Double Moon Flare grunted as she leaned her shoulder against the last of the wooden benches, pushing it along the floor and against one of the doors leading out of the hall. She let out a sighed and sat down on the bench, leaning back.

Flare looked around. On the other side of the hall Twisty and Xander were adjusting one of the other barricades. Token was still peering out the windows, desperately searching for Laser Bright. Ember seemed to be busying herself going over the stacks of food they had, tallying them or organizing them or whatever; her seemingly ever present camera sat on the table nearby.

And Scary was sitting in the theater seats. The projector stood silent, but Scary wasn’t looking at the screen anyway. She was hunched over slightly, looking at something in her lap. Based on the way her right arm was moving, she was writing something.

Flare took a breath and looked away. Should she go ask Twisty what to do next? Try and help Token or Ember?

Flare sighed and shook her head. She stood up and made her way over to the theater seats. She sidled over to Scary, awkwardly clearing her throat.

Scary jumped a little, a hand going over the notebook in her lap as she looked up. When her eyes met Flare’s she relaxed a little, hand coming away from her notebook. Scary coughed and gestured vaguely to the seat beside her.

Flare nodded and eased herself into the seat, leaning back and away from Scary, who leaned over her notebook again, turning slightly away from Flare. A few moments of silence stretched between the two before Flare said something.

“So, uh, what are you, um, doing?” Flare briefly wished she had some genuine talent for magic, so she could wipe that sentence from hers and everyone else’s memory.

Scary swallowed and brushed a hand over the page, straightening up. Hesitantly, she picked up her notebook and placed it on the little armrest. On the page was a rather crude drawing of a Lamia, fang-filled jaws opened wide.

Ember cleared her throat again. “Is that, uh, Val?”

“Y-yeah,” Scary said, reddening a little as she quickly pulled the notebook back into her lap. “I, uh, just needed to work on something.” She gestured with her pencil to where Twisty and Xander stood. “And I’m not all that physical, so...” She smirked ruefully and tapped the notebook.

“You helped earlier,” Flare said, sitting up a little.

“Adrenalin,” Scary shrugged. She glanced down at her drawing before grimacing and snapping the notebook close.

Flare sighed and shifted in her seat. “…Hey, Scary?”

Scary looked over. “Yeah?”

“This whole, uh, thing. It’s kinda like one of your stories, right?”

Scary chuckled. “Yeah, I guess so.” She shook her head. “Not sure if I could have come up with a big snake lady that eats ponies.”

Flare smirked. “Well, assuming you did, what would happen now?”

Scary gave her a sideways look. “Flare, this isn’t-”

Flare smiled and reached over, taking Scary’s hand in her own. “I know. But let’s pretend it is. What happens next?”

Scary took a moment to answer, staring at her hand in Flare’s. She seemed to remember herself and her gaze snapped back to Flare’s face.

“Well, um, we’re pretty secure in here with food and the lights are still on, so, uh…” Scary swallowed dryly. “Maybe the lights would go out?”

Flare smiled and then jumped when a sudden boom sounded. She looked around frantically, only realizing after a few moments that what she had heard was thunder. She settled back down in her seat, laughing nervously and glancing around. Thankfully, it seemed as though most everyone else had jumped as well.

Flare looked back at Scary, the Thestral’s expression somewhere between a grimace and an amused smirk. Flare smirked and shook her head, again taking Scary’s hand.

“Okay, okay, ah, what else would happen?”

Scary again took a moment to answer. “Oh, uh, I guess the rainstorm would break. Lightning flashing though the dark and stuff like that.”

Flare nodded, squeezing Scary’s hand a little. “Anything else?”

“Um,” Scary’s mouth worked a few times, no words coming out. “Uh, maybe, ah-”

“Guys!”

Token’s sudden shout broke the relative quietness after the thunder. Scary stood up, pulling her hand out of Flare’s. She took a step forward, but then hesitated, looking back. Their eyes met for an awkward moment before Flare looked away, standing up as well. Keeping a few paces away from each other, they made their way over to the windows along with everyone else.

Token was standing rather precariously on the slanted windowsill, almost but not quiet touching the glass. He was pointing excitedly at something outside.

“What is it?” Twisty asked, moving close to the window.

“See that, out there by that lamppost?” Token said, finger pointing.

Flare moved up next to Twisty and squinted. The lamppost was a fair ways away from the window and something lay at its base. Far too small to be a pony, but it certainly was something.

“What is it?” Flare asked, looking from the window to Token.

“That’s my jacket,” Token said like he had just struck oil. “…I left it with Laser Bright.” He explained after a moment.

Ember spoke up from the back of the group. “But, it just lying there isn’t a good sign, is it?”

Token’s jaw worked a few times before any sound came out. “I-”

“The hell?” Flare said aloud as the lamppost outside suddenly went out, plunging the area outside into darkness.

Token turned his attention back to the window, nearly pressing his nose against it. He squinted, pressing a hand to the glass. The window suddenly shattered as something smashed through it, showering the assembled ponies with shards of glass. Token was knocked from his perch, his fall broken by Scary and Xander. The three fell to the floor in a crumpled heap.

Flare quickly recovered from her backwards stumble, rushing forward and pulling Scary to her feet, brushing bits of glass from her clothes. Flare hesitated a moment longer than she should have before also hauling Xander up. Ember, who seemed to have escaped the glass and the falling Token, helped said Changeling from the floor.

Twisty moved in among the group, trying to pick away clinging splinters of glass. Flare moved out of the way, looking up at the now broken window. She turned from the open space to the glass littering the floor, following the trail to the metaphorical brick through the window.

“That’s my jacket,” Token said as Flare picked up the article of clothing.

Flare nodded, turning the letter jacket over in her hands. She felt something shift in one of the pockets. She reached inside and pulled out a cell phone.

“It’s Laser Bright’s phone,” Flare said, looking up from the device.

Token made his way over to her, mutely taking his jacket and staring at the phone in her hand. Everyone jumped as the phone let out a loud sound like a ringing bell. A message alert flashed onscreen.

Without really thinking about it, Flare swiped the screen. The ringing stopped and a video began to play.

“Hmm, let’s just get you steady here,” murmured a smoky voice. A face appeared on the screen, green and reptilian. “Ah, there we are.”

“Guys, you should come take a look at this.” Flare said, the rest of the group crowing around her as she turned the volume up on the phone.

The Lamia on screen smiled. “Well, since the cat is out of the bag, my little ponies, I suppose now is the best time to explain the rules. I’d do so in person, but I doubt you’d let me get close enough at this point.” The Lamia snickered and continued. “The rules are simple. Well, rule rather. This little game of ours ends at dawn. If the sun comes up and you’ve managed to stay on this side of my scales, you’ve won and will be free to go.”

The Lamia’s face suddenly grew larger on the screen as she brought the phone close. Her brilliant red tongue licked across the lens, smudging it. “Good luck,” she sang softly before the video ended.

Flare swallowed dryly, arms falling to her sides.

“What time is it?” someone asked after a moment.

“Just past midnight,” Flare heard Twisty reply. The pink mare moved out in front of the group. “Dawn is at seven o’clock on the dot.”

“So we wait her out here?” Scary asked.

“We have food and a decent barricade. Here is our best shot.”

“And if we make it, do you think she’s actually going to just let us go?” Ember asked.

Flare watched Twisty frown. A deep, painfully uncertain frown. It looked horribly out of place on her.

“She’s crazy,” Twisty said after a moment. “She might be crazy enough to keep her word, but until dawn we don’t have much of a choice other than waiting her out.”

“What about running?” Token said suddenly, looking up from the jacket in his arms for the first time since Flare had found it. “The van. If we move quickly enough, we could make it.”

“Miss Cheerilee has the keys,” Scary said, picking another piece of glass from her hoodie. “I don’t know about you, but I can’t hotwire a car.”

A murmur of similar statements made its way through the group, Twisty merely shaking her head.

Xander spoke up next. “Val didn’t say anything about Miss Cheerilee, right? Before, when she attacked you.”

Twisty nodded hesitantly. “She didn’t mention her, but that was a while ago. She might have-”

“We should try looking for her,” Ember said, cutting Twisty off. “She has the keys, which means we could just get the fuck out of here right now instead of waiting around seven fucking hours.”

“Do you want to go back out there, Ember?” Twisty growled, her tone harsh. “Val could have killed us both back at the rooms. She was playing with us.”

Ember seemed to deflate, shoulders falling as she shuffled back a step.

Twisty sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Look, if Miss Cheerilee finds us we will bring her in here. And if she has the keys then we’ll make a run for the van. But here is the safest place right now. We have food and light and-”

And as though on cue, the lights suddenly went out.

Author's Note

Names be droppin' all over the damn place.

And hey, uh, there was an explicit threat of murder in this chapter. Conspiracy to commit murder is the same as murder in the eyes of the court, so... yay?