A year later...

"So, Blue." begun Storm, holding her hoof as they walked through West Cloudsdale Community Park, on their way home from the movie theater. Walking through that park on each date they had went on, especially at night, has become something of a tradition for them, since it was the only time when they could truly talk to one another in peace, reflect on the day that had passed and enjoy each other's company. Ever since they had first met at Storm's first (proper) flight lesson, they had grown very close, from acquaintances to friends, and eventually from friends to coltfriend and marefriend, and were both enjoying every moment they spent with one another, espcially Storm, who was at his happiest when he was with her. "Enjoyed our date?"

"Stormy..." she turned to smile at him. "You know I did."

"I guess..." he looked down at her, being nearly head taller than she was, and smiled back. "I just want to be a good coltfriend, that's all..."

"You already are, silly." Blue ruffled his mane playfully.

"I guess." he shrugged. "Blue listen, I have to tell you something."

"Go ahead." she smiled. "What is it?"

"Well..." begun Storm, his face beginning to turn red as he begun to wonder whether she'd accept his invitation or not. "Would you like to...go to the prom with me?"

"Storm..." Blue gave him a tender smile, which caused his heart to literally melt, and the tomato-red blush on his face to fade away. "I'd love to."

"You do?" asked Storm, a wide grin forming on his face. "I didn't think you were gonna..."

"Why?" she raised her eyebrows.

"Well, for starters, I'm horrible at dancing, and secondly, I don't go to these types of parties very often." he chuckled. "But I do want to spend a night with you, babe."

"As do I, Stormy." she smiled, before sighing and turning away from the path before them which led to her street. "As do I..."

"What's wrong?" asked Storm, noticing her stare into the distance.

"It's just all coming so fast..." she sighed. "We're so close to being done with school...I'm just worried about how it'll all work out."

Storm walked up to her and nuzzled her, causing a quick smile to flash across her face. "You're not being very optimistic, you know..."

"How am I supposed to be optimistic, Storm?" she frowned, leaning against him as she stared off into the distance. "I'm just so scared of what's in store for us..."

"I'm kinda scared too..." admitted Storm, wrapping his wing around her. "But remember; wherever we go in life, whatever happens to us both, I'll always be there for you."

She turned at him and her frown quickly faded into a smile, however, instead of saying anything she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I love you, Storm..."

"And I love you too, babe." he smiled down at her. "It'll all go great...I promise...Beautiful night, isn't it?"

"Yep." Blue grinned, looking up to see the moon rising over the apartment buildings and homes of northern Cloudsdale as they both walked down the path leading up to her street. "Thanks for taking me out on this date, Stormy."

"Anything for you, Blue." he nuzzled her, as they walked down a hill which led to the northern boundary of the park; a metal gate which was left open by the last ponies who used it. They walked through that gate and turned left to walk down Blue's street, which was almost deserted, with the exception of pones returning from work and going to late-night parties. It was almost entirely calm and quiet; just the way they both liked it. Around five minutes later, they had both arrived at Blue's home. "So, I guess it's settled. I'll pick you up the next Friday after dinner."

"Alright." she smiled, looking back at him before turning to walk down the walkway which led up to her front door. "You wanna come in?"

"No thanks." he shook his head. "I have to get back home, babe."

"Alright." Blue gave him a smile, before she stopped in her tracks. "I almost forgot something...Good night, Stormy." she then flew up to him to give him a passionate kiss on the lips. "See you at school."

"Yeah, see you." he grinned coquettishly. "Bye, Blue."

"Bye Stormy." she smiled at him, before flying up to the front door, which was unlocked. She walked into the house, but before she closed the door, she turned to look outside to see Storm wave at her and take off into the air, before sighing happily. The stallion she loved for years had invited her to arguably, their most important date so far, and almost instantly, she begun to prepare herself mentally for it.

"Hey sweetie." smiled Solar Blast, walking downstairs. "How was the date?"

"Perfect, dad." Blue grinned, seemingly in a daydream. "Just perfect..."

After arriving home around fifteen minutes later, Storm trotted inside, slamming the door behind him and wiping the sweat off his forehead. He hated the long flight across town, especially if it was within a time limit, but he did it anyway as he wanted to see Blue. However, instead of doing the logical thing and going to bed, Storm went upstairs to take a quick shower, after which he came downstairs to watch some late-night TV or get something quick to eat. However, as he walked through the house towards the kitchen, he begun to hear the sounds of multiple ponies arguing. Curious about what was going on, he approached the kitchen and peered into it from the living room, to see Gust looking at several stallions, who all appeared to have angry looks on their faces.

"Gust, what the hay are we gonna do?!" shouted one of the stallions, a guitarist by the name of Riff. "We can't just keep setting up new gigs and expect ponies to come to each one of them!"

"Yeah, explain." said the bass guitarist, named Pickup, watching Gust cover his face with his hooves. "You're the one that started this band."

"Guys, calm the buck down." growled Gust, before sipping from an open bottle of apple cider. "I got this. It's true that our band hasn't exactly been doing well lately...but who knows? Maybe that'll all change this Saturday. You guys are taking this WAY out of proportion."

"Bullshit." scoffed Pickup. "Remember last Saturday's gig at the community center? The tickets were all sold out, and yet, only three ponies bothered to come. Same with the gig the week before that. I don't know what the hay happened to this band; we used to be the next big thing on the Cloudsdale rock scene two years ago, but now, we're has-beens! We're washed up, Gust. It's 'bout time you wake up and realize that."

"I know..." replied Gust. "But maybe this time, it'll all be different. Just give me a chance! I'll make The Lightning Bolts big again, just you wait!"

"No, Gust." replied the band's drummer, a rather tall, lanky and bespectacled stallion with a red mane, by the name of Crash Cymbal. "We're canceling this next Saturday's gig."

"What?" gasped Gust, his entire world coming to a sudden halt. "You can't just bucking do that! I created this band! I'm it's lead guitarist! I set up all the gigs. All you guys do is just play to arrangements I come up with!"

"Remember that I am the band's co-founder, and we both agreed to decide when upcoming gigs will take place." growled the drummer. "And you know what? I quit this failure of a band."

"I quit as well."

"I quit too."

"Me as well."

"Ah, buck you. To Tartarus with you all..." growled Gust. "Get the hay outta my house. All of you, scram."

"Later, loser." muttered the bass guitarist under his breath, walking out from the kitchen and not noticing Storm leaning against the door frame.

"See you." growled the drummer, followed by the rhythm guitarist of the band, who in turn, was followed by the synth player. After the bandmates left the house, Storm peered into the kitchen yet again, to see Gust leaning against the kitchen counter and hanging his head in shame. Storm had to admit that despite him and his brother not getting on very well most of the time, he did kind of feel sorry for his brother, and it saddened him noticeably seeing him so down, so he decided to bring it up with him.

"Where did I go wrong with this band?" groaned Gust.

"Hey." said Storm, walking into the kitchen. However, Gust did not reply, nor did he acknowledge Storm's presence in the kitchen, and instead continued staring at the floor. "What happened there?"

"What's it to you?" growled Gust. "Leave me alone. Grab whatever you want from here, and just leave me alone."

"Gust, I'm your brother." Storm growled back. "I want to help you, dude."

"No, you're not." sneered Gust. "You're not even remotely related to me."

"Okay, step-brother." Storm corrected himself. "But still, dude. Please, tell me what happened..."

"Storm, go away." growled Gust, moving slightly away from Storm, who had sat down next to him.

"Not unless you tell me what happened." Storm persisted.

"What is it to you anyway?" asked Gust.

"I'm just...curious." stuttered Storm. "That's all."

"Fine." Gust groaned. "If it gets you off my back... Alright... My band...my band is no more."

"Why?" Storm raised an eyebrow.

"We're just not as popular as we used to be..." he explained, a slight tear rolling out of his eye. "Nopony comes to see us play anymore, my friends who played in the band all abandoned me and so, I guess that means we're pretty much done."

"That sucks..." sighed Storm, before putting his hoof on Gust's shoulder. Gust glanced over to see Storm standing next to him, and moved to the left. "I'm sorry..."

"Stay away." Gust warned, causing Storm to back away, before continuing. "I just don't know what'll happen to me now... This band...was my only source of income. This band was my only hope at getting my own place to stay. This band is my life, dude... Or at least was.. I was hoping to move to my own place by the end of this year, but it seems as though it won't be possible. I'm such a screw-up..."

"I'm sorry..." sighed Storm. "I wish there was something I could do to help."

"Well, there isn't anything you can do." Gust stared at him with deep and angry eyes. "Just go, Storm. Go upstairs and leave me be."

"But..." Storm stuttered, before being interrupted by Gust.

"Just go, alright?!" he raised his voice.

"Gust, stop-" Storm pleaded, before once again, being interrupted.

"GO!" Gust shouted at the top of his lungs, having finally reached his breaking point.

"Alright, fine..." Storm huffed, before leaving Gust alone inside the kitchen. It saddened Storm seeing his brother so depressed, but Storm knew that he probably won't be able to change anything, and it seemed best if he didn't try to do so. "Good night, Gust." he turned to look at Gust, who continued to sit on the counter and stare down at the floor, not turning to even see Storm leave. After Storm left the kitchen, Gust turned to look through the open door into the living room, to see nopony present. He sighed sadly, feeling somewhat remorseful after rejecting his younger step-brother and kicking out his band members out of the house, but he eventually decided that it was for the best. Trying not to let his emotions show, Gust took out a bottle of apple cider out of the refrigerator and popped the cap off it, hoping to drown his sorrows in it.

After finishing his apple cider and throwing the now-empty bottle into the trash, Gust made his way upstairs. He felt absolutely awful about what he had done that night; he had no job, no source of income, his friends and bandmates had all virtually abandoned him on that one fateful night, and his step-brother, who was the only pony who seemed to show [i]some[/i] concern for him that night probably didn't want to be anywhere near him anymore, not that they ever liked hanging out with one another anyway. As he walked to his room, which was right next to Storm's, he peered into it through the partially-open door, to see Storm fast asleep already.

"Good night, Storm... Sleep well." he smiled, before closing the door to his room as quietly as possible so not to wake Storm. He sighed, and walked into his own room, slamming the door behind him.

The next day...

"I just don't know what to do, Blue." groaned Storm, sitting beside her as they ate their lunch in the school cafeteria. "My brother...I've never seen him this depressed before...I just want to help get his band back together and get him back on track. I don't know what to do."

"That's really sweet of you doing so, Stormy..." Blue put her hoof on his hoof, and he turned to smile at her. "And he'll definitely appreciate the effort."

"Yeah, but what can I do?" asked Storm.

"Hmm..." begun Blue. "I have an idea. I don't know if it'll work, but it's definitely worth a try."

"You're joking?"

"No, I am not. Storm, I'm being serious."

"Blue, the school already hired a band."

"Maybe they have, maybe they haven't. You won't know unless you ask."

"Gust will kill me if he finds out."

"No he won't." Blue groaned. "Storm, he's your step-brother, and maybe it may not seem like it, but he loves you."

"I don't know, babe." Storm sighed. "I'm kinda worried though."

"Don't be." she smiled, nuzzling him. "It'll all go great, don't worry."

Having eaten both their lunches, Storm and Blue still had twenty minutes to kill before their next class, so they made their way to the principal's office in order to try to get Gust's band a gig at the prom. It unnerved Storm slightly, to be standing in front of the door to the principal's office; he had rarely been inside, unless it was for something like a fight that had broken out and Storm was a witness, or for more positive things, such as getting a certificate, or an award, and he was worried about whether the principal would like the idea of hiring Gust's band. He turned to look at Blue, grateful that she was there to support him if things didn't go to plan, before knocking on the door gently. A moment later, the reply came.

"Come in." the principal spoke from behind the door, in his usual monotonous voice. Storm did as he was told to and rather hesitantly went into the office, Blue waiting for him outside.

"Ah, Stormfire." smiled the principal, a middle-aged stallion who looked to be in his early fifties. "What seems to be troubling you?"

"Afternoon, Mr. principal..." said Storm.

"Sit down, sit down." he smiled, motioning for Storm to sit in the rotating chair in front of the principal's desk.

"Alright, so, I just wanted to ask a question." begun Storm.

"Yes?"

"Well, I was wondering if the school had hired a prom band for the upcoming prom." explained Storm.

"Well, actually, we have hired a band." replied the principal.

"What?" Storm's pupils shrunk to the size of pinpricks.

"You heard me." explained the principal. "Why? Do you know a band? Are you part of a band? Because you never really struck me as the musical type, Stormfire."

"Well, that's true. I'm not musical in any way, although my brother..." begun Storm. "He's the lead guitarist of a band called The Lightning Bolts...and I was going to ask if the school would be able to hire them for the prom night."

"What kind of music do they play?" asked the principal, beginning to write down some of the band's details on a notepad.

"Pretty much everything, sir." replied Storm. "Although, they're best at playing rock."

"I see." replied the principal, somewhat intrigued. "Does Gust still live with you or does he live somewhere else now?"

"He lives with us, sir." said Storm.

"Alright." said the principal. "Well...if anything changes and the band we have hired cannot play, we'll consider hiring your brother's band. That doesn't necessarily mean we will, but if things don't go to plan, we'll hire your brother's band."

"Alright..." Storm shrugged, getting up from his seat and trotting out of the office. "Thank you, Mr. Principal, sir."

"No problem, Stormfire." smiled the principal.

"So, how'd it go?" asked Blue, watching Storm leave the office.

"Well...it didn't go as well as I hoped it would..." replied Storm. "They've already hired a band, but then again, things could change."

"Well...let's just hope for the best, alright?" she put her hoof on his shoulder.

"I guess." smiled Storm, although a part of him was pretty nervous about this entire situation. If Gust knew what I was trying to do, he'd probably kill me.

That Friday...

The week for Storm had passed without any hitch, but for Gust it was just the opposite, having failed virtually every job interview he could possibly go to and having to bear the brunt of his parents, especially his dad, who continued pestering him non-stop about getting a [i]real[/i] job (i.e. working in the weather factory). Originally supportive of his eldest son's career choice as a musician, High had grown much less supportive and more critical over the years, eventually failing to convince Gust to join the weather team, but boy did it seem like a good idea now, especially since his band had practically dissolved and parted ways. Gust had tried to make peace with his now ex-bandmates, but to no avail; all of the letters he sent them came back to him, with some particularly jarring and nasty replies. It was safe to say that his dreams of the Lightning Bolts becoming the next big thing on the Cloudsdale rock scene were crushed.

While Gust sat down on his bed, jamming on his electric guitar, Storm tapped on the door to his room. "Hey."

"What?" scowled Gust. "Can't you see? I'm busy."

"With what?" Storm raised his eyebrows.

"Damn it, Storm." groaned Gust. "Can't you leave me be for once?"

"I can, I just wanted to know if you found a new job yet." Storm said. "Can I come in?"

"Go ahead." Gust sighed. "And no, I haven't. I tried to apply for a job as a waiter at one of the restaurants at the airport, and I went for an interview at the construction site near downtown. Apparently, they're building an apartment building or something there, I don't know, but what I do know is that they aren't hiring any workers. It's safe to say that I am screwed, Storm."

"That sucks." sighed Storm.

"What do you care?" groaned Gust. "You have a job! I'm just a failed guitarist who still lives with his parents because he can't afford his own place!"

"Dude, I'm worried about you." explained Storm. "I just want to help, like a good brother would."

"Why would you be worried about me?" Gust deadpanned. "I'm perfectly fine."

"Because I'm your-" Storm begun, however he was interrupted when the doorbell suddenly rang. "I'll get it." he sighed, getting up from Gust's bed and trotting downstairs to the front door, his parents still being away at work and Mist being at a friend's house. He opened the door to see a mailmare standing before the door, holding what appeared to be a brown envelope in her hooves. "Hey there." Storm beamed.

"Hi." smiled the mare, a grey mare with a light yellow mane. "Name's Derpy and I'm your new mailmare."

"I'm Stormfire." smiled Storm. "Anyways, who's the letter for?"

"Does a Gust Wind live here?" asked the mare. "There's a letter for him, and it's pretty urgent."

"Why, yes he does." smiled Storm, knowing where the letter came from. The mare passed him the letter, and Storm read the sender's address on the front side of the envelope just to be sure.

NORTH CLOUDSDALE HIGH SCHOOL

4958 Cloudly Street

North Cloudsdale

Cloudsdale

"Alright." smiled Storm. "Thanks."

"No problem." smiled the mare, before taking off into the air...and crashing into their mailbox.

"Ooh..." Storm cringed. "You alright, ma'am?"

"I am." she smiled. "I'm just a bit...derpy."

"Alright." replied Storm. "Just stay safe, alright?"

"I will!" smiled the mare, taking off into the air again. Storm rolled his eyebrows and walked back into the house, slamming the door behind him before walking upstairs. "Gust!"

"What?"

"There's a letter here for you."

"Gimme it."

"Sure." Storm shrugged, continuing walking up the stairs before entering Gust's room. He ripped the letter out of Storm's hooves and tore open the envelope, without reading who the letter was from.

Storm gulped out of pure nervousness as he watched Gust read the letter.

Dear Mr. Gust Wind,

Your younger brother, Stormfire, had recommended that the school hire your rock band, the Lightning Bolts, for the annual prom, as a sort of 'backup' band, in the event of the band that we had hired previously not being able to make it. The previous band that we had hired for this function is unable to come as their leader has to go to a family event, so we are humbly requesting your band to perform.

"So, what do you think?" Storm grinned awkwardly.

"What the hay, dude?" Gust growled. "Who the buck let you sign me up for this shit?"

"Dude, I can explain." Storm backed away, watching Gust rise up off his bed and approach Storm like some sort of deranged psychopath. "Please."

"Storm, tell me now." growled Gust. "Who the buck told you to sign me up? WHO?!"

"I did!" Storm yelled. "I wanted your band to get back together!"

"Screw you, man!" growled Gust. "Why the buck would you want that, huh? I told you so many times before that we're done as a band, okay?! Want proof we're done?" He pulled out a drawer from his dresser and tossed it onto the bed, spilling out it's contents, which included five letters. "Read these."

Storm nodded and opened each envelope that Gust passed him, one by one. The replies that came in each envelope both shocked and saddened Storm. "Wow..." sighed Storm. "Just...wow."

"See?" growled Gust. "I am not getting involved in your prom!"

"Gust, we've got less than a week." pleaded Storm. "Come on, dude. I like the music you guys make as a band."

"Storm, I told you a million times that the Lightning Bolts don't exist!" yelled Gust. "I am not doing your prom! We aren't even a band anymore!"

"But if your band still was a thing, would you do the prom?" asked Storm.

"No." deadpanned Gust.

"Why?"

"Because I don't like you." replied Gust. "Never have, never will."

"Stop with your 'I don't like you' bullcrap and listen to me. Do you want your band to be big again?" asked Storm. "Maybe all you need is an audience, and the prom would be perfect for you guys. I'm sure there are lots of ponies out there that are willing to hear you guys play."

"Yeah, like ponies are going to like our band..." grimaced Gust. "Do me a favor and leave me alone, will you?"

"You won't know unless you try." said Storm. "Come on, Gust. I believe in you."

"You're a stubborn little asshole, aren't you?" Gust's frown formed into a smirk.

"So, is that a yes?" asked Storm.

"Maybe." replied Gust. "That is, if I can get this band back on it's hooves again..."

"I can help you get the band back together." begun Storm. "That is, if you want me to help."

"Alright." sighed Gust. "Maybe I could use your help."