Luna's

Luna’s

Chapter 5

I stared down into the steaming hot liquid placed in front of me. Even without the excuse of caffeine, I found myself waking up after dark once more. The moon was still full and the fog still thick outside, leaving me to feel as though this place never changed. As I watched the steam slowly rise, I honestly asked myself if time was really passing here, or if it was all some strange dream.

I glanced up from my cup to see Luna standing behind the counter across the room. Rather than grace myself with her infuriating sense of humor tonight, I chose to sit in one of the booths along the wall. My eyes slowly drifted back to my table with contempt. I had hoped for a little more comfort than a barstool, but that was quickly dashed.

The sickly red fabric and worn cushions of the benches simply weren’t comforting in the slightest. The haggard wood that composed the tabletop didn’t help ease my disgust either. It was chipped, mostly grey from age, and clearly had stains from drunken nights of the past.

“Everything about this place seems like it’s about to fall apart,” I muttered to myself as I raised my mug. Just as I took a sip of my coffee a sound caught my ear. Luna and I both turned our attention to the source. I felt my heart almost leap in joy for a moment when I recognized what that sound was. The creaking of the front door.

I sat up in anticipation as a pony—a mare—stepped out from the foyer. Luna greeted her guest with her usual lazy grin as she walked in and took a seat on a stool in front of the owner. She had an orange coat, a straw blond mane, and wore a stetson hat. Just by her looks I could already hear the bumpkin-esque drawl in her voice and shuddered.

Certainly, she had quite an odd fashion choice, though I refuse to believe it was just by my standards. She fit the bill of a southern farmer stereotype perfectly, an image I couldn’t picture somepony purposefully projecting. I sighed, feeling my hope of escaping this forest slipping away. Of course, I knew I shouldn’t judge, since I was a long way from home, after all. Judging somepony for their appearance wasn’t proper and it often led to making baseless assumptions, but I couldn’t help it. These types often were leery of outsiders, so her giving me directions might backfire if I wasn’t careful.

“Howdy, Luna,” the mare said as she tipped back her hat. I cringed as a small voice in the back of my head gleefully congratulated itself. “I’ll take my usual, if ya don’t mind.”

“Not at all.” Luna’s horn lit up and a bottle appeared from under the counter. She placed it in front of the mare with an almost condescending grin. “Our finest cider, right?”

The cap popped free effortlessly and was caught in a dark blue cloud before it could land on the counter. The mare scoffed. “Finest? I don’t know if I’d say that.” She grabbed the bottle and tossed it back. After a few gulps she slammed it back down. “Where I’m from, we got some of the best cider, I’ll have ya know.”

Luna laughed. “I’ve heard. Many times.” She rested her hoof against her head and leaned against the counter. She stared at the mare take another drink with all the enthusiasm of watching grass grow, but still that smile remained. “You always mention how it’s better than our cider.”

“Well, it’s the truth. The Apple family’s been growin’ some of the finest apples for generations. Cider only comes natural after that.” The mare looked down at the bottle, examining the liquid inside as she sloshed it back and forth. “Like, this here? It’s got some bad apples in the bunch.”

I sighed as I listened to the painfully mundane conversation for a chance to interject. Though, I did have to admit, the sound of another’s voice besides Luna’s was a breath of fresh air. Maybe I should just ask, I thought, but I realised it would come off as rude to interrupt.

Luna shrugged. “I’ve never touched the stuff myself.”

“Ya should try it.” She tipped the bottle back. “A little cider ain’t never hurt nopony.”

“I prefer not to make a fool of myself.”

She shot a piercing glare in Luna’s direction. “I’ve never made a fool of myself on it. Ya implyin’ something?”

Luna shook her head. “Of course not.”

“Good.” She nodded. “Besides, cider’s a big deal where I’m from. Ponies come from miles around for when the Apple family sells our cider.”

Luna had a devilish smirk show through her polite smile and bored look in her eyes. I caught her eyes shift over to me for a brief moment, and then her lips spread ever so slightly wider. That look instantly made my blood run cold. “Speaking of, where is it you’re from again?” she asked, innocently.

The mare blinked absently for a moment before furrowing her brow. “I’m from, uh…” She stared at her bottle, a little worried. “From…” She stopped herself once more. After a few more moments she shook her head. “It ain’t that important.”

Luna shrugged her shoulders. “I suppose not.”

She tossed back the bottle once more and guzzled the last of the cider. “Darn right, it’s not,” she said after she slammed down the bottle one final time. She wiped her mouth with her foreleg and sighed. “Anyway, I brought your shipment of apples.”

Luna nodded. “Thank you, Applejack. What would I do without you?”

The mare didn’t seem to pick up on Luna’s barely veiled sarcasm. “Well, I’d rather pay ya back for somethin’ than just freeload here.”

Luna unleashed that obnoxious giggle of hers. “Even after I told you we can open a tab?”

“I told ya, I don’t like to be in debt to anypony.”

“Too stubborn to take my kindness, are you?”

The mare let out a single hard laugh. “I don’t know the price of that ‘kindness’, so I’d rather just pay ya how I can.”

“And I thank you. So, will you be staying tonight?”

Applejack shook her head. “No thanks. I’ve got to keep lookin’ for the road outta these woods.” She climbed down from the stool and tipped her hat back.

“Well, good luck. I’ll see you when you bring in my next shipment.” Luna laughed again. Though I could barely hear it from across the room, it still made me shudder.

“No offense, Luna, but I really hope not,” Applejack muttered before walking out to the foyer.

Once the slam of the front door echoed into the restaurant, Luna slowly looked over to me with an almost victorious smirk. I took a slow sip of my coffee as I glared at her. “You knew,” I said with a bitter tone after I set my mug down.

“Knew what?” she asked, feigning innocence again.

“Don’t play dumb, Luna. You knew that she was lost in these woods too.”

Luna stepped out from behind the bar while keeping her eye on me. “It happens to a lot of ponies who find themselves in these woods,” she said, finally turning her gaze down the dark hallway past the bar. “Luna’s seems to attract all those unfortunate enough to be lost here. They find their way to my doorstep eventually.”

“Attract…” I muttered, pondering her word choice.

“I will take care of them until they can find their escape. Of course, for some, I think these woods are the escape.” She sighed before glancing back at me.

My hoof was shaking. Slowly, the realization that everypony was trapped inside these woods sunk in like a stick slowly being sucked into mud. “Were you lying to me then? Did I even have a chance of finding my way out by asking your ‘regulars’, as you like to call them?”

“Oh, don’t give up hope. I believe I told you to lower your expectations as high hopes lead to disappointment.” Luna let out her creepy laugh. “Memories grow foggy in the mist outside, but surely there will be enough pieces among the ponies who come in to solve the puzzle.” She smirked at me, in a way I would imagine a cat smirking at its prey if it could. “You didn’t expect this to be easy, did you? There’s no fun in that, now is there?”

A shiver ran down my spine as her words sunk in. I could hear Luna laughing again as she walked out of the restaurant and back towards the kitchen, but it felt so distant. A sense of helplessness flooded my chest. In a mere conversation, one I wasn’t even a part of, my hopes were dashed. I was trapped here until I could either figure my way out of this forest, or I was doomed to wander it forever.

Luna’s perverse pleasure in my misfortune wasn’t something I could easily shrug off either. Perhaps she was just a kind tavern owner whom happened to have an odd sense of humor, or perhaps she was a predator waiting to take advantage of those unfortunate enough to happen upon her little tavern. Either way, I was stuck here until I could get myself out of this situation. There would be no savior for me here but myself.