Enchanted

by The Whiskey Spirit


Ch 3: Dinner (Revised)

Princess Celestia, one of the diarchs of Equestria, took a deep, calming breath as she stood in front of the door. She had found herself in the middle of what could possibly be a very fragile situation. She knew if she didn’t handle things correctly then it could go south quite quickly.

Beyond this door was a creature of unknown abilities, who had managed to escape one of her most secure cells. He was likely agitated from discovering himself within said cell, and if the maid was to be believed, even more so from whatever answers he had received from her.

Exhaling through her nose, she glanced towards one of the unicorn guards that stood around her. With a nod, the guard’s horn glowed bright, surrounding the door’s handle and slowly opening it.

Beyond the threshold was a mostly barren office. A wooden desk, bookshelves, and chairs were all present. The occupant, however, was what gained her full attention. Sitting at the desk, his hands clasped in each other’s grasp and used to support his head, was the creature. His eyes were closed, but she knew better than to assume he was oblivious to her presence. She had seen his muscles tense when the door opened, as well as his brow furrowing, even with how slight it was.

Stepping into the room, her movements were slow and measured, as to not startle the creature. She still held hope to end all of this peacefully after all.

When she had fully crossed the threshold, the door gently shut behind her, just as she had ordered her guard to do. Now they were alone in the room, and Celestia took the opportunity to study the creature before her.

He cut a slim figure. Whatever muscle he had seemed to be slight, though Celestia wasn’t particularly surprised by this. She wagered he was a mage, and what she had heard of his escape only corroborated this idea.

The muscle mass upon his form was not the part that had initially caught her eye, however. It was the number of scars that littered his skin. It was clear to the solar princess that this creature had seen his fair share of battle. If he turned hostile, he might be difficult to restrain before he did damage. Damage she would not like to see occur.

Her determination redoubled, she lifted her gaze to find that he had opened his eyes. He seemed to be observing her as much as she had observed him.

“I wish only to speak.” Celestia informed him in her most calming of voices. He did not seem to react further than narrowing his eyes slightly, but after a few moments he responded.

“I take it you are the head of this castle?” He asked in a level voice. She noticed his eyes flicking up to her hair before swiftly returning to her. She could see an understanding in his eyes, and it was then that she knew him as a mage. It was obscure knowledge that Celestia’s hair blew in a nonexistent wind for medical reasons.

She had far too much magical strength for her body to safely contain. As such, she expended the excess energies in a safe format. That being the ethereal wind her mane had been perpetually caught in. Such knowledge was only ever found by mages that had studied magic extensively.

“That I am.” She responded to his question with a nod. Stepping closer, she could see him tense up, seemingly prepared for an attack of some sort. Of course, Celestia would disappoint him as she had no intention of being the first to strike. “I am Princess Celestia.”

“Then perhaps you could inform me as to why I was held within a cell?” Celestia fought the frown that threatened to break her mask of calm. His failure to offer a name came off as obvious mistrust. A feeling she couldn’t fault him for harboring, based on his situation.

“There are many mysteries surrounding you and your arrival. I would be foolish to not take precautions in the case that you were a hostile entity.” Celestia informed him, trying her best to make her words as inoffensive as possible.

“A fair point.” He mumbled to himself, glancing towards the empty bookshelf. He had done so discreetly, but she had been playing this game for a long time. Following his short peek, she noticed magic sigils drawn in the dust, awaiting activation. He was clever, indeed.

“I believe I should state that I wish us to resolve this peacefully.” Celestia told him, now aware that there could very well be a number of traps within this room. She very much doubted they could do much harm to her, but they would give him time to escape and potentially hurt her subjects. A future she did not wish to incite.

“If that were so, then I would be more amicable to conversation with my belongings returned to me.” The pair faced each other in silence for a few moments more as Celestia weighed the pros and cons of the request. Eventually, she found herself acquiescing to his desire.

“Very well.” With a swift flash of her horn, a trunk appeared on the desk between them. The creature had become rigid when her horn lit up, but he made no aggressive action. She took this as a small sign of trust from him. The moment the chest appeared before him, he swiftly stood and opened it, inspecting the contents.

The creature spent the next ten minutes donning his gear. A shirt, pants, and a long white cloak were the first to come up. Next was a series of rings, which the creature placed on each of his slender fingers, amongst other things. The moment he placed the last item upon himself, the creature seemed to sag in relief. He calmly sat down in his chair once more, but Celestia noticed a slight upturn to his lips.

Celestia could tell that the creature was significantly more confident now that his belongings had been returned to him. To the point where he had extended a hand across the space between them. One that she reached a hoof out to meet before they shook.

“I am Aurick, Leader of Ragnarok, and advisor to King Jurda.” One of Celestia’s brows raised involuntarily as he introduced himself. She now sincerely hoped they would arrive at a peaceful conclusion based on his status. Of course, now this meant she had to treat him as a foreign diplomat.

She did not wish to start a war.

“I apologize for the misunderstanding that has happened today, Sir Aurick.” Celestia said, bowing her head slightly to show her honesty.

“There is no need for that.” He responded with a wave of his hand. “I can wager what my appearance was like. I can not fault you for looking after your subjects. And if you would, please drop the ‘sir’.”

“Of course. I believe there are many things we must discuss, but…” Celestia gestured around the dusty room. “We should take this elsewhere. Would you care to join me for dinner?” He opened his mouth to answer, but his own stomach decided to take the initiative.

“Perhaps food might be a good idea.”

~-~

Aurick stepped through the halls, adjusting the placement of his rings so that they sat just right upon his fingers. He was fairly surprised that this winged unicorn had returned his stuff to him. Certainly not so readily, at least.

He wouldn’t complain, however. He was protected by his enchantments once more. Should something go wrong, it wouldn’t be too difficult to make a hasty retreat. Of course, he would prefer these talks of peace to come to fruition. If his assumption turned out to be true, he would need to start making allies. Fast.

He doubted he had the means to travel back to his own plane. Not safely. This was the result of a spell gone out of hand. Recreating such a situation would be difficult, not to mention directing it towards his desired destination.

No. If his hunch was correct, and he wanted to go home, then he would need the help of powerful beings. Thankfully one such being seemed to be leading him through her castle’s halls.

“I must inform you that we will not be dining alone.” Celestia told him as they turned down a new hall. A seemingly innocuous set of double doors sat half way down, but the princess had angled herself for it.

“Who else would be joining us?” Aurick asked with a minor amount of suspicion. A voice in the back of his mind told him this could be a trap. That she had taken him to a more secluded part of the castle in order to recapture him. Another voice told him that she would have no reason to tell him of anyone else if that were the case. A point which the other voice conceded on.

“My sister shall be attending, as well as my student.” Celestia responded, nodding to herself as they neared the door.

“Very well.” Seemingly pleased with the answer, Celestia’s magic flared, opening the door before them and revealing a rather average looking dining room. It looked more like what you’d find in a servant’s quarters, but a bit more elegant. He merely assumed that the princess had grown bored of extravagant dining rooms and opted to have a more personal one built.

Sitting at the table where two more of these equine creatures, though one of them had garnered his attention first. It was another winged unicorn, coloured a dark blue. Her mane, similarly to Celestia’s, blew in an ethereal wind and seemed to display the image of the night sky. Though upon closer examination, he could see that it was animated, as a star shot through the view. She nursed a steaming brew of coffee in her magic, peering over it at their entrance. She didn’t look particularly pleased.

He could only assume this to be Celestia’s sister.

The other figure was much more mundane than the sisters. It was a unicorn, coloured purple. Her mane was mostly purple, but contained strips of lighter shades. It stared wide eyed at Aurick the moment it heard the door open and saw him enter.

It was clear to him that the look wasn’t one of fear, but of awe and curiosity. He anticipated many questions coming from it.

Celestia gestured to one of the chairs around the table. He was quick to seat himself, his fingers lacing between each other as he rested his elbows on the table. Celestia seated herself opposite him, leaving her sister on his right, and her student on the left.

“Aurick, this is my sister, Princess Luna.” She gestured towards the dark being, who nodded, her narrow gaze locked on his. “And this is my star pupil, Twilight.” The purple unicorn happily extended a hoof, which Aurick shook after a moment.

“As I have informed Princess Celestia, I am Aurick. Leader of the adventuring party Ragnarok, as well as advisor to King Jurda.” The information made Luna’s brow furrow, a result that he anticipated.

Under normal circumstances, he would not flaunt his titles so readily. However, in this situation, they were undoubtedly beneficial to him. As an advisor to the King, the princesses would more than likely start thinking of him as a foreign diplomat, meaning it would buy him plenty of time to work himself into their good graces.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of this… King Jurda.” Luna’s voice betrayed her suspicions of him, but it wasn’t outright hostile. It didn’t stop the slight frown from crossing his face. If the leader of a nation hadn’t heard of Jurda…

“Can I see a map of the known world?” The princess shared a glance before Celestia nodded. Her magic swift to summon a map in front of Aurick.

He took a moment to inspect it, searching for anything he could find familiar about it. As he did so, his face grew harder, his eyes narrowing and his brows furrowed in consternation. With a shaky breath he pushed the map away, his fears seemingly confirmed.

He was in another plane of existence. Alone. No companions. No allies. No way back with his own power.

He suddenly felt very small.

“Is everything okay?” He heard Celestia ask, a notable amount of concern was audible in her voice. He was quick to regain his composure, but it wasn’t a perfect facade. His lips were still curled downwards when he looked up at the princess.

“I am perfectly fine.” He knew it was a lie, and it seemed as though the princesses did too, as both of them shared a glance. The only one who seemed oblivious to this was Twilight, who had been silent this whole time.

“You don’t know where you are, do you?” Celestia asked, glancing down at the map. Aurick was notably displeased at having been called out so readily, but he knew it was a topic he would have to broach eventually. He simply wished to do so when he could be more assured of their disposition towards him.

“What do you know of interdimensional travel?” He asked with a sigh. It took them a moment, but a silence soon fell over the room.

“B-but that should be impossible!” Twilight finally spoke, and it seemed as though her voice had been building up, as she shouted quite loudly. Loudly enough that she had hopped to her hind hooves and placed her front ones on the table to support her. She quickly realized that she had an outburst, however, and sheepishly sat back down.

“Though not impossible, we find this highly improbable.” Luna spoke up, nodding to the red faced unicorn. “Such magics could only be cast by beings of immense power. You do not appear to be one such being.”

“No. No, I am not.” Aurick confirmed with a hard glare towards the lunar themed creature. “Though I have a number of reasons for this having happened all the same. I care not to explain them all, but the cause of which, I believe you will ask of anyways. It being the reason I’m here at all.”

Celestia and Luna nodded, while Twilight seemed to have summoned a notepad and looked ready to record all that he said. Under normal circumstances, he might have told her off, but he did not wish to whatever little favor he had with the princesses.

“I had been preparing a room for an intricate and powerful enchantment.” Aurick was not oblivious to the rising of Luna’s brow, nor the sparkles that shimmered in Twilight's eyes at the mention of enchanting. “The process had taken almost a year, but it was soon coming to fruition. The night I had likely appeared here, I was finalizing my work and enchanting the central spell focus. It was a long, drawn out process, as I had to connect the enchantment to various other minute enchantments that had been set up over the months.

“Everything was perfectly fine, however, one of my companions seemed to have forgotten the golden rule and interrupted me in the process. My focus lost, the magic became wild, drawing in all my magical energy and casting the teleportation spell I had been enchanting. With all the power placed in the enchantment network over the months, as well as my own reserves at that time. I believe there was enough power to force a tear in reality, sending me through to this plane of existence.” His recounting of events finished, Aurick clasped his hands together and awaited the creatures before him to soak in what he had said.

“So you claim that there was enough power within this failed enchantment to elevate it to a level that would normally be reserved for god-like beings?” Luna asked with no small amount of skepticism in her voice.

“That is precisely what I am claiming.” Aurick responded, meeting her gaze. She seemed to consider him for a moment before nodding.

“Sister, Twilight. I am not quite familiar with enchantment, myself. Do you know if what he claims is plausible?”

Twilight lightly tapped a hoof against her chin in thought before speaking. “I don’t know. The enchantment process was never well documented.”

“I am unsure as well.” Celestia spoke, her eyes on Aurick, but sparing a glance towards her sister. “Enchanting is a rather rare talent, and those that laid claim to it were rare to write their discoveries. It is sadly one of the most unknown methods of magic.”

“I see a thousand years has not remedied that.” Luna mumbled to herself, but it was just loud enough for Aurick to pick up. He had to restrain a look of surprise on his face as he heard it, however. A thousand years was a long time. How old were these creatures?

“I see no reason for him to lie about this.” Celestia told her sister, who seemed to think on this for a few moments before nodding.

“Yes, it is a rather far fetched claim to use as a lie, as well.” Luna muttered before returning her gaze to Aurick. “Very well, we shall believe that you hail from a separate dimension. This does not bode well for you, however.” Aurick couldn’t help his eyes narrowing in suspicion at her words.

“Why would that be?” His voice was cautious, as though he were speaking to a tiger ready to pounce.

“You wish to go home, yes?” Aurick responded with a nod.

“I’m sorry to say that it is not a possibility at the moment.” Celestia informed him with a sympathetic sigh. “The only being strong enough for such a thing is creature of chaos. He has been trapped in stone for many years, and he shall not be freed.”

“So… what you’re saying is…”

“I’m sorry. You are stuck here.” Silence fell over them all. Long and awkward it was, as Aurick let this new information sink in.

He had accepted the fact that he was in another plane of existence. Accepted that he would be spending time here. However, that was with the assumption that he would be able to return home. That he would be able to gain the favor of some entity that could send him back.

Now… now he felt hollow. His eyes stared blankly into the table as he thought of all this meant. He would never be able to see his companions again. Never speak to his family again. All the people he knew, stricken from the life.

Leaving him all alone.

It seemed the servants decided this was a fine time to deliver food, as the entrance opened and a cart rolled in. To be fair to them, they gave an excellent service. The trays were set before them with speed and finesse, resulting in the servants departure in a mere ten seconds.

“So, uh… y-you’re an enchanter?” Twilight asked, finally breaking the silence that had grown so dense between them.

“Huh?” Luckily for her, it was enough to pull Aurick out of his own thoughts for a moment. Just long enough for him to realize what kind of situation he was in. Taking a quick breath, Aurick tried his best to regain his composure. Now was not the time to have a mental breakdown.

“You know how to enchant?” Twilight repeated the question, slightly more confident now as she lifted a fork and stabbed it into one of the many vegetables on her plate.

“Oh, yes. It’s my specialty.” Aurick replied, happy to speak of something other than the fact he would never see anyone he knew ever again.

“I hope you don’t mind me saying so,” Celestia interjected, “but I believe such a specialty will assist you very much here.”

“Right, you said it was a rare talent, yes?” Celestia confirmed his question with a nod.

“Yes, and as far as I am aware, this makes you the only enchanter in the known world.” Aurick’s eyes widened considerably. “I’m willing to bet you can imagine the market for your talent.”

“In fact,” Luna started, the workings of a smirk upon her face, “there’s a position open in the castle for-”

“No.” Aurick cut her off before she could finish the offer, leaving her flabbergasted. “I’m sorry, but I will not work under another crown.”

Luna looked as though she would respond, but Celestia beat her to the punch. “That’s perfectly understandable, Aurick. We would not ask you to betray your loyalty to your king.” She told him, a meaningful glance being thrown at Luna.

“Yes,” the lunar themed mare said with a bit of annoyance, “I apologize for speaking poorly.” Aurick merely nodded as he finally took a look down at his food.

He blinked in surprise when he found a large serving of meat upon his platter. Of course, that wasn’t the only thing on there, but it was certainly the most surprising. He opened his mouth to ask about it, but Celestia was quicker.

“We have meat in storage to appease our more carnivorous guests.” Celestia explained, and Aurick remembered seeing a Gryphon Empire on that map he saw.

“How did you know I ate meat?” He asked in the stead of his previous question.

“When you emerged on the other end of that spell, you were injured.” Luna was the one to respond this time. “We healed you, and during the process, we took note of your canines.” Satisfied with the answer, Aurick speared a chunk of meat with his fork and brought it to his mouth.

The moment it touched his tongue, flavour seemed to explode in his mouth. Despite the news he had received minutes prior, he couldn’t help but smile. It was the juiciest piece of meat he had ever consumed. He wasted no time in tearing into the feast on the platter before him, his stomach making its hunger known to him once more.

The rest of the group seemed to take his example, as conversation halted as they all stuffed themselves. Of course, that didn’t stop a couple brief instances of talk being had. Primarily between the three mare.

Eventually, his platter was cleared, and the elf patted his belly in satisfaction.

“I take it the food was to your liking?” Celestia asked with a knowing smile.

“Hmm.” Aurick hummed positively.

“I hate to break the peace,” Luna cut in, earning Aurick’s attention, “but what do you plan to do now?”

He blinked at her for a moment before leaning his head back and looking towards the ceiling as he thought of that. He didn’t particularly know what he would do, but he knew he had to think of something.

“I guess I’ll just go somewhere nice and set up shop.” He replied noncommittally, only to hear a gasp from his left.

“What about Ponyville?” Twilight asked, excitement clear in her voice. He couldn’t help but scoff at the name, but shrugged all the same.

“I take it that’s your place of residence?” His question was quickly answered by a nod and wide smile. “Very well, I will defer to your judgement on locals.”

“I would recommend you be wary of the Everfree if you do go there.” Celestia warned. “It’s a dangerous place, where the magic runs free and monsters are in abundance.”

“Certainly sounds interesting. Tell me, would I be paid if I were to clear out some of these creatures?” Celestia and Luna shared a look before he received a nod from both.

“Contracts are put out by the mayor.” Luna responded. “Another means of income should you believe yourself capable.”

“Though we would recommend learning more of these monsters before you so readily accept such dangerous missions.” Celestia chimed in.

“Oh! You can probably find a codex in the archives!” Twilight happily exclaimed. “I could show you if you like.”

“I believe I shall take you up on that offer.” Aurick nodded with a small smile.

“A swell idea.” Celestia commented, a smile of her own upon her muzzle. “However, I am afraid me and Luna must depart.”

“Indeed, duty calls us.” Luna confirmed as the pair of them stood from their seats.

“Twilight, please bring Aurick to one of the guest rooms when you are finished tonight.” The purple unicorn nodded in understanding. “Have a good evening, Aurick.” Having said all they wished to say, the pair stepped away from the table and exited the dining room.

“So… would you like to go to the archives?” Twilight asked after a few moments of silence.

“Yes… There are likely many things I must learn there.” Aurick nodded, standing up from his own chair. Moments later, they had left the dining room behind in their journey towards the archives.