Wilting Rose

Rose Petal knew that she had to start rebuilding what little she used to have, but she literally had nothing but the clothes on her back. No home to return to. Not a single bit to help her get started. No job to help her get back on her hooves. She had nothing.

Managing to finally muster up the courage to return to where her home used to be, Rose made her way back to the train station in hopes that she may be able to rebuild her small shelter underneath the new platform. To her dismay she saw that the new construction included sealing off the space under the platform, destroying any hopes of her sneaking back underneath it. She had chosen that spot months ago when she had first arrived in Ponyville as there was no other place suitable to seek shelter while remaining hidden, but now her search needed to be started over.

Unable to search the entire town due to the cold, Rose Petal had to settle for rebuilding her life under the bridge she had hidden under earlier while she cried. The bridge did little to block the cold winter wind, but at least it was the most likely to keep her dry and hidden from anypony passing overhead. On her way back to the bridge she managed to find two large cardboard boxes to provide a little bit of additional shelter from the elements, but the biggest challenge was going to be staying warm once night fell without any blankets to keep her warm.

As daylight began to fade Rose had failed to find anything else to help her current situation. However, during her travels around town she did notice that the guards had less of a presence than usual, verifying that they did indeed have another important matter to attend to. Hoping that a sliver of luck still remained for her, Rose cautiously made her way back to The Watering Hole. She smiled as she made it all the way there without seeing a single guardspony patrolling the streets, but as she tried to enter the bar she found herself being tossed right back out by the doorpony.

“Hey, what are you doing?” she challenged him. “We had a deal, remember?”

The stallion simply looked down at her like she was a lump of dirt. “That was before you got caught. We don’t need some two-bit whorse getting us shut down. Sorry, but you’re on your own.” he said, his voice as cold as the winter air.

“But…” Rose tried to protest.

Not bothering to respond to her pleas the doorpony slammed the door shut in Rose’s face, signaling that he was done with her for good. Left with no other choice Rose slowly trudged back to the bridge she now called home. Out of options and with no idea of what to do next or where to go, Rose tried to make her crude ‘home’ as comfortable as possible in an attempt to get through the night; she set up the larger of her two boxes to block out as much wind as possible and carefully unfolded the second box to use as a ‘blanket’. It was an extremely far cry from what she had before, but it was the best she could come up with given her situation. However, for a fleeting second the thought of going to Rarity’s house for help crossed her mind, but the idea was quickly abolished as she remembered everything the white unicorn had already done for her.

“I’m such a useless leech.” she sighed. Curling her body up even tighter, she closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, hoping that she would wake up in the morning.

The night was not an easy one for Rose Petal, as she spent most of it shivering and trying to curl up as much as possible. She never really fully fell asleep, but morning did eventually come, Celestia’s sun helping warm the cold morning air.

Her body stiff and sore, Rose groggily made her way down the embankment to where the water hadn’t quite frozen over near the edge of the river. Splashing some of the icy water on her face, she couldn’t help but let out a soft squeal as the coldness woke her up. She then took a small sip but quickly stopped as she felt the freezing water painfully burn her parched throat as it made its way down to her stomach. The water also caused her stomach to growl almost angrily in hunger. She hadn’t eaten anything since she was put in prison, and with no bits whatsoever her choices were extremely limited for finding food.

Stealing was absolutely out of the question; Rose Petal had never stolen anything before and would never bring herself so low to do so. Begging for food or bits in town was her last resort option, and as she had no bits she couldn’t buy her usual day-old bread. Digging through the trash once the stores closed were her best bet, unless she could somehow find a paying job before the end of the day today…

Since it was too soon to start asking all the businesses in town again if they were hiring Rose decided to pass the time in the library as she usually did. She always enjoyed spending time there as she was always given space and privacy, though she enjoyed the occasional talk with the young dragon that helped manage the library. She had also heard talk that one of the alicorn princesses resided in the library but she was away due to an important matter, which suited Rose Petal fine as she didn’t feel worthy enough to be in the presence of a princess.

Trying to think of what she would do if she ever ran into one of the royal princesses, Rose instead bumped into a stallion having a heated argument with a mare just outside the library. Though she didn’t recognize the mare, Rose did recognize the stallion as the owner of Rich’s Barnyard Bargains; Filthy Rich.

It was a bit unusual to see him standing outside the library, but his argument with the unknown mare was even stranger. Not wanting to get too close and cause more drama, Rose Petal kept her distance but couldn’t help listening in on the two.

“-signed a contract and agreed to this! You can’t back out of it now!” Filthy Rich yelled angrily.

The gray-lilac mare spat at Filthy Rich, barely missing his face. “Screw you and screw your contracts, Filthy! Had I known you were going to pull this sneaky, underhoofed kind of thing I would have never bothered to apply for your stupid business!”

“It’s not my fault you and your slow-headed sister can’t read properly!” Filthy Rich countered. “Don’t forget I did you both a favor by allowing her to back out without any sort of conditions!”

“I’d sooner let Discord father a thousand foals with me than even come close to calling what you did a ‘favor’!” the mare said before turning to leave. “Do whatever you want, but I’m NOT doing your stupid job, and that’s final! Go buck yourself, Filthy cheapskate!”

Filthy Rich reached out to stop the pegasus mare from leaving, but before he could grab her she lashed out and kicked him in the chest, sending the business pony tumbling backwards as the mare spread her wings and flew off. Gasping for breath, it took a few moments for Filthy Rich to stagger back to his hooves, darts of hatred seeming to be shooting from his eyes.

“Fine! Go ahead and break your contract with me! You’re passing up a lot of bits, missy!” he yelled after her.

Rose Petal’s ears perked up at the mention of bits. She was desperate for any amount of money and was curious to find out what she had to do to take the other mare’s place. Approaching cautiously, she walked up to Filthy Rich as he brushed himself off and inspected himself for any injuries.

“E-e-excuse me?” she asked very timidly. “I, um… are you looking for somepony to hire? I couldn’t help but overhear…”

Filthy Rich turned and opened his mouth to scold the eavesdropper but quickly changed his mind when he saw the young mare standing in front of him. Though her clothes, mane, and tail were somewhat dirty and disheveled the beauty under the dirt still managed to shine through, and the business pony saw the potential in her looks. His scowl quickly transformed into a sweet smile as he finished brushing himself off and resumed his normal pose.

“Ahem, my apologies for you having to overhear that slight mess, but yes, I am indeed in need of a mare to assist me.” he said. “I’m Filthy Rich, owner of Rich’s Barnyard Bargains. And who do I have the pleasure of meeting?”

“Rose Petal.” she said a bit shyly, shaking his hoof in greeting. “So what kind of job do you need filled, Mr. Filthy Rich?”

“Just ‘Mr. Rich’ will do.” he said. “Well, in addition to my family’s business, I also manage some select entertainment services for special occasions. That mare was supposed to work a bachelor party tonight but as you can see she decided to quit.”

A small part of Rose’s raised a flag. “What, um… what would I have to do for it exactly?” she asked cautiously.

“Oh, don’t worry, my dear. It’s nothing a mare like you can’t handle. They paid for a mare to do some dancing, that’s it. You’re able to handle that, aren’t you?”

Rose Petal nodded. This wouldn’t be the first time she had danced for a bachelor party; in fact, she had been one of the more popular dancers at the club she worked for in Manehattan. Her simple nod was good enough for Filthy Rich who smiled and patted her on the shoulder. “Excellent! Meet me at my house at five o’clock. We need to get you, um, cleaned up a little first. I’ll also have your outfit for tonight. Just don’t be late.” he said, handing her a business card after scribbling his address on the back.

“Of course, thank you Mr. Rich! Thank you so much!” Rose Petal said in excitement.

As the two ponies parted ways Rose didn’t care that Filthy Rich hadn’t even touched on the subject of her pay, but any amount of bits was better than none at all. Words couldn’t describe the elation she felt as she happily trotted inside the library to wait out the time until she was due to meet Filthy Rich later that afternoon. Maybe now her luck was starting to turn around.

At five o’clock sharp Rose Petal knocked on the solid wooden doors of Filthy Rich’s house. Almost immediately the doors opened and Rose’s new employer greeted her. “Ah, Rose Petal, right on time! Come in, come in. Let’s get you prepared for tonight.”

Rose was surprised by the modest living arrangements Filthy Rich had; she had expected the wealthiest full-time resident of Ponyville to show off a little bit more. Almost as if he could read her mind, her host nodded towards an older picture of an elderly pony that hung near the entryway. “My grandfather always told me to never forget that our wealth is thanks to other ponies. Keep your customers happy, am I right?” he said, nodding to the portrait of Stinkin’ Rich.

Filthy Rich led Rose up to the second floor and to one of the guest rooms. “Go ahead and take a shower in the bathroom over there. Your clothes for tonight are in the closet there. When you’re finished come downstairs and meet me in the living room, okay?” he instructed.

Rose nodded in understanding and Filthy Rich left the room so she could have her privacy. Eager for her first shower in Celestia-knows how long, Rose Petal rushed into the bathroom and turned on the shower as soon as she got into it. The initial shock of the cold water hitting her caused her to let out a slightly muffled ‘eep!’, but as the water eventually warmed up she let out an audible sigh of bliss as the hot water poured over her. She knew that the longer she stayed under the wonderful hot water the worse she would feel when she tried to fall asleep under her bridge, but the shower felt so good that Rose decided she would deal with the cold later. The only reason she eventually turned off the water was because she remembered that she had a job to get ready for.

After stepping out of the shower and drying herself off with the large soft towel that was left for her Rose opened up the closet and looked at the outfit Filthy Rich had picked out for her. He had chosen a simple black dress for her, the soft material hugging her like a second skin as she slipped it on. The dress fit perfectly, and after she finished brushing her mane and tail she made her way downstairs to meet back up with Filthy Rich.

The businesspony was lounging on a recliner, drinking a glass of Caberneigh when he heard Rose Petal coming down the stairs. Looking over at the mare, he put down his glass of wine and smiled approvingly as he looked over her body.

“Yes, yes… very nice. Very nice indeed.” he said, congratulating himself that he was right; under the dirt and grime from earlier, Rose was a very pretty pony indeed. “I see the dress fits you perfectly. Good, good... I got it fitted for that quitter, but I’m glad it fits you. You look stunning in it.”

Rose couldn’t help but blush at the compliment. “T-thank you, Mr. Rich.” she said. “Um, sir? About my pay for tonight…”

“Oh, of course. Well, since you saved me from having to cancel and disappoint my customers, I figured one hundred bits would be a nice amount. Plus whatever tips you make, of course.” he said.

Rose Petal smiled. One hundred bits was a bit on the low side, especially if her dancing was supposed to go on longer than an hour, but the prospect of additional tips was where she could possibly make up the low pay. Filthy Rich noted her genuine expression of happiness and poured another glass of the Caberneigh and gave it to her, raising his own glass in a toast.

“Well then, to you, Miss Rose Petal. Depending on how it goes tonight, you may have a permanent position with me.” he said.

Rose felt her heart flutter, but not because of the wine. She had loved her time as a dancer, except for the stallions always trying to woo her into going home and sleeping with them. Still, next to arranging beautiful flower bouquets, dancing was something she loved to do.

“I won’t disappoint you, sir.” Rose said happily.