“Lyra?” Rose stopped in the doorway, eyes widening in surprise. Of all the creatures to visit early in the morning, she hadn’t expected one least likely to be awake. “You’re, uh… here early.”
“Yeah, I know.” She grinned, shifting under the weight of heavy saddlebags. Well, heavy to a unicorn. Rose could’ve managed those and a few sacks of cement and still had enough energy to run. “Your roommate should be expecting me. Tracy, I think is how you say it?”
Rose nodded, glancing over her shoulder. Her roommate had lingered in the kitchen after dumping his work stuff upstairs, rather than prepare for bed. She fought back the first wave of disappointment—some part of her had been hoping that it was for her.
There’s no reason for you to get jealous, Rose. This pony is already engaged and doesn’t like stallions anyway. “Tracy, Lyra is here for you?”
“Yeah, I’m expecting her.”
He’d set up on the kitchen table, with a brown sack smelling of strange food and more of his unusual devices. But thanks to him that table wasn’t drowning in financial records of her dying company. She could accept that not everything weird he did was meant to bring an invasion of Equestria, despite what living in Ponyville could sometimes suggest to the contrary.
Lyra hurried past her in a blur, pulling over a chair and dumping the contents of her satchel onto the table. An oversized notepad by the look of it, along with one of those fancy new pens with an internal inkwell. “Thanks for seeing me, Tracy! I know you must be busy, living in two worlds the way you do. I’ll be as sparing with your time as possible.”
Rose caught him rolling his eyes as he fiddled with a strange metal cup. It clicked and hissed, then he drank with the relief of somepony starving having their first mouthful of oats. “No problem. It’s not about the time, really… it’s about my world and yours being opposites of each other. I just got home from work, and you just woke up.”
Rose pretended not to be paying any attention. She returned to the kitchen, but instead of the complex meal of crepes and hash-browns she’d been imagining, opted for a bowl of oats instead. That way she could sit on the other side of the table and keep an eye on things. Obviously it was nothing more than simple curiosity at work.
“You remember the plan, right? I’d like to ask a few questions about the place you came from. Maybe take a look at it myself one day, when there’s an opportunity. But… from your face, I’m guessing that’s not easy.”
Tracy laughed, settling his weird metal container back down on the table. “Easiest thing in the world, you just walk through that door behind me. But I’m not sure what you’d think of it. It’s very different from Ponyville. It’s so different that I’ve spent the last three months never going into your world, because it didn’t make any sense to me.”
That was changing now, though. He’d already promised to join her at the flower stand tomorrow, to set up whatever a “POS” was. Rose didn’t really need to know, because he’d explained it would take care of all their records from then on.
There’d been one less collection notice in the mail yesterday, one fewer loan.
“We’ll have to talk more about that,” Lyra said, flipping open her notebook and sitting up in her chair. Tracy rested one hoof on the edge of his machine, closing it flat with a click and putting out whatever light was glowing from within.
“I hope you don’t mind if I eat dinner while we talk,” he said absently, dumping the contents of his bag onto the table. “You caught me before I could eat.”
Lyra shrugged, staring at his food in fascination. Rose felt herself doing the same, though it was mostly the smell. His bag wasn’t just strange, but it was turning her stomach upside-down. Bug stuff, probably. Though she couldn’t tell just at a glance. He had a basket of strange smelling hayfries, and a sandwich wrapped in silvery foil. What the buck smelled so bad?
“Why don’t we start with something simple then,” Lyra continued, obviously a little distracted by the smell. “Tell me about where you come from, in your own words. It was a revelation to me that there was more than one alternate world. But the reading I’ve done since then suggests there might be an infinite number.”
“If we were on that side, I’d tell you I’m from Ely, Nevada. Small town in the middle of nowhere. It’s a desert, so getting used to all the green is hard for me.”
“The other side didn’t look small,” Rose said, before she could stop herself. She covered her mouth with a hoof, realizing they were both staring at her. “Sorry, ignore me. Keep going with your interview.”
But Tracy didn’t. “Ely isn’t on the other side of that door, that’s San Jose. It’s a much bigger city in a much bigger state, with waaay more people. It’s a pretty nice place, way faster paced than anything I was used to back home. But I moved here for the change, you know? You get tired of everyone acting sorry for you wherever you go.”
Even Rose didn’t have a clue what he could be talking about there. There was pain in his voice, one he’d never shared around her before.
Tracy tried to brush it off, scooping up a hoof full of his curly hayfries. There’s no way there’s real hay in there. What kind of junk food are you eating?
“I think we’re getting a little off-topic,” Lyra said, her voice strained now. “So you were in a desert before and now you’re not. Why don’t we focus on the similarities, like your cutie mark there? That’s a… spark gap transmitter, isn’t it? You must have quite the story about getting it.”
Tracy raised a confused eyebrow. His ears flattened as he saw what Lyra was staring at—was he embarrassed? Why would you be upset about a mark as interesting as that, Tracy? You could be stuck with a flower.
“I think I’ve heard that word a few times now. But people always say it like I’m supposed to know what it means. Maybe you could tell me what a cutie mark is, just so we’re on the same page?”
He unwrapped the little bundle as he spoke, and the smell only got worse. Rose choked back a gasp, and her appetite vanished in an instant.
Tracy hesitated, sniffing the air above his sandwich. It was a hayburger, though it smelled like none Rose had ever seen. Maybe it was bug that folded in sheets like that? But if it was, why did Tracy look as sick as she did?
He took a cautious bite, then nearly gagged, shoving the whole thing into the bag with horror on his face. “Oh god, that’s awful. I swear it didn’t seem so bad on the way here. I would’ve gone back for a damn refund.”
He stalked into the kitchen, tossing the sack down into the garbage. He yanked the window open for good measure, then took a long, relieved breath.
“Well, that nightmare’s over. So much for catching dinner on my side.”
He slouched back to the table, then pulled his mutant hayfries over and went back to munching them.
Lyra only stared, long enough that even Rose started feeling overwhelmed. But at least that awful smell was gone.
“You don’t know? You have a cutie mark right now, how could you not know where you got it? Why would you get it made into all your clothes otherwise?”
“I… don’t,” Tracy replied, scooting his chair slightly away from her. “I’ve never seen this mark before I came to Equestria. I don’t know how or why it’s on my butt, but at least everyone else has them, so I’m not alone here. I’ve never even seen whatever it is, so if you tell me it’s a transmitter, I believe you.”
“Cutie marks are fundamental to the way ponies see themselves,” Lyra said. “I would have trouble imagining a world without them, except we’ve had more contact with other cultures recently. It’s interesting that you didn’t become one of them when you entered Equestria. Either the portal you’ve found is less precise, or maybe it says something about how aware you are of your own talents.”
Tracy shrugged. “That honestly doesn’t tell me much about them. Rose, can you… make any sense of this? What even is a cutie mark?”
Apparently he hadn’t forgotten she was here after all. Rose twisted in her seat, glancing briefly back at her own mark. “Well, uh… ponies get them as soon as they discover their special talent. Most of us have a story about how we found it, and what we learned about ourselves when we did. Once you get a cutie mark, you’ll be gifted with that thing for the rest of your life. My sisters and I are all some of the best flower-arrangers in Equestria. We can find rare strains nopony else can, we can keep them fresh, and we have a sense for what ponies want without them asking. Lots of that came from the cutie mark.”
“Then our world doesn’t work like that,” he said, glaring at the empty paper tray. “There’s nothing to tell us what we’re good at, and I’ve never had a ‘special talent’ that I know of. People can figure out on their own if they’re good at something or not. And if they don’t, then… the world will tell them soon enough. Make enough bad art, and you’ll be hungry because no one wants to buy it. Or… well, you get the idea.”
“Fascinating.” Lyra’s pen flew across the page, scribbling things down far more rapidly than anything he said. How could she add commentary and listen to anything being said at the same time?
She went through a few more basic questions, though none were as interesting to Rose as that first. The place he described hardly seemed like somewhere that would swallow Equestria like the Smooze and consume every drop of magic they had. They didn’t even believe in magic, if Tracy was right, wouldn’t have known it when they saw it. As for everything else, it mostly just reminded her of griffons. Creatures who spent their lives mostly alone, catching fish in the river and living generally grumpy lives without magic or cutie marks. Except instead of not having one king, they had too many.
But that was when she couldn’t listen anymore. While Lyra finished off her interview with questions about transportation and technology, Rose finished off her breakfast and prepared to set off for work.
Lyra looked like she could probably keep going for hours, but as she finally headed to the door, Tracy jumped to his hooves. “Wait, Rose! Don’t forget, I was going to, uh… put that stuff into the flower stand today, remember? Can’t forget about the sales terminal. Just, uh… let me fiddle with the box here.”
Rose hadn’t really paid much attention to the pile of brown boxes Tracy had gathered near his scrying panel. She hadn’t wanted to get much closer to that thing ever since her first experience and the purple monster it had shown her.
That wasn’t supposed to be today. But one look at Tracy was all she needed to recognize the desperation. He was sick of the interview, and didn’t want to tell her. It wasn’t surprising—few creatures could handle Lyra’s intensity. “Yeah, sorry,” Rose added, dropping her saddlebags to the ground and flicking them open for him. “I do need to get to work.”
“That’s alright.” Lyra’s ears flattened, and she scribbled in her notebook for another few lines. She snapped it shut abruptly, tucking it away. “Thanks for sharing so much, Tracy. I would like to arrange a visit to your world, if it’s not too hard. Could you talk to the president and get permission for me?”
The bat choked back a laugh, burying his face in the cardboard. Finally he nodded. “That’s not really the way things work, but… sure. Assuming the door works the same way for you going to my world as it does for me going to yours. Otherwise… I just don’t think my world is ready for Equestria.”
This is an interesting development I wonder if Lyra will become curious enough to ask Discord directly about the portal and the budding romance between Rose and Tracy is intersting as well. I expect that Tracy will be spending quite some time figuring out the meaning of his Cutie Mark with Rose's help of course.
heh... Lyra shenanigans
Tracy, you didn't stop and think that ponies might not eat beef?
Next time, get some fried crickets or something.
Well if Discord wanted chaos, Lyra's sure to provide.
Oh, I can just imagine that conversation...
"What is that, anyway?"
"A Monster."
"You... you seal monsters in those things and drink them?"
Normally, I'd be concerned, but if his current body is insectivorous, he may be able to handle a burger. Theoretically.
Ooh, there's some baggage...
Again, theoretically. Poor Tracy. Best get used to moths and hay, pal.
Lyra raises an interesting point. EqG humanoids have marks of their own, though it's not clear how they get them, how conscious they are of them, or what cultural relevance they hold. Ponies are far from the only option for visitors to turn into. Even if we go for the nocturnal angle, we've seen owl griffons on the show. This may just be Discord playing matchmaker as well as landlord.
As for Lyra crossing over... I know Discord warned about form lock for humans in Equestria. Tracy may want to double-check the contract and see if it says anything about ponies on Earth.
The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world...
10281583
Eh, ponies (well, horses) are opportunistic predators. Biologically, not a crazy idea.
Socially, beef would probably be seen as literal murder.
10281633
Especially if he's got a screwdriver and a box.
10281645
Yeah, but those are magic screwdrivers and magic boxes. I'm a lot more impressed by the guy who gets things done with nothing more than an ordinary crowbar and a PhD in theoretical physics.
So the mystery of Tracy's cutie mark continues. Guess we'll have to wait for some answers.
Oh, the omnivore thing is gonna be a hard thing to explain in the future.
I really hope he doesn't think he got a spoiled burger. The logical thing that should first come to mind is that he becomes a horse through the door. Of course, other things come to mind like how well can he now digest the meat he's already eaten?
I guess he could chalk it up the portals magic with the apparent conversions it makes.
10281583
Except they actually can. Real life horse scan do that. And a friend showed applejack almost eating a sandwich with meat in it
Oh, Rose; give us 50 years and we'll make something that'll swallow everything all right. Better hope the portal is closed by then.
10281583
Horses apparently can eat chicken, though.
Warning: viewer discretion is advised.
I can imagine her leaving one of those smoke outlines of herself in her hurry.
Let me guess: coffee?
When she finds out, I expect her reaction would be much like Pinkie's here.
10281730
Horses can eat quiet afew things that stray to close to their pens, it's kinda disturbing to watch
As DWK would put it, it marks (no pun intended) a personal rite of passage that essentially determines what you'd likely be doing for the rest of your life.
For another example, just look at my avatar.
That's one word for it.
Lyra visiting the human world... what's the worst that could happen?
10281672
Yes. The PhD is important! Cant push the button without it.
10281846
Lyra's already been to a human world. The one where names like "Sunset Shimmer" don't stand out.
10281633
So wake up, Mister Morden. Wake up and, smell the fiction...
Couldn't help it, your name is perfect
Did the hamburger change when it went through the portal, or did his taste buds?
Anyway, looking forward to Lyra or Rose visiting San Jose soon.
I initally thought a ballpoint pen, but then remembered this is Equestria, where quills are still commonplace, so I'm thinking a fountain pen. Which I find oddly fitting for Lyra.
Oh, obviously. It couldn't possibly be anything else than that.
Fried potatoes that are heavily sprinkled in salty seasonings, if not spicy too, depending on the kind he got and where he got them from. They're pretty dang good (especially with some fry sauce IMO)--I think you'd like them, Rose.
The sandwich on the other hand...yeah, might want to just let Tracy keep that all to himself.
Actually, then again...I suppose I forgot to take into account the change in taste buds he'd have to deal with in Equestria...
Well...I'd take the burger. A good burger actually sounds pretty darn good right about now.
Obviously, a Quick-Quotes Quill...or rather, a Quick-Quotes Fountain Pen, considering I already commented about that.
Yeah, that certainly does sum it up better than I'd care to admit.
10281672
Yeah, it's amazing just how multi-purpose a crowbar actually can be for someone with a degree in theoretical physics. (Further irony--I also just happen to be listening to the soundtrack to one game called Black Mesa at the moment. Fancy that.)
10281675
A noteworthy thought, but considering he's been spending his nights in Equestria fairly regularly for a few months now, I would think that, if that was going to be a problem, he would've felt signs of it loooong before now.
10281763
Veganism isn't a natural behavior. It's a human fabrication, like religion and race. No wonder vegans are such pushy, horrible people. It all just lines right up to the expected behavior of those who have accepted lies created for the sole purpose of controlling others as truth.
Sorry, what were we talking about? I set myself onto a topic I feel rather strongly about.
Authors of horse words always do this. I might just be ignorant, but is there any truth to the whole 'smell and/or taste of cooked meat turns the stomachs of grazing animals'? From where I'm standing, it just seems like people have convinced themselves that herbivores are vegan.
10282085
There are very few true herbivores on Earth. The meat smelling bad is definitely a fabrication of horse authors. But it's okay because technically ponies are aliens to us so we can take creative license and say that the smell of meat turns their appetites.
10282085
Complete fabrication. Anyone with horses knows not to barbecue next to the fence or they'll steal your burgers.
10282082
There are pushy, horrible people in any group that attracts extremists... you're just used to noticing the left-wing ones. Some of us have a more live-and-let-live attitude.
(I was raised vegan and, now, I've relaxed that a bit to "also eggs in baked goods and cheese on pizza or in sandwiches", but my main reasons are that a kitchen containing meat requires more caution to prevent food poisoning and, with our population growth, the fact that it takes 7-10 times as much land to produce an equivalent amount of meat is becoming problematic... and that's just a fact of reality until lab-grown meat is on offer. Still, I never would have said anything if you hadn't brought it up.)
10281672
Ahem... using a crowbar falls under APPLIED physics, Gordon Freeman has a degree in Theoretical Physics because he pushes the button.
10282033
San Jose might be boring since it lacks attractions beside being a Silicon Valley. Tracy should take them to San Francisco instead - only an hour drive from there.
Tracy: I bought my clothes from Walmart. I didn't pay attention to what they look like, only the price.
10282227
San Jose would be super interesting for someone from another world who's never been to Earth! And why would you go to San Francisco? It's filled with some nasty humans and you'd have to stay relegated to the polished tourist-y areas.
Probably plenty of interesting things to show Lyra or Rose just in San Jose alone.
10281688
Man this comes up in every story at least once so I might as well say something people can point to.
Real horses absolutely can eat meat. Ponies in MLP never have, though (not even fish, though we do see applejack with a fishingpole and probably some others too). Whether by cultural preference or biology, I'm going to stick with the show because it creates conflict for the story and conflict is fun.
10282241
I do put it as a cultural thing. not a big issue
10282241
I personally like the headcanon where ponies can eat meat, but most dislike it. With the exception that pegasi often eat fish.
Beef/pork can smell/taste really disgusting to vegetarian humans, so I find it quite realistic in the story.
Chicken meat has a much milder taste and smell, especially chicken breast, that might work, but it would still taste off.
10282241
Incorrect. We see ponies using eggs in their baking. They are clearly fully capable and willing to eat meat. They just (understandably and laudably) don’t eat anything that could be reasonably argued to have been a person.
As to conflict? No. Unless you are making multiple characters total morons it will get you perhaps a few paragraphs of misunderstandings. For the price of many, many comments telling you it is wrong.
10282333
"Ponies don't eat meat on the show"
>We see them using eggs
I didn't think I'd have to say this, but eggs are not in fact meet. Eggs are eggs. Hence why we have two words to express people with dietary preferences--Vegan and Vegetarian.
Ponies are depicted as vegetarian in MLP: FIM, not vegan. But by all means, if you know of a time we see a pony eating meat on the show, I'll happily revise the whole chapter.
10282235
Okay, I would admit that San Jose is probably more friendlier than San Francisco - and I haven't seen any noticeable slum area in town either. It has a pretty decent shopping area too. However, I would say San Francisco has more and much better museums (both arts & science) to showcase humanity's achievements.
10282342
If we were arguing culture or law you would have a point. We aren’t.
As far as the actual biology and chemisty go there is no meaningful difference between the animal matter in an egg and in a hatched animal.
This is not Rose or Lyra seeing him eating mean and having a freak out, in accordance with their culture. This is his very biology rebelling at eating something he should, by all rights, be perfectly happy eating.
10282396
Yeah, there's no difference in taste at all. Just ask any chef: you can replace eggs 1:1 in any recipe with no difference. Nor can anyone tell the difference in smells when they walk into a BBQ restaurant or someone cooking an omelette.
10282396
10282411
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/546557638691913729/720836183566843965/unknown.png
Lul
And then a little black and white foxicorn sneaks into the kitchen, sniff sniff, sniffity sniff... quietly she stalks the trash can, jumps, and then she dives in headfirst, tail straight up. Happy naming noises follow.
10282134
I've run into my fair share of pushy vegans. I wish they'd stay away from highland games, ren fairs, and pirate festivals, or keep their opinions to themselves. I've a belt pouch with a fox face on it. A Scottish sporran and they typically are made of leather and often covered with fur. Such items are common at the above-named event types. The one I have is made from the cast off material, the scraps left over from the fur and leather industry that normally gets discarded. I believe the whole animal should be used or not at all. It's just that every so often someone will come to one of these events and start getting vocal about how horrible everyone is.
As for the hazard of tainted meat, we are at a far greater risk eating raw vegetables or just vegetables in general and washing isn't always enough. With meat, all we have to do is get it hot enough to kill the bacteria and remember to clean up the workspace before doing anything else. After that just don't let it sit out. Every time we eat a salad there will always be a risk no matter how much we try to wash it off. Being contamination from the farm or along the way isn't the only way vegetables can kill. Such as home canning gone wrong, a natural toxin build-up, or just a plain old ordinary allergic reaction.
Vegetables That Have Killed Humans <-- some of these are BS but the other stuff is spot on.
10282617
Amen for pushy, opinionated people in general.
I was referring to how preparing vegetables and meats in the same kitchen increases the risk of a cleanup error resulting in cross-contamination from meat destined to be cooked to vegetables destined to be eaten raw.
10282342
Does fish count?
I can't say much about FIM ponies eating meat otherwise, but ponies IRL absolutely love burgers. They'll also eat small birds or rodents if they get a chance, which is frustrating as hell since they can't vomit to purge food poisoning so it can easily kill them.
That uh... that burger is gonna cause some sort of incident isn’t it? Because it isn’t gone it’s in the trash can and that needs to get taken out at some point. Rose being as nosy and paranoid as she is will probably look through the trash to figure out what is making the unholy smell and freak out IF she is even able to identify what it is and Tracy doesn’t straight up tell her.
Ah well, discourse in the comments aside (the author said that in their fictional version of a fictional universe fictional ponies don’t eat meat end of story [though hopefully not this one]) I’m still loving this story! And if I’m honest I’m looking forward to the romance if there is some to be had!
10282385
Lyra or Rose would have to sleep in the day before so that they could stay up "late". Do all their sightseeing in the morning and early afternoon.
It does kind of raise the question of where Tracy's Cutie Mark actually did come from. Easy answer is Discord, of course, but with the transformation into a real pony, assuming he is a real pony and not some Discordian abomination, real cutie mark magic could have happened as well based on his life experiences on Earth.