The Stone of Storms

by Wordy Notes

Chapter 8: Stormy History

“Agh…” Storm groaned as he looked around at his surroundings. He looked like he was in a small cottage laying on a bed while covered up by a light blanket. The place had a very nature-like feel to it, which slightly helped to alleviate the pounding headache he had…from falling out a tree again.

“Twice in one day…I’ll never live this down if anyone hears about it.” He thought as he sat up, noticing that a small white rabbit had hopped up on the bed, holding a damp wash cloth in his paws. However, the rabbit’s expression was completely unlike the normal expression of a happy-go-lucky rabbit and was instead a cold glare with eyes narrowed directly toward him.

“Uh…hi.” Storm said nervously. The rabbit responded by rolling up the towel and snapping it, causing Storm to jump slightly from the sudden sound. Before anything else could happen, he glanced over to see Fluttershy and Scootaloo enter the room.

“Angel, be nice. He’s a guest.” Fluttershy said with a quiet, yet firm, tone, before she turned to Storm, “How are you feeling?”

Storm sat up to learn against the headboard, only to wince from a sudden jolt of pain in his head, “Mmmngh…like a group of carriage drivers used my head as a test track.”

“You took a pretty nasty fall, dude. You must have a pretty hard head to have survived that.” Scootaloo said as she sat some soup down on the table next to the bed.

“What’s this?” Storm looked over.

“Tomato soup. We figured you might be hungry after being out for so long.” Fluttershy replied to him with a small smile.

Storm stared at the soup bowl for a short time before he looked back to the other two pegasi, “Thank you…um, if it’s not too much trouble, could I also get something to drink?”

Fluttershy nodded, “Sure. Angel, Scootaloo, could you go get him some water?”

“You got it, Fluttershy.” Scootaloo grinned as she walked out of the room, Angel following her. However, Angel stopped at the doorway and glared at Storm, putting his small paw up to his eyes and then turning it to point at Storm before he hopped off. Storm watched him go before he turned to Fluttershy.

“Thank you for helping me. To be honest, I’m surprised you even would.” Storm said, looking down and twiddling his hooves nervously.

“Why wouldn’t I? You were hurt and needed help.” Fluttershy asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“Oh…well, it’s because of…um…” Storm stopped.

“Does she not recognize who I am? I know she’s one of Rainbow’s friends.” He thought.

“If this is about what happened yesterday, don’t worry.” Fluttershy shook her head, “I don’t think you’re a bad pony.”

“You…don’t?” Storm asked, “But I attacked one of your friends and fought with her. How could you not think I’m bad?”

“Because if you were a bad pony, you wouldn’t have tried asking us where Rainbow was and instead of lying in my bed, you’d probably be trying to break out and destroy everything in your way,” Fluttershy said with a smile, only to pause and shirk back, “Um…not that I’m saying you would do those things.”

“I didn’t think you were implying that…um…what was your name again?” Storm asked.

“Oh. It’s Fluttershy.” She replied, turning back to him, “What’s yours?”

“Storm Stal-erm…sorry. That’s not really it,” Storm shook his head, “It’s Wind Runner. My name’s Wind Runner.”

Fluttershy smiled warmly with him, “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Wind.” Just then, Scootaloo came back with a small tray and a glass of water.”

“There ya’ go,” she said through clenched teeth before setting the tray down, “One glass of water…wait.” She quickly glanced back at her flank and groaned as it she found it to still be blank, “Oh well, I guess being a waitress would be kind of a lame cutie mark anyway.” She giggled.

“You sound like you really want a cutie mark.” Storm spoke up as he looked at her.

“You have no idea,” Scootaloo sighed, “Me and my two friends have been trying for what seems like forever to get our marks.”

“I’m actually surprised I even got one in the first place,” Storm looked down, “The only special talent I have is just the same thing my father can do. I’m not special at all.”

“Whoa, dude, that’s not true,” Scootaloo quickly said, “You can shoot lightning out of your hooves. Lightning.”

“My father can do that too,” he replied, “He can create storms, whirlwinds, all sorts of things. He’s expecting me to take over his position…but I don’t really think I can do it, or if I even want to.” He grit his teeth.

“Is there anything you can do that your father can’t?” Fluttershy asked her tone very sympathetic.

“Yeah. I mean your pops can’t be all that great,” Scootaloo asked, before realizing her mistake, “Uh, no offense.”

“Well…there is this,” Storm leaned back and held up his hooves in front of himself, “You might want to step back a little in case this goes wrong.” Fluttershy and Scootaloo both looked at one another before they took a few steps away from the bed. Storm took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Sparks of electricity began crackling across his hooves before a small ball of light formed between them, shimmering and shining brightly and even appearing to reflect light and cast colors around the room.

“Whoa.” Scootaloo said as her eyes widened with amazement at the sight.

“Oh wow. I’m normally scared of lightning storms, but that’s beautiful.” Fluttershy added.

Storm smiled slightly at them before he moved his hands away, causing the ball to vanish, “It’s just something I tried doing once. Thank you, though.” He bowed his head to them.

“Hey, ya’ mind if I ask you something? What’s your problem with Rainbow Dash, anyway?” Scootaloo asked, her expression turning serious.

“I…uh…” Storm stammered, trying to think of what he wanted to say, “I…I’m jealous of her, I guess.”

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy leaned in closer.

“All my life I’ve had everything handed to me, everypony basically expects me to follow one path and not a single problem with achieving what I want to do,” Storm looked down, “Rainbow’s worked hard for everything she’s had to do and her life is great compared to mine! I want that! I want a chance to just be free and actually want to work for something for a change!” He brought his hoof up and slammed it down on the table, splashing part of his leg with the still hot soup and causing him to flail, “Ow, ow, ow! Hot!” His injury was met with Fluttershy rushing over and putting a cold washcloth on the spot where the soup had landed, her gentle touch and the soothing feel of the cloth calmed him.

“I…well, I don’t know a lot about what your life is like, but I know that you seem like you’re very intelligent and that you’re not a bad pony like I thought you were.” She said, cleaning off his leg, “I thought I’d never be able to do anything special when I was younger because I wasn’t a very strong flyer, but it just took some time to find out what I wanted to do. I’m sure you’ll find exactly how to show everyone you’re special on your own.” Fluttershy looked up and smiled at him, the calm look of her green eyes reassuring to Storm.

“I’ll keep that mind. Thank you, Miss Fluttershy,” Storm said; returning the smile she’d given him, “You as well, Miss Scootaloo.”

“Hey, hey, none o’ that formal stuff,” Scootaloo growled and looked away to hide her blush, “Just call me Scootaloo.”

“Right. Scootaloo.” Storm nodded.

****

“Woohoo! We finally made it!” Rainbow called out excitedly as they began getting close to Canterlot.

“Hope ya’ don’t mind if I don’t share your happiness, Dash. I hate coming here to deliver stuff to the upper class.” Gilda stuck her tongue out and made a gagging motion with her claw.

“I’ll just be happy if Twi managed to find anythin’ out on that there stone.” Applejack added as the three pegasus ponies touched down near outside gardens that lead up into the palace. The group started making their way up toward the royal library. The guards had apparently been told already that they were coming, though a few did take a second glance at the griffin and the armored pegasus that accompanied them. Eventually, they reached the library where they found Twilight sorting a stack of books while Spike looked through the shelves. As soon as she saw her unicorn friend, Rainbow spoke up to get her attention.

“So, this is where you were stuck until you came to Ponyville, huh?” She said with a chuckle. As soon as Twilight turned around, Rainbow dove forward and snatched up Twilight in a hug.

“Wha?!” Twilight exclaimed with surprise, “It’s good to see you too, Rainbow, but it’s only been a day since we last saw each other.” She smiled awkwardly.

“I know…I guess it’s just because I’ve had a lot to take in and I just needed…never mind. We’ve got more important things to worry about.” Rainbow shook her head and stepped back to let Twilight see the three others with her.

“Right,” Twilight responded with a nod, “Hey, Applejack. I’m glad you decided to help out Rainbow with this.”

“Yeah. ‘Decided.’” Applejack said with a grin and an eye roll.

“So, you must be the egghead, huh? Nice to meetcha’,” Gilda held out her hand, “Twilight, right? Name’s Gilda. We never got much of a chance to talk much when I showed up last.”

Twilight put out her hoof and returned the friendly gesture, “Nice to meet you as well. I’m glad you and Rainbow are talking again.”

“Same here believe me.” Gilda cracked a grin. Twilight turned her attention over to Scoot, who seemed to have a very nervous expression on her face, though Twilight didn’t seem to notice as she immediately rushed over to Scoot.

“Oh my gosh, is this her? The pony from the future? Wow, that’s so amazing!” Twilight hopped and clapped her hooves, “I’ve studied theoretical aspects of magic-based time travel, but I never thought that it was actually possible to do it. How did you manage to do it? Did you use a form of an altered teleportation spell? Or was it the theory that states a special kind of metal charged with a lightning spell can open a portal to the past,” Twilight gasped suddenly as she got another thought, “Oh, I know! It was the invention idea using a special type of capacitor and a carriage,” she looked away for a second, “Though why the inventor decided to use that type of carriage, I’m not particularly sure. I mean, seriously? A Del-“

“Twilight! Focus!” Rainbow tapped a hoof on her friend’s head, “What have you found out about the Stone of Storms so far?”

“Oh, right,” Twilight stepped back with a sheepish look and went over to the stack, “Spike is getting some other books for some supplemental material, but this is what I’ve found so far.” Twilight cracked open a book titled History of Equestrian Pegasi and began flipping pages until she came to a sticky note she’d been using as a bookmark. Rainbow, Applejack, Gilda, and Scoot all crowded up behind her as Twilight looked through it.

“What’s it say?” Applejack asked.

“According to this, the Stone was created shortly after the founding of Equestria. Magic was utilized to harness the ability of pegasi to alter and control the weather. Apparently the idea was a way of allowing the seasons to persist more naturally throughout different areas of the country, allowing for crops and development to occur within a more organized manner. Commander Hurricane brought up the idea of putting a single pegasi in charge of all the seasons. Unfortunately, the way the stone was created made this plan have complications.” Twilight said as she looked through the book.

“Considering what happened to Ponyville, I’d say that’s an understatement.” Scoot chimed in.

“What happened next?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, to abridge everything, the pegasi that was chosen by the Commander tried using the stone. However, its magic proved to be much too powerful to be handled by only one pony and they were driven insane and corrupted by its magic, causing them to go out of control and cause destruction.” Twilight looked back at everyone else, who were listening intently to her story.

“So that was a bad idea.” Gilda spoke up.

Twilight nodded before turning back to the book, “Thankfully, the pegasus was able to be saved from the Stone’s power through the help of a spell cast by Starswirl the Bearded that managed to quell the unstable magic and prevent further damage,” Twilight turned a page, “Since then, the stone was buried and sealed away to prevent its power from ever being used again and instead the task of properly maintaining the seasons would fall to four pegasi with exceptional abilities.”

“The Weather Ministers.” Rainbow said.

“Exactly,” Twilight nodded, “That’s what I’ve been able to find so far.”

“Okay, the history lesson was riveting, I guess,” Scoot sighed as she walked over to the other side of the table, “Still doesn’t explain how we stop Storm Stallion.”

“Well, we’ve got the Stone at least. That’s one good thing.” Rainbow looked over at her, examining her closely. Scoot was acting odd. She’d hardly spoken since they’d arrived and now it seemed like she was looking more agitated.

“Something’s bugging her.” Rainbow thought.

“That doesn’t stop him from finding it and taking it from us, which I’m sure he’ll be able to do if whoever hired those mercs wants the Stone back badly enough.” Scoot replied, pacing back and forth.

“Mercenaries? You all encountered mercenaries at the quarry?” Twilight asked, looking at each of them.

“Sure did. Might pricey ones accordin’ to Gilda here.” Applejack motioned to the griffin, who simply replied with a nod.

“Oh no,” Twilight said with a concerned look, “Princess Celestia told me that the reason she got an interest in the Stone was because Weather Minister Solstice has a project involving it proposed.”

“A higher-up noble like him definitely could have the bits to be able to pay for the Checkered Flags.” Gilda added, glancing down at Spike as the baby dragon walked over, took a look at her and jumped up in shock at the sight of the large griffin staring at him. Gilda simply smiled at him and waved hello.

“Did you say his name was Solstice?” Scoot suddenly turned to Twilight. Rainbow could now see that the name had triggered a response of building rage in the pegasus. Before she could say anything, Scoot pivoted around and started running out of the room. Rainbow quickly jumped up, flying over above Scoot. She landed in the doorway, barring her from leaving, and stared down Scoot as the orange pegasus skidded to a stop.

“Scootaloo, what’s wrong? What do you know about Solstice and his involvement in all this?” Rainbow said, trying to remain calm to help reach out to the flustered Scoot.

“He’s the reason! He helped Storm Stallion get the Stone! We need to go take care of him now before anything bad happens!” Scoot shouted her voice frantic.

“Take care of him? What do you mean by that?” Rainbow’s expression turned serious.

“Whoa, whoa! Ya’ don’t mean kill him, do ya’? I ain’t no assassin!” Applejack darted over.

“That’s a last resort measure, kid. We need to think this over before we settle on that.” Gilda said calmly.

“Oh, you mean get lectured and learn about the stone? No! That’s not doing anything except letting us know what happens in great detail!” Scoot looked to Rainbow with a pleading look, “Dash, come on. You get this, right? Storm Stallion killed you. You know what needs to be done, right?” She smiled slightly. However, her expression faded when she didn’t get the response she wanted and instead found herself facing a stern looking Rainbow.

“No, Scoot. They’re right. We can’t just rush off and start offing ponies left and right. We need a plan that-“

“Forget plans! I have a plan! I knew what I had to do, but everypony else…” Scoot trailed off, “I…we need to save you, Dash.” She said, stepping back slightly and looking at the ground, “

“Squirt?” Rainbow stepped forward.

“It’s the only option now,” she looked back up with an angry look in her eyes and tears welling up, “But if you want to sit here and listen to the hick, the fatty, and the nerd, then go right ahead. I’ll do this on my own.” With a swift motion, Scoot caught Rainbow off guard and tripped her, knocking the cyan pegasus into the air and fleeing the room before she even hit the ground. Rainbow landed hard on the ground, but quickly got back up and rushed into the hallway, looking left and right to see where Scoot had gone. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to see her and angrily punched the doorframe in frustration.

“Darn it! Why is she so gung-ho about this?!” She shouted as her three other friends ran up next to her.

“Rainbow, we gotta’ go find her before she goes and does somethin’ rash.” Applejack put a comforting hoof on her shoulder.

“I’ll say! I’m gonna’ pay that little punk back for that comment!” Gilda snarled as she cracked her knuckles.

“I’ll go tell Princess Celestia about what’s going on,” Twilight rushed off, “Give me a call with that jewel if you still have it!”

“Got it,” Rainbow said as she stepped back from the door and galloped off, “Come on, girls!” She called out as Gilda and Applejack immediately followed her.

“What’s wrong with you, Scootaloo? What are you hiding?”

Comments

[Ancient]

You get five stars. Sorry I havent rated sooner.