//------------------------------//
// The Accident... Again 
// Story: The Hobbit: Desolation is Magic 
// by King Camelot 
//------------------------------//

Sunset was enjoying her walk with Twilight. Daresay, she needed it. After the whole business of her friends forgetting her and treating her like trash, she could've used a break for a while. And with just her luck, she had received a letter from Twilight explaining that they had opened up a new school for teaching friendship, and that she could have a tour if she wanted. And boy did she want it. 

After grabbing a few things, and leaving a note to explain where she had gone, she left for the portal to return to the place she once called home. And boy was it fun! After catching up with Twilight on everything, she received the tour she was promised. 

It would be an understatement to say that the school was extraordinary, but there were no other words known to Pony (or Men) to express its grandeur. It had taken the form of a humongous castle, perhaps even larger than the one Twilight currently lived in. It gave a sense of Royalty and Knowledge, but at the same time, it gave a sense of Warmth, Equality, Kindness, and more importantly, Friendship. And upon entering, she was even more impressed, if such was possible.

The inside of the school was just as amazing as it was on the outside. Great halls dotted the castle, each one adorned with great white pillars, and exotic flowers. All leading to a different part of the castle. There was the Principle's Office, where the Princess of Friendship herself sat. There was the Lunch Room, which even with its simplicity, was enough to be called a Banquet Hall.   

"And here is the Auditorium," explained Twilight, once they returned outside again, "Here we perform skits, plays, do the daily bulletin, and all kinds of other things." And it was a nice auditorium, nestled in the trees to feel one with nature, and a great view of the sky. 

"Wow, this is a nice stage, what kind of performances have you done with it?" Sunset asked, with a smile.

"Well, we did do a skit about Princess Celestia," answered Twilight, "But we don't talk about that." Her eyes became dark at that. Sunset decided not to push the matter, the play about the Sun Princess seemed like dangerous territory. But after taking a moment, the purple alicorn was back to her perky, egg-head self, "So, what do you think?"

"It's... amazing!" Sunset said, and she meant it. This place was like a paradise for students and teachers alike. She was at a loss for words at its marvelousness, "It's truly incredible, the thought that you could accomplish all this, and even teach ones who have no pony blood in their veins about the Magic of Friendship!"

"Well, I couldn't have done it without my friends," Twilight responded. And that was true, without all her friends, she couldn't have done any of this. Had her friends not stuck by her side the entire way, she wouldn't be the ambassador she was now. That reminded her, "You know, you could come teach here if you want."

Sunset was stunned, "What? Me, a teacher here?" 

Twilight smiled, "Of course, with your devotion to the studies of Friendship, not to mention your knowledge about the human world, our students could learn a lot from you. You'd fit right in. That is, if you want to, of course."

Sunset thought about this. Her, a teacher? I mean, she did teach students about friendship during her time at CHS, but she was also an equal to them. Here, she would be in a higher position than everypony else. Was she truly ready for such a responsibility?

"Well, you don't have to decide now. You can take as much time as you like," Twilight spoke, sensing her internal conflict. Sunset awoke from her thoughts at this, and a good thing, too. She really needed to decide if this was the right path for her. Twilight cleared her throat, "Now, is there anything else you'd like to see?"

"Well, we haven't gone over the classes you teach here, why don't we return to the school and discuss some of those?" Sunset offered. Twilight jumped for joy at this.

"Oh yes, the classes! Oh, I'm so excited to show you all the subjects we study! Not to mention the homework, the projects, the field trips! Oh I think you'll love them!", And with that Twilight ran back into the school. Sunset merely rolled her eyes amusingly as she followed.

It turned out that there were a great many deal of courses to choose from. The study of Friendship was still the main goal of the school, but still, there were many options wide open to you. There was the usual Equestrian classes like Magic, Alchemy, Agriculture, Weather Control, you know, the usual. But there was a bunch of other courses being taught as well, some of them coming from the human realm("You were the inspiration for that, Sunset." Twilight revealed). There were studies like Math, Science, English, "Earth" World Cultures, and a few that she never thought would be a possibility before! Hippogriff Lore, Changling Behavior, and...

"Sindarin?" Sunset said confused, she had never heard of that language before. There were also a bunch of other weird languages she never heard of, like Quenya, and Khuzdul. And there also a bunch of species that she was sure didn't exist, like Elves, Dwarves, and... Hobbits? Not to mention all those made up times and places that could be studied. The Second Age, the Third Age, Rivendell, the Kingdom of Gondor, what was all this?!

Sunset turned to Twilight, hoping for answers, "Um, did something happen in the time span I was gone?" 

Twilight shook her head, "Well, no. Not here at least." Twilight's eyes fell to the floor, she was obviously hiding something, "Well, it's kind of a long story."

"I've got plenty of time," Sunset responded, not willing to let the matter go. What were all these made up languages? What was the Kingdom of Gondor? And what exactly was a Hobbit? Twilight was obviously hiding something, and Sunset was going to find out what it was. 

Twilight shuffled her hooves a little, it was hard to explain. She finally found the courage to say something when suddenly, a crash was heard down the halls. 

Sunset and Twilight shot worried looks at each other, and sped for the direction of the sound. Following the echos of the castle, they located the source of the room, Classroom C-137: Hobbit Lore.

"What's a Hobbit?" asked Sunset.

"I'll tell you later. Right now, let's be sure our friends are safe! On the count of three?" Twilight asked. Sunset nodded, and prepared to go in swinging if need be.

"One... Two... THREE!!!"

The two friends burst through the door with all their might. What they saw behind it was surprising to say the least. It was like a party in there. All the students were jumping up and clapping to music whose source could not be seen from anywhere. A few students, (most of them being species with opposable thumbs) had large wooden cups in their claws, which were filled with, what Twilight suspected, was a drink that they shouldn't have been drinking at that age. In the center of the classroom, the teachers Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and surprisingly, Fluttershy were dancing on a big round table, three big glasses of cider in their front hooves. Rainbow and Fluttershy were using their wings to support themselves, but Pinkie Pie seemed to have no trouble dancing on her back hooves. They were singing an upbeat song, Fluttershy being the one most cheerful and confident in her singing,

"Oh you can search far and wide,
You can drink the whole town dry,
But you'll never find a beer so brown,

Oh you'll never find a beer so brown,

As the one we drink in our hometown,
As the one we drink in our hometown.
You can drink your fancy ales,
You can drink them by the flagon,
But the only brew for the brave and true...
..Comes from the Green Dragon!!"

At the end of their song there was a big clunk, and all three took a big swig from their flagons. The students erupted into cheer and the few who also had something to drink followed in kind, raising their cups high above as the warm tasty drink poured down their throats.

Sunset, feeling a little daring, decided to take a glance at the Alicorn Headmistress. If she was angry, she was only doing half a good job concealing it. Her right eye began to twitch a little, and she had a unrealistic smile spread across her face, and her horn was beginning to glow. Sunset, deeming it wise, slowly backed away. And sure enough there was a loud BANG, and just like that, the cups had disappeared, the tables and desks were back in place, the students were all sitting down, and the three drunk teachers fell to the floor with a loud thud.

"Alright everycreature," Twilight said with some kindness to her voice, "Class is dismissed, be sure to have your essays about the culture of hobbits done by the end of the week, bonus points for those who write and recite the essay in Sindarin." Groaning a little, and realizing the party was over, the students filed out one by one until it was just herself, Sunset, and their three irresponsible friends. Speaking with a new aura of authority and disappointment, she she in a loud clear voice, "My office, now!"



 
After the three teachers were promptly scolded for their actions and put to bed so they could sleep it off, Sunset and Twilight decided to just end the tour with a cup of tea in her personal quarters. "Well, thankfully the stuff they drank isn't too strong. The Hangover should last for only a few hours, "Twilight said, taking a small sip from her tea, "But still, I was expecting better out of Fluttershy. Rainbow and Pinkie, I can understand, but Fluttershy? Those two hobbits must have had more of an impact on her then I thought."

Sunset asked immediately, "What two hobbits?"

"Why Merry and Pippin of course," The words were were out before they could stop themselves. Twilight, realizing her mistake, hid her face behind her tea cup, pretending like nothing happened.

But Sunset would not be easily deterred. She had a million questions in her head, it was in danger of bursting. Who were Merry and Pippin? What was the Green Dragon? What was a Hobbit? And why was Twilight being so sensitive about it? 

Putting her cup down with a small thud, Sunset confronted her friend, "Twilight, enough is enough. Why are you being so weird about this? Who were the hobbits Merry and Pippin? What even is a hobbit? What happened while I was at Canterlot High School? Answer me!"

It took a moment for Sunset to realize she was yelling, as Twilight had spilled her cup and retreated a little behind the table. Taking a deep breath, she lowered herself and sat back down at the table, "Twilight, we've been friends for a very long time now. We shouldn't have to hide things from each other. Whatever happened, you can tell me."

Pondering this for a few minutes, Twilight finally let out a long sigh, got up from the table, and simply said, "Follow me."

Twilight led Sunset to a secluded room deep into the school. The room was full of vaults and places for safekeeping, that she thought Celestia must have trusted Twilight a lot to keep whatever these were guarding in a public school. In time, they came to an empty wall at the end of the hall, nothing special about it, really. Sunset was about to ask if they took a wrong turn somewhere, when Twilight dimly lit her horn, a bright beam of light rather than her usual lavender color. She was using a spell that she learned from Luna, which created artificial moonlight, that glowed brighter than any illumination spell. Stepping forward, Twilight shone her light on the empty wall. 

A series of words spread across the wall, forming a tall and steep archway over what would've been a door. But the words weren't in a language that Sunset understood, and they were glowing in a bright light similar to the light Twilight used only a few seconds ago. Then, without a second glance at the words, Twilight stepped forward and spoke in a ancient but fair tongue never used by the mouths of Equestrian blood,

Ang telu, 
Heled  rammas 
Narv a narv 
A never dant.  

The glowing words, burned brighter, almost lighting up the dark hallway of vaults. To say Sunset's curiosity was peaked would be an understatement. Now she knew what Twilight was feeling when they found the Restricted Section in the Canterlot Library. But here, Twilight remained calm and silent, a hint of sadness within the air around her. She leaned forward and simply whispered,

"Lantern."

The archway shifted, a line of blue light connecting below it. Twilight then gave a small nudge, and the wall below the arch gave way, forming an invisible door that none could see had the riddle not been answered correctly.

Inside the Secret Vault, was a collection of treasure, precious gold, fair and sparkling gems, and hung upon the sides, lay cloaks green as the open fields surrounding Ponyville, and gleaming swords that could only have been wielded by unicorns or those most skilled with using their hooves. But at the center of the vault, stood a lonely pedestal, perhaps the only thing in the room of equestrian design. What lay upon this pedestal was an old tome, far too big and heavy to carry, even skilled unicorns may find trouble lifting it with magic. Upon the tome was that same language that Sunset could not read, there were even a few different languages on it as well, none of which were legible to her untrained eyes. It gave off the presence of wisdom and age, like it had resisted the test of time longer than that of the Two Sisters. It took everything in her being to resist going forward to touch it.

"Twilight, what is this thing?" Sunset asked after a good ten minutes had passed. Twilight sighed,

"This, Sunset, is the detailed description of the History of Middle-Earth, and all the creatures that live in it."

Sunset turned toward Twilight, "Middle-Earth? Is that where these made up languages and countries come from?"

"They are not made up, they are the ancient tongues used by many an elf, dwarf, man, and even orc who had ever lived in Arda." Twilight explained, "Perhaps it's time I told you what happened."

And so, Twilight told Sunset about her adventures in Middle-Earth with her friends. How she had met Gandalf the Grey, learning of the existence of the Dark Lord Sauron, and his One Ring, how said ring almost corrupted Rainbow Dash into betraying them, how she had fought Sauron alone in a battle of wills, and just barely coming back alive, how many of the friends that they met there died to ensure that Middle-Earth, and possibly Equestria, would have a future. Sunset just listened and took it all in, never saying a word until the story was over. She now understood why it was a touchy subject for her. This adventure they had was nothing compared to what they had faced before, she was sure not even the Elements of Harmony could've defeated Sauron and his armies. She was lucky all of her equestrian friends survived.

Sunset let a few tears fall, "I'm sorry that happened to you. Nopony should have to go through something like that."

Twilight just nodded, sniffling a little but never crying, "Well, it was a long time ago. When we came back, I decided to use the knowledge I gained there to ensure that if we ever had to face somepony or somecreature like Sauron here, we would have the strength and skill to deal with them. But I'm a fool, if I can't even tell my friends about it, how can I expect myself to tell an entire generation of new ponies to fight against such an evil should it arise."

Twilight then lit up her horn with magic, and a small journal appeared in front of her with a small pop, "And that's why, I'm giving this to you."

Sunset lit up her own horn, and allowed the book to be eclipsed in her magic and float over to her direction, "What is it?"

Twilight walked over a little closer, "When I left the forest of Lothlorien, I was given that tome you see over there as a gift from the Lady of the Forest, Galadriel. When I returned, I vowed that when the next generation of heroes came, I would give them the means to understand it," Twilight then motioned to the journal, "And that is what you have in your hooves now. A completely translated script of the history the tome describes, and how to read it's many languages. I even put a few notes in myself from my own experiences. I want you to have it, consider it an apology gift for not being open with you."

Sunset graciously but reluctantly poofed the journal into her own pocket dimension for safe keeping. While being given the means of learning about another world was exciting to her, she felt that this journal should've gone to somepony else. Perhaps a student here in the school, or maybe an heir when her days would come to a close, but her? Sunset would not have trusted herself with this knowledge, considering who she used to be. Nevertheless, she accepted this gift and promised to use it only for the betterment of Equestria.





The next two days were spent reading the journal that Twilight had given her. 

The journal itself, was a small earth-red leather notebook with a strap holding it in place while it was closed. What made it unique was that it had an enchantment placed upon it that allowed it to hold more pages than it would have on it's own. Within it's pages lie a detailed map of Middle-Earth, a recorded history all the way up to the Fourth Age, guide sheets on how to read, write, and speak every language uttered there, recipes on Elvish Medicines and tasty meals (Courtesy of Samwise Gamgee), a few notes written in purple ink by Twilight about her encounters and experiences, and much much more.

She found that learning Sindarin was a bit complicated, as there were many words in the Equestrian alphabet that did not correspond with the Sindarin one, but she managed to get the gist of it in by the end of the day. However, she found that she was having an easier time learning Black Speech, the language spoken by the orcs under Sauron's dominion.

The teaching of Black Speech at the school was strictly forbidden, but some exceptions were made, such as Sunset having permission to learn it from Princess Twilight. After all, she would not have included it in her journal if she didn't feel that it would be necessary. In only an hour or two's time, she could speak and sound like an Orc, (having a photogenic memory really helped sometimes). She had to be forbidden from using this language around the students, as they were not allowed to even know about it, but she found ways to practice when they were not around.


THUD!

The door suddenly burst open, as her studies had been interrupted. Sunset quickly cut herself off mid-sentence, as she was reading in Black Speech, and looked upon who came in.  It was a student, a young stallion panting deeply and loudly, "Miss Shimmer, the Headmistress wants to see you! Somethings happened with the mirror!"

Pocketing her journal once more, Sunset teared through the school, following the student all the way to Twilight's office.





Twilight was right when she said that the Mirror was acting weird.

The usual sparkly and clear view that it usually gave off was replaced by a dark swirling vortex. It was just like what happened when Twilight and her friends were sent to Middle-Earth, all those years ago. But something was different, the gravity well that had trapped them last time was not present, and the solar flares that started this mess would not reoccur in another decade or so.

Regardless, this was something of upmost importance if Starswirl the Bearded was here-

"Starswirl the Bearded?" Sunset gaped in surprise. She had heard rumors that he and the other Pillars of Equestria had returned, but she didn't believe it for herself. And yet, here he was. The unicorn wizard that had inspired unicorns for centuries was standing before her, flesh and all.

"Yes, you would not be the first to react that way to me," said the old but powerful voice of Starswirl, "And you must be Sunset Shimmer. Twilight and Starlight have told me so much about you. It is my recollection that you found a way to breach into the realm of humans, where I once banished those mischievous Sirens. No easy task, even by alicorn standards."

Sunset blushed, "Well, it wasn't all like that. I did have the help of the mirror and all that. And... Whose he?"

Sunset had just caught sight of another unicorn talking to Starlight close by. He was a scrawny fellow, barely past the age of twenty. He had a gray coat with deep blue eyes. Noticing he was being addressed, Starlight gave him a nudge and pointed him in Sunset's direction.

"Oh, forgive me. I go by the name of Stygian, Magical Artifact Researcher and seventh member of the Pillars of Equestria, at your service," He replied, giving a small bow.

Sunset, feeling obliged to do so, bowed in return, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Stygian. So, what brings you and the great Starswirl the Bearded all the way out here?"

Starlight was the one to speak up, "Well, Twilight told me about the mirror and what caused it to go haywire. We're afraid that the catastrophe that happened a few years ago is going to happen again. We were hoping that since Starswirl-"

"Since I was the one to create the Mirror, that me and my friend Stygian might be able to fix it before it causes another disaster," Starswirl finished for her, "I invented the mirror with the intention to enter the world where I banished the Sirens. I sent them to a place where I was sure that little to no magic resided for them to feed upon. This mirror was a means to check upon them and ensure that they stayed that way."

"Oh," replied Sunset, "I was wondering what that purpose of the mirror was."

Twilight approached the mirror, trying not to get to close out of fear that it might pull her in again, "But ever since the solar flares a few years ago, its magic has become corrupted. It could take us to Canterlot, but it could now send us to Middle-Earth without us knowing about it. This could develop into a problem, not only for us, but for the people of Middle-Earth too. A threat from their world could find a way to come to us, and vice versa. With the differing laws of our two magics, the threat could become much more difficult to deal with."

Sunset checked this all through her head, there was something that didn't add up, "Okay, but if that's the case, how come I was able to come here no problem?"

"Well, that's actually why you're here, Sunset," Starlight explained, "It appears that the doorway on the other side of the portal is uncorrupted and is working as it was designed to do."

"Exactly," Stygian confirmed, "We developed a hypothesis that if we use the residual magic left on you when you went through the portal, we might be able to correct it's behavior, or at least create a 'switch' so that we can control when we go to the human realm or Middle-Earth."

"Well, why not use Twilight or Starlight then?" Sunset theorized, "They've gone through the portal too. Couldn't you just use their 'residual magic'?"

"We tried that already," Twilight said with a hint of disappointment, "But it appears that the residual magic of the human realm wears off after a few days. Since you were the most recent, we have no choice but to use you."

Sunset, now realizing that it was all up to her, was having an internal struggle with herself. True, it had fallen on her to save the day before, but she was always backed up by her friends. But now her friends were on the other side of the portal. Sure, they could come here, and no doubt they would if they heard she was in trouble, but if they did that, they might never be able to come home again. It was hard to face these things without them, but she couldn't bring herself to do that to them. Besides, she had Twilight and Starlight, at least she wasn't completely alone.

Taking a deep breath, Sunset stepped forward and said, "What do I have to do?"

Starswirl motioned to the mirror, "We just need you to get close to the mirror. Cast a simple spell on it, nothing too complicated, and the residual Earth Magic should piggyback on your own magic and help to correct the mirror. We will be here to run diagnostic checks on it, make sure everything goes smoothly, and should the need arise, ensure that you don't get pulled in too."

"Right," replied Sunset. Facing towards the mirror, she prepared to cast the spell. To say she was afraid would be an understatement, and she was doing a poor job at hiding it. But suddenly, she found Starlight and Stygian at her side.

"Don't worry, Sunset," Starlight said reassuringly, "We're right behind you."

"Indeed," Stygian agreed, "We will be here to ensure your safety."

With these words, Sunset's confidence took a huge boost. She and Starlight didn't know each other extremely well, and she had only just met Stygian. And yet both of them were putting themselves in the front lines with her, to ensure that she didn't suffer alone. She gave each of them a warming smile, and put herself forward,

"I'm ready."

"Very well," Starswirl said, "Twilight and myself will stay back a little further. Equestria cannot afford to lose an Alicorn princess and the only one who knows how the mirror works. Horns at the ready!"

And with these words, every horn in the room was ablaze with magic, aiming directly at the mirror.

"One..."

"Two!"

"THREE!!!"

Sunset racked her brain for a spell, any spell. Starswirl said it didn't have to be a complicated one. As long as it was sturdy enough for the residual magic to piggyback on. Deciding a simple Illumination Spell would do, she focused on the object she wanted to make glow, which was the mirror. With little to no effort, she made the mirror give off a brilliant orange sparkle.

Once that was in place, the other Unicorn wizards got to work. Starswirl and Twilight aimed two different beams of light on the mirror, and focused their magic on the sides of the mirrors. These spells were a bit more complicated than Sunset's, and required a level of strain in order to use.

Starlight and Stygian used their magic to create an anchor for Sunset. Using magic created ropes to wrap around Sunset they used their own weight to hold her back from the mirror should this whole thing go south.

But it didn't look like things were going to go wrong, the mirror wasn't reacting to anything, and both Starswirl and Twilight gave the signal that the mirror was stable. This was going to work, the mirror was going to be fixed and Sunset would be able to go home without worry. Things were finally going her way.

Suddenly, a student came in. A red griffon by the name of Talius, came bursting through. He came rushing in for the most innocent of reasons. You see, he was having an argument with a fellow student about whether or not griffon fliers were anywhere as fast as pegasus fliers, and it developed into a fist fight. Being pinned for the blame, he was sent to Starlight's office to talk about what happened. When he found that she wasn't there, she suspected she was having tea with the Headmistress, so he dashed over to her private chambers to fetch her. He was certain that with her help, the feather-brained Velocity Pilot would be put in his place.

But his timing couldn't have been more worse. For he burst through the door quite suddenly, and broke everypony's concentration on the mirror. Because of this break of focus, the spell suddenly ceased and the mirror became unstable. 





What happened next, nopony rightly remembers. There was a flash of light, a word spoken in a language nopony could recognize, and two of five powerful wizards laying on the floor unconscious.

The other three wizards, were nowhere to be seen. All that remained of them, was the fruit of their labors. A magical mirror that no longer swirled like a vortex, rather it wasn't swirling at all.

It was now just a normal mirror, never to open again for another thirty moons.