Chapter 34

Dave happily left the castle runway as Sind and Adamas began to describe other ways that his tree trunk had raided Sind’s theatre. Dave gave a short nod to the guards as he jogged out onto the city streets and stopped to catch his breath

“Ah, Davestia” A posh voice called as Dave glanced over to see the handsome white stallion walking towards him. The stallion’s golden monocle was an extravagant accessory that went with his neat blue mane

“Hey um… Fancy Pants” Dave remembered as he saw the slim, elegant figure of Fleur de Lis appear suddenly beside him and began leaning across his back to look into a shop window. “What was it you just called me?”

“Oh haven’t you heard?” The gentlecolt sighed as he smiled at Dave. “Some of the ponies around the city have began calling your relationship with the princess, Davestia”

Dave scratched the side of his head before shrugging, “Why not just say Dave and Celestia?”

“I’m afraid we will never know why these little trends become so popular” Fancy Pants’ horn glowed as he levitated a cloth to clean his monocle. “But it does have something to do with the situation of you pairing”

“Situation?” Dave frowned slightly. He looked around for street signs before looking back at Fancy Pants and his clingy wife. “Do you know where Trot Road is? I am in a small hurry”

Fancy Pants nodded understandably, “We can walk and talk can’t we?”

Dave indicated for his posh guide to take the lead, “So what was this situation you are on about?”

“Yes the small matter of the change of names” Fancy Pants nodded to a few ponies as he passed them, the streets of Canterlot becoming slightly more crowded. “Will Celestia be taking your last name or will you be changing yours in some way?”

Dave opened his mouth to respond but stopped before he could make a sound. After humming Dave finally responded with a simple, “I have no idea”

“Well I suspect that a wedding is coming soon” The white unicorn smiled, “Why else would you want to go to the road that has the jewellers that provided the rings for the previous royal wedding?”

Dave shrugged, “I suppose you caught me,” the human sighed as he glanced around at the posh ponies, a few bowing slightly to him as he passed by

“Don’t worry, I shall keep quiet about the whole affair” Fancy Pants nodded as he indicated to a large street that branched away from the main street. “But your wedding will most likely be a larger event than the previous royal wedding”

“How so?” Dave spotted a wooden sign swinging in the wind, the wood was varnished and the letters stood in clear gold letters

Rough Cut’s pure cut gems

Fancy Pants used his magic to open the door for Dave and Fleur de Lis. He stepped in shortly after and looked around the empty shop, “Well Princess Cadence is a… recent addition to the royal group, whereas Princess Celestia has been the serving royal since Equestria began”

“I see your point” Dave sighed as he looked into the various glass cases at the numerous combinations of gems and metal rings. One sat separate from the others and had a tag stating that it was a replica of Cadence’s wedding ring

“The royal wedding did bring me a lot of business” An old stallion called as he stepped out from a back room and smiled at the customers. “Was there a particular item you required or are you just browsing”

Dave slid over to the main counter, a bead of nervous sweat already forming on his head. “Yeah I need an engagement ring”

“YOU!” Rough Cut gasped, his silver mane moved to reveal a few bald spots and his hooves began brushing small crumbs from his green fur. “I apologize for my late response to you, your majesty”

“Stop right there!” Dave held his hands out, “None of this royal crap with me, ok?” the agitated human frowned at the shopkeeper’s confused expression. “I don’t want to spend ten minutes listening to you repeat ‘your majesty’ when I came in here to buy a ring!”

Rough Cut shrugged, “Alright, whatever you want” he groaned as he leaned on the desk. “So would you like to browse or would you like a tailor made ring?”

“Tailor made sounds good, how much would it cost?” Dave scratched his chin as he got into haggle mode. His preparation to bargain was shot down as Roush Cut shook his head

“So long as you let ponies know where you got it from then I will let you have it for free” Rough Cut chuckled at Dave’s confused face. “The royal wedding of Princess Celestia and Dave is sure to attract global attention”

Dave smirked, “You would make a bit of cash if everypony knew that royal rings are bought in this shop”

“Business is a trade that I have slaved over for many years” he tapped his nose as he winked at Dave. “I know how to make the most from a situation… but more importantly, what do you want me to make?”

“Oh right…” Dave hummed as he looked at the various jewels around the room, some attracted Fleur de Lis’ attention as she practically drooled at some of the various items. “Gold band with a gem, something precious”

Rough Cut sighed, “Really imaginative one you are” he groaned as he pushed away from the counter and shuffled through some draws. “I will have to spend a day or two getting some samples ready before we can move onto smaller details”

Dave tapped the counter with a quiet cheer, “Thanks, I’ll pop in some point and see how you are getting on”

Rough Cut grunted in response as Dave, Fancy Pants and a wining Fleur de Lis left the shop full of shining gems and precious metals. After a short pout, Fleur de Lis resumed leaning against her husband, his eyes rolled as he smiled at Dave

“Well I hope that your purchase will be well placed” The unicorn levitated a small pocket watch out of his coat and groaned. “I apologise for leaving but I have a dinner party to attend to”

Dave nodded with a wave as he started walking up the road towards the main street. “See you later, thanks for being a tour guide”

“Well I do try to be helpful” Fancy Pants tipped his head whist Fleur de Lis gave a small wave with one of her clean hooves. “We must converse at another dinner party” he called before walking away to talk with some other high-class ponies

Dave put his hands in his pockets as he walked up and down the streets, waving to a few ponies that smiled at him or called out to say hello. He began to quicken his pace as the attention kept growing and eventually led up to him having conversations with ponies that he did not even know

Meanwhile…

“Get a move on!” Battering Ram yelled at the racing wonderbolts, the crowd around him also yelled for their chosen racer to pull into the lead. Flux sat with her hooves crossed as she groaned, her eyes failing to avoid looking at somepony that was cheering

“And Fleetfoot wins again!” the commentator yelled and was greeted with a mix of happiness and despair

Battering Ram tore his ticket up as he threw the pieces into the air. Flux rolled her eyes as her large friend began grumbling quietly to himself

“It was only ten bits” The Pegasus rose her eyebrow as Battering Ram glared at her. “I don’t know why we came here, you always get moody when you lose”

Battering Ram stood, “Well I am going to get a drink and put another bet on,” the crowd behind Battering Ram groaned as their view of the racetrack was blocked

“Hey can ya get outta the way?” A unicorn called as he got another ticket ready. His arrogant glare was replaced with an apologetic smile as Battering Ram’s head slowly rotated to stare him down

Flux tapped the large earth pony to get his attention, “I’ll have half a cider and make sure you bet on Slipstream”

Battering Ram nodded before making his way up the steps and over to a small booth that was taking bets and selling a few bits of food and drink. Flux rubbed her eyes as the commentator began announcing the line-up for the next race and the crowd cheered after each name was announced

The hulking earth pony returned with a ticket and a large tray of snacks and two drinks. He sat down and passed the half full cup of cider over to his bored friend

“Cheer up, this is the last one then we can go” Battering Ram began chewing some snacks as the horn blew to signal the next race had began. His eyes followed the speeding blurs that overtook each other at every opportunity

“They reach the final corner!” The commentator leaned forwards as the crowd let out a final cheer. “And the winner is… Slipstream!”

Battering Ram cheered as he grabbed Flux in a large hug, laughing as he kissed the top of her head and ran off to collect his winnings. Flux sighed as she hurried after the excited earth pony and frowned as he was handed a pair of large bags of coins

“How much did you bet?” Flux growled as Battering Ram placed the heavy bags onto his large back

“Only fifty bits” he smiled, but his enthusiasm was slowly replaced with a concerned frown as Flux shook her head and began to storm for the exit. Battering Ram groaned as he had to jog to catch up with his friend

Flux weaved between the small groups that stood outside the entrance to the racetrack and began walking down the streets. Battering Ram’s huge size made ponies willingly move out of fear that they might be stood on

“What have I done now?” Battering Ram sighed as Flux glared at him

“If you had lost then we would have lost money that we can’t afford to lose” Flux growled as she turned to face her larger companion. “I am stressed enough as it is with dealing with Strong Shield, Dave and finding the key without you losing us money!”

Battering Ram stared at Flux’s furious glare, “I have never forced you to keep going, I said that I can deal with things if you want to leave and start a new life somewhere”

“I can’t leave!” Flux yelled, attracting stares from various ponies. “I destroyed everything I had because I believed that Puppetmaster had a plan to make everything better for everypony in Equestria”

“Well excuse me for trying to get us to relax!” Battering Ram responded with a growl, his eyes full of anger. “You were skipping meals, missing sleep, pushing yourself too hard, all because you are trying to speed up something that won’t move any faster”

The crowd had silenced as they watched the huge earth pony glaring at a seemingly insignificant Pegasus, they all resumed what they were doing when Battering Ram shot a glare at them

“Fine, I will relax” Flux held out her hoof, raising her eyebrow as Battering Ram took a step back. “Give me some bits, I am going out tonight”

Battering Ram nodded as he pulled a hoof full of bits out of his large bag of winnings and passed them to the lavender Pegasus. Flux nodded before wrapping a wing around the coins and trotting off up the street

Later…

Dave tapped his feet as he leaned against the castle walls, his gaze continuously switched from looking down the street to looking at the castle gate. His attention was finally turned to the gate opening and Shining Armour stepped out with a grin

“So Dave is taking us to a cool nightclub” Shining stepped aside as Strong Shield, Braeburn and Big Mac all stepped out after him and nodded to Dave

“Hello lads” Dave clapped his hands together as his group began to follow him down the road, the sun slowly descending below the horizon. “Alright, ground rules, Strong Shield doesn’t arrest anyone and Braeburn doesn’t go with any strange hookers”

“Now that was a misunderstanding!” Braeburn called from the back of the group, he pulled his stetson hat lower over his eyes as the group chuckled

Big Mac nudged his cousin, “Did ya misunderstand how her tongue works?” he laughed as Braeburn grumbled and made his way to the other side of the group

Dave and the gang of stallions reached Shade nightclub and made their way inside, the bouncer allowing them in as he noticed the human leading the group. They all smiled as they became immersed in the music and the beats that rippled through the floor

“Ok, I’m going to get in touch with the DJ and I will see about us getting into the VIP area” Dave clapped his hands as he looked for Vinyl Scratch

“I’m going to start drinking at the first opportunity, keep out of trouble with any drunks,” Shining laughed as he made his way to the dance floor and left the two farmers and ex-guard to stand awkwardly in the middle of the room

Strong Shield frowned slightly as a Pegasus looked at him from across the room. Braeburn noticed the strange exchange of looks before he smirked and leaned closer to the black unicorn

“Call me silly, but I think that you are being checked out” He nudged Strong Shield playfully as the unicorn rolled his head to glare at the farmer. “Go over and talk, who knows what might happen”

Strong Shield sighed as he walked over to the Pegasus and sat down next to her. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here”

Flux placed down her drink as she chewed the olive in her mouth. “Yeah well I am not exactly in the mood for games”

“Guilty conscious?” Strong Shield spat as Flux dropped her head into her hooves. The Pegasus turned to look at the unicorn with a slight sway of her mane

“I will have you know that we paid those mercenaries to damage the barracks, not to murder an innocent guard” Flux slouched back into her seat as Strong Shield pointed at her with an angry hoof

“Are you telling me that you hired mercenaries to do all the work?” Strong Shield groaned as Flux reluctantly nodded. “That explains some of the evidence I found” he rubbed his chin as he thought of some of the fur he found around the damaged barracks

Flux shrugged, “We weren’t planning to murder any of your precious guards until later, shame it happened this soon”

Strong Shield sniffed before narrowing his eyes at the Pegasus, “You’re drunk, aren’t you?”

“If I wasn’t five drinks ago then I am now” Flux stroked the table with her hoof as her wings twitched occasionally. Her eyes slowly rolled over to look at Dave that stood on the other side of the room, talking to the nightclub owner before a large grin grew on his face

Strong Shield saw Dave beckon for the other stallions to follow him into the VIP area, he slid off his chair to follow but sighed as he turned around. “Listen… if you intend to get drunk and possibly start a fight”

“What?” Flux spat as her head almost dropped to the table, her eyelids threatening to shut as the effects of the alcohol were becoming increasingly apparent

“Stay with me until we leave the club” Strong Shield groaned, “I would prefer to keep everything quiet and you beating up everyone here won’t help”

Flux smiled as she clambered off her chair and nuzzled gently against Strong Shield’s shoulder. “Aww, do you still care about me or about your reputation?”

Strong Shield rolled his eyes before he escorted the inebriated Pegasus into the VIP area and sat her down away from the others. Dave’s face dropped until Strong Shield placed a hoof over his lips, his eyes darting to the other ponies that made themselves comfortable on the white sofas

“So um… Vinyl said that we could help ourselves to her private bar,” Dave pointed to the large rows of shelves that were full of various drinks

“I’ll make us the drinks!” Flux called as she hopped over to the drinks, licking her lips before using her wings to pluck bottles from the shelves. Strong Shield rolled his eye as he went to help the more than tipsy Pegasus

Braeburn tapped Dave’s shoulder, “I never thought that your old man would find somepony… even if she is already drunk”

“I’ll admit that she must be of the older variety of mares but she has definitely kept her figure” Shining Armour shrugged, his hooves raised innocently as Dave glared at him. “Just saying,” he muttered

“He’s right” Big Mac nodded

“Whatever” Dave groaned as a drink was levitated into his hand. Flux and Strong Shield sat down and handed more drinks out to the others in the room. “Well lads, lets make tonight a night to remember”

Braeburn cheered, “Yeah and me and Big Mac will get free pickings of the mares!” the earth pony smirked as he pointed at Dave and Shining Armour. “Because you two are both in relationships with immensely powerful beings”

Big Mac chuckled, “And Strong Shield has his hooves full!”

Dave whistled, “Alright I get the point! Now let’s get drunk so time goes by faster and we end up having a good time”

The group all cheered before having their drinks, not wasting time to try and start having fun as they drank whatever was passed to them