//------------------------------//
// Chapter 54: Na-temy 
// Story: Rosa 
// by awf 
//------------------------------//

Breakfast was a tiny bit uncomfortable with so many strangers, but Rosa had slept well, showered, and Ann had even loaned her a hairbrush, so the mare had gotten her coat and mane under control. It would have been even better if she still had her scent bottle, but being clean and well-groomed was a nice feeling after all that time and gave her a much-needed boost in confidence. She was probably the prettiest she had been in weeks and it really showed. Ann was much warmer and smiled more broadly toward Rosa in the morning.

Sky Light looked her usual self, but Rosa had caught her smirking when she thought no one was looking. Rosa didn't mind. After all, grooming wasn't quite Sky Light's thing.

"I don't think I ever heard of a pony eating bacon with eggs," the wife commented, staring at Sky Light's plate. Rosa also glanced over and couldn't help a slight wince.
Ann continued: "It doesn't make your stomach hurt or something?"

Too busy to properly answer, Sky merely shrugged a little and stuffed more in her mouth with the fork. At least she could use cutlery, Rosa thought, even if she was a bit clumsy with it.

"Not really," Sky Light said once she had swallowed. "Never has. I've been doing it for ages, too."

"I don't understand it either. I thought we were herbivores," Rosa added her two cents.

Pavo seemed to have an answer: "Actually, I've seen a couple do that on the road. Not many, but it looks like you guys can eat cooked meat. It's probably just an acquired taste.

"Well worth the effort!" Sky Light added.

Rosa put it out of her mind, lest she started feeling queasy about her own fried eggs. It had been ages since she had them this nicely done and she would very much like to eat all of it and keep it down. Instead, she looked to the son, who had been watching her and Sky Light with undisguised interest. Rosa gave the boy a smile and got a tentative grin back.

"Did you two sleep well?" Ann went on to ask.

"Oh, yes!" Rosa gushed, "it was amazing! I never realized how hard those beds in the truck are!"

Pavo started laughing and grabbed his generous belly. "See, I guess this padding comes in handy after all!"

Even his wife couldn't suppress a chuckle and Sky Light nearly spat out a piece of bacon as she chortled.

After everyone had calmed down again, Mrs. Basilius had another, more difficult question: "So, mind telling me where you're going and why?"

Rosa looked at Sky Light who gave her a barely perceptible shrug, so Rosa transferred her gaze to Pavo. He smiled at her and nodded encouragingly. Of course she could trust his family, the man had been nothing but nice to the mares.

"We're actually looking for a friend - a pony," Rosa explained.

"Oh?" Ann prompted her to continue.

"Yeah, she was taken when she got her cutie mark and I want to know why and find her. Um, I think she's in some sort of government thing."

Now the lady looked alarmed and glanced worriedly at her husband. "Please tell me you're not getting mixed up in this?"

Even before he could answer Rosa tried to reassure her. "No, nothing like that! Um, d-don't worry. It's just me and Sky Light. Mr. Basilius just drove us this far."

"I'll ask Tim to give them a lift to where they need to go. He sometimes hauls that way," Pavo explained some more.

This helped and Ann relaxed a little, but she still wasn't too happy. "I don't want government agents breaking down my door. You sound like you're playing a dangerous game!"

The accusation made Rosa fold down her ears and put her hooves against the table in preparation to push her chair back. Ann was going to tell them to get out of her house, Rosa could feel it.

Luckily Pavo stood up before that happened and put his hand on his wife's arm. "Can I talk with you in the living room for a minute?"

The woman cast her worried gaze at Rosa and at her son, but she stood up and followed Pavo out. She shut the door behind her.

"Big mistake," Sky Light whispered to Rosa, who nodded back in agreement.

"Sorry."

"Guess we'll catch a bus or something. It's not far now."

Rosa bobbed her head again in agreement. It wouldn't be too bad. Pavo had already brought them most of the way. Sky Light slipped from her chair and walked on surprisingly silent hooves to the door, then leaned an ear against the wood.

Richie watched the nosy mare curiously, then looked at the other pony in the room. "Um, Rosa? What is Sky Light doing?"

"Oh," she didn't have an answer, so she just blushed. Her mind raced as she looked for a better topic for the boy. "Do you have many pictures of ponies, Richie?"

It was a good thing she had remembered Pavo's hobby and the countless photos he had snapped of her and Sky Light on their trip.

The kid immediately brightened up. "Yes! I have lots! Want to see them?"

To her surprise Rosa realized that she would absolutely enjoy that. "We'll see if we're in a hurry. If not, I'd love to!"

"I hope you're not in a hurry." Richie told her.

Rosa took another bite of her eggs, since there was a real possibility she would have to go, then she emptied her juice glass. Meanwhile Sky Light slunk back to the chair and climbed up. She saw Rosa's glance and reached the same conclusion, because she went back to industriously eating what was left on her plate and washing it down with Coke.

A few minutes later Pavo and Ann came back and Rosa tried to read their expressions. Ann's was guarded and she didn't know her well enough, but Pavo was smiling faintly, so Rosa dared to hope.

"My husband tells me you need a place for another day or two," Ann said carefully. Rosa gave her a smile, but let the woman finish at her own pace. "You can stay," she concluded and both mares relaxed a little.

"Thank you!"

Richie pushed his half-eaten plate away and piped up: "Mom, can Rosa go see my pony pictures?"

Her answer was music to Rosa's ears: "Of course, dear. Finish your breakfast and then you can show her." She seemed to have a second thought and lifted up a finger. "Have you finished your chores?"

The boy's face crumpled and he lowered his gaze. It almost broke Rosa's heart to see that. "Um, I actually helped with housework for my last, uh, boss. I could help Richie and that way we'd be done faster! I can also help you clean up and do laundry, if you like."

Now the woman's gaze was appraising. "Laundry?" she asked carefully.

"Yes! I don't mind - it's the least we can do!" Rosa tried to think up some ways Sky Light could make herself useful and pointed to the mare with a hoof. "Sky can fly any messages you like, or go to the store for you!"

The woman shrugged a little at the last bit, but she kept her eyes on Rosa. "For now," she said slowly, "you can help Richie clean up his room and then you can look at the pictures. We'll talk more about this later."

While Rosa had been offering their services, the child had finished his breakfast and now he jumped down from the chair. "Come on, Rosa!"

She glanced over at Ann just in case and waited for her slight nod, before she slipped from her chair and slid her mane under the boy's hand. Just as they were about to leave, Rosa remembered herself and turned back to the wife. "If you could just stack the dishes in the sink I'll wash them later!"

Ann didn't answer, but she seemed pleasantly surprised to Rosa. Doing a few chores wouldn't cost anything and it would help her pass the time. There was no harm if it improved Ann's disposition toward her and Sky Light, either.

"So, how about you?" Pavo asked the pegasus.

She shrugged a little with her wings. "I'm not much for these indoor things, really."

"I'm meeting some guys down at the bar, wanna come with?" he asked.

This made the mare light up in joy and she immediately leapt off her chair. "Duh! Yes!" she exclaimed.

The last thing Rosa saw in the kitchen before Richie dragged her up the stairs was Anne starting to collect the empty dishes from the table. Rosa would wash them later.





Rosa had spent an unproductive, but fun hour with Richie as he showed her his many albums of pony pictures. So many ponies! Most of them were earth ponies with an occasional pegasus, always showing off their wings, of course. A lot of them were in Pavo's truck or around it, but there was a fair number in what Rosa assumed were trucker stops or bars. There was one in a movie theater of all places! She decided she would ask Pavo how that had happened! Almost all of them were smiling, some of them a little nervously and a few really enthusiastically. Pavo was apparently quite well-known in the pony community across the country. She saw a few notable landmarks she recognized: Niagara Falls, the Washington Monument and Mount Rushmore being the ones she had easily identified. It seemed Pavo really did travel all over the place.

One particular image caught her eye. "Oh! That's Sky Light!" Rosa gasped, pointing.

Richie covered his mouth with a hand in shock. "Yes! Oh wow, I forgot!"

The boy had been diligent and wrote dates and names beside every picture. The Sky Light in the picture was nearly four years younger. Rosa inspected her closely, but not much seemed to have changed. She had had her always-mischievous grin even back then. Where had Rosa herself even been four years ago? Well, that one was easy - the School. Learning basic Maths and starting on Geography, she remembered. Unless that was the year before? Definitely before she had started training as an Assistant Pony.

"She hasn't changed a bit," Rosa murmured. Well, she probably had, but not on the outside. She wondered what the pegasus would say if she showed her that picture. "Can we show Sky Light this when she's back?" she asked the boy.

He was only too happy to nod. "Yes!"

They kept going after that. It was not even the slightest bit boring, despite Rosa's fears when she had seen how many albums there were. The pictures were quite similar, mostly, but the ponies were happy and it felt good seeing so many smiling muzzles, even if some of them did look a bit nervous or scared of the camera.





It had taken Rosa and Richie nearly two hours to skim through all the pages, but she was glad they did. Richie hadn't stopped smiling in all that time and it felt like Rosa had made a friend for life.

"I'm gonna be a pony doctor when I grow up!" the boy exclaimed once he had put the latest album back.

"Oh really?" Rosa said with a little smile.

"Mhm! I know all about a pony's na-temy!" the child assured you. "Daddy got me a book on ponies!"

Rosa was wondering lightly what a 'natemy' was while Richie rushed over to his desk and brought a new volume. It was obvious the boy had read it many times, because the book was almost falling apart. Luckily the title was still legible.

"Introduction to Equestrian Anatomy" Rosa chuckled a little. "Oh, anatomy."

The kid gave her a sheepish grin as he placed the book down on the bed and opened it to the first page. "I dunno all the difficult words, but I'm learning it anyway!"

"Is that so?" Rosa asked, glancing over the inner title. "Maybe I can help with a few."

The boy took her up on her offer and immediately put his finger on the word. "What's this one mean?"

Rosa considered her answer for a moment, suddenly a bit uncomfortable because it was a word she had been wondering about back in the School. "Equestria. That's the place ponies originally came from. Land of Equestria."

"What is it like?" Richie asked with a dreamy look on his face.

Rosa leaned in closer to give him a nuzzle, making sure her smile stayed fixed. "I don't know, sweetie. I was born on Earth. I don't even know if Equestria still exists," she explained.

The boy didn't notice her slightly choked up tone and Rosa finally managed to push the thoughts aside. "So, tell me what you've been learning!"

Richie immediately forgot about the title and turned his bright smile on the mare. "Okay, so um-" He was comfortable enough around Rosa to touch places with a finger. "This is a barrel and um, here is the withers..." he began listing and pointing out all the right parts. "Ankles and fetlocks and hooves... um, flank." The boy giggled a bit when he touched her shoulder. "Shoulder," he said, "but it doesn't stick out like mine!"

The observation made Rosa chuckle a little, too. "That's true. Very good!"

He was not quite done yet. The finger moved and tapped again. "Croup and thigh and then uh..." The boy rested his finger on her back leg, but then he needed a moment to think, looking at the ceiling as he tried to recall the difficult word. "Hock!" he exclaimed. "I remember cause it sounds like 'hockey' and they have knee pads!" His smile grew secretive and he leaned forward to whisper in her ear: "Did you know pony legs bend backwards? Um, the back legs."

"Oh my!" Rosa exclaimed, suppressing a giggle.

"Why do you have knees in front and, uh, hocks in the back? Aren't they all just knees?"

She shrugged a little. It was a bit embarrassing since Rosa would be a bit pressed to remember 'hock' herself, despite having learned all these names in Mr. Greiner's biology class. She had indeed just called them 'knees' in her head. "I honestly don't know, sweetie. It's just one of those things." If he kept going like that, she thought, he wouldn't have any problems getting into veterinary school. She gave the boy a very encouraging nuzzle. "You're very smart! I'm sure you'll be an amazing pony doctor!"

This made the child blush a little, but his grin was wider than ever. Rather than saying anything, he just threw his arms around Rosa's neck and she was happy to simply have him hold her for a while. Soon, though, she remembered her other promise. "So, how about I help you clean up your room now?" she proposed. "We can read a bit more about pony anatomy in the evening, okay?"

Strangely, the boy wasn't in the slightest downcast over this. He practically jumped from the bed and gave an enthusiastic nod. "Okay!"

He had started picking up toys even before Rosa could slip to the floor to collect all the albums they gone through. The shelf where they went was low enough for Richie, which meant Rosa could easily reach it too.

She began to hum quietly as she stacked.