Chapter 19
Looking up from his supper plate, Gosling saw Seville. The camera mount was gone and his gear seemed to be put away in his bags. The earth pony was holding a plate loaded down with food in his mouth and his eyes looked down at the chair across from Gosling, asking a silent question. Gosling glanced over at his mother for a moment and saw her nod, so he nodded as well.
Seville set his plate down upon the table and then sat down, looking grateful. He looked over at Gosling, gave a nod, and said, “Thank you, new friend.”
“Have a good first day on the job?” Gosling asked before he crammed a steamed vegetable dumpling into his mouth.
The earth pony fell back in his chair and his eyes closed. He slumped over with exhaustion. Lifting his forehooves, he rested them on the edge of the table, and after a few moments of deep, calming breathing, he opened his eyes once more. “I have had the best day ever. It started out rough, but… I don’t even know where to begin.”
Chewing, Gosling waited. He watched as his mother took a drink and his ears perked as the ice cubes in her glass clinked. Turning, he glanced over at Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who were some distance away discussing what might happen next after the train attack.
“My day started with me getting the stuffing kicked out of me by Palatino Palomino, then I get rescued by this really nice pony, then I get a new job, after that I get some face time with Raven, and she gives me some exclusives to work with, after that, I got to talk to Prince Blueblood, and he gave me an exclusive interview where he openly discussed all of the ways that Equestria could be doing better. It was an honest and refreshing exchange, and far better than the ‘everything is perfect’ speeches so many politicians offer up.”
Lifting his fork, Gosling ate another steamed vegetable dumpling and felt his mother’s eyes upon him. Without even looking, he knew that she was proud. He chewed a few times, lifted up his glass, and gulped down some refreshing, ice cold, sunny orange Celestia~Cola. Citrus and tamarind, a perfect combination and somehow appropriate to be drinking, given his situation. Every bottle sold benefited charity.
“I also got to speak with Cadance and Shining Armor, then I spoke with Night Light and Twilight Velvet. I got to meet Flurry Heart. Spike gave me a tour of the castle.” Seville sighed and looked down at his plate of food. “I have had the most amazing day.” The earth pony fell silent and began eating.
The trio ate in silence, glad to have a moment’s peace. It had been a long day for everypony. Things were winding down and would soon end. Gosling would be glad for the day to end, he needed sleep. He was tired, worn out, and sore from flying hundreds of miles in a single day.
“Princess Luna… I do not mean to be antagonistic, but I would very much like to ask you a question, if I may,” a unicorn reporter asked.
Stuffing his face with a buttery, garlicky bite of roasted red potatoes, Gosling listened to the exchange as he chewed. He liked potatoes, but his mother made the best potato dishes. That was all there was to it.
“I was wondering if you could tell me how you feel about your own impending marriage to Private Gosling.”
To Gosling’s credit, he didn’t drop his fork when he heard the reporter’s question. His mouth full of food, he stopped chewing and turned his head. He heard the clatter of silverware from his mother’s direction. His mouth became far too dry to swallow. His mushed, half chewed potatoes lingered in his cheeks.
“Um…” Luna’s voice sounded hesitant.
“I only ask because the old laws are still active. They’ve never been stricken from the books. The Royal We is still in effect, and both you and your sister are still one unified royal entity, thus enforcing the We, Our, and Us still heard in your speech.”
“Those laws still exist?” Luna asked.
Gosling struggled to work up some spit so he could swallow his half chewed food. It felt like an impossible task. His jaw moved and his throat threatened to close up on him if he even attempted to swallow his bite of potatoes. Gosling could feel an ever tightening band forming around his barrel. He glanced over at Seville, who had paused while stuffing his face. Seville looked stunned.
“Sister, do those laws still exist?” Luna’s voice sounded both amused and curious.
“We are still one royal entity,” Celestia replied, “I guess I never got around to having those laws changed. I became a little busy during the past thousand years. Stuff happened. Lots of stuff… I had lost all interest in marriage and then you came back, and truth be told, I haven’t given them much thought and with no interest in marriage, I never even thought about this becoming an issue…” Celestia’s words trailed off.
“Ma,” Gosling croaked in a low voice that was little more than a breathy utterance. “Ma, I’m scared.”
“Me too,” Sleet whispered as she began rubbing her front hooves together.
“We are still a We.” Gosling could hear it in Luna’s voice. She was enjoying this development. He grabbed his glass of Celestia~Cola, took a swig, and managed to swallow his mouthful of potatoes, just as Luna said something else. “Oh, We art most intrigued about Our coming marriage.”
“Will the law be preserved or will it be cast aside as an act of Privilegium Nobilitatis?”
Ears perking, Gosling had no idea what was being said, but it sounded both important and just a little bit antagonistic. He gave his mother a worried glance and he could see terror in her piercing blue eyes. He felt bad for her. She had been fine with everything about his relationship, but this was scaring her. Something deep within Gosling resented what was going on, and he wanted to kick somepony for upsetting his mother. He heard his own jaw muscles creaking. Gosling was not a violent sort of pony, but somepony had upset his mother.
“We wouldn’t think about abusing the laws for Our own benefit,” Celestia said in a cold voice that held none of its usual affection for her little ponies. Her warmth and graciousness was gone. The sound of it made Gosling’s terror grow worse.
Ears straining, Gosling knew her well enough to know that she was angry, and very much so. He set down his fork and begged his mind to come up with a plan. He needed to create a distraction, he needed to do something to disrupt the situation. He wondered how much longer Luna would be enjoying this now that her sister was upset. Probably not very long. He had been briefed that Luna’s moods were mercurial at best and that her fury came on hard and fast. Princess Luna did not have the restraint that her sister had. She was a fierce, fickle pony that was known to lash out for even the slightest of offenses.
“I’ve noted that you’ve shared a husband in the past, many in fact, but the last shared marriage record has been sealed away from the public eyes. Might I ask why?”
Gosling knew why. Celestia had told him. She had mentioned this. He felt a growing sense of worry. The last thing either sister needed was a painful, heart breaking reminder of the past. Luna, as Nightmare Moon, had killed him. Tossing down his fork, Gosling rose from the table. It was time to act like a fool.
“That record was sealed for a reason and its contents will remain sealed,” Celestia replied. “Are we not entitled to sense of privacy regarding painful family matters?”
“Those are supposed to be publicly available records. Given the time and the era, I’m guessing that something happened to your shared husband. It seems foolish to hide it when any pony can put two and two together. Was he a victim of Nightmare Moon?”
Before Celestia or Luna could say anything, Gosling inserted himself between her and the reporter. He was terrified, his back muscles clenched and jerked in the most painful way, and he felt like throwing up his dinner. But that was on the inside. On the outside, he had a suave smile, he looked cool, calm, and collected.
“Excuse us,” Gosling said in his most charming voice as he made his interjection. “It has been a very, very long day for all of us. I don’t know about you, but I am ready to retire for the evening.” Gosling bowed his head to the reporters gathered around the two sisters.
Mouth dry, he raised his head, turned to look at both Celestia and Luna, then he continued, “Ladies… will you give me the privilege of your company?”
“Gosling…” There was confusion and panic in Celestia’s eyes, Gosling could see it.
Something stronger was needed. Gosling waggled his eyebrows and offered up a salacious wink, hoping that neither sister would kill him later, or have him thrown in a dungeon, or banished, or banished and thrown into a dungeon wherever it was that he was banished.
“Ladies… let’s face it, I’m young, and I’m pretty, and there is more than enough of me to go around,” Gosling said in the silkiest voice he could muster with his dry, parched throat. A flashbulb popped. Gosling was starting to hate cameras. He wanted to ram it down the reporter’s throat. Or perhaps up the other end.
“Oooh, Sister, I am most intrigued,” Luna said, nudging her sister. “Come, let us retire.”
Gulping, Gosling felt something in his throat that resembled jagged, broken glass. He spread his wings and nudged both sisters along. Celestia said nothing as Gosling fell into step between the two sisters. More cameras flashed and Gosling hoped that his mother would be okay. He hoped that she had presence of mind enough to be making her own escape. He wondered where Blueblood was and why he hadn’t run interference.
Something had to be done to show that everything was okay. The doors leading to the private hall were quite some distance away. Gosling walked between the two sisters, and he could feel his wingpits grow sweaty. Celestia seemed almost wooden, while Luna somehow managed to sashay as she made her exit. Celestia was hurt and Gosling suspected that Luna was playing along—Luna was smart.
Leaning over, stretching his neck a little, he was able to give Luna a smooch on the cheek. She wasn’t quite as tall as Celestia. She seemed surprised and he felt her whole body tense as she let out a startled whinny. That was probably a trip to the dungeon, or perhaps Gelding Grotto. Unwanted sexual advances and touching her royal body without permission—such a thing was grounds for harsh punishment. He tried not to think about it. Maybe Celestia might pardon him. Or maybe this was over, everything was over, and all future plans for marriage would be called off due to the sudden complications. Maybe Celestia would put an end to all of this to avoid said complications and accusations.
Stretching out his neck as much as he could, he couldn’t quite reach Celestia’s cheek, she had her head held too high for him to smooch. He strained like a hungry pony hoping for an apple just out of reach. After a moment of struggle, he settled for kissing Celestia on the neck, mindful of the flashbulbs going off. Gosling felt sick with worry and his dinner was threatening to come back up. He could taste acidic bile in the back of his throat as he strutted, moving through the room as though he was one lucky colt that was about to bang not one, but two princesses. He was like a smooth, suave, sophisticated peacock as he led the sisters away, at least on the outside, and he walked with his tail hiked high.
The walk to the doors was the longest and most difficult walk he had ever taken in his life. The doors opened and Gosling escorted the two sisters through, somehow maintaining his confident, libidinous strut. When the doors shut behind them and the press could no longer see, Gosling almost collapsed, and would have if Luna had not caught him.
Overcome with fear, stress, and worry, Gosling spewed his dinner up all over Luna as she tried to hold him up, covering her in bits of red potato, steamed vegetable dumplings, and sweet potato soufflé.
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Well shit
Geez, I absolutely love how you've characterized Gosling! Especially his reaction to this revelation--really powerful imagery there!
I really have a need to punch the asshole who said that really hard.
But this is fiction so having the guy have a horrible fate will suffice.
7171285
In pony twister, wings are cheating. Not every pony has them. Hooves only.
Wow, whoever that guy was is a massive douche. He brought up an old law so out of date as to be irrelevant, and then forced Celestia into a verbal corner in which she either had to obey the law, and risk her marriage, or disobey the law and prove that the law applied to her in theory only. I'm sure there's a special place in Tartarus reserved for people like that.
Also, way to go Gosling! Going way out of his comfort zone to protect the mare he loves. That couldn't have been easy by any means.
See, that´s all completly unecessary ! All the Crown need to do is start those reporters gatherings and questions sessions to be under the control of Luna.
In the morning.
Without coffee.
In the dungeons.
Scratch that...in the fire and screams-proof dungeons.
See, that simple !
DOWN GOES GOSLING!
stream1.gifsoup.com/view6/2527990/down-goes-frazier-2-o.gif
Oh, Cadence.
Princess of Love and you don't even look up the rules on royal marriages in Equestria.
7171344
Don't be so quick to judge.
Read that at your own risk.
7171364
Well, likely rather "you didn't remind Celestia about that little detail before the courtship started, meaning you might just end up in a herd marriage instead."
Still, I thought that sort of omission was Celestia's shtick. :)
7171419
Cadance actually has motivation and a reason. She was fully aware of everything. She's not dumb. She just trolled her aunts. Both of them. For very good reasons.
What a "brilliant" idea: antagonize Celestia like a total asshole and dredge up sensitive and best forgotten history regarding Nightmare Moon while Luna is standing right in front of you. If Gosling hadn't stepped in, that guy would have been an ash stain on the floor.
7171442
Some people just have to poke the dragon with a stick to see what it does.
Welp, shitstorm inbound!
7171466
It's a story. I mean, from the perspective of a reporter. Your editor sends you a message saying, "Hey, here's a great angle. Do your job or I'll find somepony else that will."
So... you do your job and you slowly slip into sociopathy as you tell yourself that you have to do this to get by and pay the rent.
Also, I'm picturing Sleet, being absolutely aghast, yelling at Gosling: "You spenched on the Princess? I mean, just like that? Just ralphed on her? Oy gevalt, what I am I going to do with you?"
7171466 Well, as kudzuhaiku points out, one hasn't many options, belike.
On the flip, it does make for one of those "here's your sign" moments. On the gripping hand, one can't imagine Luna would have too many occasions to tell a reporter "Shut your cake hole, or I will drown you in mustard and feed you to a ravenous bugbear", even if she'd never say that in public...
7171529 "A Mother could die..." XD
7171466 That's not poking the Dragon with a Stick. That's poking the Dragon with a live cattle prod. :D
Oh wow, I didn't even think of this problem!
Poor Luna, she is going to be really upset that she doesn't know what happen to her husband. But as well for Celestia keep it away from her and Equestria.
Wait... If they were able to get the old law off the table. Won't that make Celestia & Gosling to be King & Queen? (All hail the Ducks!
)
Because I assume that reason why the old law is there because it keeps one of the sisters to become Queen.
7171442 Some ponies forget that "I'm with the Press!" doesn't actually protect you from being set on fire.
Honestly, Gosling, I'm not really seeing a downside here. Well, besides exhaustion...
Yet another victim for the alicorn of destruction!
Luna, this is a questionable idea at best.
Oh my god you idiot reporter.
210 proof karma.
Oh. Oh, dear. Dead pony walking!
(I'm just not sure which one it is yet.)
http://www.fimfiction.net/group/205967/you-might-like-this/thread/251033/you-might-like-this-the-sun-also-surprises
with his
Dude. Ew.
Poor Luna
Aw, what a waste of perfectly good dumplings.
7171289
And if there was a collapse of ponies no pony would want broken wings