What Happens on Saturday

Two weeks passed since Cinnamon learned about the princess’s courtship court. For the first week, Cinnamon was assigned to be a Dungeon Guard. Overall, it was an easy job; Magical creatures had inhibitors locked on them, the cell walls and bars were magically reinforced and would alert the guard if something hit them hard. If that happened, they would have to go in, subdue the prisoner, and escort them to a smaller, stronger cell. Other than that, a dungeon guard’s only jobs were to feed the prisoners and check their inhibitors for magical cracks.

The second week he was assigned to Train Inspection Duty. He, along with three dozen other guards, were in charge of inspecting every train that arrived at Canterlot from top to bottom. Most of them were passenger trains which needed special attention to the cargo cars in case someone was receiving a free ride. The cargo trains were a bit more time consuming. They came twice a day and required them to check off items on the cargo manifest as they were unloaded from the train.

On the third week, he was finally assigned to be a court guard. The past two assignments had distracted him enough to keep his mind off of what he was planning to do Saturday. Now that he was back to guarding the throne room, Saturday was the only thing on his mind. It made the days feel like weeks as they slowly dragged on. It didn’t help that the weekdays before Saturday had dull court cases such as petty squabbles, asking for better weather at their house, and even just talking to the princess. The only entertaining cases were when an upper class citizen requested something and Princess Celestia found something extra they conveniently neglected to mention.

For example, there was one case where an orange mare requested for Princess Celestia to approve of a redesign of her restaurant, which required a permit for the construction. When the princess asked why the request specified that the mare wouldn’t be forced to change the design if creatures complained about it, Cinnamon assumed it might’ve been because the new design would be unsightly to the Canterlot snobs. The princess carefully prodded the mare for more information and found out that she was trying to reconstruct her door to a size too small for minotaurs to enter. Apparently, when the mare first opened her restaurant, she had hoped it would eventually be a hotspot for the wealthy. Unfortunately, it became a very popular spot for minotaurs to eat at and was called ‘dirty’ by the rich.

It was rejected of course, much to the displeasure of the requestor.

Then Saturday finally arrived. Suitors came and propositioned themselves for the princess’s consideration. However, Cinnamon wasn’t paying attention to the words they were saying, he was busy reminding himself not to stress out over this.

Stay calm, if she says no, she won’t be cruel about it. The reporters won’t be here; it’ll just be me and her… and the other eleven guards… and the herald… and stenographer, no! Don’t think about that, they’re not important. The princess is the important one here; she’s why you’re doing this. Remember what Onyx said, I have nothing to lose in this. Ask her, get an answer, leave. Ask, receive, and leave.

“Cinnamon?”

Cinnamon’s eyes snapped back into focus, the blurry surroundings returning to their normal shapes.

“Cinnamon”

He looked in the direction of the voice calling his name. It was Princess Celestia with the court guards in a line in front of her steps.

Cinnamon’s eyes widened. Court had concluded and he was now standing in the hall by himself because he zoned out.

“Are you coming?” Princess Celestia asked.

Cinnamon didn’t respond, but ran over to fall in line with the rest of the guards.

Fantastic way to start this out; looking like a buffoon, way to set the bar high.

Once he filed in at the end of the line, he stood at attention, doing his best not to psychically acknowledge his embarrassing mistake.

Princess Celestia walked down the steps to stand in front of her guards, “do any of my guards have a request for me?”

Now or never, step forward.

Cinnamon took a step forward from the guard line. One other guard stepped forward as well, a bat pony stallion. Bat ponies were common in the canterlot guard; however, they were a rare sight on the solar guard since it went against their nocturnal nature.

“No others?”

Princess Celestia nodded when no other guards stepped forward, “very well.”

She walked over to stand in front of the bat pony, “Night Echo, why have you stepped forward?”

He stood as tall as he could, “I’ve admired you since I was a little nibbler; it would be an honor to be your consort.”

Princess Celestia looked at him for a moment, “Come back next week, I will have an answer for you then.”

Night Echo nodded and stepped back into line.

Princess Celestia walked down the line until she came to a stop in front of Cinnamon.

“Ground Cinnamon, why have you stepped forward?”

Cinnamon cleared his throat, “I would like to be your consort.”

Princess Celestia continued to look at Cinnamon with her magenta eyes. Despite Cinnamon’s height, he still had to look up to Princess Celestia since she was a few inches taller than him, not including the extra height her horn gave her.

As she considered his request, his heart started to beat faster. To him, it felt like she was taking longer to give him an answer than it did for Night Echo. All the while, he stared into her eyes; watching as her eyes slightly shifted from side to side as she shifted her attention from one of his eyes to the other.

“Come back next week, I will have an answer for you then.”

She said maybe!

He was having an internal party as he nodded and stepped back into line.

Princess Celestia walked back to the middle of the line and faced her guards, “You are dismissed, and have a pleasant night under my sister’s moon.”

Cinnamon quickly marched to his quarters with a hand over his chest; feeling his rapid heartbeat as he tried to calm himself down. When he arrived at his room, he rushed the cleaning of his armor before heading to the Canterlot Castle Pub.

He got through the hardest part and was excited to try one of those magical drinks. The image of the drink still burned into his memory when he first saw it weeks ago.

He walked into the pub and looked around. It was completely empty aside from Dapper Mix simultaneously cleaning half a dozen mugs from behind the bar table.

Cinnamon walked over to the bar and sat on a stool, “a Princess’ Contemplation.”

Dapper raised a brow but grabbed the clipboard regardless, “Name?”

“Cinnamon”

Dapper scanned through the list, “full name.”

“Ground Cinnamon”

Dapper nodded as he placed all the floating mugs on the table.

“One moment,” he said before walking through the doors to the back.

Cinnamon drummed his thumbs against the table while he waited, not noticing the pony that just entered the pub.

Night Echo trotted through the bar doors and walked over to the bar, sitting one stool over from Cinnamon.

“Is Dapper in the back?” Night Echo asked.

Cinnamon nodded, “yeah, he’ll be back in a second.” He looked at Echo, “Hey, you’re the other guard that requested to court the princess. May I ask you something?”

“Sure”

“What’s a little nibbler? I’m not well versed in bat pony lingo.”

“Ooh, it’s the bat pony equivalent of a foal. We call our foals that because they go through a brief period of time when they bite into everything they can get their mouths around. Some nibblers go to such extremes that they need to be muzzled.”

“Really? Learn something new every day, I suppose. So you’ve had a crush on the princess since you were a foal?”

He raised a brow, then nodded, “Yep, she’s been a guiding inspiration since I first laid eyes on her.”

“Wow, that’s a long time.”

“I saw you give a request as well, how long has she inspired you?”

“Not nearly as long as you; I didn’t think about the princess like that before a few months ago, nor did I realize my feelings until three weeks ago.”

Dapper reappeared through the back doors with Cinnamon’s drink in his magic. He walked to the bar and set it down in front of Cinnamon, “Here’s your Princess’ Contemplation.” He turned his attention to Echo, “and what can I make for you?”

“A Princess’ Contemplation.”

Dapper grabbed his clipboard, “Name?”

“Night Echo”

Dapper nodded and returned to the back room to grab another drink.

Cinnamon grabbed the drink that has been the center of his curiosity for weeks and took a sip from the colorful liquid. Once he had a taste, he began to chug it in earnest. Onyx had it nailed when he described the texture being as smooth as water, but wasn’t quite as spot on about the flavor. Candy was pretty close though, instead, it tasted of vanilla icing but without the feeling that you were going to lose a leg over it. But all too soon, it was empty. Thankfully, a pleasant bubbly sensation stayed in his stomach.

He slammed the mug on the table as he exhaled the breath he’d been holding while he drank. When he did, his breath was a visible puff of rainbow smoke.

He could see why Onyx loved it so much, Cinnamon could see himself drinking it every day until he died.

He looked over to see that Echo was halfway through his own drink. Dapper had returned with the drink while Cinnamon was preoccupied.

Cinnamon looked at Dapper, “You really don't know what’s in this.”

He shook his head, “Couldn’t say.”

Cinnamon sighed, “That’s a shame; my parent’s bakery could surpass Sugarcube Corner in popularity if they had this recipe.”

“You’d use it for personal gain?”

“Oh, don’t give me that; you’d be doing the same thing if you had the recipe instead of giving it for free.”

Dapper gasped, “I would never! To even suggest such a thing is preposterous.”

“Pssh, please. The princess’ are the only ponies that wouldn’t try making a platinum bit off this drink and you know it.”

He rolled his eyes but said nothing; instead, he took the empty mugs from Cinnamon and Echo and set them to the side.

“So did you enjoy the drinks?”

Echo nodded, “Absolutely!”

Cinnamon nodded as well, “best drink I’ve ever had.”

“Good to hear. So what are your stories?”

Echo gave him a confused look, “Stories?”

“Yes. Everycreature has a story when they court a princess; when did it start? Why did you ask? Things like that.”

“Oh!” Cinnamon spoke up, “I’ve had a crush on Princess Celestia for over two months but that’s nothing compared to Echo, he’s liked her since he was a foal.”

Dapper looked at Echo, “Really? We don’t get many suitors with a desire for that long; what about the princess caught your attention at such a young age?”

Echo waved a hoof, “Nah, I lied about that to butter up my request. Although, I don’t think I needed to since Cinnamon’s request was so plain.”

Dapper stared at Echo with a displeased look, “you lied to the princess?”

“Of course, I didn’t think I would get this drink if I didn’t play it up.”

Cinnamon looked confused, “wait, so you did that for a drink?”

“Yep, why? didn’t you?”

“Well, I was curious about the drink, but that wasn’t the reason why I asked. What about her answer?”

Echo shrugged, “I mean, I wouldn’t turn down a yes if-“

“Get out”

Cinnamon and Echo both looked at Dapper.

“What?” Echo asked.

“I said get out.”

“What did I-“

Dapper yelled to the large draft pony standing by the door, “STEEL COMET! I NEED THIS PONY ESCORTED OUT!”

The bulky pony nodded as he began to walk toward the bar.

Echo started to panic, “What? Is that a crime? I lied, so what!”

“No, it’s not a crime, but I will NOT tolerate juvenile behavior in this pub.”

Steel was now behind Echo and laid a hoof on his shoulder, “Let’s go sir.”

Echo rolled his shoulder so Steel’s hoof slid off, “Fine, I’ll leave, I got what I wanted anyway.”

He hopped off the stool and trotted out of the bar, Steel following close behind until he was back in his spot by the door.

“So what about you?” Dapper asked Cinnamon with an irritated look, “If it wasn’t for the drink, why did you ask?”

“Uh, well, I kinda grew close to the princess when I was her personal guard. I figured being her consort would be the next step, right?”

Dapper didn’t respond.

“R-right?”

Dapper’s face softened until it was back to it’s normal, neutral look. “If Princess Celestia said yes to you, what would you do?”

“I… I was told not to think like that.”

“Humor me, what’s your plan if she accepted your request?”

Cinnamon started to twiddle his thumbs, “Well, I guess I’d give it my best shot.”

“You guess?”

“Well…” Cinnamon’s voice lowered, “…I haven’t been very popular with mares, I… I don’t know how well I’d perform as a consort but…” Cinnamon’s voice returned to normal, “…I’d try my best.”

Dapper hummed to himself as he began to clean a mug, “So you’re asking the princess because… what, you’re making up for lost time?”

“What? No!”

“You think being the Princess’s consort will make you more interesting with mares, right?”

“No! That’s not why I-“

“Or are you trying to prove to yourself that yo-“

“I LIKE HER, ALRIGHT!?” Cinnamon yelled. He knew the whole bar had heard but he couldn’t care less at this moment, Dapper was pushing his buttons and he didn’t like it one bit.

“I’m not using her for anything. Not for bits, not for fame, not for sex. I just like who she is!”

The bar was quiet; neither Cinnamon nor Dapper said another word. They stared at each other from across the bar table. The rest of the pub resumed their own conversations as the two remained silent.

Dapper was the first to speak, “Not a very good reason to court Princess Celestia.”

“Maybe not,” cinnamon grumbled, “but it’s all the reason I have.”

Cinnamon’s mood was soured but dapper didn’t talk to him about it again; instead, focusing his attention on helping out with the drinks instead of relying on the servers to make them. Cinnamon ordered a CockTail Tease to try and relax himself before heading back to his quarters. The last thing he wanted to do was walk through the halls with a storm cloud over his head.

As he was halfway through his drink, Onyx walked into the bar. Once he spotted Cinnamon, he trotted over and hoped on a stool next to him. “Soo… How did it go?”

Cinnamon placed his drink on the table, “She said maybe,”

“Heyyy! Way to go! I had my concerns that you would back out of it. You didn’t drink your drink yet, have you?”

“I did, it was like nothing I’ve ever had.”

“Aw, buck you; I wanted to see your face when you tasted it.”

“Sorry.”

Onyx looked at Cinnamon, “Are you ok? You sound bummed.”

“Ehh, it’s nothing.”

“Bullshit, what’s wrong? Are you regretting your request?”

“No, it’s not that,” Cinnamon said as he glanced down the bar at Dapper Mix.

Onyx followed Cinnamon’s gaze to Dapper, “He dug into you, didn’t he?”

Cinnamon nodded.

“Whatever he said to you, don’t listen to him. He’s been requesting to be Princess Celestia’s consort since she first started taking requests. Every time he’s gone, he’s received a flat out no from her and takes it out on the creatures he serves that received a maybe.”

Cinnamon slightly perked up, “really?”

Onyx nodded, “the first time I received a maybe, he verbally bashed me for doing it because I thought she was beautiful. Called me a superficial twat”

Cinnamon chuckled, “That doesn’t sound like something he would say.”

“He gets very emotional about it.”

“Huh,” Cinnamon looked back to his drink, “that makes me feel a little better.”

“So what did he say?”

Cinnamon sighed, “He said I was trying to compensate for the lack of interest mares have for me. Made it sound like I was trying to use her. Said my real reason wasn’t a very good one.”

“Yeah, definitely don’t listen to him then.”

Cinnamon nodded, “Well, it wasn’t as bad as the other pony; he was thrown out of the pub, even got Steel Comet involved.”

Onyx’s ears perked up, “really!?” he asked as he looked at the large draft pony by the doors, “What did he do to get that treatment?”

“He told Princess Celestia that he wanted to court her since he was a foal during his request. Apparently he lied to her so he could drink a Princess’ Contemplation. Dapper didn’t take too kindly to that.”

“Heh, I bet; I wish I was here to see that.”

“I hope I don’t see it again,” He peeked over to dapper once more before returning his focus on his drink, “he was scary.”

Cinnamon finished drinking the rest of his drink. Dapper had returned to normal, serving his drinks with a cheery expression and chatting with the patrons. Cinnamon, having his spirits lifted, decided to go back to his quarters with Onyx.

Cinnamon opened the front door and stretched his arms in the air; the day had been long, but it was still a good one.

Onyx followed shortly behind, closing the door behind him.

“So, are you going to stay with your parents during your week off?”

“Hm? Week off? What are you talking about?”

“Yeah, it’s part of receiving a maybe as castle staff. You get a week of paid vacation to go anywhere other than the castle; it’s supposed to prevent suitors from affecting a princess’ final decision. Didn’t you ever wonder why I would disappear for a week?”

Cinnamon shrugged, “I just assumed you asked for a night shift to mix things up.”

“Well, I didn’t. I got to go see my family for those weeks away.”

“So how does that work? Do I just leave tomorrow?”

Onyx nodded, “Or tonight; you just need to tell Commander Silver Spirit where you’re going before you leave so she can pay for your special round trip ticked with the royal funds.”

“Oh, well, that’s a pleasant surprise. I haven’t seen my parents in over a year.” He looked out the window in the room to the dark sky outside. It was nearly midnight already, leaving now would mean having to wake up the Commander, which wasn’t a smart option. “I’ll leave tomorrow then, I assume I have to return Sunday night to get my next assignment, right?”

Onyx shook his head, “You need to be back Saturday before court starts to receive Princess Celestia’s answer.”

Cinnamon smacked himself in the face, “sweet sisters, how did I forget that?”

“No need to beat yourself up over it, it’s an easy mistake to make after your first request, just a costly one.”

Cinnamon took off his loincloth and slid under his bunk sheet, “Yeah, thank you for that. I don’t think I could ever look her in the eye again if I forgot to come back.”

Onyx nodded, “You’d also never get a maybe from her again. Every creature I know that didn’t make it back in time, whether intentional or not, never got another chance”

Cinnamon nodded as his eyelids grew heavy, “that's good to know.”

He shifted in his bunk a few times before finding a comfortable spot and falling asleep. Onyx stayed awake a little longer, reading today's newspaper before turning in for the night.