Tracy couldn’t help but grin as Bon Bon settled his plate in front of him. In terms of tasting alien food for the first time, this looked like it would be far more alike than it was different. What was I expecting, monkey brains? This isn’t Indiana Jones. Instead it was a velvety-looking pastry, not unlike the breakfast pies he’d seen in the frozen food aisle.
“Dang that’s good,” he admitted. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you’d know how to cook for…” He trailed off awkwardly. He still didn’t want to just go and admit that he was an alien. “Yeah.”
“Better than what they serve in Canterlot?” the green one asked. Lyra, he thought her name was. “Maybe not as good as Ponyville’s version, but I enjoyed it.”
“Canterlot…” he repeated, poking at the edge of the pastry with one hoof. He didn’t cut into it yet, though the willpower to resist cost him more and more by the second. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a place like that. I’m from San Jose. Or… technically I’m from Ely, but that’s a long way out and nobody’s ever heard of it. So just call it San Jose.”
The ponies shared a look, particularly the two new ones he hadn’t met yet. Tracy searched for hostility in those eyes, but they seemed only confused and a little concerned. “I never left the city,” Lyra said, after a few bites from her pastry. “Is San Jose a nice place?”
Tracy shrugged. “If you’ve got money, I guess. The breweries seem interesting, and there’s the garden district. Basically, if you can afford not to live downtown it’s nice. Doesn’t help that half of the people living there are engineers working for one of the big companies, so they’re drowning in more money than they can spend. Drives up rent for the rest of us. That’s… how I got into this mess in the first place.”
It seemed to Tracy that a silent second conversation was taking place between these ponies. For all he knew, maybe they could speak with some sense he lacked. Instead of stressing about it, he finally dug into the breakfast pastry. The crust parted easily, filling his nose with a savory-sweet smell he couldn’t place. Let them share their private conversation while he ate, he’d trade that for a free breakfast.
Better be careful. If all their food tastes this good, I’ll be coming here too often. Maybe he’d have to do the exchange for gold like Discord suggested.
“So, you’re in Equestria because of the… price of rent?” The other new one asked. Bon Bon, he was pretty sure. At least their silly names were words he recognized.
He had to put the fork down to reply. “I didn’t believe it either. It’s not Rose’s fault, but… I think I was trapped into buying here. Is the name ‘Discord’ familiar to either of you?”
He didn’t need to wait for their responses, every one of them reacted with a jolt. Rose’s ears flattened, apparently embarrassed. Bon Bon didn’t look away. “I’ve, uh… heard of him.”
Him. So, she did know. He leaned across the table, hope rising involuntarily in his chest. It was probably unreasonable to expect anything, but he couldn’t help it. “Maybe you can help me! There was this contract… they’re everywhere when you rent somewhere to live, so I didn’t look too closely. Turns out it was forcing me into being here. Not that… you’re all not great or anything. I’m sure your world is amazing or whatever. But if you could help me get out of a contract with him… I’d be all kinds of grateful.”
The pony looked sympathetic, though far less hopeful than he would’ve wanted to see. “Discord is… more powerful than ordinary ponies can even imagine. Plenty of ponies today don’t even realize that he conquered all Equestria by himself. Kidnapping creatures from other realms…” She hesitated a moment. “Well, not kidnapping. You weren’t dragged here, right? You weren’t forced to agree?”
Before he could answer, Rose snapped suddenly alert. “Shouldn’t we be doing something about this, Bon Bon? You can’t keep listening to this like it’s true. What about the danger to Equestria?”
Tracy took a few seconds to process what she said. What could she be talking about? Why was she… Then it clicked. Back of the restaurant with creatures who seemed uniquely qualified to know about him. Confident, competent… “Rose, what are you asking? We’re here because you wanted to share Equestrian food with me, right? Isn’t that the only reason?”
Her head snapped towards him, glaring. “Finish your moth-pie, Tracing. I want to figure out what kind of rescue Bon Bon is planning. When do we save Equestria?”
Moth pie? Tracy dropped his fork, staring down into the pastry with sudden horror. Those little specks he could see drifting through its fluffy exterior, they couldn’t possibly be… He pawed at one, until he came out with an unmistakable chunk of wing, curled in on itself. “Oh god.” His stomach turned, revulsion coursing through him in waves. It didn’t matter how savory-sweet the pie had been, or how much he’d loved it only seconds before. They served him bugs!
“When it needs saving,” Bon Bon said. “I haven’t seen any sign we need to. What do you think, Lyra?”
Lyra rose from her chair, and something moved through the air in front of her. Tracy shielded his face from the self-propelled cloth, glowing suddenly gold—but apparently it wasn’t an attack. Instead of smashing into him, it stopped right in front of him. “You don’t look so well.”
He started to answer, but the taste of the pie was still sharp in his mouth. It was finally more than he could bear, and he began to heave. He flopped to the side, snatching the cloth and doing his best to keep the mess down. He hacked and coughed until there was nothing left in his stomach, then he kept going a little longer.
Tracy shook his head, shaking away the pain. He rose to unsteady hooves and found a cup of water floating in the air beside him. It was as impossible as everything else that had happened so far, but it was water and he was in pain, so he didn’t resist for long. He snatched it with a hoof, dumping it into and all over his face.
The chef glanced between him and the floor, pained. “Was something wrong with your breakfast? It’s not easy to source insects for insectivores on short notice.”
He shuddered, backing away from the table. “Nothing was wrong with it. Other than… it’s bugs. The fuck are you eating bugs for?” He spun, glowering at Rose. “I thought you were going to show me what your world was like. That’s not why you… Fine. Just keep it, okay? I’m going home.”
He shoved past the green one, kicked the door open, and stomped out onto the street. Tracy wasn’t really thinking after that, he just needed to get as much distance between him and the restaurant as he could. The light was overwhelming for a brain that was expecting stars. At least he didn’t have work tomorrow to worry about ruining things even more.
Tracy had been walking for nearly five whole minutes before he realized he’d run out of town. There hadn’t exactly been any thought to where he was going, and now… where was he?
Going on long walks back home was one thing, Tracy. But you don’t have a clue where you are.
He stopped, taking in his surroundings with a glance. He was standing on a dirt road, with a stone bridge ahead and trees all around. He hadn’t been going that long, so at least he couldn’t have far to go. He groaned, spinning back towards “Ponyville.”
My roommate is completely insane. She’s so afraid of me that she tricked me into meeting with… secret agents? Or just friends she trusts to back her up.
They hadn’t been trying to poison him. From Bon Bon’s reaction, she apparently thought the meal was something special. Because I eat bugs.
Just thinking about that meal brought all kinds of conflicting messages between his tongue and his stomach that he very much wanted to forget.
He walked slowly back into town, not in any rush. It didn’t help that Rose had been the one to take him to the restaurant, and she was the only one who knew the layout of the city. Did he even know what his house looked like from the outside?
Tracy stopped abruptly as he noticed a familiar face behind a street-vendor. That was Lily, Rose’s younger sister. She stood behind a stall packed with flowers and bouquets, smiling hopefully at ponies as they passed. With each who continued by without a purchase, she deflated a little more.
Why couldn’t you be the one sharing the apartment with me. You wouldn’t completely lose your shit and try to get me arrested, would you? Granted, he’d only met her a few times, and never for more than a few moments of polite conversation.
Her flower stand clearly wasn’t busy. Tracy approached, not looking at the flowers even once. Hopefully that would be enough for her to realize that he wasn’t a customer.
“Welcome to the Flower Sisters’!” she exclaimed, as soon as he got close. “Locally sourced, locally prepared, meal ready—” She trailed off, eyes widening. “Wait a minute, you’re Tracing! I didn’t think you left the house during the day!”
His ears flattened—this was hardly the first time Tracy had been called a shut-in. But it wasn’t even true this time! “I don’t usually come out on this side,” he admitted. “There was something… Your sister wanted to take me to breakfast. And maybe a kidnapping, I’m not sure.”
Lily didn’t react to that last part. Instead she smiled conspiratorially. “It was only a matter of time with you living there. Don’t let her name fool you—if you’re trying to get something for her, lemongrass and mustard is her favorite. Do you want me to arrange some for you?”
I don’t think you know your sister as well as you think, Lily. She tried to lock me up, she isn’t interested in me. Thank god. “No.” He retreated. “This might sound like an odd question, but could you point me towards home? I don’t know how to find it. Your sister”—tried and failed to screw me over—“got separated. I’ve got myself turned around.”
“Oh.” Lily’s ears flattened. “I suppose it does make sense not buying from us. She would know I’d put it together. That’s probably… weird or something. Just don’t buy an arrangement from Barnyard Bargains. Their flowers come in refrigerated trains, and they taste awful.”
Are you even listening? “Do you know how to get to Rose’s house?” he asked again, speaking as slowly and deliberately as possible. “I am trying to get home and got lost.”
Lily hesitated another moment more, then pointed. “You live on Main, don’t you? A block over from the castle? Just go that way, and if you bump into a silly crystal tree, you’ve gone too far.”
“Thanks,” he said, turning to go without another second’s delay. Any longer around Lily, and someone was going to get strangled.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell her you asked!” Lily called after him. “I know how upset she gets when ponies pry into her relationships!”
Having to spend any length of time around a pony like Lily, Tracy could almost understand why she’d be so emotionally difficult. Almost.
Poor bat
Why they think a bat pony eat bugs? I've never heard a thestral eat insect before. Carnivore? Most likey yes. Fruit? Most definitely. Bugs? yuck.
10196485
Yeah, that sucks for him, but I actually feel worse for Pinkie. She clearly put so much effort into that pie; it got smacked down right in her face and she probably thinks she did a bad job, not that her guest didn't normally eat those ingredients.
10196498
I do believe that idea originated because normal bats eat bugs and it just kinda stuck, even if it isn't canon to the show.
Am I the only person on the planet who reacts with "I've already been eating and, importantly, enjoying it. I might as well keep going."
Well that could have gone better. It's mildly frustrating that they're still talking right past each other, although Roseluck's apparent fixation on an invasion and subsequent distrust of anything Tracy says might make it a bit difficult to resolve.
I kind of hope Bon bon has words for Roseluck for not mentioning Discord. That's kind of an important detail.
Seems this might be a contract that can't be fought through ordinary legal means, unfortunately.
Had to eat his words, did he
Guess there's a hint of the source of their financial troubles. Ponies go for the lower price despite the lower quality?
Yes, flawless work, Tracy. Changelings wish they were such skilled infiltrators.
Given how she's not the one with a thing for bat ponies, she'd have probably lost her shit faster. Going by how she could barely hear Tracy over the sound of her assumptions, the princesses themselves wouldn't be able to convince her he wasn't a hostile invader.
Of course, Rose seems similarly stubborn. I can only imagine what Lyra and Bonbon think of all of this, and what they might be saying to her.
10196498
Hey, protein's protein. Though given the mass involved, bat ponies may make more sense as omnivores who supplement their diet with insects. That or Fluffy, the Bringer of Darkness is a typical specimen of Equestrian moth. Or they've domesticated some species and raise them as livestock. A number of possibilities there, actually.
Tracy was bound to find out sooner or later. Glad it was sooner. And glad he took it relatively well and didn't took it out on Lily. This will probably be the last time anyone will see Tracy in Equestria for a long time. Unless Tracy remains lost or some pony convinces him to explore some more. Or the fine print makes him do it.
That's gonna dash his hopes of getting out.
Lyra and Bon Bon seem to be cooling off but not Rose. He'll always be the enemy to her. Discord couldn't have picked a better roommate to create chaos. The best thing to ruin his fun is for Tracy to just go broke and cut himself off from Rose as much as possible. The other ponies might get along fine with him.
Well, guess that only adds to the confusion. I wonder how long until this misconception gets cleared up.
Hasn't stopped Lily from said prying so yeah, that's gonna cause some problems. Especially when misconceptions are created.
Makes me wonder if all those other bat relationships were misconstrued by the sisters as well. They weren't relationships at all and Roseluck is just a difficult/infuriating pony to live with. A mention of Discord and we got well... this.
Rose, that's not how you talk about your roommate in a story tagged as Romance when Ka is trying to pair the two of you up. :-).
You've basically told your roommate that you think he's a liar, and a threat to the country. He's not going to trust you, not going to be happy living with you, he's told you that he's forced into this because of Discord, and now he's going to want to leave as soon as possible.
And ... so much for thinking that he would wind up with one of Rose's sisters instead. With Lilly that scatterbrained, and only BonBon and Lyra even close to potentially friendly (and probably not safe to trust if they are government agents or otherwise able to defend the country from him), plus the reaction to breakfast, I can see Tracy spending as much time as possible on the home side and not even being called by wings at this point.
Does he set up an alarm on his door to protect himself at night while sleeping?
Geeze, Rose's entire family is afflicted with selective hearing.
I also just want to point out how the story image is completely unlike anything in the story itself. There's no happy go lucky meeting of friendly individuals, there's just fear and loathing in Los Ponyville.
I mean, it's not really a huge thing, just... kinda off.
10196530
By the gods that's terrifying
Bon Bon and Lyra better advise Rose to reread her contract in detail. Who knows what odd details were slipped in.
10196529
It's not an issue if it's not a problem worth resolving in the first place. To a person like Tracy it probably isn't. Depending on whether he's permanently put off Equestria (it's bad but doesn't look like it at the moment), the real pony to convince was Bon Bon who would've had weight with the government just in case things get messy.
10196569
There's still hope with Daisy. Then again, that romance tag doesn't necessarily have to hook up the ponies you'd think it would hook up. Lyra and Bon Bon are definitely a couple. Rose and Tracy already love their jobs so maybe it's a metaphor?
The only thing that will probably keep Tracy exploring is some other pony or the fine print.
I hope that Lyra and BonBon can help Tracy to clear up any misunderstandings. At least they didn't jump to conclusions like Roseluck did and I hope they can mange to make Rose see reason.
Tracy is not an adventurous eater. He's also not aware that people (willingly) eat bugs all the time outside of the US. And in, technically, if you count shrimp and crayfish as "bugs."
What'll REALLY cook your noodle is if you'd have been fine if you didn't know what was in it.
10196530
Given the prevalence of horse puns, it's possible the Equestrians heard that as the name of one of their real cities that sounds a lot like San Jose.
I wonder what the lease says about getting arrested on suspicion of being suspicious. Is he only liable for events within his control or does absence from the premises count as being in violation full stop.
I really want to see the full text of this thing some time.
So ebil. Such short chappies. Awwwwwwe.
10196630
If Tracy wants to keep his head down and not stick out in Equestria then doing nothing to allay your roommate's paranoia is a great way to ensure you won't be left alone. Then again, as FoME pointed out he's doing a pretty bad job of that.
Chances are even if he is there'd be a clause somewhere in that contract to ensure he wouldn't be able to avoid it as much as he would like, and even if such a clause didn't exist, having Tracy avoid Equestria other than as a place to sleep would be a nice way to kill the story unless he got dragged into something or another.
Even if he did, that doesn't mean that there aren't other ways for Roseluck to make his life miserable. Getting everything straightened out is definitely the way to go if you want to be left alone.
Somebody's still hanging around that one river in Egypt...
Little of both, actually. It's a long story, trust us.
It seems like it's genetic among Rose's family to be stuck on a point and remain single-mindedly focused on it, from what we've seen thus far. Rose is stuck on Tracy being a potential threat, her other two sisters are stuck on her and Tracy becoming a thing...so I'm starting to see why all three of them have the reputations they have, both in and out of this fic.
On the upside, Bon Bon seemed to view this more reasonably and is willing to consider that Tracy is just as much a victim of all of this as the rest of them and means no ill intent. Hopefully that continues to pan out as such.
Darn that culture clash with the pie, though. But I guess that's what one gets for making assumptions, though I certainly can't blame anypony for it much--it was really an honest mistake.
10196498
It's actually more common than you might think. I've seen a few bat pony fics over the years that had them as insectivores, or at least having insects as part of their preferred diet. And when you consider the fangs and how most RL bats are insectivores, well...
Basically, in my experience, if they aren't eating da mangos, they're usually eating bugs instead.
10196525
Yeahhhhhh..... if you can do that, great for you.
Just imagine you eat a restaurant and when you have finished half your plate you discover the chef has a terrible cold and has unfortunately been sneezing and snotting boogers into your meal. Oh, and those neat silver flakes? He kinda also has a really bad case of dandruff. Upon further investigation you discover the remains of a cockroach too. But you have already been eating and, importantly, enjoying it. So you might as well keep going....?
We humans are kinda evolutionary wired to - upon discovering that the ingested food might have been no longer "good" - get rid of the contents of our stomach. This was (and might still be) an evolutionary advantage to avoid e.g. poisoning or food-born diseases and hooks directly into our "disgust" system. What we find disgusting is learned (also an evolutionary trick to help adapt to different situations) and (western) society puts quite a few things into that category which - in theory - are fine to eat. Like e.g. insects. If you discover that you eat something on this, evolution will slam that "void stomach contents now" button really hard.
Funny personal story: Many years ago I tried to reduce weight with a multi week diet of cabbage-soups. It worked, but after several days the enthusiasm for it dropped and dropped and dropped (it felt like torture but I stupidly pulled through anyway)... After the end of the diet I had shed a good number of pounds and was really glad that it was over. A number of years later I wondered if I might try again, so I cooked up another batch... and upon *smelling* the soup I got nauseous. I tried to eat it anyway, and made a trip the toilet bowl after the first few spoonfuls. Year, the (slightly traumatic) memory of the first time pushed cabbage-soup into "this is bad & disgusting" territory for my brain. Fun times...
10196760
False equivalence. Subjectively distasteful and objectively hazardous are very different things.
10196572
Rose is really the only paranoid one. Everyone else seems willing to give him a fair shake.
Silly bat, it’s not as if humans don’t eat bugs either. You could have just played nice and solved all this drama. Uugghh... He is as skittish as Rose
10196677
Probably a full violation. Discord isn't the sort of being to make exceptions when fun could be had.
10196702
If nothing will allay your roommate's paranoia, then the only way forward is to keep your head down. At least in all manners involving her.
While angry, Tracy did focus most of it on the pony most responsible. That's why I said he likely wasn't permanently put off. I'm pretty sure he's still genuinely curious about the place. He's just gonna take a few more days off Equestria or even just explore alone. That being said, I'm sure the one thing he's utterly done with is Roseluck. A lot will have to be done on her part for Tracy to interact with her again. A clause forcing that interaction wouldn't be as interesting.
I don't think Tracy would particularly care at this point. Not when he's already Discord's puppet. Roseluck also doesn't care about anything he has to say either. However, you are correct in that he can straighten it out. He'll just have to make enough friends for long enough that they'll call out Roseluck on her crappy behavior.
Even the less interesting (and improbable) route of closing up would work. There's this pony literally doing nothing and Roseluck is harassing him (or trying to get the town to) day and night. She'll be discredited eventually.
10196740
From the looks of things, it seems he would get along well with the populace and vice-versa. Roseluck increasingly appears to be a problem though. She'll kill all of Tracy's enthusiasm to explore if she continues to focus on investigating him.
10196911
Oh, absolutely agreed. So considering there is still a romance tag on this story, it'll be interesting to see how that all plays out.
10196503
To be fair, batponies themselves are questionably canon to the show to begin with, given how the only two times we've seen them were during a night where everypony was wearing costumes, and a second time in the alternate Equestria where every batpony was wearing a costume. So the show hasn't given us much on batponies, which makes their diet a mystery that authors can pick and choose from at their leasure.
Why doesn't Tracy pull out his copy of the Contract? Not even Discord could get off making the thing unavailable to all but himself and Tracy.
Like what Happens if Twilight comes asking because she is involved by Rose to intervene.
Also Human Lawyers are very good at contracts and legalize, so this "Smart Contract" may meet it match still on the Earth end.
Tracy sounds so scatter brained when he tries to explain things, just pull out the contract.
10196760
10196788
What Eroraf86 said. As for the cabbage thing, by the time you finished the diet, you were force feeding yourself something your body was actively rejecting, likely due to significant nutrient deficiency. When you went to try it again, you had already given your body a strong "cabbage = BAD" reaction. That isn't a learned behavior, it's a conditioned behavior.
Poor Mrs. Cake, she was the only honest pony and got bit.
Lilly, adorable, but needs to wake up and smell the dying roses!
They should have waited until after he finished before mentioning what it was. The delicious is much easier to hold down. Well, most of the time.
Here's to hoping the spy duo knock some sense into the stressed-out rose.
Keep going! ;)
10196530
But a moth? That thing has more dust than protein. It would make more sense if she just served him deep-fried cricket or grasshopper. Even human love them.
Very enjoyable read so far, keep up the good work.
Loving this story so far!
Wow. Poor Tracy. He really IS kind of a naive bumbling doofus isn't he?Doesn't want to out himself, but does so at almost every opportunity. Is completely oblivious to what's going on around him until it's pretty much rubbed in his face. Then is upset his roomie narced on him... As if he'd just calmly go along with it if he discovered he was sharing a house with an alien.
The way I see it, Tracy is probably going to spend as much of the next few days out of the house as possible. Maybe quietly peeking his head in to see if Roseluck is there before slipping in for bed. No exploring. No contact. Just slip in and out, spending as little time in the house as possible, and all of that time sleeping.
On the other hand, I suspect Lyra and Bon Bon will give Roseluck a good chewing out over her behavior. They know about the mirror and about humanity (or some version of it) and clearly don't consider them a particular threat. And furthermore, Tracy has more or less demonstrated that he is some combination of hapless/clueless/harmless. And given his explanation, he's clearly more of a victim of Discord's shenanigans than some sort of evil infiltrator plotting invasion.
So Roseluck gets an earful, and orders to go apologize to the poor, traumatized stallion...Who is now doing his level best to ghost her. Showing up when she's at work and leaving before she gets home, possibly with only a few clues that he's even staying in the house as he does his best to avoid her. Cue a week or two of awkward missed connections as Roseluck tries to apologize, and Tracy tries to be invisible.
10196911
And you don't actually know whether your roommate's paranoia is curable unless you actually try.
Really depends on the exact contents of the clause and a few other factors. In any case, I'm curious to see how Starscribe plans on moving forward.
Depends on how thick his skin is. I'd imagine it would be really hard to not care about a very nosy roommate unless you manage to find a way to avoid her entirely, which might be a bit hard given his contractual obligation to use the house as his primary residence.
You might be surprised how little one might care about how much credibility they have as long as they are sure they're on the right track (and how much bother a supposedly discredited person/pony may be). That being said, I doubt the story would move in that particular direction.
10197426
So what if: She tries to go into his world, to apologize there -- after all, he was willing to come into her world.
And, Tracy finds out that Roseluck is in trouble (maybe a friendly notice from Discord), and Tracy has to help her out on our side. This gives both of them better understanding, and a mirror of what just happened -- giving Rose a better understanding of Tracy, and giving Tracy a chance to realize that he cares about her ...
That poor pie left uneaten
One of the better directions I've heard given
10196740
Yeah, most common is bugs or fruit/nectar, though we have some in my country that goes fishing (small pond fish mostly though) and there's always the undeserved notorious blood lickers.
If you combine that with the fact that hungry horses will nab squirrels and sparrows, you get quite the palate for out batty ponies.
10196530
Fun fact; some moths play jammers when they sense bats nearby. (They make counter noise)
10196788
10197138
Well, assuming the meal had been properly heated and cooked none of the contaminants should pose a significant health hazard (few pathogens can survive prolonged exposure to 100+°C, toxic substances would be another story, of course). It would still be horribly disgusting and I'd hurl my cookies, so to say.
But let's agree to disagree then - I tip my hat to you for your mental (and gastroenteral) fortitude, which I admittingly lack (while I still hope that neither of us will ever get into a situation where it is needed).
10198223
I didn't mean to come across like I was arguing with you, but re-reading my post, I can see it. Sorry about that. I do believe you about the cabbage soup thing. I was just trying to explain why it likely happened.
10196760
Our immune system works like that too and allergies and immune shock reactions is result of such freak out.
Someone in my family had bad case of flue caught while in complete wilderness, no meds. On reaching road, they had to spend 300km trip in back of truck. Finita la comedia, they can't smell even a whiff of gasoline or something similar, it causes fever and headache
a grate story rather fun.
10196498
Rose already mentioned bats eating bugs earlier in this story (then got flustered thinking she was being racially insensitive; apparently she's woke).
10196668
San Horsé
10197049
Don't forget Vampire Fruitbatpony Fluttershy.
10197240
72% of a miller moth by body weight is fat. It does seem odd to include the moth wings into the pastry, but maybe they add a satisfying cronch batponies enjoy.
10197977
She'd probably run over to Earth naked and cause a scene.
Haha, Lily seems like such an airhead compared to Rose, but I guess its because she is not fully aware of who Tracy is and the culture shock the whole thing is coming to.
Oh no! End of binge. Great story so far. Though for me personally every(p)one seems a little bit grumpy.
10196740
Or durians. Tracing should be more grateful that they didn't make him a durian pie.
I believe they can have entire conversations using merely ear twitches, tail flicks and stuff like that.
And humans wouldn't even know anything is happening at all.
Yeah! Does he look like an bat pony or something?!
Oh wait...
Discord: "You just answered your own question, pal."
Good chapter!
I enjoyed reading it.
10196498
I actually survey for bats in the UK for a living, since they're all protected by law. The smaller bats which make up the majority of bats are almost exclusively insectivorous and moths would be pretty tasty for them, much more so than having to eat a hundred midges instead (yes they will eat hundreds of midges a night if they have to).
Fun fact, last year I was out on a survey and a moth was being chased by a bat right next to me, ended up diving into my ear and getting stuck. Had to get it removed in the hospital but because it was Junior Doctor time of year he ended up ripping my ear canal inside out without anaesthetic using standard surgical tools instead of getting the right equipment from the specialist department. I'm lucky I can still hear.
Fruit bats are entirely different- so much so in fact that it's now believed that they evolved flight independently from one another from two entirely separate ancestors. I'd say it would be acceptable to have bat ponies like eating insects, fruit, meat (given their sheer size) or a mixture of all of them.
Ow!
Interesting story. Its well written, but im a bit torn on the character.
On a plus note, this is one of the rare ones where the main character is intelligent. On a negative note, his reactions are strangely off. He is disconnected from those around him in a way that suggests Asperger's. Of course he could just be a self centered jerk.
At least up to this point. Perhaps he gets better as the story progresses.
Whatever happens, it caught my interest and I think ill follow it to the end. Its very nice to see Authors thinking outside the box. Its so rare to see new ideas here that im starting to worry about humanities future.
Seeing something truly different is strangely refreshing.
The Monk
“I mean, you just seem to walk in random directions most of the time. How do you ever get to where you're going?" "Oh, that's easy," said Candy with a smile, ”I just make the place I end up, the place I wanted to be all along." There was an extended moment of silence. ”That... that's absolutely brilliant," -Trick Question