Live, Die, Repeat

by Hidden_Night

Yeah! Cardboard! Begging! - Edited!

“Change, please!” There I was, sitting down on the cardboard I found in the dumpster, holding a tin can in my telekinetic grasp. Shaking the one coin I found on the floor, hoping the rattling sound would attract someone.

Being homeless is a pretty good test of generosity within any Isekai area. Usually, it comes in one of three types.

Generous communities give you coins and leave you alone. They’re type 1. If you have enough for a hotel room, that means a free shower and a job interview the next day. They’re the most helpful for newbies in the world like me.

The second type is apathetic communities. They give you nothing but ignore you. Not the best, but enough to know that you can go somewhere else and find work if they don't care about you.

The last type is the aggressive communities, usually in futuristic settings with modern police and active mayors. It’s still a free bed and breakfast in jail either way. Rather than spend a day in prison, it is harder to end it quickly and head to the next world.

Still, perhaps this won’t be so bad. The one coin has no rust, so it’s pure gold. So, if I’m thinking about this, this works off the gold standard. I don’t know the exact weight of gold to buy power yet until I get my eyes on some prices.

Then I checked up at the sun, noon. Perfect. If I know anything about villages, noon is when they get produce and go home after waking up at dawn. Six to seven hours of work is the prime time to fish out any cash I can get; I have to get the line drawn and hook primed

I use my magic to ruffle my hair and make it extra ragged and messy. I headed to the stalls, or as it’s probably known, the marketplace. The smell tantalized my new pony body: fresh apples, excellent-smelling carrots, and the godsend celery. Celery should be able to hold this new body over for quite some time. Though I should get some protein to satiate my past bodies, if I go full vegan, it’ll not be easy to go back to meat. Man, mental battles are challenging.

“Spare change!” I call out, sitting near an alleyway right by a dumpster. The perfect spot for begging. They’ll assume I hide out in the dumpster, feel pity, hand me a coin, I endlessly thank them for their generosity, repeat. It should be easy.

With a rattle of the can and a quick “borrow” a spare wooden plank from said dumpster. I use my horn to inscribe a message upon it, marking dark ink upon the board like gliding a Sharpie.

I dub it Magic Marker

Thank god I learned how to write without a pencil. It makes the whole thing easier. The wooden plank now has the message, ‘Pls help, no coins : (‘. I think they can recognize emoticons down here

I hold the new sign on my left hoof and the can on my right. Both arms extended high as I sit down, furiously shaking to sell my misfortune as much as possible.

---

‘This has gone wonderfully.’ I think I'm counting 15 gold coins from being a beggar tonight.

First, one came around, looked at me, hung her head high, facing away from me, and then walked away. She seemed to be high-class and very much stingy. Curly violet mane and rose body, and an odd picture of a wedding ring upon her rear. Perhaps she married into greatness, and it’s getting to her head.

The next few were kind enough. A gray, crossed-eyed mare was the first, telling me how the post office was always open for me. She seemed nice and almost ran me over. Minty green unicorn deciding, and I quote, “Maybe I should do a good deed today.” We love to see it!

Then, a couple of generic ponies I could not remember the colors of.

The most generous tip was a group of fillies. Orange, white, and more of a yellow-red combination. A whole four coins from them. I did the usual thank you, and they called me ‘Mister’ God…I miss having kids. That’s in the past now; wait, the white girl seems familiar somehow. Eh, coincidence, maybe.

Dusting my green butt off, I get up and set off—a chance to find something grand. The grind never stops! The public library! Yeah!

I mean, there has to be a public library. Every small village has one where the resident nerd hangs out or the quiet and cute librarian who somehow already has an affair with the most muscular guard on duty. It’s odd how many times the librarian goes for a soldier…

With no knocking, it’s a public library. I hear an audible,’“Oof!” with plenty of objects falling. None of them sound particularly expensive, so at least there’s that.

With a peek around the door, I see a tiny lizard down on the floor while books have found a place beside him. One even laying on his head. I swear I can see stars around its head. Wait…no, lizardfolk are usually taller, have more jagged chins and muzzles, and eyes are not as sharp as snake eyes. Plus, with its leg length and pointed tail, it’s a dragon. A small one, yet still a dragon, they could be dangerous. Breath attacks are scary indeed.

“Oh! Sorry, dude!” I snapped myself out of the staring and used my magic to grab the books. I used my legs to close the door behind me and quickly set a pile on the table in the center. Extending a hoof down to the dragon.

“Ow. That definitely happens a lot.” He grabbed my hoof on what is seemingly instinct, using my body weight to get himself up off the ground. He isn’t very heavy, about 15 pounds at most.

“Yeah. Should maybe have knocked, but then again public library. At least, I hope this is a public library.” I explain myself, taking a gander around.

“Oh. Right, should still probably put a sign up there. I know that door has knocked me around a few times.” He grumbles that last part.

“Could be good. Just asking if you could help me find something real quick, and I can be on my way.”

“Sure! I’m the Number One assistant here. What are you looking for?”

The reason why I’m here is quite simple: any good rule follower has to know the rules, and the rules are laws. I plan on staying as far away from jail as possible. Sure, I have an active medium on me, but they might have counter-spells to shut down my magic, so it's best to follow them.

Also, I don’t have a counter-spell to a counter-spell to a counter-spell. I’m not that deep into magical duels. I might as well get a spell to help me evade those duals.

Still, I get two books and go through the check-out process. A book on laws called. “Laws and Rules by Ledger Keeper,” and another, “Wormholes, Portals, and Teleportation! By Shattering Star”. These ponies have very… exciting names. I wonder how you get a nickname with those types of names. Ledge, ledgy, ger? Shat? Yeah, I should stop.

With the whole reading materials gained, I head out. I thanked the dragon for its time. He’s friendly, and I wonder when he’ll grow big and strong.

Then, I took myself to where I was supposed to be. Since I had no pockets, backpack, or bags, I had to store the books in a quaint little pocket dimension. It's relatively easy to keep things in there, but I can’t bring anything from another world. I tried already. It doesn’t work out.

I'm still wondering how I know how to open a pocket dimension but can’t teleport without Chaos Magic. It is beyond me. I want to stay out of chaos magic in my body for a long time. It really does hurt to tap into and maintain.

Upon my arrival at the Carousel Boutique. It just led me to a question. Why is it a carousel? Do they offer a ring or clothes you can encircle yourself with? Carousels are theme park rides. Are they still horses or just different animals? Hell, if I know.

With a quick straightening of the hair using magic, my horn starts to ache a little. Magic exhaustion is not on my to-do list today. I need a mana potion. Plus, I think my built-up mana reserves did a reset when I died again. There is a thing I have to build up again.

Knocking on the door, I’m greeted by much-ready Rarity. “Thank you, darling, for doing this for me. It was dreadfully difficult to find a last-minute foalsitter for my sister and her friends. Normally, I’d ask my friend Fluttershy, but we got our business to take care of.” She just kept talking to me while she was getting a sun hat fitted on her hair correctly, sunglasses being placed upon her eyes, and a suitcase.

I nodded and entered, sidestepping from any floating objects when needed with a comically large scarf whizzing past my head to wrap around her neck. Suddenly, it’s an average length for a scarf.

“Ta ta darling. Please keep my sister safe; don’t make me regret this decision. This is my little sister I’m trusting you with.” She lowered her sunglasses to look me directly in the eyes. I felt compelled to sit straight up and respond.

“I promise not a hair on her head will be hurt!” Was the salute selling too hard? Yes, absolutely. Did I do one anyway? Yes, abso-fucking-lutley.

“Good. Good.” She backed away slowly before closing the door and leaving me in there. I feel like she’s forgetting something.

Then the door swung back open, causing me to flinch slightly. “Oh! Almost forgot. Spare keys are underneath the potted plant, and you can get snacks in the fridge. Bye-bye, darling!” She was gone again. Well, at least I got a roof over my head the first night, even if it was someone else’s house.

“Now, who’s the little sister?” With a quick circle around, I climb up the stairs and meet eye-to-eye with a familiar white filly.

“Oh! You’re the Homeless Pony!” She said, oddly excited about the whole me being her babysitter thing.

Great. Kids. I forgot how much I don’t like kids.

Comments

[Poparakelis]

Or become a hobo I guess

[TheAbsoluteRadiance]

He choose the Hobo life pretty fast lmao.

[f0st3r21]

Did Spike remember to record the book lending? Somehow, I think a pocket dimension might disrupt any ‘late book return spell’ that may have been cast on the books, and it would be good to know who checked them out.

[SamParks10]

Oh my god! This is a gem! Loving it so far!

[Sozmioi]

Signs up for baby sitter work.

Doesn't like kids.

This guy doesn't get to wear Gilgamesh Wulfenbach's hat.

[ibanix]

Oy, the spelling

[JadeFox]

Love the enthusiasm on this guy