Luna's

Luna’s
Chapter 13

I sat, eyes locked ahead on the empty bench across the table. It had only been a few minutes since the kerfuffle had thrown the dining room into disarray, but in that short time, everypony had quieted down and withdrawn back into themselves. The wonderful vacancy behind the bar where Luna normally stood made me smile; the longer it took her to return, the better. The feeling from the cur Rarity’s icy gaze burrowing deep into the back of my skull made sure even that small kernel of happiness was short-lived.

A heavy sigh trundled past my lips. Only just out of bed and already I was ready to turn back in. My gaze drifted sideways to the window, and then beyond to the ever-shifting fog. Even though it was a solid gray, I could see it roiling and churning like the waves on a rocky coast in the midst of a pounding storm. In that moment, there was little I wouldn’t have given for just a little normalcy. Normalcy and the chance to actually finish a cup of coffee without some self-important, pompous bitch ruining my mood.

Was that so much to ask for?

The answer came in the form of the soft knock of hooves on wood. From the doorway leading upstairs, Luna stepped out with an annoyed grimace plastered across her usually smug face. It struck me as odd, since she should have come from the other side of the frame. Then my heart leapt into my throat as something moved behind her. A mare stepped out and stood next to Luna—Twilight. She was the same size as the rest of us—that is, smaller than Luna—but her drooping head and ears made her seem tinier still. Even though I had witnessed her ramblings myself and knew that she was unstable—maybe even dangerous—at that moment, she resembled nothing to me so much as a sulking child being set free from her time-out.

Luna opened her mouth, and my ears swiveled around just in time for me to faintly hear her say, "Don’t make me regret this."

Twilight gave a slow, heavy nod.

Luna glanced sluggishly to the bar and took the few slow steps needed to return behind the counter for some much-needed support. Her foreleg propped up on the countertop, and she rested her head against a hoof. Her eyes, taking in every last scrap of information yet offering none in return, flicked towards me, and my skin crawled.

I shot my gaze to Twilight just as she peeked out from under her frazzled mane. Her ears dared to perk up as she took a step towards my booth. One shaky step became two, then three, and within seconds she had taken up a wobbly pace.

From her table, the shrill voice of Rarity stabbed my eardrums. "Purple Coat. See? And you thought she was make believe." Her disgusting laugh pierced the air as she jabbed Doormat with a hoof.

Twilight didn’t even acknowledge Rarity, nor did she ask my permission as she slid into the seat across from me. Her eyes locked onto mine, deadly serious and lacking the watery confusion they had held the night before. As I examined her, a plethora of emotions warred for control on her face—confusion, relief, worry, fear—until finally I noticed a dark circle around her left eye. That it had taken me so long to see it was a sign of how badly this nightmarish inn was affecting me.

I glanced pointedly at her eye. "Are you alright?"

She blinked rapidly and shook her head. "Oh, yes. I’m fine," she said, giving a nervous laugh. A shaky hoof snapped up to cover her shame. "It’s nothing, really."

After my time in this place, skepticism had become my default reaction. I shot a quick glare in Luna’s direction. "She hit you, didn’t she."

Her eyes bounced around nervously before she shook her head. She started to laugh, but when she noticed I wasn’t sharing in it, she sighed. "This is embarrassing." Her cheeks flushed bright red as her ears fell. "After you left last night, I jumped on the bed so I could fight Luna if I needed to. When I jumped up, I slipped on the sheet and fell, hitting my face on the nightstand on my way down, breaking it and leaving me with a pretty nasty mark."

An involuntary groan slipped out as I pressed a hoof to my forehead. "What are you, a child?"

"You go a little stir crazy when locked inside a dark room for days on end." Twilight furrowed her brow. "Besides, it was a sobering experience. I’m much more cognizant now." She puffed out her chest defiantly.

"Stir crazy?" I raised an eyebrow as I folded my forelegs.

She nodded, finally pulling the hoof away from her eye.

"You call that stir crazy?"

She nodded again, though her ear twitched rapidly as she did.

"So, this ‘stir crazy’—" I stressed with air quotes "—is why you abducted me?" I asked dryly.

"Oh, no. That was because the voices," she replied in her own dry tone as she rolled her eyes.

The sarcasm rang clear, but unfortunately didn’t do much to reassure me. Certainly she was better than last night, but who was to say this would last? How could I be sure she wouldn’t jump on the table and proclaim herself ruler of the bar while holding me hostage? I narrowed my eyes at her.

Her hooves snapped to the sides of her head, running through her mane while a groan slipped past her lips. "I’m not crazy!" she yelled as she brought her legs crashing down onto the table.

In the silence that followed, my eyes trailed over to see Rarity and Doormat both staring at us. I cleared my throat, but as I was about to speak, a steaming mug of coffee dropped onto the table with a hollow thud. I watched as the contents sloshed back and forth, lapping up against the cup’s rim but never spilling. Once satisfied that it wouldn’t make a mess, my gaze trailed up to the only pony in this place who could have dropped it so skillfully and rudely at the same time. Luna stood tall over us both with that same look she had the previous night—one of disappointment.

"Could’ve fooled me," she said, heavy gaze boring down on Twilight, who shrunk under the scrutiny. After a moment, she found brief respite as Luna’s eyes landed on me. "I hope she isn’t being a bother?"

I took a deep breath. "No, she’s fine."

"Good.” Her attention fell back to Twilight, sinking into her like a wolf would sink its fangs into a sheep. “Enjoy your chat," she muttered before stepping back towards the counter. In her absence, the air felt unnaturally cold.

As soon as Luna was gone, Twilight’s chin dropped to the table. Her body relaxed and oozed forward almost as if she was melting in place. She took a few deep breaths, and looked back up to me. "I have to get out of here."

"You kept saying that last night," I said.

"I did?" Her ears perked up. This set me back in my seat—was this mare so far gone that she couldn’t even remember things she had done the night before? Twilight apparently noticed my concern and tried to brush it off with a laugh. "Of course I did! Just testing you!"

"Right," I replied dryly. "And what, exactly, are you testing me on again?"

Her face flushed red again. "Okay, things are still a little fuzzy," she admitted as she gently brushed her swollen eye with the back of her hoof. "But I’m not crazy."

I eyed her over once more. The frazzled mess of a mane, unkempt coat, bruised eye—I would be crazy myself to trust somepony so shady, but at the same time, her good eye was fixed on mine, quivering slightly. She was certainly desperate, and looking at my options, she was the closest thing to a friend I had here.

My eyes fell to the steam rising slowly from the coffee. "Your door was locked before. Is she holding you here?”

Twilight’s eyes moved to the floor, but her head stayed glued to the table. “I don’t even know why I asked her to keep the door locked.”

I flicked my gaze to Luna behind the bar, finding her disinterest only skin deep as her eyes stayed locked onto our booth. “So then leave. You can do that, right?" I asked in a low tone.

She rolled her eyes off to the side and let out a groan. "Getting through the door is easy enough. It’s what comes after that presents difficulty."

My heart locked in my chest, slowly sinking inside a growing pit in my stomach. "What do you mean?"

"There’s still the woods.” She waved her hoof in the direction of the window. “I want out of it all. Not just the bar."

I let out a small sigh of relief. Part of me worried she was getting at something. The numerous guests, all trapped here—I worried it was all by Luna’s design. If everypony trapped here revolved around her, then maybe Luna was some sort of gatekeeper. If that was the case, then maybe what Discord had said was true, that I must be ready before I can leave. Ready by her standards, that is. My heart cautiously climbed from the hole in my stomach. What little comfort the unknown brought was welcomed, at least.

"Most things are fuzzy, but I do remember something important." Twilight’s ears perked up. "I remembered what I was going to tell you last night."

"And what’s that?" I asked before taking a sip of my coffee.

She pulled her head from the table. “I wanted a way out of here, and you’re my ticket."

"Me?" I raised an eyebrow. "How am I supposed to get you out of here when I can’t even do that for myself?"

Twilight opened her mouth, but the words never came out. Her ears fell back a moment later and sighed. "I don’t know how, but I remember where," she finally added with puffed out cheeks. She glanced across the bar at Luna once more before she leaned in close with a hoof held up to keep her voice from reaching Luna’s ears. “That is to say I happen to know where the exit is, but you’ve got to open it.”

The cautiousness in my chest dared for a moment. It dared to turn into hope.

Perhaps I should have known better.