In Defence of Zephyr Breeze

Hey all, so I've been out and about getting opinions on the latest episode and there's pretty much one thing that's been in the forefront, everyone hates Zephyr Breeze. I literally seem to be the only person who liked his character and arc thorugh and through. The reason for this is very simple:

He reminded me of me.

I've already put a lengthy post in reply to Lightning Sword which covers most of these points, but I wanted to put this down on my page as well. Zephyr Breeze is not lazy, Zephyr Breeze is not arrogant and full of himself. In fact Zephyr Breeze is probably more insecure than his sister, and when you're sister is Flutteshy, that's saying a lot. Here's how I see it:

Let's look at Zephyr Breeze at his lowest moment. Fluttershy says that he is a talented and smart pony, which he has shown he can be. His talent comes through in his mane styling skill in the song, and he's smart enough to think of clever ways to get himself out of jobs, ususally at the expense of others (ie his parents, Spike, the animals), but look at how he responds to Fluttershy's line:

"What if I give everything I have and still fail? Honestly, I think it's better not to try at all."

This doesn't show that he's lazy, which every other character thinks he is because they just judge on appearance without trying to understand him (Seriously, not even his own sister thought to just talk to him about it?). It shows he's incredibly afraid of failure, to the point where he doesn't want to even risk failing at anything. I know I've definitely felt like this before, to the point where I just coasted through school without ever really studying properly or trying in case I screwed up. Fortunately I was lucky enough to get decent grades on my natural intelligence, but I've always known that I could have done better. I also had trouble making friends at school because I was always afraid of screwing it up due to what can end up being very annoying character quirks on my part, which I won't go into at this time or we'll be here all day.

Secondly, look at how he talks to Fluttershy and Dash:

"I don't expect you two to understand. I mean, when have you ever failed?"

Hopefully a few younger siblings can understand how that feels, right? His older sister is a national hero, a genuinely nice and kind pony, and to him she seems all but perfect. Think how insecure must he feel when comparing himself to her, as well as her just as, if not more successful, best friend who he obviously has a crush on (I wouldn't ship them, but he dose genuinely care how she sees him). Fluttershy in this episode reminds me a ton of my own older sister. For all my younger life she seemed to have things figured out while I had no idea what was going on. She was more popular in school, she got her first job at a much younger age than I did, and I placed her on this pedestal and never thought I could be as good as her. However, as we've gotten older and she's begun to open up to me more about her own failings and encouraging me to have more confidence and supporting me, we've connected more because I know she has problems too. Zephyr has never seen Fluttershy's failings in the show because he's always been up in Cloudsdale while she lives in Ponyville, so she's still on that pedestal to him. When she actually admits to being scared of failing and encourages him instead of just judging him, he begins to believe in himself more and actually pulls through. Sometime's the only thing an insecure person needs is to have the one person who matters most to you say they know you can do it.

Finally his ego is an obvious problem to people, and I've already seen comparisons to Season 1 RD on this note. But whereas Dash is arrogant because she knows she's good, Zephyr's cool and confident demeanour is a defensive front. He only acts like this because he doesn't want anyone to know how he feels. If there was one thing I was more afraid of than failing when I was young, it was looking weak in front of people I respected and loved, especially family. Hell, I'm still afraid of that now. I was a bit more introverted than Zephyr, feigning an easygoing laidback personality instead of being overly arrogant like he is, but just the same I could almost see the gears in his head switching to defensive mode when someone was angry at him, like how he tries to smooth-talk Rarity by immediately shifting blame (I used to do that a lot too). I still switch to defensive mode when I'm agitated, and I immediately shut down and turn inwards on myself. I say nothing's wrong when my mind's going a mile a minute with worries about the future and berating myself for doing something wrong and trying not to look weak all at the same time.

The end of the episode shows that Zephyr still has a ways to go. He's gotten more confident sure, but he's not gonna stop his internal defences overnight. He's actually more like Fluttershy than I first thought when I saw the episode. The only difference between them is that he internalises all his worries and insecurities, while hers are always on the surface. If he was able to break down his insecurites with the help of Fluttershy and a few close friends, I'm sure Zephyr would be just as genuine and kind as his sister. I love the fact that I've managed to find a character that reminds me so much of myself in the show, and that it shows that just having someone to encourage you when your down can make all the difference. I know I'm nowhere near perfect, and my mind still gets the best of me when I screw up, but I always know that when I'm down on myself, there are always my friends and family to help me get myself back up.