way home, what about that behavior? Is that ok?” Zephyr said angrily. “Now I’m sure she was just poking a little fun at you, family does to one another after all.” Lady Tremaine said. “Family? Ha’ You aren’t my family!” Zephyr said. “Never once since I’ve been here have I felt welcome or that you had my back, not to mention, everyone, even Lucifer the cat, hates me!” “Now Zephyr, Lucifer doesn’t hate you…” Lady Tremaine said holding him out to Zephyr, but Lucifer promptly responded by hissed at him. “Oh really, and is that supposed to just be his way of saying hello?!” Zephyr said. “He’s just upset because he had his bath earlier, which by the way, you owe me for doing that for you, maybe with some overtime to your internship.” Lady Tremaine said, causing Zephyr to get near his breaking point. “For the record, even if he doesn’t hate you I do!” Drizella said chiming, before she quickly ducked to dodge the shoe Zephyr had thrown at her in uncontrollable rage at her horrible comment. “Zephyr, that’s it, get the fuck out of this house with your freak show shit and don’t come back until you can act sane!” Lady Tremaine screamed. “Or just don’t come back at all you psycho!” Drizella said. “Honestly, it’s no wonder you always complain about not having any friends! Who would want to be around someone that acts this way!?” Lady Tremaine said maliciously. “And how!” Drizella chimed in. Zephyr wanted to say a lot of things, how unfair it was that Drizella was once again getting off scot free after instigating, how wrong it was for them to spring such a time consuming commitment on him, or how tired he was of being treated this way for example. Instead however, he just walked out the door and left, the thoughts were starting again, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could control them if he stayed. Author's Note Yep, Lady Tremaine, arguably the most iconic evil stepmother, is in this.
De-stressingThe park was always Zephyr’s favorite place to go whenever he got excessively angry or just hated life. The pastel greens of the plants and the calming nature of, …nature, usually helped to improve his mood regardless of what was going on to sour it. Today however, it just wasn’t working, because no matter what he tried, no matter how much he tried attempted to distract himself with inline poker, he couldn’t get over the fact that once again he would be steamrolled in his own life. And he knew that no amount of distraction by either nature or technology would modify that cold hard fact . “Ugh,” he said to himself, something he often did when he just needed to think aloud. “Why do they always do this to me? Why can’t they just let me do my own thing?! I mean sure I can be a bit lazy sometimes, but who wouldn’t be if you were forced to do things to your breaking point! Plus, it’s summer! I’ve paid my dues for the rest of the year, I’ve earned this little reprieve. It’s not like I want to be a deadbeat my whole life. I just want a break to enjoy nature, follow my passions, or just not do anything and relax for once, is that really such a crime!?!” He the! sighed to himself, “But that won’t happen will it, my step family hates me and clearly care more about controlling my life than actually allowing me to do what I want to do with it. Heck, even my real sister Fluttershy hates me too, because if she didn’t, why would she have just gone off to college and abandoned me like this, leaving me to sink like I was on the Titanic! …. Alone…” “Hey, ya’ll ok?” A female southern drawl said snapping him out of his monologues just before he was going to burst into tears in hopelessness. “Huh?” He said, trying to look away from whoever it was, so they wouldn’t see him about crying. “Uh, yeah, I’m…. Fine!”, his voice was a bit more watery than he had intended. “Ya’ll sure? Because…” she said, before she was cut off by him. “Oh that…. That was just… a play!” he said bullshitting on the spot. “Yeah, a play about loneliness, and I’m rehearsing here because it’s quiet and helps me memorize!” “… are ya’ll sure, becausec and ah hope this don’t sound rude or anythin’, but it kind sounded a mite more bit like you were about to cry when you said that.” She said, still concerned. “Ah just wanna know if everything’s ok!” Deep down, Zephyr wanted to break down, to tell her everything… but that was a trap he had more than once fallen into, and he wasn’t going down that road again! Plus, as friendly as this person was, they were still a stranger at the end of the day, so they were likely asking out of formality rather than legitimate concern. So, instead of giving into the desire to just vent, he just doubled down on his lie. “Oh that….. ok, I admit it, I was crying a bit, but I’m a method actor. It… helps me get into the character a bit more and whatnot ” “Uh huh…..” she said, clearly not fully buying what he said. “And don’t worry, you can trust me, I play poker!” He said, trying to deflect with humor. “Hehe, ok, gotta admit that was pretty good.” She said chuckling a bit. “Actually to be quite honest ah play a bit of Texas hold’em mahself, maybe we could…” she said but was cut short again. “Oh well, I l’d love to but I probably won’t have much time this summer, I have….. commitments” he said. “Oh, well that’s a shame” she said. “Yeah…. It is,” he said, “but that’s life I suppose” he said before muttering “or at least my life.” “You say somethin pardner?” She asked. “Oh uh….. nothing of importance.” He said. “Anyways, I’m probably going to be heading out soon, getting dark after all.” “Who wee, that it is, ah gotta get home to feed mah dog.” She said, “Was nice talkin to ya though, ya’ll on snap gap?” “Um” he said….” Yes but I…. Don’t like giving my information away to people I don’t know well, ” he said, a partial lie. “Fair enough,” she said, slightly disappointed, “Maybe next time we can get to know each other better. Anyway, see ya pardner!” She said before she turned away and began walking back home. As she did, Zephyr tried to resist looking, seeing as he felt there was no point for someone who, despite her words, he probably wouldn’t see again, much less have time to do anything with. However, soon enough, curiosity got the better of him and he turned to watch her. She was rather distant by this time, and the growing darkness certainly didn’t help with visibility, but he swore she was wearing a cowboy hat. However, before he could really get a good look, she walked behind a house and out of sight. “She seemed nice”, Zephyr said to himself, “And she liked poker too! Maybe I SHOULD have given her my snap gap…” However, he then shook his head and said “But I know how people are, she was probably just putting on a facade. Plus even if she wasn’t it’s not like I’d have the time to do anything anyways.” He then looked around again and say just how fast it was getting dark. “Wow, I best get home, I hate it there but it’s better than being mugged,” He said, referring to an inducent where that indeed almost happened the year before. He then turned around to walk home, but had only taken a few steps his foot caught a raised sidewalk block and he fell to the ground, bashing his knee solidly. “Motherbuck!” he said angrily and was about to get get up and kick the sidewalk to vent his anger, but before he could he noticed something. Right there, sitting in front of him in a dry ditch, was a wilting plant. Normally not something of note, but after looking at it he realized this plant looked a heck of a lot like the endangered Canterlot Mallow! Wanting to investigate further, he got up and turned on his phone flashlight, which only seemed to cement his prior suspicion. Just to make sure though, he put in a quick google image search on his phone, and indeed, the images that came up confirmed it was actually the endangered Canterlot mallow! “Well I’ll be damned, never though I’d see one of these in real life! They’re nearly extinct!” He said to himself. “Hmm, doesn’t look like it's doing too good though, probably not going to make on its own, especially since this isn’t typically the rainiest time of year!” His eyes then lit up as he got an idea. “Well, we do have a pond in our backyard, I’ll just take this and relocate it!” He then reached down and used his hands to dig around the plant, making extra careful not to split the roots in the process. Once he had done that, he picked up the plant and began to walk home with it. “Don’t worry, I won’t fail you like others have failed me!” He said, and began walking home with the plant and an actual purpose for once, no matter how small. Author's Note Yes, I did almost get mugged once where I lived, thankfully I saw the amateur hiding behind a car and turned around before I got too close, and thankfully it was summer and some people nearby were outside and probably dissuaded him from continuing pursuit
The planBack at the Tremaine household, Lady Tremaine and Drizella were still hot under the collar with regards to the recent altercation with Zephyr. “Ugh, what am I going to do with that kid!?” Lady Tremaine said. “Let’s kick him out!” Drizella said gleefully, something even Lucifer meowed in assent to. “Now Drizella you know I can’t do that, at the end of the day Zephyr is a MINOR, and there are certain laws which prohibit me from kicking him out, at least for now.” Lady Tremaine said. “Darn!” Drizella said angrily. “Indeed! Things would certainly be much better if he weren’t around here all the time…” Lady Tremaine said. “But you’re going to have him start working in the cleaning business, won’t that be a fair amount of time that he’s away from home?” Drizella said. “Yes, but it isn’t enough!” Lady Tremaine said “I need a break from… HIM before I lose my sanity.” However, then, her eyes lit up as she donned an evil smile. “A break… that’s it, give me a second…” she said as she grabbed her phone and began searching online. “What’re you up to!?” Drizella said. “Tell me Drizella, what was it you wanted to do more than anything?” Lady Tremaine said dodging the question as she kept searching. “Marry a rich man and mooch off his income while he’s away and then inherit his estate when he dies and then marry a prince in a love at first sight situation when the ruler of the land spontaneously throws a ball trying to get his son laid er um I mean married?” Drizella said, and Lucifer chuckled at that specific scenario. “No, not that, though I do respect that ambition.” Lady Tremaine said, “I meant with regards to school.” “Ohhhh, a semester at sea… right?” Drizella said. “But what does that have to do with anything? You already said we’re too broke to do anything extravagant like that!” Drizella said angrily. “Yes, I did.” Lady Tremaine said. “But, that was before I thought of something…” she said, still looking up something on her phone, before her eyes lit up as she found what she was looking for. . “Ah, here we are! The Hightanic, a luxury cruise ship with a semester at sea program! Who knew actually listening at Zephyr’s IEP meetings would pay off…” “Hightanic!?” Drizella said. “Yes, I assume it’s a mix of high school and Titanic, not a very original name if you ask me….” Lady Tremaine said. “However, what it lacks in originality it does make up for in amenities. It says here they have a movie theater, dances, a shopping mall, fancy restaurants for…. Courtship, AND special stops at different places around!” “Ooh, sounds promising!” Drizella said getting excited, before losing the excitement quickly. “But who cares mother, this thing probably costs a fortune.” “Indeed,” Lady Tremaine said, “It does… Which is precisely why WE won’t be paying for it!” “Huh!” Drizella said. “I am pretty sure I could ‘convince’ the school district to pay his education fees, if, of course, we mention possibly bringing to light all the times they didn’t do anything when Zephyr made reports about bullying!” Lady Tremaine said. “But mother, that’s BLACKMAIL.” Drizella said shocked, before chuckling and saying “Now I’m really intrigued!!” “I taught you well,” Lady Tremaine said, “Either way though, it wouldn’t look good for their reputation if word of this got out, so I’m pretty sure they’d be willing to fork over some serious dough if it would make it all… ‘go away’, so to speak, perhaps even enough to pay for your ticket as well!” “Are you sure about that?” Drizella said. “Oh indeed!” Lady Tremaine said, “A potential loss of reputation can be a VERY powerful motivator!” “Oh mother, you are such a genius.” Drizella said chuckling in glee, before the door opened and Zephyr Breeze walked in. “Oh look, speak of the devil! It’s the manchild himself! “Drizella said.” Guess what, it’s your lucky day! You’re not going to have to do that cleaning business this summer anymore!” Drizella said, smiling gleefully.
The revealZephyr, after arriving home from the park, quietly snuck into backyard and found a place to put the endangered mallow he found at the park. After giving it a nice planting and some much needed water, more care than he personally had ever felt, he thought of another reason to stall, and sadly came up short so he quietly snuck to the front door of the house, hoping to sneak in unnoticed since the last thing he wanted was to face their wrath due to the earlier incident. His initial hope was that they had gone to bed, or at the least had settled down to watch a movie or show in the family room. However, Much to his disappointment, Drizella and Lady Tremaine were still awake and located right by the door so there was no way he could sneak in unnoticed. He briefly considered just saying outside until they went to sleep, but a couple mosquitoes biting him quickly put that to rest. Not to mention he suspected they were waiting for him, so if he waited he might be there a long while. And of course there was always the risk his stepmother would just lock the door and shut him out for the night. It certainly wouldn’t be out of character for her to do something like that to him. So, preparing for the worst, he opened the front door and faced his step family. He was expecting another verbal thrashing, especially from Drizella, but much to his shock, and concern, they seemed happy to see him, and even Drizella’s generic manchild insult seemed to have less scathing effect than usual. Something was up, and as his brain racked through the possible things it could be, he barely processed what Drizella even said to him. “Wait, what did you just say?” Zephyr said. “I said you were a manchild duh!” Drizella said cynically. “Yea I know that, it’s not like you don’t say that all the time!” Zephyr said, “ but what did you say AFTER that!?” “Oh, just that you won’t have to work in the cleaning business after all!” Drizella said gleefully. Zephyr, taken aback for a second, cynically said “Oh ha ha ha, very funny! . As if I’d believe such a bald faced lie!” “Hey, curb your attitude with my daughter.” Lady Tremaine said. “She’s much too sensitive for such toxicity! Plus, she’s just relating what I got through deciding!” “Oh and I’m just supposed to believe you actually took my wants into consideration for once?” Zephyr said. “You must think I’m denser than lead!” “Actually we think you’re denser than Osmium, the densest elemen…” Drizella started before Lady Tremaine nudged her to silence her. “What Drizella MEANT to say was, instead of working the family business, you will be accompanying her on a cruise this upcoming semester for a semester at sea!” “....What?” Zephyr said flatly, not really believing what he was hearing. “Yep, it’s true!” Drizella said, "Personally I don’t think you deserve it, but as long as I get to go on a cruise ship and stay away from you, who cares!” “A cruise ship? Ok, now I KNOW you’re joking!” Zephyr said. “I’d actually laugh at the sheer audacity of it if I wasn’t so suspicious to me.” “Oh no she’s being serious, both of you will be attending a cruise on the Hightanic this upcoming semester of high school!” Lady Tremaine said. “Really?” Zephyr said, doubting it. “Let me just get my friend the Pope on the line to tell him!” “Zephyr, silence with the cynicism.” Lady Tremaine said, “Regardless though, yes, she is telling the truth, and I think you’ll both enjoy it! It has state of the art amenities and numerous things to do like a school dance and various stops at places during the semester. “ “Oh yeah, and what’s the catch?” Zephyr said, still not buying this uncharacteristic shift from their normal character. “Oh nothing!” Lady Termaine said innocently, “Well for Drizella at least! For you however…” Lady Tremaine said before Zephyr cut her off. “Ah there’s the other shoe!” Zephyr said. “For YOU however,” Lady Tremaine said ignoring him,”there IS the added little bit of it being a… behavior school, but that shouldn’t be…” but was stopped short as Zephyr cut him off. “Behavioral school,” Zephyr said, instantly angry. “You think I need to be in a behavioral school!?” “Well you ARE a psycho who needs an attitude adjustment” Drizella sneered. “I wouldn’t word it exactly like that but more or less,” Lady Tremaine said, And what better place is there to do it than the serene environment of a cruise ship?” “Really? You’re not even going to correct her on that psycho remark?” Zephyr said, ignoring Lady Tremaine. “Why should she, it’s not like it’s wrong!” Drizella said, in response to which Lucifer meowed from another room. “ No one asked you!” Zephyr shouted to Lucifer, before Lady Tremaine cut him off. “And THIS is exactly why you need a behavioral school!” she said, “These outbursts are unbearable, and to a cat no less!” “Oh come on, I’m angry, like you wouldn’t be pissed too if someone said that about you!” Zephyr said angrily. “What I would or wouldn’t do is irrelevant.” Lady Tremaine replied. “What matters is you have an issue and you won’t stand a chance unless you do something about it! And the way I see it is this behavioral school is the best way to deal with this.“ “But I don’t want to go to some controlling school!” Zephyr said. “They’ll just treat me like dirt!” “Oh nonsense, you worry too much!” Lady Tremaine said, “Besides, I’ve already promised this to Drizella, and I am not backing out on a promise to my dear daughter.” “But what about me!?” Zephyr said, “I don’t want this!” “That's enough of your insolence!”” Lady Tremaine said ignoring him. “But I…” Zephyr tried to interject but was cut off. ENOUGH,” Lady Tremaine said, “And I don’t want to hear another peep out of you about it, do you understand?” Zephyr, angry at once again being steamrolled, threw off his shoes a bit more forcefully than he could have and then started up to his room. “Oh yeah, and I expect you to start working on the script for that internet confession since no doubt you’ll lose our bet!” Drizella chimed gleefully. Zephyr was honestly too pissed to even care at this point as he went up to his room. He knew one thing was for sure though as he started browsing through his phone to forget this awful day, he was probably going to be spending a lot more time than he thought at the park this next month.
The dilemmaAuthor's Note Hopefully Zephyr comes off as at least somewhat sympathetic here. I want him (at first at least) to be a do no harm but take no bs kind of guy with anger issues, not helped by his family situation. The audience is supposed to sympathize with him so tell me if he comes off as too unlikable (an uphill battle I know with how hated he is, and Tbf, some of the hate is justified) As for why his sister is one of the evil stepsisters form Cinderella…. Well, I’ll get to that in the next chapter The dilemma The final bell of the last day of summer school rang in Canterlot High, and in response, a crowd of teens stormed out the front door, eager to finally get on with a proper summer. Among the countless teens running out of the building and no doubt violating jaywalking laws were two siblings, a tall lanky male with yellow hair and green skin, and his sister, a white skinned teen with black hair and a blue bow atop her head. “Oh thank GOD that’s all over,” the taller one said. “I haven’t slept well in WEEKS with how early they expected us to get here! And I’m atheist so you KNOW it’s serious if I’m thanking something I don’t personally believe in!” “Well Zephyr, maybe if you got to bed on time…” his sister replied with a snarky attitude. “Oh chill out will you Drizella, what do you expect me to do? Go to sleep at 9 pm in July?” Zephyr replied. “It isn’t even fully dark, and you know how hard a time I have sleeping after a midday siesta!” “Only loser’s take siestas you realize…” Drizella replied. “Yeah well you try getting up at 6:30 am for classes every day when you’re a night person and see how you handle it!” “I DID get up at 6:30…” Drizella replied snarling. “Yeah and you’re a morning person so that’s different,” Zephyr replied. “Regardless though, it’s SUMMER, the one time a year when you shouldn’t have to get up super early and can just sleep in. There’s a reason they call it summer VACATION after all.” “You would like vacations you lazy bum!” Drizella said. “Lazy!? I passed all my classes!” Zephyr said, “I mean sure I sleep in the middle of the day sometimes after them, but there ain’t nothing wrong with that as long as you get the homework done on time!” His sister just responded by rolling her eyes, something he noticed. “Oh come on! Are you really telling me you’d rather be in school than spending time with your cat Lucifer? “Well considering I bring Lucifer to school every day in my backpack…” Drizella replied. “Oh come on, not the backpack smuggling thing again?” Zephyr said angrily, “I told you, that can’t be good for a cat! You gotta let that cat out of the bag for goodness sake!” “Oh, and you’re such an animal expert?” She replied annoyed. “No, but it’s just…” Zephyr replied but was cut off. “Hmm, then I don’t really know why you think you know better than me on this!” Drizella replied condescendingly. “Quite frankly I don’t think you know better than me on ANYTHING!” “Rude much” Zephyr said. “Cope and seethe!” Drizella said. “You sound just like those insufferable morons on TF2 and Reddit.” Zephyr said angrily. “I wouldn’t know because unlike you I’m not a loser who frequents them!” Drizella said. “Honestly, and I can’t believe I’m saying this with how annoying they are, but why don’t you go back to your stupid useless hobbies instead of trying to school me on animal care?” “My hobbies aren’t useless!” Zephyr replied. “You think you’re going to be a professional poker player….” Drizella said chuckling to herself “Hey, I won 50 bucks online last month!” Zephyr replied, “And that’s just playing for the few hours a week I feel awake enough to actually do well!” “Oh please, like you’d ever be good enough to be pro… at any of that stupid shit you obsess over!” Drizella sneered. “Ok, you know what, that’s it!” Zephyr replied back. “If we’re going to talk about not being good enough to go pro, maybe we should talk about your singing…” “And what’s wrong with my singing?” Drizella said glaring at him. “I’m actually taking lessons and making progress unlike you!” “Oh that’s not what I’ve heard.” Zephyr replied. “And what did you hear then!?” Drizella replied. “I heard things….” Zephyr replied imitating Robert DiNero “I heard things! Things that make Chewbacca sound like the New York symphony orchestra!” “…. Are you saying my singing sucks!?!” Drizella said angrily. “Well I ain’t saying you’re Neighlor Swift.” Zephyr replied back. “How DARE you talk to me this way!?” Drizella said. “YOU started it!” Zephyr said angrily. “I’m being no more rude than you were insulting my passions, how do you like being at the receiving end of it?” “That’s different, you’re being unrealistic!” Drizella said. “How is it different?” Zephyr replied angrily. “Being rude is being rude!” “Not if you’re being realistic, sounds like you just can’t handle me!” Drizella replied “Oh whatever, I’ll show you!” Zephyr said. “I have the rest of July and part of August to myself now, and I guarantee I’ll make a hundred on online pokerduring that time easy!” “Ok Mr. Gambler, Wanna bet on it?” Drizella said. “Yes, I actually do!” Zephyr said, “If I’m right you have to give me another hundred!” “And if I’m right you have to give me the hundred you’d supposedly and admit to the internet my singing is amazing.” Drizella said. “Deal….. I’ll take that money in twenties by the first week in August thank you!” Zephyr said. “Oh no you wo-on’t” Drizella mocked. “Oh yes I wi-ill!” Zephyrs pushed back. “Well good luck, since I doubt you’ll have enough time to even play soon enough!” Drizella responded. Zephyr chuckled to himself, “Are you serious? I have an entire month of free time starting now, what the hell are you smoking because I want some of that shit!” “Oh….. you mean you don’t know?” Drizella said. “What’s there to know?” Zephyr said. “Summer school is over. Seems like a month of nearly free time to sleep in and be well focused to me!” “Well I just assumed mom had told you,” Drizella said amused. “Told me what exactly!? Zephyr said, suddenly getting a bit concerned. “Well, since she thought you would likely just spend the rest of the summer lounging about and ‘sleeping in like a deadbeat’ as she put it, she has so generously decided you’re helping out with the house cleaning business” Drizella said. “They’ve been needing the extra help for awhile ever since Cindershy went away to college and all!” “WHAT?” Zephyr said incredulous. “Surely you must be joking? And her name is Fluttershy not Cindershy you jerk.” “Oh I’m dead serious…. About both Cindershy and the cleaning business…. And don’t call me Shirley.” Drizella said before chuckling at her reference. “This is hardly time to be making jokes from movies Drizella!” Zephyr said angrily. “When the heck is this supposed job going to start anyway?” “You actually start this Saturday morning, which is why I’m so shocked she hasn’t told you!” Drizella replied feigning shock. . “What!? No! My summer….” Zephyr said angrily. “I’ve already given away through July! Now she expects the rest of it too!? I’m already running on fumes here as is!” “Oh boy here we go again, the woe is me I’m at my wits’ end speech!” Drizella said annoyed. “Stop mocking me, this is serious!?” Zephyr said, getting increasingly stressed. “I’m tired as can be and NEED the rest of this summer.You can’t just do this to me!” “I’m not doing anything, my mom is!” Drizella said. “But hey, if you wanna talk to them about it feel free to when we get home.” “Oh I will….” Zephyr said. “She is not hijacking my life like this again…”
