Lillian helped write to Rosa's roommates, but the mare wanted to add a little something just for Paolo. Something a bit more personal. Hopefully Mr. Boone and Instructor Martha wouldn't read it, but just in case she had to make sure she didn't say too much. Rosa took the letter she had written with the girl, as well as the photos her father had graciously printed out for them, to her room while her young friend was changing into her pajamas and showering. The pony figured she had about an hour before everyone was asleep and Lillian came sneaking into her bed.
As she settled on her chair, Rosa discovered an important fact. Her pen was still in Benjamin's room! Maybe she should have just let it go for the moment and write to Paolo next time? She shook her head angrily. No, Rosa could go and get her pen - politely/. Before she could change her mind Rosa walked over to the boy's room. The door was open and the light was off. It looked like he wasn't in.
That was actually good. That way Rosa could grab her pen without bothering Benjamin at all. Everyone won! It was probably still on his desk and he probably didn't want to touch it with her 'drool' all over it. Rosa also figured he wouldn't have tidied up by himself anyway. She flicked on the switch to see better and immediately spotted what she was after. For a moment she wondered where the boy was, but then she heard sounds of an 'explodey' sort of movie from downstairs.
Well, it was past eight so Rosa didn't think his father would let Benjamin stay up much longer. She had best grab her pen and get out of there as quickly as possible. She reared up, catching her balance by placing a hoof on Benjamin's chair. As her jaw smacked on the table the mare realized that hadn't been such a good idea. The chair was on wheels, after all. She rubbed her muzzle with a hoof and shook her head to stop it ringing. Then she nearly chortled at her own clumsiness.
Anyway, the pen had flown off the table and rolled under the bed. Rosa sighed and got down on her belly to go after it. She couldn't quite fit, so she reached as far as she could with a hoof and flailed around, hoping it hadn't rolled all the way against the far wall. She felt something, but it was not a pen. Curious, Rosa pulled it out in the open. Comics. Nothing exciting, since she preferred an actual book herself, but she knew Benjamin was a big fan. Rosa about to go down for the pen again when she had to do another take. These weren't comic books. They were magazines. She had mistaken them because they were quite colorful. The color was mostly pink, though.
Rosa swallowed and quickly removed her hoof from the topmost magazine. Now she understood why he had been keeping those under the bed. It was not the most imaginative hiding spot, but Rosa guessed it had been the easiest one for a teenager to think of.
Naked human ladies. Was it weird that she was not particularly surprised, especially after the other day? All Rosa had to do was push them back, fetch her pen if she could and get out of there. Then never bring it up again. She didn't really mind what Benjamin got up to in his own room in his spare time, as long as he wasn't playing with her clothes to do it. For a moment Rosa considered whether she should mention the magazines to Mr. Boone, but that would probably get the boy in significant trouble. It would make him really hate her guts!
Too late - she heard a footstep. "Rosa?"
The voice made her blood freeze and she hurriedly shoved the magazines back. "Yes!"
Rosa twirled around, but there was a telltale blush on her muzzle and her ears were all the way back. What was it with Mr. Boone and sneaking up on her lately?!
Too late to worry about it as the man took a step forward. "I heard a crash, are you okay? What are you doing in here?"
She followed the man's gaze and realized, with horror, that a corner of a magazine was sticking out in the open. She hurriedly shuffled so she was sitting on it, but it was no use.
"What do you have there?"
What was he even doing upstairs?! He was supposed to be watching the movie with his son!
"Nothing!" Rosa squeaked.
"Move over, let me see!" The man nudged her with his foot and Rosa had no choice but to shuffle away.
"Please don't make a big deal out of this, sir. It's normal for young boys to-"
It took Mr. Boone just a second to recognize what he was seeing. He leaned down and grabbed the nearest magazine. Then he held it up and flipped through it. "I see," he said flatly.
Almost unconsciously Rosa shrank away. Oh, he was mad. His face was already going red. "What were you doing with these?!" Boone demanded. His hand twitched and Rosa was afraid he might strike her.
"N-N-Not mine, s-sir!" she stuttered. Just in case he was about to turn violent, Rosa scooched a bit further away on the carpet. "I just c-came to get my pen... it rolled under the b-b-bed! I f-found these by accident!"
Mr. Boone got down on his knees and stuck his arm under there. He rummaged around for a moment, then pulled all the magazines out. "Asian Fever," he read, his voice deceptively calm. "Hustler." He swapped the stack around in his hands. "Barely legal?!"
He remained silent for a while. Rosa started to crawl out of the room, hoping to escape most of the man's wrath. "Um, I'll ju- just..." she said, swallowing, "I'll b-borrow a pen from L-Lillian."
You was almost out, but Mr. Boone reacted faster than Rosa had thought possible. He took a single step and his hand darted out to tightly grip her mane.
"EEP!"
It was completely unfair! None of it was her fault!
"I didn't know about t-these until just now, sir! Please!"
The man dragged her out to the hall, where Lillian was watching with wide, fearful eyes. Rosa wished she didn't have to see that.
"Daddy, what are you doing with Rosa?" the girl asked.
Boone barely kept his temper in check. "Go to your room, Lillian."
"But daddy-"
"NOW!"
The girl cast Rosa a frightened look, but vanished inside and closed her door. The mare was grateful for that much, at least. She had to keep trying to ease his temper, though.
"Mr. Boone, please. We can talk about this reasonably. There's nothing wrong with-"
"Shut up!" he growled and dragged her to the stairs. He still had the stack of magazines in his other hand. It was all Rosa could do to keep the pace down the stairs without tumbling. The wife encountered them at the bottom and Rosa was glad to see her. Surely she would stop this from getting too far out of hand!
"What is it?" the wife asked. Mr. Boone just wordlessly held the magazines out to her.
Rosa tried to plead with her, since the father wasn't listening to her: "Mrs. Boone, I can explain! Please, let's just talk about this for a minute!"
She didn't pay the mare any mind. "Where did you find these?" she asked her husband.
"Ben's room," came the curt reply. Then Mr. Boone raised his voice. "Benjamin, get over here!"
Rosa nearly started crying. This was going to turn into a big, horrible mess. The kid would blame her, of course. There would be a huge argument and she would undoubtedly end up involved. What was wrong with these people?! Playing with themselves was normal for boys that age!
Benjamin must have sensed his father's tone, because he was looking very worried when he showed up. Rosa guessed he had been in the kitchen, getting a glass of juice or something.
"What is it, dad?" he asked, cautiously. Then he spotted the magazines in his mother's hands and went completely pale.
"It's not a big deal! Please, you have to listen to- eeee!" Rosa's plea ended with a yelp as Mr. Boone pulled on her mane. His other hand pointed at the filthy magazines. "Where did you get these?!" he demanded from his son.
Benjamin looked from his father to the mare and his eyes narrowed. She could read the rage just under his fear and closed her eyes in defeat. Stupid, stupid parents! At that point Rosa didn't even mind the tugging as Mr. Boone kept pulling her mane higher and higher. She was standing on her hind legs, balancing awkwardly while the wife leafed through the magazines. She didn't say anything, but her lips pressed together and she kept glaring at the son after every page.
"Go toss those in the trash," Mr. Boone ordered and the Mrs left for the front door. Then he took a step closer to his son, who was backing away. "Care to explain this... this filth?!"
The hand in Rosa's mane slipped and her forehooves landed on the tiles with audible clicks. That made Mr. Boone think she was trying to run away, so he flailed wildly and grabbed her nightgown to try and stop her. This time Rosa was lifted up by the cloth, which was a tiny bit less painful. She stood as still as possible, grateful that her mane wasn't being tugged out anymore even while she was trembling in fear of what might happen.
"They're not mine!" Benjamin tried to lie. "She must have put them there!"
Lucky for Rosa, Mr. Boone saw through his son's falsehood immediately. "Yeah, right! I'll ask you again. Where did you get them? Who gave you those things?!"
The boy kept trying. "I was just keeping them for a friend! They're not mine!"
That earned him a slap and Rosa winced. All it would take is for Mr. and Mrs. Boone to listen to her for one fucking minute before they alienated their children forever! She almost growled to herself, as disgust and annoyance overpowered her fear for a moment.
"Honey..." came the wife's voice from behind them, full of sudden worry.
"What?!" Mr. Boone snapped irritably and turned around to look. Mrs. Boone was pointing with her finger. Right at Rosa's exposed cutie mark. The realization made the mare's limbs lose all feeling and her mind go blank.
"Oh no..." she whispered.
Mr. Boone put his other hand in her mane and gripped tightly again. "Jennifer, go get my belt..."
Rosa didn't know what he was going to do with it, but she was very afraid.
"P-Please, sir! That's nothing! It just happened, I didn't mean to. I'm still me!"
He didn't seem to be listening, focusing rather on keeping a very tight grip on her, but also holding her at arm's length, as if afraid she might bite or buck. For a moment Rosa wanted to, but she was not a fighter.
"It d-doesn't mean anything, I swear! Please, Mr. Boone, we can talk about this!" Rosa glanced at the boy, who had his hand over his mouth as he stared at her in terror.
"Benjamin, go up to your room. I'll deal with you later!" Mr. Boone commanded and the kid obeyed. He slipped behind his father, keeping as far away from Rosa as possible, then passed his mother on the stairs.
Mrs. Boone held out the belt to her husband, but he shook his head. "Put it around her neck and pull it as tight as you can..."
They were going to suffocate her right then and there!
"NO, no no no no, please no! PLEASE, Mr. Boone!" Tears were already flowing unimpeded. Rosa didn't even feel it when the man twisted his fist to yank on her mane in an effort to get her to be quiet. Rosa tried to move her head away as the wife pushed the belt around her throat, but Boone had a really good grip on her nightgown and her mane.
"Please don't do this! I'm not dangerous, please! I'll do anything you want!" she begged, voice nearly giving out. The loop tightened and Rosa took a deep lungful. The hand from her mane vanished and she tried to bolt, but Mr. Boone was faster and lifted the belt high up into the air. It cut off her breathing and Rosa danced on her hind hooves to try and put some slack in the awful thing.
She opened her mouth to scream, but couldn't get any air out. All that she managed to make was a gargled, choked half-cough.
This was it. She was a goner.
Just as the world was starting to fade out, her forehooves touched the floor and the loop around her neck relaxed a tiny bit. Rosa gulped down welcome lungfuls of air.
"What do we do with her?" Mrs. Boone was saying.
"Please don't kill me, please please please!" Rosa begged as soon as she was able. Her voice was hoarse and strained, but she had to keep trying for as long as she could. It couldn't end there! "Please! I love you. I love Lillian. I just want to help! I'm not a bad pony!"
She would have promised absolutely everything they wanted.
"Shut up and let me think!" the man barked and Rosa obediently fell silent. He was holding the makeshift leash up, putting just enough pressure in it so she knew it was there. It was all she could do to stay upright on her trembling legs. Mr. Boone finally seemed to have a plan. "Get the ropes from that tent we got Lillian last year," he commanded his wife. "We'll tie her up in the laundry room and I'll call the school in the morning."
"Are you sure that's wise?" Mrs. Boone asked, her voice full of worry and uncertainty. "I don't like the idea of that... thing in the same house as us."
The word 'thing' made Rosa physically flinch.
"It's gonna be okay," the husband reassured his wife. "I'll tie her up good and I'll lock the door."
There was no more room to argue. Rosa was glad at least they wouldn't immediately kill her, but at the same time she was even more afraid of the unknown that was coming as soon as the Pony School got her back. For now, she followed the human meekly as he led her away. Mrs. Boone went to fetch the rope. As Rosa was pulled into the laundry room, where she had washed their clothes just that morning, she couldn't help but start weeping openly.
How could it have happened so quickly?! Ten minutes ago all she had been thinking about was getting her pen and writing a little something to Paolo!
It was so unfair!
She folded down to the cold floor and covered her head with her forelegs as she sniffled. All the time she was aware of the strip of leather around her neck.
"How long have you had this?" Boone demanded as Rosa waited for the Mrs to return with rope.
"A d-day, sir!" she said meekly. Maybe he could still be reasoned with! "Please, sir... it doesn't make me a bad pony. It just means I'm good at gardening. I still want to care for Lillian and Benjamin! I'll- we can cover it with hair dye and no one has to know! Please!"
There was no answer, which gave Rosa a crazy, wild hope. "Please, I'm begging, sir! Don't send me back! They'll kill me!" She was not entirely sure about that, but she was trying to tug as many heart strings as she could. The man still hadn't said anything.
"You know me, sir! I'm still Rosa! The cutie mark doesn't mean anything! Please, let's talk about this!" She fell silent when Mrs. Boone returned. The husband passed her the belt and she gripped it tightly, choking the mare a tiny bit.
"Try to bite or kick and I'm strangling you, understand?" Mr. Boone asked as he looped the rope around a fist.
Rosa just nodded, tears streaming down her muzzle in rivulets. "I'm not a bad pony!" she whispered.