Moments of Reflection
Lying on the grass, resting on a pillow and bedding, Twilight awoke from the peaceful sleep she was having. Given the level of darkness around her, she assumed it was night still. Suddenly a pair of delicate, porcelain colored feet silently walked past her. Curiosity followed close behind, and she lifted herself up to see whose feet they were. She quickly found that they belonged to Galadriel, who had her back to her as she walked between the rest of the sleeping Fellowship.
Grabbing her hoof, Twilight knew she was not dreaming, but wondered how Galadriel had not woken any other Fellowship members from their slumber. A few yards to her right, Galadriel halted, and then looked over her right shoulder at her. The Lady of the Golden Wood did not have to speak any words to convey that her presence was being requested. Getting up, she began to cautiously follow Galadriel, who began leading her away from the Fellowship.
Eventually, Twilight found Galadriel in a small garden that was accessed by a short narrow stone staircase. She couldn't help but wonder how she got there so fast, despite walking in front of her at a gentle pace. "Was the Lady already here and she just projected an image in my mind so I could find my way here?" she wondered to herself as she approached. Or maybe it had to do with time dilation of some advanced sort.
Galadriel was filling a golden pitcher with water from a small fountain, before pouring it into a wide golden bowl that rested on a stone pedestal carved as a twisting tree trunk. Twilight thought it best to have at least a couple of yards distance between her and the Lady. Galadriel placed the pitcher back near the fountain, before eventually looking at Twilight from where she stood directly behind the pedestal.
During her tenure as Princess Celestia's personal student, Twilight had devoted much of her focus on magic more than anything else. More than once her mentor had to impress upon her that there were more things than just magic in the world; things such as art. And while she never took the time to become an expert on artistic matters that didn't pertain to magic, simply looking at Galadriel right now was enough to leave her feeling that the aura she had about her could never be adequately replicated in any medium. And that aura she radiated so freely, reminded her a great deal of Princess Celestia herself.
"I am greatly honored by your comparisons, Princess Twilight."
Twilight stepped a pace backward at the familiar sound of Galadriel's voice in her head. Obviously, Galadriel could pick up even the most casual of thoughts. Now she sort of understood why Boromir and Rainbow Dash were so unsettled by Galadriel's powers of mental communication. She would have to be far more careful in her own thoughts, and try to work harder at safeguarding them; if such were even possible.
"I mean you no harm," she gently assured Twilight in a soft spoken voice. She then quickly glanced at the bowl, before returning her gaze to her. "Will you look into the Mirror?"
Now knowing what it was called, Twilight focused on the Mirror. "I'm sorry, Lady Galadriel, but what is it?"
"The Mirror reveals many things," Galadriel informed her. "Yet what it shows is different for each person. Even the wisest cannot tell what that person may see."
"I guess Galadriel is not much into giving straight answers," Twilight thought. She quickly realized she had forgotten that Galadriel could read her mind like an open book. Fortunately the smile she gave Twilight indicated she was not offended by her observation. Or at the very least, she was a master of hiding such facts.
Twilight walked the couple of yards that separated her from the Mirror and looked into it. At first she saw just her own reflection, before the surface of the water turned black with a series of ripples from its center, leaving her stunned by the silent images the Mirror -or more accurately, a scrying bowl- showed her.
She saw countless armored corpses of men, elves, dwarves and hobbits. They and their broken horses, weapons and banners were scattered across the surface of a blackened battlefield. The sky above it was an evil fiery red in color. As much as she wanted to look away, the Mirror drew Twilight's gaze towards individual corpses. She saw the bodies of members of the Fellowship - Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, even Merry and Pippin. The Mirror then moved her perspective. Facing her was an impossibly vast horde of orcs and trolls, even more fearsome than the one in Moria, that exalted in triumph. In the sky above the horde Twilight saw a number of flying black dragons on which sat the Black Riders. These dragons and their riders flew beneath a huge orange cat's eye wreathed in flame that hanged in the sky like some evil sun.
"Is this the Eye of Sauron that Sam and Boromir referred to?" Twilight thought. It certainly looked like the eye that had flashed over Saruman's face.
While all of this was troubling enough it was what she saw next that really disturbed her. Rainbow Dash stood at the front of the horde, but was mutated nearly beyond recognition. Her wings were crooked and featherless, her teeth were rotted and jagged, her mane and tail appears to be falling off, and her eyes beheld greed, malice and insanity. Twilight saw Rainbow Dash wearing the One Ring on her hoof like it was a bracelet, the inscription burning brightly and left no doubt as to what it was. But worse was that lying at her bloodied hooves were the bodies of her friends and...
And even herself!
She and her friends were no strangers when it came to being in danger, and knowing that the fate of their world rested on them. But in every conflict before, they had never actually seen a visual depiction of their own deaths. Enslavement, perhaps, but not death. It was horrifying, and left her feeling quite sick to her stomach.
The Mirror then rapidly moved to another reddened sky under which stood the charred and burning remains of a village. But the village in question was Ponyville!
Hundreds of burnt and bleeding bodies choked the streets, her castle reduced to a pile of rubble, and Applejack's family orchard was completely devastated; the house and barn were burned down, the livestock were missing, and the trees that were once full of bountiful apples, were now gone, leaving only stumps to indicate that they were all harvested.
She noticed that Cloudsdale had crashed onto the ground. The Mirror dragged her through its ruins and she saw all its Pegasi were dead, including the Wonderbolts whose bodies were scattered all over the ruins. The Mirror panned to the Everfree forest, which appeared to be even more menacing and dangerous than it already was, and there was a burning tree in the distance. Twilight looked in horror as the burning tree was actually the Tree of Harmony!
Before she even had time to reflect on that aspect of the countless horrors she was witnessing, the Mirror took her to the inferno that was Canterlot. Upon every level Canterlot was burning, the streets of this once proud city were littered with the corpses of both nobles and commoners alike, the amount of bodies of the Royal Guards were becoming larger as the Mirror got closer to the palace indicated they were fighting a desperate last stand.
The Mirror finally brought her to the ruins of the palace itself that had been toppled to the ground. In the ruins she saw the bodies of Princess Celestia, Princess Luna and Princess Cadence, all three of them wearing broken battle armor. Besides the corpse of Princess Celestia laid the Elements of Harmony, but they looked dull and lifeless, now amounting to nothing more than useless rocks. She saw a silhouette of a monstrous, spiky armored being staring at the dead Princesses. This silhouette looked up and Twilight saw the One Ring wrapped around it's finger. The silhouette appeared to lock gazes with her with the eye holes of its helmet before giving her, what she assumed behind that helmet, an evil and triumphant grin.
The Mirror then went black before Twilight saw her own reflection again.
Twilight stepped back from the Mirror, gasping and perspiring from what she saw. She thought all her nightmares combined could not have generated the fear she now felt. She looked up to Galadriel, who had a neutral gaze fixed on her.
"What in the name of Tartarus was all that!?" she blurted out to her. Given Galadriel could read her mind, she must have known what she had just seen in the Mirror.
"I hoped the Mirror may have revealed the reason why you and your fellow friends have been brought to Middle-Earth," Galadriel calmly answered.
Twilight was perplexed by Galadriel's answer and her demeanor in light of what the Mirror showed her. "I don't mean to correct you, Lady Galadriel," Twilight replied, politely as she could considering how she currently felt, "but the seven of us came here due to a vortex caused by our Magic Mirror having a negative interaction with solar phenomena."
"Great events are not set in motion by mere chance, Twilight Sparkle," Galadriel told her in a manner of a mother teaching her young child about the alphabet. "They are often the result of the will of great powers beyond any of our understanding. These power's actions can be so subtle as to go unnoticed long after they have taken place."
Twilight then heard Galadriel telepathically speak to her. "As a mare of faith you should know this."
To Twilight, questions of predestination were one thing, but Galadriel had not really answered what the Mirror had revealed to her.
"But those images I saw in the Mirror," she said to force the issue. "Middle-earth and Equestria destroyed, the millions of bodies, my friends and members of the Fellowship dead, Rainbow Dash being corrupted by the ring, and even Sauron. What were they?"
"They are images of events that have a very real chance of coming to pass."
Twilight detected an undercurrent of grave concern in Galadriel's reply. "You mean the future?"
Galadriel simply gave her a nod in return. Twilight sensed that the Lady of Lothlorien was not cryptic for the purpose of driving people to exasperation. Galadriel's powers seemed to be balanced by her being restrained somehow, in what she could exactly tell people. She thought she could at least get her to reveal how she could prevent the future she saw in the Mirror from happening.
"Galadriel I know you can read my mind," Twilight stated plainly. "So you know that I believe a pony's future is not set, as long as they're willing to fight for it."
"And it is well you hold to that belief, Twilight Sparkle," Galadriel replied as she well knew what Twilight was trying to get out of her. "In the end, it may be the only thing that saves both our worlds."
"Given what I saw, shouldn't Rainbow Dash see this as well?" she asked.
"Even I cannot foresee how your friend would respond to the images you saw," Galadriel answered before giving Twilight a tiny smile. "Even now, she struggles with all of her might to resist the dark influences of the ring, but it is only a matter of time. If she were to know what may come to pass, she may flee the Fellowship to avoid putting them at risk. Or she may simply succumb if she believes it to be inescapable, and hasten her potential fate."
Twilight really couldn't argue with that. "So it's best to leave her in the dark, then, for her own good?"
Galadriel's smile widened a bit further. "Before he fell, Gandalf tasked both Aragorn and yourself to take over leadership of the Fellowship," she answered. "I think one of Mithrandir's reasons, was because you understand Rainbow Dash better than anyone else in Middle-earth. Yes, even the rest of your friends."
Twilight sensed that Galadriel was about to bring their private audience to an end.
"The Fellowship shall be departing Caras Galadhon very soon," she stated before politely dismissing Twilight. "Many trials are ahead of you Princess Twilight. Go back and rest, so you may have the strength to face them."
"Is Sauron himself among those trials?" Twilight asked in a bid to retain the audience a bit longer. "Please. I need to have some sort of idea; how much of an insurmountable threat is Sauron?"
The gentle expression that Galadriel wore was replaced by one considerably more serious in light of Twilight's question. It was enough of a shift to make the Alicorn feel a bit nervous in the ensuing silence, before a response was finally given.
"I can sense your desires for vengeance over the loss of your friend, Princess Twilight. As well as the intentions that you are playing host to," she spoke in a solemn tone. "Sauron's might has been weakened greatly over the passage of thousands of years, spread out to maintain the existence of his forces in Mordor. But that does not make him any less of a threat. What you encountered in your efforts of freeing Saruman from his clutches, was but a mere portion of what you would face, should you attempt to challenge him head on. Your will is strong. Your magic is strong; perhaps stronger than anything I have witnessed in many centuries. But I cannot see it being enough to see you through what you wish to do."
That wasn't the sort of news that Twilight had wanted to hear. She didn't appreciate being told that she was too weak to do something she had her mind set on doing. A part of her wanted to set out for Mordor right now, and declare war on Sauron and his entire empire. But the calmer part of her knew that doing such would be a very bad idea, and ultimately do nothing for their situation; if anything it might make their situation worse than it already was. Not knowing what might happen, her going to Mordor by herself might be what allowed Sauron to find his way to Equestria.
During their travels together, Gandalf had told them what he could about Sauron; like how his greatest strength was his intellect more than anything else. How he was a master of deception, while simultaneously being able to see through it. There was no telling what his tactical skills amounted to, meaning she'd have to be smarter than Sauron if she wanted to win, and not succumb to whatever sort of traps he might've laid out for them.
"There is nothing more that I can tell you tonight. Go and rest, for tomorrow is a new day," Galadriel stated.
At the end of a meeting with a respected leader, Twilight normally nodded as a sign of respect. In this case though, she thought it best to copy Aragorn and she gave Galadriel a short bow before she turned her back on her.
As she walked back to the Fellowship's Pavilion she pondered what she had observed of Galadriel. Ponies were usually in awe of Twilight Sparkle's mastery of magic. But as far as she was concerned, in many ways her abilities seemed insignificant next to Galadriel's power to read minds, and possibly even control people's thoughts. Her power was all the stronger because it was combined with wisdom gained over millennia.
For a brief moment Twilight wondered what it would be like if she could read minds like Galadriel. "Well, maybe stallions wouldn't be as much of a mystery to me," she wryly thought.
She then halted as soon as she heard Galadriel give a soft, gentle but melodious laugh somewhere behind her.
"Way to go, idiot!" Twilight berated herself. "That was a real smart thing to think of in the presence of a 8,000 year old lady who is a powerful mind reader!"
As she berated herself, she noticed Frodo's approach, and the look on his face; it was the kind of look one had when they had somewhere important to be. So either he was looking for the bathroom, or...
"Did Lady Galadriel call you for an audience?" she asked him as they neared one another.
"How did you know?" Frodo asked, surprised by the question.
"You're not the only one," she replied and shrugged. She considered warning Frodo about the Mirror, but she opted against it. Instead another thought came to her mind, and she had to suppress a wry grin from crossing her lips in amusement over the mischievousness of it all. "When you see her, could you ask her a question for me? With her wisdom, perhaps she'll have the answer where others don't."
"What is it?" Frodo asked curiously.
"Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"
The region of Isengard bordered the southern end of the Misty Mountains. The heart of Isengard was an old fortification of Gondor called the Orthanc. Orthanc consisted of a ringed stone wall that had a gatehouse on its southern part. The ringed wall was about a mile in diameter, being some fifteen feet tall and many feet thick. In the center of the area that the wall surrounded was the Tower of Orthanc. Being five hundred feet high, the Tower soared above the ringed wall. It was constructed out of a type of obsidian rock that was near indestructible. At the pinnacle of the Tower, four rock piers had been honed into individual horns that surrounded a platform. Orthanc was nestled in a valley called Nan Curunir, or Wizard's Vale. The valley had an appropriate name given who was the current ruler of Orthanc.
Over 2,000 years ago, Saruman, the White Wizard was the first of the Istari to arrive in Middle-earth from Valinor. Sent by the Valar, Arda's powerful angelic guardians, the Istari were meant to guide the Free Peoples in their struggle against Sauron during the Third Age. Since his arrival in Middle-earth, Saruman was recognized as the most powerful of the Istari and was the Chief of the Order. Due in large part to his status, Saruman was given custody of Orthanc by the then Steward of Gondor some three hundred years before the present day.
Within Orthanc's ringed wall used to be a great garden containing trees from all parts of Middle-earth. Now this, and much vegetation from Nan Curunir, had been chopped or burned down by orc laborers on Saruman's orders. Within the perimeter of Orthanc, its black surface was dotted with wooden headframes, pulleys and scaffolding. The orc laborers had dug out large underground caverns where forges fueled by fallen trees produced iron weapons and armor day and night at a rapid rate. These forge's smoke rose through the caverns and out through the surface of Orthanc. It was within these caverns that Saruman stood on a platform, looking down on what he considered to be his greatest creation.
Giving him their full attention was all but one of the first two hundred of a new breed of orcs that Saruman had created. Standing between 6'4" and 6'7" they were much taller than the common breed of Mordor orc, as well as being much stronger. Saruman had dubbed this new breed of orc the 'Uruk-hai' and he reflected on the events leading to their creation.
The longer Saruman had resided in Middle-earth, the more he grew to disdain his original purpose of aiding the Free Peoples. Hobbits and Dwarves were too small-minded and pedantic to influence the course of great events. The power of the Elves was rapidly diminishing as more of them began to return to the Undying Lands. That left the Race of Men who were supposedly destined to rule Middle-earth into its Fourth Age. Having observed them for more than two millennia, Saruman scorned the idea that Men had the strength to do this. Generation after generation, Men were driven by petty desires and passions influenced by the fear of death their short lifespan gave them. The Valar had become so isolated from Middle-earth that they failed to see the true nature of the Free Peoples. Saruman believed that for Middle-earth to reach its full potential, it did not need guidance. It needed to be ruled - with him as its master.
It was for this reason that Saruman set himself in opposition to the Free Peoples. He had openly declared himself the lord and master of Orthanc, betraying Gondor's original trust in him. He had entered into, to his mind, an alliance of convenience with Sauron to crush whatever pitiful resistance the Free Peoples could mount. The Uruk-hai had been created to assist his plans. The first two hundred of them were only a small proportion of the thousands that Saruman planned to create from the Uruk pits located within Orthanc's caverns. He was confident that the arms and armor his forges were producing would be, on average, of a much superior quality to the equipment of the Free Peoples and Mordor. But to gain dominion over Middle-earth, Saruman knew he needed more than just a multitude of well-equipped Uruk-hai that could outmatch all other armies combined. He needed the power of the One Ring.
His former friend and fellow Istari, Gandalf the Grey, refused to tell him the location of the Ring. It offended his pride, and twisted sense of rightness that such an insignificant creature as a hobbit should be its current owner! Through his crebain spies he found out Gandalf led a Fellowship of eight representatives of the Free People southwards from Rivendell. Given that the Fellowship contained four hobbits, Saruman had no doubt that one of them had to be the Ring-bearer. Although he knew about the Fellowship, he was still unsure to what purpose Gandalf had for the Ring. Using foul magic, Saruman had been able to drive the Fellowship into Moria where he hoped the goblins or Balrog would kill them all. The latest reports from his crebain indicated that the Fellowship had survived Moria and fled into Lothlorien. It would appear that Gandalf was no longer in their number, but he was surprised to have been told that the Fellowship had seven new members.
His crebain described six unnaturally colorful ponies, and what seemed to be a dragon were with the Fellowship. As his crebain could not penetrate the veil around Caras Galadhon, Saruman had to resort to more drastic measures to get the information he needed. Exerting a great amount of his power to prevent discovery by Sauron, he saw through his palantir, the battle within the Chamber of Mazarbul.
Two of the ponies, he immediately recognized. Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash. And just as immediately as he recognized them, and saw how they fought against the goblins, his blood ran cold. The pony with enough strength to outmatch an Uruk-Hai in battle, and the pony who sought to challenge Sauron; nearly killing him in the process of doing such. Were it not for his Maiar heritage, he likely would have died from what she'd subjected him to. Even then, it had taken a long time for him to actually recover from the trauma that had been induced.
Beyond such facts, it was a matter of pride. She had dared to stain his impeccable white robes with his own blood during their meeting, making him the Saruman of Many Colours as it were. And then the audacity of the equine to address him as she had on the Caradhras, and say to him the things that she had... just thinking about the horrible, awful things that she had dared to utter to him, infuriated him to no end.
But he dare not look away from what unfolded in front of him; not yet. He needed to see more, and witness the outcome for himself.
The orange pony used a powerful ability with a strength well above even the greatest of Men. The cyan pony used her wings for flight and superb agility on the battlefield. The ponies with horns, and wings for Twilight Sparkle, used magic as easily as a wizard. As for the Pink one... he didn't know how to describe that one. She moved in a way, and with a speed that didn't seem to match her body at all.
Saruman has heard and seen a lot of dragons in his time, so he was not too impressed with the baby dragon that was present. But it was the yellow pony that he was most interested in. Despite being meek and pathetic in appearance, the yellow pony possessed an ability to kill even a troll in one hit, scaring the goblins in the process as it toppled.
Saruman thought his Uruk-hai were an accomplishment worthy of his talents. But these ponies might hold the key to a quantum leap in knowledge. If these ponies are like Men in terms of greed, perhaps if he offered the right reward they would reveal their secrets, and even swear to Isengard's service. If not, he was confident his methods of experimentation would deliver the results he required. With the One Ring, and an army of Uruk-hai possessed with the ponies abilities of strength, flight and magic, even Sauron would pose little threat to his ambitions. Saruman thought that with such power at his disposal, perhaps he could even challenge the Valar for the rule of all Arda.
Saruman brought himself out of his dizzy dreams of conquest. He knew that the Fellowship had to leave Lothlorien soon, as the Lady Galadriel would not want to risk being tempted by the One Ring for too long a period. He spoke his first ever orders to a group of Uruk-hai.
"Hunt them down!" Saruman said referring to the Fellowship. "Do not stop until they are found!" He exhorted the Uruks before him even further. "You do not know pain. You do not know fear. You will taste man-flesh!" The Uruk-hai before him raised their weapons and shields and roared their approval of their master's orders.
Saruman then turned to his right where the one remaining Uruk-hai of the initial two hundred stood with him on the platform. The Uruk was the first created within the caverns of Orthanc. It was also still the strongest, cleverest and most savage Uruk so far created. It had messy shoulder length black hair and on its face was a painted white hand that one of its fellow Uruks had pressed there, Saruman had adopted a White Hand to be the emblem of his Isengard. Saruman had dubbed the Uruk 'Lurtz' and had given him the command of this force of Uruk-hai.
"One of the halflings carries something of great value to me," Saruman privately told Lurtz. "The ponies, I would also like to question." Just to be sure that Lurtz understood, Saruman told him with quiet but menacing authority, "Bring them to me alive and unspoiled, no matter what the cost may be of doing such," he stated. He then added, "The purple one especially. Bring her to me alive if at all possible. If not, then simply bring her corpse." Lurtz gave a restrained snarl to indicate his understanding but also his disappointment that prisoners were to be taken. Saruman placated him by then simply saying, "Kill the others!"
From his balcony on the southern face of the Tower of Orthanc, Saruman watched Lurtz lead the company of Uruk-hai through the Orthanc Gatehouse. The former White Wizard felt confident that all the means he need to bring a new order to Middle-earth would soon be his.
As Galadriel had told Twilight, the time had come for the Fellowship to leave Lothlorien just after a few days of their arrival. They were leaving at dawn on a clear, still day. The Galadhrim had provided the Fellowship with five rowing boats to travel south down the Great River of the Anduin. These boats both represented the quickest means for the Fellowship to continue its journey, as well as putting distance between any enemy forces that could be pursuing them. In the first boat were Aragorn, Frodo and Sam; in the second were Boromir, Pippin and Merry; the third had Legolas, Fluttershy and Gimli; the fourth had Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash; and the final boat was crewed by Twilight, Spike and Applejack.
The Galadhrim had also given a great many supplies to the Fellowship to take with them including the Elvish Way-bread known as 'Lembas'. When Legolas told them that one small bite of Lembas could fill the stomach of a grown man, Pippin had downed four, while Pinkie Pie had already eaten ten whole Lembas in one sitting, while showing no ill effects. Each of the Fellowship was provided with a grey cloak fastened with a green, silver-veined leaf brooch. The Galadhrim told them these cloaks would help the Fellowship to remain unseen from unfriendly eyes.
Just before the Fellowship's departure Celeborn spoke jointly with Aragorn and Twilight. As Gandalf had appointed both Aragorn and Twilight Sparkle to lead the Fellowship in his absence, the Lord of Lothlorien advised them with the latest reports on enemy movements. Beyond Lothlorien, Mordor orcs patrolled the eastern banks of the Anduin. Of equal concern, on the western bank a sizeable company of a new breed of orc, rumored to be the 'Uruk-hai' that Twilight had warned of, had been seen bearing the White Hand of Isengard. When the Fellowship left Lothlorien it faced the risk of being spotted by enemy forces from all directions. Twilight and Aragorn agreed that the Fellowship would need to complete its journey down the Anduin with great speed.
Now in their boats, the Fellowship commenced paddling southwards. Galadriel had given each member of the Fellowship a number of gifts. Some had been simple and practical, such as new saddlebags for their provisions, and horseshoes forged from solid mithril to see them through their journey. Although a few of them had been truly unique. As the Fellowship rowed by the Galadhrim gathered on the banks of Caras Galadhon, the seven Equestrians these facts.
Fluttershy had been the first to be presented with her unique gift; that being a necklace on a silver chain, with a beautiful white stone set in a silver surrounding. Something that was said to help her individually, by serving as a reminder of happier times as their journey progressed.
Spike's gift was... well as best as Twilight could tell, it was a vial of a potent sort of medicine, made from a rare type of flower indigenous to Middle Earth. Something that would supposedly heal even grievous injuries with but one or two drops.
Pinkie's gift had been a sling. Something simple, and overall unimpressive to the untrained eye. But Galadriel's eyes were quite trained, and saw the wisdom of providing the simple device to her, as it would allow her to utilize rocks far more efficiently than she could on her own. Even Pinkie had thought it was ingenious, and accepted it without a second's hesitation.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack had been particularly difficult to provide gifts for. Applejack was too practical for anything like what Fluttershy had been given, and had said that she'd be more than happy with just her shoes and bags, as she appreciated the quality of workmanship that had gone into them.
Rainbow Dash, on the other hoof, hadn't liked the idea of anyone touching her hooves, and had only begrudgingly accepted the shoes; not the least bit thrilled with them being attached, even if the elven farriers had been as gentle as possible with nailing them on. And after that she was sort of soured on anything else from them, although she had at least remained polite about it.
Lastly was Twilight herself. Her gift had been a very rare, very large, very old tome, detailing the creation of Arda, the eras of the First and Second ages, and all the lore of Middle-earth. To say she'd been excited about the gift would be a significant understatement. The only problem was that it was far too large -about the same size as the tome in Balin's tomb- for easy transport, and actually had to be shrunken down to slip comfortably into her saddlebags. When it actually saw the inside of the saddlebags, that is.
Soon the Fellowship rowed past Galadriel. She stood there dressed in a white cloak over her head and about her shoulders. The Lady of Lothlorien upraised her right arm as a gesture of farewell to the Fellowship.
As they left Galadriel, and Caras Galadhon behind them, Gimli quietly commented to Fluttershy and Legolas, "I have taken my worse wound at this parting, having looked my last upon that which is the fairest. Haugh, henceforth I will call nothing fair unless it be her gift to me."
"What was it?" Legolas asked.
"I asked her for one hair from her golden head," Gimli revealed. "She gave me three."
"You obviously don't believe Galadriel is a witch any more Gimli," Fluttershy observed. "But you're certainly under her spell."
"Aye that's true," the Dwarf conceded with a soft smile.
If she had known more of the history of Middle-earth, Fluttershy would have realized she was witnessing a historic act of rapprochement between its elves and dwarves.