“Miss Sambula…” Dinky said over her clipboard.
Uncomfortably seated in Dinky's lounge, Somnambula winced. “Somnambula.”
“Uh… When you went up against the sphinx, what was it like?”
“Remind me why…?”
“History homework!” Dinky beamed. “Cheerilee says recent history is more reliable because there’s witnesses around. But a witness one thousand years old…”
“I see. Creative.”
“Thanks! More tea?”
“Five sugars, please. This modern tea isn’t sweet like my homeland’s…”
Silence.
“Getting back to the sphinx…”
“Miss Dinky?”
“…sorry?”
A heavy sigh. “Please understand. I’m honoured, but we are one thousand years apart. I can’t comprehensively convey my old experiences to new minds. The differences between then and now are too great.”
“I disagree.”
Surprised, Somnambula caught Dinky’s determined scowl. “Indeed?”
“Time, culture, tea: that’s surfacey stuff. Cheerilee says all ponies are ponies inside.”
Eventually, Somnambula beamed at her new friend. “Wise scholar, this Cheerilee.”
“You bet! Now, about this sphinx…”