Twilight walked quickly up the trail leading to the Everfree Forest. The sun was setting, and the moon was just about to take its place. Being in the forest would be ten times more dangerous at night than during the day, so she wanted to hurry. Her friends did their best to keep up.
“Come on, Twi, we don’t really have to move so fast, do we? Some ponies can’t keep up.” Applejack glanced back at Rarity, who was a few paces behind everypony. Her mane didn’t have the usual shine to it, and she didn’t look very happy.
“We need to hurry…” Twilight said, half concerned for her friend, and the other half wanting to get this done as swiftly as possible. Rainbow swooped down next to the unicorn.
“I agree with Twilight here, we need to finish this up fast.” Applejack and RD avoided each other’s eyes, but Twilight didn’t seem to notice.
Rarity trotted faster until she caught up with an apologetic look. “Sorry Twilight, I’m just a little tired, darling. I’ll try to keep up.”
Everypony walked inside with their eyes peeled for any sort of movement. Pinkie was hopping as usual. “So I was just wondering but how will we ever be able to tell what the dangerous creature is if there are tons of dangerous creatures in the Everfree Forest and they’ll all be here at the same time?”
Twilight almost tripped. “I… Well, from what I’ve gathered, it’s got claws…is big…aggressive…scary…? Erm, we’ll know when we see it…”
Pinkie giggled, but didn’t say anything. Rainbow flew over Twilight and Fluttershy, who were keeping a little distance between each other for obvious reasons.
“So, have you guys told everypony yet?”
“Told us what?!” Pinkie was already in Twilight’s face. The unicorn gulped and glanced at Fluttershy. She had a sympathetic expression.
Rainbow smirked. Twilight figured she couldn’t get away from the question now that it was out there. “Uh, it’s…er…” The unicorn took a deep breath, “Fluttershy and I are dating.”
Everypony’s reaction was a little different. Rainbow puffed her chest out triumphantly, Pinkie’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates, Rarity’s eyes were cast downward, and Applejack’s ears perked up.
“Really?!” Pinkie was now muzzle to muzzle with Fluttershy. “You’re not lying?!”
The pegasus backed away stuttering. “U-Um, yes, I m-mean, um…”
Applejack was glancing between the couple and Rarity with a concerned expression.
“Well, that’s great!!!” Pinkie was grinning, “Why isn’t everypony saying congrats or shaking your hooves or wishing you a happy and long life together? I’m so happy for you two! Does that mean that Rainbow Dash knew before me?”
The pink party pony was looking at Rainbow for answers now. The pegasus blushed a little and avoided her gaze. “U-Uh, yeah, I came across them doing stuff.”
Pinkie didn’t seem to notice Dash’s bashfulness. Her attention was directed towards Twilight now, far too excited. “Really? Have you done a lot? Like baking pies together and eating from the same plate of spaghetti? Or maybe you’ve gone on a bunch of dates! Speaking of which, how long have you been together? How many dates? A lot, right?”
“We haven’t been on an official date yet, but we have spent lots of time together. We’ve been together for… only a few days.” Twilight answered reluctantly.
Pinkie gasped. “Really? You have to go on one then! Right after we’re done here, you’re gonna go on a date and you’re gonna have lots of fun and you’ll love each other even more and Fluttershy’ll thank Auntie Pinkie Pie for setting it up!”
The party pony went over to Dash and spoke giddily, “You’ll help me, right Dashie? We can make it the most perfectest date ever!”
“Shhh!” Twilight whispered, her ears perked up, “I think I hear something.”
The bushes in front of them were rustling, and everypony took a defensive position. Twilight took a cautious step forward, but was stopped by Fluttershy.
“Twilight, I don’t think you should go over there…”
“I’ll be fine, ‘Shy.”
“But…” Fluttershy stared pleadingly into Twilight’s eyes. It was hard, but the unicorn managed to tear her gaze away.
“Trust me.” She said sternly. The pegasus looked like she wanted to object, but what the lavender mare had said seemed to have struck a chord within her.
“O-Okay. I trust you…”
Twilight gave her a small smile before walking towards the rustling bushes. She took little, wary steps, making sure they weren’t too loud. Once she was close to the foliage, she glanced back at her friends. They all had worried expressions on their faces, and Rainbow looked like she wanted to be in Twilight’s horseshoes instead.
The unicorn looked back at the task ahead of her. She hesitantly reached a hoof out to move the bush aside, but the movements started to magnify. Twilight took a step back, and something jumped out.
It was big. Very, very, big.
“I-It’s a Sphinx!” Fluttershy said weakly, “A being with the body of a lion and the head of a pony!”
The Sphinx was brown, and its red, piercing gaze seemed to cut straight through Twilight. She was paralyzed. The beast’s eyes narrowed on the unicorn, and it spoke.
“You will not advance any further,
For I have a treasure I must shelter.
If you do not heed my warning,
You shall not escape living.
Heed my warning, little one,
Or you will be outdone.”
The lavender mare remained rooted to the spot. She was shaking. Twilight had only heard of Sphinxes in legend, and to see one… They had violent tendencies, so this one had to be what was injuring the animals. It only made sense.
The Sphinx’s large right paw rose into the air slowly. Twilight still couldn’t force her hooves to move. The animal sighed in resignation and smiled cruelly.
“So be it,
You clearly have no wit.
My challenge will remain unspoken,
And your bones will soon be broken.”
Twilight watched the claws near her, and she winced.
“NO WAY!” Rainbow Dash flew as fast as she could straight towards the beast. She knocked it off its feet, and they both tumbled. “NOPONY THREATENS MY FRIENDS! NOPONY!”
Fluttershy was by Twilight’s side within seconds. The unicorn was still shaking. “Twilight! Are you okay?” The pegasus nuzzled into the lavender mare’s side, “How could you let him almost get you like that?”
“I…I couldn’t…” Her heart was beating so fast from the adrenaline and she couldn’t formulate any sort of coherent thought.
Applejack charged the Sphinx to give RD back-up. However, when she got closer, the creature launched Dash with a paw swipe straight towards the earth pony, causing both to fly backwards. The Sphinx was going to go after the two, but Pinkie used her Party Cannon to distract it.
Fluttershy hugged her tightly. “Please don’t do something like that again. I was really scared…” Twilight didn’t reply.
The Sphinx pounced on Pinkie’s cannon, smashing it to bits. Within seconds, it was atop her, snarling. Rarity rushed to her assistance, kicking the beast in the muzzle. It reared back angrily.
“F…Fluttershy…They need your help.” Twilight said as she watched the battle unfold. She knew that the pegasus' way with animals could be helpful, and she still couldn’t move.
“You need my help right now… Sphinxes are like ponies; I wouldn’t be able to do anything…” Fluttershy was shaking too, her eyes going between Twilight and the battle.
Rainbow recovered quickly and took off towards the Sphinx once again. This time, however, it saw her coming. It snatched her from the air easily and slammed her onto the ground.
“Dashie!” Pinkie tried to get to the fallen pegasus, but the Sphinx had learned the ponies’ fighting styles. Its tail swished toward the party mare and tripped her. The beast pinned her with a single forepaw and kicked Rarity with a back leg. She hit a tree trunk and slid down, groaning in pain.
Applejack was finally able to right herself. She saw the Sphinx looking at Twilight and Fluttershy hungrily. The reliable pony kicked rocks towards the thing, getting its attention. The lion-pony put more weight on Pinkie, who cried out in pain before passing out. It picked her up and threw her at AJ, knocking her over.
“Fluttershy, you have to try,” Twilight said desperately. The yellow pony gulped.
“I…I…” The pegasus stood up uneasily, “I’ll do my best.”
She barely spoke. “Mr. Sphinx sir, we’re not here to hurt you or to get your treasure. Please stop attacking my friends. Can you do that for me? Please?”
The Sphinx delved into her cerulean orbs.
“You are strange,
But this is something I cannot change.
My nature is set in stone,
Yours is not unknown.
Your ability has no affect on me,
And your friend is not meant to be free.”
“W-What? I don’t understand…” Fluttershy whispered. What it had said made Twilight nervous, and she wasn’t sure what the beast meant.
“Nobody is meant to see my treasure,
Enforcing its protection is my pleasure.
Magic I have been warned of,
And it is something I do not love.
No more talking,
Your victory is fleeting.”
The Sphinx leaned down and bared its teeth at Fluttershy. The pegasus cowered, but she stood her ground.
“N-No, I won’t let you hurt my friends anymore…!” Twilight saw her other friends trying to get back up, but they kept falling back to the ground. Fluttershy glared defiantly at the monster, but it wasn’t affected by the stare, either. Its piercing gaze seemed to level the playing field out.
Its smelly breath made Twilight’s hair stand up. This sentient animal wasn’t going to listen to Fluttershy—that much was clear. It had a small smile when it made its move.
Neither pony knew the Sphinx had a long tongue. It was skinny, pink, and almost lizard-like. It lashed out and went straight for Fluttershy’s hoof. It wrapped around her foot, lifted it, and pulled the pegasus into the air before abruptly dropping her.
The beast pinned her, and Fluttershy was visibly shivering. Twilight was so scared, but she knew she had to do something fast. The unicorn collected as much magic as she could within her horn, more than ever before. It hurt. Her head throbbed painfully in response, but she kept doing it. Her friends needed her. Fluttershy needed her.
The Sphinx felt the magic pulsing in the air. It looked away from its pegasus prey to the source. Twilight felt all feeling in her limbs drain away, and her legs wobbled weakly. Her vision was starting to wink out. The unicorn persevered through, however, and lowered her head so she could aim toward the enemy.
Wind started to emanate from her horn. She’d never had control of so much magic at once. Her head was starting to hurt like it did in Zecora’s, but ten times worse. Twilight could feel herself starting to lose consciousness and control of the magic.
“Your magic will be the end of you,
But I have a question, not a clue,
Is it really worth it?”
Its last words echoed in Twilight’s mind, and she felt the pressure on her horn alleviate. The spell was released. It fired straight towards the Sphinx, and the unicorn could barely see her friends looking at her with concern. Her vision was getting blotchy, and she heard somepony call her name.
Twilight blacked out.