Roses are Red: Chapter 2
Lilo’s ear twitched from the sound of water dripping from the network of pipes that snaked across the ceiling above her. Raising her head, she squinted through the darkness towards the sound. Tiny droplets of water splashed onto the cobblestone floor below the leak, forming a puddle that remained small and confined to the area under the droplets. It was safely tucked away from where Lilo lay, although she still felt the moisture on her chitin.
The changeling’s ears folded back as she lay her head back down onto her hooves. A chain had been connected to a collar fastened around her neck—perhaps the same collar that she wore when she spoke to the unicorn. The chains rattled slightly from the motion, plopping down against the hard floor while the other end struck lightly against the metal bars it was attached to. The collar choked Lilo whenever she moved her head—a result of it being secured too tightly around her neck, most likely—and she swallowed hard to remove the itching sensation that started to rise in her throat. Her chitin was heavily scuffed from the collar as well, adding more unpleasantries to the already discomforting accessory.
The wounds that had decorated her body from before were still present, although they had begun to heal from Lilo’s love reserves she had stored away. The pain no longer coursed agonizingly through her body, but a dull ache still hung in both her bones and her scarred chitin. Her wing was still bent awkwardly, the membrane creased to the point that left her wing entirely unusable.
Her eyes shifted around in the darkness as they were easily adjusted already. She noticed that the iron bars stretched all around in her a moderately sized cage with a door that sat directly in front of her. A heavy iron lock hooked itself between two bars closely connected to each other, making sure that the cage itself remained closed until otherwise adjusted. Other than the metal bars, however, nothing else occupied the cage with Lilo.
Hooves clopping across cobblestone floor caught Lilo’s attention as the sound reverberated off of the walls. She lifted her head again, straining her neck to attempt to let the collar sit more comfortable around her throat. The faint glow of a lantern came into view, shifting and bouncing around as the handle swung around loosely from the owner’s teeth. Soon enough, the candle that lay inside the lantern shone clearly visible to Lilo as an earth pony stopped in front of her cage. The earth pony—unmistakably her jailer—stood on the outside of the cage for a moment glaring at Lilo. The light from the lantern reflected off her dark chitin and her solid pink eyes.
The jailer set the lantern down and twisted his head back to the saddle bags he carried. After fishing out a pair of keys and unlocking the door to the cage, his head twisted around again, this time pulling out a burlap blanket to toss at Lilo. She quickly rose to her hooves as the blanket flew through the air, retreating to one of the corners of the cage before it had a chance to get near her. The jailer rolled his eyes.
“It isn’t coated with noxious toxins, you stupid bug,” he said, twisting his head around to the other saddle bag and pulling out a bowl with a cover on it. He set it down on the floor at the cage’s door. “And Zumas didn’t curse it with some sort of pansy unicorn curse. All it will do is keep you warmer down here. Now eat up.”
The jailer slammed the cage door shut and picked up the lantern, giving Lilo one last look before turning back down the hall and departing.
“Creepy bug,” he muttered.
Lilo’s head drooped and she refused to move out of the corner of the cage until the light from the pony’s lantern had completely faded. When she felt that the jailer had left, she slowly crept over to the burlap blanket.
The burlap felt rough under her hooves. Lilo took a sniff, then cringed slightly at the blanket before turning her attention to the bowl that sat next to the door. Her stomach rumbled audibly, and after another moment of staring at the bowl, she pounced and tore the cover off. Inside was a mush of a strange smelling substance, but Lilo ignored it as she started to lap it up with her long tongue. She shoveled the food as fast as she could into her mouth, nearly forgetting to breathe as her nose was plunged into the pasty liquid.
When she was finished, she withdrew from the bowl and turned around to look at the burlap blanket. It lay there in a heap, unfriendly and uninviting. Judging from its edges, it looked as if it had been recently cut open from an old potato sack due to the untidy frills that lined it.
A shiver ran down Lilo’s spine and she looked up. She had noticed the cold from earlier, but its presence was not so prominent until now as a draft cut through her cage.
“I guess it is a little cold down here,” Lilo said to herself, laying down and pulling the blanket over her. The rough material irritated her wings slightly. “I wonder how many other changelings are still alive after that explosion? I couldn’t be the only one, can I?”
The only response was the dull trickle of water on the cobblestone ground. Lilo’s ears folded back and she looked down at her hooves. Empty and lonely with only the sound of dripping water to fill the void.
“How did I end up here?” she asked as she lay her head down onto her hooves and drifted off to sleep.
~~~
Lilo awoke to the sound of a metal pole banging against the sides of her cage. She jolted up to her hooves, blasting the burlap blanket off of her back. Her eyes met the jailer once again, and he did little to help her relax when he began to unlock the doors to her cage. His keys rattled noisily as he turned the lock and the door groaned open when he gave it a shove. He took a step inside, kicking the bowl to the other side of the cage.
“You have your first client,” the jailer said, looking down at the set of keys in his mouth. “Zumas said that the client is wondering if we have an exotic mare from one of the southern port cities in Equestria. He told them that we do.”
Lilo retracted when the jailer moved closer to her with the keys still in his mouth. He growled when she was about to take a step back, causing her to remain in place and close her eyes instead when he took hold of her collar. She heard the lock on her collar click and the weight of the chain tugging on her neck was released. She opened her eyes again and looked down to see that the chain was now lying limp at her hooves, although the collar was still securely wrapped around her neck. The jailer turned to leave the cage.
“Filthy bug,” he mumbled. He then added much louder, “You had better follow me and change into your disguise. I think it would be in your best interest if nopony else saw you for what you really are. The last thing we need is somepony alerting the guards that we’re hiding parasites.”
Lilo cringed when she heard the earth pony’s dark chuckle. She fell in step behind him, leaving the cage and making her way down the hallway. Her mind raced over a credible disguise she could use, piecing together memories from ponies she had seen that might match the description of a pony who would be from Equestria’s south. A certain earth pony with a pink coat and light blue hair came to mind, and she quickly shapeshifted into her guise just as the jailer reached the stairs ahead of her. On her flank was a blue lotus flower.
“So, what does this stallion look like?” Lilo asked hopefully.
“What does it matter to you?” the jailer replied, looking straight ahead. “He’s just another source of food for you insufferable parasites anyways. Fucking them is probably just some sick and twisted benefit for you monsters.”
Lilo recoiled, but she added, “W-we aren’t monsters. Sure, we feed on love, but it is a necessity to survive. Can you at least tell me what the stallion looks like so I know what I can expect?”
The earth pony stopped and spun around. “You aren’t monsters, huh? So attacking thousands of innocent ponies, destroying gratuitous amounts of Canterlot, and rounding up its citizens like some kind of slave force to feed you nasty little insects doesn’t make you a monster?”
Lilo took a step back, shrinking away from the earth pony’s frightful gaze. “We were hungry. W-we were following Queen Chrysalis’s orders. We only-”
The earth pony struck Lilo across the face, snapping her head ninety degrees. The changeling was stunned, the force behind the jailer’s hoof enough to send sharp pains rippling across Lilo’s now fleshy cheek. Taking in deep breaths, she slowly turned head back to the jailer, holding back several tears that threatened to fall down her cheeks.
“Pitiful,” he said, turning around and walking up the stairs. “Following some queen’s orders. Wouldn’t you think at least one or two of you would have had half a mind to question your miserable queen?.”
Lilo opened her mouth to reply, but quickly shut it again when she felt the sharp pain still rolling around in her cheek. She grit her teeth and bit her lip instead, casting her eyes down towards her hooves.
Once they reached the top of the stairs, the jailer pushed the door open to allow for both him and Lilo to pass through. They stepped onto a smooth, wooden floor, and then turned to start walking down another hallway. From a distance, Lilo heard a rhythmic beat rattle the walls all along the corridor. The jailer glanced behind him, smirking when he saw that Lilo still maintained her disguise. He stopped at a door that was located halfway down the corridor towards a set of ornately decorated wooden doors.
“You’re going to take these steps up to the second floor,” the jailer began, pushing the door open. “Go to a room number two-oh-four and wait for the client.” He paused, leaning in closer to her. “Oh, and since you’re a parasite, I’m sure you have done this type of work before. Don’t screw this up.”
Lilo stared at the jailer for a moment, her ears flopping back, but he simply nodded his head towards the stairs. She sighed and slunk past the jailer, making her way up the wooden steps. Upon entering the second floor, she turned and started down the hall towards the doors furthest from the back. She counted the numbers along her route. Her hoofsteps on the wooden floor clip-clopped through the corridor and followed her until she stopped at one particular door. A large number was etched onto a plaque right above the handle.
“Two hundred and four,” Lilo said to herself.
She looked back at herself, scanning over her coat and her tail for any hairs that may be out of place. She gave her hips a little bit of a sway side to side, allowing for her tail to swish side to side as well. She then lifted her forehoof and smoothed out her mane, practiced her smiles for a moment, and smoothed out the hairs on her chest. Graceful was all that she could think of. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open.
Two massive windows lined the far side of the room, allowing for plenty of light from the sun to fill every corner that would have otherwise been shrouded by soft shadows. Bookcases filled with all sorts of books lined either side of the room, their spines each colored a unique shade to bring warmth to the already warm sunshine. A large, colorfully patterned rug lay at the foot of the massive bed that sat between the two windows. The bed was covered in all sorts of pillows and blankets, allowing for whomever used it to feel as if they were lying within a bed of feathers and fur.
Lilo shut the door behind her, sighing and dragging her hooves over to the bed. She climbed onto the bed and lay down on her side, positioning herself so her pink plot was facing the door. She shifted her blue tail enough so that it hid some of her flank.
I never thought I would catch myself waiting on a bed for a stallion to come take me again, Lilo thought to herself. I wish that... that disgusting pony wasn’t right about me. He looks at me with so much hatred and enmity, as if I’ve been his enemy for longer than eternity. And it can’t be just him, either; there has to be other ponies like him. We seem like parasites to them, sucking away their precious love so that we may feed ourselves.
There came a knock on the door and Lilo turned her head. She perked her ears up, shifted on the bed a little bit, then quietly cleared her voice.
“Come in, sweetling,” Lilo called in a very sweet and smooth voice.
The door opened and an average looking orange stallion stood in the doorway. His eyes widened when he saw the beautiful, southern mare before him, and after closing the door, he slowly began to edge his way towards her. Lilo rolled her eyes and slid herself off the bed, lowering her eyelids slightly and walking towards him with enough swing in her step to shake her flank back and forth.
The stallion froze in place, his legs locking together and both his mane and his tail standing on end. The poor guy must have already been sweating for all Lilo knew, fawning over the disguised changeling who approached him like a cat would approach a mouse.
“So you were the handsome stallion who was looking for a southern mare,” Lilo said, biting her lower lip.
She started to circle him, and just as her flank was about to disappear from the stallion’s view, she flicked her tail slightly. The stallion squeaked as quietly as he could manage, and he did his best to twist his head around to follow Lilo’s movement.
“Do you like what you see?” Lilo added. She saw his head nod rapidly and she giggled. “So, I’m not a disappointment, am I? Well, that’s too bad…” She walked around his backside and sidled up next to the stallion, nipping at his ear. “I hear that the naughtiest mares get the most fun. I guess I just have to try harder.”
Lilo heard the stallion’s heart patter, but she frowned when she found no traces of love leaving his body. She bumped her flank up next to him, pushing both of them towards the bed. The stallion eagerly complied, turning around when he reached the bed and planting a kiss onto Lilo’s lips. Her eyes widen in surprise from the sudden forwardness of the stallion, but she quickly return the kiss with a smile.
Lilo quickly used her soft forehooves to pushed him onto his back on the bed. She climbed on after him, crawling over his body to give another quick kiss on his muzzle before she began to trace her lips down along the stallion’s neck and chest.
Parasite.
~~~
Lilo sat on her haunches and watched as the orange stallion departed, closing the door behind him without a single glance back at her. The bed was a mess of blankets and pillows, strewn about from their less than foal friendly acts. The air around her smelled of sweat and seed. She sighed and looked down at the bed.
“I... I don’t feel the love,” Lilo said to herself quietly. “Not a single trace of love left that stallion’s body. Did I do something wrong? Was I not good enough for him? I was trying my… my best, I know I was.”
She bounced her forehooves on the bed and retraced everything that transpired in the last twenty minutes. Perhaps her techniques weren’t as solid as she believed them to be, or maybe the initial meekness of the stallion was from being in a brothel in the first place rather than her disguise? He didn’t seem the least interested in her once he was all finished.
Several moments passed by before the door to the room swung open and the jailer stood at the doorway. His face was scrunched up tight as he looked at her, and he motioned with his hoof for Lilo to follow him. She slid from the bed and walked quickly out of the room, glancing behind her as the earth pony started to follow behind her. They both strode towards the door that led back down to the basement. He trotted ahead of her and opened the door.
“Keep moving,” he growled as she passed by him.
In no time they both were back in the basement of the brothel and Lilo dropped her disguise, her form becoming encased in a green glow for a second to reveal her chitin once again. The jailer looked behind him and scoffed.
“I would have prefered if you stayed as that southern pony,” he said with a growl. “Would have made it easier to look at you whenever I come by.”
Lilo flinched and stopped when the earth pony halted in front of her cage. He swung the cage open and held up his hoof, gesturing for her to step inside. Lilo hesitated, looking down at her hooves.
“Do you find me that revolting?” she asked.
“I’m not the only one,” the earth pony replied. “Now shut up and get in the cage.”
Lilo sighed and started to walk past the earth pony, but before she was even halfway in the cage, the earth pony kicked out one of his hooves and tripped her. She fell flat on her face, and the jailer smirked as he walked in after her and secured the chain to her collar. The familiar rattling sound didn’t bring her any relief—quite the opposite, in fact. Lilo groaned and rolled on her back in time to see the earth pony slam the jail door behind him.
They stared at each other, Lilo on her back with her hooves tucked up under her chin while the jailer stood on the other side of the bars with his cold eyes glaring back at her. He spat at her after a time, then turned away and walked down the hallway, cackling cynically to himself.
The familiar dripping from the pipe leak returned once the jailer’s hoofsteps died away. Lilo turned onto her side and curled up, shutting her eyes as tightly as she could.