“AAAHH!”
Sonata Dusk woke up screaming, her last moments of joy flashing before her eyes, as they did now almost every night since her sisters and her had been defeated at the accursed battle of the bands. Sitting up in her bed, wrapping the threadbare blanket around herself, it took Sonata a few moments to remember that her sisters had left months ago, each trying to make it on their own once their pendants had broken and they lost their singing voices. Blinking sleepily and shivering in the cold apartment, she looked around and was confronted with the sight of all of her meager belongings piled in the corner of her room. It wasn’t an impressive pile either, just a single box of clothes, another one with cutlery and plates, a single small pot, and a shoulder bag that held her laptop and a few movies. The rest of her room was completely bare, save for the mirror hanging on the wall and the bare mattress she was currently sleeping on.
Sighing, Sonata Dusk stood up and stretched, before wrapping her blanket into a roll and stuffing it in her bag. She opened the door and shuffled out into the hallway, her arms crossed in front of her as she shivered slightly. Looking out the single window in her bathroom she could see the leaves of trees turning orange and red, but she didn’t need to see that to know that autumn was coming; the chill in her tiny apartment was an accurate scale of the time of year.
Washing her face in freezing water was another task Sonata had become accustomed to over these last few months. Rubbing her face in a scratchy towel, she dragged the old cloth to the garbage in the kitchen and threw it out.
“Goodbye, crappy towel.” She stuck her tongue out at it as the lid closed on the bin, before she went back to her room and stacked the boxes on top of one another, and put on her shoulder bag. She hadn’t any need to change clothes, as her last pair of good pyjamas had been ruined last week and she had been sleeping in her clothes since.
Looking at her now frazzled and unkempt hair in the mirror she couldn’t help but sigh. Although she would have loved to take it with her, the mirror neither belonged to her nor did she have any way to carry it adequately. Plus it had a large crack running along the bottom, and if she was seen hauling a broken mirror around people would think she was crazy, on top of thinking she was homeless. Putting her hand up to the mirror and gently touching her reflections’ face she sighed. “Goodbye, crappy mirror.”
Gathering her things at the door, she took one last look around her meager apartment that she had called home for the last three months and then at the eviction notice pinned to the outside of the door. Tearing it down, she stuck her tongue out once again and muttered, “Goodbye, crappy landlord.”
Picking up her boxes, she left her apartment keys on the kitchen counter and stepped out into the hall, closing the door behind her. Her two boxes weren’t large enough to obstruct her vision, and were actually quite easy to carry, another sad reminder of how far she’d fallen. Stepping out of the building, she didn’t turn to look back anymore and went to sit at the bus stop.
“Goodbye, crappy apartment. Hello broken-er dreams and a box under a bridge.”
Waiting for a few minutes in the gloomy autumn morning, Sonata couldn’t help but pull out her wallet again and check the contents, something she’d been doing an awfully large amount as of late. The sight of three fives and a twenty greeted her and she stuffed it back into her bag before any more bad luck could come and try and snatch it away. Instead she pulled out the tiny, hand-printed flyer which was her last beacon of hope in her desperate time.
Staring at the tiny handwriting on the regular piece of paper, she managed to make out the writing.
Need a place to stay? Out of cash? Don’t mind unusual roommates? Well then come down for a look at your brand new life at Minnie’s Monstrous Mansion! Cheap, reasonable rent, somewhat peaceful and quiet neighbors, and free weekend entertainment to boot! 666 Canterclock Road SW. Inquire within. No Solicitors. Yes I’m talking about you, Jim.
As she finished reading the scrap of paper, the sound of a bus pulling up to the stop pulled her attention away from the flyer, and with a small grumble, she stuffed it in her pocket and picked up her boxes, stepping onto the bus and using the absolute last of her change to pay for her ticket. She now had, in addition to her thirty-five dollars, thirteen cents. Not exactly a lucky number, or at least that’s what humans said. Taking her seat next to a fat man reading a newspaper, she couldn’t help but wonder what caused such superstitions among them.
The bus ride was long, and she had to switch to another bus halfway through the trip that would take her to the proper street, and by the time Sonata had stepped off of it and back onto the street in the heart of downtown Canterlot, it had started to rain, putting a damper on her already terrible day.
The howling wind didn’t help her case much, and the smaller box with her pot and plates in it threatened to blow over twice, nearly falling to the ground and smashing its contents all over the rain-slicked street right then and there. By the time she reached the buildings with the six hundreds however, she had exited the very busy downtown area and was now in the slightly less busy but still respectably busy ring area that mainly had apartments for a few blocks all the way around the downtown proper. She was busy bowing her head against the wind when she heard a commotion up ahead.
Blanching, she recognized seven familiar, all-too familiar, faces, attached to seven familiar bodies that ran down the sidewalk towards her. They were too far away, and she was wearing different clothes, with her hair done up in a bun to hide some of its messy, tangles mass, so it was impossible that they’d recognized her, and yet the Rainbooms were clearly pointing in her direction-
Turning her head to the side where the pink one was pointing, Sonata noticed that she was walking right by a large café, inside of which many patrons warmed up over hot coffee, or else ducked in simply to avoid the rain. Looking back at the girls, she saw them break into a run and her eyes darted around for a place to hide. Seeing a large, slightly run-down looking condo building next to the café, she bolted for it in the hopes she could make it inside before the Rainbooms recognized her. Running up to the door and shivering in the cold rain, she balanced her boxes on her knee with one hand while she used the other to pull open the door and dart inside.
Gasping for breath, she looked back through the glass door and saw the seven friends run obliviously past and head into the café, no doubt to spend their oodles of money on many hot and delicious food item-
Sonata growled and shook her head, banishing the thoughts from her mind, before screaming loudly and jumping as a high-pitched, childlike voice spoke behind her in the dark entry room.
“Well are you going to just stand there or-”
“Aahh!”
“- come inside properly. You can’t just stand in the doorway, other people may need to get in or out.”
Whirling around, her eyes darted all over the tiny entryway, trying to find the owner of the voice, before she looked down and screamed once more. A small furry… thing was poking its head out from behind the second set of doors and she jumped back, fully expecting it to be some sort of rabid badger. Did Canterlot have badgers? Maybe not, she never remembered seeing any, but this thing looked kind of like one, not that she’d had one to compare it with and-
“-getting to you at all? Miss? Helloooo?” The small creature was waving some sort of soft furry paw at her, beckoning her inside, “Can you please stop screaming? There’s really no need for it. Now please, either come in or step back outside, but please don’t block the door.”
Dumbfounded at how a what-she-hoped-was-a-badger was talking to her, she finally quieted down and concluded that perhaps all the anime she’d watched had been preparing her for this moment, and steeled herself as she nodded and followed the creature farther into the building. She didn’t know what compelled her to do it, whether it was from fear, courage, stupidity, or the need to drive the story forward, she’d never figure out, but one thing she did figure out upon stepping after the strange creature into the building’s foyer, was that the strange little furry animal she had first mistaken to be a badger was anything but.
It walked on two legs and came up to her waist, and looked like some sort of crazy cross between a cat, a rabbit, and a squirrel, with solid grey fur and black eyes with two tiny white pinpoints for pupils. Strangely, the foyer they stepped into was also lit and well-decorated, and as the creature jumped straight up four feet and landed on a desk it handed a slip of paper to her.
“You must be Miss Dusk, am I correct? Yes, today is the day, very good. Now, I’m sure you’d like to get a look at your place before you agree to anything, and we can do that right now-”
Sonata, however, wasn’t listening to a word he said. The slip of paper the crazy cat creature had handed her was the same as the one in her pocket, with the same greeting and address on it. Looking up to the grey animal, she tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.
“Wait, wait, wait, how do you know my name? And this is Minnie’s Monstrous Mansion? Are you Minnie?”
The unusual creature nodded slowly to every one of her questions before answering. “Yes, yes, I’m Minnie, this is the mansion, and I know your name because the flyer in your pocket was addressed to you. Simple as that.”
Seeing the confused look on her face, the creature, who she now knew was Minnie, jumped down after grabbing a key from its desk and gently tugged on the hem of Sonata’s skirt, shaking her out of her stupor.
“What, you think just anyone can come live here? Oh dimensions, no! The flyers, and well, the whole building as well, can only be seen by anything that has an invitation. You were given the flyer as an invitation to come live here, and so you were able to see and enter it. Now, down to business, I believe you are currently looking for a place to live, yes?”
Sonata, unable to comprehend what the hell was going on here and just how fast things were progressing, just nodded dumbly and allowed the fuzzy owner to put its paw in her hand and lead her deeper into the establishment. It led her to an elevator, chattering away all the while.
“Listen, I understand this might be a bit much to take all in at once, but how about this, you can have the first night completely free! It is a bit large of a prospect to move into somewhere new, I understand that, so spend one night here completely free of charge and then we can talk in the morning, see how well you like it and if you decide to stay, alright?”
Sonata was trying not to scream again. This was the most bizarre situation she’d ever found herself, bar none, and worst of all, she was completely alone with this unknown animal-looking condo owner and she had no previous experience to go off of in this type of situation, nor did she have the help and support of her sisters to think it through for her. As such, she could have sworn there was smoke curling from her ears as she tried to figure out her next step.
As it turned out, the elevator stopped at that very moment, and Sonata’s next step was into a dark oak hallway with a lush red carpet underfoot, and candelabras in wall mounts providing the illumination. As they passed several doors on each side, Minnie made a very rude hand gesture with his paws at an ice sculpture that was set in an alcove. The ice sculpture in question seemed to have been made with the same rude gesture in mind as it was currently flipping off the hallway with both hands. Staring at the sculpture for a few seconds, Sonata could have sworn it was lightly shaking, but quickly hurried to catch up to the short creature that had stopped a few doors down.
“Don’t mind the ice sculpture, he’s rude to everyone. Now this here can be your apartment. Good old 413. If you want to stay after tonight, this will be your living space, home sweet home and all that, yeah?” Tapping its foot somewhat impatiently, Minnie stuck the key into the lock and turned it. To Sonata’s credit, she didn’t scream this time, but she did jump back, as the door had suddenly vanished, leaving the frame completely empty.
Stepping through the doorframe and proving that was indeed nothing there now, Minnie gestured to the interior as Sonata cautiously followed. “Now you can see here, it’s got quite the nice living room, with a slightly offset kitchen, but you also have a large bedroom and a full bath. Plus! Each unit comes with its own washer and dryer! No need to use a coin-operated washing machine! They don’t work well with some of the guests we have staying with us…”
Smiling happily and showing off rows upon rows of tiny, needle-like teeth, Minnie handed the key to her and spoke very quickly, explaining a few of the utilities. “What we have in this building are known as anti-entrance door systems. The door will only open with the key there, and of course, my master key. Also, the room comes with basic furnishings, courtesy of the establishment: a table, a mattress, one rickety chair, and a desk lamp. If there’s anything else you need, please don’t hesitate to ask myself or any of the other staff members.”
With a short bow, the creature tossed the key to Sonata and bolted out the doorway, after which, the door reappeared.
Sonata Dusk, former Dazzling member and evil siren of Equestria, simply stared at the door that the little creature had left through, key in hand, and spoke the only thing that was constantly running through her head.
“What?”
Sonata slowly put her boxes on the ground in the middle of the room and looked around warily, wondering when her life had taken such a turn for the strange and supernatural. Because that’s what it was, what it had to be.
There was no way talking rodents and vanishing doors were a part of normal life, or at least, not as long as she’d been living among humans.
Scratching her head, she looked back at the key in her hand and furrowed her brow. If she was truly going to get the chance at a new place to live, she wanted to be sure she wasn’t hallucinating. If this was anything like all those times she’d eaten plants that Aria had told her not to eat and she was really just laying on the sidewalk and frothing at the mouth then she needed to make sure.
Steeling herself, the siren walked up to the door and pushed against it gently.
It didn’t budge.
Grabbing the key in her hand and jamming it in the lock, she twisted it and instantly the door vanished, leaving her holding the key in the air. Experimentally, she waved her key around, now that it was free to move in any direction, and felt no resistance from any kind of invisible door that might have been lurking there.
Squinting, she poked her head back out into the hall and looked down towards the elevators. Nothing was out there and the world hadn’t devolved into a kaleidoscope of colors and sounds, so she could probably check the mental “not hallucinating” box in her head.
Stepping back into the apartment she watched as the door popped back into existence once she was a half-dozen steps inside, with nary a sound or even a rush of wind to signal its return to reality.
“This is getting really weird…” Sonata mumbled, as she raised an eyebrow. Taking a tentative step forward again, she found herself once more at the door, and this time she slammed her shoulder into it, trying to see if it would disappear.
The door, of course, stayed exactly where it was, rooted in reality for the time being.
“Ow, okay, stupid idea.” As the siren rubbed her sore shoulder and started looking back at the bare apartment, she noticed a small table in the corner of the room next to what was indeed a very rickety-looking wooden chair.
Walking over to the furniture with a tension that suggested the table might come to life and attack her at any moment, she was pleased to discover that the furniture didn’t seem to have any sort of supernatural effects.
Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the kitchen, which was separated from the main room only by an island that was so close to one wall that Sonata wondered why the builders had even bothered to keep it separate.
Opening the fridge showed a cold an empty interior, although with a delightful lack of leftover vegetables that her old place was often wont to have. The dials on the stove worked, and the oven, also unlike her old apartment, was clean and free of burned foodstuffs.
Raising her eyebrow higher, Sonata Dusk allowed herself a smile. If this was all real and she hadn’t lost her mind, then this new place was starting to feel like a miracle that had fallen into her lap. She just hoped she could afford the rent somehow.
Thinking back to her wallet and the few meager dollars she had wiped the smile off her face once more and replaced her hope with a low feeling that she couldn’t quite place.
Her trip to the bathroom didn’t help. Yeah, the toilet flushed with no problem, and there were even three complimentary rolls of toilet paper, but if she couldn’t afford the place then she’d be back to trying to find a place to live tomorrow when Minnie came back in the morning. Although this had been her last hope, so if anything, she’d be out on the street instead of having time to look for anyplace else.
Wandering over to the bedroom, she saw a bare mattress sitting in one corner with a small lamp next to it on the ground, the plug next to a wall socket. Flipping the switch by the door a bare bulb in the middle of the ceiling cheerfully sprang to life, throwing shadows away from the corners of the room and into the folds of the curtains on the right wall.
Giving a small sigh as she was reminded of the apartment she had left just this morning, Sonata crossed over to the curtains and threw them open, seeing the rain coming down hard on the street outside while raindrops battered on the glass. Looking down, she realized she was almost on the corner of the building right next to the café she had seen on her way here, and the siren noticed as seven familiar figures once again stepped out of the building and onto the street, crossing in front of a large blue pickup that nearly didn’t stop in time.
Clenching her fists, Sonata hung her head, realizing it was too much to hope Sunset and her friends would get run over for what they had done to the ex-Dazzling and her sisters.
Her mood thoroughly soured by the inevitability of having to leave and the fact that her arch-enemies were still living their lives happily as though nothing bad could ever happen, Sonata was completely unprepared for what she saw when she checked out the bedroom closet as the last stop on her little apartment tour.
Yanking the door open angrily, the Siren found herself face-to-face with a skull and jumped back, eyes wide as she tried to process what she was seeing.
Taking a step backwards, she realized there was an entire human skeleton leaning against the wall of the closet, old bones only partially bleached with age. Her pupils contracted to pinpricks as she took another step back, and another.
Heart hammering in her chest, Sonata kept a wary eye on the old corpse in the closet until she tripped on something and all reasoning left her mind.
Falling backwards, the lonely siren let out a piercing wail until she landed. Strangely her fall didn’t hurt, but the stress of the whole day, cumulating with seeing what she assumed was the previous tenant, caused her eyes to roll up and her brain to shut down.