Enchanted

by The Whiskey Spirit


Ch 43: Royal Rumble

“How’d you get?” Ashwyn asked, the smile still present on her face as she sat down in the familiar chair. The drawers were still full of everything they had before she was taken. Forgotten drafts and in progress books filling the space.

“It helps to be friends with a Princess.” The Alpha said with a smile. He peeked over her shoulder and into the drawer she had opened. On instinct, Ashwyn slammed it shut, her face earning a faint tinge of red as she did so. The Alpha’s brow slowly raised, and the mare had to suppress a sigh at her own actions.

“Sorry.” She apologized quickly, opening the drawer once more. “No like people seeing unfinished work.” He placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled.

“I can understand that... but now you’ve got me curious about what’s hiding in here.” He eyed the drawer as though it were a juicy piece of meat. Inkheart’s old mentality still told her that it was a bad idea, but Ashwyn wanted the Alpha to be able to read her work. A single exception to the rule couldn’t hurt.

Glancing back at the Alpha, she began to sift through the bound stacks of paper within. Her smile grew more nostalgic as she saw each title upon each stack. Each one bringing back memories and reminding her of all the plans she had made for each of them.

The romantic lead’s tragic death in the Chronicles of Graybeard. The main twist of Tracking Field. Even the complex plotlines of Loyalty Fractured were easily returned to her mind. Each of them were moved to the side until she found exactly what she was looking for.

A book that she had given up on after doing some research and finding herself having a hard time understanding the ideas behind the main character’s power. A book that she felt the Alpha would get a kick out of.

A book that had the working title of Enchanted.

The Alpha couldn’t hide his smirk when she handed it to him. “Oh?”

“Was interested before Alpha, but… is complicated.” She admitted. “Not best work.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” The Alpha stated as he flipped through the pages.

“But you no have frame of reference. Not read other books.” She said with a slight frown.

“Are you sure about that? We go to a library fairly frequently. It wasn’t too hard to find one of yours.” Within that instant her cheeks grew hot. How could she not have noticed him reading one of her books? When did he even do it? Perhaps it was when she would talk to Twilight about hers? Or was she just that oblivious?

“Did you like?” She asked hesitantly. She was unsure of whether she wanted to know the answer or not, but the Alpha responded before she could truly start to question herself.

“It was great.” He said, a warm smile on his face as he ruffled her mane.

“Hey! Just got done.” She complained, but made no motion to remove his hand. His reaction was to surprise her with a kiss on the cheek.

“And I just got a new book to read.” He returned, a smirk on his face.

“Is not related!” Despite her complaints, she had a smirk of her own.

~-~

A couple days had passed since Ashwyn had gone to the spa, and though the appearance she bore had faded after that night, her spirits still seemed to be high. Aurick couldn’t help but share in the mare’s joy, finding her smile to be infectious.

The fact that she now had her old writing desk simply amplified that existing happiness she so readily displayed. That first day was filled with her sorting through everything she had in there while he read what she had written in that unfinished book she had given him.

He was still reading through it on the couch, with Ashwyn resting in his lap, a content smile on her face. It was peaceful, and Aurick couldn’t think of anything that could possibly ruin such a wonderful experience. So of course something did.

Bang bang bang

The loud noise came from the door, startling, not only Ashwyn, but Aurick as well. Within an instant, the elf had made his way to the door. Part of his focus was shifted to a ring on his hand as he opened the door.

What he found was not what he expected, to say the least.

Luna was the one who stood on the other side. A look of panic was clear on her face, even as she lifted her hoof to knock again.

“Aurick!” She practically screamed when she saw him. “I request asylum! Please!” The elf in question merely blinked at her, and he could practically feel Ashwyn’s brow raise from where he stood.

“Uh… Sure?” He blinked and then Luna was inside, the door was closed and in the process of being locked. “The fuck is happening?” He finally asked Luna, who seemed to have gone senile.

“She’s coming!” The mare responded unhelpfully.

“And she is…?” He gestured for her to continue, but before she could, a new voice came from the other side of the door.

Luna!” The voice shouted with enough force to shake the door in its frame. Then it shook from the violent beating it took from a hoof on the other side. With a sigh, Aurick made to open it, knowing exactly who that voice belonged to. Luna, however, made this a difficult venture.

“Don’t open it. She will kill us all!” The alicorn blocked his path with her body. An act that resulted in him simply placing a hand on her face and pushing her aside.

It took a moment to undo the locks, but eventually the door was opened to reveal Celestia. A very angry looking Celestia. With green hair.

“I would not recommend protecting her.” She told him in a far more level tone.

“Lemme guess.” He pointed towards her mane. He was responded by a curt nod. Glancing back at the lunar princess, he couldn’t help but smirk. “Don’t break anything.” He said as he stepped aside.

Luna’s eyes widened as she saw this, going even wider when she saw the wicked grin her sister had. “Traitor!” She cried as she tried to fly away. Sadly it was a fruitless endeavor, as Celestia was prepared for such an outcome.

“Accept your fate!”

~-~

“This is pretty good.” Luna stated, taking another bite of the meal he had prepared.

“Indeed. A rather unique taste.” Celestia nodded as she did the same. Both Aurick and Ashwyn were giving the sisters deadpan looks. As well as their matching green hair.

At least they didn’t break anything.

“Does this happen often?” Aurick asked, earning the attention of the pair of alicorns.

“She typically doesn’t seek asylum from people.” Celestia told him with a smirk. “But aside from that. Yes.” The elf had to suppress a sigh at that.

“I’d rather not be your neutral zone.” He told them.

“And here I thought we were friends.” Luna whined in a playful manner. A fake pout crossing her face.

“I will have my guards toss you out.” He informed her. That got both of them to raise a brow.

“You have guards?” Celestia asked, her eyes peering around the room as though they would materialize out of thin air.

“It’s a work in progress.”

“Walking gryphon armour.” Ashwyn told them. Luna instantly locked eyes with him. Aurick already knew what she was going to ask.

“They’re a lot harder to make than the armour you ordered, and they don’t have any extra enchantments aside from automation. They also have a limited intelligence, needing to either be directly controlled by me, or run on set instructions.” She nodded in response.

“If this was a possibility, why did you not say so?” She asked, this time voicing it with a raised brow.

“You didn’t ask.” The simple response made her stare at him blankly for a moment. “There are many things I can make to help you in your efforts, but a large number of them are only useful for specific situations. These armours are best for defending a single location. Not for scouring the streets in search of crime.” He told her. “If I don’t know what you need my services for, I can’t suggest anything.”

“I… guess that’s fair.” Luna admitted, a slight frown on her face.

“Indeed it is.” Celestia smirked and lightly hit her sister in the shoulder, before turning towards Ashwyn. “Twilight tells me that you’ve been helping her with her writing.”

“Yes?” The mare was clearly a little off put at being addressed directly like that. Failing to hold Celestia’s gaze. “Technical is good, but… is bad at places.”

“Indeed. I’ve read a couple of her attempts when she was younger, but she quit before she could truly get anywhere with them.” Ashwyn nodded, a small smile on her face.

“Is hard to continue when looks bad every time. She need to keep going if she get better.” Ashwyn stated, holding Celestia’s gaze for a brief moment before averting her eyes once more.

“As it is with most things.” The solar mare responded, nodding in agreement.