Tracy stumbled inside, heart still racing and head pounding. He smacked the door closed behind him, securing both locks. He slid against the cold metal, flopping weakly to the floor.
Someone knew. Not his Ely friends, who had no interest in revealing his secret. Steven, who was always worried about visas, whose family was a thousand miles away and who basically lived in his cubicle.
This is the beginning of the end. This is when the men in black show up to burn the whole block to the ground and erase all our memories. If there was enough magic in the world for portals to open to other universes, someone had to be dealing with it, right? Now the secret would be out.
Tracy locked the inner door, lifting his phone carefully onto the table in front of him. He could think of only one way to hedge this off. It was probably doomed, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try.
Steven's phone was trashed, after all. But so long as he stayed inside the house, signals from his world reached in here just fine. So he called his boss.
Janet answered after exactly two rings, same as she always did. "Tracy? How's it going?"
"Recovering," he said. "Listen, you... probably know this, but Steven was just here."
There was a brief pause. "I sent him to see how you were doing. You sound like something's wrong."
He nodded, then realized that was stupid. The day he accidentally pressed video call, God have mercy on his soul. "Yeah, it's... look, keep an eye on him when he gets back. He freaked the hell out in front of me, some kind of... nervous episode. Felt like crunch had really been getting to him."
There was a long silence on the other end. "That's the kind of thing better taken up with HR. I keep telling corporate they're pushing us too hard. But launch day waits for no man." She sighed, and he heard her expensive chair springs shifting and adjusting.
"Did he talk to you about going remote? I'm not sure if you'd prefer to do things that way while you heal up. And if I'm about to lose my other draftsman for a few days of wellness leave, I'll need someone to pick up the slack. Can you still work with one arm?"
"Not fast," he admitted. Though even if he had both forelegs, his work would've suffered. The laptop's magically modified interfaces worked well enough, but human hands were just better. Maybe if he'd been a unicorn... "But I'm willing to try it. I've got pretty good hardware here already, if you want to send me license codes for Autodesk."
Rose emerged from the stairs, a robe on over her shoulders. She took one look at the phone, and didn't speak, though she did stop just a few feet away.
"Appreciate the attitude, but no. Work files don't leave work computers. I'll bring you a laptop after work—they're upgrading the department anyway, you can just be the first. Well, second. I got the first one."
He winced, mind spinning as he reached for any excuse he could find. For better or worse, Steven wasn't terribly articulate, and had about as much clout at the company as Tracy did. But if Janet saw him, he would have to convince her or give himself up as doomed.
All that's assuming Steven doesn't bring the police here, or something worse. Maybe Shane was right, maybe he should run as far away from the door as possible.
But Discord would still be expecting rent. I should've paid the whole year. Did he have three months’ rent in savings by now? He'd have to check into that.
"I'll see you after work," Janet went on. "Oh, and if she's around, I'd like to meet your girlfriend. I know how hard it can be to take care of someone with a serious injury—she deserves a medal."
"I can be there!" Rose said from over his shoulder. "No problem!"
"She heard that? Great, I guess. But don't forget your NDA while working from home, Tracy."
"I know," he said flatly. "I haven't."
"Good to hear. See you tonight." The phone clicked, then fell silent.
Tracy took a slow, deliberate breath, turning towards Rose. "You know what you just agreed to, right? You can't meet her in here. You'll have to visit my world."
Rose shrugged. "I thought you said your boss would be fine with Equestria."
"She..." He looked away. "She might've been, before. But someone else from work saw me. If anyone else finds out, it's gonna be... it's probably going to be hell either way. But the more people know, the worse it gets. If somehow they don't drag me away before dinner, I'm not going to make it worse."
Rose considered that. He tensed, preparing for the argument, or at least the deflection. She'd been putting off the cross to his side for months. How would she do it this time?
"After work," she began. "Is that... that's around dinner time, right?"
"Breakfast over here, but yeah." He glanced at the phone again. "About six hours from now. Maybe seven, since she'll take some time in getting here."
Rose smiled nervously. "I did promise I'd let you take me on a date over there. We could go after she leaves."
She leaned forward, resting one hoof on his shoulder. "It doesn't have to be as fancy as Canterlot. I kinda... hoped it wouldn't be. I want to see what things are normally like in your world, not where you go for special stuff."
You've been waiting for an excuse, he realized.
"I... Sure, I guess." He sat up, mind running rapidly now. "We can't let her see us leave the house. We'll have to be waiting for her before she gets here..." There was some lawn furniture outside, shared with the neighbors. He'd never actually seen any of it used.
"If you're sure," he said again. "I'll make some arrangements. But I'm going to need you to promise a few things. First, you have to be careful with what you tell Janet. Can't tell her you're a pony, can't tell her about Equestria."
She nodded once. "I understand."
He silenced her with his hoof. "Second part probably won't matter. But if I say so, you need to be ready to run back into Equestria and not look back. Can you do that?"
She nodded again. "Are you worried about something?"
"Yes. I told you—my friend who visited saw me. It might make this whole thing pointless, depending on what he tells Janet, and who she believes. But if the human authorities get involved, I don't want you getting hurt. Forget about me, run right back here, and lock the door tight. I have a feeling Discord's new security will deal with any intruders."
Rose nodded, though her confidence was melting rapidly. He could probably press that angle, maybe scare her away from the attempt. It was probably the worst possible day to make the trip. But if he did that, she might never visit Earth. He'd never get to see what she looked like.
"You said six hours? If you don't mind... I'm going to get some sleep. You should too." She turned, flicking her tail at him.
The gesture was as deliberate as ever, but for once he was too distracted to stare. "I'm not tired anymore," he said. "Besides, I might need to be up if something happens. Just remember, you have to be dressed first. It's not 'fancy' on my side, it's essential."
She nodded, stalking back up the stairs. With as much nervous fear as he felt, he could only wonder if Discord was somehow behind all this. He was furious with Tracy over the loss of potential thralls, he knew that much. Maybe this was his way of getting even.
What was Tracy supposed to do, ask?
He spent the next few hours searching for places he could take Rose. Assuming he wasn't dragged off by the SCP before nightfall, he needed to make the date count.
Just like that, it was clocking out time at work, and time to prepare for Janet's arrival. Rose appeared from the stairs at almost that exact moment, grinning at him.
She was gorgeous, but that hadn't changed. The dress didn't have as many layers as the one she'd worn to Canterlot, but that didn't matter. Despite all known laws of aviation, the clothes only made her seem more attractive. How could she do that?
"We have to wait for her on the other side, don't we? I thought I might want to cross a little before she got there. I should've done this days ago, but..." She shrugged. "I'm not as brave as you are. Going on adventures into other worlds was never my thing. That's why we keep the Elements around."
They walked to the outer door together, and Tracy stopped just beside it. "I'll go first. But once I open it, you have to come too. If you stand on this side, people nearby could see you. Straight out, okay?"
She nodded nervously, touching her head against his. "We're the same ponies on that side, right? You don't turn into someone else?"
So close to her, he could feel her racing heartbeat where her skin met his. She was terrified. "Yes," he said, without hesitation. "I did this every day, Rose. You don't—" Then he stopped. He wanted to say that crossing didn't change anything about the way he thought. But it wasn't true. He hadn't had a steak in the last four months.
"You don't what?" she prompted, forcing him to meet her eyes. "What is it, Tracy? Tell me everything."
"I feel more like a pony, even on that side," he said lamely. "It's mostly been food. Some of my old favorite foods make me queasy, and I don't know why. I looked it up, even. Horses can eat meat, it's just that they—"
Her eyes narrowed. "I'm not asking about the menu! Just promise I'll still be me, that's all."
"You will be," he said, more confidently this time. "I still feel like the same person I was when I moved in. I assume it's the same in both directions."
"Alright then." She patted him once on the shoulder. "Then let's go. I have the whole day for this, but Daisy made me promise to tell her everything. We have to get some good stories out there."
"Whatever happens, I think we'll manage that." Tracy didn't fling the door all the way open, even if he didn't have as much dexterity with one leg in a sling. He opened it about a foot, then stepped out through the gap.
Curiously, he felt the same vertigo he had earlier, even though he wasn't rushing this time. His head swam, and he touched the wall with his good hand, steadying himself. He didn't turn around, instead standing in the opening and scanning their surroundings for danger.
There were no mysterious unmarked vans, or circle of a dozen police. The street looked the same as ever, in fact. He'd remembered a jacket this time, so he didn't even shiver in the cold. "Looks good," he said. "She's not here yet."
Rose made a nervous squeaking sound, muttering to herself. "Now or never, now or never, now or never..." She stumbled out abruptly, so fast she smacked into his back. He backed away, but managed not to fall over. He'd been doing two legs for his whole life, he could manage it now!
Then he saw her. Her clothes had transformed as seamlessly as his own, into a strapless green dress. She wore ribbons in her hair, which streamed down her back in a protrusion of impossible reds.
It was a beauty the Earth had never seen, a pale unseelie queen come to dance in the meadows and make all the flowers bloom.
She stared back at him, lips quavering. She stared down at slender arms, flexing her fingers like they were the gloves of an EVA suit. "That bad, huh?"
He answered the only way he could think of; he kissed her.