What little he had eaten threatened to make an escape attempt from his stomach. The stress was getting to him, Gosling could feel it gnawing at his insides. Celestia’s alicorn intuition scared him, it frightened him more than he cared to admit. Celestia was acting strange, it seemed the stress was getting to her as well, but there was also the fact that she was medicated just a bit at the moment.
The tension had to break somehow. Something had to give. Celestia was complaining about hearing the shrieking of the windigos, which was an ominous warning to Gosling. Ponies had lived under peaceful, idyllic conditions for far too long and they had forgot what dangers lurked in division.
He was not looking forward to returning to the trial. He belched and tasted stomach acid. If this kept up, it would screw up his ears and make them worse. He still had some lingering issues that could only be made worse if his acid reflux got the better of him once more.
His pace was slow and steady as he walked down the hall. He kept his breathing slow and steady, trying what Lumina, his therapist, had suggested. He needed to manage his stress better. Ahead of him, he heard quite a commotion. No surprise, really, the trial of the century was going on. Ponies were bound to be excited.
Rounding the corner, he found Blueblood and Shining Armor surrounded by ponies. Raven was here, and Raven looked scared. Raven had a poker face that a statue would envy. Right away, he felt his heart begin thudding in his barrel. Kibitz was here as well. The old stallion looked confused… and terrified.
“Slow down!” Blueblood demanded.
“Sir, we are getting reports from multiple cities of mass evictions,” a frantic mare said.
“Businesses are shutting down… we’ve received word that they are shutting down and laying off all of their employees!”
“The entire Fillydelphia steel industry has just been shut down and the employees have been told they no longer have jobs!”
“More reports of mass evictions coming out of Las Pegasus. Evictions by the thousands!”
“Slow down!” Blueblood commanded, raising his voice this time.
A spooked young stallion came running out of Raven’s office, banging into the doorframe and almost falling over. He held up a piece of paper over his head in his bright yellow telekinesis. “Manehattan has gone dark! The power plants have been shut down and the coal supply has been cut! The whole city has fallen into anarchy! First the evictions, then the closing of the businesses, and now there is no power!”
“What?” Blueblood, overwhelmed, stood there, eyes blinking, and sweat beaded up over the creases on his brow. “What in Tartarus is going on?”
Gosling stood frozen, knowing, understanding, realising that he was witnessing a moment in history—an important moment—a turning point. More ponies were running in, no doubt with more frantic, panicked reports. After a moment of stunned shock, Gosling wondered if he was witnessing a paradigm shift. He only had a vague understanding of what those were. The industrial introduction had been a paradigm shift for all of Equestria.
“Vanhoover has gone dark as well!” a voice shouted from within Raven’s office.
“What? How? What is going on?” Blueblood’s words were almost a stammer.
“Fillydelphia too!”
“Damnit, I want answers!” Blueblood shouted, his composure breaking. His eyes were now veiny and bloodshot—red, not blue at all, as his name might suggest.
“More reports of mass evictions, this time from Baltimare… entire high rises are evicting their tenants!”
“The telegraph has gone dead!”
“What?” Shining Armor looked quite alarmed as he marched over to the door of Raven’s office and looked inside. “What did you just say?”
“Sir, the telegraph, it’s gone dead. The lines are dead.”
Shining Armor gritted his teeth and stood in the doorway, fuming.
“We need those lines back up right away!” Blueblood barked.
Chaos broke out. Dozens of ponies all began to babble, shriek, and scream all at once, all of them panicked, spooked, every one of them frantic. The flurry of words became indistinguishable. Gosling stood in the middle of the swirling storm, shocked, trying to make sense of it all.
“It’s Mister Mariner.”
The soft voice cut through the chaos and everypony fell silent. Every head turned to look at Celestia, who was crying. Gosling rushed to her side, hoping to aid her in any way that he could. Her sides were hitching and tears dripped down her cheeks.
“Twilight said this would happen,” Celestia said in a soft voice. “For the second time, she warned me that something was terribly wrong, and she prompted me to take action. For the second time, I did not listen. For the second time, she was right.”
“What’s going on?” Blueblood asked. “What do you mean, Mister Mariner? And what about Twilight?”
Celestia’s eyes rolled upwards and she looked up at the ceiling. She stood, her sides hitching, her wings twitching, and a torrent of tears washed down her slicked cheeks. A lump rolled down her throat as she swallowed.
“Twilight warned me that he owned too much, that he had too much power. She said that he would retaliate if We moved against him.” Celestia paused and drew in a deep breath, filling her lungs. “I didn’t want to believe her… that one of my ponies would do something so terrible… she told me that I needed to seize his businesses, break them up, that he held far too much and that he was a threat to Equestria.” She shook her head. “How could I do such a thing? Such a tyrannical act… it disturbed me that Twilight even suggested it. How could she?”
“Oh shit…”
Shining Armor’s whispered utterance summed up the situation in a manner most succinct. Blueblood stood there, frozen in place, trying to take everything in. Shining Armor moved to stand beside his fellow prince. Gosling stood near Celestia, and he studied the faces of the ponies around him.
“Why would he do this?” Blueblood asked.
Gosling knew the answer. “That’s obvious… he wants to force Celestia’s hoof. Expose her as a tyrant… if she steps in right now, takes everything he currently owns and controls, and takes control of it, she can be branded as a tyrannical dictator.. a despot in the court of public opinion.”
“Gosling has the gist of it.” Celestia’s voice was little more than a whisper, but it carried through the entirety of the room, causing little fuzzy ears to twitch as they listened. “If I do nothing… if I allow him to conduct his business as he pleases, if I respect property laws, I suspect that millions will have no homes, no jobs, and much of our industries will grind to a halt. Our prosperous nation will suffer greatly.”
“I want Mister Mariner found and brought to me at once!” Shining Armor commanded. “If he doesn’t come along quietly, bring me his bloody head!”
“Shining…” Celestia’s voice was soft and not at all scolding. “Shining, dear, do keep a cool head—”
“NO!” Shining spat. “I’ll publicly behead the bastard right out in the commons for doing this!” He trembled with rage, the corners of his eyes twitched and jerked. His mouth contorted into a grimace of pain and blood dribbled down from his lip where he had bitten it. His teeth, now bared, were pink with his own blood.
“Have Mister Mariner brought before us at once. Use whatever means are necessary.” Blueblood glanced over at Shining Armor, then over at Celestia, then back at Shining Armor. “A public execution is a bit much, but I will not rule out the option.”
“Blueblood—”
“You are not in charge at the moment,” Blueblood said to Celestia. “I will consult with you and listen to your wisdom, but this is an open act of rebellion that needs to be cut down before it gains momentum!”
“Perhaps you are right.” Celestia’s voice was filled with sorrow. “Twilight certainly was.” Celestia’s long, proud neck sagged, almost as if some invisible force pressing down upon her head was too much to bear. “Gosling, please, if you would come with me, it is time for me to step aside and let those in charge do their work.”
“Gosling, go with her and keep her company. You are not to leave her side. That is an order.” Blueblood’s voice was one of commanding authority. “And Auntie…”
“Yes, Nephew?”
“I give you my word, I will do nothing rash without consulting you and Princess Luna first.”
“Thank you, Nephew.”
For well over an hour, Gosling could do nothing but hold Celestia as she wept. She sobbed, making a tortured, pitiful sound, torn apart by grief and pain. He huddled next to her on the bed, not knowing what to do, what to say, or how to make this better. This event, as a whole, was quite beyond him and his understanding.
The door to Celestia’s room opened and Gosling raised his head. He placed one wing over Celestia’s back, and made ready to chew somepony out for intruding upon this private moment. He saw a flash of blue, which made him pause.
Princess Luna came to a halt near the bed. She didn’t look well, she looked sleepy and out of sorts, as well as being quite a mess from crying. Her eyes were bloodshot and crusted over along the edges. She said nothing as she resumed moving, and climbed into the bed, settling in beside her sister.
“Mister Mariner has not been found,” Luna said in a low, scratchy whisper. “Even with magic scrying. He was well prepared for this and seems to have secured for himself some powerful magical defenses.”
“What has Blueblood done?” Celestia asked.
“Nothing rash. He has reassured the public, but has said no threatening words, uttered no bile, made no statements of ill intent,” Luna replied.
A sad smile spread over Celestia’s muzzle. “I taught him well…”
“He has presented a calm, rational face to the public of Canterlot. I think that many were surprised to see Blueblood behaving as such a capable leader.” Luna wiggled a bit, snuggling closer to her sister, and leaned her head against Celestia’s long neck. She closed her eyes.
“Any news to report?” Celestia’s words seemed hesitant, as if she didn’t want an answer to her question. Her ears drooped and she too, closed her eyes, as if shying away from what she knew would be a terrible answer.
“There is unrest in our major cities.” Luna paused for a moment. “Ponyville remains quiet, as do a number of our smaller hamlets. Twilight has been informed of the situation and she remains watchful for signs of trouble or unrest in Ponyville.”
“I should have listened to her.” Celestia’s face contorted in pain. “It is just like the time that she tried to warn me that something was off with Cadance. Her suggested solution though… to just so coldly strip Mister Mariner of his holdings on the chance that he might become a threat to Equestria… she was so calm, so confident, and she made such a rational argument that this was the best course of action.”
“It would have been a monstrous thing to do,” Luna agreed. “Sister, we must discuss the future of our great nation… this must never happen again. We must never allow corporate interests to gain such power that they become a threat to us”—here Luna paused and her eyes opened—“and our little ponies ever again. Powerful and dangerous monopolies must be dismantled, taken apart, and not be allowed to consolidate power. No single entity, no corporate entity must ever have the keys to the kingdom, so to speak. We cannot allow something like this to ever happen again.”
“And many will call it tyranny.” Gosling’s ears went limp and fell against the sides of his face.
“Many will not understand that we desire to protect them from those who would do them harm.” Luna’s muzzle crinkled. “Mister Mariner has certainly done them harm. Yet… many foolish little ponies will see him as the hero… the brave industrialist who stood against the Sisters, and was struck down. He will be seen as a martyr.”
“That’s just messed up.” Gosling shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around this.
“Twilight was right.” Celestia’s face twisted in agony.
“Twilight was twice right, but many of her predictions of panic, doom, and gloom have been wrong.” Luna rubbed the side of her head against her sister’s neck, trying to reassure her. “Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.”
“But Twilight was right two times when it was of utter importance.” Celestia’s face continued to twist and contort. “Perhaps it really is time for me to step down—”
“Now is not the time for self doubt,” Luna snapped. “We do not have that luxury. And you cannot step down during such a time of crisis… Mister Mariner and his ilk will see it as victory.”
“You’re right.” Celestia let out a sorrowful sigh of defeat. “I don’t know how to fix this situation… I do not yet see a way of making this right that does not involve compromising our principles… our values…”
“And that is exactly what that Mariner asshole wants.” Gosling looked over at the two sisters. “No good choices here. Only two bad choices.” He paused, then muttered, “We have to preserve the land...”
Blinking, Celestia lifted her head, then turning, she looked over at Gosling. She stared at him, saying nothing, but waiting, perhaps hoping that he might continue. Her sagging ears lifted and she looked hopeful. But no more words seemed forthcoming.
“Our loyalties lie with the long term.” Luna spoke with a firm confidence. “For now, we must accept the fact that we might very well be required to make an application of force and behave in a manner most unseemly… to act against these modern values and instead do what is good for our little ponies, behaving as their proper matriarchs.”
“A mother doesn’t always explain why she does what she does.” Gosling nodded. “Sometimes, she has to do something to the little foal that she loves… something awful, but necessary.”
“I suppose you have experience with this, Gosling?” Luna angled her head and looked over.
Head bobbing up and down, Gosling nodded. “Suppositories.”
“Oh… oh dear,” Luna gasped.
“I didn’t understand why my mother had to jam icicles up my backside… I thought she was just being mean… punishing me for no good reason… I hated her for doing it. It was a long time before I forgave her. I didn’t understand that she had to do it, that she had to do what was best for me.”
Leaning against her larger sister, Luna gnawed upon her lower lip.
“I had worms.” Gosling let heave a sigh of disgust. “And when I got ear mites, she had to wrestle me down to give me ear drops… I’m surprised that nopony called the cops about foal abuse, with the way we fought. Those ear drops hurt. You could hear and feel the sizzle in your ear.”
Now, Celestia was gnawing upon her lower lip, in much the same manner as her sister.
“I just didn’t understand that my mother was trying to do what was best for me.” He shook his head. “I suppose that this is one of those complicated trust things… and this situation is no different. The both of you are going to have to do what is best for everypony, and they’re going to be angry about it, because they’ll see it as an act of betrayal.”
“So… it is true…”
“What’s true, Luna?”
“Thou hast indeed, had cooties…”