Tabitha looked over some sheets of paper the repair crew had given her. They'd been busy, and confused. "Leave those wires alone," she decided.

The pegasus tilted his head a bit. "They don't seem to do anything! Are you certain, ma'am?"

They were the remnants of wires that helped get the building internet. If they ever regained access, said wires would need to be replaced... "They're not hurting anything, right?"

"Well, no, not exactly."

"Pretend they aren't there. The rest of this looks good. Thank you all for being on top of it." She surrendered her signature and some bits for their work. They were expensive, but proving worth it. She hadn't felt so good about her building in a while. "Come back after the con's over so we can get to work on the internals."

"Yes ma'am!" The pegasus grabbed the bits and the signed paper with two swipes of his wings before dashing off.

"Look, look, there she is!" exclaimed a unicorn tenant. Her friends came to look, but they only saw a mildly bemused pegasus. "What? Don't you see her?"

"See what?" asked an earth pony mare as she rolled her eyes. "Sorry to bother you, ma'am."

Tabitha nodded at the pony even as the unicorn looked all the more harried. "But... she's right there."

"The pegasus?"

A male unicorn shook his head. "Really sorry to bother you."

The female clopped her hoof on the floor. "Look! I don't know how they do it, but if you stay here, you can see it." She marched towards Tabitha. "I can see it."

Tabitha held up a hand. "Hold it right there. You don't need to prove anything, just enjoy what you have."

She snorted. "But I want them to see it!" She reached out to poke Tabitha, but she hopped back, knocking her chair back and avoiding any contact. "Hold still. Look, if I touch your human parts then..."

She was grabbed by the earth pony. "That's enough of that. We love you, and that means we don't want you arrested. That'd be a sucky way to remember Bipedcon."

The unicorn stallion tipped his hat that looked like a minotaur's head, with his horn serving as an awkward horn. "We'll get out of your way, Miss. Thanks."

They left, one of them complaining. but they were gone. Tabitha got her seat back in place and settled down in time for a new sort of pony to enter. She had long limbs, taller than those around her. She had a regal stance and aura to her, and her eyes were... angular? It was as if her eyes were made of gems, and the rest of her seemed faintly shimmering as well. "Hello," she said. "I require lodging. You are the caretaker, are you not?"

That word... Only one other person had used it to describe her. "I'm the owner, yes. Are you with the con? We're all out of rooms."

"I am not with any convention you are aware of." She raised a fine brow at Tabitha. "Let us dispense with frivolities. You are the Caretaker. I would rather us be allies. I require lodging."

Tabitha tensed. She was speaking to another monster, even if the word was patently unfair. She knew she was speaking to no pony, despite how equine she appeared. "I wasn't lying. I rented all my rooms for the weekend."

"The week's end? I was informed this is a place of enduring residence. Was I misinformed? You are the Caretaker, are you not?" She approached a step. "I require lodging. This is not optional. Ah..." She suddenly relaxed. "You wish for payment, perhaps more than first intended. Very shrewd... Very well, procure me lodging and I will grant any one boon, if it is within my means to grant."

Was she just bribed with a literal wish? Tabitha stood up, shaking a little. "You wouldn't want to be here if I skimped on rental agreements, I imagine."

"This is true."

"Then know that I am speaking the truth. Seriously, we're all booked up."

"The situation doesn't change." She leaned forward, her slender neck holding her head close. "Find me lodging."

The pony, or what pretended to be a pony, had that unnerving glare of something beyond even that world of magic. Saying an outright no would have consequences, the sort she didn't want. "Look, what if you stayed with me for a few days, then we'll get you settled into a room of your own?"

The monster suddenly smiled. "This is acceptable, caretaker. We will share lodgings then. You will find I am an agreeable sort, so long as the basics are seen to. I imagine you do not have the food I require. Give me the access to our shared room and I will begin bringing it in."

Tabitha fished out a second key to her own apartment. She hadn't needed two keys since her parents... She gave the key to the stranger, and things changed.

She was standing on two legs. She had pointed ears and was... shapely. She was an elf, the kind of elf that people drew lusty art about in their blogs. She had icy eyes that still shone like gems. She was roommates with a real elf. "Ah, a human," spoke the elf. "This is quite a pleasure. Our people can get along quite well." She didn't seem surprised that Tabitha had changed, only what she had turned into. "We will speak later. Ah, I'm being rude. My name translates roughly to Spring Breeze. You may address me as Spring, as befits a person who shares lodging. I hope we will become good allies."

Spring left as Tabitha sank into her chair, rattled, but not entirely in a bad way. "I'm roomies with an elf, and she's stacked." If Tabitha was going to be suddenly living with someone, she could think of far worse than a seemingly polite and eye-pleasing elf of all things.

Tabitha thought back to the pony she first saw. Was that what ponies would think was an enchanting figure? Something exotic but with all the right shapes to make the heart flutter? Not that Tabitha swung that way! She shook her head violently. She wasn't a carpet muncher! Well, she... wasn't much of anything really. She wasn't a virgin, but she never really got into any of that for very long...

"Oh god, I'm considering going gay for an elf..."

"Tabby?" Razz poked his head in, reminding her that there were males that found her captivating. Equine males. "Can I take the day off?"

Tabitha blinked out of her distraction. "What for?"

"I want to find a job."

The confusion only deepened. "You're taking a day off work to find work?"

"Look, this... You're doing it to be nice, and I appreciate it, but I should find a real job." He flashed a bright smile. "I'll stand on my own hooves."

She returned the gesture, feeling lighter in her chest. "Go then. Spread those wings of yours and soar. God, listen to me, being so flowery. Seriously, go, and get a job you'll be happy with. Just don't let your 'friends' drag you down, alright?"

He backed away, ready to flee. "I'll get something good, you'll see!"

Tabitha frowned faintly at where Razz once stood. The way he said that sounded like he wanted to impress her. She'd be happy if he had a job to pay his way without her doing it, but impressed? That'd be harder...

She put a few fingers to her temples as it struck her plainly. He still lusted for her, in all the right and wrong ways. "He's a horse!" she complained to the empty room, and her words seemed just as empty in a sense. The fact that he was a pony didn't change much. His poor attitude and place in life meant more, but he was trying to fix that. She smiled a little, wishing him luck. Was she attracted to him at all?

She shook her head more slowly. Fair or not, she hadn't even looked at horses that way. If he was literally... as hung as a horse, that would... "What am I even thinking?" She banished all such thoughts of the mating habits of humans and equines and rose from her chair.

Tabitha emerged to see Spring moving with a heavy-looking satchel full of unknown things. She had it on her back and was waiting for the elevator. Idling, Spring noticed Tabitha entering. "Hail, Caretaker. I will be mindful to not damage your possessions."

That was good, or so Tabitha quickly decided as she looked over the elf. Damn she was a looker. "I have a guest room I usually just stuff whatever into. Take that for now."

"Agreeable." She stepped into the elevator and was soon gone from sight.

Tabitha stepped out into the fresh air of the street. It was early afternoon and she stretched out wide, relieved that she was handling things as well as she was, and just in need for a good --

"Watch it." A pony glared at her despite standing some distance away and walking past her with some grumbling.

How had Tabitha bothered them from so far away? The answer came to her easily. Her wings, fake as they were, must have stretched with the rest of her. "Ah ha." She got an idea and marched down to the nearest pony department store.

It was like watching an old time documentary with so many old things offered as new and exciting, except the one thing she wanted. "Excuse me." She stopped a mare from rushing past. "I'm looking for the camcorders."

"What?"

"You know, you hold them up and they record what someone's doing?"

"You mean cameras?" She smiled hopefully. "We have a selection of cameras. The newest ones even have an automatic focus! They're really quite remarkable. Would you like to see them?"

That would have to do. "Sure, show me those."

"Just this way." The mare got to trotting with a smile. "Now, for a pegasus, you'll probably want something rugged and wind resistant. We have just the thing..."

Tabitha was not a pegasus! She wondered a moment if there really was an Easy Glider, and if they would be annoyed at this human taking over their life and building. "I'll be mostly taking pictures from the ground, on a tripod if you have one."

"Ah, alright." The salesmare reached with her magic and plucked a particular model off a row of others. "You may want to look at this, ma'am. Assuming good light, it practically takes care of the rest on its own!"

So could her smartphone, in theory, but she wanted a pony device, not a human one. "Fascinating. How much would such a wondrous device set back someone?"

The enthusiasm of the salesmare dimmed faintly. "If price is a concern, we may want to start with--"

"I don't care how rich I get, I want to know how much I'm spending. I have bits."

"Oh, well." She forced a smile. "This one goes for a thousand bits." She must have seen Tabitha's reaction to the price. "We do have great layaway options available."

That would be a heavy hit on her bits. "How does layaway work?" That was from before her time. She had a credit card... that was almost assuredly no good in horse land.

"Oh, that's easy! You pay at least ten percent up front, then once you pay off the value of the item, you can come pick it up. Paying up front means there'll be one put away just for you, waiting for you to have the full amount paid."

"There's no fee for that?"

The salesmare seemed surprised at the idea. "That's not a bad idea, but no. We just do it for the good of our customers. Still, if you don't pay at least five percent a month, we reserve the right to cancel the layaway and set the item back out. You lose the funds you paid in that case, ma'am."

Firm, but fair. Considering she heard no mention of fees or interest, she didn't see the downside to it, besides not having the camera right away. "I'll take it, on layaway. I'll pay about a third now, three hundred bits. I'll have more after the weekend's over."

"Of course, ma'am, just this way." The salesmare guided Tabitha over to a department that seemed devoted to layaways, and the form-filling began.

Author's Notes:

Things are going on! This much plot development may result in typos.