The week prior, Derpy had enjoyed the long flight from Karyn’s school to her home because she had wanted to be distracted from her duty anyway. But that Sunday, she was more eager to see her friend, and silently cursed that the teleportation spell only took her to a single point on Earth.

She was also worried that at some point some other human would be occupying the room when she came, but not enough to go invisible ahead of time. It was something she had told herself to do, but always seemed to forget before she left home.

Always, though, once she was on Earth, the setting reminded her that she was in a foreign land and she remembered her disguise. To her mind, the sun and the air were different in a way she couldn’t describe. She put it down to the sun moving on its own.

Opening the window, she took off for Karyn’s home and girded herself for the long journey. It was boring, but far better than flying in a circle. Once she left the college town and got into the forest, it was the kind of flight that no pegasus had ever had in Equestria. There could be roads to follow, and there could be forests, but one road that cut through a forest was unheard of.

Before she could reach that, though, she had to navigate through the town, and Derpy chose to fly low and slow, so she could face-watch. She liked seeing humans go about their business; it reminded her how similar they were to ponies.

Though there were fewer outdoor stands like in the Ponyville market, Derpy could still press her nose to glass and see people shopping, or fly over the park and watch a young couple out on an early date (or, Derpy thought, a very late one), or swoop toward the edge of town to find Karyn watching the skies trying to catch her eye, or—

“Wait, what?” Derpy said.

She circled around and got a better look at the girl. It was definitely Karyn’s hair, certainly her purse, pretty much her freckles, so either Karyn had a doppelganger that shopped in the same store, or it was Karyn. Derpy landed and said, “Psst?”

“Derpy?”

“It is you! Or else your doppelganger who shops at the same store likes to say ‘Derpy’ at random times.”

Karyn laughed. “It’s me, Derpy.”

“But I was just coming to see you at your parents’.”

“I know, but I’m not there. I’m here. And I’m glad I found you before you had to go all the way there just to not find me.”

“That is fortunate,” said Derpy. “But what are you doing here?”

“Kind of planning ahead. See, last year we had that whole issue with going back to school and having a roommate and such.”

“Right, and we took care of that. Peony is waiting to fill your room again.”

The corner they were standing on was getting more crowded, and they walked on away from the school. “I’m sure, but it’s really not ethical, and my parents did ask me about why I didn’t have one. I don’t really enjoy lying to them, so we talked it over and agreed that if I could find an apartment at a good price, I could live there instead of the dorms. They’ll help pay, so it’ll be that much less I have to take in student loans.”

Derpy still didn’t understand all the details of the loans, but she knew that Karyn didn’t like them, and anything less of something that Karyn didn’t like was a good thing.

“So we’re going to go look at places? I can help you there. I remember buying the house in Ponyville. Realtors are just so nice and reasonable, aren’t they?”

“Right, yeah. If I were looking in Ponyville, they might be. But if I lived there then time would never move. But we’ll go look at some places and see what it’s like.”

They headed further away from the school, and the neighborhood changed. The college had its pristine cobblestones and concrete, but the area they were in now had overhanging trees that gave it a dark feeling, and the streets could have used a good sweeping. Derpy remarked that it was the least attractive setting she’d seen thus far on Earth.

“That’s true. At the college, all the massive tuition that everyone pays has to go somewhere, and part of that somewhere is into beautifying the grounds. Over at mom and dad’s, it’s a nice enough area that it gets taken care of by high property taxes. Kind of like in Muland. But here, right outside of the school, there’s less wealth. This is part of growing up. I won’t be part of a successful family anymore. I’ll have to earn my own success.”

“I get it, I think. When you get to be your parents’ age, you’ll be back to nice places.”

“If all goes well,” said Karyn. “All right, here we are.”

“I thought that all businesses like this were closed today.”

“Many are, but this one is obviously looking for renters, because they advertised as available every day.”

The complex was even more shaded than the road, but the apartments were set back and secluded. It would be a safe place, and only a short walk to school. Provided she was home before dark, Karyn could live there and not worry.

“You’re really concerned about safety, huh?” asked Derpy.

“As a college-age girl I have to be. Although I suppose I could always change to, like, a three-hundred pound hulking guy to ward off predators.”

They entered the rental office. The elderly lady behind the desk looked up, her earrings and bracelets rattling. She glowered at Karyn. “Yes?”

“I came about the apartment you advertised online.”

“Age?”

“I’m twenty years old,” said Karyn. “Is that a problem?”

“Not if you have a sterling credit report.”

Karyn said nothing to that.

“Well, come on. Let’s see the place.”

There was an entire building dedicated to modeling the apartments. To Derpy, this seemed like a major waste of space and effort. It took her a second look to even realize that no one lived in the apartments.

The lady led them to the first apartment on the left. “This is the studio. I assume that this is what you’re looking for.”
Derpy could barely fit into the small apartment, and Karyn returned the rental agent’s scowl. A half-wall provided the barest semblance of privacy, but standing anywhere else in the apartment exposed her through the wide front window. She poked her head in the bathroom. The stall shower was maybe three-feet square. Stepping back out, she looked at the kitchen and pulled up short when she saw a dishwasher half the width of all the ones she had seen. She didn’t even know such a thing existed.

“Could I take a look at a one-bedroom?”

The rental agent looked up and exhaled. It was an effort to walk for the elderly lady, and Karyn felt sympathy for her, but still didn’t like her attitude. She silently vowed never to treat young people that way when she was old.

They went next door, and the lady said, “This is our loft apartment. Technically it’s a one-bedroom.”

From the outside, the apartment bulged up from the building to a second story, and an angled roof contained a skylight. On the right side, opposite the door, a wooden carpeted staircase spiraled upwards. But Karyn felt the breeze as Derpy bypassed the stairs and flew up to the top.

“I think I’ll look at the upstairs first.”

Correctly assuming that the agent wouldn’t want to climb the stairs, Karyn went to the far end and got close to Derpy. In her softest whisper, she said, “What do you think?”

“Neither of them are as nice as your dorm, but if you took this one, I could fly up and down all day. It’s fun!”

“Beyond that—well, you’re probably not the best judge, but I think this one is a lot nicer.” She heard the agent shuffling around below. In order to cover up the sounds, she said, “It’s a good use of space. But it’s a little unusual to have the bathroom upstairs, don’t you think?”

“That’s just the way they’re built.”

Karyn went back to her whisper. “Geez, lady, if you’re supposed to be selling these things, you think you’d be nicer about it.”

“Maybe she wants it for herself,” said Derpy.

Smiling, she descended and went to look around the rest of the apartment downstairs. Compared to the studio it was impressive, and Karyn wondered if she hadn’t been shown that first just to make the one she was in look better. Maybe the agent was a good saleswoman after all. Still, she couldn’t deny that it was an apartment that she could live in. She pulled out her phone and checked it for Wi-Fi.

“Hmm, I’m going to have to plan out my budget. I’ll be paying for utilities now as well.”

“Heat, water, and sanitation are included,” said the agent. “You pay for electric and cable.”

Derpy gave a sharp intake of breath, which made the agent look. Karyn quickly covered. “Sounds like the heating pipes have some issues.”

“Mm, yes.”

“OK, here’s the important question. How much?”

The agent walked toward the door. “Let’s go back to the office.” Once there, she took out a large, legal-sized folder. Karyn was comforted by Derpy’s presence in the chair next to her.

“Well?”

“If you allow us to run a credit check on you, the price might be adjusted. If not, we’ll have to charge the highest rent and request two-months’ rent as deposit. Do you have any history of debt?”

“Only my student loans,” said Karyn.

“So that’ll probably work out to one-and-a-half months’ rent for a deposit. For that we need a bank check.”

She pulled up her head. “Really? You can’t just take a personal check and wait for it to clear?”

“That’s not what the rules say.”

Both Derpy and Karyn produced identical nose-wrinkling expressions, though of course only Karyn’s could be seen. Neither was happy with the idea of a rule that couldn’t be negotiated.

Karyn pored through the long agreement. It set out a long list of her obligations and very few of the renter’s. She took a deep breath and looked the lady in the eye.

“Well, if you’re going to need a cashier’s check, I’m going to have to go to my bank, which means that we can’t sign the deal today. And I’d like a chance to go back and think about it anyway. I’ll come back next week if I decide to rent.”

She shook the agent’s hand and fast-walked out of the complex. The residential neighborhood wasn’t crowded, and it was easy to find a place where she could slip in her Bluetooth and talk to Derpy.

“Did you see how expensive that was? There’s no way I could afford it!”

“I didn’t, actually, but I could tell that you wanted to leave fast.”

Karyn started walking back toward the school. “I’m always nervous in sales situations. I get afraid that they won’t be nice and just let me go. There are some types who just hang on like leeches until you either agree to buy or wind up being rude to them.”

“So what now?”

“I had hoped they would be more reasonable, so now I guess we just head for home and worry about the apartment some other time. The car’s parked in the visitor’s lot. I’ll lay the seat down so you’re comfortable.”

“All right.”

With the cover of the trees and the cool breeze of early summer, it was a pleasant walk, so they dawdled and ambled through the town, going the long way around back to the school. As they stood at one road crossing, Derpy circled around.

“Karyn, take a look at this.”

On one of the poles that held up the traffic light, there were flyers and posters stapled. Prominent as part of this display was a bright orange one that indicated an apartment for rent. It had the requisite fringe of tabs with a number to call.

“I don’t know, Derpy. Renting out of someone’s house? It seems a little shady. My folks said that it’s better to get from a proper apartment complex.”

“We saw how well that turned out. Just give them a call. If you don’t like the voice on the other end, just say it was a wrong number.”

Karyn tore off one of the tabs with the phone number. “All right, why not?” She pulled out her phone and dialed. Derpy listened distractedly.

“Yes, hi, I saw your flyer about an apartment?... uh-huh…where is that?...actually, I’m not too far away right now…twenty, I go to school at…all right, I’ll come see it.”

“Sounds like we’ve got another appointment. I hope no one saw you on both your phone and your Bluetooth.”

Karyn laughed. “That would be like a cheap version of call waiting.” She opened the phone’s GPS function and found walking directions for the other apartment.

Halfway there, Derpy said, “Karyn?”

“Yes?”

“Why did you take the little slip with the number? You made the call right there.”

She pulled up short. “I don’t know. I just figured that whenever you want to take up one of those offers, you have to tear off the tab.”

Now it was Derpy’s turn to laugh.

The rest of the walk went quickly, and when they came upon the house, they took a moment to look at it from outside. It was a two-story house, but very thin, unlike Karyn’s parents’. The neighborhood looked to be very old. A landmark sign indicated that one of the houses had been built over a century before. Even the street signs were printed vertically on white posts instead of plates on metal poles.

“This place looks fancy,” said Derpy. “It reminds me a little of home, too.”

“It is a nice area. Probably won’t be able to afford this one either.”

She rang the doorbell. A moment later a short-haired woman in a tank-top opened up. To Karyn’s eyes she was not much older than her.

“You’re the one called about the apartment?”

“Yes. Karyn. Whoa, this house is nice.”

“I’m Gayle. That’s not the part for you.”

Whether it had been built that way or Gayle had remodeled, it looked nothing like what Karyn expected. The top floor was barely there, so instead there was a twenty-foot ceiling. It was sparsely furnished and smelled of fresh paint.

Gayle led Karyn and Derpy around the side to a second entrance.

“This is what I’m looking to rent. I used to live here, but I just bought out the house and I’m looking to pay it down quicker.”

Karyn wondered what she did that gave her the money, but she was more focused on the apartment. It was an unusual design, as all the rooms were in a line, with the exception of the bathroom. A living room led to a kitchen, which led to the bedroom. Once there she would have complete privacy. It was barely noticeable from the road.

“So what are you looking for?” asked Karyn.

“What I’m looking for is someone who’s going to pay consistently and not ask me to fix too much stuff. I’m not looking to be a landlady, you know. Just grab a few bucks on the side.”

Derpy nudged Karyn. It seemed to her that if Gayle wasn’t promising to be the most attentive landlady, then the rent should be cheap. But she had no way of communicating that.

“So then we should be able to come to reasonable terms on rent,” said Karyn.

That’s my girl! thought Derpy.

“I’m sure we can. I’ll be glad to have a college student here, someone who isn’t going to tear the place apart. You’re not going to have any wild parties, are you?”

“No. I usually have one friend over on the weekends, but she’s a neat freak anyway.”

At that, Derpy poked Karyn in the ribs. On its own, it probably wasn’t noticeable, but it caused her to drop her purse.

Gayle bent down to help her pick up what had fallen out, Karyn haphazardly tossing everything back into the bag. She looked up to see Gayle looking at her compact, which happened to have Derpy’s picture on it.

“Oh, are you into My Little Pony?”

“Yes,” said Karyn, embarrassed. Then she realized that she had very little to be embarrassed about. Granted, she was slightly older than the target demographic, but there was less of a stigma for a female college student than for a male. It was only her personal friendship with Derpy that made her nervous. “Do you watch it too?”

“I think I’ve seen a few episodes. It’s nice. This one’s eyes are crossed, though.”

“Maybe I’ll introduce you to her some time.”

Gayle stared, then laughed. “All right, you got me. Anyway, for a funny girl who likes ponies I’ll give a good deal. What would you say to six-fifty?”

Karyn tried to keep her face straight. Six-fifty was less than half of what the other place was asking. “Well, I wouldn’t be moving in for a couple of months. Can I put down a deposit and hold it till then?”

“Sure, why not? You understand, this apartment isn’t exactly a formal lease.”

She broke eye contact, and Karyn realized that she meant that it wasn’t a legal apartment. “Well, in that case would you mind if I went home and thought about it?”

“No, I can see where you’d want to. But if you did take it I would have those months to fix it up however you liked it. I’d even decorate it for you.”

Karyn remembered her glance of the main house. Gayle did have taste similar to her. “Can I ask you a question? How did you come to buy the house out?”

“I got lucky. Managed to have some of my work exhibited at a show a couple of months ago, and a rich guy liked my paintings enough to buy two of them well over market price.”

“Oh, you’re an artist?”

Gayle was passionate now. “Yes. Both parts of the house have fantastic north light, which is why I wanted to get into it, but now that I’m in the main section, I’m doing it as a proper studio. It’s like I’m taking the money and investing it in myself, I hope. Would you like to see some?”

Not wanting to be rude, Karyn assented, and they went back into the main house. She could see what Gayle meant by the light, as the rays of the sun bounced off the dust mites and made the room look bigger than it was. At the end of the room were some canvases covered in drop cloths. Gayle lifted one.

“This is probably the only one finished enough to show. I got this from the one time I went up in a plane.”

The painting was of the sun passing between cloud layers. It was nice to look at, but Karyn didn’t have much of an eye for art.

“It’s lovely. Anyway, I’ll get back to you about the apartment. I have your number.”

“Great, thanks.”

Karyn walked out, and got about a block away before Derpy said, “You should get this place.”

“You think so? The price is good, but to live in someone’s house—“

“Yeah, but did you see that painting? That woman has to have a kind heart to be able to make something so beautiful.”

“You really liked that?” asked Karyn.

“It reminded me of Cloudsdale. I haven’t been back in a long time, and although I hadn’t realized it until I saw that painting, I miss the clouds and the thin air. Flying in Ponyville is low and slow, and that’s nice for a lazy pegasus like me, but part of me wants to be back soaring among the cumulus.”

“That’s sweet. But do you think I should take the apartment just for that?”

Derpy put a wing on Karyn’s shoulder. “I’ve never taken you to see my place in Cloudsdale. We’ll have to arrange that sometime. But I rent it out, and let me tell you, if that relationship is right, it can be a great way to make friends. You’d never have made friends with that other lady, the one who showed you the two-story one. Even if I can’t fly as well in this, it’s the right choice for you.”

“Well, if nothing else it solves the problem. Come on. Let’s go home and tell my parents. If I can convince them it’s a good deal, I’ll call Gayle back and arrange it all.”

“If you need help convincing them, remember what I said about how the painting looks like Cloudsdale.”

Karyn grinned, not wanting to laugh too loud on the street. They were coming close to the parking lot back by the school. She pointed her key fob at the car to unlock the doors.

As they put their seat belts on and rolled down the windows to relieve the heat, Derpy said, “One other thing I don’t understand.”

“What’s that?”

“How come, in the first apartments, the studio was the smaller place, but in the house you’re going to, the studio is the bigger one?”

Karyn couldn’t contain her laughter at that.

Author's Notes:

Be sure and come around next Wednesday, same time. Here's some clips from that chapter!

“Hello, Derpy. All is clear for now.”

“Good. You’re looking well, even if it’s just magic and you didn’t actually make the effort.”

“You can tell?” asked Karyn.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As she spread her wings once more, the sound of rushing hooves came from the other side of the house. “Derpy!”

“Who’s that?”

It was Karyn who recognized the pony galloping towards them. For Derpy, orange was probably a typical color for ponies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Karyn looked at Derpy, but she was just as excited. She shook her head. “I’m not sure I agree with you a hundred percent on your conclusion there.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’m not a complete expert on the scientific method, but I believe that you want to control as many variables as possible."

I hope you read that one too!