Roseluck turned the binder over in front of her, trying to make sense of the records she was collecting. The flower stall wouldn’t be in this state if only they’d understood how bad things were getting. The trouble was, Rose and her sisters liked growing and arranging flowers, not so much the organization that went with it. One little budget shortfall and the next thing they knew they were selling their house and renting space in the cheapest places they could find.
She rose, dumping the entire thing out on the table in frustration. Maybe if she saw everything, she would be able to discover some secret path through to saving her family business. But no matter how hard she looked, the only pattern she found was bankruptcy.
On the other side of the inner door, metal rattled in metal. Tracing was back, back from his time-mismatched world for his tour of hers.
If it wasn’t for the danger he represented, Rose probably would’ve called off the whole thing. But even more important than her family’s old flower stall was the safety of Equestria itself. In some ways, she might be the mare standing between everypony else and total destruction.
Take a few deep breaths, Rose. You can do this.
She winced at the state of the table, but there was no cleaning it now. Her resident invader would want to get out and see the place he’d come to conquer, and she would have a surprise in store for him.
The inner door opened a moment later, and the bat pony emerged. Except… he wasn’t really a bat, despite appearances. If only there was some magical switch in her brain she could flip now that she knew this bat wasn’t what he seemed. Problem was, the danger didn’t make her want to run away.
“Hey Rose.” He tossed his strange saddlebag up against his boxes and the Farcasting spell, sighing with relief. “Remember what we talked about the other day? Are you still going to give me the tour?”
She nodded, maybe a little too quickly. “My sisters know I’ll be catching breakfast before heading to work, so we can go right to the bakery. Everypony I know loves Sugarcube Corner, so… I’m sure you’ll like breakfast there too. Unless it’s… dinner for you? But there’s nowhere serving it right now.”
He shrugged one skin-covered wing, ambivalent. “Whatever, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Who doesn’t like bread, right?”
She watched him skeptically, waiting to see if he was making fun of her somehow. But there wasn’t any in his scent, only exhaustion and a little fear.
Do you suspect I’ve figured you out, Tracing? You shouldn’t have let slip you were working for Discord. Now everypony knows your game.
But if he suspected, he was too proud to give up and run. “Great. We can head right out. We don’t have to worry about the rush, I think my friend is going to get us a table in back. That way we don’t have to worry about the line. It’s kinda crazy first thing in the morning.”
Tracing nodded absently at the suggestion. “I’m just glad to have some company stepping out that door. There hasn’t been anything stopping me from going out there these last two weeks, but… I just haven’t been able to do it. Might be dangerous out there. I guess you… probably think the same thing about the back of the house.”
She shut the door behind them, not even trying to gather up the books. Their records were already so far behind that another day wasn’t going to make a difference.
For an invader, he didn’t seem to know what he was invading. Tracing’s eyes went wide the second they were out the door, staring at everything from random houses to the city hall building just down the street. He seemed to be on the edge of asking questions about literally everything he saw, but resisted. He doesn’t want to make it too obvious. He’ll find out we know soon enough.
“How many types are there?” he asked, after looking like he might just explode from the effort of keeping silent. “Like… I see there’s lots of different ones. How different are you, anyway?”
Rose just stared back, utterly baffled. What was he even talking about? She thought about asking that, but then he supplied his own answer a few moments later, and resolved any confusion she was feeling. “I’ve seen at least three types, but maybe there’s more? You’re one type, without any extra bits. Then there’s ones like me, with… these things.” He stretched out a wing, staring at it like he might a fat bug perched on his side. “And I’ve seen at least one or two with face bones.”
Rose stopped in her tracks, and nearly smacked herself in the face with a hoof. “You mean the tribes?” She relaxed, momentarily forgetting about her mission. Ever since the friendship school opened in town, this question came up more and more. Ponies were the only creature with so much variation, so far as she knew. Griffons and hippogriffs and minotaurs and yaks all had basically the same blueprint. Maybe dragons, but the only dragons Rose had ever seen around looked basically the same too.
“Oh, I… guess so?” He tilted his head slightly to the side, thoughtful. “Where I come from that would mean more a… political difference. But I guess it could be ethnic too. Clearly your ethnicities aren’t color related. I can’t tell any rhyme or reason to the way you look.” He held out one leg, staring at the dark blue fur. “We look?”
He wasn’t making any sense. What did colors have to do with anything? Well, bats were usually darker, maybe that’s what he was getting at? He didn’t understand what it meant, because he wasn’t really a pony at all. And wasn’t even really trying to hide it, either. You aren’t a very good invader.
There was a time when simply being new in Ponyville would’ve attracted stares and probably a welcoming celebration by the resident party planner. But now she was busy helping run Equestria, and the school brought in so many new faces that one more was just another in the crowd. At least that meant she didn’t look ridiculous talking to him in the middle of the road.
“A few years ago, we used to think there were just three tribes, but really those were just the biggest. Pegasi with wings, unicorns with horns, and earth ponies with strength. I’m one of the last ones.”
“And that makes me a pegasus?” He extended one wing, visibly shaking as he did so. The task seemed to take great concentration, and he didn’t look away while he moved it. “And we actually fly with these?”
“You’re not, no.” Where were the covert questions about their magical weaknesses and the protection spells on their cities? Instead, he didn’t even know what he was, or the basics of bat pony magic. “You’re a bat pony. Wings, fangs, ears, eating bugs… it’s all pretty obvious.”
“I don’t eat bugs!” he snapped, sounding genuinely offended by the prospect. “I ate a scorpion once, but that was for a dare. I wouldn’t do it again. So… crunchy and gooey. But that makes sense. Bat, pegasus, unicorn, earth. Doesn’t sound very fair to you, if I’m being honest. But I guess life never is.”
The more he talked, the more confused she got. Roseluck nudged him to start walking again, which he did after a little more pressure. Maybe he’s realized what I’m doing, and he’s trying to distract me, so he won’t have to face justice. It won’t work, Tracing. “There are also crystal ponies, and other creatures that are close to us, but not quite ponies. Hippogriffs and changelings both have a lot in common… oh, and Alicorns. Princess Twilight, Princess Cadance, Flurry Heart… they’re not a tribe, but they are ponies.”
Sugarcube Corner was coming into view. As she’d predicted, he was too ignorant about Ponyville to realize it wasn’t exactly a sit-down restaurant. A table in back, hah! He’d actually believed it. He didn’t notice as she steered him towards the back of the building.
“That’s a lot to remember,” he finally said. “Sounds a little scary to me, to be honest. If I lived down the street from someone who could fly… I dunno. There’s already enough danger in the world without superpowers.”
She nearly stopped again, demanding to know what he was talking about. But she resisted, just hurrying to the side-door and pulling it open with her mouth. There was indeed a single table in there, already set with four places. This time they didn’t have to hide—apparently the Cakes had been informed.
“Wow, you weren’t kidding.” He didn’t suspect a thing, walking right past her over to the table. “Backstage breakfast treatment here at…” He glanced at something off to the side, poking out of a pocket. “Almost eleven. That sun is going to crosswire my brain before I get out of here, I swear.”
“You must be Tracing,” Bon Bon said, emerging from around the corner. A second later and the door shut behind them. Lyra grinned mischievously, though she remained silent.
“Tracy,” he corrected. “Tracy Maxwell, I’m not sure what’s so hard about it.”
The mare smiled sheepishly, gesturing to the table. “Tracy? Sorry about that, I’ll try to remember.”
And still he didn’t suspect a thing, climbing awkwardly into a chair. “Does this place have meus? Or… I guess if you work here, you’ll just handle all that. I’m… a little nervous about alien food for the first time. Not sure how much Roseluck told you.”
“Enough,” Bon Bon replied. “Don’t worry, you’ll be taken care of.”