A New Tale In Equestria.

by Sylif Daring Doo

The Grayroot Forest Part seven: Magic roundup.

_____*The temple of Jandoka, the trial of light [1], Firefly's POV, five minutes later*____

I woke up to a strange sound that grated on my ears, I heard familiar voices around me but I couldn't place them, I opened my eyes to the sight of white fur, and for some reason I felt like I never wanted to move.

Sadly, whatever had the fur moved me and I was lifted from my place, when I stopped moving I ended up hearing voices that I could not understand, I seemed to be facing a white wall that was completely blank, I struggled to get out of the grip that I was caught in....only to be brought face to face with a large creature with white fur and fangs, that's when reality hit me......I was a prisoner and I had to get away, so I struggled even more to pry myself from the creatures grip, but my struggle seemed to amuse the creature as it giggled at my plight.

I then started demanding that the creature let me go but it only raised an eyebrow, the creature then spoke in a language that I didn't understand, at this I stopped moving and looked at the creature with curiosity and confusion.

The creature sighed and looked at me strangely, and with me being curious I decided to poke it.

Thankfully the creature didn't seem offended as I poked its arm, something in the back of my mind told me that the creature was familiar but I couldn't place it.

And so I simply resolved to cross my hooves in a pout as the creature put me on its head....needless to say I was worried as to what it was doing.

____*Roxanne, Emerald and Dark's POV*____

Roxanne was completely confused when Firefly spoke a language that she didn't understand, but she chose not to dwell on it, because neither Dark or Emerald understood what the filly said.

So Roxanne simply lifted Firefly up and set the filly on her head. "Let's get moving, the sooner we find the others the sooner we can get out of here." Roxanne said.

Dark nodded and started walking towards the exit, Emerald did the same as well.

Roxanne sighed as she looked up at Firefly who was looking around at everything in wonder. "Like the view?" She asked quietly.

Firefly looked down at her and tilted her head in confusion as she said a few words in the unknown language.

Roxanne shook her head in disbelief and followed the others. 'Here's hoping that we find a way to fix you Firefly.'

____*the next room*____

Dark sighed as she walked alongside Emerald and Roxanne as they backtracked, she was confused as to how Firefly was a filly and why Emerald was with them. 'What happened while I was out?' She wondered as she briefly looked between Roxanne and Emerald, her thoughts were interrupted however when Firefly jumped down next to her and rubbed her muzzle against her back right leg.....much to her annoyance.

Firefly however seemed to find Dark's cybernetics fascinating as she stared at It, she then said something In the strange language that sounded like a question.

"I don't know what your saying." Dark replied simply.

Firefly blinked but did not continue her shenanigans as she started walking alongside Dark.

Roxanne couldn't help but chuckle as Firefly curiously looked around the room in awe. "So Emerald.....are you male or female?" She asked the drake.

Emerald almost tripped at the question but kept balance. "Well.....I guess I'm female, I don't know anymore....I could be a male." Replied the drake in confusion.

Roxanne's eye twitched at the reply, but she calmed down and looked at the drake closely. "I don't know either but your voice sounds feminine.....your the only other dragon I know, other than a baby male dragon." She said.

Emerald crossed arms for a moment before shrugging. "I don't care....call me male or female, i don't care honestly." Emerald replied.

Roxanne nodded and continued walking. "Eh....I guess your a male until further notice.....but don't think I forgot what you did." She warned.

Emerald nodded and continued walking. "Very well." He replied.

Dark and Firefly were confused as to what they were talking about, Dark because she didn't know what happened, and Firefly because she didn't understand any of their words.

____*back in the main room*____

Roxanne laughed quietly as she leaned against the wall watching Firefly dart across the room while Dark chased her, Firefly had decided to play tag whether they liked it or not....Emerald tried to decline but Roxanne made her point clear when she reminded him that he was on thin ice as it was, Roxanne guessed that it would be a fun way to pass the time until the others returned.

After a short time.....and four tag games later, Roxanne had stopped the game by grabbing Firefly and making her stop through a series of motions that said. "Stay and rest."

Firefly made a little pout but sat down in the middle of the floor. "Hu Koni." Firefly said in the strange language.

Roxanne raised an eyebrow but passed it off as an unintelligible language.

"What are the others doing?" She asked quietly.

_____*Back with the group*_____

Fang and the others had gone through one of the doors and found another crystal and found a pendant with the symbol of a lion, when they returned to the puzzle room they went through another door and found two more in a square shaped room.

Fang and the others walked through the door on the left and found a puzzle that had two large floor buttons and two boulders in rope traps suspended by chains that seemed to be linked to a iron gate, the group attempted the puzzle only to find that there was a barrier that only allowed magic through, so they backtracked to the previous room.

The group soon walked through the next door only to find a large rectangular room that held two cocoons, both suspended and bound in chains and blocked by iron bars.

Fang looked around the room and found that there were four levers, two on the floor, and two on the walls.

"Alright, Gwen and Dust, go lower the levers on the walls, Derpy, you and me will use the ones on the ground." Fang said.

The group split up and pushed the levers......only for nothing to happen. "What the hell?" Fang cursed as he released the lever and the gates slight dropped....Fang's eye began visibly twitching.

"Oh you have got to be F%+#ING joking!" He swore.

Dust however found Fang's torture amusing as she busted out laughing.

Soon enough, Gwen joined in on the joke and started laughing quietly at Fang's misfortune.

Fang however did not find it very amusing as he laughed sarcastically and flipped Gwen off. "Shut up and help me!" He snapped.

The group then began experimenting with the levers around the room in different patterns until one particular pattern completely lowered the gates.

"Finally...." Fang mumbled as he ran towards one of the walls and jumped off it towards one of the cocoons, he gripped the chain that suspended the cocoon and raised his claw.....and swung at the chains, creating a noticable crack, he repeated this action repeatedly until the chain broke and the cocoon fell to the ground. "SHIIIIIIT!" He screamed as he fell to the ground rapidly.

Gwen, Dust and Derpy seemingly oblivious to Fang's predicament, focused on the other cocoon which seemed to have an energy that slightly pushed them away...they fought against it however and began to beat on the chain which seeming to be doing little to it.

"This isn't working." Derpy said as a familiar chuckled came from her mind.

'How did you guess?....I mean, the chain is obviously made to resist magic, so you ain't doing anything.' Golden said in a patronizing tone.

Derpy mentally groaned and scratched the back of her head. 'So can you do anything about that.....and why should it matter if it negates magic?....we are using brute force.'

Golden sighed as he stood up. 'Time for a quick history lesson kid, ponies are creatures of magic....it flows through them as a life line, when you use brute force it IS less magic oriented but doesn't mean anything if there is magic negation.....not even MY psychic abilities would be of use here.'

Derpy rolled her eyes and looked back at Fang who was currently opening the cocoon that he retrieved. 'So that's why Fang and Roxanne can open these cocoons so easily....they don't have magic.'

Golden shrugged. 'I guess, but Roxanne has it now....to an extent.'

Derpy watched as Fang finished opening the cocoon to reveal a rather angry Rarity. "I'd hate to be Fang right now." She commented.

After that the group simply waited as Fang made his way towards the other cocoon, when Fang opened it they saw a pissed off Twilight....and she did NOT look happy.

"I don't think we should make jokes right now." Derpy suggested.

Gwen and Dust nodded simultaneously at the suggestion. "Sounds good." They both said.

_____*five minutes later*_____

After Fang had explained the situation to both Rarity and Twilight, the group backtracked towards the room with the stones and completed the puzzle with ease and found an old ring with the symbol of a dragon on it.

Twilight however looked like she wanted to question everything about the building and started barraging Fang with questions about everything he found.

Fang simply tuned her out as another vision appeared and the world changed once again...the walls repaired themselves and soon there were people in the halls.

But the most noticable of them all was two ponies walking side by side, both female, one Pegasus and one unicorn, the unicorn was completely white from head to hoof, her eyes were light blue and her cutie mark was that of an eye with a red glow, the Pegasus looked like a spitting image of Gwen but instead of magenta eyes, this versions eyes were a verdant green.

Fang decided to investigate this as much as he could and followed them silently, 'Who are you?' he wondered.

The two ponies stopped at some point in the wall and waited until they were alone, once they were the unicorn spoke. "Are you ready for this Verdant?" The unicorn asked.

The Pegasus called Verdant nodded and looked around the room, making sure that they were alone, she then set her hoof on the nearby wall and tapped certain spots that pushed the stone in, the wall then began to shape itself Differently until a door was made. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be Frost, let's just go." Verdant said, before walking through the door.

Frost sighed and walked up to the door, she looked around one last time before walking inside.

Fang quickly made his way inside the room to investigate more, that was of course until the door behind him slammed shut. "Shit." He said quietly.

Fang decided to continue investigating until the vision ended, he spotted Verdant and Frost walking along a wooden pathway that seemed to lead into a......hatchery?

Confused, Fang started following the two ponies as they continued walking, it wasn't until they were inside the hatchery that they stopped beside a lavender egg with purple polka dots. "I don't know about this Frost.....sending one of our own into Equestria?.....AND blocking their natural magic?.....it isn't our way." Verdant said with worry.

Frost simply smiled softly and picked the egg up and rubbed it slightly. "Don't worry......the spell I'm putting on it will make it so only an Element of Harmony can hatch the egg....it will take time but it's better then the alternative." She replied.

Verdant nodded slowly before walking up to an orange egg with a dark green stripe down the middle. "I just don't understand why this has to be done." She said quietly.

Frost seemed to notice what she said and walked up to her with the lavender egg in her magic. "Look Verdant....the temple is falling apart, it might not seem like it but it is true, sending this egg to Equestia is the hatchlings only hope for a normal life, it's either that or we send them to Jandoka as a sacrifice." She said grimly.

Verdant sighed and looked at the Orange egg with a sad look. "And this egg?" She asked quietly.

Frost smiled and set a hoof on Verdant's shoulder. "That egg will be in the hands.....of the wolf standing behind me." She said, turning to face Fang.

Fang for one was shocked for two reasons, the first being that she knew he was there, and the second......the fact that he was pissing on the hay on the floor. "Uh.....hi?" He said nervously.

Verdant turned around and let out a startled yelp at Fang as she jumped backwards. "Frost.....what is that?" She asked.

Frost let out an all knowing grin and walked up to Fang. "This Verdant....is the creature that we have been working with." She replied.

Fang raised an eyebrow and looked at Frost in confusion. "Wait a minute....the visions were you?" He asked.

Frost nodded and walked around Fang, apparently examining him. "Yes, although I am curious as to what happens in the temple....what is it like in the future?" She asked.

Fang shrugged. "The temple is in ruins....the walls are busted and I don't even want to describe how bad some of the rooms are." He replied.

Frost seemed to sighed as she walked back to Verdant. "And how is the world outside?" She asked calmly.

"The Grayroot Forest and the Everfree Forest are pretty much the same from what I heard....but sometimes my visions show them as if they were on fire." He replied.

Verdant visibly flinched at the mention of fire but kept her gaze on Fang. "And the corrupted elements?" She asked nervously.

Fang raised an eyebrow and sighed. "If you mean the Fire, the Lightning and the ability to summon the dead.....then i think they are fine." He replied.

Frost sighed and began pacing, but not before she set the egg down. "What is your name?" She asked.

"Fang....why?" He replied.

This time it was Verdant who replied. "We have a..plan, so to speak....we were going to give this egg to Equestria to keep Jandoka from gaining more power....the judge will see to it that the corrupted elements have bearers worthy of them, all that remains is the last minute details." She replied.

"Such as completing the ritual for you so you can get back out there." Frost said.

Fang looked at the egg that Verdant was unknowingly putting a protective hoof around and back at Frost. "So what about me....what am I supposed to do?" He asked.

Frost looked at the Orange egg and back at Fang. "Two things....one I will need to know the year back in your world and then i need you to make your way into this room back in your time." She replied.

Fang sighed and told the mare the year back in his time. "But why do I need to get into this room?" He asked.

Frost smiled and looked at the egg. "Because I will need you to take this egg with you....and if you are concerned about having a babbling baby don't be, this hatchery gives the eggs a special purpose, the hatchlings will be baby's for a short time but will quickly grow out of the infant stage and into the child stage." She explained.

Fang nodded until something else came up. "I know absolutely nothing about dragons." He replied.

Frost chuckled and walked over to a nearby wall and pushed a hidden button, which revealed a small panel with three scrolls in it. "These scrolls can tell you everything you need to know, but be warned.....do NOT and I repeat do NOT let the future element of magic read these...think of it as a dying wish." She replied.

Fang looked at Verdant and a single question came to mind. "Why do you look like my friend?" He asked calmly.

Verdant shrugged. "I don't know, I'm just a girl that got unlucky." She replied.

Frost walked up to Fang and held a hoof out which Fang shook. "I'm sorry that I can't explain more but the laws around the spell forbid it....and for what it's worth....I'm sorry that I got you involved in this." She apologized.

Verdant nodded and looked at the Orange egg. "Fang....can I make a request of you?" She asked.

Fang nodded. "What is it?"

Verdant looked at Fang with a sincere look in her eyes. "If my son ever asks.....tell him that I loved him very much, can you do that for me?" She asked quietly.

Fang paused for a moment but nodded in understanding. "Yea....i can do that." He said before disappearing.

_____*back in the real world.*_____

Fang blinked as he found himself standing in the same spot that he was at before the vision, he looked and saw the group walking forward towards the exit, but Fang turned around and headed for the spot at the wall that he saw Verdant and Frost, he then pushed the same stones that Verdant did and the wall began changing.

The group however seemed to notice and looked back only to see Fang walk into a wall.

Gwen only had one word running through her mind at this point. "Wat!?" She practically shouted.

The group made their way over and saw that the wall had a new path revealed, Gwen immediately went inside followed closely by Twilight when the pathway slammed shut behind them.

"Guys!" Derpy shouted before trying to open the wall back up with the others,

_____*inside the hatchery*_____

Fang made his way through towards the hatchery, unaware of the ponies following him....that was until he heard a familiar slam behind him, he snapped around only to see Gwen and Twilight standing behind him looking at the old pathway in shock. "What are you two doing!?" He hissed.

The two ponies laughed nervously which made Fang sigh. "Ugh, fine you can stay, but don't touch anything.......especially YOU Twilight!" He ordered.

The two ponies nodded and began following Fang who continued his walk towards the hatchery. "So Fang.....why are we here....and why do you look like you know where your going?" Twilight asked.

Fang sighed and looked at Twilight. "We are here to collect something, but my rule applies....do NOT touch anything, magic or otherwise." He ordered firmly.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, it's not like there is anything here anyway, like you said yourself, this place is nothing but dust and rubble." She said.

Fang chuckled. "Believe what you will, I never said that." He replied as they entered the hatchery.

The hatchery itself was a large circular room with stone walls and hay on the group to act as resting spots, Fang looked around and soon spotted a certain egg. "There you are." He said quietly before heading towards the Orange egg.

Twilight looked at what Fang was talking about and gasped in excitement at the sight. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh!" She practically squealed out of pure excitement.

Gwen raised an eyebrow at what she saw, Fang had carefully picked up the egg while Twilight was bouncing around like a school filly. "What are you two getting so excited about....it's just an egg." She said.

In what felt like a split second Twilight was next to Gwen and looked her right in the eye. "This isn't any old egg Gwen.....it's a Dragon egg!" She said happily.

Fang rolled his eyes and walked over to the wall that Frost had opened that secret panel, he pushed the button and he took the three scrolls from them before walking over to Twilight and Gwen.

"Let's go, we got what we came for." Fang said calmly.

Twilight eyed the scrolls with suspicion and curiosity but what Fang said next stopped her train of thought. "You are not reading these scrolls Twilight.....unless you want to disrespect a dying wish." He warned.

Gwen was entirely confused but said nothing.

Twilight whined at the thought of unknown knowledge that was hidden from her......and front of her face at that! "Not even a little peek?" She asked pleadingly along with the best puppy dog eyes she had.

If Fang was a stone hearted killer he could ignore the plea but seeing Twilight's cute little stair he began to crack. 'Why did these ponies have to be so damn cute!?'

Finally however Fang relented a little bit. "How about this Twilight....I will make copies of certain bits and pieces of it every week until you have the entire thing.....the dying wish did say for you to NOT read these scrolls, so in truth I am not betraying it." He reasoned.

Twilight seemed to be ecstatic about it though until she paused and looked at Fang. "Wait a minute.....how did you know about all of this anyway?.....and who gave you that dying wish?" She questioned.

Fang sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Look, recently I have been having visions, and in the most recent vision I found two particular ponies." He said. "An entirely white unicorn with light blue eyes and a seemingly normal eye with a red glow cutie mark, she was called Frost, and a Pegasus that was the spitting image of Gwen....the only difference aside from personality was the eyes, which were a verdant green, her name was Verdant." He explained.

Twilight and Gwen were now listening intently as Fang told his tale, Twilight didn't seem to believe most of it but the more Fang talked the more realistic it seemed.

When Fang finished his tale, Twilight had an immediate question. "But why did Frost want you to keep the scrolls from me?" She asked.

Fang shrugged. "I don't know, she may have believed that you couldn't handle it or something." He replied.

Gwen cleared her throat and got the attention of her friends. "Don't you think it would be best if we got out of here first?.....you two can talk it up all you want afterwards." She said before walking towards the exit.

Fang and Twilight both shared a nod and followed their friend out of the room. "So Fang.....it seems like your going to have a baby dragon of your own to take care of now." She said in a slightly teasing manner.

"Don't remind me.....taking care of kids back at Freddy's was hard enough....now I have a permanent resident." He groaned.

Gwen chuckled and looked at Fang with a serious glare. "When this is over.....you ARE getting a job so you can take care of him, I don't mind you in the basement but I'll be damned if I have to take care of myself, you and Roxanne, AND the baby dragon." She stated firmly.

Fang nodded at this and a thought hit him. "I guess I'll head to the treasury after we get back to the main room, at least I can get a head start." He said.

With that the group left the hatchery and joined up with the others, they then resumed walking to the main room.

_____*the main room*_____

Roxanne was leaning up against the wall talking with Emerald about how to defeat Jandoka, who apparently was a beast of discord....a creature of near God-like powers and near immortality, but much like all unstoppable juggernauts, Jandoka had a weakness...there were five pendants that, when combined would send a magic blast into Jandoka, weakening him long enough to kill him.

"Why haven't you tried this before?" She asked the drake.

Emerald shrugged. "It was not my place, and besides......Jandoka can not be killed without the corrupted elements and I did not have them." He replied.

Roxanne rolled her eyes and felt something tap her left leg, she looked down and saw Firefly looking at her. "Koni an julo." She said.

"I don't know what that means." She told the filly.

Firefly seemed to understand that Roxanne didn't understand and put her hoof to her stomach before slowly chomping her teeth. "Your hungry?" She asked the filly.

Firefly tilted her head in confusion at Roxanne's words. "Tu hac kos Koni?" She asked in cunfusion.

Roxanne started to get the feeling that the word 'Koni' meant something, but she couldn't place it.

Her thoughts were interrupted however when one of the doors opened to reveal all of the others, which included Rarity and Twilight now, also Fang seemed to be holding some kind of egg, she also failed to noticed Emerald almost passing out.

"Hey guys." She said calmly.

Gwen however seemed to be the only one to notice the filly Firefly right off the back.....it also seemed to be the biggest shock to her as she fell down on the spot.

"Not a big fan of kids or dragons Gwen?" Roxanne teased.

"....We need to talk Roxanne." Gwen mumbled.

Fang looked at Emerald and Emerald at Fang.....they seemed to be locked in the stare off of the century. "Why do you have a dragon egg?" Asked Emerald.

Fang sensed the opportunity to shut everyone up all at once. "....I am a father now." He said simply.

The sound of a record being stopped filled the room and Gwen looked at Roxanne who shrugged. "That was awkward." Roxanne stated.

Author's Note:

[1]The room that Roxanne and Dark fought the zombies.

The Prison: Complete.

Now we have all five pendants, four crystals, two rings and a key, but what do they do I wonder?

Pinkie: Your the author.....you should know.

Me: Yea well I just wanted to tease.

Pinkie: Anyway, the mystery behind Fang's visions has been discovered but not understood, and now for a group recap.

Me: Oh no.....

The first group is this.....Fang, Gwen, Dust, Derpy/Goldie, Rarity, Twilight, The dragon egg,

The second group is.....Roxanne, Dark, Emerald, and the now filly Firefly.

See you next time!

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