sauron [redone]

"i'm sorry to have wasted your time, twilight." princess Celestia bowed her head in shame. "i was so sure that Discord-"

"it was not Discord. it was Sauron."

Celestia cringed. that was even worse. sauron was... different. "okay, Sauron. i thought Sauron would come to the throne room. It appears i was wrong." she was weary of luna. she was too... nonchalant about this whole thing. "obviously, some pony alerted him to us. i want you to keep on your guard, my little ponies."

"n-no need for that, princess. well, the be cautious thing, that was right. b-but you didn't waste our time." she gave a small smile. her student was always good for a small laugh.

"in any case, you must head back to ponyville immediately, and prepare for many a long, sleepless night. with Sauron loose, we have no idea what will happen. until we find and recapture him, he is your top priority, lest an age of darkness befalls Equestria, as it did Griffinstone."

rainbows dash smirked. "don't worry princess! if i see him, i'll show him what it means to mess with the elements of harmony!" her proclamation was met with nods and hoof stomps from most of the bearers.

"W-with all due respect, Princess, what was the age of darkness?" surprisingly, the question came from Fluttershy.

it was hardly noticeable, but Celestias expression hardened a bit. "the age of darkness, my little ponies, was a horrific time for the griffin people. long after discord was sealed in stone, but before we were given our crowns, my sister and I traveled around the world, taking in what was left of the world, and helping ponies from all walks of life after discord ravaged their countries. were were met with death, disease, famine, tyranny, and dark, dark magic.

"we vowed to root out what was causing all of this strife, and promote harmony throughout the world. soon, we came across the small kingdom of Griffinstone. we were shocked at their plight. a dark, malicious, being had killed the last king, and was now ruling with an iron fist. that being was Sauron. his malicious presence was corrupting the other countries of the the world, and undermining the things we tried to do. but looking deeper, it was far worse than that. he was transforming the people of Griffinstone into monstrous undead creatures, forced to do his bidding. a third of the nation attempted to depose him at one point, and put their leader, on the throne, but they were no match for his magic. he slaughtered all of them, and threw the poor nation back into the stone age.

"we attempted to destroy him on our own, but he defeated us every time. he cared not for the lives lost in the battle, and willingly used his subjects as meat shields. eventually, we retreated, and rallied our armies. after a long, 20-year battle, we managed to capture, and defeat him. we believed that the elements would keep him frozen forever, but sadly, it appears that he was powerful enough to escape his bonds, and escape canterlot entirely."

she hung her head. "this is my fault. I have a very bad habit of ignoring possible dangers and leaving them to fester for years."

"Well, at least you admit it."

"You're not helping, luna."

today was a good day. immediately after arriving in ponyville, i saw the unicorn, Lyra Heartstrings, who was using my ring, pass right by me. ah, invisibility, how do I love thee? let me count the ways.

turning a corner, i slapped an unsuspecting mare on the rump. 'there's one.'

passing a group of foals, i noticed one, a unicorn, was attempting to levitate an apple. instead of helping her with that, i picked one of her friends up and tossed her onto a roof. 'that's two.'

"sweetie belle! tha' was amazin'! now how do i get off?"

"maybe you'll get your cutie mark in doing leaps-of-faith!"

"hey yeah! that sounds great!"

kids will be kids. turning another corner, i snagged a pear, and dropped it into a griffons purse. 'thats three. framing people for robbery always was fun.'

eventually, i followed the mint green mare into an unassuming two-story cottage. it was... quaint. yes that was the word. just homey enough to live in, but too pretty to convert into a torture lab without raising a few eyebrows. shame. aside from that, i figured out what they were using the ring for. i was wrong in assuming that it was being used as a wedding ring, as it appears that they were just roommates with benefits. no, it was locked in an enchanted jewelry box, and it would take some time to finagle my way around the security enchantments.

"Hi Bon Bon! i bought you those flowers you like!" god, what a voice. it sounds childish, and mature at the same time.

"thanks Lyra!" a cream colored mare with purple an drink hair gave her a pony equivalent of a hug, and trotted off with the bag. I silently gagged. love sucked. and so did everyone else who