Ann parked her car at a bus stop on a very busy street. Rosa knew she wouldn't be able to stay there for very long, so she was glad that Sky Light and her were already wearing all their bags. Despite the hurry, Rosa took a moment to give Richie a quick hug. He wasn't taking the school bus that day since Ann was going near there for the mares' sake anyway. It was nice to be able to say goodbye properly.
"Now, you be good and listen to your mom and dad, okay?" Rosa told the kid. He nodded quietly, as if making her a solemn promise to uphold a sacred trust, and Rosa smiled in return. "I'll write and visit when I can!"
The boy clasped her around the barrel for a moment, then he did the same with Sky Light. She didn't have other parting words than a slightly clumsy: "Good bye! Good Luck!"
Meanwhile Rosa poked her head between the seats to brush Ann's shoulder. "Thank you for everything, Mrs. Basilius!"
She gave the mare a quick pat on the muzzle. "Good luck with your thing. Don't be a stranger if you're ever in town!"
Then Rosa opened the car door and slipped out, followed closely by her friend. They gave Richie a final wave and a smile, then Rosa pushed the door shut and Ann drove away.
Watching the car leave made Rosa heave a sad sigh.
Beside her, Sky Light was smiling a little to herself. "So," she said, lively and excited, "where to? We got an hour, but I wanna be here a little earlier so we don't miss Tim."
It made sense and Rosa looked around for anywhere they could wait. The plan was to walk to the barbecue and grill near Pavo's company, but they'd both had breakfast and Rosa wasn't thirsty, so it seemed like a needless walk. "How about..." she said, casting her gaze around. A bit of green caught her gaze and she pointed a hoof: "Looks like a park. We could go sit on a bench for a while."
Sky Light bumped her rump against Rosa's in acknowledgment and set off. "Good thinking!"
The pair walked close together, with Rosa taking her usual place one step behind, just like she always had back in the city. They were technically on the street again, so she deferred to Sky Light's leadership once more, but Rosa was optimistic about their future. Soon they would have a cozy truck seat and some more beautiful scenery to enjoy while Tim took her and Sky right to their goal.
Once there...
It was hard to say. They would have to see the place and find the best way inside. Rosa and Sky Light had spent a few hours last night discussing strategy. Maybe, the pegasus had suggested, they could hide in the back of the truck and then sneak out when the humans weren't looking. It sounded kinda risky, though. Rosa remembered Pavo's description and she knew the only reason Tim would drive his truck to the White Pigeon place was to have it unloaded. It was highly unlikely they would first let it sit inside the compound for any length of time.
Another possibility would be to stay hidden in the back of the cabin, on the truck bed with the curtains drawn, but that would probably raise suspicion. All it would take was one curious human asking Tim to pull the curtain aside. In no event did Rosa want to get the driver in trouble. He was doing her and Pavo a huge favor, after all.
At long last she and Sky had settled on the best course. Tim would drop them off near the place and then the pair would scout it out at night. There might be a weak spot in the fence or the wall, or whatever they had. As a worst case scenario, Sky Light had said, she could fly them both over any such barriers. Maybe a different way inside would present itself once they were there, but for now that was the plan Rosa was going with.
She hadn't been paying attention to where she and Sky were walking, so now Rosa blinked and looked around in surprise. It was as if they had left the city and were now in a sparse, cheerful forest. The park really was lovely and Rosa could hardly see any gray concrete around her. She was especially interested in the flowerbeds along the path and so Rosa left her friend sitting on a nearby bench to go inspect the plants from close up. Of course it was all cultivated and maintained by gardeners, but it almost looked as if the flowers were simply growing there naturally. Rosa didn't recognize the kinds, but she could see that they'd been weeded recently.
For a moment she daydreamed what it would be like to get a job as a gardener pony. She'd have her uniform, so no one would bother her, and her day would be spent walking from park to park with her tools, probably pulled behind her in a small, cheerful cart, and taking care of the grass and the flowers and the trees. Now that she was thinking about it, that wouldn't be a bad life at all. Maybe Rosa could go and ask in the city hall or something, when it was all over. This future might be even better than finding a family with a needy child, because it'd mean she could still spend a lot of time with Sky Light. The pegasus would keep her company while Rosa worked and she'd pay for their food. Yeah, it could work out nicely! Provided, of course, that was what Maribelle wanted to do. Rosa had almost started to decide her future, but then she realized she didn't even know what her cutie mark was. Her friend from school might want to go someplace completely different. Would Rosa be able to let her go, even if it was far away and they hardly ever saw each other after? The thought made her swallow a painful lump and her ears folded down.
Would she? What if it was the only way to make her happy?
Rosa probably would. First, however, she'd try anything to stay near her. Even if Maribelle had to go someplace far, surely Rosa could find some employment, either as a gardener or as an assistant pony. The thought calmed her down quickly. If it came to that, they would find a way.
Rosa was so nervous about getting up into the truck's cabin quickly that she fumbled her jump and nearly crashed on her head. Luckily Sky Light was fast on her hooves and propped her up. It still took a bit of a scramble for Rosa to finally reach the seat and she was panting a little by the time she sat. She glanced over at the driver and gave him a small, embarrassed smile. He was watching her with amusement, which was a much better sign than annoyance or perhaps impatience.
She barely had time to take him in: hair cropped short and black as her mane, glasses, unshaven and a lot less heavy than Pavo. Rosa started to give him a proper smile, but then heard a whoosh behind her, which warned her just in time to jump out of the way before Sky Light landed on her.
Sky reached out to pull the door shut while Rosa extended a hoof toward the man. "Um- hi..."
His handshake was firm, but very brief and then Tim was already operating the truck, presumably to get out of the way as fast as possible. The vehicle, Rosa had noticed, was longer than the bus stop so he had been holding up traffic while they climbed up. Hopefully the other people in the cars behind Tim wouldn't be too upset over the delay.
"So, I'm guessing you're Rose-ah and that over there is Sky Light?" Tim asked, glancing first at Rosa and then at her pegasus before focusing his eyes on the road again.
"Yes!" Rosa confirmed," b-but it's pronounced 'Rosa'."
The man shrugged a little. "Oh. Only ever seen it in a text message. Pavo didn't say your names out loud on the phone. Sorry."
Rosa quickly shook her head and brought her smile to bear. Tim was polite and cheerful, which bade well for their journey. "It's okay! It's an unusual name."
"I'll say. What is it, European or something? Are you from Europe?"
Once again Rosa shook her head, even though Tim didn't seem to be watching her. "No, it was my, uh, instructor. She named me when I was born. She's from Europe!"
"Ah. That'll be it then. What does it mean? It sounds french or something."
She hadn't thought about her name in a long while, but it was a welcome topic. Getting to know each other was always very important with children and presumably it worked the same way with everyone else. Tentatively, Rosa decided that she liked this man. "Polish, actually. It means, uh- 'morning dew'."
"Cute!"
Even Sky Light was staring. "Hey, you never told me! Okay, I'm gonna start calling you 'Morning Dew'."
She was right! Rosa remembered that her friend had been named 'Aurora' by humans, but she'd ditched it and went for 'Sky Light', which was essentially the same thing, except that it had a more Equestrian ring to it. Rosa wondered whether she should do the same. She wasn't too sure and besides, she kind of liked her name. "I dunno," she said slowly. "I don't really mind Rosa."
"Too late!" Sky blurted out and started to laugh.
After a moment Tim joined in. "Looks like you done goofed up, pony!"
Rosa couldn't really be mad at either of them. After a minute she couldn't help chuckling a little as well. It looked like the drive would go perfectly smoothly. It was only a few hundred miles or so, anyway, and most of it on highways.
Afternoon found Rosa sitting on a different bench and leaning against Sky Light, with her eyes closed and her hooves on her belly. She really had to stop doing that! When Tim had stopped for late lunch, Rosa and Sky had bought a couple of human-sized meals. Burger for her, cheese pizza for Rosa, and a serving of fries with each. It had been too much, but she hadn't been able to stop herself until her tray was clean.
"Urk-"
The driver kept chuckling a little every time he looked at her, and Sky Light patted Rosa gently on the back with a wing. "You gonna live?" the mare asked.
"Yeah... I'll be fine," Rosa lied.
"Gonna get fat, you know?"
"I know..."
Who could have known Rosa would turn out to be a total glutton if she were given a chance? Certainly not her. Portions in the School had been pony-sized, but she had never felt really hungry, not while she had three meals available each day. By the time she realized she was hungry it was usually almost time for another visit to the mess hall. Then, on the streets with Sky Light, Rosa had been hungry a lot of the time, but she was also afraid and bewildered at all the new things, so her belly had probably taken second place in her mind. She had never really starved, so Rosa hadn't thought much about it all.
Only now, living in relative luxury and with abundant food, did she notice her tendency to cram her muzzle until she was near bursting. Rosa idly wondered why that was. She didn't worry too much, since it would just take some more willpower and she would be fine. Besides, ponies were cute if they were a little bit pudgy, right? Rosa probably didn't have to worry about that, especially if she ended up living on the streets with Sky Light again.
"Wanna finish my fries, too?" the other mare asked.
Rosa turned her face away and tried not to think about it. "N-No thanks..."
"You sure?"
"Yes!"
"Here, give 'em me," Tim asked and Sky Light pushed the tray toward him. It was a relief, otherwise Rosa would have been seriously tempted.
Now that laughing at Rosa's misfortune had been completed, Sky Light turned a businesslike expression on the driver. "So, how much further?" she asked.
The man swallowed a mouthful of fried potato and frowned a little in quiet calculation. "What time is it?" he asked.
Rosa and Sky Light looked at each other in confusion, which made Tim laugh again. "Way to ruin a joke. We'll be there about five minutes after we leave here. We're basically in White Pigeon, ladies. That's it down the road," he pointed.
Instantly Rosa's heart sped up as she glanced in the distance and saw a... settlement. It was a very small town, at least that was what it looked like from their angle.
White Pigeon.
Should she be feeling anything? Rosa concentrated inward, trying to feel whether her mysterious night time visitor, who she believed was Maribelle anyway, was nearby.
"Then why did we-" Sky Light began to ask, but the man had guessed her question and replied even before she finished. "I always stop here for lunch," he explained. "Besides, the client expects the shipment at five-thirty. It doesn't do to be early for this job. Too much paperwork."
The answer mollified her and Sky Light leaned back on the bench and inspected the sky thoughtfully.
Tim, meanwhile, crammed the final few fries in his mouth and stretched out, nearly a mirror image to Sky Light's pose. As soon as he swallowed his mouthful he explained some more: "I thought you'd like the scenery. Just take it chill for another, uh-" he looks at his wristwatch, "-let's say twenty minutes and then we'll be on our way."
"Oh. O-Okay," Rosa replied, seeing that Sky Light wasn't about to comment.
"Any thoughts on how you're gonna get in?" he asked.
Rosa and Sky Light looked at one another at that question. Rosa wondered if it was safe for Tim to know the details. If their break-in attempt went badly, he might also be in trouble. She was about to tell him that, but Sky opened her mouth first. "Probably wait until it's dark and then see if we can sneak through the fence. Or whatever. Do they have walls?"
Tim nodded a little. "Yeah, walls. About, uh eight or ten feet I reckon."
"We can fly," the mare said and extended one wing to show him.
The driver just grunted an affirmation, but then he leaned forward across the table and lowered his voice. "Tell you what, you seem like nice girls. Pavo didn't tell me why you wanna get into that place, but I guess it's something to do with those ponies in cages I saw the other time." He sighed a little. "This client is big on NDA. I probably shouldn't even have told Pavo, but- you know. His pictures and all that. It just came up over beer one day."
Rosa didn't know where Tim was going with it and by the looks of it neither did Sky Light, so they both just nodded quietly.
"Anyway, I don't need to know the details, but if you'll take my advice, go in from the south. There's another gate, but they hardly ever use it. Just a rusty chain fence, you can probably jump it if you can't break it down."
This was very welcome news and Rosa started smiling a little. She knew she liked this guy!
He wasn't done yet and he lowered his voice a bit more. "There's just some storage sheds that way, shouldn't be any guards or anything. After that - well, good luck. Patrols, cameras, sensors, you name it."
"How do you know all this?" Sky Light asked, suddenly a bit suspicious.
Tim just shrugged a little. "Been shipping there for years. You notice stuff, especially while you wait for some stuck-up officer to go over your papers for an hour."
It made sense. That was probably how he had ended up seeing caged ponies, too. A scheduling mistake, Pavo had said.
"So, you guys have black suits?" Tim asked while looking at their saddlebags.
"N-No?"
"Would come in handy, you know? To avoid being seen so easily."
Rosa hadn't even thought about that! She looked desperately at Sky Light, who gave a little shrug. "We'll try anyway," the pegasus said, voice firm and full of self-assurance.
It made Tim grin and lift up his hands in supplication. "Hey, you ladies know what you're doing. I'm just trying to help."
It looked like Sky and Tim might start arguing every second, so Rosa nudged the mare with a hoof and smiled politely at the man. "We really appreciate the advice, uh, Tim. We'll... think about it."
Finally Sky Light picked up on what Rosa was trying to do. "Oh. Yeah. If you could just drop us somewhere near the edge of White Pigeon, closest to this, this... facility, that'd be great."
"Sure thing!"
Rosa relaxed again. It sounded like Sky Light already had a plan, which was good. She was really curious what it was, but she suddenly didn't want to discuss it in front of Tim, or any human for that matter.
Luckily, he stood up and collected all three trays. "I'll take those back," he said and set off toward the fast food place.
This was Rosa's chance. "What do you think?" she asked her friend.
"He's a bit weird. I'd rather he drops us off out of sight of that facility."
"What about the black clothes?"
Sky gave her a sly smile and winked. "I have an idea. How much money do you have left?"
It took a few seconds for Rosa to mentally calculate. "Dunno, about fifty bucks. Why?"
The mare clapped her forehooves together and smiled. "Should be plenty. I'll fly into the town and see if I can find some clothes for us."
That didn't sound like a very practical idea. Rosa shook her head a little. "You think you'll find a shop for pony apparel in White Pigeon?"
"Not necessarily," the other mare went on in a low tone of voice. "Human ones will do, too. Stretch pants, sweaters. Not too comfortable, but they should fit us well enough. Maybe some rope to tie them on, just in case."
It was actually not a completely bad idea. Rosa started smiling too. "Good thinking!"
"Yep," the mare said proudly. "You'll wait around somewhere, hiding or something. It should be a snap with these!" She spread her wings and flapped them once, making a pleasant little breeze. It reminded Rosa that summer was definitely on its way.
Maybe, after freeing Maribelle, she would ask Sky Light to take them to some sea place. Rosa had never seen the sea. It could be fun. She spotted the driver coming back and wiped the smile from her muzzle. She still thought he was a good human, but it seemed Sky Light agreed with her that they didn't need to tell him absolutely everything.
They would only stay with him for another hour or so, anyway.