Roseluck was by no means a sheltered pony.
Technically speaking, she'd spent most of her life that way, protected from all harm in the safety of Celestia's kingdom. But since the return of Nightmare Moon, Roseluck had become brave enough to face the threats around her.
Then she stepped into another world, and all her confidence melted, like a bouquet left out in the sun for a week. For a few terrible moments, she was frozen in place, feeling stretched and deformed by Discord's Worldgate. None of her limbs were in the right place, and many no longer felt right.
She'd seen photographs of humans, probably knew them as well as Heartstrings. But a week of watching images on Tracy's viewing portal was nowhere near the sensation of being one.
The fur being gone was the first thing, bringing with it a chill of cold that made her skin ripple with goose pimples. Her tail was gone, and her forelegs hung awkwardly at her sides. Even her torso felt wrong, stretching out her dress and making her wobble slightly to try and keep her balance.
She lifted her strange new limbs, flexing the dull claws Tracy called “fingers.” They moved at her command, though how anypony could command so many at once was baffling to her.
She was near to despairing before she finally saw something familiar: him.
Tracy grinned at her, mouth hanging open like a stallion's first summer. She could barely identify her own bucking body, yet there was an island of something familiar. He proved those stupid hand-things were good for something, by wrapping one around her back. Those fingers could touch so much all at once, while remaining soft and warm.
"That bad, huh?" she asked. She meant to say something else, probably about how much of an alien monster she'd become. He interrupted.
Their lips were different, but the kiss still felt the same. Some languages, it turned out, were universal.
Embarrassment too, judging by how swiftly he let go. "Sorry about that. It's just... I should've known you'd look this way. Good. Really good. Never thought I'd see anyone who could pull off hair that bright."
She followed his gaze to her mane, or... hair, they called it here. Despite her insistence on a casual date, she'd worn no less powder than usual, and spent quite some time recreating the braid she wore on their first real date. It fell over one of her shoulders, color almost unchanged. Her skin around it was different, pale and pinkish like some of the humans she'd seen, but not quite as white as her old fur.
"I don't want to pull it off," she said seriously. She folded her arms across her chest, looking as stern as she could manage. "If manes detach on your side, I want mine to remain in place."
He laughed, touching her shoulder with his good hand. "It's just something you say, you don't actually do it." He spun around, looking away from her suddenly.
She'd hardly noticed the world away from the porch. There were familiar growing things on this side, a grass lawn and a few stray wildflowers. Mostly weeds—she could make a few decent salads with the ingredients here. Maybe she could get him to pick a few on his way in next time.
She had seen out this way before. Only once through the front door, but several times through Tracy's open window. The metal beasts zooming both directions down the human road still seemed loud and unpleasant. So some things hadn't changed.
"That's her," Tracy muttered, nodding towards the road. A smaller, silvery car pulled neatly to a stop, and another human got out.
She was taller than Rose, with short brown hair and a strange formal suit. Celestia only knew what a mare like her wanted to do with trousers in a formal setting. She carried a black box under one arm, and despite its small size she clearly strained under the weight, leaning to one side.
"Tracy," she said, with a bit of a grunt. "And Rose, I assume." She stopped nearby, settling the box onto the ground with some relief. "Pleasure to meet you." Then she did something strange. Rose had seen it before, though none of Tracy's moving images showed it very close up. She stuck her hand toward Tracy, and he took it, shaking for a second. Then she did the same toward Rose.
She stared down, eyes widening in confusion. "What—"
Tracy gestured from behind her. What could Rose do but try? "Pleasure," Rose repeated. "You sound like... Janet, right? His boss." Up close, there were a few subtle signs of other things. Janet was older than either of them, though not by much. Rose's nose felt completely numb, but Tracy didn't look at Janet the way he looked at Rose. If anything, this woman intimidated him.
Evidently she'd done it wrong, because Janet didn't grip her hand nearly as long. She touched Rose's awkwardly, then pulled back. "Yep. I stand at the threshold of corporate wrath, sheltering my feeble band."
She gestured, expectant. "How's the arm?"
Tracy held it out as best he could, though he didn't remove the supports. "They took off the cast, but it has to stay immobilized for another week. After that, I can't carry more than five pounds, and I have to go in for a checkup every fortnight. X-rays look good, or that's what the doctor says."
Janet looked him over, expression unreadable. Finally she nudged the case toward him with a foot. "Here's the laptop. Take good care of her, she's also your desktop now. IT transferred everything for you. There's docking stations at all the desks now. Very modern."
Tracy bent down with his good arm, wincing as he stretched. It was just like in Equestria—he hid the pain well, but too much bending the wrong way would damage the injured leg.
Rose beat him to it, lifting the handle effortlessly in one hand. It was heavier than it looked, but she could hardly tell what had been giving Janet trouble with it.
"Damn," Janet whistled, staring. "Be careful with this one, Tracy. She gets to the gym more than you do."
She took a single step closer, lowering her voice. "You were right about Steven, by the way. He was fucking hysterical when he walked into my office. I didn't get a single coherent word out of him, had to send him home." She glanced back towards the door to the apartment. "This is a serious question, and I expect a serious answer: is your place haunted?"
Tracy laughed, though there was nothing of the warmth in it Rose was used to. It was the same fake laugh he used when trying to convince ponies he understood something he didn't. He reached back, opening the door wide. "Not that I've ever seen. You see any ghosts?"
Janet eyed the open doorway, then looked to Rose. "What about you. Ever see any ghosts? I know it sounds silly, but... I tell you, I have. And if you saw Steven's face, you'd think he did too."
Rose shook her head. "My landlord is a bucking nightmare, but I don't think he counts as a ghost. You're talking about... souls of the dead?" She looked back towards Tracy. "I thought you worked with machines."
He shut the door quickly. "No ghosts, boss. That's one thing I'm certain about."
Janet eyed him. Somehow, Rose could read that expression, the same way she'd judge a pony's ears and tail to reflect their emotions. She was growing suspicious.
"It would help to know what set Steven off," she said. "He insists you didn't do anything to him, didn't touch him, nothing. But what he did say... like I said, completely incoherent. I've been good to you, Tracy. I'm good to all my people. But doing that takes knowing what they need.
"I have never heard Steven say a word about religion, not to me or anyone else. But before I sent the kid home, he told half the office you were a demon. If your house isn't haunted, why would he think that?"
Rose choked back a laugh, not very successfully. Even in his own world people thought Tracy was some kind of evil invader. She wasn't the only one.
Tracy sighed deeply. "Suppose there was a reason, boss. Suppose it was something so completely insane that you'd call me to have me confined if I told you."
Janet did something strange then, reaching into her shirt and removing something from within. It was a piece of jewelry, though the shape and purpose of it was so bewildering Rose almost dropped the box. There was a little human on it, with an exceptionally unhappy expression.
"I'd ask whether he was right about the demons," Janet said. "I know, completely inappropriate. If you're a Satanist, it's no business of Apex. It won't affect your position on my team."
"No!" Tracy looked like he might vibrate apart with nervousness, glancing between Janet and Rose. "I'm not a Satanist, whatever that even means. I can show you what Steven saw, right here. I just..." His shoulders sagged. Rose could imagine his wings dragging along behind him as he spoke. "Just promise not to tell anyone. Can you do that?"
"Is it illegal?"
"No. Not on their side, and I know we don't have laws about it on ours."
"Then fine." Janet folded her arms. Her behavior might be strange, but Rose found her admiration growing even so. Tracy was wrong to be afraid of her. "Promise. What is it?"
Tracy walked over to the door, then held it open. "Rose, could you bring that box inside for me? We won't want to take it with us tonight anyway."
Go right back in, just after crossing? Rose looked nervously between him and the door. "Are you... sure?"
He nodded wearily. "Janet's right, I owe her my trust." There was an undercurrent of something else, just beneath the surface. But he wasn't saying, and she couldn't smell him well enough to guess.
Rose stopped in front of the doorway, settling the box down on the ground. She wasn't sure what would happen when she crossed, but hooves couldn't grab things like that.
Then she stepped back. The change was as disorienting as it had been the first time. She fell forward onto her hooves, and all the normal things about being a pony were briefly confusing. She felt a moment of panic as her forelegs settled against the floor, the usual flat lumps. She pranced back around in a circle, smiling up at Janet.
The humans towered over her, but she was brave this time. She didn't run away. She bent down, took the box in her mouth, and pulled it inside.
Then came the hard part. She was already feeling overwhelmed, completely out of her depth. Could she handle that assault of alien sensations a second time?
Tracy looked back at her, eyes wide with panic. She could smell it on him too—for him, this moment was as desperate as an invasion.
Rose crossed. She wobbled, and he caught her this time, steadying her with one hand. "Thank you."
Janet looked inside, then back at the two of them. "He's not crazy,” she muttered, moving one hand over her chest in a strange pattern. "I'll be damned."
"I could never explain it," Tracy said. "If I'd told you, you would've put me on a 5150."
Janet pushed him gently aside, walking around them both and over to the doorway. She extended one hand across the threshold, very slowly. It turned bright yellow, sharpening and narrowing into an avian claw. She squealed in surprise, stumbling back. "God in heaven. What is that?"
It was Rose's turn to steady Tracy. He swallowed, opening his mouth and closing it again without managing anything. But Rose waited—any explanation she had to give would probably make things worse.
"The house is cursed," Tracy said. "Along with anyone in it. I have to keep living here until the end of the year, or else it's permanent."
It's not a curse! But she restrained herself, only out of compassion. But she would demand an apology later, once this woman had gone.
Janet nodded, tucking her jewelry away. "That is... insane." She stared down at her hand, flexing her fingers, turning it over. "I am going to... expect you to tell me everything. Eventually." She nodded politely towards Rose. "You live in a cursed house too?"
Rose nodded. "I'm from there. It doesn't seem cursed to me."
"Oh." She paled another few shades. "Of course you are. Of course you are." She turned to leave. "I need a 1.0 by the end of next week, Tracy," she said. Her tone felt oddly stiff, all friendliness gone. "You scared the shit out of Steven, you can finish his work."
She walked calmly back to her car, snapped the door shut, and drove away.
Ooh, looks like Janet's a hippogriff!
She's taking it rather well, to be honest.
10589436
That's what she wants them to belive. On the inside she is freaking out.
10589436
Maybe a gryphon?
Either way, Tracy is playing a dangerous game.
Or griffon ... not a dragon, thankfully ...
Well, in all fairness, having an otherwise level headed and professional employee abso-freakin-lutely blow a gasket to the degree that they have to be sent home out of fear... I'd be looking into things as well. And if she, professional higher-up or not, was willing to ask if he was a demon while pulling a crucifix.... props to her for having the guts to call it like it is.
And then to simply reach out and check?
Give that lady a raise and then have her never speak of it again. Also, demand that the guy with a 'curse' living in a 'cursed' house that physically transforms you into another creature, in a relationship with a 'cursed' 'demon' from 'the other side'... demand that he pick up the slack from the guy who fled..... give her another raise and then make the cursed guy with the demon girlfriend get a raise and a vacation and smile and wave and pretend nothing is wrong because YOU ARE IN CONTROL! PEOPLE LIKE YOU!
(Engage manic laughter now) Also, good on both of them for having the guts to both be there and tell his boss the reality of the situation. Guts.... Thems be some phenomenal guts.
10589453
Possibly. Plenty of time to have a freak-out later at home.
10589454
I'm not too sure about that. A griffon's fur/plumage usually ends at the forearm's elbow, but Janet's goes all the way to her wrist like a hippogriff's.
10589464
Either way, I doubt that Janet intends to visit the other side any time soon.
10589436
If she were taking it well, she'd be going to dine with them, not immediately driving away. She is putting on a well-practiced facade. Once she is alone and out of range, she will react.
Griffon is like the best of both worlds. You get to fly, don't have to change diet, and you get to still have fingers/claws. Tracy was smart letting Rose go across and not him. Rose looks relatively normal compared to a bat.
Going by the fur in the picture, definitely a hippogriff because normal griffin fur doesn't fluff like that.
However, considering she carries a pocket crucifix (Catholic) she really got something to pray about during mass
10589489
'Well' is relative. Personally, I consider being able to immediately drive home after witnessing interdimensional shenanigans to be under the 'taking it rather well' category.
I'd be way more concerned if her first reaction was to join them for dinner.
10589461
The fact she even pulled the crucifix shows she knows what she is doing, and probably has done exorcisms before. At worst, she gets her Priest involved.
nicely done sir
Wat? Just because Steven was such a wuss that Tracy has to take over his work? How was that fair?
Ahaha nice. The boss is a... Hippogriff or Griffin? I can't tell.
Ooo maybe she's a Gryphon?
Dammit, Steven. At least Janet's taking it well. Still, this won't be the last of it. Curiosity is a tempting mistress. And word will only spread from here.
Well. That could've gone worse. Though Janet definitely seems a lot more wary of Rose now. Having an employee live in a land of horse people is one thing, but apparently dating the natives is a bit too far for her. This may or may not end well. Especially since Janet may have some suggestions about Tracy's future living arrangements. We'll see what happens from here.
Also, there is another possibility for what Janet turns into on the other side of the portal. I haven't seen anyone propose the harpies/aven/parrot people from the movie yet. Captain on deck?
10589648
You mean like Captain Celaeno?
The fact that they didn't so much as flinch as she held up the cross should be pretty massive points in their favor.
10589601
Well she did just get verification that Tracy was basically responsible for his distress, but yeah, pushing for release just because of that...
Janet is taking this a lot better than Steven at least. She's also the first person not to turn into a pony when going through but we will have to wait to see if she ever fully goes into Equestria. It's clear that Rose keeps her Earth Pony strength when she becomes human which is good to know.
Interesting. Yeah, I can definitely see Janet being a griffon, based on the description of her personality we've been given (though admittedly I didn't expect her to be physically portrayed the way she is in the picture— I guess I was expecting a much... larger person. Picture itself is awesome, though). A figure of authority, can be a little snappy to make sure she gets her way (meaning what's needed for company work) when necessary, though still has compassion— kinda similar to the griffon instructor Tracy took flying lessons with.
10589652
I thought she was a hippogriff... Honest to God
wow amazing just totally amazing such a grate chapter..
and the big revel to Janet who it seams would be a griffin or hippogriff either way we defiantly need a full revel of her.
10589455
i did not think of that and a good point.. but it does not fit her personality. but one never knows.
If they have Star Trek in that universe, wouldn't it be easy enough to say "Are you sure you want to know?... Okay, then imagine if you signed a lease with Q as your landlord."
I'd love to see what Janet really looks like on the other side of the portal!
Well, that could have gone a whole lot worse. Though, that's probably put a bit of a damper on their date, hasn't it?
10589675
It's possible that Tracy is retaining extra bat pony traits he didn't have before moving in. It was never clear if he preferred a nocturnal favoring sleeping pattern (it happens in humans, some of us are just more comfortable being awake at night and asleep during the day) The sharp eye tooth we see in Ace's art might be telling, or just Ace taking artistic license and putting it there because he's a bat pony.
That went both better and worse than it could have. He really should have added the doorway is a dimensional one.
I have a feeling that she'll cover for him when HR goes "What is this insult to doctor's notes everywhere?"
If for no other reason than there's no way she'll ever get this story out of him if he gets fired.
Granted, she seems the kind of person who believes "Don't fuck with a curse, don't interact with a curse, don't even talk about a curse" so she certainly won't ask until the lease is up and Tracy might be living in magic horse world by then. She probably isn't getting that story sadly.
10589737
would be easy to explain
This is going in an interesting direction. I suspect she’s smart enough to jump ship to Equestria to start her own business empire with her modern economics knowledge in a huge market ready to be developed. Why scrape to get by on Earth when there’s basically easy pickings to be the Bezos of another world?
Grins and mouth hanging open are contradictory.
Aww look who's a hippogriff or a griffon or maybe a gnoll?
10589648
I was considering that option as well.
honestly i would have lied the more people who know the more out of control the situation will get,
Huh, hippogriff. Interesting.
That's some impressive self-control right there.
10589504
OH! Thanks for pointing that out, I couldn't figure out what she had pulled out there.
I have never met a... normal... human that could act like Janet if something were presented to them that was even half as strange. So, this makes me think that Janet is going to be a problem. Looking at this situation from my own experience, Tracy just made a vast mistake.
Janet didn't ask more questions. She instantly became distant, detached. She showed hidden anger with the issue of Steven's work. She just turned around and left, rapidly, efficiently, professionally. No human does this unless they have become a calculating, angry, frightened animal maintaining control while they inwardly plot. I have seen people act exactly this way when presented with troublesome or complicated issues of all kinds, and the result is never kind, understanding, or compassionate.
Janet, based on my personal experience of life, and dealing with people like her, is going to do something. That could be anything from government agencies descending on the house, to an effort to work the situation for personal profit and gain. It could be really, really bad, or just very nasty. But I literally cannot accept her at face value. I cannot accept that Janet could just shrug, drive away, and expect the power point reports on Monday. Not with her emotional response to such an event.
I am eager to see what comes of this. I already have half a dozen scenarios running in the back of my mind.
In short, I believe that, unless Janet is superhuman, not human, or unhuman in her responses to life, Tracy... well, Tracy is capital 'F' fucked. Fucked beyond all comprehension or understanding.
And I don't think he even knows it.
Well, that's one concern settled. I did have a fear for awhile she might've thought Tracy threatened to rough him up or something.
Oh for heaven's sake--why do you keep doing this to yourself, Tracy? Surely you realize half of the problem here is that you're the one digging the hole, right? A hole you're only in because you couldn't keep yourself from telling the truth the last time with Steven.
I mean, seriously, it shouldn't be that hard to convince Janet you don't know what Steven's going on about...
You say that now...but I'm not going to be convinced of it until after Tracy's done the dumb thing he really shouldn't and told/shown her what's really up about this apartment and we've seen her reaction to it.
Ah, adopting the "smile and wave" tactic then. Good, good, that should work nicely for this situation. It at least works well for penguins.
I mean, all things considered, I guess that's only fair at this point.
On the upside, I guess this means everybody will stop ragging on Tracy to go to the after work socials so much now.
Gonna have to echo most everyone else and guess Janet was a hippogriff at the end there.
Love the picture, by the way. Janet's all "whoa," Rose is all "hmm," while meanwhile Tracy looks like he's about to have a panic-induced conniption.
10589737
I dunno, for me that might've just raised more questions, being the Trek geek that I am and knowing full well the whole scope such implications would then raise.
Besides, Tracy doesn't seem to have realized the parallel between Q and Discord yet. Not like Discord's not gone out of his way to make it obvious either. I guess Tracy's not a fan then.
Rereading this chapter, I noticed something that definitely colors her reactions and only makes me more terrified for Tracy.
She's claiming prior experience with the supernatural.
10589489
Because your boss joining your date as a third wheel isn't awkward at all, right? Janet shouldn't be going to dine with them under any circumstances.
10590055
Why would an avian arm make you think she's a gnoll? Gnolls are humanoid hyenas.
Continued frustrations at equine hair being referred to as "fur" but whatever, I see that's just how Starscribe likes to describe it as fur for some reason despite being wrong.
10590691
For some reason I thought the storm king had clawed hands, but looking back at an image of him I see I was off.
10590251
An Iseikei (sp?) anime follower would have been fanboying something hard and would more likely ask to join them for dinner ...
10590778
Isekai
Janet handed that, with not quite aplomb, style.
Can't remember the exact words of Tracey's lease with Discord, so not sure if there's going to be any blowback there.
One thing though - it means that Tracey doesn't have deal with the timezone difference anymore.
10590055
Grins and mouth open broadly aren't contradictory, it's literally part of the dictionary definition of a grin.
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/295473636746330113/790512053626077214/JsOuy4WC9HqDpjk6vTb1pD59gigwM4ejTZUVmu0Wp3eoDeazCYfjlttdqTIZIxKodIZND8mo7kOGo471xvsVgxDCOTMRTeNfatkU.png
10590697
It's not what Starscribe likes, just me trying to stick to the show canon whenever possible. What's true about real world horses aside, the show refers to the stuff that covers ponies as fur. The examples are too numerous for me to list exhaustively, so here's just one. In the episode "Leap of Faith", Flim and Flam produce a long list of ailments their tonic treats, including this example of a pony suffering from "Fur blight" static.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/9/94/Flim_with_a_picture_of_a_pony_with_furless_flank_S4E20.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20140331120104
So, Rose just told Janet that she's "from"... wherever the "curse" originated. Does Janet think Tracy is dating a demoness or a witch, now?
10591025
Fair enough, if the show is going to insist on it. I think they're wrong, and it bothers me, but I can see it's not going to change.
My comment with the grin was that you can't really grin with it hanging open. The visual doesn't really work unless your teeth are touching.
Huh anyone else smell disaster
I'm predicting a tent over his apartment and people in hazmat suits.