A New Tale In Equestria.

by Sylif Daring Doo

Last Spark of Hope, Part Nine: Holding on to Hope.

______*a long time ago*______

Lyaroa was eager today, she was going to spend the day outside again, and it was exhilarating each time she did.

"Lyaroa Pioax Juzor.....where do you think your going?" Said a stern voice, stopping her immediately. "Um.....going outside?" She said quietly.

The voice came from a female Sentinel, her name was Ferro Jual Juzor......Lyaroa's mother. "No your not.....your still grounded from last time little girl." She reminded flatly.

Lyaroa held her left arm with her right hand and nodded.....her mother wasn't very nice. "Yes mother." She said.

"And take off your disgusting disguise, your a Sentinel, not one of those mortals!" She ordered.

Lyaroa said nothing as she removed it.

Ferro pointed to the stairs behind Lyaroa with a steely gaze. "And don't you come out of that room until your father gets home!" She called as Lyaroa went upstairs silently.

Lyaroa sighed mentally and went to her room, at this point, she was around seven years old, but even she could see this was a bit extreme, she barely even damaged that guys window!

Lyaroa shut the door and sat down on her bed, she looked around her room and sighed, it was the same as ever, brown walls, gray carpet, and a few pictures of her and her family, her mother was in one or two, but she wasn't smiling......she never smiled. 'What did I ever do to her?' She wondered.

She held out her hand and looked at it, she hated her real body, it was brick red with white lines dancing on it, she had one thing most Sentinel's didn't have however and she was both proud and ashamed of it, unlike the others, Lyaroa had white and red runes on her arms, she didn't know why, but she knew it made her......different.

Still, her friends didn't care about that, to them, she was just that, their friend, and that wouldn't change.

Lyaroa sat in her room doing nothing really, she only occasionally played with whatever toy she had, there weren't many, but she had outgrown them already, she didn't like playing with them anymore, so instead she pulled out a deck of cards and played with those, it was boring, but it was better than nothing.

A while ago, Lyaroa had created a 'disguise', something that she felt reflected her personality, but her mother always thought it was digusting, as she actually talked with her mouth instead of telepathy, like most of them do, she didn't like to talk bad about her mother, but she was prejudiced against any mortal, believing that they were pointless, and that Creators, were insane for taking on those tasks.

Lyaroa liked the Creators, wanted to be one when she grew up, she loved how they forged their own worlds, continuing the cycle of life and creating more in their own way, allowing those worlds to run their course, her mother was having none of that however, and wanted her to become an observer, a being that keeps the peace in the Void by aiding the protectors with intelligence on criminals.

It was a few ours later when Lyaroa heard a knock, she perked up when she heard the front door open, she listened at the door and heard a familiar voice. "Hey Fer......how's our daughter doing?" Asked the voice.

Lyaroa grinned but walked back to playing with her cards, she recently caught a common sickness that was going around, some kind of variant of the common cold, but it only affected Sentinel's, it didn't do much other than give her a stuffy nose, but it was nice knowing her dad knew.

That was something else that was different, she called her parents different things, mother for Ferro, and she just called her dad....dad, she thought it infuriated her mother to death, so she kept on doing it, she heard the door open and she looked, seeing her dad standing there looking at her with a grin. "Aha, there's my little rabble rouser!" He said as he walked up.

Lyaroa walked up to her dad and looked up at him, he was different than most Sentinel's much like Lyaroa, as in he was brown and had green lines, while most were black or gold. With gold or black lines respectively, he was also very big for his size, which is why the title of protector was fitting for him, he knelt down. "How are you?" He asked.

"A little stuffy still, but it should be fine." She replied honestly.

Her dads name was Darmus Kinar Juzor, he was the eighth generation of a family of protectors, and he talked with his mouth like Lyaroa, but only to her, as it was their private bonding experience that they didn't do with others, the only time he talked to her through telepathy was if it was an emergency or if she was in trouble.......or her mother was around. "That's good, but I need to ask you." He looked at Lyaroa straight in the eye. "Did you damage that mans window?" He asked.

Lyaroa nodded, If she was anything, it was honest, she believed in telling the truth and dealing with the consequences, than lying and paying for it at the worst possible moment. "Yea, I was playing with my friends and I accidentally kicked the ball at his window." She said.

Darmus shook his head and held his hand up, Lyaroa held her hand out and she felt a quick pain on it, she then felt the sting and rubbed her hand.....she did this frequently with her father, if she did something she wasn't supposed to and it wasn't serious, he would give her a slap on the wrist and be done with it. "Thankfully he was understanding, and to your luck, his window was already broken and needed replaced, so just don't play there again." He said before standing up and walking out, he then paused and looked at Lyaroa. "Go ahead and pick up your cards, then you can come out......oh and uh." He lowered his voice. "You can put your disguise back on if you want." He whispered before leaving.

Lyaroa smiled, aside from the sting on her wrist, she felt fine, she put the disguise on and picked her cards up. 'Well, maybe mother won't be as angry.' She thought hopefully.

_____*The present.*_____

Lyaroa blinked and shook her head free of those thoughts, she sighed and stood up, as the others stood up and looked at her, she chuckled. "You happy now?......now we're all standing, a bunch of jackasses all standing up in a circle." She joked.

That got a little bit of a laugh going around, but Golden however was still as blank as ever. "I have a question......I hadn't heard about the shard being removed until just now, but how come you haven't been using your powers?" He asked.

Lyaora looked around and saw the others looking at her, she sighed. "Ok fine......I haven't been using my powers for two reasons, the first being they were suppressed for a while and it's disorienting as hell to use them again, and the second......" She trailed off.

Roxanne shook her head and held her hand up, soon, energy similar to that of Lyaroa's built up into a visible form. "How are you?...." Shade started.

Lyaroa then ignited her hand in white flame. "Poison joke." They both said in unison.

______*a little bit ago.*______

Roxanne and Lyaora encountered one of the plant monsters on the way, it didn't seem that tough, so when Roxanne attempted to ignite it, and the only thing that happened was a bolt of energy, she was genuinely confused.

Lyaroa then tried to destroy it with her powers......only for the plant to burn, she blinked and looked at her hands. "What the hell?" She wondered.

Roxanne and Lyaora looked at eachother and blinked. "What's going on?" They asked eachother.

"I don't know." They answered.

Roxanne shrugged and rubbed her eyes as she felt an itch, she looked at the Sentinel again and her eyes widened. "Lyaroa, don't move, there's a red vine all over you." She warned.

Lyaroa raised an eyebrow and looked over herself, she saw no vine. "I don't see it." She said, but when she rubbed her eyes and looked at Roxanne, she blinked. "Uh......Roxanne, where's your web of life?" She asked.

Roxanne and Lyaroa went wide eyed and looked at eachother. "What happened!" They panicked.

Roxanne then shut her eyes as the red vine threatened to blind her. "Gah!......it's so bright!" She complained.

Lyaroa walked over to Roxanne and put her shoulder on the fox. "Roxanne!" She shouted.

Roxanne stopped panicking and quieted down. "Yes?" She asked.

Lyaroa took a deep breath and then let it out. "Alright, Roxie, what you are seeing around me is called the Web of Life, everybody has one, now, you need to calm down, first thing you have to do is open your eyes and allow yourself to see it." She explained.

Roxanne nodded and slowly opened her eyes, the Web threatening to blind her, but she continued until her eyes were fully open.....and then it dimmed, it lowered itself to a faint red, she breathed a sigh of relief and crossed her arms. "Why do you think our powers swapped?" She asked.

Lyaroa rubbed her chin, unfortunately, she set it on fire. "How do you control this?" She asked calmly.

Roxanne shrugged. "Just find a balance, tell it to obey and then order it to extinguish, but don't use it too often, or recklessly, the last thing you need is to anger it." She said.

Lyaroa nodded and kept on walking, extinguishing the fire on the way.

When they stopped, they were back at the blue flowers, Lyaroa looked at the sign and sighed. "Poison joke.....of all things." She complained.

Roxanne blinked and then pointed behind her. "We should get going, the others will be waiting for us." She said.

Lyaroa nodded, and just as she stood up and Roxanne turned around......it happened, she was grabbed from behind and picked up in the air. "Craaaaap!" She said before being muffled.

Roxanne turned around and saw that a giant plant monster had encased Lyaora in vines, and that it was now after her, she growled and drew Life and Death. "Alright then, let's try this out." She said quietly.

Inside the ever tightening cocoon of vines, Lyaroa was angrily muttering, but it was muffled by the vine in her mouth. 'I really hope Roxanne doesn't try to use my combat powers, she might end up blowing my leg off!' She thought.

Thankfully the plant wasn't too powerful, it wasn't long before it was dead, Roxanne then cut Lyaroa loose. "Thanks Rox." The Sentinel said.

Roxanne helped her up. "Eh, no one gets to kill you except me.....no plants beating me to that." She replied.

Lyaroa grinned and started walking. "Let's go." She said.

_____*elsewhere in the present.*______

Darkestlight, a unicorn with a past she had difficulty remembering, she knew her name, her old home, her parents, her childhood.....but after that, nothing, she couldn't remember a thing.

She was currently sitting across from Skitter, who was having another pregnant mother episode, thankfully they were in Gwen's house, and not outside, or this would have been awkward.

"Not to mention the fact that this baby is impossible!......the fact that I didn't 'get it on' with a guy, and that I'm a CHANGELING!.....is bad enough!" Skiter complained loudly, breaking a window as a result.

Dark sighed as she repaired the window. "If I might suggest something?" She said.

Skitter summoned a crystal and kicked it, shattering it immediately. "I'm perfectly calm." She said.

Dark looked to the living room, seeing the torn up couch and table proved the Changeling wrong. "Yea......calm, anyway, don't you have a hive?.....I'm sure they can help." She suggested.

Skitter looked at Dark. "Yea, good idea, and HOW am I going to contact them when they have been absent for over five years?" She asked.

Dark shook her head. "Well, how does the Changeling Queen deal with it?" She asked.

Skitter huffed. "Changeling's never get pregnant Dark, EVER, we hatch offspring with eggs, not a womb." She explained before taking some deep breaths. "Have you ever been pregnant Dark?" She asked hopefully.

Dark went to talk, but she couldn't recall it. "I don't know." She replied.

Skitter bit her lip as the baby kicked hard again. "Stop it you little shit....." She cursed under her breath. "You would think that a PREGNANCY wouldn't be forgotten!" She complained.

Dark walked over and helped Skitter to the couch that she mended. "Look, I might not be able to help you with it, but I CAN be there for you." She assured.

The two then waited for a while, but when Gwen got home Dark had to leave. "Hang in there Skitter." Dark said.

Skitter laughed sarcastically. "Very funny!" She shouted as the baby kicked again.

______*meanwhile*______

The group pushed forward and entered a snowy forest area, it was very different to the others as it was actually cold, Shade however, was the only one to feel the cold as badly.

Shade shivered and held his arms, he looked at the others. "How are none of you cold?" He asked.

Lyaroa ignited her hands. "Fire." She answered simply.

Roxanne shrugged. "Sentinel powers." She answered.

Golden looked to the his right and blinked. "Bear." He stated.

Fang scratched behind his head. "I just have a natural immunity to the cold." He said.

Shade shivered as he walked. "So Lyaroa, can you spare some fire?" He asked.

Lyaroa nodded and grabbed a nearby stick, she ignited it and handed it to Shade. "Don't burn yourself." She warned.

Golden tapped Roxanne's shoulder and pointed. "Bear." He stated.

Roxanne was about to tell him off when she saw the bear, it was gigantic, easily bigger than Golden but smaller than a manticore. "Oh." She said out of realization as she spotted bears walking along the treeline staring at them.

Lyaroa looked at them and then at Roxanne. "Hey Roxie, what do you think, any hostile intent?" She asked.

Roxanne looked around as the group walked. "If hostility tastes like peppers, sure." She answered.

"We should be fine then, just don't approach them, they are wary, but willing to fight." Lyaroa explained.

Shade chuckled as he shivered, discarding the stick, his teeth chattered and his limbs were freezing. "Of all weather types......w-w-why d-d-did we h-h-have to find the s-s-s-snow?" He complained.

Golden walked and used his staff as a walking stick. "Stop complaining, we won't be here forever." He said.

Shade looked around at the Bears. "E-e-easy f-f-for you t-t-to say." He replied.

The group soon approached a giant door, it was iron and had multiple runes on it, some were runes that Fang recognized from his time as one of the cultists. "We can't break it down, but I can open it, just give me some time." He said as he put his hands on the door.

Soon after Fang got to work, the Bears circled them by the door, and next, they charged at the group, Roxanne sensing the urge to kill, or iron. "Fuck." She cursed.

The group fought off the Bears as best they could, Shade was having the toughest time of it, as he was practically an icicle at this point, he couldn't muster the energy for disintegration blasts so he was forced to dodge as best he could from the Bears.

Golden had the easiest time of them all, he was able to simply hit the Bears with his staff and blast them with psychic energy, making it much easier to kill the Bears, normally, he would have felt bad about killing his own kind, he then caved a Bears skull in on itself.......he did not see these Bears as his kind however, so it was all the same to him.

Lyaroa and Roxanne had a pretty rough time, still not used to eachothers powers, they had to cooperate in order to fight effectively, thankfully, controlling the white fire was slightly easy.

Roxanne managed to kill a couple Bears, she looked at Lyaroa just as she was killing one, she threw her sword and it impaled a bear behind Lyaroa. "Thank Rox!" The Sentinel called.

Fang managed to push his way past the forcefield that was guarding the door, he then pushed with all of his might, eventually he forced the door open. "Let's go!" He shouted.

Shade almost immediately ran for the door, looking to get out of the cold, the other ran as well, especially when they saw more Bears charging from the forest.

Fang then followed behind the group, he shut the door behind them and looked at the group. "We made it." He said out of relief.

Afterwards, the group walked through the hallway that the door led them to, once they reached the other side, they got into an elevator and it slowly went up.

Golden meditated to recover his strength while Shade focused on warming up.

Fang stood with Roxanne and Lyaora. "So, tell me something, how are you two getting along with your new powers?" He asked.

Lyaroa rubbed her eyes and shook her head. "It's difficult, without my powers I kinda feel naked." She replied.

Roxanne looked at the Sentinel. "We're all naked Lyaroa, and as to your question Fang, it's overwhelming and I'm scared of it." She answered.

Lyaroa chuckled. "You would be a fool to NOT be afraid of it." She said quietly.

After that, Fang had walked off to do his own thing, leaving Lyaroa alone with Roxanne. "So Roxie, feel like learning how to use my powers?" She asked.

Roxanne sighed and then nodded. "Knowing our luck, we will need it." She replied.

Lyaroa then sat down and looked at Roxanne. "Now, the first thing you should know, is that a Sentinel's power can influence visualization, for instance." She ripped a small branch off of the elevator. "You see this branch?.....try visualizing it as something else." She instructed.

Roxanne rolled her eyes and focused on the branch, it soon turned into an iron pipe. "Whoa." She whispered.

As the elevator moved up, Roxanne discovered three things, the first being that Lyaroa was a much more patient teacher then Skitter, the second was that she was very good at the visualization portion of the Sentinel powers, the third was that she was crap at the actual combat part of it, as it required her to focus on well over three thousand particals at once.

Once the elevator reached the top, the group exited to a grassland area, they started walking along a path that was laid out before them, this raised a question however. "If they knew we were coming, why would they make a path?" Shade asked.

Lyaroa looked at Shade. "Two possible reasons, the first being that it was a thousand years ago that this place was made, the second being that they WANT us to follow the path, and we are going to do that." She answered.

"......Why?" Shade asked.

Lyaroa grinned. "Because we need to get rid of this cult and following the path is the best way to go about it, also if you stray from the path you'll find nothing but a neverending field or what not depending on the area, yes this place has no limits of space." She explained.

As they walked, they finally found the door to leave, the group approached it and as Fang went to break the seal, he paused, he sighed and looked back at the group. "Actually, why don't we stop for a while?" He suggested.

Golden looked at the Wolf with a curious glance. "What's wrong?" He asked.

Fang shook his head. "Nothing's wrong, it's just......we haven't had a REAL break, and the only reason we stopped before was because Lyaroa broke down.....somewhat." He said. "And there is nothing around here, so we can get away with it." He replied.

After some debate, the group decided against stopping, while it would help recover their strength, the cultists could use that time to set up countless traps and strengthen their soldiers.

Fang broke the seal on the door and opened it, allowing everyone through, he closed the door behind him and walked with everyone else.

The next area they entered was a river area, with a giant waterfall at the top, sadly, the area they were in was surrounded by mountains, so they had no way of continuing, so they started looking around, trying to find a secret path.

Roxanne however, had an idea, she walked to the waterfall and walked through it, seeing only a stone wall, she sighed. "Don't feel so down Roxie." Said Lyaroa as she stepped through.

Lyaroa put her hand on the wall and looked at Roxanne, she stifled a laugh for whatever reason and leaned up against the wall. "You know, if it were me, I would try to see a way out." She said to the fox.

Roxanne raised an eyebrow, but her mind retreated to the visualization powers that she now had, she placed her hand on the wall and visualized a path, and one soon opened. "How did you know?" She asked.

Lyaroa walked up and leaned to Roxanne's ear. "That would be telling wouldn't it?" She bit Roxanne's ear and walked through the new path.

Roxanne blinked but said nothing to the Sentinel as to what she just did, she exited the waterfall. "Found it!" She called out before walking through the path.

She found Lyaroa sitting on a rock and looking at Soul. "You know, I've been thinking." She started, she looked at Roxanne. "I remember when I first saw you, I was riding shotgun in Fang's mechanical brain, and when I saw you, I don't know......I liked the curiosity that you had, and to be honest, I'm curious as to where that went." She said.

Roxanne walked over and sat next to Lyaroa. "I don't know, I still have that curiosity, but it seems to be focused on stranger things......I guess it's because I know more now then before." She said.

Lyaora looked at Roxanne. "Do you ever miss it?....being an animatronic?" She asked.

Roxanne shook her head. "No, I don't, that was hell for me, being forced to entertain in the exact same way every day for you whole life?......then getting torn apart and turned into a jigsaw puzzle?.....i would sooner die than go back there." She answered.

The others stepped into the cave and Roxanne stood up. "Alright, let's get moving." She said.

Lyaora chuckled and stood up, she followed Roxanne as they started moving.

_____*the next area, ten minutes later.*_____

This area was another rocky wasteland, the group moved carefully through it and soon they found more golems wandering around, they dispatched them quickly and kept moving.

Soon they found a split off path, there were only two, there were no other paths around so they had to take them. "I'll go on the left." Golden stated.

Roxanne pointed to the right. "It's obvious." She said.

Fang looked between the groups and he sighed. "I'll go with Golden Freddy." He stated as he started walking.

Roxanne and Lyaroa dragged Shade with them. "Here we go again." Shade complained.

____*five minutes later*____

Fang and Golden made good progress through the paths, there was no enemies around, just a few puzzles and such.

As Fang lowered a wooden plank to cross a gap, Golden stopped him before he could continue. "Hold on." Said the bear.

Fang crossed his arms and looked at Golden. "What is it?" He asked.

Golden held onto his staff as he used it for a walking stick.....again. "You know as well as I that I can't read your mind.....so I need to ask you something." He said.

"Alright, what is it?" He wondered.

"I need to know, are you still planning on killing Lyaroa?" He asked carefully.

Fang let his arms hang at his sides. "No!......why would I want her dead?" He countered.

Golden blinked and narrowed his gaze. "Because of what she did, what she's doing, and her being herself, I can sense your hostility towards her, so I will say this." He paused.

Fang did nothing as Golden looked him right in the eye. "Don't do it, no matter what goes through your head, do not do it." He stated before crossing the gap.

Fang sighed and followed Golden after the bear was off the plank. "Whatever." He said.

_____*the others.*_____

"Just like last time Shade, only this time we know that Fang and Golden will be alright." Lyaroa said.

Shade rolled his eyes. "If you say so I guess." He said blankly.

As they moved through the path, they didn't encounter much at first, they eventually reached the end where both of the paths came out at, they encountered a giant construct, it was similar to the first one, but it was larger and had a flail in place of a hand.

The trio began fighting it, and as they did, a barrier appeared around the area, preventing escape and passage.

Lyaroa grinned. "This should be fun." She said to herself as she ignited her arms and drew Soul and Spirit.

_____*five minutes later*_____

Golden and Fang finally reached the end of the path, and what they saw was confusing, they found that the three were playing cards and that there was a destroyed construct in the corner. "Hey guys!" Lyaroa called out as she looked up.

Fang approached them and crossed his arms. "By all means, continue having fun while we have a psychotic cult running amok!" He pointed out irritably.

Golden shrugged and walked to the door and opened it. "Let's just continue." He said.

_____*ten minutes later*______

The group was now in the city portion of the mountain, they saw citizens walking around and going about their daily lives, Lyaroa peeked around the corner and quickly ducked behind it as a patrol walked by, she crept away and approached the group. "There are guards all over, we won't get through without a fight." She said.

They all agreed on a plan shortly after that, it was that two of them would go into the city and create chaos by any means necessary, while the others moved along the rooftops and alleyways to reach the fortress in the center of the city, it was heavily defended and getting in unnoticed would take too much time.

Soon, Fang and Shade walked out into the town and immediately they were under attack by the guards.

Roxanne, Lyaroa and Golden moved silently towards the fortress, while the others fought, they moved carefully and silently eliminated guards along the way.

Fang and Shade easily fought back and killed the guards, what they weren't counting on we're the citizens, they all drew weapons and charged them, increasing how many they had to fight by the hundreds.

Shade managed to build up enough energy for one of his more......preferred, attacks, he charged it up and put his hand over his heart, he then released it all in a disintegration nova, killing practically everything around them, including the buildings, Fang was thankfully unaffected.

Fang and Shade moved elsewhere to cause a commotion, and or kill everything and level a city block.

Lyaroa and the others snuck up to the giant wall between them and the fortress. "Alright Golden, is there anything on the other side?" Roxanne asked.

Golden sent a psychic pulse to search the area, there was nothing around. "Alright, we're clear." He said as he looked around.

Roxanne pictured the wall having an entrance and it appeared, they snuck in and moved around quietly.

Their break in was unnoticed as the guards were watching other paths, Golden sensed a patrol however and they hid.

The patrol consisted of four, one Griffin up front, and three unicorns in a triangle behind him, the trio silently moved to kill them.

Roxanne drew Death and stabbed the one in the back through the heart, Lyaroa took the one to the left, and Golden melted the mind of the one on the right.

Roxanne then decapited the leader and they hid the bodies on the other side of the wall. "Alright, let's get the gate guards so Shade and Fang can get in." Lyaroa said.

They silently moved around and killed off the guards at the gate, they hid the bodies and continued to the next pair.

Shade had just finished off their attackers with a disintegration nova, leveling the entire block along with then he and Fang fought their way to the fortress.

They soon reached one of the gates and approached it calmly, the guard reacted to them and charged, only for them to scream in pain as Golden burned their minds behind them. "Sorry to keep you waiting." He said calmly.

The group approached the entrance to the fortress but found that it was sealed, and even Fang could not breach it.

Roxanne looked up and spotted a pathway in through a window. "Up there, we can break in from there." She said as she started climbing.

Fang sighed as they climbed the fortress wall, thankfully they managed to enter the fortress once Roxanne made the window open.

The group found itself in a storage room, Roxanne closed the window and locked it, as she did, she felt a chill and she suddenly felt weak, she leaned on a crate and held her head. "Ooook.....what the hell?" She asked.

Lyaroa also felt it, but she was drained, and then suddenly she felt strong again. "Oh man, I was having fun with the fire!" She complained.

Roxanne sat down and let herself recover a little, feeling that the group deserved a small break, Lyaroa told them to take a breather. "I'm going to make this clear right now, my power is heavily drained, and I won't be able to use it much right now." She stated before sitting.

Author's Note:

So, we have a memory, a pissed off mother, and murder at the mountain.....speaking of which, I would love to do a murder mystery stand alone story or chapter with these characters.

Anyway, so yes, we are nearing the end, it's been a long ride, it's been fun, but it's got to come to an end.

So as always guys, see you next time!