//------------------------------// // Chapter 73 // Story: The Perilous Romance of Swans // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// Everything had become a whirlwind of events and Gosling was powerless to stop them. He was stressed, but managing. He knew that today was going to be one of the most stressful days ever. Tonight, at eight o’clock, the engagement gala would begin and he would formally ask both sisters to marry him. “Gosling, you seem distracted,” Celestia said from where she sat at the end of a table, going over proposals to smooth over the current state of political and social unrest. “You’ve hardly touched your breakfast. Your stomach isn’t bothering you again, is it? Acid reflux?” “I’m fine. It’s just that I am required to ask two very pretty mares to marry me later.” “Did you ever get fitted for your tuxedo?” Celestia asked as she sorted through her papers. “I’m wearing my doublet. I’ll be attending in my formal regalia as a guard,” Gosling replied. “Lantern Specialist Gosling. Intelligence. I’ll be suave and debonair. Later today, I’ll be getting my mane and tail done.” “Mmm, that makes me moist, just like a fresh cupcake,” Celestia murmured in an absentminded voice. “Is it hot in here?” Gosling looked around the room, flapped his wings, and blinked a few times. “It’s hot in here. I’m going outside to get some air.” The pegasus, who was already on his hooves, walked in a circle while fanning himself with his wings. “Unseasonably warm.” “Oh, Gosling, darling, I can put myself into season at any time. One of the advantages of being a fertility goddess.” Amused, Celestia tittered at her own joke and watched as the flustered pegasus fluffed out. Grinning, she licked her upper teeth with her tongue and then returned to her papers. “I need some fresh air!” Gosling cried as he hurried for the doors. He rushed off, his tail streaming behind him and his wings flared out from his sides. With fluid grace, he hit the door at speed and there was a meaty thump as the door opened. Right away, Gosling came to a halt as Hotspur and a sleepy looking Princess Luna came into view. Hotspur was holding his nose, pinching it with his fetlock. “Why, ya mug, I’ll murderise yous! Watch where yous is going, ya twit!” Hotspur reached out one wing and slapped Gosling right across the face. From where she sat at the table, Princess Celestia gasped. Princess Luna, on the other hoof, let out a chuckle. “Murderise me, will yous? Why, yous good for nothing pickle poacher!” Extending his own wing, Gosling slapped Hotspur across the face. Once more, Princess Celestia gasped and now her mouth hung open in an ‘O’ of surprise with her eyes as large as saucers. Both ears stuck out sideways in shock, awe, and surprise. She sat there, astonished at what she was watching unfold. The sheer barbarity of it all. Again, Princess Luna let out a chuckle. But this time, she also faced the two pegasi. “What are you both? A couple of wise feathers? Whatta buncha mugs!” With a lightning fast stroke of her wing, Luna slapped both Hotspur and Gosling in one fluid motion, getting one first and then the other, producing a sound like a thunderclap as she did so. “Woob woob woob! My face, my pretty face!” Gosling cowered back from Luna and looked up at her with two wide, hurt looking eyes. “Ya chuckling fetlock head, yous almost broke my pretty nose!” “Luna… did you… did you just slap two of our most loyal guards?” Celestia asked in a hesitant voice. “This is not acceptable behaviour. We do not strike such devoted servants, that is uncouth.” Saying nothing, Luna turned to face her sister. She extended one wing and made a slapping motion, primaries spread. With her other wing, she made a powerful slap against her side, smacking her ribs. Once more, a thunderclap filled the room. Beside Luna, Hotspur was chortling and Gosling was laughing like a loon. Whipping out his own wing, Gosling whacked Luna right across her moons with a meaty sounding slap. A sharp eyed observer might have noticed his two hind legs slapping into one another. “Don’t touch the princess like that again, ya goose-brained nincompoop!” Hotspur slapped Gosling in the face again and then followed it up with another slap, this time from the other side. Gosling, extending two primaries on his left wing, went to stab Hotspur right in the eyes, but Hotspur held his own wing in front of his face and blocked the eye gouging assault. Ready for the block, Gosling clipped Hotspur in the chin with his other wing. At this point, Princess Luna had lost control of her giggling and her whole body shook with laughter. She slapped Hotspur and then, for good measure, she slapped Gosling too. Rolling her eyes, Princess Celestia let out an exasperated sigh. “Oh, I can’t believe what I am witnessing!” Her wings unfurled and papers were lifted from the table in a whirlwind as she glared over at the slap-happy bunch of stooges keeping her from her work. “Just… go! Go! Get out of here, and get that out of your systems before the gala tonight! I can’t… I can’t even deal with you right now, you… you… you mugs!” Using her magic, Celestia shoved the trio out the door and then slammed the doors shut behind them, ignoring Gosling’s strange, goose-like “Woob woob woob!” sounds of protest. Biting her lip, she fought to keep the giggles away, and a crazed smile spread over her muzzle as the sounds of the slapfest continued on the other side of the door, out in the hallway. She sniggered, almost losing her composure, and then after a polite cough, she tried to resume her work as her wings hitched against her sides. “Pegasi, what brutes,” Celestia muttered as she returned to work. Enjoying a moment of quiet calm, Gosling rubbed his cheek against his mother’s neck. She was soft and smelled like rain—no, a thunderstorm. Eyes closed, he continued to nuzzle her, oblivious to any feeling of awkwardness and embarrassment. He felt his mother’s wing stroke his neck. The soft, muted sounds of feathers brushing up against hair filled his ears, and it was like snowflakes falling on a quiet night. For a moment, the world melted away and Gosling felt like he was small once again. He pressed up against his mother, needing to feel her against him, and a part of his mind wished that he actually was tiny again, back to a size when his mother could hold him. He thought about how he used to squirm, buck, and wiggle when his mother tried to hold him, and now, he longed to go back to those days. “Gossy… I know I’m suppose to treat you like an adult now, but I want to call you Gossy again… just for a while.” Glad to hear his mother’s voice, Gosling said nothing, but pulled his mother closer. She was smaller than him now, maybe two thirds of his size or just a little smaller. All sorts of fond memories percolated through his brain. Time spent in the tub with his rubber duckie. Those precious moments in the park when his mother had time off on a sunny day. Trips to the museum, to the libraries, to theatres, all of the desperate effort to make sure that he was educated, cultured, and had his horizons broadened. A pegasus was only as good as their horizon, and his mother had given him the sky. Because of her, he could soar. Because of her, he had reached both the sun, the moon, and the stars. “All the hard work paid off, Gossy. All of my hard work is done. Your hard work is just beginning though. You’re so young, Gossy, and that’s good. You’re going to have an entire lifetime to make a difference and do right. And I know that you will do right—” “Because you raised me right.” “Don’t interrupt your mother.” Sleet snorted, then relaxed. “I am so very proud of you. I’ve long had such hopes and dreams for you, and you’ve exceeded them all, Gossy.” Holding back the need to sniffle, Gosling rested his head on top of his mother’s. “Ma, it’s funny… I’ve started praying again… the past few days as the gala approaches. Right after my date with Luna where she and I brokered a sort of peace agreement. Well, I’ve prayed for a long time, but the past day or two, I’ve meant it.” Gosling paused and blinked. “No, that’s not right either. I don’t know, Ma, but it’s been different. You taught me to pray as a foal, and those… those are some of my happiest memories with you. I was just so happy to have you near me… holding me… and I felt so safe being able to close my eyes and know that you were watching over me.” “Gossy,” Sleet’s voice sounded a little strained, “the First Tribes are all going to turn to you now that you are to be the consort to the Sisters. It’s been centuries, Gossy. They are going to turn to you for guidance, for leadership… and for reasons of faith.” “I’m devoted, but, Ma, faith has never been my strong point. I have trouble remembering all of the holidays and the dates and the special moons and suns. If our kind find out that I can’t remember all of this stuff, I’m so afraid I’ll shame us all. I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Becoming a consort to alicorns can really change a pony’s views on his faith.” “That’s just it, Gosling. It’s faith. Everypony experiences it in a different way. Sure, we have traditions, and we should strive to hold to those traditions, but we shouldn’t be held back by those traditions. This is a new time, a new era, Princess Luna has returned, and the First Tribes shouldn’t see her as the False Light, the Dark One or the Fallen One any longer. We should see her as a Sister, worthy of our worship. You can make new traditions. You can renew the faith, not just yours, but everypony’s. You shouldn’t just love Luna, but you should also worship her in a very public and open manner. I understand that it will be controversial and there might be trouble, but think about how much better Luna might feel if the First Tribes restored her as a figure of reverence rather than revulsion?” “You never stopped worshipping Luna, did you, Ma?” “No,” Sleet admitted in a very low whisper, “because I know what it is like to make a mistake and have everypony judge you for it and never forgive you for making it. Granted, my mistake wasn’t anything like her mistake, but I know what it feels like to be shunned.” “Because of me.” Gosling’s ears went limp and fell against his temples. “You got shunned because of me.” Thoughtful, Gosling, who never much understood the mechanics of faith and prayer, had a question form in his mind. “Ma… we of the First Tribes… we believe that the alicorns draw strength and power from our faith.” “Yes, Gossy.” “Ma, what if Luna is all messed up and broken because so many of the First Tribe don’t worship her no more? What if she’s struggling because the faith she needs isn’t there? Assuming that the whole faith thing is actually true and makes a difference.” “Gossy… I don’t know, but that terrifies me, Gossy.” The pair of pegasi lapsed into silence as they cuddled one another. Gosling rubbed his chin against the top of his mother’s head and listened to the soft sounds of her breathing. He thought about how his mother had taught him to pray and then he thought of the prayers of others. His mother taught him to address the alicorns on high, or the Sisters, his mother had taught him to pray in plural. But others, others mentioned Princess Celestia by name, or mentioned only the Greater Light, or the Glorious Sun. “Gossy, you got smart on me… you started asking me questions that I don’t know how to answer. Sometimes, I feel like I’m letting you down by not knowing how to give you answers.” “Naw, Ma, it just means that I need to work and find the answers for myself.” “Gossy, don’t take this the wrong way, but as your mother, I need to tell you that you should have a nap before tonight. You need to be at the very top of your game. The princesses need you and your country needs you. A lot is riding on this gala. It’s going to be filmed and shown in theatres. Tonight, you get to play your part in history.” “Yeah, I need my beauty rest. I gotta be pretty tonight.” “You know, Gossy, you get your stunning good looks from me, right?” “Don’t I know it!” “That’s my colt. Give me a kiss, you silly mug, and then I shall leave you so you can get a nap.” Obeying his mother’s request, Gosling lifted his head, angled it down, and kissed his mother right on the nose. He felt a pat on his neck and then his mother kissed him on the corner of his mouth. Feeling misty eyed, he gave his mother a hug, and then he felt her pulling away so she could go. “Gossy…” “Yeah, Ma?” “I’ll say some extra prayers for Luna.” “Thanks, Ma. I think I will as well.” “A mother could not ask for a better son…”