Lone Wolf of Equestria: Back to the Pack

by JNKing

Chapter 13: The Riddles of the Sphinx

Author's Note:

Not much to say here, other than... I hope you guys like Daring Do as much as Rainbow Dash does.

Also, wasn't there a book involving Daring Do and some Sphinxes?

In a few days’ time, we reached Somnambula. I was partially sure my sea pony escorts would drag me into the depths; or reveal that the Sirens had control over me or something. But nope; they got me to the shoreline, and I saw a sign labeled ‘Somnambula’ right on the docks.

And boy was it HOT! I barely got flung onto the docks before I was panting raggedly. No way the Sirens could replicate heat this bad! My fur was not something I needed here. I briefly looked back, but my sea pony companions had vanished back into the waves with a flick of their tails. Apparently, the heat didn’t agree with them either. Didn’t matter; I had a new companion to track anyway.

After merely a few minutes of wandering, I knew that there was no way I’d be capable of getting around with the sun boiling me alive. I sought out a nice shady spot under some trees. There, I stripped off my jacket and scarf, and used my blades to shear my fur off. It left me looking pretty scraggly, but the heat became a little more bearable.

Problem was, I wasn’t willing to sit in the shade all day, and set off again. Yes, without any idea where I was gonna find this girl. Luckily, I had enough sense to ask some of the residence.

Most of them were either zebras or really dark horses (how they could stand the heat in black is anyone’s guess). But, I wandered over to the friendliest looking one – this mare with really nice green eyes – and just asked, “Daring Do?”

She paused, looking back at me, but I simply tilted my head. She was silent for a moment. But then she pointed to the edge of town.

I nodded in thanks, and headed towards where she had pointed.

Something really funny; I had to ask several people about her before I got on the right track. And even then, I noticed looks of irritation; apparently, this Daring Do had a reputation. And whatever it was, it wasn’t all good.

Shut up, Dash!

#

When night finally came, it brought with it cold. A cold I didn’t expect after a day in the hot sun. I found myself missing my fur pretty quickly, even though I had my jacket and scarf to compensate.

But, it made trekking through the desert much easier. I had run out of folks to ask, but I still had my nose. And while the scent was faint, I could make out a vague pony scent, mixed with some sort of – I wanna say southern spices. Whatever it was, it was potent enough that I could track it.

A few minutes of tracking later, I nearly got trampled. I jumped to the side as three ponies shot past me, racing away screaming into the night. Interesting, but the scent of pony and spice wasn’t on them, and so I kept going.

After an hour or two, I made it to a really run down looking old temple. Looked like someone had taken a battering ram to Canterlot Plaza. There were fallen pillars everywhere, and a caved in interior. As I got closer, my ears flicked. I made out the sound of combat. Smelled the rush of blood.

As I got closer, another pony tore out of the bit of temple still standing. A dark furred stallion, with stupid slicked back hair and, oddly enough, some sort of stubble around his chin. Either ponies could get a five o’clock shadow like humans, or he had forgotten to wipe his mouth after eating ash.

“No treasure is worth this!” he screamed, racing past me. “Flee for your lives!”

I glanced back his way, before I heard voices inside.

“…never rest… sometimes blue… worthless alone…”

I tilted my head. Something was going down in there. I raced inside, finding myself in a room full of pillars. Unlike the crashed ones, these pillars held up the ceiling to a pretty magnificent room. A single doorway stood beyond, with three empty pedestals next to it. A fourth had some sort of statue that had been smashed to bits. Drawings and markings covered the wall around the doorway.

When I tried to approach it, a pony flung herself in front of me, scrambling to get behind a pillar. I gasped; the scent of pony spice was coming from her!

Pegasus. Tan fur, with an olive-green explorer jacket and a faded white pith helmet that barely hid a grayscale mane. She locked rose-colored eyes with me, before I heard a scraping, purring sound. A sound I recognized sadly.

I tensed up, my fur bristling. The pegasus slid behind her pillar, her expression defiant and yet slightly fearful. And as the purring grew louder, I strode forward, and found myself facing a bunch of… cats?

Upon closer inspection, I noticed their heads were more equine than feline. No whiskers or snout. They had odd makeup and weird little wigs on their heads, outlined with gold. Eagle wings flapped on their backs, and the rest of their body slinked towards me like panthers in the night.

I growled in warning at them, and they stopped, their eyes scanning me with intrigue. Then… they spoke.

“I never rest,” a golden furred one said, “I’m never still; I move slowly, from hill to hill. I do not walk, run nor trot. All is cool, where I am not.”

Before I could think of answering her, the one with the darkest colored fur spoke.

“I am old, yet sometimes new. Never sad, sometimes blue. Never empty, but sometimes full. Never push, always pull.”

And before I could even turn to her, the third one – a hot pink, interestingly enough – spoke.

“I am not bought, yet stolen with a glance. Worthless alone, yet priceless in a dance.”

I stared at them, ears and tail perked up. I pointed at the third one.

“That was shorter than the others,” I noted.

Apparently, they didn’t like that. As one, they bared sharp teeth in malicious smiles, drew vicious looking claws, and lunged.

#

“Those were Sphinxes,” Twilight exclaimed. “If you didn’t solve their riddles, they’d try to kill you!”

“Oh yeah,” Logan admitted, parting the fur on his head to reveal several faded claw marks. “I figured that out real fast.”

#

Those Sphinxes were brutal. My head and chest were getting shredded before I knew what was going on. My barriers flared to life, but even then, it didn’t take away the sting from the cuts they had already inflicted. Nor did it do much to halt their relentless clawing and biting. The golden sphinx went to eat my head whole, that equine mouth revealing a row of sharp lion’s teeth, but I managed to dodge away from it, only to run right into another swipe from the dark sphinx.

I really hate to admit it, but I quickly found myself backing down from these cats. Then again, those weren’t your average house cats. They were, like… Arnold Swash-de-kitties. I don’t know, I heard someone call something like them that once.

Either way, I turned tail and ran. Blood stung my eyes, and my chest screamed in protest. I lost them by circling several of the pillars. For a moment, I was allowed to rest. Then my ears picked up a presence next to me. I turned, nearly taking Daring Do’s head off.

As it was, she caught my impulsive swing, and forced my arm down with a harsh ‘sh’ noise. We both sat as still as we possibly could, as the purr of the sphinxes returned.

“I never rest, I’m never still…” the golden one purred.

“Never sad, sometimes blue,” the dark one meowed.

“Worthless alone, yet priceless in a dance,” the third crooned.

They drew closer. Daring Do and I raced to another pillar, hiding behind them.

“What's the deal with these guys?” I hissed.

“Sphinxes,” Daring Do growled, peeking out from behind the pillar before fixing me with a glare. “You were an idiot to come here! One Sphinx is bad enough, but a group of them?” She shook her head. “We try and answer one riddle; the others will take it to mean we’re answering theirs incorrectly.”

“Riddles?” I asked, very much out of the loop.

Daring Do growled and raced away. “I don’t have time to deal with a rookie,” she declared. I raced after her, hearing the purr of the pink one right behind our pillar.

We barely avoided the golden one lunging out at us, before we were forced out of the temple entirely. We raced out through a hole in the wall and took cover under the debris that might have been the wall.

“I take it you’re Daring Do,” I growled, more focused on the Sphinxes then her.

“Oh, what gave you that idea?” she muttered sarcastically. We both went silent as we heard one of the Sphinxes prowling right above us.

“Never rest… never still,” she purred, crossing right past us. “Moving slowly from hill to hill.”

We waited until she was out of sight before turning to each other.

“Look,” I hissed. “I heard you know about magic artifacts.”

“Well, that knowledge ain’t gonna help if we become cat food,” she snapped.

“Then we take them out together,” I replied.

Daring Do looked away. “I work alone,” she started to mutter, before I grabbed her by the throat and forced her to look at me.

“You wanna take those things on alone?” I growled at her. “I saw your crew leave; right now, I’m the only ally you got.”

Daring Do cracked a grin. “You think those cowards were mine?” she asked, having to hide her laugh as a Sphinx craned her head around. We rushed to a different hiding spot before we continued. “Those guys were my rivals. In my line of work, you never know who it is you can trust.”

“Yeah?” I snapped, shoving her face towards where the hot pink one was. “Well, right now, both of us are gonna be cat food if we don’t get these guys. Considering we ain’t out to eat each other, seems as good a reason to trust me now. Speaking of which…” I yelped when the pink one caught us, and we were forced into another sprint into the temple. “How’re we gonna kill them?”

Daring Do gave me a really frustrated glare, but sighed. “We just have to answer their riddle,” she said. “We get them separate, and answer them one at a time.”

“Fine,” I said. “Which one do you need me to separate from the others.”

Her eyes widened. “Wait, what?”

“Unless there’s an end-all-be-all answer to those questions they keep mumbling,” I noted. “Sounds like we need to get them on their own. You tell me which one you got the answer to, and I’ll separate em from her pals.”

Daring Do gave me a suspicious glare, but the purr of the sphinxes emanated, not giving her a lot of options. She craned her neck around, seeing all three grouped together.

“Goldie,” she whispered, pointing at the lead one. “Get the others away from Goldie.”

I nodded, and started scooting my way around the pillar. Daring Do briefly grabbed my tail.

“If you backstab me…,” she warned, but I just glared right back at her.
“Then I’ll end up cat food too,” I replied, yanking my tail from her and moving to flank the sphinxes.

Thankfully, they didn’t spot me, and I managed to sneak right to their back, before leaping out.

“Forty-two!” I howled, instantly drawing their gaze. They grinned their malicious grins and advanced, before Daring Do shot out.

“The Sun!” she yelled. The golden sphinx turned to her. So, did the pink one, but I hurled a rock at her.

“Your big fat butt!” I snarled. The pink one took particular offense to that.

But, with the black and pink ones coming for me, the golden one was left alone, staring at Daring as she spoke.

“The sun,” Daring explained. “It’s never resting, and never still. It moves from horizon to horizon. Celestia moves it, so it doesn’t walk, run or trot. And everything its light touches is warmed, so it’s cool where it is not.”

The golden Sphinx roared in anger, but before it could lunge at her, one of the pedestals glowed, and the sphinx faded into golden sparks, flitting through the air to one of the pedestals. The golden sparks flew into the pedestal, and a statue took its place, in the exact likeness of the sphinx.

Her two sisters let out roars of rage, and came at me with a fury, hurling me to my back with their relentless clawing. Daring Do jumped onto the dark one, trying to hoist it up into the air with her wings, but the dark sphinx head butt her, and spun around.

“The…” Daring Do tried to yell, only for the pink one to whirl onto her. Turns out those two were learning from the first’s mistakes. As they got Daring Do to the ground, I pulled myself up and raced at them. The two almost got Daring Do’s head and tail between their jaws when I lunged in, snatching her from the jaws of death (literally).

The two of us were forced into another game of cat and pony/wolf. No matter what we did, those two wouldn’t separate. They barely even whispered their riddles anymore, only doing so with all the reluctance of a wolf whelp leaving his mother’s belly.

Daring Do and I soon found ourselves flat out running, trying to escape these relentless cats.

“I got the riddle for the dark one,” Daring Do told me.

“Ain’t gonna be much good if we can’t separate them,” I replied. “You think you can take any more hits from these guys?”

I wasn’t speaking hyperbole. Both of us were completely torn up. My jacket was more like a bunch of ribbons. The blood had dried somewhat, but I could see the tremble in her step, and felt the cold exhaustion of my own stamina dwindling.

Daring Do glanced away, and then looked up at one of the walls we were approaching. “I got an idea,” she said, spreading her wings and flying ahead. “When we reach the wall, get Pinkie.”

Yes, I did briefly think of you, Pinkie. But as she arced up towards the wall, I saw the dark and pink sphinxes spreading their eagle wings.

I skidded in the dirt, turning on a dime for them. The last time I did this, it hadn’t been enough to succeed. But I had one advantage this time: my target was coming straight for me.

Thus, as the sphinxes tried to fly over me, I caught the pink one by her tail, and dragged her to the ground. She roared out a warning, but before her sister could respond, Daring Do leaped onto it as well.

The pick one roared and bucked as I hung onto its nape. But she wasn’t strong enough, and I heard Daring Do answer the dark one’s riddle.

“The Moon!” she cried out. “It’s been around since the dawn of time, and can’t feel sadness, but its phases include blue, new and full moons.”

The sphinx shook her head with a growl. “Never pushing, always…”she tried to protest, but Daring Do was on top of it.

“It never pushes anything, but it’s orbit pulls the tide!” she said quickly. The dark sphinx gave a yowl of defeat as she joined her golden sister on the pedestal.

Unfortunately, my grin didn’t last, as the pink one got in a good smack that sent me tumbling into Daring Do. Both of us were on our last legs, and the sphinx knew it. She prowled towards the two of us, her equine face stretched into a sadistic grin.

“I am not bought, yet stolen with a glance,” she said smugly. “Worthless alone, yet priceless in a dance.”

I struggled to my paws, as did Daring Do. “O-One left,” I noted, trying to limp away. “Any ideas?”

Daring Do shook her head as she limped alongside me. “That one’s still throwing me,” she said. “A dance? What’s worthless alone but priceless in a dance?”

The sphinx meowed in glee and lunged forward, smacking me right into a pillar. For a moment, I could only lay there, as the sphinx hit Daring Do with her tail, and send her rolling across the temple floor. The sphinx thought she had won; she was savoring her victory.

But just as with every smug foe I had encountered, their time to gloat was time I used to think.

“Dance… priceless in a dance, yet worthless alone.” My ears flared. “Can’t be… but in this world… sometimes you need two people to dance. Well, you can dance alone, but her answer’s worthless alone. And if it’s stolen with a glance… worthless to one, but priceless to two!”

I pulled my head up. “Love!” I croaked.

The sphinx paused, her eyes widening.

“It’s love,” I whispered, my head dipping back to the ground.

Her head slowly turned to me, her eyes pleading that she was mishearing.

“Love isn’t something that can be bought,” I said. “But love at first sight is the chance to steal someone’s heart, and begin a pack. Love’s useless when you’re alone, but in a dance – with a lover… or a pack…” I winced, thinking back to the people I was trying to get to. “It’s priceless,” I whispered.

The sphinx shook her head. “No,” she denied, even as her body began to fade into pink sparkles. “NOOO!” she yowled before once again being turned into stone.

Daring Do stared at me for a second, awe written across her face. My entire body felt like it belonged in a blender, but it wasn’t as bad as Ocetorm. I had managed to get through a lot of my injuries by reminding myself about Ocetorm. So, I forced myself back up to my paws, and held my head high.

Daring Do forced herself up as well. We both looked over at the door between the sphinx statues as it suddenly opened with a click. Gold shined from within.

Daring Do turned back to me. “Who… are you?” she asked.

I spat out a bit of blood and grinned at her. “Logan,” I said. “But you might know me as the Lone Wolf of Equestria.”

#

We used some of the gold we found in the Sphinx’s vault to pay for a hospital – or a vet clinic in my case. Diamond Dogs were close enough to my kind, and the vet we went to had some experience with them; talked a bit about how diamond dogs migrated, or something like that. I didn’t really care. I also used some of the gold inside to repair my jacket; no way was I letting that thing stay as sheared up ribbons.

I stuck with Daring Do, not letting her out of my sight. I had gone through a lot to get to her. Thankfully, she seemed grateful enough that I had helped her out. And the fact that I had a bounty probably let her know that I wouldn’t be allied with anyone she had fought; they’d just turn a dog like me in for more gold.

I’ve noticed that out here, people are really obsessed with gold. If I found a guy who literally married his gold, I was going to have a fit.

But, either way, after about a week of stitching and resting, Daring Do and I found ourselves at one of her safehouses. There, she had something I was really hoping for: a list of legendary artifacts.

“So,” Daring Do said, after I had explained my situation. “You’re looking for a way home to an alternate dimension, which you were only taken from by Princess Celestia?”

“Long and short of it,” I replied.

Daring Do grimaced as she looked over her list of artifacts. “I hate to say it, kid, but not many of the artifacts I work with are capable of inter-dimensional travel.” She gave me a sad look. “Best I can tell you is hope Princess Celestia…”

“That’s not an option for me,” I said quickly, not wanting to hear another ‘go back to Equestria’ line.

Daring Do sighed. “Kid…” she began, but I cut her off.

“’She’s the only one who can get me back,’” I said. “I know, and she won’t do it. And I’m not going to let my pack suffer and die because she’s a coward.”

A million emotions shot across Dare’s face at that point; shock at my calling the princess a coward, and then curiosity at my next words. “Your… pack?” she asked.

I looked down, my ears flattening. My instincts warned me against showing weakness, but Daring Do was a pony. You guys seemed to have a natural empathy for others.

“There’s not a lot of them left,” I said. “But… I have several uncles. A, uh… Carol… my parents used to be there, but they’re not anymore, and…” I sighed. “I left them all behind. And I can’t rest until I know for sure that I can get them back.”

Daring Do gave me a long, hard look. She glanced down at my claws. “I noticed you… had some sort of glow around you when we were fighting the sphinxes.” She leaned forward. “Do you… know magic?”

I sighed and flexed my claws. Sparks briefly danced across my claws. “Just a bit,” I admitted.

She nodded, and turned to another list. She blew some dust off a parchment, and slid it to me.

“Legends talked about a Crystal Empire,” Daring Do told me, indicating a picture of heart that looked forged out of crystal. “It was lost to a curse thousands of years ago. But one of its greatest treasures, was the Crystal Heart.”

I took the photo, looking at it hopefully. “You think this thing has what I’m looking for?”

Daring Do shrugged. “It was on my list for a long time,” she admitted. “Though the Empire was apparently gone without a trace, I heard rumors and myths that it’s ruins might be situated up north, near the Artic Wastelands.” She fixed me with a searching look. “It might be nothing more than a goose chase…”

I stood up. “But it’s still a lead.” I started to hand the thing back, before she indicated I should keep it. “Thanks.”

She nodded. “You helped me against those sphinxes,” she said. “And you didn’t backstab me for the gold.” She gave me another searching look. “You ain’t like most of the creatures I’ve met.”

“I’m a simple creature,” I replied. “I just want to get back to my pack.”

She nodded, accepting that. “Well, you’re better than some.” She glanced at the gold we still had left over. “Fair if we split it, fifty-fifty?”

Normally, I would have been happy to leave her all the gold. But I ended up taking her offer. A walk to the north would have taken a long time, and I wasn’t happy with the lack of progress I had made thus far. So, I did something I really came to regret.

I used my share for local transport.

Comments

[Element of Power]

I hiked through the desert,
swam through the ocean,
ran through the forest,
then got on the train.

[JNKing]

9836112
Yeah, sorry if it seems kind of lazy.

Logan's just feeling impatient and moody (what else is new about him, right? ). None of his leads have gotten results he likes, and every time it's failed, it's usually been accompanied by advice to go back to Celestia.

And, like he mentioned, he's going to regret taking a train. Like, really regret it.

[Element of Power]

9836889
NONONO!! It was perfect!!
I was just stupidly trying to be funny. As usual.

[JNKing]

9837332
Oh, lol! Gotcha.

Sorry about that. Humor tends to fly over my head sometimes.

media.giphy.com/media/YbAR0h76BJyJG/giphy.gif

You've just been reading about Logan's adventures since the beginning, and I really appreciate your feedback.

Thank you for sticking with him throughout this journey. :twilight smile:

[Even Evil Has Standards]

I'm just realizing this, but I can't be the only one.

Those three Sphinxes are like Celestia, Luna, and Cadance.

[Teraunce]

10050665
Wow! I never would have caught that lol.