“Where is he?” Sunset grumbled as she paced back and forth across the kitchen tiles. Any passerby’s would have begun to notice the repeated motion creating a discoloring on the floor. “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon. I hate waiting.”
Sunday mornings were usually the times where she would sleep in, maybe read a fiction novel she had spotted in the school library during the week. Of course- just like many other things -the human had to go and mess them up. Not that most of it was particularly his fault; things were just different with him being around.
This though? Definitely his fault. Iridescent had said he’d give her answers and still hadn’t shown. What could he be doing on a Sunday morning that would make him want to skip breakfast? That was the one thing he always did at the same time every single day regardless of any other factors.
Sunset did another lap across the tiles, ignoring the stares of the one chef and couple of servants who had been scheduled to work this morning. She needed to know what he and Celestia talked about and - more importantly - what exactly that meant for Iridescent’s situation. If it was bad enough for Celestia to actually apologize like she had during the dinner then it must have been big.
Sunset was already worried about him enough, as painful as it was to admit. Adding more to that worry was not something she planned on doing.
“If that stupid, idiotic-“
“Miss Shimmer?” A very quiet voice interrupted.
“-egg brained idiot-“
“Miss Shimmer.”
“-doesn’t show up-“
“Miss Shimmer!”
“WHAT?!” She snapped.
The servant flinched back, ears folding back onto her skull. From behind her, another servant gently put their hoof on her withers. The now calmed servant took a deep breath.
“Are you looking for Iridescent Horizon?” She timidly asked.
“Obviously.”
“O-Oh. Well, um,” Her hooves shuffled awkwardly under her, like she wasn’t sure if she should stand still or bolt. “P-Princess Cadance has been awake for a while. M-Maybe you should ask her?”
Was she serious? Talk to Cadenza willingly? Why on-
“D-Did you get that, Miss Shimmer?”
Oh Faust, she was totally serious.
“Where is she?”
The timid servant’s hoof shakily raised and pointed to the door. “In the dining hall. She’s still eating b-breakfast.”
In the span of about five seconds (which felt way longer than normal) Sunset made up her mind. She left the kitchen, ignoring the whispered “that was scary” from the timid servant.
After the short trek to the dining hall, she noticed that Cadenza sitting at the head of the dining table. Her mane was at least properly done this time, though the slight respect she had earned in that moment was immediately slashed when Sunset saw she was eating her pancakes like a wild pig.
“Mm… Pancashhhhe,” Cadenza moaned, gobbling up another pancake without a fork, hooves or magic. “Tashe good.”
Vile. Truly vile.
Sunset politely announced herself to the alicorn… by clearing her throat.
“Oh! Shun-“ Cadenza cut herself off by choking on a chunk of pancake. Blue magic hastily wrapped around her glass of orange juice and she took a huge gulp, washing down the pancake chunk. The mare took a few shaky breaths and then smiled joyfully as if nothing had happened. “Sunset! Good morning!”
“…Morning,” Was all she said. Sunset had learned the hard way that when dealing with strange ponies, it was better to pretend like their weirdness never happened.
“I thought you’d be up earlier,” Cadenza mused. She was doing that weird thing that she always did; trying to take the lead in the conversation. Funny, she had just choked a few seconds ago. “You seem like the kind of girl who likes an early start to her day.”
“I usually sleep in on Sundays, actually,” Sunset shrugged. Why was she entertaining this mare? “I was hoping to catch a certain somepony this morning but he’s taking his precious time.”
“Iridescent?”
“Obviously.” She uttered for the second time that morning.
“Hmm,” Cadenza made a show of looking away thoughtfully, even putting a hoof to her chin like she was thinking about the most philosophical question. “He’s not somewhere in the castle?”
Why was this mare like this? If she knew something then why not just say it?
“If he was, somepony would know and have told me by now,” Sunset spoke through grit teeth. Her patience was already wearing thin. “You’ve been awake all morning. Did you see him or not?”
Cadenza pouted, Sunset sighed in annoyance. She shouldn’t have been so on edge. It’s not like he could get far in such a short amount of time. Although, she shouldn’t jinx herself. He’d probably end up halfway to Manehattan if left unattended.
That may have been a bit of an exaggeration but still.
“Sorry-“ Oh Faust. What the hell did she just say? “Ugh. Can you please just tell me where he is?”
“I could...”
The older mare smiled slyly. Her purple eyes seemed to sparkle with an evident flirty playfulness. It was all an act of course but Sunset had to try her hardest not to blush. She had judged Iridescent too harshly yesterday; Cadenza knew what she was doing. Sunset’s annoyance was giving way to embarrassment and something else that Cadenza immediately seemed to recognize.
“C’mon,” The alicorn said, gesturing to a seat. “I’ll tell you all about our encounter. You’ve got all day so humor me just this once. Its a very entertaining story.~”
Sunset grumbled but reluctantly complied. Perhaps listening to somepony else talk instead of getting worked up would do her some good.
She did have all day after all.
“It all started reaaaaaally early this morning,” Cadenza began with a tone much like a whimsical storyteller. “So early that the sun hadn’t come up…”
***
Cadance’s stomach ached for something. She hadn’t realized just how hungry she was until after she had gotten out of bed and put her mane in a ponytail. There was usually some leftover ingredients in the kitchen for her to whip up something before everypony else was awake, assuming things were the same as they’d always been in this castle.
So she made her way down.
She hadn’t even noticed him at first because of the cloaking spell cast over him. All she saw when he moved past the windows was a shimmer of light and his faint outline. She probably wouldn’t have paid any mind if it weren’t for the annoyed grumble that echoed through the quiet corridor.
Cadance paused, coming to a complete stop, and watched curiously.
He passed by another window, unintentionally revealing more of his outline to her via moonlight. The colt was wearing saddlebags and the sight had her mind reeling. Her inner foalsitter began thinking of a few different possibilities. One in particular stood out however.
Was he running away?
Iridescent stopped in the middle of the hallway, right in front of the biggest window in the corridor and undid his spell. The layer that it provided over his fur flaked off and floated away in amber sparkles before fizzling out.
Now that Cadance could get a good look at him she noticed that he was pretty cute. Taller than average for his age, lean, color palette that was easy on the eyes. She also hadn’t seen that depth in those orbs of amber during the dinner last night-
***
“I don’t want to hear this,” Sunset deadpanned.
“Don’t you want to know what I think about your friend?” Cadenza asked in a tone that made it clear she was just messing with Sunset. The unicorn grimaced at the word.
“No, I don’t. Just continue.”
“Aw, you’re no fun.”
***
“Bondye almighty,” Iridescent muttered as he fiddled with the straps of his saddlebags. Even with his magic he couldn’t seem to tighten them properly. “Did Sunset put some kind of spell on these things? How the hell can I not-“
He stopped, staring at the straps with a blank expression.
“Wait,” The colt muttered. A glow of amber passed over the buckle and Cadance heard a faint click. “Holy shit I’m a fucking idiot.”
Auntie was right; he had quite the potty mouth. Cadance couldn’t blame him though. She swore in every language she could think of when other ponies weren’t around.
Iridescent gave the straps a tug and nodded, satisfied with his work. The colt spared a glance outside. “Sun’s not going to be up for another hour so I should head out now.”
Silence floated through the hall.
“…Maybe you should just stop talking to yourself and go,” He grunted as his horn glowed to prep the cloak spell again.
This was probably Cadance’s opportunity to say something but she hesitated. How exactly was he going to react? Could she just pretend she hadn’t seen him?
She decided to throw caution into the wind. Nothing could really go wrong here.
Hopefully that wasn’t a jinx. Here goes!
“Where are you going?”
“Gah! What the-“ Iridescent jumped really far backward, flinging himself into the wall of the hallway. But that spooked him even more and made him jump again, this time back into the middle of the corridor. It was only when Iridescent spotted the bright pink alicorn did he finally begin to collect himself. However his eyes were still wide and his body was held up by the tips of his hooves. He looked ready to flee like some kind of scared cat.
“You should be more careful-“
“Me? Like hell!” Iridescent snapped. His breathing had picked up from fright. “You scared me out of nowhere!”
“I’m bright pink,” Cadance giggled. “I’m surprised you didn’t see me already even if it is still dark out. I stick out like a sore hoof!”
His body relaxed, if only slightly. Iridescent’s eyes analyzed her for a moment and then narrowed.
“Thumb.”
Her head tilted. “Pardon?”
“Nothing,” Was the word delivered through a defeated sigh. “What do you even want? Shouldn’t you still be sleeping?”
“A princess likes to get a head start to the kitchen before other ponies pile in, this princess in particular,” She moved a bit closer to him, just so they weren’t standing so far apart when they talked. “But what about you? Why are you awake so early? With saddlebags no less. Running away? Going to visit your marefrie-“
Iridescent’s hoof wound it’s way into her mouth, cutting her off. She looked down at it and then back at him with her eyebrow raised.
“Stop that,” He said flatly. “I’m… heading out. Gonna go try and explore on one of my last days here before I have to go back home. I was hoping to get out unnoticed but you happened to be here.”
She made an ‘mmph’ sound against his hoof, to which he snorted.
“Yeah, yeah. ‘But Iridescent, shouldn’t you tell somepony before leaving the castle’?” Cadance stared at him, curiously watching as he just continued talking. “Normally, i would, but if I tell someone then they’d just end up telling Celestia and I reaaaaally don’t want to hear anything from her. I’m already on edge enough as is.”
Auntie had mentioned he didn’t seem to like her very much but Cadance had thought she was exaggerating. Every word about the solar princess dripped with negative emotions.
“Especially after-“ Iridescent was about to say something else but paused before he could get the words out. His face scrunched up in thought.
“Wait. Should I be telling you this? Why am I telling you this?”
Another ‘mmph’. Iridescent frowned.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m burning moonlight hanging around here any- WHAT THE HELL!”
Iridescent recoiled in horror and held his hoof out away from him. Cadance wiped her mouth on her foreleg. There was some saliva on his hoof from where she had licked it.
“Sorry! I’m sorry!” She apologized profusely. She had done the first thing that come to mind. The foals she watched over always used that against her. “I couldn’t just let you leave without letting me say anything.”
“So you LICKED ME?!”
“I said sorry!”
Iridescent furiously wiped his hoof on the drapes hung by the windows, glaring at her the whole time. Cadance tried not to stare as her saliva was smeared into the fabric. Those were really nice.
‘Were’ being emphasized here. Her saliva didn’t do the cloth any favors.
“Anyway,” Cadance cleared her throat and looked away from the horrible crime. She’d ask a maid to clean it later. “As long as you aren’t skipping town-“
“Don’t give me any ideas.”
“-then I guess it’s okay! But can i ask you something?”
One of his hooves began tracing circles into the floor. “No.”
“Are you ready?” She asked him anyway.
Iridescent’s hood paused and slowly pressed back down against the marble with a soft ‘clop’. He eyed her, puzzled by the inquiry.
“Ready for what?”
“To leave,” Cadance waved toward the window. Outside the moonlight bouncing off of the castle created a lovely sight. Iridescent didn’t seem to appreciate it though, staring at something else distantly. “From what I’ve heard, you’ve been enjoying your time here.”
A tense emotion overcame him that she could see thanks to her special talent. “Did Celestia tell you that?”
“She did, along with a few other things.” No point in lying. If she was in his place she’d appreciate the honesty. “You really don’t like her do you?”
Irritation began to ebb and flow off of him in waves. No special talent was necessary to see that. Cadance already had the answer to her question before he even spoke.
“Something like that.“ He said through grit teeth.
Outside the sky began to turn orange, making them both glance in their confusion. Iridescent blanched at the sight of Celestia raising the sun from her tower while Cadance pondered over it. Auntie rarely did early sunrises. She must have had some business to do today.
“Guess we’ve been here for too long,” Cadance hummed. She had already heard what she needed from him anyway. There would be no point in delaying him further. “You should get going if you want to avoid getting stopped.”
Iridescent looked at her as if surprised by her warning. But he didn’t think on it for too long.
“Yeah, I should.” Without a moment to spare he brushed past her, moving toward the end of the hall she had come from and in the direction of a back exit. “See ya around, love lady.”
Ah, that’s right: the actual last thing. She couldn’t let him leave without doing her job.
“If you see Candy Puff you should tell her how you feel.”
Iridescent stopped and turned to her in what appeared to be disbelief. The emotion he was projecting certainly felt like it.
“You waited to tell me that just as I was about to leave?” The way the words came out made the question sound more like a statement. A statement in a tone that clearly indicated he thought she was ridiculous. “Seriously?”
“Now it’s fresh in your mind,” She said with a cheerful nod. If she had some free time maybe she could help him plan a date. Oh, how she loved her job! “Forgetting won’t be an excuse!”
Any weaker willed pony would have wilted from his deadpan stare. Luckily she was stronger than that. Strong enough to not show her discomfort on the surface level, at least.
Iridescent’s horn glowed as he turned back around. As he left the visible spectrum Cadance caught a mutter that she was sure she had been meant to hear.
“This place is full of nutjobs.”
***
“And that concludes our lovely little tale,” Cadenza half bowed to the imaginary crowd. “Thank you, thank you.”
“Is that really it?” Sunset asked her. All the older mare had done was give her some half-assed summary of her morning. “You didn’t even tell me where he was going.”
“You’ll find him,” Cadenza assured Sunset with playful wink sent her way. “He wants you to, I could feel it.”
What was that supposed to mean?
“A colt with multicolored hair like that is hard to miss anyhow. A lot of ponies will have remembered seeing him.”
“You want me to ask around?” Sunset asked slowly.
“Yep!”
“In town?”
“Mhm!”
For Faust’s sake.
“You can’t be serious,” Sunset sighed as she stood. “Fine, whatever. But when I see him I’m flicking his head off of his shoulders.”
Cadenza laughed as Sunset left. She must have assumed Sunset’s threat was just a joke.
It wasn’t… mostly. Maybe if she wasn’t satisfied with his answers then she’d send his head flying. Or maybe just leave a welt or two, maybe three just to be sure. Three welts sounded about right.
He deserved no less for making her worry.
“Did you find him, Miss Shimmer?”
Sunset looked up from glaring at her hooves into the curious eyes of the servant from earlier. She stopped and stared back, facing the mare’s inviting smile with an empty stare.
“No,” She replief stiffly. “I didn’t.”
“That’s a shame. Have you tried-“
“Can you get me a daisy sandwich?” Sunset didn’t have time for a meaningless back and forth. This was important. “And tell Princess Celestia I left when you get the chance. Or pass the word around, I don’t care.”
The servant paused, taken aback by how easily she had been cut off. For a moment it seemed as if she was about to say something about it but Sunset’s raised eyebrow stopped her.
“Right… Of course, Miss Shimmer. Here’s your sandwich.” She pulled a paper bag off of her back and held it out with her mouth. In pen were the servant’s initials scrawled on the front. Was this her own food? “My coltfr- Chef Gourmet is making pancakes anyway. They’ll be done soon, so you can have this.”
“Thanks,” Sunset said slowly, taking the bag in her magic. The servant appeared surprised for a moment.
“My pleasure, Miss Shimmer,” The pony’s face bloomed into a smile again, much more brightly than before. She trotted off, a noticeable spring in her step. “Let me know if you need anything else!”
It took Sunset a moment to realize what she had said. “Thanks”. Since when did she thank ponies for doing their jobs?
Did it matter?
Of course it did, her inner voice scoffed. She didn’t need to thank anypony for anything, especially for doing their job.
Her eyes locked onto the bag, with the initials of the servant still written on the front. Sunset sighed. Think about it later. Just need to find Iridescent.
Right after this meal.
***
“Multicolored mane… rising sun cutie mark… Did he have brown fur?”
Sunset nodded.
The sunflower yellow mare behind the peach stall clicked her tongue.
“Then yeah, I seen ‘em,” She muttered, resting her head on a hoof and pointing vaguely in a direction with the other. “Went off that way. Stomach was growling too. Must have gone off to Donut Joe’s.”
Her voice sounded vaguely familiar, like a distant relative Jessie had met at a family reunion. She had the kind of faint southern accent that one would expect out of someone who’d only moved into the city a few years ago.
Was it his aunt? No, that couldn’t be right.
“Ooo. Just thinking of him again sours my mood worse than an old pickle,” The mare flicked her eyes to Sunset and sat up straighter, giving her a knowing look. “You know how stallions do that thing where they pretend to be interested? But instead of really trying it’s always half hearted?”
Sunset nodded. Definitely his aunt. She even complained about men- err… stallions the same way.
“That’s what he was doing! I was trying to strike up a conversation with ‘em but he seemed so… distracted!” Her hooves were thrown up into the air to emphasize her frustration. “All he would say was ‘mhmm’, ‘yeah’, ‘fasho’. You’d think he’d at least try to talk back but noooo!”
Sunset nodded again.
“Whatever,” The mare sighed. Her hooves gently set themselves back down. “At the end of the day it’s not my problem. But I take it that it’s yours since ya’ out looking for ‘im. At least you’re a lot more social.”
“I try.”
“That you do, honey. Off you go now. He’s probably halfway on his way to Manehatten.”
Sunset waved goodbye to the mare (unconsciously, mind you. For some reason Sunset couldn’t overcome the urge to do so) and quickly trot off in the direction she had pointed in before.
Donut Joe’s, yet another eerily familar thing. Maybe she had heard of it before or seen something similar in Iridescent’s memories. The name sounded a little too human to be the former.
Come to think of it, a lot of things were more human to her recently. Perhaps it was just the memories changing her line of thinking. That had been one of the many side effects the book warned her about… Or their worlds were more similar than Sunset had thought.
Why was the latter possibility so ominous?
She took a shortcut through a short alley and found Iridescent almost immediately, watching as he casually approached the donut shop. He didn’t seem to be paying much attention to his surroundings or making any sort of effort to not be seen.
Maybe he just didn’t care. It wasn’t like she could blame him; on his world he’d have been glancing behind himself every two seconds. Iridescent didn’t have to worry much about anything bad happening to him here.
Such as getting mugged, stabbed, murd-
Her head shook so hard that her mane almost slapped her face. That was enough.
Sunset made to call out to him, get his attention (probably accidentally get the attention of everypony else on the street while she was at it) but the noise died in her throat. Instead it was replaced by the growling of her own stomach. She was close enough to smell the scent of freshly baked donuts and it was overpowering.
That daisy sandwich wasn’t enough. Her hooves began to walk towards the source of the scent without her even meaning to.
Iridescent ducked into the donut shop and Sunset began to jog toward the door with a renewed sense of vigor. That idiot was going to give her answers... right after he bought her a massive box of donuts, not a moment later.
She didn’t bother using her magic to open the door, instead using her hoof and pushing it open. There was a soft chime of a bell above and the big earth pony stallion at the register gave her a hearty, “Welcome to Donut Joe’s!”
Again, the urge to say thanks wormed it’s way into her head. She fought off the foul thankful demon this time, cursing herself under her breath.
The idiot was a few feet in front of her waiting in line. He turned and offered her a wave that she felt inclined to return, but didn’t. The lack of a response didn’t seem to phase him though.
“What’s shakin’, bacon?”
“Thought you could just disappear on me again?” She asked, jabbing him in the side with a hoof roughly. “You owe me an explanation-“
Her stomach growled, interrupting her and causing Iridescent to snicker.
“-as soon as you buy me donuts.”
“Sure,” His horn lit up and a small bit bag appeared in a puff of amber magic. He flashed her a grin which she returned with a glare. “We can eat here and talk.”
“... Good.” She felt a little off put that she had won him over that easily. “And don’t call me bacon while we’re in public. I don’t want ponies calling me that when I become a princess.”
Sunset didn’t want to end up like Celestia and be called ‘Sun Butt’ behind her back, even if she literally had a sun on her butt as well.
“Princess Bacon does have a nice ring to it-“
“Iridescent,” She growled in warning.
The colt only chuckled, prompting a twitch on Sunset’s lips. There were times when she really didn’t mind his jokes, even when really annoyed at something. He never truly meant any harm; the little jabs were just to improve both of their moods. She could appreciate a pony who tried to make her laugh.
Only him, though. The other ponies she went to school with didn’t seem to have the same effect on her that Iridescent/Jessie did. Maybe that was because she already understood everything about him. His personality, fears, hopes, and dreams had been laid bare before her so many times. It brought her close to him in a way that she wasn’t with others.
The word “friendly” and all of it’s disgusting synonyms echoed in her head.
“Gross,” Sunset cringed out loud.
“Hmm?”
“Nothing,” She replied in a hurry. They weren’t friends. Friends weren’t important. “Let’s just get my donuts, Morrison.”
“Using my real name in front of all these ponies?” He tutted. They shuffled forward as the customer in the front of the line grabbed their order. “For shame, Miss Shimmer.”
He was doing this on purpose. It wasn’t like there was anypony behind them, or like anypony in front of them was paying attention or could hear them over the hearty laughter of the cashier.
“It’s only fair. You did call me Princess Bacon not a moment ago... and don’t call me that either!”
Iridescent cackled.
They shuffled forward in line again. Sunset really hated waiting in lines, standing behind all the other ponies and feeling like she was another face in the crowd. It reminded her of before she moved into the castle.
Iridescent wouldn’t mind if she went to sit down and wait for him in the booth, right?
Nah, he wouldn’t.
Before she could ask him a loud (almost deafening) crash from the kitchen made everypony jump.
“Dizzy!” The pony at the register yelled into the kitchen. “What in Equestria are you doing?!”
“Dropped a tray of donuts, boss!” A accented voice replied. They sounded as if they were from the Badlands, or as Iridescent would eloquently say ‘pony Australia’. “Don’t worry, they were old!”
The pony at the register muttered something under his breath. Sunset couldn’t quite hear but it was something along the lines of: “I can’t believe it’s only nine A.M.”
Another pony grabbed their order and left, laughing with their friends about something mundane. Only two more left until they got their donuts. Maybe Sunset could wait in line for a few minutes longer.
Another crash, followed by the pony in the back yelling “Sorry, boss!”
“Oh, would you look at that.” Iridescent was grinning. His voice teetered over the edge of a chuckle. “Donut Joe’s about to go ballistic. Watch, watch, watch.”
The pony behind the counter - who Sunset now recognized as Donut Joe, the store owner - seemed to be near his boiling point. His face was beet red and if Sunset looked closely enough she could see steam coming out of his ears. All of the ponies in line took a few steps back to prepare for the coming explosion of anger.
Instead, nothing happened. He returned to normal as if a switch had been flipped. Sunset could hardly contain her surprise.
“I’ll take care of it! Come handle the register!” He yelled to the kitchen.
A stallion’s head and wing poked through the door leading to the kitchen. “Really?”
Dizzy’s coat was a very loud color of orange and his mane a very vibrant blue. It was almost impossible not to notice him with the way his body contrasted against pretty much everything. To Sunset he looked like a pegasus shaped traffic cone, and she mentioned as such to Iridescent.
“Yeah, he kinda does,” The colt snickered.
“Yes really,” Donut Joe said, pulling the pony out by his apron and practically shoving him to the counter. “You know what to do. I gotta go clean up after you... again.”
“Right!” Dizzy saluted his boss. “Won’t let you down, sir!”
Donut Joe didn’t bother dignifying the stallion with a response and instead grumbled half profanities. He had already ducked through the door and into the kitchen before his employee finished the salute.
“Right then!” Dizzy turned, smiling at the ponies in line. “What’ll it be?”
That was weird.
“Thought he would have blown something up,” Iridescent whispered beside her. “Did you see him? Actual steam coming out of his ears. I thought that only happened in cartoons!”
“A lot of things that ‘only happen in cartoons’ happen here. Like magic,” Sunset whispered back. “Though I don’t know what that was about. I’ve never seen that before.”
The pony at the front graciously took their donuts, offering a flirty comment to Dizzy who laughed like it was a joke. They left, visibly disappointed.
One pony left. Sunset’s stomach growled again. Why did it feel like this was taking forever?
“One donut please,” the mare in front of them said. “Plain.”
Sunset’s jaw clenched before she could spit some particularly nasty choice words. What was the point of waiting that long in line if you were only going to get one thing?!
Even Dizzy seemed to be taken aback. “That all, mate? We’ve got like... every kind of donut under Celestia’s sun in here. Even if we don’t I’m sure we could make-“
“Just one plain donut,” the mare interrupted with her chin upturned. “That is all.”
“Ooooookay,” the orange pony drawled, putting her plain donut in a small bag. He took the bits from the mare and tossed them into the register, not even bothering to count.
“A pleasure doing business with you,” declared the mare as she left.
“The ponies that blow through here, I swear,” Dizzy muttered. His attention turned to the young unicorns in line and he beckoned them forward. “What’ll it be, you two?”
“A dozen chocolate covered donuts with sprinkles.” Iridescent set the bit bag on the counter. “And, uh, whatever she’s having.”
“A dozen? Young colts like you shouldn’t have that much sugar in the morning.” The stallion barked out a boisterous laugh while Iridescent rolled his eyes. Dizzy turned to her, offering his bright smile again. “What about you, lil missy?”
Sunset eyed the selection of donuts and felt herself frown. She had no clue as to what any of these were. They didn’t serve donuts in the castle, though she did remember having one before she moved in.
Even then, that was still ages ago.
“How about a cinnamon donut?” Dizzy asked, noticing her hesitation and pointing a bright orange hoof at the mentioned treat. “You look like the type.”
“Cinnamon? They put that on donuts?”
“Sure do. Whatever joker came up with it must have been a mad scientist. It’s so crazy that it works! Haha.”
They certainly looked very appetizing. Her mouth watered just looking at them.
“I’ll take three,” She said. “And what about those?”
Her hoof pressed against the glass, pointing at donuts with red glaze and some very small flowers sprinkled on top. The label for the flavor was covered by a smear of red donut glaze. They looked delicious.
“Oh those,” Dizzy grabbed one out of the container with a napkin and presented it to Sunset, who stared at it like she was being shown a foreign artifact. “Ol’ Joey calls em the... uh... ‘Cherry Blossoms’ I think?”
“‘Cherry Blossoms’?” She repeated, sniffing the donut.
“Lot of questions in you, little lady. Tell you what,” Dizzy held out his hoof with the donut on it so she could grab it with her own. “Try one. Free of charge. Well, not really free since it’s coming out of my paycheck. It’s free to you though.”
“Woah free donuts,” Iridescent moistened his lips and reached out to the Cherry Blossom. “Can I ha-“
Dizzy slapped the hoof away and scowled. “I made the offer to her, lad. Not you.”
“Bouzin!” The multicolored colt pulled his hoof away and nurtured the limb like he had just been burned. “Are you serious?”
“Super serious. In fact I used to be called Serious Sam when I was comin’ up.”
“Seriously?”
“No, dumbo.” The stallion snickered. “Always been Dizzy Dizzy. Can’t believe you thought I was-“
“Serious. We get it!” Sunset snapped.
She snagged the donut and devoured it in one bite, much to the surprise of her companion and the pony at the register.
It tasted better than she expected. The unusual sweetness of the flowers added to the cherry flavor. She tried to chew some more only to realize that the donut was already gone.
“I’ll take three Cherry Blossoms,” Sunset said, pushing Iridescent’s bit bag to the center of the counter. An unusual sense of excitement welled up inside of her. Did the donut have something in it? “How much is that total?”
“A dozen chocolate covered donuts with sprinkles... Still think that’s a bit too much sugar but I ate way more on a daily basis when I was your age.” Dizzy punched the numbers into the register. Amber magic gingerly placed a bottle of orange juice on the counter. “Three cinnamon, three Cherry Blossoms. Orange juice… Not that I’m much older than you clowns, only eighteen. Ya like, what? Twelve?”
“Fourteen,” They both said at the same time.
“Freaky,” Dizzy muttered. He punched some more numbers into the register and their total was printed on a receipt. “That comes up to forty-six bits. Quite the big order for two hungry foals-“
“We’re fourteen.”
“-on a Sunday morning. Please never do that again.”
Dizzy placed the donut boxes on the counter and Iridescent grabbed them without hesitation.
“Sure thing!” He chirped. “Thanks weird Australian guy!”
“Whatever, mate. Don’t have a cry over- Wait what?”
Without wasting any more time Sunset pulled Iridescent over to one of the booths. She shoved him into his seat, causing him to tumble over and nearly fall under the table. He rightened himself, shook his head and when he looked back up Sunset already had her box open and was devouring a Cherry Blossom.
“Woah!” He laughed. “Slow down! It’s not going anywhere.”
Sunset blushed, wiping away a flower that had somehow stuck to her cheek.
“Sorry.” Why was she apologizing? “It’s just, these donuts are really… good.”
Iridescent waved a hoof in dismissal and smiled at her cheerfully. “Don’t worry about explaining it. I’m just glad you’re enjoying them.”
The two ate in relative silence after that, each of them occasionally making a comment about how good the donuts were in between bites. They were all gone before she even realized.
Sunset finished the last donut and sighed in bliss. That daisy sandwich paled in comparison to what she just ate. Maybe she could go out for donuts with Iridescent more often.
Yes… with Iridescent… who’d be going home soon! The thought put a significant dent in her current mood and made her sit up straighter. She still hadn’t asked him about his and Celestia’s conversation. That was the reason she tracked him down.
On the other side of the table Iridescent took a sip of his orange juice, unaware of her sudden mood shift.
Sunset tried to speak but the words couldn’t leave her throat. They were enjoying themselves. She didn’t want to ruin this hangout but it was necessary.
Why was talking suddenly so hard?
“Gross.” Iridescent’s mutter pulled her out of her thoughts.
Sunset’s mind slammed on the brakes. She looked up at Iridescent and slowly turned her head in the direction that he was looking.
There was a couple - two mares - kissing each other. Not a full blown make out session but just little smooches on each other’s nose and lips. They both giggled quietly and whispered sweet couple-y things that the other patrons couldn’t hear. It was like something out of a mushy romance novel.
Sunset looked at him again and huffed. “What? Do you have a problem with-“
“I don’t,” He interrupted, visibly distracted. “You know I don’t. They just remind me of…”
His parents. Iridescent didn’t even need to finish for her to get it. Those memory spells had dug up a lot of old stuff he barely remembered, including bits of his mom interacting with his dad more. She felt a little bad about not realizing it sooner.
“Could be worse,” Sunset shrugged. “Your parents would have been all over the table.”
Iridescent smiled just a bit. “I could do without the mental image. Thanks.”
There were no more changes in his expression. Humor always seemed to work when other ponies tried it. Sunset had hoped he’d keep talking and carry the conversation himself but there was no such luck. She felt a wave of anxiety suddenly wash over her.
Right. Jokes out of the way. At least she’s softened him up for her next question.
Spit it out, Shimmer. You’ve got nothing to lose and he’s got pretty much everything.
“So… About your conversation with Celestia…”
“Hm?”
“Care to tell me what exactly you two talked about?”
Iridescent looked in her direction, ready to say something. However the response he prepared died on his lips and he stared at Sunset with a mask devoid of emotion entirely. Now, this wasn’t quite a ‘what you just said was so awful that I don’t even know how to feel’ kind of face. This face was more so a ‘I don’t really know what to say so I’ll just stare’ kind of face.
This was beginning to feel weird. His eyes felt like they were piercing her body. She squirmed in her seat, feeling very exposed all of a sudden. Wasn’t staring like that supposed to be her thing?
Iridescent took a deep breath in and then breathed out a looooong exhale.
“When’s the last time we hung out?” He asked, voice entirely neutral. “Like, really hung out?”
Sunset’s confusion was no doubt evident on her face. She didn’t know where this was going.
“Everything we’ve done for the past month is either magic related, human related, or school related. When have we ever just sat down and hung out with each other?”
Her lips pursed. “I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”
“Do you want to spend the day with me?” Iridescent asked. The question caught her so off guard that she’d end up thinking about it for the rest of the day. “Just you and me in Canterlot, doing fun stuff, exploring, hanging out. It’s the whole reason I lead you here in the first place.”
So Cadenza had been right. But had Iridescent known she would tell Sunset? She may have called jokingly him an idiot all the time but he truly was a lot smarter than she gave him credit for.
This still wasn’t what she was looking for, though.
“But i need you to tell-“
“I’ll tell you everything!” The almost desperate exclamation made the other patrons turn their heads toward their table. Iridescent shrunk into his seat to hide his flushed and embarrassed face. “I-I don’t want my final days here to be spent talking about Sun Butt’s stupid plans or magic nonsense I’m never going to use again.”
The other patrons looked at the blushing unicorn colt and each muttered something to each other before resuming their normal chatter.
Sunset bit the inside of her cheek. She’d been stupid not to take Iridescent’s feelings into account. It had been a while since he’d actually done something normal, at least to him. Of course he would be hoping to avoid stressing out over all these details.
“I’m probably the first human in history who’s ever been to another world,” He murmured to himself. “It’s so peaceful here compared to… back there. Why can’t I just enjoy myself?”
“You can.” She wasn’t going to tell him otherwise. “I’m not saying you can’t. But-“
“But going home is the priority, I know,” Iridescent sighed. “Which is why I’m probably gonna have to tell Sun Ass about you-know-what. If I can’t figure out how to go home myself, I’m going to have to tell her anyway.”
Sunset’s first instinct was to protest. But after a few seconds of consideration, she realized that doing so wouldn’t make much sense. Iridescent was right. Celestia would need to know about the human world in order to actually send him home sooner rather than later. They probably shouldn’t have hid it in the first place.
“I’ll tell her tomorrow after my magic exam,” He continued. “But that’s for tomorrow. Right now I want to go to a park, sit under a nice tree on some comfy grass and draw something.”
The skin on the inside of her cheek felt like it was going to get chewed off.
“Okay,” Sunset finally relented. “We can do that.”
“Thank Christ.”
Now, a subject change. Think fast, Shimmer!
“I didn’t know you drew. I’ve never seen that in your memories.” Nor had he told her. Part of her was a little disappointed.
Only a little.
“It’s a recent thing.” Amber magic opened his saddlebag and pulled out a sketchbook.
It was unremarkable save for the white box on the front where a pony would sign their name. ‘Property of Iridescent Horizon’ was written in his hornwriting. Below that were his human initials scrawled in very small letters. ‘JEM’.
“I was super bored a couple days ago,” He said, setting the sketchbook on the table. “I tried to doodle a thing and it actually turned out good! No clue where my super good drawing ability came from but I think it might be magic related.”
Puzzling. She hadn’t heard of such a thing happening before. Ponies didn’t just suddenly gain a better understanding of tasks like that at random.
He wasn’t a pony though. At least not in his own mind.
“Kinda sucks I didn’t get to learn it myself, not really much passion in those drawings. Heh.”
Her magic carefully pulled open the first page for a peek. Inside were a few anatomical drawings of a male pegasus and human side by side. They lacked detail, seemingly focusing on the proportions of the bodies than anything else. There were also a few notes, including phrases in Haitian Creole scribbled out.
“… Guess I shouldn’t dwell on it too much,” Iridescent added as an afterthought. “Dad always said ‘Take your W’s when you can.’”
Sunset’s magic closed the sketchbook. She pulled her eyes away from it and stared at him with a look of confusion.
“Your what?”
“W’s. Ya know like-“
She held up a hoof. “No. Stop. Repeat what you just said.”
Now he looked confused. “‘Take your W’s when you can’?”
He must have been doing this on purpose.
“Why did you say it like that?”
“What? Oh… You mean the way I said W?” He thought about it for a few seconds, then shrugged. “‘Dub-yuh’. Dad sometimes said it like that. Probably picked it up from the other oldheads.”
“It sounds weird.”
“Maybe to you…” Iridescent then grinned in a way that signified he was about to make one of his stupid jokes. The special kind of joke that Sunset hated genuinely. “Are you trying to say it sounds weird because he-“
“Stop it,” She snapped. Saw it coming from a mile away. “I’m not like you humans; your petty racism is far from appealing… and I thought I told you those jokes weren’t funny!”
“Its not like its hurting anyone,” He waved dismissively. Then, quieter to himself: “And its not like you guys are without any problems.”
Sunset’s glare hardened. That kind of attitude is partly the reason why his world was the way it was.
“Moron.” She settled on calling him.
“Baconator.” Iridescent shot back.
“Don’t call me that.”
“Make me.” He challenged.
Sunset’s glare turned into a (jokingly) sinister grin. Finally a chance to shut him up.
“I hoped you’d say that.” The flash from her horn wasn’t very bright nor did it last very long, but it still made Iridescent flinch.
“Mmph? M-Mmph! MMMPH!”
Iridescent kept trying to talk but the zipper that had replaced his mouth made it incredibly difficult. His hooves reached up to unzip it but were stopped by Sunset’s own.
“Don’t do that! It hurts!” She hissed at him. “I’ll undo the spell, you big baby.”
“Mmph. Mmph mmph. Hmm?”
“Stop trying to talk. You might end up opening it on accident.”
Iridescent’s face paled.
Sunset’s horn lit up again and slowly undid the spell. The metallic zipper formed back into his muzzle, pressed into a firm line. His flat unamused glare was funny. She found herself giggling at his face.
Then she cringed. Sunset Shimmer didn’t giggle.
“That was weird,” Iridescent grumbled, tips of his hooves poking at his mouth. When the human found no traces of zipper he lowered them back down. “I’m going to use that on you when i figure it out.”
“Oh, please,” Sunset rolled her eyes, holding back a grin. “I just wanted to show you to watch what you say. Its important to stay humble.”
“Says the girl who wants to be a god.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow at him that Iridescent countered with a lop-sided grin. A feeling of defensiveness rose up from the claim.
“You don’t know me.”
“I know a few things,” Iridescent shrugged. Then, as if he wasn’t the biggest idiot ever, he grinned at her again. “Maybe you can tell me what I don’t know while we’re out today.”
The warm feeling spreading through her must have been satisfaction of the meal she ate. Why it was kicking in so late was beyond her… and also irrelevant.
Friendly…
Shut. Up.
“Now come on!” He stood up in a flash, face glowing with a bright smile. Sunset looked away to avoid being blinded by it. “We’re wasting daylight so let’s do the dash!”