Enchanted

by The Whiskey Spirit


Ch 26: Baby Steps

Ashwyn gently placed a paw on the floor. The feeling had become unfamiliar over the last week, as she hardly moved from the bed. The Alpha was standing next to her, having told her that he would stop her from falling.

Over the course of the week, she had regained some of her strength, though the lack of walking had wasn’t a good thing. She was glad that he had brought it up, as if they had waited another week or two, her muscles might have started to atrophy. As she fully descended from the bed, she stumbled. The Alpha held true to his word and caught her, a steady hand holding her upright.

She looked at him and nodded. Over the course of the week, she had come to find him as someone she could trust. He had done nothing even remotely like him. In fact, aside from being obviously annoyed with some of the things she did, he had only been kind to her. She still couldn’t tell his true feelings on the matter, but one thing was certain. He was trying to help her. Whether he truly cared about her or not was to be seen. Not that it mattered, because as soon as she was capable, she would take him down and she would become the Alpha.

She took a tentative step forward, the process feeling familiar yet strange after the long time. Though she stumbled once more, she was able to catch herself without the assistance of the Alpha. A couple more steps brought the back her confidence and before long she was running to the other side of the room. Of course, this didn’t go as planned.

She tripped over her own paws and planted her face into the carpeted floor. She continued to slide forwards a couple inches before her hind legs hit the carpet as wall. Before she could even do anything, she was picked up and made to face the Alpha. He grabbed her by the chin and examined her face. After a moment, he seemed pleased and released her.

“Take it slow.” He told her. “You’ve been in bed for a week, you can’t run around like you used to right away.” He scratched at his beard as the mare frowned at him. She nodded all the same. What he said was true. She was regaining her strength, but the week of starvation had taken its toll, and the following week in bed hadn’t helped matters.

Again, she stood on her own paws and started walking. This time with a considerably slower pace.

~-~

Ashwyn regretted starting to walk again. As far as the Alpha was concerned, if she could walk, she could help. So it was with great effort that she didn’t start digging in his throat to tear out his voice box when he told her to fetch him another gem. She didn’t even understand what he was using these gems for.

When she had asked him about it, he started talking about magic in a way that she couldn’t understand. Not wanting to appear stupid, she simply nodded and continued on, despite her ignorance. The best she could understand, he needed them to make an item like magic.

Apparently that was what he did with the scarf he had given her. On each end was a yellow gemstone that encompassed the ends of it. She had tried to nibble on them before, but it felt like chewing on an electrical wire, so she hadn’t eaten them. If she was right and they were the only things keeping her warm, she would never do so again.

“There we go.” He smiled as he held up a kitchen knife. She blinked at it for a moment before tilting her head. The more she learned about the Alpha the more confused she got. What happened to the terrifying mage that had forced her to help search for some missing foals? Why had he been replaced by… this?

Sure, she could certainly see that side come out of him every now and then. Especially when she had clawed him, but not once had he cast a spell on her. Everytime he would scowl at her, but would end off with nothing more than a sigh before he healed himself. She didn’t know what to make of it. She would have thought he’d have been tired of her after she ruined that bed. She was sure he would have just tossed her out the moment she did anything else to irritate him.

Yet, despite that, he had been nothing but patient. He had tried to comfort her when her mind would get the best of her, and he made sure she was comfortable. She placed a paw on the scarf that remained around her neck. After he had given it to her, he had been dealing with the cold. It was only recently that he got something else that would keep him warm.

A sudden snap brought her out of her thoughts, and she found the subject of them to be staring her in the face. “You okay?” He asked with a raised brow. She closed her eyes for a moment and nodded. He smiled in response. She had grown to enjoy that smile, though it was rarely directed at her. “Good. How’s food sound?” Her ears perked at the question.

“Bacon?” She asked, hope filling her chest as she looked up at the Alpha.

“Alright, but not too much. It’s too greasy to eat every day.” He warned the mare as the pair made their way up the stairs.

~-~

So evidently she could still write.

The Alpha had visitors. A lot of them, and he asked her if she wanted to help or go back upstairs. She decided to help, hoping to ingratiate herself to the Alpha in the process. Sadly the work was boring and mildly irritating.

The ponies had come to hire the Alpha to do what he had been doing in the basement, but for them. She was simply to sit there and record who requested what, and what they owed him. It was a simple task. One that she’d have no problem completing. That is, if the ponies didn’t seem to be terrified of her.

They had given her strange looks because of her paws when they had entered, but that was understandable. A pony with paws would be strange. They became scared, however, when she took the pen in her mouth. Her sharp teeth were clearly visible, and the moment they saw them, they gave her a wide berth. It didn’t help that she snapped a pen in half at one point due to the irritation.

It eventually got to the point where the Alpha spoke up. “Look, guys.” He started calmly. “Yes, she looks different, but if I don't scare you, then she shouldn’t. At least she’s a pony…” He paused before mumbling, “mostly.” Of course he had to ruin it. Despite it, his words seemed to work. The ponies thoughtfully looked at her, and, while not approaching her, didn’t look as scared as before.

She briefly wondered if the Alpha would let her go back to the room. The staring was making her skin crawl.