//------------------------------// // There’s No Fixing Me Now. Please Get Out of My Head, Since You Never Did Show... // Story: Sweet Madness // by Get Bent //------------------------------// Celestia’s sunlight seeped into Topple’s decrepit room through a tear in the curtain. It was barely creeping up on his eyelids. A few more minutes, or maybe him just shifting slightly, and he’ll be waking up. Well, don’t tell anypony, but he was already awake. He just didn’t want to be. “Talk about a contrast!” He grumbled, moving slightly. The sun beamed into his eyelids. There it is. He turned himself over completely and faced his wall, forgetting any fear of the boogieman. Who cares. The boogieman can’t take NOTHING from someone. He breathed in and out. He didn’t have the energy to sigh. He didn’t even have the energy to feel like sighing. He didn’t want to get up. Did he have to get up? He doesn’t want to get up. Why should he care. That bill is approaching. This restaurant will be gone. All of it will be gone. What’s the point anymore? Luna, sure, but… How long has it been since he’s seen her? The date was… …oh. It’s the date he and Luna used to originally meet up on. The schedule got wonky over time, but maybe she would show up. For the hell of it. Maybe? …This was all Topple needed to get out of bed and start the day. …well, this was all Topple needed to WANT to get out of bed. It still wasn’t an easy task. His sheets were scratchy and his mattress was hard, but damn it all it was comfortable in the mornings. Ignoring how useful and comfy the bed was, Topple sat up slowly. After pushing the blankets off of himself, he crawled out of bed, feeling absolutely no energy to do so. Compare this with his anger yesterday, it was almost scary how quickly his feelings had flipped. But he didn’t care enough to think about all of that. He needed to open up his dying business. And he did. You probably don’t care about how he did it. He sure didn’t. But the lights are on. The food is ready to be used. Here’s to another day in paradise. It… He didn’t. He didn’t understand. He can’t say he was disappointed. Because he definitely wasn’t surprised. But. There were no customers. Even though he was advertising. What’s the deal? Maybe it… His heart sank. Maybe it was. He walked out of the store. He felt he knew what it was. What was wrong. But upon seeing a light post with no paper on it, his fears were confirmed. …All of his fliers had been torn down. He felt even more hopeless. Who… Who could do this? It… Either a malicious neighbor or a guard that didn’t get the memo… surely… Either way, the fliers were gone. And he spent what little grocery money he had on the paper. That’s. He took a deep breath. He really wanted to scream. Would anyone judge him for screaming? Probably not. But they probably wouldn’t appreciate it. And they would call the cops on him. And as much as he hates to admit it, he needs this place. He can’t risk getting evicted before he gets audited! That’s 1. Embarrassing, and 2. Completely stupid. And he was neither of those things. At least, he, uh… Thought he was bright. But who knows? A failing restaurant? That’s not exactly something caused by smart decisions. So who truly knows? Maybe it was his fault. Maybe he was bad at business. There’s no way Canterlot just.. got tired of pizza. None of it made sense. It had to be his fault. Thinking these thoughts, Topple sulked back inside the restaurant. He closed the door behind him, locking it to make sure nopony could enter while he wallowed. He felt himself slowly start to care. But not in a positive way. …He was running out of time. Later that night, under Luna’s moon, a blue pony sat studying. The subject of her studying was Equestrian law. And a normal pony would think that she was studying to get a law degree. Maybe studying to take the bar exam. But no. This pony, navy blue, hair sparkly, eyes teal; she was the owner of that moon up in the sky. Princess Luna. And she was studying law because… well… Despite how well she’s become accustomed to the current equestrian landscape, she didn’t exactly know what odd laws were in place. She knew the important ones, but laws from her time, like: ‘don’t wear a sombrero while eating an ice cream cone’ had since been disbanded. Upon freaking out on a pony for doing something so highly illegal right in front of her, (eating a pickle without gloves on) Tia and her guards figured it would be important for her to brush up on the specifics of everything. She didn’t disagree. So here she was, reading through all of the laws relating to business. “Business contracts signed by those under fifteen are not legally binding..” she read aloud. Makes sense. “Business contracts stay in effect forever, no matter the current landscape. The only way to change the parameters is to do so in front of the court…” she read aloud. “Business contra-“ she stopped. She went back. “Business contracts stay in effect forever, no matter the current landscape?” She questioned. That’s an… oddly specific law. And one that kind of sounds.. dangerous. She knew the laws changed over time. Sometimes laws changed in a measly hundred years. If somepony signed something hundreds of years ago, and now their young have to deal with it, despite it not being relevant anymore; it could be bad news. …She should inform Topple. He could benefit from running over his contracts. That building is old. Who knows how- “Luna?” Celestia called, knocking on Luna’s bedroom door. Her ears perked up, and she closed her book. “Yes, Tia?” “May I enter?” “You may.” She liked when Tia asked to enter. It was very respectful. Hold on, don’t forget about- “What can I do for you?” Luna asked, deciding to ignore whatever it was her schizo thoughts were saying. It probably wasn’t important anyway. “I just got a letter from the leader of Zebricon. He’s willing to go through with the peace treaty, but he doesn’t want us to waste any time.” Celestia explained. “Doesn’t want to waste time? What do you mean?” Luna asked. She figured these things were pretty lax about time. “Well… His letter was a little disrespectful, but… basically, he asked us to come as soon as possible.” Celestia sighed. “Honestly, I don’t like that pony. The sooner this is over the better.” Luna nodded. She didn’t like him either. But… why would Tia tell her all this. Unless. “…you want me to go?” Luna asked, skeptical. “Not necessarily,” Celestia said. “I say we just discuss it.” … They stared at each other. “Quarts parchment shears!” They yelled at the same time. “Argh!” Luna yelled. She lost. “Damn it all to Tartarus.” She muttered. Celestia giggled. “Do I have to leave tonight?” Luna asked, resigning her efforts and accepting her fate. “It would be preferable. Zebricon is quite far, and the Royal chariot can only go so fast.” Damn it all! Luna sulked and walked past Celestia. Smacking her lightly as she did. Celestia chuckled at the display of sore-loser-ness. Topple sat alone in his dark restaurant. (Talk about a contrast!) Why bother anymore. The bill was due in a day or two. Nopony was coming in. He didn’t have enough money. He was going to lose the restaurant. He needed to start thinking of a game plan. What to do when that eventually happened. But- The bell rang. Someone opened his door. He snapped his head up to face the entrance. A customer maybe? Maybe it was Luna? He looked at the clock. 2:30. She was here early. “Hello? Is anypony in here?” An accented voice asked. “The door is unlocked, so I figured…” Or… she wasn’t here at all. Raising an imaginary eyebrow, he walked back over to the light switch and flipped it on. The woman flinched and covered her eyes. “Oh!” She exclaimed, getting her hoof back on the ground. “There you are.” Topple didn’t say anything. It was… “Are you the owner of this establishment?” She asked. “…I am he.” He responded, eyes narrowed. It’s… It’s the lady from.. “Oh, good.” She said. “I had a question for you.” She spoke. The accent was already grating on him. Topple ignored how racist that sounded. Mostly because, well, It’s the lady from down the street. The one.. stealing all of his business. “Were you the one hanging up the advertisements?” …no. She didn’t. “Because you know that’s illegal, right?” She asked, rhetorically. She was rubbing it in. “I understand if you didn’t know, but I figured I would save you some of the trouble.” She smiled. “The Royal guard doesn’t really like any of that stuff. So I-“ “Get out.” Topple interrupted. She recoiled. “Huh?” “Get out.” Topple raised his voice. “Get out of my restaurant!” Topple yelled. He walked towards her. She didn’t step back. “Hey, you don’t-!” She said, standing tall, raising her voice. He raised a hoof. She flinched again. …And that was like a slap in the face. … He stepped back. “Please just leave.” He asked. He had realized what he was going to do. “But I-“ “Please!” The lady stayed silent. And then she left. Without a word. Topple fell on his haunches after that. He… He almost hit a mare. What was he thinking? He was seeing red, yes, but.. Hitting a woman? He… His father didn’t raise him that way. … Topple sat there for what felt like hours. He knew Luna wasn’t coming tonight. Whether because she was busy or because she could sense he had almost hit a girl and decided she didn’t want to see him ever again, he didn’t know. But she wasn’t there. She wasn’t going to be there. He was on his own. …The one night he felt he needed guidance. It was funny. All of it was just so funny. … After a few more minutes, he stood. He went up the steps. He opened his door. He looked at the bill on the table. No money. … …it was over. It was all over. Game over, man. Game over.