Tabitha sat down heavily on her chair. It was a comfortable chair with the faint scent of leather.

It was also the last gift of her mother, bless her heart, if one didn't count the whole building Tabitha was in. The thing had been in the family. With her, that made three generations. She had plenty of hobbies and interests, but as a job? She'd manage and own that building and afford a decent life doing it.

Outside a nearby window, the noises of the city drifted in. People were walking, cars were honking. She glanced out at the evening sky, the sun largely withdrawn, but the light of the city made 'true' darkness a thing for bathrooms with the lights off.

A little jingle alerted her that her computer had finished warming up and she casually pulled up Chrome to see what's up in the world.

She had mail. She always had mail. Google filtered most of the junk out, but there was plenty more. Stuff that didn't quite qualify as 'junk' but rated as so low priority that she opened them and closed them almost as quickly. "I could add five inches? Wow, that would be some trick." She reported that one bit of spam that got through.

There was another she was ready to report, but it grabbed her, and she wasn't even sure why.

Hello, Tabitha. If you could go anywhere, where would you go? If you could take anything with you, what would you take? I do not seek your money, and I already have your email.

Tabitha raised a brow at the message. There was something casually threatening about it, but it was mostly laughable stupid. She hit reply.

Hello, Mister No Name.

Nice to hear from you, but who are you, and why are you bothering me? Is this a robot? Beep Boop, uninstall me from whatever database you use. Where would I go? I'd stay with my apartments, duh. That answers the second question, come to think. My apartments have what I need, except clients.

She hit send almost angrily. It was true, she was missing people staying at her apartments. There were some, before, but she had lost them and had to replace them, in a hurry. She had plans to do just that. Without people living there, besides herself, she'd lose the place, and that'd suck.

No sooner than she had hit send, a reply came. It still had no name or from address, but it threaded properly so she knew it was the same person. She glanced left and right before pulling the blinds down. That was kind of creepy.

With building trepidation, she clicked the message.

If I made sure you had your apartments, but gained clients ready to pay for the privilege of living there, would you accept?

"Who are you!?" she shouted at the computer ineffectively. She shoved to her feet, her chair sliding away from the violent motion. Was someone razzing on her? Maybe it was one of the guys she calls over to fix things, like when the heaters or her computer busts. They were probably watching her freak out and laughing all the while.

She wouldn't give them the satisfaction.

She pulled her chair over and settled into the comfy material, taking a breath before she hit reply.

Look, whoever this is, it stopped being funny. Fine, whatever. Send those residents since you have so many. Prove you--

The world shifted violently. She moved, but so did her apartment. Just as promised, she never left them. They landed together in a new city, the noises changing. Was that a horse-drawn carriage she heard?

Her computer was still on, but reported its connection to the internet had been severed.

What happened? Tabitha crept towards the window she had just covered and peeked around the blinds to the outside world to see horses. Little horses. They came in all colors, some larger than others, some were flying, some had horns, unicorns. None of them seemed to find this odd at all. They all had marks on the--

Tabitha recoiled, breathing in harsh gasps. That wasn't earth!

Shit...

She had to lock the front door at least and make a safe place. She ran for the elevator, which still worked.

She rode it down, tapping a shoe and fidgeting. For all she knew, the horses were streaming into her apartments!

The elevator made a soft ding as it arrived and the doors slid open to reveal one of those horses. It looked up at her. It was smiling. Could horses smile? That one was...

"Oh, hello," spoke the horse in a friendly tone. "I hope I'm not bothering." She had light beige fur and her mane and tail were light blue and white colored. She wore a bright flower in that mane along with an ascot around her neck. "Do you know where the owner of this residence is?"

Oh god! They knew she was there, and were coming to kill her. "Oh, uh..."

"I was hoping I could move in," explained the horse. "I'm being rude." The doors of the elevator began to slide shut but she thrust a hoof in the way and stopped it. "I'm Coco Pommel, nice to meet you, miss...?"

That the horse wasn't at all surprised to see her, a human, confused her. "Tabitha Lawrence, but Tabby is fine."

"Nice to meet you." Coco bowed her head. "Do you live here?"

"I... actually kind of own it," admitted Tabitha, unsure if she'd be mauled or not.

"Oh, that's terrific! I'd like a room, please. I'll be living in the city long-term, so I'll need an apartment with a lease, if that's alright." She looked quite happy. Why, Tabitha would say she looked the opposite of ready to inflict murder on her. "You'll want first and last month's rent upfront, I imagine?"

Tabitha nodded as her higher functions did a casual reset. Fortunately, seeing someone in was second nature, horse or not. "That's right. Do you have a floor preference? Any damage to the room has to be covered by you, but we do appliances. No noise past sundown to be polite to your neighbors..." She went on and on, going over the basic rules that kept her building running smoothly. Coco just nodded along without objections.

"I'd rather not be on the ground floor, other than that..."

"You got it." She fished out a key she had from the third floor. "Here you go."

The horse paid with golden coins. Golden coins she passed up in a bag that Coco held in a hoof to settle in Tabitha's hands. She started rebooting again, mouth agape.

"You're the nicest pegasus I've met today," reported Coco as she entered the elevator.

Pegasus? Tabitha stepped free of the elevator and the doors closed, carrying Coco off to her new room. As the doors slid shut, Coco's eyes went wide. A piercing scream was only audible for a moment before they were closed and the elevator was gone.

Tabitha blinked in confusion. Had she done something wrong? She was in a world of talking horses. Talking horses that happened to carry around more gold than she ever saw in one place... She tucked the bag under an arm and approached the front door cautiously.

Other horses marched past, a few glancing at her building and 'For Rent' signs, bust most just trotted past without worrying much about it one way or the other. Wherever she was, the building didn't stand out too much.

That was good...

"Evening," said one of the unicorns as he strolled past, wearing an outfit that would fit an old timey city dweller. It was very seventies.

"Um hello." She wriggled her fingers at him and he moved right along to wherever he was going.

Tabitha closed the door and considered locking it, but...

She looked at the bag of gold coins. The horse had handed, er, hoofed? She gave it to her without even a second thought. Did they use these coins like dollars? How much was one worth? If it covered two months of rent, she should be able to live a little while off of it and maybe get...

She was alone. Everyone she knew to get repairs from, gone.

The elevator dinged softly and Tabitha turned to see Coco peeking her head out. "I... must seem so rude. I've heard of humans, but actually seeing one, and you were a pegasus before! How'd you do that?" She stepped from the elevator slowly. "I'm sorry if I scared you."

She's sorry? Tabitha quirked a smile at the whole situation. "Wait, you did say that. I wasn't trying to hide or anything. I'm a human from birth, just like you're a horse, right?"

"Pony," corrected Coco. "Nice to meet you, again. The key works, so... You really do own this?"

"It was mine before I was born, in the family for three generations." Tabitha nodded at the hor--pony slowly. Coco had a nice voice, and she sounded concerned and kind. If she had to meet any ponies, Coco seemed like a good sort. "I have a few questions, besides screaming into a pillow."

"That wouldn't be much of a question." Coco smiled lightly. "If I can help, ask."

"So... how much is this?" Tabitha hefted out the bag. "Where are we? What are you? Just... how... fucked am I?" She sagged down, overwhelmed with the impossibility of the situation. She felt a presence and looked up to Coco gently patting her shoulder and patiently waiting. "S-sorry. Thanks. I'm alright, really."

She forced her way to her feet. Freaking out wasn't helping, and she was scaring the one... friend? She knew Coco, who seemed nice enough.

Coco sat down and pointed to the dropped bag. "That's two months of rent, as agreed on. I assumed average prices, which may have been wrong."

"No, that's fine." Tabitha shook her head slowly. "Look, I need to catch my breath. Why don't you enjoy your room, and we'll meet up later."

Coco smiled a little. "I have a lot to move in, so I'll be busy with that, but we're neighbors now, besides you being the landlord. If you have questions, I'll do my best." She trotted right out the door, going after the things that would go into her apartment in theory.

Tabitha grew curious. She opened the door and slipped outside, even if one hand remained on the knob, ready to retreat. "Hey you!" she called out to the pony without wing or horn.

He looked at her. "Yeah?"

"What am I?"

The pony blinked with obvious confusion. "You're a pegasus mare. Is this a trick question?"

"N-no, just checking." The answer did little to appease him, but he had places to go, and he moved on, shaking his head.

The ponies really saw her as one of their own. She was a pegasus, to them, but it was stopped working for Coco. Why?

She had arrived in a new world, and there were so many questions in need of answers. Perhaps it was time to start with the basics. She needed to fill her fridge. She had a bag of coins. How... hard could it be?

Author's Notes:

Welcome to a new story! Did you miss me?

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