A horseshoe to rule them all

by Bronycommander

Chapter 6 The Warchiefs

Chapter 6: The Warchiefs

The foals stared in shock at what had just happened.

Talion, the very man that had helped and protected was…dead.

None of them said a word, fearing the Orc Captain would find them if they would as he looked around with his soldiers.

One Orc came close to the cave and they held their breaths, praying he wouldn’t come in or hear them.

“They are not here! Let’s move out, they can’t be far!” The Archer ordered and they moved past the cave.

Dinky and her friends waited for a few minutes before they slowly got out, checking on Talion who was lying in a puddle of blood, his eyes locked into a stare.

“He’s…Sweetie Belle sobbed, “Dead…” Her fellow crusaders hugged her.

“He fought so we could live,” Dinky said with sadness in her voice and closed his eyes. “Rest in peace, Talion.”

“We should give him a proper burial,” Scootaloo suggested.

“Apple Bloom replied and took noticed that one of the dead Orcs the man had managed to kill, had a shovel attached to his belt. She took it and dug a hole and together the foals put the man into his improvised grave, his sword on top of it.

“What now? We are defenseless against those things and beasts.” The white filly shivered in fear.

Dinky thought for a moment. “We should go to the Outcast Camp.”

The yellow filly nodded and they moved out.

They knew the way, it wasn’t far, yet they hoped they wouldn’t encounter any more of those Orcs or beasts. Yet they wondered how they could tell Hirgon about Talion’s death, how he would react to it. The Ranger had been the outcast’s only hope of changing things.

The children also felt guilty, Talion had died because of them. Was Mordor’s fate sealed because of them?

Of course, the Eternal Knights would look for them, but could they take on this Sauron. None of them knew much about this world.

Talion had been their only help. And he was experienced in fighting Orcs, something that was necessary here to survive.

“We should have helped him! He would have survived!” Scootaloo said, fighting back tears.

“It had been too dangerous, Scoots.” Apple Bloom tried to calm her down.

“We helped him before and were fine! Why not here?!” The orange filly exclaimed in guilt.

Sweetie Belle thought for a moment. “He knew the risks, Scoots. He fought to protect us. Unlike the other Orcs, this one caught us by surprise.”

“And?! He still died because of us!”

“But…but…” The white unicorn struggled. “Even if we hadn’t been there…it had ended the same. Right?” She asked unsurely.

Dinky also wondered what could have happened to Celebrimbor, Was he also dead? Or still “alive” despite Talion being dead? He seemed to know very much about this world, things that could have been of use for them, for their safety.

Not that she would ever know for sure. She just hoped both would forgive her and her friends for being responsible for their death.

But they all four wondered what had happened to Talion’s family after having heard him and the Orc mentioning it. Would he be reunited with them? Or would he still be separated, even in death?

They would never know, having to live with that possible guilt. A very big guilt, something they could never forget.

Dinky shrieked as out of nowhere, a hiss flew past her, tearing her out of her thoughts.

She looked around in alert, noticing an arrow stuck in the ground. “There they are!”

The foals turned around in fear, terrified to see the same Captain that had killed Talion. Without hesitation, they started to run.

Arrows flew past them and yells echoed in their eyes as they ran as fast as they could, not looking back.

The grey unicorn came to a halt with a screech, the others bumped into her. “Why did you-“ Scootaloo cut herself off, her eyes wide in terror as they had almost run off a cliff, their pursuers surrounded them. Scootaloo and an Apple Bloom stood behind a scared Sweetie Belle with brave faces to protect her, Dinky did the same.

The Captain stepped ahead. “Looks like you've reached the end of the line. Why not make it easy on yourselves and come quietly.”

“Why should we obey an ugly Orc like you?” Scootaloo yelled.

The Captain smirked. “Heh...You've got guts. But I don't reckon you want to see 'em anywhere else but inside you. So back down and follow us back to the pits. Oh, and just in case that one feels like flying, I've shot birds smaller and faster than you and that looks like a long way down.” He loaded his crossbow. “Last chance, me old beauties, are you going to behave or do I have to put a maggot-hole in yer belly?”

Out of nowhere, something sharp hit him and he screamed in pain, stumbling.

The Captain turned around.

“Drop the bow, ugly, and I'll give you a chance to run.” A male voice said calmly but sternly and the foals looked with smiles towards the voice.

It belonged to Midnight, his fellow Knights behind them as he pointed his blade at the orc.

“Well then, looks like you lot come in all shapes and sizes!?” The Orc asked in surprise. “Fine by me! Rip 'em up, lads!”

The Archer fired at Midnight who dodged the arrow by side-stepping, then clashed his blade with the Orc.

Some of the lower ranked soldiers hadn’t time to react before they flinched, blood flowing down and they fell lifeless to the ground as White Wolf dealt out lethal strikes.

Others charged at Fletcher, who simply shot them in the heads with his arrows in quick secession. Those who managed to get close had no luck, as he switched to his spear and dealt swift, yet effective strikes.

Midnight then shoved the Archer back and made strikes of his own, knocking his opponent back, giving the foals the moment to get off the cliff. However, the Archer recovered quickly and blocked the next strike, head butting the grey stallion who groaned in pain as he turned around to face the Captain again before he felt a sudden stabbing pain in the chest.

A piercing chill shot through him.

His eyes went small, groaning in pain before looking down.

The foals and his two friends looked in shock to see an arrow in his chest.

Midnight Blade groaned in pain with a surprised expression before falling backward, down the cliff.

“Midnight!” The foals exclaimed and Wolf roared in anger.

The Archer reloaded his weapon with a grin. “I love a good challenge!” Yet he was never prepared for Wolf’s speed as she was before him it took him to blink and dealt several strikes before retreating. He held his chest for a moment.

“You're a tricky little slag, no mistake. But if you think you're any match for the Black Hand's chosen, you're gonna' be mighty disappointed!” He exclaimed before screaming in pain, feeling something stuck in his foot.

He looked down it was an arrow. But it did not belong to the green unicorn. His eyes went wide in shock as he looked up.

A few meters away stood the very man he had killed before. “What? No! I killed you! Bollocks to this! Men ain't supposed to just come back from the dead! That's...That's cheating!!!” He exclaimed.

Talion smirked. “Not to worry, orc. I'm sure you'll play fair.” He pointed behind the Orc and said Orc turned around.

Midnight was hovering above him, grinning. “Missed!” And then he lunged at the Archer, dealing a heavy strike in his chest with his blade, causing him to fall over.

He barely could stand up before Talion hit him into the chest too with his sword and he dropped on one knee, grinning. “Heh...Heh...Well done...You just made yourself the most wanted man in Mordor!” And he clashed swords with him but Talion pushed him back and slit him across the neck, blood splattered as he died.

The man breathed heavily, then turned towards the foals with a smile. “Looks like I just came in time.”

The children just stared at him. It looked like hours until Dinky managed to say, “B-but…y-you…died!”

“Aye...But that is both my blessing and my curse. I, or we, are banished from death.” He tried to explain without going into too much detail.

“And I don't know about you humans but it takes more than one flimsy arrow to kill a batpony.” Midnight added with a proud grin.

“Anyway, now that that’s over, you can go home,” Talion added before Midnight looked at him with a negative expression.

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple. When we arrived, Fletcher detected a strong dark energy. Strong enough to block that spell that would get us home.”

At that moment, Dinky saw Celebrimbor again. “The presence of the Black Hand and Sauron.” He realized, then noticed the Knights were staggering a bit. “You see how his magic impairs you. You will not find him a mediocre foe or a merciful one.” He said. “Yet, they can help us to defeat the Black Hand.” Then he vanished.

“Maybe I can help. I was about to deal with the Warchiefs, the highest ranked Orcs in the area, to weaken their leader, I think he is that prevents you from going home. On my way here, I discovered the locations of the remaining Warchiefs.”

The Knights thought about it. “Sounds like a good plan. How many are there?” Midnight asked.

“Three. They are all in strongholds not far from here. One to the north, to the east and west. I suggest we split up to save time.” The Ranger suggested.

“Okay. I'll go with you, Fletcher, you take on the Warchief in the east, Wolf to the west.” They nodded in response.

“What about us?” Dinky asked and Talion put a hand on his chin.

“We need a meeting point once the Warchiefs are taken care of. The foals could lead you to it, the Outcast camp.”

“Good idea,” Dinky said as Fletcher lowered himself and Sweetie Belle climbed on him, Apple Bloom on Midnight.

“Ready for a fly, Scoots?” The blue mare asked but the orange pony shook her head.

“I’m afraid I hurt my wings earlier.” Before the foal could react, Wolf gently grabbed her by the scruff and yanked her into the air, shrieking before she found herself on Wolf’s back.

Dinky decided to go with Midnight, giving Fletcher a hug. “Be careful.”

“I’m always careful.” He replied, Talion smiled at the affection before they moved all out.

The grey stallion hovered next to Talion the entire time without a word.

Dinky was lost in thought. She knew the Knights were very experienced and battle-hardened, but could they really take on this Sauron and the Black Hand? It sounded almost impossible, and very dangerous. And what had happened to that horseshoe? She hadn’t seen it since they had landed here.

“Kill the Uruks before they signal their kin, then the Warchief will be their only reinforcement.” The elf advised, breaking her out of her thoughts out as the stronghold was in sight.

“We take out his supporters to lure him out,” Talion said to the grey stallion, who grinned.

“A prudent course of action. Hold on tight, kids.” With that, he used this blood magic to teleport around the Orcs and took several down with his blade before they could react, then reappeared next to Talion, who barely could move. “That should do it.”

Dinky and Apple Bloom were a bit dazed from his magic, but recovered quickly as a choir of voices called out, “Horza!”

“You handle his soldiers, I take care of him.” The man drew his sword and walked towards the Warchief, who exclaimed,

“You, Ranger!”

This orc's head was hairless, mottled-brown and swollen like some bloated pustule, irate-looking eyes and a wide grimace nearly hidden in his fleshy jowls.

“Ngrrr! You've been causin' me a lot of headaches! That ends now!”

He and Talion then clashed swords.

Midnight dealt with the regular ones, dealing mortal strikes, throwing bombs at grips and teleported around to confuse his enemies and to avoid that the foals would get hit. Dinky fired non-lethal spell to stun the Orcs, Apple Bloom delivered karate strikes whenever they had an opportunity.

The Warchief and Ranger blocked each other’s attacks, no one gained the upper hand, while Midnight, together with the foals tinned out the low ranking Orcs.

The Enteral Knight then threw a boomerang towards the high-ranking Orc from behind, it hit him into the back and he stumbled, giving Talion to ram his sword into Horza’s chest, forcing him to his knees.

“Stinkin' ranger...Think you can just march in and take what's ours…” He spit blood, “...Who do you think you are?!” He tried to block Talion’s finishing strike but the man used his free hand to shove his arm holding his blade away and slit him across the throat with his sword, killing him instantly.

The few Orcs that remained fled in terror upon seeing the Warchief dead. “One less Warchief in Mordor,” Talion said as he turned to the ponies. “Are you sure your friends can do the other Warchiefs on their own?”

“Of course, we are veterans of countless battles.” Midnight replied confidently.

---

Scootaloo enjoyed every second of the flight as White Wolf raced through the air at high speed, giggling the entire time.

Wolf smiled, it warmed her heart to see the young Pegasus happy.

The view from above was beautiful, the wind brushing against her fur was a wonderful feeling for Scootaloo, never having felt so alive before.

“This is so much fun!” She exclaimed in joy.

“Glad to hear it, Scoots. For me, there’s nothing more relaxing than flying. Being free in the sky.”

“Yes. Rainbow told me that too. You both are very familiar to each other.”

“Yeah, we are. Except I don’t need to nap that often.” Wolf joked, causing Scootaloo to chuckle.

Yet, even from this height, the blasted wasteland of ash, with little forest and meadows was still visible.

The foal couldn’t tell how long it had taken until they saw the stronghold in the distance. Like the last one they had seen, the tents and guard towers looked old and damaged in a grey/green color. Strangely, it was almost empty. “Something’s not right…” Wolf mumbled, “I sense a trap.”

“What should we do?”

“Activate the trap,” Wolf replied calmly.

“Are you sure about that?” Scoots asked with fear.

“Don’t worry, I got this, Scootaloo,” Wolf said in a calming tone as she spotted some Caragor near the Stronghold. She landed and to Scoot’s fascination, the beasts bowed before them.

The mare then walked to what appeared to be the remains of a campfire as a voice called out, “Pony!”

Wolf and Scoots then looked at an Orc dressed in spiked armor, two horns were attached to both sides of his helmet. “You fell for my trap! The Uruk’s mind will always triumph!”

The blue pony grinned. “Oh no, you fell for my trap!” And to her words, the Caragor appeared, charging towards the Orcs with her.

Using her speed and agility, Wolf sped through the Orcs, slicing them in seconds by their throats and blood splattered, others got mauled to the ground by the beasts and Scootaloo kicked whenever she got the chance.

The Warchief then together with a group of his soldiers tried to surround them, but the filly took notice that Wolf’s blades started to buzz and crackled with electricity, before she rammed them into the ground, creating a shockwave that threw all Orcs back, many twitched as they landed on their back and bellies, having died.

Wolf then charged at the high-ranking Orc who managed barely to block it. “Pony stupid! Soon Pony dead!” The Orc taunted, yet again Wolf grinned.

She shoved him back and threw one of her knives, it hit him into the chest, stumbling from the hit. The mare then lunged forward and hit him with several blows to his chest again until he dropped to his knees.

“This...Uruk Land...Not Pony Land...Pony die in Uruk Land...soon!“

He barely had time to look up, before the Pegasus rammed her knife into his throat, killing him.

“I expected better.” White Wolf taunted as the surviving soldiers fled in terror.

“I hope Fletcher and Sweetie Belle are doing well,” Scootaloo said with worry in her voice.

“I’m sure they are. Now, would you be so kind and direct to that Outcast cave Talion mentioned?”

“Of course, Auntie.” Scoots replied as the blue mare took off again.

---

Sweetie Belle was impressed how fast Fletcher galloped through the landscape, barely breaking a sweat, having an impressive amount of stamina, like an earth pony. “How can you not be out of breath yet?” She wondered.

“Years of training and exercise. Plus adrenaline keeps you going very far. Have to keep up with my friends somehow.” He chuckled.

The filly smiled, she loved how jovial he could be, like a real gentlecolt. She could tell he was a good uncle for her and Dinky.

“With that stamina, you could rival Applejack.”

Again, he chuckled. “I just know how to divide it.”

“If you don’t mind, how did you learn to cook so well? And how comes how good looking stallion like you hasn’t a marefriend?”

“With a hint of embarrassment, Fray replied, “Well, while we had cooks, my mother often cooked herself and I always enjoyed it to help her. About having a marefriend, I was never really interested in that, though I had a lot of attention from mares, trying to seduce me.”

After that, the stronghold was insight. “Hmm, I could draw out the Warchief by using my Archer skills.” Fletcher thought and climbed up an elevation where he had a perfect view of the Orcs inside. He drew his bow and Sweetie Belle watched in awe as he aimed three arrows and fired them simultaneously at three Orcs in different directions, all were headshots. The Orcs stumbled before collapsing.

It seemed to have the desired effect as a choice of voices, yelling, “Kaka!”

Before Fletcher could react, a voice shouted, “You!”

He looked down to see a bald Uruk that had red marks all over his head and red eyes. “Enough of this squabbling! Get over here so I can gut you and rip out your gizzard!” He yelled with anger.

Sweetie’s eyes went big as Fray’s bow formed into a spear and he jumped down to face his enemy.

The Warchief swung his sword but the unicorn swiftly blocked it, shoving him back, parrying attacks from other Orcs with ease, Sweetie also fired non-lethal spells to make them easier targets for him. A group came, Fletcher switched back to his bow and fired an arrow, it dived into the ground in front of the group. The white pony watched as it started to blink once the group was around it and it exploded, throwing all orcs over, causing the foal to cover her eyes.

Upon uncovering them, she saw a large Orc with a shield charging towards Fletcher. He simply fired at the shield, the arrow went right through the shield, leaving a green spot on it, the Orc stumbled and clenched his wound before collapsing.

With a terrifying roar, Kaka charged at Fletcher, which turned out to be a mistake. Fray fired several arrows at him, he was thrown back with every hit until he fell to his knees.

“Did you think I'd scream?! Beg?!” The Warchief yelled in anger.

“Yes,” Fletcher said in a flat tone.

The Eternal Knight then fired an arrow into his head, killing him instantly, with the remaining soldiers fleeing in panic.

“Okay, it’s over. Now, where is the camp?” Fletcher asked the young unicorn, who starting to smile weakly.

“Not far from here.” She replied and gave him directions.