Rusty Roses

Chapter II: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

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Patch knocked on the door at least twenty two times (Rosy lost track) before she rested her hoof back on the ground.

Rosy's eyes wandered to her as she did so, a bit weirded out… Patch had a lot of quirks, but knocking on doors a hundred times wasn't one of them. Her childhood friend had a slightly nervous smile on her muzzle, as well as sweat flecking her brow. It took several moments before someone answered the door.

And that someone just happened to be the pink ponytail-wearing second eldest sibling of the family… Misty Dough. Her light blue eyes, which prior had been brimming with life for that hour's standards, soured upon seeing Patch. "Oh. It's you."

The taupe pony giggled nervously. "Heya Misty," she said, in a still-timid voice. "Eh, 'sup?"

"I thought we made it absolutely clear that wasn't going on here," the teenager replied, her voice testy.

"I just need to help out with a thing," Patch replied, rolling her hoof in a way she undoubtedly believed was nonchalant. It was a heck of a lot more nervous than it was nonchalant, that much was pretty obvious. "You know."

"That thing doesn't happen to be abnormal or destructive, is it?"

"Oh! No, no, no," Patch replied, looking surprised. Rosy knew that she wasn't surprised though, however much she looked it. She probably knew exactly what that abnormal thing was, though it probably wasn't abnormal in her books. Knowing her friend's difference from society at large. And 'destructive' could have had a load of meanings behind it.

Patch had gotten together with Bon Bon and Misty was overprotective. That was Rosy's guess.

"I wasn't thinking. This time, it's just painting a chair. That's all." She gave a tin bucket behind her hind leg a gentle kick. A dull clang sounded. "Nothing weird here."

"Yeah…" Misty's very pale azure eyes narrowed. "Really?"

"Um, yes, really," Rosy spoke up finally. She had a habit, ever since she was little, to just stand in the background, being unseen until she said something. That was one thing that hadn't changed upon her discovery of her heritage.

Misty drew in a sharp gasp as she looked at the light yellow pony. "Rosy? I, er… Princess Rosy?"

"Please, just call me Rosy."

"I didn't notice you there! Oh, your junior majesty. What brings you here today?" Misty spoke in that same excited tone Bon Bon sometimes used: her voice sped up and she suddenly had only succinct pauses in her speech.

It was as if her words had gone in one ear and out the other. That'd never happened with the ponytail-wearing older pony before. "Well, I was just-" Rosy had the slightest of pauses, in which she glanced at Patch and then back to Misty, "-coming with Patch to help her paint. I also really wanted to see you and the others again, too."

"Wow, that's so neat that you thought to see us, Rosy!" Misty was beaming at the younger of the pair. "We've missed you too. We're eating blueberry pancakes with honey syrup in here… do you want to join us? It's hardly fit for a princess, but-"

"Um…" Rosy glanced over at Patch, who was shaking her head with a frightened look in her eyes.

Because she was a terrific friend who ought to have received a trophy for her friendly deeds, she shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I've already eaten."

⁂⁂⁂

...Which is to say she said the exact opposite.

Patch shut the light purple door, leaning against it and sinking to the ground as it clicked shut. "That was the single most difficult thing I've done in my life," she said in a very raw tone.

"Really?" Bon Bon asked, surprise and doubt in her tone of voice.

Rosy stared at her hooves, shame in her eyes. Guilt made her mouth cold. "I'm awfully sorry, Patch…"

The taupe pony perked up immediately. "Not really. But geez, that wasn't easy. I mean, with Misty giving us the stink eye and all. She wouldn't stop glaring at me when I sat next to you in there, Bons." She shook her head, as if throwing the memory out of it. "Ugh. Horrid."

There was a minor pause of three point one-four-one-five-nine seconds before Bon Bon gave Rosy a grin. "You've grown a lot since you came last."

"D-did I really?" Rosy replied, looking at the yellow pony. She had to crane her neck just a smidge more than she had to meet her gaze the last time she'd seen her, she realized.

Bon Bon smiled, a little bit uncharacteristically friendly. "Sure you did. You're even prettier than when you left too."

Rosy's pale yellow cheeks turned a hot pink color. "Oh! Umm…"

"She is right, you know," Patch added helpfully, looking up from her pain and misery. "You aren't, ah, the best looking pony in the room, but your fur sparkles an awful lot."

"Patch!" Bon Bon exclaimed, shooting the peach pony a look that was a perfect cross between shock, fear and anger. A red blush tinged her face, and her knees ever-so-slightly shook.

Rosy's mouth turned into the slightest of smiles when she perceived that. Patch's smirk said all that the older taupe pony was feeling. "Aw, Bons, it's okay. Rose already knows."

"Oh." The single word, more of an enunciation really, came out flatly. Bon Bon suddenly found the light-cream carpet under her hooves to be worth her attention. "Um…"

"Don't worry, I approve," Rosy responded, her tone implying (and explicitly meaning) that she thought it just swimming.

Bon Bon's eyes were still firmly averted from Rosy's, but she nodded shyly.

"How long has it been?"

Had Bon Bon not been an anxious, self-conscious wreck about loving most anyone and the freedom thereof, the two would have exchanged a long look while they slouched in their respective positions. But it just ended up Patch trying to initiate that type of thing so she could think straight, and Bon Bon just slouching under her dark cloud of despair.

"...Six months, maybe?" Patch replied, before shrugging. Clearly she didn't think all about it the same way Rosy did. "It's been awesome, though."

Rosy poked Patch's chest as she added, her eyes glinting with amusement, "And how many tries did it take?"

"None of your beeswax," Patch retorted, her tone light and amused."I messed up in every way possible, though. Eh, enough about that trivial stuff, though. We have a chair to paint."

"B'okay. I'm gonna go visit with Rusty."

Patch grinned and gave her childhood pal a pat on the head. "Okay Rosebud. Have fun."

"Don't mention any of this queer stuff to my family, okay?!" Bon Bon suddenly exclaimed, definite alarm and sadness in her voice. It cracked on at least three separate occasions.

Before Rosy could say anything, Patch was right at BB's side. "Yeah, it's really obscure. Bon reckons that they'd be mad and disown her or something. Don't worry about it, just be quiet."

Patch's tendencies meant that Rosy would be better off letting her handle it. The pony was pretty good at cheering ponies up and, after all… she and Bon Bon were dating. She almost danced around the term with glee in her head. "Alright, alright… Um, bye girls."

And pretty much just upon that, Rosy opened the somewhat-heavy light-colored door and was greeted with the sight of the yellow pony with the blue cap.

"Oh! Your majesty. What's goin' on in there?" His blue eyes were wide and shiny with curiosity.

"My name is ROSY, Rusty," the somewhat soft-spoken young pony replied. She hesitated before she continued, though. He's really nice and good with secrets… can I really not tell him? Rosy opened her mouth as she hesitated to speak, but then closed it again, her loyalty to her older friends winning out. "They're just painting a chair, is all."

Confusion flickered across his face. "You really mean, I can call you Rosy? But you're a princess now, and really, really important to the country."

"Oh, come on, Rusty, you know the answer to that." She stood up on her hindlegs and tentatively wrapped her forelegs around his shoulders for a brief moment before backing away and smiling, just a bit sheepishly. Again, she wasn't too good with physical contact, aside from Patch.

"O-Okay, Rosy. How have you been? What is being fully-fledged royalty like?"

While the boy's tone was still a bit cowed or at the very least shy, there was an undeniable curious glint in his eyes. The attempt to hide how eager he really was got Rosy to grin. "Oh, it's okay. I miss my old friends dearly, but my parents are nice and all."

"Oh! Cool. Um, what kinds'a games do ya play?"

Rosy's eyebrows furrowed up for a moment as she went deep in thought. What sorts of games did she play? She had gone to sports games, lots as a matter of fact, but she couldn't remember the last time she'd played a game herself. "I haven't really played any since finding my real parents. I have gone to ball games, though." She paused briefly, remembering one time of note. "Oh yeah, once at a baseball game, I caught the baseball! That was my first one."

"Wow, that's so cool! I haven't been to a game in who knows how long. Those things are expensive." He adjusted his blue cap that he normally wore backwards so that it was in a bit of a diagonal slant on his head. "What do ya want to do, then, Rose?"

"You go ahead and pick, Rust."

"You're a prin- uh, okay… Baseball. Yeah, that'd be fun." He nodded emphatically. "We better go get the bat and ball, let's go."

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"Wow, Rosy, you haven't lost your touch one bit, have ya?"

Rosy swung the bat, sending the ball high over one of Slice Cake's prized apple trees. A red hat, matching Rusty's except for in color, was shading her eyes. "You really mean it?" she called back, as Rusty darted to get it. It really felt like she'd have been able to launch the ball further had she never left.

After a moment, Rusty brought back the baseball and beamed. "Sure!" he chirped in response. "You could hit a ball out of a stadium if you wanted to."

Rosy blushed, staring at her hooves but not unpleased. "Thanks." The princess had always been shadowed over, in a sense, meaning that she never really got praised or scolded much. She may not have been used to it at all, but boy, did she enjoy being complimented! "Should we switch positions?" she added, after being a crab and deciding she didn't like it and rebecoming a yellow horse.

Rusty tossed the ball in a gentle arc. Rosy grabbed it (though it was more like tightening her grip, because it already flew right in her hoof). "Sounds good," he replied. He trotted over and, in a moment, he had his baseball bat at the ready and was facing off against Rosy with her ball.

Remembering the exact hoof movements, she tried her best to emulate that. It had to be a harsh toss, very straight, but it had to come from below to get the right momentum for a game-worthy pitch. It took her a minute of adjusting and swinging before she threw it out of her hoof.

It flew a bit upwards, and Rusty leapt up to catch it its altitude was so high. However, its celerity sent it flying over the apple tree and onto the other side. Rosy grimaced at her terrible pitch before calling, "Oh, let me go and get it."

Rosy dashed over in search of the ball… and was very surprised upon the sight of a little bunny rabbit with a red bowtie around its neck sitting next to it, nose twitching quickly to show its awareness. She stood there in awe for a moment before smiling softly and leaning her muzzle down to meet the bunny's. "Hey there little fellow," she greeted the fluffy creature.

It twitched its nose in response, its eyes adjusting to meet hers. They were huge and of a dark brown color.

Rosy couldn't help a little giggle. "I really need that ball, Mister Bunny."

It gave her a slightly questioning look before she motioned towards the ball. The little white creature seemed to realize what she was after, and nudged it over with its tiny, long-clawed paw. Rosy smiled again and took the ball back.

Then she promptly forgot that the encounter ever happened as she ambled with the ball in hoof. She passed Rusty, whose look was determined. He showed his well-brushed but not pearly teeth to her briefly as she passed.

⁂⁂⁂

"Wow, it's been so long since I've come here~!"

Rosy bounced a good way ahead of anyone else, grinning and keeping up her skip. Currently backdropping the princess was the corner of High Street and Gorgonzola Drive. A predictably-assembled group of horses gathered behind her.

"Come on, Rose, slow down!" Patch called, an actual frown coming across her muzzle. "Where are you headed to in such a hurry?"

Because Patch already knew the answer to the question, Rosy didn't bother responding, just continuing her digestion of every detail about her location, from the large pebble in her path to the gate to the park on her left. She took the sharp turn to begin spinning around on one of the poles comprising the black fence. What an uncharacteristic thing for her to do; normally she was heeling like a puppy dog at Patch's side, only speaking when spoken to.

The taupe pony noticed the change, and sighed. "She has the energy of a gazelle and you wouldn't even know it," she commented, definitely a bit aghast.

Bon Bon rolled her eyes in a playful manner and retorted, "And now you know how I feel."

"Gazelle?" Rusty asked, frowning. "What's a… gazelle?"

"It's an African animal that runs very gracefully," Bon Bon responded with a genial grin on her muzzle. "They're beautiful prey mammals. Patch has an unreasonably strong passion for them."

"What?! H-Hey!" Rusty nodded his understanding and Patch huffed. "I'm not even gonna dignify that with an oral response." She stuck her tongue out at both of them.

"Excusing my dea- umm, friend's immaturity here, Rusty, Rosy here is just excited."

A panting and sweaty Rosy made her way back to the group, showing her shiny white teeth to them in a wide grin. "They sound absolutely great," she commented after panting and heaving for just a moment. Everyone knw exactly what she was referring to; as a matter of fact, they were drawing very near the large yellow house dead-center of Triangle Way.

The first thing that happened upon reaching Melody around back in the garage was the Rockin' Beats and their leader singing the last verses of Rhymes with Orange. Well, Rosy finally calmed herself at the sight of who was both cool and hotheaded, Melody herself, but that was a subtle change.

The minute that the song ended, Melody Riff pushed her golden microphone onto the wooden work desk behind her and smiled relaxedly at Rosy. "Hiya Rosy. What've you been up to?"

Rosy did more than notice the aghast, disbelieving looks from the Rockin Beats. She crumbled a bit under their gazes as she focused her attention on the hot pink leader of the band. "Not much, Melody. How did that… that contest go?"

"Oh, psht, it was an easy win." She trotted up to the little pony quadrupedally and with that usual bounce in her step. "Well, Rosy, what've you been up to lately?"

It occurred vaguely to Rosy that it was a repeated question. "Well, I've adapted well to princesshood," she responded. "It's different…"

"What's it like being a princess?" Melody continued, excitement beginning to enthuse her voice. "Pretty important, huh?"

"Well… not really that important. They give me big breakfasts and around lots of different places. I wake up with the sun falling on me." She didn't know why, but Rosy always thought that was worth mentioning. "I miss life here too, though. Being a princess isn't as fun."

"So, let me get this straight… the rumors are true?" Rosy looked over to a dark forest green pony with orange and purple hair, a little bit wavy in its style. Her light green eyes were very piercing, considering how pale they were. She sounded vaguely familiar. "You were really here before becoming a princess?"

Rosy nodded. "Pretty much." She wanted to ask what her name was, but the eyes of everyone on her made her feel uncomfortable.

The asker put a hoof on her chin in thought. "That's interesting. So you lived as an orphan."

Thankfully for Rosy, Patch answered for her. "We both did. We're friends, see. Best friends."

The pony seemed markedly less enthused, but still nodded curtly. "Alright, good to know."

"So Rosebud, I guess we've got some catching up to do! Hey, Rockin' Beats, what about we set down the music for a bit and go to the ice cream parlor, my treat?"

A chorus of 'sure,' 'sounds good to me!', 'rock on,' and 'alright, fine,' erupted from each of the individual band members' mouths.

⁂⁂⁂

As you could probably imagine, Starlight had quite the early morning surprise upon the sudden arrival of nine ponies, one the likes of which she hadn't seen in months. Ever the composed pony, though, she hid her shock with a smile. "Hello," she greeted all of them. She glanced elsewhere, at a clock. Rosy followed suit, seeing that the time marked about eight fifty. "The shop isn't even open yet."

"Oh, come on, you aren't gonna make us wait outside until nine, are you?" Melody was kind of like the makeshift leader of the huge group. She trotted up to the counter. "I'll take my usual."

An odd grin came across Starlight's muzzle before she giggled. "Okay, okay." She took a moment to pull the apron over her head. Seemingly out of nowhere she drew a pen and notepad. "Order up!"

Following a huge set of orders that Starlight was vaguely used to, being an eleven-year-old girl with six ten-year-old friends, everyone was seated with their ice cream. Well, okay, after Starlight and Melody had a brief argument over prices, Melody begrudgingly unhanded twenty-one jangles and shot a glare at Patch, who was snickering behind her hoof.

Rosy had to admit, being surrounded by friends (and, well, utter strangers) while lapping up the quickly-melting banana ice cream from the cone was pretty nostalgic in a way. It had that signature childhood simplicity; the way that even if one didn't grow up with pick-up sticks, it still felt like a call to the past, to a simpler time, before becoming a princess.

A long sigh escaped her muzzle. Really, she loved her parents. The King and Queen were really good to her, and felt very much like family. But she missed eating ice cream with friends, playing at arcades, having unique inputs about her drawings from each of her friends, artistic or not. She might even regret everything, if not for the guilty thought of her parents lingered on her mind...

Q-Quit it. Those thoughts have no place here. You're a princess and that's that!

It didn't seem certain.