Roses are Red

by hell00001

Chapter 4: Shelter

Roses are Red: Chapter 4

A crack of thunder rang out overhead, waking Lilo from her fitful slumber. She gazed up above her, noticing the menacing, black clouds that flew overhead with small ripples of electricity running through them. After glancing up and down the alleyway, Lilo unsteadily rose to her hooves and peered into the window where the two ponies had been last night. Pulling the blinds back slightly with her magic, she saw that both the mare and the stallion were lying peacefully in the bed asleep. She released the curtain.

Another crack of thunder blasted through the air, causing Lilo to fold her ears back. A few drops of water landed onto her muzzle and head, and she sighed as she started to make her way towards the opening of the alley. Before she reached the street, she dipped into her love reserves to change herself back into Rosebud, and upon finishing, she collapsed onto the ground.

“I need to find something to eat,” Lilo said to herself, struggling to her hooves. She grabbed a piece of cardboard from the side of the alleyway and began using a marker she found next to the cardboard to scribble a few words onto it. “Even if it will barely sustain me a bit longer, perhaps I’ll be able to connect to the hive mind and call out for help.”

Lilo finished scribbling the words onto the cardboard, and after giving the alley another quick glance, she spotted an empty tin can and picked it up in her mouth with the piece of cardboard. She stepped out of the alleyway, almost running into another pony as she did so. The pony glared at her as he passed her by, and she shrunk back slightly under his piercing gaze. She almost started to turn to walk in the opposite direction of the pony, but she then spotted what the pony was walking towards: a large market. Stalls filled the expansive space that was set aside for ponies to trade their wares from across Equestria or sell to prospective customers. After hesitating for a moment, making sure she was a safe distance away from the pony, Lilo made her way towards the market.

The sounds of the ponies shouting over each other to advertise their merchandise hurt Lilo’s ears, and she once again had them folded against her head. She tried to squeeze through the throng of ponies towards somewhere deeper in the marketplace, trying her best not to bump into anypony or make eye contact. She kept her head down, tightly gripping the cardboard and the can in her mouth.

After Lilo had found an open spot between a market stall selling turnips and another stall selling grapes, she sat down and put the can in front of her. She still held the cardboard in her mouth, although it began to get soggy as the rain from the sky above continued to pour down in heavier sheets. She looked down at her hooves, and she was able to read what she had written on the cardboard.

Starving and displaced, please help.

~~~

An hour had dragged on and the can at Lilo’s hooves only contained two bits in it, barely enough to pay for a turnip at the stall next to her. The changeling sighed, dropping the soaked cardboard onto the cobblestone ground. The rain continued to fall around the marketplace, and by the end of the hour, many ponies had returned to their homes to escape the torrential rains. Only a few ponies cantered between the stalls, quickly exchanging their bits with the salesponies and leaving.

Lilo leaned down to pick up the two bits that were in the can until she heard a set of hooves stop in front of her. A single bit dropped into the can. She looked up, her eyes locking with a light gray pegasus stallion looking down at her. He had a blue mane and tail, and on his flank was a cutiemark of a erlenmeyer flask crossed over by a test tube. He smiled at her, but when Lilo flinched a little, his smile started to wane.

“I... guess you have had some tough luck since the changeling attack,” the pegasus said. Lilo looked away and the pegasus frowned. “Is there anything else I could do to help?”

Lilo slowly started to turn her head back towards the pegasus, but as a growl escaped her stomach, her eyes darted to the stall that was selling grapes next to her. The pegasus followed her eyes, and without giving her a second glance, he walked up to the stall and purchased a bunch of grapes. After thanking the salespony, he trotted back to Lilo and placed them at her hooves. Lilo’s eyes went wide.

When Lilo dove into the bunch and started devouring the grapes, the pegasus smiled again and sat on his haunches. He watched her until she finished, patiently smiling even as the rain poured around them.

“Do you have a name?” he asked when Lilo lifted her head up again.

Lilo shrunk back again, and after a moment she said, “M-my name’s Rosebud.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Rosebud,” the pegasus said, extending a hoof out towards her. “My name is Carbon.”

Lilo meekly took his hoof and shook it. A charcoal gray pony walked behind Carbon, catching Lilo’s eye, but when she glanced at the pony’s red mane and tail, she sighed. Carbon looked behind him, and when he turned back to her he gazed at her quizzically.

“Is there something wrong?” he asked.

“N-no, I just thought I saw somepony I knew,” Lilo replied. “I, uh... Thank you for the grapes. It was very kind of you, y-you didn’t need to.”

Another crack of thunder rolled through the sky, catching Carbon’s attention. After looking upwards for a moment, he said, “You should probably head back home, the rain is really starting to pick up. You wouldn’t want to catch a cold.” Lilo looked down at her hooves, and Carbon added, “You don’t have a home to go back to, do you?”

“I-I do have one,” Lilo said. She looked down at her hooves and reached out to the hive mind, but yet again she was unable to effectively connect. She winced. “It’s just a matter of getting back to it.”

Carbon scooted closer to Lilo. “Look, I have some extra room in my apartment across the city. I’d be willing to let you stay at my place until you have some means to get back home.”

“No, I couldn’t impose,” Lilo said fumbling with her forehooves. “I-I don’t want to be a burden. I don’t think you would want somepony like me around.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Carbon asked, touching his hooves against Lilo’s. “You look like a well kept and intelligent mare. To see you...” He glanced at Lilo’s sign. “...displaced as you are is deplorable.”

“Carbon I...” Lilo was interrupted as another crack of thunder rang overhead. She shivered as the rain started to soak through her coat, and her wings rustled gently against her sides. “Okay, let’s go.”

They both rose to their hooves, and once Lilo had picked up her can with three bits, both she and Carbon began to gallop through the streets of Canterlot. The buildings started to get to be smaller and smaller as the traveled away from the market and Canterlot Castle, and before Lilo knew it, Carbon had led her into one of the poorest residential districts in the city. The streets were dirty and muddy from the rain, and many of the buildings looked to be in some minor state of disintegration. They passed by one building that had a massive hole carved into it with scorch marks decorating the buildings around it. Lilo shuttered.

Carbon looked back at Lilo and said, “I apologize for the neighborhood. Housing here in Canterlot isn’t exactly cheap.”

He was leading her towards a large structure that stood out from the buildings around it. It was painted bright white—albeit slightly dirty—and was covered in stucco. The roof shingles were colored dark gray rather than the typical red shingles that were prominent across the residential districts of Canterlot. Windows covered the entire building, and after counting one column of windows from the bottom to the top, she discerned that the apartment building in front of them was six stories tall.

As they approached the front doors to the apartment building, Lilo’s vision blurred, causing her to bump into Carbon slightly.

“Are you alright, Rosebud?” Carbon asked, turning around and helping Lilo steady herself.

“I’m... fine,” Lilo said, taking a deep breath. She felt light headed, and her breaths were coming more raggedly. “I just slipped is all.”

Carbon leaned in closer to Lilo. “I think it’s more that just a simple slip of the hoof. Your eyes are dilated,” he placed a hoof to her forehead, “and you’re burning up. Come on, let’s get you up to my apartment.”

Carbon sidled up next to Lilo, letting her lean on him as he pushed through the front doors to the apartment building. They sped across the lobby and jumped into one of the elevators that was making its way up. Carbon pushed the button to bring them to the fourth story of the building, and as the elevator jerked to life, they remained in silence while water dripped from their coats onto the floor.

When they reached the fourth floor, Carbon helped Lilo walk two doors down from the elevator doors. He paused, fishing his key out from inside of his feathers and using it to unlock the door. They burst into the apartment and Carbon led the disguised-changeling to one of the couches that sat in front of a fireplace.

He helped Lilo sit down, and after making sure she was comfortable, he asked, “Is there anything I can get you? Some water; something more to eat?”

Lilo’s head was swimming, and she blinked before saying, “Some water and a bowl of soup would be okay. T-thank you so much.”

Carbon rushed into the kitchen, leaving Lilo to herself on the couch. Lilo’s head was pounding, and her vision blurred once again as she slipped from the couch and hit the floor. Her heart burned inside of her chest and her body felt numb. Her breaths became even more ragged, and she started gasping for air as she dragged herself across the floor towards the kitchen. She saw Carbon come rushing back to her with a glass of water, but before he had time to ask her what’s wrong, she slumped against the floor and blacked out. The last thing Lilo saw before she blacked out was Carbon’s face.

Author's Note:

Chapter four is done! I hope you all enjoyed it. What will happen to Lilo now that she is in the hands hooves of a simple Equestrian citizen?

Thank you again, Redracer, for your editing!

Next chapter is Chapter 5: Interrogation

Comments

[Diamond Sparkle]

She might have found a love source.

[Heavy Weapons Guy]

Moar.....

Please?

[hell00001]

2474009

More is coming! Do not worry! I just have to type up this essay and I will get right back to writing the story.

Also, I like your username.

[That One Guy]

:O No! You've created a cliff of words! And now I'm hanging on it by my fingertips!
... For the record, this story is awesome :P

[hell00001]

2474022

Thank you, sir!

[Mr Andrews Pupil]

Damn, being needy in Equestria looks a lot tougher than I expected. But I guess that's where ponies like Carbon come in

Loving this so far, keep it up!!!

[hell00001]

2474310

Thanks!

My theory behind all of this is that since the majority of MLP takes place in Ponyville, we only get to see one aspect of Equestria. Ponyville is a small town, so people there likely know each other and are friendly. Canterlot, however, is a bustling city and the capital of Equestria. It just seems right that the ponies there would be rougher and less forgiving than those in smaller communities.

[Omega Delta]

I dearly hope this gets updated soon, as I don't usually see very good fics that catch my eye like this one did very often.

[Dragaen]

So, the knight in shining armor, is Carbon. This should turn out very interesting

[hell00001]

2475177

I try to keep this fic updated at least once a week, but I apologize in advance if I don't meet my personal seven day deadline. I am in school year 'round this year, so I can get busy spontaneously. If that happens, then I'll see what I can do in keeping myself awake with energy drinks and the like.

[BrokenSpaceBar]

why did she used a disguise that was seen at the brothel....

[alexanderhunt88]

I am really enjoying this fic

[Luckysweep]

And so a Good Samaritan is found as the statistical outlier. Here we go with the REAL story.

[tsaukpaetra]

Rather surprised she lasted this long. Really sturdy.