Story 1: The Crippled Duo
Story 1: The Crippled Duo
“Carbon!”
Carbon’s eyes flickered, but he refused to open them up and grumbled instead.
“Carbooon!” The voice was sweet and dissonant, similar to that of a changeling’s.
Carbon rolled over in bed and snorted, to which his ear flicked when he heard chittering coming from behind him. It didn’t take him long to realize what was coming, but by then he felt the full force of somepony hopping right on top of him on the bed and poking him in the chest with a hoof.
“Carbon Carbon Carbon Carbon!”
His eyes shooting open, Carbon rolled onto his back and looked up into the pink eyes of a changeling. She wore a little pink bow at the top of her head and her pointed ears flicked in every direction excitedly. And that smile she had on her face, beautiful even with the fangs clearly poking over the rest of her teeth, was enough to make Carbon smile as well through a cough.
“Come on, Lilo,” Carbon wheezed, “you nearly landed on my hoof. I should get a few extra hours of sleep for that.”
“But today is when we can both check out of the hospital!” Lilo exclaimed with a pout. “I already filled out all of the forms for both of us, all that the staff need is your signature.”
Carbon groaned and threw his head back against the pillow. “That requires me getting out of this comfortable bed. You know how much effort that will take? All of the food I have been eating has been turning into fat, that’s how much effort it will take.”
Lilo rolled her eyes—as much as it was possible for changelings—and lightly punched his chest with one of her hooves. “Carbon, you lazy bum. If you don’t get up I’m going to leave here without you and have one of those stuck up castle nurses help you out. I’m sure you’ll get an ear full for not using the proper walking technique to avoid hurting your leg anymore that it already hurts.”
Carbon sighed and looked over at his leg that was all wrapped up in a cast. Broken by one of Zumas’ lackies when they came to take Lilo back to the brothel, Carbon walked on it through the streets of Canterlot to Naroke’s shop, to Zumas’ brothel, and carried Lilo on his back when he and Sky Runner attempted to make their daring exit. The nurses told both he and Lilo that because of the amount of stress and exercise he applied to the break during his rescue attempt that Carbon more or less would walk with a limp for the rest of his life. He had seen ponies recover from worse.
Granted, the break did hurt whenever Carbon tried moving that particular leg, but he figured that since he was a pegasus he could more or less use his wings as his primary form of transportation. He looked back up at Lilo once again and smiled at her, taking a deep breath and making a motion as if he was going to lift himself up.
“Alright,” Carbon said as Lilo hopped off of him, “but only because that smile of yours is totally irresistible. Come on, help me out of this bed and we’ll walk over to the reception office.”
Lilo sidled up next to the bed, her wings buzzing ecstatically as Carbon slowly rolled out of bed and leaned up against her. She stumbled for a moment, but quickly they both regained their balance as Carbon gave a flap of his wings and put his good hoof around the back of Lilo’s neck. They steadied themselves in preparation for the walk towards the door, Lilo looking down at Carbon’s leg and watching as he gently put pressure on it.
“How’s it feeling?” she asked quietly.
“Painful, uncomfortable, burning,” Carbon said, wincing. “Nothing too incredibly debilitating that’ll damper our ability to make it home.” They took a step forward and he grit his teeth. “Okay, can I take back what I said and crawl back into bed?”
Lilo shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. Are you really going to wimp out and crawl back into bed after everything you went through to rescue me?”
Carbon nodded his head and gave her a hopeful smile.
“No, definitely not,” Lilo added and pulled Carbon along to the door. “After everything you went through the other day, you’re choosing now to act like a big baby? I know you have a broken leg, but in one of the magazines here I read that stallions who are being bad sleep on the couch. I will use my mare powers and have you sleep on the couch if you keep this up.”
“Who let you see those magazines?” Carbon asked, although he shrunk back a little when he caught testing glare from Lilo. “I mean, uh… You wouldn’t do that to a cripple, would you?”
Lilo looked back at her wings and gives them another buzz. Their buzzing tone sounded off, almost as if a dragon fly had troubles using its wings to lift off the ground. Carbon looked back, too, and he saw the long crease in Lilo’s delicate membrane, stretching from one end of her wing to the other. Given that she landed it after her rather explosive expulsion from Canterlot during the Royal Wedding, she no longer had the capabilities to fly anywhere unless she wanted to spin around in circles for a few hours.
“Right,” Carbon said. “You’re just as crippled as I am. I guess that means that you would. That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”
Lilo pursed her lips. “No. No, not at all. In fact, I think it’s pretty fair.”
“Fair? How is it fair?”
“Well, I’m pretty sure that there are ways that you could get back at me for being so mean to you,” Lilo said with a wink.
Together they pushed open the door to the hallway and stepped out, leaving Carbon’s room behind. They turned and made off down the hall towards the direction of the reception desk.
“Oh really?” Carbon said, lifting an eyebrow. “And could you maybe… tell me what kind of ways that those could possibly be?”
“Nope!” Lilo gave her head a shake. “You’re going to have to find out for yourself, but you’re a smart pegasus so I’m sure that’ll you’ll be able to think of something.”
Carbon opened his mouth to protest, but Lilo did a little skip and kissed him on the cheek. She giggled, watching as his words turned into a garbled mess in his mouth, and smiled in victory when she saw him blushing and pointedly looking in some other direction other than her. Chittering quietly to herself, she lay her head against his neck as they continued onward.
In a matter of minutes Carbon and Lilo reached the receptionist’s desk, who procured several pieces of papers, all of which contained scribbles on them aside for the last page. Reading over the pages, Carbon noticed that Lilo really did go ahead and fill everything out for his departure from the hospital today. He set the papers down, then picked up a pen in his mouth and signed the last page, officially checking himself out of the castle hospital.
The receptionist smiled and nodded at the two of them, then returned to a large stack of papers which were neatly piled on top of her desk. Seeing their chance, Lilo turned both she and Carbon around and headed straight for the two massive double doors that lead out into the castle’s courtyard. Lilo’s heart fluttered in her chest as they neared the exit, excited to finally return to the quiet life that she and Carbon led for the first few weeks that they knew each other.
Outside of the doors the sun was shining, ponies were walking to and fro, pegasi were flying about all over the city, and for a moment it seemed as if there was not even a care in the world. Lilo had Carbon, and Carbon had her, and they were still together with a loving bond that was stronger than ever.
Just as Lilo put her hoof on the first pair of doors leading to the outside world, somepony called out their names behind them.
“Carbon, Lilo!”
Lilo groaned inwardly just before both she and Carbon reached the doors. She recognized that voice, and although she always felt warmth secrete into her heart every chance she heard her queen, Carbon’s apartment felt like a much needed and sought after vacation spot. Smiling, both she and Carbon turned around to find Chrysalis standing over by a set of stairs leading up into the castle.
“Are you two planning to leave so quickly?” Chrysalis asked, cocking her head.
Lilo bowed her head before leading Carbon over to the former queen.
“I’m sorry, your majesty,” Lilo said quickly, chittering to herself. “Carbon and I were just hoping to get home so that we-”
Chrysalis held up her hoof and smiled, shaking her head. “There’s no need to call me ‘your majesty,’ Lilo. I’m simply another administrator in Equestria now, not your queen or your princess.”
“Oh, I’m… s-sorry-” Lilo started, but Chrysalis held up her hoof again.
“Just take a deep breath,” she said, her voice tender. “I only wish to say goodbye before you depart and inform you of several changes that are going to be affecting Equestria within the coming months.”
“Several changes?” Carbon asked. “Wait wait, hold on? You mean like new laws or ordinances?”
“Precisely,” Chrysalis answered. “All changelings are being made full citizens of Equestria—if they so wish—and therefore are they not only given the same status as every other Equestrian citizen, but they must also adhere to all Equestrian laws and annual policies.” She noticed Carbon’s slight look of disgust and chuckled.
“All of the laws and annual policies?” Carbon asked.
“Yes. I know, it’s a pain to get used to judging from my brief readings over your incredibly intricate and rather excessive list of constitutions, bills, and treaties. The amount of detail that you ponies go into over simple laws such as the Food Sanitation Bill is ridiculous.”
Carbon chuckled nervously and glanced at Lilo, who stood staring up at Chrysalis with quivering hooves.
“Well, you see,” Carbon said, shuffling his hooves. “food that we ponies, um… eat can get contaminated if the correct precautions are not taken into consideration. Packaging and distributing foods across the nation must be done carefully so that no diseases spread, and imported food does need to be checked as well.”
Chrysalis blinked.
“Um… if we ate rotten or poisoned food we’d get sick?” Carbon said slowly.
Chrysalis blinked again.
“How about I just say that there is a good reason involving our enzymes and immune system, specifically leukocytes that are meant to go after infectious diseases and outside materials that are harmful to the body. You see, although we have neutrophils and lymphocytes that are supposed to protect us against such things, it’s not like B lymphocytes are all memory B cells so that they can work as APCs and trigger the T cells. In fact-”
Lilo shoved a hoof into Carbon’s mouth and smiled uneasily at Chrysalis, who stared at Carbon with a totally blank and uncomprehending stare.
“Does he do this often?” Chrysalis asked.
Lilo giggled when she caught the unimpressed glare that Carbon gave her.
“He is a scientist, I suppose,” Lilo said. “It’s like they have their own kind of language.”
“Quite,” Chrysalis said with a smile. “In any case, on top of changelings receiving citizenship, a special fund will be put together for all changelings within the nation as a sort of boost so that they may become situated among the rest of Equestria. If you are a changeling and accept the citizenship that Equestria offers you,” she pointedly looked at Lilo, “then you will be given a monthly sum of money for six months that will allow you to support yourself until you find a job. In order to continue to receive the money, though, you must show proof of applying for jobs.”
“ ‘Proof of applying for jobs?’ “ Lilo asked. “Does that mean that if I were to apply for the fund, I would need to submit copies of job applications?”
“Not exactly,” Chrysalis said. “From what I understand, ponies who review job applications will send letters back stating that they have received your application and will begin reviewing it right away. I’m sure the princesses will be sending out more detailed flyers within the next few days.”
Carbon and Lilo looked at each other.
“You know, you don’t need to look for a job,” Carbon said to Lilo. “I can support both of us with my own job. I’m paid enough for us to live comfortably.”
Lilo shook her head. “Oh no, you’re not doing this alone! Carbon, if I’m going to become Equestrian, I want to experience what it is like to have a job. I won’t let you have all of the fun!”
“Yeah, fun,” Carbon huffed.
“Lastly,” Chrysalis said, drawing Carbon and Lilo’s attention back to her, “there’s still the matter of the brothel and Zumas that we need to talk about.”
Carbon and Lilo’s faces both fell, and together they shuffled their hooves uncomfortably.
“What’s there to talk about?” Carbon asked. “Are we being requested to attend a court hearing or to testify against him?”
“Not exactly,” Chrysalis replied. “You aren’t required to attended Zumas’ trial at all. In fact, he’s not even going to be given a trial on direct orders from Princess Celestia herself. She’s requested that he be kept in solitary confinement on the basis that he serves as potential terrorist threat to Equestria.” Chrysalis frowned. “Nopony knows what Celestia means by that other than Luna, and they both refuse to go into specifics.”
“Terrorist threat?” Carbon repeated. “Wouldn’t Zumas only get charges on pony trafficking as a result to the operation he’s set up?”
Chrysalis shook her head. “I wouldn’t know.”
“Well, if Zumas isn’t having a trial,” Lilo said, “then what did you want to talk to us about?”
“The press are looking for recounts of the events from eyewitnesses,” Chrysalis said. “They are specifically looking for the ponies and the changeling involved with the effective removal of one of the most powerful pony trafficking dealers and brothel owners in the city, which would mean that they’re looking for you two and your… rather notorious and wanted red-maned pegasus friend.”
“She… did have that criminal look about her,” Carbon said slowly, “but she helped Lilo and I escape. Doesn’t that count for anything?”
“Yes, but not enough. She’s wanted for several hundred counts of theft, police evasion, destruction of property, and assault. I’m not even going to ask how you ran into a pony like her.”
Carbon sighed. “We’re not going to be charged with consorting with a criminal, are we?”
“No, you won’t.” Chrysalis smiled gently. “In fact, Sky Runner is being pardoned for a while until Zumas and his operation has been sorted out.”
“Then I guess that just leaves the press,” Carbon said. He turned to Lilo and she shook her head. “Is there any way that we can avoid them? We don’t want to be involved with this whole mess anymore.”
Chrysalis smiled and stepped closer to them. “Well, they are looking for a pegasus and a changeling together. If Lilo was to, well, use her changeling powers you two might just be able to slip past all the paparazzi for several weeks.”
Without a moment’s hesitation Lilo’s entire body erupted in green fire, morphing her chitin into a creme color and changing her mane and tail to a twist of light pink and white. Her horn also faded away, and wings appeared at her sides so that she became disguised as an ordinary pegasus.
“The princesses and I will sort out all of the details,” Chrysalis said. “We’ll keep your names anonymous, and we’ll ask for all of your hospital records to be filed under classified, which should keep away prying eyes.”
“You’re really going to go through with all of this?” Carbon asked.
“Of course,” Chrysalis replied. “It’s least I can do.” She glanced around the room, then leaned in closer to Carbon and Lilo. “You two saved my life.”
Carbon nodded. “We can’t thank you enough, Chrysalis. After listening to this sweet lovebird of mine,” he gave Lilo a nuzzle, “I would go ahead and do everything again up on that stage.”
Chrysalis nodded and straightened back out. “Well, if that’s going to be all, then I should let you two be on your way.” She turned and started up the stairs. “And don’t you two dare be strangers, I wish to see you again on… more friendlier terms.”
Lilo and Carbon watched as Chrysalis ascended the stairs and disappeared around a corner.
“Equestrian citizenship?” Carbon said.
“Changeling fund?” Lilo said back.
“Anonymity?”
“Zumas gone?”
Lilo and Carbon turned to each other with great, big smiles on their faces. They wrapped each other up in their hooves and hugged as tight as they could muster. Freedom from Zumas, freedom to live the kinds of lives that they wanted to live. Lilo felt the aura around Carbon brighten up and explode with love, and Carbon felt Lilo’s own pitter patter of her heart.
“Let’s go home,” they said in unison.
Story 2: Recap and Rejuvenate
Story 2: Recap and Rejuvenate
At the end of the street stood the tall apartment building that Carbon and Lilo liked to call home. Situated among a community of dirty and cheap apartments, their home was quaint, quiet, and modest, lacking in all sorts of decor in replace of affordable utilities and and minimal comfort. Grime covered the outer walls of the complex, the scorch marks of the changeling bombardment still present a month after the terrifying invasion. At least the building still remained intact, of course, although the same couldn’t be said about several buildings that lay around the complex.
Canterlot’s clean up crews still had not managed to make their way to the city’s poorer communities, instead all of their focus shifted onto the buildings damaged in the city market and the rich communities. Work went where money flowed first, and since the rich district had the money that’s where the work went to first. Citizens not so fortunate to own the big houses or the large pieces of land were given the short end of the stick and forced into the refugee houses or hotels that were set up until their homes were repaired.
As such, the street that Carbon and Lilo trotted down was left desolate and ruined. The cobble stones were broken and cracked, left stained where changelings collided with them just as much as the unsightly holes that marred the buildings. It much resembled that of a ghost town, long abandoned after a battle tore through and left everything in its wake to rot.
The ground underneath their hooves cracked as they took each step, although even with the desolation around them they hardly gave notice. Lilo trotted, wrapped up under one of Carbon’s wings with her chitin pressed into his fur with her head carefully tucked up against his neck, allowing herself to be lead along by her fairly warm coltfriend. Her soft chitters brought a smile to Carbon’s face, something beautiful amid the silence that took hold of the block around them.
“Carbon, do you think the apartment’s going to be cold when we get back?” Lilo asked.
Carbon looked up towards the apartment complex that grew larger and larger as they approached. Originally painted white, the apartment still retained some of its brilliance even if years of weather and grime took its toll on the walls. The windows were dirty and reflected the sunlight that streamed across the building, glinting should anypony take too quick of a step. Even so, smoke rose from the many chimneys situated at the top of the roof, alerting everypony that there were indeed residents that also called this place home.
“Yeah, but I can throw some logs in and try to heat the place up,” Carbon replied. “Nopony’s been in there for a while now.”
They pushed through the front doors of the apartment and headed straight for one of the stairwells. Nopony sat at the reception desk to the complex, although this wasn’t anything new to Carbon. The pony who was supposed to be sitting up front mysteriously disappeared for hours at a time, hanging out in the back room doing Celestia knows what. Carbon never asked into it, he never needed to speak to them anyways, it only created a bit of a problem when ponies were forced to wait in the lobby for a few hours if they wanted to apply for housing.
They made their way up and around the stairwell, climbing past the first level, then the second, third, and finally the fourth. Carbon pushed the door open that led out of the stairwell, holding it open for Lilo to walk through before he walked through himself. The hallway leading down towards their apartment was left open to the chilling air with a railing set up on one side. Metal wires twisted around in spirals to make up the balusters, covered in dirt and had potential to rattle of anypony were to kicked at them.
Near the end of the hallway Carbon and Lilo stopped at dirty door to one of the apartments. Carbon reached back into his wing and pulled out a key, then inserted it into the keyhole and twisted. The lock clicked and Carbon pushed open the door to the apartment, again holding it open so that Lilo may pass through. He smiled when looking inside, warmth creeping into his body as he felt like he finally returned home after an extended and rather unwanted business trip.
Carbon and Lilo’s apartment was comparatively small with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a small living room. The living room sat at the front of the apartment, filled with two couches that sat perpendicular to each other in front of the fireplace. A small table was next to one of the couches while a large coffee table lay in front of both of the couches, slightly dusty from the lack of use. A huge map of Equestria hung over the fireplace while a bookcase full of a multitude of colored books—most labeled as history or chemistry-related tomes—stood next to the map and fireplace. The kitchen was small and neatly kept, and both of the bedrooms and the bathroom had their doors closed.
Lilo pranced into the center of the living room and stopped at the fireplace. She blinked, stepping forward and sticking her head inside before immediately yanking it back out as she devolved into a coughing fit. Carbon smiled sheepishly and shut the door behind them.
“Uh, sorry, Lilo,” Carbon said. “I haven’t cleaned the chimney out for a while.” She turned to face him and he suppressed a chuckle. “You have a bit of… soot on your face.”
Lilo wrinkled her snout and tried to looked down and see the soot that was on her face. Unfortunately for her, those big eyes of her took up way too much of her face and all she was able to see was the tip of her nose, which was indeed covered in soot. She, however, was not able to see that the rest of her face was covered in soot as well, dulling her black and shining chitin.
“There’s a couple of rags in the bathroom that you can use,” Carbon said, smirking.
“My nose itches,” Lilo said. Her whole face contorted before she let out a tiny sneeze.
Carbon laughed and stepped forward to boop her on the nose. He managed to get some of the soot on his hoof, which he simply looked at for a moment before setting his hoof back down. He then gave her a nuzzle on the cheek towards the bathroom.
“Come on, go get cleaned up,” Carbon urged. “I haven’t cleaned these couches since I bought them!”
Lilo pouted at Carbon for a moment before she trotted off to the bathroom. She shut the door behind her, then walked over to the mirror and immediately blanched. Her entire face was dulled and absolutely covered in soot, and when she waggled her ears she saw tiny puffs of soot launch into the air. She blinked a few times, then turned the nozzle to start letting water pour into the sink.
“Of course there’s soot in the fireplace,” Lilo mumbled to herself, grabbing a towel from the rack and soaking it in the water. “Why didn’t I think of that? It’s not like smoke just wisps through the chimney cleaner than cool winter air.” She brought the rag up to her face and started wiping the soot away. “I need to get this curiosity thing of mine situated. Ohhh, something’s shiny or there’s a dark corner, let’s go and investigate it.”
“Are you talking to yourself in there?” Carbon called.
“No!” Lilo replied back. “I’m not talking to myself! I’m just… singing?”
“You’re singing? I didn’t know that you sang?”
“Um, I sing sometimes, I think. Just because my voice is funky doesn’t mean that I don’t sing!”
“What? I wasn’t accusing you of having a funny voice!” There was a crash from the sound of wood tumbling out of a crate. “Damn it.”
“Carbon, are you okay?” Lilo asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Carbon said. “Hey, can you sing me a song?”
“What!? You want to hear a song?”
“Yeah, why not?”
Lilo gulped and shuffled her hooves a little bit, setting the blackened towel down. Most of the soot was gone from her face, leaving her face shiny and as polished as ever. She took a deep breath and quickly thought of a song. It was the only song that came to mind at the moment, and she had no idea whether or not Carbon had heard this one or not. It was pretty popular for her to sing when she was back with the hive in the Broken Leylands.
“If you’re happy and you know it clap your hooves!
If you’re happy and you know it clap your hooves!
If you’re happy and you know it
and you really want to show it
if you’re happy and you know it clap your-!”
“Are you really singing the Happy and You Know it song right now?” Carbon asked.
“So what if I am!” Lilo said.
“I thought you were going to sing me a song?”
“That is a song.”
“That’s a song that ponies sing when they’re younger.”
“I sang that to my changeling foals all of the time!”
Lilo perked her ears when she heard a groan from the front room. She giggled and started washing out the rag that she had used, managing to get most of the black soot out of the cloth after a few rinses through the water. The rest would have to be cleaned in the washing machine. She chittered and left the rag in the sink, turning and walking for the door.
When Lilo stepped out of the bathroom, she was met with the crackling of the fire from the fireplace and Carbon already sitting on the couch. Her eyes lit up and she bounded over to him, quickly meeting the warmth of the fire just as she climbed onto the couch. He had a spot open for her, a tight little nook tucked right up underneath Carbon’s wing. She snuggled into him and lay her head against his neck.
Together Carbon and Lilo’s eyes fell onto the fire. It’s brightness attracted their attention, the flames licking up in a flurry or yellows and oranges and reds. The crackle and pop of the wood was soothing to their ears. It was interesting that such a destructive force was so enticing and beautiful, able to grab pony’s attention even to the smallest degrees. The bright colors drew eyes from all directions and the roar gathered all ears to listen in.
Sometimes it was possible to look into the flames and see different shapes dancing around. The logs may be situated to look like a burning house, or the flames may engrave moving pictures in the wood to capture a face, so long as ponies carried the imagination to see such things. Perhaps that was what drew so many eyes to the violent flames, eager to see the shapes that moved around before them in such a beautiful display.
Carbon ripped his eyes from the fire when he felt Lilo snuggle in closer, her chitin rubbing on his neck. He tightened his wing around her back and kissed the top of her head.
“Feeling any warmer yet?” Carbon asked.
“Mhm,” Lilo replied with a chitter. Silence took hold of them for a moment. “Carbon, do you think the changelings will be okay?”
“The changelings?” Carbon asked, his ears perking up. “What do you mean if they’ll be okay?”
“I remember how angry the crowd was at Queen Chrysalis’ trial,” Lilo said. “The eyes that were staring up at me when I was on stage defending her, the nasty look that Princess Cadence gave us, the dissent that the crowd had when the changelings were on stage.” Lilo sighed. “What’s going to happen to them?”
Carbon bit his lip. “I don’t know, Lilo. The princesses are instigating bills that admit changelings as full Equestrian citizens, so they’re allowed to have equal opportunities.”
“Equal opportunities?” Lilo asked, shaking her head. “Ponies aren’t going to so easily forgive an attack on Canterlot. We hit their capital city, attacked their princesses, captured the Elements of Harmony, and then rounded up their citizens like we had won. It was really only error on the Queen’s part and… she really didn’t expect that our own food source was possible for our undoing.”
“But if the princesses are approving these bills, it’s still possible that all of this hate that is being directed towards the changelings could disappear. Ponies respect and love them, more so than most of what they have, so it may convince them otherwise.”
“Even so, there are still those who wouldn’t agree with the princesses. With Chrysalis as one of the princess’ advisors, she’s bound to help ease many of the pony’s uneasiness, but not much could be said about the others.” Lilo looked up at Carbon with concerned eyes. “I remember wandering the Broken Leylands, Carbon. I remember the cities, and the ponies, and the desolation and hatred that was left to us because of our nature. We feed on the love of ponies like parasites, we’re monsters in their eyes because we don’t have the same natural characteristics as they do.”
“Natural?” Carbon asked. “Natural to them, maybe. Lilo, there will always be ponies who are opposed to something that everypony else is proud of or enjoys. Some ponies don’t like zebras because they aren’t like ponies here in Equestria, some don’t like unicorns because they think they’re all snobs. Even if everypony doesn’t take well to changelings now being a part of Equestria, there are still going to be plenty of ponies who support you, including me.”
Lilo smiled and nuzzled her head into Carbon’s neck. “You’ll always be there to protect me, won’t you? Just like when we first met and at the brothel?”
“Of course I will,” Carbon replied with a smile as well. “No matter what anypony says about you or makes you out to be, I’ll never let their words influence what I really think of you. We’ve only know each other for a month, but already I trust you and love you more than anypony I could imagine. We’ve been through more stuff together than most friends will go through their entire time knowing each other.”
The two of them fell silent, letting the crackle of the fire fill their ears. The flames no longer drew their attention, however; that was to be shared amongst themselves. Lilo nestled as much as she could into Carbon’s fuzzy coat, and Carbon wrapped her up as tightly as he could in his large wing. Finally alone together in the safety of their own home, they had a time to rejoice in each other’s company.
Carbon shifted around, stirring Lilo from the trance she was in taken from the serenity of the apartment. She looked up towards him and caught his eyes looking down at her.
“I was thinking,” Carbon began, “the days are still warm enough here that there isn’t any need to really bundle up yet, which would mean that the community pools and such over next to the high school are still going to be open. What do you say that we go for a swim?”
Lilo cocked her head and looked down at Carbon’s broken leg. “Carbon, wouldn’t water get into your cast if you did that?”
“Oh no, they make waterproof casts now,” Carbon said, wiggling his broken hoof. “I could easily go in the pools as much as I could take a shower. So long as I don’t exercise this leg too much, I should be fine.”
Lilo stared at the cast for a little longer, then glanced up at Carbon for only a moment before hurriedly looking away. She shuffled her hooves and buzzed her wings underneath the blanket that was made up of Carbon’s feathers. The pegasus titled his head, confused in Lilo’s sudden bashful behavior.
“Are you alright?” Carbon asked.
“Oh yeah, just fine,” Lilo said quickly. “We’re going swimming and everything tomorrow, which should be fun.”
“Well, yeah, it does,” Carbon said, looking her up and down, “but you don’t seem quite as enthusiastic about the whole idea as you are trying to be. Do you not want to go?”
Lilo shook her head frantically as her head snapped back to look at Carbon. “Oh, no! I really want to go. It’s just…” She trailed off and shrunk under his gaze. “I, uh… I never learned out to swim.”
“You don’t know how to swim?”
“There aren’t very many pools or lakes out in the Broken Leylands!”
Carbon chuckled and squeezed her with his wing. “Well, I can totally teach you how to swim. I swam all of the time when I was younger. Would go to the pool sometimes and spend four hours just swimming around and doing laps, or sometimes I would head to the parks and swim in the little lakes and explore what lay beneath them. It’s really not too hard once you get used to it.”
Lilo nodded her head, although she still looked uncomfortable. “What if I drown?”
“You won’t drown!” Carbon said, chuckling again. “I’ll be right there with you and make sure that you’re alright.”
“But what if I’m too heavy?” Lilo asked, looking down at herself.
“You won’t be too heavy,” Carbon said with a roll of his eyes. “Come on, don’t be pulling the fat trap on me already.”
Lilo’s head snapped back up to Carbon once again, but this time she didn’t look confused or flustered. Her snout was scrunched up into a pout and her eyes narrowed, and Carbon both felt and heard the buzz of her wings under his own wing. He made a sound between a grunt and a squeak and immediately decided that perhaps he had not picked the right choice of words. If he could make it to the bedroom door without this leg of his tripping him over…
“What’s this about a fat trap?” Lilo asked. “Are you saying that I’m fat, or do you think I’m going to lure you into a false sense of security when I put on a nice dress and ask if my flanks look fat?”
“Uh, neither!” Carbon quickly said, retracting his wing and bouncing his eyes between the bedroom door and Lilo.
“Then why would you insinuate that I would pull a fat trap on you?” Lilo bared her teeth a little.
“Would I do such a thing?” Carbon asked in the most innocent voice that he could muster. “You see, I never insinuated anything! I was just being a little cautious, you know?”
“So you need to be cautious of these fat traps when you’re around me?”
Carbon was left speechless, the bedroom door now looking more and more promising. He shifted a little on the couch and his muscles tensed. Lilo stared at him with her piercing glare, her changeling eyes searching him even if it wasn’t initially apparent. She was going to make a move on him like a serpent would a rabbit, Carbon knew, and he needed to make a dash to escape.
“I think I need to check on something in the bedroom gotta go bye,” Carbon said as quickly as he could muster, his wings spring out.
Carbon shot from the couch and headed straight for the bedroom door. The initial escape was easy enough, no way could Lilo have predicted that Carbon would make a move like this. You’d think a stallion of his stature would stay and face his problems rather than run from them with all of his talk about being there to protect Lilo. However, even with his head start he still didn’t account for the fact that he had a broken leg, or the fact that it would cause him to trip over his own hooves and land flat on his face. He promptly groaned.
He felt the thump of Lilo’s hooves reverberate across the floor on either side of him, and already it was apparent that she stood over him. Running again didn’t seem such a viable option this time, especially since he felt the pressure of one of her hind hooves on his tail. He rolled over onto his back, his forehooves tucking up under his chin as he came face to face with a rather amused changeling.
“You deserved that,” Lilo said.
“Yeah, I know,” Carbon replied sullenly.
Lilo giggled and plopped herself down right on his chest. She smiled down at him, and slowly he smiled at her back before both of them broke into a fit of giggles.
“I love you, Carbon,” Lilo said, slowly leaning down and giving him a kiss.
They kissed for a while, their lips boring into each other’s as if the week they spent in the hospital had rid them of all of this precious time they could have been sucking each other’s face. Carbon’s wings spread out on either side of him while Lilo’s buzzed excitedly, and when they did finally break from their kiss, they saw each other’s love and lust in their eyes.
“But don’t you dare try to run from me again, mister,” Lilo added playfully before she lowered her head to kiss Carbon’s neck.
