[PLOT - PRP] A Reflection's Meaning [FINISHED]

[FA Mysteries]

As Celestia focused, the colors and forms on the surface began to coalesce into images. Nothing was ever very clear, but the images were distinct from the swirling colors and shapes she'd been seeing.

A small blanket spread over a bed.
A ripe pomegranate, broken open, its jeweled fruits spilling over.
A curtain of blue drawn over white.
A pair of brown rabbits nuzzled closely.
A woman in a blue mantle, smiling gently.
Red lanterns made of thin paper, set aglow with some otherworldly light.
The full moon itself.

Then, the images began to bleed into Celestia's other senses.

Laughter, both familiar and unfamiliar.
The feeling of waking suddenly, terrified, in the middle of the night.
The taste of hazelnuts.

And then, almost as if the vision had entered her body itself, Celestia could feel the vision.

Why did her hooves ache suddenly? And her back?
Anxiety and joy swelled in her heart at the same time.

The feelings were as fleeting as the vision. The pond returned to its normal, silvery gleam, and Celestia could see no more than her own reflection.

o0_Daisuke_0o

 

[Daisicle]

Not taking her eyes off of the surface, the princess waited only moments for any instructions from Portia before pictures, actual pictures, started to form before her. More so to herself than the demi-goddess beside her, she took to quietly saying the things she saw as they came to her. "A blanket upon a bed... A ripened pomegranate split apart with jeweled fruits flowing from it... A blue curtain against white..." She rubbed her hands against her arms, the chill of the night combining with this new situation and slowly robbing the warmth from her. "Two brown rabbits close to one another... A women draped in blue, softly smiling... Red paper lanterns glowing..." A slight pause.

"The full moon..."

Her body jolted and her eyes averted from the water to look about her as sounds filled her mind. Laughter, coming from somewhere, yet nowhere. "Where are they, the ones laughing? Is there another here? One I know... One I do not..." This soon faded and was replaced by a rush of adrenaline, fear filling her and everything appearing from her eyes to be darker than it was. Her heart raced and a small film of sweat appeared on her otherwise cooled skin. And then it was gone, leaving her heart to calm and her mouth strangely tasting "...hazelnut...?"

But this pleasant taste could not linger for long, none of it did, and her limbs seemed to react in response to it all. The princess wanted to sit, to let her hooves rest, but her hands also moved to support the new ache in her back. She wanted to hide, but she couldn't remove the soft smile spreading over her face in absolute happiness. "I feel rather..."

Then, in an instant, it was all gone.

"...strange." She grow silent, looking at herself in the pond. If not for the intense feelings, Celestia might have thought all she had seen was a figment of her imagination. Her hands moved from her back to softly play with a strand of hair draping over her front side, and she turned to look again to Portia. "Are all visions such an experience? It was quite different than I had imagined it might be." She was glad that she had decided to stay, for the moment at least. "If you do not mind my immediate forwardness, what does it all mean?"

Menelie

 

[Menelie]

Ooh, she must have gotten a good vision, one that went all the way to her toes. Well, what passed for toes on Celestia anyway. Hoofs? Was having hoofs like having one big toe on each foot? Or was it like having no toes at all? Strange. Maybe she'd ask her mother.

Portia listened intently as Celestia described what she was seeing. She quirked an eyebrow and turned her eyes to the moon. Really? Those were some blatant images. The clarity of this vision must be important, for whatever reason. She couldn't imagine why.

"Sometimes the spirits grant visions that are seen with the ears, or the tongue, or the skin, or the soul," says Portia. Her voice had changed somewhat. It was higher-pitched, more lilting and almost trancelike. She looks at Celestia as she speaks, but something about her eyes had changed as well...almost like she was looking through Celestia. Or perhaps they had always been that way.

"Blanket from the home--was it your home or someone else's? You don't have to answer, of course. Questions can lead to answers, you know. Pomegranates for abundance, and also delicious with greens. Snuggling bunnies? If they aren't supervised you'll end up with many more bunnies. Blue-draped woman is my aunt, of course. Glowing red lights in the home, comfortable, but also celebratory--a new home perhaps?

"The full moon is here, and now, and my mother, and also that tree that tried to steal my pond. Hazelnuts from the hazel tree. Many branches bearing fruit--what fruit will you bear? The rest of it you can decipher on your own. All will be revealed in time."

o0_Daisuke_0o

 

[Daisicle]

Looking to the demi-goddess, Celestia kept her mouth closed and moved her hands to rest in front of her, gently holding each other. There was almost an eeriness about the she spoke and her gaze, but it might have been something she had just not noticed before. The girl had seemed more than a little strange from the very beginning.

As she listened, she mind raced to try and personalize these interpretations. Had the blanket been from her own home? Thinking back... no, she hadn't recognized it as her own. Abundance and... children? Oh, no no no. She wasn't one for that. It was her sister and her niece with little ones, not she. Her aunt? She... The goddess Artemis had a sister? Celestia would need to remember to ask about that when Portia finished speaking. A new home... Yes... She was going to be moving soon enough to that tree close by.

Ah, was she speaking of Rochadhiel? It made as much sense of any... Bearing fruit? She wasn't going to bear any fruit, not for a very long time. Perhaps never.

Letting the girl grow silent, she answered the one question that had been asked, "It was not my home in the vision." Nodding once, she gave a soft smile before speaking again. "Thank you, Portia, for the vision. Even if I have yet to fully understand, as you have said, in time I shall." A slight pause. "You have an aunt? Is she one I know?" There was only one other goddess that she could recall on the island, Venus. Could they be related? Her vision drifted to that of the moon overhead, looking to it. How strange that she, a child of the sun, could receive so much from it.

Menelie

 

[Menelie]

"You're welcome. I'm glad you returned for it." Completing a vision made her feel so fulfilled. Portia feels as if she glowed with the moon's own light.


"An aunt?" she asks. "Why, yes, I have two. The goddess Venus, who almost everyone on the Isle has met, and the goddess Tonantzin, who almost no one on the Isle has met. I'm not sure she's...biologically related to my mother but...." Portia offers a shrug. "Family is not always formed by blood."

"Don't fret; visions can be confusing at first but everything will clear up as time goes on." She smiles reassuringly.

Portia realizes this has been the most...positive contact she'd had with another Pae in some time. Celestia had been polite and respectful and had kept her distance and hadn't touched anything she shouldn't or tried to commit any disgusting and unnecessary displays of affection. This is behavior Portia wishes to reward!

"Here," she says suddenly, dipping her hand into the pond and retrieving a not-pearl. She thought they were weird, but everyone else seemed to think they were some kind of valuable treasure. "Take this. It's a gift!" She presses it into Celestia's hands.

o0_Daisuke_0o

 

[Daisicle]

Oh, there were so many more goddesses on the island than the princess had expected. Hopefully, she wasn't as infamous. Couldn't be if many didn't know her. The blood portion, she could understand; just the thought made her think fondly of her times with Skyla and Aquos, that little family they had shared for a while. How long ago was that?

She was brought out of her thoughts when Portia's tone took a sudden loudness, catching the princess's attention. Her eyes followed the movement to the pond and the... was that a pearl...? that was pulled from it. Had the pond always had such things in it? Strange that the princess wouldn't notice, but then again, there had been visions and whatnot across its surface both times she'd been to it. Smiling lightly, the princess took the still-wet pearl into her hands. "You needn't do such a thing." her smile warmed as she brought it closer.

"Many thanks, Portia."

Menelie

 

[FA Mysteries]

As Princess Celestia took the little pearl into her hands, it began to change and grow! The pearl shed its blue-silver luster and took on a unique pattern and color. It grew and grew, until it was about the size of a grapefruit.

o0_Daisuke_0o

 

[Daisicle]

The princess's eyes widened as the pearl began to change before her very eyes. What had simply been a small stone was now, well... a bigger stone? It took two hands to hold it after only moments of it resting in her hands. Bringing it closer to her chest, her eyes moved to the demi-goddess and looked at her with an inquisitive gaze. "Portia... What sort of stone is this?""

Menelie

Sorry for delayed reply. Been busy busy.

 

[Menelie]

What was the stone? Portia didn't really know.

"Well..." she began. "It might be a pearl. It came out of an oyster. But I've never seen pearls do that before. And it seems to respond to touch. But not mine. Maybe it thinks I'm still the pond." She nodded sagely, as if this were helpful information. "Sure is pretty though, isn't it? Maybe it'll be a pet pearl. I wonder what pearls eat.." she wondered aloud. Her eyes began to glaze over slightly, as if she were deep in thought.

Several moments later, she snapped to attention again. "Oh! But you don't need to thank me, it's a gift!" Portia smiled cheerfully.

o0_Daisuke_0o

I think a couple more posts will have this wrapped up! Sorry I took so long! D:

 

[Daisicle]

A... pearl? That would make sense if it came from an oyster like the demi-goddess said, but that was no reason for it to react and change in the way it had. Laughing lightly, the princess shrugged. "A pet pearl? Perhaps I shall make it such a thing." Looking at it, she feigned a stern look as she thought to herself. "I shall call it Wellspring: pearl of Portia, demi-goddess of the pond: token of friendship between she and I." Smiling back to Portia, the princess stopped her rhetoric. "I give thanks when thanks are deserved, whether or not they are needed."

At this, she looked down at the stone pearl again and repeated herself. "Many thanks."

Menelie