Chapter One: Off to Middle-Earth
While the day had no intention, Sunny Starscout could not help herself but feel quite the spring on her hoofsteps as she made her way about Maretime Bay. She was hoping to catch the pawn shop before it closed for the late afternoon. Most of the ancient Equestrian artifacts were purchased from the establishment from either her or her late father. Today however, she caught ten minutes to closing time.
"Afternoon Reggie," she greeted to the clerk.
Reggie was about the age Argyle would be had he not have died, but unlike his long-passed friend he enjoyed the simplicity of what life had in the moment, and making a quick bit from whatever old junk ponies would pawn off to limit their storage space, or felt like it had no deserving to be thrown out like garbage.
"Cutting it close again, are we Ms. Starscout?" he replied with a humorous smirk.
"Just came to check what's new, that's all."
"Help yourself, like always."
Sunny had no need for time-watching, Reggie did more than enough of that as is. It was five to closing time when her eyes caught a specific book-spine in the back section of the store. It was faded dark-green, and the author's name was greatly unlike the other names of the books surrounding it.
There and Back Again: A Hobbit's Tale; by Bilbo Baggins.
Sunny was confused, but more intrigued as well. The title was vague enough to do so.
"Hey Reggie," she called.
"Find something?"
She placed the book cover up on the counter. "I'm intrigued by this particular one. The author and title are unfamiliar to me. How much for it?"
Reggie peered through the first few pages, and skimmed the backside. He to was unfamiliar with the book, but while that was mostly true with almost all of his store's contents, he knew each name of the merchandise by heart. Tool of the trade.
"Tell you what. Just this once, you can have it for free."
"Wait really?"
"Take or leave it, it's closing time right now."
"Alright, alright. I'll take it." She packed the book into her saddlebag before hastily departing the shop. "Thanks, and goodbye!"
"Bye!" Reggie called back, before taking out his keys and firmly locking the front doors. What even is a hobbit, he thought to himself. Whatever it is, it sounds perfect for Sunny's inquisitive mind. Just like old Argyle was.
The sun was beginning to wane into an early sunset as Sunny made her way to the lighthouse she called home. The restoration was nearing full completion, all that was needed was a few light touch-ups, being mostly furniture replacement, but she had no trouble sleeping on her living room couch. Even her front door was intact, along with indoor air conditioning and heating systems, not to mention a certain somepony hiding behind the front door.
"HELLO AGAIN!"
Sunny jumped, but laughed it off. Izzy had always been more outward compared to herself, a complete and stark contrast but always enjoyed her company; even if she insisted on staying over with Sunny while the renovation was underway.
"Hey Izzy."
"What'cha got there?"
"Oh this? I just picked it up at the pawn shop."
"There and Back Again, A Hobbit's Tale; by Bilbo Baggins. Oh, sounds interesting!"
"Yeah, it certainly does," she chuckled. Izzy had a tendency to overplay almost every situation. "Would you like to read it?"
"Oh yes I would! And the others too!"
"Wait, there're here?"
"Uh, yeah! Did you not see the note I left for you?"
"You left a note?"
"Oh, on second thought I may have forgotten to write it. Sorry about that." Izzy then put on that wonderful grin of hers, the one that always breaks Sunny into laughter.
"It's okay! The more the merrier, as the saying goes."
Izzy followed her friend up to the observatory, where the others were heard waiting; mostly from Pipp's most recent livestream, meaning has not ended.
"HI EVERYPONY! GUESS WHO RETURNED!"
Pipp snapped her attention away before quickly closing out the stream and placing her phone on the nearest ledge, her sister more than pleased at hearing the end of it.
"Hey girlfriend, you missed my stream!" she exclaimed.
"Trust me, you did not miss anything," Zipp said, less than enthusiastic.
Hitch was standing under the gargantuan telescope, sipping silently away at his evening coffee. As sheriff, he felt a responsibility at keeping alert at all times, even if it meant having to deal with a never-ending cycle of his caffeine addiction.
"Hey Sunny. I heard you were at the pawn shop," he said calmly. "Anything new?"
"Yes actually," she replied before placing the book onto the hollowed out crystal-shaped table before them.
"What is it?"
"Obviously a book," Zipp sniggered.
"Well I know that!"
"Hey! Why don't we read it?" Pipp suggested, full of excitement. "All of us? You start Sunny."
"Alright then."
She then opened the first few pages and began reading, "My dear Frodo-", however her voice was suddenly overlapped and then drowned by the sound of another more elderly sounding voice.
"You asked me once if I had told you everything there was to know about my...adventures."
The book then shot upwards, and the observatory view was than transformed from a beautiful sunset to a map, entirely overlapping their surroundings.
"WOAH!" both Izzy and Pipp exclaimed.
"Is this a map of old Equestria?" Zipp asked aloud.
"I don't think so," Sunny replied. "I don't remember dad ever telling about places such as 'Rohan', or 'Mirkwood'."
"I think we have a more pressing matter," Hitch stammered.
He was right. The entire room began violently spinning like a large top, along with a great glow that engulfed every one of the ponies present in the room; before settling to an empty quietness with only the sound of a closing book cover.
"And while I can honestly say I have told you the truth, I may not have told you all of it."
The voice continued to narrate while the ponies gathered their bearings. Their entire environment was pitch darkness, to which Sunny could only make out a small moving candlelight.
"Where are we?" Hitch gasped after regaining consciousness.
"This might sound crazy, but I think the book sucked us into its story," Sunny pondered aloud.
"Oh!" Izzy exclaimed. "Magic becomes more and more exciting by the minute!"
"How can we be sure of that though?" Hitch questioned.
"I'm old now Frodo. I'm not the same hobbit I once was."
"I think Sunny's right," Zipp said at last. "Perhaps we'll get to see what a hobbit truly is."
"Another adventure with my big sister and besties? Count me in!" Pipp cried.
It seemed there out loud thinking went unnoticed, because the voice continued without a second's pause.
"I think it is time for you to know...what really happened. It began long ago, in a land far away to the east, the like of which you will not find in the world today."
Suddenly the stark black became a bright white, before opening up to a riveting and bustling market city filled with strange tall, less hairy, and bipedal creatures going about their business like the ponies were not present.
"What are they, and can they see us?" Hitch wondered aloud.
"I'm not sure, but I think this is the story's exposition. The prologue, therefore I don't think so," Sunny suggested.
Izzy then stuck her purpled hoof out to a small child running, only for it to pass through the little boy like it was mist. "Yep, they can neither see nor hear us. Otherwise they would have said something about us."
"There was the city of Dale," the voice continued. "It's markets known and wide, full of the bounties of fine and vale, peaceful and prosperous."
While the ponies had no choice but to watch as the creatures go about their business, there was many things about the city that warmed them. Maybe it was how every movement made by either the playful children or friendly marketers that felt...felt like home. Suddenly, and without warning, they were lifted from their hooves high above Dale.
"Woah," Hitch gasped. "Are we flying?"
"No idea," Zipp replied.
It was like they were flying in a great glass elevator, and their final destination was a large structure hewed into the mountainside itself: a great gate of green stone carved from the rock surrounded by two ginormous statues of bearded beings, though seeming different than the city's inhabitants.
"For this city lay before the doors of the greatest kingdom in Middle-Earth-Erebor. Stronghold of Thror, King under the Mountain, mightiest of the dwarf-lords."
"A kingdom of dwarves? I've never heard of dwarves before, and this world is called 'Middle-Earth'?" Zipp surmised.
"Never mind that, look at how pretty the place looks!" Pipp gasped.
The other ponies were looking a row of armored dwarves, no doubt guarding the front wall, holding aloft their weapons before a short, gray-bearded, and royally garbed dwarf being followed by a younger looking dwarf.
"He must be King Thror," Sunny said.
Suddenly, they were teleported to what looked like the throne room, or more accurately the throne pedestal: it was situated in a great cavernous opening, and right underneath a gold-streamed stalactite. "Thror ruled with utter surety, never doubting his house would endure within the lives of his son, and grandson."
Beside Thror on his throne was the younger looking dwarf from before, no doubt his son, and a more younger looking dwarf this time with black hair and a smaller beard. The pegasus sisters could not help but feel a sense of familiarity with how the kingdom shared similarities with Zephyr Heights, and Hitch felt like Dale was in more ways than one a representation of his own town of Maretime Bay.
"Ah, Frodo. Erebor." The voice this time carried a deep sensation of awe and wonderment. "Built deep within the mountain itself, the beauty of this fortress city was legend."
They were then taken on a guided tour of some kind through the cavernous halls of the kingdom, though they would have liked some breathing room and free will to explore the place in all its fullest.
"Its wealth lay in the earth, in precious gems hewn from rock and in great seams of gold, running like rives through stone."
They were then taken past dwarves on workbenches analyzing the vast amounts of raw jewels at their fingertips. Hitch was impressed with their skills, while Izzy and Pipp were more taken in at the jaw-dropping rocks themselves. After that, they were shown the mines below the kingdom where mining dwarves worked hard and long from pulley systems and candlelit helmets for light digging away for more ores. In an instant, they were shown a set of dwarvish blacksmiths pounding away on an anvil, while another one held aloft a glowing object, only to be pounded from two giant overhead swinging hammers. The dwarf did not flinch.
"Amazing," Zipp marveled at their skills of craftsmanship.
"The skill of the dwarves was unequaled, fashioning objects of great beauty out of diamond, emerald, ruby, and sapphire."
They were then transported back down to the depths of the mines, focusing on one particular miner chipping away at some stone.
"Ever they delved deeper, down into the dark...and that is where they found it."
He then removed some loose stone before gazing at the marvel of his found: a small stone shining like the morning light, its beauty unrivaled by anything in existence.
"What is it?" Pipp gazed.
"The heart of the mountain," the voice continued, almost sounding like he was answering her question. "The Arkenstone."
"The Arkenstone," Sunny breathed. She could not admit that it was alike the world she knew, and the others wholeheartedly agreed.
"Thror named it the 'King's Jewel'." They were now back at the throne where the Arkenstone was now mounted right above where King Thror was seated. "He took it as a sign, a sign that his right to rule was divine. All would pay homage to him."
Suddenly a host of more unfamiliar creatures approached them from behind. There at the same height as those of Dale, but looked more fairer, wise, and enchanting. Clad in great robes of gray silver, their leader had himself a headdress of woven twigs along his flowing white hair. They also all had pointy ears.
"Even the great Elvenking, Thranduil."
"Elves?" Sunny wondered.
Another bearded dwarf stood before King Thror, and opened a chest of shining white jewels, to which Thranduil slowly approached.
"As the great wealth of the dwarves grew, their store of goodwill ran thin."
They could practically see the glowing jewels in Thranduils eyes, and the wonder to match.
"No one knows exactly what began the rift."
As Thranduil reached his hand, the chest's lid was promptly and swiftly shut with a loud bang, much to Thror's amusement and Thranduil's anger.
"The elves say the dwarves stole their treasure, the dwarves tell another tale: they say the elves refused to give them their rightful pay."
"That's not fair!" Izzy exclaimed.
"That's greed for you," Hitch sighed with much annoyance.
"It is sad Frodo how old alliances can be broken, how friendships between peoples can be lost. And for what?" The voice quietly scoffed.
Sunny too felt it right in her heart: the breaking of the dwarf and elf alliance sounded way to similar to the parting of the three pony tribes.
"Slowly the days turned sour, and the watchful night closed in."
They were then brought to a vast room filled to each side of all things that glittered with gold, with little pathways cutting through the great stacks, and King Thror overlooking all around him with a diseased smile and glint in his eyes.
"Thror's love of gold had grown top fierce. A sickness had begun to grown within him. It was a sickness of the mind, and where sickness thrives, bad things will follow."
The ponies were once again overlooking the city of Dale, specifically where some children were flying their kites, one of which was modeled after what looked like a dragon. Suddenly, a great gust of wind came ripping through the trees, bringing with it a call to arms.
"The first they heard was a noise like a hurricane, coming down from the north. The pines on the mountain creaked and cracked in the hot dry wind."
The younger dwarf prince was standing with the guards at the front gate, alongside what looked to be a warrior dwarf about the age of his father.
"Balin," he cried. "Sound the alarm. Call out the guard, do it now!"
"What is it?" Balin repsonded.
"Dragon," the prince replied, before calling back into the halls of Erebor. "DRAGON!"
At last the dreaded roar was heard. Many dwarves screamed as the fires opened from above, though the ponies could not yet see the monster in all his fullest they too felt the terror that was coming down upon them.
"He was a fire-drake from the north."
The prince then grabbed Balin and ducked behind a pillar from a oncoming wave of smoke and fire.
"Smaug had come."
The dwarves and ponies could only watch helplessly as Smaug laid waste to the city of Dale, not caring for the screaming children or the burning rubble the fell beneath his claws. Smashing through brick laid structures like he was snapping twigs, and burning every street that looked to have the most of the populace.
"Such wanton death was dealt that day, for this city of men was nothing to Smaug. His eye was on another prize."
Pipp barely had the strength to utter two words, only clinging tightly to her sister as they watched the raining fire lay waste. Zipp swallowed in her throat, before wrapping a wing around her shivering younger sister. Hitch did not want to admit it, but he was shaking all over from his hooves to his tail. Izzy firmly hugged Sunny close, panting greatly into her mane. They then all watched as the remainder of the garrison was armed at the reinforced and shaking front gates, only to catch up with Thror as he hurried to his throne, press a small button, and dash off with the Arkenstone.
"For dragons covet gold with a dark and fierce desire."
"You coward!" Zipp cried.
"This...this is too horrific," Pipp muttered. Zipp embraced her more, not wanting to hear another fearful sob.
The gates were soon busted wide open. The prince shouted something in what Sunny could only think to be dwarvish, before Smaug smashed his way through the mustered arms like they were harmless toy soldiers, occasionally crushing an unlucky one beneath his great feet. Suddenly, they caught up with Thror as he rushed towards the treasure room, only too late as Smaug began swimming through his newfound wealth, and he lost his grip on the Arkenstone.
"NO!" he cried as it became lost amongst the gold. His grandson had to forcibly drag him to safety.
Finally, the ponies were left to look upon what was left of the smoldering kingdom, and the escaping dwarves filled with fear and dread, knowing that they will have to venture far away from whatever confines used to be their protection; what was now a death sentence to return to.
"Erebor was lost. For a dragon will guard his plunder as long as he lives."
Hitch then looked to the hillside and saw Thranduil before a great host of armed elves.
"Hey look it's the elves! They're here!" he cried.
"Run for your lives!" the prince shouted. "HELP US!" he then cried to the elves.
The ponies watched in anticipation, frozen in place, until to their horror Thranduil turned his host away.
"Thranduil would not risk the lives of his kin against the wrath of the dragon. No help came from the elves that day, or any day since."
"What?!" Pipp cried, still sniveling through her tears. "How could they?! They just left the dwarves! Just like that! No aid whatsoever! YOU COWARDS!"
"Never mind it," Zipp said. "We can't help it anyway."
The prince too shared her look of angry betrayal. Soon the friends were left to watch the wandering men and dwarf refugees as they scattered the world, sharing nothing but the trail of tears that follows a lost home, the baggage of what little would barely suffice their survival, and the fear of what might or might not come.
"The dwarves of Erebor wandered the wilderness, a once mighty people brought low. The young dwarf prince took work where he could find it, laboring in the villages of men. But always he remembered the mountain-smoke beneath the moon, the trees like torches blazing, for he had seen dragon-fire in the sky, and a city turned to ash. And he never forgave...and he never forgot."
The ponies' worldview once again became pitch black, but this time they emerged in more humble surroundings: a river running by the bank, a stone path cutting past small homes built into the hillsides with great round doors and small windows as the only indication that a building was there, and the grass: more luscious and green than ever before. More importantly, it felt welcoming. It felt like home.
"That, my dear Frodo, is where I come in. For quite by chance, and the will of a wizard, fate decided I would have a part in this tale. It began...well it began as you might expect. In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole full of worms and oozy smells, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat. This was a hobbit hole, and that means comfort."
It was hear that voice had finally ended.