3. Mare of the Rings
"And now," Gandalf said, "we come to the matter of the Ring-Bearer. For who among us could carry this burden?"
The Council, gathered in the shade of Elrond's porch, looked questioningly at each other, till each saw that none of them knew of whom Gandalf spoke.
Boromir, son of Denethor, rebuked the wizard, saying, "Surely that is the least of our problems. Seldom has an assembly of so many of high repute gathered in one place."
"And that is itself the problem," Gandalf replied sternly. "None of us may carry the Ring. I myself have carried it too long already. For the gravest danger to the Ring-bearer's mission is not the Dark Lord, but the Ring-bearer himself. Or, as may be, herself."
"Herself?" Gimli repeated, incredulous.
"You will meet her shortly," Gandalf said. "She may do what none of us could hope to, for her greatness is that she is the humblest creature I have met in my travels—and I have travelled more than a little. The Ring tempts all to power. It corrupts all whom it touches. Anyone who thinks highly of himself—anyone accustomed to the esteem of others—in short, any one of us—would ourselves become the new Dark Lord long ere we reached Mordor. Ah, I hear her approaching now."
In the distance, hooves drummed against the hard earth of the road approaching Elrond's house. They did not stop, but turned to a sharp ringing as the animal continued onto the paving-stones leading into the house. Soon a small, light-yellow horse with a flowing ribbon of pink mane passed out from the house, under an archway, and stood before them, regarding them with wondering, innocent eyes. The members of the Council likewise stared back in wonder, for great gossamer wings were folded along her sides.
"Um. Hi?" the yellow pegasus mare said. She looked to Gandalf.
"This is Fluttershy, of the Pony folk," the wizard said the the Council. Then turning to her, he said, "Fluttershy. The burden I ask you to bear is a heavy one. So heavy that none could lay it on another. I do not lay it on you. But if you take it freely, I will say that your choice is right."
"Okay," Fluttershy said. "If you think so." And Gandalf placed around her neck a silver chain, which bore a plain golden ring of no remark, save for an almost sinister, winking gleam.
Aragorn, son of Arathorn spoke. "You shall not bear it entirely alone. Many who stand before you now already have pledged their lives to see you safely to the land of Mordor, even unto the very crack of Mount Doom."
"Gee," the pegasus mare said, taking stock of all those gathered there. "That's an awful lot of people."
"A shamefully small number, lady," Aragorn said, "to stand against the evils arrayed against you. But if by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword."
Legolas stepped up. "And you have my bow."
"And my axe,” Gimli said grimly.
"Or ... um ... I could just fly it there," Fluttershy said. "If that's okay with you."
The members of the council looked at each other in wonder.
Gandalf stroked his beard. "I was thinking you could fly back from Mount Doom. After walking all the way there, experiencing many marvellous and terrible adventures, and witnessing the heroic death of at least one of those present here."
And the rest of the council all coughed and shuffled their feet.
Then Elrond spoke. "To walk into Mordor needlessly would be an act of folly."
"Flying's good, too," said Gimli. All save Gandalf nodded in agreement.
"Okay," Fluttershy said. "I'll just go drop this nasty thing in the big boiling volcano, then." And she unfurled her wings and leapt into the air.
"Wait!" Gandalf called after her. "You're missing out on a wonderful learning experience!" But she had already vanished from sight.
All were silent for a time, until at last Elrond spoke again. "This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong. Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere."
"Hooves," Gandalf corrected, still cross.
"Yes. Small hooves. And to divert the eyes of the great, we must straightaway move on Mordor, though all the might of our armies be naught but a distraction from the mission of this most humble mare—"
"Hi again," Fluttershy said, landing softly on the flagstones before Elrond.
Elrond blinked.
Gandalf spoke softly. "Back so soon? Does this burden weigh heavily, now, my dear Fluttershy? There is no shame in saying so."
Fluttershy shook her head. "Oh, no. I gave the Ring to Rainbow Dash. She's a much better flyer than I am."
"Rainbow Dash?!" Gandalf struck the stone floor with his staff. "Fool!" he cried. "You have doomed us all!"
And thus began the Fourth Age of Middle-Earth, the Age of Awesome. And the shadow of Rainbow Dash fell across the land, and all trembled before the terrible glory of Her rainbow.
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The first chapter was an enjoyably omnious take on Celestia's position, power, and pressures.
The second chapter... Um, did you just throw that in to bring the word count up to one thousand?
464892
Yep! And I'll add more short stories here as I write them.
464896 Oh. So it's just a collection of random short stories. Cool. Could you adjust the story page to reflect that? Between the blurb and the picture, I was expecting more on Celestia teetering on the edge of sanity.
The buck just happened? No, seriously somepony explain it to me. First I was reading about Princess Celestia losing her grip on her sanity, now I'm reading how Fluttershy f*ed up about the One Ring. How in the hay does that work?
465207
Those are two separate vignettes, not chapters to a single story.
Also, am I a bad person for now wanting to read more about the reign of Rainbow Dash?
Hehe. AWESOME.
All Hail Rainbow Dash!
465375
>Totally Not a Pony: Also, am I a bad person for now wanting to read more about the reign of Rainbow Dash?
Yes, you are bad. But not bad enough. Try again.
LIKE!
Well, the last part is funny, but I always assumed the All-Seeing Eye, the watch-towers, and the Ringwraiths mounted on zombie dinosaurs were the actual reason no one tried flying into Mordor until after Sauron and the wraiths were gone.
This was hilarious. It was just long enough to set up the joke without wearing it thin. Excellent work.
Awesome ! (that's the word to use, right ?
)
Best possible alternative to Sauron.
I would expect Dash could get there and back in under a week, though, and thus wouldn't have the time to be truly affected. But this is much better
I could see the pony lands fitting into middle earth nicely,
I love these little short stories.
Keep the good work.
God damn it Fluttershy, you've doomed Middle Earth to what may be
the worst possible thing to ever happen to it.
Don't you give me those huge eyes of yours, you knew what was at stake when we decided on this.
And now Sauron still exists, the Elements of Harmony are useless with Rainbow Dash corrupted, and it's all your fault!
Now go back to the Shire and think about what you've done. I need to figure out a way out of this.
Yes, I'm a heartless monster who feels no shame in yelling at Fluttershy.
labeling this Dash was a major spoiler.
luz
Some how I can see this easily.
Now a rainbow's story isn't quite as nice,
As the story we hear of sugar and spice.
One does not simply fly into Mordor.
but just as it seemed for that the age of awsome would be without end, a pink pony was sent into mordor, and she walked into the heart of mordor and any orcs who stood in her way were left scratching there heads in confusion as to where she had gone. and when she confronted the rainbow lord the pony knew not for when the pink pony slid the ring from her finger and gleefully dropped it into the fires of mount doom. but all would sing the song of pinkie pie and her greatness tell the end of time.
5582408 No. You're right. You do not.
Awesome!
All I could think of was this times ten if Fluttershy had the ring.
804668 Considering there's at least twenty eagles and they all completely whup the Winged Beasts when they show up, simple diversion tactics would have made it a cake-walk.
Needs a better ending line...but still hilarous.