Awakening

by blazikenking

A Dull Day Downtown

The car ride was rather uneventful, save for looking at things from a slightly lower vantage point. Also, I thought I caught glimpses of some architect's lines in my vision, as if there were some kind of super powered computer in my brain, and knowing Technia, there might just be one there.

Hey, Technia. Do you know anything about these architect’s lines that are invading my vision?

…

She’s not responding. Either she’s too focused on something to notice my attempt at communication, is asleep, or is trolling me by being silent. For now though, I’ll just assume that there’s a faulty connection.

It was about 11:15 when we got downtown and found a reasonable parking space.We got out of the car, and while I got my hat, phone, and a pencil from the back, Mom checked the parking meter and found that parking is free on Wagnesdays. I think Discord may have created some jobs around here, seeing as there were signs on every meter that looked to be manually placed, meaning that there had to be someone or a group of people that change them daily. I gave mom my phone and pencil before we set off.

The first stop would be Trilbia (Note: fictional business), seeing as that place would take a while for the hat modification no matter what. The walk there was somewhat eventful, but not in the best way. People tended to avoid me on the sidewalk or suddenly become interested in whatever was next to them. I did get a few polite nods though. I’m guessing that those people were either bronies who didn’t want to openly display their bronyness out here or were intelligent enough to figure out that the evasiveness wasn’t very nice and gave a nod as a subtle way to help make me feel better,even if they’d never even heard of the franchise.

This continued until we arrived at Trilbia, which had a low count on customers at the moment. My hooves made a nice clopping sound (get out of the gutter) on the tile floor. The only person there honestly looked bored and visibly perked up upon our entrance, but his face became one of confusion at the sight of me.

“Ma’am?” Clearly, he was addressing my mom. “Are you aware that we don’t allow pets in here?”

I didn’t wait for mom to respond. “I am not a pet, but rather a sentient being, and I am here on business matters.” I managed to get a look at his nametag, and apparently his name is Steve.

I wonder if he plays Minecraft?

“It talks?”

“I am female, thank you very much.” I shuddered a bit internally at the fact that I had to make this statement. “Can we please get on to business?”

“And you’re a unicorn?”

“Yes. And don’t start on the mythological ones.” I am NOT going there.

“Okay, okay.” Steve took a moment to clear his throat and regain his composure. “So, uh, how can I help you?”

I levitated my fedora up to him. “I need ear holes in this hat, and maybe a red Phi on the bow too.”

“I can do that. I just need to see where your ears would wind up on the hat first.”

I pulled over a chair and hopped onto it so Steve would be able to measure more easily and I wouldn’t be as towered over. The measurements took a bit of time, considering that I wasn’t of the species he normally dealt with, and the best way to get the right measurement would be to draw an outline on the underside of the hat.

It was almost 11:30 when the measurements were done. Steve’s estimate timewise was about 20 minutes for the earholes with some padding to not hurt my ears, along with the addition of the red Phi. I promised that I’d be back by or around the time he would be done.

Word of my presence must have gotten out and spread really fast because the sidewalks were getting really empty really fast, and many parking spaces were opening up, even though it was close to lunchtime. Fortunately, those who were at work didn’t leave, meaning that my plan to get a nice drink could still be carried out.

Kaldi’s Coffee (Note: real place) was next door to Trilbia, so the walk there wasn’t that long, but seeing as lots of people had left, downtown felt kind of empty. A lack of people around made me feel smaller than I really was and rather lonely.

As far as I remember, Kaldi’s usually had a nice assortment of people around relaxing over drinks and snacks, talking about various topics. But they were just about empty right now, save for one person behind the counter and maybe some in the kitchen.

Speaking of that person behind the counter, I think he was a brony, because he gave me a very friendly wave and greeting, and addressed me as Ms. Unicorn. I gave a nice greeting back, and saw that his nametag said his name was Mark.

I made my way up and stood on my hind legs with my front ones up against the counter before I placed my order: hot chocolate with pumpkin spice, a bit of chamomile tea, and some honey mixed in and served at a lower than normal temperature (We don’t like it when our drinks burn our tongue. That’s not the archaic style of speech. Technia and I share the same opinion). Medium size would be big enough, considering my new size. I also opted to get a shortbread cookie once I caught sight of one. Those are good.

I got my phone and pencil from mom, and while I was waiting for my drink, I sent a brief text to Jenny about my location, and that we might be getting lunch while here. I didn’t tell her about how downtown seemed to empty shortly after I appeared there. When Mark asked for a name, I gave him my pony name before I snagged the cookie and made my way over to a couch they had. It looked new. Mom was beside me before long.

It was about 5 minutes before our drinks were done and my name was called out. I used my telekinesis to pull our drinks over. One of them had a Phi on it. Must be mine. Seems Mark saw my cutie mark.

I took some time to reflect on that statement, and I would have had an epiphany about life’s true meaning if I hadn’t decided to stop thinking about it and just drink my hot chocolate. Trust me when I say that it was a glorious mix of flavors at an adequate temperature. My eyes may have shrunk to a really small size at that first sip, it was so good.

Note to self: share this recipe on Facebook.

I won’t go into detail on what I did for the next 20 minutes, but lots of meditation was involved and I somehow got to thinking about Shakespeare, which reminded me that it was almost lunchtime, and pizza did sound good. Speaking of lunchtime, my hat should be done, or pretty close to it. I finished my drink, threw the cup away, and made my way over to Trilbia. Mom wasn’t too far behind me.

Steve was there, and seemed to be adding the finishing touches to my hat. I stood at the front desk and before I could say anything, he put the hat right on my head, and I must say he did a good job with the earholes. I felt only softness against my ears, meaning that the stiffer material of the hat wouldn’t chafe my ears, and (pardon the pun) that did not sound like a pleasant thing to experience.

I recovered from the shock of the hat’s placement and found my way over to a mirror, and I saw a really nice hat atop a familiar mare’s head. And dare I say it, she looked good.

If the hot chocolate hadn’t put me in a good mood, the hat certainly did. Fortunately, the hot chocolate did put me in a good mood, so my happiness was essentially doubled. I felt like there was nothing that could get me down. Then I briefly remembered that gravity did not care about emotions before being double happy again.

My stomach (I swear that thing has its own brain and knows the best times to interrupt good moods) soon voiced that it wanted food. I thought back to my meditation and decided that Shakespeare’s Pizza (Note: They make really good pizza) would be a good idea. I collaborated a bit with Jenny and my mom, and we agreed that bringing some pizza over would be a good idea. We decided on getting 2 pizzas: one full cheese and the other half veggie.

The walk there was highly uneventful and very quiet. When we got to Shakespeare’s, I opted to stay outside in order to not cause any commotion or delays inside. I’ve had enough of those already, and I’m sure mom has too.

I think mom ordered fresh pizzas because I was outside for quite a while, bored with nothing to do. I wouldn’t be surprised if she got herself a salad while she was waiting. While I was outside, I decided to go for a walk around Shakespeare’s. Mom came out with 2 pizzas just after I had finished my 5th lap, and it was during that lap that I realized that having hooves allows you to easily set your own rhythm for walking on hard surfaces. I relieved mom of the pizzas via telekinesis as we made our way back to the car.

It was just after 12:30 when we left downtown. Next stop: Jenny’s house.

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A/N: I do apologize for any issues with the dialogue (or lack thereof). I find that dialogue works best with at least 2 people writing. This problem will be alleviated a bit in later chapters, like the next one.

Comments

[viowolf]

now im hungry

[blazikenking]

1671757 Achievement unlocked: Appetizing Words.

But I feel bad. The Fluttercry emoticon works all too well.

[Zman537]

1671757 Ditto.

1671821You sir are an evil genius.