//------------------------------// // A Time of Innocence // Story: Odrsjot // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// "A time it was," Pilate was the first to murmur, although he did it with a graceful smile. "Please..." Eagle Eye instantly whimpered, his muzzle scrunching up beneath glossy eyes. "Don't be poetic. Not now. Not about this..." "Eagle Eye..." Bellesmith quietly spoke. "I don't know how I'm going to get up each morning." The stallion sniffled, running a hoof over his moist cheeks. "Knowing that I'm going to have to spend the day without seeing you two." "We'll be fine here," Pilate said. "And thanks to Props, we'll be able to communicate for a long while—" "But it's not the same!" Eagle Eye stamped his hoof, stifling a sob. "You all are so... so..." He shuddered, then smiled, his tears running down rosy cheeks. "So beautiful. Such a beautiful little family." He gulped. "I want to have one just like yours someday. I can... only hope..." "Shhhhh..." Belle drifted forward. She hugged the stallion dearly, nuzzling his trembling neck. "Beauty is everlasting, and it's your truest quality, EE. You're going to find that home, that happiness, and that fulfillment. And you're going to discover that the beauty never left you. It started the day you were born." She smiled, sniffling herself. "And I thank you for letting Pilate and myself witness it for ourselves." "You've done s-so much for me, Belle," Eagle Eye said with a shuddering voice in her ear. "You showed me what true friendship is. You and Pilate... so honest... so sincere..." "It takes one to know one, Eagle Eye," Pilate said from a breath away. "We were meant to crossed paths. Of this, I am most certain." "Cr-cross paths..." Eagle Eye sniffled, giving Belle's mane one last loving stroke. "I don't think any soldier's ever been luckier." "You mean lucky to have fought Ledomaritans and Xonans in the air?" Kera smirked. "To have blown up half of Blue Nova and gotten shot at by death cannons?" Eagle Eye choked back a giggled and nodded, eyes moist. "Every moment of it. I've seen war and devastation, but you are the true ponies that have been worth fighting for." "Now it's time to fight for yourself, Eagle Eye," Belle said, stroking his shoulders. "You have a glorious future waiting for you, and I see much beauty in it." "Thank you..." Eagle Eye hugged Belle as tightly as he could while his lungs shuddered. "Thank you all so much... for believing in me... for inspiring me..." "It was our pleasure, darling." Belle kissed the side of his head, then gazed softly over his shoulder. Rainbow Dash stood in view, tall and strong. A tear ran down Belle's cheek. She patted the stallion's shoulder, and the two drifted apart. Eagle Eye gave Pilate a sweet hug, then knelt down to nuzzle Kera. In the meantime, Bellesmith trotted forward until she stood a shuddering breath's distance from the pegasus. Rainbow Dash gulped a lump down her throat and smiled weakly. "Lookin' smart there, Ding Dong." Belle bit her lip. "The first moment I saw you... after Pilate had pulled you loose from your constraints deep in Blue Shelf... I thought that you were beautiful, sweet, adorable." She gulped. "Like a doll bestowed upon us from a land far away." She trotted a few soft steps forward. "And now, after all the trouble we've been through, after all the things we've done to survive—both horrible and noble—I realize..." She sniffled, then smiled warmly. "That my thoughts couldn't have been any further from the truth." She placed a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder, and the pegasus let loose a limp chuckle. "You're really bad for my rep, y'know that?" Rainbow Dash shuddered. "If we had stayed together any longer, Belle, you and Pilate would have made me gone soft." "You were always soft, Rainbow," Belle said quietly, her chestnut eyes warm and caressing. "Just because you keep flying and just because you keep outlasting death, it doesn't mean you have to hide it." "I never thought I had to," Rainbow murmured. "And then, after what happened in Ponyville, I realized... that I had never given myself a chance." She grimaced slightly, then exhaled, "Thank you, Bellesmith, for giving me that one last chance..." "Rainbow..." She drifted forward and hugged her. "It doesn't have to be the last." "It won't... won't be the same," Rainbow said, hooking a forelimb around the mare's shoulder. "I don't think I could allow any more ponies in." She gazed off into the distance, nostrils flaring. "Besides, there won't be enough time." "Haven't you learned anything from your travels?" Belle leaned back, smiling at Rainbow with a tearstained face. "You're too awesome to lose to time, Rainbow." She wiped her cheek and giggled slightly. "You'll find a way... so long as you want it..." Rainbow simply stared at her. After a few seconds, she broke her gaze and looked over at Pilate. A chuckle. "Heh... Y'know, Stripsey, I never can get over it." "Get over what, friend?" "Just why don't you rhyme?" "Hmmmmm..." Pilate smirked as he drifted past Eagle Eye and Kera. "I may be blind, Rainbow, but I know who the spotlight's always belonged to." "Darn tootin'," Rainbow said with a nod. She fidgeted, biting her lip. "You'll take care of Belle, won't ya?" "Only when they're not too busy taking care of me." "Hey, don't be so hard on yourself," Rainbow said, poking him in the chest. "I don't wanna have to come back and kick your flank for being a typical stallion." "I'm certain Josho will be a good stand-in," Pilate said in a humored tone. "No..." Rainbow shook her head. "Nopony... c-could be." Her ears folded back, and she spoke with a cracking voice. "You know, in another life, I'd call you 'damn handsome.'" "Oh really?" Pilate cocked his head to the side. "And what about this life?" "Damn handsome." She flew forward, hugging him tight with both her forelimbs as well as her wings. "Keep those fuzzy ears lifted skyward, silly zebra, because when I'm kicking flank east of here, it's gonna be for you and your beloved." Pilate smiled, nuzzling her neck. "I have no doubt, Rainbow." Belle let loose a squeaky sound from her quivering lips. She dashed over and hugged Rainbow from behind. Not long after, Eagle Eye drifted in and hugged Rainbow and Pilate. Kera trotted an awkward circle around the group before she too leaned in and nuzzled the hugging quartet. Thunder rumbled in the north, sending a gust of blistery wind south over the fields, blowing at the manes of the five equines. After a full minute, the hug parted. Eagle Eye stepped back while Rainbow Dash lingered in place, holding Belle's and Pilate's hooves together in her own. She smiled with misty eyes, took a breath, and finally... finally let go. Squatting down, she stared intently at Kera and spoke. "You keep a close eye on them, ya hear me?" "Sure thing, Rainbow." "They're like a well-oiled machine," Rainbow said. "And loyalty's their fuel. Think you can fill in for me?" "Uhhhh..." "Trick question." Rainbow Dash winked. "You're gonna have to come up with something snazzy to make up for the gap of 'awesome.'" "Pfft!" Kera stuck her tongue out. "I think battling a chaos dragon has made you sassier." "I'll have to take that seriously from the Queen of Sass." Rainbow reached out and ruffled the filly's mane. "Jeez, it's just not the same with it straight like that." "Heeheehee... I dunno..." Kera straightened her bangs as she gazed softly up at Rainbow. "I think I've grown to like it." "Yeah. Change is a funny thing, isn't it?" Rainbow stood up straight. "Just remember who the boss is." She gazed back at Belle and Pilate, then at the eastern mountain peaks overshadowing the valley and the village below. "Well, my wings could certainly use a stretch." "May the Spark bless your journey, Rainbow," Pilate said as he and Belle leaned together. "Funny, that. I think it already has." Rainbow gritted her teeth, tightened her muscles, and turned towards the Noble Jury, ripping Belle and Pilate from her sight. "Come on, Eagle Eye," her voice trembled, the fascimile of a stalwart tone. "Let's mosey."