//------------------------------// // Chapter 34 // Story: The Perilous Romance of Swans // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// When Celestia stepped into the small, cosy dining room for breakfast, she was greeted by a strange sight and her ears were treated to the most wonderful sound. Luna was laughing—the great big belly laughs of long ago, back when Luna was still the bearer of the Element of Laughter. Hearing it froze Celestia in place, and she watched as the surreal, but funny moment unfolded. Gosling was chasing Luna around the dining table, the pair of them moving with an almost geriatric slowness. Luna was limping along on three legs and even with her laughter, her eyes flashed with pain. Gosling moved with a slow, almost regal gait. He wobbled a bit, stumbled, but did not fall as it was Luna who was helping to hold him up. Blueblood and Raven both were reading day planners and schedules, ignoring the merry chase that encircled them. “Away with thee, thou hast cooties! We hath been informed by an expert in such things!” “Eh, you’re so getting cooties once I catch you!” “Away! Away with thee, for thou art a moveable feast for unwelcome lice and mites! Thine ears art a whorse’s hallway for vermin!” When Luna saw her sister standing in the doorway, she came to a halt, almost lost her balance, and very nearly fell over when Gosling bumped into her from behind, as he was unable to stop in time. The only thing that kept both of them from toppling over was Celestia, who held them as she studied them, trying to figure what was going on. “Luna… have you regressed into foalhood again? Cooties? Really?” With no effort at all, Celestia lifted both Luna and Gosling into the air, sat them down, and scooted their chairs into the table. “And Gosling, should you be out of bed?” “Doc says I’m cleared for a bit of walking, it will be good for me,” Gosling replied as Celestia sat herself down between him and Luna. “But I’m stuck eating bland food and I’m supposed to avoid stress for a while. So be gentle with me.” “You know, Gosling, as far as wedding gifts go, there are better ones than the cooties.” Celestia rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Day in and day out I deal with the plague of cooties in my school. I never understood the fear of cooties.” Luna, her eyes merry, angled her head so that she might look up at her sister. A wide, somewhat sleepy looking grin was upon her face. She rested her front hooves upon the edge of the table, tapping one of them with a light touch, and the sound made Blueblood glance at her with a raised eyebrow. Ignoring her sister, Celestia focused her gaze upon Gosling and her expression became one of utmost seriousness. “Gosling… we need to have a little discussion. Nothing stressful, mind you, but what is this I hear about you not wanting magical healing?” Across the table, Raven put down her day planner and focused upon Gosling. Licking his lips, put on the spot, Gosling stared down at his plate, which had no food yet. One ear twitched and after a moment, he looked up at Celestia. “Is magical healing available for everypony?” Eyes narrowing, Celestia realised that a contest of wills was in order. “Gosling, the gift of magical healing is a rare one indeed. It exists, but those who can perform it are few and far in between. Equestria is filled with millions and millions of ponies. It is a physical impossibility for everypony to get magical healing.” “But, because of my position, I can get it, am I hearing this right?” Gosling’s ears drooped down to the sides of his head and he took on a very submissive pose. “Because I’m going to be the future consort, I can get something that other ponies can’t.” “Gosling, think of it this way,” Blueblood said, “much is expected of you. You need to be in peak physical condition to do your job and what is expected of you. This isn’t abusing the system, this is using the system to help yourself so you can continue to help others.” “And that’s fine and all, but what about some poor, sick, single mom that has a house full of foals depending on her and she gets sick? Much is expected of her as well.” Gosling’s voice grew raspy and a faint wheeze could be heard within his barrel. “What help does she get?” Raven let out a snort and grinned, but before she could say anything, she was cut off by Celestia, who said, “Don’t you dare encourage this, Raven! So help me, you stay out of this!” Admonished, the little mare slumped down in her seat and gave Celestia a petulant stare. It was upon her apprentice’s withers to defeat the commanding alicorn in a battle of wits. “Gosling, it is physically impossible for everypony to have access to this resource. We use it strategically—when disease and contagion break out, we dispatch known healers to deal with it and contain the plague. The magic itself is very taxing and the healers take a long time to recover. There just are not enough of them to go around for everypony—” “But by merit of who I am, it can be secured for me.” Gosling glanced over at Raven, who he knew had his back, and then saying nothing, he sat and looked disgusted. Reaching up with a foreleg, he began to rub his ear while flexing his lower jaw and making funny faces. “Think of it as a reward for all of the hard work you will be doing. Gosling, you know how rough this life will be. This isn’t some cushy life of doing nothing and lounging about the castle. In time, you will feel as though you’ve earned this.” Blueblood’s brows furrowed and he glanced over at his aunt, then back at Gosling. “I don’t wanna talk about this,” Gosling said, his accent thickening a bit. “I just had a tea party with some little filly that is probably going to die from cancer and she can’t be healed but my messed up ears have become a national priority.” “A balance has to be struck,” Luna said in a low voice, her smile gone. “A very difficult balance. If we removed all disease, if we removed all danger, if we battled against death, we would soon be overrun. Our population would grow at a rate that we could not support. As it is, our nation strains against the resources available and there is not enough to go around.” “This is what we do, Gosling,” Celestia said in a soft voice. “We make the hard choices and decisions. This is our job. In time, you will see how tricky it is to balance the scales. But it is important for you to not be prideful… it will hold you back from serving others.” As Celestia spoke, she could not help but feel just a teensy weensy bit hypocritical as she thought about some of her own actions. Heaving an exasperated sigh, Gosling turned his head and looked at Celestia. “Cadance said there was another way. She said that not everypony does big showy heroics. Some serve, and with service, there comes rewards. She said that Blueblood will likely become an alicorn someday for his civil service.” Celestia’s eyes turned towards Blueblood as she tried to think about what to say. Blueblood had earned his title of prince for his tireless efforts and service to the Empire. Elevating him to an alicorn had never even been discussed. Celestia realised that Cadance was still playing a most dangerous game, and Cadance had full control over the board. “She said that not everypony is cut out to be like her and Twilight Sparkle, but that doesn’t mean that somepony can’t have big dreams. She said that faithful service can be rewarded and that anypony, in theory, could be elevated to alicorn status. She said that it was important to show the nation that any pony could attain this dream with enough hard work. If we show that it is possible, then more ponies will strive towards something greater.” Blinking her eyes, Celestia realised that she was no longer in control of the game. Not at all. At some point, Cadance had kicked up the stakes. Celestia had never even considered allowing Blueblood to ascend and gain wings. Not everypony was cut out to do battle with ponies like Prismia or figure out where Star Swirl had made a mistake. Celestia’s mouth went dry. “Ascension rebirths the body and makes it new,” Raven said in a low voice. “I don’t even pretend to understand it, but I do know that Twilight had earth pony and pegasus parts grafted into her.” Feeling somewhat panicked because she had been outmaneuvered, Celestia wondered if Cadance was still here in Canterlot. A talk needed to be had. A long talk. A long, calm, reasonable chat, done over tea, with the hopes that Cadance would explain the dangerous new game she was playing… and perhaps Cadance would explain the new rules that she had added. “I never thought of ascension for myself,” Blueblood said to Raven in a low whisper. “Just wondering, how did Blueblood earn his title of prince?” Gosling asked. “You’ll be getting yours through marriage,” Blueblood replied, “which can be a valuable service on its own. Somepony needs to look after Auntie’s needs. Her loneliness has become a grave concern.” “That isn’t an answer,” Raven said to Blueblood. She turned her gaze upon Gosling and she blinked. She sat silent for a moment, thinking, with deep creases in her brow. “Blueblood prevented a trade war which would have likely turned into an actual war. There was a dispute over resources between Maretonia and Saddle Arabia. It grew very tense, with each country piling up troops along their borders. Each nation felt cheated by the other.” “It became a very tense situation.” Celestia looked over at her nephew and then allowed Raven to continue. “Blueblood, still a colt at this time, about your age, or thereabouts, Gosling, went and sought audience with both nations. With careful words, he pulled them both back from the brink, promised that Equestria would act as a neutral third party mediator in future trade agreements, and he hammered out a trade and mutual assistance pact that both nations thought were generous and fair. With a few strokes of a pen, Blueblood saved hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of lives.” Raven looked over at Blueblood and smiled. “Celestia’s student came home in triumph and was given the title of Prince, along with a large holding of land.” Thoughtful, Celestia asked herself, Why should Blueblood’s accomplishments mean any less than Cadance’s or Twilight Sparkle’s? A growing heaviness settled upon her heart. Surely not every pony was meant to achieve greatness through battling foul sorceresses and feats of impossible magic. She gave a sidelong glance to Gosling, who, even in his weakened condition, had conducted statecraft from his bed. Gosling was dedicated to his future. She felt her ears droop. “Art thou troubled, dear sister?” Luna asked. “It’s nothing,” Celestia replied, shaking her head. A thought crossed through Celestia’s mind that gave her pause; Cadance was far more rooted in modern thinking. Celestia had a moment of clarity. Long ago, the big threats were monsters and out of control magic. Celestia still saw them as the big threats. But trade disputes, the economy, all of the modern problems that plagued a nation as large as Equestria… those who did battle with the unseen monsters, why should they be treated any different than those who did battle with the monsters that one could see? What dragons might Gosling slay if given the chance? What great evil might he deal with if properly prepared? Was not social injustice a form of evil? She glanced over at Blueblood, her mind racing, and she understood just how much she took her nephew for granted. Blueblood loathed Skyfire, but was working to save her. He was working to save the life of a filly that he couldn’t stand, a filly that repulsed him, a filly that he hated. That was dedication. Blueblood’s desire to see justice done took priority over his own feelings. With all of this lurking in her mind, Celestia began to feel very insecure and out of sorts. It was going to be one of those sorts of days. As she sat in her chair, experiencing some self doubt and wondering about her own perceptions and perspectives, the staff arrived with breakfast. Lost in her own thoughts, she looked right through them as they set the table, put out tea, served coffee, and laid out the food. She didn’t even hear the groan that came from Gosling when a large bowl of cracked wheat mush was set down before him, or Luna’s threat of pinning him down and making him eat it. She didn’t notice Blueblood and Raven’s laughter. She wasn’t even aware when the servers left the room. She stared down at the table, lost in her own thoughts, wondering if perhaps Cadance and Twilight were better suited for modern rule. “Sister?” Startled, Celestia felt a hoof poking her in the side. She blinked, turned her head, and looked over at Luna, who appeared to be worried. She saw Luna’s almost luminous teal coloured eyes looking up at her. “I know what you are thinking,” Luna said in a low, reassuring voice. “Do you?” Celestia asked. “You are so obvious at times.” Luna rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Sister, stop for one moment, before you begin brooding, and ask yourself this question.” “And which question is that?” Celestia’s ears stood up as she waited for her sister’s reply. “Who was it that trained Cadance, Twilight, and Blueblood to do the great works they have done? You should worry less and trust more in what you do best. Gosling will be a great new project for you. Raise him, elevate him, take him as a student as well as a husband and do what you have always done. Refinement.” After considering her sister’s words, Celestia nodded, turned her head, and looked at Gosling, who had a bitter look of disappointment upon his face as he stared down into the hopeless grey-brown abyss that was cracked wheat mush. Still nodding her head, her ears bobbing, Celestia decided to take her sister’s advice. He would do.