//------------------------------// // Truly Holding My Breath // Story: Sweet Madness // by Get Bent //------------------------------// ”Old mister Webster could never define…” Topple sang as he crumbled up a ball of paper. It was a fitting substitute for the real thing. Throwing it into the trash can across the room, he sighed. The balls of paper surrounding the trash can, memoirs and reminders of the times his aim had failed him served as a time-stamp of how long he had been doing this. He hadn’t had a customer in hours. He was considering closing up shop early. However, the sign on the door that said “10-5, all day, every day!” Told him not to. He had already gone against his parents dying wishes by giving himself Sundays off. He couldn’t keep going against what they wanted. They had a system, after all. They kept the restaurant open for years. Somehow, someway, their system worked. Who was he to fight against it? He threw another paper ball. Swish. “You look like you’re having fun.” A feminine, yet familiar, voice spoke softly. “Guh?!” CRASH! Topple fell off the chair he was balancing on. Quickly standing up and dusting himself off, he faced the entrance. A dark blue pony stood in the door, smiling. “O-Oh, hey Pri- Luna.” He smiled back. Seems she was here again. 3 AM, most likely, and it was the same day as last time. He remembered that. “Having yourself a nice game of basketball, I see?” She said, lifting a crumbled up piece of paper with her magic. She brought it over to herself, dropped it on her hoof, and then threw it back over to the can. His eyes followed. Swish. “Nice shot,” he said, and faced her again. “Thank you.” … They stared at each other. … “What can I do for you?” He asked, breaking the silence. He hated silence. “Ah, I’m in the mood for one of your pizzas, Mr. Top. Can you provide me with one?” She asked, seemingly relieved he had said something. She walked into the restaurant further, letting the door close behind her. He smiled and nodded his head. “Of course. Same as last time?” “Affirmative.” He nodded again. “Take a seat wherever. I’ll probably be able to find you.” The Princess giggled. “Are you sure? It’s quite packed in here.” She joked. “Ha, hah.” Topple laughed, trying to hide the fact that the joke had hurt more than he thought it would. He gave her the stepping stones to the joke, too. Luna, noticing this instantly, (because Topple sucked at lying), put ‘lack of customers’ onto her ‘don’t mention this around this pony’ list. It was a short list, only consisting of her sister and her maid, but she had made a new section just now. One for Topple. That was the first thing she put on there. Absentmindedly wondering if she would have to add anything else, she took a seat and waited for her free glass of water. What’s a restaurant without free water, after all. …She should try one of the soda pop beverages on the menu one day. There have apparently been a lot of flavors invented in recent time. Apparently they make soda out of ORANGES now! Not just roots! As she considered ordering a soda, Topple walked out from the back with a glass of water. No pitcher, though. Which was strange. Last time, he ended up having to bring out the pitcher. Talking a lot had made them both thirsty, so constant refills were a necessity. Luna wondered if it was because he didn’t want to assume her intentions. She probably would’ve done the same, after all. Wait until the guest asks for the pitcher before you bring it to them. Good customer service, but more importantly, a good way to treat a pony. Don’t assume anything from them. She would give him a pat on the back if it weren’t a strange thing to praise somepony for. She nodded thanks as he set down the glass. He cleared his throat. “I’ll be back out with your pizza in a minute. Vegetarian, right?” “Right.” She nodded again. “Cool. Just wanna make sure.” She nodded one last time. “Very well. Take your time, Topple.” She smiled. “Don’t count on it. I’m a pretty quick worker.” he chuckled, and began walking back towards his kitchen. She took a sip of water, and sighed contentedly. He was a quick worker. A good one, too. It wouldn’t be that long, but she can’t say she enjoyed waiting. Waiting for the food was always the worst part. Rather than bore herself to death, she began to look around the restaurant. It was a place she enjoyed being in. Not just for the food, but also for the general feel of it. The brick walls, the open windows, the dim lighting. It was relaxing and it reminded her of restaurants from her time. Simple. Effective. She wouldn’t be surprised if the building was a couple hundred years old. Though, if that was the case, it’s held up miraculously well. Most hundred-year-old buildings required maintenance and fortification. Yearly checkups. But this one didn’t seem to have anything that needed fixing. It could easily stand for decades more, especially with somepony like Topple running things. She took another sip of her water. Oh, how she loved this quaint little pizza parlor. Topple hyped himself up again. He had made the pizza top notch once again. No mistakes. It was probably even better than last time. . Probably. He didn’t know! He just had to wait for Luna to try it. He huffed. Nervously. Finishing up the slicing, he set the pizza cutter down and balanced the pie on his back. It was a useful skill, balancing stuff on your back. The lack of a horn or wings made his ‘normal’ skills a lot more refined. Like being able to cut a pizza. He had to use ingenuity for that. And also his mouth. But mostly ingenuity. He didn’t want to tell. Luna. about the mouth thing. …He exhaled quickly. He wasn’t sure he could get used to that. Even in his own head, his instinct was to say ‘Princess’. But she probably didn’t like that. Being treated like royalty all the time. He could probably ask, but that might be rude. But better that than assume everything. He pushed open the double doors, and saw Luna wave. He was right. He was able to find her. He walked over slowly, set the pizza down on the table, and smiled. “Anything else I can get you?” “This will do.” She said, seemingly content. He nodded. “Great.” …He waited a few moments. “Oh, Topple, please sit with me you handsome stallion!” -just kidding. She didn’t say that. She didn’t say anything at all, actually. Slightly disappointed by the lack of any response from her, he began to turn around to leave her alone. “Will you sit with me again, Mr. Topple?” He smiled internally. There it was. ”Thought you’d never ask,” he thought. “Sure can!” He exclaimed. Maybe a little too loud. She didn’t seem bothered, though. He, same as last time, took a seat across from her. They were in the same booth as last time, too. Talk about deja vu. “So, Topple,” she started. “How’s business?” It didn’t count as mentioning his customers. She may have even been wrong about that. Who knows! “Uh, well..” He muttered, and then wore a fake smile. “It’s going alright.” “Good.” She said, smiling a smile that was just as (if not more) fake. She could tell he was lying. But if he didn’t want to talk about it, then, she wouldn’t pry. She wasn’t that kind of pony. Her sister was, though. ’Good thing Celestia has never visited Topper’s…’ He cleared his throat, and she was taken out of her own headspace. “So, um. How’s… being a Princess?” He smiled a crooked smile. She chuckled. “Same as always. I sign papers. I review bills. I sleep while the sun is out.” “So…” he looked away, and then back at her. “You don’t like it?” He raised an eyebrow (that didn’t exist). She shook her head. “While it is my job, I do it for my ponies. I do it for my subjects. I’m willing to sit down and sign some papers if it means my subjects are happy and healthy. I’m willing to sleep during the day if it means my subjects get a Princess during the night.” She smiled a mirthful smile. One that showed care and affection. His respect for the Princess just went up, that’s for sure… “Oh, well. That’s great.” He chuckled. “I would hope you enjoyed being our ruler. If you hated it, I’m sure things would be way different.” She laughed. “Of course! Can you imagine that? If I hated my job I would be no better than the dictator of Griffonstone!” “Wait, wait, Griffonstone is a dictatorship?” He asked, no longer laughing, having become genuinely confused. “Snrk! You didn’t know that? Oh my goodness, do they not teach that in history classes anymore?” She said, shaking her head, laughing all the while. She was busting his chops. He laughed too. “Hey, I was homeschooled! I guess my mom didn’t know.” They both laughed. … After coming down, they settled into a comfortable silence. Luna took a bite of her pizza. “Oh wow, this is even better than last time. Bravo, Topple.” She said, this time being the one to break the silence. “Why thank you, my fair maiden.” He said, suddenly feeling confident. “I do try my best.” He puffed his chest up. “I’ll say.” She muttered, and took another bite. “You w-“ She cut herself off, opting to finish chewing before speaking. How unladylike. She guessed she just got caught up in the moment. “Mph. You want some?” She said, finishing her bite of food. Topple shook his head. “Nah, I’m-“ “Topple I insist.” She cut him off. She also felt more confident. “You’re all bones. You need to eat more, and I don’t want to finish a pizza all on my own again.” … She smiled. “Eat some for me?” He rolled his eyes, but smiled back. He took a slice of pizza. Here goes nothing… …After taking a bite, he was pleasantly surprised by the taste. He hadn’t eaten his own pizza in forever, instead opting to live off of toppings and the occasional home-cooked meal. The toppings didn’t taste great as a meal, but he was able to stay alive by snacking here and there. It was a terrible way to live, but being on the poverty line does that to a stallion. Oh, wait, Luna’s waiting for him to say something. “Actually pretty good,” he muttered. “I’m surprised.” She smacked him on the shoulder with a magic rolled-up newspaper. “What do you mean, surprised?? You cooked it!” Where did she get the newspaper? He didn’t have- She hit him again! “Ahh, hey! I just haven’t had pizza in a while!” He defended. “Especially not my own. “But you live in a pizza shop!” She countered. “Doesn’t mean I like pizza.” He shrugged. “Plus, I’m technically not supposed to eat the pizza. It’s for the customers.” “…” she hesitated. She thought it over, even. “I guess that’s fair…” She sighed. “You win this round.” She looked down at the table in mock sadness. He hoof-pumped. As the timer went off, Topple’s ears perked up and faced it. Darn things… …Luna was telling a story about something to do with a carrot cake and her sister, Princess Celestia. He didn’t know. It was really hard to follow. He wanted to ask questions, but he didn’t want to interrupt Luna. She seemed to have thought the story was really funny. He didn’t want to kill her mood. Or her flow. “Ah, that’s the closing alarm, is it not?” She asked, putting a hoof to her chin. Topple nodded. “Mhm.” “That’s a shame. I guess I’ll have to tell you the rest of that story another time.” She looked out the window. Still dark. He chuckled. “I’ll hold you to that. It was getting interesting.” He said… …not lying. It may have been hard to follow, but it was getting pretty intense. “Deal.” She smiled. Luna got up, magicked some bits from a purse onto the table, and within a minute or so, she was out the door. Topple frowned at how quiet his restaurant had become. His one customer had left. And without a hug or a hoof-shake or anything. …Oh well. It is what it is. He locked the door behind her, and flipped the sign to ‘closed’. Walking into the kitchen, he did a quick survey of the damage. There were some dishes, but he could do those tomorrow. There were also some toppings on the counter. He didn’t have rats, he could throw those out later on too. He just didn’t feel like cleaning tonight. He could get away with it. It’s not like customers were beating down his door for pizza, after all. He shut off the lights and walked backwards through the double doors. He shut off the lights to the main seating area, and hobbled his way through the darkness to a door labeled ‘Staff Only’. He opened the door, walked up a set of stairs, opened another door, and walked into his living room. He removed his apron and set it on a hook. Sighing, he walked over and sat down at his table. He would’ve let out a breath of relaxation, but he had been sitting for a few hours. He wasn’t anywhere near overworked, sadly. He kinda missed the feeling… -He instantly had to get up again, though, when he remembered what he wanted to do. Walking back over to his apron and reaching a hoof inside of the main pocket, he pulled out his own coin purse. It was a lot more simplistic than Luna’s. Hers was a cute design of the moon and stars, while his was just a brown sack. He was kinda jealous. Shaking his head, he threw it to the table and roughly sat down again. “Okay, alright.” He muttered. “Let’s do this.” He emptied the coin purse and began counting. He had paid the big bill yesterday. He had just enough, having exhausted the last of his parents’ savings in order to pay that bill. It left him with… Three bits. Not nearly enough for anything. And that was scary. Thankfully, Luna had left thirty-one this time. That left him with thirty-four bits. He could do some grocery shopping with that money when he ran out of food. …The food situation was interesting. Most of the food for your restaurant was provided with money from the Royal funds, like he had mentioned to Luna. Granted, however, you paid your bills on time. He guessed part of the money in said bills was for the food. That’s how taxing worked, after all. Right? Anyway, food for the owner’s personal residence had to be purchased with the restaurant earnings. …Of which he had very little. While he could technically eat the food provided by the government, he’s not supposed to. He should probably stop eating those toppings. But who’s eating the food if not him-! He rubbed his head. He could feel a migraine coming on. He wasn’t hungry. Luna’s pizza was quite big. He could skip a meal tonight. He was in the endgame, now. He would probably have to skip a few meals here and there. It wasn’t a difficult concept to grasp. …He could handle it. He was a stallion. Putting the coins back in the purse, he stood up and walked over to his bathroom. He brushed his teeth, flossed, and took a shower. He always was rather hygienic. He tried not to spend too much time in the shower, though. The water bill was a thing and he didn’t feel like running it up. He stepped out, dried off, left the bathroom, and hobbled over to his bedroom door. … As he lay in bed, the ever-present feeling of hopelessness remained.