I blinked open my eyes and instantly regretted it. The sun had normally passed the window when I woke up, but I must have come to earlier than usual since it was perfectly aligned with the window and my face. I groaned and flipped over, but I nearly hit the roof when my muzzle smacked against something. I opened my eyes to see nothing but a mess of pink and blue covering my vision. I huffed and sat up, eyeing the pegasus attached to the multi-coloured mass.

Jade’s eyes were still closed and her breathing was deep with slumber. I rubbed my forehead with a hoof and sighed. I’d forgotten that Jade had crashed with me the night before, though it did explain why I felt warmer than normal while I’d slept. I examined her for a long moment. A tiny tail of pink was splashed onto Jade’s hindquarters, but it wasn’t a piece of her’s. The pink wasn’t nearly as pale and deep, it was more dark. A little peek under Jade’s outstretched wing confirmed my thoughts. It wasn’t Jade’s tail, but it was close enough. Lilac was snuggled deep into her mother’s feathers. I guess she’d snuck in while we were sleeping.

That made me feel a little bad. I probably should have made Jade go back to her and Lilac’s room before she’d fallen asleep, but we were both too exhausted that late into the night. Or was it that early in the morning?

Anyway, Jade had been especially exhausted, and really the whole day had been really weird. She’d spilled her guts out to me, then she’d shown up in my room with a skip in her step, and then got all philosophical and started thinking about life. Sure, I didn’t get a lot of sleep, what with discussing theories and books and other soul-search-y stuff, but what surprised me is that I didn’t care about that as much as I probably should have. It was fun, and it really made me use my brain in ways I never had. I wasn’t trying to figure out how many swipes it would take to buy a couple cans of food, I wasn’t trying to figure out anything, really. I—we were just thinking. It was nice.

I just wished she had picked a night where getting sleep wasn’t a huge factor for the next day. I had a lot of physical labor ahead of me, and doing it by stumbling around the place wouldn’t be very useful.

Reluctantly, I slipped out from under my blanket and exposed myself to the cold air of the room. I rolled my head a few times, sighing as my neck snapped in all the right places. After a luxurious stretch, I stood up straight and looked at the doorway when I heard a loud banging noise. After a few seconds of silence and doubting my sanity, I heard it again.

As a tiny bit of unease shot up my spine, I contemplated on waking Jade and telling her to grab Lilac and hide. When you’re homeless, you can never be too sure if your “home” will be there in the morning. Before I’d found the apartment building, I’d lived (for a short time) in an alleyway under an awning that sprouted out from one of the buildings overhead; I actually had a cool little house-type thing going on. One box was my kitchen, another box had been my bedroom. I’d left to get money and came back to find everything engulfed in flames. My clothes, my blankets, my food, everything. To this day, I haven’t a clue of how it happened or why, but it was easily the worst day of my life.

So far, anyway.

But then I told myself to stop being so paranoid. It was probably just Auto starting to tear up the floor downstairs. I glanced down at Jade once more before making my way to the door the stairs.

The closer I got to the lobby, the louder the banging got. I groaned as I reached the bottom of the staircase and peeked around the doorway that led into the lobby. Sure enough, there was Auto, hard at work.

Not bothering to plan my entrance, I simply strode through the doorway and cleared my throat loudly. Auto looked up and over his shoulder at me, a chunk of wood in his teeth. He grunted and carried the wood to the window, where he promptly dropped it onto the ground outside. He huffed and looked back at me through a condescending gaze. “‘Bout time.”

I shrugged. “Whatever, I’m here aren’t I?” I made my way to him and surveyed the room. Pieces of jagged wood were stacked against the wall, the floor was pure concrete in some places, and when I looked forward, I swear I could see every dust particle in Canterlot. I shooed the dust away with a hoof. “I see you’ve made some progress.”

“Yeah,” he answered with a smirk. “Been waitin’ on you, mostly. I can do the hard stuff, like ripping the wood up, but the process is gonna go a lot smoother and faster with your—”

“My magic, yeah.” I cut him off.

“Mhm.”

I sighed and looked at the stack of wood. “Do you want me to move it now?”

Auto followed my gaze toward the wood and shook his head. “Nah, later. We need to wait for Jade to leave for her collecting before we get any real stuff done.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “‘Real stuff’?” I asked, gesturing toward the bare spots of concrete on the floor.

“Don’t change the subject.”

“I’m not cha—”

“This whole place is fallin’ apart, Sparkler. Doubt she’ll bat an eye at a couple spots of concrete. ‘Sides, with all the talking you two were doing last night, she’ll be too out of it to care.” While I flicked my tail awkwardly, Auto shot me a glance. “I half expected you to come stumblin’ down those stairs.”

“I’m used to staying up late,” I replied simply. It was true enough; wondering why nobody wanted to adopt you can make you restless. I shook my head to clear the thoughts. “Anyway, you heard us?”

“I didn’t hear anything particular, I just heard some muffled voices is all. Don’t worry, no eavesdropping was done.” He looked at the ground for half a second before turning back to the stacked woodpile. “Look, I’m not one to go messin’ in other ponies’ business, but can I offer some advice?”

I took a tiny step back and narrowed my eyes. “As long as I don’t have to promise that I’ll take it.”

Auto ignored the remark and continued. “Caring is what gets you hurt. Remember that.”

I looked at the floor, thinking back to the years I spent in the orphanage, watching my friends get adopted while I stayed. Thinking back on all the times I cried because my friends weren’t coming back, and finally, thinking back on how losing so many ponies over the years had partially numbed me. Caring can indeed hurt you, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it anyway.

Before I could say anything to Auto, he changed the subject. “As soon as Jade heads out of here, we can get started for real.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but decided against it; there was no need to keep it going. I sighed and sat down on one of the concrete patches. “Why do we need to wait for her to leave?”

“Because, if she sees what we’re doing, she’ll either stay to help or take Lilac with her so she won’t get hurt.” He looked back at me. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a sleep-deprived mother under my hooves, and I also don’t want one out in Canterlot with her little girl. Besides,” he said. “We need Lilac.”

“That just brings up more questions, Auto.”

“Lilac is a young filly,” Auto said condescendingly. “Correct?

I rolled my eyes right back at him. “Yeah…”

Auto smirked. “And what do fillies have that we don’t?”

“Bad table manners.”

“Right, they have enthusiasm, which is something we do not have.” He gazed at me and snickered. “Just look at your face, Sparkler.”

I winced. “What’s wrong with my face?” Seriously, what was wrong with my face? I mean… sure, I hadn’t showered in a while, or brushed my mane, or my...teeth… Oh Celestia, no wonder I never saw any other teenagers in the city, they were all hiding from the monstrosity that was my face.

I didn’t notice it right away, but while I’d been thinking about my appearance, Auto had been looking at me with sympathy in his eyes. “Looks like you’ve answered your own question. Sorry, I shouldn’t have pointed it out. I know how teenage mares are about their looks.”

I sighed and shrugged it off. It’s not like I had the means to do anything about my looks at the moment, but then again, even when I was living in the orphanage, looks hadn’t been a big deal for me. I did the basics, ya know, combed my mane and bathed, but I didn’t care for all that other stuff like make up or perfume. My only care right then was surviving my first homeless winter.

“Forget it, Auto.” I dismissed his apology with a wave of my hoof. “Anyway, I still don’t understand why we need Lilac, or what she has to do with my face.”

“Your face is extremely lacking in enthusiasm, Sparkler. We’re gonna get tired sooner or later, so we need motivation. Attitudes are contagious, and that little filly’s is worth catching.”

Maybe it was just my sleep-deprived mind giving up on thinking, but Auto was actually making sense to me. I nodded. “Okay.”

At that moment, a white blur flew down the stairs. Jade stood at the base, her mane wild and her eyes wide. “Sparkler! Why didn’t you wake me?”

I grit my teeth. “You were tired last night, I thought—”

“I appreciate your consideration, Sparkler, but the sooner I wake up, the sooner I get back here with food.” She made her way to the door and looked back at me, and in her eyes I could see the same frantic look she had the day Lilac and I had ventured into the forest. “Take care of Lilac.”

I gave her salute. “Yes, ma’am.”

Jade’s eyes bore into me for a moment longer before she squeezed through the debris and out of the lobby, not even flinching as she walked over a bare spot of concrete. It looked as if Auto had been right about her being out of it.

Auto and I sat in silence for a moment that could have lasted a second or a thousand lifetimes before the brown stallion heaved himself to his hooves once again. He turned and gave me a grin of mock enthusiasm. “You go wake up our little cheerleader. I’ll yank up a few more boards.”

Manual labor sucks. Seriously, I understand now why teenagers are known for being lazy, because doing this stuff is just… it’s monotonous and horrible, that’s what it is. Lilac’s constant encouragement was helping a lot, but even with the purple filly’s bright eyes and smile, I still felt my energy fading with every telekinetic movement. My head was killing me by noon, so I settled for picking up the boards with my mouth. I’d noticed Auto giving me a couple of irritated glances, but as far as I’m concerned, he could take that board in his mouth and shoved it up his—

“Sparky, look! Look!”

I turned slowly toward the squeaky voice, board in mouth. Lilac was balanced precariously on one of the taller wood stacks we had scattered around the room, her wings outstretched. My mouth fell open and the board fell. I lit up my horn and snatched her up in my aura, groaning as a hot needle of pain stabbed into my head. I lifted her off the wood and placed her in front of me. I gasped as I released my hold on her and stumbled, putting a hoof to my temple and closing my eyes.

“Sparky! Are you okay?”

I opened my eyes and snapped at her. “Lilac, don’t you ever do that again, do you hear me?” I bent down until I was eye-level with her. “You are not allowed to play on the wood, okay? You could have gotten very hurt and we can’t take you the doctor!”
The little pegasus whimpered and took a tiny step back with her ears flattened. “I-I’m sorry.”

As my anger and fear faded, I took a look at the shock in her eyes and straightened back up immediately. Shame poured hot into my cheeks and I took a deep breath and lowered my voice. I could feel Auto’s scalding gaze from my left, and I bent down once again. Lilac looked so horrified, so shocked at the fact I’d raised my voice at her; I was probably the last pony she would have ever expected to do that.

“I’m sorry, Lilac.” I put my hoof on her shoulder and sighed. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you. But the only reason I did was because I didn’t want you to get hurt. You understand that, right?” Lilac hesitated before giving me a nervous nod. I smiled at her and held out my right hoof. “I’m sorry, Li. Can I have a hug?”

She seemed to brighten at that as she met my embrace with a strong grip around my neck. I wrapped my hoof around her and squeezed gently. “Thank you.” We let go of each other and I winked at her. “C’mon, I need my cheerleader to help me with that stack over there,” I said, pointing to the stack beside the window.

Lilac squealed happily and raced over to the wood, picking up one of the smaller pieces that lay on top. I made my way over more slowly, trying to ignore Auto’s rigid stance further away.

I was gonna get crap for this later.

“Where’s Mommy?”

I frowned at Lilac and glanced toward the window, or more particularly, the dark night sky.

“I don’t know, Li.”

“She’s coming back, right?”

I opened my mouth to assure her, but I was interrupted by Auto.

“She better.”

I glared at Auto, who was bringing over three cans of corn. He set them down and nudged them toward us. “We’re...” He trailed off and lowered his orange gaze. “...running low, on food.”

I picked up Lilac’s can with my magic and pulled off the top before setting it back down in front of her. I glanced at my can and crossed my hooves. “I think I’ll wait until Jade comes back and eats her share.”

“You don’t wanna do that.”

I looked up at Auto with a raised eyebrow. “Why is that?”

“Well… we only have enough for the three of us.”

An icy chill crept up my spine and I pressed my ears flat to my head. I glanced down at Lilac to make sure she wasn’t paying too much attention to us, but thankfully she was too busy with her dinner. I looked back up at Auto and swallowed. In the four months I’d been in the apartment building, we had never run out of food. How could we? It was all about teamwork, everypony helped each other, but… wait. The day I took Lilac into the forest, during dinner I’d seen Auto take that can...

“Y-you…” I pointed a hoof at him while I stuttered.

Auto stared at me with a look of mock innocence. “Hm?”

I slowly lowered my hoof and scooted closer to Lilac. “You’ve been taking seconds.”

Before Auto could rise to defend himself, Jade crashed through the entrance. The fur on the back of my neck stood alert as I shielded Lilac from Jade. It wasn’t the ungraceful entrance that scared me, though. It was Jade’s appearance.

The moon was shining through the window, and the pale light spilled onto Jade, turning her white fur to silver, and illuminating the eerie splash of red on her coat. The pegasus’ eyes were wide and bloodshot, her stance was wobbly. Her mane seemed to be ripped in several places, as if she had to rip out of something’s grasp.

Or somepony’s grasp.

Auto was at his hooves in a second. “Jade!” he bellowed. “What happened?”

Jade shook her head, causing blood from some unseen wound to scatter through the air. Before Jade could answer, Lilac struggled out of my grip. Her blue eyes changed from joy to horror in a heartbeat as she gazed at her mother. “Mommy!”

Lilac raced away from me as I lurched toward her, fumbling around trying to get my hooves on her. “Lilac, wait!”

“Mommy!” Lilac cried again, clinging to Jade, who didn’t seem to notice.

As I made the quick trot over to pry Lilac off of Jade’s leg, Auto asked his question again. “What happened?”

“So-some punks saw me begging,” she said as she shifted her weight to her left. She lifted her right hind leg off the ground, and it hung there, twisted awkwardly. “They said I was a disgrace to pony kind, said the world would be better off without mmme.” Her speech began to slur as she spoke.

I held Lilac close to me as I sat in front of Jade. The lavender filly whimpered with tears streaming down her cheeks, but she didn’t dare look away from her trembling mother. I gulped, trying to get the gears in my mind turning again. Everything was going so wrong so fast. Auto stealing food, being out of food, and now Jade being hurt. Everything was going to Tartarus!

“We need to take you to a hospital!” I said. Lilac tensed up at the H-word, and I hugged her tighter.

“No!” Auto stomped his hoof.

While Jade slid onto the floor with a sigh of exhaustion, I gaped at Auto. “W-what?!”

“We can’t take her to the hospital, Sparkler!”

“Why?”

Auto shook his head feverishly. “We need money for that, you idiot!”

I grit my teeth and narrowed my eyes. I was a lot of things, but I was no idiot. “Auto,” I began, trying to keep my voice calm. “Jade is hurt, we need to get her some help!”

“Money is what is keeping us alive, Sparkler!”

“It’s metal, Auto! Jade is not only a pony, but a mother,” I said as I hugged Lilac tighter.

“So what! We’ll take care of her here, and if she lives, she lives. If she dies—”

“AUTO!” I lost my temper as I heard Lilac’s tiny squeak of despair. “No, we’re taking her to the hospital now!” I glanced at Jade curiously, trying to figure out why she wasn’t backing me up. The white pegasus was slumped in a blood-stained heap. I could see her body rise and fall with her breathing, and her eyes were open, but they appeared to be staring at nothing. Something told me that if she did have something say, she wouldn’t have been able to say it.

Auto took a deep breath and glared at me. “Look, Sparkler! Either we keep her here and take care of her,” he paused and took another deep breath as he glanced to the far left. “Or we end it now. There is no third option, no hospital visit, nothin’ to do with Canterlot.”

I followed his gaze to the left and went rigid. To the left, practically glowing in the pale light of Luna’s moon, was a stray, jagged piece of wood. My breath caught in my throat as I stared at the blunt object. Surely he wasn’t implying that we… with a piece of wood? No, that was…

Unthinkable. I glanced down at Lilac to see that she was looking at the wood, too, with eyes that told me more than words could ever say. Like I said before, Lilac was smart, smart enough to figure it all out, unfortunately.

“If we go to Canterlot,” Auto continued, “we risk not only having this happen to us, but losing this place. Doctors may not be detectives, but if they think something went down here, then I can guarantee we’ll have cops poking around. If they find out where we are, this building will be torn down and we’ll be put in the system!”

“Auto, we have to try! Don’t you see? If we take Jade to the hospital, she’ll live! Surely that’s worth more than this building? Lilac should not lose her mom over something we have control over!”

“You idiot, don’t you see?” He pointed a hoof at the purple filly in my grasp. “That girl is gonna lose her mom either way!”

Lilac cowered closer to me and grit her teeth. “No! Y-you’re wrong, I’m staying with Mommy!”

If Auto had heard Lilac’s declaration, he gave no sign of it. The burly brown stallion kept his gaze fixed on me the entire time. “If those cops find out she’s homeless, she’ll be taken away from Jade either way!”

I dropped my gaze down to the floor, and then over to Lilac. If she looked terrified when I was yelling at her earlier, then there were no words to describe how she looked just then. Jade was either going to live here and keep her daughter, die here and lose her daughter, or live in Canterlot and lose her daughter. There was no way I could let Lilac be alone, I couldn’t let them take her away to some horrible foster home with a “father” who would beat her mercilessly. I looked up from Lilac’s wide blue eyes and faced Auto once more. “I’ll take care of her, then.”

Auto was silent for a long moment, a perplexed look in his orange eyes, before he let out a dry, humorless guffaw. “Ha! You? Take care of a child?”

I didn’t answer, but I kept my gaze locked on Auto and my grip tight around Lilac.

Auto laughed again. “I already said this, Sparkler,” he said, narrowing his eyes menacingly. “There is no third option.”

I gave Lilac a final squeeze as I got to my hooves and stalked up to Auto. There was no way I was letting Lilac grow up alone, whether Jade made it or not. I wasn’t going to let her grow up in the system, so I made my stand. This might have been a bit stupid of me, considering Auto was at least two heads taller than me, but I didn’t care at that point. He may have towered over me, and he could have done away with me if he wanted to, but there was no way he was gonna hurt me.

Celestia forbid, anyway.

Author's Note

Yay for another chapter! Once again, a huge thanks to my prereaders devas, Chopsuey, Luminary, ChengarQordath, and Swiftest Shadow!