//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: Hey, Wait a Second // by Erie_Entity //------------------------------// Jessie climbed onto the roof, thankful for the gloves and layers of clothing that protected his skin from the cold snow. In his hand was a bottle of pineapple soda he had stuck in a mound of snow to keep cold. As he took a swig, he noted the half frozen slushy liquid didn’t seem too bad. It was refreshing, all things considered. Jessie sighed, watching his breath blow away in the cold air. In front of him, the sun was rising. It’s orange light becoming brighter as it approached his side of the planet. To his right, one could hear his neighbors getting ready for the day. They were yelling at each other like old couples frequently do. Not too loud, not too quiet. A nice medium of silence and noise that someone usually never experienced. At least in their day to day life. He took another swig of his soda. As the sun began to rise he could feel himself relax until suddenly, a faint shimmer of rainbow light caught his attention. Starting at the tip of the sun that had just managed to poke over the edge of the horizon, it flared, as if showing off. The boy’s eyes squinted at the brightness. As the sun crawled its way upward, the shining light revealed itself more. Rainbow colors surrounded the sun in a halo. The sun itself also seemed to be colored strangely, fiery orange replaced with a soft pinkish red. The old couple went quiet. The sun hovered it’s way up into the sky. Blinding rainbow light threatened to erase his retinas but Jessie couldn’t find the strength to look away. One of his hands gingerly slipped into his pocket to grab his phone. He felt as if he blinked, the whole thing would disappear. However, as he pulled his phone out to record the event, it all stopped. The sun’s colors reverted back to the usual oranges and yellows. No sign of the strange light or the spectacular sight he had just witnessed, just a normal sunrise. Jessie looked at the bottle of soda that he had dropped into the grass below, then back toward the sun. The old neighbors went back to yelling as if nothing had happened. Below him, his dad was calling his name. More directly below him, the cold from the snow on the roof was creeping onto his butt despite the layers of clothing he had on. Jessie said the only thing that came to his mind at the time. “What the fuck.” *** Celestia’s sunlight streamed through the windows of Jessie’s room in the castle. The bright light pried at the occupant’s eyes in an effort to wake him but he rolled over, away from the window. Unfortunately, the mirror in his room instead reflected the light directly into his eyes again. The boy turned colt tossed and turned for a moment before getting fed up. “Fine, fine,” Jessie muttered as he sat up. His hooves slipped from under the blankets and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “Why haven’t I moved you yet? You did this yesterday too.” The mirror didn’t say anything in response. “Tèt zozo.” He grumbled, hopping off of the bed. Almost tripped and fell on his face but the landing was okay enough to be dictated a sucess. A yawn, a stretch and another yawn after the stretch started him off for the day. Amber light covered the curtains and they yanked open, letting more sunlight stream in but also giving him a nice view of the city below. How anypony could live like this all the time was beyond him. On his world a room and view like this would cost a fortune. It was a suite basically. Marble floors, large windows with even larger curtains, queen sized bed and even a small fire place in the corner. The bed even had curtains on it. Fancy, indeed. To top it all off, the impressive room was in a tower connected to the castle. High above the rest of the city yet close enough to the castle for it to still be higher than the tower. Sure he had to climb up a hell of a lot of stairs but it was isolated. Left him to his thoughts. Also made him feel like a ninja whenever he snuck out. But nopony needed to know about that. Sunset already laughed at him when she caught him practicing punches. A faint and hesitant knock came from his door and Jessie stared at it, blank faced. It was too early in the morning for any strong emotions so he kind of just stood there and contemplated what to do or say. Eventually, he just decided to tell them to come in. A servant’s head poked in the barely opened door. She looked nervous and glanced around the room before her dark brown eyes finally landed on him. Something in his head told him that she was new. Though he didn’t particularly know what to do with that information. “M- Mr. Horizon?” “Uh. Yo?” Jessie blinked, then raised an eyebrow in confusion. She had called him mister. Weird. “Why are you here? It’s Saturday, I’m not going to school today.” The servant stepped into the room fully, dressed in the cute little French maid outfit that the other female servants wore. Her white fur and orange-red mane looked freshly washed. His pony nose picked up a faint smell of cinnamon. “Princess Celestia wanted to speak with you,” She explained quietly, shyly. The wings at her side fluttered, drawing his attention to them. “I was instructed to escort you to the throne room.” “Why did she send somepony so early? More importantly,” Jessie glanced out the window and down at the guards patrolling the outer sections of the castle. A small scowl made its way onto his face when he spotted the guard that knocked him out. “Why didn’t she send a guard this time?” “Um, well. I was told not to tell you about this,” The servant closed the door behind her and glanced around as if she were about to spill some big secret. “But the Princess noticed how tense you seemed to be around the guards. She’s making plans to have you see them less but she wants to know why.” That was good information. At least, he considered it to be. That was probably the reason why Celestia wanted to talk to him. Even though she should have known that the answer to that question was obvious. Then again, it was hard to know with her. The local solar deity had the habit of being unpredictable and strange. She could have instead called him for some deep psychological pep talk to hype him up in his magic studies. Or she wanted to know how he and Sunset were getting along. But so early in the morning? On a Saturday? Didn’t they behead monarchs in France for stuff like that? “Mr. Horizon?” The servant asked, pulling him out of his thoughts. The mare shuffled on her hooves and kept looking at the floor to avoid eye contact. If he weren’t a pony himself and shorter than her, he’d say it was rather cute. “I believe I should be escorting you now.” “Yeah, yeah. Sure.” Oh well. He was up now. Might as well see what this was about. Breakfast had better be waiting for him. *** “Ah, Iridescent Horizon!” The Princess called from atop her throne, looking down at him with a warm and inviting smile. There were papers, scrolls and quills floating around her in a massive golden magic swirl that seemed to slow when he walked in. “Kijan ou ye,” Jessie greeted, stepping into the middle of the massive room and giving a half hearted salute. Last time he had been in the throne room, he had been dragged in and cried his eyes out. The place did look pretty nice when he was able to focus on some of the finer details. Bar the storm of paper and writing utensils. “You were expecting me? Well not expecting since you sent somepony to get me but- Yeah. You get the idea.” Celestia giggled, a hoof reaching up to cover her mouth. “Yes, of course,” Three quills wrote some things on a scroll and it rolled in on itself. A stamp then came out of nowhere, pressed into the wax seal and the scroll vanished in a flash of green flame. “I’ve been meaning to speak with you about some things. I hope you don’t mind.” “No, I don’t mind at all.” He did. A lot, actually. It’s a Saturday for Bondye’s sake! “That’s good to hear,” She fixed him with another motherly smile that seemed to ease all the tension in his body. Damn she was good. Jessie wondered what her secret was. “How have things been with your studies? Do you like your school?” “Good and... yes? Sort of? I mean, it’s school. Does it have to be enjoyable?” “Hmm,” Another scroll in the swirl vanished in a flash of green flame as Celestia pondered his question. “Not necessarily, no. But it does make learning a lot easier when you enjoy the place of learning and the subject at hoof.” “I guess.” “Is something the matter?” The Princess asked. “No, nothing. It’s just kind of early for a Saturday,” Jessie rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. It wasn’t like he wasn’t grateful she was letting him stay here at all. “I thought you were gonna let me sleep in.” “Apologies. I’d just rather ‘knock this out’, as you young ponies say,” Celestia let out a chuckle, which Jessie joined in on. She reminded him of his mom before she had disappeared. They both had an infectious laugh. “I noticed you’ve been... on edge around the guards. May I inquire as to why?” “You know why.” He replied easily, eyeing the guard posted at the door. The Princess’ smile wavered. But she nodded and didn’t say anything further. “Understood,” The swirl of papers, quills and scrolls paused its movement with the exception of one paper and quill. The quill wrote something on the paper which then also vanished into green flame. “Moving on, then. How do you feel about Sunset Shimmer? Are you two getting along?” Jessie looked back at the Princess, though his mood had soured enough already. If anything, he was grateful for the subject change. He didn’t trust the bastards after they knocked him out and put that stupid suppression ring on his horn. Maybe it was just those stories his dad had fed him. “She’s alright. Still hates calling me her friend but she’s warming up to the idea,” He paused, putting a hoof to his chin. “I think so, anyway. She likes to hang out with me and stuff but she’s pretty stubborn.” “She is rather headstrong.” The Princess agreed. “Yeah, like, I dunno. Half the time she’s irritated at something and the other half she’s kind of nice in her own way, albeit really determined and narrow minded.” Jessie shrugged. “Is what it is, I guess.” Celestia nodded. As he noticed the thoughtful look in her eye he decided not to speak on it. No one would probably have been able to make sense of it anyway. “She does seem to be warming up to you. I’d suggest continuing what you’re doing.” Celestia gave him a motherly smile once more, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Discussing Sunset’s less than friendly habits wasn’t fun for all parties involved. “She clearly likes you and your company. Just give her time.” “Time,” He repeated, looking down at the floor. The tip of his hoof traced circles into the marble. It felt like he was running out of time. The two of them could pretend to be friends as long as they wanted but Sunset needed to learn those spells. He was counting on it. “I can do that.” “Excellent. Now, one last question for you before you leave,” Jessie looked up at the Princess, his ears flicking. Her face shifted from the peaceful smile to a more careful and concerned look, one that indicated that this wouldn’t be a pleasant subject. “I noticed some... spellbooks missing from the restricted section of the archives. Spellbooks containing information about neuromancy. Now I understand you want to unlock your memo-“ “I don’t know what neuromancy is,” Jessie said, in a flat yet defensive tone. He had to lie to protect Sunset but something about the way she sounded so accusing didn’t sit right with him. A bitter feeling in his chest began to bubble to the surface. “I didn’t even know magic until I met Sunset and I still struggle with more advanced spells. Do you not trust me?” “I- Well, of course I do. It’s just, well, you may not like what you see. They could be suppressed for a reason-“ “My dad was there for me when my mom disappeared. Taught me everything he could just so I could feel normal,” The bitter feeling drowned out his other emotions and the coming anger threatened to make his head explode. “Without him I have nothing. Without him, I. Am. Nothing. And you want me to just GIVE UP?!” Jessie could feel his face turning red and the concern on Celestia’s face was evident. Behind him the guard at the door stood straighter, armor pieces clinking together. Tension seemed to replace the air in the room. “Iridescent,” The Princess tried to say carefully. “I didn’t mean-“ “I can’t stay here forever. My dad’s probably worried that his son disappeared just like his wife. I could be dead for all he knows,” A memory of his dad sitting on his bed, holding a picture frame and crying came to the forefront of his mind. Jessie closed his eyes for a moment to push it out of his head. “I’ll be damned if I ever let that happen to him again.” “Iridescent, please-“ “I’m going get breakfast. I’ll talk to you later, Princess.” He snapped, last word spitting out like it left a bad taste in his mouth. The quick about-face and brisk trot he had managed would have made a veteran member of the Royal Guard proud. As he effortlessly used his magic to close the massive doors behind him, curses in Haitian Creole came bitterly under his breath. Who did she think she was? *** “Mr. Horizon!” A voice called out to him over the sounds of bustling chef ponies and cooking food. Jessie’s ear twitched as he closed the kitchen door behind him. That voice sounded familiar but he wished ponies would stop calling him mister. It was getting old quick. “What’s up?” He asked, eyes scanning the collection of chefs. None of them were looking in direction except for one. The chef pony he had met his first time in the castle. As she walked over, Jessie’s face lit up in recognition. “Oh! It’s you!” The chef smiled brightly at him, giving him a wave with her hoof. “Mr. Horizon! It’s nice to see you again. Especially without the company of that girl. Do you need anything?” Ah. He had almost forgot how rude Sunset had been before. She acted so chill around him. “Just something for breakfast. I’m not picky.” “Yes, yes. We have some left overs from a noble’s breakfast order this morning. I’ll get that to you right away.” “Thank you.” “It’s no trouble.” The chef pony looked away to hide her blush and ran off to grab his breakfast. Jessie shuffled on his hooves, trying to make sense of the last bit of that encounter. “IRIDESCENT!” Somepony shouted behind him. “WAHH!” Jessie jumped, feeling his body go rigid with fright. The bustle in the kitchens muffled his less than manly scream but a couple of chefs were snickering to themselves. Jessie had to take a few seconds to calm down. Sunset, who had yelled his name, was glaring at him in annoyance from the doorway. “You weren’t in your room! I’ve been looking for you, egg brain!” “Bondye almighty,” Jessie panted. Sunset’s insult didn’t even register in his mind. The deafening sound of his beating heart was much, much louder. “What’s wrong with you?! You almost gave me a heart attack!” “You’re fine, you big foal,” She said with an eye roll. Her horn lit up and he could feel her tugging at one of his forelegs. The look in her eye indicated she was excited about something. A look that either meant something really good or really bad was coming. No in-between. “This is big, I think I may have actually had a breakthrough.” “Not even a ‘How are you’,” The colt grumbled, trying to squirm. “Your thing can wait until after my- HEY!” Sunset then began dragging him away. She was kidnapping him! More importantly, she was taking him away from the kitchens. Jessie’s eyes widened and he struggled in her magical grip. “Wait! My breakfaaaaaast!”