Twilight Sparkle hadn’t left her library for a whole day.
A whole day long, the alicorn princess had been alone with herself, her thoughts, and her books. She needed the time to think, to figure out just exactly what had happened with the machine, with Fluttershy—and with herself.
A whole day long, she had felt the burden of guilt weigh down on her shoulders, strapping her wings to her barrel and keeping her from flying. She had shed tears, definitely. In the beginning, she’d spent a good long hour weeping over what she’d done; teleporting one of her friends into another world. A world with which Fluttershy was barely familiar. A strange and scary world—which would only get scarier the longer she would wait.
And that had helped the flood of tears stop. Twilight had realized that the clock was ticking. The longer she would wait, the sooner the Greenwood would change into the Mirkwood, as predicted by the story The Lord of the Rings.
So Twilight had stopped crying, and had gathered as many schematics, books, drawings, tables, and notes about the machine as she could, making sure that The Lord of the Rings, was always within reach.
The somber and dreary day had been the only thing accompanying her in her studies. And when evening began to fall, the moon took over, being slightly more helpful and casting a ray of moonlight into the library.
Twilight’s friends had been in the castle the whole time, deciding not to leave in order to support Twilight when necessary. Pinkie Pie had been the first pony to lose patience when the only sound coming from the library were the sounds of pages turning and hooves trotting from one bookcase to another. Twilight had been very careful to keep her sobs as quiet as possible, but they knew that she’d cried; somehow, her friends knew.
“Twilight? Are you alright?” Pinkie had once yelled in her ever-cheerful voice, but she got no answer.
Even Starlight Glimmer hadn’t been allowed inside, even though she knew that she could be of use. Then she’d reckoned that Twilight didn’t only need the information about the accident, she also wanted her moment of alone time.
The only one who’d managed to take a peek at Twilight had been Spike, who had brought some dinner at the door. The door had opened to a slit, precisely enough to allow a hoof and a head through, and then closed again before Spike could blink his eyes. He had seen how Twilight looked, and it wasn’t good. Bloodshot violet eyes, full of a maddening guilt and drive, had glanced down at the plate. A trembling hoof had grabbed it and slid it inside, and then a hoarse voice, broken by many sobs, had uttered a quick “Thank you,” before the door had slammed shut.
That was a day ago, and the rest of the ponies and Spike were still in the castle.
They’d brought sleeping mats, candles, pillows, and had made themselves comfortable in the throne hall. Despite the funny look of everypony in their sleeping gowns and the ground littered with stuffed animals (especially Pinkie seemed to have a lot of those), the ambiance was tense and grave, nothing at all like a slumber party, despite the way it all looked.
“Do you think she will get enough sleep?” Rarity said, her voice wavering with worry.
“I reckon’ she won’t sleep until she’ll figure all of this out,” Applejack answered.
Starlight Glimmer walked closer to the two of them. “I hope she’ll ask for some help. I’m sure she feels guilty about the accident, but actually, I think… I think that I’m partly to—”
But Applejack’s hoof on Starlight’s shoulder stopped her talking. “Nopony’s to blame here, Starlight. It was an accident. Period.”
Starlight tried to smile; she managed it only partly. “Thank you, Applejack. I’m just afraid to be judged. It was Twilight’s and my idea, after all.”
“Oh! Then the princesses have to be punished too,” Pinkie Pie said, skipping towards them on a bouncing ball she brought along. “They were supervising the project as well, right?”
However ridiculous it sounded, the ponies realized that she was right. But they also realized something else: they hadn’t even told the princesses about the accident yet.
“Should… should we tell the princesses about it all?” Applejack said.
“Of course,” Starlight Glimmer said, but her voice bore no positivity. In her head, she imagined how she would write such a letter. She didn’t even know where to begin. “Spike!”
The little dragon walked over to the rest. “Yeah?”
“We have to write a letter to princess Celestia and princess Luna. I… I have honestly no idea what to put in it. But you have experience writing letters, right?”
“I’ll get some ink and paper,” Spike said, and darted out of the throne hall.
A minute later, Spike returned, carrying many rolls of paper, as he’d reckoned that it would take many tries to get the words just right. Even he had no idea how to even start such a letter. He flopped the stationary down on the table.
Starlight sat down, and supported her head with her hooves. “Oh my! How should I start? What should I tell?”
“The truth, sugar cube,” Applejack said, standing next to Starlight.
“I have to agree with Applejack on that one, Starlight,” Rarity said. “But bring it in with grace and tact.”
“And make it FUN!” Pinkie Pie shouted from the other end of the room, but at the strange glances she got from the rest, she said, “Or maybe not.”
Spike put a claw on Starlight’s hoof. “We’ll all help you, Starlight. Just take your time.”
“Thank you, Spike,” Starlight said. Then she furrowed her brow in concentration and put the quill down for the first word of the most difficult letter she would ever write.
* *
Starlight certainly took her time, and her paper. As the sun started to rise outside, casting a helpful orange light into the throne hall and making the crystals shimmer and shine, Starlight still wasn’t done. A pile of discarded first drafts lay behind Starlight’s throne. Her tongue hung out of her mouth as she grabbed yet another blank piece of paper to try her hoof at it once more.
Starlight thought about it; thought about the princesses’ reactions. Would they be angry? Upset? Disappointed? Shocked? Fueled by fear, she forced herself to continue writing, even though it seemed like no words were appropriate enough; every sentence too painful to read aloud; every paragraph a dagger to the heart. Suddenly, the feeling of desperation became too much, and she briefly saw the world around her waver through a watery curtain, but then realized that crying would mean that the ink would stain.
It still felt like another failure; another foul deed; another crime committed by the already infamous Starlight Glimmer. She lifted a double weight on her shoulders now: her actions and deeds from the past and the lives she’d controlled in her obsessive delusions, and the building of a machine that had banished one of her friends—one of her new friends—into a fictional realm.
But every time she wanted to give up, every time she wanted to fling the quill across the room and rip the paper into a thousand pieces, her friends were with her. From everypony she received good advice, sometimes even too much good advice. It took her a while to incorporate all of the tips she got into the letter, good as they all were. But in the end, she managed to fill the tiny sheet of paper with the words that conveyed the terrible message, and she raised it in the air like a flag of a triumphing army.
With a sigh of relief, she said, “Done! I can’t believe it.”
“Great job, sugar cube,” Applejack said, patting her on the back. “The only thing we need to do now is send it, but that’s the easy part.” Applejack breathed in deeply. “SPIKE!”
The mountain of discarded paper stirred, and out rolled the small purple dragon. “Huh? Why so loud?” he said with a sleep-drunk voice.
Applejack chuckled at the sight. “We got it, Spike. Let’s send it.”
Spike rubbed his eyes. “Yes, of course.”
His head still cloudy with the remnants of a very pleasant dream, Spike walked over to the ponies. When he reached the table, he picked up the sheet of paper and let his green, slit eyes run over the words. He said nothing when he’d finished. Then he rolled up the parchment, tied a red ribbon around it, and stamped it with Twilight’s seal: a six-pointed star. Princess Celestia would recognize the letter the moment she’d receive it.
Spike held the roll between two claws, as if it were a very thin glass sculpture, or a precious gem. He breathed in deeply, ready to burn the roll so it would reappear before princess Celestia’s eyes. The burning feeling of dragon-fire warmed his stomach. One, two, thr—
The doors of the hall burst open. Spike jolted, nearly choking on his own fire. He dropped the roll and swallowed, making the green fire flare through his nostrils.
“I got it, everypony!” Twilight shouted. “I know how to get Fluttershy back!”
Twilight Sparkle stood in the doorway, a maddened glance in her eyes. Her mane looked split and ruffled, and her tail swept from side to side. She looked at the ponies one by one, looking at their startled faces. Finally, her gaze settled on Spike, still holding the letter with a single claw; there it stayed.
“What… what are you doing, Spike?”
Spike rubbed his belly with his free claw and looked at Twilight. With a shock he realized that he barely recognized her, wild as she looked. “Sending a message to princess Celestia.”
To that, Twilight’s eyes flared with a sudden glow. She jumped towards the dragon, and ripped the roll out of his claw. When she landed, Twilight held the piece of paper tightly in her mouth, as if it were her most awkward diary entry.
The other ponies followed her flight with an unsure expression. Only Pinkie Pie laughed, impressed as she was by Twilight’s crazy jump.
Twilight Sparkle spit the roll on the table and ripped the seal apart. Her eyes scanned the sentences.
“What’s wrong, Twilight?” Starlight said, as she came up from behind. “Is the letter bad?”
As an answer, Twilight’s horn began to glow, together with the letter, before the paper burst into a bright purple flame. A second later, ash littered the table.
With a sigh, Twilight stumbled backward. Starlight Glimmer quickly caught her in her hooves. “Was it that bad?” she said.
But Twilight didn’t answer. The lack of sleep had obviously taken a toll on her. Starlight felt her mentor going limp of exhaustion. But before she did, Twilight nodded with her head towards her throne; Starlight got the message. Together with Rainbow Dash, they carried Twilight Sparkle towards her throne, where they put her down as carefully as they could. With some effort, Twilight sat upright, and motioned for everypony to take their seats. She had many things to explain.
Through the window, the scarlet light had changed to a lighter yellow hue. The sun made its way towards its apex, and a few roosters cried to welcome the morning light. The light came rolling over the many fields and over the roofs of the Ponyville houses, where many ponies awakened to start their days. No doubt they had their worries too, but they would probably not have a crisis as big as Twilight Sparkle’s.
The sunlight skidded over the fields and into the throne room full of ponies. Twilight’s face was illuminated in the glow, and it accentuated the bags encircling her eyes like a picture frame. Twilight blinked, and welcomed the sunlight on her face. She felt a little bit of energy radiate through her body, sprouted from the cheerful morning sun. Then she closed her eyes once more, and breathed in a deep breath while waving her hoof, as if she tried to chase away her worries and prepare her for the speech she was about to give. It was the familiar technique her sister-in-law princess Cadence had taught her, and a smile curled on Twilight’s lips at the memory. In that moment, even though it lasted only a few seconds, her worries were far away.
She opened her eyes, and looked at her friends.
“I have found a way to return Fluttershy to Equestria,” Twilight said, her voice growing stronger at every word. “We can get her back the same way we teleported her in, using the teleportation machine. If Fluttershy is standing at the right place at the right time, we can safely transport her back from Middle Earth.”
As much as the ponies felt relieved at the good news, this message also raised a lot of eyebrows.
“Eh… Twilight,” Applejack said. “I don’t wanna… well… ruin your enthusiasm, but the machine is blown to smithereens.”
Twilight nodded. “Indeed, Applejack. That’s why we have to rebuild it, starting all the way from scratch. We’ll rebuild the machine and”—Twilight looked at the ground—“and keep the factor ‘weather’ in the equation this time.”
Rainbow Dash flew up and hovered in mid-air. “I’ll make sure of that, Twilight.”
Twilight looked at her friend and smiled. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash.”
The plan was clear, but still everypony had questions. Before anyone could pose them, however, Twilight continued her tale.
“We’ll have to build the machine step-by-step,” she said, her face hardening into a matter-of-fact posture. “In order to make the machine work, it needs critical components. First up is the frame. It was made of brass, and with the help of princess Celestia, I was able to import it from the Dragon Lands. Dragons, as you may or may not know, are truly skilled crafters and smiths, and only they had a forge big enough—and ore plenty enough—to create such a giant arch and all the nuts and bolts that went with it.”
Twilight paused, letting the words sink in.
“Secondly, we need crystals. Maybe you all saw the glowing crystals on top of the machine; they weren’t there just for show. The crystals contained powerful magic which helped to power the machine, as it is powered by both magical energy as well as physical energy, in the form of electricity. We need those crystals; as strong as we can get them, and they must also be able to store a massive amount of powerful magic. Two crystals are required. One which will contain magical energy, and another which will contain the electricity.”
At the word ‘crystals,’ Rarity veered up on her throne, but she didn’t interrupt Twilight.
“Our third component,” Twilight said, “is actually two: programming software and computers. I got them from Doctor Whooves to use in the machine, and”—Twilight looked as if she’d done something bad—and I hope he won’t be angry because I destroyed them, Twilight thought, but decided to keep that to herself. Instead she said, “And I’m sure he’ll have some spares, or that he’ll be able to make some new ones. The computers are used to direct the flow of the energy sources, set the destination, and trigger and lead the teleportation process. Without the computers, the teleportation machine is just a pretty statue.”
“Or a climbing frame,” Pinkie added. “Or a front porch, or a neon street sign, or a traffic light, or a birdhouse, or a searchlight, or an art frame, or a torch, or a firework show, or a—“
Rainbow Dash swooped over and put a hoof to Pinkie’s mouth; Pinkie continued naming things even though she was silenced. “Anything else?” Rainbow Dash said.
“There is one more thing…” Twilight’s voice lost all strength, and she looked down at her front hooves, circling them around each other.
“Then what is it?” Rainbow asked.
Twilight looked as if the mention of the last component pained her. “The last thing we need is a fragment of powerful magic. I can conjure the electricity using a dynamo, but for the magical energy I need to borrow some magic from someone. I’ve used a portion of Starlight’s magic and my own, but I have also used magical energy from… eh… “
Twilight tensed, the name stung on her lips. Everypony leaned forward in their thrones, eager to hear the name.
Twilight’s eyes darted across the throne hall, as if she was looking for the name. Then they settled down, and Twilight spoke.
“I’ve also borrowed magic from Discord.”
A sigh came from everypony. Rainbow Dash landed back on her throne. “Well, that’s no big deal, right? He’s reformed. We’ll just ask him to borrow some of his magic again. He’ll do it. Hay, I’ll buck the magic out of him if I need to.”
Twilight sighed in relief, and quickly glanced over to everypony else. “Yes. Discord. I hope he’ll do it again.” For a moment, Twilight found herself at a loss for words, but luckily Applejack continued her conversation.
“Alright, y’all, I say we gotta come up with some kind of action-plan. Someway we can get them parts as quickly as possible. I say we split up in different groups, and hunt for the parts together.”
“That’s a wonderful idea, my dear Applejack,” Rarity said, eager to take up the first task. “I suggest that I should go and find the crystals, as my abilities will ensure an easy find. I can use my horn to find any gem or crystal, no matter where it is.” Rarity sat up straight, giving off an almost regal expression. “Tell me where to start, Twilight. I will not let you down, rest assured.”
A warm feeling sprang from Twilight’s belly. She knew it wasn’t the feeling of the morning sun, but the comforting feeling her friends gave her. They would follow her to the top of mount Everhoof itself, if she would go there. Luckily for Rarity, the crystals didn’t come from mount Everhoof.
“The Crystal Empire,” Twilight said. “That’s where I got the crystals from. I had sent a message to Cadence and Shining armor, and they urged their miners to dig twice as deep. It didn’t take them long until they reached bedrock, where the sturdiest and most stable crystals were embedded. They don’t have to be that big, as the crystals on the machine weren’t big at all either. But they have to be able to contain much energy. They have to be close to unbreakable.”
“Certainly,” Rarity said with a nod of her head. Although the prospect of spending a long time in a cramped train coupon and plunging into a dirty old mine filled her with reluctance, Rarity also looked forward to visiting the city itself—especially the beautiful palace of princess Cadence and prince Shining Armor.
“So what do you want me to do, Twi?” Rainbow Dash said, flying into the air once more, brimming with excitement and ready for action. “Would you like me to go to Discord and get him to give you some magic? I’ll do that any day.”
But Twilight shook her head. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Rainbow Dash,” she wisely decided. Having looked at the murderous look in Rainbow Dash’s eyes, Twilight knew enough.
Rainbow fluttered down with slumped shoulders. “Oh, bummer.”
“Don’t worry, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said. “I have an assignment that I think you’ll like. I want you to go to the Dragon Lands and get them to make the metal parts of the machine.”
Instantly, Rainbow Dash’s face glared with joy. Dragons? A treacherous volcanic land? That meant action, a language Rainbow Dash spoke fluently. She already began thinking about every challenge they would face just getting there.
“…Together with Spike,” Twilight finished.
Dash’s excitement diminished significantly, like a balloon accidentally let go and losing half of its air. “What?” she said with a frown. “Why Spike?”
Spike threw Dash an accusing glance, but Rainbow Dash didn’t notice it.
“Because we’re dealing with dragons,” Twilight answered. “You know that dragons don’t really like us ponies right? Even after princess Ember became the new Dragon Lord, I’m sure dragons still look down on other races, especially ponies, since we’re so… well, non-dragon-looking. With Spike, you’ll have some extra protection.”
Dash almost choked. “Extra protection?! How?!”
“Spike will be in favor with princess Ember, so I think the dragons under her command will make way for him—for both of you. It will be a lot easier to talk to them.”
The arguments made sense, but still Rainbow Dash would rather have gone alone. Spike was far from an action hero, after all. With a sigh, Rainbow sat down, her hooves crossed. “Fine.”
Spike, meanwhile, felt uncertain. He remembered how he got the bloodstone scepter from the Gauntlet of Fire, the mightiest volcano in the Dragon Lands. He remembered how he gave it to princess Ember to make sure the Dragon Lands got a fair and good ruler, willing to diminish the stigma on ponies and improve their relationship with the other species. But Spike also wondered just how far Ember had come with that, as he knew how stubborn and rough dragons could be. With a shudder, the image of Garble the red dragon flew through his mind, teasing him and spitting fire in a haze of rage and violence. He and Spike weren’t good friends.
But with Rainbow Dash, he might feel a bit safer—if Dash would be able to keep a hold on herself.
“Eh… Twilight?”
“Yes, Spike?”
“Are you sure it’s safe to go to the dragon lands? I mean, I know I’m a dragon and all, but I just don’t really feel sure about it.”
Twilight reached for the dragon and patted him on the head. “Don’t worry Spike. In the last letter I sent to princess Ember, she told me many great developments that have taken place in the Dragon Lands. From what I’ve read, the dragons have become a bit friendlier, so I’m certain you and Rainbow Dash will be safe there.”
But Spike wasn’t at all reassured. Even though he trusted his closest friend, he would still feel more at ease with a bigger bodyguard, or if he himself would be bigger. He opened his mouth to ask another hesitant question, one concerning the date of that particular letter, but somepony demanded Twilight’s attention first.
“Oh! Me! Pick me! Me, me, me!” Pinkie Pie said, raising her hoof in the air as if she were a little filly in class, eager to take a turn.
Twilight couldn’t help but laugh. “Of course, Pinkie Pie. I want you to go to Discord and ask him for a portion of his magical power.”
To that, Pinkie Pie jumped and skipped on her seat. “Yippee! I love to play with Discord. You wouldn’t believe how good he is at riddles. Last time—believe it or not—it took me three hours to solve his riddle, and do you know what the answer was?”
But Pinkie Pie wasn’t going to wait for anypony to shake her head. “It was a rock!” Pinkie let out a cackle that shook the giant window. “Can you believe it? A rock! I mean, I’ve worked on a rock farm all my life and I couldn’t guess what the answer was. I should have known. A rock! How silly is that?”
While Pinkie Pie rattled on and on about the many games she and Discord often played, Twilight Sparkle bent over and gestured to Applejack. The farm pony raised an eyebrow, and walked over to Twilight.
“Please go together with Pinkie,” Twilight whispered in her ear. “Although I’m sure she can handle any sticky situation, I would prefer you to keep an eye out for her. You know how Pinkie Pie is; she might get a bit… distracted.”
Applejack looked over at Pinkie Pie, who was now jumping around, demonstrating the leapfrog variants she’d invented with Discord, then she looked back at Twilight. Shaking her head with a smile, Applejack said simply, “Eeyup.”
Now everypony had gotten a task from Twilight Sparkle—everypony, except one. Starlight Glimmer looked over to her mentor, who had once again skipped her. “So what are we going to do Twilight? I guess whatever we’re going to do, we’ll do it together. Are we going to get the computers up and running?”
“Precisely,” Twilight said. “You and I are going to Doctor Whooves and program the computers together. It will be fun!”
For the first time in many hours, Twilight dared to speak out that word again, and she really meant it.
It sounded simple enough, programming computers, but Starlight and Twilight both knew that it would take them many hours, maybe even many days, of calculating and digging through numbers to get everything online. This task was at least as heavy as the one given to everypony else, although they probably wouldn’t think about it that way.
Rarity was looking forward to go to the brilliant Crystal Empire, already thinking about the outfits she would be wearing on the trip. A lady should always travel in style, after all. Rainbow Dash was eager to depart too; Spike not so much. Pinkie Pie smiled in delight at the happy memories floating around in her head. Applejack thought about the things they would say to Discord. Twilight and Starlight were mentally preparing themselves for the many hours behind computer screens.
Applejack returned to her shining crystal throne. Even though she was eager to get to work—just like the others—she had one more question to ask. “Hold on, Rainbow Dash!” she called, seeing the pegasus already flying towards the door. Dash stopped, but didn’t land.
“What is it, Applejack?” Twilight said.
“I think there’s one more thing we should know, Twi,” said Applejack. Her expression was dead-serious, and it awoke a sense of worry in everypony. “Starlight Glimmer told us something. Something about an evil forest where Fluttershy has landed in. Even though I reckon it’s a dark story, I still think we should be aware of what’s happening out there.”
Those words stung Twilight. She had hoped to avoid telling them exactly what was going to happen to Fluttershy, just to keep the mood light and the morale high. Things were going to happen that would be hard to understand for ponies of Equestria. An evil that was even worse than the worst villain they had ever encountered. It was all written in J.R.R. Tolkien’s books The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and some of the forest’s history Twilight had discovered later on. Suddenly, Twilight’s expression became sharper, and she looked up at her friends. “Didn’t you guys read the books I gave you?”
Only Starlight nodded, the rest looked all around the room.
“I… well… I didn’t have time,” Applejack said, fiddling with her tail. “I had chores to do. Sorry, Twi.”
Rarity blinked her eyes. “Please excuse me, dear Twilight, but you must understand that I couldn’t possibly read something like that. I love to read, don’t get me wrong, it’s just that I like to read things with more… flair. Oh, but I did enjoy the part with the hobbits, they must have quite a bourgeois fashion I presume.”
Twilight looked at Pinkie, who returned the gaze with a smile. “Yes, the Hobbits were funny. But I stopped reading at the black riders; they were real party poopers.”
Twilight had the urge to sigh, but instead skipped the empty throne with a blink and gazed at Rainbow Dash.
“I just read the end of The Return of the King,” Rainbow said. “But that’s what mattered, right? That’s where you wanted to send me, after all.”
Twilight couldn’t deny that, but still, a bit of preparation wouldn’t hurt, especially if the journey would have taken Rainbow Dash to another world.
Spike drew circles with his claw in the crystal of the throne. “It… well… it looked boring, and it didn’t have any pictures.”
Now Twilight couldn’t withhold herself, and slapped her hoof against her head.
But Starlight Glimmer gave Twilight a gentle prod. “You should tell them, Twilight. They have the right to know.”
Twilight Sparkle knew her student was right. With a deep breath and a blink of her eyes, she straightened her back and gave all of her friends one more look. She decided to start off a bit positive. “First of all, Fluttershy will probably be alright. The machine teleported her to Greenwood, as I already told you. It is a forest much like any normal, deciduous forest in Equestria, with trees, shrubs, flowers, and animals. Apart from wild boars or bears, there is nothing really dangerous there—for now.”
Her friends stirred at those last two words. Applejack shuffled on her seat, but continued to listen.
“The only non-animal inhabitants which live in the primal forest are elves under the reign of their king, living in the North, and a wizard named Radagast, living on the southernmost borders of the Greenwood. Now this second character, Radagast, isn’t mentioned much in the books, only in a few sentences, barely a couple of paragraphs in The Fellowship of the Ring. But his character actually tells something very important to his wizard friend Gandalf; something… bad.”
Twilight’s expression darkened. She did her best to find the right words, to find the words that would explain this best without piling too much worry on her friends’ minds, but couldn’t. There simply wasn’t a way Twilight could tell this dark story with positive tones. After a deep breath, she continued.
“Radagast will warn Gandalf, the wizard some of you might have read about, about the Ringwraiths. They are servants of Sauron, the Dark Lord and main antagonist of the story. Later on he will retreat to the far East, where he tries to breed an army of evil creatures to conquer all of Middle Earth and enslave all of the other races in a maddening lust for power. The Ringwraiths want to capture Frodo and take the Ring to their master, after the Dark Lord summoned them.”
Twilight told the story with an almost dramatic tone, as if she were reading it aloud to an audience. For Twilight and her friends, it was still hard to accept this peculiar fantasy story as a reality. Twilight cleared her throat and continued her tale.
“But Fluttershy has been teleported even before that; even before Radagast warns Gandalf of the awakening and the hunt of the Ringwraiths. You see, before Sauron settles in the dark land of Mordor to begin his conquest, he disguises himself as a necromancer, as described in the book The Hobbit. And then he… well… he makes his home in the abandoned fortress of Dol Guldur.”
That last name sounded as if Twilight had a bad cough. It made Pinkie chuckle, but the rest of the ponies could hear the evil in that name. Twilight Sparkle hung her head, and forced the last facts out of her mouth.
“And Dol Guldur lies inside the Greenwood.”
Frowns and gasps were scattered among the ponies. Applejack recovered quickly, perhaps because she found it the most difficult to immerse herself into a fantasy world and to realize the danger. “So, if I understand correctly, Fluttershy will be wandering at the enemy’s doorstep.”
Twilight nodded; her eyes were closed. “The dark lord’s presence and influence will seep into the Greenwood and corrupt it. Animals will go feral, plants will wither, the earth itself will become infertile. From his fortress, Sauron will hunt the elves and drive them to the North, into the mountains. The forest will become dark and clad in an ever-present state of decay. From then on, men will start to call it, ‘Mirkwood.’”
Everypony was silent. Twilight Sparkle had ended her tale. She hung her head low, and felt desperation seep into her like yesterday evening, after the accident.
“How long do we have before the forest becomes bad?” Applejack asked.
“A week, maybe two,” Twilight said, barely audible.
The ponies looked at each other, silently taking in the dark story they had been told. Each of them wondered whether it would have been a better idea if the details would have remained hidden. Nevertheless, they knew what was at stake now. Not only the nerves, but also the life of their friend, the element of kindness, Fluttershy. Then, as if on cue, they all stood up, and walked over to Twilight Sparkle.
“Hey, come on, Twi,” Applejack said. “We can do this!”
“Yeah, we’ll get her back,” Rainbow Dash added.
“We’ll do everything we can,” Starlight said.
Spike said nothing, but stroked the alicorn’s tail.
Rarity lifted Twilight’s chin with her hoof and looked into her wavering, watery eyes. “Don’t be desperate, darling. Together we can accomplish wonders, you know that. We are all prepared to make sacrifices.”
“Yeah, I love to sacrifice,” Pinkie Pie yelled in her squeaky voice, obviously having no idea what that word meant. “I’ll even sacrifice my sense of humor if I have to.”
To that, Twilight managed a smile, and the rest chuckled as well. Powered by Pinkie’s ever-present humor, they felt their warm, magical bond of friendship flow from pony to pony. They all shared the same thought; the thought about Fluttershy. All of them wanted to get her back, and all of them were prepared to do everything it took to accomplish their goal.
The plan was set; the tasks divided.
“Alright, everypony,” Rainbow Dash cried out, clopping her hooves together. “Let’s get Fluttershy back!”