“Verlaxion's blessings,” said the guards at the city gates to Kunmane. They wore simple leather armor with shiny brown helmets. The ponies smiled as they nodded at those entering the township's southern entrance.
“Verlaxion's blessings!” Groups of ponies gathered in clusters turned to smile and wave at those just freshly arriving from the southern pass.
“Verlaxion's blessings, children!” Elder mares stood outside of storefronts. On wrinkled limbs, they shuffled out, hoofing out necklaces with tiny white shards strung together. They soon returned to their regular gossip, laughing and chuckling under an air of mirth.
“Uhhhh...” Rainbow fidgeted slightly as an old mare approached her, stringing a necklace of tiny white crystals around her head. “Thanks...” She raised a hoof to keep her hat on. “...what do I owe you?”
“Heheheh...” The mare stepped back with a gray smile. “Why... eternal respect to She who unified the Six Tribes, child.” She leaned back on her haunches, hugging herself with a “shivering” gesture before brushing her right hoof across the length of her left forelimb and towards Rainbow. “Verlaxion's blessings.”
“Er... yeah. Back at ya—” Rainbow's eyes twitched upon an invasion of pink fluff.
“Isthatarockcandynecklace?!” Pinkie breathlessly belched. “Please tell me that's a rock candy necklace!”
“How the heck should I kn—?”
“LICK IT!” Pinkie Pie bellowed. “LICK IT NOW!”
Rainbow flinched, then did as she was told. She brought one of the crystals to her tongue, then let the thing dangle around her neck again. “Tastes... like salt, actually.”
“Salt Ice!” Sweet chirped.
Rainbow looked over. “Huh?”
“Heehee...” Sweet smiled. “It's a very special treat, shipped in from the east—where the Unicorn Tribes congregate.”
“Probably the one big tradition that comes from outside of Kunmane,” Reeds added as the three threaded through the dense crowds. “Which is perfect, because today is all about celebrating unification. And with unification there comes diversity.”
“Ehhhh...” Pinkie Pie yawned. “Close enough.” She looked over Rainbow's shoulder. “Oooh!” Ears twitching, she floated the opposite way. “Are they playing Rohbreddenite Skiball?!”
“So...” Rainbow pawed at the necklace dangling beneath her chin. “Unicorns made this stuff?”
“Well,” Reeds explained, “Originally ponies of the central provinces would hang literal icicles around their necks. Then, once the shards thawed, they'd bow on their knees, thank Verlaxion, and then join the rest of their friends in games and song. Butttttttt...”
“It's too warm in west Rohbredden to follow that tradition to a T!” Sweet pleasantly said. “Same with the twilight farmfields to the east! So a buncha unicorns fashioned a cross-continental version! And, what's more, they made it edible!” She giggled. “Salt Ice! Literally melts in your mouth!”
“...?” Curious, Rainbow Dash stuck a crystal shard back into her muzzle. She suckled on it for a bit, enjoying the salt flavor. Within seconds—however—it dissolved, chilling her tongue and gums with an undeniably cold sensation. “Mmmm!” Her eyes twitched. “Yeesh. That's crazy awesome.”
“I know, right?! Squee!” Sweet bounced in a circle. “We're home! We're home! We're home!” She inhaled again. “We gotta go find Mom and Dad and tell them all our fish tales and about how we got here and—ohmygoddess—we gotta introduce them to Scootabelle!”
“Ermmm...” Rainbow Dash fidgeted. “Y'know, guys, about that—”
“Heh... it's alright.” Reeds winked. “Consider yourself our guest. We know you're a light traveler from afar. In Kunmane, we don't force visitors to present gifts anyhow.”
“Well, I really going to say that—”
“Come on, Reeds!” Sweet tugged the stallion along. “We gotta get there before they give out all the tail tinsels!”
“Sis! Calm down!” Reeds chuckled, stumbling after her. “We don't wanna lose Scootabelle, do we?!”
Rainbow Dash trotted briskly, but kept a measurable distance from her companions.
Rarity and Twilight floated up on either side of her.
“You know...” Rarity took a breath. “As much as I hate to say it, Rainbow darling, but it'd probably be for the best if we did let them lose you.”
Twilight nodded. “We don't have the same luxury as everypony else here to stick around and celebrate... ermmm...” She fidgeted, glancing nervously at the thick crowd of merry equines filling the streets and marketplaces around them. “...the anniversary of a pretend Goddess' staged salvation.”
“Yeah...” Pinkie floated back, muzzle scrunched. “It's kind of pathetic when you think about it. So many delusionally cheerful ponies giving into an ancient lie fabricated by a loco dragon—” Her eyes lit up again. “OH WOW! They have chocolate covered pretzels! With caramel rice squares! Oh Dashie! We gotta go munch on some!”
Rainbow made a face. “How can you possibly taste the stuff?”
“I'll just smell it in your muzzle as you chew!”
Rainbow sighed. “For realsies? I could go without food for now” Her brow furrowed. “But for later...?” She gazed ahead at the figures of Sweet and Reeds. “If I'm to clear the heights of Stone Prefecture, I could use all the provisions I can get. And it seems like these siblings and their family are willing to provide.”
“Rainbow Dash, I know that you need food and other things to make your journey happen.” Fluttershy gulped. “But... d-doesn't this feel a bit like taking advantage of Sweet and Reeds' family?”
“Hey.” Rainbow shrugged. “If they offer, they offer! And I'm totally willing to receive!” She smirked. “Besides... I did save their hides back there in the Petrispines yesterday... whether they know it or not.” The pegasus shrugged. “Seems karmic enough.”
Fluttershy nodded. “I guess that's true.” She smiled gently. “I don't see anything wrong in accepting kindness.”
“Well, I do,” Rarity muttered. “Rainbow, whatever you plan on doing at these ponies' household, you must make it brief. Time is of the essence and you must not attract attention.”
“And just how much attention do you think I'll attract if I suddenly bail on them, huh?” Rainbow strafed form side to side to avoid the bustling crowd. She trotted down a line of half-buried turf houses with obscured chimneys filling the air with the magnificent scent of home-cooked foods. Families trotted up the front stairs, holding out dishes of every imaginable color and texture to share with neighbors and strangers alike. “We gotta aim for a middle ground, here. If I stay forever, I could get in deep manure. If I leave right away—Celestia knows—Reeds and Sweet might get all worried and send a lookout party for me.”
“Well, let's hope your 'middle ground' is pretty low profile,” Twilight said. All she had to do was gesture to the right. “You're not exactly able to outrun infamy.”
Rainbow squinted. She sighed upon seeing the blue profile of a rainbow-mane'd rogue. “Well, at least they got my nose right.”
“Look out!” shrieked a foal.
Rainbow flinched. She crouched low, dragging her hooves into a fighting stance—
A filly scampered past her, wearing a ghostly sheet of trailing white tresses. A group of foals in paper armor chased after her. “Everypony, watch out!” one of them shouted. “A wendigo is on the loose!”
“We gotta herd it back into Verlaxion's throneroom!”
“Melt it! Melt it good!”
The adults standing in the street turned to look, smile and chuckle at the scene. Several more foals picked up fake armor and gave chase. There were little earth ponies with fake wings—others with sea pony flippers, griffon beaks, or unicorn horns.
“Awwwwwwwwwww...” Fluttershy smiled, hugging herself with a rosy complexion. “You know? Just... d'awwwwwwwww...”
“Yes...” Twilight snorted. “...religious ignorance is positively adorable.”
Rainbow took a breath. She resumed her canter, pursuing the blue dots of Reeds and Sweet. “You know... all things considered... I've seen worse.”
“Rainbow...” Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes. “What could possibly be worse than an entire continent full of thick-minded citizens worshipping a draconian pretender?”
“How about a floating mountain full of hundreds of pious unicorns all committing communal suicide?” Rainbow glanced at her, ruby eyes dull. “After torturously sacrificing countless Ledomaritan prisoners of war to the jaws of a chaotic psychopath?”
Twilight blinked, then shuddered. “You know what...?” Her ears folded back. “...maybe I don't know as much as I think I do...” She winced. “Or want to.”
Rainbow nodded. “Ignorance is more common than oxygen. We don't know a whole lot about the alicorns, and I doubt the alicorns know a whole lot about themselves. What Verlax has done to this continent is pretty sucky for sure. But... all things considered?” She gestured at the ecstatic crowd around her. “This ain't all too shabby.”
“Meanwhile, amoral cretins are enslaving children on rusty platforms across the ocean,” Rarity muttered.
“Point well made,” Rainbow said. “If there's anything I've learned in my travels, it's that there isn't a place that doesn't suck in some way or another. But... y'know... let's not hate on the ponies for their blindness. If I wasn't so dang busy having to headbutt my way east, I'd do something good to help out each and every one of these lands. And—heck—I have done good stuff. But... it's never simple. Like... heh... don't even get me started on Durandana...”
“I understand, Rainbow Dash. And I apologize.” Twilight took a deep breath. “It's just that... I get so bothered by this sort of thing. There's so much information in the world and so few ponies who truly grasp the truth!”
“We're in that same boat too, Twi.”
“Yeah, but we're skimming on a higher tide and—” Twilight winced, then waved her hooves. “I'll stop. Stopping. My bad.”
“Hey... don't hold back. For serious.” Rainbow smirked. “Just because you're an egghead doesn't mean you gotta trot on eggshells.”
“Hey!” Pinkie Pie pointed at one of the colts galloping after a “windigo.” “How come that kid's got a 'mane' and 'tusks?'”
“Erm...” Fluttershy rubbed her forelimbs together. “Maybe he's a wyvern?”
“Good heavens.” Rarity shuddered. “I hope we never run into those along our journey!”
“You wanna bet on it?” Rainbow trotted along. “Fluttershy? How's the griffon alarm in your pink skull at the moment?”
“Uhhhhhm...” Fluttershy rubbed her head, squinting. “Nothing... out of the ordinary. Of course...” She gulped. “It's all fuzzy at the moment with all these ponies.”
“Fuzzy is good.” Rainbow ducked through the crowd. “Now let's see Reeds and Sweet Senior.”