Author's Note

These next three chapters will be of the "heroes" travelling with someone or otherwise fleshing out the world a bit.

Chapter 3

Roger ran through tunnels and underground rooms, trying his best to look for a way out. Anora-15 hadn't been able to fully map out the tunnels when they had been dragged into them, and she soon noted that the tunnels had changed. "It seems our canine kidnappers changed things around… And quite quickly too. Strange, considering they had no particular reason to due to how little threat we pose…"

"Is it possible they're enemies?" Roger whispered as he dove behind what he assumed was a bartop in order to hide.

"Negative. They are… neutral at worst, and friendly at best. Hopefully it is a mere misunderstanding…" she replied.

"Shit… Do you think it might have something to do with-"

"HERE IT IS! I found the Mino Psio!" A voice shouted from above him.

"What?!" Roger looked upwards, seeing a large dog-like being glaring down at him. He scrambled to dodge a spear that it had thrust downward at him.

"It wants to run! Hurry!" The dog shouted over its shoulder, trying to impale Roger again… Who managed to dodge once more.

"I'm not a Psion! Or a Mino!" Roger snapped as he began to run again.

"No lies, Minotaur scum! You tell how you escape!" Came another voice from Rogers left as he passed an intersection just outside the room he was just in.

He ducked beneath another spear, this one having been thrown, and managed to somehow only get it stuck between the horns of his helmet. That was when he had a thought and tore off the helm, dropping it and turning to face the dogs that were now slowing down to stare at his robotic face. "I'm not a Minotaur! Or a Psio, whatever the fuck that is…"

"You… you are Guardian…? But… Why you wearing Mino head?" One of the two asked.

"It's a… Relic, I guess… When I defeat something with Void Light, my abilities recharge faster… And because I specialize in the Void, it really adds up…" Roger explained, slowly relaxing as he watched a small crowd of rowdy dogs began to grow and calm down. "So uh… where am I…?"

"You in New Dirt!" One of the dogs in the back shouted when a different one, this one far more aggressive and femine than the others, spoke from behind Roger, correcting it.

"Gaia Nuevo, you dolt! Haaa… The guards mean well, Guardian, but they are fairly… Ignorant, to put it lightly. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Reginhald. The leader of this pack and tunnelcity. I apologize for the rude treatment… Scout Dogs are only marginally smarter than Guard Dogs…" The Dog said, introducing herself as Roger carefully pulled his helmet back on.

"Right… And where was I when your… Scout Dogs found me?" Roger asked as he watched the crowd of Guards slowly disperse to go back to their various posts. It wasn't until one began digging straight into the floor that he realized that they were Diamond Dogs.

"Ah, that one is a bit trickier. See, they keep saying that a wingless Griffon was carrying you, so they chased the 'traitor' away and dragged you down into the prison area to be questioned later. Again, Scouts are only marginally smarter than the Guards, so I have a feeling this 'wingless Griffon' was one of your friends, yes?" Reginhald asked, leading the way to a table in the bar area Roger had just left. "If so, then I'm sorry to say that another Griffon Guardian found them…"

"Is she ok…?" Roger asked, sitting down across from her. 'If she died again, they might have thrown her back into that forest… Though why they did that last time is weird…'

"From what the Merchant Goldie said, yes. She is fine, and currently traveling towards one of the Twin Travelers," she answered, smiling a little when Roger sighed in relief, relaxing ever so slightly.

"Ok… Well I need to go meet up with her and her dad, so-"

"She is alone. If there were three of you, then chances are that your third companion is still in the Eternal Shifting Forest…"

"Eternal… What?" Roger was confused. There was only one forest between both Destiny and My Little Pony that could even potentially fit either bill was the Infinite Forest of the Vex and the Everfree Forest outside of Ponyville where Zecora lived. Nobody could ever get a proper map of the area around Equestria back on Earth, and he doubted even Faust could tell someone with any amount of consistency about various locations…

“The Eternal Shifting Forest was cursed by the Umbral Ponies that were summoned when Princess Amore first tried to create a safe haven in the Frozen Wastes to the far north. She knew the location was a place of strong power, but could not explain what called her to it. So when she first dug into the land to create the Crystal Heart, she had set the foul beasts free,” Reginhald explained. “Mind you, this was also after the Twins arrived many centuries ago. We have a tunnel leading to the outpost near the edge of the Forest if you wish to leave, though I would recommend not wearing the Sin of Nerz’al. The other Guardians on post out here are a touch trigger happy and won’t hesitate to strike down something resembling an enemy.”

“Well that explains why the Griffin cut our heads off I guess… Doesn’t explain how we wound up back in the… What did you call it? The Eternal Shifting Forest?” Roger asked, mildly confused.

“Correct. And this Griffin, did they by chance wield one or two blades? And if it was two, were they Void?” She asked in return.

“Uh… It all happened so fast that I couldn’t tell you for sure, but… I think they were?” Roger replied, silently asking Anora to hide his helmet.

“Hmm… That means it was one of two Griffins…" Reginhald sighed, stressed about how to explain what she learned to the other Guardians in the outpost. "We should get going… The sooner we get this taken care of the better."

"Wait, why did they throw us back into the forest? If they really had thought we were enemies, then why waste time potentially getting lost in the-"

"The entrance to the forest is… what did they call it…? Qua… Qua…" Reginhald scrunches her muzzle in agitation as she tried to recall what the Guardians had called it.

"Quantum locked?" Roger asked, raising an eyebrow as he did. When Reginhald nodded furiously, Roger sighed in defeat since that meant they likely just tossed their bodies back into the Forest while one or two of that patrol watched where they entered so they wouldn't end up getting stuck inside. "Great… Doesn't explain how we got lucky and escaped twice, but whatever I guess… Well, let's get going then. Hey, what's the name of the place we're going?"

"Outpost PNY-45. Or Ponyville for short," Reginhald replied, leading the way out while Roger laughed at the name. 'Maybe he thinks it's as bad a name as the others?'