Lord of the Crowns

by Professor Coconuts

Chapter 2

Thanks again to my Editor/Descriptive Writer, United Bronies.

“Thank you for being here, all of you.” The nice smiling face of Granny Smith died out into an expressionless mask that suddenly made Twilight suspicious. She grabbed her bag again and put her hoof in it. “ But now I have to go somewhere else. I don’t belong here.” She took something out of her bag and put it behind her back. It was shaped as a crown. “I don’t expect to return.”

In the blink of an eye she put the crown on her head and vanished. Everypony gasped in shock. Twilight ran as fast as she could to Apple End. She snuck inside, and nobody was home. Twilight heard the door open.

“There are only 20 crowns with that much power!” Twilight exclaimed.

“It was just for a laugh, and I’m leaving for Rivendell now.” said Granny Smith.

“I’ll tell Applebloom that you’re leaving Apple End then.”

Granny Smith opened the front door and sighed.

“One last thing Twilight. I left my crown on the table for Applebloom. Please give it to her so she’ll always have something to remember me by.”

Granny Smith left Apple End, and started on the road to Rivendell. Applebloom suddenly came through the door, reducing it to a pile of splinters.

“Granny Smith!” Applebloom shouted in earnest.

“She’s gone to Rivendell, and she’s left you her home.” Twilight said sadly.

Applebloom was so shocked that she sprinted out the door immediately, chasing after Granny Smith. Twilight tried to pick up the crown to show Applebloom that Granny had left it for her as well.

Suddenly, the evil eye of Dicord seared itself into Twilight’s retinas. She threw the crown to the ground. Applebloom came through the door, panting, and picked up the crown.

“Granny Smith left her crown for me, didn’t she?”

Twilight was amazed that Applebloom could pick the crown up. Something clicked in Twilight’s brain, and she immediately said:

“Keep the crown safe, I have to go somewhere. I’ll be back soon”.

“Where are you going?” said Applebloom.

“There’s no time to explain!” Twilight shouted as she ran out the door. “See ya later!”

Twilight immediately teleported to Minas Tirath seeking knowledge of this crown. She arrived at Gondor. Twilight asked Lord Denethor if she could look at his private archives. She dug through all the scrolls until she found the scroll written by the pegasi that killed Discord. It was believed that the crown ruled over him, and the only people that could even remotely understand it were the Unicorns. Meanwhile, Applebloom was making herself a cup of cider and saw that it was dark outside, and very quiet.

Too quiet.

Applebloom heard whispering outside her window. She slowly walked to the window to see what it was. Out of nowhere, Twilight barreled into Applebloom and screamed.

“WHERE IS THE CROWN???”

Applebloom showed Twilight where the crown was. Twilight picked up the crown and threw it straight into the fire. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” shouted Applebloom.

“Pick up the crown.” Twilight said.

Applebloom reached her hoof into the fire and grabbed the crown “Can you see any writing?” said Twilight in earnest.

“No.”

As soon as Applebloom said that a flash of red writing shone on the crown. “Hang on Twi, I think I see something. It seems to be some sort of magic language.” Twilight snapped.

“We must leave, protect the crown!”

“Why?” asked Applebloom.

“People are after you, that crown is evil!”

A sudden sound of movement came from the window. Twilight protected Applebloom and grabbed what was lurking outside. She threw the pony inside.

Twilight started to yell.

“What did you hear?”

“N-n-nothing, just something about a crown, that’s all!” Sweetie Belle was still in shock from when Twilight threw her through the window.

“Applebloom, you have to take the ring to Rivendell!” said Twi.

“And as for you, Sweetie Belle, you will carry Applebloom’s things.” “You must keep this secret. When you step out of the door you will no longer be known as Applebloom, got it?”

“Alright.” said Applebloom. Applebloom then commenced her journey through the forests of The Shire with her trusty companion Sweetie Belle by her side. They reached the Borderline of the Shire.

“If I take one more step, I’ll be the furthest away I’ve ever been from home.” said Sweetie Belle sadly.

“C’mon Sweetie Belle, we’ll take the step together.” They stepped outside The Shire, and were on the road to Bree. It was dark and they were able to find a nice tree to sit under and camp out. Sweetie Belle took her frying pan from her bag and was able to cook a meal for them.

All of a sudden they heard this music come from a road next to them with a big vibrant white glow. They saw Unicorns walking to the heavens. They thought this sight was amazing. They went back to their camp and slept in the trees. The next morning they found themselves in a big cornfield.

CRASH.

It was Pinkie Pie and Scootaloo. “Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, It’s good to see you!” Pinkie Pie said. A loud shout from a nearby farmer startled them.

“I’ve had enough of you stinking ponies running around my field, GET OUT!” Applebloom started to gallop. “Follow me everypony, we have to get out of here!”

They ran through the farmer’s fields, trampling all the crops. The ground in front of them suddenly dropped out, and all the ponies went skidding over the edge. They all got up and dusted themselves off. Applebloom looked at the road and saw that the road split off in many different directions. She saw a Black Rider form out of the misty distance.

“Everypony RUN!” They all sprinted through the misty and damp forest, knowing that the evil being lurking in the shadow behind them was following them. They jumped down a small cliff and found an overgrowth of roots. They slowly crawled under the roots, terrified.

The Black Rider’s hoof made a loud clunk as it stepped on the roots, not knowing that the ponies were hiding under there. He raised his dark head over the roots and wasn’t able to see the ponies. They could hear loud, ragged breathing right on top of them. Applebloom was giving in to the Black Rider’s power. She was slowly raising the crown above her head.

“Applebloom, you alright?” asked Sweetie Belle. The Black Rider left the murky and dark forest in a hurry, thinking that the ponies went the other way. “What was that thing?” asked a terrified Scootaloo. “It’s after the crown.” said Applebloom. They ran blindly through the forest, attracting more and more of the Black Riders, although it was the only way to escape. They finally reached a little river with a boat. Everypony jumped into the boat and untied it. It started to drift away. “Where’s Applebloom?” asked Sweetie Belle.

Applebloom was running behind while the Black Riders were following her. She got to the boat. “Jump Applebloom, jump!” Applebloom leapt into the air, she managed to just get into the boat. The Black Riders did not go through the water. Instead, they went the long way, through the Brandywine Bridge.

The ponies knew that they would catch up to them sooner or later. They ran into Bree and knocked on the town’s gate. The gatemaster opened a window that was in the gate so he could see the ponies. “What business do you have in Bree?”

“We wish to stay at the Prancing Pony, our business is of no matter to you.” said Applebloom.

“Alright, I’ll let you stay, but there’ve been some strange ponies around these parts, so be carful.” The town’s gate opened with a resounding thud. The ragged group dragged themselves to the Prancing Pony, only to be greeted by ponies drinking cider. Applebloom found a table for all of them. They all sat down after a tiring day of adventure and helped themselves to a big mug of cider. Applebloom saw a strange pony with a hood over their face.

The pony was staring at them intently. The bar man came over to pick up the empty mugs of sider. “Who’s that pony over there?” Asked Applebloom.

“That’s one of the pegasi, they call him Strider.”

The Black Riders reached Bree and charged through the gates, killing the gatemaster in the process. Applebloom suddenly fainted. She hit the ground with a large THUD.

Strider swooped to Applebloom’s side with unbelievable speed, and deposited her in his room. The rest of the group followed and broke through the door that Applebloom was in. Without thinking, Sweetie Belle yelled, “Take your hooves off her!”

Strider uncovered her face and tried to calm them down. “It’s alright. Applebloom is safe with me, I know what she’s carrying.

“My real name is Dash. Rainbow Dash.”