Kuno sipped at a glass of lemonade, the straw slipped between her large front teeth so that she could effectively suckle the cool liquid from the glass.
Warden was busy cleaning up, and Kuno wasn’t going to lift a damn hoof to help him, she had even told him so. Until he stallioned up and stood up to the drug dealers, he would have to deal with his own mess.
The three ponies had been rather thorough in their search, and they hadn’t exactly cleaned up after themselves, leaving a large mess behind for Warden to rearrange. Thankfully, he wasn’t a pack-rat, and there wasn’t a huge amount of mess everywhere. Mainly, it was putting the drawers back in, closing the cupboards, fixing up the pots and pans, and assorted chores.
And Kuno just watched throughout the entire thing.
“So... this Daggertail. Why’s he got you growing his stuff for him?” Kuno asked, sipping at her lemonade happily.
“Because he can push me around.” Warden snorted once, pushing a drawer back into its slot.
Kuno pondered for a moment, before asking bluntly, “How did a wimp like you get in the Royal Guard?”
“Thanks for the self-esteem boost,” Warden growled, picking up another drawer and sliding it partway into its slot, beginning to toss spoons and forks into it.
“Any time,” Kuno said, nodding with a smile.
It was almost a minute of throwing cutlery into the drawer before Warden spoke again. “I failed the Royal Guard. Rather badly, I might add. I knew it wasn’t for me... but I still didn’t have my special talent. Once I found out I was a dab hoof at gardening, I needed something to give me income... I don’t have the endurance to work a field large enough to sell the produce. So I applied for the guard reserve. I guess Shining Armor took pity on me... figured I’d never be called into action anyhow, and so there we go.”
“The armor is bitching though,” Kuno said with a wise nod and a snicker. “I can totally see myself getting to like dressing up in it.”
The two were silent for a while, before Kuno asked suddenly, “So this... aurora. What is it used for?”
“Hallucinogenic, mainly. Makes you see lots of pretty colour and lights, I know from experience,” Warden admitted with a wry grin.
“You tried some?” Kuno asked, wrinkling her nose in distaste.
“I may have tried some on my own if I was to take to it at my own pace. Daggertail, however, didn’t give me such luxuries,” the pegasus said with a sad shake of his head, sweeping up the broken plates from the kitchen floor.
Kuno blinked once. “Daggertail gave you drugs?”
“You gotta remember... I was in a pretty bad place. Swarm had just died... I was alone... I was kinda depressed I guess,” Warden said, looking down at his hooves with a deep frown.
Kuno guessed from his tone that he had been more than a little depressed.
“The first thing Daggertail did was get me alone when I made a trip to town, and then injected me with some of the stuff,” Warden said with a bitter smile. “It felt great... for a while. Wasn’t long before I needed more.”
Kuno wrinkled her nose again, giving the pegasus a look of mild disgust. “You didn’t try to resist?”
“I was depressed!” Warden said defensively, looking away. “My wife had just died. And while I was under the influence of Aurora... I could forget the pain for a little while. ‘Course, once I was good and addicted, he told me that I had to take over growing it for him, or I’d not get any more. I reluctantly agreed. And of course, I was too high at that point to even look after a tomato bush, let alone Aurora. I messed things up, and Daggertail was none too pleased. I realised that I needed to get off the stuff, so I quit.”
“Just like that?” Kuno asked doubtfully, looking Warden up and down. “Forgive me if I seem unconvinced.”
Warden snorted once. “It wasn’t that easy, I guess... I took a few days worth of food and water in the bathroom, and handcuffed myself to the toilet.”
“Drastic,” Kuno stated with a blink.
“Yeah, well after the first day, I was a mess. I’d already wasted all of my water trying to lubricate my hoof enough to squeeze it free of the cuff. By the time the guards showed up to see why I missed my weekend training, I was almost dead. It wasn’t until after I recovered from that, that Daggertail figured he could bend me to his will with threats of violence... and actual violence when I resisted. I’ve been in his ‘employ’ ever since. Still got the scars from the cuffs,” Warden said, holding out his hoof.
In Kuno’s opinion, they looked more like knife marks than handcuff scars.
“Geeze,” Kuno said with a slow shake of her head, “You’re like, a doormat. Why don’t you stick up for yourself?”
“Because I get hurt,” Warden stated sadly, picking up the dustpan and dumping the contents into the bin. “And I don’t like getting hurt. I wish I was some big gung-ho guard capable of beating up twelve drug dealers with one hoof behind my back... but I’m not.”
“And you didn’t tell me all of this in the beginning because...?” Kuno asked flatly.
“It’s one thing to bow to violence... and another thing entirely to be addicted to the drug you’re supposed to be growing,” Warden said with a sad shake of his head. “I guess... I guess I didn’t want you thinking I’m some kind of loser...” The pegasus trailed off then, before giving a soft, mirthless chuckle. “Too late for that, huh?”
And with that, Warden moved towards the bathroom to continue cleaning, head lowered in shame.
Kuno was found settling down on her bed that evening, leaving Warden to his own bed. She felt uncomfortable around him at that moment, and wanted to give him space. The pegasus had obviously been through a lot more rough patches than he let on.
The changeling pulled the pillow up against her chest, laying her chin on it and closing her eyes. She knew that there were ponies who were pretty bad off in the world, but she had never really interacted with them on any personal basis. She had always targeted happy homes, where the love was strongest. Broken pegasi were rarely a good source of long-term love.
There was a rustle of movement behind her, and Kuno lifted her head to peer back over her shoulder. She blinked once at the image that greeted her.
Warden was standing awkwardly in her doorway, holding a large cream-coloured box with candles sticking out of it, burning merrily.
“What’re you burning?” Kuno asked, pushing herself to her hooves and turning around to face the guard.
“I...” Warden trailed off, biting his bottom lip. “Gosh, this is gonna sound corny but... when you told me that you’d never had a birthday, I just figured...”
The pegasus sighed faintly, shaking his head and then stepping over to the bed, laying the box down. With it at the new angle, Kuno could see into the box. She realised now, that it was a cake box.
A large, circular brown cake lay inside the box, dual-layered, with white edgings and a single large word across the centre: ‘KUNO’. Three candles were spaced across it at even intervals, spiraled red and white like a candycane. It wasn’t a very large cake, but it was a birthday cake. A birthday cake for her.
“Happy birthday, Kuno,” Warden said quietly. “I... didn’t know what flavour you like. The top is chocolate, and the bottom is banana nutmeg... I can go back tomorrow and get it changed if you want one better...”
“N-no,” Kuno squeaked, finding her voice, staring down at the cake, the burning candles reflected twice in her wide, surprised eyes. “I-It’s perfect.”
A sigh of relief left the guard, “Well... make a wish and blow out the candles.”
Kuno blinked once, and then began to almost panic. “B-but I don’t know what to wish for!”
“Wish for world peace,” Warden suggested with a wry smile. “It’s just a formality.”
The changeling stared down at the cake, and then leaned in with a shaky inhale. This was her very first birthday wish for her. Kuno gave Warden a long stare, made her wish, and then blew out the candles, plunging the room into the darkness.
“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...”
Warden started singing happy birthday to her, and Kuno was glad for the sudden darkness brought about by the extinguished candles. She was quite certain she had lost her composure, and there was an odd tightness in her throat, making it hard to swallow.
Warden finished singing happy birthday to her—he really was a terrible singer—and then offered her a bread knife, to cut the cake with.
Kuno turned back to the cake, and then began to cut herself a laser-precise eighth of cake, lifting it with a trembling hoof to her mouth. The first bite was heaven. The cake itself was moist, perfectly baked. The banana and chocolate didn’t mix well, and the icing was too sweet, but it was her birthday cake.
Blinking once, Kuno looked up, not even realising that Warden had left the room. But he had returned, tentatively holding out a box for her.
The changeling blinked several times, to get her eyes to cooperate in the darkness. Once her eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw the box for what it was. A present. A for real birthday present. It was flat and wide, square-shaped, with a large red bow around the middle of it. A tag hung off the side, which she assumed also had her name on it.
Kuno’s voice was hiding somewhere in the pit of her stomach, and it took her two tries to force it up past the lump in her throat. “Y-you did all this for me?”
Warden gave a curt nod. “Everyone deserves a birthday. Even changelings.”
Reaching out with shaking hooves, Kuno took the box, laying it down on the bed and then carefully unwrapping it.
Right before she opened the box, Warden spoke up. “I... I wasn’t sure what to get you... I hope it isn’t demeaning or anything... please don’t hurt me if it’s insulting...”
Carefully, Kuno pushed up the top flap of the box, revealing the collar resting underneath. With the crinkle of soft wrapping paper, she removed the collar, holding it up to the moonlight. It was a bright, vibrant red collar, with gold stitching around the edges, and her name, her entire name stitched out across the back of it.
“I-It’s perfect,” Kuno muttered, not trusting herself to speak any louder without her voice cracking.
“I couldn’t find a bell for it in town, but—”
But Kuno had already unclasped the collar and was sliding it around her neck with shaking hooves, turning to face away from the pegasus so he could do it up.
A quick tug and press, and the collar was secured in place.
“T-thank you, Warden,” Kuno said, her voice cracking as she tried her best to swallow down the lump in her throat. “I really mean it.”
“It was nothing,” Warden said with a shrug, turning to leave.
Kuno pounced on the pegasus from behind, wrapping her hooves around his neck in a firm, earnest embrace, hugging him firmly. The pegasus paused in confusion, blinking back at her and then giving a slight smile.
“Happy birthday, Kuno.”
“Thank you, Warden. Really. This means a lot to me.”
Kuno sat on her bed, eating pieces of her cake and licking icing off her hooves. She had already set aside some of it for Warden to have if he wished, which was only fair. She was very careful not to get her new collar dirty, and she saw that Warden was in the doorway, watching her from the shadows, apparently thinking he was hidden. And he was smiling.
Kuno was surprised by the pegasus. He was beaten, trodden into the dirt, abused, and had gone through more hardship already than Kuno would in her entire life, she was sure. And yet, he was still just happy to watch her eat. He was happy to make others happy.
Every time her hoof brushed her new collar, and with every bite of her cake, Kuno felt a little bit worse. Here she was, emotionally manipulating this pegasus for his love. She was using him as a food source, and he was happy just to make her happy. A monster. A beast. She wasn’t even sure what to feel any more.
But one thing was clear in her mind. The pegasus was having an effect on her. A profound one.
When she had made her very first birthday wish ever, something for her, the only thing she could think to wish for... was for Warden to find happiness someday; for that poor, downtrodden pegasus to at least find some peace from the problems that plagued him.
And who knew: maybe she was even starting to like him?