Somnambula and her two Sphinxes had a long fly, but in the end, they finally saw a large hole in the desert ahead, with lots of different sphinxes all gathered around in it. Many of them were grown up, but there were little areas where little ones were playing with each other, building sandcastles and drawing things in the sand. There were a bunch of caves in the walls around them, with more sphinxes coming in and out of them. Supposedly, those lead to the hatcheries where more babies were born.

"There." Somnambula smiled as came in for a landing, skidding gently on the sand as she curled her wings up. "The Shimmering Sands. And from the looks of it, the sphinxes look very happy here, don't they?"

Fwynxie popped out of the basket again and watched the sphinxes cavorting together in the canyon. The big and small ones all with smiles on their faces as they cavorted around. Climbing out of the basket and sitting on the top, one word came out of her mouth: "Home."

"Yes. We're home." Somnambula gave Fwynxie a pat on the head as she lifted her and the queen out of the basket. "Now, you can be free. Cast that size-changing spell again, and the both of you will be able to do whatever you want. No-one will be able to lay a hoof on you."

"Well, I can't thank you enough, Somnambula." The queen leapt onto the sands with Somnambula by her side. "I never thought I would ever have met a pony quite like you in all my years," she said as the both of them grew back to size. "It's funny. Long before any of this, I would've just thought ponies as prey, doomed to spend an eternity in my chambers looking after my little Fwynxie here. But no. You turned out to be different. You were compassionate, caring, and accepting of the fate that lay before you. There was no need for any of that, yet you still did it; not for my benefit, but for hers." She tousled Fwynxie's head. "This could be the start of a whole new bond between sphinxes and ponies, Somnambula."

"I just hope that the bond can be maintained, even after all of this comes to pass." Somnambula walked forward and laid a hoof on the queen's paw, and another on Fwynxie's. "Even if there are some rotten apples within the bunch, both for ponies and sphinxes in the future, we still need to remember that not all of them are bad. And, when we really look deep down and past the differences, we can benefit each other much more than we realize."

"Let us just hope that Howling can be stopped, before he breaks that alliance." Somnambula turned and looked out into the distance. "He'll most likely be coming for you two, and when he comes and sees all these sphinxes, greed will most likely wash over him. And when that happens, Set may not want to associate himself with him."

"Howling Dune is finished, Somnambula." The queen walked up to Somnambula's side and patted her back gently and slowly, making sure not to knock her over with her massive paws. "Even if he were to attack the sphinxes here, we would all quash him underneath the weight of our own magic. If anything, what he thinks is a trap for us would really be a trap for him."

"Don't underestimate ponies. They are smart, cunning, and know how to adapt to crises."

A sphinx the size of the queen approached Somnambula and Fwynxie. He petted Fwynxie on her head, making her chuckle lightly before walking up to the tiny-looking pony. He looked very similar to the other sphinxes in the area, but his crown stretched out to the side and was adorned with gems from all seven colours in the rainbow, with ruby at the ends and amethyst at the center of the crown.

"It is quite rare to see a pony visit the Shimmering Sands, let alone one who brings two of our kind back to safety." He put a paw on his chest and unfurled his wings. "State your name, miss."

"My name is Somnambula, and I am responsible for delivering Fwynxie to you. Their pyramid was assaulted by a pony named Howling Dune, and it was razed to the ground as he tried to take them away." She looked towards her two sphinxes and watched them go off to speak with the others. "He has some form of archaic rune magic that allowed him to pull of the dirty deed. I freed them from his barbaric prison and just escaped as he tried to hunt me down."

"Hmm. It would seem that not all ponies in Equestria are happy with the agreement we signed with them." The male sphinx laid himself down in front of her. "Tell me, miss. What motive does this Howling Dune have for this cruelty and subjugation for the sphinx race?"

"A group of sphinxes attacked his village and presented him with a riddle with multiple right answers, yet the one he answered, though being acceptable, was one that they deemed incorrect."

"A dark riddle. A very cruel tactic that we since abolished when agreeing to leave the ponies in peace." The male sphinx shuddered. "Dark riddles are against our laws, and any sphinx that gives a pony one is stripped of all its' powers the next day and transformed into a pony forever. Which of the three forms they take is also randomized, but one way or another, it becomes their form until the end of time."

"You can do that?"

"No, it is something that all sphinxes share, deep within their magical genomes. Even I, if I posed a dark riddle, would be burdened with pony life for all eternity." He said, standing back up again. "My name is Enigma, and I lead the sphinxes here in Shimmering Sands. Refugees, families, and more."

"So, you manage the sphinxes here?" She asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Yes, but in recent years, many of our kind has established their own homes in pyramids and at temples, while some even find comfort in moving around all across the desert." He nodded, turning towards the ones in his stead. The first thing he saw was Fwynxie greeting the other younger sphinxes and playing along with them. "It's really rather sad that this Howling Dune is hunting us all down because of a heinous act by a bunch of former sphinxes posing a dark riddle. But still, some form of justice remains, in the fact that they no longer have any place in our society.

"But the other justice; his village, lies in tatters. And that's why he is hunting them down and studying them, so he can spread their weaknesses to the other ponies of the world, so that they know how to properly combat them." Somnambula felt numb as she walked towards Enigma, letting the screams of all of Howling Dune's home ring in her ears. She pictured mares, stallions, and their kids fleeing, with barrels and stands being knocked over, trampled, and destroyed beyond repair in the confusion. "Which justice is the right one when it leads someone to commit bad acts like this?"

"Not the one that we enacted, that is for sure." Enigma sighed and drooped his ears and tail as he clawed the sand. "If only Howling had known of what happened to his aggressors after the siege on his home; then, everything would have been much different, and we wouldn't have had such a hassle."

"It's alright. You couldn't have known about him." Somnambula patted Enigma's chest gently, brushing his hair lightly. "If you know nothing, then you can do nothing. All that we can do now is face the future; no matter what might be in store for us."

"Still, I just hope that Fwynxie comes out of it unscathed." Somnambula turned to Fwynxie, watching her smile and laugh with the other little ones. She was running around with a yellow ball with hieroglyphics and scarab beetles on it, kicking it around and trying to stop the others from taking it off of her. "Such a sweet little angel, and he tried to experiment on her. I couldn't abide by any of his acts."

"Especially since baby sphinx magic is a lot more erratic and unpredictable. If Fwynxie wanted to, she could do so much more with her magic, but because of how young and inexperienced she is, she can only really scratch the surface." The queen walked back up to Somnambula and curled her tail around her body. "If Howling had done his sick and twisted work on her, she would have been a real maelstrom of magic right now."

"Hmm..." Somnambula remembered when Howling attacked the temple, specifically, when he destroyed Fwynxie's toys and caused her to cry. The magic she exerted was playing out in her mind, and she felt her blood turn cold when she thought about such a force being unleashed again. "We'd better get her inside, and fast. If Howling does come for this place, then he'll go for her first."

"How do you know?" Enigma cocked a brow.

"Howling Dune seems like the kind of pony that would want to know every little bit about the sphinxes he plans to 'play with'. If he discovers that Fwynxie's magic is more powerful when she is upset, it could cause him to write down a way to protect against or even nullify the magic she displays. And if that's the case, then ponies could easily subdue little ones like her."

"Not that most other ponies would want to stop a baby sphinx, mind you, but it still would be worth noting if a group of poachers want to try and steal them." The queen scratched her chin with her own paws. "But still, why did it have to be Fwynxie who got caught up in all of this madness?"

"Clearly, there's something special about this little one. That, and the fact that she imprinted on me and called me her mother instead of the queen." Somnambula walked towards Fwynxie. "But still, my plan still stands. We shouldn't take our chances out here. We must lead everyone inside and try to barricade it all off, so that Howling thinks that you've all been moved."

"Moved?" Enigma tilted his head. "What do you mean by that?"

"He won't stop trying to find the sphinxes, but if we can at least trick him into believing that the Shimmering Sands is deserted, then he will leave it alone. And then, when he does, you all shouldn't have to worry about him coming back." Somnambula began to pace back and forth, not fazed by the sand shifting beneath her feet. "I know that it sounds weird to take commands from a pony like me, but trust me, o wise Enigma. This is for the best, trust me. And once it's over, you can all come out and live freely again."

"That's quite alright, Somnambula, but this Howling Dune doesn't seem like the kind of pony to want to abandon a search because his prizes are hiding. I think that we should still face him head on and overwhelm his magic with that of our own." Enigma gently brushed her aside and flew to the edge of the perimeter. "He is but one pony against a horde of us sphinxes. There is no way his magic will be able to withstand all of ours."

"Even so... Howling Dune was able to raze an entire pyramid and handle both a grown and baby sphinx in his assault on Fwynxie and her queen's domicile." Somnambula gulped as she joined Enigma on the edge. "If a pony like him can destroy a whole pyramid just as a side effect of teleporting things to wherever he wishes is some powerful magic; even if it's just characters on paper.

"No matter how strong the runes are, I still have faith that we will be able to stand against him." He turned to the rest of the species. "Everyone! Take the children and hide them away. Then, come to our side and prepare for battle with a pony named Howling Dune! He still believes that sphinxes and ponies are not allied, and he will be trying to kidnap some of us for his horrific research!" And with his words alone, the sphinxes began to scramble and take the children towards the caves.

In the chaos, Somnambula watched Fwynxie get herded into the cave last. She looked her in the eyes and watched a frown form on her face as the sphinxes' crowns began to glow and close the cave walls up. As the massive slabs of stone began to press together, Fwynxie could only whimper and begin to shed a tear towards Somnambula, who did the same once the walls sealed off, and the children were out of everyone's sight.

"I know that you have good intentions, Somnambula, but from the description of the events, I can already tell that this pony will stop at nothing to try and take us all out." Enigma sighed and lifted her head up. "I don't like it as much as you do, what with the peace accords made between our kinds. But if it is to uphold the future of our two kinds, then we shall do it."

"The thing is, is this really the fate he should face? To be razed by an army of titanic magic-wielding sphinxes?" Somnambula asked, as the other sphinxes started to form a barricade around Shimmering Sands, their wings unfurled and their crowns seething with magical energy. "Or is there a way that we can fix this without having to go to such lengths?"

"If there is another way, then it had better present itself fast." The queen took up arms with the rest of her brethren, standing alongside Enigma. "He's on the verge of arriving, and we're about to show him just what happens when you mess with our kind."

"From one city's felling, a crisis emerged. Even if he has no army to command, no monstrous darker half, and nothing like the sort I have seen before, this Howling Dune needs to be stopped, before he is beyond salvation." Somnambula hung her head, shook it, then stood between Enigma and the queen. "May the gods above give me the strength to see this through. And let me believe that there is still hope for him yet..."

Author's Notes:

Sorry if this new chapter took a while, but when you have to go to a Center Parcs, have a birthday, and do lots of other things like going to see the Incredibles 2, a lot can happen. Not to mention, I finally got rid of my old laptop for my brand new PC, so that was another contributor to this chapter's delay.

But even so, we're back, and we're ready to continue with this story. Personally, I don't know where else to go after this battle with Howling, so I think we're coming close to the end in all honesty, unless you guys have any ideas on how to continue it. I'm always open to suggestions, after all.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll be seeing you all again soon.