"Buck him..." Storm let out a small mutter as he packed up his clothes into a small suitcase, preparing himself to go to Vanhoover, against his own will no less. High had managed to pull the last straw today, and Storm believed it'd be best if they stay as far away from one another as possible, especially while he is still here. A tear rolled out of his left eye, and although Storm tried to ignore it and suppress his emotions, soon more followed suit, and eventually, he burst into tears as all the emotions he had felt returned to him, overwhelming him in an instant. He collapsed onto his partially-zipped suitcase, letting out a tidal wave of emotion. In a way, Storm felt betrayed, betrayed by his own father no less, a pony whom he knew and trusted for the past eight years, and to be honest, after what happened today, he did not want to even know the stallion.

The door downstairs screeched open and Storm, crying into his suitcase, heard the sound of hoofsteps downstairs, which was replaced by shouting, making him feel even more horrible.

"High, you asshole! Go talk to him!"

"I am not talking to that piece of shit again!"

"He is YOUR son too! When will you see that?!"

"Damn it, Equinox! Fine!"

The hoofsteps resumed and got louder and louder as their source marched up the stairs. Storm glanced to the right, his eyes red and bloodshot from all the crying, and noticed a somewhat tearful High walking up the stairs. Slamming the door close with his hoof, Storm drew back the curtains in front of the sole window in his room and opened the window. After what happened today at school, he didn't even want to talk to High, so in order to ignore him as much as possible, he flapped his wings and flew onto the roof of the property, which overlooked the downtown area of Cloudsdale before him in a spectacular fashion. His life dream of becoming a royal guard crushed, at least for the time being, Storm sighed sadly as he laid on the sloping cloud roof, staring at the sprawling city before him, knowing that today was one of the last times he'd be in his adopted hometown.

"Storm, where the hell are you?" said the voice from his room below, however, Storm chose to ignore it. "Please, man. I'm sorry, but it's too late to back out of this now. Come on, don't do this to me. You're up there, aren't you?"

"What do you want?" Storm groaned, watching High fly out of the window below him and land on the roof, right next to him.

"Hey, sport." High smiled, trying to lighten up the mood.

“Oh, first you’re telling me how much you hate me and how little I mean to you and now you’re calling me ‘sport’?” Storm turned away from him in disgust, hooves resting on the shingles. “You know what? Piss off, I don’t want to speak to you at all.”

"Storm look," High sighed in sadness, somewhat insulted by Storm's sudden remark. "I'm sorry I didn't get your permission for this, but it's too late to back out of this now."

"Dad, how many times do I have to tell you that I don't want to be a weather pony?" groaned Storm, putting his hooves on his head as he lay on the roof. "How long does it take to get it through your thick skull? Oh, and you're sorry? You're fucking sorry? After what you said to me today, I don't think 'sorry' is enough."

"Well, what do you want me to do?" asked High, somewhat saddened by Storm's remark.

"Just leave me alone, alright? I’m sick and tired of this.”

"Storm, I just...I really am sorry."

"Why would you be? You're right. I’m useless...I need discipline, yeah, I know,” Storm sighed dejectedly. “I mean, what does it matter if I graduated on the honor roll? I still ‘failed’ one course in your eyes so I guess it means shit.”

"No, Storm. You're not." High groaned. "Look, what I said today was not right... It was nowhere near right, to say the least, especially to somepony like you, but you gotta realize that it's much too late for me to pull you out of this. All the necessary paperwork has been signed, everything's been done. I've already found you a place to live, I've already arranged everything. You gotta understand that this thing is way too big for me to pull you out; it's way too late to back out of this now."

I thought he'd be sorry for exchanging me in the first place.

"I don't want to go..." Storm sighed, turning back to face High. "I don't even know if I'm ready to leave Cloudsdale yet. I don't know how to balance my checkbook, I don't know how to pay my taxes, I don't know how to pay my bills, I don't know shit; and yet, you expect me to go out into the world on my own and live in an unfamiliar city I know next to nothing about hundreds of miles away from home? What about my marefriend? What about my family?"

"You'll find a new marefriend in Vanhoover. As for us, you can just write home, at least for the time being."

"No, High. I'm not giving up on Blue just because you want me to." Storm growled at him. “She means the world to me, and I would never leave her alone like this.”

"Buck..." High groaned, mentally cursing himself for making that statement. "Why don't you write to her?"

"It won't be the same as seeing her." Storm sighed, before looking at the skyline before her. "She's the most amazing mare I have ever met, High."

"Dad would be good."

"I haven't forgiven you, and after what happened today, I probably won't for a long time." Storm stared daggers right at High, who flinched backwards. "Right now, just High would be perfect."

"Storm, you can't keep being angry at me forever." High sighed, before he himself turned to look at the red sun setting behind the skyline of the city, which seemed to light up with yellow-white lights in an instant. "Look, if I could turn back time, and think twice about exchanging you for that Vanhoover transfer, I'd do that a million times over; but unfortunately, that isn't possible. Then again, this isn’t a permanent arrangement...you’ll just be interning over there.”

"I realize that." Storm replied, not turning to look at his estranged stepfather, and instead continued to stare into the distance, a stone-cold glare forming on his face. "I'm gonna tell her tomorrow about everything."

"Good idea." High replied, and unbeknownst to him, a smirk formed on his face. "I mean---"

"You don't seem that regretful, you know?" Storm said, noticing the small smile creep on his face. "In fact, you seem pretty pleased with yourself, High Wind...you know, I might have been born in Europone but I'm as much of an Equestrian as you are."

"I know, I know, I said something incredibly stupid."

"How dare you stoop so low so as to call me and my mother 'refugees'? My father...my father, who is originally from Cloudsdale, served in the Army and was stationed there...and he died fighting for the country, and the family, that he loved so much,” Storm roared, raging cascades of tears forming in his eyes, High resting a hoof on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. “And what did you do back then aside from flying through clouds all day, High? You aren’t even half the stallion he was.”

“You’re right, I’m not...” High sighed, tears forming in his eyes also as he brought Storm closer towards him, embracing the stallion tightly as his graduation cap was picked up by the wind and blown away.

“My mother, also from Cloudsdale, on the other hand only moved there because of a weather scholarship but decided to settle down there upon meeting my dad,” Storm cried, his emotions having gotten the better of him. “She worked tirelessly to provide food on the table for the both of us, to give me schooling at the only mixed-species school I know of there and to provide me with the best childhood I could possibly hope for, and also to bring me 'home' eventually. So, I'll ask again High...how fucking dare you call myself and my family 'refugees'?"

“Storm, I had no idea...I’m sorry.”

“You had no idea...” he scoffed as he abruptly broke the embrace, his anger being replaced by overbearing sorrow which swallowed him whole.

"Storm, I'm being honest!" High yelled. "Please, man. Look, I'm sorry for insulting you, for calling you names, for exchanging you for a guy from Vanhoover... Man, just give me another chance and I'll make it up for you. I promise."

"Just go away." Storm got up off the roof, letting out a sigh as he did so. He was in too much pain to even listen to High, and although he got over much of his anger towards the stallion, he still wasn't ready to forgive him. In fact, he didn't exactly know if he would ever be ready to forgive High, and instead, he outstretched his wings and he flew back into the house, leaving a sad and remorseful High on the roof, who slowly began to lose any hope he had remaining of ever rekindling the father and son bond that used to be.

"Storm!"

"What do you mean you're leaving, Stormy?" asked Blue, cuddling against the taller stallion sitting on the park bench next to her, as he stared off into the distance, a sad, yet calm expression on his face as he did so. The night before, Storm had come to terms with the fact that he was leaving everypony and everything he knew and loved behind, despite knowing that he was leaving against his own will and without his prior permission too, but what he was hoping to do today was at least try and explain to Blue what was going to happen.

"I'm sorry, Blue. I just have to..." Storm sighed. "I wish I wasn't, but I don't make all the rules...also, as it turns out my dad's struggling with paying off a couple of bills, including my phone bill, so I'm probably not gonna be able to call you for at least a few weeks, if not then longer. I also don't know about internet access or anything like that--"

"I'm coming with you." she replied, eyes glassing up.

"What? Blue, what about weather work here? What about your teaching degree at Canterwood? Your music major?” Storm asked her, his heart literally shattering.

"I can work alongside you there, can't I?" Blue suggested—although it was pretty evident in Storm’s eyes at least that she knew exactly the answer to her own question. No. “And as for college...I’m not sure.”

"No, unfortunately, you can't." Storm sighed, inching slightly closer to her. "I wish you could, but as of right now, that's impossible, especially since we're both at different ranks. I mean, I only just started full-time work, and I'm a junior storm maker, you, whereas...you're still on the cloud-busting team.”

"Yeah, I know," Blue let out a solemn sigh, resting her head on her hooves as Storm inched somewhat closer to her along the park bench. "Alright... I just don't want to see you leave, Stormy... We spent our teenage years together... its just kind of a weird feeling to see you go."

"Don't worry, Blue." Storm gave her a reassuring smile. "Whatever happens, I'll always be there for you. We can write letters to one another, we can visit each other, and one day, I will come back...this is only an internship after all. Once that’s over I’ll come home."

"I hope so, Stormy..." Blue looked up at the stallion next to her, before giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "I hope so. If you can't call me, I'll try calling you as often as I possibly can."

"I mean, you have a life of your own here," Storm sighed, eyes welling up with tears as he confronted the reality of leaving home and the mare he adored so soon. "You've got a job here, you’re about to go into college...you've got friends, family...I can't keep you away from all that."

"Storm..." Blue looked up at him, tears rolling out of her eyes like raging tidal waves. "You are my life."

"And you are mine," Storm wrapped his hoof around Blue's shoulder, bringing her closer in towards him and gently stroking her mane with a lone hoof. "I will be back, I promise. No matter what it takes, I'll be back...and when I return, we'll always be together. I love you so much."

"I love you too, Storm," Blue looked up at him, her eyes welling up with tears also as the memories of the times they spent together played back in successive order. "Storm?"

"Yeah?" he turned towards her, his overbearing sadness dissipating somewhat as their eyes locked, her beautiful emerald-green gaze rippling with tears.

"I don't know how you'd react to this, but--"

"Go on."

"I...want to start a family with you," Blue smiled, cheeks reddening slightly as she let those very words out of her mouth. "Like, once you come back..and we're both a bit older..of course.”

"Oh, y-you do?"

"Yeah," Blue nuzzled him, her eyes watering up once more. "I've been thinking about this for a while now, and I know it's a bit sudden...I mean, we've only just graduated from school, and I don't know if you feel the same way--"

"Funny you should say that," Storm suddenly interjected, a sudden warmth radiating through his body even as a cool, evening breeze whipped past them. "Because I feel exactly the same way."

"You do?"

"Yeah," Storm smiled down at her. "I'd love to start a family with you, and...Blue?"

"Yeah?"

"When I come back and this whole situation is sorted out, would you maybe like to..marry me someday?"

"Yes," after a few moments Blue nodded with a smile on her face, her tearful eyes glimmering beneath the light of a nearby street lamp which had just turned on. "I'd love that, very much."

"I would as well," Storm nuzzled her tenderly. "I just wish I didn't have to go."

Good evening, ladies and gentlecolts, and welcome aboard Equestrian Airlines, flight no. 7222 to Vanhoover. announced the voice on the loudspeaker as ponies walked up and down the aisle, including Stormfire, whose allocated seat was one that was in the back rows of the aircraft, next to an elderly mare and her husband. The flight will take approximately three hours and thirty-five minutes, during which you will get to see the spectacularly rugged and mountainous landscapes of Western Equestria, including the towering Hayvian Mountains, known to be a mountaineer's paradise. Who knows, you may even witness the snow-capped peak of Mount MacHoofley straddling the horizon, which at 20,310 feet is the tallest mountain in the entire country and the third tallest mountain in the world. Upon landing, the weather will be similar to what it is here, only slightly colder, with temperatures of 63 degrees, compared to 68 degrees here in Cloudsdale. Before we take off, however, may we remind you that...

Storm sat at the window seat on the left side of his row, staring out of one of the aircraft's many small, plastic windows at the expansive airfield before him in a seemingly emotionless fashion, the sun setting behind the skyscrapers of downtown, shrouding them in a orange-red glow. In reality however, he felt depressed and lonely, despite a tinge of optimism in his heart and soul. Despite in a way looking forward to his first taster session of adulthood, he felt as if he was forcefully evicted, from his own home no less, and despite his continuous protests about leaving Cloudsdale so soon, High Wind still forced him to go, leaving behind everything and everypony he knew and cared about, including the mare he held closest to his heart, Blue. Just half an hour ago, he had bid her farewell and they shared one last kiss in the park before he would have to go. He did not know how long he had to go for, but what he knew that he wasn't going to Vanhoover simply for a holiday. No, in fact, it was just the opposite. Whether Storm liked it or not, he was going to Vanhoover to work, and to work hard, despite this direction not being the right direction in life for him to take. Storm knew he was going against his cutie mark and his destiny, but he knew that he had to. From the moment he graduated several days back, Storm knew that leaving home was inevitable; he just didn't expect it to happen so soon, and out of all ponies, he didn't expect his own stepfather, High Wind, to be the harbinger of bad luck. As he continued to stare out of the window aimlessly, the engines of the aircraft, including the tail engine whirred to life and the lighting inside the aircraft switched off, signifying that the plane was about to take off.

"Son, are you alright?" asked the elderly mare sitting next to him, fixing the thick-rimmed glasses on her muzzle with her hoof as she squinted her eyes at Storm.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Storm replied, trying desperately to mask his emotions as the airplane pulled off from where it was parked, beginning to make it's way towards Runway 2 of the airport.

"You scared of flying, boy?" asked her husband sitting to the mare's right.

"No, I love flying." Storm explained. "I do it every single day in the weather factory."

"I don't mean that kind of flying."

"No, it's not that." Storm sighed, his stomach churning slightly as the aircraft picked up speed while taxiing towards the runway. "And I'm sorry, but it's not something I wanna talk about."

"We understand you, young'n." replied the mare, nodding understandingly. "If it's something personal, we won't pry."

"It's fine." Storm shrugged. "Sorry if I'm being awkward; it's actually my first time on a plane, plus, I'm going through a really tough time at the moment."

"It's alright, son." the stallion replied.

"Is Vanhoover a nice place?" asked Storm.

"It sure is." smiled the mare. "In fact, we're from there."

"What are you doing in Cloudsdale if I may ask?"

"Visiting relatives." replied the stallion. "What about you? What business do you have in Vanhoover?"

"Oh, I'm moving there." Storm explained, before the aircraft suddenly ground to a halt at the start of the runway. "I got transferred there a few days back..."

"That's great." smiled the mare. "You'll really enjoy it. It may not be as big as Cloudsdale is, but it sure as hay has a lot of things to offer."

I hope I'll fit in... Storm thought to himself, before turning away from them to look out of the window.

Suddenly, the captain of the aircraft spoke through the loudspeaker of the plane.

"Mares and gentlecolts, this is your captain speaking and I would like to welcome you all aboard this Equestrian flight to Vanhoover. Before we take off, I would like you to fold your tray-tables in their upright position in order to avoid any potential injuries during takeoff, and keep them closed until we are in mid-air. Like we stated earlier, the flight is scheduled to arrive at Vanhoover International in three hours, thirty-five minutes, weather dependent, although it is expected to be lovely upon landing. As we begin to takeoff, I would like to go through the safety features and protocols of our aircraft..."

After the captain was done with his speech, the aircraft's three engines whirred to life again and the plane suddenly lurched forward, Storm turning to look out the window at the sunset as the aircraft began barreling down the runway, accelerating constantly with every foot traveled.

"...thank you for choosing to fly with Equestrian Airlines."

As it reached the end of the runway, the plane began to pull up, before taking off moments later and beginning to make the climb to cruising altitude over a suburban neighborhood, one which Storm passed through throughout all the years of visiting Blue. His eyes widened with delight as he looked down at the illuminated, grid-like streets of Cloudsdale beneath him which extended uninterrupted for fifteen-twenty miles in virtually every directon there was, the city's yellow-white lights shining like sparkling jewels. Soon enough, however, the aircraft flew over the edge of the cloud on which the city was built on, and the lights of the fifth largest city in Equestria disappeared within seconds, being replaced by thick and dark forest, which was bisected by the occasional railroad. Storm turned away from the window and let out a sigh.

Well... Storm sighed sadly, almost shedding a tear as he begun to think of home, all the times he spent in Cloudsdale and all the incredible ponies he had met there, including his marefriend. Being brought up here was the most amazing experience I have ever had... but sooner or later, everypony must grow up and leave the nest...