//------------------------------// // An Inning // Story: Welcome to Batstralia // by Damaged //------------------------------// Language check. Anything wrapped in < > in this chapter is spoken Equish, everything else is in English. Joyce heard the front door close—and her son's voice retreating—as she walked down the hall from the bathroom. "And that leaves two." She smiled at the thought, her brain long having made the connection that Misty was at least part hers to look after. No flapping—and no keeing—greeted Joyce when she entered the kitchen, and she quickly saw why. Hanging inside his open cage, Tufts had his mouth stuffed with grapes. "He spoils you." She reached up to his chin and gave it a little rub with her finger. "He makes me proud." With another little rub behind the bat's ears, Joyce turned and made her way to the kettle. Preparing two cups of tea and a coco, she waited for the jug of water to come to the boil. "." Misty climbed up onto a seat at the table. "—" The filly had to duck her head as Tufts keed and flew over her. "?" Lifting an arm quickly, Joyce rolled her eyes as Tufts latched on with his legs, and started crawling towards her torso. " means you, you said 'we.' " Misty giggled at catching the adult out with their Equish. "Oh, can we have bananas again?" In the interests of getting what she actually asked for, Misty had chosen to swap to English. "Thank you, Misty." Joyce now had a bat hanging from the collar of her old jumper. "If there are any bananas left you can have some. You really like fruit, huh?" The kettle started whistling for attention, and Joyce quickly turned it off and started pouring the boiling water into various cups. Misty looked through the fridge, and plucked out a pair of bananas and a bottle of apple juice. Holding them in her wings, she carried the latter up to the sink and set the former on the table. "Are you going to be home all day today?" Carefully lifting out a glass, Misty poured the juice into it. "No, because mum has a date!" Robin bounced into the kitchen, earning an assertive kee from Tufts. Freezing in her tracks, Robin looked to her mother in shock. "Did he just tell me off for jumping up and down?" "He did, and I agree with him. No jumping or you'll wake up…" Joyce smiled as the last resident—who was home—entered the kitchen. "Candela. Good morning." Misty's wing passed her the milk right on cue, and Joyce poured some into the two cups of tea. "Sleep well?" "Not particularly." Candela stretched a fore and back leg out as she yawned. "All sorts of strange meanings. The Mare in the Moon can reach all the way here, apparently." " 'Mare in the Moon'?" Joyce passed her friend one of the cups of tea, and carried Robin her coco. "The Mare in the Moon, mum!" Robin stealthily took one of Misty's bananas, and then pulled off a credible kee, mimicking Tufts quite well. Misty lifted up one hoof and booped Robin on the nose. "There are more in the fridge." "Is anyone going to explain the Mare in the Moon to me?" Joyce was ignoring the girls' antics, and put some toast on for herself. "I was teaching all the foals some old tales, and mixing in Equestrian ones with an Earth one." Candela sipped her tea with every indication of delight. "The Mare in the Moon is an old one, but it speaks of a great monster living on the moon. In Equestria, you can even see a shadow of her head on it." "That's pretty cool." Joyce got out the butter and some sweet apricot jam. "And legend has it, upset sleep and bad dreams are all her fault." Candela left Robin and Misty to their breakfast, and fetched them another banana each. "It's all old stories, but it's strange how so many have a kernel of truth in them." "Not so much here. I guess in a world of magic and unicorns, myths and legends are just as likely as what the newspapers print." Joyce caught the first two slices of toast, and set about buttering them. A knock at the front door drew everyone's attention, and an inquisitive kee from Tufts. "Come in!" Joyce passed one slice of toast to Candela, and bit into the other herself. "Just me Mrs. Robertson!" Rose walked uncertainly into the strange house. "G'day." She spared a half-smile for the room full of ponies, humans, and one bat. To Joyce's eyes, however, she was trying to spot someone else. "You still want me to take these two terrors off to the mine? I know a great shaft I can push them both down." "Will we ever see them again?" Joyce liked the girl's sense of humor, but it felt slightly forced. All the numbers added up to Rosetta having a crush on Mike, and Joyce knew it all too well. Rose shook her head. "Not if we push a big rock down after them." When both Misty and Robin looked at each other, and then turned and keeed sharply at Rose, the teenager rolled her eyes. "Have they been hanging around Tufts too much? I heard you can catch bat-canthropy from bats…" " 'Bat-canthropy'?" Robin turned and looked to her mother, the default—and for good reason—authority on all things medical. "Mum! What's bat-canthropy?" "Sounding like a bat is the first sign." Rose waited until both girl and filly were looking at Joyce before winking. "Next thing is the wings, then you get the crazy ears…" The silly description made Joyce's stomach turn worryingly. "That's it…" Though she whispered the words, everypony could see something had just transpired. "That's it!" "Make way!" Robin jumped from her seat and made a path for her mother. "Mum has had an idea and we can't talk to her until she writes it down." Her daughter's words were only peripheral sound, Joyce rushed to her notebook—the one she kept the information about the two miners. "Something is infecting them into… into ponies. And it must be leaking from…" Her eyes widened. Robin cheered. "Aaand you can talk to her again." "Joyce, what's wrong?" Candela's tone was full of worry for her friend. "Is this about Dave and Steve?" "How could I have been so stupid! Only the miners are changing because they work closest to Equestria! Steve," Joyce was so carried away, she barely noticed the reactions of the others in the kitchen, "even works in Equestria most days. Why didn't I see this before?!" Rose looked to Robin and Misty. "Uh, so did you still want me to babysit today?" She looked at Robin with a little confusion evident, and it took a moment for Joyce to realize she was even being talked to. "Oh! Yes please, Rose." Joyce had the book open to a blank page and was writing furiously. She listed off a Geiger counter, radiation badges, among other things. She froze and took a deep breath, counting to ten in her head. "I'm sorry, Rose. That'd be great. Do you need money for lunch?" She forced herself to calm; her kids might be used to her manic revelations, but it wasn't fair to perpetrate them on others. "If you want me to keep them out of your hair all day…" Rose trailed off meaningfully. The girl blinked in shock when Joyce passed her a fifty dollar bill. "This is too—" "Please, I need to focus on this. Whatever you don't spend," Joyce paused significantly, "you can keep." "Well, come on fillies, bring your fruit with you." Rose pocketed the fifty and reached out to the two girls. "Time's a wasting!" The next time Joyce looked up from her notebook, only Candela was left in the house. A soft kee from her chest reminded her that Tufts had been not only respectfully silent, but behaving himself for once. She blinked, putting her pen down and closing the book for a moment. "Sorry Tufts." She reached her free hand up to rub the bat's ears. "I take it you had an idea what could be causing the… changes?" Candela put a plate of toast on the table, which left Joyce to wonder how long she had been distracted with writing her ideas. "Yeah, it has to be something proximity-related to Equestria. Steve got hit the worst because he mostly works in Equestria, and Dave works this side, but in the mine still. It can't just be proximity to ponies, or Robin, Mike, me, and the schoolkids would be changing too." Joyce plopped down at the table and took a piece of toast. "Thanks, Candy." "It's no problem at all, Joyce. You take care of so much of the cooking that making breakfast is the least I can do." Candela munched on her own toast. "That was a lot of bits… dollars… for foalsitting." "Rosetta is a good girl," Joyce grinned widely, "I mean filly…" She giggled when Candela stuck her tongue out. "… and I happen to know she's chasing after a certain colt of mine. He had a string of… almost-girlfriends…" She waved the toast in a circle to emphasize that the term was used loosely. Unfortunately for her, Tufts leaned out (using his wings to gain distance), and licked some sugary jam off her toast. "He's quick at that." Candela popped the last of her toast in her mouth, and showed every sign of bliss as she chewed up what was a deliciously sweet breakfast. Joyce tore her piece of toast in half, and holding one piece up to Tufts, ate the other in peace. "You saw how she was looking around when she came in? How disappointed she was when Mike wasn't here?" "They are worse at school." Candela grinned over her cup of tea. "Oh, they always pay close attention, and their study time together is building their grades up much better than if they tackled it alone, but there are glances, and blushes. Humans blush a lot easier than ponies…" "Because of the fur?" Joyce kept both hands busy with Tufts, not wanting to tackle her work too quickly. She had the important revelations down, she could expand on them and put something together to try later. "I was worried all the issues at the last school might have affected him…" She waved a hand around in emphasis, until Tufts snagged it with a thumb, and pulled it back so it could rub his chin again. "I haven't heard the full story, and I'm not sure I'd understand it all if I heard it. But Mike is a good colt. He fixated a little on the Pie fillies, which wasn't a bad thing. They are safe, and comfortably friends that he can relax with. Maud, in particular, seems a perfect match for him. If they weren't completely different species, I'd think they had a chance together." Candela watched Tufts getting the snuggles he desired. "Wait, what?" Joyce was snapped from her little daydream, and focused on Candela. "But that… I don't…" She thought about it, about a pony and a human. "Ugh, society has in no way prepared me for this level of parental problems. I give up. If he's happy, and whatever girl—" "Or filly." Candela actually giggled when she cut in. "Or filly, okay. If he and his intended are happy, I'm happy." Joyce heard a soft little grunt from Tufts, and looked down to see him enthusiastically rubbing his cheek against her hand. Just then, the bat decided to spit out the wad of squeezed grape bits he had been working the juices out of. "Really?" The bat looked right in Joyce's eyes, and nodded. "He has you wrapped around his thumbs." Candela drank down the last of her tea and climbed off the chair. "Cloth incoming!" With her wing, the pegasus flicked a damp cloth across the kitchen, right into Joyce's waiting hand. "It's not that bad." Joyce cleaned up the spat of discarded fruit pulp, and then cleaned her hand too. "And it's not like he's a pet. He's a wild animal." She was clinging to the hope that the words were true, but the bat had imprinted on her family pretty quickly. "Of course he is." Candela displayed her skill with sarcasm as obviously as was possible. "Just a wild bat, who gets upset when nopony is home, and doesn't like to eat unless somepony is holding him. Not a pet at all…" "There was no need for that." Joyce rolled her eyes a little at Candela's words, then decided to change the topic from the argument that she definitely wasn't losing. "I'll be going to Traralgon with Steve," she thought about hiding her blush, but she was an old enough "girl" not to, "it's a sort-of date." "A date that isn't a date? Why isn't it?" Candela retrieved the cloth and had to rear up to rinse it out in the sink. "Well, we're having lunch, and then I'm getting some blood tests done. The former is his idea, the latter is mine." Despite lunch being Steve's idea, Joyce found herself warming up to it more and more. 'And why shouldn't I have a date? It's been how long since I thought of…' Joyce was deliberate in her efforts to forget Mike and Robin's father. The man's efforts to gain custody proved how much he wanted to be in his children's lives; he hadn't fought at all. "He certainly looks like a nice stallion. I haven't talked with him enough to gauge his faculties. Is this something serious, or are you just after a quick tumble?" Candela finished cleaning up the sink and jumped back down, looking Joyce in the eyes. "What?!" Joyce blushed hotly at the question. "I mean, I don't… I'm not really…" Trying to tell herself she wasn't a young girl anymore, Joyce was forced to look at the question honestly, and evaluate her feelings. "If I'm reading you correctly, those slumped shoulders and intense blush are a sign that it's the option you would rather it not be." Candela reached up with her wing and turned the kettle on again. "I just can't believe I'm… I'm just horny." Expelling a deep breath after the distasteful word, Joyce slumped down a bit, earning a questioning kee from Tufts. The bat's voice was enough to earn him a rub at his ear, and snapped Joyce's mind back from the shock of her realization. "I'm comfortable… like this. How we're living, with our kids." "But you want a stallion." Joyce looked hard at Candela, and if the mare had shown even a hint that she was poking fun at Joyce, it would have upset her—Candela was wearing a serious expression. "Yeah…" "There really is nothing wrong with that." Candela reached across the bench with her wings and began to make a round of tea. "I sometimes think of finding one for a little fun, but one foal is enough for me." A knock at the door broke the conversation up. Joyce left Candela to make the tea and carried Tufts along for a ride to the front door. "Hello?" She opened the door and spotted Steve. "Oh! Am I running late?" "No!" Steve lifted his hands up to fend off any offense he might have caused. "I thought I'd come over early so you could do that examination." Candela poked her head out of the kitchen. "Would you like a cuppa, Steve?" "That'd be great." Steve's eyes flicked between Joyce and Candela, then settled on the latter. "Although I could head back if you're busy?" "Not busy at all. Head through to the living room." Rubbing Tufts' ears, Joyce's attention was stolen from Steve by the bat biting her on the finger. "Hey, cut that out Tufts!" "Are you sure? You seem to be busy…" Even as he trailed off, Steve walked through to the living room, as directed. "In here?" "Thank you, yes. If you could drop your trousers, I can get a good look at you." Joyce's blush was back, the double entendre surprising her with its implications. Grabbing up her kit-bag from the kitchen, she shook her head at Candela's knowing look. "I didn't mean—" "I know, but it's costing me to not laugh at it all the same." Candela started making up a third cup of tea. "I'll bring this in when it's ready." Joyce kept further attempts to salvage her reputation to herself, and carried her kit into the living room. She had a great view of Steve's rear, with his boxers hiding most of the view, and his tail hiding the rest. "Your tail's grown again?" "I think so. And I have a bit of fuzz on my back." Steve reached back to his shirt and lifted it up. "Green, and it's so soft!" Joyce ran her fingers over the fuzz. "The good news is, I think I have worked out what's doing this." "What?!" Steve spun around and tripped on his pants (still around his ankles), falling sideways and landing on the couch with the softest fall he could hope for. "What's doing it, Joy?" "It's not the ponies, or the kids at school would be getting affected." Joyce started ticking things off on her hand. "But it seems related to them. The only thing that leaves is the magic being used in the mine, or Equestria itself." "So if I stopped mining I'd turn back?" Steve tried to rescue himself from the soft couch, then gave up and just sat on it to think. "I don't know if it will undo like that. Without testing it, we can't tell what would happen." Joyce started running ideas through her head to test such things. "And it might take years for it to undo." "Well, do you know how far it's going to go? Will I end up all the way? Will I get wings or a horn?" Steve reached down to pull up his pants, but didn't bother tucking his tail in. When he saw Joyce's look, he sighed. "So, still want to have lunch?" "After I measure your tail and ears, and that new patch." Joyce was grateful for the change of topic, small though the shift was. "And I'm sure it's grown, your tail that is." She gestured for Steve to stand up again, and got her measuring tape out. Once the measuring was complete, with little more conversation involved, Joyce looked down at her notes. "The patches of fur on your thighs are growing, and the new one on your back matches the fur color." She tapped her pen at the measurements. "Tail is longer, and you seem to have more control of it, as well as your ears." "I'm turning into a pony, aren't I?" Steve's tone had a good helping of resignation to it. "Maybe. Your existing musculature and skeleton aren't changing, which could mean you just end up with the extra bits." She found her lukewarm cup of tea and sipped at it. "And now with the doctor stuff out of the way, of course I want to have lunch." "The doctor thing really gets in the way that much?" Steve started tucking his shirt back in, and found his tail out. "It's getting harder to remember to tuck it away, it wants to lift up and away from me." "Interesting. I didn't feel any strain on it. Maybe you just carry it up a little, like Candela and Misty." Joyce put her "Steve Journal" away in her bag. "Look, Steve, I guess I should be up front about this—" "What?" Immediately on alert, Steve was reacting before Joyce even finished her confession. "Was it something I said? Is it the tail?" "No! Steve, let me finish." Joyce took a deep breath, and she waited to see if he would cut in on her again. "What I was trying to say is, I'm not really shopping for a relationship." "But you still want to go on the date?" Steve was confused in the matter. "I don't get it. Just tell me straight." "I guess I just wanted someone to cuddle a little, spend some time with, but I'm not looking for a partner." As she talked, Joyce watched the confusion get worse on Steve's face until the end of her explanation. "What?" Steve looked into Joyce's eyes. "Okay, so you're just looking to be friends?" "It might just be too soon…" Joyce shook her head. "This is my problem, not yours. If you wanted something more, sooner, I understand." "No!" Wearing a mask of confusion, Steve shook his head. "I can't pretend to work out all of this, but you just want to have some fun—no strings attached?" Joyce's nod confused him more. "Then I guess I'll pick you up in an hour?" "That'd be great." Joyce wasn't sure whether to be terrified he would not show up, scared that he would, or just content that he understood where she was coming from.