Somnambula stared grimly at Anatankha. She knew the sphinx was about to cast a spell to take away her flying, so she slowly closed her wings. Anatankha’s eyes glowed green for a brief second, indicating that she had used her magic, and Somnambula finally decided to act. At just the moment Anatankha began to swipe her paw in Somnambula’s direction, Somnambula pushed off the ground, leaping onto Anatankha’s head. She quickly ran down her back and surfed down her tail, safely away from the sphinx. Anatankha turned around to see Somnambula rush to a nearby sphinx statue that was holding a ceremonial staff with a two-pronged bit at one end and an ankh on the other. She bucked at the statue’s paws and crushed the stone, releasing the staff. She grabbed the staff with her mouth, put it in her hooves and spun it around before making a battle-ready stance. Anatankha began to laugh and then lunged. Somnambula leaped in the air and used the pole to strike the sphinx in the side of her face. Anatankha grunted and swung her wings and tail around at Somnambula. The tail hit Somnambula, but she grabbed a hold of it. As Anatankha swung her tail around furiously, Somnambula held on tightly and let go at just the right moment, heading towards some nearby pillars. Her wings would be no use so she kicked off the pillars and landed safely in the corridor between the walls and the pillars where Anatankha peaked in and gave chase.
Meanwhile, Flurry and Spike had found the rest of their friends and tried finding a way out as the battle raged on
“How in tarnation are we gonna get out of here?!” Applejack asked, frantically.
“The whole place is closed down!” Mrs. Cake yelped.
“I think it’s meant to lock Somnambula in,” Flurry explained. “Obviously Anatankha doesn’t want her to escape, but we have to get out of here.”
“So what are we waiting for then? Let’s help Somnambula beat that stupid sphinx!” Stormy cheered.
“Just hold on a second there, Squirt,” said Rainbow. “I know you’ve got your old mom’s genes and all, but we can’t get too brave with that monster.”
“Jeans? Uh…but Mommy, if we don’t do something, they’ll hurt her!”
“He’s right, we’ve got to help out somehow!” Flurry added.
“Maybe we should just go get help,” Pound suggested.
Suddenly a pillar was knocked over by Anatankha and began falling towards everyone. They scattered just in time and the pillar broke open the door.
“Well, there’s our ticket out of here!” Chip said as they all rushed out past the pillar and into the previous room.
“SOMNAMBULA!!” shouted Flurry.
Somnambula stopped what she was doing and looked to see that the way had been opened for her to escape. She was luckily closer to the entrance than Anatankha so she took her chance, leaving the sphinx behind. Anatankha ran after Somnambula, but failed to catch her before she went out past the door. She could not squeeze out of the door with the pillar in the way and Somnambula had just narrowly escaped her paw stretching through. Anatankha retracted her paw and then roared.
“SOMNAMBULAAAAAAA!!! I WILL FIND YOU!!!”
“We did it! We’ve got everybody, now let’s get out of here!” shouted Rainbow Dash as Somnambula caught up with them.
Anatankha’s roar echoed throughout the entire temple, causing rocks and dust to fall from the ceiling. Some torches began to light and the sounds of gears and large ancient machinery began to sound. The walls with the hieroglyphics started to move down to reveal small holes inside. They made their way to a bridge, but it started splitting apart. Before anyone with wings could fly across, their wings all closed up and the ones in the air plummeted to the ground. Rainbow Dash tried to open her wings to fly across, but all of their wings were closed.
“What the?! My wings! Rainbow said, catching Stormy as he fell.
“She’s used her spell to cancel out all of our flying!” Flurry cried.
“Well now what?! We can’t get across that bridge!” Mrs. Cake said as both ends of the bridge had already finished splitting and there was nothing but a pool of deep, dark water.
“We need to find another route,” said Somnambula. “Look, there is a passage up there!”
She pointed to a nearby set of stairs leading to a small doorway off to the side. They rushed up the stairs just as they heard the sounds of rocks tumbling and large footsteps. Anatankha had just made it in and saw them escape through the door. She slowly walked over to the door and began to laugh.
“You can run, but you cannot hide, Somnambula! This temple is under my control and I will find you!” she warned as she put her eye right in front of the door.
As they rushed through a corridor, they noticed holes in the walls. The walls began shooting small green blobs of a sticky material. Thankfully everyone was running quick enough that the blobs didn’t hit them in time, but Spike got one stuck to his foot and was unable to move. He tried pulling with all his might, but it did no good, so he blew fire at the blob until it melted away and his foot was free. He rushed forward to catch up to the others under a door that was starting to close. Spike dove just in time before the door hit the ground. Unfortunately Stormy’s hat had fallen off in all the commotion and was crushed under the door.
“My…my Somnambula hat…” he said with tears in his eyes.
The sound of Anatankha roaring shook the whole room and the floor began to move. They were all standing on a large tile that was moving upwards towards an opening in the ceiling.
“Well this would be a lot easier if we could just fly!” Pound complained.
“As soon as we get in there, follow me. I think Anatankha is waiting for us up there,” warned Somnambula.
The tile slowly moved up into the opening. A few moments later, they were in a higher level where it was completely dark. Spike blew his fire up in the air to light the room. There was a deep ditch carved in the floor before them, so they turned around, only to find Anatankha before them.
“THERE YOU ARE!”
The torches began to light and metal bars grew out of the ground in a circle around them. There was no lid to the cage, but no one could escape without the ability to fly. Before they could figure out how to escape, Anatankha had already reached in and pulled Somnambula out. She held her firmly in her paw, not enough to hurt her, but enough to keep her from escaping.
“You’re all mine, Somnambula!” Anatankha laughed.
“SOMNAMBULA!!” shouted everyone else.
“AAARGH!! Release me, Anatankha!” she shouted, angrily.
“LET HER GO, ANASTASIA, YOU BIG, DUMB…CAT-HORSE THING!” shouted Stormy as Rainbow Dash tried to hold him back.
“Somnambula is all mine now. I have no use for you fools.”
“Don’t you dare hurt them, Anatankha!”
“Oh they’ll be fine, Somnambula. It’s only water after all.”
Anatankha walked over and pulled down a lever in the wall. The floor behind the cage opened up and there was a moat with water rushing through it. The bars shrank into the ground and the whole floor began to tilt. They all fell into the water and were swept away.
“EVERYONE, DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME! GET HELP!!” shouted Somnambula before they landed in the water.
For the next minute or so, everyone was traveling down an underground river. The only sound was screaming and the constant sound of rushing water. This must have been the empty riverbed they noticed earlier, only now it had water flowing through it, serving as a trap to get rid of any intruders. The water was too fast for them to reach out and grab onto anything and it was too dark to see. They had no choice but to ride out the rough waves until it would eventually let them out of the temple.
They finally came to the area where the water was being drained out in a large bowl-shaped spot in the cave. Everyone spun around the center as the water lowered. All of the kids went down the drain hole first. Spike followed after, but only his legs and tail made it in before he was stuck. The hole was far too small for his large belly to fit through. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Mrs. Cake rolled in next to him with no way to catch up with their kids. They had all been separated.
“FLURRY!!” Spike called.
“STORMY?! Oh no! Spike, quick! Get out of it!” Rainbow Dash said, pulling on one of his wings.
“I can’t! I’m stuck!”
“Pound and Pumpkin are down there too!” cried Mrs. Cake. “I think we just lost all the kids! Oh, and my snacks too!”
“Hurry, ya’ll, we gotta find them! Up and at ‘em, Spike!” Applejack said as she and Mrs. Cake pushed against Spike’s belly.
“Aw no. I hope they’re okay down there,” Spike said, anxiously. “If anything happens to Flurry I’ll never forgive myself!”
Oh no!!! The kids!!! And Stormy's hat!!
11193886
Yeah, Stormy's madder than a wet hen now!
11193890
That sphinx doesn't know what's coming to her!
Damn, things went from bad to worst!
Really hoping it turns around next chapter cause our heroes could sure use it!
Green slime just like those things back in My Little Pony new generation when they shoot green slime
Oh my gosh things got really bad really quickly so both Somnambula and Anatankha are duking it out while flurry heart and the others trying to find a way to get out of this situation but luckily what are the pillars broke off and hit the door creating a hole so they made the Sweet Escape dodging every traps and after running they finally made it to the top but Anatankha was already there and finally captured Somnambula and the other ponies but she didn't need them so she sent them away to the water and they were got swept away and things got worse the kids made at first but unfortunately Spike due to his size got stuck and got separated from the kids this is really not good how in the world are they going to find each other and Save Somnambula I guess we'll find out next time
Well, things have certainly escalated. Now Somnambula's been captured by her old nemesis, Stormy lost his precious headdress, and the kids have been separated from their parents, thanks (unfortunately) to Spike's girth.
11193905
Well it's gotta be stuff from over a 1000 years ago given that Anatankha clearly set this all up since she's the same age as she was when she last met Somnambula. Could be quite similar though.
11193921
Don't worry, they'll figure it out.
11193934
Oh, I've no doubt. Flurry and her friends are some clever and resourceful kids. It's just a sore blow for poor Stormy to see his crush get captured and to lose his new hat, and I'll bet this is one time Spike regrets becoming so 'well-rounded', lol
Oh no, Somnambula's been captured! They need to do something to save her! Unfortunately, the kids have been separated from the adults because Spike was too big to fit down the drain. That's embarrassing for him. I wonder if it is because of that incident he decided to get the body shape he ended up having in the finale?
Oh poor Stormy. Even if he didn't get it because of his crush, it sucks having something brand new ruined.
Well... one thing is for certain: Anatankha is playing for keeps. Between using the spell that prevents everyone from flying (rather than just the pegasi) and summoning that cage and then sending away everyone she doesn't have a direct grudge with, she clearly doesn't want to let anyone stop her from having her revenge. And she seems to be disturbingly powerful too. I do still think Celestia and Luna or Twilight and Cadence would be too much for her, but sadly none of them are around, and anyone who can already deal with Flurry Heart and Spike is powerful indeed.
That said, I'm liking how threatening she's being, and I worry for Somnambula being in her grasp. Hopefully the others will find a way to save her.
Alas, it seems that they have their own concerns, what with the adults getting separated from the children and Spike getting stuck on that drain hole and Mrs. Cake losing her snacks and Stormy losing his hat - all of which are bad things to happen, though not bad to the same extent. Also, on Stormy's hat, while it is a sad moment, kudos for the subversion of the traditional movie scene where the character somehow still manages to reach in and get the hat at the last moment. That was a good way to go 'against set expectations', so to speak.
On a more cheerful note, I laughed at Stormy calling Anatankha 'Anastasia'. That was a nice joke. :) I now wonder if there is a ponified version of that movie in Equestria...
Whether there is or not, though, it was another great chapter! I very much look forward to what will happen next!
11200954
Anatankha's definitely powerful, though I would like to think she'd have a rough time with Celestia or Luna, but she might be pretty close. She probably isn't aware of any of them being out there, or at least not as powerful and she probably still thinks Discord is still imprisoned in stone. I was legit thinking of having Discord show up towards the end, but he'll be playing a role in the next story and since he was in the last one, I didn't want to overuse him.
I actually hadn't noticed I went against that trope so good eye there! XD
Yeah, Stormy not being able to remember how to pronounce her name and just using some other name that sounds like it will be a running gag in this story. Actually that's going to be a running gag throughout this series. :3
11201967
I get you. Sometimes certain storytelling decisions need to be made. And for what it's worth, I do trust Flurry and the others to deal with her, but I do admit I worry about how they're going to do that.
Well... for what it's worth, meaning this in the best possible way, the hat element was still a good inclusion. :)
And oh, goodness... I now wonder how many other names Stormy will come up with for Anatankha, and how many she will take before she snaps "MY NAME IS ANATANKHA!".
Meh! You look better without it, Stormy.
Well, things have gone from bad to worse. Somnambula has been captured and the rest of the gang have been separated from each other. Not to mention Spike's big belly finally came to bite him. Maybe this experience will make him lose some weight, but I doubt it.
On to the next chapter.
11832629
He’ll get a replacement.
Told ya it would be action packed! And Spike’s physique is kind of immutable since he’s just going to keep growing anyway. XD
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English please.
I think you got the thing about Anatankha's eyes glowing green when she uses her magic from Sphinx Simulator, you also see a red glow and maybe that's when she charges her eye rays.
11865042
I have never heard of that.