//------------------------------//
// Chapter 19: Letter 
// Story: Rosa 
// by awf 
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The ringing of the alarm clock brought Rosa back to the real world and her bed. Lillian was still gripping her around the barrel, but there was something else, quite uncomfortable in her side. Rosa shuffled a little and pulled it up.

A towel?! Where had that come from?!

The girl shifted and Rosa carefully disentangled herself so she could turn around and look at her. "Lillian? What happened?"

She opened her eyes and confusion changed to worry, then to relief. Her hands sought out Rosa's muzzle and brushed an errant strand of her mane out of her eyes. "Rosa! I was so worried!" the girl exclaimed. "You wouldn't wake up!"

Lillian did look frightened. For that matter, Rosa was a little weirded out herself. She remembered both of her dreams and she couldn't tell which one was scarier.

Rosa began licking Lillian's palm, reassuring both the child and herself in equal measure. "I'm okay. I was just having a bad dream, I think," you explain.

"You were crying," Lillian said. "I shook you but you wouldn't wake up!" She pushed the mare a little as if to demonstrate. "I was going to get Dad, but then you said 'sleep' and... went quiet."

Lillian paused her story and asked in a whisper: "What did you dream about?"

"Oh, just a silly dream about someone chasing me."

"But why wouldn't you wake up?"

Rosa shrugged. "I don't know. I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Lillian hugged her again, even tighter than before. She rested her face against Rosa's neck. "I was worried."

In part, that was why Rosa hadn't wanted her sleeping in her bed, but she'd come anyway. It was a good thing she hadn't tossed and turned in her dream, at least. "I'm sorry. Just a bad dream, okay? I'm better now." It was true, Rosa realized. What she had seen was horrific, but she felt like she could get on with her life now. The thing was to keep herself busy and not think about it too much. When she saw Instructor Martha again Rosa would ask her for the truth, but right at the moment the Boones - and the little girl in particular - were her first responsibility.

Even if she knew for certain that all those horrible things were happening to ponies, what could Rosa do about them? From helplessness would come acceptance, she supposed.

"What about this towel?" Rosa lifted it up to show the girl.

"You were sweaty, so I got it from the bathroom and put it on you," Lillian explained. That was actually good thinking and impressive initiative for a seven-year-old.

"Thank you." Rosa stretched a little which brought out a yawn. "Okay, let's get you back to your bed before anyone notices. It's Saturday anyway, so I'll go wash and then I'll come read to you, okay?"

Finally there was a smile! Lillian patted Rosa on the nose, then slipped out of her bed and padded away. Rosa took another moment to think back on her mysterious dream. Why would a figment of her imagination call itself 'a pony, once'? Just where were her dreams coming from? Were they a kind of mental defense against the nightmares? Why had she had one before this night, then? It was all just so confusing!

Anyway, it was time to go deal with her teeth and her mane and tail, and then her worst enemy in the house. At least this time Rosa had remembered to take her panties to the hamper after her shower. No more slip-ups for the Boones to find. As she was shuffling to the bathroom, Rosa started planning out her day. An hour or two sitting with Lillian in her bed and reading with her, then the family would probably have their breakfast. Rosa was starving after having skipped both lunch and dinner the previous day, so she would probably grab some vegetables and bread and go eat in the garden while they sat at the table, if Mrs. Boone didn't mind.

After that she would vacuum the upstairs and gather up any clothing so she could do the laundry after. There would be the lunch with the family, uncomfortable but bearable if she was with Lillian. Then, in the afternoon Mr. Boone had promised to take her to the town to get another uniform and maybe a lighter dress for the summer. Rosa would also try and get a hat, especially if she would be doing a lot of gardening. Which reminded her: she also needed to get some seeds if Mrs. Boone said she may start her own little garden.

Something told Rosa that Lillian would want to come with. After all, it sounded exciting, going shopping with her new little friend! That brought a smile to her lips, but Rosa quickly wiped it off so she could keep brushing. The face in the mirror was a bit haggard, but she was already looking happier as she focused on the positives and not on the bad stuff she had seen. After dinner, Rosa decided, she would try and talk with Benjamin again. All in all, it should be a full, busy, interesting day and with luck she would dream about shopping, rather than that horrible TV show.

She spat out the foam and sucked up a bit of water to rinse. An idea occurred. If she was going to spend some time with Mr. Boone in the car, she might as well bring up the problems she was having with his son. Discreetly and politely, of course, just so he was aware. In case her tutoring the boy failed, it would be wise to show the man she was making an effort, so he didn't blame her for not trying. She would have to 'steer' the father correctly and the last thing Rosa wanted was for him and his son to have another argument about her. Maybe she should just tell Mr. Boone that Benjamin didn't like being tutored by her, but that she would keep trying, so he didn't have to get involved?

As Rosa was splashing water on her muzzle to freshen up, she started planning out her words as much as she could in advance. She wiped herself dry with a towel, then headed back to her room to change into her maid uniform. It was going to be a bit silly walking around the town in that, but she should be fine.





A very loud stomach growl interrupted Rosa's reading with Lillian and made her blush and fold her ears down. The girl giggled, then slid to the edge of the bed and stood up.

"Come on Rosa," Lillian beckoned, "let's get you some breakfast!"

"Oh. Yes. Thank you!"

She followed the little miss down the stairs and past Mr. Boone, who was watching TV. Rosa glanced nervously at the screen and relaxed when she saw it was just some weather. Of course people wouldn't spend all their time watching ponies being mistreated on TV!

"Morning, sir!"

He looked around and returned the greeting: "Morning, you two. Oh, Lillian, your mother had to go into work, but she'll be back by noon. Just make yourselves something to eat, okay?"

It was better than Rosa had expected! Maybe she could even sit at the table this time! Lillian was obviously thinking the same thing, because she took hold of Rosa's mane and very gently tugged. "Come on, Rosa," she said.

The mare followed until they were in the kitchen and hopefully out of earshot for Mr. Boone. "Um, Lillian? It's not very polite to pull a pony by their mane," she explained.

The little girl covered her mouth with her hand for a moment, but then threw her arms around her withers. "OH! I'm so sorry, Rosa! I didn't know!"

Such a sweet child! Rosa patted her on the back with a hoof. "It's okay, it's okay. I don't mind. I'm just saying in case you meet another pony, okay?"

Lillian nodded and brushed her fingers through her mane before going to open the fridge. "So, what would you like?"

Rosa opted for something simple. "Are there any tomatoes left from yesterday? And then I'll just get a piece of bread and some salt. Would you like bread too?"

Of course she wasn't going to let Lillian handle a knife, even just a bread-knife. It didn't matter, though, because she shook her head. "I'll just have some cereal," she announced.

It should have been an easy guess for Rosa, since it was what Lillian had every morning. She fetched the bowl and the milk and poured it for herself and Rosa kept her eye on the girl in case she needed help. Luckily Lillian was wisely holding the carton in both hands so she wouldn't spill or drop it. Then she got the cereal box from a cupboard. It was on a shelf, but low enough for her to reach without a chair. She had to stand on tiptoe to mix it into the milk, but she managed without any problems whatsoever.

Meanwhile Rosa got her piece of bread, rather thicker than normal because she was quite hungry. She also salted it liberally and fetched her tomato. Salted bread was just the best! For added measure Rosa also took a carrot she had found in the fridge and added it to the plate. She lifted it all up with her mouth and took it to the dining table with Lillian right on her heels.

Before getting on a chair Rosa glanced toward the living room. You couldn't see Mr. Boone, but she heard the TV. It sounded like a movie or a show about policemen and it would probably keep going for a while, especially since the weather forecast had just finished. Rosa jumped up on the chair and Lilian took the one next to her. She stirred her bowl a few times, then simply started eating. Rosa quickly followed suit.

After a few minutes, when they were nearly done, the doorbell rang. Rosa glanced at the girl, but she didn't seem too interested, so she guessed it was nothing to worry about. They could hear Mr. Boone going to answer it and briefly speaking with the visitor. Mailman, Rosa decided. It only took a few moments, then Boone closed the front door and walked toward the kitchen. Rosa froze, expecting him to at least comment on her sitting at the table, if not outright order her down. Instead, the man glanced at the mare, but didn't even bat an eyelid. Rosa guessed it was just Mrs. Boone who saw her as a pet rather than a person. Well, the way Mr. Boone had gotten a uniform for her kind of demonstrated his stance on ponies.

"Here, this came for you, Rosa," the man said and held out a thick envelope. Rosa immediately knew what it was.

"The letter from my friends at the School!" she exclaimed.

Lillian caught her excitement and clapped her hands while her father put the letter on the table and then took the rest of the mail to the couch to look it over.

Rosa caught the girl's eye and slid the envelope to her. "Here, you can open it!" she offered graciously.

Lilian didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed the letter and quickly tore it open. There were two folded papers and several printed photographs, just like Rosa had asked her friends to send.

A gasp escaped from the girl as she inspected the first. "Oh, they're so pretty!" she commented, then pointed. "That one is a pegasus! Oh, and so is that one!"

Rosa leaned in so she could see. It was indeed the whole gang, sitting on the floor in her old dorm room. Even Paolo was with them, standing a bit to the side with a nervous grin.

"Oh yes. That's Paolo, there on the end. He's a colt - that means a boy pony. The other pegasus is Iskra, she's the one with the blue mane."

Lillian's grin threatened to split her face in half. She pointed again. "Who is this one?"

Rosa chuckled and decided to just spill it all. "Okay, so the first one on the left is Felicity. Then there's Iskra, like I said, then Valentina, Amethyst and Paolo on the right. Got all that?"

The girl traced the line of ponies with her finger and her lips moved as she silently mouthed the names to herself. She stroked the mane of one of the girls on the picture. "Yes, I remember! Amethyst is learning to be an Assistant pony. Iskra wants to be a delivery pony, Valentina is going to be a show pony and, um, Felicity..." Lillian looked up at the ceiling with the effort of recollection. "Oh, she wants to be a teacher's aide in a school!"

"Very good. It's like you've known them for years!" Rosa giggled.

Lillian's finger came to a rest on Paolo. "Um, what about him? You didn't tell me much about Paul!"

"Paolo," Rosa corrected. "He's um. I don't know him that well. His room is on the other side of the building."

The girl accepted this explanation, but kept peering at the colt for a while. "He's cute."

It was a good thing she wasn't looking, or she'd see Rosa blush a nice pink. There were more photos and Lilian put the group one down and picked up another. "Who is this?" she asked.

Rosa pushed the inappropriate thoughts away and looked. "Oh, that's Instructor Martha and that's Amethyst sitting in her lap."

The woman had taken a selfie, it seemed. Both she and the mare were smiling. Somehow that image in particular calmed Rosa down about the horror show she had seen the previous day. Maybe there were bad humans, but most of them were nice and kind, like her teachers and the rest of the School staff. What she had seen was an exception, not a rule, and it had been fixed. Maybe there were no more places like that. Rosa held on to the thought firmly and looked at the photo once more.

The picture made both her and Lillian giggle. "Okay, here's another one with just Paolo!"

Rosa wondered how the colt had gotten Martha to take it, or why the lady would have obliged. Had the girls told her about Rosa's crush?! Maybe they had taken the pictures themselves, because the colt was sitting beside Rosa's old bed and the image was captured from about pony head-height. His wings were outstretched a little to show them off to best effect. He looked a bit embarrassed, the way he was blushing with his ears completely flat. The tail was wrapped around him so it covered his forehooves.

What struck Rosa the most was how much longing there was in his eyes. That colt really missed her. She missed him too, she realized. Before she could stop it, Rosa heaved a forlorn sigh.

Lillian looked incredulously at her, then at the picture again. "Um, are you and Paolo boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"What?! No! How do you even know about things like that already?!"

Unfortunately Rosa's blush put a lie to her denial. Lillian hid her mouth with a hand and giggled. "That's so cute!"

The mare gave in and sighed again. "I like him, but we weren't anything like that. It's not allowed at the School. Besides, I'll probably never see him again." Looking off into the distance, Rosa tried not to mist up. "By the time I'm back at the School, he'll have gone to his own assignment," she explained.

"Aw," Lillian exclaimed and put her arms around Rosa's neck. "That's so sad!" She brightened up a little. "Maybe he won't? Or maybe I can ask Dad if Paolo can come live with us?"

Rosa very much doubted Mr. Boone would like the idea, but she didn't want that little girl to be sad. "Maybe. Don't worry, we'll stay in touch with letters. Instructor Martha promised."

That cheered her up a little and Lillian took the last photo. It was taken outside, in the little park in front of the school. It was just the girls that time and they were lying comfortably right in the grass.

"They're so pretty!" Rosa's little friend commented again.

"Yes."

She put the last photo down and picked up the sheets of paper. It looked like two separate letters and Rosa wondered why, until she spotted the signatures. One was from the girls and the other was from Paolo.

"Hey, wanna go up and read these with me? Look, they're addressed to you as well!" she pointed out.

"Okay!" Lillian agreed immediately.

"Okay, take them upstairs, I'll just clean up after us quickly."

Rosa munched up the last bits of her carrot and tomato, then, glancing around to make sure she was alone, she tilted up Lillian's bowl and finished her cereal, too. It was a bit too sweet for her, but Rosa liked the taste of chocolate. Then she put Lillian's now empty bowl on her plate and picked them both up. It would feel so good to hear from her friends!

For a moment she was worried Paolo might have written something too personal, but the colt had known Instructor Martha would probably read the letter before sending it. Besides, he had addressed it to both Rosa and the little girl. He wasn't stupid. Rosa was sure it would be okay for Lillian to read it. She quickly washed the two dishes and Lillian's spoon, then wiped her hooves on a rag and hurried after the girl. Vacuuming and laundry could wait for a bit!