Rosey wasn’t one for parties but even she had to admit that she was having a lot of fun. Although she wasn’t fond of being spun around until she had almost puked on the pink mare. Out of the games that they played there were only four that Rosey liked and still thought about even after the party was over. She found that she rather liked the game Dance Til You’re Dizzy which wasn’t even dance related. Crystal Pop however thought that it was and Rosey shared a good laugh with Fritter Belle.

Butter Joy, however, didn’t find it funny after the purple mare had crashed and fell through a window. Luckily Crystal Pop wasn’t hurt but cider was ineffectually banned after that stunt was over. “Just be glad she wasn’t holding one of her inventions” spoke one of the mares who wore a purple sweater, her name being Bubble Rain.

“Oh if I catch her doing that” Butter Joy had replied, “She’d be a pretty sad mare come the next day”.

The time now was a quarter to eight and Rosey was beginning to grow tired. Wanting to get her room booked she was just about to excuse herself when Speedy suddenly challenged her. Rosey never heard of the game Pirate Dices but Speedy was so polite in asking her that she couldn’t say no.

Rosey sat down at the table directly across from Speedy. The blue Earth pony described the game, “You just shake the dices inside the cup, place said cup down on the table and then you just take a small peek underneath. The goal is to guess how many dices are showing the same number” Speedy then gave a small grin. “You also need to figure out whether or not if the other player is lying. That is key. The game won’t end any other way”.

Rosey gave Speedy a nod, her eyes scanning the dice carefully as he spoke. It sounded simple in context but once they had begun playing Rosey found that the game was something she was actually pretty good at, math. Both ponies had a total of six dices with the usual six sided numbering. Rosey found that once she had added math equations, and a little bit of logic, she could easily narrow down the possibilities of each numbers that the dices had landed on. She could almost see the numbers appearing right before her eyes as she theorized the numbers.

The ponies had played three times, each turn taking about a minute or two before passing. When they had started the fourth, and hopefully last round, Rosey had said “No, I’ve never played Poker nor will I ever”.

Rosey partly told him the truth. While she had never touched Poker her brother, Pendleton, had. He played it many times before with their grandfather. He was really good at winning his bags full of candy each year. Rosey could actually see a bit of her brother in Speedy. It had something to do with his eyes. The way they seemed to look through the cups and when he looked at her they seemed to pierce right through the thick walls of her mind.

“Would you kindly accept placing up a bet?” Speedy spoke suddenly, Rosey stared at him wondering if he was joking. He wasn’t. “Just for fun, nothing you wouldn’t normally do”.

Rosey was uncertain at his offer but she agreed anyways. “Not like you’d dare me to jump through a window” she said with a shrug.

“A pony’s safety always comes first” was Speedy’s reply. “So, you’re interested?” he spoke, his hoof tapping the bottom half of his cup.

“Hm...well, let me think-alright you’re on” Rosey spoke with haste, her mind quickly thought of what she would like from the blue Earh pony.

“My most embarrassing memory..?” Speedy had replied to Rosey. His eyes shifted to his side where Pinkie Pie stood over his shoulder. The expression they shared went unseen thanks to the sudden distraction of a drunken Crystal Pop. “I’ll accept that” Speedy spoke, offering his hoof he then said “But from you? I think a favor would work nicely”.

Rosey froze her upper limb in mid air as she heard Speedy. “A favor?” she asked redrawing her hoof before he could shake it. “Nothing dirty I hope?”

“Why do they always jump to that?” Speedy sighed, he also seemed to groan at what he had heard from behind.

Rosey stayed her hoof for a moment, thinking hard on her decision. “You did say nothing we wouldn’t normally do” she spoke, shaking his hoof at last. She then took one last peek underneath her cup and at her dices. “I’ll say...” Rosey began speaking, thinking carefully before she said “Six sets of fours”.

Speedy nodded to the red mare as he looked at his dices once more. As she watched him Rosey could see the gears moving in his head, he almost seemed to be calculating. He gave Rosey a smile, the type of smile that seemed heartfelt and genuine.

“I bet, there are eight sets of threes” spoke Speedy.

Rosey inched her hoof higher, twitching as she kept herself still. Speedy did the same, wanting to wait for her to reveal her set first. Together they lifted their cups and there was a collective gasp. Rosey, who had instinctively closed her eyes firmly shut, peered down at her dices. She was wrong. Only three dices had landed on fours. There was clapping and congratulating to be heard but Rosey ignored them. She stared at Speedy who was giving a warm smile not to the applause, but to her.

“Good game, Ms.Rosey” Speedy kindly spoke.

“You didn’t just con me, did you?” Rosey asked as the two shook hooves once more.

Speedy told her that he had not, saying “That’s just the beauty of this game. Even when at the very end, you can still come out on top better than what you just were”.

Those words stuck in Rosey’s ears even as Sky Pop signed her name into the inn’s record books some minutes later. “Your parents had already paid in advance” Sky Pop had told Rosey as she wrote her name. “All you need to do is pick which room and I’ll be up later to pin your name to the door”.

Rosey signed the entry form, stamped her hoof to it and with her bag in tow had trotted off. She made her way through the waiting room, only glancing at the pub’s door as she passed it and into the next room. Her eyes would’ve widen if she wasn’t so drained and tired. She had entered a large room, a grand and recently polished table rested atop a lust and fluffy carpet that resembled the grass outside.

Over against the wall was a fire place, unlit and beckoning to be used. There were also shelves stacked to the brim with books. Rosey ignored them all as she headed straight for the staircase, only to be stopped by a voice. It was Butter Joy. Rosey turned back in just enough time to see the pub before the door had fully closed behind her friend. She still thought that she was conned but that small glimpse she had just caught made her really wonder where the parents of those filles’ were.

“Want me to accompany you upstairs?” Butter Joy asked. Rosey stared at her wondering if she would ever get any work done tonight.

“I wouldn’t mind it” the red mare had returned. “But frankly? I want nothing more right now than getting into a warm bed”.

“Then I know just the bed!” Butter Joy replied.

Rosey must’ve been more tired than she thought, normally she would had poked fun at such a sentence. Together the two of them trotted upstairs to the second floor. There Rosey paid attention the rooms as she passed them. Each of the three rooms were small, suited for two or three ponies at most. The back walls had two large cabinets and a single window in the middle. Placed toward the walls on her left were beds covered with blankets that ranged from three separate color schemes, but they all shared the same patterns.

The rooms were decorated in their own tile sets that stood out against the wooden floors and gave each room their own sense of uniqueness. As she passed the rooms Rosey saw parchments that hung just beside the rooms’ doors and she saw the names of Pinkie Pie, Speedy, Silver Shadow, Axl and the three CMCs written on them.

“I’ll be sleeping on the next floor, then” Rosey mumbled to herself as she approached the second flight of stairs.

“First comes first serve” spoke Butter Joy, “As Applebloom said” she added quickly.

The three rooms on the next floor were almost identical to the ones on the second floor, save for their unique set of carpeting. Rosey saw that the first room, which barred a single scratch on the door, was vacant so instantly she decided to take it. Trotting inside she tossed her bag atop the rounded table, nearly knocking off the room’s phone laid but luckily Butter Joy had managed to save it just in time.

It was an old styled phone that was limited to cords. Butter Joy said that it resembled a banana resting atop a candle fit for the snowy Holidays. She almost hated letting it back down, finding the design rather alluring. Rosey didn’t bother removing her clothes as she hopped into bed. She could had fallen asleep right then but Butter Joy started to talk. Rosey listened although she didn’t pay her any attention. That was until Crystal Pop was mentioned.

“Can you show me that key again?” Rosey asked, having been unable to get a good look at it before.

The key hung around Butter Joy’s neck, concealed only by her collar. It was a rounded key that looked like it belonged to a treasure chest lost to the deepest of depths. Why Butter Joy had it the red mare couldn’t really remember, but thankfully Butter Joy had said “That mare loses everything. You know, last Tuesday she actually spoke of nothing else but that unbreakable lockpick”.

“Which she then lost?” Rosey returned. She remembered Crystal Pop approaching them and rambling on about something that was lost to her at this moment. She had seemed rather nervous, almost fearful. Butter Joy always that affect on others when they were foals.

“I best get back downstairs before she breaks anything else” Butter Joy spoke. If Rosey could read minds she would had heard what her friend was thinking. Though if she had she wouldn’t dare to sleep under the safe roof that Crystal Pop was under.

Butter Joy left Rosey with the wish of having good dreams. Throwing the covers over herself the red mare rolled about until she found the perfect laying position. Then she looked up and stared out of the window. As the last few hours ran through her mind she imagined them being reflected off of the window. Rosey’s trip here was long and utterly boring, seeing Butter Joy again would had made the trip more than just worth it but seeing Butter Joy’s friends gave the trip its own sense of fulfillment.

Before now Rosey had only heard of those mares through letters or the occasional reunions with Butter Joy. She was disappointed that most of the town, if not a majority of it, were away for a Holiday getaway. She wondered why Butter Joy was among the few that had stayed behind, hoping that her friend didn’t miss out just because of her. As the will to remain awake became weakened the red mare gave a mighty yawn before flipping over onto her side. Breathing slowly and silently the red mare finally passed out and entered the Dream Realm where she can at last relax and be at ease.

There was the sound of the ocean that was ever so gentle and calm. It gave the red mare a peaceful feeling to just be able to feel the salty breeze that she greatly missed. The memories of her days as a foal could be perfectly seen in the water. It was like looking through glass that had became clouded with somepony’s breath. School wasn’t the only thing that Rosey could say she was better at than Butter Joy. The memory of their first swim showed itself underneath the waves. Their fond laughter could never had been more fulfilling.

But then there was something else buried silently under the waves. It started out as a low hum, barely audible but then it started to grow. The louder this sound grew the more disturbed the water became until it was so loud that the ocean was rippling violently against the landscape. The red mare failed in her attempt to flee as a huge chunk of land broke away and fell into the waters below.

Rosey panicked, wanting to swim to safety but her body wouldn’t move. It was like her hooves had melted, becoming nothing more than glue. That loud, overly annoyingly hum made her head hurt. She wanted to scream her frustration out if her lungs would just permit it. Then, as fast as it had came, the hum stopped only to be replaced by another sound. The water began vibrating and she heard something from behind her. She trembled, turning around to see what was rising from the water. What she saw didn’t make any since.

Rosey stared at the large golden object that hovered over her. The sun’s rays bounced off of it and onto her like a spotlight from an old and long forgotten lighthouse. Just what was a phone doing underneath the water and why was it so gigantic? Suddenly the red mare fell to her knees, hooves clinched tightly over her ears.

“SHUT UP!” Rosey screamed as she lunged forward and fell with a loud thud. Startled by her sudden fall she twitched, almost flailing her legs when she heard the sound once more. “W-Wha..” she mumbled breathlessly. “Phone’s ringing..and I thought it was more annoying in the dream..”

Untangling herself from the bedsheets Rosey stumbled her way out of the room and approached a clock that hung out in the hallway. The time was three AM. Giving a loud yawn Rosey returned to her room but had stopped just inside the doorway. Who could possibly be calling her this late? She thought about ignoring it but she would never fall back asleep unless that annoying ringing ceased.

Rosey approached the phone lifting it to her ear, yawning as she asked “H-Hello?”

“Hello” she heard a gruffy voice speaking. “I’m calling from the Malkovich Collage. I’m sorry to call you so late Ms.Rosey, but some fool managed to mix up and even lose various records and such”.

“How in Equestria can somepony...did you say they lost records?” Rosey asked back, uncertain if she had heard her right.

“It sounds extremely stupid, I know” answered the gruffy voice. “To ensure we have the right records, and the right Ms.Rosey here, I would like to ask you a few questions and you answer them. It’s that simple. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Not at all” Rosey replied, yawning greatly as she then said “I wouldn’t want some record mishap to hurt my chances into the collage. So go ahead and shoot”.

“Wonderful” returned the gruffy voice. Even though she could hardly keep her eyes open Rosey couldn’t help but notice the tone of the voice. If she was up this late trying to correct somepony else’s mistake she would had probably sounded gloomy as well. The voice spoke, asking her ”You were awarded for something at a very young age. What was the reward and what was your age?”

“Oh that’s easy” Rosey had replied, yawning as she answered “Me and my brother got the award together at age ten. We were given an golden rocket at a Science Fair.” she paused for only a moment, leaning against the rounded table. “Yes, I think that’s right..or was it a golden pineapple..No, no it was a rocket”.

“Thank you for the answer, and a little funny you mentioned age ten” returned the gruffy voice. “When you were about ten you had met a famous singer who later took a picture with you. Now, which genre of music is this singer known for? No names, just tell me the genre”.

Holding a hoof to her chin Rosey thought about the different singers she had met over the years. The only problem was that she couldn’t remember meeting one when she was ten. Although she did recall a foal she knew from camp that later became a world renown singer. “Um..I’m guessing it’s pop? Pop star I mean” Rosey quickly corrected herself. “I remember my brother used to call it Synth-pop” she said with a giggle.

“You’re actually correct” returned the gruffy voice. Rosey gave a small grin as she made herself comfortable. The voice spoke again, saying “One year ago you were at, I believe it’s called a convention, and you were talking to friends about the previous villains that the Princess Of Friendship had defeated along side her friends. What was the name of the villain you personally favored?”

“Oh that’s easy, pancake..” Rosey spoke, liking how the table felt nice and cool against her fur. “That would be sugarom---er I mean Sombra” she quickly corrected herself. “I think I met a relative of his? Oh maybe that was a cosplayer, no it was me...I mean---”

“This next one may sound a to bit specific, and invasive so I apologize if it is” spoke the gruffy voice. “About three years ago you were attending a very important and crowded event. I don’t really remember what it was, but a lot of important mares was there. As well as happy families. The special celebration was cut short, however. Can you tell me what happened?”

“Oh, that’s easy, bee honey flavored pie..” Rosey mumbled, thinking about breakfast and how tasty honey would actually be on pie. But then she heard the question repeated. “O-Oh..” she spoke, blushing a little bit at her food related sentence. “Let me see..three years ago was it? Ah I remember. It was....”

Rosey trailed off. Holding onto her head her face became twisted, her eyes tightly closed and she could hear something. A voice in the very back of her mind, screaming and crying. She began whimpering and the sound of her own voice had pulled her back to reality.

“I’m afraid I have no idea what you’re talking about” Rosey spoke after silence had fallen over their conversion. “I was at no event three years ago. Unless you count visiting my uncle”. She pitched the spot just between her eyes. She could feel each and every breath that left her body, seeing it fade in the sudden coldness of her room.

As Rosey heard nothing but silence through the phone she had motioned to hang up when she heard the voice again, saying “Thank you for your time. This should help us put everything straight once more”.

Slowly nodding Rosey tapped her hoof on the table, twitching her body just a tad as if dancing to music. She did this to keep herself awake and away from anymore food puns. She wanted to return to bed and fall asleep but she had to be sure there was nothing else needed of her.

“However” she heard the voice speaking. “During the last question, your voice sounded a little weird”.

“N-No it didn’t” Rosey hastily replied. “I’m just tired. That’s all”.

“Are you sure you answered it correctly?” asked the gruffy voice. Rosey could feel her skin becoming colder as she curled the phone’s cord around her hoof. “I have to assure you, answering falsely will have consequences down the road. Do you want to answer it again?”

“Of course not!” Rosey immediately grabbed her mouth, surprised at her own outburst. “No, I think it’ll be fine” she spoke much more calmly. “If its not, just call me again tomorrow. As I said, I’m very tired”.

Rosey heard a faint chuckle from the phone before the voice spoke again, saying ”Very well. Just don’t blame me when karma comes looking for you” then Rosey heard the sound of beeping and static. The caller had hung up.

Rosey sat the phone back atop the rounded table, staring blankly at it as she heard it click. “Come looking for me?” she repeated the last words of that gruffly voice inside her mind. “Those were very specific questions, I hardly believe they were important to my collage..”

Rosey thought to herself for a few moments. Slowly she began yawning again and she decided to worry about it tomorrow. For the now she was tired and desperately wanted sleep. However she hadn’t laid down for more than a couple seconds when there was a loud, hi pitched noise that had startled her.

Now fully awake Rosey galloped out of her room and down the flight of stairs until reaching the second floor. There she saw the other occupants standing in the hallway. “You guys heard that scream too?” she asked, slowly trotting pass them.

Speedy, who had the three foals huddled around him, replied “I think it came from outside”.

“Do you have any idea who it was?” Rosey asked, passing Silver who had shook his head. “Well, we can’t just do nothing” she had spoken as she reached the first flight of stairs. She stood there staring at the first step.

“Are you going to move or are you just going to play statue all night?” she heard Pinkie Pie’s voice.

Eyelids tightly closed Rosey shook the uncertainly out of her as she took that first step. As she descended she could hear the echo that was Axl’s voice, “I’d go with her, but..” his voice faded as she reached the bottom.

The reading room was barely lit with only the dim light from the fireplace guiding her around the large table and into the waiting room. Rosey, once outside, had no idea which direction to go. She trotted about to see if anything was amiss but saw nothing out of place, other than the creepy feel of the town that was. She was starting to wish that she had took the time to explore when she had the chance too earlier. She might as well had been a needle in a pile of leaves trying to figure out which way was up or down.

Then as she was passing a building she heard something. It was faint but was loud enough to be heard by the frantic moving red mare. Rosey stared up at the towering building. It seemed dark in the moonlight but had many windows, most of which were nothing but shattered glass. She heard the movement again, quickly followed by whispering. She would had risked entering the building, despite knowing how stupid she’d had to be to do so alone, but then she heard louder voices.

The commotion she was hearing came from the East. She took about a second’s worth of a glance back at the large building before she galloped towards the new sounds. It didn’t take long for Rosey to find the owners’ of the voices. Standing together and holding lanterns were at most six ponies. Rosey had only seen the first three when she started to approach them. That’s when she saw the other three huddled together outside a building, it resembled a red P in it’s shape.

Rosey’s eyes centered on Poppy Dancer who was crying excessively into her sister’s forelegs. Rosey’s heart sunk as she knew something was wrong. A couple of the mares had seen her approach with one of them stepping away from the group to stop her.

“Don’t get any closer..” spoke Sky Pop, her glasses stained with tears that were still dripping down her cheeks.

“What happened?” Rosey responded loud enough to be heard by the rest of the group. “Who screamed? Is somepony hurt?”

“Silence yourself, please” returned Sky Pop who had clumped Rosey’s muzzle shut. Rosey could see the pain in Sky Pop’s eyes as she briefly turned her head to check on the grieving mare. Poppy Dancer tried to speak but only made jumbled whines that barely counted as audible. Then Sky Pop said something that had made Rosey’s eyes swell and her heart even more heavy. “Fritter had just died”.

Author's Note

Keep in mind these chapters are drafts. There will be typos and flaws here and there, so expect updates every so often as I further the story along. As of this moment I'm up to chapter 10 so also expect an few more chapters here and there.