//------------------------------// // I Will Diminish, and Remain Camellia // Story: Ynanhluutr // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// “You're a pony who has been through many trials and tribulations, Rainbow Dash,”” Camellia's words rung loudly in the mare's head. The siren in the floating sphere of water stared down at her, slitted eyes bright and narrow. “And you've had many trials and tribulations funneled through you.” The Princess cocked her equine head to the side, headcrest relaxing. “I am not the first soul to have ventured into your mind. I sense the presence of great warmth and wisdom here...” Her eyes pulsed a hot emerald. “Bellesmith... Whitemane...” Rarity and Twilight threw glances at Rainbow Dash. “Is... is she talking to you, Rainb—?” Twilight asked. The pegasus nodded, staring past the unicorn. “That's right, Your Highness.” “And I also sense great terrors.” Camellia's jaw clenched tight and her tail curled up. “Nevlamas... Chrysalis...” Rainbow shuddered. “Guess my skull's a regular hotel, huh?” “The one you label as 'Chrysalis' in your mind,” Camellia remarked. “I've sensed her before. Or at least pieces of her.” A cold shudder rippled through the watery sphere. “Some of them have even been here. In my city. Among the land-trotters.” Camellia swallowed, her eyes flickering. “They too were being pursued by her, and... I sense that they've been caught. Devoured, even.” Rainbow gulped. “Verlax...” “No doubt they proved a terrible threat, and the Queen of Frost chose to deal with them as she deemed necessary.” “Do you think that I'm a threat, Princess?” Rainbow remarked, trotting forward. “Because—if you know anything about me—then you should know that Verlax has her eyes on me just as she did on Chrysalis' hatchlings. In fact, I'm pretty sure you were trying to warn me—” “Indeed.” The royal siren nodded. “But... you are quite different than the ones belonging to this Chrysalis...” “And how do you know that?” Rainbow asked, which made Twilight and Rarity flinch slightly. “Is it because you sense Whitemane's trust in me? I bet it's been ages since you felt the presence of an alicorn.” “A personal observation, my little pony,” Camellia said. “Verlaxion's eyes are on you, and you know it. Still, regardless of what you fear... you're determined to press onward, even piercing your way deep into the home of the Queen of Frost.” She slowly shook her snout. “You are not running away from your perceived adversary. That is quite a remarkable thing.” “Is that why you've summoned me here?” Rainbow asked. She pointed back at the door behind her. “And why you've 'arrested' my friends?” “I brought you before me for many reasons. But let us not make believe, Rainbow Dash.” Camellia's scaled muzzle curved ever so slightly. “The land trotters behind those doors aren't your only friends.” Rainbow took a deep breath. “How do you know about them?” Camellia's headcrest lifted curiously. Rainbow clarified: “How do you know that three ponies now stand before you?” She gestured aside. “Nopony can see the spirits of my best friends.” “Your love for them is real,” Camellia said warmly. “Your loyalty and dedication is undeniable. There are souls—both of land and sea—who lose their minds to the elements, and their phantoms are merely echoes of their own fractured comprehension. That is not the case with you. Your mind and soul is separate from the invisible beings you commune with. It's something that I've never before witnessed in a pegasus, almost like a smaller scale of the collective consciousness my underwater subjects share. You are a pony like no other, Rainbow Dash. Perhaps that is why Verlaxion is seeking you.” “Do you... honestly have no other idea why she's after me?” Rainbow Dash remarked. “Is it just because I'm unique? That I'm flying towards her while all other targets of interest try to run away?” “The Great Queen Verlaxion possesses a powerful intellect, even above that of the sirens,” Camellia said. “Her greatest gift, however, is not sheer mindpower... but it's her age. Her experience. She was alive when the Six Tribes unified, and I suspect she was even around in the age when the ocean civilizations made peace with one another. But there's even more to it than that.” “Like what?” Rainbow asked. Camellia slowly shook her snout. “She does not share such knowledge with our kind. We sirens are the closest that the Six Tribes have to an existing monarchy from the old age. I do not blame Verlaxion for withholding that which empowers her. In her mind, it could mean a risk to her solidarity for other monarchs to carry even a piece of her wisdom.” “Could it be that Verlaxion is withholding more?” Rainbow asked. “Like... a hidden truth that—when discovered—could shake the firm believe that all of Rohbredden has in her?” Camellia cocked her head to the side. “You mean the fact that she's an ancient dragon matriarch? Rainbow frowned. “Did you just get that from my head?” Camellia was silent... in more ways than one. Rainbow blinked. “You mean you already knew...?” “It would make the only logical sense,” Camellia said. “I have never met alicorns, my little pony, but my ancestors have. Sirens imprint their memories onto the minds of their descendants. As a result, I have vivid recollections locked away in my consciousness that tells me what alicorns are like. Queen Verlaxion does not match this unique alicorn signature. She lacks the innate power of harmony incarnate. However... she does match something that clings to the essence of alicorns... something that was inadvertently imprinted onto my ancestors when they associated with the cosmic equines. For all my life, I've wondered what that signature meant. But now I feel it in full detail, laid out before me.” Rainbow's face scrunched in thought. At last, she blurted: “Axan... Nevlamas...” She gulped. “I crossed paths with them... and that's why you sense who they are?” Camellia merely nodded. Rainbow remained staring at her. “If you know what I know about Dragon Divines, then maybe you can understand why I'm so distrusting of Verlaxion.” “Indeed...” Camellia drifted forward slightly in the sphere. The guards and finmaidens followed closely. “...but ask yourself this, Rainbow Dash. Is your distrust based solely on painful experience? Or the words of Chrysalis?” Rainbow Dash winced slightly. Nevertheless, she replied: “Chrysalis was no longer in a place to afford deceiving me when she told me what she knew... or thought she knew about Verlax. As for myself...” She nodded. “Heck yeah, I'm distrusting about Divines! One went nuts with chaos and another ripped me to friggin' shreds!” “Oh dear...” Rarity shuddered, grimacing. “And yet that very same Matriarch, Axan, restored you,” Camellia remarked. “Looked after you. Intervened to save your life from her sister.” “What are you trying to say, Your Highness?” “Unlike alicorns, these Divines aren't creatures of Harmony, but they are capable of wielding it... as well as chaos. They discover a middle-ground that gives them balance... much like you, Rainbow Dash. Or... should I say 'Austraeoh?'” “Then just what is Verlax?!” Rainbow exclaimed, stamping a hoof down. “Harmony? Or chaos?!” “She is quite well acquainted with both. No doubt this is how she's foreseen your arrival. You are a veritable beacon of both Harmony and Chaos, a constant flux that seeks to change the world, and thereby save it.” “And just how much do you know about that... about this?” Rainbow remarked. “Urohringr? The Machine World? The Ancient Pegasi? The whole kitten kaboodle?!” Camellia simply stared at her. Twilight leaned in. “She knows a lot, Rainbow, but she doesn't know everything.” Rainbow sighed, hanging her head. “I know...” “Your friends echo your concern, Rainbow Dash,” Camellia said. Rainbow looked up. “You didn't come here to be lectured. You are after something... or perhaps someone. In either situation, there is a destination in mind.” Camellia tilted her head back, eyes squinting. “I can help you get there. And, perhaps, you can help me.” “Help you?” Rainbow's brow furrowed. “In what way?” “I shall reveal that to you quite thoroughly, but first...” Camellia drifted back in her sphere. “It is only fair to tell you that there will come a time and a place where my power will be of no use to you. If we're to work together to accomplish our goals, then I will need your faith just as much as you will need mine.” “Can you get me inside the Machine World where Verlax last left her blessing here?” Rainbow asked. “I understand that you have a grand quest to undertake, but Shoggoth is in great need of healing—as is the rest of the world—” “Can you get me to the Machine Layer or not?!” Rainbow snarled. Twilight opened her mouth to protest, but Rainbow snarled, phasing through her and barking: “Well?!” “I can,” Camellia answer. “But there, you will be on your own, behind the barrier that Verlaxion herself has erected.” “So...” Rainbow swallowed a lump down her throat. “...it's a trap.” “No.” Rainbow blinked. “No...?” “Rather... it is something else entirely.” “Something else?” Rainbow's ears twitched as she shared glances with Rarity and Twilight. “Like what?” Camellia said, “A test.”