Twilight stared at the unmoving statue in front of her. Her guide had to be pulling her leg. That was a statue. She knew sphinxes were real. Right? AK Yearling wrote about one in her books. If she’d encountered one, they had to be real. But this was just a statue. The head was pony like with a lion’s halo of fur rather than a pony’s stripe of a mane. The body was lion. The tail was a giant snake. The wings were spread wide and unmoving, even in the desert wind.

Looking at her notes again, Twilight frowned. Sphinxes couldn’t turn to stone. That was a gargoyle thing. Her guide must have brought her to a statue of the Sphinx. Grumbling to herself, Twilight adjusted her veil, her only protection against getting sand in her eyes, and turned to leave. Suddenly the wind stopped. The sand all around her simply vanished, as if it had never existed.

“Speak, small pony. What dost thou seek by venturing into the domain that is Mine?” a voice asked behind her. She turned around and looked up. The Sphinx had come to life. Her wings were furled in against her back, her mane lay luxurious around her shoulders. Her front paws crossed over one another and she adjusted her position so she could stick her hind legs out straight.

“I have a request, great Sphinx. My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, of Equestria. I am writing a bestiary which I hope will be used to aid in medical professions should ones such as yourself and others need assistance.”

“I have seen such tomes. The medicinal documentation of Sphinxes is quite intricate. What more could Thou have to learn?”

“We only know how to aid injuries to the outside of the body, great Sphinx. Ponies know frighteningly little about the inside of many creatures. I seek only to remedy that lack of knowledge.”

“And how dost thou seekest to change this. Didst thou come to carve Us open? To spill our guts upon the desert sands!?” The sphinx roared, the sand suddenly whipping into a frenzy around the two of them.

“No, Great Sphinx! I do not seek to harm you! Please understand, this documentary is to help ponies understand the inner workings on a living specimen!” Twilight shouted. The sand stopped, hovering still in the air. Twilight looked around, noticing that she could not see through the veil it created. If she couldn’t see out, nopony else could see in.

“Explain.” Twilight looked up at the Sphinx, seeing her quizzical gaze staring down at her. Twilight took out the bestiary, up to the point it was currently finished and held it up for the Sphinx. Particles of sand lifted it from Twilight’s grasp and carried it up to the creatures eye, turning pages until she had finished it to where Twilight and her friends had stopped. “Thou hast been very thorough in thine research.”

“How hast thou learned such things without ending the life of the creatures thou hast entered into thine book?”

Twilight swallowed nervously. She’d read in one of the other documents about Sphinxes that they were cunning. She had to phrase her explanation carefully or the Sphinx would take advantage of it. “To learn the inner machinations and operations of beasts and creatures large enough to devour a pony whole, I have developed machines that allow me to record findings through thought, which I transcribe into words to put into the bestiary.”

The Sphinx stared at her for a moment, as if taking in the meaning behind her words. “Very well. I shall indulge thou. If thou shall indulge me. Three riddles. For each incorrect answer, I shall be slightly rougher with thine body.” Twilight swallowed a little and then nodded. “In spoken bond, Princess, or the pact shall not be sealed.”

“Three riddles. For each answer I answer incorrectly, you will be allowed to be slightly rougher with me.”

“Good. Now. First riddle. What does the letter T have in common with an island?”

“You will find them both in the middle of water. That was easy.”

“We did not say they would all be easy riddles, did we?” The Sphinx asked and Twilight blinked, swallowing her nerves and shaking her head. “Good. Second riddle. What goes all the way around the world but stays in a corner?”

“A stamp. Because you stamp a letter and can send it all over the world.”

“Very good. Final riddle. In the morning, I stand on four legs. In the evening, I stand on two. At night, I stand on three legs. What am I?”

Twilight froze. She’d never heard that riddle before. It couldn’t be a pony. All ponies, young or old, stood on four legs. She knew it had to do with time in some way. “Dost thou give up, Princess?” the Sphinx asked, sounding closer than before. Twilight didn’t dare look. If she looked, she’d panic. Panic didn’t aid in critical thinking. She needed to think if she was going to figure this one out.

Ultimately, she wanted to get eaten so she could record what she learned about the inside of a Sphinx. She’d come here for that very purpose. A game of minds was something else entirely. Now she wanted to win. She wanted to prove that she was smart enough to figure out complex problems. Sighing, she looked up at the Sphinx. “I don’t know the answer…” she said and the Sphinx grinned.

“Wouldst thou like to know the answer before thou becomest mine meal?” Twilight nodded. “The answer… is man.” She said and Twilight froze. She’d been given a riddle no pony would have known the answer to. Sphinxes could see into other realities. Often traveled to them. As keepers of knowledge, they could do things no pony could do. Looking up to berate the Sphinx for giving her an answer no pony in Equestria would have been able to answer, she shrieked.

The Sphinx lunged down, expecting the frightened pony to run. They always ran. Instead, she merely let out a shriek as the Sphinx closed her maw around the purple equine. She wouldn’t chew her. It would not aid in her cause if he life were cut short. Instead, the Sphinx simply rolled the small pony around in her maw, tasting her. Enjoying her flavor. The sand didn’t taste good, it never did, but thousands of years of nothing but scorpions, Dune Dogs and desert dwellers had dulled the Sphinx’s tongue to the taste.

Once satisfied that she’d removed all of the sand, the Sphinx pressed her pony snack against the roof of her mouth and spit. The globule of saliva containing the sand hit the desert ground and instantly turned into a chunk of gold. Scooping it up, the Sphinx placed it near the Princess’ caravan. A prize for such an excellent showing of knowledge. But now it was snack time. Throwing her head back, the Sphinx opened her maw.

Twilight squinted as the desert sun assaulted her eyes from inside the Sphinx. Was she changing her mind? Letting her go for one more riddle? The tongue pressing back into her face answered her question as the great Sphinx swallowed her. The throat was tight but not unpleasantly so. She could hear the Sphinx’s heart thundering in her chest as she passed it and slid into the stomach. It was spacious. More spacious than Twilight had thought.

Making a mental note of that, Twilight observed everything she could. Every fold in the walls of flesh surrounding her, every pulsation when the Sphinx moved. The thundering of the Sphinx’s heart almost lulled her to sleep but she stayed focused. She had a job to do, and she would see that it was finished. “We suppose thou would like to know of the inner workings of my kind when we are statues. Brace thine self.” The Sphinx’s voice was loud. Twilight had all of a second to understand what she meant before everything around her froze.

It was more than that, however. Twilight herself felt like she’d turned to stone. Her mind was still working but her heart, her need to breath, even her limbs felt like they’d turned to stone. Just as quickly as she’d changed, she was normal again. In a panic, her horn lit, and she teleported herself out of the Sphinx’s stomach. She hadn’t meant to. She still had so much to study. A full trip through the creature was necessary for the bestiary. She turned to ask the Sphinx to eat her again only for a scroll to be pressed into her chest.

“Tis the information thou seekest. The research was done many centuries past by one who sought the knowledge. They did not last, however. But their knowledge persisted within mine own mind. We entrust it to thou, Princess Twilight Sparkle. Use it well to serve thine people justly and treat my kind fairly.” With that, the Sphinx returned to the giant stone pedestal she had been on, sat down and returned to stone. Twilight looked at the scroll before placing it, her notes, and the unneeded anti-digestion potion in her saddlebag. Placing it upon her back, she made the journey back to her caravan. At least they’d have a fun story to hear on the way back to Equestria.

But first, Twilight needed a bath.

Author's Note

Tried to be all "fancy speak" with the Sphinx. Ancient creature, wouldn't see the need to update its vernacular to "mingle with other creatures". Besides, most of the creatures it meets are either Saddle Arabians who want something... or desert dwellers who don't speak.