Chapter 43

Dave snuggled against his pillow as Celestia rested her head on his back. Neither of them really wanting to get out of bed and disrupt the comfortable positions there were in

Finally Celestia sighed and used her magic to open the curtains and allow the light to slam into Dave’s eyes, causing him to flip from sleepy to wide awake

“Argh no,” Dave groaned as he sat up to move his head out of the way of the sunlight. He rubbed his eyes and looked over at the alicorn that sat beside him. “So how are you today?”

“I’m doing well,” Celestia smiled as she rested her head on Dave’s shoulder. “I heard you in the bath earlier, did I make you that sweaty?”

Dave rolled his eyes, “Yeah, you really outdid yourself last night,” he smirked as Celestia hummed happily

The white alicorn pushed herself up and began levitating her regalia over to herself so she could begin dressing. Dave reluctantly climbed out of bed as well, making sure his bruised body had healed before standing up in search of his shirt

As the pair finished dressing, Dave left his trenchcoat on the bed and followed Celestia out of the bedroom and past the guards that spent most of the night with earplugs equipped. Dave stretched as he walked, wincing as he felt a scratch in his stomach, the key inside stabbing and poking at Dave’s insides

Celestia noticed Dave’s face twitch painfully, “Are you feeling ok?” the white alicorn lost her smile until Dave gave her a reassuring grin

“Yeah I’m fine,” Dave lied, “Just working out the kinks you gave me last night,” he joked in an effort to reassure the princess

Celestia bought the lie and gave Dave a mischievous wink. The human sighed as he poked his belly until the key had shifted into a more comfortable position. The couple finally reached the dining hall but stopped at the doors as they heard a soft giggling

“Is that… Luna?” Dave scratched his head, “I wonder what could have made her this happy?”

“Only one way to find out,” Celestia smiled as she pushed open the door and entered the room, Dave entered shortly after and he saw the navy earth pony that sat at the table, keeping a respectable distance from Luna

Battering Ram continued to laugh with Luna until his eyes moved across to Dave, his laughing stopped as he exchanged a slightly worried and shocked look with Dave. Dave quickly sat into his seat that was near Celestia’s and sent a small glare to the pony at the other end of the table

“Sister! You will not believe what happened last night,” Luna smiled enthusiastically as her bigger sibling leaned forwards slightly, “this kind citizen did the nicest thing”

Battering Ram’s face froze, “Um… your majesty, does Princess Celestia really need to know? It was nothing and it doesn’t need any attention”

“Nonsense,” Luna smiled at Battering Ram’s nervous attitude whilst Dave gained a devious smile. “This generous earth pony was feeding the ducks early this morning and found that dangerous litter was endangering the wildlife, so he cleaned it up, marched straight here and brought it to my attention”

Battering Ram dropped his head as he heard Dave start chuckling at the mention of ducks. The princess of the sun did not notice Dave as she listened to her little sister

“Well this pony certainly cares about his local environment,” Celestia nodded to Battering Ram, “it is nice to see somepony doing that bit more for the community”

Dave could not help but lean forwards with a smile, “So do you regularly feed the cute little duckies?”

Battering Ram sighed, “Every other day, sometimes the fresh air is a nice change”

“You will have to see if Luna would like to go feed the ducks with you,” Dave sniggered as he relaxed into his chair, smiling at Battering Ram’s glare

“That sounds like a good idea,” Luna smiled as Dave and Battering Ram both exchanged confused glances before shifting their gazes to the princess of the night

“W-well if you don’t mind princess,” Battering Ram spluttered, his nervousness made Dave confused as every time he met the huge pony, his attitude had been almost like Strong Shield’s except with more smiling and less negativity

Luna smiled as she rested her hooves on the table, “Well I haven’t actually been to Canterlot Park before, I’m sure we can get some bread and feed the ducks,” the princess smiled whilst Battering Ram rolled his eyes

“This is going to haunt me forever,” Ram muttered to himself as he eventually agreed. “Ok, I suppose I could fetch some bread and we can feed them this afternoon”

Dave was red in the face from holding back his laughter, his lips held firmly between his teeth as he finally managed to calm down. The human took a deep breath before his usual breakfast was placed in front of him

The human hungrily started to eat his breakfast before his eyes popped open, “Rough Cut…” Dave remembered the ring that must have been finished for a while. “So Celestia, have you got a busy day?”

“Nothing but paperwork today,” Celestia sighed, for every hour spent with Dave it meant another few sheets of paperwork to sort through. “What are you doing today honey?”

“Well I was wondering if we could have a meal out later,” Dave smiled, “just you and me, somewhere different”

Celestia smirked, “Where did you have in mind?”

“Well the castle is attached to a mountain but I have never seen the peak,” Dave tapped his chin as he hummed, “I’m sure we could have a picnic up there”

“But we would have to find a flat place to sit comfortably,” Celestia sighed, “Unless you want to have a look in a bit”

Luna beamed, “I recall seeing a nice place to sit just near the peak, and it is easy to get to and will be more than large enough for you both to have a picnic”

Celestia smiled as she began to eat her breakfast of only a few flowers and small pile of herbs. Dave and Luna both nodded to each other before resuming their meals, leaving Battering Ram to sit awkwardly between two princesses and opposite a cautious Dave

“So what is your name?” Dave narrowed his eyes, “is it something to do with feeding ducks?”

“My name is Battering Ram,” the pony replied, his smile grew slightly as Dave’s fun was shot down. “I did a lot of work in demolition for special clients… unfortunately as I grew older my services were no longer required”

Luna’s smile quickly disappeared, “How old are you? If you don’t mind me asking,” the princess listened with curiosity as Battering Ram finished his breakfast and cleared his throat

“Well I am actually fifty five,” Battering Ram smiled, “My life hasn’t been that interesting, just the usual working life, trying to get from day to day”

“Do you have much family?” Celestia asked as she listened to Battering Ram, “I apologise if I our questions seem a bit forward but we don’t regularly have guests”

Battering Ram nodded, “It’s no problem,” He looked at Dave, his ears drooped slightly before he looked down at his plate. “I have a brother, I don’t speak to him much but I hear he has been doing well… he even has a son now”

“Why don’t you talk?” Dave asked, his smiles and glares now buried beneath a heap of curiosity

“We fell out… over something petty,” Battering Ram sighed, “But last time I saw him he was in good health, his son has grown up to be strong…” he looked at Dave again, his eyes almost full of regret, “I just wish I could have had the courage to sit down and talk”

Dave was silent as he looked at the few bits of pancake that remained, his stomach churning with the key inside was ignored by the thoughts that weighed on his mind. Celestia looked slightly sorry for the earth pony whilst Luna was starting to have tears form at the corners of her eyes

“Alright, sorry to go like this but I have to do some bits and get the picnic ready,” Dave kissed Celestia as he made his way to the door. “Shall we meet about half eleven?”

Celestia nodded, “I will meet you there”

Dave left the dining room and calmly closed the door. He turned to walk towards the guard barracks and try to find Strong Shield, but he stopped as he looked out one of the stained glass windows

“Strong Shield or picnic?” Dave groaned, “Ram or ring?”

Dave decided to turn around and head for the castle gates, making his way through the corridors until he stepped out onto the castle courtyard and into the bright sun. He walked across the courtyard and began to walk down the streets, struggling to remember which road led to the jewellery shop

Finally, Dave found the shop after making a few random turns and stepped inside, the quiet shop a vast contrast from the bustling streets outside. Rough Cut was sat behind a glass counter and raised his eyes to look at the customer

“Ah Dave!” the pony burst into life, “I was almost out of hope! So I made a proper ring, just in case you came by to surprise me”

Dave frowned, “How did you know what size to make the ring?”

“Well, Princess Cadence is very well… endowed with her horn and it is only a fraction smaller then Princess Celestia’s,” Rough Cut smiled as Dave shrugged and walked over to the counter. Rough Cut reached below the counter and brought up a velvet box

Dave gently opened the box and whistled at the silk inside and the ring that was resting in the centre. The ring was about the length of Dave’s thumb, a thin gold band curled around, creating the hole for the horn to go through. The tips of the gold band were holding in place a single, oval diamond with a decorative carving made at the edges and left the flat surface to shine brightly as Dave continued to gawp

“And you are sure you don’t want payment?” Dave chuckled in disbelief as he picked up the box with the ring. “This must have cost an arm and a leg to get the materials!”

Rough Cut gained a smug smile, proud that his creation was gaining such compliments. “Well I had to call in a favour for such a large diamond, the band used up my reserves of pure gold and I make have gotten a few minor burns moulding the entire piece”

“Well I can’t thank you enough,” Dave smiled as he closed the lid and placed it in his pocket, keeping his hand on it so he did not have to worry about losing it. “And all you want is for me to let ponies know where you got this?”

“That is all I ask,” Rough Cut bowed to Dave. “I don’t care if you disapprove of the formalities but you will have to get used to them once you are married… Prince Dave”

Dave smirked as he reached over the counter and grabbed the pony in a hug, chuckling as he released him. “Cheers mate, see ya later!” Dave laughed as he ran out of the shop and left a confused pony to make sense of what happened

The happy human bounced along the streets, a large smile spread across his face as he hurried back towards the castle, saying hello to anypony he passed by. He reached the gate and the guard quickly opened it before Dave could bounce into the hard wood

Dave continued his journey into the castle, bouncing up the stairs with growing enthusiasm. He reached the castle kitchen and kicked the door open with a loud bang, sliding in as he pointed at the head chef

“Picnic!” Dave cheered, the head not following the human’s train of thought as he looked around in confusion

“H-has something happened?” the head chef looked at the other cooks who looked just as confused as he did

“Not yet, but soon!” Dave hopped to his feet and grabbed the head chef, “Need a picnic, for me and Celestia, need it to be romantic!”

The head chef took a slight step away from Dave, freeing himself from the human’s grasp. “Y-yes your highness, how romantic should this be? Is there an occasion?”

“Yes, THIS!” Dave pulled out the box from his pocket and revealed it to the chef

The head chef shrugged, “I don’t know how this could… be…” his eyes widened as he turned to his team of cooks. “ROSES! GET ALL THE ROSES, LILIES, DAFFODILS, WE NEED VIBRANCY!”

Dave’s smile continued to grow as the team of chefs began to rush around, grabbing all the ingredients and picnic essentials as the head chef yelled at them to move faster. The human looked at the engagement ring again, the realization of what he was about to do was finally settling in

But as the ponies around the kitchen continued to cook and prepare, Dave found himself humming happily, not noticing the pink alicorn step into the kitchen to investigate the noise and to see what Dave had in his hand. He began to wonder what Luna was going to do, and what would happen if Celestia said no

“Oh god,” Dave froze, his face full of horror. “What if she says no?”

Cadence leaned next to Dave’s ear, “Cold hooves?”

“FUCKING HELL!” Dave screamed as he tripped to the floor, the princess of love bursting into a laughing fit as Dave knocked a bowl of cake frosting over and it sprayed across his face

Cadence wiped her tear away and used her magic to clear most of the white frosting from Dave. She continued to giggle as Dave stood up and began staring at the ring again

“Listen Dave, I know you aren’t the most straightforward being to understand,” Cadence nudged Dave and smiled up at him, “But I do know that you truly love Celestia, and she feels the same”

“But what if?” Dave was cut off as Cadence placed a hoof over his mouth

“Celestia will say yes,” Cadence removed her hoof as Dave began smiling. “I know true love when I see it”

“Thanks Cadence,” Dave sighed, placing the box back in his pocket as he looked at the alicorn beside him. “I’ll let you know how it goes shall I?”

The head chef walked over and passed Dave a large picnic basket and a rolled up blanket, the entire cooking staff giving encouraging smiles. Cadence nodded as Dave took a deep breath and stood up, placing his doubts and fears aside as he marched for Celestia’s quarters