Two-and-a-half years later...
"Storm, sweetie! Wake up. It's time for school."
"Grr... mom, no!"
"No no's! It's Monday, and remember, you're starting high school today!"
"Ugh, fine..." Storm groaned and jumped out the bed, sending the bed sheets flying across his room. He then walked over to the window, and pulled the blinds aside, revealing the sun shining over the city of Cloudsdale and various neighboring Pegasi flying to work. He then turned to look at a small, digital alarm clock, showing the time, which was 7:46 AM. "Shit." he facehoofed, knowing that he had just over half an hour to get to school. He sighed, before going to the bathroom to wash himself, and after doing that, he made his way downstairs for breakfast.
"Hey guys..." he groaned as he walked into the kitchen, where he was greeted by Equinox, a graying High Wind, a sixteen year old Gust and a twelve-year old Mist.
"Hi son!" beamed Equinox.
"Hey sport." chimed in High Wind. "You ready for school or what?"
"Yeah, about that..." begun Storm. "...sweet Celestia, am I scared."
"Blank-flank chicken." spat Gust, causing Storm and everypony else gathered to glare at him. "What!?"
"Anyways..." said Equinox, trying to calm things down. "What's going on, son?"
"Also, your cereal is beside the refrigerator." said High, pointing to a bowl of chocolate cereal, Storm's favorite flavor. Storm trotted over to the refrigerator and picked up the bowl of cereal, before trotting back to the table and sitting down on a spare chair between Mist and Gust. After eating his cereal, Storm realized it was time for him to tell Equinox his worries.
"So, tell me..." begun Equinox, trying to break the ice. "Why are you so scared, son?"
"Well, it's because..." said Storm. "I don't know what High School is like, and I don't know if I'll do good or make any friends..."
"My guess is that you probably won't, you winged Earth pony." replied Gust Wind, glaring at Storm. "Who'd want to be your friend?"
"Gust, that's the last straw!" shouted Equinox, in a stern voice, causing him to calm down and back away.
"Jeez, mom." he growled. "I'll leave him alone."
"Anyways..." replied Equinox. "Son, you will do good, and you will make friends. I'm sure of it, and who wouldn't like somepony like you?"
Just then, Gust's hoof shot up, causing Equinox and High Wind to glare at him yet again.
"Mom's right." said High Wind. "I believe in you, son. You'll do great. I know it!"
"Thanks mom, dad." replied Storm, giving them a small smile.
"I believe in you too, big bro." said Mist, grinning at him.
"Thanks, Mist." he said, ruffling her mane, which made her giggle. "You're an incredible sister. And you two are incredible parents."
"No, you're an incredible son." said Equinox. "I couldn't have asked for a better son than you, Storm."
"Me neither." begun High Wind. "You both are incredible sons, but you need to learn to treat a younger sibling with respect, Gust."
"Damn it, dad. I'm gonna be late to school." groaned Gust, getting out of his seat and picking up his bag, before walking out of the kitchen.
"Thanks mom, dad..." replied Storm, tears forming in his eyes.
"No probs, son." said Equinox, smiling at him. "But you better be heading off to school now."
"Yeah, I guess so." he replied, putting the now-empty bowl of cereal into the dishwasher behind him, before getting out of his seat and saying goodbye to his parents.
"Bye guys." said Storm, putting on his saddlebag. "See you after school."
"Bye son!" both parents said in unison. And with that, Storm left the house and set off for school.
Around ten minutes later, Storm arrived at the high school and looked at the building in pure shock. It looked to be much bigger than his elementary and middle schools put together, and Storm could only imagine how big it must be inside. It's icy walls sparkled in the sunlight, while a small Equestrian flag fluttered on a pole on top of the school, but what really surprised him about the school was the students who poured into the entrance. There were hundreds of them, all from Cloudsdale and some of the communities surrounding the city, all waiting for school to begin. Storm's look of surprise soon turned into sadness, as he came to the conclusion that none of them would probably want to be his friend.
Just then, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see who it was, and to his surprise, it was Singer and Violet. Over the years, they've grown and changed, but personality-wise, they hadn't changed much, especially Singer, who was just as much of a goofball then as when Storm first met him.
"Singer, Violet?" asked Storm, his sad face disappearing and being replaced with a grin.
"Hey Storm." said Singer.
"Hi!" said Violet, with a smile.
"Hey guys." replied Storm. "How was your summer?"
"It was great!" begun Singer. "I went to Baltimare with my dad for some important business trip."
"Sounds interesting." replied Storm, with a rather sarcastic tone in his voice. "What about you, Violet? Did you go anywhere?"
"Unfortunately not, Storm." she replied sadly. "We were supposed to go to Bitaly this year, but my dad had to replace somepony at the Weather Factory."
"That's a shame." replied Storm. He knew the feeling. The family were supposed to go to Mareami this year, but his mom and dad had to work on the week when they were supposed to be in Mareami to stop a large drought in north-central Equestria. "We were supposed to go to Mareami, but my parents had to go to work."
"That's a shame..." replied Violet. "Maybe you'll go somewhere for Hearth's Warming break or something."
"It's possible." mused Storm.
"Anyways, the school bell's about to ring." explained Singer. "What do you guys have first?"
"I have History with you!" replied Violet.
"I have..." begun Storm, taking out a piece of paper with his timetable printed on it and unfolding it. "Music."
"That's cool." replied Singer. "See you, Storm."
"Bye Storm." said Violet, following Singer to their class.
"Bye guys." replied Storm, walking into the school building.
As Storm had expected, the school was much bigger inside than it seemed outside. Storm wasn't watching where he was going (instead he was too busy looking at the various facilities the school had to offer, including a massive gym hall and a large swimming pool), when he bumped into somepony; a light-yellow mare with a green mane whom he had never seen before.
"Oops, I'm terribly sorry about that." he said, looking at her. Wow... I wasn't expecting her to be so beautiful.
"It's okay." she smiled and got up. "I should watch where I'm going next time..."
"No, it's my fault. My name is Storm." he replied. "What's yours?"
"Summer Blossom." she replied, smiling at him. What a pretty name... "By any chance, do you know where Mr... Twister Blast is?"
"I have him now." replied Storm, smiling back at her. "If you want, I could take you to the class."
"If that is no trouble with you." she replied.
"It's no trouble whatsoever, Summer." replied Storm.
"That's good." said Summer. Storm flashed her a quick smile, which she returned, before leading her down the somewhat empty hallway to the music department. A minute or two later, they reached the music classroom, where Twister Blast was teaching and sat down at their respective seats. As the day progressed, Storm found it increasingly hard to concentrate on his lessons, and instead preferred to focus on Summer Blossom, who usually ended up in his class. Was he actually falling for her? Maybe he was, maybe he wasn't. He didn't know, but he liked to sit and talk to her and found it pleasant conversing with her.
Eventually, the school day came to an end and everypony left for home, including Storm and Summer.
"Hey, thanks for helping me around the school." she begun.
"Heh." replied Storm. "No problem."
Just then, a light green Pegasus mare with a blue mane, slightly smaller than Summer in height, trotted up to her.
"Hey sis!" she begun. "How was your day? And who is this?"
"Hi Meadow." replied Summer. "It wasn't bad, oh, and this is my friend Storm."
"Nice to meet you." replied Storm, outstretching his hoof, which Meadow gladly shook.
"I have to go, Storm." replied Summer.
"Alright then. What do you say we meet here tomorrow before school, huh?" proposed Storm.
"Sounds like a plan." she beamed.
"Have a nice day." he said. "Bye."
A little while later, Storm returned home with a large smile on his face. He wasn't expecting his first day in high school to go so well, but most importantly, he wasn't expecting to meet the mare of his dreams. Just as he was about to enter the house, his smile faded away and was replaced by his serious face. What was he going to tell the family? What if they all laugh at him? A surge of nervousness overtook our hero as he walked into the house.
"Hey son." beamed Equinox, listening to a radio program in the living room.
"Hey mom." replied Storm, dropping his saddlebag beside the door. "Where's everypony?"
"Your dad's still at work, Mist's at her friends and Gust has band practice, so I guess it's just you and me, son." explained Equinox. "How was your day at school?"
"It was great!" replied Storm, rather nervously. "He he."
"It doesn't really sound like it was 'great' son." said Equinox. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah..." replied Storm, knowing that he couldn't lie to Equinox, especially about Summer. "Well, not really."
"What's wrong?"
"I'm not sure how you'd react to this..."
"Go on."
"Well, here goes nothing." begun Storm. "There's this mare at my school who I just met today, and already I feel really weird around her."
"What do you men by really "weird"?"
"Well, I feel all tingly and warm around her. It's a really nice feeling... and she looks really beautiful in my opinion." explained Storm, blushing slightly. A small, but still visible grin formed on Equinox's face. "What?"
"Oh, nothing, nothing." she replied innocently, before sighing sadly a moment or so late. "I always knew this day would come son. That one day, you'd find yourself that special mare and fall in love with her. You've grown up, my son. I'm so proud of you."
"I might be 14 and slightly taller than dad is..." begun Storm, also sighing. "But I still am and I'll always be your little colt forever."
"And I'll always be your mom, Storm." replied Equinox with a tearful smile on her face. "Come 'ere." she said, outstretching her hooves.
"Aww, mom." said Storm, hugging her tightly. "I love both you and dad."
"And we love all three of you, son, no matter what." replied Equinox, also hugging him. "You're an incredible colt."
The two stood there in the living room, embracing each other for about a minute or so.
"Listen, I'm a bit worried, mom." begun Storm. "I don't know whether I should start dating her... I mean, what if we don't like each other, or what if we have completely different tastes and nothing in common?"
"I agree." said Equinox. "Remember son, it's never a good idea to start a relationship too early. It's always best to start off being a friend and take things slowly."
"So, what should I do?" asked Storm.
"Just talk to her." begun Equinox. "Start talking to her, hanging out with her, share your interests, problems, future plans or goals."
"I guess so, mom." replied Storm, giving her a satisfied smile. "Thanks for the advice."
"No problem, sweetie." she said. "Hungry? I have hay fries in the oven."
"Hay fries? Hay yes!" replied Storm, causing both of them to chuckle.
The next day...
Storm walked down the path to the school (which was around ten blocks from his home), thinking about what his mom said last night about starting out as friends. He eventually managed to calm himself down as he neared the school building, but his nervousness returned to him when he noticed Summer and Meadow walking into the school building.
"Hi Storm!" said Summer, noticing him.
"Hi there." he smiled. "How are you both?"
"Great! I'm so excited for school." replied Summer. "What about you?"
"Sorta." said Storm, rather nervously.
"What's wrong?" asked Meadow. "You sound rather nervous."
"Well, it's nothing." he lied.
"You sure?"
"Absolutely."
"That's good." replied Meadow, giving him a friendly smile. "I better be heading to class now, and so should you two."
"Alright." said Storm, returning the smile and watching her trot off towards the school.
"Storm, you sure everything's alright?" asked Summer.
"Well, sorta." he replied, somewhat hesitantly.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, you see..." he begun. "I'm worried."
"About what?"
"About this school..." he replied. "Everything's so different here and there are so many new faces... I'm just not sure if I'll fit in."
"I'm sure you will, Storm." begun Summer, giving him a reassuring smile. "You're the first pony here that was actually nice to me."
"Really?" asked Storm. "Wow."
"Yep." replied Summer. "And thank you for that."
"No problem." smiled Storm. "I'm always happy to help. Listen, before we go to class, I just wanted to ask you something."
"Yeah?"
"Wanna be friends?" asked Storm, backing away slightly.
"Of course." replied Summer. "I'd love to be your friend."
The two stood there for a few moments, looking at each other and unsure what to say. Storm seemed especially captivated by her, coming to the conclusion that she looked more beautiful than she looked when he first met her. Just then, the bell rang, startling them both.
"Damn it..." begun Storm. "What do you have first?"
"Biology." she replied. "You?"
"Oh my gosh, I have the same thing!" exclaimed Storm.
"Really? Wow." replied Summer.
"Yeah wow, alright, enough chit-chat." begun Storm. "We better get to class."
"Yeah, I'll meet you there!" she smirked. "Last one to class is a rotten hay fry."
"Oh, you're on!" said Storm, before trotting through the school entrance. Summer didn't waste her time and trotted after him. The two friends reached the biology classroom on the other side of the school building in the science department (with Summer managing to beat Storm, much to his dismay), and the two sat down at their desks, ready to start another long day at school.
Not long after, Storm and Summer started spending every day with each other, and they both begun to grow closer and closer. Storm himself felt like he was the happiest stallion in Equestria every time he was near her. After all, she was by far, the sweetest, most beautiful mare he had ever met in his life. He even begun to think about whether he should ask her out on a date, but then, remembered what his mom said about taking things slowly.
It was lunch-time and the school canteen was just as busy as it was on any other school day. While Singer and Violet were sitting at a table with a young mare named Rainbow Dash (who Storm was a huge fan of after witnessing her win a cloud race), Storm and Summer sat at the table just opposite of them. The two were discussing Summer's life and why she came to Cloudsdale in the first place.
"Well, me and my family moved here from Baltimare because my dad wanted to expand his business to Cloudsdale." she explained. "That, and he thought it'd be better for us to have more open space. After all, Baltimare is a pretty big city."
"No kidding." replied Storm. "I've been there once; it's more crowded than Cloudsdale and Canterlot put together."
"Yep." she begun. "But still, I liked Baltimare, and I had lots of friends there, and I don't see why dad decided to move us way out here."
"It's not that bad here in Cloudsdale." replied Storm. "You get used to it, believe me. There's so much to do here, and I'm pretty sure you'll make friends here too."
"Maybe..." she mused, before noticing something; Meadow sitting at a table just across from them, with a colt of her own. The colt was a light blue Pegasus, with a dark-blue mane and a sun surrounded by some clouds for a cutie mark. "Hey..."
"What?" asked Storm, turning to look at them.
"I didn't know Meadow had a coltfriend." she giggled. "And I don't think my parents know as well."
"Wow." replied Storm. "Hey, I know him..."
"You do?" asked Summer.
"Yep." he replied. "I'm not friends with him or anything, but he's in a few of my lessons. I think his name is Blue Skye or something."
"Cool." begun Summer.
"Hey, listen, can I ask you something?" asked Storm.
"Sure-" replied Summer, but before she managed to listen to his question, she was tapped on the shoulder. She turned around to see who it was, and to her surprise, it was a black-furred Pegasus with a white mane, one which she had never seen before in her life. Storm, however, had seen and heard of the Pegasus before. His name was Thunder Clap, and he was one of the worst bullies he had ever come across in his life. Although Storm was never directly bullied by Thunder Clap, he had heard a lot of stories from colts and fillies who were unlucky enough to meet him; how he would pull their wings hard enough to almost rip them clean out of their sockets, how he would beat the living crap out of them for talking back to him or for standing up to him, or how he, along with some of his friends, would steal lunch money from helpless colts and threaten them with violence if they did not give him it. However, what scared him the most about Thunder Clap was that he was actually here in the first place; just before he left middle school in June, he had heard a lot of things about how Thunder Clap was supposed to move away back to Ponyville or wherever he came from, and so it unsettled him knowing that Thunder Clap didn't leave during the summer.
"Hi there, I'm Thunder Clap..." he said, rather innocently.
"Uh, hi. I'm Summer Blossom..." Summer replied, with an awkward tone in her voice. "May I ask, what do you want?"
"Oh, nothing nothing. I only think you look just as hot as your sister there." he replied, pointing to Meadow.
"...How do you know I'm her sister?" asked Summer, backing away towards the table.
"I see you two walking home from school almost every day." he replied smugly. "And nothing would make me happier than to see you become my marefriend, you gorgeous mare..."
"Gee, that's really nice of you calling me that, but no thank you." said Summer.
"What?" asked Thunder Clap, anger beginning to boil inside of him.
"You heard me."
"Nopony ever says 'no' to Thunder Clap!" he replied furiously. "And for that, I'm gonna make you pay..."
"Pfft. Please, what are you gonna do?" she scoffed.
"Exactly what I do to all my other victims." replied Thunder Clap, smiling smugly. "Beat the crap out of you."
Just then, Summer's expression changed from one of laughter to that of shock and terror, and with that, she backed away towards the table again. Storm had enough. Nopony was going to threaten his friend and get away with it. It was time for him to stand up to Thunder Clap, once and for all.
"Oh no, you won't." he said, tapping Thunder Clap on the back.
"Huh?" he asked, turning to face Storm. "Who the buck are you?"
"Your worst nightmare." replied Storm. "Now leave her alone or I will personally destroy you."
"Try me, you little bastard." he said. "Just try."
"Okay..." replied Storm, who begun to throw punches at Thunder Clap, all which did not apparently work. Instead, Thunder Clap looked down at Storm, a vicious and menacing smile forming on his face. Storm gulped, before being punched in the face and pushed down to the ground. The entire cafeteria came to a halt as everypony turned to look at Storm being beaten up by Thunder Clap, especially Summer, who appeared to be both angry and terrified at the same time.
"Leave me... the buck alone!" shouted Storm, trying to push Thunder Clap off him, but the bully continued to beat the living daylight out of him.
"NO! SHE'S MY MARE, NOT YOURS!" shouted Thunder Clap, delivering a devastating punch to Storm's face, nearly knocking him out.
"I never said I was your mare!" shouted Summer, trying to push Thunder Clap off Storm, but the brute pushed her away towards the next table. Storm noticed this and while Thunder Clap sneered at a rather disoriented Summer, he punched him in the head, knocking him off Storm.
"Leave me and Summer alone... please!" said Storm, rather weakly.
"No, you colt-cuddler." replied Thunder Clap, throwing himself at Storm.
"How the buck am I a colt-cuddlAAAH!" shouted Storm, being brought down yet again by Thunder Clap. This time, Thunder Clap begun to buck him repeatedly in the abdomen, nearly cutting off his breathing at one point. However, before he could do so, he was stopped by the principal.
"Take this-huh?" he asked, turning around to face the principal. "Mr. Principal, sir!"
"What is the meaning of this, Thunder Clap?" he asked, in a stern voice. "This is the second time a brawl like this in the cafeteria had happened this year."
"...second?" groaned Storm.
"Jeez, sorry..." he muttered under his breath.
"Get to my office now." he said. "I don't have time for your nonsense."
"Pfft." he spat, following the principal through the cafeteria towards his office. "Yes, sir."
"Youth these days..." the principal muttered. "Always getting into fights with their fellow classmates. Why, back in my day..."
"Back in your day, back in your day, yadda yadda, blah blah blah."
"That's it." begun the principal. "You're getting suspended for THREE weeks."
"Don't care."
"Do you not care about your education, Thunder Clap?"
"Nope."
"That's it." begun the principal. "If you don't care about your education, why even bother being here in the first place? In fact, I'm gonna expel you from the school."
"Whoop-de-doo. Big buckin' deal."
"And you all!" shouted the principal, turning back to face the students in the cafeteria. "Go back to whatever you were doing." And with that, the principal, followed by Thunder Clap, left the cafeteria, allowing the students to go back to whatever they were doing before the brawl broke out.
"Oh, my gosh Storm." begun Summer, trying to pull him up. "I'm sorry for that..."
"What are you sorry for? You didn't do anything." he replied, standing up straight and dusting himself off.
"Yeah, but it's my fault he attacked you." she explained in a sad voice.
"No, it's not." he comforted her. "Look, Summer. I couldn't watch him do that to you like that. I had to do something so that he left you alone. Look, I really care about you, and I don't want to see anypony treat you like that."
Without any warning, Summer gave Storm a peck on the cheek, catching him off-guard.
"Holy... shit..." he begun, looking around to see some of the students chuckling amongst each other, before turning to look at Summer, his blush growing redder every second.
"I guess you didn't expect that, huh?" she asked. "Well, anyways, thank you for sticking up for me."
"No problem..." he replied, smiling at her. "And it's not that I didn't expect it... I've just never been kissed before, in my life. Hey, Summer?"
"Yeah?"
"I'd like to ask you something."
"Go ahead, Storm."
"Would you... like to-to go, go out with me?"
"Go out with you, as in, like on a date?"
"Yeah, exactly..." he replied, expecting to be turned down.
"Are you kidding? Of course I would, Stormy." she replied, yet again catching him off-guard. "What do you want to go do?"
"I was thinking... seeing a film?" proposed Storm. "There's a few new movies just out in theaters right now... and I was wondering if you'd like to go see one at the weekend."
"Sure!" she replied, giving him another peck on the cheek.
A few hours later, Storm came back home from school, and although he was beaten badly by Thunder Clap, he was still overjoyed. What was he so happy about, you may ask. Well, on that very day, he got himself a marefriend and he asked her out on their first date. As he walked down the pathway towards home, he begun whistling a happy tune and bobbing his head to the sound. Not watching where he was going, he bumped into Hurricane, who was walking back from the neighborhood store.
"Hey, watch where the buck you're going-Well, well, well..." he sneered, looking at the state of Storm. "Look what the cat dragged in..."
"And a 'hello' to you too, Hurricane." said Storm, giving him a quick glare, before passing him by and continuing to walk down the road. Over the years they've known each other, Hurricane mellowed down quite a bit and eventually stopped harassing Storm and his friends, but still remained a rude and selfish jerk that almost nopony liked to hang around.
"What the hay happened to you?" asked Hurricane.
"What do you care?" asked Storm.
"Look who's being the asshole now, asshole." replied Hurricane. "So long, muchacho."
"Bye..." said Storm, turning to give him one last glare, before continuing his walk home. A moment or two later, he arrived at the cloud house and opened the door, before walking into it. "Hello?"
"Hey son." replied High Wind, walking down the stairs. "My gosh, what the hay happened to you?"
"It's a long story..." explained Storm. "Anyways, I have some great news!"
"We don't want to hear them, you stupid, flightless bird." said a voice from the living room, which obviously belonged to Gust.
"What is your problem, Gust?" groaned Storm. "Can't you just be nice to me for once?"
"No..."
"Gust Wind, leave your brother alone!"
"Mom, cut me some slack!" groaned Gust.
"Mind your manners, young stallion."
"Oh, boy..."
"Anyways, Storm sweetie, what's going on?"
"Yeah, what's going on?" asked Mist, also from the living room.
"You know how that pretty mare at school I talked to you about, mom?" he replied, rather awkwardly. "I asked her out on a date."
Just then, almost everypony's (except Gust's) jaws dropped and Storm mentally facehoofed himself.
"You only told mom about your secret crush?" asked High Wind. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want everypony making a fuss of it." replied Storm.
"I wouldn't make a fuss of it, son..." he replied, a warm smile forming on his face. "I'm just really proud that my son got himself a marefriend. What's her name?"
"Her name is Summer Blossom." replied Storm.
"I'm sure she's a very nice filly." said Equinox from the kitchen.
"Oh, yes." chuckled Storm. "She is, alright."
"Storm and whatever-her-name-is, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" said Mist.
"Mist... please." replied Storm, rolling his eyes.
"Wow, my brother has a marefriend..." replied Gust Wind. "Wait, should I even call a flightless chicken my brother?"
"Gust, that's the last straw! Go up to your room right now and don't come out till lunch is ready!"
"Jeez, fine." he replied, and walked out of the living room, not turning to look at Storm or High Wind as he walked up the stairs.
"Anyways..." replied Equinox, who walked out of the kitchen with a warm smile forming on her face. "When are you two going out, sweetie?"
"Saturday." replied Storm. "We're going to catch a movie at the theater."
"That's great, son." replied Equinox, some tears rolling out of her eyes. "I'm so proud of you."
"Thanks mom." he smiled. "Although I still don't know whether it'll work out between us."
"It'll definitely work out." replied High. "Just try your best, son. Alright?"
"Alright."
That Saturday night...
It was evening in Cloudsdale. While his family was listening to a radio program downstairs, Storm was busy preparing himself for his first date with his marefriend, Summer Blossom. He combed his mane from it's usual, messy style to a more refined and nicer-looking style, and put on a t-shirt of the film they were going to see, A Mareami Heist, which was a new action movie that came out to theaters a few days ago. Despite being highly nervous about the date, he tried his hardest to stay calm about it. A little while later, after getting ready, he made his way downstairs, and looked into the living room to see his family gathered around the radio, and to get their attention, he tapped the door to the living room gently.
"Well, well, well." begun High. "Look at you."
"Hey dad." replied Storm.
"Wow, you've... you've grown so much, Storm." begun Equinox, getting up out of her chair and walking over to Stormfire. "I remember when you were crawling around our house in diapers like it was just yesterday... and look at you now. You're fourteen, you're in high school, and you're going on your first date with the mare of your dreams. Sweet Celestia, how time flies. You're growing up, sweetie. I'm so proud of you."
"Thanks mom..." replied Storm, embracing her.
"No problem, sweetie." she said. "Now, I believe you have a date to go on."
"Yep. The movie starts in about an hour and the theater's downtown." replied Storm. "And I still have to pick up Summer..."
"Alright, then you better be heading off now, son." said High Wind. "Have a great date."
"Thanks, dad." replied Storm. "I better go now."
"Alright, son." begun Equinox. "Have fun, and be safe!"
"Okay, I will." replied Storm, opening the door and stepping out into the street. After saying goodbye to his family, Storm made his way through the slowly darkening city streets towards Summer's address, which she had written down on a piece of paper and given to Storm. A few minutes later, he arrived at Summer's house, which was one of the nicer homes in North Cloudsdale, quite similar to what Storm's house looked like. Quite reluctantly, he walked up the path to her house and tapped the door with his hoof, waiting patiently for somepony to open it.
A moment or two later, a white-blue mare with a purple mane, with a gust of icy wind as her cutie mark opened the door.
"Why hello there." she said. "Who may you be, young stallion?"
"Hello, ma'am." replied Storm, before bowing respectfully. "I'm here to pick up Summer."
"Are you her coltfriend?" asked the mare. "She never told me she has one. Summer!"
"Yes mom?"
"There's a colt waiting for you outside the front door!" she shouted. "Oh, pardon me. I never introduced myself. My name is Icy Breeze and I am Summer's mother."
"My name is Stormfire, but please, call me Storm, ma'am." explained Storm.
"You're such a well-mannered stallion." said Icy. "I have a feeling you'll be as great of a coltfriend to Summer as Blue is to my slightly younger daughter, Meadow. Do you wish to come in?"
"If that's alright with you."
"Why certainly." Icy explained, letting Stormfire into the house. A few moments later, Summer made her way downstairs. Storm's jaw dropped as he watched her walk down the stairs. She was wearing a long, red dress and had her mane done up in a bun. In Storm's eyes, she looked absolutely amazing.
"Mom, I told you a thousand times; it's just a date." groaned Summer. "I don't have to wear your old prom dress from Celestia-knows-when to the theaters... Oh, hey Stormy."
"Oh, hush now dear." Icy said. "You look wonderful."
"I agree." replied Storm, not taking his eyes off her. "You look beautiful."
"Thank you, Stormy." she said. "And I must say, you look rather handsome."
"Thank you." he replied. "So, shall we be off then? I don't want to miss the film."
"Yes, we shall." she replied, grabbing a hold of his hoof. "See you later, mom. We'll be back at 9 or 10."
"Alright, have fun you two!" she said as she watched them walk out of the house and walk towards the downtown area of the city. "And Storm, remember. Look after my little filly, alright?"
"Yes ma'am!" he replied.
"Okay, have fun!" she said, waving to them.
Around ten minutes later, they made it through to the movie theater, which lay a few miles east of the downtown area, still in North Cloudsdale; a somewhat small building made of water ice, with a large billboard on the roof which displayed the theater's name in big, bald lettering and several movie posters on the walls. After purchasing two tickets for "A Miami Heist", the two sat down in their seats and waited for the movie to begin.
After leaving the movie theater, Storm and Summer begun to discuss the movie.
"Well, I sorta enjoyed it..." begun Storm. "It wasn't deep or involving in any way whatsoever, but it worked as a mindless action flick, and I enjoy those greatly."
"You call that 'action'?" asked Summer. "My dog can make better VFX than that. And that carriage chase through the streets of Mareami? That was the most unrealistic thing I have ever seen in a movie. They at least could have used stuntponies and real carriages to shoot that scene."
"Yeah, I do admit... the CGI was pretty bad at times, but at least it was fairly entertaining, right?" asked Storm, wrapping his wing around Summer.
"Sorta." replied Summer, nuzzling against him. "At least I got to spend the evening with my coltfriend."
"Yep. And I got to spend it with you." he said, kissing her on the cheek as they walked back home from the theater. It took them fifteen minutes to get back to her house, however, just as they were about to turn into an alleyway and head down the street leading to Summer's house, they were stopped by somepony. Somepony who they both recognized very well...
"Summer Blossom, there you are." said the voice. "Where the buck where you? And who the buck is this? Stormfire? Oh, my gosh, please don't tell me you're going out with him now, are you?"
"Uh-um." Summer begun, shaking slightly in fear.
"Who is this?" asked Storm. "Show yourself!"
"You know who it is very well, you douche." said the voice, in a rather threatening manner. "Leave my mare alone or you're going to suffer."
"Where the buck are you?" shouted Storm. "Show yourself right now or I'm calling the Guard."
"Stormy, he's not worth it." pleaded Summer.
"You better know he's not worth it." said the voice, and it's source jumped into the light of a nearby lamppost. To Storm's surprise, the source of the voice was in fact, Hurricane.
"Hurricane?" asked Storm, backing away slightly.
"Yeah, that's me." he replied. "What are you doing with my mare?"
"Your mare?" asked Storm, anger beginning to boil inside of him. "Well, excuse me, but last time I checked, she was my marefriend."
"Nope, you blind idiot." replied Hurricane. "She's my mare."
"Guys, break it up, please..." begun Summer, letting go of Storm's hoof and backing away towards a cloud wall behind her.
"She's my marefriend." replied Storm, rather sternly. "Now back off and leave us alone."
"Summer, are you with this asswipe now?" begun Hurricane, looking at her in a threatening manner. "What does he have that I don't, huh? Tell me." Summer then teared up, looking at the bickering stallions in front of her, before sighing sadly and trotting up to Hurricane.
"I'm with you."
"...What?" asked Storm, his pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks.
"Look, Storm." begun Summer. "You're a nice guy and all, but you're just not the right guy for me. I love Hurricane."
"I'm not?" asked Storm, backing away slightly. "Why did you-why did you agree to go out with me then?"
"She didn't." replied Hurricane. "You took her from ME! YOU STOLE HER!"
"You're... crazy, dude." stuttered Storm. "Really... bucking crazy."
"Oh, yes." replied Hurricane, smirking slightly. "And I'm gonna get even crazier if you don't leave this alleyway in ten seconds."
"But Summer..."
"No buts!" shouted Hurricane, causing Summer to move back slightly in fear. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6..."
"Alright!" shouted Storm, close to crying, before trotting out of the alleyway towards the downtown area, leaving Hurricane and Summer alone.
"Hurricane, can you take me home?" asked Summer, cuddling against him and obviously happy that Storm was gone.
"Right away, babe." he replied, wrapping his wing around her and flying off with her into the night towards her home. Meanwhile, Storm made his way home, his heart broken into thousands upon thousands of tiny pieces. Around twenty minutes later, he returned home and collapsed onto the couch, before crying into the pillows.
"What did I do wrong?" said Storm, crying his eyes out into the now-drenched pillow. "What did I do to deserve this?"
"Deserve what, sport?" asked High Wind, sitting down beside him. "Did the date go well?" Storm shook his head in reply, still crying into the pillow. "What happened?"
"She dumped me, dad..." he replied in a depressed voice.
"Oh..." replied High. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be... It's not your fault. I wasn't right for her anyways."
"Son, remember..." begun High. "There's plenty more fish in the sea. I'm sure you'll find a mare that you like and who likes you back and will stand by your side no matter what."
"That's bullcrap."
"Not necessarily." said High, caressing his mane with his hoof. "Maybe one day, you'll find the perfect one. I know I have found her."
"I don't know... Maybe I will, maybe I won't."
"I'm sure you will, son." explained High.
"I doubt that... I'm sure that if I ever get another marefriend, she'll trick me and dump me like Summer did."
"Mares can be surprising, son." begun High. "Maybe the perfect mare is just around the corner, just waiting for you to meet her."