ZephyrBurst

Zephyr just watched again as Max gave his earth pony employee instructions and sent him off. He was happy that this whole ordeal was almost over and watched the earth pony walk away. Just then, Max turned to Zephyr. He returned a glare back to Max. "I can't do that Max..." Zephyr paused before continuing and smiled at Max. "You could have given me away but you didn't. For that... thanks. I really do appreciate it." He looked down the road in the direction of Manehatten. His expression became a little more serious. "But I'll be glad to not have to see you ever again either." Zephyr approached Max, dropped his body low to the ground, and waited for him to climb on again. He still had more to say to Max, but he would wait till they were off the ground.

Hey, I saw you in the chat earlier... wait... I see you there now. Glad you decided to join up. I'll poke you in irc sometime.

RAWR!! Thanks for deciding to join in after that. Definitely check around and see what's here and say hi in the irc chat sometime. We won't bite... maybe. ^,..,^

Zephyr figured the pegasus filly would jump or be a little startled from that. Again, he tried to speak calmly. "Oh, I didn't mean to startle you. I was just out a nightly walk. Couldn't sleep and... well it's not important." Zephyr sat back on his flank to appear less imposing, he wasn't sure if he appeared scary or frightening to her. He wasn't very good on conversation starters or conversation in general, so he focused on the quill. "So you're a writer?" He put his right fore hoof forward. "What kind of stuff are you writing about?" There really wasn't any reason for him to have approached this young pegasus now that he thought about it. What was she doing out here alone? He figured he would get to that later if given the chance. "I almost forgot, I'm Zephyr Burst."

Zephyr didn't respond to Max afterward, he only remained quiet. There was nothing to say to Max. Zephyr would just wind up saying something hurtful anyway. It wasn't long until he heard Max shout and point to a broken carriage. Zephyr landed close by and Max jumped off immediately. To his surprise, Max actually did care for his employee's safety. Again, Max seemed to forget about his leg and stumbled over because of it. Each time made Zephyr feel worse. Zephyr waited on the side as Max approached the large earth pony. He was getting nervous again. Max could rat him out at any time. His heart rate sped up when the pony asked Max about his leg. This was it... Instead, Max lied. Zephyr gave a quiet sigh of relief. When Max asked for help, Zephyr didn't waste any time and approached the tangled earth pony. "Oh, of course!" The ropes were tangled up pretty good, it seemed like he was tied up this way. It took awhile to untangle him completely and Max wasn't able to help very well. It was almost painful for Zephyr to see Max in so much pain trying to do this. Zephyr eventually had to bat Max away so he could untangle the pony on his own. "Just go rest your leg Max, you can't do much with it like that." It wasn't really easier without Max, but not having to watch him fumble around in pain was a better alternative. Near the end of the untangling process, he asked Max to hold down a piece of rope for him, but anything requiring Max to use more than his left hoof would be too much. The earth pony finally came loose. He didn't seem to be seriously injured at all, which was a relief. Zephyr still waited for Max to reveal what actually happened.

Hey there and welcome to the herd! Like some of the others said, we don't bite.

[[OOC: This thread is now open.]] The sudden thrashing about and shouting came as a shock to Zephyr. Why did the unicorn want to go back to the cave?! "I am NOT going back to that cave!" "I need to check on my employee who was pulling my carriage! I left him behind, but I told him I would go back for him!" Oh great, it was a detour. The flight to Manehatten was going to be hard enough, but now there was more. It took a moment for Max' words to fully come together in Zephyr's mind. Max had left a pony out in the storm?! He wanted to stop to throw Max off, and yell at him about how disloyal that was, but now there was a pony that needed to be checked up on. There was no time to stop for that. Max was holding on tightly, almost squeezing his underside, so he knew Max wouldn't fly off during the turn. It was expected, he figured Max had probably never flown on a pegasus' back like this and was probably nervous. Zephyr changed direction to where Max pointed, trying not to turn too sharply. Mainly for his own well being as Max would probably squeeze harder if he had. "Max, I'm not threatening you here, but if this pony is hurt because of this, I'm going to do more than sprain that leg of yours. You had better hope he's all right." Zephyr was starting to think that he should lay off of Max. He looked miserable the last time he saw his face and not because of the pain in his leg. Max was a horrible pony, but he was making an effort to be understanding and Zephyr decided it would be best to try and be as friendly as possible. The situation certainly could use less confrontation. Zephyr was realizing that both of them felt lower than dirt...

Well then, welcome to our side of the pasture.

Where are you getting all that from? The stamina one seems off, why would Twilight be able to go longer than seasoned athletes like Rainbow Dash and Applejack?

*pokes the new pony* Hey there and welcome to our side of the pasture. I hope you enjoy it here.

Ah, another who shares my dislike of constant Dash pairings. Anyway, hope you enjoy the forum and all that is here. Feel free to join us in irc sometime.

Well hello there Mike, glad to have you join us. Hope you enjoy it here in both the RP and non RP sections.

As Max climbed on and his weight fully shifted onto him, he suddenly understood just how hard this was going to be. If this was punishment for what he had just done, it was justly deserved, he thought. Max' sprained leg dangled in his face, and thoughts of Max complaining about the pain right in his ear during the trip filled his mind with preemptive annoyance. "I'll believe what you say when your actions follow up your words. Till then, I don't care. And just to make sure it's clear. I don't like you either and would rather leave you in this cave. I'm really not sure what's making me do this, so look at it how ever your corrupt mind would." He began to take off. "Now hold on. If you fall, I'm not stopping to pick you up." Zephyr was only antagonizing Max and had every intent to make sure Max got to Manehatten safely. As much as he hated Max, he simply couldn't leave him. It was troubling, yet liberating to know he could bring himself to help. The initial lift off, before his wings could catch a current, was the hardest part. He lifted himself off the ground and flew up toward the hole he made. The musty damp air inside the cave, mixed with his damp fur and dirt drying on him, made the flight toward the exit harsh. When Zephyr reached the exit, he had to move slow to get through. He began crawling through to keep from scraping Max along the cave ceiling and to give his wings a small break. The crawl seemed to take forever. The outside was right there within reach and Zephyr so desperately wanted to be out of the cave. It finally happened and there was a great sense of freedom and reprieve afterward. "Now you really need to hold on..." And with that, he boosted himself with a kick off the cave wall and flew off toward Manehatten. He knew this was going to be a long flight. Zephyr kept his altitude fairly low in case he needed to land abruptly like Max starting to slip off. Normally he would fly well above the trees, sometimes above the clouds. As he imagined, the soft rain felt great.

For me, it made more sense if Applejack won.

Zephyr laid on his back for a moment trying to assess if he was injured or not. The fall hurt his back side and his hind legs stung a little, especially the one that was nicked when he tried to get away from the falling rocks. Bending and turning didn't reveal anything unusual, just the normal pain that came from falling. He was relieved to know nothing was sprained or broken, though Zephyr was usually lucky with that kind of stuff. Max limped over to the upside down pegasus actually looking concerned for Zephyr's well being. It wasn't expected, but Zephyr believed it to be a facade. He shot Max an upset stare. "What do you care?" Zephyr rolled over to bring himself up on all four hooves and shook himself off as well as he could. His fur was still damp from when he was caught in the rain which caused some dirt to stick to him. He hated that tugging feeling it had on his fur. Just something else to annoy him. Previous thoughts about Max letting the authorities know about this, returned. Somepony is going to ask him what happened, even worse was when he brought Max back to Manehatten. Leaving Max here would solve most of that. It was possible Max could eventually get out on his own if he really tried... maybe. It didn't matter, Zephyr couldn't leave him here. He had already done something he shouldn't have, which made him feel bad enough. Zephyr looked up at the gap in the cave in, which was now bigger. He sighed when he realized the day was no where near being over. He was going to have to carry Max. At least out of the cave, which was going to be rough on his wings. He sighed again. "I should have hurt your legs AFTER getting out of the cave." He wasn't even sure what that meant or what difference it made to anything. He looked at Max, but didn't smile. Reluctantly, Zephyr kneeled down. "Well hurry up, get on my back so we can finally get out of this cave." He was actually looking forward to the light rain that still came down outside.

Zephyr didn't respond to Max at first. He was trying to concentrate as he had almost gotten a larger rock free from the wall. He tried not to sound so annoyed. "I stopped because..." He paused for a moment as he was intently digging out a few bigger rocks. "Because what I did was wrong... Even if you did have it coming. And for the last time, I'm not going to, FINALLY!" Zephyr pinned his hind legs to the wall to use for extra leverage when he placed his two fore hooves on a larger rock and pushed hard. The rock barely moved at first and Zephyr began to grunt as he used all his strength to push it out the other side. The rock slid out and Zephyr's body laid on the top of the debris as a result of the push. He could see outside clearly, and could even get out if he wanted, but he couldn't leave Max. That area of the debris started to shift and eventually cause a rock slide. Part of which, Zephyr was using to rest his hind legs on. His hind legs followed the rocks sliding down and Zephyr came with it soon after. He quickly tried to push off the rocks and fly, but he was only half successful. His right hind leg was hit with a falling rock as he pushed himself away and he tumbled backward to the ground, landing on his back a few paces away from Max. Luckily for the both of them, the rock slide didn't go far and helped to make an opening big enough for both of the ponies.

Zephyr sighed when he heard Max' question. OF COURSE Max would suspect him of using and ditching him. He was starting to think it might've been a good idea to just let Max get hit with rocks. Zephyr stopped and looked down at Max. "Oh that's easy Max..." He turned and moved a hoof sized rock off the rubble. "It was my intention to leave you here to rot alone." Zephyr said it jokingly, it wasn't often that Zephyr made a joke as his tone wasn't quite sarcastic, and he wasn't sure how he was supposed to sound when making one. He giggled after, hoping Max would get it. He turned to look at Max again. "If I didn't care at all about your well being, why would I bother to tell you to get back from the falling debris?" He turned back to work at the cave in again. "If you need to know, I planned on making this hole big enough for me to fly you out on my back. But if you want to keep assuming I'm out to get you, I can leave you here. I mean I wouldn't want to prove you wrong!" Zephyr's tone displayed that he was annoyed, but not like before, he was much more calm in his demeanor.

Things happened so fast after Zephyr jumped between the two heated unicorns. The mare behind him began laughing and provoking the two guard ponies in a maniacal tone. She was beginning to get scary. Even though the red unicorn in front him looked as if he began to calm down, the tense feeling in the air didn't subside. Mal was crazy and he appeared to be guarding her and then there was Radiant... "That's it! I will not stand for this any longer!" Zephyr knew what that meant. Things suddenly got worse and he didn't want a fight to start or anypony getting hurt. Radiant charged at Mal at a furious speed. Quite impressive in the armor she wore. Zephyr didn't know what would happen if she tackled the small unicorn behind him. He had no intent to protect Mal, but he didn't want to find out what would happen if the situation escalated. He got himself as ready as possible in the small window of opportunity given to him, and tackled Radiant as she ran by, with only the intent to knock her off course. This isn't what happened, and instead, muscle memory took over and he grappled Radiant as she went by. Radiant was stronger than she looked. His intent worked and Radiant was knocked offset from Mal as Zephyr grappled her. She lost her balance and tumbled. With her speed and momentum, she kept going and Zephyr came with the tumble. They both rolled a few times before stopping and Zephyr ended up beside her as he lost his grip mid-tumble.

Zephyr shielded his eyes as Max' spell lit up the dark cave. The light was bright and Zephyr wondered how unicorns didn't hurt their eyes with these spells. "Ugh, why are you so annoying? I'm not going to hurt you... anymore." He didn't speak angrily, but in a more annoyed childish tone. He looked over at the cave entrance to examine the rubble now that he could see it. After a moment, he saw a way he could dig a hole near the top big enough to get them both out. Curiously, he trotted to the base of the rubble and looked up. "If it's not TOO hard, take a few steps back." He looked over to Max, keeping a sarcastic tone. "I'd HATE for you to get crushed by rocks." Zephyr zipped up to the rubble where a few bigger rocks were and began examining it before starting to shift and dig around to try clearing a path. He could see outside through the seams between rocks where the light came through. The storm had indeed started to calm down.

The tears continued to flow as Max spoke. Zephyr couldn't tell if Max was being sarcastic or not, but he did understand that Max was genuinely confused if he could be trusted. Zephyr wasn't sure how to prove to Max that he wasn't out to get him, but he somehow had to. He wanted to stop crying, but it was hard with the thoughts of what he had done. Zephyr tried to focus on something else to stop his racing emotions. He knew the first thing that had to be done was getting the cave unblocked. Max was unable to help with his leg in that condition, not that he would be willing to dirty his rich snobby hooves anyway. The cave was dark and made it hard to see what to dig at. He suddenly had an idea and knew the two of them could get out of there if they worked together. Zephyr stood up. Max was on the ground, not wanting to stand on his sprained leg. Zephyr's crying had subsided and he looked down at Max with a stern look as he wiped his eyes. "Max, I can't say anything to get you to trust me and I'm not going to try, but I at least need you to work with me till we get out of this cave. You said it yourself a moment ago." Zephyr noticed that the storm outside had started to calm as he could no longer hear it very well. It seems the weather pegasus had realized their mistake. "I won't ask you to help dig us out and I know you wouldn't... even if your leg wasn't sprained." He looked at Max with a sly smirk. "Max, how long can you use that light spell?" He looked at the cave entrance for a moment and then back to Max.

Thanks everyone for the happy birthday wishes. Spent the day with family and just hung out with them, mostly with my brother. Got to see my nephew, who will be going on 1 year on Sept. 12. No worries Dessa, I never announce my birthday.

Zephyr was fixated on Max' leg. Ready for any reason to break it. The unicorn was crying out in pain which gave Zephyr an unusual satisfaction. He remembered the thrills of fighting again and was ready to break Max' leg without any further hesitation. Suddenly Max' horn glowed brightly, giving off a blinding light. Zephyr jerked backward, tearing the muscles in Max' leg when he brought his right hoof up to guard his face. Surprisingly, he felt Max hit him hard in his left eye. Zephyr grunted in pain and stepped back to avoid a possible follow up. Max wasn't very strong, but a hit to the face still hurt. His vision re-stabilized and Zephyr brought his hoof down, ready to tear his target apart. Max had fought back and was now fair game as far as Zephyr was concerned. "You've been lucky up to this point Max, but now you're really going to get it..." Zephyr was interrupted. ""How are you going to get out of here?" Max wasn't standing, he was trying, but he wasn't doing a very good job of it, as something was wrong with his leg. He listened to Max' words with surprise. The unicorn had finally said something that wasn't hurtful and actually wanted to work with him. Max looked pathetic. The sight of him moaning in pain and barely being able to stand, accompanied by his shift in disposition brought Zephyr to realize the full scale of what he had done. The previous fear he had returned and Zephyr was ready to cry again. He had done what he told himself he'd never do again. He had beaten Max rather rough and sprained his leg. For the first time since his reform, he had lashed out in anger, and was scared by what he was capable of in that state. He fully heard and understood Max' offer to work together, but the distress at harming another pony when it wasn't in self defense was too much. Zephyr fell to the ground and began crying. Ashamed for what he did, he tried hiding his face from Max. It was hard to speak through his crying, but he tried. "I'm so sorry Max." He wanted to say more, but tears kept coming.

Aww, thanks Jessie. The ants are celebrating my birthday too by marching right through my room. No joke, I woke up this morning to find them going along the side of my bed. I don't keep food or anything in my room. O_O No ants and then BOOM, they've got a whole army in here. Anyway, thanks again. :heart: Hey... I'm not even CLOSE to going out to the pasture.

Well I definitely voted Party of One. So not explaining that one again. Dessa said it best here: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2661#p33950

Max had refused to do what Zephyr said and was met with Max spitting on Zephyr's face followed by a threat. A threat Zephyr knew was empty. Noncompliance was always met with violence in Zephyr's past and all this only sparked that response once again. Zephyr spoke in a sinister tone, "Normally I wouldn't do this to a pony who couldn't fight back, but for you, I'll make an exception." And with that, he leapt forward and struck Max fiercely across his jaw. Zephyr was out for blood now and wouldn't be satisfied until he saw it flow. The strike was enough to roll Max onto his chest. No time was wasted and Zephyr was on his back. He stepped on Max' right foreleg with his left and began to lift the hoof end with his right, bending it back at the joint. Zephyr held him just at the breaking point. All he needed was more pressure and he would snap Max' front leg. But Zephyr was out for pain and kept the pressure on him. He kept his sinister tone, but was yelling at Max again, "Say something else stupid! Do it! I'm not afraid to do this, I've done worse!"