Things went back to normal, or at least as normal as they ever got in Silent Brook's home. Celestia, for her part, mostly avoided Saul and he did the same to her. The stallion and his owner went back to their uneasy existence. Maybe they talked a little more, but it was hard to tell. They were certainly shouting at each other less. Maybe she could count it as a small victory. Either way, the house was a lot more presentable after her efforts. The walls were still yellow, but most other surfaces gleamed. She even attacked the filthy and disgusting toilets and bathrooms. Thank goodness for magic so she didn't have to actually touch anything. Even so, she took a long shower and thoroughly washed her horn afterward. That made her feel a little better. Silent Brook was suitably impressed. Celestia didn't think the stallion had ever imagined his Princess to do such menial work. She was glad to prove him wrong. She also kept trying to get into his dreams, but to no avail.
There was one last thing to try and Celestia faced her pony friend with it one evening. "I need to be touching you when we sleep."
His near instantaneous blush was cute, actually. "W-what?! Why?!" he mumbled, not quite meeting her eyes. Silent Brook was staring hard at her left ear.
"I'm not my sister, Silent Brook. She can get into any dream in Equestria, but I cannot. I need physical contact to do it."
Celestia lowered her head and sighed a little. "It is not ideal, but I think we should try anyway. I hate to see how tired you are each morning after the nightmares, and I wake up at nights to listen to you whimpering." It truly was heart wrenching. The Princess made her way to Silent Brook's mattress and patted it with a hoof. "In you get."
The blush was quite apparent now, even under his orange fur, but he obeyed after a moment's hesitation. Silent Brook had his forelegs on the bed when he stopped and looked pleadingly at the Princess.
He pointed out in a very small voice: "I... might... you know. While I'm sleeping..."
Now Celestia was blushing a little, too. "I know. It is natural and I won't think any less if you."
The poor thing nodded miserably and dragged himself fully in bed. Celestia joined him and pulled the blanket over them both.
"S-so, what do I... how do we-?" Silent Brook tried to ask in as polite a way as he could, but words failed him.
"Just relax. It should be enough for me to be near, but just in case..." She shuffled a little closer and laid a wing across his withers. It was a little funny how Silent Brook nearly jumped at the touch, but he settled back and heaved a sigh.
It was entirely possible that he wouldn't sleep at all, but he wouldn't have a choice the next evening, or the one after that.
"Good night, Silent Brook."
The stallion swallowed before replying. "Good n-night, Princess."
They both managed to sleep, but the alicorn hadn't made it into Silent Brook's dream. She knew he had dreamed - one look at his face in the morning told her that, but she hadn't been able find it in the night.
"I'm sorry, Silent Brook. I'm willing to try again tonight."
Now that the initial awkwardness was over, the stallion just shrugged. "Okay. Whatever." He didn't seem too convinced and Celestia wished she could talk to her sister for advice.
At least he didn't have problems sleeping in the same bed with somepony else. Probably his nights with Saul helped with that. His initial reluctance could easily be explained by the fact that she was a mare, and an alicorn on top of that. Once he got over the fact that he had a Princess in his bed, Silent Brook had no trouble relaxing. In the dark, one warm body was very much like another. She stood up and stretched a little. A few moments later she changed to Supple Branch. Sault was already up and she could hear him walking around downstairs.
"I will go and make breakfast."
Silent Brook nodded and disentangled himself from the blanket. "Yeah. Saul will probably send me to the store. Need anything?"
He would be ordered to bring back cigarettes and beer, Celestia knew. She was beginning to see the pattern. "Hard cheese. I will make us pasta tonight and I need more. Oh, and fresh tomatoes."
Nodding and yawning a little, Silent Brook made his way past the alicorn down the stairs. She followed, but paused just before Sault could see her. "There you are! Go to the store and fetch me-" he began, but Silent Brook just interrupted him and finished his sentence.
"Beer and smokes, yeah, yeah. Drunkard."
The man acted as if he hadn't even heard the insult. Instead, he plonked his rear in the couch and turned on the TV.
Once her pony friend was gone, Celestia gathered her courage and walked down and in the living room. "Morning, Saul."
He glanced at her and immediately dismissed her presence. She tried to engage him a little: "What would you like for breakfast?"
Again he looked at her, as if trying to decide what she was after. His lips tightened in distrust, but after a few seconds he spoke: "Eggs and bacon."
It was disgusting, of course. Ruin perfectly good eggs with a piece of rotten flesh, but she had cooked it for Rawsthorne a few times and knew how. It meant she'd have to make hers and Silent Brook's first, or use two pans if she didn't want the smell of it turning her stomach. She went about her task and in moments the eggs were sizzling in a pan. There was meat in the fridge. She had cleaned out the rotten stuff and sent the stallion for fresh produce. He brought some meat things on his own initiative.
For Saul. It was actually sweet for the stallion to think of his human like that. Celestia wondered if one could put bacon in tomato sauce as well. If she was already blaspheming with eggs, why not take it a little further? Especially if it made Saul happy. At least it didn't take too long to cook. She opened the window, but the smell was still all-pervasive. It was done shortly. She calculated by the eggs, of course. Celestia no way to tell when the bacon was ready. It wasn't quite black and the smell wasn't getting much better. Rawsthorne had always said it was good, so Celestia tried to match the approximate color.
Eventually she laid it on the table and went to poke her head into the living room. "It's ready, Saul. Enjoy."
Still no thanks, but at least he went to eat. That gave her a chance to tidy up a little in the living room. She had left Saul's bedroom alone after the gun incident, but she wasn't about to shirk cleaning in its entirety. There were only a few empty cans on the coffee table. Was Saul drinking less? Maybe her presence was having a positive effect on him already or maybe it was the clean house. The Princess would have to remember and tell Silent Brook to keep cleaning - however tiresome it might be.
She had just finished sweeping the living room when Celestia spotted something quite unusual. There was a female human sneaking into the house! Saul was still in the kitchen - she heard the occasional clink of his fork on the plate - and the alicorn opened her mouth to call him.
The young lady saw her and urgently shook her head and put a finger to her lips. It was a desperate plea and Celestia hesitated. She approached. "Please don't tell him, please!" the newcomer begged in a whisper. "I'm just looking for Silent Brook."
Celestia made an educated guess. "April?"
The girl was taken aback. "How do you know?! Do you know Silent? Is he here? Who are you?"
In her surprise she was becoming quite loud. The mare made a judgement call. She heard Saul getting up from his chair in the kitchen and whispered urgently to April: "Quiet. Go up, I'll be there in a minute. Silent Brook went to the store."
April smiled gratefully and nodded to her before silently running up the stairs. She vanished into Silent Brook's room.
Celestia met the man as he was coming from the kitchen. "I'll just put the dishes away, then I'll go upstairs, Saul. Any wishes for lunch?"
He actually thought about it! Before, whenever she asked anything like that, the man just ignored her. Now he shrugged a little. Could it be that he was warming up to her? Or at least becoming used to her presence? "Dunno. Whatever," he said.
He had considered her question! It was definite progress. Celestia smiled pleasantly and quickly put the empty plate and utensils in the sink. She could always wash them later, it wasn't as if her day was particularly full. Then she slipped upstairs and found April sitting on Silent Brook's bed. The girl was looking around in wonder. Probably at how clean the place was, Celestia decided.
"Okay, why are you here, and why don't you want Saul to know?"
April faced her without fear. She was probably quite pretty - Celestia couldn't always tell with humans - and she held herself with the easy grace of somepony comfortable in her hide. She was slim, but not skinny, with a mess of bright red hair. That was an artificial color, Celestia knew that much after living on Earth for this long. Her clothes were also on the light side. A pleasant, grass-green sweater and blue jeans. Her brown coat was the most drab thing about the attire. Most importantly, the girl had an easy and friendly smile that wouldn't be out of place on the streets of Ponyville. Celestia had some bias from Silent Brook's stories, but she would have liked this person despite that.
"Me first," April said with a mischievous grin. "Who are you and why are you living with Silent and Dad?"
The alicorn couldn't see the harm in telling her. Not the truth, of course, but pieces of it. "I'm Silent Brook's friend. He was kind enough to take me in for a few days until... my owner can pick me up." Hopefully it sounded like her human was on vacation or something.
"So, you did all this?" April asked and waved a hand about. Particularly the window.
Celestia was quite proud of her hoofwork. The thing was actually transparent now! "Yes. A little thank-you for letting me stay here."
April stared at her a little incredulously. "And Dad doesn't mind?"
Celestia joined the girl on the mattress. She sat down and April turned to face toward her. "It's hard to say, but I don't think so. It's just a few days anyway."
"How do you know Silent Brook?"
Again Celestia had to think about how much to tell her. "We met in the pony group. You know his other friends? Glitter Dust and Heavy Hoof and Lake Frond and-"
Nodding, the young lady finished her sentence: "Rock Lichen, and... what was her name? The funny unicorn?"
"Glowbug."
She snapped her fingers in recollection. "Yeah! And the other pegasus, Belle Hoop, right?"
"Hop. Yes. I moved into the area and..."
Celestia recalled the first time she had met the stallion. "Oh, sorry. A little mixup. I actually met Silent Brook in a park first and he told me about the group."
The girl bobbed her head up and down knowingly. "Yeah, I can't believe how they just let him walk around on his own."
Celestia pointed an accusing hoof. "Your turn!"
April was a bit embarrassed and looked away. "Dunno how much Silent has told you. Saul is my Dad, but he and Mom don't live together anymore. I live with Mom, but I try to visit sometimes. They don't have phones or the Internet, so it's kinda hard. I was hoping Dad would be at work."
Celestia gently shook her head. "He works afternoons."
"Huh. He used to work mornings. Doesn't matter, he doesn't come up here anyway. I've spent the night sometimes, if Silent and me ended up talking too late."
For an instant Celestia wondered if the girl and the stallion were a thing, but it didn't seem so, at least not from her expression. Just good friends.
She wondered for a moment if she should mention how the two were doing, but then decided to go forward with it. "I know Silent Brook misses you. Not sure about Saul, but I'd guess he does too."
The girl sighed a little sadly and hung her head. "I know, but I just can't visit so often anymore. Mom says I should stay away and Dad gets worked up if he sees me. Starts ranting about Mom..."
It was an understandable fear. Celestia had seen first-hoof how the man could be when provoked, but turning her back on him was very irresponsible of his wife. She could have helped, if she took the time to understand.
None of it was April's fault, though. "I'm glad you disobey sometimes, if only for Silent Brook's sake."
Speaking of the stallion, the door opened and his voice rang out. "Here, fresh smokes. They didn't have cold beer so I'll just put it in the fridge, Saul!"
The man yelled back something affirmative.
Celestia was watching April and saw how her eyes lighted up when she heard her friend. Just to be sure, she laid a gentle hoof on the girl's knee. "Just wait. He will come up, don't worry."
April gave her a nod and they listened to what was happening downstairs. Silent Brook took his bags to the kitchen and stacked some things into the refrigerator. Then he walked to the living room and talked with Sault. Surprisingly he kept his volume down, and so did the man. Not even Celestia could catch the words, though she heard their voices.
Neither of them yelled or swore, which was good progress in her book, and then, finally, the pony came up the stairs, undoubtedly looking for the alicorn.
"Supple? You up th-" he was saying, but fell silent when he spotted the two on his bed. "Ap-april?!" he whispered, completely shocked.
The girl grinned and spread her arms. "C'mere!"
He didn't need to be told twice. Silent Brook broke into a gallop and fell into her hug. Celestia moved out of the way just in time and now watched their reunion with a happy little smile on her muzzle. The girl wrapped him in her arms and patted his back. Silent Brook couldn't quite reach around her chest with hooves, but he tried. His tail flicked this way and that and his ears were flat against his head.
"I missed you!" Silent Brook whispered fiercely.
April sighed happily. "Missed you too, sweetie. How are you?" she asked.
Silent Brook couldn't answer. He just began licking her face and whimpering softly. "Don't go, please," he said with his eyes closed. "Stay tonight."
It would mean her dream magic would have to wait another day, but Celestia wouldn't mind. She guessed that April's presence still helped with his nightmares. He had told her just how much relief she brought him when they first met.
The girl's fingers closed on his mane for a moment, then she began stroking again. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart, but you know how Mom is..."
Silent Brook knew exactly what to do. He pushed himself away and gave her a pleading, soulful look. It made the young woman sigh. "Fine, but just one night. I'll call Mom and tell her I'll sleep at Jenny's. Maybe she'll buy it."
It was unfortunate that they had to lie - each to to their own human - in order to spend time together. Celestia hoped things would improve if Saul got better. She really had to help them now.
Finally, April let the stallion go and looked out through the window. "I don't want to stay in here and hide from Dad the whole day. You wanna go get some ice cream or something?" Her eyes flickered to Celestia. "How about her? Wanna bring your girlfriend?"
It nearly made the mare gasp in shock. "We're not- I'm not his girlfriend!"
"She's just a friend," confirmed Silent Brook at the same time as Celestia. It just made April giggle.
"Fine, fine. I believe you. So what do you say?" she asked again. This time it was directed at Celestia.
It was tempting. It would mean nearly the entire day disguised, but it could still be quite fun. She looked at her pony friend, who gave her a happy nod. He obviously didn't mind her butting in on his quality time with his human.
"Yes, I'd love to."
Silent Brook left April's lap with a regretful sigh, but he quickly got a grip on himself. "Okay, sneak out and wait at the end of the street. I'll go tell Saul I'll be out and you call your mom!"
The girl nodded happily and beckoned to Celestia. "Come on, let's go!"
She was only too happy to oblige. Celestia couldn't help liking April, and she thoroughly approved what she did for Silent Brook. She had never before seen the stallion smile that widely!
Watching Silent Brook and his friend interact was adorable! Celestia noted that the two were touching as much as possible, though in an entirely different way than she and Rawsthorne. Just two friends enjoying physical contact. She had looked extra hard, but could see nothing sexual about it. When they walked, Silent Brook often rubbed up against April's legs. When he wanted to point something out, he wrapped a hoof around her thighs to turn her in the right direction.
For her part, April made sure to drape a languid arm around the stallion, or made room in her lap for his head whenever they sat, and she kept a near-constant hand on his head while they walked. Even better - the girl was very liberal with ear scratches. Good thing Silent Brook wasn't the jealous type, because Celestia herself stole more than her fair share of those.
The young woman had skill! It made Celestia wonder if she could be convinced to take the newly-created post of Royal Ear-scratcher in the Canterlot Castle. She'd part with a quarter of her treasury to have this magic touch made available to her after a trying day in court.
April hit a particularly sensitive spot with just the perfect amount of pressure. Half the treasury! No, the whole thing! It was worth it!
The three were sitting on a park bench in the sun, both ponies pressing their heads into April's lap. Actually, the girl was sitting and the ponies were more... 'sprawling'.
Before she knew it, Celestia found herself trusting April enough to tell her some of her story. Not her real status, of course, but some of her life with Rawsthorne. She also admitted that the government was after her, though she didn't tell her the real reason. If April suspected that the mare was holding things back, she didn't say anything. The very soul of discretion!
"So, now I am waiting for Glitter Dust to organize some way to meet with Gregory. As soon as she thinks it safe and then I hope Mr. Plain can find a way to smuggle me back home."
April nodded a little and shifted her hand from the ear-scratching to belly rubs. Celestia loved belly rubs! She vowed it would be the next trick Rawsthorne learned, in return for her newly-acquired proficiency in 'blow jobs'. Blushing at the thought, Celestia quickly hid her muzzle in April's shirt.
Luckily, the girl wasn't looking. "How did you convince an auctioneer to just smuggle you back home? It can't have been easy."
A version of the truth, Celestia decided. "My family... back home. They're quite rich. They will pay him a lot for it."
April pointed out a flaw and Celestia was impressed by her acuity. "But he can't take Equestrian money to Earth. It's gold and jewels and they are controlled at the border," the girl said.
"True, but no doubt he has a plan. Maybe he will find a way to smuggle it out, or maybe he will put it in a bank in Canterlot and wait. The laws might change, or he'll buy property in Equestria."
The Princess had given it some thought, but didn't really mind whatever the auctioneer did. If he chose to broke the law - well, it was a human law and thus none of her concern. If he stashed the money, it would just mean that the ponies in the Canterlot Bank would be able to use it for their profits, and if he purchased land or businesses - that was just investing back into Equestria, same as anypony else. The price she had agreed with Mr. Plain was fair. Even with the extras she was expecting for Lake Frond and Rock Lichen, it was still deserved payment for the risk that man would take. She could not begrudge him the profit, even if she didn't fully agree with his profession.
"I... might have an idea," April said after a pause. Celestia was curious, but didn't really want to move. Those fingers were right on her soft spot, but the girl pulled her hands away and Celestia groaned. It was echoed by Silent Brook, which meant she had also stopped scratching the stallion. "Come on. I think there's a store near here," April said and stood up.
A little slowly and filled with regret, the two ponies followed.
They waited outside because the electronics store didn't allow ponies inside. It was a little demeaning, but Celestia didn't mind much. It was nice out. She had opted to go without her enchanted scarf because the sun, shining down on her fur, made it warm enough. She sat beside Silent Brook and looked around at all the people going about their business. Quite a number of them stared at the ponies - they were becoming an increasingly rare sight - but none of them approached the pair.
Finally, April returned from the store with a plastic bag. She led them back to the bench and patted the seat. Celestia was only too glad to jump up and see what the girl had bought. She had two cell phones. Not nearly as fancy as the touch-screen thing Rawsthorne used, but they seemed quite functional.
Why would she do that? What was the use? The agents could obviously listen in on phones. April spotted her little frown and explained: "They're prepaid phones. They don't need a name or anything to use. No one knows who has one, so you should be safe from prying. Get one to Mr. Rawsthorne and you can talk, as long as you both keep the phones a secret."
It made Celestia stare in wonder. Such possibility! "Oh! That's incredible! I didn't know these existed. Yes, this would help so much!" She grabbed the young lady around her neck and hugged tightly. "Thank you so much, April!"
April just laughed and shrugged it off. "Strange none of your other friends thought of it. Or Mr. Rawsthorne."
Celestia had an explanation. "He's not too... 'into' technology, you know?"
"Ah," April said understanding. "That'd make sense."
For his part, Silent Brook just smiled proudly at his friend's ingenuity.
"So, ice cream and then pizza, or pizza first and then ice cream?" the girl asked.
It was a very difficult decision, but Celestia was used to difficult decisions. "Pizza first. Can you pay for it? I will give you the money when we're at Saul's. Oh, and for the phones also. I insist."
She thought about her saddlebags back in Silent Brook's bedroom. There was her peytral, the hoofguards and the cash Rawsthorne gave her. Then her thoughts turned to the evening. April had agreed to sleep over and Celestia hadn't had the heart to object. It meant she would either have to tell the girl her secret, or sleep in a different room and risk her finding out anyway. It was a difficult question and she would think on it through the afternoon.
April seemed trustworthy and the way Silent Brook acted toward her confirmed it. Celestia believed she could trust April with the secret. Maybe that would be the best way. A few more hours of talking with the girl and then she'd know for sure. If she still thought the same way in the evening, she would tell April the whole story, she decided. For now it was time to fill her belly with delicious pizza and then maybe get the girl to rub it a little more. Yes, pizza would definitely be added to the menu in Canterlot Castle, the Princess decided. Too bad belly rubs required fingers, though.
She would really have to consider creating a new post. 'The Royal Scratcher'? Or maybe 'The Palace Pamperer'. Something official-sounding.
Stress relief for the Princesses.