//------------------------------//
// 0 - 00 
// Story: Four Hooves 
// by destinedjagold 
//------------------------------//

Two royal guards clad in purple armor bow before a young drake and his four young friends.

“Welcome home, Spike the Magnificent,” one of the two royal guards says as the two lift their heads, smiling at them.

Spike looks at them in annoyance. “Cut it out already, you two. Sheesh,” he says, rolling his eyes. “You make it sound like we don't know each other.”

The two guards chuckle as they light up their horns, opening the large double doors of the crystalline castle.

“Well, what can we say?” the other guard says, shrugging. “We're supposed to greet members of royalty, like what the training book said we should.”

Spike groans as the four fillies behind him chuckle.

The two guards blink at one of them, and immediately bow their heads.

“O-oh! Welcome back, too, Princess Flurry Heart!”

“Thousand pardons for not noticing you sooner, princess!”

The young alicorn blinks at them.

Spike look over his shoulder and smirk at her. “Well, at least I'm not the only one who gets to bear it.”

“Um,” the timid alicorn bites her bottom lip, looking away in embarrassment. “Uh, t-thank you. Um...” She nervously looks back at them. “U-uh... Rise?”

Spike chuckles as the two royal guards lift their heads up once again, looking a little nervous as well. He looks at the duo and crosses his arms over his chest, smirking. “Why are you two looking like that?”

The royal guards fidget in place.

Spike chuckles and shakes his head. “Calm down, you two. Don't be so stiff.”

“Can't help it,” one of the guards whisper their reply. “Like you said, we know you and Twilight and the others, but um...”

The other guard continues for him: “W-we shouldn't look so casual in front of actual royalty.”

The other guard blinks, and turns to him. He sweats and smiles nervously at the drake. “N-not that you nor Twilight aren't royalty or anything!”

The second guard blinks, just realizing what he just said. “O-oh! That wasn't... Um...”

The crusaders are now laughing.

Spike rolls his eyes in amusement. “Seriously, you two. Relax!” He looks over his shoulder, smiling at the fidgeting alicorn. The turns back to the guards. “You're the Princess of Friendship's royal guards! Just be friendly to everypony.”

The two guards nod their heads with small smiles on their muzzles.

Spike and friends enter the castle, heading towards another set of large double-doors up ahead, which is slightly open. As the group nears the door, they hear many familiar voices coming from inside the map room.

“Huh,” the drake says, stopping before the doors. He pokes his head inside, blinking at the scene.

Twilight and some of the Elements are seated on their respective chairs, looking at the holographic map as a discussion is going on—

“—that sounds quite dreadful, darling,” Rarity says.

“Lame-me-o!” Pinkie Pie says, waving her forehooves up in the air. “Why can't they just, like, stop fighting and start talking instead?”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash nods in agreement. “I mean, I'm sure they're all tired after years and years of fighting that they should be willing to stop and listen, right?”

Twilight shakes her head. “I've done some research, and apparently, these two nations' hatred towards each other started way, way, way back.” She taps her chin with a hoof. “I've already contacted the deer, and they have arranged an audience to hear us out.” She shakes her head. “The felidae, however, has rejected my request.”

As the discussion continues, Spike blinks and pokes his head back out of the room. He turns to his four young friends. “Looks like they're busy.”

“You don't suppose she'll mind if we borrow a book without asking?” Sweetie Belle asks.

Spike shrugs and leads them towards the castle's library. “I'm sure she'll be okay with it. After all, I grab a comic book or two without asking and she doesn't mind.”

Apple Bloom arches an eyebrow as the group walks on a long hallway, one side with doors and the other with windows. “I don't think a spell book is the same as a comic book, Spike.”

The group passes by three royal guards heading to the opposite direction, exchanging a greeting with each other.

Spike shrugs. “Eh, don't worry too much about it.”

The drake turns toward a door and pushes it open. He blinks and smiles. “Oh, hey there, Starlight.”

The unicorn mare blinks and turns to the new arrivals from the crate. She smiles. “Oh, welcome back, Spike!” She places the book on the table with the other old-looking books and approaches the group. “So how was your morning at the school?”

“It was interesting,” the drake says with a casual shrug. “Flurry answered the questions of the students and stuff.”

The others behind him nod their heads.

“And one of them stuck with us,” Apple Bloom says, looking at the alicorn. “And it got us thinking, ” she says with a friendly smile. “Since we're the Cutie Mark Crusaders, it should be our job to help fillies and colts to discover their cutie marks.”

“Oh?” Starlight says, looking at the nervous alicorn. “Well,” she says, smiling, “you found the right fillies for that.”

“Well,” Sweetie Belle scratches her head, “she didn't really asked us to help her...”

“But we decided to help her anyway!” Scootaloo says, buzzing her wings.

Apple Bloom flashes the pegasus an angry look. “We did ask her after we calmed Scootaloo down.”

“What was the difference anyway?” the pegasus says, waving a hoof. “She still said yes.”

“Anyway,” Sweetie Belle chimes in, smiling at the nervous alicorn. “Flurry mentioned that she loves casting spells.”

“I'm not surprised,” Starlight murmurs to herself.

“And so we thought that we should start by letting her try casting some spells,” Apple Bloom says.

“Spells, huh?” Starlight asks, smiling. “That does sound like a good place to start.”

“Mhmm,” Spike nods his head in agreement. “So I'm thinking that we should borrow books on spells. Just the ones for—”

As Spike and Starlight discuss a good spell book that they should try, the shy alicorn blinks, her ears standing on attention. She looks around, wondering what it was she just heard, but she notices that neither one of her friends seem to have heard anything.

She hears it once again. She looks toward where she assumes it has come from. She blinks, staring at the old books on the table by a wooden crate.

“Wat'cha looking at, Flurry?” Apple Bloom asks, looking at where the alicorn is facing. “Huh...” She calls the mare's attention and points at the crate. “What's that?”

“Looks like a crate,” Scootaloo says.

Apple Bloom rolls her eyes. “Gee, I wouldn't have guessed.”

Starlight turns back to them with a smile. “That actually just arrived today.” She looks at Spike. “Remember that expedition Twilight sent near my home?”

“Yeah,” Spike says. He blinks. “Oh! Is that the crate that arrived this morning?”

“Yep,” Starlight says as she and the others approach the crate. “It's mostly filled with books from ancient times, from the looks of it.”

“They look really old,” Sweetie Belle points out, looking at the number of books on the table.

Flurry Heart blinks at a certain book on the table, the one Starlight placed just as they entered the library. Lighting her horn, she carefully levitates the book towards her, and carefully opens it to the first page, blinking at what was written on it.

There's a knock on the door.

“Hellooooooo~” Pinkie Pie sings as she opens the door wider, smiling at everyone inside. “Oh, hey there, kiddos!” She looks and smiles at Starlight. “Hey Starlight! Twilight says that she needs a book about...um...” she taps her chin in thought. “Uh... What was it again?”

“Excuse me, everypony,” Starlight excuses herself before trotting towards the pink mare.

As the two adults converse with each other, the others turn to the young alicorn.

“What do you have there, Flurry?” Scootaloo asks.

“A spell book,” Flurry Heart replies automatically, flipping the book to the next page.

“Well,” Apple Bloom says as she looks at Starlight pulling out a number of books off of shelves before following Pinkie Pie towards the map room. She turns to her friends. “I guess we found ourselves a spell book for Flurry to try?”

Sweetie Belle nods and smiles. “Well, let's start!”

“I don't know...” Flurry Heart says, closing the book with a frown. “I mean, I don't want to make a mess in case I cast the spell wrong...”

“That's a good point,” Apple Bloom says.

Spike smiles. “Well, I happen to know a place where we can safely try out spells.” He shrugs. “And it's already in ruins, so I doubt we can make it look even worse that what it already is.”





“Are you guys sure that this is a good idea?” Flurry Heart asks, worried that they might get scolded.

“Of course!” Apple Bloom assures the young alicorn. She brings a hoof on her friend's shoulder. “Trust us. If there's any place 'round Ponyville that is safe for casting spells, it should be right around...”

“We're here,” Spike announces, stopping and turning to the four fillies with a smile. “Welcome, fillies, to the Castle of the Two Sisters!”

Emerging from the line of trees, four young fillies feast their eyes on the old castle in ruins.

“Wow...” Scootaloo wows. “We should totally decorate this place up for the next Nightmare Night!”

“Good luck escorting everypony through the Everfree Forest,” Apple Bloom says, frowning.

“I dunno,” Sweetie Belle chimes in, eyeing the old castle as she taps her chin with a hoof. “Scootaloo may be on to something here.”

“And besides,” Scootaloo says, smiling. “We've got plenty of time before the next Nightmare Night arrives. I bet we can come up with a plan to get ponies here.”

Apple Bloom sighs, deciding not to continue the argument. She turns and smiles at the nervous alicorn. “Relax, Flurry Heart.”

“Yeah,” Sweetie Belle says with a squeak. “Spike's been here countless times.” She turns and smiles at the drake. “He knows his way around.” She looks back at the alicorn. “So don't worry!”

Flurry bites her bottom lip.

“Come on!” Scootaloo announces, running towards the ruins, with Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom tailing her.

Spike chuckles and turns to the alicorn. “Flurry, relax!” He puts a fist on his chest. “Trust me, it's totally safe in there.” He approaches her, puts a claw around her shoulder, and walks with her towards the ruins. “We just gotta avoid the turning walls, trap doors, falling shelves, swinging axes, shooting arrows, spinning blades...” He blinks when he suddenly finds his friend rooted in place. He looks at her, his earfins drooping. “Oh. I wasn't helping, was I?”

“Hurry up, you slowpokes!” Scootaloo shouts from the entrance of the ruins.

“Hey, it's okay,” Spike says, removing his claw from her. He scratches his head, looking away. “...We shouldn't force you to come along if you don't want to.” He shakes his head and smiles an apologetic smile at the young alicorn. “You, uh, want me to walk you back to Twilight's? I'm sure we can find something else to do while we're there.”

Flurry Heart frowns. She looks over her shoulder, on the large book balanced on her back. She sighs. She looks back at him with a small smile, and slowly shakes her head. “No, it's okay, Spike.” She looks at the old castle. “I... I don't want to make them feel bad.”

“Pfft,” Spike pfft's, waving a claw. “Don't worry. I'm sure they'll understand.”

Flurry Heart takes a breath and sighs. She looks at the young drake. “...Well, since we're already here, we might as well try.”

“Are you sure?”

The young alicorn looks at the ruins once again, gulps, and shakes her head. She looks back at him with a nervous smile. “M-maybe?”

“You guys?!” Scootaloo yells from the ruins' entrance. “What's taking you so long?!”

Spike turns to the impatient filly and cups his claws around his mouth. “We'll be right there!”

“Hurry up!”

Spike rolls his eyes with a smirk. He turns to the young alicorn. “Shall we?” he asks, gesturing at the ruins with a claw.

Flurry sighs, and smiles a small yet nervous smile at him. “O-okay.”

The two then approach the ruins, with Spike smiling reassuringly at the nervous alicorn.

“Sheesh, you two,” Scootaloo says as the duo reaches the entrance, looking at them with impatience.

Sweetie Belle chuckles. “Aw, you two look so cute together.”

Flurry Heart blinks, and blushes.

Spike looks pointedly at the unicorn filly. “Cut it out, Sweetie Belle.”

“Yeah, Sweetie Belle,” Apple Bloom says, smirking at her friend. “We all know who Spike's heart belongs to.”

“Hey,” Spike says, looking unamused at the amused filly.

Scootaloo chuckles. She then shakes her head and turns around. “Alrighty,” she says, looking around before turning back to her friends. “This place should be good enough to try some spells, huh?”

The other two crusaders smile and nod. The trio then turn to the young alicorn.

“Don't worry, Flurry,” Sweetie Belle says. “You'll get your cutie mark in no time!”

“Yeah!” Apple Bloom agrees. “And what better way to test your magic than to try out long-lost magical spells!”

Frowning a worried frown, Flurry looks back, staring at the book on her back. She lights up her horn, levitating the old book and placing it on the dirty floor in front of everyone. “W-what should I try first?” she asks, opening the tome to a random page.

The drake and the crusaders blink at the texts written on the pages.

Silence.

The young alicorn looks up at her quiet friends, blinking curiously. “What's wrong?”

Apple Bloom looks at her with an arched eyebrow. “What do you mean ‘what's wrong?’” She gestures at the book's pages. “What language is this book written on? I can't read a dang word!”

Flurry Heart blinks. She turns to the other crusaders.

Scootaloo is having a weird look as she tries but fails to make sense of what she's seeing. Sweetie Belle sighs and gives up.

The young alicorn then turns to the drake.

Spike has a claw on his chin, his eyes scanning the lines of words on the pages. “Huh,” he says, unknowingly catching the crusaders' attentions. “It looks like it's written in Old Equish.”

“Old Equish?” Apple Bloom asks.

“Wait,” Scootaloo says, blinking. “Isn't that like ... a dead language or something?”

Flurry nods her head with a small smile. “It is.” She gazes back at the words on the page, blinks, and slowly looks back at the three blank faces of her three filly friends. “...You girls can...?”

“Nnnope,” Sweetie Belle confirms with a shake of her head. “I can't read it.” She looks at the other crusaders. “I don't think we can.”

“Well, I can,” Spike announces with a proud smile.

Scootaloo rolls her eyes. “I wonder why.”

“Well anyway,” Apple Bloom turns her smile from the crusaders to the young alicorn. She gestures at the book with her hoof. “What's it say?”

Flurry reads the contents of the pages. “Well, I can't really read Old Equish that well yet, but I can try.”

“You want me to read it?” Spike asks.

“Nah, let her read it,” Scootaloo says, waving a hoof.

Spike shrugs and looks at Flurry.

The young alicorn quietly reads the contents, blinks, and looks up at her friends. “...This is a spell on how to attract earthworms.”

“Eewww,” Sweetie Belle eewww's.

Scootaloo glares at the quietly-chuckling drake. “You say a word and I'll kick you.”

Apple Bloom taps her chin. “Huh. That spell might be useful back in the farm.”

Sweetie Belle frowns at her. “Please don't tell me we're letting Flurry cast that icky spell...”

“We could,” the farm filly says. “But that would mean going to the farm first.”

Scootaloo shakes her head. “And the spell's too lame.” She smiles at the alicorn. “Flurry should try casting an awesomer spell than that! After all...” She puffs her chest and puts a hoof on it. “She wants to be as powerful as Twilight, remember?” She brings her hoof down and smiles at her friends. “And a spell that calls earthworms isn't really something that tells ponies that you're a powerful unicorn.”

“Alicorn,” Apple Bloom corrects her.

Scootaloo rolls her eyes. “Unicorns, alicorns, whatever. They both use magic.” She reaches the book and flips it to another random page. “So what's this spell?” she asks, looking at the small drawing of a diagram on one of the pages.

Spike and Flurry reads it. The former blushes a fierce blush and the latter arches an eyebrow.

“... A spell for ... pleasing your mate during your activities so late?” She blinks. “What does that mean?” She looks at her friends.

The three crusaders are looking confused at each other. They shrug simultaneously.

Spike quickly flips the book to the next two or so pages. “Let's, uh, c-check another spell, shall we?”

Sweetie Belle looks curiously at him. “But why?”

Spike is visibly sweating. “N-no reason,” he lies, smiling awkwardly. “Eh heh heh heh...”

“A wishing spell?” Flurry reads, blinking.

“A what spell now?” Apple Bloom asks, tearing her gaze from the drake to the alicorn.

Flurry Heart reads on: “‘Those whose hearts have strong desires, cast this spell with magical fire’.”

Apple Bloom arches an eyebrow. “Magical fire? What does that mean?”

Flurry Heart shakes her head and continues reading: “‘Those with hearts as pure as gold, one wish be granted by the pages of old’.” The alicorn's heart is starting to race. She closes her eyes and starts doing a breathing exercise.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle share a look of confusion. Apple Bloom scratches her head.

“So, like a genie?” Spike asks, smiling excitingly.

“Yeah, but only one wish,” Scootaloo says. “And what the hay is ‘magical fire’?”

“Maybe it's our horns?” Sweetie Belle says, looking up at her horn. “It does look like it's on fire when we use magic.”

Flurry Heart reopens her eyes and continues reading.

Scootaloo nods her head. “I guess that makes sense.” She turns to her other friends with a curious smile. “So what do you guys want to wish for?”

“Only one, huh?” Sweetie Belle asks no one in particular, her gaze on the floor. “Hm...”

Spike chuckles. “Oh, I know exactly what to wish for.”

Before the crusaders can react, Flurry scratches her head, looking confused. “This spell looks really complicated.”

“Aw, really?” Scootaloo asks, frowning in disappointment.

Apple Bloom shakes her head. “Well, that's no surprise. I mean, a spell that grants wishes?” She shakes her head once more. “It's obvious the spell wouldn't be easy to do.”

Scootaloo sighs. “I guess I just got my hopes up that I didn't think about it.”

“Well,” Sweetie Belle says, walking and sitting beside the alicorn. She looks down at the book. “Maybe I can help cast it.”

“You can't even read what's on the book,” Scootaloo says lamely.

Apple Bloom nods her head. “And besides, we're here for Flurry to cast some spells.”

Flurry looks away. “I-I think it's okay.”

The others look at her.

“Okay for what?” Apple Bloom asks.

“That, um, Sweetie Belle helps cast it,” the alicorn manages to say, albeit quietly. She looks at the unicorn filly. “I can just tell her what's written, and she can help me cast it.”

“I guess that can work,” Sweetie Belle says, shrugging.

“Awesome!” Scootaloo cheers. She blinks, her smile gone. “Oh, I need to think of a good wish...”

As the two magical fillies start conversing with each other, Apple Bloom looks at the drake. She arches an eyebrow. “Somepony's excited.”

Spike looks at her. “Aren't you?”

Apple Bloom shrugs. “Not really.” She sits down and looks at the book. “I mean, I think I got all I need now, and even if I still don't...” She shrugs. “Wishing for it wouldn't feel like we deserve it.”

Spike frowns, but nods his head.

“I think I understand how to cast the spell,” Sweetie Belle suddenly says out loud. Her horn lights up. “Though I don't think I can do it alone.”

Flurry Heart bites her bottom lip. “I... I'm starting to...”

A claw rests on her shoulder.

The filly looks up and sees Spike smiling at her.

“If you don't want to do it, just say so,” Spike says reassuringly. “I'm sure they'll understand.”

Scootaloo crosses her hooves over her chest. “I'll be annoyed at first, if I'm being honest.”

Apple Bloom shrugs. “Eh, I don't really mind, but if you girls can make it work, then I guess I'll just wish for a milkshake.”

Sweetie Belle blinks at her.

Scootaloo looks at her with an arching eyebrow. “After that little speech you told us about need and deserve and stuff, I thought you were gonna wish for other ponies or stuff.”

“Sooo...” Sweetie Belle blinks. She turns to the alicorn sitting beside her. “Should we cast it or...?”

Flurry Heart looks at the book with uncertainty. She then looks at each of her friends. She looks at the opened book again.

She bites her bottom lip.





“They probably found a spell book already,” Starlight says, walking on one of the castle's hallways with Twilight. She sighs, her ears drooping. “I shouldn't have left them unsupervised like I did.”

“Don't beat yourself up too much about it, Starlight,” Twilight says with a comforting smile. “Besides, Spike is with them, so I'm sure they will be fine.”

Starlight sighs. “I hope you're right.”

The duo enter the map room, where a number of ponies are cleaning the room.

Twilight sits down on the floor and claps her hooves together, catching everyone's attention. “Thank you for your hard work today, everypony.” She smiles at each and everyone of them. “You can have the rest of the day off.”

The ponies give their thanks and they begin collecting their tools as they happily converse with each other.

“Why'd you let them leave early?” Starlight asks, following the princess towards the map table.

“I need them to be extra rested for tomorrow.”

Starlight arches an eyebrow as the princess takes a seat on her chair. “Why? What's going on tomorrow?”

Twilight lights up her horn and places a parchment and quill on the table in front of her. “The nation of felidae refuses to meet the deer, not in the deer's kingdom nor in their very own kingdom, sooo...”

Starlight blinks as Twilight starts writing on the parchment. “...You are going to have them meet here?”

“Yup!”

Starlight's ears droop. “S-should I evacuate the townsponies?”

Twilight rolls her eyes. “Hah hah, Starlight.” She shakes her head and looks at her student. She blinks. “Oh. That was a serious question.”

Starlight frowns at her.

Twilight smiles and shakes her head. She returns her gaze back on the parchment. “It'll be fine, Starlight. Trust me.” She continues writing. “Princesses Celestia and Luna will be here, too. Cadence as well. Oh!” Her writing quickens. “I should invite Thorax and Ember here as well!” She stops to smile at her student. “Having Thorax and Ember here is a good idea, don't you think? I can use them as a good example that friendship can happen to any nation!”

“Or this whole thing can turn into a war of all nations,” Starlight says with a worried frown.

Twilight frowns as well. “Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.”

Starlight sighs. “Sorry. It's just that ... this sounds way, way big of a responsibility, even for you.”

Twilight's frown goes further down. “My previous comment is still an applicable response to that.”

Starlight rolls her eyes. “What I'm trying to say is ... are you sure this will work?”

Twilight returns to her parchment, frown gone. “...I'm hoping it will.”

Starlight nods her head. “Well, I hope so, too.” She turns and trots towards the exit. “If you need me, I'll be at town hall, helping with the evacuation.”

Twilight rolls her eyes and returns to her writing.

Seconds turn to minutes. The crystalline walls echo the princess' writing, and the occasional hoofsteps of her royal guards walking by the room's double doors.

A few minutes pass.

Twilight suddenly stops writing.

“...”

She looks up, staring at the wall of the hallway outside the map room's doors.

“... ...”

She places the quill on the table beside the parchment. She furrows her brows.

“... ... ...”

Her shining horn shines a little brighter.

A flash of light—

“!!!”

Twilight immediately casts a spell—