A New Tale In Equestria.

by Sylif Daring Doo

The Grayroot Forest Part six: The group and the change.

______*Fifteen minutes later, Temple of Jandoka, the main room*______

Darkestlight sighed as Fang argued with Derpy over which door they should take, they had already gone through one of the doors which led to the treasury, there they found Lightning Dust and another amulet along with some gold.

While it was nice that the group was getting larger, Lightning Dust had sought to frustrate Fang to no end which removed the clear thinker of the group leaving it up to her to get things done.

'Okay, let me see......there are three doors left, one of them is bound to have an exit, but the others probably have Twilight and Rarity, so....which door?.....okay, from what I can tell, Firefly can use lightning and disperse golden seals, Roxanne can use fire and disperse white seals, Derpy has that weird psychic thing and can open purple seals, and Gwen can raise the dead and disperse green seals.'

As the group argued over which path to take, Dark walked over to one of the three remaining doors that had fire seal, she looked at Roxanne and motioned her over, the fox raised an eyebrow but came anyway.

"What is it?" Roxanne asked.

"I looked at the remaining doors and noticed that this is the only door that we can open, so have at it." She said.

Roxanne rolled her eyes and walked up to the door, she raised her arms and touched the seal while releasing a small amount of white flame, making the seal dissipate.

Dark looked back at the group and saw that Fang and Derpy were still arguing, Dark rolled her eyes and opened the door then walked through with Roxanne close behind.

_____*unknown room*_____

The room that Roxanne and Dark entered was rectangular in nature, it had white stone walls, towering columns that reached up to the roof, and a white stone floor and ceiling, there were red banners with gold lining with a matching carpet, there was a path that the carpet made down between the columns.

Roxanne couldn't help but admire the room as she walked down the pathway with Dark. "Nice architecture, it's amazing that the changelings could build all of this." Dark said.

"I don't think the changelings built this place......look at these columns." She placed a hand on one and she could literally feel the strength in it.

Dark placed a hoof on a column. "What makes you say that?" She asked.

Roxanne let a small smile show as she looked around the room. "This is Greek architecture, a civilization back on Earth, there is no way the changelings built all this." She explained. [1]

Dark shrugged and walked down the pathway while looking around.

Roxanne chuckled at something that Dark's curiosity reminded her of....her past self.

'I was so curious back then, I just needed to know everything.'

After a short time, Dark and Roxanne came across four rooms with two on the left and two on the right, Dark and Roxanne shared a grin before splitting up to search the rooms.

Roxanne walked up to one of the rooms on the left and went inside, the room itself was small and had only one bookshelf and a bench, the only interesting thing in the room was a small chest on the bookshelf.

Roxanne walked up to the chest and pulled it off of the shelves, she set it down on the bench and opened it, inside the chest was a pendant and ring, both with the symbol of a dragon.

Taking the items from the chest, Roxanne shrugged and walked out of the room to search some more.

Inside the other room was simply a replica of the previous except it had a peculiar painting of a church, Roxanne eyed it with suspicion and walked up to it, she pulled the painting down and saw a vault with a lock in the shape of a star.

"What kind of lock is that?" She wondered.

Roxanne simply sighed before walking out of the room to meet up with Dark who was levitating a key that was made of bronze. "What did you find.....other then a key?" She asked.

Dark shook her head. "Just the key, you?" She asked hopefully.

Roxanne presented the ring and pendant to Dark who eyed them with familiar curiosity. "Let's continue, maybe we can find something else?" Dark suggested.

Roxanne nodded then walked up to the door to the next room and walked inside. 'Hope the others are having better luck.'

_____*meanwhile at the main group*______

Firefly sighed as Fang and Derpy continued their argument, she looked around the group only to notice that Dark and Roxanne were gone, along with the seal on one of the doors.

After what felt like a long time to Firefly, enough was enough, she faced Derpy and Fang and stomped her hoof on the ground. "THATS ENOUGH YOU INSUFFERABLE IDIOTS!" She shouted.

The group recoiled from Firefly's unexpected burst and all had looks of shock on their faces.

When Firefly realized that she had their attention she calmed down and took a quick breath. "Now, instead of arguing we should be working together.....and seeing that Dark and Roxanne decided to continue without us we should get moving." She paused.

She looked at the only openable door remaining and saw that it had a purple seal, she turned to face the group. "Alright Derpy, go through that door over there with the others and see what you can find, I'll go find Dark and Roxanne." She stated before going through the door that was unsealed.

The remaining members of the group simply stood there slack jawed until Derpy broke out of it. "Might as well." She said simply.

Dust huffed. "Who put her in charge?" She asked herself.

Gwen scratched the back of her head and chuckled. "I guess she put herself in charge." She replied

Fang however remained silent as the others began walking through the next door after Derpy unsealed it, he silently walked forward after them until it happened.

Another vision appeared for Fang as the world once again changed, but instead of fire it seemed that the world went back In time as the faded and damaged walls fixed themselves and soon enough there was people of all kinds, Griffins, changelings and even ponies! Fang looked around and saw that there were guards, civilians, scholars, and the occasional cultist by the looks of one particular case, the main thing Fang immediately noticed about this vision was that it lasted much longer than his previous ones, he also noticed that every single person he saw either had a talisman or bracelet with the symbol of Jandoka.

It was at this moment that Fang realized something. 'What If these flashes are glimpses of the past?' He wondered.

The vision came to an end as the world seemed to revert back to normal, Fang tested his fingers by making them into a fist before following the group while the memory of what just happened lingered in his mind.

"Strange." He said quietly.

_____*meanwhile with Dark and Roxanne.*_____

Roxanne lept back as an axe swung downwards towards her, she then rolled to the left and then rushed the side of her mindless foe while dismantling its remaining armor.

As soon as Dark and Roxanne entered the room, a large gray stone door opened and released a squad of armored changeling and unicorn zombies.

The changelings seemed to favor weapon usage while the unicorns used what small amount of magic they had for magic blasts.

And so the pair split up to divide the zombies, unfortunately for Roxanne, three more unicorn zombies showed up and rushed her, and they also had an annoying immunity to her flames.

Roxanne at one point decided to rush them, but the unicorn zombies all fired one at a time which resulted in never ending magic blasts, fortunately they were not very bright as Roxanne used one of the two changeling zombies as a shield which resulted in a much needed bath for the fox.

Roxanne took a brief moment to look over at Dark who was still battling the unicorn zombie and its zombie changeling friend. 'Ok, either I take these guys out or hold out until Dark finishes those two off so she can help, meanwhile I need to handle the four unicorn zombies and the single changeling zombie.....I really wish Fang was here, this is more his thing.'

The zombies that Roxanne was facing began another assault on her as the changeling rushed forth recklessly, Roxanne braced herself as the changeling reached her and raised its axe.

The axe came down and Roxanne dodged, she then rushed it before dodging the magic blasts from the unicorns that she had predicted, she then dodged the uppercut from the changelings axe before getting down to all fours, she then rushed the changelings side again but this time she quickly stopped before spinning so her back was turned to the changeling, she raised her legs and kicked the unsuspecting changeling.....and to her annoyance more blood splattered onto her coat. "Damnit!" She cursed as another volley of magical blasts raced past her.

At this point Roxanne was breathing heavily, she then began to dodge again as more blasts soared past. 'I'm barely dodging these, that last one barely grazed my fur.'

Roxanne looked over to Dark who seemed to have defeated the changeling. 'How can she have only killed one!?' She looked back at the zombie unicorns and sighed. "Here we go again." She muttered.

The zombies began to charge their horns when they were suddenly struck by lightning. "What the fuck!?" Roxanne cursed.

To Roxanne's confusion and surprise the zombies all died at once after being electrocuted.

"Looks like I got here just in time." Came a familiar and overconfident voice.

Roxanne sighed as she turned around to see Firefly standing there with a big grin plastered on her face. "Miss me?" She said quietly.

"If you mean your annoying grin, then no, if you mean you in person......ehh give it time." Roxanne teased.

Firefly shrugged and walked over to Roxanne, she reached out with a hoof.

Roxanne chuckled and accepted the hoof as she stood up, she heard Dark groan and looked over to see her trying to get zombie blood out of her hair, Roxanne then stifled a laugh as a joke came to mind, she cleared her throat quietly and walked over to Dark.

"Come now darling, you simply must get that.....goop, out of your hair, it's very unladylike." Roxanne said in exact replication of Rarity's voice. [1]

Dark and Firefly apparently got the joke and started laughing, Roxanne then joined them in it.

After the group stopped laughing, Firefly looked at Roxanne. "That was really good Roxanne." She said.

Roxanne chuckled. "Eh, it might be a side effect of what happened to me.....also I talked to the co-author and she wanted me to do a Rarity impression." She explained simply. [2]

Firefly and Dark raised an eyebrow at this. "You talked to who?" Firefly asked.

Roxanne shrugged. "I don't know, so let's keep going." She said apparently obviously faking ignorance.....Dark and Firefly did not buy it.

_____*meanwhile with the group.*_____

Fang and the others hit a bit of a snag, they had continued quite smoothly until they entered the room they were in currently, from reasons unknown, iron gates slammed down in front of all exits, effectively trapping them in, and so Fang was currently trying to make out a mysterious tablet that seemed like a puzzle, he had little trouble with the edges but found that the rest was a lot tougher.

Derpy and the others tried to lift the iron gates off of the doors but they did not budge, and so they all were reduced to waiting as Fang worked on the puzzle.

The puzzle itself seemed to be the three races that dwelled in this place, the Griffins, the changelings and the ponies. "Why does this place have to be so annoying?" Fang mumbled quietly as he placed a puzzle piece in the correct spot.

Around twenty minutes passed and soon a loud click was heard as Fang placed the last piece in its place as the tablet descended into the floor causing Fang to gulp.

The group all got up and looked around but found nothing.....until stone grating against stone was heard near where the tablet was.

Fang looked to his left and watched as a small pedestal rose up from the ground that had a brown gem on a small claw like holder, Fang carefully picked the gem up and the second he did the iron gates rose up to open the path back up. "Looks like we can go." Fang said while looking at the gem.

_____*meanwhile at Dark, Roxanne and Firefly*_____

Firefly walked along the path with the others and soon they came across a massive stone door at the end with a white seal. "Well this just screams trap." She commented.

Roxanne nodded and walked up to the door before releasing a short burst of flame into the seal making it dissipate. "let's go." She said.

Dark and Firefly nodded and they walked up to the massive door and the trio began to push.

Either the door had old hinges or it was just plain lighter than expected did not matter, as the door simply fell over instead of opening, with a loud bang it landed on the ground and scared the trio half to death.

Firefly was first to fully recover after their ears stopped ringing. "Well that was anticlimactic." She commented.

Roxanne rolled her eyes after she recovered and walked inside the room with Firefly behind her.

The room itself was grand, it had beutiful red carpet and tapestry with gold trimmings, a large set of stairs stood at the end of the room with banners at the top, the banners themselves were similar to the carpet and tapestry except they had the symbol of a dragon on them.

Dark finally recovered and stared to follow them but a powerful force came from out of nowhere and knocked her back and into a stone pillar rendering her unconscious as she slumped down to the ground.

"DARK!" Roxanne and Firefly screamed as a force field barred the way between them and their friend.

A loud set of footsteps instantly got the attention of the two trapped friends as they turned around to reveal a blue drake with emerald eyes standing on his hind legs and appeared to be carrying some kind of halberd.

"Trespassers.....and you carry the powers of Jandoka, speak your names and purpose here." The drake ordered.

Seeing as they could probably get out of this without a fight.....and would most likely lose against a dragon, they complied.

Firefly was the first to reply. "My name is Firefly, and I was trapped down here with several others by a changeling named Vulture." She replied.

The drake's left eye slightly twitched at Vulture's name but kept his expression neutral as Roxanne spoke.

"I'm Roxanne, and my story is the same as Firefly's, along with the others I was trapped here." She said.

The drake sighed and looked at Dark who was outside the barrier. "And the machine?" It asked, pointing at Dark.

"She isn't a machine, she just has cybernetics, her name is Darkestlight, but we call her Dark." Firefly said.

The drake took a step down the stairs and slammed the halberd on them. "Very well, then explain why you have the corrupted elements about you." It ordered.

"Opened a chest." Firefly and Roxanne said in perfect sync.

The drake's left eye twitched at those words. "You have got to be joking." He groaned.

Firefly decided that now would be a good time for a quick question of her own. "Hey uh....if it's not to much trouble, what's your name?" She asked,

The question clearly gave the drake paused as it put a claw to its chin in contemplation, it then looked at Firefly. "I have no idea." The drake said out of confusion.

Now it was Roxanne's turn for her left eye to twitch. "How do yo-nevermind, what happens now?" She asked.

The drake walked down to the end of the stairs and slammed its halberd down on the ground. "Now?.....you will be judged." The drake stated before leaping through the air at Roxanne.

This action clearly startled the pair but they dodged the attack.....barely.

Firefly felt her anger surge through her as lightning began to surge all over her body, the golden lightning danced all over her body and she quickly flew up at intense speed and delivered a roundhouse kick to the side of his face....only for her to be completely frozen stiff.

Roxanne looked over at Firefly and noticed the state she was in, an unfamiliar emotion surged through her as a single thought entered her mind. 'I need to protect her.' Firefly was confused by this feeling but for some reason she felt empowered, so she charged at high speeds towards the drake and built up a punch and delivered it.....right into his jaw, sending him flying and into the stairs.

The drake dropped the halberd upon landing and he looked at Roxanne with a genuine look of shock, he stood up and noticed Roxanne tense as he did.

"Relax, our fight is over." The drake said calmly.

Roxanne chuckled but did not lower her stance. "Then free Firefly." She ordered.

The drake shook its head. "No need, she is undergoing a trial of the mind, she will face her demons.....or..." He trailed off.

Roxanne growled as she got ready to attack. "Or what?" She asked in a dangerously calm voice.

The drake slowly walked forward towards Firefly. "Or she will......reset." He explained.

Roxanne raised an eyebrow at that. "What do you mean?" She asked.

The drake sighed and looked at Firefly's frozen anger filled eyes. "If she fails the trial, her mind and body will go backwards, she will lose all memories and her intelligence will fade, her body will most likely be changed back to that of a young foal." The drake said.

Roxanne growled again. "Then do something." She ordered.

The drake shook its head. "I am afraid there is nothing I can do.....unless YOU would like to face the backlash, I can not save her." The drake said.

Roxanne walked over to Firefly who was still frozen in the air and put a hand on her back. "Don't worry Fire, I'm here for you." She said softly.

____*five minutes later*____

Roxanne was leaning up against a wall waiting for something to happen....the nameless drake was sitting at the bottom of the stairs with its eyes closed.

So it was a complete surprise to both of them when Firefly suddenly yelped and fell to the ground, Roxanne quickly rushed over and kneeled down to Firefly. "Are you okay?" She asked with concern.

Firefly looked like she was in shock from what just happened, when she felt Roxanne put a hand on her cheek she seemed to snap out of it. "Rox?" She asked nervously.

Roxanne gave a small smile and nodded at the question, at which Firefly let a tear out as she wrapped Roxanne in a tight hug, much to Roxanne's surprise she heard Firefly crying lightly.. "T-thank you Rox......for everything." She said softly as her body began to glow a soft blue and she was lifted into the air by unseen forces.

The drake at this point grimly watched as Firefly's form changed from a young mare.....into that of a young filly.

Roxanne was In shock by everything happening at this point, she watched as Firefly grew younger, and younger, until she was the size of Sweetie Belle.

The young Firefly gently floated down to the ground in front of Roxanne and was now asleep, Roxanne looked at her friend in shock from what she witnessed. "Firefly....." She said quietly.

The drake stood up and walked over to Roxanne who was now kneeling in front of Firefly, the drake reached out and put a claw on Roxanne's shoulder. "We must leave." He said simply.

Roxanne then reached out and picked up Firefly's unconscious form in her arms, she then faced the drake with a neutral expression. "And do what?" She asked.

The drake made a quick scan of her expression until he saw that she was serious.

"You will help me kill Jandoka, and then we will be free." The drake said simply.

Roxanne looked between the drake and the filly Firefly that she held in her arms. "And what about the others.....are you gonna 'judge' them as well?" She asked.

The drake shook his head. "No....as long as one of the elements is not corrupted we have a chance." He replied.

Roxanne then walked over to the large stone door that she had collapsed along with Dark and Firefly, the forcefield was down now though...although 'when' was a mystery, that part did not matter right now.

"Let's just get this done dragon." She said with an obvious hatred for the last word before walking out of the room.

The drake nodded and started following Roxanne. "Call me Emerald." The drake said.

Author's Note:

Here's a list of the rooms completed.

The Maze of Jandoka: Complete.

The storage room: Complete.

The barracks/armory: Complete.

The entrance: Complete.

The treasury: Complete.

The monastery: Complete.

[1] Roxanne is now a ventriloquist!

[2] Oh great, Roxanne has one of Pinkie's powers......ILLUMINATI CONFIRMED DAMNIT!......jk had to do it.

Me: Okay look.....before you feel like murdering me, let me explain something.......when I looked back at the previous chapters it hit me.....things are WAY to easy for our bumbling band of baboons, so I changed the rules a bit.

Pinkie: I thought you said nopony would get hurt?

Me: Firefly was simply reverted back to a young filly, 9 through 11 Years of age....ish.

Pinkie: Time for discipline again.

Me: *gulp*

Comments

[Aunty Furby]

Pinkie I disagree she technical hurt herself you should be punished for it also Sense you are the co-author of the book and you both share equal rights

[Wir sind verloren]

END PINKIE FOR LOGIC! LOGIC!!!