//------------------------------//
// A Matter of Divines 
// Story: Odrsjot 
// by Imploding Colon 
//------------------------------//

	"It looks pretty cool, Your Highness," Rainbow Dash said from where she reclined lazily on the bow of the Noble Jury's hull.  She gazed up at the shimmering heavens as her pendant pulsed like a torchlight.  "The moonlight, I mean.  Even from so far away, in a country screwed over by war and slavery, your glow is still strong."

"It pleaseth us to hear that detail, at least.  Admittedly, we art not too proud of the negative attributes of that landscape."

"Hey, what can you do?"  Rainbow Dash shrugged with a smile.  "Besides... erm..."  She winced.  "B-besides raise and lower the celestial bodies and stave off chaos from devouring the heart of Equestria, I mean."

"We hath a great deal to discuss with thee concerning thy travels abroad, Rainbow Dash."

"Oh yeah?"  Rainbow Dash sat up.  "Shoot."

"We wouldst not wish to bore thy companions."

"Heh... Don't sweat it.  They've all gone to sleep." Rainbow Dash glanced over her shoulder at the cockpit windows where a lone elk gazed at his controls with glittering antlers.  "Well, most of them, that is."

"You certainly hath acquired a motley crew, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash shrugged.  "They're a bit wonky, but I like 'em.  Even the annoying ones like lardo and thunder horns."

"We beg thy pardon?"

"Ahem.  Josho and Floydien."

"Ah, but of course."

"So... uh... you said you wanted to talk about some serious stuff?"

"Affirmative.  Thou remembereth Axan, the Queen of Flame?"

Rainbow Dash fidgeted, flapping one of her wings instinctually.  "Erm..."  She gulped.  "H-hard not to."

"As thou may well know, she is one of five Matriarchs known as the Divines.  They were brood queens, siblings who were responsible for fostering the draconian population of this world.  They hath been on this earth for as long as the Alicorns of Harmony, and for many millennia we worked in tandem with one another to maintain peace and equilibrium."

"Well, looks like things didn't work out that well, huh?" Rainbow Dash said with a sullen expression.

"Indeed.  The alicorns dwindled in population, and both our magic and our resources grew thin.  We suspect that the Five Divines—if they still took it upon themselves to protect this world—subsequently spread to the furthest points of the physical plane."

"And you all lost contact with one another..."

"Indeed, and if what Axan told us remains true, then the Divines have acquired more knowledge about this world than our sister and ourself hath been capable of learning. Chiefly, the fate of this very plane..."

Rainbow Dash gulped.  "Do you really think it's all going to end?" She gazed at the jagged horizon, christened by stars all around her.  "It's such a big world.  I can't imagine it going kaput overnight, even if 'overnight' counts as a few hundred years."

"Nor can we.  To that extent, we have attempted to bridge communication with the Divine Queen located west of Equestria."

"Oh?"

"Her name is Sturke, Queen of the Equinox, and apart from Axan she has been the last of the Divines with whom we and Celestia have associated.  In the past, Sturke hath proven to be a great deal more agreeable than her four siblings.  We art hoping that if Sturke is still alive, then she will be able to help us in areas where Axan has only proven to be both cryptic and adverserial."

"But... like... how do you plan on reaching this 'Sturke' Queen?  From what you're telling me, she's just somewhere 'west' of Equestria."  Rainbow Dash rubbed her scalp through her prismatic mane.  "Seems like you'd need an expedition of some sort..."

"Precisely."

Rainbow Dash did a double-take to the heavens.  "Wow... no kidding?"

"Princess Cadance, a mortal alicorn in high standing within the Canterlotlian Cabinet, and an ambassador of love and harmony, is flying west with a convoy of five airships.  She is being accompanied by Shining Armor and Flash Sentry, two esteemed stallions of the Canterlot Defense Force.  Overall, the expedition numbers in over three hundred Equestrian explorers.  We are in constant communication with Cadance much like we are with you."

"Whoah whoah whoah—Wait!  Does that mean you're interrupting your talk with them by chatting with me?"

The air was silent for a few seconds, as if occupying the space of regal laughter.  "Fear not, Rainbow Dash.  We art in possession of pluralized speech.  Hath thou not stopped to consider that we art likewise in possession of pluralized hearing?"

Rainbow Dash blinked.  "Uhm... no..."  She chuckled.  "So, like, how long ago did this western expedition thingy begin?"

"Two weeks prior to now.  We had hoped to inform thee about it during this lunar cycle."

"And you totally did.  Heh... Fancy that..."  Rainbow Dash smirked.  "That's like a story in and of itself."

"Indeed.  All of Equestria is quite fascinated with the nature of the expedition."

"But... uhm..."  Rainbow Dash gulped.  "You haven't... uh... haven't—"

"We hath no intention of informing the populace of the world's ill-fate, at least not until we art in a position to ascertain more truth.  We can speak for Celestia in this manner as well."

"Well, right.  But I was kind of asking about—"

"Nor have we informed any pony about thy terminal condition.  This is a secret that we wisheth to keep secret, in thy honor.


"Yeah.  Okay.  Good."  Rainbow Dash sat down with greater ease.  "So... Princess Cadance, huh?  Can't say I've heard of her."

"That surpriseth us.  She is a prominent figure in Equestria, to say the least."

"But 'Shining Armor,' that totally sounds familiar.  Didn't he marry the Princess or something?"  Rainbow Dash's face scrunched up, and then she gasped.  "Horseapples!  That's right!  He's totally Twilight's big bro, isn't he?"

"That he is, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow Dash shuddered, resting her muzzle against a pair of crossed forelimbs.  "Well... uhm..."  She gulped.  "I really hope he has a safe and successful mission."

"We carry the absolute same sentiment."

"You'll... uh... you'll fill me in when or if they make any contact with this 'Sturke' of the Equinox Dragon Queen person, right?"

"Indubitably.  For gaining more knowledge on your own travels and the words of Axan is the very crux of that expedition."

"Plus, I bet it wouldn't hurt for Alicorns and Dragons to shake hooves again... or claws..."  Rainbow slicked her bangs back, then blinked.  "Hey, Your Highness, just who are the other Divines?"

"Axan, Queen of Flames, you already know personally."

"R-right..."

"Then there is Verlax, Queen of Frost, known for her conniving wit and occasionally duplicitous ways."

Rainbow Dash shuddered.  "How pleasant..."

"Nevlamas, Queen of Magic, was once a close companion of Celestia and myself.  However, she was the first of the Divines to break communication with Equestria.  The last we heard from her, she had retreated to a distant part of the world, concerned about a deep-seeded darkness seeping through the plane.  Considering Axan's dire words as of late, we now hath reason to suspect that Nevlamas may have been onto something."

"Eh... maybe.  Seems like all you immortal types like to talk with a bunch of mystery."  Rainbow Dash bit her lip.  "No offense."

"None hath been taken."

"Was there another one?"  Rainbow Dash gulped.  "Another Divine?"

Luna's voice was gravely silent for a while.  At last, she uttered, "Endrax.  Queen of Shadow.  If thou wisheth to have an archetype for mystery, she most certainly was the very epitome of it."

Rainbow Dash's teeth felt like chattering for some reason.  She kept her cool.  "What's her deal, exactly?"

"Not long after Nevalamas disappeared, Endrax vanished, but only after making a bold claim."

"Which was...?"

"She was heading towards the Dark Side of the world.  For what purpose, she did not specify.  Sturke attempted to reason with her.  Axan was ambivalent.  And Verlax... well... it hath always been hard to read Verlax, but she almost seemed amused with the entire situation."

"Yeesh... Glad I don't have any sisters."

"Rainbow Dash, the departure of Endrax was nearly thirty millennia ago.  There simply is no telling what plans she had in mind for the Dark Side of the World, whether it was benevolent... or something quite the opposite.  All we know is that the speed and intensity with which she exited the realm of light suggesteth something dire."

"I feel like you're really bent on telling me this for some reason," Rainbow Dash uttered, squinting into the starlight.

"So many eons hath passed by, Rainbow Dash.  We cannot pretend to know what awaits for you upon the moment you reach the Midnight Armory.  But it is quite likely that Endrax will be there, in some for or another.  And if Axan has already been so adversarial to you..."

"Princess... Princess, please..."  Rainbow Dash smirked as she waved a hoof.  "I do my best thinking in the here and now.  And tomorrow, I gotta look after a zeppelin full of ponies, as well as go about a way of finding them food before we get to some floating city in the sky."

"We cannot help but think in the long term, Rainbow Dash, especially since..."

"I'm honored that you would do so much for me and my journey, Princess Luna.  And I promise—for your sake as well as for this western expedition of yours—that I'll get as much information as I can for as long as I'm able.  But face it..."  She exhaled heavily as she looked forward towards the moon-kissed eastern horizon.  "The odds of me reaching the Midnight Armory, much less the edge of the world..."  Her voice trailed off.

Quietly, Luna's voice filled the void.  "We believeth in thee, Rainbow Dash, with all the might and intuition at our disposal."

"Yeah... well..."  Rainbow Dash blew some bangs out from her brow and smirked tiredly.  "Even immortals can't resist awesome..."