Welcome to Batstralia

by Damaged

Visitor

Language check. All in English.

It was awkward, but awkward situations weren't the worst life had to offer. Rose was sitting on the couch, watching afternoon cartoons with Lyra and Robin. He sneaked a look at Lyra, and couldn't handle the quiet (excluding the television) that was settling in.

"Lyra,"—Rose turned to look at his friend, who had been a boyfriend—"what's going on with 'us'?" While looking at Lyra's grim expression, he saw Robin throw both wings up in the air.

"Nope!" Robin shoved back with her wings and practically sprung from the couch. "Cartoons aren't worth listening to you two talk about relationships and stuff. I'm out!"

Watching Robin leave, Lyra and Rose turned to look at each other, then broke out laughing.

As the laughter trailed off, Rose realized they were going to drop back to awkward silence again if he didn't say anything. "So. Us?"

"It's not working, is it?" Lyra sat on the couch, her back slumped into the cushions and her back legs thrust forward and down. "And I think we both know why."

Each gave a little sigh, but it was Rose who took up the torch of keeping the conversation going. "We changed." He shrugged. "But not in a bad way. You—" Words failed Rose for a moment. "This sounds like the most sexist thing ever, and it's stupid, but you're a mare."

Lyra came in before Rose could say anything else self-deprecating. "You're not sexist, and it's not stupid. Well, unless we both are." Her reminder of their night almost-together got a short chuckle from Rose. "But the thing is, I like girls. I find girls—mares—attractive. I can tell you are pretty hunky, but you're a stallion."

The truth laid bare hurt a little, but saying the words (and hearing them said by someone else) eased something in Rose. He relaxed a little more and even rolled to his back on the couch. "It's stupid. I like you—I really liked you—but whenever I look at you now I can't help but feel—"

"Turned off." Lyra cut in on Rose. "Guys never did it for me. Straight as an arrow." She watched the television and saw Roadrunner once again outsmart Wile E. Coyote (super genius). "Then I became a mare, and my stupid brain transferred 'girls are hot' into 'mares are hot' for me, without asking my opinion."

"I know, right? I look in the mirror, and I see a cute stallion. I actually think, 'Damn, he's hot.' And then I realize that yes, it's me, and that kinda messes me up more than being a stallion. Dealing with the extra bits? Heck, they self-clean! Dealing with being male is more than that." Rose, lying on his back, realized he was basically showing off his belly, but with the way things just slid away, it also wasn't showing much of anything.

Lyra snorted. "Self-clean? Self bloody clean? Before I worked out how to move things with my horn, I needed to shower after every time I used the toilet. I had to learn everything you got to forget." Her tone was light, but her emphatic gesturing with her forelegs drew some giggles from Rose. "Self-cleaning my arse."

Tilting his head back, and looking at Lyra upside down, Rose snorted. "We both have to deal with that one, and your magic is better at it than my wings are." Reaching out with a hoof, he poked Lyra on the shoulder. "So, you've had a girlfriend before. Is this meant to hurt or anything?"

Lyra blocked the incoming hoof's second poke with her magic. "I'm too confused. It might? I don't think we could really make this work."

"I still want to be your friend, though. It's only been a year, but so much has changed." Rose stopped trying to poke Lyra. He took a deep breath. "There is something else I need, and I think your help would be best with it."

Intrigue caused one of Lyra's eyebrows to rise. "What's that?"

"Rose isn't a guy's name. I need something ponyish and male." Rolling back to his side, Rose watched as Bugs Bunny munched on a carrot. "Like, what would be good?"

"You could probably keep Rose as your name, but go for something more pony-like. Your special talent has to do with mining, so Rose Quartz?" Lifting her head and looking at the closed door of the living room, Lyra's ears twitched. "I think we might have a visitor. Two legs."

"Probably that doctor again." No sooner did Rose reply, than someone knocked on the front door. "I'll get—"

Swinging to her hooves, Lyra landed on all fours easily. "Nah, lay there and think of mining gags."

"Jokes? Why would I use a joke for a name?"

Lyra lifted a hoof as she walked, and raised her voice. "Life's a piece of shit, when you look at it. Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true!" Using her magic to open the door, she winked to Rose.

Relaxing on the couch, watching Warner Brother's cartoons, Rose thought of his name, and what it would mean to him. The sound of Lyra's hoofsteps going to the kitchen, then back to the front door surprised Rose; Lyra had left the visitor at the door.

Rose barely had time to sit up when the door opened and a purely human woman walked into the living room. She had red hair pulled back over her shoulders, an open face with freckles on each cheek. Blue eyes studied Rose, but looked a little higher than his actual head. The woman wore a smart pants-suit, and held out a hand.

"You must be Rosetta?" If having a wing-thumb tuck into her hand and shake confused the woman, she didn't show it. "My name's Cassandra Lieberman, but you can call me Cass if you like."

"Uh." Rose shifted his eyes to look at the doorway, but it was closed. "Hi Cass. Can I ask why my friend just let you in and you slammed the door in her face?" Rose picked up the remote and turned off the television.

"I'll be upfront. I'm a social worker, and was sent here after your mother, Jenny Stein, filed a complaint that her daughter was being held by,"— Cassandra looked down at her pad and raised an eyebrow—"sex traffickers." She closed her notepad and looked back up at Rose. "I haven't had the displeasure of dealing with that kind of people before, but your friend and her mother don't seem like the sort."

"Pfft." Rose rolled his eyes. "Can I be honest with you?" Time had hardened the situation to some extent in Rose's heart. "She has been hauling me around since she broke up with Dad. We would never last too long anywhere, you probably have my records." When Cassandra nodded to him, Rose continued. "I've found a nice place to settle down, friends I like, and just when I am about to finish off year twelve, she wants to pull up stakes and move on again."

"I can see where that would be inconvenient." Cassandra took her notepad back out and made some marks on it. "You're staying here, then?" Rose nodded to the woman. "And you're eighteen now. I don't see any evidence of the accusations."

Rose watched Cassandra make more marks on her notepad. "So what now? She talked to the police, right? Aren't they going to come and check up on me?"

Cassandra put on a half-smile. "You're an adult, Rosetta—"

"Just Rose, please." Rose hoped even that would change soon; it was foolish being called by a girl's name still.

"Rose, you're eighteen, and I can see nothing wrong with you or the living conditions here. The doctor who contacted the police verified nothing untoward is happening. I'll be honest, I don't even know why I was sent." Cassandra closed her notebook again.

"Mum sometimes makes up things. Usually to get her way. She probably told the police I was underage." Having to tell such a truth to a stranger hurt Rose more than he cared to admit. He tried to keep it all inside, but some of his pain had to have shown.

"Is something wrong, Rose?" Cassandra leaned forward.

Rose shook her head and barked a sharp laugh. "No, nothing wrong. I just have to come to grips with how much of a bitch my mum had been. She used guys like they were just a wallet with legs, and as I got older she didn't bother to shield me from that."

"It can be hard to realize that kind of thing." Reaching into her jacket, Cassandra pulled out a business card. "Here. In case you ever need someone to talk to. I'm not your friends, and I'm certainly not your mother, but I can be a pretty good listener when you need someone to talk to."

Reaching a hoof out, Rose took the card and set it on the table beside her. "You get much of this?" Rose gestured to himself.

"A little. Mostly parents doing a lot of bad things for the wrong reasons." Cassandra seemed done with the interview, and switched topics. "So, graduating soon? How are your grades?"

"Candela is the best teacher in the world. She wouldn't let me fail. And Lyra keeps grilling me on Equ—" Rose broke off. "Err, languages. Candela has us all doing a foreign language for the experience and credit."

Cassandra raised an eyebrow at the first actual almost-lie she had heard. Benign as the topic was, though, she moved on. "And after school? Going to uni?"

"Nah. My grades aren't up for that, and I'm not that smart. But I do know what I want to do. I want to work in mining and assaying." As Rose mentioned the topics of her cutie mark, Cassandra's eyebrows both went up together. "It's just what I want to do, you know? There's two guys in town who work a mine, and—"

Interrupting, Cassandra probed the issue at heart. "They let you into a mine? Aren't those dangerous?"

"They don't let me into the mine. So far all they have had me do is check over gear, sort through tailings—" At Cassandra's confused look, Rose clarified. "Tailings are the junk they pull out of the mine. Sometimes there can be good stuff in it. And anyway, I need to do some courses at TAFE before I can be more than a laborer to them. Dave said he would take me on as an apprentice."

Cassandra's worry seemed to evaporate visibly. She relaxed in her seat again. "Well, that sounds less like someone doing a dangerous and foolhardy thing, and more like a young woman with a plan for her life. It might not seem like much, but knowing your situation is this stable will make my report rock-solid. Thank you, Rose."

Rose's ears twitched, and the sound of hooves galloping down the hall suddenly had his attention. "What the—"

"Rose! I saw a strange car and I thought it was the police coming to take you away!" Robin, panting and puffing, stood in the doorway. "Oh, hi!" She waved a wing at Cassandra.

"This is Robin, Joyce's other daughter." Rose rolled his eyes at Cassandra. "She probably should have asked her mum before jumping the gun. I didn't need rescuing, Robin." Climbing up from the couch, Rose walked over and slung a wing around Robin's neck, pulled her close, and gave her mane a good roughing with a spare hoof.

"Hey!" Robin struggled and pulled free. "I was just trying to warn you."

"Well, Robin, no warning is needed. Rose is ahead of the game, so far as being a strong, independent young woman." Cassandra smiled at the closeness the two "girls" showed. "Now, I'll just have to speak to Doctor Robertson. Feel free to go back to your cartoons."

"They aren't over yet, are they?" Robin launched herself at the television remote with an excited kee, grabbing it up with her wing and turning the set back on.

Lyra poked her head in, saw Cassandra was moving for the door, and made way. "I can get her out if you need more time?"

"And have her miss Animaniacs?" Cassandra's sharp eyes flicked to the television and back. "I wouldn't do that to anyone. Excuse me."

Rose flopped back on the couch and loosed a sigh as Cassandra left the room. "Well, that's over with." He looked at Lyra. "What did your mum say?"

"Not a lot. She was fairly confident that the shrink wouldn't see through the pony-blocking thing." Lyra settled on the couch, and stole a glance at Robin. Returning to look at Rose, she winked. "Now, we were talking about kisses?"

"Oh come on!" Robin groaned out loud. "Is that all you two…" Trailing off, the moment Robin realized she was the butt of a joke was quite apparent—mostly by the flying couch cushions.

Author's Note:

Support me on Patreon or fuel my writing on Ko-Fi!

Join me on Discord. Warning, said chat may contain NSFW material and should be considered adult in nature.

Awesome ponies who are already helping to keep me in keyboards and rum:
A.P.O.N.I.
Boulder
Canary in the Coal Mine
Daremo
Dio-Drogynous
Javarod
Nils
Shaushka
Sirion123
Tanis

And special thanks to the following, for careful eyes and friendly words:
Cross Lament
Vutava

Comments

[tsaukpaetra]

Oh good, that's still active. Will probably be the best kept secret after all is said and done.

[Venerable Ro]

Oh wow. Whoever or whatever put up that barrier really went all out. Most glamors don't hold up to physical contact, but that woman never noticed a thing! that is top notch work.

[Damaged]

9094878 Not so much a glamour as interrupting the senses enough (or more to the point, it causes the brain to throw away anything it doesn't expect) that the brain lies to itself about what information it got, such that it believes everything is normal. Brains are excellent at two things: lying to themselves and believing their own lies.