Roses are Red: Chapter 3
Lilo’s eyes slowly opened as she awoke from another night of restless sleep. The stone floor underneath her felt cold, and she pulled the burlap blanket tighter around her body as a shiver ran down her spine. The room was dark, and she could barely see through the shadows towards the lingering pool of water created from the leak. The dull splashes carried on through her ears. She sighed.
Lilo started to raise herself to her hooves, but as she sat up, her stomach twisted, and she leaned over to one side and retched. The bile tasted disgusting on her tongue, eliciting a gag to escape Lilo’s throat and another round of vomit to escape her lips. When she was finished, Lilo’s breaths were ragged and she dragged herself to the other side of the cage, carrying the blanket with her. Her whole body shook violently while she looked at the mess on the other side of the prison.
“I’m going to die in here,” Lilo said to herself, letting out a sob. “I haven’t tasted love in over a week. Everypony that I have been bedded by has not shown a single morsel of love, not even enough to just give me a taste.” She buried her face in her hooves. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I... I used to feel love through such crude activities, but now it’s gone.”
She cried into her hooves, barely drowning out the quiet drips from the leaking pipe. Lilo tried to reconnect to the hive mind again to locate the rest of her changeling allies, but the link to the hive appeared to be broken. She wasn’t sure what was blocking her access to the hive mind, causing her to feel lost beneath the brothel that was her prison.
Her whole body ached from the wounds that still had yet to heal, as well as a dull pain running through her muscles from all of the ponies she had fucked. Whenever she thought she would have time to rest, the earth pony jailer would return a few hours later telling her that she had another client she had to satisfy. Lilo never complained to the jailer, but as the clients started to pile up, it was becoming harder and harder for her to do her job.
Lilo’s ears perked up when she heard hoofsteps echoing down the hall towards her. She lifted her head, spotting the light of the lantern swinging sporadically and dancing off of the walls. Her eyes slowly drifted back towards the mess of bile she had left on the other side of her cage and her breath caught in her throat.
“Oh no,” she whimpered to herself. “He’s going to be so furious with me for leaving that mess.”
Lilo started to throw the blanket off herself and get to her hooves when the jailer stepped into view, the lantern swinging back and forth. He spotted her on the far side of the cage, lifting an eyebrow. He set the lantern down slowly and began to reach into the back of his saddlebags, but before he could open one of the bags, he paused.
“Why are you over on that side of the cage?” he asked slowly. His eyes slowly moved back to where the changeling usually slept. He sniffed, and his eyes narrowed. “You can’t be serious. Did you really just...”
The earth pony reached into his saddlebags and pulled the keys to the cage out. He unlocked the door, swinging it open and dropping his saddlebags behind him as he rushed into the cage. He was quickly standing over Lilo, looking down at her while she cowered at his hooves, silently whimpering to herself. His breaths were heavy while he stared down at her.
“I’m so sorry!” Lilo cried out, looking up at the jailer. “I didn’t mean to. I just woke up and when I tried to get up, my stomach-”
The earth pony slapped her across the face with his hoof, and he leaned down closer to her face and said, “You’re going to clean this mess up, you hear?”
Lilo’s eyes darted between her hooves. “I-I don’t have anything to clean it up with. I d-don’t know how I’m supposed to..”
“Shut up,” the jailer snarled. He grabbed Lilo’s ear in his teeth and started to drag her across the floor towards the mess. She wailed in pain, flailing her legs the whole way until he let go. She clutched her ear with one of her hooves and looked at the bile in front of her. Her eyes widened.
“Y-you don’t seriously expect me to...” Lilo trailed off, trying to back away from the mess.
“Clean it up!” the jailer yelled, kicking Lilo in the side.
Lilo yelped and rolled over onto her side, holding the side of her stomach where the jailer had kicked her. She felt warm liquid dribble down her ear and across her face, and tears were streaming down her eyes as she tried to look away from the earth pony standing over her. He growled at her, stepping into her view. Lilo shut her eyes.
“What are you crying for?” the jailer asked coldly. “I said clean it up!” He kicked her again, pushing her onto her back. His eyes flashed, and his lips curled into a wicked grin. “You know what? I have a better idea.”
Lilo opened one of her eyes in time to witness the earth pony standing over her. He pushed her forehooves away from her body and leaned in closer to her face. She felt his hot breaths on her face, and she wrinkled her nose from the foul scent that flowed out of his mouth into her nostrils.
“Don’t even bother to struggle, stupid bug,” the jailer hissed into her ear. “I’ll probably enjoy this less than you will.”
Lilo felt the earth pony lower himself onto her, and before he could get himself inside her, she lunged at his neck with her fangs, sinking her teeth into his flesh. He tried to let out a yelp, but his voice was muffled as Lilo’s jaw tightened around his neck, constricting his throat around his vocal cord. When Lilo pulled her head back, tearing at his flesh, the jailer toppled off of her and lay in a growing pool of his own blood, gurgling and gasping for breath. She coughed and backed away from him, staring at the earth pony with wide eyes.
The earth pony’s gurgling echoed off of the walls of the basement, causing Lilo to look away and covered both of her ears with her hooves. Her mouth tasted bitter from the blood and the bile, and her whole body shook as more tears came to her eyes. She had just killed a pony—the pony who looked after her—without a moments hesitation. He lay there in his own blood, drowning and fighting for life.
She had also just killed the pony who had made her life miserable in the basement. She shared just as many bruises across her chitin from her fall as she did from the beatings the jailer had given her. His insults and accusations were cruel. Lilo slowly looked back at the earth pony. He lay still.
Lilo staggered to her hooves and walked over to him. His eyes had rolled back into his head, and the pool of blood around his neck grew larger. Lilo cringed, quickly looking away from the dead pony at her hooves. As her gaze shifted over towards the entrance of the cage, she caught sight of a rusted metallic object at the base of the bars. The earth had dropped his keys as he had rushed in to get her.
Without giving the earth pony a second glance, Lilo bounded over to the keys and picked them up. She looked down and began fumbling with them, eventually managing to get the right key into the hole on her collar and twisted, allowing for the chain to fall free and clatter against the ground. She made to scramble out of the cage, but just as she put her first hoof through the door, she looked back at the jailer.
“The earth pony has been gone for too long already,” Lilo said to herself, stepping back into the cage. “If I leave now, with him like... like this, it would be all too obvious what has transpired here.” She began to make her way to the other side of the cage, grabbing the burlap blanket in her teeth and dragging it over to the earth pony. She lay the blanket across the body, covering it entirely.
Lilo left the cage with the keys in her mouth, and then she turned around and shut the door, locking it and tossing the keys away into a corner of the basement. Giving the cage one last look over, Lilo dashed towards the stairs that led up into the brothel.
The door at the top of the stairs creaked open when Lilo nudged her nose against it. She poked her head out into the hallway, looking on either side of the door, and when she spotted no ponies moving about, she quickly trotted towards the door at the back end of the hall. After trying the door handle with her magic and finding it wouldn’t budge, Lilo returned back down the hall and headed towards the other door where the blaring beat of bass and treble reverberated from. She put ear up to the door and listened as ponies cheered and hollered above the music that filled the room.
“There has to be an exit to the building in there,” Lilo said to herself, taking her ear from the door. She thought for a moment, and then after glancing back down the hall, her body became encased by her green magic. Lilo donned the disguise of a pegasus, her black chitin changing to become a soft, creme color, and her mane became a twist of both light pink and white. On her flank was a picture of a pink rose. When her disguise was complete, she sighed deeply and staggered.
“Okay,” Lilo whispered breathlessly, “I just have to make it to the door without arousing suspicion.”
As she pushed the door open, she was met with the full force of the music beyond. The bass thundered in her ears, causing her to fold them back against the side of her head while she quickly stepped into the room. Ponies of all colors, sizes, and race stood around a central, rounded stage. The stage had a long thin neck to connect to the curtains behind it. Tables lay strewn everywhere for ponies to sit down and have a drink, and a bar had been built on the far side that seemed to shelve every liquor imaginable. A single mare was on the stage, dancing in front of all of the other ponies around her.
Lilo slowly edged her way around the crowd of ponies, keeping her eyes down on the ground or directly in front of her. She had spotted a pair of double doors at the very front of the brothel, and she made a beeline for them as quickly as she could. As she was halfway across the room and fully cleared the crowd of ponies, a large unicorn stepped in front of her. His coat was charcoal gray, his mane was a mixture of white and light gray, and on his flank was a picture of a phoenix feather with two bits. He smiled down at her.
“I’ve never seen you here before,” he said. His voice was familiar. “You’re not one of my employees, are you?”
Lilo shrank back slightly. “N-no, I was just passing through.”
The unicorn’s smile faltered, and his blue eyes pierced into hers. “Is that so? I guess I should familiarize myself with my staff more. Regardless, my apologies. My name is Zumas.” He held out his hoof.
“Oh, h-hello, Zumas,” Lilo said, gingerly taking his hoof. “My name is R-rosebud.”
“Rosebud? That’s quite a beautiful name,” Zumas replied, dropping his hoof. “Are you alright? You seem quite flustered.”
“N-no. I’m fine,” Lilo said, glancing behind Zumas at the doors. His eyes followed hers. “S-sorry, but I really need to head on home.”
“No need to apologize,” Zumas said, stepping to the side. “Allow me to show you out.”
Lilo nodded, and together, she and Zumas exited the brothel. The sun had already set, allowing for the clear skies overhead to be filled with beautiful, shimmering stars. All of the buildings around the brothel still had lights glowing within them, and the many street lamps down the street had been lit by the night watch. Lilo took a deep breath, looking down the street to the left.
“I hope you have a safe trip home, Rosebud,” Zumas said. Lilo turned and looked at him, and he continued, “I look forward to seeing you again soon.”
Lilo’s ears folded back, and after giving Zumas a wave, she started off at a brisk trot down the street. The unicorn watched her depart, a small smile creeping onto his lips.
~~~
Once the line of sight with Zumas was broken, Lilo broke into a full gallop down the street. She ran through the streets of Canterlot, twisting around corners and dashing down alleyways to put herself as far as she could from the brothel. Her hoofsteps were the only sounds the echoed through the cities streets she sprinted down, and after what felt like an hour, Lilo finally turned down another alley and collapsed. She dropped her disguise and lay panting underneath a window of an apartment building.
Lilo’s eyes slowly began to close, but her nose picked up a familiar scent and they jolted back open again. She rose back to her hooves, and her ears began to pick up the faint sound of two pony’s voices behind the window. She peered through the window, only to be blocked by a curtain that was obscuring her view. The only thing visible was the silhouettes of the ponies inside.
Looking down at the window itself, Lilo spotted a latch that held the window in place. She released the latch and lifted the window. Her ears were met with the sounds of a mare’s moans and a stallion’s grunts, and she blushed slightly. However, the smell that still hung in the air beckoned her, and she began to collect the love that flowed freely around her.
Lilo stopped suddenly, eyes wide. She slowly shut the window and sat down on her haunches.
“No,” she said to herself. “I... It’s not fair for them.” Lilo looked up at the window again, and a low growl escaped her stomach. “Maybe at another time I would have been more... more...”
Lilo lay her head down on her hooves and closed her eyes.
Parasitic.