With a final push, the stone dislodged. The sudden shifting of weight caused Agni to stumble forward, allowing the group behind her to see over her shoulders. Aurick was prepared to send his small orb of light into the new opening, but paused as he realised that there was some luminescence in the cave ahead. It was difficult to find out the source from where he stood. He pushed forward into the opening, coming to stand beside Agni as he stared in wide eyed wonder.
The cave was filled with massive bioluminescent plant life. Towering mushrooms grew above them, glowing in purples and blues and greens. Ferns and trees were of similar stature and glowed their own. Lichen covered the walls, coloured in hues he couldn’t begin to describe.
As he stared, a small butterfly flew past him, glowing the same as its surroundings. As the rest of the group filed out behind him, he could hear Fu ‘Ran give out a shrill whistle.
“Wow…” He heard Runa mutter in awe.
“Wonder how much we could sell some of this for.” Fu ‘Ran wondered, earning a firm smack from Agni.
“We don’t know if this shit is poisonous or not.” She reminded him. “We need to be careful.” With a sigh, she turned her attention towards Aurick, an armoured hand landing on his shoulder. “What are you thinking?”
He turned to her with a smirk. “I think we found the right place. I want you to reseal the entrance, make sure he doesn’t get out.” She nodded and he turned to Fu ‘Ran. “Mark it and keep track of the path we take. I don’t want to get lost in here.” The pair gave him salutes and began going about their orders. “Runa.” He turned to the small woman. “See if you can’t find anything out about these plants. Whiskey…” He turned to the last member of the party, who was too busy drinking to have paid attention to his surroundings. The man only acknowledged Aurick by shifting an eye to look in his general direction. “Just… keep an eye out.” The man simply grinned at his leader, making the elf sigh.
Turning around he watched as his group went about their business. Glancing back out over the bioluminescent forest, he smiled. The mission was a simple one. Some guy that pissed off King Jurda was supposedly hiding out in this place, and Ragnarok was meant to capture him. Not their usual style, but it paid well, so who was he to complain. Looking down, he saw that Runa was kneeling next to some of the smaller plants, her herbalism kit out as she tested the fauna.
He was really hoping that the plants weren’t poisonous, as Agni had suggested. It would have made traversing the cave all that much harder. As he watched her, something strange happened. She froze. Blinking, he looked at the rest of his team to find that they were in the same state. Panic threatened to grasp at his heart, but recognition was quick to remove it.
This was a dream. That meant…
Turning back towards the entrance that Agni hadn’t yet blocked, he could see Luna emerge. She smiled at him, then noticed their surroundings. She was caught by the same awe that had taken him when he entered, and she did not return her gaze to him for a short while as she stared at the sights. When she did return her gaze to Aurick’s, he saw wonder fill her eyes and a brighter smile on her face.
“I must say, I’m surprised to have found myself in such a nice scene.” She told him, making him raise a brow. A hand raised to his chest in mock offense as he scoffed.
“What? Are my dreams not good enough for you?” He asked earning a snort in return.
“You know what I mean. The fight with the dragon. That Demigod. A number of your dreams are not as colourful as this one.” She told him, earning a shrug in response.
“Maybe I’m just in a good mood. This was one of our better missions. Though I doubt you’re here to hear an old man ramble about the good ‘ol days.” Since it was still his dream, he was capable of summoning a pair of armchairs for the two of them. An offering that the lunar diarch was quick to take him up on.
“Actually, that’s not too far off from the truth.” Aurick raised a brow. “Though we may keep in touch, my sister has grown curious of how you have fared this past month and a half. She would also like to meet Ashwyn if she is okay with that.” Aurick shrugged.
“I don’t see why she wouldn’t be, seeing as you got rid of that mental conditioning she had.” He told her.
“I would assume so as well, either way, it would be best to alert her to my sisters wishes.” Aurick nodded, earning a smile in response. “As it is, Celestia wishes to join you for dinner tomorrow. I would also like to attend, if you’d have us.”
“Sure, though I doubt I can cook as well as your chefs.” He warned her.
“That is hardly a comparison, Aurick.” She smirked at him, before her gaze fell to one of his old companions. The smile fell as she turned back to him. “Aurick… I wish to let you know that if you ever need to talk, I am willing to listen.” Aurick’s own smile fell, though it still had a slight presence on his face.
“Thanks, Luna, but I think I’m good. I think I’ve found something to help me get over it.” Luna did not counter his claim, but simply nodded her head in understanding.
“Very well. Just be aware that I am always available.” She reaffirmed with a gentle smile. A moment of silence passed between the two before Luna decided to break it. “I believe I shall take my leave. Equestria may rest, but I have only just begun.” She stood from the armchair and gave Aurick a nod. “We shall see you at dinner then?”
“Dinner.” He confirmed, giving her a friendly smile and a wave goodbye. She departed the same way she came, leaving him alone once again. A small frown came across his face. He stared out at his old friends, still frozen in their work. A decision was made, and the images faded away. The surroundings were replaced by a familiar living room, with a familiar mare in his lap.
A smile touched his lips as he let out a content sigh and closed his eyes.
~-~
Aurick opened his eyes as he felt something poke him in the side. Looking down, he saw Ashwyn looking up at him with a concerned look.
“Are okay?” She asked with a small frown. He smiled and ruffled her mane.
“Yeah, I’m good. Work’s just tiring at times.” He told her.
“Take day off.” She told him firmly.
“Your, probably right. I haven't even made a solid schedule yet.” He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “A problem for another day. For now, we need to go shopping.” He wasn’t oblivious to the small frown that Ashwyn gave him. He knew she didn’t like going out, but she never let him go anywhere without her in recent days. Probably something with him being the Alpha.
Wait, with them being a couple now, does that make her the Beta? He didn’t know wolves well enough to say, so he simply ignored it.
“Why go? Have food.” She paused for a moment to think. “Need clothes?” He frowned and looked down at the clothing he had on.
“Now that I think about it, yes, but that wasn’t what I was going out for.” He told her, making a mental note to hire Rarity for a couple more sets of clothes. It was getting annoying to constantly wash the same couple sets. “The princesses have decided to visit for dinner, so I need to make something they can eat.” Ashwyn’s eyes widened at that.
“Princess come!?” Aurick frowned.
“Yeah. I thought we got you over that…” She furiously shook her head.
“Not scared, but… never dinner with princess! Why no tell!?” Her gaze turned accusatory, and he was quick to throw up his hands.
“It slipped my mind.” He told her. “I don’t think straight in the morning, and I was busy with work.” She wasn’t pleased with the explanation, but she accepted it. The frown remained on her face though.
“Try warn next time.” She told him, her hard gaze held his until he relented.
“I’ll try, but I make no promises.” Once again, she wasn’t pleased, but had accepted it. She moved and allowed Aurick to stand up from the couch, a small sigh escaping him as he did so. “C’mon. Let’s get this over with and I’ll make you some bacon to make up for it.” He was afraid she was going to get whiplash from how fast her head turned towards him. Her eyes were wide in excitement. All annoyance at his failure was gone, replaced with pure desire.
A smirk played across his face as he led her out of the house.
~-~
A knock from the door made Ashwyn look up from her place on the couch. A small frown crossed her face as she peered at the entrance. She knew who was on the other side. She may no longer have the fear implanted into her by him anymore, but she still was part pony. A pony doesn’t just casually have dinner with her princesses.
“Hey, Ash. Can you get that?” She heard the Alpha call out from the kitchen. He was still preparing dinner, so he was unable to get it. In fact, she might have to entertain them for some time before he finishes. A prospect that did not help the anxious feeling in her chest.
Sure, she had talked with Princess Luna before, but it wasn’t as a house guest. She was there to complete a task, made an offering to help, and left. Now she was going to have dinner with not only Princess Luna, but Princess Celestia as well.
Swallowing a lump in her throat, she hopped off the couch. The Alpha would not be amused if she decided not to answer the door. So despite her misgivings, she made her way over. With a deep breath she turned the knob and opened the door.
On the other side were the two ponies she had been expecting. Princess Luna was just as she remembered her. Dark and regal. A professional look in her eye, with a trace of warmth. Princess Celestia was the opposite. She stood tall, seemingly as tall as the Alpha, elegance and grace seemingly exuding from her. Her eyes were full of warmth, and a small, friendly smile on her lips told Ashwyn nothing but good things. The mutated mare bowed awkwardly at them, earning a small frown from the Lunar Diarch.
“There is no need for bowing.” Princess Celestia told her in a motherly voice. A hoof reached down to lift her head up. “May we come in?” Ashwyn didn’t trust her words, so she decided to nod instead. As she stepped aside to allow the pair in, she noticed a pair of guards behind them. They were starting to take up positions on either side of the door. A spike of distrust ran through her, but she quelled it down after a moment. If the Princesses wished to do something to her or the Alpha, they would not need the assistance of the guard.
“I wonder what he’s making.” Princess Luna commented, sniffing the air.
“I’m making pasta.” The Alpha called out from the kitchen. The Princess blinked for a moment before raising a brow.
“Pasta?”
“I told you I can’t cook as good as your chefs, Lulu.” The Alpha answered. “I’m used to making food in the middle of travel. I don’t know a lot of recipes.”
“I’m gonna have to send someone down here to teach you then.” Princess Luna replied with a smirk as she made her way towards the kitchen. Princess Celestia smiled and shook her head before looking down at Ashwyn.
“I presume he’s still cooking then?” She asked her, earning a nod in response. “Well then, let’s go to the living room. We can talk until it’s done.” It sounded perfectly pleasant, but the idea gave Ashwyn pause. What was she going to talk about with the Princess? Not to mention her speech was still disjointed. Sighing internally, she knew there would be no getting out of this. She’d just have to deal with it. Sitting back down on the couch, she found herself under Princess Celestia’s gaze.
“I understand this must be rather strange for you,” she started out, “but please, don’t be afraid to speak your mind. I am merely a house guest. Nothing more.” Ashwyn swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded.
“Is… weird.” She said after a moment.
“Plenty of things in this world are weird, but that does not mean we must be afraid of them.” Ashwyn looked up at the tall mare, earning a friendly smile. “I trust you have been well? I haven’t been as close to the situation as my sister, but she has kept me updated.”
“Am fine… Stay here is… nice.” She responded slowly. She still felt strange talking to the Princess so casually, but her words and demeanor helped Ashwyn control her anxiety.
“I would hope so.” The Princess glanced towards the kitchen for a moment before returning her gaze to the mare before her. “Has Aurick been treating you well?” Ashwyn blinked in confusion for a moment.
“Aur- Oh, Alpha.” The Princess raised a brow at the term, but said nothing. A faint smile traced Ashwyn’s lips as the conversation turned in the direction of the Alpha. “Alpha is nice. He safe. I trust.” The faintest hints of red could be seen on her cheeks as she thought of a couple other things she could have said. They were not proper to say in front of a Princess, however, so she held her tongue.
“That is good to hear.” The Princess smiled and reclined into her seat. The pair trailed off into silence for a few moments. Just long enough for Princess Luna to return from the kitchen.
“Aurick has stated that he is almost complete with the food.” She informed them as she took a seat on the couch. “What have I missed?”
“Just some pleasantries, sister.” Princess Celestia replied.
“Indeed. I pray there are no more issues with your mind, Ashwyn?” The lunar Princess asked.
“Is good. Only issue still hard talk.” She gave a sigh before letting out a small smile. “Is maybe get better though. Make full sentence other day.”
“Then we can hope that it is an issue that fades with time.” The Princess responded.
“Has it made making friends hard?” Princess Celestia was the one to ask that one, and Ashwyn subconsciously shrunk a bit.
“No make friends.” She said in a quieter tone. “No like pony. Only like Alpha.” The sisters shared a glance before the white alicorn spoke once more.
“Is there truly no one you like other than him?” She was looking at her with a small amount of concern on her face. Princess Luna held a passive gaze.
“Maybe purple?” She offered. “Twilight. She… not annoy.” Princess Celestia closed her eyes for a moment before smiling.
“I guess that’s a start.” She said, more to herself than to Ashwyn. “It is not my place to tell you to make friends, but I believe you will like it more than you’d think.” Ashwyn frowned and looked down at her paws.
“I… try.” She was startled when she felt a hoof rest on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw that Princess Luna was the culprit.
“I understand that it might not seem to be the greatest of ideas, but I can say that from personal experience, it is worth the effort.” Ashwyn merely nodded in response. They devolved into silence once more, this time only broken when the Alpha alerted them that dinner was finished.
~-~
Aurick was quick to dish out servings. Sadly, they had found out Ashwyn was a pure carnivore, not counting gemstones, when he had tried to make something with vegetables for her. She could eat a bit, but they did nothing for her and upset her stomach. So instead, he had to cook up some meat for her. Of course, Aurick wasn’t one to be left out, and made some for himself to go alongside his pasta. If the princesses thought this strange, they didn’t comment on it. Luna was the first to test the pasta, a slight frown crossing her face as she did so.
“It is better than anticipated.” She admitted, causing her sister to follow her actions.
“Indeed.” The solar diarch commented. “There is some flavour that I can’t seem to identify. What might that be?”
“I don’t exactly remember what it was called, but Spike recommended it to me. I thought I might as well try it.” He told them, eating some himself. He made a mental note to ask Spike for more recommendations.
“Ah, Spike was always a bit of a chef.” Celestia smiled warmly as she continued to eat. “I take it business has been going well?” The question made Aurick snort.
“Is that even a question? I haven’t had a day off since I opened shop.” Luna raised a brow. “I’m practically swimming in bits at this point.”
“Why have you not taken time off?” She looked at him with an accusatory gaze. She was probably thinking that he was absorbing himself in work to forget his issues. Rolling his eyes, the elf just waved her off.
“I just hadn’t thought to actually make business hours. This is still the first time I’ve done this.” He told them. “I’ll get to it eventually.”
“Please do so.” Celestia chimed in. “Take it from us. Working every day can be rather draining.” Aurick just nodded before a smirk came across his face.
“I see how it is. You really came here to get away from work.” He told them as though it were fact. “Don’t worry, my dears. I won’t tell a soul.”
“Of course. Did you think we cared of your well being?” Luna asked him, a smirk of her own playing across her face. The two looked at each other before snorting in unison. Celestia merely shook her head at the antics, and Ashwyn continued to eat in silence.
“That being said, how have you been?” Celestia said after a couple moments. “I doubt the transition has been easy.”
Aurick shrugged at her before glancing at Ashwyn. “It’s been a bit easier than I expected. I was mostly trying to deal with her,” he pointed at the mutated mare with a fork, “so I wasn’t thinking about it too much.” He paused for a moment, his gaze moving to Ashwyn once more. “By the way… have you gotten any new info out of him?” The question was directed at Luna, who looked confused for a short time before realization dawned upon her.
“Sadly not. He seems as steadfast as ever.” The lunar diarch told him, a genuine look of disappointment appearing on her face. The response made Aurick frown. Just what the hell were these ponies doing? Were they even torturing him? Glancing at Celestia, he already knew the answer. He highly doubted she would condone such a thing. Sighing, he wished he’d be given a chance to go at the bastard. He doubted that was an option though. He might be liked by the royal sisters, but that didn’t give him clearance to insert himself into this.
“Well... “ He sighed. “Let me know if anything changes on that front.”
“Of course.” Luna replied with a nod and a glance towards Ashwyn. The mare wasn’t oblivious to the looks she was getting, a small frown coming onto her face. She didn’t say anything, however. Dinner continued on in a better mood, as the four started talking about less concrete topics. Ashwyn even chimed in every now and then.
Sadly, like with all things, it eventually had to come to an end. The dishes were in the sink, and the four had sat in the living room to finish the conversation they were having. That conversation ground to a halt when they noticed Ashwyn rest her head in Aurick’s lap. Smiles spread across the princesses faces, though Luna’s was more suggestive than her sister’s.
“It would appear you have become rather close, have you not?” The blue alicorn asked, her eyes filled with mirth. The mare’s words were enough to make Ashwyn blush, and she proceeded to look away from the sisters. Aurick was unfazed, and merely shared a playful smirk with Luna.
“I guess you could say that.” He could see Celestia’s brow raise, but Luna’s smile only grew in size.
“Well then, I believe me and my sister should take our leave then.” Celestia blinked for a moment, her gaze shifting between Aurick and her sister, before she wordlessly stood up. “Farewell, Aurick.”
“Bye, ladies.” And with that, the diarchs left his home, leaving him with a blushing Ashwyn in his lap. With a smile, he began to run a hand through her hair.