Chapter 49
Tracy wasn't sure what to expect from his first Earthside date with Roseluck. But then again, he barely knew what to expect from a date with someone he didn't know. Until now, he'd been friends with everyone he'd had a relationship with before they got together. There was nothing to discover when you had gone to school and knew the entire life-story of everyone remotely in your age bracket.
Occasionally he had to remind himself that Rose was decently similar in age to himself, or at least physical and mental maturity.
Going to the aquarium was almost a return to normalcy, though there'd been nothing half as exciting to do in Ely. The place was mostly visited by families and school groups, so the evening shift kept the aquarium almost deserted. That worked out fine for the two of them. There certainly wasn't any trouble a couple could get into while walking through dark, quiet hallways with only the fish to witness.
Fortunately he wasn't a teenager anymore, and he hadn't drunk enough to lose track of common sense. He did his best to redirect Rose's attention to the exhibits, which worked decently well. "They have so many colors!" she exclaimed, in front of one of the shallow reef exhibits. "I thought your world didn't have any interesting colors, but look here! Why do we look so similar?" She held out her arm, comparing it to his.
He shrugged. "Probably something about biology or the origin of species on our different worlds. There's more variety than just the two of us, but... it isn't as exciting as Equestria, you're right."
He couldn't help but glance up and down the hall as he said it, feeling increasingly self-conscious. But there were only a handful of other visitors, and they all kept their distance. With the aquarium so empty, each group could basically have the whole thing to themselves. "Given our history, I think we're better off with the kinds of humans we have. You have us beat on that. But we have all these interesting fish."
He watched a bright orange clownfish dance around its pink anemone for a few seconds. But it just couldn't hold his interest the way his companion could.
"What history is that? Do you have a Hearth’s Warming too?" Now it was her turn to shuffle around embarrassed. Of course that only made her seem more attractive, because basically everything did. She spoke quietly, like she was about to confide some critical secret to him. "Were your tribes at war too? I'm trying to figure out if it makes sense or not. Parts of this place are so different, but other things feel the same. I can't figure out the pattern."
"Yes," he said flatly. "I don't know what Hearth’s Warming is, but yes. We had 'tribal wars'. That's probably the right amount of detail. We should focus on something more fun. Anything else you want to know about my world?"
She let him take her arm, and lead them to another exhibit. Octopi this time, two of them swirling around inside a tank. They wrestled with a few shells, tearing them open before her eyes.
"You think there's enough space in there?" Rose asked, resting her free hand on the glass. She looked down the row, concerned. "This doesn't look much bigger than the last few tanks. But these are bigger animals. Whatever they are."
"California Two-spot," he read from the card. "And... I have no idea. I don't know if they care."
She pulled away from him, suddenly enough that he stumbled for a step. He caught himself before he could fall over, resting his good arm against the fake stone wall.
Why the hell am I so clumsy all the sudden? I broke my arm, not my head.
But Rose hadn't noticed, or being equally clumsy herself it didn't seem unusual to her. "I don't know very much about caring for animals," she began. "Plants are hard enough. But they're going crazy in there, can't you see? Tearing up their toys like that... we should tell someone. Maybe they didn't notice."
"I... okay." Tracy considered the request for a few seconds, trying to figure out a harmless way for Rose to voice her concerns. But would the aquarium even care? "But it might just be something they do, Rose. Maybe they like small spaces. Or maybe they like tearing shells apart."
Rose didn't seem happy with that answer, and this time she didn't let herself get distracted. "We should be able to leave a written complaint," he eventually suggested. "Just in case. But I really don't think it will be a big deal. They seemed healthy enough to me."
They didn't enjoy the rest of the exhibits, which were as new to Tracy as they were to Rose. Rather, they cut straight to the front of the aquarium, and Tracy had to ask a bored-looking young woman at the help desk where they could file a complaint.
"Is something wrong with your visit?" She sat up, looking between them. But whatever she was expecting, she didn't see it.
"Nothing was wrong with your aquarium," Rose began. "I just wanted to tell someone about the... California Spotted octopus? I don't think they had enough space. They looked so miserable."
"Oh." Her expression faded back into annoyance. Whatever she'd been afraid of, they clearly weren't going to bring it. "I can give you a card to fill out, if you want. I'll make sure our lead naturalist gets it. What she does with it..." She shrugged one shoulder.
Rose took the complaint card, ignored the various blanks for the details of their visit, and started scribbling on it sideways. Tracy leaned over her shoulder, squinting at what she was writing. English, somehow. The Worldgate again. But is it translating, or do we just happen to share a language?
"Here." Rose proffered it across the desk moments later. "I don't know if it's anything to worry about or not, but it breaks my heart that those little creatures might be in pain."
At least it didn't sour the rest of the night. Rose didn't seem bothered by the other exhibits, though Tracy shuddered to consider what she might think of a cetacean exhibit. But there were no dolphin or otter shows after dark, so they didn't have to confront that particular aspect of the aquarium.
"Now no visit would be complete without a tour of the gift shop," he declared, gesturing inside. There was a shelf of stuffed animals against the far wall, several times higher than they were. It took only a few more seconds for Rose to notice.
At least he'd guessed one thing right. She squealed, nearly tripping over herself in her eagerness to reach them. "Who are all these for, Tracy?"
He followed, wincing at her volume. But if the single employee noticed, he didn't say anything. "Anyone who visits," he said. "You, if you want one."
"I would like a souvenir of our trip," she said. "It might be the only time I ever come out here. They're so cute!"
Tracy didn't quite make it to the back shelf. But there was something reflected in a mirror on a shirt-rack, something so strange that it brought him up short. He froze, looking back at himself in confusion.
His own reflection stared back, exactly the way he expected to look. I could've sworn there were wings in there. He took a few steps closer, pressing one hand to the glass, then turning to glance over his shoulder. Maybe there were stuffed bats? But no, the closest he could see were otters, and they couldn't imitate a set of wings.
As though summoned by his confusion, Tracy could've sworn his back started to itch, exactly where he imagined wings might be. But there weren't any, obviously. Because he wasn't a pony right now.
"I don't know what this is, but I love it." Rose stopped in front of him, hefting an oversized stuffed animal towards him. With only one hand he could barely lift the huge thing, enough to turn it sideways and see the price.
His old self balked at the insanity of spending a month's grocery money on a stupid stuffed shark with a cartoon grin and shiny plastic eyes. But that old self wasn't dating Roseluck.
"That's a great white," he said, handing it back. "They're the biggest predators in the ocean. Or... I guess that depends on your definition of predator, but they're big anyway. Thousands of pounds with razor-sharp teeth."
She grinned back at him, expression unphased. "Can we take it with us?"
"Sure." He could practically hear his wallet crying out in pain as they checked out with the gigantic stuffed toy. At least Rose didn't ask him to carry it. It wasn't heavy, but with one arm immobilized he just wouldn't know how.
"You realize how huge that thing is, right?" he asked, as they finally left the building behind. The aquarium grounds were practically deserted, with food stalls closed and the nearby pier empty. A few of the restaurants were still open, but not many. "I don't know what will happen to it when we bring it back. If it doesn't get any smaller, it'll be bigger than you are."
"That makes it a perfect souvenir," she declared, squeezing it with both arms. "Something as big and soft as you are, to remind me of my visit. With scary pointed teeth, so I remember everything. Parts of your world are cute, but other parts are dangerous."
They crossed back to the parking lot, and spent another few minutes figuring out how to get the stuffed toy into the trunk. "I can't say you've seen much of Earth yet," he said, as soon as they were settled back into the car. "But hopefully you had fun."
Rose reached over, taking his hand. She was clumsy at it, and didn't seem to know what she was doing with her fingers. But for only having a few hours in his entire world, it was a decent job. "I expected it would be scarier. You do things differently here, but... I didn't mind. Guess I was afraid over nothing."
She let go, and he pulled back onto the highway. The long commute was a worthwhile price in exchange for having somewhere interesting to take her. "Don't think our worlds are the same after this. I don't want—if something hurt you, I couldn't live with myself. Please don't come back here without me. There's lots we could do—I'd love to see how you look at the beach."
The words were barely out of his mouth as he realized how absurd it sounded. "I'd look the same at the beach," she said. "We have those in Equestria too. But Ponyville is too far from the coast.
The deep shadow of his car was enough to conceal the redness in his cheeks. But if she hadn't noticed, then he wasn't going to draw attention to it. "It's a little cold in the season to go anyway," he admitted. "Too cold to swim. Couples sometimes go for long walks. Only long walks I ever went on were through the desert. Never tried the beach before."
Rose looked thoughtful, settling back into her seat. But she didn't immediately strike down the suggestion, or remind him that she'd only promised to come here once. She watched silently for a few minutes, eyes on him more than the buildings and countryside passing outside.
"The carriage we're riding in..." she began. "Can anypony learn to use them? Or is it magic?"
He smiled back. "The car? Nothing magic here. It's a skill. I just got enough practice until eventually I could do it."
Rose reached across the car again, this time resting a hand on his shoulder. The undamaged one, mercifully. "I'll come back if you promise to teach me. How fast can it go?"
Tracy glanced into the rear-view mirror, scanning for unlit blue and red lights. When he didn't find one, he settled one foot squarely on the pedal, accelerating them rapidly past surrounding traffic. “I've done over a hundred in her a few times!" he yelled, over the rising roar of engine and wind.
Rose grinned back at him, eager. "You have to teach me!"
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This made my weekend!
I love updates! And I just saw it was recommended!（In my list）
Deja rose
Oh dear. Wings on Earth? That could be a problem. It may just confirm that the cute little fangs we've been seeing in previous pictures is legit though, but if the transformation is starting to have issues, that could be REALLY bad.
"Why do you have wings in the human world?"
"WE WILL EXPLAIN LATER!"
Are we going Initial D now?
She should see a car race then. 100 on the highway would be illegal. They don't want to get pulled over with her not having ID.
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NASCAR at Daytona or Talladega for speed, INDY or F1 for skill and overtaking (I like all 3 series so this wasn't shade on any of them).
10610353
?????
First chapter in a while with no artwork...
Uh oh again. Mango cravings and phantom wings syndrome? Sounds like his pony-ness is spilling over onto the other side of the gateway.
Correct word should be unfazed, I believe.
Damnit, Discord. You playing matchmaker doesn't HELP, he has friends and a JOB on THIS side. Not to mention you midght come into someone with a power supressor sooner or later, and then you are SCREWED, god or no god, magic will be taken away from you, nature of that magic be damned. Why do you think smart people(mortals) often keep up with superhumans or gods?
...speeding while in an unstable mental state (and he'd know he's in one after the "wings?!"-stuff), with a passenger to boot?
Guy's going a full retard, here.
Like, if the next chapter starts with him being in a police car, driven to the station, it'd fit too damn well.
That aside, it is being kinda clear his Equestrian perceptions are seeping in, and compared to Equestria's colorfulness the real world just doesn't compare.
Tracy seems to lose what few unconscious affections he had for his world before coming over to Equestria.
And that's not healthy at all, considering he's still going full "buh ah muhst" and working the job while simultaneously taking the bat-drug to be awake at day in Equestria to do stuff with his new Gurlfriend and socialize.
Tldr being, Tracy's bound to overdose on that bat drug any day now;
To fail to hand in a project in time (and that's assuming he doesnt just fall down half-dead in the middle of the office as some predicted) and get in some real trouble at work;
and keep at trying to compromise his actual obligations with newly-discovered personal life as it all snowballs into drama of "how will I pay rent naow?!", and "But do I want to stay in Equestra/Earth forever?!"-variety.
Can't say I'm liking the trends I'm seeing.
I do hope I'm just imagining things.
Yeah please don't wreck your date,..
His reality is merging. This will cause issues...
This was a nice chapter and I wonder where they are going to keep the stuffed toy.
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Because it's frankly boring to be untouchable.
I think the question is less, "will they be together", and more "will Rose decide the human world is far too interesting".
Of course she wont.
Well, don't know if Tracy actually read all the fine print or that sleep medicine is messing with him or something else is going on but it looks like Tracy's becoming all bat or at least fully perceiving himself as one. His future might've been decided for him.
Perception is next to reality when dealing with chaos. If you forget what shape you're supposed to be, don't expect the portal to bother reminding you.
She really should have specified what she meant by "wars".
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OOP!~ Looks like the system didnt update with this week's chapter art~!
Sorry about that folks!~
here we go, here's this week's art, done by Acesential~!
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/669734990850031626/794773277679681536/KenzuFanficIllustration8.png
Tracy noticing wings where there are none...along with other suprises :O
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i.imgur.com/l9B2Jc6.jpg
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Exactly. Nice chapter author.
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I...'m just surprised how fast ya did that
I..
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i.imgur.com/FTCa2cJ.jpg
✋︎ ♋︎❍︎ ❑︎◆︎♓︎♍︎🙵 ⬥︎♒︎♏︎■︎ ✋︎ ♒︎♋︎◻︎◻︎♏︎■︎ ⧫︎□︎ ♌︎♏︎ ◆︎◻︎ ♋︎■︎♎︎ ❒︎♏︎♋︎♎︎⍓︎ ⧫︎□︎ ♋︎⬧︎⬧︎♓︎⬧︎⧫︎ ❍︎⍓︎ ●︎♓︎⧫︎⧫︎●︎♏︎ ♑︎□︎□︎♑︎●︎♏︎⍓︎📫︎♏︎⍓︎♏︎♎︎ ◻︎□︎■︎♓︎♏︎⬧︎📬︎ ✋︎ ♒︎□︎◻︎♏︎ ⧫︎♒︎♋︎⧫︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ♋︎■︎♎︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎❒︎⬧︎ ⬥︎♓︎●︎●︎ ♒︎♋︎❖︎♏︎ ♋︎ ♐︎♓︎■︎♏︎ ♋︎■︎♎︎ ⬥︎□︎■︎♎︎♏︎❒︎♐︎◆︎●︎ ⍓︎♏︎♋︎❒︎📬︎
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fractured arm too, he shouldn't be driving at all, really... not that it stops many people in real life.
I hope we get a picture of pony Rose cuddling with the shark plush, that would be really adorable. I'm imagining a small pone draped across the large plush's back.
Ah yes, let's follow up her discomfort with animals held in captivity with soul-crushing capitalism. The perfect date!
Wince.
Aww, you poor thing. Species dysphoria is rough.
Aggggggh that's so effing cute.
You're frequently an awkward bat boi, Spark Gap, but at least with this date you came out ahead!
Very cute.
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So much to take in here:
The guardrail forming a cross over his chest
Pony mane style and colors
Batpony pupils
Wings
Widened nose
Top AND bottom fangs
Fwoofy tufts (that's a must!)
Left hand is swollen behind his fingers (psudohoof?)
AND THAT IS A BIG ASS SHARK
Well this is one of the few times in his life he's owned a car that can go *faster* than the speed limit...
I hope that was jsut a mind fuck not him actually changing
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I understood that reference.
10610504
Huh, that really reminds me of Sci-Twi’s song in Legend of Everfree. Curious...
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hmm...
The wings are translucent but the rest isn't. Interesting.
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Yeah I get the feeling even if it was at the risk of death, Discord would still meddle.
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Eyyyy
Hes spent so much time on the other side that the other sides following him home.
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Would you, kind sir, kindly point the uninitiated in direction of said refference source?
this sounds like life is trying to tell Tracy were he really belongs.
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And I'm just busy enjoying the Shark-pony suvenir baubles
Better look out, Tracy. Your marefriend is a Type A personality thrill-seeker.
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Are those globes in bottom left of pic ACTUALLY fish-pony things, or distorted I wonder?
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I zoomed in, they are shark pony snow globes
His reflection does not seem to care much. ^^
I do not think the 'realities are merging' or that Tracy is manifesting pony qualities at all. To me it seems obvious that what Tracy saw in his reflection was not anything physical - his experience was a sort of imaginative hallucination of his changing internal body map. He experienced 'phantom limb' syndrome, only... perhaps a little more intense, because... total bodily transformation is involved.
Many amputees report still feeling their missing limbs. They feel them move, they can feel pain, or touch, or even pleasure from those absent limbs. This happens because the brain, suddenly without information from the removed limb, is attempting to make sense of several things: stimulation of the severed nerve endings, feedback in the neurons of the brain involving the region that controlled the missing body part(s), and the brain gradually reconfiguring that same region to serve new purposes over time - it is valuable processing real estate, after all. There can be cross-connections during this as well - the most common being linking the internal homunculus model of the missing limb(s) with facial nerves. A touch on the cheek, for example, may also be experienced as the missing body part moving, feeling pain, or feeling touch as well.
Tracy, I think, has gotten used to his bat pony body. It has become integrated into him, likely with dedicated regions of his brain gradually being repurposed (it's what brains do!) to include the pony parts into his total homunculus (ponunculus? equnculus?). This means that his brain is trying to make sense of two different body maps, and the pony map has become loud enough that he is experiencing it even on the human side.
This makes sense because Tracy can remember what he does in Equestria. All memories are changes - physical changes - in the neurons. Those changes - memories - are retained despite transformation. This means that changes to the homunculus - the 'internal map of the body within the brain' would also be retained despite transformation. The more he lives in a pony body, the stronger that new internal map will become. He will feel phantom wings - even phantom hooves - more and more as time goes on. Eventually, just as with phantom limb syndrome, the experience could become very uncomfortable, even traumatic. He could end up feeling as if important parts of his body are missing... because, to his brain, they literally are.
This doesn't have to be some magical 'bleed through' of realities at all. What Tracy experienced would be a natural result of playing with total bodily transformation - and I am excited to see it in this story. It is logical, reasonable, and connotes that Starscribe understands a thing or two about neurology, which excites the hell out of me. This is super cool.
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The text in the reflection should be reversed. Instead of "Aquarium of the Bay", it should read "yaB eht fo muirauqA" (but with the letters also flipped). So we'd see "yaB eht..." or something. Do you think you could have the artwork updated or fixed?
Woo, new update!
Binged the entire story last week and so happy to get more of it!
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I have noticed one minor error... if it's a reflection, why is the sign letters not backwards?
Other than that, another amazing piece of art, especially with the adorable shark-pones
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Love the artwork. Also, this makes me think of that one video.