Young Brainy shut her eyes tightly for a moment; hoping that somehow, once she opens them again, this horrible nightmare would be over.

But sadly, her wishful thinking wasn't of much help.

"…Create a perfect replica of this apple, then raise it to the air and vanish it," her mother repeated sharply as usual, with those ice cold green eyes of hers. "It's as simple as you can get."

"Yes, mother…!" the rest of her sisters barked in submission at their mother's strict command.

Brainy couldn't help but hesitate, though. As the first to attempt this spell, she was naturally anxious and nervous over whatever little accident she may cause…

Especially since between the puppies, she was the most negligent when it came to magic, ironically.

Suddenly, Bella, one of her siblings, scooted over closer to her just to smirk satisfactorily at the trembling pup. "Careful, Brainy… your head might turn into an apple," she snarked.

An explosion of laughter suddenly erupted from the other pups, including Bella, at the mean joke meant to get Brainy's self-steem even lower than it already was.

She didn't respond, only keeping her gaze focused on her main target: her unfeeling mother and leader.

After her mother laid the apple right under her little nose, Brainy allowed herself to heave a deep sigh.

She shut her wide eyes close again, ever more tightly. Her cheeks became rosy as she tried her hardest to produce magic.

"Concentrate…" she told herself strictly inside her mind.

"Concentrate…" She could clearly hear her sisters taunts and comments under the darkness at her fail of succeeding.

"Concentrate."

Then, she felt it.

Brainy felt her ears hovering in the air, held by pure green magic. Sparkling all over.

She felt both fluffy and heavy inside her heart. Her eyes finally opened, shining at the sight with awe as she stood there, speechless.

The White Streak in her tuff also shone brilliantly, demonstrating its power: this natural born gift that allowed her and her mother to be more powerful than it normally was.

"WHOA!"

"Wow…!"

"What?! She actually did it一"

"No way. She still didn't make the apple…"

The first time she created magic, Brainy Barker was a young puppy, which was extremely uncommon, to the point even her mother was shocked to the core.

None of her daughters had passed this test yet, they weren't expected to until they grew up to at least teenagers. This was just primary training.

She didn't expect this to happen.

Brainy was the first to break her expectations ever.

And you'd think she'd be happy at this fact.

"M-mother! Mother…! Look!" Brainy excitement grew with every word she directed at the grown dog. Her unimpressed mother would certainly be proud of her! At last… she would be. "Look! I… I did一"

"Get out of here. Now." Were the cold, unmoved words she heard instead.

"H-huh?" she muttered with fear: what was happening?

"You're… you're not my daughter anymore." Brainy's mother's eyes were darkened and wavering. But her lack of emotion remained the same.

"You're a freak," she concluded.

It stung. It stung a lot. She didn't understand.

Why?

Why…?

Wasn't this what she wanted?

"What…? Mother? What are you saying?" Her sisters stared at her intently, but this time her shock was for a whole other reason.

Their mother was banishing Brainy.

"Get out of this spaceship," the leader declared, glaring firmly at her own young.

From the instant she passed the test as such an age, she knew Brainy was stronger than her.

And that meant her role as commander was over between the Wizard Hounds... she didn't want that. She didn't want to be replaced by her own daughter when she was still a puppy, and suffer the humiliation of being less than her.

And if the council found out (which they would)… that's exactly what would happen. She had to get Brainy out of here fast.

Since the scared puppy still stood in her place taken over by strong shock, her mother proceeded to grab her by the neck, taking her out like she was trash.

Brainy trembled under her mother's grasp, extremely fearful and regretful of what may happen next.

Soon, she found herself inside another, smaller but still quite spacious red spaceship where she fit perfectly as her mother shoved her inside.

"Mo-mo-mother…! Stop!" she kept pleading, but the dog's determined cruelty was clear. "Don't! Where are you taking me?!"

"I'm not taking you anywhere…" she clarified as she made the red machine start up with ease. "You'll be going by yourself."

Brainy stared at her with widened eyes and quickly started banging the thick crystal that separated her from the female dog with her weak paws in utter desperation.

"Since you're so grown…" she told her, giving her an almost mocking glare, "You'll be fine."

Before she could do anything about it, the backdoor of their home opened and she was set out to space, rodeated by shimmering stars and various huge planets.

She was by herself now, literally lost in space.

.
.
.

Ace the Bat-Hound's mouth hung open at the revelation.

"Out of everything…" he admitted slowly, swallowing a sudden lump in his throat, "I never thought your puphood to be like this…"

Brainy stayed regretfully silent, staring downwards with sorrow coming back to her.

"I… I'm sorry."

Her head shot up at the words.

Did Ace…

Did Ace just apologise?

She turned her wide lime orbs toward him for, opening her mouth with surprise. She was even more bewildered when she realised that yes, Ace did just apologise to her...

And it was sincere.

His blank eyes were currently expressing emotion. They felt broken even to her.

"Bar…" He interrupted himself, blinking slowly. "Brainy," he amended, "I understand what your experience was... I also had the less of an ideal life as a puppy," he stated, sounding genuinely saddened.

She hesitantly rose her usually harsh but now softened gaze to stare at his face as he proceeded to walk over towards her position on the flying pillow.

"I don't mean to say I've suffered more than you or that I'm just being polite or anything of the such… I just want to tell you that…" he continued speaking, as he approached her.

His lowered head rose up to stand over hers; not in authoritative manner as usual but with an strangely gentle stance.

She was sure they both were astonished when he sofly and warmly let his head fall over her shoulder, trapping her in a canine hug.

He didn't mutter anything for half a second before finally finshing his sentence. "…I'm here for you."

Brainy felt the true comfort she hadn't felt in so many years...

-
Please remember to hit the little star if you enjoy! 🌟