The Different Prince

Good thing Princess Nectarine wasn't down there. Her mother might have a fit from the nightmares this would have caused.

"All the bodies are facing the same way," Twilight wrote in her notes as she examined one of the mummified giants up close. "And from the positions they died in, it's as of they trying to get to the fire rather than away from it."

Another mare nearby, somepony called Moondancer, nodded. "From the amount of dust they've collected... these remains predate every other civilization on record. Plus the amount sand and sediment that collected over the dome, then compressed and became rock until the weight of ages... it could have easily been a million years ago. maybe five times that."

"Wait, you're saying that this tomb was here before the canyon even existed?" Bonbon asked from the sides, nursing Lollipop. They were bundled up and she had a blanket thrown over her, not for privacy, but to keep her baby from the cold.

Moondancer shook her head. "No... I'm saying it existed before have the continents drifted apart."

With that piece of ominous information, research continued. Carefully, Twilight's group began gently removing the dust from one of the mummies. This quickly led to a few new discoveries.

"Look, fur," Twilight called out, "so well preserved. I guess without any heat or moisture for so long there was nothing to decompose them."

"They look pretty decomposed to me," Bonbon said.

"No, just dried out," Twilight corrected her. "And, perhaps there wasn't any oxygen for a few centuries either. The bodies are almost petrified. Practically fossilized without being buried and compacted buy tons of dirt."

"And see this?" Moondancer asked, pointing to a hoof she had uncovered. "A bracelet made of stone. Around her neck too, a stone necklace. It seems impossible, but it's a chain carved from a single stone."

"Stone?" Twilight sad softly. She rushed to another mummy and uncovered the hooves. It had another two stone bracelets. She did the same to four more mummies before coming back, excited. "All the jewelry is made of stone. Not a single piece of metal anywhere."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying," Velvet asked her daughter, almost equally amazed.

Twilight nodded. "This was a stone age civilization."

"A stone age civilization built this?" Bonbon asked, amazed.

Twilight nodded. "Well, a previous stone age we knew nothing about. You know, even the stone we knew about wasn't all cavemares and clubs. They were a genius civilization in their own right. This one... this one just managed to go a thousand steps beyond. Without hands I might add."

"Are they perhaps the ancestors to the earth ponies?" I asked, noting that none had any wings or horns.

Twilight shook her head. "No, I don't think so... I think they were something else entirely. Something the world lost."

"This one's male," Moondancer noted as she was examined the backside of the first mummy we cleaned up. "Yikes, even dried and shriveled up, that would like shoving a whole tree in a mousehole." She scratched some notes. "We should look for a female to compare the anatomy with."

It wasn't that hard to find one. She appeared to be laying on her side, holding her throat with one hoof while the other stretched towards the fire pit.

"She... has an udder," Twilight said a little confused as she stared between the female's hind legs. "I guess it makes sense. Four legs, you want to balance your back end with your head. Also, from the way she's holding her throat... I'd say she was asphyxiated."

She stood up suddenly and began looking about at the other bodies in horror. "They all were. The... the fire that melted that room, it sucked all the air out from the dome. Were they murdered? Or... perhaps... it was a ritual of some sort?"

She began pacing, talking to herself as she tried to uncover the mystery in her head.

Then a pegasus guard landed in the middle of us and bowed to Twilight. "Your majesty, We've found something. Your majesty?"

I used my magic to shake her out of her pacing. She quickly asked what it was.

"We don't know," the mare said. "But we felt you should look at it. Maybe you can shed some light on it."

It was a relatively long journey through the necropolis. The deep we went the more apparent it was that this was once a great city. Building like skyscrapers rose to the ceiling of the dome, probably acting as extra support. And more and more bodies of course.

We eventually got to a point where a group of guards were standing. A flat wall that stretched up and out of sight, covered in images. Not painted on, but different colored stones stacked amongst a sea of gray ones, ensuring an image that would last forever. They were really taking this whole stone age thing to another level.

"It's a map," Twilight gasped. "See, it's our world. And your right, Moondancer, the continents, they hadn't drifted apart yet." She jumped wildly. "And it looks like they knew the world was round too. This is possibly the greatest discovery ever."

"What about those marks?" I pointed out some round shapes on the continent that formed a perfect circle. Twelve in all. "Are those... locations of more dome?"

Twilight was overstimulated now. It was like watching a chicken with its head cut off, except the chicken was really into it. "More places. We're going to learn so much."

"Most of them are on other continents now," Velvet pointed out, seemingly very vary at her daughter's enthusiasm. "This might turn into an entire international quest for discovery."

Twilight's gleeful scream pierced our ears like a drill launched from a cannon. Velvet walked up to her daughter calmly and pulled her close, stroking her mane in a soothing fashion. "Easy, Twilight. I know it's exciting. But we can't get any work done with you worked up like this."

Twilight tried to break free. "Sorry, I'm too excited. I have to get back to work."

Velvet shook her head and took her by the hand started walking. "You an d I are going to take a nice calming stroll. When you've dialed it back a few revolutions, then you can get back to work."

They disappeared, but we could be sure they would stay close. Turning back to the wall, I noticed something just barely in the light higher above the map of our world. I instructed the guards to place lights up higher then stood back watched as an ugly yellow mass was uncovered.