//------------------------------// // Chapter Ten // Story: Biomom // by MythrilMoth //------------------------------// Twilight Sparkle and Inner Light remained in Unicornassus for the next three weeks. With Willow's help, they moved freely among the populace, undisguised. They were met with reactions ranging from disbelief to curiosity to suspicion, but slowly, Inner Light spread his newfound talent through the unicorn populace. What none of them had expected was its capacity for self-propagation. For every ten unicorns Inner Light bestowed with a Cutie Mark, twenty more developed Cutie Marks all on their own. Traders from the earth and pegasus tribes came into the city and left forever changed. After their time in Unicornassus, they traveled to Fort Pinion, the Pegasus castle in the clouds. They were not welcomed as openly as they had been by the unicorns, but they persuaded the pegasi to listen to them, and Inner Light spread his magic among the pegasi. Two weeks later, they ventured to the earth pony lands. By this point, word of the Cutie Mark Miracle had spread far and wide, and more earth ponies had Cutie Marks than lacked them. Many were still confused; many thought the unicorns had ensorcelled them. Twilight spent every day, from dawn to dusk, moving among the earth ponies, teaching them about the meaning and magic of Cutie Marks. Every night, at whatever lodgings they ended up sharing, Inner Light and Twilight would cherish one another's company. Each grew more and more fond of the other; with each passing day, Twilight found herself unable to deny the very real love and affection she felt for a stallion she had only met by a twist of fate. It was well into summer by the time they returned to their home in the valley, with a promise to return to the equine tribelands in a year's time. As the summer wore on, Twilight found herself with a completely unexpected surprise to share with Inner Light. * * * * * "Umm...excuse me...Your Highness?" Fluttershy trailed behind the other pegasi and Princess Celestia as they ascended to the tree cover above the valley. "I...I don't think I should be, umm..." Celestia paused in midair. "You want to remain behind with the others?" "Oh, well...y-yes," Fluttershy said. "I mean...Rainbow Dash and Ms. Do are...are much better at this sort of thing than I am, and..." Celestia drew up in front of Fluttershy. "I understand you're scared," she said softly. "And if I didn't need you, I'd have left you behind with the others. But what's happening right now is very important, and I need everypony I can count on." "But...your guards..." "The guards are sworn to follow my orders to the best of their abilities," Celestia said. "But you, Fluttershy, would do anything to help your friends. Time and time again, you've surpassed your own limits and faced your own fears when your friends were in trouble. Right now, Twilight Sparkle needs her friends. I need you. Please, I beg you. Help me help Twilight." She frowned. "If...if we even can..." Fluttershy swallowed heavily. "A-alright," she said. "HEY! What're you slowpokes hangin' around down there for?" Rainbow Dash cried. "We've got a minotaur to mangle!" Celestia and Fluttershy flew after Rainbow Dash and Daring Do. When they emerged from the tree canopy, there was no sign of the airship or the guards. "Oh no," Fluttershy whispered. "Which way did they go?" Daring scratched her chin with a hoof. "Dongnocc has a villa in Neighpoli," she said. "I'm willing to bet that's where they're headed." Celestia nodded. "Then let's move." * * * * * "Have you enough blankets, my love?" Twilight rolled her eyes as she lay upon their bed, cocooned in a deep pile of blankets. "I think so," she said dryly. She sipped her warm cider, savoring its spicy aroma, and turned a page in her book. Inner Light stared out the window. "Were it not winter, I would travel to Unicornassus and fetch a doctor—" "What for?" Twilight asked. "I'm perfectly fine." "But I—" Twilight lightly smacked Inner Light with her book. "It's a perfectly natural process," she said. "Pregnant mares don't need to be looked after by a doctor all the time. Heck, in olden pony times, they didn't even have midwives! It's not necessary." Inner Light sighed and paced around. "I just worry for you. For our child." Twilight smiled. "I know, and that's sweet," she said. She shook her head and giggled. "I never would've imagined I'd wind up stuck in the distant past, pregnant with the foal of the alicorn who created Cutie Mark magic." She frowned. "I really hope this isn't completely ruining Equestrian history or anything." Inner Light nuzzled her. "I can see no possible way in which this miracle can end in ruination," he said softly. Twilight nuzzled him back. "Come to bed," she suggested. "It's cold. You should snuggle up under the blankets with me." * * * * * "Hey Fluttershy?" "Yes, Rainbow Dash?" "So uhh...who's lookin' after Tank if you're here and Spike's not back in Ponyville?" "Oh, don't worry," Fluttershy said. "I have Cheerilee, Big Macintosh, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders taking turns checking on and feeding the animals until we get back." She smiled. "I do have a system for when I have to leave Ponyville." "Oh. Okay. Cool." "So who's Tank?" Daring Do asked. "My pet tortoise," Rainbow replied. Daring raised an eyebrow. "Tortoise? A pegasus with a tortoise?" "A flying tortoise," Fluttershy said with a smile. Daring scratched her head. "Huh?" Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Now that you mention it, I've heard of the infamous flying turtle in Ponyville, but I have yet to see it with my own eyes." "Oh, well...Twilight rigged up this magical harness thingie that lets Tank fly around. I'm...not really even sure how he steers it, but it works." Rainbow shrugged. "It just makes him awesome." Daring shook her head. "A flying turtle. Good grief." "What about you, Miss Do? Do you have any pets?" Fluttershy asked. "Nah," Daring said with a dismissive hoof wave. "I live alone out in the middle of nowhere, I'm gone more often than I'm home..." "Oh. Yes. I suppose that's a good reason..." * * * * * For lack of anything better to do, the earthbound group ventured into the tomb. "Wow, look at all these ancient carvings!" Pinkie Pie said. "It's exactly like something out of a Daring Do book!" "Well, I suppose that makes sense, since Daring Do was here exploring this tomb," Rarity said. Twilight Velvet scratched her chin with a hoof. "I wonder what brought Daring and Dongnocc to this tomb?" She slowly trotted along the walls, lighting the engravings with her horn. "Huh. This language is ancient," she muttered. "Can you read it, Miss Velvet?" Rarity asked. Velvet shook her head. "Nopony alive can read this except Princess Celestia and Princess Luna," she said. "This is the ancient script of the alicorn race." Rarity blinked. "I beg your pardon. Did...did you say the alicorn race?" "There are very few surviving samples of this writing," Velvet said. "Several moons ago, Daring Do showed up at my house out of the blue with this ancient book she couldn't translate. She wanted access to the Canterlot Archives to try to figure it out. We spent an entire week researching, but we never found anything. Then one day, by chance, I passed Princess Celestia in the hall at the Archives. I took a chance and asked her if she recognized the language in the book. That's when I found out about the language of the alicorn race. She was amazed a book that ancient even still existed." "Yes, all well and good, but...alicorn race?" Rarity repeated. "All Princess Celestia could tell me about them was that they predated Equestria by thousands of years, and they created the three pony tribes." Velvet shrugged. "Celestia and Luna are the last True Alicorns in existence." "I...I see," Rarity said. "Hmm," Pinkie mused, rubbing her muzzle with a hoof. "What is it, Pinkie Pie?" Spike asked. "Weeelllll...I can't read this old writing, but if you look at the pictures, doesn't it seem an awful lot like this is the story of Luna and Celestia losing their mommy and daddy? And this whole place is their daddy's tomb, but it just says their mommy...well...left. Oh, and she had Twilight's Cutie Mark." Everypony stared at her, blinking. "Or it could be a recipe for alicorn cake," Pinkie added with a shrug. "Eh." Rarity frowned thoughtfully. "Hmm. I wonder..." She marched up and down the lines of engravings, horn lit. Velvet stood still, chewing her lip, her brow furrowed. * * * * * Twilight Sparkle stared down at the beautiful white alicorn foal that lay atop a pile of blankets, still damp from being birthed. Her wings were stunted and hadn't fully grown in, and her short, messy mane and tail were a bright salmon pink. Her legs were longer than most foals Twilight had seen, gangly and slender. The little foal blinked sleepy greyish-pink eyes up at her and yawned. "She's beautiful," Inner Light said in a soft, wonderous tone, staring down at their daughter. "Yes, she...she is," Twilight said, eyes wide. "But...but this is...this is impossible..." "What is, my love? That our daughter is an alicorn? Because, well...we are both alicorns." "No, not that," Twilight said. She studied the little foal intently. Even in this tiny, undeveloped form, the pony she had just given birth to was unmistakeable. *But...but how...?* Inner Light nuzzled her. "I have seen you perplexed about many things, my love. Today is not a day for puzzlement. Today is a day for jubilation. We are a family now." He gently floated the tiny foal up into the air; she fussed and fidgeted at the unfamiliar sensation of floating. "Come, beloved. Name our daughter." Twilight stared at the foal, her heart hammering in her chest. With a deep, shaky breath, she whispered the only name that could belong to this impossible foal: "Ce-Celestia."