Jessie buried his face in the book in hopes of absorbing the spell through physical contact. It was on the tip of his muzzle. He could smell it. The old paper, the dust that threatened to make him sneeze, the scent of knowledge. Magical secrets galore. Endless power, ripe for the taking. All he had to do was just grab it.
Unfortunately, he didn’t think it was working.
He was currently in the now empty school library, sitting at a table and waiting for Sunset to finish her practical mid-term exam. Having arrived late into the semester, he didn’t have to take the thing. Celestia instead offered her own test for him next week that would test magical prowess on his own level by the standards she had set. A test that Jessie not only quickly, but gladly accepted. The title of Master of the Arcane was his.
Jessie expected everything to just become super weird and complex after he revealed the truth to Sunset but the next few weeks passed by in the castle quickly and they weren’t particularly interesting. Go to magic school, go back to the castle, rinse repeat until the weekend came and then back to it after those two days. Sure there was the occasional mishap that involved Sunset calling him a moron and the Princess pestering him with questions. Not to mention the usual shenanigans with Sunset. Usually things went as smoothly as they could for a boy trapped in another world.
It bothered him, however, that things were beginning to feel more and more comfortable. Celestia had ordered for his room to be redecorated with posters and custom bed sheets and even a few novelty rugs to make him feel more at home. He was even allowed to work out in the guard’s gym after hours. There was a sneaking suspicion that Celestia was trying to get back on his good side after he blew up at her in the throne room. Not that he wasn’t grateful or anything, because he was. He just didn’t belong here, in this world, surrounded by things that previously had been deemed impossible by his own mind.
Speaking of his mind, the longer he stayed in this world the less the backlash from recalling his own memories seemed to become. Now instead of having a railway spike driven through his skull at the mere mention of his arrival, all he got instead was an empty and blank feeling. The effect was similar to walking into a room and forgetting why you were there in the first place.
Sunset, upon hearing this, insisted they continue performing the spell in hopes of cracking the barrier blocking his memories. The girl enjoyed watching his awkward moments play out and enjoyed viewing the human world, even if she didn’t want to say it out loud. There was always a witty comment or joke made after a particularly embarrassing memory. Some of her jokes would last for days on end. But he had gotten the last laugh when she watched him play through P. T. Her horrified face would be imprinted in his mind for eternity.
Was it worth getting hit with her hooves and being avoided for a few days? Absolutely.
“Stop sniffing books, Iri. That’s not how you read!”
Bringing himself back to the present, Jessie rolled his eyes and relaxed his body. Candy Puff was here with him, having finished her exam first and choosing to spend her off time with him in the library. She was doing the thing where she stayed in his personal space. It wasn’t bothering him much, even if it did leave a permanent blush on his fur. “I’m not sniffing them! I’m... absorbing the knowledge.”
“I dunno,” Candy giggled. “That sounded an awful lot like sniffing to me, Iri!”
Jessie looked up from the book and gave her a playful glare. “Shush. We all have different reading methods. Mine just includes getting really, really close to books.”
More giggling followed as she moved her seat closer to his. Jessie tried not to squirm in the now uncomfortable chair. Ponies had no respect for personal space and while he didn’t mind it from Candy or Sunset, it wasn’t something he was quite used to still. Candy Puff seemed to enjoy being close even more so than other ponies.
Instead of worrying about it, he tried to focus more on the book. The pages were filled to the brim with stealth themed spells, perfect for an adventurer or secret agent like in one of those Daring Doo books he caught some of the other colts reading. Jessie thought about trying some of these in his room, already coming up with numerous ideas to test them out. Something like this would help him sneak around the castle. Not to mention how it provided him an interesting challenge for his mag-
His thoughts were once again intruded upon by Candy as her breath tickled the fur on his shoulder. A strange chill raced down his spine as well as a whole body shiver. Candy giggled again, a quiet musical sound that caused more unfamiliar tingles down his back.
“Have you been working out?” She asked, her voice far too soft to be asking a simple question.
“Uh, yeah. I- I have. Yeah.” Jessie was presented with a problem. He may have been an idiot according to Sunset but he wasn’t dense. Scratch that, he was, but not dense enough to brush this off. It was painfully obvious Candy was flirting with him. She was acting more touchy-feely than usual and even an actual idiot could notice the way she looked at him whenever she moved so close. Her feelings for him wasn’t his concern though, it was the fact that he was unsure if he shared them.
“I noticed. You’re so... fit.” Her hooves reached out and Jessie’s eyes tracked them warily. He didn’t move to interfere, either because he didn’t know what the proper course of action was or because he wanted to see what she would do. That uncertainty didn’t settle well in his stomach and the way her eyes lingered on his body gave off countless red flags.
Her hooves gingerly felt over his barrel and forelegs, making his breath hitch. Candy, humming to herself distractedly, letting out an occasional soft sound of approval whenever she grazed over a muscle. While Jessie wasn’t absolutely massive like some of the guards and even some colts he saw in the street, he was lean and fit like somepony who did a fair amount of running in their off-time. This fact didn’t seem to bother Candy as she ran her hooves over his lean frame.
“Is this part of your training with Celestia?” She asked.
Before he could answer, the library door slammed open and Candy Puff’s hooves retreated away from his body. As he turned to give his savior a look of thanks he noticed it was none other than Sunset Shimmer, who wore a confident and proud smile as if she just reinvented sliced bread. The filly snorted when she saw the two of them and walked over with a swagger that spoke volumes.
“That exam was so easy I might as well have just breathed to pass.” She boasted, her chin held high.
“Good for you, yeah? Not all of us are considered magical prodigies,” Jessie muttered with an eye roll. He shook off the nervousness from Candy’s weird groping and instead shifted his attention toward Sunset. Fighting back his own smirk was hard. He wouldn’t admit to being happy for Sunset in front of her but he damn sure was. “I’m working my way there, though. Maybe Celestia will make me a prince.”
“In your dreams.”
“Dreams come true quite often. Once I ascend to royalty you can be my court jester or personal servant.”
The two of them gave each other playful glares that lacked both intensity and seriousness. This earned a few giggles from Candy, who was now much further away from Jessie instead of the mere millimeters she had been before.
Sunset began to laugh and broke the impromptu staring contest, which triggered Jessie’s own. The two of them had become closer during their time in the castle together, with Jessie considering her a very close friend now. She often came to him with her problems and rants, expecting him to help and be supportive, albeit aggressively as Sunset was known to do. Regardless he tried to help as best he could and she would... be herself, though nicer around him.
Whenever he made mention of their “relationship”, as she so kindly liked to put it, she instead would tell him to avoid saying “the f-word” and give him the magical equivalent of a forehead flick. Not that he minded. He thought it was cute the way her pony face scrunched up when she got annoyed. Part of being from another world surrounded by a bunch of cute quadrupeds that were seemingly designed to be cute and likable was that he couldn’t take their negative emotions too seriously. When he mentioned this to Sunset, she rolled her eyes and called him a stupid alien.
Rude. Not even clever. He preferred when she called him egg brain or something. That always got a laugh.
“Come on,” Sunset said, already turning to leave. She didn’t even say hi to Candy. “Let’s head back to the castle. The Princess is waiting for us.”
Turquoise magic wrapped around his book and put it into the bag under the table. The straps attached to the bag tightened around his body almost painfully. Jessie gave Sunset an annoyed glare and loosened the straps himself to which she responded with a raspberry.
“Oh, okay!” Candy Puff smiled and the two other unicorns looked at each other then at the pink filly. Sunset barely even laid eyes on her before she turned to leave again. Jessie shuffled on his hooves in uncertainty after realizing he was leaving his friend in the library. By herself. Alone. “I’ll see you two on Monday!”
“Sure,” Sunset said in a typical blunt tone, half of her body already out of the door. “See you.”
Jessie noticed Candy’s smile waver but reestablish itself after as she waved at him. He tried to say something positive for her, but Sunset’s turquoise magic wrapped around his foreleg and pulled him out the door. All he managed to do was give a small wave to Candy before being yanked into the hallway.
***
“Random question,” Sunset began as they walked along the pathway toward the castle. The school was close to the castle but they still had to pass through some residential area, mostly full of nobles and guardsmen. Ponies were eyeing them, whispering amongst themselves. Jessie caught faint words about them being students of the Princess and whatever else. It didn’t seem to phase Sunset so he tried his best not to acknowledge it. “Your parents are both dark brown and your coat isn’t as dark as theirs. Why is that?”
The question took a moment to work its way into his brain and allow itself to be processed. But when it did, he looked at Sunset incredulously. Such a strange out of the blue question. She had asked him so many things before but why would she ask him this now?
And why did it sound so weird?
“You can’t be-,” Jessie gave up mid-sentence, sighed and shook his head, feeling his ghostly ancestors roll in their graves. “It’s like, genetics or something. Not everyone is going to look the same as their parents.”
“Obviously. I thought humans were different from ponies though? Didn’t you tell me your genes worked differently?”
“That’s... Not how that works at all.” He said with another sigh. The average person or pony would assume even magical prodigies learned the basics of science. Then again ponies had all this magic stuff but they were way behind in the science department. “We may be different physically but I’m pretty sure all living things have the same laws for genetics. I can’t explain it, dude. I’m not a scientist.”
“Maybe if you paid more attention in science class on either world you’d know,” Sunset chuckled, but there was no negative undertone. “Your world sure is weird though. No magic, only two legs, only intelligent species on the planet and your sun and moon move by themsel-“
“You have a god that raises the sun and moon for you! Yet you think my world is strange?!”
“She’s a normal pony like you and me, moron. She just so happens to raise the sun and moon.”
“B- What? That’s still absolutely crazy!”
Sunset rolled her eyes but chose not to take the debate further.
A comfortable silence settled the between them as they walked the rest of the way to the castle, filled with nothing but the clopping of their hooves on the path stones and the noises of ponies talking around them. Spending time with Sunset was one of the only ways he could feel truly himself in this weird world. Those same feelings reflected on their interactions positively and Sunset seemed to reciprocate them herself.
It baffled him how friendly she was now. She sympathized with him and his situation even if it wasn’t something she liked showing, she didn’t threaten to tell anypony about just to gain an advantage over him. None of her repetitive jokes about him being an idiot held any weight. She was a good friend, even if she was still kind of self centered and selfish at times.
But not even that stopped Sunset from being infinitely better than a majority of his friends on Earth. He was grateful to have met her when he did.
They made their way through the castle, the guards stepping to the side to allow them into the throne room where they found the Princess. To Jessie she looked like the spitting image of pony divinity. Just rather tired under that mask of royal serenity she wore at every waking moment.
“Iridescent Horizon! Sunset Shimmer!” In an instant the weary look was replaced by a soft motherly smile. Jessie waved and Sunset nodded toward her mentor. “How was your exam, Sunset?”
“It was easy,” She replied, not able to contain the pride from leaking into her voice. “You’d think a school of magic would provide a challenge.”
Celestia’s motherly smile broadened into a proud one. Jessie tried to contain his snort but a quick elbow from Sunset told him that he had failed. As they took turns blowing raspberries at each other, Celestia’s musical laughter filled the air.
“Now, now you two. You are probably wondering why I called you. I was going to wait for Iridescent’s exam but I believe you two are worthy of seeing this now.”
Sunset and Jessie looked at each other in confusion, then to Celestia.
The solar monarch began to stand, rising to her full height as the two teenagers echoed, “What?”
“You’ll see.” Celestia said, hopping down from her throne. She used her wings to glide to the base of the throne and made her way to a corridor on the right, the dead silence of the room making her hoofsteps louder than usual. Sunset and Jessie shared a glance once more before quickly following after their mentor.
At first, the two of them echoed the noise from the Princess, that is to say, none at all. The three of them trotted through the halls in total silence, save for the occasional deep annoyed breath from either of the impatient adolescents. But as young ponies typically reacted to long periods of quiet, they began to ask questions.
“Where are we going?”
“What do you want to show us?”
“Why are these hallways feel so long?” Mostly from Jessie.
Etcetera.
Each time the Princess would respond with a hummed, “You’ll see.”
Eventually, though, they did see. The door Celestia stopped in front of nearly matched colors with the walls of the hall. It was past the hallway of stained glass windows and neatly tucked behind a small corner in a very unassuming fashion. Jessie had almost walked past the small entrance until he was pulled back by a combination of Celestia and Sunset’s magic.
“It’s in here.” Was all Celestia said as the door opened, revealing it’s rather lackluster contents.
Inside the room were objects covered in faded brown sheets. The light streaming in from a small window on the other side of the room revealed a hefty amount of dust in the air. All three of the horned ponies could feel the faint tickling feeling of magic lingering in the air.
Celestia, like the calm and collected leader she was, stepped in.
Sunset and Jessie shared yet another look as they followed after her.
Jessie questioned why the silence in this world was always to perfectly timed, obviously with the “this world” withheld. Sunset gave a signature eye roll in the typical annoyed fashion. Celestia exhaled a quick puff of air that briefly broke the mysterious facade she kept up on their way through the halls. He considered that a success, if only a minor one.
She walked up to a seemingly random sheet covered object and ripped the sheet off of it. Underneath was... a mirror. Just a mirror. There was some weird crystal-y stuff around it complete with swirling patterns made of some dark material but it was just a mirror. Jessie reached out to touch it but when his better judgement kicked in, forced his hoof back down.
“It’s a mirror,” Sunset said, circling around the object. “Is it magic?”
“Obviously,” Jessie replied, rolling his eyes. “I know you can feel that too.”
Sunset scowled but didn’t reply, too busy running her hooves over the base of the object.
“Now, now, you two,” Magic pulled them closer to the monarch and directly in front of the mirror. Jessie’s own reflection stared back at him, head tilted in curiosity like his own. It was the first real good look he had gotten of himself since his arrival. He couldn’t help but stare back into his own amber eyes, a much nicer color than the dull brown back on his world. In the center of the mirror, there was a twinkle that Sunset not Celestia commented on. Jessie assumed he had just imagined it. “I want you to look into it and tell me what you see.”
The two teenagers wordlessly took steps toward their reflections.
They stopped directly in front of the mirror and more faint twinkling ran across the surface. By Sunset’s quiet gasp of surprise he could tell she had noticed it too.
“I don’t... see anything,” Sunset muttered after her surprise wore off, one of her hooves setting itself on the base of the mirror and the other reaching out toward the surface. A month ago Jessie didn’t doubt she’d have said something boastful or commented on her appearance arrogantly. Or maybe not and he was just trying to take credit for her positive attitude change. “Except, well, a very beautiful pony with a lot of potential... and her egg brained accomplice.”
Never mind.
“Look closer,” Celestia urged. “Is that really all that you see?”
The two of them looked closer as instructed. Even more twinkling came from the mirror. The surface rippled as if it were a pool of water and the two gasped in surprise as their reflections changed.
Sunset’s reflection was a little taller than herself, as was his. Their hair was flowing slightly, not as much as Celestia’s but enough for him to see as it waved in an unnoticeable wind with his reflection’s own locks slithering and moving in wavy patterns like snakes. Large glowing wings were spread out from both of the alternate versions which made them alicorns. To complete the look, the reflections wore confident and proud expressions that stared back at both Jessie and Sunset’s shocked and awed ones.
Jessie had expected some eldritch horror to be gazing at him from the other side, not to see himself as a... god.
He leapt back with a gasp, as did Sunset. The mirror shimmered once more before his normal reflection was staring back at him. This time he just appeared confused.
“What was that?” Sunset blurted.
“What was what?” Came the Princess’ confused and hurried reply. Jessie, and he assumed Sunset, knew that she had definitely noticed.
“We- I- Iridescent and I were alicorns!” As Jessie kept his eyes on the mirror, trying to spot a change in reflection again and Sunset’s voice went higher as she became excited. “Are you going to make me an alicorn? There’s a spell for it? There has to be, right? Right!”
“I believe that is enough,” Celestia said, throwing the sheet back onto the mirror. Jessie blinked slowly when he noticed he wasn’t looking at his own reflection anymore. “Let’s get out of here.”
“No!” Came Sunset’s determined growl, emphasized with a hoof stomping on the marble floor in frustration. “Answer me! There are spells to make me into an alicorn and that mirror is proof. You can’t just hide this from me as if it never happened!”
“Sunset-“ Jessie began.
“That is enough, Sunset Shimmer,” Celestia snapped firmly. “You have seen nothing of importance. Whatever you saw must have been a trick of the light. Regardless, alicorn status must be earned. It cannot be gifted through some spell.”
“I deserve it! Do you not know how much effort I put in to being the best? I deserve to be your equal, if not your better!”
“You are still as arrogant as ever. You may have made one friend-“
“We. Aren’t. Friends.”
That one stung. It stung a lot actually. Jessie was crushed under an overwhelming amount of disappointment and sadness that was so sudden it nearly choked him. He couldn’t tell if she was just saying it to throw Celestia off and that’s what made the statement sting even more. They had spent so much time together. How could she say it with a straight face.
Celestia’s firm tone took on a hint of anger that would have gone unnoticed had Jessie not spent so much time around her. “Sunset Shimmer. That is enough.”
“Whatever. One day I’m going to get what I want and you won’t be able to stop me.” The door slammed and Jessie heard her hoofsteps fade down the hallway, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away from the covered mirror. Maybe it was because his pony form was younger and more emotional, but he felt as if Sunset’s words had cut a lot deeper than intended.
“That girl,” Celestia whispered. “I... I am sorry, Iridescent Horizon. Are you alright?”
“It’s fine,” He murmured quietly, still looking at the sheet. He couldn’t help but feel that he had just seen something important. Something he shouldn’t have. “I’m fine.”
“Sunset Shimmer is just... upset,” The Princess tried to explain. Her words were falling on deaf ears however. “I’m sure she didn’t mean that.”
Jessie didn’t respond, not quite all there. Under the sheet, the mirror twinkled again, but when he blinked it was gone.
“I’m fine.” He repeated again.
“Iridescent,” Celestia said hesitantly. Her tone indicated she was trying to explain herself but Jessie couldn’t bring himself to care much. “I wanted to show you both an image of your potential. I did not think it would have this effect on Sunset.”
“Why even bother? You know I’m not supposed to even live in this castle.”
“...I have been sensing tragedy within your own mind,” She said after a long pause. “I believe you suppressed your own memories as a way to cope.”
“What does that have to do with anything.” He replied, the statement sounding nothing like a question.
“I-“ Celestia’s eyes wandered to the floor, where they stayed as if she were overcome with shame. “I was hoping you would see this tragedy in the mirror to discourage you from wanting to leave.”
Jessie straightened, head snapping in Celestia’s direction. That didn’t make sense. It didn’t. No matter how much he repeated her words in his mind it just didn’t make sense. Celestia, sensing his oncoming question, answered before he could ask.
“I wanted to keep you here,” She continued with her eyes still downcast. Shame rolled off of her in waves. The emotion was so strong that if he looked closer he’d have sworn he could see a physical manifestation of it. “I- I wanted to use you as a positive influence for Sunset. Potentially as her replacement should she ever do something irredeemable. It’s why I didn’t take the books from her after our confrontation in the throne room. I asked her about the spells but she instead plastered the blame on herself, saying that my actions were wrong. Using those very spells I wiped her memory of the incident-“
“Stop talking.”
“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, Iridescent Horizon-“
“I said stop.” He snapped.
“Please forgive me,” The Princess’ eyes moved upward, locking onto his. Jessie saw tears pooling as she shakily pleaded with him. “I never intended to-“
“I told you about my parents, having faith that you would help me,” Jessie backed away from her, toward the door. “I trusted you in that moment and you just intended to use me.”
“Iridescent-“
“That’s evil. You do understand that, right? I gave you that information expecting kindness and all you saw it as was a tool to use against me? That’s undeniably, completely and utterly evil. Use whatever mental gymnastics you want but you fully intended on using my vulnerability for your own gain.”
“Please! I never-“
“Just shut up!” Jessie yelled. The door behind him opened in a flash of amber magic and he continued to back away from Celestia. Disgust was plainly written on his features as if he were looking at the most vile thing he’d seen in his life. “I don’t know what kind of long game you’re playing here but I hope you know you practically made an enemy out of me. An enemy you should not have. Think on that for a while, won’t you? After all, you’re practically a god.”
Celestia, the solar monarch that was the epitome of divinity and royalty when he first met her, now looked defeated. Jessie slammed the door behind himself and through the surface came the sound of more muffled pleas. A small twinge of regret planted itself in his mind, but was instead snuffed out by the anger and disbelief.
As he stalked down the hall, he muttered bitterly under his breath, but somehow he knew Celestia would hear.
“You have nothing but time.”