13. Announcement Day*

The next two days passed with Cinnamon doing his best not to be caught alone outside Celestia’s room. He was already noticing the gossip going on around him. He could never hear what any of them said but noticed their looks from the corner of his vision; their whispers while casting him a sideways glance.

It was quite easy to dodge the off duty guards by taking certain paths through the castle to the royal dining room. He didn't have to worry as much about the guards on duty since speaking to him would be distraction from the job.

So he stayed in Celestia’s room for the majority of the two day leading up to the big announcement day… and he was bored. He laid in bed, did exercises and meditating on the balcony. He didn’t want to chance running into somecreature curious enough to confront him and he didn’t trust himself not to give something away, even by accident.

So he waited, and waited and waited. The minutes felt like hours and hours, days. The only relief from the monotony was when Celestia had finished court and returned to her room. Only with her could he fully trust himself to leave and walk through the halls he usually avoided going to the royal dining room. While he was walking with her, no creature would say a thing and would go out of their way to avoid eye contact.

Hearing about the few interesting cases she had in court was also enjoyable.

Cinnamon woke up Saturday morning to find himself alone in bed for the first time since he started sleeping in Celestia’s room. The sun was already up with the occasional sound of birds chirping outside the window. After a quick look around the room, he noticed a note on Celestias pillow. He picked it up and read it.

I needed to leave early to make sure everything is ready for the announcement and did not want to wake you. I hope to see you for breakfast; if not, I will see you at lunch.

He placed the note on the nightstand and turned over in bed to try and go back to sleep. Unfortunatly, Celestias smell was still fresh on the mattress and, while comforting, prevented him from returning back to slumber. So he decided to get out of bed and walk to the bathroom for a shower.

He pulled back the curtain to get in and noticed the tub was still wet from Celestias morning shower.

He shuffled into the shower and reached up to the raincloud above him. Thankfully, Celestia had a knocker with a magic rune placed on its face so he could make it rain without the need of a magically infused touch. He tapped the knocker against the cloud to begin the downpour of rain and began to clean himself.

After drying off and putting on a new loincloth, he walked out of Celestia’s room and headed toward the royal dining room.

Along the way, he was given the same curious glances by the guards and could hear the giggling and gossip of the maids. Two were brave enough to approach him to try and confirm the gossip of what was happening behind Celestia’s private chamber doors.

He told them the same thing he told everycreature; that they were attempting to make the guard rotation more efficient. It wasn’t a perfect lie, Tartarus, it wasn’t even a good one but he couldn’t think of a better reason why the princess would want to work on a “project” with him specifically.

He arrived at the royal dining room but instead of finding Celestia eating breakfast, it was her sister, Princess Luna eating a stack of pancakes.

“Good morrow Cinnamon!” Princess Luna said with an upbeat tone in her voice.

“Good morning Princess Luna, you appear unusually awake today.”

She nodded and stabbed her pancakes with a fork, “We have adjusted our sleeping habits so we may attend the announcement this evening.”

A pony walked after Cinnamon to take his breakfast order and pouring a glass of orange juice for him.

He took a sip of his drink, “I hope doing that doesn’t affect your night duties.”

She cut a piece of pancake and lifted it into the air with her fork, “Nay, we can protect dreams while we slumber. The rest of what we did was more to create things to do through the rest of the night than of necessity.”

He nodded as he took a bite of his pancakes and swallowed. “Oh, Princess, do you know where Celestia might be?”

“Mm-hmm,” She swallowed the food in her mouth, “She is preparing the throne room for the announcement. Why, dost thou require something?”

He shook his head, “No. Today was just the first morning she didn’t wake me up with her.”

“Oh?” Princess Luna raised a brow and smiled, “Did thou tire thyself out last night with our sister?

Cinnamon’s cheeks turned red, “No…” He smiled, “is that how you adjusted your sleep schedule?”

She smirked, “How perceptive. Why? Did thou wish to join us?”

His smile immediately disappeared, “alright, too far.”

Princess Luna giggled, “Aw, but thou were doing so well. Quite the improvement from thy reaction in the garden maze. Has our sister been assisting you with thy confidence.”

“No, not directly anyway... maybe sleeping in the same bed with her is helping.”

She nodded, “Quite possible. Perhaps thou are regarding our sister more as a mare than princess.”

She stood up from the table, “In any case, we are going to assist our sister with the preparations. Will thou be joining us?”

He shook his head, “I shouldn’t. One of the guards there might be able to figure out what’s going on if I go.”

She nodded in understanding, “Then we shall see thee at lunch.”

She then walked out of the room, leaving Cinnamon alone with his food. He chewed on another piece of pancake while thinking to himself. He wouldn’t have known it if Princess Luna didn’t point it out but he was apparently getting a bit more comfortable around the royals. He basically just insinuated the princess of the night of clopping without giving it thought… That could be dangerous.

Sure, she took it in stride but he probably shouldn’t push it. Next time might not go as well.

He finished his breakfast and returned to Celestia’s chambers where he stayed until lunch. Most of his time was spent mentally preparing for this evening. He found the best place to do that on the balcony with the sun overhead and a breeze blowing past.

It felt nice and peaceful. He didn’t even hear the front door open until he heard Celestia’s voice calling for him.

“Cinnamon? Are you here?”

He looked over his shoulder, “I’m on the balcony.”

She walked over to stand in the doorway to the balcony, “Did you need something from me? Luna said you wanted to know where I was at breakfast."

“Not for anything specific; I was surprised that you managed to get out of bed without waking me more than anything.”

She walked closer and sat next to him; noticing his sitting position, “Something else on your mind?”

He shook his head, “Just getting ready for this announcement.”

She walked up to him and nuzzled his neck, “You will do fine.”

“How do you know?”

“You were my personal guard Cinnamon. One does not obtain that position if they are not adaptable.”

When he didn’t respond, she looked back to the front door.

“Let us leave for lunch,” Celestia said, turning toward the door. “Perhaps a warm meal will help you relax.”

Before he could agree, his stomach growled. He smiled, “I think I could go for some food.”

They walked down to the royal dining hall together. He was trying his best not to react to the looks from the maids and guards. Celestia was effortlessly keeping herself composed as if she never saw them. He couldn't believe that she didn't though; they were being far too obvious about it for her not to notice.

They entered the royal dining room to see Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, Prince Shining, and Princess Twilight already sitting at the dining table conversing amongst themselves. Princess Luna sat alone on one side while the other three were sitting opposite of her.

Celestia and Cinnamon walked over and sat on the side of Princess Luna. Celestia sat 2 seats from her sister; motioning for Cinnamon to sit between them.

Once he got comfortable, the rest of the conversations at the table ended as most of them turned their attention to him. All except for Princess Twilight who was currently more interested in reading the book next to her plate.

“So Cinnamon, are you excited?” Princess Cadance asked.

“A little… nervous.”

Celestia extended a wing to rub his back with comforting strokes, “He has not experienced the press in a positive manner in the past.”

Prince Shining nodded his head, “Boy, I remember that feeling.” He looked to Cinnamon, “Couldn’t keep my rear leg from tapping the floor the entire day before.”

Cinnamon gave the former captain of the guard a worried look, “You were scared of them?”

He shook his head, “Scared is overdoing it; I was anxious more than anything. Worried about what they would try to smear my name with.”

“But you’ve seen combat against the old changelings and griffins, commanded the entire Canterlot Guard and received more medals than anycreature else in the last 3 centuries.”

He shrugged, “The news will spread dirt on anycreature that doesn’t have a crown on their head or rich enough to buy their company and shut them down.” He glanced to Princess Cadance sitting next to him, “The story they loved to spread was about our possible relationship long before she requested to court me; insinuating a sexual relationship that would’ve nullified the courtship.”

Cinnamon looked confused, “Nullify it? How?”

He raised a brow, “It’s one of the rules to become a consort; a sexual relationship occurring before the suitor’s request renders it invalid.”

Princess Cadance glanced at her husband, “He read it in the paper so often that he began to repeat it in his sleep”

Cinnamon sagged a little, realizing how completely unprepared he was, “I didn’t even realize there were rules to this.”

“Worry not,” Princess Luna spoke, “None bother to familiarize themselves with such an outdated decree. Neither were any turned away due to lack of such knowledge thus far.” She took another sip of her vegetable soup, “If a suitor were to violate such rules,” She looked at Prince Shining, causing him to look away from her, “We would not enforce such actions on our own accord. All one must do is keep the events secret from the public as young Cadance and Armor did to escape just consequences.”

Cinnamon turned his gaze from Princess Luna to Prince Shining, “Soo… the reporters were right?”

He cleared his throat and looked Cinnamon in the eyes. He took a deep breath and said “No” quickly before turning his attention to the plate of food in front of him.

Princess Cadance rolled her eyes, “We bucked every chance we could.”

“Doesn’t mean they had any proof!” Prince Shining pointed out, “Didn’t stop them from talking about it for months.”

Cinnamon looked back to Princess Luna, “So what’s the point of having rules if you don’t do anything about it?”

“As we said before, ‘tis an outdated decree. We will not interfere so long as it keeps from public ears. The only decrees we shall enact preemptive justice upon is against a previous or known villain of Equestria and a royal belonging to another country.”

“Oh." He then looked at Prince Shining, “wait, you said she asked you,” He looked over to Princess Cadance, “I thought we were the ones that had to ask.”

Princess Cadance groaned, “we don’t all abide by my auntie’s rules.” She looked at Celestia, “I can’t stand the way they go about it; so deceptive and secretive,” She shivered a little, “no thank you.”

“Yes, well, not all of us can sense a creatures true feelings and intent just by looking at them,” Celestia quipped.

“I told you I’d be happy to do it for both of you,” She replied, looking between Celestia and Princess Luna.

“And I will repeat what I say every time you do; I will not ask you to abuse your powers dozens of times a week for our personal gain.” She looked over to Princess Luna, “Our methods have worked as intended and until they no longer do; we do not require an alternative technique.”

Princess Cadance grumbled something Cinnamon couldn’t hear. However, her sour demeanor didn't last long as she almost instantly perked up. “No time like the present; how about I look into your consort to be.” She waggled her eyebrows, “Maybe there’s some room in that heart for two?”

Princess Luna, who was about to sip another spoonful of soup, accidentally inhaled it and began to cough. When all eyes tuned to her, she shielded her face with her right wing and continued coughing off to the side.

“Are you ok Princess Luna?” Cinnamon asked, receiving rapid nodding from the lunar princess.

“Well…” Princess Cadance spoke up, “I’m not hearing a no… soo…”

Her horn lit up only for a carrot slice to fly across the table and collide with it, breaking her magic. It bounced off her horn and fell into her glass of water with a *plop.*

“You still have so much to experience my dear niece. Telling me everything about his feelings and his capacity to love lessens the experience of the relationship.” She glanced at Cinnamon, “I will be able to learn everything your magic would reveal… with time.” She looked back to her, “And I have plenty of that to spare.”

Princess Cadance huffed, “How much longer will you keep saying that to me?”

Celestia hummed and glanced at Prince Shining Armor, “for many years I am afraid. You have found a great stallion Cadance. You will not be able to see the shortcomings of using your gift in this way during his lifetime.”

When she didn’t reply, Celestia changed her gaze to Cinnamon, “And Cinnamon.”

“Hm?” He looked at her, no longer absorbed in the conversation the 2 princess’ had.

“You are about to become my consort; in a way, part of the family. You no longer need to address everypony here by title.” She smiled, “In or out of the public eye.”

He looked around the table at everypony, “Are you sure?”

She nodded.

“Alright, if you’re sure.”

“Cinnamon is not the only one that requires becoming comfortable sister.” Luna spoke up. “Thou hath become rusty over the millennia.”

“I do not know what you are talking about Luna.”

She rolled her eyes, “Thou speak to Cinnamon as if a member of thy council, not a consort.”

Celestia huffed, “like you could do better.”

“mayhaps not; however, ‘tis not us that has need to adapt for a consort.”

“yes, well…” She glanced at Cinnamon, “I will endeavor to better myself.”

She looked out the window to judge the time of day, “it is time to begin assembling everycreature in the throne room” She looked across the table, “I will see everypony after the announcement.”

Did he say he was nervous about this? Oh ho no. Tartarus no! He was terrified.

4 hours had passed before he found himself standing on the dais at the top of the thrones steps where the throne would normally sit. He wasn’t alone though; Celestia and Luna were flanking him on each side.

Before him was a throne room filled with creatures talking among themselves. Over a hundred creatures divided into a dozen groups of multiple species were in attendance. The crowd was relatively divided with banners that were placed in the room with a nation’s emblem on each. Under each banner were a dozen chairs for creatures to sit in; Tall chairs for the bipedal creatures and cushions for the quadrupeds.

For the most part, each nation was easy to distinguish from each other without looking at the banner since they consisted of one species each. The only 2 groups comprised of multiple species were the reporters from Equestria and Saddle Arabia.

Hippogriffs, Deer, Saddle Arabians, Griffons, Dragons, mostly colorful Changelings, Minotaurs and the 3 pony tribes from Equestria and the Crystal Empire.

The only nations absent that he could see were the Yacks, Zebras and Diamond Dogs whose spots remained empty under their respective banners.

What surprised Cinnamon the most were the amount of royals currently in attendance. King Thorax, Sub-Queen Ocellus and Dragon Lord Ember were conversing with each other. Queen Novo was keeping an eye on Princess Skystar as she looked at everything with an expression of wonder. King Vomuk had his arms crossed with a bored expression on his face and was the only attendant from the Minotaur kingdom. Lastly, Prince Ababwa stood among a small herd of Saddle Arabian mares that didn’t look to be reporters aside from one holding a camera and paying little attention to it.

Each group had at least 1 camera with them except for King Vomuk who had nothing on him and the dragons that brought stone tablets to carve writing onto with their claws. One of which was already busy carving a picture of the three of them standing on the dais.

Celestia leaned over to whisper to Cinnamon, “Deep breaths Cinnamon, this will not take long, I promise.”

He nodded, taking her advice to calm his nerves until Luna leaned her head in to join the two, “Thou will also be required to kiss our sister right after the announcement to make it official.”

“Luna!” Celestia harshly whispered.

“What?” She whispered back, “Thou would need to inform him soon anyway so as not to interrupt thy declaration.”

Celestia sighed, “I was waiting for the right moment! I did not wish to overwhelm him.”

Luna rolled her eyes and pulled her head away from them.

“So much for timing,” Celestia continued, “yes, once the announcement is finished, we will need to kiss for the reporters.”

His calming breaths began to fail him.

Seeing him start to lock up, Celestia tried her best to console him, “Do not fret, it does not have to be long and we can leave immediately afterward.”

That… didn’t sound too bad but he knew what reporters were like, “What about the follow-up questions?”

“What is there to question? They know who, what, when, where but not the why because it is none of their business. They will have all they require to make their papers.”

He nodded, his resolve strengthening slightly.

She pulled her head back up to view the courtroom and began to tap her shod hoof on the floor; creating a sound that caught the attention of everycreature in the room causing them to fall silent.

She smiled, “Thank you for making time in your busy week to attend this full-moon level announcement.”

That got a raised brow from Cinnamon but he remained quiet.

“We are here today to appoint the title of my Royal Consort.”

The flashing of lights began as creatures started to take pictures. Cinnamon stood there scanning the crowd. To his surprise, none of them had any looks of shock or anger. It almost looked as if this was a normal everyday thing for them, except for 2 of the Hippogriffs. Queen Novo was whispering something into Princess Skystar’s ear. He watched as the princess’ expression changed from questioning, to intrigue with a slight blush, then to excitement. She then whispered something back to the Queen, who shook her head and whispered something else back.

Cinnamon knew very little of the Hippogriff Empire aside from them being old allies of Equestria. Queen Novo was often compared to Celestia in wisdom and tact while Princess Skystar was known to be more of an innocent creature. The Queen must be telling her daughter what a consort was. It was hard to believe she didn’t already know about it, unless they didn’t have consorts in the Hippogriff Empire.

“And so, I am happy to introduce Ground Cinnamon.” Celestia paused, letting more cameras flash.

“With the power vested in me, under witness by the princess’ of Equestria and all her allies, I grant Ground Cinnamon the title of Royal Consort.” She looked at Cinnamon, who returned her gaze. She gave him a slight, nearly imperceptible nod before leaning closer to his face.

He took the hint that the time to kiss had arrived. He leaned in to meet her halfway and locked lips with her. Despite having kissed her a few times before, he still felt the excitement he had on their first kiss. He soon felt a tongue lightly prodding at his lips. Before he could give it any thought, he opened his mouth and pushed his tongue out to meet hers.

It only took a few seconds of prench kissing before the sounds of clapping and stomping reminded him where he was. He pulled back from her as she did the same. She had a smile on her face and the tip of her tongue remained sticking out.

“Get a room!” Cadance shouted over the stomping, receiving a few chuckles from the crowd. The deer were not amused and looked like they didn’t really want to be there and the minotaur king remained as emotionless as a statue.

Without looking away from Cinnamon or changing her expression, Celestia ignited her horn. A yelp could be heard as Cadance bucked her rear legs at something.

Celestia turned to look at the crowd, “Again, I thank you all for being able to make it here. We have plenty of empty rooms if any wish to begin the journey home tomorrow morning instead of tonight; speak with the guards near the entrance and they will escort your party to as many empty rooms as you need.”

At her dismissal, the 4 deer that had been so still bolted out the door while the others started filing out of the throne room. The assortment of creatures from Equestria and the Crystal Empire stayed where they were, throwing forelegs up trying to ask Celestia questions but she did her best to politely refuse questions.

While that was going on, Queen Novo and Princess Skystar walked to the side of the room between the dais and where Cadance, Shining and Twilight stood. Queen Novo stood still; waiting for Celestia to approach her while Princess Skystar ran further back toward Twilight. Twilight noticed her when she got close and met her in a tight embrace.

Luna, after watching her sister try and fail to politely shoo the remaining reporters out, said she could give them answers. When they directed their question to her, she would give them indirect answers while speaking with the royal canterlot voice.

When they asked about Cinnamon’s past, Luna started by talking about how a sperm finds an egg and fertilizes it. She continued on, pretending not to hear the reporter’s attempts of clarifying the question over her booming voice. She went into detail up to conception before “hearing” the reporter’s protests and taking another question.

At that point, all but 4 reporters had given up and left. Then they asked what kind of creature Cinnamon was. Of course she answered, still in the canterlot voice, every species she knew he wasn’t. He certainly wasn’t a Tinberwolf, nor a Hydra and she was fairly certain he wasn’t an Ursa Minor or Major. She had named 23 species before all but 1 reporter gave up. That stubborn reporter only left when Luna began naming non-equis speaking creatures such as birds and fish.

While Luna was dealing with the reporters, Celestia and Cinnamon walked to the side where Queen Novo was waiting for them. They wrapped a foreleg around the each other’s necks, bringing them into a hug. Celestia kissed her on the cheek while Queen Novo nuzzled her beak against Celestia’s.

“It’s so good to see you again Celestia, especially for a better reason than the last.”

Celestia nodded, “Likewise Novo.” She looked over to Princess Skystar, “Your daughter has grown into quite the young mare.”

Queen Novo looked over her shoulder, “She certainly has. Still as much a rambunctious troublemaker as before.” She looked to Cinnamon who now had Celestia’s wing resting around his shoulders, “So this is the creature that has put a sparkle in your eyes?”

Celestia smiled, “Novo, this is Cinnamon. Cinnamon, this is Queen Novo.”

Cinnamon outstretched a hand, “Nice to meet you.”

Queen Novo placed her talon in his grip, “A pleasure.”

They heard a gasp behind Queen Novo before Princess Skystar bounded out from behind her, “This is him!? Oh my gosh, are you going to get married? When will-“ She was cut off when Queen Novo wrapped a talon around her beak.

“Sky, sweetheart, what have I said about asking personal questions?” She asked, releasing the princess’ beak.

She rubbed her foreleg with a talon, “Not to.”

Celestia chuckled, “She is quite energetic. I expected her to be bored to sleep over this announcement.”

Queen Novo sighed, “I may have told her a little too much about why we needed to attend this. I didn’t expect her to become so excited about it.”

“Just how much did you divulge?”

“All of it,” She looked at the excited princess, “much more than I should’ve, that’s for sure.” She looked back to Celestia, “I can already see her going on about if for months.”

Celestia tisked, “It seems your beak has grown quite loose over the 2 millennia we have known each other Novo.” She looked down to Princess Skystar, “I apologize Skystar, but there is no guarantee that we would even become married.”

The princess folded her ears back, “Oh.”

Queen Novo shook her head, “Just when I think I understand what does and doesn’t excite you, I’m thrown for a loop.”

Celestia rubbed Princess Skystar’s mane before looking to the Hippogriff Queen. “You know Novo, if it should come to pass; I think you should join your poor daughter for making such a mess of her emotions.”

She let out a single, over exaggerated laugh. “It seems your subtly with your jokes has diminished over the years Celestia.”

Celestia smiled, walking to stand next to Novo. “So has your ability to hide your emotions Novo.” She pressed her cheek against Queen Novos’. “You may not be as vocal as your daughter but you are just as excited about the thought as her; are you not?”

Her cheeks turned a shade of red as she cleared her throat, “well, we’re heading to our room; we have a long flight home tomorrow.”

She ushered Skystar toward the entrance, hushing the complaints coming from the smaller hippogriff.

“What was that about?” Cinnamon asked.

Celestia returned to his side, “Oh, one of the duties a consort has down the road of courtship.”

“What duties?”

“Do not worry about it.”

“Shouldn’t I know about what I should be doing?”

“It is far down the road and may not come to pass as there are a few important milestones to reach before you would need to concern yourself about it.”

“Did it have something to do with getting married?” he asked, remembering the big question Skystar had asked.

She nodded, “It is a duty that comes a year or two after a marriage between a princess and a consort but the marriage itself is not as straightforward as it would appear.”

“You know…” He hesitated for a moment before pushing on, “You’re very cryptic with a lot of these answers... I don’t think I’m a big fan of that.”

She nuzzled into his cheek, “There is a lot that comes with being a consort but not all of them come into effect at the same time. I desire to ease you into this. If you were to face an army, would you want to fight one at a time? Or all at once?”

“I guess one at a time but I feel like that’s a bad example. I mean one’s words and the other’s physical combat.”

“If I told you everything you would gain and be expected to do as a Royal Consort; the information hitting you all at once would almost certainly overwhelming you.” She paused a moment before making an internal decision, “To prove my point, I will tell you something to expect after this evening. From this day forward, you are considered royalty.”

“WHAT!?”

She raised a brow, “What did you expect would happen when courting a princess?”

“Well, Shining Armor wasn’t considered a prince until he was married.”

She shrugged and nodded, “Well, yes. However, he was a special case. His rank as captain of the guard would have been difficult if they treated him as royalty.”

“I thought you couldn’t be a guard when you become a consort.”

“Yes, but again, he was a special case. We had to find a suitable replacement for him; Something that we could not rush through.”

“Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

She looked him in the eye, “Because it was not immediately crucial for you to know. Tell me the truth, would you have agreed to this with the fore-knowledge of others looking upon you as royalty so soon?”

“Yes.”

She raised a brow.

“I mean… eventually…”

“I mean this as no offence but you were quite hesitant just at the mention of the press being involved in this.”

His shoulders sagged.

He felt Celestia’s wings wrap around him from behind in a hug, “Cinnamon, I do not wish for you to think I am keeping secrets from you but I hope you understand that I am doing this for your benefit… for our benefit.”

He sighed, “Do you think… Is there something on that list that I might not be able to do?”

She hummed to herself in thought, “I can see a few being difficult to coax you through but none that you could not accomplish.”

“mmm...”

She leaned in to kiss his cheek, “I would not have agreed to this if I did not think you could overcome all the hurdles.”

They remained standing like this for nearly a minute before Luna, finally finished with the reporters, walked up next to them, “We hope we are not interrupting.”

Celestia shook her head, still holding Cinnamon in her wings. “You are not; perhaps a minor argument but nothing more." She leaned over to nuzzle Luna on the cheek, "Thank you for dealing with the press Luna; you were always better about getting them to leave.”

“Not to worry; we are happy to be of assistance.” She said, walking past them and heading to where Cadance and Shining were standing.

After a minute longer, Cinnamon stirred in his makeshift feathery cocoon. She opened her wings and folded them against her barrel.

They both traveled to where Luna had walked to. When they got closer; Cadance gave Celestia a sour look while rubbing her flank.

Celestia looked back innocently, “What? I think it was well deserved”

“You’re no fun.” Cadance said before sticking a tongue out at her.

“There is a time and place for everything dear niece; that was not one of them.” She looked around the small group, “Did Twilight leave already?”

Shining nodded, “She wanted to get to Ponyville before midnight. She did want to say goodbye before leaving but you and Cinnamon looked like you might be awhile. She told me to say goodbye for her.”

She frowned, “While a shame, I understand.”

She looked at the now empty throne room. The chairs, cushions, and banners would have to be put away, the red carpet rolled out, the castle banners hung on the walls and the throne placed back on the dais.

“I will put everything back together,” She said, lighting her horn and starting to stack the chairs on top of each other.

“Can I help?” Cinnamon asked.

She looked at him, “Of course. If you could arrange the chairs of similar type in stacks of 5; that would be a great help.”

He nodded and started stacking chairs.

“We shall retrieve the throne,” Luna said before teleporting away.

Cadance and Shining walked up to Celestia while she was hanging the castle banners. “We would help if we could Auntie but we have a train to catch.” She reached up and kissed Celestia on the cheek, which she returned.

“Not to worry, I have plenty of help.”

They gave each other one last hug before Cadance and Shining left.

After Celestia was finished with the banners, Luna walked in through a back door carrying the throne in her magic and placing it atop the dais where it belonged.

Cinnamon had stacked all but 10 chairs in the room before Celestia and Luna both began teleporting the stacked chairs away. He finished the last stack just before it disappeared.

“Perfect,” Celestia commented after looking over the throne room.

Luna nodded in agreement, “we shall retire to our chambers to regain our usual sleep schedule.” She leaned up to kiss Celestia’s cheek, “We shall see thee at breakfast sister,” then she teleported away.

Celestia looked at Cinnamon, “So? How do you feel consort?”

“Even though I didn’t do much through the whole thing, I’m feeling a little tired.” He grimaced a little, “I’m not really going to be called that, am I?”

“Only the guards have to address you as that. The rest are not required to but they might anyway. Luna and I will not though.”

He sighed, “That’s going to take some getting used to.”

“Well, I do not know about you, but I could go for a nice meal right about now.”

He nodded, “I could as well.”

They walked to the royal dining room and ordered their meals. Cinnamon had a Zesty cheese potato while Celestia had a fruit salad.

Cinnamon was about halfway through his potato before remembering a word Celestia had said during the announcement.

“Celestia?”

“Mmm?” she hummed with a mouth full of apple.

“During the announcement, you referred to it as a full-moon level announcement. What does that mean?”

She swallowed her food before responding, “As part of our alliances with other nations, we have a priority scale that depends on how something would affect those alliances. There are 4 different levels; a new-moon, half-moon, full-moon and eclipse.

“A new-moon is a low priority announcement and primarily affects the immigration of creatures to that nation. New laws of the nation or changes in the immigration process. Half-moon announcements affect trade between nations. Full-moons, such as the one we had, affect the relationships of that nation with all of its allies. The final one is an eclipse, which indicates a war or conflict a nation is in need of assistance with.

“Because of the nature of new-moon and half-moon announcements; they can be handled by exchanging letters. However, Full-moon and eclipse level announcements require representatives from each nation.”

“If our announcement required representatives, why were there three nations not present?” Cinnamon asked.

“Every nation required to attend were in attendance. The ones missing are not allied with us. We have treaties with them, allowing them to attend if they desired, but not required to.”

“So are nation leaders also required to be present?”

She shook her head, “Not quite. It is the nature of that announcement that required leaders to hear it personally instead of the announcement level itself.”

“So what about the Deer or the Griffons? Their leaders weren’t there.”

She nodded, “Situations that affect a nation’s future allow its leaders to be absent. King Aspen and Queen Fyr are dealing with issues against the beasts of the Everfree and could only spare sending a small group of deer in their stead. Queen Ironbeak informed me of two promising griffons nearing the end of the trials of leadership. It was with great regret that she was unable to leave the throne without risk of an overthrow occurring before she returned.”

He nodded while taking another forkful of potato. He learned enough of Griffon society during training to know of their unusual hierarchy. The leader was considered the most capable griffon to lead in both combat and leading ability. If another griffon passed the trials of leadership, they were considered capable of leading their nation; allowing them to challenge the current leader to a fight, winner takes the throne. If the leader wasn’t present, except in times of war, the challenger won by forfeit.

“Has there ever been an eclipse announcement?”

She shook her head, “Equestria has not been in a situation to call for such an announcement; though, our conflict with the Storm Kingdom was the only one where we would have called for an eclipse announcement if it were not for their surprise attack.”

Cinnamon frowned at the mention of the Storm Kingdom. He, along with the rest of the castle guard did their best to fend off the storm army. It even looked like they would be able to hold the castle indefinitely until the unicorn with the broken horn burst her way through the gates. Then it was either surrender or be turned to stone. An act demonstrated on a few guards that instantly tried to attack her.

“Have any of your allies?” He asked.

She nodded, “A few times. The hippogriffs required help against the griffon empire when they were facing extinction from their ruthless claws. The Saddle Arabians did as well when the sand worms foal-napped all but a few hundred citizens from their capital city. Those are the only two I can recall. We have many stubborn allies and one that would rather watch their civilization fall than call for assistance.”

“I’m guessing the overly stubborn ones are the griffins?”

She nodded, placing the last forkful of fruit salad into her mouth.

Cinnamon took a little longer to finish his potato but once he was, they retired to Celestia’s bedroom.

Celestia brushed her teeth while Cinnamon was cleaning himself in the shower.

When he finished cleaning up, he also brushed his teeth before heading to the bed with Celestia already laying on it.

He finally laid down in the bed and took the large spooning spot behind Celestia. He already loved this position before with the smaller ponies but doing it with a creature his size felt amazing; especially one that was soft.

He sighed into Celestia neck, closed his eyes, and waited for sleep to take him.

They laid in bed together for a few minutes before Celestia’s voice interrupted the silence.

“Careful,” he heard her say, making him open his eyes and look at her. She was taking slightly larger breaths. He looked down and realized he had been idly rubbing her stomach with his hand without knowing; currently resting on top of her bellybutton.

“Do not start something you do not intend to finish.”

He slowly moved his hand up until he reached her chest. Then the thought hit him; did he want to finish it? He was her consort which was basically a special somepony in a relationship. Yes, everything since the start of this had gone extremely fast but he managed to get through it well.

His hand started to travel back down her stomach.

Maybe he should? Luna did say he would have to work on his confidence and he knew Celestia has been eager for a few days ago. It still feels like he shouldn’t but maybe a leap of faith wou-.

His thoughts halted as his hand slid over a soft, smooth mound of skin; then, the unmistakable bump of a nipple.

Celestia hummed with delight, rolling fully onto her back, opening her legs to allow him better access to her mammaries.

With the unrestrictive access, Cinnamon was able to fully cup her large teats with his hand that easily filled his grasp. One thing struck him as odd though. Even though she is a larger mare than the ones he’d been with in the past, her teats shouldn’t be this supple… which would mean…

“Celestia, did you have foals before?”

She nodded, her eyes still closed, “19 foals between 7 sires.”

“… huh…”

She opened one eye to peek at him, “What?”

“Despite how motherly you are, I’ve never considered that you may have been a mother before. Hearing that you have… well, 19 sounds low for the thousands of years you’ve lived for.”

“Well, there is, mmmph, there is reason for that.”

“Does it have to do with being an Alicorn?”

“In a way. I-“ Her breath hitched when he mindlessly rolled a nipple between his fingers. “Maybe l-later. I do not wish to sound rude, but you are killing the m-mood.”

His cheeks turned red; she was right, now was not the best time for a conversation.

He began to stroke her teats; enjoying the soft yet firm skin. Periodically sliding his fingers up along her stomach before sending them back down to tickle her teats.

He leaned down and placed his face into Celestia’s growing chest fluff and nuzzled into it. One of the softest things he’s felt; second only to the bed they were currently on top of.

He gave her chest a kiss before moving down a little and kissing her again.

She cooed while he trailed light kisses down her barrel to her foal feeders. He placed a kiss on each nipple before sliding off the bed and moving to kneel behind her. His head now level with her exposed backside… and what a sight it was.

The lips of her marehood were as smooth as a filly yet to be mounted. Only the teardrop parting of her lips told him that she wasn’t a virgin; not that he was surprised at that. Below her flower was her clean, tight ponut, clenching slightly every time her marehood winked.

The color also captivated him. Her nethers were pink; brightly contrasting against her white fur.

He placed his hands on her inner thighs, her legs flinching at the contact. He watched, mesmerized, as her teats jiggled ever so slightly from the small twitch.

Unable to resist the non-existent pull to her large mammaries; he moved so his head was above her teats and began to lower his head to smother himself in a fullness that he couldn’t experience with any other creature,

Before his face made contact with her skin, he noticed she didn’t have the earthy smells he was used to with other mares. Instead, Celestia’s bosom smelled faintly of flowers. He nuzzled into her cleavage, eliciting a giggle from her as well as a faint kick from her rear right leg.

She closed her rear legs slightly, pressing the sides of her teats into his cheeks and rubbing them together. “I did not have you pinned for a teat lover.”

He nodded in her embrace; his nose tickling her soft skin, causing her to giggle once more.

When her legs released his head, he pulled back and kissed the base of her breast near her winking marehood. He stuck his tongue out and dragged it from the base of her teat to the tip of her nipple; latching onto her like a thirsty foal and began to suckle.

She nickered and her legs opened wider; permitting Cinnamon to place a shaky hand onto the opposite teat and began to message it. Pushing and pulling, moving the mound of flesh while lightly brushing it with his thumb.

He sucked hard and pulled his head back until her nipple slipped out of his mouth with a loud smack.

Celestia tensed and whinnied; her lovebud rapidly winking out, seeking attention. Her mare juice leaked out of her marehood, traveling down her perineum, skimming the edge of her ponut and off the dock of her tail to come to a rest on the bed sheets; The smell of an aroused mare becoming prominent in the room.

Her body relaxed. Limbs lay sprawled against the bed. Her head rested on her cheek, panting.

“I -huff- underestimated just how much I -huff- needed that.”

Cinnamon ran a finger down her inner thigh, “Haven’t had time to de-stress?”

Her breathing slowed from a fast pace to a moderate one, “Not one so through.” She lifted her head to look down at Cinnamon between her legs, fondling her now stiff nipples.

Seeing she’d recovered, he lowered his head and pressed his tongue against her wet dock. He trailed his tongue up, following her trail of marecum. Her ponut clenched as his tongue tickled around its outer edge; licking up the sweet nectar until he reached its source.

Celestia’s marehood, coated in her clear juices, smelled strongly of flowers mixed with the musk of a mare. He leaned in and dragged his tongue over her sex, cleaning it by collecting it in his mouth. Though it smelled of flowers, it tasted as sweet as cake.

When his tongue reached her winking clit, he flicked the tip of his tongue over her bud.

Her legs started to tremble as he focused more attention to her most sensitive area; only relaxing when he dragged his tongue down to her wet folds. He gently licked the edges of her lips before probing deeper into her passage. He could feel her muscles tighten around his tongue, trying to pull him in deeper but unable to get a good grip.

With his tongue still deep in the solar princess, the tip of his nose brushed against her winking bud, setting her off on a second orgasm. Her muscles clamped down hard on his tongue.

Her legs closed together, pressing his head into her flower and keeping it in place.

In a brief moment of panic, Cinnamon tried to pull away with no success. Only when he felt her juices push against his mouth did he stop trying to escape and accept the position he was in and began to drink her almost sugary love juice.

The overpowering smell radiating from its source millimeters away from his nose combined with her excitement traveling down his throat were enough to stir his loins. His dick, previously at a semi-hardness, began to stiffen.

She caught her breath; keeping his head close to her even after the flow of her juices reduced to a trickle.

She released his head and laid on her side, panting.

“I -huff- apologise. I normally last much longer. It has been some time since -huff- I have done this.”

“Do you… want to stop?”

She shook her head, “No, just -huff- give me a moment to recover.”

Celestia caught her breath while Cinnamon began to stroke his hard-on to maintain it. It didn’t take much effort to keep it up with the enticing smell entering his nose.

After a minute, Celestia rolled onto her stomach; dangling her leg over the side of the bed and standing on her hind legs; elevating her flank into the air. She lifted her tail over her back and looked over at him, “I am ready now.”

He nodded and stood up; placing his left hand on her flank as he used his right to line his rod with her pink nethers. As soon as his tip kissed her lips, she pushed back against him; sinking his head into her depths. Once in, Cinnamon’s instincts took over. Before he could give it any thought; he grabbed Celestia by her hips and pulled her to him as he thrusted into her.

A wet slap echoed in the room when his nuts made contact with her soaked pussy. A sharp intake of air followed by a moan escaped her mouth. He could feel her nub push against his sack every time her marehood winked.

Her insides massaged his rod as it had with his tongue. He could feel her squeeze start at the base of his dick and travel up to his tip.

He pulled back until only the tip remained inside her, then thrusted back into her; receiving another moan.

Each time he thrusted into her, his crotch becoming wet from the juices leaking out of her pussy. Reaching around her barrel, he grasped on of her swaying breasts. He couldn’t help himself; he enjoyed the weight of them in his hand.

Wet slapping, grunting, panting, gasping and moaning were the only sounds they could hear in the room as he continued to impale her onto his spear while she enthusiastically pushed back against him.

He started to feel his balls tighten and churn with seed and the feeling of an approaching climax.

He leaned forward so his upper body could come in contact with her back and began to fuck her with shorter, deeper thrusts; hoping to simulate the feeling of being mounted by a pony. A motion she seemed to enjoy as she spread her legs wider apart and began pushing harder against his thrusts.

Somehow her change in position made her pussy squeeze tighter around his shaft; requiring more force behind his thrusts to push through her tight embrace. The first time he pushed into her in this new position, the tip of his dick ground against a sensitive spot. When he did, Celestia let out a loud whinny and her love tunnel began to convulse around his dick.

He paused his thrusting, attempting to starve off his own impending climax. However, Celestia wasn't having it. She looked over her shoulder panting with her tongue sticking out. She ignited her horn; grabbing his hips with her magic and pulled him inside her.

He quickly understood and, not wanting to become a glorified toy, resumed his thrusting. Leaning back slightly so he could place a hand between her wings and pressed down on her flight muscles. The act, while simple, send an exciting shiver up Celestias spine. It both pinned her down and prevented an "escape" by removing the ability to use her wings. The very thought sent her over the edge once more.

The added stimulation of Celestias orgasm was too much for Cinnamon and he was sent over the edge. With a final thrust, he hilted inside her, sending his seed into her quivering marehood. Pulse after pulse, spurt after spurt, his seed filled her passage until it spilled out of her around the base of his dick. As his climax tapered off, he felt her ethereal tail wrap around his back as if trying to keep him in place.

They stayed motionless, enjoying their post-climatic euphoria. Even though Cinnamon was finished pouring his seed into her; he remained hilted inside her.

Celestia rolled onto her back; keeping Cinnamons shaft inside her marehood while doing so. She reached up and wrapped her forelegs around his neck and pulled him down into a deep kiss. Pushing their lips together and angling their heads for better access. Occasionally Cinnamon would press his softening dick into her reflexively. Celestia groaning in response every time he created friction in her sensitive nethers.

He pulled away from her head, “Soo… was I ok?”

She nuzzled into his cheek, “You were great. Though, next time, you could be more forceful. You do not need to be delicate with me, I am not going to break.”

He nodded and let out a sigh of relief; his dick slipping out of her marehood with a -shliick- when he rolled onto his side. Now missing a plug, Celestias flower began to leak their combined liquids onto the beds sheets.

Celestia rolled onto her side as well so she could look at him, “Worried?”

He nodded, “Honestly, yes. I know I’m not very big down there compared to other stallions. That combined with you being a larger mare than I’ve ever been with… no offence.”

“None taken; plenty make that mistake if I understand what you are implying correctly.”

He gave her a worried look.

“That I would be loose compared to the smaller mares?”

He grimaced, “y-yeah… I know it doesn’t sound good but I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to… you know… please you.”

She smiled, “Let us lay that fear to rest; I enjoyed it thoroughly.” She opened her hind legs and looked down to her wet teats, “In fact, you may have introduced me to a new enjoyable act.” She reached down to fondle her nipple, “I do not believe I have met a creature as interested in my teats as you.”

He looked down at her rolling her left teat in her hoof; looking away when the sight threatened to arouse him again. “I’ve always had a weird draw to them. Not just any teat though; I like them when they’re large. I enjoy the feel of them in my hands. Unfortunately, mares that have those kind of teats are either in a herd or are too old to be interested in bucking.”

“I am the oldest mare of all and I am quite interested.”

He smiled, “You know what I meant.”

She giggled, flicking her nipple before retracting her foreleg to rest against her chest. “I have no objection to more of that treatment.” Her tail swishing in excitement, “If you make me heavy with foal, I would let you suckle milk from them.”

He gave her a shocked look, “What?”

She looked into his eyes, “I do not mean right now; thoughts for the future.”

He let out a breath, “Alright, what’s going on?”

She cocked her head to the side, “what do you mean?”

“We just mated for the first time and you’re already thinking about foals?”

She blushed, “The thought excited me.”

“Before this you wanted to mate half a week after I started courting you.”

“Cinnamon, I was born in a time when meeting a stallion and becoming gravid with foal lasted no longer than 2 minutes.” She looked down at her chest and idly stroked it, “Those instincts remain in this old body. Instincts that have made this relationship, or any relationship I would have, feel like it is progressing slowly.”

He chewed his lip, “but it feels so fast to me.”

She looked back up to him, reaching out and placing a hoof on his chest, “Pay it no mind. I was caught in the moment and it slipped from my mouth. As for your concern for the pace of our relationship… well, you do not need to worry further.”

She parted her legs so the messy sheets could be seen, “We are as far as we can progress physically without the Law of the Paired Sisters being fulfilled.”

At the mention of the Paired Sisters, Cinnamon was reminded of the same phrase being said in one of the dreams Luna had put him through. “What’s that?”

She looked at him in thought, “I do not think you are ready to learn about that yet.”

He sighed but didn’t say anything.

Celestia snuggled closer to him; unfurling her right wing and resting it over his body. They closed their eyes, waiting for sleep to take them until something clicked in Cinnamon’s head.

“Celestia?” He asked, seeing if she was awake.

She opened her eyes, “hm?”

“Do you remember what I said at The Horn’s Tip?”

She nodded, “Yes… what specifically?”

He paused for a moment: hesitant to telling her about this knowing it might end the relationship. But if he kept it to himself, she’d figure it out eventually.

“It’s what I said about the fillies that used me to end their heats.”

She nodded again, “I do recall.”

He waited for her to connect the dots. Instead, she continued to look at him, waiting for him to continue.

“I…” He hesitated, feeling a bit uncomfortable about discussing the topic with Celestia. “Even if we were at… that point, I couldn’t give you a foal.”

She cocked her head a little, taking her wing off him so she could scoot back to see him better. “What makes you say that?” she asked.

“Well… considering I’m not the father of dozens of foals; I’d say I have no doubt about it.”

“Yet you quenched their heats, correct?”

He nodded, “Yes, like a living cooler.”

She hummed in thought, “tell me, did any ever return to you that same heat season?”

He shook his head, “No, they didn’t have a reason to come back after the first time.”

She raised a brow, “Do you know the specifics of what happens when a mare uses a cooler?”

“Of course, it simulates a stallion seeding a mare without getting them pregnant.”

“And…?”

“Well… that’s it, isn’t it?”

“Cinnamon, depending on how well their body reacts to the cooler solution, a mare needs to use their cooler every day or two for the entirety of the 2 to 3 weeks of estrus. Those fillies did not return because every filly that came to you; you have fertilized and made a mother.”

He looked at her with an unconvinced look, “But I was in school with a lot of them for 2 more years after that first summer and there were never any pregnancy bulges or foals.”

“If that is the case, then that leaves only one answer.” She looked down at her stomach, placing a hoof on her lower belly; above where she knew her womb was. “Your seed can fertilize an egg but lacks the magic required to begin the creation of life.”

“If that was true, wouldn’t I have heard about that?”

She shook her head, “Not likely as it has not been an issue for over 2 millenia. Since then, all creatures on Equis have some level of magic in their bodies. It is how species are able to cross-breed with each other.”

There was a long pause as Cinnamon processed the information, “So… If I had magic…”

“You would be in a sizable herd,” Celestia finished.

He grimaced, “ick.”

Celestia gave him a questioning look, “Do you dislike the idea of herds?”

He shook his head, “No, I don’t mind herds but… let’s just say that I wouldn’t want to be in one with most of those mares… Since I wasn’t worried about giving any of them a foal; the thought of possibly being their herd stud never crossed my mind.”

He shivered, “Dodged an arrow with that.” He turned his attention to her, “doesn’t that just mean I still couldn’t give a foal, just for a different reason?”

“Yes, but that could be remedied with a magic boosting potion. You only require magic at the moment of conception.”

Cinnamon fiddled with his fingers; absorbing all this new information and coming to terms with the amount of trouble he could’ve been in if her were a little bit magical.

He looked at her after pulling himself out of his thoughts, “Doesn’t a magic boosting potion require permission to obtain?”

She nodded, “Normally; however, special cases can be approved. You would likely need to submit to tests to verify your claim but needing magic to reproduce would fall into one such special case.”

Cinnamon laid in silence; returning to his thoughts. So distracted by his thoughts that he didn’t notice Celestia slide off of bed, walk around the outer edge and crawl back onto it so she was now behind him. Only when she wrapped her forelegs and wings around him did he notice that he was now being spooned by the alabaster mare.

She placed his head securely in the crook of her neck and rested her chin atop his head.

It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep, leaving Cinnamon in her protective embrace.

It took Cinnamon longer to sleep; his mind active with his thoughts. But eventually, with Celestia’s warm, comforting embrace, he too fell asleep.