//------------------------------// // Visitors // Story: Peachy // by trinidream //------------------------------// I slowly stepped into the house, poking my head in before I walked in. Water was nowhere to be seen in the house. I didn’t need any awkward moments because of what I did earlier. I stepped through, jumping when I saw Ash the cat sitting on the table looking right at me. “What?” I asked. I started walking towards the hallway until there were hard knocks on the door. “What else…” I mumbled, and then went to the door again. I opened it, seeing no one at first until I was pelted by a furball. “Wah!” I coughed, looking at it with curiosity. “Wait a minute…”  I looked down, it was a wet ball of brown fur with two long ears sticking out of its head. Some kind of creature. The eyes were beady and I couldn’t see anything else about the little guy. Then it hit me. “Peachy’s...pet rabbit?” I mumbled, and then I was pelted by little punches again. He was mad at him for something. Too bad I didn’t know what. I picked him up by magic and carried him to the bedroom. I walked in, putting the poor thing down on the bed. “Let me find you a towel…” I muttered. After rubbing him down with a towel, he puffed up more and I couldn’t help but laugh at how fluffy he was. “Haha.” I reached out a hoof to pet him, but it was swatted away by a nubby paw. “Alright then.” I should probably get him something to eat.  When I came back with some carrots and lettuce for him, he was fast asleep on the bed. I left the bowl of food in front of him. He’ll eat it sooner or later. I sat in front of the bed, watching the little fluffy bunny sleep. Slowly, I turned around to the mirror, letting myself stand in front of it again watching Peachy’s reflection stare back at me. I moved my head slowly watching him do the same. It was still so weird. I lifted a hoof, he did the same. I moved closer, taking in his eye color briefly and it was the same vibrant copper brown only this time with oranges and deeper browns mixing into it. I lit up his horn levitating over a brush watching the cyan aura of his magic wrap around the brush. Then, I moved it through his curls, letting myself laugh when I pulled them straight and they stayed like that for a time until they regained their bounce.  Then, a voice in my head reminded me about the party I was supposed to be planning. I immediately lost concentration on the brush, dropping it to the floor and put a hoof to my forehead. “Right!” I spun, nearly tripping and then looked at my makeshift workstation on the floor. I walked over, sitting down and grabbed a pen writing down a few things until I saw a sliver of paper in the binder where Marcysia’s party was noted. I levitated it out of the pocket and it seemed Peachy had already written down a to-do list. The only thing he got crossed off was the cake, venue-no wonder, it was a cafe, and the supplies which were sitting in front of me in a gigantic mess pile. I wonder if he was more organized than I was. The list seemed to be similar to lists he made in the past. I got to check off the banner and food. Marcysia will have all the goodies covered and there will be cake for those who don’t want to buy a treat, so we’re good on that. But what else was there to do besides the banner and invites? The list was comparable to a Birthday party style list with a few of the items crossed out like he was just too lazy to make up a new sheet. Balloons? Would Marcysia even want balloons in her cafe? And why did I think about party hats when it’s just a grand opening party? Actually, even invites sounded a bit over the top since Marcysia should be handling the notice and promotion about the grand opening, so what else do I have to do? I walked out of the room, seeing Water Rush sitting at the kitchen table. She must have heard my hoofsteps and looked at me quizzically before turning her attention back to whatever was in her cup. Moving closer, I noticed she was levitating the water out of it, keeping it in the form of three balls. She looked sad or bored. “Are...you okay?” She nodded, but I rose an eyebrow at her unchanging expression. I stepped closer, raising a hoof higher at her cheeks. “What?” “Uh...nothing.” Then, I dropped it. “So...my…” I trailed off, unsure how to word it. What was his rabbit’s name? I let out a sigh. I am so tired from trying to be him from the party preparations to this. “You have been acting really weird since this morning.” She mumbled. “I mean, I thought you...wanted a relationship. But maybe you were just…” She trailed off, her ears dropping. It hurt me to see her like this. “I’m just…” I needed a better explanation. I learned from Sweet Tooth that she thought I was a changeling, so if I told Water the same thing, would she even believe me? “I can’t explain it...but-“ “You’re not you.” She interrupted and I was stunned. “Peach, it’s obvious. Or, whatever…” “What?” I blinked. “Baha~” Her giggle… “What? Peachy hates toast. Or, you do. You only like it with butter and sugar on a good day!” She laughed again. That was a quick mood change. “How...long have I-“ If she knew that, how long has Peachy been here? “And the fact that you didn’t know about the party?” She acted like she knew all this already. “Aand...you acted like a foal who didn’t know any magic.” She pointed out with a hoof. “Good on you for picking up levitation that quickly though. I was impressed.” She squeed. “Uhh…” I couldn’t talk. “Thanks? How long have you known?” I asked. “Since.” She shrugged. “Wait, wait, I can see on your face you’re just assuming.” I poked a hoof at her. “I could have just been delirious from the sun not rising.” I huffed. “But you weren’t.” She muttered. “Also, I had to face my fears of the dark and go out to check something...and Sweet Tooth told me some things…” What? “After she filled me in, I started connecting the dots.” “Wha-but, but…” I couldn’t talk. There were so many things on my mind. Did she really just go from sad to giggles, to this? “So, possession…” She seemed to be deep in thought. “You know, Pillow Talk...that red unicorn that came to town, she’s new. Arrived just last night according to Sunny.” She spoke. “Sunny?” “Sunny Days? She’s an earth pony who lives on the beach. She collects sea glass and makes stunning mosaics.” She took a sip of her tea while I mulled it over. Then, my eyes widened. “She also has a sister but she’s more into the night life.” I coughed, another one of my characters. Where am I? “Water Rush, where are we in Equestria?” “Why?” She looked confused. “What gets me is...if you aren’t Peachy...and you aren’t pulling a prank on me, then how did you know my name?” “Because...it’s complicated.” I muttered, lowering my head. “And if I tell you, it’s going to make our earlier interaction all the more awkward.” “Try me.” “I can’t.” I replied. “I don’t know how you would-“ “Let me rephrase that. Tell me.” “No.” I shook my head, stepping backwards. This was getting a little too confrontational for me. “It would mess with your head.” I said, stomping my hoof. “Actually, maybe it would mess with my head because I have never admitted it out loud.” I sped through my words, before she could interrupt me. “I’m not Peachy, this is true. But...there’s still a lot of things...I don’t understand about you or...where I am.” “Is that it?” She took another sip of her tea, looking unbothered by what I was saying. “All I know is that we are coastal...with a beach nearby. And you…” I looked into her eyes, “You...aren’t what I expected.” “Oh! Let me guess! You’re Cider Drip! Peachy’s sister.” She smiled, beaming. “That would explain not knowing how to do magic since she’s a pegasus.” I blinked, having to sit to rub either side of my head to keep a headache from surfacing. “No.” So even that part of Peachy’s life was true. “I’m not her.” “Oh…” She seemed to be thinking a bit more but I gave her a gentle nudge to stop. “I’m not a pony from Equestria.” “Oh. Can I return to Sweet’s changeling theory?” “No. It’s wrong.” At this point, I was really considering telling her. “I’m not from Equestria at all.” I said, keeping eye contact with her. She didn’t move and had her eyes now locked on her mug instead of me. She went back to levitating what little of her drink she had left into a ball of water again. Was that a comfort thing? “You and multiple others from this town including Peachy are just stories…” I explained and her waterball dropped with a hard splat on the tablewood. “Water?” She still didn’t look at me. Little bits of her mane were turning into split ends the more she sat frozen. “Speak to me.” I frowned. “So, we weren’t real?” She finally spoke, but she was choked. “You were real to me.” I offered, giving her a soft smile that she had yet to see. “I don’t really have any friends...so...well, apart from online, so…” I forgot I didn’t tell her every detail. “I made up stories.” I whispered. “Peachy...I was drawing him, and thinking about him a lot, trying to get his story straight and then poof. I woke up as him in Equestria.” I explained. “But...he’s not on his family’s farm…” “He told me he wanted new adventures. That’s why he left the farm. He wanted to try his hoof at being an actual party pony instead of throwing the same ones in his hometown.” That made sense. “I think it’s been...about a year? He keeps saying he should get going but whenever I expect his room to be empty, it never is.” “A year?”  “I suspect it’s because he became attached.” She put a hoof to her chin. “Though, if you’re not him, then where is he?” “I don’t know. I’m hoping this is a big dream I’m going to wake up from…” Was I really still holding onto that?  “You’re not dreaming.” She deadpanned. I looked up to see her horn light up in its yellow glow again but it wasn’t to float some water. I winced in pain as I felt a hard pinch come to my side. “Ow!” I cried out and then her mouth twisted up into a smirk. “Okay, okay, I’m not dreaming.” I said quickly. “Though, I did think about where Peachy is…I just hope he’s not in my place.” “Why?” “Peachy and I are complete opposites. I hate parties-” She interrupted me with a gasp. “What?!” “I…have social anxiety.” I admitted, rubbing my leg with a hoof. “I don’t like large crowds or too noisy of places. Have you heard of the element bearer Fluttershy? Well, think of her.” I paused, when I was met with a confused face. “What’s so confusing?” Pillow Talk-if that was her name, mentioned Princess Twilight, so how is mentioning one of her friends any different? “I don’t keep up with the times.” She waved. Is she serious? “I just…don’t read about that stuff. Plus, we haven’t had a good printing press in this town in centuries. Not to mention that news travels…slow across the ocean.” “Where are we?” I asked again. “I swear Water if you don’t answer my question-” “Relax.” She rolled her eyes. “We’re on a small group of islands just South of Luna Bay. Geez.” She ran her hoof along the tip of her mug. “What were you going to do? Put salt in my tea and claim it was sugar?” She giggled. “Worse than that. I don’t play foal games. I could have filled your shampoo with ketchup.” I squinted. “That’s a foal game.” She laughed. “And for not a pony, you talk like one. You even know the politics with you knowing who Fluttershy is.” She pointed out. “I don’t know how to reply to that.” I blinked. Then, I was soon distracted by a brown fluffball bouncing through the room. He must have woken up. “Oh!” I levitated the little furball in my magic and brought them over setting them on the table. “Do you know who this is?” I asked, trying again to pet them, but I was still met with violence and this time nipping. “That’s Peachy’s rabbit Confetti.” She smiled. “He showed me pictures of him as a little one but he told me he left him at the farm in Vanhoover. How did he…?” “I have no idea.” I shrugged. “He just turned up at the door today.” “The only way out here is through ferry or air balloon travel. Unless you’re a pegasus.” She reached out a hoof, and then he let her pet him, but he still wouldn’t let me lay a hoof on him. “Maybe Cider is in town!” She sounded hopeful, but my hope turned to dread. “Hahhh….let’s hope not.” I put on a nervous smile. I didn’t know anything about Peachy’s sister. “I don’t want to meet her.” I muttered. “Just throw a blanket on me, and call me Mysterio.” I didn’t even know rabbits could look confused, but the way the little furball’s head was tilted with his one ear hanging down said it all. Can he even understand what I was saying? “Okay, Mysterio…” Water’s voice sounded sarcastic. Next like the universe wanted to punish me, a couple knocks sounded at the door. “Oooh! Maybe that’s her.”  “Stop doing that!” I stated. “I don’t want to meet her.” I hissed. “Pssh…okay…” She got down from her chair, walked to the door and all the while stuck her tongue out at me. Was she trying to be cute or annoying? Then, she opened the door. “Cider!” She beamed. “Oh f…feathers.” I caught myself. “Of all the ponies...” I mumbled, backing away to go grab a blanket.