Enchanted

by The Whiskey Spirit

Ch 46: Bonds

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Ashwyn cried into her father’s shoulder, even as her mother joined their embrace.

This was, decidedly, not how she wanted things to go.

She was supposed to stay resolute on the couch. Get them to apologize for what they had said. So why was it that she was the one apologizing? Why was it that the moment she saw them, she wanted nothing more than her father to hold her and tell her everything would be alright?

Why was she not angry?

As if that was a question. She already knew why. The answer was plain to see, and no amount of infighting would ever change that.

She loved them. For better or worse they were her parents and she loved them more than anything. No matter how bad their words would sting, no matter the disappointed glances she had received, no matter the hoof fight she had with her father. This was something that wouldn’t change.

“I know. I know.” Her father told her, his breath tickling her ear. “It’s okay. It’ll be okay.”

~-~

It was a long time before the three broke their embrace, each with faces flushed as they avoided eye contact.

“Ink…” Her father started, earning her attention. “You know we love you, right?” Those words threatened to bring tears to her eyes once more. It had been so long since she heard them.

She nodded, not trusting her voice to come out. Of course, she had always known this. Even after the fight she knew. It was just that the words that were said… she hurt. For a long time, her writing was done out of spite, and it had shown in the quality. Despite it, she always knew how they felt and how they regretted what they had said, because she felt the same.

“Sweety,” it was her mother who spoke this time, “you have no idea how sorry we are.” Unlike Ashwyn, her mother’s tears were still flowing freely, a quivering smile on her lips.

“I know.” She told her, her mother’s smile mirrored on her own. “I love you.” Unable to contain herself, her mother had pulled Ashwyn into an embrace once more, leaving her father to smile warmly at them as he wiped a tear from his eye. By the time she extracted herself from her mother’s grasp, she noticed that the Alpha had disappeared.

It wasn’t hard to figure out where he went, as the aroma wafting from the kitchen was a dead giveaway. With the thought of food brought to her mind, it cued her stomach to make its presense known. A fact that brought a light chuckle from her father.

“And here I thought he was feeding you.” He joked, lightly tapping a hoof against her stomach.

“Your daughter could eat my entire pantry and still be hungry.” The Alpha called out. Turning, she saw his head poking out from the doorway into the kitchen. “Food’s done by the way. If you’re interested.” His message delivered, he retreated back into the kitchen. An audible crunch could be heard as he ate something, and she instantly knew what it was. Her parents were swiftly forgotten in her attempts to reach the kitchen before the Alpha ate them all.

“Save me some!” She cried, leaving her parents in the dust as she entered the kitchen, only for her to stop in her tracks with her jaw agape.

Sitting on the table was a large pile of bacon. As well as other breakfast things, but that didn’t matter. Bacon. She looked up at the Alpha, who was chewing on a piece with a smirk on his face.

“This enough for you?”

“I love you.” Ashwyn responded instantly. She wasted no time getting into her seat. Her parents came into view just in time to see her load a massive amount onto her plate, a massive grin on her face. The Alpha simply shook his head with a soft snort.

He turned to her parents and gestured towards a pair of plates with pancakes on them. “Help yourselves.” They quickly obliged, taking their seats across from them.

“I had heard you ate meat now, but…” Her father trailed off as he looked at the pile on her plate.

“Usually it’s not so much, but I thought she deserved it.” The Alpha responded for her.

“I deserve every day.” She commented with a mouth full of bacon.

“Inky, what have I told you about speaking with your mouth full?” Her mother berated her, making Ashwyn’s ears fold back.

“Am grown mare.” Was her swift response.

“A grown mare with poor table manners.” Ashwyn simply groaned at that.

“So, I’m sure you two have some wonderful baby stories.” Aurick said with a wicked grin. A grin that her mother quickly shared.

“Nuuuuuuuuuuu~!” She cried out between the bacon that filled her maw.

“You’d be quite right, dear. Hmm, where to start?” She wondered aloud as she gave an evil look to her daughter. “Would you care to hear about her sixth birthday party?” Ashwyn’s eyes widened in fear, and she looked towards the Alpha with a pleading look.

“That sounds wonderful.”

Ashwyn proceeded to cover her face with her paws, but despite the embarrassment she felt at having the story be told, she couldn’t help but smile.

~-~

“Two fours.” The Alpha claimed as he placed down two cards onto the pile. Her father gave him a hard look, searching for any sign of deception. She knew that the effort would be fruitless, however. The Alpha had a serious poker face. One that even she couldn’t read yet. She doubted her father could do so after only a couple hours.

“Bullshit.” He finally said after some time of consideration. A look of regret swiftly took his features as he saw the Alpha smirk. The two cards were flipped over, revealing the two fours that he had claimed, before pushing the pile towards him.

Her father grumbled under his breath as he sorted the new cards into his existing hand. It took a bit of time, but eventually he had everything ready, and pulled out three cards of his own. “Three fives.” He frowned as he placed them down. Her mother was swift to place down a single six. It was Ashwyn’s turn, but the Alpha spoke before she could even pull a card from her hand.

“Don’t even bother.” He said, pushing the pile towards her. She glowered at him, but didn’t complain.

“Didn’t even get a chance.” She grumbled, her expression resembling her father’s.

“That’s cuz you’re too easy to read.” He replied, a hand ruffling her mane before he placed down three more cards. “Three eights.”

~-~

“It wasn’t a problem.” Aurick told him, a hand waving off his claims of it being otherwise.

Cross Stitch had pulled him aside to personally thank him for helping his daughter.He had been adamant that he receive some form of pay. Aurick had simply responded that he already had been, and though he didn’t say it, he wasn’t talking about money.

“Still… To think about what he did…” A look of fury crossed his features for a moment before he let out a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumping. “I’m glad the Princesses managed to arrest him. I just hope they send his ass to tartarus.”

“One could only hope.” Aurick responded, scratching at his beard. He briefly wondered what the sisters would do if they couldn’t get any information out of him. It had been two months. He was unlikely to crack if they didn’t step up their game.

“So,” Cross Stitch’s words brought him back to the conversation, “why Ashwyn?”

“It’s an Elven name. At the time she didn’t want to be called Inkheart, so I decided to give her a new one.” He informed him, shaking his head at the memory. The mare was quite the annoyance in those first couple days. It’s hard to think the Ashwyn of today was the same mare.

“Well… I guess it’s not too bad.” Stitch admitted, looking back over towards his daughter. She was held under her mother’s grip as a brush ran through her mane. Ashwyn didn’t look too pleased about it.

~-~

“-and then he make Track take lead! He no want to, but he bound by duty, so he march on.” Ashwyn was happily talking about one of her in progress books. Aurick couldn’t help but smile as she did so. They were sitting at an outside table of a restaurant in Ponyville. A fact that would normally make the white mare much quieter, but it appeared that she didn’t care when she was talking about her books.

Both of her parents were listening with rapt attention. They clearly had learned their lesson from last time, and decided to be more supportive of their daughter’s passion.

Because they were sitting at an outside table, anyone who passed by could clearly see them, and of course, a couple approached. Primarily their friends. A fact that her parents took note of.

Pinkie was the first to take notice, and though he hadn’t introduced Ashwyn to her yet, the pink pony acted like they were already friends. She quickly gave each of them a cupcake and departed, saying that she didn't want to intrude.

Twilight was the next, and got caught up in Ashwyn’s talk of her books for a short while. That is, until Spike reminded her of what she needed to do. As such, she departed as well, but not before informing Ashwyn that she was working on the first draft of her own book.

Rarity was the last notable pony to insert herself into the conversation. Though it was a short affair, as she claimed she didn’t want to take up their time. She simply asked if Ashwyn would like to accompany her and Fluttershy to the spa again in a couple days. A request that Ashwyn agreed to.

No one else decided to approach, but a number of their regulars called out greetings to both of them as they passed by. Greetings that Ashwyn returned, albeit a little embarrassed.

~-~

Ashwyn hugged her parents close, a smile on her face.

“C’mon, Inky. We got to catch the train before it leaves without us.” Her mother told her. She wanted to ignore it, but she knew better. So, reluctantly, she released her parents from their embrace.

“You visit, right?” She asked, hesitantly. Only to receive another quick hug from her father.

“Not even the Princesses could keep us away.” His warm voice brought joy to her heart, though that joy dimmed a bit as he watched her father’s magic open the door behind him.

“Be sure to write.” Her mother told her with a smile. She nodded in response.

“I will.”

“And you,” her father pointed a hoof at the Alpha, “take care of her.”

“Can do.” He replied with an easy smile. Satisfied, her father nodded and took a step towards the door.

“I love you.” He said after a few moments.

“I love you, too.”

With nothing more to be said, her parents left the house and made their way towards Ponyville. She watched them go, seeing their silhouettes fade into the distance. She would have continued doing so if the Alpha hadn’t closed the door.

“Feel better?” He asked.

“Thank you.” She lifted herself onto her hind legs. Doing so, she was just tall enough to wrap her paws around the Alpha’s neck. Having done so, she pulled him down to her level and planted a kiss on his lips.

She did not allow him to pull away this time. Her grip was like iron, and though he could likely have teleported out of it, he didn’t. In fact, she felt his arms wrap around her and pull her close as he returned the kiss.

Eventually she had to pull away, if only because she had to breath. Looking into the Alpha’s eyes, she was pleased with what she found. He still looked a bit disgusted at the act that they shared, but it wasn’t as severe as the first kiss had been. One way or the other, they were making progress, and she couldn’t wait to experience a kiss when he was truly into it.

“We cuddle now.” She informed him, leaving no room for questions.

“That can be arranged.”

Comments

[Neece]

D'awwwwwwww

[shadow wolf1573]

Tis I. The one changling that can't leave this story alone. Cause I love It to much

[Simbul]

Two chapters in one day! Great stuff!

[shadow wolf1573]

9482358
Don't be creepy

[The Whiskey Spirit]

9482503
He's not wrong though. It is adorable.

[shadow wolf1573]

9482510
You are allowed to use her if you like

[Timuri]

I'm glad to see Ash reconnecting with her parents, and starting to truly put her life back together.

I got the feeling that both of Ash's parents are medical professionals, so I'm thinking that the fight that left them estranged was due to her refusal to follow on as another doctor or nurse. If I'm correct about their careers, they likely have an intellectual understanding of what trauma like what Ash went through does to a person. Not that such an understanding can ever truly prepare you.

[Amos Anon]

“We cuddle now.” She informed him, leaving no room for questions.

Haha, yessir! Er, maam!

[Morphy]

He does point out an interesting question, what information have the Princesses gotten from the mad scientist? Has he said anything? Have the Princesses tried anything besides solitary confinement and no cupcakes after dinner? Would they allow an elf with a more "complex" view of morals have a shot at the pony? (Would there be anything left to send to Tartarus?)

[lainverse]

9488790
Hm... Maybe she has to hold material in place with hooves when she wasn't that proficient with magic. Than it's possible.

[Coranth]

YES! EEEEEEEEEEE......!!!

[Greenhorn]

“We cuddle now.” She informed him, leaving no room for questions.

When did the hierarchy in the house get swapped?

[Song]

9690609
The job of a leader is not to be catered to and pampered, but to serve those under him (or her).