CHAPTER FOUR
The lights of Dodge Junction flicker, a small village of stone and half timbered houses nestled against a low wooded hill. A thick hedge surrounds the village and a great gate bars the western entrance.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Pinkie Pie are approaching the gatehouse, wild eyes, ragged and out of breath.
“Come on.” Apple Bloom says.
A surly gatekeeper pony glances down at them.
“What do you want?”
“We're headed for the prancing pony.” Apple Bloom responds.
The gatekeeper swings his lantern onto the Shetlands, bathing them in an uncomfortable yellow spotlight.
“Shetlands!” he says. “Four Shetlands, and what's more, out of Ponyville by your talk. What business brings you to Dodge Junction?”
“We wish to stay at the inn...” says Apple Bloom. “our business is our own.”
To Apple Bloom's relief, the Gatekeeper unlocks the gate.
“All right, young ma’am,” he says. “I meant no offense.”
The Shetlands gratefully enter Dodge Junction, the gatekeeper eyeing them curiously in the lantern light.
“It's my job to ask questions after nightfall. There's talk of strange folks abroad...can't be too careful.”
As they walk on the tall Dodge Junction ponies loom over the nervous little Shetlands as Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Pinkie Pie make their way through the Narrow Streets. Tall buildings tower above them, lights glow dimly from behind thick curtains.
Apple Bloom spots the sign of the "PRANCING PONY INN” and the young ponies hurry towards it.
When the filly’s rush in Apple Bloom tries attracts the inn keeper’s attention.
“Excuse me.”
“Good evening, little ladies.” He says as he peers over the counter. “If you're seeking accommodation, we've got some nice, cozy Shetland sized rooms available, Miss… uh…”
Apple Bloom is silent for a moment, her mind racing. “Ponytail” she says. “...my name's Ponytail.”
“Ponytail.” The inn keeper says with hum.
“We're friends of Twilight the Unicorn...can you tell her we've arrived?”
The inn keeper frowns, looking puzzled. “Twilight...Twilight...Oh!” He says now recognizing the name. “Oh yes! I remember...a pretty pony...purple unicorn...pointy hat?”
Apple Bloom nods with relief but the inn keeper then shakes his head.
“Not seen her for six months.”
Apple Bloom is shocked.
“What do we do now?” Sweetie Belle asks in a worried whisper.
In the noisy, smokey Inn it is dimly lit, chiefly from a blazing log fire and crowded with a mixture of Earth Ponies, Shetlands, and a couple of Dwarficornicorns. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Pinkie Pie are sitting at a table against the wall clearly trying to remain quiet and inconspicuous.
Sweetie Belle can't help herself and keeps casting nervous glances around.
“Sweetie Belle,” says Apple Bloom. “she'll be here. She'll come.”
Scootaloo bounces herself down at a table, carrying a very large mug of cider.
“What's that?” Pinkie Pie asks.
“This, my friend, is a cider.” Scootaloo says taking a sip.
“They sell those to fillies here?” She asks excitedly. “I'm getting one!”
Sweetie Belle watches Pinkie Pie rise unsteadily to her hooves and head to the bar.
“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea Pinkie!” Sweetie Belle says. Scootaloo watches Pinkie Pie go.
A couple of swarthy Earth Ponies leaning against the bar glance at Apple Bloom, then quickly look away.
Sweetie Belle is staring off tensely. “That pony's done nothing but stare at you since we've arrived.”
Sweetie Belle indicates to a brooding stranger who sits alone at a table in the far corner, smoking a curiously carved long stemmed pipe, peering from beneath a travel stained hood with gleaming eyes. Apple Bloom gestures to the inn keeper.
“Excuse me,” she says. “that pony in the corner, who is it?”
“She's one of them Rangers.” The inn keeper explains. “They're dangerous ponies they are, wandering the wilds. What her right name is, I never heard, but round here she's known as Trotter.”
“Trotter.” Apple Bloom says to herself.
Beneath the table Apple Bloom’s forehooves are nervously toying with the ring. Sweat runs down her brow. The Strange hum of the Ring spills into her head.
"Apple Family...Apple Family…" a creepy whisper seems to fill Apple Bloom's mind, a sound that dissolves into Pinkie Pie's loud voice:
“Apple Family? Sure, I know a pony from the Apple Family. She's over there!”
Apple Bloom looks over at Pinkie sitting at the bar, chatting with locals and leaps to her hooves and pushes her way towards the bar.
“Apple Bloom is her name.” she says loudly. “She's my second cousin once removed, on her mother's side and my third cousin twice removed on her father's side...if you follow me.”
Apple Bloom grabs Pinkie Pie's sleeve, spilling her cider.
“Pinkie Pie!” she shouts.
“What gives, Apple Bloom!”
Pinkie Pie pushes Apple Bloom away and she stumbles backwards falling to the floor. At that instant, the Inn goes silent and all the attention turns to Apple Bloom. The ring, and in Apple Bloom’s eyes, in agonizing Slow motion seems to hang in the air for a split second then crashes down onto her out stretched hoof. Apple Bloom vanishes. The inn has a sharp intake of breath followed by total silence.
-
On the Dodge Junction countryside the ringwraiths turn sharply. Instantly aware that the ring is being worn. They wheel up, shriek, and run towards the distant lights of Dodge Junction.
-
In the inn Sweetie Belle looks almost sick and Pinkie Pie instantly sobers, realizing her folly.
The brooding stranger frowns and the inn erupts into excited babble.
Apple Bloom suddenly finds herself in the dark world of the ring. The excited crowd is suddenly moving in slow motion, with distorted voices, everything is in a weird photographic negative quality.
Apple Bloom is moving in real time, against the slow motion background. She suddenly clutches her head as she is hit with quick images of a great eye! An evil cat-like eye, wreathed in flames.
She then hears a voice. “There is no life here in the void...only cold...only death...”
Apple Bloom is terrified. She rolls under a table, desperately pulling the ring from her hoof. Apple Bloom materializes into the real world. At that moment a large orange hoof reaches under the table and grabs Apple Bloom by the collar, dragging her away.
In a corridor Apple Bloom is roughly pushed against the wall. The Brooding stranger looms over her as and speaks in a soft southern drawl.
“You draw far too much attention to yourself...Miss Ponytail.”
Apple Bloom is pushed into the Shetland's room by Trotter.
“What do you want?” The filly asks.
“A little more caution from you...that is no trinket you carry.”
“I carry nothing.” Apple Bloom responds.
“Indeed?” The stranger says. “I can usually avoid being seen if I wish, but to disappear entirely...” The pony pulls down her hood revealing her blonde mane and green eyes. “that is a rare gift.”
“Who are you?” Apple Bloom asks.
“Are you frightened?” The mare asks.
“Yes.”
“Not nearly frightened enough. I know what hunts you.”
Apple Bloom jumps at the sound of a noise in the corridor. Trotter deftly draws her sword, the metallic hoofle sticking to the magnet like band around her hoof. A device created by the Pegaselves to help Earth Pony carry weapons.
The door bursts open and Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Pinkie Pie appear on the doorway. Sweetie Belle is Squaring off with her fists, Scootaloo brandishes a candlestick, and Pinkie Pie a chair.
“Let him go!” Sweetie Belle shouts angrily.
The orange pony sheathes her sword, a slight smile playing on her lips.
“You have a stout heart, little Shetland,” she says. “But that alone won't save you. You can no longer wait for the Unicorn, Apple Bloom. They're coming.”
-
At the Gatehouse of Dodge the gate keeper comes out of his Lodgings with a lantern and a
look of fear appears on his face. He approaches the closed gate with great apprehension. The Gatekeeper peers out of his Peephole.
“Who goes the-”
The gate crashes down on the gatekeeper as four ringwraiths ride into Dodge Junction. The four ringwraiths fly done the empty streets, like horses of the apocalypse The front door of the Prancing Pony flies open and four ringwraiths rush into the inn with wicked swords drawn. The inn keeper is hiding behind his bar trembling and sweating in terror.
-
Pinkie Pie stirs slightly in her bed then settles back to sleep.
A door creaks open and the four ringwraiths silently slide into the Shetland's room and loom above each bed, raising their shining swords above the sleeping Shetlands.
Sweetie Belle’s eyes open.
The ringwraiths stab the Shetlands in a slashing, hacking frenzy.
-
Inside of Trotter’s room the mare is grimly listening to the sounds.
-
In the room of the Shetlands the ringwraiths step back from the slashed beds in triumph but when a hacked blanket is pulled back to reveal nothing but a shredded pillow. The ringwraiths shriek with rage.
-
Sweetie Belle sits up with a start. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Pinkie Pie have been sleeping on
Trotter's bed. Apple Bloom stands next to Trotter by the window, peering out nervously as furious Ringwraith screeches echo across the courtyard from the Shetlands room.
“Who are they?” Apple Bloom asks.
“They were once Earth Pony.” Trotter glances quickly at Apple Bloom, then looks away. “Great Kings of Earth Pony.” She continues quietly. “Then Princess Celestia the deceiver gave to them Nine Rings of Power. Blinded by their greed they took them without question, one by one falling into darkness and now they are slaves to her will.”
Trotter looks from the window as the Ringwraiths gallop down the Dodge Junction Streets. She turns back to the Shetlands, her face lit faintly by the Glowing Embers of the Fire.
“They are the Ringwraiths,” she says. “Neither living or dead. At all times they feel the presence of the ring...drawn to the power of the one. They will never stop hunting you.
-
In the morning Trotter, Scootaloo, Pinkie Pie and Apple Bloom march through a gloomy, overgrown forest. Sweetie Belle follows behind laden with supplies.
“Where are you taking us?” Apple Bloom asks.
“Into the wild.” The orange pony responds.
Apple Bloom watches uneasily as Trotter moves off into the cover of the trees.
“How do, we know this Trotter is a friend of Twilight?” Scootaloo whispers.
“We have no choice but to trust her.” Apple Bloom responds.
“But where is she leading us?” asks Sweetie Belle.
Trotter stops, and casts a glance back at Sweetie Belle.
“To Cloudsdale, on the high mountain, Miss Sweetie Belle. To the house of Photo Finish.”
Sweetie Belle looks excited.
“Did you hear that?” She says. “Cloudsdale! We're going to see the Pegeselves!”
Trotter leads the Shetlands through the gloom of the forest when she notices that they have suddenly stopped and are unstrapping their knapsacks.
“Ladies,” she says. “We do not stop until nightfall.”
“What about breakfast?” Pinkie Pie asks.
The orange mare looks confused. “You've already had it.”
“We've had one, yes...” says Pinkie. But what about Second Breakfast?”
Trotter stares at Pinkie Pie blankly, then turns away, shaking her head.
“I don't think she knows about second breakfast, Pinkie.” Scootaloo says putting her pack back on.
“What about Elvenses,” Pinkie Pie says. “Luncheon, Afternoon Tea, dinner, supper...she knows about them, doesn't she?”
“I wouldn't count on it.”
An apple is thrown to Scootaloo, who deftly catches it. Another, aimed at Pinkie Pie, hits her on the forehead. The Shetlands continue to trudge through rain, looking tired, hungry, and miserable.
-
Luna, in her chamber, stands over the Palantir, her hoof above the massive eye.
“The power of Hayengard is at your command,” she whispers. “Princess Celestia, Lord of the Earth.”
Luna hears dark whispers in her mind as she says. “Build me an army worth of Canterlot.”
One of her dogs approaches.
“What orders from Canterlot, my Lady.” He asks. “What does the eye command?”
Luna looks at him straight on. “We have work to do.”
-
Twilight Sparkle is lying unconscious on a cold obsidian floor. She wakes to the sound of ripping and tearing, rising onto her hooves and lifting her head, Twilight stands as she realizes she’s stranded on the summit of the tower. She is marooned on the tiny, flat peak, surrounded on all sides by a sheer 500 foot drop. Another whispering wail rends the air. Twilight crosses quickly to the edge and peers down.
One of the beautiful Hayengard trees is being ripped from the ground by the Diamond Dogs. Twilight looks on in horror as dogs hack into the trunk with axes.
Luna stands in rain looking out into the dark night as a dog sidles up to her, an axe in his paws, sweating with exertion.
“The trees are strong, my Lady.” He says. “Their roots go deep.”
“Rip them all down.” Luna responds.
More and more trees are hauled down and killed as Twilight looks on in helpless despair.
-
On the rugged countryside the Shetlands journey on, lead by the mysterious orange mare. Trotter stops before a distant hill, topped by an Ancient Ruin.
“This was once the great Watchtower of Arhoof Sul.” She says. “We shall rest here tonight.”
At dusk Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Pinkie Pie collapse into a small hollow, halfway up Weathertop...they are muddy and exhausted. Trotter drops 4 small swords before the fillies.
“There are for you.” She says, she then hands them four metallic Pegaselvish bands to put around their hoof so they can hold the sword with just one.
“Keep them close. I'm going to have a look around. Stay here.”
That night Apple Bloom’s eyes flicker open. She suddenly sits up, sniffing the air. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Pinkie Pie huddled over a small fire where sausages and bacon sizzle in a hot frying pan.
“What are you doing?” asks Apple Bloom.
“Tomatoes, sausages, and crispy bacon.” Scootaloo says.
Sweetie Belle looks at Apple Bloom’s concerned face. “We saved some for you, Apple Bloom.”
“Put it out, you fools! Put it out!” Apple Bloom desperately kicks dirt on the fire.
“Oh, that's nice...” says Pinkie Pie. “ash on my tomatoes!”
Suddenly there is a shriek in the distance.
The ponies then see five ringwraiths running up the steep slope unnaturally fast.
“Go!” Apple Bloom shouts.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Pinkie Pie clamber desperately towards the summit, clutching their swords.