//------------------------------//
// Chapter 44 
// Story: Fine Print 
// by Starscribe 
//------------------------------//

"Didn't get into any trouble while I was gone, I hope."

Tracy could still sit down on the cushions of the Ponyville Express, though the harness hung awkwardly over his chest, with the wheel and metal leg poking out towards the seat across the aisle. That was no terrible difficulty, given Rose sat beside him instead.

As eager as he might've otherwise been to spend more time in Canterlot, this was the last train of the night. If they didn't take it, they'd be stuck until the next morning—his own world's sundown. Too little too late.

"No trouble," he said, hesitating after a few seconds. "Well, none that was my fault. Our landlord visited."

Rose looked away from the window, eyes wide. "What happened?"

"Nothing, really. Left bugs in my room and a card that was too big to carry back." Not only that, but the card was apparently so massive that nopony could move it. So far as he knew, it was still resting on the end-table, showing his own grisly fate to all who visited. 

"Well that was nice of him," Rose said, one eyebrow raised. "Nothing else? No... threats, or conditions?"

No, but he did remind me that I can't stay in Equestria forever. Though that wasn't quite how he'd said it. Nor was it something he wanted to burden Rose with now. They still had three months together. A lot could change in that much time.

"I'm more worried about work. I can drive in with only one arm, but I'm not sure how much energy I'll have. I'll be a little late as it is, assuming this trip takes the hour it usually does. Nothing for it, I guess."

The mare nudged him, a grin replacing her worry. "Now that you don't have to worry about, Tracy. I called like you wanted. Your boss, uh... Janet. She didn't just give you the day, she gave you a whole week. Which honestly doesn't seem like enough time. You won't have the cast off in a week, even taking your regular healing potion."

"I don't need a leg to work, I sit in a desk all day anyway..." He trailed off, taking a few more seconds to process what she'd just said. Janet had given him the whole week. That seemed uncharacteristically generous, considering how skeptical she'd been of Tracy's last request for time off.

Maybe it's a test. Waiting to see what I look like when I get back into work. As it was, he still looked pretty bad. They'd changed out his bandages one more time, but that didn't mean the underlying burns were healed yet. According to Doctor Waler, he'd be peeling like the worst sunburn of his life in another week or two.

"You're sure that's what she said?" he asked, hoping he didn't sound like he didn't trust her. "That would be... really nice for Janet."

"I'm positive." Rose nudged him again, until her face was only inches from his. "You're stuck with me for a whole week. You might have to crash more often."

He rolled his eyes, but didn't get the chance to argue. He didn't want to.

Ponyville was dark and quiet by the time they arrived, walking back through the empty streets towards home. At least Rose was plenty patient with him as he stumbled on the harness. The longer he walked, the more tender his shoulder became. He couldn't put pressure on it for so long before something gave.

"I went through your room while you were out," she said, as they finally clicked the door shut behind them. "I washed everything, cleaned things out as best I could. You're going to need to do better once you're sharing my room."

"When I'm—" His ears curled back, and his face burned. But ponies had enough fur to cover that up. He looked, but there was nothing mocking about Rose's expression. 

She grinned back at him, deadly serious. "Not tonight, though. I know what it takes for a flying pony to heal, and that's plenty of rest and minimal stress."

She helped him up the stairs anyway. She was nearly a full head shorter than he was, yet she took his weight going up the steps like it was nothing. They said earth ponies were strong—that was apparently an understatement.





Rose followed him into his room, which she clearly had been through. It didn't look like anything was broken, though. She'd done a better job cleaning it all than he ever had. 

"Sit down, I'll help get that thing off," she instructed. "I don't envy you, trying to sleep with that thing on your leg. Bet it's annoying."

"Never... broken a bone before?" he asked, wincing as he settled down on the edge of the bed. "Never slept with a cast?"

"Nope." She pressed him down into the bed with one hoof. Her strength was irresistible, just as it had been going up the stairs. "I don't know many earth ponies who have. All the stories I can think of were... fatal. Heroes that held up collapsing buildings, or stopped the advance of an enemy army on their own. Crazy stuff."

"Damn. Remind me not to piss you off, then."

She was silent for another moment, probably because she was working with her mouth. Then the straps fell away, and she pulled back. "There, it's off. You should be able to hobble around on three legs if you don't go far. But call me if you need anything. The hospital gave me the supplies to change your bandages again tomorrow. That should be the last time you need it."

"If that's true, then it really is magic." He sat up, and found Rose hadn't actually moved. His face grew hot all over again. Good thing he was in so much pain, or else he probably would've done something stupid. "If I really bridged both sides of a powerline, I should be super dead. I've seen photos of what can happen. Sometimes there aren't even bones left, just ash."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, bat. Just because Nightmare Night is coming up doesn't mean we need horror stories."

"I'm not making it up! It's just... okay, I never saw it happen, they were just photos online. And we're talking birds, not people."

Rose shoved his good shoulder lightly with one hoof, then stood. "Flying ponies do better with electricity than the rest of us. Lightning can be fatal for an earth pony, but it definitely isn't for a pegasus. I guess you must be built similarly. Bats don't usually work weather, so I guess you just don't have the chance to find out. Or... maybe it's your cutie mark?" 

She stared, making him blush all over again. Too bad his suit had been turned to charcoal, or else he might still be wearing pants. As it was, the image on his fur was entirely intact. Neither side had been the least-bit scorched in his accident.

"Have you figured out what it means since coming here?"

He sighed. "Other than something for ponies in that hospital to call me, nope. I assumed it was something that meant more in your world than mine. But I wasn't brave enough to ask."

"You'll figure it out." Rose turned to go. He almost asked her not to—but he was exhausted, sore, and wrapped in bandages. He probably wasn't great to look at right about now.

The next few days passed in much the same way. Rose must've been taking her own time off work to help him so much, because she was at home with him for most of the day. Without the full range of human motion, Tracy was forced to rely on her far more than he would've otherwise. He simply wasn't capable of removing the harness on his own, or doing plenty of other things.

Roseluck didn't seem to mind. She even sat with him to watch a few movies while they were stuck at home. 

Granted, he didn't really get to watch any of them, not with her constant questions. Even so, he made sure to select films that she would be able to better appreciate. Animated films had always been one of his guilty pleasures, and now he was with someone who wouldn't judge him for watching Moana more than once.

Granted, going through the Disney catalog did have its downsides.

"I knew your world had magic!" Rose proclaimed, over the ending credits of Frozen. "You should study your own history better, Tracy. These documentaries make it so obvious. You've just... forgotten, over time. How long ago did that happen?"

"Never," he said. He'd tried different variations of that same answer. This time he went for the most direct. "These aren't true stories. They're entertainment. We watch them because they're fun, but nothing in them is true."

She stuck her tongue out, tossing popcorn at him. They had at least one snack in common between worlds. "You're wrong, Tracy. Love can melt a frozen heart. You'll be here for Hearth’s Warming, you'll see. We have a story kinda like this, only it's true."

She hopped out of the couch, grin widening. "You have holidays too, right? If this is your version of a Hearth’s Warming, do you have a Nightmare Night too?"

"I... think so." Navigating through his Plex library with a remote and his mouth didn't get easier, even after living in Equestria for half a year. He selected the Nightmare Before Christmas, though he didn't start playing it yet. This should be the right balance of frightening and safe for a pony. Hopefully. "The more I think about it, the weirder it seems." 

He didn't stand up, though that was mostly because his harness was on the floor several feet away. "You're another universe. We shouldn't have anything in common. I've assumed we could only talk because the portal did something to my brain on the way in. But... we do have matching holidays. This one coming up is called Halloween, and it matches what you said about yours... way too well. Kids go around getting candy, everyone dresses up, people decorate their houses..."

Rose shrugged. "I'm sure there's a magical explanation for it. But now... why don't you start the next one. I'll make dinner."

"Sure." He rested the remote on one knee. After several days of healing, the bandages were gone. His fur was a little darker in patches, and the skin beneath occasionally itched like it was coming off. But it hadn't. The worrying signs of infection hadn't appeared. Pony medicine really was magical. 

"But I should warn you. This is a Halloween film. And before I play it—it's even more pretend than the others. It's meant to be spooky and uncomfortable. It's not trying to teach anything about magic in my world, just to be scary. Okay?"

"Oh, you have that tradition too?" Rose squeezed up beside him. "In Equestria we have to go and visit places to be scared, we can't just... do it whenever we want. We can do takeout or something." She folded her hooves, grinning. "I won't be scared."

Rose clearly tried very hard not to act afraid. Tracy pretended not to notice her shivering and occasionally looking away during the climax. The more frightened she became, the closer to him she got. 

It was too bad he couldn't get time off more often.