I awake feeling miserable and it takes me a few moments to remember why. Panic threatens to overtake me again but I bite my tongue. Hard. The pain and taste of coppery blood keeps me grounded. For all I spend half my time as a woman, I do still have a modicum of masculine pride. I could and would keep myself together for the sake of my girlfriends if nothing else. I had my little meltdown, now it was time for a stiff upper lip.

Of course, that mentality didn’t mean I had a plan or that a gnawing sense of dread hadn’t taken up residence in the back of my mind. Ultimately I was just someone who punched kinda good. I couldn’t even honestly claim to be on the same level of the real Ranma. He had been trained through extreme adversity; I merely happened to have some helpful muscle memory that let me emulate some of what he could do. And even the real thing hadn’t squared off against eldritch abominations.

The question of what to do about the possibly and probably evil entity that had stolen my soul and name could come later. I had to let Luna, Fluttershy, and Rainbow know I was awake and…well, OK might be overselling it, but at least stable. I threw back the covers and got up. I was half surprised Fluttershy at least wasn’t fretting at my bedside. How long had I been out?

I make myself presentable, if only barely, and step outside my room, which I had been relocated to sometime after I cried myself to sleep. I spy Rainbow crashed on my couch, snoring loudly, and can hear Luna and Fluttershy’s voices coming from the kitchen. I could choose to mess with Rainbow or I could go to the kitchen. As tempting as messing with Rainbow was, I could hear the distress in Luna and Fluttershy’s voices, even if I couldn’t quite make out the words themselves.

I stepped into the kitchen, “Morning girls,” I gave my best attempt at a winning smile. I was crushed in twin hugs almost immediately.

“Ranma!” They cried. I contemplated for a moment saying something glib, but minded my tongue. I just hugged them back.

“How are you?” Fluttershy eventually asked, looking at me with eyes full of her trademark concern.

“Better than I was before, but that’s not exactly saying much,” I admitted, “I’m just coping with this.”

“Luna told me a little of what’s going on…” Fluttershy said, gripping my hand tightly.

“We’ll figure something out,” Luna placed a hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder, trying to project more confidence than she felt. Fluttershy just nodded, not wanting to give her doubts voice.

“We should probably wake Rainbow. She was the last one to go to sleep last night, the poor thing,” Fluttershy said instead, moving to wake the slumbering mare, “Rainbow, wake up.”

Rainbow groaned and stretched as she returned to the waking world, “What time is it?”

“A little past 8:30,” Fluttershy said, “And Ranma’s awake.”

That last bit of info jolted Rainbow awake, who searched the area and saw me standing there near the entrance to the kitchen. She vaulted over the back of the couch and fussed over me with almost as much mother hen energy as Fluttershy could muster. It was endearing.

“I’m still in one piece Rainbow. Or as much as I ever was,” I said gently.

“That’s what worries me,” Rainbow replied, burying her head in my chest. I held her.

“It’ll all work out somehow,” I told her with as much certainty as I could find within myself.

“It better,” Rainbow grumbled with her usual stubbornness, “I’ll make sure of it!”

Her bravado meant more to me right then than I could say. Even if it was mostly bluster, it put a smile on my face. Her statement of blind confidence gave me some of my own back. I kissed her forehead.

“Thanks Rainbow. That means a lot to me,” I told her, causing her to flush red.

“W-Well good!” Rainbow stuttered. I ruffled her already messy hair in return. She tried to wave me off what she insisted was the perfect amount of messy already.

“I’ve made inquiries to a few sources I trust, hopefully they’ll turn up something soon,” Luna said.

“Well then for now all we can do is play the waiting game and prepare,” I said.

“Prepare how?” Fluttershy asked worriedly.

“That, Fluttershy, is an excellent question,” I sighed deeply.

This month has been pretty good to me all things considered. Cleared both UWU and TEA in FFXIV, got fiber internet to the new house, been trying to eat healthier, all that good stuff.

Tragically my family are all still massive pains in the butt and getting a good night's sleep is all but impossible with my niece and nephew screaming their lungs out at all hours of the night. So you win some you lose some.

Also the minor inconvenience of my boss trying to shame me for my religion and me consequently quitting because I wasn't going to put up with it. And I wouldn't be half so irked if he didn't profess to be a Christian too, but his "friends" told him that since I actually practiced what I preach it was either me or them. I left before he had to make a choice, although what he said after on twitter makes it pretty clear what he would have chosen, the gutless coward.