What Happens on Saturday

by EliDog

Rating: mature
Tags: Romance, Original Character, Princess Celestia, Sex, Profanity, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Human
Length: 85534

Ground Cinnamon has lived in Equestria all his life, never knowing what happens in the throne room of Canterlot Castle on Saturdays.

Ground Cinnamon; a human living in Equestria since he was found as a baby. Nopony knew where he came from, just that he showed up one night in town square. He grew up into a young man, living and working in a bakery with the family that first found him. Afterwards, he decided to join the Canterlot Guard. Through training and determination, he managed to win a tournament, determining him capable of becoming Celestia’s Personal Guard. When he lost the position in one of the following tournaments, he became one of her court guards. From there, he learned something new and intriguing; something he’s decided to throw his hat in the ring for.

Join Cinnamon as he tries to navigate a real relationship, learning things about himself and the princesses.

Fair warning, The Prologue is a bit dry, setting up the story. The rest of the chapters will not be like that.

This story does contain some clop, which will be indicated with a *

Tags will be updated as they come.

Published 2019-06-23 03:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2024-04-07 21:19:05 UTC

0. Prologue

Author's Note

Some time ago, I was told the first chapter was a bit of an info dump and I'm in agreement.

-To old readers that have already read the first chapter, this is just cutting off all the info dump from the first half of chapter 1 and putting it in its own chapter that readers can skip if they want to.

-To new readers; If you're not a fan of exposition, here's the TL;DR. Cinnamon is a 19 year old Human that appeared in Equestria as a 3 month baby. He had trouble finding a job due to his lack of a cutie mark, so he joined the guard. He then joined a contest that happens 4 times a year to become Princess Celestia's personal guard, which he won after the third try. He held the position for 9 months, during which time, he became closer to the princess. They would make jokes to each other under their breaths and challenge each other to keep a straight face. Unfortunately, it came to an end when he lost a tournament. So he waited to be assigned as a court guard. There, he learned that Saturday was a rather special day for citizens and guard alike. A chance for something more.

0. Prologue

19 years ago, a 3 month old baby human appeared in Equestria wrapped in a blanket. Nobody knows where he came from; he just appeared on Manehattan Square in the morning before the sun was due to rise. A cream colored unicorn mare named Vanilla Crush happened upon him crying on her way to buy ingredients for her bakery. Not knowing what to do, she brought him back to the bakery where her red Pegasus stallion, Coco Harvest, was preparing to make the display cupcakes for the day. They didn’t know what to do, or what he was, or why he was here; so they called the Manehattan Guard for help.

The Guard handed out fliers about a found newborn along with a picture of him. After a week without anyone coming forward to claim the baby, they assumed it was a deformed baby that was abandoned by its parents. So Vanilla and Coco decided to adopt him into their family, named him Ground Cinnamon, and raised him as if he was their own foal. He quickly grew taller than his parents, and before they knew it, he had graduated and was looking for a job. That’s when life became complicated.

His parents helped as best as they could, letting him work in their bakery while he was looking for a full paying job. However, wherever he went, they either weren’t looking to hire someone that didn’t have a special cutie mark for the job, or would only offer to pay him a fraction of a living wage because of it.

Despite that, he continued to try; stores, restaurants, offices, construction, but they stopped being an option for the same reasons. Things weren’t looking good until Vanilla suggested that he could try out for the Guard. She learned they let any species apply with no pay cuts for a stupid reason like not having a specific kind of cutie mark, or a cutie mark at all.

So after some research, he decided he didn’t want to be just any guard; he wanted to be a part of the Royal Canterlot Guard. So with a train ticket to Canterlot and a bag of bits for a hotel room, he went to take the entry test.

There were two parts to the test; A written part and a physical part. The written part had questions asking why he wanted to apply, what he was hoping to get out of it, what would be the best thing to do in certain situations, education, family ties, etc. The physical part was a simply obstacle course that he had to run.

He passed the tests but performed below average for the obstacle course thanks to the irresistible sweets that his parents made. So he had to do an extra month of basic training on top of the required 4 months to shape up because of it.

After he finished basic, he would have to spend the first two years in the guard on wall duty. It was an initiation of sorts, if you couldn’t handle standing guard in the heat or cold for hours, then you weren’t mentally fit for the guard. After that, the doors opened up in the guard. First, you got to choose if you wanted the day shift as a solar guard, or the night shift as a lunar guard. After that, you got to make a list of what positions you wanted from most to the least.

Door duty, wall duty, dungeon guard, hall patrol, court guard, garden patrol, gate duty, city patrol and train inspection duty. You weren’t guaranteed to get your first pick, but the jobs were on weekly rotation and it was a guarantee that you wouldn’t have the same job two times in a row. There were also three special positions in the guard that required something special to apply.

There’s the reserves, which required you to sign a 4 year contract. All you had to do was combat training in preparation of any sort of major conflict that may or may not show up. If you tried to leave before your 4 years were up, you would be sentenced to 10 years in the dungeon and a permanent mark on your record if you tried to look for another job.

Then there were the Ambassador Guards. You were required to go through special combat training that took another two years to complete. You and another guard were responsible for the wellbeing of the ambassador you were assigned to. It was pretty easy, but failing the assignment resulted in a court case to find out which guard was at fault, if not both. Being found guilty for not performing this important role would grant you a dozen years in the dungeon, a hefty fine, a dishonorable discharge from the guard and your name added to a country-wide blacklist from any form of security or guard job.

Finally, there were the Personal guards; the position that Cinnamon was going for. Only four guards were allowed the job and it could change every three months. Half of them were in charge of accompanying the princess’ while they were active in the castle and the other half were in charge of guarded their chamber doors while they slept. Two were assigned to Princess Celestia, and the other two were assigned to Princess Luna. The process itself was a pretty simple one to get the job. Every three months, a contest is held to determine the best creature fit for the jobs. Any guard that passed the first two years of wall duty could throw their helmet into the ring. It also served as a show for the civilians to watch the guard compete.

The contest was divided into two parts. The guards that were competing to be Princess Celestia’s personnel guard were judged by Princess Luna. Princess Celestia could only watch and had no say in Princess Luna’s final decision. The roles were reversed for the guards competing to be Princess Luna’s guard with Princess Celestia having the final say in Princess Luna’s guards.

He participated in the event three times before he was chosen to be one of Princess Celestia’s personal guards. On his first attempt, he fell short heavily due to the unarmed combat portion. Minotaurs were easy to fight, griffins were a bit more challenging but the ponies were the hardest in this event. Even though they were half his size, they were sturdy and their hooves hurt.

When he failed his second competition for the same reasons, he decided to seek training in that area every Sunday for three months. He learned how to incapacitate a pony while keeping damage from those hard hooves to a minimum. It was still difficult to win that portion of the contest since fighting a pony, which were the majority of the other contenders, required him to put himself in awkward, exploitable positions in order to initiate an attack or defend from an attack.

But after his third attempt, he finally made it. He was in one of the most important positions a guard could hold in the canterlot guard, guarding Princess Celestia as she went about her daily business. He worked five days of the week, having Saturday and Sunday off for R&R. But as the months went by, he started to notice a side of the princess that he never saw whenever she oversaw training or addressing the public, she had quite a bubbly personality. The kind of personality that would start to brighten his days on the job, the kind of personality that he started to miss on his days off. She would make small remarks during court that only he could hear standing beside her throne. They weren’t made in poor taste, just little playful remarks that would make Cinnamons’ stoic face falter, and occasionally absent-mindedly say something in response that would bring a small smile to her face. He even got her to snort at one particular remark as well as a quick wing smack to the back of his head for implying that a stallion must’ve ran into Blueblood on the way to court based on how he was waddling away. He felt his heart flutter knowing he made the princess do something quite un-princess like during her court. After that had faded, he suddenly feared for his job, but she didn’t scold him about it. Over the course of a few weeks, he started to push the boundary more and more until they both were making small remarks about every other case. It was quite fun to the point that he didn’t feel like he was doing work anymore, which made it all the harder when he lost the third competition since becoming the princesses guard. He performed sub-par to his normal swordship event and lost the unarmed to a griffin early on in the competition. The griffin had used her tail to knock him off balance, and lunged at him as he was trying to recover. It was humiliating and only got worse when he realized the princesses had watched that happen. It didn’t even last a minute.

He had tried to stay somewhat close to the princess by moving the option to be a court guard from his fifth choice to his first, but it would be weeks before he was chosen for the spot. During that time, he felt… weird. The jobs felt… dull. The pride of serving the guard of Equestria was instead replaced with waiting for the days to end until the week was over and he could receive his new assignment, hoping it would be in the throne room.

On the fifth week, he was finally assigned as a court guard. He stood among a dozen other court guards lining the carpet on the way to the princess. Their job was to make sure only the ponies with an appointment approached her one case at a time, depending on what kind of case was being presented. It was… well it was better, but it wasn’t as enjoyable as when he was standing by her side. He looked at the throne out of the corner of his eye. The griffoness that had bested him was standing at attention, the practiced face that Cinnamon once held when he first had the position. He looked to Princess Celestia, still giving every creature that appeared before her a welcoming smile. While he was looking at her, she had turned her attention to him, catching him in the act of being distracted while on duty. His eyes widened and quickly focused his attention back to the area in front of him, hoping the commander would go easy on him when the princess notified her about his fault.

The chewing out never came though. Every time the commander would walk in his direction, he prepared for the lengthy yelling about the importance of keeping focus on duty, about how pitiful it was that he could let his mind wander so easily like a civilian, but it never came. Even so, he didn’t chance another glance in the princess’ direction.

Then the weekend came. Unlike being a personal guard, he had to work on Saturdays as a court guard. Princess Celestia apparently had a special topic for Saturday's court that he hadn’t known about as her personal guard. Saturdays, Princess Celestia opened her doors to allow anyone come in and ask to court her. It was odd for him to see since the mares were the ones that usually asked stallions out But watching as hundreds of suitors, male and female across multiple species, came and asked the princess if she would have them as her consort, it felt foreign to see.

1. Learning Something New

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

2. Getting Past the Doubt

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.

3. The Time has Come

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.

4. To Go Home (Re-Write 1)

Author's Note

Decided to take out a part of the chapter. The longer I thought on it, the more out of place it felt. I guess I wanted to go a certain direction with it but just never committed to doing it.

4. To Go Home (Re-Write 1)

It was Sunday morning. The sun recently traveling along its path until it was in its spot in the sky. The castle was alive with life as the maids began their weekly cleaning routine of cleaning the castle from top to bottom. The Canterlot reserves were marching into their designated positions; this being the only day they had to perform guard duty to cover for the normal guards day and night off. Princess Celestia was preparing to leave the castle to begin her list of activities planned for the day. Building openings, charity events, orphanage visits, and ending at noon with a Wonderbolts show.

Cinnamon was among the few guards waking up at the rise of the sun instead of sleeping in as he usually does. He wanted to get an early start on the day so he could arrive at home before dinnertime.

He walked through the halls in nothing but his loincloth. He loved these days when he didn’t have to wear armor nor the cloth that covered his upper body so his armor wouldn’t give him blisters or burn his skin under the sun. He’d rather walk around with nothing at all, but he had nothing covering his siring rod from the open world. It was aggravating since he was the only one he knew that had to wear clothing for this reason.

Like every other species, becoming excited would render the loincloth useless; something that has happened a few times before.

He walked down the senior guard offices until he stopped in front of Commander Silver Spirit’s door. The sign nailed on it said she was in so he knocked on her door.

“Enter”

Cinnamon opened the door, stepped inside, and closed it behind him. He walked to the middle of the room and stood at attention. Even though it was his day off, he still needed to follow the rules and stand at attention until the commander acknowledged him.

Silver was sitting on her comfortable rolling chair, busy filling out paperwork; performance reviews, transfer request papers, incident reports, promotion reviews, and making the next weeks guard assignments. It was the busiest day of the week for her.

She peered up at Cinnamon before returning to her paperwork. “What is it Private?”

Cinnamon, his presence being acknowledged, rested in an at-ease position.

“Commander, I need a train ticket to Manehattan.”

She waved a dismissive hoof at him, “then buy one at the train station and quit wasting my time.”

“I was told it would be paid for being a contending suitor to the princess.”

Silver stopped scribbling on her form to look up to Cinnamon. When what he said clicked in her head, she pushed off her desk to roll across her office to the filing drawers at the back. She opened the middle drawer and flicked through it with her wingtips before pulling a sheet out and reading through it. When she found his name on the short list, she put the paper back in and shut the drawer and opening the one below it and grabbing a blank travel form from it.

With a flap of her wings, she propelled herself back to her desk in her chair and started to fill the form out. She paused when she got to the portion that required the train he would take. Opening the side drawer in her desk, she grabbed a scroll of all the train departures from Canterlot and scanned through it until she reached the Manehattan departures.

“There’s a 7:00 and a 12:00 train,” she looked at her clock, “If you leave in the next 15 minutes, you can make the first train before it leaves the station.”

Cinnamon looked at the clock. The only thing he wanted to do before leaving was send a letter to his parents through the express delivery system to tell them he was coming home. Despite knowing that surprising them would be a treat, he needed to tell them beforehand so they could buy enough food before the stores closed.

“I’ll take the 7:00 train.”

She rolled the scroll up before writing in the train number and destination in the allocated spot. When she finished with the form, she placed it on the small pile of completed papers. Reaching into another desk drawer, she grabbed a gold coin and tossed it to Cinnamon, who almost dropped it when he caught it.

The coin was a travel token that was good for any train ride to anywhere in Equestria. The ticket seller would also give a bronze token of the same design for a free return trip to Canterlot.

Silver began to scribble in her forms again, “You are dismissed; I’ll see you next Sunday.”

“You mean Saturday, right?”

“You report for your assignment next Sunday night, I do not care if you arrive earlier, only that you’re here to receive your next assignment. Now, I said dismissed, don’t make me say it a third time.”

Cinnamon stood back at attention, turned around, and walked out of her office.

He quickly walked back to his sleeping quarters, grabbed a quill and paper, and wrote a letter to his parents about his arrival. He then took his loincloths from his chest and put them in his saddlebags along with his letter. Once packed, he slung the saddlebags over his shoulder and left for the castles mailroom located near the entrance.

When he arrived, he gave his letter to the mare at the front desk and paid for the express delivery so it would get to the bakery before he did. Once payment was accepted, the mare behind the desk motioned to one of the pegasi in the back. A purple pegasus mare trotted up, took the letter, and secured it in a small bag that was fastened around her neck. After finishing her checks that made sure the letter would never fall out, she jumped out the window and started flying in the direction of Manehattan.

Cinnamon watched the mare get smaller and smaller into the sky as he walked through the front gatehouse. He wished he had wings. An average pegasus could make it to Manehattan in four hours instead of the 9 hours it took by train.

Canterlot was also buzzing with activity as ponies walked to work or stores for the morning produce run. Upper Canterlot was mostly filled with rich and/or attractive ponies that walked through the streets. Normally, they would stick their noses up and ignore Cinnamon like they did when he first walked through town; however, due to his unique physique, they recognized him as a Canterlot Castle Guard. It didn’t grant him any unique attention but most of them didn’t turn their noses up at him now.

Cinnamon continued walking down Canterlot’s main road that started at the train station and went straight to the Castle. Once out of upper Canterlot, he walked into Lower Canterlot. Lower Canterlot comprised more of the middle class creatures and had an actual market where creatures from every city sold all kinds of merchandise.

He finally arrived at the Canterlot Train Station with a train sitting there being loaded with a dozen passengers. The one perk of an early train ride out of Canterlot was the lack of other passengers. If he waited for the 12:00 train, it would most likely be packed with hundreds of creatures instead of the dozen or two now.

He walked over to the train ticket vendor.

“One ticket to Manehattan,” Cinnamon said as he slid the gold token through the slot in the bars.

The stallion took the token and inspected it, making sure it wasn’t a forgery. He placed the token into a strongbox after verifying it was the real thing; grabbed a train ticket and a bronze token before sliding them back through the bars to Cinnamon.

“Have a good trip.”

Cinnamon nodded as he took his items, “Thank you.”

He turned around as he put his bronze token into his saddlebag and boarded the train.

When he first came to Canterlot to be a guard, the train had been much smaller, sized to carry ponies and creatures of similar size. He had to bend over so he wouldn’t hit the ceiling and he took up an entire booth instead of one seat. Now, the trains have been resized to accommodate creatures with a minotaurs stature. Cinnamon didn’t have to cram himself into the train and smaller creatures could lie down in their seats as if they were small beds. It was the best change Cinnamon has seen since becoming a guard.

He chose to enter the first train car since most commuters tend to stay away from the noisy train engine. Not because he wanted to be alone, but because he preferred the rhythmic chugging noise of the wheels being turned over the chatter of creatures in his car.

Minutes passed before the train whistle sounded, indicating that it would leave the station in 60 seconds. Cinnamon spent the time getting comfortable in his booth for the long ride ahead. The train jostled and started to move forward.

Chug… chug… chug. Chug. Chug. Chug, chug, chug chug chug chug chug chug.

Cinnamon sighed and melted into the seat, finally finding that really relaxing spot. Now he only had to wait for the ticket puncher to come verify his ticket purchase before he could go to the food car and get some breakfast.

Thirty minutes passed before the ticket puncher came into the car. He walked down the walkway until he reached Cinnamon.

“Ticket please.”

Cinnamon grabbed the ticket out of his saddle bags and gave it to the pony.

He looked over it, stamped it, and returned it to Cinnamon before walking toward the back of the train.

Cinnamon put his ticket back into his saddlebag, grabbed his Bit bag and started to make his way to the food car.

It was a cozy car. Booths lined the left side while a food bar with stools on the right. The bar held pre-made food in it along with an assortment of foal friendly drinks. There were also a dozen creatures sitting in seats, conversing in groups and eating alone. There were 4 groups of ponies, a gray minotaur with black head hair, two vibrant changelings conversing with a black one, and a light blue hippogriff with a white mane.

Cinnamon sat down in one of the empty booths since the stools at the bar were made of wood and would hurt his ass if he sat on one too long. He grabbed a menu from a menu holder on the table. He skimmed through the menu and found that they had one of his favorite sandwiches in stock, an egg salad sandwich.

He got up from the booth and walked over to the counter that the food pony stood behind.

Cinnamon placed three bits on the counter, “Egg salad sandwich and a water please.”

The food pony took the bits and shuffled through her inventory before placing the wrapped sandwich and water in front of Cinnamon. He thanked her and began to turn to walk to his booth. Mid-way through, he noticed the hippogriff with a bowl of fruit was looking at him. He stopped turning and looked back at him. They looked at each other for half a minute before the hippogriff realized that Cinnamon was returning the gaze.

Realizing he had been caught staring, he took a menu and hid his face behind it, ignoring his fruit breakfast. Meanwhile, Cinnamon was shaking his head with an uneasy feeling of nostalgia. He hadn’t received a look like that since he first walked through Canterlot; mixed looks of shock, fear and even a few of curiosity.

He smiled as he continued walking to his booth. Canterlot Castle had made him feel normal enough though, being treated like every other creature.

He sat down and began to eat his sandwich and watched the scenery pass by. The train had reached the bottom of the mountain and was passing through the wide open plains. They’d be passing over the river from Neighagra Falls in another hour. He could see the top of Mount Everhoof over the horizion.

Half an hour later, he finished the last of his sandwich and water. He stood up and walked back to his train car.

Another bonus from riding in the front car is nobody complaining when he grabbed a few extra small pillows from other booths. He managed to grab a dozen pillows on his way to his seat.

Once he even took the seat cushions from every booth and placed it in the space between his booth seats to make a makeshift bed. He enjoyed that train ride the most, but the crewpony was less than impressed when he came in to wake Cinnamon up before they arrived at their destination.

He arranged the pillows so his seat turned into an improvised throne with armrests. A little clunky due to the small size of the pillows, but it worked.

Just as he was settling into his new seat, he heard the car door open behind him. Cinnamon cursed his rotten luck under his breath; he knew the crewpony coming down the walkway would see his abuse of the train’s furniture, suggest he put them back where they belong and not leave him alone until it was done.

He shrank in his seat. Since he was sitting nearly at the front booth, he was hoping the crewpony would turn around before reaching him. The steps grew closer and closer to his booth until a familiar hippogriff appeared from around the seat. He looked in the booth opposite of Cinnamon first before turning his head and finding Cinnamon looking back.

Seeing that it wasn’t the dreaded crewmember he was expecting, Cinnamon sat back up in his seat.

“Hi there!” The hippogriff said in a cheery, feminine voice.

Cinnamon mentally pinched his nose; he really needed to improve on knowing the difference between genders with hippogriffs. He only knew the females had slightly smaller beaks compared to the males. Difficult to tell if they’re looking directly at you and harder still since she was only the third hippogriff he’s ever personally seen at this point.

“Hello”

“Is this seat taken?” she asked, pointing to the empty seat across from him with her claw.

“It’s not; feel free to make yourself comfortable.”

She jumped onto the booth and sat directly across from him.

“So… How can I help you?” Cinnamon asked.

She cleared her throat, “Well, to start, my name’s Lily Angeltail. Could I ask you a few questions?”

Cinnamon smiled, so that was why she was giving him such a curious look in the food car.

“Sure, I can answer some questions. By the way, my name’s Ground Cinnamon; Cinnamon for short.”

Her smile widened, “Nice to meet you Cinnamon. So, what are you?”

Straight to the point but he could only shrug in response, “I don’t know.”

She tilted her head, “How do you not know?”

“I kinda just appeared in Manehattan one day. Nocreature knows where I came from and the princesses have never seen another of my kind before.”

Cinnamon looked over Lily; this would actually be a perfect time to learn more about hippogriffs.

“Actually, could I ask a few questions as well? We could do a back and forth.”

“Sure! Ask away.”

Cinnamon thought of a question to ask her. There were a few things he would like to know, but he figured he should start simple.

“Well, what brings you to Equestria?”

“Since Seaquestria lifted the embargo on Equestria, I came to see all the creatures I learned about when I was little. I got a little excited in Canterlot though, so I only really saw ponies. I heard there were a lot of griffins in Manehattan, so I’m going there next.

“What about you? Why are you going to Manehattan?”

“I’m heading home for the week for my time off from the Castle Guard.”

Lily gasped. Cinnamon could swear that he could see literal sparkles in her eyes, “You’re in the castle guard!?”

Cinnamon smiled, “Ah ah, it’s my turn to ask a question. Why are you taking a train to Manehattan? Couldn’t you just fly there?”

“I don’t know the flight laws well enough; I got two tickets on my way to Canterlot. Besides…” She looked out the window, “… the sights are just as good from down here as they are up there. I do miss the feeling of wind against my face though.”

Cinnamon nodded, he heard plenty of stories from the flight patrol about ticketing ponies and griffins. One griffin was so stubborn about the flight zones that he had two dozen tickets before he got to Vanhoover.

“Fair enough.”

Lily got that excited look in her eyes again, “So, Castle Guard? What’s it like? What are the princess’ like? Is the castle as glorious as everycreature says?”

“Woah! That’s too many questions! One at a time!”

She sighed, thinking which one she wanted to ask first.

“Tell you what,” Cinnamon said, “I’ll answer them all if you answer a more personal question from me.”

“Sure!”

“Alright, well, being a Castle guard is a time consuming job but I love it. This is actually the first time I’ve had more than a day or two off. As for the princess’, they’re great. Powerful, majestic, wise and, while I haven’t seen it myself, they say Princess Luna is a ruthless strategist. That was all of them, right?”

“The castle, what about the castle?”

“Oh! Right, well… it’s a sight like no other… also a great place to live, once you learn the hallways and stop getting lost at least.”

“Now I wish I went to see it, but there was a waiting list! I only got to see the walls.”

Lily’s ears folded down in disappointment. Cinnamon looked at her while thinking to himself. There were forms a guard could fill out to give tours to somecreature. Most guards used it to take their families through the castle. His parents would come every so often, but haven’t paid a visit in nearly a year.

“You know… I could move some things around to give you a tour around th-“

He wasn’t able to finish his sentence as Lily practically body slammed him, causing the pillows to fall out of place.

She was hugging him tightly, “REALLY! That would be AWESOME!”

Cinnamon smiled as he hugged her back, patting her on the neck. A small part of him wanted to say that it was no big deal, since it was just a few minutes of filling out a form. Instead, he kept it to himself; basking in the false feeling of temporary importance.

Lily pulled away from the hug and decided to sit next to Cinnamon, “So what’s your personal question?”

Cinnamon’s averted his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck, “well, despite the kind of job I have, I don’t really know much about hippogriffs.” He looked at Lily, “how do you tell the difference between a male and female hippogriff? I find it difficult to accurately tell between the two.”

She raised a brow, “really?”

He nodded, “Including you, I’ve only met three hippogriffs. I wasn’t really paying attention to detail when I met them.”

“Oh,” she turned herself so her body was facing him. She leaned in close to his face before tapping a talon against her beak, “Females have a smaller beak than males. Many of us also have this small curve to it,” she said as she pointed to where her beak met her face, “But not always; our queen doesn’t have it, so size is the best way to identify us.”

She put her talon back on the seat and puffed her chest feathers out, “we also have more plumage in the chest area than males.”

Cinnamon looked at her fluff, then back to her face. He didn’t know about hippogriff culture, but pegasi would show off their plumage for... intimate reasons. Maybe Hippogriffs were more relaxed about it than pegasi; They have been seaponies for quite some time.

“You didn’t have to show me, I’m familiar with the plumage on pegasi mares.”

She shrugged it off, “I thought showing you would be better than just telling you.”

She tapped her talons together, “Since we’re asking personal questions now, can I feel your arms?”

“uh, sure.” Cinnamon said, lifting his arm so it was within grabbing distance to Lily.

His muscles weren’t as big as a minotaur, but he had decent muscles from guard training.

She looked at his bicep before wrapping her talons around it and giving it a squeeze.

“So,” he spoke up, “what is the culture like in Seaquestria?”

“Lacking,” she muttered as she moved her talons down to feel his forearm. “It’s a big, underwater cavern. We weren’t allowed to go to the surface and swimming out to the ocean was dangerous with all the predators out there. Shell collection’s and Kelp growing competitions were all we had. Queen Novo and Princess Skystar were the only two there that made the place bearable to me.”

“That does sound pretty dull; so is the surface exciting enough for you?”

She giggled and let got of his arm, seemingly content with her investigation. “Absolutely! I’ve never seen so much variety! The houses, the food, even the species! There’s so much of everything!” The excited mare had stars in her eyes and was bouncing in her seat.

She took a deep breath and exhaled, closing her eyes and calming herself down, “so yeah, super exciting. I’m looking forward to Cloudsdale the most; I heard everything is entirely made of clouds!”

He chuckled and nodded, “I’ve heard the same. I could never go myself though.”

She cocks her head to one side, “why?”

“I can’t fly and the magical amulets they give to land creature as day passes don’t work on me very well.” When she opened her mouth to reply, he held up a finger to her beak, “And before you ask, no, I don’t really know why. For some reason, magic is weird on me. Doctors say I’m like a sponge for magic, absorbing it when it touches me. So magic needs to be more powerful than normal just to work normally.”

“Well that doesn’t sound fun; what if you need to go to the doctor’s?”

“I just need a specialist, which I have in Canterlot and in the guard. Though, it could be an issue if I get hurt on vacation. It’s not all gloom though. The benefit, especially for my job, is offensive magic doesn’t hurt as much. Something that would wound another guard only bruises me. And something that would kill them only wounds me. It’s saved me a couple times in the past. So… yeah, I’ve learned to live with it.”

A silence settled over them; at least, as silent as it could be being so close as they were to the locomotive.

The rest of the train ride was spent making small talk. He didn’t learn much about Seaquestria since she became bored whenever the topic was brought up. And, despite her enthusiasm about what he was, he couldn’t provide her with many answers. He didn’t know what a female of his species looked like or why he had hair in a few places but not all over him.

Their conversations eventually peetered out. They changed seats so Lily could watch the scenery pass by through the window while Cinnamon got comfortable in his little makeshift pillow chair and took a nap..

Cinnamon woke to a hoof tapping his shoulder. He looked to his right to see the Ticketmaster.

"We'll be arriving in Manehattan in 15 minutes." He looked at the extra pillows around them, "And please put those pillows back where they belong."

Cinnamon nodded, "Thank you, and I will."

The Ticketmaster nodded and walked out the back of the car. Cinnamon looked to his left at Lily, who was leaning toward the window, sleeping.

He rested a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her in an attempt to wake her. "Lily, wake up."

She grumbled a little but remained asleep.

He gently nudged her again, "Lily."

Her eyes fluttered open. She sat up, yawned and stretched out her forelimbs. She smacked her beaks together and slowly glanced in his direction.

"We're almost there."

"Hm?" she hummed, looking out the train window. "I guess I should get back to my seat."

She jumped over him, landed in the aisle and stretching her hind legs and wings. She began to walk toward the back of the train before stopping and looking back at Cinnamon.

“Soo… see you in Canterlot?”

“Hm?” He asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

“The tour of the castle, right?”

“Oh! Yeah, yes. Just, let me know when you’re in the city. It takes about a day for the papers to go through.”

She nodded, "alright, yeah, I'll do that then. See ya later Cinnamon."

She waved goodbye to Cinnamon, a gesture that he returned, before she walked through the back door and closing it.

Cinnamon stood up and started to put all the pillows back in each booth before returning to his own and waited for the train to come to arrive at the station. The brakes squealed as the train slowed down to a stop.

Looking out the window, there were a few ponies standing around the platform and sitting in the benches.

Once the train finally stopped moving, Cinnamon stood up and walked to the nearest exiting door. When he stepped out, he stretched his arms to relieve the stiffness from being in the same position for the past few hours.

Content with his stretch, he began to walk down the road toward his parents bakery.

5. Family Reunion (Re-write 1)

Cinnamon walked down a busy street of Manehattan alongside creatures on their way home from work. Griffins and Pegasi flew over the buildings, some pulling carriages behind them.

He didn’t have to walk for long before he saw the sign of his parent’s bakery, Sweet Sensations. A few creatures were leaving the bakery while he approached.

He opened the front door, ringing the little bell dangling behind it. The interior looked exactly like it had when he first left to join the guard. The large display tables filled with cakes, cupcakes, brownies, cookies, and pastries. Only a few tables were placed in the front area since most creatures that came in were buying sweets to go.

He looked around the room; neither of his parents were behind the counter and only two tables had creatures in it. One had two stallions gossiping to each other while the other table had a bat pony mare sitting at it, scribbling into a large scroll with a quill.

He continued to look at her for a second more. It was odd to see a bat pony out and about this early; the moon wasn’t due to rise for two more hours. Even the Lunar Guard didn’t get up this early to prepare for duty.

He returned his attention on the door to the kitchen as he approached the front counter. He could hear the sounds of utensils clanging against each other as well as water flowing from a faucet.

When he got to the register, he rang the little bell on the counter.

His Mothers voice came from the back, “We’re closing early today, we only have what’s left in the glass displays.”

Cinnamon tapped the bell again.

He barely heard a grunt of annoyance as well as clatter of metal on metal.

The doors opened as Vanilla walked through and she looked… tired with light bags under her eyes When she noticed him, her eyes widened and jumped at him with outstretched forelegs.

“CINNAMON!”

He opened his arms to catch her from the air, wrapping his arms around her as she wrapped her forelegs around his neck. He reveled in the comfort that Vanilla’s welcoming hug gave him. Something he hadn’t felt in years.

He hugged her for a few more seconds before giving her a final squeeze and pulled her back. His smile faded when he noticed the bags under her eyes.

“You don’t look so good mom… you didn’t actually go through with that fast delivery idea, did you?”

She shook her head as he put her back down to the ground, rubbing one of her eyes with a hoof.

“I haven’t been able to get much sleep these past few months,” she said before a long yawn escaped her mouth.

“Well, if you were just closing up, I could finish up while you go home.”

“What? This is supposed to be your vacation, I couldn’t possibly ask you to do that.”

“I insist mom, you look like you could use some time off from the job.”

She rolls her eyes, “I can handle myself for another measly hour before locking up. Though, if you want to start cleaning the kitchen, we could leave as soon as we lock up.”

Cinnamon nodded and walked through the kitchen doors. Cleanup was simple, his mom had a habit of cleaning as she cooked so there were only a dozen pans and bowls that still needed to be washed. Then the floor would be mopped, tables wiped, and the ovens cleaned out. In total, it only took him forty-five minutes to finish.

When he came back to the front counter, most of the sweets were sold and the store was currently empty. Feeling the shift of air from the kitchen doors opening, Vanilla looked back at him with a smile. “I’ve been meaning to ask, what the hay did you do to get a week away from the guard? You never mentioned why in your letter.”

He looked around the empty store again to make sure nocreature could overhear their conversation, “I kinda asked out Princess Celestia.”

“You did WHAT?”

He recoiled a little from the sudden outburst, certainly glad there were no others in the store. But he was sure somecreature outside probably heard something.

She composed herself and started to speak at a lower volume. “I’m so glad to hear you’re finally coming out of your shell about dating but walking out the doors and asking the princess? Why would you try to appeal to a mare that has such high standards!? I know a cute young delivery mare that works around the corner, or what about Sugar Rose? She’s always had a thing for you.”

Cinnamon sighed while rolling his eyes, “Sugar Rose only sees me as a big mobile cooler mom. She bullied me in school until she found out I could sate her heat without getting her pregnant. Why are you being like this? So what if I asked out the princess?”

Vanilla rubbed her tired eyes before dramatically dragging her hooves down her cheeks, “I just don’t want you to go back to avoiding dating because it didn’t work with the princess.”

Cinnamon frowned, “Mom, for the first time in a really long time, I felt like I actually connected with somecreature; not just to mate or because of what I was. Just standing there beside her made me feel… happy and I think I made her happy too. She has this thing where a stallion could ask her out without appearing odd; I thought it was enough to at least try.”

“Yes, but sweetheart-“

He placed a finger on her lips, “I know it’s not likely going to be accepted… but I thought you’d at least be supportive of this.”

She put a hoof on his arm to remove his finger from her muzzle, “I will support your choice, but that doesn’t mean I won’t worry about it. You deserve a good mare to take care of you but trying to put the princess in that spot…”

“I get it,” he stroked her neck with his hand, making her lean against it and closing her tired eyes from the mini massage, “Now go home, I’ll take what we didn’t sell to the orphanage and I’ll be right home.”

She nodded and began to walk toward the door before stopping, perking her ears up, and turning back to Cinnamon, “Also, Could you put some mango’s in the fridge? A cute bat mare has been here all day writing in her scroll. I’m hoping she’ll come again tomorrow and I want to make something right away if she does.”

Cinnamon raised an eyebrow. He thought it was uncommon for a thestral to be an early rising pony, but all day? He’d never heard of a bat pony that completely switched their usual sleep schedule.

“Really? All day? She never left the store?”

Vanilla began to excitedly hop between her front hooves. If she didn’t have bags under her eyes, Cinnamon would’ve thought she just had a cup of coffee. “She didn’t. She was here all day and ordering mango smoothies and cherry pies for meals. I think she might be a screenwriter”

Cinnamon smiled, so that was why she was suddenly full of energy; she loved watching plays and by relation, the screenwriters that wrote them.

“Alright mom, I’ll be sure to do that. Now go home.”

Vanilla nodded and went through the kitchen door to walk out the front of the shop.

Cinnamon spent the next half hour packing a dozen baked goods and cleaning all the tables in the store area and put the rag in the basket with the other dirty rags. He turned the lights off and started his walk towards the local orphanage to drop off the food. The orphanage owner thanked him just like she used to when he was younger, then headed off to his parent’s house.

It was a 10 minute walk to get out of the city and into the suburban area that surrounded Manehattan. Another 5 minutes of walking passed before he arrived at his parents’ home.

Due to his parent’s popularity at the bakery, they were able to afford a house with 6 bedrooms and, 5 bathrooms. It was nice and roomy but a bit empty feeling when Cinnamon was still young. The extra rooms were for when his grandponies would come to visit.

He opened the front door and loudly announcing his presence with, “I’m home!”

“I’m setting up the table!” Coco yelled from down the hall.

He walked through the hallway to get to the dining room where Coco was setting food on the table. There were apples, carrots, flowers, mashed potatoes, peas, and a pitcher of water. Coco was carrying in a bowl of salad, which would complete the table.

“Hey dad, how are you doing?”

Coco smiled at Cinnamon; also having bags under his eyes, “I’m doing fine,” he opened his mouth in a large yawn, “a little sleep deprived I’m afraid.”

He placed the bowl of salad down in the center of the table before sitting down in his usual spot at the end of the table. “So, I hear you’re trying to date a princess.” He said with a raised brow, “Your mother didn’t go into detail about it, care to fill me in?”

I really should hang a sign around my neck so I can stop repeating myself, he thought to himself.

Cinnamon pulled a chair out and sat at the corner next to his dad, “well, there’s not a lot to fill you in with. I asked to court Princess Celestia because there was a side to her I really liked.”

“And it’s not because of her position?”

“No dad,” Cinnamon said with a huff.

Coco held up his forehooves defensively, “I just needed to know,” He put his hoves back down. “I know too many stallions that are Royalty Reachers; last thing I wanted to hear was my son being one of those bit digging whorses.”

Cinnamon smiled, he knew what kind of stallions his dad was talking about; he saw quite a few of those them when he was on guard duty during the courtship court.

“I actually do like her. It still feels weird that I was the one asking though.”

“So do you have a plan?”

Cinnamon gave Coco a questioning look, “What do you mean?”

Without missing a heartbeat, “do you have a plan for when she says yes?”

His dad’s immediate response and confidence in his words gave Cinnamon pause.

“You mean if she says yes…”

“Any mare would be lucky to have you as their stallion. I have no doubt a Princess like Princess Celestia would see that and act on it.”

Cinnamon’s cheeks began to heat up. His dad was known to give him this kind of positive reinforcement when Cinnamon was feeling inadequate in the dating area when he was younger.

He put his hands over his face to hide his reaction from Coco, “Come on dad, this isn’t like school.”

He shrugged, “I stand by it.”

At that moment, Vanilla walked into the dining room. Cinnamon peeked through his fingers and his eyes widened from what he saw.

Being carried on Vanilla’s back was a light red Pegasus foal.

He couldn’t do anything but watch as Vanilla levitated a booster seat from the kitchen, placed it on a chair, and placed the foal in it.

“Moooom…?” was all Cinnamon could bring himself to say.

“Hm?” she looked at Cinnamon and noticed the look he was giving the foal.

She looked between the foal and Cinnamon, “this is Crushed Paprika… we sent a letter about her to you.”

Cinnamon continued to stare at Paprika, “You definitely did not; I would’ve remembered reading something like that.”

“We didn’t?” Vanilla tapped a hoof against her chin, “I could’ve sworn we did… Coco dear, didn’t we send Cinnamon a letter about Paprika?”

Coco rested a hoof on the table to hold up his head, “That was nearly a year ago when she was born. I can barely remember what happened a few weeks ago, much less a year.”

Cinnamon looked at the foal once more before looking at his parents sleep deprived eyes. “Well, this explains why you haven’t come to visit for so long.”

Vanilla sat down in the chair next to Paprika, “we’re sorry sweetie I-“

Cinnamon cut her off, “no no, nothing to apologize about. I’m sure you meant to tell me but I can understand that you may have become,” he looked at Paprika again, “busy.”

Coco chuckled, “that’s an understatement. Paprika here learned how to fly unusually early so she’s been a bit of a hoofful for these past few months.”

Vanilla nodded, “we had to buy a foal strap so she would stop trying to fly out of her chair when we fed her.”

Cinnamon looked at Paprika and noticed she wasn’t wearing the mentioned strap, “You might want to get it quick then.”

Coco shook his head, “She doesn’t need it anymore; she’s learned not to fly while sitting at the table. Doesn’t stop her from flying out of the crib though and doctors say it can be harmful to use the strap on her overnight.”

“When’s she supposed to get over that phase?”

“Well, normally around age 2 but since she’s an early flier, we’re hoping she’ll grow out of it in a few more months.”

Vanilla levitated a small bowl of applesauce to her with a small, foal sized spoon.

“Let’s eat before Paprika has a fit.”

Dinner passed quickly with chatter of Cinnamon’s guard life over the past year and the bakery. The night was cut short though when Paprika grew tired, triggering Vanilla and Coco’s desire to go to bed as quickly as they could.

So Cinnamon did as well, retiring to his old room, getting ready for bed, and falling asleep. He sighed as he made himself more comfortable; he had forgotten what it felt like to be in an actual bed instead of the bunks at the castle. Sleep came easily.

Cinnamon was in a pitch-black room; darkness where walls should be and the only portion of the floor visible under a circular light from an unseen source. With him was Princess Celestia without her regal attire smiling at him.

“So, what shall we do now?” She asked with her calming voice.

Cinnamon started to sweat as more floor started to come into view. Behind Celestia was a large bed that could easily hold four of her. Hanging from the ceiling above was a floating ring that held a thin, nearly transparent sheet which draped over the bed.

“Um… Wha- what do you mean.”

“ ‘Tis time for us to retire for the night,” she turned to walk toward the bed, her flank swaying from side to side with each step; her tail lifted enough to tease without revealing herself to him.

He couldn’t lie to himself; her erotic display was affecting him. The mares he had been with didn’t put effort into being alluring. Usually they would ask if he wanted to rut, or just flag their tails at him. Not that he’d complain to his previous partners, but this… this felt different.

He found himself moving toward her until he stood at the edge of the bed. She was lying on her side with her belly toward him. She was facing him, her head slightly lowered so her eyes were looking up to him.

If he died right now, he’d die a happy stallion.

“So, what stall we do?”

He started to crawl over to her but paused halfway. Did he really want to do this? Well, yes, he did but something felt… wrong. He never had a problem with other mares, so why was he hesitating now?

Celestia gave him a curious look as he sat down a foot away from her. Was he getting cold hooves? No, something else felt wrong, something felt off.

He looked around the room. Celestia’s curious look turned to worry, a face that Cinnamon didn’t see as he looked around.

He looked back to Celestia, who managed to return to a sultry look before he noticed. He gave her a curious look, “can we do anything?”

She nodded, “Of course, you are our consort. Why else would you be in our quarters?”

Cinnamon’s eyes lit up, that must’ve been the weird feeling; he had forgotten that he was her consort.

Now that his doubts were cleared, he looked back down to the mare next to him. There was something he had been fantasizing about for a long time.

He crawled over to her so he was right above her and placed his hands on each side of her barrel. He fell down behind her while slipping his right arm under her. He wrapped his left hand around the left side of her barrel and joined both his hands together in front of her chest.

He pulled her to him, causing her to squeak in surprise. For the first time in his life, he was cuddling somecreature that was his own size. Minotaurs could take the place in size but their cuddles were less… cuddly. Like hugging a tree. Celestia, on the other hand, felt nice to cuddle with. Her fur was so soft and warm; her corporeal hair blew in the air and tickled his nose.

“mmph, this was not wha-,” she paused as Cinnamon nuzzled and sighed into her neck, “not what we meant.”

But Cinnamon paid her no mind, she had said anything he wanted and he was getting exactly that. He was even being the big spoon! He had wondered how a mare felt whenever they spooned him and now he knew; it was amazing.

He had to be careful though; if he started to do this a lot, he might lose cuddling privileges with Celestia.

A few more seconds passed by before Celestia relaxed into his grasp. She pushed her body to make as much contact with Cinnamon as she could then hummed with content.

They stayed in that position for 10 minutes. Cinnamon almost fell asleep before Celestia slipped out of his grasp, stood up, walked a few steps away and turned to face him. Her pupils were smaller than normal but he was distracted by the frown she was giving him.

“Is something wrong?”

“You are dismissed”

Cinnamon gave her a confused look, “Dismissed? But I thoug-“

“Dismissed! You have served your purpose, now leave.”

Purpose? What was she talking about?

As Cinnamon was in thought, more creatures started to appear from the darkness behind Celestia. Most of them were ponies, including a couple griffins, a hippogriff and all female.

“Did you really think a princess would be interested in you?” a mare in the back shouted. Though he couldn’t see her, he recognized the voice as Ocean Rain.

“It’s not like you’re the only thing that can sate heat without pregnancy,” Sugar Rose, his once school bully tuned buckbuddy said.

“Don’t you think she’d rather bed an attractive pony?” a pony named Emerald Glow asked. Another pony he knew from school; last he heard, she managed to grab a modeling stallion into her herd.

They continued to shout insults at him until it all blended into a loud, incomprehensible noise. All the while, Celestia continued to stare at him with her frown. She never said a word to him, which made him feel worse than anything the mares behind her said.

Then Celestia’s pupils grew, returning to normal as she whipped her head around to see everything that was happening. She reared onto her hind legs, wings flaring as she brought down all her strength against the ground with her front legs.

Everything was shattered. The ground splintered, the mares crumbled like a destroyed building, and Cinnamon’s vision cracked like glass. For less than a second, he could see 7 images of the same Celestia jump into the air to fly off before everything went dark.

Cinnamon woke up in his bed with a start. He was sweating and breathing heavily. Realizing it had all been a nightmare; he took a deep breath, and exhaled to calm himself down.

He looked out his bedroom window to see it was still dark outside.

He stepped out of bed and paced the room so his sweat could cool off his body and give his bed some time to dry. He looked at the clock to see it would still be 3 hours before the sun was due to rise.

Not content with the speed at which he was drying, he went into the bathroom to grab a towel and started to pat himself dry.

After he was done, he went back to his bed and laid the towel over his damp sheets. Content that he wouldn’t get cold from the sheets, he closed his eyes to go back to sleep.

Despite the nightmare he just experienced, sleep came fast to him. Only, this time, it was a nice, dreamless sleep.

6. A Fun Filled Day

Cinnamon lied awake in bed, the sun pouring through the window to illuminate the room. He stretched his arms and legs out, receiving a pleasant feeling from doing so. Once finished, he got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom to relieve himself, then take a shower.

After finishing his morning routine, he walked downstairs into the kitchen to see Coco and Paprika already at the table eating breakfast. Coco had a bowl of Hay-O’s while feeding Paprika a bottle of milk.

“Morning Dad,” Cinnamon said while rummaging through the pantry for his own cereal, Wheat Hooves. Since his body apparently couldn’t digest hay based foods, he had to go with a dietary cereal that was wheat based. He didn’t mind that though; of all the diet foods he tried, Wheat Hooves are one of the few dietary foods that were actually tasty.

“Good morning Cinnamon, enjoy your sleep?”

Cinnamon grabbed a bowl and spoon and started to fill the bowl. He then reached over to the fridge, grabbed a glass of milk, and poured it into the bowl. He put the milk back into the fridge and walked over to the table to eat breakfast.

“It was okay, I think I had a nightmare though.”

“Well that’s no good, what was it about?”

Cinnamon scrunched his brows in thought. “You know… I don’t remember. I woke up in the middle of the night sweating heavily.” He drummed his fingers on the table, “Maybe I became too comfortable with Princess Luna watching over my dreams while sleeping in the castle.”

“That could be. Sorry to hear you had one on your first night home.”

“It’s fine. I’m more disappointed that I can’t remember what it was.” Princess Luna offers dream courses to guards that want them. I was mentally strong enough to pass the bottom line to be a guard; maybe taking some of her lessons would be a good idea.

“Anyway, has mom taken over running the bakery since Paprika was born?”

“Vanilla was the one staying home taking care of her for the first 6 months while I ran the bakery alone. When it was time to wean her, we switched roles; I take care of her while Vanilla runs the shop. Once she gets old enough for daycare, we can go back to running the store together.”

“Daycare?”

He nodded, “We were juggling the idea of continuing to have one work at the store while the other stayed home but it takes too much out of us. We even thought about having her at the store while we worked but an energetic pegasus foal is not something we’d want around the bakery. Maybe if she was a unicorn but flying over raw ingredients would be a health hazard.”

Cinnamon nodded after finishing his breakfast, “So is this what you do all day? Watch over her?”

He nodded, “For the most part; it got a lot easier once we got her potty trained. Now I only have to make sure there’s no windows she can fly out of and feed her when it’s time.”

Coco took his bowl and started to clean it. He looked back to Cinnamon, “Oh, I almost forgot to mention, Vanilla’s closing the shop after the breakfast rush ends so we can all go to the park today.”

“Really? Huh, that could be fun; I haven’t been to a park in years.”

Coco nodded, “And we’ll go out for dinner afterwards.”

A few hours passed before Vanilla returned home. Afterward, they all left the house and headed toward Manehattan Park. It was a 10 minute walk before they reached the edge of the park’s grass. Coco set Paprika on the ground and let her fly off, heading toward the park’s playground. Cinnamon, Vanilla, and Coco sat down on a bench that overlooked the playground.

The day was pleasantly warm with the sun shining and not a cloud in the air. A small breeze traveled through the air, passing over the three of them.

“How has the guard treated you?” Vanilla asked Cinnamon.

“It’s been good so far. Good meals, hot water, and clean living quarters. Although, the beds could be better; it’s a bit difficult to get to sleep on those things… pretty stiff.”

“We could buy you a better one if you need it, or you could take the one from home.”

Cinnamon smiled and shook his head, “Can’t as a castle guard. We’re not allowed to bring many personal belongings; I almost wasn’t allowed to have the loincloths I brought with me. Everything else is provided by the Princesses.”

“Oh, well that’s a shame.”

He shrugged, “A small bump on an otherwise smooth job. I’ll just have to get used to it again after this week’s over.”

Paprika flew over to where they were sitting and landed in front of them. Her wings were spread as she hopped from side to side.

Both Coco and Vanilla hopped off the bench, “looks like she wants to play dodge.”

“Dodge?”

Vanilla nodded, “mhm, I will shoot harmless balls of magic at Paprika and your father while they try to dodge them.” She jumps and runs to a field that doesn’t have ponies around.

Cinnamon watched as they played dodge. Coco and Paprika evaded most of them but a few would connect and send one of them spinning in the air. Whenever Paprika was the one spinning, she’d always giggle and scream happily.

Watching them fly was pretty entertaining until a pair of talons covered Cinnamon’s eyes.

“Guess who?”

Cinnamon smiled, recognizing the voice immediately, “Hmm, Talons and a voice I heard so much yesterday? Lily?

The talons fell away from his eyes, one sliding over his ear and giving his head a playful push to the side. “Aw, you’re no fun,” Lily said, flapping her wings to jump over the bench and landing to sit next to him.

“So how has Manehattan been?” Cinnamon asked.

“I love it! The building designs are so different from what I’ve seen so far, and the city is HUGE!”

“Glad to hear you’re enjoying it. Save your last stop for the Crystal Kingdom though, there’s nothing like that place; best place to end your tour of Equestria.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Coco and Vanilla walked back to the bench, Paprika now playing with another little pegasus that looked to be around her own age.

“Oh? Cinnamon, who’s this?” Coco asked.

“Mom, Dad, this is Lily Angeltail; I met her on the train ride here. Lily, this is Vanilla Crush and Coco Harvest; they’re the ones that raised me.”

Coco raised a foreleg for a hoofbump, which Lily grabbed with a talon and shook. Coco, a little confused, put down his hoof and gave her a small smile.

“Sorry,” Lily apologized, rubbing her foreleg, “I’m still getting used to greetings.”

Cinnamon couldn’t help but smile as Vanilla showed Lily how to hoofbump, “She’s traveling around Equestria cities and towns.”

“Well,” Vanilla spoke up, “I hope our mundane city could be entertaining for you”

“Mundane? This place is awesome!”

Vanilla, Coco and Cinnamon all shared a chuckle, “Live here for a few months and you’ll see what I mean. Nothing happens here; which is sometimes a nice thing. We didn’t know about the Storm King until after he was already defeated.”

Lily gave pause to that, “well, that’s just bad communication. I knew about that and that’s when we were as secluded as we could possibly be.”

“yeah… I should probably bring that up to my captain…” Cinnamon mused

Lily hopped off the bench, “well, I should go, there’s still so much I want to see before I leave for the next city. Bye everycreature,” she waived at them.

“Bye Lily,” they said in unison, waiving back at her.

They stayed at the park for another hour before noticing that Paprika was starting to get tired. Coco went to retrieve her.

They walked out of the park, heading in a direction away from the bakery until they came to a stop in front of a small restaurant. The restaurant was called The Guto; named after a well-known river near Griffinstone. It was a big seller of the meat related food that griffins usually eat but has been able to survive in Manehattan due to their excellently cooked fish, allowing the pegasi to come and enjoy the food.

They also served salads, but it never matched up to the majority of other places that served the same.

They were seated at a table and already ordered their food.

Cinnamon looked around the place. Despite The Guto only managing to get by, the interior was well lit and pretty fancy looking.

“Well, I’m quite surprised that we came here to eat; there’s not much here for you to eat mom. Well… nothing that’s worth the price.”

Vanilla shrugged, “We know you love the fish here; I can justify the price just this once for a family dinner. We haven’t done this in so long.”

Coco nodded, “Yes, today was nice. Felt like the days when you were still making your special cinnamon cupcakes.” He chuckled, “You always made such a mess when you made those.”

“I remember those, I could never sell a single one since you two kept eating them all!” Cinnamon said in mock anger. “Then you told me to stop making them when you two started to get fat.”

Coco gasped, “You take that back.”

Cinnamon rolled his eyes with a smile, “Mom looked like she was pregnant and you didn’t have the energy to pick her up anymore when she overworked herself.” He looked at Vanilla spoon-feeding Paprika, “Though, I suppose that was just foreshadowing to what was coming.”

Coco looked at them with a smile, “I guess it was. She’s certainly brought a lot of excitement to the daily life.”

“I thought you two didn’t want a foal after I dragged you through Tartarus when I was 14 years old.”

“Yeah, well…” He looked over to Vanilla, “Sometimes things change. Life throws you for a loop, priorities shift, and suddenly you want something more. I think Vanilla missed having you around the house and wanted something to put her love into.”

“I’m sorry I haven’t been around much.”

Coco waved a dismissive hoof, “We know it’s not your fault. You’re doing important work in the guard, we’re proud of you for it.”

Cinnamon smiled, “Thanks dad.”

“Now finish your food, that fish wasn’t cheap you know.”

They finished the night by going to watch a play about the fall of Queen Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow.

With everything that happened during the day, it was very easy for Cinnamon to fall asleep.

Cinnamon’s eyes focused themselves until he realized he was in the throne room, sitting on one of three thrones. Princess Celestia sat in a throne to his right while Princess Luna was on the opposite side, also sitting on a throne. He paused to look at the princess of the moon for a few seconds longer; this was the first time he’s seen her in in person. She had a similar slim figure that Princess Celestia had, only smaller in stature.

“So,” Princess Celestia said, drawing Cinnamon’s attention to her. “What is thy first official decree?”

“Decree?”

She nodded, “Correct, one should get used to it now that a crown rests atop thy head.”

Cinnamon reached up to the thing above his head. Sure enough, there was a metal crown on his head.

“What? Why? When?”

“Calm thyself,” Princess Celestia said while placing a reassuring hoof on his shoulder. “Take a deep breath and exhale slowly.”

He did as she said and took a dozen slow breaths until he settled down, giving him a moment to think.

“Princess?”

“Please, call me Celestia.”

“Uh… Celestia… why are you talking like that?”

“Pardon?”

“Thyself, decree, thy… why are you talking like that? Are you ok?”

Her eyes widened slightly, “Oh, well… we are just… excited, yes! Excited our sister agreed to the law of the paired sisters.”

“The paired sisters?” he queried, looking over to Princess Luna. She was giving him a sideways glance, but didn’t say anything.

He looked back to Celestia, “What’s that?”

“Tis a law that requires the consent of both princesses of Canterlot Castle before a new prince or princess of Canterlot is declared by rite of marriage.”

“rite of… MARRIAGE!? WE’RE MARRIED?!?”

She nodded, “Correct”

Cinnamon looked back to Princess Luna, “To you too?”

She smiled a little and nodded.

“Oh,” Cinnamon mumbled while shifting his focus; looking down the stairs to the empty room below.

“Is something the matter?” Celestia asked. She looked to Luna, then back to him.

“Doth thou not desire to be married to mine sister?”

Cinnamon shook his head, “It’s not that…”

“Then what matter ails thy mind?”

He looked between the princesses, only now noticing the colored bands three quarters of the way down their horns. Luna had a shiny silver ring on her horn while Celestia had a gleaming golden one on hers. When he looked at his own hands, he noticed he had identical colored rings on both of his ring fingers; a silver ring on his left hand, and a gold ring on his right.

He continued to look at the rings as he began to speak again, “I don’t feel very deserving of this. Being in a herd with both princesses of Equestria and making official decrees.” He clenched his hands so he couldn’t see the rings anymore and looked down the steps, “I shouldn’t be up here, I shouldn’t be in this throne.”

Cinnamon was caught off guard when both princesses stepped off their thrones, stood on their hind legs, and wrapped their forelegs around him; enveloping him in a warm hug that was very comforting.

They stayed like this for a few minutes before Celestia pulled her head away.

“Perhaps thou are undeserving, but thou can become worthy of such things.”

She looked down a little to break eye contact, then looked back at him, “Forget the official decree; what would thou desire to change? First thing that comes to thy mind without fear of it leaving this room.”

Cinnamon thought to himself as they continued to hold him in a warm embrace.

“Beds.”

“Pardon?”

“Better beds in the barracks. It was tough to get a good night’s sleep as a guard with the mattresses we had. We should give them better beds; make it easier for them to go to sleep.”

Celestia seemed to ponder his words for a moment before

She smiled and side stepped until she was standing right in front of him. Luna stepped down and away from Cinnamon to allow Celestia to wrap her forelegs around his neck. She nuzzled into his neck, right below his earlobe where she gave him a long kiss.

“Thou art worthier than thy think.”

Then his surroundings disappeared into darkness, waking Cinnamon up in the process. It wasn’t with a start, or in a sweat, just an opening of his eyes. He blinked a couple times while remaining motionless in bed.

He could feel a pleasant tingling sensation below his left ear. He reached up to gently touch it with the tip of his fingers. He could remember dreaming, however, he could only recall the kiss Princess Celestia gave him right before it ended.

He sighed as he wiggled in his bed to get more comfortable and fell back to sleep.

7. Regaining Lost Desires*

7. Regaining Lost Desires*

Cinnamon woke up early the next day so he could go to the market with Coco and help shop for ingredients.

“-and since Vanilla works the store all on her own, I do the shopping to give her another hour and a half of sleep,” Coco said as he walked through the quiet market. They arrived before the rising of the sun, leaving the market mostly empty of consumers. A good thing since Coco brought Paprika with him.

She was currently sleeping in a little seat that was strapped under his wings and around his barrel. A pair of noise canceling ear muffs placed over her little ears in case someone got vocal for some reason. She let out a small sigh as she snuggled deeper into the cushioned seat, pulling her blanket closer to her.

Cinnamon watched Paprika try to become one with the small chairs padding. He rarely had the opportunity to interact with foals and, due to his inability to have his own, never had them on his mind.

“How did you convince Mrs. I must do everything myself to let you buy her cooking ingredients?”

They walked up to one a booth owned by a local farmer Vanilla held the most trust in with quality ingredients.

Coco greeted the farm pony before grabbing 4 egg cartons and opening one of them to inspect the eggs.

“Well, it started with me offering to do this, which she obviously rejected, so I didn’t push the idea further than that. To her credit, she was able to do it for a solid month while I was certain she’d run out of steam 2 weeks in.”

He closed the first carton and used one a wing to pass it to Cinnamon while the other wing opened the second carton.

Cinnamon took the carton and carefully placed it in one of the saddle bags he was carrying. Normally, Coco would carry the saddle bags under Paprikas seat, but Cinnamon insisted to carry it so he could help a little.

“But she finally asked me to help after we paid her a visit at the store and found her sound asleep behind the counter.” He smiled as he closed the second carton and held it out for Cinnamon to grab, “her face lit up like a Hearth’s Warming tree after I nudged her awake.”

He opened the last two cartons and began to inspect both at once, “She finally accepted my help so she wouldn’t work herself into the ground. I come to the market early in the morning, drop off the shopping at the store and either return home or stop by a breakfast place if Paprika wakes up.”

He closed the last two cartons and passed them to Cinnamon.

They left the booth and continued walking down the street. Coco grabbed a small shopping list from under a wing and placed a check mark next to the ‘4 dozen eggs.’

“So, have you put any thought into your date with a princess?”

Cinnamon looked down at him with a raised brow, “This again? Dad, she’s not going to agree to it.”

He looked back at Cinnamon before looking forward again, “You should still have a plan. When your mother asked me on a date, she knew where we were going and what we were doing. You should approach this like a mare, not a stallion.”

“That’s what mom does though, not me. She likes to plan out every detail; when I do that, I don’t know what to do when something doesn’t go as planned.”

“I agree that you mother puts a lot of effort into her plans but that doesn’t mean you need to do the same. However, you need a plan. Imagine a mare asked you out, you agreed and she didn’t plan for anything further than that; would that make you feel desired? Or like you weren’t worth the effort?”

Cinnamon frowned. He knew Coco was right but what would be good enough for a princess?

“How would I begin? The princess has everything at her beck and call, what could I do to impress her?”

Coco shook his head, “You’re thinking too big; you don’t need to knock her shoes off, just have a plan. A small, thought out plan can impress somecreature more than a grand gesture. I’d wager that would be doubly so for the princess.”

They stopped at the next booth of their shopping, grabbing a 6 pack of milk bottles before moving on.

“What do you mean?”

“As you’ve implied, she holds the most power, influence and wealth than anycreature we know of; not to mention having a figure that ponies have looked to as the definition of beauty since ponies could write. How many grand gestures do you suppose she’s received for those very reasons?”

Cinnamon nodded, understanding what Coco was getting at, “Alright, I’ll try to think of something.”

They continued down the street collecting smaller items like Cinnamon sticks, sugar bags, butter and spices.

Paprika opened her sleepy eyes on their way to the bakery and becoming restless in her chair. Coco managed to keep her content with an Alfalfa treat until they dropped off the groceries at the bakery and walked to the breakfast Grub Hub.

It was a breakfast only place that had the most breakfast items than any other store in Manehattan. Cinnamon had scrambled eggs, buttered toast, and flour pancakes with milk. Coco had wheat waffles, potato shavings, and Orange juice. Paprika had hay sticks, mashed potatoes and apple juice.

Cinnamon just finished his first piece of toast topped with scrambled eggs.

He looked to Coco, "Would taking the princess to a restaurant be a good idea? Or do you think it would seem more like boasting? I feel like I would come off as showing her off to everycreature but it's the best thing I can think of."

"I think it's a good idea. I'm sure the princess has dated enough to know the difference between having a nice meal and getting her outside for others to see you two together."

"Hmm," Cinnamon hummed to himself, "What about a play?"

Coco shook his head, "Not on the first date, you can't talk to each other at a play without being rude. But keep that in your head; it's a good date when you want to enjoy each others company."

Cinnamon nodded, watching Paprika munch on a hay stick while trying to think of more ideas.

Unfortunately he wasn't able to come up with another. Then it dawned on him, he'd never been on an actual date before. Most of the relationships he'd been in before revolved around sex and the "dates" were asking if they wanted to buck and where they'd go to do it. Except for a few awkward "dates" in school that weren't so much dates than hanging out together with other friends.

Honestly, he only thought about a date at a restaurant or theatre because of listening to Onyx Spark's old relationships.

He poked at his pancakes with a fork as he thought to himself; Maybe I should ask mom for ideas, it wouldn't hurt and might help after I retire from the guard.

They finished their meal and took the long way back to the house; spending the rest of the day there. Later that night, they had dinner late due to Vanilla deciding to keep the store open later than usual because of a certain bat pony screenwriter.

All in all, today had been a good day.

Cinnamon woke up in an absurdly comfortable bed. The sound of running water reached his ears and a light slightly illuminated the bedroom. He wanted to see what was going on but the comfortable bed made him feel content to just lay there.

When he focused on his hearing, he could hear the sound of someone brushing their teeth. Said someone spit and clink their toothbrush against the rim of a sink bowl.

The light turned off and Cinnamon was plunged into darkness; the only light illuminating the room was coming through the window from the moon.

He could hear the soft pit-pats of bare hooves on smooth marble.

[Clop Start]

A large shadowed form passed in front of the window but the colorful, flowing hair gave away the pony it belonged to; Princess Celestia. She stepped onto the bed and laid down, rolling over face Cinnamon. He turned his head to return her gaze.

She reached a hoof out and began to stroke his upper arm, “Our heat began today… We were thinking of carrying thy foal this season. Art thee willing to sire our foal?”

A tinge of pain hit cinnamon in the chest; how did he not tell her before?

“I am… unable to give you that.” His eyes shifted away from Celestia’s confused look, unwilling to meet her gaze. “We’ve never talked about this before? I can’t sire a foal… not compatible.”

“Oh? Is that all?”

It was Cinnamon’s turn to have a confused look.

Celestia’s horn lit up in a golden hue, emitting a dim light to the surrounding area. The drawer of the nightstand opened and a corked glass bottle with a clear liquid in it floated out. It floated over to Celestia and stopped between her and Cinnamon. A golden glow formed over the cork that plugged the opening and pulled it out with a ‘pop.’ She took hold of a strand of her mane hair with magic, pulled a strand out and put it into the glass bottle. The strand of hair dissolved into the liquid and turned it white.

The bottle nudged toward Cinnamon, “Place a strand of thy fur into this.”

Cinnamon sat up in the bed and hung his legs over the side; turning back to grab the bottle and looked at it. He reached up to his hair and pulled a loose strand out. He dropped it into the bottle. When the hair fell into the liquid, it changed from white to a bubbly pink color.

Cinnamon brought it closer to his face, swirling it around as if doing so would reveal something to him.

“What is this?”

“’Tis a virility potion; 'twill allow our egg to accept thy sperm and conceive a foal. Our foal will look much like us with white fur. However, they may have thy eye color. Perhaps thy mane color as well.”

“Really? What if... will it look like me?”

She shook her head, “Nay, the potion allows offspring of the egg carrier. If thou were female, the potion would indeed make another of thy kind but ‘tis not the case.”

Celestia scooted closer to him, her forehooves coming to a rest over the side of the bed next to him. She looked at him as he continued to stare at the bottle. She could see the looks of surprise, joy, and doubt flow over his facial features. None stayed on his face for long before being replaced by another; changing every time his train of thought did.

He stood up from the bed and started to pace back and forth. He didn’t realize he wasn't wearing his loincloth until he caught Celestia’s stare as well as where it was staring at.

The old feeling of inferiority among ponies combined with remembering that Celestia was a much larger mare than his previous partners caused his free hand to instinctively cover his pride, or at this moment, shame.

Cinnamon tried to put on a smile, “I uh, I guess that means we never talked about that either…”

When he covered the object of Celestia’s focus, she blinked and looked up to Cinnamon’s now nervous face.

She mentally chastised herself for losing her focus.

She tried thinking of a solution to get this train back on track.

What was it that her sister would say about situations like this?

“’Tis not… the size of thy tool that matters, ‘tis… the way thy wields it that counts.” A smile forming on her face, happy that she managed to remember her sister’s ramblings.

She turned herself around and let her hind legs fall off the bed; resting her barrel on the bed and relaxing her hind legs so her flank wasn’t so high in the air.

She flagged her tail to reveal how hot and bothered she was to Cinnamon, “Now, show us how thou use thy siring rod.”a
Cinnamon could feel his cheeks heat up at the display combined with her words.

He focused his attention back to the potion, looking at the pink liquid swirl in the glass bottle. He could really start a family of his own. He looked back to the mare presenting herself to him, leaving nothing to the imagination.

He was a stunned; she actually wanted this to happen. Not to quench a heat without risk or to tide her over for the night. She wanted a foal with him. Not only that, she was giving him a potion that would allow that to be a possibility.

A feeling was building up inside him; a feeling that he had shoved into the deepest, darkest corner of his mind since he learned his sperm wasn’t compatible with anycreatures egg.

The call to fatherhood.

He’d buried it under the mountain of work that being a guard brought to the table; subconsciously distracting himself with things to do so that he didn’t have a chance to remember his inadequacy.

He looked back at Celestia; she was being patient with him and he was making her wait, which wasn’t a gentlecolty thing to do. He put the bottle up to his lips and threw his head back, downing the potion and placing it down on the nightstand. He wouldn’t make his mare wait any longer, nor would he make her beg. She wanted a foal and he was all too happy to fulfil that request.

He moved behind Celestia’s flanks, rubbing the soft, multi-colored fur that made up her cutie mark. As much as he wanted to savor the moment and get her hot and bothered, a glance at her marehood revealed that she was already soaked and ready.

However…

He kneeled on the ground so his face was infront of her heated sex. He stuck out his tongue, placed it on the hood of her winking clitoris. He felt her legs tense at the contact for a mere second before returning to a relaxed state.

He poked his tongue in and dragged it up as far as it could go, collecting as much of her marejuice as he could and swallowing it.

To his disappointment, it didn’t have a taste to it. A bit unusual but nothing that concerned Cinnamon.

He placed his mouth over her smooth sex and began to poke, prod, and lick it with his tongue. He could feel her shudder with his attentions. When she winked, he grabbed onto her nub with his lips and assaulted it with quick flicks of the tip of his tongue. It didn't take long before he could hear a grunt coming from Celestia as mare cum squirted onto Cinnamon's nose and upper lip.

He wiped his face and gave her wet lips a final lick before standing up and grabbing his dick so he could line it up with her marehood until he noticed that he was unable to do so.

Due to Celestia's height, Cinnamon wouldn't be able to traditionally mount her without having to stand on something and ruining the mood. That's why she was lying on the bed with her hind legs draped off the side. Unfortunately, it appeared that the bed was too low.

Before Celestia could think of something, Cinnamon jumped onto the bed. She looked at him, wondering what he was doing. He said nothing, but twirled his finger in a circle, motioning her to roll over.

Catching the hint, she moved her body so her rear was facing him again and rolled onto her back. She tucked her forelegs against her chest, angling her head so she was looking up to him. Some locks of her wavy mane draped over her left eye. She opened her legs to give Cinnamon better access to her most vulnerable and sensitive area.

Seeing Celestia looking like this aroused him more, bringing his semi-erect dick to full mast. He grabbed the base of his dick and pushed it down and touched his tip to her lips, slightly parting them open, ready to welcome him in.

He looked at her again, looking for a sign indicating a change of mind, or if she was reconsidering this. However, she was looking at him expectantly and gave him a little nod.

The same suppressed fluttering in his chest returned as he pushed into her. Her lips parted as he sank deeper into her. Each time she winked, her insides would squeeze his shaft and pull him deeper in.

When he finally hilted inside her, he stayed still, enjoying the sensations of her love canal squeezing him and trying still to pull him in deeper.

A shiver traveled up his spine; the sensations he was feeling surpassed all his bucks in the past and he wasn’t even moving yet.

He leaned down and nuzzled into her soft chest. Her forelegs wrapped around his neck as she nuzzled the top of his head.

She took a deep breath of his hair and signed into it, “Proceed.”

He nodded into her chest and pulled out, only leaving his tip inside. The cooler temperature from being outside her warm foal maker gave him just another reason to thrust back into her and receive a small gasp for it.

Her small gasp egged him on to do it again, pulling back out and slamming back in and earning a grunt.

He continued to thrust into her until he started to feel her walls begin to pull at him faster than usual.

He sat up so his body was upright again, grabbing her left leg and pulling it closer to his body. The act made Celestia emit a quiet squeak as she was rolled onto her side.

He made a powerful thrust in this new position while also pulling her into his thrust. She gasped and began to breathe erratically as she reached her climax. Her legs were unaccustomed to this new position but tried and failed to wrap around Cinnamon and, instead, kicked into her bed sheets.

Cinnamon clung to Celestia’s leg, keeping his shaft deeply hilted in her as she rode out her orgasm.

When he felt her leg muscles relax, he resumed thrusting into her at a comfortable pace; occasionally slowing down or speeding up and found a bucking strength that made Celestia hum and moan after each thrust.

He nuzzled into her leg once more and took a deep breath. While there wasn’t a smell to her fur, the act excited him further. He closed his eyes, rubbing his cheek against her let while focusing on the velvety smooth feeling of her marehood around his dick.

He could feel her start to contract around him again, signaling the start of Celestia’s third orgasm. He repeated his previous action of giving her a strong, deep thrust and holding himself there.

The pulling sensation on his dick started to give him the feeling of his own approaching orgasm but he didn’t want this to end. He clenched his pelvic muscles to stave off his release.

Unfortunately, it was a fruitless effort. Try as he might, he wasn’t able to hold himself back. The last thought going through his head was of the unusual warmth emitting from his balls.

Still buried as deep into Celestia as he could be, the dam burst and he started to pump his life giving seed into Celestia’s fertile and waiting womb. Her quivering walls that were pulling on his dick were also pulling every blast of seed to its destination.

His balls continued to pump seed into her until her womb was packed; filling her to the brink and beginning to spill out of her nether lips.

Cinnamon shivered at the feeling of his cum flowing over his sack and dripping onto the bed.

The last pulses of his dick died down as his orgasm ended. He let out a breath that he didn’t realize he was holding.

He peeked down at their union, noticing an absurd amount of his sperm had pooled around Celestia’s ass. If that weren’t weird enough, he could see a small bulge rising from Celestia’s stomach.

He slowly looked over to the empty virility potion bottle; surprised and impressed by how effective it was. Without measuring, he guessed that he just released 20 ejaculations worth of seed in one shot.

Downside? It spent a ton of his energy. He felt like he just ran for a whole day in full armor.

Cinnamon’s eyes closed halfway. He let go of Celestia’s leg and lowered himself down onto Celestia’s heaving chest and wrapped his hands around her. His dick still buried in Celestia’s hot, wet marehood.

The last things he felt before his vision turned to darkness was the feeling of Celestia wrapping her forehooves around his back, pulling him closer to her as well as the weight of Celestia placing her chin on top of his head.

[Clop End]

Luna opened her eyes, breathing heavily. She looked at nothing in particular on the ceiling of her bed chambers. She focused on her breathing until it returned to normal.

Only after that did she feel the wet sheets sticking to her flanks. She threw back the covers to reveal the source of liquid was from her own marehood. She dragged a hoof over her sensitive lips and brought it up to her muzzle to smell in case this was one of her sister’s pranks. But alas, it was not; the distinct smell of her mare juice entering her nose.

She shook her head as she wiped her wet hoof on the already ruined sheets.

Luna rolled out of her bed and used her magic to pull the sheets off her specially made Cloudsdale bed and threw it into a pile near her bedroom door; leaving it for the maids to collect in the morning.

She walked into her bathroom, turning on the shower and stepping in, letting the warm water relax her muscles. She let out a sigh as she simply stood there, content to let the warm water run down her neck and under her barrel.

She grabbed the nozzle off the wall with her magic and positioned it to begin cleaning off her nethers. She shivered when the water made contact with her swollen lips. To make matters worse, it was enough to make her wink, causing water to hit her sensitive love bud. Her legs locked up and her magic lost its grip on the nozzle.

She panted; her head hung low as she looked back to her stiff, shaking hind legs.

Perhaps Tia’s words hold truth to them.

She picked the nozzle back up in her magic as well as a soft, bubbly sponge. She took a calming breath before looking back to her rear.

'Twill be a difficult shower this night.

8. Back in the Bakery

Cinnamon woke up later than he normally did Thursday morning. By the time he took a shower, brush his teeth and went to the dining room, Coco was already back from his morning shopping and Vanilla had already left to open the bakery. He walked into the kitchen and made a peanut butter and jam sandwich.

He was just finishing up when Coco walked into the dining room, “There you are Cinnamon, I was about to go up and make sure you were still alive. Did you eat too much last night?”

Cinnamon shook his head, “Didn’t feel like I did. I’m not really sure why I slept for so long, maybe guard duty is starting to catch up with me.”

Coco hummed to himself, “Well, we could go to the spa to unwind. There’s a new one on the other side of the city that has a play room that Paprika can run around in.”

“Thanks for the offer, but no thanks. I actually wanted to work with mom today before I return to Canterlot Castle tomorrow.”

“No worries then, I had a good time yesterday anyway.”

Cinnamon looked at the clock. Realizing he only had 6 hours before the store closed, he stuffed the rest of the sandwich into his mouth and ran for the door, “Ow fee ou oonight!”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full mister!” Cinnamon heard just before he latched the door closed.

Cinnamon walked into the quiet bakery. He missed the lunch rush by half an hour so the store was currently pretty empty with the exception of one bat mare customer in the corner of the store still scribbling away in parchments and scrolls.

He walked through the door to the kitchen and was assaulted by the sweet aromas of cakes and icing. Vanilla was behind the main counter with three pastry bags held in her magic and squeezing a layer of icing on three different cakes.

He lightly tapped on the metal swinging door with his knuckles, hoping not to startle her and ruin her icing layers.

Her ear flicked behind her, acknowledging the sound he made. The pastry bags floated away from the cakes. She turned around as she set them down on the counter.

“Cinnamon! What are you doing here?” She asked as she walked up to him and wrapped her foreleg around his waist in a hug. Cinnamon wrapped an arm around her head and pulled it into his stomach.

“I came to help you work a little and ask you a few questions.”

“Oh? And what did you want to ask me?” She asked as she walked back to her cakes. Cinnamon followed her and stood on the opposite side of the counter.

“It’s about the princess… specifically dating tips.”

Vanilla picked up the pastry bags in her magic, raising a brow at Cinnamon.

He gave her a flat look, “I’ve still haven’t dated anycreature since leaving. I’m still as experienced as a foal in that department…”

“So you haven’t found anypony in the castle all this time?”

Cinnamon shrugged, “Nocreature’s asked; besides, guard duty doesn’t leave me much free time for that stuff.”

“But you still have time.”

“One day a week isn’t enough time to form a relationship with anycreature.”

“Sure it is,” she glances at him before looking back to her cakes, “You just need to stop making excuses for yourself.”

“What? I don-“

“I raised you through school Cinnamon; you can’t lie to me about this. You never wanted to go on any optional field trips, participate in any extracurricular activities, or go to any school dances. You never made an effort to get out there. What do you do on your day off? Do you go out to a bar and at least try to meet a mare? Or did you just stay at the castle, in your room, all day.”

Cinnamon couldn’t bring himself to give her an answer because she hit the nail on the head. He didn’t leave the castle. He would sleep in until around 11, go eat lunch in the dining hall, talk with Onyx in the barracks, get his next week’s guard schedule, eat dinner, and go to bed.

Even though he didn’t answer, she knew she had guessed correctly.

She finished squeezing the final touches of icing on her cakes, placing the pastry bags on the counter and used her magic to grab a carton of strawberries along with a bag of strawberry sauce. “How about we make a deal?”

Cinnamon looked at Vanilla, “Depends on what it is.”

“I will help you with date ideas if you promise me to put yourself out there after this princess thing is over.”

He paused to think it over. He could agree to that; mares didn’t avoid him anymore or give him uncertain looks. Many actually seemed comfortable with him when word spread of him being the princess’s personal guard. Maybe she was right; maybe it was time to try again.

“I can agree with that.”

Vanilla nodded as she put the finishing touches on her cakes; levitating them onto cake display stands.

“Well the most obvious is a dinner date. You can have a one on one talk with each other in a nice restaurant.”

Cinnamon nodded, “Yeah, but I don’t think it’d be a good one for the princess. It might be hard to focus on each other if everycreature in the restaurant is looking at us.”

She hummed to herself, “how about a hike? Plenty of open areas near Canterlot so there’s nopony to bother you. Or! You could make it a camping trip.”

“That… sounds like it would be really nice. Would that be a good first date though? Asking the princess to be alone with somecreature away from the castle?”

Vanilla grabbed one of the cake displays as Cinnamon grabbed the other two.

“Then what about a stroll through the castle gardens? You can still be outside together and ponies won’t bother you.”

He thought about it as he followed Vanilla out to the front room. A walk through the gardens would be a nice idea. Now that he thinks of it, they could take a stroll through the private celestial gardens.

While the widely-known Castle garden was made for the princess’ favorite animals to comfortably call their home, the lesser known Celestial garden was filled with exotic flowers the princess’ enjoyed; many of which no longer existed anywhere else. Access to the Celestial garden was also restricted to only the princesses and trusted personnel, of which he was part of due to being her personal guard for some time. A privilege he shared with two dozen other guards and would be revoked once he left.

He placed the cake stands on the front counter, “I think I can work with that, thanks mom.”

“Of course; if you need any more, I’m only a letter away.”

Cinnamon nodded, “So, do you need any help here?”

“Well, not need but you could work the front while I make todays cupcakes.”

“Could I make the cupcakes? I was kind of hoping to make my cinnamon cupcakes while I have the opportunity.”

She chewed on her lower lip while looking toward the kitchen. “Well, I didn’t put cinnamon sticks on the list of things for Coco to buy today.” She looked back to Cinnamon, “We also don’t have any bags of Stenson Mills Flour, just flour from the local mill.”

Cinnamon frowned. He could easily go out to buy a couple sticks of cinnamon from the market but the wheat needed to be ordered from Vanhoover. He could use the local flour but something about how the wheat was grown in Vanhoover made his cupcakes really fluffy. His parents didn’t like using it though since it was harder to cook with the larger pastries like cakes.

“Eh, never mind, I’ll handle the register.”

Vanilla nodded before walking back into the kitchen and leaving him in the front room.

For the rest of the day, Cinnamon handled the bits of customers that came to buy their sweets. Vanilla came out once to give the bat mare sitting in her usual spot a mango smoothie. He watched as his mother excitedly chatted with her, rolling his eyes with a smile knowing she was likely trying to find out what the play was about.

An hour after that, the bat mare actually packed up her scrolls, ink and quills then left the store. Vanilla wasn’t happy to hear that and punched Cinnamon in the leg when he said the bat mare ran before she could charge her for all the “free” mango smoothies. It improved her mood slightly, but she was still disappointed.

They closed the shop at normal hours and walked home together. After a nice dinner with the rest of the family, they turned in for the night.

Luna glided through the realm of dreams, lazily swaying from side to side as she made her way to the cluster of dream bubbles of the Manehattan residents. All the while, her mind was on Ground Cinnamon. Annoyance, excitement and a little sympathy made up most of those thoughts.

Ground Cinnamon was, beyond a doubt, the most difficult suitor she has ever had to work with. Never before had she met a creature that didn’t understand what she wanted from him on the first night and to make matters worse, he actually made her lose focus during last night’s activities.

She shivered a little as her checks grew red in a blush. It would have been an enjoyable memory to hold if it wasn’t greatly overshadowed by the embarrassment of being kicked out of the dream realm like an inexperienced filly.

She huffed angrily at herself; she participated in many battles against powerful enemies in the dream realm and defeated each and every one, yet allowed herself to break concentration from getting laid.

She shook her head to rid herself of such thoughts; it was a fluke! This Ground Cinnamon blindsided her with his attentiveness toward her; paired with the fact that she had not been intimate with an attentive lover in over a millennia had weakened her defenses.

Nopony could be expected to last as long as she did; in fact, none would have!

With the boost in her confidence, she burst forward with a powerful flap of her wings, wanting nothing more than to finish up with what she needed to do and go back to watching over the dreams of all her subjects.

The Manehattan dream bubbles came fast but Luna weaved between them with grace; flying to the center of the mass before coming to a stop. She looked around, searching for Cinnamon’s dream bubble.

It didn’t take long to find since Cinnamon had a rare and… strange dream bubble.

For a typical dreamer, she could see what the pony was dreaming about without having to enter their bubble; Cinnamon’s was black.

It was something she only saw for the castle guards she trained in dream protection. However, the odd thing about Cinnamon’s bubble was that his veil wasn’t from a conscious effort like the others were. It was an irregularity that she only noticed when she gave his dreams special protection while he held a close position to her sister. Unfortunately, while his dream had peaked her interest and concern, he never experienced a nightmare so she couldn’t enter due to one of the laws of the dream realm; not having a reason to interfere.

She reached out to touch Cinnamon’s dream bubble while she flapped her wings to hover in place. She let it rest on the pads of her hooves as if she were holding a delicate plate.

The past few nights she had to change the dreams of potential suitors to fit the situations she would put them through before entering them. In Cinnamon’s case, the second she did, she could clearly see his dream through his bubble like everypony else’s.

Tonight would be different. Tonight she only had to deliver the results; no alterations necessary. So she took a breath to slow her increasing heartbeat from the excitement and trepidation of finding something new despite doing this for thousands of years. She cast a spell on herself to prevent her from sticking out as a real pony in a dream world and touched her horn to the black bubble to enter it.

Luna walked through the wall of the dream only to find more darkness. In the middle of it all stood Cinnamon staring in one direction.

She spent the next 5 minutes observing the dream; the darkness never changed and Cinnamon didn’t move a muscle, not even to blink.

She slowly made her way to the center with Cinnamon while looking for any sign of a response, but nothing happened.

She nudged him with her hoof but received no response. She raised a hoof up to his shoulder and shook it with the same results.

Growing worried, she charged her horn, placed it on his chest, and gave him a small jolt.

Cinnamon’s head jerked back and a large two-dimensional square appeared in front of his eyes.

Luna watched with guarded curiosity as an armored pony appeared on the flat surface of the square. It didn’t take long for Luna to recognize the pony as Emerald Armor; the mare in charge of training new solar guards. Her mouth was moving but no sound reached Luna’s ears. However, she could tell Emerald was about to put Cinnamon’s platoon through exercises.

Luna’s mind was blanking as to what was happening right before her. It was as if he was having a dream within his own dream. She looked up at Cinnamon. He remained as motionless as when she first entered his dream. His eyes were still unblinking; however, his pupils would move ever so slightly in response to what was on the square.

She raised a hoof up to Cinnamon’s face to try and break his line of sight to the screen but it has no effect. Then, the screen changed from exercises to one of the castle hallways. Before Luna could recognize which hall he was in, it changed again to a schoolroom with little fillies and colts learning at their desks, then to a bakery.

Soon, the screen would change its contents every few seconds to different scenarios.

Luna looked at the screen with wide eyes filled with a mixture confusion and horror. What she was seeing before her would be considered a nightmare and require immediate intervention from her.

But as she used her magic to reach out to his mind, she didn’t feel any panic or fear from Cinnamon that would signal to her of a nightmare. Despite no signs of a nightmare, she was going to be treating it as one.

She charged her horn and sent a blast of magic to hit the wall of the bubble. The screen disappeared but the area remained dark.

She scanned the surface of the bubble wall with an aggravated growl. She’d have to return at another time to make sure this wasn’t a common thing for him.

She shook her head; now that… whatever that was had been dealt with, she could move on to the reason why she was here.

She jumped up so she was at eye level with Cinnamon, resting her fore hooves on his shoulders to remain there. She lit her horn and placed a kiss on each cheek, then one on his forehead. She pulled her head back with a smile, only for it to turn into a frown when she saw his blank stare. Since she did this part appearing as herself, she could enjoy the excitement the dreamer experienced from kissing the Princess of the Night. It would always put a smile on her face but she wouldn’t be receiving that enjoyment with him.

She gave him one last kiss on the lips but only a quick peck; she would savor this moment if it didn’t feel like she were kissing a statue.

She pushed herself off him and returned to standing on all fours. She walked to the edge of Cinnamon’s dream realm, knowing she needed to tend to the dreams of others. She looks back to the motionless Cinnamon for a moment before jumping out of Cinnamon’s dream, returning to the dream realm.

She spent the next half an hour calming the nightmares of the Manehattan ponies before beginning the travel back to look over Canterlot dreams. For the few minutes that it took her to return, her mind was focused on Cinnamon. Specifically his dream and thoughts of what it could possibly be. Thoughts that were put to the side once she began to hear nightmares come from some nearby bubbles.

9. Returning to the Castle

Cinnamon woke up early the next day and began to pack the few things he brought before taking a shower. He double and triple checked that he had his bronze train token for the free trip back. He carried his saddlebags with him down the stairs into the kitchen.

Coco was busy feeding Paprika her breakfast in the dining room. He grabbed a box of Wheat Hooves from a cabinet and milk from the fridge. After completing the dangerous task of combining the two in a bowl, he put them back and carried his bowl of cereal out to the dining room.

“Good morning Cinnamon.”

“Morning dad.”

“Your mother is going to close the bakery early today so we can see you off at the train station.”

“Oh, you guys don’t have to do that.”

“Well it’s too late for that.” He took a look at the clock, “She’s probably already on her way home.”

“Do you even know which train I’m taking?”

“No, but if it’s later, we can still have another family day while we wait.”

Cinnamon looked at the clock, “I wanted to get the 11 o’clock train. Not as many ponies go to Canterlot on that train. So I have 20 minutes before I need to head to the train station.”

Cinnamon finished his breakfast and just started cleaning his bowl when Vanilla walked through the front door.

“I’m home! I’m not too late, am I?”

“He’s in the kitchen!” Coco shouted.

Vanilla trotted through the kitchen doorway, “I’m glad I didn’t miss seeing you off.”

Cinnamon smiled, “Cutting it close. I need to leave in the next 5 minutes. Did you get caught up with the playwright again?”

Vanilla frowned, “Unfortunately no; she didn’t come into the store today. Do you think I really scared her off yesterday?”

He raised a brow, “are you telling me that’s the only time you tried getting information from her?”

“Well… no…”

“Then she would’ve left before yesterday if it was you that bugged her. She could’ve finished her play.”

“Yeah, I suppose.”

Cinnamon placed the now cleaned bowl on the drying rack, “I should probably head out now.”

Vanilla nodded, “Coco, Cinnamon’s leaving!”

She looked back at Cinnamon, “Do you want a sandwich for the train ride back?”

He shook his head, “Can’t, it’s against the rules to eat outside food on the train.”

“They don’t check you for it.”

“Yeah, but it’ll look bad on my career if I get caught. Plus, it’ll prevent me from doing trusted jobs at the castle like guarding important ponies or being a personal guard for a princess. Besides, the castle pays the bill of the train’s food; as long as it's reasonable.”

Coco walked through the doorway with Paprika flying small circles around him. “Are we ready to go?”

“Good to go,” Cinnamon said before walking leading them out of the house and toward the train station.

The walk there wasn’t very eventful. Coco had to fly after Paprika a few times to keep her from flying off until she got tired and lied down on his back.

“One ticket for the 11 o’clock train to Canterlot,” Cinnamon said as he placed the bronze token in front of the ticket Griffin. He didn’t even look at the coin as he unenthusiastically laid his talon over the token and slowly slid it off the table while his other talon slowly slid a ticket toward Cinnamon.

Cinnamon smiled as he took the ticket, “End of the shift, huh?”

The griffin kept his bored look as his stare threatened to burn a hole through Cinnamon's stomach.

“Right… well…. I’ll just go then.” He awkwardly said as he backed away from the window.

He made his way over to a train bench his parents were standing near.

“Well, I’m all set to go,” he said as he kneeled down and hugged Vanilla. “Thank you for putting up with me.”

She nuzzled into his shoulder, “Anytime honey.”

He crawled over to Coco and wrapped his arms around his neck, giving him a squeeze before pulling back to pat Paprika on the head. “Make sure to tell me what her first word is when she says it.”

Coco smiled while wrapping a wing around Cinnamon, “We will. Don’t forget us little ponies when you become royalty.”

He suddenly jumped and let out a yelp when a magical muzzle appeared and nipped him on the flank. Rubbing the new tender area, he looked at Vanilla and gave her a quivering lip. She rolled her eyes as the floating muzzle disappeared.

The train’s whistle blew, signaling final boarding.

Cinnamon stood up and turned toward the train, “That’s my que, I’ll write when I can.”

“Bye Cinnamon, have a save trip!” They both said while waving goodbye.

Cinnamon boarded the train and made his way to the front. He sat in a booth on the side his parents were standing at.

When the train began to move forward, he waived out the window to his parents until they were out of sight.

He settled in for the long ride home. Unfortunately, the ride wasn’t as eventful as the ride to Manehattan but it was nice and quiet.

It was dark outside when Cinnamon’s train rolled into Canterlot station. The moon had been in the sky for nearly an hour when Cinnamon stepped out onto the platform. He took a deep breath of the cool Canterlot air through his nose. He never realized how accustomed to the mountain air he’d become until now.

He walked down the main road through Canterlot toward the castle. He passed by a few clubs with creatures in lines outside. The ones that couldn’t hold their alcohol were already wobbling around on the streets.

He had to remind himself that he wasn’t on duty when he saw 3 pegasi flying overhead inebriated. He recognized the green mare in the middle as an individual that he’d given a ticket to on several occasions. She was a young mare from upper Canterlot living off her parents bits. She clearly didn’t understand what had caused the tickets; or her parents just paid the fine and didn’t tell her. He watched as she lost some altitude and almost collided with a clock tower before looking back to the road.

He reached upper Canterlot where the drunks changed from wobbly walkers to incessant gigglers. Most of Canterlot wasn’t like this though; the main road just had a LOT of bars and clubs along it. At least the Stable District wasn’t included. A combination of pleasure ponies and drunks could be a hazardous mix.

He cleared his head as he approached the castle gates. 2 guards stood on each side of the gatehouse. They had one of the easier jobs of the castle; keep creatures from going into the gatehouse. Some guards loved the position since it didn’t require too much from them.

He walked by them, then through the front doors of the castle and made his way to his quarters.

He opened the door to see that all his bunk mates were present in the room. Thunder was under his bed covers either sleeping or trying to while Brisk was reading a book under him. Onyx was in his bed as well, reading a newspaper.

Onyx peered around the side of the newspaper after hearing the door open, “Welcome back Cinnamon; how was your time off?”

Cinnamon walked over to his bunk and started to put his belongings away in his chest. “It was pretty good; turns out I have a little sister.”

Onyx folded his newspaper and stored it under his pillow, “wow, I bet that was quite a surprise.”

Cinnamon chuckled, “Yeah, it was a bit jarring.”

He sat down on his mattress and paused after putting his weight down on it. He couldn’t feel the hard springs pressing against him. “Onyx… what did you do to my mattress?”

“Hm? Oh! I didn’t do anything, they’re new. They’re made with the best clouds from Cloudsdale. They were issued to all the guard yesterday.”

Cinnamon lied down on the bed, “What happened to the old ones?”

Thought he couldn't see it, he could feel Onyx shrug, “Beats me, I haven’t cared enough to ask around.”

Cinnamon could feel himself getting tired the longer he rested on the bed. He couldn’t help but yawn before sitting back up.

“Hey Onyx, what should I be expecting tomorrow?”

His head appeared over the side of his bed, looking down at Cinnamon. “Is there anything in particular you want to know?”

Cinnamon shrugged, “Anything you think would help.”

“First, go before the court doors open; since you’re returning, you’ll be going in before the other creatures so you don’t need to go super early to get a good spot. Second, she’s going to ask you questions before she gives you an answer.”

“What kind of questions?”

He shrugged, “Couldn’t say, they’re not always the same. The three creatures I’ve talked to have been asked different questions.”

“What did she ask you?”

“She asked if being her consort was what I was really after.”

“… and?”

“I said no, she thanked me for my honesty, and I was dismissed. She asks me the same question every time”

“Really?”

“Yep, I told you, I really like those drinks.”

Cinnamon rolled his eyes before looking at Brisk Breeze, “What about you Brisk? What does she ask you?”

“Never asked; she’s not my type.”

“How so?”

Brisk pressed his hoof to the book he was reading to mark his place. “I’m not into assertive mares. As weird as it sounds, I enjoy being the dominant one in the relationship.”

Onyx spoke up, “What about Princess Luna? I’ve heard rumors that she’s not that kind of mare.”

Brisk scoffed, “Yes, rumors. You think she’d be a Princess of Equestria if she was a pushover? No. I like mares that are like that one element bearer; well, maybe a little more confident than her but closer to her than any of the princesses.”

Cinnamon hummed, “What about Thunder Spark?”

Thunder Spark didn't speak up but Brisk shook his head, “Not her type either, he enjoys the comfort of stallions.”

“Oh…”

Brisk looked at Cinnamon with a cold glare, “What?”

Noticing the look Brisk was giving him, he raised his hands in defense. “I didn’t mean it like that. We’ve been in the same bunkroom for over 3 years; I’m just surprised I didn’t know about it.”

Brisk shrugged before returning to read his book, “He doesn’t openly talk about it. I only know because we grew up in the same city. Word spread fast in grade school.”

“Well,” Cinnamon looked back to Onyx, “anything else?”

“Not really,” his head disappeared from Cinnamon’s sight, “Only other thing is that you’ll leave the room from a different door but that’s not really helpful. Just don’t lie to her; she’s known to realize when you’re not telling the truth.”

Cinnamon laid back down on the bed; he already knew of Princess Celestia’s otherworldly ability to detect lies. As her personal guard, he’s seen it firsthand as she’d call out ambassadors whenever they tried to put one over on her. He tried to see whatever was tipping her off but could never tell. In the end, the ambassador would come clean and ask her for forgiveness, which she always gave.

He looked over to the clock and set it to go off half an hour before the sun was set to rise. Once he was sure it was set, he got under his covers and drifted off to sleep.

Cinnamon’s eyes shot open at the sound of his alarm going off. He reached his arm out to hit the little hammer; stopping it from striking the two bells. He threw the covers off of him and stood up.

He was the only one in the room; the rest of his bunkmates already suited up in their armor and were making their way to their assigned positions.

He made his bed, cleaned himself up with a shower, and walked to the throne room doors. Even with the early wake up, there was already a long line starting at the golden doors and leading toward the entrance of the castle. Across the hall was a line of reporters; each with a guard accompanying them.

On the opposite side of the throne doors was a smaller line consisting of 7 creatures; 5 ponies, a reformed changeling, and a griffin.

Cinnamon walked up to the doors.

“Where do I go if I’m returning for an answer?” He asked one of the door guards.

“Name?”

“Ground Cinnamon.”

He scanned a piece of paper before pointing to the shorter line, “This line, you’ll be the last one in. We’re expecting 2 more to come.”

Cinnamon nodded before walking to the back of the short line.

A few minutes passed before the light of the sun began to shine through the stained glass.

A few more minutes pass before one of the doors opened and the court announcer poked his head out. “Will the first callback recipient please enter?” He asked.

The first pony in the short line entered the open door, which was shut behind him.

A minute passed before the door opened again and the second pony was let in.

It continued like this until he was the last one outside the doors. The other two that were supposed to be here hadn’t shown up so they lost their place the second the changeling in front of him was called in.

The door opened, “Ground Cinnamon?”

He nodded and walked past the door. Once inside, the door was closed behind him. The pony that had been calling creatures through the door walked along the wall until he disappeared behind a corner door and closed it.

Princess Celestia sat on her throne at the opposite end of the room, smiling at Cinnamon.

He stopped close to the bottom of the throne stairs and bowed, “Princess.”

“None of that Ground Cinnamon; you stand before me as a suitor, not a guard.”

“Oh,” he cleared his throat as he straightened back up to standing, “I can do that.”

She nodded, “Excellent, now, how was your week?” She asked.

“I enjoyed it. The train ride was pretty comfortable too.” He looked around and noticed the only ones in the throne room was Princess Celestia and himself.

She gave him a small nod, “I am pleased to hear that. I noticed this will be your first request; do you know what to expect?”

He nodded. “A little; I asked my bunkmates but I only gained a small amount of insight. You’ll ask me some questions to answer, you'll give me an answer to my request, and then I walk out of the room.”

She nodded once more before walking down the throne stairs, “Excellent, then we shall begin with the questions. I will ask, and you say the first thing that comes to mind.”

“Alright.”

She walked up to him and stood a few hooves away, “What is your name?”

“Ground Cinnamon.”

“Where do your parents live?”

“Manehattan.”

“How long has it been since joining the guard?”

“A little over 3 years.”

She nodded, “Now, what is it that draws you to me?”

“I like you.”

Princess Celestia hummed, “care to elaborate?”

Cinnamon bit his lip, remembering his time as her personal guard and trying his best to put it into words.

“I… I’m not sure if I can expand on it too much. I only noticed it when I worked as your personal guard and only realized it when I was no longer in that position. I wasn’t planning on anything further because of a clash of interest until I saw...” he gestured to the empty throne room, “...this. I thought, since I would be the one asking, that I should try.”

“So not after the wealth I have obtained?”

Cinnamon shook his head, “I may not retire sitting on an enormous pile of bits but I’ll still live comfortably after I’m too old to earn any more.”

“My point remains,” she said as she walked by him, “everypony could always use more.” As she passed, her tail flicked to the side to lightly slap him in the face.

He scrunched his face as her soft tail hair tickled his nose.

He rubbed his nose with his finger to relieve him of the terrible itch before turning around to face Princess Celestia again, “If I wanted a golden teat to suckle on I’d have an easier time selling myself off as an exotic pet to some rich creature than courting a princess.”

She chuckled, “Yes, however, some rich creature would not bring the same power as courting a princess, now would it?”

He stood silent for a moment, “I’m sorry, but I can’t think of what kind of power a consort would receive from courting a princess. I’m sure doing something illegal would still land me in the dungeon and our courtship would end. The biggest thing I can think of is saying that I’m dating a princess.”

“When one courts a princess, they receive the title of royal consort. A royal consort does not have sway over the laws of Equestria; however, they receive influence and attention from the wealthy. That power tends to change the one that holds it.”

“Wouldn’t I gain the same influence if I courted somecreature from upper canterlot?”

She frowned slightly, “As much as I am disappointed to say, you were correct before. You would be seen more so as a pet than an equal. You must have wealth before courting somecreature from upper canterlot to receive their respect. A royal consort receives their respect due to a princess seeing something in them worth courting, even if they cannot see it themselves.”

“Oh, well, I’m not after that, if that’s what you’re saying. I may not have their admiration, but they respect me enough. Well… they no longer avoid being within hoofs reach of me and most of them don’t turn their noses up at me anymore. That’s good enough for me.”

“I see,” She walked past him once more and walked up the stairs to sit on her throne.

When she looked back down to Cinnamon, her horn lit up and her eyes gained a golden twinkle that he couldn't see at that distance.

Her horn returned to normal and she smiled, “Any questions you wish to ask me?”

“Ask you? I didn’t know that was part of this.”

She shrugged, “Not normally, however, these would be quite dull if each request were the same; so ask away, unless you have no questions.”

He hummed and looked to the ground so he wouldn’t be staring at her while he thought of a question to ask.

He looked around the room, “Why do you do this?”

“Am I not allowed to love? Or be loved?”

“But you’re loved by all of Equestria!”

She shook her head, “Not in the way I desire to be.”

He motions toward the doors with hundreds of creatures waiting behind “Then why this? Why don’t you do the asking?”

She sighed, “The power of the crown… complicates that. Any that I ask would not refuse, even if they are unhappy with the arrangement.”

“How would anycreature be unhappy with that?”

“The royal life is not meant for everycreature. Those unprepared quickly become overwhelmed but they stay for their princess.” She frowns for just a moment, “It tears them apart.”

“And this circumvents that?”

She nods her head, “It does; many that approach me are prepared for what it might bring.”

“What about the ones that might not be as prepared?”

She smiles, “The week before my answer helps by testing them. Doubt settles on the mind within the first days after their request. If they return, even if they aren’t completely prepared, they hold the potential to overcome it.”

Cinnamon let out a small breath, “Ok, that’s good to know.”

Princess Celestia smirked, “Relieved?”

“What? No!”

“You were by my side for half a year; you cannot fool me, I know your body language well.”

“Alright, maybe I am a little. Truth is, I didn’t know about this until a month ago.”

She cocked her head to the side, “How is that? The list of suitors that return to receive an answer from either me or my sister is on the front page of Sunday’s newspaper; unless something is trying to take over Equestria.”

“Ah, well that explains it; I never read the newspaper when I was living with my parents and I don’t read it on my day off here. Wait, does that mean I’m going to be in tomorrow’s newspaper?”

She nodded.

“Great,” he muttered under his breath.

“Is something the matter?”

Apparently he wasn’t as hushed as he thought, “Nothing really.” He remembered about her being able to detect lies, “I’ve just had bad experiences with the paper in the past. Apparently I was an evil monster when I learned how to crawl. I can’t remember it myself but that’s what my parents say.”

“So you are concerned of what they would say now?”

He scratched his chin in thought, “Maybe if I was doing this a few years ago, yes. Every newspaper would probably say I was trying to get close so I could eat you.”

Princess Celestia slightly cocked her head to the side but said nothing.

“But now? I don’t really know and that makes me more concerned about what story they’ll fabricate about this.”

“Allow me to put your mind at ease. You will find the reporters will only mention ponies of a particular interest in the paper. Often some form of ridicule for not receiving my affection in an attempt to knock them off their pedestal.” She stands from her throne and walks down the steps once more to stand in front of Cinnamon.

“However, given some thought, I will decide to accept your request of courtship.”

Cinnamon could feel his heartbeat increasing after hearing her say that. She moved her head in to nuzzle him under his left ear. He couldn’t move his body while she was in such close proximity to him. He didn’t know how to proceed as she pulled her head back to look at him.

Luckily, she continued it for him, “Come to my chambers tomorrow after I set the sun. Do not tell anycreature of my answer until I say otherwise.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Is there something I should be concerned about?”

But she didn’t answer him. Instead, she pointed at the wall to the right of the throne. Her magic glowed as a door opened from a spot where it was hidden from the view of anycreature not on or near the throne.

“Exit through there and close the door behind you.” She looked back at him with a smile, “I will see you tomorrow.”

He didn’t want to repeat his question since he knew she heard him, so he nodded and walked out of the throne room and closed the door behind him. He didn’t leave the door immediately, instead standing in front of it for a moment going over everything that happened a few minutes ago.

When his mind finally returned to the present, he noticed he was standing in the middle of one of the main hallways. A few guards were stationed in front of some of the doors but other than that, it was empty.

He sighed as he started to make his way to his bunk room; he had a lot to think about.

10. Date Night

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.

11. Reassurance

Monday passed slowly. Since Cinnamon had R&R, he found himself without something to do. The castle lacked recreational things to do aside from going to the library.

For the entire day, he woke up, ate his meals, sat around in the library and in his sleeping quarters.

As it neared the end, his brain started thinking and focusing on something Celestia had said. That she would need to fix him.

Was he broken? It would make sense why mares never asked him out. Maybe he wasn’t worth the effort… but why would she bother then? Maybe he was a project to her.

Those thoughts kept him awake longer than he normally would be, eventually falling asleep sometime past midnight.

The next day, his mind wandered back to what she said as he took a hot shower.

He was distracted to the point that he went to the mess hall at lunch to seek out Onyx on his lunch break. He needed advice.

He walked through the mess hall doors into the large room full of guards eating, chatting, and relaxing as much as they could before having to return to their posts. The only ones allowed in here for lunch were creatures considered non-essential positions. If you had wall duty, gate duty, or lookout; you needed to grab a lunch from the kitchen in the morning and take it with you to your post. The rest had a 30 minute lunch in the mess hall. Depending on the job you’re assigned will determine when your break happened so the entire castle staff wasn’t in one place at once and abandon the rest of the building.

Onyx was assigned to guard the Throne Room doors so he had the noon lunchtime along with the court guard, group 2 of the door guards, group 2 of perimeter patrols and group 2 of the hall patrols.

It took 5 minutes of scanning every pony face in the room before finding the brown muzzle with accompanying horn of his friend. Thankfully, none of the guards ever wore their fur altering helmets in the mess hall; otherwise, this would be a fruitless effort.

He moved over to where Onyx was sitting and sat next to him.

He gave Cinnamon a sideways glance, “Cinnamon? What are you doing here?”

“I need some advice about mares.”

He stopped eating; a biscuit hovering inches away from his open mouth. The biscuit levitates back to his plate.

“About?”

“What a mare said. What it means.”

“Ok, what did she say?”

“I… needed to be fixed.”

“Easy, buck her. Since when has some random mare’s opinion bothered you?”

Cinnamon didn’t know how to respond to that without giving away the secret he was supposed to keep.

Onyx leaned in closer and whispers to Cinnamon, “It… it wasn’t your mother, was it?”

Cinnamon immediately shook his head and pushed Onyx away from him, “No!”

Onyx took a bit of his biscuit and chewed it before his eyes went wide, “ooate.”

He stops to swallow his food, “Wait… do you have a marefriend?”

“What? Why would you say that?”

“Well, the only mare I can think of off the top of my head that would say something like that is Commander Silver but if that made you this irritated, you wouldn’t have lasted through boot camp.”

He smiled, “You also didn’t answer my question. So who is it? Does she work in the castle?”

Cinnamon looked at him, “That’s… not important. What do I do?”

“Well, is it a marefriend?”

“Why does that matter?”

“It matters. Buck her if she’s a random mare but if it’s a marefriend then other factors need to be considered. Like how serious are you about it? Do you want to continue your relationship? So which is it?”

Cinnamon sighed, “Fine, not a stranger and I do want it to continue.”

“Well, maybe consider it. A relationship is about give and take. You won’t find a perfect mare that is everything you want while also being everything she wants.”

Onyx’s ears perk up as a whistle blows, signaling the end of the guards lunch. He quickly finished up his biscuit and drink. His helmet levitated onto his head, his fur turning a pearly white that started from the helmet and changed in a wave down to the tips of his hooves.

The other creatures in the mess hall were filing out of the room before Onyx turned his attention back to him. “If it’s something that you can’t change then I say dump her. Otherwise, it’s up to you since you’re being unusually… dodgy with my questions… Why didn’t you tell me about this before? It feels weird that you of all creatures wouldn’t celebrate a relationship.”

“I didn’t expect it would go this far.”

“Well, good luck?” he said before galloping toward the door to catch up with the last of the guards filing out.

Cinnamon stood in the empty room, “Well… that didn’t help much.” He mumbled to himself. He looked over to the kitchen, figuring he may as well get his lunch now before the next group of guards arrive and form a line.

He spent the rest of the day in emotional conflict. Onyx tried to help after he got off duty but Cinnamon’s inability to be straightforward with him meant he had little help to give.

Unfortunately, as the night continued near midnight, it became clear his night would be as sleepless as the night before. So he took a walk.

He walked through the halls which were empty aside from the night guards but what he was seeking was a quiet place to think.

He went to the library first only to find a dozen creatures walking through the aisles. Then he tried the mess hall but the night guards were just starting their equivalent of lunch. So he ventured outside to the garden. During the day, it would have common ponies walking around the place but at night, it was empty.

He looked around and found the ideal place, the garden maze. Even if somecreature was also in it, he wasn’t likely to run into them.

He walked through the maze, enjoying the cool night air and the sweet smells of the flowers in the shrub walls. For a few minutes, he completely forgot about his troubles until reaching a larger area. Either he found the center or just a large section.

But it was exactly what he was looking for. It was secluded, quiet, calm, and a perfect place to let his mind wander.

Or so he thought.

His eyes opened for the 7th time when he heard the sound of flapping wings approaching. The first 5 minutes in the maze was perfect. The area was lit by the light of the moon, the air was cool on his skin and the only noise came from the breeze swaying the bushes. Then the first night guard showed up. She was a pegasus mare concerned that he might have been lost. He told her he was fine and she left.

Later a bat pony guard would show up for the same reason, then a griffin, then another pegasus and so on. As he heard the 7th pair of hooves touch the ground near him, he began to wonder if he should just roll himself into the bushes to hide himself. Sure, it wouldn’t be as comfortable but he wouldn’t have to continue sounding like a broken record.

“No, I’m not lost and I don’t need you to fly me out but I appreciate the concern,” he said in a monotone voice, not bothering to look at the guard. Sure, it was a bit disrespectful to do that but he was beginning to become annoyed than none of the guards noticed he wasn’t showing any signs of panic or distress. If he were lost, he would be jumping up and down trying to flag somecreature down for help.

Moments later, he signed through his nose when he didn’t hear the beating sound of wings taking them away. So he closed his eyes again, trying to focus on his thoughts and ignoring the fact that he was no longer alone.

Just when he was beginning to relax, she spoke, “Are thou certain? Thou appear quite lost to us.”

He finally turned his head in her direction to see it was Princess Luna standing in the small clearing with him. His eyes went wide as he moved to stand up only for the blue glow of the princess’ magic to gently keep him on lying on his back.

“Do not allow our presence to disturb thee.” She said before her magic faded.

He wiggled on the ground, rotating his body so he could rest his head on the ground and still see her, “I apologize with my… rather rude greeting. Quite a few guards have been showing up; I didn’t expect you to be here… I didn’t do something wrong, did I?”

She shook her head, “Nay, we peered out our window before retiring to our bed and saw thee laying in our maze. We approached out of concern.”

“Oh, well sorry for wasting your time and… worrying you but I’m fine.”

She raised a brow, “Secluding oneself in a maze is not what we would consider fine.”

She walked closer to him and laid down in a pony loaf next to him, “Now, dost thou wish to continue lying to thy princess?”

Cinnamon nibbled on his lower lip and looked around the sky. “I, I can’t say in the open.”

Her horn lit up and flashed three times. Unseen to Cinnamon’s eyes, the air around them became slightly distorted before a solid blue bubble appeared slightly below it. “We are now invisible to the eye, silent to the ear and none may enter unless we allow it. Speak what burdens thy mind.”

He glanced at her; could he tell her? Did Celestia’s sister count as somecreature he needed to keep the secret against?

“Well, Cel- Princess Celestia wanted me to keep things a secret, would that apply to you?”

“If thou speak of thy courtship proposal with our sister, we are already aware of it.”

“What about Sunday night?”

“If thou are referring to our sister taking thee to The Horn’s Tip, we know of that as well.”

He sighed and looked up to the bright moon, thinking of the best way he could put this without sounding pathetic.

“I’m… conflicted. About something Princess Celestia said at The Horn’s Tip.”

Princess Luna slightly cocked her head, “Oh?”

“She said she would need to fix me…” He looked over to Princess Luna, “…am I broken?”

She didn’t speak for a few moments. She never considered herself a therapist even though she used many of their techniques when she did her duties in dream world. However, the dream world was much simpler than this. She could watch the dream or nightmare unfold; see what the problem was and mold the dream so they could overcome their problems on their own… most of the time.

“We are all broken in our own way; no creature can escape such reality. Not us, nor our sister.”

“But you two aren’t broken; you’re perfect.”

Her eyes lower to the ground, “How much dost thou know of our past with the Nightmare Moon?”

He thought back to the required information he had to know to be a guard. “You were controlled by an entity of darkness, Nightmare Moon. But that wasn’t you Princess.”

“We were the one to make a deal with the nightmare demon out of jealousy and anger. One so perfect would not have allowed such a thing to taint her. Our sister… she also holds flaws of her own.”

She looked at Cinnamon and softened her voice, “Ground Cinnamon, our sister spoke to fix thee… What were her words?”

“She said I like a block of marble with chips and cracks in it, that she would have to fix it and work on my confidence around her.”

Princess Luna didn’t immediately respond as she thought it over. “Wouldst thou be distraught if our sister said she would need to nurture thee? To help thou grow thy confidence?”

He didn’t respond.

“A flaw thou shall need to fix for her.”

“How she chooses words?”

“Nay, how she interacts with thee. Our sister… has not been intimate with another for a millennia. She has spoken to others as a princess, a teacher and sometimes a friend… but not as a potential mate. Thou will need to assist her in seeing how her words may affect thee.”

“So what should I do?”

“We suggest to speak with our sister of it. Notify her about how her words made thou feel.”

“Correct her? but I would be out of line if I did that.”

“If thou becomes our sisters consort, thou shall be seen as an equal to her. She shall treat thee as such, Thou must do the same.”

“What if I can’t?”

“'Tis not an option. If thou can only see a superior in mine sister and not a mate, thy relationship shall fail.”

Cinnamon frowned, “But how can I? She’s a princess with power beyond my understanding. A mate… is intimate… how can I do that with a Princess of Equestria?”

“Mount her like any other mare.”

He looked at her with wide eyes of shock, not fully being able to accept Princess Luna really just said what he heard as clear as day.

She only rolled her eyes before igniting her horn; pulling her regalia off her body and setting it to the side, out of sight to Cinnamon’s vision.

She then looked at him, “We are still mares Ground Cinnamon. We have all the desires any other mare does, including the act of breeding.”

“B-but you’re virtuous! Not to succumb to something as debase as the rest of us.”

Princess Luna giggled, “Thou would not be saying such things if thee observed our niece in her chambers with Prince Shining.”

He closed his mouth, thinking of how to respond. He’s heard plenty of rumors about the Princess of Love. Having guards join her and the Prince in the bedroom, times when a silence spell was forgotten or when heat came around and the Crystal Castle staff played an aggressive and erotic form of tag. A game that guaranteed a few guard would be out of commission for a few days.

But she was an outlier.

“Yes, but not you, or Princess Celestia, or Princess Twilight.”

She hummed, “Well, we agree Twilight is… unusually calm with her urges. Our sister was left without room for such physical interactions with anycreature after we were banished; placing all her time and effort into Equestria so that it may grow. As for us… a millennia with no relief has dulled the urge to an itch; though, once scratched, would likely return to a burning desire as it once was.”

She looked at Cinnamon, “Our sister will be much the same if thou decide to mount her.”

Cinnamon averted his eyes from Princess Luna, unable to hold her gaze. A slight blush had formed on his face from being talked to so bluntly by the lunar princess. He’d mounted quite a number of creatures in his past, so why was this making him feel wiggly inside?

His thought was interrupted when Princess Luna moved to stand up, floating her regalia to rest upon her figure once more.

“We must be off; we would be remiss in our duties to keep from the dreaming realm much longer.”

Cinnamon looked to the moon which was already on its path down, making it somewhere between 1 and 2 in the morning.

Luna brushed a few areas on her legs and belly that held some dirt before looking in Cinnamon direction. She then turned to look around the maze bushes until she found what she was looking for.

Her horn glowed and a purple flower was plucked from a bush. It floated over to Cinnamon.

“Smell this,” She said, letting go of the flower when he took it. “It shall calm thy mind and relax thee.”

“If thou require more assistance, we suggest to speak with the castles therapist. While we do not mind assisting thee in matters such as this, we cannot keep peering out the window to see if thou are there. Believe us, 'tis best not to fight alone when others care for thy safety."

She looked up and opened her wings to take off but hesitated and glanced back to him, “And thou must endeavor to become confident, with or without our sisters help; it shall open many doors that thou may find quite enjoyable and worthwhile.”

Then she flew into the air; the bubbles keeping their conversation private dissipating as she pushed past them as if they were made of fog.

He watched as she flew to the castle, landing on one of the tower balconies and walking inside.

He looked down to the purple flower and twirled it between his fingers. Then brought it up to his nose and smelled it. True to her word, he did feel relaxed; however, his mind was still going over everything that was said. He felt better, if only slightly.

He began the walk through the maze back to where he entered until he walked into a small open area he didn’t recognize.

Well buck… he thought to himself, I’m lost.

12. Secrets Revealed

The next day, Cinnamon spent most of his time thinking of a secluded place for his next date. He narrowed it down to either a picnic on Canterlot Mountain, which was a no-fly zone and pretty secluded or a walk in the private Celestia Gardens. In the end, he decided to combine the two together.

A picnic was a nice idea. Even with the no-fly zone, a hiker could easily come across them. The Celestial Gardens were contained in the castle, the skylight was made up of one way windows and it was already limited in access to only a few creatures in the castle. But there was still that chance, even such a small one, that somecreature allowed inside would happen upon them.

He’d spend a few minutes thinking of a way around it before realizing he could ask Celestia to restrict access to the gardens for the night.

That’s when things became complicated for the picnic part. He couldn’t talk to her before day court ended to ask her not to eat dinner, nor could he try to meet her between the courts closing and her dinner without a large risk of breaking his promise to her, even accidentally. So he settled on simply bringing a night snack of an apple pie. Then he had to figure out how he would bring it with him. If she closed the gardens, he couldn’t bring the pie afterwards; he’d have to be in the gardens already when she told the garden guards to deny access to anycreature wanting to enter, even the few privileged.

Then he realized, he could ask her to teleport him inside beforehand, or clear out the gardens while he waited in her chamber then grab him once she knew it was empty.

The rest of the day passed much like the previous ones.

Before leaving for Celestia’s chambers, Cinnamon went to the kitchens and retrieved an apple pie. He then walked to her room while trying his best not to look nervous or suspicious walking down hallways holding a full pie in his hands.

He arrived at Celestia’s doors and knocked. He was relieved he only received a few curious glances along the way.

A moment passed before one of the doors opened and Celestia’s head poked out.

She smiled, “Good evening,” She waived a hoof to beckon him to her, “come in, come in.”

He walked in after her retreat and closed the door behind him.

“So… how was court?” he asked, somewhat nerviously.

“Well, the majority of the time was filled with the same boring things you already know about. A trade request from the griffin kingdom that will need to be looked at in the coming week. Oh!”

She turned her head to look at Cinnamon directly, “various tribes from Zebrica sent a few stallion representatives to seek an audience with me.”

Cinnamon raised a brow in interest. Similarly to the Griffons; the Zebra tribes were a prideful species and both rarely, if ever, sought out any kind of audience, help, or input from outside species. The Zebra's have been on good terms with Equestria even while refusing to send any kind of ambassador to the castle to establish a stable line of communication with them. Even with how many species have been integrating into Equestria, Zebras have always been and seem to remain a rarity to see living within Equestria’s borders.

“Really? What for?” Cinnamon asked.

“Apparently the Zebras are having a bit of a population crisis. They requested a large harem of mares to stabilize their numbers.”

He blinked in surprise. Although the Zebras were less ferocious than Griffons, they were well known for their strict traditions to pure bloodlines. Stallions and mares that were caught mating or breeding with an outside species received a brand burned onto their forehead and exiled from the tribe.

According to reports from our outposts there; Zebras with this mark were either shunned or killed by other tribes, starved themselves in the wild, or, in rare cases, traveled to one of our outposts for shelter and travel to Equestria.

“That’s… odd; don’t they normally keep to themselves when it comes to breeding?”

She nodded, “So you picked up on that too. Yes, they have, excluding a small amount of cases over the past millennia. Even those were due to unusually terrible weather destroying all their food and only requesting for us to manage it during the summer months of that year.”

“So did you refuse their request?”

She shook her head, “Not right away. I have sent letters to our outposts in Zebrica to look into it. If it is truly a crisis, they may forego their pure bloodline to continue existing. If you were in attendance, you may also have picked up on the odd demeanor of the representatives.”

“Were they rude? Or demanding?”

She shook her head, “No, it almost felt as if they were… nervous? I could not tell if it was because of the request itself or the situation they have been put in.”

She shook her head again to remove herself from her thoughts, “Anyway, now is not the time to think of such matters. I see you have brought a pie, does it have something to do with our date?”

Cinnamon nodded, “Yes, I was thinking we could have a small picnic in the Private Celestial Gardens.”

Her ears perked up, “while I do enjoy the idea, I am afraid it is not private enough.”

“Actually, I put some thought into that. Do you think you could make it restricted access for the night? It shouldn’t inconvenience too many creatures. After that’s done, you can teleport me inside.”

She hummed to herself, “Yes, I believe that would be acceptable. Very well, a picnic in the private gardens it is.”

She walked over to her chamber doors, “I must say, I cannot recall the last time I have been on a picnic.”

She peered at the pie he was holding, “Perhaps next time we could have something more substantial.”

Cinnamon smiled, “Well that’s good to know that you’re still hungry after eating dinner. I wasn’t sure if you’d be hungry for more than a few slices of pie. I also might’ve gained a few curious followers if I carried more food through the castle halls that what I have.”

She chuckled, “If there is one thing you should know about Alicorns, it is that we are more than the common pony in every way. Larger in size, larger magic pool and a larger appetite”

He smiled, “I will keep that in mind next time.”

She nodded, “I shall inform the guards and lock the doors then retrieve you afterwards.”

Cinnamon nodded in understanding before she left, leaving him alone in her room with the pie.

He waited a few minutes before the snapping sound of Celestia teleporting into the room caught his attention.

“The Private Gardens are clear and restricted for the night. I am ready to teleport you when you are.” She said, gesturing to her side with a wing.

Cinnamon nodded and walked to stand next to her. He looked down to the pie, then to her.

“Could you carry the pie? I’m not confident that I wouldn’t drop it after being teleported.”

She nodded and lifted the pie from his grip with her magic, “Ready?”

He let out a breath and relaxed before nodding. Her horn lit up and teleported them to the gardens.

They were teleported to the main garden room overlooking a large oval pool of infinitely flowing water. A divider was in the center of it, making the current flow in a slow whirlpool style. Some water flowers bobbed in the water and clung to the edges of the pool while others gently glided along with the current. Grass pathways surrounded the pool with bushes that hugged the room’s walls. A few flowers were scattered in the bushes, bringing colors of yellow, pink, and blue to the green foliage. Above them was a large skylight of one way windows, magically strengthened and while normal one way

Behind them was the only entrance to the gardens. Only then did he realize how close the guards would be to them on the other side.

“Is it soundproofed?” Cinnamon whispered while looking at the doors.

“It is,” Celestia answered in a normal tone, “And magically locked, just in case.”

He let out a small breath, relieved his oversight was caught before the guards had a chance to notice a very non-princessly voice speaking through the doors. He was certain they wouldn’t be able to identify his voice but he also didn’t know how strict Celestia was about this secret.

The apple pie floated in front of Cinnamon, allowing him to grab it from the air.

“Since this is your date idea, what shall we do next? I must say I am impressed so far.”

He raised a brow, “Really? it hasn't even started yet.”

“Perhaps not but a completely private date is quite a difficult task to accomplish, only feasible to those in high standing. Even I only have three of these options with those I trust to keep a secret.”

She looked around the garden, “Using your access to this place was clever and an option I could not use with other suitors.”

She hummed to herself, “I believe this will be my first time doing such a thing in this garden.”

She looked back to Cinnamon, “Before we begin, I wish to inform you of something so you may think on it through the night.”

When he gave her his full attention, she continued, “This will be the last time we will meet as my suitor. By the end of this date, I will need you to decide if you wish to end this courtship, or become my consort.”

He looked at her with shock. It had only been half a week. He thought it would be a few weeks of being a suitor at least.

“So soon?”

She nodded, “The chances of this secret being revealed prematurely increase as time goes on and unfortunately, I will not be available to another date this week.”

“Could… Couldn’t I give you an answer tomorrow night?”

She shook her head, “If you accept, I will need to assemble an announcement to be made on Saturday. It will go out to all news outlets in Equestria and to our allied nations to attend. Such a thing will require time to send invites while also allowing time for recipients to respond and travel here.”

She paused for a moment, “I recall you having an issue about the news… if you accept, your face will be on the front page of every paper in Equestria and the main topic of discussion to our allies for weeks to come.”

Cinnamon grimaced, already imagining what they would say about him being Celestia’s consort. Assuming his motives would probably be the most talked about topic. Although, would Celestia being part of the story affect what they would say?

He was brought out of his thoughts with a flinch as a feathery appendage rested on his shoulders. He looked over to see the concerned look on Celestia’s face.

“If you do accept, we would work through that together.”

At that moment, Cinnamon was perplexed. Celestia was giving him a look that only his parents and a teacher had given him before, genuine concern.

“Why me?” he asked, barely above a whisper but despite the soft voice, Celestia had heard what he said.

“You are kind, caring, thoughtful and humorous when you are comfortable. You do not seek me for my status or my wealth. Something I have missed for a very long time. You possess the qualities to make a good consort.”

He looked befuddled, “How? We’ve been on one date. I hardly know you… you barely know me.”

“I know enough,” was all she said.

He deflated a little, not satisfied with the answer she gave him but knowing he probably wouldn’t get more than that.

Celestia sighed after noticing his dis-satisfied look. She removed her wing from Cinnamon’s shoulders and looked away in thought.

Meanwhile, Cinnamon looked down at the pie in his hands. It was no longer warm. If they waited any longer, it would become cold. Not to say that there was anything wrong with cold apple pie, but he enjoyed it best when it was warm or hot. At the moment, his hands were quite grateful that it wasn’t currently hot.

“Well, I think we should eat first so I’m not carrying an entire pie with me everywhere.”

“One moment,” she said before he could move to find a suitable spot. “I can show you… if you are willing to do something for me first.”

"Show me what?"

"How I know what I know about you."

He looked at her and spoke after a brief moment of silence, “What would I have to do?”

Celestia turned her body to face him and sat on the ground. She slipped her right hoof out of her horseshoe and raised it in the air with her frog facing Cinnamon.

“With sound body and mind, extend unto me, the power and control, of your memory.” Her hoof began to glow white before she made a circle motion with it in the air.

“With this bind, a promise you make, to never reveal the knowledge you take.” She slams her hoof to the ground. Two white circles extended from the edges of her hoof until they were both within the smaller circle.

She closed her eyes, “Only to those that already know, may hear the words that I bestow. To the rest, your lips are sealed, to prevent my words from being revealed.”

As she spoke, symbols and runes appeared between the outer and inner circles, appearing clockwise from each other until it met back to the first symbol. Once finished, they rose a hoof off the ground and began to slowly spin in a clockwise manner.

She opened her eyes and lifted her glowing hoof, upturning it to allow Cinnamon to rest his hand on top if he chose to.

Meanwhile, Cinnamon processed what was happening. He looked at the large white shape on the ground around them. He recognized one of the symbols floating around them as the runic symbol for memory. A few others looked familiar but he couldn’t quite place them.

“So… what exactly will this do?” he hesitantly asked while eyeing the solid white glow emanating from her upturned hoof.

“It will allow me to seal the information I am willing to provide with a powerful spell so what I say has no chance to be found out by others; whether by your choice or by force.”

She stood up, still holding her hoof out in front of her. “If you try to tell somecreature, you will temporarily forget everything I say for a few hours. If, for any reason, somecreature were to apply magic to your mind for any reason, this knowledge would temporarily disappear to the magic users touch. Otherwise, it will do nothing.”

He looked back at her extended hoof, “And this is necessary?”

She nodded, “It is crucial this does not reach public ears.”

He leaned down and set the apple pie down on the ground beside him. Standing back up, he slowly reached out with his right hand, quickly touching the white light with a finger and taking it back as if it would burn him on contact.

She gave him an unamused look before he finally placed his hand fully on her hoof.

The second he did, white lines shot out from the inner circle and touched Celestia at her left hoof and flank while two others touched Cinnamon’s feet. Then a line formed between them, connecting their bodies.

“Now, repeat after me. I, state your name.”

“I, Ground Cinnamon.”

“With sound mind and body.”

“With sound mind and body.”

“Willingly agree to allow this spell to alter my mind.”

“Willingly agree to allow this spell to alter my mind.”

The white glow on her hoof extended to his hand, forming a solid bubble around their contact. The line that connected the two on the ground slowly grew wider until the inside of the inner circle was all white. The runic symbols around them spun faster and floated higher off the ground, coming to a stop at eye level. Faster and faster until they looked like a solid band of light. Then it broke into a line and shot into Cinnamon’s forehead.

A white hue was left on his forehead and faded away after a few seconds.

He blinked a few times and started to rub his eyes with his hands, “What was that?”

Celestia’s horn flashed as she sent out a mental message, “Old magic from a time before unicorns learned to channel magic through their horns. However, it is stronger and more reliable than the magic used in current times, less holes in the script and a stronger bind.”

She looked at the charred hoofprint in the ground. She frowned and touched the mark, the one "flaw" with binding magic such as this. It would take a few weeks for the green grass to naturally begin to grow again.

A loud snap was heard through the room as Princess Luna teleported in front of them looking the other way

“Tis quite early in the night sister, did thy date go awry?” Princess Luna asked before turning around and spotting both Celestia and Cinnamon still rubbing his eyes.

“Perhaps not.”

She gave Celestia a questioning look, “Why have thou requested our presence? Thou knows we have things to attend to.”

As she walked closer to them, she noticed the scorched hoofprint in the grass and paused mid-stride.

“Is that…”

Celestia nodded.

“Did he?”

She nodded again,” I need you to free his memories.”

She looked over to Cinnamon, “Are thee sure?”

“Yes, I believe it would be best.”

Princess Luna was silent for a few seconds before responding, “Very well.”

She walked up to Cinnamon, then looked back to Celestia, “Did thou not warn him to close his eyes?”

She gave her a sheepish look, “no… I forgot it did that.”

Princess Luna rolled her eyes, “Honestly sister…”

“What? I have not used a spell like this since the peace accords with the earth tribes over 3 millennia ago. I am happy the circle did not fizzle out and disappear from a mistake in chant.”

When Cinnamon finally pried his hands away from his eyes, he saw Princess Luna standing before him with her horn ignited, “bow for us please.”

He glanced at Celestia. When she gave him a small nod, he looked back and bowed.

Princess Luna leaned down and touched her forehead to his. She angled her head down until her horn made contact with the top of his head. With a flash of her magic, the memory of all his dreams returned to him.

She took a step back from him but he remained bowed with a blush on his face.

Princess Luna looked at Celestia, “Is that all thou required of us?”

She nodded with a smile, “thank you Luna.” She walked closer to wrap a wing around her barrel and give her a hug, “I truly appreciate it.”

“Yes, well, we are glad to see he was able to speak on thy behavior.”

Celestia pulled away from her a little but kept her wing resting on Princess Luna’s back, “Pardon?”

Her eyes widened, “ah… um… We must depart; duties… chores… y-yes.” With a crack, she teleported away.

Celestia, still looking at the vacant spot her sister once resided in, shook her head and looked to Cinnamon’s still form.

She walked to stand next to him, “Cinnamon?”

He looked at her with a blush still on his face. Standing up when he realized he was still bowing.

He cleared his throat, “Sorry… did you say something?”

“Are you alright?”

He nodded, “Yeah, just a bit surprised… how was that supposed to answer anything?”

She cleared her throat, “You are correct that I do not know much about you from our previous date but I know about the kind of creature you are.”

“So… you know about the dreams too?”

She shook her head, “Not the specifics; I trust Luna knows what she is doing.”

With her magic, a mirror appeared before them so Cinnamon could see himself in it.

“She informs me with these.” Her horn flashes and his eyes gained a golden twinkle to them.

The reflection he sees in the mirror gains spots of blue hues on his cheeks, forehead and lips. He reached up to touch the marks on his face.

“Your left cheek tells me your intent is pure, your forehead tells me you are not searching for power and your right cheek tells me you are not after my life.”

He touched his right cheek, “Your life? You don’t mean-“

“To kill me, yes. No suitor has returned so far that did not have that mark on them.”

He brought his hand into view to look at it through the mirror to see the mark hadn’t smeared onto his fingers.

“Has everycreature been able to see this the whole time?”

She shook her head, “No, it is only visible to a specific frequency of magic. Luna once used this to identify enemy spies based on the content of their dream. It will fade away in a few more days.”

She ended the spell on his eyes and made the mirror disappear.

“Aren’t you afraid a unicorn might happen upon that frequency by accident?” Cinnamon asked.

She shook her head, “The frequency is too low for any grown magic user to find it by chance since it serves no purpose. It cannot pick up something as light as a feather and a spell requires 100 times the magical density to begin. However, a foal can see it if they are just beginning to use their magic which usually happens when they still have not begun to speak. ”

A scroll appeared in front of Cinnamon; it floated closer to him and unrolled itself.

He gently grabbed it and started to read it

Mother

Unicorn

Slightly sleep deprived

Lead mare No herd

Kind

Pushy

Possible thing for screenwriters

Makes a great mango smoothie off topic

Upper-middle class

Medium house

Surprised about courtship

Questions the courtship

Father

Pegasus

Stay at home stallion

Independent stallion

Cares for pegasus foal pre-yearling

Spends mornings with foal

Considerate

Can follow a mare’s shopping list without buying more

Supports courtship

Limited knowledge, stays at home

Suitor

Unknown race

Few bad experiences in love life

Helps work despite on leave

Does not complain when doing mares work

Something about cinnamon cupcakes

Helps father with shopping

Does not go on spending spree

When he finished reading the short list, he glanced over to Celestia, “What’s this?”

“We send an intelligence agent to make a short list of a suitor and their immediate family. It helps gives an insight to the environment a suitor was raised in.”

When Cinnamon felt a tugging of the paper in his hands, he let it go. It rolled up and disappeared.

“What’s the insight on me?”

“Preferable. Loving parents with positive qualities for each and instilled a value of work into you.”

With a flash of her horn, an empty glass mug appeared between them along with a potion bottle of green liquid, a bowl of fruit and a bag of sugar. "Lastly is a precautionary measure for Equestrian guards such as yourself."

Cinnamon watched as the potion was poured in, filling the mug a quarter of the way up. As the now empty bottle was set to the side, the bowl of fruit floated closer to the mug. The glow of Celestia's magic enveloped the fruit and were lifted into the air right above the drinking glass. Her horn glowed slightly brighter as the fruit was crushed in the magical grip until it was a liquid. She carefully dropped the juice into the mug, being careful not to let it splash out and filling it almost to the top. The bag of sugar was then levitated over and a hefty amount of it poured into the glass. She stirred it with her magic, changing its color from a dark purple to a radiating white.

Once done, she looked back up to Cinnamon. "The Princess' Contemplation; a sweet drink given to Equestrian guards brave enough to request courtship from either me or Luna. In reality, it is a combination of fruit, sugar, and truth potion."

Cinnamon was shocked and opened his mouth to say something before Celestia placed a hoof on his lips to silence him.

Knowing what he was about to ask, she spoke. "It is a precaution and only lasts for 10 minutes. Our guards are trained to be redirect mind magic by guiding it to irrelevant information. While a necessary skill to have, it can sometimes alter or interfere with Luna's ability to create dream scenarios with accurate reactions. Luna has expressed aggravation in the past with some guards ignoring what she conjured up and chasing something like a butterfly or running through a field of flowers."

"So we created this," She glanced down to the drink, then back to him. "While short, it is a powerful truth potion tediously created so the one that drinks it only responds with total honesty to one voice."

He looked down at the glowing white drink. "The bartender," he mumbled.

Celestia nodded, "Correct. Dapper Mix has handled the duty of retrieving information from our armored suitors since the creation of this drink. He writes down what questions he asks and what our suitors have answered. It is not as thorough as what Luna can retrieve with her dreams; so if her dreams do work as intended, his list is not needed and discarded with flame."

"Why does it look like that?" Cinnamon asked; noticing that, while the glow had died down to what he remembered, it remained a solid white. "The one I drank had swirls of blue in it."

"Luna creates these with me. We mix our magical aura's into the drink as an aesthetic to represent the both of us. If she had stayed and mixed this with me, it would create the swirls that you are familiar with."

With a flash of her horn, the drink disappeared. She then lifted the apple pie into the air with her magic.

She looked at the left hallway that led to the daytime section of the gardens, “Now, I believe you desired to eat the pie first; let us do that. I can answer any more questions you may have as we eat.”

He nodded and followed her to the solar branch of the gardens.

The furthest wall away from where they entered was made entirely of one way windows. They faced out away from the city toward the pains and rolling hills under Cloudsdale. When the sun would rise and rest in the sky, light would pour into the gardens. Since the moon was out, a few species of flower had their petals shut.

A small river ran through the garden; the only noise that could be heard was the sound of water washing over a few tiny rapids and the swishing of grass from Celestia and Cinnamon walking through.

She continued to lead him to sit near the windows. She placed the pie on the ground and sat next to it; Cinnamon joining her on the other side of it. He had been thinking of questions to ask. Most were to try and get to know her more before the date ended but a few were still over the whole process of knowledge retrieval.

They both faced the window looking over the land. They could barely see the bottom of the moon near the top of the window from where they were sitting.

“So,” Cinnamon spoke up, “This process… why is it so important to keep secret?”

Her magic ignited and the pie was cut into eight equal pieces.

“The process relies on secrecy. If one were to know about the dream tests, they would learn to lucid dream and make the test unreliable for the truth. If they knew they would be observed during their day to day life after their request, they would act differently.” She looked over to him, “How would you act knowing you were being watched? To see how you acted; to see if you were consort material. Anxious? Hesitant? Or perhaps you would prepare yourself and those around you to act a certain way to improve the quality of information collected on you.”

He nodded in understanding. If he’d known he was being followed around, he wouldn’t have been able to enjoy the small vacation as much as he did… wait a minute…

“This intelligence agent wouldn’t happen to be a bat pony… would it?”

“We have a small assortment of different species for the job.”

“Was mine a bat pony?”

She nodded.

“She… wouldn’t happen to be a screenwriter… would she?” He asked, sounding hopeful.

“No, however, Silent Glider is an amateur writer though.”

He grimaced; Vanilla would be heartbroken if she knew the mare she spent so much time trying to pry a future play title out of never had one to begin with. “Why a bat pony? It was a bit weird to see one in broad daylight. Though, admittedly, I didn’t connect the dots thanks to my mom.”

Celestia sighed, “Most intelligence agents are day creatures that mingle with the rest of the castle staff. I did not want to risk you recognizing somecreature from the castle watching you and your movements constantly for a week. It was safer to send an agent that appeared unusual instead of one you knew.”

He supposed that made sense even though he only knew 1 intelligence agent.

“Wait, you told me the meaning of the cheek glows and forehead glow. What about the one on my lips?”

She looked at him or, specifically, the lips the blue glow settled on. “It means Luna approves of you.”

Not having anything more to say, he ate a couple slices of pie.

He swallowed his second piece as Celestia finished her half of the pie.

“So what about you Celestia? I don’t know much about you, what do you like?”

She hummed, “Well, I enjoy cooking, relaxing in a nice hot bath and reading a good book. I used to do more exciting things in the past but being a princess has limited my ability to do them.”

“Like what?”

She looked out the window in thought, “well, for example, I used to fly as high as I could go then freefall back to the ground to gain speed, opening my wings and fly around as fast as I could go.” She shivered, “Those were the days.” Her smile slowly faded into a frown, “So simple back then. No duties or planning. Just the excitement of having the wind blow through my mane was exhilarating. Hay, sometimes I would wait until I got close to the ground before opening my wings.”

He raised a brow at that, “flying was exciting? Isn’t that just an everyday thing for you? Well, except for that last part.”

She nodded, “It is normal now but that was not always the case.” She looked at him, “before I became an Alicorn, I was a Unicorn. Back in a time when magic was an unknown concept to us; when our horn’s only use was as a weapon against predators. When I received my wings, the sky opened up to me and I seized it. Sometimes I would go weeks without touching the ground; sleeping on clouds and snatching fruit from trees from the air.”

Cinnamon watched Celestia’s gaze across the distant land turn euphoric. A calm silence filled the room and he was in no rush to change that. He thought it was interesting that Celestia apparently transformed into an Alicorn in a similar way as Princess Twilight. He, along with everycreature else, assumed she was born as an Alicorn just like Princess Flurry Heart; even though he never read anything that confirmed it.

For the next few minutes, the silence persisted. Cinnamon was content to eat the rest of his pie and watch.

Celestia blinked a few times and shook her head before looking to Cinnamon, “sorry, I lost myself in my thoughts there.”

He waived a dismissive hand, “Don’t be, I thought you looked cute.

She smirked at him, her eyelids lowering ever so slightly.

Cinnamon, realizing his slip of the tongue, stuttered to correct himself, “I didn’t mean to say- I mean, I wasn’t, uh, I didn’t mind is all.”

She giggled while he stumbled over his words, “Cinnamon, you are thinking like a guard again. Do not be afraid to speak your mind. I was flattered to hear that from you in such a sincere tone."

He stayed silent, still embarrassed by the situation.

She sighed at his silence, “Well, I have made my decision. Now it is time for you to make yours.”

His eyes widened, had it been that long already? He looked to the moon through the skylight and answered his own question. The moon was at the apex of its path across the night sky, indicating that it was near or past midnight. The time flew by so fast and they didn’t get to everything he had planned. They’d done the picnic part but didn’t get to walk around the gardens. Although, he couldn’t complain; he received much more than he could’ve imagined.

“What is your decision?” He asked.

“I hope you do not take this the wrong way, but having the deciding choice should answer that for you.”

He chewed his lip, “even though I still act like a guard?”

She waived a dismissive hoof, “With time, that habit will disappear once you become comfortable around me. Tonight you have shown to step out of your comfort zone, even if by accident.”

Cinnamon twiddled his thumbs while thinking. He didn’t learn nearly as much about Celestia than he had hoped. Only that she was apparently a bit of a thrill seeker.

“Is this a… permanent choice?”

She cocked her head to the side, “care to elaborate?”

“Well… if I agreed, would this work like a relationship with a… lower class creature? Or would my yes mean I would be your consort permanently?”

“It would be similar to a lower class creature as you put it. I would not expect anycreature to make such a permanent decision with the time given to them. If, for whatever reason you or I decide the courtship is not working, we would make an announcement of our mutual agreement to terminate the courtship. However, be aware; if you decide to decline now, you may come to my Saturday court to request courtship again after the 6 month moratorium is finished. If you accept now and we later decide to end the courtship, you would no longer be allowed to appear in my court as a suitor.”

So there was a catch? No, that didn’t sound right. The more Cinnamon thought about it, the less it sounded like a drawback. Although, it sounded more like it was for creatures that regretted their decision to end it or for mares and some stallions that couldn’t get the hint.

He still wasn’t certain about his answer because of how little he actually knew about Celestia but he felt willing to try. He thought he was a good stallion, so to speak. Would he be by princess standards? Well… he was quite a bit less confident about that. He could learn more about her as a consort with time… although…

“What about my job? I’m a part of your guard; would I have any restrictions with that?”

She shook her head, “You would no longer be a guard of the castle. Being a Consort is much like a job where you cannot be distracted.”

“I meant, if I accept and we decide it’s not going to work; would I still be able to be a castle guard?”

“Oh, yes; so long as you can perform your duties, no restrictions will be placed on you except for the position of personal guard due to possible conflict of interest.”

He was okay with that. The position brought some respect and an extra day off but that was all. It was the most stressful guard position in the castle and didn’t come with a raise in bits.

“Then I accept.”

With a squee, Cinnamon suddenly found himself tackled to the ground with Celestia’s weight on his chest and stomach and a pair of lips pressed against his in a kiss. Before his brain could catch up with what was happening, the warmth on his lips left him while an unusually comfortable weight remained on top of him.

It wasn’t unusual to hear about mares initiating a first kiss so soon with some doing so on a first date. This, however, felt… intimate? Or perhaps his lack of experience with this kind of stuff was beginning to show. It was the first time he was in such a position while clean and he had to admit that it felt quite nice and relaxing.

Her soft fur was touching his chest. He could feel the rise and fall of her chest in tempo to her breathing. If he concentrated; he could also feel the faint beating of her heart against his chest.

He raised his right hand up and hesitated for a moment before letting his palm come to rest against her barrel right below her wings. He felt like he wanted to stroke her side but a voice in the back of his head was telling him it wasn’t a good idea. Instead, he settled for brushing his thumb against her fur.

Celestia hummed as she brought her head down to rest above his head, “See? You are already acting beyond the role of a guard.” She peered out the window to the moon, “perhaps we should retire for the night.”

He sighed but nodded. It was a nice moment; one he wanted to last a little longer but the princess had duties to be rested for.

She stood up and backed away to allow him to stand up as well.

Once he was, he prepared himself for teleportation. Exhaling and calming himself, he looked at Celesta.

“Alright, I’m ready.”

She nodded, her horn lighting up and flashed.

The empty pie tin on the ground disappeared from sight.

“Then let us leave.” With that, she turned and began to walk toward the hall connecting to the first room.

Cinnamon looked at her retreating form with confusion, “Um… Celestia?”

She stopped and looked over her shoulder, “Hm?”

“Aren’t you going to teleport me?”

“Mmm, no. I think walking would be nicer.”

After a brief hesitation, he followed after her.

They walked through the central garden to the front doors. Cinnamon stopped short so he wouldn’t be seen by the guards through the open door. However, instead of opening the door to dismiss the guards, she looked to him, “Coming?”

“Yes, just waiting for you to dismiss the guard.”

“Well, there’s no longer a need for that.”

“Wait, what? Why?”

Her eyes slightly widened as something seemed to click in her head, “Oh, sorry. It has been near a millennia since a creature has come this far in the process. My excitement may have gotten the better of me.”

She turned around to face him and cleared her throat, “Well, to answer, since we have both accepted each other, we can throw a little more caution to the wind. We may be seen in each other’s company around castle grounds but no public affection. No kisses, no hugs or settling any appendages on each other while in public. The guards and castle staff will likely gossip and speculate about what is going on between us but you are not allowed to confirm any of it until after the announcement this Saturday. Actually, now that I am saying it, caution to the wind makes it sound more than it is. Oh, and your sleeping situation will be moved to my chambers.”

He raised an eyebrow, “We’re already going to be sleeping in the same bed?”

She smirked, “Is this your first time sharing a bed with a mare?”

“eh, well, no but those mares had a different idea in mind. They didn’t do dates or talking to each other. It was more like meeting a mare, walking to their place, buck and stay the night where I’m not expected to be there in the morning and asked to leave if I am.”

Her smirk changed into a frown, “oh, I am sorry to hear that.”

“Thanks, but it’s alright. It feels like a lifetime ago that I did that. Since becoming a guard, I’ve stopped going to mares houses.”

She exhaled through her nose, “Well I am glad to hear that. Now,” She gestured to the front doors with a wing, “shall we be on our way?”

He nodded and walked up next to her. Once he was by her side, she turned to face the doors.

“Remember, do not confirm gossip. The castle staff will not ask while I am present but I cannot always be around.”

He nodded again, “Got it, deny until the weekend.”

She smiled, “Excellent.”

She opened the doors with her magic so they can walk through. Once on the other side, the guard’s reactions were immediate. They both looked between Cinnamon and Celestia with shocked eyes.

“P-princess, we didn’t know he was already in the garden.”

The other guard quickly joined in, “Should we escort him to the dungeon for the night?”

Celestia waived a dismissive hoof, “That will not be necessary. I asked for the garden to be restricted; I did not think it necessary to clear it.”

She closed the doors behind them with her magic, “Besides, this was a favorable oversight; I have been meaning to speak with him about his service to the crown. As of this moment, the garden is no longer restricted access.”

The both saluted, “Yes Princess!”

She slightly nodded once and began to walk down the hallway to her room with Cinnamon following close by her side. They didn’t speak the whole way. Celestia enjoyed the silence and company while Cinnamon was putting all his focus into not looking suspicious whenever they walked by a group of hall guards or door guards.

Eventually they made it to Celestia’s large, golden chamber doors with a guard posted on both sides. They stiffened to the attention position as they approached. Celestia opened one of the doors and motioned for Cinnamon to enter before her, which he did after a little hesitation. He only walked a few steps inside, allowing him to hear Celestia talking to the guards behind him.

“We are not to be disturbed; we are working on an important project that may take a few nights to complete. He is allowed full access to for the duration and should not be impeded unless he is trying to take something from my quarters.”

He heard both guards simultaneously voice their understanding before Celestia walked through the door and closed it behind her.

“Unless I’m trying to take something?” Cinnamon asked.

She smiled, “It would be suspicious if you had free reign to my bedroom without restriction, just resist the urge to take things from my room.”

“Wouldn’t it be suspicious enough that I’m going to be in here all night?”

“Once the gossip begins, they will make the connection no matter how perfect of an excuse I make.”

She walked into the connected bathroom to begin brushing her teeth.

He walked to stand in the doorway of the bathroom, “Do you know when the gossip might start?”

She didn’t answer him right away; spitting a muzzleful of teeth cleaner into the sink first; patting the small storm cloud above the bowl to begin the flow of water to clean the bowl and her brush.

“I am certain it will begin around evening tomorrow. The guards stationed at the private gardens will likely find it odd that I did not simply request your presence for a conversation instead of happening upon it by chance.”

She looked at her toothbrush and gestured it to him in a silent question of if he wanted to use it. He walked further into the bathroom and accepted the toothbrush from her magic, put some tooth cleaner on it, and brushed his own teeth. He grimaced for the first dozen strokes since Celestia’s brand of teeth cleaner had a stronger minty taste to it than he was used to. Once finished, he spat what was left into the sink and splashed water on whatever clung to the sides of the bowl so it would wash into the rune at the bottom of the bowl and disappear.

He set Celestia’s brush in an empty cup on the counter and left the storm cloud to continue pouring until it emptied itself; ceasing its flow and beginning to refill. When he returned to the bedroom; Celestia had already removed all her royal garments and was lying on her bed looking at Cinnamon while patting the empty spot next to her with a smile.

He took a moment to calm his nerves; it was just sleeping with a mare, he’d done this plenty of times with his mother when he was young. It was pretty similar since his mother was about his size back then.

He walked over to the bed and sat down. The bed was easily large enough for 5 creatures of his size to sleep on comfortably and the softness of it was like nothing he’s ever felt before. He almost instinctively reached to remove his loincloth but thought against it before he made any movement.

“What in Equestria is this thing made of?” Cinnamon asked as he flopped onto his back on the bed, “It the comfiest thing I’ve ever felt.”

She chuckled, “Believe it or not, it is made with clouds from the Everfree Forest; at least, the ones that did not turn into raging storms. They are the softest clouds around but the hardest ones to obtain. It took me 26 years just to find one and another 20 to find a second for my sister. Only 3 exist to my knowledge and Fancy Pants holds the third.”

He relaxed into the bed and felt any tension he had fade away, “How in Equestria do you bring yourself to leave this thing?”

She smiled, “It is easy with plenty of rest,” She placed a hoof on his chest and started to rub him with her soft frog, “which is easier to obtain when you tire yourself out.”

He looked at her and noticed the unmistakable look of lust in her eyes. He brought a hand up to hold her hoof and stop her from rubbing him.

“Is something wrong?” She asked.

“It just feels like this is going… well, fast.”

“Cinnamon, you are my consort in everything but name; that includes mating.” She withdrew her hoof from his stomach, wrapped her forelegs around his chest and pulled him close to her in a spooning position.

“But if you do not feel comfortable yet, I will wait.”

She nuzzled into the back of his neck, “And I will not ask you to leave in the morning.”

13. Announcement Day*

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.

14. In Search of Knowledge

Author's Note

Sorry for the looong break. 3 months of writers block and another 3 a mixture of work, school, and procrastination/laziness.
I'm also trying something new with Luna's speech; let me know how you feel about it.

14. In Search of Knowledge

The next morning was the first time Cinnamon woke up before Celestia. Despite the sun already shining bright in the sky, Celestia was still spooning him with her eyes closed, forelegs securely wrapped around him and a small smile on her face.

He turned his head as far to the side as he could with Celestia’s head resting on top of his. When his eyes laid on her sleeping form, he was taken aback. For a moment, He wasn’t sure if the mare he was in bed with was Celestia.

The mare behind him had areas of her fur clumped together by dried sweat and disheveled mane. However, what jarred him the most was the straight, bright pink mane and tail she had instead of the flowing rainbow colors he knew.

Only when he dared to risk waking her up did he look up and know for certain that it was Celestia by her facial structure.

To see her like this really hammered home the thought of her just being a mare like any other pony; even though she cleaned up like a princess.

“Celestia?” he whispered.

Her eyes clenched tighter and pulled him closer. She took a deep breath and sighed through her nose. She relaxed again but continued to sleep.

Cinnamon was about to do the same until his brain finally connected one crucial fact; the sun was out while Celestia was still in bed and completely unprepared for the day.

“Celestia?” He said, a little louder than the first time.

She groaned and nuzzled into the back of his head, “Morning,” she mumbled.

“Don’t you have court to get ready for?”

She shook her head, “Sundays give me a break from court proceedings.” She let go of Cinnamon and stretched her legs like a cat, “mmph, I have the morning to do as I please; then a day attending duties around Equestria.” Her horn ignited and the curtains were drawn to let the sun into the room, “Luna is kind enough to raise the sun for me as well so I can have an uninterrupted sleep.”

“So duties out of the castle are better than ones inside?”

“Oh absolutely; a day traveling around in this wonderful weather beats even the best of days in the courtroom.”

She rolled off the bed, “I suppose now is a good time to wake up.”

Cinnamon sat up in the bed, “Sorry if I ruined the morning.”

“Nonsense,” she said, unfurling her wings to stretch them. “I wake up around this hour anyway”

He shuffled so he was sitting on the edge of the bed, “so what are your duties for today?”

She hummed to herself, “business openings, a few events to plan, a couple endorsements and a visit to the crystal empire.” Her wings folded back against her barrel. “But for now, I am in need of a shower.” She tuned to walk toward the bathroom.

“Could I… join you?” He asked.

She paused mid-step and looked back at him with a gentle smile, “of course you may. I would never turn down company with my consort.”

He stood from the bed, “Is it big enough for the both of us?”

She continued walking; looking over her shoulder as she did. “You have used it before have you not? It could easily fit three Alicorns; we will need to take turns with the water though.” She smiled, “We could wash each other; I have not participated in a mutual cleaning in over a thousand years.”

They proceeded to the bathroom. Celestia was already halfway in the tub messing with the rain cloud in the short time it took for Cinnamon to enter through the door. Her flank was poking out from the shower curtain; giving him a view of her mangled pink tail and large cutie mark sun.

“Celestia?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you doing something weird with your hair on purpose?” He asked.

Her head appeared from behind the curtain; water dripping down her forehead to her chin, “My hair?”

She looked back at her flank and flicked her tail, “What do you me-“She paused before looking to him, “Right, this is the first time you have awoken before I raised the sun.”

She stepped into the tub fully and poked her head out again, “Well, it has to do with magic usage. Moving the sun takes an enormous amount of magic to accomplish and saturates magic into my mane and tail for hours. I find it easier to clean in this state though.” Then her head disappeared behind the curtain.

He spent a moment on her words. “If it’s a product of using magic, couldn’t everypony have an ethereal mane?” He asked, stepping into the tub behind her.

She nodded, “Mmhm, a truly gifted unicorn might be able to attain magically infused hair for a few minutes but most do not possess enough magic to reach that limit before falling unconscious.”

“Interesting,” he said, lifting her wet tail and pouring mane product on it before placing the bottle back where he got it from and began to scrub the gel into her tail. “I never would’ve guessed it was a different color to the vibrant tones you normally have. What changes its color?”

“Honestly? I do not know. It was not always a rainbow either; it once was simply a flowing pink.” When Cinnamon was finished with her tail, Celestia turned around to allow him access to her mane. “It changed not too long after my sister was banished so for the longest time I thought the change came from raising Luna’s moon in addition to my sun… but now that she is back to raise the moon herself as well as raising my sun every so often; I am thrown back into uncertainty. My mane has stayed the same color while the only change Luna receives after raising my sun is a slightly brighter sparkle in her mane.”

When Cinnamon finished scrubbing her mane, Celestia pushed the cloud so it could wash the soap out.

“If Luna raises the sun for you on Sundays, why haven’t I heard about your pink mane before?”

She turned around, poured shampoo onto his head and used her wings to begin scrubbing his hair. “Truthfully, I have grown quite fond of the spectrum of colors. So I move the sun for a few minutes before I go out.”

“Wouldn’t that freak some creatures out?”

She pushed the cloud over his head to wash the shampoo out of his hair. A sponge and body shampoo floated over to them. The shampoo squeezed onto the sponge and began to scrub on Cinnamon’s body.

“I do not move it far from its location to prevent causing a panic. Though I wish it upon none; a creature would sooner go blind than notice the sun vibrating in the sky for a few minutes.”

Once she was done scrubbing Cinnamon, she turned to the side so he could begin to scrub her body. He began by pressing the sponge behind her ear. She leaned into him as he washed down her neck.

He scrubbed her chest next; moving to her back before scrubbing her stomach until his hand pressed against the large teats between her legs.

He hummed in thought as he began to clean her mammaries, “You know… you never got around to telling me why you have the teats of a mare about to deliver.”

She looked at him, “I suppose I did not, did I?” She looked up in thought, “Well, I believe it is due to my ascension to Alicornhood taking place while I was eight months into my seventh foal. After that foal was born,” She looked down to where Cinnamon was now focusing on cleaning her other teat, “They never returned to their normal size.”

He looked at the heavy mounds hanging between her legs yet defying most of gravities pull. “Well, I won’t complain about it; I actually like it. Although, how do you hide these things?” he looked up to her marehood, leaking a little marefluid from the sensations of Cinnamon washing her teats. “How do you hide all of this? Rumors around the barracks swore you didn’t have reproductive organs; really drove home the thoughts of you being a goddess instead of a pony.”

She looked over her shoulder with a raised brow and a smirk, “Oh? And did you believe that rumor?”

He remained silent; finishing the cleaning of her teats, moved up and began to scrub her tail.

Her smirk grew into a grin, “Or did you confirm it with your own eyes?”

He chewed on the inside of his cheek. She didn’t sound accusatory and didn’t give any indication of caring that her guards have stolen enough glances to start and continue such a rumor.

He started to clean her pussy with the sponge, “I… may have investigated a couple times to confirm it a few months after becoming your personal guard.”

“A couple?”

“What? I didn’t believe it after I saw it was true. I thought I was seeing things; or, not seeing things I guess.”

She chuckled, “If we had more time; I would have half a mind to punish you for your distractions on duty.”

Cinnamon stopped cleaning; the sponge resting on her marehood as his eyes grew wide from the declaration of discipline.

He peered around Celestia’s flank to see that she was still smiling.

He squinted, “is… that a good thing?”

“That would depend on you,” She flicked her tail, pushing away the hand pressing the sponge against her nethers.

“But as I said, we do not have the time today for it.”

She guided the stormcloud around to rinse both of them off before pushing it to the side. As she let the cloud run its course and empty itself; she grabbed two towels with her magic and passed one to Cinnamon.

He grabbed it with a questioning look, “Can’t you just magic us dry?”

She nodded, “I can if you wish to be dried that way but I prefer this method. Keeps my coat shining for longer.”

He looked at the towel in his hand while Celestia started rubbing herself down.

He shrugged to himself. Not needing magic before; he didn’t feel a real need to start now.

So he began to dry himself down with arguably the softest towel he’s ever felt.

He peered at Celestia’s flank as she dried her tail with a second towel, “I’m surprised you were so calm about the guards looking under your tail.”

Celestia stepped out of the shower after she finished drying her body and started to dry the bottoms of her hooves.

“I do not mind as long as it does not distract them from their duties for long; especially since they will not be seeing anything worth the “risk,” so to speak. After that, their eyes no longer wander.”

Cinnamon began working on drying his lower half and poked his head around the curtain, “How can you be so sure?”

She peered back with a smirk as she continued to dry her nethers, “after being looked upon for over two and a half thousand years; you gain a form of… sixth sense.” She removed her towel, briefly exposing her clean, pink marehood and ponut before moving her tail to cover herself.

Cinnamon raised a brow “A sixth sense when creatures are looking at your nethers?”

Celestia began to brush her pink hair with a brush while looking at the mirror, “In a matter of speaking. It is more a combination of feeling eyes upon me and noticing the angles of everycreatures pupils to know where they are looking. Or easier scenarios such as passing by a door guard and feeling a gaze upon me shortly after I pass them.”

She looked back at Cinnamon, “or when I feel an eye on me as I stand to address the beginning of morning court. With the creatures in front of me bowing their heads while the only stare unaccounted for was my personal guard standing beside my throne behind me.”

Cinnamon paused his drying, “Oh?”

She nodded, turning back to look in the mirror. “Oh yes; in fact, I nearly demoted one of my personal guards when he became distracted four more times after the first; each time lingering longer than the last.”

He could feel the blood leaving his face, “You don’t say.”

He could see her roll her eyes through the mirror, “It was quite unprofessional Cinnamon; you were nearly the first personal guard to be demoted for such distractions.”

She placed the brush down on the counter. Her horn lit up to open a drawer and pulled a white box out of it; setting the box on the counter.

“Now, as for your previous question,” The two latches on the box flipped open in Celestia’s magic. The lid lifted to reveal a grey fabric inside. When she used her magic to lift it out of the box, the fabric turned yellow. Now in the air, Cinnamon could see two sets of strings made of the same fabric on each end.

“This is how I keep myself modest.”

The fabric floated underneath her belly. Two strings wrapping around her barrel until they met on her back. The tips of each connected to each other and appeared to fuse together. As soon as they connected, the entire cloth changed color from a yellow to a snowy white.

The cloth was pulled back, between her hind legs and up her flank. The last set of strings wrapped around her dock. When the ends fused, it left the cloth noticeably baggy until the strings seemed to fuse further into each other; tightening the loop until it was the same size as the circumference of her dock. As it tightened, the outline of the fabric disappeared and the cloth formed against her body.

What was left was what Cinnamon had seen all those months ago. No teats between her legs and no marehood or ponut between her ample cheeks.

He looked with wide eyes and reached out a hand to touch where he now knew the cloth was. His fingers glided across it until he felt fur under his fingertips. It was seamless! He also tried to dig a finger under the cloth to no avail.

“What is this thing?”

“Chameleon Cloth. With a touch of magic, it mimics the most abundant color touching it. In my case, white.” Her magic, which had still been holding to one end of the cloth, disappeared and the cloth returned to a grey color.

Cinnamon looked up with a questioning look.

Knowing what he wanted to ask, she spoke. “Normally the magic radiating from my tail is enough to keep the cloth active without requiring mine own to touch it. Once I regain that, it will do as it has always done for a thousand years.”

“Wow,” he said, looking to where Celestia’s large teats used to be. Instead of the soft mounds, it looked like a flat stomach.

He raised a hand up into the cloth. Under the fabric, he could still feel the weight of her teats in his hand. Then he began to move his hand toward her chest; quickly feeling the weight slip off the side of his hand. He pressed a little more, causing the cloth to give under his touch and create a divot.

He pulled back, allowing the cloth to return to its original placement.

“Enjoying yourself?” He heard Celestia say.

He smiled, “A little.” He looked up at her, “why haven’t I seen this before? Surely this would be the hot item for upper canterlot unicorn mares.”

“Could be because I likely have the last one in existence; remaining in great condition for over a thousand years. The creature that created the fabric for this went extinct 700 years ago.”

“Really? Last one? Luna doesn’t even have one?”

She shook her head, “She never cared for the chameleon cloth and never wanted to wear it. In truth, it was quite an unpopular fabric back then. The thought of hiding your mare parts was a kind of taboo. Not illegal to use but quite unusual.”

“Jeez Celestia, first the beds, then the cloth? How many unobtainable items do you have?”

She smiled, “The beds are not unobtainable but as for the rest… well, when you are an immortal and enjoy collecting material things; you are bound to acquire a few items that become unique over time.”

She then walked out of the bathroom, leaving Cinnamon to finish drying his hair and brushing it before following after her.

When he reentered the bedroom, he could see Celestia standing on the balcony; her head looking up to the sky, her eyes closed with her horn lit and a smile on her face. He watched as her wavy rainbow hair returned to her; starting at the roots of her mane and tail and slowly spreading down to the tips of her hair. The grey cloth instantly turning white.

She stood there for a few minutes before the magic surrounding her horn subsided then spent another minute looking down on Canterlot before she walked back into the bedroom and closed the balcony doors behind her.

“So,” Cinnamon piped up while he watched Celestia use a dressers mirror and brush to put a few stray hairs back in place. “Is there any room for me to come along with you today?”

“Of course there is,” she said, placing the brush back on the dresser. “I do not know how much you would enjoy it though. Today I am mostly going to business openings, project overviews and endorsements. Nothing I would call enjoyable.”

“Well; I don’t have anything planned for today. Maybe it won’t be so bad.”

She snorted, “Do not say I did not give you proper forewarning. Now, put on your formal wear; we can make some regal clothing if you wish to join me again. Next week will be more enjoyable as I will be viewing the running of the leaves.”

“Really? I’ve never been to the running of the leaves before. It was always a busy time for the bakery.”

“Then you have been missing out on quite the sight to behold. To see the leaves fly through the entire forest at once is a glorious view.”

He smiled at the thought while grabbing his formal clothes out of Celestia’s closet, “Now you’re getting me excited about it.”

“As you should be. I am surprised you did not request a day off to see it yourself considering all the weeks you had saved up over the years.”

Cinnamon, who had finished putting his pants on, shrugged. “I didn’t think it was important enough to leave my post… wait!” he suddenly exclaimed, looking toward Celestia, “Does that mean I lost all my vacation days?”

“Relax” she said, making her way over to him and wrapping him in her wings. “If you decide this courtship is not going to work; you would return to your post and regain those days.” She leaned in closer to whisper in his ear, “Or, you could exchange them to receive a reward for your commitment to the crown.”

A shiver ran up his spine, “you know, for not having time, you’re sure doing your best to get me wound up.”

She retreated from Cinnamon, allowing him to put his shirt on. “Whatever do you mean? I was only suggesting to exchange your days for treats from the princess’ private dessert reserves. Honestly Cinnamon, have you no shame?”

“I- what? But you- you just…” he spun around, “Oh don’t even do that; nobody talks about dessert like that.” He paused, noticing the smug look Celestia was giving him. Then the dots clicked in his head, “Unless that includes the Princess’ private pie.”

Her smug look turned into a smile, “You are starting to catch on quick Cinnamon.”

Cinnamon finished putting on his shirt, hiding a small smile from Celestia's comment. Then a thought came to him.

“You know what? I think I’m going to stay at the castle today; spend some time in the library.”

She nodded before peering out the window to look at the sun, “I should be going now if I want to arrive at the first stop on time.”

She walked up to Cinnamon and kissed him.

She pulled back, “I will see you later tonight.”

He nodded, “Have a good day of duties.”

She smiled and nodded before walking out of the bedroom door, leaving Cinnamon alone in her chambers. The sound of birds chirping from the balcony was the only noise in the room while Cinnamon changed out of his formal clothes and back into his loincloth.

He then walked out of the bedroom and started walking toward the dining room so he could get some breakfast before heading to the library.

Cinnamon walked through the doors to the castle library and headed toward the front desk with a cyan earth pony mare behind it.

“Hello Soft Quill, how are you doing?”

Soft Quill looked up from her desk, “Oh! Good afternoon Consort Cinnamon; what brings you to the library today?”

He walked up to the desk, “please, just call me Cinnamon and I’m here to look at some old laws; do you know where I could find them?”

She nodded, “They’d be in the Royal Archive wing; third row to the left.”

“Thank you,” he said as he turned to leave only to pause and look back to her, “say, you wouldn’t happen to know where a specific law could be found, do you?”

She nodded, “I’ve been in charge of the upkeep to this library for twenty years. What law are you searching for?”

“It’s called the Law of the Paired Sisters.”

She stared at him for a few moments before tapping her forehoof against her chin in thought. “I… don’t recall any law called that.”

She pushed herself away from her desk and hopped off her chair. She walked around the desk and motioned for Cinnamon to follow her.

So he followed her into the Royal Archive wing of the library. They walked to the aisle that was clearly marked “Equestrian Law.”

“It doesn’t sound like a law that was passed recently and, if I’m to assume that this law was about both princesses as it sounds, then it should be part of the laws made before Princess Luna’s banishment.”

She walked to the end of the aisle and stopped in front of a thick brown book with no words on it. She turned around, tapping on the big book, “Those can be found in this; a collection of all laws made pre-banishment.”

He looked at her, “And you’re sure it’s in there?”

She shook her head, “No sir, however, the laws that came after that time are in small books with the law titled on it.” She motioned to the rest of the aisle with much smaller books on the bookshelves. “I know the title of every one of these laws since I have to organize them weekly.” She looked back to the large brown book, “I don’t know what laws are in this book because I’ve never needed to read it; I only make sure it's still here where it’s supposed to be.”

Cinnamon nodded, “Ok. Is there a spare cushion or chair I could use here?”

“Sure, I’ll go get one for you,” she said before trotting away.

He looked as she disappeared around the corner before turning back to the book. He reached out and opened it. Flipping through the first few pages of laws before realizing it was, unfortunately, not alphabetically sorted. It was sorted by the date they became laws; likely being written into the pages as more laws were created.

He remained there all day; reading through every law that had been created before Luna’s banishment. Laws about herding, crop growing locations, zoning laws, laws on how to treat other creatures and so on.

Soft Quill, concerned about the consorts focus flipping through the book, retrieved a plate of food for him when she left to get lunch for herself. He didn’t appear to notice her place the plate on an empty spot on the bookshelf near him. She watched him for a moment before leaving, noticing he was only a quarter of the way through the book. He would flip the page to read the title of the law and either immediately turn to the next page or read through the contents of a law with an interesting title.

When she later checked on him, she would see the plate of food had been cleaned.

When Cinnamon finally reached the end of the large book, the sunset light was beginning to shine into the widows near the ceiling, indicating the raising of the moon in the next hour. He quickly flipped through the last hundred empty pages to be sure he hadn’t missed anything to find that he unfortunately didn’t.

He sighed. He didn’t find the law he was looking for which meant it wasn’t there. He glanced at the books sitting of the shelves of the aisle and stood up. Taking a closer look at the few books around him, he noticed they were organized alphabetically. The small books to his right were laws beginning with A, rounding around until it ended with the books to the left of him.

So he decided to take a look for himself since it shouldn’t take nearly as much time locating where it should be.

He started with L but couldn’t find Law of the Paired Sisters, then looked at T trying to find “The Law of the Paired Sisters” and “The Paired Sisters.” But they weren’t there. In a final attempt, he looked at the P area for “Paired Sisters,” only to find nothing.

It was at that time that Soft Quill walked around the corner, heading in Cinnamon’s direction.

“Sir? Did you find what you needed? I need to lock the library soon.” Then quickly added, “Not that I would ask you to leave if you haven’t; I would only ask you lock the library behind you when you leave.”

“Hm? Oh, no I didn’t but… I don’t think I’d find what I’m looking for by staying longer.” He picked up his chair, “Did you get this from the front area?”

“Hm?” she cocked her head but understood what he was asking when he picked up the chair. “Oh, no no no; I can carry that,” she said, quickly moving under the chair and lifting it.

He watched as she slowly walked away from him; her tongue sticking out in concentration. The chair she was carrying was made for minotaurs, meaning it didn’t have a low of a center of gravity as the other chairs and cushions did and while some earth ponies had a knack of stacking many items on top of each other; Soft Quill did not.

He watched her for about a minute slowly walking a dozen hooves forward before he walked up, grabbed the chair with both hands on the backrest and lifted it off her back.

She turned to him when she felt the chairs weight lighten in fear of it falling off her only to see Cinnamon holding it. “What are you doing? You shouldn’t burden yourself with something so mundane.”

“Burden myself? You were the one struggling to go halfway down the aisle with it.” As he said that, he walked the last half of the aisle in a fraction of the time Soft Quill had. She quickly galloped to get in front of him, “Sir, I insist; a creature of your stature shouldn’t deign to handle.”

“My stature?” he asked, going to place the chair down to his right before lifting it and setting it to his left when Soft Quill made a dive in an attempt to be beneath it to carry it once more.

“Does this have anything to do with me being a consort?”

“Of course it is!” She pushed herself off the floor to stand again, “You’re practically royal-“

Cinnamon raised a hand and interrupted her, “ap ap ap, no, none of that. I was a guard only a week ago and I’m not royalty ok? I don’t have any duties, powers or influence of a royal.”

“What?” She pointed a hoof at him, ”you influence Princess Celestia’s happiness and that’s the most important duty anycreature could have!”

He paused; never hearing his role said in such a way. While he was lost in thought, Soft Quill snuck around his back and lifted the chair as quietly as she could. Unfortunately, given her slow speed, she didn’t get far before he noticed what she was doing.

He lifted it up but felt more resistance this time. When he looked down, he saw that Soft Quill was holding to one of the chair legs with her teeth.

“Nou,” she said through her teeth, “gis is nok oor gog.”

He didn’t release the chair but when he asked for clarification, she spat the chair out. “This is not your job, your job is to-“

“Yes I remember what you said a moment ago; why can’t I do both? Celestia’s not even in the castle and the chair is on the way out of the library.”

“Well… because it’s my job to keep the library presentable. I brought you the chair; I should be the one to take it back.”

Cinnamon sighed but let go of the chair. He didn’t like it; it went against his guard training. If he or any other guard saw castle staff needing assistance, they were to help them. With how slowly and delicately Soft Quill was handling the chair would absolutely constitute the need to assist… but he was no longer able to insist because he was technically not a guard anymore.

So since he couldn’t convince her otherwise, and didn’t really know what he could do as a consort, he left it alone.

He took another look at Soft Quill as she got under the chair once more and carefully lifted it on her back before he started walking toward the library entrance.

He had one more place he could check.

After eating dinner, Cinnamon was on his way to the last place that might have the information he sought.

The sun had set over ten minutes ago; the faint light of the moon poured through the stained glass as he continued down the hallway. He passed a few doors that were rotating the day guard with the night guard. They either ignored him or gave him a short nod followed by “Consort,” Which felt extra weird coming from a day guard that he actually knew.

He rounded the corner; his objective coming into sight. At the end of the hall stood the large, dark blue doors with silver crescent moons on each door. A pair of thestral guards flanked the doors waiting for the guards that would take their place for the night; each looking tired from staying up all day guarding Luna’s sleeping chambers. They perked up a little when they saw Cinnamon round the corner.

Even at attention, Cinnamon could see their drowsy eyes being forced open in the name of duty.

When it became evident that Cinnamon’s destination was Luna’s chambers, one of the guards spoke up.

“Do you have business with the Princess, Consort Cinnamon?”

“Yes, I need to speak to her.”

“I don’t believe Princess Luna has an appointment with anycreature this morning,” the other guard said.

“I don’t have an appointment; wanting to talk to her kinda came up during the day.”

The two guards glanced at each other with questioning looks before looking back toward Cinnamon. He motioned for Cinnamon to come closer, “please bend down for an eye inspection.”

Cinnamon looked down at him, surprised, “I’m sorry?”

“Just precautionary sir.”

He looked at the other guard who looked a bit more defensive despite still standing at attention. He leaned down to the guard on the right so his face was level with the guards.

The thestral pulled a clear crystal out from a leather belt that went under his wing. He gripped it in the frog of his hoof and brought it close to Cinnamon’s eye. Once in the right place, the crystal flashed with light, causing Cinnamon the need to blink a few times.

He instantly understood what the guard had wanted to do; he was going through a Changeling test. They weren’t used as much since the alliance with the reformed Changelings. Now they were only used as a precaution with important figures such as ambassadors, just in case.

The process involved flashing a bright but not blinding light in the eyes of the one being tested; be it by magic or a magical crystal by non-unicorns. By quickly flashing a light in the eyes, a guard would observe a “normal” creature having red shine back in that quick second while a changeling's will return with a green shine. Up until the alliance with King Thorax and the reformed changelings, no creature knew why this happened.

However, King Thorax was more than happy to explain the biology of the Changeling body. In summation, a changelings disguise is as perfect as the information received; organs, blood type, even the odor of their breath. But a sudden flash of light triggers an instinctive survival response; stimulating nerves to reroute focus away from non-essential areas to keep their identity a secret if they were struck with a spell or weapon. Incidentally, one area considered non-essential was the Choroid; meaning it returned to a green color instantly and accomplishing the opposite of what it had intended to do. Because of that, the flash reveals their green organ thought to be hidden from the world.

Content with the results, the examining guard put the crystal away, allowing Cinnamon to rise from his bent position.

“So can I enter now?”

The guard shook his head, “No, but you may try asking Princess Luna for an audience.”

“Oh,” he said before looking at the imposing doors. He walked closer and knocked on one of the doors. After a few moments of silence, he tried knocking a little harder but not hard enough to be considered rude.

“If we hear thou knockest once more, the security of thy job shall come into question!”

He was taken aback for a moment, “um… Lu- Princess Luna? It’s Cinnamon. I wanted to know if I could speak with you before you do your duties.”

Just as Cinnamon finished talking, the door opened and Luna’s head emerged from between them.

“Oh! Apologies, we did not think thou would be at our door. What dost thou needeth of us?”

“Could we talk?” He glanced at one of the guards, “In private?”

She hummed, “We do have spare time before we must attend our duties.” She stepped back, allowing the door to open more, “Thou may enter.”

She closed the door behind him after he entered the room.

He looked back at the closed doors, “do they normally do that?”

She shook her head, walking past him, “Nay, their orders are to turn away approaching creatures.”

“Oh, well they didn’t turn me away.”

“Thou art our sister’s consort. Thy title allows for certain exceptions.”

She walked over to her bed and straightened out the sheets with her magic, “So what dost thou desire to speaketh to us about?”

“Do you know what the Law of the Paired Sisters is?”

She nodded, “We do.”

When she didn’t continue, he asked, “Could you tell me?”

She turned around, raising a brow and tilting her head, “Hath thou queried our sister of this?”

“… I have…”

“And the answer thou received was nay, correct?”

“Yes.”

She sighed, “We shan’t answer in her stead, Cinnamon.”

“Why not? Why all the secrecy?”

She shrugged, “’tis no secret, ‘tis how our sister desires to handle thy questions. We believe a consort should be able to accept all that comes with thy role; however, thou art the consort of our sister, not our own.”

“Then what do I do? I’m a guard; I was a guard. I feel like a foal every time she tells me not to worry about something I’m eventually going to do.”

Luna sighed and pressed the tip of her hoof against the bridge of her nose, “We hath answered thy question before.” She pointed a hoof at him, “Tell her thy desire for answers! Voice thy grievances and our sister shall answer.”

“But I have! I’ve tried but she just says I don’t need to worry about it.”

“And didst thou continue asking? Didst thou inform our sister of thy feeling of infancy after she denies thy request?”

“Well… no…”

“Then do so! Cease acting as our sister’s guard and act like our sister’s consort; an equal.”

He thought in silence; for years, Celestia was the peak of authority over Cinnamon. If you were sent to Zebrica, you didn’t rebuke it. If she told you no, you didn’t press the issue. The only ones that could question her decisions were the other princesses and a few council ponies on the rare occasion that Celestia left Canterlot for an extended period of time.

“What if I can’t?”

Luna frowned, “If thou doth not make the attempt, then the only outcome for thee, is failure.”

He chewed his cheek, she was right; of course she was right. She was blatant and blunt but every time she gave him advice, it was always the same; to treat her as an equal and to expect to be treated as such in return.

Luna tossed her hoof in a shooing motion, “Now depart; we must make ready for this night.”

He nodded, “Thank you for taking time to listen to me.”

He turned to walk out of the room but stopped when Luna spoke up, “Oh, Cinnamon! For as long as thou art our sister’s consort, thou art our equal as well as hers. Do not hesitate to cometh to us for guidance if thee feel thou cannot ask our sister.”

He nodded again, “thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.”

And with that, he walked out of Luna’s room. The two guards being a new pair as the previous guards had finally been relieved of their post.

For the few minutes that he spent walking to Celestia’s chambers; Cinnamon went through how he would go about asking her. He already knew she would tell him not to worry about it so he thought of how he would be able to press the matter without simply pleading and acting like the foal he felt like when she said she didn’t want to overwhelm him. He was a celestial guard; if he couldn’t handle something as small as information then he shouldn’t have been allowed to be a guard in the first place.

When he walked into Celestia’s chambers, he saw she was already in bed reading a book with the light of the bedside crystal illuminating the room and allowing her to read. When she heard the door open, she looked over to see Cinnamon enter. “Ah, Cinnamon! I was beginning to wonder when you would be coming to bed tonight; How was your day?”

He took a breath, “Celestia, we need to talk.”

“Oh?” She placed a bookmark between the pages the book was opened to and closed it, “Did something happen while I was gone?”

“No… I want to know what the Law of the Paired Sisters is.”

She sighed through her nose, “Cinnamon, you do not need to worry yourself about that.”

He began walking toward her bed, “but I am becoming more and more worried about it because you won’t tell me Celestia. You once told me that you wouldn’t have said yes to me if you didn’t think I could overcome the hurdles.” He sat down on the edge of the bed, “so give me the chance to overcome them.”

When she didn’t respond, he added, “I was your personal guard for nearly a year. You trusted me to keep an eye out when your attention was focused on your duties. Why can’t you trust me with this?”

She looked off to the side with a small frown on her face, “Because, I am… afraid.”

Cinnamon was taken aback, “You’ve waged a war against King Sombra, sealed an evil Discord in stone, fought Queen Chrysalis, and, respectfully, Nightmare Moon. Some of the most powerful beings in history. What’s there to be afraid of?”

“When you put it like that; it sounds trivial.”

Cinnamon leaned forward to get into the edge of her vision, “The guard in me still trusts your judgement Celestia. I believe you have sound reason in wanting to keep this from me; but the part of me that is a consort… trying to be a consort, needs to know.”

She chewed on her lip before sighing and looking at him, “I am afraid because… I do not wish to scare you away.”

He pursed his lips, “Give me more credit than that; besides, you have a sea of suitors if I fall short.”

She looked off to the right, “Yes, Large as an ocean, yet too shallow to enjoy a swim.” She mumbled under her breath.

“I didn’t quite catch that.”

She looked back to him, “Despite all my… admirers, I have little faith a suitable suitor will present themselves this generation and perhaps the next.”

He raised his brow, “really? But I saw hundreds pass through Saturday and that doesn’t include the ones that didn't make it inside before court ended.”

“Yes, well, that may be an issue I unintentionally created. While my sister was imprisoned on the moon, I shied away from romantic entanglement and began to busy myself with ruling Equestria. A millennia of turning away suitors slowly began the rumor that I was unobtainable. Now it has come to kick me in the flank.”

She rolled onto her side, belly facing Cinnamon. “Because of this impossibility of being accepted, the good suitors do not come as they believe it would never happen while the suitors arriving in droves that you have witnessed come for a single part of me. Be it fame, fortune, sexual desire, or power.”

He nodded a little, “I can understand that; I mean, what could a suitor offer that you didn’t already have?”

She reached out and pulled Cinnamon back to her; his head becoming caught in a hug as she wrapped her forelegs under his chin and nuzzled into the hair on the back of his head, “Comfort.”

“mmm, I dunno; enough bits could bring you comfort from the Stable District.”

She giggled, playfully pushing him away from her, “I am not two hundred anymore.”

She scooted closer to Cinnamon so she could snuggle against his side, “I enjoy a more fulfilling form of comfort.”

He sighed, enjoying the feeling of Celestia’s soft fur on his skin and her warm body against his. So much so that he nearly forgot what he wanted to ask; nearly.

“Celestia?”

“Hm?” she hummed.

“What’s the Law of the Paired Sisters?”

He felt her give an exhaled sigh through her nose against his arm but remained silent.

So he reached over to place a finger under her chin, lifting her head and bringing her into a soft kiss. Knowing what he was doing, Celestia met him halfway and gave him a soft kiss of her own; periodically parting for a moment before reuniting again shortly after.

They continued for a minute before Cinnamon broke away, looking into Celestia’s purple eyes, “I promise I won’t just give up and leave. If you believe I can overcome it, then I will give it everything I have to accomplish that.”

She nodded, “yes, I supposed it is no longer wise to keep it hidden from you.”

She settled back into Cinnamon’s side, laying her head on his shoulder. “In its simplest form, the law requires a consort to court the second celestial princess if they wish to marry. In your case, you will need to court Luna and become a royal consort before you are able to marry me and, because of the law, Luna.”

He chuckled at the thought but his smile faded when she didn’t tell him the real reason, “Wait, you’re serious?”

She nodded, “I am not going to joke about this Cinnamon; I am being completely honest.”

“Wha- how haven’t I heard about this law before? I would think this would be on the lips of everycreature in Equestria.”

“Despite its name… it is not exactly a law. It is a magical oath Luna and I made with each other over three millennia ago.”

Cinnamon remained silent in thought; idly stroking Celestia’s back with his fingertips.

“I’ve heard some mares agreeing to herd with the same stallion… but to bind it with magic… why go that far? Couldn’t you just agree to marry the same stallion?”

She shook her head, “Circumstance required precaution... to retain our powers.”

He stopped stroking her back, “You… have to marry the same stallion to keep your magic?”

She shook her head again, “My power to move the sun or Luna’s to move the moon.”

Now she had his complete and utter attention, “What! Why would marrying… How could you… How-“

A white hoof was placed over his mouth. He looked down to see Celestia smiling, “Patience.”

Her hoof left his mouth and returned to his chest, “Our ascension came with an ultimatum. One we received because Luna was not originally supposed to ascend and I refused to leave her behind. So a deal was made; Luna would become an Alicorn and inherit the duties of the moon while both of us would be bound to a short, yet strict, set of rules by ancient and powerful magic.”

She started to idly rub his chest with the tip of her hoof, “If one of us married another creature, we would inherit the title of Queen and receive the powers of the other. While they would continue to look like an Alicorn, they would lose their immortality and eventually succumb to death from old age.”

She looked back up to him, “we were overjoyed that we would not become separated but fear eventually developed that one of us might love a stallion so much that we would not think of the fate of the other. So after weeks of pondering what to do, I came up with a solution.”

“The law?”

She nodded “We magically bound each other so we could not say “I do” without our sister saying it as well.”

“Would that work though?”

“It will because it has once before. When the marriage becomes official, we both become married at the same time. Neither of us become mortal, or lose our powers nor become queen.”

“Wow that was a smart thing to do.”

“Do not give me too much credit,” The hoof that was stroking Cinnamon’s chest, stopped. “We had doubts leading up to the wedding. Luna’s worst fear was the first to say “I do” would inherit the powers and retain their immortality. Mine was we would switch powers and both become mortal. Upon our eventual deaths, the world would burn and freeze and all that called it home would perish.”

As Cinnamon listened, he reached over Celestia’s body to grab the bed sheet and pull it over both of them

Her ears flattened against her head, “I had my second thoughts the day before the wedding. Luna was able to convince me otherwise by stating the goddess set the rules to keep the sun and moon moving; she would not be careless enough to allow a loophole that would rid us both from the world.”

Cinnamon sighed, “so… marrying both of you… these… rules,” He brought his hands up to rub his temples, “so I have to court another princess?”

He felt her grip him slightly tighter, “This is why I did not wish to tell you, you were no-“

“No,” he interrupted, stroking her shoulder in a reassuring manner. “No, I needed to know. I’m relieved to know.”

She looked up at him, “What did you think it was that made you so nervous?”

“I don’t know! That’s what terrified me. I don’t like being left in the dark Celestia. I still remember that… thing that happened between you and Queen Novo; I expect to know what that was about.”

Celestia’s eyes widened, “No, you do not need to know about that yet. It is far too early for you to worry yourself about that.”

He looked down to her, meeting her gaze, “just like it was too early to know about the Paired Sisters?”

She poked him in the chest, “No.”

He pinched her in the side, receiving a short squeal from her in return. “Yes.”

She returned with a jab to his side, making him flinch and a short “Ack!”

”Alright, I give, you win!” he yelped when she continued her onslaught against his side

She gave a short nod, “good. If it puts your mind at ease, the topic Novo spoke to her daughter about is the duty a Prince Consort possesses, not a Consort nor a Royal Consort.”

“mmm,” he hummed, “maybe a little… it’s still an unknown and that’s what I don’t like about all this.”

She nuzzled into the crook of his neck and took a deep breath, “Yes, I will attempt to keep you better informed when you ask. I am… still adjusting to courtship in this modern age. Consorts a millennia ago were more compliant when I did not wish to tell them something.”

Cinnamon rested his head against the top of Celestia’s, “… do you not like that I’m not being as obedient?”

He felt her slightly shaking her head, “absolutely not; I quite prefer this. Many of my old courtships… Well, I was rarely treated as anything other than a princess. They would ask a question on the uncommon occasion, I would say it was not a good time; they would drop the subject and never bring it up again until I did. Orion was the only one I recall that did not treat me as a princess before you.”

“Orion? Was that the one you married?”

“Yes. Orion Skies… He also did not enjoy being left in the dark; though, he was not as direct as you are. I would tell him he did not yet need to know something and every day at breakfast he would say,” She cleared her throat and did the best impression of a stallions voice as she could. “Well my sun, I am another day older and another day wiser; am I ready to receive your knowledge?”

She continued, her voice no longer trying to be anything but her own, “I thought it was cute. Luna, however, thought the repetitive questioning day after day was quite annoying. Even answered a few of his questions herself to keep him quiet some mornings.”

“Luna didn’t like him?”

“Oh no, she loved him but she is not a morning pony. The crack of dawn is not the best time to repeat the same question every morning for weeks.”

“Noted.”

Celestia Sighed and relaxed against Cinnamons side, “goodnight Cinnamon.”

He slid his arm around her back, “Goodnight, my sun.”

She smiled, “I do not mind pet names, but it would mean more to me if it came from you instead of a long past love.”

15. A Surprise Visit

Cinnamon woke up to the feeling of a hoof lightly prodding him; each poke slightly harder than the last. When he opened his eyes to peek at his attacker, he saw Celestia, already cleaned and wearing her regal attire. The front half of her body was resting on the bed, allowing her the closeness to prod at him.

“Morning sleepyhead,” she said before kissing him on the cheek.

He stretched his arms out, “mmm?”

She smirked at him, “If I had not seen it for myself; I would never believe you were a guard.”

“It’s this wonderful bed…” he said, let out a relaxing sigh and stretched out to take up as much of the bed as possible without pushing into Celestia. “If these were standard issue, the castle would never be guarded. I’d bet my career on it.”

“mmhm,” she hummed in doubt. “Be that as it may, I need you up early today. I had a tailor come in so we can fit you with some royal attire.”

“That was quick.”

She shrugged, “I like to finish things at the earliest convenience rather than waiting until the last moment. That way, if complications arise, there is plenty of time to fix it.”

She slid off the bed and stood beside it, “You know where the tailoring room is, correct?”

Cinnamon nodded, “I’ve had to stitch up my formal clothes a few times in the past.”

She smiled, “Excellent; I hope to see you at lunch?”

He returned her smile, “Wouldn’t miss it.”

She leaned over and nuzzled into his neck, a motion that Cinnamon met by turning his head and landing a poorly placed kiss on her chin in return.

Celestia giggled, turning away from him and left the room out the front doors.

Cinnamon got out of bed and headed to the shower so he could get ready for his day. While he was washing himself, he noticed how… empty it felt in the shower without Celestia there.

It’s too quiet, he thought to himself. He paused mid-scrub; why was he thinking that? The last time he’d shared a shower with others was back in bootcamp. Since then, it’s always been a quiet shower. Only a week since becoming a consort and he’s already sleeping past the sun’s rise, not being able to relax in a peaceful shower and the lack of duties was beginning to wear down his desire to get out of bed after waking up.

He sighed, this was all reminding him when he was in his teens… well, except for the shower part and he was in better shape compared to back then. At least, for now, he thought to himself after realizing that he hadn’t once attended physical training the past week.

He began to scrub himself again; Maybe I would still be able to go to those.

After his shower and a visit to the royal dining room for breakfast; Cinnamon walked through the castle halls and entered the tailor’s room.

Inside was a mess. A couple ponyquins were leaning against the wall to the left along with one shaped like a griffin. Two of them held off-duty uniforms the castle guards would wear to ceremonies while the griffin ponyquin held a red pajama one-piece with a tear on the flank. Spools of fabric, usually against the right wall, were strewn around the room. It looked like they were grabbed and tossed aside. One had rolled along the floor, the fabric unraveled and looked like a cheap carpet. From the few times he had to come here in the past, it had been clean. The only time it ever got messy was when Straight Cut was actively working on an outfit but even then, the mess was delegated to a corner of the room where the outfit was being made.

A sound of things falling snapped his attention to a hallway leading to the storage room in the back. He heard a muffled cry “please don’t do that!” before another thud sounded.

A shiver ran up his spine as his guard instincts kicked in.

I knew something was off; Straight Cut’s NEVER been this disorganized, even on a hectic day.

Cinnamon moved as fast as he could while remaining quiet.

A spy’s unlikely; Straight has all her supplies and food brought to her and she lives in a room off the side of her workroom. So unless a spy wanted to know where the front door was, she wouldn’t be much help… although, even if unlikely, it probably wouldn’t stop a spy from trying. Not in a conflict with any other factions or nations so no obvious infiltrator. Most likely opponent would be a rogue changeling from one of the few changeling cells that still opposed reforming and held to the late Queen Chrysalis’ ideals.

He slowed down as he reached the storage room door and gripped the handle. He took a second to steel himself; he would only have seconds to assess the situation and act before losing the advantage. If it was a unicorn or changeling, those seconds are crucial. Just had to grip the horn to disrupt the spell.

The voice of Straight Cut came through the closed door, “If you told me what you’re looking for, I could point you to it.” Another voice, female in tone, answered her, “Something that brings an air of royalty and respect without distracting from the princess.”

Wait, what? Cinnamon thought, relaxing his grip slightly.

Straight’s voice continued, “That’s not… I meant a specific color you’re looking for, not a description.”

“I’ll know when I see it dahling. Hmm… No,” -thud- “no,” -thud- “this simply won’t do.” -thud-

Cinnamon was no longer convinced of foul play but just in case, he slowly turned the handle, nudged the door open and peeked inside.

Straight Cut stood in the middle of what appeared to be a storage room, a few spools of fabric flanked the light pink mare on the ground. Infront of her was a white furred mare with a very unusual mane and tail style. Both were curled, appearing similarly like a purple curled string. While unique and highly likely to take a great deal of time to style; it left her… slightly exposed. A mares tail was their nether’s defense against both nature and wandering eyes. This mare essentially threw that function out the window to make a statement as he could see a part of her marehood. Not too much though as it was nearly hidden between her flanks.

He took another second to peek further into the room and confirming that the two mares were the only ones in it before entering.

“Could you at least not throw everything all over the place?” Straight Cut asked, side stepping a spool of fabric that honestly didn’t land close enough to her to require moving out of the way.

“I simply don’t have the time to be delicate about this. I will clean up after I find what I’m looking for. I must have everything ready before Princess Celestia’s Consort arri-AH!” she yelled, having turned around and spotting Cinnamon just as he entered the room.

The yell from the white mare caused Straight to jump, turning to the direction of the mare’s distress only to give out a frustrated sigh after seeing it was Cinnamon.

“Uh, is everything alright in here?” Cinnamon asked.

“Depends on your perspective,” Straight Cut mumbled.

“Of course dahling,” the white mare said, not hearing Straight’s agitated remark, “We weren’t expecting you to arrive this early Consort Cinnamon.” She bowed her head slightly, just enough to show respect but not as much as one would in the presence of a princess.

“Just Cinnamon is fine.”

Straight Cut pawed at the ground, getting the rooms attention, “Yes, well now he’s here so can you please stop throwing my supplies all over the place?”

The white mare sighed, “I suppose so,” she looked at Cinnamon, “I shouldn’t be too much longer if you wish to wait in the front room in the meantime.”

He looked around the messy room, then to the mares, “I could clean up while I wait.

The white mare shook her head, “I shall clean up after I find what I’m looking for; I don’t want to look at something I’ve already seen.”

Straight Cut looked at Cinnamon and shrugged.

He shrugged in return and turned to walk to the front room.

Despite the mess, he found a sitting chair that had been pushed in the corner. He walked over to it, stepping over a few supplies scattered on the ground before reaching the chair and taking a seat.

Before he could even get comfortable, Straight Cut came trotting out, mumbling something that didn’t reach Cinnamon’s ears.

“is… everything ready?” he asked.

She looked over to Cinnamon, looked toward the room she came from, then looked back to Cinnamon with a sigh, “No, I don’t know how long she’ll be, and I can’t help her. She doesn’t want me to clean and doesn’t give me a straight answer when I ask her if I can find anything for her.” She shakes her head, “but I guess if everypony understood how she did things, she wouldn’t be the best tailor in Equestria.”

Cinnamon looked surprised. Straight Cut is the best tailor he’s known; after all, she wasn’t the tailor for the princess’ for nothing.

“Really?” he asked with a hint of doubt, “Where is she from? Filly Delphia?”

She arched a brow, “Wait, do you not know who that is?” she asked, gesturing behind her with a foreleg.

He followed the direction her hoof was pointing with his eyes. He was supposed to know that mare? “Soo… Manehattan then?”

Straight Cut trotted closer to him, “For Celestia’s sake,” she said in a hushed whisper, “That’s Rarity; She’s an Element of Harmony, the element of Generosity! You were a guard; how do you not know about the Element bearers!?” By this point, she was nearly touching her face to his.

He scoffed, pushing her face away from his to get some breathing room, “I know about the element bearers… just not how they looked… or their names. Except for Princess Twilight and Pinkie Pie.”

“Are guards not told about this stuff?”

“We are in basic… but everycreature just says ‘The Elements are here’ or ‘The Elements are coming.’ It’s hard to remember names when they’re never used… I vaguely remember one of them is called Apple?”

She groaned, pressing her hoof against the bridge of her nose. “Well that makes me… uneasy.”

Cinnamon raised a brow, “Does it really? I’m a guard… was a guard. My job was to protect Canterlot Castle and, at one point, Princess Celestia herself; neither of which required me to know the Element’s names to effectively do my job.”

“And you never met them when you were guarding Princess Celestia? Not once?”

He shook his head, “Nope, I ‘wasn’t required’ to guard when they were around. I was relieved to the barracks when they came to the castle while in that position.”

There was a moment of silence before Straight shook her head and turned to leave, “I’m already beyond aggravated that I can’t change the state my workplace is in, I’m not going to sit here and try telling a stallion why knowing the names of the ponies that have saved Equestria multiple times is important. Something you may want to learn with your new consort title.”

He opened his mouth to rebuke, but his words died in his throat, and he looked off to the side; despite her crass words, she had a point. Being a guard, it wasn’t necessary knowledge to know since the elements weren’t the kind of ponies that required a guard detail for their safety. But as a consort? He’ll be around Celestia more, which means meeting and being around the elements is an inevitability. Saying ‘hello element bearer’ didn’t sound like a very nice way to greet a pony. At least that was something he could fix easily. After all, he already knew the names of two; three now that he knew the name of Rarity.

Cinnamon chewed on his lip, “You make a good point abo-“ he stopped speaking when he noticed Straight Cut had taken her leave while he was absorbed in his thoughts.

He sighed and settled in to wait for Rarity to finish.

He waited in that room for an hour with nothing to do but listen to the occasional sound of metal clops emanating from outside when a guard patrol passed by. It was fortuitous that one of the jobs a castle guard had was to stand in place for hours without needing any breaks aside from the scheduled lunch switch. Compared to that, this was a breeze. The quiet of the room was relaxing and he was sitting instead of having to stand. The chair could’ve been more comfortable though but that was just being picky.

But at last, Rarity walked out of the backroom. Seeing her appear perked Cinnamon up, “Find what you were looking for?”

She looked over to him before shaking her head, “ ‘fraid not dahling, but no matter; I can procure the perfect fabric back at my boutique.”

Her horn lit up, displacing the clutter around a three-piece mirror, “for now, I require your measurements. Come Consort Cinnamon,” she said, waiving him over to a small podium in the center of the mirrors.

He nodded, standing up and walking to where she wanted him. As he passed the fashion pony, he looked to her, “Please just…” He paused a moment, “Just call me Cinnamon.”

She raised a brow, “You don’t sound terribly convinced of that dahling.”

He stepped onto the podium, “Maybe I just realized I’ll have to ask every new creature I meet to leave out my “title” when they talk to me.”

“Oh? Whyever would you wish to hide your title? Such a fabulous title to show all of Equestria that you’re Princess Celestia’s special somepony; you’re nearly a prince!” she said, a tape measure floating up to Cinnamon to begin taking measurements.

“But I’m not and I shouldn’t suddenly be treated like one.” He looked at her reflection in the mirror, “the only difference for me between now and before I requested Celestia’s consort…ship?” He shook his head a little. He felt like that wasn’t the right word for it but now wasn’t the time to get hung up figuring it out. “The only difference is I don’t have a real job anymore and I’m sharing a bed with the princess. Does that sound very deserving of special treatment?”

“Arms up please.” When he complied, she continued her measuring and spoke while doing so. “Correct me if I’m wrong dahling, but doesn’t the princess have final call in the matter?”

“Yes.”

“The way I see it is, Princess Celestia saw something in you. Something thousands of creatures requesting to be her consort before you lacked. Doesn’t that deserve some special treatment?”

The room was silent for the next few minutes with nothing but the sound of the occasional scribbling of quill to paper of Cinnamon’s measurements.

Once Cinnamon’s thoughts were in order, he spoke up, “I… guess I can understand that… viewpoint. But I think a prince is a bit far.”

He could feel her mane brush against his leg as she shook her head, “Nonsense dahling; you’re halfway there, are you not?"

He looked down at her and noticed she had stopped measuring the circumference of his upper leg and was looking back up at him. Despite her asking a question, she wasn’t giving him an inquisitive look, but an expected one.

“Halfway? Wait, do you know-“

“Of the law of the paired sisters? Course I do dahling. I’m close friends with Princess Twilight Sparkle, sister to Prince Shining Armor, married to Princess Cadance. The Princess of Love was quite knowledgeable and forthcoming to what Princess Celestia’s acceptance meant as well as the possibility of you becoming a prince as well, should certain things happen.”

“that still doesn’t mean I’m anywhere near a prince.”

“Near enough for me to pretend.”

He looked at her with a questioning look but the way she was looking at him was very telling. Head turned to the side and fluttering her eyelashes.

“Oh, wow. I am… flattered but, I don’t think I can… you know…”

She waived a dismissive hoof, “Of course not now dahling; I do have a job to do after all.”

“No I mean, I’m not sure I can as Celestia’s consort… like ever.”

“I’m sure she won’t mind.” She said, returning her focus to finishing up her measurements.

“I’m actually kind of in a good headspace with my current relationship with Celestia so, if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather ask her first instead of assuming and being wrong.”

She smiled, “not a Prince yet and already a better one than the last I made moves on.”

He looked at her with a surprised look, “You made moves on Shining Armor?”

She balked and recoiled, “Absolutely not! Sweet Celestia, I would never sleep with my friends brother! Not matter how open his marriage to Princess Cadance is!”

Cinnamon grimaced at the high-pitched shrieking, “Alright, not Shining Armor, but… you don’t mean Blueblood?”

She blushed, “Unfortunately… yes.”

“Sweet Celestia, why? Mares have avoided talking to that stallion since before I became a guard!”

“I know, I know!” She hid her face, “I was a younger mare with a fantasy ingrained in my head since I was a filly. Luckily, the brute didn’t hide his uncouth nature which was… quite the turn off.”

“I can imagine. I’ve had to be in proximity with him a couple times as Celestia’s personal guard. Just being around him drained my energy.”

At that moment, the front door opened and a guardsmare poked her head in, “Excuse me Consort Cinnamon, Princess Celestia requests your presence in the throne room.”

Cinnamon looked over to the guard, then at a clock near the open door. Time had passed without him noticing as it was nearly lunchtime.

He looked at Rarity, “should I come back after Lunch?”

She shook her head, “No need dahling. I have all the measurements I need. I’ll make up a few designs at my boutique and return for you to try them on another time.”

He nodded and lowered his arms. They were a little stiff from being raised for as long as they were, so he stretched them a little bit before walking in the direction of the guard. He passed the guardsmare and began walking toward the throne room with the guard close behind.

A left, then a right followed by another right before it was a straight shot to the throne room. However, as he passed an intersection, the guardsmare spoke up behind him, “Sir, the entrance is this way” When he looked back, he saw she was pointing to her right. He pointed behind him, “isn’t the throne room this way?”

“We’ll be using the back entrance sir, which is this way.”

The back entrance to the throne room, one Cinnamon knew well about. “Oh… but I thought that was for the princesses and their personal guards only,” he said, turning and beginning to make his way back to the guardsmare.

“Her highness’ consort is allowed to as well, but since her highness hasn’t had one for quite some time, it hasn’t been necessary to know until recently.”

“ah… ok.”

They continued walking through the hallways until they reached a door with four centurion mares guarding it. None of them moved a muscle as the guardsmare opened the door and motioned him though.

“This is as far as I am allowed to go.” She pointed at another door further into the room, “through that door is the throne room where you’ll enter from behind the throne. Ascend the stairs where Princess Celestia will be waiting for you.”

Cinnamon nodded; he knew the room since he’s been through here many times as Celestia’s personal guard but said “Thank you” anyway.

When he stepped into the room, the guardsmare closed the door behind him. He looked around the room; despite being in here hundreds of times, he was still surprised at how plain it looked considering the class of pony that frequently passed through it.

He entered through the second door, leading to the rear of the throne dais. Stairs ascended to the back of the throne where the only creature he saw was the griffiness currently holding the title of Celestia’s personal guard; Sammy Stunclaw.

When the door latched closed behind him, Sammy’s’ ear twitched before she quickly turned her head to the side and looked at him. She then turned to the throne and leaned over so her head was out of sight from his vision.

He stood at the bottom of the steps, slightly uncomfortable since he didn’t know what to do. Back when he was a personal guard, nocreature was allowed to walk up the rear steps except the princesses and their personal guards. The only other way up to the throne would be walking around the dais and using the front steps… but that would disrupt court. Or is this another thing that a Consort is allowed to do as well?

Well, he thought to himself, it is close to noon; maybe I should just wait until she leaves for lunch.

He felt a nudge against his side. He looked down to see Sammy poking him in the side with a talon. While he was engrossed in his thoughts, she had walked down the rear steps to him.

“She wants you next to her,” she said before starting to walk away.

“Uh, can I use these stairs?”

“She informed me that I couldn’t tackle you if you did.”

He blinked, “A yes would’ve been fine.”

She scoffed, “Yeah, like that would be any fun.”

He shook his head, still as passive aggressive as she was back in the personal guard contest.

He returned his gaze back to the stairs, seeing the throne on top as well as the tip of Celestia’s flowing mane poking past one side of it. He ascended the steps but could hear nothing of note. Not Celestia, nor petitioner, or guard. It was quiet. When he reached the top, he walked up to stand on the left side of the throne; just like he did when he was her personal guard. A sense of nostalgia washed over him, standing here, watching over the courtroom at Celestia’s side. He smiled; he certainly missed this.

He glanced at Celestia, who was returning his gaze with a side glance of her own.

“You summoned me?” he asked.

She sighed, “Asked for you Cinnamon; remember, you are no longer a guard; you can choose not to come.”

“Well… coming got me out of an awkward situation anyway. Are we… getting lunch?”

“Actually, it appears we have some ponies coming into court about the actions of a certain consort I know.”

Before he could even ask her what she was talking about, a newspaper floated over to him. The front page read,

Disgruntled guard stages hoax following last weeks disappointment.

Consort to the princess of the Sun; a lofty position sought after by an estimated twenty thousand Equestrian subjects annually. As many know, the majority of these cases are not recorded so as not to get in the way of other news. However, we do report on the few creatures that Princess Celestia asks to return for a definite answer in a weeks’ time so she may consider the requests.

Last week we had the highlight of witnessing Platinum Sky packing up his belongings and selling his cloud mansion in anticipation for what he considered a sure thing only to walk out of the castle with no joy on his face.

However, it appears the creature most distraught about our princess’ final answer was one we couldn’t reach following her answer. Pictured above is what appears to be Princess Celestia standing beside a creature named Ground Cinnamon. However, looks can be deceiving.

Ground Cinnamon is a castle guard and, at one point, the personal guard to Princess Celestia herself. Not too long before this creature requested to become Princess Celestia’s consort, Ground Cinnamon lost his position as Princess Celestia’s personal guard to a griffiness named Sammy Stunclaw.

Perhaps leaving such a close position to the princess has driven him insane as he staged an acceptance announcement with a doppelganger or stunt double he met while working as Princess Celestia’s personal guard. Only time will tell as to what punishment Ground Cinnamon will receive and we shall inform you all more of this situation as we reach out to Princess Celestia for comment.

After reading the paper, he glanced up at Celestia with a raised brow, “A… slander piece? What is this?”

“I am not entirely sure. I’ve sent word to a couple intelligence agents to investigate this. However, I would like you to talk to the distraught ponies that brought this to my attention.”

He raised a brow, “Me? Why?”

“Well, you wished to know about duties of a consort; This would be one of them. I believe this is a perfect opportunity for some hooves-on experience for it.”

“Hooves-on experience for… what exactly?”

She gestured to the room, “To run court.”

As Cinnamon was left speechless, Celestia raised her hoof and made a motion he knew too well; dismissal of the room guards. He watched as all the guards saluted before beginning to march out of the court room through a side door. He looked back to Celestia with a concerned look, “When I asked about my duties, I was thinking more of a- a lecture or list; not this… I don’t think I’m ready for this.” He said in hopes that she would recall the guards to their positions.

However, she did not. Instead, she extended her right wing and rested it around his shoulder. “Look at me Cinnamon.” He obliged, redirecting his attention from the guards funneling out of the room to her large magenta eyes. “Relax. Take a breath. This aspect of being my consort is not as bad as you might think. There may be times where Luna and I will be away from the throne; be it by choice or not. In such a case, you would fill our spots until our return. However, your actions are more akin to a receptionist. Petitioners will come to you with their request. If you believe I should look at the case; accept it. If you believe I do not; deny it. The ones you accept will be added to a pile that I will look through when I return.”

“What if I deny something you should’ve looked at?”

“Then they shall return. You may have that feeling many times you reject something. Quite often there are attempts to pair tax exemptions, illegal land grabs or special privileges with a good case. Just do not think too much of it; even those cases are attempted multiple times while I sit on the throne. It would be no different with you sitting in my stead.”

She retracted her wing and righted her posture, “send them in,” she said to the court announcer; the last occupant in the room aside from the two of them.

The court announcer nodded, tapping on the door for the guards on the other side to open them.

Cinnamon took Celestia’s advice, took a deep breath and closed his eyes to focus on his breathing. In… out… innnn… out.

“Announcing, Vanilla Crush and Coco Harvest.”

Cinnamon’s eyes instantly shot open and looked down the room to see his parents trotting through the doors. He was about to say something, but his mother beat him to it, “Ground Cinnamon, what has gotten into you!” She pulled out a rolled-up newspaper from her saddle bag and started shaking it in his direction, “We raised you better than this!”

He looked at the paper in her hoof, then to the one resting on the thrones hoof rest before looking back at his mother, “Mom, it’s not what you think!”

“Not what I think!? You had the princess’ look-alike put on this charade!"

“But-“

“Do you know how embarrassing it was when I opened the bakery and have Golden Cake of ALL PONIES show up with her stupid smug look, waving this in my face!”

Cinnamon looked to Celestia for help, but she only sat there, looking at him. He gestured to her then to his parents but Celestia said nothing.

He sighed, “Mom, Dad; I AM Celestia’s consort.”

“That’s not what we heard,” Vanilla said, shaking the newspaper violently in her hoof.

“I-“

“Son…” his father spoke up. ”…Just apologize to the princess and I’m sure she’ll be forgiving about this.”

Cinnamon had opened his mouth to speak, but his words died in his chest when he heard his dad say that and decided to say nothing. When this happened, Celestia could see in his defeated expression that he wouldn’t be continuing to argue. So, she decided to speak up, “Perhaps we can have a chat about this over lunch.” She made a gesture to get the attention of the court announcer, “notify the door guard I will be taking my lunch and have them show these two to the royal dining room.”

The court announcer nodded, disappearing through the door for only a moment before two guards entered the room. Celestia smiled down to Vanilla and Coco as the guards marched to stand behind the two, “We will meet with you there shortly.”

They peered at the guards before reluctantly turning around to follow them out. The sound of the large doors latching shut echoed through the throne room, leaving Celestia and Cinnamon alone atop the dais. Celestia let out a small sigh, allowing her muscles to relax and simply enjoyed the first moment of silence since leaving her bedroom. A few moments later, Celestia noticed that Cinnamon was still staring at the front doors. “I think that went well,”

He huffed, turning to look at her, “Not really in the mood for jokes.”

“I am telling the truth,” She said, draping a wing over his shoulder, “others in the past have stormed out.”

“Others?”

She nodded.

“W-why? Why do you do this? This was… this was awful.”

“Because I must.” She raised her other wing so each one rested on his shoulders and gave him a serious look. “This relationship requires any consort of mine to carry more responsibility than any other relationship they will ever have. I need to know how my consort handles this and see how you do so I know what you do well and what I will need to teach you.”

He stood in silence recounting the few minutes that had just transpired and evaluating himself. “Was there anything I even did right?”

She smiled, “you stood your ground.”

He gave her a bitter look, “C’mon Celestia, I don’t need pity points.”

She rolled her eyes and removed her wing from his shoulder, “There is no pity in what I tell you. Of all my consorts, the majority cave to the pressure by asking me to step in to take control. There was a moment when you were close to breaking, but you held your tongue.” She stood from her throne and walked to stand close to Cinnamon. “Of course, there are those that did better when thrown at the task but…” She leaned in close and gave him a small kiss on the cheek, “Better than most.”

Cinnamon deflated with a sign, “That’s not fair.”

She chuckled, “I hope that means you are feeling better.”

He gave her a small smile, “Yeah, a little… is this going to be a normal thing?”

She raised a brow, “I would… hope so. I suppose I could find another way to cheer you up than a kiss bu-“

He blushed a little, “no, I meant things like this surprise court thing.”

“Oh,” She shook her head, “No, no more surprises like that, I promise you.”

“So,” Celestia said after a moments silence, “Shall we go talk to your parents?”

He hesitated, “Could I… skip it?”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“I… nevermind.”

“Cinnamon, I know it goes against what you have been trained for years, but if something bothers you, please tell me... no matter how big or small it is.”

He looked at her but couldn’t hold it and looked off down the courtroom, “Well… believe it or not, my mom… kinda does this a lot. She’s very judgmental about every creature I have a relationship with. She may have been more vocal about it with how she found out about this one but if she had the real story, I’m pretty sure she’d still be on my case about it somehow.”

“That… you do not sound very bothered by that.”

He finally found the willpower to meet her eyes and hold it. “My dad… is what bothered me… taking the same side as mom… not even listening to what I was saying… He’s never done that. He’s always been supportive about everything I do even if it turns out to be the wrong thing. He always heard me out whenever mom got stubborn and wouldn’t listen to me. He helped build up some of my confidence when I told them about requesting to be your consort while mom was… well, less than enthused about it.”

She tilted her head, “Perhaps the situation warranted a less supportive attitude. If what the paper said were true, you would be stripped of rank and spend a minimum of three years in the dungeons. I believe he was being a good sire asking you to attempt appealing to my forgiving nature for a lesser sentence.”

He gave her a deadpan look, “As if I could convince Crystal to be in a picture with me. You know how dedicated she is to the job; the only things she does without your verbal instruction is eat, sleep and use the bathroom.”

She shrugged, “Crystal is a trustworthy and loyal double of mine, but no creature is infallible, even me. It would only take one moment of poor judgement to make a mistake like this.” She turned herself, ready to descend the stairs behind the throne. “Are you sure you do not wish to join me in straightening this situation out?”

“I’m… yes, I’m sure”

She nodded, “Well, if you change your mind, you know where we will be.” Then walked down the stairs with Cinnamon close behind her and exited the room.

They walked together down the hallways until Cinnamon turned off down a hall and headed to Celestia’s bed chambers while she continued toward the royal dining room.

On her way to the dining room, Celestia decided to take a short detour to the senior guard offices. She opened one of the doors to reveal Commander Silver Spirit busy with some papers on her desk. She casually glanced up to see who had entered her office without knocking or permission. Once her eyes settled on the princess currently standing under her doorframe, she straightened to attention and gave a salute, “Ma’am!”

“At ease Commander; I need you to assemble the council to handle court for the rest of the day.”

“Princess?” She questioned, pushing aside a few papers to reveal and look at a calendar underneath. “The next scheduled council assembly isn’t until the fall frolic this weekend; I’m not sure if all of them will be able to make it.”

“I am aware Commander; I know Fancy Pants is in Canterlot and I trust him to run it alone if it comes to it. They will get the last-minute bonus for this one. If Fancy is the only one to show, give him double for the trouble.”

Commander Silver finished writing down the official order and pushed away from her desk and rolled in her chair over to the cabinets and began to fish out the official scrolls that will be sent to each council member. After grabbing the right number of parchments, she rolled back to her desk and laid them on top of all her other, currently less important paperwork.

She looked back up to the princess, then to the hallway behind her to make sure no others were eavesdropping or within hearing distance, “Princess… Is something going on that I should know about?”

Celestia shook her head, “Nothing to be concerned over; something came up during court and I wish to have the rest of the day free in case I require it.”

She nodded and gave a short salute “I’ll have it taken care of.”

“Excellent; thank you Commander” She gave a small nod and left the room, closing the office door before continuing her walk to the dining room.

Celestia’s magic enveloped the dining room doors, opening them to let her walk through. Vanilla and Coco sat at the large table whispering to each other. A bowl of fruits rested on the table near them, indicating that a chef took their orders but neither wanted anything.

“Apologies for the wait,” she said, gaining their attention.

“Where’s Cinnamon?” Vanilla asked, being the first to notice his absence.

“He will not be joining us this afternoon.” Celestia used her magic to pull out her chair so she could sit on its comfortable cushion.

“Princess, there must be another way,” Coco pleaded, “he doesn’t deserve the dungeons, he’s a good colt. Place him on house arrest if-”

Celestia held up a hoof to silence him, “I agree, Cinnamon is a good colt. Allow me to put your worries to rest, Cinnamon is not in any trouble.” She materialized a newspaper of The Canterlot Courier and placed it between them, unfolded so they could see the entire front-page article under the same large photo they had seen in the other newspaper.

They glanced at the paper, then back to Celestia

“Cinnamon is my Consort and has been such since Saturday afternoon.”

Upon hearing that, they both grabbed a side of the newspaper and read its contents

Princess Celestia has taken a consort!

Your eyes do not deceive you. After refusing suitors over a length of time that nopony can accurately account for, one creature has broken that streak. Ground Cinnamon, a creature of unknown origins or species has received the answer all suitors hope for… a yes. Cemented in her answer as she shares with her consort their first kiss, pictured above, declaring to all Equestrians and our allies, her interest in him.

The question is, who is Ground Cinnamon? We sent out feelers and found our sources in Manehattan had the answers we sought. Apparently, his arrival was the most interesting thing to happen to the city in over a century.

His first sighting was in Manehattan square where a bakery mare found him wrapped in a blanket and abandoned. A search was conducted by the majority of the city’s occupants, fueled by the desire to help keep a family together and discovering a new species. However, the multi-day search bore no fruit. Princess Celestia, who had been notified of the events, arrived on scene and began her own investigation alongside a dozen of the top research ponies from Canterlot Castle. It was a year long endeavor that revealed information many considered underwhelming for the time spent gaining the knowledge.

Months were dedicated to finding how the young creature managed to appear in center square with no trace of other creatures of his kind and the easily apparent fact that he couldn’t move on his own. His skin was soft and squishy, ruling out a species of underground inhabitants akin to the Diamond Dogs. No wings for flight and no fins for sea dwelling species. After the investigation ended, some ponies reached out to the research team about how he arrived in the city; gaining an answer that the knowledge was classified. This led to ponies believing the Princess had indeed found the answer to his origin.

He grew up in a bakery called Sweet Sensations where he would come to make a sugary treat that the locals called The Cinnamon Special; a cinnamon topped cupcake that many said was nearly as good as Pinkie pie’s Legendary sweets, making it a hot spot for fillies, colts, and ponies that truly don’t care about their weight. Much to the disappointment of the youth, he would eventually leave the city to become a guard at Canterlot Castle.

Unfortunately, information about his time at the Castle is sparse. The only things we could procure is his slow promotions in rank when compared to the rest of the recruits and holding the position of Princess Celestia’s Personal Guard for 9 months.

The question lingers on our minds, and no doubt the minds of Suitors both past and future; what piqued the Princess’ interest? We could not discern anything about Cinnamon that another suitor didn’t outclass him in. He’s not as tough as an Earth Pony, strong as a Minotaur, magical as a Unicorn, or swift as a Pegasus.

We’ll be sure to keep an eye on the situation as it evolves and if anything happens, you’ll be first to know!

Coco was the first to finish the article, “but…” he looked up at Celestia “what about the Manehattan Post?”

She pursed her lips, “I do not have that information currently. I have sent some ponies to look into it, but I can assure you the article you brought to my attention is false.”

By the time Vanilla finished reading, Coco had shifted his gaze down to the table.

“What are you playing at?” Vanilla seethed.

Celestia raised a brow, “Sorry?”

Vanilla pushed her chair back, standing on her hind legs and planting her forelegs on the table. “You just put our colt through a horrible experience while you sat by and did nothing, how could you of all ponies do that!?”

Celestia cleared her throat, “Ground Cinnamon is no longer a colt, he is a full-grown stallion. He has fought in a war; he can overview a court case without my intervention.”

“Were you paying attention to the same thing I was? He can’t! and you shouldn’t be shoving him into that situation!”

Celestia stood from her cushion, “I asked you here to show you the truth to the relationship between Cinnamon and I; not to argue over it.” She picked up two apples from the fruit bowl in her magic and began to walk toward the doors, “Cinnamon knows he can end our courtship at any time if he cannot handle it but that does not mean I will give him special treatment over past consorts. You are welcome to stay the night here if you desire; just ask the door guard to escort you to a guest room.”

Vanilla dropped her forehooves to the floor and faced Celestia, “If you hurt him… I’ll end you.”

Her statement halted Celestia mid-step and diverted Coco’s gaze away from the table; giving his wife a wide eyed look.

“He is not a toy for your amusement or a conversation piece to show off to all your acquaintances. I don’t care if you’re an Alicorn; I. Will. Find. A. Way.”

Celestia turned around to face the pair, giving Vanilla a serious look. “I believe you have overstayed your welcome. It would be in your best interest to leave before you say something that would revoke that option.”

The room went quiet. Celestia calmly staring at Vanilla while receiving a defiant stare in return. Only when Coco jabbed his wife in the side with a hoof was the impromptu staring contest ended. “Let’s go home,” he quietly said.

Vanilla look to her husband, then back to the Princess. She growled before stomping past Celestia, glaring at her until she passed her and exited through the doors. Coco was close behind her until they passed Celestia, where he decided to stop. Only when Vanilla passed the doors did he speak up with a whisper. “I’m sorry Princess… She has a sore spot when it comes to Cinnamon’s relationships… I know she didn’t mean what she said.”

Celestia’s face softened before turning her head to look at Coco, “I believe you… but I cannot stand idly by as she makes such declarations.” She turned around to face him, “If you need to make a request to the crown, you are free to do so. However, Vanilla is not allowed to enter the castle until further notice.”

“Yes princess,” he said, bowing a little before turning to gallop out of the room and catch up to his wife.

Once Celestia was alone in the room, she gave an exasperated sigh. This was supposed to be easy, yet it turned into an irritating experience. She took a deep breath; despite the afternoon not going the way she thought it would, she was a bit relieved and happy… even if she couldn’t take a threat like that lightly.

She looked back to the table and levitated a third apple from the fruit bowl and took a big bite out of it. She hummed at the sweet taste before walking out of the royal dining room.

Celestia walked into her room, spotting Cinnamon sitting on the balcony through the open doors leading outside. She walked over to him; the only sound giving her presence away was the sound of her golden hoof shoes clinking against the marble floor. Only when she passed the balcony doors did Cinnamon hear her and glance behind him. She sat down beside him, levitating the two remaining apples over to him. “Feeling better with the breeze in your face?”

He grabbed the apples from the air and fiddled with them, “Yeah… I’ve been thinking on what you said about dad acting different because of the situation… it made sense.”

She smiled, wrapping a wing around his back, “Does not remove the sting, does it?”

He shook his head, taking a bite out of the apple.

“Well, if it makes you feel better, Coco appeared to be remorseful after learning the truth to our relationship.”

“How did mom take it?”

“She took it well.”

He look at her; looked her in the eyes. “That’s a lie.”

“Oh? Do I have a tell I should be aware of?”

He shook his head, “No… but I know my mother better than that.”

The line made Celestia smile, “Does she do that a lot?”

He nods, “Unfortunately.”

Her wing squeezed him in comfort, “You are lucky to have a mother that cares so much for you. Though, you may want to tell her threats are not the best way to go about it.”

“Please don’t tell me she actually did that.” Celestia nodded, "mmhm, said she would end me if I hurt you.”

He groaned, covering his face with his hands, and falling backward to lie on the balcony. Taking the opportunity, Celestia shuffled over and rolled onto him, so she laid stomach to stomach on top of him.

He peeked through his fingers to the alicorn mare laying atop him. “Did she at least go peacefully… didn’t give the guards any trouble?”

She smiled at him, “Do not worry, I did not send her to the dungeon.”

“But… she threatened your life. That’s 3 months minimum.”

She shrugged her shoulders, “I determined she said it to make a point, not truly to threaten me. That is not to say she walked away without a reprimand. She is not allowed on castle grounds until further notice.”

He smiled, a hand drifting down to stroke one of Celestia’s soft forehooves. Then his smile faded and his hand stopped to rest on a hoof. “You aren’t doing this to try and get something out of me, are you?”

She looked down at him with a smirk until she saw the look he was giving her and the look in his eyes. It was the same look Luna gave her when she returned; asking if ponies would accept her… worry and pain. Celestia immediately became aware of her position atop Cinnamon, fur to flesh contact in a dominant spot. She shot up to a sitting position and moved backwards. “Absolutely not… did it… come off that way?”

He propped himself up on his arms. When he saw her worried look, he sighed and scooted forward. When he was close enough, he slid his hands under her forelegs, meeting and intertwining his fingers together on her back. Then he pulled her back down with him. She was hesitant for a moment, resisting his pull for a few seconds before reconsidering and allowing him to pull her on top of him. She gave a half-hearted attempt to scoot back so he wasn’t smothered in her chest fluff, but he held her there and nuzzled into it. “No… it just sounded like… an old playpony story I read. Doing something like a big gesture and expecting something in return for it.”

Celestia’s ears flatten, “You know I do not need to see your face to know when you are lying… do you want to talk about it?”

He shook his head.

She frowned down at him as he continued to hold his face against her chest. Slowly her look changed to a small smile as she started to stroke his hair. Then an idea hit her, “how about we go someplace we can relax and unwind. I think we have earned it after today’s events.” He hummed into her chest fluff, “but I’m so comfortable right here.”

She giggled, “Well, I promise this place to be more so. In fact, if you find my words ring false, then I will owe you a favor.”

Author's Note

It is still alive. I have no doubt that I've probably lost most of you with how long it's been. The only promise I can make is that as long as the story doesn't have the 'canceled' status, it's being worked on. If my profile's "last seen" isn't longer than a month, then I am not dead/lost my password.

17. How Does That Make You Feel?

Cinnamon took a deep breath, “I think I need… therapy.”

Luna stood silent, waiting for something more to be said, but he didn’t continue with anything. “Doth thou desire a recommendation? The Castle Therapist would not be here if her ability could be questioned.”

“Actually, if it’s not too much to ask, I was hoping you could help me.”

“Us? Art thou sure? Our methods are considered… unorthodox… in the current time.”

He shrugged, “You’ve helped me before so I trust you, even if it’s unorthodox. I’d rather not talk about the topic to castle staff.”

“Is that so? Then tell us what matter weighs heavy on thy mind?” She asked, walking past him and into her bathroom. Cinnamon turned to face her direction and could see her start brushing her mane.

“It’s about Celestia… I’m having a problem that involves her and I don’t know why.”

She glanced in his direction, “we require specifics Cinnamon, refrain from beating around a bush. What was the problem?”

“I… I froze up when I wanted to hold her. I don’t know why.”

She stopped brushing and turned to look at him through the open bathroom door. “Thy plight is confidence?”

He shook his head, “No… Or at least, I don’t think so... I don’t have an issue when it comes to… having relations with her-“

“Breeding,” Luna interjected.

“Uh… Yeah… but I can’t just hold her? If it was confidence, wouldn’t breeding her also be an issue if just holding her does?

She nodded and returned to looking at herself in the mirror while brushing her mane. “We see merit in thy concern. 'Twas wise to approach us of this rather than permitting it to fester and become worse. When thou attempted to hold our sister, did she take notice?”

“Yeah, she noticed.”

“Did she comment on it?”

“Yes.”

Luna brought a hoof up and gestured for him to continue, “Well? Do not keep us waiting, what did our sister say of it?”

“Well, she asked me what was wrong and I… well, I didn’t know why, so I may have… lied, which she called me out on.”

She paused brushing and looked at him through the reflection of the mirror, “It would be wise to refrain from lying to our sister Cinnamon.”

“What was I supposed to say? That I didn’t know?”

“Yes,” came a sharp reply, “ ‘Tis better to admit ignorance than to speak falsely. When thou becometh known for deceit, ‘tis difficult to change that perception. Aside that fact, we believe we can assist thee. Though, if we should take the time to assist; we require a favor as payment for our time.”

“A favor what kind of favor?”

Luna gargled mouth cleaner and spat it into the sink. She wiped her mouth clean with a small towel before exiting the bathroom. “During thy trial period to become our sisters consort, we noticed something that… concerns us. We seek permission to enter thy dreams and investigate the matter.“

He waited for more, but when nothing came, he gave her a confused look. “Is that it? Couldn’t you just do that.”

“Yea and Nay, when thy title became that of our sister’s consort, thy privacy must be unquestionable. We never wish for thee to question if we enter thy dreams or not. As such, we refuse to intrude on thy dreams without thy explicit permission unless our intervention is strictly necessary to dispel a nightmare.”

“Well, if that’s the case, I give you permission to do that. I also don’t mind if you enter my dreams afterward if you need something.”

She smiled at him, “We appreciate thy permission, however, ‘tis not as simple as that... Now, return to thy quarters to slumber. We shall enter thy dreamscape after we tend to a matter that cannot be ignored.”

Cinnamon entered Celestia’s room to find her already in bed, reading a book. She glanced in his direction when she heard the door open but immediately returned to her book when she saw it was him.

He proceeded to the bathroom to take care of the usual pre-bed business of brushing his teeth and using the bathroom.

“Did you get new teeth cleaner?” Cinnamon asked as he walked out of the bathroom and shuffled into bed with Celestia.

He received a small nod in affirmation, “Yes, a new brand some ponies made in the Crystal Empire. They call it Cool Mint; I am finding it quite nice.”

He forced an exhale to feel the odd sensation in his mouth again. “It’s like a small part of the Frozen North is in my mouth.”

Celestia smiled at the comment, “I could not have said it better myself. The advancements of my little ponies never ceases to amaze me. Did you know there are some Unicorns in Manehattan attempting to create a large flying carriage using a steam engine instead of Pegasus power?”

Cinnamon slid under the covers of the super comfy bed, “isn’t that just an airship?”

She nodded, “in essence, yes. Though, their idea for the ships propulsion system is… different. Something about gears and blades. Claimed it came to them in a dream with metal trains flying in the sky faster than any mode of transportation we have.”

“Sounds crazy… and menacing… and dangerous. Should they be doing that?”

She shrugged, “To be honest, I could not follow much of what they were describing since they themselves were not sure about the details of the contraption. However, I decided to allow them to use some fields on the outskirts of the city to do their tests.”

Cinnamon pulled the covers up to his neck and settled into a comfortable spot. He glanced at her with a curious look, “Think it will go anywhere?”

She flipped the page in her book, “I am not sure, though others appear to believe in the project. Last I heard, two old airships were donated to them to help in their tests. Coincidentally, this is exactly how Trains and Steam Engines were invented. A pony that had a dream.”

“Huh… well, if it works like it sounds, I hope I can see it working one day.” He tried and failed to stifle a yawn, “I’m going to turn in early tonight. Goodnight… Everbright”

A minute of silence passed before Cinnamon’s nerves got the best of him. “No?”

He heard her chuckle but couldn’t bring himself to look at her. “I do not wish to impose my thoughts on the pet name you wish to call me.”

“But I want you to like what I call you.”

He heard her book close and the sound of it being placed down on a solid surface. The bed shook a little with her movement before a white feather came to his chin and turned his head to face her lying beside him. “I appreciate your consideration but, if you desire to give me a pet name, I want you to like what you call me. So long as it is not My Sun or K.K.”

He gave her a confused look, “K.K.? What does that stand for?”

She gave him a small shrug, “It is one my faithful student Twilight informed me of. Her assistant Spike mentioned that Discord of all beings calls me that… Luna believes it to be short for Cup Cake which, given my fondness for sweets, would make sense.” She sighed, “But it is Discord; doing things that make sense is not something he does.”

“But… that’s C.C.”

“And is the only part of her logic that Discord would do; However, It feels far too… insignificant for him to bother with. Especially if he relied on a proxy to notify me instead of calling me that directly.”

He could only shrug in response. He’d only ever heard about the god of chaos and the mischief he achieved in the past, but he’d never met him before. “Maybe the power of friendship is really making him act better?”

She chuckled, “I suppose that could be... so… Everbright?”

He shook his head, “No… I liked it better when it rhymed but… doesn’t feel right.”

She giggled and leaned in to kiss him on the nose, “Do not force it, one will come.”

She draped a wing over him and they both drifted off to sleep.

Luna let out an exhausted sigh as she glided through the dreamscape. The night had been busier than she expected. The first and most surprising turn of events was her night court. Typically, she had a dozen Canterlot snobs attempting to circumvent her sister’s decision by proposing the same changes to her along with one or two ponies that couldn’t make it to day court to present their plea.

However, tonight she had nearly three hundred ponies show up for court. All of which couldn’t make it to day court… because it wasn’t open. Her sister took leave of her throne for lunch and instructed for the council to be assembled. Except, the only council member in the city today was Fancy Pants, who was going through a fertility medical procedure. When they couldn’t locate her sister to inform her of the situation, nor dare wake her from her slumber, the guard closed day court themselves.

A yawn escaped her mouth as she reached the Canterlot cluster of dream bubbles. She stopped by a few dreams that turned into nightmares since she first passed through, but she gave them a heavy dose of nostalgic magic instead of intervening in the dream. Unfortunately, this would only be a temporary fix, and she would need to properly solve the issues causing such nightmares tomorrow night when they inevitably return. However, she only had an hour to enter Cinnamon’s dream and converse with him before she needed to leave the dream realm and lower the moon. Not nearly the length of time she desired when she agreed to help him.

She flew with purpose, knowing exactly where his dream bubble would be. A few magical spells cast as she passed some other nightmares before she stopped at two bubbles relatively secluded from the rest but nearly touching each other. She was quite familiar with the one faintly radiating light as her sister’s dream, currently showing her laying on her back in a bright, green field peppered with flowers of all kinds of colors. Though she’s never needed to intrude to dispel a nightmare, she’s spent many nights talking with Celestia whenever she finished her dream duties early.

Then there was Cinnamon’s dream bubble nearly touching Celestia’s bubble in proximity. Though not nearly as familiar as her sisters, it was still uniquely noticeable compared to the rest of the bubbles due to two peculiar attributes. The first is the aura. Each bubble has a presence in the dream realm, leaving an impact on the plane. She could mentally feel each bubble around her to a certain distance. Cinnamon’s dream lacked this quality. Even as she placed her hooves under his bubble and gently lifted it to be level with her eyes, it felt like she was holding nothing.

The second trait, which annoyed her the most, is she could not peer into his dream from the dreamscape. The bubbles acted as a window into the owners dream. When nightmares occurred, It provided her with information on its contents before entering to help. Dreams on the other hoof, though Luna would never openly admit to it, could provide entertainment to a dull night or release to a pent up princess.

She peered into the dull grey of Cinnamon’s bubble and cast a spell to change whatever was happening inside into a lucid dream. She sighed when the contents of his bubble didn’t visually change.

She focused her magic through her horn, spreading to surround herself in her magic before being sucked into and enveloped by the dream bubble. When she opened her eyes, she found herself standing in a large circle of light from no source she could see and Cinnamon sitting in front of her. The rest of the dream was a black void.

She began walking toward Cinnamon, “Pardon our delay, our court ran longer than we expected.”

He stood up and gave her a confused look, “Delay? I just got to sleep and started dreaming.”

Hearing that caused Luna to pause in her step and mirror his confused look, “…Nay… We hath a mere hour before the sun is to rise.” Her expression changed into a stern glare, “Hath thou requested our aid only to spend thy night awake?!” Her royal Canterlot voice creating violent tremors in the dream around them, causing Cinnamon to lose his balance and fall on his ass.

She began to walk toward him once more, ”Had our court duties not delayed us, we would be waiting hours for thee!”

He looked up at her and saw the look of anger she was giving him. He instinctively backed away from her approach for a moment before his training stopped himself, “I didn’t! I went straight to bed when I left your room! I mean… forty-five minutes, tops!”

Magic swirled around her horn and shot upward into the void before colliding with something and spraying apart like a firework. The area around them changed from black to a light blue. She brough her head closer to Cinnamon’s and said in a low, gravelly voice; “Tell us precisely what occurred after thou departed from our chambers.”

“Uh, well, after I left, I went straight back to Celestia’s room…” He trailed off as the area around him changed once more, forming into one of the hallways of the castle and a second Cinnamon appeared, walking through it and glancing down the hallways he passed whenever he came to a junction. A few of the guards he passed saluted him and, not sure what to do back, returned an awkward salute back and earned confused looks from a couple of them. He made it to Celestia’s bedroom doors and stood frozen there.

Luna, who had turned her attention away from the real Cinnamon to watch the copy, glanced at him. “Proceed.” When she looked away, she added, “The guards salute to acknowledge thy presence being our sisters consort. Thou need not respond to it.”

“…Uh, well, I entered and Celestia was already on the bed reading..” He continued as his other self did the same. He gave every detail down to the taste of the tooth cleaner.

“Then I was here and you showed up.” The area around them faded from Celestia’s bedroom into darkness and an second image of Luna entered the area in front of a second image of Cinnamon sitting.

“ ‘Tis… ‘Tis not possible… Thou possessed hours to dream before we came to thee…” She sat down and gave an exasperated sigh, hung her head low and rubbed her temples with her hooves, grumbling to herself, “How can this be? ‘Tis nonsense.”

Meanwhile, Cinnamon watched on as Luna became lost in her thoughts. Frustration evident as her face turned into a deeper pout as time went on. He couldn’t help but crack a smile at the thousands year old princess making a face that reminded him of his school years.

She noticed the look he was giving her and froze. Her cheeks turned red before she shook her head and composed herself. As frustrating and confusing as the situation was, she wasted half her time over it. “Forgive us for the way we acted Cinnamon, such a situation… infuriates us. It does not excuse turning our displeasure unto thee.”

Cinnamon was at a loss of words, mostly due to not understanding the reason for her outburst. “it’s, uh… it’s ok.”

She shook her head, “Nay, we should have given the benefits of doubt to thee. Thou hath given us no reason to believe thou wouldst do this to us. The jumping to conclusions…” She looked down to her hooves, “… is something we are working to quit.”

“Then… apology accepted.”

She looked back up to him with a small smile “We thank thee. Now,” The room around them returned to a light blue color and two large pillows appeared between them. She took a step onto one and laid on it, pony loaf style, “let us finally come to why we are here. Thy concern with our sister. We shall require details of events leading to the incident.”

He took a seat on the empty pillow across from her. “Do you want the entire day or just the moments before the problem?”

“If we had the time, we would request for thou to recall thy day; however, we were delayed in court earlier this night and wasted much of our time on… ultimately, a pointless endeavor. Detailing the time before thy episode shall suffice for now. We shall dwell on what information thou reveals to us and, if necessary, request for more on another of our nights.”

He nodded in understanding, “Alright, well, she led me to a spa in Canterlot Mountain.” The world around them warped into the hallways of Canterlot Castle. Translucent forms of Celestia, Cinnamon were walking through, talking to each other. The mention of Stunclaw guarding them bringing her into the area as well.

Luna watched the vision unfold before here while listening to Cinnamon’s slightly broken account of events, but it didn’t matter to her. The vision would show what happened with sure accuracy. Talking about the Dragon stone, testing the waters and eventually to the impromptu cuddling session. That’s she saw the issue Cinnamon was worried about. Her sister was snuggling up to him and he was having trouble doing it back. Tia called him out on it and he struggled to explain what was going on. Then it all stopped moving. She looked to Cinnamon and saw he was finished with recounting the events.

“If you don’t mind me asking… what was that? It happened when I talked about going to bed too.”

“ ‘Tis a living memory. Recalling events is flawed; omitting facts whether it be on purpose or accident. It has the added benefit of catching lies, of which we are… less proficient to catch compared to our sister.”

“Was before to make sure I wasn’t lying? Or seeing what happened?”

“ ‘Twas a little of both… as we said, ‘tis something we are working to improve upon…”

“So, did you see anything that could be causing it?”

“Nay, while we now fully understand the event that concerns thee, we do not see the cause… so long as thou hath been truthful about breeding our sister.”

He nodded, “I am, I could tell you about our first time-“

He cut himself off when Luna started shaking her head, “Nay… we trust thou knoweth lying to us shall hinder finding the root problem. So we shall trust thy word.” She glanced at the stilled memory of her sister resting her head against Cinnamons chest. “We shall give it some thought, arrive to some ideas and return to thee to ask more questions.”

She stood from her pillow and hopped off it, “for now, we must depart. We wish to chew into our sister on her dereliction of duty before she wakes. We shall return to thee another night.”

“Dereliction of- wait, do you mean-“ but before he could finish his sentence, she was gone, leaving him alone on the comfy cushion.

“Well, I guess she’ll find out either way.”

He glanced over to the still image of Celestia resting on him and walked over to them. Sat himself on the ground and looked at the face of his other self, “What’s wrong with you?”

Author's Note

Let me know about any spelling errors!

16. In the Heart of the Mountain

Cinnamon followed Celestia through the castle. He asked multiple times where they were going but she’d only tell him to have patience. Much to his dismay, their first stop was at the guard wing of the castle so Celestia could pick up her personal guard, Stunclaw.

He stared at Stunclaw as she closed the door to her quarters, “Celestia, I can guarantee you’ll owe me that favor if Stunclaw is coming.”

The griffiness glared daggers at him, “What’s the matter consort? Still bitter over losing your position of personal guard?”

He frowned, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Celestia listening intently with a curious expression on her face. Slowly, his frown turned into a smile, then a smirk. She’d been pestering him for months since his loss against her at the tournament. Whenever they met she would say the same thing and, while her reaction was always the same, he knew exactly what button to push. “What was it you said in the arena? A weak, scrawny Minotaur? And yet, you were pretty close to losing.”

She leapt into the air and used her wings to hover at eye level with him, “Better opponents than you whittled me down. You’d stand no chance when I’m in top condition.”

He leaned in further until his nose nearly touched her beak, “I saw your fights and I know you weren’t nearly as worn down as I was.”

She grinned, “Then are you going to accept my challenge to a proving fight? Or will you continue to hide behind big talk that hold no value?”

He pulled back and walked over to stand beside Celestia. “Even if I were ninety-nine point nine percent sure that I’d win, I still wouldn’t risk becoming your slave if I lost.”

Celestia’s ear swiveled in Cinnamon’s direction at his comment but stayed silent.

Stunclaw looked Cinnamon up and down, sizing him up. “A testament to your cowardice. How do you sleep at night being such a letdown?”

Cinnamon was surprised at how aggressive she was being. Usually, they’d get in each other’s faces, talk down to each other before parting; not seeing each other for a week if he was lucky. But this felt like a personal attack. Meanwhile, Celestia had been studying his face the entire time that he stood there, silently staring at Stunclaw.

Normally, he’s shut his mouth by now. Stunclaw always had to have the last word and it never improved the longer he went. Instead, he smiled, this time she wasn’t going to get that. He had an ace against her that the loyal griffin wouldn’t be able to counter. “Actually, quite comfortably. How could I not when sleeping next to Princess Ce-“ *Thwack* A large white wing collided with the back of his head, effectively silencing him.

The action caused Stunclaw to laugh for a short time before Celestia’s gaze fell upon her. When she noticed, she cleared her throat, and looked down at Celestia’s hooves.

“Stunclaw,” Celestia began, “your actions in public are a reflection upon me. With Cinnamon as my Consort, your duty will also apply to him whenever he accompanies me.”

She walked past Cinnamon until she stood in front of Stunclaw, “You are a fine guard, so I expect you to control yourself around him while we are in public. If you cannot do that, I will have no choice but to give this position to the runner up… well…” She glanced back at Cinnamon, “… the second runner up.” Her gaze returned to Stunclaw, “Can you do that?”

Stunclaw glared at Cinnamon for a minute before her eyes softened and shifted to look at Celestia. She saluted her, “Understood.”

Celestia gave a short nod before turning to Cinnamon, “The same applies to you Cinnamon; I cannot have my consort publicly arguing with my personal guard.”

He looked at Stunclaw. It was the first time since he met her that she didn’t have a cocky look on her face. “I won’t have a problem with that.”

Celestia smiled, “Excellent; now, with that squabble behind us, shall we continue to our destination?”

Once all three of them were ready, they began walking down the hallways. Celestia leading the small group in the front while Cinnamon walked beside her and only slightly behind since she hadn’t told him where exactly their destination was. Stunclaw was following behind both of them them. Her face now concentrated on her duty as she kept an eye on every creature they approached and or passed; ready to pounce on anything that becomes a threat at a moment’s notice.

The walk was quiet; Stunclaw putting her full attention into her guarding duty while Cinnamon was preoccupied; thinking about where in the castle they would be going that could be relaxing to talk. At first, he thought they may be going back to the private gardens, but they made a wrong turn at the bottom of the stairs. The direction they were walking led to the Ambassador rooms and they were less than relaxing to be around. Well, at least most of them.

They passed by the Ambassador’s room doors and took a right into a hallway with no discernable features and only one door at the end of it. There were also no other attaching hallways to this one; so it came as no surprise that Celestia opened it with her magic and motioned for Cinnamon to enter it.

She looked to Stunclaw, “Guard the door until our return.”

Stunclaw nodded and saluted her while Celestia passed through the door and closed it behind her.

The door immediately led to a small spiral staircase that led down. Celestia’s horn ignited and the area around them lit up. Further down they went for a few minutes, descending several stories before it ended and opened into a small room with a tall, jet black stone against the wall on the opposite side of the room from them.

Once Cinnamon’s eyes connected with the stone, he immediately knew where he was. They were in the room with The Obsidian Tooth. Nicknamed for its tooth-like shape that ended in a point at the top. For a time, gossip ran through the castle that it was a replacement tooth that belonged to a medium sized dragon. Others were doubtful a dragon would use a rock to replace a tooth.

Although Cinnamon himself never escorted Celestia to this room before, one personal guard before him escorted Celestia and Lord Ember to this room. However, when they reached the door, Celestia had instructed her to guard outside the door until her return. Cinnamon only knew about the stone because the maids would come into this room to clean, and gossip spreads.

“So, the Obsidian Tooth. I will admit, this room was not on my list of relaxing spots.”

Celestia chuckled and rubbed her cheek against his as she passed him, “Do not let appearances deceive you, we are not yet at our destination.” Her horn ignited and a spell was cast. A golden light started from the top of the rock and slowly made a line down the center. Once it reached the bottom, the stone split into two pieces and parted from each other; revealing an entrance to a lit cave behind it. Warm air filled the room as soon as there was space between the two stone pieces.

Celestia gestured to the hole with a foreleg, “Shall we?”

He glanced at her before stepping past the parted stone halves and entering the cave. The tunnel itself was warm and damp with the only light sources being a single lantern holding a bright sunstone within it. Despite the warmth, the stone beneath his feet was cool.

Celestia followed closely behind him; Igniting her horn once more after completely passing the stone, causing the two halves to move back together and merge back into one stone. The lamp handle glowed as Celestia's magic enveloped it and levitated it off its hook; floating over to hover between the two of them. Then they began walking down the tunnel, side by side. Beyond the bright light the Sunstone was emitting, it was pitch black.

Cinnamon scanned the walls of the tunnel, noting every dark crevasse, hole and branching tunnel. “No creatures living in here that I should keep an eye out for, is there?”

Celestia shook her head, “The only living things in here eat gems. They will not bother us.”

Gems? When he thought about it, they did descend those stairs for some time… That paired with the Castles location to Canterlot Mountain. “Are we going to the crystal caverns?”

Celestia smiled at him, “Mmmhm. A nice little place I made some time ago.”

So a meditation place? he thought to himself That could be nice.

“So,” Celestia continued, “I did not realize you had a history with Private Stunclaw.”

He grimaced, “I wouldn’t say it’s a history. We first met in the tournament, competing to become your personal guard. Ever since, she’s been bothering me to no end about it. It doesn’t help that I’m a bit ashamed with how that match went.”

Celestia raised a brow, “Oh? Care to elaborate?”

He gave a short sigh, “Well, I’m sure you’ve heard the gossip around the barracks; Stunclaw’s a pretty well-known griffin for fighting without using the talons of her claws because she considers them a handicap. So, when we were matched together in the finals, I went into the fight overconfident. I assumed that she only got to the finals by being fast and whittling down her opponents with a lot of weak attacks. To my credit, she was fast but… when she punched me, it felt different. It wasn’t as hard as a punch from other species, but the spot she hit felt numb for a second after it landed.” He rubbed the back of his neck, ”I could hardly keep up with her speed. When she hit me, I could get a good hit in retaliation, which she would follow up with another hour hits before I could hit her again. I could tell I was wearing her down but she was doing just as much against me. The end came when she used her tail to create an opening against me and hit me enough to immobilized me for a second. I knew I wouldn’t be able to take whatever she would do next, so I conceded… I’m pretty sure she doesn’t like how close the fight was because since then, she’s been taunting me over it.”

Celestia hummed, “I see. That would explain a few things. I did wonder why you fought defensively that match.”

He looked at her in surprise, “Oh, you remembered?”

She chuckled at the look he was giving her, “Of course. I remember every moment of that fight. It was the most important match of the tournament for me. I certainly remember wondering to myself why you were on the defensive when your style appeared to be either a swift first strike to catch your opponent lacking or a constant barrage to find an opening.”

“That is… perceptive. I shouldn’t be surprised you saw what I was doing but I honestly didn’t think you’d be paying attention to my fights.”

“You held the position of my personal guard prior to the tournament,” She looked him up and down, “I had an interest in observing your style of fighting.”

“Well then, do you have any notes to share?” He asked.

“I would ask you to change your fighting style to a defensive one if you should ever find yourself in combat. I know it goes against your training, but, as my consort, find the opening to flee instead of countering or attacking.”

He raised a brow at her, “Should I be concerned?”

“I do not think there is too much to be concerned about. Those that might confront you with malicious intent are already incarcerated in stone… however; a new threat could always quickly arise from nowhere much like the Storm King. More likely though, will be disgruntled suitors or jealous drunks both desiring harm upon you. Given your performance in the tournament, I know you could handle yourself in those situations; however, my consort should not be fighting my little ponies.”

“So, I have to run away? What if they started a fight with me?”

“That point is moot if you are on your own. You will always have the option to take a guard detail as my consort; they will handle whatever may come up, but if you leave the castle alone, then yes, flee. Or diffuse the situation if you believe you can.” She gave him a pleading look, “Please avoid a physical fight. No matter how deserving you may believe. ”

Cinnamon chewed on his cheek for a moment thinking. “Alright, I’ll stand down if it comes to that… How much longer do we have to walk for?”

“Not long now; A few more minutes.”

Another minute passed in silence until a question that was weighing on Celestia’s mind since she heard it came fourth. “Cinnamon? How much do you recall about gryphon culture?”

“Hmm,” He thought to himself. “Well, they’re all about strength. The strongest becomes the leader of their country… though I vaguely remember that they’re altering that a little. Lets see… Prideful… Greedy, or at least, they used to be… and I remember their soldiers were something to be wary of in a fight. Honestly, after my fight with Stunclaw; I don’t want to know what it feels like to fight a griffin that uses their talons, or a weapon.”

Celestia nodded, “All good points. What about the Trials of Leadership?”

“Trials of- oh yeah! That’s how they’re altering the way they choose their leaders. Being the strongest and needing to be smart.”

Celestia nodded again, “good, good. How about the proving fight?”

Cinnamons facial features soured. “A fight between a griffin and a griffin or another species. Loser becomes a slave to the winner.”

“mmm… no.”

He gave her a double take, “Sergeant Noble Banner went into a proving fight against one of the Griffin ambassador’s guards. He lost. He was forced to stick near her for their whole stay. Then, when they left, he was forced to go with them.”

Celestia giggled, “Cinnamon; I would not allow such a thing to happen in my borders. Sergeant Banner was not forced to leave, nor was he forced to stay by her side during their visit. He did not become her slave, he became her mate.”

“He lost a fight and became…” He looked at her like she was crazy, “How are those two things related?”

“A proving fight is the Griffin’s tradition of procreation. When a griffin finds a potential mate, they challenge them to a proving fight. The winner decides if the loser is worthy to create strong offspring with. Sergeant Banner was challenged by her, accepted, lost to her and she deemed him strong enough to reproduce with.” She glanced at him, “However, that is all it is. Griffins do not see mates the same way ponies do. Mates for life is counter-productive to them and marriage has very little point. He only needed to breed her; he had no obligation to return to Griffinstone with her. He chose to because he wanted to and she allowed it.”

Cinnamon stopped walking; Celestia shortly doing the same and looking back at him. “That… that can’t be what it is.”

She raised a brow, “Why would I lie to you about that? I can procure some books on Griffin culture to-“

“No,” he interrupted her, “no… I believe you… it just doesn’t make sense. Stunclaw’s taunted me over that. I refused time and time again saying I wasn’t going to be her slave… If that wasn’t what a proving fight is about, why didn’t she correct me? Why did she keep harassing me and demeaning me over it?”

“Stunclaw is… new… to our customs. A citizen of Equestria for only two years. If you claimed to avoid her challenge to prevent yourself from becoming a slave, she would likely see it as you telling yourself a lie to excuse yourself from the fight. She taunts you, attempting to make you accept the challenge.”

“Well… Is there a way to make her stop?”

To Cinnamon’s joy, Celestia nodded. “There are two ways out of a proving fight. The easiest and permanent solution is to accept the fight. If you win, you can decide that she is not worthy of your seed, or you can breed her. In either case, her challenge is fulfilled and she will not challenge you again. However, if you lose, you will have to accept her decision on that matter. You will either give her the clutch she demands, or whatever she saw in you during your tournament fight was not as she thought. Once again, in either case, she will never challenge you again.”

He gave her a confused look, “Saw in me?”

She smiles, “Your tournament fight was close. If she started challenging you to a proving fight after that match, then she knows it as much as you. However, it is not that she does not like how close it was; quite the opposite, she is excited with how close it was. Now, she wants to know if you really are as strong or as skilled as she believes by fighting you when you are both at your best.”

“So, she’ll back off if I don’t fight well?”

“Yes, but I know what you are thinking, and it will not work Cinnamon. She has already fought you. She will know if you are holding back. To them, that is an unacceptable measurement to judge you by.”

He sighed, “Alright. What about the second way then?”

“The other way is to wait, and it is neither a guaranteed nor permanent solution. You can hope for another to catch her eye and fertilize her after a proving fight. If that happens, you will have just over two years of reprieve from her while she lays and raises her young to the age of two. After that, she will come back to you and start challenging you to a proving fight again. She may find a suitable contender today or it could be years.”

“What about you? Can’t you stop her?”

“I could. However, I believe this would be a good opportunity to give you a task instead. If you continue down this road of being my consort and, possibly in the future, a prince-consort; you will need to handle things like this on your own. Consider it a test as well as a glimpse into a future beside me.”

He squinted at her, “A future with you means… dealing with more Stunclaws?”

“Dealing with other cultures, yes. Griffins may challenge you to proving fights, Saddle Arabians may gift you mares, Dragons may seek tribute. I would urge you to study the customs and cultures of all our allies and any we may seek to ally with in the future.”

“Why don’t you have to deal with that?”

She smirked, “Who says I do not? Every Griffin ambassador challenges me to a proving fight. I accepted all of them and defeated each one in combat. Dragons, few as there have been, have mostly been content with a small tribute of delicious gems. Saddle Arabians, on the other hoof, view gifting mares to other mares as an insulting gesture in their culture. I should specify this to you though; You would not need to accept the customs of every single creature that enters or lives in Equestria. Ambassadors, Leaders and the offspring of those leaders are the ones that you should never deny participating in their customs with.”

“Never deny? So… if this is a test, you want me to accept Stunclaw’s challenge.”

She nodded, “Yes, I do. However, I do not want you to feel like you must. You are only my consort, Cinnamon. You have no obligation to do this. I only believe it would be a good opportunity for you if it ever does become an responsibility.”

He stood there in thought. The fight was… well, turned out to be nothing like what he thought it was. Knowing why Stunclaw was taunting him was also making him feel weird over it. He knew he could end it all now by accepting the fight but a part of him also didn’t want to. Stunclaw was arrogant, even before the fight. He didn’t like her and everything she’s done since the fight hasn’t improved his look on her. If this was something she wanted… he was inclined not to give it to her out of spite.

“I’ll think on it. And… you’re fine with whatever I choose?”

She nods, “If you are asking for permission, I am giving it to you.”

“Permission… I was thinking more to ignore it… You did tell her to stop with the taunting, so my issue is solved.”

Celestia smiled and turned herself back around to face the way they were originally going and started walking. Cinnamon, seeing that his light source was walking away from him, jogged to catch up.

“You should know, I did not specifically tell her to stop. I told her to control herself when we are in public. Plenty of places in the castle are considered private, including where we eat. If she has not noticed that by now, I am sure she will before we return.”

He glanced at her. She was never a pony known for doing things on accident. The fact that she called it out means… “You did that on purpose, didn’t you.”

“Mmmhm. Being my consort does not mean I will fix every problem that you can fix yourself. I have alleviated how often she can pester you, given you the knowledge to make her stop yourself or you have the freedom to disregard it and continue as you were.”

After hearing her say that, he knew how he was going to handle Stunclaw. Sure, she was going to keep annoying him, but she wouldn’t be able to do it as often. He could live with that if it meant she didn’t get what she wanted.

Three more minutes passed walking in silence; the air getting warmer with every passing minute before the tunnel opened to a large chamber. Large crystals lined the walls and ceiling; some of which poked through with sharp points facing the interior of the room. Water poured into the chamber from one side of the room and flowed into a long, rectangular crevice in the floor. From there, it traveled to the other side of the room and into a large red rock, where the water around it boiled and evaporated into steam.

He stared at the large, shining red stone half submerged in the water. The water around it emitted a low hiss as it evaporated against the surface of the rock. The light it emitted bounced off the crystals in the room, illuminating it without the need of torches, candles or runes of daylight.

Cinnamon’s eyes widened as he recognized what the rock was. “Is that a Dragonstone?” He asked in bewilderment. It was super rare for any creature that wasn’t a dragon to have one. Not only were the stones incredibly hot, but they were made by dragons. Nocreature knows how exactly it’s done, only that they’re made with lava from an active volcano and dragons create them with their bare claws. The bigger the stone, the larger the dragon that made it.

Very few creatures try to steal a dragonstone, fewer are prepared enough to be successful and the ones that are, only manage to grab stones roughly the size of their hoof. The one currently in the cavern was easily twice as tall as Cinnamon and half that size wide.

Celestia smiled and nodded, “It is! A gift from the former Dragon Lord, Torch.”

Cinnamon thought to the former Dragon Lord. A creature he’d never seen even a picture of but knew from the rumors that he was half as tall as Canterlot Castle.

“Why in the world would he give you one so big?” He glanced at Celestia, “Was it… a courtship gift?”

She laughed, “no, no, nothing of the sort. Besides, a gift is a quick and easy rejection of a courtship request. Unfortunately, the cause of such an action is not a happy one. A little more than 150 years ago, some dragons flew across the sea into our territory and burned down the first village they came across. Over a hundred ponies were burned to ash with less than a dozen survivors reaching the nearest fortified city, now called Baltimare. The attack led to a short but violent conflict between our nations.

“Through rumor and confessions, Dragon Lord Torch learned of the dragons that attacked us first. He gave the offenders over to us for punishment as well as that dragonstone as a form of atonement for breaking the truce we had at the time.”

“Is it wise to have it in water?”

She shrugged, “As nice as the gift is, I had a terrible time finding a place to put it. Any room I placed it in would become a furnace within hours. Anything that could burn, would. Any glass windows would warp and fall out of their frames. I could not store it outside as it would kill any plant and small animal life that was too close to it.

“This idea came to me after I no longer desired to keep it. Either I would gain a private spring, or it would cool the dragonstone into rock and my dilemma would be solved.”

Her horn ignited with magic and her royal garments floated off her head, neck and hooves. “It has remained scorching for all these years, so I no longer believe it will ever cool.”

She set her belongings on a pedestal shaped from a large gem. A little magic appeared on her back and the dock of her tail. Both auras split apart from each other, pulling on thin but long pieces of fabric. Once apart, it floated under her and was revealed to be the chameleon cloth she showed Cinnamon just a few days ago. That too floated over to the pedestal and rested on top of her crown.

Cinnamon glanced at the steam rising from most of the pool of water. “Is it safe? Wait, no… that’s a dumb question… how far should I be from that thing?” he asks, motioning toward the dragonstone.

Celestia walked toward the long pool, “it is gradually heated; the closer you sit to the dragonstone, the hotter the water will be. I suggest testing the waters closer to the stream.” She said, taking a big step into the pool, the water beneath her nearly touching her barrel. She walked a few hooves closer to the Dragonstone before lowering herself and submerging her body in water, laying on the step she used to enter.

While Celestia closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth, Cinnamon had made his way to where Celestia entered the pool. Even through his callused feet, he could feel the warmth coming from the rock below him. He dipped a toe into the water but immediately withdrew it. The water was SCALDING. He glanced at Celestia, who not only entered the water at this spot, but walked CLOSER to the Dragonstone. And she was SMILING!

He chewed on his lip, looking toward the stream of water flowing into the cavern and into the pool. He walked his way over to it. Now that he was closer, he could see the groove the water cut into the ground leading to the head of the pool and creating a small waterfall off the pools edge to join the rest of the water.

Dipping a toe into the pool nearly made him yelp in surprise. It was freezing! His toe had only been in the water for half a second and he could still feel the numbing tingle aftereffects.

Maybe I should split the difference, He thought to himself. Closer to cold just to be safe. It doesn’t need to be perfect, I just needed to be able to get into the water so I could shift to a perfect temperature, just like Celestia did.

He walked to a spot that was about halfway and dipped a toe in a third time. It was hot, but not unbearable. He tossed his loincloth aside and stepped into the pool, the water coming up to his upper thighs.

His foot touched the single large step in the pool that spanned the entire length of it. He quickly waddled away from the Dragonstone a few paces until the water was finally comfortably hot. Once he found his spot, he sat down on the step as if on an underwater bench.

He exhaled as the hot water encapsulated his body all the way up to his shoulders. His eyes half closed on their own as his muscles relaxed in a way they never had before.

He nearly dozed off until waves in the water caught his attention. Celestia had waded over to where Cinnamon was relaxing. “Soo…? What do you think?”

He sighed, “It feels fantastic.” He looked up to the roof made of gems, cascading an array of colors onto the room’s floor. “Looks nice as well.

“I am glad to hear it,” she said, shifting herself so she could sit next to him.

He peeked at her, “You don’t have to stop enjoying the pool on my account.”

She gave him a side glance and a grin, “Who says I am not enjoying myself?”

He scoffed, “I felt the water that you were enjoying yourself in. This spot can’t possibly be warm to you.”

She chuckled, “Yes, I did see your testing of the waters.” She scooted closer to him, “Allow me tell you something few others know about me. I have an extraordinarily high resistance to heat. Sitting here with you and sitting there is the same to me. In fact, I am the only creature without dragon blood coursing through my veins that can touch that dragonstone without receiving third-degree burns… my fur would not even singe.”

He looked at the stone, “You’re kidding.”

A *pop* sound was made as Celestia teleported away, leaving a momentary pocket of air in the water she was just sitting in. She appeared standing on the Dragonstone. The water that was on her legs and underbelly immediately evaporated due to the proximity to the stone. Water dripped off her neck, falling toward the stone but evaporating before it could land on its surface.

“Point taken.”

Instead of teleporting back, Celestia jumped into the water and swam back to Cinnamon. “Do you recall when Nightmare Moon returned? How I was nowhere to be found.”

He nodded.

“Well, I was banished by her in a similar way I did to her a thousand years prior. I spent that day on the surface of my sun. Only there did I begin to… I believe my little ponies say, feel the heat.”

Cinnamon shoved water in her face, “Alright, I said you’ve proven your point… And it’s feel the burn.”

“Oh,” She pouted. “Well drat; that’s not what I felt at all.”

He chuckled, “Whatever the case, why use a hot spring if temperature doesn’t affect you? How can you enjoy it if it just feels like being in a lake?”

“Only hot temperatures.” She corrected, “I am not resistant to the cold, “She said, motioning with her head toward the waterfall, “That water is teleported in from a large lake in the Frozen North. That is uncomfortable to me.”

She moved closer to Cinnamon until her side pressed against his and closed her eyes, “Besides, nothing warms me more than good company.”

He froze feeling her lean against him. Feeling her side slightly rub against him as she breathed.

Luna’s voice echoed in his mind from the maze, If thou can only see a superior in our sister and not a mate, thy relationship shall fail.

He hesitantly raised his arm and placed it on Celestia’s back. The touch caused her to open her eyes and glance at him. He could see her looking at him in his peripherals but he kept looking straight forward. Despite the hot water, he was suddenly feeling tense.

He felt a hoof press against his chest and spoke calmly, “Cinnamon… is there something bothering you?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“There are moments you seize up, your heartbeat increases and your breathing becomes irregular. This one… started after you touched me…”

Cinnamon said nothing. How could he? He felt ashamed about freezing up and, truthfully, he had no idea why he did. When it became clear Cinnamon wasn’t going to say anything, Celestia removed her hoof from his chest and moved in the water to stand in front of him. “I may not be an expert like my sister, but I do know some therapy techniques that could help.”

He chewed on his lip. “It’s just… it still feels… wrong. Like I’m breaking the rules…”

She squinted at him, “You should not lie about this Cinnamon.”

He didn’t hold her gaze after she said that and continued to chew on his lip. She moved forward and climbed onto the step so she could sit on Cinnamon’s lap. While he might be slightly taller than her while standing, he lost half his height sitting down. Celestia lost no height sitting down and now towered over him.

“If you do not want to talk about it… I will not push you to.” She brought him into a hug, pressing his head against her chest. “So long as it does not progress into a bigger issue.”

He brought his arms around her to return the hug, “I’m sorry.”

“Shhh,” she soothed, “just listen to the sounds of the room and relax.”

So, he said nothing more and listened to the room. The room itself was very quiet. There were only 3 sounds he could hear. The first was the faint sizzle of the water against the Dragonstone across the room. The second being the sound of water falling into the pool from the small waterfall. The final sound was the faint inhaling and exhaling of breath through Celestia’s nose onto his head. “Is this how you enjoy this room?” he quietly asked.

She nods, her nose rubbing against his hair, “If the day ever becomes too much, this is where I go to find peace and center myself.”

“It’s nice… how often do you come here?”

“mmm, I used to come nearly every day of the week. Sometimes twice in one day. I have used it less since Luna’s return.”

He pulled his head back from her chest and looked up to her face. “Is her dreamwalking replacing the need to come here?”

She shakes her head, “Her presence does. For a thousand years since banishing Nightmare Night, I was not sure if I would ever see my sister again. I only knew Nightmare Moon would return. I spent a century attempting to find a way to separate a possessed body from a deity of emotion but… found nothing.”

“Deity of emotion?” Cinnamon interrupted. He’d never heard of such a thing.

She nodded, “Powerful entities that can influence our actions when we experience extreme emotions like love, lust, joy… anger. If there is a feeling, there is a deity.”

“So… if I’m too happy, I can get possessed?”

“Well, not you specifically. They can only possess those with a significant magical capacity to hold a large enough piece of them in a mortal body.” She pulled back so she could look at him in the eyes, “Even if you had such capacity, you would have to willingly allow it possess you.”

“Then… Luna agreed to let Nightmare Moon control her?”

She looked off to the side, “We all make mistakes… they make tempting promises to help in moments of weakness. Promises that solve problems that plague us. Promises they keep… but in ways often unforeseen.”

After a pregnant pause in conversation, Cinnamon whispered, “Sorry for interrupting.”

She nuzzled his hair again, “Do not be. I would prefer you knowing such a thing cannot happen to you than for you to be forever afraid of being too happy.”

The moment of silence returned. He felt like he’d made a mistake and opened old wounds, but before he could change the subject, she beat him by speaking up first. “To pick up where I left off… I could not find anything that would undo Luna’s possession as such an achievement had never been accomplished before. The only option I knew of was to allow it to complete its task and leave the body. However, Nightmare Moon’s task involved an eternal darkness… an unending task to be maintained for eternity. So, allowing it to run its course was not a viable option.”

She sighed and sagged, “Whenever I was not attending to societal issues, I was looking for a solution. Testing a hypothesis and performing experiments, I exhausted myself and neglected my needs… to the point that a deity of emotion began to whisper in my ear.”

She rolled off his lap to sit next to him, “at that moment, I knew my pursuit was becoming an obsession… and I could no longer convince myself to continue. However, my mind was never settled. Only after receiving the dragonstone as a gift and turning it into this did I finally find something that could take my mind off her… even if only for a few scant hours.”

“Wow, that was a lot.”

“Apologies for unloading all of that on you.”

“Don’t be… I mean, I was literally asking for it. I just didn’t realize it went so far… So how did you know the Elements of Harmony would help Luna?”

“To be truthful, I did not know it would. The elements, used together, have a variety of uses. Amplifying the power of spells, storing magic and purifying others by giving them what they lack. Nightmare moon only harbored jealousy and anger. Purifying her would force honesty, kindness, laughter, generosity and loyalty back into her body; giving Luna a… reset of sorts. However, since the elements could not fully function without Luna wielding her half of them, I did not consider it an option.

“The goddess assured me sending Twilight to Ponyville to make new friends would result in freeing Luna from her possession; however, it required me to allow Nightmare Moon to take me by surprise and permit her to banish me to the sun without resistance.”

Cinnamon thought back to the day Nightmare Moon returned. He was still new to being a guard, but he remembered that day vividly. Reports were coming in that Nightmare Moon was sighted in Ponyville and Princess Celestia was nowhere to be found. The entire castle staff and guards were searching everywhere for her. By the time the upper ranks of the guard were organized, the crisis was over. Six ponies had thwarted Nightmare Moon and we suddenly had two princesses in the castle.

“What if you didn’t come back?”

“I did question what she wanted me to do. She promised it would work out.”

“What if she lied.”

“That is a dour way to look at it.”

“Humor me. What would happen.”

She looked down at him, “Very well, let us say she did. If Twilight and her friends did not bond with the elements, Nightmare Moon’s eternal night would come to fruition. Even if my ponies were able to detain or… eliminate… Nightmare Moon, Nocreature would be able to move the moon and reverse the effects of the eternal night. On the other hoof, If Twilight was successful but I did not return from my banishment as I was informed, then Luna would take my place until I returned.”

“Really? I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve heard around the castle that Luna’s transition was… not smooth.” He was putting it lightly of course. Luna’s first month sent dozens of guards to the med bay with temporary hearing loss. Her constantly addressing the public as peasants was awkward and a big topic in the papers for weeks.

She nodded, “I agree but that was due to my coddling of her. She is a mare of war. She thrives in intense situations that she cannot retreat from. If I had not been here to ease her into it, she would have handled it. Perhaps it would be chaotic at first, but she would transition faster than she has with me around.”

“Would she want that though? To come home and find you gone. None of the guards knew where you went. We wouldn’t have been able to tell her where you were or if you’d ever come back… What if you had contained her? Let Princess Twilight and her friends use the elements on her while you held her in place.”

She didn’t respond right away. Only a few minutes of silence before she spoke, “The goddess did not tell me Twilight and her friends would bond to the elements and return them to full functionality. Though, I would not have done anything different if I had that knowledge.”

“I don’t understand why you’d do that though. Risking so much without knowing why or what would happen.”

Celestia’s head turned to him and stared into his eyes, “Answer me this; two weeks ago, If I told you to investigate a disturbance in the Badlands, would you go?”

“Well… yeah.”

“Why?”

“I would’ve been a guard; I’d do as you commanded.”

“What is to stop you from refusing? Or, perhaps simply leaving the city and never returning? The Badlands are dangerous to traverse alone, yet you say you would accept without asking if you would be the only one going. Why?”

“I… I have a duty to you- had a duty to you. An oath to uphold. You were my superior; we were taught not to question what you said because you knew best. If I had to go to the badlands myself… you’d have your reasons.”

She nodded, “I am much the same to the goddess. She is my superior, my mentor. Instead of being told not to question her, I learned not to through my experiences. Even in times where she asked me to do something I believed to be dangerous for my ponies; it turned out to be the better option.”

Cinnamon was silent. A large part of him wanted to continue asking why but he felt in the back of his mind that her answers wouldn’t change. “How often does that happen?”

“In the span of my long life, she has been relatively mute. Rarely in the past would I hear her speak to me more than once a century. Though, since Nightmare Moons return, she has become very conversational, talking to me more in these few years than she has in the 3 Millenia prior.”

A pit formed in his stomach. They only spent about an hour in here, but the line of questioning left him feeling exhausted. On top of that, he would need to schedule a trip home so he could talk with his parents. “Do you, by any chance, know what time a train departs to Manehattan tomorrow?”

“I do not. May I ask why?”

“I need to talk to my mom about what happened. Help her calm down before it starts impacting her work.”

“Would a letter not work?”

He shook his head, “It’s not a one letter solution kind of thing. Last time I needed to talk to her, we sent over thirty letters to each other, and it took weeks to finish it. It affected her cooking, and the bakery took a financial hit from it.”

“If time is of the essence, I could have a carriage drawn for you. It would be three hours faster and eliminates the need to wait on a train.”

“That… would be nice. It’s not too much of a bother, is it?”

She shook her head, “Nonsense, it would be super easy, barely an inconvenience.”

“That’s great!” He smiled, “Thank you. The faster I can get there, the sooner I can return.”

“I will have it readied to depart at first light in front of the castle. When you are ready to leave, enter the carriage and tell them where to take you.”

He nodded his head, confirming to her that he heard, but said nothing. He did his best to relax in the water. After a few minutes, his mind finally started to drift. No longer focusing on a single train of thought.

An hour passed in silence, but the feeling of being in water was starting to get to him. His fingers were wrinkly and his hands started to itch uncontrollably. He internally groaned. He really didn’t want to leave but his aggravated body was only going to get worse.

He scratched at one of his hands, “this was nice, but I should get out now.”

She nodded and stood up; the water cascading off her body and disturbing the room’s ambiance when it hit the water under her. Celestia stepped out of the water, followed closely behind by Cinnamon. He looked around the cavern for a towel, “Uh, how are we supposed to-“

His question was cut off when Celestia magically removed the water from both their bodies. He looked down at his hand and noticed with dismay that despite being magically dried, his hands and fingers remained wrinkly and still itched. He brought his finger up to his mouth and started chewing on it. While it did make the one finger feel better, it only made the rest of his hand feel worse by comparison.

“What are you doing?” He heard Celestia ask.

He turned around, pulling his finger out of his mouth to talk, “Scratching an itch. My palms always do this if I’m in water for too long.”

“Really?” She moved closer to him so she could get a good look at his pruned hand, “I cannot imagine you are allergic to it. Do you know why this happens?”

He shrugged, “Not a clue. I haven’t investigated it since it just gets itchy for less than an hour. I’ve just assumed it’s my body telling me to get out. If I catch it happening quick enough, it won’t even itch afterward… but I lost track of time in there. I suppose you don’t owe me a favor.”

“Perhaps not; though…” she smirked, “… I hope that does not stop you from asking for them.”

He raised a brow, “Really?”

“Within reason, of course.”

“Sounds like a trap, like opening a can of Parasprites.”

“Could be Parasprites, or it could be Breezies. I suppose you will never know until it is opened.”

He hummed to himself, wondering if he should take the obvious bait. While in thought, his aggravated hands started to become unbearably itchy once more. “Alright,’ he said, beginning to scratch his hands and fingers again. “Itch cream.”

She gave him a questioning look; her gaze shifting down to his hands as he stopped scratching them, but instead, started to furiously rub them together in hopes that friction would end the irritation. Igniting her horn and concentrating on her bathroom cabinet; a second later, a container of anti-itch cream appeared in front of Cinnamon, within his reach. When he looked at it questioningly, she simply said, “favor upheld.”

Realizing what was in the container, he quickly grabbed, opened and poured it into his cupped hand before placing the container on the ground. He then slathered it between his hands and fingers until there was a thin layer surrounding them.

“Quite a generous application.”

He breathed a sigh of relief and nodded, “Yeah, it’s the only way it helps. Really let it soak into my skin.”

The itch cream vanished with a *pop,* returning to where it was taken.

“I shall keep that in mind the next time we relax in a body of water… You are certain it is not a danger to you?”

He thought back to the first time he noticed it. He managed to doze off at a water hole in a forest some distance away from the city. “The first time it happened was when I was at a waterhole with… some classmates. Before we decided to go home, it was gone. It’s happened at least a dozen times since and nothing bad has happened.”

She cocked a brow, “Did you not see a doctor about it?”

He shook his head, “I was young when it happened and didn’t think much of it. Nothing came from it so I never bothered.”

She looked at his slathered hands, “Would you… be opposed to having somepony taking a look at it?”

He shrugged, “I guess not; if you think I should have it looked at.”

“Better to know it is nothing than to later find out it is something we should be concerned about.”

They both got dressed in their attire. Him in his loincloth and her in her royal regalia. Since the application of the itch cream, Cinnamon had stopped scratching and chewing on his hands. It made it no less strange for the castle staff to see the snow white cream completely coating his hands.

They decided to turn in for the night since the raising of the moon would happen in a few minutes. The walk itself was quiet, mostly due to Cinnamon thinking to himself. Now that the warm water wasn’t blocking his higher brain functions, he reviewed his time in the spa with concern. He froze when he wanted to show Celestia some affection. She even called him out on his hesitation.

“Hey Celestia, I need to go do something before I turn in for the night.”

She gave him a questioning look, “Very well.” She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, “I await your return.”

She continued walking down the hallway in the direction of her room while Cinnamon turned around and headed to Luna’s chambers, only taking one short stop at the kitchen to wash his hands of the itch cream.

When he reached the doors to Luna’s room, he decided to wait outside a little longer. He wanted the moon to rise so he could be sure that he wasn’t waking her up early. The only thing he did before the moon’s rise was to go through the procedure with Luna’s door guards to make sure he wasn’t a changeling in disguise. When that was over, he simply stood and waited, trying his best not to acknowledge how tired the door guards were. They were doing their best to remain at attention, but their swaying heads were giving them away. He even tested how much authority he had as a consort by telling them they could stand at ease; but it was ignored.

Ten minutes passed before the sun set and the moon rose into its place in the sky. He waited two more minutes before approaching the doors. He wanted to give her time to leave the balcony, but he also didn’t want a new set of door guards to rotate and put him through the test again.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

“Princess Luna?” he called, knowing what happened last time he knocked more than once, “It’s Cinnamon; may I speak with you?”

The next minute passed in silence; Only the occasional sound of the door guards armor shifting as they re-positioned themselves. He was starting to think about knocking again when the lock clicked, opening to reveal half of Luna’s face looking through the crack.

“What matters lie on thy mind?” She asked.

He glanced at one of the guards, now as still as a statue. “Could we talk in private?”

She backed from the door and opened it enough for him to walk in. She closed it as soon as he entered and locked the door. “Now, what ails thee which requires the act of discretion?”

He peered at the door behind her, “Could we talk a little further from the door?”

Her horn glowed and a second locking sound could be heard from the direction of the door, activating a silence rune in the lock and effectively keeping the rest of the world from listening into anything going on in the room. “We are silenced from the outside world, nopony will know what we are discussing. Now make haste! We still require preparation before our upcoming duties.”

“Right, sorry…” He took a deep breath, “I think I need… therapy.”

Author's Note

Let me know about any spelling errors; I did my best but I'm sure I missed a few!