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.”
YUSH! MWAHAHA
Eat teh meus. All the meus.
:)
And the aqua green unicorn has finally cornered her prey. Why do I have the unnerving feeling lyra was looking at Tracy like this: i.pinimg.com/originals/a9/57/65/a95765bbd879ba980d8b414f3adc22ff.png
I love this story, but I feel like cat after each chapter. Staring up demanding more.
Roseluck seems a bit on the suspicious side given what Tracy said last chapter:
(But then again, tha'ts exactly what an invader would say to get her to lower her guard!)
Kind of curious what it would take for Tracy to convince her that no, there's nothing nefarious about his stay in Equestria beyond whatever Discord has in mind.
Ideally, Discord would be brought up sometime during the coming interview and Bon Bon would be smart enough to get Fluttershy involved, but that'd be too easy.
inb4 that's exactly what he's served, he recoils in disgust, is eventually persuaded to try one, and finds it inexplicably delicious.
Alright, time for a good old-fashioned Ponyville misunderstanding. I wonder if any of them are going to end up accidentally married by the time this is over.
Nice explanation for no Pinkie Party yet. I assume this also explains why Rose and Bon Bon didn't involve Fluttershy the second Discord was mentioned. They think they have things under control and don't want to interfere with the running of Equestria.
Girl, he knows nothing of Discord's past reputation--how do you think he let Discord get him roped into this in the first place?
Actually, there's a lot of variety among the dragons too, I've found. Waving aside the bipedal to quadrupedal matter as something that just comes with a dragon growing to full size, I've noticed some are portrayed with distinct ear fins, some with distinct horns, some with both, some with a weird hybrid of both (cough-cough-Smolder-cough-cough), I think at least one with neither...and then some walk flat-footed, others walk with a more digitigrade step...and don't even get me started on the spines, though I suppose the spines we can shrug off as being as genetic as hair color...
Point is, it wouldn't surprise me if the dragons have something akin to the pony tribes among them, even if they don't openly acknowledge or recognize it as such.
Probably because he's not one, but, you know, you don't want to hear about that right now, do you, Roseluck?
Unless he's trying to emulate the sound a cat makes, I think he means "menus" instead.
So Bon Bon's in on this too. That actually relieves me a little--I'm more confident that Bon Bon can be reasonable and logical about this than Roseluck at the moment. Maybe after a bit of talking things out with Tracy, Bon Bon will figure out what's really going on and be able to set Roseluck straight on this at last.
Am I the only one thinking the context of this meeting reeks of an interrogation? All the repeated mention in Rose's thoughts that Tracy doesn't suspect anything? The idea of leading him to a back room of a bakery where there happens to be formal restaurant seating instead of SCC's normal, cafe-style seating? The specific mention of relief that the Cakes had been 'informed' upon seeing the table fully staffed with chairs? The fact that BonBon/Sweetie Drops is there and is the one initiating the interaction? The closed door? Red flags are buzzing in my head like an angry hive of bees that relations will be established in ruin because of paranoia toward someone who has not only been pleasant considering what he has to deal with, but surprisingly trusting. I have a feeling next chapter will be a train wreck, because I've got the visual of a runaway train with how Rose handled this.
Why do I see shot guns in the future
No!!! Not the Lyra! Anything but the Lyra! He's doomed! Doomed I tell you!
This will be great.
Of course, given the point in the timeline, nopony else may care. Or they may feel more sorry for Tracy than anything. I can only imagine the rumor mill...
"Did you hear about the new bat stallion who lives with Roseluck? They say Discord brought him over from another world."
"Oh boy. What's he trying to pull this time, multiversal diplomacy lessons for Princess Twilight?"
"No idea. I'm putting together a gift basket for the poor guy."
"Who, Discord?"
"No, the bat stallion. He'll need all the help he can get."
Well, that's not ominous at all. Hopefully Tracy's near-total lack of intel will be more of a red flag for Bon Bon than it is for Roseluck. I can't imagine SMILE thought highly of false positives, and even if its policies were a bit more lax in that department, the current administration definitely won't appreciate a failure to at least attempt friendship.
I suppose that's what Lyra's for. Again, poor guy. He just wanted some brinner. Or possibly dinfast.
This is getting interesting but I hope that BonBon at least will be sensible enough not to do anything rash. I wouldn't be at all surprised if Lyra starts asking about how to get to Tracy's world.
10184225
Hey, the last time that happened Flash Sentry nearly became a prince.
10184218
I'm pretty sure the canon source of food for Threstrals is fruit, and in some headcanons meat.
Well, this isn't exactly breakfast is it? Poor Tracy... he doesn't deserve this and it will certainly put him off Equestria if he ever finds out the truth.
I guess I'm way too enthusiastic about the "romance" part of the fic. This is really more of a "miscommunication kills" sort of fic. That's not a bad thing. I'd certainly like to see the "Tracy is an invader" route go to absurd lengths to the point that Tracy will lose his crap and tell everyone off.
He's certainly working for Discord. Unwittingly, of course but the chaos it will cause will be more than enough to fill his cup of tea.
Also, you should be questioning why you've been placed so close to the spy. Being the "mare standing between everypony else and total destruction" should be a clue that you are also a pawn in the game.
Guess dropping the D word raised too many red flags for even SMILES and the human expert to ignore. Guess that also confirms Tracy's visa is highly irregular otherwise this interrogation(?) would never have happened as Bon Bon would have probably gone up the chain for information. Guess Tracy might get "horse deported" after all. And to Discord that'll be considered a contract breach. This really needs the Princess's input. Actually, Fluttershy's too.
10184201
There's a small part of my mind thinking that Starscribe's gonna pull a plot-twist and make Lyra be Tracy's girl.
10184231
Then again, Flutters is Discord's leash. A very strong one at that. You think they would make an attempt.
10184242
That or it goes further off the rails.
10184328
I wonder if it'll be their method of fishing for information that'll alert Tracy that something wrong is going on. He might brush it off as pony-mannerisms but then again he might not and spot quickly that ponies don't trust him.
10184525
Fruit supplemented by bugs. If you assume that they aren't inclined to be good farmers, and are rather isolated from other tribes, it stands to reason they need an additional source of food than just the normal produce.
Likely love fruit even more than other ponies because of scarcity they have for it that makes them forced to eat bugs to maintain nutrition.
10184538
And of course only appear to validate Roseluck's concerns in the process...
In all honesty though, Roseluck strikes me as a not totally unreasonable mare--she's easy to scare, but she also knows when to face facts, once enough have been gathered to disprove her fears, especially once she has somepony she trusts backing it up. So the better question is...just how much is it going to take to convince her here?
Maybe it'll be when Tracy somehow helps her save her failing flower business, because I fully expect that's going to happen at some point, or at least something along those lines.
10184583
MANGO'S!
10184595
As I said, they likely love fruit even more than other ponies if it is scarce and therefore more of a treat. Can you imagine any other pony getting that excited and worked up about mangos? Or them getting that worked up if mangos were an everyday food?
10184525
Thestrals aren't canon.
Other than the one scene in Luna Eclipsed, everything there is to know about bat ponies is fan work.
10184663
They are canon, according to Larson and Faust, which counts pretty high on opinions. Faust went further to say she headcanoned them being native to deep caves in mountain chains (which would explain why you never see them, since we never really saw that many deep caves in the mountains-- aside from when Cadence and Twilight were trapped in one under Canterlot. All the other caves are shallow or underneath plains.)
Is Tracy gonna end up teaching Rose how to manage her business? Because I think that’d be cute.
10184525 10184583
Where does this information come from? Is it one of the comics I keep forgetting to read or is there another book that I missed? Is there information on any other species?
10184700
There is a screen shot of the Twitter feed where Faust and Larson discussed Bat Ponies and noted them as a separate tribe unto themselves.
Bat pony fandom wiki
Meanwhile Tracing is so bewildered he can't see the trap folding around him. Then again, he's surrounded by mares...
We can't tell who is going to snap first: the wound-up conspiracy nut, the agent fact checking assumptions, the after-shift tired intern, or the nearly-bankrupt florist? Sounds like the lead-in for a joke. Hold the cider, you're gonna want to be stable for this one...
Keep going! ;)
10184269
The wedding is at least 17 chapters away, don't get your hopes up too easily!
10184225
Romance tag says: high probability! BonBon and Lyra are already an item, after all!
10184780
Mood
10184706
That just tells me: they exist, where they live, what they do. Stuff I already know.
The rest of that seems to be fan made stuff. Where does the rest of your information come from?
is it weird that I'm finding the HUMAN to be the one who's kinda naive and overly trusting?
I mean, he's apparently made a deal with (what he thinks) is the devil. He's tuck spending his nights in Pony-Hell. He decides he's gonna explore a bit and see what's what, and that's fair. But he just.. Babbles to truth to anyone he meets! He's not even trying to hide that he's an alien! He's just lucky Equestria is a place where "Oh, I'm an alien from another dimension transformed to look like a pony" is, if not quite common, still something they probably have a checkbox for on their immigration forms.
Menus
I have a feeling Lyra already prepare the equipments downstair in order to 'research' on alien.
10184689
Spreadsheet powah!
10184243
Of course it is? Bon Bon is an agent of SMILE. Interrogating him is well within her job description.
Like, the fact this would be essentially an interrogation was indicated way back when Rose first went to tell Bon Bon about Tracy.
10184594
I guess it'll take Rose's friends and quite a bit more to convince her. Tracy's word is certainly no good. He literally said he was forced into his position and Rose still thinks he's a complicit spy. There's no reason the interrogation would yield proof of his innocence either. She probably wouldn't let him near the ledger. Don't want your company to be an accomplice to an invasion after all. I'd say Tracy is pretty screwed but then again, this is really just him opening himself to Equestria. If he's not kidnapped, arrested, or deported I'd say he'll just chalk it up as a (very small) loss and close himself up again.
10184218
Unless his freedom of movement is at stake, I don't think he'll be motivated to actually care. He's opening himself to this new world and will quickly see that the ponies are rejecting him either for being human or for his small association with Discord. He'll close himself and just live out the contract as originally planned.
10184773
My money's on batboy or the human fan.
10184907
There really isn't any incentive to lie considering Discord appears omnipotent and Rose literally saw his human form. He's just being cordial. Playing the "devil's" game seems to pay off anyway and the "demons" don't seem too malicious (or ugly either). He's sure he's helpless and just decided to enjoy the ride. Also, if a SMILES agent is investigating him, that might mean that Discord might have ignored or burned down any red tape that should have happened. Tracy still might not be there legally. At the very least, the approval process went horribly wrong.
10184782
Well, the tag doesn't necessarily have to apply to our protagonists. That's quite a twist, actually.
Curse you, cliffhanger!
10184773
Do they all walk into a bar? Does the dragon behind them duck it?
10184907
It certainly is different than most stories I've read.
But consider from Tracy's perspective.
His roommate found out, and - as far as Tracy has witnessed - hasn't freaked out about it nearly as much as he himself has.
He received what he believes is official documentation from the government acknowledging and permitting his stay.
He's witnessed more than enough weirdness on both sides of the door to shatter his worldview and beliefs.
He's behaving like somebody trying to keep his cool and get used to this new normal, since everyone else is treating this in so normal a fashion (again, as far as he can tell).
He probably thinks this is something the "demons" deal with on a regular basis.
10184869
You don't see the Twitter conversation with Larson and Faust pictured under "growth and spread" and full paragraph discussing the Twitter conversation?
“Enough,” Bon Bon replied. “Don’t worry, you’ll be taken care of.”
Run Tracy! Run!
10184243
I doubt Bonbon is the one we need to worry about.
This should be "menus".
If Bon Bon, Lyra, or Rose harm Tracy, it's possible that Discord might intervene and say "Hey no, you can't do that to my tennant."
Bat ponies as canon?
Just no. Luna went ... bad because of lonelyness, a sense of not being appreciated? If you had night-time ponies to appreciate her night sky, that would not have happened.
Sorry. No. One scene where it seems to just be a costume. Fine. It's a costume.
10184525
This is an AU after all, so who knows. It'd certainly be an interesting way to get Tracy to eat his words, at least, although I'm not entirely sure how Sugarcube Corner would procure such a dish.
10185134
Now that wouldn't make for a very interesting story, would it?
10184595
10184662
DURIANS!!!
10184538
No no. It'll be Discord.
10185228
I seen that Twitter conversation years ago. It's how I know that they exist, where they live and what they do.
The paragraph discussing it doesn't add anything new
Where does your other information on them come from?
Specifically their diet.
The rest of your post that got my attention looks like speculation. But if it's not, then I'm interested in learning about that too.
10184242
Don't forget about Crackles!
There's no dragon I've seen, either in the show or out, that looks quite like him...her...them.
10185330
It can be, if Tracy becomes a puzzle Roseluck must solve.
10185262
Could be prench?