Of Stones and Roots

by Ignimbrite

The Sentence of the Hooves Club

Casting and Curtain ran to the theater after arriving at the city just behind the train to try to find the potential actors. Unfortunately what they found instead was the front door locked.

Casting Call fumbled with his keys before finally finding the right one and unlocking the door.

Inside, they found no sign of anypony. Indeed, the place seemed to have been abandoned in haste.

Casting checked the ticket window where Rising Star has been working, only to find a note scratched out in her hoofwriting.

Helping somepony find a missing filly. Probably at the park.
LL came with.

RS

P. S. I still have no clue where those papers are.

---

Emerald Rainbow had gone off to find Obsidian and convince him to come back, but he wasn't in the same spot he'd been last. She checked all over the place, including in the trees, but didn't see him anywhere.

After hiding in a bush to avoid being spotted by his mom flying overhead, she gave up and decided to head back to the group.

When she returned, she found Obsidian sitting on the ground with Rose Quartz hanging from his neck by both forelegs and supported by his returned hug.

“What happened?”

Silver looked over at her, smiling. “He just showed up and apologized. Something about being mad at somepony else instead of her.”

“Ah man. I had this whole big speech planned that would get him to… oh well, at least they're not mad or sad anymore.”

Silver and Gold both snickered.

“Well,” Gold Leaf smiled, “at least the Hooves Club is back together again.”

“Yeah!” They all looked up to see Feldspar coming in for a hard landing. “So now that we're back together, what do we do?”

Gold put a hoof under his chin, then looked up at Obsidian.

“How about this?" He stood up straighter and assumed an air of authority, as if he was a judge presiding over a case. "On the charges of hurting our youngest member’s feelings, you are hereby sentenced to being forced to provide a bit of entertainment for the rest of us.”

“Okay, I suppose. What do you want me to do, sing a song?”

“Oh no. I've got something much more interesting than that. As the oldest unicorn in the group, you will try to teach our other two unicorn members magic while the rest of us watch.”

“What?! Come on! You know I'm not qualified for anything like that!”

“Exactly. And that's what’ll make it entertaining.”

---

The brothers convened with Masquerade, along with their father and a couple others.

“Well, we've all told our own families to keep an eye out, and Gneiss just finished her search pattern. From what she's described we've got a couple possibilities, no real way to know for sure.”

Corundum thought a while, then looked up at Masquerade.

“These fur dyes you say she uses, are they water soluble by any chance?”

“That's the only kind she uses. Why?”

“Oh, I just thought of a way to remove her disguise regardless of whether or not we know who she is.”

“Cor,” Zircon raised an eyebrow, “are you thinking what I'm thinking?”

“Maybe…”

Quartz apparently was also thinking of the same thing.

“Are you two sure that's a good idea?”

Their father just chuckled. “Sounds like a good idea to me. It'll cover all the foals at the same time, and it'll give the rest of 'em a chance to practice intuitive magic. Much better than the stuff they teach in old dusty books anyhow. I say we go for it.”

“Fine. Who's starting it?”

“Here. I've got some straws.”

They all picked a straw, Quartz looking quite disappointed at his.

“Well, there you go,” Corundum laughed. “Now go out there and act natural. You'll know when to start it.”

Masquerade, who evidently didn't share the family's apparent telepathic link, raised an eyebrow.

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh,” Zircon grinned, “just something we used to do back when we were colts.”

---

“Come on, you can do it!”

Gold, Silver, and Feldspar all sat together with snacks between them as Obsidian tried to explain to Emerald and Rose how to lift a rock.

Rose, of course, cheated a few times by generating shields just under the rock and using them to pick it up, but Emerald, strangely, couldn't even get her horn to glow.

“Try showing her something easier like a flashlight spell.”

Obsidian turned his head around and called back over his shoulder. “How am I supposed to show them anything when all anypony can see is my horn glowing?”

“Make your horn change colors then!”

“But that's pegasus magic. How is it supposed to help them?”

“It won't, but it'll be funny!”

Obsidian facehooved.

By Celestia, he wasn't insulting anypony again for as long as he lived.