//------------------------------// // Chapter 34 // Story: Borrowed Time // by Gambit Prawn //------------------------------// I made it through dinner in strained silence. My attention was constantly on the numbness of my new wings. I didn’t know if this was due to their newness, or if my brain just didn’t know how to comprehend my new fifth and sixth limbs. The silence was my choice, as was the food. The princesses and Star let me have whatever I wanted, and with the mood I was in, pony food didn’t sound too appetizing. Celestia didn’t even comment on my lack of sugar. If I was truly honest, at this point my resistance was only to make a stand on principle, as I had found saccharine foods to my liking. “Hang in there, Alice,” Celestia called after me on the way out. “I’ll come by later if you want. No more alicorn stuff for the day—I promise.” “That’s okay,” I murmured. “I think I’m just going to bed. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long day at school tomorrow.” “Fair point,” Celestia conceded. “Although unfortunately, there’s a considerable amount of ‘alicorn stuff’ on the horizon,” Luna provided as diplomatically as she could. “Princess or not, the implications of possessing the aspects of all three tribes has enormous political and social implications. The nobles—” Celestia lightly tapped Luna’s chest. “Very well. Goodnight, young foal,” Luna wished me as I left the secret dining room through the kitchen. Her address might have bothered me a few weeks ago, but I knew she meant well. The ponies in the kitchen didn’t bow or anything, but they weren’t very good at stealing glances, and the sounds of knives on cutting boards went quiet as I walked by. On my way to my room I thought back to the after play. My classmates’ reactions were shrouded in disbelief. Annuity’s was my favorite. She redefined the deer in the headlights look. I wondered for a second if I had broken her brain. Unfortunately, I couldn’t enjoy it very much as the crowd stormed the stage in celebration when the murmur of excited conversation became a loud clamoring. “What’s your name, young lady?” “Why were you wearing fake wings and a horn if you have your own?” “What exactly did you do to ascend?” “Please, everypony, give her some space,” Luna pleaded “Her?” I heard Thaumaturgical repeat. Then came the song. The crowd raised me up on the back of a mare I didn’t know and sang some asinine tune about what a joyous day it was for the emergence of a new alicorn. If I hadn’t already come to hate these song sequences this one would have done it. It was easily the worst song I had suffered through yet. I swear every pony in Canterlot joined in on the spontaneous parade, as the booming voices of the mob drew in more and more ponies and surely must have shut down the local economy for several hours. The circus finally arrived at the castle’s garden, where a gaggle of reporters had set up shop. Bowing to expectation, Celestia and Luna brought me up to the elevated platform that had been set-up. I remembered thinking how impressive Celestia’s staff was for hearing the news and being so proactive. Celestia did her best to protect me, as I was honestly intimidated by the overwhelming attention. The questions were fairly repetitive. The most frequent were attempts to get Celestia to clarify whether or not I would be a princess, and if they could refer to me as such. She cited several formal requirements that would need to be cleared prior to crowning me. Still, that didn’t stop many of them from continually referring to me as a princess. Another related question was what my aspect was supposed to be. A common misconception was that I had ascended as a result due to some sort of uncanny acting talent. They also asked about my cutie mark quite a bit, which made me a bit nervous. A few times I did have to speak for myself, and it did not go well at all. When asked what my goals were as a princess, I made an indecisive denial about the princess part and then went on to trip on my words before Luna mercifully intervened. The other questions were about my family, school life and everything about my personal life that they could think to probe. It only lasted an hour before Celestia needed to call it off to lower the sun. From there, Star took me to the hidden dining room, where I was able to be alone with my thoughts for a while. The recurring theme was that I knew this had been a long time coming, but it was still weird. Other than that, there was so much to process that I ended up making no progress at all. Walking down the hallway, I tried to gather my swirling thoughts. So I’m not a princess automatically. I guess I should be happy about that, even if all those reporters were ready to deem me one. Some kind of test I have to pass. I wonder what that would— “Oh, thank you, Star,” I said warmly to my chaperone as she opened the door to my room for me. “Try to get some rest, okay?” I shook my head. “It’s not for lack of wanting. I doubt I’ll have success.” Star put a hoof on my withers. “Would it help if I curled around you while you try to fall asleep?” I was about to give her a look of disbelief, but I could tell by looking at her that she was being entirely sincere. “No thanks. My wings are kind of tender right now,” I added quickly—an excuse, albeit a truthful one. Letting me have my privacy Star stepped to the side and I entered the pitch black room. From practice, I knew exactly where my bed was and when to jump. Snuggling under the covers, I took a deep breath. At least a good night’s sleep would be able to wash away the stress for a while and let me recover a bit for tomorrow. “At least I have this time to myself…” “SURPRISE!!” The lights sprung into action. “UUUH! UGHHHH! AGHHHHHHH!” I screeched as I jumped with such force to take the covers with me into the air. Eleven ponies then popped out from under my bed “Congratulations, River! You really did it!” Pink Diamond cheered, hopping on my bed. To my dismay ten others joined her. It said something about how small foals were that we all fit comfortably. “I had never thought a pony so rough-and-tumble could be a princess. I guess you got a promotion of sorts from being a guardspony! ” said a purple filly. Noble Truth, I think? “Perhaps you do want to fly avec moi?” said Mix-up in his broken Equestrian. Is he hitting on me? “Start by learning to fly yourself before asking her,” said the chubby pegasus Hail Stone. Without me realizing it, the other exchange students had trapped me in the middle of the bed. “Congratulations, River,” Monocle said. “You may not believe me now that you’re a princess and everything, but I’ve enjoyed being your friend.” Her lizard popped out of her mane. “Igloo says congratulations too.” “Way to go!” New Moon praised. “If you need any beauty tips, I can definitely help you. You have to look your best from now on, you know! Princesses shouldn’t be tomcolts.” I flinched at that. “Also, if you need me to hook you up with a nice filly, I’m always willing.” Oh? Oh.... I sighed. “Please don’t tell anypony else about that, okay?” I begged the batpony. “Hmm? Liking fillies nothing to be ashamed of,” she replied. “I know that; I just want to be left alone. I’m not looking for anypony, and besides, I’ll probably have colts approaching me anyway; I don’t need fillies propositioning me as well.” “Well, if you say so.” She gestured a hoof at the next pony. “If you ever need a spymaster, I’m your pony,” said a filly who had colors resembling those of Shining Armor. Do I even know you? “Yeah, congratulations,” Blue Horizon added. “I’m sure glad I didn’t pick you as my rival. You sure are amazing.” Oh, the irony… “Congrats. You know, I could probably make you armor if you want, or regalia, I guess,” said Brass Ring. Cake Slice subtly smiled. “I’m so happy for you, River. I’m… ummm… a bit jealous. I’m sure we’ve all wanted to be princesses at some point.” “Speak for yourself!” said the one colt that hadn’t spoken yet, causing Cake to flinch somewhat. “Uhh… I have nothing original to say,” he said. “I’m just here for the free food.” Free food? I wondered. Craning my head, I did a double take. “Uhh… who’s the zebra?” “Pleased to make your acquaintance. I am called Mindre,” the zebra girl said, shaking my hoof.” “River this is Mindre, Mindre, Princess River. I invited her,” said New Moon. I sighed. “Thank you for your warm regards,” I said diplomatically. “But I have to get to bed.” “Bed? On a night like this? We’re just getting started,” Pink said with enthusiasm. My door flung open and a cannon exploded, scattering confetti all over my floor. “Let’s party!” Pinkie declared, bouncing into the room, carrying a boombox. I really need to get a lock on my door... “So, River, what color will your guard wear?” Pink Diamond repeated. My eyes crept open. “Oh, cinnabar I guess,” I replied lamely, eyes drooping closed again almost immediately. “Neat! So, what will your aspect be, anyway?” “Mmmmmhh, tacos would be good.” “Tacos!? That’s silly. What would the princess of tacos preside over, anyway? Ohhh, do you mean you will be a champion for fast food, as a metaphor for standing up for the common pony? Neat! Good idea!” “What’s a good idea?” I asked, waking momentarily. Without Star prodding me along I doubt I would have even made it to school. “The idea you just said, silly!” “Look, Pink, I—I can’t function well on no sleep. I don’t know how you’re getting by.” Pink Diamond cocked her head. “I’m a little tired, but I took a nap before the party. I had a feeling it would go late. I warned everypony on the invitations.” I gawked at her before erupting into a shrill, cynical fit of laughter that brought me to tears. “You alright there, River?” Trusty asked. I rolled me eyes. My malaise wasn’t exactly easy to misconstrue. “Oh yeah, I’m fine,” I said sardonically. “It’s just my wings hurt, I’m tired, I get to be at the center of a circus again, I’m tired and even the ground feels weird to me—it’s like I can feel every imperfection.” Trusty smiled. “That’s an earth pony’s hooves for you.” I did a double-take. Trusty? Providing useful insight? Impossible! “Yeah, River!” Pink piped in. She came to a stop. “Saaaaay…. how come you’re just noticing this now? Haven’t you always been an earth pony?” “Huh? What?” I asked dumbly before it slowly dawned on me what she was getting at. “Oh, look: we’re here!” Star announced, stealing my line and distracting Pink Diamond. Zephyr Zap did a corkscrew above the school gate. “River’s here! River’s here!” Zap announced. Before she even finished, most of my classmates came stampeding out of the gate. “YAAAAAAAAAAY!” was all I heard before I was lifted the foals’ collective strength and carried through the gate. Pink Diamond just giggled at my plight. A cacophony of voices accompanied my involuntary crowdsurfing into the classroom. I couldn’t make out any of them in particular, but I couldn’t imagine anypony was saying anything substantial. Finally, I was put down next to my desk, and, as ponies are prone to do, they formed a line, of all things. Mortar Strike had taken pole position. “Hi, River. I’m sure you heard me complain about it before, but I really think we should have blacksmithing as an activity at our camp. I’m sure I’m not the only one that would enjoy it. I see that four other camps have it available, but I don’t really want to transfer and be away from Silver Lining. And it’s something we could go toge—umm…. Princess River?” “Huh? Oh… what?” I stammered, roused momentarily from my microslumber. “Am… am I that boring?” Mortar asked. “No, you’re good,” I said, before coming to an abrupt stop. “What were we talking about again?” “Metallurgy, for the camp.” “Oh. Right. What makes you think I can do anything about that?” “Well, I can see that,” he said. “I hardly knew you up until now, but I’m sure I can help you in return, be more of a friend to you.” “A give and take? That’s even worse.” “No, it’s not anything like bribery. What I mean is—” “Times up! My turn my turn! Zephyr Zap said, pushing her fellow pegasus aside. “Hey, River. I had a lot of fun pretending to be a princess with you last night. And now you get to do it for real—wow. Anyway, here.” She thrust a cat in my face. “Here’s my new kitty. One of Thaumaturgical’s cats had a litter. And I was thinking you could name her.” “Why me?” I groned. “Isn’t why obvious? Please…” she pleaded. “Falafel Mix,” I said bluntly. “Huh…. oh? OH!!! I love it, River! Thank you! Let’s go, Falafel Mix.” I snickered at the absurdity. “Hey River,” Little Pinion greeted. “I was wondering if—” “All right, everypony, break it up. Break it up! Give the alicorn some breathing room,” Fizzle demanded as she noisily made her way past the congregation of ponies. The line dispersed with groans and moans as they returned to their desks. I dozed off again and had to be prompted to jump into my desk. “Hey, River, why didn’t you use your wings?” Stardust asked before she could be shushed. Fizzle waited patiently for the clamoring to die down. “All right, I know River’s the talk of the town right now, and you all are very excited, but we still have a day of edification and joy ahead of us!” “Maintenant, començons la leçon de prançais.” “Oui Madame,” we echoed weakly. “Now, in Prench, the past tense is a little different. When you want to express ‘I ate the hay’ you would literally say ‘I have eaten the hay.’ The simple past is mostly a literary form. Meanwhile, the perfect, or passé composé…” “Elle est alleé au magasin et elle a acheté le jus de pomme,” Gilded Acres recited. “Bon,” Fizzle praised. “Ms. Fizzle! River’s sleeping again!” Bubble Bauble griped. I momentarily drifted into consciousness before fading. “River!” Fizzle scolded. “Five more minutes…” “River!” I ignored her. THWACK “Eep!” I squeaked as the ruler came down hard on my desk. “Don’t think that because you’re an alicorn now you can sleep through class.” “But Pink Diamond kept me up all night with a party in my room with lots of ponies and loud music!” “Pink, is that true? Did you keep her up?” “Yup!” she admitted. “It was really really fun.” Fizzle sighed. “Quite understandable if not ideal. Do your best to stay awake, though. You can sleep during recess.” “Thank you,” I said, exhaling. “Wait a minute, ‘her’? Becoming an alicorn turns you into a filly?!” Thaumaturgical asked, completely perplexed.. Fizzle sighed. “All right, let’s address the elephant in the room. It’s a long story, but River is actually a filly.” I swallowed hard. “Makes sense,” said Silver Lining. “Called it!” Granite boasted. “Aww man! I was about to prove it with the blood sample I got during the play!” Pestle Mix complained. “Ha! The bet’s off, Pestle Nix!” Annuity declared triumphantly, breaking her suspicious silence. “How did I not know this!?” Thaumaturgical asked rhetorically. “More importantly, how did everyone else know?” “Her voice cracks sometimes,” Daybreak explained. “Jill tipped us off by inviting her to her sleepover,” Style supplied. “I had a crush on her and was relieved when—” Little Pinion blushed. “Nevermind.” “Under her tail I saw—” “Okay! That’s enough!” Fizzle mercifully cut in. How does that not happen more often in Equestria? I thought, blushing. “All right, everypony. Settle down. Those Prench verbs aren't going to conjugate themselves!” Fizzle said playfully as she handed out worksheets. Picking up my quill, I sleepily glanced at the first exercise and filled it in. Tu as mangé la omelette du fromage. Il est tombé. Je suis descendue. I paused. Wow. I’m not even trying to resist this filly thing at this point. Curse you gendered past participles! “Here!” Bubble Bauble prompted, thrusting the ruby pendant in my face. “Huh? What’s this?” I asked. “A peace offering,” she explained. “I know I’m Annuity’s best friend and everything, but if I’ve ever done anything to offend you, I’m sorry. I never held anything against you or anything. I don’t want to particularly be your friend, but there’s no reason we can’t be cordial.” “Okay then. Thanks,” I said, mostly relieved that one less pony wanted to be my best friend. Bubble nodded and walked away. Her synopsis of our relationship had been fairly accurate. I hadn’t thought much of her—good or bad. That voice did get on my nerves quite a bit, though. My recess nap lasted all of ten minutes before I finally conceded one request in the hopes it would cause the crowd around me to disperse. Unfortunately, one request became two and so on. “Hey, River. Let’s go flying together!” Windy Skies suggested. “Yeah!” Zephyr Zap joined in, alighting next to me, Falafel Mix still on her head. “I can’t yet,” I replied. The professor had explained to me about the underdevelopment of my wings, but I hadn’t understood most of it. “Besides, I don’t know how.” “I can teach you!” Windy and Zap said at the same time before exchanging a glance and giggling. Recess continued on much the same way. Silver Lining and Skywatcher offered to help me practice magic. I slipped up a bit by admitting I already had a teacher, but that fortunately didn’t arouse suspicion. Pish and Posh offered me a gift certificate to their family restaurant. Celestia had warned me about the transparent bribery I would be seeing, but I just wanted to get the procession over with. Fortunately recess then ended. Fizzle had taken mercy on me and decided to give feedback on the play. She started at the top with my performance: I had done well to remember my lines and kept my nerves under control. However, she thought I was too casual in my portrayal of Celestia and that I should have carried myself with a more royal composure. It only occurred to me later that she was also probably talking about my demeanor as River Glade the alicorn. However, in the moment, I was just happy to get to sleep. Slightly refreshed, I left the school building, and for a glorious thirty seconds, I thought I was going to be able to slip away. However, I would later learn that that was a luxury I may never have again. “River! What activities are you going to pick?” “Yeah, tell us! Tell us!” “Err…” Ponyfeathers. I had forgotten all about that! Then again, would I want everypony picking the same activities as me? “I haven’t decided yet…” I said with a sigh.This was quickly revealed to be a mistake as everyone started giving me their thoughts. “You should take—” “How about—” “I think you should—” The suggestions kept coming. Some ponies made more than one. After about five seconds I found myself unable to zone in on a single pony even if I had wanted to. “Alright, everypony that’s enough for today,” Star announced, swooping down. River is a bit overwhelmed by all this, and besides, he needs Princess Celestia to teach hi—her about being an alicorn. It’s a lot to process, growing wings and a horn.” “Awwwww!” Curiosity overtook me and I looked around. Nobody questioned what Star had said. Somehow, against all odds, the lie about being an earth pony had held up, where my gender secret had faltered. Though not everypony gave up so easily. “River,” Thaumaturgical croaked. I faced him. “Why didn’t tell me you were a filly?” “I didn’t tell anypony.” Except for Bulwark “Or Beakington or Jill for that matter,” I quickly added. “Okay, but then why keep it secret? You could have trusted me at least.” “It—it’s a long story. I might tell you later.” I said and turned began to walk back to the castle with Star. If Beakington doesn’t let something slip first… “Hey, River,” Squirt said meekly, trotting up. I rose a hoof to signal Star to stop walking. I immediately felt self-conscious about this, but Star didn’t seem to mind. “You probably don’t want to anymore, because you’ve got a lot of princess stuff to do, but I got the new hero game everyone’s talking about. If you want to play after school on Friday, I’ve invited the others over.” “Are you serious?” I asked “I thought that just because you’re a different type of pony now, that doesn’t mean you’re a different pony—if that makes any sense. Sorry if I was wrong.” I smiled broadly and put a hoof on his withers. “Are you kidding? That’s great! That’s why I love you, Squirt!” “What now?” Squirt asked, barely reacting at all. I froze and looked around timidly. Fortunately, my entourage has dispersed. Nevertheless I heard a giggle and turned to face Pink Diamond. “Not. One. Word.” “Heehee. Okay, Princess!” In Celestia’s room, I had snuggled beneath her wing for the last half hour as I recounted my day. “I liked your performance. You ponized me.” “Pardon?” “You don’t know that word?” “I can guess, but I’ve never heard it used.” “Well, it means to make a pony seem more like a pony and less like a fictional character or a symbol.” “Oh, I see. I guess you wouldn’t use the word humanize.” Celestia laughed. We had talked about nothing in particular, but I was grateful to her for that. It seemed to me that a long life had imparted her with profound empathy. She had sensed that alicorn things were the last I wanted to talk about. “I want to clarify something about being an alicorn,” I said, hoping to relieve my mind of a nagging issue before dropping it again. “Oh?” “You said I’m not a princess. That I have to pass a test, and then a ceremony.” “Indeed,” said Luna. Without her having to maintain the facade that I was an ordinary exchange student, she was at liberty to join us. Though she mostly just sat to the side watching us. Honestly I almost forgot she was there. I made a mental note to focus on my situation awareness. I may no longer have been a soldier, but it was still a skill to keep honed. Strange that it should slip though... “Are you nervous?” Celestia asked. “Far from it. I’m glad I’m not automatically a princess; though I wish my classmates would get the memo.” “The griffin and minotaur should know, being children of ambassadors,” Luna opined. “They have names, you know,” I said facetiously. Luna smiled. “Very perceptive, Alice. Though I was being polite: I’m not acquainted with them personally, so I was indirect. You have to understand that it carries some weight when we deem it important enough to remember someone’s name.” “That—must be a pain. I hadn’t thought of that. So what of the test?” I asked, changing the subject.” “Oh that? You already passed.” Celestia said with an enigmatic grin. “WHAT!?” “We knew this day would come and planned accordingly,” Luna explained. “There’s no occasion for astonishment. Or perhaps you thought it far off? Our perception of time can be skewed...” “That’s one thing, but how could you give me the test without me knowing?” “It was to better show your character,” Celestia explained. “Besides, if you knew about it, you might have failed on purpose.” “Yeah, right…” I agreed weakly. She totally saw through me. “So what was the test, anyway?” “The test was more about accepting the test than passing the test,” Celestia explained cryptically. “Just tell me!” “Oh, all right,” Celestia said playfully. “You see: you were willing to help Pink Diamond out. Help keep her from getting hurt. She was a pony you didn’t particularly like, but you agreed nonetheless.” “That—” “You passed the test part of the test, too,” Luna interjected. “Indeed. You ran after Pink Diamond after she was embarrassed and tried to console her. True, you weren’t particularly effective, but your effort inspired ponies around you to help out.” That’s it? “Besides, it was very kind of you to help Jill make friends. I would have passed you for that anyway.” I scrunched up my face, retreating back under Celestia’s wing. “Master Quarrel? You wanted to see me?” Diane asked, poking her head into the draconquus’s humble abode.” “Stop with the formalities. I’m nothing impressive,” Quarrel said dismissively. “If you say so,” Diane conceded, sidestepping a usual point of debate. “The others said you had a plan, but didn’t give me any details.” “That’s because I haven’t told them.” “Why not? Surely my superiors deserve to know first.” “It’s because you’re so fun to bounce ideas off of! You’re a bouncy ball wall.” “Thanks?” “Anyway, that protective pendant I made for you—it didn’t take as much of my mana as I thought.” “That’s great!” Diane cheered. “I felt bad about draining you.” “It makes sense,” Quarrel started to explain. “In Equestria I was able to teleport around with ease. So I was thinking…” Diane nodded. “You can teleport us! Or General O’Higgins. It’s quite a fortunate coincidence that you remembered the name of the planet—even more so that you know where Khyrsis is.” “Well, not exactly, but once I’ve been somewhere, I can generally teleport at least in the vicinity. I was hesitant, but perhaps they’ve forgotten about me by now.” Diane nodded. “You can even bring back some of those ‘earth ponies’ to help us tame this planet!” “Unfortunately, that’s not the case. It’s been a very long time, so I’m sure they all changed back after a year or two.” A pregnant pause hung on the air. “Quarrel?” “Hmm?” “When you changed us, we didn’t turn back, so why would it be different for them?” “Well, that’s because… oh.Oh! Oh…” The drained draconequus’s face went through a number of motions. Shifting from contemplation to amusement to concern to horror to a mad smile before settling on a blankish set. “Okay, that… complicates things…”