Violets are Blue Chapter 8
“We’ve been waiting in line for two hours, Carbon,” Lilo groaned as she slumped against the wall in the hall to Canterlot Castle’s scholarly wing. “You’d think that since we actually know the Head of State and Social Affairs that we’d at least get some priority.”
Carbon rolled his eyes and looked out of the window and up at the sky. The sun hung overhead, signaling that it was already long past midday, warming up the ground and the city buildings slightly before night came once again. The chill still didn’t go away, though, and with the vast halls and emptiness of the castle, heat failed to effectively warm anything unless somepony stood next to a lit wall sconce. Unsurprisingly enough, that’s precisely what most ponies did, with the line grouping up together as small pockets huddled around the fires for warmth.
Both Lilo and Carbon came prepared for the wait that day compared to many of the other ponies in line. Wearing scarves, socks, hats, and boots, as well as a little cuddling, they managed to keep most of the cold away from cutting through their fur. However, whenever they came upon a well lit wall sconce, they never complained.
“We’re only two ponies back from admittance,” Carbon noted, peering around the ponies in front of them. “I’d imagine that work would back up this time of year being that winter is approaching. It’s surprising to hear about all of the ponies requesting extra food stamps for their starving foals, yet organic foods also increase in demand due to northern farms being unable to contribute crops to their southern farm partners. A crazy coincidence, right?”
Lilo slid down against the wall and onto her back, splaying her feathery “Rosebud” wings out as she said, “Either your cynicism is rubbing off on me or I’ve seen too many ponies try to pay with food stamps at work.” She flicked her tail in the air. “But that’s besides the point. It’s starting to get really cold out here.”
Carbon rolled his eyes and opened his wings up. “Come on, then. Want another hug?”
Lilo nodded and scrambled back onto all four of her hooves before scooting herself up against Carbon. She nuzzled into his neck, her muzzle tapping underneath his chin as he closed his wing around her. Quietly several satisfied clicks emanated from her throat, and Carbon smiled to himself as he watched as the next two ponies were summoned in together.
“Oh, looks like we’re next up, then,” Carbon said, inching both Lilo and himself to the guard who stood watch at the doors. “What do you think she’ll say when we ask her?”
Lilo looked up and tilted her head. “I’m not too entirely sure. It wasn’t customary for changelings to marry each other; more of like having a temporary union until the foals were born before separating.” She looked back down and sighed. “Has there been any other changelings that have married?”
“I don’t believe so,” Carbon replied. “I haven’t heard of such a thing being done as of yet, although who knows about the changelings who have to gone into a… permanent hiding.” He felt Lilo tense up and he tightened his wing around her. “Who knows, perhaps we’ll be the first changeling and pony marriage, yeah?”
“You don’t think something like that will draw lots of attention, will it?” Lilo asked in a small voice.
Carbon paused for a moment, looking down at his hooves. “Well, it could, but-”
The doors to the castle study opened and the two ponies that were standing in front of Carbon and Lilo earlier walked out. They appeared to be both smiling at each other as one carried a note in their mouth.
“You may enter now,” the guard standing at the door said. He held the door open with his magic, allowing for Lilo and Carbon to shuffle their way through without so much as a nod.
The castle study immediately opened up into a massive glass half-dome with beams curving up to a single point at the top. Shelves upon shelves of books and scrolls packed the entire room, compiling information from scattered parts of the world, opting for more of a documentation of worldly affairs and current magic endeavors rather than volumes of history, fiction, and philosophy. The shelves themselves curved in neat semi circles, forming exactly nine rows all of the way up to the edge of the glass dome. Massive chandeliers hung from hooks lodged into the beams of the dome, illuminating the darkest corners of the study where the sun was unable to cast its light.
Carbon and Lilo looked around in awe at the scale of the architecture encasing them, noting that, like, the rest of the palace, even the little details had not been glossed over. Tiny engravings of different plants lined the columns supporting the structure, adding an even more scholarly feel to the study when combined with beautiful paintings and murals covering the walls. Even under their hooves a dark blue carpet guided them down the center aisle towards a massive desk.
Chrysalis looked up from several papers she was hunched over and gave both Carbon and Lilo a soft smile as they approached. Lilo’s disguise dropped when she and Chrysalis’ eyes met, and it took more than a little willpower for her to not break into a gallop and hug her former queen.
“It’s good to see you two,” Chrysalis said, her dissonant voice holding a motherly air to it. “It’s been nearly a year since we last spoke to each other. I would try to arrange something with you two, but I traded one nation’s management for another it seems.”
Both Carbon and Lilo chuckled uneasily as they reached Chrysalis’ desk. A whole slew of papers lay out in front of the former changeling queen consisting of legal documents for citizenship, property ownership, and property survey records. Carbon looked down at them for a moment before the papers were scooped up in Chrysalis’ magic and shuffled together into a neat pile.
“Is there anything I can do for you, two?” Chrysalis asked, standing up and walking around the desk. She towered over both Lilo and Carbon, with either pony and changeling only managing to have the tips of their ears reach Chrysalis’ shoulders.
Lilo cleared her throat and stepped forward, although she tensed when Chrysalis met her gaze evenly. “Carbon and I recently came to the conclusion yesterday that we… we would like to take our relationship to the next step. I know it’s not something that the changelings have done for hundreds of years, but now that we’re free ponies among Equestria and its own ponies, we feel as though it is time to continue to integrate ourselves into our new society.”
Chrysalis tilted her head, but she remained silent as Lilo opened her mouth again to speak.
“Carbon and I love each other very much.” She looked back for a moment and caught Carbon smiling at her. “It’s a wonder why I haven’t gotten fat off of him as he continues to feed me with his cheesy one liners. There’s a bond we both feel between each other. I know it, and he knows it, or else we probably wouldn’t be standing here right now.”
“You’re telling me,” Chrysalis slowly said in a small voice, “that both you and Carbon are thinking of getting married?”
Carbon stepped forward now, standing next to Lilo. “And we were hoping that you could be the one to marry us.”
“You… you want me to be the one to marry you two?” Chrysalis asked, shocked. She scuttled back to behind her desk and began going through the drawers. “The princesses are usually the ones that are in charge of this, not me.”
Lilo and Carbon looked between each other, then back to Chrysalis.
“The princesses haven’t exactly been present in Equestrian affairs as much as they used to lately,” Carbon said.
“The princesses have been busy with certain affairs concerning recent social and national… anxieties,” Chrysalis said hastily before Carbon could continue. “It takes up a lot of their time, but they’re trying to make time for their subjects. It’s been… hard for them.”
Lilo and Carbon exchanged another glance, this time both of them looking confused by Chrysalis’ answer.
“My qu- I mean, Chrysalis,” Lilo said, stuttering. “You’ve been the mother to the changelings for centuries, always leading us along some sort of path you had intended for us to take that would help us along. You wanted everything that was best for us, and you did everything in your power to ensure that we got what it is that we needed, even if sometimes your plans never turned out fully to be what you wanted them to be.” Lilo paused for a moment as she watched Chrysalis’ figure break her haughty poise. “The princesses have done so much for our race, but you are the one that finally gave us a chance to be redeemed and admitted into pony society. Carbon and I only thought it would be appropriate if you were the one who could marry us together, too.”
Chrysalis smiled at Lilo and levitated several papers out from one of the drawers behind the desk. Inscribed on the top of the papers was the Equestrian seal, a diagonal line of the princesses’ cutiemarks that separated a line of clouds and stars. The heading was titled “Official Documentation for Legal Marriage in Equestria.”
“I’m sure you’re both wondering whether or not you’re the first changeling and pony couple who have requested for a legal marriage in Equestria,” Chrysalis said, composing herself. “So, yes, you are the first ones to apply.”
Chrysalis watched as both Carbon and Lilo’s eyes lit up before continuing. They turned the papers around and began reading through the lists of questions, conformations, and signatures required in order for the marriage to be documented. The eagerness coursing through both of their bodies perked them up and shielded them from the cold air that still occupied the room and the unreal amount of signatures the passed over their eyes.
“I never thought I’d see the day when one of my own would marry a pony once again,” Chrysalis said, levitating a pen out from a cup at the corner of her desk. “During our life of wandering out in the Broken Leylands, old customs fell apart and relations with other ponies became increasingly sour, encouraging individuality. For a… long time it was just us out there.”
“But now that the princesses have pardoned you, you and the changelings no longer have to be alone anymore,” Carbon said, looking up. “It’s probably not the same as you remember it, but it’ll get there, right?”
Chrysalis smiled at Carbon for a moment, although the light that had crept into her eyes disappeared. “Yes, one day it’ll get there.”
Carbon and Lilo focused on reading over the marriage documents more and more carefully, taking the pen that Chrysalis offered them and signing their names down wherever their signatures were required. Chrysalis observed them both from behind the table, giggling quietly to herself as she watched Carbon occasionally grumble as he had to write his name again or Lilo chitter and squeak as they turned the page. After a while, Lilo stopped halfway from turning the last page of the marriage documents and gazed up at Chrysalis.
“Does that mean you’ll be marrying us, too?” Lilo asked.
Chrysalis nodded, her eyes shining again as a small grin stretched across her face. “Yes, I’d be more than willing to marry you and Carbon.”