Book Two: Wizard Quests
Chapter Twelve
With Tess providing the magical light that held the windigos at bay, the team moved deeper into the ice spirit's frozen territory. There was nothing to be seen but snow, ice, and occasional outcroppings of bare rock. The windigos stayed away from the light, and no other living creatures were in evidence. They trudged up a hill, and upon reaching the top Pinkie gasped. "Look there!" She pointed.
What Pinkie had seen, far away across the plains, was the warm glowing light of a fire. Applejack pulled field glasses from her saddlebags and took a closer look. "It's a little house." She said. "Light's coming through a window."
"It must be Starswirl right!?" Pinkie asked, hopping up and down."
"I cannot imagine who else would dwell here." Gandalf agreed.
Tess said "Then let's go. I can't keep this up much longer."
"Very well. But be cautious... We still do not know how Starswirl has kept the windigos at bay from himself."
They slid down the far side of the hill, and walked on towards the house. Just as they were drawing near enough to see the structure clearly even without the glasses, the ground began to rumble with the steps of something huge. Then that something strode into view, directly in their path. It was bigger than an elephant, bigger than two, really. The body was leonine, the head and face pony with an Egyptian style headdress, and a great pair of feathered wings sprouted from it's back. "Is that... a sphinx?" Rarity asked.
"It is indeed." Luna replied. She looked at Gandalf. "We now know how Starswirl protected himself."
"Yes."
"Y'all care 't fill the rest of us in?" Applejack asked.
Gandalf explained "Oh well it's quite simple. Sphinx serve as guardians. Guardians of doors, passages, structures, even national borders on occasion. They present those wishing to pass with a challenge, and if anyone attempts to pass without the challenge, or after failing it, the sphinx will immolate them in fires to rival the heart of a volcano. Explaining how Starswirl hasn't been deluged by windigos."
"I...It... It's gonna... Burn us alive!?" Fluttershy hid trembling behind Applejack.
"Fear not Fluttershy." Luna comforted the pegasus. "A sphinx will only do that to one who attempts to sneak or force their way through. There is no punishment for failing the sphinx's challenge, save for not being allowed to pass."
"Oh... That's a little less scary then."
"So, I'm almost afraid to ask, but... What kind of challenges are we talking about?" Rarity asked.
"It varies." Luna said. "Of course, the most common is for the sphinx to present you with a riddle. Others will want you to ask them a riddle; you pass if they can't guess the right answer in three tries. Then there are some that play games, most often chess... And there are many other possibilities as well."
"Well, Let's go see what this one wants then." Applejack said, and started forward.
The rest of the team followed behind Applejack, Gandalf pausing for a moment to tell Tess it was safe to stop the light now that they were close to the sphinx. She did so with a great sigh of relief.
As they approached, the sphinx looked down with fire in it's eyes and spoke with a deep, resounding voice. "Halt. I. Am. Percivox. Guardian. Sphinx. Of. Starswirl. Seek. You. An. Audience. With. The. Wizard?"
Luna stepped forward. "We do, great sphinx. What is your challenge?"
"You. Will. Give. Me. Advice. The. Advice. Must. Be. Good. Advice. It. Must. Also. Be. Advice. I. Have. Never. Heard. Before."
They huddled together. "Advice he's never heard before? When he's probably a thousand years old? That's gonna be tricky." Applejack said.
"Strewth. But we must try." Luna agreed.
"Yeah... Who goes first?" Tess asked.
"I will." Luna said. She approached the Sphinx. "Earn more than you show. Speak less than you know."
The sphinx pondered this. "The. Advice. Is. Good... But. I. Have. Heard. It. Before... Fail. Next?"
"I'll go I'll go!!" Pinkie cheered. "Never discuss politics, religion, or the Great Pumpkin!"
"The. Last. Part. Makes. It. Weird... Fail. Next?"
"Aw phooey!" Pinkie complained as she stepped back.
"Um.... Eeep!" Fluttershy dived back behind the others.
"Not. Advice... Fail. Next?"
Gandalf sighed and stepped forward. "If you cannot give life to those who deserve it, you should not be quick to give death to those who deserve it either."
"True. And. Good... But. I. Have. Read. The. Book... Fail. Next?"
"It's better 't remain silent and be thought a fool than 't open yer mouth and remove all doubt." Applejack declared.
"Success." The sphinx said after a moment. "You. May. Pass."
"Thank ya kindly." Applejack said. "Come on y'all!"
"Halt. Only. You."
"It is an individual thing dear Applejack." Gandalf said.
"Well I ain't goin' without mah friends."
"Integrity. Acknowledged. Who. Is. Next?"
"I guess I will try." Rarity said. "Measure once. Cut twice."
The sphinx cocked it's head. "You. Do. Understand. That. The. Advice. Is. Supposed. To. Be. Good? Fail. Next?"
"Oh that was very good advice!" Rarity huffed. Fluttershy whispered in her ear for a moment, causing her eyes to go wide. "Oh no I did say it backwards!"
"Tess it's on you." Luna said. "One of us must get in and since Applejack won't leave the others..."
"Wow, I don't know..."
Pinkie stepped forward again, which caused the sphinx to begin to glow with flames. "Whoa big guy! I'm not sneaking past you! I've just got an offer for you."
The flames died down. "Offer? Elaborate."
"Well, I know you guys like games and challenges," Pinkie said, "So how about we do double or nothing? You give me another chance. If I can come up with, oh, let's say four pieces of good advice. If I win all four, you let us all through."
The sphinx was silent for several seconds, considering. Finally, he said "Acceptable. Begin."
Pinkie closed her eyes. Took a deep breath. And began: "One: Put rubber bands around your pantlegs to keep the evil spirits out of your trousers." The sphinx raised an eyebrow. "Two, When the snake falls in love with the spaghetti, it's time to buy a new hat!" Luna face-hoofed. Pinkie continued, "Three, Always remember that bad comedy is like bad fish: if you ingest too much, you'll die screaming on a toilet." (At this point, everyone was face-hoofing.) "Four, if you ever become an evil overlord do not, under any circumstances, transform yourself into a giant snake. It. Never. Works."
"You. Fail. Again." The sphinx said.
"What!? How!?" Pinkie demanded.
"One: I. Do. Not. Wear. Pants... "
"Two: What. The. Hell? "
"Three: Ditto. Two..."
"Four: Excellent. Advice. But. You. Had. To. Win. All. Four." The sphinx looked smug. "You. Will. Leave. Now-"
The creature was interrupted when the door of the house opened and a grey unicorn head with a long white beard poked out. "Oh for heaven's sake Percy! I told you to let them in when they arrived!"
"Apologies. Starswirl. You. All. May. Pass."
"Well that was a big mess of pointless." Applejack said as she trotted past the sphinx with the others.
"We're in darling, that's all that matters." Rarity said, and no one could argue the point...
XXXXX
The interior of Starswirl's home was packed to the roof with books, scrolls, and various magical trinkets. A small cot stood in a corner, two oil lamps burned atop a wooden work table, and a roaring fire was in the hearth. "Well then, I'll put on some hot tea." Starswirl said. "I'm sure you all need some warmth after coming in." He began to fuss around the fire.
"You know why we've come?" Gandalf asked.
"Yes, yes, of course." Starswirl waved this off. "We'll be on our way first thing in the morning." He continued working before the fire for several minutes, then serving tea. "Hello Luna." He said with a slight smile as her served her, "It's good to see you back to yourself."
"Tis good to be back to myself." Luna replied.
"So y'all said ya know why we're here?" Applejack asked.
"Oh, quite." Starswirl replied. "The prophecies are rising, darkness threatens to consume all worlds, Only an alliance forged with our help can stop it yadda yadda yadda... By Equestrian standards, 'Tuesday.' For some other worlds, kind of traumatic I'd wager."
"Indeed." Gandalf said, nodding.
"I'm still confused about one thing though..." Rarity said. "How, exactly, are we supposed to escape from this place? As soon as we leave your sphinx behind the widingos will be all over us again!"
Starswirl answered "Not so. I retained Percivox's services to guard me, not this place. I'll have to disband his contract before we leave Eqqus of course, but for the trip back to Canterlot he will accompany us and keep the windigos away."
Tess breathed an audible sigh of relief at not having to worry about summoning the Light of Earendil again. Fluttershy put a hoof on her shoulder. "That's good. Tess really wore herself out getting us here."
"Well as I said, the journey back will be easier... Speaking of which, Luna, I hope we make it back to Canterlot before the team seeking Merlin returns. I'll need to discuss some things with you and your sister... Some supplies we will need for the plan I suspect Gandalf has in mind."
"Yes quite." Gandalf agreed, then smiled. "Though as it happens, I handled that already..."
XXXXX
As Starswirl had promised, the trip back was much quicker and easier. While they were still in the windigo lands, the spirits swirled all about, just outside of the sphinx's range, not daring to come any closer. Once they were beyond the perpetual storm clouds of that territory, the sun itself kept them from following. Still, Starswirl did not dismiss Percivox from his service until they were within sight of Canterlot itself.
"A thousand years is a long time old friend." Starswirl said to the sphinx. "I'll miss you, but you cannot come where I'm going."
"Where will you go?" Fluttershy asked, looking up at the sphinx while still partly hiding behind Applejack.
"I. Will. Travel... See. The. World... For. A. Time..."
"Capital idea darling, much will have changed in a thousand years." Rarity nodded.
"Yes. And. Now. I. Go... Farewell..." The sphinx spread its wings wide and flew away towards the west. The rest of the group then continued south to Canterlot, where they were welcomed back by Celestia.
"We've gathered the supplies you requested Gandalf." She said as the gathered for a meal. "But Twilight and the other team have not yet returned."
"I'm sure they won't be long." Starswirl said.
Applejack asked "How'r things coming with the fightin' on earth?"
Celestia sighed. "Shining Armor and Agent Marsh managed to capture one of the enemy's soldiers. He's not talking. Although... Gandalf, Tessindra, you might find this image we were sent of the captive... ...disturbing..." She floated a photograph to them in her magic.
Everyone gathered in for a look. "Hideous." Rarity gasped, while Applejack and Pinkie nodded and Fluttershy cringed. As for Tess, her eyes went wide. "Mithrandir.... Is this...?"
"Yes... Yes, this is an orc." Gandalf confirmed. "Which raises a great many additional questions in regards to our foe."
"But does it?" Pinkie asked, looking at Tess. "I mean, you said from the start that the nasty place where the orcs lived just vanished one day. I guess they're still around just somewhere else!"
"There has to be more to it though..." Tess mused. "It's been six thousand years after all."
"And look closely..." Luna added, "This being's armor, it seems very technically advanced."
"Yes, according to Shining Armor it could resist any magical or technological attack that did not blend the two." Celestia said.
"Man and Pony must together contend..." Starswirl quoted, and then added "On two levels."
"Two?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yes, the level of our armies fighting theirs, and the level of our champions striking down the true ruler behind what is happening." The pony wizard explained.
Tess asked "What about the prophecy you left? About a ring of power?"
Starswirl shook his head. "I know there will be a great ring involved in this, in the possession of our enemy. But where it will come from and how the enemy will use it... Even I know not."
Celestia looked out the windows, watching the sun which would soon need her push to set for the night. "I feel there is nothing more to do this day, speculation is just that after all. Come, I'll have the attendants make rooms for you all, until Twilight and the others return with Merlin...