//------------------------------// // Stage Fright // Story: An Affliction of the Heart: Volume Four // by Anonymous Pegasus //------------------------------// Kuno fairly quivered, flanked by royal guards, with a quartet of dark guards bringing up the rear. She was in her pegasus form, wearing her special marriage band that Warden had given her so many years ago. Instead of red, it was white, with gold threading, gold-plated letters spelling her name, and a white-gold bell with a white bow tied to the bottom. On her white pegasus form, it was nearly invisible, but on her changeling form, it was extremely noticeable. Warden nudged her side gently, and Kuno almost leapt into the air, squeaking once in fear. “You’re so jittery, calm yourself.” “H-how are you so calm?!” Kuno almost squealed, earning herself a look of reproach from one of the guards flanking them. “Because I don’t have stage fright,” Warden teased with an easy smile. Kuno’s eyes narrowed at him, and she gave a faint snort. “You mean you’re too drugged out to even know what day it is, let alone worry about a crowd.” “You’re so tetchy when you have stage fright,” Warden crooned, leaning against her wing with a heavy sigh. “Whatcha think they’re saying out there?” The muffled words of Celestia as she spoke to the assembled crowd of ponies were audible behind a purple curtain. “Probably glorifying my exploits in killing Chrysalis,” Kuno stated flatly, ears splaying back. It was an informal gathering for a medal ceremony. The first ever of its kind. The princesses were to give Kuno recognition for her ‘services to the crown’. It was also the first time Warden had left his hospital bed and the safety of his dialysis machine in months. His hoof felt decidedly strange where the intravenous lines had been sitting for so long. He was so doped up on aurora he couldn’t even recall how he had gotten to the castle. Walked? Flown? Carriage? Everything was just a hazy blur. “Why does every major life event for me have to be accompanied by drugs?” Warden asked plaintively. “Because you like hurting yourself,” Kuno chided, nudging him with her shoulder. “And this is mainly about me!” “But you are my life, so this is sort of major for me, too,” Warden said blankly, head canting to the left. “Excuse me, Mrs Kuno?” one of the guards asked, peering at her sideways. “We’re almost at the stage.” “And?” Kuno asked, blinking once, peering up at the guard. The guard gave an awkward motion with his head. “And… Princess Celestia was rather insistent that we ensure that you were, well… you.” “I am me,” Kuno said blankly. Warden nudged her firmly with his shoulder. “They’re talking about the sexy black you.” Kuno blinked once, her eyes going wide. “B-but… N-no. I can’t.” “They’re not going to lock you up,” Warden said with a smirk, nudging her reassuringly with his nose. “And they all know you’re a changeling.” A deep frown passed over Kuno’s muzzle, and she lowered her head. “This… this doesn’t sit right.” “Warden, Kuno,” Shining Armor said by way of greeting as he stepped from behind the plush purple curtain that muffled the sounds of a crowd beyond. He held a draped cloth over one hoof, with something bulky underneath. “I hope you’re both ready,” he said, looking Kuno and down and slowly raising an eyebrow. “I-I’m ready just like this,” Kuno said with a shaky nod. “She’s being stubborn,” Warden said with an easy smile. “I can’t stand in front of a crowd!” Kuno hissed, pushing her husband’s shoulder so roughly that he stagged and fell. Warden blinked, pushing himself back to his feet and stretching. Shining Armor looked on, concerned. “It’s the aurora,” Warden explained, catching the concerned stare. “Can’t really feel much of anything any more. So I sort of lose my footing a lot.” “How… unhelpful,” Shining Armor said with a single blink, shaking his head and then making a motion with his nose towards the stage. “You’ve got less than a minute.” Kuno bit her bottom lip, starting to stalk back and forth, pacing nervously. “Oh goddess… T-they’re going to stare…” “Of course they’re going to stare,” Warden soothed, throwing a hoof over his wife and pulling her against his side. “They’re here to see you accept a medal.” Kuno immediately began to tap her forehooves in rhythm against the floor, squirming against him anxiously. “I-I’m not good with crowds.” “Stage fright?” Warden asked, frowning slightly. Kuno nodded earnestly. “I didn’t say anything because I thought I could contain it but there’s so many ponies out there and they’re all going to know I’m a changeling and they’re going to say nasty things about me behind my back and mug me when I leave the house and throw rocks and tease Swarm and treat you terribly because you married me and-” Warden placed a hoof over her mouth, shaking his head. “Calm down, Kuno.” Kuno flailed a hoof at him. “I can’t calm down! I’m a changeling! Standing in front of a crowd is literally one of our worst nightmares!” Frowning, Warden caught her hoof and then pulled her into a hug, “And I’m right here. I’ll be here the entire time, like thirty feet away. You can always just run away. Or turn into a dragon again.” “I can’t turn into a dragon any more,” Kuno reminded, ears splaying back. “I used up all my energy beating Chrysalis. I won’t be back at that level for years.” “You know what I mean,” Warden said with a shake of his head, kissing her gently. Shining Armor cleared his throat, just as a round of applause rose from the crowd. “That’s our cue,” Warden reminded gently, nudging his wife. Kuno took a deep swallow, dancing from hoof to hoof, head lowering as she asked quietly. “Tell… tell me it’ll be all right…” “It’ll be alright,” Warden soothed, giving her nose another kiss. “I’ll be right here.” “No you won’t,” Shining Armor said, frowning at the pair. “You’re due on stage, too.” Warden’s pupils dilated. “W-what?” “Both of you, on stage, now,” Shining Armor said, pointing towards the stage. “You were told about this.” “B-but…” Warden protested weakly, cut off as a pair of guards in golden armor stepped up beside both him and Kuno and began to march them out onto the stage. It took Warden several steps before he realised that he didn’t need to limp any more. Warden lowered his head as his ears were assaulted by the cacophony of the cheering crowd. Beside him, Kuno was doing the same. Gently, he extended his wing, the feathers twining with Kuno’s own reassuringly. Up ahead, Princess Celestia, Princess Cadance, and Princess Twilight Sparkle all stood behind a raised dias. Behind them stood a giant statue. She turned to watch them as they approached. “And here are Kuno and Warden, the couple of the hour!” The crowd cheered even louder, and Warden saw Kuno balk. He tugged at her wing, pulling her closer to his side and forcing her to continue forward. “These are the two ponies that vanquished the evil Queen Chrysalis!” The crowd cheered again, and Kuno frowned deeply, biting her tongue. “S’matter with you?” Warden asked, frowning slightly. “Well… Chrysalis wasn’t really evil,” Kuno murmured. One of the guards escorting them frowned at her at that. “She was just… misguided. But… evil?” “We can discuss this later,” Warden said, motioning with his nose towards Celestia, who was only a few metres away now, and staring at them with narrowed eyes. Kuno almost yelped, taking a single step backwards before Warden tugged her forwards. “Ishouldhaveleftmycollaroff,” Kuno whined, reaching a hoof up for it. “H-hide it!” Warden snorted once, lifting a hoof to grasp her own and squeeze it soothingly. “You’re fine as you are. Relax.” “We here, are gathered to recognize the bravery and service to Equestria of…” Celestia paused, picking her words carefully. “These two citizens of our fine nation, in the vanquishing of the evil Queen Chrysalis. One of which earned himself serious injuries. We present to these two ponies the Numisma Virtus.” Shining Armor stepped forwards, uncovering a pair of very heavy-looking bronzed medallions, neatly wrapped around his hoof underneath the sheet he had been carrying. “This medal is given in recognition of services to the crown, and to the ponies of Equestria, and is one of our highest non-military honors.” Warden lifted a hoof, gently laying it on Kuno’s wing. She was trembling so hard she almost vibrated. “Just don’t focus on them. You had no trouble in the hospital,” he soothed, lowering his head a little so the crowd wouldn’t notice him talking. “That was different,” Kuno hissed, chewing on her tongue. She almost screeched as Shining Armor placed the medal over her head, and she whined faintly, wings flaring and quivering. She stared back and forth, from one set of eyes, to the other. Warden frowned faintly, stroking at joints of her wing softly. “They all know you’re a changeling,” he reminded, as he leaned in to accept the heavy medal around his own neck. “They already know your secret, hun. It’s not like you’re protecting the information. They can’t discover that you’re a changeling.” Kuno whined a little bit louder, hindhooves grinding against the floor. “IknowIknowIknowbutthey’reallrightthere,” she muttered, shifting her weight anxiously from one foot to the other, her cheeks flushing and ears unable to decide if they wanted to lay flat or rise to attention. Warden gave an exasperated sigh. Shining Armor stepped up to the dias. “We would also like to award the crimson shield to Warden for injuries sustained in the line of duty of protecting Equestria.” Warden blinked once, before frowning slightly. “But, I—” He was cut off though, as Shining Armor stepped closer and hung another medal around his neck, this one of a glowing red shield. “But I wasn’t-” Shining Armor held up a hoof to silence the pegasus. “You can argue about it later.” Warden closed his mouth, frowning to himself as Shining Armor moved to stand next to Princess Cadance. “And finally, we would like to officially recognize the first official changeling resident of Equestria: Kuno,” Celestia said, head tilting towards Kuno in a gesturing motion. Kuno fairly quivered as all eyes were on her again. All three princesses turned to peer at her expectantly. She looked from the princesses, to the crowd, and then back again, uncertain. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath. Warden lifted his hoof from her wings, leaning slightly closer. “They want you to change.” “B-but I-I can’t!” Kuno almost whimpered. “I-I don’t want to.” “I’ll make you a cake,” Warden bribed. “Not hungry,” Kuno muttered in response. “We could rent a hotel room?” Warden offered suggestively. “I could get that whenever I want anyway,” Kuno hissed in reproach. “A shiny new bell? Whips? Chains? Back massage? I’ll do that nibbling thing you love on your wings?” Warden listed off. “A-all of those and you got a deal,” Kuno said with a faint whine. “You’re just stalling while you drum up the courage, aren’t you?” Warden accused. Kuno quivered and nodded. “Y-yeah.” “They’re not going to stare any less… and it’s getting kinda awkward.” “It’s been awkward already!” Kuno growled, shaking her head. She took a single step forwards, and then another, her wings flaring wide on reflex. She stood at the edge of the stage, biting her bottom lip, dancing from hoof to hoof anxiously. She peered back over her shoulder, ears splayed flat against her skull. Warden nodded gently, waving a hoof. Kuno turned back to the crowd, head lowering. She closed her eyes, her wings giving a little nervous flick, before she was engulfed in green flames. The flames dissolved, and Kuno was standing there in her true form, black chitin shining in the sunlight, white-gold collar around her neck gleaming against the dark colours of her form. Ghostly blue eyes opened, staring out at the silent crowd, while her translucent wings extended delicately and buzzed anxiously above her back. A cheer rose from the crowd, and Kuno recoiled, shrinking backwards, turning her head to the side as though expecting to be struck, her hooves tapping and thudding against the stage nervously. Warden snorted once, moving forward and tugging his wife back to his side, wrapping a wing around her smaller form. Kuno pushed up against the wing like a foal hiding under a blanket, trying to hide herself under it, pulling the edge of it down over her face, quivering against him. Frowning, Warden squeezed her with his wing. “It’s fine, they don’t mind you. Listen.” Kuno peeked out from around his wing, shivering, listening to the sound of the crowd cheering. “T-that’s nice but I don’t want to see them.” Warden rolled his eyes, nudging her once with his nose. “Fine, fine.” He turned towards Shining Armor, raising an eyebrow. “Can we go?” “Very well,” Shining Armor said, stepping away from Cadance and then heading for the extrane that they had come through. The two guards moved in time, leading Warden and Kuno away from the stage and to the much quieter back area. Kuno fairly collapsed once they were out of sight of the crowd, shuddering all over. A flash of green consumed her, and she danced anxiously in place in her pegasus form, chewing at a hoof in a crazed way. “Geeze, calm down,” Warden soothed, stroking over her wings with a hoof. “You’re being crazy.” “T-they were all staring!” Kuno protested, her voice cracking and squeaking. “That pretty much was the entire point of going out onto the stage. It was probably political too, what with having you show your face as a changeling to the entire crowd,” Warden said with a thoughtful nod. “I mean… a lot of people already knew you were a changeling, but now everypony knows.” “And they all stared!” Kuno almost wailed, flailing her forehooves. Warden rolled his eyes, nudging her firmly with his nose. “What’s with this sudden crowd anxiety?” Kuno snorted once, pushing up against his side and wending her way under one of his wings, giving him a weak smile from under the wing. “I wasn’t scared at all. I was just acting that way because you find it adorable.” Warden tilted to peer down at her, slowly raising an eyebrow. “You were really scared of the crowd, huh?” “Terrified,” Kuno said, deflating immediately, huffing faintly up at him. “I can control one pony. I can control three, or four… but an entire crowd? Staring at me? There’s just… there’s so many of them… how can I stay disguised in front of them without them finding holes in my cover?” “You’re not trying to stay disguised though,” Warden said, shaking his head firmly and squeezing her lightly with his wing. He frowned deeply after a moment, brow furrowing. “Uhm… where’s Swarm?” Kuno blinked up at him. “With your parents, obviously.” Warden rubbed his temple with a hoof. “Oh… right… so we have to go to Cloudsdale and bring her back, yes?” “She’s staying with them for the weekend, Warden, and she was in the crowd,” Kuno said, shaking her head slowly. “You’re… forgetting a lot of stuff recently.” “It’s this damn aurora,” Warden whined, rubbing the hoof against his temple slowly. “It just makes me so… out of it.” “To the point where you forget everything?” Kuno asked, worried. Warden shook his head. “It’s more a case of lacking the energy to bother paying attention to anything.” Kuno wrinkled her nose deeply. “I do remember one thing that has been nagging at me, though,” Warden said, rising to his hooves and peering at one of the guards. “Where is Shining Armor?” There was a curt knock at the door before Cadance called ‘come in!’ and the door was pushed open. Warden and Kuno stepped through, while the two guards paused at the doorway, turning around to stand guard. Cadance and Shining Armor were resting on their bed, with candy-pink blankets and yellow pillows. Shining Armor was pushed up under Cadance’s wing, much like Kuno had been under Wardens a few minutes previously. Cadance caught Warden’s expression, and nudged her husband gently. “Shiny… I think you should go see if Celestia and Luna are okay.” Shining Armor peered up at her for a long moment, brow furrowing, before he nodded slowly. “Yes. I’ll go do that.” Warden blinked once as Shining Armor stepped off the bed, heading for the door. “Hey, I want to—” “You can speak to me,” Cadance said in such a firm tone of voice that Warden immediately stopped speaking, letting Shining Armor walk past him and out the door. Kuno peered back and forth between her husband and Cadance, frowning. Warden snorted once, stalking towards the bed, pausing in front of it. “How in the hay did you all let Chrysalis get loose?” Cadance gave a long sigh, lowering her head slightly. “I don’t rightly know.” Warden blinked once. “That’s… ahh…” “You were expecting me to defend my position?” Cadance asked bluntly. “To protest and say that it was inconceivable that she escape?” Warden lowered his head, scuffing the floor with a hoof. “Kinda… yeah.” “Shining Armor set her free,” Cadance said bluntly. “And then he left with her, for parts unknown. He tells me that he doesn’t remember what happened, and I beleive him.” “Erasing memories is pretty common,” Kuno murmured, averting her gaze. “Stops the target from building on old memories and putting pieces together to realise they don’t really love you.” “Needless to say,” Cadance said with a wave of a hoof, “I trust my husband.” “But… how could you let her escape?” Warden asked plaintively. “She killed me.” “I do not know. Shining Armor was the only one allowed in her cell… we decided that, given his experience with the subject, and with constant examinations before and after each visit, we’d catch wind of any duplicity before it became a problem. We were obviously mistaken,” Cadance admitted, adjusting her forehooves and resting her chin between them. “I apologize, Warden. But we were blindsided by her escape.” “You couldn’t have told us?” Warden asked, ears pinning back. “Given us a chance to escape?” “That is…” Cadance frowned deeply, before giving a long sigh. “That was a failure on our part wholeheartedly. We decided that it would be better to covertly seek her recapture rather than publicly reveal that our highest guard was under her influence… again.” Warden gave a long sigh, and then nodded once. “I understand entirely.” Kuno blinked. “What? They could have told us and they didn’t! How could you just understand?” Warden frowned slightly, peering at his wife, and then shaking his head helplessly. “They had to weigh the greater good against the immediate gain of warning one or two ponies that she was loose.” “The greater good?” Kuno asked flatly. “Did your hive ever sacrifice something for the greater good of the hive?” Warden snapped. Kuno fell silent, taking a single step backwards. “I… yes… several times.” “Then you understand,” Warden said simply. “Yes… yes I do,” Kuno said, staring at him for a long moment, expressionless. “Thank you, Cadance,” Warden said, bowing. “Thank you for not trying to bullshit me.” “You were in the royal guard once… you know how it is,” Cadance said quietly. “I do,” Warden said politely, “I’ll not bother you any further.” “Thank you, Warden. Thank you for standing up to her,” Cadance said carefully. “Wear that medallion proudly. You did something that we could not.” “It wasn’t a choice,” Warden stated flatly. “It wasn’t my duty, either. It was something I had to do to survive… and I didn’t even manage that.” Kuno scoffed softly. Warden rolled his eyes. “Kuno likes to think I wasn’t dead.” “Dead ponies don’t walk around and talk,” Kuno reminded bluntly. Cadance waved her hoof. “She has a point, Warden. You survived.” “After a fashion,” Warden responded softly, turning away. “What do you mean?” Cadance asked, but was interrupted as the door behind them opened to admit Celestia into the room. “Cadance, Warden, Kuno,” Celestia said with a gentle nod of her head. “Princess,” Warden said, bowing in respect. “Am I late to the conversation?” Celestia asked calmly. Warden gave a short nod. “I’ve been put at ease as to what happened.” “And that is?” Celestia queried. “Chrysalis tricked Shining Armor, again, and she got free. You all didn’t tell me and Kuno because we weren’t worth the possible damages that the fear of a freed Queen might have caused, and would have disrupted your covert searches for her,” Warden explained mechanically. “It was nothing personal. It was just logistics.” “That is correct,” Celestia said delicately. “Just numbers on a board, like everypony else,” Warden added bitterly. Celestia frowned at that. “Warden… you mustn’t take this personally.” “Sure feels pretty personal,” Warden said, raising a hoof to his chest, to where Chrysalis’ horn had pierced his breast. “Felt really personal when she showed up at my aurora crop and tried to kill me.” “We had no way to know if she would even target you,” Celestia said quietly. Warden snatched off the heavy amulet, throwing it aside, where it bounced and thudded across the floor. “Well you should have bloody-well thought!” Kuno rushed forwards, grasping around Warden’s wing and tugging at him firmly. “Apologies, Princess Celestia. Warden isn’t himself any more.” Celestia frowned deeply, looking him up and down. “I take it his recovery is causing some strain?” “You could say that,” Kuno admitted, shaking her head, grasping a hoof over Warden’s muzzle to keep him from speaking as he made to yell something else. “Warden, we’re leaving. You either come with me peacefully or I’m going to turn into a grizzly bear and carry you out by the tail, understood?” Warden gave his wife a mutinous glare, but nodded, grinding his teeth. Kuno nodded politely to the two princesses, “Thank you for seeing us.” Celestia nodded gently. “Warden, when you come back to your senses, there is still that matter of the thing you wanted me to do for you?” Warden broke free of his wife’s grasp for a moment, scowling deeply. “Like I’d want you to do that for me.” Kuno growled faintly, grasping her husband and tugging him bodily towards the door. It wasn’t until they were outside of the castle grounds Kuno released Warden, pushing him against the castle fence with a low growl. “What was that?!” “I don’t know,” Warden admitted, hanging his head, chewing on his tongue, his wings drooping. “I don’t… I can’t…” Kuno frowned, nudging his cheek with her nose. “Tell me what’s wrong, Warden.” “Everything is wrong,” Warden said plaintively. “I’m just…” he trailed off, grinding a hoof against the ground slowly. “I’m starting to ache, and I’m so angry and I want to go back in there and grab that stupid long horn of Celestia’s and ram her face into the wall with it until I get some common sense through that thick bloody skull… but I know that that’s stupid and I know that it wasn’t personal… and… and I snapped at you…” he said quietly, lowering his head even further, looking pained. “W-why did I snap at you?” Kuno frowned deeply, squeezing his gently with her hooves. “C’mon. Let’s get you back to the hospital. You need more medicine.” Warden’s pupils dilated, and his ears splayed back. “I-I don’t want any more aurora.” “Are you sure about that?” Kuno asked quietly. Warden bit his bottom lip, tears starting to spill down his cheeks. “Y-yes… I need it… so badly,” he admitted plaintively. “C’mon,” Kuno said, squeezing him reassuringly, starting to walk with him towards the hospital.