Things Are Rarely as They Seem

by Orkus

The Book

All Peach Blossom did during her free time at school was try to find out as much on the subject of changelings as possible. After the surprising moment that had transpired the day before, she now had a new meaning in looking into the matter of the peculiar shape-shifting creatures, as well as a great vigor to do so. She ran to the library during lunch and tried to find some books on the creatures, most of which were simple bits on recent history or ancient lore.

With the sound of page after page being flipped rapidly going out through the place of study, Peach Blossom read as much as she could with the time she had, but decided not to check any of the volumes out. If her mother saw her with so many books on the topic of changelings, she just knew that there would be questions that would follow suit. And besides, she wasn't the best when it came to lying.

And so, the school day ended in its own time, and Peach Blossom jumped aboard the school-cart. After hopping off of the cart once it rounded the corner near her and her mother's orchard, she trotted merrily down the path in search of her parent.

It didn't take long for her to find Persica. A few scant moments after entering the orchard, the filly could see that she was atop a wooden ladder placed against one of the many peach trees of the grove, and in one of her hooves was a medium-sized wicker basket. She was wearing a large, pale-colored, wide-brimmed hat over her head, and as she grabbed at another of the spherical fruits hanging from the tree, Peach Blossom could see the brim covered both of her eyes.

"Hi, Mom," she said when she was within earshot.

"Hello again, my sweet little Blossom," Persica smiled, giving a quick glance to her daughter before returning to her activity.

"Whatcha doing?" the filly asked innocently, tilting her head to the side.

"Just collecting some more peaches," her mother replied, pointing out the obvious. "And I must say, I've found quite a few large ones in these last few bunches. We're doing a good job tending to the trees this year, dear."

Peach Blossom couldn't help but grin with pride at the compliment. "That's wonderful to hear, Mom. I've got no homework tonight, so I'm, uh... just going to go play in the barn for now, okay?"

"Have fun. Oh, and be careful around the equipment," Persica reminded sharply and seriously. "I'll have dinner ready in about an hour-and-a-half."

"I will. Thanks, Mom," the filly assured, turning around and trotting away. Persica watched her beloved daughter leave from the corner of her right eye, and didn't take it off of her until she was out of sight. With a content sigh, the mare set her attention fully on her work once more.

---

"So, your family grow peaches here?" Habeas inquired. He had been roused from his rest not a few dozen minutes before by Peach Blossom entering the barn and was now happily sharing a conversation with her about each of their lives.

"Yep. My mom also has a small garden she uses to grow vegetables in by the house," she went on. "She's thinking about expanding it soon, and I just can't wait to help with it!"

"What about your dad? What's he do?"

At that, Peach Blossom's expression shuddered for a moment. "He... It's just me and my mom," she sighed. "My dad passed away some time before I was born. Mom said he was in a terrible accident."

Habeas' cheerful visage changed greatly as her words graced his webbed ears, as though it was a pane of glass that had been shattered by a rock. "Oh. I'm... so sorry to hear that," he spoke, his voice full of regret. "I shouldn't have asked..."

"No, no it's fine," she quickly said, flashing him a small smile. "Mom and I talk about him a lot. His name was Chantilly Cream."

In an effort to remedy the conversation, seeing how she had placed both herself and the changeling in a bit of an awkward situation, Peach Blossom looked around for something she could use to change the subject. "What do you have in there?" she asked, pointing to the sack at the end of the bindle. Habeas shifted a look to it, before straightening the handkerchief around his neck out.

"My most valuable possession lies in there," he responded, reaching for it. Using his mouth to undo the knot holding it close, the patchwork cloth fell open, revealing a rectangular object that Peach Blossom noticed was a book. Its title, written in large, red words over its black-and-white, checkered cover, said Cooking With Love.

The filly struggled to hold in a snigger of laughter as she realized it was a cookbook.

"This is what made you want to leave your hive?" she asked, her voice rising in its pitch like a helium-filled balloon. "This?"

"Yeah," Habeas answered nonchalantly, lacking any form of the humor in his tone that Peach Blossom was showing in hers. "Before I got my hooves on it, my former queen, Chrysalis, would always preach to us from the day that we're born that love is nothing more than a form of food and power that must be stolen from others, and something that only the so-called 'weak' and 'foolish' believe in. But after I read this... this well of forbidden knowledge, I saw the truth of things."

He tried his best to stand, and attempted to strike a flashy pose. "I saw that all we had been told was a lie! A sham to keep us in line, a fib that would result in only vileness toward others, and something that ultimately sow discontent among us all!"

Habeas soon plopped back onto his rump as his strength began to wane. "Heheh... but that's not all of it," the changeling chuckled lightly. "After I began to tell other drones in the hive of what I was reading and what it was teaching me, Chrysalis soon got word, and sent out a dire threat for me to stop my tirade or else I'd be executed. So naturally, I packed my things up and fled before she could make good on her promise."

"That sounds awfully brave of you, standing up to your queen. I heard she was really nasty, especially after her invasion of Canterlot a few years ago," Blossom said, intrigued by his tale. She soon gave the book a more inquisitive look as another question entered her mind. "Say... how did you find this?" she asked.

Habeas put his good hoof to his chin and looked away, as if entering a deep, pleasant reverie. "It was just after the invasion of Canterlot that I discovered this book, for it had been flung away with me and the rest of my hive when Princess Cadence and her husband used their magic to repel us. After reading the book thoroughly, I decided to try and find out if there were other, less malicious ways of finding love my kind so desperately craves. And guess what? It was right."

"You're looking for food that has been made and prepared with love?" Peach Blossom murmured, scratching her blonde-maned head.

"Food made with love is just a start," Habeas went on with great ambition surrounding his voice. "If my suspicions are correct, I also think that there are other cordial methods of acceptably accruing affection. And I intend to find out. That is why I travel around Equestria like a vagabond."

He suddenly sunk lower to the ground as the sting of his many cuts and damaged chitin being reopened from his rapid series of movements set in. "Or, at least that's what I did before I got beaten up by that darn knight-thing."

"My mom leaves a once every week-or-so to go sell peaches to some vendors in Canterlot, and she did that the night before I found you, but I don't think she saw anypony resembling who attacked you," Peach Blossom told the changeling. "She does occasionally say that she gets caught up a bit on the road, but that's usually only if there's a willing customer she happens to pass by."

"I don't think 'Mister Knight' was really in the mood for fruit," Habeas chuckled, settling himself down further. He unleashed a small yawn and then began to let his eyelids flutter and droop. Wrapping his book back up in the cloth, the changeling hooked it back up to the stick and set it down.

"You look tired," the filly noted, standing up. "I think it might be best if I let you rest again for now."

The changeling slowly nodded his head and murmured something in agreement. "It may very well be."

"The weekend starts tomorrow, so I'll be here most of the day unless my mom decides to take us both to sell more peaches or vegetables in Canterlot," Peach Blossom smiled. "I can bring some more food to you, too."

Habeas couldn't help but grin back in gratitude. "Thank you, Peach Blossom," he said, before his head dropped over his good hoof like a pillow. The two kept their happy expressions even after she had turned about and started to leave. With a creak of the hinges, the changeling heard the barn door open and close, and he was alone once again.

---

It was a short time ago that night had fallen over the land, covering it in a blanket of darkness and stars. The moon glimmered brightly as it orbited the earth on alicorn magics, illuminating all that lied below it like a loving parent. And yet, despite the peacefulness of the world, one armored figure treading upon the dirt path expressed an emotion opposite to its surroundings, yet also not aimed at it as well.

Hate.

Hate burned and flared within the knight's mortal frame like a fire within a furnace. Hate and levelheadedness, both mixed together like dragon flame and hardened ice. What little could be seen of the knight's face seemed to be twisted into a permanent leer, showcasing the emotions hidden within like dampened candles, and expressing very little else except vigilant contemptment. It walked forward at a snail's pace, dark armored hooves clanking on the dirt below with every step.

The unseeing, grey, clouded eye on the left side of its face, as well as the white, streak-like scar covering it, reflected the moonlight very much like the sheen of the armor it wore, and too reflected what hideous damage rested within its memory. Still it walked about, patrolling the area in an autonomous manner, its armor rattling and spear clanking as it tapped against the ground.

A dry rustling of bushes went out when there was no wind to cause such a disturbance of the quiet. With what at first seemed like a little, numbed reaction, the sentinel swished its tail and held its spear up in a hoof, tip facing forward in preparation of a fight. Its eyes, both sightless and seeing, were facing the direction where the disturbance occurred, widened and bloodshot. Then, hopping out of the forest, came a small, fuzzy figure.

It was a squirrel. The red-furred creature let out a squeak of curiosity as it saw the larger being staring at it on the road, and as if in reply, the knight lowered its guard and lifted its spear once more, sensing no threat at all in the rodent. With a shrug, the small animal returned to its activity. After rummaging around through the leaves and grass for a few seconds, the rodent found its prize, a simple acorn, and stuffed it into its mouth.

Smiling dumbly, it dashed back off into the forest, watched the entire time by the armored being. The look of murder once shining prominent in its right, blue eye had by now faded away, and so with a sigh, it turned its attention upward toward the moon with a much more mollified look.

The moon seemed to stare back, and the two remained locked in each's gaze until the knight allowed its head to fall. Turning itself about, it began to walk off, returning from whence it came.

Comments

[Skye Mist]

If the dark knight isn't the mom, then I don't know who...
I mean, they both have blue right eyes, and the mom's left eye isn't mentioned whereas it's the most prominent thing about the knight.

[Vitae]

7348863

The dad possibly reanimated by Luna to guard the roads at night as his last wish?

[RainCrasher]

Yeah... Im leaning more toward the theory that the mom is the knight, shes just being secretive or vigilantly about it away from her daughter. My question is this, if it is the mother, Is it tied with the death of Peach's father? Or was it something more recent? I wouldnt like to see some backstory of the Knight at some point.

[A.P.O.N.I.]

Wrapping his book back up in the cloth, the changeling

"You look tired,"

I think that you missed something here.

Good story, though. I'm engaged.

[amiamera]

Ok here is my prediction as I am currently on this chapter and haven't read anything else. If I'm right, then I'll say that the background is a bit predictable and be a little disappointed there wasn't some type of subversion of my expectation (put in spoiler tags to prevent possible spoilering to others if it's actually true):

Mom is knight, dad died in Canterlot invasion

[Alondro]

Its title, written in large, red words over its black-and-white, checkered cover, said Cooking With Love. The filly struggled to hold in a snigger of laughter as she realized it was a cookbook. A cookbook!

Alternate title: "To Serve Ponies"

[Despicable Kiwii]

I'm sure who the knight pony is

[Dustchu]

Calling it now, the knight is dear ol daddy~

Nice job!

[Drakozozh]

I'm getting serious Artorias vibes here.

[Kamikaze_dalek]

"My mom leaves a once every week-or-so to go sell peaches to some vendors in Canterlot, and she did that the night before I found you, but I don't think she saw anypony resembling who attacked you," Peach Blossom told the changeling. "She does occasionally say that she gets caught up a bit on the road, but that's usually only if there's a willing customer she happens to pass by."

remove the first "a".

[The True Observer]

7743314
It makes sense because we have not seen the mother's face yet.

[NavelColt]

"My most valuable possession lies in there," he responded, reaching for it. Using his mouth to undo the knot holding it close, the patchwork cloth fell open, revealing a rectangular object that Peach Blossom noticed was a book. Its title, written in large, red words over its black-and-white, checkered cover, said Cooking With Love. The filly struggled to hold in a snigger of laughter as she realized it was a cookbook.

Beyond adorable.