Rosa was singing a pleasant song about sunshine while frying some batter in a pan for lunch. She had found a jar of fruit jam in one of the cupboards and it immediately made her think of pancakes. Hopefully the other ponies would join her soon, while these were still warm! It was a bit of a knack, but after some eight or so tries Rosa finally managed to flip a pancake and catch it in the pan again. A few had fallen on the floor and she'd quietly tossed them, and several landed weirdly and got all squashed - Rosa would eat those ones so her friends didn't have to deal with misshapen pancakes.
She turned around to deposit the disc on a growing stack on the table, and saw Starla looking into the kitchen, mane a bit frazzled, eyes a bit dull, and still yawning a little. She shuffled all the way inside and sat on one of the chairs.
Meanwhile Rosa put the pan back on the oven and smiled brightly at the mare. "Tough day?" she asked.
Starla shook her head, but couldn't answer just yet due to another yawn forcing its way out. At that rate Rosa thought she might start feeling sleepy, too!
"Tough night," the mare said, voice a bit hoarse and cracking. "I'll be fine. Thanks for the grub, by the way."
"Oh, no problem! Help yourself!" Despite her words, Rosa grabbed a clean plate and went to place it before the mare, so she had someplace to prepare her pancakes.
Had Starla really been sleeping until noon? Rosa wondered why none of the humans seemed to mind. Why was she this tired, though? Come to think of it, the mare had been absent from breakfast, but none of the others had commented on it. Rosa had assumed that Starla had eaten early and left on some test or class before the others had woken up. From their lack of reaction, Rosa had guessed the odd mare often missed breakfast, though. She idly wondered why. "Couldn't sleep at night?"
Starla paused in the process of spreading jam on her pancake and gave Rosa a slightly suspicious look. "Y-Yeah," she mumbled slowly, "uh, bad dreams."
That would make sense. For a moment Rosa wanted to ask if she'd had a traumatic experience or something, but then she thought better of it. Instead Rosa decided on another question. "So, how did you end up here?"
The mare considered her answer for a while, then shrugged. "Is that important?"
"Just curious." Rosa looked over the other mare once again. Starla looked like she was in her forties, though it was sometimes hard to tell with some ponies. Surely she hadn't gotten her cutie mark that late, had she? Best guess was that she had been caught nearby or perhaps trying to break in, like Rosa and Sky Light. "Are you training for a career or something? Like, um, magic tricks?"
Her ears twitched at the word 'magic', but then Starla smiled. "Yeah, s-something like that."
"That's cool. Can you show me any?"
"Any what?" Starla looked blank.
She must really have been tired to be this slow on the uptake. Her confused scrunch of the muzzle was endearing and Rosa giggled a little bit. "Sorry. Magic tricks. Can you show me some?"
Starla stared at the ceiling, then at her plate, before answering. "I guess. Maybe tomorrow? I'm not really feeling all that well today."
Maybe she was ill and that was why she was so sleepy? If so, Rosa hoped she wouldn't catch it, whatever it may be. It would be impolite to ask, though, so she kept her opinion to herself. Anyhow, she had finished the last pancake, flipping it and catching it expertly in the pan, then she turned off the stove. The stack seemed high enough.
Rosa really hoped Maribelle and Speedy would come along soon, otherwise she just knew she would end up eating most of the pancakes herself. Stuffing her belly like a little piggy, even after promising she wouldn't do that anymore. Maybe she had subconsciously wanted to make more so she could indulge? It was not a pleasant thought. Rosa didn't want her brain working against her.
Besides, her being over-hungry had all been because of the malfunctioning chip. Yeah, that was right! Soon her hormones would get back in order and Rosa would go back to normal.
At least Starla was there, so she wouldn't have to stuff herself completely silly if the others didn't show up.
"Mm, these are really good," Starla commented, making Rosa smile with pride.
"Thank you!"
She returned the grin and it was obvious the sugar was doing Starla some good. She looked a bit more perky already. "Yeah, they'd go amazing with some whipped cream."
"Sorry, none in the fridge. I checked."
That made Starla frown sadly, but only for a moment. "Well, put it on the list and the guys will get it for us."
"Huh? List? What guys?" Rosa asked her.
Starla pointed a hoof to the refrigerator. It was weird, Rosa thought, how she'd opened it several times but had never spotted a pad of paper stuck to the front, along with a pencil on a piece of string.
"Oh, that."
"Write down whatever you need. Every Friday one of the attendings takes the list and we get the stuff on Monday."
That sounded like a good arrangement. Almost too good. "Anything we want?"
The other mare caught Rosa's look and chuckled softly. "Within reason, Rosa. Whipped cream should be fine, though."
Rosa swished her tail excitedly as she went to check the list for whatever was already on it. It looked like her dorm mates had already written down the essentials - flour, milk, eggs, toothpaste... Feeling only a tiny bit guilty, Rosa penciled in 'whipped cream' and then after that 'a bag of chips'. She'd been craving potato chips for some reason. It was too bad they wouldn't get there for a couple more days.
"There. Thanks for telling me!"
"No problem."
She went to sit down, but the door opened and both Maribelle and Speedy walked in together. Both had their noses up in the air. "Smells delish," the mare commented.
"I made enough for everyone!" Rosa told her. "Come on!"
The two happily seated themselves and Rosa brought them an empty plate each. They didn't waste time in taking pancakes and reaching for the jam.
"Oh, you can leave those weird ones for me. I wanted to learn how to flip them and- it took me a few tries."
Speedy shrugged and clumsily folded the misshapen pancake into a rough roll. "Nah, it's fine. I like them a bit thicker, actually. This is great!"
Maribelle had a good one, so Rosa took another of her clumsy experiments for herself.
"Thanks for cooking. Although pancakes are more of a snack than lunch..." the always-practical mare commented, making Rosa blush a little.
"I felt like doing something special. We can have stew or stir fry for dinner. I checked and we should use up some of the vegetables before they spoil."
Maribelle gave her an approving nod. "Okay, I can get behind that. Don't overdo on sugar, Rosa. It's not good for you."
The fact seemed to make Starla a bit sad, but the older mare didn't comment.
"So, what's up for the rest of the day?" Rosa asked.
They all give this some thought, but Maribelle was the first to answer. "I'd like to study my manual for a bit. Mr. Roberts said he could get me in the simulator this weekend and I wanna wow him!"
That sounded commendable, but it meant she'd probably want peace and quiet, so Rosa wouldn't have her friend to talk to. She looked hopefully to Speedy, who shrugged.
"I don't have anything planned," he told Rosa. "We could play a board game or two. Starla?"
The mare had been staring at her plate for the past few minutes and now she jerked awake, ears lifting up. "Huh?"
"Wanna play some board games?" the stallion asked her.
She smiled a little at the idea. "Yeah, sure. Oh wait, I have classes at three. Hmm, I guess I can play one or two games."
"Sounds like fun!" Rosa herself didn't have anything else. Brad - Dr. Barton - had asked her some questions about the various subjects she'd been taking at her old School and had promised her to come up with an itinerary to finish her education and get her a high school diploma. After that, he'd said, Rosa should be good to work almost anywhere. The higher-ups in the facility would find her a spot where she could use her natural talent to the maximum extent possible. Except- she shook her head, she shouldn't be falling into the allure of this place! Rosa was still planning to run away with Sky Light and, hopefully, Maribelle. She had promised herself never to get complacent.
Maybe having Sky Light up there with her would keep Rosa on the tips of her hooves. Her old friend had decided to start acting 'convinced' from now, so that the doctors would think she was coming around to their way of looking at things, and finally take her out of that prison cell. The pegasus had even agreed that living up in the dorm sounded a damn sight more comfortable than a cell. Plus it would make it a lot easier for the two of them to plot their escape. Rosa was looking forward to Sky Light meeting the others! Hopefully it wouldn't be much longer.
Finishing her pancake, Rosa washed it down with some orange juice then stood to pick up the plate after herself. A hoof landed on her foreleg and she looked up into Maribelle's smiling face. "You go and have some fun. I'll wash up."
"Are you sure? Your studying..." Rosa asked her.
The other mare shrugged. "It's fine, there's plenty of time. Just go. Thanks for cooking, Rosa!" She spread her forelegs in an offer of a tight hug, which Rosa accepted gladly, then Maribelle picked up their plates and glasses and put them in the sink. A moment later Speedy also stood up and Maribelle went to collect his dishes, too.
"So, what'd you wanna play?" the colt asked.
Rosa didn't even know what games they had up there, so she shrugged. "You pick."
"Okay! Monopoly!"
It sounded fun, even though Rosa had never seen the actual point of collecting wealth for no other sake than to 'win' some game. She still enjoyed imagining what it would be like to have so much land and money that she could build hotels all over the place. Could ponies even own land on Earth? Come to think of it, Rosa didn't really know. Were they just second-class citizens? For that matter, were they even citizens? She pushed the unpleasant thoughts to the side and walked out of the kitchen to the cushion-corner, where Speedy was already setting up the board.
Just as Rosa was leaving, she heard Starla push her chair away and yawn again. Instead of following them, the mare went to the stove. "I'll just make a coffee and then I'll join you, okay?" She looked like she really needed it.
"Okay! I'll have Speedy wait."
Rosa stretched a little and rubbed her head on her very warm 'pillow'. She was lying sideways on the bed, on her back and with her hind legs hanging from the edge. It wasn't very easy on her hocks, since pony anatomy wasn't made to bend quite that way, but the rest of her was nice and comfy. Besides, it wasn't as if anyone else had to walk past the bed where Rosa's jutting hooves might impede traffic. It was Maribelle's bed and she was in it too, resting on her side and studying her engineering book. It was amazing how she could even read like that. She had half-opened the book and stood it up beside the pillow, but her head was resting normally. The text was at a ninety-degree angle from her perspective, but Maribelle seemed to have no trouble scanning the lines down to up. This was all so Rosa could use her belly as a makeshift pillow while she stared at the ceiling, trying to think about nothing in particular.
Every now and then, Maribelle brushed the frog of her forehoof against Rosa's shoulder, as if making sure she was still there, before awkwardly turning a page.
"You sure you can study like this?"
"It's fine, Rosa. It's relaxing. I know most of this by heart anyway by now," Maribelle assured her.
The best part of it was that by angling her ear backwards, Rosa could lay it against her friend's belly and hear her heartbeat. It was muffled, because she was not lying exactly on Maribelle's barrel, but Rosa could still hear it well enough. It reminded her that Maribelle was there and she was alive, and so was Rosa.
"Are you comfortable?" Maribelle followed up.
"Mhm!"
Speedy and Starla were still arguing about their Monopoly game. Rosa herself had lost early on and had gone to her dorm room to see how her friend was doing. She had gotten her a glass of water and an apple from the fridge and then Rosa had opted to keep her company while Maribelle studied.
When Rosa had come in, her roommate was lying on her belly, but she'd immediately flopped to her side and patted the bed next to her with a smile. "Just like old times, eh?"
It was true that Rosa and her old roommates often leaned on each other when they were resting, but none of them had ever tried studying like this. This was a new trick Maribelle had apparently learned since Rosa had seen her last. It made sense for this place, especially since the bedrooms did not have desks and the common room was a bit loud at times. Rosa flicked her ear in annoyance. If those two didn't stop arguing about imaginary money, she would go out and ask them to keep it down so her friend could study in quiet.
Still, they didn't seem to be bothering Maribelle all that much. Rosa guessed she was used to their antics. The strongest reaction Maribelle showed was an occasional ear flick at a particularly loud exclamation.
"Are those two always like that?" Rosa asked.
"Yep. That game does something weird to them, I dunno why. It's not like it's even real money. Speedy in particular likes to cheat and Starla hates that."
Rosa couldn't really blame Speedy and Starla if they got passionate about a game, but there had to be a line between 'getting into it' and 'having a needless argument'.
Something else came to mind. "Why do we call him Speedy?"
His real name - well, the ones humans had given him - was Samwise.
"Umm," Maribelle began, looking at the ceiling as she thought. Rosa knew she shouldn't bother her roommate while she was trying to study, but an occasional diversion shouldn't cause any harm, right? "Well, he's always preferred that ever since he came in. At least that's what Starla says."
"When did he come?"
Rosa felt the other mare shift under her head as she shrugged. "Dunno. He was here before I was. They both were. I guess I never thought to ask him why Speedy. We can ask at dinner!"
The word 'dinner' made Rosa's belly grumble a bit and she put her hooves over it to try and keep it quiet.
"Just lemme finish this chapter and then we'll go look what we can make for dinner. You said stir fry, right?"
Rosa nodded, which she knew Maribelle would undoubtedly feel. After a moment's thought she added: "Yes. Those carrots looked a bit iffy and I'm not sure about the onion. Does onion ever spoil?"
"Good question. Shouldn't you know about that?"
That reminded Rosa of the picture on her flank, but she really didn't have an answer. "Hey, I just grow them! Whatever happens after is no longer my problem."
They both giggled at that response and Maribelle stretched out her hind legs, before pulling them in and practically curling around Rosa. She nuzzled her friend's side, then gave her fur a warm lick. "Sorry, I thought you'd know," she said, then yawned. "Come on, let's get dinner started."
"What about the chapter?"
The other mare just prodded the book so it folded up and fell down. "I'll read it after dinner. I mostly know it anyway. Can't have you starving, Rosa. Let's go."
Rosa was a bit sad to lose her warm resting spot, but her belly wouldn't be ignored any longer, so she slipped from the bed. Her legs wobbled for a moment, but she stretched them out to get the circulation going.
The pair outside were still at it when Rosa and Maribelle emerged from the room and approached. The board looked like a complete mess of houses, hotels and colorful paper money.
"No way! That hotel was on Marvin Gardens! I saw you move it to Pacific, you cheater!" Starla was saying heatedly and pointing.
"Did not!" the colt countered. "You just remember wrong! It's not my fault you can't remember where things are!"
The pink mare dragged a hoof over her face in exasperation. "You always cheat, Speedy! You start losing and then you cheat when you think I'm not looking! Well, I was looking this time, I just pretended I was counting my money!"
The colt growled low in his throat and Rosa decided to step in before it came to blows. "Guys, it's just a game. Sheesh, let it go. Does it really matter who wins?"
They both answered at the same time. "YES!"
Rosa decided to try a different track. "Speedy, um- I was wondering why you want us to call you Speedy rather than Samwise."
"Oh!" the pony said, his train of thought immediately derailed. "Didn't I tell you already?"
"No." Rosa sat on the carpet and looked at him expectantly. Behind her, Maribelle was going for the kitchen, no doubt to get dinner started. Rosa was grateful for that, since it gave her a few minutes to learn the mystery of the name.
"Well, that was the superhero name of Green Arrow's sidekick!"
"Who what where?"
Starla rolled her eyes. "Comic books, Rosa. He's talking about comic books. He took the name of some character from a comic book."
"Okay, why?"
Speedy directed a very brief glare at the older mare, but then smiled back at Rosa. "Well, my Own- um, the guy I lived with was a big DC collector and I got to read comics whenever I wanted. Well, except for the mint condition ones." He chuckled a little bit. "Actually, that's where I learned to read! Anyway, I always liked the Green Arrow ones, so I guess the name just kinda stuck in my head. Then I got this-"
He tapped at his flank and Rosa craned her head to look. The colt had an old-fashioned-looking camera on his sides. He caught her look and his grin turned sheepish. "Photography."
"How did you get to photography from comic books?"
Speedy's face lit up at her interest, but Starla had already heard it all and stood up. "I'll go help Maribelle with dinner," she said and left the two youngsters alone.
"I guess it's because comics show one frame at a time - like someone is taking photographs at exactly the right moments."
"And adding speech bubbles to them?"
Speedy shrugged a bit at that comment. "Well, okay, it's not a perfect analogy, but I ended up looking at each picture of the comic and trying to imagine where the camera would have to be, and the light - where the shadows would fall and so on... I got my hooves on my master's camera one day and made a few pictures and then this appeared."
"So he sent you here?" Rosa asked.
"Not directly. He took me to a vet to find out what had happened and why, then the vet put it in the computer and a week later some guys showed up at the house to take me here. They said they'll help me find a job in photography."
It didn't sound too bad, but there was a bit of sadness in there. Despite slipping up and calling him 'master', Speedy had obviously liked his human and missed him.
"So you're training for that now?"
"Mhm! They adjusted a curriculum from some photography college. It's really interesting. All about the different kinds of lenses and light and composition..."
His eyes were almost glowing with enthusiasm now that he had someone new to tell these things. Rosa sat down, smiling faintly as he went on about filters and the development process. She had seen that in a movie, Rosa thought. They did some weird, chemical stuff to photographs in a red room and then the pictures appeared. She didn't really know why bother, because digital seemed so much easier, but if it made Speedy happy, she was glad he got to do it.
"Come on, let's go see if the other two need help in the kitchen and you can tell me more about it."
It was not like she'd remember most of it, but if it made Speedy happy to explain, then the least Rosa could do was listen and smile and nod. Naming himself after a comic book hero, though, that was a first. It was a tiny bit funny, but Rosa couldn't really judge. After all, if she wanted to change her own name, what would she even pick? Actually, that one was easy. Sky Light had already said: Morning Dew. Rosa wondered if she should. All the other ponies seemed to change their names when they got their cutie marks. Maybe if she got two of them. Her case might be different because she only got one.
She led the colt to the kitchen while he kept babbling about fixers and washing and darkrooms. She had to hold the door for him, otherwise Speedy seemed liable to smack right into the wood with how distracted he was. It was nice to see him happy, so Rosa didn't mind the torrent of words.
Still, it was strange how different ponies could be. Maribelle was also excited about her train stuff, but she never talked Rosa's ear off about it. Well, not yet. Maybe Rosa should ask her sometime and see what happened. Then again, she'd never felt a particular urge to talk to people about gardening, but that might just be because Rosa hadn't really started studying it yet. Not properly. Maybe if she started getting some real education in that field she would also want to discuss it with everyone. If that was so, Rosa almost felt sorry for Sky Light, who would have very few interested listeners thanks to the nature of her cutie mark.
Rosa took her seat after she saw both Starla and Maribelle expertly chopping, slicing and moving pots around. All she could do there would be to get in the way.
"Garlic?" Maribelle asked, giving Rosa a quick glance before focusing on her knife again.
"Huh?"
"You want garlic in the stir fry?"
"Oh, yes. That's fine." It would give them a bit of a bad breath, but it was dinner and they would go brush right after anyway, so that should be fine. The more important thing Rosa just realized was that there were knives in the kitchen. Maybe she could take one when she tried to escape, to defend herself with.
Except... no. Rosa hadn't the faintest clue how to use a knife in a fight and all it would do for her was get her shot immediately. Even if it came down to stabbing a human in order to get away, Rosa was not too sure she could do it. A kick was one thing, but sticking a bit of sharp metal into someone's body - that made her shudder.
She realized she had stopped listening to Speedy and gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I guess it's all a bit too technical for me. I kinda zoned out."
The colt seemed a tiny bit hurt, but he quickly smiled again. "It's okay. It's boring for most people who don't work in the field."
"It sounds really interesting, but I don't know what any of those chemicals are."
He gave her a grateful nod. "Yeah, I guess. It took me a while to learn all this stuff."
"Do you have a camera here?"
This time he shook his head and his ears lowered sadly. A moment later he brightened up. "I could ask Wade if I can borrow the one from his office! Do you want me to make a few photos of you?"
That actually sounded like fun, especially if Rosa ended up having to leave Maribelle behind. She would have a few photos of them together to remember her by! "Oooh, I'd love that! Could you? I'd really like some photos of me and Maribelle!"
It only took Rosa a moment, but she added so quickly that Speedy probably never even noticed the pause: "And maybe some with you and Starla! You know, the gang of third floor?"
This made Starla chuckle. "I like that," she said. "Gang of third floor. Sounds like we're a pack of misfits and outlaws, no?"
Rosa didn't quite see it, but she guessed it could be interpreted that way. "I guess. Please try to get the camera, Speedy!"
"I will, I will!" he assured her.
Then Maribelle tossed the first bunch of vegetables in the wok and pleasant smells filled the room. Rosa lifted up her muzzle and inhaled deeply. "That's gonna be so good!"