Tracy stood at the edge of the road; his car keys still held in one hand. Whatever he'd thought about this being some secret plan to steal his organs or kidnap him into some bizarre human-trafficking scheme—vanished as the strange realtor retreated into the night.
It's obviously insane, right? It couldn't actually do anything. There was no such thing as the supernatural, no matter the form it claimed to take. Whatever he remembered must be a mistake.
He wandered a few steps closer to his car, taking each step slowly. He closed his eyes and tried to walk a straight line—and it came out perfect. Then he stretched out one hand, waiting for it to shake. But there was nothing there either, just perfect stillness. If Tracy was drugged with anything, it must be incredibly selective.
Or maybe just extremely fast to decompose. Maybe it's in the air in there, and it wears off a few seconds after leaving the house. That would explain how he could claim there was a 'portal.'
Tracy beeped the door to his car open, and tossed his backpack into the passenger seat. Obviously whatever the contract promised would happen to his immortal soul was insane. Even if such a thing existed, there was no way he'd actually encountered someone who could... do all those things. He was just one utterly uninteresting human of billions.
He climbed in, taking one look into the back of his car. Nothing—Discord hadn't left him so much as a sock. All “moved in.”
How hard could it be to go inside and grab the stuff I really need? I can't afford to buy all new clothes. Maybe he could hold his breath long enough to reach the upstairs bedroom. He just wouldn't touch anything, and obviously that would stop any drugs from affecting him. Get my stuff and leave. Call the police, report this lunatic. Simple. He’d have a good excuse for why he couldn't make it to HR, at least. “You won't believe the landlord I almost had.”
He slowed a little as he reached the doorway, still hanging open wide. He could see the hallway he remembered, with its little door with a stained-glass window at the far end. Sunlight streamed through it, and under the crack beneath it. Incongruous, impossible sunlight. And there could be a perfectly logical explanation for that. Maybe there's a lamp planted on the other side of the door, just making it convincing enough to lure me in. This doesn't mean I'm seeing something impossible.
Tracy took one last deep breath, then rushed over the doorway in a single, frantic moment. He needed to run if he wanted to have any hope of reaching his bedroom before whatever impossible substances still at work here could warp his mind.
It had no effect. No sooner had he crossed the threshold than he flopped forward onto the ground, unable to support his weight on his legs anymore. He landed on his hands—well, not hands. This time he wasn't blinded by confusion and unable to watch. In the passing of a single second, his fingers fused together, and his jeans became strange not-quite socks up his legs.
This time the disorientation wore off almost instantly—he was ready for the confusion, and everything that came with it. His hands pressed directly to the floor, he felt almost entirely naked, everything. Nothing reached out to grab him, and the door was still just a few steps behind him. Tracy banged into the wall a few times, stumbling forward and finally out the opening back onto the sidewalk.
Whatever he might've thought about drugs, he could feel none of the expected sensations. A few steps away from the door, and he'd completely shaken off the disorientation, and he was back on his feet. He held out one hand, still remembering what it had been like to have those fingers completely trapped only moments before. Just like that, I'm fixed.
His drug explanation was wearing thinner by the second. Psycoactives powerful enough to do that should have other effects. They should've taken suggestion; they shouldn't wear off so fast. But everything he knew was apparently just wrong. This is real. I've come up against something that shouldn't exist, and somehow it does.
Tracy darted over to his car, the door still open. He removed his backpack from inside, slammed the door, then headed back to the open door to the house. He tossed it across the threshold, gently so the poor computer wouldn't suffer for the impact. The instant it crossed, the bag changed. It split into two halves, with straps down the middle. But it still had the same stupid brand mark, the same puffy straps probably chosen for comfort on human shoulders.
Tracy backed away from the door, breathing in the almost-fresh air of this fairly cheap neighborhood. Even the faint odor of oil and cigarette smoke ought to be better than whatever was in the house to make him think the door did something supernatural.
Nothing happened to the bag. It remained in two halves, lying limply on the floor. He sat down on the curb, taking his phone in one hand, and set a timer. While he searched around the internet for any evidence of "Lancer Realty," he watched the occasional car pass by and the streetlights come on. Then he turned back around. Still he felt no suggestion that his own body was different. Hands and feet were right, fingers still had their full range of motion. Yet his bag remained saddlebags, limp on the floor.
There was no sign of the company he'd rented from, not anywhere. Craigslist didn't even have the listing anymore, nor was it on his viewing history in the browser. Maybe Discord did something to my phone while I was out? Even though he used a password and no biometrics, that would've been quite the feat.
This is real. It felt like admitting that the Earth was flat, or that he suddenly didn't believe in the effectiveness of vaccines. Yet how could he deny the evidence right in front of him? If this is real, how much of the rest of it could be too? What if I really did make a deal with Satan? It's so obviously impossible, but... what if it isn't?
Tracy stopped outside the doorway, sticking one hand across into the house. Nothing happened, except... a sort of gravity, wrapping around his wrist. He tried to pull it back, but just didn't have the strength. He flopped forward through the opening, and landed on all fours. He gasped, realizing in that moment the full consequences of exactly what he'd just done. He was a horse, standing in a doorway open to the world. People might drive past and see him. Or worse, his neighbors.
What if I just do this for a little while? I can pay the first month, use this as my address, and get HR off my back. It doesn't have to be permanent or anything. Maybe Discord is from their side, instead of ours. The locals might be able to tell me if his contract is good or not.
He reached out, and found the knob at exactly the right height to get a good grip in his mouth. He squeezed the knob between his teeth, then pulled the door closed. It latched with a strange finality, sealing him away from the world he knew. Yet it was still there—he could see the amber glow of the streetlights through the windows, and just make out his own car, distorted and stretched by the stained glass, but clearly present.
"I can't believe I'm indulging this," he muttered, making it a few steps forward and bending down to pick up the backpack/saddlebags. It was a struggle to get it on, but eventually he found a tab dangling from the back, and once he stepped on it the rest slid up his body easily. "I'm not staying like this," he told himself. "It's just about getting things through with HR." And finding out if I somehow sold my soul to the Devil without realizing it.
One day at a time, Tracy. He reached the inner door, and pushed it aside with his head. There was already someone waiting on the other side.
And of course, she was naked.
Then she started screaming.
You know, he's obviously not an Equestrian citizen, he doesn't have a lick of official documentation. That would make him an illegal alien on top of everything else, as I doubt this little experiment was sanctioned by the crown.
Come to think of it, I wonder if there are any other access points into the building? A window, or another door? One wonders if Discord simply slapped a portal over that particular door, or if the entire building's been voodooed. If I didn't need to worry about property damage I'd essay an experiment with a sledge hammer and a different wall.
Well that happened
Well, we now know why Roseluck's involved. Because she wasn't. Once Tracy gets arrested for home invasion and the record is set, that contract will be voided. If it's one of those supernatural, unbreakable things... well, Tracy need not stay here just pay up for... sleeping in his car. Worst case is the house will just be a doorway and he can... sleep outside I guess. Probably safer than Earth as well. Gonna really need flutters and the gang involved though. This is pretty serious stuff Discord is pulling off. As in pre-reformation serious.
Yer a cliffhanger creature. How frightenin.
:0
10140742
It's ponyville, they likely have a form for that.
I believe Sherlock Holmes put it best: "When you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
10140742
This is discord. His paperwork in his wallet probably translates right over into equestrian IDs. The only thing that doesn't would be the fiat currency. As they use both gold and silver it was a little poor of discord to just say gold. Coming through with a pocket full of silver pre 65 quarters wouldn't be all that impossible. Certainly easier than bringing gold quarter eagles.
Although if you wanted something likely more valuable on equestria's side that wouldn't mess things up it would probably be aluminum.
10140772
I was gonna say, based on the photo in the artwork in the last chapter, it looks he just became roomies with the flower girls. Or at the very least, Roseluck. That might just be a 'these are my friends' picture hanging up.
So a flower girl and a bat. What kind of dynamic is this gonna be like?
10140828
Yeah, I guess. Technically, we don't even know if the girl is Roseluck. Or maybe that Roseluck didn't expect Tracy to be arriving like that. Still, if it is her, I wouldn't be too confident at all at it being surprise if she pretty much reacted like that. Tracy definitely shouldn't. This sort of thing does feel like a Discord move. Just a bit more villainous.
Well that’s definitely a good sign. Hopefully this is just a normal Roseluck thing and not a sign that Discord just leased out someone’s house without their permission.
I wonder what might have been if the story art were of of a confused bat pony standing in front of a door with a screaming Roseluck inside instead of the diabetes-inducing scene it currently shows. It would be worth a chuckle or two, I think.
I’m curious what the contract says about taking ponies into the human world, if it says anything about that at all. I think Roseluck might be interested in the fact that one of the doors of her home is an interdimensional portal. What did that door lead to before Discord, anyways?
Chapter 3 was kind of short. And the cliffhanger killed me. Keep up the good work.
Fascinating stuff thus far. Fiat currency effectively being an untranslatable illusion between worlds is kind of hilarious. Definitely looking forward Tracy getting to know his roommate and new surroundings.
10140742 10140778
"Welcome to Ponyville Town Hall. How may we help you today?"
"Uh, this may sound crazy, but I'm what's called a human—"
"Say no more, sir. Cause of dimensional dislocation?"
"Uh, Discord?"
"My condolences. Go to your left, office three doors on your right, ask for Addendum. Blue earth stallion, white mane, circular maze cutie mark. Ask for the Fnord-23. Fill it out and you'll have your papers in four to six business days. Next!"
This is almost certainly not the case, but I always like to imagine that reformed Discord likes to occasionally grab other-worlders, transform them into ponies, and shove them into Equestria as his idea of helping. Sure, he's agreed to be more or less friendly to Equestria now, but that doesn't mean he can't be chaotic about it.... and from his perspective, one of the things Equestria could use most is a few fresh new outlooks!
I'm wondering why the mare started screaming. Maybe she was just extremely startled by seeing a batpony? It wouldn't be too much of a stretch for the flower ponies.
10141013
Probably because a stranger just walked into her house uninvited?
10140906
"Dotty?"
Dotted Line looked up, thankful for the interruption for once. He wasn't sure who filled out the form before him, but the more he read of it the greater his urge to find said pony and ---
Leafy stepped into the office, gingerly holding a folder as if it was about to explode. "Got a Fnord-23 for you".
Dotted closed his eyes and dropped his head into his hooves, slowly massaging his temples.
"Ponyville?"
"Ponyville."
Dotted let his head slide the rest of the way to his desk.
"... I'll just leave it on the corner of your desk here."
Whoops! Looks like there's some 'splainin to do!
10141023
Out of her closet no less? c'mon, we all know Discord arranged for this to be as awkward as possible...
10140999
Looks like he enjoys setting up icebreakers between the two groups too. What a wonderful way to start a war, I guess.
10141013
Home invasion would do that to you. Unless you were strong. Or super magical. Or very angry. Or armed. Or just plain old not feeling like screaming and more feeling like fighting. Then I guess it's Tracy that should be doing all the screaming.
10140906
Yes, I'm sure that's precisely how it'd go down. I mean, I'm sure they have a whole office specializing in dealing with just anything Discord by now.
10140742
My guess is that Tracy generally won't stay in Ponyville or really wander far into it enough for the subject to even come up. But seeing Discord actually had dotted all of his i's and crossed all of his t's on Tracy's side of the portal, it'd make sense he'd do so for the Ponyville side too...even if nopony else knows that he has as of yet.
10139482
Looking at it up close on deviantART, I think it's supposed to be a pair of some sort of tesla coils, perhaps a magical version of them at least, arranged in the typical cutie mark function (which would mess up how they work if so, but beside the point).
If someone offers you a contract that's too good to be true, then it probably is!
😂😂😂 was wondering how long until someone else came home!
10140742
Pretty sure the portal door is what would have been the backdoor. Will wait to confirm.
10141395
Read before you sign.
HA!
Like all things StarScribe,
This looks to be a fun
rideribe.10149190
I feel like I am missing some context
What is starscribe
10234824
Ah, the author?
Hrm
Ooo my gosh why can’t this character realize that he/she is not DRUGGED!!!!
Somehow, him having faith In vaccines- or having any opinion on the topic- makes him feel a lot more three-dimensional.
Gotta love Equestria, where the locals really go native.
10140814
Hmm Do they use silver? I don't remember that...
10779809
denial is one of the stages. last chapter was the 'threatening' stage. may be out of order, but still
This was written before all the vaccine insanity in late 2020 and 21
And once upon a time the Earth was definitely flat, and the sun definitely orbited the planet
Don't be too rigid in your beliefs my friend, you never know what tomorrow may bring