//------------------------------// // Chapter Twelve // Story: Biomom // by MythrilMoth //------------------------------// Spike scratched his head as he looked up at the engravings. "Huh," he said. "You know...as random as Pinkie Pie can be most of the time...sometimes she says something really smart." Twilight Velvet looked down at him. "Spike? What are you thinking?" Spike shrugged. "Well...I've been reading a lot of comic books lately, and there's lots of comic books where somepony goes back in time, they think they screw up the past, and it turns out they actually caused the future to happen." "An ontological paradox," Velvet said. "Science fiction authors love them. They're patent nonsense." "Well...I was just thinking...what if this tomb thing is some kind of time machine, and Twilight got zapped back in time?" "And gave birth to the princesses?" Velvet snorted. "That's crazy." "Actually, it wouldn't terribly surprise me," Rarity said as she approached the two of them. "Any way you look at it, these lovely engravings seem to record the history of a family of alicorns. And, well...not to put too fine a point on it, but Twilight Sparkle's Cutie Mark is everywhere down here. As are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna's Cutie Marks. And that one symbol...it must be the Cutie Mark of the princess' father..." Her eyes brightened. "Why, Velvet, darling! You could very well be the grandmother of the rulers of Equestria!" Velvet facehoofed. "Time travel is impossible," she said. "No it's not," Spike said. "Twilight's done it before." Velvet blinked. "She...she has?" She sat down, frowning. "She never mentioned it..." "Probably because she created a time loop that resulted in her freaking out for no good reason for an entire week," Spike said. "Seriously, you should've seen her. She went totally nuts!" "She looked like a sleepy pirate with a bad manecut!" Pinkie added, giggling. Velvet blinked. "Huh. Wonder what else Twilight hasn't told me about..." Spike, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie exchanged evil grins... * * * * * "Mother?" "Yes, Tia? What is it?" Celestia and Luna stood just inside the entrance to Twilight Sparkle's study. Their mother was, as usual, immersed in five books at once, with three quills zooming around the room taking notes and updating diagrams for the monument they had spent the last twenty years building. "Lulu and I were talking, and, well..." "Why don't we have our Cutie Marks yet, Mama?" Twilight's quills fell still. She turned to face her daughters. "What brought this on?" she asked. The sisters exchanged a glance. "Mother," Celestia began, "we have been to the equine tribes again and again. We have witnessed fillies and colts, not even half our age, earn their Cutie Marks. And yet...you have taught us both magic for years. We're more skilled and learned than any ten unicorns. Why—" "Tia. Lulu." Twilight walked over and embraced her daughters. "Cutie Marks aren't about age. They're about finding a connection to the thing that...well..." "To the one thing that sets you apart from other ponies and makes you special, we know," Luna said. "But Mama...Tia and I have many talents, and yet..." Twilight smiled. "My beautiful daughters," she said, "you are alicorns. Your destinies...they may be greater than you can possibly imagine." She ruffled her children's manes affectionately. "I'll let you in on a secret," she said. "Your father was thousands of years old when he earned his Cutie Mark." "We know," Celestia said. "After all, Father is the source of Cutie Mark magic." Twilight winced. "Oh, right...you knew that. Heh." She cleared her throat. "Well...the point is, you're not like other ponies. The ponies in the three tribes, they'll only live a hundred years or so, a hundred fifty tops. You girls...you'll live for thousands of years." She smiled. "Doesn't it make sense that it might take you a little longer to find your true calling?" Celestia frowned thoughtfully. "Well...when you put it that way..." Luna sighed. "It just seems so...unfair," she said. Twilight giggled. "You remind me of three fillies I knew a long time ago..." * * * * * Rainbow Dash and Daring Do streaked through the sky, gaining on the airship. "So how do we get aboard?" Daring Do wondered. "I've never been able to get inside that airship." "We're not going in," Rainbow said. "We're bringing it down." She looked at her mother. "You might wanna lose some altitude." With that, she fell back, the rainbow contrail behind her fading out. "Huh? What are you talkin' about?" Daring Do asked. "I'm about to do the most awesome thing ever," Rainbow said. "You may be my mom, you may be Daring Do, but you'll never be able to do this." And then, with an intense look of concentration on her face, Rainbow streaked forward, gaining speed. Before Daring could blink, she was a colorful speck with a bright cone streaming ahead of her. She shot toward the airship, then overtook it. "What is that little brat doi—" And then the sky exploded. "GAH!" Daring tumbled in midair, struggling to gain control of herself. Her ears rang from the tremendous boom that had just shaken the entire sky. A brilliant rainbow shockwave spread out, washing over her. She stared, wide-eyed, at the epicenter of the blast. "What...what the..." "That, Dr. Yearling, was a Sonic Rainboom," Princess Celestia said from behind her. Daring turned to see Celestia and Fluttershy, enclosed in a shimmering force bubble. Celestia frowned. "Rainbow Dash is not one for subtlety, it seems." "Sonic Rainboom?" Daring repeated, blinking rapidly. She shook her head. "I thought...that was just a legend..." "Rainbow Dash is the only pegasus that can perform the Sonic Rainboom," Fluttershy said. "Not even the Wonderbolts can pull it off." "Huh," Daring said. "More importantly..." Celestia dropped the force bubble as the last vestiges of the shockwave subsided. "Look there." The three watched as huge rips formed in the shell of Dongnocc's airship. Small explosions rocked the vessel as it lost altitude. It shuddered as its rudder broke away and fell to the ground below. Slowly, the mighty vessel descended... Celestia, Daring, and Fluttershy nodded to one another and sped after it. * * * * * Four alicorns gathered around their dining table, enjoying a simple but hearty breakfast. Luna frowned as she looked out the window. "Hmm..." She scratched her muzzle with a hoof. "Is it me, or is the sun rather late in rising this morning?" "It does seem as though it should have already risen," Celestia agreed. Inner Light sighed. "I was afraid of this," he said. "What is it?" Twilight Sparkle asked. "When I last travelled to Unicornassus to collect the sun stones you requested, I learned that the unicorns and the earth tribe are...not faring well in their relations." Celestia frowned. "Father...are you saying the unicorns are ransoming the sun to pressure the earth ponies?" "I hope that is not the case, but..." Inner Light sighed. "Even after I bestowed my great blessing upon the equine tribes, their lack of harmony only grows..." Twilight sighed, her ears folding around her head. "It's...it's supposed to," she said. She looked at her husband. "Incidentally, is the weather growing cold in Unicornassus?" "It is," Inner Light said with a frown. "Unseasonably so, in fact." Twilight nodded thoughtfully. "It's beginning," she said. "What is, Mother?" Celestia asked. "The crisis," Twilight said. "The crisis that very nearly destroys ponykind, but ultimately leads to harmony between ponies." She sighed. "I'm sorry, my little ponies, but...starting today, none of us are to fly past the Everfree Forest. The tribelands are off limits for the next few decades." "But why?" Luna asked. "Because..." Twilight sighed. "Because they have to solve this problem by themselves. We can't interfere with their destinies." * * * * * Dozens of armed henchponies boiled out of the airship as it crashed into a vast forest. Rainbow Dash wove through the trees. "Come outta there, you friggin' cow..." "Hey! Don't hog all the fun!" Daring Do called as she, Princess Celestia, and Fluttershy descended into the forest. "Besides, you can't take on that whole mob of henchponies by yourself!" "Why not? You do it all the time." "Yeah, but I've been doing it longer than you've been alive." Daring cracked her neck. "Anyway, think of it as a little mother-daughter bonding." "Oh my...those ponies have g-guns, d-don't they," Fluttershy said nervously. Celestia frowned. "They most certainly do, my little pony. We will need to be careful." "They wouldn't dare shoot at THE Princess, would they?" Rainbow asked. "THERE THEY ARE!" a henchpony yelled. "SHOOT THE PRINCESS!" A hail of bullets flew at them. "Horseapples," Rainbow muttered, ears pinned flat against her skull.