With a new tenant signed in, Tabitha took the opportunity to see what he had signed. Horpip the Magnificent, or so it read.

"Huh, well, Horpip--"

"The magnificent," he added with a raised finger.

"Right. Welcome." She tucked the contract away safely. "Now I need to onboard one other resident. Here's your key." She fished out one on the right floor for him. "I hope you enjoy your stay here, for however long that's going to be."

"That depends." He accepted the key with a snatch of his fingers and he marched out of the office.

Sweetie Drops came in a moment later. "Is it alright to start now?"

"Come on in." Tabitha waved her closer.

"What... was that?" She glanced over her shoulder even as she came closer. "It looked like some kind of... creepy shadow thing. Bubbles insisted it was alright, but, really? What was that?"

Tabitha sighed softly. Of course the disguise would be seen, and what a terrible disguise it was! "That's another tenant, who actually looks far less imposing once you're a tenant. I have no idea why his disguise is so unsettling. As disguises go, just about the worst I've seen. All the others look like ponies that could fit in the city."

Sweetie settled before the desk. "Did you have one of those?"

"I did." Tabitha nodded and gestured at herself, especially her bottom half. "I was the pegasus you can see, to all non-residents that is. To residents, I was all human. When the two got mixed up, the disguise stopped existing for me, so what you see is what you get."

Sweetie's eyes wandered up and down Tabitha's form from the other side of the desk. "Well, even if you... didn't plan it, it's quite nice. Pegasi aren't my... first choice." She flashed a nervous smile. "Sorry, that sounded too awkward. So, what are the rules?"

Tabitha began going over those. "No noise after sundown, and preferably you don't make a lot of noise often. An occasional party is one thing, but every night will start to make everyone grumpy." As she went down the list, Sweetie kept nodding softly, listening but not too invested looking. "Don't think you'll have many issues?"

Sweetie started and pointed at herself. "Me? Without... Lyra, I don't imagine I'll be making too much of a fuss. I'm not a mare of extreme tastes or needs." She flashed a smile. "So..."

"Miss Taylor." It was Dark Vision. When did she get back? "I need to speak to this pony."

Tabitha blinked at the unexpected visitor. "Good to see you're alright."

"I apologize for that lapse. It's good to see you're well too. I've already given my thanks to Bubbles for her quick action." Dark dipped her head. "She is a fine guard. Am I interrupting?"

"A little." Tabitha held two fingers close together. "Wait outside a moment." Dark withdrew back through the open door and out of direct sight. Tabitha nodded at Sweetie. "Well, those are the rules, and it sounds like you're alright with them, so there's just the signing and the key giving." She drew out a contract and got to scribbling quickly.

Once she had her part done, Sweetie accepted the pen in her hoof. "Where'd you get such a nice pen? They cost a lot when they work so smoothly." She made her name drawn out well and intricately.

Tabitha wasn't sure how to answer that. It wasn't a special pen at all. Just a 99 cent package of pens she picked up before coming to pony land. "They're from my old home."

"Old home?" Sweetie's eyes widened. "Oh! Where humans come from? That must be an amazing place. I... almost want to see it, just to visit." She offered a hoof out across the desk. "I'm your renter now. I hope to be a pleasant one, Miss Taylor. You seem like a nice pony to be around."

Tabitha surrendered the key to the earth pony. She noticed Sweetie's mane was a bit of a mess. The different colors in its curls were a bit tangled. The poor thing really was a mess. She reached out and gently brushed a few locks aside to where they should be.

Sweetie colored at the touch, but didn't speak out against it. "I'll... speak to you later." She turned away and trotted from the room. As she emerged, she saw Dark Vision waiting for her and moved to speak to her. Her voice lowered to barely a whisper. "What is it, Agent Vision? You could com--"

"Belay that, Agent Drops." Dark nodded. "You've placed yourself in an active operation. I must caution you to remove yourself."

Sweetie Drops took half a step back. "W-what? No!" Why had she refused? A part of herself quailed at the idea of arguing with a warlock at all, let alone Dark Vision. She knew Dark was no amateur.

Dark raised a brow. "If you are certain, then you are hereby drafted." She reached out and tapped Sweetie on the chest. "Welcome to the cause."

Sweetie paled in her nose and ears. Drafted?! "But..."

"You will be fairly compensated for your efforts. Since you are here, you should be brought up to speed. Are you ready for briefing?"

Sweetie sank to her haunches, her heart pounding and her breathing erratic. She hadn't planned to return to active duty, not like that! Yet, it was done. She... She had a purpose. She smiled a little. "Y-yes. Yes I am. Let's go to my place, instead of speaking in this compromised area."

They nodded to one another and moved to relocate to Sweetie's new apartment to exchange intelligence. There was much to discuss.

A firm rapping made Spring look up. She was in her room. Coco was with her. They were both enjoying some tea and speaking. She had been enjoying the company of the beast, learning what made her what she was, and why Tabitha seemed to so easily confide in her.

There were things to admire, even if she would never compare to a proper fae, or her own creation.

Spring rose to her feet. "It may be Tabitha." She was about certain it wasn't. Still, she could hope.

She pulled open the door even as Coco rose to her hooves. What was beyond the door was not who she hoped to see. "H-horpip!"

He raised a shaggy brow behind his goggles silently.

"The magnificent," she added. "Esteemed student of--" The next word she spoke was strange and incomprehensible to Coco at least. "You are... welcome." The word was strained and clearly not entirely true.

Horpip nodded. "A pleasure... to be here." He stepped inside. "So is this how you spend your days now, taking tea with mortals?"

Coco blinked at the gnome, baffled. "Oh, hello? I'm C--"

"I did not request your name," noted Horpip in a firm voice. "Be a good horse and mind your place."

Coco shrank a bit, overwhelmed by the rude bluster of it all. "Well, I never," she quietly grumbled to herself. Though she had. Spring had acted much the same, even if they seemed to be working past that.

Spring put a hand between them. "Miss Pommel is my guest. Treat her with the respect she is due."

Horpip seemed surprised at that. "So you admit it? She's a guest, not just... How interesting. How the mighty have fallen so very far indeed. To think, he once looked so fondly on your future potential, to see it all so squandered."

Coco stepped forward with a growing frown. "Stop being so rude! Miss Breeze doesn't deserve that."

Horpip laughed even as Spring became more and more red with fury and shame together. "And now she's defended by the locals. Is there no bottom to this pit?"

With a sputtering cry of defiance, Spring's hands wreathed in angry glows, but Horpip just shook a finger. "We're bound by the same terms. No sorceries on fellow residents."

The energy guttered out with a huff. "Be that as it may, you are not welcome here right now. Leave."

"I shall not intrude where I am not wanted." Horpip turned towards the door. "Have no fear, I will return. There remains too much to settle for me not to, even if you're busy going native."

When he was gone, Spring slammed the door shut and collapsed against it, bitter tears escaping her eyes and her body trembling with impotent fury.

Coco set a hoof gently on one of Spring's legs. "It's alright."

"It isn't alright!" Spring groaned as she turned to face her pony friend. "Do you know who that is?"

Coco didn't, and admitted as much. "No, who is he?"

"Horpip the Magnificent! He was... my peer, under my master. He's everything I... didn't want to be. He stayed, I left, and here he is." She fell to a knee and grabbed Coco's shoulders. "Do you think he's here to drag me back?"

Coco flinched at the sudden grab but shook her head. "We won't let him. Tabitha will protect you too, if you stop acting like you own her." Coco raised a hoof and set it on Spring's heaving chest. "You're becoming a mother, and you deserve the support and protection of your family, all of it." She smiled a little. "That includes the father, if you're willing to accept him as that, instead of a 'wild beast'."

Spring bore her teeth a moment, but there was a certain sense there. "Yes, she is... the Caretaker. If she stands up for me, there's not much he can do about it without making a mess far larger than he would want to make." She pushed up to her feet. "You're right. We can handle this. I'm being emotional. Maybe it's the carrying of life. I just have to remain calm and proceed with what I have."

Coco sat on her haunches, looking up at the elf. "I'll help, however I can, but you really need to stop treating her so poorly."

"Poorly?" Spring raised a brow. "I think you misunderstand something. When I call her a wild beast, it's said as a compliment. I... like her that way. I want her to remain my wild beast. She is no elf, and she never will be, but she's a fine animal, in all that majesty and dominance it can imply. I want her that way. Is that wrong?"

That was a complicated question. There were Tabitha's feelings, and her own feelings, and Spring's feelings too, and that ignored poor Razz Berry. Their family was complicated. Coco smiled despite it. She was set on making it all work out. Generosity. Her idol had used it to great effect against far worse things and far more often. She could make use of it then.

She would be her own hero.

Author's Notes:

Back to updating! Fresh typos! If you didn't read my blog, updates will be WRITTEN Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and posted the day after.