I woke up feeling like crap. Usually, my first order of business would be to wipe away any drool from my face and then go back to sleep. However, I had more important priorities, mainly, making sure I knew where I was and that my surroundings were secure.

I was on my hooves almost instantly, before I could even open my eyes. I didn't have to put on my glasses since they were already on my face, though they would help little with all the sleep caked in my eyes. I listened around for a moment and heard only my panicked breathing. I quickly forced open my eyes to make sure I had woken up where I had fallen asleep, in my kitchen.

Though it was incredibly blurry, I saw that I was still in my kitchen, which let me breathe a sigh of relief. There wouldn't be anyone in the house besides myself because I would've heard any door opening. With the important things out of the way, my attention automatically went to less important things such as myself.

The first thing was the light-headedness and momentary loss of control that I suffered from standing up too quickly. I fell to the floor, reduced to lying on my side again. As I recovered, I became aware of how hungry I was. I hadn't eaten anything the last time I was awake, so that wasn't too unexpected. Unfortunately, my body was sore and I was too exhausted to move myself to the fridge at the moment; meaning I’d have to deal with my empty stomach for some time. Sleep wasn't an option since I was too exhausted for even that — what I'd do to get actually refreshing sleep once in my life.

Sleep reminded me of what I did before sleep, which was talking with Voth and...

I looked down at my chest, and just as I remembered, there were the dried bloodstains from when Voth carved a rune into me. I shifted my arms a bit, ignoring how they shook, so I could study its features better. It was a large rough circle with a rectangle in it whose corners touched the circle. The rectangle was divided into four triangles, each of which had three symbols that looked... 'strong' in an animalistic way, and gave the rectangle the feeling of a shield. I didn't think too much into it, knowing it was there for my own good. I'd have to clean the blood off though, and the floor as well where I bled on it — don't want anybody seeing any of that.

I lazed on the floor for a while, observing my surroundings. The kitchen window had its curtain closed, which was nice; and seeing that there was no light at the edges of the curtain, I figured it was night time, which was nicer. Steeve wasn't with me anymore, which sucked and made me feel lonely, but there wasn't anywhere he could go and he was probably at the backdoor, damaging his non-existent brain as he failed to comprehend glass.

After some more time on the floor, long enough for one of my ears to start ringing, I decided that it was time I got up. I forced myself into lying on my stomach first, then took a few short moments of rest before I slowly stood up. My limbs were a bit shaky but it'd be fine in a bit.

I turned my eyes to the fridge, knowing there'd be stuff in there to gorge myself on. I opened it with my magic and was met with the disappointing sight of only milk, butter, cheese, bread, and energy drinks. I had expected other stuff in there but I guess past me hadn't left any leftovers in a while. Stupid pig. To make matters worse, the bread would only last me two sandwiches, which wouldn't even begin to satiate me. But since there wasn't anything else, the bread would have to do.

I took the bread packet out and pulled out the four slices of bread left. Without much thought, I wolfed down all of them within seconds. They were really bland, and I could have cooked them or something, but I just couldn't wait right now. It was then that I remembered I had cheese. I froze for a moment, processing that, before shrugging and turning back to the fridge. I took out two slices of cheese and ate them. I closed the fridge, still hungry and feeling weak.

There might have been other things in the cupboards that I could eat but I had to cook it all before I could. Unfortunately, that would take a lot of time, which required patience that I didn't have. Getting stuff from a store would be quicker — maggi would be better than any blessing any god could give me. That would, however, require me to go outside. Outside where I was most definitely going to be gang stalked by feds.

For at least a minute, I stood in the middle of my kitchen and contemplated if my laziness would outdo my hunger and what the ramifications of that happening were. I then thought about what I'd have outside at this time of the night, which wasn't a lot when I thought about it. As far as I knew, there was only one store that was 24/7 in town, but no places to eat. Even if I went there and bought stuff, I'd still have to cook it and that defeated the purpose of going out. Unfortunately, I couldn't accept that answer despite all the evidence.

I sniffed and looked down at myself. There was still blood on me, and I'd have to get rid of that if I wanted to go outside. Everything was inconvenient and I hated it. Seeing that I'd be staying home, I opened a cupboard to take out some rice. There, I was met with a horrible sight, there was almost no rice left. Seeing the almost empty container made me remember that I had planned to get groceries on Saturday, tomorrow. That annoyed me greatly — like, how do I even manage to force myself into something right after I decided I wouldn't get into it?

"Dumb bitch," I cursed myself as I discarded those plans of going shopping tomorrow. My stomach didn't make it any easier, going so far as to growl at me. I just grumbled some more as I forced my legs to get me out of the kitchen and to the bathroom.

Halfway through the ten steps to the bathroom, I found Steeve, sitting on the floor quietly. He was also stained in my blood, and I'd have to clean him as well. I scooped him up with an, eliciting angry squeaking from him, and took him with me. I'm sure he would clean himself off if given time, but I didn't want anyone to see him with blood on him and ask why that was so.

The bathroom was a welcome place to be in, with the ventilation fan providing background noise and the room having a cool temperature. The tiled floor would've been nice to lie down on, but I had a rowdy bug and myself to keep my mind away from thinking about it too much. I went over to the sink first since Steeve would be easier to clean. I took the hand towel next to the sink in my magic and wet it a bit. Once that was done, I started cleaning off the blood from Steeve; going about it slowly since I didn't want Steeve to try and escape. Steeve, meanwhile, only squeaked at me and wiggled his legs as I slowly brought him back to looking like the white cotton ball of concentrated stupidity he was. Once I was done, I had a dirty towel and a clean bug, who I deposited on the floor and outside the bathroom respectively.

I then went into the shower, going about cleaning the blood from my coat as quickly as I could while being careful about it. Even though the blood was all gone and there were no indicators of me ever having a rune carved onto me, I could still feel the rune when I rubbed my hoof over where the lines were. A slight imperfection that you could only know was there if someone pointed it out, which I wasn't going to. At least I looked semi-normal now.

Unfortunately, my mane and tail got wet in the process of scrubbing, which sucked since getting them dry took time. I snorted and got out of the shower, taking a towel and drying myself off quickly. I didn't bother brushing my mane at the moment, simply patting it down where needed instead. I'd deal with it after I had food. Steeve was outside the door, apparently trying to get back in. I moved him out of the way as I returned to the kitchen to get my saddlebags.

Once I had my stuff, I went to the front door but I didn't leave immediately. Again, the possibility, or rather, the fact that there'd be someone following me scared me, but being scared didn't give me a solution to the problem besides not going out. But my house wasn't some castle I could have a thirty year long siege in, and even if it was, suddenly becoming a shut-in would be suspicious.

My only course of action was to go about my business as I would normally, while also keeping in mind that there are people after me. Not an easy task, and it made me nervous to think about since I would only think of the ways I could slip up. I took a breath and steeled myself for what I had to do.

I opened the door and stepped out, making sure that I locked the door behind me and checking twice. The path was somewhat lit by the more-than-half moon so I didn't have to use horn-light. I walked down the path to the town in silence, thankfully with a cool breeze to accompany me. I could smell rain on the wind. There were a few dark clouds in the sky so I guessed that the rain was coming earlier than planned.

Brush's house came into view and I walked a little faster, pretending I didn't notice it while I sneaked glances at it. The lights were out, but that didn't mean someone could be watching from the windows. A part of me told me I was terrible for doubting my friend like Voth needed me to, while another told me that my anxiety was justified. A third part told me that the argument didn't matter much since I was already leaving; I hated the third part the most since it was stupid and shortsighted — and quite obviously, it was the part that dictated what I did.

I sighed to myself, shifting focus back to my hunger to avoid having to think about other things.

I walked along the path which started having streetlights now. There was definitely more life now than the last time I had been outside at whatever the time was. I saw a few bat ponies occasionally who were going about their business, even some kids playing. Fortunately, they kept to themselves and I could go towards the grocery store unimpeded by mindless conversation or staring.

Except, things could never go right ever because the universe fucking hated my guts. As I turned a corner, I was met with the most terrible sight of Wind's Convenience having no lights on. I didn't believe my eyes at first and walked closer to make sure I wasn't imagining the store being closed. There was a sign saying the store would be closed on Friday and Saturday to stamp out any morsel of misguided hope left in me; hope that I shouldn't have even had. Worse still, if I read the sign right, I had slept through all of Friday. An entire day of work was missed, and my absence must have been suspicious as well. I gulped as I remembered the visions Voth gave me. There wasn’t much I could do besides lying about being sick, which was probably what I’d do today.

There I stood, bereft of nutrition and any way to acquire it in a timely manner. If I weren't out in the open, I'd have crashed out so hard I'd never get up again, but since that wasn't an option, I had to figure something else out.

I walked away from the store, head hanging a bit in disappointment, mind occupied with thinking about alternatives. At first, I thought about going to a different place, but I knew that all the stores were the same in that they were closed right now; then, the only option left to think about was finding some restaurant or something and getting food there. Not perfect, but was the world ever perfect?

I wandered through the streets much like the spirit of some dead lady who had nothing better to do than to wander, except that I was looking for food; I was pretty sure I scared at least one of the few kids outside right now. Normally, I’d be proud of that but hunger told me I could be proud later when it's gone.

Fortunately, fortune smiled on me now. I was in the general area of all the restaurants and cafes in town when I saw a neon sign lit up on an otherwise dull building. I couldn’t see much through the large windows besides some faint light. The sign read “The Cave Bowl” and was above the most bland-looking door ever. I didn’t care and pulled the door open, steeping in.

The inside was dimly lit in the gas-station-bathroom way, and the place was mostly bare as well, save for a few posters of what I assumed to be metal bands. The tables were circular and dotted around the place with no pattern. I couldn’t help but compare the restaurant to the Krusty Krab of all things. To further add to that comparison, a counter was placed on the far side, opposite to the door and a bored looking cashier was there, reading a newspaper.

There were four other people, all at one table to the right side. I ignored them for the time being and went up to the counter. A display hanging from the ceiling gave me their selection and I picked one thing quickly. The restaurant didn’t have a specific type of food that they served, offering a whole range of things.

I got the cashier’s attention and ordered a bowl of ramen since that was the cheapest and most appetising option in the menu as far as I could tell, and a sandwich as well for later.

I sat down at a table tucked away in the corner away from the other occupied table. Said corner was next to the front window, which made me a bit uncomfortable. I kept sneaking glances at it, trying to catch a hopefully non-existent spy.

There was also the group of people in the restaurant to worry about, especially since I seemed to have caught their attention. I tapped my hooves on my table nervously, or maybe they shook by themselves, as I watched them from the corner of my eyes. Three of the four were bat-ponies and the last was a large griffon who seemed to be staring right at me. I couldn't think of any way to deal with that than to pretend he didn't exist. I swivelled one of my ears a bit to hear in on them anyway, just in case.

“...Bro, you really think you have a chance, like…” one of the bat-ponies said before lowering his voice to a whisper to continue. I didn't know what to make of it besides it being a sign that they weren't focused on me.

“It's not even been three days since sis opened this place and there's a damned sun-kisser in here already,” the second bat-pony said in a gruff voice, almost intentionally to prove me wrong. I kept my expression unchanged even though I found it to be rather ironic being called that in my current situation.

“Hey hey, calm down. This ain't Canterlot, you can't just go around calling people stuff,” the last bat-pony said, clearly the voice of common sense in the group. “Besides, this town’s a good place — Princess Luna said so.”

I could imagine that the second was grumbling stuff to himself. I didn’t care since it seemed likely that they weren’t feds like I imagined, at least I hoped so. I was still a bit worried about the griffon since my gut told me he was likely to be trouble.

I stopped my eavesdropping as I saw a waiter come into the main area through a door to the cashier’s side, carrying with him my order. The bowl of noodles looked like the most appetising thing ever, and if I were at home, I’d have left most of my table manners to devour the meal.

There was still lingering anxiety but it had been pushed to the back of my head for later. I could deal with everything else once I wasn’t starving.

Author's Note

26sa Au

it be Wednesday, me dudes

thanks to History Student for also prereading this chapter

New art: #3518276