Time is Magic

“Darling. You look fabulous!” Rarity says as she drags me along to the castle’s makeshift fitting room. My sister, eager to discuss fashion with Rarity, flies along behind me to see what kind of outfit I am going to get.

“I always love working with stallions, J-corn. They are very easy to commission outfits for, and there is more liberty in designing!”

Well, that’s a relief. I won’t be harassed over fittings and stuff. I remember back in Monsey when I needed to get a new suit, I was in and out in five minutes. Rarity worked her magic (literally), and within a few minutes, she finished drawing her diagrams for my coronation outfit. I was quickly sent out, and my sister was next.

“Oh, Darling. What a pretty filly you are! I will have you looking like royalty in no time!” Rarity said, guffawing over my sister’s mannerisms.

“Well, thank you, Miss Rarity. Just to let you know I am allergic to flax, so don’t use any. Thanks again!”

“No problem, darling!”

Meanwhile I am in a private room with Princess Luna and Twilight, and they are trying to explain the semantics of the coronation process.

“So, you are going to have your own castle, staff, an emergency hotline with us princesses, and of course, friendship lessons!”

Wait, what? Friendship lessons?

“Hold on, why do I need Friendship lessons?” I ask Twilight, who just chuckles.

“Well, you have 10 millennia of trauma from wanting to kill Daybreaker in that other timeline. You must be full of rage against a lot of creatures. We need to make sure you rule the timestream fairly and without bias. So… you will be going to Starlight’s Friendship school for intensive learning. I think you might like it!”

“We insist, J-corn. It is for thine-own good. What would thee do without a moral compass?”

“Well, I have Torah, that’s the best moral compass if I’ve ever heard of one!” I say in protest.

“Well, even with Torah, you still have stuff like the genocide of Amalek, if I recall correctly.” Twilight says, making me cringe.

“That was a metaphor… never mind. I am not going to argue with you. I’ll do your friendship school thing. Will that make both of you happy?”

Out of nowhere, a familiar and jovial voice rang out. Well, jovial for everypony else. Still gives me the creeps!

“It will make me happy most of all!”, as Sun-butt teleported into the room, cupcakes in hoof. Her sister facehoofed in response so hard that there ended up being an avalanche that saved a group of hikers from a Yeti.

“Tia, what did we say about spontaneous teleportation?!” Luna was mad, but hey, at least THIS Celestia wants to bring cupcakes, not cataclysms!

“Sorry, but you know me. I am ALWAYS interested in Friendship, privacy be darned! Now, who wants cupcakes?! We have a coronation to get ready for!”, sending the tray of cupcakes to the table where we were sitting.

“Mmm. Cupcakes!” I say, using magic to grab one vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting from the tray.

“Love them! Thank you Celestia!” My mom pipes in taking a chocolate cupcake for herself. Guess my 10 millennia of memories aren’t going through her head...

***

It was just like any other day in Maretime Bay. Sunny was getting ready for bed, she had just finished brushing her teeth and writing her journal entry to Princess Twilight. As she went to her bedroom, she saw her father already waiting for her.

“I wanted to continue the Jewnicorn story tonight. Do you care, Sunny?” Argyle asks, knowing full well his daughter would want to hear the rest of the story.

“Of course, Daddy! I was waiting all day for you to continue.” as she tucked herself into the covers.

“As you wish, my daughter. Today we shall recant Jewnicorn’s coronation as sovereign over all of time! This was a big deal back then, and someponies even gave him the affectionate name of the Clockwork Prince!”

Sunny was amazed. “The Clockwork Prince? That sounds AWESOME!!!” Sunny says, her tail wiggling in bed in excitement.

“Well, can we get a move on, then! It was during the autumn months, at the apex of the apple harvest that the Clockwork Prince was coronated…”

***
After all this preparation, today’s the day. Inheriting my teacher’s empire. I am in the guest bedroom at Celestia’s palace, staring at the letter that Luna from my timeline wrote me. I use magic to bring it closer to me and I place it very close to my heart. I want to cry, I need to cry, but I can’t. Everypony needs me to do this today.

“Luna… I miss you so much. You would have loved to be here today. You didn’t get to see me ascend, and now you won’t see me fulfill your legacy.” I say quietly to myself, a single tear falling down my cheek. That single tear becomes two tears, and soon I am bawling like a foal. This must have brought the attention of somepony, because I heard a knock on my door shortly afterward.

“Jewnicorn… are you okay?”

Shit… of COURSE it had to be Celestia. I mean, even with my imminent coronation, she still is the head honcho.

“C...come in.” I say sheepishly as Celestia does so. She is wearing a lovely dress, befitting a princess, and sees that I am still not dressed.

“J-corn. I get it, you are crying tears of joy! I cried, too, when it was my turn to be crowned.” Celestia says, putting a wing over me to try and comfort me.

“You don’t get it… I miss my Luna. Your variant killed her in cold blood! I like Luna here, but the other Luna was the mare who raised me, and she’s gone! I… I wanted her to be here today, but she can’t come.... Ten thousand years with Luna… she loved me like her own foal!” Bawling my eyes out, Celestia does the one thing I prayed she wouldn’t do. She hugged me.

“It’s okay… your mother and sister are here, my sister is here, heck, even I am here. I know my sister isn’t the same Luna that raised you, but she loves you like her own colt! Can’t you see that? Twilight can’t wait to help you get set up as a Prince. Cadence will help you find a mare, at least, I think you like mares, right? You are family now, Noah. We stick together.”

No… I cannot, I will not accept this offer of friendship from the very mare who ruined my life, set the course of events of my people forward. Efraim Narcyz… the children! Everyone who was slaughtered! And then I remembered what Luna told me right before the final battle two years ago.

“Noah… the multiverse is vast and wondrous. Each and every decision you make creates a new universe. There are universes where Friendship really is Magic, and where I wasn’t removed from power. Remember that once we win, we need to forgive.”

With a lump in my throat, and my heart telling me not to, I return the embrace hesitantly.

“T… th… thank you, Celestia.” I say hesitantly, to which the sun alicorn pecks me on the cheek.

“Ten thousand and eighteen years, and you still act like a colt! I like a pony who has emotions. You are safe here, safe with us. Now, I am sure that you are a capable stallion and my sister will want to speak with you in a few minutes. Please get ready. You know Twilight is letting you raise the moon from now on. Tonight is the big day!”

Taking a deep breath, I get up from my bed and Celestia moves out of the way.

“I need around 10-15 minutes to put on some more regal attire. Where do you want me to meet Luna?” I ask Celestia.

“Her library. I know you go there everyday to read with her. You know the way.” Celestia says, teleporting out of my room.”

“You happy now, Luna? … I forgave her. Rest easy, ma” I think to myself as I put on my rather nice pony tux that Rarity commissioned special for me.

Once that is all said and done, I make my way to Luna’s library, where a familiar and comforting mare is waiting for me.

“Well, well, well, our son is here, and he is almost as regal as his mother!” Luna says in jest, flying towards me and embracing me with open hooves.

“Hey… Luna, look. I like you a lot, but don’t you think it’s overkill to call yourself my mother? I mean yeah, your variant took care of me for ten thousand years, but my mom is here.”

“Thou art making a mountain out of a Diamond Dog Mine. We are thine foster mother. Can’t thou taketh a joke?”

Well, I can take a joke and I hug Luna like it will be the last time I ever see her again.

“I already lost one of you… I am not going to allow myself to lose another one. We will guard the night and the timeline together, like parent and child.” I say, letting Luna’s mane cool me with it’s lunar embrace. Being a newly minted alicorn, I am still not as tall as Celestia, Twilight, Luna, and Cadence. Twilight told me it takes 25 years or so to get to that height. For now, I am normal pony size.

“A wise choice from a wise stallion. Now. We have half an hour before the event will begin. All of Equestria will be cheering thee on. Frankly, even the Griffon kingdoms sent a delegation, as did the dragons. You seem to be quite popular, J-corn!”

Well, I have been giving Torah lectures the past month I have been here prepping, and the Griffons like my bluntness, and the dragons like my “straight to the point” mindset.

“Half an hour, huh. Why don’t a mother and son play a round of cards while he is still a regular pony?” I say, spawning a deck of playing cards. “Other you taught me how to play Gin Rummy! I assume you know how, too?”

“Well of course, J-corn. We are the reigning champion of Gin Rummy in all of planet Equus. Let us play!”

As I expected, Luna creamed me in Gin, winning best of three hands. I needed to see her happy muzzle one more time to make me feel better about this whole situation.

“Your Highness?” A guard says, coming to alert Luna. “We need to set J-corn up now. Princess Twilight wished to begin on schedule in her usual manner.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming!” I say, flying to the castle foyer, where Twilight was waiting for me.

“Well there you are J-corn! Ok. Here’s what you are going to do. There are 600,000 ponies outside Canterlot waiting to meet you. I am going to put Luna’s old crown on your head when I coronate you, and then you are going to give a speech. You seem to be good at those, no?” Twilight explains lucidly what will happen.

“Yeah… all those years of Shiurim paid off. Wait, 600,000 ponies?”

“Well, yeah! Isn’t that the amount of Jews that were at the base of Mount Sinai when Moses came down with the Tablets of the Law?”
I was really tempted to correct her that it was more like 2.1 million, because the 600,000 were military aged men between 20 and 60 years old, but it would not be wise to piss off a princess.

“Yeah, good point. Nice touch on your part, Twilight!”

“Well of course. I do my homework, now, giddy up!” She says slipping into Royal Canterlot dialect. I listen to Twilight, and I make my way out to the stage where 600,000 ponies and 600,000 other creatures are waiting outside eager to meet their new prince. Well, I am not outside yet, but I can see everycreature there. I am at the threshold. Feeling my anxiety begin to climb exponentially, I begin to pray to my Creator.

“Master of the Universe, please let this coronation go well. I want to make you and Am Israel proud.” I pray silently, remembering I can summon books. I get my siddur and begin reciting the entire book of Psalms. It seemed to have the strange effect of making my mane glow teal, but I don’t think anycreature noticed.

“Oh… and please let my time power be wrong this one time. Twilight deserves more than ten years of peaceful rule. Prove my time power wrong.”

“GREETINGS GRIFFONS, DRAGONS, CHANGELINGS, KIRINS, ZEBRAS, YAKS, PONIES AND ALL OTHER SPECIES THAT CALL THE PLANET OF EQUUS HOME! TODAY, I WOULD LIKE TO START OUT BY RECALLING OUR BONDS OF FRIENDSHIP THAT WE HAVE WORKED ON TOGETHER FOR ALL OF THESE YEARS!
I TRUST THAT THESE BONDS WE HAVE FORMED WITH EACH OTHER WILL REMAIN STRONG FOR CENTURIES TO COME, AS WE ARE CLOSER THAN MERE FRIENDS OR EVEN FAMILY. WE ARE CLOSER EVEN THAN THOSE WE WOULD CALL ‘LOVERS’!
WE ARE BEATING WITH ONE HEART, MOVING WITH ONE PURPOSE, AND ACTING WITH ONE GOAL IN MIND!
WHAT IS THAT GOAL?!
FRIENDSHIP!
BECAUSE FRIENDSHIP BUILDS US UP, BRINGS US TO A HIGHER LEVEL THAN WE EVER HAD BEFORE, RAISES US OUT OF THE MUCK AND MIRE OF DISTRUST AND MISERY! AS YOU HAVE SEEN THE EVIDENCE WITH YOUR OWN EYES, FELT IT WITH YOUR OWN LIMBS AND IN THE CORE OF YOUR HEARTS, AND HEARD IT WITH YOUR OWN EARS! SAY IT WITH ME!”

And with a mighty roar that shook the whole of Canterlot:

“FRIENDSHIP. IS. MAGIC!!”

I begin to laugh at Twilight’s speech around the “one heartbeat” line: “Oh the bitter irony. You don’t know the half of it Twily.”
“Yeah, I get it, Weinstein.” Somecreature taps me on the back with a talon. A griffon, mayhaps? I turn around and then it hit me:

“Discord? What are you doing here?” I almost said that too loudly.

“Paying my respects to the ruling timelord of course! Besides, we all know I have the magic of meta, and know this game is a lost cause. Why bother? We are both too powerful to let this affect us, as good intentioned as Twilight is.”

“It may be a lost cause, but I have to honor my teacher… memory and heritage is my cutie mark, remember?”

Discord chuckles: “Oh the naivety of youth. Ten millennia is a second in my books. You might be old, but you aren’t old enough. We both know your “moon mommy” will survive the baseless hatred calamity, so I don’t know why you care so much.” I wanted to pause time and Road Roller him for almost ruining my coronation with this attitude, but I knew deep down he was right. I only had ten years of bliss. I stayed silent.

“Don’t let the calamity hit you on the way out, Noah. When it hits the fan and the magic is gone, call me.” He hands me a card in a comical fashion and disappears.

“Son of a-”

“THAT’S RIGHT, MY DEAR FRIENDS! FRIENDSHIP. IS. MAGIC! AND BECAUSE IT IS MAGIC, WE CAN OVERCOME ANYTHING AND ANYCREATURE THAT THREATENS TO KEEP US DOWN!”

“Welp, here we go.” I think to myself, knowing that Twilight was about to introduce me. Might as well pray again… Putting my front-right hoof over my eyes, I remember the first prayer any Jew learns, arguably the most important one.

“Shema...Yisrael…”

“And speaking of ‘dear friends’, I would be honored if you welcomed one of mine! EVERYCREATURE, PLEASE WELCOME THE PRINCE OF TIME…”

“Adonai… Eloheinu…”

“ JEWNICORN!”
“Adonai…. Echad!”

Showtime. Making my way outside, in my tux, which is covered in sweat, I feel time slowing down, and not from my own magic! I must be stressed out of my mind. I feel like I am at the Oscars or something! Twilight told me that she was going to be the one to crown me, but she spawned the crown and gave it to somepony else… Princess Luna.

Well, now I am definitely going to cry in front of 1.2 million creatures.

“Thou haveth this, Noah. Good luck!” Luna says quietly, hovering over my head with the very crown she wore for millennia.

As soon as I felt the metal touch my mane, a massive surge of magical energy began flowing through my body, and the crown began to transform. It had a lunar crescent on its front, but that disappeared in exchange for a clockface. I felt powerful before, but this is something new! I could get used to this!
Also, was my mane on fire? No, it’s just wavy now. I look behind me and I see the very fabric of time and space weaving itself into my mane. I am not Luna sized yet, but at least I have the cool hairdo.

Using her Royal Canterlot Voice, Luna proclaims: “BEHOLD, OUR FOSTER SON AND HEIR, JEWNICORN THE CLOCKWORK PRINCE!!!”

The entirety of Canterlot kneeled at this statement, and I burst into tears.

“Baruch ata, adonai, eloheinu melech haolam, shehecheyanu, vekiyimanu, vehigiyanu, bazman hazeh” I recite to myself. “Mom...we did it. I hope you're happy!”