Fellowship is Magic

by Mr-War


Down the Anduin and Fellowship Broken (Part 3)

Down the Anduin and Fellowship Broken (Part 3)

Boromir let out a sharp hiss of pain through grit teeth, the ad-hoc medical care he was being treated to at the campsite proving to be far more excruciating than he'd initially anticipated it to be.

"That stings like the devil," he grunted, doing his best to not verbalize just how bad the extent of it was.

The removal of the remnants of the arrow shafts had been incredibly painful to experience on its own. But it paled in comparison to the method of treating his wounds that was being employed. That being application of the medicine that Galadriel had given Spike for their journey. True to her word, it had wondrous healing properties that had to be seen to be believed; with but a drop or two being applied, one could practically watch as flesh, bone, and muscle restored itself in mere moments to an unharmed state, leaving nothing behind but what looked like a bruise on the exposed skin as the wound appeared to evaporate in a wisp of smoke.

However that didn't change the fact that it had a burn like fire when applied, and remained burning the whole time it worked.

"Ah don' know who this 'devil' character is, but Ah'll agree that it smarts somethin' fierce," Applejack stated from where she stood. Them not knowing how the medicine would work, she'd volunteered to test it out first for everyone's safety. At the discomfort immediately following the application she'd nearly begged the others to cut her leg off, figuring that it couldn't possibly hurt any worse. But the pain had eventually passed, and her leg was as good as new, minus the bruise and general soreness from the point of impact. But a bruise was a lot easier to deal with than a bleeding gash that could get infected.

"The alternative would be far worse, I can assure you of that," Aragorn stated as he put the stopper back in the vial. "We were fortunate Lady Galadriel saw fit to provide us with such a remedy," he added, hoping the reminder would quell whatever lingering distrust of the Elves was still present in Boromir.

With the threat of the Uruk-Hai forcefully beaten and driven back, they were allowed a brief respite to regroup at the campsite, and take stock of the situation they found themselves in. That situation being the Fellowship was broken in more ways than one; half of their members missing and nowhere to be found, necessitating those present to split up and search for them, while those that remained behind tended to the injured and exhausted.

Out of everyone that had made up the Fellowhip, the only ones still present were Aragorn and Boromir, Spike, Rarity, and Applejack.

Boromir had been the worst case, but that did nothing to change the fact that the others had been through harrowing experiences themselves.

As far as Applejack was concerned, appearance-wise, Rarity looked the worse for wear of the lot of them that were present. She was completely covered in mud -and likely in orc blood- staining her white coat something fierce, that would likely lead to her complaining about such once they had a quiet moment. But most shocking, at least to her, was the fact that her mane was cut short in such a ratty style right now. When one of the orcs had grabbed her from behind, she hadn't hesitated to lop off over half the length of the long strands with her elven sword to break free and avoid capture.

It wasn't necessarily a bad look, it just wasn't Rarity's look.

The rest of them fared better for the most part, just scrapes and scratches, and general soreness from when the orcs had gotten rough and bare-handed in their approach.

"I'm afraid there's not much I can do without my sewing supplies. Bear with me," Rarity stated as she examined the tears in Boromir's shirt, necessitated by what passed for medical care in this world. The best she could do was tack it back together, but it would have to do for the time being. With that fact in mind she proceeded to pluck one of the hairs from her tail -wincing in the process- before working her magic to intertwine it into the fabric fibers in order to pull them shut tightly.

"So how long do we just stand around and wait for the others to find us?" Spike asked as he pocketed the vial once more, worried that they weren't seeing any signs of the rest of their group just yet. Where had they disappeared to?

"I do not know. But if we do not see them soon, we will need to search for them ourselves," Aragorn stated, knowing that at the moment, all they could do was wait and hope for the best.

"Are you sure they came this way?" Twilight asked.

"Nope, but it's all I've got right now," Rainbow Dash replied and shrugged. She'd told Frodo to wait by the river in case they lost control of the situation, and to make a break for it if things went south. It's possible he'd panicked and paddled off down the river, following its current; it would certainly explain why they hadn't found him yet. It would also explain why they hadn't found anyone else yet in their search.

Thankfully she wasn't alone in the search, as that would've made it at least twice as hard. But even if that wasn't the case, at least she wasn't alone right now.

The feathers on Twilight's wing still hadn't grown back in yet, but that had done little to slow her down in her assistance to finding the others; primarily because she was levitating herself for locomotion. It was a very magic-intensive approach, something she could only do as an Alicorn, and she needed to keep her wings out to help steady herself as she levitated along, but it was a viable method of travel over the water for the time being.

"It still seems like quite a stretch to assume they came this way, based on what you told Frodo during a battle," Twilight pointed out.

"Maybe, but like I said, it's all I've got. Otherwise we fly over the forest, trying to find a lot of earth tones through tree canopies, all in hope that some of them are our friends," Rainbow Dash retorted.

"Good point," Twilight replied and nodded, seeing the wisdom of her statement.

As it turned out, Rainbow Dash's hunch eventually paid off, as they saw a solitary boat in the distance, looking very similar to their own. It didn't do anything to shed light on where the rest of their party had gone, but at least it with a start. They both broke into a headlong dive as they made their approach, before shooting past, and coming back around to discover not only Frodo, but Sam as well, who was looking as if he'd fallen overboard at some point.

"There you two are!" Twilight stated in a tone that could best be described as the relief experienced by a mother who found her missing children to be safe and sound. "Do you have any idea how worried everyone is about you?" she asked as she hovered in front of the boat.

Rainbow Dash nodded in response. "We beat back the orcs, it's safe to come back to the campsite."

"Be that as it may, it is too dangerous to return," Frodo replied, unmoved by their assessment of the situation, all the while never stopping his rowing.

"It's a lot more dangerous out here by yourself, Frodo. You and Sam would be better off with the rest of the Fellowship, rather than alone," Twilight stated.

"It's a lot more dangerous than that with that accursed ring tearing the Fellowship apart, and turning them against one another," Sam spoke up firmly. Frodo had told him about what had happened, with both Boromir and Rainbow Dash. "There's no telling who will fall next. How do we know the two of you didn't come to take the ring for yourselves?"

"As opposed to the two of you sneaking off with it and leaving us to die?" Rainbow Dash asked. For that they had no immediate response.

Twilight wanted to speak up and tell her that she shouldn't talk like that. But try as she might, she couldn't ignore that Rainbow Dash did sort of have a point. They really didn't know what the two Hobbits had been up to.

"This is different," Frodo asserted as he tried to row harder to put distance between them. "You were not there when Boromir lost control of himself. You did not see the desperation in his eyes, the determination to do whatever was needed to take the ring for himself!"

"Maybe not," Twilight admitted, cutting off whatever retort Rainbow Dash had in mind. "But I was there afterward, to witness the aftermath of him fighting to protect our friends from the Uruk-Hai, and nearly die in the process. As far as I'm concerned, he atoned for his actions," she stated, making no move to actually move out of the way of the boat.

Frodo's conviction faltered at hearing Twilight's statement. However the faltering was only for a moment, before her steeled his nerve and continued rowing on. Or at least he did until Rainbow Dash swooped down and pushed against the front of the boat to inhibit their forward advance.

"You don't wanna listen, that's fine, you don't have to. But one way or another, you're going back to camp, even if I have to fly the both of you back there," she stated as she began to push back, against both their rowing, and the current of the river with a grunt. "If you wanna keep going the other way, you're gonna have to swim for it."

"Now hold on just a minute here!" Sam protested as they found themselves being pushed back. "Don't we get a say in this matter for ourselves?"

"No," Rainbow Dash grunted as she continued pushing, flapping her wings hard to propel herself further forward. "Like I said, for all we know you two conspired to let the orcs kill us, and make off with the ring for yourselves. Why should we believe you if you say otherwise?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, Rainbow Dash does raise a good point," Twilight spoke up as she levitated alongside. "We've come to learn a great deal about the negative properties of Sauron's ring. It's not unreasonable to assume you two are as vulnerable to it as any one of us might be, and acting under its influence. It's best if you return to the camp with us, and we can discuss it from there, and decide on how to proceed. Hopefully by the time we get back, the others will be found."

"I'm imploring you, please let us pass," Frodo begged, "it is too dangerous to be around us. This ring will bring nothing good to all those around it. It would be in your best interest to simply let us pass, and forget all about us."

"Yeah, maybe it would," Rainbow Dash admitted, "but friends don't abandon friends just because times get rough, even if they're being jerks about it. We're in this together, for better or worse, come Tartarus or high water."

Twilight nodded in agreement to Rainbow Dash's assessment. "I know the situation may seem bad right now, but my friends and I actually went through something much worse than even this. In fact the case could be made that we've been through two, three, or even four situations that were worse than this. And in each situation, we came through by sticking together, rather than falling apart," she explained. Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra, Tirek... with all they'd seed and encountered, Sauron could be considered little more than just one more bump in the road for them.

Granted he was a really big bump, but the point remained regardless. She had no doubt in her mind that if they stuck together, they'd be able to triumph over whatever they encountered. The Balrog notwithstanding.

"Uh huh, fascinating," Rainbow Dash grunted, "now get down here and help me push this thing back to camp, it's harder than it looks."

"Actually, Rainbow Dash, I have a better idea in mind," Twilight replied with a grin.

A bright flash of lavender light alerted those at the campsite to the fact that Twilight and Rainbow Dash had teleported back to camp, each foreleg wrapped firmly around Frodo and Sam, the latter looking quite unsteady on his feet after the experience; to be expected since he'd never experienced teleportation for himself before. That brought their group size up to nine.

"Oh that takes some getting used to," Sam muttered as Twilight let him go, finding it necessary to try and steady himself in order to avoid falling face first on the ground. It was a lot like having too much to drink, but without the fun of actually getting to that point.

"They were quite a ways down the river by the time we finally found them," Twilight explained. She'd grabbed the two and teleported them back here with Rainbow Dash in tow, but not before recalling the boat on a return course to the shore; there was no sense in leaving it out in the middle of the water at the mercy of the current. Nor was there reason to leave it to Rainbow Dash to bring it back on her own.

"It was a mistake to bring us back here," Frodo protested once again. "We're being torn apart, and turned against one another by this accursed ring."

"Yeah? Well that's too bad, because you're still not getting rid of us," Rainbow Dash replied.

"Have any of the others made it back yet?" Twilight asked in an effort to change the topic to something other than Frodo's insistence that it was too dangerous to be around him.

Rarity shook her head in response. "I'm sorry, darling, but we've seen neither hide nor hair of any of them. Pinkie and Fluttershy are both missing, along with Gimli, Legolas, and Merry and Pippin. Not that we've had much opportunity for scouting very far, but there's no trace to be found. It's almost as if they've completely vanished."

Twilight frowned, not liking the sound of that one bit. They'd been hoping that the rest of their party had set off with Frodo down the river, but that hadn't been the case. And if they weren't making contact yet... well the possibilities simply weren't good. They could've been captured, hurt and unable to make contact, or... or maybe even killed. None of those three possibilities set well with her at all.

"Maybe they're just lost? No offense, but Merry and Pippin aren't the brightest of the bunch," Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Even if that were so, Legolas and Gimli are not in the same category as Merry and Pippin. All of them could not be lost," Aragorn replied. Merry and Pippin getting lost and not being able to find their way back, he could certainly believe that, but not the rest of them.

"Well then where could they..." Rainbow Dash started to say, only to stop as a look that could best be described as terror washed over her face. "Oh crap!"

"What? What is it?" Spike asked.

"Well at the time I didn't think much of it, I thought it was just them talking a lot of smack and such. But I heard some of the orcs talking about Saruman rewarding them, and about what he was gonna do to our friends," she explained. She didn't even wait for them to reply before continuing. "What if the reason we can't find them, is because the orcs are taking them back to Isengard?"

A silent look of pure horror washed over the others at this suggested possibility, none of them having considered it before. But now that it was actually out there for consideration...

"Those brutes did abandon the skirmish quite easily; even the goblins put up more of a fight than they did," Rarity pointed out. What if it wasn't their efforts that drove them back? What if their friends had indeed been captured, and that was their entire purpose here?

"Does anypony know jus' which way Isengard is?" Applejack asked.

"I will not go!"

All eyes turned in the direction of the outburst, which turned out to be Frodo, standing with a look of sternness on his face.

"This ring will bring nothing but misfortune to anyone around it. Too many have been tempted by its evil, and I refuse to put anyone else at further risk. I will not take so much as one step towards Isengard. I am going to Mordor on my own, and I will not be stopped!" he stated.

Sam nodded as firmly as he could, trying to keep up with Frodo's determination and bravado. "And I'm going with him," he said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Uh huh," Rainbow Dash muttered, unimpressed and unbelieving of what she was hearing. "It sounds to me like Boromir and I aren't the only ones that were lusting hard after that ring. What about you, Rarity, doesn't it kinda sound like Sam and Frodo have ulterior motives in mind?"

"Much as I hate to, I must admit that it does sound like that," Rarity agreed and nodded. But no sooner did she nod, did she turn to address Sam and Frodo. "Not that I don't actually believe you, Frodo, I honestly believe you're worried about what might become of us if we remain together. But the case could certainly be made that your behavior is somewhat suspicious, and could be misconstrued as something potentially nefarious..."

Applejack nodded in agreement. "The two o' ya don' look like ya could come up with a convincin' lie between ya. But that don' mean the ring ain' influencin' ya. How do we really know that ya aren't gonna sneak off when our backs are turned, an' keep the ring fer yerselves?"

Frodo felt floored by the sudden inquisition into the purity of his motives. He wanted to protest their suspicions, but try as he might he couldn't find the words that would assure them; for he couldn't even assure himself. What if they really were right? What if the ring had swayed his judgement, and made him think that he was doing the right thing for their sake, when it reality it was as far from that as it could possibly be?

Suddenly he wasn't so confident in his evaluation of Boromir and Rainbow Dash, motivating him to look down at the ground.

Twilight frowned in response to seeing everything unfold. She could understand Rainbow Dash having such a position, but she didn't expect Rarity and Applejack to side with her in being suspicious of Frodo's intentions. But more than that, she hadn't expected them to have a valid position that she found herself agreeing with. They knew so little about the power of Sauron's ring, there was no telling what the scope of its influence was.

However that didn't invalidate Frodo's concerns.

"Nevertheless, Frodo's right about not wanting to take the ring to Isengard; we might as well just hand it over to Sauron directly if we're going to do that, and cut out Saruman entirely," she stated.

"So what do we do then? We need to find the others, but we can't just leave poor Frodo alone. And we certainly can't have him follow us if we have to trek towards Isengard to find them if they've been captured; for all we know Saruman sent those orcs to bring some of us back to use for ransom for the ring," Rarity pointed out. She certainly wouldn't put something like that past him, knowing what she did about him from Twilight's tales.

Over where Boromir and Aragorn stood, it was easy for both men to feel as if they'd been forgotten about, as the Equestrians went about discussing what sort of plan to put into motion to address their missing comrades. But considering the amount of experience they possessed in their own world dealing with crises, perhaps they didn't need any assistance in this matter. That left them to talk amongst themselves while waiting to either be addressed, or otherwise brought into the discussion of whatever was going to occur.

"It would appear that you have been provided with a second chance," Aragorn commented idly to Boromir. He had seen Frodo's conviction falter at Rainbow Dash's accusation, and the others joining her. Perhaps this would serve to strengthen the Fellowship's bond. "But do not waste it," he warned sternly.

"Never again," Boromir replied and shook his head. He would not fall for the allure of the ring again. He would resist, he would keep his wits about him, he would atone for his actions during his moment of weakness, however it proved necessary.

"You can't be serious!"

The shriek that came from Twilight alerted them both to the fact that something was occurring with the rest of their party, raising their curiosity at to just what had gotten the Alicorn so worked up.

"I am, it makes the most sense," Spike stated. "Come on, Twilight, you know I'm right about this."

"What is the trouble?" Aragorn asked as he and Boromir approached, each of them wanting to know what was going on, and what had transpired in the few moments they'd diverted their attention elsewhere.

"I wish I could say," Sam replied, feeling hopelessly lost at how things had progressed so quickly. He'd been standing right there the entire time, and he'd still missed it.

"Spike wants us to split up!" Twilight stated.

"Well the way I see it, we really don't have a lot of choice otherwise," Spike stated in return. "C'mon, Twilight, think about it! If the others have been captured, we can't exactly risk taking the ring to Isengard, you said it yourself. And even if we catch up with them and bring them back in an hour, it doesn't change the fact that we need to go to Mordor regardless," he pointed out.

"But-" Twilight started, only for Spike to cut her off as he kept talking.

"It just makes the most sense. Frodo, Sam and I have the shortest stride out of anyone in the group. We can't run as fast, or cover as much ground as the rest of you. If we come along we're just going to slow everyone down. It'd be in everyone's best interest if the three of us went ahead by boat to Mordor now, and you can catch up with us later when the others are found and safe again," he explained. To him it made the most amount of sense. It was the best management of their resources that he could imagine.

"Spike, deary, while I admire your courage, such a plan just strikes me as being incredibly dangerous," Rarity stated, just as horrified as Twilight, but still trying to be eloquent. "This isn't a simple trip through the Manehattan marketplace we're talking about, this is a journey to Mordor! There's poisonous air, and orcs, and countless other dangers there."

"Which is all the more reason that I need to go along. There's danger everywhere in this world, apparently, so what could be safer than traveling with a dragon?" Spike asked in response. If he could bathe in magma without issue, then poisonous fumes really shouldn't pose too much risk for him. "Besides, I'm pretty much the only one here who touched the ring, and still tried destroying it without a second thought. There's real strength in numbers," he added. Not that he didn't trust Frodo and Sam, but what could it hurt?

"Ta be honest, Ah'm really not seein' much choice here. We gotta rescue our friends, but we've gotta keep the ring safe too. Ah think Spike goin' with 'em is the only real option we have. At least if he goes along, we know Sam an' Frodo will be safer than if they went off on their own like they were tryin' ta do," Applejack pointed out.

Twilight looked between everyone present, hoping to find some support in this case. She didn't want to just like Spike go like he was suggesting, as she was terrified of the prospect of losing him, and never seeing him again.

But how could she, the Princess of Friendship, in good conscience, let Sam and Frodo embark on a mission that she felt was too dangerous for Spike to undertake on his own? He was stronger than they were, he could withstand more physical injury than they could; he could take a goblin arrow to the skull and it would ricochet off, leaving him with just a headache for crying out loud!

Try as she might, she simply couldn't muster the necessary words. All she could do was just sweep him up and hug him for all he was worth.

"Please be safe," she pleaded with him.

"Hey, it's not like we're not gonna see each other again. You'll find the others, and you'll catch up with us. We'll be away, what, overnight at the most? Mordor's still far away, we'll be alright," Spike pointed out as he tried to easy her worry.

"Darling, we do need to find the others. Every minute we spend talking about this, they could be getting further and further out," Rarity pointed out.

"Right. Right," Twilight replied as she set Spike back down and rubbed her eyes. "I'll escort everyone back to the boat, then we'll set out to find the others."

"Hold up," Rainbow Dash spoke up, before emitting a defeated sigh. "They... they can't go anywhere. Not yet at least."

The others watched as Rainbow Dash unfurled both of her wings, before using her right to poke around at the underside of her left. Twilight had no idea what sort of Pegasus behavior she was witnessing, but before she could ask for clarification, she watched as as she withdrew her right ring to display a thin chain with...

... With Sauron's ring hanging on the end of it...

Where Rainbow Dash had kept that this entire time, she didn't really know; she still had a lot of study on Pegasus wing anatomy to do, since they were still a subject she knew so little about, despite having them herself. But right now her main concern was the fact that her friend had possession of the ring, much as she did in the possible future she witnessed! Already her heart was beating faster, blood practically pounding in her ears.

Frodo looked at the ring, before looking down to feel at his chest, and peeling open his shirt to reveal nothing but his mithril armor underneath. He looked back up at Rainbow Dash incredulously. "How did you get that!?"

"It fell off when that orc had you hanging upside down," Rainbow Dash clarified. "By the time I spotted it laying there, you were too far gone, and I had to get to Boromir before he got killed. I couldn't just leave it laying there, so I... decided to hold onto it for the time being..."

The tension in the camp was thick enough to be cut with a butter knife as the chain dangled from Rainbow Dash's feathers, the subject of her gaze as she merely stood there, watching it hang limply. More than a few of them didn't want to admit it, but they were anticipating things getting difficult, and they didn't want that.

"It's funny, how this little thing has been causing us so much trouble for so long," she commented idly. "I'll admit it, when I first saw this, I wanted it so bad. I've been wanting it ever since then, too. It's been taunting me, telling me that if I didn't take it for myself, I would be disloyal to my friends by leaving them to get killed, because I'd be too weak to protect them without its power," she said to no one in particular as she continued her gaze. Finally, with a sigh, she shut her eyes and hung her head. "And then when I finally do get a hold of it for myself, I still can't do anything to save my friends, even though I had it with me this whole time!"

Without another word, she fully extended her wing towards Frodo.

"It's yours, Frodo, I don't want this thing anymore; I don't want it nearly likely I thought it would when it was out of my reach. I'd much rather have my friends back safe and sound."

To everyone that had been aware of Rainbow Dash's struggles to control her unhealthy lust for the ring, it came as quite the surprise to see her simply return it of her own volition, without any of them having to actually that it belonged to Frodo. She could've taken the ring for herself, and departed to parts unknown with it in tow like Gollum had. And instead she'd remained behind to fight to protect her friends against Saruman's forces, before opting to give it back of her own volition. Even Frodo was dumbstruck as he reached out and took the chain from her wing, operating on a mechanical rather than conscious level as he lifted it from her feathery appendage.

Twilight was left to speculate on how this had happened. Right now the only theory that came to mind, was that the magic of the Element of Loyalty was still present in Rainbow Dash's body in a latent form, and once it had come into physical contact with the magic of Sauron's ring, had actually repelled it, and shielded her from its corrupting influence. Perhaps she had to actually touch it for the magic to be triggered, and Galadriel's mirror wasn't aware of such facts, when even she herself hadn't foreseen something like this being a possibility.

It was sort of life fire; it was pretty, right up until you dared to touch it and it burnt you, and you didn't want to touch it again after that.

"Thank you," was all Frodo could say in response as he slipped the chain back around his neck.

"We're proud o' ya, Sugarcube," Applejack stated, thankful that her friend had made the right decision. "Now c'mon, we've got others in need of rescuin', an' we sure ain't gonna accomplish it jus' standin' around an' talkin'!"

"Right then. I'll just escort Spike and the others back to the boat before joining up with you, then we can try and find the others," Twilight stated. "Rainbow Dash, do you think you can fly up and look around? Maybe see if you can spot any sign of the others? Just in case they weren't taken hostage by the orcs?"

"On it," Rainbow Dash replied before saluting and taking off straight up into the sky. She was confident that if there was any trace of their friends to spot, she'd be able to; colors like pink and yellow stood out pretty well against the dull earth tones the found themselves surrounded by.

"Aragorn an' Ah can scout around down below, see if we find any tracks ta follow," Applejack stated.

"Very good. Once Spike, Frodo and Sam are off, I'll reconvene with the rest of you," Twilight replied, feeling slightly better now that they had a game plan to go by. It wasn't much of one, but at least it was something.

"Boromir."

Twilight stopped when she realized that it was Frodo who was speaking up. Looking to the Hobbit, she realized that he was facing Boromir, but not with the same fear and distrust he had earlier. Even Boromir seemed confused by this turn of events.

"About earlier. I... think that I understand now," Frodo stated.

Boromir was left without an adequate response to what Frodo had said. All he could really do was nod, before Frodo turned and began to leave with the others.

If Frodo was willing to forgive him, then perhaps he could actually go about forgiving himself. Perhaps his prayer from earlier was actually being answered after all.

"Then let us be on our way," he stated.

"Are you sure you're up for this, Boromir?" Rarity asked.

"Quite certain," Boromir replied with an air of confidence as he spoke. "In fact, I feel far better than for some time now."


At the same time in Caras Galadhon, Galadriel was looking into the Mirror; more specifically the one that held Twilight's vision of the future.

This image showing Rainbow Dash's descent and corruption by the ring, and the Orcs in the background howling in victory as they butchered the remnants of the Free People, had been going on for a while until she noticed a shift in the image was replacing the current prediction. No longer was Rainbow Dash corrupted by the ring's influence, but now was rather a corpse herself, with the ring nowhere to be found.

Galadriel gave a sad smile, as while this changes nothing of Sauron's complete victory as seen in the Mirror, she took Rainbow Dash joining her dead friends instead of killing them herself as a good sign that there is a chance that the future might be changed.

Celeborn noticed Galadriel looking in the Mirror far from their house.

"Is all well, my love?" he simply asked.

Galadriel turned to her husband and replied, "Yes, milord." She then gave a small smile before saying, "There's greater hope for the Pony race than I first thought."