//------------------------------// // 6 - Sightseeing // Story: One hoof at a time // by SkarinOfAtmora //------------------------------// A new day was dawning as Celestia's Sun slowly appeared on the horizon. Many ponies were already getting on with their routines, namely waking up, getting ready and going to work. Everypony except Canterlot's nobility, that is. They liked to sleep in while their servants prepared their breakfast, fetched the morning papers and so on. However, Fancy Pants was not one of those nobles, quite the opposite actually. Every morning he would wake up early, making sure his lovely wife Fleur wasn't disturbed, and went to the kitchen of their large, yet not nearly mansion-sized home. Fancy would set the table for breakfast before getting started on the pancakes and putting on water for tea in the kettle. As it was every morning, about halfway through the pancake dough, he heard a thud against his front door which meant the morning edition of Equestria Daily has arrived. "I'll get it!" which also meant his wife was also awake and she would get the paper. Moments later, Fleur entered the kitchen and smiled contently. "Good morning, my dear." she nuzzled her husband who returned the gesture while flipping the pancake in the air and catching it in the pan. "Good morning, my love." Fancy replied with a smile. "Ah, the water for tea is done. Would you mind?" "Not at all." Fleur smiled and encased the kettle in her magic, bringing it over to the table. "Hmmmm... Jasmine?" Fleur looked to her husband who expertly flipped one more pancake mid-air. "Please." he was done with the pancakes and floated the plate to the table and joined his wife who was in the middle of pouring water in their cups, followed by tea bags. He reached for the morning papers and saw the rolled up bundle was a bit thicker than usual. Removing the band holding it together, a copy of Equestria Daily and Vanity Mare unveiled themselves. "I'll be taking that." Fleur quickly snatched Vanity Mare from Fancy's grip and the stallion chuckled. "What? Vanity Mare is much more reliable than Equestria Daily." "It's full of gossip, Fleur. I simply cannot understand how you can read that nonsense." Fancy chuckled and raised his newspapers. "Equestria Daily, however... Is... A serious..." as he slowly read the headline his voice trailed off and Fleur tilted her head. "Is something wrong, Fancy darling?" her husband blinked a few times before speaking. "Uhm, yes, yes, quite alright my dear." Fancy then quickly folded the newspaper and threw it towards the thrash can but Fleur caught it before it hit it's target. She looked at her husband with a raised brow and he chuckled nervously. Unfurling the papers and after reading the headline, Fleur looked at her husband with a sly smirk. "You were saying?" she laid the papers on the table, the front page visible to both. EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH PRINCESS CELESTIA THE PRINCESS SAYS NO WEDDING, BUT WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY? "NOPONY IS FORCED OR BEING FORCED INTO ANYTHING." - PRINCESS CELESTIA Then there were a smaller section. WHO IS SIR ORION PAX, THE NEW MOST ELIGIBLE BACHELOR? And also... THE HAYS CHIPS CONSPIRACY IS THE EMPTY SPACE REALLY USED TO PROTECT THE CHIPS OR IS SOMETHING MORE SINISTER AT HOOF? "This whole thing has been blown way out of proportion." Fancy said and took a sip of his tea. Fleur nodded, already deeply engrossed in her copy of Vanity Mare. "Poor Orion." Fleur replied and turned a page. "It says he is doing well, all things considering." Fancy nodded and took his first pancake, biting into it. "I'm sure the princesses are doing everything they can to help him get back on his hooves." "If anypony can help him, it would be them." "I just don't understand this talk about marriage. Does he really want to marry one of the princesses?" Fleur asked and Fancy just shook his head. "Both Orion, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna made it perfectly clear that nopony would be getting married." he then sighed, thinking how Orion must feel. "The media just got to excited and made their own assumptions." Fleur nodded and the two resumed their breakfast in a comfortable silence. After finishing breakfast, the married couple got to cleaning the table and washing the dishes. Other nobles would simply scoff at the thought and reprimand Fancy and Fleur for not having a maid but the two believed it kept them closer to each other. The results spoke for themselves as Cosmare voted them the happiest couple five years in a row, mopping the floor with their competition. Once the chores were done, Fancy and Fleur got ready for their daily walk through Canterlot and inspections of their fashion shops. "Darling, please do remind me to speak to Rarity." Fancy said to his wife as they made their way to the front door. "We simply must get her to work for us." "Certainly! Her designs are simply-" Fancy opened the door for his wife "-Orion?" "I would have used the word marvelous, but-" he then looked ahead and saw a familiar gray alicorn at his porch, right hoof ready to knock. "Orion?" "Morning!" the alicorn greeted happily and used his already raised hoof to wave. "Good morning to you as well, my dear boy!" Fancy then grabbed Orion's raised hoof and shook hooves. "Hello again, Orion." Fleur bowed curtly. "Aw, don't do that." Orion said a bit annoyed and as Fleur rose to meet his eyes, Orion had his hoof in front of her. "Friends don't bow to each other, right?" Fleur looked at his raised hoof and understood the intention. But could she really hoofbump an alicorn? "Go on dear." Fancy nudged her and Fleur looked between Orion and her husband. "Friends?" she asked her husband uncertainly. "With royalty? But I'd never-" "Good thing I'm not royalty then." Orion interjected and Fleur looked back at him. "C'mon, don't leave me hanging here." he wiggled his hoof and Fleur, slowly and uncertainly, hoofbumped. This proved to be a good choice as Orion smiled widely and trotted in place. "Oh! Look at this!" Orion then rushed down from the porch and produly trotted from side to side. "I can walk!" he said with his head held high. "Excellent my boy." Fancy said with a smile. "Oh! And I can run too!" he then went into a full gallop. "WHOA!" Orion slipped on a patch of grass and skidded on it until he hit the wooden fence. "Orion!" Fleur exclaimed and both she and Fancy rushed towards him in concern. "I'm fine!" Orion said and quickly got back to his hooves. "Still need to work on stopping, he he." "My word, Orion." Fancy shook his head chuckling. "Never a dull day with you." "You've made quite some progress your High-I mean, Orion." Fleur quickly corrected herself and saw Orion's smile grow bigger. It also made her smile. "I know, right? Guess I'm a prodigy." "Whatever happened after I left?" Fancy asked and did a circle around Orion. He did indeed seem more confident and stable on his hooves. "Well, I tried to escape-" "What?" both Fleur and Fancy exclaimed in shock. "-but I met Luna in the royal garden and she taught me how to walk properly." "Oh." both responded. "Then the next morning I got Luna high on coffee." "You did what?" again, both of them asked in shock. "And after that Celestia tried to teach me magic." "And how did that go?" Fancy asked curiously. "I almost farted." he addmited sheepishly and both unicorns recoiled slightly. "You almost... Passed something in front of Princess Celestia?" Fancy asked horrified. "Relax, she was cool about it." Orion waved his hoof in dismissal. "She even laughed." "Thank goodness." Fleur sighed in relief. "Then Luna woke me up from my nap, still high on coffee, and after some bantering I had to chase her around the castle." Orion continued. "And that is how you learned to gallop?" "What?" Orion asked before it clicked. "Yeah! Gallop! RIght!" "So what happened next?" Fleur asked and Orion shrugged. "Not much really. We fired spitballs at Blueblood-" "YOU DID WHAT?" Fancy and Fleaur screamed and Orion held up his hooves defensively. "Whoa! In my defense it was Luna's idea." that caused bot unicorn to go slack-jawed. "Quite the prankster that one. Blueballs never saw us coming, heck, he still doesn't know who did it." Orion began chuckling while Fancy and Fleur stared at him in horror. "The funniest part was when he demanded that Luna find the one responsible." he wiped and oncoming tear from his eyes. "Good times." Orion the looked to the two shocked unicorns in front of him. "What?" "N-nothing..." Fancy looked at him in disbelief. Did Orion not understand just in what kind of trouble this could have landed him in? "Continue." "Right..." Orion said with a raised brow. "Well, after coming down from her coffee high, I put Luna to bed and not much happened after that. I just lazed around the rest of the day, went to sleep after dinner and here I am." it took the two a moment to process what Orion just said. "Excuse me, sorry." Fleur shook her head vigorously. "Did you just say you put Princess Luna to bed?" she must have heard him wrong. "Yeah." the couple thought there was something seriously wrong with him."It was her first experience with real coffee and she crashed hard. She could barely keep her eyes open so I lead her to her room and put her to bed." Orion observed the shocked couple in front of him. "Okay, I'll bite. What's wrong?" "You lead Princess Luna to her chambers." Fancy asked and Orion nodded. "And then you put her in her bed." Fleur continued and Orion nodded once again. "And you see nothing wrong with that?" "I couldn't just leave her in some random hallway." Orion tilted his head in confusion. "What's wrong with you two?" the couple looked at each other with flabergasted expressions. Fancy then turned to Orion and spoke with a serious tone. "Orion, my boy, ponies tend to talk about these things." he began and Orion raised a brow. "And with all this ridiculous talk about marriage it would only fan the flames if somepony saw you enter her chambers." "Nopony saw us." Orion mentally patted himself for using the correct phrase on the first try. "Besides, nothing's gonna' happen between us so let them talk." Fleur looked at Fancy uncertainly but the stallion merely sighed. "You worry too much." "We care about your safety, Orion." Fleur said gently and put a hoof on his shoulder. "You are hurt and vulnerable right now until your condition gets better." Orion rolled his eyes but appreciated the thought. "I must warn you, many will try to take advantage of you, seeing you are an alicorn and close to the princesses." Fancy warned and Orion scoffed. "I'd like to see them try." he smirked. "Brain damaged or not, I'm a pretty smart cookie." "We just want you to be safe, Orion." Fleur said softly and suddenly nuzzled his cheek which made Orion recoil a bit. "Oh, my apologies. I just-" "It's fine." Orion waved a hoof dismissively and stood up. "Hey, what do you say you give a tour of the city? I didn't get to see much in the dark and from the backalleys." this only made Fleur want to hug the stallion in comfort, remembering what his life was before Fancy found him. "Well, as luck would have it, we were just about to take a relaxing stroll through town." Fancy declared and Orion perked up. "We would be delighted if you joined us, my friend." "Great!" Orion almost jumped in place. "Lead the way!" his giddiness made Fleur and Fancy chuckle and so they embarked on their walk. As they moved through Canterlot, and more and more ponies filled the streets, the married couple noticed more and more eyes on them. They knew the cause of it, of course, and did their best to ignore it. They almost bumped into Orion as he suddenly stopped and looked towards an alley to the right."I remember sleeping in that alley." both Fleur's and Fancy's ears drooped at that revelation. After a moment of reminiscence, Orion continued walking with Fleur and Fancy in tow."This is a nice town." "Well, Canterlot is the capital of Equestria after all." Fancy clarified and Orion nodded in response."It's architecture dates back for a thousand years." "Yeah, I can see that." Orion said looking around and then his eye spot somepony familiar. "Hey look. It's Celestia." Fancy's and Fleur's eyes almost pop out of their sockets. "Hey! Over here!" Orion waves over Celestia and her two guards. As the princess approaches them, Fancy and Fleur immediatelly bow in respect while Orion remains standing. "Greetings, my little ponies. You may rise." she said with her gentle, motherly voice and then looked to Orion. "Good morning, Orion." "Morning!" Orion replied happily and did a few laps around Celestia and her guards. "Look! I can gallop!" now, Celestia had to supress a giggle at his antics but she was glad he was recovering. Meanwhile, the ponies around them watched the scene in astonishment and some found Orion's behaviour deeply insulting. "I can see that." Celestia said and Orion trotted in place. "Is that how you left the castle?" that made Fleur and Fancy realize they didn't ask him how he got to their house. "Actually, I just walked out through the front door." Celestia raised a curious brow. "Are you here to bring me back?" he asked sheepishly and Celestia shook her head. "No, Orion. I didn't even know you were gone." her gaze shifted to one of her guards who gupled nervously."Why is that, Sharp Spear?" "I shall investigate it, your Highness!" and with that, the Solar guard bolted off towards the castle. Celestia then stood between Orion, Fancy and Fleur before smiling. "So, where are we going?" she asked innocently and looked at the nervous Fancy and Fleur. "W-we're in the middle of our morning stroll, your majesty." Fleur replied and Celestia's ears twitched. "Oh. I apologize if I'm-" "Not at all!" Fancy suddenly said and smiled widely. "Your are most welcome to join us if you so wish." Fleur nodded in agreement and Orion simply shrugged, he didn't really mind. "Splendid!" Celestia said and looked to Orion."Orion, any idea where you want to go?" Orion then mulled it over before speaking. "Well, actually, can we get something to eat?" he asked sheepishly. "I kinda' skipped breakfast." the three plus the guard blinked at him a few times before Celestia spoke. "I don't see why not. Any particular place in mind?" she asked and Orion nodded. "There's a place down the street if I remember correctly." "You mean Cinnamon Chai's Tea and Cake Shop?" Fancy asked and Celestia's smile spread. That was her favorite! "I don't know, never got to see the name. But their leftovers were great so the fresh ones must be good, right?" and that put a damper on their spirits as they were once again reminded of Orion's street life."Oh come on, it wasn't all bad." "Orion-"Celestia began."-I am truly sorry you had to go through that." "It's fine." Orion said dismissively and smiled once more. "Well, what are we waiting for?" he then stepped aside and raised his right hoof. "Ladies first." both Celestia and Fleur giggled while Fancy smiled proudly. "Oh my, what a gentlestallion." Celestia giggled and took the front with Fleur. "A gentlestallion indeed." Fancy smiled but just as he was about to follow he got held up by Orion. Looking at him in confusion, the alicorn lowered his head and spoke in a whisper. "Hey, umm... Can you pay for breakfast? I'm kinda' broke over here." Fancy looked at him in amusement. "I'll pay you back I promise!" Fancy then erupted in laughter and Orion raised his head before tilting it in confusion."What? I mean it!" Fancy just patted him on the back before following after princess Celestia and his wife. "Oh Orion, never a dull day with you."