Hey, Wait a Second

by Erie_Entity


Chapter 3

Sunset walked down the corridor with her chin held high and with very confident hoofsteps echoing down the halls... with Iridescent nervously walking beside and also slightly behind her.

The way he glanced around anxiously and even jumped when he saw the servants was really hilarious to Sunset, but she tried not to let it show. Last thing she wanted was for that moron to end up panicking over something again. Colts and their fragile minds. Speaking of that...

“You going to tell me what happened back there?” She asked.

Iridescent’s head snapped to her so quickly it almost looked like it had hurt. Sunset was almost worried that he gave himself whiplash.

“What?” A servant passed them by, minding her own business and walking with a tray on her back. Iridescent, at the sight of her, shrunk into himself a little, as if he was trying to make himself seem as small as possible.

“You know,” she started, giving the servant that had passed by them the side-eye. She gestured to her head with a hoof, making circular motions. “Your little episode in the gardens.”

“What are you- Ouch!” Iridescent ducked his head and winced, as if something had struck him. “That’s a killer headache... and uh. No? I just had a nightmare and got scared, that’s i- Fout tonè! That hurts.”

Sunset glanced at him for a second, raising an unamused eyebrow in his direction. The colt still had his head ducked, the pain of his headache evident on his expression. Maybe he was trying to play it off. Or it was just an attempt to get her to leave him alone. He did seem like the type who didn’t want to talk about his problems.

“You had a panic attack? Also looked just about ready to cry your eyes out?” She asked, using that tone she usually did when talking to somepony stubborn. “Remember?”

“No. I don’t,” The response came from his lips so quickly she was rather impressed that he said it without stuttering. He winced again, slowing down only slightly. “Please drop it.”

Whatever. She would totally grill him about it later. If he was going to be a good minion, he wouldn’t keep any secrets away from her. That included whatever insignificant personal problems he had himself.

But that would come in time. They should be arriving to the kitchens soon anyway... Aha!

“We’re here.” Sunset announced with a hint of a dramatic flair. Iridescent stumbled and bumped into her side. But quickly righted himself and came to a stop in front of the door. Stupid, emotional and a klutz. He was a real piece of work.

There was a bright turquoise glow at the door and it swung open slowly. Iridescent’s eyes went wide and brightened at the sight of the royal kitchens.

There were ponies bustling around, massive stoves and ovens cooking giant portions of food for any guests that would be coming in that day. Fresh produce was laid out in a giant center table that many of the chefs were using for their dishes. The air was flooded with the scent of cooking and the sounds of chatter among the servants and chefs. It was a spectacular sight.

“Can’t believe you live in a place with a kitchen this big. I could probably fit my whole house in this one room.” He whispered in amazement.

“Perks of being the personal student of the Princess. I am just that special after all.” She saw the corners of his mouth twitch a little at that. At least the moron wasn’t all moody anymore. The sight made her feel a small form of satisfaction. She couldn’t believe he was worried.

“Miss Shimmer,” A chef pony greeted, her white hat and chef’s apron spotless as they hung from her red coat and baby blue mane. She walked up to them and barely gave Iridescent a once over before directing her attention to Sunset. The colt glanced at the chef pony in return but quickly put his attention back onto the rest of the kitchen, taking a whiff of the air and smiling slightly to himself. “Do you require something?”

“Yes, actually,” Sunset poked Iridescent in the side with her hoof. “Just a couple of daisy sandwiches and whatever he’s getting.”

The chef pony paused, going a bit straighter and looking toward Iridescent again. Both her and Sunset were staring at him and he seemed to be none the wiser. Sunset poked him again this time, harder.

“Huh? Oh, erm, I’ll have whatever she’s having?”

The chef pony looked very unimpressed and opened her mouth to say something but a look from the orange unicorn in front of her was enough to make her stop.

“Very good, sir. One moment while we prepare your... meal.” Sunset pretended to not notice her face scrunch up at the last word as the chef walked away.

“Sure thing. Thanks, dude- Ow! What was that for?” Sunset poked him really hard in the side that time, just enough to sting a little.

“She’s a chef. Just doing her job. No need to thank her.”

Iridescent had the nerve to look confused. Did she have to spell everything out for him?”

“But, it’s still nice to thank her. Wouldn’t want spit to wind up in our food anyway.”

“If she does that, somepony will know and she’ll lose her job. You don’t exactly have to be nice.”

He gave her an incredulous look, one that she returned with a hard stare. It’s not like she was wrong. The chef ponies knew exactly what was expected of them. She didn’t have time to be nice and wait for them.

“Well... yeah but,” The words came out very hesitantly. He didn’t have a proper argument. Point for Sunset. “Being nice is just... nice? Makes pe- ponies like you more.”

“Who cares what other ponies think?” She asked. Because seriously, who did? Why did it matter when she always got what she wanted? “It’s not like it makes a difference.”

You’d be surprised.” He muttered quietly, not at all intended for her to hear. But she heard, alright.

An annoyed snort left her muzzle. There he goes being stubborn again. One would think he’d have learned by now to not argue with her.


...But. She’d give it time. They’d only met yesterday, after all. It’s not like he would just blindly agree with everything she said. Even if she really, really wanted him to.

***

“You know,” Iridescent started, using his magic to float his sandwich bag around his head. Though he did almost drop it once or twice when he first tried holding it, Sunset could see his rapid improvement. “Doing stuff is way easier with magic. Can’t believe I went my whole life without this.”

“What I can’t believe is that you went your whole life not even once attempting magic,” Sunset said, her own bag floating in a fixed position by her head. Iridescent’s bag had smacked into hers but she moved it to the other side of her body. “Your cutie mark seems to be magic related. How did you get it if you’ve never attempted magic?”

Iridescent glanced at his cutie mark, tilting his head at it curiously.

“My mom said I had a magic surge or something when I was younger that caused it. But because there weren’t any unicorns in my village, I couldn’t develop my magic further,” He explained. “I’ve tried to do spells before but I couldn’t do anything apart from just make my horn glow.”

“Right,” It sounded solid. Made perfect sense, really. But for some reason she just didn’t buy it. Chalk it up to a mare’s intuition. “Where did you say you were from again?”

“Uh,” Iridescent looked away from his cutie mark and looked at her nervously. “...Oklafoala?”

“Why does it sound like you’re asking me instead of answering?” She asked, suspiciously.

“I could never really pronounce the name right.” He said with a nervous chuckle. At Sunset’s unimpressed look, he just shrugged a little. “Don’t really know what else to tell you.”

Maybe he wasn’t hiding something and was genuinely just stupid. At least now she had solid evidence.

“You’re not very bright, are you?”

Iridescent looked at her blankly for a moment before letting out a muted chuckle which raised in volume the longer it went on. It quickly turned into full blown laughter. Sunset tried to keep her smirk down but her defenses fell at Iridescent’s infectious laughter. She even let out of a laugh or two on her own, not that she’d ever admit it to anypony.

“Ah! Sunset Shimmer!” A serene voice called out to her. Oh no.

Both the colt and filly went quiet almost immediately, stopping dead in their tracks. Their eyes flicked quickly toward the direction of the new voice.

“I’ve been looking for you,” Princess Celestia said with a smile. The soft clopping of her hooves echoed through the corridor before she stopped right in front of them. “The servants have told me you’re being accompanied by somepony. I wanted to see them for myself.”

Sunset huffed to herself, but didn’t express her annoyance any further. Iridescent, however-

“Wow. You’re tall,” The colt blurted. Sunset gave him a sharp poke in the side, which he responded to by sticking his tongue out at her. “What? She is!”

“I get that often.” Celestia chuckled. Her ethereal mane was glowing a bit more than usual, indicating she was in a good mood. “Forgive me, but I don’t think I’ve seen you around here. Who are you, exactly?”

“I’m uh,” Iridescent shuffled on his hooves, glancing at Sunset for a moment before looking back toward Celestia. The two mares noticed that he was now standing a bit straighter. “I’m Iridescent Horizon. New here. To Canterlot. New to Canterlot.”

Sunset facehooved so hard she almost hurt herself.

“I see,” Celestia’s smile got a little wider, more genuine. “Pray tell, what are you doing here then, with Sunset Shimmer?”

“I’m teaching him magic,” Sunset cut in before the idiot could make a fool of himself. “He was the only unicorn in his village before moving here so he never learned.”

Celestia’s smile wavered for a moment, being replaced with a small look of surprise.

“Only unicorn from his village?” She asked hesitantly.

“Yes, Princess.”

“And you are... teaching him magic.” That wasn’t a question.

“Yes.”

Celestia’s smile returned full force and she clapped her hooves excitedly.

“Oh, Sunset! I’m so glad you’re taking my advice and starting to make friend-“

“We aren’t friends.” Sunset interrupted bluntly.

There was the sound of Iridescent’s sandwich bag hitting the floor but Sunset didn’t turn around.

“You... are not?” Celestia hesitantly inquired. Her smile had disappeared completely this time, a look of concern and disappointment taking its place. “Why would you be teaching him magic then? Or invite him into the castle-“

“I just wanted to,” Sunset said through gritted teeth. She really wanted to leave before this turned into another friendship lecture or something. Those were really annoying. “I found him exploring the city and we talked. He mentioned that he was new to Canterlot and didn’t know magic and thing’s went from there. That’s all.”

“Oh, of course.” Celestia cleared her throat and stood a little straighter. Her smile returned, though rather forced. “Well then,... Iridescent, was it?”

“What’s up? I mean, uh. Yes, Princess?”

“Where did you say you were from, again?”

“Oklafoala?” He said, well, asked. There was that nervous hesitation again. “I doubt even you would have heard of it, it’s a rather small village.

“Oklafoala, hmm? I believe I’ve seen that name somewhere. Though it doesn’t sound too familiar to me.” Celestia’s head tilted, gazing down at Iridescent in confusion. “Must be a really small village, then.”

“Uh, yeah- Ouch! I mean yes, Princess.” He glared at Sunset and she returned it gladly. The one pony he shouldn’t be informal with was Celestia. She was the one who decided if Sunset became a princess or not. This was something that moron should have been aware of.

“Of course,” Celestia hummed, closing her eyes for a few seconds as if she were deep in thought. Sunset really didn’t like when she did that. It meant she was thinking of ways to test her. Being tested was a royal pain. Literally! “I see you two are on a break. But if you need any help or any spell books to study, the royal archives are open to you both.”

“Thank you, Princess.”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

Celestia’s eyes opened and she gave them both another smile and a small bow.

“I have some royal business to attend to. But before I go, I hope you enjoy your stay in Canterlot, Iridescent Horizon. It’s been a pleasure.” Celestia walked past them, but not before giving Sunset a look. A look she couldn’t quite tell the emotion of.

“Nice to meet you too. See you, Princess!” Iridescent waved. Sunset could have sworn she heard a quiet laugh from the alicorn.

When Celestia was out of sight, Iridescent slumped onto his haunches and his ears flattened against his skull. His expression turned into one of complete relief.

“That was so stressful. What a load of mèd,” The colt grumbled. “She moves the sun and the moon. Do you know how nuts that is? Wait, no. Of course you do. You, like, live here.”

“She’s just a normal pony like the both of us.” Sunset said with an eye roll, using her magic to grab the sandwich bag he had dropped. Iridescent gave her a bewildered look and shook his head aggressively.

“What? Normal ponies aren’t that big. Nor can they move the sun and moon. She’s a goddess! Did you even see how her mane was floating all weird? She rules the country and has the power to vaporize me in seconds! That’s terrifying!”

Sunset rolled her eyes again, this time way harder. She wondered if she hung around Iridescent enough, would her eyes roll out of her head completely?

... Probably not. But it sure felt like it.

“She’s not a goddess. Despite whatever those weird cults used to say. She’s a normal pony who just happens to be able to do that stuff... and also rule the country,” Iridescent looked up at her, his head tilted in confusion. Sunset just gave him a smirk. Him being dumb was funny, at least. “You really shouldn’t be so worried. Not like you’re worth vaporizing anyway.”

“Rude,” Though he was smiling back at her. “But true, I guess. I’m just some guy. Not like I pose a threat to the kingdom or anything.”

“Definitely not.”

Iridescent’s smile disappeared, being replaced by an indignant look. To which Sunset started laughing at. Pure and genuine.