Chapter 5
Sighing, Princess Celestia looked at her slumbering sibling and smiled. Luna had fallen asleep at the table, her head resting upon a plate of sweet rolls. Luna’s wings twitched against her sides with each exhale and inhale. Poor Luna tried so hard to be awake during the day, but she could be downright narcoleptic while the sun was shining. Luna’s ethereal mane drifted in and out of her water glass and a tiny, twinkling star caused Luna’s drink to glitter like a glassful of diamonds.
Luna was happy. She was happier now in general, ponies had come to enjoy her night, Luna’s loneliness had been eased, and Celestia had discovered that her sister was downright joyous to find out that Celestia was dating. A half drank cup of coffee steamed near Luna’s head, a cup that would never be finished.
While Luna had been awake, she had offered a little helpful advice. Celestia had endured a gentle scolding from Luna on the age issue. If it hadn’t been his age, Celestia had admitted to her sister that she would have found something else to focus upon, some reason to try and back out. Celestia now understood why Cadance chose anonymity; had Celestia found some other detail to focus upon, she might have also used that as an excuse or as a reason to try and escape this. Luna had somehow restored some of Celestia’s confidence; she had a way of doing that. Luna, who had a fragile confidence of her own somehow always knew just what to say or just what to do. Luna knew how to fix things and make them right.
Celestia was feeling far more confident for this date. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen. She did her best to ignore her tense muscles and the fact that the space beneath her wings felt like furnaces. She tried to ignore the hint of a headache that throbbed at the base of her skull, the dull thudding sensation resonating through her head and making her hesitant to blink her own eyelids out of the fear of upsetting the lurking beast.
Alone, with nopony to talk to at the moment, Celestia’s mind slipped into the past. Long ago, she had been the outgoing one. She had friends, friends that she now missed a great deal. She had everything; she went to balls, parties, events of great importance, many of which were held in her honour. It was her popularity and her outgoing nature that had been the source of Luna’s jealousy, but Celestia had not paid attention; she continued to be a social butterfly, flitting from event to event, she was always the belle of the ball. But after Luna’s stumble… Celestia blinked and tried to force the melancholy thoughts from her mind. Those had been dark times indeed. She had retreated, withdrawn, Luna was all alone on the moon and Celestia had been all alone in Canterlot.
She had punished herself for her failure, an issue that Celestia still had trouble with even now, an issue that still needed sorting out but Celestia could not seem to find a way to deal with it. Reaching over the table with a wing, Celestia touched her sister’s cheek, which was sticky and had a raisin clinging to it.
There were only a few hours left to wait.
The night air was cool against her feverish body and a strong breeze tickled her wings. Tonight’s date was held in a garden, but Celestia did not know which one. She had been blindfolded before even going into the carriage. The air was perfumed with flowers and the strong scent tickled her nose. Knowing that she could not be seen or heard, she spread her wings and allowed for a cooling breeze to travel beneath them.
She was lead along a gravel path for a time and then she noticed the cool grass beneath her frogs. She struggled not to giggle as she felt the grass prickling against the tender flesh of her frogs. Celestia wore shoes for practical reasons—she was ticklish and most ponies did not know this. Her hoofwear was practical and protected her from suddenly having the giggles at the most inopportune moments, such as walking over deep pile shag red carpets.
Shining Armor said nothing as they walked and it was almost as if she was being lead along by a ghost. Celestia’s nervousness became a feeling of giddiness, and then, to make matters worse, she thought about the things Cadance had said about both her and Shining Armor. Unable to stop herself, Celestia began to titter as she was led along.
There was a gentle push upon her backside and she eased herself down into the grass while trying not to snort or giggle. The world went silent and she couldn’t even hear the sounds of Shining Armor’s hooves upon the grass as he departed.
“Hello again…”
A warm flush crept up Celestia’s neck. “Well hello there.”
“You sound a bit better tonight.”
Celestia marveled at how much more relaxed she felt. Her ears weren’t straining to hear and she was rather relaxed, all things considered. She thought about the potential reveal and the thought didn’t scare her as much as it did earlier.
“I feel better tonight,” Celestia replied.
“Cadance and I had a long talk earlier today and I sorted a few things out. Last night was really good for me and I made progress in my treatment plan. I’m in a great mood.”
“I’m really glad to hear that.” And Celestia was, in fact, glad to hear that. She wasn’t just making small talk, her words were sincere. She eased herself down into the grass a little more, going from a sitting position to a laying position, and she crossed her forelegs over one another. She drew in a deep breath and tried to figure out what sort of flowers she was smelling. The scent was a distraction, but it was a good distraction. Something about the smell put her in a romantic mood.
Wishing to banish the silence, Celestia took the initiative. “I know you have a treatment plan, and I know that you don’t know what to do as far as school, but do you have any plans or desires for yourself?”
After a moment’s wait, there came a reply. “I want to start a family. Even though I was hurt, it is still something I want. Being hurt hasn’t changed that. I want to be a father… well, in time. After our talk last night, I’ve decided that I am going to go back to school as soon as I can and I’m going to be a history major. After hearing what you said, I guess I kind of found my confidence.”
Celestia found herself smiling as she listened. “And why do you wish to be a father at such a young age?”
“I never knew my father.” There was a long silence and somewhere off in the distance, faint music could be heard. “My mother was a single mother and she was the most amazing mother ever. But things were hard for us even though she tried really hard. She had to drop out of school to have me and take care of me. But she made it work. I want to be a dad… because I think it will make me feel better and I want my mother to be proud of me. I, uh, really care about what my mother thinks about me and I want her to be proud of me. I kind of disappointed her by dropping out of school, but after things have cooled off, she has admitted that it was necessary. I was in a really toxic situation and it was hurting my mental health.”
“You can always get back into school and make your mother proud.” Celestia, still smiling, began to fan herself with her wing, trying to make a little breeze to cool her flustered features. “And I would be as well. With you as my potential suitor, I must confess, I have certain standards.”
“Oh really?”
“Really.” Celestia found herself nodding even though she could not be seen.
“I have standards too.”
“Do you now?” Celestia, grinning, was intrigued.
“I want to marry young and I don’t want to get involved with anypony unless they are willing to entertain the idea of marriage.”
Oh, that was intriguing. “Why is that?”
“Well…” There was a pause and then a chuckle. “I tell my mom and anypony that asks that it is because I want to do the right thing and do right by my traditionalist values, but from a practical standpoint, I have certain needs that I have trouble ignoring and do not wish to stumble. I want to hold true to what I believe in, but it is growing increasingly difficult to do. I’m young and I have all of the vigour of youth.”
“That is very honest of you to admit that,” Celestia said to her date.
“I’m pent up.”
Hearing those words, Celestia’s mouth went dry and she felt her dock clench.
“I’m pent up and I’m so scared of letting myself down. I don’t want to compromise my values. Both my therapist and Cadance both say that I need to be patient, hold on, and wait until I find somepony that shares my values. Cadance says that when I do, she’ll be pent up too from all the waiting and everything will be worth the wait.”
“I have also been waiting.” Celestia agonised over what to say next, how much to reveal, and if Cadance would step in before too much was revealed. While there was some tension, Celestia felt rather relaxed, all things considered.
“I know you’ve been married before, Cadance told me, and she said you were just a little bit older than me. I don’t mind, I know stuff happens. Ponies die and divorces happen. I’m okay with whatever took place.”
Something about the colt’s words endeared him to Celestia, but she could not say why. Her curiousity grew and she began to wonder what he looked like. As she sat there, wondering what to say and listening for more precious words, she realised that she was smelling gardenias and magnolias. The air was heavy with their scent. The grass was cool against her stomach and her most sensitive, ticklish places that had gone far too long without a proper tickle.
“Do you enjoy being in the guard at all?” Celestia asked.
It took a moment, but there was a reply. “I go back and forth. There are times when I don’t like it, but there are times when it is great. I was smart enough to get into the signal corps, so I don’t have to worry about the really rough, hard stuff. I’m a pencil pusher. The signal corps is jokingly referred to as the ‘chair force.’ I’ve learned a lot about communications and I’ve been taking courses in both command and public speaking. My commanding officer says that if I go to university, I could stay in the guard and become an officer. I don’t know if I’ll do that, but I might. I just don’t know yet.”
“I have some experience in command,” Celestia said in a low voice. “I hold rank in the guard, but I have stepped down from active duty.”
“So… you deal in futures, securities, energy management, and you’ve been in the service. I’ll admit, I’m perplexed. I know you are being honest with me, Cadance wouldn’t allow you to lie, but for the life of me, I can’t make out how you’ve done so much. All I know is, I am way out of my league and I can’t wait to get to know you better.”
Celestia giggled and had trouble stopping. “A mare has to have hobbies. I like to try and remain in a constant state of self improvement. I read when I can get the chance. I remain permanently enrolled in Canterlot University. They don’t tell you this, but if you get the lifetime learning plan and have at least one pony who has the lifetime learning plan recommend you, it is quite cheap. You could afford it on your guard scholarship, however, you’d need to come up with a little bit of extra funding. But they don’t advertise it at all.”
“Could you endorse me?” Celestia’s date asked without a moment’s hesitation.
“Oh, I could see myself doing that,” Celestia replied. “We could go to classes together. I find intellectual pursuits stimulating.”
“Really? You would go to classes with me?”
“Oh, certainly.” Celestia felt a growing excitement. This wasn’t quite planning out a future together, but this was nice and it filled her with a sense of hope. “When we get to know each other better, you will come to understand why any potential mates of mine have to be driven to live up to their full potential. If we were to stay together, I cannot promise it would be an easy life for you. Much will be expected.”
“Oh, I understand. I have expectations too.”
“Do tell,” Celestia said in the most inviting manner she could muster with her artificial voice.
“I want foals. Like I said, I want to be a father. And I want the mare I marry to be a good mother, but not just any mother. She has to be a teacher. She has to instill a sense of values. She has to be a good moral guide because everything good about a pony begins at home and it typically starts with what a mother teaches her foals. Take my mom for example… she knows that she made some mistakes when she was younger, but she owned up to them. She used them to teach me about why I had to be responsible, to be good, and to strive to do the right thing whenever possible. She’s really special and I love her so much.”
“So you really are serious about starting a family, I take it?” Celestia felt a growing sense of annoyance with her blindfold. She wanted to take it off. She wanted to feel a cool breeze upon her face. She wanted to see the pony she was speaking to.
“I once read that colts that grow up with single mothers statistically become bad fathers themselves and have foals out of wedlock. I want to prove that I can beat those odds.”
There were worse goals in life. Celestia considered her date; he was motivated, he was smart, and she found herself liking him.
“I have to prove that I can do things right. I have to prove that all the hard work my mother did was worth it. Everything we went through together, all of the sacrifices she made, how she suffered, I want her to know that everything she did wasn’t in vain.”
Celestia said nothing, but those were some noble goals and aspirations she could get behind. She understood, and could appreciate what the colt was doing.
“That’s why I send my mother most of my pay. I don’t have to do it, but she worked so many jobs and spent so many hours working so hard to care for me. Now, she doesn’t have to work. I send her enough money to pay the rent and be comfortable and she can finally take a well deserved break. Now that I’ve made up my mind about going back to school, I plan to have a career that will allow me to take care of her. She’s very special to me and I owe her so much.”
“I understand what it means to give yourself over completely so that the needs of others can be looked after.” Celestia took a deep breath. “I have… I have a lot of ponies that I look after and take care of. I suppose you could call them family. I’ll confess, I see myself as their mother and I give of myself as much as I can to make sure that their needs are provided for.” Celestia thought of her school, her subjects, and of Equestria. She could say nothing of the scope or the scale of the ponies she mothered.
“Who takes care of you?”
Celestia turned her head in the direction from where she heard her date speaking. She tried to reply, but no words came out. She felt a shudder go through her as her barrel began hitching. She struggled to hold herself together and after several long moments of laboured breathing, she made the shudders subside.
“Nopony takes care of you… that’s awful.”
“That’s not entirely true. There are those who care for me. I suppose I’m stubborn though, and I try to mother them as well. I don’t really let them care for me and I resist if they try. It… it’s hard to stop being the caretaker after you’ve done it for so long.” Celestia began to wonder what sort of consequences there might be if she pulled off her blindfold. Not that she would; she would never disrespect Cadance in such a manner, but she could not help but wonder. While anonymity had its charms, Celestia wanted to see the face of the pony she was speaking with. She wanted to look into his eyes. She wanted to hear his voice.
Celestia found herself a bit infatuated. As strange as it might seem, she couldn’t deny it. No doubt, Cadance already knew all about it and Celestia would get an earful. She was looking forward to that earful because she wanted to praise Cadance for all of her hard work.
As she lay in the grass, the strong, heady scent of magnolia blossoms and gardenias tickling her nose, Celestia began to contemplate what it might be like to be in love. She began to wonder what a life together might be like. She began to be curious and open to the possibility of romance.
“It got quiet,” the colt said.
“I was thinking about getting to know you better,” Celestia replied. “I must confess, I find you intriguing.”
“You have my interest as well,” the colt confessed. “You know, the silences are far more noticeable when you are blindfolded. There’s nothing to look at and nothing else to do and talking keeps away the boredom.”
“I’m so scared,” Celestia blurted out, and she was certain that if she had her real voice it would be cracking. “I want you to know who I am, but I am so frightened that when you see me, any chances of us being together will be dashed upon the rocks.”
“I’m scared too,” the colt replied, “I don’t want to be a disappointment. I’m young and by the sounds of things, you’re a bit more mature than I am. I’m not sure what to make of that, but I’m worried that you’ll see me and you’ll think I’m too young and I really like talking to you and it is so easy to talk to you and I don’t want to ruin what we already have.”
“There is only one way we will know if this will work.” Celestia felt a growing lump in her throat as she spoke and once again, her frogs were becoming sweaty. “I don’t know if it is fair to keep this going… to keep our identities hidden. The more I think about it, the more I realise that it isn’t fair to you to not know who you are dealing with—”
Lips still moving, it took Celestia a moment to realise that she had been silenced. She hadn’t actually said anything and she wondered if Cadance was angry. Her ears drooped and she hoped that she could earn Cadance’s forgiveness.
“Before I say anything else, I am not angry,” Cadance said in a low voice from some distance. “But I do think a good point was made. The two of you seem to be comfortable with one another. Both of you are strong, exceptional individuals. Would you like the blindfolds removed?”
There was silence. The dead silence worried Celestia. Under her blindfold, her face felt hot and flushed. She felt a dreadful fear that matched the terror she had felt when she had heard Luna’s mad laughter over a thousand winters ago. It was ridiculous and absurd, but she could not deny it. When the blindfold came off, there was no way of knowing what would happen next.
“I’ll do it,” the colt said. “I’m sick of being afraid. I want to know and I want to see.”
Unable to speak, but not because of the silence spell, Celestia nodded, knowing that Cadance would see. She waited, not knowing what was about to happen, and she waited to have her blindfold removed.
“I think the two of you are ready to be introduced. Gosling, prepare yourself for a bit of a shock,” Cadance said in a firm voice of command. “I am going to introduce you to my aunt.”
Celestia felt a tug upon her blindfold…
Stats
Page generated in 0.035 seconds
Total duration
956 users online
450,365 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
... Wow. this is like the best OC X Celestia story i've read... ever. That dialogue, that suspense... that understanding of Celestia's character... Good job. Please continue!
A gentle a gentle? Gentleception?!
The gentle hath been doubled!!!
MOFO damn cliff hanger
7111968
7112004
I haven't, but point still stands. Even with that it makes it difficult for the suspension of disbelief to remain intact.
That would have given a slight background though, Thanks for the heads up.
the cliff hanger is real
"I... didn't realize we accepted birds into the Royal Guard."
"Quack!"
dun dun dun!
no seriously, is the colt dun-colored?
You're so good at this, Kudzu. You got me feeling anxious by the end of this chapter.
7112008 i will admit at least with this verse kudzus male characters do seem kinda young, but after a while you forget about it as the story and characters are just that interesting.
7112065
Perhaps.
If it was in its own universe, with its own culture and such developed, then I could be on board. But, where it's already stated that this individual IS young (and, really? no 15 year old virgins?) it's pushing the envelope.
Will be interesting to see where this goes.
7112068
Cadance the pony walks up to you and announces that the sky is green. She states it as a fact.
Does that make it true?
and hes a gryphon.
7112004 Actually, Tarnish was 16.
7110784 The actual age of consent in Equestria is a state secret. Those who attempt to discover the age are suddenly put in a dark room and asked if they like bananas.
Oh boy, I hope someone points out that that is a terrible reason to start a family. Isn't baby-as-depression-cure and as validation from the rest of your family two of the typical things you're supposed to avoid?
Ugh, dat cliffhanger tho!
Gosling! What an adorably perfect name. A tad on the nose, though, isn't it? Celestia being so swan - like and all.
I love this story.
I am absolutely adoring this story--first one I've followed--but can I make a suggestion?
Rather than using the technical horse anatomy names (frog, barrel, dock), might you consider using more recognizable terminology (hoof, chest, tail)? I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about horses, but it always takes me a moment to process what you're saying--and I actually had to look up "dock," as, in context, it could have represented one of several body parts, each suggesting a different reaction to Gosling's revelation.
Otherwise, no complaints! Loving it so far.
Gosling? But where's the 'human' tag? Gosling is a Real Human Bean!
7112426
For me? AWWW, you shouldn't have! Grenade and I are gonna have a blast! Hang on, you need to be in the selfie with us! How else can you capture that fragment of memory? This is no time to take a powder! I know we aren't lowering the boom just yet! Aren't you just on pin and needles? I understand, you were just con-fuzed.
Heh. You ain't got a clue, son!
pinkie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/rsz/mlfw8357_medium.jpg
Oh, and I'm sure this has been asked a bajillion times, but how "old" is fifteen? I would assume that he's "human" fifteen--that is, a couple years away from being an adult--but, given your focus on equine anatomy, it's possible that "pony" fifteen is into the age of majority...
7112564 Holy shit...
That being said, I don't think a powder grenade has been used since the 1800s... They all rely on solid fuels (C4, usually) to do the bang.
7112035 I'm dun with your terrible puns!
7111308 The age range of ponies in your setting can and will clash with most ideals of your readers. Even making him 17 would've flirted with a lot of lines, but being 15 makes it even worse and Cadance's reasoning doesn't help. Unless the average pony lifecycle is far shorter the age thing doesn't work. But the way Cadance says he could live to be 115 tears down that idea as well.
You're treading a lot of lines doing a CelestiaxOC anyway (rather well-propelled by raw talent, if I do say so), but flirting with an age problem like this is teetering towards the bad end of things where people will start turning their noses up at the concept. He's old enough to be in her army, sure, but that doesn't make him a consenting adult. There are child soldiers in PLENTY of countries around our world. And Celestia has ZERO hope of any sort of Romeo and Juliet clause coming to her rescue. If this works AT ALL, as soon as it goes public there would be a LOT of reactions I would cringe to see (Twilight, Rarity, and especially Applejack).
Tread carefully, you're flirtin' with disaster here.
Your keyboard must be on fire as fast as you update.
While the age thing is a problem for me, it doesn't make the story any less interesting. Cautiously reading forward.
I'm not sure about this Gosling fella, he just has way too much going for him in the "good guy" department. He really is just over the top altruistic.
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/312/893/8ee.png
7112754
I agree. Again, Kudzu, I love the story up to this point, and I appreciate your desire to cause a conversation--which you, indeed, have--but 15, by human standards, is a little too young. If they ever hook up, it would be statutory rape (under US law, at least). And, frankly, with him being so "pent up," I don't think he'd be able/willing to wait much longer...
I have confidence that you know what you're doing, but I think I'm far from the only fan who would appreciate either some gentle retconning or further explanation of his age (i.e., do ponies legal adults at 14 or something?). Like Aegis said: 17, in the US, at least, is the age of consent, but still young enough to be scandalous.
BUT
7112159 suggests that he might actually be older... and I don't think he's mentioned his own age yet... If this is a bit of misdirection, I think these comments should be a sign that people are getting legitimately uneasy over the direction this is going. I'd encourage you to pull back the curtain in the next chapter, if possible...
Damn cliffhangers. Leaving us hanging like that.
your story got on the hotlist for fimficiton.
first time in a while i felt the story really deserved it XD
7112159
Hehe, this is true. Coupled with your comment earlier; it'd be a good way to weed out of Celestia is serious about it all.
You know, everyone keeps getting so hung up on him being 15 and thus being too young for any kind of consent. News flash, in over half of the states in the US the age of consent is 16. And that is for sexual activity, which he wants none of until he his married. In some places, 16 is the age you can get married, like Japan, though that is for the girls while the guys have to be 18, but point still stands. Stop getting hung up over his age when he is less than away from what many places consider an appropriate age.
I'm amused by the signal corps being the ‘chair force’, but in Equestria that could hardly be the air force since that's probably full of pegasi who are constantly flying.
7112159 Given how strongly Cadance beat the Honesty! drum in the first chapter during her initial interview with Celestia, that sky had better be green. Sure, she never specifically said that she herself was going to be equally honest, but I'm going to be pretty disappointed in her if the fifteen thing was lie simply to manipulate Celestia (and the readers too, for that matter).
7113043
The sky is green comment is more about finding available virgins and less about age.
7112781 You must be new to kudzu´s stories. By his usual standards, this is slow as a paraplegic turtle...
7113043
In this case, the signal corps is the intelligence wing of the military. They are the brain and the communications. They tell the fist when to strike and where. Also, as in ye olden days of long ago, the signal corps, the communications division, is also where one will find the spies, scouts, and other agents of intelligence gathering. They are the smart ones, the branch you don't want to mess with, because not only are there spies in their ranks, but also the pony that determines when rations get sent out.
7113055 Ahh, gotcha. Yeah, that I'd see as less of an issue, more of an exaggeration than an outright falsehood.
Yep. They're most of the people in prison too. Children need their mothers AND their fathers, even if they are not good at their job.
7136882 I was raised by a single mother. My father is a psychopath and, consequently, emotionally manipulative. Not to mention he's a felon who's tried to steal from me and refuses to pay child support. I know many people with abusive (physically, etc.) parents, or drug-addicted parents, or what have you. I must disagree that children "need" both parents, and especially not if one is (or both are) bad at their job. You're also discounting the experiences of children raised by same-sex parents which, research shows, are not any worse off than their counterparts.
Ahg! My heart and stomach are becoming one! *dies*
7112492
sorry, but he will insist. God you should see the snout-snoot point everywhere. It actually got old for me.
7112754
Oh, you don't know... Son, this ain't close to what us followers of Kudz call "treading on thin ice" and frankly, Kudz will break it if he pleases, he has before.
The irony is tangible
And so, Gosling's jaw hit the ground, and made a large hole.
I was screaming for half of the chapter 'TAKE OFF THE BLINDFOLD!'. Glad it happened.
7367540 Irony is not coincidence.
This guard has several similarities with Tarnished Teapot and I wonder if that's a coincidence or a choice on your part.
7483276 Do you know nothing of Shakespeare? There is such a thing as "Dramatic Irony." This situation is a definitive example of dramatic irony, almost textbook.
7136882
yep true!
That name though...