“Who are you?” Somnambula asked, stepping forward towards Howling Dune. Unfurling her wings, she tried to hide Fwynxie from his sight as she looked into his ferocious eyes. “And for what purpose have you come, other than to be trapped here?”

“On the contrary, I’m here to turn the tables, so to speak.” Howling stepped past Somnambula and looked up at Fwynxie. As she got bigger the closer he got to her, his horn’s light grew brighter with each second.

“Ooh... Pretty!” Fwynxie immediately pulled Howling into a hug, squeezing the air out of his lungs and causing his horn magic to disperse. He now thrashed for breath as she held him close, cooing softly.

“Get... off me!” Howling groaned as he tried to pull up another spell, only for Fwynxie to carry him away.

“Don’t mind her, good sir. She’s just... playful around new ponies.” Somnambula could only watch as Howling was treat just like she was when she had arrived; a ragdoll, helpless in Fwynxie’s massive paws.

“Me Fwynxie!” She brought him up to her face. “Will yoo be my dada? Som-Mama so lonewy in here...”

“I don’t want to be this mare’s associate; nor your father.” Howling teleported out of Fwynxie’s hold. “In fact, I am here to take you away. You will never see her or this place ever again.”

“That... sounds a bit extreme.” Somnambula’s confidence in her rescuer had been shaken. She stepped forward, watching as Howling stretched his legs apart and pulled a rune out of his pocket. Who is this? And why does he want to harm Fwynxie? I was just starting to get attatched to the poor thing as well...

“Me like magic!” Fwynxie chuckled and started to cast a spell of her own, lighting up the tiara on her head. “Yoo wike magic too?”

“Fwynxie, don’t—“

Before Somnambula could finish, Howling cast a bolt at the tiara, in an attempt to knock it off of Fwynxie’s head. All it ended up doing was disappearing as a little green bubble appeared around it. Fwynxie then let off her own spell, which showered Howling in a rain of plushie frogs.

“Gah! Get them off of me!” Howling burst out of the plushie frog pile as fast as he could, casting a bright beam of magic at it. The plie of plushies blew up, spreading fluff and fur everywhere. “Those things spread diseases, you know...”

Fwynxie looked at all the charred ashes of the toys she had spawned. Seeing all the pieces strewn about, entrails everywhere, sent a shock down her stomach. Balling up, her lips began to quiver, until at last, she started to cry, wailing as loud as she could.

“Hold your tongue!” Howling shot a spell at Fwynxie’s mouth, conjuring a steel mouthpiece on it that muffled her voice and drowned it out entirely. “And don’t even think about removing it, heathen. Pony magic might not be as strong as sphinx magic, but it can still hold its’ own in one way or another.”

“Hey! You have no right to do that!” Somnambula ran into Howling, her wings pulling him away from Fwynxie in one swift yank. “She is my burden to bear, not yours!”

“You think you care for this animal?” Howling turned back to face Somnambula, his eyes still alight with flames. “Sphinxes are not worthy to co-exist with us! They destroy villages, enslave the weak and feeble ponies I used to protect, and they are always twisting their sick riddles with multiple answers, yet leave the only answers you give as invalid!”

“They are still just like us; their own kind, with their own way of life.” Somnambula pushed him away. “And if you want to stomp them out, that is something I cannot condone. Even if you might be the only pony to come to this place and release me...” her wings beat open, and she took up a charging stance. “I choose to stay!”

“Stay?” Howling cocked a brow. “Why do you wish to stay? The whole world will miss you if you do.”

“It is not like I have a choice.” Somnambula looked to the doors, watching as they began to close. “If a pony chooses to venture here, they are captured, and made to protect the Queen’s daughter, Fwynxie.” She hung her head as they began to seal themselves again. “And I can’t fly out through the top, either; for multiple reasons. First, the hole is too small for someone like me to fit through. Second, this place has a magical enchantment on it that seals pegasus flight by day, and unicorn magic like yours by night.”

“Then I had best wrap this up quickly.” Howling grunted and stamped the ground as violently as he could, pulling the parchment out from his cloak and unfurling it before Somnambula and Fwynxie’s eyes.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Somnambula leapt forward and charged into Howling, knocking him onto the ground and scattering his scroll across the ball behind Fwynxie. “Leave her alone! She’s just a baby, for pharaoh’s sake!”

“Even a baby sphinx can be deadly if not handled properly.” Howling flipped back up onto four legs and levitated the scroll back to his side. “That is why I must deliver it to him, that way, we can handle the beasts better!”

“Through slavery and torment? That sounds barbaric to me!” Somnambula dived forward and used her wings to sweep Howling off of his legs. Rolling forward, she grabbed him by the tail and tossed him away from Fwynxie, before trying to rip off the mouthpiece. “Don’t worry, sweetie... Som-Mama’s here.” She wiped away the tears flowing from Fwynxie’s eyes.

“You are one strong pony, miss. But even with all that bravery and courage, it means nothing if you cannot protect this creature.” He stood up, creaked his neck to make a cracking noise, and scowled. “Now, let me do my work, and I shall free you, and save the ponies of Southern Equestria in the process!”

“Saving and enslaving are two different things, you know. I won’t allow the other.” She held out her wings as a shield while she tried to yank the piece off. It was heavy in her hooves, and she had to plant her feet firmly on the ground in order to get it out. “Especially when Fwynxie looks up to me as her mother!”

“No matter how deep her imprint on you is, I need to exact vengeance for my village. The sphinxes that came and buried it... I shall take from them too!” Casting another spell, Howling hit Somnambula on the back and lifted her into the air, swinging her around like a ball on a chain, he launched her into the closed passageway leading to the Queen’s chambers. “First she goes, then they all go!”

Howling stomped the ground and opened the parchment, reciting the text inside. Archaic scriptures and an otherworldly language rolled out of his lips as magic began to coil around his body. On the ground, a large character within a blue circle appeared, before moving from his feet across the room towards the downed body of Fwynxie.

“Fwynxie!” The queen called, and the passage to her chambers opened. On the other side of the wall, the larger sphinx looked out and witnessed Fwynxie about to be enveloped by a magical seal. “What is going on?!”

“Your majesty!” Somnambula called to the queen sphinx as she barged into the room and squeezed throuh the hole in the wall. “Fwynxie is being taken by this brute!”

“Not on my watch, she isn’t!” The queen dashed forward with her crown radiating pure light. She hit Fwynxie, repelling the seal and making it retreat towards the caster. “You! What business do you have with stealing my precious?!” She roared, her clawed paw smashing the ground violently. “Explain yourself. NOW!”

“So... there is a bigger sphinx...” Howling’s eyes widened as he gazed up at the real guardian of Fwynxie. “Perfect. Now, we will have both an infant and a parent to work with. The pharaoh will be most pleased indeed.”

“You won’t deliver my hatchling to your twisted pharaoh!” The queen howled and opened her wings, magic pouring out of each feather. “She is mine and Somnambula’s to care for. Anyone trying to steal her away from us deserves punishment!”

“To stop a Sphinx, all you need do is take off the crown.” Howling mumbled to himself as he took out another scroll. “And there’s only one spell in all of the desert that can do that...”

Howling teleported into the air behind the queen, landed on top of her head, and thrust a hoof onto her crown. “Vile magic, begone!”

The crown on the queen’s head burst into an explosion of purple colour, with hieroglyphics spewing out of it. Once it died down, it turned into sand and fell all around her head, with some grains landing by her feet. She was about to bat him away when he teleported back to the rune on the ground and cast his original spell again, which grew the circle to consume both Fwynxie and the queen.

“No!” Somnambula got back onto her feet and charged into Howling, only for her to be knocked away as he swiftly grabbed the ball and hooked it into her face, knocking her off course so that she flew straight into the building block pile to his side.

“Now then...” Howling watched the circle finally finish moving and shimmer, as a mythical cylinder grew around both the queen and Fwynxie, almost like a test tube of sorts. “My prize. And, more so, my country’s prize.”

The queen snarled and tried to run into him again, only for her to crash into the wall and flop to the ground, limbs landing all around her. Hissing, she tried to punch and attack the barrier, only for her strikes to reflect off and hastily return to her side.

“Do not bother. This forcefield cannot be penetrated once invoked, unless a pony casts a stronger magic on it.” How,ing stepped forward, his face still flat and still as could be, despite his victory. “And, with another spell, I can move this prism and its’ inhabitants to any other location I choose. Though, the results tend to take a toll on my body in the process.”

“Fwynxie! Get up!” Somnambula cried, her eyes on the verge of shedding tears as she desperately reached out for her. “Use your own magic!”

But Fwynxie was still in a foetal position, still wailing and sobbing as the mouthpiece stayed on her mouth. She was only a baby, and had never seen something of this magnitude before. Much like the queen and Somnambula, she was rendered motionless and helpless as her captor took out yet another spell from his cloak’s pockets.

“By the divine will of the aligning stars, I move this cage to a desired location. Answer my prayers and deliver unto me my wish.” Howling clapped his front hooves together and sat down, creating an orb of ethereal white and aquamarine energy before tossing it into the air. “Take these sphinxes to the pharaoh of Southern Equestria, to the dungeons far below!”

Shortly after he finished talking, a column of divine light poured down from the sky. The intensity caused the bricks and mortar holding the pyramid room up to crumble and fall all around the room. Large stone chunks smashed against the roof of the runic forcefield, but none of them made a dent. They did, however, fall onto some of Fwynxie’s toys, battering, denting, and crushing them beyond repair.

“No! No, no, no, no, no!” Somnambula found the strength in her wings again as the spell holding her back was lifted. “This is not happening! I will not allow it to happen!” Flapping her wings, she sped into Howling, smashing him against the magic of his own creation. “Release them! Now!”

“Stubborn to the very end...” Howling cast one more spell on Somnambula, knocking her back into the door that had once closed on her. “If you have any common sense, you will return home. It is where you belong, after all. You’re welcome, by the way.” With one last quick flash, Howling Dune vanished, and the pillar’s light grew even more intense before it bathed the whole ruins in a massive explosion.

When the dust settled and Somnambula’s eyes readjusted, there was nothing more than silence. No winds in her ears, no more rubble from the aftershock of the spells, no remnants of the room she was once in, nothing. All that was left was her, the open world around her, and the skies above.

“Curses...” Somnambula bit her lip and got back to her feet. “Curses!” She yelled skyward, throwing her hooves out. “She was just a child! SHE WAS JUST A CHILD!”

All she got in response was her own echoes as tears began to stream from her eyes. She had failed to protect Fwynxie, lost both her and the queen to Howling Dune, and had failed a heroic deed for once in her life. Everything about hope inside of her had been challenged, and even though she was still a stern believer in it, she began to question whether or not it was powerful enough to overcome all adversity.

“That Howling Dune... he’s such a monster. Blindsided by revenge, he cares not for anything else unless his goal is achieved.” Somnambula clenched her teeth and blew steam out of her nose. “And now he goes as far to steal and experiment on a baby sphinx and a more mature one. I have seen some evil ponies in my time, but by far, he is one of the worst of all.”

If you have any common sense, you will return home. It is where you belong, after all. His words echoed in her mind as she opened her eyes again. “Home...” Opening her wings again, Somnambula rocketed out of the destroyed roof of the pyramid and turned towards the entrance. “There’s still time!”

Darting high into the air and leaning backwards, Somnambula performed a loop and shot herself forward, using the added momentum to boost herself across the desert. From there, she flew straight on, winds rushing against her face and the air growing colder as nightfall approached, but neither of those would dissuade her from her new mission.

“Fwynxie... Your majesty...” Somnambula lowered her brows as she made her way home. “Som-Mama’s coming.”