Twilight Gets a Puppy
By TDR
How Much is that doggie in the window.
Celestia's journal wheneverly,
I was correct. The Witch Wolf is dangerous. Very dangerous.
No, it's not done anything violent or vicious. Spike's already caused more damage than Rahs has in the three months since he hatched. Though Spike has yet to widdle on the carpet in my personal quarters. Rahs has done it four times..... since Tuesday.
It's not his magic eating that has been a danger either. In fact, that seems more like a boon in this case. Twilight's magic seems to be trickling to him through their link, and not only has it kept Rahs sated, it's kept Twilight's magic more level. She's less likely to have surges with the excess bleeding off like it is. Something to consider for others suffering from magical surges perhaps?
No, what makes Rahs dangerous is that he is absolutely adorable, and he knows it.
If he does anything wrong, he simply sits up a little, flops his ears, and gives you a look that could melt a Windigo's heart. Someone really should market that look and put it on a stuffed animal..... they would make millions.
In any event, not even the most stone cold Guard I have is immune to that look. To make matters worse, Twilight has seen what it can do and has added her own weapons grade adorableness to his. Not even her parents can deal with the pair of them working together, particularly when Twilight's hugging him to herself and looking pouty.
The worst however is when she manages to get Spike in on it too. All the purple lizard has to do is suck on his tail and look at whoever he's pointed at for dawws, and when backed by the other two, they are unstoppable. I can't even handle adorableness of that magnitude.
I've had to hire a team of doctors skilled in cardiac arrests to be on standby around the clock.
While it took a bit of time before he stopped trying to maul any one who got close to Twilight or Spike, he eventually did. Twilight easily convinced him that her parents were okay. Though from what she tells me, her brother Shining Armor and Rahs hit it off pretty much from the start. Shining had always wanted a dog it seemed and now he had one … sorta.
Aside from immediate family and a few other exceptions, it takes him a few weeks of constant exposure to get used to them before he stops going into protective pup mode.
Something that involves him tackling Twilight to the ground and standing over her while barking, baring his teeth, and growling at whoever is new to him until they go away. He also has a tendency to attack my tail and mane, but i think that is due to their wavy nature than anything else.
The filly thought it was funny at first, then a bit bothersome. Now she usually is so absorbed in her reading she doesn't even notice. Given she has a tendency to walk and read at the same time, I’m not against his over protectiveness.... at least until he tries to eat my hoof cover again... with my hoof still in it.
One of his other issues is that he tries to protect Spike and Twilight at the same time. A bit of a problem as he can't be in two places at once. They were keeping Spike in a bedroom apart from Twilight at first just in case he snored fire in his sleep.
After three nights of thunderous paws running between the rooms as Rahs tried to watch both at once, usually resulting getting tired and passing out in the middle of the floor where someone could, and did trip over him, they relented. But only after Mrs. Sparkle nearly fell down the stairs twice because of the furry lump in the middle of her floor, Mrs. Sparkle just put the baby dragon in with her daughter and fireproof spelled everything.
Yet another issue is that he often acted more like a cat than a dog. He has the claws and tail for it I suppose, and like a cat he sharpens his claws on nearly anything and everything. Add in his desire to chew on everything and add in his want to climb everything and you see the issue. It's sorta’ cute when it's the couch or a book case he's scaling, not so cute when it's your leg.
For the most part he's a well behaved pup when Twilight tells him to do something. Aside from the weaponized cute, the normal young animal things, and the guard dog mentality, he's content to sleep most of the time that I teach Twilight, much as Spike does.
During one of these peaceful moments I asked Twilight why she named him Rahs.
It seems that the name came from a story she read about a famous inventor who had changed the face of Equss with his work. Bringing Pony kind into a golden age of delight and wonder.
A certain Rahs de Medici.
Thinking on it, I couldn't recall any one of that name leaving any sort of mark on history and it was only after she brought the book she was speaking of to show me that I understood.
Rahs de Medici was the inventor of ice cream.
Given that Twilight was more than willing to use weaponized cuteness, or any other under-hooved trick to get the sweet treat, the reason for the name was quite clear.
The Moon Dog’s diet was the source of less issue than I thought. Several races of Equss eat meat, and as such I employ a number of chiefs for any ambassadorial visits that might require culinary skills with something beyond pony.
It didn't take much to convince one to prepare meals for Rahs. A Griffon chef that worked for me named Emareial Larkasse was the one who agreed, though he was clearly not happy with it. At least until Twilight and Rahs came to thank him for the food.
After he recovered from his heart attack and was cleared by the doctors, he was significantly less annoyed with the preparations for Rahs.
The primary ingredients of the dishes were eggs, fish, bird, or other small game creatures. Occasionally one of the Guard’s Monster Hunters would bring in meat from something larger they had taken down. Though this became a bit more common as the existence of the pup was known. While this meant the pup never went hungry, it also meant that most other ponies were spared knowledge of what the Moon Dog was eating.
The first real incident happened near the beginning of the second year. Spike had his first birthday and Twilight was super excited for it.
Rahs was clearly older than Spike and seemed to be growing at the same rate as Twilight, so Twilight suggested that he have his birthday the same day as hers in summer.
Rahs was confused by the lot of it, but seemed to sense that Twilight was excited and became a little hyperactive bouncing ball of excited fluff, which also got Spike excited, thus adding to Twilight's previous excitement and increasing the cleaning bill for the Sparkle household yet again.
Two nights after the dragon's birthday party, the Sparkles’ house was broken into. The police later found they had cast a silence spell around the parents’ room and made their way directly to Twilight's room.
The investigators were mixed on motives since the criminals wouldn't talk, or simply claimed they got lost on their nightly stroll. Of the two options, the first was that they were either after Spike and perhaps Rahs. A baby Dragon was a rarity and would likely fetch a high price on the black market, intact, or in pieces, and Rahs was an unknown for any pony who knew about Diamond Dogs and could tell he wasn't one.
the other option was they were out to foal nap the student of the Princess for a huge ransom. One I would have paid easily had they managed to take her. Though I would have made them regret it later.
None of that happened, mind you.
What did happen was that the Sparkles had to move out of their house for a few weeks while it was deep cleaned and the damage restored.
Of the four perpetrators, only one was unscathed and that was a Pegasus lookout that had been outside the house. Aside from a ridiculous amount of scratches and bite marks, one of the Unicorns had his horn bitten partially off. As far as I know, even without the inhibitor ring he is wearing in jail, he cannot cast properly any more. The other unicorn got off the lightest, though they were unable to reattach his ear. The third was an Earth Pony and I almost pardoned her. She had one of her forelegs bitten clean off, and by the time Mrs. Sparkle convinced Rahs to let go of the mauled limb, it was too badly damaged to reattach.
Rahs did not exactly make it through unscathed. Had he been older he might have, and the trio of foal nappers would have been dead. As it was, he was still a puppy and had to be treated for several spell burns, a broken leg, a few cracked ribs and a number of bruises. He also had several of his teeth break off in the thieves’ flesh.
Twilight and Spike slept through the whole thing.
Rahs recovered rather quickly, despite Twilight's attempt to be a doctor for him herself. That incident used up sixty bits worth of bandages and Band-Aids and left Rahs looking more like a mummy than anything else with nothing but his little black button of a nose poking out of the wrapping. It took us two hours to get him out... with magic.
It was also of note that a few days later, one of the patrol Guards noticed a mark at the bottom of the mailbox post at the Sparkle house. It was something he brought to my aside’s attention who then brought it to me.
A few of my Guards and servants started their careers in one 'less than reputable' profession or another. Over my many years I have learned many interesting things simply by associating with those not quite on the up and up, as well as the high class. The Guard knew this of me and knew what the mark meant when they brought it to my attention.
A triangle pointed down with a line through the middle of it. The bottom point of the triangle then had a large circle around it that cut through the middle of the triangle.
A thieve’s guild mark signifying danger.
Given this robbery cost them four members, two likely for good, it was little surprise the mark was placed.
Despite the addition of the mark, I decided that I wanted a little extra protection for the trio and sent a letter to someone I knew would be able to help me with this.
Someone who wouldn’t be swayed by the adorable trifecta, no matter how many pouty lips, glimmering eyes or wiggling noses............................... gah ….. I think my heart stopped there for a second.
Anyway, she would not be swayed by this and had plenty of experience with both foals and monsters.
My niece, Mi Amoré Cadenza.