7 - An Extended Hoof
Spike backed up against Twilight, his eyes mirroring her own in their disbelief. "I didn't mean for it," he stammered in a pleading, quiet voice.
Reflexively, Twilight put a fetlock over Spike and drew him close, almost pulling him behind herself as Lofty approached them with increasing ire.
"It doesn't matter what you meant to do," said the pegasus, "You wrecked my shop. You don't even have pockets. How are you going to pay?"
Dawn let out an exasperated noise before moving forward, interposing himself between the irate shop owner and the two off-worlders. "I will restore your storefront. I will begin tomorrow, as I have not prayed for the right spells today." She opened her mouth in objection, but he continued on, "I will stay here until the task is complete, on my word as a cleric, or may the gods smite me down wherever I run to."
Lofty slowly let out the breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Fine. The dragon's dangerous though. I thought he was properly trained, walking around the city all free like that." She leveled a hoof at the quivering dragon, "Learn to control yourself. Your cleric friend isn't going to always be there to bail you out."
Spike bobbed his head quickly before looking at Dawn "You ok?" he asked, "I kinda fried you... Sorry."
Dawn raised a hoof, speaking words that echoed strangely, as if reflecting off walls that were not there. The hoof wreathed itself in a soft glow. He pressed it against his own chest and the soft singes faded away from his person. "The gods provide," he said when the wounds were banished. "What were you trying to do, little dragon?"
Twilight pulled him harder, as if shielding him from everything, "Nothing bad, I'm sure. Spike wouldn't hurt a fly."
Dawn gave a mirthless chuckle as he spoke, "The orcs painted a different picture. 'This dragon fights like he's possessed. He'll make a fine guardian or pit champion.', they said, from first-hoof experience I wager." Spike began to blush anew as Dawn continued, "I would prefer to hear it from his own mouth. You are not yet in trouble, small dragon. Tell me."
Lofty muttered under her breath as she retreated to the back once more, complaining about her damaged goods and store all along the way. Spike cleared his throat nervously before and a sheepish smile overtook him as he explained, "Well I was just trying to do a little puff of fire. I've done it plenty of times, to send letters, or start a stove."
"Letters?" asked Dawn with a raised brow.
Twilight quickly explained, "Oh, yes. He would send my letters to the princess by burning them with dragon fire. They would whisk away and appear in front of the princess just like that."
Dawn settled onto his haunches patiently, "A very curious way of sending a message. I fear that will not work here. Since I am now bound to this store, I will instead send a missive of my own, and have you both sent on your way. If the gods will it, we will meet again." He draw out a sphere from his pouch and let it dangle, "Your student is here," he spoke, his words carrying a strange power as the sphere began to hum. Twilight watched the spellcasting intently, suddenly forgetting the prior tension. "Come and fetch her from Stitch in Time,” Dawn continued, “She has a dragon with her, untrained but friendly." He drew his snout back from the sphere, frowning, "Fitting the message in twenty-five words is always a challenge," he commented to no one in particular, though Twilight nodded quickly, making mental notes.
The sphere began to hum loudly before a female voice came through, "How did you know I was near there? Nevermind, you'll say the gods did it. I will be there shortly."
Spike peered at the sphere curiously and asked, "Is there a limit on how far that works?"
"No," replied Dawn, "Even the boundary between planes will not stop it reliably, though it does get a little fuzzy. The only limit is twenty-five words, each way. Now we wait until your new guide arrives. She is a fine warrior, and will take you to where you will be taught. She will likely spend some time with Spike, but she knows very little of spellcasting. I wish you both good fortune as you follow the path fate has drawn for you."
Lofty emerged once more, her expression warmer as she held a package carefully perched between her fetlocks. She stepped over to Twilight on her hind legs and extended her fore-hooves, "Here we are. Do you need any help putting it on?"
Twilight glanced around a moment before nodding, "Please. I don't put on full outfits that often."
Lofty gave a boisterous laugh at that, "I figured as much when you wandered in here naked as when you were born; you were either a nudist or looking for the wrong kind of attention." She led the flushed alicorn along behind a screen, singed as it was. Their shapes were hidden from the two males in the room, though they could see Twilight's silhouette being carefully nudged this way and that. Her wings extended and folded as something was put over her torso and she stepped into something. "Now aren't you ready to show off?" came Lofty's voice from behind the screen, "It fits you to a tee."
Twilight stepped out, her hooves now covered in soft-looking shoes. Her torso was covered by a robe that easily covered her back and had a slit for wings and tail, allowing them through while still giving her privacy over objectionable areas. A felt cap rested on her brow and a belt cinched the robe halfway down her barrel. A multitude of pockets were available for her to use at her leisure.
"You look great, Twi," encouraged Spike with a smile.
Twilight extended a wing as she looked herself over, "Do you really think so? The stitching feels funny."
Lofty looked surprised, "Funny? Funny good or funny bad? I hoof-stitch everything to perfection."
Twilight considered that before she gave a slow nod, "Our friend, Rarity, does most of her stitching by machine."
Lofty waved it off, "Oh come off it, second-rate, and expensive. Dwarven sewing machines will set you back several year's pay for inferior stitches. It's a good thing you came to me." She smiled brightly, "Now that you're all prettied up, I have a store to get back in order." She began picking up the more scorched bits of cloth in her mouth while her wings nudged the lavender alicorn and her dragon towards the door. "Come back tomorrow for Mr. Zappy's outfit."
The two found themselves being nudged out into the street where they found themselves face-to-face with a new pony. The new mare looked them over for a moment before her expression brightened. She looked past them, into the store, "I've got them Dawn," she called out, only getting a nod from the reserved stallion.
"So you two are joining the One Herd?" asked the new mare. She was dressed for battle, with heavy armor that hung down from front, back, and sides in plates. She had a shield strapped to her right side, while a lance hung somewhat limply from the right, perhaps as a method of peace-keeping in the city. She had brown fur and an off-pink mane. Her brand was a lance over the outline of a pony. "I'm Fast Shadow, and I'll be taking you two in. You are?"
"Twilight Sparkle," answered Twilight, before gesturing at Spike, "and Spike."
Spike wriggled a few claws at her in greeting, "Nice to meet you. What's a one herd?"
Fast turned back for the road, leading them through the crowd. It seemed many ponies avoided stepping too close to Fast Shadow, providing them with a bubble of peace as they penetrated the crowd. "That's a long question," she admitted, "But we'll start with the full name, which is Seekers of the One Herd. It's been shortened to Seekers of late, what with Queen Iliana holding the throne and doing a fine job of it. Twilight, why do you have a horn blocker on?"
Twilight huffed and stomped a hoof on the street, her new shoes muffling the sound, "I've been asking that for over a week now. Can you take it off?"
Fast shook her head, "If Dawn left it on you, there's probably a good reason for it. I'll let the chapter head decide when it comes off." Twilight sighed loudly at Fast's decision, but didn't dispute it further as they swiftly moved through the city to arrive at a three-story building. The walls of the white-bricked building were partially overgrown with ivy and the lawn had well-managed gardens on display. Fast Shadow marched past them without glance and pushed open the door, "This way."
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Love the story total D@D Fan here.
I’ve actually been wondering more about Spike, major Spike fan. What class will Spike take. I know you’ve hinted toward monk or a warrior class but I was personally hoping he might learn some form of magic either arcane or divine or if you’d allow even psionic, is there any chance he will learn magic at all.
5447790 I happen to be a big fan of D&D myself. Figure you have to be to make a pony version of Pathfinder.
Spike's gone and become a very young sky dragon, which is already pretty potent all by itself. Unlike Twilight, he doesn't really have the background to go soaking up a lot of magical technique, and is more likely to learn how to use his natural ferocity to his advantage, so fighter, monk, or similar class would be a better fit for the martially capable number one assistant.
One thing I promise is that Spike will never be useless and forgotten. He's Twilight's best friend, especially in this world with most of the mane six not present.
For some reason I was thinking this story was finished. The more I read, the better the story gets. Compared to the rest, chapter 1 was a drag to read. But since my last review, it's been getting a lot less forum esque and is a super enjoyable read. I'm interested on all the characters, in how this world is treated, in how this world works. That awkward moment Luminace meets TWilight. How you characterize Iliana. How well Twilight learns magic, how Spike is going to grow and learn. How the tribes interact, and just seeing things like the Miracle of the Pheonix Wolces, the style of the Cloven. There's so much to explore, and I can't wait to get to it!
5448507 Wow. I woke up to a lot of comments from you, and I like it. Thanks for all the input. There was a lot of exposition, though I hope it was delivered in an in character way. No one should spew facts not relevant to the topic at hand, or above their pay grade as it were. I will do my best to show more and say less. but no promises that Twilight won't go babbling about it anyway.
5448070 I'd say Twilight would have to be a sorcerer to get the unity (?) bloodline and ever use her wings, but she's such a wizard...
5450983 I cut the difference, as you'll see in the next chapter. There are feats you can take to nab a sorcerer bloodline without being a sorcerer, which I merrily assume she has.
I'm getting more and more suspicious about that horn-blocker. Twilight really ought to insist they remove the darn thing.
That's two, two characters from Champions of Everglow, ha ha ha!
(Thunder rumbles)
5677669
I'm banking on it being something she could have removed herself the whole time.
Alright, so Spike is just impulsive. I thought he would’ve picked up on the numerous hints that magic worked differently here and that there was a damn good chance it would be electrical based.
Sorry Twilight, no magic for you.
6340141 It's for her own good.
5861408 A third was mentioned, as well.
Just so you know, David, your image links are all broken now.
7674188 IMGur hates us.
before a/and a
Debatable.
Ok, now I'm just confused. The description of Twilight's outfit in this chapter answered the question of my previous comment, the outfits are full-body. So how is it that Twilight knew what Lofty Thoughts cutie mark looked like? There's a similar problem in this chapter. The description of Fast Shadow includes her cutie mark even though it also states she's covered all over with plate armor, of which we even get a helpful picture. I can't see any way Twilight could have seen her cutie mark through all that armor.
It is getting vary grating how everyone is treating both Spike and Twilight. Especially Spike. I may hate him but that is still no excuse for me to treat him like a pet and yet they are. Are we ever going to run into a not-evil native creature in this fic?
11379484
Plenty. Not sure if it helps,but this was my first story on this site, many years ago.