Vanellope looked up in time to catch a glimpse of the rainbow trail leading away over the forest, then lowered her head to rest it once more on Ralph's back. She smiled at the cosy warmth of his coat, and had to resist the urge to snuggle her nose into him more. After their hug earlier, the two of them seemed to be even closer. At least, she was comfortable enough to sleep near him and he was comfortable enough to let her do that. She exhaled a contented sigh through her nose.
"Are you alright there?" Ralph chuckled, looking at the small mare on his back.
"Yes," she nodded, losing her inner battle and nuzzling him. "You're a very comfortable pillow, fit for a princess." As the last word left her mouth, she gasped and covered her mouth with her hooves.
"I thought all the muscles would make me more like a rock than a pillow," Ralph admitted. For a moment, Vanellope thought that he'd either ignored or just not heard her slip-up, so allowed herself to relax and wriggled down so she was leaning against Ralph's side.
"I'm on your back, not your shoulders or rump," she giggled. His body shook with laughter too.
"Vanellope, are you a princess?" he asked, catching her completely off-guard. Her first instinct was to lie, but he'd proven that he was trustworthy. So, after looking around for any spies, Vanellope nodded and stepped under the canopy of thicker trees. Knowing that her wings were visible, she pulled off her cloak and revealed the mangled feathered mess on her sides.
"Yes," she said quietly, looking at him nervously with her black fringe falling in front of one eye. "But please, don't tell anyone else. The King will probably have his spies out looking for me and as soon as they find me, he'll throw me in the dungeon. I don't wanna go back there." She sniffled and swiped tears away with a hoof.
"I promise," Ralph assured her, rising to his hooves and walking slowly over to where she still stood beneath the canopy. She smiled up at him and he nuzzled her reassuringly. "I'll protect you, princess."
"My hero," she giggled, and threw her forehooves around his neck in a hug.
Early the next morning, the two of them moved on. Vanellope didn't want to stay in the forest for too long, and Ralph wanted to be somewhere where they couldn't be taken by surprise. Besides, he added, he wanted to see civilisation again.
"So, if you don't mind talking about it, if you're a princess, why are you travelling around with a pony like me? Wouldn't you rather be in your castle on your throne?" Ralph asked as they trotted along the empty path.
"I thought I explained it last night but maybe you weren't listening," she scoffed. "I'll tell you when we stop for the night, it's a pretty big story and I'll probably cry several times while telling you."
"Will it explain why your wings look like they do?" Ralph asked, and she nodded immediately.
"Trust me, I really miss flying," she grumbled. "I never realised before how hard the ground is! How do you earth ponies and unicorns manage it?"
"We grew up on it," Ralph chuckled in response.
The two soon reached a small town, and to Ralph's relief nopony stopped him from entering the settlement.
"What do you want for breakfast? I'll pay," Vanellope offered, nosing around in her cloak for the pouch of gems.
"Are you sure that you should be paying with gems if you're trying to keep a low profile?" Ralph asked with a slight frown. "If a travelling mare keeps paying with gems, surely somepony's bound to get suspicious."
"You're right," Vanellope muttered, frowning too. "But I don't have any bits. What would you suggest we do?"
"Get work," Ralph suggested, trotting up to a noticeboard outside the town hall.
"Who would've thought somepony like me would ever be doing work?" Vanellope giggled, and scanned the notices for work that interested her. She knew that she was fairly good at cleaning, she didn't like the idea of foalsitting very much, she didn't want to work in a job where she'd have to see strangers on a daily basis so markets were out... at last, one caught her eye and she pulled it down happily. She turned to look at Ralph and found that he'd already found himself a job too.
"So, what'd you get?" Ralph asked around the piece of paper in his mouth.
"Waitressing," the princess responded easily, levitating the notice beside her. "I figure that the waitress outfit will be a pretty good disguise, and I'm friendly enough to serve hungry ponies. What about you?"
"Cleaning work," Ralph informed her after spitting the notice out so it landed in front of him. "With my size, I can clean out barns and other big places pretty easily."
"And you don't mind getting a little messy to do so," Vanellope nodded. "Okay, I'll go ask for waitressing work and you can go see about cleaning jobs. I'll meet you at the restaurant for breakfast in about half an hour."
"Deal," Ralph agreed, and picked up his notice before trotting off to the address on the paper. Meanwhile, Vanellope trotted off to the cafe.
Vanellope was greeted by a silver-coated mare with a black mane and tail. Her name, fittingly enough, was Pepper.
"Hello dear, how may I help you?" Pepper greeted her kindly.
"Good morning, my name is Vanellope and I was looking for part-time work. I found your notice on the noticeboard," Vanellope introduced herself, holding out a hoof for Pepper to shake. She willed her coat-changing magic to not ruin this for her, and for once it seemed to be leaving her alone.
"Oh, you noticed that," Pepper nodded, and Vanellope resisted the urge to snicker. Now was the time to look like a responsible adult. "Well, just wait here while I go get Salt." Vanellope allowed herself a smile when the mare left. Salt and Pepper were fitting names for a couple who owned a cafe.
At last, Pepper returned with a stallion who was almost pure white.
"Salt, this is Vanellope. She's here about the waitressing job," Pepper introduced the two. "Vanellope, this is my husband, Salt."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," Vanellope smiled at him as they shook hooves.
"So will this be a full-time or part-time job you're looking for?" Salt inquired, leading Vanellope into an office at the back of the cafe.
"Just part-time," Vanellope replied, seating herself on a cushion on the other side of the desk. It felt good to have a cushion beneath her rump again.
"Well, we could use a mare like you to cope with the holiday rush," Pepper figured.
"Yes, that would work very well," Salt agreed. "So, how about it, Vanellope? We'll pay you three bits an hour and you can keep any tips you get."
"Deal," she nodded eagerly. She'd never worked a day in her life before, but it couldn't be too hard taking orders and remembering tables while pleasing customers, could it?
"Great! You start tomorrow," Salt informed her. "Thank you for taking this job, Vanellope."
"Not a problem," Vanellope smiled easily. "I'll be back tomorrow morning to start." She trotted out with a smile on her face, pleased at having got her first ever job.
Over on a farm, Ralph was speaking to the farmpony who'd advertised work on the noticeboard.
"I'm sure glad you found that notice. My barn's a right mess and ponies these days can't take an honest day's work," the farmer huffed. "Clean out my barn and I'll pay you a hundred bits. Two hundred if you can manage to get that big ol' nest of vermin out of the hayloft. I tried but the beast darn near turned me to stone!"
"I can do that," Ralph informed him easily. "I'll do it today if you like."
"If you do a good enough job, I might just let my friends know about you," the farmer added with a wink.
"Great," Ralph grinned. "I'll be back as soon as I have my breakfast." As he trotted away, there was a spring in his step. For once, he wasn't being shunned or feared because of his size. Rather, his size was helping gain the respect of others. He was still grinning when he reached the restaurant that Vanellope was waiting outside of.
"So, I'm guessing by that smile that your application was successful?" Vanellope asked with a grin.
"Yep," Ralph nodded eagerly. "The farmer promised to pay me a hundred bits, and he'll double it if I get rid of a nest of cockatrices."
"I got a job too, in waitressing," Vanellope reported. "Salt and Pepper, the owners, were happy to have me and they'll pay me three bits an hour plus I get to keep any tips I get."
"Have you ever waitressed before?" Ralph wondered.
"No," she admitted sheepishly. "But how hard can it be?"
"Famous last words," Ralph chuckled, but she just smiled and led him into the restaurant. For an hour, the two of them could feel like they were somewhere they truly belonged. And it resulted in smiles that nothing could wipe off their faces.
I'm on a roll! Jawbreaker coming very very soon.