Rosa

by awf

Chapter 50: Night Driving

Evening found Rosa lying on her back in the passenger seat with all four legs up in the air. She kept making little pained groans as her legs twitched and jerked. Every single muscle hurt, even the ones she hadn't known she even had! On the plus side, there was nothing special to this swimming business, except for how tiring it was! Rosa knew now that she shouldn't have pushed it as far as she had, but they'd splashed around together with Sky Light and it had been so much fun that Rosa hadn't even realized just how hard she was working herself until they climbed out of the water. In hindsight she should have realized that the pegasus was cheating with her wings and her lighter body!

"Uuuurgh!"

"That bad?" Pavo asked from the driver's seat.

"Yes!"

He just chuckled in lieu of a reply. Behind Rosa, Sky Light gave a small snore from Pavo's bed. Her excuse for not getting up to the bunk she shared with Rosa was that she was too tired, but Rosa very much doubted that. She would get the real reason out of her friend later, Rosa just hoped that it wasn't something sexual. That mare...

She looked over to the driver, who was very faintly illuminated by his instruments as he drove. "I'll try and stay awake. Keep you company. That no-good lout sure as hell isn't gonna."

"Nah, don't worry about it. I'm used to driving alone and I can always put on some radio to pass the time," Pavo assured her.

"So," Rosa said, looking for conversation topics, "what sorta stuff do you drive around?"

"Haul," he corrected. "This time it's a load of sheet metal. I took industrial piping from this company that makes it one way, and I'm bringing raw materials the other way."

"Cool. I bet that saves a trip."

"Yeah. Now that everything is on computers, my firm can find all these little shortcuts. Maximize profits, that sort of crap."

Rosa didn't know much about economy or logistics and the School had no such programs. Ponies weren't exactly trusted with high-level administrative work. "Mhm," she answered noncommittally.

"What about you? How old are you?"

There was nothing wrong with him knowing that, she decided. "Mmm, I'll be seventeen soon." Rosa had hardly thought about that, but it was no more than a couple of months ahead. November. Rosa used to look forward to her birthday, mainly because Instructor Martha always brought cake and they had a little party with her roommates. This year it would be just another day if things kept going like they had been lately.

"That young, eh? I'm really glad I didn't take you up on that offer," Pavo said, laughing. He noticed her confused muzzle-scrunch and explained: "That time Sky tricked you?"

"Oh!" The memory made Rosa blush, especially with what'd happened the previous night. "She's... weird."

Rosa was looking at Pavo, even if was is upside down from her prone perspective, and the man shrugged. "Nothing wrong with enjoying herself. Just so long as she can take a 'no' without fuss."

"I guess," Rosa replied, but then realized that she was gossiping about her friend, who was lying about two feet away, so she fell silent and lifted her head a little to free an ear. Good, the pegasus was still snoring.

"How'd you two meet?" Pavo asked, also reaching the same conclusion as Rosa.

"Um," she started to say, then paused. This next bit could be problematic. It all depended on how law-abiding Pavo really was. Escapee ponies were technically wanted persons and he ought to turn Rosa over to the police when he found out. Still, he hadn't done it for Sky Light, so he was probably fine. "I ran away and Sky saw me when she was flying over." Rosa wisely don't add 'on one of her drug deliveries'. There was no sense in pushing it.

"Oh. Did they beat you or what?"

"No, nothing like that," Rosa said, shaking her head, but then remembered. "Well, not until that last day, at least."

He asked the obvious question: "What happened on the last day?"

Rosa heaved a sigh, not really wanting to remember, but doing it anyway. "Got my cutie mark. The guy I was working for freaked out about it. I still don't know why exactly. He tied me up and wanted to send me back to the School and have me..." The next bit left a bad taste in her mouth despite all the time that had passed. "... put down."

"Yeesh," Pavo exclaimed. He reached over to give Rosa's muzzle a gentle pat and she licked his palm in gratitude. "Good thing you got away."

Based on his accepting response, Rosa decided to tell a bit more. "This girl - his daughter - we were really close. She let me go." Before she knew it there were fresh tears in her eyes. Rosa blinked and tried to push that whole mess out of her mind. It was too late, though. A sniff betrayed her.

For a while Pavo said nothing, then his voice came quietly, as if he was being careful not to upset her more: "You miss her, don't you?"

All Rosa could do at the moment was nod. Pavo seemed to understand anyway. He drove in silence for a few minutes, giving Rosa some welcome time to collect herself. Once she was sure sure she could speak again without her voice breaking, she asked her next question. "Why are some people so afraid of cutie marks? What's wrong with a pony getting one?"

Pavo gave this due consideration. "Dunno, really. I remember a few years back - hell, must've been more like fifteen by now - there was this huge panic about that sort of thing. Ponies with magic knocked down some buildings."

He was thinking hard and it amazed Rosa how people could do that and still drive perfectly. She lifted her head to look, but the truck was staying exactly in the middle of its lane. It was uncanny the way Pavo hardly had to concentrate on the job!

"Anyway," Pavo went on, as if waking up from a dream, "there was a lot of fear and all unicorns were rounded up. There was a witch hunt for a while, but the rest of you guys were left pretty much alone after that." He reached over again to pat her muzzle and Rosa gave his hand another lick. It was almost like a little ritual at this point and it helped calm her down. "There was a lot of research about these cutie marks of yours, but I don't think anything much came out of it. Stuff just... died down once there were no more unicorns around." Pavo scratched his chin, then kept talking while Rosa kept listening. "I guess there might be some left, hiding. People don't usually bother about ponies walking around, but they would if it's a unicorn. They'd have to hide really well."

"Makes sense." Rosa wondered if she would ever meet a unicorn. All the old Equestrian ponies at the School had been earth ponies and not one of them had mentioned anything about a unicorn, ever.

"Sorry I can't be more use. It was a while back and it didn't really affect us where I lived. Hardly any ponies around."

"That's okay. Thanks!" she said despite that.

"So, about another hour and we'll be at this truck stop I know. You can go and nap with Sky if you want - I'll put on some radio."

"Ummm..."

Her hesitation was because Rosa didn't want Pavo to be bored, but he misinterpreted her expression for one of exhaustion. "It's fine, you can sleep in my bed. I'll wake you up when we're there." Before she could say no, the driver reached over, a little further this time, and patted her belly. "You look like you need it. Legs sore?"

Stretching her limbs out made Rosa wince in pain and she nodded. "Yeah."

"Get back there and rest a bit. I'm fine over here."

She obeyed and rolled to her belly before crawling into Pavo's bed where Sky Light was still snoring. Rosa snuggled up to the other mare, not really minding that they were on top of the blanket. The cabin was warm enough.

Sky reached over to touch Rosa and stopped snoring, but she didn't wake up all the way. All she said was: "Mmm? Rosa?" before turning to her side and seeking her friend out with her muzzle. She bumped against Rosa's leg and gave the air a friendly lick. "Go t' sleep," the mare said sleepily and relaxed once more.

Chuckling softly, Rosa put a hoof around her withers and pressed her muzzle against that heavenly soft chest fluff. Pavo had said he would wake them up when they arrived. Then Rosa could pee and shower and brush her teeth before getting on the top bunk. It should be nice and private this late in the night, too.

There was just one thing she had to do before she drifted off. "Pavo?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for taking us. You're a good friend."

The man gave a faint, self-deprecating laugh. "That means something, coming from you. Sweet dreams!"

Rosa put her head back against Sky Light's barrel and was out like a light.