As both Dreams and Twilight were back at the ship after their show they simply looked at eachother for a few moments. The free consumptions for the 'royal newlyweds' had clearly begun to rise to their heads.
They held the gaze for a moment or two before both erupting in absolute laughter.
It was Dreams who got enough breath to speak first.
“Darling, that was one of the most comedic things I have ever seen in my life! Does something as horrendous as that actually count as high entertainment? I mean, even I could predict what would happen. And do not even get me started on the acting.”
That statement, and the horribly fake canterlotian accent Dreams had spoken it in caused Twilight to go in a new bout of giggles.
But the thestral had a point, the play had been absolutely dreadful. The whole original plotline had been completely thrown out of the window, trampled upon in a buffalo stampede before thrown before a pack of rabid wolves. What had been left had been given to a writer with so little imagination that a grade schooler would have been a better choice to re-write it.
But atleast they had been able to get a good laugh from it. Though they had to keep it silent and to themselves lest they disturb any of those rich snobs seated in the booth besides them.
And then there had been the staff. Both of them had been dismissive and Twilight had tried to be approachable. But for some reason they feared that anything could be seen as an insult.
They could not even finish their meal or a drink before they were asked whether they needed a refill or if there was something else they needed.
The amount of pampering was ridiculous. Even more so when they finally had been away from it all.
The good captain simply stood there mouth ajar as the two mares where simply making a large joke of what would have been one of the greatest high points of the entire trip. Without any words to say to that He just left them behind, chalking it up to alcohol.
That night Dreams was laying in bed unable to find sleep. It might have been the alcohol, it might have been something else completely but her mind been working overtime. And the one thing kept haunting her mind.
The young alicorn currently using her chest as a pillow while she was softly snoring the night away. Dreams had never really thought about these things, her usual reaction to seeing her former bedmates asleep was pure disgust.
But with Twilight it was different, it felt different. Dreams had to admit that the sleeping form of her bedmate could actually be described as somewhat cute.
Not fluffy bunny or puppy-like adorable cute. Just normal cute, like how a book would describe a character.
The rational part of her mind was pointing out to the past few days and blaming it on the surreality of it all. That it all is just some kind of dream or otherwise hallucination. Simply because it could not be real.
Being plucked from her predicament, married off into royalty and with an what seemed to be genuine kind mare who had made sure that Dream's grandparent's were replaced into the castle's own wing for the elderly nobles.
And that was a thing another part of her mind had been trying to convince her that it wasn't just a dream. That she was now actually married to a mare, and even stranger she was alright with it!
In all of her previous often fever induced hallucinations and dreams it had always been a stallion.
Soon her mind wandered to different topics. Things a tired mind often things about like the strange grain of the wooden boards of the ceiling, the song of the wind against the slightly opened window or how nice the softness of Twilight's fur rubbing against her felt.
You know, the trivial and unimportant things of life.
The next day found them walking away from breakfast. For what they had been told there had been nothing planned for the day. It was just a simple day of travel across the nation to arrive at their next destination. A destination almost two full days away.
“So you are saying that you are not actually nocturnal at all?”
Twilight's voice had been quite surprised. She had started to ask Dreams a bit about herself, though mostly about thestrals in general.
Dreams simply nodded at the question.
“Yes, we are generally diacturnal. Just like everypony else. But for some odd reason we are just able to adjust to a different sleep pattern more easily.”
That had been a little tidbit that Twilight had not known, it was just often assumed that the thestrals where just naturally nocturnal.
Their conversation went on for a while, atleast until far after lunch had been served. The topics had ranged from common misconceptions surrounding alicorns and thestrals.
Though for some reason Pleasant Dreams had looked away and refused to talk further when the subject about them needing to feed upon blood on occasions.
Of course she had dismissed it wholeheartedly, but something seemed a bit off to Twilight. But since she still did not had puncture marks anywhere on her body nor had any real evidence of this practice ever been found Twilight was willing to let it go.
They had seemingly surpassed the initial awkwardness that had surrounded them when they had first boarded the graceful airship. Though at times the conversation still sounded a bit forced, and occasionally one of them stepped away from the other in a way that screamed 'leave me be for a bit'.
But all in all they had grown to be atleast a bit more accustomed to being near each other as it often tends to happen when traveling with an unknown pony.
Still they were a far cry from being good friends, or even lovers at that, but the start had been made that morning.
The innocent and rather naïve question from Twilight, why Dreams could be so chipper in the early mornings for a thestral, had sparked a long winded conversation that revealed that they both had one thing in common.
A incurable curiosity, and a sharp and intelligent enough mind to slake this thirst for knowledge. Though they both had completely different fields of interest. One liked the more exact sciences like magic, math and chemistry. The other seemed to prefer the looser subjects things relating to ancient lore and myths or simple philosophy to an extent.
But despite the difference, it was a way for them to connect in a deeper way than trying hit and miss tactics during the attempts at a serious discussion and their small talk before.
A few of the ship's crew allotted the change to the alcohol both had consumed the night before and that it had opened their minds enough to allow for usual honeymoon activities.
Though besides a more closer cuddle nothing of such sort had actually occurred.
But right now they had been silent. Simply watching the desert flow by beneath them. It was the first time for Pleasant Dreams to be so far away from the green region of Canterlot. Even during her time in Cloudsdale had she never seen something as arid as these lands.
But something caught her eyes, far in the distance she could see a small acclimation of what seemed to be houses right next a sea of green.
When she pointed it out to Twilight, the alicorn had simply smiled.
“Ooh, that must be Appleloosa.”
The sight made a small smile come to Twilight's face as an idea started to form in her mind.
“Hmm.... I'll be right back.”
When a set of confused eyes stared at her Twilight simply nodded with her head towards the steering hut.
“Just need to talk to the captain real quick.”
Though it was said in a friendly voice, the way Twilight had said it made Dreams' spine shiver a bit. It made her recall the tone her old masters' father had used with the servants, it told very clearly that he would not tolerate going against his requests.
Yet somehow, Twilight had made it a lot less forceful. Maybe it was due the fact that her stance was not aggressive in any way, or maybe it was the fact that she merely walked away without stomping on the floor or without shouting at anypony.
Perhaps 10 minutes later Twilight came out of the steering hut, a smug smile adorning her face. The captain had refused at first, but after a while he relented. A few chosen words and a set of decent arguments about service had been of great help in convincing him.
As she stepped outside Dreams approached her with a cautious look, experience screamed at her that ponies in the mindstate she had seen Twilight in before speaking with the captain is a bad idea.
“So euhm? What did you just do?”
Twilight did not need to answer, a sturdy turn of the wheel made the entire airship cruise towards the small village.
“We are going to visit a few friends of mine. Lets just hope they are home.”
And that was about everything Dreams could get out of Twilight as the latter had been staring over the railing.
With a curious look Dreams looked in the same direction and could see a large herd of buffalo stampede right underneath them straight towards the town in the distance.
She could not believe her eyes, a real life stampede! That was something one could only read about in books. The wild tribes of the west had been in a steady decline for ages as they had slowly integrated into Equestrian society.
“Is, is that a real buffalo herd? That can't be. I thought that they no longer existed in such ways!”
“Ooh yes thats a real tribe. Probably one of the last few who still live the traditional way. Chief Thunderhooves and his tribe live a few miles to the west. Most likely we will meet up with him later. He's keen to having his apple pie after the stampede for what I've heard.”
As the air yacht hooked itself up to several tree's in the Appleloosa orchard it had already attracted a rather large crowd.
Without an official boarding ramp Twilight and Dreams had to use their own wings to drop to the ground level.
It was at the point where Twilight's hooves touched the ground that Dreams made a resolution. When this trip was over she was going to take Twilight flying, as often as time would allow both for Twilight's sake as her own. Because that landing was everything but safe.
For neither of them.
As Twilight was attempting to knock the dust off her coat caused by her most recent 'landing' a large buffalo and a brown stallion with a stetson approached them.
Both with a large smile on their faces.
The stallion smiled even more brightly
“Highness, welcome back to...”
But before he could finish his sentence the buffalo placed its hoof over the stallion's mouth. “I believe she knows Braeburn I do believe she knows. But perhaps she could introduce us to her companion and explain her presence.”
He quickly added “Not that we would not welcome her after all her friends and herself have done for us.”
Walking towards Dreams Twilight simply waved a hoof to her friend.
“Chief Thunderhooves, Braeburn meet my wife Pleasant Dreams. Dreams, these are Chief Thunderhooves of the Thunderhoof tribe and Braeburn Apple representative of the frontier village of Appleloosa. And for our presence well we are on our honeymoon and where passing by on the way to our next destination.”
Twilight quickly waved captain Cloudsail over to their location as he had been flying down himself.
"And perhaps present a rather lucrative proposal to the township and the buffalo's. But captain Cloudsail can fill you in on more of that."
Hours later found the small group in Braeburn's house for a pint of cider. The first ever Appleloosan cider, brewed by the old Apple-clan recipe which had been altered a bit with ancient Buffalo herbal knowledge.
It had a bit of a harsher and more earthy taste, but both Twilight and Dreams found it to be a vast improvement over the champagne and expensive wines they had been getting on the ship.
Chief Thunderhooves and Captain Cloudsail had left sometime ago after some serious negotiations.
Just as Twilight had predicted and proposed to the captain he was able to procure a contract with the buffalo's and the village.
Appleloosa was now an official stop for the Luna's Grace, marketed as a visit to a real frontier town; a must see for everypony.
The rich and snobby will be seeing a traditional stampede from an angle where they cannot possibly get dirty, afterwards they will go for a real frontier dinner in the local saloon and they will be getting the opportunity to buy some hoofcrafted items from the townsfolk and the buffalo.
All in all for a price that was acceptable for all three parties involved.
With the cider flowing as richly as it had Braeburn had offered the royal couple a bed for the night.
Cuddled closer to each other then ever before on the 1.5 pony bed Dreams and Twilight finally found a decent position. Facing eachother face to face.
While Twilight had fallen asleep almost instantly Dreams had trouble sleeping. Her alcohol addled mind drifting back to her thoughts of the previous morning.
And now with the alicorn gently snoring the night away with her face right in front of Dreams it made the thestral even more confused then ever.
The whole trip, the way Twilight treated the staff at the castle or even the common pony here in a village in the middle of the desert. There was no doubt, she was for real there was no act. Not even the greatest actors could keep up that upbeat, nerdy and sometimes rather OCD-ish personality forever without it being the real deal.
It set something at ease in her heart and mind. Previously she had been giving Twilight the benefit of the doubt. But right now, with all she had seen Dreams made a vow to herself.
To atleast try and open herself, to try and befriend Twilight.
Closing her eyes she snuggled into the blankets. But before sleep could claim her Dreams felt the soft fur of Twilight gently pressing against her in a cuddling motion.
Hesitantly she placed her own hoof around Twilight, feeling the alicorn trying to instinctively snuggle further into the thestrals fur.
It felt different than any previous experiences, she might go as far as saying it felt nice and even calming.
If the rest of life with the alicorn would be like this then she could live with it. And while she was no materialistic mare, for 500 bits a week she would most definitely be able to live with it.
Even if the thought of selling herself like that did make her feel more than a bit dirty.
The next day came early, a bit too early if one would have asked both mares. But if one stays with a farmer, one will raise at dawn like a farmer and Braeburn was no exception to the rule.
But the simple breakfast he had provided with had been excellent, it reminded Twilight of the times in her youth she had been allowed to help in the castle's kitchen.
According to Celestia it had been an exercise, to help fine tune her telekinetic control over multiple objects. She had been clumsy due still very young age. But the taste of that fresh bread straight out of the oven with just a small layer of butter?
Nothing could beat that, yet Braeburn's still steaming sourdough was getting to be a very close second.
But for Pleasant Dreams? Who had only started getting decent food a few days ago, it was Elysium in breadform. Especially since it was nothing like the fancy overpriced and often overspiced food they served in the castle and the ship.
Saying their last goodbye's where the ship was anchored above the orchard Breaburn had promised to visit Ponyville soon.
Dreams had noted that this time Twilight's landing had gone a little smoother, while still horrible there was no faceplant into the deck.
Within seconds the captain had walked towards them.
“Aah you are here. Now then I do hope there will be no more unscheduled intrusions.”
A small glare went towards Twilight, followed by a somewhat greedy smile. It was obvious that he was being richly rewarded for the little deal in Appleloosa.
“Then now we all are back on the ship we can head off to our last stop where we shall be staying for two days before heading back. We should be arriving there early in the evening. Though I will not say where.”
He did not need to say anything. There was fairly little in the desert. The only thing it could be was about 100 miles to the south.
Las Pegasus, the den of debauchery and sin. The capital of gambling.
And the last place both Twilight as Dreams wanted to go to. But then again it had fitted perfectly in the picture of Bluebloods double-sided present.
All the rich and powerful loved to go there and flaunt their bits.
Not that Twilight wasn't powerful or rich (because lets face it she was rather well off. Being the royal protogé wasn't the best paying job in the world. But her numerous research in magic and alchemy made up for it bigtime.)
But it was the flaunting part that bugged her. She had flaunted a little bit in the past, like paying for 'the usual' whenever she went along with Fluttershy and Rarity or anonymously donating a large amount to the local school.
It was just how she looked at it, there was just no reason to start throwing around bits just to show that she was better off than others.
That just felt wrong. Especially since there were still others who were worried whether there would be enough bits to buy food until the next paycheck.
As the ship continued blurs of speech from the crew could be heard, but mostly it was the same obnoxious stuff all ponies visiting this particular city where spouting.
Dying to see this and this, wanting to change their luck through that.
Dreams just let them have their dream of a better future. She knew from personal experience that a dream could mean the difference between life and death. Between lawful slavery and freedom.
Still somewhere deep inside of her Dreams also felt the alluring pull of taking a chance. And she knew that while Twilight had been firmly against the city the alicorn would most certainly be willing to take a shot at it as well
The city of vice was even brighter up close then from a distance. Even the walkway from the air docks were paved with glitters.
Twilight had made the joke that there was enough of an energetic vibe in the air to even outmatch Pinkie Pie, simply buzzing with life all around.
But as the two went on the grand tour they sadly also saw the dark side of the city. Alleyways filled with ponies down their luck waiting for their ride back home.
Atleast for those who still had a home.
Even when the grand dinner show at one of the most renowned casino's did little to ease their minds.
Twilight thought it to be horrendous that a pony could simply gamble away everything they possessed without anything stopping them. She would be writing with Luna on that one for a while she suspected.
Celestia was great, a real good mentor and a even better leader. But Twilight had swiftly found out who had been the brains behind many of the laws and tax-systems.
Luna just had a better head for those things, she did not care that it would upset a few if it would benefit the many.
And on that Twilight had to agree with her.
Dreams however was more shocked by the sight of the 'taillifters'. She knew the industry, not from experience but many of the 'entertainment' on parties had been of the same kind.
Young mares, often barely out of their familyhood, lured into traps with promises of a good job and a bright future.
Only to be ensnared into a web they cannot ever find a way out of alone, and none outside the web is willing to even lift a hoof to help.
To say it had put a damper on things would be an understatement. Without visiting any of the slot machines or various tables.
One could say they were retreating to the only safe place in the entire town. Their cabin aboard the Luna's Grace.
With both of their minds and hearts downtrodden there was little conversation. Just an early bedtime.
The next day found them in a little bit of a better mood. They were even willing to try their hoof at some of the plentiful games.
But both had known it would happen and taken precautions for it. Neither had more than 40 bits on hoof. And they had promised to stay close to pull the other away if need arises.
Hours later somewhere around noon both mares had exited the casino. Pleasant Dreams had actually been forced to drag Twilight away from the Roulette-table by the tail.
Not because the alicorn was losing. On the contrary, Twilight had seemed to have figured out the exact calibration of the table.
It might have been rigged, but that did not stop her from doing what Dreams had thought to be impossible.
Twilight had achieved a win ratio of 9 to 1. Of every ten games played she had effectively got profit from nine of them. Baffling both the snobs surrounding the table, the croupier and even the owner of the establishment.
It had taken poor Dreams almost every bit of her self restraint not to burst into laughter at the scene the owner had caused.
He had burst in and accused Twilight of cheating. Twilight on the other hoof had simply looked at the stallion before going off on a lecture of epic proportions. Explaining into minute detail the math behind her winning streak
Apparently she had used some kind of probability-equation combined with estimates of the speed of the wheel and the ball. Combining that with the factors she had observed like prefered numbers and wins of other players.
She had claimed it to be nothing more than a simple game of chance that could easily be won if one had the right numbers.
But what Twilight had not realised was that she had lost all others, some brave souls had tried to write down what she had said. But the question marks in their eyes just grew larger and larger until Dreams had stepped in and simply dragged the still lecturing alicorn away.
Still it had proven to be amusing and it had proven a rather harsh and stubborn rumor amongst the nobles to be true.
Their new princess was a complete and utter nerd. One that would even go as far as to start pouting at Dreams for dragging her away from her little lecture.
It actually brought a smile to her face seeing Twilight act like a little foal being dragged out of a toy-store. It gave a sense of endearment to the whole persona Twilight seemed to have.
Over the course of the meeting, the wedding and the trip she had shown herself to be caring, sweet and hyper intelligent. But also having a bit of a OCD and being a bit of a worrywart.
And right now she seemed to be even a little naïve and foalish.
The following day the two mares found themselves having their final breakfast on the air yacht. It had sailed off towards their last destination early in the night. According to the crew it would arrive at Ponyville just before lunch.
To Twilight it was the beginning of a period of adjustment, adjustment to living with another mare.
To Pleasant Dreams it was the start of a new life, one filled with choices and uncertainty. But a life in relative freedom nonetheless
And both could not be looking forward to it any less.