> Enchanted
>  by The Whiskey Spirit
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Ch 1: Appearance (Revised)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Princess Celestia’s day had started off as it had for many years. Chucking a brass alarm clock across the room the moment it dared to rouse her from her slumber. 

The metal device impacted the wall with enough force to break it apart, warping the metal and no doubt scrambling the clockwork that made up the insides. Springs and the like fell to the floor in a clatter, making more noise, only to be accompanied by a low groan mere moments later. 

The head that lifted from the bed looked displeased with the situation. Her eyes half lidded and clearly displaying her desire to simply let gravity take hold and fall back into bed. The world could wait while she slept a little longer.

That, however, was not what she allowed herself to do. 

Driven by duty, the Princess of Equestria reluctantly removed her bed sheets from her body and maneuvered herself off the bed. With a short sigh, her eyes were cast towards the doorway of the balcony. The curtains that covered the doors were moved just enough to grant a view through the glass barrier. 

The sky was still dark, of course, but the moon appeared close to the horizon. A tell tale sign that it was time to assist the celestial bodies in crossing the threshold on schedule. A thought brought a smile to her face as she likened her duty to taking care of a child. Ensuring that they went to bed and awoke at the proper times. 

Taking a deep breath, her magic lit up the room around her, casting a golden glow on her surroundings. Within moments, she felt her sister’s magic activate from her own place, and in unison, they raised and lowered their respective charges. 

The process wasn’t a long, nor extravagant one. In fact it was a rather simple manifestation of their powers, only requiring the raw magical strength that she and her sister held. Of course, that didn’t stop Celestia from making a show of it during the Summer Sun Festival. 

All for her little ponies, of course. 

Her duty now complete, she could focus on making herself presentable, as she could not go out in public with the state she was in. She needn’t look in a mirror to know precisely how she looked in the moment, as she had become familiar with the image over many years of rest. 

Her pristine white coat looked terrible. Almost as though she had a number of foals running their hooves across her in wildly varying directions. Her mane and tail were somehow worse off, however. Her mane being the worst offender by far. 

The hair that normally flowed elegantly in a magical wind had become twisted and knotted. Shooting out in a number of ways, she would have likened the style to something a stereotypical mad scientist might have. 

Of course, it would not do for the Princess of Equestria to be seen in such a state, so she made her way towards the bathroom without a second thought. Though, along the way, her horn glowed golden once more as her magic formed around the broken remains of the alarm clock. With seemingly practiced ease, the mutilated device pulled itself back together, the magic repairing it until it looked as though it were new. It was gently placed upon her night stand, where it awaited its eventual destruction come the next morning.


~-~


Princess Celestia stepped out of the shower with a pleased sigh, a slight smile on her face. Already she looked far better than when she had awoken, but the battle against her uncooperative hair had only just begun. Though Celestia soon would wield the weapon to make her enemy acquiesce to her demands.

A brush.

With long, practiced strokes of the brush, her coat was smoothed out. Her tail was next on the chopping block, and it gave way with little resistance. Her mane, however… 

As always, this battle was a hard fought one. Slight pain shot through her scalp as her brush caught on some of the knots, and her mane was determined to have as many of those as possible. She was caught upon one particularly nasty knot when she felt it.

A shockwave of pure magical energy shot through her, surprising her enough that her brush was tugged free. Along with a small amount of hair.

She paid this no mind, her focus entirely upon the magic that she had just felt. Her head turned towards the source, though she couldn’t see it, as she was still in the bathroom. A fact she sought to rectify swiftly. 

The moment she exited into her room, however, she was halted along her path to the balcony. A congregation of dark coloured magic morphed into a familiar shape before revealing itself to be her sister.

“Tia, I presume you have felt the same magic that I have?” Luna asked, a slight edge to her voice as she, too, peered past the balcony and to the lands beyond. 

“Yes, I have. Do you have any clue as to what it might be? I was distracted when it hit me.” Celestia asked, earning a look from her sister. That look turned to a restrained snort of amusement when she noticed the small portion of hair missing from Celestia’s mane.

“From what I gather, it was a teleportation spell of sorts, but not one that I recognized. The power behind it, however…” A small frown crossed Luna’s face as she turned her eyes away from the balcony. “I believe we should investigate.” 

“I would agree.” Celestia said with a nod, taking a few steps closer towards the balcony. “If I’m correct, this originated somewhere close to the Smoky Mountains.” 

“That would seem accurate. If we are in agreement, then I shall take the opportunity to organize the guard.” Luna offered, receiving a nod from Celestia who decided to open up the drawer on her night stand. A piece of parchment floating out, only to pair with a quill that Celestia brought out as well.

“I shall contact Twilight and the Elements. I’d like them close if this turns out to require their abilities.” She told her sister, who had raised a brow. 

“Ah, of course.” Luna nodded in understanding. “A swell idea, sister. I shall leave you to it, then.” Luna’s horn lit up in a dark blue, already a spell charging to no doubt take her where she needed to be. She paused, however, before releasing the spell, turning back to her sister. “Oh, and good morning, Tia.” With that, her spell started up, melting her visage into shadow and fading away.

Celestia couldn’t help the small sigh that escaped her when she looked out the balcony again. “A good morning, indeed.” 


~-~


Twilight Sparkle was frustrated.

She glared at the vial of green liquid that floated in her magical grasp. It was a potion that would allow non-pegasus ponies to walk on clouds for a day. Rather, it should have been. The cloud walking potion was supposed to be a swirling mix of gray and white, not green. 

Twilight wasn’t even sure what she did wrong. She had double, triple, and quadruple checked her notes and followed the steps to the letter. Yet, despite three days and her best efforts, she had failed once again. She felt enticed to just smash the bottle and the rest of her equipment, and vow never to take up potion making again. That wasn’t what she did, however. Taking a deep breath she placed the vial down and sighed as she levitated a scroll and quill over.

Test Number 37: Failure
The potion that was created maintained a green colouration instead of the desired result.

Placing her notes back where she had them, she began to rub at her eyes and wondered just how long she had been at it this time. Sadly there was no clock in her basement lab, so she had to go upstairs to find out what time it was. Her stomach made itself known as she ascended, and she decided to grab a quick meal before heading to bed for the night.

Upon opening the door into the main room, her hopes of sleep were dashed by the brilliant rays of light that pierced her eyes. Her desire to throw herself out the window was overpowered by her stomach as she smelled the tell tale signs of breakfast. With a groan, she shuffled over to the kitchen to find Spike at the stove, his frilly pink apron on.

“What are you making, Spike?” She asked, smiling as she saw a cup of coffee already on the table for her. She swiftly took the cup and drank the dark liquid, not caring about the burning sensation on her tongue. Spike looked over with a knowing smile, spatula in hand working on something in the pan.

“Some eggs and pancakes, Twi. How’d the potions go?” A muffled groan was all he got in response as he flipped over one of the aforementioned pancakes. “That bad, huh?

“I don’t know what I’m doing wrong!” Twilight growled as she took a seat at the table, head rolled back as she closed her eyes. “Everytime I try, it comes out different, and I’m not doing anything different in the process.” Her head shot up and her eyes peered into Spike’s. “It’d be perfectly fine if I was the problem, but as far as I can tell, the potion just doesn’t want to follow the basic rules.”

“You sure you don’t want to ask Zecora?” Spike asked as he began to pull out some plates. “She could probably tell you exactly what’s happening.”

“At this point I might.” Twilight sighed and took another swig of her coffee. “I just wanted to figure this out on my own.” 

“Hey,” Spike placed a plate of food in front of her and laid a hand on her hoof, “remember what you told Applejack about? Learning to accept help from your friends?” Twilight snorted and let out a small smile.

“Yeah. You’re right. I’ll go see her later today after we reorganize.” With a satisfied nod, Spike went to his own chair and began to dig into the breakfast he made. “Remind me to get a clock for the lab today as well. It probably won’t stop these all-nighters, but at least I can feel like an idiot before I come up.” Spike nodded as he quickly pulled a paper from somewhere and scribbled it down before continuing to devour his food. 

The pair continued on in silence for only a few moments before Spike belched a gout of green flames. A scroll manifested itself within the blaze and Twilight plucked it out. 

“Sheesh. Morning barely started and the Princess is already sending messages.” Spike mumbled, but Twilight wasn’t listening as she had already broken the seal and began reading. Her brow furrowed as a frown crossed her face. After a moment she placed the scroll down with a sigh before rubbing her temples. “Element business?” 

“Yeah.” She admitted in a resigned voice. “The princesses are worried about a magical signature they picked up this morning and requested the Element’s presence in case we were needed. A chariot should be arriving soon to pick us all up.”

She got up from her seat and started making her way out of the kitchen, the message floating with her..

“That doesn’t sound too bad. You want me to save the rest of your breakfast?” Spike asked, eyeing the remains of her food.

“No, you can have it. We probably won’t be back for a while.” She looked back over her shoulder for a moment. “Actually, I’ll take this.” She quickly levitated the cup of coffee and poured it into a thermos, filling it with more from the pot. “Can you get started on reorganizing while I'm gone? I’ll try to get back and help as fast as I can.”

“No problem. It’ll be done before you know it.” Spike puffed out his chest as he gave her a confidant smile.

“I have no doubts.” Twilight smiled before turning around making her way out. A brush levitated out of the corner and straightened her mane before she walked out the door. With a sigh, she took a drink of her coffee and made her way towards Rarity’s.


~-~


Princess Luna wore a slight frown as she landed. Guards swiftly snapped salutes before returning to business. A fact that pleased her. They were in the field, after all, there was no reason to halt their duties for a bow.

The princess was swift to make her way towards the commanding officer here, who had seemingly seen her arrival and met her halfway. The stallion snapped a quick salute before standing at attention, seemingly ready for the question they both knew she was going to ask.

“What’s the situation?” Luna peered out towards a crater a distance away as she asked this. 

“We have traced the magical burst to that crater over there and have set up a perimeter. A pegasus scout had done a fly by to see what the source was. He claims there is some form of creature within the center of the crater. It appears injured, but we have not approached in the case it was still awake and hostile.” The guard informed her, receiving small nods as she continued to observe the crater.

“There has been no further magical activity?” 

“...Uncertain, ma’am.” He responded hesitantly.

“Elaborate.” Luna’s eyes shifted back to him, making him squirm in his armor a little.

“We have the mages searching for any further magical outbursts from the source. They have claimed that there have been no spells cast, but there is a constant flow of magic in the area. They have likened it to Lieutenant Light Step’s enchanted armor.” 

“Truly?” Luna failed to keep the surprise from her voice. Enchanting was an incredibly rare and expensive talent. If whatever this creature was possessed enchanted items, it was something to be wary of. 

“That is what they claim, ma’am.” 

“Claim what?” Both of them turned to find that Celestia had somehow snuck up on them while they were speaking. The guard was swift to snap another salute.

“It would seem that the creature that caused this holds some enchanted items.” Luna informed her sister, gesturing with a hoof towards the crater in the distance. 

“If that’s the case, we must be wary. Wielders of enchanted items could be quite dangerous.” Celestia spoke as she followed Luna’s hoof. “Is this creature active?” 

“No, ma’am. Our scout says it looks injured.” The guard answered helpfully.

“Interesting.” She mumbled to herself before turning towards Luna. “Do you think there’s a chance this might have been an unintentional spell?” The thought hadn’t occurred to Luna before, but she couldn’t fault her sister’s line of logic.

There were very few spells that could injure the caster, and none of them were a teleportation spell. So long as it was cast correctly, of course. There was a real possibility that this was a botched teleport that went out of control with excess magic. It could explain the crater as well as the burst of magical energies they had felt that morning. Then something else came into her thoughts.

“If that were the case, there is a chance this creature has been severely injured. It could very well be dying.” The moment Celestia heard those words, her eyes widened. To a normal pony, it wouldn’t have been noticeable, as the difference was miniscule, but Luna knew her sister better than normal ponies. As such, her magic was enough to halt the larger alicorn before she could rush into the crater. “We must still be cautious, sister.” 

This earned a hard glare from her sister, but after she took a steady breath, the gaze softened. “Of course, Luna. You’re right.” Closing her eyes and seemingly taking a moment to steady herself, she turned towards the guard and addressed him. “Me and my sister shall approach this creature to guage this threat. I would ask that you prepare yourselves.” She made to move off before turning towards him once more. “Have medics on standby, there is a chance we might need their assistance should this creature not be hostile.”

“By your orders, ma’am.” He saluted once more before turning to fulfil the role he was given. Waiting no further, the pair of princesses stepped forward and calmly strode towards the crater ahead of them.

As they moved, their horns flared as a multitude of spells were cast upon themselves. Protective spells, scanning spells, physical enhancements, as well as various others, all with the intent to give them as much of an edge as possible should things go south. 

All of this preparation, however, was soon found to be unnecessary, as when they approached the edge of the crater, they were easily able to observe the state of the creature before them. It was not good.

It was clear to them that their scout hadn’t had the best of views upon this creature, as ‘injured’ was a very light way of describing the state it was in. 

Celestia moved at a much swifter pace as she made her way closer to the being, and Luna did not attempt to halt her this time. It was clear to her, even from this distance, that this creature would not be able to make any form of attack. Instead, she turned back to face the guards that were trying their best to watch what was happening. 

“Bring the medics!” She called out in the Royal Canterlot Voice, easily loud enough for them to hear. And hear they did, as it only took a few moments before a number of ponies sprinted towards her carrying medical supplies. Towards the back of the group, she spotted Fluttershy attempt to step forward before one of her friends stopped her. Luna approved, as she did not think the meek mare capable of handling the sight behind her. 

Satisfied that trained help was coming, Luna decided to follow her sister towards the creature. Upon closer inspection, she was able to see just how terribly this being was injured by this spell.

The creature was horribly mangled. One of its arms was barely hanging on by loose muscle, and a leg was cleanly blasted off. It’s skin was burned in such a way that it appeared he was cooked from the inside out, rupturing in places that caused the dismemberment. Despite this, its clothes were surprisingly unharmed, aside from being blood stained on a sleeve and leg. It was a good chance they were enchanted. Somehow, the creature was still alive, though based on its desperate gasps for breath, it wouldn’t be for long.

Celestia was doing the best she could, a powerful healing spell pouring out from her horn, but her ability was limited. She did not know this creature’s anatomy, and as such couldn’t heal as much as she normally could without the possibility of causing more problems. Of course, this would be remedied once the medical practitioners had time to examine the creature, but for now, Celestia could likely only stabilize him. Luna was unsure of how long it would take to be healed, but she was certain of one thing.

The times to come were certainly going to get more interesting.
> Ch 2: Prison Break (Revised)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aurick gasped as consciousness was suddenly returned to him, shooting up from his prone position. Eyes wide, and trace amounts of fear making his heart beat fast, he swiftly made to take in his surroundings and determine if there were any threats about.

What he saw was a small room, mostly barren, barring an empty desk, chair, and a bed. The last of which he was sitting on. It was brightly lit and was seemingly clean. In fact, it looked rather nice, giving off a strangely regal sense to the design. The part that gave him pause, however, was the entrance to this room. 

A transparent material had replaced one of the walls in the room, a similarly transparent door upon it. Blinking in mild confusion, Aurick tentatively stood from his position on the bed, only to find that he was in the nude, baring a seemingly make shift undergarment that was placed upon him. A fact that concerned him greatly. He felt powerless like this.

His clothes and jewelry were powerful pieces that he had spent large sums of money on. Numerous enchantments were placed within them to make his survival all but assured so long as he wore them. Now, for the first time in a long time, he was lacking them, and it distressed him to no end. 

Of course, he didn’t let it show upon his face. No. He had long since become familiar with how a calm demeanor could help in numerous situations, no matter how you may feel within. To the uninitiated, it would appear that there was no one watching him, but he knew better than to assume as much. He knew of numerous spells that could be used to keep an eye on him without his knowledge. Sure, he couldn’t cast them himself, but that was besides the point. 

He would not allow weakness to show upon his face. He had to appear that he was confidant. In control. Else anyone with a modicum of perception would be able to use his insecurities against him. He would not allow such a thing to happen.

As such, his face was a perfected calm as he disregarded his lack of clothing and approached the transparent wall. Rapping his knuckles against it, he was quick to identify it as glass, though it seemed to be quite thick. No doubt a number of materials were used to reinforce it, meaning breaking through would be difficult. Stepping towards the door, he was unsurprised to find it locked tight. 

Letting out a long breath from his nose, the elf pressed a hand to the door and pulled on his magic. Unsurprisingly, it failed to come to him. The room was held within an anti magic field, meaning that any spell he attempted to cast would be absorbed before he could even begin. 

It was clear to him that he was a prisoner of some sort, but as to why… he could not discern. He took a moment to reflect on what he remembered before awakening within this room, a hand reaching up to idly scratch at his chin. A slight frown crossed his face as he felt the stubble there, but he had no time to ponder what to do with the beard to come.

Searching through his mind for the memories took a few moments, as they did not want to make themselves known so easily. He assumed it was due to some head trauma he received during the inbetween, but he couldn’t be sure. He was no medicine man, after all. Eventually, he managed to remember what had happened, and when he did his eyes narrowed in annoyance. 

He had been taking the time to set up a teleportation circle within one of the rooms. A project that had been taking him the better part of a year to accomplish. He had long since informed his companions that he was not to be disturbed while he was working on it, lest something terrible happened. 

One such companion must have become mentaly deficient, as that was exactly what they had done. He could not remember who it was, exactly, but someone had slammed the door open, distracting him during one of the more dangerous parts of the process. His lack of focus was fatal to the enchantment, but instead of fizzling out, or exploding like most normal enchantments would do, it did something else. 

He was unsure if it was because of the amount of power within it, or the way he had set it up, or the fact that he was almost done that was the cause. It didn’t matter in the end, as the enchantment decided to simply cast the spell he was forcing into it, and he had no say in the matter. In fact, as he was magically connected to it, it had started to forcibly drain mana from him to cast the spell.

After that, it got fuzzy. 

He distinctly remembered pain. Searing hot pain, in fact. He had to take a moment to look down at himself, as he distinctly remembered feeling his skin cooking, though it seemed he had no residual damage from the experience. Nor were his limbs broken, as he also remembered such things. 

Either the pain was a mental effect or he had been healed from it. He could not determine what the truth was, but he presumed the former. He doubted he would have been healed if he had also been taken prisoner. Then again, it would be difficult to question a prisoner that was barely clinging to life. 

Shaking his head, he decided to stop thinking of such things. It was not conducive to the situation. Answers would come in time, or they might not. Either way, they were not useful to him. 

Casting his gaze back towards the locked door, he allowed a frown to cross his features. His tongue trailed his teeth pleased that he found a metal replacement still in his gums. What he was about to do was going to be a bit painful, but it would be worth it to be out of this cell. Even with how nice it was.

He wasn’t a fan of being a prisoner, and he liked being at another person’s mercy even less. So it was with a determined glare at the door that he reached into his mouth and grabbed his metal tooth. A small grunt of effort escaped him as he pulled on it until, with a small spray of blood, he yanked it from his mouth. His other hand came up to rub his jaw in a soothing manner, even as he spat blood onto the floor. 

Wiping away what blood remained on his lips, he pressed the dripping tooth to the door and activated the enchantment within. A soft click filled the air, and Aurick allowed himself a small smile as he placed a hand on the handle. With ease, he was able to open the door. Satisfied, he opened his mouth and painfully inserted the tooth back into place before moving on, wiping his blood off on the strange undergarments he wore. 

Looking out at the area beyond his cell, he silently thanked whatever god that watched over him. While spells were ineffective within an antimagic field, enchantments were still viable. A fact that his captors no doubt knew, having taken all his stuff. It was the main reason he got that tooth enchanted. 

Everyone always took the obvious, but why would you take a man’s tooth?

The area he was in now was a well lit hall, and he could clearly see similar cells further down. Though they seemed to be empty. Not that he particularly cared to check, a set of stairs led up behind him, and he had no doubt that was the exit. His goal was to find his clothes and to discover where he was. After that, he would attempt to return home. He had someone to chew out after all.

Pulling on his magic he was pleased to find the field did not extend beyond the cells themselves, and as such, he was swift to cast an invisibility spell on himself. Satisfied that he would not be spotted, the elf ascended the stairs, preparing himself for whatever awaited him above.


~-~


He stared into the room in shock.

Aurick had anticipated many things, not all of them pleasant, but what he ended up finding was not within his calculations. He had walked for a short time, scouring the rooms close to his place of holding in an effort to find any hints as to where his stuff was when he came across an unusual sight. 

One of these rooms was a small office of sorts. It seemed to have been in disuse, if the layer of dust was anything to go by. A maid, however, was within, doing their best to clean. At least, he could only assume it was a maid, based on the clothing it wore. 

What greeted him was no humanoid figure, in fact, it wasn’t even bipedal. The being that occupied the room, oblivious to his presence was an… equine. He wasn’t entirely sure what kind though, as its proportions were alien to him. What stuck out to him, however, was the horn atop its head. As such, he would hesitantly call it a unicorn for now, despite it looking nothing like the unicorns he was used to.

On top of the bizarre proportions of this… unicorn, the colours were a stark difference as well. While normal unicorns were typically coloured in some form of greyscale, generally leaning towards the lighter end of the scale, this unicorn was coloured as though it were drawn by a child. 

A pastel purple coat was paired with a bright pink mane and tail. They were styled in a way that reminded him of some of the nobles in Jarak. He didn’t particularly care for it. 

What he did care for was the fact that he heard it humming, and if he was hearing right… yes, it was singing too. It was quiet, likely being done under its breath, but it was speaking. That meant that he could potentially speak to it. 

Ask questions. 

Taking a deep breath, he loudly shut the door, startling the unicorn. The duster dropped from its grip, falling to the floor as it starred in his direction with wide eyes. 

“H-hello?” It called out in common, a fact that pleased Aurick. There would be no translation spell needed. Nodding to himself, he pressed a hand on the door behind him and cast a spell. The door magically locked, just before he encompassed the room in a soundproofing spell. The act made him drop his invisibility, revealing himself to the unicorn before him.

The unicorn in question screamed in shock falling back on its haunches as it desperately kicked its legs. The act was enough to help it clamber away from him, but it certainly wasn’t elegant in any sense of the word.

“So long as you answer my questions, I will not harm you.” He told it firmly, his gaze locked with its. “Do you understand?” The creature did not respond immediately, choosing instead to stare back at him with wide eyes. The fear was clear to him, but he did not particularly care at the moment. Not until he had his things back at least. A couple seconds had passed, and Aurick had crossed his arms, ready to say something further when the unicorn responded.

“I-I understand.” It said hesitantly with a clearly femenine voice. “Just, please, don't eat me.” Eat it? Her? Why would he do that? Doesn’t matter, it was speaking, and that was all that mattered. She would answer his questions.

“Where are my things?” He asked stepping closer towards the cowering unicorn, who’s eyes went wide at his approach. 

“I don’t know!” It desperately answered, attempting to crawl further away, but her back was to the wall. 

“Where do prisoner’s belongings go?” 

“Please. I don’t know!” She cried out, and he knew she was telling the truth. That didn’t mean he had to like it, however.

“Where are we?” 

“C-Canterlot Castle.” Was the response he received, and it made him angle his mouth in thought. He had never heard of a Canterlot Castle, though it wasn’t unlikely that he hadn’t heard of it, depending how far he had been teleported.

“What country?” Was the next question he asked, taking another step closer.

“Equestria!” Once more, it was a name he didn’t recognize. This was far less likely, as he had done some research on all known countries, kingdoms, and other such governments in the world. Perhaps it was a new one? Not unheard of, though unlikely, though it couldn’t hurt to question further.

“And what of Equestria’s neighbors?” 

“Uh... “ The unicorn looked away, a bead of sweat trailing down her face as she scrunched her muzzle in thought. “There’s the griffin empire… and the, uh…” As she trailed off Aurick took a deep breath. A thought coming upon him.

“Are we on the Material Plane?” The question seemed to cut off her line of thinking, and she looked at him with a hint of confusion.

“What’s the Material Plane?” A claw wrapped itself firmly around his heart as he heard that, fear trailing down his spine as it held him in its vice grip.

“Have you heard of Jarak?” She shook her head. “Ardenia? Estom? Va’el?” Each name he listed became more distressed than the last, and none were recognized by the unicorn before him. “This can’t be.” He muttered to himself as he lifted a hand to his head. He was starting to feel dizzy, and he knew he was panicking. 

He moved past the unicorn on the ground and sat down at the desk, a small cloud of dust shooting up around him. He didn’t mind it, though, his mind too focused on other things.

He barely even registered when the unicorn hesitantly scooted past him and made her way towards the door. He did, however, notice that her horn lit and he felt the locking spell fade away on the door. He didn’t bother to stop her as she swiftly fled the room, no doubt to alert the guards of the castle. 

He was too shaken to care about it. He simply couldn’t believe what his mind was telling him, but looking at the evidence, he couldn’t refute it. The powerful spell that caused his predicament, the… strange appearance of one of the locals, as well as a lack of knowledge about geography. Either he was in a very remote part of the world… or he was no longer on his own plane of existence. 

His mind, of course, leaned towards the latter. It was improbable, but not impossible. He had even met a person who had managed to cross the space between realms. It is a very difficult thing to accomplish, but certainly not impossible. He couldn’t help but fear that the powerful teleportation spell misfiring, along with a vast majority of his magical reserves powering it further was enough to tear through that space and send him through. 


~-~


Princess Celestia was having a wonderful day. She had just finished up day court, and was pleased that the ponies who petitioned her judgment were polite and accepted her decisions. Even the nobles she had to speak with earlier in the day were in a much better mood than normal. Everything was shaping up to be one of the best days she has had in years.

Of course, this all changed when a guard approached her. 

“Princess!” He called out, fear tingeing his voice. She turned to give him her attention as he neared. “T-the prisoner escaped.” He informed her hesitantly, seemingly sheepish about the guards failure to contain their prisoner.

“How? That room had been sealed tightly and covered with an antimagic field. Did he still have some form of enchanted item on him?” She asked calmly, whatever disappointment she held being expertly concealed. 

“We are unsure. We found blood in the cell, so he might have had one hidden inside himself.” Celestia nodded at that. If this were true, then this creature was clever. A dangerous trait when held by enemies. She had hoped he would prove to be a neutral party, but this certainly didn’t help his case. She could only hope it was a misunderstanding that fueled his actions, instead of malicious intent. 

“A maid also seemed to have an encounter with him.” The guard continued, regaining her attention.

“What happened?” She demanded, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“She claimed it asked her a number of questions before becoming distressed and sitting down in one of the unused offices. I have set a number of guards to keep an eye on this office, but he has not left.” 

“Are you certain he is still in there?” Celestia asked. If he was capable of escaping the cell, he could certainly have a couple tricks more up his sleeve.

“We are. A trained mage is with the group at the door and is running a continuous detection spell upon the room. If he leaves, we’ll know about it.” Celestia nodded in acknowledgement. Her ponies had done good. They already knew not to engage what could potentially be a dangerous foe. That was her job, and she had to hope that things could be resolved peacefully. He had done no harm to her ponies as of yet, so she had a good feeling about it. Still, it never hurt to be careful.

“Lead me to him.”
> Ch 3: Dinner (Revised)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Princess Celestia, one of the diarchs of Equestria, took a deep, calming breath as she stood in front of the door. She had found herself in the middle of what could possibly be a very fragile situation. She knew if she didn’t handle things correctly then it could go south quite quickly.

Beyond this door was a creature of unknown abilities, who had managed to escape one of her most secure cells. He was likely agitated from discovering himself within said cell, and if the maid was to be believed, even more so from whatever answers he had received from her. 

Exhaling through her nose, she glanced towards one of the unicorn guards that stood around her. With a nod, the guard’s horn glowed bright, surrounding the door’s handle and slowly opening it. 

Beyond the threshold was a mostly barren office. A wooden desk, bookshelves, and chairs were all present. The occupant, however, was what gained her full attention. Sitting at the desk, his hands clasped in each other’s grasp and used to support his head, was the creature. His eyes were closed, but she knew better than to assume he was oblivious to her presence. She had seen his muscles tense when the door opened, as well as his brow furrowing, even with how slight it was. 

Stepping into the room, her movements were slow and measured, as to not startle the creature. She still held hope to end all of this peacefully after all. 

When she had fully crossed the threshold, the door gently shut behind her, just as she had ordered her guard to do. Now they were alone in the room, and Celestia took the opportunity to study the creature before her. 

He cut a slim figure. Whatever muscle he had seemed to be slight, though Celestia wasn’t particularly surprised by this. She wagered he was a mage, and what she had heard of his escape only corroborated this idea. 

The muscle mass upon his form was not the part that had initially caught her eye, however. It was the number of scars that littered his skin. It was clear to the solar princess that this creature had seen his fair share of battle. If he turned hostile, he might be difficult to restrain before he did damage. Damage she would not like to see occur.

Her determination redoubled, she lifted her gaze to find that he had opened his eyes. He seemed to be observing her as much as she had observed him. 

“I wish only to speak.” Celestia informed him in her most calming of voices. He did not seem to react further than narrowing his eyes slightly, but after a few moments he responded.

“I take it you are the head of this castle?” He asked in a level voice. She noticed his eyes flicking up to her hair before swiftly returning to her. She could see an understanding in his eyes, and it was then that she knew him as a mage. It was obscure knowledge that Celestia’s hair blew in a nonexistent wind for medical reasons. 

She had far too much magical strength for her body to safely contain. As such, she expended the excess energies in a safe format. That being the ethereal wind her mane had been perpetually caught in. Such knowledge was only ever found by mages that had studied magic extensively. 

“That I am.” She responded to his question with a nod. Stepping closer, she could see him tense up, seemingly prepared for an attack of some sort. Of course, Celestia would disappoint him as she had no intention of being the first to strike. “I am Princess Celestia.”

“Then perhaps you could inform me as to why I was held within a cell?” Celestia fought the frown that threatened to break her mask of calm. His failure to offer a name came off as obvious mistrust. A feeling she couldn’t fault him for harboring, based on his situation. 

“There are many mysteries surrounding you and your arrival. I would be foolish to not take precautions in the case that you were a hostile entity.” Celestia informed him, trying her best to make her words as inoffensive as possible. 

“A fair point.” He mumbled to himself, glancing towards the empty bookshelf. He had done so discreetly, but she had been playing this game for a long time. Following his short peek, she noticed magic sigils drawn in the dust, awaiting activation. He was clever, indeed.

“I believe I should state that I wish us to resolve this peacefully.” Celestia told him, now aware that there could very well be a number of traps within this room. She very much doubted they could do much harm to her, but they would give him time to escape and potentially hurt her subjects. A future she did not wish to incite. 

“If that were so, then I would be more amicable to conversation with my belongings returned to me.” The pair faced each other in silence for a few moments more as Celestia weighed the pros and cons of the request. Eventually, she found herself acquiescing to his desire.

“Very well.” With a swift flash of her horn, a trunk appeared on the desk between them. The creature had become rigid when her horn lit up, but he made no aggressive action. She took this as a small sign of trust from him. The moment the chest appeared before him, he swiftly stood and opened it, inspecting the contents. 

The creature spent the next ten minutes donning his gear. A shirt, pants, and a long white cloak were the first to come up. Next was a series of rings, which the creature placed on each of his slender fingers, amongst other things. The moment he placed the last item upon himself, the creature seemed to sag in relief. He calmly sat down in his chair once more, but Celestia noticed a slight upturn to his lips.

Celestia could tell that the creature was significantly more confident now that his belongings had been returned to him. To the point where he had extended a hand across the space between them. One that she reached a hoof out to meet before they shook.

“I am Aurick, Leader of Ragnarok, and advisor to King Jurda.” One of Celestia’s brows raised involuntarily as he introduced himself. She now sincerely hoped they would arrive at a peaceful conclusion based on his status. Of course, now this meant she had to treat him as a foreign diplomat. 

She did not wish to start a war.

“I apologize for the misunderstanding that has happened today, Sir Aurick.” Celestia said, bowing her head slightly to show her honesty. 

“There is no need for that.” He responded with a wave of his hand. “I can wager what my appearance was like. I can not fault you for looking after your subjects. And if you would, please drop the ‘sir’.”

“Of course. I believe there are many things we must discuss, but…” Celestia gestured around the dusty room. “We should take this elsewhere. Would you care to join me for dinner?” He opened his mouth to answer, but his own stomach decided to take the initiative.

“Perhaps food might be a good idea.”


~-~


Aurick stepped through the halls, adjusting the placement of his rings so that they sat just right upon his fingers. He was fairly surprised that this winged unicorn had returned his stuff to him. Certainly not so readily, at least. 

He wouldn’t complain, however. He was protected by his enchantments once more. Should something go wrong, it wouldn’t be too difficult to make a hasty retreat. Of course, he would prefer these talks of peace to come to fruition. If his assumption turned out to be true, he would need to start making allies. Fast.

He doubted he had the means to travel back to his own plane. Not safely. This was the result of a spell gone out of hand. Recreating such a situation would be difficult, not to mention directing it towards his desired destination. 

No. If his hunch was correct, and he wanted to go home, then he would need the help of powerful beings. Thankfully one such being seemed to be leading him through her castle’s halls. 

“I must inform you that we will not be dining alone.” Celestia told him as they turned down a new hall. A seemingly innocuous set of double doors sat half way down, but the princess had angled herself for it.

“Who else would be joining us?” Aurick asked with a minor amount of suspicion. A voice in the back of his mind told him this could be a trap. That she had taken him to a more secluded part of the castle in order to recapture him. Another voice told him that she would have no reason to tell him of anyone else if that were the case. A point which the other voice conceded on. 

“My sister shall be attending, as well as my student.” Celestia responded, nodding to herself as they neared the door. 

“Very well.” Seemingly pleased with the answer, Celestia’s magic flared, opening the door before them and revealing a rather average looking dining room. It looked more like what you’d find in a servant’s quarters, but a bit more elegant. He merely assumed that the princess had grown bored of extravagant dining rooms and opted to have a more personal one built. 

Sitting at the table where two more of these equine creatures, though one of them had garnered his attention first. It was another winged unicorn, coloured a dark blue. Her mane, similarly to Celestia’s, blew in an ethereal wind and seemed to display the image of the night sky. Though upon closer examination, he could see that it was animated, as a star shot through the view. She nursed a steaming brew of coffee in her magic, peering over it at their entrance. She didn’t look particularly pleased.

He could only assume this to be Celestia’s sister. 

The other figure was much more mundane than the sisters. It was a unicorn, coloured purple. Her mane was mostly purple, but contained strips of lighter shades. It stared wide eyed at Aurick the moment it heard the door open and saw him enter. 

It was clear to him that the look wasn’t one of fear, but of awe and curiosity. He anticipated many questions coming from it.

Celestia gestured to one of the chairs around the table. He was quick to seat himself, his fingers lacing between each other as he rested his elbows on the table. Celestia seated herself opposite him, leaving her sister on his right, and her student on the left. 

“Aurick, this is my sister, Princess Luna.” She gestured towards the dark being, who nodded, her narrow gaze locked on his. “And this is my star pupil, Twilight.” The purple unicorn happily extended a hoof, which Aurick shook after a moment.

“As I have informed Princess Celestia, I am Aurick. Leader of the adventuring party Ragnarok, as well as advisor to King Jurda.” The information made Luna’s brow furrow, a result that he anticipated. 

Under normal circumstances, he would not flaunt his titles so readily. However, in this situation, they were undoubtedly beneficial to him. As an advisor to the King, the princesses would more than likely start thinking of him as a foreign diplomat, meaning it would buy him plenty of time to work himself into their good graces.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of this… King Jurda.” Luna’s voice betrayed her suspicions of him, but it wasn’t outright hostile. It didn’t stop the slight frown from crossing his face. If the leader of a nation hadn’t heard of Jurda… 

“Can I see a map of the known world?” The princess shared a glance before Celestia nodded. Her magic swift to summon a map in front of Aurick. 

He took a moment to inspect it, searching for anything he could find familiar about it. As he did so, his face grew harder, his eyes narrowing and his brows furrowed in consternation. With a shaky breath he pushed the map away, his fears seemingly confirmed. 

He was in another plane of existence. Alone. No companions. No allies. No way back with his own power. 

He suddenly felt very small.

“Is everything okay?” He heard Celestia ask, a notable amount of concern was audible in her voice. He was quick to regain his composure, but it wasn’t a perfect facade. His lips were still curled downwards when he looked up at the princess. 

“I am perfectly fine.” He knew it was a lie, and it seemed as though the princesses did too, as both of them shared a glance. The only one who seemed oblivious to this was Twilight, who had been silent this whole time. 

“You don’t know where you are, do you?” Celestia asked, glancing down at the map. Aurick was notably displeased at having been called out so readily, but he knew it was a topic he would have to broach eventually. He simply wished to do so when he could be more assured of their disposition towards him.

“What do you know of interdimensional travel?” He asked with a sigh. It took them a moment, but a silence soon fell over the room. 

“B-but that should be impossible!” Twilight finally spoke, and it seemed as though her voice had been building up, as she shouted quite loudly. Loudly enough that she had hopped to her hind hooves and placed her front ones on the table to support her. She quickly realized that she had an outburst, however, and sheepishly sat back down.

“Though not impossible, we find this highly improbable.” Luna spoke up, nodding to the red faced unicorn. “Such magics could only be cast by beings of immense power. You do not appear to be one such being.” 

“No. No, I am not.” Aurick confirmed with a hard glare towards the lunar themed creature. “Though I have a number of reasons for this having happened all the same. I care not to explain them all, but the cause of which, I believe you will ask of anyways. It being the reason I’m here at all.” 

Celestia and Luna nodded, while Twilight seemed to have summoned a notepad and looked ready to record all that he said. Under normal circumstances, he might have told her off, but he did not wish to whatever little favor he had with the princesses. 

“I had been preparing a room for an intricate and powerful enchantment.” Aurick was not oblivious to the rising of Luna’s brow, nor the sparkles that shimmered in Twilight's eyes at the mention of enchanting. “The process had taken almost a year, but it was soon coming to fruition. The night I had likely appeared here, I was finalizing my work and enchanting the central spell focus. It was a long, drawn out process, as I had to connect the enchantment to various other minute enchantments that had been set up over the months. 

“Everything was perfectly fine, however, one of my companions seemed to have forgotten the golden rule and interrupted me in the process. My focus lost, the magic became wild, drawing in all my magical energy and casting the teleportation spell I had been enchanting. With all the power placed in the enchantment network over the months, as well as my own reserves at that time. I believe there was enough power to force a tear in reality, sending me through to this plane of existence.” His recounting of events finished, Aurick clasped his hands together and awaited the creatures before him to soak in what he had said.

“So you claim that there was enough power within this failed enchantment to elevate it to a level that would normally be reserved for god-like beings?” Luna asked with no small amount of skepticism in her voice. 

“That is precisely what I am claiming.” Aurick responded, meeting her gaze. She seemed to consider him for a moment before nodding. 

“Sister, Twilight. I am not quite familiar with enchantment, myself. Do you know if what he claims is plausible?” 

Twilight lightly tapped a hoof against her chin in thought before speaking. “I don’t know. The enchantment process was never well documented.” 

“I am unsure as well.” Celestia spoke, her eyes on Aurick, but sparing a glance towards her sister. “Enchanting is a rather rare talent, and those that laid claim to it were rare to write their discoveries. It is sadly one of the most unknown methods of magic.” 

“I see a thousand years has not remedied that.” Luna mumbled to herself, but it was just loud enough for Aurick to pick up. He had to restrain a look of surprise on his face as he heard it, however. A thousand years was a long time. How old were these creatures? 

“I see no reason for him to lie about this.” Celestia told her sister, who seemed to think on this for a few moments before nodding.

“Yes, it is a rather far fetched claim to use as a lie, as well.” Luna muttered before returning her gaze to Aurick. “Very well, we shall believe that you hail from a separate dimension. This does not bode well for you, however.” Aurick couldn’t help his eyes narrowing in suspicion at her words. 

“Why would that be?” His voice was cautious, as though he were speaking to a tiger ready to pounce.

“You wish to go home, yes?” Aurick responded with a nod.

“I’m sorry to say that it is not a possibility at the moment.” Celestia informed him with a sympathetic sigh. “The only being strong enough for such a thing is creature of chaos. He has been trapped in stone for many years, and he shall not be freed.”

“So… what you’re saying is…”

“I’m sorry. You are stuck here.” Silence fell over them all. Long and awkward it was, as Aurick let this new information sink in. 

He had accepted the fact that he was in another plane of existence. Accepted that he would be spending time here. However, that was with the assumption that he would be able to return home. That he would be able to gain the favor of some entity that could send him back. 

Now… now he felt hollow. His eyes stared blankly into the table as he thought of all this meant. He would never be able to see his companions again. Never speak to his family again. All the people he knew, stricken from the life. 

Leaving him all alone. 

It seemed the servants decided this was a fine time to deliver food, as the entrance opened and a cart rolled in. To be fair to them, they gave an excellent service. The trays were set before them with speed and finesse, resulting in the servants departure in a mere ten seconds. 

“So, uh… y-you’re an enchanter?” Twilight asked, finally breaking the silence that had grown so dense between them.

“Huh?” Luckily for her, it was enough to pull Aurick out of his own thoughts for a moment. Just long enough for him to realize what kind of situation he was in. Taking a quick breath, Aurick tried his best to regain his composure. Now was not the time to have a mental breakdown. 

“You know how to enchant?” Twilight repeated the question, slightly more confident now as she lifted a fork and stabbed it into one of the many vegetables on her plate. 

“Oh, yes. It’s my specialty.” Aurick replied, happy to speak of something other than the fact he would never see anyone he knew ever again. 

“I hope you don’t mind me saying so,” Celestia interjected, “but I believe such a specialty will assist you very much here.” 

“Right, you said it was a rare talent, yes?” Celestia confirmed his question with a nod.

“Yes, and as far as I am aware, this makes you the only enchanter in the known world.” Aurick’s eyes widened considerably. “I’m willing to bet you can imagine the market for your talent.” 

“In fact,” Luna started, the workings of a smirk upon her face, “there’s a position open in the castle for-”

“No.” Aurick cut her off before she could finish the offer, leaving her flabbergasted. “I’m sorry, but I will not work under another crown.” 

Luna looked as though she would respond, but Celestia beat her to the punch. “That’s perfectly understandable, Aurick. We would not ask you to betray your loyalty to your king.” She told him, a meaningful glance being thrown at Luna.

“Yes,” the lunar themed mare said with a bit of annoyance, “I apologize for speaking poorly.” Aurick merely nodded as he finally took a look down at his food. 

He blinked in surprise when he found a large serving of meat upon his platter. Of course, that wasn’t the only thing on there, but it was certainly the most surprising. He opened his mouth to ask about it, but Celestia was quicker.

“We have meat in storage to appease our more carnivorous guests.” Celestia explained, and Aurick remembered seeing a Gryphon Empire on that map he saw.

“How did you know I ate meat?” He asked in the stead of his previous question.

“When you emerged on the other end of that spell, you were injured.” Luna was the one to respond this time. “We healed you, and during the process, we took note of your canines.” Satisfied with the answer, Aurick speared a chunk of meat with his fork and brought it to his mouth. 

The moment it touched his tongue, flavour seemed to explode in his mouth. Despite the news he had received minutes prior, he couldn’t help but smile. It was the juiciest piece of meat he had ever consumed. He wasted no time in tearing into the feast on the platter before him, his stomach making its hunger known to him once more. 

The rest of the group seemed to take his example, as conversation halted as they all stuffed themselves. Of course, that didn’t stop a couple brief instances of talk being had. Primarily between the three mare. 

Eventually, his platter was cleared, and the elf patted his belly in satisfaction. 

“I take it the food was to your liking?” Celestia asked with a knowing smile. 

“Hmm.” Aurick hummed positively.

“I hate to break the peace,” Luna cut in, earning Aurick’s attention, “but what do you plan to do now?” 

He blinked at her for a moment before leaning his head back and looking towards the ceiling as he thought of that. He didn’t particularly know what he would do, but he knew he had to think of something. 

“I guess I’ll just go somewhere nice and set up shop.” He replied noncommittally, only to hear a gasp from his left.

“What about Ponyville?” Twilight asked, excitement clear in her voice. He couldn’t help but scoff at the name, but shrugged all the same.

“I take it that’s your place of residence?” His question was quickly answered by a nod and wide smile. “Very well, I will defer to your judgement on locals.” 

“I would recommend you be wary of the Everfree if you do go there.” Celestia warned. “It’s a dangerous place, where the magic runs free and monsters are in abundance.” 

“Certainly sounds interesting. Tell me, would I be paid if I were to clear out some of these creatures?” Celestia and Luna shared a look before he received a nod from both.

“Contracts are put out by the mayor.” Luna responded. “Another means of income should you believe yourself capable.”

“Though we would recommend learning more of these monsters before you so readily accept such dangerous missions.” Celestia chimed in.

“Oh! You can probably find a codex in the archives!” Twilight happily exclaimed. “I could show you if you like.” 

“I believe I shall take you up on that offer.” Aurick nodded with a small smile.

“A swell idea.” Celestia commented, a smile of her own upon her muzzle. “However, I am afraid me and Luna must depart.”

“Indeed, duty calls us.” Luna confirmed as the pair of them stood from their seats.

“Twilight, please bring Aurick to one of the guest rooms when you are finished tonight.” The purple unicorn nodded in understanding. “Have a good evening, Aurick.” Having said all they wished to say, the pair stepped away from the table and exited the dining room. 

“So… would you like to go to the archives?” Twilight asked after a few moments of silence.

“Yes… There are likely many things I must learn there.” Aurick nodded, standing up from his own chair. Moments later, they had left the dining room behind in their journey towards the archives.
> Ch 4: The Best Spy (Revised)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The pair of Princesses reconvened in Luna’s study. It was modest in size, with a dark blue carpet replacing the normal white tiles. The walls and ceiling were painted to depict the night sky. It was done by Luna herself a short time after her return. Various shelves lined the walls, covered with ancient artifacts and pieces of monster biology. A dark desk sat in the center of the room with two chairs before it. The sisters stood over the desk, staring at a map of Equestria, and some reports.

“Alright, sister. What has happened?” Celestia asked the dark alicorn, who was scowling at the map.

“The guards were able to apprehend the scientist, Test Tube, as well as a number of his unfinished experiments.” Luna’s frown did not lighten.

“That’s good, but I assume something went wrong?”

“Yes. During the raid, he unleashed his completed project. A mare that had been turned into a living weapon and was supposed to obey him. Luckily, that part of the experiment seems to have failed, as once she was released she fled.” Celestia joined her sister in a scowl.

“That’s not good. Do we have any information on her? Any idea of where she might go?”

Luna sighed and lined up a number of documents before her sister. On them were various animals and a list of properties. “Her name was Inkheart, a reclusive writer that no one had known disappeared. According to the experiment notes, she took to the genetic magic perfectly, and had been changed far beyond Test Tube’s initial desires.” She tapped a hoof on the documents. “This is a list of the creatures that had been used, as well as the resulting traits they gave her.”

Celestia nodded and read over them. Luna had already read them numerous times and could recite them by heart. Though that heart was heavy with rage at what had been done to one of her subjects.

A dragon had been used to make her aggressive and desire a fight. A dangerous addition on it’s own, but Inkheart’s teeth became deadly sharp, and were strong enough to break diamonds. She became venomous with the addition of a snake, allowing her to pump a target with a paralyzing neurotoxin. The worst part was that she had full control over it, so when she was finally captured, it couldn’t be extracted. A wolf had been used to attempt to give her a pack mentality, with Test Tube as the alpha, but that had evidently failed. It did, however, replace her hooves with paws. A result that had the scientist use various animals to strengthen the claws of his experiment. By the time he was done, she was capable of clawing through steel. There was more, but Test Tube had started burning all his notes during the raid, and this was all she could recover.

“This…” Celestia sighed and rubbed her temples, “this is troubling.” She stacked the papers up and placed them in the far corner of the desk before turning to Luna. “Do you have a plan? Any idea of where she might be headed?”

“Based on the information, our guards wouldn’t be able to do anything about her. They’d be slaughtered. I think the best course of action is to have them trail her, and once they’ve confirmed where she has settled, from there... I will think of something.” Celestia bit her lip and looked at her sister.

Celestia frowned and shook her head. “What about Aurick? Perhaps he could be of use in this?”

“He is an unnecessary risk I will not inflict upon this task, sister.” Luna replied, her gaze hard as she met Celestia’s gaze. A point which she seemed to concede with a sigh.

“I understand, your caution, Luna. However, I believe if this mare is truly as dangerous as these notes imply, then our guards will need all the help they can get.” Luna opened her mouth to reply, but Celestia continued on. “He need not play a direct part in this, but his abilities as an enchanter could prove useful for elevating our guard’s defensive capabilities. Your own ‘spy’ being a perfect example.”

Luna fought to keep the smirk off her face, but failed in the end. “I should have known you’d notice Light Step in the hall.” 

“I didn’t, but I know you well enough, sister.” Celestia replied with a teasing jab to her shoulder. 

“Perhaps. Still, I shall think on what you have proposed. Should he prove himself capable, it would certainly be a useful boon to our ponies.”

“It certainly would.” 

~-~


Aurick walked alongside Twilight. It was now that he truly noticed the disparity in their heights. Celestia stood almost as tall as him if you discounted the horn, but Twilight’s own head barely reached his stomach. He certainly wasn’t a stranger to people of such heights, but to think that this would become the norm… 

He certainly hoped whatever home he got would be a decent size for someone of his stature.

“So, is there anything else you want to read about while we’re at the archives?” Twilight asked, breaking the silence. “There should be plenty of books to cover anything you would want.” 

“Perhaps it would behoove me to begin familiarizing myself with this world. It’s not as though I can leave.” He spoke the final sentence with a bit of irritation in his voice. Aware of the slip, he sighed and waved his hand in a pacifying manner when he saw Twilight start looking awkward. “Sorry. I believe I would like to better understand the various races here. I’d rather not run into any social faux pas because of my ignorance.”

“Oh, that’ll be easy!” Twilight happily exclaimed, earning a nod out of the elf beside her. A new smile upon her face, Twilight went silent, alongside Aurick. It was perfectly quiet in the hallway, discounting the sound of their steps. It was here that he heard it.

An extra set of steps behind him. 

He resisted the urge to snort in amusement. He had a feeling they would place an eye on him, but he had assumed it would not be one he could detect so easily. Then again, they might not have been aware of just how keen an elf’s hearing could be.

Either way, now he knew for a fact that he was being followed. A fact that he would have to deal with in one manner or another. However, he would not take action for now. It would only become a problem when he retired to whatever room the princesses have deigned to give him. 

For now, he would focus on learning what he could. He didn’t care if his shadow read over his shoulder, so long as he was not disturbed in his studies.


~-~


The sun had long since set beyond the horizon when Twilight brought him to the room he would be staying in for the time being. If he were to be honest, it looked rather nice, though it certainly wasn’t the type of place he would normally hole up in. 

His preferred domain was more akin to the stronghold he lived in at home. A large, stone structure that was well defensible. Perhaps that was a result of his years as an adventurer, but he felt much more at home in such a place. 

Allowing a sigh to slip through his nostrils, he stepped further into the room provided to him. Without hesitation, he sat upon the bed, feeling the soft mattress depress under his weight.

“I’d prefer to be alone tonight.” He called out to the seemingly empty room. Of course, he received no reply. With a slight frown, he cast a short spell. One that would allow him to see through invisibility. 

The moment he cast it, he caught sight of a pony in his periphery. She was dressed in purple armour and was grey in colouration. A short cropped mane of blue rested on her head, between a pair of fluffy looking ears. A pair of fangs hung from her mouth. That, alongside the slitted eyes and the bat wings, marked her as a thestral.

“That means you.” He reaffirmed his previous statement, staring down the hidden pony. She looked shocked, her eyes widening as she took an instinctive step back.

“H-how did you know?” She asked in a raspy voice, her invisibility fading now that it was useless to her. 

“I am no fool. Of course they would place a spy on me.” Aurick replied with a slight frown.

“That doesn’t explain how you could see me!” 

Aurick simply rolled his eyes and wiggled his fingers at her before uttering a single word. “Magic.” 

“Er…” 

“Look, you may stalk me all you please. I don’t particularly care. However, when I enter my chambers, I would appreciate you respecting my privacy.” Aurick informed her in a strict voice, hoping to get across the idea that he would not back down from this point.

“...but, my orders are to-” 

“I frankly don’t give a damn about your orders!” Aurick growled at her, before he realized what he had done. He took a deep, calming breath before addressing her again. “Look. I have had a long day. Your position has been compromised and your mission is pointless. A target that knows he is being spied upon will garner you no useful information. Now, please leave me be.”

“Uh… o-okay.” The thestral awkwardly sidestepped his gaze as she tried to make her way to the door. His gaze was unrelenting, glaring at her until the moment the door shut behind her and he was alone.

The moment he was, any semblance of calm was stripped away as a tear fell down his face. 

“Why did this have to happen?” He silently asked himself as he placed his head into his hands, sobs wracking his body as he sat there.

Alone.
> Ch 5: A Quick Breakfast
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aurick did not sleep well. He kept falling in and out of sleep and despite his time, it was as restless as if he had stalked the castle all night. So when morning came, with songbirds singing and light peering in from outside, he attempted to hide under his pillow. Sadly, his reprieve from the morning activities was cut short by a knocking at his door. He had attempted to ignore it, but the obnoxious sound continued as though it were there to spite him. 

With a groan of annoyance, the elven man relented and emerged from his comfortable fort. “I’m coming!” He grumbled as he grabbed his cloak and threw it over himself before approaching the accursed door. Upon opening it, he was met with a the visage of a guard, his hoof raised to knock again. A hard glare made the stallion nervously return the hoof to the floor. 

“Uh, heh.” The guard looked away nervously, clearly a little afraid of the towering figure. “ The, uh, the Princesses wished to invite you to breakfast… sir.” Aurick couldn't help but sigh. This was why the stallion was banging on his door like that? 

“Fine. Gimme a moment and you can bring me there.” He said, before shutting the door on the guard. Normally he wouldn't be so crass, but he was having a bad morning. He quickly grabbed his boots and put them on. He quickly realized the clothes he had on now were the only ones he owned in this world. With a groan, Aurick made a mental note to find someone to make him new clothes. Once he donned all the things he owned, he entered the bathroom to freshen up. 

A single look in the mirror destroyed any hope of that. The man’s hair was a mess. Of course, his hair was usually fairly messy, but the way it was looked far worse than usual. It stuck out at odd angles, and looked like a couple of knots got tied in it somehow. He sighed as he grabbed the brush on the counter and tried his best to make himself look somewhat presentable. Even after his surprisingly successful attempt, he still looked like shit. 

His eyes were red from the tears he had shed, and they appeared to be bloodshot around the edges. He looked like he was half asleep as well. The best he could do to remedy this was to splash cold water on his face. It wasn’t much, but he looked a bit more alert now. He took in his appearance with a sigh before exiting the bathroom.

The guard was still waiting for him outside the door, having taken position next to it. He looked up at the elf who simply nodded in return. The stallion returned the nod and began to walk off, his legs a little stiff. Nothing was said during their trip to the dining room, though Aurick did take note that Lieutenant Light Step had resumed her duty and was following him unseen. 

Upon entering, he was met with a similar sight to last time. The three sat at the table nursing a cup of coffee, or in Celestia’s case, tea. They looked up upon his entry, Twilight and Celestia giving him a warm smile. Luna still had an impassive stare.

“Wow, you look…” Twilight said, her smile becoming more forced when she noticed his appearance.

“Like shit. I didn’t sleep too well.” Twilight just nodded with a faint blush as he took a seat. Luna looked as if she had just found the answer to a question that had been bugging her. 

“Hope you’re research was fruitful, at least.” Celestia spoke, a tender smile on her face.

“For the most part. I looked into the Everfree, just to make sure I wasn’t getting in over my head. As far as I could find, I won’t have much issue unless I run into the Hydra. Even then, I’ll probably make some safety items so I can make an escape if I need to.” The elf replied, even as a servant came in ad brought him a coffee. He didn’t know how they did it, but it was the best coffee he ever had. They probably used some sort of machine. 

“Oh? What kind of items would those be?” Luna asked, her desire to know evident, despite her passive appearance. 

“The primary one would be a ring that I could use to teleport away. The issue is that those require diamonds and they can only be used once before the thing shatters.” The royal sisters glanced at each other for a moment, before Celestia decided to speak.

“How hard are they to produce?” It was clear to Aurick that the princesses were trying to see if he would make them some. 

“They’re not a multilayered enchantment like what brought me here. It’d only take me about half an hour to produce one. Though, I should warn you. If you want me to make some for you, I’d need to build a focus stone somewhere. The teleportation enchantment has a tendency to place people in walls and floors, so to stop that from happening, we’ll need a set location for the rings to send you. Which would be the focus stone.” The royal pair nodded whilst Twilight was writing down what he had said. 

“If you are willing, we’d like to request some of these. In exchange, we will cover the expenses of a house in Ponyville for you.” Aurick hadn’t even thought about that. He didn’t have his money anymore. He was broke. 

“Sure.” He replied instantly. He didn’t know the price of a house, but if they were anything like they were in Jarak, then a couple hours of work was more than a good deal. 

“Good. If you would give me a list of required materials after breakfast I’ll be sure to get them to you. In the mean time, Twilight?” The purple mare looked up at her mentor. “Would you be so kind as to look into available houses for Aurick. I’m sure he doesn’t want to stay in the castle for too long, lest he get caught up in some political game.” 

“Of course, Princess.” She smiled before turning towards Aurick. “I think I know just the place for you too. I’ll just need to look into its price and if it needs repairs.” 

“And what kind of place is that?” 

“There’s a large house just outside of town that’s been abandoned for a long time. No one wants to live there because it’s so close to the Everfree. So it probably wouldn’t cost all that much, but it’s more than likely a little broken down.” Aurick nodded and placed a hand to his chin as he thought about it for a moment.

“I guess that works. I could set up some wards so that the monsters wouldn’t be able to approach. I guess it depends on how long it takes to repair.” 

“Okay. I’ll look into some other places, just in case.” 

The rest of breakfast devolved into small talk. A couple of questions were asked about Aurick’s homeland, but they stopped after they saw it visibly bring his mood down. After that, they mostly talked about life in Equestria, and what Ponyville was like. Overall, Aurick enjoyed the experience. Sadly, it couldn’t last forever, as the Princesses still had a country to run. Aurick informed them of the materials he’d need for the rings and the focus stone, and they told him that he’d have them in about a half hour before they left.
> Ch 6: More Work?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aurick was lying down in bed. Initially, he had intended to get some sleep, seeing as he hadn’t gotten too much overnight. Sadly, much like the night, sleep would not come. So he instead sat there, left with nothing but his own mind. His own mind that, despite his determination to move on, still wandered to what he had lost. 

Not wanting to think of that, he instead tried to think of what he had gained in the situation. For one he had gained the favor of a diarchy. That could only be a good thing. Or at least they were friendly towards him. He very likely would have a secure job that had little to no risk to his life. That was a plus. New lands to explore. Advanced technology that he had not thought about. What they used in the bathroom was interesting to him. What else could these ponies have invented? 

Perhaps there was means of traveling the country faster than horseback. Perhaps they invented a means to make farming easier. Or on that note, make food not spoil. There were plenty of things that his world had that he assumed they didn’t, with the lack of enchanting and all that. Yet they seemed to get by with technology despite that. Perhaps enchanting was a bit of a crutch in his world, and hindered their technological advances? Either way, there was plenty for him to learn about this world. Plenty to keep his mind off his old one. 

He paused in his thoughts, a tightness in his throat as images of landscapes crossed through his mind. Icy tundras, a magical forest, a lake with a dark hole in the center…

He was going to get a house! 

His own house. He’d never lived on his own before. He always had his parents, or the people at the academy, or his friends, but now he was alone… all alone.

Thankfully, the sound of knocking brought his mind into the present. He yawned as he stood up, rubbing the back of his neck and lumbered towards the door. The lack of aggressive knocking let him know it wasn’t a guard. To his lack of surprise, it was Twilight who interrupted his thoughts. What an angel. 

“Hey, Aurick.” She greeted him as he let her in. She immediately hopped onto the bed, lying down in the way that animals do. “So I got good news.” 

“Oh? Hopefully not too good. I don’t want to deal with karma today.” He joked, glad to get his mind off the depressing stuff. Hopefully it had something to do with his house. He was actually getting mildly excited about that. 

“Remember that house I told you about during breakfast?” He nodded as he sat in the chair at his desk. “Well it’s going to need some repairs. That’s to be expected, though. The good thing is that it’ll only take about two days to fix up and furnish.” She gave him a big grin with that last sentence, clearly pleased with herself. Aurick couldn’t help but smile too. 

“That’s great! Now I need to figure out how to advertise my business.” He brought a hand to his chin as he thought of posters and signs. 

“I might know how to help with that.” Twilight told him, grinning even more.

“Well, go on then.” He twirled his hand in a motion to continue. 

“You asked for gems for the rings, do you need gems for all your enchanting?” Aurick shook his head.

“Only for the stronger spells. If I use a gem with a weaker spell, that’ll just give it an extended shelf life. If the spell’s weak enough, I could make it so that it’d never need a recharge.” Twilight looked pleased with the response. 

“Then I think I’ve got an idea. If you come to Ponyville with me tomorrow, I’m sure my friend will throw you a party. You can show off some items you enchanted while you’re there, and do some minor enchantments for free as a one time deal.” The smile turned back into a grin and she clopped her hooves together. “It’d introduce you to the town and show them what you can do!” It wasn’t a bad idea. It was pretty good in fact.

“I like it. I’ve got a few items on me that might be good to show off, so they could see that it’s not just little party tricks. Still probably gonna need some signs or something.”

“Probably, but this’ll at least get your name out there.” Aurick nodded and sat back in his chair. 

“Yeah, that’d be good. How do you think they’ll react to me?” 

“Hmm.” Twilight paused, placing a hoof to her chin as she thought about it. “They might be a little nervous, but I don’t think they’ll hide like with Zecora.” Aurick couldn’t help but raise a brow. “Zecora’s a zebra that lives in the Everfree. People thought she was some dark shaman or something because of that, so they all hid whenever she came into town. It took a bit of effort, but the town accepted her eventually.” That didn’t bode well, but if Twilight said it’d be fine, Aurick would believe her. If they didn’t like him then they would miss out. So long as the Princesses had a continued need of his services, he’d be fine. And seeing as he seemed to be the only one who could enchant anything, they very well might.

“Alright. That works for me.” 

“Great. You can stay with me that night. The princesses already paid for the house and the repairs are getting done as we speak, so they should finish the day after that.” That gave him pause. She was nice enough, but the mare came off as a little strange around him. It was only a day though. She wasn’t weird enough to watch him sleep, unlike a certain spy he knew.

“Sure.” He said after a moment. He could deal with a little weirdness. She seemed happy about that, if the smile was anything to go by. 

“Then I’ll go get everything settled.” She said, getting off of the bed, her smile growing. “I’ll need a list!” Aurick simply shook his head as the purple unicorn left the room. She was weird all right, but maybe it was starting to grow on him a little. 

He was left with nothing to do in the empty room, and he definitely didn’t want to go back to his thoughts before the interruption. He took the opportunity to go back to the archives and read up on more of Equestria. Namely, the economics. If he was to start a business, he’d need to know how to price his services. 


~-~


Aurick was only halfway through one of the books when he was interrupted. The sound of hooves was muffled on the carpet, but Aurick was notoriously hard to sneak up on. Or so he had been told. So he had already looked up by the time Luna rounded the corner. 

“Ah. I had been told you would be here.” She said with her usual disinterested expression. 

“And you found me. Good job, detective.” He responded with a smirk.

“Indeed.” She moved closer, taking a seat in the other comfortable chair. “Economics?” She raised a brow when she saw his choice of literature. “I hadn’t taken you for the type.”

“I’m not, but if I’m gonna offer fair prices for my services, I’m going to need to know how much a bit is worth.” Luna nodded.

“A fair point. Your services is why I am here, in fact.” 

A small smile spread across Auricks face. Another chance to distract himself. “Already? I haven’t even turned in the rings and focus yet.” He said as he placed a marker in the book and placing it down. “They’re in my room by the way.” 

“Excellent, and yes. I have given the guard a mission that could be highly lethal. I wish for them to have the best defences available before they risk themselves.” Luna told him a frown on her face.

“Alright. If I could ask? From what I’ve read and heard, aren’t you and your sister supposed to be extremely powerful? If you were so worried about your guard, why not handle the situation yourselves?” If what he read was true, Celestia and Luna could control the sun and moon respectively. Unless it was a demon or something, he couldn’t see why they couldn’t handle it.

“Believe me, I would.” The mare looked down at her hooves. “I would rather it be the other way around, but it can't be. There are creatures far more powerful in this world. Me and my sister can not waste our energy on matters such as this. We must be ready should those creatures decide to arrive.” She looked back up with a frown. Aurick had to pause for a moment. What kind of state was the world in that two creatures that could control celestial bodies had to prepare themselves for the possibility of attack? Maybe this world wasn’t so different after all.

Aurick rubbed his temples and sighed. “Okay. What are they going up against?” 

“I can’t tell you that.” 

“Fucking hell. I miss having clearance for that kind of shit. Fine. You tell me what you want done. I’ll tell you if it’s possible and what I’ll need. And once I finish this book I’ll give you a price for them.” He scratched at his chin. He could feel the stubble growing in already. “Just so you know, the more complex it is, the longer it will take. Is there a time limit on this?” 

“I do not believe so. No.” The blue mare shook her head. “From what my scouts have told me, she has not attacked ponies yet. I hope it stays that way, but if she’s cornered she might.” 

“She?” Luna leveled her gaze at him. “Yeah, yeah. Confidential. So long as you don't use what I make for world domination, I don’t care. So what’s the first thing you want?”

“Something simple to start with. Could you enchant their armour to be stronger?” 

“I can do a hell of a lot more than that. It’s that golden armour, right?” Luna shook her head.

“It’s the armour of my night guard. They wear a steel armour that had been dyed purple. I’m not sure if the material matters.” 

“It can, depending on the enchantment. Gold, for example, is an incredibly good conductor of magical energy. If we wanted a complex enchantment, we’d need the gold to connect them all. Steel can work, but it’ll be less effective. Again, this’ll depend on how much you want to enchant the armour. If you just want to make the armour more protective, then it’s no big deal. If you want the hind legs to give more power to a jump, and the front to make harder punches…” 

“Gold?” Aurick nodded.

“Or at least enough to connect the points of enchantment together. Most stronger enchantments require a gem, and I can connect those gems with gold. It’s what allows me to make enchantments that never fade.” 

“Interesting. Thank you for the insight. I believe I will have to rethink some of my ideas before requesting your services. If I can… what’s the term? Get more bang for my buck? Yes. If I can do that, then I must rethink these things.” 

“Sure thing, Luna.” Aurick sat back in his chair and opened his book again. “Think about exactly what this thing could do to them and think of ways to counteract them. Most spells I can cast can be used for enchanting, so don’t worry about thinking outside the box.” 

“Thank you, Aurick.” Luna smiled. “I’ll be sure to let you know what I think of.” 

The mare had almost disappeared around the corner when Aurick remembered something. “Oh, Luna!” The mare turned her head before she left his sight. “It seems I’m gonna be going to Ponyville with Twilight tomorrow. So you’ll probably need to send a messenger or something.” 

“That is of no issue, Aurick.” They shared a nod before she departed. Aurick felt rather pleased with the discussion, despite the confidentiality of some of it. He’d have plenty of work for the next however long, and he was certain that the Princess would rack up quite the bill. It would be a great way to earn money for the business, so he could get gems and do higher level enchantments sooner. 

Things had really been going great for him ever since he woke up in this world. If only life was this nice before.
> Ch 7: Ponyville
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day came and Twilight had come to pick him up. According to her, they would be riding on something called a train. A long metal carriage that ran on tracks and could cross distances at incredible speeds. Supposedly, it would take them from Canterlot, which was where they were, to Ponyville in a little under two hours. 

Frankly, he couldn’t wait. Baring outright teleportation, the fastest he had gone had been when he put on Fu’ Ran’s Boots of Running and cast a spell that would speed him up further. He had slammed face first into a wall and broke his nose, but it was worth it. It meant he could stack the spells and had used that knowledge to Fu’ Ran’s benefit numerous times there after. 

Now that he thought about it, he might invest in adding a similar enchantment to his boots on top of the enchantments he already had on them. If he was going to start a business, he’d have a more reliable source of income than before, so he could splurge a bit on materials for himself. 

Twilight had to lead him through the city to the train station. It was the first time he had seen it up close, and he was glad that he hadn’t decided to explore earlier. The whole city looked like one big noble sector. The breeding grounds for stuck up assholes that thought themselves better than anyone else. That seemed to hold true in Equestria as well, as every pony they passed looked like they spent an hour in front of a mirror and had their nose turned up to him. It only reaffirmed his choice to not work for the Princesses directly. He’d have gone crazy in this city. 

As they got further from the castle, there were some ponies that didn’t have a stick up their asses. Sadly, they seemed to be a minority in the city. 

The walk took a grand twenty minutes of their time. All the while those bratty noble ponies seemed to treat him as if he were a ugly beast. To be fair to the ponies, he probably looked like one to them, but he wasn’t going to like it. 

Eventually, the pair had made it to a grand building near the edge of the city. Upon entering, a wave of noise washed over them. It was as if they entered a different world. Ponies going to and fro, staff carrying luggage, and people shouting over each other to be heard. 

The chaos was contrasted against the ornate make of the building. Marble walls were paired with golden pillars and trimmings. A roof of glass that let in the sun that hovered above. He might have appreciated the beauty of it if he wasn’t roughly shoved aside by a pony that sped out of the building. Him and Twilight shared a look before moving on. 

He stuck pretty close to Twilight. He doubted she would lose him, but given the moving spectrum of colours that surrounded him, he might lose her. Luckily, his presence seemed to have a bit of an affect, as a large portion of the mass thought to avoid the six foot alien. The pair made their way towards the opposite side of the building where a wall of dull metal stood. 

A wall of metal that had windows. 

It had taken Aurick a short moment to realize what he was looking at, and seeing as Twilight was heading straight for it, he could only assume it to be the train. It looked nothing like what he expected, though he had no frame of reference, so he wasn’t disappointed. 

Still, it felt weird to step inside the metal mass and sit down in one of the seats. There were already a number of ponies on board, and a lot of them just stared at him. Aurick didn’t like the attention, but he understood. He’d probably have the same look on his face if he was just sitting around and a beholder sidled up next to him. He tried to alleviate some of their surprise, and confused fear, with a wave. 

It worked surprisingly well. Of course, it didn’t make them comfortable, but it got a couple eyes off him. Some waved back, but a couple just averted their gazes. It was small, but it was an improvement. He simply shrugged and turned to Twilight, who gave him a reassuring smile. 

It wasn’t long there after that the train started to move. It had surprised him, but he stayed in his seat. It started slow, but gradually picked up speed. Especially, seeing as they were going down a mountain. 

At some point Twilight started to talk to him. She talked about what to expect when they got to Ponyville and how she’d give him a tour of the town. It sounded like a good time. All they had to do was wait for them to arrive.


~-~


A loud hissing sound pierced Aurick’s ears as the train came to a stop. As if under a spell, a vast majority of the ponies on the train got up and collected their belongings before exiting the metal vehicle. The pair waited for them to leave before they attempted to do so. 

The first thing Aurick saw when he emerged from the train was an overabundance of colour. While he was in Canterlot, he had noticed it had a distinct colour scheme. Where white and gold were the primary colours and all others were secondary. Ponyville was more like walking into a highly saturated village. Bright yellow roofs contrasted with the brown dirt that was topped with vibrant green grass. Buildings were coloured white, blue, pink, or anything the denizens pleased. It had the distinct feeling of a children's fantasy.

And Aurick loved it.

It was such a drastic contrast to the sometimes bleak and dreary cities he had been in. Sure, he had seen some beautiful sights in his old world, but they were never somewhere that someone lived. This town seemed to radiate peaceful happiness, and Aurick couldn’t help but smile at it. 

Twilight, of course, noticed his reaction and wore a pleased smile on her face. “Wait til you meet everyone.” She told him in a tone that promised only good things to come. With a gesture to follow, she began to lead him through the town. She had mentioned on the way there that she wanted to stop by her home first. She wanted to check on her little brother/assistant before she gave him the tour. Aurick had no qualms with it, so he followed close behind. 

He had already started to like the town better than Canterlot. The ponies seemed cautious of him, but weren’t acting like he was beneath them. A couple of the ponies didn’t even seem to care very much about his appearance and treated him like a normal person. Those ponies would smile and wave when they made eye contact. It could have been because he was with Twilight that they were so relaxed about his presence. If she was Celestia’s personal student, she’d probably have some clout in Ponyville. So if he was with her, he assumed there wouldn’t be any issues. At least until he could properly introduce himself at that party Twilight had mentioned. 

The walk wasn’t a long one, and the pair arrived at her house within ten minutes. Of course, Aurick didn’t realize this until the mare opened a door in the tree. He had to do a double take at that. What he had assumed to simply be a large tree had a door and windows installed in it. One of the branches had even been converted into a balcony. He hadn’t been expecting to find a house like that in this world. The last time he had seen one was in that secluded village of druids. 

The inside was fairly nice. The walls had shelves carved into them, holding numerous books. A table sat in the center of the main room that was connected to the floor. A couch sat on one side with a comfy looking chair on each end. A staircase ran up the side of the wall, leading to a second floor. In the side of that staircase sat a door that led somewhere and at the far end of the room was a pathway into a kitchen. Coming out of said kitchen was a small, purple dragon that had a sandwich in his hand.

“Oh! Hey, Twi.” The dragon said, taking a bite of his sandwich as he approached. Aurick could hear a loud crunch from the food in his hand. Upon closer inspection, Aurick could see a ruby sitting between the pieces of bread. “Back already?” 

“Yep.” Twilight smiled and met the small dragon with a hug. “How’d things go while I was gone?” 

“About as well as it usually does. Lyra returned that book by the way.” 

“Oh, good. She had that for a while.” 

“Yeah, she said she had some trouble wrapping her head around the concept, but she was able to figure it out.” The dragon sat down on the couch as they talked.

“That’s great. She should be able to perform even better than she could before.”

“Yup. By the way,” The dragon pointed at Aurick who had started looking through Twilight’s collection of books, “Who’s he?”

“Oh! Spike, this is Aurick! Aurick, this is my little brother, Spike.” 

“Mind explaining how that works?” Aurick asked, raising a brow.

“She hatched me during her entrance exam for Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. So I was brought into the family.” Spike responded, taking another crunchy bite of his sandwich.

“Wouldn’t that make her your mother?” Both of them sputtered and grew red in the face.

“What? No! I was four when he hatched!” Twilight exclaimed, making Aurick shrug.

“I don’t know how things work here. You hatched him. In my world, the hatchling would see you as its mother.” Twilight’s face scrunched up as she thought about that.

“Your world is weird.”

“That’s the way we like it.” Aurick responded with a smirk.

“Wait. So this is the alien?” Spike asked, pointing at him with the sandwich. “He doesn’t look that strong. He looks more like one of those prissy nobles up in Canterlot.”

“Hey! I will not be compared to a noble asshole. Not even by a dragon.” Aurick frowned at him. 

“Well, he has a point.” Twilight was the next to suffer his glare. “You’re dressed kinda fancily.” Aurick looked down at his still pristine clothes and frowned even more. What he was wearing wasn’t all that flashy in his eyes. Then again, ponies don’t need clothes. So clothes in general might just be seen as fancy. 

“I’ll have you know everything I’m wearing has an enchantment that has kept me alive in my adventures.” That got Twilight’s attention. It was like a switch flipped in her head that caused her eyes to expand as she stared at him. 

“I thought it was only the rings. You’re saying all your clothes are enchanted?” 

“Yes?” Suddenly Twilight was right next to him and was trying to examine every inch of his clothes. 

“What kind of enchantments are they? How many? What did you use to do it? How long did it take? How many times have you used them? What did you-” 

“Twilight!” Spike broke the purple mare out of her flurry of questions. Twilight, having realized what she had just been doing, had turned red.

“So… that tour?” She managed to get out, and embarrassed smile on her face.

“Yeah.” 

“Can I come?” Spike asked, a brow raised.

“Sure thing, buddy.” Aurick was the one to respond. The small dragon pumped a fist in the air and rushed over to Twilight before hopping on her back.

“Onward!” He grinned as he pointed towards the door. Twilight shook her head, but made her way towards the door all the same.
> Ch 8: The Tour
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The trio went around town in a bit of a spiral. Their first stop was at City Hall, where Aurick introduced himself to the mayor. Twilight told the aging mare that he was an enchanter, a fact that brought a sparkle to her eyes. A short conversation later and the mayor had hired him to make a number of buildings more durable around town. She said something about things tending to get destroyed. Aurick chalked it up to the monster population in the Everfree. Why they made the town so close to it, he’ll never know.

After that, they began their tour. Twilight pointed out almost every business and informed him of what they were about and who owned them. She even pointed out a couple of her friends houses along the way. The first place they actually stopped at, though, was a building that was shaped like a carousel. Aurick could already tell what this place was. Twilight had mentioned one of her best friends was a tailor and owned a place called Carousel Boutique. It didn’t take a genius to match the name to the place. 

He had mentioned wanting to stop by when he got some money, seeing as he only had one set of clothes at the moment. Evidently that trip was going to be a bit sooner than anticipated. At least he’d be able to see what kind of works this pony could make.

A bell above the door jingled as the three entered the building. A gentle humming could be heard coming from a separate room, cut off by a swift, “One moment, please.” Before continuing. As promised, it was only a moment or two before they could hear the telltale sound of hoofsteps approaching. 

The mare that came was a pristine white colour, not unlike Celestia. Her hair wasn’t as flamboyant as the princess, but that didn’t stop her from trying as it seemed. The purple strands had been coiffed into an elegant swirl that caught the eye. On top of the make up, she looked like she could fit in with the rest of the nobles in Canterlot. Minus the clothes of course. That connection didn’t give her any points in Aurick’s book, but if she was one of Twilight’s friends, he’d give her a chance. 

“Welcome to Carousel Boutique. Where everything is…” She paused as she realized who was awaiting her. “Oh, Twilight! Darling you’re back and…” She looked up at Aurick, a look of surprise crossing her face before being replaced by delight. “Oh my. You are certainly looking far better than the last time I saw you, dear. I assume this means you’ve made a full recovery?” 

Aurick’s confusion must’ve been obvious, as Twilight was quick to answer the unasked question.  “She was there when you arrived.” She told him, clearing up some of the confusion.

“Oh! Cool, thanks for helping, and yeah. I’m healthier than ever.” He replied, rolling his shoulder. 

“You look it too, dear. I don’t think the clothing choice hurts, either. It’s a little dull for my tastes, but it seems to work quite well for you.” The mare smiled at him as she looked over his clothes. He gave a subtle smirk to the dragon that was still riding on Twilight’s back. He didn’t seem to notice however, as he was too busy staring at the mare with unmistakable lust in his eyes. It made Aurick raise a brow, but thought better of speaking of it. He didn’t really want to open that can of worms. “Oh, what am I doing? I have guests. Please, make yourselves comfortable in the living room, I’ll make us tea!” 

The mare pointed towards a room to their left before leaving to get the promised tea. Spike quickly hopped off Twilight and followed the retreating mare. Shrugging, Aurick made his way over and sat down on a comfy red sofa, followed swiftly by Twilight.

“I’m surprised she likes your clothes. She prefers flashy ensembles with plenty of gems in them.” She told him as they reclined on the couch.

“Sounds garish if you ask me.” Aurick replied as he spread his arms over the back rest.

“If it was anyone else, I’d agree, but she has a knack for making it work.” Aurick merely hummed in response as the pair waited. It wasn’t long before the mare returned with a tea set floating in her magical grasp, Spike quickly following behind. She poured out the tea into cups and passed them around with practiced ease before sitting in an armchair. Spike decided not to impose on the unicorns personal space, and hopped up next to Twilight.

“Well, darling. I don’t believe we have introduced ourselves yet.”  Aurick nodded at the mares words. “I’m Rarity.” She extended a hoof which Aurick shook.

“Aurick.”

“A pleasure.” She smiled warmly for a moment and relaxed into her chair. “Now, I must know everything!” Aurick could see Twilight roll her eyes at the white unicorn. Hypocrite.

“There’s not much to know.” He told her. “I’m here and I can’t go back home. So I’m gonna open shop here.” He took a cautious sip of the tea she had given him. He never really liked many teas he had tried, preferring to have a nice coffee. It was to his surprise and delight that this tea was actually pretty good.

“Can’t go home?” Rarity frowned and looked at him with sympathetic eyes. He simply waved her off.

“Magic stuff. Not worth getting into.” He could see Twilight looking at him out of the corner of his eye, but he decided to ignore it. “I can’t change it, so no point moping around.”

“Well. I guess that’s admirable.” She paused for a moment, seeming trying to find her next words. “Hmm. You said you were going to go into business here? What do you plan on doing?”

“I’m an enchanter.” The statement nearly made Rarity drop her cup.

“You what now?” She blinked at him.

“I know right?” Twilight piped up, grinning at the shocked mare.

“Darling… how much do you cost?” Rarity asked slowly, the gears in her head turning.

“Depends on the enchantment. Why?” 

“Why? Why!? Just think about it! Dresses that could change colour. Or clothes that could blaze like a brilliant flame without actually being on fire! The possibilities are endless!” She exclaimed, throwing her hooves into the air. “With your help, I could make clothes that will go down in history!” She had a big, open mouthed smile on her face, and was staring off into space. She was probably thinking of all the different things she could make with the help of enchantments.

“They really that good?” Spike asked, a brow raised.

“Imagine if I could cast any of my spells without using any mana.” Twilight told him, making the dragon place a claw to his chin. 

“I guess that’s pretty neat.”

“With an enchantment, even you could use magic.” That got his interest.

“Really?” His wide eyes were locked on Aurick.

“Yep.” He nodded with a smile. “Enchanted items can be used by anyone. It’s why they were so sought after back home. It’s even worse here.” 

“How common is it in your world anyways?” Twilight asked, taking the chance to learn more of his world while he was on the topic.

“Not too common. Most magic users are capable of doing it, but it requires a lot of training. Not to mention a lot of them just want to throw fireballs and cast cool spells. They don’t think about enchantment as a way to do that.”

“That’s strange. Doesn’t enchanting allow you to do that?”

“It does, but there’s some drawbacks to learning how to enchant. The big one being that you don’t spend as much time learning to control stronger spells. I have a large variety of them, and can use them without spending mana in most cases, but I don’t have anything that is truly powerful. I couldn’t, say, summon a meteor to strike an opponent, but I could sprint about the battle field faster than anyone could run while simultaneously morphing the terrain around me.” He took a sip of his tea. “It’s a difference in ideas. One just happens to be more popular.”

“Interesting.” She thought about that for a moment before turning back to Rarity. She was still in her own head thinking about clothes. “Rarity!” She called, snapping the mare out of her thoughts.

“Oh, um, yes?” Red tinged her cheeks as she addressed her guest.

“I’m sure you can ask Aurick about work tomorrow. For now, we wanted to ask you about more clothes for him.” Her eyes widened and a grin spread across her features.

“Of course! That must be your only set! I think I know just what to do.” A sketch pad seemed to float out of nowhere and the mare began drawing on it with fervor. “I assume you want them similar to the ones you have now? Hmm, yes, I can tell. Flashy colours would not suit you. No. Perhaps some accented colour? That might work.” The mare muttered to herself as she drew, seemingly forgetting the three that sat on the couch.

“Welp, she’s gonna be at that for a while.” Spike said, looking at Twilight.

“Yeah. Let’s go finish that tour and then we’ll go get some food.” Aurick gave her a nod, and the trio left the mare to immerse herself in designs.

“You know I don’t have any money yet, right?” Aurick asked as they stepped back onto the street.

“It’s fine. I’ll cover for you.” Twilight responded, waving a hoof dismissively.

“Why?”

“Maybe I just want to be nice?” Even Spike gave her a suspicious look.

“Generosity is Rarity’s thing.” He stated and crossed his arms. “You want him to teach you how to enchant, don’t you?” Twilight’s only response was to look at Aurick with pleading eyes. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. He should have anticipated as much.

“Fine, but I make no promises about how good of a teacher I am.” Twilight seemed happy either way, and as they continued on, there was a noticeable skip in her step.
> Ch 9: The Party
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aurick had to say that he rather liked what he saw of the town. It seemed rather nice. Most of the ponies seemed friendly and those that were a little cautious would likely be the same once he’s lived there for a time. There were plenty of stores and interesting looking cafes, though he doubted they served too much that he could eat. It all seemed like a nice place to settle down for a while. Of course, he didn’t know how long he’d stay in this town, but for now he would enjoy it.

With the tour coming to an end, Twilight suggested they get some lunch at a place called the Sugar Cube Corner. Evidently it was a popular place that one of her friends worked at. He could only hope that this meeting didn’t end with him awkwardly shuffling out of the building again. 

The building he was brought to was one he had seen during the tour. It also happened to be the strangest building he had ever seen. It was built like a gingerbread house with a double decker cupcake on top of it. He was fairly certain he was absorbing sugar just by being near it, yet Twilight, the mad mare, wanted to go inside. Aurick had no idea why she wanted to get lunch at a place that was so sugary, but he digressed. He obediently followed Twilight into the building.

Only for something to explode in his face. 

Okay, not explode, exactly. However, it made a loud noise and shot small scraps of coloured paper at him. As a rule, his friends knew not to do such things to him. Sadly these ponies didn’t know this rule. So he almost fried the smiling pink pony with lightning. Almost.

He was able to cancel the spell before it fired off once he realized it wasn’t an attack. The only evidence of the ponies near demise was the fading crackle of electricity across Aurick’s fingertips. The pink mare didn’t seem to notice, but Twilight, whos head was right next to his hand, assuredly did. She merely gave him a cautious glance, but said nothing. 

“Surprise!” The pink one shouted, tossing the cause of the explosion behind her as she threw her hooves into the air. It was then that he noticed the decorations strewn about the place and the large banner that read Welcome to Ponyville. As well as the small crowd of ponies that echoed the mare.

“Ha! Right, I forgot Twilight mentioned a party.” He smiled widely at the concept. It was certainly a way to make him feel welcome, alright. 

“You told him?” The pink one gasped in shock, her hooves clasped to her cheeks as she reared up. Twilight just gave her a deadpan look.

“Yes. We talked about this.” 

“We did?” The mare dropped back to all fours for a moment before a glowing bulb appeared above her head. “We did!” She grabbed the bulb out of the air and took a bite out of it before turning back to Aurick, pointing the broken thing at him. “So you wanna make friends, huh?” She asked in a gruff voice. Rather, she tried to ask in a gruff voice. It sounded more like a child trying her best to sound tough.

Aurick glanced at Twilight for a moment, unsure how to react to the strange mare. “...Yes?” The moment he responded, the mare stood on her hind legs and wrapped an arm around him. 

“Then listen to your Aunt Pinkie Pie.” She told him in her regular voice. She patted him on the chest before waving her arm towards the other ponies at the party. All of which had started mingling and playing party games. “All of them are people on the road, and your the friendship wagon that’ll hit them. All you gotta do is do it.” She finished by pushing him forward. Or trying to. She didn’t have any leverage in her position. 

“So mingle then?” He asked with a raised brow.

“They grow up so fast.” Pinkie said, wiping a tear from her eye. 

“Sounds about right.” Aurick shrugged and took a step forward, forcing Pinkie to fall back to all fours. 

“Go get ‘em, Tiger.” She called after him as he made his way towards the food table. He still hadn’t eaten all day, and Twilight promised him some food. It would do for now. He had just grabbed a cupcake when someone approached him. 

The pony was mint green in colour, and that extended to her hair as well. Barring a white streak that ran through it. She approached with wide eyes as she took in his form. He took note that a cream coloured mare was keeping her distance and watching the mint one with a deadpan stare.

“So what are you?” Aurick was caught off guard by the blunt question. He couldn’t help but chuckle for a moment as he took a bit of the cupcake in his hand.

“I’m an elf.” He responded, patting the unicorn on the head. 

“Cool. Do you play any music? I bet those finger’s would be really good at plucking strings.”

“Nope. I’m more likely to break an instrument than play it.” The mare cringed at that.

“Nevermind then.” She slowly retreated back to the cream mare. Aurick was beginning to think all these ponies had some cray in them. The only ones that hadn’t been weird had been the princesses. 

Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t seen that guard since he left Canterlot. Was she still following him? Did she get in trouble for being found out? He hoped she didn’t get in trouble. It wasn’t her fault he was already looking for a shadow. A hoof poking his side pulled him from his thoughts. He was expecting another new face, but was met with Twilight.

“Hey.” She started, making him raise a brow. “So what was that about when we entered?” He nodded as he took another bite of the cupcake. It was really good.

“I don’t react well to surprises. A habit you pick up when you fight things for a living.” Twilight frowned.

“So if you hadn’t stopped…” 

“She would have been hit with two lightning spells.” Twilight grew pale at that.

“I’ll, uh, make sure she doesn’t try to surprise you again.”

“Does she do that often.” Twilight simply nodded before making her way towards Pinkie, who was playing some game with a blindfold on. He knew he’d be able to prevent anyone from getting hurt, but it was better to be safe than sorry. With a shrug he grabbed another cupcake and made his way towards one of the many seats strewn about the shop. He continued snacking on the cupcakes but once again he was set upon by ponies. He was the guest of honor, granted, but still. He just wanted to eat. 

This time it was a trio of mares. The most striking of them was a cyan pegasus that had rainbow hair. He wasn’t sure if it was a magical effect or not, but with how the princesses hair was, he’d wager it was natural. Next to her was an orange pony with neither a horn nor wings, wearing a stetson. The last was a light yellow pegasus with some really long pink hair. Her tail even trailed across the ground. It must’ve been a bitch to clean. 

“Well, it’s nice to see ya healthy and all.” The orange one said with a wide smile as she approached. She had an accent similar to some of the farmers in the southern region of Jarack that he had met. 

“Yeah! You smelled pretty bad too!” The rainbow haired on added in a raspy voice. The other pegasus didn’t say anything, but nodded and gave a small smile.

“I guess that means you were there when I was recovered.” 

“You bet! If we hadn’t been there you’d still be in that hole.” The orange pony rolled her eyes at her friends exclamation.

“We didn’t do nothin’ other than show up, Rainbow.” She said, thwacking the mare in the back of the head with a hoof. Aurick thought that being hit by a hoof like that would have hurt, but Rainbow didn’t seem to mind. She just smirked at the mare and waved her off.

“Yeah, yeah, but we were there to kick his ass if he attacked.” The orange one huffed and rolled her eyes again before looking back at Aurick, who couldn’t help but chuckle at the mare’s confidence.

“Don’t mind her, she’s got a rock fer a brain.” She smirked and extended a hoof. “I’m Applejack.” 

“Aurick.” He grasped her hoof and almost instantly regretted it. The mare nearly tore his arm off!

“Nice ta meet ya, Aurick. So, yer gonna be staying in Ponyville, huh?” Aurick nodded as he cradled his arm.

“Yeah. I’m gonna be living in a house outside of town. Apparently it’s pretty close to the Everfree, so no one’s been living in it for a while.” 

“Oh dear.” The yellow one said in a very quiet tone and looked at him with concerned eyes. “Aren’t you worried about the monsters.”

“Nah, I’ve fought far worse before. The creatures in that forest are like kittens to me.” He scratched his chin as he paused for a moment. “Except that Hydra I was told about, but I doubt it’s gonna attack my house.” When he looked back, Rainbow was staring at him with wide eyes.

“What kinds of things?” She asked, bringing her front hooves onto his knees so she could be head level with him.

“Excuse me?” 

“She wants to know what you’ve fought.” Applejack helped, making the cyan mare nod.

“I doubt you’d know what they are, but I’ve had to fight a beholder before.” She blinked at him. “A rakshasa?” Another blink. “A dragon.” She grinned at that one.

“How’d you do it?”

“How ‘bout we save that story for another day.” He said, patting her on the head. She frowned deeply at this, but whether it was from the head pat or the refusal to talk about his adventures, he didn’t know. She got off him and returned to the ground with a slight blush and scuffed a hoof on the ground.

“Fine, keep your secrets.” She muttered as Aurick took yet another bit of a cupcake. He was starting to think he might get addicted to them.

“Hey, Twi mentioned ya got some fancy magic.” Applejack started, taking a seat in one of the chairs next to him. 

“Oh yeah!” Rainbow perked up again. “Something about magic things.”

“I can give an item magical properties so that it can use a spells effect, or the user can cast a spell.” He told them. He began to go into a bit more detail about it. About how gems were used and how you could make complex arrays of spells. Rainbow stopped listening, her eyes glazed over when he started using larger words. Applejack seemed interested, but seemed to have a hard time fully understanding what he was saying. Only the yellow one, whos name he still hadn’t learned, seemed to fully listen to his words. Not that it mattered to Aurick, he just liked to talk about enchanting. There had been plenty of nights where he stayed up and tried to think of interesting combinations of spells that he could imbue on items.

He must have been talking pretty loudly, because by the end of it, he had garnered a small crowd. Plus a Twilight, who had her notepad out and was writing down what he was saying.

“So what your saying,” a blue unicorn spoke up, “is that you can make items with endless possibilities that even ponies without magic can use?” 

“Pretty much.” A moment of silence followed before the stallion took a step forward. 

“Show me.” Aurick looked around at the expectant faces of the crowd and shrugged. 

“Hold this.” He took off one of his rings and handed it to Applejack. She stared at the ring with wide eyes. It had a golden band that held a large sapphire with a smaller gem on either side. “Now just focus on the ring, and think about being invisible.” 

The mare frowned as she concentrated on the ring, her eyes narrowing. Suddenly, she just ceased to exist. Exclamations of shock rippled through the crowd, but none quite so loud as the one from Applejack. She suddenly reappeared, the ring falling from her grasp. Aurick was quick to catch the falling jewelry and replaced it on his finger.

“There you go.” He said, turning back to the stallion who challenged him. He was staring at the ring with wide eyes.

“How much do you cost?” He asked immediately, making Aurick smirk.

“It varies based on the enchantment, but I don’t go into business until tomorrow. Today, however, I’ll be willing to do one free low level enchantments per pony.” 

“What constitutes a low level enchantment?” Someone in the crowd asked. 

“I can make something a bit more durable, or make something glow like a light. Things of that nature.” A couple ponies shared some looks before a bunch of them ran out of the building in search of things to get enchanted. Aurick smirked and sat back in his chair. He had no doubt that he’d be seeing some of them the next day.
> Ch 10: Late Night Discussion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A roar of pain filled the air as a blast of flame washed over Agni. Her thick plate armour had been enchanted to absorb the heat from the flames, but it wasn’t enough to nullify dragon’s breath. She rolled to the side, even as Fu ‘Ran hurled a bottle of viscous green liquid down it’s gullet. 

The heat of the flame melted the glass bottle in its mouth, causing the acid to coat the inside of its throat. 

The dragon howled in pain, a claw reaching up to clutch at its throat. It croaked something in its language before turning to swipe at Fu ‘Ran. He was too busy laughing at the dragon to notice, and received a large gash across the chest. The force of the blow was enough to lift him off his feet and slam him into a wall. When he fell back to the floor he didn’t get up. 

Tittering, Runa ran over to the fallen man, ready to cast a healing spell. Shurda ran in to block the way to Fu ‘Ran from the dragon, his massive shield held up. Aurick watched all this and shook his head. Fu ‘Ran should have been more focused on the fight. He just hoped Runa could work fast enough so that he could actually learn the lesson. With a sigh, he activated one of his rings and instantly felt his mind connect with the stone around them. More importantly, he could feel the stone above the dragon’s head. 

In an instant, a spear of earth shot down at the dragon from above. It was fast, however, and was able to avoid the instant death the spell promised. It didn’t get away unscathed, however, as the rock shot through the side of its neck. Not enough to kill it, but it was bleeding heavily. Agni took the opportunity to charge it, her two handed blade ready to strike. 

Until she stopped. No. She froze. As did everything in the area. Except Aurick.

He looked around in confusion until he heard the sound of hooves on stone. Turning, he was met with the sight of Princess Luna. She looked as stoic as ever, despite the scene behind him.

“Luna?” He couldn’t help but ask. He was a bit confused by this turn of events. Hadn’t he fought the dragon before he met Luna? 

“Indeed. You are asleep.” Aurick cocked his head to the side as he thought about that.

“So… this is a dream?” 

“Yes. I am not, however.” 

“Magic?”

“Magic.” She confirmed. The lunar alicorn looked at the wounded dragon that towered above them in the cavern. “Though I assume this dream to be more of a memory.” 

“Yeah. Must be because Rainbow asked me to tell her about this.” Aurick nodded, looking back at the scene with a smile.

“That certainly sounds like her. She has always been interested in fighting. I believe she challenged one of my guards to a dual at one point.” The mare smirked at the memory. “She lost, of course.” 

“Speaking of your guard, what ever happened to that spy you put on me? I noticed she didn’t follow me to Ponyville. Or is she hiding further away now?” Luna’s smirk turned into a slight frown.

“No. Spying on you is pointless if you know about it.” 

“Bah. I’d have continued. The target’s not gonna keep a facade up all day.” He waved at the air. With the knowledge that it was a dream, he made to sit down in a chair, pleased to find an armchair beneath him.

“Perhaps, but there runs the risk that the target grows disdain for the one that is spying on them.” Aurick simply shrugged. “We do not wish you an enemy.”

“And you won’t have one. It takes a lot to make me mad, and a little bit of justified spying isn’t gonna do it. Besides, you bought me a house. I’d say you’re pretty safe right now.”

“Indeed. Which reminds me of why I came here. I wished to discuss with you my first order.” That got Aurick’s interest, and he leaned forward with a smile.

“Then let’s hear it.”

Nodding, the mare summoned a cushion and sat down before speaking. “You mentioned multiple enchantments on the armour. If we used the golden armour of the day guard, how many enchantments would you be able to put on?” Aurick sat up and placed a hand on his chin. If the thing was made entirely of gold, he could do a lot, but the gold was simply a mechanism to transfer magic. It depended on the number of gems that the armour could hold without overloading the thing.

“I assume your going to ask about the other armour next?” The mare nodded. “So long as they’re of good make, both of them should be able to hold six gems. Which means six enchantments. Of course the purple armour might not be able to handle that much magic running through it, even with gold channels placed into it.  gold ones would be able to handle the enchantments just fine though.” The mare tapped her chin in thought for a moment before speaking.

“That is far better than I had expected. If that’s the case, my initial request for stronger armour stands.” Aurick nodded.

“Alright, depending on the size and purity of the gem, the armour would be able to absorb the impact of a boulder slamming into them.”

“That would certainly be useful. Is there a possibility to enchant the front hooves to be capable of stunning the target?” Aurick had to think about that one. He hadn’t used a stun spell in a long time. 

“I might be able to. Haven’t tried to enchant that spell onto an item before, but it shouldn’t be any different. I assume one on each hoof.” A nod. “Alright, you have three enchantments left.” He wiggled three fingers at her with a smile.

“You mentioned a way to make the enchantments never fade. How do you do that.” 

The elf lowered a finger, leaving only two in the air. “That'll cost a gem. It's an enchantment that absorbs mana from the environment. With gold to act as a current, it’s capable of powering gems for an extended period of time. If you want it to make the enchantments we already spoke about to have an unlimited supply of mana, you’ll need two of those. If you only go with one, as well as two more enchantments, it’ll only allow the gems to recharge over time.” 

“Interesting.” She tapped her chin again. “I assume you can recharge the gems without that enchantment, yes?”

“Of course. All you gotta do is focus your mana into the gem.” Luna gave him a blank stare for a moment.

“That’s a technique for enchanting, isn’t it?” Aurick’s grin was the only response she needed. “That’s hardly fair.” She frowned.

“Sorry, Lulu. I’ve got a young business that needs to get off the ground. I’m sure you can understand.” He told her with a shit eating grin. She rolled her eyes. 

“And how much would a recharge cost me?” 

“Like with all things in my business it depends-” 

“On the enchantment, yes.” She cut him off.

“Look at you, you’re learning!” He smiled wide and spread his arms out before snapping and pointing at her. “Since it’s to keep people alive, though, I’ll give you one free recharge.” 

“Truly you are the most generous.” She deadpanned.

“C’mon. Don’t be like that. You’re asking for some difficult work here. Speaking of, you still have those three gems available.” 

The mare sighed and nodded. “Having one that could make the wearer faster would be nice.” He clapped and nodded.

“Always a good choice. Easily done, but will need a gem on each hind leg.” 

“That’s fine. I’d like the last one to make them invisible.” Aurick frowned at that one.

“Invisibility is a tricky one. How long do you want to be invisible?” He held up his ring of invisibility. “This one normally would only let me stay invisible for about ten minutes, but I have two gems to recharge it. From a full charge, it’ll now last me an hour with the recharge.” He placed the ring back on and looked back at the princess. “If you want it to last about an hour without one of those enchantments, you’re going to need to find a large gem.”

“Perhaps not the greatest choice then.” She bit her lip as she thought about something else. She must have thought of something, because her eyes lit up and refocused on him. “A spell to silence their hoofsteps?” Cheeky horse. She took that from him.

“It’s possible, but that’d need to be near the hooves. I could set it on the underbelly of the armour, but it won’t completely silence them.”

“Damn.” She frowned as she continued to think about it.

“You know you could just get me to add another enchantment later, right?” Aurick asked with a raised brow. “It’d be easy to add the enchantment after.” 

“But will it cost extra to do that?” She asked, getting a grin in response.

“Normally, yes. I’ll give a special deal to the pretty pony princess, though.” The mare was unable to hide her blush, much like how Aurick was unable to hide his smirk. “For this order and this order only, last minute changes will be free.” 

“Very well, the armour and some of our best gems shall arrive to your home at noon tomorrow. The repair will be done by then, yes?”

“Should be.” He nodded and scratched at the stubble growing on his face.

“Good. Inform me of the amount I will owe you when you have that figured out.” And with that, the mare disappeared, leaving Aurick alone in his dream. A smile on his face as he reclined in the chair, the dream morphing around him to a room back home.
> Ch 11: A Change of Scenery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day greeted Aurick with the chirping of birds and the sound of hooves on wood. Groggily, the man opened the door to the guest room he had been given. A hand ran through his disheveled hair, even as the scent of food wafted up to him. 

He had no idea what time it was, but the food called to him more than bed. The elf sighed and grabbed his cloak before going downstairs. 

Sun that peeked in through the windows was blinding to the freshly woken man, and he had to shield his eyes as he descended. His heavy foot falls were easily heard by Twilight, who was sitting on a couch with a book floating in front of her. She looked no better than Aurick, but she at least had a cup of coffee. She must have known what he was thinking, because she gestured towards the kitchen behind her and jiggled her coffee for a moment before returning to her book. 

He gave her a gracious nod, though she probably didn’t see it. His path towards the kitchen was short, and as he approached, the sound of music met his ears. Within, Spike was whistling a jaunty tune in a pink apron as he flipped a pancake. It was then that there was something wrong with Spike. No one should be that chipper in the morning. 

He heard the elf’s approach and looked over with a knowing smile. He simply pointed at a steaming cup of coffee that the dragon had already prepared for him. Aurick wasted no time taking the cup and sipping the dark liquid. He could feel the caffeinated beverage flow through him, eradicating the remaining traces of sleep as it did so. A small smile crossed Auricks face as he took another sip.

“That’s some good shit.” He muttered before turning back to Spike. “What are ya making?” He shuffled over to peek at the food, the scent of it filling his nostrils.

“Just some pancakes.” The small dragon tried to shoo him back, but he was unable to move Aurick’s towering form. “It’ll be done when it’s done. Go read a book or something.” 

“Bah.” Aurick waved a hand dismissively, but left the kitchen all the same. He let out a yawn as he sat down on the couch next to Twilight. The mare took a sip of her own coffee before turning to him.

“You have any plans today?”

Aurick shrugged and rested an arm over the couch. “Not much.” He took a sip of coffee before his eyes widened as he remembered something. “Hey, that… ‘fridge?” Twilight nodded. “Could I preserve meat in one of those?” 

“Oh, I almost forgot you were an omnivore.” She shook her head for a moment before continuing. “No, from what I’ve heard, you’ll need to put it in a freezer if you want it to last a long time.” 

The man scratched his beard for a moment. “How big of a freezer can I get?” 

“The biggest one I’ve seen is about the size of a tub.” Aurick sighed at that.

“In that case I’ll do what I was gonna do beforehand.”

“Which would be…?” The mare twirled a hoof to emphasis her impatience.

“I’ll turn one of the rooms into a cold room. We had one back home that was filled with meats. Seeing as I might have a hard time getting regular game in the Everfree, I might try a manticore or something.”

“That… uh…” The mare looked away, a little disturbed with how casually he was talking about hunting. It was probably one thing for her to know you ate creatures, but another to hear you plan to kill them. Aurick in response did what he does best. Began to pet the intelligent pony to make her feel better. It was surprisingly effective. 

“So anyway, that’s probably what I’ll be doing today. Oh, I also gotta work on that thing for Luna.” The mare, who had started to become putty under his hand, immediately perked up.

“The princess hired you? For what?” 

The man shrugged and took a sip of coffee. “Classified.”

“But…” The mare pouted and gave him her best puppy dog eyes. They were also surprisingly effective. Sadly, he couldn’t give her what she wanted.

“Hey, it’s classified to me too.” He told her. “And I’m the one making the stuff. All I know is that the guard are gonna get into something dangerous, so they need some better armour. She told me what enchantments she wants on the stuff, and I’m gonna put them on. Said the armour and a supply of gems would arrive at the house I still haven’t seen around noon.”

Twilight’s hoof slammed into her face. An act that looked like it should have hurt, or at least left a mark. However the purple mare’s pain was only the pain of emotions. “I knew I forgot something!” She growled to herself. “After breakfast I’ll show you the house.” 

“Alright.” Aurick nodded and took a sip of his coffee yet again. He wasn’t all too concerned about it. A house was a house, so he wasn’t gonna complain. Besides, once he did a couple jobs, he’d be able to shape it however he wanted. All he’d need is some gems.

A shrill whistle from behind interrupted their conversation. Looking back, the pair could see Spike poking his head out of the kitchen. “Breakfast is done.” 

Their conversation forgotten, the duo charged onwards towards something far more important.


~-~


The house was certainly better than he had imagined. When he was told it had been abandoned for a long time, he was expecting it to look run down. Even after the repairs. They only took two days after all. 

That was not what he received however. The house that stood before him was a two storied building that looked like it was built the day prior. The most surprising thing about it, however, was that it was built out of stone bricks. He hadn’t seen a single pony building use stone when he went through Canterlot and Ponyville. It was probably because one of the other races built it. In fact, as he looked at it more, that seemed to be the case.

The doorway wasn’t sized for a pony, but rather something of his height. Of course, that could meant that the repair ponies were tasked with doing that. It depended on the ceiling. The pony building he had been in had their ceilings only eight feet off the ground instead of ten. 

Before he headed inside, he took a walk around the side of it and peered out at the Everfree. He could see why the ponies didn’t want to live here. The forest was only twenty feet behind the house. If a monster decided to wait there, they’d be able to grab an easy snack. He made a mental note to set up wards after the cold room. After a few moments to decide where he’d like to place them, he went back around to the front of the building and opened the front door. 

They must have oiled the hinges, because the door didn’t even squeak. Stepping in, his theory was confirmed. The ceiling was even higher than ten feet. Without proper measuring equipment, he couldn’t know for certain, but he wagered it was about twelve instead. Whoever built this place must have been pretty tall.

As he looked around the first room, it felt like a blade pierced his heart. It felt really similar to his old home with all his friends. Red carpet covered the floor, and there were sconces on the wall, despite the fact that they had those ceiling lights installed. An incredibly soft looking couch sat in the middle of the room, a coffee table in front of it. The couch was facing a fireplace, that already had some wood set up inside it. 

He could just imagine himself sitting on the couch, Agni leaning over it as they talked. A sad smile crossed his face as he approached the couch and placed a hand on it. Despite all the distractions, he still missed them. He really hoped they were okay.

A hoof resting on the side of his leg brought him out of his thoughts. Looking down, he saw Twilight giving him a reassuring smile. Of course she could tell what he was thinking. She was a smart one. 

He returned the smile and took his hand off the couch. He still had the rest of the house to explore.


~-~


The rest of the place was more of the same. Stone rooms that reminded him of home, but with the addition of the ponies technological advances. The kitchen looked the most different, with all the appliances place in there. Twilight tried to explain them all to him, but there were too many and a number of them flew over his head.

He had found a suitable room that he could use for the meat. The house had a basement that was fairly large. The previous owner probably used it for something, but that hardly mattered now. It was divided into a large central room with two rooms that split off. He’d use one of the secondary rooms as for the enchantment. When they finished exploring the building, they returned to the living room.

“It’s far nicer than I expected.” Aurick commented, scratching at his growing beard. 

“It really is. The repair ponies did a great job with it.” Twilight smiled, looking around. “It used to have all sorts of plants growing around on the stone, and the carpet was terrible. They even replaced the broken bricks.” 

“I could do a lot with this place.” He smiled as he thought about future expansions to the building.

“That’s good. I guess I’ll leave you to it then.” Aurick nodded and the pair walked over to the front door. “Don’t be a stranger, now. You still have to teach me how to enchant.” Twilight reminded him as he opened the door for her.

“Of course. It might be a couple days though. I’d like to spend time on work first. I’m still broke.”

“Right. I’ll be sure to let ponies know that you’re open for business then.”

“Appreciate it.” Aurick smiled as the mare exited the building and he closed the door behind her. The smile slowly disappeared as he put his back to the door and slid to the floor.

This was the first time he had been truly left alone since he had arrived. The weight of the situation was finally pressing down on him. He only had one question on his lips.

“The fuck am I even doing?”
> Ch 12: First Day of Business
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It wasn’t long before a line formed at his door. A number of the ponies seemed a bit apprehensive about being so close to the Everfree, but when he let them all come in and wait in the living room, they felt more at ease. A couple of them looked around with wide eyes, probably marveling at the completely different style of construction than anything else in Ponyville. 

Most of them wanted some simple enchantments, and had brought the object they wanted done. They were quick and easy, being done as they came in. It only took a couple minutes for each, and nopony complained about it. He also didn’t receive any complaints on the pricing of it, granted, there wasn’t anything for them to compare it to. He could give them a ridiculous charge and they’d probably think it reasonable. 

Some of the ponies that came had come to ask about the possibilities of his craft and if he could do something particular. Luckily, these ponies weren’t too creative, so he was capable of handling what they asked about, though some of them would need gems. When told about the gems, they would shrug and leave, saying they would be back. 

There were also a couple ponies, probably farmers, that asked about enchanting some of their equipment that they wouldn’t be able to bring to him. He told them that he would be willing to do those, but not that day. He was going to have enough work as it was. They didn’t seem all too happy with his reply, but there were no complaints. 

At some point, he Spike had arrived at his door. Apparently Twilight had heard about the turnout and sent the little dragon to help keep things organized. Aurick wouldn’t say it, but the little guy was a godsend. He was having a hard time keeping all the orders straight, but Spike seemed to be in his element. A quill in hand, he failed to miss a single transaction. 

As promised, around noon a small group of guards came by to drop off the armour and gems that he would be working on. He could only hope that the sight of him having deals with the guard would promote his business even more. Once the guards left, he brought the armour and gems into the basement so he could work on them later. First he had to finish with the ponies still in his living room. 

Spike scrawled ‘CLOSED’ on a sheet of paper and plastered it to the front door. He wanted to finish up and get something to eat. 

Luckily, the process took only another twenty minutes. With the last pony leaving, Aurick closed the door with a sigh of relief. He hoped that this wasn’t going to be his every day. “So,” he turned back to Spike, “what’d we make?”

“You made three hundred and sixty two bits.” The dragon smiled, turning his paper around to show his calculations.

“Nice!” Aurick walked over to where he had placed all the money. A lot of it was held in little pouches. He picked one up and tossed it to Spike. “That’s for helping out.”

“Sweet!” A massive grin crossed his scaled face. “I could buy so many gems with this. I’m gonna be eating good tonight.” Aurick paused and looked back at the dragon.

“Wait, what? How bloody cheap are gems?” He asked incredulously. 

“Depends on the gem, but you could get a good sized ruby for maybe twenty bits. Why?” Aurick just stared at him for a short time before a manic grin spread across his face. He bent down and grasped the small dragon’s shoulders.

“Do you know what this means!?” Spike was visibly uncomfortable about it all, and wasn’t sure how to react to Aurick’s sudden change in demeanor.

“No?” He said nervously.

“I can make everything!” The elf exclaimed, standing up. Once he let go of his shoulders, Spike took a quick step back. “I can make the boots! I can make that bloody ring I’ve been wanting to do! Oh this is great!” The elf grabbed up a couple of pouches, tying them to his pants before turning back to Spike. “Where do I go?” 

“Um… Gemstone’s Gems is by Town Hall.” 

“Then that is where I will go!” With no further fanfare, the tall man exited his house and made his way towards his destination, a confused Spike left behind to watch him go.


~-~


By the time he returned home, he was carrying around a pouch of gems. Of course, the gems weren’t the only things he bought, but they were a majority.. He didn’t want to eat at one of the restaurants. He wanted some meat, and there was only one place to do that. He would set up the cold room after he got back, then he’d start working on the Princesses order. 

Before he started the hunt, though, he made a new teleportation focus. He was already wearing a ring to go with it, all he had to do was change the enchantment to bring him to the new focus. Once he was satisfied, he left his house once more and walked out to the edge of the forest. 

The canopy gave a lot of cover, making the forest look dark, even in the middle of the day. The sound of wildlife easily met his ears. Rustling in the trees, birds chirping and flying about, bugs buzzing by. It reminded him of so many adventures that he couldn't help but smile as he stepped forward and entered the forest that so many ponies feared.


~-~


She hungered. 

The growl of her belly rang in her ears, stronger than the one from her throat. She would hunt for it. Despite the lower number of creatures in the forest, she would find one. 

Most of them were preparing for hibernation, with winter around the corner. Despite that, she would eat. Even if she had to dig them out of the ground. She would find food. 

As she sat high in a tree, she closed her eyes and let her nose do the seeing. What they did had made her nose far better than it had any right to be, and she could pick out scents further than any natural animal. She knew this for a fact. It was her memory, but she used it all the same. 

It took almost no time for a scent to catch her attention. It was something she had never encountered before. Something interesting. She could smell metal, cloth, and gems on it. Whatever it was, it was probably sapient. Yet it wasn’t a pony. 

Perhaps she found herself a meal.
> Ch 13: Close Encounters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aurick wasn’t having any luck. Any time he found a rabbit or squirrel, they would bolt before he could cast a spell. A strange lack of birds meant none of them, and he hadn’t even run into any of the Everfree’s famous monsters. 

He was starting to think about turning back and just buying some food. It was better than wandering the forest for the next hour. He had jobs to complete after all. With a sigh, the man turned back and headed down the path he came. He briefly thought about using his one teleport, but decided against it. He may have plenty of gems, but he didn’t have enough bands to graft them onto.

As he walked, he briefly wondered where the birds went. The forest was pretty quite without their song. In fact, the forest was down right silent. 

Something wasn’t right.

A rustle above him was his only warning, and he reacted on instinct. A swift roll to the side saw him safe from harm, as the dirt where he was exploded. He was quick to survey his surroundings, but he couldn’t see an attacker. All that remained was a massive gash in the ground that he once stood. 

Whatever was attacking him, it didn’t line up with anything he had read about. That meant he was dealing with an unknown. The first step was being able to see his attacker. He would base his next actions on what he could learn about it. 

A swift bout of magic, and he was able to see through invisibility. It turned out to be for naught. He had to avoid another attack after that. It was as fast as before, and he barely got out of the way in time. Deciding to play it safe, he cast a spell to increase his speed. So long as he could tell it was coming, he should be able to dodge it. He then started summoning small globules of light and spreading them through his immediate surroundings. He was able to catch a glimpse of something white dash away from one of the lights. 

His focused on one of his rings as he looked around, trying to see where the next attack would come from. After a moment, he could hear something flying at him from his right. Instantly, he turned and used the spell in his ring. 

A wall of earth shot up, blocking the attack. A heavy thud sounded when his assailant slammed into the wall. As fast as it went up, the wall came down, only to reveal a white form trying to fly away. Aurick wasn’t having that. 

A spectral hand appeared in the air above the creature and slammed down faster than it could react. The white form slammed into the ground with enough force to send up a cloud of dust. It bounced on impact, but was quick to get to its feet. 

“Strong prey.” The voice that came out was rough and animalistic. The owner stood there, ready to attack and was growling at the elf. 

He was surprised to see a mare standing there. Or rather, something that resembled one. Instead of a pony’s hooves, she had paws. The claws sticking out of them probably capable of rending him in half. Her teeth were looked sharper than a knife and were revealed by her manic grin. She had wings, but they were similar to that spy's, as were her eyes. Perhaps she was a strange cross breed?

Her coat was white, though it was a bit harder to see with all the dirt that was now in it. If that weren’t there, the only obstruction to the colour the fact that the fur on her chest was an inky black. Her hair was a similarly dark colour, and had grown into a wild mess. 

“Good meal.” She finished, her wings flapping as she launched herself forward. Her teeth parted as she came in with blinding speed. It was only thanks to his earlier spell that he was able to avoid her. Though it was a close call. She was able to swipe at him, despite missing with the bite, and was able to leave a shallow cut across his shoulder. 

It knocked him off balance and he found himself with his back on the ground. That was never a good position to be in when fighting. The strange mare seemed all too eager to prove that, as before he could even attempt to get up, he was pinned to the ground. 

He felt her claws sink into his shoulders, holding him in place. Grunting in pain, he looked up into the eyes of the mare on top of him. She was staring down at him with glee, a rumbling sounding from her. It took a moment for him to realize it was her stomach. In fact, with the closer view point, he could see she was starving. She was incredibly thin. She probably hasn’t had a good meal in days.

“Good prey.” She said, licking her lips. “Feed.”  

He had been close to starving before, so he could sympathise with the mare. Sadly, he wasn’t nice enough to let himself get eaten. 

“Not gonna happen.” He told her bluntly, before activating his ring. The elf disappeared from the forest, leaving the starving mare alone and without food. 


~-~


Aurick landed in his living room with a thud. A groan escaped him as he lied there. He could feel the holes in his shoulders bleeding and he knew he should do something about that. At least the blood would blend into the carpet. 

With experimental movement, he was able to find that he could move his shoulders with minimal pain. That was a bonus. The limited healing magic he knew healed it as well. As far as accelerating the process so that it had scabbed over was healing. Still, a plus.

On the negative spectrum, there was a carnivorous mare in the forest that he knew nothing about. He would rather avoid fighting her if he could. He was confidant in his ability to kill her, but he wasn’t so confident about not getting hit in the process. If she god one good hit in, he’d probably be as good as dead. He’d need to make more gear tailored to avoid her. At least if he wanted to get some meat. Which he did, and there was no way that a half starved mare was gonna keep him from his meal. 

Though she would today. As Aurick was not about to step foot into that forest until he was prepared. So it was with great annoyance that he grabbed another pouch of bits that he had earned and set out for town. 

At least the ponies already avoided the Everfree like the plague. He didn’t want to hear about that mare resorting to cannibalism to feed herself.


~-~


She still hungered. Her prey escaped her. He used magic. Annoying. He was not worth hunting unless she could catch him off guard. He knows of her now. He’d be prepared for an attack. 

She rolled her shoulder, the pain in it flaring up. It’d probably bruise from the impact with the ground. He could escape easy and he was dangerous. Not worth it. But when stronger. When no longer hunger.

Then she hunt. His flesh would be delicious. 

First, she had to find new prey though. She sniffed the environment again. She caught the tall creatures scent. The fragrant smell of his blood told her where he was. A stone house just outside the forest. Beyond it, she could smell ponies. They would be easy prey, but she decided against it. If she ate the ponies, the princess ponies would kill her. Not worth it. 

After a moment she picked up the scent of manticores. She did not expect the monster to taste good, but she didn’t have many options. Flapping her wings, she flew off in their direction.
> Ch 14: Until Dusk
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aurick ended up at a restaurant. He was lucky that the mare in the forest only pierced his shirt, so it was a simple task to hide the blood stains underneath his cloak. It would be irritating to explain that to everyone he talked to. He vaguely remembered Twilight explaining a washing machine in his basement, but he didn’t remember how to use it. Perhaps he’d ask her about it later. He didn’t want the his only shirt to be ruined by blood stains forever. 

He was brought out of his thoughts by the waiter bringing him his food. It was a good looking vegetable soup. He didn’t exactly enjoy eating greens too much. He prefered to have a slab of meat in front of him instead. He would have to deal with it, though. At least it was pretty decent soup. 

He had almost finished with it when he spotted Rarity walking by the building. She evidently saw him too, as she stopped and smiled at him before quickly entering. 

“You are surprisingly hard to track down!” She told him as she approached, a small frown on her face. 

“I am?” He’d have thought that the over six foot alien that just moved into town would be easy to find.

“Yes, but no matter. I’ve found you now.” The mare’s smile returned as she pointed at him.

“Alright. Now what?” 

“I need your measurements, darling!” The mare tittered. “Unless you’d prefer I make some ill fitting garments for you instead?” 

“Uh, no. No. Just let me finish my food first.” He told her tapping the lip of the bowl with his spoon.

“Of course, darling. While you do that, you could tell me all about your new house.” 

It didn’t take long for Aurick to finish eating, but while he did, he told the mare about his plans for the house. She listened with rapt attention. He failed to mention the cold room and what it’d be used for. If Twilight was uncomfortable about it, he’d wager the fashionista would be even more so.

“I must say, you have some peculiar ideas. Knowing how to enchant things certainly opens up more avenues than I thought possible.” Rarity commented as he put his spoon down.

“Only really limited by your imagination. I knew a couple enchanters back home that got hired to help with expansions like that.” He pulled out a number of bits and left them on the table as he got up. 

“Sounds like a wonderful place.”

A sigh escaped the man as he ran a hand through his hair. “It was.” They shared an awkward silence for a moment before Aurick spoke up again. “So, my measurements?” 

“Yes!” The mare was all too happy to change the subject, a smile returning to her face. “Yes, and while we’re at the boutique, you can look at the designs I’ve drawn up.”

“Sounds like a plan.” 

The trip to her shop was uneventful. The ponies around town were certainly friendlier than they were the day prior, but that was about it. Once they entered the boutique, Rarity levitated over a tape measure.

“If you’d take the cloak off for me?” She asked, a small smile on her face. Aurick simply nodded and took off his cloak, calmly folding it up and placing it down. When he turned back, the tape measure was on the floor and Rarity was looking at him in shock. “Wh-what happened.” 

His hand met his face as he was reminded of the blood. “I don’t think I need to tell you this, but don’t go into the Everfree. Something far more dangerous than the monsters moved in there.”

“Why would you go in that forest at all, darling!?” The mare asked incredulously.

“I’m an omnivore, Rarity.” He didn’t think it was possible for white to look paler, but that’s what happened. 

“As in… you eat meat?” 

“Yes. I was told there are other people in this world that eat meat too, so I don’t see why it’s an issue.” He raised a brow at the mare, who waved a hoof, as if dismissing the notion.

“No, that’s not the issue. It was just unexpected.” She took a breath to regain her composure, a hoof on her chest as she did so. “I’m sorry about that.” 

“It’s fine.” Aurick shook his head and swiveled his hand in a motion to continue. “Let’s just get these measurements done with. Luna gave me a lot of work to do.” 

“Oh, of course dear. Let me just take care of this real quick.” Her horn glowed as she summoned her magic. His instincts told him to hit her and avoid the blow, but he knew better. He didn’t think Rarity would hurt him, and if he was wrong, then he’d laugh about it in the afterlife. Nothing beats dying to an adorable little horse.

As he assumed, the magic wasn’t an attack. In fact, it was pretty helpful. The blood on his shirt had disappeared. Sadly, the holes were still there, but he couldn’t complain. 

“Okay, I’ve gotta ask. Why do you know a spell for getting blood stains out?” 

“When I started out, I would occasionally prick myself when I was sewing. The blood would drop onto the clothes and stain it. The spell prevented those mistakes from ruining my works.” 

Aurick found no fault in the logic, so he just shrugged. “Fair enough.” 


~-~


After he was doen getting measured, he decided to go find some rings. He’d need something to enchant as precautions for the mare in the forest. He would go back in there tomorrow, and he would get some meat. He wouldn’t let her stand in the way of that. 

He spent the next hour simply enchanting gems and binding them to the rings. He had bought a small chain necklace that he placed each ring on. It would work like that, but it ran the risk of the chain breaking and losing the rings. Should that happen, he made another teleportation ring. By all means, he was prepared to go back in. However, he had duties to work on. He decided he’d make the cold room the next day and work on the armour as much as he could before he went to bed. 

Sadly, because of the complexity of the enchantments and the mana needed for it, he was only able to finish two of the gems before he was drained of mana. With nothing left to do, he lazed about the house and thought about more ways to expand the house. With the cheap cost of gems, he could certainly do a lot. As he said before, he was limited by his imagination. 

Eventually he felt the pull of sleep, and the man brought himself up to his room and collapsed on the bed. A smile crept back onto his face. This was his bed. In his house. 

In another world. 

The smile disappeared, replaced with nothing more than a sigh. His good mood killed, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.


~-~


Aurick took another bite of steak as Jurda told him about the job. “She’s a real dangerous one.” He promised, a smirk crossing his face. “A werewolf. Apparently she’s gained full control over the curse, and can change forms any time she wants. So be careful.”

“Killing her’s not gonna be the problem.” Aurick stated, pointing his fork at the king. “It’s doing it without anyone suspecting anything. That camp is crawling with Ranian soldiers.”

“You’ll manage. You always do.” The king took a sip of his wine as he met Aurick’s gaze.

“Guess we can’t take Agni, then.”

The king snorted and shook his head. “Gods, no! That woman would end up waking the entire town!”

“I really need to get around to enchanting that armour so it doesn’t make as much noise.”

“You do. Wait, what’s that?” The man dramatically cupped his ear to hear better. “I think I can hear her from here!” Aurick snorted, but he did hear something. The sound of hooves on tiles behind him. Looking back at Jurda, he found the man not reacting. In fact, he wasn’t moving at all.

Luna stepped up beside him, looking at the king before her. “An interesting looking fellow. I assume he is of royalty?” She asked, pointing a hoof at the crown on his head.

“Yep. King Jurda, the Warrior King. Good man.” 

“Interesting.” Luna commented but said nothing more.

“So, why are you here this time? Figure out what you want that last enchantment to be?” Aurick asked, eating another bite of the dream steak. It might not have been real, but the memory of the flavor was still there. It would do until he could get some real food.

“No. It is about the reason you are enchanting that armour.” Luna turned to fully look at him with a serious look on her face. “My scouts report that she has entered the Everfree. You should be careful.” 

“Oh! So that’s who that was!” Luna looked shocked. 

“You mean you’ve already encountered her?”

“White mare? Paws instead of hooves? Teeth that’s make a shark jealous? Yeah, we played tag.” The mare blinked at him. “She tried to eat me.”

“Oh. Did you hurt her?” 

“Slammed her into the ground hard enough to make her bounce, but she didn’t even care! If you want me to kill her, I can, but I’d need a set of armour myself.” He offered.

“No!” The force of her word blew Auricks hair back and threatened to pop his eardrums. “Ahem. No. I would like her to remain alive. She is not at fault for what happened to her.”

“And what did happen to her?” He asked with a raised brow.

“When you said there is always something dark under the surface of peace, you were right.” His brow went higher. “There was a scientist who kidnapped a pony, Inkheart, to experiment on. He spliced her dna with that of animals and monsters to make her a sort of living weapon. For what purpose, I have no idea, but that doesn’t matter now. He is in custody, but Inkheart escaped. We were hoping to capture her and try to cure her, if possible.”

“Shit, now I feel bad for her.” Aurick sighed and put down the fork. “When I saw her, she was starving. I feel like she won’t attack the ponies in town, but I’d recommend getting some guards to keep an eye on the forest. Just in case.”

“That is troubling. Winter is coming, and food will be harder to find for her. I’m certain she would be able to find some, but I doubt it’ll be enough for her. I fear she might go after ponies if it gets too bad.”

“I’ll keep an eye out for her. See if I can’t help her out, but I make no promises. If she attacks me again, there’s a chance I’d need to kill her to survive.”

She scowled at him, but she didn’t berate him for it. “Fine. Just try to avoid that. In the meantime I shall figure out how to deal with this new info.”

“Alright.” He said to nothing. Jurda regained motion, and the dream continued on it’s course.
> Ch 15: Back Into the Breach
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, Aurick decided to return to Rarity’s. He hadn’t been aware of winter being so close, so he had not been prepared. He’d need to ask the dressmaker if she could make him a scarf. One that he would enchant later to keep him at a comfortable temperature.

Surprisingly enough, he found that the mare had already made him one. Along with three sets of clothes. To say Aurick was impressed was an understatement. The mare had only taken his measurements the day before. Did she work on nothing else? She even offered to repair the shirt he was wearing while he was there. Aurick, the customer that he was, of course attempted to pay her, but she flatly refused. She said that Twilight had already slipped her a few coins. Though she was more happy with the fact that he provided a challenge to the mare. She hadn’t designed clothes for anyone of his body type before, so the experience was worth it. It was clear to him that he wouldn’t be able to change her mind, so he shrugged and thanked her. 

He returned home after stopping by Gemstone’s to pick up a couple more gems. His first task of the day was to set up the cold room. That mare wasn’t the only one who needed meat, and he’d need to get a supply for the winter. He briefly wondered if there was a way for it to be shipped to him. It’d make it easier than hunting in the forest. Not to mention he didn’t want to take too much food away from the mare in there. Perhaps he’d ask Twilight about it later.
Lest he run the risk of her attacking ponies. 

A sigh escaped him as he thought of her. The fact that he couldn’t kill her was a bit irritating. It meant more risk to his life, but it wasn’t something he hadn’t dealt with before. He’d rather keep Luna’s favor. Sure he felt bad for the mare. What that scientist did to her was unforgivable, but she had tried to hunt him, and he doubted that she would stop. He was a food source that she knew about. She probably knew where he lived. The only thing that would stop her from attacking him would be if she was smart enough to be cautious of him. 

That meant he’d have to show no weakness while near the forest. If she was watching him, and saw an opportunity, she probably wouldn’t hesitate to attack. Then he’d have to flee. He hated fleeing.

He just hoped he wouldn’t have to deal with her for too long.


~-~


A smaller number of ponies came for business that day, but it was still a sizable number. It ended with Aurick standing another two hundred bits richer and holding promises to go into town within the next couple days to help the ponies who had items too large to bring to his home. It was a productive day for him, and he couldn’t help but smile as he closed the door behind his last customer. He placed the makeshift ‘Closed’ sign on the door that Spike had made the day prior. He’d have to invest in a real one at some point, but this one would suffice until he was in stable living conditions. There were plenty of things he had to do first. 

The growl of his stomach reminded him of one such thing he had to do. 

He grabbed the necklace of rings from in his room and double checked the enchantments on them. Making sure he was prepared before he dared step into the forest again. Once satisfied, he took a step outside, only to be blasted by a particularly cold gust. With a small groan of annoyance, he grabbed the black scarf Rarity had given him and put it on. He hadn’t had the time to enchant it yet, so it’s help was no more than an ordinary scarf. It would have to do. 

He didn’t hesitate to step beyond the boundaries of his home and into the darkened area beyond. His desire was too strong to be dissuaded by the threat that the dark trees may hide. He was determined.

He would not leave this forest without getting some meat. 


~-~


She stood over the carcase of the manticore. It was mostly bones at this point, but that mattered not. She would eat as much as she could. She knew that food would be harder to find, and she could not waste any. Sadly the carcass didn’t have enough meat to make a decent lunch. 

Her hunger had lessened since the previous day. Having hunted such large prey had given her plenty to eat, but she knew it would not last long. She could already feel the first cold breeze of winter coming. She knew if she didn’t starve, then the cold might. 

Her mind drifted to the tall creature that lived on the edge of the forest. Perhaps if she killed him? He wore clothes. Granted not ones that’s likely fit her, but it would suffice. She’d get food in the process too. 

A small thought in the back of her mind told that eating a sapient creature was wrong. It was not her thought, but Inkhearts. She promptly ignored it. It mattered not who she ate. If it kept her alive, she’d eat the pony princesses. With a snort, the mare began to search the surrounding area with her scent. 

As if summoned by her thoughts, she smelled the creature in her forest. She felt stronger, now that she had eaten, but she wouldn’t blindly attack him again. No. She would watch for now.

Watch and wait.


~-~


As predicted, he was having a hard time finding food. 

He wasn’t sure how long he had been walking, but it couldn’t have been much more than an hour. All the while, he hadn’t seen anything worth his time. 

Sure, he had heard the sounds of large creatures in the forest. Everytime he would go towards one, however, he’d find only tracks and some blood. He mentally kicked himself for not asking Trane to teach him how to track. A sigh escaped him as he ran a hand through his hair. There was no point complaining about it. He would deal with it.

He treked on for even longer. He began losing track of time. 

Eventually, whether through sheer luck or something else, he heard a roar up ahead. It was close. 

Getting low to the ground, he checked which way the wind was blowing. He was downwind of his target. Good. 

He moved forward with silent steps, not even disturbing the leaves below him. The sound of the creatures steps were loud enough to lead him towards it. It hadn’t taken long to find the source. A large manticore stood with its back turned to him. 

A wicked grin spread across his face as he stared at it. It was about time. 

A simple spell was prepared and released. The beast never had a chance. 

Aurick had pulled water from the ground and had formed a lance with it. A lance that shot out and ran through the beast’s brain, killing it instantly. Satisfied with the results, he stood up and approached the corpse.


~-~


She watched as the creature killed the manticore in only a single blow. As she stared at him, she felt something grip her heart. Something she hadn’t felt before in her form. Fear. 

She knew she could kill him. Her claws could cut through his flesh with ease. And yet, if he got the drop on her, she’d be dead before she knew it. She clenched her teeth, her claws digging into the bark on the branch. She’d have to be careful around him. 

Then the branch she was standing on cracked. She was gripping it too hard. The creature instantly shot behind the corpse of the creature, looking directly at her. She was found out. Now it would be who attacked first. That fear that gripped her heart remained as the two stared each other down. In the end it was the creature who acted first. The water he used to kill the beast was brought up again. Though it wasn’t aimed at her. 

Instead, he used it to cut the beast in half. Once he was done, he grabbed one half of it and disappeared. Leaving her alone with half his catch.
> Ch 16: Making My Way Downtown
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aurick huffed in annoyance as he left the cold room. He only hoped that the offering would get the mare off his back. He’d rather not have to fight her again. Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked over to his temporary work station. The gems he needed to enchant were still sitting on the desk, with the six sets of armour neatly piled beside it. A groan rose out of him as he looked at it. He would have to worry about her until he finished those, and that would take a while. A week or two at the least. 

Perhaps he shouldn’t have told Luna how many enchantments it could have held? No. No, then the soldiers would not be as prepared to face that mare. They would need the help, and he wasn’t going to shirk their defence just because he was feeling a bit lazy. Though he still had a couple things to do before he drained his mana on that task. 

The first was obvious. He’d need to see Twilight. Primarily because he still didn’t know how to use the kitchen, so he couldn’t cook the meat. However, he planned to ask about getting meat shipped in while there. His jaunt through the forest had proven just how scarce the hunting would be. If it had taken him that long to find a single predator, he wondered how hard it would be for that mare. Then again, she managed to track him down both times he had entered the forest. 

Perhaps she had a den of some kind close to his house? 

It didn’t matter. She would be at a heavy disadvantage if she attempted to attack him in his home. The confined space would not be suitable for the hit and run tactics she had used before. Then again, she might be able to adapt to the situation. It would be another thing on the list that he would have to think over. For now, he had to focus on the task at hand, and that meant going into town. 

A single look down at his blood stained clothing told him all he needed to know about how that would go.


~-~


Aurick was glad that his cloak was made out of a hydrophobic material. He didn’t have to wash the blood off it, as it would simply slip off. It was a parting gift from his parents, before he left to explore the world. There hadn’t been a single day that he hadn’t worn it since. 

He was also wearing one of the sets of clothing that Rarity had made, and he couldn’t help but be impressed by the pony’s craft. The clothing was extremely comfortable and fit him perfectly. He had expected a couple minor mistakes in the product, but the mare had exceeded his expectations. Not to mention, as promised, it wasn’t flashy at all. His shirt was a light grey that contrasted nicely against his white cloak. The pants were of a darker colour, but not quite black. 

It was with this set that he had walked into town with, freshly showered after the hunt. He made his way to Twilight’s in short order, knocking once before allowing himself into the library. What he was met with was mildly unexpected. The library was a mess. Books all over the floor, the couch flipped over, a trio of unconscious foals in the corner and a frowning Spike sitting on the upturned couch. 

Said dragon’s deadpan gaze moved to Aurick, who was still standing in the doorway questioning if he should just walk away from the scenario. “She’s at Sugar Cube Corner.” Spike said, before his gaze fell off the confused elf and settled on nothing. With nothing to say, Aurick simple closed the door and walked away from the library. 

Sugar Cube Corner was more tame, despite the strange pink mare manning the counter. As soon as he entered she waved at him and tossed him a cupcake and a wink. He was delighted by that. The cupcake was as good as the ones before. Perhaps even better.

It was only a moment before he saw Twilight sitting at a booth. That yellow pegasus that he didn’t get the name of was across from her. As he approached, he could hear her soft voice carry a sense of worry.

“-know what to do. Even Harry’s a little afraid of it now. I’m trying my best to calm them down, but some are afraid to even hibernate.”

“What’s happening?” Aurick asked as he walked up, the yellow mare jumped in surprise, having not seen his approach despite facing him.

“Fluttershy’s worried about the animals in the forest. Apparently something moved in that’s been hunting anything that moves. A lot of them have left the forest and are finding refuge at her cottage.” Aurick’s calm face grew hard at that, and his eyes locked onto Fluttershy’s. The meek mare shrunk under his gaze, but didn’t avert her eyes.

“How close do you live to the forest?” He asked sternly. The mare didn’t answer, the purple unicorn doing so in her stead.

“She lives about as close as you do, why?” Aurick groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“This is bad. If she finds out…” He mumbled, making the pair look up at him with confusion and worry.

“If who finds out?” Twilight asked.

“That’s...” He sighed, “that’s classified. If you really want to know, ask one of the princesses, it’s not my place to tell. What I can say is that something dangerous has moved into the forest, and if she finds out where your cottage is, she will probably kill them all.” He sighed again and looked away. “And if you get in the way she might go after you too.” The mare looked terrified. Her eyes were wide and her whole body was shaking so much that the table vibrated.

“What would do something like that.” She asked in terror.

He gave the only answer he could. “A starving predator. With the animals going into hibernation or hiding from her, she’s not eating enough.”

“Is… is there anything we can do?” 

“No. The best you can do right now, Fluttershy, is to get away from the forest.” 

“What about the animals?”

Aurick frowned in annoyance. “Leave them.” She gasped at that.

“I can’t do that! What if that thing eats them?” 

“That’s nature. I would think that a mare that would be friends with animals would know what the circle of life is.” 

“Aurick…” Twilight said quietly, placing a hoof on his side. He glanced down at the frowning mare and sighed. 

“Take them away from the forest. If someone can help you take care of them, fine, but if they stay there they will be eaten.” The mare nodded silently.

“I’ll talk to Applejack.” Twilight told her. “I bet she’d be willing to help out.” The shy mare nodded, the smallest traces of a smile on her lips. 

“Okay, Twilight. I should go back to the cottage and check on them… just in case.” She said, getting up and slowly walking away.

“Be careful.” He called after her.

“Aurick.” He looked down at the mare, a serious frown on her face. “Can I ask a favor of you?” 

“Depends on the favor. Let’s hear it.” He said, taking the seat that Fluttershy previously occupied.

“Remember how I told you about Zecora?” He vaguely remembered the name, so he nodded. “She still lives in the Everfree. If this creature is as dangerous and desperate as you say, could you make sure she’s alright and find a way to make her move out of there until you and the princesses deal with it?”

“Yeah. I can do that. Though it might be dangerous. That creature has picked up the habit of following me around.” He scratched at his growing beard for a moment. “Which reminds me, with all the animals hibernating or hiding, I can’t hunt either.” Twilight’s eyes widened. “Is there a way for me to get meat shipped in?” 

“Er, yes. Yes that’s possible. I’ll need to send a letter to the princesses, though. I don’t know what company it would be.” She told him awkwardly.

“That’s fine. One more thing?” She looked at him with uncertainty, obviously questioning if his next request was going to be as awkward. “Could you teach me how to use my kitchen?” That’s why when he said that, she let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh. I never really cook, so I barely know how to use it either. If you really want to learn about that, you’d want to ask Spike or Pinkie.” 

“You rang?” The pink mare’s head popped out from under Aurick’s cloak. His mouth was agape as he stared down at the strange mare. How she had gotten in there he’d never know. 

“Yeah, Aurick needs some help learning to use a kitchen.” Twilight said casually, not even blinking at the mare’s strange antics. Said mare was in the process of gasping, as she twirled her body to face the elf. 

“That’s terrible! How would you make cakes!?” She shouted in hyperbolic horror.

“I can’t?” She gasped again. She pulled a thermometer from somewhere and stuck it in his mouth before instantly taking it out. She looked shocked by the results. 

“You’re party levels are deficient!” She exclaimed, suddenly having a doctor’s coat on. “Fear not, Doctor Pinkie shall fix this!” With that, the thoroughly confused elf was dragged away by the pink menace, leaving a smirking unicorn behind. She let out a short giggle at the scene before sighing. She pulled out a scroll and began to write to the princess.


-


Dear Princess Celestia,


Something has come to my attention that I must ask you about...

> Ch 17: The Same Old Song and Dance
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The kitchen was a mess. Batter was plastering the walls, icing all over the counter top, and Aurick was certain he had sprinkles in his hair. In the middle of the cooking war zone stood a cake. A perfect double decker covered with icing and sprinkles. It soon disappeared as the pink monster inhaled it, swallowing without even chewing. Aurick’s eye twitched, but the mare could only smile.

“That was great!” She exclaimed, throwing her hooves in the air. “I’ll make a baker out of you yet!” He simply groaned and ran a hand through his hair. A couple sprinkles impacted the ground.

“That’s great.” He deadpanned.

“I know, right!?” 

“Look, Pinkie. As much as I appreciate the help, I have to do some work.” He told her.

“Okie dokie loki!” She said with a salute. “I’ll be out of your mane right quick!” Suddenly her tongue shot out of her mouth and washed over the room. She licked up the batter, the icing… the sprinkles in Aurick’s hair, returning to her mouth with a pop. She smacked her lips and smiled at Aurick, who was surprisingly dry despite the tongue that had gone over him. He simply stood there, staring into nothing. “Bye!” And with that she disappeared. 

As Aurick stood there, alone in the room, a shiver came over him. He felt violated in some way that he couldn’t put his finger on. It was then that he vowed to never learn anything from that mare ever again. 

It was another couple minutes before he moved downstairs to his temporary work station. With a sigh, he took off scarf and laid it down on the table, moving the gems for Luna’s project further away. He pulled out his small sack of gems for personal use and removed two golden beryls. He enchanted both to absorb mana. In truth, he’d only need one to be sufficient, but he wanted the scarf to still look remotely nice. 

Once he was done he enchanted the scarf itself. It was a simple enchantment that would regulate body heat. No matter what weather the wearer would be in, it would keep them at a comfortable temperature. After he finished that, he placed a gem at each end of the scarf and melted them into it. When he was finished the black scarf came to a golden colour at the ends. That task completed, he returned the scarf to his neck and went back upstairs.

He had a favor to fulfill.


~-~


Twenty minutes into the forest and he realized he had no idea where this Zecora lived. He wasn’t even sure what she looked like. He felt like a fool for not asking for more detail. He briefly considered going back, but he squashed that thought down. He would find her. Just like he found that manticore. 

As his mind turned to that, he wondered if that mare was watching him again. He didn’t know how much she needed to eat, but he doubted she’d be attempting to hunt him again so soon. If only Luna had given him more information on the mare. She mentioned that she was experimented on, but had failed to mention the results. 

Or perhaps she didn’t know the results? 

It was possible that the pony responsible had destroyed the evidence of his experiments before he was captured. If so, then they were all dealing with a serious threat blindly. Either that, or she still didn’t trust him. It could be either, and he didn’t know which one he liked better.

What really mattered was how he would deal with her in the future. Their goal was to capture her, so they could potentially revert the experiments. If he was to do that for them, then he’d get her out of his hair and gain Luna’s trust. Though if he did that, he’d be putting himself at risk. The mare was strong, he couldn’t ignore that, and without his team to protect him, he feared he would be on the losing end of the battle. The only way he’d win was if he caught her off guard, but she had proven to be better at that so far. 

On the other hand, if he allowed Luna’s plan to run like she wanted, he’d probably still gain some trust for his help, on top of the money he’d receive from the enchantments. On the downside, however, that would be putting some soldiers at risk, and though they were likely trained, he doubted they were on the same level as adventurers. On top of that, he’d have to deal with the possibility of the mare attempting to eat him again. 

As he scratched his chin, he realized that it was likely going to come down to the money that he’d receive for his work. Would it be worth it? The amount he would get would go a long way to remodeling his house in the way that he’d want it. Certainly, he could do a lot with that money. 

A sigh escaped him as he continued on. It was something he could think about later. He still had to find this Zecora.


~-~


“Who is it that knocks? Don’t you know I have no lock?” A rhyming voice emerged from the shack as he knocked. Of course the hermit would rhyme. Why wouldn’t she?

“I assume you’re Zecora?” He asked as he entered. The inside wasn’t all that large, though it fit with what he expected. Voodoo masks covered the walls and various ingredients stood on shelves. A large cauldron sat in the center, an unknown liquid bubbling inside. 

“I am she, but who might you be?” Responded a Zebra that was wearing various gold rings, her mane done up in a mohawk. 

“The name’s Aurick. I recently moved into a building just outside the Everfree. That’s not why I’m here though. A new predator has moved into the forest. With winter closing in, we fear she’d not going to get enough to eat while the forest creatures hibernate, and that she’ll attempt to eat anything she can get her paws on.”

“I have sensed this presence, though I have not seen the nuisance.” The mare said, a hoof to her chin.

“You might live a bit out of the way of her usual hunting grounds. From what I can tell, she lives closer to me. Still, Twilight asked me to come out and make sure she hadn’t attacked you.”

“I am perfectly fine, as though I was in my prime. Twilight’s concerns are welcome, but I have not reached that outcome.” The mare told him as she stepped over to the cauldron. She took a whiff of the concoction and smiled. With a wave of her hoof, the blazing logs beneath relented and merely smoldered. 

“That may be, but that might not last. Twilight was wondering if you’d be willing to leave the Everfree until the situation has been dealt with.” 

She turned to look at him with an unamused gaze. Clearly the prospect did not appeal to her. “And if I may inquire, how long would that require?” 

“A week, maybe two at the most. It depends how long it takes for me to get the armor ready for the guards and for them to capture her.” Her gaze stayed on him as she scratched her chin.

“I will think on the subject, though what happens if I object?”

“Then I’ll leave you be. Though you can’t say I didn’t warn you. I’m certain she could split you in half with a single swipe.” That seemed to get the mare’s attention. 

“Indeed? It would seem that I am in need. Very well, if I may live elsewhere, that would be swell. For a time, at least, I would return after the departure of this beast.” She said sternly. 

“Of course. I… I just realized she didn’t say who would take you in, but I’d assume Twilight would take responsibility.” The mare nodded and started collecting ingredients. “Here, let me help.”
> 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.
> Ch 19: Foals in a Forest
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A day had passed. He had taken the day to purchase a metal band for his wrist. A band that had four stones that would absorb mana and hold it as a secondary source for him to tap into. He never needed to make one before, but with the amount of enchanting he’d been doing as of late, it only made sense. After completing some projects for the ponies around town, he went back to work on the armour. With the new mana stores, he was able to make more progress on the armour. Sadly, time was still a constraint he had to deal with. 

That night Luna had visited him again. She requested an update on how long the armour would take, and was pleased to hear that he was already starting on the second set. He also told her the price that his service would cost her, having finally done the math. She didn’t even blink at the number. She agreed without question. After that, she departed to continue her duties.


~-~


Once again, Aurick was woken by a knock at his door. This time, however, it wasn’t the calm knocking that any respectable person would give. It was a frantic knocking that gave a sense of urgency to the elf. He instantly threw on his cloak and scarf and rushed down the stairs. On the other side of the door was exactly who he didn’t want to see. 

It was one of the royal guard, and he had a look of near panic on his face. Behind him was Applejack and Rarity, as well as a mare he vaguely remembered purchasing an enchantment from him. 

“Sir!” The guard said, his hoof still in the air to knock on the door.

“What happened? Was it Inkheart?” He asked immediatly, his eyes narrowed.

“Maybe.” The guard said, confusing him. “It appears three foals entered the forest in search of Zecora.” The colour drained from Aurick’s face as he heard that. He quickly motioned for the four to come in as he ran downstairs and grabbed the necklace he made for the mare. The guard continued once he returned. “These three came to me about it, and we can’t enter because of…” 

“Fuck. Okay, I’ll handle it.” He turned to the three worried looking mares that had tagged along. He walked over and knelt beside them. “What do they look like?” 

They each listed off a variety of features about the foals. Applebloom was yellow with red hair. She has a bow that she almost never takes off. Sweetie Belle was white, like her sister, and had two tone purple hair. She was a unicorn too, but couldn’t use her magic much. Scootaloo was orange with short purple hair. She had small wings and couldn’t fly, but she might have her scooter with her. 

With a frown, he turned to the guard. “Okay, I’m going to need you to take these mare’s back to town.” He ordered, leaving no room for complaint. The guard fell into habit and saluted before carrying out his task. The worried mare’s gave him concerned looks as they left, and he gave them a reassuring smile. At least he hoped it was reassuring. 


~-~


She watched from the trees. A commotion was happening at the creature’s house. A guard and three mares were involved. After a short time, the guard lead the mares back to town, the smell of fear and worry wafting off them. As soon as they left, the creature followed, but he did not go into town. He came to the forest, a scary look on his face. 

She could tell something was wrong. Perhaps it would be best not to follow him this time. 

She tried to get away from him, but she was too focused on him. She didn’t see the branch she hit. Her heart stopped as she hit it though, because the creature reacted in an instant. She was flung to the ground, impacting the forest floor hard enough to eject the air from her lungs. In the space of time it took for her to register what happened, the earth around her rose up and held her to the ground. Only her head was free from the earth.

She could hear him approaching. His footsteps heavier than they ever had been before. Once again she felt fear grip her. When she arrived she had been foolish enough to think herself the ruler of the forest. It was here that she realized how wrong she was. As he came into view, his eyes bore into her. 

They were cold. 

“Did you take them?” He asked in a level voice, his face showing no emotion. It her a long time to answer. The fact that she was pressed down on all sides only made it worse.

“Who?” 

“The foals.” His response was quick, making her eyes widen. Foals? She would never harm a foal! She might be a monster now, but that didn’t mean she had to act like on all the time.

“No!” She exclaimed. “No hurt foals!” 

“So you didn’t see three foals come in the forest?” She quickly shook her head. Were those foals stupid? Why would they enter the Everfree? Perhaps they were friends with that zebra?

“Go zebra?” She asked, making the creature scratch his face fur.

“Probably.” He waved his hand and she felt the earth loosen. In an instant she shot ten feet back. Rather she tried to. What actually happened was that the creature grabbed her by the back of the neck and held her down some more. She could easily have broken away, but she thought better of it. “How do you always find me?” 

“Smell.” She replied hesitantly. She didn’t want to tell him, because he could probably find a way around it. If he did, he’d be able to sneak up on her and kill her. Then again, he hadn’t needed to so far. All because she let herself be affected by fear. “Can smell good. Doctor make happen.” 

“How far?” 

“Far.” He raised a brow. “Er… experiment… mess word. Hard speak.” She told him, making him frown.

“Can you sniff them out?” 

“Yes.” 

“Good, then do that.” She nodded as much as she could within his grip. He let her go, but kept his gaze on her. She didn’t even move as she lifted her nose to the air. She found them within seconds. As she had thought, they were at the zebra’s hut.

“Zebra place. Three.” She told him, getting a nod in response.

“Lead me.” He gestured for her to walk in front and that’s exactly what she did. They didn’t take any roundabout way. She made sure to lead him as straight as possible. They arrived in only fifteen minutes. Without any fanfare, the creature stepped into the hut. She shuffled outside, the cold snow below making her paws uncomfortable. It took only a minute to realize that the creature had left her out there. 

She took her opportunity and ran.


~-~


Aurick entered the hut with a sigh of relief. The three foals were huddled under a blanket in the corner. The white one sneezed as he approached. 

“Hey, aren’t you that weird guy that moved in recently?” The orange one asked. Scootaloo if he remembered right. 

“Yep. And I’m also the one that decided to find you when your sisters and mother came to me in a panic.” 

“Why, we were just trying to visit Zecora?” Applebloom asked, her eyes portraying her confusion.

“Zecora’s not here. She’s with Twilight until the situation clears up.” He told them with a sigh.

“What situation?” 

“Haven’t you heard the guards warning everyone? The Everfree is more dangerous now. We can’t have people in here right now.” 

“And what about you? Why are you in here, huh?” Scootaloo asked with a frown.

“Saving you apparently.” He sighed, a hand running through his hair as he got closer to the trio. “Gimme a second and I’ll take you home.” He went back to the door and opened it. Taking a look outside, he found that the mare had disappeared. Probably left the moment he took his eyes off her. He had been hoping to talk to her, seeing as she had proven to be intelligent, but evidently that would have to come at a later time. Until then he had to bring those foals home.
> Ch 20: Time Goes On
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

He stared up at the demi-god, his dark armour silhouetted against the night sky. His hand was raised, ten portals appearing before him as he glared down at the members of Ragnarok. From each portal came a beast from nightmares. Indescribable in form, and held a dark that seemed to negate light within a close vicinity. 

Aurick couldn’t help but feel their chances of success were low. His party seemed to agree. Except, of course, for Shurda. The optimistic bastard that he was. Despite it all, there wasn’t really much of a choice. Ragnarok were the ones to take care of this. Or at least delay him until reinforcements arrived. 

The bastard had decided to strike when all the adventuring parties had gone far away. The only one that was close enough to return was Ragnarok, leaving them as the sole defenders against this force. 

Aurick could feel the atmosphere start to change. The fight was about to begin. He took a calming breath as he focused on a ring and held up a hand. He’d probably need to focus on countering the demi-god’s spells for a majority of the fight. Meaning he’d have to rely on his companion’s strength to take him down. He could see them all readjusting their grips on their weapons as they prepared to move. 

Then all hell broke loose… or not? 

Even as the crazed demi-god charged, he froze. Even the nightmare abominations was forced to stop by whatever came over them. It took only a few moments for Aurick to realize what was happening. Turning, he caught the sight of Luna flying towards him. A sigh of relief escaped him as he lowered his hand. He really didn’t want to relive that fight. 

“Hello, Aurick.” The princess said as she came into range, she was casting a wary glance at the scene around him. “I came for other business, but I find myself intrigued by this scene.” He sighed as she said that. He should have known she’d want to know.

“Not a whole lot to tell. A demi-god crazed with power decided to take over the continent. Me and my friends were the only ones around, so we had to hold him off.” He replied simply.

“You defeated a demi-god?” She asked incredulously, her eyes wide.

“No.” Was his response, his teeth grit as he remembered the battle. He was lucky to survive, a trait not shared by all in his team. “We held him off long enough to get reinforcements. It took three more groups to show up before we were able to toss him back into the realm of the gods. Then they took care of him.” Whether she had heard enough or she finally realized he didn’t want to talk about it, she nodded and moved on.

“I’m told you saved the Cutie Mark Crusaders from the forest today.” She told him, a small smile on her face. 

“Saved is a bit much. The only thing I really saved them from was a cold, and I was too late for one of them.” The mare snorted and shook her head.

“I assume that means that Inkheart was of no issue then?” 

“No. She helped me find them in fact.” The princesses eyes widened at that, a hoof raising off the ground.

“Truly?”

“Yeah. Apparently she’s still as intelligent as normal, but whatever that experiment did made it hard for her to speak. I was gonna ask her to come in so we could help, but she ran away before I could.” Luna smiled and placed a hoof on her chin.

“If this is the case, then perhaps the armour won’t be needed after all.” She muttered.

“I’m still getting paid, right?” He asked, a hand on his chest and a brow raised. He put a lot of hours into that and he wasn’t going to get skimped on that.

“Of course,” She told him, her eyes rolling, “I might still need them for some other business.” 

“Good.” 

“I believe I will take my leave for now. I must think of how to proceed with this new information.”

Aurick couldn’t help but raise a brow. “What’s there to think about? Go talk to the mare, tell her you want to help her, and bring her to the castle or something.” 

“Yes, but who knows how she will react? She might still be intelligent, but there’s nothing to say that the experiments haven’t messed up her mind more than we know. She could panic if she were surrounded by too many ponies. She could attempt to eat someone simply because she’s hungry and there’s no other food nearby.” She sighed. “I wish it could be that easy, but without knowing everything that Test Tube had done to her, there are too many unknown factors.”

“Are you interrogating him?” 

“Yes, but he does not seem to crack. We have only gotten minor details, like the fact that her dragon biology allows her to eat gems as well as meat. Nothing that could be too useful.” Aurick sighed and ran a hand through his hair. 

“Alright. I’ll see if I can’t talk to her while you do what you do.” He scratched at his beard. “I’m getting tired of worrying about everyone within the vicinity of the forest.”

“I understand, and I thank you for keeping my ponies safe.” Luna told him, her head bowing slightly. He just waved her off. 

“It’s mostly force of habit. I did the same thing back home.” 

“All the same.” Again, he just waved her off, but she gave him a smile. “Sleep well, Aurick.”


~-~


The next couple days passed without incident. Aurick attempted to go into the forest to find Inkheart each day, but each day he found nothing. He, of course, found signs that she was still in there. Claw marks, small clumps of hair, and the like. Yet there was one thing he never found. 

A carcass. 

He wasn’t sure if the mare was eating further out than he was looking, or if she hadn’t eaten at all. Based on the animal presence in the forest, he was betting on the latter. When he spoke to Luna about it, she seemed worried, and she confirmed that she hadn’t left the forest. Unless she managed to sneak past her scouts. 

It only grew worse as the days passed. The snow kept piling and the air grew colder and colder. He wondered if she would be okay in the cold. The ponies around town had bought out Rarity’s stock of enchanted winter clothes, and he knew that the mare had no such clothes. Hopefully the experiments gave her some form of cold resistance, else they might find her dead come Spring. A fact that made Luna worry. 

She had stopped with the precautions in her worry and had started sending the guards into the forest. He had three sets of armour finished, so the ones she sent in were wearing those. Yet despite the extra help, they never found her. They only found traces that she still lived, which would suffice for a few moments before they started to worry again. 


~-~


It had been five days since he had last seen her. He was sitting in Applejack’s barn, working on one of their plows. He stood up with a groan. He had been sitting down for a good half hour working on the enchantment. Rubbing the back of his neck he walked out of the barn and over to the farm house, knocking on the door. It only took a moment for Applejack to answer.

“I take it yer finished with the ol’ plow?” She asked with a smile. 

“Yep. Shouldn’t catch on rocks as easily now. Should be a smooth ride from here on.” He told her, earning a smile in return.

“I’m sure Big Mac would be glad to hear that! I bet you’re hungry after that, would you like to join us for lunch?” She asked with a smile. It was a tempting offer, but Aurick already had some meat defrosting at home. 

“Not this time, AJ. I’ve got some food defrosting at home that I was planning to eat.” He told her earning a small frown out of the farmer.

“Alright, but don’t be a stranger, ya hear. You’ve been real busy of late, it’s like you have no time for friends.” 

“I know. I still gotta teach Twilight like I promised too. Hopefully it won’t last too long. End of winter at the latest.” He told her with a sigh.

“Good. It’s a good thing to work hard, but if I’ve learned anything, it’s that you shouldn’t let your work rule your life.” She told him, lightly punching him in the leg. 

“You’re right. Of course.” 

“You bet yer flank I’m right. Now lemme get you your payment so you can get back home.” The mare was quick with it, and before long, an elf was walking home with a small sack of coins in hand. As he walked, he couldn’t help but feel glad that he enchanted his scarf. The few times he had been without it had been fairly cold, and he wasn’t sure he would have like the walk home as much as he had. 

It wasn’t long before his house came into sight, making the tall man pick up the pace. Though as he got closer he noticed something strange. A disturbance in the snow. 

As he got closer, he found it wasn’t just a disturbance. A white lump laid upon the ground. A white lump with dark hair.
> Ch 21: Bedridden
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first thing she felt upon waking up, was the lack of cold. In fact, she was pleasantly warm. A fact that confused her, as she distinctly remembered passing out in the snow. The second thing she noticed answered the budding question in her mind. The familiar scent was overpowering. She knew exactly where she was without even opening her eyes. He must have found her outside his den. 

A sneeze forced its way out of her, causing her body to pull forward from the force of it. With a small groan she opened her eyes. Far above her sat a stone ceiling, the light fixtures within seemed to be newly installed. Peering around, she found herself in a small room, resting on a bed. A large blanket was draped over her. She could hear him downstairs, though it was faint. She briefly wondered why his steps were always so light. A being of that size had no right to move as quietly as he did. 

She shook the thoughts out of her head as she slowly lifted the covers off her. She wasn’t going to sit around at his mercy. Never again. 

Getting the blankets off was the easy part. All she had to do was move a little bit and they slowly shuffled off her. As soon as she did, though, she began to regret it. With the blankets gone, she was exposed to the cold of the world. It was almost enough to make her crawl back underneath them and await her captor. A part of her mind screamed at her for the thought, and she continued with her original plan.

Crafling to the edge of the bed, she tried her best to step off. The key word was try, as she failed spectacularly. The moment she reached a paw out for the floor, she slipped off the bed, slamming her face into the ground and flipping over onto her back. She merely groaned in annoyance more than pain as she laid there. 

She felt drained from the short events that lead her to this position, and even though she tried, she couldn’t stand up. Panic began to set in as she heard the creatures footsteps approaching. Before long, the door was opened, revealing the tall creature looking down at her with an unamused look. He sighed and ran a hand through his mane as he walked over to her. 

The mare’s eyes bugged out as he did so, and he must have seen it, as he took a step back a moment before she took a swipe at him. It was a weak swipe, but it was the thought that counts. This amused him even less, a frown firmly placed on his face as he crossed his arms. 

“I could just dump you back out in the snow.” He told her, making her grit her teeth. 

Her response came slow as another sneeze forced its way out of her. “Why?” 

“Why what?” He raised a brow.

“Why help?” She asked, not looking him in the eyes.

“Because I’m nice. I think the better question was why you decided to come to me of all people for help.” He said, scratching at his face hair.

“Don’t… don’t know.” She admitted with a frown. Why did she come here? She knew she couldn’t have killed him in her state. What was the point?

The creature sighed as he stepped forward again, making the mare glare at him. “Can I at least get you back in the bed?” He asked in annoyance. “You’ve already got a fever, no reason to make it worse.” The mare continued to glare at him, but the creature wouldn’t look away. Eventually, she relented and nodded her head. He rolled his eyes as he walked up to her, and she had to prevent herself from lashing out at him. The fact that he picked her up as though she weighed nothing made it even worse. It only reinforced the one thing she knew for certain about this situation. 

She was at his mercy.


~-~


Aurick returned to the guest room after a couple minutes, a steaming bowl in his hands. This time, the mare hadn’t attempted a daring escape and had stayed in bed. Though that didn’t stop the scowl from crossing her face. At least she perked up when she smelled the food in his hands. 

“You gonna try and hit me again?” He asked her. She looked between him and the food for a moment before shaking her head. “Good.” He mumbled as he stepped closer. He crouched down beside the bed and started to hand the bowl over before frowning. He looked at the spoon and looked at the mare’s paws for a moment. “Can you even hold a spoon?” He asked, mostly to himself, but the mare was able to hear it. She lifted a paw up to her eyes before looking back at the bowl. 

“Hold bowl.” She said, miming holding the bowl and tipping the contents into her mouth. Aurick frowned and shook his head. 

“These are my only other bedsheets. I’m not gonna let you get them dirty.” He sighed and stood up. “Gimme a moment.” He left the room and quickly returned with a chair. He sat next to the bed and leaned forward, taking the spoon in hand. The mare looked at him and looked at the spoon before scowling again.

“No.” She said firmly.

“Either this or you don’t eat.” He told her, equally as firm. The growl from her stomach was all the answer he needed.


~-~


Arick sighed as he rubbed his neck. He looked down at the newest set of armour he finished. He wondered if there was even a point to this anymore. Shrugging, he set the armour aside and went back upstairs. He still had a ‘house guest’ to entertain. As he did so, he had grabbed a small cut of meat to bring to her. He vaguely remembered Runa telling him that people who were starved needed to eat smaller portions throughout the day. He couldn’t remember the why, just that it was what he was supposed to do. 

He didn’t bother to knock as he entered the room. The mare was still in bed, a scowl firmly pressed onto her face as she glared at the ceiling. She lifted her head to look at him as he approached. The scowl faded slightly as she smelt the food in his hand. He was glad she didn’t seem to care if it was raw or not. Probably something from the mutation. 

He gently tossed it to her, and the mare opened her maw to catch it. He was surprised by the lengths she could open it. It was like staring at a snake that had razor sharp teeth filling its mouth. The moment the meat was within range, it snapped shut with an audible clack. The mare proceeded to happily chew on the food provided. 

“So, Inkheart, wh-” He was cut off by the mare growling at him. 

“No Inkheart. Dead.” This wasn’t what he was expecting. His brow raised at the words even as he attempted to decipher the meaning. 

“So… Inkheart is dead?” He asked slowly, confused. The mare noded. “Then who are you?” He had to ask, scratching his beard.

“Am… other. Experiment kill Inkheart.” She told him with a scowl. “Not take. Become me. No Inkheart.” He simply stared at her for a moment before sighing.

“Then what do I call you?” She looked at him and shrugged.

“Care not.” Aurick couldn’t help but pinch the bridge of his nose and let out a groan. He needed to call her something, even if she didn’t want to be called Inkheart. He didn’t know anything about pony naming conventions, so he went with his own.

“Fine, does Ashwyn work?” The mare shrugged and nodded. “Good. Glad we got that settled, because I forgot what I was going to ask in the first place.” He sighed and left the room. There was still some more work he could do.


~-~


It was almost dinner time when Aurick heard a knock at the door. His palm met his face as he remembered the guards. He was quick to answer it, finding the three guards that had been searching the Everfree with him for the last couple days. 

“You ready, Aurick?” The lead one asked with a smile. 

“Actually, Hardy, there’s no need.” The guards raised their brows. “I’ve got her up in my guest room, right now.”

“Really!?” Hardy asked incredulously.

“Yep, but I wouldn’t recommend going up there. She’s barely letting me take care of her right now. I don’t know how she’ll act if she sees guards enter her room.” 

“Understood. I assume you are capable of looking after her for now?” 

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll make sure she’s okay.” The group of guards glanced at each other before nodding at the elf.

“Very well then. Best of luck.” The group saluted him before turning and making their way back to town. 

Aurick closed the door with a sigh. Just two weeks ago he was resting at home with his friends. Now he was watching a sick monster mare for a horse government. 

Why couldn’t life just be simple?
> Ch 22: Not as Planned
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Did you see how that fucker went down!?” Agni exclaimed, her mug of ale slamming down onto the table and spilling out. A massive grin was spread across her face as she looked at the everyone else. A bearded man chuckled, a glass of whiskey loosely gripped in his hand.

“Aye. Bloody bastard crumpled like paper!” He laughed loudly. The man was a recent addition to the party, but he had proven his worth so far. No one knew his real name though, they all just called him Whiskey, after his drink of choice. 

“I still don’t understand what he was thinking.” Aurick commented, an arm over the back of his chair. “Sure, he was a strong mage, but to take all of us on at once?” 

“You’re doing that thing again!” Agni accused, her mug pointed at him.

“I’m sorry that I try to be the sensible one.” He defended with a frown.

“Sensible my ass!” The bearded man yelled. “Ye’d be scared the earth would swallow ya if you couldn’t control it!” He chuckled, earning a smirk out of Agni. Aurick wasn’t as amused. 

“So much for ‘fearless leader’, huh?” Agni commented, making Aurick roll his eyes. Luckily he didn’t have to bear the comments for long, as the tavern quickly froze around him. Long since familiar with what was happening, the elf leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

“Hello, Luna.”

“Hello, Aurick.” The mare responded. He had noticed that he had at some point broken through the lunar mare’s tough exterior, as she had begun greeting him with some modicum of warmth. “I’ve been informed that you found Inkheart.”

“In a sense.” He stood up and turned to face her, grabbing the mug of ale out of Agni’s hand. “According to her, the persona of Inkheart is dead. She doesn’t want to be called that because she sees herself as a different person now.” 

“That’s… troubling, but not wholly unexpected.” She said, a silver clad hoof tapping against her chin. “Something I’m sure a psychologist can fix.” She said with a smile. 

“Allow me to be a devil’s advocate here and ask: what if she doesn’t want to be fixed?” The question seemed to take the lunar diarch by surprise. She stared at him incredulously for a moment before blinking in lowering her hoof. 

“Then… I guess that’s her choice. She still has her mind about her from what you’ve told me. She just acts more like a predator.” She looked up at the ceiling with a frown. “It’s an issue for a later date.” She told herself with a shake of her head before refocusing her gaze on Aurick. “What does she wish to be called now?” 

Aurick shrugged at her before taking a drink of the ale. “She doesn’t really care. I’ve decided to call her Ashwyn, seeing as I don’t know pony naming conventions. She doesn’t seem to mind.” He told her.

“Very well. I assume it’s an elven name?” The elf nodded in response to the inquiry. 

“Means ashen one. Thought it somewhat appropriate, what with her current mind crawling from the ashes of the old.” 

“Indeed. I believe it shall suit her.” She nodded and looked at the glass of whiskey on the table. With a shrug the mare lifted it in her magic and downed the glass. “Ah, if only alcohol could work in a dream.” She mumbled, smacking her lips. “Anyways, I’ll come to your home tomorrow to take Ashwyn to the castle.”

“Alright. She’ll probably get some better treatment there than she will with me. She’s half starved and running a fever.” 

“Easily remedied, though somewhat timely. It is of no issue.” She smiled at him and nodded to herself. “Until then?”

He raised the mug and returned the smile. “Until then.”


~-~


He awoke to the sound of someone knocking on his front door. A groan escaped him as he sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Is this becoming a thing?” He grumbled to himself as he got out of the warm confines of his bed. He was quick to dress and make his way downstairs. When he opened the door, he couldn’t help but raise a brow.

“I didn’t think you’d be by so early.” He told Luna, who greeted him with a friendly smile. 

“I must admit that I was also curious as to your current living arrangements. Minotaur make I believe.” She said as he allowed her in. She looked around at the decor, raising a brow at the sconces that were still on the walls. He merely shrugged at the unasked question.

“I guess a minotaur makes sense. I was wondering who was so tall.”

“Indeed.”

The elf began walking towards the kitchen, Luna following close behind. “Would you like some coffee?” He asked, earning a smirk in return.

“You act as though I don’t run on the stuff.” They shared a chuckle as the elf began to brew a pot. 

“And here I thought that was a royal secret.” He joked. “I was planning to use it to bribe you into my favor.” 

“Alas, your dastardly plans have been foiled yet again.” She replied, a hoof to her chest and her muzzle in the air in mock triumph.

“Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to get back at you by forcing you to drink coffee not made by the finest craftsmen in the lands.” He told her menacingly.

“Oh my, surely you jest? Such a thing would be tantamount to torture!” She complained, unable to hide her mirth. 

“I am a man of no mercy.” He informed the mare, handing her a cup of coffee. “Now taste my wrath.” That one earned a full blown laugh and snort out of the normally dignified mare. 

“That was a good one.” She said between laughs. As she came to the end of it, she took a sip of the coffee with a smile, smacking her lips. “Wrath has never tasted so good.” Aurick shook his head with a snort before taking a sip of his own coffee. “I guess the question must be asked, where is… Ashwyn, you called her?” He nodded. 

“She’s up in the guest bedroom. Now that I think about it, she’d probably freaking out. She’d probably be able to smell you.” He muttered the last bit to himself, though the lunar diarch heard this and raised a brow. 

“Is her sense of smell that good?” 

“When I said she helped me find the foals, she smelled them from half the forest away and led me to them.” He told her and took a sip of his coffee as he led Luna out of the kitchen. “I’m gonna make sure she’s not doing anything rash. If you’d be so kind…?” He gestured towards the couch. 

“Of course. That mare has gone through enough, no need to scar her further.” The pair shared a nod before splitting up. Aurick was quick to ascend the stairs and make his way to the room he had placed Ashwyn in. Upon opening the door, he was met with an unexpected sight. 

Ashwyn was not awake, but the bed was a mess. The covers were half off and the sheets were practically shredded. She was curled up in a ball, shivering, though it wasn't from the cold. Tears were clearly present on her face and stained what remained of his ruined bedsheets. With a frown he approached cautiously, his mind torn on the matter. He wanted wake her up from what was surely a nightmare, but he felt she was likely to lash out at him when she woke up. At the same time, he really didn’t want to leave her like this. 

Swallowing the ball in his throat, he got closer and gently laid a hand on the mare’s shoulder. “Ash.” He called, shaking her slightly. Her reaction was instant. She lunged at him, her claws digging into his flesh. It wasn’t an attack, however. The mare held him close, probably not registering who it was as she hid her face in his chest. Wincing in pain, Aurick did what he had always done in these situations. 

He began to pet the killer pony.


~-~


“No talk.” Ashwyn demanded after she regained her senses. A deep scowl on her face as she glared at him. She would not have this creature spread rumors. She would not let others take advantage of her temporary weakness. 

“Yeah, yeah.” He relented, wincing as he used his magic to make the holes in his chest scab over. Her glare faltered as she looked at the blood staining his shirt, her scowl deepening. A hint of remorse played through her. She could only hope he wouldn’t toss her out for injuring him. “Won't matter much anyways. Luna will-” He stopped when she flung herself behind the bed. It wasn’t a pretty move, as she managed to plant her face into the floor again, but she succeeded in her mission. “She’s not gonna hurt you.” 

“No!” She replied with a growl, her head raising above the bed to deliver a glare at the creature on the other end. She would not allow herself to be taken in by them. She refused to let them finish.

“They just want to help you return to what you were.” He told her calmly, but she was having none of it, her growl depening. 

“Lies.” She said, a low rumble entering her voice. The creature seemed to have a modicum of self preservation instincts, because he took a step back and raised a brow. They glared at each other for a moment before the creature sighed and rubbed his temples.

“Fucking… fine. Can I at least make sure you don’t die?” He groaned in annoyance.

“No Luna.” She demanded.

“Yeah, I got that part.” He sighed and hung his head as he made his way to the door. He paused as he grabbed the door handle and turned back with a frown on his face. “We will have to discuss the rules after.” He told her, before looking back at the bed, his frown deepening. “And you owe me new bedsheets.” With that he exited the room, leaving Ashwyn to her thoughts.


~-~


“So I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news.” Aurick said with a groan as he descended the stairs. Luna looked at him with a raised brow, and nearly dropped her coffee when she noticed the blood on his shirt. She was on her hooves in an instant and moved closer to the injured elf. 

“What happened!?” She asked with wide eyes. 

“She was having a nightmare and I woke her up. She didn’t take too kindly to that.” Luna frowned at that and used her magic to lift his shirt and look at the wounds.

“Well, it looks like they’ve already scabbed over.” She commented to herself.

“Yeah, I only know a little bit of healing magic, so I can’t heal it fully. Had to deal with this once before.” He lifted the shirt higher and pointed to the discoloured marks on his shoulders. “She wasn’t too friendly during the first meeting either, but at least she didn’t try to eat me this time.” 

“A small victory, I guess.” She mumbled and let his shirt drop back down.

“Yeah. By the way, can’t you do anything about those nightmares? Isn’t that your job or something?” Aurick asked as he walked over to the couch and sat down.

“It is. Believe me, I have attempted numerous times to find Ashwyn within the dream realm, but each time I have failed.” The mare sighed as she sat down next to the elf. “It is truly irritating.” Aurick put a hand to his chin as he thought about it for a moment. An idea coming to him.

“Can you only enter the dreams of ponies?” The mare looked at him with a deadpan gaze.

“Really?” It took a moment for Aurick to actually realize what was wrong.

“Oh. Right.”

“Indeed. Though the dream realm is divided by species. Your dreams are on a separate plane within the realm. Like how gryphons are on a different plane than ponies.” She informed him and took a sip of her coffee.

“Okay, what if because of the experiments, she is on a different plane like me?” He asked, an arm resting on the back of the couch as he crossed a leg over the other. 

“... I guess that’s possible. I had only been searching for her amongst the ponies, but if it is as you say…” Luna thought for a moment longer before shaking her head. “Something to think about tonight, I guess.” 

“Yup. Anyways, like I said earlier, I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news.” Aurick told her, lifting a finger. “First is that she seems to be flat out terrified by the thought of anything to do with you. So going to the castle is out of the question.” Luna frowned at that, but said nothing as Aurick lifted another finger. “The good thing is that she’ll let me continue to look after her. So I guess that’s a good thing.”

“Indeed. As much as I hate to ask, can I trust you to take care of her? I know you’ve done far more than I had asked of you initially, but…” Luna didn’t finish as she simply sighed. A sigh which Aurick echoed.

“Yeah. I can handle this. Maybe when she feels better I can make her pull her weight around here.” Luna nodded before snorting, making Aurick raise a brow.

“I couldn’t help but imagine her as a maid.” The princess giggled behind a hoof as Aurick snorted as well.

“As adorable as it would be, I’m pretty sure she’d tear up the uniform.” 

“Oh, I’m sure you could make it last.”

“Perhaps.” A wicked grin came across his face as he thought about it. “I might buy one just to hang over her head as a punishment.” 

“Truly, you are a dastardly elf.” Luna chuckled.

“Only the cruelest.” The pair talked for a couple more minutes before Luna had to depart. A princess never rests, it would seem. Waving goodbye to the lunar diarch, he returned inside with a sigh. 

Now he had to deal with a killer mare living with him for the foreseeable future.
> Ch 23: Room Service
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashwyn had managed to clamber back onto the bed at some point, a heavy frown on her face. He had tried to turn her over to the princesses! That couldn’t be allowed to happen. They would not have her. She would be free, damnit! 

At least the creature was able to be talked out of it. That meant he wasn’t directly under their hooves. The creature wasn’t working with him. She paused as a shiver ran down her spine. It wasn’t from the cold, though that was an issue now that she had destroyed the sheets in her sleep. A sigh escaped her as she tried to collect the destroyed blanket that had once warmed her. Despite how well it covered her, it never brought the same comfortable warmth that it did before. 

Her ear perked up as she heard something from downstairs. Laughter. Her frown returned. He might not be under them, but he seemed to be their friend. Or at least Luna’s friend, based on what she could hear. She couldn’t help but wonder if she could trust him. Sure, he had been kind to her so far, but she could tell he didn’t like her. Or at the least, her presence annoyed him. So why even bother? 

Perhaps he had asked the creature to keep her alive until she could be retrieved. Maybe he had been told to tame her. The thought made her grit her teeth as she glared lasers into the wall. That would not happen. She was Alpha and that was final!

A scowl crossed her face as she remembered her current situation. She didn’t have much choice in the matter. Whether she wanted it or not, that creature was the alpha in this house. As long as she was at his mercy, he would continue to be so. The thought left a foul taste in her mouth. The quickest way to change that would be to recover. Then she’d have every opportunity to kill him and become the Alpha again. 

No. Killing him just felt… wrong. She would defeat him and make him swear fealty to her. Yes, that would work better. Not to mention a magic user as scary as him would be a good deterrent for him. Until then, she would… obey. The shiver returned in full force as her hair stood on end. Her eyes squeezed shut as she felt it wash over her. As if on cue, the door opened. In the doorway stood… her Alpha. He held a small chunk of meat in his hand, and had a frown on his face.

“It’s not going to work without the enchantment on it.” He told her as he approached. He must have caught her shivering then. She mentally berated herself for showing him that weakness. As though he hadn’t already seen enough weakness from her. He rolled his eyes as he stood beside the bed, even as his arm extended towards her to offer the meat. 

She almost lunged at it and nabbed it in her teeth, but she held back at the last second. If she did that, he would likely flinch, and she might rip off part of his hand. He would surely kill her if she did that. Instead, her prehensile tongue extended from her mouth and wrapped around the tasty chunk. The Alpha stared at it with wide eyes, or what constituted as wide for such a small eyed creature. She honestly had a hard time telling what he was thinking because of it, and it irritated her greatly. With ponies, it was so easy. Their eyes were so large that you could hardly miss them, but with the Alpha… 

They were so small and obscured by the shadow of his brow more often than not. Especially when he furrowed said brow. She could tell that they were expressive, it was just that she had a hard time making them out. 

Either way, she had no idea what was running through his mind as she pulled her tongue back, the succulent meat coming with it. She happily munched on the food, tasting the juicy flavour of it. Easily, this was the best part about her situation. Despite her reservations, the Alpha was feeding her. She no longer felt like she was on the verge of death. Though she still felt stuffy because of the fever she was running. Hopefully that would be fixed before long. It was hard to smell anything beyond the room she was in, and she had grown to rely on that sense over the past week. Without it, she might as well have been blind. 

Another shiver ran through her as she swallowed the meat. The Alpha saw this and frowned, a sigh escaping him. “Here.” He reluctantly pulled the scarf off from around his neck, a shiver visibly running through him. The moment he reached towards her with it, she froze up. Her claws dug into the bed, and it took all her might not to lash out at him. In the end, he wrapped the cloth around her neck, bringing a familiar warmth back to her. “Now don’t tear that up, or you’ll just have to deal with the cold. Got it?” She nodded swiftly, snuggling into the admittedly comfortable scarf. “Good.” 

He scratched his head as he looked down at the ruined bed. “Guess I can’t let you sleep in this bed anymore.” He sighed. “And I’m not gonna leave you on the couch.” He muttered, rubbing his temples. “Fuck. C’mere.” Once again, he reached for her, and once again, her reaction was the same. This time, however, he was not bequeathing warmth upon her, but rather picking her up. He had trouble, as her claws were still in the bed, but after she received an annoyed look from the Alpha, she was quick to detach herself from the battered mattress. 

The way he held her was nothing more than embarrassing. It was like she was a foal. He held her to his breast, her ear easily hearing his steady heart beat with how close they were. As he walked out of the room with her, she noticed something. Namely how close his neck was. If she truly wanted to, she could easily reach up and tear out his throat. It would have been foals play. If she hadn’t already decided not to kill him, she would have hesitated at the easy kill. 

From what she had seen of the Alpha so far, he was a smart one. She doubted he would leave open such an obvious weakness. It had to be a trap. He wanted to see if he could trust her to be so close to him. A frown crossed her lips as she thought about it. Why would he want to trust her to be close to him? What could he possibly want that would require such? 

Her question was quickly answered by the room he had taken her. It was another bedroom. One with a much larger bed that was completely soaked in one scent. The Alpha’s. Only one thought crossed her mind about what he could possibly want with her in his bed. Panic began to set in as they got closer, her claws emerging and digging into his flesh. 

He stopped in an instant. With a frown on his face, he looked down at her. “What’s wrong?” The question demanded an answer, and the Alpha would get his demands. 

“Not… want.” She told him between grit teeth. His brow furrowed in annoyance and confusion. 

“You… don’t want to lie in bed?” He asked, the confusion evident in his voice.

“No use.” She growled even deeper.

“Use? Use wha-” He cut himself off as realization came over him. “Ash, I don’t know what you think I am, but I’m not about to fuck a horse.” He told her sternly. “I was just gonna let you use my bed since you destroyed the only other one.” She blinked at him for a moment, his frown still firmly set in. She couldn’t tell if he was lying, and that was the worst thing about it. Closing her eyes, she relented. He was the Alpha right now. Even if he did want… that, she was in no state to resist. If she did, it would only get worse for her. Slowly, her claws retracted, making the Alpha sigh in relief. 

He gently set her down on the bed, and to her own relief, pulled the covers over her. Sadly, her relief was short lived, as the Alpha gently slapped her. It didn’t hurt in the slightest, and she assumed it was more to point out how irritated he was. “First rule. No more fucking claws.” He told her. “I’d rather not have to prepare to heal myself every time I come in here.” 

“I… try.” She told him, lowering herself under the covers slightly in case the lack of a solid affirmative angered him. Instead of that response, the Alpha merely sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“I guess that’s the best I’m gonna get, huh?” He grumbled. When he didn’t receive a response, he just rolled his eyes and turned around. “I’ll be back in a little bit with some more food. Don’t destroy those sheets. Those are my last ones and if I have to buy new ones, you’re going back out into the snow.” He growled at her before leaving. Ashwyn could only sigh as he did so and looked at the ceiling, doing her best to get her heart rate back to normal.
> Ch 24: Guest Starring Twilight Sparkle
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A sigh escaped him as he prepared dinner for himself. He had already brought some food to Ashwyn, who he was happy to find, still resting in bed. He had attempted to offer her some cooked meat this time, in an attempt to see if she could eat that as well. An attempt that bore fruit, as her eyes sparkled marvelously when she tasted it. At least now he knew that it would be to her tastes. If he made her a variety of cooked meats, she’d probably be a little happier about the situation. And if she was happier, she would be more bearable. 

A small groan escaped him as he closed his eyes. He desperately wished he was back home. Things weren’t so complicated then. His job was to fight and to kill. If all he had to do was kill her, or even capture her and hand her off, then it would be fine. That, sadly, wasn’t the hand that was dealt to him. When he tried to hand her off, she reacted poorly, and aside from the princesses, he was the only one fully capable of keeping her contained when she recovered. So the responsibility fell to him. 

Still, this wasn’t something he was used to. He had always dealt with problems by either ignoring it, or destroying the cause. The issue was that the cause wasn’t anything physical. The mare was had some mental damage, that was clear. How he would help her with that, he had no idea. Runa would have been better at this than him. Even Shurda would have been able to at least console the mare, if he were alive. For once in his long, long life he couldn’t just make it go away. 

And that irritated him more than anything else.

A gentle knocking brought his attention back to the present. He looked down at his food and frowned. While lost in thought, the meat was put on for too long and had burnt on one side. Sighing, he resigned himself to a less than perfect meal and turned off the stove. He set the food to the side and made his way to the door. He was a little too slow, as the knocking began again, though he managed to open the door in the middle of it. 

Awaiting him on the other side was none other than Twilight. He was mildly surprised by the surprise visit, but he wasn’t going to complain. He hadn’t seen the mare for a better part of a week, and it’d be nice to get his mind off things. 

“Hey, Twilight.” He said with a small smile.

“Hey, Aurick. You okay? You look pretty tired.” She asked, concern tingeing her voice

“I’m good, just been a busy couple days.” Twilight nodded in understanding, her own small smile spreading. 

“I should have assumed as much. Are you free? We haven’t really seen each other in over a week.” She looked up at him with a hopeful smile. One that he couldn’t really say no to.

“So long as you don’t mind coming in for dinner. I really shouldn’t leave the house very much right now.” Aurick told her, stepping aside to let the mare in. 

“Sure thing.” Twilight smiled and took a step in, making sure to rid herself of snow and dirt before she stepped onto his carpet. “Any reason why you can’t leave?” 

“I’m sure the princesses told you about what has been going on with the Everfree recently.” 

The mare nodded as they entered the kitchen. Aurick pulled out a chair for her at the dinner table before he grabbed another pot and made something within Twilight’s palette. “She didn’t tell me too much. Just that a mare known as Inkheart had undergone some… changes and had moved into the Everfree. I was told that you and the guards would handle it and I shouldn’t get involved.” 

“Doesn’t seem too keen to give you details, huh? They did the same to me, too. I had to stumble onto them. Namely with her trying to eat me, but still.” Twilight blanched at that.

“She what!?” She looked over him as if she was expecting to suddenly find parts of him chewed off.

“Emphasis on try. I got away. Anyways that’s in the past now. Long story short: I found her collapsed outside my house yesterday, and being the nice guy that I am, brought her in. She’d going to be staying with me for the foreseeable future, and I don’t exactly trust her not to destroy my house, or run into the forest.” He said, adding some ingredients to the broth. 

“She’s… She’s here?” She hissed, her eyes darting around in a mild panic. He quickly realized why the princesses didn’t bring her into the fold. The mare was like him, but more panicky. At least he could think logically with his paranoia. 

“Up in my room, resting. At least she better be resting. I swear, if I find that bed…” He mumbled and trailed off before shaking his head. “Anyways, yes. She’s going to be staying here, and I’m going to look after her. Which reminds me. You can tell Zecora and Fluttershy it’s safe to go home now. She can’t exactly attack them if she’s running a fever.” 

“Are you sure?” Twilight asked, a frown on her face. “What if Inkheart escapes?” 

“First off, we’re calling her Ashwyn now. She demands to not be called by her old name anymore. Second, if there’s one thing I can trust her on, it’s not attacking ponies. She had been starving for a week when I found her. She could have gone to Ponyville and tried to eat anyone there, but she didn’t. Despite what’s happened to her, she’s not a cannibal.” He sighed as he stirred the stew he was making. 

“I guess that makes sense. What about food though? Does she solely eat meat?” She asked after a moment’s deliberation. 

“Not a clue. I’ve just been giving her meat and she’s been happy every time. Maybe I’ll ask her about it next time I bring her some. Not that it matters too much. With the shipment that was delivered to me, I have plenty to share with her.” He waved her off as he grabbed the meat he was cooking earlier and began to warm it up again. He’d probably dice it up and add it to his own portion of the stew. It wouldn’t really mix too well, seeing as it didn’t boil with the rest of the ingredients, but he wasn’t going to just waste it.

“Still. You have to make sure she’d eating a well rounded diet. Her recovery might be hampered if you don’t.” Aurick frowned as he poured the stew into bowls.

“You’re probably right.” He sighed as he placed a bowl in front of her. “I really wish we could trust her with someone other than me.” 

“What do you mean? I thought you said she wouldn’t eat other ponies.” 

“She won’t, but that doesn’t stop her from attacking them. She’s broken.” He rubbed his temples for a moment before continuing. “Not the best way to say it, but it’s true. What happened to her has… damaged her far more than any physical wound would. To the point where she doesn’t trust anything that has to do with the princesses.” He returned to the table with his own bowl. Little chunks of meat were floating amongst the vegetables. “We don’t know how she’ll react to anyone else. I’m the only one that can handle her if she lashes out. At least until I finish that armour, but she’d be sure to lash out at a group of guards.” 

“What happened to her?” Twilight asked. He gave her a sad smile and shook his head. If Celestia and Luna had excluded the information, they probably had a reason, and he wasn’t going to be the one to spill the beans. She frowned and tried to glare him down, but ultimately sighed and resigned herself to ignorance. “Fine.” She mumbled before sipping at her stew. Her eyes widened in an instant. Delight playing across them. “This is great!” 

“Well, when you live on your own for three hundred years, you tend to learn how to cook for yourself.” Her response was unexpected. Her eyes bulged and she began to choke when he said ‘three hundred’.

“Thr- Three hundred years?” She asked incredulously, her eyes wide and mouth agape. “How old are you!?”

“Don’t you know it’s rude to ask a man his age on your first date?” She grew red in the face and began to sputter. Aurick couldn’t help but smirk at how easy it was. “Anyways, last time I checked I was about five hundred and seventy two. Give or take a couple years.” He said with an idle swirl of his hand.

“How long does your species usually live for?” She continued to be shocked with the next question, but at least she had lowered her voice.

“Not a clue. No records of an elf dying of natural causes, and we haven’t seen one old enough to grow grey hairs. For all we know, we’re ageless.” He shrugged and casually ate some stew. Sadly, that comment was that straw that broke the camel’s proverbial back. Twilight’s eyes glazed over, a hoof in the air as if she was going to object to something. Her mouth began to move at a rapid pace, words spewing out in a torrent that would have made even Pinkie make a run for her money. 

She continued this way for a couple of minutes before she blinked, her eyes regaining focus. She looked confused for a second, peering at her surroundings as if she had no idea where she was. “Sorry,” She said after a few moments, “that hasn’t happened in a while.” 

“I don’t even know what happened.” He admitted, raising a brow. The mare sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck as she looked away. 

“I kinda freaked out. The only species remotely that long lived are the Alicorns. There’s a reason they’re typically in a state of rule, after all. Most ponies believe them to be gods.” She explained, making the elf lean back in his chair and groan.

“Fuck, I hope they don’t do the same with me. I already had one insane cult follow me around. I don’t need another.” 

“Do I even want to know?” Twilight asked, a cautious brow raised. 

“Perhaps another time. I don’t really feel like getting into my past right now.” Twilight respectfully nodded her head.

“Alright, what do you want to talk about then?” He shrugged.

“How’s your week been?” The conversation continued for almost half an hour before Twilight had to return home.

“Gotta make sure Spike hasn’t accidentally burned the place down.” She said before making her way towards the door. He waved goodbye and turned to head for the basement. He still had another guest to feed after all. 


~-~


Night had come and Aurick stumbled into his room. He blinked at the pair of eyes staring back at him. “Right.” He grumbled. During his work, he had completely forgotten that he had moved the mare into his room. A frown crossed his face as he stared at the bed, a sigh escaping him after a moment. This was his bed, and he wasn’t going to let her have it all to herself. So with undignified grace, the tired elf walked to the unoccupied half of the bed and flopped onto it. Cracking open an eye, he saw Ashwyn cautiously looking at him. “I’m just gonna sleep.” He told her. “Nothing more. Just try not to have the sudden urge to tear my throat out or something. I’d be very unhappy.” 

The elf quickly pulled himself under the blanket, happy to feel the warmth of the enchantment wash the cold away. He had a fire going in the fireplace all day, but it couldn’t compare to the exact comfort of his magic. It wasn’t long before he soundlessly drifted off to sleep. 

It was a dreamless sleep. Though it could have been because he was woken up a couple hours later by a commotion on the other side of the bed. Turning over, he found Ashwyn in the throws of another nightmare. She was tossing and turning, and he could see the tears streaming down her face once more. With a heavy sigh, he carefully reached out to her and pulled her close. Despite how she acts when she’s awake, she was quick to hug him close, crying into his chest once more. Of course, Aurick did what he does best.

He pet the damaged mare, and whispered comforting words into her ear.
> Ch 25: One Week Later
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

She awoke to find herself wrapped in warmth. It wasn’t the same comfortable warmth that the blanket or the scarf brought. This one was different. Namely because it was something solid, yet soft that wrapped around her. Despite how comfortable a position it would normally be, she couldn’t help but find a lump in her throat. She didn’t even need to open her eyes to know what was around her. 

When she opened them, she was met with the Alpha’s chest. His scent was overpowering at this close range. It was all she could smell. Gritting her teeth, she tried her best to stop herself from tearing his throat out right there. With her focus on that, her claws were free to do as they pleased. Of course, that means they quickly found their way deep in the Alpha’s chest. 

He awoke with his own teeth grit, though this was from the pain, as opposed to Ashwyn’s anger. Popping open an eye, he glared down at her, confusion evident on his face. Though after a moment, realization dawned and the Alpha sighed.

“Are you feeling any better now?” He asked quietly. She could feel one of the Alpha’s hands running through her mane. In another circumstance, she might have like the feeling, but at this point, it only served to make her shudder. She was confused about the question, though. Was he asking about her clawing him again? She didn’t think so. 

That was when she noticed how wet his shirt was. At least, where she had been pressed into it. One of her paws extricated itself from him and gently pressed against her eyes. It came away wet.

She was crying. 

Did she have another nightmare? Was that why he was holding her? Was he trying to comfort her, or was it because he didn’t want her to ruin his bed in her flailing? Numerous questions filled her mind as they remained where they were. At some point, the Alpha rolled his eyes and closed them again. He wasn’t sleeping. She could tell by his heart rate, but he didn’t appear to even try and fake her out, as his hand still gently ran through her hair. 

Eventually, she relented. Her claws retracted from him once more, leaving bloodied holes that he was quick to patch with magic. A frown set firmly on her face, she rested her head against his chest once more, a single word emerging from her that even she hadn’t thought possible.

“Thank.” 


~-~


Aurick rubbed at his chest with a groan as he prepared breakfast. That mare was going to be the death of him. He could tell. 

With expert finesse, he flipped the pancake, allowing the other side to cook to perfection. 

There was only one thing that had truly surprised him about when he woke up. That, of course, being the fact that she thanked him. He had no idea if it was genuine, or if she was saying that because she thought it would appease him, but he’d prefer to believe the former. If only so that he could feel he was making progress in some form. 

He turned to the other pan, and was pleased to find the bacon turning out nicely. He had been told of a method that would use the oven for the bacon, but he still wasn’t sure how to do it right. Though he made a mental note to do so at some point. It would allow him to cook so much more of the delectable breakfast item. 

It wasn’t long before he found himself with a plate of two fluffy pancakes and some bacon. The sheer sight of it made his stomach growl out. He prevented himself from devouring it outright. He still had a guest to feed. He put a couple more strips of bacon on a second plate, and placed a couple gems on there as well. Evidently, the mare was able to consume gems, so he thought she’d appreciate some variety.

He was quick to find his way up to the room, wanting to be equally as quick on the return, as to not deal with cold food. 

Upon arrival, he found the mare still in bed. She was avoiding his gaze, though. He could only assume it had something to do with waking up in his arms. It probably wasn’t the most pleasant awakening, considering what she had thought he was going to do to her on the bed. Sadly, it was the only option he really had available to him. He sure as hell wasn’t going to let her ruin another bed, at least. 

“Here.” He mumbled as he set the plate down in front of her. She looked at the bacon with mild confusion. She glanced at him for a moment before she leaned down and sniffed a strip. Tentatively, she grabbed one in her mouth. Aurick, sadly, blinked and hadn’t seen what happened next, but by the time his eyes were open, the plate was cleared. She was looking up at him with wide eyes that seemed to sparkle in the sun’s light. He looked back at her for a moment, before realizing what she was getting at. “Fine, I’ll make some more.” He chuckled as he made his way out of the room, leaving the mare to try and lick up all the crumbs left over on the plate. 

He should have expected this turn of events. After all, everyone loves bacon.


~-~


Aurick had opened up his business again, having closed down for the past week while he assisted Luna with Ashwyn. Now that she was safe and secure, he could get back to work. He flipped the closed sign he had bought over, revealing that he, was in fact, open. He honestly didn’t expect ponies to show up that day. Not just because of the snow, but he doubted anyone would see that the sign had flipped. 

Clearly he was wrong, as not even an hour later the first customers started rolling in. A couple of them wanted to get the same heat enchantments that he had worked on with Rarity, having not been fast enough to purchase any before stocks ran out. If he hadn’t been so busy, he might have gone back and made some more, but sadly that never came to pass. Still, better late than never.

The rest were his usual customers. Town’s folk that wanted some minor things done to items of interest. He had to out right refuse any requests to go into town. He lied and told them he had a sick friend that he didn’t want to be away from for too long. They bought it, and he heard no complaints about it afterwards. 

It had taken some time to go through them all, and he had to excuse himself a couple times to go check on Ashwyn and bring her some gems to eat. He didn’t want to bring some meat up with the ponies right there. They’d probably freak out. By the time that the last one had left, his supply of money was starting to look pretty good again. If he didn’t have to take care of Ashwyn, he might have gone out to eat and invited Twilight and her friends. Sadly, that wasn’t going to happen any time soon.


~-~


A couple days passed in similar fashion. Every night, Ash would be wrought with nightmares, and every night, Aurick tried his best to comfort her. After the second time Ashwyn had awoken in his arms, she had come to accept it as an inevitability. That didn’t mean she liked it, however, as her constant scowls were a testament to. Sadly Luna still hadn't been able to find her dreams, so she was of no help in this.

Ponies continued to come in with work. Though after the first day, word seemed to spread that he wasn’t taking any house calls at the moment. Something he was grateful for. Twilight had come by at one point to let him know that Fluttershy and Zecora thanked him for helping keep them safe. He responded by waving her off and telling her that’s what he does. 

Of course, alongside all the work that was brought in, he still had Luna’s armours to make. He had spoken with her about them, and she said that she’d still like them made, despite Ashwyn’s current demeanor. It was a nice safety net, and they could be used for other situations, should the need arise. As such, he continued his work on them, and almost a week after Ashwyn had become a part of his household, he had finished the last one. 

The thought brought a smile to his face and a weight off his shoulders. With the last of that done, he was free to get paid and take on another large job. Either that, or he could finally get to building on his house like he had been wanting to. One way or another, there was now a large block in his afternoons that he had nothing to do. 

A thought for another time, perhaps. After all, it was getting fairly dark out. With nothing left to do, he made his way upstairs and into the bedroom. Ashwyn already had her eyes closed, though an ear perked up upon his entry, telling him she was still awake. Scratching his still growing beard, he laid down on the bed and closed his eyes. 

So imagine his surprise when he felt something soft press against him. Looking down, he found that Ashwyn had moved closer to him, and was resting her head on his chest. A smile crossed his face and he couldn’t help but think all the annoyance was worth it for how adorable she looked at that moment. 

With an arm holding her close, he closed his eyes once more and drifted off to sleep.
> Ch 26: Baby Steps
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashwyn gently placed a paw on the floor. The feeling had become unfamiliar over the last week, as she hardly moved from the bed. The Alpha was standing next to her, having told her that he would stop her from falling. 

Over the course of the week, she had regained some of her strength, though the lack of walking had wasn’t a good thing. She was glad that he had brought it up, as if they had waited another week or two, her muscles might have started to atrophy. As she fully descended from the bed, she stumbled. The Alpha held true to his word and caught her, a steady hand holding her upright. 

She looked at him and nodded. Over the course of the week, she had come to find him as someone she could trust. He had done nothing even remotely like him. In fact, aside from being obviously annoyed with some of the things she did, he had only been kind to her. She still couldn’t tell his true feelings on the matter, but one thing was certain. He was trying to help her. Whether he truly cared about her or not was to be seen. Not that it mattered, because as soon as she was capable, she would take him down and she would become the Alpha. 

She took a tentative step forward, the process feeling familiar yet strange after the long time. Though she stumbled once more, she was able to catch herself without the assistance of the Alpha. A couple more steps brought the back her confidence and before long she was running to the other side of the room. Of course, this didn’t go as planned. 

She tripped over her own paws and planted her face into the carpeted floor. She continued to slide forwards a couple inches before her hind legs hit the carpet as wall. Before she could even do anything, she was picked up and made to face the Alpha. He grabbed her by the chin and examined her face. After a moment, he seemed pleased and released her. 

“Take it slow.” He told her. “You’ve been in bed for a week, you can’t run around like you used to right away.” He scratched at his beard as the mare frowned at him. She nodded all the same. What he said was true. She was regaining her strength, but the week of starvation had taken its toll, and the following week in bed hadn’t helped matters. 

Again, she stood on her own paws and started walking. This time with a considerably slower pace. 


~-~


Ashwyn regretted starting to walk again. As far as the Alpha was concerned, if she could walk, she could help. So it was with great effort that she didn’t start digging in his throat to tear out his voice box when he told her to fetch him another gem. She didn’t even understand what he was using these gems for. 

When she had asked him about it, he started talking about magic in a way that she couldn’t understand. Not wanting to appear stupid, she simply nodded and continued on, despite her ignorance. The best she could understand, he needed them to make an item like magic. 

Apparently that was what he did with the scarf he had given her. On each end was a yellow gemstone that encompassed the ends of it. She had tried to nibble on them before, but it felt like chewing on an electrical wire, so she hadn’t eaten them. If she was right and they were the only things keeping her warm, she would never do so again. 

“There we go.” He smiled as he held up a kitchen knife. She blinked at it for a moment before tilting her head. The more she learned about the Alpha the more confused she got. What happened to the terrifying mage that had forced her to help search for some missing foals? Why had he been replaced by… this? 

Sure, she could certainly see that side come out of him every now and then. Especially when she had clawed him, but not once had he cast a spell on her. Everytime he would scowl at her, but would end off with nothing more than a sigh before he healed himself. She didn’t know what to make of it. She would have thought he’d have been tired of her after she ruined that bed. She was sure he would have just tossed her out the moment she did anything else to irritate him. 

Yet, despite that, he had been nothing but patient. He had tried to comfort her when her mind would get the best of her, and he made sure she was comfortable. She placed a paw on the scarf that remained around her neck. After he had given it to her, he had been dealing with the cold. It was only recently that he got something else that would keep him warm. 

A sudden snap brought her out of her thoughts, and she found the subject of them to be staring her in the face. “You okay?” He asked with a raised brow. She closed her eyes for a moment and nodded. He smiled in response. She had grown to enjoy that smile, though it was rarely directed at her. “Good. How’s food sound?” Her ears perked at the question.

“Bacon?” She asked, hope filling her chest as she looked up at the Alpha. 

“Alright, but not too much. It’s too greasy to eat every day.” He warned the mare as the pair made their way up the stairs.


~-~


So evidently she could still write.

The Alpha had visitors. A lot of them, and he asked her if she wanted to help or go back upstairs. She decided to help, hoping to ingratiate herself to the Alpha in the process. Sadly the work was boring and mildly irritating. 

The ponies had come to hire the Alpha to do what he had been doing in the basement, but for them. She was simply to sit there and record who requested what, and what they owed him. It was a simple task. One that she’d have no problem completing. That is, if the ponies didn’t seem to be terrified of her. 

They had given her strange looks because of her paws when they had entered, but that was understandable. A pony with paws would be strange. They became scared, however, when she took the pen in her mouth. Her sharp teeth were clearly visible, and the moment they saw them, they gave her a wide berth. It didn’t help that she snapped a pen in half at one point due to the irritation. 

It eventually got to the point where the Alpha spoke up. “Look, guys.” He started calmly. “Yes, she looks different, but if I don't scare you, then she shouldn’t. At least she’s a pony…” He paused before mumbling, “mostly.” Of course he had to ruin it. Despite it, his words seemed to work. The ponies thoughtfully looked at her, and, while not approaching her, didn’t look as scared as before. 

She briefly wondered if the Alpha would let her go back to the room. The staring was making her skin crawl.
> Ch 27: Monster
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aurick sat on the couch, his eyes closed as he simply enjoyed the quiet for a moment. Ashwyn had decided to be lazy and stayed in bed when they woke up. Aurick decided to let her rest. He had had her running around for most of the previous day. It was probably a bit much for the mare, as she was still weak from her previous starvation. That didn’t mean she was going to get off easy, though. As soon as she was down stairs and he was working, she was going to be there to help. 

That would come later, though. Until then, he would simply enjoy a little alone time.

Knock knock knock

A frown formed and a sigh was heard as the elf ran a hand down his face. So much for that. With a small grunt of effort, the man stood up and made his way to the door. On the other side was someone he hadn’t expected to see. Rarity stood there, wearing an expensive looking coat. A pair of saddlebags hung off her flanks.

“Hello, Aurick.” The mare greeted him. “I was told that you might not be able to spare time away from your house due to a, er, house guest, so to say.” 

“Yeah. I assume Twilight spilled some of the details?” He asked with a raised brow.

“Only that she is evidently the reason why Zecora and Fluttershy had to move for a time.” Rarity responded with a shake of her head. “I’m not going to question you about it, but I am a little concerned about your health. What if she decides to attack you?” 

“Then I fight her.” Rarity blinked at him.

“You’re not worried?” She asked him incredulously.

“Nope. The mare has had a chance to tear my throat out every night for the past week and she hasn’t. I doubt she’d going to try now.”

“Well… if you're sure, then I won’t say any more on the matter. Now then, onto the reason I came here-” 

“So you weren’t here because you were concerned about me?” He cut her off, a mock pout on his face.

“Not in the slightest.” Was her snarky response. “Anyways. I mentioned when we met that I had a number of ideas for dresses that your particular talents would be useful for. I was wondering if you would be willing to work on them with me. I have the dresses in my bags, so that we may do them here.” 

“Hmm.” He put a hand to his chin before looking to the sky. It was still fairly early, so customers shouldn’t start showing up for a couple hours at the least. “I don’t see why not.” He shrugged and stood aside to let her in. “Let’s go to my temporary work room.” 

The duo were swift to enter the basement. Rarity didn’t seem too impressed by it. “Well... it certainly suits you.” Aurick simply shrugged.

“It’s functional. Gonna expand later, but I’ve been busy.” He told her.

“As I’ve been told. What was that saying? Ah, yes. No rest for the weary.” Aurick snorted and shook his head.

“True enough.” He stepped up to his work table and brushed a few gems to the side. “So, what ideas have been running through that mind of yours?” Rarity was all too pleased to talk about it.


~-~


Ashwyn awoke with a yawn. She blinked as she found that she wasn’t resting on the pillow she called her Alpha. Then she remembered that she decided to stay in bed when he awoke. After the past week of sleeping so close to him, it felt a little weird to not wake up in his arms. Not that she liked it. It was just that she had gotten used to it. So it was with a minor frown that she rose from bed. 

As she made to leave the room, she took a sniff of the air to find where the Alpha was. She froze when she did. He was in the basement with another pony. A mare based on the smell. Her frown deepened as she wondered who it was. She also wondered if she should bother going down there. She didn’t feel too keen about meeting her. She’d prefer it if the Alpha didn’t invite ponies into his home everyday. It’d be so much easier if it was just the two of them. 

That way she’d be able to defeat him easier when they inevitably fought over the position of Alpha. 

Ashwyn had no doubt that those ponies would take his side over hers and would try to fight her away from their friend. Of course, this meant she’d have to attack after business hours. That way there would be no interruptions. 

She shook her head as she refocused on the matter at hoof. The mare with the Alpha. She flexed a leg as she thought about it. She’d probably be able to take the pony on if she turned out to be hostile. She was unsure if the Alpha would help her. She wanted to believe he would, but she could never tell with him. She still wasn’t sure what he thought about her, an issue that still aggravated her. 

Deciding that she’d rather get into a fight than sit around in the room for her to leave, she opened the door. She flew down the stairs. Her wings needed to be used too, and seeing as she was confined to the house, she would take every chance she could get. She didn’t fly down the stairs to the basement, though. Instead, she snuck down on silent paws. 

At the bottom, she saw the Alpha and a white mare standing over his work bench. To Ashwyn’s bafflement, there was a dress on the bench. She never would have thought that the Alpha would work on a dress. It brought strange images of the large creature wearing one such elaborate piece to mind. She couldn’t help but giggle a little at that. The pair weren’t oblivious, and they turned to find the source. The Alpha had probably assumed it was her, so he had no speed to it. The mare however. 

She spun so fast that Ashwyn wasn’t sure that the mare had even moved her legs. Her eyes were wide as she stared at Ashwyn. A reaction that brought a frown to her face. The mare might not have been aggressive, but this fear was irritating. All the ponies from the previous day had the same expression. If ponies were going to be afraid of her, she wanted it to be for a reason. Like threatening to eat them or something. As it was, she had done nothing and the mare was afraid. 

No. She had a reason for this. A clear one that Ashwyn knew deep within her mind. She wasn’t a pony anymore. 

She was a monster. 

A scowl crossed her face as the realization came upon her. She could hear the Alpha saying something, but she paid it no mind. Her focus was entirely on the white mare. After a few more moments, she decided she didn’t want to be in the basement anymore. She didn’t want to be under that mares terrified gaze any longer, lest she do something rash.

She swallowed a lump in her throat. If she did that, then the Alpha would certainly get angry. Possibly angry enough to injure her or remove her from the house. A situation she did not want. Though it wasn’t for the lack of food or the pain. She had grown accustomed to the stone building, as well as the Alpha’s presence. 

He had not looked at her in the same light as the ponies did. Despite his clear irritation with her on several occasions, he continued to treat her as a pony instead of the monster she was. Something that she did not wish to change. It would certainly be a benefit when she were to fight him again.


~-~


Aurick let out a tired sigh as he closed the door behind the fashionista. He glanced towards the stairs as he thought about Ashwyn. Her arrival downstairs was not unexpected, but the scenes that played out certainly were. Rarity’s fear had been palpable, and the look on Ashwyn’s face… He was certain she was going to pounce on the poor mare. 

Despite that, the mare restrained herself. Though whether she feared action from him, or if she didn’t truly want to hurt her was unknown. What mattered was that she didn’t follow through with what had probably run through her mind. He was certain that the mare he encountered in the forest that first day would have done so without hesitation. 

He only hoped it actually was progress with her and that he wasn’t reading too deep into it.
> Ch 28: Friendship is Magic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aurick placed his hand on the tree with a frown. After a flare of magic, a gem became embedded in the trunk. It was unlikely to be moved through any natural causes, and anything that would want to remove it would never come close to it. 

He scratched his beard as he looked at the various other trees he had done this to. It encompassed a long line of trees that ran behind his house. A task that had taken the better part of the day. Letting out a breath, the cold air making it visible, he began to head back home. 

He had finally taken the time to set up the monster wards, now that he didn’t have that job for the princess. He didn’t necessarily need it yet, but it would be good to have once the monsters came out of hibernation. At the very least, it would make visitors more comfortable, knowing there was a barrier for the monsters of the Everfree. 

Upon entry, he found that something was very wrong. Namely, there was smoke billowing out of the kitchen. He didn’t waste any time, rushing into the room, his cloak brought up to cover his face from the smoke. What he found seemed even more wrong.

Ashwyn was frantically flying around, opening the windows and occasionally using a towel to fan the fire in a failed attempt to extinguish it. The fire originated from a pan, but had flared out of control. Aurick was suddenly extremely glad that his home was stone in make, and most of the pieces in the kitchen were some form of rock as well. The only wooden piece being the table and chairs, but that was at the other end of the room. 

As soon as Ashwyn had seen him, she froze in place. A look of panic crossed her face as she looked from him to the fire, back to him. She bit her lip and looked back at the fire. “Not know what do! Water no work. Make worse!” She exclaimed, her voice full of panic.

If water made it worse, it could only be a grease fire. Rubbing his temple, he walked over to a cabinet and grabbed the container of salt that they had. He unceremoniously dumped a heap into the pan, smothering the fire. Once he was sure that there was a sufficient amount, he turned around and used his magic to make a gust of wind clear the house of smoke. A moment later, the pair were in a relatively unchanged kitchen, with a pan filled with salt.

“The fuck happened?” He asked with a scowl. At least the mare looked embarrassed about the thing, as she looked away and scuffed a paw on the floor.

“Hungry. Not here. Try make food. It go bad. Fire.” She sighed, a small frown on her face.

“Couldn’t you have just eaten it raw?” He asked, his scowl reducing to a small frown. It was partially his fault for not feeding her. Still, she was a grown mare, there was no reason she should be setting a fire in his kitchen.

“Not taste good like cooked. Try do. Not want rely on Alpha.” She lowered her head. “Not good cook.”

“I’d say not.” He sighed and turned around, bringing out a new pan. “Let me handle the food, and if you get hungry like that again, come get me. Especially since I’m just outside.”

“Not like outside. Safe here. Forest safe. Open plain… not safe. He come.” 

With a newfound frown, he turned back to the mare and kneeled down. He cupped her face in his hands and made her look into his eyes. “He is in jail.” She scowled at this, her brow furrowing.

“They lie.”

“Why!?” He threw his hands up in exasperation. “Why do you not trust the princesses!? Give me a fucking reason other than ‘they lie’!” He shouted, standing up to his full height. 

“He work for. Make me soldier. Make army. Obedient weapon. For them.” She told him, her voice filling with more toxic hate with each word. 

“Who told you this? Was it him?”

“Yes. He tell plan. Equestria conquer. Pony better other race. Princess want rule all. I made obey. Made want. I not want.” Aurick looked down at her like she was one of the stupidest people he had ever met.

“And you believed him.” 

“He have proof!” She growled. “He… he…” She trailed off as a look of confusion washed over her. “I not remember.” Aurick rubbed at his face, getting down to his knees again.

“Ash, he messed with your brain, remember? He could have implanted those ideas in there to make you not go to them for help.” Her eyes widened, panic threatening to take her again.

“But… No. I…” That panic quickly accompanied by horror as something struck in her mind. “What else do? He mess head. What he make think!? Me like kill. He make? No like pony. He make? What-?” She was cut off as her head was firmly pressed into Aurick’s chest.

“Don’t think about that.” He told her firmly. “That’s a slippery slope, Ash.”

“But… Who am?” The question brought a heavy frown to his face. That was a question that he had trouble answering. She was an amalgamation of monsters and animals thrown together inside a mare. A host of different instincts must have raged inside her, on top of her tampered mind. 

She was a mare he had taken in. A mare he had comforted to sleep numerous times. A mare he had fed, and healed, and cared for over the past week and a half. Over that time, she had irritated him to no end, but to say that he disliked her would be… wrong. He certainly enjoyed the companionship. In fact, when she wasn’t pushing his buttons, she kind of reminded him of home. He had gotten used to her presence in the house, and had grown to care for the damaged mare. She was…

“You are my friend.”
> 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.
> Ch 30: Happy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashwyn sat on the couch, a heavy frown on her face. Every continued moment she regretted her decision. When they woke up, the Alpha had informed her that the princess of the night would stop by in the afternoon. It was far earlier than Ashwyn had expected. She had anticipated that the Alpha would need to send a letter or something. She did not think that the Alpha would be able to call the lunar diarch to his dreams.

She knew the speed at which this had come around was so that she didn't change her mind. Something she knew and supported. That didn’t mean she liked it. Panic welled up inside her, threatening to make her run from the house, her tail between her legs. The reason she didn’t was because she did not want to feel the embarrassment such an act would cause. Her Alpha’s presence also helped. 

No. It helped considerably. 

As the time ticked by, and her fear grew, he sat with her. She swallowed her pride and grew physically close to him, allowing him to try and sooth her as best he could. Her head rested in his lap, as a hand gently ran through her hair. An experience that comforted her far more than she thought it would. If she was not terrified for her life, she might have fallen asleep. As it were, however, she was barely resisting hiding her head between his legs. If only for his own comfort, and her dignity. 

Someone knocked at the door.

Her hair immediately stood on end, her claws digging into whatever was beneath them. In this case, the Alpha’s leg. It didn’t register in her mind, however. As it was in the middle of a fierce battle between fleeing and following through with the plan. Locked in place, her body tense, she felt the Alpha use his other hand to massage her back.

“It’s open!” He called out, not moving from the spot. Then the door opened. She knew because she could smell the outside air blow in through the new entrance. With that air came a scent she did not recognize. She did not dare move her head to check. She was still fighting her own mind, and any distraction would make her run. 

She cursed the carpet flooring at that moment. It silenced the visitor’s hoofsteps, so she could not hear the approach, only smell it. Closer and closer it grew until she could see her. Moving to the front of the couch was a tall blue mare. Her mane blew in a wind of its own power, and she possessed both horn and wings. Her claws dug deeper into her Alpha’s leg. He made no sound of complaint, though his hands tensed for a moment. 

She needed to run. To hide. She shouldn’t be here. She couldn’t trust them. Why did she think this was a good idea? Why won’t her body move? She- No. She needed to face this. Even if everything about her told her to run. The Alpha wouldn’t let her do anything, right? No. He had no chance. This was a princess. He was strong but he would die in an instant. This was a bad idea. 

“Ashwyn.” The mare said in the gentlest, and friendliest of tones. It was neither gentle not friendly to the recipient, however. Her heart was beating so hard she practically missed it, but upon reaching her ears, her mind interpreted it as wrong. It was a falsity. The princess was trying to lure her into a false sense of security. That she was safe. Then she would… The mare clenched her eyes shut and cowered before the diarch. 

“I doubt, words will work, Luna. She’d probably be gone right now if her claws weren’t so deep in my leg.” The Alpha told her. The pain from the said action was clear in his voice. 

“Perhaps so.” Luna replied with a sigh. “Miss Ashwyn, I understand you are afraid, but I must ask you to remain still.” Why did she need to be still? What was she going to do!? What… What was that!? Something touched her mind. A presence that was not her own. Not Inkheart’s either. Her mind shied away from it, but the presence forced itself in. 

Ashwyn clenched her teeth as she felt Luna’s mind touch her own. Tears ran down her face as she feared for her safety. She did not want the diarch in her mind. She did not want anyone near it. It was her’s. Not anyone else’s to mess with as they wished. She tried to push back, but found her mind too weak to resist. She was helpless. Once again, she was helpless. 

Terrified eyes drifted up towards the Alpha’s. He was looking at her with resigned concern. She knew he would not help her. Her heart ached. Was this a betrayal? She thought he was supposed to be a friend. Why would he just watch as Luna messed with her mind?

Wait, that’s not it. This was her decision. She wanted this. Luna was helping. She was trying to find the problem.

No she is the problem. She needed to run. To get away. To…

She paused, her eyes wide as she stared at nothing. The fear in her heart… disappeared. Not all of it, but she wasn’t about to flee the room. Slowly, her claws started to retract from the Alpha’s leg. An act that made him sigh with relief. 

She looked over at Luna. The mare was biting her lip, her eyes closed as her horn glowed brightly. A thin line of magic connected that horn to Ashwyn’s forehead. She blinked at the mare. She didn’t want to run away. After that, she allowed the mare to go through her mind with no resistance. She didn’t like it. Not in the slightest, but now she knew that the mare was trying to help. That her fear was not her own. 

It was ten minutes later that Luna cut off the link. Her head dropped as she exhaled. A bead of sweat dropping to the floor as she did so. After a moment, she lifted her head, looking back at Ashwyn with a small smile.

“It’s been some time since I’ve done that.” She admitted.

“What’d you find?” The Alpha asked her, a raised brow. The princess glanced at him, a small frown.

“A number of things that were cause for concern. Among them were various dormant commands to kill any sapient race that was not a pony. Each race had separate rules, each with different instructions on how to deal with them.” She sighed, looking back at Ashwyn. “It would appear that he was not capable of complete domination of your mind, so he placed commands that you would think your own thoughts in certain situations.” The idea appalled her. He had been successful after all. She was made to obey him, and she wasn’t even aware. Rage welled up inside her, but she forced it down. She would deal with him later. 

“What make do?” She demanded through grit teeth.

“On top of what I’ve already said, and the fear of us princesses. He made you not want to seek help from pony kind. That meant you would have been bound to seclusion, as you would not be able to talk to any race on the planet. Of course, he didn’t know about Aurick.” 

Ashwyn blinked at her. “Who Aurick.” Luna and the Alpha looked at her in shock, before realization dawned on the Alpha’s face. 

“Holy fuck, I never told you my name!” He exclaimed. Luna looked at him with a frown. “What have you even been calling me?” She blinked at him confused. She hadn’t really thought about it before, but it made sense he had a name. It mattered not. He was the Alpha, and he would continue to be so. 

“You Alpha.” That made him raise a brow.

“Alpha?” That is what she said.

“Yes, I believe we went over this, Aurick.” Luna told him.

“No, I think I’d remember talking about a scenario where I’d be called Alpha.” He told her firmly. She blinked, shaking her head.

“Test Tube used wolf dna in an attempt to make her think of him as the Alpha. To make her obey. He failed, of course.” Ashwyn frowned at that. He had done this to make her obey him. She did not. She chose who she would obey. She would obey her Alpha. The one known as Aurick and only him. Everyone else would receive no tolerance. 

The Alpha didn’t say anything for a long moment, before he looked down at Ashwyn. “Why am I the Alpha?” 

“House yours, is not mine. You Alpha. Wanted fight before, I be Alpha. Not want anymore. You Alpha. I fine with obey if you.” He blinked at her. “You not him. You nice. I trust. Not want fight become Alpha. You Alpha. Is final.” He blinked again, before a hand came up to massage his temple. 

“What if I suggested that no one was the Alpha?” Ashwyn hadn’t thought of that. A frown crossed her face as she thought about it. A paw tapped against her chin for a moment before she shook her head.

“No. Is wrong. Need Alpha or be Alpha. You better Alpha. I obey. Is final.” She told him firmly. 

“Looks like you’re stuck with her.” Luna smirked, causing the Alpha to roll his eyes.

“I guess so. So everything else with her mind is normal?” 

“Yes…” Luna’s smile faded slightly. “Well, in the sense that Ashwyn’s mind is normal.” She faced the mare once more. “Now that your fear has been dealt with, I can ask you. Do you… want to return to how you were?” 

“To… pony?” Ashwyn asked, her head tilted to the side. “...To Inkheart?” 

“Yes.” She frowned, her eyes lowering to her paws.

“No.” She told the mare with a frown,  her word leaving no room for questions. “Am not Inkheart. Am different. Inkheart pony. Am Ashwyn. Am not pony. Am monster.” She looked up with a small smile. “Is okay. Monster okay.” 

“Very well, Ashwyn. Just know that if you ever change your mind, or if you need help, I am willing to do so.” Luna told her with a smile as she stood. 

“Thank.” 

“Of course.” Luna’s smile lessened as she peered out the window. “Sadly, I can not stay. There is much work to be done, and I have been here for longer than I had thought.” 

“Alright.” The Alpha replied, scratching at his beard. “Thanks for helping.” Luna nodded as she made her way towards the door. 

“Farewell.” And with that, the Lunar diarch was gone. The Alpha and Ashwyn remained on the couch for a short time before something interrupted their silence. A loud growl rang out, originating from Ashwyn’s stomach. A faint tint of red filled her face as the Alpha smirked at her.

“C’mon. I’ll make you some bacon.” Any sense of embarrassment was quickly surpassed by excitement. The pair were quick to hop off the couch and make their way to the kitchen.

For the first time in a long time, Ashwyn was happy.
> 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.
> Ch 32: Difference in Cultures
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashwyn huffed as the pair finished moving the Alpha’s work bench. He had claimed to be able to make a larger space for his work. She did not fully understand the need of this, as it did not appear he needed the space to begin with. He had made due with the single bench, why would he need more? 

She had suggested using that other room in the basement, but he claimed that it was a storage room. She had looked in there. He was not storing anything. Something that confounded her. Either way, the Alpha had said that he desired to expand and that was what he would do. 

Once the pair had moved the bench, the Alpha moved to the wall where it once was. Closing his eyes, he lowered himself to a knee, a hand pressed to the ground. One of the rings on his hand softly glowed as his face became a neutral slate. After a couple moments, the ring flared, and suddenly, the wall shot back. A terrible noise echoes within the basement, making Ashwyn pin her ears down and hold her paws on them. To her immense relief, this noise soon was fading. 

As she looked back to where the wall once was, her jaw dropped. Where there once was a wall, there was now a large open space. The walls had been crafted to look like the stone bricks that lined the rest of the house, and there were a couple shelves carved out of them.

The Alpha stood up, taking a deep breath as he stretched his back. He shook his hand, as though it hurt, and she could see that the ring he had used fell off. It was split, the gem having shattered after its use. “Gonna have to make another one of those.” He mumbled to himself before walking forward into the space. 

He began to examine the walls, probably thinking about what he’d be able to put where. Whatever those things were. A small frown crossed her face as she realized how little she knew of her Alpha’s job. She had those vague ideas she got from context, but she didn’t really know anything. She had decided to help him with this, so she should really learn what was happening. 

Perhaps she should be in attendance when he was teaching that Twilight mare? That might be the best way for her to learn. With a small nod, she decided that was what she would do. Then again, what if that mare failed the initial test? Maybe she could just ask the Alpha to teach her? That might work. He had already promised to teach that mare, it should be considerably easier teaching to someone who couldn’t do it, right? You could just explain the concepts and move on.

It was something to think about. Something not to think about right now, as the Alpha was attempting to get her attention. 

“You wanna go shopping?” He asked with a broad smile. He seemed excited about the prospect, and seemed to desire her company on the trip. She would of course provide. He was her Alpha, and if her presence made him happy, then she was more than willing to give it. 

The fact that it made her happy too was irrelevant.


~-~


Ashwyn woke up to find something wrong. Namely, the fact that the Alpha had left her. She sat up in bed with a frown, a paw gently rubbing an eye. This was the second time this had happened, and now she could say with certainty that she didn’t like it. As she got out of bed, she briefly pondered trying a coffee again. If only to wake her up some. 

With a sad sigh, she tossed the idea out the window. With her current form, the drink tasted worse than anything else. Something she didn’t want to experience again. Instead, she decided a nice shower should work. With a yawn, she made her way towards the bathroom. 

Opening the door, she found that the light was already on. In fact, a bath was already drawn as well. Not to mention the Alpha relaxing in said bath. 

Ashwyn’s face grew a bright red as she stared at her naked Alpha. Seemingly lacking any form of decency, he met her gaze and gave her a casual wave.

“Morning.” A small smile played on his lips. Ashwyn was frozen in place, the desperate need to cover her eyes being unfulfilled due to it. Unblocked, she couldn’t stop herself from taking in the Alpha’s fully revealed form. Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t very muscular, but what did catch her eye were the numerous scars that littered his skin. A number of them looking to have been caused by what should have been fatal wounds. A massive gash across his gut being the worst case. Her eyes were brought back up to the Alpha’s when he spoke next. “What’re you standing there for? Weren’t you going to join me?” 

Ashwyn’s eyes widened, and her face grew even hotter. “J-Join? Is not…” Her words slowly dissolved into intelligible nonsense, even as the Alpha raised a brow at her.

“Is this one of those pony things?” His head tilted as he asked this. “People don’t bathe together?” Ashwyn didn’t trust her words to make sense, so she simply shook her head. “That’s weird. Sounds like a waste of water to me.” He sighed and shrugged. “Whatever, I’ll let you do whatever you need to.”

Then the Alpha stood up. Ashwyn’s paralysis was suddenly not an issue, as a paw slammed against her eyes. She just wished she was faster, because it did not save her from the initial sight.

“Oh come on!” She heard the Alpha shout in exasperation. “You and the rest of the ponies are naked all day. Why does it matter if I am?”

“Is not same.” She said in a shaky voice, earning an annoyed grumble in response.

“I swear this whole fuckin’ world is weird.” He said, his voice growing closer. “I’m dressed, happy?” She carefully lowered her paw to find that he was speaking the truth. He was frowning down at her and she found it incredibly difficult to look him in the eyes. He sighed and walked out of the bathroom. “I’ll be in the basement.” He said as he left. 

Ashwyn was left alone in the bathroom, her face still beet red. She desperately tried to get the images out of her head, but they would not leave her mind. 

Turning towards the shower, she decided that a colder wash might be good.


~-~


Aurick sat on the couch, a book in his hand. With a small frown, he glanced at Ashwyn, who was sitting much further away than usual. Rolling his eyes, he returned to the book. 

He truly did not understand. She was always naked, baring the scarf he had given her. Was it because she had never seen him naked before? That could make sense, but still. To have such a strong reaction to it? Seemed a bit weird. On top of the bath thing. Seriously seemed like a waste of water to him. 

Back in his hometown, the bath house was a common gathering spot. Everyone was naked and bathing together, and there was no issue because there was no need for there to be one. These ponies had prescribed an issue to a situation that really shouldn’t have one. The purpose of a bath was to clean up. It only gets easier when you have someone to help you. The back was a really hard place to clean. Then you’d reciprocate. 

He shook his head with a sigh. He had only been in this world for about a month, there was still a lot he did not understand yet. This was just another thing on the ever growing list. Closing the book, he got up and stretched. 

“I’ll go make breakfast.” He told the mare who still refused to look him in the eye. She only nodded, and after a moment of no further response, he frowned. “Bacon?” That got her attention. The mare’s head shot up, and her eyes met his. Then her face flushed and she looked away again. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he moved into the kitchen. This was going to be mildly annoying.
> Ch 33: Short Excerpts
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aurick sat on the Library’s couch, a book in hand. Ashwyn was with him, though she wasn’t lying in his lap, seemingly still embarrassed about that incident in the bathroom. Though she did sit directly next to him, so he was still able to idly pet her as he read. 

It had been a couple days since he had given the diamond to Twilight, and he decided he’d cheek in on her. She had failed to make much progress. To her credit though, she was controlling the mana somewhat. She had managed to push a bit of her mana into the stone, but it was like moving a lake and coming out of it with only a cup of water. It wasn’t enough. 

He wasn’t sure what method she was using, but whatever it was, it wasn’t working. It was getting to the point where he was tempted to take the gem away and tell her to give up. Sadly, he knew the look in the mare’s eyes. She was going to try until she decided she had had enough. Taking the gem away would only be a minor inconvenience, as she’d just go out and find another one.

“A week until she gives up.” He said offhandedly, his eyes returning to his book. 

“Three days.” Ashwyn replied, glancing at the mare with a slight frown.

“You give her too much credit.” Spike said from behind them. “She won’t stop for at least a month.” Turning back, he saw the little dragon carrying a drink for each of them from the kitchen. Aurick was quick to grab the coffee that was offered to him, letting out a pleased breath as he took a sip.

“You’re probably right.” He chuckled. “Unless she manages to figure it out before then.” The dragon shrugged as he took a sip of his juice.

“If anyone can, it’d be her. I’m going to make some breakfast. You guys want anything?” 

“Nah, we had our own before we came. Thanks though.” 

“Whatever.” 


~-~


Ashwyn followed the Alpha through the market. The ponies around town had seemingly gotten used to her presence, as they no longer stared at her as they passed. That did not mean they trusted her, however. They were clearly giving her a wide berth, something that irritated Ash far less than she had thought it would. In fact, it had started to please her. 

She did not want to deal with these ponies. In fact, she did not want to deal with ponies in general. She only cared to converse with the Alpha. It was clear now that this was not something that he had done to her, but rather was a holdover from being Inkheart. She just didn’t like talking to people. 

The Alpha was the only one she was interested in talking to. Not just because he was the Alpha, but because he was her friend. She rather enjoyed it when he started to talk about his work. The passion in his voice was palpable, especially when he was making something for himself. The hours before his expansion in the basement was filled with excited ramblings about what he would do with the space.

It amused her greatly when compared to how he acted when completing the task he talked about. When he got to work, he was focused on it completely. The excited joy disappearing until he was done. Then he’d look back at her with that smile. The thought of his smile brought one to her face.

That feeling in her chest returned. The feeling she had dubbed as friendship. She glanced up at the Alpha as they stopped at a stall. It was a small vegetable stand. He inspected the offerings and picked one up before turning towards her.

“You wanna try some vegetables with the next meal?” He asked her. She wasn’t exactly sure if she could eat greens anymore, so she shrugged. He frowned slightly and looked at the item in his hand. “Well, let’s try it and if you can’t eat them, I’ll make you something better.” He told her, a smirk replacing the frown. 

“Bacon?” She asked, already knowing the answer. The Alpha’s smile widened as he let out an amused snort. 

“We’re having dinner, not breakfast.” He informed her as he pulled out some bits to purchase some vegetables. 

“So?” 

“You’re gonna get fat if you eat nothing but bacon.” He told her with a smirk, one that she mirrored.

“Is worth.” He snorted again and waved her off as they continued on. The smirk remained on his face as they walked. A fact that pleased the mare that walked beside him. 


~-~


Aurick laid down in bed, Ashwyn pressed against him as usual. He couldn’t sleep that night, feeling restless for some reason he could not explain. 

As he rested there, his mind drifted towards the mare that was cuddling him so closely. Thinking about it, the fact that they had been sleeping together like this every night was a little strange. In fact, he might have stopped doing so when Luna found Ashwyn’s dreams. That way she’d be able to sleep on her own without threat of breaking things. 

Now that they had been doing this for so long, he had grown accustomed to the arrangement. It certainly didn’t hurt that the mare was so damn soft. A strange fact for someone with all the claws and teeth that could easily rend his flesh. 

If he hadn’t known her for so long, he’d be more wary of having her snout pressed into his neck. All it’d take was for her to bite him and she’d probably tear his throat out before he could even realize she was doing anything. He trusted her, however. 

Ashwyn had shown herself to be worthy of that trust with each night they had slept together. There was no reason for her to turn on him now. She had even claimed that she accepted him as her Alpha. A fact that continued to confuse him. 

He wasn’t exactly sure why she insisted that there needed to be an Alpha. Was the pack mentality that deeply ingrained into her mind? It very well could have been. She mentioned that she would obey the Alpha, so it only made sense that Test Tube would try to exploit it. Instead she had decided he was the Alpha. That she would obey him. 

A small frown crossed his face. 

He wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about that. She had relegated herself to essentially be his obedient servant. He had experience with those before. Namely that cult that sprung up around him. It was a weird experience, no doubt, and now he had to deal with it again.

At least Ashwyn wasn’t spending every waking moment in an effort to please him. That had gotten annoying fast. The cult members would do things they thought he would like, and more often than not ended up causing trouble that he would have to fix. Maybe he could eventually get over the pack mentality. Either way, she seemed happy. A significant difference from when they had first met. If she was happy with the arrangement, then he’d leave it be. 

Hugging his friend close, he closed his eyes and attempted to sleep once more.
> Ch 34: What is Love?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashwyn sat on the couch, a deep frown on her face. It had been a week since she had accidentally walked in on the Alpha while he was taking a bath. The sights she had witnessed were still stuck in her mind. It was an issue, but not the primary issue she was experiencing. 

She was confused. 

Everytime she would think about it, or have one of the images flash in her mind, she felt something. A familiar feeling in her chest that she had initially dubbed as the feeling of friendship. This incident made it clear that was not the case. 

Now she had no idea what this feeling was, nor why she felt it so strongly for the Alpha. A fact that irritated her greatly. 

If the Alpha had not gotten the Princess to clear her head, she might have thought that he was behind it. As it was, however, it was clearly not the case. This was a feeling that was her own. One that she, nor Inkheart, had felt before.

The subject of this feeling was in the basement, working on some project or another, giving her the perfect opportunity to try and solve the issue herself. Channeling a bit of her old life, she decided to investigate it. What did this feeling do to her? 

It made her feel warm, certainly. Not hot, but a pleasant warmth that permeated throughout her body from her chest. Her cheeks would feel a little warmer too, but that could very well be due to the images in her mind now. Her heart rate would increase whenever he looked at her. 

She frowned as she scratched her chin. It was in situations like this where she wished that Inkheart was more extroverted. Ashwyn was sure she would understand what she was feeling if Inkheart had just been more social. Who knows, she might have even had this feeling before if that were to have been the case. 

Sadly, that was not who Inkheart was. Nor who Ashwyn was. Leaving her without any conclusion. She didn’t understand what those symptoms meant, so maybe she had to look at the cause?

In all cases, it had to do with the Alpha. Why? What was so special about him that made her feel this way?

Images flashed across her mind, bringing a red tint to her cheeks. She furiously shook her head to rid her mind of the thoughts. 

Barring that, what did he do to make her feel like this?

Probably chief among them was his smile. She didn’t fully understand it. She didn’t feel it wrong to liken that smile to a drug. Every time he would do so, she couldn’t help but mirror it. She felt happy when she saw it. She felt even happier when it was directed at her. She had even found herself acting in ways to pull said smile out of him. Such as with her repeated asks for bacon. He seemed to find it amusing, and everytime he would smirk, filling her with the warmth she was now desperate to figure out. 

It also seemed to crop up whenever she got close to him. Which was often, because of the feeling. The most prominent being when they would sleep. The Alpha would wrap his arms around her and hold her close. A grip she could easily break out of, but never had any intention of doing so. Resting there in his arms made her feel safe. The small smile on his face as he went to sleep certainly helped.

She greatly enjoyed the closeness of the situation. It was an experience she had shared with very few others. Namely her parents. Or Inkheart’s parents. Either way, it made her happy. 

Of course, that wasn’t the only thing she did. The newest development being her resting her head in his lap. While not the same as being in his arms, it was still a pleasant experience. Especially when the Alpha would run his hand through her mane. 

A small part of her mind told her that it was degrading to be pet like a cat. A far larger part of her mind beat it up and informed it that it felt amazing. Whenever those fingers would run through her mane, she just felt herself relax. 

Being so close to him had, obviously, quickly made her intimately familiar with his scent. The effects of his scent were the most confusing. It made her feel safe, warm. She inhaled as much of it as she could with every breath. While not as effective as his hand, it did wonders to relax her as well. A sudden thought came across her mind.

It was the scent of home. 

The Alpha was her home now. Perhaps that was what the feeling was? She thought of him as family? 

No. That felt close, but it was wrong. It was something different than familial love. Something that… 

Love.

Her face grew red as realization washed over her. 

She was in love with the Alpha. 

How could she be so blind? Of course she was in love with the Alpha! All the signs pointed towards it. 

Had she truly never been in love before? No. She hadn’t. She barely interacted with ponies, let alone stallions. Could that have affected this? Could these feelings of love be because he was the first male she had let in? 

Something told her that wasn’t the case. That this was genuine. That begged the question, then.

How was she going to deal with this? How would the Alpha react? Would it affect their friendship if he rejected her? Would she have to leave? 

She swallowed a lump in her throat as she remembered something the Alpha had said when they first met.

“I’m not about to fuck a horse.”

Was he saying that to calm her down at the moment, or was he against relations with ponies? Perhaps that didn’t matter? She wasn’t exactly a pony anymore. She frowned as she looked down. She still mostly looked like one though. 

She ran a paw down her face as a sigh escaped her. What was she going to do?
> Ch 35: Baby Don't Hurt Me
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a couple days since Ashwyn had realized her feelings towards the Alpha. Within that time, she had found that the knowledge was effecting how she interacted with him. Some of the symptoms would be more exaggerated. Her heart rate would pick up more, her cheeks would flush, and she had issues making eye contact with him. 

The Alpha wasn’t stupid. If this kept up, he might suspect her feelings. Then what would he do? She still hadn’t figured out how she wanted to proceed. Whether she wanted to swallow her fears and simply tell him or do something else. Sadly, it seemed she was on a timer. 

She was starting to wish she had a friend other than Aurick. Perhaps then she could talk to them about it. The closest thing she had was that Twilight mare. 

The two hadn’t talked much, but Ashwyn would be lying if she said that the mare was unpleasant. Seemed like a mare who spent more time in a book then socializing. 

She briefly wondered if Twilight had ever read one of Inkheart’s books. It didn’t really matter, as she mentally wasn’t the same mare as she was, but… It was still an idea that pleased her. 

Ashwyn shook her head. Her mind was wandering. 

She might be able to talk to Twilight, but that didn’t seem like a great idea. She doubted the mare would be nearly as accepting of her presence without the Alpha around. Not to mention a bookish mare like her probably knew about as much on the subject as Ashwyn did. 

No, she had to deal with this on her own. 

Again, the question was asked. What would she do?

She was brought out of her thoughts as something grabbed her by the shoulder. Running off instincts, she jumped away, a claw slashing out as she did so. She felt it connect with something. Not deep but enough to draw blood. A fact that pleased her. It seemed despite her peaceful days, she was still fairly sharp. 

That feeling of satisfaction quickly disappeared when she realized who was on the receiving end. 

The Alpha stood at the edge of the couch, a small frown on his face as he stared at his palm. A small trail of blood ran down his hand, dripping off when it reached the end. 

Fear began to grip her heart as she watched that blood. Of course it was the Alpha. Who else would it have been? Now she hurt him. All chances romance were slashed like his hand! She-

“I really should have expected that.” The Alpha sighed. The words pulled the mare back into the present in time for the Alpha’s eyes to meet her’s. As was becoming the norm, she averted her gaze. The Alpha frowned at that, a fact that Ashwyn did not miss. “You feeling okay? You’ve been acting weird the past couple days.” Ashwyn stiffened at the question. That timer she was on had become much shorter. The Alpha’s frown deepened when she didn’t respond, but instead grew a mild blush. “Don’t tell me that incident in the Bathroom is still bothering you.” Her cheeks grew even hotter.

The images flashed in her mind once more. Feelings bloomed in her heart, and she found that a lump in her throat prevented her from speaking. She would have found it irritating if her mind wasn’t busy panicking. 

The Alpha waited for a moment more, before sighing and giving up. A hand went up to massage his temples. “Whatever. I came to tell you breakfast is done.” His message delivered, her turned and made his way back to the kitchen as he tried to heal his still bleeding hand. 

With his disappearance, Ashwyn let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She visibly hunched over as she let the panic wash out of her. 

This was getting ridiculous. These feeling were playing with her in ways that she was not comfortable with. 

This had to end. She needed to deal with this. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she made her decision.

She would have to tell the Alpha. Whether he rejected her or not, she needed to confront these feelings. Now a new question rang through her mind.

When would she tell him? Swallowing a lump in her throat, she decided that it would be best to do so as soon as she could. There was no use in sitting around and fretting about it. It was better to get it done with quick. Like ripping off a bandage. 

Now if only her beating heart would agree with her.


~-~


Aurick closed the door after the last pony left. A tired sigh escaping him as he did so. He had been getting busier and busier as the days passed. Word had already spread far enough that he had a couple nobles come down and commision items. A couple were projects that would actually take some time to do, and he had been working on them in the evenings. Ashwyn looked up from her place on the couch, spitting the quill out of her mouth. 

“Last?” She asked, her voice hopeful. Aurick smile at the fact that he could nod in response. A smile that she mirrored. Then their eyes met, her cheeks flushed, and she looked away. His smile diminished, he ran a hand through his hair. 

The mare had been acting strangely over the past few days. At first he had assumed it was because of her coming into the bathroom while he was taking a bath. The fact that that was a taboo here was still weird, but he digressed. It had been well over a week since then, she should have gotten over it by now. 

There was also the fact that her reactions had gotten more severe a couple days ago. He was starting to think that that was only a part of the cause for her new behavior. Perhaps she-

He was brought from his thoughts when he felt something poke him in the side. Looking down, he found the subject of said thoughts there. She was still avoiding his gaze and still had a heavy blush on her face. 

“Need talk.” She told him in an uncertain voice. 

“Okay?” He frowned slightly. Was this about why she had been acting the way that she had been? He certainly hoped so. It was beginning to get mildly annoying. The mare nervously pawed at the ground. She opened her mouth to speak when the door behind him burst open.

“Aurick!” The familiar voice was quickly followed by something impacting his back, knocking him to the ground. Lifting his head, his sight was quickly filled with a diamond. A familiar diamond. A familiar diamond that was filled with mana. “I did it!” The now recognized voice of Twilight exclaimed in exhilaration.

“That’s great.” He told her. “Get off me.” He felt her freeze on his back, a hoof lifting off him as if she just realized. 

“Oh. Hehe. Sorry.” Embarrassment filled her voice, even as Aurick rolled his eyes. Glancing at Ashwyn, he found that the mare was glaring at the new arrival. A small frown on his face, he placed a hand on her head, making the mare look up at him. 

“Is it important?” He asked. Ashwyn’s gaze flicked between Aurick and Twilight, a small frown crossing her face as she looked down at her paws.

“Can wait.” The voice sounded depressed by the words it had to form. 

“You sure?” She merely nodded, not looking at him. He noticed she was blushing again, this time so bad that even her ears had started to turn red. “Alright. We’ll talk after this then.” He scratched her behind the ear for a moment before returning to Twilight.

“Er… Did I interrupt something?” She asked, her gaze flicking towards Ashwyn.

“Yeah, but she said she can wait.” Aurick told her, placing a hand on her withers as he led her towards the couch.

“You sure?” 

“Knowing her, if it was important enough, she’d probably have tossed you out. If she says it can wait, then that’s her choice. For now, why don’t I give you your first actual lesson, hmm?” All traces of uncertainty faded from her eyes, replaced with a familiar hunger for knowledge he had seen in her before. She nodded furiously, a grin on her face. “Good, then let me start with the basics.” 


~-~


With a tired sigh, Aurick flopped onto the bed. Twilight had been relentless in her thirst for knowledge. She had kept him going into the night, and he was certain she would have gone on further if he hadn’t stopped her. By the end of it, she had enough notes to fill a book. Not a novel, but one of those thick books that are hidden in places like the grand archives.

Either way, the lessons were surprisingly tiring, and Aurick simply wanted to go to sleep. Sadly, that wasn’t to be, as he felt a paw poke him in the side. Opening an eye, he found Ashwyn was frowning at him, her face still red. 

“Need talk.” Right. He had completely forgotten about this with the lecturing. With a yawn, he turned over to face her.

“Alright. I doubt anything’s going to interrupt us now.” He told her. She visibly gulped at that, making Aurick frown. What did she have to tell him? Normally she was more confident, especially since Luna had rid her mind of Test Tube’s influence. What could make her so nervous?

“I… Er, I…” She struggled to speak, her face growing redder. Aurick reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder, making her jump. At least she didn’t claw him this time. 

“It’s alright.” The two words seemed to have enough of an effect. 

“I… like Alpha.” She choked out. He blinked at her for a moment before a brow slowly raised.

“You like me?” He asked unsure what she meant by that. She frowned, clearly picking up on his confusion. 

“Am…” She clenched her eyes shut before speaking further. “In love with Alpha.” Aurick’s eyes widened at that. She… was in love with him? When the hell did that happen? Better yet, why? 

Then again, it didn’t really matter why or how or when. She had apparently fallen for him and he hadn’t even noticed. Wonderful. Now he had to ask himself a question. Was this something he should let happen. Perhaps the better question, was if he could possibly love her back. 

He had no intention of leading the mare on. If he didn’t see this relationship happening, he would tell her so. It would be cruel to break her heart after knowing that it wouldn’t work out. So did he like her back? 

He… didn’t really feel strongly about her in one way or the other. He had only really known her for a month or so. Sure he had been living with her for all that time, but they didn’t have the deepest of conversations. It was kinda hard with the way she spoke. So the question became did he want to try and pursue this. 

He certainly didn’t mind her presence. In fact, he rather enjoyed spending time with her. Her mentality was closer to his own. Most of the ponies he had met had been far too peaceful for him. Ashwyn was like a little slice of home .

He could certainly admit she was adorable when she wanted to be. She didn’t even have to try half the time. Especially when she was asleep. When she was awake, she was always a little tense. Something in her made her always search for anything wishing to attack her. It was evident with how her ears acted. Though there were times when she didn’t do so, mostly when she was focusing on a conversation. 

The main issue he could see arising was her species. The mere thought of intimacy with her set off alarms in his head for beastiality. An issue that posed a significant threat. Also on that he could learn to get past. His vision refocused on her, to find her eyes open once more. She was staring at him, meeting his gaze after all this time. 

In those eyes, he saw many things. Hope, fear, anticipation… love. As he stared into those eyes, he came to a realization. 

He couldn’t say no. He wanted to make this work. It was weird. It was unconventional. Yet… he wanted it. Without Ashwyn around, he had no doubt he’d have been lonely. He was alone in this world, but with Ashwyn around, he didn’t seem to notice. He wanted Ashwyn to stay close. 

With a smile, he made his choice. An arm reached out to pull her close.

“I can work with that.”
> Ch 36: What Are We?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashwyn sat at the table, a piece of bacon crunching between her teeth. Glancing up, she saw the Alpha was taking a long drink from his mug, his eyes unfocused as he was seemingly lost in thought. The slightest frown crossed her face as she remembered the events of the previous night. 

She had admitted her feelings to the Alpha, and though he had not rejected her, what he said did not exactly clue her in towards how he felt about it. ‘I can work with that.’ Was what the Alpha had said, and while it had made her happy in the moment, now it only left her in confusion. 

What was the state of their relationship now? Was she his mate now, or was he simply saying that he could deal with the fact that she loved him? When she had stared into his eyes, she saw no sign of love in return. He had looked at her like normal. Sure there was something else there. A sparkle that she had tentatively labeled as interest, but with her track record for accurately guessing emotions, she didn’t trust that to be the case. A sigh escaped her as she realized what she would have to do. 

She would just have to ask him. 

Looking up once more, she could see that he was still thinking about something. Did she want to interrupt him? Maybe he was thinking about the same thing as her? She shook her head. She knew she was just delaying herself. 

“Alpha?” It took a moment, but his gaze refocused and settled on Ashwyn. 

“Yeah?” He looked at her with a raised brow.

“Hmm... “ She paused for a moment as she thought about how best to ask the question. “What… are we now?” In the back of her mind, she realized she had finally formed a full coherent sentence for once, but she was too focused on the Alpha to truly notice. 

“That’s…” He frowned and scratched at his beard. “I’m going to be honest with you, Ash. I don’t love you.” Ashwyn’s breath hitched. She wanted to respond, but found that she couldn’t. Not that it mattered, as the Alpha continued on. “However, I think I could.” He sighed and took a sip of his coffee. 

“I know I get irritated with you a lot, but I’ve really enjoyed having you around.” He told her, a small smile on his face. “I don’t know if you know this or not, but I’m not exactly from around here.” Ashwyn raised a brow, but didn’t speak. The Alpha noticed this, and looked down into his mug. “I’m an alien, Ash.” 

That brought her mind to a halt. The Alpha was an alien? Sure she had never heard of his species before, but she just assumed he was part of a reclusive race. One that hardly ever left their lands. Many questions begged to be asked, but she held them back. The Alpha was not finished speaking, and she wanted to hear what he had to say.

“I’ve been her for maybe a month and a half now.” He sighed his small smile growing more somber as he spoke. “There’s no way for me to go home. No way to see my friends, or my family again.” His gaze lifted and met hers. “I was lonely. When I first arrived, I was becoming depressed. Then I got roped into the situation with you.” He told her, pointing his cup in her direction.

“You were a pain in the ass for the first week. Even more so after I brought you in, but…” He paused for a moment, “In a sense, you reminded me of home. Sometimes when I’d close my eyes, it was like I was back there. With all my friends waiting for the next mission. Then I’d open them up to find I was alone.” He gave her a warm smile. “With you around, I don’t feel so alone.” 

“Maybe I’m just getting soft. Maybe this isn’t the best idea, but… I want to see if we can’t make this work. If we can make us work.” Ashwyn returned his smile. She still had many questions, but those could come later. This was not the time. For now, there was only one thing for her to say.

“I would like.” 


~-~


Ashwyn had noticed that their daily routine hadn’t changed much. The only difference being that the Alpha would wrap an arm around her on occasion and hold her close. She had attempted to do something similar with her wing, but the awkward angle made it start to cramp. She just had to settle for being held, not that she minded. 

Even during business hours, the Alpha would stay beside her. Normally he’d be standing and talking with the customers closer to the entrance, but now he had them come to the living room and sit down with them. She noticed that this had somehow made the customer’s happier and more relaxed. Perhaps because it felt more welcoming to sit down in the living room to discuss business? 

Either way, didn’t pay too much attention. She was still the one noting down the transactions. Of course, it was still as boring as ever. However, with the Alpha so close to her, she didn’t mind it as much. She was still spending time with him. Perhaps not the most enjoyable ways to do so, but if the Alpha was going to keep her company, she was more than willing. Especially when he would occasionally scratch behind her ear. 

The pony visitors had, at this point, gotten used to her presence. The fact that the Alpha would occasionally pet her only helped that fact. 

She didn’t like the fact that they were watching her, but she would accept it. It made the customers more comfortable, and if the customers were comfortable, the Alpha’s job would be easier. That made it more than worth it in her eyes. All she had to do was ignore the stares.


~-~


Aurick laid down to sleep, Ashwyn snuggling in beside him. He looked down at the mare in his arms, a small smile on his face. He still wasn’t sure if he made the right choice. He may not love her, but he certainly had started to care about her. He didn’t want to hurt her if things didn’t work out between them. His thoughts faded as she looked up at him. 

The mare’s eyes, like the rest of the ponies, were rather large. It was always said that the eyes were like a window to the soul, and it couldn’t be more true for these ponies. Within those eyes, he saw how she felt when she looked at him. Trust, comfort, happiness, and most of all, love. 

“Night.” She said, smiling up at him. His eyes lowered to her lips. Should he give her a kiss? An act to solidify their new relationship? No. He couldn’t. Despite his knowledge of how false it was, his mind still rang alarms of beastiality. It would not be something that would go away in a day. It would be quite some time before he was capable of crossing that line. Instead, he did the next best thing. 

He kissed her on the forehead. Despite the act lacking the intimacy he had desired to show, the mare flushed red. A fact that left a smirk on his face. 

“G’night.” With that he pulled her close and closed his eyes.
> Ch 37: Dinner for Four
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With a final push, the stone dislodged. The sudden shifting of weight caused Agni to stumble forward, allowing the group behind her to see over her shoulders. Aurick was prepared to send his small orb of light into the new opening, but paused as he realised that there was some luminescence in the cave ahead. It was difficult to find out the source from where he stood. He pushed forward into the opening, coming to stand beside Agni as he stared in wide eyed wonder. 

The cave was filled with massive bioluminescent plant life. Towering mushrooms grew above them, glowing in purples and blues and greens. Ferns and trees were of similar stature and glowed their own. Lichen covered the walls, coloured in hues he couldn’t begin to describe. 

As he stared, a small butterfly flew past him, glowing the same as its surroundings. As the rest of the group filed out behind him, he could hear Fu ‘Ran give out a shrill whistle.

“Wow…” He heard Runa mutter in awe.

“Wonder how much we could sell some of this for.” Fu ‘Ran wondered, earning a firm smack from Agni. 

“We don’t know if this shit is poisonous or not.” She reminded him. “We need to be careful.” With a sigh, she turned her attention towards Aurick, an armoured hand landing on his shoulder. “What are you thinking?” 

He turned to her with a smirk. “I think we found the right place. I want you to reseal the entrance, make sure he doesn’t get out.” She nodded and he turned to Fu ‘Ran. “Mark it and keep track of the path we take. I don’t want to get lost in here.” The pair gave him salutes and began going about their orders. “Runa.” He turned to the small woman. “See if you can’t find anything out about these plants. Whiskey…” He turned to the last member of the party, who was too busy drinking to have paid attention to his surroundings. The man only acknowledged Aurick by shifting an eye to look in his general direction. “Just… keep an eye out.” The man simply grinned at his leader, making the elf sigh. 

Turning around he watched as his group went about their business. Glancing back out over the bioluminescent forest, he smiled. The mission was a simple one. Some guy that pissed off King Jurda was supposedly hiding out in this place, and Ragnarok was meant to capture him. Not their usual style, but it paid well, so who was he to complain. Looking down, he saw that Runa was kneeling next to some of the smaller plants, her herbalism kit out as she tested the fauna. 

He was really hoping that the plants weren’t poisonous, as Agni had suggested. It would have made traversing the cave all that much harder. As he watched her, something strange happened. She froze. Blinking, he looked at the rest of his team to find that they were in the same state. Panic threatened to grasp at his heart, but recognition was quick to remove it. 

This was a dream. That meant…

Turning back towards the entrance that Agni hadn’t yet blocked, he could see Luna emerge. She smiled at him, then noticed their surroundings. She was caught by the same awe that had taken him when he entered, and she did not return her gaze to him for a short while as she stared at the sights. When she did return her gaze to Aurick’s, he saw wonder fill her eyes and a brighter smile on her face.

“I must say, I’m surprised to have found myself in such a nice scene.” She told him, making him raise a brow. A hand raised to his chest in mock offense as he scoffed.

“What? Are my dreams not good enough for you?” He asked earning a snort in return.

“You know what I mean. The fight with the dragon. That Demigod. A number of your dreams are not as colourful as this one.” She told him, earning a shrug in response. 

“Maybe I’m just in a good mood. This was one of our better missions. Though I doubt you’re here to hear an old man ramble about the good ‘ol days.” Since it was still his dream, he was capable of summoning a pair of armchairs for the two of them. An offering that the lunar diarch was quick to take him up on. 

“Actually, that’s not too far off from the truth.” Aurick raised a brow. “Though we may keep in touch, my sister has grown curious of how you have fared this past month and a half. She would also like to meet Ashwyn if she is okay with that.” Aurick shrugged.

“I don’t see why she wouldn’t be, seeing as you got rid of that mental conditioning she had.” He told her.

“I would assume so as well, either way, it would be best to alert her to my sisters wishes.” Aurick nodded, earning a smile in response. “As it is, Celestia wishes to join you for dinner tomorrow. I would also like to attend, if you’d have us.” 

“Sure, though I doubt I can cook as well as your chefs.” He warned her.

“That is hardly a comparison, Aurick.” She smirked at him, before her gaze fell to one of his old companions. The smile fell as she turned back to him. “Aurick… I wish to let you know that if you ever need to talk, I am willing to listen.” Aurick’s own smile fell, though it still had a slight presence on his face. 

“Thanks, Luna, but I think I’m good. I think I’ve found something to help me get over it.” Luna did not counter his claim, but simply nodded her head in understanding. 

“Very well. Just be aware that I am always available.” She reaffirmed with a gentle smile. A moment of silence passed between the two before Luna decided to break it. “I believe I shall take my leave. Equestria may rest, but I have only just begun.” She stood from the armchair and gave Aurick a nod. “We shall see you at dinner then?” 

“Dinner.” He confirmed, giving her a friendly smile and a wave goodbye. She departed the same way she came, leaving him alone once again. A small frown came across his face. He stared out at his old friends, still frozen in their work. A decision was made, and the images faded away. The surroundings were replaced by a familiar living room, with a familiar mare in his lap.

A smile touched his lips as he let out a content sigh and closed his eyes.


~-~


Aurick opened his eyes as he felt something poke him in the side. Looking down, he saw Ashwyn looking up at him with a concerned look. 

“Are okay?” She asked with a small frown. He smiled and ruffled her mane.

“Yeah, I’m good. Work’s just tiring at times.” He told her.

“Take day off.” She told him firmly.

“Your, probably right. I haven't even made a solid schedule yet.” He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “A problem for another day. For now, we need to go shopping.” He wasn’t oblivious to the small frown that Ashwyn gave him. He knew she didn’t like going out, but she never let him go anywhere without her in recent days. Probably something with him being the Alpha.

Wait, with them being a couple now, does that make her the Beta? He didn’t know wolves well enough to say, so he simply ignored it. 

“Why go? Have food.” She paused for a moment to think. “Need clothes?” He frowned and looked down at the clothing he had on.

“Now that I think about it, yes, but that wasn’t what I was going out for.” He told her, making a mental note to hire Rarity for a couple more sets of clothes. It was getting annoying to constantly wash the same couple sets. “The princesses have decided to visit for dinner, so I need to make something they can eat.” Ashwyn’s eyes widened at that.

“Princess come!?” Aurick frowned.

“Yeah. I thought we got you over that…” She furiously shook her head.

“Not scared, but… never dinner with princess! Why no tell!?” Her gaze turned accusatory, and he was quick to throw up his hands. 

“It slipped my mind.” He told her. “I don’t think straight in the morning, and I was busy with work.” She wasn’t pleased with the explanation, but she accepted it. The frown remained on her face though.

“Try warn next time.” She told him, her hard gaze held his until he relented.

“I’ll try, but I make no promises.” Once again, she wasn’t pleased, but had accepted it. She moved and allowed Aurick to stand up from the couch, a small sigh escaping him as he did so. “C’mon. Let’s get this over with and I’ll make you some bacon to make up for it.” He was afraid she was going to get whiplash from how fast her head turned towards him. Her eyes were wide in excitement. All annoyance at his failure was gone, replaced with pure desire.

A smirk played across his face as he led her out of the house. 


~-~


A knock from the door made Ashwyn look up from her place on the couch. A small frown crossed her face as she peered at the entrance. She knew who was on the other side. She may no longer have the fear implanted into her by him anymore, but she still was part pony. A pony doesn’t just casually have dinner with her princesses. 

“Hey, Ash. Can you get that?” She heard the Alpha call out from the kitchen. He was still preparing dinner, so he was unable to get it. In fact, she might have to entertain them for some time before he finishes. A prospect that did not help the anxious feeling in her chest. 

Sure, she had talked with Princess Luna before, but it wasn’t as a house guest. She was there to complete a task, made an offering to help, and left. Now she was going to have dinner with not only Princess Luna, but Princess Celestia as well. 

Swallowing a lump in her throat, she hopped off the couch. The Alpha would not be amused if she decided not to answer the door. So despite her misgivings, she made her way over. With a deep breath she turned the knob and opened the door. 

On the other side were the two ponies she had been expecting. Princess Luna was just as she remembered her. Dark and regal. A professional look in her eye, with a trace of warmth. Princess Celestia was the opposite. She stood tall, seemingly as tall as the Alpha, elegance and grace seemingly exuding from her. Her eyes were full of warmth, and a small, friendly smile on her lips told Ashwyn nothing but good things. The mutated mare bowed awkwardly at them, earning a small frown from the Lunar Diarch.

“There is no need for bowing.” Princess Celestia told her in a motherly voice. A hoof reached down to lift her head up. “May we come in?” Ashwyn didn’t trust her words, so she decided to nod instead. As she stepped aside to allow the pair in, she noticed a pair of guards behind them. They were starting to take up positions on either side of the door. A spike of distrust ran through her, but she quelled it down after a moment. If the Princesses wished to do something to her or the Alpha, they would not need the assistance of the guard.

“I wonder what he’s making.” Princess Luna commented, sniffing the air. 

“I’m making pasta.” The Alpha called out from the kitchen. The Princess blinked for a moment before raising a brow.

“Pasta?” 

“I told you I can’t cook as good as your chefs, Lulu.” The Alpha answered. “I’m used to making food in the middle of travel. I don’t know a lot of recipes.” 

“I’m gonna have to send someone down here to teach you then.” Princess Luna replied with a smirk as she made her way towards the kitchen. Princess Celestia smiled and shook her head before looking down at Ashwyn.

“I presume he’s still cooking then?” She asked her, earning a nod in response. “Well then, let’s go to the living room. We can talk until it’s done.” It sounded perfectly pleasant, but the idea gave Ashwyn pause. What was she going to talk about with the Princess? Not to mention her speech was still disjointed. Sighing internally, she knew there would be no getting out of this. She’d just have to deal with it. Sitting back down on the couch, she found herself under Princess Celestia’s gaze. 

“I understand this must be rather strange for you,” she started out, “but please, don’t be afraid to speak your mind. I am merely a house guest. Nothing more.” Ashwyn swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded.

“Is… weird.” She said after a moment.

“Plenty of things in this world are weird, but that does not mean we must be afraid of them.” Ashwyn looked up at the tall mare, earning a friendly smile. “I trust you have been well? I haven’t been as close to the situation as my sister, but she has kept me updated.” 

“Am fine… Stay here is… nice.” She responded slowly. She still felt strange talking to the Princess so casually, but her words and demeanor helped Ashwyn control her anxiety. 

“I would hope so.” The Princess glanced towards the kitchen for a moment before returning her gaze to the mare before her. “Has Aurick been treating you well?” Ashwyn blinked in confusion for a moment.

“Aur- Oh, Alpha.” The Princess raised a brow at the term, but said nothing. A faint smile traced Ashwyn’s lips as the conversation turned in the direction of the Alpha. “Alpha is nice. He safe. I trust.” The faintest hints of red could be seen on her cheeks as she thought of a couple other things she could have said. They were not proper to say in front of a Princess, however, so she held her tongue. 

“That is good to hear.” The Princess smiled and reclined into her seat. The pair trailed off into silence for a few moments. Just long enough for Princess Luna to return from the kitchen. 

“Aurick has stated that he is almost complete with the food.” She informed them as she took a seat on the couch. “What have I missed?” 

“Just some pleasantries, sister.” Princess Celestia replied. 

“Indeed. I pray there are no more issues with your mind, Ashwyn?” The lunar Princess asked.

“Is good. Only issue still hard talk.” She gave a sigh before letting out a small smile. “Is maybe get better though. Make full sentence other day.” 

“Then we can hope that it is an issue that fades with time.” The Princess responded.

“Has it made making friends hard?” Princess Celestia was the one to ask that one, and Ashwyn subconsciously shrunk a bit.

“No make friends.” She said in a quieter tone. “No like pony. Only like Alpha.” The sisters shared a glance before the white alicorn spoke once more.

“Is there truly no one you like other than him?” She was looking at her with a small amount of concern on her face. Princess Luna held a passive gaze. 

“Maybe purple?” She offered. “Twilight. She… not annoy.” Princess Celestia closed her eyes for a moment before smiling. 

“I guess that’s a start.” She said, more to herself than to Ashwyn. “It is not my place to tell you to make friends, but I believe you will like it more than you’d think.” Ashwyn frowned and looked down at her paws.

“I… try.” She was startled when she felt a hoof rest on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw that Princess Luna was the culprit. 

“I understand that it might not seem to be the greatest of ideas, but I can say that from personal experience, it is worth the effort.” Ashwyn merely nodded in response. They devolved into silence once more, this time only broken when the Alpha alerted them that dinner was finished.


~-~


Aurick was quick to dish out servings. Sadly, they had found out Ashwyn was a pure carnivore, not counting gemstones, when he had tried to make something with vegetables for her. She could eat a bit, but they did nothing for her and upset her stomach. So instead, he had to cook up some meat for her. Of course, Aurick wasn’t one to be left out, and made some for himself to go alongside his pasta. If the princesses thought this strange, they didn’t comment on it. Luna was the first to test the pasta, a slight frown crossing her face as she did so.

“It is better than anticipated.” She admitted, causing her sister to follow her actions. 

“Indeed.” The solar diarch commented. “There is some flavour that I can’t seem to identify. What might that be?” 

“I don’t exactly remember what it was called, but Spike recommended it to me. I thought I might as well try it.” He told them, eating some himself. He made a mental note to ask Spike for more recommendations. 

“Ah, Spike was always a bit of a chef.” Celestia smiled warmly as she continued to eat. “I take it business has been going well?” The question made Aurick snort.

“Is that even a question? I haven’t had a day off since I opened shop.” Luna raised a brow. “I’m practically swimming in bits at this point.” 

“Why have you not taken time off?” She looked at him with an accusatory gaze. She was probably thinking that he was absorbing himself in work to forget his issues. Rolling his eyes, the elf just waved her off.

“I just hadn’t thought to actually make business hours. This is still the first time I’ve done this.” He told them. “I’ll get to it eventually.” 

“Please do so.” Celestia chimed in. “Take it from us. Working every day can be rather draining.” Aurick just nodded before a smirk came across his face.

“I see how it is. You really came here to get away from work.” He told them as though it were fact. “Don’t worry, my dears. I won’t tell a soul.”

“Of course. Did you think we cared of your well being?” Luna asked him, a smirk of her own playing across her face. The two looked at each other before snorting in unison. Celestia merely shook her head at the antics, and Ashwyn continued to eat in silence.

“That being said, how have you been?” Celestia said after a couple moments. “I doubt the transition has been easy.” 

Aurick shrugged at her before glancing at Ashwyn. “It’s been a bit easier than I expected. I was mostly trying to deal with her,” he pointed at the mutated mare with a fork, “so I wasn’t thinking about it too much.” He paused for a moment, his gaze moving to Ashwyn once more. “By the way… have you gotten any new info out of him?” The question was directed at Luna, who looked confused for a short time before realization dawned upon her. 

“Sadly not. He seems as steadfast as ever.” The lunar diarch told him, a genuine look of disappointment appearing on her face. The response made Aurick frown. Just what the hell were these ponies doing? Were they even torturing him? Glancing at Celestia, he already knew the answer. He highly doubted she would condone such a thing. Sighing, he wished he’d be given a chance to go at the bastard. He doubted that was an option though. He might be liked by the royal sisters, but that didn’t give him clearance to insert himself into this. 

“Well... “ He sighed. “Let me know if anything changes on that front.” 

“Of course.” Luna replied with a nod and a glance towards Ashwyn. The mare wasn’t oblivious to the looks she was getting, a small frown coming onto her face. She didn’t say anything, however. Dinner continued on in a better mood, as the four started talking about less concrete topics. Ashwyn even chimed in every now and then.

Sadly, like with all things, it eventually had to come to an end. The dishes were in the sink, and the four had sat in the living room to finish the conversation they were having. That conversation ground to a halt when they noticed Ashwyn rest her head in Aurick’s lap. Smiles spread across the princesses faces, though Luna’s was more suggestive than her sister’s.

“It would appear you have become rather close, have you not?” The blue alicorn asked, her eyes filled with mirth. The mare’s words were enough to make Ashwyn blush, and she proceeded to look away from the sisters. Aurick was unfazed, and merely shared a playful smirk with Luna.

“I guess you could say that.” He could see Celestia’s brow raise, but Luna’s smile only grew in size. 

“Well then, I believe me and my sister should take our leave then.” Celestia blinked for a moment, her gaze shifting between Aurick and her sister, before she wordlessly stood up. “Farewell, Aurick.”

“Bye, ladies.” And with that, the diarchs left his home, leaving him with a blushing Ashwyn in his lap. With a smile, he began to run a hand through her hair.
> Ch 38: Friendship is Magic II: Friendship Harder
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashwyn followed the Alpha into the Library, a slight frown on her face. She still didn’t like the idea of leaving the confines of their home, but she did not wish to be without the Alpha’s presence. As much as she hated to admit it, she was still afraid. She held onto the irrational fear that he would somehow recapture her. A scene she knew to be impossible to play out, as he was currently rotting in the royal dungeon. Despite the fact, it brought her no respite. She would not feel safe until he was dead. Until then… there was always a possibility of something happening. 

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she returned her focus towards the present. Twilight had seemingly gotten up from her place in one of the arm chairs, the book she was reading having a marker in it and placed aside. She had approached the Alpha, ending up a little too close for Ashwyn’s comfort. Luckily the purple pony didn’t notice the scowl that appeared on her face. The dragon child, however, wasn’t so oblivious. He had given her a cautious gaze with a raised eyebrow, but said nothing. A fact she was grateful for as she did her best to replace the scowl with a neutral expression. 

“Not today, Twilight.” The Alpha stated firmly. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what the mare had asked. Especially with the clear levels of disappointment on her face. “I actually came to the Library to read. A crime as I’m told, but fear not, the Princesses will be sure to pardon me.” The joke served to cheer the mare up, replacing the look on her face with amusement after she snorted and rolled her eyes.

“Careful, Spike, we got a criminal on our hooves.” Said dragon simply shook his head and refocused on the comic that was held in his claws. “Alright, need any help finding the book you need?” The Alpha quickly shook his head and pointed over towards one of the many bookshelves.

“I’m good. I think I remember it being over there somewhere.” He told her before patting her on the head and walking in that direction. Twilight was left blushing with a small frown on her face. The mare’s eyes flicked to Ashwyn for a moment.

“How do you get used to that?” The mare asked in a hushed tone. Ashwyn simply shrugged in response. Letting out a small sigh, the purple unicorn shook her head and returned to her armchair and picked her book back up. During the process, Ashwyn was able to get a peek at the cover. Enchanting: A History. It was a book she found herself surprisingly familiar. Why was that?

It took only a few moments for her to realize the reason. Inkheart had perused it at one point. After looking at it, she thought of writing a book with an Enchanter as the main character. The vernacular in the book was enough to scare her off from further research. Ashwyn was inclined to agree, as simply talking to the Alpha about the subject made her head spin. 

A frown crossed her face as she glanced back to the book once more. She still wanted to be able to speak with the Alpha about it. He was always so excited about testing various enchantments and combinations. He had so many moments that she couldn’t be a part of because she didn’t understand. Perhaps she would let her borrow the book? It was a library after all.

Letting out her own sigh, she looked back to the Alpha. He was still looking through the books in an attempt to find the one he needed. She took a step forwards to join him, but her thoughts returned to the previous night. Of the Princesses saying she should make some friends. While she didn’t see the point in the act, something in Princess Luna’s eyes told her that it would be best to give it an attempt. At the very least, she could say she tried if the pair confronted her on it again. 

Her gaze drifted towards Twilight, a slight frown crossing her features. If there was anyone to start with it would be her... Perhaps this could work? Twilight was a bookish mare, and though she wasn’t her anymore, Inkheart was similar. Even going so far as to write her own. So they would certainly have a point to talk about. It was just… was that even being truthful? 

She wasn’t Inkheart anymore. She was Ashwyn. A mare that ate meat and wouldn’t think twice about hurting ponies to survive. Hurt but not eat. She reminded herself. A point of pride for her. Even on the brink of death she had resisted the urge. She had succeeded in proving a point to him. He could make her look like a monster, but that didn’t mean she had to act like one. 

The aggressive snort that escaped her had once again drawn the attention of Spike. She simply waved him off, finding a smile grace her as he acquiesced and returned to his comic. A small part of her like the small dragon as well. Perhaps it was because of his status as a predator, even a baby one, that he hadn’t shown any signs of being afraid of her? Either way, she was grateful for his apathy in that aspect. While not nearly to the same degree as her home, she was starting to find the small Library comfortable. A place where she wasn’t judged for what she looked like. Glancing back at Twilight, her smile faded slightly.

Mostly.

A sigh was let out once more. She knew that Twilight was a long ways from giving her the fearful glances that were present during their first meeting. In fact, she was mostly neutral to her now. It was just the occasional look in her eye when Ashwyn would move to fast, or if she popped up where the mare hadn’t been expecting her. Closing her eyes and breathing out through her nose, she cleared her mind and prepared herself before shifting to face Twilight. A moment later she took the first step forward. 


~-~


Twilight was forced to look up from her book as she heard someone clear their throat next to her. Taking a moment to insert the bookmark and close her book, she looked up, expecting to see Aurick. So when she found a white face instead, she was more than a little surprised. Especially seeing as she knew whose face it was, as well as the yellow slitted eyes that bored into her.

She recoiled on instinct, attempting to get as far away from Ashwyn as she could in the chair she sat on. It wasn’t much, and the act made the mare frown at her. A small flower of guilt flared up in Twilight’s heart. She had grown to dislike her own instincts as time went on. Ashwyn had been… well, not friendly, but certainly not aggressive in any way. There was no reason for her to react with fear when confronted by her. She frowned, herself, even as she met Ashwyn’s gaze. She tried her best to maintain a neutral expression.

“Did you need anything?” She asked. A part of her mentally berated herself. That sounded a bit cold. Like she didn’t want Ashwyn there. That wasn’t-

“I want…” The mare’s words stopped her thoughts. She realized that this was the first time that Ashwyn had directly spoken to her. “...talk.” The mare’s eyes had drifted away from Twilight’s. The unicorn couldn’t help but raise a brow.

“You want… to talk?” She asked uselessly. She knew she heard her right, but was genuinely surprised by the request, she felt like she had to repeat it. Of course, Ashwyn simply nodded, her gaze still off of Twilight’s. “Okay… What do you want to talk about?” She asked awkwardly. 

This situation felt incredibly strange to Twilight. She had seen a lot of her old self in Ashwyn. The reclusivity. The distaste for interaction. Her typically silent demeanor around others. Then again, Ashwyn had a leg up on the old Twilight. She had Aurick after all. 

 Perhaps… She glanced at the elf, who had found his book and was skimming through it by the bookshelf. Maybe he told her to be more social? That didn’t seem likely. Aurick, while not as bad as either her or Ashwyn, did seem rather anti social. She briefly wondered if he had any friends either? She certainly would have counted herself as a friend, and she believed Rarity considered herself one too, but was there anyone else? She was brought out of her thoughts when Ashwyn decided to speak up once more.

“You… ever write book?” Twilight raised a brow at this, her gaze returning to the mutated thestral. 

“Well that depends on your classification of what a book is.” Twilight told her. “If you’re interested in research texts and publications, then yes. If you mean books meant for entertainment, then despite some attempts, no.” Ashwyn seemed to frown slightly at that, though her gaze seemed to return to Twilight’s.

“But… make attempt, though?” It took only a moment for Twilight to realize she was speaking of the failed novels she had tried to write. She nodded after that moment, unsure of where this conversation was heading. “Do still… want write?” After those words, she saw something strange within Ashwyn’s eyes. A tinge of hope. Twilight couldn’t help but wonder why she held such a feeling for her answer. She knew what Ashwyn wanted her to say, and luckily, she didn’t have to lie, as it was the truth.

“Well… Yeah. I’ve got a bunch of ideas it’s just…” Twilight trailed off as she thought of the best words to describe it.

“Words hard to put on page. They no look right, or not flow good. Right?” Twilight blinked at the mare in surprise before nodding slowly. “Maybe… I help?” She asked, the hope once again present in her eyes. “Not Inkheart, but… She still here.” She tapped the side of her head. “Can help.” 

Twilight suppressed the urge to face hoof. She had forgotten who Ashwyn used to be! She had even read a couple of Inkheart’s books. They were really good! Perhaps… Maybe with Ashwyn’s help, she could actually make something worthwhile? A smile spread across her face as she looked at the mare.

“I’d like that.”


~-~


Aurick closed the book with a smile. He had found what he needed. Funnily enough, most of the materials were waiting for him in the Everfree Forest. Go figure. 

He placed the book back into its place on the shelf with a pleased hum. He certainly hoped it helped Ashwyn feel more comfortable. Even if it didn’t, more defense certainly wouldn’t hurt. Luna had all but confirmed that evil lurked in the shadows. He didn’t plan to be caught unaware by it. Turning around, he prepared to alert Ashwyn to their imminent departure. He paused, however, when he saw what she was doing. 

Ashwyn and Twilight were sitting together on an armchair, a massive stack of papers sitting on the coffee table before them. Twilight was holding a couple sheets up in her magic, while Ashwyn was pointing to something with a claw. 

Twilight wore a curious expression. As though she disagreed with whatever Ashwyn was saying, yet agreed at the same time. The conflict brought a trace of amusement to the elf, as he watched her face shift between frowns and smiles. 

Ashwyn, on the other hand, was a completely different story. One her face was a smile. A genuine smile that he had only seen a few times from the mare. Whatever they were doing, Ashwyn was truly enjoying herself, and Aurick wasn’t going to disrupt that. With a small smile of his own, he turned around, grabbed a random book off the shelf, and went to the couch to read. He would stay there for however long he needed to. 

It wasn’t long before something brought his attention back to Ashwyn. A sound she was making that Aurick found himself a little jealous about. Twilight was able to pull that out of her before him! After only one interaction! 

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. Despite his jealousy of Twilight’s achievement, he was happy. A small sense of gratitude made its way to the purple mare, for bringing Ashwyn a little bit more out of her shell. The mare was poking one of the papers that Twilight was levitating, a deep blush on the purple pony’s face as Ashwyn attempted to hide the sounds behind a paw.

She was laughing.
> Ch 39: A Promise
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashwyn stared at the cold metal that the Alpha had brought into the basement. Six sets of gryphonian armour stared back at her. This only served to confuse the white mare. What did the Alpha need the armour for? It certainly wasn't for a customer. She had kept track of all the jobs he had been hired for, and nothing pertained to this armour. Unless… Was it another job from the princesses? 

She knew he had been hired to make some armour for the guard a while ago, so perhaps he had been hired to do something similar for the gryphons in the guard? Glancing up to the Alpha, she frowned. She could just ask him.

“Alpha.” She started, earning her attention. He was sorting through a variety of jewels in the work room, seemingly trying to find the best ones for the job. “What is for?” She asked, using a paw to gesture towards the armour. A smirk spread across his face as he stepped over to them, placing a hand on the shoulder of one.

“These things are going to protect the house.” He stated happily. Ashwyn simply blinked at him for a moment. How were empty suits of armour meant to protect them? It wasn’t as though either of them could wear the armour. Unless he intended to hire gryphon guards? Unlikely. The Alpha was more than capable of handling himself, he didn’t need a set of guards.

“Not understand.” She admitted, seemingly taking a bit of the wind out of the Alpha’s sails. 

“Essentially,” He started, scratching at his beard as he returned to the gems, “I’m going to enchant the armour to become autonomous. They’ll have to be coded with the proper magical algorithms, so that they behave in appropriate ways, but once that’s done... “ He grinned at her. “We’d have six guardians to ensure that nothing could threaten us.” 

“Oh. How…” She started, intending to ask a question, before she paused and closed her mouth with a frown. She doubted she’d understand the answer anyways. “Why do we need?” She eventually asked with a raised brow. Did he know something that she didn’t? The Alpha was quick to pick up on the suspicion in her voice and shook his head.

“We can’t always be on the lookout for threats. There’s always the chance something could catch us off guard.” He told her, but she didn’t accept that. 

“Can smell them.” She poked her nose to accentuate the point, making the Alpha roll his eyes.

“What if they don’t have a smell? What if they know you could and used magic to prevent that?” He asked before sighing and rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m from a place where I made a lot of enemies. It wasn’t uncommon for someone or something to try and kill me and my friends every month or so. I’ve come to find that you can never have enough defensive measures.”

Ashwyn was about to state that Equestria wasn’t like that. Of course, the thought barely lasted a moment before her own situation reminded her that it wasn’t the case. As nice as it all looked, the ponies here were capable of as much cruelty as any other land. She scratched her cheek in a similar fashion to how the Alpha scratched at his beard when he thought, her gaze shifting back to the armour.

She wouldn’t lie. Having six sets of autonomous armour keeping watch over her and the Alpha was an idea that pleased her. It was at this point that she also noticed the sets of weapons on the Alpha’s work bench. Weapons that were no doubt for the armours to weild. A small smile crossed her face as she turned back to the Alpha.

“Make good point.” With a pleased nod, the Alpha returned to searching through his gems.


~-~


Aurick was lying down on the couch, a fluffy pony on his chest. He had a hand resting on her back, idly tracing circles in her fur as the other sat beneath his head. He had been rather busy that day, and instead of moving to the basement to work on some projects, he decided that he’d finally take a day off. The issue was that he didn’t really have a whole lot he wanted to do. As such he ended up lying down with Ashwyn. An idea that she held no objections over. 

They had remained that way for a long while, though Aurick didn’t know the exact time frame. They were simply enjoying each other’s company. 

One would think that the act wouldn’t have been so enjoyable. What with them cuddling up every night. Yet, for Aurick at least, he hadn’t tired of it. There was something calming about being so close with Ashwyn. He had initially assumed it had to do with just how soft she was. If he didn’t feel her breathing, he could have been convinced he was snuggling with a stuffed animal. Now he wasn’t so sure as to the reason. 

Perhaps it had something to do with their blossoming relationship? He wasn’t quite sure. He had never been much of a cuddler with his previous romantic partners. He was a man that enjoyed his personal space. Ashwyn, on the other hand, was almost always touching him, if not on him, when they were sitting or lying down. 

Opening an eye, he gazed down at her. Her head was resting on his chest, her eyes closed as she napped. As he looked at her, one of her ears flicked and she pulled herself tighter against him, a pleasant smile resting on her muzzle.

He couldn’t help but smile to himself as his eye closed once more. The mare was downright adorable when she slept. As he thought of that, he realized that it had actually been some time since she had one of her nightmares. A fact that pleased him. 

Ashwyn didn’t deserve what happened to her, and she certainly didn’t deserve to have nightmares every time she tried to sleep. He briefly wondered why they had stopped, as Luna had made no indication she had found the mare’s dreams. Then he realized it didn’t matter. They had ceased and that was all he cared about. Judging by her face, she was having good dreams now, and that made him happy.

He readjusted the way he rested, as one of his legs was starting to fall asleep. As he did so, he felt Ashwyn stir. She lifted her head slightly, her eyes fluttering open. She looked around for a moment, her eyes unfocused until they met his. A smile spread across her face as she laid her head back down, but held his gaze. 

“What time?” She asked in a groggy voice. Aurick shrugged, a strange act with someone on your chest. 

“I should probably buy a clock.” Raising a brow, Ashwyn peered around the room, finding that there was, indeed, no clock. The only clock they had in the house was sitting in the bedroom. Aurick typically went by the position of the sun, as clocks didn't exist in his world. Unless you wanted to count a sundial. 

“Would be good. Am not you. Need clock.” She confirmed with a nod. A yawn escaped her as she stretched out on him. “Have plans or more of this?” 

“Not a clue. I’m fine with staying like this for now.” Nodding, Ashwyn got herself comfortable once more, and the pair faded into silence. This didn’t last long, however, as Ashwyn spoke up after some time.

“So…” She started, drawing the word out longer than it should have been. “Alien?” He was wondering when she was going to start asking questions. It had been a couple days since he had told her, and he could tell she was curious. 

“Yeah.” He responded with a tired smile. “I was enchanting a room to be used as a permanent teleportation circle. That way me and my friends could go anywhere in the world that had a matching circle.” Ashwyn raised both brows as he told her of that, a small amount of pride seeping into his smile. “The bad part is that one of those friends didn’t think about what they were doing, barged in during the process, and startled me.” 

Ashwyn frowned at this, but said nothing. He had already informed her of the dangers of interrupting him while he was enchanting, so she must have had an idea of what he was about to tell her. 

“As expected, the magic went out of control and cast the spell on me, using up every ounce of mana in my body. What wasn’t expected was that I had enough mana in me to supercharge the spell enough to send me through to a different plane of existence.” He sighed, running a hand down his face as he looked up at the ceiling. “Honestly, if it wasn’t for the princesses, I’d be dead.” 

He felt her claws unsheath and poke him in the chest, though they didn't break skin. A deep frown crossed her face and her eyes started to search his body, as though expecting to find he was still wounded. 

“Like I said, it drained me of mana, and that included my body. I was burned from the inside out as my body was destroyed to further fuel the spell. According to them, I was barely breathing when they found me. It had taken numerous days and high level healing spells to bring me back from the brink.”

“So is okay now?” She asked, concern etched onto her face as she cautiously poked him in the chest. 

“Perfectly healthy.” He replied with a smile, his arm wrapping around her once more and pulling her back down onto him. “A couple days after I woke up, I decided to come here and start a business. Two days later, I go looking for food and you try to eat me.” That made her blush, and she buried her muzzle in his chest as she muttered apologies. After a few moments she lifted her head, eyes wider than normal.

“You only here for maybe week before we meet?” She frowned and looked down. “That weird.” Then her frown deepened as her brow furrowed. “Can no go back?” She asked quietly.

“Not a chance. Unless I want to risk doing the same thing again, but there’s no guarantee I’ll go to my world, or that someone would be around to heal me.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “For better or for worse, I’m stuck here. With no way to see any of my friends. Any of my family… Anyone I ever knew probably thinks I’m dead, and I might as well be for all it matters.” He felt something touch his face, and opening his eyes, he saw that Ashwyn had cupped his face with a paw. 

“It matter. They lose good Alpha.” He couldn’t help but snort at that. She still used Alpha, even in that context? Shaking his head, he found that her words were enough to bring a small smile to his face. 

“Yeah, you’re right.” He admitted, smiling at her. As he looked at her, he realized something. With this talk of friends and family, he realized that he didn’t know anything about hers. Then again, she was supposed to be a recluse, so friends probably weren’t a concern, but her family… “Hey, Ash…” He started, making her look him in the eyes again. “Speaking of, what of your family? Shouldn’t you let them know you’re okay?” The moment he had said the word family, she looked away and grimaced. 

“Not want talk to them.” She growled out, surprising Aurick. Clearly there was a story here, and he wasn’t going to let her keep it to herself.

“Why not?” He asked, cupping her face like she did him. Hesitantly she met his gaze again, and in those eyes, he saw a confusing mess of emotions. Anger, fear, sadness, and more swirled in her citrine eyes. 

“We not… on speak terms.” She said after a moment. “We… They and Inkheart fight. Argue about Inkheart future… Bad things said. No talk anymore.” 

“Ash…” He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I think you need to talk to them.” 

“But-!” Her argument was halted by Aurick gently placing a finger on her lips. 

“Take it from me, Ash.” He told her quietly. “You don’t want things to stay like this. You never know what the future holds for you. You could have died in the experiments. Do you think they would have forgiven themselves for not making up with you before you died. Would you not regret not talking to them before either of them died?” Ashwyn didn’t answer, but she audibly gulped as his words ran through her mind. “Whatever was said is in the past. Don’t let that determine your future.” 

Ashwyn didn’t answer for a long time. Her gaze had left his after he had finished, and she was obviously thinking over what he had said. 

“...Okay” She eventually stated in a weak voice. He could faintly see a tear making it’s way down one of her cheeks. “I… speak to them.”

“Promise?” He asked, lifting a finger to wipe away the tear. She turned to face him again and nodded resolutely.

“Promise.”
> Ch 40: Date Night
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The stars shone brightly in the sky above. Aurick wore a pleasant smile as he stared up at them. His arm was wrapped around a form at his side as they lie in the grass together. Turning his head towards her, a smirk spread across his face as a brow raised.

“When you said we were going on a date, I didn’t think you had this in mind.” He told her, earning a playful slap in return.

“I can be romantic when I want to be.” Agni insisted with a snort. 

“Still…” Aurick said, earning a sigh from the red haired woman.

“Yeah. I know. We spend so much of our time fighting… It’s just nice to relax every once in awhile.” She told him. Aurick couldn’t help but nod at the statement. He was about to say something more when Agni pointed up at the sky.

“Look!” She exclaimed with a smile. “That group looks like a horse.” 

“A horse?” He blinked up at the stars for a moment, attempting to find what she had seen. “I don’t see it.” He admitted, turning back to her. Ashwyn turned her head towards him and frowned before pointing with a paw once again. 

“Is there.” She said. “Next to spoon. Look like Princess.” This time he more closely followed where she was pointing. He still couldn't see it. The spoon was there, but he- Oh! There it was. 

As he looked at it, something appeared strange about it. Then it blinked at him and disappeared from the sky. With a frown, he turned back to Ashwyn, only to find her frozen with a finger in the air. Blinking at her, he heard the sound of hooves approaching and smiled. He sat up and gave Agni a look before standing to greet the Princess. 

“And what do I owe the pleasure, Lulu?” He asked as he turned around to face her. She wasn’t looking at him, however. She was instead looking down at the frozen Agni, one of her brow raised in confusion.

“You seem to be conflicted.” She stated matter of factly. Aurick couldn’t help but frown and stared back at the woman that was lying on the ground. A moment later, she was a pony. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“Maybe a little bit.” He admitted. “Though I’d ask you not to stick your nose into this.” 

She gave him a strange look for a short while before she acquiesced. “Very well. You are both adults, I will trust you to handle this subject yourself.” She said with a sigh. “As it is, that was not the reason I have arrived tonight.”

“Aww, and here I was starting to think you cared.” Aurick replied with a grin, making her shake her head in amusement.

“Surely not. Why would I care for a hairless ape such as yourself?” Her grin matched his. “No, I am here purely for business.” 

“Oh?” That had caught his attention. “Well then, step into my office if you would.” With a simple thought, the scene around them disappeared and was replaced by his living room. Luna blinked for a moment before a small smile played across her lips.

“And here I was thinking you would actually bring me to one.” 

“Please place all complaints within the complaint box.” He told her, a small box appearing in front of her. There was no subtlety in the hole in the bottom of the box, nor the trashcan beneath it. Rolling her eyes, Luna sat down on an armchair as a small piece of paper was placed within. “Perfect.” He smiled. “Now then…” He gestured for her to speak with his hand.

“Yes, well…” She took a moment to get comfortable in her seat. “As I’m sure your know, Test Tube is not the only pony in Equestria that believes themselves above the law.” She started, earning a short nod from Aurick. “As such, me and my sister have been doing our best to cut down on criminal activity as much as we can.” 

“Of course.” 

“While not used for their initial purpose, the armour you had enchanted for us has helped in a number of arrests.” Aurick smiled, having an idea of where this was going. “As such, me and my sister have decided to request another order of them.”

“Easily done. Though I will warn you that it’s going to take longer this time. Now that my business has gotten more popular, I have a couple of large projects to work on. Not to mention my personal projects.” If Luna had any complaints, she didn’t voice them. Though she could have discreetly placed them in the complaints box.

“That’s perfectly fine. There is no pressing matter that requires them this time. Perhaps during the wait, I can think of what I want that last enchantment to be.” She frowned and placed a hoof to her chin as Aurick nodded.

“I’d almost forgotten about that.” He snorted. “Either way, it’ll be done. Is that all you needed?” Luna glanced back to him and nodded.

“Why?” 

“It’s about Ashwyn.” He told her, scratching at his beard. “More specifically about her parents.”

“Ah. I was wondering if the subject would come up.” Luna said with a smile. “I had kept them up to date with the events that have transpired, and they have made it known that they would like to see her.” Luna told him before frowning. “It had come to my attention that they had a falling out and now her parents are seeking to make amends.” 

“That’s great!” Aurick grinned as he leaned forward. “I convinced her to do the same. All we need is for them to get together and talk.” 

“I could easily arrange that. Tell me, what day would work for you?”

“Any day after tomorrow is fine, so long as it’s in the afternoon. Though I’d rather let Ash decide when to do this.” He said firmly. “I want her to do this when she feels she’s ready.” 

“Of course. In that case, let me know when she’s prepared to meet with them. In the meantime, I shall alert them to this development so that they may prepare themselves as well.” Aurick nodded in response. “Now then, I must depart. There were a number of nightmares in the dreamscape that I must attend to.” 

“Alright. Have fun battling people’s fears.” With a nod, Luna faded away, leaving Aurick alone in his dream. A smile spread across his face as he thought of the day ahead of him. 

He hoped she would enjoy it as much as he thought she would.


~-~


Ashwyn stretched out on the couch, a yawn escaping her. She peered back towards the kitchen, a confused look on her face. It was almost time for dinner, and yet the Alpha was not making food. Perhaps he had forgotten? 

She was almost tempted to simply go make food herself, but she remembered what happened last time. He probably wouldn’t be too happy to find his kitchen on fire again. Before she could think on the subject further, the Alpha emerged from the basement, a smile on his face and a wicker basket in hand. 

She could smell the meat within it, though he had never needed a basket to bring it up before. As he took a step forward, she noticed he had a pack on his back, and pushing past the scent of the meat in the basket, she could smell wood.

“What you doing?” She asked with a raised brow, earning a broad smile in response. 

“Well, we’ve been together for about a week and haven’t gone on a date yet. We’re about to fix that.” The moment he said the word date, she felt her face heat up. Why didn’t he tell her before hand!? She looked terrible! She could have at least brushed her coat before he sprung this on her! The Alpha seemed to understand what she was thinking. Granted, with the way she was looking over herself, it probably wasn’t too hard to guess. 

“Calm down.” He told her, his hand coming down to ruffle her mane. A fact that made her frown up at him. He saw this and smiled. “You look fine. Besides, it’s a picnic… of sorts.” That made her blink at him, her frown becoming more confused. 

“...In Winter?” She asked slowly, her brow raised. The Alpha rolled his eyes and gestured towards the window.

“There’s no snow, we’ll have a fire, and…” He flipped the scarf she was still wearing, “we won’t be able to feel the cold.” Blinking, she placed a paw on the scarf around her neck. To be honest, she had forgotten it did that. A small smile came on her lips as she was reminded of it. She had only taken it off when she had too. At first it was because it kept her warm, but now… “Anyways, I’ve already got a place picked out.” Looking back up at the Alpha, she smiled warmly and nodded.

“Let’s go.” 



~-~


Aurick sat with his back to the tree, gazing up into the sky with a content smile on his face. Ashwyn was curled up next to him, her head resting on his chest. His hand was on her back, holding her close. The fire was still burning before them, two skewers sitting nearby as they dried of the meaty juices that coated them. 

“Is nice night.” She stated after a moment. Aurick couldn’t help but agree. They weren’t even being pestered by mosquitoes, though that could be because the world didn’t have any. He never looked into the bugs of the world, so he didn’t know. 

As he stared up at the sky, he allowed his mind to wander. Specifically to his dream. He was sure he had it because if his plans for the date. He had forgotten he had done something similar with Agni. Letting out a sigh, he turned his gaze to the pony he held close to him.

He still didn’t know how he felt about her. About this pony that had found her way into his life. He wouldn’t be lying to say she had found a place in his heart. Far from it in fact. Though to say that it was love… He wasn’t sure he could label it as such yet. 

Snorting, he had to question if it even mattered what he called it. He cared about her. This was a fact. He wanted to help her. He wanted to make her happy. Wasn’t that what love was? He spent every day with her. He cooked for her. Helped her work through her troubles. Comforted her when she needed it. They even slept together! So why couldn’t he say he loved her? Letting out a breath through his nose, he rested his head against the tree. He already knew the answer.

Agni.

That woman had stolen his heart a long time ago. Even though they had broken up, he couldn’t help but have feelings for her. Even though he was in a different plane of existence, he couldn’t help but love her. 

Letting out a sigh, he scratched at his beard and looked up into the sky. He hadn’t moved on, even though he thought he had. He got into this relationship with Ashwyn because he thought he could get over his feelings. He knew now that it wasn’t such an easy task. 

The issue was that he wanted to be with Ashwyn. It had taken him some time, but he was certain that he wanted this relationship to work. He wanted to be able to love her like she loved him. 

A smile graced him as he thought of that. It was clear how deep the mare’s feelings were for him. She had spent all her time with him. Never once complaining about what they were doing, and simply enjoying his company. He had even seen her taking a look at that Enchanting book Twilight had in an attempt to understand his work better. She was taking so many steps to make this work and he… He didn’t do much. 

That was something that needed to change. Romance required effort from both sides after all. He had to figure out something he could do. Maybe he could get her back into writing? 

She said she wasn’t Inkheart anymore, but he knew better than that. She called herself something different now, but she was still the same person with the same soul. There was no evidence that her soul had been tampered with, so it was simply a mental issue. 

Her mind was hurt, and though it may never recover, that didn’t mean she had changed. Not truly. It was made even more evident with her interaction with Twilight the other day. The thought of that smile on her face brought one to his own. He liked that smile. He wanted her to be able to wear it more often, and it was talk of writing that had made it happen. 

Perhaps he could do some writing too? She was trying to learn of his passion, so it was only fair he learn of hers. 

Closing his eyes, he smiled. His mind was made up on the subject. He just needed to find a place to purchase the supplies. 

He looked down at her once more. She was asleep once more. Snorting, he shook her lightly, rousing her from her slumber. Blinking, she blearily looked up at him. 

“It’s getting late. We should go home.” He told her. She simply nodded and yawned, her sharp teeth shining in the light of the fire. Once again, his eyes drifted to her lips as she closed her mouth. It still felt wrong. A fact that displeased him. 

Letting out a breath from his nose, he steeled himself. This feeling was something he took issue with, so he decided that he needed to deal with it. If he truly wanted them to work, he’d need to get rid of it, and what better way than to face it head on? 

A hand cupped her cheek, making her look up at him. He had enough time to see her eyes widen before his lips pressed to hers. For a long moment, she tensed up. Then a paw pressed to his chest and he felt her melt into him as she returned the kiss. 

As they pulled apart, he couldn’t help but smirk at her. Her face was red, even up to her ears, though she didn’t seem embarrassed. A dazed smile was plastered on her face in a way that made him chuckle. 

“You’re a terrible kisser.” He told her between chuckles. A paw gently swatted him.

“Was first.” She admitted after a moment. 

“Well then, guess I’ll just have to teach you, huh?” This served to make her eyes widen. He couldn’t help but grin at the reaction. 

He may not be able to say he loved her yet, but he certainly wanted to.
> Ch 41: Just a Bath
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashwyn awoke with a smile on her face. Once more she found herself alone in bed, a frown replacing her smile as this knowledge came upon her. Perking her ears, she looked over towards the door to the bathroom. Standing up, she made her way over to the door. She couldn’t hear anything, so cautiously, she opened the door. 

It was as she had assumed. The Alpha was taking a bath again. He was reclined in the water, his eyes closed and hands behind his head, though a single eye opened as he heard the door open. 

Once again, she was faced with a naked Alpha, and once again, her cheeks flushed. Thankfully he remained seated within the tub, so she didn’t get the full experience again. Leaning forward, the Alpha rested an elbow on the edge, while his head was supported by his fist. 

“You’re not gonna get awkward about this again, are you?” He asked with a raised brow. Her cheeks grew hotter at that, and she quickly shook her head. She was about to simply close the door on the situation, but something stopped her. Namely the frown on the Alpha’s face. 

Did he want her to join him? Did he desire…? No. He said his people bathed together. So this was nothing so intimate for him. If that was so, then why did he seem to want her to join him, though? Perhaps it was because it was intimate for her that it became more desirable? 

She couldn’t tell. Especially from his face. She had spent so long with the Alpha, and yet in all that time, he had not gotten any easier to read. Sure, there were some expressions that were common enough to be read, but she couldn’t tell what he was thinking behind the faces he would make. The best clues she would have were his mouth, but they couldn’t express as much as the eyes, and they were difficult to read on a good day. Let alone when he’s on the other side of the room. 

All she knew was that he was seemingly disappointed by her decision to remove herself from the situation. She didn’t like disappointing him. She wanted to make him happy. Like he had done for her. Glancing back at the Alpha, he had his brow raised. She had paused in the middle of closing the door. She probably looked a little strange for doing that. 

Swallowing her embarrassment, she opened the door and entered the bathroom. This act predictably made that brow raise higher than before, even as she stepped closer to the tub. Thankfully he didn’t comment on her change of heart, but she took notice that his frown was gone. 

Once she was close enough, she was able to fully see his form, and the Alpha, being the way that he was, made no attempts to cover himself. She had to prevent herself from looking down multiple times as she hesitantly lifted a paw to the edge of the tub. It was at this point that he decided to speak.

“You look like your about to face off with a dragon.” The suddenness of his voice was enough to make her jump, as her full focus was on not looking anywhere untoward. The voice was clearly amused, and as she turned to glare at the elf, she saw the smirk on his face. She didn’t say anything, not trusting her voice to be steady in the scenario. “You know you don’t have to do this, right?” This time his frown returned. “This is supposed to be an intimate thing, right?” 

“Is… intimate. Yes, but…” She said slowly, a frown of her own plastered onto her face. A hand gently cupped her cheek, and she was compelled to look the Alpha in the eyes. 

“You don’t have to do anything. If you’re uncomfortable with this, then don’t do it.” He told her flatly. Her ears flattened as she looked away. That was the issue though. She wanted to, but she wasn’t sure she was comfortable being that intimate with him yet. She truly wanted to be, though. 

She trusted the Alpha a great deal. She had exposed herself to him both mentally and emotionally before, but never physically. Not like this. Of course, she knew that he wouldn’t even think about doing anything with her aside from bathing, but that was the issue. 

She obviously didn’t want to go that far yet. It was way too soon, but at the same time, the knowledge that it wouldn’t even come up as a possibility to him made her sad. 

It didn’t take a genius to realize that the Alpha was uncomfortable with their relationship on some level. She couldn’t read him easily, and he was good at hiding his emotions, but he couldn’t hide the hesitation in his actions. The traces of uncertainty on his face, nor the brief moment of disgust in his eyes after their kiss, before he hid it away with a flippant smirk. He didn’t like being with a pony, and yet he was trying.

A fact that made her love him even more.

She wanted to let him know how comfortable she was around him. How much she trusted him. She wanted to be able to help him overcome the issues preventing him from approaching her the way he wanted to. 

“Is… okay.” She said after she returned from her thoughts. Once more she placed a paw on the edge of the tub. This time it wasn’t as hesitant as before. After fully thinking through her feelings on the matter, she felt more confident in what she was going to do. Within a moment, she entered the tub. 

Her face was beet red as she sat down in the water, her gaze firmly placed on the wall ahead to prevent her from looking anywhere else. Despite that, a sense of pride welled up within her. She had joined the Alpha in the bath. 

Now she just had to get past her own embarrassment. 


~-~


If she was to be completely honest, the bath was really nice. In hindsight, of course. During the entirety of it, she had to make a constant effort to not look down and to sit far enough away that she didn’t feel anything against her. Despite that, the Alpha had helped her wash, and though it was incredibly embarrassing for her, she would be lying if she said it wasn’t effective. In fact, she hadn’t felt so clean in years. 

Perhaps she should join him more often? If only to be so clean everyday. 

She was cleaner than ever, and it certainly showed. At least, it seemed to show, as the customers for the day had decided to say she looked nice that day. A fact that surprised her. 

Sure, the regulars had become accustomed to her, and addressed her directly a couple times with pleasantries, but never once was she complimented. She was surprised to find that she enjoyed it, and she made an attempt to remember each of those ponies faces. She would be sure to be nicer to them in return. 

The effect this change made was clear to her, as before she knew it, the last pony had left the building and they were officially closed. 


~-~


Aurick sat down at the table, placing his own plate of food in front of him as he did so. Ashwyn had already started to dig into hers as he did so. Looking at her, a small frown crossed his face. One that was swiftly changed to a neutral expression. 

He once more felt his part in their relationship was inadequate. Ashwyn had decided to face her face her trepidation and succeeded. Despite wearing a heavy blush that covered her face throughout the experience, she was capable of weathering the storm of her own emotions. A feat that he couldn’t do.

Despite initiating a kiss, he wasn’t able to hold to it for as long as he desired. The sheer wrongness of it making him back off before he could accomplish what he set out to do. He was able to play it off, smirking and claiming to have to teach her how to kiss. A claim he regretted saying afterwards. He had faced the issue, and yet it persisted. It was as strong as ever, and he knew he would have to battle himself again if he wanted to make another attempt. 

Ashwyn, on the other hand did what she set out to accomplish. Not to mention how she acted afterwards. She was smiling all day. She practically glowed with how happy she seemed to be. Even the customers had taken notice and had approached her readily. He mildly expected her to turn around and snap at them, as he knew she disliked ponies. Yet, she didn’t do that. She simply smiled and talked back to them. 

Scratching at his beard, he forked a piece of meat into his mouth and glanced up to Ashwyn again. 

He needed to get over this issue if he wanted to get anywhere with her. He would need to hold true to his claim. This wouldn’t change overnight, but he was certain that if he kept it up that it would work. Little by little, the problem would dissolve until he was clear of it. 

Then, hopefully, he could truly return the love she so readily shared with him.
> Ch 42: Spa Day
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Knock knock knock

Ashwyn awoke with a start as the sound played out. Her head shooting up from its position on the Alpha’s lap as her eyes searched the room for the source. The search was quickly brought to an end when the Alpha rested a comforting hand on her head, making her look back to him.

“It’s just the door.” He said, making Ashwyn’s cheek flush in embarrassment. Of course it was the door. Why she hadn’t looked there first was lost to her.

Either way, she was swift to move herself off the Alpha so that he could get up. It was common for the Alpha to answer the door instead of her, as any pony that came by would likely have been looking for him instead of her. As such, it was a surprise to her when she was called over only a few moments later. 

Blinking at him in confusion, she hopped off the couch and made her way over to the entrance of the house. She briefly wondered who was at the door that would need her attention. She attempted to sniff them out, but the scent was unplaceable. She recognized it as a familiar one, but couldn’t remember the pony it belonged to. The mystery was quickly solved, however, when she arrived at the door. 

Standing outside was a white unicorn mare with a purple mane. This was the pony that was terrified of her in the basement. The memory instantly soured her mood, and as she stood there, a frown steadily formed on her face. Instead of addressing her, she instead looked up to the Alpha with a raised brow. 

He wasn’t the one to respond to her unasked question, rather it was the pony who came first, starting by clearing her throat. “Ashwyn.” The chimeric pony could see that the smile on her face was nervous, but the fear that was once present in her eyes had been reduced significantly. It was similar to how a lot of ponies had started to treat her as of recent days. “I came to apologize for my previous behavior. I’ll admit it was a rash assumption of your character that caused me to react in such a way. I’ve come to realize just how wrong I was. Could you find it in your heart to forgive me?” 

Ashwyn wasn’t oblivious to the fact that the Alpha had abandoned her with the pony, but she was more focused on the mare in question. She thought about what the pony had said and a part of her wanted to tell the unicorn off. She knew that was unfair, however. There was no shaking the fact that she was a creepy sight for most ponies. Even more so, she assumed, if she was blocking their only means of escape. She couldn’t hold it against her, despite the remnants of her anger.

“Is… okay.” She said after a long moment. The mare tried to hide it, but Ashwyn could see that she had let out a sigh of relief. “Is natural be afraid. Am monster pony now.” The mare’s reaction was instant, the pleased smile on her face replaced with a disappointed frown.

“Don’t say that.” She said swiftly. “I have encountered monsters, dear. You may look different, but I can say that you are no monster.” 

Ashwyn frowned in return at this. Clearly this pony didn’t know what she was talking about. She didn’t even know her! How could she say that with such certainty? “But the-” She was cut off by a white hoof pressing to her lips. 

“Ah, ah. I’ll be having none of that.” She said in a firm voice. “Do you know what ponies around town say about you?” That caught Ashwyn’s attention. Ponies were talking about her? What were they saying?

“...No.” She said after a moment of her mind running through ideas of what was being said. 

“Allow me to tell you, then.” The pony placed a hoof on her chest and smiled. “They think of you as mysterious. They think you a quiet loner. Not once have I heard mention that you were a monster.” Ashwyn had nothing to say at that, her mouth merely hanging open slightly. The mare took the opportunity to continue. “You should hear what some of the stallions say.” 

“And what do they say?” Startling even Ashwyn, the Alpha was suddenly back in the conversation, his head sticking out around the door. The mare was looking up at him and then back to her as a look of realization came upon her. 

“Nothing you have to worry about, Aurick. Just some young fools talking a big game.” She told him with a smirk, making the Alpha frown.

“Good.” He stated, before departing once more. The moment he was gone, the mare turned her gaze back to Ashwyn.

“How is he that quiet?” She asked in a softer voice. Ashwyn simply shrugged, making the mare shake her head with a sigh. “Being as it is, I can’t have you thinking of yourself that way.” She started once more with a frown. It took only a moment for that to change into a grin. “Idea!” Suddenly the mare’s hooves were on Ashwyn’s shoulders, making the mutated thestral recoil in surprise. “I was going to go to the spa after this. Why don’t you join me?” 

Ashwyn blinked at her for a long moment. “Spa?” The request had confused her, being sudden enough to threaten her with whiplash. 

“Yes! Darling, if there’s ever a place to make you feel like the beautiful mare that you are, it’d be the spa.” The pony said with such exuberance that it had taken Ashwyn aback. She felt herself heavily conflicted on this. The idea of a spa trip sounded nice. She had been stressed out, and though her relationship with the Alpha had alleviated a chunk of that, she knew a spa trip would do her wonders. On the other hand, she didn’t know this pony, she didn’t know the ponies at the spa, and she didn’t think that the Alpha would want to go. She didn’t like the idea of going out without the Alpha around. 

“I…” She started to say, trailing off as she continued to play with the idea in her head. 

“Do it.” The Alpha chimed in, this time from the couch. She couldn’t help but look back over to him with a frown.

“But-” She attempted to argue, but was cut off by the Alpha speaking once more.

“You can’t spend every moment with me, Ash.” He stated firmly. “Besides, you need it. Go relax.” 

“...Okay.” She said reluctantly. If even the Alpha thought she needed it, then she should do it. It’s not like this mare could be a threat to her, so she shouldn’t need to be so anxious about being alone with her and not the Alpha. So why didn’t that idea help her? The unicorn gave her a smile, which Ashwyn awkwardly returned. 

After a few more hesitant moments she took a step outside and closed the door behind her. 


~-~


As soon as the door closed, Aurick pumped a fist in cheer. He made a mental note to treat Rarity to dinner for the wonderful timing of her request. He waited for some time, to make sure they were far enough away before he exited the house and headed into town. 

A grin was plastered on his face as he thought of what face Ashwyn would make when she got home. 


~-~


The mare, who had come to be known as Rarity, pointed out the spa as they approached. On top of that, she pointed out another mare. A buttery yellow pegasus with a long pink mane. Her tail was even longer, enough so that it was dragging across the ground. Ashwyn couldn’t imagine the trouble she must go through cleaning it every day.

She was surprised to find that she recognized the scent of her. She was the mare that hid all the animals from her when she was in the forest. She couldn’t help but feel a bit of anger towards the mare, but she kept it inside. Even the Alpha had helped hide them from her. Besides, it all worked out in the end. 

The mare in question looked up at their approach, and visibly shrunk at the sight of Ashwyn. The scowl reappeared on her face and she couldn’t help but look at Rarity with a look of ‘I told you so’.

“She’s a shy mare.” Rarity explained. “I assure you it has nothing to do with your appearance.” 

Ashwyn rolled her eyes, clearly untrusting of the statement. Despite that, she didn’t say anything. If things fell apart, she would just go back home to the Alpha. It wasn’t like they could stop her. 

“Hello, Fluttershy.” Rarity greeted the yellow mare as they got closer. 

“Oh, um, hi Rarity.” She responded in a quiet voice. Even Ashwyn’s sharper hearing had a hard time hearing her over the sound of the other ponies on the street. Her gaze shifted towards Ashwyn, her mane shifting to partially obscure her features. 

“Fluttershy, this is Ashwyn.” Rarity stated, answering the pony’s silent question. Fluttershy’s eyes widened at the name, shifting down to look at the thestrals paws for only a moment. “I invited her to join us today. She seemed like she needed it.” 

“Nice to meet you.” The yellow pony gave her a small smile, but Ashwyn couldn’t see any trace of falsity in it. 

“Er… same.” Ashwyn wasn’t used to exchanging pleasantries, and it showed in her response. Luckily, neither pony commented on the awkward way she said it. That didn’t stop the awkwardness from continuing, however, as the trio devolved into silence for a short couple moments.

“Well,” Rarity was the one to break the silence, her hooves clacking together to get their attention, “let’s go in, shall we?” No complaints came from either of the other two mares, so they made their way into the establishment they stood in front of. 

Their entry was paired with the jingle of a bell that was above the door. The sound quickly alerted one of the workers, as a sound of hooves could be heard from further into the building. It was only a brief moment before a pink pony with a blue mane stepped into the front room, a smile on her face. 

“Ah, Rarity, Fluttershy. So wonderful to see you again.” The mare said in a prench accent. “And I see that you brought someone new!” 

“It’s always lovely to see you too, Aloe.” Rarity said with a smile, stepping forward to give the spa pony a friendly hug. “And this is Ashwyn.” She gestured with a hoof towards the white mutant before whispering something in Aloe’s ear. The pony subtly nodded before smiling at Ashwyn.

“So you’re the mysterious mare I’ve heard so much about.” The pink earth pony commented, her face betraying no sign of fear. “Me and my sister have been meaning to go get something enchanted, but we haven’t had the time.” Ashwyn didn’t know how to respond to that, so she simply nodded. “Well, then. Let’s get you started, shall we?” 


~-~


Ashwyn’s face flushed as she sat down in the spa bath. It wasn’t nearly the same thing as sharing a personal bath, but it was still a weird experience. Especially when it brought up certain memories and images in her mind. Thankfully Rarity pulled her mind out of the proverbial gutter.

“So, darling, I must ask.” She started with a smirk on her face. “When did you two happen?” Fluttershy seemed confused, as was Ashwyn.

“Happen?” She asked in return, her head tilting slightly. 

“You and Aurick!” Rarity broke out into a big grin as her eyes locked with Ashwyn’s. Ashwyn was glad that her face was already red, because if she wasn’t blushing before, she would have been now. “I’m not oblivious to these types of things, you know.” 

“Is… two weeks, now.” She said after a moment, unable to meet Rarity’s gaze. She may not know Rarity or Fluttershy very well, but she had been looking for someone to talk to about her feelings for some time now. Twilight couldn’t have been the one for obvious reasons, but maybe they could be. They were nice enough, and she had to admit that the spa treatment had helped relax her far more than she had anticipated. 

“Oh, that’s wonderful, darling. I thought he seemed a little lonely. It’s nice to see that has changed.” Fluttershy nodded along with Rarity’s words, a calm smile on her face. It hadn’t taken long for the shy mare to get used to Ashwyn’s presence, and once she did, Ashwyn saw no traces of fear in her actions. 

“You’re eating better now, right?” Fluttershy spoke up after a few moments passed. 

“Yes. Alpha feed me. I try to make food, but… is bad idea.”

“That’s good. I heard you were starving before…” Fluttershy started before trailing off and looking away. Ashwyn similarly frowned at the unpleasant memories. 

“Was hard. No find food, and no eat pony. No matter what instinct say.” The other two looked disgusted at the words, but Ashwyn didn’t notice, as she was looking down. “I pass out, think I dead. Then I wake up in Alpha’s house.” She looked back up with a small smile. “He heal me. He help me.” 

“Is that why you call him Alpha?” Rarity asked, her expression betraying her curiosity. 

“He is Alpha because he is Alpha.” She stated simply. This, of course, didn’t please the mare, but she didn’t comment any further. 

Eventually the conversation steered away from Ashwyn. A fact that she was happy about. She may want to talk to someone, but she didn’t want to talk too much to these mares. Not yet anyways. She didn’t even know if she’d even see them again after they seperated. 

Ashwyn didn’t speak as much after that, though she would comment occasionally. At some point, however, the spa pony, Aloe, returned. 

“Ashwyn, if you’d come with me?” She asked, gesturing with a hoof to go with her. Glancing towards the other two, she was met with a nod from Rarity. 

“Go on.” A little unsure, she stepped out of the water. A towel was floated over to her by Rarity and she gave her a nod of appreciation before following the pink mare. After she was brought to a different room, she couldn’t help but ask.

“Why am seperate?” Aloe simply smiled at her.

“Rarity purchased the Princess Package for you today.” She said happily. “Something about sending you home to your stallion looking better than ever?” 

Ashwyn couldn’t help the blush that came over her, but despite it, she eagerly allowed the spa pony to work her magic.


~-~


Ashwyn landed at the door as lightly as she could. Her wings folding to her sides as she reached up to open the door. Her claws glistened in the light as it was lifted, and she couldn’t help but smile as she walked inside. 

“Ash?” She heard the Alpha ask from the couch. He turned to look at her and promptly froze in place. His jaw hung agape, and she could practically feel his eyes take in her new look. A blush returned to her face as she approached him, her smile widening on her face as she did so. 

“Is good?” She asked once she got close. 

The Alpha blinked at her for a moment. “Good? Ash, you look great!” He exclaimed, her smile mirroring on his face. Her heart swelled at the compliment. She had hoped that what Aloe had done was good, but she was never a good judge of fashion, so she couldn’t tell. She was trusting the mare to know what she was doing, and it seemed that she did. “Oh! I almost forgot!” The Alpha suddenly said, getting up off the couch and gesturing towards the stairs. “I got a surprise for you.” 

A surprise? Did the Alpha plan this? Or perhaps he took advantage of the opportunity? Either way, Ashwyn was swift to follow him up the stairs, finding that she was being led to their bedroom. Opening the door, the Alpha pointed to a corner of the room that was previously unoccupied. What now resided there was enough that Ashwyn fell to her rump. 

Sitting in the corner, as though it had been there all along, was a writing desk. Not just any writing desk, though, but her writing desk. The desk that had so many memories, both good and bad. The desk she had used for the past twelve years. That Inkheart used, rather. That didn’t matter at this point, though. Inkheart’s or not, it was still hers. 

Looking up, the Alpha had a massive grin on his face. She just couldn’t help it. Her wings flared as she lifted off the ground. His eyes widened at the sudden movement, but he couldn’t stop her.

Even as she planted her lips to his.
> 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.
> Ch 44: Familial Bonds
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aurick watched as Twilight glared at the ring before her. After a number of lessons, he had decide to give her a practical exam to test her understanding of what he had taught her. So far it was underwhelming. 

Despite her failed attempts to enchant the ring, he knew it wasn’t for a lack of understanding. The hefty amount of notes and references she made assured him of that. The issue was that she seemed to be having a hard time wrapping her head around it. 

The idea was to insert your mana into a container, in this case it was the gem in the ring, and cast a spell, not from yourself, but from the mana in the ring. As if that wasn’t difficult enough, she had to contain the spell and prevent it from fully activating until a mental trigger activated it. 

She was used to simply casting the spell, not these magical gymnastics. 

Ashwyn had attempted to help her, as she had been paying rapt attention during his lectures, but she couldn’t do much. Her inability to use magic like the unicorn made it difficult and she resigned herself to only encouraging the purple mare. 

Meanwhile, Aurick was finishing up the book Ashwyn had given him. Her idea of what enchanting was could only be described as laughable to him. It was so far off from reality that he hadn’t taken the main character seriously for a while. That was quickly changed, however. The portrayal of enchanting was bad, yes, but everything else was great. He even felt himself enjoying the fantastical enchanting by the end, as it was expertly used to drive the tension of some scenes. 

He was finishing the last paragraph of a chapter when the jingle of a bell pulled his attention away. Looking up, he noticed two ponies enter. One was a light grey, unicorn mare with a purple and white mane. The other was unicorn stallion, both mane and coat being blue, but his mane was a touch darker. 

Twilight hadn’t looked up from what she was doing, but judging on the faces of the two newcomers, they were here for her. Despite that, they seemed amused by her ignorance of their presence. The mare, after a few moments, had shifted her gaze to Aurick and Ashwyn. It seemed like they hadn’t seen them as they entered as her eyes widened and her mouth dropped. The stallion’s reaction wasn’t so severe, as he simply raised a brow. 

“Hey, Twilight.” He said, closing the unfinished book in his hand. She frowned as the spell she was concentrating on fizzled out, before looking up at him with an unamused glare. “You got guests.” He pointed idly to the two ponies, her gaze following as he did. 

The moment she saw them, her eyes widened in shock. “Mom? Dad? What are you doing here!?” That explained why the mare looked so similar to Twilight. 

Her father easily smiled at his daughter as she ran over to give them hugs. “We had some time off, so we decided to surprise you.” Her mother had finally taken her eyes off him, having wisely decided that her daughter was more important. He couldn’t help but smile at the scene, though it was bittersweet. It only served to remind him of what he now lacked. 

A small sigh escaped him as the thought crossed his mind. It had been some time since he had such thoughts. His gaze turned towards Ashwyn, the smile on his face becoming more genuine. Though he had lost any chance of seeing his family again, that didn’t mean he didn’t have one anymore. Ashwyn made sure of that. 


~-~


Oblivious to the Alpha’s gaze, Ashwyn stared at the trio of ponies that embraced before her, a small frown on her face. It brought a conversation she had with the Alpha to the forefront of her mind. Of a promise she had made. 

It had been a week since she had made the promise, and the Alpha had told her that him and the Princess would set up the meeting when she said she was ready. In all that time, she hadn’t even remotely felt close to ready. 

There were some harsh words that had been said in her last meeting with her parents. A lot of bad memories surrounded them. She did not wish to revisit them. 

She had been happy over the time she had spent with the Alpha. Happier than she had felt in a very long time. She didn’t want that to end. Yet, seeing Twilight and her parents embrace. The warmth in their eyes as they talked amongst one another. She couldn’t help but feel hollow. 

Her gaze shifted, and her eyes met the Alpha. That hollow feeling rescinded slightly, even as a small smile came on her face. The Alpha was family now… but it wasn’t enough. She knew that. She could love him all she wanted, but it would never replace a relationship with her parents. 

She averted her gaze, not wanting the Alpha to see her so torn. It was a futile effort. As always, the Alpha could read her as easily as the book in his hand, having placed one such appendage on her back. It gently massaged her in an effort to make her relax. 

Swallowing a lump in her throat, she looked back up to the Alpha. She wasn’t ready, but she knew that if she didn’t take the leap, then she never would. If it didn’t go well, then she’d still have the Alpha. That would have to be enough for her.

“Three days.”

“Three days?” He responded, his brow raised. She couldn’t help but frown. He wanted her to say it aloud. 

“I meet parents in three days.” She confirmed, subconsciously pulling into herself as she said it. Her only consolation was the hand that started to run through her mane. 


~-~


Aurick looked up when he heard someone clear their throat next to him. It was the grey mare who had desired his attention. A fact that hadn’t surprised him. 

“Can I help you?” He asked politely, a friendly smile appearing on his face. 

“I’m sorry if this is rude, but what are you?” She asked, curiosity clear on her face. He couldn’t help but raise a brow at this. Hadn’t there been that newspony who had taken a picture of him? Had that not been circulated?

“I am an elf.” He responded, placing Ashwyn’s book down on his lap. He had a feeling he wouldn’t get to finish any time soon. The mare had a small notebook floating next to her, and if she was anything like Twilight, he doubted she be short in her questions. 

“I’ve never heard of elfs before, do you come from another continent?” 

“First off, the plural is elves, and concerning the question, that could be considered true.” He told her with a smirk as she crossed off something on her notepad and corrected her mistake. “I highly doubt you’ll ever hear of another elf in this world, and though I’m sure you have a number of questions about my origins, I’d request you not to ask them.” 

She was visibly displeased at his request, but didn’t make any complaints. She merely sighed. “Fine.” She wore a pout as she said that, and Aurick wasn’t oblivious to the fact that she was attempting to guilt trip him. Sadly for her, he would not budge. 

“Mom!” Her cheeks were tinted red as she was reprimanded by her daughter. Aurick couldn’t help but think it a bit hypocritical, but didn’t complain.

“I know, dear.” She waved her off with a sigh. “But think about it! Wouldn’t he make an interesting character in one of my stories?” She asked, turning back to Twilight, who was simply face hoofing. 

“Stories, huh?” Aurick said with a grin. He could feel Ashwyn stiffen from under his hand. The mare had turned back to look at him with a smile. 

“Yes!” She said cheerfully. “I’m a published author, and I’ve been looking for a good inspiration for my next book.” 

“I doubt I could be of much help, but Ashwyn here…” He pat the thestrel mare on the head, bringing the mare’s attention to her. 

“Oh? Do you write too?” 

Aurick couldn’t help but smirk at the look on Ashwyn’s face. She had glanced at him with a look of betrayal in her eyes before she looked to the mare that had addressed her. Like usual, she was unable to meet the mare’s gaze, and idly messed with her paws. “Er, yes.” 

Twilight hadn’t been oblivious to the direction he had taken the conversation, and he could see a devious smile on her face. They shared a look and he gave her a nod. “You might know her better as Inkheart, Mom.” Twilight called out before returning to her conversation with her father. 

Her mother’s reaction was instant. A look of shock coming over her, swiftly replaced with one of delight. Aurick highly doubted that anything could have stopped the words that began to come from the mare. It wasn’t long before Ashwyn’s responses grew more confident. Eventually the pair began to talk in equal excitement about their works. 

Satisfied that she had someone new to talk to, he picked up the book and set out to finish it so that he could give her his thoughts.
> Ch 45: Reunion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cross Stitch’s heart was beating far faster than it should have been, though it was not without reason. He stood in front of an unfamiliar door with his wife, Heart Patch. The door in question was far larger than a door on any pony’s house. Not to mention the building itself was made of stone. A material that was more commonly used by minotaurs. 

He wanted to be here. He knew that. Yet, all the same, he felt the intense desire to flee with his tail between his legs. He knew what waited on the other side of the door, and despite his words, he wasn’t sure he was ready to face it. 

His wife, however, despite clearly feeling similarly, was far braver than him. Her hoof lifted, though with some hesitation, before lightly rapping against the door. There was no sound of movement from the other side, though a few moments later, the door was gently pulled open. 

On the other side, was not the person they had expected to see, though they should have known. They were informed of the owner of the house, and his unique form, but Stitch wasn’t ready for just how imposing it was. 

The one who answered the door was a large bipedal creature, easily as tall as Princess Celestia herself. It was garbed in clothes of muted colours, which served to promote the various bits of jewelry he wore. A large white cloak rested upon his shoulders, though it was parted as his arm was lifted to hold the door. 

His face was the strangest part. For Cross Stitch, he couldn’t help but feel that the proportions were too small. He had the smallest eyes out of any sapient creature he had seen, and his other features were no different. It was incredibly difficult, and vexing, to try and read his face. Despite that, there was one thing he could read very easily.

A smile.

Whatever he thought, this person was happy he and his wife was there. Considering it was with his intervention that they were there at all, it only made sense. 

“You must be Aurick.” He started in a gruff voice, raising a hoof to shake his hand, a gesture that he quickly returned. Despite how he felt, he wasn’t going to let his nervousness show. 

“I take it you’re Cross Stitch, then?” He asked in a voice that he could only describe as calming. It vaguely reminded him of how Princess Luna and Celestia sounded when they spoke. 

“Indeed, and this is my wife, Heart Patch.” Another hoof/handshake later and Aurick smiled at the two.

“Well, come in. Would you like some coffee?” He asked, and despite already having drunk one, Stitch couldn’t resist. He needed something to calm his nerves after all. 

“That would be wonderful.” Nodding, the tall creature stepped aside to let them in before letting out a shrill whistle. What sounded like metal shuffling together met their ears, and turning to look, Stitch was amazed by what he saw. 

A set of gryphonian armour stood before them. Gems were melded into the design, as well as golden lines across the metal. The gems glowed and Stitch, the unicorn that he was, could easily perceive the hum of power the thing gave off. It swiftly gave a salute before making its way towards what he assumed to be the kitchen. 

He swiftly decided that it wasn’t worth the effort to figure out. He had far more pressing matters to deal with at the moment. 

Aurick guided them to the left of the door, where the living room resided. Though he was loathe to admit it, it looked far more homely than his own. Despite himself, Cross Stitch felt himself get calmer as he approached the living room. Something about the elf and the way the house felt gave off a nice calming feeling, despite the alien look of both. 

All that calm was swiftly stripped away, however, as he entered the room fully and could clearly see the figure on the couch. 

He stopped in his tracks, his heart finding itself in his throat. He couldn’t do anything but stare, and his wife seemed to be in a similar state. Aurick clearly hadn’t reacted the same way as them, as he continued walking and sat down beside the form that gave them pause. 

She looked so different, yet so similar. 

She had no hooves, instead being replaced by large paws that resembled that of a wolves. Her mane was long and shaggy, as was her tail. Her coat, despite being well groomed was a bit thicker than normal. Her face was turned away from them, though he didn’t need to see it to know that it must have changed as well. The only thing that stayed the same was her black chest and her cutie mark. A black heart dripping ink. There was no denying it.

This was their daughter. One that they hadn’t seen or spoken to in years. 

When Aurick sat down with her, he could clearly see that her tensed form relaxed slightly. Even more so when he ran a hand through her mane. In any other situation, he probably would have said something about it, but as it was, he couldn't speak if he wanted to.

His wife, however, ever the brave one, stepped forward. “Inky?” She called out cautiously. Their daughter recoiled from that, and for a few long moments, no one said anything. Then, slowly, she looked up. 

He looked into those brilliant golden eyes, and in them, Stitch saw a reflection of his own feelings. Fear, anxiety, nervousness, and… hope. Finally finding the nerve, he swallowed the lump in his throat and stepped forward with his wife. 

“Inky… I…” He had practiced what he wanted to say so many times. All in preparation for this moment, and yet… it failed him. His tongue tied and he couldn't find the words he was looking for. His heart was hammering so loud in his chest that it was becoming all he could hear. Then something happened. Something he hadn’t expected. 

Inkheart launched herself at them, and based on their last encounter, he anticipated a blow. He closed his eyes and prepared to accept it. If getting hit would help, he would gladly take it. 

That hit never came however. Instead, he felt arms wrap around him and a sob play in his ear. Opening his eyes, he found his daughter crying into his shoulder. 

He at least knew what to do in this situation, as it wasn’t the first time something like this had happened. With a small smile on his face, he hugged his daughter tight. His wife soon joining in, as they all cried together.
> 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.”
> Ch 47: A Night Out
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashwyn let out a content sigh as her head rest against the Alpha’s chest. He had once more decided to take her on a picnic, and once again she enjoyed every moment of it. The Alpha had made something different from skewers this time though, having made a very meaty stew that she couldn’t get enough of. 

She could decidedly say that the Alpha was improving in his cooking abilities, though she assumed a set of cook books he had ordered might have helped in that. She had taken a look at them, and they were specifically for meat based dishes. Something he probably had to have shipped from the gryphons.

Either way, Ashwyn was pleased with the results. Who knows? Maybe he could somehow make bacon better now? She could dream at least.

As it was, the both of them had stuffed themselves on the meal and decided to cuddle up under the same tree from their first date. This time they had thought to bring a blanket and laid it down beneath them so that they wouldn’t get dirty. 

All in all, it was a very nice time. One that Ashwyn wouldn’t mind experiencing more often. 

Even as she rested there, listening to the Alpha’s steady heartbeat, she couldn’t help but think about how her life had turned out. It felt like so long ago, but it had only been a couple months since she was freed from him. Since then, so much has happened, and it was all thanks to the Alpha. 

He had been there for her, time and time again. Helping her heal from what had been done to her. Being that shoulder to cry on when she needed it most. Showing her what love felt like. Despite how short their relationship had been so far, she couldn’t see it ending. She didn’t want it to end. She was certain she wanted to spend the rest of her life with this strange creature that she called Alpha. She wanted to share everything with him. 

She knew he wasn’t ready to take some steps with her yet, but that was fine. She had waited all her life for a relationship like this. She could wait as long as he needed to feel comfortable with her. So long as he would stay with her, she was fine. 


~-~


Aurick couldn’t help but smile as he watched the sun slowly descend from the heavens. The moon rising at his back to turn the skies into an array of beautiful colours. Though all of that paled in comparison to the mare at his side. 

Sure, he didn’t find her physical appearance to be attractive. At least, not without feeling hints of disgust at the idea, but what truly mattered to him was the person beneath that fleshy exterior. 

That part of her that reminded him of home had gone away, her rough and untamed nature slowly having changed to a shy mare with some social anxiety. Despite having been the catalyst for his interest in pursuing a relationship with her, he now knew that there was far more to love about her. 

She put her heart into whatever she sought to do. Whether it be writing, her desire to understand his craft, or even their relationship. She made sure she did everything in her power to be successful, and so far, he hadn’t seen her fail. 

Certainly that passion in their relationship was a large factor. He had loved before, married even, but never once had he had someone who loved him so fiercely. It was hard not to reciprocate when she displayed her affection every day. 

He even had a feeling that she knew of his issues with intimacy. As she had started to kiss him more often now. Though unexpectedly forward of her, he wasn’t going to complain about it. In fact, a part of him liked it, despite his initial reaction of disgust at each one. Though that reaction had been slowly lessening. He was certain that with enough time, he could truly get over his the ingrained idea that had become so unnecessary in this world. When that happened, he was going to make sure she could feel his love for her. 

He smiled at that. He could finally say he loved her. There was no mistaking it anymore. He loved this mare, and despite his issues, he wanted to be with her. She had been the one to pull him out of his slump. To make him get past the fact that he couldn’t return home. She was his family now, and though he would never forget his friends at Ragnarok, he knew now that he could move on. So long as Ashwyn stayed by his side, everything would be okay. 

He let out a content sigh as he continued to watch the sun descend. It had finally touched the horizon, and was dipping down below. He wondered what Celestia and Luna were doing now. He hoped their day wasn’t too stressful. He knew that running a kingdom could be taxing on the mind, so he hoped that they had some time to blow off some steam. 

“Hey, Alpha.” He was pulled from his thoughts by Ashwyn’s voice. He looked down at the mare, who was peering up at him in confusion. “Why Canterlot pink?” She asked, dumbfounding Aurick.

“Excuse me?” She simply pointed out into the distance towards the mountain that Canterlot resided upon. He blinked at it, having not realized her eyesight was that good. Even he couldn’t make it out so clearly, and elves were known for their superior eyesight.

Though it had taken a moment, he finally found Canterlot. Only to find that she wasn’t wrong. A pink bubble seemed to surround the city for some reason. As he looked at it, a small shiver ran down his back. 

“We should probably get home. I have the feeling Luna’s gonna want to talk to me.”
> Ch 48: Out of the Frying Pan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Luna arrived in his dream, she found Aurick already waiting for her. He sat upon the couch scratching his beard as he idly looked back at the princess that had walked through the front door. 

“So what’s happening?” He asked her, making one of her brow raise.

“How did you know?” The question came with a small frown as she stepped around the couch and sat in one of the arm chairs. 

“There’s a big pink bubble around Canterlot. So unless this is some strange festivity, I would assume something is happening.” He replied, upturning a hand. 

“Yes, I suppose Canterlot is visible from Ponyville.” She muttered, a hoof to her chin as she looked down. Her eyes darted back up to him before she spoke again. “Me and my sister have been informed that an unknown entity is planning an attack on the city during my niece’s wedding.” 

“You have a niece?” He asked with a raised brow before shaking his head. “Forget that. Any idea what kind of attack?”

“We do not know. All we know is that it will occur the day of the wedding. That ‘pink bubble’, as you call it, is a shield constructed by the Captain of the Royal Guard. As of right now, Canterlot is screening anyone that enters the city.”

“And what if they are already inside?” Aurick asked with a frown. 

“Of course, the guard are on high alert. Patrols are set up and anyone entering the castle is kept under close eye after a magical scan.” He nodded in approval as he scratched at his beard. 

“Then it seems you have everything under control. What do you need me for?” He asked leaning forward in his seat. 

“One can never be too cautious in a situation like this.” Luna told him. “The wedding is not being canceled, nor postponed. We plan to wrap everything up quietly and play the situation off as a drill for the guard.” 

Aurick’s face displayed his distaste of the idea. Personally, if the information was reliable, he would have cancelled the wedding and put all of his effort into foiling the enemy’s plan. This was not his country, however, and  though he would have made his opinion known, Luna continued on despite it.

“We would like you to come to Canterlot so that we may put your abilities to use.”

“And what if I refuse?” He asked with a raised brow. Luna looked taken aback for a moment before she recomposed herself and gave him a look.

“Would you?” 

He shrugged. “No, but I like to know where I stand in situations like this.” She closed her eyes for a moment while Aurick proceeded to sigh. “I assume you want me there tomorrow?” 

“That’s correct.” 

“How will I get there? The train thing?” A shake of her head opposed the idea.

“No. A pair of guards shall arrive in the morning to transport you on a chariot.” Aurick wondered how a chariot would be able to take him to the mountain city, but he trusted the lunar diarch’s choice, so he made no comment.

“Can Ashwyn come? She doesn’t like being away from me too much.” His question was responded by a nod.

“Of course.” She confirmed. 

“Good.” Aurick said, running a hand through his hair. “Is there anything else I should know?”

“That is all for tonight, Aurick. We shall speak more of what we would ask of you when you arrive tomorrow.” 

“As well as payment?” He smirked, making Luna roll her eyes. 

“Yes, we shall speak of payment as well.” She told him before rising from her seat. “Until then, Aurick.”


~-~


The morning came just as quickly as his sleep, and with it, a sigh emerged from his throat. Just when he was beginning to get used to a simple life, he had to go help prevent a siege on the nation's capital. He could only hope that it wouldn’t take too long. He still had projects he needed to work on after all. 

Looking down, he could see Ashwyn still asleep, her head resting upon his shoulder. He briefly thought about waking her, but decided to let her sleep. She’d probably like this development less than him, and he’d rather let her get some more rest before dropping it on her. 

As such, he gently extracted himself from her embrace, doing his best not to jostle her. Successful in his motive, he scratched at his beard and got out of bed. His legs were swift in bringing him to the bathroom, and after a short series of motions, the shower was running. 

While it was warming up, Aurick quickly brushed his teeth. It was after he rinsed his mouth out that he began to undress and step into the shower. 

The water was a pleasant warm, and for a short time, the elf simply stood under the water. Letting the warm liquid wash over him as he tried to mentally prepare himself for the day he was to have. 


~-~


Ashwyn awoke alone. Again.

A small frown crossed her face as she repressed a sigh. She understood that they wouldn’t wake up naturally around the same times, but she kinda wished he would just wake her up. The rest just wasn’t the same if she didn’t wake up next to him. 

Maybe she was just getting a bit sentimental, but that didn’t change her opinion. Perhaps she should just talk to him about it. 

Either way, she slowly climbed out of the bed, a yawn escaping her as she stepped to the ground. Sniffing the air, she was easily able to pinpoint the Alpha’s location. His scent brought another with him, and with it, the frown on her face began to fade. 

Perhaps she’d be okay with waking alone if she was met with bacon every time. 

Wasting no time, Ashwyn made her way downstairs. As her nose had promised, the Alpha was in the kitchen. A small plate of bacon rested upon the table, as well as other breakfast items. The Alpha was simply sitting at the table and sipping a cup of coffee. 

He noticed her presence immediately, though she wasn’t trying to hide it. His eyes turning towards her as he lowered his cup.

“So apparently I’ve got a job to do.” He told her, running a hand through his hair. Ashwyn tilted her head in confusion for a moment. Doesn’t he always have a job to do? 

Then she remembered what they saw last night. “Princess need help?” She asked as she approached the table and took a seat. 

“Yeah. That bubble’s not for show. It’s some kind of magical shield to protect the city. Supposedly they got some information about an attack planned on them.” Ashwyn blinked at him for a moment, having paused in the process of grabbing some food for herself. 

“They- what- ho- who would attack Canterlot?” She asked incredulously. “Have peace with all nations!” 

“I don’t know, and if Luna does, she didn’t see fit to tell me. I don’t even know what they want me to do yet.” He admitted, leaning back in his chair and sighing.

“She no trust you?” Ashwyn raised a brow. She had thought the Alpha and the Princess were fairly close. Could she have been wrong?

“Who knows.” He shrugged.

“Then why help?” The Alpha gave her an odd look at that, then he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. 

“There’s plenty of reasons. Luna and her sister saved my life, for starters. I at least owe them a debt for that. Not to mention that Luna’s my friend. I don’t particularly like abandoning friends in situations like this. Also there’s the fact that I kinda live here, and if the capital gets sieged, that’s gonna affect us. So I’m gonna go help.” Ashwyn had to admit, that all those points made sense. “Now you can come with me or not, it’s your-”

“I come.” She stated firmly. “If you go, I go. Period.” Ashwyn was pleased to see a smile cross the Alpha’s face as he heard her words. 

“I didn’t expect any less of you.” He told her warmly. “Now, I’d recommend eating that before it gets cold and taking a shower. Luna said they’d send some guys to pick us up and bring us to the castle this morning.” 

Popping a piece of bacon in her mouth, Ashwyn nodded and gave him a mock salute before returning to her food with gusto.
> Ch 49: And Into the Fire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The chariot landed with a small thud as the pair of guards slowed to a halt. Aurick stepped off with a broad smile, wondering just what other things of interest this world had that he didn’t know of yet. Sadly he didn’t have much time to ponder upon the subject, as Luna was waiting for him at their landing point. 

They had touched down in what looked like a fairly secluded area in the gardens. The guards that had transported them quickling removing themselves once he and Ashwyn stepped from the chariot. Luna’s only reaction was to twitch an ear, as she seemed to be engrossed in a particular set of flowers before her. 

After a few moments and a couple steps forward by Aurick, Luna finally deigned to address them. “Hello, Aurick. Ashwyn.” She said with a pleasant smile, as though there were no pressing matters they had to tend to.

“I’d prefer if we skipped the pleasantries for now, Luna. It’d be better for me to complete what you need of me as swiftly as possible.” Aurick replied sternly, wishing he had thought to bring some coffee with him. 

“As prudent as always. Very well, Aurick, if you’d be so kind as to follow me?” She gestured towards a small doorway in the castle wall a short distance away. Aurick nodded and made to follow the blue princess, with Ashwyn beside him. “I’m sure you have a couple of ideas on what you could do to help, but my sister has requested that you secure a location.”

“I could do that in many ways, and not all of them require my abilities.” Aurick told her. “What did Celestia have in mind?” 

Luna lead them through the regal halls of the castle, looking no different from the last time he had traversed them. He didn’t pay the deor any mind, but Ashwyn on the other hand… She was doing her best impression of a fish. 

Her mouth lie agape beneath her wide eyes. Her head swiftly turning this way and that as she attempted to soak in as much as she could during their walk. Aurick couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight, and he nearly missed what Luna said next because of it. 

“The wedding shall be hosted within the great hall. Celestia does not wish this to change, despite the issues with the placement.” She stated with the faintest hint of annoyance. “The hall has a number of windows, as well as a balcony. To put it simply, it would be a terrible place to defend against any invading force.”

“And she wants me to do something about that?” 

“That would be correct. Celestia was hoping you would be able to create a barrier that prevents any living form from passing through.” Aurick raised a brow at that. It was certainly something that he had not thought of, though he didn’t think it would be any different from a normal shield spell. 

“I don’t see where she’s coming from.” He told her, deciding to speak his mind on the subject. “Sounds like a glorified shield to me, and you already have one around the entire city.”

“I don’t believe she intends it to be a shield, Aurick. I believe she had in mind something akin to a zone that nothing could pass through. Not blocking attacks, as it is simply air, but not allowing any creature to enter or leave.” Aurick couldn’t help but blink at her. 

It was a strange idea, and he wasn’t entirely sure it was the best use of his abilities, but then again, Celestia was meant to be thousands of years old. She was easily his senior and had likely a great deal more experience than he. He decided he’d defer to her judgment this time, and do as she requested. That didn’t mean it would be easy though.

“I can… attempt to do so. To be honest, I’ve never had to do something like that before so I might need to experiment a bit.” 

“That is perfectly reasonable.” Luna replied, a small smile gracing her lips. “So long as the task can be accomplished, there shall be no complaints.”

“How long do I have?” He asked after a moment. A question that should have been at the forefront of his mind, if he was to be perfectly honest. 

“The wedding is in a week.” Aurick visibly blanched at that. Luna had taken note of his silence and looked back at him, only to see his reaction. “Believe me, I would rather there be more time as well. As it is, we only received warning last night.” She informed him, doing nothing to quell his unease.

“This is might be an issue if I don’t get it right fast. How large is this room?” He asked after a short silence. 

“You may see for yourself.” She told him as they stopped before a rather ornate set of doors. With a flick of her magic, the doors opened revealing a massive room. Red carpet ran the length of it, climbing a small set of stairs and reaching the balcony at the other end. Large windows opened up the walls, packed together and only spread apart by a couple short feet of distance. The roof towered over head, and as he looked up, he pressed a hand to the door beside him to steady himself. 

“This… is going to be tricky.” He said in a low voice.

“Can you do it?” Luna asked, making the elf look down to her.

“Within a week? Yes, but I don’t have much time to experiment and get it right.” He told her honestly. “If I had more time, it wouldn’t be a problem, but…” He trailed off as he began to scan the walls. His expertly trained eyes deducing the best places to insert gems and how to create the matrix. The more he thought about it, the more confident he became of his ability to accomplish the task, but he knew that it would be a tight squeeze with the schedule he had been given.

“Is there any help you could recieve?” For a moment, he thought about requesting she bring in Twilight. Then he thought better of it. The mare was capable of enchanting, but in a situation like this, her inexperience would be nothing but a hindrance. 

That didn’t mean he couldn’t receive any help, though. He was quite used to performing his work alone, but desperate times… 

“I’ll need at least five unicorns who are willing to help. Ideally I’d like someone who is good at working with metal, and I’d need someone who is capable of carving the walls.” He told her, his voice steady as his mind began processing everything that would need to be done. 

“Can I help?” Ashwyn asked from beside him. It almost didn’t register, but the paw the rested on his thigh was enough to grab his attention. He considered the request for a moment before looking up at the high ceiling. 

“Yes. I could get you to work up there.” He told her gesturing to the air above him. She seemed satisfied with that and he returned to his calculations. Sadly he was interrupted once more, this time by Luna. 

“What materials would you need?” She asked, a small notepad floating in her magical grasp as she stared at him. 

“I don’t know the numbers yet, I’d need more time in here. For now, just bring me every gem and gold ingot you can. The larger the gems the better. I’ll also need something to carve into the walls, as well as a heat resistant container so I can melt the gold.” He informed her as she furiously scribbled down what he said. “That’s all I can think of at the moment.”

“I’ll make sure you get everything you need and I’ll find you the best ponies I can muster.” Aurick nodded as he turned and approached one of the walls. Placing a hand on it, he began to confirm what he thought to be the best places to insert gems. 

Luna, seeing that the conversation was clearly over, made her way back out of the hall, but not before speaking once more. “Thank you for assisting us in this, Aurick.” 

He simply waved her off, intent to get to work sooner than later.
> Ch 50: A Change of Plans
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aurick let out a tired yawn as he reached for another gem. He had spent a vast majority of the day simply enchanting the gems, as he was the only one capable of doing so. When the unicorns he requested had arrived, he drew up a plan for them, so that they could work without his supervision. Carving into the walls, inserting gems, melting gold, etc. Everything that they could do to give him more time to work on the gems. 

And work he did. By the afternoon, he had completed forty gems for the room, and was about to get started on the forty-first. That is, until someone decided to clear their throat from next to him.

“Aurick.” A familiar voice called his name, and looking up from his work, he found Celestia. The alicorn stood next to him, a small smile on her face. “I am glad that you are striving to complete my request, but I’ve been informed that you have not spared the time for food as of yet.”

“So?” He asked with a small frown, proceeding to pick up the gem he was about to use.

“I understand that you may be a little pressed for time on this matter, but I would rather not see you run yourself ragged in the process. At least for tonight, would you like to join us for dinner?” She asked, not hiding the hopeful smile on her face. Aurick couldn’t help but sigh at the sight of it.

“Fine, but if I can’t complete the enchantment, then you can’t blame me.” He told her firmly.

“I understand, though I have no doubts that you will pull through all the same.” She told him confidently, making the elf roll his eyes as he stood up. “Shall we?” 


~-~


The dining room was exactly as he remembered it. However, instead of Twilight, a new pony took her place. This one was coloured pink. Excessively so. Though not nearly as bad as Pinkie Pie. On top of that, she was an alicorn. One that he had certainly not met before.

Could this have been their niece?

Ashwyn had joined them as soon as she had seen them moving out, and now she swiftly found a seat next to his own as she looked at the new face. The mare was looking at the pink alicorn with a strange look that Aurick couldn’t place. 

“Glad to see my sister could remove you from your work.” Luna smirked, taking a sip of coffee. Despite the late hour, Aurick couldn’t help but feel jealous of the lunar mare. 

“You only have yourselves to blame.” He pointed out, an idle hand reaching out to run through Ashwyn’s mane. It was enough to shift her attention to him for a short moment, having not taken her eyes off the pink mare until then. She returned to her staring, but didn’t make it so obvious, and looked elsewhere on occasion. 

“Hmm, that’s fair.” Was Luna’s reply. “All the same, I’m glad you could join us."

“Indeed. Though I believe we should introduce you.” Celestia chimed in before gesturing towards the unfamiliar alicorn. “Aurick, Ashwyn, this is our niece, Princess Cadence.” The white alicorn smiled wide as she spoke of her niece

“A pleasure.” The newly named Cadence said. A hoof extended towards him as she spoke. He was swift to take it in his hand and shake it. She did the same for Ashwyn, and though she followed through, she ended up staring at the hoof with the same strange expression from before. Aurick could see Cadence’s eyes narrow slightly, and a small frown come over her face before returning to a neutral smile.

Before anything else could be said, however, their food arrived through the door. Plates were set, food delivered, and silverware placed in the blink of an eye as the servants swiftly and efficiently did their duty. Then, just as swiftly as they had appeared, they left, their food before them as though they had been there the whole time. 

Cadence took a look at what him and Ashwyn were eating and raised a brow, but said nothing on the subject. Aurick also raised a brow, but not for the same reason. It was due to the fact that Ashwyn hadn’t started to devour her food as soon as it was placed before her. Normally nothing could stop her from satiating her hunger, but this time, she didn’t seem to even register that it was there. Her eyes were still on Cadence. 

Aurick couldn’t help but wonder what it was that Ashwyn was seeing. He knew she was a bit antisocial, and didn’t exactly like a lot of ponies, but this was different. She always simply ignored them, not stared at them. It was enough to make Aurick start looking at the alicorn more closely too, though he didn’t make it obvious. 

The dinner continued, and small talk was made. Ashwyn barely said anything, but Aurick decided to test the water with some questions.

“So you’re the bride to be?” He asked, earning Cadence’s attention. 

“Of course!” She responded, her smile wide. Aurick couldn’t help but think it was a little off, but it he doubted that was what Ashwyn was seeing.

“Who’s the lucky guy?” 

“You haven’t heard?” She asked, genuine surprise on her face.

“Nope.” He responded with a calm smile. The mare blinked at him for a moment before plastering a smile on her face. 

“Well, my dear Shiny is the Captain of the royal guard!” Aurick’s eyes narrowed, as he still was unable to determine what Ashwyn knew that he didn't. He began to doubt he would be able to figure it out, and resolved to simply ask her when they were alone. 


~-~


Aurick collapsed into the bed, sinking into the soft mattress. He felt if he stayed on it for too long, it might swallow him whole, but he didn’t really care at that moment. He was tired from enchanting gems all day, and he wanted nothing more than to simply fall asleep.

Ashwyn cuddled up next to him, almost as tired as him. She had been flying high in the great hall, carving paths with her claws and slotting in gems where they needed to be. He had just closed his eyes and nearly allowed sleep to claim him before he remembered something he had to do.

“Ash.” He mumbled, gently shaking the mare at his side. Her own eyes opened, half lidded, as she was likely about to fall asleep as well. 

“Hmm?” 

“What did you see with Cadence?” She stared at him for a short moment, confusion apparent in her eyes as she blinked slowly. 

“Oh!” She exclaimed after she remembered, before lifting a paw to poke her snout. “Not see, smell. She smell strange. Not smell like pony.”

“She doesn’t smell like a pony?” Aurick repeated, his own confusion showing. The mare in his arms nodded.

“She not smell like pony. Is strange. She smell more like bug.” Ashwyn continued.

“A bug? That’s odd.”

“Hoof feel weird too. Like is fake.” She told him, making his brow raise. He felt the same hoof and he couldn't tell. What did this mean, though? He felt like he should know. Like he read about it somewhe-. 

“Changeling.” He said as the realization came over him.

“Changeling?” 

“Yeah, I read about them when I first arrived. They’re supposed to be a shapeshifting race of insect-like ponies that feed off emotions.” His eyes widened as a thought came over him. “What if they’re the ones attacking?” Ashwyn didn’t seem to understand the implications of that for a moment, but eventually her eyes widened like his.

“They be anyone.” She whispered.

“Exactly.” Aurick bit his lip as he started to think of what he should do. Should he tell Celestia and Luna? Would they believe him over their niece? He doubted they would, despite their friendship. Would they even be able to find out? Was there a spell to make them reveal their true form? He knew of one in his homeland, but he never learned it, as he never had any issues with shapeshifters. 

He scratched at his beard as he pondered what he should do. He silently thanked Ashwyn for her silence in that moment, allowing him to think. Luckily for them, he was a swift thinker, and an idea came upon him before long.

“Ash.” He started, earning her attention once more. “I’ve got a plan.” 

“Is good?” She asked, a hopeful smile on her face.

“One can only hope. I’m going to have to rely on you for this, because I still need to make that barrier Celestia requested.” He told her with a smirk. 

“Why do that? If she is leader of attack, then we kill and it be over, right?” Ashwyn asked in confusion.

“No, and we don’t even know if she’s the attacker. For all we know, that’s the real Cadence, and she’s just always been a changeling. I need you to find that out. If she’s the threat, we need to deal with her, but we can’t kill her. We need her to call off the attack and to tell us where the real Cadence is.”

“Right.” Ashwyn confirmed after a short moment of thought. “What… What should I do?” 

“I’m going to need you to see if you can find more changelings in the castle. If you do, I’ll need you to go to the library and find out if they have a hive mind or something similar. I know it’s a common thing among insects. If they don’t, then bring one of the changelings to me and I’ll make them talk. If they do, then we’ll have to go after the head of the operation and get them to stand down for their leader’s life.”

“And what if I can’t find out in time?” 

“Well, if she is the attacker, she’ll be inside the barrier. With no way out and no way for reinforcements to get in.” Aurick grinned at her. It was enough for Ashwyn, as the mare shared a similar look. 

“Sounds good.”
> Ch 51: Royal Library
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashwyn craned her head back as she took in the view of the royal library. Her eyes widening as they trailed across the vast bookshelves around her. She would have been standing just beyond the entrance for a time, if it wasn’t for the librarian getting her attention. 

Blinking, she turned to face the one that addressed her. Surprisingly, it wasn’t the pony she was expecting it to be. It wasn’t a pony at all in fact. Having emerged from one of the many corridors, was a brilliant silver dragon. Standing just under the Alpha’s height, the newcomer carried a small stack of books in her arms. 

“Quite the sight, isn’t it?” She asked, her voice filled with joy as she turned her head to view her surroundings. With a subtle smirk, the dragon’s eyes turned to face her. “Though I’d say you’re quite fascinating as well, hmm?” She stepped forward and brought the books towards a counter nearby, placing them down gently. “Now, what might an interesting creature like you want in a fantastic library as mine?” 

“Er…” A small shiver ran down Ashwyn’s back as she remembered that the Alpha wasn’t around to deal with the interaction for her. It certainly wasn’t the first time, but there was a difference in having a casual conversation with someone, and having to speak to someone in a more professional state. Not to mention, she had never had to talk to a dragon before. Not counting Spike, of course. “Am looking for book.” The dragon blinked at her and smiled after a moment.

“Well, my dear,” she gestured towards the room around them, “I believe you’re in the right place. Though I hope you have a more specific idea than that.” She gestured for Ashwyn to come closer, even as she moved behind the counter and pulling out a large binder. “Tell me, do you have a genre in mind? A topic?” 

Ashwyn nodded as she moved closer. “Need book on Changelings.” The smile on the dragon’s face shifted to one of curiosity. 

“Changeling?” She tapped a claw against her chin before opening the binder and swiftly flipping through a couple pages. “Not the most common point of study. In fact, a fairly rare one. I don’t believe I have a book dedicated to changelings specifically, but they are covered in the Creature Compendium.” She told the mare, finally stopping on a page and tapping a section of it. “That’s on aisle 7, bookcase D, 3rd shelf from the bottom.” She read off the page before smiling at Ashwyn. “Might I ask why the interesting topic?” 

“Is for…” Ashwyn trailed off, wondering whether she should inform this dragoness about the changelings. “A book.” In the end, she decided against it. She didn’t want to stir up panic before she could confirm if this changeling was a threat. Like the Alpha had said before, they had no idea if the changeling was the one who wanted to attack.

“A book!?” The dragon’s eyes lit up after hearing Ashwyn’s lie. “You write!?” She asked in a giddy voice.

Ashwyn didn’t speak for a moment, too busy recoiling from the sudden outburst. “...Yes?” 

“That’s wonderful! Are you published, or did you just start? What genre do you do? Can I read it!?” The dragon leaned over the counter so far that Ashwyn was surprised she didn’t fall to the other side. Ashwyn, however, was too busy taking a step away to care. After a couple moments of silence between the grinning dragon and the awkwardly smiling mare, the dragoness blinked and retreated to her side of the counter. “Sorry.” She idly scratched her cheek and looked away. “I just kinda like books.” 

“I… see…” Ashwyn responded slowly with a nod.

“So, uh… the Creature Compendium is down that aisle.” The dragon said after another awkward silence, pointing down one of the many paths between the shelves. 

“Thanks.” Ashwyn said as she moved away from the dragon. She wasn’t entirely sure what happened there, but she decided that the next time she came to the library, she’d bring the Alpha. With him around, she doubted she’d get caught in a weird situation like that again. 

Shaking her head, she looked around at the books that towered over her on each side. She had to take a moment to try and remember what it was that the dragoness had told her. “Aisle 7, bookcase D, 3rd shelf from the bottom.” She muttered, scanning the bookcases around her. 

Frowning, she realized that they were lettered in reverse. Case Z was closer to the entrance, meaning that D was at the other end of the aisle. With a small sigh, she trudged on, her eyes idly looking at the books she walked past. 

Titles and bindings passed by, though none of them caught her eye. None of them seemed to be fictional in nature, and she always found nonfiction titles to be too close to school for her to enjoy. As such, she ignored them all until she came upon the place she was told of. 

As promised, on bookcase D, third shelf from the bottom was a hefty looking book. It was easily as wide as her arm, and looked heavier than the couch. Thankfully, that wouldn’t be much of an issue for her, the issue was trying to get it off the shelf. 

Her first instinct was to pick it up in her mouth. Then she remembered her teeth and thought better of it. She didn’t want to destroy the thing. Not before she read it at least. Her paws were a better option, but she didn’t want to risk scratching it up with her claws. Then again, that dragon was able to handle the books just fine, despite her own claws. 

As such, with a small frown, she attempted to pull the book out with a paw. It was far more difficult than she had anticipated, as the shelf was packed tightly. The book being wedged in between the others made it stuck within the confines of the shelf. 

With a sigh, she turned her head back down the path she had taken. She briefly thought of going back and asking the dragon for help, but decided against it. She didn’t want to get stuck in a weird conversation again. Instead, she frowned and turned back to the book that refused to move. 

There was a small space at the top of the shelf, not large enough to fit her paw into, but… 

Grimacing, Ashwyn opened her mouth, her tongue snaking out of it. The tongue maneuvered into the space and behind the book and began to push on it from the other side. While that happened, she attempted to pull on it with a paw from the front. 

Without warning, the book was pulled from its place in the shelf. Not prepared for the outcome, Ashwyn stumbled back and hit the case behind her. Her eyes shut as she anticipated a heap of books to fall onto her. Luckily no such thing happened. Looking back, she found the books to be as tightly packed as the one before her. 

Letting out a tired sigh, Ashwyn lifted the book onto her back and set off to find somewhere to read.
> Ch 52: The Hills Have Eyes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashwyn placed the book down with a sigh. There wasn’t nearly as much information as she had hoped to find. She couldn’t even find any mention of a hive mind, as the Alpha had thought of. She didn’t know if it was because it was because they didn’t have such an ability, or because it wasn’t something that the writer knew. 

Either way, the half hour she had spent pouring through the book to find the section she needed, as well as the time it took to read it, was all fruitless. She couldn’t help but close her eyes and pinch the bridge of her snout. A movement she had seen the Alpha perform on occasion. She didn’t fully understand the reasoning behind it, but performing it felt right for some reason. 

When she opened her eyes again, she went to pick up the book, only to pause as she noticed something. 

A piece of paper sat atop the book she had put down. A piece of paper that certainly wasn’t there before. Peering around, she couldn’t see anyone. Her nose, however, was able to pick up the scent clear as day. A paw met her forehead as she realized there was someone that was nearby, the entire time she was reading. She was too focused on the research to have noticed, but she wished she had. 

The scent was very similar to the one that Princess Cadance carried with her, though it was certainly different. It didn’t smell as… dominant. She was certain that it was a different changeling. Though the question was, what did it want with her? 

It was already gone, if the scent trail was anything to go by. So the only clue was the paper it had left behind. 

Cautiously, Ashwyn lifted the paper in a paw. Treating it like it was a fragile weapon that could explode at any moment, she unfolded it to reveal a message.


They have eyes everywhere. Be careful.


She blinked at it. She had no idea what that meant. Was it referring to the changelings? But why would it be a changeling to give it to her? Maybe they though she was a changeling for some reason?

She couldn’t tell, but she was willing to bet that the Alpha could. He was more accustomed to these things. Sniffing the air once more, she folded the paper up and slipped it into her thick mane.

A feeling of unease slowly creeped over her as she lifted the book once more. Deciding to take the note’s advice and be careful, she made a swift exit of the library. After returning the book, of course. The moment she stepped out into the hall, she noticed a guard passing by. 

With a cautious glance, she breathed in through her nose. Only for her eyes to widen before she began to step in the opposite direction. That guard was one of them.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, she decided to head back to the Alpha. He would know what to do.


~-~


Aurick let out a tired sigh. At the insistence of the ponies that were working with him, he was taking a short break to eat. Not like he brought much with him. Wasn’t many meats he could eat without cooking first, and he wasn’t going to take the time to head to the kitchen and cook. 

Instead, he chewed on some jerky he had brought with him. It was intended to be snacked on while he worked, but he didn’t care too much. 

He was about to rip another piece off when Ashwyn entered the hall. Aurick could instantly tell that something was wrong, as her eyes started darting around, and she glared at the workers with clear distrust in her eyes. 

She wasted no time in making her way towards him. Though, as she did so, she paused with a frown and glared at one of the workers. A light yellow unicorn with a grey mane. She continued walking after a moment, but didn’t take her eyes off the unicorn. 

Frowning, Aurick placed a hand on her cheek the moment she got close enough. It succeeded in getting her to do what he wanted, and have her meet his gaze. 

“What’d you find?” He asked, taking a single glance at the yellow unicorn. He was staring back, but swiftly averted his gaze.

“Not find anything in book, but they everywhere.” She said, the faintest hint of fear and uncertainty tingeing her voice. “Smelled seven on way here.” 

“That means we probably found our culprits.” He stated in a quiet voice. 

Ashwyn nodded, before seemingly remembering something. A paw reached into her mane and pulled out a piece of paper, which was swiftly handed off to Aurick. “Was given this.” She told him. “From changeling. Not know why.” 

Aurick swiftly read over the letter, a slight frown on his face. The meaning behind the letter was clear. A simple warning to tell them that they were likely always being watched. A swift glance to the yellow unicorn made that frown deeper. 

The question was why would a changeling be the one to give it? He scratched at his beard as he handed the note back to Ashwyn. Thoughts ran through his head, but one stuck out to him, making a small grin cross his face. 

“I think you met Celestia’s informant.” He told her, his grin spreading. It made sense. Celestia must have trusted whoever this informant was in order to take their advice this seriously. The informant easily could have informed her of the Changelings, but that would have blown their own cover as a changeling, making them untrustworthy. Instead, they gave her a vague warning, and would probably try to steer things in Celestia’s favour from the inside. 

It was a flawed plan, certainly, but he didn’t think the informant a mastermind in the first place. The question now became, what would they do with this information. They knew who the attackers would be, but they didn’t exactly have proof aside from Ashwyn smells a lot of them. That wouldn’t hold up in a court, and he doubted it would hold up with Celestia. 

“Alpha.” Ashwyn said, getting his attention by poking him in the side. “What thinking?” 

“I don’t know.” He admitted with a sigh. “I was never much of a planner. That was Shurda’s job.”

“Maybe…” She glanced back towards the changeling amongst the workers. “Should talk to Princess? I not think we can handle on our own. We must tell them.” The pair’s eyes met and a short staring match occurred. For once in their relationship, it was Aurick to relent, a sigh escaping him. 

“Fine. I’ll see if I can’t pull Luna into my dream tonight.” He told her.

“Good.” A proud look crossed her features at getting him to do as she bid. That proud look changed when an arm shot out and pulled her close. A smile splayed across her face as she rested her head against his chest, even as he offered her some of his jerky.
> Ch 53: Lies and Slander
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Luna let out a tired sigh as she lied down in her bed. Sinking into the soft surface, she pulled a over a body pillow with her magic and cuddled against it. A short pang of loneliness shot through her heart as she felt the cool surface press against her fur. 

Her mind returned to an age long ago. Before she was banished to the moon. When she had someone to hold during the lonely nights. Sadly, those days were long gone. It was no use thinking about them. Closing her eyes, she let out a breath before activating her magic. 

Everything went silent in that moment. 

Opening her eyes once more, she was met by a inky void bespeckled with colour. Each point of colour was a dream all it’s own, and each had its own meaning. Though it was none of the dreams that she could see that had earned her attention. 

In the back of her mind, she could feel a familiar call. The void around her shifted, changing to one of grey, where a singular white dream awaited her. With a small frown, she willed herself forward until she was merely an inch away from the dream. 

She briefly wondered why the elf was calling her into his dream when he could have simply come to her during the day. Perhaps he was too busy? Or perhaps it was a private topic? Either way, she would not know until she spoke to him. 

As such, she didn’t hesitate to press her hoof the the mass of white.

Within an instant, her view changed. She was no longer within that grey void, but standing in an nondescript field. The only thing to see in any direction, was the stone house before her. Shaking her head, she stepped forward and rapped a hoof against the door.

The door slowly swung open by an unseen force, revealing the familiar entrance. Stepping in, she turned to face the couch, where the host of the dream resided. He was facing away from her, his arms resting on the back of the couch. 

Wasting no time, she moved into the living room and sat in the arm chair that she had come to claim as her own. Aurick didn’t even greet her, though she knew he saw her. He had a strange look on his face. Certainly not a happy one, if Luna could read him right. Perhaps he had something serious to talk about.

“What is on your mind, Aurick?” She asked him, knowing that they would get nowhere if neither of them spoke. The elf’s eyes flicked to her for a moment before he scratched at his beard. The next moment he leaned forward and locked eyes with her.

“Do you trust me?” His tone was serious. Luna was slightly taken aback by the sudden query. He had been a crucial role in helping Ashwyn recover from what had happened to her. Not to mention the works he had created for the crown. Though to say she trusted him…

Trust was a dangerous thing. It could make you blind to those around you. She had only known him for two months. Sure, he had been helpful for a vast majority of that time, and she would even consider him a friend, but trust… that was something she did not give away so easily. Not anymore, at least. 

Of course, he didn’t need to know that.

“Of course.” 

Aurick’s eyes narrowed at her, a small frown on his face. He seemed to consider something before sighing.

“What if I told you that Cadence was a changeling?” The new question surprised her even more than the last. She simply blinked at him for a moment, unsure if she had heard him right. 

“A… Changeling?” He confirmed it with a nod. That sounded rather outlandish. She would know if her niece was replaced by a changeling. She was sure that Celestia would especially be aware, seeing as she had known Cadence since she was a child. What kind of proof did he-?

“Impossible.” Her eyes narrowed at the elf. She didn’t believe him in the slightest. It was impossible, and any thoughts of hearing him out were swiftly snuffed out. 

“Not even going to ask why I would say that?” His frown had turned into a scowl at this point.

Normally she would, but she something within her told her that she shouldn’t. There was no point to it, it would all just be lies. 

“No, and we are done with this conversation. I will not hear any more slanderous claims against my niece.” She told him coldly, not entirely sure why she was so angry about it all of a sudden. “Finish your work, Aurick, and stop making false accusations.” 

With a huff of annoyance, she left the dream, leaving the elf alone in his dream.


~-~


Slowly opening his eyes, Aurick was greeted to brilliant yellows peering back at him. A paw was placed against his cheek as Ashwyn frowned.

“What happened?” She asked, the concern clear in her voice. He only then noticed that he was still scowling after the dream. 

“She didn’t believe me.” He said flatly. “I told you that they would believe their niece over me.” 

“You tell her of other changelings?” Ashwyn asked, making Aurick shake his head.

“Didn’t even get the chance. After I told her that Cadence was one, she claimed it was impossible and left in a huff.” The news certainly didn’t help her mood, if the deepening frown on her face was anything to go by. 

“Not even hear you out?” 

“Nope.” Aurick sighed and closed his eyes as he pulled the bed sheets tighter around him. “It looks like we’re alone on this one, and I doubt we can do much.” 

“Why not?” Ashwyn asked in ignorance. Opening his eyes once more, he looked down at her. 

“I’ve done this for longer than you’ve been alive. Two people cannot defeat an unknown number of combatants, with unknown abilities, when one of them has received no training, and the other is two months out of practice.” He told her firmly. “We would die.”

“But-” He pressed a finger to her lips to halt her rebuttal. 

“That doesn’t mean we do nothing.” He told her, retracting his finger. 

“Then what we do?” She asked instead, the faintest trace of fear lacing her voice. 

“That’s the part I’m not sure about.” He grumbled and scratched at his beard for a moment. “For now, I’d like to get some more information. Would you be able to distinguish the changelings from each other?” 

“Is harder than ponies, but, yes. Why?” 

“I need to know how many changelings are in the castle. Can you figure that out?” Aurick asked, getting a nod in confirmation.

“What do if they attack me?” She after a moment.

“If you think you can take them, then knock them out. We can use them as evidence to back our claim that Cadence is one of them. If you aren’t confidant of doing that, run to me, and I’ll take care of it.”

“Got it.” 

“Good.” Aurick said with a nod. “In the meantime, I’m going to continue working on the hall. Hopefully I can think of something we can do to sabotage their plan.”


~-~


Cadence frowned at the dark liquid before her. She despised the beverage more than any other. She could not understand how the ponies enjoyed the bitter liquid. Luna seemed to run off the blasted stuff. 

Even worse was that she had to have one every morning. She needed it to keep up appearances. She didn’t want anyone to get suspicious, now did she? Not like it mattered, no one of importance would even think of suspecting her. 

The frown turned into a devious smirk as she felt power course through her. Love in its purest form coursed through her entire body, making her feel mightier than even the dastardly Discord. She knew she held more power than the blasted alicorns. There was no doubt of that. 

Not anymore. 

As though on cue, it was at that moment that the doors to the dining room decided to open revealing a frowning Luna. She entered and swiftly took a seat at the table across from her. Cadence couldn’t help but smile as she saw the blue alicorn. She knew something had happened last night, and she was certain she was going to hear what exactly that was. 

“What’s wrong, Auntie?” She asked in an innocent voice. She didn’t have to fear Luna seeing past her disguise, but she didn’t want to take any chances. She had a plan, and she would follow it. 

“It’s nothing, Cadence.” Luna replied in a voice that suggested anything but. 

“We both know it’s not nothing, Auntie. What’s wrong?” Her voice tinged with the faintest hint of magic.

What little resistance Luna was holding fell like a sack of bricks as she let out a sigh. “Aurick levied some dire accusations against you.” She admitted with a frown.

“What did he say?” 

“He claimed you were a changeling. Obviously, I didn’t believe him, but to lie so blatantly to my face like that…” 

“Oh?” Her face was one of shock and hurt, but inside, she was scowling. That strange creature from the other day had seen through her disguise!? She should have known something was up. Him and that chimera he had were looking at her strangely throughout dinner. “Why would he ever think that?” 

“I don’t know, and I don’t care.” Luna said firmly, making Cadence smirk internally. “Would you like me to send him home? We might not be able to trust his help if he is thinking like this.”

“No.” Cadence told her with a shake of her head, a gentle smile on her face. “I’ll speak with him.”
> Ch 54: A Pleasant Conversation
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cadence stepped into the grand hall calmly, her eyes scanning over the work being done. She still couldn’t discern what was happening within, despite one of her drones being a part of the group helping the elf. Neither Celestia or Luna had deigned to inform her, simply stating that it would help protect her and that she shouldn’t have to worry about it. 

She didn’t trust it to be a simple protection spell. She didn’t know much about enchanting, but this seemed a bit too complicated for a shield. Whatever its true purpose was, it would be pointless in the end. That elf wouldn’t be a problem for long.

Stepping forward, she noticed the elf in question had paused in his work and was staring at her. It was an impassive stare, but she could feel the anger and uncertainty behind it. Strangely enough, she couldn’t sense any fear from him, some panic, yes, but not fear. 

How interesting. 

Outwardly, Cadence gave off her friendliest smile, glancing towards the group that had paused their working to gawk at her. Her drone got the memo, and began to usher them all out. 

Silence reigned until the last of the ponies left the hall, leaving her and the elf to stare each other down. The elf stood up and faced her fully, a heavy scowl on his face.

“Well, let’s drop all pretenses.” He said, running a hand through his dark hair. “You’ve come to kill me, haven’t you?” 

“Why would I do that?” She asked innocently, her face being one of abhorrent shock. Her words were laced with magic, playing across the elf’s ears. She couldn’t help but smirk as she felt her magic fill his mind, a familiar green glow emanating from his eyes. She felt compelled to laugh at how easy it was. The power she was gaining from the real Cadence was truly something to be awed. 

She never did get the chance to laugh, however, as the next moment, her sight was filled with fire. She barely had time to react before she was engulfed in flames. Eyes widened in shock, her magic shot from her horn, teleporting her out of the way. 

“So that’s what’s happening.” She heard the elf speak. Looking at him in surprise, he was clutching his ear, a grimace on his face. After a moment, his hand pulled away, a sickly green energy following it as it was removed from his ear. After a moment, the energy faded into nothingness. “Too bad that won’t work on me."

Cadence couldn’t help but scowl at the sight. How had this damned creature done that? There should have been no way for anyone to break free from her control once they had already been affected! This should have been impossible!

Sadly, she didn’t have the time to ponder this, as said creature wasted no time in following up his attack. A foot slammed into the ground, giving her enough of a warning to move before a spike of stone shot from the floor where she stood. Before she could register exactly where she landed, she was forced to move once more, as the tip of the spike was blasted in her direction. 

Landing in a huff, she scowled at the elf who looked at her impassively. Any hint of panic gone from his emotions, replaced with a confidence that aggravated her.

“Guess I was panicking over nothing.” He commented as he paused in his attack. 

Nothing? Nothing!? This blasted creature dared speak as such. He had no idea who she was. What she was capable of! She was Queen Chrysalis! Conqueror of the Changeling Hives! Mistress of Minds! Lord of Disguise! 

This creature was an abomination that no one had heard of before! It was he who was nothing. She would make him realize this. She would take him, break him, and make him beg for death. She would destroy his mind until there was nothing left to resist, and once he was under her control, she would have him obediently destroy all that he held dear! 

She was too busy within her own mind to have realized that the elf had begun his attack once more. She only became aware of this fact just a moment before a lance of ice made a hole in her head. Her fury overriding her instinct to get out of harm's way, her magic reacting faster than she had anticipated.

The ice was blasted into a million pieces an instant before it made contact, her magic forcing the shards away from her face. She glared past all the debris of the act to find a surprised looking elf opposite her. Of course, the elf regained his composure quickly, beginning to cast another spell. However, that small moment of pause caused by his shock was enough for Chrysalis to finally make an attack of her own. 

Sickly green magic bubbled around her horn as she summoned her magic. She charged so much magic that her horn overflowed, forcing the magic out in a concentrated beam. The elf seemed to have taken a note out of her book, as he did not stick around to see what this beam would do to him. He jumped to the side, firing off his own attack as he did so. 

Lightning shot from his hand, connecting with Chrysalis before she could react. As the shock of electricity cut through her, her disguise dropped for a moment, revealing her true form. 

Dark chitin covered her from head to hoof. A fanged grimace of pain crossed her face as pain shot through her. Green, slit eyes closed for a brief moment as she endured. A hole riddled leg lifted off the ground for a moment before locking up. A second later and her disguise reappeared, hiding her visage from the elf once more. 

“There’s the monster I was looking for.” The elf smirked, even as he brought his hands up, coated in ethereal energies. The floor cracked and shot up in front of him, extending all the way towards Chrysalis herself. 

Her mind was still on the fact that he called her a monster. Her fury renewed, hardened eyes focused on the attack. Her horn glowed with green, just before the floor was forcibly flattened. She could feel his spell fighting against her own, but she had poured more magic into her’s. This didn’t put a damper on the elf, however, as he shot out a lance of energy within the next instant. 

A swift spell deflected it, slamming his attack into the wall, where a cloud of debris filled the air. 


~-~


The cloud obscured his view of his opponent. An event that was never good in a battle. Taking on the side of caution, he decided to move to his left. A choice that was swiftly proven to be the correct course, as a ball of barely contained energies shot through the space he had previously occupied. 

He could practically feel the magical energies overflowing from the attack as it slammed into the wall. Despite his confidence earlier, he felt a general unease creep back into his mind. He had been too quick to assess his opponent, and in any other circumstance, that could have likely ended in his death. Luckily for him, this changeling clearly lacked skill in the combat department. 

He might have been two months out of practice, but he was certain he could defeat her. The issue with this, was that what she lacked for in skill, she made up for in sheer magical power. He couldn’t comprehend where she had obtained such abilities, but she seemed to be pouring unstable amounts of magic into each of her attacks. Obviously, that made them unfocused and unstable, but if he were to get hit by one of them… 

He doubted there would be a body to recover. 

Frowning, he refocused on the Changeling opposite him as the resulting cloud of debris from her attack showered him. He had no time to think of such things, he had to fight, and once he won, he would toss the bloodied carcass of the changeling at Luna’s hooves. He could only hope that the mare would overcome whatever mental magics had been placed on her once this beast was defeated. 

Ignoring the debris on his back, he focused on another ring and pressed a hand to his chest. Within an instant, he began to process everything around him at an alarming pace. A new attack came at him. Another uncreative beam of energy that seemed the waver and bend along its path. 

With his new found speed, it was trivial for him to simply sidestep the attack and release one of his own. Deciding to take the opportunity for some irony, he shot a beam parallel with the changeling’s. It took a solid form, shooting out in a resplendent silver colour. Compared to the changeling’s mess of a spell, it could have been considered a work of art. 

The beam made contact before the mare could truly defend herself, though her half formed magical shield was enough to deflect it from her heart. Instead, the beam shot down into her leg, creating a new hole amongst the others. 

This one bled a dark green. 

Storing that information away for later, Aurick tapped into a magic he rarely used. It was a generally frowned upon study that he would only use in dire situation. As he was alone, and facing an opponent who could easily obliterate him should she get to land a blow, he figured it could be considered so. 

The green blood within the changeling’s wound fell to his control. Even as the mare charged up another attack, he focused on the blood. With a simple thought, the blood in her leg expanded within the wound. Expanding with explosive force, a shriek of pain emerged from the changeling’s throat as her spell fired off into the roof. Her leg flew off, unbalancing the creature and making her fall forward onto her face. 

Aurick couldn’t help but smirk as the fake Cadence’s face contorted in pain and fury. The smirk faded and was replaced with confusion as she shouted. “What are you waiting for!?” 

Aurick thought the words were directed at him, and he was about to reply when he realized how wrong he was. His breath was knocked out of him as something slammed into his stomach. He could feel the burning of magical energies, and a glance up showed the slowly appearing image of another changeling. 

Within that moment he realized just how foolish he had been. He had assumed that this was a one on one fight. Such a thing had never been confirmed. He should have known that the leader of a race of deceitful shapeshifters wouldn’t have picked a fight without some trump cards hidden away. 

Sadly, the surprise and anger he felt distracted him from his true opponent. He returned his gaze to her too late however, as the legless mare had already charged a spell. He had no time to react or get away when she unleashed it, as it was nothing like what he was expecting from the mare’s previous examples. 

A portal opened below him, and he had no time to move away before he was sucked through. 

Within an instant, his view changed. Replacing the newly broken hall was blackened walls, covered in iridescent moss. In a strange sense, it was a rather pretty sight, as the moss glowed in various colours across the wall, creating a rainbow of light. 

The sight was quickly taken from him as he landed in some form of thick substance. Panic creeped into his mind as he attempted to swim to the surface, but every stroke failed to do anything as he slowly sunk into his sticky surroundings. His lungs swiftly began to burn as he wished for air. 

He attempted to cast a spell that should have propelled him from the murky depths, but the spell fizzled out before it could even be released. Something was blocking his magic! He attempted to focus on one of his rings, knowing that they would be unaffected by this, but it was too late. 

His lungs had had enough, and unbidden, he gasped for breath. The substance entered his throat, swiftly filling his lungs and then he… breathed? He could breath, despite his lungs being filled with something other than air. 

He would have begun to ponder this, if his mind hadn’t started to slow. For some reason, he was feeling really sleepy. A voice in the back of his mind told him that he shouldn’t go to sleep, but he didn’t listen. Sleep sounded really nice. 

He felt like there was something he had to do. What was that again? Maybe it could wait? Just for a few minutes, so he could get some rest? 

That sounded nice.
> Ch 55: Note
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

‘Cadence’ let out a breath of relief as she watched the elf fall through the portal she had created. For the first time, she saw a twinge of fear run through him. A fact that made her smile, despite the pain she was feeling. 

That smile was short lived as she was reminded of the changeling beside her. “What took you so long!?” She shouted at him, her anger clear upon her disguised face. 

“I apologize, my Queen.” The changeling replied demurely, his head lowering in obedience. “I had not believed him capable of injuring you so. I was attempting to acquiesce to your wishes and only take my shot when necessary.” 

She glared at her soldier for a short time, his head bowed for the duration, seemingly prepared to receive some form of punishment. Despite her anger, she couldn’t bring herself to do so. She might have lost a leg, but as he had stated, he was simply following her orders. she should have acquired more information on the elf before she had attempted to confront him. 

Perhaps her power was making her too self-assured. She clearly couldn’t simply use mental magic to get rid of all her problems. If that elf was trouble, then she could only assume what his pet chimera was capable of. 

It was fortunate, then, that she was not with him. Though she was loathe to admit it, she likely wouldn’t have won if the chimera had been in the room with the elf. 

That raised the question, however. Where was this chimera? What was she doing? 

Shaking her head, she decided to place those questions on the back burner. She could have one of her changelings look into that. For now, she had an issue she had to solve. 

Sending the elf back to the hive was not ideal. She had brought the backup in case he had attacked on sight and proved to be a troublesome foe. Her plan started and ended with getting a hold of his mind. It would have been a great boon to have the enchanter on her side. 

Now he was gone, and his disappearance would be noticed. She had to think of something, and fast.

Perhaps she could get the Princesses to believe him to be the attacker? No, that was a venture that was unlikely to be fruitful. Luna clearly seemed to verge on the edge of trust with that elf, though she seemed to be resisting her own desires to trust him. she would likely hear the tale, but find some flaw that would make it fall apart. 

Celestia… well, that fool tried to see the best in everyone. She would not believe that the elf had been behind the attack. She would need something else. 

Maybe she could claim that the ones behind the attack, who was clearly not her, had taken him. That they attacked the both of them when they were alone, injuring her and taking the elf. It was feasible, at the very least. She could say that they likely wanted to prevent him from completing the work he was hired for. 

The sounds of metallic hooves on tile brought her from her thoughts. The changeling before her still had his head low, having not received any response from his Queen in some time. 

“Go, there shall be no punishment this day.” With a deep bow, the changeling faded from view, his invisibility spell slipping over him. With a grimace, she peered at the leg that had been severed from her. She had to be quick, meaning this was going to be painful.

Scooping up the leg in her magic, she pressed it back to the stump it had left behind. She had to take a moment to steady her breath before she cast the spell. 

White hot pain flared up as her body was magically forced to heal the connection. Flesh and carapace regrew in the matter of moments, nerve endings reconnected, and sickening noises sounded out. She was left breathing heavily, but her leg was reattached, and after a swift test, was fully functioning.  It was only a few moments later that the guards burst through the door. 

They were prepared with weapons drawn, faces masked by stony demeanors, and a Princess at their heels. It was none other than Celestia herself that had entered the hall, though the group swiftly came to a halt as they took in the scene. Looks of shock and horror threatened to break through their masks. Celestia held no such reservations, the sadness and horror she emenated was almost painful, and she showed it clearly on her face. 

Celestia’s eyes darted around, taking in the destruction, before landing squarely on Cadence. “Cadence! Are you okay!? What happened!?” The mare asked, panic tingeing her voice. 

“We…” She started, out of breath as she looked up to Celestia, fear in her eyes. “We were attacked. I… They…” What was the elf’s name again? Ah, right. “They took Aurick!” 

Shock played across Celestia’s face, even as she bit her lip and tried to hide her growing fear. Behind the disguise, Chrysalis couldn’t help but smirk. It seemed like things were going to work out for her, though it’d be best she not test her luck until the time of the wedding. 

There were too many variables at play for her to ruin it by being impatient. 


~-~


Ashwyn frowned as she munched on the chunk of meat. It had only been five hours since she had started, and she was already tired. Doing as the Alpha had asked, she had gone out to find just how many changelings were in the castle. It was irritatingly boring, and yet frightening at the same time. 

She continuously expected her intentions to be found out. The possibility of the changelings assaulting her being a constant thought in her mind. She was confident in her ability to defend herself, but as the Alpha had stated before, she was untrained. She was sure the changelings within the castle had at least received basic training. If there were too many of them, she might not be able to defeat them. 

If there was one thing she had learned when she was hunting the Alpha, it was that sheer physical superiority didn’t mean that you would win. She had to be cautious, and that put her on edge. Though, because nothing had happened yet, and all she was doing was wander around the castle, sniffing the air, she was terribly bored as well. 

As such, she tried her best to enjoy the meal before her, as it was the only spice to the days events so far. Sadly, that meant she wasn’t paying as much attention as she should have been. This fact was made clear when she found a note sitting atop her food when she looked down. The scent of a familiar changeling in the air. 

Recognizing the scent of what the Alpha assumed to be the informant, she grabbed the note before it got any meat juices on it. It was short and simple, but the contents were enough to make Ashwyn unnerved.


We must meet.


I shall await you in your room.


Ashwyn couldn’t help but swallow a lump in her throat. Could it be a trap? Was this changeling truly the informant? Should she go? She didn’t know the answer to any of these questions, but knew she must make a decision all the same. 

Not for the first time, she wished that the Alpha was here. He would assuredly know what to do. Should she go ask him? No, this changeling was only contacting her. If it truly was the informant, perhaps bringing the Alpha would make them flee? It was not a risk worth taking. 

Her body tense, she swiftly finished her lunch and stood up, taking one more glance at the note before stuffing it into her mane. With a resigned sigh, she stepped out into the hallways of the castle and slowly made her way back to her room.

She had a changeling to meet.
> Ch 56: The Informant
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashwyn stood outside the door of the guest room that had been granted to her and the Alpha. She shifted on her paws nervously, still unsure how wise it was to go into this alone, but knowing it was likely her best option at the moment. She didn’t want to lose this contact with a potential ally because she couldn’t handle a single interaction on her own. The Alpha surely wouldn’t be pleased about that. 

At the least, she could tell who was on the other side of the door. As far as her nose could pick up, it was only the one that had been assumed the informant. Of course, these changelings were able to change their physical forms, who’s to say they couldn’t change their scent as well? 

Were they aware of her capabilities? Were they aware of the Alpha’s? Or were they still operating under their noses? She didn’t know. The Alpha might have had a hunch, but she couldn’t speak with him at the moment. 

She shook her head and refocused on the door in front of her. She was stalling the inevitable with these thoughts. She needed to be more like the Alpha right now. She had to be confident in herself and face this obstacle head on. 

Swallowing whatever unease she had, she finally reached out and opened the door. The room beyond was as she had left it that morning, but more importantly, empty. Of course, Ashwyn knew that not to be the case. She allowed the door to swing shut behind her as she stared in the direction the scent was coming from. The scent originated just around the small desk that was situated in the corner. 

Once the door closed, an uneasy tension fell upon the room. Neither party said anything, and the changeling had yet to reveal itself, despite Ashwyn looking directly at it. The tension didn’t lighten up, even when someone finally spoke. 

“Ashwyn.” The voice that addressed her was surprising. It held none of the confidence or authority she was anticipating. In fact, it sounded fairly demure. Even stranger was the fact that she couldn’t tell if the voice was male or female. The soft tones could have belonged to either. “I am going to reveal myself, please don’t panic.” The voice told her, raising some confusion in Ashwyn’s mind. Why would she panic?

Within the space she was staring at, a faint shimmer revealed itself, before the magic faded and a figure slowly became visible. 

The books she had read about the changelings didn’t include any pictures, but simply had loose descriptions based on eye witness accounts. None of them did the changelings any justice. 

The creature before her appeared as a strange amalgamation of insectoid and pony features. In fact, she wouldn’t have been surprised to find something like them during her time in his lab. A black chitin covered their body, protecting their fleshy insides, though the part that she thought of as strange were the holes in their legs. It didn’t appear as wounds that the creature had sustained, but as a natural part of their body. 

Bright cyan eyes stared back at her, seemingly lacking a pupil. Though upon closer inspection, a faintly lighter circle could be seen within. Insectoid wings rested upon its back, and fangs, longer than even her own, hung from its mouth. As it opened its mouth to speak, she noticed those fangs were the only ones to speak of in its mouth, as the rest were more akin to a pony’s. 

“I-I’m on your side.” The changeling said, nervousness enveloping its voice. Ashwyn couldn’t help but feel a little thrown off. This was nowhere near what she was expecting.

“I… know?” She said slowly, her confusion showing on her face as she peered at the changeling before her. It was smaller than her, and it certainly didn’t help that it seemed to shrink under her gaze. 

“You know!?” The changeling exclaimed in shock, before apparently remembering why it was afraid and returning to a more submissive position. “How?” 

Ashwyn stared at him for a long moment, still unsure of what to make of this situation. “Alpha figure out. Say you is informant.” The changeling nodded slowly.

“I am… I…” The changeling paused with a frown before sighing. “It hasn’t done a whole lot of good.” 

“What you mean?” Ashwyn asked, instinctively taking a step forward to comfort the obviously saddened creature. That, however made the changeling’s wings buzz in effort as it flew back, landing on the desk. It stared at her with wide eyes for a moment, before it seemed to finally relax. 

“Sorry.” It offered meekly as it gingerly stepped down from the desk. “It’s… I… nothing is going right.” It said after a few moments of stumbling over its own words, bringing its hooves up to cradle its head. 

“Tell me what happened.” She said, attempting to sound as comforting as possible. She briefly wondered if this was how the Alpha felt when he had to deal with her during the first couple days. 

“Chrysalis has gotten too strong too fast.” The changeling said, sorrow filling his voice. “With the power she’s gaining from Cadence, she was able to use her magic to control anyone that stood a threat.” Ashwyn couldn’t help but blink at the creature before her. That sentence brought up a number of questions in her mind, but one of them struck her harder than the others.

“C-control.” The word was hard to get out, as it felt as though her heart had jumped up into her throat.

“Yes… the Queen is a master of mental magic. With the power she obtained from Cadence, she’s easily able to control anyone she sees as a remote threat.” Ashwyn didn’t like that. Ashwyn didn’t like that at all. Ashwyn had to force herself to not fly out of that room. Not to grab the Alpha and get as far away from this Chrysalis as possible. 

“How… how many?” She asked through grit teeth. Her face must have not been very comforting, as the changeling was shrinking further into itself. 

“Too many.” It squeaked out. “A majority of the guards and maids. Shining Armour. Even the Princesses, with their near full immunity to mental magic, have been affected due to just how much power Chrysalis is wielding.” Even the Princesses!? Ashwyn couldn’t help but take a step back from the news, her desire to grab the Alpha and flee redoubling. 

“Th-there’s hope, though!” The changeling suddenly piped up, pulling Ashwyn’s eyes from the door behind her. Sadly, once her eyes shifted back to the changeling, it clammed up again. In fact, it looked more nervous than it had before. 

“What?” 

“Well, you see… there’s one who, er, might be able to resist her.” The changeling told her slowly, nervously shifting from hoof to hoof as it desperately avoided eye contact with her. 

“Who?” She asked, a little more exasperated than she had intended. She was getting tired of this changeling beating around the bush like this. 

“It’s, hmm, A-Aurick?” The changeling hesitantly glanced up at her, only to receive a look of confusion.

“Alpha? Alpha can stop it!?” Ashwyn couldn’t help but ask for confirmation. If the Alpha could stop it, then she had nothing to worry about! The Alpha would be able to take care of this whole thing!

“Maybe?” That word cut her joyous thoughts to halt. Maybe? It doesn’t know!? 

“What you mean, maybe?” She frowned at it, making it look away once more. It seemed to bite its lip for a moment, occasionally glancing up at Ashwyn as though it were trying to decide whether to tell her something. 

“It’s a, uh, possibility, because… because of what happened.” Ashwyn blinked at him, confused. After a moment of thought, however, her features grew hard as she glared at the meek bug pony before her.

“What happen?” She asked in a level tone, making the small changeling freak out further than it already was. 

“He… He was a-attacked.” A twitch in Ashwyn’s eye made the changeling scramble back, impacting with the desk behind it. Ashwyn didn’t say anything, but the changeling clearly got the message. 

Explain.

“Chrysalis somehow found out that you were onto her!” It squeaked out as fast as it could. “She attacked him in the hall, and… he lost.” At this point, Ashwyn’s mind shut down. The Alpha lost!? That was impossible!? He couldn’t have… 

Fury gripped her heart. The changeling continued to speak, but she could only hear the pounding of her own heart. Wings flared, she launched herself towards the door, intending to smash through it and find the bitch that dared to hurt her Alpha. 

She ended up slamming into the door, as it felt like it was made of concrete. Snorting in anger, she turned to glare at the changeling, who had his horn alight with magic.


~-~


Carina couldn’t help but wonder why he used his magic on the door. What could have possibly possessed him to do something so idiotic. Now the beastly mare had her eyes set on him. If he hadn’t already taken care of business before, he likely would have done so in that moment. 

The face that glared at him was not the same face that had entered the room with him. Whereas she had some more beastly features before, it was clear she was still a pony from how she acted and the emotions she felt. Now, however… Now he felt like he had just locked himself in a cage with a lion. 

The mare’s lips curled up in a feral snarl, revealing the incredibly sharp looking teeth within. He knew that this mare could easily bite through his leg with no issue, based on those teeth alone. Her claws were not better. Fully extended and digging into the tile below her, they had to be no shorter than three inches long, and looked almost as deadly as her teeth. The hair on her back stood on end, similarly to an animal’s. All in all, what scared him the most was the look in the mare’s eyes and the feelings he felt swirling within her. 

Both held nothing but fury, and now it was directed at him.

“A-” He choked instantly, his voice refusing to come out as his mind desperately pleaded with him to just get the hell out of there. “Ashwyn,” He finally forced out, “please! He’s okay, he’s ali-.” He was cut off as he was suddenly held against the desk. The monstrous face of Ashwyn was mere inches from his face. She was close enough that he could smell the meat on her breath. 

“Explain.” She demanded, her eyes glaring into his. He couldn’t look away if he wanted to.

“Ch-Chrysalis sent him back to the hive! He’s probably asleep in a pod! He’s safe! He won’t be hurt!” He cried out desperately, his heart racing faster than ever. “Please, don’t kill me!” Relief flooded his veins when the beastial mare released him. He fell to the floor, doing his best to calm his breathing. It didn’t work, as shortly after, Ashwyn roared in anger and struck out with her claws. 

Thankfully, he wasn’t the target. The desk wasn’t so lucky. Nor was the wall. Or the chair. Or even the floor. In all honesty, he was shocked he wasn’t killed in the carnage, but he didn’t question it. He would just be thankful. He didn’t feel thankful for long, however, as Ashwyn quickly rounded on him once more. 

“Where hive!?” She shouted, grabbing him by the shoulders. 

“I-it’s near Fillydelphia.” He informed her.

“We go.” Carina couldn’t help but blink at her.

“What!?” 

“We go hive. Rescue Alpha. Kill Bitch.” Ashwyn told him in no uncertain terms. 

“But…” Any objection died in his throat when he saw the look in her eyes. He was too afraid to say no. 

He couldn’t help but wonder why things could never go to plan.
> Ch 57: Anxious Nights
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chrysalis returned to her room with a tired sigh, her disguise still held despite it. Closing the door behind her, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. 

The day had been a long one, and she wanted nothing more than to lie down in bed alongside Shining Armour. He would be sure to tend to her needs this night, though it wasn’t like he could object. Though she had to wonder why he wasn't already within the room awaiting her. He was typically off duty before she returned, so to find him missing was a minor surprise. 

At the same time, however, it brought a small amount of relief with it. She didn’t particularly want to talk to anyone at the moment. Of course, she could simply command the fool to leave her be, but that required her to enact upon that which she wished not to. He would arrive at a later time, and that suited her better on this night. 

The day had been a long one after her confrontation with that damned elf. His resilience against her mental magic had resulted in her needing to convince Celestia and Luna that he was abducted. Thankfully she had already altered their minds, as slight as it is, so she was never suspected of anything. The true issue was getting them to ask the wrong questions. They would rule her out of being their enemy, but that didn’t protect her soldiers from being discovered. 

It was becoming more and more clear to her that mental magic would not solve all of her problems, a fact that irritated her to no end. What use was her talent if she couldn’t rely on it as such? 

A sigh escaped her once more as she stepped towards the window. She had to admit that the night sky was truly beautiful. One of the only compliments she would grant to the lunar princess was her craftsmanship. Each night was something to behold, and whilst she held some disdain for the creator, she couldn’t begrudge the work she produced. 

It was such a sight that brought a small amount of calm to the changeling queen. The day had been stressful, yes, but she had endured. As she always had, and she always will, as tomorrow will be yet another day. Simply four more of them and her plans will come together. All the pieces will fall in place, and she’ll begin her take over. 

Before anyone even knows what’s happening, she’ll have a hoof in every aspect of Equestria. Then abducting ponies for food would be a simple task. If they even needed to at that point. Should she stick Celestia and Luna in a pod as well, she had no doubt that she could sustain the hive for many years to come. 

Everything was going according to plan, and nothing could stop her now. 

Suddenly, the door opened behind her, revealing Shining Armour. She had to admit that Cadence had truly snagged a good stallion. The colt was built of muscle, rippling just beneath his brilliant white coat. His mane was a shock of dark and light blue that neatly cropped his handsome face. All that on top of what he could to to her…

That, however, didn’t seem to be why he entered the room, much to her chagrin. The stallion had a serious look on his face, and his breath was heavy. A faint green light glowed in his eyes, showing her that his actions were a result of her domination. 

“Mistress,” He started out after a moment to catch his breath, “I bring news of Ashwyn’s actions.” Chrysalis couldn’t help but raise a brow. She had commanded the guard under her control to keep an eye on the chimera, sure that she would not take her master’s disappearance lightly. In all honesty, she had anticipated news much sooner than this. 

“Tell me, Armour, what has this chimera been up to?” She asked, the magic within Shining Armour’s mind forcing him to answer.

“She has left Canterlot, Mistress. We do not know why, but she was headed east. I had a guard tailing her, but she was too fast for him.” The stallion bowed his head, looking ashamed. Chrysalis paid him no mind as she once more looked out the window, her face twisted in confusion. 

What could this chimera possibly be thinking? Why leave Canterlot? Why head east? There was nothing out there of importance besides… Her eyes widened in shock as a thought came upon her. 

No, no. This couldn’t be possible! How could she possibly know! But… there’s no other explanation. She couldn’t risk that beast releasing her prisoners! 

She quickly rounded on the stallion that had informed her of this, her magic forcing his head up to look at her. “Bring me, Ironhide!” She commanded. The captain of the guard instantly saluted her and retreated out the door, leaving Chrysalis alone to stew in her thoughts. 

Thankfully she didn’t have to wait for long, as a large earth pony stallion stepped through the door. The moment the door closed behind him, his disguise faded, revealing a heavily scared changeling. He fell into a bow once he was revealed, staying as such until directed otherwise.

“Stand, Aldrin. We do not have the time for such trivialities.” She growled at him, her magic forcing him into a standing position. Her soldier didn’t even blink as her magic moved him.

“Of course, my Queen. What would you have of me?” The soldier asked obediently.

“You must take some of our best and return to the hive. I have reason to believe they will be under attack soon.” Chrysalis informed him, the soldier showing an ounce of emotion once he heard the news. His lips curled downwards slightly, and his eyes grew ever slightly more narrow. 

“I will endeavor to do so post-haste, my Queen. Is there anything I should know of the assailant?” 

“We do not know her capabilities, but she is a Chimera with a more beastial appearance than the rest of these ponies. Though the extent she can use these monstrous parts are unknown. Caution is advised.” Chrysalis informed him quickly. “Now go, she is flying faster than the guard. She might reach the hive before you should you not hurry.” 

“Understood, my Queen. I will not disappoint you.” With nothing more to say, the changeling dipped his head in respect and left the room, intent to carry out her orders. 

For the third time that night, she looked out the window of the room. The sky outside no longer brought a sense of calm to her. In fact, it only furthered her anxiety. Her heart began to pound faster as she stared out. Within the periphery of her vision, she could see a series of dark shapes move out into the sky, blending in with the darkness above. 

She could only hope that her fears were baseless, for if they weren’t… she did not wish to think of that.
> Ch 58: The First to Fall
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time they landed, Carina wanted nothing more than to hug the ground as though it were a long lost family member. Ashwyn had grabbed him and flew them to the hive in just under two days, having only stopped when she needed to rest. Despite doing none of the flying, he felt exhausted just from having made the trip, and yet Ashwyn looked like she barely broke a sweat.

“Where?” She demanded. The fury she held had diminished considerably over the two days of travel, but she still held a cold look in her eyes. Even so, he was incredibly anxious around the mare, sure that any refusal to adhere to her demands would result in his immediate termination. And not in the business way.

“J-just beyond that hill. The entrance is obscured by an illusion that looks like a pile of rocks.” She nodded and took a step forward. She stopped after a moment, however, and for the first time since she heard the news, her expression shifted.

“Should not come if not want to.” She said softly, shocking the scared changeling. He could still feel her cold fury, but there was a tenderness there that he didn't detect before.

“J-just, please… don’t kill them all. They’re not a-all bad.” Her face hardened once more, clearly not liking his response and turning to face the direction of the hive.

“No promises.” She mumbled before marching forward.


~-~


Cilia let out a tired yawn. 

It was another boring day, guarding the entrance to the hive. Much like the many she had already served. If she were to be honest with herself, she would rather be a part of the infiltration crew. They always seemed to get into something exciting. 

She, however, merely got to sit in the middle of a cave tunnel, and do nothing. Nothing was all that ever happened to her, as it had been a long time since anyone had stumbled upon their home. It was considered one of the easiest jobs to get, but at the same time, it was known to be the most mind numbingly boring job as well. 

It certainly didn’t help that she didn’t have much to think about. It wasn’t like she had a changeling waiting for her in her room. She had a couple friends, but they were out helping with the infiltration of Canterlot castle. She had nothing to do, nothing to look at, and nothing to think about. 

Then something happened. 

The faint clacking sound reached Cilia before she truly registered what she was hearing. Once she did, however, she focused on it intently. If she was to wager a guess, she’d assume some animal had wandered in. Ponies didn’t have claws that would make such a sound on the stone, and neither dragons or griffins were particularly common in the area. 

That was why it came as a surprise when the white snout of a pony came into view, quickly followed by the rest of the body. 

Cilia’s eyes widened in intrigue and surprise, momentarily forgetting she was supposed to be a guard and was to drive off the intruder. It was just that this pony was so strange. She bore paws that had large claws that no doubt was making the sound she had heard. Even as the pony pulled her lips back in a snarl, she noticed the decidedly sharp looking teeth that filler her maw. 

Then suddenly, she was on her back. A fact which brought her mind back from thinking about how strange the pony looked. Finally realizing her mistake, the pony had confirmed herself a threat, having been the swift force to knock Cilia to her back. 

She began to charge a spell in an attempt to blast the mare off her. It was far too slow, however, as the moment her horn lit up, the pony’s head shot forward. 

Teeth easily pierced her chitin, sinking into the flesh beneath. She would have screamed in pain, if she was able. Her breath had caught in her throat and all she could do was stare, wide eyed, at the ceiling as pain coursed through her body.

The teeth were in her for only a moment, but it felt like an eternity. Fighting past the pain, she attempted to swing a hoof at the mare, only to find her leg unresponsive. She tried again, with another appendage this time. It was the same result. 

Frantically, Cilia attempted to move anything, but nothing worked. She could only move her eyes, and what they saw, she didn’t like.

The mare was peering down at her with cold eyes, filled with murderous intent. She could feel the mare’s rage boiling to the surface of her thoughts, even as the mare raised a paw, claws extended.

They remained that was for some time, neither moving. The rage that was building inside the mare became a swirling mix of emotions. Too many for the paralyzed changeling to accurately read, but in the end, she didn’t need to.

The claws retracted, but that didn’t halt the attack. The mare’s paw hurtled towards her face, slamming into the side of her head with enough force to turn her vision black. She desperately wanted to stay awake, but it wasn’t to be. 

As such, darkness took hold of her mind as she lost consciousness. 


~-~


Ashwyn couldn’t help but frown as she looked down at the changeling she had knocked out. That, in itself, was the issue. 

She thought herself capable of killing these creatures. Swatting them aside like the insects they were, but… she couldn’t. Not when she looked into the changelings eyes. Despite how different they looked, they were no less expressive than her own. 

She could see the fear in the changeling’s eyes. Could see it silently begging for its life, and in that moment she knew she couldn’t do it. 

Her mind had turned to the Alpha. What would he have thought of her? In some part of her mind she knew that the Alpha had killed before. He had expressed as much during the rare occasion he would talk of his own world. Though she didn’t know how he felt of the act personally. 

Throughout the time she had known him, he had never raised a hand against anyone. Choosing to only save his magic for the monsters of the Everfree instead. 

Did he wish not to kill again? Or did he merely do so when he needed to? Would he be angry if she were to slaughter every changeling in her path, or would he be angry if she let them live? 

She did not know the answer, and she would not know until she had found him. Glaring down the path, she frowned in consideration. How many changelings would she have to deal with before she found him. How long would it take? What if there were too many?

Questions she would rather not think about, but no less demanded an answer. Answers she didn’t have.

That seemed to be happening a lot lately. Always, she was the last to know things. The last to understand. She was getting tired of it, but what could she do? As of yet, there was nothing for it but to find the Alpha. He had the answers to every problem she had. He always did.

If she just could find the Alpha, everything will be okay.

Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself again, her rage having simmered down to a strong anger. Prepared for whatever came next, she took a step forward, over the unconscious body of the changeling below her. 

That step was the only one she got, however, as she could hear the sound of hoofsteps behind her. Instantly, the mare’s wings shot open and launched her upwards. Her body twisted around to allow her to dig her claws into the stony ceiling, where she remained.

The sound grew closer and closer until a figure came into view. Releasing a breath she didn’t know she was holding, she found it was merely the informant changeling that followed her in. 

Dropping down, she landed directly in front of the bug pony, making it jump in surprise. “Though you wait outside.” She stated as it attempted to steady its breathing. 

“I-I was going to. Then I realized you’d p-probably need a guide to get to the- Cilia!” It cried out as the bug rushed forward to inspect the changeling she had taken out. Evidently it was named Cilia, and her informant knew it. She was suddenly glad she had decided not to take its life. 

“She is alive. She live.” Ashwyn told her informant, even as it inspected the changeling’s body. Its eyes lingered on the bite marks she had left in the changeling’s shoulder, but made no comment.

“Sh-she’ll live?” It asked, concern tingeing its voice. With a grimace, she stepped forward and placed a paw on its shoulder, making the changeling jump in surprise.

“She live. Knocked out and paralyzed. Not dead.” She informed it, looking it in the eye so it knew she wasn’t lying. It seemed to swallow a lump in its throat before shakilly nodding.

“O-okay. Okay. The p-pods. Let’s go.” Without another word, the changeling silently continued down the path before them, with Ashwyn close behind.
> Ch 59: Pods
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aldrin landed heavily, having not wasted the time to slow down before contact with the ground. The soldiers behind him were not as willing to risk their bodies performing such a stunt. He would not reprimand them, as he knew they were not as resilient as he. He was blessed from birth with a much thicker chitin, allowing him to shrug off blows that would normally incapacitate a normal changeling. Not to mention he didn’t want to waste the time it would take to berate them.

Even so, the soldiers under his command landed behind him moments later. He didn’t wait for them, however, as he was already making his way through the illusion that obscured the entrance to the hive. As he trailed deeper and the light dimmed, his eyes swiftly adapted, allowing him to see clearly, despite the lack of light. 

His quickened pace brought him to where the entrance guard stood. Rather, it was where she should have stood. Instead of manning her post, the changeling was collapsed on the floor, a deep wound in her shoulder, seemingly made from a bite. Strangely enough, it wasn’t bleeding as bad as a wound of its calibre should, but he didn’t have the time to question it. The changeling was alive, but seemingly unconscious. 

Upon further inspection, he found a small crack in the changeling’s face. Likely from a blunt force impact, meaning that this was what must have knocked her out. Based on this, his target likely had sharp teeth, enough so that she could penetrate their chitin. She also seemed to possess either a blunt force weapon, or enough strength to do this with her own hooves.

As he was inspecting the guard, his soldiers finally caught up to him. Based on their heavier breathing, they were getting fairly tired. They had not rested since they were sent out, and it was taking its toll on them. Under normal circumstances, he would have ordered them to rest, but with this proof of an intruder, he must deal with it. 

It was his Queen’s wish after all.

“We must protect the pods.” He told them, ensuring they knew their objective before he set out once more. A small sense of worry festered in his heart as he marched on, hoping that he could make it in time to prevent the intruder from releasing the prisoners. If he wasn’t, he was sure the queen would have his head.


~-~


He clenched his eyes, even before he heard the thump of the body hitting the floor. Taking a deep breath to steady himself, he opened his eyes once more to find Ashwyn standing above the body of another changeling. He was unsure if he was dead or not, but he couldn’t see any wounds aside from the bite in the changeling’s shoulder. 

Even so, the sight of the mutated mare spitting out the green blood of his kind was enough to unnerve him. Even so, he swallowed his ever present fears and stepped forwards. Sparing the changelings a quick check, he confirmed that the paralyzing bite was the only wound he had received. 

Seeing his fellow changeling was still alive, he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. As of yet, Ashwyn had been merciful. None of the changelings they had encountered have been slain. All were paralyzed and knocked out. Thankfully, this was a rare occurrence, as he led her through the least guarded path towards the pod room. Of course, this meant that it took significantly longer to get there, but at least his old friends and family weren’t hurt in the process. 

What normally would have taken twenty minutes or so, had been extended to an hour. An hour of silently walking through corridors next to someone who could have killed him in an instant. At the very least, their destination was quickly approaching. In fact, rounding the corner, he could see the entrance to it. As well as a pair of changelings that were guarding it. 

In a blur of motion, Ashwyn shot forwards. She slammed into the first one and sunk her teeth in before they could even register that anything was happening. The second guard was quick on the uptake, however, turning in shock as he saw his companion go down. His horn charged with green energy, only to be cut off as Ashwyn swiped a paw at him. The paw connected with the side of his head, hitting him hard enough to knock him into the wall, where he slumped and passed out. Another quick strike and the bitten changeling was out too. 

Snorting, the mare straightened out and peered into the room they guarded. Even from the distance, he could see her eyes growing wide, just before she shot into the room. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he rushed to catch up. 


~-~


This was it! It had to be! 

Ashwyn thought to herself as she sprinted into the room. It looked similar to the rest of the cave they had traversed. Dark walls and the occasional splotch of glowing lichen filled her sight, but that was not all this room contained. 

A large number of glowing green blobs were held to the walls. Almost all of them holding a pony of some kind, though she could spot the occasional griffin and zebra. As she searched for the Alpha, she paused, her mouth slowly dropping as she saw something she didn’t expect.

Held within one of the larger pods, was a familiar pink form. One that possessed both wings and horn.

Princess Cadence resided within. 

She couldn’t help but blink at the sight. If Princess Cadance was here… shaking her head, she refocused her thoughts. She needed to not get distracted. The Princess was secondary, she had to free the Alpha. 

It was a short affair to find him, as he was contained within the largest of the pods. Without hesitation, she rushed forward, her claws extended as she approached. The pod gave no resistance as she slashed through it, a disgustingly green substance pouring out as she cut it open. 

The Alpha fell out limply, and Ashwyn swiftly rushed forward to catch him before he slammed his face into the ground. Gently, she laid him down, searching him over for any injuries. She smiled when she found none. The informant changeling hadn’t lied to her. 

Taking a moment to take a deep breath, she visibly relaxed. Everything was okay now. The Alpha was safe. Now all that was left to do was kill that bitch that tried to hurt him. 

She was brought from her thoughts as she saw the Alpha’s hand twitch. In a sudden burst of movement, the Alpha rolled onto his hands and knees, retching. The green substance that filled the pod was forcibly removed from the Alpha as he vomited onto the floor. It took some time for him to be rid of it all, and once he was, he was left gasping. 

Suddenly, she saw his eyes shut and his teeth clench. His hands curled into fists as his head slowly lowered to the floor. A sniffle sounded throughout the silent room, and the Alpha could be heard whispering a single name. 

“Daena.” 

Unsure of what to do, Ashwyn took a step forward and tried to place a paw on his shoulder. This was swiftly proven to be a bad idea, as the Alpha’s reaction was instant. A hand shot up and grabbed her arm, swiftly flipping her as the Alpha’s other hand gripped her throat. The initial hand crackled with magical power as he hovered over her. 

Her breath hitched as he looked into his eyes. They were not the ones she was used to. Gone was the gentle warmth. Gone was the relaxed features. It wasn’t even similar to that time he thought she foalnapped the crusaders, where he had a cold fury. 

Now his eyes were just… dark. She couldn’t tell what was running through his mind, and all she knew was that tears were running down his face. 

She was sure he would strike when he suddenly stiffened. Then, slowly, his face filled with recognition.

“Ash?” His voice was barely a whisper, but the energies in his palm slowly dissipated. “What? I…” He continued, his voice filled with confusion as slowly wiped at his eyes. “Where am I?” 

She didn’t answer him, choosing instead to wrap her arms around him and hug him close. “Not matter.” She told him. “We together.”
> Ch 60: Escape
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So you came here immediately?” He heard Aurick ask after Ashwyn filled him in on what had been happening. All the while, he couldn’t help but feel nervous as he stared at the elf. 

His face was calm, the faintest hint of a smirk on his face. Carina knew better than to take that as the truth. The emotions he could feel roiling beneath the surface were what he focused on. A swirl of feelings that constantly tore at another to the point that he wasn’t sure why Aurick could act so casually in the face of them. 

Even so, there was one that was held above the rest. One that, despite the fluid nature of his emotions, was a constant. One that made him quiver. 

Rage.

A dark rage that threatened to turn his insides out just from proximity. It was within this moment that he realized it might have been easier to reason with Ashwyn. Still, they were his best chance to stop Chrysalis’ plan, so he had to try his best to convince them to see things his way.

He recoiled slightly as the pair turned to face him. Nervously, he raised a hoof and waved at them. This only served to make one of Aurick’s brows raise. 

“So who are you?” He asked, his mouth curled into a small frown. Carina could feel that rage flare as Aurick’s gaze fell on him.

“I-I’m Carina…” He told the elf, shrinking slightly under his stare.

“Informant.” Ashwyn helpfully added, making the intimidating elf look towards her for a moment. When his gaze returned, the rage had lessened and the frown was gone. Carina was tempted to sigh in relief, but he held it in. 

“Ah.” Aurick nodded, a hand stroking his beard before his gaze shifted to their surroundings. “Perhaps this is not the best place to talk. We should free the rest of the prisoners and get out of here.”

“R-right.” Carina agreed, shakily getting to his hooves.

“Ash.” The mare quickly understood what Aurick meant. With ease, Ashwyn moved around the cavern, opening pod after pod and releasing the creatures within. Ponies, gryphons, and zebras alike collapsed to the floor, having not received the same gentle treatment she had given Aurick. 

Carina couldn’t help but flinch as some of them impacted the ground, sure that it would leave a mark afterwards. “W-we should be quick.” He forced himself to speak, earning the elf’s attention. “We took a… less guarded route, but I-I’m sure they would have become aware of us by now. Guards might be coming as we speak.” 

Once more, Aurick’s emotions flared, his eyes narrowing slightly upon his face, contrasting with the easy smirk he was wearing. “Just let me deal with that.” Those words sent a shiver down Carina’s spine. 

“P-please…” Carina started, swallowing a lump in his throat as he was about to beg once more. “Please don’t kill them.” He felt Aurick’s eyes boring into him, and Carina was unable to meet his gaze. Silence fell between them, only broken by the sounds of ponies retching and Ashwyn cutting open more pods. To Carina, it felt like a lifetime had passed before Aurick responded, but it was most likely just a few moments. 

“Fine.” The word was simple, but it was clear to the changeling that he was not pleased about agreeing to this request. “They will live.” Something about the way the elf said that sent a shiver down his spine. He was busy working up the courage to reply when a voice sounded in the chambers.

“Wh-where am I!?” Peering over, one of the captured ponies had fully come to, after regurgitating the green formula they were breathing. Not long after, a second pony finished doing the same, his eyes darting around in wide eyed panic. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aurick pinch the bridge of his nose before his lips curled into a false smirk. Carina couldn’t help but marvel at how easily the elf hid his emotions, even as he rose to address the released prisoners. 

“I would ask you all to be silent, lest you lead the guards to us.” His voice echoed within the room in a way it hadn’t before. Carina was unsure if it was due to magic or not, but it certainly gave his voice a commanding nature. Enough so that the prisoners silenced and looked up at him. Having finished cutting open pods, Ashwyn silently stepped up beside the elf. 

Finished upchucking the formula, Carina could see Princess Cadence look up from her place and silently observe what was about to transpire. It was difficult to read her emotions, with all the varying sources within the room, but he thought he could sense some trepidation coming from her, as well as a hesitant curiosity.

“We are within the heart of a Changeling hive, having been captured and brought here. For what purpose, I don’t know.” He gave a short glance to Carina, expressing all he needed to say in that moment. They would be having a talk. Carina couldn’t suppress the shiver that coursed through him. “For now, we must be thankful that we must not endure what they intended to put us through. We will depart from this place, return to where we came from, and be free of this.” A low murmur rippled through the released prisoners. Only to become hushed once more as Princess Cadence finally decided to step forward. 


~-~


Princess Cadence couldn’t help but be slightly unnerved by the creature that stood before her. It was clear to her that he was not of this world, even if her aunts had not informed her as such. It had taken her only a moment to recognize this figure as the mysterious Aurick that Auntie Luna spoke so highly of. His unique appearance, paired with the abnormal mare at his side was hard to mistake for anyone else. 

Even so, she could see why Auntie Luna seemed to like him so much. He certainly knew how to command your attention. She knew of certain nobles who had a harder time earning the attention of a cat, much less a group of scared creatures. 

His speech wasn’t too terrible either, though a little cut and dry. It certainly didn’t get any of his listeners excited, though she could see the glimmer of hope in their eyes. Still, despite the speech, despite what she had heard about him, and despite the cocky smirk upon his face, she knew something was wrong. 

His eyes, though small, didn’t have the right luster for what he portrayed on his face. His muscles were too tense for the false calm he seemed to show. Most telling, however, was what she saw in his heart. He was trying desperately to hide it, but she could see that there were old wounds that had recently been opened. If she had to guess, it was due to the dreams the pods had made them experience. 

Whilst within, she was forced to dream of the first time she and Shining Armour had consummated their love. It was during that time when she knew that he was the one she wanted to marry. That she loved him more than any other stallion she had met in her life. 

She could only imagine what Aurick had seen, and why it had torn at him as such. 

She couldn’t help but feel bad for him. He was swift to take up the leadership role, seemingly deciding to deal with his emotions later. She was unsure if she would have been capable of the same. 

Taking a deep breath, she took a step forward, deciding to approach him once he had finished speaking. “You must be Aurick.” She said upon nearing the elf. She noticed that the mare at his side moved herself between them, her eyes narrowed on Cadence. She merely gave her a friendly smile, but when she did not receive any reaction, she turned her attention back to the man she was speaking to.

“That I am. I take it one of your aunts informed you of me?” He spoke in a relaxed tone though the way it came out... it reminded her quite considerably of how her aunts would speak. As though he had experienced centuries pass him by. For all she knew, that could have been the case.

“Auntie Luna spoke quite highly of you.” She wasn’t unaware of how his lips curled downwards slightly at the mention of her aunt. She could not ascertain as to why, but any number of things could have happened while she was trapped within that pod. Who’s to say that their relationship couldn’t have soured in that time. Deciding it would be best not to linger on such a topic, she swiftly directed the conversation elsewhere. “Perhaps we might get the chance to introduce ourselves officially at a later time. As it is, I believe we should get out of here as swiftly as possible.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Aurick replied, the smirk on his face becoming slightly more genuine. “With a group as large as this, sneaking through the corridors would be next to impossible. So we’re just gonna have to walk out the most direct route.” 

“And how will we know where the exit is?” Cadence asked, glancing over towards the lone changeling behind him. The bug like pony looked like it was terrified, through of what, she couldn’t be sure. Though it seemed to be glancing towards Aurick and his mare quite a bit. An issue for later, right now she had to focus on getting these people out of this place. “Is your changeling friend our guide?” 

Aurick turned to face the changeling, raising a brow. The changeling recoiled slightly from the sudden attention, but swiftly nodded. Seemingly satisfied, Aurick returned his gaze to her.

“The sooner we get moving, the sooner we get out of here.” He stated plainly. Cadence couldn’t help but agree. There would be plenty of time to talk when they were all safe. Primarily about what had been happening while she was captured. 

She didn’t remember a whole lot. Just that she was relaxing in her room after a servant had just entered with some tea. She remembered smiling and thanking the mare before pouring herself a cup, then… she fell. She fell into that strange goop and then she started dreaming until she woke up here. 

She blinked as realization dawned on her. She was taken, one way or the other, she, a princess of Equestria, was targeted and captured. Nothing good could have come of that. What kind of state was Equestria in? What happened to her fiance? To her aunts? Her eyes turned towards Aurick, but he had already turned away from her, addressing the released prisoners once more. 

She had to restrain herself from pulling him aside and asking those questions right then and there, but she knew better. As she had said before, this was not the place to talk. Once they were out of the hive, away from any assailants, they would have all the time they needed. She would just have to hold out until then.


~-~


Ashwyn glanced towards the Alpha as he began to speak to the creatures around them. She was happy to have him back, of that, there was no doubt. However, something seemed… off about the way the Alpha was acting. His muscles too stiff, his movements rigid. Clearly he wasn’t as calm as he was trying to appear, but she could not understand why. 

Did it have to do with how he reacted when he emerged from the pod? If she remembered correctly, he said something, a name if she was right. Daena, she believed it was. Could this person have something to do with why he acted this way? 

She couldn’t begin to think of why, though. It didn’t sound like a pony name. In fact it sounded more like one that would have come from his world. If that was the case, then why did it come up now, and why was he reacting like this? She couldn’t tell, and she knew there was no use in making assumptions. She would have to ask him once they got out here. 

Pulling from her thoughts, she turned towards the entrance to the pod room, sniffing the air. Sadly, she couldn’t ascertain much from the scents. The entirety of the hive smelled like changeling, and it was difficult to pinpoint where any of them were with any accuracy. It wasn’t any easier with the ponies’, gryphon’s, and zebra’s scents muddling up her nose.

“Carina.” The Alpha’s call brought her attention back to him as he addressed the changeling. “Lead us out of here.” She realized she never did ask for the changeling’s name during their trip to rescue the Alpha. It sounded strange to her, but then again, changelings must have had a different naming convention, much like the Alpha’s.

The changeling in question nodded hesitantly, glancing around at the creatures that looked at it expectantly. With clear trepidation, the changeling got to its hooves and stepped towards the entrance. The Alpha was close behind as they moved out, swiftly followed by Princess Cadance and the rest of the prisoners.


~-~


Aldrin stood resolute as he glared at the entrance to the pod room. He could still hear them talking, planning an escape no doubt. He would not allow such a thing to pass. He was his Queen’s loyal soldier, and he would not fail his mission. He may have been too slow to prevent the prisoner’s release, but they would not make it past the door.

Behind him stood the panting soldiers he had brought with him. The number of which having been reduced, as a number of them could not keep up with their sleepless rush. He didn’t have the time to properly reprimand them. Not to mention that any soldier who wouldn’t be able to keep up with them, wouldn’t have been of any use in the upcoming fight. 

The soldiers that persevered stood at the ready, their horns already alight with magic prepared to rend the flesh of whoever stepped through the door first. It was merely a matter of time before they did, and once the situation had been dealt with, he would return to the Queen and inform her of his success. 

His ears twitched as he heard movement. He swiftly cleared his head of thoughts, as this was no longer the time for them. It was the time for action. His eyes narrowed as his own horn charged, signalling the others that he heard movement. The shuffling of his soldiers could be barely heard as they refocused on the pod entrance. 

Silence reigned for a short time before a figure emerged. One that surprised them all. It was a changeling that came out. Aldrin couldn’t help but feel his blood boil at the sight. 

Was this changeling a traitor!? 

His answer quickly came to him when another figure emerged behind the first. This one was much taller, covered in a white cloak. Aldrin recognized him as the one the princesses called in to build a preventative measure against their Queen. However, his Queen had cornered and captured him. Now he was freed, and Aldrin could tell that he clearly wasn’t amused. 

The creature loomed opposite them, even as his soldiers fired off spells at him. The elf reacted within an instant, a hand pressed to the wall as suddenly a loud crack reverberated through the halls. Before the spells could travel half the distance, the walls exploded into movement, a sheet of rock shooting out and blocking their sightline. 

The spells that were fired had harmlessly impacted the new wall that had sprung up in front of them. A moment later, the wall retracted, the bipedal creature appearing much closer than he had before. A flash of movement was Aldrin’s only warning before he was suddenly on the ground, something having impacted him from above. He tried to stand, but found the task impossible, no matter how hard his legs pushed against the floor. A pressure on his back was keeping him down. 

His eyes were locked on the tall creature that had done this to them, having not moved since he had last acted. Taking a chance, he looked away from his enemy to ascertain what exactly was keeping him pinned to the floor. He was surprised to find that the roof had lowered, pressing against his back and forcing him to the floor. 

Anger flowed through him as his gaze returned to his opponent. He would not let himself be beaten without a fight. Not like this. 

His horn flared to life, magic building at his call. Even from this distance, he could see the creature’s eyes narrow, and in that moment he knew he had made a mistake. He should have just accepted his defeat. 

A part of the wall next to him shot out, slamming into his horn at incredible speeds. A sickening crack sounding out through the cave as the horn was bludgeoned off his head. Pain seared through his body as his magic rebounded back into himself. He could vaguely hear a scream playing out, similar to his own, even as his vision began to swim. 

Unable to fight through the pain, his mind slowly shut down, his vision going dark as Aldrin fell unconscious.


~-~


Aurick barely spared the fallen changeling another glance as his magic worked into the stone once more. A pathway was carved into the stone that now held down the group of changelings, allowing him and the rest to pass through. Any resistance after that was minimal at best. It had seemed that a large number of the guards were a part of the group that tried to ambush them. 

That suited him just fine. He did not want to waste any more time on these bugs than he had to. He simply wished to get out of this hive, return to Canterlot, tear that bitch of a bug limb from limb, and be done with it all. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that it wouldn’t be so simple. It never was, but he couldn’t bring himself to care at the moment.

Memories ran through his mind as he walked through the cave, following the bug that had helped free him. Memories that he’d rather not think of. Each one felt like a blow, and his heart began to ache worse than it has in a long time. 

He was distracted from them briefly as Ashwyn moved up to his side, her cheek brushing lightly against his hand. Peering down, his eyes met hers. Those beautiful golden eyes were filled with concern. He couldn’t bring himself to hold her gaze, the ache in his heart redoubling as he looked away. 

He took a deep breath as his memories took hold once more, and still he marched on.
> Ch 61: Get Out
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carina let out a deep breath as the group came to a stop. It was already close to night when they emerged from the hive, leaving them with little choice but to stop for the night no matter what direction they had progressed. 

Carina had led them in the direction of Fillydelphia, as that was the closest location to the hive. Cadence had suggested it, as she was still feeling weak from the pod, and couldn’t simply teleport them away. She wanted to bring the other captured creatures somewhere safe, so that any changelings that attempted to pursue them wouldn’t be able to take them back. 

Aurick didn’t seem pleased, but said nothing. Not to them at least. Carina could hear him mutter something about Canterlot as they had walked, but aside from that, the elf had been distressingly silent. He was still wearing his facade, his emotions hidden behind the veil of a false calm.

Ashwyn had stayed at his side, seemingly aware that his emotions were not what they appeared to be. He could clearly feel the concern she was feeling towards the elf as they walked. He could only hope that her presence could help the elf out of the foul mood he was in. If there was anyone capable, it would likely be her. 

He clearly didn’t like the fact that they had to stop, but Princess Cadence had insisted, for the sake of the creatures they had rescued. Once more, Aurick didn’t voice his opinion, likely knowing that she was right. That didn’t stop his emotions from flaring. If the princess could have felt them, she might have melted from the intensity of them in that moment. 

Despite it all, he merely nodded and excused himself. Choosing to remove himself from the group and sit against a tree a short distance away. Ashwyn swiftly followed behind him. 

Cadence, on the other hoof, sighed and turned back to the group. She swiftly moved to ensure that everyone was cared for and was feeling alright for the night ahead. 

Carina was about to join her, feeling more comfortable around the surprisingly mild mannered Princess of Love. He was sure he would have not been received as well as he had by her, but she seemed far more understanding than he could have hoped. 

Aurick, however, had another idea. Seemingly, he wanted to make true on his demand at that point, having stopped in his tracks to turn towards him.

“Carina, you mind coming over here?” The elf asked in a friendly voice. The changeling knew it wasn’t to be taken as a request. So with a nervous glance towards the Princess of Love, he stepped forward, resigned to his fate. 

As Carina reluctantly made his way over, he pondered how long it had been since he last felt safe. The last time he didn’t think each day had the potential to be his last. He couldn’t remember. 

He had been working against Chrysalis’ plan for so long. He hadn’t exactly had much time to rest. Having had to constantly make new plans and contingencies as his former Queen constantly counteracted them without even knowing he was a factor. 

It was disheartening to say the least. Now, he had been dragged along a brazen rescue by the ones he had hoped could finally put a stop to her plots. Sure, they had been successful, but he had no idea what their plan was now. Chrysalis was sure to know that something was happening, especially since Aldrin was in the hive. Last he checked, Aldrin was at the castle. Now he was…

Carina couldn’t help but wince as he thought of what had happened to the changeling soldier. He couldn’t imagine the pain that must have coursed through his body as his horn was removed. A shiver ran through his body unbidden as he pictured himself in his position, his eyes trailing up to Aurick. 

The elf had positioned himself against the tree, his eyes closed for a moment as though he were collecting his thoughts. Ashwyn rested her head in his lap, the elf’s hand raising to run through her hair. He would have thought it adorable if he wasn’t so scared of what Aurick wanted with him. 

“So…” Aurick started, his eyes opening and locking on Carina. “Mind explaining what those pods did?” He looked down towards Ashwyn, but she seemed to be interested in the subject as well. Her golden eyes boring into him as he nervously scratched a leg. 

“W-well, they, uh, they’re supposed to put you in a state of… sleep.” His eyes flicked up towards Aurick before avoiding eye contact. “Then they make you… r-relive the time you felt love the strongest. Th-that way we can extract the essence of the emotion…”

Aurick didn’t frown, but his eyes grew visibly harder as Carina spoke. The changeling desperately wished he was anywhere else, and by luck, that seemed to be all that the elf had wanted of him.

“Alright, you can leave.” Carina would have broken into a dead sprint away if he wasn’t so nervous. Instead he bowed his head and slowly walked away. 

He could feel Aurick’s eyes on him the entire time.


~-~


Night had descended upon the land of Equestria, and, as such was her duty, Princess Luna walked amongst the dreams of her people once more. Despite what would normally be a fairly relaxing routine, a frown seemed to be firmly affixed to her face. She resolved nightmares swiftly and efficiently that night, but spared no time for words of advice, knowing her mental state would not be conducive to such an endeavor. 

Her thoughts stayed upon the disturbing matter of what had been happening within the castle. The day of the wedding was almost upon them, and she couldn’t help a feeling of dread creep over her. An enemy was out there, somewhere plotting against Canterlot and the peoples within, and yet she could do nothing.

They didn’t know who it could possibly be. What they could possibly want. What their reasoning was. Nothing. All they knew was when the attack was supposed to occur, but that very well might have changed. For all she knew, she could wake up and find an assailant within her room. 

Her guards seemed to be useless in this matter, as they had not come up with anything during their investigation, and the staff haven’t seen anything strange going on. 

The only point of note, was the foalnapping of Aurick. Her frown turned into a grimace as she thought of the elf. It was clear he was onto something, as she doubted he would have been much of a target if he hadn’t been. Though all she had heard from him was the claim that Cadence was a changeling. Perhaps there was some merit to….

No, clearly not. Cadence couldn’t possibly be a changeling. She would be able to tell. 

Shaking her head, she let out a sigh as she looked amongst the dreams she had yet to resolve. Closing her eyes for a moment, she decided to check for Aurick’s dream once more. The void around her shifted, bringing her to a void of grey. Over the past two nights, she had attempted to find him through his dreams, but they were not appearing to her. A fact that worried her immensely. He might have falsely accused her niece, but she knew his heart was in the right place. He was still her friend after all. 

That’s why it brought her great joy to find a dream within the void. Though this one was not what she was used to. The dreams he had were usually a pristine white, but now… It looked as though an active thunderhead had invaded the dream realm. 

She did not wait any further. Something was wrong, and she needed to find out what it was. 

Without any further thought, she stepped forward and pressed a hoof to the tumultuous dream, the world shifting around her as she did so. From the void, trees sprouted, climbing far above her and obscuring the sky. Sunlight peeked through between the branches, and, paired with the gentle sounds of nature, created a rather calming scene. Should she have not had an objective, she might have taken the time to bask in it. As it was, however, she had to continue on. 

She could feel Aurick’s presence a short distance away, deciding to walk directly towards him. As she did, she watched as animals scurried about, searching for food and playing in the trees. She couldn’t help but wonder why such a beautiful dream would create such a dastardly appearance on the outside. Then again, it was based on the dreamer’s mental state, so the true question was why did this dream make him feel as such?

She would not know without observing the dream in question, and thankfully, she didn’t need to wait for long. She found herself on the edge of a clearing, her head peeking out from behind a tree to observe two figures within. 

One of them was clearly Aurick, though he seemed much younger. He was not wearing the cloak, his scarless arms clearly visible to her. 

Beside him stood another figure, seemingly an elf based on her appearance. This woman stood just a bit shorter than Aurick. Long brown hair was braided elegantly and hung over her shoulder. She was garbed in what seemed to be simple clothing, though she seemed to lack shoes. Now that she had noticed it, Aurick wasn’t wearing any either. It was strange, as she never remembered seeing Aurick without any form of footwear. She wondered why, but it was something to be discovered later.

What had caught her attention the most about this woman, wasn’t her appearance, nor what she looked like. It was the bundle that she held within her arms.

Within the arms of the woman, was a child. 

She could have seen Aurick’s smile from a mile away, with how bright it was as he looked at the baby. A hand raised to meet the tiny hands she now saw were reaching towards him. 

She couldn’t help but feel as though she were intruding on something she shouldn’t be. Something felt wrong about being here, and so she tried to back away and silently extract herself from this dream. 

That, sadly, was not what fate had in store for her. A branch cracked under hoof, drawing the attention of the two figures, who instantly looked in her direction. Her head was still around the tree, giving them both a clear view of her, and her eyes were quickly met by Auricks. That was when she knew that she was intruding on something personal. 

Aurick’s eyes were cold as the dream froze. His visage shifting to the one of today as he stepped closer.

“Luna…” His voice was firm, his eyes boring into her. “Get out.” 

“But-” She was shocked to find his hand shoot forward and grab her by the throat, pulling her up to eye level.

“I’m not going to repeat myself.” Before she could even respond, she felt a strong pull from behind her, just before she was forcibly shunted out of the dream. She flew back through the void, away from the dream that ejected her. Looking up, she saw that the dream was visibly worse, having grown larger with sparks of lightning shooting out in any direction. 

She had no clue what she had stepped in one, but she was sure that this would not be the end of it. At least now she knew that Aurick was alive. 

She had been informed that Ashwyn had departed in a mission to rescue the elf. She would have sent some guards with her, but apparently she was far too fast for any guard to keep up with. As such, she had to simply hope that she did not end up captured as well. She assumed that if Aurick was appearing in the dream realm again, then she had saved him. 

Hopefully they would return and help with what was happening in Canterlot. They had to have some idea of who was behind it after all of this.

She could only hope so, at least.
> Ch 62: When a Plan Comes Together
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been some time since Twilight Sparkle last saw Canterlot Castle, and in that time it had become no less luxurious. If she weren't so familiar with the sight, she might have taken a moment to pause and awe at the beautiful visage. As it was, however, she had to wait as her friends did so without her. 

They might have come to the castle a couple times, but it takes some time for the disbelief to rid itself from your mind. She knew from first hand experience, after all. 

She took the short time to glance out at the pink dome that stood tall above them. Once more, she found that the Princess wasn’t telling her something. She also had the sneaking suspicion that they had informed Aurick again, as he had suddenly disappeared a couple days prior. Also there was the fact that Rarity heard rumors about a strange creature and a monstrous looking pony in the castle. 

To be fair, Twilight understood where the Princess was coming from. She was just a civilian. Celestia’s personal student, perhaps, but a civilian nonetheless. She wielded the Element of Magic, her friends holding dominion over the rest, but they were not soldiers. They never received any training, and they certainly couldn’t be used to counter every threat. 

The princess herself had mentioned they were a last resort. So she knew, knew, that she shouldn’t expect to be told about these kinds of things. Yet, at the same time, she couldn’t help but feel as though she wasn’t trusted with the knowledge. A fact that hurt her more than she cared to admit. 

The princesses knew Aurick for only two months, and they were already trusting him with this! Granted, he was over five hundred years old, with who knows how many years as a mercenary, but… 

She let out an audible sigh as her gaze lowered from the pink bubble above. She shouldn’t be thinking like this. Not right now, at least. Whatever was happening, this was supposed to be a happy occasion. Her brother was getting married! Sure, he didn't care to tell her he was dating. Nor did he care to tell her who it was. Or even give her a larger notice than a day…

Her eye twitched involuntarily.

She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath and exhaling in a slow, practiced motion. It did wonders to calm her, a smile returning to her face. 

None of that mattered. She was happy for him, and despite how forgetful he was in informing her, she would do her best to make sure he had a great wedding. He deserved that at least. 

Nodding once to herself, she turned back to her friends. They had all recovered from their reverie and were prepared to make their way towards their destination. 

Twilight was more than happy to do so.


~-~


Chrysalis looked out a window, a small smile upon her face as she watched the meeting far below. Twilight Sparkle and the other Elements of Harmony had met up with her brother at the castle gates. Twilight and Shining Armour were in the middle of an embrace as she peered out, before her eyes rose to the horizon. 

Things were all going according to plan. For the most part at least. That chimera’s actions had worried her extensively. The worst part was that she couldn’t know how successful Aldrin was. He was one of her finest soldiers. Loyal to a fault and worked harder than any other. 

Even so, she couldn’t help but feel a creeping dread caress her spine. If Aldrin was too slow and that damned chimera released her prisoners… 

No. She had to trust her underlings. She could not falter here. One slip and her plan would be ruined. She simply had to trust Aldrin to do his part, and she would, in turn, do her own. 

Her gaze lowered down to the gates once more. The Elements were entering the castle, excited smiles upon their faces. 

They had no clue what was coming for them…


~-~


Cadence couldn’t help but smile as the city of Fillydelphia came into view. It had taken a large portion of the day, but they would be able to make it before the day was out. She would be able to arrange safety for the rescued prisoners, as well as roundup the guard to help fight back this Chrysalis that Carina had told her about. 

“Almost there.” She spoke to herself, a sigh of relief escaping her as she did so. At her side, Carina nodded. The changeling had been spending most of his time with her, evidently terrified by Aurick and Ashwyn. Though she couldn’t particularly understand why. 

The fact that she could see him stiffen, his eyes looking past her, told the princess of love that one such person had decided to wander over. Shifting her gaze, she found Aurick had moved up to look at the city. 

The elf still wore a mask of peace, but she could feel his heart, and knew that he had none. Despite that, a somewhat genuine smile appeared upon his face as he saw how close they were. 

“How fast can one of those train things get us to Canterlot?” He asked, not bothering to face her. 

“Just under a day, I believe.” She responded with a furrowed brow. She knew precisely why he was asking. As what was meant to be her wedding would take place tomorrow. “Fear not, Aurick.” She continued. “We shall rally the guard and take down this Chrysalis.” 

“No, you won’t.” The statement shocked her. What was he saying!? “Do you honestly believe the guard would take you at your word that the guards of Canterlot Castle, and the princesses have been mind controlled? Sure you could get somewhere with accusing her of being an imposter, but that would take too much time. It’s best to just go there, kill that bitch, and be done with it.”

“K-kill…” Cadence was taken aback by how brazenly he had declared such a thing. Sure, wasn’t happy with what this Chrysalis had done, but to kill her… that seemed a bit much. “No! We’re not going to be killing anyone!” She told him firmly, a hoof slamming down to emphasize her point. 

She regretted it immediately.

The falsities on his face faded away in an instant, and the elf turned to look at her with cold eyes that seemed to almost look through her. “She is going to die.” The elf stated matter of factly. “I don’t care if you help or not, so long as you don't get in my way, but mark my words. She will not survive.” 

Cadence found herself unable to respond, her mouth suddenly dry. Thankfully the elf, turned away, his long legs taking him away from the Alicorn. Cadence’s own legs were shaking slightly from the interaction.

She had never heard such… malice in anyone's voice. She didn’t believe someone who could have earned her Aunt’s respect could have said something like that. 

It only showed she still had much to learn before she could truly take on the role of a princess.
> Ch 63: Now We Wait
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aurick watched as Cadence approached two of the guards that were patrolling the streets a slight frown on his face. She hadn’t listened to him. Not that he was surprised. He could see it in her eyes as he had spoke with her. She was already set on her path, he would not be able to change it. 

Not that he particularly cared. He didn’t have to escort her. the only reason he traveled so far with her was because they were simply heading to the nearest location. Now that he was in Fillydelphia, he could get on one of those train things, and return to Canterlot swiftly. 

Turning away from the sight of the princess, he walked off towards the direction of the train tracks. He had seen them on their way into the city, having noted their location for just such a purpose. 

None of the rescued prisoners followed him, choosing to stick close to their princess. The only one who followed was Ashwyn and, surprisingly, Carina. Though the changeling had a quick word with Cadence before following.

The bug had disguised himself before they had entered the city. Choosing to don the appearance of a yellow unicorn with a short cropped orange mane. He didn’t pay the changeling any mind as he continued his trek. 

The ponies of Fillydelphia reacted similarly to Ponyville’s residents when he first moved there. Many moving out of his way, fear and uncertainty in their eyes. Though a couple seemed to recognize him in some form. No doubt the stories of the strange enchanter and his mutated girlfriend had traveled. 

The guards seemed well enough informed to not stop him in the street, giving him small nods as he passed. Because of this, the trip to the train station was a swift one. 

It wasn’t nearly as impressive as Canterlot’s, though not as bare bones as Ponyville’s. It seemed to serve its purpose, and though some effort was put into beautifying it, there wasn’t much heart placed in the work. 

He was quick to find the ticket booth. The pony manning the booth looked tired, being caught in the middle of a yawn as Aurick approached. Not that the elf could blame him as night was almost upon them. That didn’t change the fact that his eyes went as wide as saucers when he noticed the elf standing before him. 

“Uhhhh…” The stallion let out, his mouth agape as he was faced with what was no doubt a strange creature to him.

“I need tickets to Canterlot.” Aurick told him firmly. The pony merely nodded, scrambling to acquire three of what he desired. “When shall the train arrive?” Aurick continued to question the poor pony as he pulled out a small sack of coins, paying for the tickets.

“Sh-should arrive around noon tomorrow.” He nervously replied, shaking slightly. “B-beds are supplied in a separate cart.”  From Aurick’s perspective, it looked as though a gentle breeze could knock him over, but he didn’t pay it much attention. 

Having acquired the tickets and the information he needed, his business there was finished. Walking away, the elf made his way towards the train. It was only a short time later, that Aurick sat within the train. Where all he could do was wait. 

And try not to let his thoughts consume him.


~-~


Ashwyn was silent as she leaned against the Alpha’s tense form. He seemed to relax slightly at her touch, but not by much. An arm wrapped around her withers, pulling her close as he stared off into space. 

The train car was mostly empty, the ponies that were in it before having moved to seperate cars. They didn’t seem comfortable being so close to the Alpha, so they were left with themselves, Carina, and a couple nervous ponies at the edges of the car.

The conductor had come through to inspect the car before departure. He seemed nonplussed by the Alpha’s appearance, and informed them that the train would be heading out in five minutes.

Once the conductor had moved on, silence returned to them. Thicker than any syrup, Ashwyn couldn’t help but feeling a little anxious. 

The Alpha’s current state was distressing, to say the least. She had managed to rescue him, and now they were together again, but at the same time… the Alpha was distant. They had barely spoken to each other since he emerged from that pod. In fact, the Alpha hadn’t really said much at all. 

He wore this false mask of calm, but Ashwyn knew better. She had lived with the Alpha long enough, studied his face enough times to gauge his emotions. She could tell when he was hiding something, and the look in his eyes was enough to inform her what was probably happening. 

Carina had said the pods made you remember the time you most felt love. Ashwyn would have liked to believe it had involved her, but she knew better. The Alpha likely had someone before her. Someone he cared for deeply. Whether they were seperated by his transfer to this world, or something else, she couldn’t know. What she did know, however, was that he was shaken up about it. 

She wanted to be there for him. To comfort him, and hold him, and tell him everything would be alright. Like he had done for her. She just… didn’t know how. She didn’t want to say the wrong things. To say something that could hurt him more, but… she knew she couldn’t just sit there and do nothing either.

This conflict was what consumed the time before the train departed. Only broken from her thoughts by the heavy sound of hoof falls as someone rushed into the car.

Panting, the pony that had so swiftly entered, was Princess Cadence. Ashwyn couldn’t help but raise a brow at the sudden appearance of the princess, who swiftly wiped her brow.

“Almost didn’t make it.” Ashwyn heard her whisper to herself before she sat down on one of the many seats. As she did so, the doors of the train slid shut, firmly locking out any late passengers. 

It was only moments later that the train lurched forwards, beginning the long wait until they arrived in Canterlot. 


~-~


Cadence couldn’t help but frown as she watched the land outside the window slip past. She would have remained in such a state, if someone hadn’t tapped upon her shoulder. 

Turning in her seat, she found Carina had been the one to do so. A little surprised, she looked up to find that Aurick and Ashwyn were seated nearby as well. She had assumed they had gotten on the train, but didn’t realize she had entered the same car. 

A nice coincidence. 

“Where are the guards?” Carina asked, his brow furrowed. 

His question served to deepen the frown on the princess’ face. “They are not coming.” She stated. She wasn’t oblivious to the fact that Ashwyn’s ear turned in their direction, nor the rolling of Aurick’s eyes. 

“N-not coming!?” Carina gasped. “B-but, you’re their princess, right? Shouldn’t they listen to you?” 

“Seemingly not.” Cadence huffed, crossing her forelegs as she did. “They claimed that I couldn’t just gather a contingent of guards and bring them to Canterlot. Not without solid proof that something was happening.” 

“I told you.” Aurick told her from across the car. She chose to ignore him. 

“At least they are taking care of the people we rescued.” Cadence continued with a sigh. 

“Good.” Carina confirmed, nodding his head, before the pair faded into silence.

The only sound being that of the train’s movement as they moved towards their destination.
> Ch 64: Countdown
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The steady sound of the train as it progressed on its path was all that could be heard in their car. The few ponies that had not taken the liberty of moving to a different location were silent, feeling the atmosphere and knew better than to break the silence. Even Princess Cadence and Carina, who seemed to be actively speaking to each other, weren’t making a sound. Though Ashwyn assumed it was due to some magic on the Princess’ part, as her horn was alight with energy.

A small lump in her throat made itself known as she looked up to the Alpha. She needed to talk to him, but she couldn’t. Not here. Not with all these people around. 

Looking out the window, she noted that the sun had descended beyond the horizon, the car being lit by light fixtures. She hoped that meant ponies would start leaving the car soon, as the beds were in a seperate one.

Thankfully she didn’t have to wait long, as they seemed to hop at the chance to remove themselves from the Alpha’s presence. Even if the princess was there, it seemed they lacked the courage to face down an alien creature in a fowl mood. 

Ashwyn was thankful for that in the moment, but as the ponies left and the train car emptied, a feeling of dread cemented itself in her chest. This dread made itself known instantly, her mouth feeling dry all of a sudden as she glanced up towards the continually straight face of the Alpha. 

She was afraid. No, she was terrified. What could she possibly say to him? She didn’t know. The Alpha was hurting and she had no clue how to help him. She so desperately wished she knew what to say. What she could do to bring that smile she loved back to his face. Yet, despite the silent pleas for answers, none came to her.

Her mind became consumed by the thought. Her brain working hard to try and decipher what she could possibly do for the elf that she loved. It all amounted to nothing, however. She simply did not have the experience to understand what she had to do. 

It was at this time that she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. Pulling her mind from her thoughts, she looked out towards the source. It happened to be Carina and the princess getting up from their seats. They both glanced at the Alpha as they passed, but Ashwyn hardly noticed, she was too busy staring at Princess Cadence.

A thought clicked in her mind, one that she was surprised hadn’t come up before. Princess Cadence was the Princess of Love! She would know what to do! She just had to… leave the Alpha to go talk with her…

She wasn’t particularly comfortable with that idea. She didn’t want to leave him alone. She felt like that would be even worse. She felt it in her heart. He needed her there, and despite the incessant thoughts that told her to speak with the princess, she remained at his side. 

She might not know what to say, but she could at least be there for him.


~-~


Chrysalis couldn’t help but smile. Today was the day. The day that everything she had been working towards would come to fruition. 

With a little skip to her step, the disguised changeling queen moved to the bathroom and situated herself in front of the mirror. Staring back at her was the visage of Princess Cadence. 

If she were to be honest with herself, her plan wouldn’t have gotten so far without the pony princess. Her naivety made her capture far easier than had been anticipated. It was clear to Chrysalis why she wasn’t in a state of rulership yet. Not to mention, once plugged into one of her feeding pods, the alicorn swiftly filled up their reserves. It was enough that Chrysalis had to take the excess into herself, leading to her large boost in magical strength. 

It was limited, granted, but so long as Cadence was filling the reserves in the hive, she could always get more. For now, however, what she had would be sufficient to make her plans a success.

That is… unless Aldrin had failed in his task. Despite her confidence in her underling, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy. Everything was at the tipping point, and if anything were to go wrong, she might not be able to get out of this. 

Her control over Celestia and Luna were tentative at best. If her cover was blown, then her control over them would go with it. She had to make sure they were where they were supposed to be. She had to time her actions, and calculate every movement. 

Taking a deep breath, she steeled her nerves. These feelings would get her nowhere. She could not perform if she were to busy fretting over something she couldn’t control. 

She would carry on. If it went wrong, then… she would adapt. As she always had. One didn’t live as long as she did without learning how to escape a bad situation. 

She would survive, no matter what happened.


~-~


Princess Luna couldn’t help but frown as she silently stepped out of bed. She was happy to have seen Aurick’s dream once more. The issue was that she wasn’t capable of entering it, a fact that irritated her greatly. Today was the day that the attack was supposed to be, and Aurick was the only one that knew who their opponent was. 

She understood that she had stepped in on something private the previous night, but she needed that information. For the sake of her ponies if for nothing else. 

She would need to speak with him after this situation was resolved… if it was resolved. To say that she didn’t feel nervous would be a lie. Her and her sister had to deal with a situation where they knew little to nothing. It certainly didn’t help that Celestia continued her foolish desire to keep the wool of her people’s eyes.

Just another person that she would have to have a long conversation with after everything was all said and done. A deep sigh escaped her as she made her way towards the bathroom, looking to take a shower and hopefully feel better for the long day ahead.

She could only hope that she could handle whatever came.
> Ch 65: A Day in the City
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Without a word, Aurick stepped off the train, Ashwyn close to his side as he moved. The ponies in the crowded station seemed to know better than to stand in his way, a small ripple in the sea of bodies being enough to open a path for him. 

Princess Cadence was not so lucky. The moment she was spotted, a veritable horde of ponies approached her, seeking to wish her well on what was supposed to be the day of her marriage. 

The group of four was split into two. Aurick and Ashwyn proceeding onward, leaving Cadance and Carina behind to deal with the ponies of Canterlot. 


~-~


Alae let out a yawn as she watched ponies pass her by. She was supposed to stand guard within the city and keep on the lookout for certain individuals. Evidently, Queen Chrysalis had suspicions that the Enchanter and his companion would be returning to the city. A fact that she found improbable.

She had heard that the queen sent Aldrin to ensure such an outcome didn’t happen. There was no possible way that he could have failed such a task. He was far too strong for these weak creatures to defeat. 

So it was with some minor irritation that she continued her watch over the passerbys. The only thing to break up the monotony of the job was the occasional stallion that caught her eye. It had been quite some time since she had gathered love for the hive, and she briefly wondered when her next opportunity would be. 

It got to the point where she began to rate stallions based on how much love she thought she could feed off of them. She was so caught up in this that she nearly missed the disturbance in the crowd. 

Ponies began to part, mild looks of fear crossing their faces as the seemed to avoid something. That something was swift to reveal itself as it rounded the corner, and it was enough to make Alae’s jaw drop.

The Queen’s suspicions were right, the enchanter was back. She had to go tell her, she had to… Why was he staring at her like that? 

Her instincts taking over, she tried to turn and run, but she swiftly slammed into some invisible force, knocking her onto her rear. She barely had time to get to her hooves before a she saw a large shadow envelope her. Shakilly, the disguised changeling turned around, seeing exactly what she feared.

The enchanter stood before her, his face dark, and a cold fury rolling off his body in waves. Alae’s legs locked in that moment as her eyes met his, and she knew in the back of her mind that she would not like what came next.


~-~


Shouts of panic filled the street as this scene played out, resulting in the elf holding the changeling by the throat. A flash of magic dispelled the disguise it wore, revealing the chitinous truth. 

Ashwyn watched as the Alpha held this changeling in his grasp, struggling against the grip with a terrified look on its face. She felt a modicum of sympathy for the bug pony, having to face the Alpha’s gaze like this must have been no easy task.

“Has your leader moved from the castle?” He demanded, glaring daggers. The changeling let out a squeak before shaking its head. “Good.”

Before any party could fully comprehend what was happening, the Alpha’s hand glowed before a large projection of force surrounded the changeling’s head, vaguely looking similar to a hand. Then… it closed around the changelings head, a sickening sound ringing through the ears of everyone who could have heard it. 

Screaming redoubled as whatever ponies were still on the street made their best attempts to get as far away as they possibly could. Ashwyn, however, sat there watching as green fluids seeped out of the ethereal hand. Then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, it disappeared, letting the body fall to the ground and giving Ashwyn a good view of what the results were. The Alpha seemed unfazed by this, standing up and moving off as though nothing had happened.

Ashwyn did not follow.

Her eyes were locked on the corpse of the changeling before her, her mouth agape in shock and horror. In her mind, she knew the Alpha had killed before. She knew he sought to bring such a fate upon the changeling leader, but to have seen it happen. To see him so easily kill someone and walk away as though it didn’t concern him…

She had killed things before, seen the Alpha kill things before, but it had never been something like this. It was always an animal. Something so that they could eat. This was nothing like that. 

The Alpha killed this changeling in cold blood. Sure, she didn’t particularly like the changelings either, but she didn’t want to kill them like this. Sure, in the moment when they had taken him, she thought she wanted to, but she couldn’t when it came down to it. 

Regret filled her heart as she realized she was the one to have pointed out this changeling in the crowd. She had been the one to lead him towards it… this changeling died because of her… 

Eventually she tore her eyes from the corpse, attempting to see where the Alpha had gone, only to find him already at the end of the road. Swallowing a lump in her throat, she forced her legs to move. One paw in front of the other as she slowly left the corpse behind and attempted to catch up to the Alpha.

The only thing running through her mind was the image of the changeling that she left behind, and what she could do to prevent similar sights on their path to Canterlot Castle.


~-~


Carina and Princess Cadance had finally managed to escape the throng of ponies wishing their princess well and a happy marriage. At first the pair were happy by the much quieter atmosphere as they moved onwards, but eventually they came to notice something strange. Specifically the lack of ponies on the streets. They found this odd, until the pair came across the reason for this.

Sitting in the middle of the street was a corpse. A corpse that Carina recognized.

In a flurry of motion, the changeling rushed forward, leaving a shocked Cadance behind. “Alae!” He cried out, his voice choked as he viewed the lifeless body. “He… he…” He didn’t need to take a guess as to figure out who had done this. 

He cursed himself for not being there. For not going with them to prevent this from happening. He knew Aurick was murderous. He knew this and still let him go. Carina hadn’t even attempted to try and convince him not to take out his rage. He was too scared. Too much of a coward. 

Why was he like this? Why couldn’t he just…

He was pulled from his thoughts by a hoof on his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Cadance standing next to him, a look of sadness on her face as she gazed upon the corpse. 

“We must go.” She told him in a silent voice. “W-we need to catch up to him. We need to stop him from leaving a trail of bodies to the castle.” 

Carina couldn’t help but agree, his head nodding without a word. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he forced himself to turn away from Alae’s body. As the princess lead him away, he silently vowed that he would stop being so cowardly. He would try to fight Aurick if he had to…

He just didn’t want to see anyone else die.
> Ch 66: When a Plan Doesn't Come Together
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Queen Chrysalis couldn’t help but smile as she stood in front of the mirror. The dress she wore was masterfully made. Fit for a princess, in more ways than one. If she were to be honest with herself, she didn’t think she’d be able to pull it off quite as well in her natural form. It was seemingly made with Cadance’s visage in mind. 

She could only think of its beauty as a sign. A sign that her plan would be fruitful for her. That nothing would mess up what she needed to do at the wedding in an hour. 

That was when the door behind her decided to burst open, a frantic looking guard on the other side. Chrysalis recognized this stallion, in fact, he was one of her changelings. 

This was not a good sign.

Her eyes narrowed, she turned to address the sudden intruder. “What has happened, Palpus?” Her voice demanded an answer, and her underling was more than willing to give it.

“I-It’s the Enchanter!” He cried out. “Alae… He killed Alae in the middle of the street!” When she heard that, a small chill ran down her spine.

He… had killed one of her drones? One of her subordinates. One of her children!?

Her teeth ground together, even as her legs began to tremble in rage. 

This beast dared to hurt her children! She should have simply killed him when she had the chance, but no! She had to be greedy! Get more food. The alicorns would have been more than enough, she didn’t need him. Now this mistake had cost the life of one of her changelings. 

Alae. She remembered her. Chrysalis had ordered her to keep a watch for that Enchanter just this morning. Now she was dead…

“Where is Luna?” Chrysalis asked, her eyes hard as she glared past Palpus.

“I-I believe she’s in the dining room.” He replied. Chrysalis was not oblivious to how shaken up he was, but she could not spare the time to comfort him. The plan was forfeit, with this enchanter around there was no way her plans could conceivably be salvaged. As much as she hated to admit it, she could not defeat him. She might have been more powerful, but he held more battle experience than she. She would have to retreat and take him out the old way.

“Bring her to me, I have need of her. After you do so, recall all of the changelings I sent out. We must evacuate, we will not be able to succeed like this. Send out the guards under my control to slow him down while we move out.” Palpus swiftly bowed and backed out of the room, sure to complete the orders that she had just given to him. 


~-~


Princess Luna silently entered the room, her mind still on the situation meant to happen that day. She couldn’t think of anyone that would attack at such a time.

Such thoughts were swiftly purged from her mind as she gazed upon her niece. A smile gracing her lips as she saw just how beautiful she was in her wedding dress. That smile was quick to fade, however, when she noticed the look on her niece’s face. 

“What’s wrong, Cadence?” She asked in a soft tone, moving closer to wrap a wing around her in comfort. 

“A-Auntie. It… It’s Aurick. He’s back and he… he’s killing ponies and…” She was cut off by a sob. 

He was… killing ponies? That didn’t sound like- He was killing ponies! She knew he couldn’t be trusted! She should have pushed to have guards placed on him. She should have done something more to keep this fiend from her little ponies.

Eyes hard and jaw set, she looked down at her niece before pulling her close. “Don’t worry, Cadence, I’ll take care of this. Just worry about your wedding and leave this grim business to me.” 

“O-okay.” Cadence replied meekly between her tears. Hugging luna close for a moment. Luna took a moment to reciprocate it, but she felt the need to go and take care of this as swiftly as possible. As such, she did not stay to comfort her niece for as long as she would have liked before she departed. 

Cadence watched her leave, tears streaming down her face… until the door closed behind the lunar alicorn. She scowled as her gaze shifted towards a window overlooking the city. 

“I must hope my control of her lasts. At least long enough for me to leave the city.” The false Cadence sighed in defeat before turning around, green flames licking at her hooves as her form changed to that of a maid. 

She had to get her children out before they were all slaughtered.


~-~


Ashwyn silently followed the Alpha, a noticeable space between them. Her mind was only partially focused on what was happening around her, her mind still on the body they had left behind some time ago. 

She couldn’t believe he had done something like that. How easy it was for him. It sent a shiver down her spine. The image of the spectral hand closing around the terrified changeling’s head. The sound it made as it crushed its skull. The blood seeping out from within. The sight of the corpse afterwards. All of them burned into her mind. 

All caused by the Alpha. 

It made her think. About what kind of person the Alpha was. About how little she actually knew about him. She shared so much of her life with him. There have been many nights where they would talk about her, and just as many where she would ask about him, only for him to deflect the topic. 

She knew he was an alien. She knew he wasn’t keen on intimacy with her, at least as of yet. She knew that he was well versed in magic. She knew he used to be a mercenary. Beyond that, however… She didn’t know. 

This recent event made her look at him from a different perspective, and all she saw was a stranger. 

“Aurick!” The shout pulled her from her thoughts as she was forced to turn towards the voice. Behind the pair was a panting Cadence and Carina, who were running towards them. 

The Alpha didn’t bother to stop.

Cadence clearly didn’t seem pleased with this, as her horn glowed pink, a similarly coloured force surrounding his midsection. He was forced to stop, and when he turned his head to look at them, it was slow and measured. He didn’t say anything, but his posture communicated his annoyance well enough.

“You can’t just kill someone in the middle of the street like that!” Cadence shouted out, cutting through the silence. It was enough to make him turn fully.

“And why not?” He asked in a voice that bore no emotion. As though he saw nothing wrong with what he had done.

“Because it’s wrong!” Was Cadence’s retort, a scowl deeply ste upon her face. 

“Wrong?” The Alpha asked in a level tone. “These bugs invaded your nation. They kidnapped you and threw you in a goo pod to extract energy from you. They replaced ponies in the castle and mind controlled the rest. They even managed to use their mental influence upon the leaders of this nation. Back in my world, we would call that a hostile invasion, and do you know what happened to those that invaded?” One hand pressed against the pink force holding him in place, breaking the magic and taking a step forward, forcing Cadence to retreat a step. 

“They would be cut down without mercy.” 

“B-but this isn’t your world!” Was Cadence’s hesitant reply. 

“Invaders are invaders, there’s no-” 

“Aurick!” The shout that cut him off was vaguely familiar, and as Ashwyn peered up, it became quite clear to her why that was. 

Princess Luna rocketed towards them, coming down from on high. She was garbed in stylish silver armour that looked as though it were forged by the finest of smiths, and the sword she brandished was no different. It took only moments for the princess of the night to close in on the group.

“Explain yourself!” She demanded as she landed, her sword pointing dangerously close to the Alpha’s neck. “Why have you killed one of our ponies!” 

“I see you’re still fell to her magicks.” He snorted. “I shall deal with you later.” The Alpha waved at her dismissively before turning around and attempting to walk away. He did not get far, as another force made itself known around his chest, this time it was a dark blue. 

“You shall not leave when we have not fin-”

“Auntie?” The voice of Cadence cut her off and made her eyes widen in surprise. 

“Cadence?” The Princess asked in shock, evidently not registering that she was here in the first place. “What are you doing here? I was just talking with...” She didn’t finish the sentence, grunting in pain as a hoof clutched at her head. 

“Princess?” Ashwyn asked, but did not approach, wary of the blade she still held in her magical grasp. 

“I… I don’t…” The sword fell to the ground as her magic died and she fell unconscious.

“Auntie!” Cadence was swift to rush forward, concerned for her aunt’s health. Behind her, Carina tapped a hoof against his chin thoughtfully. 

“I think… I think seeing you raised enough questions in her mind to have broken the control on her.” He suggested, poking at the sword on the ground. “When that happens, the victim tends to pass out due to a mental blowback.”

“Wh-what should we do?” Cadence asked in a near panic as she inspected Princess Luna’s unconscious body. 

“She should be fine. She just needs to rest for a bit and…” Ashwyn stopped listening around here, as she noticed something was amiss. Rather, someone was missing.

“Where’s the Alpha?”
> Ch 67: Street Fighter
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

He watched as the small group of guards passed him by. It didn’t take much thought to figure who they were looking for, though he doubted they had much chance of finding him. 

Invisible to the naked eye, Aurick had no trouble slipping through the streets and into the castle.


~-~


“Halt!” A voice shouted out through the silence, paired with the sound of metal hooves on the cobbled stone of the streets. Looking over, Ashwyn and the others saw a small group of guards approach, spears at the ready. It had only been fifteen minutes since they encountered Princess Luna and instead of finding the Alpha, they found these guys. “A murderer prowls these streets, we must- Princess!?” The guard exclaimed upon laying eyes upon Princess Cadence, though another seemed to scowl at her.

“Do not be fooled, Iron. The mistress told us there would be an imposter walking these streets. This one carries the body of Princess Luna, she must be the false one.” The speaking stallions eyes flashed an ominous green as he readjusted his grip on his spear. “We are under orders to exterminate her and any she was accompanied by.” The rest of the guards’ eyes flashed in a similar fashion before their faces went cold.

“Of course, Steel.” The initial guard nodded, his spear steadily pointed at the princess. “Fiends, we recommend you surrender and embrace death peacefully, lest these events turn ugly.” 

Princess Cadence was left speechless, her mouth agape as she stared at the guards. Even as they took a step forward, she did nothing, seeming too lost in the shock to effectively do anything. Ashwyn wasn’t.

Claws dug into the stone below just before she launched forward with a strength that would have been surprising from her limber form. The sun glinting off a series of sharp teeth was all that one guard saw before a paw slammed into the side of his head, knocking him out in an instant. She spun on her hind paws, prepared to take out another, but was surprised to find him assaulted by the shaft of his spear. 

It slammed him in the jaw with enough force to eject spittle from the poor stallions mouth, even as he gasped in pain. He did not have the time to react, however, as the spear spun and slammed him on the top of the head, the metal tip of the spear connecting with the helmet he wore. It created a loud clang that no doubt was painful to the ears of the pony who wore the helmet. Such an attack seemed effective, as the guard’s legs buckled, allowing him to collapse to the floor unconscious. 

Peering over, she saw that the magic being used on the spear belonged to Carina. He didn’t look particularly confidant in his actions. In fact, he looked quite frightened, but Ashwyn paid it no mind. He was helping, and that was enough. 

Wasting little time, she turned towards the rest of the guards, just in time to avoid being skewered by one of their spears. She danced out of the way with nimble footwork and the assistance of her wings. Once the spear tip had safely passed her, she opened her maw and clamped down on the shaft, bisecting it in a moment. 

A paw grabbed further up, using her strength to pull the stallion closer as she spun. A back paw connected with his jaw, sending him spinning through the air into a pair of other guards, knocking all to the ground. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Carina’s magic going to work and wrestling control of their weapons against them. Three separate spears were pulled from their grips, their tips turned towards the previous wielders. With surprisingly precise strikes, a handful of guards were peppered with hits from the weapons, though only from the blunt parts. 

The battle finished before it could truly start, and within a minute, the guards had all collapsed to the street. Ashwyn couldn't help but be a little confused by this. These were meant to be the royal guard, the elite of the elite, the defenders of Equestria. She and Carina had destroyed them in mere moments. 

Sure she was a genetically mutated monster and Carina… she didn’t exactly know his capabilities, but evidently she had underestimated him. Even so, they should have at least been able to do something. Last longer than a minute at least. 

Shaking her head, she realized this was not the time nor the place to ponder such things. The Alpha had probably made it to the castle already, meaning there was no reason to stick around any longer. With a frown, she realized that she was unlikely to succeed in such a task like this. 

“Carina.” She turned to address the changeling, who was checking over the guards. Probably trying to see if he had hurt them or not. “Protect the princess.” The order given, her wings spread and she launched into the air and raced towards the castle. 


~-~


Carina watched as Ashwyn flew off at a speed that he couldn’t hope to compete with, not giving him a chance to respond. Not like he blamed her. Aurick had seemingly given them the slip, and was no doubt making his way towards the castle. He wasn’t entirely sure what she intended to do, but based on her emotional state, he could tell she didn’t like what was happening. 

She might be the best bet they had to stop his rampage, and if that was what she had set out to do, then he wished her luck. He, however, had something else to take care of. 

Turning back, Princess Cadence still stood, eyes wide in shock as she stared at the scene around her. It seemed to Carina that this latest occurrence was the tipping point for the series of events leading up to this point. 

“Princess, are you okay?” He knew she wasn’t, but he thought he’d give her the option to not speak of it. 

“I… I… No. I am not okay. Did you know I was supposed to be getting married today? Instead I have to deal with… with this.” She gestured towards the guards and the unconscious form of Luna on her back. “What if… What if that had been my Shining Armor? What if he was one of the ones trying to kill me? What if it was Auntie Celestia? I… I don’t know what to do…” 

Carina glanced back towards the castle, hoping that Ashwyn would be successful on her end. It seemed he had his own battle to fight, and it didn’t seem to involve his queen.
> Ch 68: Please (Revised)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disguised as a maid, Chrysalis sprinted through the halls of Canterlot Castle, desperate to find the last of her children before the enchanter arrived. 

Since she heard of Alae’s death, she knew her plan had fallen to ruin. It was for the best to retreat and regroup, and, of course, protect her children from the demise that was approaching them. She could deal with Equestria later. She could get her revenge and break that enchanter’s mind until he was dead another time. Right now she had to prioritize her children. 

Their numbers had dwindled over the years, making each and every one of their deaths a great blow to the collective hive. She could potentially produce more, but the process would be long and arduous. Not to mention the great amount of food required for such an endeavor. 

She certainly had enough now, after draining Cadence for a week and a half, but she had a feeling a large portion of that would be used in protecting them all from pursuit. However, that wouldn’t matter if she could simply find where the last of her children had run off to. 

As though it were planned, it was at this moment that one such child chose to sprint by the end of the hall she was traversing. The fact that she was able to recognize her so easily was an issue, because the changeling was entirely undisguised. Either she was an idiot, and Chrysalis doubted any of her spawn could possibly be described as such, or she was far too scared to be thinking straight. The latter was a much more convincing scenario, but in the end it all resulted in the same results.

Her child could do something incredibly dangerous, risking her life and the strength of the hive. A future she did not wish to pass. 

As such, she wasted no time in picking up the pace and sprinting after the panicked child.


~-~


Ashwyn stepped through the halls, her nose in the air as she did her best to parse one scent from another. She had managed to sniff out the Alpha’s distinctive scent the moment she had entered through the main doors. The main issue was attempting to follow it.

The castle, no doubt, had a lot of foot traffic, and as a result, scents were in abundance here. Occasionally she would lose his scent and have to take a long moment to rediscover it. Progress was swift, but she had no doubt that the Alpha was faster.

If the castle was a smaller place, she probably wouldn’t be bothered with tracking him, but as it was, the castle was far too large to search through blindly.

She just had to hope she could catch up before he found his prey.


~-~


“Slow down, damnit!” She yelled out to the changeling she had been chasing, suspecting that she might have gone deaf at this point. Or she forgot the sound of her mother’s voice and decided to flee from any that she heard. In either scenario, Chrysalis was getting rather irritated. 

Of course she attempted to simply grab her daughter in her magic, but the young bug had managed to slip around the corner just before she could on every attempt. Thankfully, however, this chase seemed to be coming to a conclusion as her daughter rammed through a set of double doors and into a room. 

With a smile, Chrysalis let out a sigh of relief as she followed her child within. Finally the running would come to an end and she could bring her child back to the rest of the hive. 

That sense of relief was swiftly evaporated as she entered what she hadn’t expected to be the throne room. The changeling she had been chasing sat in the center of the room, facing her with a devilish smirk, before vanishing in a puff of smoke. Taking a step back she watched the smoke float into the air for a moment, overcome with disbelief. 

What had happened? She thought she was chasing one of her children, but… 

Everything became clear to her when the doors slammed shut behind her. Fearing the worst, she found it to be true when she lifted her gaze to the ornate throne itself to find the creature she least wanted to be in the same room with.

The enchanter reclined on the throne, looking at her with a calm expression. She wasn’t fooled however. She could feel the anger boiling beneath the surface. What confused her, however, was that only a small portion of that rage was directed at her. 

He said nothing, a tense silence developing between them as they stared each other down. One, however, was clearly dominant in that contest, as Chrysalis was desperately wracking her mind for a way to escape this confrontation. 

She was not keen on facing him in battle again. She had been defeated by him before, only snatching victory from him with the trump card she readied beforehand. She had no trump card this time, and even if she did, she doubted he would be so foolish as to not be cautious of such a possibility. 

No, even with her immense power, she would inevitably lose. He had proven himself superior in skill, as loathe as she was to admit it. She had to go about this another way. 

A glance brought her to the windows in the chamber. The light shining through on what would normally be a beautiful sunny day. They weren’t too far away. She might be able to…

With a magically enhanced boost, her wings buzzed in the air and sent her hurtling towards the glass. She knew this would likely hurt the softer parts of her, but it would all be worth it if she could simply escape with her changelings. She knew she could not handle him right now, and she knew that Luna had broken from her hold based on the real Cadence being around somewhere. 

There was no hope other than a retreat.

That hope, seemed to be dashed, when, instead of breaking through the glass and flying off into the sky, something else happened entirely. She slammed into the window, feeling as though she had just dive bombed onto stone. She could feel her chitin crack and break from the sheer force of the impact, and before she could pull herself away, pain shot through her from head to tail. Electricity pumped through her veins with such intensity that she was pretty sure she felt her blood boiling.  

She tried to scream, shout, or anything of the sort as the pain wracked her body, but it didn’t come. All this happened in the matter of a second, as after that, she was flung from the window to land on the hard ground of the throne room.

She couldn’t move even if she wanted to. Her legs failed to respond, merely twitching slightly as she felt static running across her broken chitin. Her mind was in a daze, recovering slowly from the immense pain she felt, but she recognized a sound all the same. Heavy steps closed in on her, until she could make out the shape of the enchanter in her blurry vision.

“You shouldn’t have put me in a pod.” He informed her as simply as if he was reminding her of something on her calendar. The grinding of stone met her ears with such intensity that she had to fold them in order to relieve herself of more pain. What she saw with her blurry vision told her that it was a futile effort. 

The enchanter lifted a foot, and if she was right, it was covered in glowing marble. She didn’t get a very good look at it before that foot descended upon her. At that moment, Chrysalis was sure she would die. Expecting that foot to crush her in an instant, and in the end, she couldn’t face it. 

Her eyes closed and her face tensed, she awaited her demise, hoping that whatever god saw fit to look down on her would grant her the mercy of a painless passing. 

This did not come, as a sickening crack filled the air and pain the likes of which she had never felt before filled her head. Her body flailed, not of her own volition, and she wasn’t sure if it was still because of the shock or the new pain. She thrashed wildly, the pain in her forehead feeling as though someone had taken a poker made of magma and started slowly pressing it into her skull until it met her brain. 

This time, however, she was granted the small mercy of being able to scream in agony. 

She had no idea how much time passed as she cried out, tears streaming down her face in an unrelenting torrent as the pain consumed her. When she the pain finally died down enough for her to focus on something else, she saw the enchanter standing close inspecting a jagged rock in his hand.

It took her a long moment to realize exactly what it was he held, and the moment she did, a panicked hoof reaching up to her skull. This caused the pain to spike once more, but in the end, that was nothing compared to the pit in her stomach as her greatest fear became realized. 

Her horn was gone. Gone. How could… This can’t… 

The tears were renewed as she curled up into a ball, quietly sobbing. Even as pain continued to tear at her mind. 

Why did life have to be like this? She just wanted to survive. To help her children survive. So what if she kidnapped ponies? So what if a few were killed to be replaced? So what if she dominated the minds of the royalty? She did it in to survive. It was all to survive. 

It was cruel. It was unfair. It was wrong. 

She couldn’t accept that this was all her life amounted to. No. She wouldn’t let this continue on. She might not have her magic, but she could still break a limb if she could reach it. If her legs would respond. If she could drive past the pain. It was possible…

So, determined to make that possibility a reality, she moved. Of course, it all went wrong. Her legs shakily lifted her, but the pain made her dizzy. Her loss of balance resulted in her front legs giving out on her, making her lurch forwards. 

She was stopped before she hit the ground, however. She couldn’t discern what it was that caught her, however, as all she could see was a shifting mass of blue.


~-~


Ashwyn followed the scent as swiftly as she could. Moving through halls and down corridors on quick paws. Despite the speed at which she performed, she couldn’t help but feel it was for naught.

The Alpha had too large of a head start.

As though to prove her point, her ears picked up a noise she had not been hoping to hear. A scream. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she realized the Alpha had already found his prey.

Her wings took her into the air, dispersing the mixture of scents around her as she darted off in the direction she heard the noise. It wasn’t difficult to follow, as the scream went on for a while. 

As she flew, she noticed all the ponies she passed were on the floor, unconscious. They didn’t seem to be injured, but she was flying too fast to really inspect them. She simply hoped it was because Chrysalis’ control over them had ended.

Eventually, she managed to follow the noise to the source, and she was surprised to find herself in front of the throne room. She didn’t waste any time, however, as she rushed the doors, forcing them open and giving her a view of what resided within.

What she found was a sight that made her heart drop. 

The Alpha stood to the side of the room, with Chrysalis’s upper half suspended in the air. It was being held aloft by a familiar spectral hand that encompassed her head. What she did next came as a surprise, even to her.

She anticipated hesitation in her actions. What she hadn’t anticipated, was to hurl herself at the Alpha. She slammed into his chest with enough force to expel the breath from his lungs. A look of shock and pain crossed his face as he was flung back, his spell fading without his concentration. Allowing the changeling queen to fall to the floor once more. 

Sparing the bug mare a glance, Ashwyn was horrified by the sight of her. 

Her hard, black carapace had been shattered across her face and chest, revealing the gooey flesh beneath, along with a flow of blood that was surprisingly tame for the extent of the wound. What wasn’t shattered, had been cracked, thin lines running across the changeling’s entire body. The flesh that had shown itself looked in bad condition as well. Looking as though it were burned. Her mane and tail stood on end, and as Ashwyn looked at her, she could see sparks of electricity traveling between the strands of hair. And, of course, her horn was missing, leaving a small jagged protrusion to indicate where it once resided.

Ashwyn couldn’t stand it. This changeling was supposed to be the villain, but when Ashwyn saw her like this, she couldn’t help but feel pity for the bug. She deserved to be jailed, but this… this was too far. 

It looked like she had been tortured. No. Ashwyn was sure she had been. She knew the Alpha could have killed this changeling. She had been screaming for so long before Ashwyn arrived that there was plenty of time to do so. Yet he didn’t. 

He let her scream her lungs out, knowing he could end it at any time. She didn’t believe he would do something like that, but she couldn’t help but feel that it was true. 

A lump formed in her throat as her mind compared the Alpha’s actions to him. A thought that sent a shiver down her spine.

“Ash.” A growl brought her out of her thoughts as her attention returned to the Alpha. He slowly rose to his feet, hunched over as he held his chest with a hand. “What are you doing?” 

“Stop this!” She pleaded, hoping that she could talk him out of continuing his cruelty. 

“Stop?” He asked, seemingly surprised by the request, just before his anger rose to the surface. “Stop!? What, did she ensorcel you too?” Ashwyn was taken aback by this. Was he that consumed by rage that he couldn’t see the truth?

“No! You’re taking this too far!” Ashwyn tried to tell him, but he didn’t seem to listen, as his legs slowly moved him forwards. 

“She needs to die, and you need to get out of the way.” He told her darkly, making her take an instinctive step back.

For the first time, with his large form lumbering towards her, she was genuinely afraid of him. A fact that caused no end of pain in her heart. This was the one she had loved. The one she spent so many wonderful nights with. Now, she could hardly recognize him.

“Alpha, stop… please.” She tried to beg him to desist once more, but he wasn’t hearing it, his approach continuing. “Aurick!” Invoking his name made him pause before her, the anger on his face subsiding to a look of sadness. For the briefest moment, a faint glimmer of hope was brought to life in Ashwyn’s heart. Hope that she had broken through to him. 

That all shattered when he spoke.

“Move aside.” The voice was pleading, but the hand that reached towards her was all she was focused on. Eyes wide, she watched as it moved towards her. Her blood ran cold as images of a certain changeling’s head popping like a grape came to mind. As well as the thought of her own head doing the same. 

She was terrified, and in that instant, instincts took over.

Within the blink of an eye, her paw had raised, and her claws dug into the flesh of his arm. She pulled him closer and swiftly snaked behind him, her other claws lashing out and slashing through the flesh behind his knees. They gave out instantly, but she wasn’t safe yet. He was unable to move his legs, but he could still cast magic. 

Without hesitation, she reared up, her claws digging into his shoulders to catch him before he hit the ground, and sank her teeth into his neck, injecting him with a paralyzing neurotoxin. 

Stepping back, she watched as he fell to the floor, unable to do anything… and swiftly realized exactly what she had just done. 

She quickly moved closer to make sure he was alright. She froze, however, when she got close enough to see him staring at her. It was extremely difficult to discern what he was feeling, as she mostly went by his face and mouth, but she could guess. That didn’t stop the spike of fear running through her when her gaze met his, however. Once more she took a step back, and she saw him let out a sigh and move his eyes away from her. 

Looking back over the pair that were on the floor, she couldn’t help but feel a deep sadness in her chest. Everything had gone wrong in ways she didn’t think possible, and now, she was left with the broken remains of her hopes. 

With a heavy sigh, she stepped up to the changeling queen who was quietly sobbing to herself on the ground. Ashwyn didn’t think she could, but she didn’t want the changeling to escape. So, as gently as she could, she bit the bug, paralyzing her.

Both of them incapable of moving, Ashwyn exited the room in search of someone that could handle the situation better than her.
> Ch 69: Aftermath
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Princess Luna couldn’t help the sigh that escaped her lips as she watched the moon peek up above the horizon. The moon now on the right path, she cut off her magic and closed her eyes.

The day had been a long one. Recovering from mental magics was an unnerving experience, and the trouble it caused wasn’t eased by the fact that she had to help her sister clean up the pieces after the Changeling leader had been taken into custody. 

She was surprised to find that Aurick had been restrained as well. Celestia said that it was Ashwyn who subdued him, but hadn’t been given much reasoning aside from him not thinking straight. Though Cadence and Carina informed her that he had been seeing red. 

Celestia hadn’t seen Ashwyn since then, and Luna had no luck in that aspect either. Then again, they were restrained by their duties, and they had to do their best to recover from the failed invasion. 

As per Celestia’s typical wishes, they tried their best to cover up what happened. Aurick, however, had seemingly thrown a large wrench in those plans with the Changeling corpse he had left in the middle of a busy street. The witnesses were many, and Celestia’s irritation at this was boundless. She might have even throttled the elf for his actions if she hadn’t had a thousand years to learn how to keep her temper in check.

Opening her eyes, she gazed down at the garden below her. Another sigh escaping her lips as her mind turned towards the tiring work she would have waiting for her come morning. She was about to turn and retreat from her balcony to rest upon her bed when she caught something out of the corner of her eye. A figure she hadn’t noticed up until that point, as it was obscured by some foliage.

Blinking, she realized it was Ashwyn, sitting alone on one of the benches that littered the gardens. She had her head turned towards the sky, seemingly searching for something in the stars above her. With a tired glance towards her bed, she took a deep breath and spread her wings. 

A swift flap of her powerful wings was enough to bring her over the railing of her balcony. Evening them out, she began a gentle glide down to the earth below. She saw Ashwyn’s ear turn in her direction, but she didn’t react otherwise towards Luna’s approach. 

As she landed in the gardens, she felt the grass crunch beneath her hooves. With steady steps, she moved up towards Ashwyn and quietly sat on the bench next to her. This close, she could see the tear streaks that ran down the mare’s face.

Luna said nothing, simply reaching out with a wing and hugging the mare close. She resisted for only a moment before burying her face in Luna’s chest. A gentle hoof reached up and slowly began stroking her mane. 

She had no clue how long she sat there, silently consoling the mare. It could have been hours, it could have been mere minutes. In the end, it mattered not. When Ashwyn pulled away from Luna’s chest, she sniffled, her eyes avoiding the Princess’. 

“Thanks.” Her voice was quiet, barely audible over the nightlife. 

“Would you like to speak of what ails you?” Luna asked gently. 

“It’s…” She started, before her head lowered. She remained quiet for a time, seemingly unsure of if she wished to talk or not. Of course, if she didn’t want to talk of her issues, then Luna wouldn’t press the matter. She hoped she would, though. She knew first hand how disastrous keeping those emotions bottled up could do to a pony. “It’s the Alph… It’s Aurick.” Luna nodded encouragingly.

“He…” She paused once more letting out a shaky breath as she tried to collect her thoughts. “He hurt them. He go too far.” Luna couldn’t help but agree with the sentiment. She had seen a picture of the corpse he had left in the streets, as well as Chrysalis’ state after their battle. It was extreme. “I ask him to stop. Not kill anymore. He… he no listen! I beg! He…” Her sentences began to become less comprehensive, only to come to an abrupt halt as a shiver ran through her.

“I thought he’d kill me too.” Luna was taken aback by what she just heard, but she did her best to keep the shock from her face. It wouldn’t help this mare.

“What made you think that?” Luna asked, her wing squeezing the mare in what she hoped was a comforting act.

“I don’t know. When he reach for me, it like every part of my body yell ‘danger’.” Her voice was shaky as she spoke, and her eyes clenched shut. “He look at me so cold. Like I not me. Like I was an enemy.” Luna would have liked to suggest that he might have thought she was a changeling, but that probably wouldn’t help the situation. 

“How about now? Are you still afraid?” She didn’t receive a vocal answer, but Ashwyn nodded, pressing her head into Luna’s chest once more. Taking a breath, Luna looked towards the sky, towards her beloved moon, in search of how best to help this ailing pony. “Do you still love him?” She didn’t get an answer for some time, and after a minute, she began to think Ashwyn had fallen asleep.

“I don’t know.” 

“...I think you should talk to him.” Luna could feel her tense up, her breathing increasing in pace. Luna was swift to place her hooves on the mare’s shoulders and break the hug, holding her apart so that they could meet gazes. “It may not be easy, but do not let these feelings fester within your heart, my little pony. If you wish to move past this, then you must confront it. It need not be today, nor tomorrow, but trust me when I say that things will only worsen should you not speak to him about how you feel. Okay?”

She was unable to hold Luna’s gaze, her eyes lowering to the bench between them. All the same, the princess received a nod from the thestral, swiftly embracing her in a hug once more. 

“Do not fear vocalizing your emotions with me, Ashwyn. Should you ever need an ear to listen, I will be glad to lend it.” Patting her on the back, she broke the embrace once more. “Though right now, I believe you should get some rest. It is late, and today has been long enough. No need to extend it further.” 

“Thank you, Princess… for listening.” Ashwyn nodded, a small smile on her lips. Though that smile faded once she lowered herself from the bench they shared. 

“Anytime, Ashwyn.” Luna replied, standing as well. She watched as the thestral hesitantly turned away from her and began to walk off slowly. A frown spread across the princess’ lips as she watched her subject go. An idea was quick to form in her mind. “Ashwyn.” She called out, making the mare in question turn to face her once more. “Would you like to join me tonight?” She might not be able to help as much as she would like in the coming days, but she could at least try her best to make the mare’s nights more peaceful.

A moment of hesitation passed, as Ashwyn looked between Luna and the entrance into the castle she was headed for. A moment later, Ashwyn was under Luna’s wing. 

“Come, I’ll do my best to make sure you are not disturbed this night.” 


~-~


Morning came with a groggy awakening. Luna, mistress of the night, guardian of dreams, and emissary of sleep, hated mornings. The only reconciliation of the occasion was whichever of the servants brought piping hot coffee for her every morning. 

As if on cue, the sound of dishes gently tapping against each other met her ears. Hoofsteps approached, and she blearily turned in her bed to thank whichever kind soul it was that would be delivering her wake up juice. 

It was here that she was reminded of the weight at her side, and the pony it belonged to. Blinking, she looked down at the white mare, still curled up at her side. Tears may have still stained her face, but in her rest at least, she was at peace.

A frown worked its way onto Luna’s face as she realized she would have to leave the poor mare. As much as she’d like to help her deal with her feelings, there was a host of things she had to attend to during the day. She doubted there’d be much time to spare for her little pony. 

With gentle movements, Luna’s magic surrounded Ashwyn and removed her from the princess, allowing the alicorn to sit up in her bed. The servant had patiently waited at her bedside, a tray with a mug, coffee, creamer, and sugar in his magical grasp. 

She smiled at the stallion as she recognized him. Swift Service was his name, and as it implied, he always delivered in a timely manner. Luna had come to truly appreciate the stallion for his quality service.

“Thank you, Swift.” She mumbled, the faintest hints of a smile on her face as she poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot and looked towards the creamer and sugar contemplatively. She liked to mix up her brew from time to time, and she had to wonder what she felt would be best for the day ahead of her. After a moment of thought, she scooped some sugar into her mug and stirred it in. 

A single sip later and those hints of a smile came to fruition. “I might be in need of your services more than usual today.” She told the stallion, receiving a nod in answer.

“Of course, Princess. You must have a lot on your plate considering…” His eyes lowered slightly, and she could see a shiver run its course down his spine, “considering the past week.” 

“Are you okay?” She asked gently, a hoof reaching out and resting on his shoulder. He smiled at the gesture.

“It certainly wasn’t a pleasant experience, but I was fortunate enough to be out of the thick of the events that transpired. As I have told your sister yesterday, I am fully capable, and willing, to work. I have no doubt you two shall have need of any staff you could get your hooves on during the next few days.” He told her, a warm smile on his face.

“If you are sure. I’m sure I needn’t tell you that I am willing to listen should you have need of an ear.” Luna reminded him, sharing the smile.

“Thank you, Princess, but I don’t believe I will be needing to hold you to that any time soon. Some of the guards, however...” 

“I know.” A sigh broke through her smile. “Celestia already called in a number of therapists for those that need them.”

“That is good news.” A moment of silence passed between them before Swift looked towards the balcony. The moon was still out, and she would have to deal with that within the next few minutes. She was merely awaiting her sister’s call. “I should let you enjoy your coffee while you can, Princess. Should you need anything, I shall do my best to serve as swiftly as I can.”

“I know you will.” With a nod, the stallion turned and exited the room, leaving Luna to close her eyes and take a deep breath. Taking another sip of her coffee, she mentally prepared herself for the coming day.

Glancing towards the pony that still rested in her bed, she sighed. She still didn’t want to leave Ashwyn alone to deal with her issues, but she had no choice. It was then, however, that she got an idea. Her horn lit up, sending out a call for one of her servants. 

She wouldn’t arrive for some time, though. It wasn’t until Luna forced herself out of bed and onto the balcony where she lowered her moon that her call was answered.

A light thump sounded beside her, but there was no one to be seen. At least, until the spell was dispersed and an armoured thestral appeared before her. She bowed to her princess before rising and standing at attention.

“You called, Princess?” She asked in her typically raspy voice, getting a small smile from Luna.

“Good morning, Light Step. How are you holding up?” Luna asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

“I’m fine, Princess. A little invasion like that isn’t gonna keep me down.” The mare’s voice was dripping with confidence, though Luna could see cracks in the facade. She thought to bring it up, but she knew this mare’s pride too well. She would never admit to such a thing, certainly not to her princess. Luna simply had to hope she would turn to her friends, instead of a bottle.

She would have to keep an eye out for her trusted guard. Of course, she would have to keep an eye out for many others as well.

“So, was this just a checkup, or is there something you’d like me to handle for you?” She continued, a smirk placed upon her lips.

“Yes. If nothing more important comes up today, I’d like you to keep a watch over Ashwyn for me.” 

“Wait, wasn’t she one of the ones to stop this whole thing? What happened?” Light step raised a brow inquisitively.

“These events created friction between her and Aurick. I have no doubt he will come to speak with her once he can walk again, and with the aid of some healing spells, I’m sure he’ll be up some time today. I’d prefer it if he held back until she was ready for him, but I doubt he will. I’d just like you to make sure he doesn’t get to do so.” 

“Alright, I can do that. Is there anything else?” 

“No. That will be all.” Nodding, the mare saluted, then, as swiftly as she appeared, she was gone. Luna couldn’t help but sigh as she drank from her mug once more. 

It was time to get to work.
> Ch 70: A Changeling Out of Place
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“She looks so…”

“Broken.” Carina finished for her, a sad look on his face as they peered into her cell. Him and Cadence stood behind a two way mirror, gazing upon the defeated changeling leader as she lay in bed. 

She was asleep at the time, heavily drugged with painkillers and covered in bandages. Carina had a hard time looking at her. Evil deeds or not, this was still his mother, and it hurt him to see her like this. To have been a cog in the machine, no matter how small, that had brought this fate upon her. 

His gaze lowered, unable to look at what had become of her any further. Instead, he turned his attention towards Cadence, the one who requested to come down here. He couldn’t blame her. She wanted to see the one behind it all. The one who had ruined what was meant to be a momentous occasion for her. 

Even so, as he watched her out of the corner of his eye, he could tell she was regretting it. He knew that she simply wanted to have a concrete person to blame for all that had happened. She wanted to have something more than a mysterious figure to silently hate. However, the longer they stayed there, gazing upon what had become of his mother, that hate, that familiar rage that silently burned in her heart… it slowly gave way to pity. It was clear to him that she still hated his mother, no matter how much she would deny it, but that anger had been tempered. 

It was after a long period of silence that Cadence finally moved, closing her eyes and turning away from the view. She took a deep breath before stepping away from the cell, a slight frown on her face. 

“I must find Shining Armour.” Her voice was quiet. Morose. He couldn’t help but agree, though he failed to vocalize it. Ever since his mother’s control had faded from everyone’s minds, he had been avoiding her. Carina had a feeling he knew why this was, but had chosen not to make his thoughts known to the Princess of Love. Perhaps not the greatest of ideas, but he did so in the hope of postponing any further wounds to her heart. A foolish endeavor, as she would find out the truth soon enough, but he never claimed to be any more than that.

A fool.

Shaking his head, he let out a sigh. Perhaps he was being too harsh on himself. Perhaps not. Either way, he couldn’t help but feel responsible for the blood that had been spilled over the course of the last few days. Whether directly or indirectly, it didn’t matter. There were so many ways he could have tried to quell Aurick’s rage. Ways to try and prevent his brothers and sisters from getting hurt. 

Someway that Alae wouldn’t have died.

Instead, he had stood back, held by his own fear. Afraid that if he did anything, that he would be the next in his sights. He should have tried to do something. Anything. 

And yet it was too late. What was done could not be undone, and there was nothing he could do to bring Alae back. 

The sound of Cadence’s hooves on the dark stone of the dungeons brought him out of his thoughts. He took a step forward, intent to follow her, but hesitated. What was to be said between her and Shining Armour was a private affair. He had no right to insert himself into the mix. So, with a shaky breath he halted himself and let her go without him, a fact that brought a familiar fear to him. 

He had stuck by Cadence’s side since they had arrived at the castle. It was no secret that a number of the guards had levied their anger against him, simply because of what he was. It was through Cadence’s intervention and Ashwyn’s word that he had been spared from being tossed in the dungeon alongside his mother. To his surprise, when he was able to speak again, even Aurick had vouched for him. Though he was told it was in a rather offhanded way. 

Even so, it had done nothing to quell the anger of the guard, and though it made his flesh crawl, he could understand. His mother did something terrible to them, and they needed something, anything, to direct that anger towards. Though it was disappointing to be taking some of the blame for his mother’s actions, he would not rebuke them. So long as it didn’t come to violence, he would not hold it against them.

He noticed Cadence stop after a moment, her head turned back to look at him, a questioning look in her eyes. He simply gave her a small smile and a nod. She seemed to understand, returning the nod with one of her own. Nothing more to be said, she continued on her way, leaving the dungeons behind. 

Along with Carina.


~-~


A shiver ran down Carina’s spine as he stepped down the hallway. The dark gazes of a number of guards had washed over him during his time alone, and to say it was unnerving was an understatement. He felt truly out of place, though to be honest, it was a fair assessment. 

He was a changeling in the center of the pony capital, surrounded by ponies that had just been assaulted by his kind. He didn’t belong here, and yet there was nowhere else for him to go. His home had been ruined, his brothers and sisters were captured and the very few who had managed to escape were on the run and actively being hunted down. Thankfully the princesses had been kind enough to treat them kindly. They were not tossed in the dungeons like his mother, though they were placed in cells all the same. 

Instead, there was a prison in the castle that had more comfortable arrangements. He had been told that only the most dangerous or vile prisoner’s went to the dungeons below the castle. A small comfort, but one he held onto. His siblings may hate him for his betrayal, but he still wished the best for them. 

He blinked, a sudden brightness piercing his eyes. Effectively removed from his thoughts, he found himself to have wandered into the castle gardens. The chirping of birds were carried on the wind, and the warmth of the sun comfortably wrapping around him like a blanket. A hint of a smile appeared on his face as he gazed up at the sky. The cerulean expanse was spattered with puffy white clouds, and he could see some specks of colour dashing about his vision as weather ponies worked to make the sky acquiesce to their schedule. 

He stood there in silence as he marveled at the view, truly taking it in for the first time, despite his long stay at the castle. A brief thought wormed its way into his mind, and he couldn’t help but wonder what his life would have been like if he had been born as a pony. 

What race would he be? What would he have looked like? What kind of cutie mark would he get? ... Would he still be the coward he was? 

He knew what he wanted the answers to be. What he wished his life was like. There was no changing it, however. He had to play with the cards that life had given him. Perhaps it was a losing hand, but he would be damned if he folded. He had been too cautious before, but now he intended to… 

He shook his head with an amused snort. He was going too far with the metaphor, but the principle held true. He had been too passive, too cautious, and too scared to take the risks that might have led to a better outcome. Perhaps he was getting ahead of himself, but he wanted to change, and he felt that in itself was a step in the right direction. 

His smile grew hopeful as he lowered his gaze. It might not happen today, it might not happen tomorrow, but Carina hoped that one day he would find his confidence. That he would be able to do what he needed to to help people. 

A sigh escaped his lungs as he turned towards the rest of the garden, intent to finally take in the beauty of it all. There was one little hiccup, however. One that made him stop dead in his tracks when he saw it.

Aurick.
> Ch 71: Resolve
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

An iron weight settled in Carina’s stomach as his gaze fell on the elf. A swirl of emotions filled the changeling, and he struggled to make sense of them all. He wanted to speak to the elf, needed to. He was determined to make him explain himself, unable to accept the brutality that had been used. However, stronger than his determination, and even his desire for answers, he was held back by his fear. 

If he was in a calmer state of mind, he might have found it humorous that his determination to overcome his fears would be challenged so swiftly. Sadly, he was not calm, as his quickened breaths would indicate. 

Carina could only be thankful that Aurick wouldn’t be able to notice him, as the elf was sitting on a bench faced away. It was clear to anyone who looked upon the sight that he was lost in thought, and the changeling doubted that they involved butterflies and rainbows. 

He gazed upon the elf for a short time, his hooves locked to the ground beneath him and his body rigid. He didn’t know what to do. A part of him wanted to walk over and demand answers out of the elf, the other part wanted nothing to do with any of this and told him to get out of there while he could. These two thoughts waged a war in his mind and it was unclear who would come out victorious. 

All that stopped the moment that Aurick stood up. 

Carina held his breath, hoping that Aurick wouldn’t notice him. Perhaps if he stood still… Aurick turned, his gaze falling upon the changeling. A choked squeak emerged from Carina’s throat, his desire to run swiftly becoming the only thought in his mind, even as Aurick’s eyes narrowed and his gaze turned into a glare. And yet, despite it all, Carina couldn’t move, his legs rooted him to the ground, refusing to remove themselves.

A moment of silence passed between the two, the only sound to be heard was that of a gentle breeze rustling the leaves of the plants around them. All of it ended with Aurick letting out a sound of irritation before walking off. Away from Carina.

The moment the elf was out of sight, the changeling’s legs gave out, sending him crashing into the dirt below. His breathing renewed, quickly gasping for the air his body had deprived him of in the tense moment. He closed his eyes, his teeth grit in anger. Anger at himself. 

Once again he had frozen up. Once again he couldn’t face his own fear. This was his opportunity to prove to himself that he could be brave, that he didn’t need to be controlled by his fears, and yet… he failed. 

Was this a sign? A sign that he couldn’t change? That he would be a coward for the rest of his life? 

No! He… he couldn’t believe that. He didn’t want to believe it. He refused. He wanted, no, needed to get past this. Alae had died because of his inability to act. How could he expect anything to be different in the future if he didn’t change? 

His eyes opened, focusing on the last place he had seen the elf. His brows furrowing as a frown worked its way onto his face. He didn’t like it, not in the least, but he had an idea of how to help him become who he wanted to be.


~-~


Ashwyn was conflicted, her heart split in twine and her emotions scattered to the winds. She could scarcely believe the events that had transpired, wished it to be nothing more than a dark dream she could wake up from. It was a feeling she hadn’t felt for a long while. Ever since her escape from him. 

She wanted to go back to the way things were. To spend her days snuggled up with Aurick. When the worst thing that could happen to her was an irritating customer. When she felt like she had finally gotten a normal life back. 

She was foolish to think that she could have anything of the sort. She was a mutated monster that was dating an alien, who seemed to be on the Princess’ problem solving list. Now they had just finished dealing with a changeling invasion, after she had broken into the changeling hive to rescue her alien coltfriend, only for him to brutalize and kill the changelings in a bout of madness.

To say she wasn’t taking it well would be an understatement. She wanted nothing more than for Aurick to hold her and tell her that everything would be alright. That they could go home and put all this behind them. 

It was a stupid idea, born from that small part of her that had refused to face reality. The part that wanted to be protected and be coddled. The part of herself she desperately wanted to give into. 

She knew she couldn’t, however. Not after what she had seen. No matter how badly she wanted to go find Aurick, the mere thought of him being so close to her sent a shiver down her spine. 

She was afraid of him, terrified even. She knew it was wrong. That he wouldn’t hurt her, but… she had never seen someone act like that. To be so ruthless, so bloodthirsty. Even he, despite his twisted desires, had never looked at her with such eyes.

Princess Luna had asked her if she still loved him, despite all that she had witnessed of him. Even now, with another day almost over, she still couldn’t find an answer. She wanted to still love him, wanted to be able to look past these faults and know that he was still the same kind person that had cared for her when she was weak. She wanted it so bad, and yet, every part of her told her he was dangerous. That she should stay far away from him and hope that he doesn’t pursue her. 

She knew exactly where these feelings came from. It was the same part of her that had paralyzed him when they had last met. The same part of her that she had been acting through when she had escaped the lab. 

She tentatively labeled it as her instincts. Yet another result from everything that had happened to her at the lab. Yet another thing that she feared, and why shouldn’t she? 

She lost control to it and hurt Aurick. Sure he had recovered thanks to the medical staff at the castle, but what if someone else were to trigger it? Would she kill them? Would she be able to stop herself. A part of her told her that she had some control over it. She had consciously fought those guards, despite not knowing the first thing about combat. She was able to stealthily move through the changeling hive and disable their soldiers along her path, despite never having done such a thing before.

Who’s to say she couldn’t harness it again? Though, who’s to say she even wanted to? She never asked for any of this. The only reason she was in Canterlot in the first place was because she wanted to be with Aurick. She never wanted to take down changelings, never wanted to fight mind controlled guards… never wanted to hurt her coltfriend like she did. 

She wanted to apologize, and at the same time she felt she was in the right. She had no doubt that if her instincts had not taken over in that moment, that he would have killed Chrysalis. She might hold no love for the changeling queen, but she didn’t deserve to die. Not after being tortured as she was. She might have done some terrible things, but she hadn’t killed anyone… as far as she knew. He was going to far. He couldn’t see reason. He was going to kill her.

All excuses, all true. 

Yet, despite it all, she still wished she hadn’t done it. The look he gave her, lying on the ground unable to move, hurt her far more than she knew at the time. It was a look of betrayal, a look of regret, a look of sadness. It was a look of so many things, and it hurt Ashwyn’s heart to think about. It was a moment of clarity for him, and as they shared that look, they both knew that they had done things that couldn’t be taken back. 

It was that singular moment that made everything so much worse. She had no idea what to do about it. She wanted to run away and never see him again, she wanted to go find him and apologize for doing what she did, she wanted him to regret what he had done. She wanted so many things and she knew that not all of them could happen. But most of all…

She wanted to understand.

Why did he act like that? Why was he so angry? Why did he have to be so brutal? ...Who was Daena? She wanted to understand, but she never would if she couldn’t speak to him.

A sigh escaped her as she closed her eyes. She knew what she had to do, Princess Luna had said as much, and though it sent a shiver down her spine she resolved herself to do it. Knowing better than to wait and let herself question her decision, she got up and went out to find her quarry.

She had to speak to Aurick.
> Ch 72: Explain
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ashwyn stood before the door, a slight shiver running down her spine as her mind went to the one who resided beyond the threshold. A confusing mix of emotions held her body rigid, unable to flee the confrontation, nor move towards it. She merely stared at the door with an intensity that could not be ignored. Should anyone have witnessed her at the moment, they might have assumed she was attempting to burn it down with her sight alone. 

Her ears were pointed towards it, attentive and listening for any sound that emerged from beyond. Even with her abnormally powerful ears, she could only pick up slight noises. Faint steps and muttering could be heard from beyond, occasionally a creak would ring out, likely the sound of him sitting down, only to begin pacing once more. 

She had no way to know the emotional state of the man she was to meet. These mutterings could be him berating himself for what he did, or it could be the beginning throws of madness settling in. There was no way for her to know without entering the room she had found herself in front of. 

A single paw stepped forwards as her mind turned to worry for his well being. That was the only step she took, however, as the worry was simply consumed by the rest of the emotions vying for her attention. She was paralyzed by indecision and that irritated her to no end. 

She didn’t want to feel like this. She hated it. She hated the fact that she was afraid. Hated that she was still concerned for him. Hated that any of this had happened. She wanted to put all of it behind her and pretend that these events never came to pass. She wanted to open that door and settle things. 

Another step and she was close enough to reach for the handle. She made no move for it, though. Her teeth grit as she glared at the offending part of the door. With one last concentrated push of determination she flung a paw up, wrapped around the handle, and pushed the door open. The room revealed itself to her, and she couldn’t help but gasp in shock. 

It was a mess.

What would have normally been a pristine example of a royal suite looked as though it was suffering from the aftermath of some great battle. Bed sheets littered the floor, torn apart and scattered around. The desk was splintered and cracked, seemingly broken in half through the center, yet still standing. The two halves leaning against each other in a fashion that was reminiscent of two wounded soldiers supporting each other as they walked. Small cracked craters dotted the walls, and as she looked a bit closer, she could see that there was blood in most of them. Then there was the cause.

Aurick.

He stood in the center of the room, seemingly having stopped mid-stride as he turned towards Ashwyn and the door she had just opened. He looked terrible. His hair was a mess, seemingly not taken care of since he awoke. Slight bags could be seen under his eyes, detailing what was likely a restless night for him. The most alarming sight, however, was the blood that gently dripped from his knuckles. 

As she watched him, a look of surprise overcame his sullen features. Inversely, at the sight of the man before her, Ashwyn subconsciously shrunk into herself, making her appear smaller to the larger creature. Upon seeing this, the surprise on his face faded, a slight frown forming on his lips and his eyes cast down.

Neither party made a move, they didn’t dare make a sound. Who could say how long the pair remained in such a state, but it wasn’t to last. Aurick was the first to make his move, but instead of moving forwards, he retreated. 

Ashwyn silently watched as the man let out a sigh, his stature seeming to deflate in defeat as he turned away from her. Instead of continuing to pace, the elf moved towards the bed and sat upon it, a gentle creak breaking the silence as it supported his weight. He sat there, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands held close to his mouth, even as he stared at the wall ahead of him. 

Ashwyn’s gaze departed from his form for the first time since she opened the door, landing on the spot just next to him. The moment was brief, and her refocused on Aurick almost immediately. He didn’t so much as move.

Hesitantly, she took a step forward, uncertainty clear in how she moved. Aurick didn’t even seem to notice. After a brief moment to make sure he wouldn’t act on her choice, she took another step. Then another. 

Her movement was rigid, her body tensed, ready to flee the moment she detected anything was wrong. Of course, this was not of her own volition. In truth, Ashwyn’s mind was focused on one thing and one thing only.

Aurick. 

The process was slow and arduous, but eventually, Ashwyn stood next to the source of her conflicting emotions. He could no doubt see her, but he gave no indication of such. He simply sat there silently, not moving in the slightest. It was as though he had been stolen away before her eyes and replaced with a lifelike statue. 

Gracelessly, Ashwyn did her best to climb onto the bed without drawing attention to herself. She seemed to be successful, but she knew that there was no way he wasn’t aware of her presence. Even so, she had managed to seat herself next to the elf, her body tense and eyes wide as she stared down at the floor. 

She had no real idea what she was even doing. Every fiber of her being told her that this was a bad idea. That she should just leave while she still could. And yet, she stayed. Silently. 

It was as though they were doomed to repeat the same situation. Neither party moving, nor making sound. Simply sitting there, too afraid to make the first action. Luckily they were broken from the spell when one of them gained the courage to speak. It wasn’t long, nor was it very loud, but all the same, the silence had been broken.

“I’m sorry.” Ashwyn’s head whipped up, her claws digging into the bed at the unexpected noise coming from beside her. Aurick hadn’t moved an inch, but it was his voice all the same. She stared at him, her jaw set, even as she tried to come up with a response. She had so many things she wanted to say to him before, but now they alluded her. There was only one thing she could think to ask. One thing that pressed down on her mind.

“Why?” The word hung in the air, and she watched as his head lowered. She was hoping he would answer. That he would explain himself, but he remained silent. She wasn’t happy about that. Not in the slightest. As the silence dragged on, she could feel her irritation build. Broiling beneath the surface until it was just too much. “Why!?” She asked again, her voice bellowing out as she released all her pent up emotions in that one word.

Aurick still didn’t answer, and Ashwyn had to do everything in her power to stop herself from hitting him. Any fear she still had of him was unceremoniously tossed aside as anger and frustration took hold. Her eyes clenched shut as she prepared herself to verbally lay into the elf. It never came, as all the wind was taken from her sails when he finally made his response.

“I was married once.” The words were like a slap to the face. She hadn’t expected it in the slightest and any rant she was about to spew became a sputtering mess of syllables. Her mind needed a second to reboot, and once it did she had a feeling she was beginning to understand why he was so angry.

“What happened?” He spared her a glance for the question before answering.

“She’s dead.” His voice was cold, an undercurrent of anger slicing through the room. She had expected the response when she asked the question, but to actually hear him say it… “Her and my daughter both.” She was left speechless at that.

“Daughter…?” Her voice came out unbidden, but Aurick seemed to pay it no mind. He made to get up, a deep sigh escaping him. He took a step towards the window, looking out at the city that stretched out below them.

“They were taken from me almost forty years ago. Such a long time, and yet it feels as though it were only yesterday.” He clasped his hands behind his back, but Ashwyn could see how tight the grip was. “It was such a pleasant day, too. I was teaching Ina some magic. Nothing special, just something to help plants grow. You should have seen the look on her face. She was so excited...” Ashwyn could hear the pride in his voice as he spoke, even as he trailed off.

“Wh-what happened?” She hesitantly questioned. Aurick’s reaction was swift, a loud bang sounding out as he brought his fist down on the windowsill.  

“The Ardenians.” He spat, as though it felt wrong just to say. “They were in a war with Jarak at the time, and my town just so happened to be in the middle of it. We were bloody fools! Thinking we wouldn’t be affected. That because we were unaffiliated we wouldn’t be touched. We learned our lesson the hard way when those Ardenian bastards staged a hostile takeover. The leaves were stained with blood that day. All because they wanted a base of operations that was surrounded by forest!” 

Ashwyn was left speechless, completely uncertain as to how to handle the information he had divulged. Before she had entered this room, she had run through many different scenarios in her head. Some of which were completely outlandish, but none of them had prepared her for this. What could she even say? She could only sit there in awkward silence as she watched Aurick’s stiff muscles slowly loosen.

After a few moments, he let out a sigh and moved back to the bed, sitting down heavily. He placed his head in his hands and stared at the wall ahead. Ashwyn was just starting to get uncomfortable when he spoke again.

“Those changelings…” He said quietly, barely above a whisper. “The pods. They made me remember. They made me experience all those good times again. I was so happy. I knew it wasn’t real, but… I just didn’t care. I wanted to see them. Hear their voices again. Then you got me out and I had to face reality once more. I… It was so hard to lose them once, but to lose them again…” He was cut off by his own sniffling, and a hand moved to wipe the tears away, but they merely smudged them against his already slick cheeks.

As Ashwyn watched this elf break down in front of her, she knew she wouldn’t be able to stay mad at him. This realization was all it took to break her from her inaction. Without hesitation, the mare reared up and wrapped her forelegs around his neck and pulled him close. He only resisted for a moment before he gave into the hug, his face buried into her neck. She could feel her fur getting damp, and the uncomfortable feeling that came with it was soon to follow, but she didn’t mind. 

Her Alpha needed her, and she would be there for him.