With luck, the trio made it back to the station before the train could be serviced and embark on the return journey. Starlight gave instructions to the conductor that they would need to make a short detour to the South of Las Pegasus. He begrudgingly agreed, mumbling something about royal privilege, and set the gears in motion.
Returning to the passenger car, Starlight faced two stern glares as she took a seat on the opposite bench.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Starlight began. “Where’s the staff? Well, I have good news, and I have bad news. Which do you want first?”
“It’s both bad news. Isn’t it?” Twilight replied. Her dusty coat and singed saddlebag smelled like a campfire among the desert sagebrush.
“Kind of?” Starlight shrugged her shoulders.
“Then let’s have it out, my dear.” Starswirl waved a hoof, nonchalantly. “We aren’t getting any younger.”
“So, first off, we think we know where the staff is, and I’ve asked the conductor to take us to Somnambula’s village in—”
“The Desert of the Shifting Sands,” Starswirl interrupted. “We already guessed as much given the absence of the staff and the third location indicated on the map. You do know you were gone for over two hours?”
Starlight scratched her chin. “Oh? Huh? I guess time really does fly when you’re stuck in somepony else’s headspace.”
“Speaking of stuck…” Twilight motioned for her to continue.
“So anyway, there’s this third sister, and we figure that she’s got the staff. It’s the only way anything makes sense.”
“Nothing about what you just said makes any sense,” Twilight said, “and who is this we?”
“Sorry… Terrara and I believe that her sister, Volara, has the staff. We need to get it from her and bring it back here to fix the Cradle of Destiny before it goes back to Celeste and the Altar of Magic.”
“Is that all?” Twilight groaned. “Who is Terrara? And who is Volara?”
“And she has a Sphinx.”
“Forget I asked.” Twilight tossed her hooves in the air. She immediately regretted doing do and came up a little short, reaching down quickly to rub her aching flank. This trip had not been kind to her wellbeing.
“Now, Twilight, I believe the proper response in the vernacular would be, ‘piece of cake’, if I’m not mistaken.” Starswirl allowed a soft grin to spread across his face. “It seems we’re on the proper course, and our little detour through Starlight’s village gave us information vital to our quest.”
“And it seems that I’m Terrara’s adopted champion,” Starlight said.
Starswirl nearly choked on his smugness. “WHAT!?”
“Yeah, so, Terrara, the Fate of Courage, said I was her champion. Just like you with Celeste, the Fate of Power. She said to ask you about that.” Starlight took a small amount of inner joy in watching Starswirl squirm.
“That can’t be. It’s impossible!” Starswirl held steady.
“That’s what I said.” Starlight leaned closer and motioned toward Twilight to try and get her to pile on the pressure. “But there’s something you haven’t told us, isn’t there? Care to elaborate?”
“Inconceivable!”
Twilight somewhat reluctantly picked up on Starlight’s hinting. “Maybe there’s something you’re hiding in that book you won’t let me read?” She turned an accusatory eye toward Starswirl. “Some secret from your past you don’t want anypony to uncover?”
“That’s not it at all, and I object to any further questioning on the matter.” Starswirl sat back in his seat, crossed his forelegs, and stuck his nose in the air. “The book contains a personal family history and knowledge that is mine alone to bear.”
“So it contains information about the duties of a Champion of the Fates? Is that correct?” Starlight continued her interrogation undeterred. “Things that I should know if I’m supposed to be one too?”
“You are not a Champion of the Fates, Starlight. It’s physically impossible.” Starswirl held his ground as stubborn as ever.
“Physically impossible?” Twilight reared up, holding back a flood of pent up real and exaggerated rage. “Just because she’s a mare doesn’t make her any less qualified to—”
“Nooooo! No, no, no-no-no.” Starswirl swiftly waved off the sudden burst of sexist accusation. “That’s not what I meant at all.” His gaze shifted quickly between the two mares, trying unsuccessfully to pick his next battle.
“Then what do you mean?” Starlight said.
“We want the truth. No more secrets.” Twilight added.
“Out with it. What have you been hiding?”
Left, right, left, and Starswirl was out for the count.
“Alright.” Starswirl said, defeated. “I’ll tell you everything I know, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
The girls nodded confidently to one another and settled back into their seats.
Starswirl took a deep breath. “The reason Starlight couldn’t possibly be a champion is that you have to be born such. It isn’t a title that can be bestowed on just anypony. It runs in the family, let’s say. It is a sacred duty, passed down from the beginning through the lineage of the three great houses, Stella, Terra, and Vola. I am the last remaining member of House Stella. The other two houses died out long before I was even born. This history contains knowledge passed down through the ages as well as the duties of the Champion of the Fates in performing sacred rituals to ensure the continued prosperity and favored destiny of ponykind. Duties that in my absence, it seems, have been severely lacking in fulfillment. Without the staff, we could be talking about the end of the three pony races; the end of cutie marks themselves!”
“Oh… Is that all? Just the end of ponykind as we know it.” Starlight gave Twilight a smirk. “All in a day’s work for the Princess of Friendship.”
“Can I see the book?” Twilight asked, clearly not amused at the level of drama on display.
“If you so desire,” Starswirl replied, “but it won’t do you any good. The text is written in a language so old, even I can’t decipher the half of it. Pieced together with my own memories taking part in the ritual alongside my mother, I can make sense of the more important elements, but the book as a whole is unreadable.” He lit his horn and levitated the tome from his satchel, enlarging it to its full size as he floated it over to Twilight.
Twilight begrudgingly took hold of it with her hooves instead of her magic and opened it to the first full page. She scanned the words, breezing through the first few paragraphs.
She lifted her head. “It’s an older version of the pony creation myth. Nothing new there.” She flipped the page. “And this part is just a long list of names.”
Starswirl looked like he’d just seen a ghost. “You—You can read that?”
Twilight lowered the book from her direct view and peered over the top. “Of course I can read it. It’s rustic old ponish.” She lifted the book and flipped another page over.
Starswirl’s mouth gaped open at a depth no pony had seen outside the likes of Pinkie Pie.
Starlight watched the expression unfold on Starswirl’s face and decided to chime in. “Umm, Twilight, do you think I could take a look at it too?”
“Sure, why not?” Twilight closed the book and held it out for Starlight to take. “So far it’s not much to read that I haven’t already seen in half a dozen census records or foal’s tales growing up. I thought you said this book was more than a family history?”
Starlight levitated the book across the gap and opened to the same initial pages. Quickly scanning the text, she looked up. “I can only read a couple words of this. Most of It looks like a combination of ancient runes and hoofscrawl I’ve never seen before.”
Starswirl pointed repeatedly toward Starlight while continuing to gawk at Twilight. A look of consternation and incredulity accompanied the gestures.
“Oh, come on, Starlight. Stop pulling my tail.” Twilight hopped off her bench and spun herself around to the opposite face peering past Starlight’s view of the book. “It’s just ponish with a bit of historic airs to it.”
“I only recognize these words here — power and courage.” Starlight said, pointing near the top of the page.
“Let me show you,” Twilight said, moving in closer. With an outstretched hoof, she began to slowly read aloud as she scanned the text line by line starting from the top. “In the beginning, there was One, and the One was with power and courage and wisdom. And the One made others and gave unto them destiny that they might fulfill the days of their creation with joy. And the One saw that all was good. And the One rested.” She paused to look over at Starswirl, neck cocked to one side. “Are you okay?”
“Simply amazing!” Starswirl shook his head. “In all my years, I never thought I would see the day when somepony would be able to freely read from the Book of the Goddess.”
“The what?” Twilight said.
“The ancient text written by the Goddess herself. The book you are reading. That one.” Starswirl continued to point and shake with excitement.
“Wait.” Twilight said, reaching out and grabbing the book out of Starlight’s horngrasp. “You mean to tell me this book was written by the Mother of all ponies, and nopony’s told me about it until now? Ahhhhh—” Little tufts of smoke wafted from her ears as she moved out and over to the next row of seats and propped open the book on the hoofrest. “I’m going to read now, so nopony disturb me until I’m done or we arrive at our destination.”
“Would you mind reading out loud?” Starswirl said.
“No!” Twilight answered, definitively. “I can read faster and memorize more thoroughly if I’m not reading for an audience.”
Starlight and Starswirl exchanged awkward glances.
“So, about that champion stuff?” Starlight said.
Starswirl’s gaze just dropped to the floor.
The rest of the train ride passed in a somewhat difficult silence interspersed with the occasional question or story told. Starswirl recounted his brief history with the staff, detailing the last time he performed a ritual ceremony at the Altar of Magic. He shared what he could remember of the ceremony and the depictions of it from the Book of the Goddess. Similarities were drawn between Starlight’s account of finding and returning the staff to the Sanctum of Earth, but his doubt remained about Starlight and her role as champion to the Fate of Courage. Still, he could not deny the effect the staff had been on it’s bearer. A nascent thought crept into the back of his mind, but he kept it to himself.
While he put up a facade of strength, he could feel his magic fading. He knew also that Twilight could feel the effects of their recent battle weighing heavily upon her. The fact that she chose not to use her magic was only part of his concern. The rest lay in her ability to handle the duty of their quest given her degraded mental and physical state. With the discovery that Twilight could actually read from the book, his prior argument in keeping it from her to avoid a potential meltdown mid-quest seemed even moreso misguided. However, he also noted that Starlight seemed unaffected. It was if somehow her magical reserves sat in excess of her peers. This too, worried him.
Starlight, for her part, found some peace in understanding a little more about her past and how she had come into possession of the staff. However, she still had her doubts about her abilities and purpose given the origin of her cutie mark. Her lust for power and bringing other ponies down in order to lift herself up didn’t feel like who she really was. Twilight helped her see the error of her ways, and by all accounts, she felt like a completely different pony. Finally talking things over with Luna and again with Starswirl helped put her mind partially at ease. Still, the focus of their quest and their final destination remained shrouded in the mystery of these sisters and the staff.
Twilight kept to herself, totally absorbed in reading and analyzing the book. The occasional gasp or acknowledging hmm perked up the ears of those listening, but she kept the information to herself.
Flat prairie gave way to rolling hills as the train chugged along to the South of Canterlot, past Ponyville, and continued through the White Tail Woods and the mountains leading out past the floating city of Las Pegasus. Turning further South, they skirted the major towns making an express route to Somnambula at the crossroads of the Desert of the Shifting Sands.
Twilight groaned with the sounding of the train’s horn along with the abrupt stop at the terminal station.
“I guess we’re here,” Starlight said.
“We’d better check in with Somnambula first,” Starswirl said, gathering his bag. “She’ll be our best resource for the path ahead.”
“Nope! We’re going straight to the temple.” Twilight hopped down off her seat and began cramming the hefty book into one of her saddle bags. “This place is far too dangerous to involve anypony not part of the quest.”
“But, Twilight,” Starlight said, “she’s our friend, and she probably knows a lot about this temple too.”
“Can’t risk it,” Twilight said giving the book one last shove that resulted in a tear splitting the side of her saddle bag.
“Can I at least help you with your bags?” Starswirl said, almost as if he felt bad for all the extra burden he’d placed on the young princess. “I could use the packing spell I myself use to lighten the load.”
“Can’t do that.” Twilight tossed the flap over the split of her already damaged pack. “We’re going to need to save all our magic for getting past the traps and the temple guardian.”
Growing increasingly frustrated as she watched Twilight struggle with her bags, Starlight ignored her warning completely. One magic spell later, the twin saddle bag contents were shrunk, tear repaired, and gently placed across Twilight’s back.
“Starlight! What did I just say?”
“You’re welcome.” Starlight shook her head and proceeded to the exit.
In the blistering heat of the late afternoon sun, and barely any breeze to speak of, they plodded along the outskirts of town. No pony gave them a second thought given the number of strange travelers that wandered these parts. It was best to keep your nose out of other creature’s business, so the trio made short work of the trip from the train station to the temple entrance without confrontation.
Twilight stopped for a moment at the entrance gates. “Stay close to me and don’t move or react to anything. The book gave precise instructions to follow and listed some pretty dire consequences if they weren’t.”
“But, Twilight,” Starswirl said, “Somnambula used to visit this temple quite often, and even in the present day your friends have made multiple trips here. What have you read about this place? Why is our visit any different?”
“Because, we aren’t just visiting the temple on the ground. We need to get to the temple in the sky. The Temple of the Swirling Winds.” She raised a hoof and pointed to the sky overhead.
“Hold on,” Starlight said. “That’s not where Terrara said her sister lived. Are you sure you know where we’re going?”
“I’m positive. The book clearly states that the Fate of Wisdom resides in the Temple of the Swirling Winds - a hidden temple, floating somewhere above this one, with a single entrance that can only be accessed from here. The whole place is enchanted, so even ponies flying above us pass straight through it. The entrance is also hidden inside, so not just anypony can wander in. Luckily, the book also has the solution to opening the hidden entrance; we just have to find the door. ”
“Alright then. Lead onward.” Starswirl held out a hoof pointing toward the temple entrance. Twilight moved ahead as the others followed.
They entered the main room occupied largely by the Pool of Hope, a large span usually filled with boiling liquid and a sacrificial pillar at the center. The pool had been recently drained as Pinkie Pie discovered and removed an old blindfold that was clogging the drainpipe. Perhaps at one point, the pool had been used for recreation, but following one thousand years of neglected upkeep, it wasn’t much to look at now. As the group entered the room, torches ignited illuminating the space. Twilight stopped, and Starlight and Starswirl did as well.
“Hello? Is anycreature there?” Twilight called out to the empty room. Only her echo replied.
She moved out into the open space before the pool. The others followed a few steps behind. The burning smell of pitch on magically enchanted torchwood left a sting in the nostrils of all present. The room was square with the long pool running down the middle flanked by columns on both sides to fill the center space. Each side of the room had three long decorative panel sections, with the exception of the entrance which had only two and an archway in the middle for the exit. Each panel depicted a scene drawn in vivid colors with a particularly symbolic pegasus being a central theme in each, shown in multiple phases of going about a typical day in the life.
“Does the book have any clues about where to look for the hidden entrance?” Starlight asked.
“Give me a minute. I need to get my bearings. The clue to finding the door was written as a riddle.”
Twilight began with the wall near the entrance tunnel and scanned each section going clockwise around the room. She mumbled as she spun around.
“Time will tell its secrets true.
Begin with half and follow through.
Pass sun at noon and soon you’ll see,
The door at one is where I’ll be.”
“Got it.” She came to a stop and motioned to the others. “Follow me.”
The Princess took the long way around the pool. In the shifting throws of the torchlight against the ponies and pillars, the shadows cast made it seem like a whole gathering made the trek from the entrance to the far back right corner. Starlight spun her head on more than one occasion to check to make sure they weren’t being followed. The echoing sounds of hooves marching over stone did little to mask their presence.
In front of a panel depicting a pegasus sitting at a table to eat a meal spread out before her, Twilight stopped again and held up a hoof. “No matter what happens, I need everypony to stay focused and remain calm. I have a feeling this is where things start to get dangerous.”
“Alright, whatever you say, Twilight.” Starlight said. “Let’s get dangerous.”
Starswirl merely nodded his head.
Twilight turned back toward the panel and cleared her throat. “Well, this is the door at one. The panel at one o’clock, if we started with the entrance at six. Now, for the key.” She looked up, and puckered her lips. Carefully, she blew a resonant tune of eight notes, the first four building to fall back on the rest.
C E D G --
G D E C
As the air passed through her mouth, the aspiration seemed more powerful than just a simple breath. Like dust being swept from an antique display shelf, sand particles fell from the painted sandstone surface leaving only deep cut runes now visible to the naked eye.
“Wow!” Starlight beamed.
“Very interesting. A harmonic locking spell.” Starswirl stroked his beard, an approving smile on his face. “I haven’t actually seen one of those used in ages.”
“Just following the instructions from the book.” Twilight sighed. “Unfortunately, that’s where the instructions stop. The book only says that from here a perilous test awaits anypony who wishes to gain access to the temple.”
“What do the runes say, Twilight?” Starlight asked, scanning the undecipherable words on the wall. “They look a lot like the ones from the book.”
“Oh, sorry. I forgot you can’t read them.” Twilight looked up to the top row of runic symbols and began reading out loud:
“A welcome to all who now face this test
Fail, or succeed, there is no way to guess
To start on the path, leave your mark at the door
May the Goddess’ Gift lead the way, I implore”
Twilight looked back over her shoulder and motioned the others forward. “All together. Put your right forehoof against the wall, and push. The door should open from there.”
Starlight approached on her left and Starswirl on her right. They each stretched out a hoof and set them against the wall just below the runic text. Like punching through a sand castle, the trio planted their hooves into the sandy facade which immediately accepted their imprints before falling away in a shower of falling sand. The entire wall in front of them drifted into the floor space below, sealing tight to the ground and leaving a passageway open beyond.
“Oh no!” Starlight said. “What just happened?” The sickening sensation hit her all at once.
Focused on watching the wall fall apart, Twilight remained aware of the draining effect flowing through her body. She raised a hoof to quiet Starlight.
Starswirl lifted the rear portion of his cloak to inspect the damage, which he quickly confirmed. “That’s not a good sign.”
Without another word, the gravity of the situation shared by all three was apparent — their cutie marks were gone.
“Stay focused, and follow me.” Twilight walked forward, more determined than ever.
From behind the trio a voice bellowed. “Are you ponies lost?”
They all spun around together. At eye level, they met with a paw about the size of any single one of them. Gazing up, they stared directly into the overhanging cat’s eye pupils of a giant Sphinx.
Starlight’s first reaction was to light up her horn to establish a protective barrier. Try as she might, she couldn’t get her magic to respond. She froze staring at her own petrified reflection.
Starswirl was next to react, his spell fizzling with a waft of smoke rising past the bells on his hat. Nothing.
Twilight stepped in front of both of them and raised her wings to to their full extent in shielding her friends. She did her best to sound like Luna with her intimidating Canterlot voice, calling out to the beast looming above them. “I am Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, and we seek an audience with Volara, the Fate of Wisdom.”
The Sphinx rocked back on its haunches, giggling.
“Excuse me?” Twilight dropped her wings just a touch.
“You seem lost, and I’ve come to help, but your first response is to call on the aid of your magic? Not very friendly of you, Friendship Princess and friends.”
“I’m sorry, but—”
Starswirl interrupted by pulling down Twilight’s wing. “What have you done with our cutie marks?”
“Hmm… You accuse me for the consequences of your own choices? You left your marks at the door when you accepted this challenge. Now your fate rests in my paws.” The Sphinx drew back a paw in a dramatic feint. “Really, for a group of unicorns seeking an audience, you certainly aren’t making a good first impression. Perhaps I’ll just eat you now and be done with it.” The big cat smiled, bearing an entire mouth full of sharp teeth. “Even given my warning you chose to accept the test, along with the rules. The first rule, of which, is that I make the rules. The second, no cheating, and that means no marks and no magic.”
Twilight folded her wings and gave a sharp glare over both shoulders. “You’ll have to forgive my friends. We were all caught a bit by surprise, and using defensive magic is a normal response to surprises.”
“Still, it’s rude. You are in Volara’s realm now, and she doesn’t take kindly to magic users. However, I don’t expect you to pass my test anyway, so let’s begin. I grow bored of your presence already.”
The Sphinx’ eyes flashed with an inner fire.
“First, a riddle to prove you wise.
For each their own, to win the prize.
But get it wrong and pay the price.
My dinner shall be thrice as nice.”
The giant cat flashed it’s paw extending three very long and very sharp claws, one toward each pony.
“So we have to answer a riddle? That’s it?” Twilight said.
“For starters,” the Sphinx replied. “There are many phases to the test, but I’m feeling generous today. Since there are three of you, I’ll add a third rule. You’ll have three chances to make it through. If any one of you makes it, I’ll pass you all. But you can’t answer for another, and you must each face and pass the challenge to proceed to the next.”
Wasting no time, Twilight replied seeming more confident than before. “Alright, let’s do it!” The others nodded.
“Then I’ll start with you, Princess of Friendship.” The cat waved its paw and a magical barrier of swirling sand surrounded the others, cutting off any possible interference. “Your friends may watch and try to listen, but they cannot help you now.” Before Twilight could object, the riddle began.
“You will always find me in the past, and I can be created in the present, but the future can never taint me. What am I?”
Without so much as a blink of the eye to consider, Twilight answered. “History!”
The feline beast smiled.
“Very good, but they only get harder from here,” the Sphinx purred and one claw retracted. With another wave of its paw, the barrier shifted to contain Twilight and Starlight only. “Next up, the Champion of Power.”
“So you know who I am?” Starswirl asked. “And just who do you think you are?”
“I’ll ask the questions,” the Sphinx replied.
”My rings are not made of gold, but I get more as I get old. What am I?”
Starswirl was also quick to respond. “Foalsplay! I always thought the Great Sphinx’s riddles were supposed to be hard?”
The cat peered down at the old wizard, a grin spreading across its shiny white teeth. “Is that your answer?”
Twilight pressed up close to the edge of the barrier to listen as best she could, sand scratching against her coat, anxious that her former idol would get it right.
“Not at all.” Starswirl stared back at the Sphinx with that same condescending look he usually gave Twilight. “The answer to your riddle is simple — a unicorn’s horn.”
Siren’s went off in Twilight’s head.
The Sphinx pounced, snatching and devouring the great Starswirl the Bearded whole, in one jingling bite. The barrier fell just as the last bit of gray tail slipped through the cat’s teeth.
“A tree!” Twilight screamed. Her voice echoed through the chamber.
Starlight gasped and nearly stumbled over her hooves. “No! Starswirl!”
“Yes, and you’re up next.” The giant cat finished picking its teeth with one of its razor claws as a single bell fell to the ground and was swiftly batted aside. “One down, two to go.”
Starlight just stood there, mouth agape in a frozen pose.
Twilight spun around in a frantic panic. “No, no, no, no… This can’t be happening.”
“Ghahh, make it stop.” The Sphinx placed it’s paws over its ears. “Remember rule three.”
Panting, Twilight continued to circle. “One of us wins, we all pass.” She calmed her panic to a dull roar, repeating what she’d just said a few more times for good measure.
“Yes,” the Sphinx said, removing both paws from its ears. “Now where were we? Ahhh, yes. The Champion of Courage, so fitting in her role, just like her master.”
Starlight took a very deep breath trying to shake off the shock of what she’d just witnessed. Every hair of her coat stood on end, begging her to run, but she held her ground. She glanced up at the Sphinx wearing its devilish grin. “How do you know so much about us?”
“I know everything about you, Starlight Glimmer, even things you yourself don’t.” The cat slipped back into a trance as the barrier came up diving Twilight and Starlight. “And I have a special riddle for you.”
”If you have me, you can share me. If you share me, you haven't got me. What am I?”
Starlight broke off and stared at the floor for the longest time just gathering her thoughts. A thousand different answers swam through her brain. A thousand different questions did as well.
“I’m waiting.”
Lifting her head, she glanced over at Twilight, hooves straining against the sandy barrier to catch some small sight or sound of her test. The pleading in her friend’s eyes and a simple nod of her head said everything she needed to know. Twilight had confidence in her ability to answer the riddle. Hopefully she was right.
“Give your answer now, or you forfeit.”
Starlight turned to face the beast. She stared straight into the eyes of the cat, watching the ethereal flames flicker and dance behind the split irises. “If I have you, I can share you, but if I share you, I haven’t got you. What are you?” She paused, thinking over her answer for the hundredth time trying to reassure that she had the same faith in herself.
“Time’s up.”
“A secret,” Starlight answered confidently.
The Sphinx roared in disgust. “It seems you aren’t as dim-witted as your elderly companion.” The barrier fell and the cat stood. “Follow me to the next stage of the test.” It gracefully slid past the ponies without a sound, or even a breeze, and entered the passageway opened earlier.
Twilight and Starlight ran to embrace one another taking a moment to steady their nerves.
“If I don’t make it through, you have to finish this,” Twilight said.
“What do you mean?” Starlight replied. “If I don’t finish this, I’m counting on you to get us through.”
“I hope it doesn’t come to that,” Twilight said. “I’m just worried about Starswirl.”
“Me too, but what about our cutie marks? We can’t even defend ourselves without our magic.”
Twilight shook her head. “Like I’ve been saying, we can’t rely on our magic. The Fate of Wisdom is all about being smart and practical. The only way we’re going to win this is to stay calm and think our way through.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re the smart one. All I had was my magic.”
“That’s not true, Starlight. You’re smarter than you know. You see things other ponies can’t. You’re brave and powerful, even without your magic. More than I am, at least.”
“I don’t know if I agree with you, Twilight, but I guess we’d better follow and make sure at least one of us makes it through this test.”
Twilight nodded and they embraced once again, then carefully edged forward through the doorway together.
The pathway descended a flight of stairs before opening up on another large room. Starlight kept close to Twilight, and they came to a stop on a rectangular outcropping which dropped a single step onto a grid of square tiles embossed with various symbols which filled the long span of the room ahead. Across the room on the other side stood a single doorway. The same sort of torches from the pool room dotted the walls shedding a flickering light on the scene.
The Sphinx stood to one side of the platform and barked out their clue:
“A warning to all who seek an audience with fate
Never to stray for the pathway is straight
Three paths diverged in a dimly lit room
The right choice wins but the others spell doom.”
With a stomp of its paw, the room began to shake, and several tiles cracked and broke away from the floor. Starlight listened, but couldn’t hear any hit bottom as they fell. The gaps in the floor pattern established three pathways to cross — one a zigzagging road that led through the middle toward the door on the other side, another a snaking curve that left the platform where they stood and ran a somewhat crumbling arc along the left side to the door platform opposite, and the last one a straight shot on the right facing a dead end on the opposite side.
“One more thing, no flying for this test,” the Sphinx said. “That would be cheating.” With another wave of its paw, Twilight felt her wings pinned against her flanks.
Without her magic, and without her wings, Twilight felt as helpless as a newborn foal. She kept a brave face for Starlight who she could see was barely holding it together. If ever there was a time for her to be a strong leader, this was it. She mustered what inner strength she could and stepped to the edge of the platform.
“A crumbling path to the left, and a dead end to the right. I think the answer is clear.” Twilight checked over her shoulder and Starlight gave her a nod. Stepping out onto the zigzagging path, she began to cross using the center option heading straight toward the door.
One step, then two, she made measured strides to keep her balance on the narrow way. One step to the left, and three steps forward. Two steps to the right and again moving forward. Gaining confidence with each step, she quickly crossed the half way point.
Then, disaster.
Twilight’s hoof hit a tile only ten yards from the far side and broke straight through. The cascading blocks dropped out from under her as she struggled for breath to scream. Without wings or magic, the only way to go was down.
Starlight leapt to the edge of the start point and stretched out her hoof in vain as Twilight’s cries almost instantly faded into the darkness below. Lost for words, she nearly burst into tears.
“She chose poorly.” The Sphinx grinned menacingly overhead. “Two down, one to go.”
“It’s not fair!” Starlight cried. “You cheated!”
“Oh? And how is that?”
“You took away our magic; You took away her wings; You took away everything! How are we supposed to win a rigged game?”
“Ha! You think life is fair? You wish to control your fate? You have the answers given to you, and yet you still wish to blame me for your failure?” The Sphinx licked its lips and curled its tail around its feet. “Make your choice before I make it for you, Champion.”
Starlight stood and tried to shake off the feeling of failure. First Starswirl, then Twilight, and now only she was left. Two paths to choose from, and only one chance to get it right. The fate of Equestria rested on her shoulders. No pressure.
Head reeling, Starlight took a closer look at the remaining paths. The path to the left took a meandering snake of a journey to the door at the other end, but with obvious cracks in the floor tiles holding it together, it seemed no better than Twilight’s choice. The path to the right hugged the wall and went straight across the chasm span. It looked sturdy enough, but without the end matching up with the target, it seemed like a losing choice to make from the start. Starlight debated both options mulling over what the Sphinx hinted at having the answers already. The clues seemed key to making the correct choice, but nothing about the clue made it clear which one was right — except, one was right. The right path; the straight path. Was it that obvious?
It certainly took all the courage she had to step out onto the path leading to an uncertain end. She quickly put that thought behind her and focused on keeping her hooves steady on the narrow ledge. One step, then two, then a few more. She kept her head down, only watching a few feet in front of herself. Carefully, she moved forward.
Forty, forty-one, forty-two, forty— Her hoof clipped the edge of the platform on the far side of the room. She scrambled up the step and gazed up into the mouth of the open passageway ahead.
“Congratulations!” The Sphinx slid past her and into the next tunnel. “The final challenge awaits.”
Starlight looked back over the gaping chasm and down in the dark depths. “I’ll finish this, Twilight. No worries.” She turned back and followed the arbiter of fate to the final stage.
The tunnel ran for another hundred yards down a torched lined corridor. At the end of the tunnel sat the Sphinx next to an elaborately molded golden door. Starlight approached, tentative and lowly at the foot of the grand facade.
“Behold, the entrance to The Temple of the Swirling Winds.” The Sphinx raised a paw to indicate the golden doorway etched floor to ceiling with runes and markings prominently displaying four pony figures, one at each cardinal point, and a round lock at the center of each half. A combination symbol with a vertical horn, a set of spread open wings and a horseshoe overlapping them both sat at the very center. “All you have to do to receive your audience and save your friends, and yourself might I add, is to open it.”
Briefly scanning the wall, Starlight protested, “Don’t I at least get a clue? I can’t even read the runes up there.” She pointed up at the runic symbols lining the outer edge of the doorway.
“Very well,” the Sphinx said, “To be fair, I will read the instructions for you, but that is all the help you get from me. From there, you must prove your worth, or fail like the rest.”
”I fly from the North in more ways than one,
The South from exactly the same.
I rise in the West and turn to the East,
Around, there and back again.
My eyes never sleep but can be undone
Tempered in frost and in flame.
With courage and wisdom thy power increased
My blessing, a glorious reign.”
The cat laid down across the path leading back the way they had come. “Take all the time you need. I’ll be waiting for you to give up.”
Starlight sat and stared at the door.
Minutes turned into hours as she examined every last inch of the door. The clue rumbled around in her head as she took notes in the dirt of everything she saw. She noted how each pony was different race, one Earth, one Pegasus, one Unicorn, and at the top, one Alicorn. She also made note of how three beams of light seemed to descend from the Alicorn at the top of the door down to each of the other three on the left, right, and bottom.
Closer up, she ran her hooves over the metal. The lock on the left half felt cold to the touch while the one on the right was hot. Two frozen hinges lined both halves on the outer edge of the door frame, but more curious were another paired set of bolts on the top and bottom as well. Either the door opened from the middle in every direction, or somepony made a serious error in designing it to begin with.
Starlight wracked her brain. Nothing she could think of made any sense in the context of opening a locked door especially one built so strangely as this. With her magic, she could have tried a number of things — fashioning a key, blasting open the locks, or merely teleporting through to the other side as a last resort. Poking and prodding, sniffing and searching the golden gate yielded nothing. The key to opening the locked gate was nowhere in sight.
How would Twilight solve this, she thought.
That’s when it came to her. She had an idea. She quickly made a small note and stomped a few marks in the dirt at her hooves and then carefully backed away from the door as she ventured over to the Sphinx.
“Giving up so soon?” the beast asked. “I thought you’d give it at least until morning.”
“No, but I do have a request,” Starlight replied. “May I switch places with Twilight?”
“Hmm,” the Sphinx grumbled, rubbing its chin, thinking. “Why would you want that? Do you feel inadequate to the task at hand?”
“No, but I know my limits.” Starlight replied, “I know I can’t solve this puzzle myself, and I need the help of my friend.”
“So you’re giving up?”
“No, for the last time!” Starlight said, throwing the Sphinx’s logic right back in it’s face. “I’m making a choice to defer to somepony better suited for the task. I’m saying that this lock requires a key I don’t possess. I’m telling you, I need a pony with wings.”
“Ahhh, so you’ve figured out the puzzle, have you? And now you wish to trade your life for another?” The Sphinx leapt to its feet and crossed over to the door. Stooping down, it read the scribbled notes in the dirt. “Hmm… It seems you have made a terrible error in judgment.”
“What do you mean?” Starlight said. “I’m pretty sure that the lock is keyed to performing a set of actions that involve the motion of a pegasus’ wings. I may be wrong, but I have to take the chance and trust that Twilight will follow my instructions to know what to do.”
“Yes, you are correct, but your flaw lies in placing your trust in another making the same discovery as you. You’ve seen it already, two ponies so sure of themselves, yet failure. Their pride brought about their fall. Yes, Starlight Glimmer, I will honor your wish, but I cannot allow you to give her the answer. Are you sure that your friend will be as wise and patient as you?” With a laugh, the Sphinx swiped its tail and brushed away the notes on the ground. “Are you willing to trust your life to someone else?”
Starlight stood, steadfast and strong. “I trust that my friend will do everything in her power to save me. It’s the one thing here I know for sure to be true.”
“We shall see.”
With another wave of its paw, Starlight disappeared, replaced by Twilight.
“Ahhhhhhhh!” Twilight opened her eyes and stopped screaming as soon as she realized her hooves held solid ground beneath them once more. “What just happened? Did we win?”
“Not even close.” The Sphinx sighed and paced back to its resting spot. “Your friend decided to give you the chance to solve the last puzzle. Make it through the door, and you all win. Fail, and I can go back to sleep.” Padding around in a circle, the Sphinx finally laid down. “And just because she mentioned it, she said she’s trusting you with her life. Good luck.”
Still in shock from the fall and sudden reemergence, Twilight stood for a moment in solemn contemplation. Feeling the weight growing heavier on her, she reached back and undid the strap holding the saddle bags in place and let them fall to the ground.
She swiveled around to take in the doorway. The runes immediately caught her eye as well as the beautiful engraving in the center plate. The riddle read, the pony images admired, and the symbols littered throughout the engraving conjuring images from the book she’d just discarded within the bag at her feet, she took it all in.
Stepping closer, she nearly plodded over the remains of Starlight’s notes in the sand, swept over like a feathered imprint of a hard landing on the beach she recalled from her first attempts at flying. She considered them for a moment but couldn’t make anything out. Back on the door, the glimmer and glow from the twin locks took a while to examine. Their endothermic and exothermic reactions seemed almost magical in a way, but did not appear to affect the integrity of the material. She worked her way to the left and then back to the right, taking in every inch of the door’s secrets as she went.
Taking a few steps back and glancing up at the full height of the door then back down to the sand, thoughts swirled around in her head like a summer storm blowing through the open windows of her castle, trying to make a mess of what should be in perfect order. Her focus drifted to the last major storm and how she and Spike had to move quickly to secure all the items being tossed out of place by a simple gust of wind. The papers, the books, the runes, the swept over notes; a pattern began to emerge.
She unfurled her wings.
Stoke up with the left. Stroke up the with the right. The top two bolts sunk into the frame at the top of the door.
Stroke down with the left and down with the right. The bottom two bolts fell away as well.
Once to the left and once to the right, then repeated left and right once more. The outer clamps of the side hinges dropped back into recessed slots leaving the door free to swing.
She reached up and pressed against the lock on the left, her hoof meeting the chill of the cold metal and covering the eye. Following, she reached to the right and pressed into the second lock giving off gentle waves of heat.
The eyes covered. The door latch clicked.
She pushed hard, and the gate swung open.