Legacy volume 1: Eruditio
Chapter 4 – Summer Sun
“Stand up straight and keep your posture.”
“Yes, Mum.”
“OK, but not so tense.”
“How can I keep my posture like that and not be tensed up?”
“Just relax and keep your head up.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do.”
“And make sure you’re polite and pronounce your words correctly.”
“Well it’s either that or pronounce them wrong on purpose.”
“No need to be like that, dear. And keep up a smile. You want to seem keen and eager!”
“OK, smiling... got it.”
“And show some initiative, they won’t like someone who seems clueless.”
“Yes, fine Mum.”
“And just be yourself, dear.”
“Well which is it!? Be myself or do all that other stuff!?”
It was Wednesday morning at 7.30am, half an hour before Rosa’s proposed time to visit Miss Petit Déjeuner. The cream-coated mare was stood out on the upstairs landing while her mother spewed a torrent of saintly but patronising advice at her.
“We don’t even know if she’ll have me work today, and she’s not going to expect a princess!”
“There’s no such thing as looking too good,” piped her mother. “I just want you to make a good impression, that’s all.”
“I understand but really, I’m not going there to apply as a model. Just because she’s foreign doesn’t mean that her expectations are through the roof.”
The two of them continued their bickering while Speedwell made his way upstairs.
“Breakfast is ready! Come on!” he called.
The family went downstairs and sat at the table, a dandelion and hay sandwich placed at each seat.
“Now be careful not to get any hay in your mane, dear!”
Rosa rolled her eyes at her mother’s comment and bit at her meal in tiny chunks. She was nervous about today, mostly because she had no idea what was in store for her. The only work she’d ever done was stacking books and helping customers.
“Good luck today, sweetie,” her father said with a warm smile. “I’m so proud of you, you know that right?”
“I’m not really doing anything, though…” Rosa stated plainly.
Her father smirked and shook his head. “Don’t be puttin’ yourself down now. I’m proud of you; we both are. I’m sure you’ll be fine so just take it easy.”
Rosa smiled weakly as her mother nodded in agreement. Hadn’t she been lecturing her about every tiny detail just two minutes ago? And now she turns full circle and agrees with a completely contradictory opinion? There was no point in trying to understand any further; her mother had always been a bit of an enigma.
“Are you sure I should get there for dead-on eight?”
“That’s when it opens, dear, so perhaps you should get there a little bit earlier to make sure that you aren’t late,” her mother replied.
Rosa thought for a moment and then left her chair. “Actually, I might just go now.”
“Oh, well you could do that dear…”
“Then it’s settled, I’ll be off then. Goodbye!”
Rosa wasn’t exactly keen to get there early, but she would also rather be out of the house than get another earful of ‘sagely’ advice from her parents. This was merely a meeting for a possible job. A few extra few bits would be nice, but she wasn’t sure what she’d spend it on. Perhaps she could save more money for when she wanted to move to her own place, but then what would happen? So she’d move out and work at her new job, her parents wouldn’t be around to run the bookshop forever… With that, she cleared the thought from her mind. She wasn’t in the mood to be thinking about such things.
“Goodbye sweetie.”
“Goodbye, dear. Do your best!”
Rosa nodded and made her way out of the house. She checked over her shoulder, half expecting her mother to follow her, spying from the shadows and the shrubs casting a critical eye on whatever she did today.
The sun shone brightly overhead from a near cloudless sky. A few pegasi were up above, flying in formation, twisting and turning and shooting off beyond her view. She assumed they were practicing for some event in Cloudsdale, or perhaps just some morning exercise.
She trotted along leisurely, stopping at one point to admire a group of bees buzzing swiftly between daisies and tulips in somepony’s flowerbed. Despite the task at hoof she was feeling rather relaxed about the situation. It almost felt like a day off, notwithstanding the rather rude awakening that morning, and she was already planning to slyly ensure that she’d not be leaping straight into a new job. She would word herself just right when speaking to Petit Déjeuner and be very insistent that she heard there was ‘part-time’ work available. Regardless of whether that was cheeky or not, she definitely didn’t want too much change so soon. Even if her time spent at the family bookshop wasn’t completely devoid of annoyances, she was somewhat content. There were no other career paths that she could really envision in the foreseeable future, at least not any that were somewhat appealing.
She pondered for a moment on her cutie mark. Most ponies gained their cutie mark and found their true calling in life, something they would do for a living. Had there been a mistake? Was her cutie mark somehow wrong? She had assumed that the simple red hearts adorning her flanks signified love and compassion, but since when was that a ‘special talent’? Of all the cutie marks out there why did hers have to be so vague? Even blank flank Clover had her place and was doing well as a weather pony, even if that didn’t pay tremendously well.
Rosa couldn’t remember the exact moment she got her cutie mark but she could remember the day. She had spotted a group of three young school ponies circled around a young filly by the name of Cherry. They were teasing her because of her condition; her eyes were off-centre, supposedly something that had run in her family. She was crying in the corner as they poked fun at her and Rosa stood up to them, pushing one to the ground and telling the others to back off. It was so out of character and she surprised even herself, but it helped to cheer Cherry up as she saw three ponies running away in terror from this unassuming, peaceful filly. Rosa talked with her for a while, reassuring her that everything would be OK and promising to help her if ever she ran into trouble again. Then the school bell sounded and they each made their way to their lessons where one of the other ponies noticed Rosa’s cutie mark.
What had made her actions so special? Was her greatest talent being able to occasionally help less fortunate ponies? To Rosa it seemed arrogant that her mark should signify that she was just incredibly nice. In fact, as far as she was concerned, her cutie mark only served to make her look prettier, and considering her luck with Nico that hadn’t helped. It should have been somepony face-hoofing. That would have made more sense, she thought to herself.
As she crossed over a small hill La Chocolat came into view. It had been built around the base of an old oak tree. The branches and leaves of the upper section of the tree were still intact, almost completely covering the roof. The outer walls of the restaurant made a complete square around the tree, pastel blue in colour and each made of smooth stone. There were a few wooden benches with embedded parasols outside the front door and a large sign showing happy looking customers and a list of meal deals and prices. The front entrance consisted of two jade green wooden swing doors with a sign above it reading ‘La Chocolat’ in large red letters. Beside it in small print read ‘True Chevalian cuisine’.
Rosa breathed deeply and headed in through the entrance. Before she could even take three steps she was confronted by a sharply dressed earth pony mare with a pearly white mane and lime green coat. She wore a formal shirt and waistcoat as well as a small pair of glasses that barely covered her eye-line, which Rosa were worn purely for decoration.
“I am sorry but we are not open yet! You have to go! This is too early!” the mare barked at her with a thick Chevalian accent.
“I... um... I’m not here for food. My Dad told me there might be some work going...”
The mare looked puzzled over this before raising her hoof in realisation.
“Ah, yes, yes, yes! You are Speedwell’s daughter, no? My name is Petit Déjeuner, owner of this great establishment.”
“My name’s Rosa, nice to meet you.”
“Rosa, yes! Now I can give you work! We go through here, come, come!” Petit ordered brashly.
With that, she turned and briskly strode towards a wooden door directly in front of them. Rosa followed, feeling somewhat intimidated by Petit’s mannerisms, barely grabbing a glance at the restaurant’s interior. Given how Chevalian food was often considered world class she had expected something a little more grandiose than the standard looking wooden tables and flowered wallpaper, but it certainly wasn’t a bad looking little place.
They made their way through the door and into a kitchen complete with multiple ovens, a large metal table covered with knives, forks, saucepans, a frying pan and various other cooking utensils. A grumpy looking unicorn was cleaning one of the gas hobs with an abrasive cloth.
They pressed on through another door and into a room with rows of sinks, wall mounted cupboards and a small table in the corner with rows of cutlery. A young earth pony who couldn’t have been any older than sixteen or seventeen walked in through a door leading out to the back of the restaurant. She had a bright yellow coat and a wild-looking orange and red mane. Rosa noticed instantly that she was bereft of a cutie mark, but brought her eyes up quickly from the mare’s flank and smiled politely.
“OK, Rose, this is Summer,” Petit said abruptly. “She can show you the rope. You help her today, yes?”
“Yes, Miss Déjeuner,” replied Rosa, ignoring the fact that Petit had mispronounced her name. It would be easier in the long run, she guessed.
“Then it’s settled, work good!”
With that, Petit darted back out of the room leaving Rosa feeling slightly confused. She wasn’t used to ponies who were so brash; she’d barely even met her yet she had handed her off onto another pony without any explanation.
“Is she always—”
“Yep, she sure is,” interrupted the young mare. “It’s taken me a while to get used to her ways but we all have to eventually. So, Rose was it? The name’s Summer Sun. It’s nice to make your acquaintance!”
“Actually my name is Rosa Bloom, not Rose. I’m not sure if she heard me properly.”
Summer chuckled. “I don’t think the problem’s her hearing, I think it’s something far more serious.”
Summer took a hoof and swirled it next to her head while making googly eyes. Rosa couldn’t help but laugh. She felt a lot better now being in the company of such a cheerful, friendly pony.
“I wasn’t even sure what I would be doing here today,” Rosa admitted. “I hadn’t even arranged an interview or anything. All I know is my Dad mentioned this place saying there might be work.”
“Well I’d say you’ve been stitched up!” Summer exclaimed with a chuckle. “There’s no permanent job going here, at least not unless you’re trying to replace me. I’ll have to keep my eye on you just in case that’s your plan!”
Rosa sighed cheerfully. “You might be right about being stitched up, though to be fair I wasn’t really expecting… or even wanting a permanent place here. No offence.”
“None taken!”
“So why isn’t this a permanent position? Why bring me in at all?”
Summer pointed over to a large white cupboard-like object underneath one of the worktops.
“We’ve got problems with the dishwasher. I’m not sure whether we’re getting a new one or getting it repaired. Petit is so tight-hoofed she’d want to take the cheap way out every time. For the last week everyone’s had to chip in to get everything cleaned by hoof and some of the staff have been less than polite about it all. Anyway, with you here we should have enough horse power so that none of that needs to happen.”
“I’m actually glad, you know. For a while I thought I’d end up as a waitress, and that’s something I really don’t think I’d be good at.”
“I don’t know... somepony like you just might grab some attention and give folks a reason to come back,” Summer said with a wink.
Rosa blushed. She tried to say something coherent but just stood there stuttering.
“Oh, I was just kidding around!” said Summer cheerfully. “I’m not trying to chat you up or anything, I’m not that kind of pony.”
Rosa smiled and shook her head. “Sorry. I guess I’m not really used to mares telling me that.”
Summer smiled brightly. “No kidding? Well whatever, I think we’re gonna get along just fine. Let me show you how we run this joint!”
Summer ran through where everything was, from dishes to utensils to everything in between. Rosa nodded to whatever she said but still didn’t feel as if she understood. Then Summer gave her a run through of what would happen in a general day, what times were busy and more importantly (according to Summer) what times they could get away with not working so hard.
“We’ll hear about orders coming up and how many plates and bowls they need in the kitchen. There’s not a lot of space there and things get used quickly se we’ll have to restock their supply pretty often. Then when meals are finished the plates will be taken by the waiters and waitresses and brought through to this worktop next to this rubbish bin. Our orders are to throw everything away but if you’re feeling a bit peckish a bit of leftover grass never hurt anyone!”
Rosa was surprised at how much she felt at ease being with this cheery mare. Despite the fact that she had what was surely a very low ranking job title and couldn’t possibly be living her dream, she still beamed from ear to ear with every utterance and looked almost as if she could never drop her smile. Surely the work can’t be that bad if she’s so happy, Rosa thought to herself.
“Just do as I do and do as I say and you’ll be fine. First, we should give these work surfaces a quick wipe over. It doesn’t do much in the long run but it keeps us busy until there’s real work to be done! Like Petit always says, ‘time to lean, time to clean’!”
The first few hours of work went by very swiftly and Rosa’s previous anxiety vanished. There was much to do; more than she would have imagined so early in the morning. By 9 o’ clock she could hear bustling and frenetic chatting from customers. Summer said she chalked it up to regulars made up of groups of elderly couples whittling away the rest of their pension. “They’d only have to leave it to their money-grabbing grandkids if they didn’t!” Summer joked.
Waiters and waitresses began shuffling their way in and out of the room, some of them hanging out at the back smoking cigarettes and nattering away whenever they could grab the chance. Rosa wondered just what Petit Déjeuner did while she worked here. She didn’t seem interested in keeping an eye on any of the staff and they were all too happy to take advantage of that fact.
One thing Rosa did find odd was the fact that nopony else seemed to converse with Summer at all. One muttered the obligatory ‘Hi’ before slinking off and never speaking to her again. Rosa wanted to press on the issue but felt that bringing up something potentially distressing to such a high-spirited pony would be a crime of sorts. She wondered how such an adorable, likable mare could ever be such an outcast in her place of work. Even when considering the fact that they were all much older than her it simply didn’t make any sense.
“So what kinds of things are you into?” Summer enquired, unknowingly pulling a peculiar face as she struggled to rub away a troublesome stain with the washcloth in her right hoof. “I bet you’re a real party animal!”
Rosa giggled. “No, I’m not really into that stuff. To be honest, I’m more of a geeky bookworm.”
“Oh I see. You’ve got the whole pent-up quiet librarian thing going on. Say no more! Nudge, nudge! Wink, wink!”
Rosa went uncontrollably red. “Oh that’s not...” she began, but quickly rearticulated herself. “You really are a tease.”
“Oh you know it!” Summer exclaimed, rocking her head from side to side. “Besides, that cutie mark of yours makes it obvious what your talent is,” she said, raising her eyebrows and smirking.
“Oh please, I’ve heard that one far too many times...” Rosa said with a nervous laugh. Her eyes involuntarily drew themselves to Summer’s bare hide devoid of a cutie mark.
“What’s this? Now you’d better stop checkin’ me out!”
“I wasn’t, it was just—”
“Yeah, well... so what if I’m a blank flank?” Summer’s tone grew serious, though she still kept up her endearing smile. “I don’t mind, I don’t see what the big deal is anyway. I don’t need some magical tattoo to say how I should live my life. Besides, a lot of ponies live lives that don’t have much to do with their so called special talent at all. Their great talent could be running a glue factory but that’s not going to make it any more appealing just because of some picture on their rump. Anyway, there’s only so many things in the world that ponies can be good at, and who’s to say you can’t be great at lots of things? If anypony thinks less of me for not having a cutie mark then that’s their loss.”
Rosa beamed at the mare that she now thought of as a newfound friend. “Well my friend Clover is a few years older than you and still doesn’t have her cutie mark. Sure, she’s been made fun of in the past but she doesn’t let it get her down and she’s the best friend I could ask for.” Rosa paused for a moment. “I could always introduce you to her,” she added.
“Well, gee, thank you!” Summer responded. “I guess I was wrong then. Seems I’m not the only blank flank in town!”
They both continued with their work, time passing by surprisingly quickly. Rosa found it strangely therapeutic. Working at the family bookshop had its pros but in the sanctum of the restaurant kitchen she needn’t worry about pushy customers, unruly foals or her mother’s critical eye. It became a little uncomfortable standing on two hooves but she felt no shame in stretching out her limbs every now and then. She had started off the day by rushing through her workload as quickly as she could but Summer had insisted that they slow the pace a little and spare some energy for the lunchtime rush.
They worked through until half past midday, to which Summer theatrically pronounced it was time for a break. “It’ll be all hooves on deck once it hits one o’ clock! Sustenance is needed!” She opened up a refrigerator in the corner of the room and brought out a plastic container filled with food. She was about to dive teeth first into a sandwich when she spotted Rosa’s disgruntled mug.
“Did you forget to bring anything?”
“I could say forget, but to be honest I wasn’t even sure what I’d be doing today. Neither my Dad nor Miss Déjeuner helped in that respect... But it’s fine. I don’t usually eat much anyway. You go ahead.” Rosa was only half lying. She never really ate much, (at least not much by her estimations) but she would probably feel quite hungry within a few hours.
Summer rolled her eyes. “Come on, there’s no need to be polite. Just have some of my hay.”
“No, I couldn’t. That wouldn’t be fair.”
“Stop it, you’re just being nice. Come on, you can have some of mine.”
“I wouldn’t want to deprive you.”
“Well in that case...” Summer put down the plastic container, a mischievous smile forming. “We’ll just have to improvise!”
She trotted quietly over to the door leading to the cooking area and slowly peeked her head around the door. Seemingly satisfied, she bolted in and burst back out with an apple dangling from her teeth, gesturing vividly with one hoof.
“Summer! What are you...? I can’t!”
Summer dropped the apple on the side next to Rosa and ran over to the opposite corner.
“Ah, ah, ah, you’re the closest! You must have taken it! Better eat up before they find out!” Summer giggled, darting her eyes about the room. Rosa hurriedly took two large bites from the apple then slid the remains across the worktop and into the rubbish bin.
“So you were a bit peckish!” Summer cried with glee.
“I... couldn’t...” Rosa spluttered, trying her best to chew through the apple chunks as quickly as she could manage. She swallowed hastily and continued. “I couldn’t just leave it there, could I?”
“There’s always a choice, my friend!”
Summer laughed as Rosa sighed and shook her head, stifling a giggle as best she could. It was short lived, however, and the two of them ended up falling to the floor clutching their sides. The grumpy looking unicorn Rosa had seen earlier that day poked his head around the door, his eyebrows forced into a ghastly frown. This only started another round of laughter causing the unicorn to snort in dismay and slam the door. Rosa tried physically retracting her smile by pushing her mouth with her hooves, her face bright red from a mixture of embarrassment and breathlessness. Eventually, the two ponies settled themselves down.
“Hey Rosa, let’s sit outside. It’s a nice day out, anyway.”
“OK, so long as you don’t get me into any more trouble!”
“Oh I can’t promise anything!”
The two of them made their way out through the back door. Summer led the charge to a large oak tree and sat down beneath the shade, setting her lunchbox beside her. Rosa refrained from mentioning her dislike for eating outdoors; she was always anxious of hungry wasps and flies buzzing around her meal, especially after an unfortunate encounter where a wasp stung the end of her tongue.
“It is nice out, isn’t it?” Rosa commented, fawning over the brilliant blue of the cloudless sky and the warm but not overbearing temperature. She secretly wished that the pegasi could keep the weather like this all year round, even though that was totally impractical. The most recent weather schedule had detailed sunny skies for the next week, which was good enough for now.
Clover had talked to her before about the state of modern climate control, how the abundance of pegasi had outweighed the overall growth of towns and villages across Equestria. Many generations ago almost every known pegasi would play their part in cloud control or wind manipulation, but eventually regulations were put in place so that only pegasi above the age of eighteen could even qualify to become a professional weather controller, and even then only a certain amount of pegasi would even be needed at any one time. This cut down on overall applicants and soon many families found work elsewhere. Pegasi made excellent couriers thanks to their speed and ability to cross dangerous terrain. They could also perform well as mountain rescue crews. Clover had never expressed interest in any of that, though, and seemed reasonably happy with her current lifestyle.
Summer munched on her sandwich and led across the grass, stretching her legs while Rosa sat up against the tree trunk. It was peaceful enough that she could have quite easily nodded off to sleep. She’d heard that in the land of Caballo — to the south-west of Equestria — it was quite common for ponies to take midday naps. Supposedly, this was healthier for you than just sleeping through the night. Regardless of how accurate that assumption was, she suddenly felt envious of their way of living.
“Sorry for freaking you out,” Summer said out of the blue.
“Huh?”
“The apple, I mean. I guess it was a teeny tiny bit crazy of me to do that.”
“That’s OK. I guess I should be thanking you, actually. I’ve been needing a good laugh like that, to be honest.”
Summer scrunched her eyebrows with concern. “How d’you mean? You’re OK, yeah?”
Rosa was taken aback by this genuine concern from a pony who had joyfully embarrassed her many times that morning. “Oh it’s nothing, really.”
Summer looked unconvinced. “Uh-huh? Just like how you weren’t hungry?”
Rosa rolled her eyes and smiled. “Well I wasn’t that hungry! I only ate it because I didn’t want to let it go to waste, and I couldn’t exactly out it back where it was!”
“Well you be sure to bring some lunch in tomorrow or I’ll have to do it again!”
“Tomorrow? Yeah, I guess you’ll still need me to help out won’t you...”
Rosa thought to herself for a moment. Originally she was dreading working in a place like this, but with Summer at her side she was finding it more than bearable. Despite her cocky and brazen nature she was still fun to be around and had oodles of personality. Perhaps they were right about changing my lifestyle, she thought.
“Incidentally, when are we due to finish today? I’m still clueless as ever about this job. Petit pretty much dragged me in here without so much as an explanation.”
“Well I expect you can finish at four, but I’ll probably stay on for a while, get some overtime in. Petit doesn’t mind, she’s not been able to get many evening workers in so it works out for both of us.”
“Really? How often do you work late?”
“Most of the time. I want the money, so I may as well.”
“Oh? Saving up for something?”
Summer sighed quietly. “Well, not quite. My Mum’s in a wheelchair and has a few issues with her eyesight so she’s not really fit for work. She does get disability benefits but that’s nowhere near enough, really. So... I like to help out, you know?” The yellow earth pony smiled weakly.
“Oh... my goodness...”
Rosa nearly fell speechless at this revelation. Summer was working her flank off supporting her mother at such a young age almost without choice. She mentioned nothing of her father, likely meaning he had either moved away or had passed on. She could have ambitions that may never see the light of day because of her mother’s dependence on her. And yet still, the pony before her was filled with such joy, such fervour, such life... Rosa felt a wave of guilt wash over her as she thought about how insignificant her problems must be in comparison and how poorly she had tackled them. A part of her wanted to embrace the pony before her as some form reward for being so inspirational, but instead she simply stared at her new friend in awe, her eyes starting to well up.
“Checking me out again?” Summer asked with a cheeky grin.
“I just... I’m surprised at how much you’re going through. You do so much and yet you’re such a friendly, happy pony. I wish I could be more like you.”
Summer began to blush. She averted Rosa’s gaze and scratched the back of her head with one hoof. “Well, um... Thank you. I mean, I’m not trying to brag or anything. I should be commending you for being so compassionate. Most ponies I know just pretend to care.”
“I’m not so great. I get all down in the dumps over such trivial things and yet really I’m very lucky. I think you could teach me a lot about keeping a bright outlook on life.”
The two mares shared a respectful glance at one another and resumed their relaxed poses, sharing a comfortable silence as they looked out across the village. Rosa stared at the various landmarks in the distance: Spike’s castle, the bakery two streets from her house, the stadium on the outskirts of Cloudsdale and all the homes of ponies she knew.
“Hey, Summer, are you free on weekends?”
The young mare beamed from ear to ear, a look of pure excitement on her face. “Well, sometimes I am. Why?”
“I just thought you might like to meet up or something. If I’m not going to be working here long we won’t have much chance of seeing each other very often. I mean, we can’t go out for drinks but... well I assume you’re underage?”
“Yeah, I’m only sixteen, but that doesn’t mean I can’t partay! And I thought you said that you weren’t a party animal? Now the first thing on your mind is getting wasted?”
“I didn’t mean it like that!” Rosa said with a dismissive gesture. “I just wanted to know your age without being impolite!”
“Well I wouldn’t have been offended, why would I be? Anyway, there’s more that we could do than go drinking, I’m sure there’s plenty of crazy things we can do in Ponyville! And even if there isn’t, who says we have to stay here anyway?”
“Don’t set your expectations too high; I don’t have any crazy trips planned as it were.”
“You mean you don’t have any crazy trips planned yet!” Summer exclaimed, rubbing her hooves together. “Hey, we’ve got time; I can show you where my house is. It’s only a short walk from here and we can be back in time to work no problem!” Summer got to her hooves, gesturing for Rosa to do the same.
“Sure, OK. Lead the way!”
Summer bounded on ahead, taking Rosa over the grassy knoll behind the oak trees surrounding the back of the restaurant. Instead of bearing right towards the cobbled streets, Summer kept ahead across a large field speckled with molehills. There was a barely traceable path of crushed grass and hoof prints that meandered through a group of willow trees. Rosa didn’t say, but she felt quite disoriented taking such an offbeat track rather than sticking to the roads.
Within a few minutes they reached a wooden gate surrounded by a row of hedges. Summer gracefully jumped and easily cleared the gate by at least a hoof-length. She beckoned Rosa to follow suit, but Rosa shook her head and clambered over it awkwardly.
“Oh, come on! That way’s for wimps!” taunted Summer playfully.
Rosa rolled her eyes at the energetic earth pony before returning to her side. The two mares made their way down a narrow footpath and emerged onto a modernised housing estate.
“Now, this way!” Summer commanded, leading Rosa through the entire street and out into a familiar marketplace. A cacophony of chatter and furious bustling assaulted her senses.
“Are you sure we won’t be late back?”
“Don’t be such a worry wart! We’re nearly there anyway.”
They passed by various stalls and carts with ponies hollering about their collections of trinkets, toys, tools, foodstuffs, clothes and various other bits and bobs. The street was densely packed with prospective buyers. Most of them would merely browse before heading off to specialist stores in other parts of the village.
“Just for you we’ll stop here since you’re so worried about being late.” Summer poked her tongue out childishly. “If you look over there you can see my house on the left-hand side, the one with the green fence out the front.”
Rosa peered over towards where she was pointing. It was a fairly small semi-detached house with a slated roof and lime green outer walls at odds with the white and cream-coloured houses that surrounded it. The green fence in question outlined a small patch of garden and a stone footpath leading to a weathered, magenta painted door. The curtains of each of the visible windows were drawn, and there appeared to be no lights on in the house making Rosa wonder just what kind of condition Summer’s mother suffered from.
“You see the one I’m on about?” asked Summer loudly, raising her voice over the swarm of nattering ponies surrounding them.
Rosa nodded. “Yeah, I see it. It’s actually not too far from where I live, maybe a fifteen or twenty minute walk. Thanks for showing me!”
“No problem! Now I guess we’d better get back, eh?”
They both jostled their way through the crowds and retraced the route that they’d made. Having been accustom to refraining from taking her hooves off the road during her time in Ponyville, Rosa felt as though she was somewhat naive not knowing such shortcuts or off-beaten tracks within the only village she’d ever lived in.
They made it back to their posts and took a glance at the clock above the doorframe.
“Five minutes to one! Get in!” Summer cheered exuberantly. “I’m going to be honest, I thought we’d be a few minutes late but thanks to you, Strider, we did just fine.”
Rosa shot Summer a puzzled look. “What do you mean Strider?”
“Seriously? You take such huge strides when you walk, for a while I thought you were trying to race me or something.”
Rosa pondered over this. “Do I really walk that fast?”
“Yeah you do. I didn’t take you for a fitness freak.”
“I’m not a fitness freak at all! You should meet my Dad; maybe you’ve heard of him? Speedwell Bloom?”
Summer shook her head. “Can’t say I have. But seriously, you got some legs on you girl!” Summer shifted her eyebrows and waggled her head side to side. Rosa wasn’t sure if that was some sort of gesture, a mock dance move or just Summer being random for the sake of it, so she simply smiled in response. Strider, she thought. Not exactly a bad nickname.
The two of them got back to work as a stream of dirty plates made their way in courtesy of the lunchtime rush. Rosa could hear the grumpy unicorn from the next room cursing to himself as he attempted to prepare the smorgasbord of dishes that had been ordered. At one point she heard what could have been a pan or a saucepan fall to the floor with a clang, followed by a brutish growl from the stallion. Summer stifled a laugh and shook her head in dismay.
“Ebby’s always doing that,” she whispered to Rosa. “He always tries to do more than he’s capable of. No matter how magical you are there’s only so much a unicorn can take.”
“Ebby?” Rosa questioned.
“Ebenezer, but most folks call him Ebby. It’s less of a tongue twister.”
Rosa once again felt envious of unicorns’ innate abilities. Just about anything an earth pony could do a unicorn could do better and with much less hassle. She wondered how the different breeds of pony had come about in the past. From an evolutionary perspective, shouldn’t earth ponies have been pretty much wiped out? And yet still the majority of Equestrians were earth ponies, if only by a relatively small margin. Surely the genes for either wings or a horn would be dominant, but perhaps earth ponies had a survival advantage many generations ago? Pegasi needed to consume more calories on average to deal with flight, and perhaps unicorns were more unfit than earth ponies... Her brain spiralled as she tried to recall information and envision population dynamics over the years. She would have to research the details some other time or risk getting a headache.
“OK Strider, we’re gonna need to pick up the pace a bit here!”
The workload rapidly increased, more than double the number of dishes being delivered by waiters and waitresses bustling in and out of the room. Amongst the havoc Rosa accidentally chipped a china cup around the rim. She winced at the chink against the side of the sink and brought the cup to her eye. The missing piece was small, but more than noticeable. She nervously held it up to Summer who responded with a roll of the eyes and shake of the head.
“Don’t worry; it’ll only come out of your wages,” she said slyly.
Time whizzed by as they worked side by side in silence for the next two hours, slowly but surely eradicating the seemingly never ending mountain of washing up. Rosa was starting to feel the effects of her foray into physical labour and realised how unfit she must be. Either that, or she was far lazier than she ever knew. Standing on her hind legs all this time had given her a throbbing ache across the mid-section of her back. She felt a strong urge to step down and stretch out her torso, unknotting her muscles and clicking her spine. Her parents had never really tolerated her forced joint clicks, convinced that she was grinding the bones or shredding the nerves over time. No matter how many times she told them it was just the burst of gas pockets around the joints, their opinions stayed the same.
Eventually, the tidal wave of cutlery and crockery subsided giving the two mares some breathing space. Rosa gave in to her urges and stretched her body out, relieving the build up of tension with a satisfied sigh.
“You feel better now, Strider?”
“Yeah, much better,” Rosa answered with a grin, now responding to her new nickname without a second thought. “But can I go home soon? Where’s Petit?”
“She’s probably either out at the bar chatting to customers or upstairs moping about. You might as well try and find her while you can.”
Rosa nodded and crept through the adjacent door, smiling sheepishly as Ebby shot her a disgruntled look. Wandering out to the bar area, she quickly noticed Petit sifting through a wad of receipts.
“Um… Petit? I was wondering when I was due to leave.”
“Yes, yes, OK, you leave soon, yes? You come in tomorrow at nine o’ clock, yes?”
“Umm... yes?” Rosa answered dumbly.
“Good, good, and Friday too. Now go and finish, I can get you money on Friday. Many thanks and see you tomorrow.”
Petit Déjeuner waltzed past Rosa before spotting somepony out from the queue of customers and hurriedly trotting off to say hello. The pony in question looked understandably uneasy as Petit loudly greeted her and shook her hoof. Was this how most Chevalians acted or was Petit just a complete oddball? Surely there were contracts that needed signing, health and safety training, some sort of information pack that she could read to try and understand what in Equestria was going on? Rosa suspected that her processes of employment lacked a little something in the legal department, but she had neither the heart nor the guts to confront Petit about that.
Rosa quickly made her way back through to see Summer. “I swear I just don’t understand that mare,” she muttered. “No interview, no forms, no sense—”
“I’d keep it down just a little bit. Her and Ebby know each other quite well.”
“Oh?” gasped Rosa, toning her voice down a notch. “Sorry, I didn’t realise.”
“Yep, they were lovers once....” Summer grandly began. “They ran this place together happily, their faces beaming each and every day. Those were the glorious days of yore. They would dance and sing and make love by the fire... until one day Petit caught Ebby with another restaurant and things were never the same again.”
Rosa did a double take before breaking out into a chortle. “You had me going for a second there.”
“Oh, what gave it away?” Summer said with a cheeky smile. “So what’s the dealio? You a regular dish washer now?”
“I guess so. At least, she said I’d be here tomorrow and Friday from nine o’ clock onwards. Who knows what’s going to happen, eh?”
“So are you finished for the day?”
“Yeah, I guess I am.” Rosa shuffled on one hoof, never one for goodbyes. “So... I guess I’ll see you tomorrow morning. It’s been great meeting you. We should meet up sometime soon!”
Summer brought a hoof to her face and performed a mock salute. “Aye aye, Captain Strider! I shall see ye again in the morn’! Be careful out there on the open seas!” she scowled with a crass pirate impersonation.
Rosa gave a fake chuckle out of politeness before saluting back. She just gets crazier and crazier. “See you soon!”
Rosa made her way out past Ebby who was now multitasking between frying some eggs and mulling over a worn hardback novel with scuffed edges. Not one from our place... she thought. He glanced up and she nodded courteously, raising her hoof as a goodbye. He nodded back before burying his muzzle between the pages once more.
She walked out through the bar area, a queue of customers being served by a pegasus stallion. Petit Déjeuner was now chatting away to a different group of ponies from before, talking about her life in Cheval from what Rosa could gather. Deciding that her previous goodbye had been enough she quickly trotted out through the main entrance. Having made only a few steps outside she was effectively ambushed by a familiar cream-coated unicorn.
“Hey, Rosa! Your father said you might finish around this time.”
“Oh... hey Sparks...” Rosa stammered, part wondering why her Dad seemed so adamant to set her up with this stallion and part wondering why he knew more than she did about the very job she had obtained. Perhaps her father was being a little wilier than he let on; the idea he might have suddenly gained a motherly craving for grandchildren made Rosa feel somewhat uneasy, and the premise that he thought she was too old to have never had a colt-friend was enough to make her feel both embarrassed and annoyed. Either way, she wasn’t all too happy. Falling deep into her thoughts had left Rosa oblivious to the awkward silence between herself and her companion.
“Um, Rosa?” Sparks waved a hoof in front of her face, blushing at her apparent dismissal of his presence. “Are you alright?”
“Oh, yeah, I’m fine. I’m just... It’s been a long day is all.”
“Oh sure, so how was your new job? I hope it wasn’t too boring.”
“Not bad I guess. It went by fairly quickly to be honest.”
“Great... great... So anyway, I was wondering whether you’d be up for going out some time. I know I’ve asked before, but after what you said the other day I just...”
Rosa’s concentration fell from Sparks and over towards a suspicious shape in one of the hedges not far from the restaurant’s entrance. Within a split second of Rosa shifting her gaze, Summer Sun lifted her leaf-covered head out from the bush and gave a gleaming smile. How did she get back there so fast? Wait... what is she even doing over there in the first place!? Rosa cried inwardly. Summer began nodding towards Spark and raising her eyebrows, pulling a face that Rosa could only assume was meant to signify a silent wolf whistle. Summer mouthed something with a seductive look on her face. It could have been ‘that flank’ but she wasn’t too sure. Regardless, she was now growing redder with every passing moment.
“... so what do you think?” Sparks finished, anxiously waiting for an answer.
“Oh, um...” Rosa stammered, still flicking her eyes between Sparks and Summer. Sparks noticed her line of eyesight and craned his hulking neck around. Mere fractions of a second before he could spot Summer the yellow mare ducked back into the hedge, effectively becoming invisible. Sparks turned back, a look of bemusement on his face. And now he thinks I’m crazy. This is all going just peachy.
“Is something going on here?” Sparks asked in a more serious tone.
“Sorry, I think you’ll find that there’s a rather nosy pony hidden in the hedge over there who’s been distracting me. You can come out now, Summer!”
They both looked over at the row of hedges, but nary a leaf was rustled at Rosa’s outburst, though it did alert a few passersby.
“She’s persistent, I’ll give her that.” Rosa sighed, hoping that the mare could still hear her.
Sparks chuckled to himself. “Well it’s so nice to have an audience, it’s not like this is making this conversation any more nerve-wracking than it already is, is it?” he remarked sarcastically. “So, what’s your answer? I don’t want to be too forward or seem too obsessive, but if I never cut to the chase I would consider that even creepier, and I wouldn’t want to offend a beautiful mare such as yourself. Not that that’s the only reason I... wait, can I start again? My name’s Sparks. Hello there.”
Rosa couldn’t help but chuckle. Was he even more of a social outcast than she was? She cleared her throat dramatically. “Hello Sparks.”
“Amateurs!” shouted a voice from the bushes.
Sparks gave a weak smile. “So, moving on then... Um... what do you think?”
“Well I...” she began, her mouth starting out before her brain could catch up. Her natural reaction would be to just say ‘no’ and go back to dreaming about a fantasy life with Nico, imagining miraculous scenarios that would lead to the perfect romance, none of which would be likely from a realistic perspective. That in itself brought on a tinge of depression alongside the nagging voice in the back of her head that told her that the rumour-mill grew ever busier with each passing day that she failed to date a stallion.
She involuntarily looked over the unicorn’s body, considering the fact that most mares her age would be lining up to see a stallion with such prominent muscles. Then again, you’re not most mares and you’re proud of that! another voice in her head blurted out. So, she wasn’t one to fawn over ponies with stellar physique, but she couldn’t convince herself in that moment that it was because she wasn’t as shallow or was more conscious of personality. Sparks had displayed quite clearly on every occasion that she’d met him that he was as polite as anypony could be, and despite objectively being quite a desirable stallion he showed plenty of signs of nervousness and fretfulness around the opposite sex, rather than an unwelcome enthusiasm or boisterous attitude. If it wasn’t for her questionable actions the last time they met, he probably wouldn’t have made another move.
He’s perfect, she thought, but still don’t have feelings for him. Not like Nico...
Sparks was almost expecting another rejection as Rosa was once again entranced by her own thoughts. He looked down disappointedly, awaiting her answer.
Summer’s head popped up from her hiding place, her mane now sporting green streaks and an unwelcome beetle. She eyed Rosa, gesturing for her response with two hooves and nodding approvingly. A number of ponies had caught wind of the situation and were also watching anxiously, trying to look as if they were just passing by but moving slower and slower so that they might catch the end result.
Rosa’s mind was swimming with possibilities as the urgency of her decision hung in the air. She couldn’t leave him hanging after all that’s happened, could she? He was a great guy, but could she like him? What of Nico? Did she want to be alone forever? Would she regret meeting up with him? Would she regret not meeting up with him? What? What? WHAT?
Sparks was about to speak once again when Rosa hastily blurted her answer.
“Yes! OK, I’ll, um... we can see each other some time.”
Sparks was taken aback at first but quickly straightened up and stretched his mouth into a glorious smile. Summer leapt from the hedge and began to dance energetically. The inquisitive ponies around smiled commendably, one younger mare stamping her hooves on the ground. The pair locked eyes just as Summer leapt to Rosa’s side and shook her violently.
“Nice going, Rosa! You sure know how to bag ‘em, eh? So who’s this handsome hunk you’re gonna introduce me to?”
Rosa eyed Sparks nervously and received a similar look in response. “Summer, this is Sparks. Sparks, this is Summer. She’s my work colleague.”
“It’s... a pleasure to meet you Summer,” Sparks greeted anxiously.
“Oh the pleasure is all mine Mr. Sparks! Make sure you show my friend a good time, eh? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge...”
“Summer, what were you even doing spying on us?” Rosa interjected, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
“Oh, I was gonna jump out on you as you went home, and then this happened! I’m glad I got to see the whole thing too.”
“Well, I think Petit needs you to get back to work, doesn’t she?”
“Oh, say no more, say no more, I can see the two love birds want some time to themselves!” Summer ran back into the restaurant humming loudly to herself. “See you again Mr. Sparks! See you tomorrow Strider!” she called back as the door closed.
Rosa and Sparks returned to each other’s gaze. “Sorry about her. She’s... excitable.”
“I can see that! Isn’t it a bit difficult working with her for a full day?”
“As wild as she is, she’s still a nice pony, and she’s cheered me up today to be fair. Just... give her a chance.” Even as she said this Rosa knew that she sounded regrettably unconvincing.
“Seeing as how you’ve given me a chance I can’t see why I shouldn’t.”
They shared a surprisingly comfortable chuckle, the atmosphere feeling much lighter.
“So... what happens now?” asked Rosa, mentally berating herself for seeming like such a child.
“Well I guess this is the part where I ask what day is a good day for you?”
“Well, I don’t think I’m up to anything on Sunday...” Rosa replied, knowing full well that she had no plans for Saturday. That was her day, on which she could do whatever she wanted without adhering to others.
“Oh, Sunday, that’s cool. I’ll just have to... I mean, I don’t know which places are open on a Sunday...”
Rosa suddenly reconsidered her original strategy, not wanting to enter a situation where the two of them had nothing but each other’s company. If it had been awkward enough so far, how bad would it be if there was no way out?
“No, you know what, Saturday then. Saturday afternoon sometime,” Rosa corrected. That means I’ll at least have the morning to laze about.
“Oh, OK, that’s better. So what do you want to do? We could go for something to eat or... go visit some place... what do you think?”
“Surprise me,” Rosa answered wryly. She hoped it would give the impression of somepony who was willing to try anything, rather than — the truth — somepony with such a lacklustre range of interests that she was unable to make a decent suggestion.
“Wow, OK. I’ll do just that!” Sparks exclaimed cheerfully. “I’m sure I can come up with a wonderful surprise.”
“Sounds good. I look forward to it.”
“Fantastic!” Sparks remarked overenthusiastically, toning down his excitement a smidge before continuing. “I shall see you Saturday then?”
“Absolutely. But… I’d better get going now. I’m kind of tired.”
“Of course,” Sparks replied. “Goodbye!”
“Bye!” Rosa echoed, gently waving a hoof as the unicorn smiled and turned back, paving his way down the road. As he trotted on she took notice of his unique cutie mark. It depicted two streaks of fire with glittering white spots spewing from them. Sparks moved jauntily across the pathway, an obvious spring in his step. He moved his neck, possibly to turn around and Rosa darted down a different pathway, hoping he hadn’t noticed her staring at his flank.
The path twisted round awkwardly, taking Rosa past unfamiliar stores and a museum. This route would take her out of her way, adding a few minutes to her journey home. Of course, she couldn’t take her normal route as that path had already been taken by Sparks, and she couldn’t bear to elongate the events of the day.
She quizzed herself over how she was feeling about all of this. Surely ponies get excited before a date and imagine beautiful, romantic scenes being played out. That likely wouldn’t be the case, and even then those scenes only felt desirable if Nico was involved. Still, there was at least some pride in finally getting a date after all these years.
Rosa looked out at the route before her and tried to pinpoint the quickest route home. It was at that point that she internally face-hoofed. If Sparks had been speaking with her father, he would know where she lived. So he would know exactly which route she would take and would wonder why she’d deliberately walked off in the wrong direction.
Rosa the socially awkward pony strikes again.