//------------------------------// // Chapter 43 // Story: The Perilous Romance of Swans // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// Much to his surprise, Princess Celestia had an enormous goofy grin upon her face, which is not what Gosling expected to see when she came out of her therapy session. Not that he wanted her to cry or anything, or even be sad, but it just wasn’t what he expected to see. She was holding a slip of paper in her telekinesis as she pranced towards him. “How did it go?” Gosling asked as he basked in the warmth of Celestia’s smile. She held up the paper in front of her face and he could see her rose coloured eyes peering over the top edge. Her eyes glittered with mischievousness and… joy? It was hard to tell. He looked at the paper and saw that it was covered in Lumina Loveletter’s fine scrawl. “I have a prescription for snuggles, cuddles, and kisses.” Celestia let out a very fillyish giggle and her eyes blazed with mirth. “I’m starved for contact and intimacy, Gosling. Turns out, I need love and affection like everypony else. Who knew?” Celestia let out a laugh and her wings bounced against her heaving sides. “That’s why I couldn’t orgasm when I was rubbing one out, Gosling. I’ve been alone too long and my body is starting to suffer and show physical symptoms due to loneliness and depression.” “I see,” Gosling replied, and he wasn’t sure what else to say. She was still looking at him over the top of the sheet of paper she was holding up in front of her face. She looked very much like an oversized filly, and there was something about her, about how she was at this moment—and Gosling found himself consumed in his love for her. For some reason, he recalled the small stuffed princess doll he had once adored, and with his fond memories fresh in his mind, he knew that he wanted to have adventures with Celestia—happy ones. “I got sick… I’ve been emotionally isolated for too long… as it turns out, I can’t successfully satisfy all of my emotional needs and maternal needs by living vicariously through others or by being a teacher and using my students as substitutes for what it is I really want.” “And what is it that you want?” Gosling asked. As he spoke, the paper fell away from Celestia’s face and her smile vanished. “You can tell me anything, Heart’s Dearest.” “I want to get better,” she replied in a low, somewhat squeaky voice, “I want to get better, I want to feel like a mare again, and then I want to make you a daddy. It might not be the right thing to do, at least not right away, and I can admit that, but it is what I want.” There was a long pause. “I am supposed to be more direct in stating what I want, starting today. She gave me homework, Gosling, can you believe that?” “She does that.” Gosling blinked and nodded. “I am supposed to be more vocal about my needs and I am supposed to ask you about looking after my emotional needs as practice, so I can start telling others about my emotional needs when I’m stronger.” “Sounds like you had a productive visit,” Gosling said as he took a step closer. “Gosling?” “Yes?” “It is very difficult for me to tell, because the drugs are altering my perceptions, but are you taller?” Celestia lifted her head, looked down, and then lowered her head. She tilted it off to one side, and eyeballed Gosling. The colt laughed, lifted his own head, and gave the confused, somewhat addled alicorn a kiss on the corner of her mouth. “I have to go to my own session, I’m sorry. We’ll talk more, later, I promise. Go talk to Cadance or Luna if she is still awake, and you’ll find out more.” “You are taller… it’s not just my eyes playing tricks on me…” The muscles in Celestia’s jaw clenched. “Mmmm, mmm, mmmph!” Her eyes widened and her ears pinned back against her head. “I need my prescription filled. I have a want, Gosling.” “Soon,” Gosling promised. “Won’t be soon enough.” Celestia did her best to look miffed. “Go have a good session. I’ll be waiting.” She frowned. “Oh drats, we have a session together… I guess I’ll be waiting a little longer. I need to be touched, Gosling… lots of touching. Touch me!” Laughing, he kissed her again, then pulled away with a disappointed look upon his own face. Reaching out a wing, he caressed her neck, sidestepped around her, and then continued down the hall, leaving her behind. But then, he heard something that made him stop in place. “I can’t help but wonder, Gosling, but did all of you grow longer?” Having some time between sessions, Celestia got some cuddle time in with Cadance, who was all too glad to have company. The two alicorns, one white, one pink, lounged in the bed together while Flurry Heart played on the floor, stacking wooden blocks of various shapes and sizes into an elaborate castle. Cadance, weakened, had trouble even lifting up her own head, and she lay with her head resting upon Celestia’s back, and her neck lay up against her aunt’s wing. Celestia lay in the pony-loaf position, with her legs tucked beneath her. It was nice being together, with no obligations, no responsibilities, and nothing expected of them but rest and relaxation. “You really did find a diamond in the rough.” Celestia drew in a deep breath, her barrel expanding, and she let it all out with a soft, satisfied nicker, which was then punctuated by a snort. “The surge scared me,” Cadance said to her aunt in a low voice, showing no trace of her fear or her many anxieties, because she didn’t want to worry her daughter. “I found myself inside of Gosling… in his mind… in his memories… I saw him as a yearling… I saw his whole life flash before my eyes.” “Must have been quite an experience.” Cadance closed her eyes and allowed her mind’s eye to fill with visions of what she saw. “It was.” There was a long, quiet pause, and then she added, “Destiny is a funny thing… some ponies were born, created with a specific purpose in mind. For a while, I doubted it, but as I grew older and learned more, as I watched Twilight grow up… as I watched Shining Armor become what he is… as I grew as an alicorn and began to feel the threads of destiny, my doubt vanished and I knew this to be true.” “And do you believe that Gosling was made to love me?” Celestia asked in a low, hesitant whisper. “I don’t know,” Cadance replied in a hushed voice. “Maybe? I’ll admit that it might be a possibility. I’ve never had a surge like this. I’ve never, ever felt my magic be this strong before.” “I’m not sure what I believe, Cadance, but I choose to believe, I like to believe that some ponies…” Celestia paused for a moment, blinked, and tried to collect her thoughts, as it was very difficult to concentrate because of the drugs. “I think that some ponies are so determined to do the right thing, the necessary thing, that even if it wasn’t their destiny from the beginning, it becomes their destiny, because they choose for it to be so.” “Can a pony really seize control of their destiny though?” Cadance asked. The question was met with silence from Celestia, who watched Flurry Heart as the filly constructed an outer wall. After a long stretch of quiet contemplation, Celestia replied, “I don’t know. But I like to believe that they can. I don’t know if I’m right.” “I still don’t even understand how my own magic works.” Snorting, Cadance rolled over onto her side and kicked out her legs. She flopped around, making a few feeble kicks, until at last she was comfortable, and then she went still, her head still resting against Celestia. “As far as ascension goes, for me, it was a matter of reshaping the soul in the astral realms.” Celestia’s eyes narrowed as she turned her head to look at Cadance. “For you, it was healing magic fueled by love. The result is the same, but the magical means are different. I suspect that if Luna was to try her hoof at ascension magic, it would be triggered through dreams.” “So a pony would go to sleep as whatever they were and wake up as an alicorn?” Cadance asked. “Perhaps.” Celestia clucked her tongue. “It’s a guess, I have no way of knowing, but each of us has our own strength. You very nearly found the limits of yours. You’ve grown powerful, Cadance, so very powerful.” Yawning, Cadance made a weak shrug. “My strength comes from others. Without love, I am nothing. Whatever strength I had last night, it came from those around me.” Sighing, Celestia nodded. “You and Twilight are so much alike. She draws her power from friendship, you draw from love, the two of you are so different than Luna and I.” Then, after a moment of silence, Celestia added, “I wonder what Gosling would represent? He has a rubber duckie cutie mark… if he was to become like us, what would he draw strength from?” “Hmm, I have a few ideas,” Cadance replied. Yawning, Princess Luna struggled to remain upright and awake. A pile of legal documents was spread out before her, along with several hardbound books about law. A few candles lit her office, and while there was a window, it was not open. Heavy draperies hung in front of it, blocking out all traces of sunlight. At night, the draperies would be pulled open, allowing the moonlight to enter. Looking up from her desk, Luna focused her steely gaze upon Blueblood. “Intriguing.” Not hearing the words he had hoped to hear, Blueblood let out a snort. “These reforms are necessary. I am not restricting the freedom of the press, I am merely making a proposal that they be held accountable for, how shall we say, manufacturing a story.” “We get that, We do,” Luna replied, “but errors can be made. These… reforms strike me as something that could be used for punitive purposes.” “Well, they are intended as such,” Blueblood said in an impatient voice. “The press needs to be held responsible when they go out and create smear pieces, especially when they get some filly to lie for them.” “We doth agree.” Luna gave Blueblood a faint nod. “But, We are concerned about these proposals. Holding the press accountable for their stories has become necessary, but We worry about the cries of restriction and abuse. Mine sister would never allow these to pass into law.” “Which is why we are doing this now, while I am in power and your sister, my beloved aunt, is unable to protest.” Blueblood’s eyes took on a fierce, somewhat angry gleam. “This is my opening shot in the war that is about to take place. I am all for the freedom of the press, but they must be held accountable for what is written. They have an obligation to print the truth… should they deviate from the truth, it should be a criminal act and they should be held liable, just like any other criminal. Honest mistakes and errors are one thing, but we have the means to determine if it was an honest error, and in the case of Skyfire, that was no honest error. That was an intentional act of malice and is about to be dealt with as such.” “We do agree,” Luna replied. “We do have the means to determine honest error from willful libel. We can discern mistakes from slander. The press should live in fear of falsehood and strive to remain in the light.” “So you’ll sign these?” Blueblood asked, looking hopeful. “Yes, yes We will.” Luna’s voice was cold, unfeeling, and almost sepulchral. “It will cause much panic and terror… but those who print the truth will have naught to fear, while those who use the printed word to do harm will go scrambling. Let them. They should be scared.” “Fantastic… I’ll have Seville draft up the press release at once. It was good of Gosling to find him. He’s the sort of reporter we need to have.” Blueblood, looking pleased with himself, allowed a smug smile to spread over his face. “I like being in charge.” “The power has gone right to thine head,” Luna said as the ghost of a smile lurked upon her lips. “Blueblood… do not abuse this.” “I won’t—” “No, We mean it, Blueblood,” Luna said, the first hint of thunder showing up in her voice. “We know your heart and your hatred of the press! If you abuse this, if you ever, even once, use this to take petty revenge, We will be your undoing!” Cowering in his chair, unable to speak, Blueblood gulped, swallowing his terror, and he nodded. Try as he might, he could not turn away from the fierce, glowing teal eyes of Princess Luna. “Leave me,” Luna commanded, “go forth and do good in the world. For now, you rule the day. I have much to ponder about my future husband, the jovial ruffian that he is, and I desire sleep.” Nodding, Blueblood got up and slipped away, never once taking his eyes off of Luna, and he backed up towards the door. As he opened up the door behind him, he heard Luna say, “You would do well to remain afraid, Blueblood, the fear will keep you honest. But do keep in mind that I love you and that you are dear to mine heart.” Bowing his head, he gave Luna a smile, and then Blueblood slipped out the door.