"Actually, this is my first one."
"...it makes you realize that everypony is the star of their own story. And it's not just the main characters in our stories that make life so rich.."
Shadow Mist listened to the gray-maned mare as she droned on and on with her speech about stories and characters. He didn't really understand what the meaning of it all was supposed to be, but then again he'd never actually been to a wedding before.
Well, there was that one wedding from a while back, but at the time he attended under different circumstances. And it had been with lots of other changelings. And the queen. And he wasn't actually so much attending the wedding as he was there to crash it and help his brethren take over an entire capital city. And he also wasn't actually present at the wedding itself since that big magical barrier thingy kept him and everyling else from getting inside...
Actually, Shadow Mist corrected himself, he had never attended a wedding before.
But he was pretty sure weddings didn't involve lengthy speeches about stories. Shouldn't they be about the two ponies - or rather, in this case, two donkeys - getting married to each other or something?
Not that he should be complaining really. The levels of love in the town hall was humongous, and Shadow Mist was having a heck of a feast. It's like having dinner while watching a show or something, the changeling thought to himself. Wish that mare would get to the point though. She drones on more than the queen does back home.
Speaking of the queen, Shadow Mist made a mental note to check on the queen's condition when he got back to the hive. Getting crushed under a large pile of rocks couldn't have been pleasant, although better her than him as they were originally meant for.
He noticed a sudden flicker of movement from out the corner of his eye. Alerted, Shadow Mist turned his head and noticed some foals a few seats away from him, looking at him with worry and surprise as they cowered behind one another.
Shadow Mist frowned. "What, you kids never seen a changeling before?" he said. The foals didn't respond, instead they continued to stare at him.
"Why don't you take a picture, it'll last longer," Shadow Mist harrumphed, turning his head to continue watching the wedding ceremony. A sudden flash of light to his side made him turn to look at the foals again, and he noticed a little orange-coated colt holding a photography camera at him, before ducking behind the rest of the children.
Shadow Mist shook his head. "Kids," he muttered.
He carried on listening to the mare's speech for a few moments, before the sound of crying drew Shadow Mist's attention over to a white stallion some few chairs away on the opposite side of the hall. A pink alicorn patted him gently in a futile effort to calm him down while smiling nervously at the ponies around them who were looking over at the to see what the commotion was about.
Shadow Mist rolled his eyes. "Geez, that's the fifth time that guy's bawled like a baby. I'd hate to think how he'd cope at his own wedding."
"Yeah. To think he rules an empire, too," a voice said, sounding very close to Shadow Mist. Startled, Shadow Mist whipped his head around to see a silvery-tinged white pegasus stallion sitting in the previously empty chair by the side of him.
"What the, where did you come from?" Shadow Mist asked, still in shock.
The pegasus pointed to an open window behind them both. "Outside," he replied. "But I came in after Equestria's first ever giant katamari ball rolled down the hill. Looked like fun." He turned to the changeling. "So what about you, changeling? You here by the orders of your queen, or were you invited to fill up the number of empty seats?"
Shadow Mist blinked a couple of times. "I'm sorry, but who's asking this question?" he asked after a few moments.
The pegasus extended his hoof out to the changeling in a friendly manner. "Name's Unique," the pegasus said politely. "And what might yours be, hmm?"
Shadow Mist stared at the hoof before slowly reaching one holed hoof of his own towards it. "Um...Shadow Mist," he replied. The two hooves bumped each other and shook. Shadow Mist's eyes trailed to Unique's legs, and he suddenly took notice of the fact that his new friend wasn't sitting on his chair like the other ponies usually did. Two legs slouched over the edge of his seat, which Shadow Mist also noticed were bending the wrong way.
The changeling pointed a holed hoof at Unique's legs. "What's the matter with your back legs? Why do they look like that?"
Unique glanced down at his legs and shrugged. "I dunno, I was just born with them like that. Could be anything. Birth defect, genetics, intended character design. Take your pick really."
Shadow Mist stared at them for a moment longer. He shook his head and turned back to the wedding, still going. There was silence between them for a minute before Shadow Mist turned to Unique. "So, are you a friend or a relative somehow of the two getting married?" the changeling asked.
Unique shook his head. "Nope. I'm not from around here. I was taking a detour flight through this pleasant little town the other day while enjoying a donut, when this cross-eyed mare came out of nowhere and gave me a wedding invitation. I don't even know who the bride and groom are, but the invitation said there'd be a buffet so I figured I'd come and get a free snack out of this."
Unique turned to the Shadow Mist and raised his hoof. "So do you come to weddings often, or...?" he asked.
Shadow Mist shook his head. "Actually this is my first one. Well, the first one I've ever properly attended."
Unique nodded. "Okay. That's cool I guess," he said.
There was another period of silence between the two of them, and then both pony and changeling turned away from each other to watch out the rest of the wedding ceremony, one planning to grab as much love as he could after the couple kissed, and the other planning to grab as much of the shrimp and chocolate pudding at the buffet table as possible once it was open to everypony.