The Stone of Storms

by Wordy Notes

Chapter 9: Showdown In The Rain

(A/N: Sorry this is so late, guys. I got swamped with some homework and I didn't have time to finish it yesterday. I promise the next one will be on time!)

“You sure you don’t want to stay any longer?” Fluttershy asked Wind as he stepped outside.

“No, it’s fine. I should be getting back to Canterlot. My family is probably very concerned about me being gone for so long,” he replied before turning to Fluttershy and Scootaloo, “I thank you both for the hospitality and for letting me vent as well.” He said nervously, “Sorry I got so angry.”

Fluttershy shook her head, “Don’t worry, and just get back to your family so that they don’t get too worried.”

“Right,” Wind turned to Scootaloo, “And you take care too, Scootaloo. Good luck with getting your cutie mark.”

“Thanks, Wind! Good to see you’re not actually completely crazy after all!” Scootaloo waved as Wind flapped into the air and subsequently flew off into the setting sky. As he went on his way, Fluttershy looked over to see Rarity trotting over alongside the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“Oh, Fluttershy! There you are! Is Scootaloo with you?” She asked.

“Yup, right here!” Scootaloo hopped up next to Fluttershy and waved, “Ya’ want an autograph?” She grinned.

Rarity smirked, “Very funny, young lady.”

“Scootaloo, what’s the deal? Why didn't you tell us you were going to go see Fluttershy?” Sweetie Belle asked with a very hurt look.

“Oh no! I totally lost track o’ time,” Scootaloo walked over to the other two fillies, “Sorry, girls.” She looked down.

Apple Bloom walked over and gave her pegasus friend a pat on the back, “Don’t you worry none, Scoots. Tomorrow’s the weekend so we’ll have plenty of time to hang out.”

Sweetie Belle nodded, “Yeah, we forgive you. It’s okay.” She said with a warm smile.

“Aw…thanks, girls. You’re the best.” Scootaloo grinned as she put her hooves around both her friends as the three Crusaders all engaged in a group hug.

“We’ve still got some time if y’all wanna’ head over to the farm for a bit.” Apple Bloom spoke up.

“Race ya’ there!” Scootaloo laughed as she broke the hug and rushed off.

“I betcha’ I’ll get there first!” Apple Bloom followed.

“Hey! Wait up you two!” Sweetie Belle also gave chase.

“Girls! Hang on!” Rarity groaned and rolled her eyes, “I swear, I’ll never get the hang of this watching children thing,” she turned back to Fluttershy, “Oh! I almost forgot, Fluttershy! Do you still happen to have some of that cloth you bought a while back? If so, could I borrow some?” She asked.

“Oh yes, you can, “Fluttershy nodded, “What’s it for?”

“A project for Rainbow Dash when she gets back,” Rarity glanced back to see the three fillies still running off, “Uh…run it by my boutique later! I need to go, bye!” She waved as she galloped off after the Crusaders.

****

Solstice paced back and forth in his manor’s living room. He had come back to Canterlot like Star asked him to do, but all he had done since he’d been there was constantly worry about the situation with the Stone. While he was confident in Star’s ability to handle the situation, the more time passed the more his confidence became overridden by his concerns.

“Okay. Just stay calm, Solstice, go out and have some dinner or something and not worry about how you’re going to end up locked away for the rest of your life and for them to toss the key when they do it,” he said to himself as he was now set on another lap around his living room. All of the sudden, he heard the door open up behind him and a butler of his walked in with Star at his side.

“Minister, Dr. Star is here to speak with you.” The butler said.

“STAR!” Solstice shouted as he rushed over, placing both his hooves on her shoulders, “Please tell me you found the Stone! Please, please, please tell me you and the others found it!”

“Solstice, calm down and step back,” she shook her head as moved to the side and stepped into the living room. The butler bowed to them both before he left the room, “Now, listen, unfortunately, we weren’t able to find the stone…now before you go and flip out, that doesn’t mean we’re completely sunk. We still have time.”

“If you say so…though just to be safe, I think I need to talk to someone I can trust…someone that could help me,” Solstice trotted over to a coat rack and took a cloak off it, “I will be back in a bit.” He drew it over himself.

“Um…Solstice, are you actually going to wear that?” Star asked.

“Well, yes. There’s rain scheduled for tonight. I’d rather not catch cold.” Solstice replied as he draped the cloak on.

“I understand that it’s just…well, the cloak is jet black.” Star said with an apprehensive look.

“What are you getting at, Star?”

“Sorry to be blunt when I say this, but the cloak makes you look creepy.”

“Creepy? I’ll have you know that this cloak is a highly fashionable accessory that allows one to look presentable even in terrible weather,” Solstice pulled the cloak over his head, covering the majority of his face, “You see? I won't even get my mane wet!” He grinned.

“Solstice, you look like you should be worshipping some evil deity with a cloak that dark on,” she trotted over to him, “You. Look. Creepy.” She said, tapping him on the head.

“Hmph…fine. I’ll get a new one at some point,” Solstice grumbled, “I think gray’s actually in this season anyway,” he walked over to the door and exited the mansion. Star sighed as he left and slowly walked over to a couch, sitting down and taking a quill out.

“He’s such an idiot…but I hope he comes through this okay.” She thought as she began writing in a note.

****

“Hm, this is the place.” Solstice said to himself as he walked up to another manor in the neighboring district of Canterlot. As he walked up to the front door, he found himself having the door answered by Typhoon.

“Hello, Solstice.” He said.

“Ah…Ty-Typhoon? Hey,” he said, shocked, “Um…were you expecting me?”

“Your assistant informed me you were on the way. Apparently you forgot to tell her you were leaving…and also informed me you were coming to see me in the first place as well.” Typhoon added.

“Oh…it seems that I did. My apologies,” Solstice nodded, “May I come in?”

“Of course, please,” Typhoon stepped aside as Solstice entered, “What did you want to talk about?”

“Well, you see…” Solstice sighed and looked at the floor, “Oh dear Celestia I screwed up, Typhoon. I really messed things up this time.”

“What are you talking about?” Typhoon looked at Solstice with a look of confusion.

“I…I dug up the Stone of Storms,” Solstice turned away from Typhoon.

“You did what?” Typhoon walked in front of Solstice, “Solstice, you knew we hadn’t been able to come to an agreement on that and you went against the wishes of the rest of us?”

“It’s not just that…I talked to Princess Celestia and told her about it as well. She said she’d look into it and maybe agree to endorse it, but then someponies stole it and now it’s out there somewhere and I can’t find it and…this is a really bad situation.”

“So let me get this straight,” Typhoon rubbed the bridge of his snout in frustration while also closing his eyes, “You went ahead without ours or even the Princess’ permission and dug it up, then you lost it?” He looked over as Solstice nervously nodded. Typhoon sighed and walked up next to him, “Well, I appreciate your honesty, Solstice. I’m assuming that you’ve come here in order to ask for help in resolving this situation? If so, I need to know something first before I’ll do anything.”

“Yes?” Solstice asked.

“Did you come to me for help because you’re legitimately concerned about the stone’s power being misused or are you just afraid of getting caught?” Typhoon stared at Solstice with a piercing gaze. Solstice reeled back from the question and was about to angrily reply with the former answer…until he thought about it. Was he more worried about getting caught and punished than actually finding the stone? Star had said she’d handle it, but that was only because he’d been freaking out so badly about the stone getting stolen in the first place. Then he shook his head and faced Typhoon.

“The stone being out there unsupervised is much more of a threat than anything else.” He said with a resolute look.

Typhoon stared at him and then smiled slightly, “Hm…fine. I’ll do what I can to help you. Just make sure that you…” He turned to face Solstice, only for Wind to enter the room, “Oh, Wind Runner, there you are. How was your flight?”

“Um…fine,” Wind replied as he looked at Solstice. The Winter Minister suddenly looked as if he had seen a ghost and stepped back slightly.

“Oh, Solstice, have you met my son Wind….Solstice? Are you okay?” Typhoon asked with concern.

Solstice put on a wide, false grin as he nodded, “Yes. I’m fine. No, I haven’t met him. I just remembered I needed to take care of something else. Sorry to have troubled you. Thanks again.” He stepped back out, giving Wind a quick glare before resuming his grin and stepping out.

“That was odd. I wonder what’s wrong with him.” Typhoon asked, looking very confused. Wind simply looked at the ground and stepped away from the room.

****

“He’s Typhoon’s son?! That makes things even worse! Ugh, this couldn’t have come at a worse time!” Solstice snarled as he galloped back toward his manor, now trying to think about what he was going to do now that he had found out Storm Stallion was actually Typhoon’s son. On top of things, the rain scheduled for tonight had already begun. He finally arrived to the entrance to the district where his manor was. However, before he could go any further, a purple-maned mare came out and stepped in his way, forcing Solstice to slide to a stop.

“You look just like you did when the Royal Guard hauled you away kicking and screaming.” She said with a menacing tone.

“Hauled me away? What are you talking about? I’ve never been arrested a day in my life.” Solstice cocked an eyebrow, racking his brain to see if he knew her.

“You only needed it to happen once and it was for the worst thing you probably ever did,” she began approaching him, “Because of you, I lost my home, my childhood, and one of the best friends I ever had. It’s all your fault.”

“Miss, you must have me confused for somepony else. I don’t recall-“

“I’M NOT FINISHED YET!” The mare shouted at him, fury clearly ignited in her eyes and her sudden yell making Solstice jump back, “My name is Scootaloo and I had to betray my friends to get a chance to end this. They told me to not make it personal, but everything about this is personal. I won’t let it happen again,” she moved down into a readied position, “Not again!” She yelled as she flapped her wings and flung herself at him. Solstice barely had time to dodge as she suddenly deployed a pair of small blades from her left hoof and slashed at him, the blades clanging against the ground. He moved up and wasn’t able to move fast enough as a second strike caught him across his face. Solstice winced as the blades cut into his cheek, but he shrugged off the pain and jumped away, putting some distance between him and his attacker. Solstice instinctively touched his cheek with his hoof then pulled it away, seeing a streak of crimson splattered on his leg.

“Oh no…I really hope this doesn’t scar.” He thought. Solstice turned back to see the pegasus, apparently called Scootaloo, coming at him again. He faced her and pulled at his cloak, throwing it off of himself and at her. She ducked past it and looked at the falling cloak before turning to Solstice, who was coming down from the air above her.

“Take this!” He shouted, throwing a hard downward strike at her. Scoot quickly ducked back to avoid the attack as Solstice came down, his hoof hitting the ground. However, he wasted no time in charging at her as he folded his wings in front of him and solid ice formed around them. Surprised, she jumped back and drew her cannon, firing bolts at him, which harmlessly bounced off his iced wings. When he got close enough, Solstice ducked down and slid across the ground, throwing a hard kick at her legs. Scoot clumsily rolled to dodge the attack, firing her cannon at him. Solstice drew his wing up and blocked the shots before using his other wing to smack her away. Scoot hit the wet ground and rolled across it, splashing and sliding before finally coming to a stop a short ways away from Solstice. She struggled up to her hooves and faced him down again, a fierce glare in her eyes. Solstice looked over at her and began approaching her, a blank look on his face as ice formed on his wings yet again.

“Agh…” She groaned, shaking her head.

“Why do you hate me so much? I haven’t done anything to you!” Solstice shouted at her, his face now starting to throb and string from both the rain and the tense situation.

“You think you didn’t, but you did!” Scoot yelled at him, “You gave that monster the Stone of Storms and he used it to destroy my home and kill my best friend!”

“I told you I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about! I don’t even have the Stone right now so I certainly couldn’t have given it to someone that would’ve misused its abilities,” Solstice walked closer, “I want the stone as a means of helping others! It’s part of our history as pegasi! Why can’t anypony understand that?”

Scoot laughed, “You think you’re such a history buff, huh? You think that thing can actually help people,” she then looked up at him, her face dripping wet from both the rain and tears, “Well, I’m proof that it can’t! So if you want to know about history know much, I’ll send you to meet ponies that will tell you!” She finally leapt up and attacked again, Solstice jumping back in shock. He blocked her blades with his wings as she furiously slashed and swung at him, her attacks chipping away at the ice. Solstice continued parrying her while attempting to find an opening to strike back. His wish was seemingly answered when Scoot fell to the side from a blast of lightning, knocking her to the ground as she fell unconscious. Solstice jumped back and looked at her, the ice falling off his wings as he did, then glanced up to see the familiar figure of Storm-no, Wind Runner apparently-floating above him.

“You okay?” He asked, trying to sound confident. Solstice simply stared at the younger pegasus before looking down at the knocked out Scoot.

“Pick her up and follow me.” Solstice growled as he walked off. Wind looked over at Scoot and quickly complied, placing her on his back before following Solstice off toward his manor.

Comments

[Thespurgin]

Future Scootaloo is no less a berzerk fangirl then the present one it seems... although that's topped off with righteous fury at Solstice here.