//------------------------------// // Chapter 62 // Story: The Perilous Romance of Swans // by kudzuhaiku //------------------------------// There was no feeling quite like being dead on your hooves. It was only Gosling’s guard training that kept him awake. A new day had dawned upon Canterlot, and with it, hope. Princess Celestia would soon address the nation and then various means of communication would be used to spread the message. Gosling had no clue what she planned to say, but it was probably something gracious and graceful. Princess Cadance had arrived, but Gosling had not yet seen her. He had spent the past hour or so at the telegraph, which had been restored, sending and receiving coded messages. He had to code on the fly with no mistakes, and in his current state, it had almost been an impossible task. He was done for, and he knew it. But he was proud, satisfied, he had done his part during the crisis and others had seen him at his best. Now that the day was here, Gosling was looking forward to going to bed. He trudged through the hallway, his hooves dragging, his tail sagging, and his wings drooping at his sides. He had nothing left to give and he regretted that he couldn’t do more. “Gosling…” The soft voice made him freeze in his tracks. Mindful of how terrible he must look at this point, he gave himself a shake, then turned to face Cadance. He tried to stand at attention out of habit, but he failed in a most spectacular fashion—he somehow managed to make himself look even slouchier. “I know you are going to a well deserved rest, but I must ask for just a moment of your time,” Cadance said in a low voice. “Sure.” Gosling raised his wing in a half hearted salute, again, out of habit. “I don’t know what you’ve done, but you’ve given my aunt back her mojo.” “I did what?” Gosling stared at Cadance through bleary eyes that refused to focus. “My aunt. Your future wife. She has her mojo back. She is as I remember her. She has her confidence and poise again. She’s shoved Blueblood out of the way and taken command of the situation.” Cadance reached out her wing and stroked Gosling’s cheek. “I heard that you rallied the nobles of Canterlot… I think that had something to do with it.” “I do my best.” Gosling gave Cadance a sleepy smile. “Say, Cadance… I has me a question.” “Ask, Gosling.” “Why can’t you make the fighting end? Why can’t you… oh, I dunno, just lay down the magical whammy jammy and make everypony be nice to one another? Maybe remind them how much they love their princesses? It seems like you could be doing more.” Gosling saw something flash in Cadance’s eyes, something dangerous. “That would be awful, Gosling.” “Would it?” Gosling asked. “Would making the fighting stop be so terrible?” Cadance did not reply, but her expression became quite sad. A look of sorrowful regret spread over her fine features, and she let out a weary sigh. Her horn ignited and glowed with a brilliant pink luminescence that filled the hallway around both her and Gosling. Aetherfire arced along her horn and her ears drooped. And it was then that Gosling felt it, the crushing weight of love. He loved Cadance more than anything at that moment. He loved her and adored her. She was beautiful and perfect. She was worthy of his adoration, his affection, and his love. But the weight was crushing, because he wasn’t worthy of her. No, she was too perfect, too wonderful, she was perfection in the form of a pretty pink alicorn princess. With a gasp, Gosling fell to the stone floor and prostrated himself before her. He writhed, feeling a strange, terrible pain inside, the pain brought on by the knowledge that he was not worthy to stand in the light of her glory. He lay on the floor in a miserable heap and covered his eyes with his wings, as he knew that he wasn’t worthy of looking at her either. He wasn’t even fit to breathe the same air as her and he tried to stop breathing. Oh, but if given the chance, he would make himself worthy. He would die for her. Without hesitation. He would do anything to make the dull ache of longing go away. A pleading whimper escaped his lips as he continued to writhe on the floor with his face covered. “This is a terrible power, is it not?” Cadance asked, her voice both terrible and beautiful in Gosling’s quivering ears. “None but those who cannot feel love can resist me. Not even Celestia or Luna can resist me and they too would fall before me. Should I desire it, I could make this land mine, and every pony from shore to shore, north to south, all would kneel before me and know despair… is this what you would have me do, Gosling?” Unable to respond, Gosling curled up into a fetal ball and wished for the end, his end. Knowing that he was unworthy was too much to bear. He found himself longing for death, the sweet release from this tortured existence. This feeling of love was unbearable. And then, it ended. Gosling sucked in a much needed deep breath and saw stars in his vision. He gulped in more air, he had been trying to hold his breath for far too long, and he felt stinging tears begin to roll down his cheeks. “One time, a long time ago, I was a foalsitter for a precocious little filly that wore on my nerves, asked far too many questions, and refused to go to bed at a reasonable hour.” Cadance’s voice was little more than a whisper. “I made a terrible mistake… I made her love me so she would obey me.” Cadance closed her eyes and shook her head. “Twilight responded in much the same way you have. I panicked and I rushed Twilight to Princess Celestia, not knowing what to do or how to fix it.” Shuddering, Gosling began weeping as his emotions continued to seethe. “Princess Celestia was furious with me and I got a much needed lesson in why I can’t just get my way using my magic. She was furious with me, but she still loved me, even though I had done a terrible wrong. Auntie could have done anything she wanted to punish me, she was well within her rights, but the only punishment I had was acting as Twilight’s nurse.” Cadance opened her eyes and tears rolled down her cheeks. “Gosling, it was the single most important lesson that I’ve ever had in rule… you cannot force those around you to love you. You must win their affection, their love, and their reverence.” A soft warmth wrapped around Gosling and he felt himself lifted from the floor. “I am sorry for this lesson,” Cadance said as she carried Gosling down the hall towards Celestia’s quarters. “Twilight forgave me, but I still feel guilty about it. It was a painful lesson, Gosling, just as this has been a painful lesson.” Cadance fell silent as she strode down the hall with Gosling levitated before her. When she reached the door to Celestia’s quarters, she paused, then said, “You will make a fine prince, Gosling. Do not be discouraged. I am sorry to have been your teacher for this dreadful lesson…” Gosling awoke in a different bed than he remembered falling asleep in. Dazed and disoriented, he tried to make sense of his surroundings. There was somepony in the bed with him. That somepony happened to be Luna. Gosling didn’t move. The room was dark, so very dark, and the only light came from Luna’s mane and tail, which billowed in and out of the blankets, unconcerned about physical barriers. Luna was bandaged in a number of places. Her neck was bound tight with bandages, as was her leg, her face and one eye was wrapped in white gauze. He had a hazy recollection that Luna had gone to Manehattan. What had happened? When he moved, Luna whimpered, and Gosling realised that she was dreaming about something, or perhaps she was in pain from her injuries. It was far too difficult to remain awake. Luna was warm and her heavy body was both pleasant and reassuring. Gosling felt safe and secure next to her and his mind was untroubled. His body cried for more sleep. His ears perked as he heard Luna moan in her sleep. He repositioned his body and pressed up against her side. Much to his relief, Luna quieted and went still. Wiggling about, he pulled the heavy blankets over his head and drifted back into slumber. When Gosling opened his eyes again, it was a struggle. He was groggy and his fuzzy brain told him that he had slept too long. How long? He didn’t know. The bed was empty. He poked his head out from beneath the blankets, blinked, yawned, and looked around. His surroundings were unfamiliar. The room he was in was lit by moonlight that came streaming in through open double doors. The room was bare, stark, it was the very definition of austere. The walls had no decorations, just bare stone, there was a plain looking bookshelf, and not much else. The room was also freezing cold as there was no fire in the grate. “If you use my privy and leave behind a mess, there will be harsh words spoken between us.” Craning his head around, Gosling found himself looking at Luna. He could see her breath curling out of her nostrils in the frigid air. She was covered in bandages and Gosling saw that her muzzle was swollen. She had been struck, hurt, and seeing her like this, it filled him with a fiery anger that was new to him. He didn’t dare say anything though, as Luna was no damsel in distress. Being fawned or worried over would most likely just make her furious. “How long was I out?” Gosling asked in a raspy voice that told him he was out for longer than he realised. “After my return, we slept the entirety of the day and through most of the night. It will be dawn soon.” Luna turned and faced the open doors so she could look at her moon. “I don’t know who put you in bed with me.” “What happened to you?” Gosling needed to go, but it was too cold to get out of bed. He huddled beneath the blankets and watched as his own breath curled out of his nostrils. “Some foolish enemy decided to drop a building on me,” Luna replied. Ouch. Gosling stared at Luna with wide-eyed astonishment. “When I had arrived in Manehattan, I had foolishly believed that the battle was over.” Luna let out a disgusted snort. “I was wrong. That battle was a ruse done with the hopes of luring me there. Once engaged, I was obligated to defend my subjects.” “After somepony dropped a building on you.” Gosling pulled the blanket around his neck and tried not to shiver. “Not a pony.” Luna shook her head, then turned about. She closed the doors behind her then shuffled over to the fireplace. She was stiff and had difficulty walking. “For whatever reason, the Queen of the Bumbles was in Manehattan, taking advantage of the chaos. She had changelings working for her.” “That sounds troubling.” “Gosling, you have no idea,” Luna replied as she lit a fire. “From what my Wardens and agents have gathered, she was supplying honey to the local bakeries. Said honey was quite an evil concoction that made the mind susceptible to suggestion and control. I do not yet know all of the details, but more and more of it keeps coming in, one little piece of the puzzle at a time.” “And we know changelings can influence the minds of others.” Gosling watched as the flames blazed to life and he hoped to feel the fire’s warmth before he froze to death. “All of this seems to be a well made plan.” Luna stood near the fire and coaxed it into a roaring inferno. “This was planned and then well executed.” “And Mister Mariner is responsible—” “We don’t know that,” Luna said, interrupting. “We do not know if he is responsible or if something is taking advantage of the chaos he has sown. That said, I am inclined to believe that he has conspired with our many enemies.” “But we don’t know for certain.” Gosling’s ears twitched with each pop and crackle from the fire. “I dunno, Luna… now that I think about it, Mister Mariner doesn’t strike me as the type who would work with our enemies, whomever they are.” “Why do you say that?” Luna asked. “Bad for business,” Gosling replied. “A fair point.” Luna’s lone uncovered eyebrow arched. “But this is bad for business too, this collapse.” “Yeah, but maybe he felt backed into a corner. He might have planned for this, but only as a last resort. The truth is, we don’t know his motivations. Something or someone might have watched him, shaping events around him with the hopes of using him as an unwitting stooge when a moment of opportunity came along.” “Gosling, I am delighted.” Luna faced Gosling with a piercing stare. “You have a treacherous mind.” Blushing, Gosling couldn’t help but feel just a little pleased with himself. “Alas, we know very little. Our enemies seem to be working together in a coordinated way, which worries me. Under most circumstances, they are too busy squabbling amongst each other to be much of a threat, but as of late, we’ve been seeing troubling signs of cooperation.” “Who could get them all working together though?” Gosling asked. “Why, Gosling, the answer to that is quite simple,” Luna replied, “Only Grogar has the sort of power to keep them all cowed and subdued…”