Kuno stared off into the distance, to where blue, yellow, and red fireworks burst in brilliant fashion against the night sky. Cadance had left moments before and was receding into a speck in the distance, having declared Warden and Kuno husband and wife.
Kuno seemed stunned, her eyes glassy and wings splayed back against her body, her ears pinned back.
“Are you okay?” Warden asked stepping up behind her, gently stroking a hoof down her form.
“We’re married,” Kuno murmured softly, her gaze not wavering from the fireworks. “Married.”
Warden paused at that, not trusting her tone. “I-is that a problem?”
Kuno turned to stare at him, her eyes focusing slowly. “I... I just... I’m married,” she said hoarsely, her voice breaking. “I-I feel like my chest is going to explode.”
Warden smiled softly at that, moving to hug around the changeling with both of his forehooves, a firm, squeezing embrace. “Just breathe deep. Calm yourself.”
Kuno stared up at him, her bottom lip quivering. “I-I’m so happy I want to c-cry...”
A soft laugh left the pegasus, and he nuzzled against her cheek gently. “You can cry if you want to... wife.”
Kuno peered up at him listlessly, her ears pinning back. “I’m married,” she whispered, before squeezing him fiercely. “T-this is the best night of my life.”
“Now now,” Warden said with a wiggle of a hoof. “Gotta hold a little bit back for the honeymoon.”
Kuno draw back slightly, sitting down on her haunches and almost reverently batting a paw against her new white-gold bell. “How did you do all this?”
Warden hummed thoughtfully at that. “I went to Ponyville, paid for express mail to Canterlot to get Cadance and some good dress-armor brought down, went and set up the fireworks... and everything else I’d already been planning for quite some time.”
A faint smile lit Kuno’s face. “You look very dashing in your armor. Do you feel okay? That stuff you inhaled won’t inhibit you too much, will it?”
Warden shook his head gently. “It’s powdered ‘Wonder Weed’ as you call it. Took me ages to get a concentration that powerful, but as you can see, it works wonders.” Warden proceeded to extend his bad wing, stretching it out until the bone clicked and scraped with a horrible sound. He winced at the sound, folding his wing back against his side. “Probably shouldn’t do that too often.”
Kuno nodded in agreement, pressing up against his side. “We should totally conceive our child... right here on this cloud.”
A soft laugh left Warden, and he nudged her gently with his nose. “Already planning on the psychological scarring you’ll impart to our child, hmm?”
“It’s romantic!” Kuno said with a huff, banging a hoof against his armored shoulder.
“I... kinda wanted our first... ‘time’ as a married couple to be... us,” Warden admitted quietly. “Just me, and you. No pain, no awkwardness, and no changed form.”
Kuno’s gaze softened, and she leaned up to kiss him tenderly. “That sounds like a wonderful idea.”
Warden smiled, wrapping a hoof around Kuno’s middle and gently kissing her nose. “So... wanna do it?” he asked with a grin, “Awkward segue aside.”
Kuno nodded, her eyes flashing hungrily. “I’ve never wanted somepony more than right now.”
Warden and Kuno landed with a rush of displaced air in front of their home. Warden wobbled a bit as he landed wincing and folding his wing tight to his side.
“Starting to wear off?” Kuno asked sympathetically.
Warden gave a strained smile. “If it wasn’t wearing off, we’d still be a tangle of sweaty limbs up on the cloud.”
“So that’s why you lasted so long!” Kuno said, poking her tongue out at him teasingly.
Warden gave a helpless smile and a shrug of his shoulders. “S’not my fault you’re so good at that stuff. It’s like you have tons of practise and are made to be enjoyable.”
Kuno rolled her eyes, rubbing against his side amorously. “Well, I am a changeling. If we weren’t good at sex then we’d be pretty lame seducers.”
A thoughtful hum left Warden’s throat. “How do I know you’re not really a terrible lay and just using changeling magic afterwards to make me think it was the best in the world?”
Kuno smiled deviously at that. “I guess you’ll never know. Either way, you get awesome sex, right? And you’re male. So that’s all that should matter.”
Warden paused at that, peering sideways at her. “You... do enjoy it right? It’s not just... like... a meal to you, is it?”
Kuno sobered at that, her ears pinning back. “With the others... yes. It was... mechanical. Boring. It was like chewing food. Sure, I enjoyed it sometimes, but there’s never been a time when I did things with you that they ended up being lame or a chore. Some of the stallions and mares I’ve been with, I had to kind of... force myself to go through with it. It was more of a chore.”
Warden raised a brow at her. “Mares? You mean you’ve... pretended to be male?”
Kuno splayed her ears further. “Once or twice. I never stayed as male for long and it was always a last resort.” The changeling shuddered softly, “I could never get used to the... the erm... well...” Kuno made a vague motion towards her hindquarters with a hoof.
“Having a penis?” Warden offered with a sly grin.
Kuno nodded slowly. “It’s just...” The changeling flailed a forehoof at him. “It’s all floppy and weird and it doesn’t listen to you! It’s like a rebellious teenager!”
Warden laughed and shook his head. “And yet you seem to be rather fond of mine.”
Kuno thumped his shoulder with a hoof. “Pervert!”
“I don’t think you can insult me with that word after what you did to me,” Warden said with a sly grin.
Kuno snorted and rubbed up against him again, wrapping her hooves around his neck and clinging to him tightly, nuzzling into his neck. “You might be a sick depraved pervert, but I love you.”
Warden smiled, nuzzling his cheek against her. “And you belong in a zoo, but I married you.”
“I keep waiting for my libido to fall through the floor and my aggression to rise,” Kuno said with a giggle.
“Any luck?” Warden raised a brow, smiling.
Kuno shook her head. “Nope. Feeling more fond of you, actually. I guess I’ll just have to smother you with affection.”
Warden smiled, stepping up and opening the front door for her. “So... any idea on who you’ll be for nine months?”
Kuno stepped inside, pausing to look in the mirror, brow furrowing. “I... I was thinking the pegasus with the blue mane. I won’t dare to change anything while I’m pregnant... so I’ll be stuck with whatever mane, and whatever else I choose.”
“Sure you don’t want to be a unicorn for the duration? That way, you’ll have magic to do stuff,” Warden pointed out, pulling the front door closed and delicately twisting off his white-gold wedding band, gently placing it on a stand by the front door. He stepped over to the changeling, and began to gently undo her collar.
Kuno lifted her chin to allow the collar to be undone, so Warden could take it and put it next to his wing band. Once they were undone, Warden returned with her regular collar, slipping it over her neck and doing it up.
“Well... you like the pegasus more,” Kuno pointed out with a sly grin, batting at the bell on her collar curiously. She smiled when it chimed.
Warden paused at that, and then gave a slightly strained smile. “It was that obvious, huh?”
Kuno nodded, peering up at him. “And I’m gonna be stuck for nine months. It’d be pretty selfish to get you stuck with an inferior pony.”
Warden snorted once, nudging her with his nose as he slipped his wing band back on. “You’re the one that’s gonna be stuck as a single form. I’d prefer you to be comfortable.”
Kuno hummed at that, looking thoughtful. “I guess... I’d prefer to be a pegasus anyhow.”
“Why is that?” Warden asked, trailing a hoof down over her irridescent wings.
“Because, I can fly as a pegasus. I’ll take quick transport over walking, any day,” Kuno said with a wrinkle of her nose.
“Lazy,” Warden said with a smile, nudging her with his nose.
“Practical!” Kuno said, nudging him with a hoof. “Now. It’s my wedding night. I’m supposed to get cake.”
Warden’s face fell. “I err... didn’t have enough time to get a cake. What with the bad wing and hoof... I’d need to have made an entire second trip.”
Kuno’s ears splayed, and she gave a long sigh, before nuzzling against him soothingly. “I forgive you.”
A slow, sly grin stretched across Warden’s face, and he made a motion towards the kitchen with his head. “So I had it delivered.”
Kuno thumped his shoulder with a hoof. “Quit teasing!”
Warden smiled, kissing her nose gently. “I just like seeing your face go from hopeful, to sad, to gleeful.”
“You’re gonna see it get angry in a minute,” Kuno threatened, kissing his nose in response and then circling around him, bounding towards the kitchen.
Warden entered the kitchen to find Kuno sitting on her rump and staring at the cake with a tilted head. She looked over her shoulder at him, “It’s... white.”
“And?” Warden asked, bewildered.
“White wedding cakes always hide fruit cake underneath them!” Kuno whined, pawing at the floor helplessly.
Warden laughed faintly. “It’s white chocolate. The cake itself is mudcake and vanilla mixed together.”
Kuno’s face lit up. “Chocolate!” she said, bouncing slightly in place before springing on the cake, not even waiting for a knife. She flicked her wings upwards, and then downwards, twisting and cutting a pair of neat line in the cake. Humming happily, she brushed some crumbs off her wings and then began to extract the slice of cake she had made. The cake itself had white icing, and the actual cake was a mix of deep brown, and creamy vanilla white. The two different cake batters had mixed and created a fascinating series of shapes where they met.
Kuno peered at the dual-flavour cake, and then looked up at her husband, head tilting slightly to the side. “Is this... is this supposed to be symbolise anything?”
Warden looked away, his cheeks flushing. He shook his head. “Erm... no.”
Kuno raised a brow slowly. “You’re a terrible liar, Warden.”
Warden chuckled softly, kicking a forehoof against the floor faintly. “I know.”
“So?” Kuno asked, “Spit it out.”
“It’s just... silly,” Warden said with a huff, shaking his head.
Kuno rolled her eyes, taking some of the icing and smearing it along his lips playfully. “You can tell me. I’m your wife, remember?”
Warden gave a faint sigh. “But it’s corny and stupid and makes me feel all ashamed and squirmy.”
Kuno giggled, licking the icing off his lips happily. “You’re cute when you’re all ashamed and squirmy.”
Warden huffed, nudging her with his nose. “Fine. It’s just... meant to symbolise us.”
“We’re cake?” Kuno asked, raising a brow.
Warden stared at her for a long moment.
“I don’t really think that!” Kuno said defensively, waving her slice of cake at him. “I’m being sarcastic!”
Warden raised a brow, and then shook his head. “It’s just meant to be... well, us. Vanilla and chocolate. They’re not really meant to go together at all... but when they do, it’s beautiful.”
Kuno expression softened, and she leaned forwards to kiss him tenderly. “Awww, you’re so sweet.”
Warden gave a wry smile at that. “Sweet and corny.”
“Like crystal corn!” Kuno said with an earnest nod, devouring her slice of cake with neat bites, and then beginning to lick the icing from her hooves.
“Everything with you is about food,” Warden said with a shake of his head.
“You’ll still love me if I get fat, right?” Kuno asked, giving him her best puppy-dog-eyes.
Warden laughed and shook his head, bumping his nose against her own. “How could I say ‘no’ to those eyes?”
Warden was laying on his left side, stretched out, completely out of it after the Wonder Weed had worn off. It had become increasingly more painful and stressful for him, and he had just crawled into bed and passed out. Kuno was snuggled up against his side, her nose between his wings and hooves around his middle, holding him close. She always chose where she would sleep, whether in his hooves, or against his wings, and she usually opted for his wings. They made great pillows.
There was a soft sound at the bedside, and Kuno rolled over, blinking blearily. A pair of green eyes greeted her.
Kuno yelped, leaping up into a sitting position, her eyes wide. “C-chrysalis?!”
Warden stirred faintly, giving a soft mumble and twitching.
Chrysalis lifted a hoof, making a ‘quiet’ motion.
Kuno stared.
“Wouldn’t want to interrupt your new husbands sleep, would you?” Chrysalis murmured with a sly smile.
Kuno’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Why are you here?”
The changeling queen stretched slightly, giving her wings a flicker. “I told you, when I accepted you to the hive, that there would be a repayment needed. I am here for my payment.”