You’d done your duty, Lollipop had a mummah, Flutter had a babbeh, and they were both out of the forest. Besides, you felt you needed some time alone.
You dove back into the outer edge of the forest, following it a ways until you reached the road. Then you followed the road, for a long, long, time. You thought you were going towards the city, you hoped you were. It was more predictable than the open forest, less hungry animals, though more unkindly humans as well.
As you went down the road, one step at a time, the big vroom-vrooms would occasionally drive past. You’d dealt with those, ridden in one several times actually, and so you didn’t fear them as much. That is until you found a body less fortunate than you.
She was clearly a mare, with a yellow mane and an orange coat, bisected by a tire some time earlier. The maggots were crawling through her eyes and mouth, one sniff sent you away. A reminder just how easily your life could end here.
Water. That was all you thought about now. Your mouth was dry, your stomach grumbled. How long had you been walking? The sky got dark. Dark time perhaps? No. Droplets of water began to rain down.
You held out your tongue. That was one problem solved at least. Your stomach still rumbled. There was no way you were willing to ask some passerby for a ride. There was no way you could.
Your legs hurt. Sometimes you would stop to drink some more from a deep enough puddle. Even eat a few blades of bland grass off the ground. Yet still you kept moving, growing hungrier and hungrier. You looked up, to the water coming down from the sky. Why couldn’t nummies fall out of the sky too?
“HEY YA FUCKIN FLUFFY!”
The jeep zipped by you, a second later something hit you. When you righted yourself you saw the vehicle riding off over the hill. You were starting to realize why your mummah and daddeh spent so much time trying to find a home.
In front of you, though, was a blessing. A half-eaten taco, crushed by the impact with your body, and now soaked by the rain. It was the best meal you could’ve asked for.
With your hunger somewhat satisfied you could look around yourself with a clear head, and figure out what exactly it was you were doing.
Which way was the city? How would you get there? Walking clearly wasn’t getting you anywhere in a timely manner, you needed something faster.
Another car zipped by. Those things were fast… very fast. If you remembered correctly, there were lots of them in the city. You had an idea.
You continued on until you found the perfect tree, wide enough with a lot of low branches.
Employing the same tactics you’d used at home in the kitchen, you struggled to make your way up. Trying hard as you could with your hooves and legs, you slowly rose higher and higher until you reached the branch you wanted.
Now that you were here, you slowly scooted your way forwards. At one point, you made the mistake of looking down, seeing the hard asphalt far below. Your heart began to pound when another car zipped by beneath you.
What other choice did you have? You needed to get somewhere safer, and fast.
You saw your perfect ride, an old pickup truck heading towards you. You would have to time it all just right, and hope for the best.
Its headlights were on and the rain was beating down, you were cold and hungry, and you jumped.
A few bumps later, you opened your eyes again. Somehow you had made it. You had landed yourself in the open trunk of the pickup truck. The trees on either side of you zipped by. Your legs hurt but as far as you could tell they weren’t broken. Besides, you wouldn’t need them now.
Sniffing around your new cabin, you came across a sack. Whatever was inside smelled good, and your stomach was growling.
First you tried to tear at it with your teeth, when that didn’t do anything you looked it over. Finding a thread at the top, you pulled on it, and it unraveled.
Oranges. Ripe and juicy.
You chowed down until your stomach was full. When the rain began to let up you noticed it was now darkie time, and the stars were out.
You realized just how tired you were, especially after a day like this.
Shaking off what water you could, you wiggled yourself into the orange sack, and closed your eyes. Finally, you could sleep safe.