Rosa

by awf

Chapter 28: Realities of the Street

It was her first day on the streets and Rosa was awake before her so-called hosts. The van seat wasn't the most comfortable of beds and she was quite done with it after about nine or so hours. It still beat a tile floor or the ground under a bush, though. Hopefully she would get used to it in time. For the moment, Rosa tried to loosen her muscles a little. The odd slant had caused her to sleep a bit crooked, so her neck now felt tense, but it should be fine once she stretched it out a little more.

First, however, she walked to the bucket and took a sip of water in lieu of breakfast. Then again, Rosa thought, there probably wouldn't be any breakfast. Looking at the sky, it seemed lunch might be nearer than breakfast anyway. She wondered if Sky Light had any plans for that and went to the back of the vehicle to see if the mare was awake yet.

The best Rosa could say was that Sky Light was in there, somewhere. The night had been quite chilly and it was not too strange that Sky Light and Terry ended up cuddling for warmth. Rosa would have done the same, if she didn't have both her night gown and the blanket. All she could discern was a mass of clothes, but she heard two people breathing and decided to leave them alone. They didn't look like they were ready to wake up yet, so Rosa went back to the dark, cold fire barrel and sat down to wait.

She also needed to pee, but it was not urgent quite yet and she didn't see a toilet anywhere nearby. Yesterday, on their way to this place, Sky Light had directed her to go behind some trash cans in an alley, but that was some distance away and Rosa didn't remember which direction. It would be rude to just pee near the place where they slept.

On the other hand, judging by the smell around there...

In the end Rosa decided to hold on to at least some decency for as long as she was able. Besides, the pressure wasn't urgent quite yet. She could wait awhile.

Maybe it was because of the good night's sleep, but Rosa felt better than the previous evening. The shock of being an outcast had worn off and now she was numbly accepting her new life. It sucked that she didn't have anything to do, though. She hadn't had many idle days in her life and Rosa was not used to it. Maybe she could find a few small jobs around the place to keep herself busy? For starters, she could flap her blanket around a few times and then fold it up. There was no reason to live like a slob, even if she was on the run. Rosa had always made her bed and even if said bed was now a car seat, it still counted as one.

That took all of five minutes, but then Rosa spotted how grubby and muddy the floor mats were in the van's cabin. Had they ever been cleaned, ever? Rosa didn't have a brush, but she still took the mats out and beat as much dirt out of them as she could, then shook the rest of it free by flapping the things around crazily. While Rosa was placing them back she heard the van's back door squeak open. At that point she was eager to have any company so she went there.

"What in hell are you making all that racket for?" Sky Light asked, sitting on the ground and rubbing blearily at her eyes. She had already pushed the door closed again to give the man a few more minutes of shut-eye. "Jeez, it's not even morning!" the mare grumbled, despite the sun being quite high above the horizon.

"Well, I couldn't sleep," Rosa explained. Her muzzle went a bit red, but she stood her ground. She wouldn't apologize for making their impromptu home a bit nicer! "We ought to clean up around here a little."

Sky Light looked at her with narrowed eyes, as if Rosa was some dangerous, escaped convict or something. She didn't look as if she would say anything, but Rosa returned her stare and waited. Finally, the mare relented. "Well, maybe, okay! But not this early, you lunatic!"

Victory! Rosa decided to let the jab slide, especially since Sky Light didn't sound as if she really meant it. "Um... speaking of clean - is there a toilet?"

Before her friend could answer, she let out a mighty yawn which made her stretch her forelegs as far out as she could reach. After a moment she stood up and extended her wings, nearly bumping Rosa on the nose with one.

"Number one or number two?" Sky Light asked, brushing her mane into a semblance of order as best she could with her hooves.

"N-Number one."

The pegasus shrugged, yawning again. "Jus- aah. Just pick a spot, it doesn't matter."

That did explain the smell around there, but Rosa still wasn't sure. "Just... right around here?"

"You can walk someplace else if you want," Sky Light explained, her tone conveying that she herself was too lazy to do that every time. "Actually, I need to go number two. Let me show you where and you can pee there as well, if you insist, your majesty."

That sounded a bit better, even with the sarcasm. A proper toilet would be much preferable, despite having to walk a bit for it. The pegasus set off slowly and Rosa fell in step with her.

"So, this is some restaurant or something that lets you use their toilet?" Rosa asked.

Sky Light stopped and gave her another of those long, studying looks. "Not... exactly. Come on, I'll show you."

As they resumed walking, the mare asked very carefully: "So, feeling better today?"

That reminded Rosa of how she had cried the previous night and her ears folded down in embarrassment. "Y-Yeah..."

"That's good," Sky Light said cheerfully. "You'll get used to it. We all cried at some point or other. Nearly everyone I ever met on the street, really."

That actually reminded Rosa about her promise. "You said you'd tell me about cutie marks!" she told the mare.

"Sure, but let's do the toilet thing first and then we'll see if we can scrounge up some breakfast. I'll tell you back at the van, okay?"

Rosa could wait a little longer and she nodded vigorously, before realizing Sky Light wasn't looking. "Sure."

Her pegasus friend led Rosa to a set of narrow, concrete stairs up from the canal. There was only room for one pony, so she went first and Rosa followed right after. It was a bit scary because the railing was missing in some places, but luckily Rosa was quite steady on four hooves.

"Slept well?" Sky Light asked about halfway up.

"It's a bit uneven," Rosa admitted truthfully, "so now my neck is a bit stiff."

The pegasus took the news in stride. "You'll get used to it. It's better than that lumpy mattress. If you don't believe me, we can switch."

Sleeping in the same bed with a human? Well, Rosa had done that with Lillian, but that had been different. She was a little girl and Rosa was her pony. It would be... awkward to do that with Terry. "I'm fine, I'm fine," she said hurriedly.

The tone made Sky Light chuckle, but she didn't push the subject. "We'll see how you feel during winter. Well, at least you've got some clothes. Before I met Terry all I had were my feathers and they didn't do the trick, let me tell you." She barked another laugh while Rosa was feeling sorry for her. "Good thing Terry doesn't mind sharing!"

"Y-Yeah." There was suddenly something more on Rosa's mind, but she was not quite sure how to say it. "Um, are you two..." she asked, not quite able to finish the sentence.

"Not really," Sky Light answered immediately. "I mean, we've done it. It can get boring out here. But we're not in love or anything."

Rosa blurted out: "Why not?" but stopped herself before going on to say that they seemed like a good match. That would be monumentally stupid and completely insensitive. For all she knew, the only thing Sky Light and her human friend had in common was that they were both homeless. That didn't sound like something people would bond over.

"Just not. I dunno, we just don't feel like that."

"But- you've, um, done it?" Rosa used Sky Light's own words.

The mare reached the top of the stairs and turned around to look at Rosa while she joined her on the upper level. "Your point? We're allowed to have fun, okay? Who are you to judge?"

Her ears went as flat as Rosa could make them and she couldn't meet Sky Light's gaze. "Sorry. I didn't mean to sound like that."

As she glanced up, she saw the pegasus still studying her intently. "Humans and ponies can- you know, do it," she explained. "It works, but we can't get pregnant, so that's good. I think I read somewhere that we can't even catch diseases from one another, so that's another bonus."

Rosa was blushing furiously at the unexpected and embarrassing topic and Sky Light quickly caught on. "Oooh, you haven't been with a guy yet, have you? How old are you exactly?" she asked, almost gleefully.

"S-Sixteen and a h-h-half," Rosa stuttered badly.

The mare came closer and laid a wing around Rosa's withers. "Don't worry, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Do you- uh, did you have a special colt, or a boy where you came from?"

Rosa almost shook her head, but then paused. It was making her muzzle bright pink, but she still told the truth. "Well, there's Paolo..."

"Colt or boy?"

"C-Colt."

Sky Light gave her one of the sultriest grins Rosa had ever seen. "Sweet! They're bigger than humans, usually. Most of them can't go for very long, but it's amazing what you can make them do if you know how!"

Rosa was not quite able to meet her eyes, which was quite a hard feat because Sky Light was hugging her and staring at her blushing muzzle from about an inch away. "Don't worry, girl, you're in good hooves. I'll teach you a trick or two!"

All Rosa could do was nod, completely and utterly mortified.

To her immense relief, the pegasus crossed her hind legs and grunted. "Ugh, right now I really need to go. Come on." She walked away and Rosa followed, grateful that the conversation was over. "Tell me about this colt," Sky Light prompted.

At least Rosa had thought it was over...

---

Sky Light let her guest go first, but that meant Rosa had to wait for her to finish while trying to ignore the sounds she was making. It was the strangest place she had ever been to, now that she had a moment to look around. Apparently the pegasus and her human friend were using an old, decrepit bathroom in an abandoned factory. Somehow the water installation was still mostly intact, which meant the filthy, grime-encrusted toilet could be flushed, but Sky Light told Rosa to try and use it during the day, if she could. She said it was too spooky at night, because none of the lights worked anymore. Not to mention all the jagged pieces of metal and wood strewn around the place. It was also dirty and it stank, but Rosa guessed beggars couldn't be choosers. She still wondered why Sky Light hadn't taken the matter into her own hooves and at least cleaned up a little, especially if she and Terry used the place often.

Maybe Rosa herself would do that one of these days, as a small thank you to the pair for taking her in. Well, if she could find any cleaning supplies anywhere around the place, she would. The building was relatively intact, but the floor was filled with old, rusty machines and boxes, some intact and some smashed. Rosa could probably remove most of the debris and sweep up a little, even if she couldn't find any cleaning liquid for the toilet itself. Strange that no one had wanted to take all that stuff out when the place went out of business. Rosa couldn't be sure, but she thought industrial machinery was usually quite expensive.

"So, how are you holding on out there?" came Sky Light's muffled voice.

Rosa looked around again, taking in the small, high windows, the broken down machinery and the pigeon-guano-covered floor. "Could be better, I guess."

There were no further questions, so she posed one of her own: "Are there rooms in here? I mean, like offices?"

"No good," Sky Light answered, guessing what Rosa was aiming at. "Full of pigeon crap and I don't trust the floors. Who knows how long this place has been abandoned."

"Well, maybe one of the other buildings?" Surely there was a better place to make their living than a broken down van, right? Like a broken down factory. At least it was technically a building!

"You're welcome to look, but the ones where we were able to break down the doors..." Her pegasus friend fell silent in the middle of her sentence.

"Yes?"

There was the sound of the toilet being flushed, then Sky Light came out of the tiny cubicle. "Anyway, the ones we could get into are pretty much like this. I guess anything with any value has been stolen by now and what's left is either rotten, or rusted, or both."

Rosa followed the other mare out the door but she paused to look back and make sure she remembered the way if she ever wanted to use the toilet by herself.

Now that the unpleasant business was done, she brought up the real question. "So, about cutie marks?"

Sky Light's head slumped a little and she exhaled, as if in exasperation. "Sheesh, fine already. Come, let's go to the city and look for some food, I'll tell you on the way."

Rosa followed the mare around the corner and down a cracked asphalt road. It looked like it passed above the underpass where she guessed Terry was still sleeping in his van.

"Right. So. Back in Equestria all ponies got their cutie marks when they were around ten, or eleven or something."

This was important and Rosa focused her ears on her friend so as not to miss a single word. "Okay?"

"It's supposed to be a sign of your true talent. What you're meant to do in life and so on. Like-" Sky Light paused and glanced back at Rosa's flank, even though the mark was hidden under her gown. "Yours, for example. I guess you're good at growing things?"

Rosa nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! I got it just after the Boones let me start a garden of my own!"

"See? Well, I'm a gambler, that's what this means," Sky Light explained, absentmindedly tapping her own flank. "Sometimes, if we have some extra money, Terry lets me buy a lottery ticket. We win more often than not, though never a whole lot." She chuckled then, as if she had said something funny. "I wish ponies could play poker. I'm sure I'd be great at that! Or blackjack!"

They walked in silence for a few moments and Rosa waited for the mare to get back to her story.

"Anyway," Sky Light went on, "Aiden - remember, I told you about him? He drives around with a trucker dude?"

She had mentioned a pony like that, but not by name. Rosa nodded her head anyway. "Yes?"

"Well, his cutie mark is a compass. He's like, super good with maps. Just let him take one look at a map and he instantly knows where he is and where to go. Last time I heard, the guy - the truck driver - they're really good friends. They drive that thing around the country all the time, so they spend most of their time on the road."

"So, why are humans this scared of cutie marks?"

Sky Light took a deep breath and her ears lowered. "I'm getting to that part. So yeah, cutie marks, special talent, destiny, blah blah. Got all that?"

Rosa bobbed her head again. "Yes, I think so," she answered.

"Well, back on Equestria, cutie marks were always a good thing. There used to be this thing, 'cute-ceañera'. It's like a party for when a filly or a colt got their cutie mark. One of the older ponies who was born there told me."

She still didn't know where Sky Light was going with all of that, but it was interesting so Rosa didn't interrupt her again. The next bit seemed to be giving the mare some trouble, though. Her hoofsteps slowed and her ears flattened even more. She gave Rosa a sad, soulful look, as if deciding if she could trust her.

At long last she spoke again, albeit in a quieter voice: "On Earth... not all cutie marks are good."

Her gentle tone sent chills down Rosa's spine. "W-W-What do you mean?"

The pegasus angled herself so her gait brought her closer to her friend. She was staring right into Rosa's eyes with a kind of burning intensity. "I guess it depends on society a little. Everyone was happy on Equestria - well, mostly. The cutie marks reflected that. Here on Earth, though..."

The fur on Rosa's back rose and she gulped, afraid of what Sky Light was going to say next.

"There's been cutie marks for-" Sky Light began, but then paused and looked around to see if anyone was watching. After making sure, she leaned in and whispered the final word: "-terrorism."

Rosa's legs felt like they were made of lead and she almost stumbled and fell. A cold, scary feeling took her insides in an icy grip. "T-Terrorism?" she squeaked.

Sky Light nodded, sagely. "Cutie marks for... killing people. Destroying stuff. Shit like that. It was pretty bad..."

Rosa could imagine. She herself had never touched a plant in her life, but once she got her cutie mark she instinctively knew what to do. She couldn't imagine what a cutie mark for killing people would have done to her. It would be her calling. Would she do it, or would she rather be miserable her entire life for not obeying her destiny? What could even bring a pony to get a cutie mark like that?!

She had to ask. "Um, w-what did ponies do to... to-"

"To get a cutie mark for killing people? I don't think it was what they did. It was more what was done to them, if you understand me."

Rosa remembered the show she'd seen and shuddered. How close had she herself come to... an evil cutie mark? It could have happened that day, by the sound of it.

"In any case, ponies on Earth were getting cutie marks later and later anyway. It was in the news - some study that cutie marks were dying out. Some ponies never got one, although that was rare and I don't think I really believe it. I guess the humans preferred that, so they started studying us to try and just- eradicate cutie marks altogether."

Despite the possibility of a cutie mark in terrorism, what Sky Light was saying sounded... evil. It was not a good solution at all.

"For a bit it seemed to be working. We got marks later and later in life. It wasn't bulletproof, though." The pegasus heaved a sad sigh and shook her head. "There was this huge massacre. It was in all the news. A pony did it," she says softly. "It went downhill after that. It became law to report young ponies when they got their marks. At first they were just studied, but later they were just taken away and never came back."

Rosa was about to ask, but Sky Light lifted a hoof up to forestall her. "The ones who already had good cutie marks were okay - the ponies from Equestria, or those of us who got it before the panic and so on. Just the new ones were problematic."

"But why do ponies who get cutie marks just vanish?!" Rosa blurted out. Surely once the humans had determined they were safe, the pony could come back to their life, no?

"Dunno about that one, really. It's just another law they came up with eventually, all ponies with cutie marks have to be reported to the police. No one knows where they're taken, or what happens next," the pegasus answers truthfully. "I got that post-mare's uniform to hide mine if I go out in public, just in case. 'Official' ponies are okay, you see?"

"I can also do this." Sky Light fluffed her wings for a moment then folded them back so they completely covered her flanks. She only held it for a moment before relaxing. "Not too comfortable, but it works in a pinch. Anyway, good thing you have that dress. Make sure it doesn't rip or something, okay? I'll try and get you some kind of an uniform, too."

Rosa glanced at the fabric. It was a bit flimsy, but mostly okay, just a bit dirty in places. It was silk, so she would have to figure out how to wash it without destroying it. She hoped Sky Light could find her something more permanent soon.

The other mare started walking again and Rosa followed, glad to be doing something, even if it was just following and thinking about clothes.

"Some people got really scared about ponies with cutie marks, no matter what they really were. Some people don't care. You get all sorts, but it's best to keep it hidden. Oh, and unicorns. All humans got really frightened about unicorns."

"Why unicorns?"

Sky Light gave Rosa a flat stare. "Can't you guess? Try to imagine: a cutie mark for killing people and magic powers. Okay?"

"Yeah, come to think of it, that does sound like a really bad combination," Rosa said with a shudder. "H-How do you know all this?"

She really really wished Sky Light was wrong, but somehow she didn't think that was the case.

The mare shrugged with her wings. "Well, I talk to ponies. There's a few of us living on the streets. Sometimes I go hang out at the trucker stop, and I talk with people. Some of the truckers let me listen to their radios. Then there's newspapers in the trash... you know."

For some reason Rosa's mind focused on the strangest thing. "What are you doing at the trucker stop?" she asked.

Sky Light gave her a blank look. "That's not important," she said.

"Tell me!"

She heaved a sigh before answering. "Look, sometimes it's between starving and doing something... unsavory."

It took Rosa a few moments to put two and two together.

"You go and-" she gasped, stopping and covering her mouth with her hoof. "With the truckers?!"

Sky Light shook her head. "No, of course not!"

Just as Rosa was starting to relax a little, the pegasus opened her mouth again. "Just a quick tongue job. They really like that."

Rosa groaned and closed her eyes, but it did nothing for the mental image. "Yuck! That's... low. You shouldn't-"

A wing slapped her muzzle closed. "Not a word!" Sky Light hissed angrily. "You don't get to judge! Doing that for five minutes means fifty bucks. That's meals for a week or two!" Sky Light's eyes narrowed. "We'll see how high and pure you are after a month without eating!"

Rosa made a face. "I'd rather eat grass!"

Sky Light shrugged. "Fine, but when you come crawling to me in the middle of winter, begging to teach you how to suck a cock, I get your first pay. All of it. Understand?!"

Rosa shook her head angrily. "I'll never do that!"

The other mare watched her sadly, then sighed, deflating. "I wish you won't have to, sweetie. I really do."

They looked at each other for a while. Rosa's heart was sinking as she imagined how bad the situation would have to become for her to seriously consider... that. Pleasuring men for money. She felt like crying once again.

Luckily, Sky Light hugged her and then pulled her up on her hooves again. "Come on - I'll show you where we can get some breakfast around this time of morning."

She set off once more and Rosa followed, lost in unwelcome imagination while her guide to the horrible world of homelessness kept explaining: "You'll probably complain, but the food is in wrappers and people just throw it all away when they're in a hurry or they've had enough. Plus, no one comes around to the trash cans except employees and I know all of them." She looked at Rosa's troubled expression, then chuckled. "Don't worry, they have vegetarian options, too."

Well, Rosa thought, at least she had that going for her.