A horseshoe to rule them all

by Bronycommander

Chapter 11 Lord of Mordor

Chapter 11: Lord of Mordor

The ponies had slept well as they woke up in the morning, stretching themselves. “Good morning. Fletch.” Wolf smiled at the green stallion, who returned it.

“Morning, Wolf.”

They then all breakfasted, after all, nobody could fight with an empty stomach. Yet, Dinky was lost in thought, something refused to get out of her head. “My lady, if I may ask, who is that Saruman you mentioned before?” She asked the Queen.

“Saruman the White is a wizard, one of the greatest in Middle-Earth. For countless years, his power and wisdom have steered the forces of good from destruction. But it is no secret that he is proud...and ambitious. He believes that only great power can keep the darkness at bay and...he has no qualms against using others for that purpose, willingly or otherwise.” As he said this, Dinky noticed that Talion looked at his hand, lost in thought. “When I grew sick, I consulted him. He agreed to treat me, gave me elixirs and remedies...But all it did was make me a tool to his games...” The Queen scowled, “The White Council will hear of his transgressions.” She explained with regret in her voice.

“You aren’t to blame, you couldn’t know,” Dinky replied, and the queen smiled weakly.

“It is a consolation to hear that from you, young one. Now, finish your meal calmly, we will organize the journey.” Marwen said and stood up with her daughter and the Ranger, walking out.

Sweetie Belle let out a sigh. “I’m nervous about what will happen. We take a big risk, yet it may be the only chance to get home.”

“Don’t worry, Sweetie Belle, we came so far, and with the knights, we are safe.” Apple Bloom smiled at Midnight.

“Yes, Sweetie Belle, we keep you safe.” The grey stallion assured her and she smiled weakly.

“Maybe I just worry too much…”

After having finished, they walked outside, seeing Marwen and her daughter at the shore, together with a man. “They’re here.” The younger woman looked at the ponies, also seeing Talion and the branded Orcs walking towards them.

“Orcs…” The man next to the queen said in surprise. “Oh, they make bad passengers. But I’ve carried worse.” Je then bowed and got on a ship.

“Queen Marwen, it’s good to see you in better health.” The Ranger said to her and she replied,

“The boats are ready. The skippers have been briefed on your destination.”

“Good.”

“How long will those Orcs obey you?” The princess asked with concern.

“Well I should think as long as I like. I am in your debt.”

“We owe you our lives, Talion.” Marwen countered and her daughter added,

“Just put an end to this.”

“My lady.” Talion did a respectful bow, the ponies did the same before going on board.

The trip was silent, none of the ponies could say a word, looking at each other with nervous expressions, yet nodded at each other as the island came into sight in the distance, ready for whatever would come.

“Don’t worry, young ones, we came this far, nothing will stop us.” The Orc named Giggles said to them with a slight smile, boosting their morale a bit as they returned it.

As the ship reached the island, a big black, intimidating fortress was in front of them, greeted by a large Uruk horde. At the front, the leader stood. So different from the others. So much so that Talion found himself ignoring every one of his subordinates, his attention fixed on this strange foe.

Somehow, this orc seemed more monstrous than any he'd seen. He was pale green, hairless, rotund and armored sparsely. Two jagged, wickedly-sharp sickles were clutched in his enormous hands, his meaty arms hanging by his sides.

His mouth was covered. An alarming cross between a brace and a mask was locked around his jaw, a steel mesh that made his breathing loud and metallic-sounding, carried on the wind.

But most frightening of all was his posture. All the orcs around him were taking battle-positions or flexing boastfully or throwing crude gestures, bracing themselves for the ensuing fight.

But not their leader.

This orc was just standing there...menacingly.

His tiny, sunken eyes looked like tiny balls of biting ice, fixed on the ranger.

As the roars and jeers of his brethren grew louder, metal blades clanging expectedly, he held up a hand.

There was silence.

Total, terrible silence.

The Eternal Knights stepped sideways, taking all angles, preparing for the worst. Talion stood his ground, fixing this warlord with a steely glare.

Then there was a noise.

A giggle. Coming from behind the mask.

The creature was laughing. Not boldly, not cruelly, not even mockingly. It was genuinely as if he was simply amused by the sight.

Even faced with the shadowy slayer of Mordor, the three hunting horses of the moon and all those who served them, this creature saw nothing but a joke.

On and on he giggled, trudging forwards almost dully, as if controlled by some dark puppetmaster.

The ranger and the Knights looked to each other, unnerved.

Something about this orc, in particular, was purely and simply wrong.

The orcs behind this masked fiend began chanting.

"Prak!" they yelled "Prak! Prak! Prak!"

The creature rose his arms, his sickles pointing squarely towards his enemy, his eyes twitching feverishly.

"Prak! Prak! Prak!"

They rose high and caught the sun.

"PRAK! PRAK! PRAK!"

Then 'Prak' screamed.

It was uncertain whether it was pain, zeal or just something that he did but he screamed skyward on and on like a banshee until his breath was spent. Snorting air through his mask and cricking his neck, he swung his sickles.

“Drown the air with Uruk cries and the earth with Uruk blood!” Talion yelled in response and they charged at each other.

Battle, it seemed, had commenced.

With alarming speed, the Eternal Knights tore through the enemy hordes with their weapons, Fletcher fired his bow and used his spear whenever an Orc came too close, the foals delivered kicks and stunning spells whenever they got the chance.

The hostile leader roared as he and Talion clashed swords.

Talion then shoved him back and dealt a few swift strikes to the chest, making the Orc cry in pain and holding his wound before doing a counter attack, which the man blocked easily.

Yet, the Orc blocked every attack in return, not going down easily be charging forward and slammed into him, knocking him over and tried to punch him before getting thrown off by a spell from Sweetie Belle.

Dinky fired a spell at the Uruk, throwing him back and Fray fired an arrow into his knew, pinning him down.

Talion used this to kick him, sending him on his back and he got up to his knees, looking at the Ranger in disgust and roared again.

He tried to block the man’s finishing strike but both slashed twice into the throat, blood splattered as he fell dead to the ground.

His branded Warchiefs cheered as the enemy army was defeated.

“We are at the final reckoning: The fortress of the Black Hand,” Talion said as he and the ponies moved in, yet strangly, there was no one there. “This is a trap. The silence taunts us. What sorcery is at work here?”

“I don’t know, be careful.” Midnight replied, being wary of his surroundings.

He and Wolf shielded the eyes of the foals with their wings as they passed by a series of desiccated corpses, hanged on the wall.

“I wasn’t expecting you.” A cold, echoing voice sounded, making the children shiver in fear and Talion stopped to look at a corpse that had similar characteristics to Marwen, making the knights hope it wasn’t really her. “I hope my soldiers gave you a warm welcome.”

“Where are you?! Show yourself!” Talion demanded and the Wraith concluded,

“This is the work of the Tower.”

“The Black Hand went looking for you. But it will give me great pleasure to take you myself.” The voice added.

The group walked towards a throne plateau and was about to turn around as the same voice sounded again. “Bow to me.” In alert, the Ranger and Knights pointed they weapons at the throne, the foals became terrified at what they saw.

In it sat a man of great stature, but his skin was deathly gray and his lips were either rotting away or being stretched apart, his head was bald, impaled by a headdress, his eyes had a piercing blue. Yet, most terrifying was, that the armor he was wearing was fused to his skin and was way smaller than his body, together with a metal apparatus on his mouth, preventing it from closing, the back was impaled by four swords.

They wondered if this was the Tower as he spoke, “And I deliver you to the Dark Lord unspoilt.” His voice was surprisingly low and calm.

“We bow to no one!” The Wraith replied, only for the Tower to laugh.

“The Dark Lord forgives you, Celebrimbor. Return to him and cast off this human corpse.”

“Stand up and fight!” The Ranger yelled, but again, his enemy stayed calm.

“There’s no need, Ranger. Celebrimbor is your curse. He chose you.”

“Silence!” Celebrimbor yelled in anger, only to be ignored.

“And he can release you at any time.” The Tower said and Dinky wondered what he meant as she noticed that Talion lowered his sword, his expression unsure. “Yes that’s all you are, Ranger. A vessel for the Ring-maker.”

Don’t let it get to you, Talion! The foal thought with worry as his expression stayed and slowly turned around, raising his sword again.

“As you wish.” The Tower stood up and vanished in a red flash.

“Where did he go?!” Wolf asked and tried to move around, but their body didn’t obey. It was like she had lost all feeling, frozen on the spot “I’m can’t move!”

The other ponies couldn’t move either and Talion concluded, “I must ask you to wait here. I can face the Tower but only through the powers we share. You aren't safe from him.” And walked away, leaving his friends with worry as the Tower taunted,

“What joy it is to fight such weakness, such pain, such a broken mind.” To their confusion, they saw the Tower several times at once, scattered in the fortress, walking around. Talion saw it too and knew it was also the Tower’s work.

The man felt slightly unease, but he knew she couldn’t give up, so close to his goal.

He spotted one of those…clones nearby, his back to him. He managed to sneak up on the clone and branded him, he vanished in a red flash.

“What do you still fight for? If only the mirror of what you have become.” The Tower taunted in an echoing voice before the Ranger managed spotted another clone just around the corner and also surprised and branded. Climbing up a wall, he spotted with a third close by, throwing him the ground and branded him too.

Suddenly, a soft humming greeted the ears of the ponies, and they saw a woman at a table, having her back to them, too far away to be recognized.

The Ranger saw it too, his expression was one of confusion. His wife had died before his eyes, she couldn’t be alive. It can’t be…

It was a strange feeling to see her again, a feeling of joy and fear overcame him.

Talion slowly walked towards her and Dinky’s eyes became wide as she realized the danger. “Stop! It’s a trap!”

But it was too late. Without warning the woman engulfed into a red glow and turned around, revealing herself to be the Tower, grabbing Talion before he could react. “You will never see your family again!”

His hand glowed red and touched the man’s head.

“You can do it, Talion!” Dinky yelled desperate to motivate him.

“Don’t give up!” The CMC added.

“Fight, Talion!” The Knights yelled in unison and they saw how he screamed in pain, using all his strength to push him back, then rapidly stabbed him into the throat.

The Tower fell over and Talion raised his Dagger high, and brought him down, impaling his enemy through the throat, a red glow engulfed him for a moment, then vanished and the Tower was lying lifeless on the ground, with the Ranger breathing heavily.

Feeling free to move again, Dinky and her three friends ran up to the Ranger. “Are you alright?” She asked concerned.

“I’m fine.” He replied as Celebrimbor appeared next to him. “You said we were cursed. You deceived me.” The man sounded angry.

“It was Sauron’s doing.” The Elf countered.

“This was YOUR doing!” Talion yelled, “I should have died with my family!”

“I thought you wanted revenge,” Celebrimbor explained and paused. “I can leave you. But there’s only one way to close the circle. The Black Hand remains.”

“Not for long,” Talion replied as he walked out, his allies close behind him.

“Hey, I see smoke!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed and pointed at it, seeing it came from Marwen’s home.

“We must hurry,” Talion said and they went back to the boats.

Dinky yet wondered why the Wraith had lied to Talion and what it could mean, It just made no sense.

Once they arrived, a picture of chaos and horror greeted them. Everything was demolished, making the ponies hope Marwen and her daughter had escaped, being still alive as Talion looked around.

“Nasty beasts, they wants this…” The voice of Gollum greeted them, spotting the creature on a thrown over shelf. The Knights reached for their weapons but Dinky made a stop gesture.

“It isn’t a threat.” She said and they nodded as Gollum reached for what looked like another crown.

But we took it from them.”

Again, Talion screamed in pain as he got engulfed by white light.

As Dinky opened her eyes, she saw how Celebrimbor and his guest finished a ring, both looked at their work on awe before the ring glowed blue and slipped on Celebrimbor’s finger and he vanished.

The other man looked around in surprise before growling angry and she saw how he became the black armored figure she had seen on the Monument, swinging at an invisible Celebrimbor with his mace before the elf managed to escape.

“The Precious! They must have it. Filthy, tricksy thieves!” The voice of an angry Gollum sounded in her ears and she came to, seeing in horror how the small creature was about to throw a big stone on the passed out Ranger.

“Oh no, you don’t!” She yelled and fired a spell on the creature, causing it to drop the stone, yet Talion rolled away out of instinct.

“Thief!” It yelled in anger as Celebrimbor appeared in front of the creature.

“Thief? It was mine to keep!” He countered.

“Where do they hides it. Where?!”

“Be gone.” The Wraith replied calmly.

“The Precious is ours! Ours!” Gollum yelled and retreated before the room started to shake.

“What’s going on?” Scootaloo asked scared.

“Sauron knows we’re here,” Celebrimbor concluded and Talion nodded.

“Let’s keep him not waiting.” He turned to the ponies. “The Dark Lord is aware of our presence. Let’s finish this.”

White Wolf drew her knives. “Alright.”

They moved towards the Black Gate, letting the normal Orcs to the Branded soldiers as Talion let out a war cry. “Feel the true power of the Gravewalker!”

He, the ponies and branded Warchiefs faced a group of five Orcs in Red armor, looking tall and intimidating.

“Dead-man!” One of them shouted, wearing a helmet with horns on top. “They say you gave the witch on the shore her freedom…The freedom to die with her people!”

He and Talion then charged at each other, the Knights went for the others, Midnight clashed swords with an Orc which face was bald but broad. “You’re fighting with an army of traitors? Ha! I’ll execute every sodding one of you!”

In response, Applebloom punched him into the head, knocking him back and Midnight dealt a few mortal strikes to the chest, knocking him back more. In the moment he recovered, Giggles charged at him and rammed his sword into the enemy’s chest, blood splattered and he struggled before dying.

Fletcher charged at an Orc with a shield, wearing a spiked helmet, clashing spears. “Pony leading traitors! Traitors weak! Uruks strong!” He yelled before the two fillies fired their spells, knocking him back and Fray dealt a few strikes to the back of the Orc with his spear, throwing him over. The last thing he saw as he got up, was an arrow to the head.

Wolf had to deal with two of the red armored Orcs, not that it was a problem. She simply just used her speed to fly back and forth between them, slicing them, while Scootaloo kicked when she got the chance, tired them both out until she dealt the finishing strikes with a clean cut of their throats. Both Orcs held their wound in vain before dying.

Talion blocked the attacks of his opponent, blocked every other attack, but as he had to block or avoid the strikes by the ponies and branded Orcs, he eventually became tired and the Ranger rammed his sword through his chest, making him drop on one knee.

“You softskins pride yourselves in mercy, don’t you? So make it quick!” The Orc leader demanded and Talion granted it with a strike to the throat.

“This will finish as it started, with shadow and flame falling on the Black Gate.” Celebrimbor echoed in Dinky’s ears, “The Hammer and the Tower are dead. Sauron is still weak. Without the power of the One Ring or the Ring-maker he cannot take form. He will be trapped within Mordor. No more than an eye of flame bound to his Dark Tower.”

“And at least I can die and none can avenge me, with our allies being able to go home,” Talion replied as they all climbed up the ladders and beams until they reached the top. “Wait here.” He said to the ponies who nodded.

They peeked out of the doorstep to see the Ranger walking towards what looked like a man in a cloak, having his back to him.

“I have a gift for you, Celebrimbor.” The man said as he turned to face Talion. Suddenly he made a shoving gesture and Talion was thrown back, the Knights rushed to his aid as a white light engulfed the Ranger.

This time, she saw what appeared to be Celebrimbor’s family tied to a rock, with an Army led by Sauron and Celebrimbor fighting each other. The Elf fought his way through towards the Dark Lord and struck him into the back, knocking him down.

As he was about to deal the finishing strike, the ring slipped from his finger and on Sauron’s and he raised his maze for a deadly strike.

After blinking, Dinky saw Celebrimbor in shackles, forced to watch as his family got killed by Sauron. The Dark Lord then switched back to his other form and proceeded to hit him with the same hammer the ring was crafted.

Upon finding herself in reality, she had to gasp as she saw the knights lying dazed on the ground, the man walked towards the Ranger. “The Dark Lord gave you a second chance. To stand by his side. Now I give you no choice. We shall be sealed together in death!” He raised his sword.

“So be it,” Talion replied and looked at the foals. “Run!”

Dinky and the CMC wondered why, they couldn’t leave the knights behind as the man did something terrifying.

He cut his own throat, blood splattered, followed by a wall of fire and the armored figure walked out.

It looked at the foals and once they saw it directly, the started to scream and ran away in panic only to trip over something.

“Ouch! What was-“ Apple Bloom cut herself off once she saw glowing eyes in front of her, moving towards them.

They froze in fear as it was a large spider. It looked almost as large as a dog, it’s fangs twitching as if it was very hungry. A second came out of the shadow, followed by a third and a fourth.

Then more until the entire whole floor was a tide of them, the children screamed and tried to run as the spiders chased them yet never came far as they got caught into something sticky.

They looked frantically around, having to see in horror it was a spider web on the floor and they felt a quick pain in their bodies as the spiders crawled next to them and suddenly felt sleepy.

Soft, slow Footsteps and an eerie humming was the last thing they heard before everything became black.