The Great Equestrian Consort Audition (Open- See OOC)

[SteelEagle]

 

Rune Writer- yes, that was his name. Shadow had told Twilight a lot about him. She had then done some digging up of information to better acquaint herself with this powerful magic user. He had a decent amount of depth in a lot of fields which is what made him special, even if his jack iof all trades demeanor and skill-set didn't denote an especially powerful type. It was a common misconception that beiing able to use various magics made one powerful when power came from a certain depth of knowledge regarding the nature of the aether that made the type of magic one used moot. Still, he was unique in his own way and she was pleased to know that in this day and age the pursuit of magical extravagance was well and good and not just the purview of forlorn illusionists. It was good to have ponies with the prospect of power coming to the table.

"Greetings, Rune Writer. Shadow Scribe spoke very well of you," Twilight replied evenly, with a hint of excitement. She had gotten to know Shadow well and as always excited to meet the family of friends. "He spoke very highly of both your magical prowess as well as your instructional ability. I'm always happy to meet the family of a friend," she emphasized that, knowing how special it was to Shadow to have a friend. Based on what she knew of Rune Writer, it was likely his view on harmony and harmonic magic was at best skewed past failures. She was always happy to help rectify such things, but for today, business. The auditions for her consort demanded continuing attention. "In any case, why have you chosen to audition for the role of my consort? What do you hope to bring to the table that you believe is unique?"

[Novaburst]

Rune Writer smiled at the Princess of Friendship. She was young, and immensely powerful. She likely if she was anything like him, had a collection of magical relics by now. Of course, as she was a Princess, royal authority likely meant her collection was more than his. "So he befriended you. Good. I always expected him to make a good choice as a first friend. One could hardly do better than an Alicorn Princess, I suppose...especially one who saved Equestria multiple times. " said Rune Writer, with a smile that he rarely had on his face. Rune Writer looked at the Princess, scanning her with his eyes. She was attractive, he had to admit that and that was yet another bonus. Being her consort it seemed was worth his full effort. Of course had Shadow done what he truly wanted, and became her consort he wouldn't have needed to make the trip here. But he'd forgive Shadow for that, as Shadow was likely nervous. Fortunately, Rune didn't share that nervousness, being an older unicorn who was well past the bloom of youth, as it were. 

 

"Did my best to train him, even if he failed to get into Celestia's school. His test was around the same time as yours. It was to hatch a Dragon Egg. Unfortunately his failure made me have to raise him.  Did my homework on you before I came here, Princess. You are quite gifted at the magical arts, I must say.  So what is your opinion of him? Is he ready to graduate from my training?"

 

Rune then changed the subject to business. 

"Onto business now. The reason I've chosen to audition for your consort is that you will need the help of an Older Stallion. Sure I may not be a spring chicken like some of the stallions around..."  Rune coughed a little, and then his horn glowed furiously as he recast a series of spells on his body, spells made to slow the effects of Old Age, and to rejuvenate and heal the body. Spells that he made on his own, and had created by himself. Rune honestly knew that becoming her consort meant that he was going to have to give up a lot of things. But Shadow could be trusted to carry on the family legacy, and guard the magical relics they had. He just needed more training was all. Of course it was training he wouldn't get from Rune Writer... no. Rune was going to leave that to some other pony. 
 

"I do bring several decades of experience at magic to the table, even if it is in fields you don't often use Princess. I'm also good at organization. While I'm not usually a people pony, I get along with most ponies easily. Practically raised Shadow, so if it comes down to you having foals and needing someone, I'd be more than happy to help as your consort. Plus I am very good at working with magical relics, so I could help you to better identify, and contain the ones you already have, if you need my help in that regard as well. " 

 

He'd pause for a moment, and summon a potion with his magic that appeared to be light red colored.  "Sorry, have to drink this. Helps hold off the problems of old age... one of many methods I made to slow it's effects on me."   After gulping down the potion, Rune Writer sighed. The potion was a mild pain reliever, because his hooves were aching. He'd need to work on creating stronger spells to combat old age. 

 

"What you saw me just cast was something you might be interested in. While not the longevity of an Alicorn, the spell gives me a few more decades... and also eases the side-effects of old age, even deleting a few of them. If it would help you choose me, I'd be happy to share my notes." 

 

Rune smiled, and waited. 

 

 

 

 

 

[SteelEagle]

 

She was allowed to feel pride at her accomplishments but so many ponies had brought up her having helped save Equestria that it had lost most of its meaning. She had done so only with her good friends being there to help her and she was always a little saddened that they never seemed to get the respect and adulation they deserved. Of course she knew part of that was because Fluttershy and Applejack didn't really want the attention so it was all deflected back towards her, but still. "I'm flattered. He seems like a nice colt. I'm frankly a little shocked he hasn't shown up, considering all the types of applicants I've been dealing with," she said with a chuckle, listening as Rune continued.

 

There was a common misconception that a dragon egg was the entry test to get into the school. This was incorrect. There were hundreds of ponies who entered Celestia's school. Not one outside of Twilight had a dragon companion. A dragon egg was a highly unusual thing to see, and a baby dragon of any kind was beyond rare. Indeed, outside of the lands of the Dragons, she had only ever two other dragons of any note. Spike's egg had been used in many tests for a few years after Celestia received it as a gift from the old Dragon Lord when Celestia considered the subject potentially powerful. Failing to hatch it was not a fail and flunk from entrance as more than a few others had failed and went on to excellent academic careers. That meant the cause of Shadow's inability to advance into Celestial education was far more likely due to other factors. Not that she'd be spending too much time on that line of thought today.

 

"He seems more than capable in terms of magic, and I don't think there is much more he can do until he strikes out on his own and discovers his own methods of aetheral manipulation. Following a guide can help one begin, but it is always a rather limited form of magical training," She replied evenly, taking a drink as she tried to keep in mind the style of the fellow in front of her. According to Shadow, he wasn't aware of or a fan of harmonic magic, which was a shame since it really did limit his magical potential tremendously.  She then waited patiently for him to begin telling her why he should be the consort, and it was an interesting series of reasons. She was sure she would see and had seen some of this but it never meant that she didn't pay close attention.

 

He was certainly very talented in terms of magic. Spells that slowed down aging weren't entirely unheard of course, with more than a few high-society types in Canterlot especially paying high premiums for specialists to help them fend off the omega to the alpha that was their life. Of course his seemed to be a little better as it was claimed to add decades; an interesting, if almost impossible to verify, claim. Some claimed that Starswirl lived for over two centuries, thrice the span of a normal unicorn, with no hint of a spell. She believed it was more likely that he simply lived a few decades longer than most and after his death a legend sprouted up around it.

 

She was'nt a fan of it, to be honest. Everypony only had so much aether they could pull and that would dull with age. A body that pulled this would find itself unable by the end to do so- and the aging would come rapidly and with a devastating effect. Aging gracefully was far more important than putting it off, she felt. But it wasn't any of her business what he wanted to do- well, unless she chose him as a consort, in which case it would be rather specifically worried about it. Either way, sh resolved herself to take him at face value and allow herself to imagine what he brought to the table. She'd keep this focused on the tasks at hoof. "You mention several areas of expertise, Rune. Could you go over them? I'd be excited to have somepony to discuss a wide variety of magical subjects with. And I would love any notes you have on your own spells, of course. In terms of relics- I have a great many. Anything in particular you wish to know about?"

[Novaburst]

When Twilight talked about Shadow, and said she was flattered Rune smiled. But when she said she was shocked Rune hadn't shown up, he sighed. "He didn't show up, because I asked him to wait until a week after I did, because I figured he needed time to get used to having you as his friend before he could think of such. After all, I didn't want him stuttering or stammering or anything like that.."  

 

Rune listened.

 

"So as you believe he is ready to graduate from my training, I shall allow it. In fact, once he passes my final exam for him I will consider him graduated." 

 

Rune continued to listen to the Princess of Friendship. She wanted to know what types of magic he could do... she wanted him to go over it. Magic was something he actually enjoyed talking about. Another smile, along with warm sensations formed both within him, and the smile forced it's way onto his face despite his efforts to maintain a neutral expression. Why couldn't he maintain his poker face? 

 

"As to my notes, Princess all you had to do was ask and I'd share them with you."    Rune's horn lit up and a crystal appeared near the Princess, a crystal cube of sorts. "Rather than record my spells on paper, or parchment as that takes too long and is honestly tedious I have instead directly encoded them inside this, along with a magical intelligence that instructs how to perform all the spells that I know, a sort of limited copy of my own consciousness. Yet another thing I worked on." 

 

Rune then looked at her for a moment, as she mentioned magical relics. 

 

"Well, while it is not a magic relic per say there is one thing I'd like to study. Unfortunately it would require putting you and your friends under heavy surveillance, and forcing them into a battle alongside you that would require the use of the Rainbow Powers so I could better ascertain how such a transformation could possibly work, as that is a curiosity of mine. Such power, and from a small box when you turned the keys... amazing. Whoever made it was a magical genius. Well, whoever made the tree of harmony which I'd also like to study and analyze..." 

 

Rune said this, his smile becoming even warmer. For now he was in his element, talking about magic and magical theory.  Rune then said to her. "You know, it is refreshing to talk to a magical expert on par with myself, if not surpassing me Princess. You are quite skilled. Tell me, are there any magical relics that are on par with the Elements of Harmony in terms of power? There's also another item I'd like to get my hooves on to dissect the spell work of, the Alicorn Amulet. Learned about it from reading a newspaper of Ponyville. Trixie sure lived up to her name when she used that amulet, great and powerful indeed. Though the insanity side-effect... that was horrible. If the Alicorn Amulet could be recreated without the insanity side-effect, would you say it would be useful for the Royal Guards Princess? It would take a lot of effort and studying the aethereal connections of that particular item, but with time and study I believe I could be able to attempt a duplication of it. Of course, I'd need access to a lot of resources before I'd even try to do so.  Tell me, what other magical artifacts do you have? I need to know, so I'll know if any are of interest to me." 

 

 

 

[SteelEagle]

 

Rune pulled out a crystal cube and discussed how he was planning on leaving the knowledge he had accumulated via spells and how to use them in the cube. An interesting method, and one favored by many of the older, classical mages of power and prestige. It certainly had an air of grandeur about it. But there was a reason it wasn't commonly applied anymore. A stray bit of consciousness would, over the eons, become less and less capable of imparting information. The oldest amongst them were rarely more than unintelligible wrecks. It was a bad idea if you were trying to impart knowledge. It was an excellent idea if you wanted to practice transference! "Ahh, that is always very interesting to see. I actually have collected over three hundred such memory cubes- it is always great to converse, even in a limited way, with such amazing older unicorns and their knowledge."

 

Speaking of knowledge- sounded like he had some...unique ways of going about acquiring it. She was always slightly disappointed when ponies came to her with fascination about the Rainbow Power, or the Elements of Harmony, in regards to power and battle. It was so far against what that sort of magic was about and why it worked that she wondered if those interested in magic were, by their nature, less likely to understand that the magic of friendship was what made it work. It wasn't abilities or artifacts one could call into use whenever one wanted. You couldn't stage something, and she wouldn't want to do it anyway. 

"Well, I would be against anything that puts my friends into danger purely for the sake of research. No magical research is worth something of that nature, and the artificial nature of the cause throws the entire experiment into confusion anyway. It introduces new variables that were not present at other times. If you are chosen as my consort, I would be more than happy to share my own research into the matter," she said but without all the warmth from earlier. The plan was so silly to her that it made her question his appropriateness for the position, but she would allow him to continue building his case.

 

The talk about artifacts was intriguing but was about power. She didn't show her relative disappointment in this. Power was the most boring aspect of artifacts. "The Elements of Harmony remain, to our knowledge, the most powerful artifacts by several magnitudes in the world. There are artifacts of great power in many nations and continents of course, not just the Elements, but they are in a league of their own. The Alicorn Amulet is a good example of more limited power. While it was a very powerful artifact, it is now mostly inert. It had a certain amount of magic and most was used up. Other powerful artifacts follow similar patterns and while many efforts have been made by those interested in making them longer lasting, each and every time this has resulted in other issues. Plus I would be wary of giving powerful relics out to anypony. They can get lost and end up in the wrong hoof while particularly cruel and sneaky foes could abscond with many of them and become much bigger threats. Power is a fool's trap in terms of magical ability or relics; friendship is the most powerful of all, and something I wish more ponies would consider. Anyway- so magically, you'd make a great consort.  Besides what we've spoken about, what other qualities do you have that you would consider worthy of the role?"

[Novaburst]

"Well, Princess I am skilled at organization, to an extreme degree. I'm also good at planning, and communicating with others even though I am deficient in the arts of friendship as you have pointed out. I'm also good at instructing other ponies, as you could see with my apprentice and nephew Shadow Scribe. I am also good at crafting items, as you can see from my wagon, though I'm not sure if that would fall under magical capabilities or not. I'm sorry if I offended you by wanting to test your friends, I was just curious because no other magic to my knowledge has granted remotely similar transformation abilities of any sort."  said Rune Writer, pausing for a moment.  Rune then said. "You now know my qualifications, and I will leave it up to you Princess. But I will tell you that regardless, I look forward to working with you as I am considering making Ponyville one of my part time homes."  As he said this, Rune Writer smiled at the Princess of Friendship warmly. Ponyville seemed like an inviting place, and more importantly had no frost wolves. Perhaps being here might get his nephew off of his back of moving somewhere safer. Of course he'd have to make several trips, due to the number of magical relics that he had there. 

 

Rune then said to Twilight.  "So Twilight, is there anything in particular you look for in consorts?"  

 

 

[SteelEagle]

 

He was a great organizer, which was always a valuable asset in somepony who was joining an organization. She herself considered organization one of her greatest strengths and she knew for a fact that planning was useful in any context. Sure, some ponies preferred to live by the seat of their pants and exist with plans as the final stopgap measure. But she thought that living in such a manner was a poor idea. she liked having reams of data to help support long-term planning as well as more short term plans for the immediate future, usually surprise dinner invitations and events. Plus crisis management, she liked planning for crisis. Hopefully the plans never found use but better to have plans and never use them than need and not have.

 

He asked what she wanted in a consort. She thought for a bit before answering. "That is an important question, though I'm not quite sure myself. Part of the reason this has been an open audition was because I didn't want to miss out on interesting capabilities I may have missed should I instead focus on certain attributes. Instead I am casting a wide net, and from that, collating what I think is most applicable to different situations. I have preferences for intelligence, kindness, and magical knowledge, but I wouldn't cast such great favor towards somepony who has those qualifies that they are necessarily requirements. Besides, this way I get to meet so many interesting ponies!" She ended with a smile. There was a knock at the door to the room. Ahhh, must be time for the next applicant.

 

"I think you'll enjoy your time in Ponyville, whether or not you are chosen, Rune Writer. It is time for the next applicant to come in- it was a pleasure meeting you!" She said, a moment later the Guards helping Rune out. She took a deep breath and a drink of water. "Next?"