Tracy meant to get off the Everwake that weekend. It wasn't just the smartest choice anymore, now he'd promised Rose. She was right about the dangers, and even more she didn't know. What would happen if he ran out while driving? Or worse, what if he kept using it until his lease ended, and had to sleep the next few months of work away?
But Sunday was Halloween—Nightmare Night to the ponies. He couldn't possibly spend the holiday asleep! He couldn't use Saturday to recover either, not when that was one of the last big days of the flower season.
"It's all greenhouse from here on," Rose said, pouring over the ledger screen. "After Nightmare Night, we only open for breakfast and a few days before Hearth’s Warming. All these bits mean we don't have to take loans to survive until spring. Or sell the store, or the house, or..."
Tracy wrapped one wing around her shoulder, pulling her away from the screen. "You don't have to justify it. I'm just impressed you can make it work at all."
She nuzzled up against his neck in one of her usual affectionate gestures. "After this weekend, there won't be as much for me to do. While my parents were still alive, we used to use the winter season to travel far from here, bringing in exotic flowers to grow for next year. But there's not enough here for anything that exciting."
She turned, grinning up at him. "Could we ride in that carriage of yours some more? That was so... fast."
Anything that would get her to come back to Earth was a win in his book. Too bad he didn't have any family to take her to meet anymore. I wonder what my sister would've said about all this.
Evie would probably be happy that he was with someone. Was two months enough time to convince Rose to stay on his side when the lease expired?
No, because she still has a family here. Unless there are other Worldgates we don't know about, it wouldn't be right. I have nothing to lose, she does. But however much the guilt gnawed at him, Tracy thought about it more than once. He had his dream job. If he could somehow walk away from all this with his dream girl as well, he'd be the one sending Discord a card.
It was amazing how much Equestria and Earth had in common with their holidays, even if their origins couldn't be any further apart. But Nightmare Night came, and he could barely even tell the difference. If anything, Ponyville took the holiday more seriously than Earth did, and almost everyone he saw was in costume.
Even Rose, who'd been so taken with her viewing of Nightmare Before Christmas that she decided to make a costume in the style of one of the characters. Or maybe it was just that using body-paint to draw stitching and discolor parts of her coat was easier than making something.
But just because he couldn't remember the name of the character didn't mean that Rose didn't take her costume seriously. So seriously, in fact, that he felt another fresh wave of guilt. "You can't really be planning to go without a costume!" Rose said, emerging from the bathroom a few hours before nightfall and poking her head into his bedroom.
Now that he didn't use it for sleep anymore, Tracy had transformed the space into more of an office, with room to store his clothes. More and more of those had migrated into Rose's room, but not all of that was his fault.
"It's more of a kid thing on Earth..." he began. That excuse worked until he turned, and stared right into the face of all her hard work. He'd helped with some of that paint, but only the parts she couldn't reach. Rose had done most of it herself, and even sewed the patchwork dress. "You know nobody is going to recognize that costume."
Rose nodded eagerly. "It's not just a goat thing on our side. Here everypony does it. There are games all up and down main street, you can see them already setting up outside. Once they're all asleep, then ponies break out the cider. You won't let me dance alone, will you? Nightmare Night is a bat's most important holiday."
Six months ago he would've sent her away with a little sarcasm and an unfriendly reminder that he only looked like a bat. But he was a different person now—a better one. Besides, he needed little cajoling to go anywhere with her.
He snapped the laptop lid closed, then turned. "I haven't dressed up in a long time. If I knew it mattered that much, I would've prepared a costume too. Are you sure I can't, like... just go as a bat? There aren't that many of us in Ponyville, that's exotic. Or maybe I could just throw on some clothes at random and say I'm someone from another world. Does that count as a costume?"
Her pout of indignation was all the answer he needed on that score. But she didn't look upset for long. "I figured this might happen," she said, pacing slowly around him, expression deadly serious. "You said you had the same holiday, but that didn't mean you would celebrate it the same way. You're from another world."
He nodded. "That's... clever. Are you saying you planned for this?"
She smiled slyly, then continued as though she hadn't heard him. "There's the boring options of course. You could just go as a night guard, but that's really boring. It also risks Princess Luna picking Ponyville this year. She's done it before, so don't put it past her."
"I don't know what that would mean. But she was good to my friends, so I wouldn't want to disrespect her." Also I'm low-key terrified she might actually be able to do the things you people tell stories about.
"The other end of the insane spectrum is going to Discord or poison joke for a costume."
"Wait—" He got up, walking slowly over to the window and squinting outside. As the season wore on, more and more of their nights overlapped. Curious how that change seemed to happen at the same pace in both worlds. "Discord—our landlord, the demon? He sells costumes?"
She shrugged. "Costumes is one word for it. Don't get me wrong, you'd get something great, his work never disappoints. But it doesn't always wear off the next day. Still, if you want something really convincing—and you don't mind whatever he turns you into. At least you'll make an impression."
Tracy spread both wings, taking a single step back. "He already turned me into this, and I'm still getting used to it. Besides, I'm not sure breaking my leg was enough getting even from him. Let's... let's not do that."
She didn't seem disappointed with his reaction, despite the denial. "I'm sure doing that would make for a Nightmare Night you never forgot. But you're already living in two worlds at once, that's so much more than most ponies could manage. Since it might be the only Nightmare Night you ever get, we have to make it count."
There was no missing the pain when she said it. But what was he supposed to tell her, that he changed his mind and was ready to abandon his whole world? He wasn't Shane.
"I appreciate that," he said. Close to the lamest possible response he could give. But it was honest, and that mattered just as much. "You can just go out and say it, Rose. You have a costume for me. What is it?"
She giggled, then took his hoof and dragged him across the hall. There was no danger of their contact devolving into anything unchaste this time, not with all that body paint. He could be patient until she asked for help washing it off.
"You know I've spent a long time with bats," she said. "Not quite so far as going to Echo, of course. By sacred tradition only thestrals and their formally married mates are allowed. But it was still enough to learn your history. Or... their history, that you've inherited? I don't know, is this awkward?"
She stopped in front of her closet. It wasn't mostly empty like his—somehow, she managed to fill it with hangers and clothes, despite spending almost all her days naked. There were some mysteries men were simply not meant to solve.
"Yes," he said. "But the last time I met real bats, they tried to bring me to that... Echo Caverns. I'm sure they'd want me learning more about... What do you have in mind, exactly?"
She began removing things from the closet, settling them onto the bed one at a time. As usual with pony outfits, nothing he saw here would do much for his modesty, even all taken together. But the last week had helped him give up on that taboo more than months of awkward glances and requests from townsponies about what formal function he planned to attend.
"I have no idea what I'm looking at," he said, when she'd finally finished. Like the robes of a medieval monk had been slashed into pieces and accentuated by seemingly purposeless toolbelts. "Who was this pony, exactly?"
"Star Drift," Rose declared. "Legend says he led the ancient thestrals to Equestria from a far country." Without prompting or permission, she picked up the lowest layer of the costume and tossed it over his back. "Drift the navigator. Drift the dreamwalker."
Tracy held still while she worked, though the urge to squirm free grew stronger every second he stood there and with every belt she tightened. "I can see why you're a fan. Where did these thestrals come from, exactly?"
She grinned wider. "That's the mystery. Ponies think it must be somewhere in the south. But every bat I've ever known insists they're from much further away. Their world was dying, just like the home of ponies before Equestria. Only instead of freezing, theirs was burning. But I have my theories, thanks to you. Isn't it obvious? They must've come from where you did! Or... at least somewhere a lot like it. It's the only answer that makes sense."
He didn't have the heart to start poking holes in it. He might look like a bat right now, but what did that prove? If he thought species in Equestria could be traced to a chain of ancestry, his friends had ruined that theory. They were all from the same town, descendants of the same original settlers. Yet they all looked different. Janet wasn't even a pony!
"I don't know enough to decide for myself," he said, the most diplomatic response he could manage. "But you could be right. If I ever see thestrals again, I could ask them."
Rose was just about done with the costume. With each piece in place, it did a better job making him look like an explorer. The almost-boots behind him did resemble the way pants sometimes transformed through the Worldgate. But it was probably nothing.
Rose slipped something off her shelf, settling it onto the bed in front of him. "Or you could do a little reading. But don't tell the princess I still have this, because technically it's a library book. From the, uh... from Golden Oaks."
She looked away, voice becoming solemn and distant. But before he could ask more, she dragged him over to the mirror, and posed behind him. "Now that is a costume. Not couples', but I don't think you would've looked good as a skeleton anyway. Maybe next Nightmare Night."
He didn't argue the point. "I'll join you downstairs in a minute," he said, gesturing for her to go on without him. "Just got to take care of something for work really quick."
A lie, sort of. There was no one even at work right now, and he wouldn't be getting new assignments until he came in tomorrow. But Rose didn't question.
As soon as her hoofsteps had faded down the stairs, he lifted aside the photo concealing his box of little vials. He uncorked the Everwake with his teeth, then downed it in a single gulp.
He felt no more disorientation anymore, no brief burning in his throat. Tracy straightened, tossed the empty vial into the bin, then went down to enjoy the party.
nice job, love the picture!
To be precise, his status was different. Since it has been changed from 'single' to 'in relationship'.
The ever wake is really something they should sit down and talk about. Tracy wants to spend time with rose, and rose wants him to spend time with her, but in order to do that, Tracy has to take the ever wake; and even though rose has mentioned her distaste for the elixir, and told him to stop using it, she hasn't made any other effort to stop him, nor has Tracy brought up the fact that he would need to use it in order to do a thing.
Oh dear, this is either gonna be only a little bad... Or really bad. I am thoroughly concerned.
Oh, this will absolutely come back to bite him at the worst time.
Several entertaining stories along those lines.
You said it yourself, Tracy. You're the one with nothing to lose.
Fascinating hints at the history of bat ponies. An extraplanar origin is certainly possible. Given their capabilities, they may have physically traveled through the Dreamlands from one world to another. But that's probably outside the scope of the story.
... Probably. This may be a way for Tracy to sneak back over the border, though he's shown no aptitude for dream magic. Of course, he also hasn't slept much for weeks on end.
Whatever the case and whatever looms in the future, time for an adorable date.
Going as a Night Guard wouldn't be without danger. Just think of it, they celebrate a bit to much, only for him to be woken up the next morning in a barracks, learning the hard way that he was nistaken for a real one by some bats and they convinced him to enliste while drunk with no way out.
awesome chapter. the art work is always amazing.
What? How do you forget Oogey Boogey?
Amen, brother.
Hm, the Everwake issue is definitely going to be problematic. Like 10665568 said, using it is really the only way for Tracy and Rose to spend time together, so that could certainly pose problems.
And Tracy, if you've got nothing to lose like you claim, then I think you've actually got a pretty easy decision ahead of you. I'm sure Janet would understand.
Also: love the art in chapter 37! And this one, too. Great costumes.
I this this is precisely the point when he crashes hard from everwake
Tracy's costume is approaching Batman-level in the number of pouches it has. It suits him!
.............I wonder if this Star Drift fellow looked like Tracy. Wouldnt be the first time a costume mirrored reality.
Lookin at you Clover the Clever and Twilight, Commander Hurricane and Rainbow, etc
Dressing as the Dreamwalker while having built a tolerance to Everwake, huh? That's some pretty heavy foreshadowing for a crash.
Something literally nobody is thinking of:
When he crashes, it will put him into a mini coma, shooting past his lease expiration. Which means he loses his job and humanity (unless Janet starts a business in Equestria and her and Rose cover the rent)...
But gets to be with Rose until the day she dies
i.imgur.com/f7r30Rk.jpg
i.imgur.com/M5KrDn9.jpg
I guess Rose fully understands the implication of Tracy's limited lease. If they are to be separated at the end, then they will at least get out as much of the limited time they got.
He's certainly embraced his bat form now.
Maybe Tracy is biologically a bat but I doubt he'd say he's earned a place among them. Even the clanless bats have more knowledge about Thestral social conventions then him. Considering how important they apparently consider this social gathering, perhaps it is wise for Tracy to move along. Or at least become a silent observer if he attends.
I wonder what they would say if they knew he came from another world.
Tracy should consider comparing mythologies but it's likely the thestrals had their own world separate from Earth. We may have a 3-way intermingling of civilizations here. What is the difference between human, pony, and thestral anymore?
There doesn't appear to be any correlation between what species one will become other than what universe they entered so I'm guessing not all refugees of the burning world became thestrals. They just fled far back in time long enough and had a high enough thestral number to have their culture influence what would become modern bat culture. All other non-bat lines died out or were overtaken by other cultures. The entire ancestry of three (maybe more) worlds could be tangled in one messy web.
10665616
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but.... you missed a few pouches. D:
Ah, I see. He's going to pass out and miss the portal closing with him trapped.
10665644
❄︎♒︎♏︎ ◆︎⧫︎♓︎●︎♓︎⧫︎⍓︎ ◻︎□︎◆︎♍︎♒︎♏︎⬧︎ ♎︎□︎■︎🕯︎⧫︎ ♒︎♋︎❖︎♏︎ ♏︎⍓︎♏︎⬧︎ ⬧︎♓︎●︎●︎⍓︎✏︎ ⚐︎■︎●︎⍓︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ⬥︎♓︎♎︎♏︎ ⬧︎⧫︎□︎❒︎♋︎♑︎♏︎ □︎■︎♏︎⬧︎✏︎
👎︎♓︎♎︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ■︎□︎⧫︎ ⬧︎⧫︎◆︎♎︎⍓︎ ◆︎⧫︎♓︎●︎♓︎⧫︎⍓︎ ♌︎♏︎●︎⧫︎⬧︎ ♓︎■︎ ⬧︎♍︎♒︎□︎□︎●︎✍︎ ❄︎♒︎♏︎⍓︎🕯︎❒︎♏︎ ❖︎♏︎❒︎⍓︎ ■︎♏︎♋︎⧫︎ ⧫︎□︎ ♒︎♋︎❖︎♏︎ □︎■︎ ♒︎□︎□︎♐︎📬︎
"It's not just a goat thing on our side"
I love you Starscribe, this, this humor.
Rose: Do you want to know how I got these scars?
10665679
.................imagines her awkwardly asking Tracy to help her paint stitching on her flanks and back legs
that woulda been an interesting conversation
10665616
Yes good.
It's one thing to prepare for Murphy. It's another to send and invitation.
Tee hee. Like that bat-pony costume you're wearing :=)
HMM ... Is this Discord's _SECOND_ time doing this?
... and not only is this all over the comment section already, Rose even mentions it in-story.
But yea, this is foreshadowing ...
There was a crash
There was a sleeping crash
A sleeping crash
Worse than Rainbow Dash
It was a crash
He fell asleep in a flash
There was a crash
A post-wake sleeping crash
(Awooouuu)
I was expecting a picture when Rose's costume was described and to see Tracy's costume as well. I'm curious as to what will happen because of his use of everwake but I won't be surprised if he completely collapses after Nightmare Night. I'm wondering where the batponies came from and I'm loving the fact that Rose prepared a costume for Tracy.
oh boy, he is goign addict
"maybe ask Discord?" yeah, how about that...
Star Drift the Dreamwalker eh? How prophetic since he's going to be doing a lot of dreaming soon, if the fact that the potions aren't being as effective is any indication...
This line faintly bugs me solely because the highlighted portion is so obvious. It's telling the reader something they should already be able to unravel themselves.
It's an all right chapter, mind. Mostly exists to set up future ones.
Goat thing, hah!
Rose's costume is so incredibly cute.
Game dev: "So with this system each pouch would increase your carrying capacity by 10."
Players: *illustration form this chapter*
Honestly though, how are they even supposed to get anything in or out of those? They are so tiny.
10665616
GAWD DANGIT.
WHY IS SWEETIE BELLE DERRIELLE BACK?! I forgot she was even a THING!
Well, tracy is addicted to that stuff. Trying to justify and looking for reasons why he needs it is the dead give away. It's also gonna break roses heart when she finds out hes hiding it from her.
Dawww nice costumes.
10665600
I'd be surprised if this is actual foreshadowing, but I wouldn't put it past the author. And I certainly wouldn't mind some dream shenanigans.
So, maybe I missed something. But why doesn’t he just keep taking it for the rest of his life? Apparently he can afford it, and I dont remember any bad effects coming with addiction to the stuff.
I was half expecting Discord to offer a 'best of both worlds' type solution. Rose wants him to dress up? Tracey doesn't feel like wearing a costume... Tada, Discord appears and removes the enchantment transforming him into a batpony.
One authentic human, ready to go... With or without clothing, depending on how literal he takes Tracey's disregard for 'dressing up'. XD
I am very convinced that the Everwake is a Chekhov Gun, and while it is still sitting on the metaphorical mantle, I've got a creeping feeling that when it finally fires, the result will be serious.
Clock's ticking, Tracy! What will it be? Dream girl, or dream job?
10666000
It accumulates a sleep debt that keeps growing, and must be paid eventually. Do you not remember that part of the story?
What may happen is Tracy conks out, doesn't come into work, and then Janet will visit and Rose will have to explain in detail what Everwake is and how it works to her.
10666200
The sleep debt, yes. It being a requirement that it must be paid eventually, no. So far as I recall, no limit was ever specified, so long as a supply was maintained. But perhaps I forgot it?
10666203
Chapter 34: "After even a few consecutive doses, the user will become completely incapacitated and fall into a semi-vegetative state until the debt is paid."
Plus! Think about how inevitably chaotic that'd be, Discord, having a pony trying to live in a world among humans. C'mon, you know it would be.
Seriously, though, I really would love it if Tracy found a way to keep the dream job and the dream girl simultaneously, so much so it actually kinda bothers me just a small tad that so many readers seem to have surrendered to the fact that he can only have one. There's a literary precedent for that, I know, but that's partly why I'm eager to see it anyway--it'd be a shake-up from both the reader expectations and from the typical norm for these sort of stories.
Besides, just because the worldgate is set to close soon...doesn't mean it's going to stay closed forever afterwards.
What, him going as a bat pony isn't enough?
She's totally picking Ponyville this year, isn't she? I know a likely jinx when I see one.
And I'm sort of glad for that--it wouldn't be terribly interesting for the story if he just immediately went "aw, heck with it," and pulled a Shane too. There's far more to it to consider, and, given how things play out, may NOT be his only option still.
Speaking of, I'm still hoping Tracy will wind up paying that place a visit before this is all over still, as well as encounter and interact with other bat ponies along the way. It's already been implied there's a lot of untapped lore there still that I'm immensely curious to see in full.
Hmm...quite a lot I could take away from that, actually, and not necessarily all the same sort of deductions Rose makes about it...there's always the possibility still that the bat pony point of origin is still somewhere on the same world as Equestria.
To further complicate it, Discord implied way back at the start of the story that individual personality may play a part in determining their Equestrian species too, so that'd make it even harder to trace.
Besides--personal opinion--I'd think the bat ponies being from the same world, or even a yet another world other than Tracy's or Rose's, would seem a bit too convenient, narratively speaking, and too statistically unlikely...at least from a real world perspective, but it's still important to keep in mind even in the obviously fantastical such as here. Believablilty is still important even in the world of Equestria, after all.
Almost makes me want to see him try to step through the portal real quick, just to see what they transform into on the human side.
Oof, yeah, Twilight would want that book back, if just for the sentimental value...but also probably because that means that book is the only one of a certain select few who survived that...escapade. I still shudder to think how many rare texts might have been forever lost when Tirek turned his sights onto that poor library...
10665568
My assumption is that Rose is, for the moment, trusting Tracy to stay on top of it and make sure it doesn't become a problem on his own, as well as her not realizing just how much of a problem it's already become, in part to how Tracy has largely managed to keep his over reliance on it on the down low for now.
But I agree, this is rapidly looking like it's going to turn into a big problem...which many of us had already figured it would from the start, but probably not quite in the way it's ultimately been playing out...especially as a large part of Tracy's motivation to keep taking it like this is just as much (if not more so) for Rose's benefit as it is for his own.
...I wonder if the Everwake will be the real make-or-break point of their relationship then...the potential for it is certainly there...
Love it
10666369
Honestly, I'm of the opinion that Janet is going to try to convince Tracy and Rose to come live in human world, not betray him. Right now, Tracy just has that job connecting him to human world and if he loses that through a betrayal from Janet, the choice is so obvious it's boring.
10666523
Anything that could potentially take the job out of the picture would make the choice too obvious, and I agree, that'd be the cliche way to end it, so I'm hoping Starscribe at least has something a little more creative in mind. He's managed to do so thus far, so I'm optimistic still on that.
That being said, I do have to admit that, whatever goes down...it's probably going to end with Tracy opting to stay in Equestria.
10666215
Huh, I could’ve sworn he’s been using it more than just a few consecutive doses. Maybe it depends on the person.
10666000
The reason why is because Everwake doesn't eliminate the need to sleep, the effects was meant to ease the transition between a day and night sleep schedule and make it relatively easy, the side effects of that very purpose means it also serves to act like an extreme magical caffeine drink more or less.
Now as to why it would be a VERY bad idea to do that is because (if I remember/understand the effects enough) is that at some point even if he keeps drinking it he is going to be forced to repay his debt on sleep and whatever sleep he skipped out on will hit him all at once forcing him into a magically induced Coma for however long necessary to catch up on all that missed sleep he skipped.
10666598
The effect as described made me think of it more as a magical potion, which doesn’t really have to obey the normal rules of caffeine. I could see the worldbuilding being such that there are a bunch of bat ponies addicted to Everwake, extending its effects way more than is healthy until the moment they stop using it would send them into a coma so deep they’re basically dead. It’s a bit more grim than anything in the original show, but that’s what fan fiction is for.
10666215
Thanks!
10666710
No problem! I've been digging through this story enough times to back up my speculation that I remembered roughly when it happened.
This has been the most fun with speculation I've had since Madoka threads10665577
No, he's pretty clearly describing Sally. The line about a potential couples costume with Tracy as a skeleton clinches it (Jack Skellington + Sally being an item in the movie).