Twenty minutes past closing time, Pony Joe set down the mug he’d been polishing and walked to the cafe’s door, seeing silent streetlights. He sighed, then flipped the sign to closed.

The half-hour since his last customer had left gave him plenty of time to sweep the floors, wash the dishes, and bag the day’s leftovers—save for the heart-shaped eclair sitting alone in the counter’s soft light.

He sighed as his gaze lingered over its delicate layers of chocolate, pastry, and cream. It’d become a habit to make one in case his favorite customer stopped in. And it’d make too much mess to join the bag he’d drop by the shelter on his way home.

Joe was gathering his hat and coat when the bell above the door rang. His heart leapt as a sleek black figure came sauntering in.

“Lover,” Queen Chrysalis purred. “Any news about the city’s defenses?”

Author's Notes:

This originally appeared in the September 2018 Flashfic contest, which had a limit of 150 words. It was inspired by an art piece submitted for the September 2018 Writeoff, "Keep Pretending." Admittedly I took some liberties with the Flashfic contest prompt, which was "Birthday Magic." But to my pleasure and amazement, it won the contest!

I'm fine with leaving room for reader interpretation of this one, though it may have come out being a bit more more vague than I'd hoped. My personal interpretation is that Joe is an unwitting traitor under Chrysalis' thrall. I mean, how can you say no to these eyes?