Storm sat at his school desk, trying to finish off an unfinished piece of math work, and every once in a while, turning to look at the clock hanging above the door. Math was Storm's worst enemy, other than broccoli, peas and right now, High Wind. After a not-so-merry Hearth's Warming Eve where Storm snapped at High Wind, he concluded that he just couldn't apologize to him and start anew. After all, he still didn't trust him one bit, especially since he was going to become Storm's stepfather in a few months time. Storm cringed at the thought of High Wind becoming his stepfather, but he knew that he loved Equinox, and he didn't want to interfere with their relationship. But he still hated High, with a passion.

"Hey, blanky-flanky," said Hurricane from behind him, hitting him on the back of the head with a ruler and causing Storm to rip the ruler out of his hooves. "Ooh, Mr. No-Mark is angry."

Some of the other kids in the class snickered among themselves after hearing Hurricane's statement, causing Storm to shake in pure nervousness. It's been almost six months since Hurricane's bullying had begun, and so far, it didn't look like it was going to end anytime soon.

"Just ignore him, Storm. He'll leave you alone." replied Singer, turning to glare at Hurricane.

"Who says I will?" asked Hurricane, jabbing Storm on the back of the head.

"Buck off!" shouted Storm, loud enough so that the teacher could hear him.

"Stormfire, language!" the teacher said, obviously very shocked and angry. Stormfire groaned and turned back to glare at Hurricane, who was chuckling along with some of his friends, before turning back to look at the teacher.

"Sorry, ma'am." he begun, before sighing and going back to his schoolwork. He had promised himself that he'd cut down the foul mouth and "street talk" he learned in the Empire, but so far it wasn't working very well, especially since Hurricane was forcing him to use the curse words he had learned.

"It's alright, Stormfire." replied the teacher in a soothing voice. "Next time, just please. Don't swear."

"Yes ma'am."

"Alright, now continue with your math work." said the teacher. "We still have half an hour to go before we all go home."

Half an hour? Storm asked himself, before turning around and looking to see Hurricane and his cronies give him a quick glare, before turning back to face his math sheet. Storm hated Monday afternoons, especially math class, which he usually had last. While he knew that math was his last lesson today, he absolutely hated it, especially since Hurricane was pestering him constantly. Mrs. Horseshoes left the classroom for a few minutes to talk to another teacher, which allowed the students to mess around.

"Hey, Storm." said Hurricane from behind him. "Look out of the window!"

"Wha---" he begun, turning to look out of the window, but he saw nothing behind it, except some cloud houses. Hurricane, you twat... he cursed under his breath, before getting hit on the back of the head with a ruler and pelted by an eraser, which flicked his ear as it impacted it. He turned around to see who it was, before being hit with it again, this time on the face.

"Oh, look. Stormfire is going to cry!" said Hurricane, before chuckling darkly with his friends. Storm held his muzzle in pain and struggled to hold back his tears, but the pain was too much for him to withstand. A moment or so later, he started to cry, much to the horror of Singer and his friend Violet, who were watching the entire situation unfold.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Violet, with a rather angry tone in her voice. "Why are you acting like this, Hurricane?"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm just trying to rid our class of it's problem." he replied, turning to glare at her, before turning back towards Stormfire, who was still holding his muzzle. "Shut up, Violet."

"Hey, leave Violet alone! Oh, and Storm, don't listen to him." said Singer, trying his best to comfort him. "You're not a problem, okay?"

"Yes, I am..." replied Storm, trotting out of the classroom and locking himself in the janitor's closet, which was just opposite of the classroom.

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"Stormfire, please." pleaded the teacher, trying her hardest to unlock the janitor's door. The entire class were gathered around the door, including Singer and Violet, who seemed to be the most concerned. "Please, open the door, alright?"

"No. Not until he promises to leave me alone!"

"Who?" asked the teacher, with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Hurricane." replied Storm, from behind the door. The teacher, and the other pupils turned to look at Hurricane and his friends, with glares on their faces. His heart literally stopped after hearing Storm call out his name. A glare formed on his face, but he decided to hide it so not to get in even more trouble with the teacher. "I didn't do anything, ma'am!"

"It's true, ma'am." said Singer. "He's the one that's been bullying Storm."

"What?" spat Hurricane. "Shut up, I've been trying to help him."

"Helping him how?" asked Violet. "By hitting him on the back of the head with a ruler? By hitting him repeatedly? By calling him names?"

"What do you care? You're not involved in this."

"Foals, break it up." said the teacher, with a rather stern tone in her voice. "Hurricane, a word."

While Hurricane went to get lectured (and possibly suspended) by the teacher, Singer and Violet went up to the door of the janitor's closet and tapped lightly on it.

"Who is it?" asked Storm, in a rather depressed tone.

"It's just us." said Violet. "You don't have to be scared anymore, Storm."

"Is he gone?"

"Yes, he is." replied Singer. "He's busy getting lectured by Mrs. Horseshoes."

"Is it safe to come out now?"

"Yes." said Violet. "There's nothing to be afraid of anymore."

"Positive?"

"100 per cent." beamed Singer. "Come on, dude."

A few moments later, the door to the janitor's closet slowly opened and Storm stepped out of the closet, rather reluctantly. He looked around the corridor, trying to see if Hurricane was still there, but he couldn't see anypony that looked like him in between the thirty-something ponies who were his classmates.

"I want to go home..." replied Storm, tearing up at the sight of his friends and trotting up to Singer and Violet to give them a hug. "I hate this place..."

"Hey, hey." said Singer, at first taken slightly aback by Stormfire's hug. "It's alright... He's gone now, Storm. You don't have to worry about anything."

"Is what he said about me true?" asked Storm, crying his eyes out. "Am I really a problem?"

"No, you're anything but a problem, Storm." replied Violet, giving him a reassuring smile.

"Thanks, Violet." said Storm.

"Tell me, Storm. Why would you be a problem?" asked Singer.

"Because Hurricane says I am."

"Well, Hurricane is wrong." replied Singer, smiling warmly at him. "Never let anypony put you down, Storm. You're special in your own way."

"Thanks, Singer." said Storm, tears rolling out of his eyes. "You're the best friends anypony could ever ask for."

A few months later...
Around three months later, life for Stormfire returned to normal. While he was still relentlessly bullied by Hurricane and his friends, he had a friend to go to when he needed help. More like, two friends. Singer and Violet were two of the most incredible ponies he had ever met in his life. They looked out for him in school, they hung out with him during recess and lunch break and they played with him after school. In fact, they were starting to remind him more and more of Rainwynd, Sharpbeak and Lightning Wing, his friends back in the Empire.

It was a rather nice Saturday morning in April. After some recent heavy rains over Cloudsdale and the surrounding area, the weather finally cleared up and was expected to remain like that for the next week or so, which meant that the temperatures rose dramatically, and that meant that Equinox and High Wind had to work longer hours at the weather factory. Stormfire didn't really care too much about High Wind, but he didn't want his mom to come back late at night, sometimes even at 11 PM or 12 AM. At times, Equinox was so tired, that after she came into the house, she often fell onto the couch and went to sleep there, instead of going to sleep with High. He hated seeing his mom so tired, but he knew that her hard work would pay off and one day, she'd be able to work normal hours. While Equinox worked until late night at the weather factory, High Wind worked on the weather patrol, which covered a twenty mile radius, from Cloudsdale to Ponyville. While both High and Equinox were working, Storm often found himself hanging out with Mist, who was by far, the coolest sister he could ever ask for, but he could never get through and hang out with Gust Wind, now a fourteen-year old, who preferred to ignore him and play loud guitar solos in his room, with the volume turned up to full.

Storm was playing a game of hoofball with Mist outside in the backyard. Despite not being the best colt on the school's hoofball team, Stormfire still knew how to play, and liked the sport.

"Catch the ball, Storm!" she shouted, throwing a brown, oval-shaped ball towards him. Storm did not hesitate and jumped up into the air, catching the ball with his two hooves and landing back down on the cloud ground.

"Now it's your turn, Mist!" he shouted, dribbling the ball across the cloud, before throwing it to Mist. The ball flew through the air, before landing in front of Mist.

"Aww." she begun. "Want to try again?"

"Maybe." replied Storm, giving her a smirk. A moment or so later, High Wind and Equinox Moon landed before them.

"Hey kids." begun High. "Me and your mom, Storm, are going to work on the wedding preparations. We should be back in three-four hours maximum. Alright?"

"Alright." grumbled Storm, still unhappy about his mom getting married to High Wind. Although over the past few months he got to know High Wind more, he still didn't trust him very much.

"See you in a little while, kids." said Equinox, nuzzling both of them gently, before taking off with High Wind into the sky.

"Storm, what's wrong?" asked Mist, noticing his scowl. "Are you still upset about my dad getting married to your mom?"

"Yeah, sort of..." replied Storm, still scowling. "Sorry, Mist. I just still don't trust him very much..."

"It's okay, Storm." she said, putting her hoof on his shoulder. "My dad is an awesome dad. You don't have to be afraid of him."

"I know." he replied. "I'm just nervous."

"Don't be." she smiled. "It'll all be alright. You two will get along just fine."

"You sure?"

"Yep."

"Alright, Mist." he replied. "Want to get something to drink? It's a bit hot."

"Yep." she said, smiling. "My dad has soda!"

"He does?" asked Storm, knowing that they were only allowed to have sugary snacks and drinks every once in a while.

"Yep." beamed Mist.

"Alright then." said Storm. "Let's go."

A few hours later, Equinox and High Wind came back from the wedding preparations, and the entire family ate their dinner, Equinox's famous tomato soup.

"So, how did it go?" asked Mist, trying to break the ice.

"It went really well!" replied Equinox. "It's a shame we couldn't take you all... Was Gust looking after you two properly?"

"Yeah." they both replied in unison, a hint of awkwardness in their voices. While they knew Gust was quite irresponsible at times, they didn't want to get him into trouble with Equinox or High (especially Storm, who didn't want to get beat up by him).

"That's good." replied High Wind. "He can be really lazy and irresponsible at times, but I'm glad he can look after his siblings properly. Hey Storm, how about we do some flying lessons tomorrow?"

"Uh, no, sorry." he stammered. He was hoping that High Wind wouldn't bring up flying again, but unfortunately, he did.

"Why not?" asked High Wind, a rather concerned tone in his voice. "Look, Storm. Flying is necessary here in Cloudsdale. It's much easier to get around and it's much easier to fit in with other Pegasi."

"So, I need to learn how to fly in order to be a good citizen?" asked Storm, anger boiling inside of him.

"I didn't mean that, little guy." he replied rather awkwardly. "What I meant is that life for somepony that can fly is much easier, and since you can't fly, maybe that's why you get bullied."

"Shut up." barked Storm, shocking everypony gathered at the table; Equinox, Mist and even High Wind. "Just shut up!"

"Don't tell me to shut up, small fry." said High Wind, rising up out of his seat and towering intimidatingly over Storm. "I'm your father. You do exactly as I say."

"Pfft." spat Storm. "You wish, you schmuck."

"Boys, boys!" said Equinox, visibly angry at their behavior. "Break it up, you two. This is not the way I expected you both to behave."

"Sorry, honey." replied High Wind, sitting back down along with Storm.

"You're 'sorry'?" asked Storm, cringing slightly. "That's a joke. A very bad, unfunny joke. You're not sorry. You don't even care about us!"

At this point, everypony gathered at the table turned to look at Storm, jaws dropped.

"Tell me how I don't care about you." replied High Wind with a smirk. "Enlighten me."

"If you really did care about me, then you'd know that I can't fly." he explained, a few tears rolling out of his eyes. "And you're only taking advantage of mom. I know you are."

"Bu---" begun High, trying to calm things down.

"Just leave me alone." said Storm, tears rolling out of his eyes as he walked upstairs to his room.

"High Wind, go talk to him, honey." said Equinox, motioning for him to go upstairs.

"Nope. Not a chance." replied High Wind, shaking his head. "I'm not talking to Storm."

"Fine." begun Equinox. "If you won't talk to Storm, then I will."

Meanwhile...
Storm trotted upstairs and locked himself in his room, which was a spare room that High Wind and Equinox furnished back in December. Right now, he didn't feel like talking to anybody, not even his own mother or Mist. He was too angry to talk, too angry at High Wind. Angry at how much of a jerk he really was. He had made it clear to High Wind on several occasions that he didn't know how to fly, but he still kept pestering him about it. He laid on the bed, crying into the drenched pillow. How he wanted to go back to the Griffon Empire, back to where he belonged, back to his old friends, back to his old life. He didn't want to be in Cloudsdale, especially with High Wind, who had managed to truly piss him off today, but Storm knew that he couldn't leave. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't.

Just then, a knock sounded on the door, snapping Storm out of his thoughts.

"Come in..."

Expecting High Wind to come in and give him a lecture on flying, Storm wrapped himself in his bed sheets and covered his ears with the pillow in order to block out High Wind. He didn't want to talk to him, not now, not ever.

"Son, what the hay was that all about?" asked Equinox in a rather stern voice, unlike her usual warm, friendly voice. Storm shot up and turned to look at Equinox, who was sitting at the foot of his bed, glaring at him.

"I'm sorry, mom..." replied Storm.

"You better be!" she barked. "Tell me, why are you behaving like this? Why?"

"Mom, I---"

"Storm, just tell me, why are you acting like this?" said Equinox, with a bitter tone in her voice. "For the love of Celestia, why do you dislike him so much?"

"I don't..." replied Storm. "I don't trust him... that's all."

"You don't trust High?" asked Equinox, calming down slightly, but still retaining her glare. "Why not?"

"I'm worried... he'll turn out to be like one of your previous coltfriends." explained Storm, almost shedding a tear. Equinox's glare visibly softened and she trotted up to Storm, hugging him as tightly as she could.

"Oh, sweetheart..." she said, caressing his mane with her hoof. "You don't have to be scared of High Wind."

"I just can't help, but feel that he's going to do something bad to us, like those Gryphons did." said Storm, crying into her coat. "I'm just scared, mom...I'm scared."

"Son, it's alright..." said Equinox, still hugging him tightly. "High Wind won't do anything bad to me or you..."

"You sure?" asked Storm, turning to look out of the open door to see if High Wind was standing outside, before turning back to look at Equinox.

"Yes, I'm sure." replied Equinox. "You don't have to be scared."

"Promise?" asked Storm.

"I promise." replied a voice, which did not belong to Equinox. Both Storm and Equinox turned to look at the source of the voice, and to Storm's surprise, it was High Wind, who was standing beside the door.

"What are you doing here?" asked Storm in a regretful tone. "I thought I angered you enough today."

"You did, but I couldn't keep being angry at you forever." explained High Wind. "And listen, we don't have to do flying lessons if you don't want to. It's your choice, and only yours; I'd never force you to do something you don't want."

"Look, I'm sorry for everything..." begun Storm, rather tearfully. "I was just scared."

"Of what?" asked High Wind.

"Of you." replied Storm, getting a puzzled look from High. "You see, back in the Griffon Empire, my mom had several coltfriends who all promised us tickets here, but instead, we got robbed and attacked violently... sometimes, we even got kicked out into the cold just because my mom didn't do something she was told to do. I was just worried you'd be like that too. I was worried that you'd take advantage of us."

"I'd never do anything that would hurt you or your mom, Storm." explained High Wind, slightly shaken by the colt's story. "I protect you the same way I protect my kids. You don't have to be afraid. I would never do anything that would get you in harm's way. I care too much about you both."

"You do?"

"Yes." replied High Wind. "Around four years back, my wife... died in a tragic event that will forever be ingrained in my mind...I don't want to tell you about it out of fear of traumatizing you, but let's just say we were both caught in some seriously bad weather."

Storm and Equinox looked at High Wind in shock, unsure what to say.

"We were out near Ponyville with a news crew reporting on two tornadoes which had formed on the outskirts of town..." High began explaining what had happened. "And just as we watched the storm tear through a patch of woodland from beneath a makeshift shelter, she was struck by a flying piece of wood...doctors said she was killed on the spot...my wife and the mother of my kids, whom I loved dearly was killed in the space of a few seconds."

"Wow..." begun Storm, crying even harder. "I'm sorry for your loss..."

"it's okay... shit happens, I guess." replied High Wind, who was close to breaking down. "Anyways, your mother, she's been such a great help in helping us deal with her loss, and one of the reasons why I proposed to her was because I don't want to lose her, or lose you or my kids... that, and I wanted a second chance to be the stallion I always wanted to be for my family. You are all I have left in this world and I can't lose you. You all mean so much to me..."

"I'm sorry it happened, High..." said Storm, tearfully looking at High Wind, before turning to look at Equinox. "And I'm sorry for being such a jerk..."

"Hey, hey..." said High Wind. "Look at me, Storm."

Rather reluctantly, Storm turned to look at High Wind.

"It's alright..." he said, outstretching his hooves. "You're forgiven, little guy, and I don't blame you for why you acted like that towards me. Let's just pretend this never happened, alright?"

"Okay..." replied Storm, still rather unsure about the whole situation. Just then, High Wind did something that Storm wouldn't have expected him to do, especially after the way he's treated him; he knelt down in front of Storm and hugged him. Storm, at first slightly taken aback by the hug, moved backwards, but then hugged him as well. "I'm so, so sorry for treating you this way... I'm so sorry."

"Hey, hey..." said High Wind. "Like I said, it's alright."

"You sure?" asked Storm, still crying.

"Yeah, I'm sure..." replied High, smiling down at him. "Let's just forget this ever happened, and move on. What do you say?"

"I say, alright then..." replied Storm, turning to look up at High Wind, who was smiling at him. "Clean slate, I guess..."

A week later...
"So, guys... How did you enjoy our last day before spring break?" asked Singer, who was walking down the street with Stormfire and Violet after a long day at school. It felt good to finally be out of school for two weeks, but Storm felt differently. While Storm had mended his relationship with High Wind a week before, he was still nervous, nervous about the wedding, which was scheduled to happen next week, and nervous about High Wind becoming his dad.

"I enjoyed school today..." replied Violet. "What about you, Storm?"

"Huh?" asked Storm, snapping out of his thoughts.

"I asked if you enjoyed your school day, Storm." explained Violet.

"Oh, yeah..." replied Storm. "To be honest, I'm gonna miss this place."

"Yeah, us too..." replied Singer.

"Really?" asked Storm. "I thought you guys hate school."

"Well, I don't mind it!" replied Singer.

"Me neither." chimed in Violet. "What about you Storm? Do you like school?"

"It's not as bad as it seemed before..." explained Storm. Just then, as they were about to turn down the street, they bumped into somepony, or a group of someponies. Who were those someponies? It was Hurricane Force and two of his cronies.

"Hey, get the buck outta our way---where the buck did you come from?" asked Hurricane, looking at the group.

"Hey, it's our blank-flank friend!" chimed in Hurricane's friend, obviously talking about Storm, who hid behind Singer. "And he's a colt-cuddler too!"

"What's a colt-cuddler?" asked Storm, shivering slightly.

"You don't know?" asked Hurricane, struggling to contain his laughter. "Damn, you're stupid."

"Guys, leave him alone." said Singer. "What did Storm do to you?"

"He came to Equestria, that's what!" replied Hurricane's other friend. By now, Storm was struggling to contain his tears. He was used to being bullied by Hurricane and his friends, but it was still painful for him to go through the bullying. However he knew that until he got his cutie mark, he would be subject to relentless bullying by Hurricane.

"Please, leave Storm alone." pleaded Violet. "We'll go get your mom, Hurricane."

"Shut up Violet." barked Hurricane. "And go get her if you want! I don't bucking care. Why are you sticking up for your blank-flank friend anyways?"

"Because he's our friend, that's why." butted in Singer. "And don't you dare speak that way about Violet or Storm again."

"Ooh, look out, we got a bad-flank over here." said Hurricane, and he and his cronies begun laughing uncontrollably. "Both of you, buck off and let me deal with this gringo here."

"No, leave us all alone!" said Storm, cowering behind Singer.

"Take him, boys." commanded Hurricane. "Let's kick this rat's flank back home."

Suddenly, without any warning, the three ponies charged at Storm, pushing past Singer and Violet, and tackling Storm, bringing him down to the ground. Singer and Violet watched on in horror as their best friend was beaten mercilessly by the bullies.

"Augghh... leave me alone!" shouted Storm, before being bucked in the face by Hurricane. "Please..." he hissed in pain, before being pinned down and bucked in the stomach by one of the goons.

"We won't!" shouted the first goon.

"Go home, you Gryphon freak!" shouted the next one.

"You don't belong in Equestria, Stormfire!" shouted Hurricane, before delivering a devastating blow to Storm's abdomen.

Storm groaned and writhed in pain, having never felt so much pain being inflicted upon him before. He looked around to see if Singer and Violet were still there, but they weren't. Had they abandoned him completely? Had they just left him to die? Storm's thoughts were interrupted by another devastating buck to the abdomen, which almost cut off his breathing.

Just then, Hurricane, who was preparing to deliver another devastating blow to Storm, was stopped by a tap on his shoulders. He and his cronies turned around to face a rather angry-looking stallion, one who Storm knew very well. It was High Wind, who was brought there by Singer and Violet.

"Huh?" asked Hurricane. "Who the hay are you?"

"I'm somepony you'll regret ever meeting if you don't leave Storm alone." replied High Wind. "So leave him alone, now."

"Oh no, we're so scared." said Hurricane, in a sarcastic voice. "Buck off, old stallion."

"Tell me..." begun High Wind, smirking slightly. "Who are you goons more scared of? Me, or the Royal Guard?"

At the mere mention of the Royal Guard, the bullies calmed down and backed away in fear.

"Don't call the Guard please!" shouted one of the colts.

"Oh, I will." replied High Wind, looking at a nearby Pegasus Guard patrolling the street. "If you don't leave Storm alone."

"NO NO NO NO!" said the other colt. "We'll leave the blank flank alone! We promise!"

"Promise?" asked High Wind.

"We promise!" replied all three bullies in unison.

"Alright then." said High Wind. "Now scram before I change my mind, you sorry little bastards. And don't bother showing yourselves anywhere near us again or I'll personally kick all your flanks."

"Alrightbye!" they said, before darting off towards their homes and leaving High Wind and a battered Storm alone.

"I thought they were going to kill me..." said Storm, who despite being weak, managed to trot up to High Wind and nuzzle him. High Wind turned to look at him and gave him a reassuring smile, before returning to his serious expression.

"Who were they?" he asked. "Bullies?"

"Bullies." replied Storm, crying into High Wind's coat. "They've been bullying me ever since I joined the school."

"You know you could have told me or your mom about the bullying, right?" said High Wind, hugging Storm. "They would've left you alone months ago if you did tell us."

"I know, and I'm sorry." replied Storm. "I was worried that the bullying would get worse!"

"The best way to get rid of bullies is to tell an adult you trust." explained High Wind.

"I'm sorry for not telling you or mom..." replied Storm.

"Hey, it's okay. Next time you're being bullied just tell me or mom and we'll be there to stop the bullies." explained High.

"I know." replied Storm. "And thanks for sticking up for me like that... dad."

"No problem..." replied High. "You're safe with me... son... let's head home. Come on, jump on my back. We'll fly there, just you and me. What do you say?"

"I say, hay yeah!" said Storm, crawling onto High Wind's back.

"Hold on to my wings, alright?" asked High Wind. Storm did as he was asked, grabbing High's wings with his hooves, and a few moments later, High Wind took off with Storm on his back into the afternoon sky, towards home.

Author's Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, everyone. It took a while to write this, but I really think it was worth it.

FYI - Future chapters may take longer to write than planned as one of the RAM slots in my PC is damaged and that's screwing with the whole system. Anyways, I hope to have it fixed within a few days or so.