A Picture's Worth a Thousand Trusts
Theanim Mane leaned against the railing of the hotel balcony. He gazed upon the vistas of Rust in silence—digesting its glittering canals and charcoal-black sheets of metal support struts. Boats—both motorized and wind-driven—glided lazily through the artificial streams. On the platforms, ponies gathered in droves, chatting and bartering.
Most of the time, however, the scientist's blue eyes rested on the burnt-out sight of the apartment complex across the way. It had been nearly a full day, and yet still the edges of the structure still smoldered with lingering ashes.
By this point, Rainbow Dash had hovered to the stallion's side. She perched on the balcony railing like a seabird and looked down at the stallion. After a few seconds, her tail flicked, and she nervously murmured: “Doc? Are... are you sure you're okay with this?”
“Yes, Miss Dash,” Theanim said, though his voice was a low drone. “It needs to be done, does it not?”
“You certainly don't sound thrilled,” Rainbow muttered back. Her ears twitched. “Y'know what...? Buck it. I've made enough ponies suffer on my behalf.” She reached into her saddlebag and fumbled inside. “This mare still has a super precious dagger that she never intends to use.” She winced suddenly, then hissed into the sunny air. “I know! Just... j-just deal with it, Rarity!” Fighting a frown, she began unfolding the heirloom. “A part of me thinks I should have given it to Sinrar. But I guess I was just too much of a selfish coward—”
“Put it away, Rainbow Dash,” Theanim grumbled.
“No! For real, dude!” She pointed at the sliver of etched Val Roan metal. “There's gotta be somepony in this town who will pay for nearly as much to—”
Theanim glared at her. “I said put it away this instant!”
Rainbow Dash instantly winced, her wings drooping. Eyes locked with Theanim, she slowly obeyed, slipping the dagger and its wrapping back into the saddlebag.
Theanim's nostrils flared. “That is not just a gift. It's the only surviving piece of another world.” In a calmer tone, he gazed once more at the artificial lagoon beneath them. “Other than you, that is. And you're no less precious.”
“I... I just feel awful, Doc,” Rainbow muttered. She fiddled with the prismatic fibers of her tail, biting her lip. “I wish there was another way. But... everything has been so last second. This was the best option we could come up with.”
“Something you're rather used to using to your advantage,” Theanim said with the slightest of smirks. “Impulse and gall. I knew it when I first decided to study your actions up close... much less join you. Why should I be so surprised now?”
Rainbow said nothing.
“In truth... it would have mattered a great deal to me,” Theanim said. “Months ago. Blissful weeks into the past when I was a different stallion... a blinder stallion.”
“Uhhh...” Rainbow Dash fidgeted. “Wh-what do you mean, Doc?”
“What else?” He looked at her with tired eyes. “You made a good point just a moment ago,” he said. “It's what a hero does that defines him. And yet...” He shrugged. “There will always be the belief, won't there?”
“I... I suppose.”
“It's always been an inseparable thing in my mind,” Theanim explained. “Belief and actions. Everything must serve a purpose... a divine purpoes.”
“Verlaxion's...”
“You might cast so much of your reasoning aside, Miss Dash. You may indeed insist that everything you do is not premeditated, and that you are... feeling the winds of fate, as t'were. But that doesn't quite... work for me. I work towards a common conclusion... a provable theorem. Otherwise, what is the point of trying to accomplish anything? And though you might insist that all we're here to do is make actions happen... I must know—even if it's humoring—what is it that you believe?”
“Doc...?”
He turned towards he, eyes hard. “What do you truly believe about the Queen Verlaxion? What purpose does the Goddess Giver play in this... in all of this?”
Rainbow Dash's muzzle opened, but she hesitated. Her eyes darted towards a space of air to the right. After a few seconds, she clenched her jaw and looked back at Theanim. “You really wanna know, huh?”
He nodded slowly. “With every fiber of my being.”
Rainbow took a deep breath. “I believe that Verlaxion... that Verlax the Dragon Matriarch is a Deceiver... but not the same Great Deceiver that Kihutajans and other Colonialists scream and holler about in knee-jerk panic.” She gulped and hopped down to the platform, standing on his level. “But I believe that... a very long time ago... she came to a watery place full of mortals dealing with some pretty intense crud. And she found a way to make the lives of everypony and griffon and wyvern better... so long as they chose to respect her in the way that she demanded... growing stronger and stronger throughout the centuries... until—here in modern times—everyone forgot that she was some crazy powerful dragon chick and instead have penned her as a goddess pony... queen-thing.” She exhaled, ears folding back slightly.
Theanim simply stared at her. “And you think her ultimate goal is nefarious?”
She slowly shook her head. “Whatever it is that she wants... I've no reason to believe it's for the greater good.”
“You're so certain about this?”
“I believe it with very fiber of my being.” Rainbow gulped. “But...”
Theanim raised an eyebrow.
“It really doesn't matter.” She paced her way past him. “I'm... I'm just trying to fly through... collect my friends at the Five Seeds... then get my awesome flank over the dang edge of the world. Cuz—like it or not—that's when and where the real business begins.” She leaned against the patio with a sigh, resting her fuzzy blue chin on the railing. “As crazy as all of this is... it's just a friggin' preview of what's to come. And even after all of the super nifty things you've done for me—out of the goodness of your own heart—I'm... j-just going to have to ditch you sooner than later. For your own good... though it most definitely won't be for mine.”
Theanim looked at her. “And if you should discover—in your travels—that Verlaxion... that Verlax is as demonic an obstacle as the dragons you've faced before—”
“I hope it won't come to that, cuz I'm pretty sure it will kill me and waste any chance I have of salvaging the rest of my friends.” Rainbow gulped. “But... beyond everything I even care for... the whole world is at stake... and something even bigger than the world... than twelve worlds.” She turned around, eyes narrowing on Theanim. “With all of that in mind...” She eventually nodded. “...you can bet your goggles I'll kick Verlax's butt when I have to.”
The stallion hung his head.
“I'm... sorry that I can't make the grand picture any prettier than that, Doc,” Rainbow muttered.
“Don't be. To do anything else wouldn't be right.”
“Huh?”
Theanim lifted his face up. “As a photographer, the most heinous crime I could commit would be to doctor the images I capture. I am—above all things, Miss Dash—an explorer of truth. And when I stumbled upon those mechanical oddities within the belly of Nealend...” He waved a hoof in the air. “...I captured something that woke a spark from deep within me. And it's been illuminating my path ever since...” His eyes darted towards hers. “Much like I believe it's been illuminating yours ever since your journey began. Only... as hard as it sounds... your lantern was something tempered by tragedy and loss... but it was a true light, nonetheless. And a bright beacon at that.”
“I know it sounds arrogant...” Rainbow bore a calm smirk. “...but that light gets awfully cozy the more beacons you add to it.” She winked to her sides.
Theanim smiled, then produced a long sigh. “Do you... trust these so-called Desperadoes who have decided to assist us, Miss Dash?”
“I... uhm... I know that they've made things clumsy and painful for us in almost as much time as they've done the opposite... b-but...” She took a sharp breath, the nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I do.”
“Then they have my trust as well,” Theanim said. His gaze was hard. “Your faith is not so flippantly given, Miss Dash. That—of all things—I have faith in. But... I could stand for more.”
“More?” Rainbow blinked. “More what...?”
“I need to know that what we're doing here in Rust goes beyond simple vengeance upon a clandestine group of ambitious economists,” he said. “Which is why...” With a hesitant shudder, he hoofed over his camera box. “...I-I want you to take this with you into the headquarters of the Syndicate.”
“Huh? Your c-camera?” Rainbow Dash nearly blanched. She cradled the thing awkwardly in her hooves. “But... but what for?”
“Miss Dash, you are about to embark upon the greatest infiltration this city has ever seen,” Theanim said. “If you're about to pierce the depths of the Rust Boss' vault, then it's safe to assume that you'll have access to their documents, business letters, etc.” He pointed at the camera. “I implore to use that to capture as much evidence of the organization's illegal practices of arson and blackmail and murder that you can.”
“But... but Doc...” Rainbow chuckled breathily with a shrug. “The bros and I are gonna be waist-deep in floodwaters and thugs! How do you expect me to find the time for—”
“You make the time,” Theanim said with a heavy frown. “As a sign of your gratitude for what I'm about to do with my precious ship.” He took a firm step forward. “If all we do here is commit a crime without the burden of proof to legitimize our brazen acts, then we will lack any and all leverage to make a case against the Syndicate—both Northern and Southern Hooves—the moment we arrive in Shoggoth. Princess Camellia is... not without her remarkable intuition, but she's bound by the Muddredger Code and she will not be able to help us if all we've got to show for ourselves is a vagrant cabal of common thieves.”
“Whew...” Rainbow whistled. “Wow, Doc!” She turned the camera over and smiled at him. “You really think things through, don't you?”
“Well, somepony has to!” Theanim leaned back with an incredulous smirk. “All this time, you and the Desperadoes have been plotting some fantastical caper like a bunch of excited little foals...”
“Heh... good to know that we have a scientist to carry us the whole time,” Rainbow said. “And a photographer to boot!”
“In the end... I only wish to live up to the 'hero' part,” Theanim said.
“Yeah, well...” Rainbow slipped the camera way. “You're my good friend, so I guess that means you're halfway there.”
Theanim chuckled. “Good to have your vote of confidence.”
“You can have way more than that, Doc.” She looked up at him. With a deep breath, she said, “I will get those pics for you, Theanim.”
“And I...” He shuddered, yet fought through the malaise to say: “...will get us those seats on board the Mark Two.”
“Yeah. See if you can get window seats.”
“Please, Miss Dash.” He rolled his eyes. “I'm selling the Midnight Dreary, not the stick up Echo's rectum.”
“Good point.”
Stats
Page generated in 0.036 seconds
Total duration
710 users online
1,047,835 hits today, 2,280,440 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
These past few chapters have really made Theanim shoot up on my favorites list.
Anywhoo, good to see the conversing about the true-or-fake Draconic Divine.
I feel like Theanim letting go of his boat is letting go of some of his connection to the Order, and thus letting go of some of his connections to Verlax. Good for him.
Also good to see that someone is trying to have something good come out of the inevitable perfect storm of chaos that is about to follow.
An early chapter?
edit: Thunker Meat is great in this chapter.
And... here we go. Someday Theanim, you will see the Truth for sure... that these beacons Dashie carries around are very, very real.
image.dhgate.com/albu_200261317_00-1.0x0/charm-boy-s-gifts-stainless-steel-2mm-golden.jpg
Its a very expensive stick
Wow, Rainbow really has only been getting better at this whole 'changing the lives of every single pony she walks to for long' thing huh?
Between selling his boat, loaning his camera to Rainbow, and seemingly coming to doubt his beliefs in Verlax, part of me wonders if IC is setting Theanim up for a death. All the talk of being a hero and making sacrifices certainly lend to that notion.
Sneaky double updates in one day. Didn't even notice until now. Looks like things are finally about to set sail.
As much as Dash is a natural leader at this point, she is always willing to listen to her subordinates-her friends-and that's respectable.
Seriously though, good call on keeping the dagger. something tells me it's going to come in insanely handy.
I'm going to go along with the flow...yeah, Theanim is really setting himself up to be a martyr at some point in the near future.
You've been lucky so far Dash, but eventually you'll have to crash.
-Memories given light, ease a lonely flight. Ynanhluutr.
I kinda like the way Rainbow Dash is... humble in this chapter. She could've just given Theams a metaphorical kick in the ass, or a pat on the back, but decided to take the subtle way instead.
Goes to show yet again how much she values her friends.
6184146
I could see it.
Dash yet again being subtle in her speeches but not forgoing the harsh truths ponies need to hear.
A hero's life is always a tragic one.
I just randomly realised that we still don't know Echo's actual name. It kind of puts him into another perspective when you keep in mind that we only know him by his alias this entire time.
Funny how he's among the more trustworthy people now. Not counting Mr. Theanim Integrity Mane of course.
See, this is why I love ):(. Thunker Meat is struggling with his faith, but he maintains it nonetheless. We all know that ):( is a born-again Nietzschian, but he allows Thunker to stay faithful. A lesser, or more assholeish, atheist would make Thunker out to be a fool or idiot, or make a point to shatter his faith and "reveal his idiocy."
No push-ups this round, ):(.
So not only do they need to give in Echo, somehow rescue him, steal all the bits while escaping before the place is flooded down, or get sucked into tubes that force the water out at mach speed, but now they also need to get evidence from the syndicate's crimes too? This will be good
I'm wondering if this plan qualifies as stupid, because it sounds incredibly well thought out. And if it's not stupid, then you can't be sure it will work.
Poor Theamane is hitting that part of science that scientists hate teh most. Where theire beloved god given ego driven belief, turns out just to be their own private hallucination, making them wrong, instead of what is actually occuring.
If you wish to be a true scientist, there is but one horrifying unfortunate truth.
The universe doesnt Care what you believe.
Oh, I redid the numbers, and I can get the maximum population of the multiverse up to about 2^ Five million, up from 2^4 Million.
I get that to be Kardashev 11
6184758 logic at is finest :)
He should let Rainbow keep the camera once they are done. There's an entire other world out there to record after all.
6185467 I agree.
6184758 Just because a plan is thought out doesn't make it smart. Four ponies and a griffon going up against an entire organization with minimal equipment and prep time seems pretty stupid to me.
I like that the story is still centered on Rainbow, and even though Twilight and Rarity are there with her, and talking, we aren't always privvy to what they are saying, keeping them more to the sidelines. I like that a lot. Wouldn't be the same if East-Horse wasn't front and center.
6184069 Twilicane?
Yay! Theanim is coming around to Team Dash.
Theanim really knows his stuff. I'm glad for someone like him.
-Spirit (Yeast and Treacle)
Poor Thunker Meat, having his world shaken down to its coral by the Rainbow One's quest. He's stronger than I'd taken him for.
Now it's time to find out if these hoof-stomping Snide-i-Cat weaklings can swim! Whoop!
I did that fart spit laugh thing with my mouth.
Theanim's a bad guy. He works for the Southern Hoof or some other mob type organization, and his bosses want pics of the Syndicate's documents SK they can do a full takeover.
Calling it now.
Episode 100 anyone? Derpy?
Poor Theanim. It sucks to be told so many contrary things towards his religion and still be sane. I'm surprised he's taken on all this information so well, in fact.
Will it work... or will it not?
The plan's come together... and everything will go wrong the second they walk in.
Theanim just became Jury material, and has proven to be a dayum good friend.
And I know this plan'll work because it's the right mix of crazy, stupid awesome, and convoluted. And it has magical, super ghosts.
6184029
Same here.
There it is.
Because seriously, it seemed kind of weird of them to plan that entire caper just for bits. They *could* have sold the boat for passage and left clean... then pulled off the heist in Shoggoth instead.
I hope Mr. Mane sticks around awhile. I thought Nick and Sinrar would too but we all saw how that ended.
So uh, does Rainbow Dash even know how to use a camera? And just what kind of camera even is this?
I suppose that likely the camera mostly works on magic. Admittedly, Rainbow dash should probably be at least somewhat aquainted with its mechanics after spending so much time with Theanim.
Here's an interesting somewhat related wikipedia article.
At any rate, if Rainbow Dash just comes back with a bunch of blury document shaped photos, I totally called it.
Theanim has a good point, solid evidence is a lot better to make a case with than the word of an addict and hearsay. Another addition to the plan, but a good one for once.
10/21/2019
20:41 UTC
I've been wondering about this since they started planning this caper. Seems they plan to just run, but they can't hide on the ocean so it's important to have something to actually stop the syndicate's pursuit. The help of the ruler of shoggoth would certainly help.
9897705
Definitely adds water to the platter. If word doesn’t wash the eyes, then visuals would make it clear.
Friends make the dark days just a little brighter.
Dang, not a bad idea Doc. Get some full on proof that the Syndicate is shit, so that we won't have them up our ass in the future.
9984003
That and the other syndakit.
6184284
How many friends has she beaten up first?