>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