The Perilous Romance of Swans

by kudzuhaiku


Chapter 20

Gosling was dumped down onto a pile of cushions after Luna emerged from the bathroom. He curled into a fetal position and his brain hardly even registered the fact that he had just taken a shower with Luna of all ponies. He was an almost oblivious, gibbering mess. Celestia had brushed his teeth as he had been slumped over, unresponsive, behaving like a droopy, soaked foal in the shower.

Celestia, nesting in the same pile of cushions as Gosling, was trying to calm herself. She watched her sister, Luna, as she shuffled about the room, pacing about, her pelt sleek and somewhat damp from the shower. Reaching out a foreleg, Celestia hooked it over Gosling’s body and dragged him closer.

Looking up at her sister, Luna, Celestia said, “I would like to have Cadance brought to me as soon as possible.”

Blinking, her ears jerking around in different directions, Luna processed her sister’s command, but also tried to think of why her sister would want Cadance brought here. She looked down at Gosling, who clutched his stomach and moaned.

There was nary a sound from Luna’s bare hooves as she traipsed over the floor to the doorway. She pulled it open and stepped outside, shutting the door behind her. Celestia lowered her head, her brows beetling with affectionate protection as she pulled him even closer.

“You did a very brave thing,” she whispered, her lips grazing against Gosling’s ear.

“Feel sick,” Gosling murmured through lips made clumsy with nausea.

“Calm down, it shall pass,” Celestia replied, and then she shushed him with a soft, sibilant exhalation.

The door opened and Luna stepped back inside. She lingered near the door, shifting from her right hooves to her left hooves, as if trying to make up her mind. After a few moments of prancing about with indecision, she lurched forwards and dove into the pile of cushions, plowing into her sister’s side. She rested her neck against Celestia’s as she nestled herself in and got comfortable.

“Am I in trouble?” Gosling asked.

“No,” both Luna and Celestia said together.

Satisfied with the answer, Gosling shut his eyes then let out a groan as his stomach continued to try and leap out of his throat. He was just out of the shower but was already sweating. Large droplets rolled down his neck, down his forehead, and his muscles quivered all up and down the length of his body.

“They’re never going to forgive me,” Luna said in a low voice.

“Some of them have,” Celestia replied, leaning against her sister. “It is still a point of contention though. As far as sensationalism goes, it doesn’t get more sensational than bringing up the shadows and the sins of the past.”

Closing her eyes, Luna pressed herself up against Celestia and said nothing. Now stuck sitting in the silence, Celestia seethed, simmering in her own anger, gritting her teeth together, hating everything about this situation and hating herself for being careless.

There was a soft knock upon the door and Celestia said, “Enter.”

The door opened and a guard took a few hesitant steps inside as Luna opened her eyes. Both sisters stared at him as he gave them an apologetic glance. He bowed his head a bit, blinked, and then took a deep breath.

“Princess Cadance has departed. She and Shining Armor, along with Flurry Heart, have left for the Crystal Empire.” The guard paused and cleared his throat. “We also have a situation.”

“And that is?” Celestia asked.

“Twilight Sparkle has taken to browbeating the press. She’s in quite a state. She’s magically locked the doors to the hall, trapping all inside, and she is currently lecturing them on the importance of decency, gentleness, and good graces. She is furious. We can’t get the doors open to save anypony. Nopony can teleport in or out. She has the room shielded.”

“I’ll not move to save them,” Celestia said to the guard.

“They brought this upon themselves.” Luna shifted her body so she could better tuck her legs beneath her. “Thank you… you are dismissed.”

Bowing his head, the guard backed out of the room and shut the door behind him, his face apologetic. The door made no sound as it was shut. A heavy silence filled the room and the two sisters sat thinking, as Gosling remained a quivering, shivering lump.

No sooner spoken than broken, Luna banished the silence after what felt like several long, painful minutes. “I refuse to believe that Cadance would be so careless as to forget something this important.”

Celestia’s lips made a flawless, beautiful moue as her ears pinned back against her skull. After a short span of consideration, her ears lifted, pitching forward, angling over her eyes. She turned her head to look at her sister and saw that Luna was looking up at her.

“Sister, I suspect that we have been played,” Luna whispered.

Nodding, Celestia’s jaw clenched as she realised that she had just been had. Already, she was trying to puzzle out Cadance’s motivations. Celestia’s mind was brilliant and she had the wisdom of eons nestled beneath her brow.

“Why would Cadance do this to all of us?” Luna wondered aloud. “She loves us, so we must assume that she did not do this or allow this to happen with grievous intent.” Luna’s lips pressed together into a duck-billed pout. After blinking, more words were uttered by Luna. “Sister, you taught Cadance a little too well.”

Again, Celestia nodded, but said not a word.

“I feel uncomfortable being duped,” Luna admitted.

For the third time, Celestia nodded, and there was a groan from Gosling.

“We shall have revenge for this.” Luna’s words were a throaty whisper.

Wincing, Celestia got a crick in her neck from all the nodding she was doing. Looking down, Celestia saw Gosling’s head resting on her foreleg. As she gazed down at him, she knew. It hit her like a slap on the muzzle. Her ears bobbed up and down, her nostrils flared, and she became all too aware of her sister’s bulk pressing against her. Celestia blinked away a tear that formed in the corner of her eye. She knew.

“It is a matter of trust and forgiveness,” Celestia said in a voice thick with emotional gravel. She blinked again, feeling the sting of tears.

“I do not follow,” Luna replied.

A dull ache settled over Celestia’s heart as she looked at Gosling. A tear slid down her muzzle. “Luna, it is a matter of trust and forgiveness, two very important elements of love.” For a moment, Celestia’s throat grew so tight that she feared that she would lose her voice. She fought against the feeling, swallowing, struggling to keep going. “Luna, I forgive you and I trust you with Gosling’s life, just like I trust you with the lives of our subjects. You are a different pony now. Let the distant past remain behind us.” Celestia’s ears twitched when she heard Luna’s sharp exhalation.

Beside her, Luna’s barrel began hitching and Celestia readied herself to be the big sister that Luna needed. With each shudder, with each sob, it felt as though a dulled, cruel razor was dragged over Celestia’s heart.

“What do we do with one another?” Celestia asked as her sister struggled to swallow her sobs. “We must come to an agreement. Gosling, I would like to know how you feel about this…”


A powerful wave of nausea prevented Gosling from replying right away. He looked up, looking into Celestia’s eyes as she looked down at him. The soft sounds of Luna’s sobbing caused a terrible pain to go lancing through his guts. She might be the night terror that had almost scared him to death in the hallway, but she was also a mare, a mare with emotions, feelings, and a tender heart. He pitied her.

“Gosling?”

“I will do my duty,” Gosling replied, saying what he felt was the proper response.

Looking up, he saw Celestia shake her head. He saw the flash of disappointment in her eyes. That disappointment stung. Gosling cringed and knew that he had made a mistake. He braced himself as Celestia opened her mouth to speak.

“I asked you how you feel, Gosling, I wanted to know how you felt about this, and instead, you reply with words spoken from a sense of duty and devotion, rather than your own feelings. I had thought you better than this. I do not want blind obedience from you, I can get that from any mindless grunt. I had such high expectations of you.”

It was almost too much for his stomach to bear. Gosling felt bile bubbling in the back of his throat. He swallowed, shuddering as he did so, and squeezed his eyes shut so he wouldn’t cry. He curled into a tighter, more miserable ball, feeling ashamed of himself. Celestia’s rebuke stung.

The problem was, that was how he felt about it. He would do anything for Celestia. He had stuck his neck out earlier. His stomach gurgled and acid burned the back of his nose, searing his sinuses.

“Forgive me, but everything I do will be done out of a sense of duty to you,” Gosling said in a raspy voice that bubbled from his lips. “That cannot be changed. I do not know Luna like I know you. I do not love her. But I am willing to be her friend and companion, if she will allow me. Surely there is some sort of arrangement that we can work out between ourselves.”

“Luna… we face a predicament,” Celestia said to her sister. “I am uncertain if there is a way out of this. I understand if you do not wish to open your life to Gosling. I will not force you into this unwillingly, just as I will not force Gosling into this.” Pain was evident in Celestia’s voice and it hurt Gosling to hear it.

“I will call this off if necessary, and put mine own happiness aside,” Celestia offered.

“No!” Luna said, shaking her head. “I’ll not be the one responsible for hurting you again. Some arrangement can be reached.”

“Luna, this will become a very prickly affair. If you and Gosling have no interest in each other, and you find love in another, it will complicate things greatly. Such a scandal would harm us a great deal. Our rule already sits in a precarious position. I will not have my happiness at the expense of your own. I will not drag you into a relationship or a marriage that you have no interest in.”

“I never even had a chance to mourn poor Bronze Blaze.” Sniffling, now sobbing, tears streaming, Luna wiped her snotty nose against her sister’s neck. “Sister, how can you trust me with Gosling after what I did to the husband we shared?”

Even though he said nothing, Gosling was curious about that himself. He bore Luna no ill will, and had no intention of holding her past against her, but he was curious about Celestia and her thoughts.

Before Celestia had a chance to say anything, Luna asked, “What of Castor and Pollux?” Gosling saw Celestia flinch in pain, and he felt her leg jerk beneath his head. His tongue felt dry and leathery and Gosling coughed.

“Who are Castor and Pollux?” Gosling asked, fearing the answer.

“Two foals that never knew their mother and lost their father,” Luna replied in a strangled voice. “Sister, what did you tell them?”

Gosling felt Celestia jerk again, and then he heard her say, “I told them that their mother had died. I felt it would be better for them that way.” There was a painful, pregnant pause, then she continued, “I told them that Nightmare Moon killed their parents. I’m sorry, Luna.”

The words made Gosling go limp. He did not know how to respond, how to react, there were no words. He listened to the sounds of Luna’s muffled sobbing and the wet sound of Celestia swallowing.

“Castor and Pollux knew loss. As triplets, they lost their brother in birth, then their mother and father. They grew up strong and brave though.” Celestia shook her head. “They grew to be amazing ponies.”

Something about Celestia’s words caught Gosling’s attention and he thought about it as he lay upon the cushions. The implications of what she had said tumbled around in his mind. There was just too much going on to keep up with any one part of this conversation.

“Triplets?” he asked. He heard a sigh from Celestia.

“There is much you haven’t been told yet,” Celestia replied, “and I am not sure if now is the time.”

“But, triplets,” Gosling said, focused upon this part of this meandering conversation.

“Alicorns have some peculiarities in breeding.” Luna snuffled and wiped her nose against her sister’s neck once more. She rubbed her eyes with her foreleg as she tried to compose herself. “When my sister and I breed with one of you little ponies, we have triplets.”

“An earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn,” Celestia said for clarification, paying no attention as her sister cleaned her snotty nose against her neck. “I have no idea why.”

Confused, Gosling said, “But Cadance—”

“Was not born an alicorn like us, she was born a pegasus.” Celestia held her head high, sniffled a bit, and wiped her eyes with her wing. “Gosling, more will be explained in time.”

Looking up, Gosling could see Celestia looking down at him. He heard her say, “Can you make a trip, Gosling? I’ll carry you, if need be. I feel there is something we need to do.”

“A trip?” Luna asked as she blinked away a few remaining tears.

“Luna, dearest sister, you never got a chance to mourn Bronze Blaze or say goodbye. Perhaps it is time for that to be rectified.” Celestia drew in a deep breath. “Come, let us get cleaned up once again and then make a trip under the cover of darkness. Perhaps the cool night air will be good for Gosling. I know it will be good for you, Luna.”

Before he could reply, Gosling felt himself lifted in magic. It seemed that he was about to take a trip. The day had already been long. He had awakened before dawn, seen and witnessed much already this day, and it seemed as though the night was just getting started. As he looked up at Celestia, he realised that her horn was not glowing—she was not the one who had lifted him with so much tenderness and care.