• Published 30th Nov 2018
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Enchanted - The Whiskey Spirit



An elven mage is shot into Equestria when one of his projects goes wrong. Now this adventurer is opening up an enchanting business. Surely, this could only lead to a normal, stress free life. Right?

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Ch 18: Let It Snow

After bringing Zecora, and half her home, to Twilight, she made a large space in the basement/lab for Zecora’s stuff. The zebra wasn’t too happy during the process, but decided she’d make the best of it.

“I will catch up with some friends that are just around the bend.” As she claimed. At least he wouldn’t have to hear the complaints of the sudden relocation. He briefly felt a pang of sympathy for the purple mare, but quickly remembered she brought this upon herself.

Before he left, she was kind enough to tell him that Celestia had gotten back to her, and that there was a gryphon company that could make the shipments. Celestia had evidently mentioned that she would send a letter personally, as it would arrive faster than through normal means. He would need to be ready to receive and store the shipment within the next two days. He would also need to have the money to pay them. Of course, that was no problem and he told Twilight to pass along his gratitude to the diarch before returning home. Along the way he saw Fluttershy crossing the street.

As well as a small horde of animals. Including a bear.

Aurick couldn’t help but stare at them as they passed, his mouth hanging open. Someone closed it for him, and when he turned to look, he only caught the faint hint of pink around the corner. Deciding that he had enough strange occurrences for one day, he hurried home and went down to his basement. He still had to work on that armour after all.

~-~

Aurick awoke the next morning to a knock on his door. With a small groan he got out of bed and grabbed his cloak and scarf before descending to the ground floor. Upon opening the door, he looked down to find a rainbow staring back at him. No, that was a pony.

“Wow, Aurick. You look like shit.” At least she was honest.

“Sorry that I’m not an adorable horse like you, Rainbow.” He replied flatly, making the cyan mare blush slightly.

“That’s the wrong A word, bud, but I’ll let it slide this time.” She smirked and lightly punched him in the leg. “Anyway’s, I just came by to warn ya about the weather, seeing as you probably haven’t seen the weather report yet.”

“You guys can predict the weather?” He asked incredulously.

“Predict it? We control it!” She puffed out her chest as Aruick raised a brow. If that was the case, then farming must have been considerably easier. You could just ask for a rain cloud if you needed one. Unless that’s not allowed. “Well,” She upturned a hoof as she looked to the side, “except for the Everfree. That place breaks the rules when it comes to that.”

“Interesting. What’s the weather going to be like then?” He asked, a hand on his chin.

“We’re planning on starting the snow later today. It’s gonna be pretty bad this year. We’re expecting about eight inches of snow my the end of next week.” Considering the ponies were only a little over three feet tall, that was a lot. Not to mention that was fast. When he talked to Twilight, he asked about the day, and considering the time, it was a Friday now. Meaning that’d happen in a little over a week.

“That doesn’t sound good. I assume ponies have some clothes and stuff made to help with that?”

“Of course! I just came to warn you in case you weren’t prepared. You’re pretty far from town, so if you get frostbite or something, that’d be really bad.” The mare told him, concern playing in her eyes.

“Ah. Thank you for the warning. I already got this scarf from Rarity, and with the enchantments I put on it, I should be fine.” He told her, holding up one end of the scarf. The gem glimmering in the morning light.

“Gotcha. I got to get to work then.” She said flapping her wings and lifting off the ground. “Later.” Then she was gone. The force of her departure was enough to blow his hair around. He blinked at the rainbow contrail she left in her wake. His eyes widened as he wondered how fast she move when under a haste spell. It was a scary thought.

What was significantly less scary, was the idea the news gave him. A hand reached up and grabbed his scarf as he thought about it. If it was going to get so bad, ponies were likely to want anything that’d keep them warm. Perhaps he could work with Rarity to enchant clothes like his scarf. Then the two could split the profits. He’d need to go talk to her about it.

But first a shower.

~-~

She sat at her desk, reading the latest report from her scouts. Evidently the elf had convinced Fluttershy and Zecora to leave the vicinity of the forest. Something she hadn’t even thought of. She mentally kicked herself for it. If those two had been hurt due to her negligence…

She shouldn’t think of that. Aurick had prevented such a thing.

Despite her previous caution of the alien, he had grown on her. She had assumed him to be far more violent of a creature. Especially after that first dream she had entered. Yet, despite her judgements, he had proven to be more peaceful than first impressions made him out to be. She had assumed that her sister was merely attempting to see the good where there was none, but yet again, she had been proven wrong. She glanced at the other reports on her desk. Ones about gangs and cults. The criminal underground. She frowned as she wondered if Aurick could provide help with those matters as well.

She would have to see. He had only been in Equestria for five days now, after all. Rather, he had only been awake for five days. He could still be hiding something up his sleeve.

“Sister.” The voice pulled her from her thoughts. Celestia stood in the doorway, a gentle smile on her face.

“Good morning, Tia.” She returned the smile, though it was more strained than her sister’s. She was always jealous of Celestia’s ability to smile naturally no matter what. The mare had one of the best poker faces she had ever come across.

“A good morning to you, as well.” She said as she stepped closer. “I assume those are the recent reports?”

“Indeed they are, sister.” She sighed as she looked over them all. “Crime does not seem to sleep.”

“It never has.” Celestia told her as she sidled up next to her sister. A large wing draping over the smaller mare. “How’s the Inkheart situation going?”

“As well as one could expect.” She huffed. “Terribly.” A sigh escaped her as she looked back down at the report. “It would appear that she is having a hard time acquiring food, and seeing as we are in the first stages of winter, it will only get worse. Aurick predicts that she will begin to hunt anything that moves and has taken precautions against this.”

“What kinds of precautions?”

“Namely removing Fluttershy and Zecora from the area. He must be thinking that with them gone, she’d be more likely to hunt him instead. Seeing as he had already survived a run in with her, he should be able to handle himself.”

“I hope so. It would be a shame to lose an enchanter like him so soon.” Luna could only nod in response. “Which reminds me, has he given you a time frame for that project you have him working one?”

“No, though I fear it may take some time yet. I haven’t even filled out all the available gems for the armour.”

“Then the best we can do is wait and trust Aurick to handle things on his end.” Luna simply frowned.

~-~

Rarity loved the idea.

She started immediately. She decided to make a variety of items so that the pony could pick their own style. There were boots, hats, earmuffs, jackets, and yes, scarves. While she made them, Aurick would work on enchanting the gems. Rarity provided them all, saying she had a large stock of them. He wasn’t gonna complain, and he quickly got to work. By the time Spike entered the building the pair had already completed a small pile of items. His arrival pulled them both from their working frenzy and made them aware of the time.

It was already noon.

Aurick couldn’t help but facepalm. He hadn’t intended to get so caught up in the act. He was only planning to make a couple so that the ponies could get a taste of the work and he’d come back if they wanted more. Now he had already used half his mana. He was starting to think he’d need a couple gems to replenish his mana, as he was constantly running low by the end of the day.

It would be something he’d handle the next day however. With a quick farewell to Rarity, he made his way home. He was quick to make food for himself, having not eaten breakfast when he woke up.

Despite his desire to never learn from Pinkie again, he had to admit that she did teach him. By the time he was done in the kitchen, he had seared a perfect flank steak from the Manticore. It was delicious, though a little chewy.

With a smile on his face, he returned to the basement and continued working on the armour. By the time his mana ran out, he had finished a set. He only had five more to go.

~-~

She hopped from tree to tree, a frown on her face. The creature had removed the zebra from the forest. The conglomerate of scents she had found the day prior had disappeared too.

Was he attempting to steal all her food? Were they his friends and he thought she’d attack them? She didn’t know. All she knew was that he was the only one that remained who wasn’t a creature of the forest, and they had started hibernating.

She stopped at the edge of the forest. The stone structure stood before her. It was his home. A quick sniff confirmed he was in there. The smell of meat permeating the area. She was sorely tempted to barge in there and steal it from him, but she didn’t. She knew what a house was like. Small corridors and rooms. It would be a death trap for someone like her.

As she glared at the building and pondered her situation, something landed on her nose. Something small and white. Looking up, she saw clouds. And from those clouds came what she had been dreading.

Snow.

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