Venus Spring green


                                            >Last night was...

                                            >Well, the rent was paid

                                            >Venus Spring got out of bed, an unfamiliar clock in the landlord's house reading 4:36am

                                            >She went home

                                            >Vanhoover in the early hours of the morning was safer than the late hours of the evening, most of the ne'er-do-wells had gone back home by now

                                            >Still, the bus stop made her nervous, if only for the chilly wing ripping through the streets

                                            >A homeless pony curled up on the bench left no room for Venus to sit, even if her flanks hadn't been sore

                                            >After a stressful wait in the dark, the bus came to a stop and let her on

                                            >Her braces hurt, they needed to be adjusted

                                            >Just as soon as she got health insurance

                                            >The bus was mostly empty aside from a few ponies

                                            >Another homeless mare sleeping in the back

                                            >A stallion staring blankly ahead, he wore a McUniform and was either returning from a night shift or heading to an early morning shift

                                            >The bright lights inside the bus made the darkness outside seem absolute, like an inky void

                                            >Once home again, the orange mare laid down on her little bed in the dingy apartment

                                            >She tried to get to sleep, but the apartment was quiet enough that she could hear the neighbors arguing upstairs and NASCAR through the wall

                                            >The hum of a fan drowned it out enough for her to get to sleep as the sun began to rise and brighten up her room

                                            >Noon

                                            >Venus awoke with the groggy fog of a broken sleep schedule, she still had to go to work

                                            >You'd think you'd never get sick of pizza, but delivering them will do that

                                            >The stupid hat was part of the uniform, the logo on the front always brought dread

                                            >Pizzaland

                                            >What a stupid word

                                            >Usually on-time for her shift, Venus came in a few minutes early

                                            >Just in time for the lunch rush, or what little rush there actually was on a Wednesday

                                            >Who orders a pizza at 1pm on a Wednesday?

                                            >Maybe... Shitty managers throwing a pizza party to keep employees rather than just pay more

                                            >Venus sighed at the thought, depressing reality

                                            >The shift supervisor set a pizza box on the countertop as soon as Venus clocked in

                                            >The hefty mare smelled of cigarettes, her sunken-in eyes glared with an unnecessary impatience, "Venus, pizza goin' out! Come ooon!"

                                            >Just like that, Venus was back out of Pizzaland with the box on her back

                                            >46th street, that was a bad part of town

                                            >Near Vanhoover University, so there was cheap rooms for students

                                            >But that also attracted the average welfare enjoyers

                                            >And it was near the projects

                                            >Venus thought again, waiting for the crosswalk to open for her

                                            >If colleges were so expensive, why did they turn a whole part of town to trash?

                                            >One of those humans opened the door and a minotaur forked over the bits, but no tip

                                            >Dickheads

                                            >As Venus turned to leave the apartment build she heard them talking

                                            >"Hey, you forgot the drink!"

                                            >"I see somethin' better..."

                                            >She'd heard this before, and ran

                                            >Her little legs didn't carry her fast enough

                                            >Bad times...

                                            >Her hindlegs ached as she walked back,

                                            >Ms. Pepperoni scowled as she came back through the door of the shop with a defeated sigh, "I sent you out an hour and a half ago, what the hell've ya been doin'?"

                                            >She was too ashamed to admit it, "I-I got held up by traffic."

                                            >"You were walkin'!"

                                            >She paused, "Whatever, I need a smoke. Take another delivery and don't waste time." she points to a tall stack of boxes

                                            >The fat mare stepped out back, though the draft wafted the cigarette smell through the kitchen

                                            >This address was really far, in the downtown district

                                            >All these boxes had to be held in her magic, she couldn't balance this much

                                            >And she'd have to take the bus, which she paid for

                                            >Apparently it was her own fault for not having a car

                                            >The bus was moderately crowded, and loud

                                            >Another homeless pony glared at her for filling the bus with the smell of pizzas

                                            >There was one of those advertisements inside the bus

                                            >A new one that only had a couple graffiti tags on it

                                            >It showed a mare and one of those humans on the beach together

                                            >The land of sunshine

                                            >Contact the Ministry of Immigration for a voucher

                                            >A vacation?

                                            >Venus rolled her eyes, if only she could afford to take time off

                                            >The sunny scene on the advertisement seemed to tease her with how the snowstorms were broken up by rainy, overcast days all winter

                                            >One of the homeless ponies towards the front of the bus began to chatter loudly

                                            >They were one of those ponies who had been homeless for so long they went crazy

                                            >"Fat- fat bi- fat bitch." they rattled off at another pony

                                            >"Bit- bitch. Fat bitch. Fat bitch lookin' at me. We got a fat bitch on a bus. Lookin' at me. Fat bitch on the bus."

                                            >They quieted down as their attention was drawn to something outside the bus

                                            >Stepping off the bus, Venus looked at the address slip on the top box of pizza

                                            >It was some office building on the nicer end of town

                                            >Nicer meaning there was less homeless and you probably wouldn't get mugged after sunset

                                            >Venus saw a mare napping on a bench and shuddered to think they were more alike than different

                                            >Luckily the elevator was in order, the address was on the 23rd floor

                                            >The elevator dinged on the third floor and a scrawny unicorn mare stepped in, taking note of Venus

                                            >"Ministry, right?"

                                            >"Uh, twenty th-third."

                                            >"Me too."

                                            >The elevator dinged once more, letting them out on the 23rd floor

                                            >There was some sort of office party going on

                                            >Radio-friendly music was playing while a few banners hung reading generic congratulations for the team

                                            >They'd met some goal or something about a quota

                                            >Then, she noticed the logo on the desktop of one of the computers as she looked for whoever ordered these, Ministry of Immigration

                                            >So she'd ended up here after all

                                            >Further back, in a meeting room of some kind, Venus found the manager who paid her and gave a modest tip, enough to make up for the last delivery

                                            >As she turned to leave the manager spoke up again, catching her attention

                                            >"Have you ever thought about moving somewhere else?"

                                            >Venus had wanted to jump off a building a few times if that counts

                                            >"Uh, I dunno."

                                            >"You've probably seen our ads around town, right?"

                                            >Venus nodded

                                            >He raises a plaintive hoof, "Looks good, right?"

                                            >"I don't really have money for a vacation."

                                            >"It's not a vacation, it's relocation."

                                            >"I don't really have money for that, either."

                                            >"That's not a problem, we offer housing vouchers, job-seeking services, even career education."

                                            >Truth is, she was just stuck in her ways, to uproot completely on such a weak whim was unthinkable

                                            >"That s-sounds nice, but... I-I dunno... Too nice."

                                            >"We're government funded, our outreach programs don't tend to find ponies who want to leave their hometowns. Even if we can offer a new beginning on Earth."

                                            >Venus often thought about leaving, "I-I gotta get back to work."

                                            >"If you change your mind, you know how to contact us."

                                            >The day crawled by after that delivery to the Ministry of Immigration, Venus caught herself thinking too much

                                            >It wasn't going to get her anywhere

                                            >By the time she'd clocked out, the sun had gone down and the sky was beginning to darken

                                            >The bus ride was the usual, some earth pony blasting ghetto music from a bluetooth speaker with no regard for others

                                            >Venus made herself small and beneath notice when a few more ghetto ponies boarded the bus and began fighting

                                            >One of them bucked the bus driver in the face on the way off, he needed an ambulance and the bus was stopped for the night

                                            >After answering a few questions for an uninterested officer, Venus walked the rest of the way home

                                            >Her apartment was noisy as she stepped through the door

                                            >An arguing couple could be heard shouting through the walls

                                            >Some of the water pipes gurgled and groaned

                                            >Before she made any food, Venus headed to the bathroom to clean herself up

                                            >Lukewarm was as good as the water got, at least it wasn't cold yet

                                            >She had to be quick or the water would turn frigid cold

                                            >Giving herself a hasty scrub with Mane & Tail, she rinsed off as the warm water ran out, leaving her shivering in the tub as soapy water drained away

                                            >Dinner was soup from a can, more filling than you'd think, but less than you'd hoped

                                            >Venus ate, listening in on the neighbors shouting match

                                            >It was more entertaining than tv, and saved on power too, which quickly added up each month

                                            >Before long, it did become stressful to listen to their endless bickering

                                            >How did such a miserable couple stay together for so long?

                                            >Venus turned on the tv, which was set to a dim brightness to save on power