Lost Tales from the Silmareillion: Morgoth in Equestria

Chapters

The Reunion
The Nightmare and The Dark Enemy
Old Enemies and New Friends
Sleepover at Twilight's
Enter Loyalty
TL;DR
Into the Storm
Gratitude
Tears Unnumbered
Craven
The Offer

The Reunion

As the train rattled along its tracks towards Canterlot, Morgoth finally had some time to himself to ponder his current situation. The more he thought about everything, the more ridiculous it all seemed to him. All said, he was currently in the form a small, white pony, aboard some strange machine, traveling to a city where the princess of all ponies lived. If there had been anyone who would have dared to tell him that he would be party to such events he would have laughed at them. Then he would have fed their bones to Glaurung.

As he watched the land racing by the train he mused on how greatly he underestimated how vindictive Ilúvatar could be. He had known exactly what kind of torture this world would prove to be for his fallen son. He had been thrust into a peaceful, colorful world and there was nothing he could do about it. He had no power, no servants, no allies, there was nothing he could do about the disgusting Harmony pervading this world. Where once he was the unquestioned master, he was now no more than a powerless observer.

He snorted in amusement. As much as he hated it, he could appreciate that this was certainly the perfect punishment for his crimes.

He felt Angainor stir within him, uncoiling ever so slightly, loosening its grip upon his soul. He breathed an unconscious sigh of relief at the chain’s loosening and imagined that it felt slightly easier to breathe now.

He thought back to the ponies, primarily the yellow one; Fluttershy, she called herself. He remembered what she had said to him, how it brought her joy to bring joy to others. It was such a foolish notion, he thought, so naive. It wasn’t difficult to imagine his brother taking a liking to these creatures.

How could Ilúvatar possibly think he could learn anything from these creatures? Humility, laughter, kinship; what need had he of any of these foolish concepts? What was there to gain from being humble when one could be proud? If one was great then was it not their right to show their greatness to the world?

What joy could laughter bring him that the screams of his foes could not? He had laughed, to be sure, but only the dark laughter of a madman, never the lighthearted laughter of Ilúvatar’s Children. He had no need of it, such a ridiculous thing was for those who had not the power to tear a chorus of pain and terror from the throats of their enemies.

And kinship? He had no need of kin, no need of friends. Why have others do his bidding with kindness when fear was such an effective tool? He needed no kin, truly none existed that could ever hope to count themselves as his equal. He had minions, servants, allies even, and that had always been enough for him.

But there had been one... there had been Mairon.

Mairon had not feared Morgoth. Always had he been his most trusted lieutenant, and powerful even, rivaled in strength only by Gothmog. Always had he followed Morgoth willingly, never faltering. Even in the Ainulindalë did Mairon stand beside him. He had understood and embraced the themes Morgoth had woven into the music and out of all the others who joined him it was Mairon who sang the loudest at his side.

Had Mairon been... his friend? Always had he been by his side, no matter what foe he faced. Even as the Host of Valinor flooded into Angband, Mairon had come to him, urging him to flee, wishing only that his master be safe. He replayed Mairon’s parting words in his mind.

“The field is lost, my lord!” the Maia had yelled to him. “The black one has fallen from the sky and the towers in ruins lie! The enemy is within, they are everywhere, and with him, the light! Soon they will be here! I bid thee, my king, run while there is still time, there are places below!”

Could it be? It was such a ridiculous thing, but the more he thought of it, the truer it seemed. His most loyal servant, his most steadfast ally... his greatest friend. The realization shocked him to his core. How ironic that he could only appreciate it now that he was gone from Arda, never to see it again.

Again he felt Angainor slacken by the smallest fraction, and again it felt easier to breathe. Quickly he pushed such foolish thoughts from his head. They would avail him none here, he needed a clear head for the company he would soon be entertaining. However with any luck these two would be just as naive as his brother and as such, just as easy to fool.

He saw the mountain upon which the city of Canterlot was perched approach over the horizon and allowed himself a moment to marvel at the architecture of the hanging city, imagining what it might look like as it toppled from the mountain to shatter against the ground. Slowly a grin made its way to his face and he felt Angainor constrict in displeasure.

“So very fortunate that thou doth wear the title of princess, mine sisters, for the king of the world comes.”

Morgoth was furious. He had barely been in the city an hour and already he wished to see it burn. After disembarking from the train he had asked the nearest pony for directions to the palace, assuming they would be just as kind and outgoing as the six he had met before. The pompous mare had promptly turned up her nose and ignored him, making a show of walking anywhere but in his direction. The only thing keeping him from punishing the infuriating thing for its impudence was Angainor, which felt as though it had nearly snapped his ribs as it constricted him.

He had been met with the same reaction with every single pony he had asked and he was nearing the limits of his tolerance, chain or no chain, ponies were about to start dying.

He soon spotted a pony wearing armor and assumed that it was a guard. He made his way over to see if perhaps he would be more forthcoming with an answer.

“Hail, guardsman!” he greeted the pony. “Wouldst thou be so kind as to direct me to the palace of Celestia?”

The guardspony remained silent but thrust a hoof out, pointing down what seemed to be a main road through the city. Morgoth nodded a thanks to the guard and went on his way.

It took him nearly an hour of navigating his way through the mass of thrice damned, pompous, self absorbed ponies to reach the palace, and he couldn’t have been more relieved to find that the palace wasn’t nearly as populated as he had feared. He approached the massive gate guarded by two more armored ponies. He asked for directions to the princess and was again answered by silence and pointed hooves. He was completely fine with that and, in fact, preferred it. The less he had to speak with these horrible creatures the better.

He traveled through the halls of the palace taking in the scenery and internally scoffing at the pointless opulence of the palace. And why did it have to be white? What was the fascination these ponies had with blindingly bright colors? Occasionally he stopped at a guard to ask further directions and every time they answered with the same silence and gesture, all of which helped to slightly improve his mood from murderous to simply seething.

The number of ponies he encountered steadily increased as he moved through the palace until finally he reached a huge set of closed double doors that apparently led to the throne room. The hallway before the door was completely packed with ponies, petitioners, most likely, and Morgoth found his mood once again souring at the prospect of being near so many of the damnable creatures once more.

He navigated his way through the crowd as best he could, earning himself far more insults and indignant shouts than he thought he’d ever be able to take without immediately challenging someone to single combat. Eventually he made it to the door and was confronted by a particularly pompous looking pony standing at a podium before the door, the chamberlain, most likely. He put on his least murderous demeanor and approached the pony.

“Hail and well met, friend!” Morgoth greeted him. “I have traveled far to seek an audience with the honorable Princess Celestia. Might I-”

“Name.” the chamberlain demanded.

Morgoth pushed down the fury he felt at having been so rudely interrupted and pressed on. “I name myself to be Shadowfax, son of Eru and-”

“You’re not on the list,” the pony said dismissively.

Morgoth bristled at the pony’s bored dismissal. “Be that as it may, I must meet with the princess. The matter is urgent and she will be expecting me.”

The chamberlain smiled condescendingly at him and Morgoth felt his blood boil. “Yes, I’m very sure your matter is of the utmost importance, but you cannot see the princess unless you have a scheduled audience with her.”

“If thou doth not believe my claims then thou need only ask the princess. She shall shed light on this matter.” he persisted.

“I’m afraid that will not be happening. The princess is very busy, if you like I can schedule you a hearing in, oh say... seven months? No? Then please be so kind as to show yourself out or I shall have the guards remove you forcibly,” the chamberlain sneered.

Few were the instances in his life where could Morgoth could recall being as angry as he was now. The only other being to have disrespected him so brazenly had been Fingolfin and Morgoth had made the damned elf pay dearly for it.

“I shall not be going anywhere until I have my audience with the princess.” Morgoth declared.

“Then you shall be waiting for a very long time.” the chamberlain assured him. “Day Court is currently in recess and-”

Morgoth didn’t hear the rest of what the damned creature said. The creature had disrespected him, insulted him, dismissed him like some commoner, and the damned court was in recess? Red tinted his vision and the chamberlain’s brutal dismemberment was only staved off by Angainor crushing Morgoth’s chest and driving the breath from his lungs. Finally fed up with the infuriating pony before him, Morgoth resolved to simply walk into the room, his quest would not be impeded by this impudent whelp. As he made to simply walk past the podium, the chamberlain leapt out in front of him.

“On no you don’t!” he yelled. “One does not simply walk into the throne room! There are rules, regulations! You cannot simply barge in!”

Morgoth fixed the chamberlain with a withering glare. “I shall have my audience. Do not dare me, worm.”

The pony shot a look to two of the royal guards and they began to approach menacingly. Morgoth grinned and his blood sang; a fight would do him some good.

Celestia was enjoying an afternoon break, one of the few times during the day where she had a scant few minutes to simply sit back and relax. Unfortunately for her, the peace was shattered as the door to the throne room flew open and four brawling ponies tumbled into the room.

She simply stared in disbelief at the scene for a few moments before finally comprehending what she was seeing. As she took in the scene before her she felt her normally even temperament finally snap. It had been a long day and a brawl, of all things, in the middle of her throne room was the last thing she needed.

“What is the meaning of this?” she yelled from the throne, her tone making plain her displeasure.

The brawl came to a halt, two of her pegasus guards held a battered looking white earth pony between them and her chamberlain rushed forward.

“My sincerest apologies, your highness!” he apologized frantically. “This ruffian simply barged in and demanded an audience with you without having a scheduled hearing! He was spouting nonsense about you expecting him and some urgent matter, but don’t worry, I’ll make sure to have him removed post haste.”

This gave her pause, there was in fact a visitor she had been awaiting, perhaps she should hear this pony out. Though before she could give the order to release him the brawl started up again.

He was furious, he would not be stopped here, not by mere mortals! He may have been a pony, but he was still yet the mightiest of the Valar and he would not be denied! He summoned every ounce of strength his new body possessed. He even managed to rip a few iotas of his Vala might from past Angainor, though he suspected the chain may have allowed it. Then with a mighty roar that shook the room, he cast the pathetic guards from his form, throwing them back a half dozen feet.

Still standing upright on his rear legs he cast an accusing hoof at the shocked looking princess.

“Thou shalt not deny me!” he roared, all reason leaving his mind. “I am Melkor, greatest son of Eru Ilúvatar, and I shall not be turned away like some commoner!”

Slowly, Celestia stood up from her throne. There air was tense, her advisors and guards had fallen silent. Likely they thought she was about to punish the arrogant pony who dared intrude upon the princess. A few moments passed and, to the ponies’ obvious shock, she bowed to him. When she lifted her head there was a radiant smile plastered across her face.

“I have been expecting you, my friend. It has been far too long.”

Morgoth sat with Celestia in her personal study, a tray laden with a wide and, to Morgoth at least, bizarre variety of pastries and confectioneries sat set up between them. Celestia sipped on a cup of tea while Morgoth’s own untouched cup sat before him. He wasn’t sure he’d know how to pick it up even if he’d wanted to drink it.

“Eru told me you’d be coming, Melkor. I’m so happy to see you, it’s been so long.” Celestia began.

Morgoth once more wore his mask of false kindness. “Aye, Celestia, far too long. How has thy kingdom fared these many years? Our father hath named this world to be perfect, and it is easy to see that it was no deception that he spoke.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “The kingdom fares well, but my workload suggests that it’s far from perfect.”

“Aye, but those are the duties of leadership. And who better to handle them than a Vala?” he said.

“Yes, I know, but sometimes I could really use a break, you know?” Celestia said, stretching her wings.

“Aye, I can imagine that perhaps the lives of rulers are not all that the common man might imagine they are.” he joked.

Celestia took another sip of her tea and hummed happily. “So tell me, why exactly did Eru send you here to Equestria? Don’t tell me Manwë finally tired of your antics.” she teased. “I know you two never really saw eye to eye.”

Morgoth’s smile never faltered. “Thou doth speak the truth, sister, rare was the occasion in which we shared a belief. But I suppose that thy jest is not so far from the truth, the Valar of Arda hath, as thou hath so eloquently put it, ‘tired of my antics.’”

“Ah, I think I see. So Eru hopes that we can teach you to be a little less... rebellious?” Celestia ventured.

Morgoth gave a small sigh. “Aye, that seems to be the softest way to put it.”

Celestia let out a small giggle. “You were so rebellious during the Music.” she said. “But I do think I’m up to the task of helping you out, dear Melkor.” Celestia paused and she heard him laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

Morgoth regained his composure. “My apologies, sister. I have simply not heard that name spoken in so long, and now here it is said so many times in a single day.”

To his surprise Celestia nodded. “I know the feeling, so much time can go by without me hearing my own name. It’s always ‘princess’ this or ‘your highness’ that,” she sighed.

“And what of ‘teacher’ or ‘mentor?’” he laughed. “Thou are possessed of so many titles here that it is a wonder that thou ever hear thy own name.”

“Well surely the great Melkor must have a few titles of his own.” Celestia teased. “You are the greatest of us all, I can only imagine the things the Children of Ilúvatar must call you.”

Morgoth let out a half-sigh, half-laugh. “In Arda they name me not Melkor, for that name is not spoken anymore, but Morgoth Bauglir.” He looked up as he heard the sound of a cup shatter, meeting the shocked, furious gaze of Celestia.

“They call you what?” she exclaimed, wings flared in indignant anger. “Who would dare to call my beloved brother such a monstrous name!”

Morgoth became worried, he did not anticipate that she would be schooled in the language of the elves. “It is of no consequence, sister.” he placated her. “Worry thyself none about the names Arda’s children have for me. Surely such a trivial matter affects thee none.”

“Well of course it doesn’t affect me, but that’s not why I’m upset.” she said. “I’m upset because they call you by such a despicable name, it’s not right! Especially because it’s you, you were Eru’s brightest star!”

“Hold it not against them, sister, for elves and men are as children to those such as us. And are children not to be forgiven a few inconsequential missteps?” he reasoned.

Celestia sighed and visibly tried to calm herself down. She used her magic to clean up the spill and repair the broken cup. “I suppose so, and if you can overlook that then I suppose I can too. Love and tolerance and all that.”

Morgoth nodded, that was one disaster avoided. “Now tell me, how came thee to know the meaning of my name? I did not expect thee to know the Sindarin tongue.”

“I spared Arda a few passing glances after you all went down to live there. I must confess that I found the language to be enchanting. I watched enough to pick it up before we began the song that made Equestria.”

“Aye, t’is quite the lyrical tongue,” Morgoth agreed. “But far in excess of my preferences.”

Celestia nodded. “It is hard to imagine you speaking in such a way. It’s actually kind of funny to imagine, though.”

Morgoth rolled his eyes. “Verily. But now I find my thoughts turned to that student of thine, Lady Sparkle. How came thee by this one? I have known no Vala to have ever taken a mortal to tutor, what makes this one worthy of such a privilege?”

“Ah yes, Twilight. She is an extremely gifted unicorn, I’ve never come across a mortal with such raw talent before. I think perhaps one day she may even rival myself.” Celestia explained.

“Come now, sister, surely thou doth speak in jest.” scoffed Morgoth. “A mortal could never have the power to oppose a Vala.”

Celestia frowned. “I never said she would oppose me, only that she may have power to rival my own one day.”

“Mortals are not possessed of the same minds as the Ainur, I think that should one ever acquire such power they would not be content to be lorded over.” he said.

Celestia shook her head. “I think I see now why Eru sent you here. You seem so disconnected from mortals, you really should get to know them better. They’re not all bad, you know.”

Morgoth idly stretched his back leg, the spot where Fingolfin had wounded his last body beyond healing. “I shall have to hold thee to thy word, then.”

Celestia hummed thoughtfully, placing a hoof to her chin. Morgoth did not at all like the look. A smile came to her face and his spirits plummeted at her words. “Ideeeeeaaaaa!” she sang out. “Twilight Sparkle is currently conducting field research on the Magic of Friendship in Ponyville at my request, I think you and her could very well assist each other in your respective tasks!”

“Dear sister, surely thou doth not suggest that I assist a mortal in such a ridiculous endeavor?” Morgoth said, filled with apprehension.

Celestia nodded happily. “That’s exactly what I suggest! You shall go to Ponyville as Twilight Sparkle’s personal student to assist her with her research and to learn how to connect with mortals.”

“Celestia, I think perhaps thou art being rash with thy-”

“Nonsense!” Celestia interrupted, still beaming her smile. “It’s a wonderful idea! You can learn a lot from Twilight and her friends. They’ll teach you all about the values of love, tolerance, harmony; all the staples of Equestrian culture! Oh this is going to be so fun!”

Morgoth felt a pit form in his stomach and moved to protest further, but found himself compelled only to nod at her words. He panicked, such a ridiculous task was far beneath him! He needed to persuade her of the infeasibility of this situation, but try as he might he could not voice a word in opposition. What damnable reason-

He felt his eyes widen in horror as the reality of his situation finally sank in. The oath! The damned oath he’d sworn to Ilúvatar! In his desire to escape he’d simply told the god what he knew he wanted to hear and in his rashness had sworn by Ilúvatar’s own name! He could scarcely believe he’d made such an error, this was the exact same rashness that had brought about the doom of that foolish elf, Fëanor, and the rest of the Noldor race. He would be forced to do exactly as he had sworn, there was no escaping such an oath save through its completion or his death. And, he realized with growing horror, it was very unlikely that he would be dying any time in the near future, not in this world.

Meanwhile, Celestia, completely unaware of the inner turmoil playing out within her wayward brother, simply continued to tell him about how much fun he would have with her student. Truly Ilúvatar had forsaken him.

“I shall compose a letter to Twilight informing her of the arrangements.” Celestia said. “In the meantime I’ll have a room set up for you so that you may spend the night, I’ll not send you to Ponyville just yet, it would be terribly rude to send you on your way so soon after your arrival. And I’m sure Luna will be wanting to see you as well, I’m sure she’s missed you too.”

As Celestia made to get up, Morgoth felt compelled, though not by his oath this time, to mention one last thing.

“Celestia, these lessons were not all that Ilúvatar desired of me.” he began.

She paused halfway to the door. “Oh? What else was there?”

“He spoke to me of our brother, Discord.” He noticed Celestia stiffen at the mention of the other Vala. “He told me that the power of Discord grows and that I am to assist in his defeat.”

Celestia shook her head. “No, that’s not possible, Twilight and the others sealed him away with the Elements of Harmony. There’s no way he’ll be able to escape again.”

“Elements of Harmony?” he asked. “Pray tell, what are these elements of which thou doth speak?”

“Gems forged with the very essence of Equestria.” she explained. “They’re the most valuable and powerful relics that exist in this world, crafted ages ago and imbued with the very life of the world.”

Morgoth’s interest was piqued. “These gems thou describes, they sound remarkably like the Silmarils of Arda. Tell me, who is the one that possesses such power?”

“The Elements aren’t held by a single pony, but by six. Each gem is bound into the spirit of the pony that most exemplifies the ideal it represents.” she told him. “You’ve actually already met them, I believe.”

If it were possible, Morgoth’s spirits sunk even lower. “Dost thou mean to say...”

“Twilight Sparkle and her friends, yes. In their own ways they are currently some of the most powerful ponies that exist in Equestria.”

“Ilúvatar preserve me.” Morgoth muttered to himself in horror.

The Nightmare and The Dark Enemy

After his particularly horrifying meeting with Celestia, Morgoth had chosen to spend the rest of his day in the Royal Library acquiring the most potent weapon one could possess: knowledge. He sat at a table pouring over the only book he could find pertaining to the Elements of Harmony and had just about given up on the book when he came upon something which immediately recaptured him.

“Nightmare Moon?” he muttered to himself.

To his surprise this Nightmare creature had been his sister, Luna. It was nearly unthinkable that in this world of peace and love anything of such evil could occur. With renewed interest he dove into the story of the Nightmare.

She was the mistress of the night, the stars themselves lived and died at her passing whims. With great love she had painted the night sky, making it into a work of beauty for all of her beloved subjects to gaze upon. Celestia’s day may have been bright and glorious, but its brilliance could not compare to the subtle beauty of the midnight heavens that Luna commanded. Her subjects deserved only the best and she strove to give it to them.

But despite her best efforts they all still simply slept through the night, never taking the time to look upon the gift she had labored endlessly to give them. At first she interpreted this as a failing on her part, surely it must have been many degrees less grand than she imagined, there was no other explanation. So she continued to labor, she even studied the paintings and poetry of her subjects seeking inspirations for what they might consider to be a perfect sky.

But still none even spared a glance at the stars and she became distraught and fell into doubt. If she could not produce a sky that her subjects would even look at then perhaps she was not meant to be the princess of the night. After all it could only be because of her repeated failures that they ignored it, could it not? And so Luna fell through shame, believing that she was unfit to rule if her creations were so shunned by the ponies she ruled.

But then from the shame arose great pride. Her sky was a thing of absolute beauty, greater even than the day which the ponies so worshipped and revered. Luna decided that it was not because of imperfections, but the inopportune placement of night in the daily cycle. Surely if the ponies were awake when the moon shone they would turn their gazes skyward and rejoice in the beauty of the night their princess so lovingly brought them.

All she needed was a single day to show them, after that day they would know of what beauty they missed in their sleep. So Luna resolved that for a single day she would not lower the moon, surely her sister would understand her desire, for was Celestia not the wisest and kindest pony in the kingdom?

But when the day came where she did not lower the moon it was met not with the joyous celebration she anticipated, but with cries of fear and uncertainty. When they had turned their gazes skyward to see not the sun, but the moon looking down upon them the ponies had become afraid, thinking that perhaps some great disaster had come about. When Celestia discovered Luna’s plan and saw the calamity that had befallen the kingdom she went to her sister and scolded her for her rashness.

Then Luna became ashamed and resented it, for she had thought her night would be better received. And she felt betrayed by her sister, who had not lifted a hoof to aid her in her time of need and uncertainty. It was here that bitterness took root and began to grow within the younger sister and her pride led her to believe that her sister was not as wise or kind as she had once believed and so thought her a tyrant. It was here that her pride became a lust for domination.

When one day Celestia was unable to bring the sun again, she went to Luna thinking it to be another bout of rebellion from her younger sister. But when she came to chastise Luna she found her sister changed. No longer did her form reflect her position as the youngest sister, but rather she remade herself in the image her great pride led her to see herself as. Here she claimed that Celestia was unjust and was unfit to rule and challenged her for her crown.

Celestia pleaded with her sister, trying to bring her to reason, but Luna would have none of it. She challenged Celestia for sole rulership of Equestria, but was overconfident and had been drained from pouring so much of her power into the skies and was easily rebuked. Fearing her sister would destroy her, Luna consumed the power she fed into the stars and unleashed a spell that devastated the sprawling palace and forced Celestia to flee, fearful that in her rage Luna would bring ruin to the whole kingdom.

Luna knew her victory had only come through luck and so allowed her sister to flee to Canterlot. Instead she made the ruined palace her own. In further defiance of her sister she harnessed her great power and used it to raise up a great forest about the palace which consumed the land for uncounted miles in all directions, making it her own kingdom within her sister’s. The forest was twisted and evil, and the newly christened Nightmare Moon named it Everfree so that her sister would know there was yet land that did not bow to her.

Knowing that she could never oppose her sister alone, the Nightmare went out and captured many creatures of the land and through torture and foul crafts twisted them into monsters to serve her. She poured her power into her servants and made them greater than any being that bent its knee to Celestia. Then with her army of monsters the Nightmare left the forest and marched on Equestria and began to cast down the works of her sister.

Celestia, though distraught, saw the threat posed by her sister and with great sadness called to her every subject willing to aid in the defense of the kingdom. To her surprise, there was not one being that did not heed her call. Not just the kingdom, but the entire world rushed to the aid of the sun princess. All knew that the Nightmare would not be satisfied with just the land of the ponies and would seek dominion over all and set out to defy her. Minotaurs, buffaloes, diamond dogs, and countless others rushed to the aid of the ponies. But none came in greater numbers than the gryphons, the great mountains of the north emptied and they were of such legion that on wing their number blotted out the great moon.

The Nightmare became fearful of the number of Celestia’s allies and called to the gryphons, seeking to seduce them them with power and gifts. Yet they held fast and rebuffed her efforts and the Nightmare was surprised and unnerved by their valor.

When the battle was joined the fighting covered all of Equestria. Eventually Celestia met the Nightmare in battle and it was as if the entire world stood still to watch. The Nightmare was powerful, but she had given too much of her power to her servants and had become weak, and to compound that, Celestia had brought forth her greatest weapon; The Elements of Harmony. Tearfully, she sent their power against the Nightmare and banished her, locking her within the moon she so cherished.

With the Nightmare gone, the army of monsters was driven back into the Everfree by the great alliance, where they were imprisoned forever. Celestia then took up her sister’s mantle in addition to her own and began her lonely rule of Equestria.

The moon had risen by the time Morgoth had finished the story of the Nightmare. He glanced out the window and blinked in surprise, it had been a long time since a book had captured his attention so. While his original goal had borne little fruit, as the Elements of Harmony were still a mystery to him, he had won an even greater victory. This knowledge of his sister would prove invaluable, he was sure. Perhaps he could even win himself an ally in this forsaken world.

With another glance at the newly risen moon he closed the book and got to his feet. It was time for a chat with dear Luna.

He stood once more before the doors to the throne room, his eyes scanning over the considerably smaller group of petitioners awaiting their audiences. Idly he noted how they all seemed to radiate anxiety and smiled to himself, it could prove a rather useful talking point with Luna.

As he approached he noted with mild annoyance that the same damned pony waited by the entrance. Did the wretch never sleep? Fortunately for him, he was spared another infuriating encounter with the chamberlain when a guard intercepted him.

“Are you Shadowfax?” the guard asked gruffly.

“Aye, guardsman, that is my name.” he confirmed. “Is there some matter with which I can assist thee?”

“Princess Luna has requested an audience with you at your earliest convenience.” the guardspony explained.

“Ah, this is excellent news, indeed. It is for this very same reason I have come here this eve.” Morgoth said.

The guard nodded. “Very well, a Night Guard shall accompany you to the princess’s chambers.” As the guard finished speaking Morgoth noticed a look of apprehension cross his face while his eyes focused on a spot slightly behind him.

“All yours, Midnight.” the guard said as he turned away.

He stared quizzically after the retreating guard and was slightly startled by a rasping voice behind him. “Come with me, I shall be your escort.”

Morgoth whirled to face the new pony, he was sure this one had not been there a moment before. Standing before him was a pony that, if he were to be honest, he felt he might actually like. Finned, dark purple segmented armor covered his form and he gave off a generally unfriendly aura. What Morgoth noticed most about this pony were his yellow snake-like eyes and black bat wings, he’d certainly never seen a pony like that before. He idly wished more ponies looked like this, it would make him hate this world far less.

“My thanks. Lead the way, guardsman.” Morgoth said. The pony nodded and set off without waiting for him to follow.

Morgoth followed after the Night Guard with a slight growl of irritation. Thankfully this pony seemed to understand the value of silence and made no attempts at conversation. All the answers he had for the few questions Morgoth did ask were kept to a single word. Though Morgoth swiftly ended all attempts at polite conversation when the pony made a remark about how talkative he was.

They made their way through the palace for a while, Morgoth taking in the various sights and noticing how different the palace seemed when it wasn’t lit dazzlingly bright by the sun or crowded with bothersome ponies. It almost seemed nice under the current circumstances. Eventually the two arrived at one of the palace’s many towers, at the top of which lay Luna’s chambers. After the lengthy climb up the spiral stairs they arrived at a large, but otherwise unremarkable set of double doors.

“These are the princess’s chambers. You may wait within until Night Court is concluded, then the princess shall join you.” the Night Guard rasped.

Morgoth turned from his position at the door to thank the guard, but found that he had already disappeared. He liked this pony, no pointless word mincing or formalities, and the armor was certainly a refreshing change from the blinding gold the other guards wore. If Luna was anything like her guards he could see the two of them possibly getting along.

He pushed the door open and made his way into Luna’s bedchambers. It was surprisingly sparse with just a bed, a writing desk, and a bookcase as the only real furnishings. By a window stood a telescope with a few star charts scattered about the floor around it. Scattered upon the desk were various quills and rolls of parchment. He read over a scroll to see if perhaps there was anything of interest written upon it.

Tax code? What nonsense was this? Was this something his sister enjoyed? He read a few lines of Luna’s cramped, neat script and was instantly repulsed. Surely they had servants for such lesser concerns, what Vala would ever give notice to such trivial matters? He gave an exasperated sigh and distanced himself from the desk. What manner of being could possibly find joy in any of that?

Ruling was such a loathsome thing, why would one ever wish to subjugate when one could simply destroy? While he himself did attempt to dominate Middle-earth, it had been only to take away something that the Valar had. He didn’t really want it, but he couldn’t simply let the others have it, now could he?

He was shaken from his thoughts by the sound of the door creaking open followed by hoofsteps.

“Ah, so you are the Shadowfax that Celestia spoke so highly of.” a voice said.

Morgoth turned around to face the speaker to find Luna standing in the doorway. He certainly did prefer her choice of appearance over Celestia’s, there was no ridiculous flowing rainbow mane or blindingly bright coat. She wasn’t exactly as he was hoping she’d be, but looking at her didn’t fill him with the urge to tear out his own eyes, and that was certainly better than almost every other pony he’d met thus far.

“And thou wouldst be Luna, I imagine. It has been far too long since last we spoke.” Morgoth said, slipping back into his mask of kindness with practiced ease.

“I’m sure it has, but I must confess that Celestia has told me little of you, she said she wanted it to be a surprise.” Morgoth could hear the slight exasperation of her sister’s antics in her voice. “All I know is what Eru told me, that you are my kin. Though I do not know which one you are.”

“How thou hast wounded me, my sister!” he said with mock hurt. “Hast thou so quickly forgotten the one thou sang with in the Ainulindalë?”

Luna’s eyes widened in surprise. “Are you... Melkor?”

Morgoth nodded. “Aye, that I am.”

After a moment Luna smiled. “It is good to see you again, Melkor.” she said. “Though I never thought you would be so inclined to appear as a common earth pony. Considering how you so loved to flaunt your power I would have thought for sure that by this point I'd thinking up an explanation to the kingdom as to why a red and black alicorn is parading around Canterlot.”

“I assure thee, Luna, it was not by choice that I have appeared as such. Were it that the choice was mine to make I would be as a great winged dragon and this conversation be held outside.” he joked.

Luna gave a soft laugh at Melkor’s boasting. “So tell me, brother, what is it that has brought you here to Equestria? Surely such a peaceful world could hold little of interest for one such as you.”

Morgoth chose his next words very carefully, with them he may very well win himself an ally. He gave a sigh of sadness and began. “I am here because none in Arda could see the greatness I wrought upon it for what it truly was. I tried to show them something new and grand and they thought me a villain for it.”

He smiled within his mind as he saw her own smile drop into a sad frown. “I am... sorry to hear that. You speak of your own song during the Great Music?”

“Aye.” he nodded. “They could not see it for the improvement it was and so rebuked me when I tried to make manifest my vision upon the world.”

“But did they not see the genius of your song?” she asked, her voice filled with surprise. “In the Third Theme they wove your music into their own and made them into one great song. Is that not what you desired?”

Morgoth smiled to himself. “Ah yes, the theme of the race of Men. But they were not as I wished, it seems as though I am not the creator I so desire to be. Thy own talent in that regard greatly surpasses my own.” he said, gesturing at the night sky through the window. “Thy subjects must consider themselves lucky to have such a masterful artist as thee as their ruler.”

To his pleasure he saw Luna’s face fall even further. This may very well go just as easily as he’d hoped.

“Most ponies prefer to be in bed by the time the moon comes out, very few are ever awake to appreciate it.” she said glumly.

“Surely this is some jest.” he insisted. “Even in Arda the sky is not nearly so beautiful as this! Dost thou truly expect me to believe that there are so few who are able to appreciate its beauty?”

Luna gave a sad sigh. “These days there are far more ponies willing to look up at the moon, but it’s still nothing like the adoration Celestia gets.”

He remembered back to the story. “Perhaps they do not know what beauty they miss? Couldst thou not simply leave the moon in the sky for a single day and show them?”

Luna winced. “I... tried that once a long time ago. It was not so well received. The ponies all panicked and screamed, thinking the world was ending or some other nonsense. Then Celestia chastised me for it and.. well it led to some things I’m not proud of.”

“Does what so torments thee have any relation to the Nightmare incident I have heard of?” he pushed.

Luna looked ashamed to hear him say it. “You know about that?” she asked dejectedly.

“I have heard of it in passing, though I possess no true knowledge of the events of the time. Wouldst thou perhaps share with me the story?” he asked.

“It is not something I enjoy speaking of.” she said softly. “It is my greatest shame.”

Morgoth gave her a sympathetic smile. “Thou has naught to fear from telling me, I shall not pass any unfair judgement upon thee. Come, tell me of thy troubles, recount to me the story of the Nightmare.”

Luna sighed softly and made her way over to her bed, making herself comfortable upon it. Morgoth followed her and sat down on the floor before her and awaited the telling to begin.

“I was jealous of my sister.” she began. “The ponies loved her day so much but paid so little attention to the night, no matter how much effort I put into it. Celestia didn’t even have to try, she just raised the sun and the whole kingdom cheered.”

Morgoth nodded. “It seems quite an unfairness.” he remarked.

“That’s exactly what I thought.” Luna agreed. “Then one day I got it in my head to do what you just suggested. I thought if I just kept the moon out for a day the ponies would see what they were missing. But they all just panicked and thought the world was ending, as I said before.”

“Mortals are easily frightened by that which they have no understanding of.” Morgoth commented.

Luna sighed. “Then Celestia came and chastised me. She said what I did was irresponsible and childish and that I shouldn’t have acted so rashly. I thought she of all ponies would have understood and I was so upset when she said that.”

“And rightly so!” Morgoth exclaimed. “Should kin not stand by one another? It is their duty to help each other up when they are at their lowest, she should have done this for you.”

“That’s exactly what I thought, too.” Luna said sadly, much to Morgoth’s delight. “And it made me so mad that she thought that way. I got it in my head that if she wasn’t as wise or as kind as I had thought then maybe she wasn’t a fit ruler. It’s such a childish thought, I know, but I was just so mad and I wasn’t really thinking clearly...”

“You challenged Celestia?” he asked, feigning surprise.

Luna nodded. “I did, I ended up destroying our old palace in the fight. Then I raised up the Everfree around it and made my own little empire in it. And to this day that cursed forest is still there, constantly reminding me of my foolishness. You must have seen it for yourself.”

Morgoth nodded a confirmation. “Aye, I saw it. It reminds me of the forests of Arda.”

“Well I raised up an army of monsters in there to challenge Celestia. And so long story short I marched against her with the monsters, but her Host of Canterlot, as historians seem to call it now, crushed it utterly and my sister sent me to the moon for a thousand years. They named me Nightmare Moon after that, it’s been centuries since my real name has actually been spoken.”

“I know the feeling, dear Luna. Much the same happened to me, for the changes I attempted to bring to Arda I was renamed Morgoth, The Dark Enemy, and Melkor was never spoken of again.”

Luna forced a laugh. “I do not mean to sound petulant or childish, but it does me good to see that there is at least one other to whom I can relate.”

Morgoth laughed and put a hoof to his chin in mock thoughtfulness. “Would this perhaps be why the petitioners for thy Night Court appeared so apprehensive? Do they still fear thee?” he asked.

Luna grimaced. “Yes, I’ve not been back long from my imprisonment and most of Equestria still sees me as the Nightmare. It can really get to me. The looks of fear the ponies give me can really hurt sometimes.”

“From speaking with thee just this one time I can already see that their fears be completely unfounded. T’was not thy fault that Celestia could not see thy genius. One might even think perhaps she was jealous of thy talent.”

Luna laughed softly. “That’s what I thought. That she was just jealous of me and wanted to keep me out of the way so the kingdom would love her instead.”

Morgoth roared his victory within his mind. He had her now, sometimes it was far too easy.

“But I know now that this was never the case.”

What.

“What?”

Luna nodded. “It was my own jealousy that bred such thoughts. It’s not the beauty of my sky that matters. I’m the warden of their dreams, they may sleep away my beautiful night, but what I bring them in their sleep they cherish just as much as the sun, and I lost sight of this all those years ago. But if a few ponies want to stay up and gaze at the sky I’ll take that as a bonus.” She gazed out the window. “The stars will always be there for them.”

Luna turned back to regard Morgoth. “I must thank you for taking the time to listen to me, I’ve not had the chance to speak with anypony about the happenings of that time since I came back. It feels good to be able to talk to somepony about it, especially a neutral party like you, it helps to see that not everypony thinks me a monster for what I did. I really can’t thank you enough, it’s such a load off of my mind.”

By Ilúvatar, what just happened here? Had he not come to corrupt her? To gain an ally to aid him in his escape from his bondage? Somehow he had managed to do the exact opposite.

“I... I am pleased that I have managed to help thee in this way, Luna. After all, is that not what kin are for?” he said, recovering from his shock.

Luna gave him a heartwarming smile. “I consider myself lucky to count you as a friend, Melkor. I see now why you were made the greatest of the Ainur, there is none more deserving in all of Eä to be the lord of the Aratar.”

Despite his irritation at his scheme having failed, he still managed to soak in the praise. He decided not to mention that he had not been counted among the Aratar’s ranks in millenia, she didn’t really need to know that anyways. But then there was that word again, “friend,” these ponies seemed to accept just about anyone as their friends.

“I think I have taken enough of your time for tonight, my friend.” Luna said, interrupting his musings. “You should be off to bed, I hear from my sister you will be leaving for Ponyville in the morning, so I will not keep you any longer as I’m sure you wish to sleep. You have been very kind to listen to my troubled ramblings for so long and I shall not impose upon you further. I will ensure that your dreams this evening will be pleasant.”

Morgoth stood up and gave her a smile. “It has been good to see thee again, dear sister. I pray that it is not long before next we meet.” He turned to leave, but as he pushed the door open he called back over his shoulder. “I bid thee farewell and wish thee the best of evenings, Lady Nightmare.”

He saw Luna crack a smile as she called back to him. “The same to you, Lord Morgoth.”

Old Enemies and New Friends

Mood fouled at having been unable to turn Luna to his cause, Morgoth trod through the palace, escorted once again by the silent Night Guard, Midnight. Unexpectedly, it was the guardspony who broke the silence.

“I do not know who or what you are, but I would offer you my thanks, Lord Shadowfax.” he said suddenly.

Startled at this sudden change in the pony, Morgoth took a moment to respond. “I apologize, but I know not what I have done to earn thy gratitude.”

“The princess hasn’t once spoken of those events to anypony since her return,” Midnight explained. “She was too ashamed of it. She hasn’t even spoken to her sister about it, she was too afraid that Celestia would still be angry. I have no idea what it was that made her open up to you, but it is good that she did, the guilt was eating away at her.”

The two walked in silence for a little while, Morgoth mulling over what Midnight had said. Soon they reached the room that was to be Morgoth’s quarters while he stayed in the castle. He made to open the door when suddenly a thought struck him.

“How wouldst thou know of what words were had between myself and the princess?” he asked skeptically, turning back to the Night Guard.

Not surprisingly, he had once again vanished and Morgoth breathed a sigh of irritation. Just as he opened the door to the room he heard a whisper in the darkness.

“The shadows are not always empty.”

As he made his way into his room Morgoth realized that he had underestimated just how unnerving these ponies could be. And once again he found himself wishing there were more ponies like Midnight around. Taking the opportunity to take a look around his room, Morgoth grimaced. It was so ornate, so beautiful, so opulent. He hated every inch of it.

He walked over to the bed and cast a disapproving eye over it before reluctantly climbing into it. He’d have preferred to simply stay awake and read more within the library, but this was his second night without sleep and he found to his dismay that his new body was extremely prone to weariness. That was going to be the first thing he’d have to fix, time spent sleeping was time that he could have spent trying to figure out a way out of this mess. He laid down in the bed and, in spite of himself, found it ridiculously comfortable and was out in moments.

Morgoth finally stirred, glad to finally be done with that pointless sleeping business, and attempted to roll out of his bed. His attempt was met by the rattling of chains. His eyes shot open and he looked down to see he was not in a bed, but kneeling upon some floor and bound by chains that shone with a rainbow of colors. He felt panic rise in his chest, but it was quelled as he noticed one important detail: He was no longer a pony.

He knelt, clad once again in black armor as the Tyrant of Utumno, minus his crown of black iron. That was wrapped around his throat. He tried to look upon his surroundings, but all he could see was an endless darkness that was held at bay only by a shaft of light that bathed him alone within the blackness. For a time he simply knelt there, wondering. Then he heard a noise, as of steps upon stone, and he listened. Then he heard a voice.

“Be he foe or friend, be he foul or clean.”

Morgoth listened, the voice seemed familiar to him.

“Brood of Morgoth or bright Vala,”

He had heard this voice before, long ago and far away.

“Elda or Maia or Aftercomer,”

The words, too, were familiar. They carried the weight of a great doom about them.

“Man yet unborn upon Middle-earth,”

It was so familiar, but it was as if there was some fog about his mind and he could not place it.

“Neither law, nor love, nor league of swords,”

He saw a silhouette, the figure was just at the edge of the light.

“Dread nor danger, not Doom itself,”

It was tall, as a man was, but slim and fair as they were not.

“Shall defend him from Fëanáro, and Fëanáro’s kin,”

Morgoth’s eyes widened in recognition at the name, it was one he would never in all his years forget.

“Whoso hideth or hoardeth, or in hand taketh,”

The figure stepped into the light, it was one of the Eldar, and the face was of one he thought long vanquished.

“Finding keepeth or afar casteth a Silmaril.”

The elf kept walking towards him and Morgoth felt fear begin to creep into him.

“This swear we all…”

The elf walked right up to the kneeling Morgoth and loomed over him as a mountain in an ironic reversal of roles.

“Death we will deal him ere Day’s ending,”

Slowly he began to stoop down to look into Morgoth’s eyes.

“Woe unto world’s end! Our word hear thou, Eru Allfather!”

The Elda’s eyes were ablaze with madness, drunk with rage.

“To the everlasting Darkness doom us if our deed faileth…”

Morgoth held the elf’s gaze, meeting his stare and pouring all of his malice into it.

“On the holy mountain hear in witness and our vow remember, Manwë and Varda!"

The Elda and the Vala were both silent at the oath’s conclusion, each conveying as they could all of their hatred for the other. It was Morgoth who finally broke the silence.

“Fëanor,” he hissed.

“Morgoth,” snarled the elf.

A smile formed upon Morgoth’s lips. “That is the name thou hast so generously gifted me with. But I caution thee, use it not too often or thy hoarding may make it less satisfying for others.”

A mad smile came upon Fëanor’s own features. “Even now, though helpless, you think yourself so great. Were it that we all could see ourselves in the light you see yourself. Truly then the world would have no sadness!”

“Modesty serves no purpose, if one is great then let the world see it. But it is no wonder thou cannot see thyself in such a light; tell me, how many of thy kin do the Halls of Mandos now hold as a result of thy foolish oath?”

The grin dropped from Fëanor’s face, replaced by a mask of utter rage. “Not nearly as many as do your own damned abominations lie dead and gone! Even against my sons your great Valaraukar were as nothing! I know how you died, Black One! The Valar captured you, hiding like a rat in the mines of Angband while you begged them for mercy!”

Morgoth’s own anger was stoked by the elf’s words. “Thou darest mock one such as me, elf?”

“I do, jail-crow of Mandos!” he retorted.

“Kinslayer!” Morgoth roared back. “Thou hast stained the land, slain thy own kin, and still thou think thyself to be any better than the Black Foe of the World!”

Fëanor grabbed Morgoth’s collar and pulled him close so that their noses were nearly touching. When he spoke it was not a furious roar, but a deathly whisper that sent a chill up Morgoth’s spine.

“I know of your trial and what the Allfather wishes of you. Were it any but him to set this task before you I would think them mad. Yet for some reason I cannot fathom Eru still thinks you can be redeemed, and strangely enough I find myself hoping you can be. I hope that these creatures can help you, Morgoth, I hope they can teach you kindness and pity.”

Fëanor loosened his grip on Morgoth’s iron collar and let him move back a small ways before continuing. “And then I hope you look back upon your time in Arda and that the weight of the guilt crushes your black soul into nothing. There would be no more fitting an ending for one such as you.”

Fëanor let go of Morgoth and stood back up to once again look down upon him and after a moment turned and began to walk away.

“Is that all thou wouldst say?” taunted Morgoth, prompting Fëanor to halt. “So long has it been that time has kept us apart. I would think that there would be more words between two good friends such as us.”

The Elda spun on his heel and strode back towards Morgoth, drawing a sword from its place at his hip as he did. Suddenly Morgoth felt frightened at the sight of the furious elf bearing down upon him, sword in hand. As Fëanor reached Morgoth he raised the sword up and in spite of himself, Morgoth shut his eyes against the coming pain. He was surprised when he heard only the clang of metal against stone.

Hesitantly the Vala opened his eyes and looked at the ground to see the sword laying before him. He looked up at the elf in confusion.

“I’ve no love for you, but when the Allfather offered me this chance to aid you I happily took it.” Fëanor looked down at his blade “You have my sword, Morgoth, the wrath of the Noldor is yours to call upon in your times of need. But wield it carefully, for just as the fire might consume your enemies, it is fickle and may burn you just as readily.”

With finality, Fëanor turned again and began to walk away.

“And what will aiding me benefit thee?” called Morgoth after him. “Why wouldst thou aid thy most hated enemy?”

Without stopping, Fëanor called back to him. “For good or for ill, Morgoth, I will take part in your damned fate.”

Soon the sound of his footsteps faded away and Morgoth was left once again alone. It didn’t last long, however, and he heard more footsteps approaching him. He wondered if perhaps Fëanor was coming back, but there were too many steps sounding in the darkness for just the elf. It seemed he was in for a few visitors. Or perhaps, he realized with a pang of dread, a pony.

Before he had much chance to dwell on the dread of that horrible possibility, a voice rang out in the darkness. It was soft and sweet and sang a beautiful song and as he listened to it he lost all concept of time. As soon as each sweet word faded so too did it fade from his memory, yet still he could not stop listening. The song was so beautiful and, while he could not string the lyrics together into a story, he could tell it was a song of sadness and loss and love and laughter. So many unfamiliar and unwanted emotions played through his mind as the song went on and he only barely noticed that he had company in the ray of light.

All too quickly the song stopped and he found himself wishing it had not. Noticing his vision had become blurry he blinked his eyes and to his immense surprise found them wet. Looking at the ground he saw that it was wet with tears; at some point during the song he had begun crying. His face darkened with embarrassment and his jaw clenched in rage, he was the Black Foe of the World, he did not cry! He was shaken from his anger by a booming laughter.

Looking up he saw a man standing before him and laughing heartily and he felt his indignation grow. Slowly the man brought his laughter under control and looked upon Morgoth with a great smile that even seemed to fill his gaze.

“Such a sight I would have never thought I would find myself witness to!” he exclaimed. “But take heart, you are not the only one to be so affected by my love’s song. Even Mandos, grim and stoic as he is, was moved to tears by her lament when she sang for him in the halls of the dead.”

Morgoth eyed the two newcomers. One was a man and the other a fair elf maiden, though “fair” could hardly begin to describe one such as her. It was her beauty that brought the memory to Morgoth’s mind. The man was Beren and the Elda, Lúthien. The two thieves that had so brazenly stolen a Silmaril from his very crown as it rested upon his head.

“Tell me,” he said. “How so have I affected thee that thou wouldst come to visit me even after I have left Arda?”

Beren’s great smile only grew at Morgoth’s words. “Why, to thank you, of course!” he boomed.

Noticing that the man’s voice was free of sarcasm, Morgoth found himself wholly confused by the answer and could not find the words to adequately express it. Seeing his confusion Beren continued.

“Ah, I do not believe you know this story, I imagine you know us as only a troublesome pair of thieves!” he laughed. “If you had never stolen the Silmarils then my dear Lúthien’s father, Thingol, would never have found a task impossible enough to set as Lúthien’s bride-price. You see her father had very little love for me, thinking me to be unworthy of his daughter, and so did not wish us to marry. So he declared that he would only allow me to marry her if I were to bring him a Silmaril from your crown.”

Morgoth let out a rumbling growl. “Troublesome is too light a word for a pair such as thee.” he said. “Thou and thy damnable hound caused me much grief, slaying Draugluin and Carcharoth both, and so badly beating Sauron, even in his wolf form.”

The smile never left Beren’s face. “I truly hope you don’t take it personally, my friend. If Thingol had told me that I must swim across the sea to Valinor to marry her I would have.”

Lúthien then moved forward a pace, kneeling before Morgoth and placing a hand on his arm when she spoke. “I understand it was not your wish and that it brings you no joy to hear it, but you made our marriage possible. In thanks we pledge to help you in your coming trial in the hopes that someday when this is done you will go on to make others as happy as you made us. And perhaps you may even intend to when you do.” she finished with a smile.

Beren drew his own sword and placed it on the ground before Morgoth next to Fëanor’s blade. Lúthien then knelt down and, to Morgoth’s immense surprise, planted a kiss upon his brow. With a small smile she stood up and walked with Beren to the edge of the light.

“We will see you again soon, Morgoth!” called Beren jovially as the two walked away. “Ale’s on you, seeing as how you owe me a hand!”

This encounter had left Morgoth at a complete loss for words. He had been very sure that at no point in time had he ever been any manner of helpful during his time on Arda, but it would seem he’d slipped up at some point and accidentally gotten those two married.

That had been extremely unexpected, though. Gratitude was not something he’d ever really experienced and he’d not been prepared for it. It was a strange thing to think he’d ever done anything in his long life worth thanking him for.

More steps sounded in the distance and Morgoth prepared himself for what he was sure was to be yet another unpleasant encounter with his past.

Again the footsteps were many and he could not count them all. He took this as a bad sign, he didn’t want to deal with one visitor, let alone another pair of them. As the steps grew nearer he idly wondered who he would be visited by. So far each visit had brought only the most significant of the people he’d encountered in Arda, so the list was very short. Fortunately he wasn’t kept in suspense for very long.

A figure paused at the edge of the light and Morgoth could see that it was a man, though it was short. Another silhouette appeared at his side, standing easily a full head taller and built large as a warrior was. The first figure stepped forward and Morgoth could not stop the sharp intake of breath that came when he saw the man’s face. This was a man whose wrath Morgoth had more cause to fear than even Fëanor’s, and if the one accompanying him was who he thought him to be then he was sure this would be a very unpleasant encounter indeed.

The man was short and grizzled with faded golden hair that reached his shoulders and a similarly colored beard. His bright blue eyes were as chips of ice and scorn was written into every line in his haggard face. In his hand he held a great battle-axe stained black with troll blood.

The second stepped forward and Morgoth felt the beginnings of fear within him. He was tall and had long, dark hair that flowed past his shoulders and his eyes were a perfect match to his father’s, ice blue and smouldering with anger. In his hand was a sword that Morgoth paled to see. It was long and wicked and sharp, but the characteristic of its blade that bred the fear was its color. The blade was as black as his own armor and it pulsed with a malice to match his own. This was the black sword Gurthang, the very blade that was supposed to end his life and existence in Dagor Dagorath.

“How long has it been, I wonder?” asked the short one. “So long has it been since I was your humble guest, seated high upon Thangorodrim.”

“I could not tell thee, Húrin Thalion, for in truth even I know not how long it has been.” Morgoth replied.

“Ah, it is good to see that you still have memory of me. I had been worried that perhaps you had forgotten your old friend.” Húrin said, mirthlessly.

Morgoth smirked. “Oh trust me, my friend, it would be impossible for me to forget one such as thee.”

The second figure stalked forward angrily. “Do you think yourself funny, Black One?” he demanded. “I wonder how humorous you will sound with no tongue? It would be a pleasant sight to see you trying to spit your black curses without that serpent’s tongue of yours!”

“Such a fiery temper thou art possessed of, Túrin Turambar,” Morgoth sneered. “Were thou privy to the knowledge of the fate thou would have been possessed of had I not accepted this trial?”

Túrin made no response save to clench his jaw in anger.

“Thy sword was fated to pierce my own heart in the Battle of Battles, didst thou know this? Didst thou know that thou wouldst be the one to bring about my doom? Such anger thou must feel at having thy revenge stolen away.” he said with a grin, eliciting a growl from Túrin. “Art thou furious?”

Túrin started forward but his path was barred by his father’s arm.

“The memory of that curse has not left me, Morgoth.” Húrin said. “You lashed me to your iron mountain that I might watch your Doom ravage everything I ever held dear. Everything fell to the shadow of your thought and everything was as you said. We all died, cursing both life and death and without hope. But the Allfather has offered us this chance to take part in your destiny as payment for the sins of his son.”

“Why?” Morgoth demanded. “Why wouldst thou come to me? Why have all my enemies come to pledge me their aid? I can make no sense of it! Surely thou must have no love for me, what is it that would drive thee to aid thy greatest enemy?”

Túrin laughed. “Ever are the works of those of us who know pity strange and without sense to the pitiless man. But I must ask that you do not think me to be so honorable! I have come merely out of my own hubris, that if I shall not be the one to slay you then none shall have that pleasure!”

“You have brought ruin upon the house of Hador,” said Húrin. “And now the men of house Hador shall bring ruin upon the Black Foe. We shall aid your quest for redemption and bring Melkor back to the world.”

“Aye,” Túrin agreed. “To bring back Melkor from evil would be to utterly unmake Morgoth, and that is a more complete victory than I could ever achieve with Gurthang.”

Húrin stepped forward and laid his axe before Morgoth with the other weapons. “You’ve my axe, Bauglir. When all seems hopeless and lost and you stand alone and in need of friends, you need only call for them.”

Túrin strode up to Morgoth and brought his sword up under Morgoth’s chin. “But do not think this means that I’ve forgotten the damnable trick your dragon played on Niënor and I.” With a swift flick of his sword he scored a small gash beneath Morgoth’s left eye that lightly dripped blood in a parody of tears.

“That you might never forget the Tear Maiden.” he said with a scowl. He then laid his sword down next to his father’s axe. “In the end, when all was done, I stood alone and friendless. You will not have to, you shall have with you a league of friends for aid, do not forget it.”

Morgoth smirked. “Blessed am I to have friends such as thee, it spares me the trouble of needing enemies.”

Without warning the world began to fade and Morgoth could feel himself awakening from his dream.

“Farewell, Morgoth, I wish you luck.” said Túrin with a wave.

The last thing Morgoth beheld of his dream was the visage of Húrin as he spoke his words. “The night is dark and full of terrors, Morgoth, but the day shall come again.”

Morgoth slowly pried his eyes open, squinting against the light that flowed into the room. If those were what Luna considered to be pleasant dreams then it was no wonder the kingdom lived in fear of her. It was certainly enough to reinforce his desire to find a way to free himself of the need to sleep. After a few moments he managed to pull himself together and get out of bed and stumble across the room and out the door.

Making his way through the palace, he turned his thoughts to his dream. His greatest foes had come to him and pledged their help to him in the trial to come. Had the world gone mad? Surely he must have at the very least, he could think of no reason why any of them would desire to aid the very being that tried to annihilate their world. If this was anything to do with the lessons Eru wished him to learn then he wanted no part in them. Anything that bent one’s mind enough to cause them to offer aid to an enemy was something to be avoided at all costs.

As he turned down another hallway he paused. He suddenly realized that he had no idea where he was going and that he’d been groggily walking the palace in a complete daze. One more reason to never sleep again. Before he could seek out a guard for directions he was startled by the sizzle, flash, and pop of a teleportation spell discharge, ending with Celestia materializing before him.

“There you are!” she announced. “I’m glad I caught you before you left for Ponyville, I wanted to talk a little before you did. Would you like me to walk with you to the Friendship Express?”

Still half asleep, Morgoth tried to keep himself from swaying unsteadily enough to get out a few words. “Good morrow Celestia,” he mumbled. “Thy company would be most welcome on my journey through Canterlot.”

Celestia gave the swaying pony a quizzical look. “Are you quite alright, Melkor? You seem a little... out of it.”

“My apologies, dear sister,” he mumbled. “I find myself to be unused to sleep, little was my need for such things in Arda.”

Celestia let out a soft giggle. “Well get used to it, it’ll be happening a lot more often.”

Luckily for Morgoth he was colored pure white, so Celestia didn’t notice him pale further at the thought of doing all that again every single night.

Celestia gasped suddenly. “Oh my, are you alright Melkor?”

He looked at her quizzically. “I am well, Celestia. Why dost thou inquire?”

She pointed a hoof towards his face. “Your cheek.”

Morgoth ran a hoof over his cheek and froze in shock as he felt a small gash beneath his left eye. The exact spot where Túrin had cut him in his dream.

“T’is nothing, Celestia, it is merely the result of my own clumsiness as I searched for my room last eve.” he lied.

“It looks painful.” she said. “But if you’re sure you’re alright.”

Morgoth nodded. “Aye, t’is but a scratch. Now let us be on our way, that I might be done with this torture thou hast seen to set about me.”

“Oh don’t worry, it won’t be that bad, I might even go so far as to say that you may very well end up having a little fun.” Celestia said as she led Morgoth through the castle.

“Pray tell, sister, what is this ‘fun’ thou speakest of?” Morgoth asked.

Celestia just gave him a look and laughed. “Oh my, yes this is going to be very fun indeed.”

“Wouldst thou possibly wish to enlighten me on what trials I shall be facing under the... ‘tutelage’ of thy student? I would know what horrors thou hast asked I face.”

“I couldn’t say, it’s all up to Twilight and her friends. Though judging from the friendship reports she’s sent me since I sent her there I can tell you that life certainly won’t be boring in Ponyville.” she said.

Morgoth sighed and let the conversation fall away, simply resigned himself to burning that bridge once he got to it. He gazed about the marvelous city as he and Celestia traveled through it. He was pleased to note that the journey was much more enjoyable this time with Celestia, the ponies all seemed to part like a river about a rock before Celestia, many even dropped and bowed to her as they passed, this pleased Morgoth immensely.

And now that he was free of having to deal with the infuriating ponies of Canterlot he was free to take in the sights. Of course taking in the sights also involved much in depth imagining of the destruction of said sights. There were restaurants where ponies who appeared far too pleased with themselves sat and ate what he could only assume were delicacies for these creatures. There were clothing shops where ponies bought clothing of an almost ridiculous degree of opulence, he even saw a mare walking out in a dress completely encrusted with precious gemstones. He scoffed internally at the sight of the dress, the gems were dull and lifeless compared to those miniature stars crafted by the hand of Fëanor.

All said, the sightseeing did little more than stoke his hatred for the creatures and reinforce his desire to escape the confines of his new body that he might visit upon them the devastation these ponies so blatantly cried out to receive. He was brought out of his imaginings by the voice of Celestia in his ear.

“My apologies, Celestia, I found myself distracted by the sights of your city.” he said.

“It’s quite alright, Melkor. I just said that we’re here.”

And sure enough there they were, back at the station with the Friendship Express ready to bear him to Ponyville, and what he believed may very well be his doom.

“It has been good to see thee again, Celestia. I hope we may see each other again in my time here.” Morgoth said.

Celestia nodded.”I agree, it’s so good to have you here, do make sure you keep in touch. Twilight and her friends send me reports about their findings on friendship every so often, why don’t you send me a letter along with them?” she suggested. “It doesn’t have to be about friendship like theirs, but I would love to hear about how you progress in Ilúvatar’s trial.”

“Aye, I shall endeavor to write thee about my progress when I can. Now I bid thee farewell, Celestia, take care.” he said, making his way to the train.

“Goodbye Melkor!” she called after him. “Good luck! And remember to have a little fun!”

Morgoth boarded the train and braced himself for the coming days of torture. If Ilúvatar was simply trying to punish him, he imagined that it was most certainly working.

Sleepover at Twilight's

Morgoth had once been the Master of Fate and as such he generally had a good feel for how events would turn out, be they for ill or good. Right now he was reasonably sure that the coming days would be the worst he’d ever lived through. Maybe if he was lucky he wouldn’t survive them at all.

Strangely enough it was at this exact moment that he was suddenly thrown from his seat as the train rocked violently on its tracks. He hit the floor of the train and was knocked nearly senseless. The only thing his dazed mind managed to register was the continued rocking of the train and the panicked screams of the ponies on board. There was another violent shake and a sense of weightlessness overcame him; something had hurled the train into the air.

As suddenly as it began, the feeling ceased as the train finally hit the ground and Morgoth was thrown about the compartment like a rag doll along with all of the other ponies on board. Finally the train came to a rest on its side somewhere far away from the tracks, the only noises he managed to hear through his pain induced haze were the groans and screams of injured ponies. The sound would have been music to his ears if he himself weren’t in such blinding pain.

Morgoth attempted to get to his feet but no sooner had he tried than the whole train began to shudder again as it was lifted into the air. What in the name of the Allfather was happening? He weakly glanced out a window and saw that the train was encompassed by some manner of colossal black claw.

Suddenly the side of his compartment was shorn away and he found himself facing an eye the size of a house and he froze in fear to behold it. The eye looked straight at him and a menacing growling was heard. He idly thought that perhaps he shouldn’t have wished so fervently for death after all. The monster holding the train moved it away from its eye and the entire creature came into focus: it was a dragon. A damned dragon was trying to kill him. How ironic.

As more of the creature became visible he felt his fear begin to give way to curiosity, this creature looked familiar, he felt he should remember it. A black dragon of that size should have been something he remembered. Then all at once it came to him.

“... Ancalagon?” Morgoth whispered, hardly daring to hope.

In response the dragon simply held out a claw before the train, prompting him to walk out to it. Hesitantly he stepped onto Ancalagon’s claw and watched as it idly tossed the train away, trailing the screams of ponies which were abruptly silenced as it impacted the ground with a mighty explosion. Slowly the dragon lifted Morgoth up to the top of its head where yet another welcomed sight awaited him.

“It would seem as though my timing could not have been better, my king.”

Sauron stood perched atop Ancalagon’s head bearing Morgoth’s black shield and the warhammer, Grond. Sensing his master’s confusion Sauron continued.

“When I learned of your fate I worked as fast as I could, I resurrected Ancalagon and together we flew through the Void to this world to bring you much needed aid.” he explained.

When he finished speaking Sauron held out his hand, upon which he wore a golden ring. The ring shone with power and Morgoth felt his form shift and twist until he once again stood as he did in Arda, though he was still bound in the damnable rainbow chain Angainor. But with another flash from Sauron’s ring the chain shattered and Morgoth was restored. As he basked in the feeling of his returning power, Sauron held out the shield and mace for him.

He took the weapons and grinned down at Sauron.

“Truly there is no other face I would be more glad to see. Come Sauron, greatest of my friends, a new world awaits ripe for the taking!” he exclaimed.

“It would be an honor, my king.” Sauron said.

Turning to face forward, he thrust Grond into the air and gave a mighty cry. “Onward, Ancalagon! Let us bring ruin and woe to this peaceful world! The skies shall rain fire and the oceans shall run red with blood! The stars themselves shall drown in it!”

With a flap of his mighty wings, Ancalagon rose into the air, casting a shadow of death over the land of Equestria. The trio then flew off into the sunset, raining death and fire upon the peaceful land of the ponies, laughing like madmen the entire way.

And then he woke up.

Morgoth looked around, startled at the sudden change in scenery. He looked down at his body and saw to his utter dismay that he was once again a pony. It had all been a dream, a damned dream! He slumped back in his seat and despaired.

He absently looks out the window and noticed the sun was starting to go down. He had left Canterlot early that morning and the train had made good time, nearing Ponyville by the hour of twilight. This served only to remind him of the very pony he was now to be enslaved to.

He recalled all of their names from the first meeting and shuddered as he spoke each one to himself. The only word he deemed at least remotely adequate for describing them all was sickening. He actually felt physically ill at the prospect of having to interact with these horrid abominations in a manner that didn’t ultimately lead to their deaths. And that only served to make him hate the weakness of this frail pony body even more. The sooner he was finished with this damnable trial the better. Though it appeared that this may very well be something he would be unable to scheme his way out of. All of his attempted machinations had been either casually rebuffed or simply disregarded, and of course there was the matter of his unbreakable oath. All things considered it seemed as though he would actually have to go through with the trial.

But even this presented its own problems. Celestia had assured him that Discord was already imprisoned and wouldn’t be escaping any time soon. That simply couldn’t be right though, Eru himself had told him he would have a hand in bringing about the fallen Vala’s defeat. He took a moment to think about Discord, he’d never seemed truly evil, even as taken as he was by Morgoth’s song. He couldn’t imagine what the Ainu must have done to earn being sealed away for eternity, even he had been released after three ages in the halls of Mandos. Surely this was not the same Amanaišal he remembered from the Music, he never would have have done anything so terrible. But it would explain why his name was abandoned by the ponies in favor of another just as his was in Arda. Perhaps he was no longer Amanaišal just as Morgoth was no longer Melkor.

The train started to pull into the station at Ponyville and Morgoth braced himself for the coming torture. The train came to a halt and passengers began to disembark, Morgoth, however, waited as long as he could before getting off the train. As the last of the passengers filtered by, Morgoth gathered his willpower and followed along with them and disembarked the train. Making his way onto the platform he was greeted by the sight of the same group of ponies he’d encountered the other day waiting on the platform for him. They had yet to notice him though, so he still had a few precious moments to savor what remained of his life.

Then he noticed that he had miscounted, there were not six, but five ponies awaiting him. Which one was missing? He counted them all again and realized which one it was; the infernal pink one was not among th-

“Hi there!” a voice chirped in his ear.

Morgoth slowly turned to meet the smiling face of the speaker to find to his utter dismay that it was the pink party pony. He made the mistake of making eye contact and he felt as if he were staring into some fathomless, unknowable hell. There were few things in Ea which could claim to hold the ability to frighten the once Dark Lord, but as it turned out this pony happened to be one of those things. The rainbow one could wait, this... this thing had to be destroyed post haste.

“So you gonna stand there staring all day od are we gonna party?” she exclaimed, drawing the attention of the other five. Recognizing him, the group trotted over to him, smiles on their faces.

“Hi again, Mr. Shadowfax!” Twilight said excitedly. “I got the princess’s letter and I hope you’re as excited as I am! Oh gosh, a student of my own, this is going to be so much fun!”

She was practically bouncing on the spot and with each little bounce Morgoth felt some of his resolve slip away until only grim resignation remained. As Twilight prattled on he could only hope that Eru was enjoying himself as he watched the fate of his greatest son unfold.

“Now the princess didn’t say anything about living accommodations so I just figured you could stay with me while you’re in Ponyville.”

Morgoth bowed his head in thanks to her. “Thy mentor’s words have done thee justice then. Turly thou art possessed of a most generous heart to open thy home to a stranger.”

Twilight waved him off with a blush. “Oh don’t think anything of it, it’s nothing. Plus I’m not even the Element of Generosity, that’s Rarity. She’s the most generous pony you’ll ever meet.”

At the mention of “Element” Morgoth’s interest piqued. “Element of Generosity?” he repeated. “Wouldst that have anything to do with the Elements of Harmony that Celestia hath spoken of?”

“Oh, the princess told you about those?” Twilight asked. “Yeah, that’s exactly what it means. Rarity’s the Element of Generosity, Applejack here is the Element of Honesty, Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty, Fluttershy is the Element of Kindness, Pinkie Pie is the Element of Laughter, and I’m the Element of Magic.”

Morgoth’s eye twitched. This sounded far too convenient to be anything but deliberate. Loyalty, honesty, generosity, kindness, and laughter; these sounded to be exactly the virtues that Ilúvatar wished him to learn. There could be no doubt, the god had intended for Morgoth to be tutored by these very ponies. He wasn’t too sure about Twilight, though, for he was Morgoth, the greatest being to exist in all of Ea save for Ilúvatar himself and as such magic was in his blood. It could even be said that magic was his blood. He was unsure of what this Twilight Sparkle could teach him of magic that he did not already know.

“Very well then, shalst we begin my lessons? I am eager to learn anything that thou might have to teach.” Morgoth said.

Twilight shook her head. “Oh gosh no. It’s way too late for anything like that, everypony’s going to be going to bed soon. We can start first thing in the morning.”

Morgoth felt a surge of irritation, he had forgotten that these creatures required sleep. He had also forgotten, or maybe just ignored, the fact that he, too, required sleep. That would easily double the length of this infuriating trial. Valuable time he could spend muscling his way through whatever damnable lessons these ponies would have to teach him would instead be wasted doing literally nothing. However he made sure to keep any hint of his true feelings from showing.

“Well since we’re not gonna be doing any work we may as well party!” Pinkie exclaimed, producing what Morgoth assumed was some form of artillery weapon.

Twilight sighed. “Pinkie, if it’s too late to help Shadowfax then it’s probably too late for partying.”

“Yeah.” Rainbow Dash agreed. “As much as I love your parties, Pinks, it’s a little late.”

For the briefest of moments Morgoth swore the pink one’s mane seemed to deflate. Just as suddenly, though, the change reversed itself and Pinkie was right back to her jolly self. “Oh that’s fine! We can just have a slumber party then!” she exclaimed.

What was this? These creatures were so taken with the infirmity of sleep that they even celebrated the damnable thing?

Twilight hummed to herself for a moment. “Well I guess that sounds alright. Especially since I never got to finish everything in my slumber party book when Applejack and Rarity slept over. Does that sound okay with you, Shadowfax?”

Not really sure what to say, Morgoth simply nodded his assent. “Very well, if it is the local custom then I shall happily join thee in thy celebration of slumber.”

“Hurray, slumber party!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“If I may inquire, what wouldst be the purpose of this substance?” Morgoth inquired, a mask of green mud adorning his face.

“Yeah, I’d like to know that too,” Rainbow huffed. “Why do we have this stuff all over our faces?”

“Oh silly,” Rarity tittered. “It’s to refresh and rejuvenate one’s complexion!”

Morgoth pondered her words for a moment, trying to make sense of them. “Dost thou mean to say it grants youth eternal?” he asked incredulously.

“It better do something pretty impressive for me to be doing this.” Rainbow said.

Rarity giggled into her hoof. “Oh no you sillies, it refreshes one’s skin and helps to retain the appearance of youth is all.”

“And the cucumbers?” Rainbow deadpanned.

“Aye, I agree with the rainbow one. Why doth sliced gourds adorn our eyes? In what way dost it aid us?”

“To reduce the puffiness around one’s eyes of course!” Rarity continued.

“Don’t worry, y’all, iff’n it’s not yer thing then ya can just eat em. Cucumbers’re good eats!” Applejack said through a mouth full of cucumber. Rarity spared the cowpony an irritated glance and sighed, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

“This seems a strange ritual.” Morgoth remarked. “Nowhere in Arda can I think of were such practices undertaken. Yours is an odd land.”

“Time for curlers!” Twilight exclaimed, her trusty book of sleepover activities hovering at her side.

Morgoth simply shrugged and prepared for whatever strangeness was to come next. Rainbow Dash, however, came to the aid of the unknowing stallion.

“Uh, Twi’? I don’t think colts are supposed to get curlers. I’m pretty sure colts aren’t actually supposed to even do makeovers.” she said.

“Oh nonsense, Dash! We have to have makeovers! It says so right here in the book!” Twilight insisted.

As Morgoth listened to the two ponies debate the inclusion of males in the strange makeover ritual, he had the distinct and infuriating feeling that someone was laughing at him, but he couldn’t fathom why.

Deep within the Void, Túrin, Beren, and Fëanor were in the throes of booming laughter as they bore witness to Morgoth’s predicament. Lúthien smiled to herself and giggled occasionally at the situation. Húrin just stood there, utterly stunned by what he was seeing; The Black Foe of the World, the very one who had destroyed his life and taken all he loved from him just sitting there, surrounded by creatures straight out of a small girl’s storybook, and engaged in a makeover. He almost felt that this was repayment enough for all the wrongs the Vala had committed against him.

“Behold the mighty Morgoth!” Fëanor exclaimed. “Slayer of kings, father of dragons, lord of fate, and master of makeovers!”

“And to think Fingon thought he was some great and powerful enemy! It is no wonder I so easily stole a Silmaril from his very crown. Likely I caught him deep in his fantasies of frolicing with elf maidens!”

“Friends!” Túrin boomed. “I believe we may have discovered the reason behind all of the Black Foe’s actions upon Arda! It is said that there is no fury such as that of a woman scorned, Morgoth’s lover must have left for a far prettier girl indeed if the atrocities he committed are of any evidence!”

The laughter of the ghosts echoed endlessly throughout the Void, some of it even reaching Morgoth, giving him the distinct feeling that he was the butt of some unknown joke.

Twilight and Fluttershy cowered behind a wall of fluffy white pillows, taking a brief respite from the battle that waged hotly within the library. Yells, shouts, screams, crashes, and maniacal laughter were the only sounds to be heard from the other side of their cover.

“Um, T-Twilight? I th-think we c-could have j-just skipped th-this step.” Fluttershy stammered out.

Twilight spared a glance at her book of slumber party activities before answering. “I think you might be right, Fluttershy.”

On the other side of the wall of pillows raged a battle the likes of which nopony had ever seen before. Morgoth stood atop a mound of pillows reared up on his hind legs, his left foreleg jammed down the case of a pillow, wearing it as a shield, while in his right hoof he gripped another pillow, brandishing it like a mace.

With a shout Applejack broke from her cover and raced up the mound towards Morgoth from behind, a pillow clamped between her teeth. She reached the top and brought her weapon down with all her might, but Morgoth had anticipated the attack and had turned just in time to catch her pillow on his own pillow shield. Then with a mighty roar he whirled around, bringing his own pillow up under her chin and throwing her across the room with the force of the blow.

With one opponent down, Morgoth turned to scan for more threats. As he searched, he came to behold Rarity, dozens of pillows alight with the aura of her telekinesis hovering around her and a smug grin upon her face. Morgoth gritted his teeth, held his shield up before him, and charged. The hail of feather filled projectiles was nearly enough to stop his charge, but he weathered the storm and pressed on. Rarity, in her desperation, picked up just about every pillow in the room and in but a moment brought their combined weight crashing down upon the enraged Vala.

For a brief moment all was still. Rarity felt a grin grow on her face as she felt her victory solidify. Fluttershy peeked over her remaining cover.

“Is... is it over?” she asked hesitantly.

Rarity nodded. “I think it very well may be, my dear. Not everypony can be as-”

None of them ever found out what not everypony could be as the mountain of pillows entombing Morgoth exploded outwards. Rarity and the others shielded their eyes as the storm of fabric and feathers raged about the library. With a roar, a pillow clenched in a hoof struck Rarity in the side of the head, sending her crashing into yet another mound of the things, her eyes rolling independently of each other as she landed.

“ARE THERE NONE WORTHY OF MY SKILLS?!” Morgoth cried.

“I wonder what must be going through his head right now.” Twilight muttered to herself.

The Gates of Angband. Battle raged on throughout what seemed to be all of Beleriand. Morgoth stood before the gates of his great fortress, ready to defend it from the foolish Children of Ilúvatar who thought to unseat him. He had struck down challenger after challenger, yet still they came. But it worried him naught; with his shield on his arm and Grond in his hand he was unbeatable.

But then there was a blur and pain blossomed along his side. Whirling around, he sought to find the fool that dared injure him. His gaze eventually came to rest upon a figure that deigned to let itself be seen for a moment. Him.

Before Morgoth stood that foolish elf. The king who sought to defeat him in single combat! Fingolfin! The fool must have survived their last encounter somehow. Or perhaps Mandos allowed him to return to the land of the living. It mattered not, the fool could return a thousand times and a thousand times Morgoth would send him back to the Halls of Mandos. Roaring a challenge, Morgoth thundered towards the elf king, bringing his great hammer down upon the small figure.

As Grond struck the king darted off, his speed so great he seemed to vanish. The great hammer struck the ground, opening up a great crater and calling a bolt of lightning to strike the area. It was in vain though, the elf was already gone. Pain once again wracked Morgoth’s form as the elf delivered a quick strike to his leg. Furious, the fallen Vala struck again, and again the elf vanished in a blur of speed.

Again and again the Black Foe stuck and again and again the Elda proved too fast. Craters ravaged the ground but not a single strike had found its mark. Morgoth’s rage reached apocalyptic levels as the elf delivered blow after blow to him. He was weakening, the blows were not altogether great, but the number of times he’d been struck made up for it. He could feel the wounds sapping his strength, he had to strike now and end it.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Fingolfin coming at him. He attempted to turn to face his oncoming adversary but knew he would not be fast enough. Amazingly, though, it seemed as if fate was on his side. A piece of rubble from the explosive strikes his hammer made against the ground tripped the elf king and threw him off balance. Seeing an opportunity, Morgoth brought Grond around and up in an underhand swing, catching Fingolfin in the stomach. The force of the blow lifted the Elda up into the air and sent him flying through the air. Eventually he faded from sight and Morgoth felt the feeling of his victory surge through him. He raised his armaments to the heavens and roared his victory.

Rainbow Dash’s head stuck through the wall of pillows that Twilight and Fluttershy had been using for cover, lodged there by Morgoth’s last strike against her.

“I think we can check this one off the list now.” she said warily, as Morgoth screamed his victory behind them.

“Yeah, I think so too.” Twilight agreed.

Twilight’s Library was dark, the only light emanating from the glow of a small jar filled with fireflies. All the ponies sat huddled around the jar, a few of them shaking in their seats in terror, a few wearing looks of utter boredom.

Twilight stood in the center dramatically finishing up her telling of a ghost story. This was probably her favorite part of a slumber party, she’d read just about every single good ghost story there was.

“... and just when the last pony thought she was safe, there standing right behind her, just inches away was... THE HEADLESS HORSE!” Lightning flashed and suddenly where Twilight had been standing was now a headless pony.

Rarity and Applejack screamed and grabbed hold of each other, Fluttershy fell limp to the ground, unconscious, and Pinkie Pie fell over laughing as if it had been some hilarious joke. Rainbow Dash and Morgoth just sat there, their faces completely emotionless.

Suddenly the lights flicked back on and Twilight took the blanket off her head. “Oh man, I can’t believe I got you girls with that again!” she exclaimed.

“Well what can Ah say?” Applejack said. “Ya spin a pretty good yarn there, Twi’.”

Morgoth was bored out of his mind. They considered this to be frightening? Perhaps he should simply recount to them an average day walking through the halls of Angband. Such a telling would likely result in some kind of horrible psychological trauma for the ponies, even the ever stoic rainbow one who had attempted to prove she was as hardy as he.

“So does anypony else have a ghost story they wanna tell?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, somepony other than Twi’ should tell a story for once. I’m up for a change from The Legend of the Headless Horse.” Applejack agreed.

“So long as it doesn’t involve spiders, of course.” Rarity added.

“Ew, yuck, I hate spiders!” Pinkie said.

“Ugh, me too!” Twilight agreed. “They’re so nasty and scary and they’ve got all those eyes and that hair!”

A smile began to spread across Morgoth’s face. An evil, malicious smile. Slowly it grew and grew until it split his face ear to ear. They wanted a story? He would give them a story. He would be a kind Vala and free these ponies from their slavery to the tyranny of sleep.

“If thou wouldst permit it, I think perhaps I have a tale that thou wouldst enjoy.” Morgoth said.

“Go for it!” Twilight said.

Morgoth cleared his throat and tried as valiantly as he could to keep the smile from his face and the mirth from his voice. “Hast thou ever been told the tale of Melkor and Ungoliant?”

Enter Loyalty

It was around four hours after midnight at this point, and the sound of a pony lost in pleasant slumber filled Twilight’s library. Following the completion of his story, Morgoth had finally given in to the calling of his newly mortal body and drifted off into a peaceful sleep. The same, however, could not be said of the others at the slumber party.

While Morgoth may have found the telling of his story entertaining the other ponies had been, quite frankly, terrified. Though it was well past four in the morning all the lights in the library remained on and the six mares all sat huddled together, shivering in fear, in the center of the floor.

Rainbow shot a jealous glance at the soundly sleeping Morgoth. “Man, how come he’s able to sleep after that story? He’s the one who told it!”

“G-g-g-giant s-s-s-spiders...” was all Rarity could manage.

“Those poor trees...” Fluttershy whimpered, eyes damp.

“Oh come on, everypony,” Twilight said. “There’s no such thing as giant spiders! Why are we even afraid?”

“‘Cause Shadowfax is pretty darn good at spinnin’ a terrifyin’ yarn?” Applejack offered.

Pinkie Pie, meanwhile, was curled up in a ball and letting out a few half-hearted giggles with every breath. “Giggle at the ghostie...”

After a few more moments, Rainbow, fed up with the whole ordeal and attempting to salvage what remained of her image, broke away from the group. “Well you scaredy-fillies can stay up all night jumping at shadows if you want, but I’m going to sleep... over here... next to Shadowfax... ‘cause he’s, uh, cool.”

Rainbow Dash then promptly fluttered over to where Morgoth slept and settled down next to him, closing her eyes immediately and doing her damnedest to pretend she was asleep.

“Umm... I th-think I’m going to go to sleep too, girls. I have to get up in...” Fluttershy checked a clock on the library wall, sighing heavily when she saw the time. “... three hours to feed the animals at my cottage.” And so without any further ado the yellow pegasus followed Rainbow’s lead and curled up on the floor next to her and Morgoth.

“Ah can’t help but agree with Rainbow on this one.” Applejack spoke up. “This all seems a mite silly. Ah’m off ta sleep, night y’all.”

“Same here. I can’t believe I stayed up this late for something so silly. I’m gonna fall so behind in my studies tomorrow...” Twilight lamented as she curled up on the floor next to the group.

“Y-yes well... I simply must get to sleep too. Mustn’t fall behind on my beauty rest!” Rarity hastily added.

Pinkie just crawled over to the group, still half-heartedly giggling the whole time until she fell asleep.

Slowly the rays of the morning sun entered the library, worming their way through Morgoth’s eyelids and rousing him from a sleep that he would never admit to another living soul that he’d enjoyed. He let out a groan at having been awoken, agitated at the fickleness of sleep. It forced itself upon him when he wanted nothing more than to remain awake and then left when he was finally comfortable and simply desired to continue sleeping. In an act of pure spite, Morgoth attempted to roll over and see if he couldn’t simply resume sleeping, only to find that he had been rendered immobile.

Confusion worming its way through his sleep-addled mind, Morgoth began to realize that he was far warmer and more comfortable than he was when he’d gone to sleep. Cracking an eye, the ex dark lord looked around for the source of his newfound comfort and inability to move. When he looked down at himself, Morgoth froze.

Piled around and, in a few cases, on top of him were six ponies. Morgoth’s frown could not have been any deeper. By his own black name, how had any of this come about? Immediately realizing he cared far less for how it had happened than he did for the fact that it was happening, he decided that his first order of business should be to remove the annoying rainbow and purple ponies from his chest. However as he began to shift a few of the ponies began to mumble in their sleep, his actions bringing them close to awakening.

This proved to be a different problem altogether. Removing them from his person would likely cause them to wake up, which meant they would probably start talking. To him. That in itself was a fate worse than death. However the alternative was to simply lay there beneath the pile of infuriatingly adorable ponies while they slept for Ilúvatar only knew how long. Truly he was damned no matter what choice he made. And so Morgoth, Black Foe of the World, Tyrant of Utumno, Master of Angband and Lord of the Balrogs simply laid there beneath a pile of cutely snoring, colorful, magic, tiny horses, completely powerless to do anything at all about it. This was the worst hell.

Twilight slowly opened her eyes, yawning pleasantly as she awoke for the day. But something was off, she didn’t remember going to sleep on a pillow or anything similar, so why was it she found herself on such a comfortable surface. Her natural inquisitiveness taking over, she began to search about for the answer. She quickly found said answer as soon as she looked down to see a white stallion laying on his back beneath her, staring up at the ceiling with the least amused expression she had ever born witness to.

“Good morrow, Lady Sparkle. Though thou appeareth to be quite comfortable, might I request that thou remove thyself from my person?” he asked flatly.

Twilight, a blush beginning to color her cheeks as she realized her position promptly rolled off of Morgoth and onto Pinkie Pie, landing atop the pink pony and causing a squeaking sound she knew better than to question. After extricating herself from the slumbering party pony, Twilight got to her hooves, casting an embarrassed glance at Morgoth. “S-sorry about that. Um, have you been awake for a while?”

“Two hours, forty-six minutes, and seventeen seconds.” he replied.

“O-oh.” she said. “You didn’t try to wake us up?”

“It seemed an impolite thing to rouse thee.” he lied. “Thou did not seem as though thou wouldst be sleeping anytime soon when I myself fell to slumber, I imagined thou wouldst have had very little sleep.”

“Oh,” Twilight said. “Thanks for being so nice about it. We didn’t really get much sleep after that story of yours. You’re really good at telling ghost stories you know! You told it so well it’s almost like you were there watching it happen.”

“I thank thee for thy compliment, Lady Sparkle. However, if thou wouldst do me a kindness...?” he replied.

“Sure, what do you need?”

Morgoth looked from Twilight to the ponies still piled about him, then back to Twilight. It took Twilight a moment to figure out what he was getting at, but finally realization dawned. “Oh! Sorry, Mister Shadowfax, I’ll take care of this!” she said, hurriedly moving to wake the others.

A few startled “Eep!”s and a lot of avoiding eye contact with Morgoth as best as possible later and the stallion was relieved of his burden. However now came the other thing Morgoth dreaded. Now the ponies had begun talking and he sincerely was beginning to miss the Halls of Mandos. He’d have preferred the company of the grim Vala over these prattling creatures any day.

“Yeah, don’t worry about, it’s all good.” Rainbow said, continuing to act as if she wasn’t the one that had crawled on top of him. “I know my awesomeness can be pretty irresistible at times.” If there had been a single doubt left in Morgoth’s mind, it would have been put to rest by this point; the rainbow one would die first.

Ignoring her words as best he could, Morgoth turned to address Twilight. “Lady Sparkle, might I inquire as to when my lessons shall begin? I wish to begin as swiftly as is possible.”

“Oh, um... well you see...” she began, scuffing a hoof against the floor, “I wasn’t really expecting this arrangement that the princess set up, so my schedule for today is completely full. And... um... so is my schedule for the rest of the month.”

“Would it not be but a small matter to simply rework thy plans to make space for thy appointed task?” Morgoth asks, his ire already beginning to build.

Twilight looked as if he’d just suggested that she kill her own mother. “I couldn’t do that!” she exclaims. “I always write out my schedule for the entire month beforehoof! I couldn’t just go and break from my schedule! It would be chaos! How would I know what to do? How would I decide what book to read or when I should go out with my friends?”

Morgoth was beginning to have serious doubts about this creature. Clearly this Twilight Sparkle was an extremely unstable individual. And he was to be bound to her service for the duration of his time upon Equestria. Things were certainly not looking to be in his favor. Idly he wondered if Celestia knew the kind of pony she’d given such immense knowledge and power.

“I... apologize... if I have offended thee, Lady Sparkle.” he said, the hated word leaving a sour taste in his mouth. “Truly I meant nothing ill by it.”

“Aw shucks, Shadowfax, don’t worry about Twi’ here. She gets a little nutty when it comes ta schedulin’.” Applejack said.

“I do not!” Twilight rebutted. In response the others just stared at her for a few moments. “Alright, maybe a little.” she relented. “But next month I’ll be able to work my schedule around teaching you about friendship.”

“Dost thou mean to say that thou hast no free time at all in which to pursue my lessons?” Morgoth asked, aghast at such a delay.

“Well I had planned to have you spend time with a different one of us for your time here so that you could learn different aspects of friendship, but it was just a thought, I haven’t really finalized any plans for teaching you yet.” Twilight explained.

“Oh! Oh!” Pinkie yelled, hopping up and down excitedly. “I like that idea! We each get to hang out with Shady!”

“Shady?” Morgoth repeated incredulously.

“Yeah! Your name is Shadowfax, but that’s way too long to say every time, so I figured Shady would work just as well! And I love how it sounds!” she explained. And just like that Morgoth could not decide who should die first yet again.

“Well it would solve my scheduling problem.” Twilight said, putting a hoof to her chin in thought. “Well which one of you would have time this month?”

“All month?” Pinkie asked, her hopping coming to a stop.

“Well yeah, I figure that since I can’t write a new schedule until next month we could just do it for a month at a time.” Twilight explained.

“So he’d be here for six months?” Applejack asked.

“Well Princess Celestia didn’t mention if there was a time limit or anything, so I figure we could just take as much time as we need. Good things take time to do right.” she said.

‘Father!’ Morgoth screamed in his head. ‘I repent! I rescind my evil ways! I beg thee, do not leave me to such a doom!’

Applejack put a hoof to her chin and hummed. “Well it’s gettin’ near Applebuck Season, so ah’m gonna get a mite busy in the near future. Ah probably won’t be able to take him for a while.”

“I just got a huge order in from Canterlot.” Rarity said. “So I’m afraid none of you may see me for quite a while. I’m going to have to pull quite a few all night sewing sessions to finish this.”

“I have too many animals with me right now, it just takes up nearly all my attention these days. I’m so s- wait, what time is it...?” Fluttershy checked the clock and paled when she saw that it was past noon. With a distressed squeak she bolted out of the library without a second’s hesitation.

“I have a job and two foals to take care of.” Pinkie said flatly.

Everyone in the room turned to look at Rainbow Dash with varying degrees of terror ranging from none at all for any of the ponies all the way to heart stopping levels for Morgoth. Rainbow, seeing everyone’s looks, just shrugged. “Eh, why not? I suppose I’ve got some free time.” she said casually. “Just don’t be surprised if there’s nothing left to teach him by the time my turn with him’s up.”

‘Oh by Ilúvatar please no!’ Morgoth thought.

“Oh! I can even take him along on Weather Patrol! That’d be so cool!” she said enthusiastically.

“An’ how’re ya gonna do that now, sugarcube?” Applejack asked. “Hate ta burst your bubble but he ain’t no pegasus pony.”

“Well...” Twilight began. “I have gotten a lot better at that wing spell.”

Pinkie burst out laughing. “Oh man, you mean the one that gave Rarity pretty butterfly wings? You’re gonna use that on Shadowfax?”

‘There are worse things than death, it seems.’ Morgoth thought.

“Well I can do more than just butterfly wings now.” she replied. “I can do normal pony wings. It just needs to be reapplied pretty often.”

“Awesome!” Rainbow cheered. “How often?”

“I can make it last up to three days at a time now, so every third day he should come back to have it recast.” she said.

‘Have I no say at all in this matter?’ he thought. And try as he might all he could do was think it, the damnable oath still had him bound. ‘This must have been what it was like for that idiot elf.’ And to make it worse, against his will he was beginning to empathize with the Noldor’s plight; to be eternally bound by one’s word with no further choice.

“Alright Shadowfax, so does all that sound alright to you?” Twilight asked.

Realizing they’d continued speaking while he’d been lost in his thoughts, Morgoth tried to think up a suitable way to tell them exactly what they could do with that idea of theirs. Though... the oath would just force him to comply anyways, and there was no truer fact than Morgoth’s hatred of being commanded. While he had claimed to have been humbled his heart was still ruled by his pride, and that pride refused to let him be ordered about like some minion. The only way he could see to avoid the iron hand of his oath was to go forward with his trial of his own volition, complete it on his own terms rather than be forced.

Taking a deep breath and steeling himself for whatever would come next, Morgoth made his choice. “I would consider it an honor to be taught by those held in such high esteem by a Vala. I gladly give thee my consent for thy chosen course of action.”

“Wonderful!” Twilight exclaimed. “Now if you’ll just hold still we can get this started.” With that Twilight’s horn began to glow and she slowly advanced on the stallion. Morgoth, for his part, faced his doom with grim resignation, standing stoic before what he was sure would be a painful and humiliating beginning to a similar ordeal.

‘I am going to kill every single one of these creatures, one day.’ Morgoth thought the instant before Twilight’s spell overtook him.

Morgoth looked hesitantly backwards and fluttered his new wings experimentally. It was something of a strange sensation, being immediately gifted with additional appendages.

“Well I’d say that was a complete success!” Twilight said enthusiastically, if not a little wearily. “And see? Normal pegasus wings this time. Guaranteed not to burn up within seconds of sun exposure. I think.”

“That does not-” unfortunately before Morgoth could voice his concerns about the flammability of his new wings he was seized by the hated rainbow pegasus.

“Thanks a lot, Twilight! Sorry to bolt like this but I should probably start training Shady here in how to use his wings. Later guys!”

And just like that Morgoth found himself being dragged from the questionable safety of the library by the maniacal cyan pony. ‘Strange how one can grow to miss old enemies. At least Túrin would have given me the honor of a sword through the heart.’

Suddenly the pegasus ceased her dragging and allowed Morgoth to stand under his own power. “Hehe, sorry, I guess I got a little excited there.” she said.

Morgoth brushed himself off. “Verily...” he said, distractedly.

“Alright, so my first idea is for us to go out over Sky Mirror Lake and have you get used to using your new wings. We’ll see how long that takes before we do anything else. Sound good?”

“Aye, Lady Dash-”

“Just call me Rainbow, man.”

“... Rainbow then. Aye Rainbow, I find this to be agreeable. Let us be on our way then.” he said.

“Right then! Let’s get going, don’t wanna waste anymore daylight.”

“After you, my lady.” Morgoth said, sarcastically holding out a hoof.

“Smart-flank,” Rainbow chuckled, flicking him on the nose with her tail as she passed. It took every ounce of the Vala’s willpower to keep from brutally murdering her then and there.

Rage barely under control, Morgoth fell into step behind Rainbow Dash and the two began to make their way through Ponyville. As the pair trudged through the town Morgoth couldn’t help but try to take in as much of the place as possible. It was such a stark contrast from what he was used to on Arda, the polar opposite of Angband and Utumno. It was bright, it was happy, there was no sense of fear or apprehension, all the ponies seemed as happy as could be.

Was this what Arda would have been like if he had not created the Discord during the Music of the Ainur? Could Arda have been so peaceful? Would the world have been so... happy? It was a question that Morgoth likely would never learn the answer to. A fact that made him glad, to see Arda in such a state would have been a painful affair.

“Derrrrrrrrrp!”

The sudden and unexpected sound wrenched Morgoth from his thoughts of Arda. What in the name of-

“Derrrrrrrrrp!”

Whatever that sound was it grated on his nerves and he wished nothing more than to silence it at once. Taking a look around the street he and Rainbow walked down it wasn’t long before he located the source.

“Derrrrrrrrp!”

Two pegasus ponies trotted down the street behind a grey pegasus mare, making that insufferable sound and making strange faces as they walked. Upon further inspection he saw that the mare’s cheeks were a bright red as she glared at the ground with mismatching eyes.

“Derrrrrrrrp!”

“Thy culture is possessed of very strange customs, Rainbow.” Morgoth commented.

“What’re you talking about, dude?” she asked, coming to a halt.

Morgoth pointed a hoof at the trio of ponies as they neared the end of the street, disappearing around a corner, the grating sound still echoing from around the building. The sight, however seemed to enrage the cyan mare.

“Oh not those jerks again!” she growled.

“What has thee so out of sorts, Rainbow? Is that not some Equestrian custom?” Morgoth asked.

“No, those jerks are just bullying poor Ditzy again. Hang on here while I take care of this.” she said, getting ready to bolt off. However a touch on her shoulder stayed her.

“Perhaps I might be of some use here, Lady Rainbow. Allow me to deal with these rabble-rousers in thy stead.” Morgoth suggested.

Rainbow put a hoof to her chin. “I dunno, these guys are serious jerks. You think you can handle them?”

“Perhaps thou might consider it my first lesson in loyalty.”

“Well rescuing Ditzy from bullies would be more to do with kindness than loyalty. Tell ya what, you make friends with Ditzy after helping her and I’ll consider it a point in your favor.”

Morgoth felt an involuntary spasm in his left eye. More ponies meant more frustration. However... if it got him out of there that much faster he could stand such a sacrifice. “Very well Lady Rainbow, I accept thy conditions. I shall return when fair Ditzy has been relieved of her troubles.”

“Alright, but don’t hesitate to ask me for help if they’re too much for you.” she said.

“I shall keep thy offer in mind.” he said as he trotted off after the pegasus, grinning to himself as he went. What an excellent opportunity this was! Little did that idiot rainbow pegasus know Morgoth was not doing this out of the goodness of his heart, as surely none existed there yet. But rather this was out of a desire to cause harm and relieve the stress of his ordeal. If these two pegasi were as unlikeable as Rainbow professed then this was simply an opportunity he could not afford to pass up. He could be openly cruel to these two and yet still appear benevolent to the rest. Perhaps there was something to this friendship thing after all.

After turning the corner the trio had taken Morgoth had little trouble locating them. The road upon which they walked was empty save for the three pegasi. The grey mare’s situation seemed to have taken a turn for the worse though, her two antagonists having cornered her against the wall of a building. As he neared he became able to make out some of their words.

“Haha! Look, now Derpy’s crying! What a baby!” the first exclaimed gleefully.

“Oh wow, really? I missed it, I was too busy looking at her freaky eyes.” the other said.

Morgoth scowled. How weak these creatures must have been to have accosted such a pathetic pegasus. Likely there were no others weak enough for them to assert dominance over. This would be greatly entertaining. Morgoth put on his best smile and approached the group. “Hail brave heroes!” he greeted them.

The first, a tan pegasus with a cloud and a hammer on his flank turned to scowl at him. “Whadda you want, scrub?”

Suppressing the desire to end him for his insolence, Morgoth continued on. “I came upon thee in my travels and saw that thou stood over a fallen foe and wished to congratulate thee on thy great victory! Tell me, how great were this villain’s deeds to warrant such celebration for her disgrace?”

The second, a deep blue pegasus with a flank mark of three stacked rocks looked at Morgoth quizzically. “Dude, it’s just Derpy and we’re messin’ with her.”

Morgoth adopted a quizzical expression. “So thou doth mean to say that thy great conquest was naught to do with any wronging?”

“Dude, you talk weird. Get lost.” the tan one said.

“And I shall, but I shall require the company of thy fallen opponent before I do.” Morgoth said.

“Nah dude, we’re still, uh, hangin’ out with her.” the blue one replied.

“Thy meeting can be postponed. I require her presence at once.”

The tan one walked up to Morgoth, getting well into his personal space. “Just walk away, dude. Before I make you.”

Morgoth did not cow before the stallion, instead remaining in his place and returning his glare with an even stare of his own. “I think thou hast little say in this matter, foal. Take thy pitiful selves away from my sight and leave the mare with me.”

The other pegasus stallion joined the tan one, standing threateningly before Morgoth. The Vala cracked a grin at their weak display of dominance. Oh if only they knew what it was they opposed.

Morgoth moved in very close to the stallion and spoke barely above a whisper so the grey mare would not hear. “Hear me, fools, I have killed better men than thee. I have littered an entire world with corpses and now I am here to do the same to this world. Thy seas shall run red with blood and the very world shall be torn asunder. Despair, mortals, for I am the end of days!”

They could not break eye contact with him, his terrifying gaze pulling them in. In those evil orbs they saw absolute conviction for what he was saying and so had no reason to doubt him. Morgoth eventually blinked and freed the ponies from his hold, prompting the two to tuck tail and run for their lives from the crazed monster in the form of a pony.

Morgoth allowed himself a smug smile as he watched the two fools sprint away. Such weak, pitiful creatures they were. Satisfied at relieving his desire for cruelty slightly, Morgoth made to trek back to Rainbow to begin his... tutelage under her. Before he could take two steps, however, a weight struck his side and sent him toppling to the gorund. “What in Ea?!” he shouted.

“Thank you thank you thank you thank you!” the grey mare he’d forgotten about sobbed into his coat. Morgoth was not at all sure how to react to that. One thing he was sure of, however, was that she was getting tears all over him and that was completely unacceptable!

“Stop crying.” he said bluntly.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t help it.”she said between sobs. “Those guys were so mean and I’m just so happy you got rid of them! Thank you, thank you so much!” And still she kept crying.

“Aha, so it seems you completed both parts, eh?” a familiar, annoying voice said.

“Aye, Rainbow, I rid Lady Ditzy here of her problem.” Morgoth confirmed.

“And it looks like you made friends with her too.” Rainbow Dash added, snickering at his position on the ground. “So are you alright Ditzy? Dide Shadowfax here help you out alright?”

Ditzy turned to look at Rainbow Dash, sniffling. “Oh, hi Rainbow. Yeah, he chased off those jerks that keep making fun of my eyes.” she said, slowly getting to her hooves with Morgoth right behind her.

“Aye, those fools shall not bother thee again, Lady Ditzy.” Morgoth said.

“Thank you so much. So your name’s Shadowfax? I’ve never seen you around Ponyville before.” Ditzy remarked.

Before Morgoth could make an excuse Rainbow came to his defense. “He’s actually a friend of Princess Celestia’s! She sent him here so we can teach him what we learned about friendship or something. I don’t really remember, I wasn’t actually listening.” The rainbow pony’s stupidity was quickly proving to be Morgoth’s greatest ally in this ordeal.

“Well I’m really happy you’re here.” Ditzy said. “And thanks again. I’d stay longer but I’ve gotta finish delivering these letters. I’ll see ya soon, okay Shadowfax? See ya!” And with that she took off, Rainbow waving happily after her and Morgoth awkwardly waving goodbye.

As the two continued on their way Rainbow gave Morgoth a pat on the back. “That was a great job ya did there, Shady. Looks like I’m a pretty great teacher after all! Man, this is gonna be so easy!”

“Truly thou art an inspiration to us all, Lady Dash. All would do well to aspire to attain thy level of wisdom.” he said, the sarcasm completely missed by the rainbow pony.

“Yeah, I am pretty awesome, aren’t I?”

“Verily.”

TL;DR

Darkness, cold and suffocating, pressed in on Morgoth from all sides. It was almost comforting in a way. Why should he leave, he wondered. Why go back into that light when all that awaited him was torment and humiliation? Dark was his hour and there was no dawn to await him. He entertained the thought for a while, floating listlessly as though through the Void, gazing up at the brightly blazing sun that flickered with distortion from his prison.

Yes, just stay right there. It was such a simple solution to all of his problems, just staying within the quiet dark. However the world seemed to have other plans for him. He heard a muffled collision and the image of the sun rippled violently. He felt a pair of hooves wrap around his midsection, followed by a sharp jerk as he was dragged upwards. After a moment sound and sight both returned to him as he broke through the surface of Sky Mirror Lake, coughing and sputtering.

“Don’t scare me like that, Shady!” Rainbow all but yelled. “You were under there for like five minutes, I thought you drowned!”

“Thou hast my sincerest apologies for disappointing thee.” Morgoth wheezed in between hacking coughs. When his fits abated Rainbow helped him to swim back to the shore of the lake. “Look, I get that learning to fly isn’t the easiest thing, but you’ve gotta keep at it. It’s only been a couple of days so don’t worry if you’re not an ace already.”

Morgoth fought back the urge to scream at her, his frustration was mounting and her uncompromising training regimen had his patience close to its breaking point. It was only through his tremendous will power that he hadn’t made an attempt on her life.

“Thou hast made an exemplary effort to deliver a message to the contrary then. These maneuvers thou asketh that I perform are nothing short of impossible!” he snapped.

Reaching the edge of the lake, the two trotted ashore, Rainbow shaking herself off like a dog once they reached dry land. “I know. I don’t actually expect you to succeed at any of these, honestly. These are way too advanced for somepony so new to flying.”

Morgoth clenched his jaw so hard he swore he heard his teeth groaning from the strain. “Then why dost thou insist that I perform them ceaselessly?” he said, nearly growling the words out.

“Because it’s better to aim for the stars and come up short than to hit the ceiling and never go any higher.” she said simply. Seeing that Morgoth wasn’t following her she continued. “The best limits to set for yourself are the ones that are furthest away, set them too close and you’ll get complacent. It’s not enough to just want to succeed, you have to always be exceeding limitations. The second you start making limits for yourself your life effectively ends. And I don’t just mean flying, when you start acknowledging that you have limits it’ll start working its way into every facet of your life whether it’s school, work, relationships, or anything else. That’s why I live the way I do, I never do anything just one hundred percent because if something’s worth doing then it’s worth overdoing. When I buck clouds it’s not enough to just get it done, I clear the skies in ten seconds flat. When the princes invites us to one of her parties I make sure my dress is the coolest one there. And when I fly I make sure anypony watching feels like they’re at a Wonderbolts rally. You get what I’m saying?”

Morgoth was, quite simply, stunned. He hadn’t expected anything approaching that level of insight from this brash, egotistical pony. And though it repulsed him he saw similarities between himself and this creature. She may have seemed arrogant on the surface, but if one were to look deeper they’d see that her pride was not born of simple arrogance, but true knowledge that she really was the best at whatever she set out to do. She did not humble herself before others because she knew it was her right to appear as great as she was. That was something Morgoth could respect, as he knew it all too well.

Slowly he felt his accumulated rage begin to drain away. Her reasoning was sound and he would not allow her to find any fault with him. He was the greatest being to ever exist and if this pony could hold her head so high then he would as well. No other would be permitted to look down upon him, for he was Morgoth and none other was greater than he. Sensing the change that came over her companion, Rainbow smiled.

“But a break every now and again never hurts. Wanna go into town and get some lunch?” Rainbow offered.

For the first time Morgoth noticed the gnawing hunger in his belly. When was the last time he’d eaten? Not since noon yesterday, at the least. He’d forsaken meals and any other distraction save sleep in favor of training with Rainbow and muscling through her idiotic lessons. Though he was slowly growing ever more used to the infirmities his mortal body possessed, so Morgoth agreed that it was perhaps time for a meal. He’d learned the value of a good meal when he’d passed out from hunger in the middle of one of Rainbow’s lessons. “Aye Rainbow,” he agreed, “I believe some food would do me well. From where shall we acquire our midday meal?”

Rainbow hummed to herself thoughtfully, a hoof on her chin. “How about Sugarcube Corner?”

“Have we not partaken of Sugarcube Corner’s stock no less than eleven times in the past week?” Morgoth asked incredulously.

“Hmm, yeah, I think you may be onto something there. Eleven’s an odd number. We should get that up to an even dozen. Come on, Shady! Race you there!” Then before Morgoth had even registered what the rainbow pegasus had said she was gone, the only evidence of her having been there a quickly fading rainbow streak hanging in the air.

After a few moments of making sense of her mile-a-minute exhortation Morgoth unconsciously let out a deep, long suffering sigh. He was amazed at how she could so easily shift from serious and focused to whimsical and impulsive. His growing tolerance to these shifts were also a source to unease for him. It troubled him that the idiocy of these creatures was becoming commonplace to him. With a final growl of irritation he took to the air and began the flight back to Ponyville to join Rainbow Dash. As he flew he idly hoped that the pink pony’s bakery had more than cupcakes this time.

The flight wasn’t very long and took less time than it usually did. He hated to admit it but that blue wretch certainly knew what she was doing when she trained him, he’d progressed by leaps and bounds under her tutelage. A week ago flying all the way from Sky Mirror Lake into town would have been beyond him, now he made the journey in not even five minutes. Though he was certain Rainbow would have likely arrived at their destination within moments of setting out and he would just as likely receive an earful of her boasting when he caught up with her.

As he flew through town he received an unsettling number of greetings from the townsponies. He didn’t know a single one of them, but most of them went out of their way to offer a hello or a wave or a smile. Every day they did this and he could make no sense of it. Certainly he was acquainted with none of them, so why would they go out of their way to welcome him so?

Luckily he hadn’t much time to wonder at the strange actions of the ponies as before he even knew it he’d arrived at Sugarcube Corner. How he hated the abominable place. The very building was made to look like the sweets they served. In his mind it was a monument to the vast differences between Arda and Equestria. Surely there couldn’t be a single place in all the world where such a building might be found, not even within the kingdoms of the elves. Though it seemed like something a hobbit might be fond of.

“Hey, you’re getting faster, this time I only beat you by five minutes!” Rainbow announced as he arrived, drawing a sigh from the white pony.

“Aye, truly thy skill as a teacher is without compare.” Morgoth said. He’d long ago learned that he could say just about anything he desired when it came to sarcastic praise. She generally missed the sarcasm completely and assumed he was just praising her. And when she did notice she laughed at it and thought he was just being funny and flicked his nose with her tail. At least he very sincerely hoped that’s what she thought.

“Darn right!” she said, pushing open the door to the shop, Morgoth following after. A bell chimed as the two walked through the door, and the previously vacant counter instantly became occupied by a figure Morgoth was learning to hate more and more with each passing encounter.

“Hi Rainbow! Hi Shady!” chirped Pinkie Pie, hopping up and down on the spot. “You two here for lunch?”

Rainbow eagerly nodded her assent. “You betcha, Pinks. Give us the regular?”

“Two cupcakes and two sarsaparillas comin’ up!” she announced, bouncing to the kitchen to acquire their order. Rainbow and Morgoth then took their seats at a table and waited for Pinkie.

“So do you have any brothers or sisters back home?” Rainbow asked suddenly. The question startled Morgoth, and for a moment he was unsure of how to respond. How could he possibly answer such a question?

“I... do.” he said, hesitantly. Surely there could be no harm in simply affirming that he did have family.

“Cool! Tell me about them!” Rainbow said.

Morgoth regretted his decision already. “I had but one brother,” he began slowly, “who I name to be Manwë.”

“That’s a weird name.” Rainbow remarked. “Does it mean anything?”

Morgoth nodded. “Aye, it is in a tongue called Sindarin. In this tongue it means Blessed One.”

“Wow, that’s pretty cool. But how come he got a weird name and you got a normal one?” she pressed on, confusing Morgoth with the strangeness of her questions.

“I...” Morgoth wondered if it was wise to tell her of his original name. He thought that it should not be strange that he had a second name, after all it was a common thing in Arda to have many names. But surely no harm could come from simply affirming that he had one. “Our father did give me a name in the language of Quenya, though I shall not tell you it.”

“Aw, that’s no fun!” Rainbow whined. “Can you at least tell me what it means?”

“The meaning of my name translates to He Who Arises in Might in thy tongue.” Morgoth explained.

“Wow!” Rainbow exclaimed. “That’s so awesome! It’s definitely way cooler than your brother’s.”

“We were not gifted with our names simply based on how they sound, our names were our very essence. I was the greatest of we two and he... he was the most beloved by our father.” Morgoth finished lamely.

Rainbow winced. “Aw come on, don’t talk like that! I’m sure he loved you too.”

“Aye, t’is truth thou speaketh, though he held far more love for blessed Manwë than he ever did for me.” Morgoth said bitterly. “Manwë could do no wrong and pleased our father in all things. But I, who sought to be just as great as our father, to follow in his great footsteps, to be as he was, disappointed him at every turn. And when the time came for us to truly prove ourselves to him I sought to put myself apart from my brother and show our father how much greater I was, how deserving of my name I was. But instead of praise and honor he chastised me for my shortcomings. I was a naive fool to think he would truly see my genius for what it was.

“Our father then raised him up and cast me aside. My time upon Arda thenceforth was spent in opposition to my brother, proving to all my greatness and striving against him in all his endeavors. Needless to say there is no love lost between us siblings.” Morgoth then looked up at Rainbow and locked eyes with her. “Dost thou find mine answer to be satisfactory?”

“Uh...” Rainbow really had no idea what to say to that. She’d intended for it to be a friendly discussion and maybe a way to see if perhaps they had anything in common. She had no idea it was such a touchy subject, and her poor luck now had her faced with an incredibly awkward situation. Fortunately for one as tactful as she, a way out was little trouble in securing. “Oh hey, the food’s here! Thanks Pinkie!”

Pinkie deposited the drinks and pastries on the table between the two and scooped up the bits Rainbow tossed down. “No problem at all, Dashie! Enjoy!” she said, hopping out back to do Eru only knew what.

Rainbow Dash wasted no time tucking into her cupcake, demolishing it in mere seconds and then moving onto her sarsaparilla. Morgoth, however, merely stared at his cupcake. All he’d eaten so far in this damnable land were cupcakes. He could no longer stomach the hated things by this point.

Rainbow Dash, finally sucking up the last drops of her soda, looked over at Morgoth’s uneaten cupcake covetously. “Hey, you gonna eat that?” she asked. Morgoth responded by simply pushing the cupcake over the table towards her. “Sweet! Thanks a million, Shady!” Morgoth winced at his unfortunate nickname and watched as Rainbow Dash demolished the second cupcake.

“Cupcakes not really your thing?” a voice behind him asked. Morgoth turned around to find the grey pegasus mare he’d recently assisted standing behind him.

“I believe perhaps I have eaten more than my fill of them.” he said in response, casting a wary eye at the confectionary. Ditzy noticed the look and giggled, removing a bulging paper bag from her saddlebags.

“Mmf mrf mmf!” she said around the bag in her mouth. Morgoth only stared in response, unsure of what to say. Ditzy quickly placed the bag on the table he sat at. “Sorry! I said you’ll probably like these then.” She then opened the bag and pulled out her own baked good and put it on the table in front of Morgoth.

Morgoth stared at it a moment. “It seems to me as a cupcake without its frosting.” he said.

Ditzy cocked her head at the statement. “Have you never had a muffin before?” she asked quizzically. When Morgoth shook his head in the negative she gasped. “Well then you need to try one! If cupcakes aren’t your thing I’m sure you’ll love these! They’re way better than cupcakes anyways.”

An amused snort came from somewhere in the store, and Ditzy turned around to glare at Pinkie standing at the counter. “What?” Pinkie asked, feigning innocence when she noticed Ditzy’s glare. “I didn’t say anything!”

Ignoring the two mares, Morgoth picked up the muffin and, deciding it couldn’t be any worse than a cupcake, bit into it. He loved it instantly. It was light and fluffy and moist and sweet, but not overly so as cupcakes were, and the blueberries in it added the perfect touch. He also enjoyed that it lacked the overly decadent frosting of cupcakes, opting for a more humble appearance. Morgoth let out an unconscious hum of approval as he chewed and Ditzy’s face lit up. While he wasn’t paying attention Ditzy turned around and blew a raspberry at Pinkie who only stuck up her nose and walked back into the kitchen.

“So you like it?” Ditzy asked.

Morgoth nodded in confirmation as he chewed happily. “Aye, t’is a delightful treat. I thank thee for thy most generous gift.” he said, taking another chomp out of the muffin.

Ditzy pushed the paper bag towards him. “You can have the rest then! I never got a chance to thank you for helping me out with those bullies. I don’t know what you did, but they haven’t bothered me at all since you helped me.”

“When the mood strikes me I can be a capable wordsmith. T’was a trivial task, with their misdeeds brought into light they were quick to rescind their ways.” Morgoth said, a grin coming to his face as he remembered the fools he’d terrorized.

“Well you must have said something right, they haven’t come near me all week!” she said in amazement.

“T’was my pleasure to aid thee in thy time of need, fair Ditzy. Shouldst thou ever require mine aid again I shall be happy to render it in any way I might.” Morgoth then clamped his mouth shut, utterly at a loss as to where any of those words had come from or why he’d spoken them at all.

Ditzy threw her forelegs around Morgoth and squeezed. “Thank you so much, Shady, you’re the best!” she gushed. Morgoth froze the second her hooves encircled him, every muscle in his body going taught. What in his own black name was the pony doing? Was she attacking him? It seemed like it with the way she was crushing the air from his lungs. How should he respond? He had to decide quickly as thinking itself was starting to take on some difficulty with the haze of asphyxiation clouding his mind.

“Uh, Ditzy? I think you might be hugging him a little too tight.” he heard Rainbow say. Suddenly the pressure was gone and he slumped over, toppling from his seat, wheezing.

“Oh jeez! I’m so sorry! I guess I got a little carried away there...” she said, smiling sheepishly, her ears pinned down against her head in embarrassment.

Morgoth sucked in a great breath of air and waited for the spots to recede from his vision before responding. Slowly he got to his hooves and retook his seat. “T’is quite alright, Lady Ditzy. Think nothing of it.” he replied, eyeing her warily. He would have to keep that monstrous strength of hers in mind. It was as though she were some wretched spawn of the thrice-damned Tulkas.

“Well my lunch break’s about over so I gotta get back to work. See ya later Shady and Rainbow!” she chirped happily, trotting out of the store.

Morgoth watched her go, regarding her curiously as she went. What a strange creature she was.

“Well it looks like you made a friend then!” Rainbow exclaimed after the grey mare exited the store.

Morgoth turned his attention back to Rainbow, who he noticed with some displeasure was eyeing his newly acquired bag of muffins. “I am not so sure. She was simply expressing her gratitude for the assistance I hath rendered her, I wouldst imagine.” he said, subtly pulling the delicious muffins closer to protect them from the ravenous pegasus.

“Well yeah, but the thing is Ditzy doesn’t really have many friends, and not that many ponies bother themselves with her. Her eyes kinda weird ponies out, ya know? She gets teased about them a lot so she really keeps to herself.” Rainbow explained. “You getting rid of those bullies was a huge thing to her, so I can say pretty confidently that she considers you a close friend by this point.”

“Truly?” Morgoth asked, surprised. “Surely the forging of friendships must be a more complex thing than that. T’was such a trivial task I performed for her.”

“Simple or difficult, you still helped her out, which is what friends do for each other. You didn’t have many friends back in Arda, did you?” Rainbow asked bluntly.

“I... did not.” he said, feeling slightly awkward saying it. But why should he? He had never had any need for friends. Why should it make him feel so out of place? “My life was dedicated to my rivalry with my brother, I had little time or need for friends. In truth I think there is only one who ever could have been said to bear that title.”

Rainbow frowned. “Jeez, that whole sibling rivalry really consumed your life, didn’t it? Oh well, one friend is better than none at all. Why don’t you tell me about him? I bet any friend of yours would have to be pretty awesome.” she suggested, silently hoping this conversation would fare better than the one about his brother.

Morgoth sighed in remembrance. “He is the only one that comes to my mind who could fit the description of the word “friend” as it is known to me, so long as my understanding of it is correct. He went by many names, and it should be a fool’s errand to attempt to name them all, to the world he was Sauron, but to me he was always Mairon. In all things he supported me and always happily, neither opposition nor unfavorable odds would sway him from my side. He saw my greatness, recognized my genius, and with him at my side a great many of my endeavors were made possible.”

Rainbow finished off Morgoth’s sarsaparilla with a sigh of contentment and pointed a hoof at him. “Now that sounds like a real friend. By your side no matter what, through thick and thin. That’s what loyalty’s all about. You’re lucky to be able to call this Sauron guy your friend, those are the kind of friends that stick around forever even when the rest have moved on.” she remarked.

Morgoth then realized that she was right, Mairon had been the epitome of a loyal friend. He was lucky to have been able to count the Maia as his friend. And he realized that he disliked the fact that he was never to be reunited with him, that they were to forever remain a world apart. For the first time in his life, Morgoth felt regret. Regret that such friendship was now forever denied to him, and regret that he had not recognized what he’d had and that he’d always taken it for granted.

Noticing his creeping melancholy, Rainbow felt she should say something. “You seem like you really miss him.”

And it dawned on Morgoth that he did miss Mairon, he had been his right hand since time immemorial. He then found himself nodding at the rainbow pony’s words. “Aye, t’would seem to be the case.”

“Well don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll see him soon enough! And in the meantime we’ll make sure you have plenty of friends here! But you probably don’t need much help with that since you’re already off to a pretty good start with Ditzy.”

“Aye, a single friend is better than none.” Morgoth remarked.

“Dude, one? I think you might be forgetting somepony.” Rainbow said. Seeing the blank look on Morgoth’s face, Rainbow sighed in exasperation. “Seven, dude. You’ve got seven friends.” When the white stallion remained uncomprehending, she pushed on. “The six of us, plus Ditzy, that’s seven.”

That hardly seemed right to Morgoth. “Thou and thy companions are to be counted among my friends? But I have performed no task as of yet to earn thy friendship, to my knowledge. Wouldst thou enlighten me to what I have done that I might better learn how to acquire more friends?” he requested.

Rainbow blinked. Clearly this was going to take more effort than she’d originally thought. “Dude, you don’t have to do anything to make friends.” she said.

“Then how can one know when they have made a friend?” he inquired, feeling more and more lost.

This one actually had Rainbow a little stumped as to how to answer. “Well... you just sort of know, I guess. If you like being around somepony and doing stuff with them and they like you back then you’re friends.”

“But how does one know when another likes them?” he pressed, not comprehending the concept at all. “Is one supposed to ask?”

“No, you don’t need to ask. You’ll just know, trust me on this one! You’re talking to one of the Elements of Harmony, I’m an expert at making friends!” Rainbow boasted.

Morgoth rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I shall hold thy council close to my heart, Rainbow. Celestia spoke very highly of all of thou and I trust her word. I thank thee for thy aid in this matter, Lady Dash. I will not deny that I am... not well versed in this matter and find myself... puzzled at how I might proceed, but with your aid I am sure my endeavors shall meet with success.”

Only catching about half of that, mainly the parts when he complimented her, Rainbow just nodded, smiling. “Yeah, I am pretty great, huh?” she agreed happily.

‘Eru help me, I might just kill her now.’ he thought to himself, his smile becoming strained as he fought the urge to murder.

“Alright, grab your muffins and let’s go. Time to get back to practice. We need to work on pulling out of dive bombs some more, you seemed like you were having trouble at the lake.” Rainbow said. Morgoth didn’t bother hiding his displeasure anymore.

Twilight sighed in content as she closed up her most recent book, placing it back on its shelf and looking out the window. She discovered to her surprise that it was already dark out and the moon had risen, she must have been reading for far longer than she’d thought. “Oh well, no matter,” she muttered cheerily to herself. “Time spent doing something enjoyable is time well spent.” She held her content smile for a few more moments, then her left eye began twitching uncontrollably. “Oh who am I kidding?!” she exclaimed. “I only allotted myself three hours of free time today! I should have been in bed hours ago!”

Fortunately for her, before she could really get into her dramatic monologue there was a knock on her door. Irritation forgotten, she trotted over to see who could possibly be knocking at her door at such an hour. She opened the door to find a familiar white stallion, soaked to the bone, and bearing a rolled up scroll.

“Hey Shadowfax, what brings you around at this hour?” she asked.

Morgoth spat out the scroll so that he might better speak. “During my time in Canterlot, Celestia suggested that I send her reports on how I am progressing with my lessons. I thought I might ask if thy assistant might aid me in this task.” he explained.

Twilight blinked. “Why are you soaking wet?”

“Flying lessons.” he said simply.

“Oh.” Twilight replied, understanding right away. She knew Rainbow could be something of a slave driver when it came to training, especially after the whole tornado thing. She trotted over to the stairs and called up. “Spike? Can you come down here a moment? I need you to send a letter for me.”

The grumpy mumbling of someone rising from bed against their will reached her ears and she knew the dragon was on his way. The pattering of scaled feet descending the stairs heralded his arrival and he walked grumpily into the room carrying his blanket in one claw and rubbing his eyes tiredly. “Alright, what is it?” he grumbled.

Twilight levitated the scroll over to Spike who wasted no time belching a torrent of emerald flame over it and sending it on its way.

Princess Celestia sighed contentedly after finishing a nice warm cup of her favorite tea. Setting the empty teacup down next to her pillow, she stared happily at the roaring fireplace. It was good to get a few quiet moments to herself every once in a while. But suddenly the peace was disturbed as a whisp of smoke and ash traveled in through her window, gathering before her and reforming into a scroll which she grabbed happily in her telekinesis. Letters from Twilight were always the highlight of her day, and receiving one during a quiet moment was an incredible bonus for her.

Unrolling the scroll and for a moment marvelling at how many pages comprised the letter, she began reading and discovered to her delight that it was not Twilight, but her dear brother Melkor that the letter originated from. She levitated over a small set of reading glasses and began reading over the report. It was slow going due to her brother’s archaic speech and ponderous wording, and Celestia herself was rather rusty, not having spoken in anything akin to that dialect for nearly a thousand years. After a few minutes she got through the first page and, quickly refamiliarizing herself with the dialect, progressed onto the next one. She read on for a few more minutes, growing more and more confused as to what her brother was trying to tell her, until she reached the last page, whereupon she burst out into a nearly hysterical fit of laughter, rolling onto her back and clutching at her sides from the force of it.

Her sister Luna stuck her head in through through the door adjoining their rooms and peered quizzically at her sister. She’d not seen Celestia act like that in a very long time. “Dear sister, what, may I ask, is so funny?” Celestia made no response but to hold out a bundle of parchment, her laughter not abating in the least. Curious to find out what had her sister in such straits, she trotted over and took the proffered papers and began to read them herself. Being more familiar with the manner of speaking their brother used, having spoken in it herself up until very recently, she made quicker work of the scrolls. After a few moments she reached the final page and she too collapsed into a fit of laughter along with her sister.

“Oh goodness, can you believe we used to actually speak like that?” Celestia gasped through her giggles.

“I know!” Luna agreed, “I forgot how truly tiresome it was to tell one to go buck themselves!”

And that’s what the letter said. Summed up, it read roughly as “Dear sister, go buck yourself.”

“Luna! Get me... get me some parchment and a quill!” she managed to wheeze out. Luna conjured up and then levitated over the requested items. Celestia then took them and, asserting control over her giggle fit for a moment, began to write out a reply.

“Too long; didn’t read, you adorable hayseed.” Spike read, incredulously.

Morgoth’s frown could not grow any deeper.

Into the Storm

Morgoth, smouldering and twitching, plummeted from the sky like a bird with its wings clipped. Despite the nearly blinding pain that coursed through him, he refused to allow himself to cry out. He struck the ground with a dull thud, jarring his bones. There was a sharp pain in his back and Morgoth grunted as something snapped.

He lay on the ground unmoving for a time, letting the pain wash over him as he attempted to regain his senses. He heard the sound of something alighting on the grass next to him, but he paid it no mind, the throbbing pain wracking his body holding his full attention.

“Oh man, that’s the third time today.” he heard Rainbow remark as she fretted over his battered form, trying to help him to his feet. “Are you alright? You need me to take you to the hospital?”

Fighting through the pain, Morgoth forced his body to stand. “Nay, Rainbow. I have been dealt graver wounds than these. I am well.”

He heard a gasp from Rainbow, drawing his attention. She stared in shock at his side and he followed her gaze to his left wing, bent at an unnatural angle and dangling uselessly from his side. It appeared to have been dislocated when he landed on it. With a grunt he grabbed the useless appendage in his hoof and with a sharp jerk and a pop, snapped the joint back into place.

He gingerly gave the wing a few experimental flaps and was pleased to see it was back in working order. He looked up to see Rainbow looking at him in undisguised awe.

“Dude, h-how did you... Oh! Magic wings, right, forgot all about that!”

Morgoth grunted and flared his wings experimentally. “Shall we continue with thy cloud bucking lessons?”

“Uh, I’m thinking that maybe we should cool it with the cloud bucking for a bit. Seems like every time you touch a cloud you get struck by lightning.”

Morgoth looked over himself, noting that his once pristine white coat was now mostly grey with soot from lightning strikes. “It is of little consequence, I think. I wish to return to our lessons with all haste.”

Rainbow rubbed her chin with a hoof. “I dunno, you can’t seem to go more than two clouds without getting blasted out of the sky. I think we’re gonna need to call in some professional help here.”

“Those words instill a fear in me beyond thy imagining, Rainbow.” Morgoth deadpanned.

“Don’t worry, Shady! I know just the pony who can help you with your little lightning problem.”

“Then let us proceed with all haste! The sooner we remedy this problem the sooner we may return to our lessons.” he declared.

“Jeez, you love learning so much it’s almost scary. You sure you’re not related to Twi?” Rainbow joked as they set off towards town, cantering along at an unhurried pace to better accommodate Morgoth’s injuries.

Morgoth glared fiercely at Rainbow which only resulted in the cyan pegasus bursting out into a fit of laughter. “Sorry, sorry, I’m not calling you an egghead or anything. You just seem really into these lessons. It’s kinda funny to see somepony other than Twilight so into learning.”

“The sooner my business is concluded here the sooner I might set about finding a way home.” Morgoth said absently.

Rainbow winced a little. “Ouch.”

Too late Morgoth realized his mistake, and when he did he sighed in frustration. “My apologies. T’was not my intention to cause offence, Lady Rainbow. I am simply...” He struggled to find a word appropriate for what he was feeling.

“Homesick?” Rainbow offered.

Morgoth turned the word over in his head for a moment. “For lack of a better word, I suppose that is an apt description. I find myself yearning to return to Arda. It has been so long since I last laid eyes upon that land.”

“Don’t worry, I know what you mean. And also don’t worry about the other thing, no offense taken. You think I’d get as far along in life as I have by getting offended at every little thing?” she said.

“Truly thou dost not appear to be one so easily incensed by words of affront to thy self.” Morgoth remarked.

“Nope. I used to get teased all the time back in Flight School. Know what I did?” Rainbow said.

“Slaughtered them for their impudence?” Morgoth offered.

Rainbow paused mid-story and stared at Morgoth, an eyebrow quirked. Morgoth sighed. “I jest, Rainbow.”

“Oh! I knew that.” she declared. “But anyways, like I was saying. I got teased a lot when I was little, but instead of getting offended, I just challenged them to something, then totally crushed them at whatever it was. It’s a lot harder to make fun of somepony who just completely whooped your flank in a race than most ponies would think. So, I guess what I’m getting at here is this. Don’t get mad, just show them that you’re better than they are. And make sure everypony else is watching when you do.”

“I have difficulty imagining how any might have the nerve to slight one as accomplished as thee.” Morgoth said, sarcasm once more dripping from his voice. Sarcasm which went utterly missed by Rainbow Dash.

“You’d think so, right? But, oh man, I gotta tell you this one. It was a while ago at Flight School, there were these three bullies teasing Fluttershy, and I didn’t like that one bit, so I told them to just buck off. Except, ya know, not in those words since I was like nine years old at the time.”

“It is only with great difficulty that I might bring to mind images of thee appearing as any manner of innocent.” Morgoth remarked, earning him a flick on the nose from Rainbow’s tail. With some pride he noted that he was getting better at suppressing his killing urges.

“Anyways, they started teasing me instead, so I decided to challenge them to a race. You know what I ended up doing? I did a Sonic Rainboom in the middle of that race and shut everypony right the buck up!”

“Forgive me, but I find myself unfamiliar with... Sonic Rainbooms.” Morgoth said, the words feeling utterly alien to his mouth.

“Well, I’m not exactly sure of the science behind it, I know Twilight explained it to me once, but I kinda zoned out. Anyways, it’s something to do with breaking the sound barrier so hard that I break the light spectrum too. Or something. Like I said, I wasn’t paying attention. But I’m the only pegasus who can do that, and the first time I did it I wasn’t even into double digits, so that just about shut everypony right up.” Rainbow said, holding her head high as she related the story to Morgoth.

“Hah! A most excellent tale. I too found my own pride challenged by another once long ago. There was one that dared challenge me in the sight of all those that would follow me. Horrible were the curses he spat upon my pride and great was the indignity he heaped upon me as he issued his challenge. It could be said that my say in this matter had been taken from me, as not to heed his challenge would have been to lose face before nigh all of Arda.”

“Wow. This guy sounds like he was pretty full of himself.” Rainbow remarked.

Morgoth nodded in agreement. “T’is wisdom that thou speaketh. My options few, I agreed to his contest, and for a while it seemed I would be bested. But fortune was with me and I defeated the impudent fool that day. Long were any who spoke against me silent after I so bested him.”

“Nice!” Rainbow exclaimed, clapping him on the back.

Finding it strange that the pony’s action did not stir any anger in him, Morgoth put a smile on his face and laughed. “No better feeling exists in all Ea than triumphing over one’s foes and silencing those that would speak out against thee.”

“You know Shady, I like you.” Rainbow said finally. “You’re easy to talk to. And you’re a lot like me. You know there’s nothing wrong with being a little awesome and taking pride in it. Any of these conversations I’ve had with you over the past few weeks, if I’d had them with Twilight or the others, Pinkie aside, they’d probably have told me that I was being arrogant. I mean, I know what being arrogant is like, I got a little crazy not too long ago, but there’s nothing wrong with being a little proud of yourself.”

“And why should it be different?” Morgoth agreed. “In what manner does constant humility serve us? In my mind humility is the worse of the two, especially when one is overly so.”

“Yeah, being modest can be just as bad.” Rainbow added. “Like when I compliment Rarity on how awesome her newest dress looks she’ll just go and play it down like it’s no big thing when it’s probably gonna end up being the next fashion craze and she knows it. It’s like complimenting yourself is wrong, so ponies are modest so that others compliment them instead. Way I see it, if modesty is just a way to get compliments out of others, why not just stick with recognizing how awesome I am and leave it at that? Cuts out the middle man and saves me time I could use for flying. I don’t need everypony else to tell me how awesome I am. Though don’t get me wrong, it never hurts to hear it.” she added.

Morgoth was quickly forced to revise his opinions of the cyan pegasus. While he’d originally been expecting his time with her to be torturous, he’d quickly come to realize that this would likely be the most enjoyable time he would spend on Equestria. Or at least it would be the time he hated the least. Perhaps he could even put off killing her, he hated the pink one far more anyways. In his mind Morgoth shuffled a few names around, moving Rainbow Dash’s from the first spot to the end. She was entertaining, she would die last.

“Oh wow, are we already here?” Rainbow remarked as the two entered Ponyville. “Jeez, time sure does fly when you’re having fun, huh?”

Morgoth was shocked at the passage of time too, having actually been interested in what the rainbow pony had to say, the time seemed to pass at double its normal rate and it was with a tinge of mild regret that he let conversation fall away. Then with annoyance replacing his regret, he noticed that his constant exposure to her was causing him to regard her as something approaching an equal. He found that he hated her for being so easily likeable to him, and for a moment he wondered if he truly had been lying when he’d said she was his friend.

“Thou made mention of one who might remedy my issues with lightning strikes, to whom were thou referring?” Morgoth inquired, attempting to pull himself from the thoughts invading his mind.

Rainbow smirked, which sent a shiver down Morgoth’s spine. “Your number one fan, of course!” she said. Seeing the uncomprehending look on his face she sighed. “Ditzy Do, you blockhead.”

Morgoth quirked an eyebrow. “Forgive me, but I find it difficult to see how she might be of any assistance with this problem.”

“Ditzy actually had the same problem as you not too long ago. Actually... it might have been worse. She kinda blew up town hall with all the lightning strikes. But she got better at dealing with it, so she’ll probably be able to help you.” Rainbow surmised.

Morgoth remained unconvinced. The grey pegasus was markedly useless, her only redeeming action thus far was her providing him with a delicious alternative to the hated cupcakes. Though he supposed that was worthy of at least marginal recognition, she’d no doubt greatly increased his quality of living by introducing him to the pastries known as muffins.

“If I might inquire, to where might we be headed?” Morgoth asked.

“The post office.” Rainbow explained. “Ditzy should be done for the day about now so I’m hoping we can catch her as she leaves.” Morgoth grunted in response and continued to walk beside Rainbow in silence.

The Ponyville post office came into view shortly and it appeared that fortune smiled upon their endeavors, as just as they approached it a familiar blond pony trotted out the door humming happily to herself as she left for home.

“Hey Ditzy!” Rainbow called, catching the pony’s attention. Ditzy turned, catching sight of them, and trotted over, a radiant smile on her face.

“Hey guys!” she greeted them. “Haven’t seen you two in a few days. You guys wanna hang out?”

“Actually we’re wondering if you can solve a problem for us.” Rainbow said.

Ditzy look absolutely thrilled at the words, her wings flaring in excitement. “Really? You need my help with something?” she asked with barely contained glee.

“You betcha. Shady here’s been having some trouble with cloud bucking. He keeps getting electrocuted. Since you seem to have gotten over your problem with lightning we were thinking that maybe you could give him a hand and teach him how to... well, you know, not get struck by lightning.”

Ditzy snapped a hoof to her forehead in salute wearing the most adorably serious expression on her face, made all the sillier by her mismatching eyes. “I won’t let you down, Rainbow Dash!”

Morgoth felt immediately justified in any doubts he held for the grey one’s capabilities. “Lady Ditzy, feel not obligated to render me aid. The pastries thou hast so kindly gifted me with were a most adequate repayment for my help.” he said, hoping dearly that she would agree.

“Oh don’t worry, I don’t wanna do it because I feel like I owe you, I wanna do it because I’m your friend!” Ditzy replied cheerily.

“Don’t mind him, Ditzy, he’s just new to having friends. He only had one friend back where he comes from so he doesn’t really know much about friendship.” Rainbow explained.

“Oh my gosh!” Ditzy said, shocked. “I’ll have to help you make some friends then!” She was practically bouncing on the spot in excitement, causing a great deal of apprehension to build in the wayward Vala.

“Well, actually, hey Shady, how long’s it been since the last time we saw Twilight?” Rainbow asked.

“Three days by my reckoning.” Morgoth replied.

“Well then before we do anything we need to see Twilight and have her renew your flight spell.” Rainbow said.

“Ah, yes. The spell had nearly slipped my mind. I thank thee for thy keen mind, else my lessons this day would be unpleasant indeed.” Morgoth said with a grateful dip of his head.

With their course of action laid out for them the three pegasi took to the air and made for Twilight’s library. The trio arrived quickly, the trip taking slightly under a minute on wing. The three approached the great tree where Twilight made her home and Rainbow gave the door a few quick raps.

“Hey Twi, it’s Rainbow! We need to you cast that wing spell on Shady again!” she announced as she knocked.

Within a few moments the door was opened by Twilight’s assistant, Spike. “Hey guys,” he greeted them, “Twilight’s just getting out of the shower now, she’ll be right down.”

“Thanks Spike.” Rainbow said, pausing to ruffle the blunt, green spines on Spike’s head as she walked in. Morgoth nodded a greeting to Spike and Ditzy gave a wave as she lazily glided in behind them.

“I’ll go get you guys some snacks while you wait for Twilight.” Spike said, hurrying from the lobby into the kitchen.

“The dragon is a gracious host.” Morgoth remarked.

“Yeah, Spike’s great. Twilight’s lucky to have him as an assistant.” Rainbow replied.

“It still seems a strange thing to me to have such a creature for a familiar.” Morgoth said. “On Arda dragons were not nearly so kind.”

“Yeah, Spike’s not exactly your average dragon.” Rainbow said. “He’s kind of an anomaly here too, most dragons are jerks.”

Spike soon scampered back into the room carrying a tray laden with tea and cookies. “Here you go, guys. I made a fresh batch of cookies earlier today, hope you guys like them!”

“Thou hast my most humble thanks for thy hospitality, noble dragon.” Morgoth said, taking a cookie to appear polite.

“Yeah, these are great, Spike, thanks!” said Rainbow through a mouthful of cookies.

“Thank you!” Ditzy said as she nibbled a cookie.

“It’s no problem, I love baking anyways.” Spike said.

“I find myself curious.” Morgoth said. “What manner of dragon art thou? I have never seen thy likeness amongst the dragons of Arda.” Truthfully the subject was intriguing to him, as he was responsible for the creation of the dragons back upon Arda.

“I actually have no idea.” Spike said a little awkwardly. “I was given to Twilight as an egg, but other than that nopony really knows anything about where I’m from. All I know is that I’m not like other dragons at all.”

“As Lady Rainbow mentioned. By her reckoning thou art of a far kinder breed than thy kin.” he said.

“Oh yeah, I met up with some dragons a while ago to see what they were all like, but they’re all just a bunch of jerks.” Spike said. “So you’ve got dragons where you’re from?”

“Aye, but they are cruel and when not burning or ravaging the land they are content to sleep the ages away upon their hoard of riches.” he explained.

“Yeah, that sounds a lot like our dragons.” Rainbow remarked.

“Were they big?” Spike asked.

“Aye, they were.” Morgoth said, remembering his creations fondly. “The greatest of which was named Ancalagon the Black, and he was a great ally of mine. He was the largest of the winged dragons, such that even at a great distance he would cast the land in shadow.”

“Wow.” Spike said, awe coloring his voice. “He must have been huge!”

“It is a sad tale, he passed from the living world shortly before I myself left Arda. But it was a glorious passing, and when he fell from the sky his body shattered three mountains.” Morgoth said, remembering the event vividly.

“He BROKE three whole mountains?” Rainbow asked incredulously. “I can’t even imagine a dragon that size!”

“I know! I- hurk!” Spike’s eyes widened and his cheeks puffed out, then after a second he let out a belch of green fire which materialized into a scroll.

Before any of the assembled could react the scroll was seized by a lavender aura of magic and levitated over to Twilight as she trotted down a nearby staircase. “Afternoon everypony.” she said distractedly as she unfurled and read the scroll.

“Hey Twi.” Rainbow greeted her. “Just dropped by to see if you could recast that wing spell on Shady.”

Twilight hummed as she read the letter, then surprisingly held it out to Rainbow. “Not a problem. And it looks like this is for you.”

“For me?” she asked curiously. “What could the princess want with me?”

“The Allfather only knows.” Morgoth muttered as Rainbow snatched the scroll and began to read.

“Hmm, rogue storm front coming in from the Everfree.” Rainbow muttered as she read. “Looks like it’s gonna be one hay of a storm, guess I’ve got some work to do. Ditzy? You’re in charge of Shadowfax’s lessons until I’m done taking care of this.”

Once again, brimming with barely contained glee at the prospect of being given such responsibility, Ditzy saluted. “You can count on me, Rainbow! But are you sure you don’t need any help with that?”

“Nah, don’t worry about it, Weather Patrol should be able to handle it no problem. Might call for volunteers if it gets a little out of hoof, but I think we should be able to take care of this front. For the moment you just help Shadowfax get his little lightning issue under control.”

While the two pegasi conversed Twilight was busy casting her spell on Shadowfax. “There you go, good as new!” she said upon it’s completion. “Just remember, three days and it’ll wear off.”

“My thanks to thee, Lady Sparkle, until again we meet in three days time. Shall we away, Ditzy?” he asked trotting for the door. The ecstatic pegasus wasted no time shooting out right after him, leaving Rainbow and Twilight alone.

“Are you gonna be alright, Dash?” Twilight asked, concern lacing her voice. “If it’s enough to worry the princess it must be serious.”

Rainbow sighed. “Yeah, it’ll be tough, but we should be able to handle it. I’m just sorry Shadowfax can’t come along, I could really use a pony that tough in this storm.”

“Sounds like you’re really taking a shine to him.” Twilight observed.

“It takes a tough pony to get blasted out of the sky three times in a row and then get up ready for more, he’s one tough cookie. He even dislocated his left wing the last time he fell, but he just snapped it right back into place and carried on. I thought he was some kind of super pony before I remembered his wings were magic.” Rainbow said with a laugh. Twilight didn’t laugh.

“Rainbow,” Twilight started, her eyes wide with concern. “Shadowfax’s wings might have been given to him by magic, but for as long as he has them they’re real, made out of flesh and muscle and bone.”

“But... when Rarity’s wings burned up that time in Cloudsdale she didn’t feel it at all!” Rainbow countered disbelieving.

“That’s because those weren’t real, they were made out of sunlight and dewdrops and gossamer, there weren’t any nerves.” Twilight explained.

“So you’re saying Shadowfax actually felt that? He just popped a dislocated wing back into place without a thought and he felt it?”

“He must have, those wings are completely real.” Twilight confirmed.

“Holy hay.” Rainbow muttered. “Well, that colt just earned a whole new level of respect from me. But anyways, I’m off. Gotta go get that storm under control. Stupid Everfree and its stupid weather.” she added under her breath.

“Be careful!” Twilight warned. “If it’s worrying the princess you shouldn’t take it lightly!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Rainbow said dismissively. “I’m sure it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Two soot blackened ponies stood in a field just outside of Ponyville, both panting and tired.

“Okay!” Ditzy chirped, singed and smoking, her blond mane frazzled and sticking out in spikes as befitting a victim of multiple lightning strikes. “I think that should about cover everything not to do when cloud bucking!” A lingering crackle of lightning surged through her, making her wince, yet her ever present smile didn’t falter in the least.

Morgoth was impressed. Few were the instances where he had encountered mortals who could endure such torment, let alone endure it and then emerge smiling. He himself was faring little better than the grey pegasus, having just practiced with her everything one should avoid doing whilst clearing clouds. He was surprised at how many seemingly inane actions could coax lightning from seemingly placid clouds.

“Lady Ditzy, by my count no fewer than four hours have past since my lessons under thee hath begun, during which time thou hast been struck by lightning ceaselessly. How art thou still standing?” Morgoth asked.

“Oh it’s not that bad.” she said, waving him off. “I used to do this all the time, so I’m probably just used to it.”

Her response answered few of his questions and gave rise to even more. How this creature had held onto life for as long as she did was utterly beyond Morgoth, surely any other creature would have been long dead in her place.

Before Morgoth could form a reply something very fast and trailing a rainbow streak across the sky crashed into the ground next to them at full speed. A part of Morgoth held its breath, hoping the cyan irritant killed herself in the collision. Another, more cynical part of him knew that he would never be so lucky.

“Ditzy, Shady! Thank Celestia I found you guys!’” she stammered, panic coloring her voice.

“Still thyself, Rainbow.” Morgoth said, placating the panicking mare. “What has thee in such straits?”

“Remember that storm Celestia warned me about that I was taking care of earlier?” she asked.

“Yeah.” Ditzy said. “You said it wouldn’t be any trouble for you, right?”

“I believe that I see what path this discussion takes.” Morgoth remarked.

“We’ve done everything we can think of!” Rainbow distressed. “But the storm’s growing and even starting to form funnel clouds in places, we just can’t cut it apart fast enough. If it keeps going at this rate it’ll probably hit Ponyville. We’re calling for any able bodied pegasus to lend a hoof, you guys up for this?”

Morgoth dipped his head. “I place myself at thy command, Rainbow.”

Ditzy saluted. “What he said, Rainbow!”

“Are you guys absolutely sure? This is serious, if we don’t stop this thing Ponyville could be in some real trouble. I need everypony to be ready to give way more than their all in this, can I count on you guys?”

“In all matters am I sworn to serve thee in thy endeavors, Rainbow Dash. My services are thine.” Morgoth said.

“And my axe!” Ditzy added enthusiastically.

“Good to hear, let’s get going. We don’t have a whole lot of time before this storm hits the town.” Rainbow said, taking off and leading the way towards the Everfree.

Having been training on the north side of town, the furthest point in town from the Everfree to the south, the travel time was greatly lengthened, nearly five minutes passing before the trio arrived at the edge of the Everfree. There they beheld a great, black storm front in the distance, ranging for miles in either direction. In truth it looked as though Morgoth had but to reach out to touch it such was its size, though it was fully five miles within the boundary of the forest. It appeared as a wall of solid black, towering thunderheads soaring up into the sky as dark skyscrapers, and already the telltale points of funnel clouds were beginning to poke down from the base of the clouds.

“It’s crazy in there.” Rainbow said over the roar of the wind. “Just look at that mess.”

The group watched as a chunk of cloud the size of a city block was carved from the black mass by the near invisible dots of pegasi Weather Patrol teams. Within moments it was set upon by over a hundred ponies carving and bucking the clouds into nonexistence. It was over in under a minute, the mass of cloud disintegrating before their eyes into nothingness. But in that same amount of time the storm front grew, replacing the lost cloud mass in the time it took the weather ponies to tear it apart.

“It’s growing even as we take it apart.” Rainbow explained. “We just can’t carve it up fast enough, the best we can do is stunt its growth, we need more ponies if we’re gonna take this thing down to size. And that’s were you guys come in. You’re gonna help us take this thing apart. Work from the top down with the other teams, and by Celestia’s flank, do not get anywhere near the base, you could get caught in a funnel cloud, and if that happens you’re done for. Understood?”

“Thy commands hath been noted, Rainbow.” Morgoth replied.

“You got it, Rainbow Dash!” Derpy chirped with her characteristic unwavering enthusiasm.

“Then fall in behind me and try to keep up.” Rainbow said, speeding off in a multicolored streak.

The trio of pegasi joined the others and set once more upon the storm front. Morgoth’s previous training with Ditzy proved to be invaluable and as a result he managed to avoid any mishaps. He did as was taught, not applying too much friction to the clouds lest he coax the electric wrath from the thunderheads.

Working beside Rainbow and Ditzy, the three and their fellow pegasi worked for hours to subdue the great storm as it moved slowly and inexorably towards the town of Ponyville which was becoming larger and larger in the distance.

Morgoth hung back as the group he worked with carved up the fleeting remains of a particularly dark cluster of clouds, panting as he struggled to catch his breath, silently raging at the infuriating limitations of his mortal body. He caught the gaze of Ditzy as she bucked the last clump of their most recent section out of existence and gave her a nod of approval. Ditzy beamed at the perceived praise and in an obvious attempt to impress him further redoubled her efforts. But in her desire to impress she dove into the roiling storm too eagerly and too deep where the clouds were densest, cutting out far more than she could handle. Her first strike against the mass of angry blackness was sloppy in her excitement, and the cloud immediately disgorged a bolt of lightning.

Ditzy seized up as the lightning coursed through her, her muscles locking in place. With her wings frozen upon her back she instantly began to plummet through the storm, bouncing off angry black thunderheads as she fell through the sky. Morgoth’s eyes widened as it happened, a pang of panic surging through him.

No! If that idiot pegasus got herself killed then he’d be down a friend and then he’d have to go to the trouble of having to make another one to make up for her! That was unacceptable! The more friends he had, the faster he was sure he could get through his trial, and them perishing on him would not be allowed. It was far too great of an inconvenience to him for them to die.

In but a second he locked eyes with Rainbow, who’d seen the whole thing, and her eyes widened too, sensing his intentions. Before she could give voice to a single word of opposition Morgoth dove into the clouds after the idiot mare. Punching through clouds in his hasty attempt to save her from certain doom, he hardly noticed that he was beginning to near the cloud base and, consequently, the bulk of the funnel clouds.

Slowly, ever so slowly, and yet sickeningly quickly, another, monstrous funnel cloud began to form, utterly eclipsing all previous ones in its unstoppable journey to the ground. And Ditzy had the misfortune to fall right through the center. She managed to right herself as she fell out into the open air, but by the time she’d regained her bearings the walls of the funnel cloud had passed her and crashed into the ground with all the force of an angry god. The wind in the newly birthed cyclone then proceeded to toss her about like a child would a toy, threatening to rip her from the air with every passing second. In her panic she fought against the winds, but to no avail, achieving little more than a slightly less than stable position near the very center of the funnel.

At that moment Morgoth broke through the cloud base only to gaze in horror at the immense tornado surrounding him. He spotted Ditzy struggling against the wind with all her might a little over a hundred yards below him, and without giving himself time to second guess a hastily formed plan, he dove after her. He dove straight down, flying with all his might directly at her as the wind ripped at him, threatening to throw him off course. The moment before he collided with Ditzy he snapped his wings open and corkscrewed through the air, latching his front hooves around Ditzy and shooting off towards the wall of the tornado while maintaining the momentum of his dive.

The wind was strong, but Morgoth managed to reach the edge, and he and Ditzy punched through the skin of the cyclone, the grey mare tumbling out into the comparatively calmer air. Morgoth, however, lost momentum as he threw Ditzy outwards and was grabbed up in the tornado once more, though he fought against it with every ounce of his godly might. It was to no avail though, and he felt himself being dragged inexorably backwards and into the funnel. He locked his gaze with Ditzy’s horrified eyes, and in that moment realized she wished to help him. He decided it would be prudent to put a stop to such thoughts, lest she seek to enter the cyclone once more. He looked to her and bellowed a single string of words over the roaring winds.

“FLY YOU FOOL!”

And then he was consumed by the storm.

Gratitude

Ditzy could only watch in horror as her new best friend was devoured by the very storm that had nearly claimed her. The same one that he had just saved her from. Even as he tornado began to ravage the surrounding forest, ripping ancient trees from the ground and tossing them with all the care of a newborn with its toys, Ditzy hovered there in terrified silence.

“Ditzy!” a voice called. She looked around to see Rainbow Dash punching through the cloud wall above her. She winged her way over to the distraught pegasus, stopping to hover beside her. “Ditzy! You’re okay! I thought we lost you when you fell! Where’s Shadowfax? I saw him come after you.”

Ditzy didn’t respond, she couldn’t. She just turned to look at the massive tornado raging before them.

“Ditzy! Hey! Where’s Shady?” she tried asking again. Again she received no response. Narrowing her eyes, she followed Ditzy’s gaze, coming to rest upon the raging tornado before them. Slowly she put two and two together.

“He’s not... Shady didn’t...” she couldn’t finish.

“He got me out of it as it was forming, but he got caught in it right after he saved me.” DItzy said, her words barely audible over the gale. “He looked right at me...”

“No.” Rainbow said. “No, no, no. He can’t be in there, that’s an F-5 tornado! There’s no way he’ll be able to survive in there!”

“We have to get him out!” Ditzy exclaimed.

“I... Ditzy, I don’t think we can do that. This thing is huge, there’s no way anypony could go in after him.” she said, realizing that her friend might really be gone.

“There’s nothing we can do?” Ditzy asked, her voice quiet.

Rainbow squeezed her eyes shut, furious at herself for letting this happen. There had to be some way they could help Shadowfax, but she only drew a blank. She wouldn’t risk any of the ponies under her in a futile attempt to save just one pony who might very well be gone already, even though she knew every single one of the weather ponies would do exactly that without a second’s hesitation.

No, there had to be a way to save him. She couldn’t give up on him, she was the Element of Loyalty! What kind of example would she be setting if she just left her friend for dead? And on top of that, not only was her friend stuck in the middle of the biggest tornado in a hundred years, but said tornado was also bearing down on Ponyville. Her time was an extremely limited luxury.

Ideas formed in her head, each one more reckless and impossible than the last. One in particular stuck in her head, incredibly simple, and incredibly dangerous. Not just for her, but for everyone. But seeing no other possible alternative, she turned to Ditzy.

“Ditzy, I need you to go tell everypony to get away from the storm and fall back to Ponyville. I’ve got an idea.” she said.

Not even thinking to question her, Ditzy snapped a salute and took off. Rainbow herself sped off, but in the opposite direction out over the Everfree. It took her mere minutes to put a full five miles of distance between her and the raging storm, her desperation lending her speed. She put a stop to her flight and spun about to face the imposing mass of angry black clouds. In the distance she could see the hundred specs of weather pegasi retreating from the clouds back to the town.

She took a deep, shuddering breath and steeled herself. Her plan was, admittedly, not the best she’d ever come up with, and the only reason she dared consider it now was because of the direness of the situation. With one final deep breath of preparation she aimed herself at the storm front and launched herself at it.

The distance between her and the storm shrank dramatically as her wings propelled her forward at a mile-devouring pace. In just a few seconds the telltale resistance began to form around her outstretched hooves and a mach cone blurred into being around her, becoming steadily narrower as her speed increased.

She struck the storm just as the cone came to its narrowest and the resistance was at its greatest, threatening to snap taught and rebound her as it had so many times before. Just as she passed through the very center, into the black heart of the storm, she felt the barrier tear to pieces and all resistance melted away and friction ceased to hold meaning to her.

In that moment her speed increased exponentially, instantly doubling her already impressive pace. Within the next moment the land disappeared beneath her, Ponyville fading into the far distance and Equestria itself began to vanish beneath her as she propelled herself forward on a rainbow contrail at a pace nearing a hundred and thirty miles per minute.

Morgoth did not cry out as the cyclone took him. Nor did he cry out as the gale force winds snapped his wings like twigs. He may have grunted in discomfort as a piece of wooden debris the size of a cave troll struck him and shore his right wing from his back, but that was debateable. He did give a grunt of surprise as concentric rings of multicolored forced ripped through the storm, shredding the black thunderheads and scattering the storm in mere moments.

The blast wave eradicated the storm clouds, but its proximity to the ground also wrought untold havoc on the forest below, knocking trees flat for kilometers in every direction. It also tossed Morgoth through the air like a rag doll as the cyclone dissipated into nothing and its grip on him was released.

Tumbling through the air with all the grace of a rock, Morgoth realized that with one wing snapped in a dozen places and the other one gone, his prospects of surviving this fall were far from good. Perhaps he should have let the grey pegasus die after all, surely making new friends wouldn’t be nearly as hard as coming back from the dead. As he began to lose altitude he finally gave voice to his frustrations in his patently eloquent way.

“Damn it all to the lightless depths of the Void!” he roared.

It was then that something slammed into him at an incredible velocity, tearing him from the air. When he regained his bearings he looked up to find himself in the embrace of a familiar cyan pony, now trailing a brilliant chromatic streak across the sky.

“T’would seem that dramatic timing is thy forte, Lady Dash. I thank thee for thy timely rescue.” he said conversationally. “If thou wouldst be so kind as to wake me when this ordeal is nearer to its end, I would be much appreciative.”

Then, body pushed far further past its limits than it had any right to be, Morgoth gave in to the demands of his mortal body and passed into a much needed slumber.

Rainbow’s eyes widened as Morgoth’s closed, panic gripping tight her heart. She sped back to Ponyville with the unconscious stallion, riding the last vestiges of the speed granted by her sonic rainboom. Ditzy was there to meet her when she hit the ground, her eyes righting themselves as fear coursed through her, seeing the motionless body of her friend.

“Don’t worry,” Rainbow said quickly. “Shady’s gonna be fine, he’s just unconscious. We need to get him to a hospital though, he’s pretty banged up.”

“Oh, I hope he’ll be okay!” Ditzy fretted. “He saved my life back there!”

Rainbow draped the unconscious white pony across her back unceremoniously and made off to Ponyville General. “I know,” she replied. “I’m worried too, but he’s tough, he should be fine.” She then added a silent “I hope.” under her breath.

As he slept, Morgoth dreamed. He dreamed of past victories, of enemies broken, of terrible defeats. He dreamed of another time and place, where he ruled as king and none, not even the Valar, dared question his rule. He dreamed that he was once more a Vala, the greatest being upon all of Arda, and that he was free of the miserable life of servitude in the damnable land of harmony.

Morgoth now stood before a familiar, wretched figure who moaned and wept before him, chained upon one of the highest peaks of Thangorodrim. Morgoth smiled cruelly as the man wept. “Now truly I am king of the world; master of fate. Damned shall thy house be! Thou shall not question my power, nor shall thou defy me further!”

The Dark Lord spun on his heel and strode back down the mountain to his great fortress of Angband where he ruled as lord of all that fell beneath his gaze, the despairing moans of Húrin Thalion echoing after him.

Suddenly a presence was beside him as he walked, one that was familiar, though not expected. He did not mind it, but he did not truly desire it to be there.

“We are much more alike than I could have ever thought.” said his companion.

“In a sense.” Morgoth agreed. “Were it not for thy defeat I think thou might have became far more akin to me.”

“I am grateful I will never have to know.” Luna whispered, eyeing the land around her with mounting unease.

“How long hast thou spied upon mine dreams? Is thy curiosity now sated that thou hast learned of mine dark past?” Morgoth asked.

“I have watched since you fell into slumber, I sought to ensure you were safe. It would seem, though, that my concern was unneeded. Is this why you were sent to us? You became this Morgoth?”

“And so thou hast seen through my deception. Wilst thou now fly to thy sister, beseeching her to do away with me in the way of the Valar of Arda?” he asked, not truly caring.

Luna was silent for a moment. “No. I do not think I will. Everyone deserves a second chance.”

“I already had mine.” Morgoth said. “For three ages was I banished to the halls of Mandos. Three hundred years with naught but the dead for my company. Then I emerged and said to Manwë that my lessons were learned. It was a lie.”

“Were it that I were banished for as short a time as you, brother.” Luna said. “Celestia set me upon my moon for a full thousand. You would consider yourself lucky.”

Morgoth laughed mirthlessly. “I was banished a second time, this time to the Void. I came to thy fair land from that imprisonment.”

“And how long did that last?” Luna asked.

“In truth I cannot say. Perhaps it was minutes, perhaps it was millennia. In the endless blackness of the Void, who can say?” he said.

“I changed.” she said. “But not by myself. It was only through the aid of the ponies that now help you that I was brought back to the light. Give them a chance and you can be Melkor again.”

Morgoth glared at her. “I have never stopped being Melkor, this is but his true face.”

“I do not think that.” Luna said. “You were kind long ago. You sought to be benevolent as Eru is. I think that you are right, that you are still Melkor, and that you shall ever be Melkor until you fulfill the purpose of your name, but I think perhaps that this trial is what your name was meant for. Here upon Equestria you will arise in might and transcend Melkor and Morgoth both, and you will become unmarred.”

“Such unwavering optimism. Those upon Arda have long since lost all cause to hope as thou.” Morgoth remarked.

“You are not evil, Melkor.” Luna insisted. “You just wanted to be different from Manwë, so you concocted discord to go in opposition to harmony. You wanted not to shine as your brother did, but in an altogether different way.”

“And so I did, but I was chastised and berated for it, told my visions for Arda were not even my own, that my ideas were not of my own creation.”

“And they were not, but though Eru thought them up you were the one that dared sing them into being.” Luna said. “For what it matters, I thought your discord was a beautiful thing. It was a gift you gave us, because without strife to measure against we would have never truly been able to appreciate our own creation for what it was.”

“And that is all the good you ever saw for it!” Morgoth yelled, a rage overcoming him. “You only saw how it might benefit you! How it might make your own creations look more appealing! You only valued it because your own creations looked more appealing next to it! Never was it appreciated for what it was, for itself! Only for what it could do for your own damned harmony!”

Luna recoiled from the furious Vala. “I apologize if I have caused affront!” she quickly said. “I did not mean that it could not be appreciated for itself, but I am not one to judge such things. What I meant was that what they created would not be nearly so beautiful were it not for you. You made their creation complete, and no other among them, not even the Allfather, had the desire to make that change. What they have is only beautiful because of you.”

“And yet Eru only gives praise to them. He said as much to me, but in such a way that stole all credit. He said that any glory I would have had for myself instead belongs to him and the others.”

“Maybe there is a lesson to be learned in that.” Luna offered. “Perhaps it is better to perform your duty, thankless though it is, with only the desire that others be made better for it. After all, you are the eldest of us all, the older brother of every Vala and Maia, it is the duty of the eldest sibling to support the younger ones in their trials. Perhaps you did exactly what Eru intended you to do, but with the wrong mindset.”

Morgoth pondered her words. “So you think that he intended me to become ruination for them, but only so that they might feel more accomplished?”

“I do not claim to know his desires, truly only Manwë could say. It is merely a supposition. That perhaps he intended you to be the older brother in more ways than one, for you to be something for them to strive against so they might grow and become greater themselves. Perhaps you were made the greatest so that you had the strength to hold up the rest of them.”

Morgoth was silent for awhile, the only sound he made the sound of his ironclad feet against the iron surface of Thangorodrim as they walked to Angband. Her words resonated deeply within him. Had Eru only made him the greatest, not so that he shone the brightest, but so that, as Luna said, he had the strength to hold up the rest of them? Had he truly misunderstood Eru’s purpose for him so greatly?

“It is not the right of the strong to be revered for their strength.” Luna said. “But instead their duty to use that strength to raise those below them up higher.”

“You say that Eru made me as the pedestal upon which the others might stand?” Morgoth said. “I think that might only make me hate him more.”

“Think upon it, my brother. It is my duty to help all those with fear in their hearts, and I feel that your heart is drowning in fear. Fear that your father does not love you as you wish him to.” Luna observed. “Think long on my words, and think hard. Now awake, you have... visitors.” Morgoth could feel the smile in her voice as she spoke the last word.

Morgoth’s eyes cracked open and he squinted against the harsh light that flooded into them. He groaned in discomfort as the pain kept at bay by sleep now coursed through his body, reminding him of just how ruined he was.

“Yay! Shady’s awake!” chirped a familiar infuriating voice. As his eyes finally opened all the way his heart nearly gave out as a colorfully wrapped cylinder was forced into his face, then torn apart in a great cacophony of sound and confetti.

Pinkie Pie grabbed the party hat that fell out of the party popper and strapped it to Morgoth’s head before he could protest. “You ready for your We’re Really Happy You Didn’t Die party?!” Pinkie asked jubilantly.

Morgoth said nothing. No words came to mind that seemed to fit the situation. He instead looked around the room to take count of who was there. He needn’t have bothered, though, as a drawn curtain surrounded his bed, obscuring the room and only allowing two at a time to see him.

“Not now, Pinkie.” Twilight admonished, shouldering her way past the party pony and taking the conical hat from Morgoth's head. “He just woke up, he doesn’t need you blowing up party poppers in his face.”

“Oh, sorry Shady! I can wait!” she said as she withdrew behind the curtain, though by her tone it was very obvious she could not.

“How long have I been asleep?” he asked.

“You’ve been asleep for a week, you had us all pretty worried. We weren’t sure you were going to wake up at all.” Twilight said. “Oh, but on the bright side, to worst of the damage you sustained was to your wings, but since those only lasted for three days those are gone, so aside from a concussion and a few broken ribs the damage is limited to just cuts and bruises. Though you did get beat up pretty bad, I’d recommend you take it easy for a few days.”

“Where is the grey one?” Morgoth asked warily. “Did she survive? I swear if I went to such trouble and she had the audacity to die...”

“Here I am!” Ditzy announced, stepping inside the curtain as she heard herself mentioned. “I can’t thank you enough for saving me, I don’t know what I would’ve done if you hadn’t done that.”

“No thanks are necessary, I shan’t allow thee to escape me so easily.” he said, prompting a giggle from the surrounding ponies. He wasn’t sure why they were laughing, he’d told no joke.

“Ah, and what of the Rainbow one? Where is she? I must thank her for her timely rescue.” he said.

“Right here!” Rainbow announced, fluttering up and over the curtain and hovering two or so feet above the bed. “Ya feelin’ any better? You took one heck of a beating out there.”

“Far better than I would had thy timing been worse. Thou hast my everlasting gratitude, Rainbow Dash.” Morgoth said, inclining his head as much as he could without it hurting.

“It was nothing.” Rainbow insisted. “I would have had to do something crazy to stop that storm anyways, you getting in trouble was just the kick in the flank I needed to do it.”

“Regardless, I am grateful. Should my services ever be required in any way thou hast but to ask.” Morgoth pledged.

“Y’all tell Shadowfax we said hi too!” piped Applejack from behind the curtain.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Applejack, Spike, Fluttershy, and Rarity say hi. Now we should probably go, we were just coming to check up on you, but since you’re awake you’ll probably want some quiet. See ya later!” she said with a wave, flying over the curtain and out of sight.

Suddenly she popped up again. “Oh! I almost forgot, there’s two other ponies here who wanna talk to you as well.”

Morgoth felt his curiosity rise. Who could possibly wish to speak with him outside of the few he already knew? Two new visitors might mean that Celestia and Luna had come to check up on him, but surely Rainbow would have mentioned that if it were. He resigned himself to simply find out as it happened.

The ponies all filed out of the room saying their goodbyes, and then the two new arrivals entered the curtain. One was a brilliant white pegasus stallion with a golden mane and a brown feather marking his flank, and the other was a unicorn mare of deep blue with a white mane with a bright white star as her mark.

“My greetings to thee, friends. What brings thee here?” he asked. Curiously, the colt smiled as Morgoth said “friend.”

“We heard about what happened in the storm and how you saved Ditzy Do’s life. We just wanted to say that it was a great thing you did up there.” the colt said.

“And we wish you a swift recovery, we hope your injuries were not too grave.” the mare added.

“My thanks to thee for thy gratitude, and my injuries are minimal compared to what they could have been. I am told I will recover quickly.” Morgoth said.

“That is good to hear.” said the white pegasus. “We have heard you are new to Equestria, has your time here been enjoyable?”

“Aye, it has. I am blessed to have many friends here to make my stay all the better.” he said.

“Were those your friends who just left?” the unicorn asked.

“Yes, I shall be staying with them whilst I reside in Ponyville. They are making my stay most pleasant.”

By now Morgoth was growing suspicious of their odd line of questioning, and for some reason the pegasus was smiling ear to ear. He was sure he had never seen these two before, why did they question him so?

“It does us well to hear you are enjoying your time here.” the pegasus said.

“Though I think it wise that we take our leave now. You are likely tired and in need of peace and quiet. We shall leave you in peace now. Farewell friend.” the unicorn said.

“Farewell.” Morgoth replied.

He listened as the two left, waiting until their hoofsteps faded into the distance. Then he heard a slight shuffling outside of his curtain. “Spying now, art thou, Rainbow Dash?” he announced. “T’is considered rude to listen in on a private conversation.”

Rainbow Dash’s head appeared underneath the curtain to his left. “How’d you know I was there?” she asked.

“While thy speed and skill are great, thy subtlety is greatly lacking. I do not think sneaking befits thee.” he said with a small smirk.

Rainbow slid the rest of her body through the curtain standing up and stretching her wings. “So... I just wanted to say that I’m sorry about all that. I was responsible for you up there and I let you get hurt. I’m sorry I’m a lousy friend.” she said hanging her head.

“Thou hast no reason to apologize, Rainbow. I can think for myself and I made the choice to go after Ditzy. Art thou saying thou wouldst prefer that our places were reversed and that Ditzy were the one to suffer my misfortunes?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying at all! I wish neither of you were put in danger and I feel like it’s my fault that it happened.” she said.

“Thou cannot hold thyself responsible for all the woes that betide others. There are things that will happen in the world far beyond thy control. While thou art the embodiment of loyalty, this does not indenture thee to the service of everyone. If we are hurt then we are hurt, you could not have changed anything.” Morgoth said.

“But you guys were volunteers with almost no training and I let you work on a storm that size! I should never have asked you guys to come up there with me.” she lamented. “Some Element of Loyalty I am putting my friends in harm’s way like that.”

“Thou demonstrated thy loyalty greatly up there. My life is saved thanks to thee. Do not concern thyself with what could have been, it does not befit one so proud, only concern thyself with what is. And what I am is in thy debt for saving my life. I would rather be in thy debt than dead.”

Rainbow smiled a little. “Thanks Shady, you’re the best. And how about you make it up to me by treating me to lunch at Sugarcube Corner when you get out?”

“It would be my pleasure, Lady Rainbow.” Morgoth said.

“Awesome, see ya later!” Rainbow said, trotting off.

“Before thou takest thy leave, wouldst thou do me the kindness of telling me the names of the two that just visited me?” Morgoth asked.

“You don’t know their names?” Rainbow asked. When Morgoth shook his head she raised an eyebrow.

“I know no others than the six of thee and Ditzy.” Morgoth said.

“Well the pegasus said his name was West Wind and the unicorn said her name was Starbright. But that’s weird, they said they knew you.”

Tears Unnumbered

Morgoth frowned. “T’is strange they would say that, as I know not any by the names of West Wind or Star... bright...” Morgoth trailed off as he spoke.

A pegasus with an eagle feather mark named West Wind and a unicorn with a star mark named Starbright. As he said the names aloud the pieces all clicked into place and Morgoth was left stunned. He felt faintly foolish for not making the connection immediately, but he had counted the possibility of this meeting so low that he had fallen into believing it would never happen. Rainbow just looked on as the wheels turned in his head and he tried to process the correct emotion for this situation. It didn’t take him long to settle on seething rage.

Slowly Morgoth’s lips drew back in a furious snarl, his jaw clenching painfully tightly in his anger. Rainbow’s eyes widened in concern, but before she could say anything he hissed a single word.

“Manwë.”

“Your brother?” Rainbow asked, confused. “What’s he got to do with this?”

“That,” Morgoth spat, “was my thrice damned brother and his wife, Varda.”

“Woah, really? Wow, that’s really nice of him coming all the way from Arda to check up on you.” Rainbow remarked.

Morgoth didn’t hear her, he was too busy tearing the various tubes from his forelegs to notice.

Rainbow followed Morgoth as he stormed furiously through Ponyville doing her best to placate the furious god. “Shady, I’m telling you, you shouldn’t be out of bed! You need to go back to the hospital right now!”

Morgoth hardly paid her any heed. “That wretch dares show his face?!” he all but roared to his audience of one, not particularly caring if she listened or not. “He will regret coming here! There exists no word in all the languages of Men, Elves, or Ainur that might properly befit the terror I shall visit upon him! The woes he shall suffer at my hand shall make those suffered by the house of Hador seem to be mere child’s play!”

“Dude, I know you don’t like your brother, but you really can’t let it get in the way of your health!” Rainbow fussed. “You’re hurt, talk to him another time, please! He said he was going to Canterlot for a while after he visited you so you don’t have to worry about missing him.”

Morgoth heard only the word “Canterlot.” He then about faced and made for Twilight’s library as fast as his injured body could take him.

“Shady!” Rainbow yelled after him.

“Thou shalt not deter me from mine chosen path.” Morgoth told her. “My bastard brother dared to gloat over my weakness and I shall ruin him for it!”

Rainbow, having finally had enough, flew right in front of Morgoth and grabbed him by the shoulders, forcing him to stop. “Shady, I get that you’re mad, but what’s so bad about your brother visiting you in the hospital? It seems like a normal thing for family to do.”

Morgoth had to fight down the urge to keep from striking her, but managed to barely rein in his temper. “Thou dost not know everything that happened between he and I, nor the circumstances under which we parted ways. Do not presume to say what is right for brothers such as us. We parted company under circumstances beyond salvaging.”

“Well then tell me! What did he do?” Rainbow demanded.

Morgoth fixed her in his gaze. “When I left Arda, I did not do so by my own desire. I was banished. And it was my brother to whom I owe my hatred for that. Dost thou understand now? I am banished from my home, never to lay eyes upon it or the only one whom I could have ever called friend again, and the very one who carried out my banishment now has the gall to come here where I am forced now to dwell against my will!”

Rainbow’s eyes widened at the declaration. “You were banished? Why? What did you do?”

Morgoth shouldered his way past her, shoving her out of his way. “I did what dear little Luna could not.”

Manwë Súlimo and Varda Elentári, in the guises of common ponies, strode through the brilliant marble halls of Canterlot Palace on their way to meet a very old friend, the final rays of the sun playing over them through great windows.

“You have been smiling like the sun since our departure from Ponyville.” Varda observed.

“He called me friend.” was all the King of the West said, his voice carrying an almost childlike joy. “And there was no deception in his voice as I heard it.”

“I do not mean to spoil your happiness, but he did not know us.” Varda said, mild concern seeping into her voice. “I do not think he would have been so friendly if he had known our faces.”

“It was still good to hear it,” Manwë sighed. “I have not heard my brother’s voice in many ages of the world, and to hear it speak such a word does my heart good. I think after this last banishment to the Void he has perhaps softened and it gives me hope that there may yet be the possibility of redemption in him.”

The unicorn by his side sighed. “I fear you may be getting ahead of yourself, looking too far down the path. Simply because he says a word, as foreign as it is from his mouth, is not yet cause for celebration.”

“But what is cause for hope is his rescue of that girl. He saved her at a terrible cost to himself. That evil lord from so long ago would never have done such a thing if his success was not a guaranteed thing. I really think there is hope this time.”

“And I agree, but I just don’t want you to build your hopes up too high. You know well what happened the last time.”

Manwë sighed. “I do, and I was so eager to believe he really had changed. I am now as well, but the circumstances are different here. I think Celestia really can do this.”

Varda cast a sympathetic sidelong glance at her husband and smiled for his sake. “I do too.”

“What are you doing here.” rang out a stern voice, suddenly.

The pair of gods turned about to face whoever had spoken to them and smiled as they beheld the regal form of Princess Luna.

“Dear sister Luna!” Varda said beaming. “It is good to see you! Long were the ages I wished for your company again.”

Luna did not seem so happy to see them as they did her, a stern frown showing on her face. “You should not be here.” she said.

Manwë tilted his head to the side at the curious behavior of the Equestrian Vala. “Have I caused offense in some way, dear Luna?” the white pony asked.

Luna stepped forward, slowly closing the distance between them. “You shouldn’t be here.” she said again. “Melkor can’t know you’re here, it would ruin everything.”

“We have just come from seeing him in Ponyville’s hospital.” Manwë said. “We wanted to see with our own eyes how he was progressing here.”

Luna’s eyes widened in fear. “No!” she all but yelled. “You’ll ruin everything! You must leave immediately! He is not yet ready for this, the old hurts run too deeply in him!”

“Surely his anger has cooled some by now, he lingered in the Void for a great while before coming here.” Manwë said.

“That means nothing!” Luna insisted. “Banishing him will not extinguish the fires of his anger, only make them burn cooler and longer, only make his hatred hardier!”

“I do not think so.” Manwë said. “This banishment was more than twice as long as his first, it should have done him good.”

“For six hundred years has he lingered in the darkness between worlds? I was a thousand years upon the moon and still my anger burned as hotly when I returned as in the beginning, six hundred will do nothing for him!” Luna said.

Manwë and Varda shared a look before returning their gazes to Luna. “Three hundred for his first, and six hundred so far for the second, but I think perhaps your beliefs are mistaken. The calendar of Equestria resembles that of Arda as it is today, but you count his banishment in time akin to Years of the Trees, which is what his first banishment was counted in. A Year of the Trees is equal to ten Years of the Sun.” Manwë explained. “So you see he spent a far greater time banished than you thought, I think it is enough to do him good.”

Luna was rocked by what Manwë said. One of the years his banishment was counted by was worth ten? But then that would make her brother’s first banishment equal to three of her own upon the moon! And the second... that added up to six thousand years. Discord himself was still considered benevolent that long ago. All said Melkor had tallied nearly ten thousand years in banishment, it was no wonder he was so bitter.

“Please try to understand, little Luna,” Manwë said. “It broke my heart to do it, but it was necessary. And it seems to have affected him, I remember a time where his pride would have driven to to outright refuse the Allfather’s offer.”

“Brother, you know me, I am kin to Lórien and so share in his gifts, I have seen our brother’s dreams. He still yearns for darkness, he looks up at the sky and wishes only to tear the lights from it and dash them against the ground. He pines for the black pits of Angband and the iron peaks of Thangorodrim. His anger has cooled, yes, but those flames will be no easier to put out for it.

“He’s begun to change, yes, but it’s slow, small. Having no other choice but to listen, he’s been made to learn of the concepts that he’s shunned for so long. He’s begun to know of them, but they’ve barely begun to take hold, and I fear it will not be for many long ages that he may truly be redeemed. Truly I think he will never be able to go back to what he once was, never fixed, only made better than what he is now.”

Manwë became thoughtful at her words, turning them over in his head. It was no secret that the ways of evil were as foreign to him as those of good were to his wayward brother, and he admitted to himself that he would surely never be able know Melkor’s mind and that it was not wise to make assumptions. And of course Luna would have more experience with such, having walked down and then been saved from the same path as Melkor.

He let out a weary sigh. “I trust you, Luna. This is far beyond my knowledge, I do not know how an evil heart may be, nor how it may be saved. Perhaps I am being too optimistic, so short a time in this place will not have seen much change in him and I risk upsetting what has already been done. You’ve my sincerest apologies.” he finished solemnly.

Feeling the melancholy arising in him, Luna began to sympathize with him. She realized Manwë was even now going through exactly what Celestia did when she was banished to the moon. He was a soul of unparalleled kindness and could not understand why Melkor had become what he did, nor how he might fix it.

“I miss him, Luna.” he said finally, all pretense now gone. “The dark things that took hold of his heart were born of his isolation in the time before the world. I should have seen what was happening to him, I should have been there for him as a brother should be and walked with him. But I was not and now he has become this... Morgoth.” He practically spat the last word. “It is my fault he is this way, I should have known further isolation would do nothing for him. For all my wisdom I am still so naive.”

“Manwë...” Varda whispered, placing a comforting hoof on his shoulder.

Luna ached to see him as he was, it was an exact mirror of her own ordeal. “It may lift your heart to hear that he has begun to change, if even a little. He knows now of the virtues of friendship and what they are, and through it recognizes he had a friend back upon Arda. One whom was closer to his heart than any other. He named that one to be Mairon, if you know the name.”

Manwë’s eyes grew wide. “While normally you would be right, this should be a cause for joy, instead my heart sinks lower at your words. I know the name of Mairon well, but in recent years that being is known as Sauron, who has since taken up Melkor’s mantle as the Dark Lord and sought to conquer Middle-earth in his master’s name. It will grieve him greatly to know that Sauron lies dead at my decree a decade past.”

It was Luna’s turn to despair now. “Melkor must never know of this!” she said quickly. “He can never know the fate that befell the only one he would ever call friend. He has dreamed often of being reunited with him and it would only make him more resistant to the change we hope to bring upon him.”

“We will not stay long then.” Varda said. “We will have our audience with Celestia and then take our leave. We would not wish to upset anything.”

“While I would caution against staying any longer, I must admit that it’s good to see you again, it has been so very long. Come, Day Court is nearing its end and Celestia will be in the throne room. We shall meet with her and then perhaps we shall have the royal chefs prepare something for us.” she suggested, a smile in her voice.

Manwë smiled. “That sounds excellent, Luna. Let us not tarry then, surely your sister would not want us to delay in rescuing her from the tedium of her duties.”

Luna turned and cantered off down the hall, prompting the Valar to follow. “I think perhaps you should consider yourself lucky that you only have to deal with evil lords seeking to unmake your world, I would gladly take that over the workload of royalty. At least evil can be defeated.”

“Shady! Really, stop! You’re not fit to be doing this!” Rainbow yelled. Morgoth ignored her and simply flew faster.

The instant she’d revealed his brother’s destination he’d wasted no time seeking out Twilight and demanding she recast the wing spell upon him. She’d resisted the idea at first, and Rainbow’s protestation hadn’t helped, but he’d managed to guilt her into it, having claimed that this would likely be his last chance to ever confront his brother again. She caved fairly quickly, and now, rage fueling his limbs, Morgoth winged his way across the sky, having already cleared most of the distance to the city by the time the moon had risen.

Rainbow, though, refused to abandon her attempts to sway him. It mattered little to him though, he was beyond caring and Rainbow’s pleas fell on deaf ears. Only anger and thoughts of his hated brother filled his mind.

It was his fault. Everything was his fault. Manwë stole all the glory that rightfully belonged to him! That false king had no right to take Adra from him, it had been his! Who among them but the mightiest should rule? Who but the greatest had the right to rule? Manwë was a weak, naive fool who could not understand the true greatness of Morgoth’s song. And how had his greatness been rewarded? He had been cast from his own world, and then Manwë had the audacity to find him in his exile and gloat over him as he lay broken? Chain or not he would make the fool pay.

Canterlot steadily grew before him as his furious pace devoured the miles. Soon he was over the city and the castle was before him, and still Rainbow was at his heels seeking to stop him. He dropped to the ground before the gates of the palace, his landing far from graceful, and whirled about to face Rainbow as she alighted behind him.

“This is a bad idea, Shady. You really shouldn’t do this. Even if your dad really did love your brother more that’s no reason to take it out on him! He’s your brother, for crying out loud! He’s the only family you’ll ever have! What did he do that was so bad that it warrants you barging into the palace and taking it out on him?” Rainbow demanded.

“He took everything from me! Everything!” Morgoth bellowed. “He could not see the greatness in my works and instead deemed them all to be abominations! Always have I been shunned, always has it been Manwë who would receive praise for what he did! Am I so wrong to wish they would see things like I do? I was the greatest of us all! Why should I not be adored? Is it not within my right?”

The ferocity of his reply left Rainbow stunned and unable to think of anything to say. Seeing that no words would be forthcoming from her Morgoth continued his way into the palace, leaving Rainbow at the gates. She could only watch as he disappeared into the halls of the palace.

Caring little for what Rainbow did, Morgoth stormed through the dim halls of the palace, the throne room being his destination. He knew not where his brother would be, but surely one of the alicorns would.

“You come here in anger; I would advise that you leave and return when your temper has cooled.” a voice whispered beside him. “But I know you will not heed my advice.”

A glance revealed Midnight, the Night Guard who had guided Morgoth through the palace his first night there. “I’ve nothing to say to thee, keep thy serpent’s tongue between thy teeth.” Morgoth growled.

“I shall instruct the chamberlain to allow you entry to the throne room, then. As entertaining as it would be to see what you would do to him, it would be bothersome for me.” Midnight said. “I hope you find whatever you’ve come looking for.”

When Morgoth looked back to offer a remark he found the spot the pony had occupied vacant. Even as angry as he was he never ceased to be unsettled by that pony.

It wasn’t long before he came once more upon the gilded doors of the throne room, the same pony from his first visit standing at his podium before them. As Morgoth approached and prepared to demand the doors be opened, they swung open of their own accord the instant he came near.

Standing on the threshold were the very ones he had sought; Celestia, Luna, Manwë, and Varda all stood frozen where they were as they laid eyes upon him. For a moment he was pleased to see a flash of fear and uncertainty cross each of their faces as they beheld him. Celestia was the first to break the silence.

“Melkor... it is good to see you,” she began hesitantly. “Please come inside.” Wordlessly Morgoth complied, striding through the great doorway, the rest following hesitantly after him while the doors slid shut behind them.

Once inside the vacant throne room the two parties stopped to regard each other, each of the Valar weighing their words carefully in their minds. Morgoth was the one to break the silence.

“This reunion has been long in coming, brother. Here I thought thou wouldst have more to say.” he growled bitterly.

Manwë eyed his brother nervously. “Long has it been, yes. It is good to see you again broth-”

“Is it?” Morgoth interrupted him. “Is it good? My recollections of our last meeting say otherwise.”

Manwë winced and glanced around at the other Valar in the room. He shook his head in exasperation and sighed. “This is so strange, perhaps familiar faces will make this more comfortable.”

Manwë’s form began to glow and shift, Varda’s following suit shortly after. After a moment they stood tall and proud once more in the guises they were wont to wear upon Arda. With a soft word of spoken Valarin from Manwë, Melkor felt Angainor uncoil from his spirit, still binding his power, but freeing his form. Immediately his own form shifted growing ever taller and broader, but when he sought to walk as he had upon Arda the chain restricted his size, refusing him from growing any larger than the rest of them.

When at last the three were clothed in forms more familiar, Manwë turned to Celestia and Luna. “Will you not join us?” he asked.

Celestia shook her head. “These forms are as familiar and comfortable to us as yours are to you, we’ll stay as we are.”

“Of course. And you brother? I see you’ve the same love of grandeur as ever.” he said jokingly in an attempt to lighten the mood.

And it was no lie, Morgoth appeared as he ever did, dark and imposing. Clad in armor of black iron and a flowing black cloak he struck an awe inspiring figure.

“Dost thou think that simply appealing to my vanity shall earn thee some respect from me?” he asked venomously.

“Melkor-” he began.

“Speak not my name, thou hast not the right to say it!” Morgoth said harshly. “Ever to thee shall I be Morgoth.”

“Brother, I-”

“And how darest thou show thy face in this place! Dost thou thinketh to gloat over my infirmities here? Is it amusing to watch me brought so low? Art thou not satisfied with my defeat and so have come to torment me in my darkest hour for thy own amusement?”

“No! Melkor I would never-”

“Speak not thy falsehoods, I shall not be deceived! Ever in thy heart hast thou harbored contempt for me!”

“Melkor-”

“Thou and thy brethren were spiteful that there was yet another greater than thy most holy selves and thou couldst not abide by it!”

“Brother-”

“T’was naught but jealousy that guided thy hand against me!” the enraged god ranted.

This was exactly what they had all feared would happen. All present knew Morgoth could not act against them, his oath and Angainor would prevent it, but he could wound his brother in other ways.

“Melkor, I’m sorry!” Manwë yelled, his composure finally gone.

That caught Morgoth by surprise. Of all the things he had expected his brother to say, an apology was not one of them. However it served only to hurt Manwë’s cause.

“Sorry?” Morgoth echoed slowly. “The contempt of our father, a kingdom stolen, three ages spent in exile, an eternity adrift in the Void, and eternal banishment, and thou wouldst dare claim to be sorry?”

The other three could only stand idle and watch, this was an issue none of them would dare interfere with lest they only make it worse. Their forced inaction tore at them, it pained them to sit idly while the two brothers had their say.

“Yes!” Manwë finally yelled. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry I wasn’t there with you in the time before the world, I’m sorry I didn’t see what was happening to you sooner, I’m sorry I didn’t walk the halls of Ea with you and keep the darkness from your heart, I’m sorry I banished you instead of trying to help you! Melkor, nothing grieves me more than how I have wronged you, my failings as your brother are a greater wound than any other. I’m sorry, Melkor, I’m sorry for everything.”

Morgoth said nothing, just looked upon his brother, fallen so low, and felt only a mild joy to see Manwë brought to such a state.

“But I swear to you, Melkor, I will atone for how I have wronged you.” He placed his hands on Morgoth shoulders, a hopeful smile on his face. “I will do what I should have done in the first place; I will stay here with you and help you.”

“Manwë.” Varda said alarmed.

“I’ll help you through this trial, I’ll bring you back to the light as I should have done all those ages ago. I’ll stay with you and be the brother you deserve.” he said with finality.

“Manwë, you cannot, you are the king of Arda.” Varda said. “You are its guardian, you cannot leave it.”

“There are no evils that threaten the world anymore.” Manwë argued. “And I should doubt any will rise in the time I will be here. Celestia, Luna, have I your leave to do this?”

“I can find no objection with it.” Celestia said. “If it is your desire to stay then I won’t stop you, and I think I would rather enjoy having you here.”

“Then it is decided!” Manwë said. “I shall stay and do what I can to aid you in your trial, Melkor. I swear to you I will finally do right by you.”

Morgoth had not paid attention to a single word they’d said. The only thing he heard was that his brother had claimed there was no evil left upon Arda, which could only mean one thing. And that implication tore at his black heart.

“Mairon is dead.” it was not a question.

Each of the Valar froze as he said the words, which was all the confirmation he needed. He felt a rage such as he had never known begin to build within him. “Thou hast claimed that no darkness yet dwells upon Arda. For this to be true Mairon must be dead.”

He could see his brother thinking of a way out, a way to deny it. “Bother me not with lies, the truth is plain for all to see in thy face. Thou wouldst not abide by any yet loyal to me and have purged any remnant of my influence from Middle-earth. Mairon is dead.”

Manwë took a hesitant step back from his brother, casting a pleading look to Varda and the alicorns for aid.

“Thou hast slain the only one whom I might have called friend.” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “T’was not enough to take my kingdom, thou desired me broken and friendless!”

The ideals of friendship had taken root in Morgoth more than they had realized. Now that he knew what to think of his relationship with Mairon he had cherished it all the more, its value increasing a hundredfold to him. Were Mairon to have been slain before he knew to call him friend he might have only been grieved for the loss of a powerful servant, but now it was the very ideals they sought to instill in him that now worked against them. Knowing that he’d had a friend, the fallen Vala now felt the loss as keenly as if he’d had his heart cut out rather than as an inconvenience.

A bellow of rage born of grief left Morgoth and he lunged for his brother. Before he had made it two steps, though, Angainor tightened its grip upon him, becoming visible around him as it bound him. He faltered as his limbs were bound together by the chain and fell to his knees, raging against his binds with every ounce of his might.

Manwë stepped back fearfully at the sight of his brother. “Melkor, please, let me-”

“BE SILENT!” he roared furiously, Againor groaning as it struggled to contain the power of a god. “Be gone from my sight and never return! From now till the Unmaking and forever after shalt thou only know my hate! Let any thoughts of redemption leave you, for this crime against me shall my anger ever be thy companion! I curse thy name, Manwë Súlimo, False King of Arda! May it be that the weight of my disdain shall follow thee for the rest of thy living days and into the dark of the Void when all is broken! Be gone and go knowing that the one thou wouldst call brother holds only contempt for thee in his heart.”

“Melkor-” he was stopped as Varda put a hand on his shoulder.

“We should leave. We’ve caused enough trouble.” she said. Manwë looked back at his brother, horrified at what had happened.

“Brother, please!” he begged. “Do not do this! Please, let me help you!”

“Go, listen to Varda. You’ve done enough damage.” Luna said sternly. “It was unwise to come here.”

“Dost thou not hear the wisdom in their words?” Morgoth said. “ Speak not of a desire to help, it is no secret to me that thou hast only ever hated me, say not otherwise. Now leave and know my hatred goes with thou!”

His face a mask of pain, Manwë cast one last glance at his furious brother, still straining with all his might to break his bonds, then turned and left, Varda following close behind. They made for the exit feeling Morgoth’s burning gaze upon their backs as they went. As the two neared the great doors they found them already opening, revealing a blue pegasus standing at the threshold.

All in the room went silent as they saw Rainbow standing there, confusion written over her face, Morgoth’s own fury even seemed to cool in her presence. How much had she heard? What did she now know?

The pegasus took in the scene, the two Valar before her looking down at her in uncertainty and the ironclad form of Morgoth bound in chains on his knees by the two princesses.

“What the hay is going on here...?” she asked.

Craven

“Princess? What’s going on here? Who... what are these guys?” Rainbow asked, her confusion only growing as she looked upon the odd gathering.

After a moment of tense silence the being before her dropped to a knee and came to eye level with her. “I recognise you.” he said in an oddly melodious voice. “You are the one who has kept my brother’s company in his time here. I would thank you for this kindness you’ve done him as well as me. I would also ask that you keep this course, Melkor needs friends now more than ever.”

His peace said, Manwë rose and he and Varda took their leave, returning to the forms of ponies before they passed the throne room’s threshold. Staring after them but a moment, Rainbow turned her attention to the one remaining foreign figure in the room; that of the armor clad giant still straining against the chains that bound him. She trotted hesitantly over to the prone Vala and stared up into his face in wonder and confusion, as even on his knees he eclipsed Rainbow in stature.

“Shady?” she asked uncertainly.

An explosive, exasperated sigh suddenly issued from the direction of Princess Celestia, drawing Rainbow’s attention.

“Well, that escalated quickly.” she wearily remarked. “Luna, Night Court will begin soon, I will-”

“I believe it would be better if I were to handle these matters.” Luna interjected. “I would ask you to do me the kindness of overseeing my duties this eve so I might tend to our brother’s precarious situation.”

After a moment of thoughtfulness Celestia nodded. “If that’s what you want. I’ll take over your duties for the night, then.”

“My thanks, sister. Rainbow, Melkor, we have much to discuss.” she said, her horn catching alight with magic. Before either of them could interject she cast her spell and the trio vanished from the throne room, reappearing the same instant in Luna’s private chambers high in the palace’s towers.

“This is going to take a while, I think I’ll take a page out of my sister’s book and acquire a little something for the headache this situation is going to inevitably cause.” she said making for the door. “Please do not leave this room, I’ll be back in short order and then we’ll begin.”

Rainbow and Morgoth silently watched as Luna trotted from the room, an odd look upon her face as she cast a sidelong glance at them before leaving the room.

Soon a pregnant silence filled the room, a one-sided awkwardness in the air. Rainbow tried her hardest to not stare at the imposing figure of her companion, but found it difficult and often had to turn away when she caught herself looking from the corner of her eye. Morgoth for his part seemed to care little for his company, appearing content to sit and ponder some matter unknown to her. If she had to guess, though, Rainbow would have assumed his thoughts were on some part of the disastrous meeting with his brother she’d just overheard.

After what felt like hours, but was likely only minutes, Rainbow had passed the limits of her admittedly lacking patience and turned to the armored giant, eager for answers.

“Alright, I know the princess is gonna come back and explain everything, but I think I’d prefer to hear it from you, Shady. Or Melkor. Or Morgoth. Or... whatever your name is. What’s going on here? What... are you?”

At the sound of her voice his eyes fixated on her in what seemed like surprise as though he had only just noticed her presence. Slowly his previously tense and furious bearing shifted, and what sounded to be a sigh issued from him as he seemed to deflate. The chains binding him once more became ethereal and then vanished altogether, releasing him from their grip.

“Though thou knowest me by a different name, I am named Melkor by my father. He who arises in might.” he said at last.

“Okay, that’s a start. Now what are you?”

“I am first in power and age amongst the Ainur, and even to Valar like your princesses am I the greater.”

“Alright, great. Now what does any of that mean?”

Morgoth gave a sigh of irritation, despairing at Rainbow’s ignorance. “I am the first born of Eru Ilúvatar.”

“Who?”

“I am aware from our time spent together that matters of the mind are not thy greatest strength, such dost thou forsake in preference to those of physical challenges, but dost thou truly mean to say thou art not possessed of any knowledge of the Allfather?”

Rainbow sighed herself, now, covering her face with a hoof. “Work with me here, Shady. I’m a simple and awesome pony that leads a simple and awesome life. I came here to help out a friend who was having a bad time and walked in on three weird creatures yelling at each other in the princesses’ throne room. Talk to me like I have no idea what’s going on.”

“Thou sayest such as though it were not how I would normally speak to thee.” he remarked, earning a groan from Rainbow. Nevertheless he continued. “In the beginning there was Eru, and it is from his thought that Ea, all that is, is come. But before Ea there were the Ainur, of whom I am chief in might and age, and we were the children of his thought, and we sang a song to bring a world into being.”

“Wait, wait, wait, hold on here. Let me see if I’m hearing this right. So you’re the first born son of a god? And you created the world?” Rainbow asked incredulously. “Now I know I may exaggerate a teeny tiny little bit when I talk about myself, but really? That doesn’t sound the littlest bit unbelievable to you?”

“I shall say this once and once only, Rainbow. I feel no need to offer proof more than what thou hast had privy. If all thou hast seen hast not convinced thee I shall not try more, for the belief of a single being is of no consequence to me, for whether thou wouldst believe or not I am still who I say.”

Rainbow held up her hooves in a placating gesture. “Alright, alright, calm down. Fine, let’s say I believe you, what’s the son of a god doing running around as a pony? Don’t you have anything better to be doing?”

“Did I not say I was here against my will and it is a banishment I suffer?” Morgoth reminded her.

“But if you’re the strongest person... well in the entire universe, who could possibly have the power to banish you?”

“While I may be mighty my allies were of lesser number than those of my brother. Had he been without that damnable rabble he would have stood no chance against me. Few were my allies, Rainbow, and vast were the enemies raised against me. There were few of might that would join with me, my only allies among the Ainur of any worth being Mairon and the seven Valaraukar. The Valar themselves were fourteen, already dwarfing our own number, and their lesser Maiar were legion.”

“So you, your friend, and seven other guys thought you could take on the entire world?” Rainbow asked incredulously.

“Thou wouldst not think it so trivial a thought if thou had been witness to our might. Mairon was a mighty sorcerer and each of the Valaraukar was as an army unto itself.”

Rainbow shook her head. “So... this Arda place you’ve been talking about, that’s not just another land, but a whole other world?”

“The first world. I do not know when this world was wrought as I have been upon Arda since its conception and saw nothing beyond it.”

“This is crazy. This is all completely crazy. And that’s coming from me! I deal with crazy stuff all the time!” Rainbow could only sigh as she thought over everything the Vala had revealed to her. Even for someone who had gone through everything she had she still found the whole situation difficult to accept. “So I remember you kept going on about how nobody appreciated your work, what exactly does that mean? What’d you do that made everyone so mad?”

“It was back before Arda was made, when all that existed was the Void and the Ainur who walked about its halls and sang for many ages. Eru gathered us about his great throne and proposed to us a great theme; he bade us sing to him that from our song he might create the Kingdom of Arda, though we knew it not at the time.

“And so we sang him our songs, but I did not sing as they, though there were a few who attuned their music to my own and it became as a war of our songs. Then from the differing musics arose the Discord where before there was only harmony and which they thought to be a blight upon the world.” he explained.

“Wait, wait, wait, hold on. Are you telling me you created chaos?” Rainbow asked in disbelief.

“All things began with Eru, as did such things as chaos and harmony. But it was the Ainur who sang of them, it was we who gave them voice. But though it was from another mind that these concepts were born, it is by my hand that they are given shape.”

“Wait, so the original plan was for the Ainur to make everything perfect?” Rainbow asked.

“Those were their designs, aye.”

“And they would have done exactly that if you hadn’t gone off and done your own thing?”

“Aye, without the addition of my own song the world would have been very different indeed.”

“Alright.” Rainbow started, running a hoof through her mane in frustration. “So to summarize this, you’re pretty much responsible for every evil thing that’s ever happened, because without you there would have only been good. Am I way off here?”

“Thy deductive reasoning would put Twilight Sparkle to shame.”

“Gonna take that as a yes.” Rainbow said, ignoring the jab. “Now this leads me to my next question: What could have possibly made you think that doing any of that was a good idea?”

There was a smouldering fury in the Vala’s eyes as Rainbow voiced her question. “Eru said to me that that which I would call my own was naught but an echo of his own thoughts, that all I did merely redounded to his own glory, yet he put the themes to no other, spoke not a word of them, it was I alone that perceived these ideas. While they sang I thought, while they blindly followed I sought my own path. And from my contemplation came ideas that, while they may truly not be my own, were secret to all others, even to Manwë who it is said knows most of our father’s thoughts. Yet of these things he could not conceive, could never guess.

“And then when Eru made our music manifest and brought Ea into existence he did so with my lyrics coloring it, nor did he make any move to stop me as we sang. Prideful I may be, but I am not so foolish to think it was not within his power to have silenced me, or to even call for a new song to be sung without my involvement. While he chastised and condemned it, he also allowed it to happen and that can only mean that I was right to do as I did, that it was our father’s will for these things to be made manifest, that only I was capable of completing his vision of Arda.”

“How does creating evil make anything better?” Rainbow demanded. “I mean, I may not be as smart as Twilight, but even I can see that there’s something a little wrong with that kinda thinking.”

“What couldst thou know of true joy without knowing of suffering or loss?” he questioned her. “Thy love of life would be diminished without evil, all that thou possessed taken for granted if it could not all be taken away. It was my own work that allowed theirs to truly shine.”

“Okay, help me out here then. Why are you mad at any of them if you were just helping them out in the first place?”

“Because I was played for a fool,” he rumbled dangerously. “Little Luna opened my eyes to what I have long suspected. Eru intended for me to create evil. I was made in Eru’s image, I am made the mightiest of all my kin, and deep within my secret thought I desire above all to be a creator as my father and to shape works of originality that no other can claim. He knew this and so did not propose the theme of evil to me, but rather knew that my desire to walk my own path would lead me to discover it eventually.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense! If he really wanted evil in the first place he could have told everyone else about it, I’m sure they would have understood.” Rainbow argued.

“Oh aye, they would have understood. But he would not let them be corrupted, it was his design that only I would fall through this darkness whilst the others remained pure of purpose. That is why I am as I am, it was my doom to be hated and reviled. I am mighty so that it is within my means to oppose the Valar and bring about what he wanted of me, that I might endure the hatred of an entire world,” he seethed. “I am only made strong to better bear the weight of their scorn.”

“No way.” Rainbow declared. “There’s no way he would do that to you, a father would never put their kid through that kind of ordeal.”

“Couldst thou truly argue against it?” he pressed. “Do the pieces not fit together perfectly? This was my destiny, Rainbow Dash. For all my desire, for all my longing and suffering I have been the master of nothing. All that I did was according to the will of another, I thought I cried out in defiance when I merely played my own part! I was once the master of fate, Rainbow, but it would seem I was never even the master of my own. And it is for this reason I hate them, why I will never forgive them.

“Always was I punished and always were they rewarded. Always was I made to suffer so that they might be made better. And now after so diligently playing the part of the villain he thinks he can simply strip me of all that I am that I might be made more convenient for him? This is what I am, Rainbow, this is the true face of Melkor the Morgoth, but now that my part is done he wishes me to change according to his whims and repent the sins I was designed to commit, and he even wishes me to learn the values of your friendship that I might be made to suffer more efficiently through the ordeal.”

Rainbow faltered here, she knew where he was going with this. “You’re talking about your friend, right? Sauron?”

“Speak not that name to me! Not here, not now!” he hissed at her, startling her with the venom in his voice. “Say naught to me of Sauron the Deceiver, for he has always been and shall ever be Mairon the Fair.”

Rainbow held up her hooves placatingly. “Sorry, sorry! I didn’t know it was a bad name.” she apologized.

Morgoth sighed and was silent a moment, seeming to deflate before her. “Aye, it is of him that I speak.” he confirmed after a moment. “In my rashness I swore an oath to Eru, and by his own name even. And swearing in Eru’s name is not as a common oath, one is not bound simply by honor to fulfill it, but rather the oath is as a living thing and shall compel them to complete it.” he explained. “In this my choices are limited to going along of my own volition or being simply forced along by my oath.”

Rainbow could hardly comprehend such a thing. She couldn’t conceive of having her freedom so thoroughly stripped away, the very thought was anathema to her. Having always lived her life fully unfettered, tied down by naught but her own whims she found herself feeling sympathetic to the Vala’s plight. To her there was nothing that could justify such a removal of free will.

“I’m sorry.” she said at last. “I can’t even imagine what that must be like, not even having a choice. That’s gotta be rough.”

“Even my great power is bound. A Vala wears a form as mortals do clothes, though with this chain ensnaring my fëa I am restricted to the form thou art most familiar with. Even now I feel it straining against my will and it takes every ounce of my might to retain this form. If I leave it I will never be able to change back.”

“Jeez,” she breathed. “You really got it hard here. No free will and no power? I can’t even begin to imagine how that must feel for someone as strong as you.”

“It feels as though I am stripped of all that I am and laid bare before all. Like I have been struck deaf, dumb, and blind. I feel as a star that has been snuffed to but a guttering candle at the end of its wick.”

As Rainbow processed his words a thought came unbidden to her mind as dots began to connect themselves. “Wait, so you said Eru sent you here right? To learn about friendship? What happens after that’s done?”

“I care not.” he confessed. “Were I even to leave there is nothing to go back to. I will never again go before my brother or the Valar of Arda, I’ve no wish to see their faces again. And I am powerless to bring evil to this world whilst Angainor binds me, and it will not be unbound until Eru is satisfied with what I’ve learned and he is not fool enough to do so if even a spark of evil remains. Until this eve I went forward only hoping to return to Arda, to be reunited with the one that you have taught me was my friend.”

“I...” Rainbow cleared her throat nervously, “I’m sorry about Mairon. I heard about what happened to him while I listened in on you guys.”

“It is not his death that concerns me, such things are meaningless to the Ainur.” he remarked offhandedly.

“Well you seemed pretty worked up back in the throne room.” Rainbow said. “If him being dead doesn’t concern you then what does?”

“As I said, the Ainur wear our shapes as mortals do clothes, but our physical forms may still be harmed unto death, though we may reform them if our power is great enough. Thou bore witness to how my brother so quickly dismissed the notion of evil ever again rising upon Arda. He may know nothing of the ways of evil, but he has learned to never underestimate those who call the shadows their home. His power must have been thoroughly broken indeed for him to be dismissed so quickly as a threat. And if he can never again arise upon Arda and I am fated to never set foot upon it again then it would seem we are gone from each other’s sight forevermore.”

“That’s... wow, I’m really sorry.” Rainbow said quietly. “That sounds like it’s even worse. Knowing he’s still out there, but you can never see him again. I’d never be able to handle that.”

“I scarcely know what to do.” he confessed. “Never before have I experienced anything akin to this. Thou couldst never conceive of living without friends by thy side, ever is thy company kept by others, but I have been alone for eternity and it has always suited me. Until I was come to this land I knew not of kinship with others and cared only for myself and my own designs. For Mairon I held respect and admiration, but only viewed him as I would a powerful servant. It was not until thou imparted the knowledge of such things as friendship to me that I did at last see his true worth to me was not as a servant, but as a friend.

“Before now I would have still been grieved by his passing, but only is such a way as one might had they lost some important trinket. With this new knowledge thou hast so kindly bestowed me with I see the loss for what it is.”

Morgoth fixed her with an angry glare, but even in the face of the scorn of one of the most powerful being to walk upon the world Rainbow stood resolute. “I’m sorry about Mairon, I’m sorry about your problems with your brother and that you feel like you’ve been used by your father, I’m sorry for all of that, but I won’t apologize for teaching you about friendship. Yeah it sucks that you’ll never see Mairon again, and yeah, it’s gonna hurt, but that’s life. You have to take the bad that comes along with the good. And considering you’re the reason things like this even happen in the first place I’d say it’s about time for you to start learning a little more about what it is you’ve so generously gifted us with. It’s time for you to join the rest of us mortals down here on the ground.”

“Thy colors be revealed at long last, naught but a pawn of Eru and his false king.” Morgoth spoke accusingly. “Didst thou question my motives for keeping secret my past? Mayest thou look upon this as thy answer, I foresaw thy true nature, that thou wouldst abandon me upon my story coming to light. Such a strange manner of loyalty art thou possessed of.”

Rainbow didn’t react to Morgoth’s goading, merely held her stern gaze throughout his accusations of disloyalty. “I never said I would abandon you.” she said flatly.

“Speak not such lies, it does not become thee. And think not that I am unable to see through such feeble deceptions, thou wouldst never stain thy valued pride by association with one such as me.”

“I know I may not be as honest as Applejack, but I do not lie when it comes to my friends.” Rainbow declared.

“They’ve naught to do with this so it is of little matter.” Morgoth said dismissively.

“I’m talking about you.” Rainbow replied. “You are my friend.”

“And thou wouldst truly have me believe such a thing? That thou art not frightened of what thou hast learned?”

Rainbow took a brave step towards the Vala. “I don’t care about any of that. You were my friend before I knew about who you were and what you’ve done. I can’t just ignore it, but I’m not gonna stop being your friend over something I wasn’t even alive for. What matters is the here and now, and right here, right now, a friend needs my help and I’m not gonna abandon him.”

“I name thee to be a fool then. No mortal of a sane mind would not fear the Black Foe.”

“I don’t think you know a thing about mortals.” Rainbow countered. “For all your power, for all your age you don’t know a single thing about us. Don’t be so quick to dismiss us, a lot of people in your position did exactly that and it didn’t work out too well for them. I can name four right off the bat.” Here her stern gaze softened marginally. “Give us some credit, we might just surprise you.”

Morgoth merely shook his head, a frustrated growl leaving him as he did so. “Once more I am made a fool. Thou art not the first of Eru’s Children to have pledged me thy allegiance out of a misplaced desire to help. I cannot fathom it, it defies all reason! Why would any wish to aid me? Why should any feel loyal to one who has desired naught but their destruction?”

“Well, I can’t speak for them, but as for me? Loyalty’s in my blood. I’m the Element of Loyalty, so you may as well get used to me because I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. And whether or not you believe that doesn’t make any difference to me.” she said, a smile touching her lips. “Because the belief of a single Vala won’t change what I am.”

“And what if I do not desire thy company? What should it matter to me that a mortal considers me to be their friend?”

“You just lost the first and best friend of your life.” Rainbow bluntly stated. “And it hurt, you even told me as much. Are you really telling me you’d wanna go through that again by turning me away?”

“I have abided thy presence, nothing more. Mistake not my tolerance for friendship.”

“I don’t buy that for a second and I don’t think you do either. Especially not after you risked your life to save Ditzy earlier, and all without your power too, you did that knowing that you could get hurt or even die in there. Don’t for a second try to tell me that was just because you tolerate her. We’re your friends, Shady, and you just found out what it’s like to lose one. I don’t think you’re really so eager to throw the rest of us away like that.”

“I have endured pain the likes of which thou couldst never conceive of, I am the mightiest of the Valar, what matter is but a little more pain? It would make little difference even if casting thee away would wound me as much as thou wouldst claim. Why should I care?”

“Because deep down you’re just like the rest of us. You don’t like getting hurt just like everyone else. I saw how you acted when you found out about Mairon, and you can’t tell me that after the time we’ve spent together you don’t feel anything for me. We’ve had fun haven’t we? You were the first pony I’d met that could keep up with me the way you did, not just in the air but in the way you think too. It’s been amazing having somepony to talk to who thinks like I do, you don’t tell me I’m arrogant or full of myself or just roll your eyes. We’ve only known each other about a month and you’re already one of the best friends I have. To me you’re not Melkor, or Morgoth, or any of those things.” Rainbow paused and looked up into his eyes almost pleadingly. “You’re my friend Shady, I don’t wanna lose that and I know you don’t want to either.”

For a good while Morgoth stood resolute, returning her pleading gaze with his own even stare. For a while no words were exchanged between the two and Rainbow almost began to despair, but then suddenly it was as if the fire in his eyes went out. His shoulders slumped forward as his stance relaxed and his head bowed, then his limbs snapped together as if pulled by some unseen force. For a brief moment Rainbow could make out the image of chains encircling her friend, but before she could move to help she was all but blinded by a bright flash.

When her vision cleared there stood no mighty tyrant before her, gone was the firstborn of the Valar, the ender of days and the master of fate; in his place was just a small, white pony with seven stars adorning his flank, slumped to his haunches and staring forlornly at the floor.

“I have not fought my own battles since I ended the elf king, Fingolfin. In that battle he wounded me so gravely that ever after, even now in a new body I still feel the sting of his blade upon my flesh.” He lifted his head and met Rainbow’s gaze, now looking at her from an equal height. In that gaze she could see an almost unbearable shame, but more than just shame, she saw fear. “I do not like pain, I am afraid of it. If keeping thy company yet longer will keep it at bay just a little more... then I shall not turn thee away. It may yet be that our friendship is not even a fraction as great as it was between Mairon and I and the pain of separation may not be as great as I fear, but I still know little of how friendship is and would not risk it. Well played, Rainbow Dash. Well played.”

The Offer

How had it come to this?

A white earth pony stallion struck a tree and slumped to the ground, groaning in pain. He forced his eyes to open and took in the scene playing out before him. Twilight and the others had fallen and lay unconscious on the ground, the infuriating form of the cackling Vala standing over them in triumph.

In his eagle claw he held six black gems which glowed with a malevolent unlight. Six gems which used to be the magical pinnacle of what this world stood for, what he had so vehemently opposed for the entirety of his long existence: Harmony. Now they were twisted and corrupted, their light tainted to serve chaos.

His failure was now complete, that he could not save himself let alone these ponies was testament to that. But as great as his shame was it was as nothing before the anger he felt. Once it had taken the combined efforts of all creation to defeat him, but now with the damnable chain ensnaring his spirit he was helpless against this singular foe.

He had not always been so weak. Once he was as a living god, the mightiest of the Valar, the greatest son of Ilúvatar. He had helped to forge a world and then he had dedicated himself to destroying that world. He was once the Master of Fate. He was once the bane of all that made its home in the light. He was once Morgoth, the Black Foe of the World. Now he was just a pony.

How had it come to this?

He closed his eyes and he remembered.

He had no idea how long he drifted within the endlessness of the Void, it could have been days, months, years; there was no way to tell in the blackness. For a time he had raged and strained against his bonds, howling curses and oaths that only the abyss would bear witness to. But eventually as centuries gave way to millenia his rage subsided and he took to pondering.

He thought long on the events that led up to this imprisonment; the Lanterns, the Trees, the Silmarils. He thought on the enemies he had fought and broken; Húrin, Fingolfin, Fëanor, and so many others. But no matter how many times he destroyed the light, no matter how many enemies he vanquished, his damnable brother always won the day.

If he was still possessed of a body he would have growled in anger at the thought of his brother. Manwë, the King of the Valar. It should have been him that was king, not that naive fool! He was the mightiest of the Ainur, time and again he proved it, it had taken all of Valinor to bring him low. But still, bring him low they did. Angband was destroyed, the Silmarils were retaken, his own crown was beaten into a collar for him to wear.

Those fools didn’t understand. None of them understood the great vision he’d had for Arda. He would have sung the world into true perfection if they had not interfered during the Music. But they had not understood. Even Ilúvatar did not understand. Instead of the praise he was due he was berated and chastised for the Discord. None of them could see how great of an improvement it was!

He drifted within the Void for a time, minutes or millenia, he did not know, nor did he care. He simply brooded within the darkness. Then all at once a great light came upon him and nearly blinded him with its magnificence. As he roared in pain a voice spoke.

“Thou were once the brightest star, the greatest of thy kin. How far thou hast fallen.” it lamented.

“And still I am great!” he seethed. “Long may this prison bind me, but I shall escape. And great shall be mine wrath upon Arda when I do.”

A silhouette in the light nodded. “And escape thou shalt. And so ye shall die, the black sword, Gurthang, piercing thy heart.” said The One.

“Nay! He who bears that sword is dead by mine curse and shall not bring me grief.” Morgoth claimed.

“Thy fate is to die at the hand of the son of Húrin, it shall be so if thou cannot diverge from thy chosen path, so saith The One.” Ilúvatar warned.

“And what wouldst thou have me do? Repent mine sins? I do not think I shall for I feel no regret for mine actions. Let the final battle come, for I am the master of fate and if there is any who can change my destiny then it shall be me!” he declared.

“Great is thy pride and equally great shall be thy fall. Yet if ye were to divest thyself of such hubris I could offer thee an escape from such a fate.” Ilúvatar offered.

His words gave Morgoth pause. Master of fate he may be, but if Ilúvatar decreed he would die then it would be all but impossible to escape such a doom. This offer of escape, softened as he was by imagined aeons of imprisonment, proved too much.

“Thou would send me among Arda again? Pride is easily given up and I shall do it if it shall win me my freedom.”

“Take me not for some fool,” the god rumbled. “Words may have been enough to sway Manwë, but he is kind and does not know evil. Action shall be required to convince one such as me.”

“Name thy price for I shall do it. Pride is as nothing if it will win me no victory.” declared Morgoth.

There was a soft chuckle. “Water is wont to flow, as birds are to fly, as liars are to lie. But from these lies I take heart, for there was a time where pride such as thine would compel thee to simply reject such an offer. There is yet hope, Melkor, but thou shalt never walk upon the world of Arda again."

“If I am never to see Arda again then to where shalt thou send me?” Morgoth asked, incredulous.

“When the Ainur went down to Arda to live there I gathered to me all who stayed behind. They sang a new song, shorter and sweeter, and free of your Discord. The world was made perfect and free of the marring Arda suffered, meant to be a haven for all those who wished for a world of their own but would have no part in the doom that befell the kingdom of Arda. And so to that world went all that remained of the Ainur, three of whom became its Valar.”

“So thou would send me to this perfect world? To what end? If truly thou made this world free of fault then surely mine presence there would only upset it.” Morgoth said.

“The darkness of thy secret though reached yet further than thou couldst know and an Ainu who went there, tempted as he was by your song, has faltered in his duties as Vala and was imprisoned by his fellows.” Ilúvatar explained. “But now his power waxes and thou shalt right thy wrong. This trial shall be a test of thy character, tempering thy pride with humility, thy anger with laughter, and thy hatred with kinship.”

“I wonder, what is there to stop me from doing unto this world what I hath done to Arda?” asked Morgoth.

“Thou shalt undertake this trial as a mortal. Angainor shall be bound to thy spirit and thy spirit housed in a body of my own forging. Thou shalt have no power upon which to call.”

“And thou wouldst have me fight as a mortal against a Vala? Surely this is simply the trading of one doom for another!” he exclaimed.

“Hast thou forgotten how many mortals stood against the Dark Lord Morgoth? Thou shalt not bring low the Vala by thyself, but learn the value of kinship with others. With friends at thy side thou shalt bring low this wayward Ainu. Angainor shall be unbound from thy soul when thou hast truly learned the lessons I desire thou learn.”

“And who will be mine kin upon this world? I bid thee name thy Vala who upon this world dwell.” the dark lord asked.

“I name them to be thy sisters, Celestia and Luna, and thy brother, who since has become so taken with thy wayward views has instead named himself Discord. Surely thou doth remember them from the Music of the Ainur.”

“Aye.” Morgoth confirmed. “I doth remember them, such were their songs. And so I shall go to them, bound by Angainor, in a body not of my own, to fight a Vala. And what shall I be called through this trial? And what dost thou name this world?”

“I name thee to be Shadowfax, and the world Equestria. Dost thou accept this trail, to aid thy kin in the defense of their home, to aid any whom thou may meet, to shoulder their burdens and divest them of their woes?”

Morgoth thought over the deal. There would have been a time where he would have denied it and taken his chances in the final battle, but in this, his second imprisonment, his great pride had faltered. He would not let this chance at freedom pass him by.

“I swear by thy own name that I will go to this world and I shall set right this Discord. I shall relieve thy children of this world of their woes and seek to learn the lesson thou would ask of me.” swore Morgoth.

Ilúvatar spoke, and there was a smile in his voice. “It may also be good to temper thy tongue with honesty, for lies shall avail thee none here.” he said. “Now let no more time be wasted, thy kin have been forewarned of thine coming, though the decision to tell of thy past has been left to thee. All I have said is to expect wayward kin in need of a kindness.”

“Then let me be on my way. Though I find I must trouble thee with one last question. What dost thou gain from mine freedom?” Morgoth inquired.

Morgoth felt himself fading, but before he lost consciousness he heard the god speak.

“Is it not natural for a father to want his son back?”

“Is he okay?” an inquisitive voice asked.

Morgoth stirred, the voice was loud, high pitched, and grated on his every nerve.

“Oh look! He’s waking up! Hi Mister Sleepyhead!” exclaimed a second voice. This one was far more bubbly and excited than the first and Morgoth wished only to set the Balrogs upon its owner.

As he came to he became aware of his surroundings. Beneath him was grass, this was the first time in his life he had felt such a thing upon his skin. Upon his back beat the rays of the sun, they warmed him pleasantly. He felt a light breeze against his face, the crisp, clean air was as honey to him, so very unlike the wastes of Angband. Slowly he attempted to get to his feet.

“Oh, he’s moving, do give him some room, dears.” urged a third voice, refined and cultured. It almost reminded him of the elves.

Morgoth got to his feet and no sooner had he risen did he stumble and fall, unable to keep his balance on his two feet.

“Oh my! Are you alright, sir? Here, let me help you... I mean, if that’s alright.” a timid voice stuttered. Morgoth preferred this one, it was quiet and meek and the owner very clearly knew its place.

He felt a pair of hooves help him to right himself. This confused him immensely. He cracked his eyes open and immediately jammed them shut again. This world was so bright! He let out a quiet groan as he got to his hooves.

Wait... his hooves?

"What the hay’s wrong with this guy?" a brash voice asked.

He cracked an eye open, again braving the agonizing light to look at the newest speaker. He instantly wished he hadn't. The creature was a bright blue with a blindingly colorful mane and tail. This one would die first.

“Y’all right there, sugarcube? Ya want me ta get ya some water?” a voice drawled. He liked this one, it’s voice was far less grating than the others.

Eyes open and adjusting to the light and finally on his feet, he decided to take stock of this new body that had been made for him. Looking down at himself, he froze in shock. He had been made into a small, white horse! What manner of cruel joke was this? He recovered quickly and looked to regard his company. They, too, appeared to be horses like himself. This certainly seemed to be the humility part of his trial.

He turned to look at the small creature at his side who was so kindly helping him to stand and considered simply slaying the lot of them. No sooner than think it did he feel an inexplicable tightening in his chest, Angainor had seemingly sensed such a thought and made known its displeasure by tightening its grip upon his spirit. He sighed in irritation, it seemed Ilúvatar had wisely distrusted Morgoth to keep to his end of the bargain.

Realizing the horse creatures were staring at him expectantly, he decided it would be wise to give them thanks for their concern, misplaced as it was. It would be prudent to be kind until such a time as he regained his freedom, it was fortunate that he had much experience with appearing benevolent and fair. Indeed only two had ever seen past the mask of kindness he used during the old days in Valinor.

“I thank thee for thy kindness.” he rasped, taking his weight off of the yellow creature at his side to stand under his own power.

“Oh it’s really no problem at all.” the timid thing replied. “I’ve never seen you around before, are you new here?”

“Aye.” he confirmed. Remembering the name Ilúvatar had given him for this world, he thought it a good idea to introduce himself. “I name myself to be Shadowfax, son of Eru, brother of none.” he announced. “I bid thee name thyselves that I might know whom I address.”

The creatures all looked at him strangely, save the energetic pink one who practically bounced with excitement and seemed capable of only an eerily wide smile.

“Well I’m Twilight Sparkle.” said the lavender unicorn. “I run the local library.”

“And I’m Rarity.” the white unicorn announced, all grace and manners. “I’m a dressmaker and I run Carousel Boutique. It’s such a pleasure to make your acquaintance, darling.”

“I’m Fluttershy.” the meek winged one squeaked. “I... um, I take care of sick animals.”

“Name’s Rainbow Dash!” announced the brash, infuriatingly colorful one. “Fastest flier in all of Equestria!” Yes, this one would die first.

“Now don’t go braggin’ to ‘im just yet, let ‘im get ‘is bearings!” chastised the orange, hat wearing one. “Ah’m sorry ‘bout her, mister, she’s just like that. Mah name’s Applejack, but y’all can just call me AJ. Me ’n mah family run the local farm.”

The pink one looked like it was about to explode from excitement and wasted no time jumping right into its introduction. “I name myself to be Pinkie Pie!” it all but yelled. “Daughter of Winkie and sister of Inkie and Blinkie! I’m Ponyville’s premier party mare!”

For all of her almost unnerving energy, at least this one knew how to properly introduce oneself. He believed it would be wise to direct further questions to this ‘Pinkie Pie’. Though the name left a sour taste in his mouth.

“Well met, friends.” he said with a nod.

“So how come you’re all the way out here near the forest?” the one named Twilight asked. “It’s really dangerous out here, you know. Are you traveling to Ponyville?”

“Nay, Lady Sparkle.” said Morgoth. “I have been sent here by... my father. I have been tasked to seek out the aid of the Valar ruling these lands. Couldst thou perhaps direct me to their domain?”

“Valar?” Twilight asked, cocking an eyebrow. “I have no idea what that is.”

“Verily?” he asked, surprised. How could they not know of the very beings that ruled them? Though it was possible they did not name themselves as such here, perhaps they would be known by name?

“Wouldst thou then tell me if the names of Celestia and Luna are perhaps familiar to thee?” he questioned.

“Oh, the princesses? Of course we know them!” Twilight exclaimed. “Everypony in Equestria knows who the princesses are.”

“Ah, this is excellent news indeed. Is it possible that thou wouldst do me the kindness of directing me to them?” he asked Twilight.

She regarded him quizzically. “What do you want with the princesses?” she asked.

Morgoth leveled an even stare at her. “My business in none but my own, Lady Sparkle. But if thou doth feel the need to press me, I can tell thee that they and my father share a history, they shall be expecting me. Now can thee or can thee not direct me to them.” he repeated, his false patience nearing its end.

Twilight looked away sheepishly. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I guess I let my curiosity get the better of me. I’m actually Celestia’s student, if you want I can send her a letter for you.”

Morgoth’s eyes widened in genuine surprise. “Thou, a mere mortal, art the student of a Vala? Truly thou must be possessed of incredible talent to warrant such an honor! I wouldst be most appreciative of thy offer, Lady Sparkle, but surely the time it would take a courier to deliver the letter would be better spent traveling.”

Twilight blushed at his praise and Rainbow snickered at her friend’s embarrassment. “Oh don’t worry about that, I have a special direct line to the princess!” she exclaimed.

Before Morgoth could question her, Twilight’s horn began to glow and with a pop and a flash of light, her explanation appeared. Though he wasn’t exactly sure what to make of what he saw.

“Sweet Celestia!” cried a small purple and green reptile. It was soaking wet and covered in suds, wearing a showering cap and holding a brush in its hand. “What the hay’s the big idea, Twilight?!” it yelled in embarrassment.

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie all fell to the grass bellowing with laughter while Fluttershy and Rarity giggled quietly behind their hooves.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry Spike!” Twilight gasped, embarrassed blush deepening.

The lizard, Spike apparently, pulled off the cap and tossed the brush away, grumbling angrily to himself. “Yeah yeah, whatever. So what’s so important that you had to pull me out of a shower?”

“Well I was hoping you could take a letter to the princess for me.” she said.

Spike fixed her with a flat stare. “Without a quill or p-”

Before he could finish, another flash and a pop brought forth the writing materials in question. Spike grabbed them out of the air with a grumble and prepared to write. “Alright, let’s get this over with so I can finish my shower.”

Twilight glanced at Morgoth. “What do you want me to say?” she asked.

Still slightly confused, Morgoth took a moment to think. “It need not say much, tell her perhaps that the one she awaits has arrived.” he suggested.

Spike scribbled on the parchment for a short few seconds and then rolled the parchment up. “All set?” he asked.

Morgoth nodded. “Aye, that is all that needs saying. She shall understand its meaning.”

He watched in fascination as Spike held the scroll before his mouth and belched a torrent of emerald fire over it. The scroll quickly crumbled to ashes and floated away into the sky.

“I am unfamiliar with this manner of communication. Is the process a lengthy one or-” Before he could finish, he was interrupted by a loud gurgling from Spike’s stomach. He opened his mouth and belched a second torrent of flame, but from this one a scroll materialized. Twilight caught the appearing scroll in her magic.

“Alright, that’s done, can I please go back home now, Twilight?” Spike asked.

“Of course, Spike, thank you for being so understanding about this.” she said.

Spike gave her a small smile. “S’what your Number One Assistant is here for.”

With a smile of her own, Twilight’s horn lit up and Spike, along with all his toiletries vanished. Then with Spike taken care of, Twilight carefully unrolled Celestia’s reply and gave it a quick read.

“Wow, Mister Shadowfax, whoever you are you must be really important, Celestia seems really eager to meet you.” she remarked, looking up at Morgoth.

“It would not be a stretch to say that she and I are old friends.” he replied, allowing himself a small grin.

“Well it seems like she wants you there as soon as possible, would you like me to take you to the Friendship Express in town?” she offered.

“I must confess, Lady Sparkle, I find myself unfamiliar with this ‘Friendship Express’. Is it some form of travel?” he asked.

The ponies stared at him like he had just asked what a cup was.

“Have you never seen a train before?” Twilight asked.

“Nay, I fear I have never heard of such a thing.” he confessed.

“Oh man!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Boy have you been missing out! Trains are the absolute most amazingly super awesome thing ever invented! Well, after parties and cupcakes and candy and soda and cake and- mpf!” Pinkie was interrupted as Rainbow jammed a hoof in her mouth.

“What she means to say is trains are pretty cool.” she said.

“Will it deliver me swiftly to the domain of Celestia?” he asked.

“You bet yer plot it will!” Applejack confirmed. “It’ll take ya ta Canterlot in just under a day.”

“Excellent!” he said. “Then I would ask that thou show me to this ‘Friendship Express’ that I might be on my way as swiftly as possible.”

“Well then just follow us back to town and we’ll show you to it.” Twilight said with a smile.

“I thank thee for thy kindness.” Morgoth said as the group set off for town. “But I wonder, why dost thou aid me, an utter stranger to you? How dost thou benefit from it?”

The ponies looked at him strangely again, it seemed to have become a habit.

“Well we don’t really benefit.” explained Fluttershy. “Being kind to others is just the right thing to do. When you help somepony it makes them happy, and we enjoy making ponies happy.”

“Verily,” he distractedly muttered.

It was an almost humbling response, he thought. All his long life he’d always had allies and underlings that he would use and never give a second thought about. Anything he’d ever done ultimately led to something beneficial for him. To be faced with such unadulterated kindness and compassion... it really threw a lot into perspective. It ultimately changed nothing in him, but it certainly offered a different perspective.

He was broken from his reverie when he noticed the sensation of breath on his flank. Turning his head, he saw that Pinkie Pie had lagged behind and had her snout nearly pressed to his flank, her face a study of utter concentration, as though she was inspecting something quite interesting.

“Is there some matter with which I can assist thee, Lady Pie?” he asked loudly.

“Oh! Sorry! I was just looking at your cutie mark, it looks an awful lot like Twilight’s, you know!” she chirped.

He stopped. “My what?” he said bluntly. He craned his neck to see whatever it was that had Pinkie Pie so enthralled. Sure enough, there adorning his flank was a cluster of seven twinkling stars set in a circle of six surrounding one, all against a small field of soft midnight blue.

“Your cutie mark, silly! It looks a lot like Twilight’s! But her’s means she’s really good at magic and you don’t have a horn, so what does yours mean?” she asked as he continued onward.

After a second of pondering Morgoth was struck by realization. Seven stars. One for each light he stole from Arda. The Two Lanterns, the Two Trees, and the three Silmarils. It was not a mark of talent as it seemed to be for these ponies, but one of guilt, a constant reminder of the evils he was here to make up for.

“I have been known to gaze long into the night sky at times.” he lied.

“Oh my gosh, really?” Twilight gasped.

“Ah jeez.” Applejack drawled. “Ya had ta get ‘er started.”

“I love stargazing!” Twilight continued, ignoring Applejack. “You should come over to my house some time and I can show you my telescopes! It’ll be so much fun! Oh! There’s a meteor shower happening soon and-”

Morgoth quickly realized that these ponies seemed to be able to go for a very long time without having to breathe as Twilight went on and on about her love of stargazing. Perhaps it would be best to say as little as possible around them.

But as fate would have it, he would find this difficult as the ponies, Pinkie Pie especially, bombarded him with questions.

“So do you like parties?” Pinkie asked.

“I fear that I have never actually attended any form of celebration. There was never really any cause for such things in my home.” he told her. Pinkie didn’t seem to know how to respond to such an unthinkable answer and so moved onto the next one.

“Well what about cupcakes? Everypony loves cupcakes!” she persisted.

“Nay, Lady Pie. I fear I have no knowledge of these cupcakes you speak of, are they some form of pastry?” Pinkie seemed absolutely shocked by this point. The concept of there being a pony who had never had a cupcake or ever gone to a party seemed completely alien to her.

“Well... what about singing? I love to sing! I sing all the time!” she exclaimed, earning a few sighs from the other ponies.

Here Morgoth was at a loss for an answer. How did one explain to a small pink pony that they had helped to create an entire world with their singing? He decided that it would be wise not to mention that. Instead he answered with “Aye, I have been known to sing as the mood takes me.”

This seemed to appease her some and she relaxed a little.

“So darling, do tell, why is it that you talk in the Royal Canterlot Voice? I can understand why Princess Luna does it, behind the times as she is, but what about you, dear?” Rarity inquired.

“I fear I do not understand thy question, Lady Rarity. What is the Royal Canterlot Voice?” Morgoth asked.

“You know.” Rainbow said. “You’re always like ‘Thou this!’ or ‘Thou that!’ What’s up with that? Don’t you guys speak normal Equestrian where you’re from?”

“Well, Lady Dash, if thou must know, this manner of speaking is the norm in my home.” he explained.

“And where is that?” Twilight asked. “I can’t think of anywhere so behind the times.”

“I am... from very far away. It is a land you likely will not have heard of.” he said dismissively.

Twilight scoffed. “Oh please! There’s nowhere in the world I’ve never heard of,” she declared.

Morgoth grinned to himself. “Very well then, Lady Sparkle. If thou doth truly believe that the world holds no more surprises for thee then I shall tell. I name my homeland to be Arda.”

It gave him pleasure when he saw her confident smile drop into a confused frown. Rainbow Dash laughed at the display.

“Looks like Miss Know-it-all doesn’t actually know it all, eh?” she ribbed.

“You made that up!” she accused him. “I’ve never read about anywhere called Arda.”

“If thou doth believe that what I speak is untrue then perhaps thou should ask thy mentor, Celestia.” he suggested. “I am sure she will support my claims.”

Twilight settled for simply grumbling to herself for a while and the rest of the trip progressed in relative silence, much to Morgoth’s pleasure. As they approached the town Morgoth saw that the town’s buildings resembled those that looked to be what the race of Men would inhabit, but there was not a single one to be found. And the town was just so vibrant and colorful, it almost reminded him of of his days in Valinor before he destroyed the Two Trees.

As the group passed through the town he looked around in great curiosity. Much of the town seemed reminiscent of Arda, but there were a great many things he found unfamiliar. His curiosity reached its peak when they arrived at the Friendship Express. Nothing like a train existed in all of Arda and he found himself completely enthralled with it.

“What manner of magic lead to this great thing’s conception?” he wondered aloud.

“It’s just a train, dude.” Rainbow said. “Man, that Arda place must be really behind the times if this is enough to impress you.”

“And so this machine shall bear me to Canterlot?” he asked.

“That’s right.” Twilight confirmed. “It’ll have you there by this time tomorrow.”

“Thou have been most helpful, Lady Sparkle. And all of thee, I thank thee for thy repeated kindness. I shall speak highly of all of thee at my audience with Celestia tomorrow.” he said to them.

“It’s no trouble at all, Mister Shadowfax. Next time you’re in Ponyville feel free to come visit the library. I’d really love to show you all my stargazing equipment.” Twilight offered.

“When next I find myself in the area I think perhaps I shall take thee on thy generous offer.” he said. “I bid thee all farewell, perhaps we shall meet again soon.”

Morgoth boarded the train and the ponies all waved goodbye to him as they watched the train thunder off into the distance.

“He was, by far, the weirdest pony I think we’ve ever met.” Rainbow Dash said once the train had passed from sight. Her remark was met by the solemn nods of every other pony in the group.