Smeagol woke up from his slumber. He checked his surroundings and noticed that he wasn't in Mordor anymore. He sees no fire, lava, rocky edges, or the crack of doom. He started to stand up, but fell to the ground. He grunts in a fit of frustration.
"What is wrong with us?"
He placed his hand on his face, but realizes it wasn't a hand that touched his head, it was a hoof. Smeagol gasps out of shock. He then starts to look himself over and realizes that his body has changed. He had hoofs, pale fur, a black colored tail, a muzzle, and a very short amount of stringy hair on his mane. He was a pony. Smeagol screamed out of fright and ran further into the dark forest.
Smeagol stopped his run and laid down next to a tree. He kept on breathing heavily until his heartbeat slowed down.
He then saw something shining in the distance and got up on his hooves to see where the shine was coming from.
As he got closer, he found a lake under the moonlight. He walked over to the lake and started to take a drink from the cool water. He then stared up at the night sky and saw millions of stars. He turned his attention to the moon that was full and very bright in the night sky.
"Pretty moon, precious." said Smeagol. "But, not as pretty as our precious. We finally ha-" Smeagol paused.
"Where is it? Where could it have gone? WHERE IS IT!?!?!?! NO!!!! MY PRECIOUS IS LOST AGAIN!!!!!"
Smeagol was freaking out as he looked around the bushes and trees surrounding the lake. He then sat back down and pondered. He was confused - where his ring? why was he a pony? He walked over to the lake and stared at his reflection.
"Our precious is gone…What are we to do nows, precious?"
"Smeagol, we screws up bad." said the Gollum persona. "Our precious is gone for good this time. It must have fell into the fires as we fell."
"How did we survives that fall? We should be burned."
"I'm not too sures."
"Well…What ares we going to do now? Gollum! Gollum!" asked Smeagol as he coughed.
The Gollum persona thought long and hard about what to do. He then had an idea.
"My love, we must finds a new precious."
"How? We doesn't knows what is in this new place. Theres can't be anything here for uses in this forest."
"You are right abouts that."
"Also, why ares we…Ponies?"
"I can't be sures myself, my love."
The Gollum persona then thought for a little while longer and finally had another idea.
"How about this my love, what if our precious didn't dies. It may have survived with us."
"Wheres could it be?"
"Around this forest, possibly."
"Well…Ok. We should looks in the morning. I'm getting tired."
The Gollum persona nods.
"We must sleeps. We must keeps up our strength."
Smeagol walked towards a dead tree that had very few leaves on it. He started to shift about trying to get comfortable.
Smeagol stared at the night sky. He was intrigued by how beautiful it was. A shooting star went across the sky and then it disappeared just as fast as it had come.
"The precious will be ours once again." said Smeagol as he shut his eyelids and fell into a deep sleep.
Smeagol awakes at dawn and gave a good long stretch. His stomach started to growl.
"We must feeds before we looks for precious." said smeagol as he gave out a yawn and another stretch.
Smeagol went looking around the forest to find something to eat. He then found a squirrel eating berries from the ground beneath a tree. The squirrel looked very weird to him. It looked like something out of a drawing that he remembered reading when he was younger before he had been corrupted by the ring. Slowly and steadily he tried to sneak behind the squirrel, but before he could pounce on his prey, the squirrel turned back and saw him. The squirrel ran and Smeagol went running after it.
Smeagol started to chase the squirrel through the forest. The squirrel tried to turn in different directions, but it was not helping him outrun the pony. Instinctively, the squirrel climbed up a tree to get away from Smeagol. When Smeagol got to the tree, he tried to climb up, but he could not. Unlike his hobbit form, this pony form of his was incapable of letting him climb a tree. The squirrel laughed at Smeagol as he watch him make several attempts to climb the tree. Discouraged, Smeagol finally gave up trying to catch the squirrel and ran back towards the lake.
Smeagol made it back to the lake and slumped onto the sand.
"Stupid squirrel!" said Smeagol
"Very" replied the Gollum persona.
Smeagol then heard splashing. He lifted his head up and saw a fish jumping and falling back into the lake.
"Fishes is much better." said Smeagol as he got up on his hooves and walked into the lake.
Smeagol started to swim towards the deep part of the lake. At least in this new form of his was capable of letting him swim. Smeagol had been swimming for hundreds of years back in Middle-Earth when he lived in the caves of the Misty Mountains.
Smeagol was getting close to his prey. He opened his mouth and caught the fish in his muzzle. He swam back up to the surface and walked back with the fish still squirming in his muzzle. Smeagol grabbed ahold of the fish between his hooves and started eating. The fish tasted good, just the way he liked it, raw and wriggling.
Smeagol finally finished his fish and tossed away the skeleton. He got up and started looking for the ring that he and Gollum were talking about the other night. He walked into the forest and searched all around to find it. He searched under rocks, around tree trunks, and even in rabbit holes.
By noon there was still no sign of his precious ring. Smeagol sat down on a fallen tree trunk.
"It's nowhere, precious. Our precious is gone." said Smeagol as he stared down at the ground.
"Guesses you're right, my love." said the Gollum persona.
"We has to get used to not having our precious back."
Smeagol smelled something coming from the forest. The smell was intoxicating to him as he continued taking in big whiffs.
"Do you smells that? Gollum! Gollum!" said Smeagol as he coughed.
"Yes, my love. I do."
Smeagol got off of the tree trunk and walked to wherever the scent was coming from.
Smeagol noticed the smell was getting stronger the closer he got. Smeagol pushed some bushes out of his way and saw a hut. This must be where the smell was coming from.
"What is this, precious?" said Smeagol in confusion.
"It looks likes a hut or something. Get closer."
Smeagol got closer to take a peek of who was inside. He saw a striped horse with rings on both its neck and one on its legs. It had a pierced ear and had a striped mane. Another feature that bugged Smeagol was the mark on the sides of the horse's thighs. There were all sorts of masks on some walls of the hut. Smeagol also sees a bed that looked comfortable. He hasn't been in a bed since he was little. The horse started to put some sort of ingredients inside of the cauldron that was placed in the middle of the hut and started to stir it.
"What a weird horse. Didn't knows they could do this." said Smeagol with a whisper and a cocked eyebrow.
"We musts go and sees if there's anyone else in there. Someone musts know where precious is, my love." whispered he Gollum persona.
"Before we does that, can we ask if there's any food for us?" replied Smeagol with curiosity. The Gollum persona sighed.
"Ok, sure my love. Then we ask about precious."
Smeagol walked up to the door of the hut and started doing something that he had not done in a very, very long time: knocking on the door.
"Who goes there?
What are you doing here?" said a female voice coming from inside the hut.
"Could you helps, us?" said Smeagol with innocence in his voice.
Smeagol heard hoof steps coming close to the door. The door opened and in front of him was the striped horse that he was looking at from before.
"Is theres anyone in there we could talks to?" said Smeagol as he tried to look behind the striped horse.
"I am the only one to talk to.
How would you like me to help you?" said the striped horse.
Smeagol screamed and ran back and hid into the bushes. The striped horse stood there with a cocked eyebrow.
"I wonder what he wanted me to help him do?
Oh well, back to making my brew." she said as she head back into her hut.
"Talking striped horses?! What's going on heres, precious?" said Smeagol all shaken up.
"I don't knows." said the Gollum persona.
"Should we go back agains?"
"…Yes…Let's go back to striped horse's hut and talk to her about where we's are."
"And about precious?"
"Yes"
"And that tasty smellses?"
"…That too."
Smeagol walked back to the hut and took a big gulp of nervousness. He started to knock on the door.
"Who is it?
I'm trying to make my tidbit." said the striped horse.
"It's we again. May we comes in?"
The striped horse opened the door and allowed Smeagol in.
The smell from before was stronger than ever. It was really starting to get to Smeagol. He started getting closer to the cauldron and taking big whiffs of the delicious smelling brew. The striped horse was very surprised to find this stranger interested in her cooking. She stared at him as he continued to smell the cauldron. She noticed how skinny he was and thought that he might be starving from being out in the wild for who knows how long.
"I see you like the smell of my brew.
Would you like to have a bowl or two?" said the striped horse.
Smeagol turned around with his mouth drooling and gave a nod. The striped horse went to get some wooden bowls and a ladle. She came back to him and placed the bowl on her wooden table and poured the brew into the bowls for him. Smeagol walked to the table and sat down.
"Enjoy my brew.
It be enough for-" the striped horse was cutoff when she saw the pony guzzle down the the first bowl.
He finishes his second bowl two minutes later and held it in front of the striped horse's face.
"More" said Smeagol in a demanding voice.
The striped horse was wide-eyed and surprised that somepony could eat that fast. She gabbed his bowls and refilled them with more of her brew. She saw how quickly he guzzled down the bowls.
Smeagol finally finished his sixth bowl. He has not had any homemade food since he lived with his grandmother a long ago. He remembers how warm and smooth it was when he placed the spoon to his mouth.
Smeagol then looked towards the striped horse with a messy face completely covered with the brew and gave her a smile.
"We thanks you, miss…Uh…" Smeagol wanted to thank her, but couldn't tell what her name was.
"Zecora." said the striped horse.
"Zecora the zebra."
Smeagol gave her a confused look.
"Zecoras? What is a Zecoras, precious?"
Zecora looked at the strange, thin, and pale looking pony with confusion.
"Zecora is me.
And that's the way it should be."
Zecora went to get a rag and handed it to Smeagol.
"Use this to clean your face.
You don't want to look like a disgrace." she said as Smeagol grabbed ahold of the rag and wiped his face.
Smeagol gave the rag back to Zecora and she took it to a bucket with water which was used for cleaning. She dropped it in and walked back and sat down at the table with Smeagol.
"What is it that you needed my help?
The last time you asked, you ran away with a yelp."
Smeagol and Gollum had so many questions about what to ask.
"We does have a question. Where are we?"
Zecora gave him a laugh.
"The Everfree Forest is what it is called.
You are very luckily to not get mauled."
"We wants to know what this land is."
"Equestria is its name.
And the people here are all fun and games."
Smeagol was confused. He then held up a hoof.
"Could you excuse us for a moment?" he asked politely.
Zecora nods. Smeagol turned around and started talking quietly to his Gollum persona.
"Equestria? What is that, precious?" said Smeagol.
"I have never heard of it." said the Gollum persona. "Keep up the conversation. I wants to know as much as you do."
Smeagol turned around and started asking more and more questions about Equestria. He was enthralled by all of the stories and characters that Zecora was telling him. He has never heard of anything quite like it. Smeagol asks her about the mark on the sides of her thighs. She tells him that they are cutie marks which determine what is your unique characteristic. She explained to him that there are rulers here as well that go by the names of Princess Twilight, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence and others. Zecora tells him about the elements of harmony and that Princess Twilight is one of them. She also tells him what creatures are good and those that are bad. Smeagol and Gollum had a lot to think about during the conversation. Smeagol told her a little about himself and where he was from and that he is trying to find his ring. He also asked her where the cracks of doom were if it existed in this world.
"I have never heard of this Mount Doom.
You must feel bad that you lost your ring and are now in gloom."
"We will find it, if its here in this world." said Smeagol as he looked at Zecora with a gloomy look.
"I'm sorry to hear,
but don't worry, you'll have fun here." she said trying to make Smeagol happy.
"You say you're good at riddles?
Doing a riddle is like playing a fiddle.
Go on and give me a little of your riddles."
Smeagol has not played a game of riddles since the day his precious was stolen by Bilbo Baggins. He sighed as he tried to remember the riddles. He thought for a few minutes and started to remember.
"What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than trees,
up, up it goes,
and yet never grows?"
Zecora began to think about what this riddle was. She finally has an answer.
"Mountain."
"Yes, yes, Zecoras. You are right." said Smeagol with giggle in his voice.
"How about this one:
Voiceless it cries,
Wingless flutters,
Toothless bites,
Mouthless mutters."
Zecora pondered again about this riddle. She has heard of this one somewhere before. She then began to hear the wind outside of her hut. The wind gave her an idea.
"The answer is wind.
That was a rather tricky one to find."
Smeagol thought of one more.
"Here's another one for you:
This thing all things devours;
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats mountain down."
Zecora had never heard of this riddle. She thought it could possibly being a dragon, but dragons don't tear down mountains unless they were making a home for themselves. She thought for two minutes now.
"Give us answer, please." said Smeagol impatiently.
Zecora was getting stressed trying to figure out this riddle.
"Time is up." said Smeagol.
Smeagol then surprised himself knowing that this was the same thing he had said to Bilbo which gave away the answer.
"The answer is time.
Because of my victory, the bells shall chime" said Zecora as she held up a bell and made it chime.
Smeagol was disappointed with himself.
"Could you excuse us agains, Zecoras?"
Zecora nodded. Smeagol then turned around to talk with his persona.
"Stupid Smeagol. You gaves away the answer like with bagginses." said Gollum with a bit of anger in his whispering voice.
"Oh, shut up." said Smeagol.
Smeagol then looked back at Zecora.
"It's beens a lot of funs with you Zecoras." said Smeagol as he got up from his chair.
"It has been indeed fun.
Now I must ask what are you gonna do now that you are done?"
"Well…We bests be going now. We needs to know more about this world."
"Well good luck to you.
I hope at some point you could come back and have more of my brew in a bowl or two."
Smeagol walked over to the door then paused and turned around to look at her.
"Before we leave, have you seen our precious? It's my birthday present and we wants it back. It's a ring. Have you seens it?" said Smeagol with suspicion. Zecora shook her head.
"I have not seen what you seek.
It must be somewhere around Equestria I think."
"Oks. We bests be off." said Smeagol as he opened the door but then paused again. "Oh! One more things we like to asks. Could you tells us where this Ponyville is?"
"If you keep moving straight forward,
Ponyville will be where your heading towards.
Also, look for Princess Twilight Sparkle while you're there.
She'll help you out while you are here."
"We thanks you miss Zecoras. Farewells." said Smeagol as he waved a hoof goodbye. Zecora waved back as he ran off towards Ponyville.
Smeagol walked through the Everfree Forest towards a place called Ponyville.
"Let's hopes that we finds our precious there before anyone elses has it." said the Gollum persona.
"Zecoras was very nice to us. I's wonder if the ponies theres are nice too. Twilight Sparkleses must be even nicer." said Smeagol with excitement.
"She may has precious. If she does, we takes it from her."
"I's doubt she takes precious from us, but I keeps thinking that precious may be theres in Ponyville."
"Don't worry, I bets we find it." said the Gollum persona with a snicker.
"Enough talks about precious until we gets there. I wants to sees more ponies." said Smeagol as if the ring didn't matter to him anymore.
"Fine" said the Gollum persona in a pouty voice.
TO BE CONTINUED...