//------------------------------// // Chapter 52 // Story: The Perilous Romance of Swans // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// A headache was coming on. Gosling could feel it creeping up on him like a spiteful cloud gremlin and his ears had a dull ache that throbbed deep within, as if they were reminding him of the consequences of having too much stress. He stopped what he was doing, paused, and rubbed his temple with the side of his folded fetlock as he squeezed his eyes shut so he could rest them for a moment. The past few days had been rough ones. The entirety of the government was almost grinding to a halt as the trial of the millenia was being prepared. Prince Blueblood and Prince Shining Armor would both head the trial as judges. Gosling was expected to be there as well, but as an observer. He was both looking forward to it as well as dreading the event. He opened his eyes and the light stabbed into them like needles. He squinted, felt a crushing feeling of pressure in the base of his skull, and he took a moment to remind himself why he was willing to endure all of this. Love. His thoughts were distracted a moment later when he heard Raven say, “Gosling, could you please come with me? There is something you need to see and I think you need a bit of a break.” How many photos had Seville taken? Hundreds? Thousands? Gosling didn’t know. An impossible number was spread out on the tables before him. The earth pony stood near one of the tables, looking proud of himself, Princess Luna, who was up past her bedtime, gazed at some of the photographs with an almost manic looking rictus of glee. Princess Celestia, who had also been looking at the pictures, lifted her eyes away so she could look at Gosling, who stood in the door looking in. “I like this one!” Luna cried as she held up a photo. “This one does please me so very much! How do you ponies put it in the modern parlance of the day? Thou'st done goofed!” The photo that Luna held over her head showed a moment frozen forever in time. Gosling’s armored hoof was about to connect with the bare and unprotected face of one of the train invaders. The pony was flinching, cringing, it was clear that he was dreading the impact of the blow, and there was a stolid look of determination upon Gosling’s face. Seeing it, Gosling was quite surprised by how calm and collected he looked. “The noble future prince moves in defense of his friend and his subjects.” Celestia’s eyebrow arched as her eyes darted over to the photo and then she returned her gaze to Gosling. “These photos tell quite a story and paint you in a very sympathetic light.” Luna returned the photo she was holding to the pile from which she had picked it up. She took a step closer to Gosling, who still stood in the door, and her insomniac's grin departed, fleeing from her like snowbirds flee from winter. She became very stern and serious looking as she began to speak. “A lot of ponies have gone missing. Many ponies never returned home, or showed up to work, many husbands never returned home to their wives, many mothers never returned to their foals. With their faces known, it seems that many of this insidious movement against us have gone into hiding. More than a few made good their escape from this conflict.” There was a nod from Celestia. “We are having to set up a special task force to deal with the missing pony reports. Family members have a right to know that their loved ones might not have been who they believed they were. Many will be surprised to learn that those they loved and thought they knew lived double lives or had a secret.” “I wonder how many wives thought that their husbands were cheating on them?” Raven asked, giving her thoughts a voice. Deep grooves of worry furrowed her brow. “It is going to crush them to learn the truth.” “Seville has given our unknown and unseen enemy a face.” Celestia gave a sad shake of her head. “Sadly, that face is of our loved ones. Our brothers. Our sisters. Wives. Husbands. Sons. Daughters. The ponies that we thought we knew and trusted. Equestria is tearing itself asunder.” “You have performed most admirably,” Luna said to Gosling. “By protecting Seville, we now have a wealth of information. By saving him, you did a great service for your country, Private Gosling.” As he stood there, Gosling’s barrel puffed out with pride and for a moment, his headache didn’t seem so bad. He sauntered into the room, allowing himself a bit of a prideful strut, and drew nearer to Luna herself. He offered her a cocky, self assured grin, and then gave her a saucy wink. Raven snorted and rolled her eyes. “Do you have something to say for yourself, Private Gosling?” Luna asked. “Yeah,” Gosling replied. “If I said yous has a nice body, would yous hold it against me?” The room went silent at Gosling’s words, save for the faint almost imperceptible sounds of eyelids blinking. One of Luna’s ears twitched as she tried to process the innuendo. She blinked, blinked again, and then after yet another blink, her eyes remained narrow as her head tilted off to one side. She said nothing, refusing to give Gosling the satisfaction of a response. When her sister began snickering, Luna rolled her eyes, shook her head, and snorted. Clearing her throat, Princess Celestia excused herself with a few gentle words. “I have incoming students to look after. You will have to excuse me, but I have a very, very busy day ahead of me. Seville, thank you again for your service. We will let you know which photos we select for the official Crown press release.” “Thank you, Your Majesty,” Seville replied as he offered his monarch a little respectful bow of his head. There was a rustle of feathers as Celestia departed. She extended her wing and caressed Gosling’s face as she walked past. She moved with grace and purpose, calm and poise. She held her head high as she made her exit. At the door, she paused for but a second and said, “Oh, and Gosling… I am very proud of you. Try not to let yourself become too stressed. It worries me.” And then, she was gone. The sounds of her gold-shod hooves could be heard on the tiles out in the hallway. Gosling’s perked ears drooped as he drew in a deep breath, held it until he could not hold it anymore, and then he let it out in a huff. His attention fell upon the photographs upon the table. Looking down, he saw himself as others might see him. He saw a soldier wearing armor, doing his job. One photo captured the moment where Gosling’s helmeted head was about to smash into the skull of another pony in a ferocious headbutt. The photos were violent, some were bloody. Some of the photos had oversaturated colour and blood stood out in a garish crimson that caught the eye. “I’m not much of a fighter,” Seville said in a quiet, reserved voice. “I’m just an earth pony. I come from a farm. But I love my country a great deal.” The earth pony let heave a sigh. “These photos are the best that I can do, the only way I can contribute. I’m scared though, real scared.” “Scared?” Gosling asked. “Seville had several anonymous death threats sent to him and promises of retribution.” Raven adjusted her glasses, lifted a photo in her telekinesis, and began to examine it. “Several have sworn to kill him if these photos go public.” “What?” Gosling felt a creeping sense of dread send shivery shudders down his spine. He didn’t like his friend being threatened. He focused on Seville and tried to read his friend’s emotions. “What do we do?” “I know what I can’t do,” Seville said. “I can’t give in. I’m going to make these photos public. All of them. I want Equestria to see what sort of ponies wish to do them harm. I want Equestria to see the ponies that tried to abduct me, who dragged me through a broken window and sliced me open. I want them to see the ponies that shouted and screamed at me that they were going to kill me… I want everypony—” “Seville…” Luna’s soft spoken mention of his name silenced Seville and she watched as the earth pony took a deep breath. “Be calm, Seville.” As she spoke, Seville shuddered and let out a pained gasp. “How do we keep him safe?” Gosling asked. His jaw clenched tight for a few seconds, and then he became aware that he was almost grinding his teeth together. He made himself relax and then repeated his question. “I need to know, how do we keep him safe?” “He has become a soldier in this war,” Raven replied. She looked at Gosling, then at Seville, and then back to Gosling once more. “We look after our own. I have already made the suggestion that we house him here, at the castle.” “Well?” Gosling gave Luna a hopeful look. “This decision is not mine to make.” Luna turned to look at Seville. There was a frightened prickle in Gosling’s stomach. He stared at his friend, took a step closer, and then got right up in Seville’s face, invading the earth pony’s personal space. “Seville, don’t be an idiot. It isn’t cowardice to be protected. Don’t turn down this help just because of defiance or wanting to show that you’re not scared. Don’t do this to me—” Seville blinked and cut Gosling off. “Gosling, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into, this is a lot to take in.” “You can take it all in once we have you in a place of safety. Don’t be a moron, ya mug! These guys, these creeps, they’re probably counting on you to be brave and defiant and remain out in the open… don’t give them that… don’t do this to me!” Slumping, Seville’s ears drooped and his back sagged. “It feels like I’m becoming a prisoner.” “I know,” Gosling replied, “I know. Believe me, I know.” “I wanted to do the right thing, and I still want to do the right thing, but ponies want to kill me now and doing the right thing is hard and I feel so scared and I didn’t know doing the right thing was going to cost me so much!” Seville let out a shudder and for a moment, it looked as though the earth pony was going to cry. “Some of the cuts were so deep that they gave me nerve damage. Nerve damage! I’m having trouble feeling my right front hoof now. I’m gonna have scars for the rest of my life.” Extending his wings, Gosling pulled Seville in for a hug. The pair of them stood neck to neck, with Gosling wrapping his wings around Seville. The earth pony chuffed as he held back tears and leaned against Gosling with his eyes squeezed shut. “I’m never gonna have a normal life again, am I?” Seville asked. “Be honest!” Raven’s ears drooped and a sad expression settled over Luna’s face like stormclouds settling on the horizon, blocking out the setting sun. Raven took off her glasses, conjured up a small yellow cloth, and began to clean the lenses. “No, but you will have a life, if you let us protect you,” Luna replied. Hearing those words, the floodgates opened. Gosling suffered the sort of awkwardness that comes when one colt holds another colt as they cried. He stood there holding his friend, not knowing what to do, or how to feel about this, but he held on and refused to let go as Seville blubbered against him. “It won’t be so bad,” Gosling said in a reassuring voice. “It won’t be so bad. It’ll be like two friends who live next door to one another. We’ll be able to do stuff together. Hotspur and Hush will be able to join us. We’ll all have a great time together. I’m sorry, Seville, I am, but you gotta do the right thing.” “You became a reporter so you could see the world.” Luna took a step closer to where Gosling and Seville stood together. She lifted her head high and she focused upon the sobbing earth pony. “If we place you within the guard, you will still be able to see the world and be safe. Well, as safe as anypony can be in the guard. The train ride exists as a testament as to how dangerous this life can be. I understand that you value your freedom, but this is preferable to the alternative.” “But I don’t want to go through prep camp,” Seville said in a voice that was almost a sobbing whine. “I don’t want ponies screaming at me how worthless I am.” “I think that exceptions can be made.” Luna spoke with surprising gentleness and she took another step closer. “As I said to you previously, we can make the most of this situation, Seville. I know you value your freedom, but I assure you, a grave is far more confining than a life in protected service.” At these words, Seville collapsed completely and would have hit the floor had Gosling not held him up. Seville’s backside did hit the ground though, and he sat there, leaning up against Gosling, who held him and refused to let go. “Let us retreat to a more comfortable place,” Raven suggested, “and see if we can get a soothing cup of tea into Seville. I think you could do with a bit of stress relief as well, Gosling.” Wishing he knew what to say to make everything better, Gosling clung to his friend and refused to let go. He knew that they both had something in common now, both shared a similar future. Both he and Seville would call this castle home, safe and secure within its walls, living in a gilded cage. Knowing this brought no comfort.