Chapter III: The Friend
I woke up the next morning barely able to function, and I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I blindly walked to my bathroom. After taking a shower and brushing my teeth, I threw on some clothes from my wardrobe and headed out of my room. As I walked through the hall, I was stopped by a guard that I passed by.
“Excuse me, Master Devin,” he said.
I shuddered when I heard him address me that way. Then again, I had to get used to being talked to like that since I was going to be a prince in less than a week.
“Yes?” I asked as I turned around and looked at the guard.
“I was just on my way to your room,” he said.
“Why?”
“Well, your family is downstairs for breakfast, and your parents would like everyone to be present.”
I let out an exasperated sigh. I hadn’t fully recovered from yesterday, so I really wasn’t in the mood to be around relatives, especially when most of them were from Celestia’s side of the family.
Oh, man. That sounded mean…
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate them, I just wasn’t fully comfortable with the whole situation yet.
“Actually, I was going to take an early carriage to school today,” I told the guard. “I have to get there early and… take care of some things. Besides, I still don’t feel too well, so I don’t want to put a damper on things.”
The guard bowed his head. “I understand. I shall let your parents know that you won’t be attending breakfast this morning.”
Of course he would tell them. Great. Now I have to deal with an endless barrage of questions as to why I wasn’t at breakfast.
I guess I’ll just cross that bridge when I get to it.
On my way out of the castle, I called the royal chauffer and asked him to be ready to pick me up to go to school. By the time I was out of the castle, he was waiting for me.
“Good morning, Master Devin,” he greeted. “Off to school early today?”
“Yeah,” I answered as I climbed into the carriage-car. “Can we stop by the coffee shop before we get there, the one that serves breakfast?”
“Of course, sir.”
As we drove through the city, my mind went back to the wedding reception, when I overheard several older ponies talking about how much human and pony societies had changed since they made contact with each other.
“Hard to believe it’s been twenty years, isn’t it?”
“For sure. I remember when carriages were drawn by mere stallionpower, but now, thanks to the humans, we have engines in our carriages now.”
“My father would’ve been relieved to have that kind of convenience.”
I pretty much stopped listening after that, because they started to ramble on like most old folks do.
After a fifteen-minute ride, not including the stop at the coffee shop, I finally arrived at school, and I thanked the chauffer on my way out of the carriage. I took a deep breath as he pulled away, and I walked through the school’s main entrance, hoping that I’d at least be able to make it to my locker without any interruptions.
Things don’t always go the way you want them to, though.
“Hey, buddy!”
“Oh, great,” I thought.
I turned around and saw a stallion with a dark orange coat and a black mane and tail approaching me. He was dressed in a preppie getup complete with a blue sweater-vest and khaki pants. I remembered him telling me that his mother was the chief justice on the Equestrian Supreme Court, but his name escaped me.
“Hey, umm… What’s your name again?”
“Trenton Gavelstone,” he said. “You don’t remember me? I’m the guy that offered you a seat at my lunch table last Wednesday.”
“He really expects me to remember him just for that?” I thought. “I didn’t even accept his offer to sit with him.”
“Um… yeah. I remember you now,” I lied. “You need something?”
“I just came to tell you that my offer still stands. I haven’t really heard back from you, y’know?”
“Yeah, well, I’m usually really busy with other stuff during lunch.”
“C’mon man. It’s senior year! What ‘other stuff’ could you possibly be busy with? Trust me; you’ll have a blast hanging out with me and my posse. I’ll even hook you up with one of my female friends. Some of them really seem to like you.”
I tried not to show an annoyed face. “As enticing as that sounds, I still have to pass on that.”
“You sure? You’ll really be missing out, dude.”
Okay, this guy was really trying my patience. I opened my mouth to say something, but then-
“Well, seems like someone can’t take a hint.”
Trenton turned around to see who was talking to him, and I leaned to the side to see, as well. The pony that was talking to us was not a pony, but a zebra. He had a mane so short that it looked like he didn’t have one at all, and he was wearing a dark purple hoodie over a black V-neck along with some black jeans.
I was surprised that he was a zebra, though. Most zebras that I’d met had a distinct accent, but this guy didn’t have one.
“You know, you should really learn how to take ‘no’ for an answer, Gavelstone,” he said with a smirk.
“I don’t remember asking for your input!” Trenton snapped, his attitude doing a total 180.
Before the confrontation could go any further, the warning bell rang. Trenton let out a grunt and walked away, but not before looking back at me and saying “There’s always a seat at the table for you, man!”
I nervously chuckled, and then I quickly got my stuff for my first class in my backpack. “Thanks for helping me out,” I said to the zebra as I walked to my first class with him following behind me.
“No problem. You looked like you needed some help,” he smiled. “The name’s Kadeem.”
“Nice to meet you. My name’s-”
“Devin Summers?”
“You know my name?”
“You’re Princess Celestia’s stepson. Everypony knows your name.”
I chuckled. “I doubt that’s true. Most of the students here rarely call me by my name. It’s usually ‘buddy’, ‘dude’, or ‘guy’.”
“Point taken,” said Kadeem.
“So, what’s your story? You’re the first zebra I’ve seen at this school.”
“My dad’s an ambassador from Neighgeria.”
“Forgive my bluntness, but you don’t sound like you’re from Neighgeria.”
“That’s because I’ve attended boarding school in Fillydelphia for most of my life before high school.”
I smiled. “Interesting. So, what class do you have coming up right now?”
“AP Literature. I’m actually in your class.”
“Really? I never really paid attention to the other kids in class.”
“I don’t blame you,” Kadeem laughed. “A lot of the kids at Canterlot Academy are stuck up.”
“Apparently not all of them,” I chuckled.
“We should probably stick together, then.”
I thought about it for a while and smiled. “Well, I suppose if I had at least one friend, then this place just might suck a little less.”
“That’s some great school spirit you got there.”
Kadeem and I both headed towards our AP Lit class, and we sat together in the back of the room, away from the other students. We ended up having a lot in common.
“You into comics?” I asked with a hushed voice.
Kadeem scoffed. “Feh, ‘Am I into comics?’ I just happen to own every issue of Spider-Mane ever published. I even went to the midnight release of the movie last year.”
“You lucky bastard! I tried to get tickets to the midnight release back home, but they were sold out!”
“Yeah, I had to camp outside the theater to get mine.”
Just then, the teacher cleared his throat and looked right at the two of us. “If you two have something exciting to share, I’m sure we’d all love to hear it.”
We both gulped and said “No, sir.”
The teacher grunted and returned to his lecture on literary expressionism, or something like that. I wasn’t really paying attention, to be honest, and neither was Kadeem.
It turned out that we didn’t have that many classes together. Aside from AP Lit, we only had AP Art and Economics together. After the school day had ended, we walked out the main entrance and chatted as we headed towards the school gates.
“We should hang out, man,” said Kadeem. “You free on Saturday?”
I opened my mouth to say “yes,” but then I remembered something.
“Actually, I can’t do Saturday,” I said. “My coronation’s on that day.”
The zebra shrugged. “It’s cool. No harm done. Let’s exchange numbers so we can keep in touch.”
I smiled and accepted his offer, and we parted ways once my carriage arrived.
As I rode through the city on my way back to the castle, I thought about my impending coronation. Come Saturday, my dad and I were officially going to be princes. As Celestia’s husband, I’m sure he’d have to take on some of her political responsibilities, but what would this change in status mean for me? Would I have to take on any responsibilities? Unless Dad, Celestia, AND Luna were somehow not around to run the country at the same time, that hopefully won’t be the case.
Hopefully.
Then again, Blueblood is a prince, too, and aside from spending money and going out all the time, he doesn’t do jack.
If I’m lucky, the only thing that’ll change after my coronation will be how the guards address me.
The carriage finally pulled up in front of the castle, and I thanked the driver as I got out. Once I got into the castle, I decided to head up to my room. Before I got there, though, I heard someone call my name.
“Devin!” they said.
I turned around and smiled when I saw my dad walking towards me.
“How was school, champ?” he asked as he walked alongside me.
“Better than usual,” I answered. “I made an actual friend today.”
“Really? That’s great! Good to know that you’re starting to make friends at your new school,” Dad said, but then his expression turned less happy. “You didn’t show up to breakfast this morning, though.”
I averted my eyes from him and looked forward. “I was still feeling a little sick from last night, so I just left for school early and got breakfast on the way.”
“I know. One of the guards told us. It’s too bad, though. Celestia was hoping to see you, and your cousins wanted to say goodbye before they left.”
“Oh well,” I said dismissively.
“You don’t seem too upset about it.”
“Well, it’s not like I won’t ever see them again.”
Dad shrugged. “I guess that’s true. They’ll be here for our coronation this Saturday.”
I raised an eyebrow. “If that’s the case, then why didn’t they stay here for the few days before the coronation instead of having to travel back and forth?”
Dad shrugged again. “I guess they have things to take care of back at their homes.”
I looked at my father with a mildly astonished face. “How are you able to just accept anything that happens?” I asked. It was a trait of his that always had me scratching my head, but I also respected him for it. No matter what happened, Dad would always have a smile on his face.
It was as if nothing ever bothered him.
“I don’t know,” he answered. “I just try to ignore all the negatives and focus on the positives.”
I let out a deep breath. “You make it sound so easy.”
“What do you mean? Is something bothering you?”
I shook my head, and my dad sighed. “Devin, I know you haven’t talked to me about it, but I know that you’re not completely okay with all the changes going on.”
I said nothing, but I was surprised at how perceptive my dad was. You’d never expect him to be the kind of guy that would notice the little things.
“I know this is a really big change for the both of us, and I’m thankful that you’ve been able to put up with all the craziness that’s happened over the past few months, but it’s not good for you to just keep all your feelings inside. You have to talk to someone about it.”
I still didn’t say anything.
“And I’m not the only one that’s there for you. Celestia and her family will help you, too, if you give them the chance.”
I stayed silent for a few more moments, and then I let out a long sigh. “I don’t know…”
My dad frowned disappointedly. “Devin, please don’t be like that. I know you’ll really hit it off with them if you-”
“Can we not talk about this right now?” I asked calmly.
My dad looked at me for a few seconds and conceded. “Okay, I understand,” he said.
I sighed in relief. I was hoping to squash the discussion before I started to get upset. I didn’t want the Voice to come back again. In the short time that I’ve started hearing it, I noticed that it only came out when I was either angry or upset, and the only way I could keep it out was to keep my emotions in check.
Once I got to my room, I said goodbye to Dad and walked inside. As I kicked my shoes off and sat on my bed, I thought about what Dad said.
“Celestia and her family will help you, too, if you give them the chance.”
While that could have been true, I wasn’t entirely comfortable with talking to Celestia or any of my new family members about my feelings. For one, they were complete strangers to me. I didn’t know any of them very well, and it would feel very uncomfortable for me to talk to them about my personal issues. Secondly, if I were to tell them that I wasn’t really okay with being a prince, I could inadvertently offend them.
While I wasn’t ready to be all friendly with them, I didn’t want them not to like me or get the wrong idea about me, either.
I sighed and looked at my nightstand, and I found a large envelope lying on top of it. Curiously, I picked it up and read the attached note aloud to myself.
“Enclosed is an outline of the royal coronation ceremony, along with the coronation oath. The lines that you are required to recite are printed in bold. Please memorize these lines for this Saturday’s ceremony.
Signed,
Pencil Pusher
Secretary to Princess Celestia.”
I groaned in annoyance once I finished reading the letter. “Perfect,” I said. “As if I didn’t have enough homework to do.”
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He should skip his lines and just sing the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air's theme song.
And thirdly, there is a pretty good chance they would go back and tell his dad/Celestia. You know them ponies, all well-meaning and having good intentions.
Great chapter. Kadeem is shaping up to be a great friend for Devin as opposee to the highschool sycophants
. Also, Devin's father seems to be more perceptive than I thought about Devin's situation given how different he acted in the carriage than during the wedding. I wonder how the coronation will be like for Devin and how will he interact with his extended family during the event. BTW, will we find out how and why Celestia decided to marry Devin's father despite the immortality issue? Keep up the good work because this is getting good
.
OOOOOOOooooooohhhhhh!
I was kind of expecting to see more of the school day. The chapter was awesome though. I also wonder if the immortality issue will be addressed.
Sweet a new chapter,
also it's kind of weird to have the same first name as the main character 
I hope he rejects being a prince. His reason if asked "I'll be Princess Celestia stepson, but I won't be a prince."
You know, I won't lie. I kind of hoped he didn't actually find a 'real' friend, at least not so soon. Like I said, part of the appeal to the story is the more sad tension that yanks at the character's mind which makes it harder to guess what's going to happen, at least personally. So the idea that maybe school would've actually been more of a trial for him would've been interesting. Regardless, it was bound to happen, I suppose, that someone would find him and just think 'Why not?'. It's your decision, and it's still alright how it is. Experimenting with tragedy is something to think about though. Good chapter, also!
You forgot Twilight if Celestia, Luna, his dad AND Twilight all disappear without trace Equestria will be in his and Blueblood hands, and consider blueblood, the entire country will BEG him to take charge
4014026
Actually, I think that Canterlot would turn to Devin first for two reasons:
1: He's Celestia's stepson.
2: He's right there in Canterlot while Twilight's all the way in Ponyville. If Twi lived in Canterlot, it would've been a different story, but as it stands, Devin would be easier to reach than her.
4015114
I see, and its good that even if its slow he is progressing I just wish he could talk a bit with Celestia
I kind of hope he rejects the prince thing. Reason being it can create a lot of conflict that when resolved in the end brings everybody closer than they were before.
what if Kareem is actually a prince he himself? And what if something unseen happens to devins father and family and leaving celestia devins only family?!
Really love the vibe of this story and where it is going. I also am wondering if he is going to turn down the princehood , on top that he can't keep avoiding Mom Celestia forever. Eventually there will be a confrontation that he can't just make up a excuse for, Celestia and his dad are already suspicious of his behavior xD
Next chapter? 4
4059419
Soon.
Status
4064791
3,300 or so words done. Approaching ending.
NOW?
4067680
Not yet. Be patient.
In the corination he should just say. I understand that I am a prince by marriage, not by birth or blood. I then herby reject my prince hood and disavow my royalty by choice of my own.
That name sounds almost like an insult XD
when i imagine his anger voice i just imagine this
do you watch hot wheels? that name Kadeem made me think of the show. well it wasn't really a. show, just a collection of a few movies.
Good story so far. As upsetting as this scenario might be I can help but feel he is still being overly dramatic.
Sorry to say this but if that's how mature American's are at 18 then I can't relate maybe 14 but not 18 a new mum wouldn't matter to much to an adult.
8310750
Yeah, this wasn't one of my best stories when I wrote it 4 years ago. The way I characterized Devin was always something that bugged me after this story was completed, and if I were to do it again, I'd either age him down, or change the way he acted.