//------------------------------//
// The Birth of Mairon 
// Story: Mairon's Redemption 
// by Ryukan 
//------------------------------//

A singing bird and the rays of the Sun finally woke Sauron up. He was groggy and still in mild pain from whatever Aule did to him. He started as he remembered the events that led to him lying on the ground under an unknown Sun.

As he sat up, the pain wore off and he opened his eyes. He saw he was in a forest on a dirt road that went on farther than he could see in either direction. As he took in his surroundings, he felt a strange sensation in his stomach, a strange noise emitted from his abdomen and a sharp pain there made him feel as though he was dying. He thought up of various possibilities and he settled on Aule poisoning him as the most likely. As his head tried to figure out how to stop the pain, a thought wormed its way into his head. Food. It was a primal thing that was barely perceivable, but Sauron caught it and he recoiled in horror.

He was hungry. This revelation mortified Sauron and he thought that Aule had taken away his immortality, but a quick check by reaching within himself, he detected a small amount of energy still residing within him, it was enough to prevent aging, but that was it. He needed sustenance and he had absolutely no idea on how to obtain it.

As he sat on the side of the road musing this new problem, he heard the faint creaking of a wagon and he snapped his head up in time to see a small blue creature that resembled a horse, but of an incredible short stature round a bend pulling a wagon that was only a few inches taller than he. The strange equine stopped when it caught sight of him and it just stared at him with an expression of caution and curiosity.

Sauron looked over the wagon trying to discern who might be driving it. When he found none apparent he called out, "Anyone there?"

"You can talk?" came the reply, but Sauron had sworn that it came from the pony.

"Of course I can talk, now show yourself. I command it!"

"First off bucko, no one can command me but the princesses and I am right here, are you blind or what?" the blue pony said.

Sauron just stood there staring at this marvelous creature, who he now recognized as a unicorn from its horn on its head. He had known the mystical beasts to exist on Arda, but he did not recall them being able to speak."I apologize my little pony, do you have a name I may call you by?" He asked as he forced a smile onto his face that really just came out as a weird mix of a mild frown and glare.

"I am the Great and Powerful Trixie and you are in my way, please move and let me on my way," Trixie replied.

Sauron laughed at this tiny creature's audacity and laughed even harder at the fact that she had no idea who he was. He stopped. She had no idea who he was, did she? He decided to test the waters, "Do you know who I am little Trixie?"

"I know that you're a creep and that you're in my way. As for a name, I really couldn't care if you had one or not. Now then, I have a show in Ponyville and you're in my way. This is really important because I have to redeem myself and try to fix what I messed up." Trixie explained .

Sauron, who was still amused at the little thing's obliviousness, moved aside and gestured down the road, "That way to this town you called Ponyville?" he inquired.

"Yes, now good day sir," Twixie said as she resumed her journey.

"And a good day to you Miss Trixie." Sauron said, then he was reminded of his hunger by another sharp pain, "and miss trixie, you wouldn't have any food you could spare do you?"

Trixie reached into her saddle bag and tossed out an apple without stopping, "There you go, now good day."

Sauron moved swiftly to snatch the apple and he took a quick bite and he was rewarded with his stomach stopping its complaints. He finished the apple and tossed the core aside. By this time, Trixie's cart was far ahead and it soon disappeared around a bend. He sat back down and focused inward as he probed what strength he had left.

It was while deep in thought and concentration that he heard a strange voice, "Well, what do we have here? A Dark Lord? What luck! I used to be a Dark Lord of sorts back in the day, but sadly these cursed ponies managed to worm their way into my non-existent heart."

Sauron had looked up but found that he was faced with by far the most bizarre creature he had ever laid eyes upon, "What on Eru’s great Arda are you?"

"I am Discord, Lord of Chaos. I could ask the same of you, you are built like a human, yet your ears are longer and I sense a power within you."

"My name is..." Sauron paused. He had not given this much thought before, but here he had a chance t start anew, and while his name of Sauron was by far his most famous, it did mean "Dreaded Enemy" or something like that. He pondered it over and finally decided on a name that he once had, but had long since lost. He decided to give it a try.

"My name is Mairon."