//------------------------------//
// Chapter 44: Wanderlust 
// Story: Rosa 
// by awf 
//------------------------------//

The next few days were mostly routine, at least insofar as that was possible on the street. Every morning Rosa went with Sky Light to the truck stop to look for anyone with news about where Maribelle might be, but there were no familiar faces. Sky had taken Rosa mooching twice more to get her money for Viktor finally together, and then she had left her in Terry's quiet, uneasy company while the pegasus went to deliver the cash. That had been the most nerve-racking of all, not knowing if Sky Light would come back or not.

Rosa had breathed a sigh of relief when her friend showed up and proudly pulled a post-mare's uniform from her pack. She said she had gotten it from Hoover, but when Rosa asked what she had to do for it, the pegasus went quiet and just stared at her. It probably had something to do with the lies Rosa had told her about the man with the gun, but Sky Light didn't bring it up and Rosa was too cowardly to mention it, not after all that time.

A day later her blood-test results had came back and Rosa had visited the doctor. That time she had gone alone. Sky Light didn't say why, but Rosa had a feeling she really disliked hospitals.

The results of the test were puzzling, but not bad. Rachelle hadn't quite understood it herself, but apparently - from what Rosa could gather from the explanation - her hormones were wrong. Her bloodwork looked like a small filly's, rather than a grown mare's. It would explain why she wasn't going into heat, Rachelle had told her, but she didn't have the faintest idea what could have brought it about. She told Rosa to come see her if anything changed or in six months, whichever came first. It was a little troubling and cast more doubt on the Pony School, but Rosa knew she wouldn't get any answers by fretting so she put it aside. Rachelle had said there should be no reason she couldn't have foals someday, even if she has to give Rosa artificial hormones. That was good to know and Rosa had left it at that.

Mainly she was focusing on looking for clues about Maribelle through the truckers, Bluegrass, and through Taylor, but Rosa was also hunting down every piece of news she could find about Lillian. The fact that she had given up on her search still stung and Rosa woke up some nights in cold sweat after dreaming of the horrible fate that might have befallen the little girl. It was getting easier, though. That part of her life was sliding into the past and holding on to it was doing Rosa no good. She had said a quiet, solitary goodbye to her School roommates one night while Sky Light had been fetching alcohol for herself and Terry. She hadn't commented on the tears in Rosa's eyes.

All in all, it felt like the streets were making Rosa grow up a lot faster than she normally would. She had started tentatively joking about sex with Sky Light and she was no longer quite so afraid of strangers. Wary yes, afraid no. She had been practicing on the wood whenever Rosa could find a free moment, and now she could quite reliably hit the mark with her hind hooves with enough force to smash clean through the thick plank. Any human - or pony - who might try something untoward with Rosa had better watch out!





On that particular morning Rosa found herself busily brushing her teeth and having a drink of water while Sky Light was off visiting the toilet. There was no sign of Terry and the pegasus hadn't said where he had gone. Rosa hadn't even heard him leave in the night. Sky Light didn't seem worried, so Rosa had decided not to fret about it either. The man had his mysterious ways and he had always returned before.

There hadn't been any more sign of Hoover's goons, so Rosa guessed that Sky Light had been right when she'd said she had some pull with him and his gang. That was another piece of good news.

Rosa heard hooves on concrete and turned to look. She smiled through the foam, then spat and pulled the brush out of her mouth. "Morning, Sky," she greeted.

"Yeah, you said that already," the other mare replied and stretched, swishing her tail around. "We'll need to get more toilet paper soon. You up for an hour's light mooching?"

Rosa nodded. That particular task was no longer as onerous as the first few times. She was saving the silk nightgown and not repairing it because its dirty and torn torn look gave her that extra bedraggled, miserable appearance which made the people pay so well. Sky Light usually went without clothes, but kept the saddle bags low on her back just to prevent potential comments about her cutie marks.

"Taylor said to come by tonight. He said he's having a chat today with someone who knows where that government facility is," Rosa reminded her friend.

"Bet you a buck it'll be a bust?" Sky Light offered. "The coffee will be nice, but you're paying this time."

Rosa gave her a nod. Sky had found her a small backpack, suitable for a young human child on his first day of school, which also worked well on a pony. It was a bit of a hassle to get it on with hooves, but, once there, it sat quite comfortably. One of the compartments was low enough for Rosa to reach with her muzzle without taking the thing off, so she kept her money there. Thirteen dollars and eighty-four cents, that was how much she currently owned. Rosa was keeping meticulous track of it.

Sky Light was nice enough to give her exactly half of what they mooched up. Rosa did most of the work, what with how cute she was, but she didn't bring that up. A half share was perfectly fair, for the both of them.

"Deal," Rosa confirmed Sky Light's bet, then stuck the toothbrush in her mouth again. Taylor had sounded so certain. Rosa was sure he'd give them something concrete.

Beside her, the pegasus turned the handle and caught some water in her muzzle. She gargled it for a moment, then swallowed with a very audible liquid sound. She dunked her head in the stream and shook it around, almost like a dog. It was her version of brushing her teeth and washing, and Rosa was careful to keep her comments to herself.

After a few moments of that, Sky Light drank a bit more, then turned the water off.

"Mmmphmh!" Rosa pointed urgently with a free hoof.

Sky obediently turned the water on again and Rosa took a mouthful to rinse out the toothpaste. Then her friend closed the valve and shook out her mane once again.

"Thanks."

"Cool. We ready? Let's go to the truck stop and see if there's any news. After that we can hit the library on our way back," Sky Light declared.

"Okay."

Sky Light stood up, stretched, and started walking. Rosa fell in step at her side a couple of hoofsteps behind the mare. It felt like a natural place to walk.

"Sleep well?" Rosa asked.

"Eh, a bit chilly after Terry left. I thought about coming up to you, but I didn't wanna wake you," the pegasus explained.

"Where did he go again?" Rosa tried.

The other mare just barked a laugh. "Sorry. His business. He said specifically not to tell you."

Rosa shrugged a little to herself. Maybe she would find out in time, maybe she wouldn't. It was not really important.

"Listen, Rosa..." Sky Light suddenly said in a much more serious tone of voice. She stopped and twirled around to face her young protege.

"Hmm?" It looked important, especially with the way Sky couldn't meet Rosa's gaze. She was pawing at a bit of dirt on the ground.

"Look - you trust me, right?"

This was starting to scare Rosa and her tail reflexively tucked between her hind legs. "Y-Yes?"

"I was thinking of leaving," Sky Light said. "I was wondering if you'd come with me..."

"Leaving?!" Rosa was shocked. The other mare had seemed perfectly happy where she was. She knew a lot of the business owners around and she could often get her hooves on a free meal. She had her favourite dumpster-diving spots picked out. She was familiar with the city and how everything worked. Why would she ever want to leave? "Why?!"

Sky Light shrugged. "Dunno. I suppose it's a pegasus thing. Or maybe it's a bum thing. I just get... restless. I've been her ever since- that thing with Hoover. I miss train-hopping, or just flying and seeing where I end up." She glanced up at Rosa and gave her a wan smile, then prodded some more dirt with a hoof. "I kinda wanna see what's out there. Maybe try Europe. What'd you say?"

It would take them further from everything Rosa knew! The School, Lillian, Terry. Even Velvet and her gang!

Paolo.

Sky Light could read what her friend was thinking all too clearly and came over to nuzzle her. "Hey, I didn't say I'm going now, you dimwit!" she chided.

"W-When then?"

Sky shrugged and looked up, as if the clouds might give her an answer. "Dunno. Maybe in the next month or so? Summer is the best time for train-hopping."

"B-But-"

The pegasus embraced Rosa with her wings. "Hush, I know sweetheart. It's hard the first time. Let's see if we can find your friend Maribelle and whatever happened to the Boone girl. Then there'll be nothing left for you here, right?"

Rosa brought out our earlier questions: "What about Terry? Velvet and Bluegrass and Pepper?" she asked, leaving out Butch. "Taylor and his girlfriend - don't you wanna see how that turns out?"

"We will, we will," Sky Light assured her. "I didn't mean leave forever. Just like- a road trip, you know?"

"To Europe?"

Sky sighed. "That was just an idea. Besides, it's possible to travel back from Europe, you know?"

It didn't help and Rosa shook her head in disbelief. "How? We don't have passports or anything! I'm a fugitive, for God's sake!"

"Well, not Europe then. Maybe we could swing around to Los Angeles, see if there's a casino that allows ponies. We could be rich!"

Rosa just stared at the mare, wondering what had gotten into her.

"Or we could go east, visit the Statue of Liberty. I always wanted to fly up and look that lady in the eye. You," she pointed a hoof, "would have to take the stairs, of course."

"Why?" Rosa asked again.

"Well, you don't have wings, for one," she started and ended up doubled over with laughter. Then she caught Rosa's gaze and fell silent. Sky Light shrugged. She obviously didn't have a non-joke answer. Rosa guessed it was just some kind of wanderlust some people got. She had read about them - students who dropped out of their classes, took all their money and went to travel around the world. It did have some kind of romantic charm to it, but given how Rosa herself was an escaped pony, there was also a bunch of danger.

"Look, I'm not saying I'm going for sure. It's just a thought. Please- just think it over, Rosa. That's all I ask."

Rosa sighed and poked her nose at the mare in an urgent nuzzle. "Okay, I'll think about it."

"Besides," Sky Light went on, "what if we really do find out where Maribelle is being held? You won't be able to say no to a road trip then, will you?"

"No," Rosa admitted, ears folding down.

"Well, all I'm saying is: we do it regardless. Kick back, travel a little, see the world. You only got one life, Rosa. Don't spend it worrying about Terry and Bluegrass and Velvet and who knows who. Spend some of it on yourself, 'kay?"

Rosa gave a single nod. "Yeah, I g-guess..."

"'atta girl! Come on, let's go see if Pavo is back with some news."

Shaking her head in both bemusement and wonder, Rosa followed her friend once again.





It was the same thing again. Rosa was trying to peer through impenetrable darkness when she realized she was in the now-familiar dream once more. She immediately looked around for the eyes even while groaning in exasperation. "Dammit, enough with this crap already!" Maybe Sky Light's way of speaking was rubbing off on her a little, but the swear words did come in handy sometimes.

There was no sight of her dream visitor - probably her subconsciousness, Rosa guessed. Maybe this time it had dragged her in there without even anything to say. Not that its messages had been any use with all the inane, cryptic secrecy.

"Well?" She was tapping her hoof impatiently.

The voice seemed to come from all directions at once: "White Pigeon."

Yes, Rosa thought irritably, she had said that already. "What about a stupid bird?!"

"Find it."

Rosa rolled her eyes. If this really was her subconsciousness, then it had a serious flair for the dramatic. Over-dramatic, she'd say. On the other hand, if this was some magical prophecy-type stuff, then it could at least be a little less cryptic.

She sat down in the middle of the soft floor, or at least as near the middle as Rosa could tell, since there weren't any walls that she could see. Then she let her head hang down wearily. "Look, I wanna help you, I really do. You'll just have to be a bit more specific, okay? First of all, who are you?"

There was silence. Rosa still couldn't see the signature eyes anywhere around her, but there was a sense of alertness now.

"Well?"

"I am," the thing, whatever it was, said. "I am in need of your help."

Rosa opened her mouth to utter a few more bad words, but the voice spoke up again, this time from her left. "I can't remember. It is hard."

As she twirled to look in the direction, the voice seemed to come from behind: "Why can't I remember?"

Rosa was still pretty annoyed, but she sensed the distress in the voice. Confusion and fear. Was it a reflection of how she herself had felt ever since her life had been upturned?

"I'm sorry. I don't know how to help you."

There was nothing more. Rosa turned in a circle to peer in all directions, but there were no eyes, nor did she see any kind of shape. Finally, Rosa's eyes were drawn up, where the sky was filled with stars. There was a full moon. Had that always been there in the dream? Even Rosa was losing her grip on things, it seemed.

"I guess this is the part you tell me not to trust people, right?"

There was no answer. Strange, Rosa thought, until that point she had always been thrown out of the dream when that figment of her imagination had stopped talking. Well, if it was not going to bother her any more, she might as well get some well-earned rest. The floor was soft and warm, kind of like Rosa imagined grass might feel on a warm summer night. She curled up right there and laid her head down. Despite all the weirdness, she wasn't in a scary place. The voice had never threatened her, or tried to hurt her.

Rosa and Sky Light would have a full day ahead of them so she needed her rest.

Eventually Rosa drifted off.





Sky Light listened to Rosa's description of the dream, but she just shrugged it off. "It's probably just your imagination," the mare told her younger friend. "You've been through an awful lot, you know?"

Rosa had to agree with that. "I know. It's just... weird."

"Hell yeah it's weird," the pegasus confirmed. Like always she was walking half a step ahead as the pair were making their way to the truck stop for coffee with the pony gang. "But the mind is an unfathomable marvel!"

That was never Sky Light's own thought! "Where did you pick that up?" Rosa asked her.

"Book," the mare admitted easily. "It's good, isn't it?"

Rosa shrugged a little, having never been a fan of repeating quotes from books. What was the point? They had forced her to do that for her exams and she had never liked it much. "Whatever."

"Come on, it was good!" the pegasus whined and bumped Rosa with her flank. Unfortunately Rosa remained stoically silent and Sky Light started grumbling as they walked: "Dunno why I even bother talking to your uncultured rump..."

She fell silent when they came through the final few bushes and emerged on the lawn beside the truck stop. The others were already sitting in a circle next to the shop and Velvet waved the moment she spotted the pair in the distance.

"Good news!" Sky Light said, pointing the other way. Rosa followed her hoof but didn't see anything special. "Huh?"

"Pavo is back!"

That news made Rosa's heart beat faster. Maybe he'd have something for them! She was about to trot over to the truck, even if it was not familiar to Rosa. She had never had a good eye for cars and such. Before she could move, though, Sky Light put a leg in her way and shook her head. "Let's get coffee first and have a chat with the guys. Pavo probably came in late last night, let the man sleep."

Rosa folded down her ears in disappointment and the other mare laughed at her expression. "Or, you could go and wake him up with a nice pony blowjob - I'm sure he'd like that!" She kept chuckling while Rosa's muzzle went a nice shade of pink.

"Ass."

A coffee was good advice, even if put in an inappropriate way, so Rosa followed her to the other ponies, all the while trying to get the image out of her mind.

The stallions all said their greetings as they approached but Velvet stood up and came to meet the pair. "Nice getup," she said and one of the guys let out a whistle.

It had almost slipped Rosa's mind that she had decided to wear the post-mare's uniform today, rather than the dirty nightie. She smiled at the other mare in gratitude, but then she caught sight of Sky Light as she pretended to be licking something gripped between her forehooves. Yep, total asshole.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Velvet asked, giving Sky Light a well-deserved glare. "What did she say to you?"

Before Rosa could reply, the pegasus jumped in, barely containing her laughter: "Ah, Rosa was just asking me how she should go about 'earning some extra money'." She didn't even have to sign the air quotes because they fell in place naturally with her inflection.

"Oh, that!" Velvet said happily. "It's not a big deal, but you might wanna come just after dark. My advice? Keep an eye on which ones have gone to shower - trust me, you don't want a noseful of trucker-smell when you..."

The mare fell silent with a very confused expression as Sky Light ended up flopping on the ground, laughing so hard she was liable to injure herself. "What did I say?" Velvet asks.

Rosa could barely meet her eyes, but she had to clear this up before Sky explained some more. Rosa could also see Butch shuffling uncomfortably on the grass from the corner of her eye and she did not want that stallion any more excited.

"Please- Velvet, this asshole was just teasing me with it! I don't wanna do it!"

Too late. Butch's gruff voice rose up in a verbal equivalent of a leer: "If you'd prefer pony cock I could spare a few dollars..."

It made Rosa roll her eyes and sigh, but she didn't look at the stallion lest she encouraged him some more. "Anyway, I was gonna buy Sky coffee today, but you can have it instead."

That shut the pegasus up. "Hey!" she said, standing up and fluffing her wings to dislodge the leaves and twigs she had picked up during her little laughing episode.

"Maybe next time you won't be such an asshole!" Rosa told her back.

The mare turned her signature Pleading Look on Rosa. "Come on! I was just joking!" she whined.

Unfortunately Rosa couldn't stay mad at her - not after all she had done for her. Rosa kept being reminded each time she glanced at her forelegs and saw the sleeves of the post-mare's uniform. "Oh alright! I'll buy you both coffee!"

It was not like she had all that many expenses. Rosa had managed to save quite a bit of money for when she found where Maribelle was. Besides, she was in an especially good mood since Sky told had told Pavo was back. Rosa was really counting on him to have some concrete news. If not, there was still Taylor in his coffee shop later that night.

Somehow Rosa felt like she'd get some useful information today. Maybe it was a premonition resulting from her dream.

The two mares fell in step behind her as Rosa went for the truck shop, Velvet prancing a little in excitement. She really did love her coffee, that one.