Enchanted

by The Whiskey Spirit

Ch 31: Teacher and Student

Aurick walked through the town, his arms stretching over his head as he got the last of the sleep out of him. By his side walked Ashwyn, who had surprisingly decided to join him on his foray into town. Despite the help that Luna gave, she still didn’t seem to like the ponies. At least, she didn’t like being stared at the way that she was. He briefly thought about asking Pinkie to throw her a party, that way the town could get used to her like they did him. He’d probably hold off on that, though. She wasn’t sure she’d exactly be comfortable with in a party. He’d have to wait for when she was ready.

Either way, she followed him through town as he set out to fulfil a promise he had made within his first few days of being in Equestria.

He would attempt to teach Twilight Sparkle. He had never had to teach anyone before, but he was willing to try. It’d be an interesting experience at least.

By the time the pair arrived at the library, Ashwyn had grown a deep scowl across her face and had started walking close to him. Before Aurick could even knock on the door, he felt Ash poking him in the side.

She pointed at the door, her eyes narrowed in uncertainty. “Dragon.” She told him.

“Yeah, that’d be Spike. He’s only a baby dragon, though.” Was the reply, Ashwyn didn’t seem pleased, but said nothing more. Shrugging, Aurick began knocking on the door.

It was only a few moments before the door opened, allowing a purple scaled face to peek out. The young dragons eyes widened when he saw who it was, a smile spreading across his face.

“Woah, Aurick!” He exclaimed, opening the door fully. “It’s been a while.” It was then that he noticed Ashwyn. Luckily, he didn’t react in the way that most ponies did. He simply raised a brow and turned back to Aurick. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Ashwyn. Been taking care of her for the past week and a half.” The elf replied, a small smile on his face as he ruffled the pony’s hair.

“Oh yeah! Twilight mentioned something about that. Speaking of, I don’t suppose your here for me, right?” He wore a knowing smirk as he let the pair in.

“Not this time, I’m afraid. I promised Twilight I’d try to teach her enchanting, and now I’m able.” Spike began to nod in understanding.

“Right, I’d almost forgot about that. She’s down in the basement, I’ll go get her. There’s some coffee in the kitchen if you want some.” Spike told them and made his way for the door under the stairs. Aurick didn’t need to think twice before he found himself in the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

Ashwyn rolled her eyes at him as she watched. He had offered her a cup once, and she was eager, having been a fan when she was Inkheart. Sadly, Test Tube changed her tastebuds to enjoy meat, and somewhere in the process made her hate the taste of coffee. Aurick swore to make that pony pay for depriving her of the sweet morning nectar.

The pair had migrated to the couch when Twilight came up. Ashwyn had gotten into the same position she had when Luna came by. This time, however, she simply claimed it was comfortable, something that Aurick wouldn’t argue on, as he had never experienced it before. He didn’t mind it either. It gave his free hand something to do. This was what twilight saw when she came up, and to say she was a little surprised was an understatement. The mare nearly hopped out of her skin when she saw Ashwyn.

Luckily for Aurick, the mare had the decency to regain her composure fairly quickly. Once she saw that the mare was simply lying down there, Twilight relaxed. Not fully, but enough that Ashwyn wasn’t threatening to claw his legs open. In fact, Ashwyn simply scowled at her and turned her head away.

Twilight glanced at her occasionally, but had her attention on Aurick. The excitement was clear in her eyes, even more so than the mild fear that she had for Ashwyn. At least it shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

“So,” She started in a cheery tone, a cautious glance cast at Ashwyn, who still rested in his lap, “where do we start.”

“We’ll start with saying I’ve never had to teach anyone before, so I make no promises about how well I can teach you.” She nodded in understanding. “Having said that, I’ll start you with the first thing that I had to learn.” The elf reached into his cloak and produced a single gem. A pure diamond. It cost a pretty penny, but not nearly as much as one would back home. “This diamond will be easiest gem you can perform this on. The purity of it and the strength of it will allow you to make as many mistakes as you want without damaging the thing. Unless of course you somehow overcharge it.”

He held it out for the purple mare to take in her magic. She quickly examined it, probably going so far as to memorize every edge of it. She didn’t need to, of course, but if he had learned anything about Twilight Sparkle, it was that she never did half measures.

“What do I do with it?” She asked as she examined it.

“The simplest thing an enchanter can do. Fill a gem with mana.” Twilight blinked at him.

“How do I do that?” Aurick opened his mouth a finger up before he paused. His mouth closed before he made to speak again, and once again he stopped himself. How did he do it?

“Okay, so I don’t have the most academic explanation.” He told the mare. “It’s been two hundred years since I was taught this, so bear with me.” He took a sip of coffee as he thought how best to explain it. “Okay, you know how you cast a spell?”

“Yeah, you focus on the spell and draw on your internal mana to fuel it.” Twilight nodded.

“Exactly, now what you need to do is focus on that gem and do the same thing. The tricky part is that once the mana leaves your body, it’s hard to control it. It will slip away from you if you can’t force the mana into the gem. Even if your touching it, there’s still the risk of mana escaping.”

“Okay, then how do I prevent it from getting away once it’s outside me?” She asked, a small frown on her face.

“That I can’t tell you. Everyone has a different way of doing it. I simply enforce my will upon it. You might have an easier time asking nicely with gentle direction. Or you might not be able to at all. Either way, if you can’t do this, then you can’t enchant.” Twilight frowned at him before her gaze fell on the diamond again.

“Okay, I got this.” She said, mostly to herself as she sat down in one of the arm chairs. Then she began focusing on the gem.

~-~

She did not, in fact, have this. Aurick looked up from his book to find Twilight breathing heavily. A glare of unbridled hate was directed at the diamond, who stood resolute against her baleful gaze.

Two hours had passed, and Twilight had made no progress. Aurick did his best to give suggestions, but at this point in the game, she had to sink or swim on her own. Once she was capable of doing the task he set before her, he could begin truly teaching her.

Her face scrunched up in concentration once again, her horn glowing brightly. After a few moments, she let out a huff as her magic flickered. The gem fell through her telekinesis. Surprisingly, Ashwyn was the one who caught it. Her prehensile tongue shooting out to grasp the object before pulling it back.

Twilight had flinched upon seeing it, but had quickly changed to a look of curiosity as Ashwyn gently placed the diamond in Aurick’s hand. A brief look of disgust crossed his face as he used magic to rid the gem of the mare’s saliva.

“I think you should give it a break for today.” He told the unicorn. She was not pleased by this, if the glare was any indication.

“But I’m so close!” She exclaimed, though she couldn’t hide the heavy breathing.

“Close to magic exhaustion.” Aurick was quick to correct. “You’ve been pouring your mana out for the better part of two hours. Take a break, regenerate some mana, and try again tomorrow. There’s no time limit on this.” He told her. She continued to scowl, but averted her gaze.

“Fine.” She eventually relented.

“Good, ‘cuz Ash is probably hungry by now.” The mare in question nodded her head eagerly.

“Belly empty. Food good idea.”

“Alright.” Twilight sighed. “Same time tomorrow?”

“Nope, I’m not gonna make this trip everyday. I’ll leave the gem here, and you let me know when you can do it.” He paused after a moment. “And don’t exhaust yourself. I don’t want Spike to come yelling at me because you passed out.”

“Yes, dad.” Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Good, we’d best get going, then.” Ashwyn was quick to let him up, and the Aurick said his farewells before exiting the tree house. “At least she didn’t blow it up.” Aurick commented on their way home. Ashwyn simply nodded in agreement.

Comments

[shadow wolf1573]

I'm I the only one that thinks about how elf boi can be evil by sitting behind a desk with Ash in his lap as he pets her slowly and laughing slowly whole Turing around.

[The Whiskey Spirit]

9413257
Oh god. I need that in my life.

[Epicocity1527]

9413275
Do it. Have Luna or someone one to his house and have that the way he greets them.

[Kali Azizia]

One small spelling error I found.

He held it out for the purple mare to take in her magic. Seh quickly examined it,

I think you mean to say she here.

Other than that, another fantastic chapter!

[Teslakana]

9413275
Something for Nightmare Night, maybe?

[Trent Roogna]

9413257
Next time Gadget. Next Time!

[Drazhan]

Just need to get that elf some black rim glasses and have him do the Gendou pose. Scowl that pony into success.

I'm waiting for him to look out the window and see a mushroom cloud coming from the library. Rainbow destroying AJ's old barn sans the rainbow colored smoke kinda way. Spike and Ash would lament the loss of the diamond though.

[Lady Lightning Strike]

“At least she didn’t blow it up.” Aurick commented on their way home. Ashwyn simply nodded in agreement.

Aww! I was eating for the boom though!

[Timuri]

I will laugh my ass off if Twilight tries for so long in frustration only for Spike to fill the gem with draconic magic just on a whim, while actually trying to give Twilight some ideas and accidentally does it himself.

[The Whiskey Spirit]

9413652
To him, the life of an adventurer was simple. He goes places, kills some things, solves a problem, gets cash. Now he's in a different dimension, with no chance of returning to his old life.

[lunarstallion]

9413610
I believe that would be a perfect example of Irony, and it would be delicious.

[Neece]

9413257
Evil? I think you misspelled "absolutely adorable"

[shadow wolf1573]

9414404

I'll show you what I mean. I just need someone to write it for me

[JOEBLACK]

9413727
What I am saying is that as an adventurer the first thing you learn is expect the unexpected. Or you die. If he really expected things to be simple then he was going soft in old age.

[Chancegunnett]

9414423
Your pfp is kawaii af

[Animatorsnake]

I think the detail of the gem might blowing up should have been mentioned Aurick

[erictheblue]

9605181
well, he did say that overcharging it might damage it...