ZephyrBurst

(( OOC: The image is fine there, it's not showing on the others though. ))

Zephyr hadn't though about the possibility that the mare would be nervous about making an impression until she too, started fumbling a bit. 'It's go time?' Zephyr found that humorous. He realized he needed to keep himself composed, it was just a simple mare is all. A really cute one with a nicely colored mane and tail, but definitely no need to get so worked up. He took a deep breath while she spoke. 'She's just showing me her hidden strawberries, that's all.'

Zephyr chuckled lightly at her odd statements before as she started her trot toward her strawberries. He followed alongside her, trying to think up a conversation topic. They went off the path, cutting through the woods. It made sense, she wouldn't hide her strawberries where other ponies could find them easy. 'Come on, think! What can I say to a mare like this? What do I know about her? ... Nothing... great. She grows strawberries, talks weird, has a nice fla... no no, don't think about that. I shouldn't compliment her on her beauty. That would be silly, she already knows that, besides I just met her. Just... say... SOMETHING!'

"You have a really nice tail." ... 'Uuugh. I'm so dumb!' Zephyr wanted to jam his head into the ground to hide. 'It's not like I have to actually impress her, we're just going to part ways after this and never see each other again... She's looking at me, gotta act like a normal pony.' Zephyr smiled at Holly.

"How close are these strawberries of yours?"

Try dropbox, it's really easy to set up and use. http://www.dropbox.com

The guards didn't waste any time bounding Zephyr's wings. After his stunt, two guards remained at his sides constantly and kept a tight watch on him in case he tried lashing out again. Zephyr had no intent to do so, any other actions to resist would be wasteful and only result in him being struck again. He had nothing against the other guards anyway and felt he was rightfully struck after what he had done. His thoughts and anger were focused squarely on Bonfire, whom he had more to say to. However, there was nothing to say, Malediction had delivered what he had in mind far better than he could ever say, though far more extreme. Linguistics were not his specialty in the slightest. If he wasn't so angry at Bonfire for their unfair treatment, he would have disagreed with going as far as she had stated it.

As he was being dragged away by the guards, what Bonfire said to Radiant bugged him. It felt incredibly condescending and even though it was not aimed at him, he felt somehow insulted by it. He was brought right by Radiant, and looked straight at her...

"Private, you see these wings?" He said mocking Bonfire's tone and voice. "These wings mean pegasus, in case you forgot basic pony anatomy. Wings mean Flight." Zephyr changed his tone to a more dire one. "You should never let anypony talk down to you like that, even if they outrank you, or whatever. Nopony deserves to be treated how he's treating you. He's no better."

Zephyr turned away after he spoke to Radiant and complied with the guards... for now.

Well then, you definitely seem happy to be here, and we're glad to have you.

This is definitely full of clean, fun RP, and there's quite a variety with more stuff in the works by the staff. Welcome aboard.

The mare hadn't run off or tried to come up with some reason to leave, so she must be enjoying his company. He thought about that. She had even invited him to walk with her to retrieve some hidden strawberries. His wings rustled lightly at his sides.

"A walk... the two of us?" Zephyr was dazed a moment, but quickly snapped out of it and stood to his hooves. He extended his hoof forward toward the mare.

"I'd really like that!" He smiled. "I would agree that hiding some strawberries for yourself is smart." Zephyr thought about all the implications of her offering to get her strawberries with her. Zephyr would never have allowed himself to be anywhere possibly alone with any pony that could be a threat to him. Does this mean she's trusting him? Then he realized that most ponies did not have ill intentions and he was simply scaring himself from his own actions. His past life seemed to be in the minority. The mare simply wanted to enjoy another pony's company is all. It wasn't about trust. He stopped his over-thinking and returned his thoughts to the mare.

"Just lead the way." He kept a smile and hoped the mare would strike up some sort of topic for conversation. He was always at a loss and he didn't want to seem boring.

She sure did have that competitive fire in her, which Zephyr admired a little. It sounded odd with her accent, though it felt friendly and genuine. He grinned at her challenge and was going to tell her that he would gladly accept once he had rested. He didn't need to though, and nearly giggled when she laid down and confessed to needing rest herself. Zephyr slide his front legs forward and laid down as well, laying just a pace in front of the mare. It would be much better than his sitting a moment ago.

"Yeah, I'll race you again. Just say the time and place and I'm all for it!" He kept a smile and made a little gesture with his right fore-hoof.

"I need to rest first as well." He giggled, and thought about what she said her talents were. Fruits, she said. Zephyr glanced down at her cutie mark, and stared for a moment... It was a strawberry. His face lit up with excitement.

"You said your talent is in fruits? You can make strawberries?" Zephyr thought about the taste of strawberries and his mouth watered a little, despite just snacking on the buffet food. "I'd love to taste yours, strawberries are my favorite!" He said, raising his right fore-hoof a little. This was turning out to be fun. Cute mare with a fun accent, AND she could make strawberries... well hopefully. Zephyr had to know more.

'Did she say plum forgot?' He thought to himself. Zephyr found her way of speech to be odd, not bothersome, just odd. After his disaster of an introduction, Zephyr was surprised to find that it was her that apologized to him.

With his mind settled, he responded calmly, and waved a hoof. "It's all right, you don't need to apologize, but thanks. Uh, my name is Zephyr Burst." He paused a moment to think.

When his thoughts gathered, he spoke with more enthusiasm. "Oh yes, the race! You did really well yourself. We were neck and neck there at the end. You run really fast for a unicorn." He did a double take. "I mean, not that unicorns are slow or anything, it's just..." He stops to ponder the next thought, he was already not sure where to go with that.

He figured he'd try his introduction again from before. "Your name is Holly Dash, right?" Zephyr stood up and extended his hoof in greeting. "I heard you say it earlier, it's nice to meet you."

Zephyr decided it would be best if she did the talking.

Zephyr continued to rest and eat slowly. He remembered eating too fast after a large amount of physical activity made him sick to his stomach, that wasn't a desirable state. There weren't any ponies at the after party that Zephyr knew. Since the griffon wasn't much for chatting, and the rainbow unicorn seemed to ignore him, he kept to himself. He glanced around to the ponies seeming to have a good time and enjoy one each others company. Then he saw Swift Breeze. Zephyr had a few curious questions for him and thought to go ask, but then, the rainbow unicorn was approaching him. Maybe she had heard him and was just fixated on the griffon, or maybe she was just as bad at introductions as he was. It didn't matter, she was approaching, so Zephyr looked toward her and waved a forehoof in greeting, still keeping his sitting position.

He spoke a bit louder than normal, maybe the unicorn was just hard of hearing, though there was a lot of noise in the area. "Uh, hi there. Finally decided to acknowledge me?" Zephyr instantly put his right forehoof to his mouth and leaned back a little, he didn't mean to actually say that, the words he was thinking just came out. He slowly lowered his hoof back down and drooped his ears.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that..."

'Great, she's actually coming to talk to me and I screw it up right away.'

Yay, a new pony joins in!

Welcome to the herd and come say hi in irc sometime... oh wait, you're in there now!

I think a continuation is fine.

I'd love to have one, someone start it in Ponyville!

I would do it, but I don't trust myself with setting the scene, there are others here who can do set up much better than me.

Your bad joke has offended me greatly Starfox. Prepare to...

get bombarded by a large barrage of muffins!!

Oh yeah, hey there featherquill. Hmm... I've got nothing. I too am going to blame it on the time of day! Hope you enjoy it here, the few times you post and the more times you lurk.

So if I too was a muffin, would you eat me?

Also, welcome to Canterlot. Oh and come say hi in irc sometime.

I'm not sure it's possible to make Malediciton meaner, or more discordant.

This + Pinkie + Sunny Days, in the same room.

I actually forgot all about the old Thundercats until this new one started getting some hype.

This would make sense since Equestria seems to be a little female-dominant in culture and THAT could have sprung out of a biological reason.

I disagree as this is only what the show as shown to us. It's a forced perspective so that's really up in the air. They've never shown in-depth how the other cities in Equestria are aside from Ponyville. While we've seen bits and pieces of other locations being female dominant, again, this is forced perspective. (In a show targeted to young girls, so females would most likely be shown more.)

I'm not disagreeing with the pony type being based on the mother, just the above.

It doesn't seem like it would happen within the show, and really doesn't fit well, at least to me.

On the other hand. Let the shippers be pissed if it does happen.

So tired. A few ponies came rushing toward the top 3 runners, Zephyr being one of them. With a wave of his hoof, he gave an unspoken signal that he was okay. He was out of breath and would celebrate later. Excitement rallied all around him. He was just as excited, but the aching in his legs and body had caught up and for the moment, he just wanted to rest. After a moment, a pony had gotten too excited and impatient, she didn't want to just hand him the 2nd place award like that. With the help of another pony, Zephyr was lifted to his hooves and a silver medal was placed around his neck. He had never been part of anything like this before and with it came a wonderful feeling of victory. A smile formed on his face and he saw that he would take in the excitement of the moment.

There was another concern of his and he glanced around for the griffon. It didn't take long to spot her, despite the large crowd, due to her size. Zephyr kept a smile on his face as he brushed past ponies to reach the griffon. He had a few things to say to her. The griffon was looking fairly disappointed, and he noticed she had come in 7th. That still wasn't bad with all the ponies that had attended the race this year, but he wasn't going to comment on that, no, he had other things to say. He approached her directly...

"You're a great runner..." He paused a moment, letting his compliment set in. "There was really no need to try and cheat or hold any others back like you tried with your rock stunt. You can do great on your own. Next time we race, I'd like to see more of that running potential without any attempts to cheat." He kept a smile and extended his right forehoof in greeting toward the griffon. "I'm Zephyr Burst."

He knew there was no need for taunting or anything else of that sort, and had every intention of making friends with the griffon. Or at least making sure there was no bad feelings between the two. He simply wanted to leave it at friendly rivals in a race at best or worst... he wasn't sure, he just didn't want to end anything on a bad note.

Six ponies finished ahead of her... Gilda is not going to be happy.

Seriously though, congratulations to the winners! This event really was a lot of fun. :grin:

I'm looking forward to her reaction to losing to Zephyr. I was actually more anticipating the small rivalry between the two than the race itself. XD

Zephyr gave it his all for the last few moments. He wasn't even looking around him, only straight ahead toward that goal line. This was it, that griffon was NOT passing him up. Unless he tripped or she cheated, she wasn't passing him at this point. He wouldn't have known even if she did, his eyes were locked forward and focused on getting past the goal line as quick as possible. There it was, the finish line, it was just a few strides away. Ponies all around were cheering. He couldn't tell who they were cheering for, it wasn't for one pony, it was all so mixed up. So many voices, but it was so exciting. His heart was pounding, he knew he was close to the front of the race.

And then... just then... he crossed the finish line. The ponies cheered even louder right as he crossed the finish line. Did he actually finish first? He didn't know, but he jet past the finish line and slowed down a few paces after it. He stopped, relieved to finally be able to rest. Zephyr was panting hard and sweating profusely. The pain in his legs and his chest caught up to him and he collapsed over on his side to catch his breath. He wasn't sure where his standings were at that time, but he didn't care, he just wanted to rest. At least he had beaten the griffon... he thinks. He wasn't really sure. Zephyr just laid there trying to catch his breath and ease the throbbing pain in his legs and now his chest. He pushed way too hard. But it's okay, it was time to rest for awhile... hopefully...

(( OOC: Okay now I wasn't even trying to post first on this one like I did for part 5-7. XD ))

Wow, 2nd place for Zephyr. I didn't see that coming. I knew top 10, but... O_O

I think it's awesome that Lyra won first. XD It was way unexpected, at least to me it was. Plus it's Lyra.

I'm pretty sure it was a joke by one of the staff.

He pressed forward as hard as he could for the last stretch. He darted down the path with a sprint, seeming to create a draft of wind in his path. Something amazing happened though. He was now in front of the griffon. He grinned when he realized he could actually do this. He could beat the griffon and could maybe show her some humility. He glanced back to the griffon, who was only a few paces behind.

"Not a chance!" He retorted back at the griffon. Zephyr thought about taunting her in some way, but quickly realized that wasn't very sportspony like and would only end badly. Besides, he wanted to keep everything friendly as much as possible. He turns back to look in front and continues his hard pressed sprint to the finish. Wow did his legs ever burn badly now. It was starting to rise up to his lower body. He realized quickly that he had pushed himself too much, he was no runner. Zephyr knew he was in shape, but to do runs like this was different. His body told him to stop, but the race was nearly over and he knew if he pressed on just a bit more, he could beat the griffon. At this point, that's all that mattered.

'Come on legs, we can do this, the end is just up ahead!' In the far distance, he could see the finish line. A wave of relief went through Zephyr. A relieving grin appeared on his face and with added determination, he continued. Which of the two would end up through the finish line before the other? The anticipation set in...

((OOC: This will probably be my last post for the race itself. Seems a fitting end for Zephyr's part in it.))

Zephyr is tied for 4th. O_O I didn't think I'd participate much in the race at first, but I was having a lot of fun with it by the 3rd part. Thanks to the staff for setting this up and keeping it going, especially Manestream. And of course to everyone who participated and made it so much fun. I didn't read through all of the posts. There's a lot. But I went through a lot of them. I might go back and catch some of the arcs I missed.

This was it, the last stretch. No major obstacles were in the way. Just the path the race took, the ponies around him, and the griffon. Zephyr was going to give it his all. The short rest after helping the griffon out of the tree sap certainly wasn't enough and his legs felt like they were on fire. Again his wings ached to stretch out. No, he couldn't though. Zephyr tried to focus on just the race. It was hard though, he thought about how sore his legs were going to be for the next few days. That wasn't going to be pleasant. At least all he had coming up were deliveries and that was mostly flying. There were no big social gatherings coming up or anything of that sort. No expectations of him after the race. Yes, his legs would just have to endure this last stretch of the race, though he knew he wouldn't be as fast as he would like in this condition.

Glancing around, he was pretty certain that first place would not be his. There was still a chance to get in front of the griffon though and that would be his top priority over winning the race. He started to see that it was highly possible that the griffon could actually be the one to claim first place. Hmm... if he could just get in front of her, that would be prevented. Despite seeing his odds of winning, it was a fun race and he got to meet some new faces, even a griffon. Though she was pretty rude, it was still interesting to finally meet one. He'd never challenge straight to their face again, he thought back on how silly that gesture was, being within clawing distance like that. Then again, would the griffon really strike a pony, unprovoked, in a place like this?

With most of the track and competitors behind him and very little in front, he began to sprint. This was it... the finish line was close.

((OOC: Yay for forum notifications. ))