Author's Note

My inspiration while writing this story is the Save Theme from Resident Evil 7. You can check it out here, if you want to hear it for yourself. I'd highly recommend listening to it while reading the story for the full immersion.

1 - One Rainy Day

I barely noticed the chime that rang aloud as a walked inside the small, dingy café. Though I suppose calling it dingy was a bit harsh, considering it was the most presentable looking building on the block, the rest either riddled with graffiti or completely abandoned. That being said, there was a lot left to be desired.

The paint on the walls had aged and the paintings that hung around said walls were crooked and cracked, depicting scenes that you'd never see in this slum hole of a city, ranging from scenes of Canterlot Palace to the rural countryside.

That'd be a nice change of pace, wouldn't it?

I ignored the nagging thought in the back of my mind and took a deep breath, surprised at how much cleaner the air was inside. It smelled of freshly-brewed coffee rather than the abhorrent combination of asphalt, nicotine and formaldehyde. I slowly trotted over to a booth near a window overlooking the city block and sat down, trying my best not to pick a seat completely littered with garbage.

Everypony in this city is a Celestia-damned animal.

Recalling the events of the past week brought up nothing but frustration and anxiety. I was laid off from my job about halfway through the week because of "budgeting issues" and my former landlord decided he was fed up with me not being able to keep up with my rent. Of course I couldn't, renting a box in this city would cost more than I'd earn in a year.

I sighed and glanced down at the droplets of water hitting a window pane, it had started raining.

How cliché.

The sound of the chime ringing out once more hadn't registered in my mind as I continued my act of self-loathing. I knew that this wouldn't get me anywhere, slobbering over my situation and feeling sorry for myself, but I wasn't inclined to be very ambitious at the moment. I barely had enough money saved up to last two days in this city without working to make it up.

My train of thought was interrupted by a creme-colored mare approaching my booth, her expression sheepish and uncertain. "H-hello, would it be too much t-trouble if I sat here? It's rather crowded."

I raised an eyebrow at her and gave a quick glance around the room, there were more than enough seats to spare and the place wasn't even half full, but I indulged her. She was quite pretty, after all.

"Sure."

The mare gave a quick sigh of relief as she sat down. Her eyes shifted towards mine, and it seemed like she had something to say, but she couldn't quite muster the courage to say it. Luckily the awkward silence didn't last very long as a waitress had soon approached our table, I didn't wait for her to ask us what we wanted.

"Coffee please. Black, no sugar."

The waitress nodded and scribbled it in her little notepad, then gestured towards the mare in front of me.

"Oh! Uh, coffee as well please, cream and sugar."

The waitress soon departed and left us in that same awkward silence. To my surprise, the mare in front of me actually decided to try breaking the ice.

"I don't think I really know anypony that takes their coffee black," she said hesitantly, not sure if saying such a thing would somehow offend me.

"I don't," I say, "Or at least I didn't used to, not until living here. I figured out I liked the stronger taste, and it made me appreciate the flavor of the coffee itself, not the extra shit they add in it."

I watched her visibly flinch as I swore, "D-do you like it here? Living in the city?"

I gave her a huff of annoyance, slouching back and breaking eye contact, "Do I look like I like living here?"

"N-No, I guess not," she mumbled.

The waitress arrived with our coffee a few moments later. I drank mine slowly, savoring its bitter taste, trying my best to ignore the mare in front of me.

I knew that I was being unreasonably rude to her, and that my tone was uncalled for, but my judgement wasn't exactly as clear as it could have been. I almost loathed her, she was attractive, vibrant and ambitious. I assumed she had a stable career and loving coltfriend at home, why was she wasting her time with the likes of me?

She attempted to start talking again, "I saw you through the café window."

I gave her a deadpan look as I sipped my coffee, "That's not something a pony says unless they want to sound like a stalker," I responded.

She blushed profusely and attempted to backtrack, "N-no t-that's not what I meant!"

She's adorable when she's blushing, albeit clumsy with her words.

"Then what did you mean, miss?" I inquired. She had my attention now, despite her near self-induced anxiety attack.

She cleared her throat as her embarrassment began to dissipate, shuffling the red ascot around her neck, "Please, call me Coco. And to explain your question, I saw how lonely you looked through the window and thought you might appreciate the company."

I felt my expression sour, "Ponies with no one to talk to tend to look rather lonely, Coco."

She smiled a bit to my chagrin, "You can talk to me, if you want."

I sighed again for what was probably the hundredth time that week, "I'd hate to be rude Coco, but I hardly know you that well. Don't you have better things to be doing anyway? Or other ponies to be talking to, like a coltfriend maybe?"

It was true that I was never that good with mares, but that didn't mean I never tried, I was just always shot down. It wasn't really my intention to woo Coco or anything like that, I just wanted to see if my suspicions were correct.

To my surprise, they weren't.

She fake-fanned herself as the blush re-ignited on her face, "W-who m-me? Nonsense! I don't have a coltfriend."

"Could've fooled me," I said with a small smirk on my face.

When did I become so damn smooth? Maybe that's just the byproduct of sheer apathy.

The blush didn't leave her face as she mumbled something incoherent. I laughed audibly, unable to help myself.

I can't even remember the last time I laughed, how sad is that?

"Listen," I continued, this time with a smile on my face, "I appreciate that you care about me, not many ponies do, but you can't really help me with my situation. It's a bit more complicated than you think."

"What do you mean? How is it complicated?" Coco responded, finally regaining her composure.

I bit my lip, I was the one who felt uncomfortable this time, "I lost my job and my apartment in the span of a week. I barely have enough bits to last me a couple of days here in Manehattan. I'd take a train out of here to try someplace different, but I don't know where I'd start, not to mention the reaction I'd get from my parents. They don't even know my situation yet."

She winced at the detail of my response, "That bad?"

I nodded, "I'm not sure where I could find work in that time span, but I guess I'll have to put my nose to the grindstone. It won't be that bad I guess, I've stayed in shady motels before."

Her mouth parted slightly, as if she was unsure about what she was going to say, before making a very surprising offer, "W-would you like to stay with me in my apartment u-until you get back on your hooves?"

I shook my head, "That's, I don't know what to say Coco, you hardly know me at all. Tartarus, you don't even know my name for Celestia's sake!"

She smiled at me and raised her hoof in front of me, beckoning me to shake it, "My name's Coco Pommel, what's yours?"

I smiled back at her, and shook her hoof, "Prime Value, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Pommel."