//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 // Story: Fine Print // by Starscribe //------------------------------// Roseluck had plenty of experience with terror. Ponyville didn’t really give her a choice about it—to stay was to see dangers that most ponies would only hear about in stories and see reenacted in plays. Compared to some of what she’d experienced, seeing through to the other side of Tracing’s portal wasn’t that weird. An alien creature, lengthy and strange from her distant view, with almost no fur and lots of extra clothing. In a way it made her feel pity for creatures that looked so unusual. But how could she feel that when the odd being she’d seen lived with her.  Every night when she came home, that alien would be in her house. Every time he stepped out that door, it would be back to that place of thin limbs and squinty eyes. Those were the same creatures on his Farcasting spell, except for the purple one. Maybe he was like Nightmare Moon? Rose hesitated in her gallop, as fear was replaced with the knowledge of just how many eyes were on her. She could feel them in every direction, watching with confusion and possibly growing fear of their own. Ponies had herds for a reason—a crowd was always better at sensing danger and reacting than any one of its members could be on their own. She slowed, smiling stupidly at everypony watching her. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to cause a scene right here, screaming about an alien attack. So far, Tracing hadn’t done anything remotely hostile, just been a little unfriendly. And he has that Farcasting spell that shows terrible things. He’d denied being a night guard, but maybe that was just a question of names. He hadn’t seemed to understand what it even meant. At least nobody stopped her to demand what had happened. Maybe she’d managed subtle enough that she could brush this off. It’s probably nothing. But after every terrible thing that had happened to Ponyville, she couldn’t be the weak link that allowed danger into her home. She had to tell the proper authorities, just in case. She couldn’t just ditch the stall without warning her sisters about it, though. She slowed as she approached the worn wooden shack, slipping under the curtain. “Lily? Daisy?” They were both already here, preparing flowers they’d foraged from the White Tail Woods earlier that morning. It was what they did when they were truly desperate, and there wasn’t enough of their own produce or enough bits to buy from suppliers. A sign of the dire straits they were in. “What?” Lily dropped her trimmer, turning towards her. “You aren’t that late, Rose. Didn’t have to gallop all the way.” She winced, taking another few steps into the stall and lowering the curtains closed behind her. “I have to tell you something important. About Tracing, the bat living with me.” Daisy squealed. “That wasn’t even two weeks, Rose! You’re so naughty.” “I’m—” She was caught so completely off guard that her mouth just hung open. For a few seconds she could say nothing at all. A gnat nearly flew into her lips, until she finally closed them, shaking her head. “No, it’s not that at all.” “It better not be.” Lily didn’t seem so excited about the news, more annoyed than anything. “Because it sounds like you’re about to waste our time with something we don’t need to know. It’s great you’re in a relationship. We just wish you picked stallions who might be better for you, instead of… whatever Tracing is.” “We’re not dating.” She stomped one hoof, loud enough that creatures outside the stall could probably hear. She winced, then moved in closer to both of them. “You know how weird that house was? Available right when we needed it, charging the perfect amount for our budget? The landlord seemed a little weird, the contract was such a tangled mess it didn’t even make sense…” “Yeah.” Lily turned back to her work. “What does this have to do with your stallion? He moved in after you, right? That was your defense earlier.” “I think there’s…” There was no way getting around it. She had to tell them. “Instead of a back door, there’s a portal to another world on the back of the house. That’s why the light was weird. And it gets worse. I’m pretty sure Tracing is from that side. He’s living in Equestria, but he’s not even a pony at all! He’s… an alien! Weird and stretched and…” She struggled for a word to describe his Farcasting spells, before eventually settling on “Magical.” Lily groaned. “So he didn’t want to go out with you?” she suggested. “And now you’re rationalizing.” Rose smacked her with a hoof. Not hard, but hard enough to get her attention. “I’m serious! There’s really a portal attached to my place. There’s a dangerous world on the other side where a purple monster wants to hurt dirty people.” Daisy watched her, as uncomprehending as ever. She seemed about to say something stupid, the way she usually did when she couldn’t make sense of what others were talking about. “You should talk to Bon Bon. She always wants ponies to report things to her if they see anything strange. She’ll listen, might know what to do.” At least she wouldn’t be hard to find. Bon Bon worked for the Cakes, making sweets in their attached bakery. Rose could probably let herself in to talk while she was cooking, and nopony would even need to know about their conversation. “I was going to go to Princess Twilight, but… that might be overkill. If I go to her now when nothing is really happening, and later something does, she won’t want to listen.” “Good idea,” Lily said, exasperated. “Talk to the baker, not the princess. The stall already has enough trouble without an Alicorn mad at us.” “I won’t be gone for long,” Rose said, backing up the way she’d come. “I want to ask her before things get too busy. Open for me?” “This better be real!” Lily called after her. “If it’s just an excuse not to do your shift!” But she was already gone, rounding the corner towards the bakery. There was no sign that the city was under attack, no other ponies running in terror. No buildings on fire… everything seemed fine. She didn’t go to the front of the building, though she was a customer there often enough. Instead she walked around to the back, where she knew Bon Bon would be working. She woke up very early, doing most of her work before the sun came up. Sure enough, she could smell something sweet rising from the building, and she slowed a little, appreciating it. Lemon, probably sweets for the Equinox festival. She might have to buy a few later, if she could spare the bits. She knocked once, then opened the door. “Bon Bon? Are you here?” The space was a strange mix between disgustingly dirty and perfectly sterile. Dirty with flour and sprinkles and open containers of sugar. Standing in the middle of it like a tactician was the mare she’d been looking for. “Yeah?” She tossed a worn recipe book back onto the table, looking up. “What’s up, Rose?” They weren’t close, exactly. But living through so many little disasters did have a way of bringing ponies together. “Just… I’ve heard you might know what to do if something bad was happening. You might… understand more than the rest of us.” She raised an eyebrow, watching suspiciously. Even so, there was no sign of rejection from her yet, no disbelief. “Is something in particular going wrong? And… is it just for you, or more? I’m not quite done with the shift, but… if it’s personal, we could talk about it when I get off.” “No, it’s not…” She winced, taking a step closer and pushing the door closed behind her with a leg. “It’s about… well, I guess I’d file it under ‘unexplainable magical phenomena.’ Or… I dunno.” She went through the story of how she’d ended up at her new place, brushing over how desperate she’d been and how stupid it made her. She didn’t have to make herself into a complete idiot in her own story.  “I knew there was something wrong with the house. The windows on opposite sides always had, uh… different times of day. I thought it was an enchantment before, but now I’m sure it’s… a different kind of enchantment. I think one side of the house is in Equestria, and the other side is somewhere else. Somewhere really scary.” “Because of the windows?” Sometime during her explanation Bon Bon had produced a notepad, and she scribbled little details with a pencil. She hadn’t interrupted until then, and seemed to be listening seriously. “You don’t think a light spell is more likely? They aren’t hard to cast.” “I guess they aren’t, but… look, I thought it was something like that too, at first. But then I saw the back door. It just opens, right into another world. With weird houses, and huge metal machines speeding past so fast they could really hurt somepony if they walked into them. And that’s not even the worst part.” She lowered her voice to a whisper now, though there was no chance of the two of them being overheard. There was nobody to listen, and the bakery beyond was fairly loud with conversation and customers getting their morning treats. “A new roommate just moved in, from that side of the door. I saw him come through, all… stretchy and tall. And he’s got magic I’ve never seen before. I’m worried… do you think it could be another invasion?” Bon Bon didn’t mock her, didn’t even smile despite the strangeness of her story. Once she’d finished, she set down the pencil, looking thoughtful. “This, uh… this alien. Did it wear lots of clothes, not have any fur, and stand on two legs?” “Yes!” she exclaimed, relief and vindication flooding through her. “That’s exactly what he looked like! Pulled out, thin limbs, tons of clothes, only fur on his head…” Bon Bon settled a floury hoof on her shoulder, then blushed and pulled it back hastily. “It’s probably not an invasion, then. The world you’re talking about…” She frowned, shaking her head. “I shouldn’t talk about it. But the princess knows about it, okay? I hadn’t heard anything was happening in Ponyville, but… I’ll ask about it, keep you informed if you need to do anything. But before you go, does it seem like your roommate is dangerous? Has he tried to hurt you?” “Well… no. He’s barely even talked to me. A little rude, now that I think about it. He’s lived here for almost a week and I barely know his name.” The mare shook her head again. “That’s probably a good sign. If he was overly friendly, it might mean he was trying to get something from you. Something like the Canterlot Invasion. But if he is a spy, he’s not doing a good job if you ran straight to me. I’ll look into it, and in the meantime you let me know if he ever hurts anypony. Otherwise… that world isn’t as dangerous as it seems. You shouldn’t go there—but the creatures living there aren’t out to hurt everypony. This isn’t Tirek all over again.” “Thanks.” Rose retreated, brushing the flour from her shoulder with one hoof. “I, uh… thanks for letting me tell you about it. Do you know anything else about the place on the other side?” She shook her head. “My fiancé does. Lyra will talk your ear off about the exchange trip she did for the princess last year. But be warned, don’t start her on it if you ever want her to stop.” I might have to. Tracing might be the first soldier of an invasion, living under my roof. And Lyra is the only way for me to find out more. Unless she could get Tracing to talk. But as important as it was to save Ponyville, saving her own business was just as important. She should probably get back to the stall before her sisters started to panic. More than she already was, anyway.