You're Not Here

My name is Roseluck, you might have seen me around, maybe selling flowers at the Ponyville market. I've always been a very "normal" sort of mare, as normal as one can be living in this town. Never got involved in all that stuff Twilight Sparkle and her crazy friends seemed to cause on a regular basis. Then I met the human. I'd never seen anything like him before, and the moment I laid eyes on him, I had to know everything. Who he was, where he was from, what it was like there.

Why he seemed so sad behind that cheerful face.

I first met Kazamura in the market, when Twilight Sparkle was showing him around the town. She'd brought him around to the flower stands, and I couldn't help staring. He looked so tall and graceful, the tails of his coat flapping lightly in the breeze, one hand resting on his hat. He noticed me staring, and walked closer, smiling. As he drew up to me, some tiny part of my brain screamed in terror. This creature seemed so dangerous, with pointy teeth ready to tear my throat and hands that could snap my bones with ease. I was frozen in place, staring at his toothy grin, until he spoke.

"These are very nice roses. Do you grow them yourself?"

I managed to regain some control of my body. "Um, yes. They're one bit each. Ten if you want a dozen. Oh, I'm sorry, you won't have any money if you just got here."

"It's okay. I was just having a look. My name's Kazamura, by the way. You've probably gathered that I'm not from around here." He chuckled.

"Oh yes, I'd heard rumours that a creature from another world had appeared around here. Though, most of them said you were three metres tall and had tentacles." He laughed, but I could see something else cross his face for a moment as his smile wavered. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Roseluck, you can call me Rose if you want. Sorry for staring at you."

"It's fine. I would have done the same if I was in your position. It's so different here from my home...and way more colourful. It's like a child's picture book."

"Yeah, it is a bit too cheerful around here for me sometimes. Will you be staying a while?"

"Well, I'm not even sure how I got here. Twilight and the Princesses are looking into spells that could help, but we don't know if my world is another planet or a parallel version of this one."

I shuddered, imagining what it would be like to be in some alien land, with no idea how to get home, or even where home was. "Wow, that really sucks," I said. "Oh, damn, I'm probably not making you feel any better, huh?"

He smiled. "That's okay, Equestria seems like a cool place. I'd like to spend some time here and have a look around."

"Really? That's great. Maybe I could show you around sometime? Oh, here, I'll give you a rose on the house. Once you get some bits you can buy a few, if you want more."

"That's very generous of you," he said, placing it in his top pocket. "How does it look?"

"Pretty good." I wasn't just trying to get him to buy more, the red really did stand out brilliantly amongst his white suit and dark hair.

"Thank you, Rose." He bowed slightly, one arm over his chest, the other holding his hat in place. Twilight had returned, and was looking annoyed. She'd probably scheduled this whole tour of Ponyville. "It's been a pleasure meeting you. But it seems my guide is impatient to show me something. I'll be sure to come back when I get the chance."

"That would be great. I'd like to know more about you, Mr Kazamura."

  ****

Later, I had gone drinking with a few friends. Daisy, Lily, Cheerilee. Derpy too; her daughter must have been at a sleepover. Nothing too crazy ever happened on our Girls' Nights, we usually just got slowly drunk and talked about nothing in particular. But that night there was very definitely something they wanted to discuss.

"So, you were checking out the human, weren't you Rose?"

I sighed. "No, Lily, I was not 'checking him out.' We just talked; nothing happened."

Daisy chuckled at that. "Sure you were. Did you get a good look at him? Does he have a tail?"

"A tail? I don't think so, there wasn't one I could see, and it probably wouldn't fit into those clothes of his."

She smiled triumphantly. "I knew it! You were looking at his flank!"

I sputtered into my drink and mumbled several curses at her under my breath. Then Cheerilee spoke up. "I don't like him. Twilight brought him around to the schoolhouse before to talk to the foals so they wouldn't be scared of him. Well, maybe they should be! I swear he looked hungry behind that smile of his."

"His name is Kazamura, and I think you're being way too paranoid, Cheer. Xenophobic, even. Remember what happened with Zecora? Just because he's different doesn't mean he wants to eat foals. Sure, he's intimidating at first, but once you talk to him he's really polite and nice. Oh,  what is it now?" Lily and Daisy had been exchanging a knowing look. They both giggled. Derpy just looked at them, confused.

"You totally want to boink him!" Don't know why I even bother sometimes. Those two just don't listen. I managed to form a half-hearted comeback.

"Go easy on those drinks, girls. Wouldn't want you two to get drunk and wake up in bed together for, oh what was it, the fourth time now? Maybe this time you can get Derpy to join in."

She looked indignant at this. Well, I think she did, it's hard to tell, with the, you know. "I don't like mares, Rose! You know that."

I snorted. "Neither do they, to hear them tell it. Doesn't stop them from having gay sex all the time." I had won this round. I could tell from the bright blushing of the mares in question. Not that I had any problem with filly fooling, it's just that these two were so buried in self-denial it was ridiculous. Even Derpy could see it. "So then, shall we abandon the topic of sexuality? Good."

There was an uncomfortable pause. Eventually, the conversation started up again. I lay back in the booth and downed my drink, letting the alcohol flow through me as Cheerilee talked about the students and whatever destruction Scootaloo and friends had caused lately. My thoughts began to drift back to my earlier encounter. This being from another world, who was he, really? What had he done? How many of the rumours were true? I resolved to seek him out tomorrow and ask him.