It was when Rainbow Dash was about three blocks deep into the streets of Archer Point that she realized why the village was so easy to spot from afar. Many of the buildings stood over five stories tall, which was a queer thing—seeing as many of them barely covered more than one hundred square feet in area. Every structure was built tall, and to last tall, with heavy concrete foundations that also served as the perfect locations for basement storehouses. Many of the balconies were heavily decorated with hanging gardens, including every glittery kind of flower imaginable, as if the lofty neighbors were trying their damnedest to compete in some sort of high stakes floral decorating contest.
The structures of that town were merry, but the ponies themselves were merrier, especially on this day of all days. Ponies—children and elders alike—danced and frolicked around bonfires. Rainbow Dash, Bellesmith, and Eagle Eye saw equines—both tattooed and not—joining hooves as they pranced circles around smoldering pits.
Pilate's nostrils flared. He leaned into his beloved. "I smell something burning... like moldy paper..."
"They're throwing stuff into the bonfires," Belle murmured back, trying to speak above the noise of sheer ecstasy. "Looks like government sheets."
"They're mandatory ration notifications," Eagle Eye said. "We used to be issued them in Franzington when I was a colt."
"Really?" Pilate motioned his head towards the heat of a bonfire as they trotted on by. "What language is it in? Ledomaritan or Xonan?"
"Both." Eagle Eye blinked.
"Gather around, everypony!" Collins sang into the air, waving a hoof as the group entered the downtown area. "We've got our very first visitors from the west!" She stood up on a box and waved towards the four. "Trade routes are officially reopened! Here's our evidence, right here!"
"Erm..." Bellesmith blushed as she nervously stammered, "We haven't agreed to trading anything, yet..."
"Oh, and nopony's forcing you to, darling." Collins leaned in, whispering with a wink. "But, trust me, just the fact that you four ponies are here is a welcoming sign to the equines who make a living in this city."
"Uhm..." Belle gulped. "Okay..." She smiled nervously.
"Curious." Pilate leaned forward. "With trade routes starved over the recent past, just how has this community managed without open commerce?"
"Oh, by working together in social harmony, of course!" Collins chuckled cheerfully.
"You mean like a commune?"
"I guess you could say that." Collins pointed towards a series of warehouses. "See over there? We have storehouses full of foodstuffs foraged from the southeast forests. Granted, it took quite a bit of lengthy, arduous trips, but every few months—we managed to grab what we needed!" She turned and pointed to a larger structure. "And there's the town hall where we established a temporary house of treasury where we all pitched in—" She gasped, covering her muzzle as she stared awkwardly at Pilate's face. "Oh, good heavens! I j-just noticed your eyes! You c-can't see a single thing, can you? I'm so sorry!"
"Heh..." Pilate smiled as he stood close by Belle's side. "Nothing to be sorry about, Ms. Collins."
"No, truly, I-I can very easily get ahead of myself." She hopped down to lay a hoof on the zebra's shoulder. "Especially as of late." She giggled inwardly. "I-I'm just so excited about this conflict finally being over! I almost feel like a little filly again!" She leaned back with a sigh. "Why, I was barely at my cutie mark age the last time we could function without any imposed rations."
"Is everypony... sure that the cease fire is permanent?" Eagle Eye asked, shifting uncomfortably. "Because I've seen my fair share of action." He twirled about, facing the gathered crowd. "And usually this kind of stuff is called off within a matter of days, putting everypony's hopes up for no reason—" His pupils shrank and his ears droop. "Oh, darling, th-those silks are to die for!"
Two young mares in shiny dresses giggled and nodded.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, then turned to gaze at the architecture of the tall-tall buildings looming above them.
Meanwhile, Collins said, "I suppose it makes perfect sense to be pessimistic. But, you have to understand, living so far beyond the front from both sides—we hear all that there is to hear about the War, both coded and uncoded." She smiled with rosy cheeks. "This is the big one, folks! The Xonans have already committed to drawing back several miles to the east and the Ledomaritans are giving up several once-contested landscapes! There's already talk from both ends—in both tongues—of drawing forth several latitudes of neutral territory until both nations can come to a permanent agreement!" She hopped and hopped with a squee. "And guess who sits smack-dab in the middle of those latitudes?!"
The ponies cheered and hollered once more.
"Whew..." Belle turned to smirk at her mate. "This town's like kindergarten on the last day of school."
"So you're not the only one overwhelmed by their euphoria?"
"You mean you're not creeped out?"
"I'm not if you're not, beloved."
"Heh... deal." Belle nuzzled Pilate, then glanced at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow hovered limply, her lips pursed. Her eyes floated over the red, pink, and violet hues of the buildings' wooden finish. She stared at the overflowing flower pots, the dangling gardens of lavender and daisies. Finally, she stared longingly at the balcony railings and window shutters knotched with horseshoes and hearts and prancing pony silhouettes.
"Rainbow?" Belle tugged on the pegasus' tail, gazing sympathetically up at her. "Is everything okay?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah. Yeah sure." Rainbow swallowed and said, "It's just this town. It has..." She took a deep breath, her ruby eyes turning a bit glossy. "...some familiar qualities to it, is all."
Belle smiled. "Rainbow, you can relax."
"But—"
"Unless they plan on drowning us in flowers—" Belle paused to giggle. "—I'm sure we've got nothing to worry about. And even if we do—we've faced battleships, managliders, and a giant dragon. We can totally take whatever anyplace had to throw at us."
"OmigoshOmigoshOmigosh!" Everypony looked over to see Eagle Eye feeling the outstretched sleeve of a smiling pony mare. "You m-mean you sell this stuff in stallions' pajamas?" He bit his lip to the bleeding point, his hooves kneading the floor as the ponies chuckled around him.
"Then again..." Bellesmith rolled her eyes as Pilate chuckled.
It was then that Rainbow Dash noticed the crowd growing thicker around them. She looked—then gave the line of equines a double-glance. The bulk of them were staring up at her in particular.
"Wh-what?" her voice cracked.
"Rainbow..." Bellesmith hissed.
Pilate finished, "I imagine it's your wings that's drawing their attention."
"Huh? My wings?" Rainbow glanced at her flapping appendages, then back at the ponies. The veteran traveler's mind experienced a whiplash, taking her back to the warm, sunny days before dragonfire and cannon shells. "Oh. Right... Eheheh..." She fluttered down to the ground and coiled the feathers in question at her side. "I... kind of forgot those were a big deal."
Two elder ponies were whispering into Collins' ears. The mare listened, nodding quietly. Suddenly, her amber pupils shrank, and she made a face. "No way! It couldn't be!"
"What couldn't be?" Bellesmith asked.
Collins trotted past her and Pilate, pointing at Rainbow Dash. "Her... she... she's just a pony!" the mare exclaimed. "Granted, the wings are absolutely splenderifous! But the pony everyone's talking about was like a living flame! Trailing cosmic essence and billowing mana!"
"Uhhhhh..." Rainbow Dash leaned forward. "What pony is everyone talking about?" She gulped. "Is... th-there another pegasus?"
"Why, haven't you heard?" Collins smirked. "The only reason this legendary cease-fire began in the first place is because a beacon of living color shone upon the bloodlusting troops of the Eastern Front! One pony—a flying pony—single hoofedly revealed the true enemy that had been hidden among the ranks of both Xonan and Ledomaritan kind! Skystone conversations carried aloft on invisible leylines speak of an angelic figure bursting out from the earth, clearing the sky of all obscurity, and pouring the morning sunlight on the dead and dying! Demons in hiding were revealed, and they all fled from the light while every soldier stood in shock, witnessing the cost of their needless slaughter!" Collins grinned. "Apparently, it was quite the... religious experience to behold!"
"She was a messenger, I tell ya!" a pony in the distance barked.
"A sign of change and renewel!" a stallion pronounced.
"She also fired lasers out of her eyes and breathed fire!" a filly cheered.
Rainbow snarled. "I do not fire lasers out of my eyes!"
Everypony in Archer Point gasped, reeling back from the pegasus as if she was some messiah.
Rainbow winced, bowing her head low. "I mean... n-not that I know of..."
"It's... it's true!" a mare stammered.
"You're her, aren't you?!" another beamed, dancing in place. "And you came in with a skystone ship! Like the one ponies say fled the battlefield after dawn!"
"It's her!"
"It's the pony! The flying pony of light!"
"Look... look!" Rainbow waved her hooves high before the antsy, grinning crowd. "I don't know what you all think I am, but this is the simple, honest truth." She pointed towards the docked Jury beyond the edge of town. "My friends and I need to restock on stuff. Now, you haven't had many ponies visit you in a while, so odds are we might have things you guys could really be needing! So, if we could just discuss an exchange of goods and then be on our way—"
Bellesmith cupped two hooves over her muzzle. "Who'd like to donate food and metals to the Flying Pony of Light?!"
"Yeahhhhhhhh!" everypony jumped and cheered, making the ground shake.
Rainbow winced. She zipped over by Belle's side and hissed into her ears. "Ding-donggg?! What in the fuzzy brown belly of Discord do you think you're doing?!"
Bellesmith smiled. "Come on, Rainbow Dash. Since when weren't you a fan of the spotlight?"
"Nnnnngh... Belle? Seriously—"
"Seriously!" The mare smiled sweetly. "They could use some inspiration, you could use some cheer, and we both could use an exchange of wares!" She winked. "Strikes me as win-win-win!"
Rainbow's eyes swiveled over. "Pilate...?"
"She's my beloved for a reason." The zebra smirked. "Also, you have to admit, this is all rather fortuitous."
"Yeah..." Eagle Eye trotted over with a dizzy smile. "Fourteen tortoise..." He slumped down and nuzzled the closest thing. "Heeeeee... real... silk..."
Rainbow stepped aside, causing the lavender unicorn to collapse into the grass. "Unnngh... This was the last thing I signed up for..."
"Oooh! Ooooh!" A filly ran up, hopping up and down. "Tell us how you fought the dragon!"
Rainbow squinted at the kid. "Huh?"
Another foal ran up, staring with doey eyes. "We heard there was a big, nasty, terrible dragon on the battlefield! She was burning up ponies and doing awful things!"
"But you took her out, didn't you?!" Another filly grinned from ear-to-ear. "With your light from the deep earth n'stuff?"
"For your information, I wasn't the pony who took out the dragon," Rainbow grumbled, then stared off beyond the tall apartments. "But, rather, it was the sacrifice of a mare who... really surprised us all in the end."
"But you certainly went a few rounds with it, right?" A colt raised his hoovse and "boxed" the air. "Knocked out its teeth n'stuff, yeah?"
Rainbow Dash frowned. "Look... everypony, for real." She glared up at Collins. "War isn't pretty. Lasairfion was a huge phony who caused the deaths of tons of innocent mares and stallions. On top of that, the dragon was a really, really wicked creature and there was absolutely nothing cool about fighting it!"
An hour and a half later...
"And so I grabbed the crooked antlers of the giant freak and rubbed my pendant like this!" Rainbow Dash grinned wickedly as she touched her Element, causing a ruby glow to shine across the sparkling eyes of the foals and ponies gathered below her. "And—pewwwww! A big shimmering laser of unbridled harmonic energy goes pouring out of my necklace, melting all of the chaos crystals that had grown along the Dark Divine's skull! Crkkkkkk! And she's all "Hraaaaauckkkkkkkkkkkkkkttt-klik-klik-klikkkkkk! You stupid, courageous ponnnnnnny! You've destroyed my beautiful chaoticnesssssssckkkt-klik-klikkkt!"
"Whoahhhhhhhhhh!" Every young pony grinned clapped. The adults murmured, smiling, and gave into uproarious applause.
Rainbow smirked, hovering in a reclined position above the group. "Yup..." She rubbed the end of her hoof across her chest and stretched it behind her dangling mane. "She had no choice but to stop flying! Flew her right into a friggin' mountain, I did." She winked. "From the way my grip on her antlers felt, I swear—it felt just like suplexing her into sea level!" Her voice cracked "It was totally cool!"
"You brought down the dragon twice?!" a colt stammered.
"Well... only the first time, really," Rainbow Dash shrugged. "The second time goes to Khao, like I told you before, Celestia rest her soul." A beat, and then the pegasus brightened. "Hey! Wanna know about the super evil minotaurs I once fought?! I suplexed them too, y'know!"
"Hoooooooray!" The foals all cheered and clapped.
Along the fringes of the thick group of listening villagers, Collins shook her head, smirked, and turned aside. "She's certainly astounding. You're lucky to be such close friends with her."
"Hmmmm..." Belle nodded, leaning against Pilate as they both sat on folded hooves in Rainbow's shadow. "That we are."
"Though you may wish to think up a different adjective the next time you speak to her," Pilate said.
A pony trotted up and whispered into Collins' ear. The mare nodded, then gasped pleasantly. Folding her hooves together, she bowed towards the couple.
"Good news!"
"Really?" Belle smirked wryly. "That seems in abundant supply in this town."
"Heehee... truly, though. I've just received word from the Mayor. We were arranging a special community breakfast feast tomorrow morning, and we would be enraptured if your entire crew joined us."
Bell leaned in and murmured into Pilate's ears. The zebra's metal brow furrowed, and he tilted his muzzle up. "Would there be grilled cheese?"
"Erm..." Collins fidgeted with an awkward smile. "I'm... certain that can be arranged!"
Belle giggled. Pilate smiled and nodded. "I do believe we would be honored."
"And how would Ms. Dash feel about the invitation?"
"Uhhhh..." Belle glanced up at the pegasus, who was charading a pair of minotaur "horns" and "lumbering about" in midair. "I think it's safe to say that she won't be available for comment anytime soon." Belle turned. "Eagle Eye?"
"Hmmmm..." Eagle Eye wrenched his eyes off Rainbow's tall tale and blinked the mare's way. "Yes?"
Belle winked. "Go on and fetch the crew. Tell them that everything's alright."
"Oh! Uhm... S-sure!" Eagle Eye stood up from where he squatted besides a dozen children half his size. He blushed slightly, dusted off his knees, and galloped towards the zeppelin tower where the Jury was moored.
With a sigh, Belle leaned into Pilate. "Pilate...?"
"Yes, beloved?"
She closed her eyes and nuzzled him. "I love you," she whispered.
He smiled and slid a hoof over her shoulder, drawing her closer as they both listened to Rainbow's ramblings.