As Somnambula and her tiny sphinxes made their way out of the vault and back into the palace, they thought that they were in the clear. But as soon as they heart footsteps and saw a faint lock of hair belonging to that of Howling Dune, she quickly spread her wings and darted into the closest room she could find, closing the door and pressing her back against the corner.

"I can't take any chances. None at all..." She looked down at the sphinxes, who poked their heads out of the basket. "If Howling catches us on our way out, it's curtains for us all. He'll certainly find a way to deal with me while he tries to reclaim you."

"Meanie..." Fwynxie whimpered, looking out through a small crack in the door to see Howling walk by. "Meanie magic scawy..."

"And mine's out of the picture." The queen patted her crown-less head, shuddering as she shriveled back into the basket. "Guess we're gonna have to play this safe."

Unfortunately for all of them, Howling Dune's ears pricked up upon hearing their whispers, and he trotted towards the door. Opening it up, he craned his neck through the frame and searched every corner of it, even poking his head into the corner Somnambula had been cowering behind, only to see that she wasn't there. Lifting a brow, he shrugged before turning back and leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.

Somnambula flitted her wings silently, dropping herself from the roof of the room and landing delicately on the tiles beneath her. She heard Howling's footsteps fade away before letting out a sigh and walking out of the room, darting as fast as she could through the corridors.

"That was way too close." The queen muttered, clinging on to the wicker on the inside of the basket as Somnambula rushed towards the closest exit. "Now we need to get out of her fast, before he finds the vault and knows we've broken out."

"Yes. And we can't waste anymore time with anypony else, no matter who they are." Somnambula looked back at the sphinxes, closing the lid of the basket up. "Howling Dune doesn't seem like the kind of pony who would be slow in hunting down his prey."

Right as Somnambula went past the pharaoh's chamber, he stepped out and watched her fly towards him. He could see the immediate panic in her eyes as she opened her wings up to break and tried not to smash into him head-on, with little avail as they both collided and tumbled to the ground in a heap. Needless to say, the guards around both of them saw the accident and immediately charged in on Somnambula, pointing their lances at her.

"Stand down!" The pharaoh barked, stomping his hoof on the ground. "She crashed into me by accident. No harm was done." He glared at his soldiers, watching as they raised their weapons and held them to their sides. "Apologies for that, Somnambula. But what, may I ask is the rush for, other than to save those sphinxes you care about?"

"If Howling Dune sees that the vault is empty, he'll immediately try and hunt me down. And knowing how deeply he cares for his home and the damage that the other sphinxes did to it, I can't imagine our meeting being pleasant." Somnambula stood back up and crossed her back legs, letting a gulp run down her throat. "In fact, I highly suspect he would use magic to pacify me, then immediately reclaim and recapture Fwynxie and the queen."

"Technically, I'm a queen in the maternal sense. No actual sense of hierarchy here, Somnambula." The queen popped out of the basket and sat on the top of it. "Sphinx queens are nothing like monarch queens."

"Howling Dune's acts are callous, but he said that he would do nothing harmful to you or your little friends." The pharaoh walked over and watched Fwynxie climb out. He even gave her a little pat, causing her to purr and coo as his hoof brushed her fur. "If he were to try and attack you to retake the two of them, that would immediately paint a bad image for him; and I would have a cause to immediately crack down on his trafficking act."

"Then... should I just let him try and see me?" Somnambula tilted her head. "That doesn't really sound like the best advice, my pharaoh."

"I'm not saying that you should let yourself get seen by Howling, just that you wouldn't be in any real danger if you were." He came to Somnambula's side and patted her on the back as well, a warm smile striking her in the heart. "Trust me, Somnambula. If Howling does get hostile with you, we will exact a strong punishment on him. You have nothing to fear in this palace; my palace."

"Pharaoh..." Somnambula's eyes widened as the pharaoh, still smiling, walked back to his throne room door. "You would really do such a debt for me? A simple commoner?"

"Somnambula. You saved my prince from the sphinxes in that pyramid. The least I can do is repay the favor." He gave her one last smile before he started to walk backward to the throne. "One good turn deserves another, and it's only fair that I repay my debt to you for such a valiant and heroic act."

"Thank you... my pharaoh." Somnambula's mouth quivered before a smile grew on it. Both Fwynxie and the queen smiled as well before they climbed back into the basket and watched the door close. "Now, we'd best be on our way, you two. The outside world awaits, and I'm sure that the rest of your kind would love to see you."

"If we escape, take us to the Shimmering Sands. That is where the sphinxes usually gather on a daily basis when they're not guarding their treasures or terrorising ponies who come to them." The queen pointed to the exit. "

"I not been dere, but the queen told me wots and wots of sphinxies wike me go there," Fwynxie added. "Babies come fwom there too, so I'll get ta meet wots of new fwiends!" She clapped her tiny paws together. "Yoo wike fwiends, Som-Mama?"

"I do, Fwynxie. I do very much." Somnambula gave Fwynxie a kiss before walking off. "Friends can do a lot of good for you. They'll always stand by your side, help you out in dire situations, and never leave you behind. Much like I am to you and the queen. A friend."

"A friend? After all we put you through?" The queen asked, lifting a brow. "You were trapped in our pyramid, forced to look after dear little Fwynxie here, and went through all this trouble to save us from a mad pony. How can you think of us as friends?"

"I don't know myself. It's pretty weird, but after all that time I spent, I began to think more and more on the situation. And, since Fwynxie is just a baby, it wouldn't have been right of me to leave. She would have been heartbroken; especially since she imprinted on me as her mother." She pulled Fwynxie out and gave her a small hug, prompting her to return the favor. "Even if I can't stay forever, I'll at least be sure to come back every now and again to check up on you, little one. That's what a Som-Mama does, after all."

"Som-Mama!" Fwynxie beamed and rubbed her cheek against Somnambula's.

Somnambula's heart melted even more as Fwynxie cuddled against her body. Even with time playing against her and the insurance of the pharaoh behind her, she still loved seeing her little one happy. And if they were to part ways once they made it to Shimmering Sands, she knew deep down that it wouldn't be the last time they met each other; or played with each other. Once the hugging and cuddling finished, they all made their way towards the outside world.

"There! I can see it!" Somnambula smiled as she saw the light bursting into the foyer of the temple. Fluttering towards it, she saw the courtyard, the skies, and some of the pharaoh's servants working in the garden, watering the flowers and making sure that the water was clean and flowing. "We've made it! Now all we need to do is go to Shimmering Sands and you're free!"

As soon as Somnambula made it to the staircase and the pillars at the entrance of the door, she saw Howling Dune step out from behind one of the pillars and block her path. Her ecstasy and joy turned into dismay as her face dropped and her run quickly died down to a trot.

"Going somewhere with my sphinxes?" He asked, folding his front hooves.

"Howling!" Somnambula slipped the basket behind her back as she stared down Howling Dune, seeing his forehead coated with sweat and crooked lines. "Can't you leave them alone?! Fwynxie is a baby sphinx, for the gods' sake! How could you torture such an innocent creature like her?"

"Torture is not the word I would use. What part of study do you fail to understand?" He asked, stepping forward. "I do not wish to hurt them. I said it to the pharaoh and I said it to you. They are simply my research. I will release them once I am done with them, then go for the ones who destroyed my home."

"Trafficking into straight-up assault and kidnapping. Is that how far you've sunk, Howling Dune?" Somnambula's frown was quickly accompanied by lowered brows, as the muscles in her hooves began to tighten. "Can you not just salvage yourself for once and accept defeat? It is not that hard to do."

"I won't EVER let go what happened to my home. And as far as I'm concerned, dealing with the sphinxes is the ONLY way I will ever find closure in my life." His horn crackled and flared to life. "And as long as sphinxes have a chance to be studied, I will take that chance and learn my enemies. Then, when I discover every in and out of them, I will finally be able to pay those brutes back for cheating me, and for robbing me of everything!"

"It's not anyone else's fault that the sphinxes destroyed your home. You cannot take your anger out on the wrong people like this!" Somnambula shook her head, unfurling her wings. "You think that by harming an infant; a BABY of all things, will bring you some sort of respite and relief? Such an act is deplorable, and Set himself would think you worse than him if you decide to go through with this. And as long as I live and breathe, my Fwynxie is NEVER falling into your hooves!"

"Then I'll just have to take her, then." Scowling, he fired a bolt of magic at Somnambula, who immediately took to the skies and swooped out above the courtyard. He shot more and more blasts at her, while she tried to evade them while
keeping the basket safe on her back.

"If you want her so badly, then I'm afraid that I can't stay here anymore. You've changed after so many years of being bitter, Howling Dune. And it's a visage I cannot stand to look at." She turned her back to him and shot off towards the Shimmering Sands, not even bothering to look back as more bolts grazed against her fur. "Don't worry, little one. He can't catch me with his hooves alone."

"Som-Mama..." Fwynxie whimpered and felt her blood turn cold as she grabbed onto the wicker. "Me scawed. Meanie gonna chase us..."

"If he does, then I'll make sure that it's not easy for him." Somnambula looked back at the blood-curdled Fwynxie and wanted to pet her, but another shot from Howling as he teleported onto the roofs nearby. Diving into the streets, she coiled herself past the carts and other bystanders as he lobbed another series of spells down upon her.

In the chaos, Howling Dune kept on leaping from building to building, and teleporting when Somnambula got out of reach for him. He fired beam spells, orb spells, and tried spawning objects out of thin air to try and stop Somnambula, but each and every one either missed her or she flew past it. Growling to himself, he ripped parchments out of his bag and lit them up with his magic, using them to amplify his spells and make them bigger and faster. Each one tore into the city and caused civilians to flee in a panic, dropping their goods and harvest foods around them as they took cover.

"Come back here, Somnambula! I'm doing this for the greater good of my home! Our home! Southern Equestria as a whole!" He roared and cast a new spell on the ground, causing huge plumes of sand to erupt from the ground, forming columns as he tried to block off her escape. "How can you possibly want sphinxes to co-exist after you KNOW how cruel and under-hooved they are?!"

"The queen and Fwynxie are exceptions, Howling. And I hardly think that you can judge the whole species after what one group did to one little village." Somnambula groaned as she flew above the columns and took to the skies. "I can't say anything else than I'm sorry for your losses, but this is not a good way to rid yourself of the shame and guilt. And I don't want your cruel ways to be inflicted on such sweet creatures like my little one."

"Then you've made your decision. As have I." Howling flew up to Somnambula, his whole body coated in magic as he held his hooves out to the side. "We shall see whose ideals are stronger, then. Yours to safeguard the sphinxes, or mine to destroy them."

"You can fly?!" Somnambula's mouth fell once more from her skull as she watched Howling cast off more spells at her. "How?! Unicorns can't fly like that, can they?"

"It takes a sheer amount of concentration and devotion to maintain the flying spell, Somnambula. Even more so to be able to cast more spells while flying." He said, then promptly launched a web spell at her. If not for the sudden dive she made, she would have been ensnared, so he launched even more her way. "Though, I will admit, the papyrus I carry makes it slightly easier."

"Boosters or not, it still can't stop me." Somnambula flapped her wings even faster and picked up the pace, forcing Howling to arch his body like a spear as he chased after her through the skies. "And it won't stop me from delivering my little one and the queen to the other sphinxes in Shimmering Sands, where they'll be free from your evil."

"So that's your little master plan. You plan to reunite these beasts with the rest of their kind. And in return, you lead me straight to the others." Howling conjured circles which shot lasers out of them. The blasts tried striking Somnambula's wings, but she swirled and looped over and under them. Unbeknownst to her, she leads me right to the heart of the beasts. And now, I have the chance to rid them all from our world at once...

The chase continued for a fair amount until they came to a large group of thick clouds. Somnambula took the chance to hide in the clouds, while Howling Dune just stopped and let her fly off, hanging back as he now knew her course. Instead of keeping up the chase, he instead flew towards Shimmering Sands himself, leaving no trace of himself behind.

Somnambula flew for a few moments and waited until she knew Howling stopped chasing after her. Once the coast was clear, she slowed down and sank through the cloudy veil and looked out at the vast desert beneath her. She flew down to the sands, hoping that he had decided to give up on her and tried to stay as close to the ground as possible, while making sure not to brush the surface and come into contact with any of the creatures or rocks on it.

"Did we lose him?" The queen asked as she looked back towards the skies above.

"Me hope we did..." Fwynxie was still shaking from head to toe as she popped out of the basket and looked at Somnambula's face, locked deep in focus. "Meanie stiww scawy..." She flopped over the queen and hugged into her skin.

"Yes, Fwynxie. We lost him. And you know what that means, don't you?" A smila finally re-emerged on Somnambula's face now that the pressure on them was off. "You two are going home, to be with the rest of your kind. And Howling's plans to subjugate the sphinxes has crumbled to dust."

"Yay! Som-Mama saved the day!" Fwynxie cheered and threw her paws into the air giddily. "I lub you, Som-Mama!"

"And I love you too, Fwynxie. Now, let's get you both home, shall we?" She smiled back at the tiny sphinxes and closed the basket up again. "I'm sure that all the other sphinxes would love to see you both safe and sound. The other babies especially would love seeing you, Fwynxie." And without another word, she flew into the horizon, making haste for Shimmering Sands; a sanctuary that was about to turn into a trap.