//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: "The One Ring" // Story: The War for the Ring...Enters Equestria // by mint20 //------------------------------// Chapter 3: “The One Ring” The War for the Ring...Enters Equestria Twilight Sparkle's Point of View Time Since Arrival: 15 minutes, 34 seconds Location: Twilight Sparkle's Library Silence. Boromir knelt on one knee in front of me, his hands still offering his sword, head bowed, and silent. Behind him, the one who appeared to be the leader – what was his name again? Gandalf? – made a motion that looked like he wanted to grab Boromir and yank him back, but thought better of it. “Boromir...I am honored, but I- I can't accept this,” I said, stammering. “Why not?” he asked, not raising his head. “You saved my life. A Warrior of Gondor is honor-bound to serve his savor for the remainder of his years. Why do you decline my offer?” “Because...it would not be right. I am not comfortable with holding a Pony's – or whatever you call yourselves – life in my hooves. I cannot accept your offer of servitude in good conscience.” Boromir was silent for a moment. Then he said, “What is this strange land? In Gondor, oaths of eternal servitude are so common, it is almost as routine keeping watch on Mordor. I get off topic. Twilight Sparkle, where I come from, if a Man saves another Man's life, it is expected that the saved one would pledge allegiance to the savior. To me, this is a matter of honor. Please.” I hesitated, thinking it over. “I must repeat myself, I cannot accept this. I cannot do this. This would not be right. Nopony should ever hold that much power over another. It unbalances the world. It leads to disharmony. I cannot, as one of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, allow this. It would not be right.” “Your reluctance to take power is...interesting,” Gandalf said, his voice tinted with an odd tone. “Why?” I asked, confused and curious. “Oh, it is just different from our land. There, there is war over power so often, it is commonplace.” “War? War is almost unheard of here. Equestria has not been at war for over a thousand years. The last war we had is referred to as the War of the Bloodied Crystals, and it occurred when King Sombra took over the neighboring Crystal Empire, bent the minds of all the Ponies living there by using black magic, making them into his slaves, and led them to invade Equestria unprovoked. The war lasted some two years and had claimed many lives before the Battle of Fillydelphia, where the Princesses Celestia and Luna were able to use the magic of the Elements of Harmony to defeat King Sombra and banish him to the Frozen Arctic, thus ending the war and freeing his mind-slaves. There were no victory celebrations for the Crystal Ponies, however. In a brief moment, the King was free to cast one spell. He cursed the Crystal Empire, causing to simply vanish. Nopony has seen nor heard anything from it since its disappearance.” “Really? That must had been powerful magic, more powerful than any known in Middle-Earth,” Gandalf said. “You could say that. This,” I levitated a book to me, “is a book containing all the known and most of the speculated magical artifacts in the history of Equestria. Thankfully, the Kingdom of Unicorns, especially Clover the Clever, kept very detailed records of every magical artifact in their realm. Here,” I showed him a page that had an odd necklace that had a unicorn head with pegasus wings, “is an artifact known as the Alicorn Amulet. Allegedly, it was made by King Sombra while he was experimenting with magic in an attempt to become an Alicorn. The Amulet was an experiment that went wrong. However, Sombra quickly re-constituted it to be an artifact with enough magical power to rival the Elements of Harmony in battle. If this was the case, then it failed miserably. Nopony knows whether it is real or not, but the legend says that the Pony who wields this artifact– and it does not have to be a unicorn, a pegasus or earth pony can use it just as well– would be granted 'untold and mysterious power in magic'. However, this Amulet is a double-edged sword. Slowly, progressively getting worse, the user would become more and more power-hungry and insane every time the mare used the Amulet. Eventually, the Amulet would completely erase all traces of the user's original mind and body, replacing it with a dark, wraith-like appearance. For reasons not known in the legend, the Amulet will abandon its user at this phase, no longer working. It will then seek out a new user, and the deadly cycle will repeat. It says that the last known user of the Alicorn Amulet was,” I hesitated, squinting at the text, “King Sombra.” By the end of the legend, Gandalf looked like I had hit him over the head with a frying pan. Several times. “How many...Ponies...know of this Alicorn Amulet?” he asked. I noticed that his voice had a tone of urgency about it. “Very few. Only a handful of Ponies have heard of this legend. It is not very well regarded by the Royal Ministry of Education or the Royal Ministry of Pony History. Hersey, apparently. Even fewer, at most a couple dozen, even knows what the Amulet looks like. I think the Princesses and the Ponies here are the only ones who know the full legend. I also am sure that this book is very rare, seeing as in my sixteen years of studying magic and anything else that interested me, I have ran across this book exactly once before, and that was in the Canterlot Royal Archives. Why do you ask?” Gandalf hesitated for a long moment. Then he said, “...I think we should tell them.” “Tell us what?” Rainbow Dash asked right away. “Our mission,” Gimli spoke for the first time. He had a deep, gruff voice. “What about your mission?” I asked, suspicion coloring my voice. If they had anything to do with- Apparently, my words were more tinted than I thought, for Gandalf said, “Do not worry, we are here on a peaceful mission to everybody who opposes evil.” “And just what is your mission?” asked Rainbow Dash, in a voice that made it clear that she would accept no more evasions. The entire group glanced at Gandalf “Well, you see...” Boromir began, but trailed off. Again, he glanced at Gandalf. Aragorn stepped forward. “We...we carry a great burden. A burden of great evil. It...well, it is a long story.” “We have time,” replied Rainbow Dash, undaunted. “Are you sure you wish to hear this? It is a tale of great evil and things that may be alien to you,” Legolas asked. I used my magic to levitate a sack of parchment and a few quills, with ink, over to me. “Yes, I am sure,” I said. Silently, however, I was terrified of the outcome. “Very well,” Gandalf said. “Just remember, you asked for this.” With that, he and his fellows weaved a tale that I found hard to believe, and even harder to imagine. A story of great battles, the alliance of two races against a common foe: an enemy known as Sauron. That was apparently was long in the past. Now, a Ring had been found. Referred to as the One Ring, it carried Sauron's life force. As long as this Ring existed, Sauron could not be killed. Silence followed as Gandalf finished with one last bombshell: Their group, the Fellowship of the Ring, as they called themselves, was carrying the Ring on a mission to destroy it and evil once and for all. After a few long moments of silence, I looked at my friends and asked, “Applejack?” As the Bearer of the Element of Honesty, she can usually tell if somepony is lying. “Well, he is as sure as rain tellin' the truth, Twilight,” she said, sounding slightly shocked. “But a story like that, I can't believe it.” Me neither, I thought, but didn't say out loud. “Well, if the Element of Honesty says so, then they must be telling the truth.” “Well, can we see this...Ring?” Rainbow Dash asked, acting slightly scared. Nopony else would have seen it, but I recognized the ever so slight change in her posture. “Well...” Gandalf began, “there is something that you must know about this Ring. It corrupts the minds of beings that come near it. They began to think that they could control the Ring, and use its power.” “I see...” I trailed off. “It appears to be very similar to the Legend of the Alicorn Amulet. Well,– Wait, I have an idea! We can use the Elements of Harmony. The Elements are the most powerful magic artifacts in all of Equestria. Even all of the Alicorn Princesses, working together, can not even hope to match the Elements' combined might. If the Alicorn Amulet was made and used by Sombra, then it failed to defeat the Elements of Harmony. What if we use our magic to attempt to destroy this Ring?” Gandalf seemed to struggle with something in himself for a moment. “I suppose that would be worth an attempt.” “Very well. We shouldn't do it in here. The Elements tend to be very destructive when used in a confined space.” Rainbow Dash's Point of View Time Since Arrival: 45 minutes Location: A Grassy Plain Behind Twilight's Library We trooped out behind Twilight's Library. Personally, I wasn't too sure about this plan. I thought that if destroying this Ring was as easy as casting a spell, these people would have done it long ago. But if Twilight was sure about the plan, then that was good enough for me. I said to Gandalf, “Now, we need to see the Ring if we are to cast a spell on it.” He sighed, and nodded to the one that they called Frodo. Frodo reached into his shirt and pulled out a small, golden ring. To me, it was nothing special. Certainly nothing to start a war over. It was merely a golden ring, and the only thing even remotely interesting about it was a series of small engravings. I looked around to my friends. Most of them seemed unaffected. However, Twilight started looking at the Ring funny. I felt an odd sensation in my heart. It was like a sense of impeding doom. I was not superstitious at the time, so I ignored it, dismissing it as worthless. How wrong I was. “Let's do this, ladies!” I said, snapping Twilight back to reality. “Everypony ready?” I asked. The answer was a resounding yes. “You know what to do, then.” Gandalf's Point of View Time Since Arrival: 47 minutes Location: Unknown I watched, silently praying to some higher power. I saw the six Ponies close their eyes in concentration, and their necklaces/crown began to glow. Soon, they shot beams of light from their Elements. I watched in awe as the beams merged into one. Suddenly, two rainbow-colored beams appeared, circling up and meeting at a point about a quarter of a league in the air. From this, a new, combined rainbow arched down and collided with the Ring with extreme force. From ten meters away, I could feel some of the extreme magic in use. It felt like...well, I am not certain. It was is intense as core of the Sun, but it was not heat. It was similar to love, but was not quite that either. It had me confounded for a few moments, until I thought back to the name of the artifacts. “The Elements of Harmony...” It seemed ridiculous, but these artifacts seemed to be tapping into the very force that binds friends together. One thing was certain, though. This magic was so strong, not even all the magic in Middle-Earth put together could even consider standing against it. The Ponies continued channeling their magic for several minutes before the rainbow light finally faded, leaving behind a huge cloud of dust. Against such might, it seemed the Ring must have been vaporized, crushed into non-existence. At the very least, the Ring should have had all traces of evil removed from it. However, when the dust settled, there the Ring sat, not a mark on it. Sorrowfully, I tentatively extended a magical probe towards the Ring. When my probe reached it, I sharply pulled it back. There was no doubt. I looked up. The six Ponies were moving slowly and sluggishly. It appeared that they had each been knocked unconscious briefly. “Are you alright?” Aragorn asked them. “Yes,” Twilight Sparkle responded. “Forgive us. Using the Elements can be... disorientating.” “Well?” the one named Rainbow Dash asked us, “Did it work?” “No,” I replied curtly. I was about to say more when the sky darkened, and a resounding voice echoed over us. I will not write down the exact words, for it was the language of Mordor. “What- What was that?” asked the yellow pegasus, Fluttershy, if I was correct. “That,” I said, “is the Voice of the Enemy. In the language of Mordor, which I shall not repeat here, it said: 'Fools! How dare you think to oppose me, the Great and Mighty Sauron! You shall all be punished for this. I now know where you are...' That was it. The Voice stopped speaking after that.” “If it knows were we are...” Rainbow Dash started. “Then we are all in grave danger,” I concluded grimly. Legolas's Point of View Time Since Arrival: 57 minutes Location: Just in Front of Twilight Sparkle's Library “So this Enemy, Sauron, cares for nothing but his own domination over the world?” Twilight asked, frantically pacing back and forth. “That is correct,” I responded. “Geez, he needs a new hobby. Wait! I know! Let's throw him a party! Maybe that will lighten his mood,” Pinkie Pie said. I smiled. “That may have been a good idea six thousand years ago, when Sauron was not quite too evil yet. However, now...not so much.” “Whatever is the matter? You keep looking around you like will never see this place the same again,” Rarity asked. “That is because I probably won't,” Gandalf said darkly. “What? What makes you say that?” Twilight asked, wearing a look of total surprise and ever so slight suspicion. Gandalf hesitated for a moment and said, “We made grave error in attempting to destroy the Ring. Now that we have, Sauron knows where the Ring went, and trust me when I say that he will do anything necessary to capture it.” “Wait,” Rainbow Dash said, “Are you telling me that because of some random chance of fate, all of Equestria is threatened?” “I am afraid so,” I responded. The Ponies looked at each other, muttering. “Well, what should we do?” Twilight asked. “Do you have an Armed Force?” “Well, yes, but they haven't been necessary since...” Twilight trailed off. “Since?” Gandalf asked. She raised her head. “The Battle for Canterlot. Oh, we are in so much trouble.” “What was that?” “Remember, girls?” Twilight asked her friends. They nodded, with the air of somebody tasting something unpleasant. “What was the Battle for Canterlot?” Gandalf asked urgently. “The most recent battle. It occurred about two and a half years ago, when the Changeling Empire attacked Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. The battle went...poorly.” The other Ponies nodded in agreement. “Then what saved you? If I am right, Equestria maintained its independence, am I?” Gandalf asked hurriedly. I glanced at him, getting the feeling that he knew more than he was letting on. “You are right, Equestria remains a free country. However, the thing that saved us was not our military, but the magic of Love. Using it, my brother, Captain Shinning Armor and his love, Princess Cadence, banished the Changelings to areas unknown. We have no idea where they disappeared to, but ever since, the Equestrian Government has seriously stepped up the importance of the Military. Funding to it has been increased by a factor of ten. They have created a new office, the rank of Commander. The Commander has complete control over the Equestrian Armed Forces, within the bounds of the Equestrian Constitution. The latest Commander, I don't remember his name straight of the top of my head, has completely re-done the training process, expanded the Army, and has eliminated many of the old, obsolete tactics that the Military used to use. As a result, the Military is said to be much better in combat. However, none of us have ever seen any of them in battle.” Gandalf nodded. “I recommend that we speak to the leaders of your nation. They need to hear this.” Suddenly, we heard some banging inside the library. I opened the door, only to swiftly to close it as bows spat their black-shafted arrows at me. “Wh-What was that?” Fluttershy asked. I turned and faced the groups, a feeling of primal loathing in the pit of my stomach. “Orcs,” I spat.