• Published 25th Dec 2012
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An Affliction of the Heart: Volume Two - Anonymous Pegasus



Part two of An Affliction of the Heart.

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Kuno narrowed her eyes slowly at her former queen. “What could I possibly offer you?” she asked, her tone no more than a low growl. “I will not give you Warden.”

Chrysalis gave a quiet, dismissive laugh. “As though I would want a crippled pegasus such as he. No, what I want from you is much more tangible, and much more... valuable.” The changeling queen threw the sleeping Warden a contemptuous glance. “One: You will hide me, until a time of my choosing. Two: You will give me love energy. Enough to sustain myself. And three: You will teach me what... tricks. What magic you used to so subtly force him to fall in love with you.”

Kuno’s eyes narrowed slowly, and she looked to the sleeping form of Warden, and then back to Chrysalis. “I will not discuss this here. Outside.”

Chrysalis gave a polite nod at that, rising and stepping quietly out of the room, heading for the front door. Kuno gently stroked at Warden’s wing, before she slid off the bed and followed.

Once outside, Kuno turned to confront the queen. “I will not give you all of my love. I need to at least retain some of it.”

Chrysalis nodded once. “Very well. Give what you can.”

Kuno pursed her lips, and then stepped up to the queen, placing a hoof on her chest. A faint green glow emanated from her hoof, the love energy seeping into the larger changelings form.

“I can’t hide you here, Chrysalis,” Kuno said as she stepped back, shaking her head once. “The royal guard will be here to ensure that the Aurora crop is tended to. They’ll find you. They already know one changeling resides here.”

“Tch, very well then. You will teach me your spell though,” Chrysalis stated flatly, waving a hoof. “Or I will undo it and destroy this lovely little home you’ve created for yourself.”

Kuno’s ears pinned back, and she looked down at her hooves. “I don’t have him under a spell.”

“I am your queen, Kuno. I can taste the magic upon him. It is subtle... but it is there,” Chrysalis accused, waving a hoof.

“It’s just there because I’m around him so much and because I’m constantly feeding from his love,” Kuno said, looking away, refusing to meet the queen’s eyes.

Chrysalis’ eyes narrowed, and she gave a contemptuous snort. “Tell me, subject,” Chrysalis reached forwards with a hoof, gripping the changeling’s chin and forcing her head around, green eyes boring into Kuno’s blue. “Tell me about how you learned this spell.”

Kuno struggled faintly in place, trying to break eye contact and failing miserably. “I... I... my former queen was on her death’s bed. Her army was decimated, and I was one of the last changelings under her rule. She was old. Some say over a thousand years. She was a master in the art of subtle seductions, as she called it. She found that... through careful manipulation and encouragement, and a certain spell, she could make a pony fall in love with her almost naturally... the spell worked for so long that she could keep a pony close for their entire lifetime... take love for decades insteads of days...”

Chrysalis nodded eagerly. “Yesss.... tell me more.”

“S-she passed the spell onto three of us before she died... told us to find somewhere quiet... find somepony with sympathy... she didn’t want us taking over a hive with so few members...” Kuno struggled fitfully, straining with the effort of trying to break away.

“And the spell?” Chrysalis asked, her tone silky-soft. “Give it to me, subject.”

Kuno shook her head vociferously. “Love should be earned, not taken!”

Chrysalis laughed softly, a note of evil in her tone. “Who are you to talk of love, whelp? You who have done naught but steal it for so long? I cause no long-term harm with my machinations... but you, you have ruined his life.”

Kuno shook her head helplessly. “I have not! I’ve healed him, after the death of his wife!”

Chrysalis gave a soft, almost maniacal laugh. “And if you do not give me your spell, then your new husband will be finding out far more about his darling wife than he ever wanted to.”

Kuno shuddered and jerked at that, as though physically struck. Her voice was no more than a whisper as she said, “Y-you wouldn’t...”

“I have been usurped, Kuno,” Chrysalis said, her tone returning to it’s silky-soft, and utterly terrifying state. “I have nothing to lose. I am a cornered animal. And you know that a cornered animal is the most dangerous. Try me, dear changeling. Your tears will be delicious.”

Kuno splayed her ears back, turning her head away. “Y-you’re going to ruin their marriage...”

Chrysalis licked her lips deviously. “Indeed I am. I will have Shining Armor kneeling at my hooves and that bitch in the ground. I won’t make the same mistake of merely containing her, this time.”

A soft whine left the changeling, and she struggled again.

“Stop resisting,” Chrysalis whispered, a hoof lifting to gently, soothingly rub down Kuno’s cheek, while her eyes bored into the smaller changelings’. “Relax and give me what I want...”

Kuno whimpered softly, but slowly went still, her form drooping and head hanging, eyes glassing over.

“Theeeere it is,” Chrysalis hissed eagerly, leaning forwards to gently touch her horn to the changelings. There was a burst of bright green magic, and Kuno bounced back several feet from the shock, landing on her rump, dazed. Chrysalis laughed softly, waving a hoof. “Thank you, subject. You have been much help.”

By the time Kuno managed to collect herself and look up, Chrysalis was gone.

A pair of wide blue eyes were watching her from the half-open front door.

Kuno winced faintly, rising to her hooves. “S-she wanted our love,” Kuno muttered, lowering her head.

Warden stared at her, stiffening slightly.

Kuno’s ears pinned back further. “H-how much did you hear, Warden?”

“I heard everything,” Warden said in a hoarse voice, opening the door further and stepping outside, his eyes narrowing on the changeling. “Change it back. Turn off the magic.”

Warden-,” Kuno started urgently.

“-Don’t even try it,” Warden stated flatly, waving a hoof angrily. “Whatever spell you have me under. Whatever it is you did to me. Reverse it.”

Kuno’s ears pinned back, and she shook her head. “I-I can’t...”

Warden’s eyes flashed angrily. “Do it or I’m leaving.”

“W-Warden...” Kuno whined.

Warden stamped a hoof impatiently.

Whimpering faintly, Kuno took a step towards him, closing her eyes and brushing her horn across his chest gently. “P-please don’t hate me...” she whispered, as the green magic flashed across his form.

Warden shuddered, recoiling at the sensation of the magic. He stared down at the changeling, at his wife, his eyes narrowing slowly. His breathing picked up, intensifying, and his wings stiffened, his bad wing scraping and grating as the bones shifted. He barely even noticed the pain.

There was a long silence, suddenly punctuated by Warden cracking his hoof across Kuno’s cheek in a vicious back-hoofswipe, sending the changeling reeling. “Get away from me,” he hissed, his tone a whisper of suppressed rage and anger.

Kuno’s ears pinned back further, and she nursed her cheek with a hoof, nodding mutely and turning away, beginning to walk down the long path towards Ponyville.


Warden’s chest heaved. His vision was blurred by tears and he could barely see the ground in front of him. He had flown partway towards his destination, ignoring the protests of his wing. It has felt like fire burning directly in his wing joints, but it fortified him somehow: forced him not to dwell on the other pain threatening to swallow him up. The old oak tree was a shadow superimposed against the starry night sky. Warden could barely see anything through the tears, and he couldn’t even tell if he was crying from the pain or the loss.

Warden collapsed at the foot of Swarm’s grave, splaying out heavily on his good hoof, extending his bad one in front of him and staring up at the headstone. This was his place to think, and to mourn. This was where he went when it all got too much. And it was far, far too much for him to handle at that moment.

“H-hey hun,” Warden said with a shuddering exhalation, staring up at the gravestone. “G-guess I’m not too good on keeping my promises, h-huh?”

Warden lifted his good hoof, kneading against his wing slowly, trying to work out the knots in the disused muscles. The entire region was agony, but he didn’t even care at that point. Adrenaline had flushed his form so strongly that he was barely even aware of the pain.

“I-I got married tonight... or last night. I don’t even know what day it is. I-I thought she was everything. I thought she was more than you,” Warden murmured, shaking his head. “B-but she was... she had me under a spell.” Warden paused then, biting his tongue so hard he tasted blood. “I-It was all a lie. I-I forced her to l-lift her spell and... and... and I don’t love her any more...”

Warden buried his face in his hooves, biting down hard on his tongue again until he felt the blood dribbling from his mouth. “I-I loved her so much and it was just a l-lie...”

There was the rustle of movement from behind him, and then a soft query: “Warden?”

Leave!” Warden hissed, rounding on Kuno, raising a hoof to strike her.

Kuno stood her ground, rising to her full height and setting her jaw. “I-I can’t leave. Not until I’ve explained.”

“You’ve explained enough!” Warden spat, lunging forwards and smashing Kuno across the cheek and brow with the full force of his bad hoof. The blow unbalanced the changeling, and she spat out a glob of blood, while Warden limped backwards, biting his bottom lip and holding his injured hoof in pain.

“I have not,” Kuno said flatly, spitting another glob of blood onto the ground. “I know... I know that you hate me now. But I have to... I have to say what I have to say. And then I’ll leave. You’ll never hear from me again.”

Warden grit his teeth, moving to hit the changeling again. His bad hoof gave out, and he sprawled in the grass clumsily, clutching at his bad hoof and hissing in suppressed anger. Kuno casually stepped on his good hoof, holding it in place. With his good hoof pinned, Warden was basically captive.

Listen to me, Warden,” Kuno hissed angrily. “I...” her expression softened, and her head lowered slightly. “I have to thank you.”

“Let me up!” Warden hissed venomously. “Let me up and I’ll give you so much more to be thankful for!”

Kuno shook her head gently. “I told you that when I left, I left because I didn’t understand what love was... I wasn’t lying, Warden. I... I used the spell on you when I first got you tied up, all those years ago... it takes a long time for it to take hold. It’s... it’s really subtle.”

“Two-faced bitch!” Warden spat, curling around and striking at her with a hind-hoof. The blow caught her square on the chin, sending her reeling backwards, shaking her head to try and clear it, nose bleeding.

Kuno sniffed faintly, spitting out another small dribble of blood, before continuing on doggedly. “You started falling in love me... and that’s exactly what I needed. I needed that love, to survive. I didn’t really care that I was manipulating you... at first.”

Warden growled faintly, rising unsteadily to his hooves and beginning to circle around the changeling.

Kuno ignored his aggressive movements, calmly continuing her story. “And then you started to love me, more and more. I felt it. I felt your pain at losing Swarm... and then Daggertail’s thugs got at you. You walked miles with a broken leg to get me... that was the first time I’d ever felt guilty about using my powers to trick love from another pony. It was... odd. I didn’t know how to... handle it. So... I ran away.”

“You should have stayed gone!” Warden hissed, taking another swing at her.

Kuno saw it coming a mile off, but let the ringing blow land, snapping her head to the left. She staggered slightly, before facing front again, continuing her story. “I spent most of that year trying to understand love... trying to find out what it was. I never lied to you about that. I was... bothered by it all.”

“Why did you even bother coming back?!” Warden hissed, his hooves digging into the grass. “Did you get hungry?!”

Kuno shook her head gently, giving him a lopsided, bruised, and bloody smile. “I came back because... I love you.”

Warden growled faintly in rebuke. “You don’t love me!”

Kuno shrugged. “Perhaps I don’t. But... I had hurt you when I left. I knew I had. And I felt... guilty. I knew that... with the spell in place, the happiest you would ever be would be in my hooves.”

“So I’m a sympathy case?!” Warden hissed, beating a hoof against the ground, biting his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. “I’m just some forlorn little lost foal for you to look after to get free food?!”

Kuno shook her head gently. “I know that you can’t understand Warden... we don’t think alike. You’ll never understand. maybe I don’t understand love, but... I think I have a firm grasp on it. Love is... willing to give up your happiness to make them happy. Love is that warm little feeling you get when you see that person smile. Love is... being happy even if you’re hurting, just because the other person is near.” Kuno smiled faintly, giving a soft sigh. “So thank you, Warden. Thank you for showing me what love is.”

“You have no idea what love is!” Warden yelled, stamping his hoof against the ground again, his voice wavering. “You come in here with your m-magic and make me love you, even after I lost S-swarm, and you keep it going, and going, and going. We got married, Kuno! And it was a lie! Just a fucking lie!”

“I understand that you’re angry, Warden...” Kuno said softly.

“Is it obvious?!” Warden asked, turning and striking her across the cheek with as much force as he could muster. Kuno took the hit full across the brow, wincing backwards and then straightening up with a strained smile, panting faintly.

“Don’t you understand, Warden?” Kuno asked softly, shaking her head. “I... I felt guilty about this. I wanted to tell you. But... I didn’t want to break your heart...”

“Well you failed!” Warden hissed vehemently.

“You would have been happier if you’d never found out. You would have loved me, I would have loved you... we could have had a family together. I just... I just wanted you to be happy. I wanted to see you smile, because I love you,” Kuno murmured gently.

Warden shook his head rapidly. “Y-you’re lying.”

“You can hate me if you want, Warden. I’ll not leave here until you realise the truth, though. If I leave here with you like this... then you’ll probably kill yourself. And I can’t live with that,” Kuno said with a shake of her head.

Warden clasped both hooves over his ears to block out her words. “That would be better! It wouldn’t hurt any more!”

Kuno took an unsteady step closer to him, her balance a little off from the repeated blow. “Warden, I’m sorry that I hurt you. And I do love you. If I didn’t love you, I’d just put you back under the spell and be done with it.”

Warden ground his hooves against his temple helplessly. “T-that would almost be better,” he admitted, sniffling faintly. “I-I just want all the pain to stop.”

“Pain tells us we’re alive,” Kuno said gently, taking another soft step towards him, and then wrapping a hoof gently around his shoulders.

Warden pushed at her with his bad hoof, trying to keep her at bay. “L-leave me alone you t-two-face f-fucking liar...”

Kuno gently shook her head. “I can’t, Warden. I really wish I could just... walk away. It would be easier for both of us. But I can’t control my heart. Hate me all you want, but... I love you. You have to know that.”

“Why?” Warden asked plaintively, staring up at her with red-rimmed eyes. “W-why did you keep the charade going for so long?”

Kuno shushed him gently with a hoof. “Because I love you.”


Warden went through several different stages. Crying, depression, more crying, sadness, anger. By the time he had stabilised, Kuno had borne several more blows. Her nose and chin were caked with drying blood, and the area around both eyes was bruised and discoloured.

It had been almost an hour since Warden had last spoken, and Kuno deemed that enough time had passed.

Gently, Kuno rose to her hooves, and began to limp away. “Goodbye, Warden... you won’t see me again, I promise.”

Kuno was a full dozen steps away before a softly croaked sentence stopped her. “D-don’t go.”

Pausing, Kuno looked back over her shoulder, a strained smile on her muzzle. “Need to hit me some more to feel better?”

“Yes,” Warden stated, his voice hoarse.

Kuno limped back towards him, sitting down on her haunches and staring at him sideways, tensing her form slightly.

Warden raised a hoof as though to hit her, and then fell across her, clinging to her form with his forehooves, burying his face against her neck. “Y-you lied to me...” he murmured hoarsely. “You lied to me and put me under a spell and I hate you for it...”

Kuno nodded stiffly, automatically stroking a hoof through his mane. “I know...” she whispered softly. “I’m a monster.”

“Y-you lied to me. Even after my wife died... after everything I went through... you lied to me...” Warden reiterated.

Kuno remained silent, biting her bottom lip and looking away.

“You... lied to me for so long. Even after I got my wing and hoof broken for you... you lied to me. You let me believe that I was actually in love with you...” Warden stated, peering up at her with red eyes.

Kuno nodded again, not saying anything to defend herself.

“A-and... you hurt me,” Warden whispered, his ears pinning back. “You hurt me more than the loss of my wife... you used magic on me and tricked me... and then hurt me...”

Kuno sighed softly, nodding again. “I’m a monster.”

Warden stared up at her, his bottom lip quivering slightly. “B-but you came back. Even after you left for a year... you came back. You... you made me happy. And you stayed with me, even though I’m broken and crippled... you stayed with me for so long. Y-you gave up whatever life you could life you could have to be with me. You were even planning on staying as a pony for nine months so that we could have a child...” Warden muttered, his voice choking up slightly. His gaze fell, and he buried his nose against her.

“I... just... I don’t know what to feel any more. I h-hate you for what you did...” Warden said, shaking his head gently.

Kuno nodded softly, stroking a hoof through his mane. “You should...”

“B-but... I...” Warden looked up at her, his bottom lip quivering slightly.

Kuno stared down at him, her head tilting slightly to one side. Gently, she asked, “Yes?”

Warden crawled slightly closer to her, wrapping his hooves around her neck and pulling her down onto his level, kissing her full on the mouth with a tender motion. He held the kiss for several seconds, pulling back with tears in his eyes. “I-I hate you Kuno... I hate you for what you did... but... but I love you. I love you more than ever... I love you for all that you sacrificed for me... for all that you did for me. For everything.”

Kuno’s gaze softened, and she wrapped her hooves around him tightly. “I love you too, Warden. I really, really do. No magic, no tricks... I love you.”

Warden stared up at her, swallowing past the lump in his throat. “C-can you forgive me, Kuno?” he asked gently, lifting a hoof to try and wipe some of the blood from her chin.

Kuno’s ears pinned back and her eyes watered up slightly as she leaned down to kiss him full on the mouth, holding him close. “There’s n-nothing to forgive, Warden.”

Warden nodded gently, hooking a hoof around her neck and holding close to her, rubbing his cheek against her own gently. “I... it’s just... so much to take in all at once.”

Kuno nodded, kissing him furiously, clinging to him. “I know, I know. I’m sorry Warden... I’m sorry. B-but y-you’re back now and oh sweet goddess I was so afraid of losing you after all of th-”

Warden lifted a hoof gently to shush her. “I know, Kuno. I know.” He stared up at her, staring into her eyes, before kissing her nose and then her lips gently. “Gotta pick your lip up, Kuno. We still have a honeymoon to have. And a foal to make.”

Kuno’s ears pinned back, and tears spilled down her face as she hugged him tightly to her chest, squeezing him intently. “I-I was so afraid you’d hate me f-forever...”

Hooking a hoof around her neck, Warden trailed a slew of kisses gently across her cheek and chin. “How could I ever hate you, Kuno? You’re my wife. And even... even without the magic. Love is stronger than that. Love is stronger than magic, Kuno. And it’ll win through in the end.”

Kuno slumped against him, squeezing him with her hooves. “I’m just glad it won through before you murdered me. And you’re getting all corny again, Warden.”

Warden smiled crookedly, laying his nose against her own and staring into her eyes. “Shut up, I’m having a moment.”

Kuno just smiled, kissing him tenderly. “P-promise you’ll never leave me?”

Warden wrapped his hooves around his wife, holding her close. “So long as you promise you’ll never stop loving me.”