//------------------------------// // Chapter 8 // Story: The Perilous Romance of Swans // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// Stepping into the dimmed and darkened room, Celestia waited for her eyes to adjust. She didn’t feel very well, the stress was having an effect upon her, and the sour smell of vomit clung to the insides of her nostrils. She stood, trembling, feeling lightheaded and out of sorts. The ponies she sought out for comfort were all gathered around a table and as Celestia’s eyes adjusted, she saw that they were playing cards. “Poker?” Celestia asked as she approached the table. “This isn’t a poker game,” Blueblood replied, “this is a rich, rewarding educational experience for Gosling.” “It looks like a poker game.” Celestia eased herself down into a chair that was just a little too small for her and leaned against the edge of the table as her rounded, plush backside spilled over both sides of her chair. She looked around the table at the various ponies that she loved and trusted and relaxed just a little. “You would be wrong, Auntie.” Blueblood gave his aunt a worried look and then focused his stare upon Gosling. “We’re teaching Gosling how to play the game. Not poker, but the game. He has far too many tells and he won’t last very long.” Looking up from his cards, Shining Armor nodded, his head bobbing up and down. “If you are wondering where Cadance is, she is with little Flurry. Flurry needed Mommy Time.” “The game is cutthroat,” Raven said as she tossed down her cards and snorted in disgust. “Gosling is an apt pupil.” “Blueblood thinks that it will be the evening edition, Raven thinks it will be the morning edition. Care to place a wager, Auntie?” Shining Armor asked as Blueblood also folded. Shining tossed down his own cards and looked at Celestia. Her horn glowing, Celestia gathered up the cards, shuffled them, and then began dealing with well practiced ease. As she picked up her cards, she heard a yelp and looked up. “You and your ear twitches!” Raven snapped as she gave Gosling’s ear a good yank with her magic. “Every time you get good cards, your ears give you away!” She gave another hard yank on Gosling’s ear and scowled. “Raven, dear, be gentle,” Celestia said to her assistant. “No!” Raven’s lip curled back into a snarl. “He just won’t learn! He’s been doing this for an hour and I’m sick of chiding him about it!” She gave Gosling’s ear another yank for good measure and then let go. “I’m doing this for your own good, Gosling. You’ve chosen to play a very dangerous game.” “So I’ve noticed,” Gosling replied as he tossed his cards down upon the table, revealing what he had. “I’ve also learned that I can have ear twitches when I have nothing at all just to get you to react.” A terrible, horrible, wretched, soul shriveling smile appeared on Raven’s muzzle. Few ponies could appreciate treachery as much as Raven. “Very good my apprentice,” Raven said in a low, feral sounding growl, “let the deceit flow through you!” Holding her cards close, Celestia laughed, unable to hold her reaction in. She heard Blueblood chortling beside her, and Shining Armor snorted. Celestia eyed her cards and then scanned around the table, looking for tells, but knowing that she would find none. Just as Celestia was about to make a call to ante up, the door opened. “Shiny, Flurry needs her Daddy.” “I’m out,” Shining said as he tossed his cards down upon the table. “Sorry.” “Get out of here, you reprobate.” Blueblood sneered at Shining Armor for a moment, then his expression softened. “Wait, I’m coming too. I get so few opportunities to spoil little Flurry.” He too, tossed his cards down upon the table. “Careful Blueblood, ponies might think you have a heart,” Raven said as Blueblood climbed out of his chair and stood up. “Just think of what that might do to your reputation.” “It’s a Crown guarded secret that I love Flurry,” Blueblood snapped. He held his head high, blinked, and gave Raven a haughty sniff. “She’s adorable. And she calls me ‘Bwooby.’” Hearing her nephew’s words, Celestia set down her cards and began to chortle. She turned, watching as Blueblood and Shining Armor left together, following Cadance. When they were gone and the door had shut, she turned to Gosling and raised one eyebrow. “Have you learned anything, Gosling?” Gosling lifted his head and looked Celestia in the eye. “Yes I have.” “And what have you learned?” Celestia asked. Taking his time to respond, Gosling’s brows knitted, causing deep furrows on his forehead. “I’ve learned that Blueblood is actually incredibly nice, but acts like a bastard because it is his job. Raven is the same way, except when she’s yanking on my ears, I think she actually enjoys that because she’s a sadist—” Raven tossed back her head and laughed with sadistic glee. “—and I’ve learned that nothing is quite what it first seems. I’ve learned that everypony wears masks, including Shining Armor, which surprised me, because I’ve always admired him and thought of him as a very honest pony. I have had my delusions shattered.” Gosling glanced over at Raven. “I’ve also learned that when I fall down, when something bad happens, I have friends that will pick me up, dust me off, and then teach me what I need to know to keep standing.” “Gosling…” Celestia began, “if you continue to court me… if you become my consort, you are choosing a very difficult path.” A powerful feeling of lightheadedness almost overtook Celestia and the scent of sick was still strong in her nose. No amount of washing had removed it. “Today is just the beginning. If you wish to back out—” BAM! Gosling’s hoof smashed down onto the edge of the table, causing the cards, poker chips, and other things upon it to bounce. “NO!” Gosling’s eyes narrowed and his wings flared out from his sides. “No… no giving up. Not one inch of ground given, not without a fight! I ran away once, it didn’t fix my problems! Never again!” “Pegasi”—Raven rolled her eyes and gave Gosling a dismissive wave of her hoof—“so hot blooded and fiery tempered. Such brutes.” She turned and looked at Celestia. “He’ll clean up well and once we can get him properly groomed, he’ll make a fine addition to the royal stable.” Leaning over, Celestia lowered her head until she was eye to eye with Raven. “You think so?” Celestia watched as Raven’s eyes darted over and studied Gosling. She glanced at Gosling and saw his clenched teeth and tight set jaw. The muscles in his neck quivered. After a moment, Raven nodded. “He’s a little thick headed, but I think he’ll do okay,” Raven said as she looked Celestia in the eye. “We need to get him back into school and make him an officer. He’s got the right temperament.” “School… yes…” Celestia nodded, her ears bobbed, and she leveled a hard, cunning stare upon Gosling, allowing her own mask to slip away. Her eyes bored into him with fiery intensity, but to his credit, he did not turn away. She regarded him for several long seconds, painful, lingering, silent seconds, and he did not flinch. “Extraordinary ponies with extraordinary abilities must be given extraordinary tasks to prove themselves.” “Like sending Twilight Sparkle to deal with Nightmare Moon’s impending return.” Raven leveled her own cold, calm stare upon Gosling. “I say we dump him into the crucible. I look forwards to seeing what comes out.” “Not scared,” Gosling said, keeping the quaver out of his voice. “Liar,” Raven spat, “your tells are showing. Plus, you’re sweating and your pupils are dilating wildly. I don’t even need my magic to know that you’re lying. Bad liars need a paddling to sort them out.” “So what if I am scared...” Gosling’s eyes narrowed and he stared at Raven with his ears pitched forwards in an aggressive manner. “Doesn’t mean I’ll quit. Do your worst, you slap happy dominatrix.” “Youthful bravado.” Raven’s eyes widened and an almost cruel smile spread over her muzzle. She turned her head towards Celestia’s direction, her mischievous eyes darting over, and her terrible grin grew ever wider. She snorted, rolled her eyes, then her expression softened, her features became kind, gentle, and serene. “He will make a faithful servant. It is so difficult to find good, loyal ponies. I feel bad that he will become cynical, bitter, and jaded like the rest of us, but he has potential.” Celestia found herself in agreement. “I think so too.” Taking a deep breath, Gosling stepped into the room that was filled with the ponies that would one day become his family. He started to pause, feeling overwhelmed, but Celestia gave him a hearty shove, helping him through the door. He had committed himself to this and he knew most of the ponies in the room anyway. The first eyes his met were Twilight Velvet’s. She had an amused expression upon her face. Her eyes were vivacious, bright, gracious, young, and warm. She had a few laugh lines, a face worn by smiling, and something about how she looked at him made Gosling feel better about himself. Beside Twilight Velvet was her husband, Night Light. He was solemn looking, the corners of his eyes were crinkled, and he stood pressed up against his wife. Gosling saw him nod in greeting, which Gosling returned. In the corner, Blueblood lounged, looking bored and lazy. Gone was his sarcastic scowl and cynical raised eyebrow. Blueblood looked relaxed, happy, and a little sleepy. Gosling realised that he was seeing Blueblood as he really was. In this room, there were no masks. Shining Armor sat beside Blueblood on a different couch, writing in a notebook, engrossed in some task that took all of his attention. Cadance was sitting beside him, looking tired, worn, and weary. Gosling felt another shove as he stood in the doorway, and Celestia pushed past him. The door shut behind them. He saw his mother, Sleet, she was laying on a cushion, looking half asleep, and curled up against her side was a small foal wrapped in a blanket. Gosling could only guess that it was Flurry Heart. “Hello,” Twilight Velvet said in a low voice as Celestia eased herself down upon a large, overstuffed and oversized sofa, a sofa meant for giants. “Gosling, so nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.” A hot flush filled Gosling’s cheeks as Twilight Velvet took a step closer. “I have bad news, Gosling.” “Oh?” Gosling’s eyebrow raised and he wondered if there was about to be a joke made. “Bad news you say…” “Yes,” Twilight Velvet replied in a soft, endearing voice. “I think Cadance is going to steal your mother away and keep her as a nanny.” “Oh no… that’s dreadful,” Gosling said, going along with the joke. “I’ll be left motherless in my time of crisis.” He heard several ponies snickering, including his mother. The sound seemed muted somehow, strange, it was in his ears, inside of his ears, and he suspected that magic might be at work. Little Flurry was sleeping after all. “Come to think of it, I think I’d be okay with that… having my mother safe and sound in the Crystal Empire, away from all the trouble that is about to take place here.” Twilight Velvet nodded, and for a moment, her eyes became sad. “Times of trouble, as bad as they might seem to be, are treasured times in our lives. Do you understand, Gosling?” The colt shook his head, not understanding at all. Times of trouble were bad times, which is why they were called ‘times of trouble.’ He stared at Twilight Velvet, never taking his eyes off of her, waiting for some kind of explanation. The older mare lifted her head, holding it high, and her ears angled forwards over her eyes, not in an aggressive manner, but in the manner of a firm schoolmarm. “Times of trouble bring families together. We turn to each other for solace. It is in times of trouble that you find out who your friends are, and which family members you can trust and turn to for help.” Hearing wisdom in her words, Gosling nodded. He watched as Twilight Velvet made a sweeping gesture with her hoof, encompassing the whole room. He heard her say, “We’re family. We’re all family. There’s a few members here that aren’t present, but you’ll meet them soon enough, I’m sure. In times of trouble, we come together. We even look after that lout.” Twilight Velvet pointed at Blueblood and Gosling heard more snickering, including Blueblood himself. “It is a pity we can’t stay for very long,” Night Light said to Gosling, “but Twilight Sparkle will soon be opening her school. She needs our help. Some very tricky entrance exams are about to take place and she needs her mother’s help most of all.” “Even as we speak, Trixie Lulamoon makes her way to Ponyville, Auntie.” Blueblood looked over at Celestia. “She soon faces her final exam. The road has been a long one for her and her recovery from the regrettable amulet incident has been rough.” “I have faith that she’ll do good,” Twilight Velvet said to Blueblood, turning away from Gosling. “The colt she rears has been her salvation, just as I said he would be.” Twilight Velvet turned her head to look at Gosling once more. “Gosling, darling, you will soon find that this family stays very busy. We’ve made equinity our business.” Night Light nodded. “And there is so much work to do…”