Days had passed since Kyle crashed his car and nearly died. He did retrieve the groceries from the totaled vehicle and call his insurance company to file a claim, which they provided a decent level of coverage for. But overall, Kyle managed to achieve a full recovery from the incident. However... the same could not be said for Lyra.

Since she had been in the icy weather for too long, Lyra woke up with a cold on the following morning. She had a fever of roughly one-hundred and one degrees Fahrenheit. Kyle gave her the bed, and got her some extra blankets since she said she was having chills. Given how high her temperature was, it was recommended in these scenarios to give an anti-fever medication, but he could not do so. For one thing, the medicine he had was made for human consumption, which meant that there was the risk of having it do more harm than good for Lyra.

Really, all he could do was give her cool water to drink, as well as healthy foods and tea, and just hope for the best.

Lyra lay in the bed sleeping, her face flushed and her eyes closed as she let out periodic whimpers. For Kyle, it was like a shard of glass through his heart to see her so sick, to see her suffering the way she was. He felt like he was going to cry.

"Just try and hold on, Lyra..." Kyle said in a quiet tone, placing a hand on her forehead. "...you'll be okay..."

Not sure about what else to do, Kyle decided he would head to the drugstore to purchase something that could help her get better more quickly. He figured aromatherapy could work. He just hoped Lyra could be alright without him, since she was going to be on her own for about an hour.

Kyle drove off to the drugstore, and picked up some Eucalyptus oil and a small vaporizer to set on the end table next to the bed. As always, he was grateful that his internet artist persona was anonymous, so he would not have to worry about being swarmed by fans whenever he went out in public.

He began his drive back to the house, but decided to take a scenic route since he had not been gone for even thirty minutes, and since it has been a few days since he really drove anywhere. While he was driving, something entered his mind that he had not thought about for a long while.

Kyle happened to recall that he had not seen MLP ever since he found Lyra. Granted, he did not see every single episode there was at the time, but it has still been a long time since he actually sat down to watch it. From what he knew, the series ended back in 2019 with nine seasons and a movie released in 2017, but the show was still being aired in reruns, as well as the movie on TV. However, the reruns were set to end soon. Overall, though, the fandom has pretty much died down. There were not very many bronies left on the internet, from what he could observe. It seems that the fourth-generation MLP has reached the end of its life. He had also happened to read rumors about a Spike the Dragon spinoff show that would be coming soon, but he was not exactly sure what it was called. Still, it hyped him sufficiently to be interested; Spike has been one of his favorite non-pony characters.

In any case, he continued his drive back to his house in order to help Lyra get better. On the drive back, he happened to pass by the Kroger store that he used to work at. It was still there... and of course, still as nightmarishly busy as it has always been. He figured that he had some unfinished business to settle...

Out of sheer impulse, he pulled into the Kroger parking lot, and spend a bit of time searching for a parking place. Eventually, he did find one, and proceeded to head inside of the store, not to buy anything, but to get something off his chest... something he wanted to tell all of these irrational people since day one...

He found the inside to be swarming with customers, and began to have flashbacks about his time working there. He was still annoyed with people who felt entitled, or who assumed that the clerks like to work there (often with comments like "Hey, it's busy, so it's fun and makes the time go by faster!" or "You won't find other jobs better than this one!" Kyle found these people to be an absolute joke).

"Kyle! Hey, how are ya!?" said Brad, his supervisor who always had a stupid smile and overly-pleasant attitude.

Shit... not Brat. Kyle thought. But... I suppose I'll give him a piece of my mind. Besides, he's pissed me off on various occasions.

"Where've you been? It's been less exciting with you gone since you quit!" Brad said.

Kyle paused for a moment. "...I've gotten a new job." He said.

Brad looked a little disappointed. "Oh... well, that's good, I suppose."

Damn straight, it's good. Kyle thought.

"Hey, have you heard? I'm getting married!" Brad said.

Kyle raised a brow. "...Why should I care, exactly?" he asked.

Brad frowned. "Aren't ya gonna congratulate me?"

"I don't see why I should..." Kyle said.

"Well..." Brad began. "...that's not very nice."

Kyle folded his arms. "I've been going through... some tough times. Do you expect me to be all fine-and-dandy?"

Brad nodded. "Yeah! I mean, really, when is there ever a reason not to smile and be happy?" he asked.

Oh, I don't know... maybe when you are EXPLOITED FOR WHAT PEOPLE BELIEVE TO BE YOUR STRENGTHS! Kyle thought.

"Well, never mind." Kyle said. "Subject change?"

"Well, anyways, have you thought about coming back to work with us again?" Brad asked. "We would really appreciate it. Besides, weren't you happy working here?"

Now that he no longer worked here, Kyle did not have to keep his act up.

"Honestly... no. I did not enjoy this place." he said.

Brad looked dumbstruck. "Why not? This is a great place full of great people! Why wouldn't you wanna work here?"

“My days here are over.” Kyle said. “I'm now a commission artist, and I paint for a living. I'm basically retired.”

“Kyle, c'mon...” Brad said. “...we really need you to come back. From what it sounds like, you aren't that busy, and clearly need something to do. I'll arrange for you to have a job as a front-end clerk, like how it was before you quit.”

“I quit for a reason!” Kyle said. “I wanted to pursue what I believe in! Isn't that what you want?”

“It's what I'm doing! I like making people smile by giving them the best shopping experience! What could be better than that?” Brad said.

Kyle narrowed his eyes in an unamused way. "...Drowning... starving... bleeding... anything of that sort, really." he said. "See, all these ignorant people... they don't deserve good service in return for bad conduct. I personally won't continue commission work if the client is irate with me!"

"What!?" Brad said. "Ignorant? Why would you say that? Do you know what you're even saying? These people are the ones making your paycheck possible."

"...At my detriment, and everyone else's, too!" Kyle retaliated. "Forcing a smile... taking a bunch of shit from people... you have NO IDEA how stressful it was for me..."

"What's going on over here?" Rosa, the front-end manager said as she came over to see what was up.

Brad turned towards her. "Kyle's back, and he's bad-mouthing our company."

"Really?" Rosa asked Kyle. "Why would you do this? We gave you a great career opportunity, and now you're just throwing it all away like it was nothing?"

Kyle glared. "Because I never WANTED to work here! My stepfather forced me to get a job, and I applied to several places before I could land this job! It's not something I was taking seriously!"

Several customers began to stop and watch what was happening with Kyle making his speech.

"I even offered a chance for him to come back..." Brad said. "...but he's just throwing away another great opportunity."

“I'd rather bathe in a septic tank than work in this shithole again!” Kyle proclaimed.

“You keep this up, and you can consider this bridge burned!” Rosa said. “You are ruining our company image in front of customers!”

“I don't care!” Kyle retaliated. “I don't need this bridge, because I've made more money in less than a year than you have ever paid me, and it's still coming in! And you think I give any damns about Kroger!? I am a famous internet artist! I bet I have more money than any of you! I'm fed up with the fact that you, and everyone else around here, have taken advantage of me for far too long!”

"Take advantage of you...? What are you even talking about? We just ask you to do your job." Rosa said.

Kyle shook his head. "No... you were giving unrealistic demands that could not be completed in the time provided." he said.

"It's not unrealistic! If it was, how else would I have been working here for the past twenty years?" Rosa asked.

Kyle stopped, rubbed his chin while examining Rosa... and formed an evil smile.

“I can see it now... it's all very clear to me...” Kyle began. “...you had no choice but to take this job. You had no chance of rising any higher, which is why you have been here for nearly the past twenty years. You were born with nothing, so you've had to struggle your way to where you are now, just barely clinging on to what little you have..."

Whispering started among the surrounding customers, who were all very confused.

"KYLE!" Brad shouted, now very furious. "Enough of this!"

Rosa raised her voice, like she usually did: "You get out of my sight right this instant!"

“Fuck off! All of you!” Kyle said.

Rosa glared. “How would you like to be shown to the door!?” she said, angrily.

Kyle glared back. “How would you like to blow my cock!?”

Everyone listening gasped.

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME!?” Rosa shouted.

“Did I stutter? I said...” Kyle began, before completely losing it. “...HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO BLOW MY COCK, YOU OLD CUNT!?”

Rosa stood there with her ever-angry glare, and her jaw hung low.

“...Get out, NOW!” Rosa said, pointing to the front entrance. “If you were still working here, you'd be fired!”

“Good!” Kyle said. “I hate this place! I hate Kroger! I HATE ALL OF YOU SHITHEAD SUPERVISORS!”

Despite angry lectures from the managers and observing customers, Kyle stormed out of the store, and rushed back to his car, started it up, and drove out of the parking lot as quickly as he could. On the way back, his mind was racing, but he eventually regained his rational thinking.

Okay... MAYBE I got a little carried away... Kyle thought. ...scratch that; a LOT carried away. But... it was totally worth it! Serves them right for abusing and exploiting me!

It would definitely make sense from as astrological standpoint. Kyle's Zodiac Sign was Scorpio; it makes sense that he was creative, but expected absolute fairness. A popular phrase from this standpoint that's been floating around on the internet was "Don't mess with the Scorpio," and Kyle found that the statement couldn't be any more true.

In any case, he returned home in order to give the aromatherapy to Lyra. She was still asleep, just like how she was before he left. He pour some of the Eucalyptus oil into the vaporizer, turned it on, and set it next to Lyra. In about a minute, a pleasant but sharp aroma filled the air. Hopefully, it would help her to feel a little bit better.

Even though he has always been glad Lyra was around to comfort him... he just couldn't shake a strange feeling that he had. It felt as if his time with her was running out...

Author's Note

Again, sorry with the waiting, but it's finals week in school and I have a boatload of projects and exams. But always remember that I do care about all you loyal fans, and I want to continue to provide stories for you. So, that's it for now!