When Somnabmula finally came to and looked around, the place had grown much colder and darker than usual. All the lights had been turned out and Fwynxie was nowhere to be found. The sun above had been replaced with a bright, silver moon, which was twinkling elegantly like a pearl in the sky above. Had she not been trapped in this room with an over-energetic baby sphinx who loved to play, it would have been a wonderful sight for her.

“How long was I asleep?” Somnambula asked, feeling her muscles regain their strength. “And for that matter, how much time has passed since I arrived?” When she looked up at the singular hole in the ceiling, she had her answer. “The moon?”

In the corner of the room, Fwynxie was fast asleep, cuddling with a blanket as the ankh with a pacifier at its’ end bobbed gently in her mouth. The once bouncy titan of a baby had been reduced to a sleeping ball of fur. A very cute ball of fur, at that.

“It looks like even Fwynxie has her limits...” Somnambula tiptoed up to her, making sure not to echo her hoofsteps on the walls around her. “I just pray she doesn’t wake up and find me.”

“Mama...” Fwynxie cooed beneath the pacifier ankh. “Me no wanna go ta widdle school today. Me like your widdles more.”

“Even in her dreams, she still talks of riddles.” Somnambula watched as Fwynxie rolled over and flopped onto her back, mumbling gibberish as she went back to suckling on the pacifier. “When I get back home, I had better write a papyrus on the development of these things. The ponies back home could learn a thing or two from Fwynxie here.”

Just as Somnambula started to walk away, Fwynxie, still slumbering, reached forward, grabbed Somnambula by the flanks, and pulled her in, cuddling her like she was her own little teddy bear. Moaning softly as she brought her in for yet another death-hug, Fwynxie drifted more and more into sleep, as evident by her pacifier suckling getting slower and slower.

“Som-Mama...” She whispered, her tail curling gently as she slept. “No weave. Ever. Me no let yoo weave. Me hug yoo fowever and ever.”

Somnambula tried to escape again, but no matter how much she squirmed and writhed in Fwynxie’s grip, she couldn’t loosen herself up one bit. “Well. This makes it even harder.”

As Somnambula looked around for a way she could escape from the crushing hold of her infant imprisoner, her eyes began to adjust to the darkness, and she could see some brief glimpses and shadows of objects in the room. Though, the colours were still faded and diminished in the darkness most of the time.

Eventually, Somnambula got an idea. She knew she couldn’t use her wings to escape, but at the same time, she knew they were just what she needed to get out of Fwynxie’s hold. Ever so gently, she unfurled her wings, slipped them through the cracks of the sphinx’s paws, and began to tickle her nose with them.

Fwynxie’s nose twitched and scrunched as Somnambula tickled at it. She began to jiggle slightly as she had a light chuckle, which then turned into quiet little giggles, allowing Somnambula to break out as she loosened her grip on her.

"Kids will be kids." Somnambula smirked to herself as she watched Fwynxie calm down and snuggle into her blanket once again. "Now, to find my way out of here. I must admit, I was not expecting this for a deathtrap, but I've been in worse situations." And she walked away.

"Hmm. If the door's not going to open and I can't fly my way out, then there must be another secret passageway out of this wretched place. But where in the world would one of those be in a child-friendly room such as this?" Once she had time to assess her surroundings and not touch any of the loose toys that had been strewn about, Somnambula eventually looked at the walls, which had more sigils and characters on them. "Oh, of course. The wall writing. In the past few pyramids I raided, they always held a clue on how to escape, or where the real treasure would be. Let's just hope that tonight, it's the former."

Time ticked on and on, and the moon shifted its' way across the night sky, until it finally vanished from the open roof of the pyramid. Somnambula was still scouring the walls trying to find an answer, stifling as many yawns as she could whilst fighting off her increasingly stronger sense of drowsiness. She couldn't lose hope here; not in a place like this. Just one way out was all that she needed.

"Come on! What did I ever do to deserve this?!" Somnambula growled quietly, trying not to disturb Fwynxie. "I am Somnambula! Why has my hope forsaken me in such an accursed place?!"

Just when it looked like it was all over for her, she noticed the moonlight shimmering down on one particular piece of hieroglyphics. Once her eyes caught a glimpse of it, she ran over to find out what it was trying to tell her.

"What is this? A riddle of some sort?" Somnambula asked, leaning in to get a better view of the archaic symbols and their pattern. "It would not surprise me, seeing as how sphinxes love them." She rolled her eyes and looked at each individual rune and picture, then said to herself, "When the Sun shines high in the sky above, your wings become quashed and repelled. Should the moon instead shine in its' place, then unicorn magic is felled. Neither way can escape this place, unless blessed by the sphinx who hexed it. Though climbing through this labyrinthian construct is also a viable exit..."

She tried to disprove the riddle by using her wings to fly up to the ceiling, only to find that the roof of the place closed itself up with a green aura. That very same glow around the bricks conjured a pair of small spectral tethers, that was connected to Somnambula's wings. Groaning to herself, she descended back to the ground, where the magical ropes vanished.

"Well, at least I can fly again." Somnambula sighed, knowing that was the one solace she could take from that night. "But still, how do I escape this place? The riddle mentioned a maze, but where would one find such a thing here?" She started idly patting on the wall around it. "Maybe another switch to throw?"

Once Somnambula found and pushed a small button on the wall, a moderately sized piece of the temple began to open up before her eyes. It was only big enough to fit one pony in at a time, but that was all that she needed. Not wanting to spend another second in the room, she climbed up through the passage.

"Sorry, Fwynxie, but I cannot care for you forever." Somnambula looked back one last time at the baby sphinx. "My family are worried sick now that I have been stuck in your prison. Once I clear things up, I might consider coming back to play with you some more. But at the moment, I cannot throw my own responsibilities away to attend to foalsit someone like you; as much as you are an orphan." Moments later, she climbed off, feeling a small tear drop from her eye. She wiped it away as she continued her ascent.

"Som-Mama..." Fwynxie mumbled again. "No weave. Queen no let yoo weave. Magic no let anypony weave..."

Somnambula clambered higher and higher, making good time as she wanted to beat the moon to her house. Now was one of the most arduous tasks of the journey so far. She had not slept for hours, and at a late hour like this, she was on the cusp of collapsing and sleeping in the safety of the tunnels. But she forged on, trying her hardest to stay awake. Even in secret escape routes, there usually would be a small catch or stinger to it that would take her by surprise; considering her track record with pyramids.

There were more and more symbols on the walls as Somnambula went on her way, including a few branching paths. Most of which, she ignored, and continued to climb upwards, most likely towards the roof of the pyramid, where she could easily slide down the sides and run away back to civilization easily. What she didn't realise, however, was that there were some crystals on the wall by the marks, which all began to glow as she passed them.

"Som-Mama? Where yoo going?" Fwynxie's voice echoed through the room.

"Fwynxie?!" Somnambula gasped, looking around for the massive baby sphinx, only to find naught but the crystals. She let out a sigh of relief. "Wake up, Somnambula. You are just hearing things. Being tired will do that to you."

"Som-Mama no weave." Fwynxie said again, her voice echoing off of the crystals. "Me no wanna lose Som-Mama..."

As Somnambula was about to move on, she saw a bright flash of sapphire light, and she found herself in a massive rotunda of corridors, with each and every passageway looking exactly the same, with crystals at each and every entrance. The ceiling was still low down, so she couldn't stand upright just yet. For now, she could still only crawl and drag herself across, a feat that was already draining in and of itself; given how much she was used to flying or walking around.

"Fwynxie? What did you do?!" Somnambula called. "Where am I?!"

No response came.

"Fwynxie! Answer me! I demand it as your Som-Mama!" She called out again, only to be greeted with another wave of silence. Not even the crystals that had the sphinx's voice replied to her. "Whatever sorcery this is, I plan to beat it and return home. Nothing can stop me. I just need to hope that I'm going the right way.

So, Somnambula sat in the middle of the room, took off her headdress, and laid it out by her belly, to point out the door straight ahead. She then looked around the other ways out methodically, checking for any irregularities or differences, only to find that they were completely identical, right down to the same amount of dust and spider-webs in them.

"Is this another one of her games?" Somnambula asked herself, looking straight ahead once again, "Where it's all just a pointless illusion designed to throw me off and lead me back to the girl no matter what I choose? Because if that's the case, then all I need to do is go forward and that will lead me to salvation." Taking matters into her own hands, she slipped the headdress back on her head and pressed on, shuffling down the pathway in front of her. "Nice try, Fwynxie, but I am wise to the tricks of many a Southern Equestria creature."

Somnambula went down the path, the rotunda seeming like a thing of the past as she left it behind. Believing that she got the right one, she picked up the pace to make sure that more magic couldn't interfere with her escape, her hooves and knees collecting a lot of scrapes and rocks along the way. It was agony for her as they scratched and grazed against her, but all she could do was grit her teeth and try to avoid the sensation for as long as she could.

Eventually, Somnambula came to a little hatch at the end of the path that was accompanied by a bright shade of light. That must have been the way out for her. A smile finally returned to her face which grew wider as she picked up the pace and used her wings to speed herself up. Sure, she couldn't fly with them until she was out, but it helped her feel less heavy and therefore, able to move much faster in a cramped environment like this one.

Somnambula finally burst through the wall of light and felt the entire world disappear before her. Then, once her eyes readjusted, she found herself back in Fwynxie's room, only this time, it was like she was looking at a bird's eye view of the room, with all the same toys and everything.

"Wait, WHAT?!" Somnambula's eyes bulged so much that they nearly popped out of her sockets. "Why am I back here? I solved the riddle! I passed through the maze! I shouldn't be here any longer!" As she went on her tirade, she felt gravity return to her, and she let out a long scream as she tumbled to the ground like a stone being dropped from the roof.

"Som-Mama!" Fwynxie looked up and smiled as she watched Somnambula tumble towards her. She leapt up and acted as a large cushion for the wing-locked Somnambula, landing on all of her paws as she laid back down and helped her get off. "Me saved yoo!" She giggled.

"I don't know whether I should say thank you for saving my life or curse you and your species for making it seem even more hopeless for me to escape this place..." Somnambula deadpanned as she climbed off of the body of the creature. "But regardless, it looks like you're getting your wish after all. There really is no way out unless somepony else from the outside world comes to collect me. And even then, they wind up getting trapped here in my stead."

"Magic fun!" Fwynxie threw her arms up. "Yoo wike magic, Som-Mama?"

"Well, I suppose, but in the right context, I do." Somnambula could only nod, once more finding herself a puppet to this mighty behemoth of a baby and its' interest in fun. "As much as I would show you some magic, I am unfortunately a pegasus, and not a unicorn." She flashed her wings at Fwynxie just to prove it.

"Pega..." She couldn't pronounce this word either, and again ended up scratching her chin to try and make some sense out of it.

"Never mind. It's a very—" she finally caved in and let out a massive yawn "—common thing for ponies to say." Somnambula waved a hoof in front of her mouth. "Now, I guess I should be getting back to sleep."

"Sleep? But it daytime!" Fwynxie lifted Somnambula up and pointed her to the sun in the skies. "And daytime means pwaytime!"

"Wait, it's DAYTIME?!" Somnambula's face contorted as she lurched backwards in Fwynnxie's hold. She pulled out her wings and tried to fly again, only to find that they had been sealed off for the day again. "But I didn't even sleep last night!"

"Som-Mama? Is someting wrong?" Fwynxie asked, pulling the pony towards her and gently patting her head. "Yoo wook kinda funny."

Somnambula didn't even respond, and just started to bobble her head back and forth, feeling her eyelids become increasingly heavy with each passing second.

"Yoo can't go to sweep just yet. It's time to pway!" Fwynxie brought her mouth to Somnambula's belly and blew a raspberry into it, sending vibrations across her whole body. "Wake up, Som-Mama! It's pwaytime!"

"By the stars above, end my suffering..." Somnambula pulled her eyes open just barely before she released them and they fell shut again. Only momentarily, though, as Fwynie kept on raspberry-ing her tummy and making it impossible for her to sleep.