Fine Print

by Starscribe


Chapter 55

Nightmare Night in Ponyville was basically what Tracy was expecting. The entire town had been decorated overnight in simultaneously adorable and ineffective holiday trappings. These included plenty of fall colors, and flowers from the flower stand. The crowd waiting outside wasn't nearly what he'd experienced at the spring festival, when visitors from distant parts had come to experience the local culture. Rather, it was clear that only Ponyville locals would be celebrating tonight. 
 
Yet the cultural differences were visible from the very beginning. This holiday wasn’t just for children. It seemed like almost everyone made a decent attempt at a costume, and plenty of them were even recognizable to him. Tracy could only wonder at the strange factors that would allow an alien planet to have similar myths of vampires and werewolves and other creatures. Likewise, the natives seem to have the same desire to be scared. Several buildings had been redecorated into makeshift haunted houses, though of course they had some silly pun names instead. 
 
While trick or treating remained the domain of the young, the older residents of Ponyville passed between carnival style games in the streets and the increasingly haunted galleries throughout the town.
 
For the first time, the flower stand wouldn’t be staying open during the holiday celebration. So both Daisy and Lily accompanied him and Rose for much of the night. That meant passing through several haunted houses together, with Tracy watching dumbfounded as the three sisters were rendered almost catatonic more than once. Sometimes, he couldn’t even tell why they were afraid.
 
He didn’t complain that fear gave Rose reason to be physically close to him. And in the end, Lily pressured the two of them to explore the most frightening facility in Ponyville, an abandoned warehouse that the town's only thestrals had decorated with almost civic pride.

 
Tracy managed to make it through the entire thing without laughing, though he did spend the whole trip wishing he’d brought a GoPro. He could only imagine what YouTube would make of an adorable horse wearing a coat to conceal its head wobbling towards him with a fake axe.
 
Rose was so frightened that she didn’t speak again for half an hour after they made it out, clinging to his neck like an animal rescued from a burning building.
 
The night wore on, through plenty more carnival games and other local traditions. Finally the children had gone to bed, and the square transformed into a makeshift dance floor. The autumn wind grew colder, and it was easy to guess why the town had made this into the last outdoor party of the year.
 
Ponyville was apparently closer to his true home in Ely than San Jose, as plenty of ponies discussed the upcoming snow schedule with trepidation. Just one of those many aspects of living here that Tracy hadn't quite adjusted to yet. There were no weather predictions, only weather schedules.
 
After a few minutes of shyness, Rose finally cajoled him onto the dance floor. At first, Tracy had horrifying flashbacks to high school, when mandatory dances like this had really meant a night of awkwardness and mockery. But this party had the advantage of alcohol. Once he had enough to drink, he found his shyness boiled away. Besides, these weren't the harsh eyes of high schoolers, quick to gossip and criticize. Ponyville had its sour apples, but it was easy to forget when Rose walked over in her “costume”, and dragged him out onto the dance floor.
 
It didn't matter that he'd never danced on four legs in his life, or ever had any inclination. He wasn't the only one tripping over literally two left feet. But that wasn't really the point. 
 
“I can't believe how selfish I was,” Rose said, after a particularly slow rendition of an apparently traditional song. “I didn't even ask if you would rather celebrate on your side. I could have made an exception for Everwake and done both.” 
 
Tracy shook his head. “Last time I was at work, a few of my coworkers talked about going out to a bar for Halloween, but you wouldn't enjoy it. It's not like here.” He gestured at the table of hard cider, where Applejack was serving increasingly happy patrons. “I think most of the people who show up will just be going to get trashed. This is much better.” 
 
Rose looked doubtful, and might've been about to inquire about the truth of his claim. 
 
But then Lily approached. The mare had clearly spent far more time at the cider table than either of them, and had a wobble to her step. She braced herself against a pile of hay bales and smiled dumbly up at Rose. “You two were amazing together,” she slurred, gesturing vaguely in Tracy's direction. “And this is the longest you've ever kept one, sis. Maybe you should start thinking about keeping him. It's not like you're getting younger.” 
 
With every word it seemed Rose's face grew redder. She had the politeness to wait until her sister had finished to calmly push her mouth closed with one leg. “That's enough,” she said flatly. “Tracy's just here to enjoy the holiday. He doesn't need pressure.” 
 
In the time it took her to say so, Daisy had approached from the edge of the dance floor. Even worse, she looked completely sober, and had apparently been listening.  “Lily's right,” she said, though to Tracy's horror her attention focused far more on him. “I don't care where you come from, Spark Gap. You're not going to find anyone like my sister. You'd have to be a fool to turn her down when she asks.” 
 
Now, even Rose turned to watch his reaction. His ears flattened, and he nodded. “You’re right. I don't have as much experience as she does, but I think you're right. I've never been with anyone like Rose and I don't think I ever will be. I wish I realized that six months ago, so we could have had more time together.” 
 
Daisy barely even blinked. “I don't know how it is where you come from,” she said. “But around here, there are ways that you can stay with a pony forever. Of course, every tribe does it differently. I don't know about bats. But my sister knows everything.” 
 
Rose got redder, if that was even possible. Tracy wasn't sure how he could see a blush through so much fur and body paint, but he managed.
 
“You too, Daisy,” Rose said. She seemed so off guard that even that was a struggle for her. At least until now their conversation had barely been noticed over the music and the wind. But whether an eddy in the weather or the transition between songs, suddenly there was dead silence, and half a dozen ponies turned to stare.
 
This was of course the one way that Ponyville was entirely like the place that Tracy had left behind. In a small town, everyone knew everyone. More importantly, there were many who felt like the details of every life were worth watching, and sharing as far abroad as possible.
 
Roseluck was a daughter of Ponyville, loved by half the town. Treating her with anything less than respect and admiration didn't just risk upsetting her, but drawing the ire of his neighbors.
 
He was silent for an uncomfortably long time. More and more ponies turned to watch. He couldn't bear to look at Rose's bright green eyes and lie to her face. Finally, the words just spilled out. “We have a custom like that where I come from,” he said. “You’re right, I don’t deserve a pony like her.”
 
That seemed to be the right thing to say, at least as far as the audience was concerned. They turned away, returning to their drinks or out onto the dance floor. But while the conversation was only incidental to many observing it, Rose hadn’t looked away. When she finally spoke, her voice cracked, and he was positive he caught a tear trickling down her face. “Everypony always leaves,” she whispered. “It’s a bat thing. That’s what I always told myself. But my sisters are right—I know thestral customs better than most. There’s nothing about leaving their lovers behind. That means it was a ‘me’ thing.”
 
Tracy moved in close, whispering into one of her ears. “Rose, if I had met you in my world, this wouldn't even be a question. I know we've only been dating for a few months now, but I think I'd already be brainstorming ways to take things further.” 
 
He turned, facing their home nearby. It didn't quite border on the dance floor, though it was close to the celebration. “But if I did, that would mean one of us saying goodbye to our home. I couldn’t ask you to do something I couldn’t.”
 
All Rose managed was a tearful nod. So he kissed her, as long as he dared, then a little longer. If Ponyville wanted to know their business so badly, then let them watch.

 
Tracy watched the moon gradually sink in the sky as the night wore on, and moderated his drinking carefully. After all, he had work in just a few hours. He couldn’t make his triumphant return by spilling out of an uber with a wicked hangover and smelling like barns. 
 
Rose didn't. Eventually he found himself walking her home, stumbling and tripping over herself as she went. He led her all the way to their bedroom, then had a moment of deliberation, puzzling over whether it was worth it to try to get her to shower off her body paint.
 
But in the end, washing the sheets seemed like an infinitely simpler endeavor. So he settled her in bed, and made his way back to his bedroom. However much he might want to join her, the first faint suggestions of orange crested the buildings in his window. Dread began to grow in his stomach, replacing the warmth and simple pleasures of their night together.
 
Tracy hadn't been to Apex in weeks now. He hadn’t slept much in that time, but that hadn’t stopped the waking nightmares of his return. He would pull in with the old civic, and find his badge didn’t scan. When he called, he would discover that Janet had fired him without telling him. Maybe there would be an unmarked black van waiting just beside the exit, and dodgy men in suits would drag him inside as soon as he stopped. 
 
It was obviously just his imagination running wild, considering the hardware she had brought over. If she wanted to get rid of him, she wouldn’t have to visit in person, wouldn’t have to cross into another world to check if Equestria was evil.
 
The fear built anyway, twisting into nausea in his stomach. What stories would be whispered? What had Steven told the others before fleeing back to his home country?
 
Engineers were by no means a superstitious or religious group. But Steven’s insanity was itself a powerful point of evidence against him. He would need to make extra effort to repair that damage. 
 
It wasn’t just nausea he felt—the potion was wearing off. The withdrawal teetered there on the edge of his perception, a yawning black gulf that threatened to swallow him whole. 
 
He’d been honest about the drug, Rose knew. She must know that he’d used it to spend the holiday with her, right? She accepted this dependance, at least for the short term. I still have time to deal with this. We get a week off for Christmas, that should be plenty of time. He needed to go over the math, and compare that with the Equestrian currency he still had. The flower stand didn’t need him for the rest of the season, so he’d have to be careful. He couldn’t ask for more bits without Rose catching on.
 
Tracy clicked the door shut, then moved aside his picture of the Earth. He took a fresh vial of Everwake from behind it, and downed the whole thing in a second. Tiredness faded, and he finally relaxed.
 
I can make this work. Somehow.