//------------------------------// // Chapter 55 // Story: The Perilous Gestation of Swans // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// When Gosling entered the room, he did so with a smooth, easygoing confidence and grace. This was a lie, however; on the inside, Gosling was a wreck and Celestia knew it. A sad sense of pride overcame her and she tried to sort out her feelings for her student. He was a natural game player, he was really, and she admired him for his spirit. Gosling would keep up the act and the Winter Moon Festival really would be perfect. The illusion of a perfect, flawless, wonderful storybook marriage would be preserved in the public eye, with no hint of the ugliness that had gone on behind the scenes. “You summoned me?” Gosling came to a halt and then took a moment to toss his head around, which left his mane messy. In his eye there was a ne'er-do-well’s twinkle, a mischievous gleam, and he wore his smirk like fine-polished armor. Celestia wasted no time. “I received your friendship letter.” “That’s wonderful,” he replied, “but I am not so sure if I am prepared to discuss what I’ve done just yet. But given how you’ve brought me here with irrefutable summons, I suppose I don’t have a choice.” Right away, Celestia felt sorry. “I just wanted to see you. It has been a trying day. If you do not wish to speak of this right now, I can and will respect that.” As she was speaking, she saw Gosling slip up—surprise could be seen on his face, meaning that he wasn’t expecting to be let off the hook so easily. “We can forget about the letter for now and just enjoy one another’s company. If I may say one small thing, though… your point was made and I am proud of you for saying it so well.” Even more shock and surprise could be seen on Gosling’s face, and Celestia tried even harder to read him while so much was visible. “If I may be honest, this is not the reaction I was expecting… I did what I did with the full intention of provoking you. I was being antagonistic and passive-aggressive. Which was wrong of me, but I couldn’t stop thinking about our conversation in therapy, where you cut loose about your sister’s passive-aggressive wheedling and how much it annoys you.” “Well, I forgive you.” The words spilled out of Celestia’s mouth before she realised she was even saying them. “That letter was a masterstroke of taking me to task. You made your point. You’ve given me much to think about.” Gosling bowed, a sincere gesture, an honest, warm action that filled Celestia with relief. Lately, his bows felt sarcastic, off-putting, done more for show than for actual reverence. So relieved was she, that she knew that she would never allow herself to take Gosling’s reverent actions for granted ever again. It was so reassuring to see Gosling back to his old ways that Celestia had trouble remembering what she wanted to speak to him about. “It really messed me up…” Gosling made his confession while lifting his head. “After passing the letter off, I was terrified. I wanted to take it back. Even worse, I knew I only felt bad after I did it, after I committed to it. But while doing it, while writing it, I felt pretty darn good about it.” Reaching out with his wing, he rubbed the back of his neck, which left his mane even messier and left his feathers mussed. “You’ve grown as a pony.” Celestia saw Gosling blushing and it filled her belly with warmth, the heat of springtime desires. She longed to groom Gosling’s ruffled feathers, to be close to him, to smell him, to feel him against her. Being as youthful as he was, it didn’t take much to stoke his fires, and what a fire Gosling had. In a decade or two, he would be a masterpiece of sexual artistry, a fine creation that titillated mind, body, and soul. But for now… youthful lust and eagerness would have to do. “I must ask you a favour.” A bowing Gosling was a willing Gosling, and Celestia took a moment to choose how she handled this. While flattery was good, she chose a more direct approach. A blunt, crass, right-to-the-point approach. “How do I put this? I need you to schtup my sister. That is what the First Tribes say, correct?” Gosling was too busy choking and spluttering to reply. “The Winter Moon Festival is a night of joyful schtupping, and Luna is a pony in need of a good cum-schtuppance.” This made Gosling cough, but Celestia plowed on in the most earth pony manner possible, oblivious to her husband’s distress. “You really must trust me when I say that Luna needs a good lay to set her straight. Honestly, that really helps her mood and levels her out. And after this festival, she will be a randy little tart that won’t show her face in public for days—er, nights—after the fact, because she’ll be busy grinding everything she can wrap her hind legs around.” For a moment, it sounded as though Gosling would hork up his own lungs. “Think you can do me a solid? I know I don’t deserve it, but I thought I’d ask.” Wheezing, Gosling’s bloodshot eyes conveyed his distress whilst he huffed and puffed. When he did speak, his smooth, suave voice was gone, and he sounded as though he had just been throttled. “What? No! I can’t! I don’t think Luna is ready and I’m not sure I am, either!” After descending into the basement of her mind, Celestia hauled her honesty up the stairs and dusted it off. “You place too much emphasis upon the importance of sex, Gosling. It is something that happens. An act. Sometimes it is done for deep and meaningful reasons, and at other times, it is done to scratch an itch. We all do it for different reasons. You need to drop this pretense that you have about sex being a sacred institution—” “But it is!” Gosling sputtered out the words and coughed again. “Oh, come off it, Gosling. You can’t lie to me. I know how eager you are—” “But I always try to make sure that your needs are met!” “And for that, you are very sweet. Is that what you want to hear?” Lips pressed tight together, Gosling said nothing, but his eyes flashed like moody thunderclouds. “Gosling”—Celestia chose the shock and awe approach—“sometimes to break the ice, you need to bust a hymen.” Ignoring the cringing, cowering pegasus in front of her, she continued, “Luna will never, ever open up to you at the rate you are going. That is not the type of pony she is. She is physical first and foremost, and emotions are always an afterthought that comes later. Once Luna sees that you are attentive to her needs, she will open up to you. But first, you have to schtup her senseless. I need for you to step out of this comfort zone of yours and do that. Do her. With all of the youthful abandon that you can muster.” Though his mouth opened, no words seemed forthcoming. “Gosling, I’m not stupid. You’re trying to be the good son… the respectful colt that your mother raised. When we courted, you were noble, virtuous, and true. You waited for marriage. But now, you need to drop the act. Sex doesn’t have to be a reverent act of worship. Let it be dirty, messy, and have sex for the sake of sex. If you were pent up, out of sorts, and in need of release, I would oblige you if you needed a quickie. I would gladly give you a sixty-eight, Gosling—” “I think you mean sixty-nine.” Shuddering, Gosling turned away. “No, I meant sixty-eight.” “I can’t take you seriously when you’re like this, Sunshine.” Then, after a moment he added, “What’s a sixty-eight? Dare I ask?” “A sixty-eight is where I get you off and give you the relief you need, and you owe me one.” “That just seems so… disrespectful. My Ma didn’t raise me that way.” “Gosling…” Celestia took a moment to lick her teeth and lips, though she was not consciously trying to be seductive. She was actually worried, because she couldn’t get a laugh from her husband. “I get to decide what is disrespectful. For me, this is one of my great pleasures. First, I get to get you off, which is exciting for me. I get to do things that drive you crazy, make you squirm, and I get to enjoy all of your reactions. Afterwards, I get to spend all day thinking about what you’ll do to me when you return the favour. For me, anticipation is the greatest of aphrodisiacs. By the time payback finally comes around, I’ve been simmering in my own juices all day. I’m ready.” “You’s…”—Gosling gulped a few times, and failed to look Celestia in the eye while addressing her. “You’s a dirty girl.” “With this hangup of yours”—here, Celestia paused and wondered if she was too harsh, too straightforward—“you are robbing me of a pleasure that I hold dear. I need you to be a sexual creature, Gosling. I need you to admit that you have wants, needs, and feelings… especially dirty wants, dirty needs, and dirty feelings. You need to drop the act, Gosling. It no longer impresses me.” “Okay.” This was not the response that Celestia expected to hear, not at all, and she failed to conceal the shocked expression that crept over her face. “There’s a lot of pressure,” Gosling continued. He struggled to say more, but failed. “I know.” Celestia found herself sighing, and feeling bad for Gosling. “I’m me, and you are you, and I just want to be a pony and you… you just want to worship your goddess and to be Sleet’s good son.” “The pressure… I try to behave myself and to respect your body, because it is sacred—” “Then that needs to end, Gosling. That will wreck our union.” Looking very meek and foalish, the embarrassed pegasus nodded. “Okay.” “If you come on strong, Luna will be receptive to your advances. Forget about your hangups, cease your worshipful behaviour, and try to think of Luna as a pony… like you did that day when you had your little outburst in the library tower. Let that part of you come back out again. Trust me, it won’t take much to engage Luna. Let the physical aspects of your relationship with her develop, and everything else will fall into place, I promise you.” “It’s hard to trust you right now.” The muscles on Gosling’s neck tightened and his hooves shuffled against the floor. “Celestia… it’s even harder to trust myself. To be honest, a lot of my stress is because I am pent up. Especially now, since everything has happened. I’m hurt, frustrated, angry, and uh, well… in need of release.” “Think of how Luna feels,” Celestia replied in a soft, soothing way. “She has all of the same needs that you do. Worse though, because of what the moon magic does to her reproductive demands. When she goes to raise the moon tonight, she is going to be a tortured soul… which is why I am asking you for help.” “This feels skeevy… like I am taking advantage of Luna.” “Oh, I am certain that Luna will be glad to take advantage of you.” At this, the sooty, speckled pegasus became flustered, and Celestia loved him most when he was like this. She loved his conflict, his devout nature, his strict, unerring sense of right and wrong. The very fact that he hesitated, that he blushed, his every reaction warmed her heart and increased her affection for him by a magnitude. Taking a deep breath, she then opened her mouth to give voice to her thoughts, but the gurgliest, most gnarly, most horrendous belch escaped, along with a gout of green dragonfire. A scroll snapped into existence mere inches from her teeth, and though she was startled, she caught it with her magic before it could fall. Breaking the seal, she unrolled it and saw only a few scant words, a plea for help. Eyes darting from side to side, she read these words and felt a stirring in her heart. Flirting with Gosling and leaving him flustered would have to come later, because now was the time for action. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself for a bit of exercise. “Hurry, Gosling! We must away! I am an alicorn and as such, I have an obligation to make Hearth’s Warming miracles happen! Twilight and Trixie are in trouble and we need to act now if we are to save them! Prepare for duty! Luna must be summoned! Come with me, Gosling, and let us make miracles happen together!” “Not gonna lie, that burp of yours was kinda sexy. It left me feeling a need. To see a mare burp like that—” “Save that for tonight, Gosling! For now, we must away!” Luna poofed into existence with an explosion of glittery sparks and in mere seconds, was adding her magic to Celestia’s to help tame the storm that besieged Canterlot. Much to the white alicorn’s surprise, Gosling handled himself well in this weather, his new larger wings carved through the demon wind with relative ease and his powerful, furious downstrokes kept him airborne. Working as one, the two sisters were a force to be reckoned with, and they carved great chunks from the swirling maelstrom. Some of the storm had to be preserved, Ponyville and the surrounding regions needed the water from the snowmelt come spring, which was the reason why this feral storm was given free reign. But now, Twilight and Trixie were in trouble. Since the blowout, Celestia’s relationship with Twilight had been a little strained, and this was just the right situation to help patch things up. A chance to show Twilight that she cared. This was an opportunity to show Twilight a little appreciation. And maybe even save Twilight’s life, because she had said she was leaving straightaway. Twilight was far too reckless and willing to gamble, which was both a wonderful and terrible thing when one was a princess. “Huzzah! Cry havoc and do battle!” Luna cried, leaving a strange echo in the clouds. Together, they made short work of the storm above Canterlot, while leaving everything below intact. As a trio, they circled Canterlot and while Celestia was worried, fearful for the lives of those she loved, Luna and Gosling were playful. Gosling dropped into the maelstrom below, like a pony diving into a pond, and then emerged streaming clouds behind him a moment later. Much to Celestia’s relief, Gosling knew how to de-ice his wings, and he did so with magnificent flare, sending thousands of tiny ice shards shooting off in all directions, each of them glittering like diamonds in the sun. Once more, Gosling dipped down, and dragged his wing through the clouds. A moment later, when he lifted his wing, it was covered in snow, which he then slung at Luna. “We’d beat thee for thine insolence, but such an act would infect Our hooves!” Luna made no effort to play fair, and used her magic to conjure snow, which she turned into a snowball. “Husband, thou art the rankest compound of villainous, nefarious smell that hast ever offended Our nostrils, thou cream faced loon! Thou art a boil, a plague sore upon one’s nethers!” Having hurled her insults, Luna too, threw her snowball. Gosling ducked, and this left Luna in a fitful state. “Thou sodden-witted lord! Thou hast no more brain than We have in Our elbows! If only thou wert clean enough to spit upon! You scullion! You rampallian! You fustilarian! We'll tickle your catastrophe!” Sensing Twilight, Celestia felt an enormous lump in her throat when her most beloved student broke the surface; behind her were a mighty troup of pegasus ponies and together, they pulled a sleigh. It was a magnificent sight, and one that filled Celestia with hope for the future: her student and these brave pegasus ponies had risked their lives for a sleigh full of earth ponies. Of course, Trixie was among their number, but Celestia observed every act of nobility with every chance she got. “Twilight!” Celestia shouted, almost using the Royal Canterlot Voice, just to make sure she could be heard clearly over the howling wind below. “You made it! You are cleared for approach!” Avoiding yet another snowball hurled by Luna, Gosling swooped in close to the sleigh, and Celestia marvelled at his movement. Really, they needed to get out of the castle more and do a bit of flying together. Maybe do other things together, in the clouds, though Celestia did so enjoy her connection to the earth. “Welcome to Canterlot,” Gosling said, shouting to be heard over the storm. “We apologise for the weather conditions, but a tough decision had to be made. Ponyville and the surrounding regions need the water, come the spring melt. But we cleared the skies up here for your arrival.” The sleigh banked, turning towards Canterlot, and Celestia’s heart twinged in great pain when she heard terrified screams. Little ponies were so scared, so easily spooked, and this passel of ponies would need a chance to calm down. She would have to serve them cocoa, if she could get away with it, and they didn’t faint at her approach. Perhaps Gosling was in too good a mood, because he was blowing raspberries at the feral storm below. Coasting, Gosling tucked his wings downward and extended both of his middle primaries at the storm, unaware that Luna was preparing a snowball surprise to catch him unawares. Since he wasn’t flapping his wings, he dipped down into the storm for a moment, vanishing, and just as his head broke the surface of the clouds, Luna readied her snowball. “Gosling! Stop that! Stop taunting the blizzard! I swear, you and Luna are such a headache! Get back up here above storm level! Cease baiting the blizzard at once! Put down that snowball! Luna! I’ve had just about enough of both of your shenanigans!” Luna’s pitch was successful, and Gosling was brained by her snowball. Giggling like a filly, she curled all of her body up into a tight ball and tucked her wings against her sides. “Cannonball!” “Luna! NO! We have a job to do!” Too late, Celestia could do nothing whilst her sister cannonballed into the violent vortex down below. Little ponies were panicking! Suffering with terror! Little ponies were in need of comfort, but Luna and Gosling were acting like foals. Why couldn’t they give this job the seriousness it deserved? Why? Why must they be such pests? After several long, tense seconds, Luna’s cloud-covered head broke the surface and she blew a mighty raspberry. Flapping her wings, she swam through the clouds and shouted, “Thou art a stodgy earth pony among the company of frollicking pegasi, and a mealy-faced fishwife as well! Huzzah! Our charges will arrive in Canterlot, secure and sound. Who are We that We should not have fun whilst performing Our duties?” There would be words, but later. Later. For now, Celestia smiled and put on a good show to comfort her little ponies, while thinking of all of the dreadful things she would do to Gosling and Luna… later. It was difficult to keep her priorities in order, but her little ponies came first. “We begin our final approach!” Twilight Sparkle’s jingle bell harness made a pleasant sound with each powerful downstroke of her wings and she had a reckless, lunatic grin upon her face. “Please ignore the poor example the Royal Family is providing and remember to obey and respect all proper flying safety regulations! Our landing might be a bit bumpy, but we should be fine! Hang on, everypony, here we go!”