ZephyrBurst

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!"

Zephyr stared down, full of rage, at the frightened unicorn he had wailed on. Max coughed in his face, but Zephyr was too angry to care much. All it did was upset him more. Normally he would have done things much differently, but Zephyr knew he didn't have to be careful with Max, who he knew wouldn't put up a fight at this point. It was unfair, but being fair was long gone.

He wasn't expecting any great response, but what was said had shocked him. Max had accused him of being a murderer. It was one of the few rules he had in his previous life, that he would never stoop so low as to kill. To be accused of it was enraging and he followed up with the response with powerful strike to Max' side again.

"I AM NOT A KILLER!" He yelled at Max once more. Zephyr was even more confused by the situation now. He held Max' hooves down again, this time slamming his leg down.

"Why would you even suggest that? Here you are, stuck in a cave with a pony like me and you provoke me! WHY?! Don't you value your life?"

Zephyr quickly moved to the side, off of Max. "Get up!" He shouted while striking Max again on the side in a forceful shoving manner. He stood a pace away from Max, both wings fully out-stretched, and his weight evenly distributed among all four legs.

"I only did as much as was necessary when I robbed others." It was a lie, but Zephyr hadn't realized it at the time. There were times when he was exceptionally brutal to his targets when they resisted or fought back.

"And I didn't just rob helpless mares! Stop making all these assumptions about me! Why would you say all these things when you know what I'm capable of?! And I said to GET UP!!" Zephyr lunged forward and hit Max the same way as before. The force being enough to roll Max over. Zephyr wasn't even sure if he wanted to hear the unicorn speak again or to beat him up more.

Max continued to refer to Zephyr as a criminal and his words pierced him. He picked up on Max' words 'trying to kill the time', which only fueled Zephyr's growing anger.

'This unicorn was only toying with me? What does he mean not let me win? He's going to get hostile now?' Zephyr wasn't exactly sure what Max' actual intentions were, but that wasn't on his mind anymore. He didn't care, he wanted to shut the unicorn's mouth. Every word he spoke was intentionally hurtful and now it was very possible he could get aggressive to Zephyr. Max was also the only pony to know Zephyr's name and his past.

Without warning, Zephyr jumped to his hooves and lunged at Max, knocking him over on his back. With rage filled eyes, he towered over Max once more and without any delay, he slammed his fore-hooves down on Max' soft exposed under belly. Zephyr was no where near satisfied and struck an open spot on Max' side with his right hoof. He struck Max' a few more times in his rage, but less controlled with most of his blows being unintentionally deflected by Max.

Zephyr stopped his fury and pinned Max' fore-hooves down with his and growled in his face.

"This is not some game! I can and will break your legs!" Zephyr was yelling furiously at Max. He kept his weight on Max to keep him from getting up. It hadn't occurred to Zephyr that he had let his anger drive him. He glared into Max' eyes, waiting for him to say something to further provoke the rage.

His continued frenzied digging at the rubble still proved to be useless. If he was going to dig his way out, it was going to take a lot longer than he wanted. With his hooves sore and his sanity slowly dwindling, he stopped digging and dropped to the ground. Zephyr was still torn in his emotions, both anger and sorrow soared around his mind. He plopped to the ground and held his fore-hooves over his head, still nearly in tears.

With mixed emotions, "I don't know what you're talking about. What don't you understand? I'm not a criminal!" Zephyr continued to lay at the cave entrance.

"Just help me move these rocks and I'll leave you alone." His plea carried his mixed feelings of anger and sorrow.

Zephyr clenched his teeth and began to shake. It was taking everything he had to not let his anger get out of control. Max' mocking brought up memories of several victims, including his last. He pictured the scared mare crying before him. He tried closing his eyes, but the images became even more clear. Nothing he did would clear away that agonizing voice. Zephyr couldn't stand it anymore and he screamed loudly as he hit the caved in rocks with his two fore-hooves in frustration. The rocks didn't budge and held his weight, only serving to bring a light sting of pain through his legs. Still propped up on the rock, he turned to look at Max with a hateful glare and began yelling.

"Shut up!" Max was much closer than Zephyr remembered. He brought himself down on all four hooves and began to trot closer to Max, keeping the same hateful glare from before, all the while repeating the same angry words at him.

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP MAX!!" As he reached Max, he nearly lost control of himself. But it wasn't enough to stop him from forcefully shoving Max back and growling loudly in his face, extending his wings in the process. His heart rate sped up quickly as he knew he was very close to making a choice in direct violation of the code he set for himself. It troubled him more that he desperately wanted to bring as much harm to Max as possible. He could break a leg or two, or all of them, dig his way out, and leave Max there. Zephyr's moral dilemma was only somewhat visible behind his anger presented to Max. His heavy breathing was visible.

In more angry shouting, "I am not a criminal! I made mistakes, but that is not me anymore! What do you want?!" The hurtful thoughts were still racing around and despite his anger, he was nearly in tears.

Zephyr changed to a more worried expression, it was suddenly hard not to cry. "I need to go! I need to leave! I need to get out of this cave!" Zephyr quickly turned around and zipped up to the top of the cave in, desperately digging at the rubble, but to no success. All he accomplished was to make his 2 fore-hooves even more sore. A bit more light seeped in, but nothing even close enough to get out through. If he didn't leave quickly, he wasn't sure what he would do.

The verbal onslaught from Max was so incredibly frustrating. This unicorn didn't make any sense. Not only did he continue to insult and sling verbal abuse at a pony who he knew could seriously hurt him or worse, but he payed no mind to the fact that they were now stuck in this cave. This was starting to be too much and now Max knew what Zephyr is, or was at least, because of his slip up. He didn't know what Max meant when he said he hurt ponies and made sure they stood a chance. It sounded like cryptic non-sense to him. The main thing on his mind was getting out of this cave away from Max.

Zephyr returned Max' look of contempt. "I don't know what you're talking about and I don't care! As for 'my kind', I don't do any of that anymore! And you're not just a pretty good mark... you'd be the best kind." Zephyr took a step closer to Max. "But as I just said, that is no longer my life and I would appreciate it if you wouldn't bring it up! Just..." Zephyr turned away towards the cave entrance. "Just leave me alone Max."

He approached the cave entrance and examined it, trying to see if there were any rocks or places in the dirt that he could dig out. The quicker, the better. The pony was infuriating and Zephyr was about ready to lash out if he didn't shut his mouth. It was a troublesome thought. He never wanted to hurt another pony if it could be helped. Other thoughts entered his mind, what if Max lets others know where he is. He knew Zephyr lived in Cloudsdale. Zephyr began to wonder if he would be punished for past sins if he was ever found out.

Things were getting very heated. As Mal took the package, she challenged the guardsponies. This wasn't good, Zephyr didn't want to be in this fight, but he wouldn't be able to just leave at this point. Mal knew what was in the package... was it something incriminating though, is that why she wanted to hide it so much? That couldn't be it though, it's highly possible she simply liked her privacy.

Radiant's claim to speed wasn't a big deal, he wasn't concerned with that as he valued form over speed and shrugged at her claim.

Again, Bonfire asked about the contents of the package. This was so aggravating, Zephyr had no idea what was inside. It was beginning to get hard to control himself from yelling at the guard. His horn began to glow and he accepted Mal's challenge. These two unicorns were about to burn each other quite literally. Things were quickly getting out of hand and if a fight took place between the two, he could wind up staying in Canterlot that night, even if he was not part of it. Trying to explain this one to his boss at work would not be easy. He decided to try changing things to avoid a fight.

He hoped he wouldn't startle Radiant as she had a careful eye on him. Zephyr jumped in front of Mal between her and Bonfire.

"Wait!" Zephyr spoke loudly, trying to keep his tone calm but dire, which was hard as he was still upset. He looked Bonfire in the eyes.

"We don't need to fight! I keep TRYING to tell you that I'm simply a delivery pony. I can't tell you what's in the package because I DON'T KNOW! I don't go looking through other pony's stuff." His tone grew as he continued. It was clear by looking at Zephyr that he was feeling on edge as his breathing was visible.

"She said she's a lock smith." Zephyr glanced back at Mal only shortly as he said this and quickly looked back to Bonfire. "It's probably tools for her. It definitely weighs enough. Why not just let all this go so we can all go home... or you back to whatever it is you two do?"

Once again, Max had approached Zephyr, draping a hoof over him and accompanied with that annoying grin. Zephyr still didn't understand what Max was trying to do and it annoyed him greatly. The entire time Max jabbered on, obviously prodding for more information, Zephyr had his ears pinned back. The way Max spoke of thieves was hurtful and it struck a nerve. The storm grew as did Zephyr's anger.

He saw past Max' supposed sympathetic look and nearly growled at him. Zephyr shoved Max away in a forceful and annoyed manner. In a nearly growling tone...

"Get away from me! You think you're so much better than me don't you?" He gave Max a scornful look. As lightning struck, it lit up the cave enough for Max to see Zephyr's fur standing on end. He was angry which allowed himself to slip. "I didn't have any choice in how I lived. I didn't know any better! And I'm not going to stay in this cave and have you talk down to me like this! The storm would be better than you!"

And with that, Zephyr turned to leave. He didn't make it but 2 paces before a loud rumble echoed through the cave. The ground beneath his hooves began shaking and Zephyr took a step back. All around them, rocks could be heard and seen shifting. Was it a cave in? He stood for a moment before realizing that the cave was no longer safe, but it was too late.

Zephyr looked ahead at the mouth of the cave and realized it was being blocked off from a massive chunk of earth caving in. It was took late to try and escape, and instead Zephyr brought his two fore-hooves over his head as he felt a few small pebbles and rocks collide with him. The rumbling didn't last long after and everything grew quieter. The noise from the storm outside no longer echoed through the cave and only a bit of light made its way through the cracks in the now covered entrance. When Zephyr deemed it safe, he stood back up and glanced around, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the lower light. He knew he was stuck, but when the thought that he was stuck in the cave with Max reached him, he grew annoyed.

Hey there, glad to see you on our side of the fence.

Welcome to the herd and all that welcoming jazz. Hope you enjoy it here.

If the unicorn was telling the truth, then he really was making lucky guesses, at least that's what Zephyr assumed. That little smirk on Max' face was annoying as well. It was as if Max was intentionally trying to antagonize Zephyr. 'He couldn't possibly be trying to do this. What purpose does that serve? Why in Equestria would this pony do that. We're both stuck in this situation, why make things worse?'

The thoughts raced around Zephyr's mind and only served to confuse him more. He didn't want to think about this. Max' words spoke that he was trying to apologize, but his tone didn't match that.

"Well that line was almost crossed, so let's just not talk about Manehatten. I would like to get this package delivered and leave as soon as I can." Zephyr figured he would just get it out there that he did not like the city.

"I just don't like the place. Bad memories of it. I'm sure you understand. And you clearly have no idea what you're talking about with 'that' side of Manehatten." Zephyr wasn't entirely sure why he brought up the last point. He wasn't thinking straight, this pony was really bugging him and he continued his scornful look at Max.

I don't go around making pony references, but I don't care if anyone knows I like the show. I've shared my interest with friends and family, if they are interested, they'll watch it, if not, they won't. That's the extent of it really. So no, I don't hide it. :3

This is a hard one, I've been around gaming for a very long time, so I don't remember the first one. The first one I can remember playing was Dig Dug on the Commodore 64. There were a few others on it that I played, but I don't remember what they were called. Dig Dug was my favorite of those. Yeah... I played games before Mario.

Zephyr continued frowning at Max as he mockingly congratulated Zephyr's guess. The more this unicorn spoke, the more annoying he became and the more Zephyr wondered how much he knew about him. Zephyr returned the look of contempt as Max mentioned the undesirable parts of Manehatten where scum and thieves were. This was simply too much of a coincidence. This unicorn couldn't possibly know of him. Zephyr had never seen Max before and he was sure he'd remember such an annoying pony. He ignored Max' comments about the storm ruining his carriage and anything that followed, as he was focused on trying to remember if he had ever robbed Max in the past. And if he had, why would the unicorn be provoking him? Was he trying to start a fight to get back at Zephyr? He didn't look like he would be able to defend himself very well, so why the provocation when they were alone?

Max indirectly insulted Zephyr with his comment on pegasus ponies. He tried to ignore it and decided an upfront question was in order.

"Have we met before this? I'm pretty sure I would remember such an annoying unicorn. You talk as if you think you know me and I find that incredibly agitating." Zephyr snarled at Max. "You also talk too much, which makes you prone to saying something you really shouldn't. What are you getting at here?"

Zephyr stared angrily at Max, wondering what the unicorn would say next, but he added before Max could speak. "You have something against pegasus ponies?" He couldn't remember ever running into a more annoying unicorn.

Very good idea and done.

Confirmed and done.

Characters involved.

Bannhammer - Ace High

flutterscotch - Trillium

ZephyrBurst - Zephyr Burst

Robikku Pegasus - Vinyl Scratch

Diomedes - Aristotle Ironwing

Pony_Sage - Pyrite

flutterscotch also played River Birch and Primrose, but they are side non-app characters.

Rom Com RP Link

It's color coded by story. There were 3 of them going on and there's a bit of crossover here and there. The colors will make it easier to spot which story is which. If something seems out of place, that's where a crossover is happening.

We'll plan the times for events like this better next time so more ponies can be included.

Max began to look at Zephyr with an intense study. 'Why does he want to get a good look at me? Does he recognize me?' As Max spoke and walked closer, and with each point he brought up being true, made Zephyr a little more nervous. He seemed to know something about Zephyr and it was very unnerving. Maybe the unicorn had some mind reading spell. Was that even possible? If it was, would he know where to look? Zephyr frowned when Max brought up him being lonely and nearly pinned his ears back at the mention of not wanting to go to Manehatten.

"Of course, that's just my first impression."

So it was all just a lucky guess. Zephyr didn't want to be confrontational, so he tried not to let any of that bother him, despite Max' fairly tone. Still, it did bug him that everything Max brought up was true. Zephyr nudged Max off his shoulder and took a side step away.

"That's quite a good guess there. Manehatten isn't my most favorite place to go. Really though, what was the point in bringing all that up." Zephyr tried to keep his tone as non-aggressive as possible. "And what about yourself. That's um..." Zephyr took notice to Max' clothing. That and Max counting bits must've meant he was a rich pony.

"You must be some rich pony from Manehatten?" Zephyr was already not liking this unicorn.

When the pony turned around to look at him, Zephyr realized it was a unicorn. Quite a rude one too. He even had the audacity to ignore him and count bits. But Zephyr gave him the benefit of the doubt and figured he was probably upset about being stuck in some cave to avoid the storm. 'Wait a minute, is this pony really counting bits to kill time?'

After Max spoke his name, Zephyr shook off the water as well as he could and stepped further into the cave, going closer to Max. There was something strange about Max, and Zephyr got an odd feeling from him. Something about the way Max spoke his name was upsetting, as if the unicorn thought he was better than everyone else. Zephyr spoke in a normal, inexpressive tone.

"And I'm Zephyr Burst. I don't want any trouble. I'm simply trying to stay out of the storm till it passes."

He kept a slow pace as he spoke to Max. With just a few paces away from the unicorn, he stopped. From this distance, he didn't have to lift his voice to make sure Max could hear him and the other way around. He could barely understand what Max had said due to the noise of the storm outside. He eye'd the bits that Max was counting... that sure was a lot of bits. This unicorn was loaded. His curiosity got the best of him and he had to ask.

"Are you really counting bits to pass the time?"

Definitely Party of One.

An awesome episode with a lot of great themes.