Tracy lifted one of his wings, shuffling awkwardly. "I don't mean to sound impolite, but that doesn't sound very related to what I saw. There are bat wings in the mirror, Princess. When there shouldn't be. I've had one of my coworkers call me a demon, and I'm afraid he might be right."
Twilight's horn glowed, and the books began sorting themselves into smaller piles. Without even looking at them she guided each one into a different stack, until they covered the desk and every nearby table too. "It's my understanding that Equestria has grown beyond such insensitivity," she said, voice low. "If anypony in my town is still using language like that, so long after Luna's return... I need to know. They need some remedial friendship lessons."
What? Tracy's confusion only grew, rapidly equaling his wish that Spike had been here instead. But the dragon was nowhere to be found, just as he had no obvious escape from the angry princess. "No one in Ponyville," he said. "Your town has been great to me. I'm talking about things I see in my world, through the Worldgate. Reflections that aren't there."
Twilight relaxed. "If that's all it is, then I'm relieved. I'm the Princess of Friendship first, Tracy. Magic second. But if it isn't a friendship problem, then... I may have a theory. I don't know that it answers my own questions, unfortunately. But at least one of us will walk away knowing more."
She took a deep breath. "You've been living in another world for almost a year now. The only creatures who ever remained longer were those banished from their homes forever. From what I've learned about the place you came from, your home doesn't have much magic, isn't that true?"
He nodded. "None at all. Or at least so little that most people never see it. I never saw any until I came here."
A chair levitated across the room towards him, stopping just beside him. "Well then, Tracy. You may want to sit down for this."
He did, dread building in the back of his mind. "Whatever you're thinking, Princess... you should just tell me."
"Magic tends to grow," she said. "You can stamp it out, ruin friendships, try to crush it. But if you don't, it will grow. I think you may've been in Equestria long enough that our magic has started changing you."
She gestured towards his flank with one wing. "That cutie mark—the visitors you brought here didn't have them, do you remember? Those marks are important to ponies—they tell us our special talents, and where we fit into Equestria's Harmony. Do you believe in fate, Tracy?"
"No," he snapped, without hesitation. "Can't have fate with free will. Either it's my choice or it isn't. I have to believe I have a choice."
She smiled weakly at him—the first time she'd smiled during the entire conversation. "We can have both, otherworlder. But that's a conversation for another time. I'm afraid there are no books to check out to you—you're one of only two examples I've ever seen. A creature from a place without magic, joining a world that does. Books will be written about this encounter, no matter how it ends."
"So you think I'm fated to... what, exactly?"
She shrugged, and the wilderness of books vanished from around her. "Can't say. But you wanted an explanation, and now you have one. You can't spend all this time around magic without consequences. My guess is you're bringing it back with you to wherever you came from."
It made about as much sense as any theory he'd considered so far. Somehow bringing leftover magic back across to his world. "So if your theory is right, how do I make it stop? Seeing reflections is one thing, but what if it started happening for real?"
Twilight shrugged. "I told you. Magic grows, and friendship makes it stronger. Deeper relationships foster more powerful magic. From what I hear. Of course Love is the strongest friendship of all. If you want magic gone, the only choice you have is to stay away. Leave Equestria, let your friendships wither. Eventually even the strongest magic can be erased that way."
You know about that too? He tensed, but didn't argue with her. Rose's sisters probably... half the town already knew we were dating. "I can't do that." And I wouldn't, even if the lease let me move out tomorrow.
The princess's smile widened. "Then come back to me in two months, and we'll finish this conversation about destiny."
She left him then, feeling no wiser about the fears that drove him. He could think of nowhere else to go for answers, except maybe Discord. But he'd already tried that, and only got a cold "Your lease expires in two months," message in reply.
He visited the flower stand on the way home, as much for an evening snack as a chance to make sure his girlfriend was doing okay.
There were no more nightmares that day—after all, he was already in Equestria. Here he'd had wings for so long that being anything else would be unbelievably strange.
To his surprise, Tracy found a message waiting on his phone when he finally returned home, from one of the few names that didn't go straight to his ignore list. It was Janet.
"I'd like to talk about the Emmerson project you just submitted before work today. Can I come over? I'd like to do it at your place."
Under any other circumstances, he might've thought she was coming onto him. But that would've made it the first he'd ever had that kind of attention from Janet, who had always acted more like a protective guardian for her staff.
"In my place?" he sent back. "You know where that is?" He wasn't asking about address, and he didn't need to say so.
"Yes. I need to see for myself. I'll swing by Krispy Kreme on my way over, ask your girlfriend if she wants anything."
Rose got home a few minutes later, smelling somewhere between perfume and sweat. But the latter was no longer unfamiliar to Tracy, or even remotely off-putting. "Wait, don't make dinner," he said, blocking her way into the kitchen.
"And let you poison us again?" She pushed him aside with a hoof, grinning. "We talked about this, Spark. A pile of leaves isn't a meal. I cook, you clean. Simple."
"It's not that." He rested one hoof on hers, stopping her from opening the fridge. "It's my boss, Janet? She wants to come over before work. About a half hour from now, if I had to guess."
Roseluck looked up, meeting his eyes. "Another visitor from your world. This one coming in here intentionally?"
He nodded. "It's important. She's not just the only reason I got the job, she also has the power to destroy me, if she wants. If she thinks Equestria is evil, I think she'll do it."
But she hasn't yet. My login credentials still work, and I got my paycheck on Thursday as scheduled. Didn’t even take any hours away for time spent sick.
"Then I'll have to make something," Rose said. "How do we make sure she doesn't..." She trailed off, expression darkening. "Destroy you? Does that happen a lot in your world?"
"Not usually," he admitted. "But she hasn't done it yet, even after seeing the Worldgate. I think she'll be cool about it once she gets a look around."
They wouldn't have to wait long to find out. This time Tracy went out alone, with a single sweatshirt to keep off the harshest that a San Jose "winter" could throw at him. For a few seconds he stood motionless on the porch, struggling to mentally reconcile the presence of a sunrise while the world behind him was experiencing its own sunset.
He'd been right about timing too—Janet pulled up less than two minutes after he stepped out. She got out, a dozen doughnuts in hand. She looked the same as last time, except that she had her cross prominently on the outside of her jacket.
How she wasn't baking alive with a fleece jacket and scarf like that, he couldn't guess. "Cast and brace are gone," she said, stopping about ten feet down the path from him. "Guess you're healing well?"
He nodded, flexing the formerly-injured arm. "Can't put much weight on it, and it's a little stiff. But it's strong enough to use again, and that's what counts." He hesitated, staring at the box she carried. "I can smell those from here. You really did get them fresh."
She nodded. "Drove through on the way over, just like I said. Now, how do we do this? Going into..." She glanced up at the apartment door. It was open behind him, though the inner door was shut this time. The coats and shoes hanging in the entryway wouldn't fit a human, but it would take more than a cursory glance to tell something was wrong.
"Just walk across," he said. "If you're sure you want to talk on that side. We could go over the project out here if you wanted. My neighbors probably aren't even up yet."
She closed the distance between them in a few angry steps, shoving the box into his arms. "If it was just about the Emmerson project, I would've done it over the phone. We lost Steven, Tracy. He took severance, and he's going home. I don't know what's going on here, but I need to know it isn't... I need to know this isn't for the other side.
"If it is... I'm going to ask you politely to resign, just like Steven. Nice and civil."
He didn't have to guess what “other side” meant. Before moving in, it was the kind of emotional fervor that would've made him break down laughing. But after everything he'd seen—did he know she was being paranoid?"
"It's not," he said flatly. "On the other side of that door is the nicest, kindest place you've ever seen. The town on their side is ruled by a deadass 'Princess of Friendship.' Pretty sure if there were any real demons over there, they'd burst into flames just by trying to walk around."
Janet didn't falter. "I need to see that for myself. I'll know evil when I see it."
Tracy turned towards the doorway. "Then walk straight through and don't stop. I told Rose you were bringing some breakfast stuff. She knows one place still open this late that we might be able to get a few more. But rather than going ourselves, we thought... I guess you'll just have to see it for yourself."
By now, Tracy had seen far too many people make this transition—probably more than the lease intended. There was no reason to anticipate anything particularly unusual. If anything, he was most interested to see what would happen to a pantsuit when it crossed from one universe to another.
Janet didn't linger by the threshold, leaning back and forth and debating internally the way his friends from home did. She marched right past him, crossing from one world into another.
The actual transition was a blur, just as it had been on the first trip through. He saw feathers and a flash of claws, then she was on the other side.
There would be no having a conversation between worlds. Tracy followed, tossing the box into the air so he could catch it between his back and his wings on the other side. He nailed the transition perfectly, balancing the box on his shoulders as he slid past Janet to open the door.
He hadn't been imagining things, Janet wasn't a pony. Her face was narrower, with an avian beak and a pair of gold eyes. She had a mane and tail in the same places, but those were blue and green feathers, not fur. Her coat looked the same though, and from the waist she looked like a pony.
A pony wearing a pantsuit, looking like she might topple over sideways at any moment.
"Welcome to my apartment," he said, pushing the door open in front of her. "And, I suppose, welcome to Equestria."
Very nice! Love how he holds the food with his wing
Offer Discord a Krispy Kreme. That will make sure he keeps the world gate functioning.
Better yet, offer one to Fluttershy.
Really? Have you actually seen 'Evil' before? I mean, beside the movies and comics? You know it really funny that we think we actually know something despite never seen one before.
hmm, i thought griffon, but she's a hippogriff on this side.
So, NOT a Griffon. She's a hippogriff.
I don't think bat pony wings are flexible enough to hold anything.
Great chapter, I can't wait to see how Janet is going to react to Rose and Ponyville
Might be a good idea to get more information about the god of chaos moonlighting as a landlord. A bribe might be in order...
Yay! Hippogriffs. We have not had a lot of stories with them in it.
Huh, so Janet's a hippogriff. Y'know, that makes sense. Based on what we've been told about Janet, she may be a bit... stern, but she also cares. A straight up griffon might have been too... aggressive a change for her. Hippogriff definitely seems more her type. Awesome design, too— love the colors.
And damn, nice work by Ace. Gonna have to get him to do something for me eventually...
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Wings can hold things, that's canon. See, for example, Rainbow Dash using her wings to hold a spoon in Best Gift Ever:
derpicdn.net/img/view/2018/10/27/1867464.png
Or Rolling Thunder using her wings to pour a bucket over her head in The Washouts:
derpicdn.net/img/view/2018/9/11/1830167.png
Read It And Weep even shows that pegasi have bones in their feathers:
static.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/8/89/Doc_still_looking_at_X-ray_S2E16.png
Ah, good.qa
She a protestant Hippogriff.
Does she have her bible in her pocket?
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I think people aren't expecting to find something as opposed to notice something missing... as though they believe our world has good and bad so they'll recognise the bad place by the lack of good in it.
Forgetting that Satan was actually a pretty good guy according to his teachings. (stuff like respect women and "do unto others as they do to you")
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Dude.
What an interesting company she has. Finding people to do work who are qualified that may not have all the paperwork. An intercessor, between the predators and prey, therefore a hippogriff!
There is lots of evil these day, lots of knavery, lot of covets evils that walk along, many who wear friendship as a mask doing wrong and then being a bully to you for not accepting their friendship...I don't know when refusing to keep distance and wear a mask getting in your face with calculated movements completely anti-pinkie!
Then you have an Iago or a Motresaur pretending friendship only to make fall.
If she has been in the business world with over regulation snuffing dreams, she has also seen greed and selfish ambition where lies every evil practice.
"So 'demon' is offensive but 'otherworlder' isn't?"
"'Demon' isn't just insensitive, it's also technically inaccurate. You are from another world."
"Yeah, but it's not like that's my name."
Hmm. What's the other example? Shane, perhaps?
"Working for Satan violates the non-compete clause in your contract."
This will certainly make for an interesting experience for everyone involved. Heck, it's technically a surreal twist on the old "having the boss over for dinner" trope. Though Janet may not react well to no one else wearing pants.
Also, fun to note that the donuts are now from "Kalvalry Kreme." And there's a baker's dozen of them! If the Worldgate can replicate Krispy Kremes, they need to keep it open.
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"I took two levels of paladin before cross-classing into bureaucrat."
"Doesn't that violate alignment restrictions?"
"Not with the right third-party supplements."
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Thats my problem with it. Pegasi have feathery wings with flexible individual feathers. Bat ponies have membranous wings.
My conclusion is that feathery wings can be used to manipulate with things while membranous wings can't.
For being the Princess of Friendship, that's quite a lousy solution to Tracy's problem even if it's the first thing to come to mind.
Also, Janet Hippogriff! It's her first taste of Equestria. Wonder if it'll become irresistible to her.
I can't help but laugh at a situation where a mass migration of humans occur or better yet... she becomes trapped in our world!
Then again death and taxes aren't a choice.
Once Discord gets what he wants, Tracy will be thrown like a used tissue, relationships and all. Still, the question still stands. What does Discord want?
I can't help but think Steven's becoming more of a liability as time goes on. It'll be him that'll let the cat out of the bag and create a serious problem in Tracy's life.
Down the rabbit hole.
I wonder how she'll react to being in a world straight out of a little girl's cartoon. With giant plushy talking ponies and unicorns. With a giant crystal castle and a golden city upon a mountain.
I mean, sure, she's a mythical creature too... But it's temporary and LOOK AT THE (relative) SIZE OF THAT PONY! IT'S SO FLUFFYYYYYYY!!!!!!
I will agree with Twi insisting on calling him Otherworlder is a bit antagonistic for the supposed "Princess of Friendship"
Dang, she pretty.
This is another great chapter with also great art. I wonder if Twilight should have told him about Sunset Shimmer and the others but it probably wouldn't be of any help. It seems that Steven's panicked reaction has coloured Janet's view on things somewhat but it probably won't take long before she changes her mind.
awesome art work for a amazing story.
so Janet gets the Monty she gets to change two different ways. hippogriff and sea pony awesome.
Really? Nobody had explained this to him yet? I would've thought Rose would've certainly brought the subject up by now enough times for Tracy to at least get the jist of it.
Whelp, guess that means the entirety of the comments section here called it, then.
Maybe there's a soap you can get for that, a sort of "anti-magic shampoo." One good scrub and all your excess magic levels just wash away! Buy now and get your second bottle fifty percent off!
You know, I'm starting to think Equestria is addictive somehow. Maybe not on a full-on illegal drugs level, but more like coffee or Pringles--once you pop, you just can't stop!
(Oh boy, am I in a silly mood today, apparently)
Ahhhh, okay, now her motivations make a bit more sense.
As unkind as it sounds towards Steven though, I think that's probably better for everybody in the long run. I imagine Steven would've only continued to cause trouble for all one way or another, intended or not, had he stuck around.
Either that, or get friendshipped to death.
Gotta hand it to Janet, once she sets her mind to something, she doesn't mess about.
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Bat wings are basically hands with the digits dramatically exaggerated and webbed, but movement-wise, they function with the same sort of basic motions as a regular hand could (purportedly they fly more by "scooping" the air), so I think the only limitations to their range of movement at that point is the build of the relevant muscles and how far the webbing can and/or needs to stretch to accommodate such motions. And I think it goes without saying that all Equestrian creatures have a greater range of motion to all limbs than their closest real-world equivalent would, just so to explain all the impossible motions they all make on a regular basis.
Purely headcanon talk here...but continuing on that thought, I have speculated in the past that pegasi wings are built more like the wings of the bat ponies than is otherwise immediately obvious, and are webbed too, just to a much less pronounced degree, and the webbing is better hidden by the feathers pegasi obviously still have. From a logistical perspective, that would help explain how pegasi are able to do so many of the motions with their wings that should otherwise be impossible, as well as give a clearly genetic tie between pegasi and bat ponies. And explain that one x-ray of Rainbow's wing too, for that matter.
Besides, if a pegasus is shown as being able to do it in the show, then there's really no reason to assume a bat pony couldn't either, so whatever it is, there must be some sort of anatomical explanation that allows for it.
Been enjoying the story and the art!
That's fairly horrifying. Mandatory ideology training.
Seems like Tracy is knowingly violating the lease terms too; isn't it forbidden to let anyone in voluntarily?
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I don't think so, just that Tracy needed to be careful to not let too many through the portal at once, as Discord hinted it wasn't stable enough to allow for that sort of constant, back-to-back use. Discord recommended he keep it to just one at a time, three perhaps, but that was probably pushing it.
Interesting, how telling it is that Janet is a hippogriff instead of Gryphon. One from two worlds herself, though perhaps not nearly so literal.
At least this time it's a single visitor! Totally within the contract, right? Not sure how much can really be shown in the late twilight before she has to return to work.
He's becoming more pony all the time, didn't even notice he referenced putting weight on the broken limb, as opposed to lifting things with it...
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Right? 😘
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"To the Friendship Dungeon with them!"
("I'll be along shortly after I stop off at the Closet of Friendly Benefits")
1) can we take a minute to appreciate the detail on that doughnut box (which is not a dozen glazed, that is the specialty box she brought over)
2) where is our favorite googly eye maniac at in the comments
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Hehehe I was hoping someone would have noticed something unusual had happened to the Donut box. Looks like the cake family might have to worry about some competition if they find out about a whole brand being ponytized
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And she's tall
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/669734990850031626/802601176649695232/Janet_Reference1.png
buuuuuuuut she is an adult hippogriff after all
Five bucks says she takes his lease when he winds up staying. She can be the Bezos and start up the Amazon of Equestria, hopefully minus the evil.
I really hate to be a bother... what? 0.o
Nice chapter and good to know that I called it.
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There's an old classic movie, Cool Hand Luke, which has some interesting musings on morality - more implied than outright stated, but interesting nonetheless. The protagonist is severely dysfunctional, in that he has huge problems with any form of authority, is a total contrarian, and is relatively anti-social on top of that. He was a small-scale war hero in WW2, but in peacetime he promptly wound up torpedoing his own career and spending all his time in and out of prison due to his constant need to thumb his nose at law and order, pretty much just for the sake of it. He winds up in a fairly corrupt prison, and winds up becoming a hero to the inmates when he stands up to the oppressive administration.
But... the story also makes it pretty clear that in the end, Luke wasn't trying to be anybody's hero. He was just doing what he always does: being spiteful and combative to whoever is in charge. It just so happened that under the circumstances, that was exactly what was called for. Plenty of times in his life, it hadn't been, and he'd paid for it dearly. In the end, the movie sort of gives the message - or I interpreted it as such anyway - that a lot of times whether someone is a hero or villain depends entirely on whether their particular personality type is what's called for in a certain place and time.
Forgive me, this is only very loosely related. But I'd been thinking about it recently with regards to morality, and when good and evil got brought up again here, well...
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one does wonder if krispy kream and starbucks are a universal constant
Okay now you're just showing off.
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It wasn't really talked about when she said it during chapter 47 but...
Also she works corporate. She's definitely seen evil.
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His contact specifically has rules for house guests. From chapter 2
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Where you are tortured by sitting in comfy chairs, and stabbed by soft cushions.
I can't help but wonder what events might transpire if Discord happens to pop over while Janet is here. I am morbidly curious.
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The show is actually pretty consistent here.
The extra bones are like fingers, and they do use their wings as hands.
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Got to have Fluttershy with him, we haven't had enough Fluttershy
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Nice try Kenzu, but I have had enough Kahowdry Kreme doughnuts to know the box by heart. You nailed it.
Bonus points for the clever use of it being 13 doughnuts instead of 12.
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Also, clever foreshadowing with the Seapony snow globes at the aquarium
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That was all acesential's idea and handiwork xD
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Whats the correlation? o.o
So Hippigriff I was expecting Griffon with the whole corporate manager deal. Should be interesting seeing her reaction to a tour of Ponyville.
Hopefully Steven wont cause more problems.
Come in, meet the ponies, join in a random choreographed song or two, you'll want never want to leave.
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Consider the fact it's canon there were MULTIPLE "redemption" spells in the Golden Oaks library (Discord ate them to prevent Twilight using them when he was released). Then think about what would be in the Canterlot archives restricted section. THEN consider the Canterlot archives have a hidden section with stuff deemed too dangerous to be left in the restricted section.
I've said it before but Equestria is a candy coated death world where simply dying is usually the good ending.
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I read one scifi series once where an entire colony were Satanists in the belief that the bible was all lies and it was the other angels that rose in rebellion (hence the prophesized destruction of mankind who they were jelous of) and only Satan remained loyal to god. He was the angel who escaped, who worked to keep faith in his creator alive and who was truly trying to restore god to his throne while god didn't act because this was the gift and curse of free will.
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I don't suppose you recall that sci fi series? That sounds pretty fun to read.
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It was foreshadowing Janet, since she is a hippogriff
I really like this chapter. I don't have much else to say about it.
I guess if I had to think of something, I really liked the conversation between Tracy and Twilight, which did a good job of framing his eventual choice.
Or, you know, just be Sunset Shimmer in deamon form, using fire only to be KaBlammed.
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Mandatory ideology training? My Little Authoritarian: Government is Knowledge?