//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Clandestine Invitation // Story: Rosa // by awf //------------------------------// It was nearly noon and Rosa had left the unbearable solitude of her room. The others had gone their separate ways, some to study in the Library and the others to look for their friends and tell them the news. All except for poor Amethyst, who had kept crying until Martha took her to see the Councilor. Rosa hoped she would be alright. She had been wandering the halls for a while and eventually found herself in the mess hall. It was nearly lunchtime, so some of the ponies were already arriving in groups of three or four. Most gave her sympathetic looks, but so far none had approached her. Once, one of the cooks had come over to offer her a cup of tea. Rosa had said her thanks, but hadn't yet touched it. It was getting cold on the table next to her. She was lying on top of the thin cushion with her legs folded under her. Hooves on the furniture were frowned upon, but Rosa suspected the humans were turning a blind eye just that once, and it was not difficult to guess the reason. Every now and then she spotted groups of ponies looking at her with wide, fearful eyes as the news spread. Maribelle had gotten her cutie mark. Rosa was jarred from her thoughts as an older earth pony stallion came by, pushing a broom with his mouth and dragging a small cart with supplies. He paused right next to her and looked at the young mare for a while. She didn't really want to talk to him, so Rosa just keep her eyes on the floor and her ears down, hoping the pony would get the hint and leave. No such luck. He opened his muzzle and sighed. "You know, before... this-" he gestured with a shaking hoof around the mess hall, "it was a wonderful thing when a filly got her cutie mark!" He sounded bitter and Rosa's ears perked up. She didn't get to hear about the before times too often and she treasured each chance, despite the gravity of the moment. "Yes?" "It didn't use to be a curse," the old pony grumbled. Rosa sneaked a glance at his cutie mark - it looked like some sprouting plant, which jogged her memory. "Mr. B-Bean Stalk?" The pony gave a nod. "'ats right. I'm sorry you're stuck in this place. I wish the Princesses would do something about it." His head lowered and he heaved another sigh. "It must be true what they say - they're all dead." Rosa only knew the barest scraps about the old pony leaders - the 'all-horn' princesses. She glanced around, but so far no human had taken notice yet. It wasn't exactly forbidden for the old ponies to speak with the trainees, but it wasn't encouraged either. Most of the time, a human would casually stroll over and gently remind all participants of what they should be doing. The servant-ponies were corralled and led away each night, then brought back in the morning to help keep the school. Rosa didn't know where they went and so far no one had told her. It was a rare opportunity, so she searched her memory for something to say. She was hoping she could get Mr. Bean Stalk to reveal something more. "Um, Princess Celestia and Princess, um- Moon?" "Luna", the grumpy old pony corrected. "See? You don't even know their names!" He sounded disappointed. "Luna," Rosa repeated to herself, committing it to memory. "Well, if they were still alive, they wouldn't allow this! It's a perversion, is what this is!" Surely he was mistaken! The humans were nice to the ponies, they wouldn't be doing something bad to them, would they? Rosa was about to ask, but spotted a security guard ambling their way. Luckily, Bean Sprout saw him too and fell silent. He pierced Rosa with a gaze and said loudly enough for the guard to hear across the room: "I'm sorry about your friend. Guess I'll see you around!" Before she could reply, the stallion had pushed on, broom once again in his mouth. Despite the old pony leaving her alone, the young man in the dark blue uniform came closer. "That pony bothering you?" he asked. "N-No! He was just saying he's sorry about m-my friend." "Oh, that's right. The one who got the cutie mark." The guard was barely old enough to have a job, it looked like. Rosa lowered her ears and tried for some sympathy. "P-Please, mister. Is there any chance I could-" Even before she had said it, his face fell and the human sighed. "Sorry, miss. The rules..." He took a seat next to her and returned his watchful gaze to the other ponies in the mess hall. "I just miss her so! Maribelle was my friend and now she's gone..." Rosa didn't have to fake her eyes filling with tears, nor the slight sniff as she tried not to cry again. The guard put his hand comfortingly on her withers. "Sorry, miss. Nothing I can do." It was useless to keep trying. All she'd achieve would be to get him angry. "Here," he said and reached into a pocket to produce a big, shiny, green apple. "Snagged it at breakfast, if you want it." A growl from her stomach reminded Rosa that she hadn't eaten since that morning. It felt like a lifetime ago. She carefully sniffed the apple and the young man bumped it against her nose. She took a small nibble, crunching into the sweet, fruity flesh. "There's a good girl!" the guard said kindly and switched the fruit to his other hand, so he could pat her head. These moments of kindness, even from the guards, were what made Rosa believe the humans were nice. Her hunger was awoken and she took a larger bite and started to slowly chew it. "There, isn't that better? I'm sure your friend will be fine." "Yes," Rosa managed around a mouthful, "but I'll never get to see Maribelle again!" She sniffed again at the thought, but the hand found her ear and teased it up, so it could scratch behind it. It really did help a lot and she leaned into the touch. "Who knows, maybe they'll change the rules someday?" "D-Do you know where she went?" The man shrugged. "It's a secret, even from us, sweetheart." He looked down at the young mare for a moment, then gave her a small smile. "What's your name?" "Rosa," she replied, making sure to pronounce it clearly. "Lovely name," the guard complimented. "Tell you what - you get yourself a proper lunch and I'll see if I can sneak you some jelly beans from the snack machine before I finish my shift, okay?" That was a rare and very prized treat. The small, colorful pieces of candy were treasured in the dormitories whenever they could be obtained. Rosa's mouth watered a little as she remembered the rich, sugary flavor. "T-Thank you..." "You be good now, okay?" he said and wiped his palm on his pants. While he was talking, Rosa had finished the apple and gotten a bit of saliva on his hand. His words had a very precise meaning, which only slightly spoiled the comfort this human had given her: 'Don't talk with the old ponies.' Her ears lowered once again, almost without her awareness, as the guard walked away. Yeah, it wasn't exactly a rule, but it was heavily implied that they shouldn't speak with the old servant ponies. At the very least, they shouldn't believe anything they said about Equestria. All the youth really needed to know was that the place had been the ponies' home until recently, but now it was uninhabitable. The people of Earth had been kind enough to accept the refugees to their home, but there were some conditions. Like the mother and foal thing, or the cutie mark thing. Rosa was not sure how she know, but something told her that those were - at least partially - responsible for Equestria's destruction. Maybe the reason the humans forbade her seeing her mother and took away ponies with new cutie marks was to prevent such a thing happening on Earth, too? Rosa wished they would explain in more detail, but she'd seen ponies punished for no more than simply asking the questions. These days, she tried not to think about it and focused simply on her studies. The apple and cold tea had been enough. Rosa could have gotten something else to eat, and the kitchen was serving what smelled like broccoli soup that day, but she really didn't want to deal with other ponies, or humans for that matter. She was thankful to Martha for getting her out of her classes for the day. She needed some time to think. To digest. To get over her loss. It was very important she got over it before the night, because the next morning would be a very important one. The next day, she would have a very special class, one Rosa had been looking forward to ever since Instructor Martha had told her about it. The Children would be visiting. It would be the first visit since Rosa had been moved to Martha's Assistant Pony class and it would be an important experience for her. A nearby school for special needs children had an arrangement with the Pony School to bring over one of their classrooms every few months, so the humans could interact with ponies and vice versa. Even thinking about it was enough to make Rosa's heart beat faster. She would brighten those poor children's day, she just knew it! She would be extra soft, extra cuddly, extra smiling - just extra extra. Anything to make them forget their broken bodies or minds for a short while, the poor things. Some of the older ponies had told Rosa that the disabled children weren't always nice. Especially the ones with Asperger's or such - they pulled, or hit, or threw tantrums over the slightest things. That made her a bit nervous, but she was still sure she could handle them. Rosa was an earth pony and she was strong. If it came to that, she could easily restrain a child from hurting themselves or someone else. Martha had shown her and Amethyst some appropriate holds, but cautioned them both not to use those unless it was really necessary. It would lower their grade if the ponies couldn't deal with the children without resorting to physical force. Rosa wanted a good grade in that class. A day with the children would be nice, but she wanted a special, needful human of her very own to mind, and get to know, and care for. Someone who depended on her. Rosa wanted to give back for all the nice things the School had given her, such as the comfortable, warm beds, good friends, delicious food, even the colorful cartoons the ponies got to watch every Saturday morning with all their classmates. The thought of that next special day distracted her from Maribelle. In fact, Rosa was so preoccupied that she bumped into another pony in the hallway. "Oh! Sorry!" she squeaked, but then fell silent when she saw who it was. The pegasus colt from the other end of the hallway. Rosa quickly put a name to the face. Paolo. "Oh. It's you." "Heeey," the colt drawled a little, thinking it made him sound cool or something, "how've you been? I heard about Maribelle - such a shame." There went Rosa's happy thoughts. The colt was at least clever enough to spot her soured mood. "Sorry," he said and lowered his ears a little. "Yeah..." He stepped closer and sat on his haunches, so he could spread his forelegs in invitation. Rosa walked into his hug, but at least she was not going to cry again. Paolo wasn't a bad sort. Like all the colts at the School, he liked to joke a lot, but he was really nice otherwise. Rosa had spent a bit of time talking to him here and there between classes. Enough to know his name, but not enough for much else. For that matter, she hardly knew any of the other ponies in his room! The way he nuzzled her was nice, though. If the humans picked her to have foals, Rosa wouldn't mind if it were with someone like Paolo. "Thanks. I miss her." "Yeah, Maribelle was cool," the colt confirmed as he pulled back. He looked the young mare up and down and his smile returned. "Wanna join me for lunch?" he asked. "I've got free time until two. When's your next class?" Rosa shook her head. "No classes today," she explained. "And I just came from the mess hall." Paolo barely skipped a beat. "Oh. Some other time then?" The 'no' was already on her lips, but Rosa thought better of it and nodded. "Y-Yeah, maybe." He was giving her an appraising look, as if trying to decide about something. Rosa was about to ask, but he spoke up first. "Maybe tonight? After dark?" That was very much against the rules and Rosa's ears went flat with trepidation. "I d-don't think we should- why after dark?!" His grin was a bit crooked, but his eyes were full of delight. "Promise you won't tell anyone?" It was a secret! Rosa quickly glanced up and down the hall, but there were neither ponies nor humans nearby. All the doors were closed and if they whispered nobody would hear. Secrets were exciting! "I p-promise!" The colt also checked that no one was listening in, then he brought his muzzle closer to Rosa's ear. "Martin - you know Martin, right?" She nodded quickly, impatient to hear the big secret. "Yes. Earth pony, Indigo coat, right? Green eyes?" Martin was very memorable. Rosa never told anyone, but he was a bit of a bully. He liked to push other ponies around when the humans weren't looking. Luckily, he mostly took it out on his classmates and the colts in his room, but Rosa had always felt a little uneasy around him. "Yeah. He scrounged a bottle of beer from a guard. We're gonna drink it!" Her hoof flew to her mouth as Rosa stifled a gasp. She had heard about alcohol, but she had never tasted it. The most the young mare had gotten out of Martha was that it was very bad and made people do stupid things and act funny. Mrs. Sandie, who taught her Psych class, had promised she would have a couple of lectures on how to deal with drunk humans. As helper ponies, they were expected to know such skills. It had felt strange at the time that Rosa wasn't allowed to try it and see what it was like. Surely it'd be easier to deal with a drunk person if she knew how they felt? Maybe - just this once - a little illicit experimentation wouldn't be that wrong? After all, some rules were interpreted more loosely than others. For example, the students were expected to turn their lights off after ten at night, but sometimes one of the dorm fillies had to stay up and study for an important test and no one ever got punished for that. Surely, if Rosa had a small taste, just to see what it was like, she wouldn't get in trouble? Besides, no one would even know. The young mares in her room surely wouldn't tell on her! Her heart was beating like crazy and Rosa found a nervous smile on her muzzle. Paolo could see it too and he winked. "So I guess you're coming?" "M-Maybe..." He gave a slight chuckle and stood up. As he passed her, the colt stepped closer and brushed almost his entire length against her side. He even smacked her lightly on the nose with his tail. "Hey!" Before Rosa could slap him for his insolence, Paolo was already running away, giggling. It just went to confirm her theory. No colt could stay serious for more than about ten seconds. No wonder the humans picked mares exclusively for the assistant jobs. If the colts tended to get dirtier, harder jobs - well, it was entirely their fault, wasn't it? Despite his nonsense, Rosa realized that Paolo had given her something exciting to look forward to. Maybe she even felt a bit less sad about Maribelle. The young stallion's enthusiasm and naughty glee were infectious and Rosa decided that she was optimistic about the future. Her friend was okay. Her cutie mark wasn't something dangerous - she was just elsewhere, doing another, specialized job. The humans would find a good place for her new talent, Rosa was sure of it! Maybe, once they got to know Maribelle and saw that she was an absolute sweetheart and the kindest pony they knew, they would let her get in touch again. Yeah! Rosa decided she wouldn't give up on Maribelle. No pony had ever seen anyone who had gotten their cutie mark on Earth, but maybe she would be able to speak with her on a telephone, or send her a letter. It was still strange how only the young ponies with cutie marks were taken, but the old ones were allowed to go mostly free. Well, they were led away at night and there was always a human nearby, but Bean Stalk hadn't looked beaten or tortured. Anyway, Rosa pushed all those thoughts away as she arrived at her dorm room. She had to catch up on the day's classes and then get ready for the next day and her meeting with the young humans! Good thing she hadn't promised Paolo she would definitely come. Maybe sneaking around before such an important occasion wasn't the best idea. She would have to think about it, first.