//------------------------------// // Chapter Two // Story: Biomom // by MythrilMoth //------------------------------// Princess Celestia insisted on treating Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash to a lavish royal breakfast banquet. Neither offered any refusal; they were both ravenous after the previous day's exertions. As the servants laid out the sumptuous spread, Celestia levitated a roll of parchment to Twilight. "You'll want to study this map carefully, my faithful student," she said. "I believe your studies of Starswirl the Bearded may aid you in your journey." "Starswirl? Why—?" Twilight unsealed and unrolled the map even as she munched on a piece of frittata. Her eyes widened. "Maretania?" "Starswirl's journals don't mention this—at my personal request, for I fully intended to publish all of his writings and teachings—but he was the first pony in centuries to discover the tomb you seek." Celestia frowned. "I trusted Starswirl to abide by my wishes, but if Dr. Yearling has any solid evidence as to the location of the tomb, Starswirl might have recorded it through a proxy." "Perhaps Clover the Clever," Luna suggested. "There's a secret tunnel deep within the caverns," Celestia explained, levitating a butter knife along the map. "You'll need to find the markers yourself, but..." Twilight followed the trail marked on the map with a hoof. "There's a secret valley," she said, eyes wide. "That's where the tomb is?" "That's where the entrance to the tomb is," Celestia corrected. "Find that valley, and you'll find the Holy Road that leads deep beneath the earth. Follow the Holy Road, and you'll find the tomb. It's in the catacombs underneath Ponyhenge." "Ponyhenge?! Seriously?!" Rainbow cried. "Ponyhenge was erected to mark the Tomb of the Unknown Prince," Luna said. Twilight studied the map again with a frown. "This...this is at least three days' travel," she said. "Yes. It will be a long journey, and not without peril," Celestia said. "Wait. If this tomb's under Ponyhenge, why can't we just...y'know...fly to Ponyhenge?" Rainbow asked. "Because you will not be able to enter the tomb from above ground," Celestia said. "Teleportation magic will not get you into the tomb, so unless you'd like to try to tunnel through six feet of solid marble with your bare hooves..." "Aheh...yyyyyeah...I'll pass on that," Rainbow said sheepishly. "Are there traps in the tomb?" Twilight asked. "It is a tomb, Twilight Sparkle," Luna said. "What purpose would it serve to set traps in a tomb?" "Lots of the tombs Daring Do explores have traps," Rainbow said with a pout. Celestia laughed musically. "I suspect a certain amount of poetic license has been taken with regards to those tombs," she said. "In any case, I can personally assure you there are most definitely no traps in this particular tomb." "Oh," Rainbow replied, seemingly crestfallen. "Is there treasure?" she asked hopefully, her wings buzzing. Celestia raised an eyebrow. "I'd very much prefer the two of you not do any graverobbing during your quest," she said. "I was just asking," Rainbow said sullenly, crossing her hooves and pouting. "Is there anything else you can tell us about this tomb?" Twilight asked. Celestia and Luna exchanged a glance. "I'm sorry, Princess Twilight. We've told you all we can. The rest...the rest is up to you." After breakfast, Celestia arranged for provisions for the two travelers, then sent a message to Spike in Ponyville, letting him know Twilight and Rainbow would be gone for a while. "Be safe," Celestia said. "We will," Twilight said. "Thank you." Adjusting her saddlebags, she turned and nodded to Rainbow. They walked out onto the balcony of Celestia's tower and launched themselves into the sky, soaring off in the direction of Maretania. As Celestia watched them go, Luna walked up beside her. "So. The time has finally come." "So it would seem." "This will not be an easy journey for her," Luna said. Celestia sighed. "No. No, it will not." * * * * * Four pegasus guards accompanied the two mares for the first leg of their journey, keeping a respectful distance. When Twilight and Rainbow landed for a late lunch, the guards swooped low, wished them godspeed, and returned to Canterlot. "So Ponyhenge is just a great big tombstone," Rainbow muttered as they ate. She shook her head. "Yeesh." "The archaeological and scientific communities would be devastated if they knew the truth," Twilight said. "They've romanticized Ponyhenge for centuries." "And now DARING DO is gonna bust the secret of Ponyhenge wiiiiide open! Awww yeah!" Rainbow said, pumping a hoof and fluttering her wings. Twilight frowned. "I think maybe we shouldn't let Daring Do publish a book about this one," she said. "Besides, don't forget what we came here for in the first place. We're not here because of Ponyhenge or this old tomb. We're here to find your mother and get some answers." Rainbow sighed. "Yeah." She took a bite from an apple fritter. "How uh...how do you see this goin' down, anyway?" Twilight's ears drooped. "I honestly don't know, Rainbow Dash," she said. "Hopefully it'll go well. I mean, you and Daring Do got along pretty well after your last meeting. She even put you in a book!" "Yeah, but she also didn't recognize me," Rainbow said. "The impression I got from your dad is that, well...she was a lot like you back then. Impulsive, reckless, didn't want to be dragged down by things or ponies. Except she didn't have your loyalty." "Yeah, she sure has that whole loner thing goin'," Rainbow agreed. "But..." She gestured with her hooves. "You'd think she'd at least have reacted to meeting me! I mean, I came outta her BUTT! And she just..." She trailed off. Twilight grimaced. "Uhh...Rainbow Dash...that's not how giving birth works—" "I KNOW THAT!" Rainbow cried, cheeks red. "It was hyperbubble!" "Hyperbole." "That too." Rainbow sighed. "My point is, she spent eleven months with me inside her. I don't see how she could just...y'know...not even notice I was her kid." "Well, once we find her, we'll ask her," Twilight said. "I just...I just hope the answer doesn't hurt you." "Pssh," Rainbow muttered derisively. "I can take it." She polished off one more fritter, then stood, stretching her wings. "C'mon, we've got a lotta ground to cover before nightfall." Twilight packed everything away, and the two of them took wing again. * * * * * Daring Do stood at the end of a narrow, winding tunnel. Tiny droplets of water plinked against the stone floor from a narrow fissure overhead. Daring adjusted her pith helmet with one hoof while studying the faded old parchment she held in the other by the light of a magical lantern. "The Path of Loss is marked by the tears of the Sun and the Moon," Daring read from the ancient manuscript. Another droplet splashed to the cavern floor. Daring stashed the manuscript in her saddlebag, then lifted her lantern, carefully examining every surface of what, to all appearances, was a dead end in a natural cavern. She raised the lantern to examine the ceiling. The fissure which was dripping water at her hooves ran down the middle of a rough carving of the sun. "The tears of the Sun," Daring muttered. A loud, hollow *plink!* resonated off the stone before her. Searching, she found a second fissure which ran along the length of a carving of a crescent moon. "Ah-ha..." She carefully located the midpoint between the two fissures, then searched the rock face in that area. She almost missed it, as it was hidden in the shadow of a chunk of rock that jutted out of the wall: A glittering relief made of natural crystals, arranged in the shape of a large six-pointed star, set into a hole roughly twice as wide as her hoof. She smiled. "And the Star shall open the path to the Holy Road," she finished from memory as she pressed her hoof into the hole. The star clicked, and the rock wall before her began to glow. Stone dissolved into mist, creating a dark hole the width and height of two ponies. Collecting her lantern, Daring flew up into the hole and trotted carefully into its dark, misty depths. Behind her, the rock wall became solid again. The cave fell into darkness. The dripping of water echoed in the stillness.