What Happens on Saturday

Cinnamon spent the rest of the day in his sleeping quarters lying on his bed. He was trying his best not to panic and overthink his situation. He had a date with the solar princess of Equestria in less than 48 hours and he wasn’t entirely certain on what to do.

His talk with vanilla was great at the time; but now that it was actually happening, everything they talked about felt subpar.

Time flew by without him realizing until Onyx, Brisk and Thunder walked in from their guard shift.

Onyx noticed the deep thought Cinnamon was in once he walked closer to the bunk.

He gave Cinnamon a small smile. “First one’s always the hardest.”

Cinnamon blinked as he was roused from his thoughts. He looked at Onyx, “What?”

“Feels bad, doesn’t it? I know that feeling. It gets easier to accept after the first few rejections; but hey! You can always ask again in half a year.

“Right,” Cinnamon responded, his train of thought still not entirely focused on the conversation.

Onyx’s smile faded and tilted his head, “Is something wrong? You seem distracted…”

“Hm? Oh, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

Cinnamon remembered Princess Celestia’s request to keep her answer a secret. He wanted to ask for some help since Onyx was more experienced with mares in the dating department. Even though asking him for advice in a dating situation wouldn’t technically be telling Onyx he received a yes from the princess, it would be pretty easy to put the pieces together and correctly guess the situation.

“Yes, just… worn out from the past week’s events. I’ll be fine after I get some rest.”

Onyx nodded, “If you say so; the rest of us are going to go to the bar. If you need us, you know where to find us.”

Cinnamon nodded as he watched the three ponies walk out of the room and shut the door behind them.

He returned his gaze to the bottom of the top bunk thinking about what would happen tomorrow night. Where they should go, what he should ask her, what she would ask about him. None of the questions he asked himself had a single simple answer.

He continued to think before the comfortable bed below him lulled him to a comfortable slumber.

He woke up the next day and was surprised that he had slept until noon. Sure, he hadn’t set an alarm last night but he didn’t expect to sleep for so long.

Maybe it was the new beds. He’d have to be careful not to oversleep when he needed to be up early.

He sat up in the bed, stretched his arms out and stood up from his bed. He walked over to the bathroom to begin his morning routine of cleaning himself for the day.

Once he was finished, he headed to the commanders office to receive his orders for the coming week. On his way, he took a small detour to the main assembly hall and grabbed a newspaper. While he didn’t doubt that Princess Celestia was telling him the truth, he wanted to see it for himself.

Thankfully, the large picture that took most of the front page wasn’t of himself. Instead, it was focused on a pegasus that stood second in line.

He unfolded the paper to read the article.

The halls of Canterlot Castle fill once more with hundreds of creatures seeking affection from the Sun Goddess herself. While the normal line of suitors is as long as it always is, the line for returning suitors is unusually long this week.

Over the past few months, the body count of returning suitors has stayed consistently around 4 creatures long. This week, there are 10 in total with 2 refusing to return. Is this a sign of the Princess lowering her standards? Perhaps the unobtainable is beginning to be within reach for some lucky creature.

That day would not be today. Mythic Diamond, Platinum Sky (pictured above), Velvet Strike, Steel Hoof, Comet Star, Snips, Stormbeak, Ground Cinnamon, Night Echo (absent), and Aqua Lily (absent) were all on the list to return and receive her answer. We were only able to reach 6 creatures for questions as 1 worked as a guard in the castle and couldn’t be reached, 1 was a changeling and either didn’t leave the castle or left under disguise and 2 did not show up.

However, we were able to catch up with Platinum Sky before he departed for Las Pegasus. If you subscribe to the Daily Air, you would already know of Platinum Streak’s announcement of obtaining the heart of the solar monarch 2 weeks ago. Eyewitness reports claim to have seen Platinum Sky’s maids packing all his material belongings in his cloud mansion on Friday.

When approached after leaving the castle Saturday morning, he refused answering any questions given to him. He walked at a brisk pace through the castle grounds before entering his carriage and slamming the door shut.

The rest of the suitors reached had similar reactions, though, with less attitude that Platinum Sky.

Another week of disappointed creatures that couldn’t touch the sun.

Cinnamon folded the paper and placed it back to where he found it. He was… surprised. He’d never read an article that involved him and didn’t focus on him. Not that he was going to complain.

He returned to the hallway and continued walking toward the commander’s office.

It wasn’t too long before he could see the large board positioned to the right of the commander’s office door. This was the only day of the week the board had anything on it and it was stuffed. Dozens of papers were pinned onto it, each containing 20 names of both day and night guards along with their designated position for the week.

Unfortunately, the commander had a twisted sense of humor as she refused to order creature names in any fashion and randomly placed the papers on the board. So every time somecreature came to look at their placement, they would have to spend up to 15 minutes just finding their name.

However, Cinnamon personally had little trouble with it due to his above average name length. He would look at the five longest names on a single paper; if he couldn’t find his name, he’d move on to the next. In all but 3 occasions, it worked and easily shaved a dozen minutes off his search.

When he found his name, he had to triple check to make sure he wasn’t reading some other creatures assignment. Only certain after tracing his finger over the paper to see the assignment was indeed his.

He stood in the hallway, reading and re-reading the small word he was assigned to this week.

R&R

He didn’t understand; R&R was a reserved assignment for the higher ranks that didn’t have a day off of their work week.

He stepped over to the commander’s door with the intention of having this straightened out. It had to be a mistake.

He knocked on the door.

“Enter”

He opened the door, walked in and closed it behind him. He walked up to the commander’s desk and stood at attention until she acknowledged his presence.

Commander Silver Spirit watched him walk into her office.

“Can I help you Private?”

“Permission to speak freely?”

She nodded and reclined in her chain, “Granted.”

Cinnamon thought for a moment so he could word this without coming off as insulting, “Ma’am, I believe there was a mistake in my assignment.”

“How so?” She asked, her voice containing a small combination of amusement and annoyance.

He cleared his throat, “I was assigned R&R; I believe there was a mistype.”

She shook her head, “No mistake; orders from above my station.”

“But why? I’m having a hard time understanding why I’m receiving a privilege reserved for those of a higher rank. Are you certain that…” He paused, realizing he was speaking his mind without thinking.

He straightened his posture, “Forgive me commander, I do not mean to question my superiors.”

Silver Spirit leaned forward, grabbed a quill and scribbled something on a piece of paper. “You’re forgiven private; however, do it again and you’ll be assigned to clean out the dungeon’s shit holes.”

She placed her quill back in the inkwell and looked up to Cinnamon, “As for why, I couldn’t say. I was given no explanation nor did I ask for one. If it was important, I would be informed. A mindset you may want to work on if you ever want to become more than a private.”

Cinnamon gave her a sharp nod, “Yes Ma’am, understood.”

“Anything else?”

“No Ma’am”

“Then you’re dismissed private.”

He gave her a small nod, turned around, and walked out of her office. He gave the assignment board a quick glance before turning away and heading toward the mess hall to grab some lunch.

The rest of the day passed quickly before Cinnamon was walking toward Princess Celestia’s private chamber doors. He paused mid-step for a moment, noticing that there were no guards stationed in front of her door.

He quickened his pace, his former hesitation about his situation being replaced with his training.

He walked up to the large doors and knocked on it.

“Come in,” he heard Princess Celestia say.

He breathed out a sigh of relief that the missing guards weren’t due to somecreature subduing them. Had there been no response to his knocking, he would have had to alert the guard. Even if Princess Celestia wasn’t in her room, there were still supposed to be guards stationed here.

He opened the bedroom door, walked into her room and closed it behind him.

He looked around the room in awe. He obviously never went into her personal chambers before and the sight was amazing.

It was a large white room with smooth marble walls and floor. A large bed was in the center of the right wall with a night table on one side of it while a writing desk was on the other. At the other end of the room was a windowed door that led to a large balcony overlooking Canterlot. To his left was an open door where the sound of running water was coming from; presumably the bathroom. To top it all off was how spotless it was. The walls shined and he could see his reflection in the floor.

Princess Celestia’s head poked out of the bathroom. “Make yourself comfortable, I will only be a moment.”

He looked around the room once more, noticing there was only two placed he could sit down at; the desk cushion, or the bed. He chose the latter.

He walked over to the large bed and sat down on the edge of the mattress. To his surprise, it wasn’t stiff like a spring mattress and it didn’t cause him to sink into it like a cloud mattress. It was an odd combination of soft and firm that he hadn’t experienced in a bed before. Although, he shouldn’t be surprised; the princess likely received it from some other country, like Saddle Arabia.

The bed itself was covered with smooth yellow sheets and half a dozen pillows that looked like they’ve never been used. A fluffy rug lied at the floor of the bed and extended out a dozen hooves, making up 1/4th of the floor’s area. He had to lean down to feel how soft the rug was since he couldn’t feel a thing through his callused feet.

“Enjoying yourself?”

He looked over to the bathroom door, currently occupied by the princess.

“Uh… yes?” He gave her an awkward smile, knowing how odd he must look rubbing a carpet. “It’s a nice rug, very soft.”

She smiled and began to walk toward him, “Thank you, I made it myself.”

He stood up to be near eye level with her, “Really? Think I could order one?”

She chuckled, “Afraid not, the materials are no longer around.”

“Well that’s a shame.”

She nodded, “Shall we be off?”

“We shall. I was thinking we could go to the marble palace for dinner. I hear they have booths that are a little tucked away for a small fee.”

She hummed and smiled, “I appreciate the thought, however, we have reservations at The Horn’s Tip.”

Cinnamon’s eyes grew in surprise; The Horn’s Tip was among the top three exclusive restaurants in Canterlot. He looked down at himself, becoming aware of how underdressed he was. He had a clean loincloth that wouldn’t expose himself without a moderate gust of wind but he would still stick out like a timberwolf among ponies.

“I, uh… don’t think I’m dressed for that place.”

She waives a dismissive hoof, “Not to worry, we will be teleporting to our booth,”

“Yeah, but wouldn’t I be a bit of an eyesore? I don’t want to embarrass you at such an esteemed establishment.”

“You will not. We have a private booth; the only creature that will see us is the one to take our order. Considering the occasion, the manager will be taking our orders.”

Cinnamon bit his lower lip, “Managers will talk too.”

Princess Celestia stepped closer to him and nuzzled him under his ear before pulling back, “You must relax Ground Cinnamon. Trust that I know you will be in good shape.”

He looked into her magenta eyes and felt reassured.

“All right, you’re right; sorry, I’m… I’m just nervous and knowing where we were going… didn’t help.”

“You are forgiven,” she turned herself so she was standing side by side with Cinnamon. Her horn glowed with her magic, “Ready to teleport?”

He let out a breath, relaxed his muscles, and nodded.

A light enveloped both of them for less than a second before disappearing. Instead of Princess Celestia’s chambers, they stood in a small room with a cushioned booth in front of them. Princess Celestia immediately walked over to the booth and sat on the left side while Cinnamon took a few seconds to reorient himself.

Teleportation’s effects varied from creature to creature. Some are completely unfazed by it like the princess, while others would empty their guts after the event. Cinnamon rested on the lighter side in terms of after-effects. His eyes would hurt for a few moments after travel as well as a feeling of dizziness in his head.

It used to be slightly worse back in his training days. It used to force him to the ground as if somecreature pushed him down. Only over time and practice did he realize that effect was due to him bracing himself before the magic activated. He never understood why it happened the way it did, but he was glad to not be stumbling on the floor in the princess’ presence.

Once the room stopped moving, he walked to the booth and sat down in the chair to the right, across from Princess Celestia.

She already had her head in a menu; the same menu that rested on the table in front of Cinnamon.

He picked up the menu and opened it. It consisted of long lists of exotic names of food from distant places. Meat dishes from Griffenstone, fruit dishes and disserts from Saddle Arabia, seafood from Seaquestria, Crystaline food from the Crystal Empire, even gems from the dragon lands.

Then his eyes drifted over to the price and sweet Celestia that’s a month’s pay.

Everything was so expensive to the point that he wondered how this place remained in business.

He looked at all the prices and found a few that were closer to a “once a week” purchase instead of a “once a year” one. It was a simple steak from Appleloosa with some spices on it from Saddle Arabia. He’d also have water with it since they only served wine. And while he could drink and enjoy wine, it was, again, way too expensive.

So with his mind made up, he set the menu down to see that Princess Celestia was patiently watching him with a smile, “ready to order?”

Cinnamon nodded, “I am.”

“Excellent,” She reached over to the wall and pulled a rope that, up until this point, Cinnamon had thought was decorative. He heard light ringing of a bell coming from the direction of the room’s door.

A few moments pass before the door opened and a pink Saddle Arabian walked in wearing a colorful rug on her back and a lacy halter on her head and face. She had a Cyan mane with two feathers in it and a tail matching in color.

“Princess Celestia! Welcome! It’s so nice to see you again!” She walked over to where she sat and leaned her head close to Princess Celestia’s. They kissed each other’s right cheek, pulled back, kissed each other’s left cheek, pulled back again, and kissed each other’s right cheek once more.

She pulled away and looked back at her, “How have you been?”

Princess Celestia smiled at her, “I have been fantastic, how about you?”

She returned her smile, “Busy as always.” She looked over to Cinnamon, “Ah and this must be the important creature you spoke of.”

Princess Celestia nodded and gestured to him, “This is Ground Cinnamon; Ground Cinnamon, this is Nabila, an old associate of mine.”

Nabila bowed to Cinnamon, “A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

She stood straight up and pulled a piece of paper out from under her rug and placed it on the table. She then reached up and grabbed a feather from her mane and tapped it on the paper, creating an ink spot on the third tap.

“Now, how may I take your orders?” she asked, looking at Cinnamon.

“Oh, I will have the…” He opened the menu again to look at the name of the steak, “… the zesty apploosan special,” he closed the menu and looked at Nabila, “and a water.”

Nabila peered at Cinnamon, “I must inform that dish is a carnivorous meal.”

Cinnamon nodded, “I’m aware… I’m able to eat it.”

She shrugged and wrote it down on the paper.

Princess Celestia, noticing the slight pause in Cinnamon’s answer, looked to Nabila, “Could you give us a few more minutes?”

She nodded, “Of course Princess.”

She took her paper and quill, walked backwards through half the room before turning around and walking out the door, closing it behind her.

Once the door was shut, Princess Celestia turned to Cinnamon, “is something wrong? There are non-carnivorous items on the menu.”

“No, I can eat it.”

“You do not sound enthusiastic about it; is there nothing appealing on the menu?”

He shook his head, “No, a lot of these sound great but they’re a bit… expensive.”

She smiled, “Is that all? That would not be an issue even if I did not own the premises.”

“Wait, you own The Horn’s Tip?”

She nodded, “I funded the construction of the building as well as the ingredients supplied here. It was a gift to Nabila after she retired and became an equestrian citizen. So if you are worried about expenses, do not be. Most of what we spend here will return to me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely, Do not feel the need to limit yourself because of bits.”

With that, he re-opened the menu to take one more look over but it didn’t take long to make his choice since there were only two dishes that really popped out at him; The Catch of the Year fish dish and the Fruit Cornucopia. He knew he would enjoy the fish but the Cornucopia had fruit he never heard of.

He placed the menu down, “Alright, I’m ready… again.”

Princess Celestia nodded and pulled the rope once more. This time, Nabila came into the room before the small bell finished ringing and walked up to their table.

She looked at Cinnamon with her quill and paper out, “So are we all set now?”

He nodded, “I’ll have the Fruit Cornucopia and water.”

Nabila nodded as she wrote it down on the paper before looking to Princess Celestia, “And for you?”

“I will have the Seaquestria salad and the Gemberry Wine.”

Namilla nodded, “Excellent, excellent.” She turned the quill upside down and flicked it onto the paper before placing it back in her mane.

“I will have your orders in a few minutes.” She said before she walked out of the room, leaving Princess Celestia and Cinnamon alone.

“Tell me a little about yourself Cinnamon.”

“There’s not much to tell. I grew up in Manehattan and spent most of my young life in a bakery…”

Princess Celestia perked her ears at that.

“… then I joined the guard. I was your guard for some time and now we’re here.”

“You mentioned being in a bakery; what was that like?”

“Well… tempting? Being surrounded by sweets for so long made it hard not to stuff my face. I did ok though, I certainly could’ve walked out of that worse than I did.”

She hummed, “I would not have the same restraint against such temptations.”

Cinnamon raised a brow, “So, rumors of Princess Celestia’s sweet tooth are true.”

She smiled, “More like a mouth full of sweet teeth. I am surprised you did not know.”

“I’ve overheard kitchen staff talk about making all the cakes they make for you. I didn’t entirely believe them though… 4 full cakes a week? Really?”

She gave him a sheepish look but nodded.

“How can you eat that much? Where-“ He caught himself before asking a stupid question.

She raised a brow, “Where what?”

He gave a dismissive wave, “Nothing, it’s not important.”

“I would still like to know.”

“It’s… not really appropriate for me to ask a princess.”

She frowned a little, “Cinnamon, you are my suitor on a date with me, not a guard guarding his princess. When we are alone with each other, it would bring be great joy if you would refer to me by my name… not my title.”

Cinnamon nodded, “Alright… Celestia?”

Her frown disappeared as she nodded, “We should also be comfortable when talking to each other. Speak your mind, respect boundaries I set but do not assume one if I do not give one. Likewise, if there is anything I say that you do not like, I hope you will tell me to stop.”

He nodded, “I was… I was going to ask where all the cake went.”

“Were you really?”

He nodded.

She smiles, “I take no issue in such a question; I find it quite flattering. To answer, Alicorns burn calories when performing magic similarly to Unicorns. I perform magic every morning and night and requires me to use more magic than any single unicorn is capable of using. I have found cakes to be an excellent way to balance my magic usage.”

He nodded again, thankful for the small lesson. In truth, he didn’t pay attention in school to magic since he didn’t have any and the guard only taught him about combat spells and the best ways to deal with them. He never knew unicorns needed to watch how much magic they used, much less Alicorns.

“I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize for that, I knew this would be a learning experience, for any creature that would be sitting in that seat.”

“No, not that… well, maybe that too but I meant…” he gestured to the room, “… with all of this. I’m not as experienced about this stuff as I would like to be.”

She gave the room a brief glance before looking back to Cinnamon, “Could you be more specific?”

He looked down to the table, “Dating… What little experience I have has been in a more… friendly setting. Before today, the classiest place I’ve been on a date in was a pizza parlor.”

“Interesting” She mumbled to herself, looking off in thought.

It was at that moment that a knock came from the door.

Celestia’s horn glowed as her magic pulled the rope without her moving a muscle.

Once the bell rang outside the door, Nabila walked in with a tray balanced on her back holding their food.

Celestia’s plate was set in front of her but she didn’t show any sign of noticing; then Cinnamon’s plate was placed on the table.

Nabila walked out to the hallway to grab their drinks and glasses. A dark green bottle with a wine glass was placed on Celestia’s side while a glass cup and a pitcher of ice water was placed on Cinnamon’s. She looked over to Celestia before looking at Cinnamon.

“Just pull that rope if you find yourself needing anything more,” She bowed, “and thank you for coming to The Horn’s Tip.” She returned to an upright position before walking out of the room and closing the door behind her.

Celestia was still in thought as Cinnamon inspected his dish.

A cantaloupe was skinned, hollowed out and placed on its side with a vast assortment of fruit pouring out of it. He recognized half of them; strawberries, grapes, bananas, cherries, orange slices and apple slices. Then there were other fruits of odd color and shapes, the strangest of which looked like a cherry but had segments like a skinned orange.

He picked up the water pitcher and poured himself a glass before hearing munching from across the table. He looked up to see Celestia was out of her thoughts and munching on some seaweed.

“So you said Nabila was an old acquaintance, what was she before this?” he asked before beginning to chew on an apple slice.

She swallowed her food, “In a moment… have you never been on a date with a mare? A pizza parlor sounds more like a filly date.”

“Ehh… well… no.”

“And was that a choice?”

“Well… it didn’t start as one.”

“Un-interested mares?”

He nodded and looked away from her, “Is it that obvious.”

She shook her head, “Not typically unless you tell somecreature about it. However, I have been the sympathetic pony to many mares that have similar experiences. Though, their experiences had no interests to begin with.”

He signed, “Well, the few dates I had were with fillies that didn’t want to be blunt about using me to end their heat. I did get a few free meals but there were never any plans to have a real relationship. Eventually, ponies stopped asking me for that too.”

“That makes sense. As fillies grow into mares; relationships, work and image usually have them bearing their heat on their own.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“Well, it is not supposed to. If you wish to feel better about your situation, you could have become a pleasure pony instead of a respectable guard. Plenty of mares would pay for a cheaper choice of heat relief than an expensive potion or daily routines of herbal supplements. If you still need comfort, your circumstance is beneficial for this situation.”

“What situation?”

She gestured to him with a foreleg, then to herself, “This courtship.”

“What?” He gave her a questionable look, “how?”

“Imagine everycreature as a block of marble. With each experience, pieces are chipped away until something is made. That something determines how somecreature acts with a potential mate. Things they think are conversation worthy, appropriate to speak of in a dinner setting and sometimes manners. To teach somecreature how to act when they already have their own solutions is much harder than to teach one that does not have a frame of reference. Your past experiences left you with some chips and cracks but it’s nothing we would not be able to fix.”

“So I need to be fixed?”

“So to speak; if you require an example, your past would require me to help you build your confidence interacting with me, should the courtship continue.”

When Cinnamon ate more of his meal, Celestia decided to do the same.

They finished most of their plates before Celestia decided to speak, “as for Nabila, she was once an ambassador for Saddle Arabia. She was so curious about Equestrian culture and we commonly spoke on the topic. She took great interest in the polar opposite roles of our stallions and mares compared to Saddle Arabian customs. Over time, we talked about currencies, structure, routines, and duties before we talked of personal matters. That is when I learned she dreamed of owning and running a business but she could never speak of it to other Saddle Arabians.”

She took a sip of her wine before continuing, “We became friends by simply talking to each other and I found her curiosity delightful. She did not need to do any of that to fulfill her job and was the first ambassador that I appreciated as more than a line to their respective country. 4 years passed far too quickly before she was called back to her country so another may fill her shoes.”

She took another bite of her salad and chuckled, “Imagine my surprise when she appeared before my court with her citizenship papers accepted, asking which city would be the best place to start a new life.”

She smiled to herself, “I could not keep myself from helping her. She brought nothing from her home and only later did I learn she had run away. When we were alone, I asked her what kind of business she wanted to own. She dreamed of owning a restaurant that served food from every country... well, those that wouldn’t cost a fortune to obtain. With my bits and her designs, The Horn’s Tip was made. She has managed this place on her own for 5 years. Those she hires and pays were all up to her. She orders how much she wants of what food and all I do is pay for it as a form of investment. An investment she has always been able to return to me.”

Her smile faded, “even though I would not change a thing, the one regret from all that happened was Saddle Arabia’s decision to restrict the job of Ambassador to a stallion only role.”

Cinnamon finished his fruit dish and was using a napkin to clean his lips of fruit juices. He was at a loss for words. When he first asked, he thought he would get a story about Nabila being something like an accountant for the royal treasury to earn a whole building. Well, he supposed she did earn it, just not in the way he assumed.

Apparently Celestia caught onto that, “Surprised?”

He nodded, “Yeah; All that from just talking to you?”

She smiled, “I may hold a title of princess but I am still just a mare. You do not need to go above and beyond to impress me.” She looked into Cinnamon’s eyes, her eyelids slightly lowering to soften her features, “Sometimes an effort is enough.”

Cinnamon couldn’t stop himself from blushing, feeling like she was talking about him when she said that.

Celestia stood and stepped off her seat, “Well, the moon is nearing its peak and I will need to retire soon.” Her horn lit up to pull the rope, calling Nabila to the room.

“So is that why you weren’t worried about anycreature talking about our… date? Because of Nabila being a friend of yours?”

She nodded, “Precisely, I trust her to keep our secret.”

Cinnamon shuffled off his seat and stood up, “If you don’t mind me asking, why is this secret?”

“Because you have not finished being my suitor. If you become my consort, then we can be more open about a relationship existing between us.”

Nabila opened the door and momentarily paused when she saw Celestia and Cinnamon standing in the room, “leaving?”

Celestia nodded, “Yes, I am afraid the time has come for us to depart. The food was fantastic as always.”

She walked up to Nabila and they nuzzled each other’s noses.

When they pulled back, Nabila looked at Cinnamon, “You’re welcome back anytime.”

He smiled but shook his head, “Sorry, it’s a bit too pricy for me.”

She waived a dismissive hoof to him, “Nonsense, it will be on the house. Just ask for me first.”

He looked at her with surprise, “Uh, alright, I’ll keep that in mind, thank you.”

Celestia walked to stand next to Cinnamon but looking at Nabila, “and you remember what I asked?”

She nodded and mimicked sealing her mouth together, “Not a word will leave my lips of this.”

Celestia smiled before looking to Cinnamon with a glowing horn, “Ready to teleport?”

He relaxed himself before nodding.

A flash of light was created as the scenery changed to Celestia’s private chambers, lightly illuminated by the moons light. He took a few moments recovering as Celestia waited patiently for him.

When he finally did, she opened her large room doors to allow him to leave the room. The hallway was still going to be empty for another half hour before the door guards arrived. “I really enjoyed our night; I hope you enjoyed it as well.”

He nodded as he walked out the open door to the empty hallway, “I did too Princess; I mean, Celestia. It was nice.”

Celestia hummed, “If you think of someplace private for us to be alone, feel free to offer it Wednesday night, same time.”

He nodded as he walked into the hallway.

“Oh, and Cinnamon?”

He turned around to look at her.

She leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek.

She pulled back with a smile, “Thank you.”

She then closed the door, leaving Cinnamon alone in the hallway touching the cheek he was kissed on.

“Thank you,” he whispered before turning to walk to his quarters.