Rosa

by awf

Chapter 45: A Destination

The sun was starting to get pretty high up by the time Rosa and Sky Light had made their way to Pavo's truck. It was still closed and the curtain was drawn around the cabin. Rosa realized that he must really have come in late the previous night to be still asleep at this hour. For a moment she considered letting the poor man rest.

Sky Light had no such compunctions and she simply reared up and smacked her hoof on the metal a few times. Nothing happened for a minute, so she did it again, this time also raising her voice: "Pavo?! Get up you lazy bastard!"

There was a muffled swear from inside and Rosa saw the truck rock a little as the man started moving around in there. She would have told her friend that she was being rude, but Rosa had her mouth full. The cashier had been kind enough to let her borrow a tray so she didn't have to hobble across the whole parking lot with a plastic cup of coffee balanced on an upturned hoof.

About a minute later the door opened, nearly smacking Sky Light in the muzzle. She would perhaps deserve it, but the pegasus was too fast and jumped out of the way in time.

Pavo blearily looked out at the too-bright world and rubbed his eyes against the strong sunlight.

"Mmmphm!" Rosa tried to say urgently, lifting the tray up as high as she could.

"For me? Wow, thanks!" the man gaped, brightening up. He plucked the cup and swallowed about half of it in a single gulp. More importantly, that meant Rosa could finally put the tray down.

"Hi! I didn't know what kind of coffee you liked so I just got you a plain one!"

"Perfect," Pavo replied and took another sip. "Black as the night and hot as Hell, just the way I like it!"

Rosa smiled at the praise and swished her tail around. Then she looked at him expectantly while he lifted the beverage up and drained the cup. It was the fastest she had ever seen anyone drink a boiling hot coffee.

"Boy I needed that. I came in real late last night. I wanted to bring you the news as soon as possible!"

That got Rosa's heart hammering again. Her smile turned nervous in expectation and she couldn't keep her hooves still. "You found out about Maribelle?!" she gasped.

Pavo shook his head. "Not exactly," he admitted, "but I have a good lead. Come on up, I'll show you!"

Sky Light looked around, then interrupted: "You don't need me for this, right Rosa? I'll be with the others when you're done."

Rosa gave her friend an impatient nod, then went stiff as Pavo put his big hands around her barrel and smoothly lifted her up. He nudged her along until Rosa slid into the driver's seat, before climbing up himself.

"First thing," the man said, "my son absolutely loved your pictures! So thanks for that. You think I could make a few more?"

Rosa bobbed her head happily. "Yeah, of course! Anything!" her lungs were nearly bursting from the effort of not spilling all the questions at once. Instead, Rosa politely waited for Pavo to get to the point.

He could probably read her expectant look and her nervous shuffling of hooves, because he reached back for his bags and rummaged for a moment until he found a green cardboard folder. "Okay, so this thing is pretty hush-hush, right? I wouldn't have found out anything, but a guy in my company sometimes delivers there."

Rosa's eyes were plastered on the folder, but she tore them away so she could look at the man and nod. This was it! She could feel it! She was about to find out where Maribelle was being held!

"You need some kind of military secret clearance before you can even go near the place. Only two people at the firm have it and, as luck would have it, one of them is a buddy of mine."

"Yes!"

Pavo finally opened the folder and held up a printed photo. It looked like a map, but the thing in the middle was just a white rectangle. At first Rosa thought it was a building, but there were no shadows around it like satellite photos usually had.

"See? No Google Map photos of this thing. Street View doesn't even go there. It's how you can tell this thing is top secret."

Rosa nodded, but now she was a bit uncertain. "How do you know it's about ponies?"

The man smiled brightly, having anticipated her doubt. "Good question! There's nothing about this place on the Internet - I asked the guys in IT to check it out and it's like the address doesn't even exist. The reason I think that's your place is because my buddy - the one with the clearance - says he saw ponies being unloaded in cages one time he went there."

Rosa let out a small squeak and hugged Pavo. Tried to, anyway. The man was too big for her hooves to reach all the way around, but she still put in the effort. She even licked his bare forearm. "Thank you! Thank you thank you thank you! This is exactly it! Where is it?"

"Some backwater place in Michigan no one's ever heard of," Pavo told her.

In her excitement Rosa completely lost her place in the world and said the first thing that came to mind: "Death Valley?"

The trucker was taken aback. "What?! No. Why would you say that? Death Valley is fucking miles away! The other side of the country!"

The mare gave it some more thought and remembered the map of the United States from Mrs. Isaac's geography class. Pavo was right - she was completely in the wrong place and Rosa blushed a little in embarrassment. "Sorry. I just heard rumors that's where it was. I didn't think."

"Okay," the man conceded "So, my company delivers maintenance supplies over there. Parts for machines, spare light bulbs, sockets, cable - stuff like that. Our trucks barely get inside the fence, so even my buddy doesn't know a whole lot." Pavo looked thoughtful for a moment. "In fact, I don't think he was even supposed to see ponies. I guess it was some kind of scheduling mix-up..."

Rosa nodded in understanding. The government was always secretive so what Pavo was saying wasn't anything surprising. "Where is it?"

The man took another piece of paper and held it out to her. "Best I can give you is the town. This thing is about twelve miles west of a place called 'White Pigeon'."

It felt as if a bolt of lightning had run through Rosa. Everything felt fuzzy for a moment and her breath caught in shock. Her legs went weak and her rump flopped down to the seat. She would have toppled over completely, but Pavo caught her in a hug.

"Shit, what did I say? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Rosa conceded that she might have. She opened her mouth to try and calm the man, but all she could get out was a string of gargled noises. "W-Wh... It's- How?!"

There was absolutely no possible way for her to have known that! How did it end up in her dream?! Rosa had thought the voice was telling her about some stupid bird. She had never even imagined it might be the name of a place!

Was it Maribelle reaching out to her?

Rosa gave a strangled, choking whimper. Was Maribelle dead?! Maybe her ghost was trying to visit her in her dreams?! For a moment Rosa's bladder weakened, but she managed to hold it in. She blinked her tears away to look at Pavo's extremely concerned face.

"What's wrong, girl?!" he asked, his voice deeply etched with worry.

Rosa shook her head, trying to stop him from fretting, but it wasn't doing much. Not with the way her ears were stiffly held to the sides and trembling. "N-No-Nothing," she managed to stutter. "I t-think I dreamed about-" She was not even able to say the name of the place. Rosa plucked the paper from Pavo's unresisting hand and looked at the address he had written down.

Plain as her hoof holding it: 'White Pigeon, MI'.

Rosa swallowed a lump. How long had the dream been saying that? Was it really possible it had been Maribelle's ghost all this time? If not her, then who - or what?!

"Hey, relax, relax, it's fine. Maybe it's just deja vu? Just breathe for a moment." Pavo suggested.

Rosa shook her head, but still took his advice. She managed several deep breaths, then - wordlessly - crawled into Pavo's lap and buried her face in his shirt. After a moment his hand came up and gave her cheek a careful scratch. For a second Rosa was afraid she might cry, even though she was not sad - not exactly. It was just the mixture of shock, bewilderment, disbelief and sheer, gut-twisting relief.

Now she had something to go on.

She was sure it was the place where she would find Maribelle. At least - Rosa added to herself - she would find out what had happened to her. "Please don't let me be too late!" she whimpered.

"You're not too late. Your friend will be fine, sweetie. Just relax. Breathe."

Rosa almost didn't remember who it was that was comforting her, but she felt his fingers running through her mane. His other hand felt solid around her barrel. She was grateful for the touch.

"Take as long as you need, okay? I'm not in a hurry," Pavo kept talking. "I drove extra yesterday to get this news to you as soon as possible, so I got a couple of hours to spare." The hand patted her head a few more times then went back to running through her mane. "We'll just take it nice and easy. Later, if you feel up to it, we'll make a few more photos. Would you like that?"

Rosa managed to nod against his chest.

"Good girl. Just take it easy. I didn't mean to spook you like that."

It was not right that this nice human was so worried about her. Rosa pulled her face away and managed a wan smile. "You d-didn't. It's okay. I'll be fine - I just need to p-process this for a minute."

The man smiled back, his hands never having stopped their petting. "As long as you need, sweetie."

---

Rosa was still somewhat in a daze as she made her way back to the truck shop. The ponies hadn't left, even though she must have been with Pavo for at least an hour. They didn't usually stay around that long, but Rosa figured they were simply keeping Sky Light company. Halfway to them she realized they weren't all there. Velvet was lying on her side, tail swishing every now and then, Butch was sitting with his back to the group a short distance away, and Pepper was on his belly, nearly touching Velvet's nose with his. There was no sign of Sky Light or Bluegrass and Rosa's steps faltered. Had something happened?

A new wave of worry rose up in her heart as she hurried over. "Hey. What's wrong? Where's Sky Light?"

Velvet lifted her head to look at Rosa and her smile was really comforting. "She'll be back in a bit. She said for you to wait."

Pepper also looked up but didn't add anything. Strangely, Butch didn't seem to react to Rosa's presence at all. He just kept sitting there and staring into the distance.

"What's up with him?"

Velvet shifted a little to see where Rosa was looking, then shrugged. She still didn't get up. "Sky Light bloodied his muzzle for him," the mare explained.

"What?! Why?!"

The lazy shrug Velvet gave Rosa was all she was getting from her, so Rosa switched her gaze to the stallion. "Pepper?"

He stretched out and yawned before replying. "He was being too pushy again. Watch out, that mare knows how to use her hooves."

Rosa heard a weird, sniffing sound from Butch and caught him looking back at her little group. Before he could hastily turn away she spotted a trickle of red down his nose. It really did look like Sky Light had kicked him right in the snout. Even though Rosa didn't know the details, he had probably deserved it. Maybe he'd even act a bit nicer now, but Pepper's use of the word 'again' didn't fill her with much hope.

At least Butch was not leering at her at the moment, so that was a respite. She still didn't see Sky Light or Bluegrass. Rosa guessed the stallion had to go home and the mare had probably gone to use the toilet or something. Hopefully she'd be back soon so she could hear the incredible news Rosa had for her! It looked like she would get her wish to travel. Michigan was east, from what Rosa could recall of the map. She tried to remember if it was anywhere near New York, but gave up. Maybe, if Sky Light really did keep her promise to take them to Maribelle, Rosa would let her make a detour to see the Statue of Liberty like she had said.

Before she could make any more plans, Rosa heard hoofsteps around the building.

Finally! Her mouth was open to tell Sky Light the good news, but then she got a good look at her and the words turned into a gasp. The pegasus was a mess! Her mane was totally frazzled and full of leaves and twigs, and her wings were in a complete disarray. She was sweaty and still breathing heavily, as if she had been running through the undergrowth behind the truck stop.

Rosa was about to ask if she was okay, but saw Bluegrass walking behind her friend. The stallion was also dishevelled, and he was also very, very red in the muzzle.

Velvet beat Rosa to her question: "Had fun?"

Sky Light just snorted in amusement, but Bluegrass whinnied nervously and then cleared his throat. "Um... I should- um- I have to go home." He didn't wait for anyone to say goodbye and galloped off as fast as his hooves would carry him.

Rosa finally found her voice. "What happened?!"

Her friend just gave her a smirk and a very suggestive wink, before sitting on her haunches and extending a wing for examination. She started cleaning it without really answering.

Realization hit Rosa at that moment. "Oh."

That was probably why Butch had become too pushy and why she had had to kick him to keep him away. Not to mention that she had all but told Rosa she was going to do this, so it shouldn't have been that much of a surprise. Rosa was still pink in the muzzle while Sky Light wasn't.

Even Velvet chuckled at their expressions, but luckily didn't comment. "Did he cry for you, too?" the mare asked Sky Light instead.

"Mm-hmm," the pegasus nodded. "Only for a few seconds. I put his mouth to good use after that."

These ponies had no shame! Rosa was starting to think she should go back to the van and give Sky Light some privacy until she had a chance to clean herself up. Speaking of which, Rosa caught her scent. Well, her and Bluegrass'.

"What?" Sky Light demanded, catching Rosa's stare.

"Nothing!" Rosa squeaked and hurriedly averted her gaze.

"So, what'd you find out?" Sky asked, opening her other wing and examining it critically.

That seemed like an infinitely safer topic. Rosa smiled widely as she remembered the news she had. Sky Light's indiscretion just vanished from her mind. "I found Maribelle!"

---

Now that things had come this far, Sky Light was reluctant. She was happy enough about Rosa's suggestion to go see New York on the way, but not so much about actually breaking Maribelle out of some kind of government prison. The visit to New York could well be the main factor which pushed her over.

Rosa had gone and looked at the large map of the United States in the bus station before the janitor chased her out. It wasn't even that much of a detour and Sky Light's guarded reluctance told Rosa she'd need all the convincing she could lay her hooves on. She'd correctly guessed that her friend was more talk than do when she said she wanted to help, but it was still frustrating.

"You promised," Rosa accused Sky Light.

"Yeah, I did," Sky Light admitted, not even trying to evade. "I'm just saying we should think this over. We still don't know what happened to Lillian-"

"Oh, so now you suddenly care about what happens to her?!"

The hoof slap came out of nowhere and it was not particularly gentle. Rosa stared at the other mare in shock while her muzzle began to smart.

"You don't say that to me, Rosa!" Sky Light hissed angrily. "I always cared! I worked myself until I damn near fainted while I was out looking for her, remember?"

Rosa was near tears again, partially from the slap but mostly because she was worried about Lillian. "B-But you told me to stop looking..."

"Because it was useless," Sky Light explained, her voice growing softer and her frown changing to concern. "It wasn't doing you any good. She had been missing for four days at the time. I didn't want you to kill yourself looking for her when it was hopeless."

That word again. "Hopeless," Rosa repeated.

"Yes, Rosa! Hopeless! A fucking army of police and fire men didn't find her! Damn near everyone in the city was looking out for that little girl!"

"Yes, but they were-"

Her friend didn't even wait for Rosa to finish. "Looking in the wrong place?" Sky Light interrupted. "So you'd have gone into the forest. Do you even know how stupid that is?"

Rosa just glared at her balefully, refusing to answer.

Unfortunately Sky answered herself: "No, you don't. Ten minutes and you would have been lost. There's dangerous animals, Rosa. How long before something ate you?"

Sky Light was exaggerating, Rosa was sure of it, but she didn't know enough about the place to call her out on it. She clung to the one certain thing and pointed an accusing hoof. "You could have flown above and told me which way to go..."

"And? Getting lost in the forest and hiding from bears and crap like that would have helped Lillian how exactly?"

Rosa refused to meet her friend's glare. "...might've found her," she muttered.

"Do you even know what to eat in a forest? Do you know how to survive? Because I sure as hell don't!"

"...would've eaten grass."

Hooves grabbed Rosa's head and forced her to look up. Sky Light wasn't mad. She just looked disappointed and sad. "Rosa, there's hardly any grass in the forest. Do you know which bushes are good and which are poisonous? How about mushrooms - can you tell them apart? Or would you eat bark?"

It was not like Rosa would have stayed in the forest long enough for that to be a problem! "...wouldn't have starved in a couple of days," she mumbled darkly.

The pegasus leaned her head to the side and heaved a very exasperated sigh. "I'm not going to argue about this with you. Why are we even arguing?!"

Rosa didn't repeat her claim that Sky Light didn't care about the little girl. This wasn't the way to get her to come with. Instead, Rosa took a few breaths and let go of her sullen anger. It was out of their hooves. Whatever happened to Lillian was not up to them. Maybe it had never been up to them. That was a hard pill to swallow, but Rosa didn't have much of a choice.

"I'm sorry," she said and searched her heart for the right words to say to make Sky Light see how much this meant to her. "Please, Sky Light. I have to find Maribelle and I have to know what's happening to me. I need you."

The direct approach seemed to be working out a little better. Sky Light's expression softened and she stepped closer so she could put her wings around Rosa. "I know sweetheart. I'm just asking you to think it over, okay? You're talking about breaking into some secret government place and trying to get out a pony who may or may not even be there."

"She's there!"

Her voice was filled with quiet certainty and Sky Light didn't argue. "It's still a dangerous idea, Rosa."

"You promised."

Now was her turn to look down and blush in embarrassment. "Yeah, I did. I never thought we'd actually find anything concrete. Does that make me a liar?"

There was her chance! This time Rosa put a hoof on her friend's muzzle and tilted it up so Sky Light was looking into her gentle smile. "Not if you come with me."

The mare grinned and poked her tongue out at Rosa. "Ass. That's so cheesy if you put it on a bun I'd eat it."

Both of them ended up laughing and Rosa felt like she was one step closer. Now she just had to reel her in. Maybe a direct assault wouldn't work, so she tried to go around Sky's defenses. "Why did you help me in the first place?"

"Huh?"

"Back when you found me with those cows. Why did you take me with you?"

Sky gave it some thought. "I dunno, really. I guess you reminded me of myself when I first started out. I guess I felt sorry for you."

"Do you still feel sorry for me?"

Sky shook her head. "Not... really," she answered thoughtfully. "Now you're just a friend, I guess."

That warmed Rosa's heart and her smile widened. "Okay, so I'm asking you as a friend. Help me find Maribelle. After that I'll go with you anywhere you want and help you mooch. You said I have natural talent!"

Sky Light chuckled at that and prodded Rosa's chest with a hoof. "You drive a hard bargain, Rosa," she began and Rosa's legs started trembling in anticipation. She was going to say yes! "Okay," the mare said at last. "Let's do it. What the heck, right? We gotta die of something."

"We're not going to die!"

Sky Light gave a wry smile, as if to say Rosa was too optimistic, but she didn't correct it. "We'll need supplies. Provisions. A plan. We really have to think this through if we wanna pull it off." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "We'll need to get there, first."

A brilliant idea hit Rosa. "Pavo Basilius! The trucker! He said his company delivers there sometimes! I bet he'd take us with his truck!"

Sky clapped her hooves together and laughed. "That's using your brain! Good job, Rosa!" she was about to hug her friend, but the pegasus' expression darkened. "He'll have left by now," she said.

Rosa's face fell, but she powered through it. Things were going her way. She could wait a little longer. "He'll be back eventually, right? Let's just wait for him. That way you can say bye to Terry and Taylor and Arda and the gang. We can mooch some more money and make a plan!"

"Okay, okay," Sky Light said, thoughtfully rubbing her muzzle with a hoof. "I like. Oh, Terry probably won't be back by then."

"Why not? Where did he go?!"

The mare looked like she really wanted to tell Rosa. She even went as far as to open her mouth, but then she closed it and shook her head. "Sorry. I promised Terry I wouldn't tell you. Let's just say it's a personal kind of trip he makes every year and it lasts about a month."

That just raised further questions, but Rosa knew better than to pressure her friend further. "Okay, so you can still say bye to all the others, and we can get more money together."

"Yep," Sky Light agreed with that assessment. She gave Rosa a quick hug, then released her and walked a few steps away. Her wings stretched out and her chest inflated as the mare took a very deep breath. She held it for a moment then let it out.

"We're going on a road trip!" she said with a curious, almost wondering inflection in her voice.

Comments

[BleuBlooms]

This is so cool! FYI...totally thought it was pigeon...

[NicieLunar]

Wow, you update really fast!
So much Dedication.

[NicieLunar]

11614478
If that's true then I guess what will happen is after one or two decades of being considered as nothing more than pets, people such as Lillian will start growing up and begun to sympathize towards ponies, over a decades ponykind will slowly gain right as a sentient people and no longer as pets.