Ponyfinder: Potions and Swords

by David Silver

19 - Riddle Me This

"What has a boat and a dream of silver?"

The group looked towards the new voice, a... pony? perched on a boat. He had the body of a cat despite his equine face in a strange blend. "What, no guesses? Come now..."

Zecora took an unsure step forward. "Are you the one with a silver dream? You have a boat to take us upstream."

The cat clapped their paws together. They did not seem agile at a glance, actual cat paws, not hands like the first feline they had seen. "Very good! Come aboard and we can set sail."

"I saw them first!" shouted the first feline. "Stealing my customers right in front of me, the nerve."

"I won't charge extra for going full speed," assured the pony/cat mix. "Five silver each and your trip will be the only thing on my mind."

Sonja aimed her gun at the creature. Well, she aimed her gun at most anything she was focusing on. "I prefer to know what I'm traveling with. What are you?"

"No offense," sang out Sues in a new accent. "Osewaninarimasu." He dipped his head lightly. "I am curious though, if you don't mind?"

"Just a sphinx, a small one." The sphinx stood up. "One thing, nothing is free. I will require your hands as we go."

Jon raised a finger at that. "How do you sail normally?"

"I wait until someone needs to go somewhere. It seems I found them." The sphinx nodded softly, satisfied with itself. "The name's Dark Thought. I came from a very dim place, but I prefer this sunny world, and its wet roads. Come aboard and we'll pass the time with a few brain teasers."

"If you want to ride with someone who can't even sail himself," scoffed the first feline.

Zecora shook her head. "This one feels safe. His quirks will not chafe." And up she went, trotting up the gangplank to hop onto the deck of the small boat.

Sues went right up behind her. "Odlično! To adventure!"

The power of momentum carried the rest of them aboard, the party's decision made. Dark began to give instructions of what needed to be done to get them off, though he gave the final push to get the boat away from the shore. "And we're off. Now, this boat has an engine, but it is not a... standard one." He hopped back up high, sinking, watching the others.

"You." Dark was looking at Jon. "Don't answer this one." He cleared his throat. "What walks in four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?"

Jon bit the answer that came to him. He'd heard that riddle before!

But the others had not, scowling. This was not nearly so obvious for a bunch of zebras that weren't even used to humans all that much. They began to whisper to one another, trying to figure out an answer.

As they worked on that, the boat jolted forward and began to sail up the stream, powering along with no sound of a motor, just defying the flow of the water with a will of its own. "You can do it," assured Dark Thought. "You look like a clever bunch."

That left Jon to ponder a different riddle. "Huh..." He leaned over the edge, trying to get a glance at what was moving them, but nothing was obvious to sight. "Is this... boat powered by... what, people trying to solve riddles?"

"By thoughts, yes. The more focused they are, say when trying to decipher a riddle, the more power they have. There is an answer to that, I will note. Using a riddle without an answer is just cheating. Can't stand that..." His eyes were on Jon. "Where I come from, thoughts can be dangerous things, but powerful things. The idea of using one for locomotion... not as alien as it would otherwise seem."

Jon was considering their pony... feline... friend. "Well, where do you come from? Somewhere dark, you mentioned?"

"Just like the name," agreed Dark with a feline smile. "Down far below us, where the sun is nothing but a myth. Where the glow of crystals is the best one can hope, and that is rare. Where the dreams of what should not be keep one company, whether one wants it or not. I don't miss it. The surface is far kinder."

Zecora stepped forward suddenly. "A minotaur is born on all fours. They walk, sometimes with drawers, but then with a cane is the answer to that riddle of yours."

The boat was slowing beneath them. "Huh, well, yes." Dark inclined his head at Jon. "Human woulda worked too, but I suppose any biped race fits that bill nicely." Even as Zecora and Sues met with hooves of victory, Dark was going on. "But we can't rest idly just yet, not until we reach the lake at least."

Jon pointed ahead. "We just have to think."

Dark raised a brow. "And what better way than a good riddle or two?" Still, the boat was starting to fight the current, resuming its journey.

Sues turned to his riddle partner. "Want to learn a language?"

Zecora did not share that enthusiasm. "You are a curious pony. Perhaps I can tell you of the time I saw an Equestrian banshee."

"Ooo, please." And off they went to share stories.

Sonja shrugged softly. "Thinking isn't my specialty. I'm not dumb, but this thinker--" She tapped at her head. "Is a focused machine. I'll keep an eye out for trouble, keep my guns ready. I won't be idle." She advanced towards the front of the ship to do just that.

Dark huffed softly. "You've ruined my fun. Spoil sport." He hopped down from his perch to the deck with the grace of a cat. "You don't like riddles?"

"Not my specialty." Even he had heard that last one. "But I have plenty to think about. We're both travelers far away from home."

"Are we?" Dark circled Jon, watching him curiously. "Humans are common enough. Not the majority, but not unknown."

Compared to the pony sphinx, Jon figured he was almost normal. "Sure, but you come from there." He pointed down through the ship. "You can't even point in a direction that would get you to where I am."

"Oh. Oh! Clever... You gave me a riddle! I see how this works." Dark looked smugly pleased, not offended. "Don't give any hints. Hmm... A human from a place you can't point to..." He raised a paw to direct to the sky. "Are you from another world so far away we can't even imagine how to point at it?"

Jon considered that answer. Well, sort of, but... "I'm not from space." He was fairly sure. "So even if this ship could set off towards the stars, I don't think my home is out there."

"Not there, not there, hmmm, mmm...." Dark let out an almost purr of a whicker, a blend of noises. "A challenge, but I'm not giving up yet... Are you from a dream? A wakened fragment of thought, perhaps? It would be hard to point at that, hm?"

A great bang distracted their riddle session. Water exploded upwards from not far ahead of them, Sonja working to get her canon ready for another salvo. "We got a big fish that thinks we're a small fish," she shouted, perhaps louder than required, but she likely wasn't hearing all that much with the great shot she had just made. "It's still in--"

The boat rocked sharply, thumped against by the great body of their aquatic foe. "Not today." Sonja hopped up onto the rail, directing the smaller of her guns. A smaller, but still significant explosion announcing her shot as a smaller plume of water fired up. "Getting a bead on underwater things is tricky!" Not that it seemed to be slowing her desire to try.

Dark Thought sprinted to the front on rapid feline paws. "Where is it?!"

"There." She pointed into the depths, where a murky form was circling for another attack.

Dark began staring at it balefully, grumbling and droning. His eyes shone with a darkness, purple and darker hues overtaking them in a nimbus that spread over his head.

"What are you--" Sonja's question trailed off, seeing a similar burst of energy in the depths, the creature recoiling. "Nice. Ain't a canon you can hold, but any shot on the enemy's a good one." She pulled a cord tight. "Ready for the second salvo."

Jon had joined the line of defenders, but how to apply a sword to the river beast felt less obvious. Jumping in after it seemed... a bad idea. Didn't mean being ready was a poor thought, and he drew his blade out, ready to swat at it if it dared to come close enough to do so. "Keep thinking at it!" He had guessed that was what was happening.

"I don't plan to stop." Dark Thought kept his titular dark thoughts swirling, lancing at the creature in fits and starts.

The surface under them lurched as the creature surfaced with great speed, crashing into the ship. Jon's plan to slash it, dashed as his sword went sliding along the deck away from him. It was a mild grace that he was able to dive after it, stopping it from sliding into the water entirely. Prone, with his sword, the screeching river fish with more teeth than Jon would have liked roared at him, lunging for a bite of him and perhaps a chunk of the ship in the process.

Jon rolled upright, bringing the sword up as part of the motion to leave a thin line of purple fluid running down the fish's face. "Back off!"

The thing recoiled in... pain? Back into the water it went, darting away, lost to sight almost instantly save for the trail of blood it left behind.

Dark Thought whistled softly. "Good job. A real injury took the fight out of it. Now... come, sit. We're safe now." He wasn't moving to sit though, instead moving around the ship, peering at things.

"What are you looking for?" Jon sheathed his blade after wiping it clean.

"Taking stock of the damage. Hm." Dark Thought hopped onto the rail and leaned dangerously far overboard to get a new view. "Hm. Damn things, sure do love banging up my ship. We'll get to where we're going though. Not nearly enough damage to stop that."

"Our shot's still on target," agreed Sonja, her voice coming down in volume. Her hearing returning? "We're friends now."

"Are we?" laughed out Dark Thought, hopping back to the deck. "What made that happen?"

"Anyone I fight next to has to be one of those. Those are the rules. I didn't make the sight, but it's a true one." She nodded firmly. "Brother in arms." She threw an arm around Dark Thought and embraced the zebra. "Here's to the next time we're taking shots, shoulder to shoulder."

Dark Thought began to laugh, directing a paw at Jon. "Don't forget him. He fought just as bravely."

"'Course not, but we were already friends." Sonja raised a brow at Jon. "I'm protecting his sorry rump until we get him and Zecora home."

"So we don't get to be battle brothers? Sure, I'm not shooting much."

"Well that is one of the problems," admitted Sonja with a shrug. "We stop by a shop that has it, we'll get you a gun of your own."

"That's a deal I'll take." But were Everglow guns like American guns... A glance at Sonja's canons and their curious gears and levers to allow for a pony operator implied... this was likely not the case.

"Don't look nervous. I'll show you how to use one." Sonja released Dark Thought. "A mind that is also a firearm. Is that what they mean by 'dangerous thinking?'"

"The most dangerous thoughts." Dark Thought resumed his perch at the highest point. "Can cause entire kingdoms to collapse."

Author's Note:

No hands, but he has a grip on things.

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

A boat powered by thinking power. Wonder if a lava lamp would help or hinder? Good job noone had A Brief History Of Time?

[Earthpatriot117]

A sphinx huh? An interesting addition to the character list. Lol
Sorry I haven't written anything for this in a while. I started binge watching and reading pokemon and have only now started reading other things again. One good thing is I have a few pages to keep me entertained! Xd

[Amethyst Dragonfly]

"Anyone I fight next to has to be one of those. Those are the rules. I didn't make the sight, but it's a true one." She nodded firmly. "Brother in arms." She threw an arm around Dark Thought and embraced the zebra. "Here's to the next time we're taking shots, shoulder to shoulder."

There's a typo here, it was the zebra embracing the sphinx.