What Happens on Saturday

Canterlot Castle Pub; It was the cleanest Pub in all of Equestria and only open to the staff of Canterlot Castle. The tables were all made of white marble while the chairs were made of a special dark red wood found in the Everfree Forest. All the furniture had a reconstruction rune embedded into them, magically infused with the design of the furniture it was attached to. If anyone got a little too tipsy and destroyed a table or chair, it would be fixed as good as new by touching the rune with magic. The runes were perfect because they were specially made by Princess Celestia. The rest of Equestria was trying to replicate said rune for public use but have yet to make one quite as good, despite Princess Celestia giving the runes symbol design to the public. To this day, they have been able to make a rune that will fuse the break together; the drawback being that the furniture item will get smaller every time it’s activated.

Cinnamon and Onyx walked through the front door of the bar. Since it was still close to the changing of the guard, the bar only had a few creatures in it. Dapper Mix, a tan unicorn stallion in a grey vest, stood behind the bar, mixing a drink for the griffin sitting on the leftmost bar stool. The only other creatures there were a small group of three ponies sitting around one of the tables.

Cinnamon followed Onyx through the pub until he sat down on the rightmost bar stool. Cinnamon took a seat right next to him. Dapper levitated two menus on the bar table in front of them while continuing to make the griffins drink.

Cinnamon picked up the menu and began to skim through its contents as Onyx leaned against the wall while he waited for Dapper to finish with what he’s doing.

Cinnamon, having finished looking through the menu, placed it back down on the table in disappointment. He knew most of it was going to be alcoholic but he didn’t think that the only non-alcoholic drink would be water.

Onyx noticed the dissatisfaction on Cinnamons face, “Really? Not a single drink?”

Cinnamon shook his head, “Nope, they’re all alcoholic.”

“What’s wrong with alcohol?” He asked as opened his menu and looked through it, “there’s some pretty tasty drinks in here.”

Cinnamon grimaced, “It’s gross; it burns my throat whenever I try one and I only taste wheat afterwards.”

Onyx hiked a brow, “Wheat? Have you been drinking beer?”

Cinnamon nodded, “yeah, beer, alcohol.”

“Well no wonder!” Onyx exclaimed, “You’ve been drinking mare drinks, you need a good stallion drink.”

Onyx returned his attention to the menu, looking for a good drink as Dapper walked over to them. “Onyx, same drink as always?”

“You know you don't need to ask Dapper, and a CockTail Tease for Cinnamon here,” he said as he closed the menu and pushed it to Dapper Mix.

Dapper nodded as he took the two menus while he started making the drinks with his magic.

Cinnamon looked at Dapper, “Do you have any kind of food here?”

He shook his head, “we don’t cook anything here but we can send a busser to the kitchen and grab something for a few bits.”

“Oh, well I don’t have any bits on me.”

“Start a tab,” suggested Onyx, “show him your Guard Card so they know your name and they’ll start a tab on you. They’ll send you a bill the day after you get paid.”

“ok, cool… but I don’t have my card on me either.”

“I’ll put your stuff on my tab tonight. You can pay me back later. Just remember to bring your card the next time you come.”

Cinnamon looked back at Dapper, “is that ok?”

He nodded, “as long as you know what you’ll have from the kitchen, we don’t have a menu for food.”

“Oh, ok… hmm.” He tried his best to remember what dishes were served at dinnertime. “I’ll have a Cobb Salad and uh, fluffy pretzel.”

Dapper wrote it down on a piece of paper and floated it over to one of the working ponies cleaning a table. As cinnamon followed the paper across the sky, he noticed that the bar was now half full with creatures, even a hippogriff sat among the patrons; a rare sight that is becoming more common as more time passed since the Storm King’s death.

The sound of something being set on wood brought his attention back to the bar table. Dapper placed a tall glass in front of Cinnamon and a martini glass in front of Onyx. Cinnamons drink was light brown while Onyx had a rainbow colored drink. “Your CockTail Tease and Rainbow Surprise.”

Cinnamon looked at his drink as Onyx took a sip from his. He looked over to cinnamon, “Well, are you going to try it?”

Cinnamon briefly glanced at Onyx before looking back at his drink. “It’s a bit… big, don’t you think?”

“You’re overthinking it. It’s big, sure, but you won’t get inebriated from it; trust me.”

Onyx had never lied to him before; Cinnamon looked back to the drink.

Yet anyway

He lightly shook his head; he knew he shouldn’t think like that, Onyx has been a great friend since he met him during his mandatory Wall Duty.

He lifted the drink to his mouth and took a sip of his drink. It was chunky, but the chunks themselves weren’t completely solid as they melted in his mouth. They tasted like sweet vanilla with a bitter aftertaste that he couldn’t place.

“Soo…?” Onyx asked.

Cinnamon smacked his lips and nodded, “Fine… it’s good, I like it.”

“HA!” He lightly punched Cinnamon on the shoulder, “I told you you’d like it! How long have I been telling you to come here?”

Cinnamon smiled, “a few months.” He looked into the bumpy drink, “what’s in this anyway?”

Onyx took another sip of his drink, “It’s basically a spiked smoothie; Vanilla ice cream, fruit and a bit of gin. It’s the least alcoholic drink on the menu aside from water.”

“Huh, I didn’t even taste the fruit”

As cinnamon took another sip of his drink, River Breeze walked into the pub. She had a smile on her face as she headed directly to the bar. She sat down two seats to the left of Cinnamon. “THE PRINCESS’ CONTEMPLATION!” She yelled, thrusting a hoof in the sky. The rest of the patrons, including Onyx, picked up their drinks, raised them in the air, and cheered.

Cinnamon looked at River, then back to Onyx. “What’s that?”

Onyx lowered his drink, “It’s a special drink you get here when a princess considers your courtship request. Best tasting drink you’ll ever taste and it doesn’t even have alcohol in it.”

Dapper looked at River, “Name?”

“River Breeze,” She said as she puffed her chest out with a grin.

Dapper grabbed a clipboard from below the bar with his magic, looked over the paper attached to it, took a quill and made a mark on it. He put the clipboard back where he got it from, walked down the bar and through the doors located behind the table.

“So what’s in it?” Cinnamon asked.

Onyx shrugged, “nocreature knows, not even Dapper, but it’s as sweet as candy, smooth as water, and creates a warm fuzzy feeling in your body that feels like your stomach is giggling.” He sighed and rested his head on his hoof, “Even if I never get a yes from the princesses, I’ll be content with just drinking those.”

Cinnamon raised a brow, “that good?”

He nodded, “even the way I described it doesn’t do it justice.”

Just then, a pony tapped on Cinnamon’s shoulder. He turned around to see the pony that was sent to get his food. On his back was a small tray with a salad and a pretzel on it.

“Here’s your food. Apologies for the delay, the kitchen staff didn’t know what a fluffy pretzel was so they just made you a normal one.”

“Sorry, I didn’t remember if it was called something special, I just remembered that it had a fluffy inside.” Cinnamon took the plates off the ponies back and onto the table while noticing a few questioning looks from the other patrons. He turned to his food and took a bite of his pretzel. He nodded his head; it was exactly the kind of pretzel he had asked for. He put the pretzel down and started on his salad.

Dapper Mix returned through the bar doors with a large glass in his magic and set it down in front of River Breeze. Colors of white and dark blue swirled in the glass like a barbershop pole Cinnamon would see in Manehattan. The dark blue had sparkles in it while the white looked luminescent. A small layer of white cream covered the top of the mug while a rainbow mist rolled down the sides.

Cinnamon stared at the drink in awe. It looked like it was ripped out of a painting.

He looked to Dapper, “So you don’t know what’s in that?”

He looked back at Cinnamon, “Couldn’t say.”

“Then how do you make it?”

“I don’t, they’re sent here. How many I receive depends on to how many castle staff received a callback during today’s court.”

River Breeze started to chug it down like a pony dying of thirst in the Bone Dry Desert and finding a glass of water.

The praise and mystery around the drink was starting to agitate Cinnamons curiosity, “Could I have a taste?”

“Unless you’re on my list, which I’m certain you’re not, you’re not allowed to have a drop… Princess’ orders.”

“Oh”

Onyx watched as River finish her drink, never stopping once from the moment she started drinking to now when she was shaking the glass to get the last drop out. When he heard Cinnamons slightly dejected ‘oh,’ he turned his attention to him.

“Didn’t you say you were interested in trying to court the princess? You might be able to get a drink of your own.”

“Dude,” Cinnamon said in a loud whisper, “not with so many creatures around.”

Onyx tilted his head, “nocreature here is going to look down on you for that. Didn’t you want to come here to talk about courting the princess in the first place? We haven't even talked to anycreature here about it.”

Cinnamon looked around the bar; nobody was looking at him, yet, he felt like everyone was trying to listen to what he was saying, “I didn’t think there were going to be so many creatures here when I agreed to come.”

Onyx hummed, looked at the clock, then back to Cinnamon, “alright, then let’s go back to our quarters. Thunder and Brisk should already be flying home for the weekend. There won’t be any other creature there.”

Cinnamon nodded, “alright. What do I do about my plates?”

Onyx jumped off his stool, “Leave them, Dapper will probably tell somecreature to take them back to the kitchen.”

Cinnamon nodded and stood up from his stool to follow Onyx out of the bar

They walked into their living quarters. Both of the upper bunks had their pillows missing, confirming that their roommates already left for the weekend. Cinnamon couldn’t leave for the weekend because most of his time would be spent on the train going to and from Manehattan, only leaving 5 hours to be with his family before having to leave. Onyx was worse off since his family resided in Trottingham. He’d have to take the same train as Cinnamon, and then take a two hour ship from Manehattan to Trottingham. If everything went perfectly, he’s get to spend an hour with his family.

Cinnamon would go home for something important like mothers and fathers day weekend, but it was an inconvenient hassle to do much more than that. Though he didn't like it, his parents understood.

Onyx jumped on his bed and laid down on it, “So, the princess?”

Cinnamon sat down on his bed and took a deep breath, “I think I like Princess Celestia.”

Onyx snorted, “I figured that much out when you first brought it up, but why?”

Cinnamon looked at his hands while he recalled his time as her personnel guard, “There was this side to her that I saw when I was her personnel guard. A side that I grew a fondness for… I just didn’t realize how much I enjoyed being by her side until I lost that privilege. Now I’m trying all I can to be around her until the next proving event but it doesn’t feel the same.”

Onyx nodded, “So you do want to court her.”

Cinnamon looked at Onyx with a confused expression, “I’m not sure. I would love to be around her more, but trying to have a relationship with her? I’ve never had a serious relationship before… what if I mess it up?”

Onyx didn’t immediately respond, instead, he rolled off his bed, walked over to Cinnamon’s bed, and sat next to him.

“You’re thinking too far ahead with this. Having a relationship is something that would happen if the princess accepts your request. In nearly ten years, she has only said yes to two creatures and neither lasted longer than a month.”

"Wait, I thought you said nocreature was successful."

Onyx shrugged, "I forgot. My memory's not perfect, sue me."

Cinnamon rolled his eyes, “Is that new information supposed to make me feel better?”

“What I’m trying to say is, don’t plan out a wedding with somecreature before you’re asked out, or in this case, before you ask her. If you like her, then ask her. You’ve had a clean record here as a guard, I’d say you have a good chance to get a maybe."

“What about the press?”

“What about them?”

“They’re going to drag me through the mud when I ask to court her.”

Onyx scooted closer to Cinnamon and rested a hoof on his shoulder, “you may be a creature we’ve never seen before, or have yet to see more of, but unless you do something incredibly stupid during your request, they’re not going to give a flying buck.”

When Cinnamon didn’t say anything, he placed his hoof back on the bed and continued, “I felt a similar feeling as you when I went to my first courtship court. I would’ve sworn to you that I created a puddle around my hooves from how much I thought I was sweating.”

“That nervous?”

He nodded, “I’ve been asked out by quite a few mares; I knew the kind of mares that were interested in me and the princess’ weren’t that kind of mare, they were out of my league.”

“Then why did you ask them if you knew you didn’t stand a chance?”

“Because I didn’t know.”

“But you just said you knew they weren’t the type to be interested in you.”

Onyx shook his head, “I was psyching myself out just as you are now, besides, I haven’t technically received a no so far.”

“But you never got a yes.”

“But I got a maybe every time I’ve asked, meaning there’s something about me that’s worth considering. Don’t get hung up on what she’ll say, or plan for a future that may or may not happen, just walk into that throne room and ask to be her consort.”

“Stop making it sound simple, it's not a simple thing to do like writing a letter.”

“It is that simple. Tell me, what is there that makes it harder to do than what I'm saying? how many extra steps are there?”

"I... Well, there's... I mean... It's just-"

Onyx hopped off the bunk, “just nothing. You go in there, you ask her, she answers, and you leave. It'll take you a whole minute to do, two minutes max and, if fortune shines on you, you'll get to taste a princess' contemplation for yourself." He opened his trunk and started rummaging through it. "What do you have to lose? If she says no, it doesn't mean you can't be her personal guard anymore, you can still be around her. If she says maybe, then you get a tasty drink and a sense of pride knowing that you are worth her consideration. Either way, one thing will stay the same."

Cinnamon waited for Onyx to enlighten him. When he said nothing, he tried to get him to spit it out.

"And that thing is...?"

Onyx, having found his towel, draped it over his neck and looked at cinnamon, "When you look back on this day, you're going to laugh at yourself for making this task so difficult."

Cinnamon sighed; Overall, the talk had helped him feel less anxious about the idea of courting the princess, but hadn’t quelled his nervousness about actually doing it. Onyx talked with experience, suggesting the best way to do it was to close his eyes and jump.

Onyx found his shower supplies and levitated it out with his magic as he walked over to the front door.

He looked back to Cinnamon before heading to the guard bath room, “before I leave, tell me you’re doing it.”

“I Don’t-“

“Tell me you’re doing it”

Cinnamon wanted to, but he couldn’t stop his mind from going back to Platinum’s request and all the flashing lights from the reporters’ cameras. He knew he was going to get ridiculed for doing this despite Onyx’s reassurances. Then he remembered the journalists being led out of the throne room before Princess Celestia asked the court guards about courtship requests.

“Alright, alright. I will, but, I will do it the next time I get the Court Guard position.

“Wh-“

Knowing Onyx would want to probe him for an explanation, he cut him off, “ONLY THEN! Will I ask.”

Onyx continued to stare at Cinnamon for a few seconds before shrugging and leaving the room.

Only then, Cinnamon thought to himself as he laid on his bed.