Thankfully, the days were getting very short. But despite my expectation, it wasn't that cold out. I didn't leave quite yet though. If the sun went down around fiveish this time of year, then the eight to five office workers were likely to leave work and be out and about for about an hour. Then it would be safe.

I perched on the lip of the rooftop, watching the parking lot down below. People in office clothing slowly walked to their cars. I desperately wanted to leave as soon as they were gone. My stomach felt like it was trying to implode and eat itself. I tortured myself as I watched the office workers waddle across the parking lot with the characteristic slowness of people who would likely never run again in their life.

Come on. Come on leave. Leave damn you!

Eventually, those particular workers stopped waddling and gossiping amongst each other and deined to leave. With nothing else to do but wait for an hour, I was forced to quietly stew in my own misery as my hunger gnawed at the walls of my stomach. I got so bored I zoned out.

When I came back to awareness, I felt like just enough time had passed for traffic to die down. So I eagerly spread my wings and took flight. The chill was slightly worse up in the sky, but it was still manageable. I felt relief as I was finally doing something.

Now then. Food. Where can I find food?

The chemical factory hadn't been in a well developed area, instead surrounding itself with wild scrubland. But that didn't mean it was in the middle of nowhere. Small pools of light lit up the night, all surrounding a giant pillar of light that emanated from a sizable city.

I could always rummage through a trashcan for food. Maybe it was pride, or maybe it was that I didn't consider a half eaten doughnut or chicken leg 'enough'. But resorting to a trashcan would be, well, a last resort. However that also meant potentially exposing myself. But the thought of a fresh pizza or a warm chicken and waffle sandwich was far too alluring. A whole pizza might be too risky, but a warm sandwich from a gas station was totally possible.

I veered for the the farthest most lights and began to circle around the city. My plan was to find a gas station that would be as empty as possible. Or at the very least a 24 hour convenience store. This close to a city though? The cliché gas station in the middle of nowhere that would be lucky to get one visitor in a night these were not.

So I slowly circled inwards towards the city's edge. But the whole area was too busy, even the farthest stations in the city's orbit had vehicles pulling in every few minutes.

Change of plans then. Anonymity in audacity.

Sighing, I rolled my shoulders and stretched my neck before casting Gaseous Form and diving down towards the busiest gas station I could see. The words "Kwiktrip" shone like a beacon into the night, illuminating a nearly full parking lot.

I spread my gaseous form thin over a large area to reduce my visibility as I landed just outside the street lights illuminating the Kwiktrip.

Ok then... Where is everything?

I flowed over the blacktop, slowly spreading across the parking lot. Despite a few people literally stepping in my cloud, thankfully no one seemed to notice anything amiss. If I were to do this properly, I needed to be in a decent position. But where was- Aha!

A glass door sat embedded in the wall. A yellow sign with black lettering read "Fire Exit. Alarm will sound if opened." Directly to the door's right, a red sign with white lettering read " Emergency shut-off". Below that sign was a small red box with a white handle inside.

Perfect.

A distraction now found, I coalesced my shadow against the building, hiding most of it behind an ice box and an empty propane tank cage. I didn't pull the fire alarm quite yet. As soon as I did I wouldn't have much time, and I didn't want to fumble about trying to actually find the warm food display, only to take too long and get caught with a levitating sandwich.

It awkwardly occurred to me that teens steal from gas stations all the time with much less thought gone into the deed. But then again I couldn't walk in and quietly stuff a thing into a coat pocket and go about my business. If I were to walk in someone would go "Eek! A horse!"

And then I'd have to deal with animal control, and eventually the feds again.

So I slipped a tendril underneath the fire exit, inwardly cringing in anticipation of somehow setting the alarm off early. Thankfully, there was a small gap that I could wiggle through. I slowly bleed through, covering the tile floor like a leaking faucet.

The station was bustling with shopping people, many with grocery items in hand. Many had already stepping on my shadow, putting periodic holes through the cloud. I glanced around the store with practiced ease as my years as a grocery stocker came to the surface.

Grocery. Medicine. Dairy and meats on the back wall. Next section. Chips. Jerky. Fresh pizza slices.

There it was! A whole hot food section, about half empty but was currently being refilled by a lady in a Kwiktrip shirt. The only issue was that the hot food stations were in the middle of the other side of the building.

Okay, not too difficult. I could do this.

I regathered the tendril into a single stream and streamed across the floor. Sneaking under the shelving when ever I could. I pushed more and more shadow as fast as I dared across individual shadows, ultimately gathering under the warm breakfast foods.

All in all, I used over half of my mass to stretch just to stretch across the building, most of it piled under other shelves. That left enough shadow to lift several items to gather from the hot stations, and just enough to pull on the gas shut off and prop open the fire exit just enough to set the alarm off. If everyone payed attention in Kindergarten, then the crowd will evacuate the building, creating the distraction I needed to float items out in the chaos.

Overkill? Yes.

But I was a blue winged alien horse with a vested interest in not being vivisected. Sue me.

I pulled down on the gas shut-off and flexed the tendril like a bicep, gently pushing the fire exit open half an inch.

Bwebwebwebwebwebwebwe!

"Ah what the fuck!?" exclaimed a lady, who winced to cover her ears.

"By the virgin Mary!" gasped an old man who reached reflexively to clutch his heart.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Please calmly move to the closest exit and walk across the street to the You-Store-It parking lot. Do not go to your car. Do not leave the premises!" An employee shouted above the sudden din. A manager I assumed. With no real fire, no one succumbed to panic, walking calmly towards the nearest exit. Several people left via the fire exit, allowing me to pull the tendril inside the building as they pushed the door open.

The whole building was empty in only a minute, with the manager trailing behind her employees. She glanced around the store as she closed the door nervously.

Excellent.

Now free to act, I wasted no time to lift a thick tendril up into the breakfast foods. I grabbed three and moved on towards the boxes of pizza slices. I wanted to grab more, but I worried I wouldn't have been able to eat it all before they went bad.

It would have to do.

I recoalesced into a central mass and began carrying my loot towards back towards the fire exit, which just happened to be the farthest away from the street. The cameras One hundred percent would see the floating food and dark shadow, but by the time they looked at the footage I would be long gone.

I pulled open one of the drink coolers and pulled a sweet tea off the shelf inside. A strange calm settled over me as I flowed over the tile. I had never consciously stolen anything before, and yet I pushed the sudden adrenaline rush back down. I cleanly pushed the wrapped bundles of food out of the door with what I imagined was the sure confidence of a 1920's veteran bank robber. When they were through, I followed after, letting the exit shut completely behind me.

Across the street, the crowd of people gathered as they started to count their number. Maybe it was my imagination, but I could almost feel the sudden promise that fire trucks would soon be arriving. I turned my attention back towards the crowd in order to gage their reaction as I pushed my spoils in the opposite direction back into the safety of the night.

They were too busy with themselves, so I abandoned all pretense and rushed into the darkness as fast as I could push.

I had grabbed two chicken and waffle sandwiches, a breakfast burrito, and two slices of pepperoni pizza. I solidified back into a pony, holding the warm food to my chest, spreading my wings and taking off into the sky. I could sit down anywhere in the darkness and start to eat. But I didn't want to risk sitting near the scene when agents inevitably show up to investigate the disturbance with no cause. If they happened to bring infrared cameras with them or any military unit with such equipment, then I might as well shine a spotlight back towards the gas station.

There was only one spot in the night both warm and chaotic enough to adequately hide in.

The city.

*innocent whistling*