//------------------------------// // Boast Barkers, part 1 // Story: Twilight gets a Puppy // by TDR //------------------------------// Twilight Gets a Puppy By TDR Boast Barkers part 1 [ One week after the last episode, Golden Oaks Library] “Come on Twi, you got this.”Spike encouraged, practically bouncing in place. “Right here it goes.” Twilight muttered her horn glowing softly. Rahs stood back from the pair, simply watching, just in case there were any magical mishaps he would have to clean up. Given Spike's resilience against magic and physical harm, he was often used as a test subject for new spells or practice. Sure he protested most of the time, but he could easily be bribed with ice cream.... granted so could Twilight. Rahs was the only one immune to the sweet treat, though when he had found out that Prince Blueblood's magic tasted like Prench Vanilla ice cream he had bothered the poor Unicorn for months. He still preferred Cadence's magic, though the magic in the apples from Sweet Apple Acres was a close second. Rahs blinked at the faint pop that sounded in the air and the black furred mustache that appeared on Spike's upper lip. He whistled appreciatively, matter creation like that was a rare ability, one Twilight had not been able to perform before she came to Ponyville. The spell formula she was using was a common one for higher level casters, or those who specialized in that sort of thing. It turned raw mana into a physical object, in this case, a mustache. The effect wouldn't last forever, perhaps only lasting a few weeks or so depending on the skill or the power of the caster. That was still long enough that he would need to watch out for his brother trying to sneak into a movie theater for a movie he shouldn't be old enough to see. “Haha, you did it!” Spike cheered. “Woof!” Rahs added. “Right, twenty five spells you couldn't do before, that's awesome and this is the best one so far.” Spike grinned looking in a nearby mirror and playing with the mustache.” Hello ladies......” The trip to Canterlot had been rather uneventful. Despite seeing Celestia to recover the scrolls and meeting Princess Luna, none of his questions had been answered anyway. It was clear that Princess Celestia worried about Twilight while she was out of the castle, but the talk with her brothers eased the Princesses mind about their sisters mental state. The other element bearers were a surprisingly good influence on her, despite all of them having their own issues. Rahs felt that he and Spike would need to watch all of them being the only sane and rational ones of the whole group, despite the fact his brother was twelve and he was constantly getting yelled at for clawing up the book cases and chewing on things. The subject of Twilight and Rahs' increase in power was not brought up in the conversation with the Princess. Twilight wanted to run more tests to make sure it wasn't a fluke and had only asked the Princess for all the information she had on the Elements of Harmony, something Celestia was expecting any way once her student settled in. Currently Twilight was testing a number of the spells she had failed to pull off before and so far she had accomplished all of them with barely an effort. “Sorry Romeo with as attractive as you think you look that's just practice and it needs to go.” Twilight chuckled her horn lighting up as Spike flailed trying to protect his new mustache only for Twilight's magic to dissolve it. “Rats....” Spike grumbled. “Woof?” Rahs asked. “Why do dragons and serpents love mustaches?” Spike retorted to his brothers question. “ Cause they're freaking sweet!” [ Ponyville proper.] “So why have you had so much trouble with these spells before?” Spike questioned.” They all seemed pretty simple and there's plenty of ponies who I've seen using some of them.” “Yes but not 'all' of them. A Unicorn whos talent is focused one thing, like being a barber, would have a easier time learning that creation trick and the power needed wouldn't be that much either. A cutiemark can not only be a hint at what a pony might be good at, but it can also improve that talent to the point that they would be better at it than any pony else, who doesn't have a fitting mark, in that field.” “So basicly you couldn't do those tricks before cause your talent wasn't connected to any of them?” Spike pondered. “Woof” Rahs added. “Well I suppose you could say my cutiemark talent lies in magic, though there are some who don't follow what their mark suggests or they interpret it in a different way. Sometimes that interpretation is enough to change the marks entire meaning as well as what skills might get boosted.” Twilight pointed out. “ Miss Cheerilee, for example, has a cutiemark of flowers, though she's interpreted them as smiling students soaking up knowledge like a flower soaks up the sun. And it seems to have worked for her as she's considered one of the better teachers around if the awards I saw in her office were any indication.” “Might explain why Rarity makes dresses and has gems as cutiemarks.” Spike pondered. “Bork.” Rahs smirked. “I doubt her talent has anything to do with attracting Dragons to her butt, Rahs. That's all Spike anyway.” Twilight dead panned as Spike glared at his siblings. “GANGWAY!” shouted a voice” COMING THROUGH!” Spike and Twilight both yelped as a pair of Unicorn colts barreled between the group, impacting Spike and starting to carry him off, or they would have had Rahs not whipped around and grabbed both of them by their tails. The sudden stop didn't seem to bother either of them as they kept running in place as Rahs held them, though Spike fell off the short fat ones head where he had gotten stuck. “Snips ? Snails? What are you doing.” Spike winced as he stood up dusting off looking at them. “Oh wow Spike, you're like .. really fast to keep up with us, and you're not even breathing hard.” Snails stated still running in place. Rahs frowned and looked at Twilight who rolled her eyes. While they were both happy Spike was making friends his own age, they were less than thrilled he made friends with these two. Snips and Snails were known as the dumbest colts in town. They were not mentally handicap, though Snails was a little slow on the uptake, they were just intentionally dumb, not able or willing to keep the slightest bit of common sense in their heads at all, let alone the slightest bit of knowledge that they didn't care about personally. It drove Twilight crazy that there were ponies that were this willfully ignorant around even as young as they were, and it annoyed Rahs because if Spike was anything other than a Dragon, their lack of common sense would have gotten his brother hurt, a lot. Still neither of them were going to tell Spike he couldn't have them as friends, the young drake was more than smart enough to see their flaws, and often he kept whatever trouble they got into from escalating further. Usually. “Well haven't you heard? There's a new unicorn in town!” Snails stated stopping his running. “Yeah, they say she's got more magical powers than any other unicorn evah!” Snips chimed in. Rahs let go of their tails as they stopped running and glanced back to Twilight who raised an eyebrow at their statement. “No way, that title goes to Twilight!” Spike huffed. “Where is this Unicorn?” Twilight asked. “In the town square!” Snails said before rushing off again. “Come on!” Snips yelled running off again himself. The trio looked at each other then followed along. [Ponyville square, in front of Town Hall] A large crowd had gathered in front of a gaily decorated wagon that had been parked in front of the town hall. The trio found their way over to the front where the rest of Twilight's new friends had gathered to see what the fuss was. “Come one, come all! Come and witness the amazing magic of The Great and Powerful Trixie!” a prerecorded voice boomed from some hidden speaker in the cart, rolling the Rs a little to hard in the name. As the announcement ended the side of the cart unfolded springing out into a stage and revealing the hidden speakers. The stage suddenly exploded with smoke and fireworks, the effects clearing to reveal a pale blue mare with a white and blue mane wearing a purple cloak and wizard's hat festooned with stars. The crowd looked on in awe. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack looked on in annoyance. Spike looked on with a frown at this upstart who thought she was better than his sister. Twilight looked on with interest, taking note of the mare's use of quid's theorem for the stage and simple fireworks triggered by magic and guided into a particular shape to conceal her entrance onto the stage. Rahs looked on with a wide smirk, because he recognized the mare, this should be fun.