Tabitha settled at her computer. Her chair was off to the side. She couldn't fit into it properly anymore. Seeing it made her annoyed, and yet there it was. She couldn't bring herself to chuck it out. It had been a gift from her parents, the same that might be challenged to even recognize her.

Her computer chimed softly. She reached for it and saw an email had arrived. Was it the one that sent her? No.

Hello Tabby Patty! This is Mom. How're you doing? Who am I kidding, writing you as if everything was alright. I'm not even... Look, don't stop reading.

Tabitha stopped reading. She sank back with a dazed look. Was that really her mom? That name wasn't one she heard often from anyone since she was a small child. Her eyes were drawn back to the screen.

The fellow that's just a bunch of words said I could talk, once. I suppose I'm just that, words on your screen. Sorry. You really need a hug about now.

Tabitha smiled at that. "Can you hear me?" she ventured, unsure of the limits of the situation.

Sort of. Look..........

The periods appeared at a rate of about one a second. It was grammatically horrible, but sensible enough.

I love you. Even if you have a horse's butt. You have to be so scared right now. If I could, I'd hug you and never stop. Wherever this adventure takes you, and it is definitely an adventure, I just want you to remain my Tabby Patty, which means being a good person, and a good manager, and you're being both of those things. I don't care who you settle with. Honesty time. For the longest time, your father and I thought you were hiding being gay from us. The idea of never having a grandkid bothered me, but I did realize your life is your life. It's not your job to make me grandkids now, later, or ever. It is your job to be happy. Be happy.

Her words were coming faster and faster, as if her stream of thought were just being produced on the screen. "Calm down... mom." Tabitha felt increasingly certain it was her mother she was speaking with. "I'll do my best."

You will, and you have, and you are. If you smooch a magical pony, well, fine. At least a little part of me wishes I had the chance, just to say I did, but I was quite happy settling down with your father. You do what you want to do. If my grandchild has a fur coat... fine. It's your life, not mine, and I love you. Be true to yourself and you'll make me proud.

Her mother seemed to be giving her permission to do... anything? "How do I know it's you?"

That's tricky. I don't have a body. You scattered the ashes of that yourself. Oh please don't cry! You did that right. You... Look, I'll be honest here. This isn't how I imagined your life going. But here I am, and here you are. I'd rather you move ahead than worry about could be or should be. Be a good person. I do ask that you at least... Can you settle down? I'd be happier if you--

The font changed suddenly.

Hey Kiddo, dad here! Your mom was about to come down on you about marriage and stuff, but I already know you're going to do what you want with that, and that's alright. Being dead means you should stop harassing people about how they get hitched.

That's not true!

Let's not waste our time arguing in front of Tabby.

Tabitha's eyes darted, reading one line after the other when she heard a thump from the outside.

"Tabby?" It was Razz and he was stepping inside with no real concern for the sanctity of space. "Are you--Oh there you are!"

Tabitha panicked. She smashed the power button on the monitor, banishing it before she spun around to face her intruder. "Razz?"

"That's me! I had a hard day at work today and I was hoping to talk to somepony. Are you available?"

Part of Tabitha wondered why he hadn't gone to bother Bubbles or Trap, but he was there, and she was there. She wasn't going to send him packing. "Razz... Alright, what happened?" She turned away from the computer entirely for the moment.

Without realizing any inconvenience he may have caused, he began droning on about how walking on his injured hoof made a lot of things trickier, but he pulled through. "I didn't want to go back."

"Back?" She raised a brow at the word.

"It's my... everything. My life. I'm in charge of it, so I'm doing it right."

Tabitha couldn't help but smile. That sounded like the right answer for the right reasons to her. "And you're doing it. Do you plan to get your own place?"

He looked confused at that. "In the city? I'm not rich and my family doesn't have a place to pass down, so that's not very likely. I like it here..." With a nervous smile, he stood up. "Am I getting in the way? I'm sorry."

"N-no! It's not that." Maybe it was a little that. Still, he had a point. He'd be renting from somewhere if he stayed in the city. "Do ponies live outside of cities?"

"Of course." He shook his head. "There's plenty of space. There are little towns and stuff. Heck, if you want to live alone, you could do that, but that's not for me. I like it here. Did you see Bubbles?" He pointed downward. "I mean, you had to, right? She can't start working for you without you knowing about it."

Tabitha glanced at the computer where her parents were, and maybe they still were? She couldn't be sure. "Look, Razz, glad we caught up, really. How about we get together, later? I need to finish some... managing stuff. This building won't take care of herself."

It was one of her first outright lies, but it worked. He nodded at her, said his goodbyes, and took off with the sound of wings from the balcony.

With a soft puff of air, she pressed the power button on her monitor to reveal new words.

Is that your friend?

She had lost track of which font was mom and which was dad.

He looks cute enough, and responsible.

But he's a horse?

So is our daughter, so I won't have anymore talk about that, alright?

She's coming back! Hello dear. Please don't mind us. We can't erase what we said, so there it is.

Tabitha shook her head as she caught up with the conversation. "Are you with me, like... forever?"

That'd be fun, kiddo, but no.

We have to go back to where we were. We both wanted to come say how proud we still are.

How proud we'll always be. You're taking good care of this place, and yourself, even if you're half a horse now. You take care of that too. You make yourself happy, whether that involves furry little grandkids or not.

Will we even know?

Of course we

The words just stopped there. Tabitha tried tapping a few keys. She called to her parents, but none of it seemed to work. They were gone, back to wherever dead people resided. She settled back with a loud sigh, unsure how she should feel after that. Ultimately...

She moved to the mirror and gazed at herself, that half-horse creature she had become. She turned left and right and extended her wings out as she did it. She couldn't see all of herself with her dress in the way, but it didn't matter. She could see where human became horse, and she could see the lines of that horse.

It wasn't an 'it'. That was her. She was that. She was that and her parents were alright with that. A little smile quirked over her lips. Of all the things that damned jumble of words had given her, that one thing seemed... It was the nicest. She couldn't find the downside of it besides being made to face the loss of the two. She would rather have them, for real, but they were dead, and she was given a chance to speak to them again. It was a blessing.

She wasn't even religious but that had been a blessing with a capital B! She had been given a very precious gift, in part thanks to her parents being awesome people. She had been given freedom. However she decided to chase freedom, it was hers to chase. She smiled at the reflection that smiled back.

Even if she married a horse... A knocking roused her from her thoughts. "Who is it?"

The door opened, not locked and apparently the pony that entered took her words as consent. "Hello?" It was that unicorn from the store. "Ah! There you are! I came to tour the place and the office was empty. One of your tenants said this was your room. I'm not..." He started to go red as if he realized how improper he was being. "I can go." He didn't look like he wanted to go.

Tabitha approached the door and the pony in it. "To start, I want your name. We've talked too many times to not have it already, and you have mine."

"Ah yes, well." He pointed at himself. "I'm Due Note. A pleasure to meet you again, Miss Tabitha." His nose twitched, which would normally be ignored, but Tabitha was extra sensitive about exactly that sort of thing. Unlike her other friends, that pony sniffed again quite visibly and stepped closer. "Are you involved?"

Tabitha had not been created the day before. She backed away from the smitten stallion. "You snap out of that!"

Due blinked. "Is that a yes?"

"I'm not involved, but you're just reacting to a scent." She frowned at him. "Maybe it'd be better to meet after I take a nice long shower and get changed from the day."

"A scent?" He approached her. "That's--" He paused to sniff the air softly. "--silly. I don't smell anything but maybe a little unwashed mare. You... make the look work, Miss."

She was going to say more, but his horn began to glow and his telekinetic grip seized her somewhere sensitive. Every time she tried to contradict him, he pulled and squeezed so delightfully at her. Perhaps being a male meant knowing what males liked? She hissed out in annoyance. "You stop that! Seriously, I'd like to be a friend, but if you keep that up even a moment longer, we'll have a serious problem."

Due was approaching her, lost to everything but the desire to be closer to her in every possible way. She was both pissed off as hell and sorry for the pony. She closed the distance and he raised his forehooves to greet her. The look on his face was priceless when she scooped him up and carted him right to the door even as he tried to get in a kiss before it was too late.

"Come back when you've cleared your head." She basically hurled the stallion out into the hallway, slammed the door and did lock it.

Different ponies reacted differently in different situations... Just like humans, in that regard. She snorted softly as she got to crafting dinner and thinking towards the future.

Author's Notes:

In all the rush of things happening, I might have made a few mistakes, oops.