Enchanted

by The Whiskey Spirit

Ch 29: Thoughts

Ashwyn sat on the couch, lost in thought. The Alpha was in the kitchen, making food to replace the disaster she created. She had silently promised to never attempt such a thing again, else he… No. He would not likely throw her out. He considered her a… friend. She had never had a friend before. She was quite certain that Inkheart was similar. After a quick search of those memories, she found that to be true. So the question arose.

How does one partake in friendship? ...Perhaps a more prudent one would be if she reciprocated the feeling. It took only a moment of introspection to find the answer. To her surprise, she did. She couldn’t fully understand why she did, but it was true. The only thing she truly understood about those feelings was that she trusted him, and he made her feel safe. Perhaps that was enough? That brought the question back, however.

How does one partake in friendship?

A single plan crossed her mind. One that she quickly realized was probably not conducive to this newfound friendship. A frown crossed her face as she considered it. The plan in question happened to be her claim of Alpha status. The fight that would ensue would surely damage the friendship. After all, it was a betrayal of some level. He was the Alpha, she was the underling. If she were to attempt to disrupt that dynamic, then his feeling might change.

The question she had to ask herself was if she was okay with him being the Alpha. Would she accept obeying him?

That word echoed in her mind. Obey. It brought a tightness to her chest. A feeling that nearly made her attempt to subvert his position in that instant. She pushed that feeling down, though it didn’t go without a fight.

Once she had controlled herself, she realized her claws were deep in the couch. She was quick to retract them and hoped the Alpha wouldn’t notice. A frown crossed her face as she looked back at the kitchen. The idea of being obedient angered her greatly. Yet despite that, the anger was not at the Alpha. It was primarily directed at him. Her frown decreased in severity as she looked down at her paws. If it was the Alpha… she was okay with it. No one else though.

Anyone else that would be foolish enough to order her around would find their jaws removed as to never make the same mistake again.

So, yes, she would… no longer attempt to make him submit to her. She will accept his role as Alpha for the foreseeable future.

Then how should she act from here on? She would assume not being aggressive towards him would be considered friendly. She would make sure to show she had no plans to subvert his rule as well. She knew he was smart. He probably suspected she would attempt such a thing. It would be good to let him know that she was no longer thinking in such a manner.

On top of that… she assumed that helping him was another thing that a friend would do? Yes. She would help him more with his work. She would have to bear the stares of the ponies, but she would do so. For… her friend.

Yes. She liked that quite a bit. He was her friend, and she would help her friend with his work. She had no doubt that relying on a friend in the way that she had been would be considered rude, so she would help to repay the debt.

A small smile spread across her face as she thought about that. A warm feeling filled her chest, one that she found quite pleasing. She could not remember having felt this emotion either. Neither as herself or as Inkheart. She wondered what it meant. Perhaps it was the feeling of friendship? She wasn’t quite sure friendship was an emotion, but it would work for now.

Sadly that feeling slowly disappeared, as did her smile. It was quickly replaced with a frown as she remembered their conversation before his reveal. In truth, the thought that her mind had been tampered with like that by him made her scared. Could there possibly be hidden orders in her head that she was unaware of? If there were, would she be able to resist them? Would she even know they were orders or would she think them her own thoughts?

She furiously shook her head to clear her mind of that. The Alpha had told her not to think of that. That she was her and that no matter what he did to her, that wouldn’t change. He had mentioned that if she was that afraid of it, he could have one of the princesses come to check on her. An idea she had adamantly refused at the time. Something she was starting to rethink.

Everything in her body told her it was a terrible idea. That the princesses would take her back to him. But was that part of what he made her think? No. No that was a fear that she had thought of, based on the ideas he put in her.

She did not trust the princesses. That was a fact. She did not want to go anywhere near them. Another fact. The idea that they would bring her to him must have been what her mind created to supplement that implanted desire to never approach them.

She grit her teeth as she realized that if she wanted to deal with this issue, she’d have to face them. She did not trust them. This she could not change. She did, however, trust the Alpha, and the Alpha trusted the princesses. She could deal with that. So long as the Alpha was there, she might be able to keep her fear in check.

The Alpha’s call brought her from her thoughts. He had evidently finished cooking their dinner. The smile returned to her face as she stood from the couch and made her way to the kitchen. She would have to tell her decision to the Alpha… No.

Her friend.

~-~

Aurick laid down in bed, a small frown on his face. Ashwyn had already fallen asleep, her face pressed against his neck. He had to admit, she was incredibly soft, and when she wasn’t having a nightmare, was incredibly comfortable. She wasn’t the problem he was attempting to resolve, however.

She had told him that she was willing to meet with a princess. It was too late to contact one of the guards to inform the princesses. Rather, he didn’t want to go out and find one, because it was late. Now he was wondering if he could somehow contact Luna without sending a letter first. Maybe call her to his dream or something? He didn’t particularly want to attempt magic for that effect, as it might do something to the dream realm that Luna would not be so keen on. Instead, he simply went to sleep, thinking hard on his desire to talk with the lunar princess.

When he finally fell asleep, he found himself sitting on his couch. He blinked in confusion as he looked around. It was his house alright. It even had the annoying knock at the door. He blinked again for a moment before going to open it. On the other side was Princess Luna, a small frown on her face.

“How did you do that?” She asked, her brow furrowed.

“Do what?”

“Your dream… called to me. It demanded my presence.” She stomped her hoof and snorted. “How?”

“I just went to sleep thinking about how I needed to talk to you.” She blinked at him.

“It is that simple?” He nodded, making the mare raise a hoof to her chin. “Intriguing. There have been a number of cases such as this, but no one has been able to tell me a cause. I will experiment with this knowledge. If my guard could replicate it, then the speed at which I could get information would be increased exponentially!”

“Well, glad to help. Now, of course, you owe me.” She frowned and looked at him suspiciously.

“And what kind of help would you desire?”

“Ashwyn needs help.” She frowned and sighed.

“Indeed she does, but we already know how she reacts to me.”

“We’ve talked about it. At this point we think it might be something Test Tube put in her head to prevent her from seeking help.” Luna scowled at that. “The idea that there might be more ideas like this has her terrified. To the point that she said she would be willing to meet with you if you can help her.”

“Truly?” Luna asked incredulously.

“Yes. I thought it best to contact you as fast as possible about this. I’d rather her not change her mind before it happens.” He crossed his arms and sighed.

“Yes. I can see that. In that case, I shall make some time tomorrow to come down. Sometime around four, most likely.”

“That works. Just… be careful. The only reason she is remotely okay with the idea is because I will be there.” Something sparkled in the diarch’s eyes as she glanced at him.

“Is that so? I take it that she has grown on you?” Aurick frowned and ran a hand down his face.

“Yes. We’re friends, and if you make this bigger than it is, I will hit you. Princess or not, you will feel my wrath.” He frowned at her. He wasn’t really going to do anything, but it wouldn’t hurt to make his feelings known.

“Hmm, if I remember correctly, your wrath tasted pretty good last time. I wonder how it’ll *feel*?” He glanced down at her in surprise. The mare held a straight face… for all of two seconds before she started to snicker behind a hoof.

“Yeah, yeah.” He waved her off. “Anyways, that was all I needed to tell you.”

“Yes, I should get to work. I shall see you tomorrow.” She nodded and walked away from the house. Rolling his eyes, he closed the door and went back to the couch. He blinked after a moment of nothingness and looked around.

“Now what am I supposed to do?” After a few more moments, he shrugged and laid down on the couch, closing his eyes. Eventually he fell asleep… again.

Comments

[NuclearRage]

Now what am I supposed to do?” After a few more moments, he shrugged and laid down on the couch, closing his eyes. Eventually he fell asleep… again.

**INCEPTION THEME**

[stephen51991]

Eventually he fell asleep… again.

[shadow wolf1573]

90% of this chapter was just Ashs mental stuggle of accepting the pack mentality. So she's not wrong in saying that HE messed with her mind even more then they care to think about

[Drazhan]

Eventually he fell asleep… again.

Ah, I see he's learning the arcane art of Advanced Sleeping.

[Timuri]

Good! Good. And Ash's worry over implanted orders and whether she would think they were her own thoughts somehow...that fear is very understandable and very real.

[Kali Azizia]

Oh god...the adorable levels are too high! Quick someone grab the salt! We need more tsundere ash stat!

[ValonQuinn]

9411813
I was actually thinking of Inception the movie. Dreams within dreams.

[erictheblue]

something about this story made me think of a chapter in that crazy "mlp time loops" collab: Twilight Sparkle meets a famous werewolf (i forget her name) and helps her with several problems. one line stuck in my head:
"you're not acting like a natural wolf, you're acting like the way the person who created the curse THOUGHT wolves act. that "every wolf in the pack MUST obey the Alpha's orders no matter what" is just ONE part of that mess. real wolves will just LEAVE the pack if they hate the Alpha."

[Kadigan]

9651336
Got a link?