They spent several hours at that table, before finally heading home to finish their conversation by the fireplace. Load told him about all the work he'd done, building infrastructure at an archaeological dig site. Tracy learned about the friends he'd made, all sentenced to community service just as he had been.
In return, Tracy had less to share with Load than he wanted, since all his questions were about Earth. He hadn't ever cared about politics the way Load did, and the others weren't talking nearly as much. Their awkward parting had left them all a bit sour.
"How'd you find your way back here?" he finally asked. "Community service is done, so... why here? Did the others all come here so you could say hi?"
Load laughed in response. "Only a little. The guys and I want to do our own construction business. Start out as contractors, earn enough for our own equipment... that kind of thing is still possible here, Tracy. Work hard, and you can go places. Turns out I just wasn't doing the right kind of work before. This is where I belonged."
He nodded, considering his words carefully. Load would take any opportunity to talk politics all night. "So why Ponyville specifically?"
"Not just to say hi," Load continued. "It's the princess—Ponyville is one of a few towns that can't build as fast as ponies need. They'll take anyone with a pair of hooves and a strong back. Buck, you could even find somepony to hire you."
He laughed, shaking his head. "No thanks. But... damn, that's cool. Does that mean you're staying local?"
Load nodded. "After spring. Ponyville was the first stop. But now that the negotiations are over, we're going to Vanhoover for Plumb Line, then on to Los Pegasus until it warms up." He flicked his tail towards the window. "No offence Tracy, but I'm spending my winter somewhere without snow this time."
He fished around in his makeshift saddlebags, removing a tightly wrapped envelope. "Before I forget, can you mail this for me?"
He nodded absently. "Just like that? You know Load, this Worldgate is open until the end of January. We could drive back to Ely. Roseluck might even want to come. I'd have to ask, but... she'd probably be down. I could let her drive some of the highway miles."
Load rose, retreating from the fireplace now. And from Tracy. "I want to. But if I do that... there's a good chance they won't let me leave. They'll talk me out of it. I don't want to be talked out of it."
He backed up a little further, right over to the window. "Look out there, Tracy. That's somewhere I want to live. That's somewhere I can raise a kid. Do you think you'll get to keep living here? Maybe once I'm more established I could go. A year or two."
"No," Tracy said flatly. "No chance. Rose and I have tried every angle, believe me. There might be other Worldgates, somewhere out in the world. But the princess can't do it, and Discord won't."
Load sighed. "Well... it's getting late, I can't miss my train. Hope I see you again in spring, Tracy." He smacked one hoof against a fresh photo, taken at the Hearth’s Warming party with Rose and Tracy just a few days ago. "I can tell you've found what I did. Don't give it up."
Tracy watched him go, vanishing into the darkness and the snow.
Tracy went to work that day just like he had on any other. He checked the laptop with one hoof, his spare vial of Everwake with the other. Only when he was sure about both did he step out into the hall, ready to go.
He passed several unopened crates piling up near his far wall, which had been steadily accumulating there all winter. SBCs, displays, batteries. One way or another the flower stand would have enough parts to keep going, maybe until Equestria finally invented its own computers.
Rose lingered near the open bedroom door, grinning sleepily at him. "You have to keep working?" she asked. "Spark, you know what week it is. What's the point of going in?"
It's about to be the only thing I have again, he thought. Tracy hadn't actually done anything about the move. He hadn't looked for somewhere else, hadn't started packing his things. He still had a week, that was practically forever.
"I have to," he said. "But I promise, I'll come straight back. We'll make everyday count."
They'd already done that, as much as they could in winter. But before the season ended, Tracy's time in Equestria soon would. They'd searched every book they could, begged to Discord, even petitioned the princess. All failed.
Rose still didn't look happy. "Look." Tracy slipped past her, lifting her phone off the nightstand and thrusting it towards her. "You can send me messages while I'm there. I'll tell you as soon as I'm on my way home. I'll bring home more exotic fruit. Something real fun."
Roseluck watched him. She didn't even smile. "Is that it, Tracy? You've made up your mind?"
He winced, but didn't look away. "No. I haven't."
She closed the distance between them, and kissed him. Passionately this time, dragging him towards bed, tugging at his clothes as she went. "Then try... to think..." she began. "There are two ways. If you stay—then you have to leave Apex next week anyway. Leave now."
It wasn't easy to push her away, but he managed. She could've forced him—earth pony strength could've crushed him like a moth. But she didn't hold too tightly. "What if I don't stay?" he asked. "Then I need to work."
"No," Rose said weakly. "You already paid Discord. Can't you just apologize to Janet a week from now? If this is our last week together, don't you want to spend it all together? Tell her you're hurt again, that worked last time."
He almost did. But Janet deserved honesty too. She'd stuck her neck out for Tracy, even braved Equestria herself. Apex was a job—but Janet deserved better.
"I'll talk to her about it today," he said. "This is a new year, so technically I should have some vacation days. Maybe under the circumstances, she'll give me the week."
"I'm sure she will," Rose said, tiredness vanishing from her face. She picked up the phone with one hoof, somehow, staring down at the screen. "I could talk to her myself, help convince her."
"No," he said abruptly, backing towards the door. "No, don't do that. She's good people, but she'll want me to be the one to ask. You can thank her, after she gives me the time off. But don't ask her. I'll ask at the first chance I get."
"I love you, Spark," she whispered. "I'm not ready for Sunday."
Tracy left then, before he did something stupid. He picked up his bag from where he'd dropped it in the hall, then hesitated by the exit door. He listened, making sure none of his neighbors were outside to see him.
He heard nothing, which was normal this early in the morning. When he stepped outside, there were no police, nothing out of the ordinary.
There was nothing at all unusual waiting for him in the car, other than the face he saw reflected in the rear-view.
It wasn't even human anymore. Bat eyes glazed back at him, and bat ears stuck up so high they obstructed his view of the cars behind him. His back started to itch, and didn't stop until he looked away from the mirror and pushed it from his mind.
Maybe this was the real reason that Discord refused to renew the lease no matter how hard he asked. He'd never last another year. But maybe we could alternate, going six months between each world. Rose doesn't mind being human, I bet she'd do it.
She loved him. Could he say the same?
He pondered that question all the way into work. He was so distracted he nearly went the wrong way, and almost ended up in the visitor lot. He drove in an awkward loop around the campus, before finally finding his way into his marked place.
Tracy fought back a yawn as he passed security and got onto the elevator. He touched his vial of Everwake, confirming for the third or fourth time that it was in his laptop bag. He knew from experience now that it didn't transform into some inferior Earth drug, or lose its magic when it crossed between worlds. But what would happen if the company took rumors seriously enough to bring in dogs or something?
They won't. Those were just rumors, and I've been doing good work. Why bring in dogs when they could give me a drug test. For that matter, Tracy didn't know what a test like that would reveal. Did magic potions leave a detectable signature?
He settled into his usual place, snagged a doughnut from a box out in the hallway, and went to work without incident. There was only a little disappointment that Rose didn't decide to make today the day she finally figured out texting. It wasn't.
He made a little progress on the department's big project of Q1, and only then stepped away from his computer to wander to Janet's door. It was open, which meant that she wasn't too busy.
Unfortunately, it wasn't just her inside, but a good third of the department, all seated around the wall while she explained something projected onto her desk from above.
Was there a meeting today? Why didn't they get me? His reputation at Apex might take another year to fully heal.
But if his coworkers were embarrassed about the confrontation, none of them showed it. Most politely looked away. Tracy himself tried to retreat out the open door, until Janet finally noticed him. "No, Tracy, you should be here for this. We're reviewing the reference design for the pressure intake. You should see it too."
He couldn't argue the point now, so he found an empty chair and sat. The meeting resumed, with one of the draftspeople on his left shifting slightly to get further away. No one else seemed to care.
The meeting was about as productive as he would've expected, reviewing something he could've done on his own in half the time. But as he sunk further and further into the seat, he felt the strange pressure against his back again. It was strong enough that he lifted up onto his hands, avoiding putting weight on his back.
I'm not looking at any reflections here, where's that coming from? Tracy shifted uncomfortably, perching on the edge of the seat. He took a few deep breaths, fighting down the strange feeling. Nothing's happening. There's no magic here, it's fine.
Except it wasn't fine. The nervous woman on his other side nudged him, whispering, "Are you okay?"
Then someone screamed, pointing directly at him from the other side of the room. Janet stopped talking, looking away from her notes.
Tracy stumbled to his feet, dazed. "Is something wrong?" His words came out slurred, and he felt a brief sting of pain on his tongue. But that was nothing compared to the floor getting ripped out from under him.
Tracy staggered backward, moving instinctively towards the door. His shoes slipped right off his feet, and more confused voices joined the first scream. Some pointed, some just stared in morbid fascination.
It was the same transition that happened whenever Tracy passed between worlds, only much slower. And worse, since it didn't seem to have any effect on his clothes. Suddenly there were pants trailing past his hooves, and a shirt that caught up on his feet and tripped him when he took another step. He rolled, and one of his wings emerged from the opening.
Tracy's ears flattened at the barrage of shouts and confusion. Janet remained morbidly in place—but many of the others didn't. With Tracy blocking the only door, they pressed against the accordion-style folding rear wall.
Metal squealed and it tore right off the ceiling, toppling backward and taking a half-dozen engineers with it.
Tracy didn't stop to stare—he ran.