//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - Expedition // Story: House of Owls and Ponies // by Universal Librarian //------------------------------// Celestia felt oddly as if her doom was drawing closer with every hoofstep. She had walked the halls of Canterlot castle so many thousands of times, and been to the restricted section more times than she could count, but never before had she felt such a sense of foreboding. "Oh, relax, Tia," Luna said in exasperation. "We'll just explain what the Boiling Isles, and let her know how dangerous they are. That'll be explanation enough for why we never told her about them." "Yes, but what about everything that happened while we were there?" Celestia worried aloud. "What about everything we did?" Luna rolled her eyes. "That was all a thousand years ago. None of our, ahem, misadventures, will still be remembered, and it's almost certain that no creature will still be alive to tell the tale either way, so don't worry about it." "Hmm, I suppose you're right," Celestia replied quietly, though she wasn't entirely reassured.   Opening the door to the restricted section, the two sisters slowly descended the stairs, marvelling at how clean and shiny their surroundings were. Spike really had outdone himself with the cleaning. At the bottom of the stairs, Princess Twilight was pacing around in circles. A wooden door stood incongruously in the middle of the room, intricate carvings covering all of its surface save for a glowing yellow eye in the top panel. "Celestia, Luna! Am I glad to see you!" Twilight beamed as she spotted the two. "Thanks for coming on such short notice." "It's quite alright, Twilight," Celestia said genially. "How are you feeling? You weren't injured, were you?" Twilight shook her head. "No, I was just shocked, is all. I was going to take a look around myself, to be honest, but I saw some very strange creatures around and decided that I would ask the two of you about it, first." "A wise decision. The Boiling Isles are not a place to take lightly," Luna put in. "The Boiling Isles?" Twilight cocked her head to the side curiously. "That's what that place is called?" Celestia nodded, glancing warily at the door. "They're a dark and dangerous place. The island itself is formed from the ancient corpse of an immense Titan." "The island is a giant dead body?!" Twilight asked, horrified.  "It has been dead for longer than any of us have been alive," Luna assured her. "It's size is so great that entire ecosystems have formed in and on different parts of its body. There are even whole towns and cities of sapient beings built all over the place, you may have seen one of them during your brief visit there, yourself." Twilight shook her head vigorously. "The portal opened onto the top of a cliff looking out over the sea. I would have looked around, but some giant creature with the body of a lion and the head of a pigeon flew down and vomited huge spiders all over the place, so… I kinda bailed." She giggled nervously. "Hm, that would be a Griffon," Luna said. In response to Twilight's stunned look, she explained, "There are many creatures in the Boiling Isles that share a name with beings from Equestria and the surrounding lands, but most of them bear only the most passing resemblance to those of this world." "So I noticed." Twilight glanced back at the door. "I have to admit, this does provide an incredible research opportunity, but why did you leave the key here in the restricted section?" Celestia couldn't meet her eyes. "There were some, ahem, unusual circumstances. We decided that it would be better to close the portal for a while. Luna and I had our little… disagreement a few years later, and it just never felt right going back without her." "Personally, I was under the impression that the portal had been destroyed, rather than just hidden," Luna grumbled, earning a glare from Celestia. Twilight didn't seem to grasp the subtext, as she simply beamed at the two. "That's great! The three of us can all go together, you can be my guides!" The sense of foreboding returned to Celestia in full force. "That sounds lovely, but maybe just Luna and I should go, and we'll write down everything we find for you. After all, I'm sure that you're very busy these days." Unfortunately, her heart sank as Twilight scoffed and waved a hoof. "Nah, I've prepared things so I can take a few days off right now. All I have to do is make sure I pop back long enough to sort out the sun and moon twice a day." "What if there's an emergency?" Celestia asked, almost desperately. Twilight levitated a set of saddlebags and slung them over her back. "I've got a pair of those times you made for Sunset Shimmer. Starlight has the partner for one, and Spike has the partner for the other. I made sure to prepare for any eventuality!" Luna smirked as Celestia struggled to subtly come up with another reason to keep her former protégé from going back to the Boiling Isles. "I'm sure we can have a quick look around wherever the door comes out. We can always make preparations for a longer stay at a later date." Seeing that she had no way out of this, Celestia resigned herself to her fate. "When do you want to go?" "Right now!" Twilight replied eagerly. "Of course you do." Celestia sighed and glanced at Luna, hoping for some last minute aid, but her sister just gave her a look as if to say, 'stop stalling and get on with it'. Sighing again, Celestia turned to the door. "Alright, let's see how the Isles have changed." Without giving herself a chance to reconsider, she closed her eyes, then grabbed the doorknob in her magic and pulled it wide, stepping through before she could change her mind. The first thing that Celestia noticed was the salty tang of the sea on the breeze. She slowly cracked her eyes open, and found herself looking out over the edge of a cliff. Far below, the sea stretched out over the horizon, the sun sparkling off the waves like a glittering carpet of diamonds. It was enough to take Celestia's breath away. There was a soft clopping of hooves as the other two joined her, and Luna let out a soft gasp. "I had forgotten how beautiful this world can be." An immense purple hand suddenly reached up from the water, several miles out, followed immediately by a giant green tentacle that wrapped around the arm and forcefully dragged it back beneath the waves. "Ugh, and how utterly random and bizarre it can be." "What were those things?" Twilight asked fearfully. Celestia shrugged. "One thing you'll learn quickly, here in the Boiling Isles: If something isn't directly bothering you, don't bother it." Luna chuckled softly. "I must say, being here again like this, looking out across the sea, it almost feels like no time has passed at all." Frankly, the promise that a thousand years had gone by was the only thing keeping Celestia calm at the moment, though she couldn't help a faint sense of melancholy at the knowledge that all of her old friends had long since passed. Taking a deep breath, Celestia allowed herself to savour the crisp sea air for a moment, before letting it back out and shaking her head. "Come, let us see if any semblance of civilization has survived through the last millennium." "Dios mio!" A voice cried out. "Or we could wait for someone to find us," Luna muttered. The three princesses turned to look for whoever had seen them.  Celestia had a brief glimpse of tightly packed trees, then she yelped and almost leaped back off the cliff as she realized that someone was standing right next to her. The girl had light brown skin, dark brown hair, and was wearing a distinctive grey tunic. Her eyes were big, brown, and practically popping out of their sockets as she stared at the three alicorns. "So… cute!"