Tabitha roused the next day to the sound of her computer playing a spirited jazz song she had stashed. It was a good thing she had some music stored away, considering how hard it would be to get them now.

She cooked a few eggs with sliced pepper and the other half of an onion she hadn't used the night before. She hadn't much interest in cooking before, but that world... If nothing else, it encouraged her to at least make the basics. She sprinkled some seasoning over it and tasted before dropping the whole thing onto a plate and retreating with a tall glass of orange juice.

It was one of the healthier breakfasts she'd had in a month. "Look at me, mom, cooking like it's the 1990s." Her mom wasn't there, and yet she was. Dead people got to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Even in a world full of talking ponies? She preferred to think so, that her parents were both there, watching her fuck up in interesting ways.

She smiled a bit at the thought. Her dad would have said something biting, but witty. She always hated to smile at his jokes, but he made her do it anyway. She missed him...

A soft knock came from the door and she put away her mostly cleaned plate. "One moment."

She approached and leaned in to use the peephole and saw it was Razz Berry, grinning widely at the door.

Tabitha rolled her eyes before she opened it. "It's early in the morning, Razz, and I get the idea you're getting all the wrong kind of thoughts."

His eyes darted around as if caught with the cookie jar. "What? I just wanted to invite my new friend to do something fun."

She raised a brow.

"Really!" He produced two tickets from... a pocket? He just pulled them out like it was normal. "Do you like music?"

She reached for them and he didn't stop her from taking them. The Grateful Mares? "Huh..." She considered over it, glancing between the tickets and the hopeful face of the stallion. "You realize everyone else will see a pegasus, right, one that can't fly."

"I won't fly either," he promised while crossing his heart. "Please? It'll be fun. You look stressed out."

Did she? She let out a little breath as she handed the tickets back. "Alright, we'll give it a try, but keep your hooves to yourself. We're not a 'thing', just friends, right?"

"Right." Razz tucked the tickets away. "I'll see you later!" With a dart and flapping of those wings, he was gone.

She started to close the door but changed her mind, instead emerging. She was the manager of that building, and that meant certain responsibilities, even if her house was infested with terrible creatures from the beyond.

Tabitha frowned at the memories, but pressed on. She started taking notes in a pad of each imperfection she saw. She had a lot of rent money, and fixing the place up would draw more tenants. Besides, wherever a pony, or thing pretending to be a pony, was staying seemed to be safe from eldritch horrors. It was a triple win.

By the time lunch came around, she had filled the first paper with things that needed doing. "Trick is," she said to herself. "I don't know who to call..." Did they have phones? She picked up the phone in the lobby, hoping that the same magic that had hooked the building up with electricity was still in effect.

She let out a sigh of relief as she was greeted with a familiar buzzing that waited for her to dial. But who did she call? She didn't have the pony equivalent of a yellow pages, and no internet, so...

So she dialed 0.

Nothing happened, just the soft beep, then nothing but buzzing.

Tabitha frowned at the device . What had gone wrong? She turned it around, looking to see if it was obviously broken, but it looked intact. What she did see was the little switch she never used. She switched it over to rotary mode and tried one more time.

It rang.

"Operator speaking," came a friendly female voice.

Tabitha pumped an arm in triumph. "Yes! I'm looking for a repair man that can--"

"Repair what?"

"Someone who can fix things?" She raised a brow at the confusion. "I own an apartment building and I need things fixed."

"Oh! I'd be happy to connect you. If you give me your address, I'll have a Yellow Pages sent to you."

They had a Yellow Pages?! "Please, uh." She moved to the front door, phone dangling along with her. She was glad it had a long cord. She could see the street sign. "I'm on the corner of Wheatley and Gallop." She winced a bit at the horsiness of it all. "Grey for the first two floors, hard to miss."

"I'll have it sent right over, ma'am. I'm connecting you now. Is there anything else you need?"

"No, thank you." Tabitha had a hard time imagining a pony was on the other end of the line.

"Have a great day then, bye." There was a soft click, then ringing.

Someone picked up. "Hello?"

"Hello, I'm hoping you do repairs?"

"We fix all kinds of things. Whattaya got?"

Tabitha settled in the basic chair in the lobby. "Great, I have a list. Let's start with the obvious. The roof needs work to avoid water damage the next time it rains."

There were some papers shuffling around. "That's tomorrow. It'll cost extra for a rush job."

He knew when it would rain next?! "How do you know that?"

"Eh?" He sounded like the question itself was crazy. "I checked the weather report, of course. You ready to pay?"

"Y-yeah." She nodded though that wouldn't be seen through the phone. "It has to be done. Come ready to go and bring the statement with you." She rattled off her address again and described the building.

"I've been past there," said the stallion on the line. "Roof that big, that fast, at least a hundred and twenty bits."

She quietly sagged with relief. She could cover that without too much pain. "I'll be ready to pay. Come over when you're ready."

"On my way." There was another click, and the line was dead.

Tabitha hung up her phone. "Thanks, mom." It had been her insistence that the building keep its old copper lines and the phone right there.

"Good afternoon." Her mysterious bipedal tenant was walking past, coming from the elevators and heading out the door.

She considered challenging him, and lost that fight. "So, about last night?"

He stopped and looked at her over a shoulder, his smoldering eyes burning through her. "I trust there were no more noises after our meeting."

"N-no! All quiet. Can w--"

"I will be more careful in the coming months. Take care." He moved right on past without paying her any additional mind.

She watched him go and shook her head. She wouldn't be getting answers, at least not that day.

"Excuse me." A pegasus was wondering in with a unicorn and a regular pony behind him. The regular pony was a mare. "Is the owner in?"

Tabitha smiled. "Ah, are you the repair man?" She recognized the voice.

"Repair is what we do." He pulled out a sheaf of paper and offered it to her. "Here's that bill you asked for. Nice to meet you, miss...?"

"Tabitha, but friends call me Tabby."

"We'll start with Tabitha." He turned to his workers. "Let's get up there and show Tabitha what we're made of. This place looks like we'll be getting a lot of work if we show the right stuff."

The mare nodded and looked to Tabitha. "You can rest easy. We'll have it looking like new before the sun sets."

The unicorn moved right for the elevator and pushed the button. "At least this building has a working elevator. Not all of us have wings."

The pegasus followed after him. "Yeah yeah. Don't blame me for being born right. Heavy? Go get the supplies and meet us up top while we do a full survey."

"Roger that," said the mare, apparently Heavy. She trotted out the door as they went up, leaving Tabitha holding the bill.

She looked at the bill and saw a lot of line notes of this costing so many bits and that costing that many bits. It all seemed reasonable and she produced the coins needed.

As Heavy came past, she took the payment with a smile, tucking it in a pocket even as her back was burdened with tiles and things. "Thanks!" Off she went to join her friends with barely a delay for the process.

Tabitha pushed to her feet and shook her head. "It may be horse land, but at least the service is good."

"Excuse me."

She had been greeted that way a lot recently. She turned to see a geeky looking unicorn stallion peering at her through thick glasses. "Excuse me, um, miss? Do you know where the owner of this building is?"

Tabitha hiked a thumb at herself. "Talking. Are you looking for a room to stay in?"

"I'm actually from the city of Manehattan. We need to go over some paperwork if you have the time?"

Tabitha's blood ran cold. She had no deed to the land under her building, or really any proof she owned the building at all, just a patch of dirt in another world. What should she do?! What could she do?! "Oh, uh, this way..." She led him towards the office as she internally sweated. There was no avoiding it. She couldn't very well pick up the building and run with it.

He settled down across from her at her desk. "We have it on record that you inherited your land, is this correct?"

Tabitha was caught off-guard. How did he even know about that. "Yeah?"

"From your mother, Clear Days. Also correct?"

That was not her mother's name, not by far. "Yeah...?"

He pushed forward a paper with a glowing horn. "The inheritance papers are in order, but you haven't signed the deed. Just a formality. We'd also like to go over property taxes and their proper payment. You'd be far from the first land owner, especially through these means, that doesn't know the process."

She sagged a little and quickly scribed her full name on the paper.

"Easy Glider?" he asked as he took the paper back.

That wasn't her name, but maybe it was her... pony name? "Tabitha's just fine." She forced a smile. "So, how much do I owe and how do I pay it?"

"Nothing just yet." He smiled as he pulled the deed in half, tucking a carbon copy away and setting the original where she could have it. "It's due at the end of the year. Just swing by town hall and they'll get you straightened out. It'll be five hundred bits a year, at the estimated value of the land and building. I trust this won't be a problem?"

Even if she kept the tenants she had, she should be able to handle that. If she got the building half full... "I'll get that taken care of, no problem. Thank you for taking the time."

He smiled gently. "It's so nice to see a pony that appreciates the work we do. We're not against land owners, promise." He hopped down from his chair. "You have a nice day, Miss Glider."

"Tabitha."

"Yes, right, Tabitha. Good day." He trotted right out.