A horseshoe to rule them all

Chapters

Chapter 2 The Slaver
Chapter 3 An interested party
Chapter 4 Shattered Memories
Chapter 5: The one truth
Chapter 7 The Dark Monument
Chapter 8 The Messenger
Chapter 9 The power of the Wraith
Chapter 10 The cure
Chapter 11 Lord of Mordor
Chapter 12 Kingdom Of The Spiders
Chapter 13 Shadows of the past
Chapter 1 Where The Shadows Lie
Chapter 6 The Warchiefs

Chapter 2 The Slaver

Chapter 2: The Slaver

Apple Bloom woke up with a groan, rubbing her head. Ugh, that hurt. She looked around, finding herself in in a cage with Sweetie Belle, which was still passed out.

“Sweetie Belle, wake up!” She shook the unicorn gently.

“Uhh…my head…Where are we?” The unicorn looked around with her friend, finding themselves in what looked like a camp of those human-like creatures. It tents and guard towers looked rather old and damaged, like they had their best time long behind them, being grey/green in color. The children knew this wasn’t good.

"Boss!" One of the creatures called out "Caught something. You'll want to have a look at this."

The sound of heavy boots came from a tent, closer and closer.

Apple bloom gave a gulp and Sweetie Belle quaked in her hooves as the 'boss' emerged.

A broader, stockier example of their kind, his rough skin a sickly green. At first, his face appeared hidden under a strange helmet. It was a skull-cap of spiked metal straps around and over his scalp, down his nose and beside his cheeks, like some form of cage for his head, showing only his large, bat-like ears and the various rings he wore on them. As he approached and looked upon his new quarry, his features were better seen, much to Bloom and Sweetie's aversion.

He was quite simply the ugliest creature they'd ever seen. His eyes were deep-set and mean-looking. His nose was hooked and had been pierced by some form of bone or tooth, slotted sideways through the bridge. But his teeth were what they found the most aversive, a large mouth of swollen gums packed with pointed fangs one would be likelier to find in a shark or an alligator.

The fillies winced at the thought of what his bite could feel like. Somehow they knew at once this monster was not a friendly one.

He tilted his head in bafflement. “What the bleedin' hell is this meant to be?! I send you shrakhs-for-brains out to find fresh slaves and this is what you bring me?”

“But look at 'em, boss. These aren't normal horses! Look at their coats. And the mane. And they talk, boss, see!” One of his guards replied.

“I got ears, you bloody fool. I know they talk. That doesn't mean they're any use! You can talk and you're not much use!” The boss countered.

“Oh yeah...wait, what?”

“So...what do I do with you, eh?” The boss looked at the foals in confusion.

The unicorn whimpered and her friend stood protective in front of her. “Leave us alone...Just let us go. We mean you no harm.”

He eyed her for a moment, then laughed. “Look at this brave lass, boys. She thinks she's scary.” The others laughed too.

“I reckon the elves have something to do with this!” One of the guards exclaimed, causing another to groan.

“There you go again. Always jumping at elves! Lightning strikes, its elves. Your sword rusts, it's elves. You get the shrakhs, its elves.”

“That's what happens when you eat raw ghul brains, ya glob!” A third one added.

“Look, I'm just saying!” The first one tried to explain.

“Shut up, the lot of ya!” The boss yelled before he turned to the foals. He scratched his warty chin and growled. “Right...the Black Captains'll be here in a few days. They'll know what to do with you. In the meantime, you can make yourselves useful around here. Throw them into the mines!”

Some of the guards walked up the cage, the Earth pony struggled as they tried to restrain them but was overwhelmed by the guards and dragged out, while the unicorn offered no resistance at all.

Once they reached the mines, a residual stench of oil fumes wafted through the noses of the foals.

Sweetie Belle wasn’t able to take stock of the scene as she and her friend were dragged. She hesitantly trudged close to the wall as they continued into the naturally forming interior. The walls were grimy to the touch as she ran her hoof along its rough surface.

One of the nearby slaves, all humans, caught her attention when he screamed out as he stumbled into a hole. His cries died away as the sound of a thud emanated from below.

Sweetie Belle’s ears fell back. She could already tell, even without peering over the edge, that the unfortunate human had come to an untimely demise. The disinterested looks in the other slaves suggested that they were no strangers to this type of occurrence.

She was forced away from the wall with a firm tug as she assessed the weary state of the humans around them. She was terror-stricken, and she ground her hooves into the dirt as one of the guards brought her and the other filly to a nearby rocky outcrop.

“Get down there and start digging for iron. You'll know it when you see it as long as those pretty wide eyes work well enough. And you'd best hope they do. Because we have a word for those that don't pull their weight around here...Supper! You each get a barrel and you fill it up with ore to the brim. If you don't meet your quota, you go on the roasting spit! And don't even think about running because if you do, I'll catch you and you'll still go on the spit but you'll still be alive, wriggling and choking and burning as we carve you up!.” The boss warned and the two children nodded in fear. He pointed to some rusted pickaxes which laid haphazardly on the floor around them. “Those are your tools. And count yourselves lucky. The slaves in Gorgoroth have to use their hands. It's always a good laugh when they dig right into a magma vent!” He laughed. “You don't even need to cook them after that!”

The two foals picked the pickaxe up and struggled for a moment before they managed to get to work.

They had lost count how long they had been worked, Sweetie Belle looked over to her left. Apple Bloom looked ready to keel over from exhaustion. For the better part of the last hour, she had been dealing with an oil vein she had unwittingly struck. Sweetie Belle felt sorry for Apple Bloom, who was still trying to pat the oil out of her wet mane. Their exhaustion was already borderline overwhelming.

Sweetie Belle wasn't immune to the effects exhaustion was having on her body either. Her hooves were filthy after the long hours of mining for iron. She could practically feel the grime on her poor mane and tail.

“Apple Bloom…” The unicorn tried to catch her breath. “I don’t think I will make it.”

Seeing the fear in her eyes, Apple Bloom replied, “Don’t worry, we will. Together we can make it.”

“Inspection!” A voice yelled and the slaves fell to their knees exhausted as both foals turned around to see one of the guards. He was a hunched, lanky creature with yellow-green skin pitted with welts and scars. Yet he did not have the look of one used to battle, more like one used to misfortune. His squinting eyes looked like rotten tomatoes and his long, crooked nose looked as though it had been broken more than once and not by accident. Yet among the slaves, the creature seemed to swagger about with impunity, checking each barrel. He stopped at Sweetie's barrel and gave her a look. “You...Come here.” His voice was cold.

The unicorn slowly complied, hooves shaking. “Y-y-yes?”

The guard pointed to the barrel. ”Is that it? Is that all you've mined since midday?”

The fully stuttered, “Uh...well...I-it's hard for me to-“

“Yes or no? Are you hiding it all somewhere?”

“N-no...I...That's all.”

The guard in response folded his arms and shook his head, tutting, “That's not much, is it. You'll never fill that barrel by sundown. You know what Gimub'll think of that.”

Sweetie Belle sat down and looked like she was ready to cry, shaking like a leaf.

“However...” The guard mumbled, causing the filly to look up.

“Yes?”

The inspector checked left and right before whispering, “I've a very important job minding the slaves, see. And I can't do a very good job on an empty stomach, can I. So...you sneak me some meat and grog from the feasting table, me and your friend here will take care of the barrel. They won't see you, not now that they're so drunk they can barely stand.”

The two fillies looked at each other. There was a possibility that they might not be able to beat the quota, Apple Bloom might be a farm pony, but was nowhere as energetic as Scootaloo.

“Okay, I’ll do it.” Sweetie Belle said, although she felt uncomfortable.

“I know you can do it, Sweetie Belle.” Apple Bloom gave her a reassuring smile.

“Appreciated.” The unicorn then walked out and her friend resumed to work.

She could already smell the meat, it smelled disgusting and she tried to cover her nose, to no avail.

The food called grog didn’t smell better. Peeking outside the mine, the filly saw that every guard, including their leader was sitting at the table.

“The other day, see, I found one of the slaves in the pens, the ones that can't work anymore, and asked him if he wanted some drink.” One guard told the others.

“We've barely enough for yourselves. Why'd you offer good grog to a slave?” Another asked.

“Simple, I wanted to see the glimmer of hope in his eye...Right before I took it out with a branding iron!” The first guard exclaimed.

The other started to roar with laughter. “That's a good one, that is! I'll have to try that some time.”

Sweetie Belle crouched low and winced, shutting her eyes tight in horror.

I hate this place...

The unicorn noticed despite the drunken state they were in, that they were weary at the table, she needed to distract them. Luckily, a stone was right next to her.

She picked it up and threw it at a wall.

“What was that?” The one called Gimub asked and all took a look, some stumbled due being drunk, giving the filly the opportunity she needed. Lighting up her horn, Sweetie Belle picked up some meat and grog and walked back into the mine.

The inspector seemed to smile as he saw her with the food. “'Ah. Good girl. Now, about that barrel.” The guard pointed to Apple bloom. “Er...you, other horse. Help me with this, quiet as you can.” He said and together with Apple Bloom, he tipped out the ore already in the barrel. Then he and Bloom filled it up with dirt and put the ore on top. “Old slave's trick, see...” He looked at the other slaves as they stared at him and yelled, “What are you lookin' at?! Rest's over! Get back to work, you lazy tarks!”

“Sweetie, we got to find us a way outta' here, fast.” The farm filly said to her from with worry in her voice.

“Why? We're alright now? Besides, I'm tired.” The unicorn replied shaking a bit in exhaustion, before her friend grabbed her by the cheeks, hissed exasperated.

“Sweetie! When they check the barrels come sun-up and find one that’s just half-dirt, ya think the Slaver's gonna' be happy?”

Sweetie Belle thought for a moment, her eyes widened in dread, and shook her head.

“Right.” Apple Bloom pointed to the guard. “An' ya think he's gonna' keep quiet?”

The white filly looked at him, already busy eating, barely paying attention to them and shook her head again.

“Right. We ain't safe here. We need a plan.”

“Well, I'd suggest patience, little one. Ratbag's never one to hold his grog well.”

The man who'd spoken was kneeling before them with a thoughtful expression. He looked different to other humans they'd seen in ways they couldn't quite pinpoint. He was a rangy fellow in similar rags as the slaves but coupled with a furry cowl. His face was weathered but handsome with sky-blue eyes, an aquiline nose and thick, hazel locks and beard. His voice was low but gentle and resembled a refined Trottingham accent with a hint of Shirish.

“I’m Hirgon of Tarnost. I will help you. You don’t deserve to be here.” He said with an honest expression.

The unicorn’s ear twitched as she heard the Uruk called Ratbag mumbling in his drunken state, “Ah...groggy-woggy...you're by best. He sniffed, “and only friend...”

The man listened silently, his face showing little more than puzzlement. And yet somehow it seemed like this was the only the second strangest thing that had happened to him that day.

The strange silver figure beside meanwhile had looked intently at Dinky all the while, eyes wide with fascination.

"Well...that all sounds...interesting." Talion said at last "Suffice to say, you're a long way from home.”

“We noticed that already. If you don’t mind, Mr. Talion, can you tell us more about you?

Talion gave them a look of dismal. “...I do mind. So no. At least not right now. I want to find your friends, get you all to safety and then go about my business...alone.”

“No need to be quite so fierce, Talion.” The spirit advised.

“I do not need this.”

“We never know what we may need until we are deprived of it. There is more to these newcomers than meets the eye.”

“What about you…spirit friend?” The unicorn asked the spirit.

“I sadly can’t remember anything.” He replied and disappeared again.

It worried the Pegasus if her friend was alright, but something told her that she shouldn’t think too much about it.

“There is the camp.” The man pointed to it as it was in sight. “Stay behind me.”

They took cover behind a carriage as they heard yells and as two guards came into view, chasing down a man and Apple Bloom, managing to knock them down and out, and dragging them back into the camp.

Talion turned to the spirit and said, “Well this doesn’t bode well.”

“Didn’t you see? The prisoner created a distraction.” The sprit replied then vanished again, but Dinky heard him adding, “Why use your human sight to track the Uruk? I can see more than any mortal.” After a short moment the spirit then said, “Slay the Orc captain. Cut off the head of the snake and the body will wither.”

The man then turned to the foals. “Right. I'll take care of this.” He then gave them a stern glare. “Do not move and only make a noise if there's trouble.” The nodded in agreement, even Dinky. While she wanted to help save her friend, she knew she didn’t have a chance against those creatures.

They saw how Talion climbed up a wall and stabbed an Archer from behind, before moving out of sight. No sooner had the first Uruk fallen than he heard an unpleasant voice yelling in his ear.

"Hey!"

Talion spun round as a crude, jagged Uruk blade slammed into his own. The ugly, toad-like face of Gimub the Slaver was before him, his mean, little eyes boring into his.

"A pity I have to kill you." he snarled, licking his lips "You would make a strong slave."

With a roar, he drew his sabre up and slammed it down from every angle. It was all Talion could do to keep himself balanced.

Other uruks were rushing forth, ready to aid their master.

It was high time to behead this snake.

His eyes flashed back to his last night on the black gate.

The scream.

The blood.

The teary-eyed promise...broken.

Talion's fist, blazing with an eerie silver glow, bashed into Gimub's face, nearly denting his spiked helm. Talion felt his sword light in his grasp as he landed deep strikes on his dazed foe. Step by step, he pushed the Slaver back as his sword ripped through the air. The force of it knocked Gimub's sabre out his meaty hand. As the Slaver dully stared at it fly away, Talion's blade came round one last time.

In the courtyard, trapped under the weight of one of her captor's boots, Apple bloom looked up groggily and saw a dozen uruks fleeing the hollow, tripping over each other in their haste.

"Where are you going, you globs?!" The Uruk with his boot on her back yelled "He's just one rotten tark! Where are your backbones?! Where are your...uh...ugh..."

His ugly mouth hung open as the intruder strode into view, his eyes glowing bright blue.

The little pony gasped, feeling her stomach feel tight, as the man raised his hand, the blank-eyed, slack-jawed severed head of Gimub the Slaver in its grasp.

The strange, blue-eyed man yelled in a voice that resonated eerily. Like two voices at once.

"Run you filth! And tell your masters...I am coming!"

Screams of fear echoed across the hollow from all sides.

"He killed Gimub! How could he kill Gimub?!"

"The tark cut his head off! Like it was nothing!"

"Run!" the loudest voice belted out. It was coming from the Uruk with his boot on Apple bloom’s back, who swiftly turned tail with a shriek "Run for your bleedin' lives!"

His comrades needed no persuading.

After a few seconds, Taillon came back, about to untying a Slave tied to a wooden stake before the same man that got caught with Apple Bloom, the latter ran into her friends for a hug.

“So you didn’t die 10 years ago.” The ranger said.

“I take it you didn’t come here to arrest me for treason. Captain.“

“You and I are all that remains of that Garrison, Hirgon.”

“Then why did you come here?” Hirgon asked as he untied the slaves.

“Looking for a slave that fought the Black Hand of Sauron.”

Hirgon chuckled. “More like run away from him.”

“You know this man?”

“Of course. You’re staring at him.”

“Where are the servants of the Dark Lord? Do you even know?”

“Perhaps.”

“This is no time to keep secrets.” The ranger pointed out.

“I’ve been stuck here for weeks. Steady…” He helped a slave up. “Come to the Outcast Camp, we shall ask my scouts. Our little friends will be safer there too.”

“I’ll be there.” Talion replied and the fillies followed Hirgon without a word, just wanting to be out of there.

The man then looked at Apple bloom, eying her suspiciously.

"Weren't there supposed to be two of you?"

Apple Bloom looked at her friends. “Ya mean she's not with ya?!"

Talion's eyes rolled as he sighed.

"Just perfect."

Author's Note

At least Apple Bloom's free and reunited.

Chapter 3 An interested party

Chapter 3: An interested party

Dinky and Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom with worry. “Hasn’t she escaped with you?” The unicorn asked.

“She did, but we got separated the guards noticed us.” The farmer filly replied.

“Then we must find her! There is no telling in what kind of danger she is!” The Pegasus realized.

“Yes!” Apple Bloom agreed and turned to Talion. “Thank you for the rescue, Ah owe you one.”

He waved a hand. “Your welcome.” Then he looked into the distance, Scootaloo saw something but couldn’t describe it.

“What…What is that?” The orange pony walked into its direction to get a closer look, it looked like a small human at first.

“Watch out!” Dinky’s voice ringed in her ears, followed by a cracking sound.

Before Scootaloo could react, the cliff she was standing on collapsed, sending her screaming to her death. She tried her use her wings to stop her fall, but she was still falling, her life flashing before her eyes.

“Work, work, work!” She yelled in panic, remembering what White Wolf and Rainbow had thought her, concentrating.

As the ground was coming closer, she just managed to flap them, slowing her fall down to lower her speed. But it seemed too late as she blacked out instantly as she hit the ground.

Sweetie Belle ran as fast as she could, not looking back, she knew the guards would hunt them down, hoping Apple Bloom had made it.

But eventually, she was exhausted from running, leaning against a wall of bricks to catch her breath.

The filly flinched as a loud growl entered her ears, slowly turning around.

Sweetie Belle’s eyes went small and her heart started to race.

It was an intimidating beast for certain.

Thinking back, Sweetie Belle remembered there was an animal she'd seen as a model in Vanhoover Museum on a school trip. A cave lion of the Frozen North.

But this beast was as large as a bull, it's fur tawny and bristly and its back and shoulders studded with scale-like contusions running down it's spine, like the skin of an alligator.

Though the thing Sweetie paid the most attention to was the huge mouth of sharp, snapping teeth drawing closer and closer.

The unicorn screamed and started to run, the beast growled and chased her.

The filly ran for her life, knowing if she wouldn’t, she would end up as snack for the beast.

But in her panic, she tripped, rolling server times become coming to a stop. Sweetie Belle screamed as the beast lunged at her and her life flashed before her eyes.

Quick as a flash, something landed in the head of the beast and landed on the ground with a thud before her, dead.

Breathing heavily, the unicorn saw that an arrow was in the beast’s head. “Got it! Right in the noggin!” A voice ringed in her ears and to her horror, she saw another group of those horrible creatures that had enslaved her before.

It didn't take long to know who their leader was.

He was pale-grey and stocky with a bald head and a flat, ugly face like a shaved ape. His armor was an intimidating sight. This beast certainly didn't seem to be the first his minions had killed as he was wearing the head of one as a helmet, its jawless gape skinned and tanned, fitted over a spiked cap, the spikes poking through its cranium morbidly, the fanged visor near as menacing as his own set of teeth. All across his body, hide and leather made his armor and a pair of vicious, serrated pickaxes hung at his belt, their handles decorated with sabre-teeth.

Yet as he approached the dead beast, he was slow, cautious. He tapped it with his foot then kicked it hard.

Fear.

He feared his own quarry.

“It's dead?” His voice was squeaky, causing Sweetie to be taken aback slightly. “You...you sure it's dead?”

“Yes, boss.” One of the others, armed with pears and javelins carried on the back.

“Uh...yeah...Right you are, just checking…” The leader straightened up and bellowed with laughter. “Of course it's dead! And why is it dead?”

His soldiers said in unison. “Because no beast escapes the wrath of Goroth.” It sounded like they had this rehearsed every day.

“That's right! No beast! No beast in this land or any other land! Goroth fears no beast as all beasts fear Goroth!” The boss exclaimed with pride before one soldier started to grumble quietly

“It was me that killed the bloody thing.”

“That's why its dead! Because that's what all beasts do when they find themselves facing the wrath of...” The boss stopped as she saw the frightened filly. “'Ere! Whassat?! Where'd it come from?!”

“It's one of them Elven foals, boss. The Black Hand sent a message, remember? When the Talons paid a visit?”

The leader thought for a moment. “Oh...oh yeah! Right, of course...Just checking...again.”

“Weren't wetold to keep to capture 'em alive?”

“Only one...right?” The boss asked in confusion.

“Yeah boss. The Black Hand said 'Her coat shall be the color of the last clouds of dust and her mane shall be a pale gold, like the harvest crop'...or something like that...” The soldier tipped his head to check if he got that right.

“So not this one then?”

“No.”

The unicorn couldn’t control her fear anymore. “Please...please don't make me go back to the mines!”

The leader looked at her with sympathy. “Aw, now don't you cry, me pretty. No worries now. We'll take you someplace much nicer than those sorry old mines.”

“...where?” The filly asked with hope.

“I'm glad you asked. We're taking you to a lovely little place called the Caragor Pens...Mine to be exact. And let me tell ya! If you thought Caragors were bad enough in the wild, you wait and see what they're like when you've been starving 'em!” He roared with laughter with his grunts as they threw the shrieking, kicking Sweetie Belle into a sack.

Dinky and Apple Bloom still watched in shock as their friend having fallen down the Cliffside. They feared that Scootaloo had died from that fall “Dear Celestia…Can she even survive this fall?” Dinky asked.

“Ah don’t know!” Apple Bloom looked at the men. “Please, we must look after her!”

“She has wings! Could she not use them?!” Talion asked exasperated.

She can't fly yet!” Apple Bloom replied, causing him to groan.

“A lot of good you are! A Pegasus that can't fly, a unicorn that knows no magic and...” He glanced at her, “I don't even know what you are but I can barely understand you over your accent.”

In response Applebloom mumbled begrudgingly, “Sorry.”

“Talion.” The sprit appeared and pointed the rocks in the distance.

They then moved out, Dinky heard him mumble, “What sort of rodent hides in the shadows, I wonder?”

The spirit appeared again. “Something of great power has left its mark on him. I sense it.”

“And you feel he has answers?”

“For both of us.”

“We should find him then.”

“It shouldn’t be too difficult.” The spirit pointed to the ground, Dinky could faintly see prints.

“These tracks are not quite human, not quite beast.” The human pointed out.

“Even more reason to investigate.”

He moved out, the foals close behind. “Where is he going?” The yellow filly asked her friend.

“Trust me, it will lead to Scootaloo.” Dinky couldn’t tell why, but something told her that it would lead to Scootaloo.

At a moss-covered pillar, Talion ducked down and held his hand out to halt the foals.

"Wait here." he ordered "Don't move. Don't make a sound."

Like a lynx, the Ranger snaked off round the rocks.

Applebloom peeked to where he'd delved into.

Uruks. Three of them. And that wasn't all.

Huddled on the ground, their shaking hands shielding their shaved heads from their captor's boots, were four slaves, just like those from the mines.

Talion was nowhere to be seen.

Behind a pillar opposite them, a ghostly murmur filled the air.

One of the uruks turned to the pillar, sniffing inquisitively.

Just he turned his head round the rock, a knifepoint erupted from his back. Before he could scream, he was dragged around the corner.

The other guards noticed the absence of their comrade slower than expected but they drew their sabers and scoured the view.

Applebloom crouched back behind the pillar, praying they hadn't seen her.

Dinky, meanwhile, peeked through a small hole in the half-broken wall.

One of the uruks tentatively approached the pillar his colleague had vanished into, swinging his sabre almost to remember he was holding it.

His shadow grew larger somehow.

He had just enough time to scream this time as the full figure of Talion landed, raven-like, atop the uruk, stabbing him the neck, once then twice. Standing up, the ranger sheathed his dagger and drew his sword just as the last remaining uruk surged forward.

Spinning his blade gracefully, Talion veered the orc sabre to the side and, before Dinky could even blink, had plunged it into the side of the uruk's neck.

In a heartbeat, Talion stood around three dead uruks and a quartet of slaves steadily finding their feet.

"Thank you." whispered one of them, bowing his head, before the four of them scuttled away, barefoot and hobbling.

Never had Dinky believed she'd feel safe in the company of one so clearly good at killing.

“Not even Outcasts deserve this fate.”

“The chain of Man seems to always end up in shackles.” The spirit replied as the way led to a wall.

“It would appear the creature is an apt climber…” The man commented as he climbed over it, the foals did the same, having little trouble due sports lessons in school.

“I sense it knows more of me, then I know myself.” The spirit said.

“How could a rodent possible know of a Wraith?” Talion asked in return.

“It is somehow connected to me. I feel it.”

The foals saw a group of those ugly creatures under a tower, causing the human to comment, “Your creature’s path is fraught with danger.

Dinky looked up to see what looked like a nest of bees. Talion shot it with his bow. The bees became frenzied, creating a relentless, stinging mass that attacked the enemies, causing them to flee in fear.

“Sheesh! These fellas sure don't like bees.” The farm filly commented with a hint of fear in her voice.

“These are no bees, foal. They are Morgai Carrion Flies. Far worse than any insect you've known. Like every beast in this land, they carry the Dark Lord's taint.” Talion explained.

The man walked towards a cave. “The runt’s tracks lead us right into that Caragor’s cave. “There! It’s on the run!” He yelled as they all saw what looked like some form of hairless, tailless monkey, scrambling along the ground on all fours, entering the cave.

The group followed it, but once inside, the little creature was nowhere to be seen. “Where did it go?” Apple Bloom looked around.

“Hey, look!” The unicorn pointed to something glowing on the ground.

Talion picked it up, and suddenly, a white light engulfed him and screamed in agony for a moment before falling on his knees and dropping it. “Are you alright?” Apple Bloom asked with concern.

Dinky noticed that it was an ancient necklace and the sprite appeared kneeling next to him as he asked, “What manner of spell is this?”

“A lost heirloom, Talion.” The spirit replied.

“You remember?”

“A few broken imagines, yes. Though now I wish that I didn’t.”

“Your family…was…”

“Perhaps that pain is what connects us.”

There was a hiss and they turned towards the other side, seeing the small creature again. “You wretched creature! What do you want?!” The man demanded to know as it fled before a growl got their attention.

A Creature that reminded the foals of a Timber Wolf growled at Talion, having several spears stuck in the back.

It lunged at him and the kids screamed in fear. The man reacted quickly, firing an arrow at the head, it hit into the left eye, the creature got blown back, landing lifeless on the ground. “You’re okay?” He asked the two ponies, who slowly nodded.

As they got out, they saw the small creature running away and a group of guards closed in, armed with armed with pears and javelins carried on the back.

“Uruk hunters…they must’ve tracked the Caragors here.” Talion commented as he fought them, dodging their attacks as good as good as he could.

The foals stayed in the cave, watching in awe as he brave stood his ground, despite being out numbered and even another of those wild creatures attacking him and the hunters.

They slowly backed up as one of them looked at them and threw a spear, missing them by inches but made them trip over. The two barely just recovered, as the hunter stood before them, pinning Dinky down by pressing a boot on her, she struggled in vain.

Her eyes went small as he held one spear close to her right eye. “Squeal…Nobody’s gonna save you now.”

In a flash, the Uruk screamed in pain, letting go and fell to the ground, an arrow in his back.

Dinky breathed heavily, looking around with Apple Bloom.

Talion was still fighting, he couldn’t have fired the arrow, yet they could not spot any archer anywhere.

But the unicorn had a suspicion who had fired the arrow that had saved her life.

“Ugh…” Scootaloo awoke with an aching head, looking around, finding herself in a small cave. I’m…alive? She wondered, looking at herself.

Apart from a few bruises and scrapes, she was fine. As she tried to flap her wings, she hissed in pain. “I must have landed on them or something.” The filly said before a voice echoed through the cave.

“It came to us. It’s ours. It loves us the most. And hates us the most, yes, yes...But this precious...Lying, tricksy, false...Like tricksy, wicked ponieses, precious, yes...He told us. He warned us. A little birdsy pony...that never learned to fly.” The filly looked around but could not see anyone, and that scared her. The voice continued in a Scuttling manner,” Is it soft? Is it fat, precious? Is it...juicy? We keeps it, precious. All for us. And when they come...its bones will tell their pretty songs. 'Gol-lum!' 'Gol-lum!'”

“H-hello? Is...Is anyone there?” The filly asked scared and looked into the shadows then screamed, scrambling backward as two great yellow eyes appeared in front of her.

“Did we scare it, precious?” A high pieced voice asked and she saw what looked like a hairless, tailless monkey crawling out and grinned. “Hah...Scrambles and scuttles, precious, what is it?”

Scootaloo trembled. “D-d-don't hurt me. I'm...I'm not here to cause any trouble, I'm...I'm just lost.”

“Lost.” The creature’s face suddenly fell as its eyes glazed over madly. “Lost, precious. Always lost after so long. We cries out for it always, we weeps for it.” The eyes twitched as it gave a vicious snarl. “Did the nasty hobbitses steal it too, precious? Was it thievy, tricksy Bagginses that did it?!”

“I...I don't understand. M-m-my name's Scootaloo.” The filly whimpered

“Scootle. What does it Scootle, precious?” The creature replied.

“No, no, Scootaloo. I'm a Pegasus.” The foal corrected and the creature started to laugh.

“We eatses ratses, batses and fishes and we never eats pegasuses before.”

“No!” Scootaloo exclaimed, “You don't need to eat me!”

“Hee! Not yet, precious, but maybe later, after dark or light passes. All same down here, precious. Maybe when we're hungry later, we eats it, yes? When you sleep, and don't kick and scream so much,” The creature picked up a rock with both hands and mimicked throttling something with it. “One quick squeeeeeeze, precious! Always works, yes.”

“Uh...” Scoots now looked around in confusion.

“No, no, precious, not squeeze this one, no. ”The human-like creature turned away and spoke in a higher-pitched, meeker voice, “No, the Bright One wants this one, yes. Bright Master, so pretty in the dark. He came to us, yes. The ponieses, precious, they belong to him soon. Then he takes us, precious. He takes us to it at last! Can't use it if we squeeze it, precious!” It exclaimed then switched to his previous growly tone, “No! Useless! No bright about it, no power. Just a prissy pony flying like a fat hen! We should pluck it and pull it and...” It suddenly became calm again. “No! No, precious! Not nice to say! Not its fault!” Then growled. “Shut up!”

“Um, sorry, are you okay?”

“Shut up! We's talking! Very rude, precious.” The creature yelled, confusing the child even more.

“Sorry...Look, I can help. If you get me out of here, I know someone who can help you.” The filly said and the creature looked rather curious at her.

“Pretty fat hen Scootles helps us, precious? Yes? It helps us find the brightness? Does it?”

“Uh...yeah, sure. But you need to get me out of here, first.” She suggested with a shaken voice.

“Oh yes, precious. We knows the way. We gets you to help...Then we eats it.”

Scootaloo shook her head as the creature got back into the shadow. “...sure.”

Then there was suddenly a loud growl echoing through the cave, causing Scootaloo to jump into the air.

I need to get out of here! The filly thought in panic and ran towards the exit, it into the open, only to stop with a stretch as she spotted a large four legged beast in the distance, looking similar to a Timber Wolf.

It stared at her, she was frozen in fear. Then in roared and she screamed, running back into the small cave as it chased her.

The beast wiped his spikes at her, it missed her face by inches as it couldn’t reach her.

Scootaloo cowered as the beast sieged her with no way of getting out, wishing someone would save her.

A groan echoed in her eyes and she saw the best falling to the side, a puddle of blood formed on the ground, a deep cut on it’s neck.

The Pegasus breathed heavily as a voice asked, “Are you alright?”

A blue Pegasus mare with matching eyes and sliver mane looked down at her, appearing to be relieved.

“Auntie Wolf!” Scoots exclaimed and ran into her for a hug,

“Yes, it’s me, Scoots and I can’t say how happy I am to see you’re okay. Don’t worry, I have you fixed up in no time.”

But before the mare could do so, her keen sense warned her that a new danger was near. “Quick, we must hide.”

Scootaloo nodded and went back into the cave, while Wolf herself used her Elken Cloak, which was fastened with tabards of the same material that covered her armor. It would slowly match the texture of the ground, effectively allowing her to hide anywhere when she had to.

She watched in confused as what appeared to a human walked into her sight, looking around, and to her surprise, Dinky and Apple Bloom close behind.

Suddenly he turned towards the cave Scootaloo was hiding in and dragged what looked like a hairless, tailless monkey, pinning him by the wall as he held him by the throat. “You think you can sneak up on me so easily, eh?!” He asked as Scootaloo came out of the cave, running into Apple Bloom and Dinky for a hug.

“No! No, don’t hurt us!” The creature cried in a slightly high-pitched voice.

The man looked over his shoulder for a moment and the creature stretched it’s hand out. “Bright Master! Yes, we knows. Bright Master came to us. In our dreams. “It spoke to apparently thin air, looking behind the man. And to the mare’s confusion, Dinky liked at the same spot in awe.

Then it bite the human’s hand to get free. “Argh! Filthy creature!” The man cursed in pain and the creature retreated back into the cave.

“The Precious, it showed us! It showed us treasures of the Bright Master.” It paused for a moment. “Yes. We swears! We swears to the Bright Master! We takes him to his treasures. Gollum! Gollum!” And it went back into the cave.

The man then pointed to thin air. “I do not trust him.”

After a moment, Dinky saw him faceplaming with a sigh. “I look away for a matter of moments and two of you are missing from sight?! I just risked my neck to save one! Do I need a whistle for the four of you?!” He yelled in frustration with an exhausted expression before the spirit appeared again next to him.

“Calm yourself, Talion. They'll learn...and so in turn, may we.” His voice was calm.

“Well, a merry chase you've led us on.” The human said with an annoyed voice, his expression stern.

“Oh...well, as long as you were happy.” The Pegasus replied with a weak smile, as she walked over to Apple Bloom.

“That was sarcasm. Don't run off again.” Talion warned with a stern voice and expression.

Scootaloo lowered her head and said in a quiet voice, “Okay...sorry...”

“But there's still Sweetie missing.” The Earth pony pointed out, slightly worried.

Talion stayed quiet for a moment for taking a deep inhale. “There's another one?”

“Yep.”

“Right.” He turned around and said frustrated, “Well, I wish her the best of luck.”

“Wait, are you leaving?!” The filly asked in disbelief,.

With sarcastic he replied, “No, I'm dancing the Ringlo Jig...Yes I'm leaving!”

“But what about Sweetie?” Dinky asked him in disbelief too,

“You three have wasted quite enough of my time already. I am at the end of my patience and I need to be elsewhere, in fact I have needed to be elsewhere for quite some time now, not that that's your business. I agreed to help you once. But you clearly can't be trusted to keep yourselves out of trouble so I see no reason why I should have to do your job for you.” Talion explained with an annoyed expression.

Dinky started to shake nervously. “Wh...what do you mean?”

Talion: It means I have just about had my fill of you ignorant, whining, danger-mongering pests consistently testing my will, mettle, strength, intelligence, and most of all, patience! So consider our 'fellowship' at an end! I hope you find your way out of here soon, goodness knows Mordor is bad enough as it is without you idiots!” He yelled angry and started to leave.

“But...but...we'll die here!” The orange filly said with fear.

“Yes...welcome to Mordor.” The human said cold.

“You...” The farmer got angry, “you big heartless meany!” She threw stones at him but he didn’t responded.

Dinky started to sniff as she realized she would probably die here, not seeing her family had, her eyes started to water before the spirit appeared in front of her with a look of sympathy.

“You must forgive him. His fate is far worse than any you could suffer here. I will...try to reason with him.” He explained and kneeled down to her. “Do not weep, child. I must know...if we find this 'Sweetie Belle', how would we know her? How does she appear?”

Dinky slowly smiled. “You mean what does she look like? Uh...she's light-coated, a bit more than mine, big green eyes and with a sort of curly, pink and purple mane, it doesn't quite cover her horn.”

The spirit gave her a look of intrigue. “She's...a unicorn?”

“Yeah, like me.”

“Wait here.” He disappeared and reappeared next to Talion. She saw them arguing a moment before Talion paused, sighed and turned to walk back to them.

“I am very sorry for my outburst. I'm not myself. Let's find your friend then we can get you to a hideout. But you must do exactly what I say to stay out of trouble. Is that understood?” He asked tiredly.

“Yes, sir.”

“Right...” The man turned to the spirit. “You'd better be right, ghost.”

“I am, as you will see.”

“Wise choice sir, wise choice.” A new voice said and Talion drew his word into the direction it came from, seeing what appeared to be two ponies in dark blue armor, one a green unicorn, the other a grey Pegasus, with fangs. Out of the corner of his eyes, she saw another Pegasus, this one had a blue coat. The grey one had a blade on his back, the unicorn a bow.

“Uncle Fletcher!” Dinky exclaimed and hugged the green unicorn.

“I can’t say how glad I am to see you’re alright, Dinky.” He replied relieved as Apple Bloom and Scoots hugged the grey and blue Pegasus respectively.

The young unicorn turned to the human. “This is the man who kept us safe. Talion, my uncle Fletcher Fray and his friends Midnight Blade and White Wolf.”

“Hello.” Talion gave a quick wave, slightly unnerved by their appearance.

“We are grateful for keeping them safe, Mr. Talion.” The gray stallion said with a neutral expression as the earth pony let go.

“It was nothing. Now, I’ll be on my way, since you don’t need me anymore.” He replied before Dinky saw the spirit again.

“Wait, Talion. They still need a safe place. We should go with them to show them said location. And we need to locate this Sweetie Belle somehow.”

The man nodded with a neutral expression. “Right. I suppose you have a way to find the last remaining foal?” He asked, Dinky took notice that the Knights had neutral expressions, not surprised about him talking to himself or thin air, making her wonder if they could see the spirit too.

“Yes, in fact, we already located her, she’s not far.” Fray explained.

“Guys,” Wolf interrupted, I don’t want to bother, but we got company!” She pointed to a group of Uruks in the distance, closing in fast.

“Just what we needed.” Fletcher deadpanned and turned to Dinky. “We hold them off, lead Talion to Sweetie Belle.” He touched her horn with his, lighting up his horn to give her the coordinates of the tracking spell.

“Will do!” She exclaimed and moved out with the others, the Knights readied their weapons.

As the group arrived, one of them yelled, “My boy!”

Said Uruk stepped forward, he was wearing light armor around the chest, his hair tied into a topknot. His skin was green, the chin wide. He looked interested at Fletcher, who was slightly surprised about this.

While Midnight was their leader, he nodded as Fray made a sign for him and Wolf to deal with the lower ranked soldiers as the leader charged forward.

Fletcher managed to switch to his spear and clashed with his blade as the leader said, “Well, hello. You look like a fine gentleman.”

The stallion then shoved him back, dealing a few strikes on him, knocking him back.

The other enemies were about to attack, before some of them flinched, blood flowing down and they fell lifeless to the ground.

Those that remained focused on the bat pony, who disappeared and reappeared in a flash of rippling crimson mist between the Uruks, dealing mortal strikes.

Fletcher and the leader clashed their weapons again. ”You need not fight me! Turn away, leave now! I wouldn’t dream of stabbing you in the back!”

Fray smirked. “You should leave, your friends are all dead.” He then head-butted his opponent, kicking him back.

The Uruk looked around, seeing that the unicorn was right but showed no sign of fear. “I'm just popping off a moment, my dears. Don't you go anywhere!” With that he retreated.

“Let him go, it’s not our mission.” Fray said to his friends and they nodded.

Crying.

There was nothing Sweetie Belle could do but to cry, as she found herself tied up on a pole, outside a camp. She was going to die, she knew it. She would never see her family again.

“Ugh...Its the goblins that go swimmin' with little green women...” A familiar voice echoed in her ears and she turned to the left, seeing the same guard that she helped in the mines, tied up on another pole, starting to shake his head. “Wait...Argh damn it! It wasn't a dream!

“You! What are you doing here?!” The filly yelled in fear.

Ratbag looked at her with an awkward expression. “Well...” He laughed nervously, “When the Captains paid a visit to a headless Gimub's mines and find the only living uruk in the place is old Ratbag sleeping off too much grog...It was a bit difficult to explain. How about you? I thought you made a run for it.”

“I did. But one of them got me. I think they called him Goroth.”

Ratbag’s expression became one of disgust and he growled. “Ah, that smug piece of dung. Ratbag's had more run-ins with him than Ratbag can remember.”

The filly stuttered, “Wh-what's he gonna' do to me?”

“Uh...Probably best not to think too hard about it.”

“Oi Ratty!” Another Orc with a cup in his hand approached him. “You coming to the feast or are you still a bit tied up.”

“You shut yer face, Krugbit!” Ratbag yelled in anger.

“Aw, whassa' matter? Need a drink?” Krugbit held out his cup. The tied up Uruk glanced at it for a moment before drinking it. Krugbit snorted with amusement. “Can't say I've ever seen an uruk drink caragor piss that fast.”

Ratbag’s expression became disgusted and he spat out, retching wildly before snarling at Krugbit, wresting at his bonds. “You bastard! I'll kill you for that!”

Krugbit chuckled. “Sure you will, sniveler! Wait 'til I tell the lads about this.” He then glanced at Sweetie and tilted his head. ”Mind you...Most of the higher ups are dining fine. Found some stragglers on the road. Had an ox with 'em. Roastin' up nicely. Shame the rest of us have to make do without, eh?” The Orc crouched down and drew a serrated dagger. “But I reckon this one's fresh enough.”

Sweetie’s eyes went wide, staring at the dagger. “No, p-p-please! Don't!”

Krugbit tried to grab her without success. “Stop strugglin', you're making the meat tough!”

“Wait!” Ratbag yelled, causing both to look at him. Ratbag had a look as if he couldn't quite believe what he just said but continued, “Wait, Krugbit, er...the Black Captains want her alive.”

“Not this one.” The other uruk pointed out with an unimpressed voice.

Ratbag thought for a moment. “Well...Goroth wants her alive.”

“I won't kill her. I'll just trim the fat a bit. Not much left of Goroth's bait once his pets are done with 'em.”

“You...” The former inspector paused as Krugbit prepared to draw the knife across Sweetie's left hindleg leg, the foal tried hard to kick and wrestle free. “You...Why don't you go chase some rats instead?! They're more your size, you glob!” Ratbag yelled with a harsh and loud voice.

Krugbit stopped, turning slowly to Ratbag, his look was one of shock, but steadily turned into a furious scowl. He got up and stood in front of Ratbag, his dagger in his hand.

“What did you call me?” He asked in a threating voice.

Ratbag stared at Krugbit's dagger, then Sweetie, then the dagger again. His voice was shaky as he said, “I called you...a stupid...cowardly...glob...Because you are one.” In response he got punched hard across the face by Krugbit who then grabbed him by the ear and raised the dagger.

“You little shrakh! That just cost you your eyes!”

“You...you don't wanna' do that, Krugbit.” Ratbag countered unimpressed.

“Why? It's not there's anyone lookin' out for ya!” Krugbit said before an arrow went through the head and fell dead to the ground. Ratbag stared a moment.

“Huh... He and looked at the sky. “And it's not like Sauron himself is just going to come down from on high, cut Ratbag loose and make him King of all Uruk-kind!” He paused. “Oi! I'm waiting!”

He then took notice of a human in the distance, appearing to have fired the arrow. “Ranger! Come close if you want the Black Hand! Those slave scum are pouring poising into your ear! Oh, but you cut these ropes and Ratbag will tell you everything.” It made Sweetie Belle wonder and confused why the Orc would call Talion over, he wasn’t exactly friendly towards Orcs.

Said human walked over to the unicorn and cut her restrains, she said “Thank you.” And run over to her yellow friend, who was next to an orange pony with wings and another unicorn, having a gray coat.

The human looked at the Uruk with a neutral expression, before holding his sword under the orc’s chin. “Now what would you know that all those other dead Orcs didn’t?” He asked.

“Go ahead, ya bastard! Do it! I’ll die and you’ll know mothing!” Ratbag yelled in response.

“Maybe I’ll grant your request…and end your miserable life.”

Ratbag became scared. “No, NO, no, no, no! I was jesting. Look, those slaves are no match for the Orc army. Their scheme’s as rotten as barrel fish! But Ratbag can teach you the way of the Orc...Ratbag can make your plan work!” He explained and after a short moment, the human lowered his weapon and leaned close.

“We’re going to find out what you know.” The human replied and grabbed Ratbag’s forehead, causing the Orc to grunt in pain.

After a few seconds, he let go and cut him free. Ratbag fell on the ground, coughing. “Your problem, Ranger, is the Warchiefs. Strong leaders, they are.” Ratbag explained before he looted the body of Krugbit. “Now if somethin’ were to happen to them, then they wouldn’t be able to stomp your little insurrection, would they?” he pointed out.

“I would hunt them down.” The man replied.

“How? They’re not very popular around here. And they know it.”

“And you can find them?” Talion asked him, sounded distrustful.

“Oh yes. Ratbag’ll show you the way. You help me, I help you.” The Orc replied before the human held up his word under Ratbag’s chin.

“Don’t make me regret this deal.”

Ratbag smiled weakly. “Marvelous.” He putted the sword away. “Now let’s stop faffin’ about, eh? First I need to take care of a certain Captain. And a few Caragors. Come with me, Ranger.” The Orc made a gesture to follow. The foals noticed that Talion sighed as he moved, following him close behind.

They followed Ratbag towards some ruins as he explained, “You can’t trust them! Those Slaves’ll stab you into the back. At least an Uruk will stab you into the front…Most likely the throat. We have similar goals, Ranger! See, you want to kill the Cap’n and somebody’s got to take his place. Somebody like Ratbag.”

“So this Goroth is in charge?” The Ranger asked.

“Of this camp, yea. But he’s no Warchief. They answer directly to the Black Hand. I’ll show them all when I’m in the Black Hand’s inner circle. Becoming a Captain is just the first step of Ratbag’s plan to become a Warchief.”

“Then prepare to step hard on his neck.” Talion advised as they entered a ruin and heard a growl.

The foals turned around to see a guard with a large shield and a halberd standing in one of the entrances. “How did you get free, scum!”

Several other guards joined him. The foals went into a corner for cover, slightly trembling, Ratbag stood behind them, his dagger drawn, having a defensive stance.

Talion leaped over the shield bearer and sliced him from behind, killing him instantly before blocking an attack from another Grunt. Ratbag found himself opposed by three grunts.

The first charged at him, he blocked it, then avoided a strike from the second. They tried to tire him out. The next charge by the third one, giving him barely time to react before a magic blast knocked the grunt back. In surprise, Ratbag looked at the foals, seeing it had come from Sweetie Belle.

Talion made swift, deadly strikes, having little trouble to defeat the grunts. The last one reaming charged from behind but got knocked back by another blast, giving the man a free strike to the chest, killing him, He looked at the foals, Dinky’s horn was glowing, a brave expression on her face. “Nice shot.” Talion said slightly impressed.

“Well done, Ranger. Now just picture all those corpses as Goroth. Visualize your goals.” Ratbag led them outside. “Goroth’s been out for Ratbag for years. Smug piece of dung he is. We come to blows as far as Ratbag can remember…Still, Ratbag never wins. Last time he kicks Ratbag into the Caragor pit. All the other laughed as the Caragor bats Ratbag around like a yarn ball.” He said with hate in his voice.

“Oh, that Goroth’s gonna pay…smug piece of dung he’ll pay…Goroth keeps Caragors…in pens, and rumor has it, he doesn’t like to get too close ‘em.” The group was led to another ruin.

“And let me guess, you think I should open those pens.” Talion figured out.

“Goroth is ALWAYS in there. NEVER leaves. EVER. Wonder where he pees?” He thought for a moment, then his face became one of disgust. “Oh…that explains the smell!” The foals shivered as they climbed over a wall with him and Talion.

The children’s eyes went wide in awe as they saw a castle-like stronghold in front of them as the man said, “Keep out of sight, I’ll see that your Captain gets demoted.”

“Splendid plan! You kill, I wait. That’s military genius, that is.” The Orc commented as the man moved out.

“Thank you for helping me.” Sweetie Belle smiled grateful at Ratbag.

“Eh? Oh, yeah, yeah. No trouble. Er...Put in a good word for me at...wherever you're from?” He replied.

Talion climbed up the side of the wall to get past the guards on the entrance, seeing an archer on a platform below him as he reached the top. The man quietly jumped down and sliced the Archer from behind, noticing two guards below him.

“This looks like a good spot to get some shut eye.”

“Goroth’ll kill you if he catches you napping.” The other warned.

“Goroth never comes here. He’s always by the Hunting Camp.”

“Goroth’s in the Hunting Camp…so much for him ALWAYS being in the same place.” Talion commented on the Intel given by Ratbag. “A Captain who fears his own beast…”

“Fear is a powerful tool, Talion. Let’s put Goroth’s to work.” The spirit advised as the man jumped down at the other side, seeing a bridge up ahead, with a group pf guard sitting at a fireplace next to it with a Caragor in a cage The man drew his bow and shot the lock, freeing the beast who attacked the guards, creating the distraction he needed to slip past by going under the bridge.

Just past the bridge he could see the camp, the Orc named Goroth was parading to and fro in front of a caged beast.

“I have a reputation among the beasts! When they writhe in their sleep, they have nightmares of Goroth! I once wrestled three Caragors at once! All with my bare hands! And I snapped their necks just by looking at them! I snapped their necks with my eyes! I am Goroth! No Uruk has mastered beast like I! So the next Uruk that says I'm afraid of my Caragors will be eaten by one!” Goroth boasted with pride.

The man drew his bow again and shot the lock, freeing the Caragor inside.

“At the slaves! Eat the Uruk! Anyone but Goroth!” The Captain yelled in fear as he ran for his life, his bodyguards getting killed in seconds by the beast.

Talion went to intercept him but despite his fear, the Captain managed to block his attack and threw him back. In response, the man sprinted after him and tackled him to the ground, stabbing him into the back, through his heart, killing him instantly.

“Okay, one less Uruk Captain in Mordor.” He said relived and sneaked his way back to Ratbag. “It’s done.”

The Orc smiled. “Thank you, Ranger. I promise you won’t regret this at all.” With that Ratbag walked into the stronghold.

Talion turned to the foals, seeing it was getting late. “Alright, let’s take you to the Outcast Camp, you will be safe here.” They nodded in response and followed him without a word.

After the fight, the Eternal Knights got delayed but eventually, found the camp, Sweetie Belle was located. But as they arrived, there was no trace of the filly. “Are you sure we’re at the right location?” Wolf asked Fletcher as he casted the tracking spell again.

“We are, she just got moved.”

“Then Talion must have freed her and brings them to a safer place. Let’s go, there’s no time to waste.” Midnight suspected.

But it seemed fate had other planes as a voice yelled, “You!”

“What is it now?!” Fletcher exclaimed in frustration as he turned around, seeing another group of Orcs in the distance lead by one in red armor and was armed with a crossbow. He also wore something over his left eye. What appeared at first to be a blindfold but Fletcher soon saw it was metallic and bulbous, like the eyes of a fly, patterns of small grooves cut into it to provide protected vision.

“I’ve been trained by the best archers in all of Mordor! One bolt, one kill! I’ve been itching for some target practice and I hear ponies make for excellent targets!” He yelled at them.

Fletcher drew his bow. “We’ll see about that!” And fired two arrows, head-shooting the warriors next to the archer, who fired in response, missing the stallion by inches.

Midnight and Wolf stayed back, knowing that this one would belong to Fray, but stood ready should he need them.

The enemy Archer was good, but the unicorn used his magic to quickly close the distance, clashing his spear with the crossbow. “Submit now, and perhaps I show you a bit of Mercy!” The Uruk said before Fray pushed him back and fired an arrow into his knee, causing the Orc to hiss in pain, quickly pulling it out, barely avoiding the next arrow.

He managed to return fire, but just scratched Fray’s armor, before the pony teleported into melee range, clashing again. “Even with your magic tricks, one hit from me will tip you right into your grave.”

“I beg to differ.” Fletcher replied and threw him back again, firing three arrows towards the Orcs torso. He got knocked back but was still standing.

“You are a worthy Archer. You impressed me. We’ll meet again.” The Uruk said and retreated.

Fray sighed. “Now let’s go before we get more delayed.”

The human led the foals to a gate, hidden between some cliffs. Inside he lit up a torch, the foals startled as he stopped at a severed Orc head pierced on a spear.

“Make yourself at home, Talion.” A male voice said and they turned around to see Hirgon, he was happy to see them. “We obtained some valuable information from this one…before he lost his head.”

“These grunts know nothing. We’re wasting precious time.” Talion replied.

“Wasting time? We have learned where they keeping their blasting powder.”

“What need have I of blasting powder?” Talion asked.

“It’s all part of the plan, my friend.” Hirgon replied as he washed his hands.

“Whatever leads me to the Black Hand is my only concern.”

“So anxious to find the Black Hand. Then by all means, I will take you to him.”

“Can we help you?” Dinky asked both men, grinning.

“No, you stay here for your own safety.” Talion replied in a stern tone.

“Talion, give them a chance. When I got to know Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, I learned how resourceful they can be.” The leader of the Outcast suggested, causing both fillies to smile.

The Ranger sighed. “Fine.”

As he and the foals followed Hirgon outside, they got told by the Outcast leader, “With any luck, the Uruks have yet to discover the secrets of the blasting powder. We will need to free my men to find out.”

“Do you believe the blasting powder can draw out the Black Hand?”

“I pray so. The enemy gathers at Uruk’s Hollow, where many of my men are enslaved. I pray Eryn, too, is here.”

“I will handle Uruks.”

“Perhaps we can take a more stealthy approach and incapacitate them by using their weakness…Grog. Have you ever heard of Hithas? It’s toxic and it’s good for one thing: poisoning Orcs. Follow me.”

He led them through a ruin and a Meadow. “When I deserted the Black Gate, I fell sick. It was Eryn who nursed me to health.”

“Is she the reason you joined the tribesmen?” Talion got curious.

“Of the many, she is most cherished. There are only so many camps my wife could have been taken to.” Hirgon said with hope.

“Do you believe she will be at this one?”

“My heart says yes.”

“I hope for your sake she is, Hirgon.”

The group arrived at another ruin, guarded by 4 Uruks. “I’ll keep watch for Uruks. Be careful, Ranger.” The Outcast leader said as Talion moved in.

He noticed that the four guards were close together in the open, so he quickly drew his bow and shot all in the head in quick succession before any of them could react.

The foals then looked around, seeing that the Hithas looked like a bush, having a festive, almost beguiling appearance, reminding them of the Poison joke back home. The unicorns carefully used their magic to pick them up and gave them Talion, three at least.

“There are more plants ahead, follow me.” Hirgon took the lead after they were collected.

“Where did you acquire this blasting powder?” Talion wanted to know.

“Traded for it, with a blustery Dwarf. We took his powder and left him our footprints – pretty fair of you ask me.”

“You are yourself be a strong leader…for a deserter.”

“That is only because I leave the hard work to men like you.” Hirgon replied as he led them through a small camp towards a latter with a few wilt flowers, causing the Ranger to comment,

“In Mordor, even the flowers are of death.”

“There are far worse things than flowers here.” Dinky heard the wraith whisper grimly.

The foals after climbing up could see the next herbs but a Caragor was near them. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of that.” Talion said and sneaked up behind it and jumped on it. The Caragor jumped into the air to get him off, but he held on tight before touching the head with his hand and the beast’s eyes glowed blue. “It’s harmless now.”

The two unicorns slowly moved towards a herb next to the creature, their hearts raising but it barely paid them attention as it looked around, allowing them to collect a second herb.

“I thought it impossible Sauron would ever return.” Hirgon commented as they moved on.

“Darkness descends upon Mordor. Soon it will be impossible not to succumb.” Talion pointed out.

“When we realized we couldn’t fight the Orcs we started dressing up like slaves, sneaking into their camps to free the others.”

“A bold strategy.”

“Not really. Mostly, we’d end up slaves ourselves. At least we came dressed for the part.” The outcast replied with sarcasm in his voice. “When I was first rescued by the Outcast, they told me you led the search party for my head.”

“I volunteered. Were you caught by our fellow Rangers would’ve killed you. I could not let you suffered that fate.” Talion replied without emotion before they reached a Meadow surrounded by a ruin.

“Up here. We almost have enough poison for our purpose.”

“I look forward to see its effect up close.” The Ranger was eager as the foals collected three herbs.

“This should be enough. Now all you have to do is drop it into their grog.” Hirgon led them to the stronghold.

“Will the Orc not smell the poison?” Talion raised an eyebrow.

“No, but if they spot you, I doubt they will drink from it. The Uruks stationed at the front gates. For the sake of my men, keep to the shadows. I’ll gather my men and wait. We’ll stand ready to seize the blasting powder once the camp is clear.” Hirgon led them to the entrance. “Remember, don’t be seen. These Uruks have killed slaves for far less.” He warned.

The foals and men kept that in mind as they sneaked their way in, most guards had their backs to them, so it wasn’t hard to get past unnoticed, the slaves gave them no attention at all.

In the middle of the camp, they found the grog barrels, scattered but not far from each other.

The group scattered, everyone poisoned one barrel. Dinky had one next to what looked like a tent, pouring the poison in, covering her nose from the stench. I really wonder how they can stand this.

She wasn’t exactly proud of doing this but she knew it might help her getting home again. Looking around the corner, she got nervous as a guard came towards her and she had nowhere to go.

Out of nowhere, Talion landed in front of the Orc and grabbed his head, it lighted up in blue for a second, then he fell lifeless to the ground. “Now all there to do is wait.” He whispered as they joined the others.

The children watched in awe and a bit in guilt as one of the guards started to vomit, staggering and holding his throat before collapsing. They then saw a woman with brown hair and eyes. Her face, hair, hands and bare legs covered in dirt and soot, wearing only by a tattered, nettle-green dress, torn and frayed at every edge, slowly coming out behind a wall, cowering in fear as Talion walked up to her.

“Come with me.” He said calmly and gently took her by the arm but she screamed and struggled to get free. She succeeded and ran, only to trip as Hirgon walked up to her.

“Eryn!” He said but she struggled again. “Eryn, Eryn, it’s me…it’s me! Hirgon!” Upon hearing this name the woman stopped and stared at him slowly forming a smile before hugging him.

“I thought I’d never see you again…” The children watched with smiles, happy for them to be reunited again, even Talion smiled weakly as the sprit appeared again.

“There will be more battles, Talion, but we will find our peace.”

Dinky then yawned, seeing it was becoming evening, as the sun started to go down.

“It’s getting late, let’s get back to the camp. Hirgon suggested and the foals nodded.

On the way back, Hirgon introduced his wife to them, she told them that she was sorry to hear what had happened to them.

Back at the camp, the ponies ate vegetables for dinner and get tucked in by Eryn. “Goodnight, children.”

“Goodnight.” They replied in unison and fell asleep.

The woman looked at the sleeping children with sympathy. “The poor things. How did they find their way in Mordor? How have they survived with the Dark Lord's servants on their trail?”

“I can scarce imagine...Do you think it’s safe to keep them here? Do you suppose the orcs will track them to our outpost?” Her husband asked the Ranger who thought for a moment.

“...I wouldn't think so. We haven't come across any hunters so far. Surprising really, you'd think there'd be a tide of them.” He replied as the Wrath appeared next to him once again.

“There is something at work here...Someone is hunting them for us.”

Talion stayed silent for a moment. “In any case, if they track us, I'll take care of things.”

Eryn gave her husband a smile. “Please, Hirgon. They won't be any trouble.

“Alright, my love. They can stay here. But everyone be on their guard.”

Author's Note

Safe. For now.

Chapter 4 Shattered Memories

Chapter 4: Shattered Memories

Despite the horrors they has witnessed yesterday, the foals had sleep well, yawning as they awoke. “Good morning.” Dinky smiled at the CMC.

“Morning.” They replied in unison as they got up for breakfast.

“Good morning, young ones, I hope you slept well.” Eryn greeted with a smile as she, her husband and Talion had bread with water and some vegetables for breakfast with the foals.

The bread tasted soft and fresh, being a welcomed taste for the kids.

Then Dinky remembered something. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course. Ask away.” Hirgon replied.

“Who is this Sauron you mentioned?” Upon her question, his expression became one of disgust and anger.

“Sauron is the Lord of all Darkness in Middle Earth, a necromancer, an earth-breaker, a foe so terrible most fear to speak his name. These creatures are his servants, his warrior race. Orcs, or Uruks in their foul tongue. They were elves once...Brilliant and beautiful...but proud, cold and untrusting. Sauron's powers twisted them into these monstrosities.” He explained.

The foals looked at each other with unsure, realizing in what they got themselves into it.

Sweetie Belle’s expression became scared, just wanting to go home. Scootaloo was looking to the ground, worried if they could ever go home. Apple Bloom and Dinky gave them assuring smiles.

“Don’t worry, the Knights will have a way to bring us back home. They dealt with stuff like this many times before. ”The unicorn said, making them hope as they weakly smiled.

“You’re right, they will.” Scootaloo replied.

“I wish hope came to us as easy as it does for you. Your lands must be bright indeed.” Hirgon added with a smile of his own.

For the rest of the morning, the foals helped out to carry supplies and played with Eryn, having much fun, despite the situation they were in.

The woman had sympathy with them, weakly smiling, they were children, lost in a dangerous place, she didn’t wanted to imaging what Sauron would do to them if his minions would capture them. She knew they had to protect the foals from the Dark Lord.

“Are you alright?” Apple Bloom asked her.

“Oh? Just in deep thought.”

“How did you meet Hirgon?”

“My father used to be a constable, being a cold and hard man who served a rough justice. I tended to the needs of the prisoners and fed them, also singing for them. Apart from nursing my husband, my singing was what brought him and me together.”

“Sounds like a sweet story.” The white filly commented with a smile.

“So, if you fell in love at the gate, how come you weren't there when Talion was?” Dinky wondered.

“Well, that's a rather deeper tale, young one.” Hirgon replied.

His wife took a deep breath. “My father ran the dungeons. He was grim and uncompromising but he served ably and doing his duty by Gondor meant everything to him. But then he died of fever. The one who took after him, a Breeman named Ferny, was nothing like him. He was crooked to a fault, took bribes from the new prisoners to line his pockets in exchange for favors, including escape when he could get away with it! And he tried to have his way with women, myself among them, he said such horrible things. Eventually, I left and joined the Outcasts, descendants of those Gondor exiled from their havens, scratching a living off the rocks of this blasted land.”

That brought her back to me. At the time, I'd stopped guarding the dungeons and become a ranger as Talion had done. One fateful day, I caught a frail but fierce young woman sneaking out of the gate with a basket of stolen food...” Hirgon told as he looked at his wife with a smile.

“Not enough that anyone would go hungry.”

“Indeed not. The penalty for such a crime was death but...I decided letting innocent people starve was a far greater crime. I let her go. Then a few years later as life on the Gate become bleaker and bleaker, followed her, searching for where she'd run off to day and night until I caught a fever and became too weak to walk...Only then to discover she'd been watching me the whole time and she knew how to cure me of my ailment.”

“And keep him from any new ones, including a ranger's axe. For desertion, Talion and the other rangers were pressed to hunt him down. So I led him to the secret dens that only the Outcasts knew, did my best to convince them he was one of us...”

“And before too long...I was.” Hirgon finished.

Sounds like you both that the right thing.” Dinky said with a grin.

“Where are you going? The Outcast leader asked and the foals turned around, seeing that the Ranger walked towards the entrance.

“I…need to check on something.” Talion replied.

“Can we help?” Apple Bloom looked at him.

The Ranger thought for a moment. “Well, you were a great help in freeing Eryn, you maybe can help me with our new…allies.”

“We do what we can to help.” The yellow filly said before they moved out.

It was raining but that didn’t bother the kids in the slightest as they followed Talion for a while. Luckily, they encountered not Orcs at all until they came to a cart, where the small human-like creature appeared to dig through a pile of bones. “Sweet little ratsies…Where does it hide?” It wondered before Talion held his dagger at its neck.

“Desecrate one more body, and your corpse will join them.” The creature then hid under the cart as the spirit kneeled down.

“Show me another treasure. From your dreams.”

“Yes, we will prove ourselves, Bright Master. We will prove we are friends.”

“Take us to it.”

“Yes. Come…this way…come on.” The creature made a gesture to follow and climbed up a cliff, the human and ponies followed it without hesitation. “Must follow us, Bright Master! To the treasures we go.”

The group was led towards a ruin, where thy stopped in the shadow as a patron of Orcs passed by. “Nasties above, kill them!” The creature pointed to two archers up at the top of the ruins, Talion drew his bow and shot them in the head before they could react, clearing the way.

The creature then moved through the ruins, starting to sing. “Bright Master will takes us to the precious, we shows him. We shows him and he rewards us.” It then stopped behind cover. “Sharpsies up there, there!” It pointed up to another Archer on top of the ruins. The Ranger once again drew his bow and fired an arrow to the head, opening the way.

The human-like creature started to sing again as it led the group through the ruin.

“We likes the Bright Master, the royal one. Smells sweet, like flopping fishes. But filthy tricksy Ranger comes along. Cruddy Ranger, smelly, stinky Ranger. He hurts us. He steals from us…like Bagginses… Bagginses…He’ll shows us, then we’ll takes it. He’ll shows us, then he’ll steals it. No! No!”

The singing sounded very monotonous, lacking any kind of emotion.

“Any of you girls know what just a 'Bagginses' is meant to be?” Apple Bloom asked, the other shook their heads.

“No idea, but I think this…creature had a hard time.” Dinky suspected.

“We’ll takes it from him…we’ll takes it from…oh sharpest of sharpsies…But not hurting! No hurting! Gentle sharpies! Shows us, Bright Master.”

The foals looked with pity at Talion as they heard how the creature despised him, Surprisingly, his expression stayed neutral the entire time until the create reached a large ruin. “You goes. We waits here for you.” The creature said.

The man and ponies walked inside, looking around. “Your ‘friend’ seems quick to lead us to danger.” Talion commented.

“Knowledge of my past is worth any trial.” The spirit countered as Dinky spotted what looked like a headband on the ground, waving at the Ranger to get over here.

He picked it up and again, a white light engulfed him and screamed in agony, the light grew brighter, blinding the children.

Dinky opened her eyes, she saw a flashing light inside of a large castle. Blinking, she found herself inside the castle, seeing that the flashing came from a man that crafted something. The flashing came whenever his hammer hit the table before the scene showed a throne room. On it sat a man with pure blue eyes and long black hair, his ears were pointy. He looked to his left with a smile to see two female humans, a younger and older one returning it. The younger one had also black hair, a band made of flowers on her head, her blue eyes full of innocence. The elder one had blonde hair and black eyes, wearing a similar headband as the man on the throne. The looks of adoration they gave him were clear. She knew that look. She'd seen it on every family photo in her home.

Family.

His wife and daughter.

Then they all turned towards the door with surprised expressions as a man walked in.

She couldn’t make out any details as he stood in the shadow, but something about her made her blood freeze, feeling unsure and scared of him as he walked out of the shadow.

His hair was blonde, his eyes fire-red as he kneeled down and offered a well-crafted tool.

At first, the blue glow it had made it difficult to recognize. As the light vanished, she thought it was a hatchet or an axe by the shape of it. Still, the filly noticed that it had similarities to an old-fashioned hammer.

The man in the throne smiled at his visitor. “It is so fine a gift.” The voice sounded identical to that of the sprit, making her realize this man was him.

The filly blinked again and found herself in reality, breathing heavily to process what she had just seen.

She noticed that Talion was lying on the ground, not moving. “Is he…dead?” The white unicorn asked with fear.

The blond filly checked his pulse. “No, he’s just passed out.” She replied before the creature inspected the headband.

“What a gift…But where is the Precious?” It asked as Talion stirred and Dinky stepped back out of instinct as he shoved the creature back and grabbed its leg.

“You little thief! Come here!”

“Bright Master! It yelled as it struggled to get free and the spirit appeared in front of them.

“Talion! Release him.”

“Why do we chase these dreams? They offers no answer, only more questions!” The ranger yelled angry as the creature hid behind the ghost.

“These are not mere dreams. With each vision my power grows stronger.” The spirit explained calm.

“Master looks after us.” The creature said, getting their attention. “Ranger should go now. Very dangerous here. We waits at the ancient tower for him.” And like a rat, it slunk into the shadows, noiseless, and soon disappeared from sight.

The man and foals looked around, feeling uneasy like something was close nearby.

A terrifying screech echoed in the ears of the children and they started as a few meters in front of them, something shot out of the ground. It looked like a small, disfigured human, lowing yellow eyes, long, dog-like skulls, and sharp teeth and claws, screeching in rage.

Several more came out of the ground, the foals trembled as Talion exclaimed, “Ghûls!” He drew his sword, taking a defensive stance in front of the scared foals as the Ghûls charged at him, crawling across the ground on all fours.

The Ranger sliced them without trouble, but then, several packs of them appeared out of the ground, surrounding the group. Dinky looked around, trying to think of a way out of this, but it seemed hopeless as Sweetie Belle yelled, “We’re done for!”

“No, we’re not!” Talion yelled as his sword started to glow in the same blue as the spirit and slammed his left hand into the ground. It created a shockwave of the same color, throwing the Ghûls back and apparently killed them, as the glow on them faded, lying lifeless on the ground.

Scootaloo breathed heavily. “What are…Ghûls?”

“Feral, nocturnal beasts. They live in damp, fetid places or underground lairs, and only emerge from their nests at night when they swarm in packs to bring down prey.”

“Okay.” The Pegasus shivered but started to smile as the rain stopped and the sun came out again.

“Let’s check on Ratbag.” He suggested and the foals nodded.

After a short walk they reached another ruin, seeing an Orc in black armor, with scant strands of oily black hair around his scalp. His face was broad, his nose small, and His sharp teeth were packed closely together in a permanent snarl. It reminded Applebloom of the stoats and weasels who Winona chased off on the chicken coop at the farm; mean, greedy and sly. In front of him was another Orc, kneeling, his hands tied up behind his back. Dinky and Scoots realized the latter, it was the same Talion had interrogated as they first met him.

“B-B-Brogg, boss, please! I did all I could! I did all I-

Out of instinct, the ponies closed their eyes, as with a tarrying chop sound, said Orc was decapitated. Upon opening their eyes, they saw how Ratbag to brought forward.

“Wait, wait, you call this a duel?!” He asked.

“No. I call this a Losing duel, you glob.” The executioner replied and made a sign for Ratbag to kneel. Ratbag gave a snarl. He'd been pushed around one too many times already. If he was going down, he'd take the arrogant captain down with him. He stood to his full height...

And found himself looking up at the captain's guard, taller than him by a clear foot and a menacing look about his eyes and, more prominently, his jagged teeth.

Ratbag chewed his lip and knelt where the captain had commanded. “Right here? Is that…Is that good? I’ll just go right here…” Ratbag said in a scared tone.

We’d better hurry. Or he’ll lose his head.” The Wrath advised and Talion asked,

“Awfully temping, isn’t it?”

“Blind his many eyes and the beast can’t see you coming.” The spirit added as 4 Archers stood on top of the ruin.

“Wait here.” The Ranger advised and the kids nodded as he drew his bow and took out one after another.

“It’s your head this time. We haven’t had a proper execution in weeks.” The executioner commented with a grin art Ratbag, eager to do it.

“You can't just execute Ratbag 'cause you're bored?”

“Says who?” The Captain raised an eyebrow.

“Well...alright, fair point, but...”

“Listen, coward! You got lucky with that bloated old maggot Gimub but Goroth's end was someone else's work! Don't try to lie to me! You can't ride a caragor any more than you can shrakh mithril! So once I'm done, I'll find out who's really bumping off the maggots around here and mount their heads right beside yours!” The executioner yelled.

The Ranger sneaked behind a Warrior and stabbed him, before a voice echoed in his ears. “You!” He turned around to see the executioner looking at him. “These scum are no better than Tarks like you…and I will show everyone here how that is!” The Orc charged forward but the human blocked his strike with ease.

Talion tinned out the regular Orcs with swift strikes until only their leader remained.

The fillies saw that the Captain was blocking every regular attack, and nodded at each other. They had to help their friend.

Sweetie Belle and Dinky fired a non-lethal spell, making the Orc stumble, Apple Bloom performed a karate kick on left leg, and Scootaloo a standard buck attack on his other leg by using her hind hooves, making him lose his balance before he had a chance to react. “You little toe-rags!” he snared and attempted to draw a throwing-axe as they retreated.

Talion in that moment grabbed the orc by his head and touched it, saying something they couldn’t understand, as his hand on the head glowed blue for a second.

The Orc’s expression became one of pain and fear, making the foals wonder what Talion did to him.

But they all could agree on, they didn’t wanted to be in his place and suffer the same pain as he groaned with a painful expression.

He then let go and the Orc fell lifeless to the ground.

“Ranger! Well, now that’s what I call team work, eh?” Ratbag said relived as Talion cut his restrains.

“Go, before I change my mind.”

“What about our deal?” Ratbag asked confused.

“Our deal is over.” The man replied, holding his word in a threating manner, causing the Orc to step back.

“Oh very well then. I just thought we…right…” The Orc mumbled and turned to leave before he had an idea. “Wait, wait! Ranger!” He ran over to the Captain’s corpse. “Watch this!” Ratbag places the knife at Brogg's snapped neck but then noticed the foals looking at him with disgusted expressions. “You er...might want to look away.” They did and he cut the executioner's head off. “Now, Ranger, you see this?!”

“Yes, put it away.” He said with disgust.

“No, no, you see, if you want to avoid every glob in Udun coming after you and your slave friends, you'll want to keep quiet about your involvement here.” He explained before Talion put a hand on his sword hilt meaningfully. “Now, wait just a minute, I'm not finished.”

Talion raised an eyebrow, as he continued. “Right, as far as any uruk around here knows, Ratbag valiantly broke free of his bonds, killed the guards and tore this ugly bastard's head off, without even breaking a sweat!” He said with a grin.

“Of course. How could anyone doubt that?” The human asked with clear sarcasm in his voice.

“Look, it'll be as good for you as it will for me, Ranger.” The Orc poked Brogg's head in the eye and accidentally pulled it out, much to the foals’ disgust. Glancing at it, he ate it, made face and spit it out. “Where was I? Oh yeah. Now I can see that you're confused. That's fine, over in Gondor, I'll wager you'd get the axe for this kind of thing, but things are very different here. In Mordor the bigger orcs kill the little orcs. And if a big orc's killed, it means the orc that killed him is bigger. Logic, see. And a big orc is good to have at your back. So, and here's the good bit, once the Warchief hears of my victory, he'll make me his personal bodyguard!” He exclaimed with pride

“And how does that help me?” The man wanted to know.

“Uh…A backstabbing bodyguard? I’ll take care of one of the Warchiefs for you. And you do the other four on your own…Then we’ll meet at the training camp, right? I’ll make sure the Warchief is here…when you’re ready to meet him. Whaddya say?

“You make sure you keep your head on your neck this time.”

“You’re right. Well, that’s my plan.” Ratbag said and left.

“So, what now?” Dinky asked the Ranger.

Talion pointed to the dead Captain. “Something tells me the Warchief isn't going to be as thrilled as Ratbag hopes.

“Should we tell him?”

The Ranger shrugged. “He'll find out on his own.”

Author's Note

Will he?

Chapter 5: The one truth

“So, what now?” Scootaloo asked.

“Check if our little…friend has found something.” Talion replied and they followed him back to some ruins but the creature was nowhere to be found. “Well, where is he? Your friend is either a liar or a coward.” The man said to the spirit who replied,

“Maybe it was you threatening his life?” He pointed to the ground and they saw again the creature’s footsteps again.

“Let’s go find your precious treasure.” The man replied and they followed it through the rubs until they saw a cave in the distance, a lone Caragor walking front of it before a gigantic shape leapt out and pummeled the creature into the ground. The caragor gave a short, pitiful yelp as its spine snapped like a twig

The foals looked at it in horror. The Beast stood on two legs, as tall as the Ursa Major with long arms that reached the ground, tipped with sharp, sloth-like claws that would be death to any creature that brushed against them. Its eyes, ears, and nostrils were tiny but its jaws, and the tusk-like teeth within, were enormous. Menacing spikes protruded from the joints in its arms, shoulders and along its back. Standing over the caragor carcass, it raised its arms up in victory and let out a terrifying roar.

“A Graug!” Talion whispered grimly, the muscles in his neck tensing in anxiety, “I need at least twenty men to bring that beast down.”

“Then we must find another way.” The spirit advised.

“Charging for the cave’s mouth will only lead us into the Graug’s claws.” Casting his gaze towards the nearby ruins, he saw an opportunity.

The orcs across Mordor had long sought to tame and control the beasts of the land and lead them against their foes. It wasn't uncommon to find bushels of bait hanging from the architecture, foul-smelling clumps of rotting beast and man, bundled together in weighted nests that would drop down on any creature that bit it open. The hunters would check every day to see if their trap had brought them any quarry.

But if the nets ever failed with no hunters at the ready, beasts from all around would pick up the scent and a bloodbath would ensue for a share of the spoils.

“A well placed arrow will do the trick here.” Talion did as told and shot it down. “That should keep the Graug occupied.” The spirit added as some Caragors arrived and the beast charged towards them, giving the group the chance they needed to get into the cave.

Once inside, they had a hard time to breathe. “The air is thick in death.” The Ranger commented as there were bones and pieces of armor from the beast’s victims were scattered around.

“Ghûls! Why am I not surprised?” He added as he spotted some fleeing and burring into the ground.

Suddenly there was a roar and the cave rumbled, causing the foals to look around in fear.

“Looks like the Graug won his fight against the Caragors.” Talion suspected.

“And now is ready for another.” The spirit added as they came to a large area of the cave.

The group scattered to look for a clue, Dinky climbed up an elevation and spotted what looked like a tool on a rock.

It was shaped like a tong and she realized what it was.

A clasp.

She pointed the Ranger over and once again, he screamed in pain and a blue light engulfed hm as he touched it.

As Dinky blinked, she saw again the spirit in his once living form, recognizing the pure blue eyes, long black hair, and strangely pointy ears. Next to him was a eerie, serene figure with the long blonde hair, his eyes fire-red, the one who had gifted him. They shook hands and then crafted seven rings together, using the clasp and the other tool she and Talion had discovered before.

They then inspected the rings, the visitor looked at one Ring in particular that glowed brightly, more than any of the other rings and grinned, his eyes flowing more intense. “Only you could accomplish such art, Celebrimbor.”

Then they both found themselves in reality again. “Celebrimbor!” Talion exclaimed as he got up and looked at the spirit. “Greatest smith of the Second Age. I’d heard the stories but…”

“I remember my name, now.” Celebrimbor interrupted him. “I shaped the history of Middle-earth. I crafted the Rings of Power.”

He vanished in a flash as a growl echoed through the cave and the Graug came back and the cave started to rumble.

“It’s collapsing!” Apple Bloom yelled in fear.

“Fly, you fool!” Dinky heard Celebrimbor’s echoing voice.

“Stay close.” Talion aimed the bow at a Ghul on an elevation on the other side of the cage, and as the foals blinked, they found themselves on that very elevation, the Ghul slain, the process repeated until they were near the entrance. “Run!” He yelled as the Graug was close behind.

They did as told, barely making it out as the cave fully collapsed and buried the Graug, trying to catch their breath after this. “…and good riddance!” The man said in relief before Celebrimbor appeared again.

“I am the one responsible for all of this. That’s why Sauron wants me.”

“No, no, Bright Master is good. He looks after us.” The small creature known as Gollum appeared behind a small rock. The foals suspected that was as his name, given how he used it sometimes when he walked away.

“Shut your insolent mouth!” The Ranger yelled in anger.

“Nasty Ranger. He knows nothing of the Bright Master.” Gollum countered and kneeled as Talion looked at the spirit,

“I know of his legend. How Sauron deceived you into making the Rings. He tortured you both you and your kin.”

“And the Precious? The master makes it, too? Where is it?” Gollum wanted to know.

“I have no memory of such thing,” Celebrimbor replied stern.

“Why would it even matter?” Talion asked in a frustrated tone.

“Master must remember! Yes, he must. We…dig up more treasures. Yes, yes, yes, and then he will take us to it.” Gollum said and crawled away.

“That was close…” Sweetie Belle was still shocked, trying to recover.

“Are you hurt?” The man asked with worry.

“We… we are fine…” Scootaloo said with a shaken voice after she checked herself, Apple Bloom nodded without a word.

“Yes, we are lucky to be alive,” Dinky added as the spirit appeared in front of her, his expression curious.

“So, child, what did you make of your look into the past.” He wanted to know.

“You...you knew I could see?” She asked in confusion.

Celebrimbor smiled furtively. “Come now, young one, we need to keep no secrets from each other...

Feeling uneasy, the filly said, “Okay...So, you’re name's Celebrimbor?”

“Indeed. It means 'Silver-Hand'. Ironic that I should resemble that name in death more than I ever did in life.”

Dinky connected the dots, based on his appearance. “And...you're not human are you?”

The spirit grinned. “Ha! As if a mere mortal could rise to the heights I stood upon?! No. I, young one, am an Elf!” He said with pride.

“I...don't think I've ever heard of those.”

“Well, know this, Dinky Doo...the greatest settlement humans have ever created is a pile of mud compared to the basest settlement an elf could forge! We the elves, or Eldar as we knew ourselves as, are the oldest, wisest, fairest and noblest of all beings, the chosen of the world's creators, the bearers of their ancestral light! And I...I was their king, the true king, descended from the very first of the Noldor, the deep-elves who crafted the very beginnings of Middle-Earth. It was I who forged the Rings of Power that every king of elf, dwarf, and man bore to let all know of their dominance.” He explained to her.

The unicorn stayed silent for a moment, trying to process everything. “And...who was the other one?”

Celebrimbor’s gaze darkened with anger. “He called himself 'Annatar', The Bringer of Gifts. He did not reveal his true name until it was too late. He deceived me...as he does to all.”

“So, you think elves are much better than humans?” The filly was curious.

“There is no 'think' about it, child. Men are fickle, crass, vain and ever-envious. They allow their instincts to rule them as if they were beasts. We elves know the true glory of this world and portray it through our civilization. And we have done so ever since.”

Dinky paused to think about it then raised an eyebrow. “So how come there are so many humans and so few elves?”

The elf scowled. “Because they have the filthy habit of breeding like rabbits! Now unless you have any more stupid questions, I must be with my thoughts...alone.” With that, he vanished.

It made no sense for Dinky. It was natural for the humans to breed, just like ponies. And they weren’t all bad, Dinky knew it firsthand from her first adventure on Earth, the home of the humans.

“Talion, we found some herbs for you.” Apple Bloom tore her out, seeing the CMC walking up to him with what looked like a tall, hale blue plant. Due to Zecora, Apple Bloom knew a lot about plants.

The Ranger looked surprised at her, like he was not expecting this at all.

Then he smiled. “Thank you. Blue Mist or Azuradan, very useful to deal with injuries.” He took them and put it into his bag. “That should suffice.” He stood up. “Come, let us see how the ambitions of our orcish friend have blossomed.” He suggested and they nodded.

The group reached the stronghold just in a few minutes and Scootaloo spotted something, hanging from a crane. “That’s Ratbag!”

“Yes, looks like he needs our help...again", he said with a sigh. “Wait here,” Talion said and sneaked his way on top of it.

The foals saw how Ratbag shooed two ravens away that had landed on him. “Hey look. There’s no need to freshen the wounds today.” He said to two guards as they checked him. “These birds are feeding plenty well as it is.”

One of the guards hit him with his spear and he cried in pain. “You bastards! When I am Warchief, these birds will feast on your guts!”

At that moment, Talion stabbed one guard from behind and Ratbag kicked the other, stunning him, allowing the human to slice him as well. “Did you see that?!” He yelled happy before asking helpless, “Could you get me down?”

The ranger cut the rope in reply and the Orc fell on an unfortunate guard below, the foals ran up to him but before they could ask, he said, “I’m alright! That didn’t hurt at all.”

He got up and faced Talion. “Now, I know what yer thinkin’, Ranger. This was not my fault. I go to tell the Warchief I’ve killed his bodyguard. He turns around…”

At the stronghold, Ratbag swaggered up to the Warchief's platform, holding the Captain’s head in his hand.

“Let me pass! I bear a gift for Warchief Mogg!” He demanded, the guards looked to each other, and smiled and let him pass. Ratbag approached the Warchief's podium, feeling excited. The Warchief sat over a table, overseeing maps, his head bowed. Ratbag slammed the head down on the table and saluted.

“Hail Warchief, glory be to the Dark Lord! I bring the gift of Uruk justice! Your false bodyguard here proved himself a miserable failure in his shameful attempt to take my life. He and all who served him died under my blade. But don't you worry, I volunteer to guard your side in his place! I, Ratbag, am at your service!” He raised his sword in the air and grinned.

The Warchief looked at the head and sat up stunned

“This is it, at last, true respect, true glory.” Ratbag thought confidently.

The Warchief stood up, allowing Ratbag to get a good look at his very familiar face. He dropped his sword with a gasp.

“Oh...”

The Warchief stared at Ratbag, seething with rage, his face exactly the same as the head Ratbag had placed on the table

He laughed nervously and shakily tried to back away. “N-n-n-now, W-W-Warchief, er...C-c-clearly there...there's been a huge misunderstanding...”

The Warchief pointed at him and roared, “SEIZE HIM!”

Ratbag got grabbed by the shoulders and sighed. “Some uruks just have all the bloody luck.”

“Got the exact same face as the dead maggot I just killed… we just killed. Twins!” He gave an awkward shrug. “What are the odds of..?!” He asked in disbelief as the man held a hand up.

“Just make sure you show up to take the place of the dead Warchief.”

“Uh, but the Warchief’s not dead.” The Orc countered.

“I’m going to kill him!” Talion replied with anger in his voice as he turned around.

“Oh, good plan! Uh, I’ll be right behind you.” Ratbag said in surprise and took the guard’s sword. The guard woke up but got quickly stabbed into the heart by Ratbag. “It works.”

The man looked at a platform, several meters high. “A training platform. Well we’ll see how the Warchief’s soldiers do in the face of a true foe.”

“Rattle a cage and bring out the beast.” The Elf replied before Talion climbed up.

“Up here. I know a good spot. Let's all keep out of harm's way, eh?” Ratbag offered and the kids nodded.

They saw two Orcs walking back and forth, both armed with 2 axes, being larger than the others and faces smeared in war paint. The group also saw Talion climbing along the ledge.

A white light blinked near one of the Orcs, he drew his weapons and walked near Talion to take a look, only to be stabbed into the chest and was thrown off the platform, without any guard noticing it.

The man then climbed up and the other Orc saw him, drawing his weapons to fight him. Talion tried to strike him, but the Orc blocked every attack.

Dinky then lit up her horn, firing a spell at the soldier, he stumbled as he got hit, being stunned. The Ranger used this to slice him into the throat, killing him.

After that, several voices echoed, shouting, “Mogg!” in a choir as the Warchief arrived at the platform, looking identical to the Captain, but his sword was on fire.

“The pain of my twin shall echo within you!” He yelled at the man in anger.

Dinky’s eyes and that of her friends went wide as Talion teleported around Mogg’s soldiers, killing them one by one until only he was left, making him roar in rage.

He charged at the Ranger, who blocked his attacks barely, blocking any attacks of him in return, like his Twin.

Nodding at each other, both unicorns fired spells at the same time, making him stumble. Talion used this to fire an arrow at his torso, he stumbled more, dropping on his knees.

As the man moved towards him, he said, “I am but one soldier of a great army.” And he clashed swords with him but Talion pushed him back and slit him across the neck, blood splattered as he died, all remaining Orcs fled in terror.

Ratbag then kicked the body to make sure he was dead, letting out an evil laugh. “Finally! Ratbag is Warchief!” He raised his arms in triumph. “Ranger! We did it!”

“Now honor our arrangement.” The man replied.

“Oh, don’t you worry. Warchief Ratbag’ll make sure nobody gets in the way of your dirty schemes. But Ratbag can’t speak for the other Warchiefs!” He warned.

“I wouldn’t worry about them.”

The foals looked away as Ratbag tried to cut one of Mogg’s ears. “Could I borrow your…?” He couldn’t finish as the Ranger left with the foals. “I need a sharper blade.”

The group left the stronghold ad Sweetie Belle asked, “What do we now?”

“In order to weaken Sauron, I have to take out the other Warchiefs. I appreciate your bravery, but this gets too dangerous for you.” He sounded slightly worried, though his expression was neutral.

Celebrimbor appeared. “I agree. They are quite brave for their age but we must ensure they are safe.” And vanished again.

The ponies looked at each other, Talion had a point. Mogg was heavily guarded and they had no idea how well the others were guarded.

“Okay, where are we going?” Scootaloo spoke for her friends.

“Back to the outcast camp, you will be safe there.”

“I don’t mind, Hirgon and his wife are quite a pleasant company.” Dinky commented before Talion suddenly let out a cry of pain.

The foals looked in surprise and shock as an arrow was stuck in his knee.

“You!” A voice called out and they saw an Orc armed with a crossbow walking towards them. His was puce and dirty and resembled some kind of snaggle-toothed chimpanzee with large, pointed ears. His matted brown hair tied into a knotty tail behind his head. His eyes were yellow and sunken around flat, fleshy bags. His armor was ramshackle, improvised scraps of metal, leather and bone, but his crossbow was in decent shape and, to Talion's horror, was pointed straight at them.

“Afternoon, Ranger. Me and the lads here have been meaning to invite you over for grog and disemboweling...Sadly, we’re all out of grog!” He said as Talion pulled the arrow out.

“Run!” The man yelled and the foals did as told, not looking back.

Dinky, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom eventually reached a cave and hid in it, seeing how Talion bravely stood his ground.

He blocked blades and dodged arrows, but it seemed his strength was waning fast, barely managing to keep his balance.

In the moment he spun to block a joint strike from two of the thugs at once, he jolted and fell as another arrow hit him squarely in the back.

He looked up as the Archer walked towards him. The Orc rammed the crossbow into his head and fired, blood splattered as Talion feel dead to the ground, leaving the kids to watch in shock.

The Archer spit on the body.

“Give my regards to the wife and son, you fly-ridden shrakh!”

Chapter 7 The Dark Monument

Chapter 7: The Dark Monument

Talion, Midnight, Apple Bloom and Dinky arrived at the Outcast camp in the evening. “I hope your two friends did well.” The man said to the batpony who just grinned.

“The Warchief’s dead,” Wolf announced as she arrived with Scootaloo.

“He won’t bother you anymore,” Fletcher reported as he arrived at the same time too.

“Good,” Talion replied and entered the camp with them.

Inside, they saw Hirgon bandaging the left arm of his wife who suddenly grunted in pain and pulled her arm away. “You saw what these monsters are capable of. It is madness to stay here!” She exclaimed.

“Yes, but circumstances have changed. Don’t you see? We have him on our side bow.” Hirgon pointed out with a weak smile

“Why would he want to help us? Weeks ago, he was our enemy.” His wife countered as he stood up with an expression of distrust as he saw the Ranger.

“Talion! Ready to pick up that fight?” He asked as his wife picked up some bandages.

“I’d best take these bandages to the others.” She walked away giving Talion an uneasy look, leaving them alone.

“The Orcs are building a monument to honor Sauron. We have enough blasting powder to destroy it.” Hirgon sounded very eager about it.

“Fine. I’ll take it and I’ll finish this.” Talion replied.

“Not without me you won’t.”

“I thought your only concern was saving your wife.”

“So did I. Come on, let’s go before I change my mind. Forgive Eryn’s words. Her heart is with our people. The slaves you helped us free know where the Dark Lord’s monument is most vulnerable. We strike there.”

“Okay. I don't believe you've met my acquaintances. They're protecting the four foals I ran into.” The Ranger pointed to the three Eternal Knights who waved the Outcast leader.

“Ah, yes. I'm glad to have met...What exactly are you? I mean, you resemble horses but they seldom have such bright colors...or the ability to speak.” He did a respectful bow.

“Don't worry, the foals and their home is chiefly our concern. But if this gets them one step closer, we're at your disposal.” Midnight offered and the Outcast leader nodded.

“We’ll need to steal a cart of grog from the Uruk. It will make quite the trigger for the blasting powder.” Hirgon explained as he led them through the landscape before screams of Orcs could be heard ahead.

Talion entered a ruin and spotted several dead Orcs and Ghûls, only one Ghûl was still alive. As it looked up and gave a throaty screech, Talion's boot connected with its face, snapping its neck like a twig and leaving its corpse sprawled on the ground.

"I hate that noise" the ranger muttered.

“The Ghûls have turned on the Uruks. Nature’s darkness cannot be tamed.” Hirgon commented as he took the lead through the ruin, the Knights looked with disgust at the dead Ghûls before another ruin was insight. “The cart’s up ahead. Be ready, where there’s grog, there’s Uruks.”

“When we’re through, no Uruks will draw breath. You have my word.” Talion said as Fletcher fired at an Archer standing on top of the ruin, the force threw him backward, out of sight of the other Orcs.

Wolf quickly flew between two Orcs at the entrance, slicing them before any of them could react. Midnight noticed three Orcs around a campfire. He teleported between and slashed them with his blade in a matter of seconds.

Talion noticed an Orc with shield guarding the cart. He sneaked up behind him and stabbed him in the back, killing him instantly.

“All clear, men! Excellent work!” Hirgon complimented them as his men together with the goals moved to the cart to push it. “Now we must ensure they can push the cart to the monument free from harm.”

They led the Ranger and Knights past another ruin. “Look, how fast Evil corrodes.” He said with hate in his voice.

“This decay… Gondor must not fall prey to the shadow.” Talion replied at the sight before they came across a meadow with dead Orcs, causing the Outcast leader to say

“Wait! Something hides in the dark.” And drew his sword. In that moment, several dark, spindly shapes rose from out the ground. “Ghûls! They will pick the meat from our bones!”

“Somehow, I doubt it." Midnight said nonchalantly, drawing his sword and sliced one of the creatures with his it, all others did the same, taking care of all Ghûls with quick, swift strikes in a short time.

After all creatures were dead, they moved on, coming to a stronghold. “The Uruk camp lies before us. Kill the lot, so the cart can pass.” If you need assistance, I’ll be close by.” Hirgon stayed out of sight.

Fletcher shot an Archer in an elevated position, then a campfire, igniting all Orcs near it, they screamed in pain before they died. The remaining guards investigated it, Wolf, Midnight and Talion sneaked up from behind and stabbed them, opening the way.

“Fighting side by side, who would have thought?” The outcast leader asked as he took the lead again.

They barely left the camp as once again the sound of screaming Orcs and Ghûls could be heard up ahead.

“The Ghûls swarm Durthang. My men and the foals can use this distraction to push the cart beneath the bridge unseen.” They sneaked through the meadow near the stronghold, only the sounds of fighting could be heard. It sounded horrified but they all stayed calm, seeing that the Orcs were desperate to defend themselves. Not that any felt sorry for them.

“Simmer, beasts! You’ll get Uruk guts as reward!” Hirgon whispered as they sneaked past the fighting Orcs.

They me across a small bridge, as the man suddenly yelled, “They’re upon us!” And a few Ghûls climbed up from both sides of the bridge.

Like they before, the creatures were quickly defeated with swift strikes. “My men will protect the cart and children. Let’s clear the ridge so they may pass.” Hirgon explained afterward and shortly, they all saw the monument in the distance.

The foals looked at it in awe. A gigantic figure in nightmarish black armor, holding the chains of several slaves, kneeling before him.

“The monument is upon us. A tribute to Darkness build by the blood of my people…I will relish it’s destruction.” Hirgon said with hate in his voice. “Take a long look. That monument will soon fall.” He then led the Ranger and Knights toward the stronghold guarding the monument. “There, our success depends on your ability to clear the outpost of Uruk. Only then can my men and our young friends get into position and destroy the monument.”

They nodded and moved out, Talion smirked at the low number of Orcs. “The Uruks numbers dwindle now that their Warchiefs have fallen by my hand and your hooves.”

Fletcher took again of every Archer he spotted, the others sneaked behind the guards and sliced them.

Hirgon then shouted, “Everyone! To the monument!”

The foals with the Outcast soldier pushed the cart towards it, Talion and the Knights kept the remaining Orcs busy.

Dinky started to smile as they were slowly, yet steady making progress. “Almost there!”

“Arrows! Incoming!” One of the soldiers yelled before the foals shrieked as an arrow set the cart on fire, the Outcast members helping them pushed them away, getting caught in the flames, screaming as they died.

Dinky and the CMC breathed heavily at what had just happened, yet knew they couldn’t fail here. They continued to push the car, Talion assisted them as Fletcher fired three arrows at 3 Archers above them to protect them, while the Outcast soldiers, Wolf and Midnight kept the Orcs busy.

As the cart finally reached the monument, they all watched in awe as it exploded, the explosions climbed up the structure, destroying the monument in a gigantic fireball and everything collapsed.

For the moment, the children couldn’t help but feel pride at what they did.

“You sealed their doom,” Talion said to Hirgon.

“My people believe they have just claimed their freedom.” He replied.

“This that what you told him?” The ranger asked in return.

“Men need hope. I just gave them what they asked for.” Hirgon pointed out.

“Then your men need their leader,” Talion replied and Hirgon walked away without a word.

The Ranger then turned to the children. “You did all a brave work. You can be proud of yourselves.”

Dinky was about to reply as she and the CMC had to yawn. “You should get some sleep, it was an exhausting day for you.” Fletcher levitated Dinky and Sweetie Belle on his back, then Scootaloo on Woolf, Apple Bloom on Midnight.

“They all were about to get back to the Outcast camp as suddenly…

“Blasphemy!”

They all turned into its direction, seeing an Orc which upper part was apparently decorated with feathers, the helm he wore was black iron and beetle-like, two strips of metal forking out at either side of the cheeks as tooth-like points encircles his face like his head was being swallowed by some metallic maw.

“You...I've seen you in my dreams. Horses of night...and stars...and shadow...and life beyond death! Dabbling in ancient witchery! You pollute the Dark Lord's realm with your presence. Your magic is a sin against the will of Sauron! And I...I come to deliver to Mordor the blessing of your doom!” The Orc exclaimed and the Knights looked at each other.

“Did anypony understand a word he was saying?” Wolf asked.

“I'm pretty sure I heard 'I'm going to kill you' in there somewhere.” Midnight replied and the mare grinned,

“Well, why didn't you say so?” And drew her knives.

Talion stayed back yet ready, should they need him, it was their fight this time.

The Captain fired an arrow at Wolf who dogged it, then clashing his sword with her knives, giving Scootaloo the chance to kick him to into his exposed groin, making him stagger.

Midnight then lunged forward, but the Orc managed to block as well before Apple Bloom kicked him into the groin as well, throwing him back once more.

Fletcher then fired an arrow into his chest he grunted in pain before both young unicorns fired non-lethal spells and he fell one knee, grinning.

“Heh...My dreams end...And your nightmares begin! We swarm this land! We have your scent...You will find no light here in Mordor...” He coughed. “Only...Death...”

“We will see about that.” Midnight said as he raised his blade and brought it down ion the Orc’s throat, killing him instantly as blood splattered.

“Do you…do think it’s true what he said?” Sweetie Belle asked scared.

I doubt it highly, he just wanted to look scary for us.” Midnight replied calm and they walked back to the Outcast camp, tucking the foals in. They were fast asleep.

Hirgon looked at the sleeping children with a smile. “They did great work tonight, we owe them something for their bravery.” His wife and Talion nodded before they all went to bed themselves.

The next morning, the ponies awoke to screams of pain, wondering what was going on. “Hirgon, what’s wrong? Apple Bloom asked before she gasped at the sight.

Before them were several Outcasts in critical condition, Hirgon and his wife tried to treat one of them. “Hold, brother.” The leader said in a calming tone.

“He wants…the Gravewalker.” The injured man managed to say through his injuries.

“The Black Hand has come?” Talion asked as he joined them.

“One of his minions. He was sent here to hunt us down.” Hirgon explained with worry as he saw Talion turned around. “Let me gather my men.” He said determined to strike back.

“The servants of Sauron are foes beyond any of you.” The ranger pointed out, sounding quite caring for the safety of the Outcast. “Get your people out of Mordor tonight, or you’ll all be dead by dawn.”

Hirgon looked at his wife, then turned back to Talion. “There…there is a hidden tunnel to the Black Gate.” He looked at his wife again. “Eryn, it’s time.” She nodded and he looked at the ponies. “We can take the foals with us for their safety.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I assure you they are safe with us.” Midnight waved a hoof and the children nodded.

“Believe me, they are very skilled in fighting, as you have seen before,” Dinky spoke up and Horgan nodded.

“Alright. Goodbye, my friends.” As the group turned to leave, the ponies saw out of the corner of their eyes how Hirgon lowered his head as the injured man had died.

Art the destroyed Monument, the Ranger and Knights spotted several Orcs, together with someone rather different.

Standing before the ruins of the Gorthaur was a monstrous figure, man-like in shape but monstrous in essence. He was taller than the orcs at his command by at least three heads and bedecked from head to toe in jet-black armor crafted to form a nightmarish design of bone, shell and screaming skull. His helm was tight and undecorated, resembling some ridged, scaly creature.

A swathe of cloth-of-chainmail adorned his waist and legs at the back and sides but his heavy black boots could still be seen, the ground trembling slightly with each step he took.

Clasped in his gauntleted hand was a nightmarish hammer, spiked at the very tip, the head formed up of an intricate design resembling upright skeletons screaming in their coffins conjoined column, layers of dried blood coating their forms.

The man was a Black Captain, an undying outcast of Numenor, Sauron's chosen.

Staring at the crumbled remains of the once-great icon of his lord, he spoke with utter fury, his voice possessed of an eerie ambience like the growl of a fire drake. The foals stayed out of sight for their safety.

“So the local Warchiefs did nothing to prevent this sacrilege?” The armored man asked angrily, turning to the Orcs, allowing the Knights to see his face. His face was deathly pale, loose-skinned and somewhat swollen, as if drowned or buried alive. His baggy eyes however did nothing to dispel the terror that came from them as they glowed a fiery red. He had many scars but the most prominent was a thick puce streak that ran from his left eyelid across his lips and down to his chin, setting his mouth into a curled grimace of contempt.

It didn't take the foals long to be certain that this figure, though a human or close enough, was more powerful and more evil than any orc they had seen.

Ratbag stepped ahead. “They all perished in battle, my lord…All expect me! Warchief Ratbag!” He explained with a slightly shaken voice.

“Fortunately, you are still alive.” The man said sarcastically and Ratbag laughed before the mace of the man started to glow and hit Ratbag right onto the head, sending him flying out of sight. “Now, bring me the head of this…Gravewalker.” He demanded.

“Claim the head yourself.” A voice said and he turned around, becoming surprised to see the Ranger.

“The Ranger from the Black Gate!” He sounded amused by the sight.

Talion and the Knights were unaware that the foals started watched from a distance, being slightly scared by the appearance of the armored man as he taunted, “Where was your bravery, when we bled your wife and gutted your son?” Talion’s expression became dark and he ordered, Kill him!”

The foals looked in shock at each other, not able to believe what they just had heard. They had wondered by Talion was so gloomy all the time and they could barely believe it.

He and the Orcs charged at Talion. “Ranger…time to die!” Yet Talion got the first strike, hitting the servant of Sauron into the right shoulder, then dogged a counter strike.

The Knights jumped into action, fighting the Orcs, the man ignored then completely, only focused on Talion. I will teach you what real pain is!”

Midnight tried to strike the hostile human, he blocked it, which gave Talion the chance to ram his word into the back of the man, he groaned in pain and swung his mace around, The Ranger ducked and pulled the sword out once the enemy had his back to him again.

Yet it seemed to have little effect on him as he punched the ground, creating a shockwave that threw everyone back. Back to earth, Gravewalker!”

They know tried to combine their attacks against the man, but he effortlessly blocked every attack by them. ”The Dark Lord will rule!” He then grabbed Talion by the throat and threw him back, then created another shockwave that threw the Knights back. Fletcher attempted to fire an arrow at him but caught it swiftly with his hand, grinning as his hand shock almost fitfully as the arrow snapped, sending a tongue of fire down the path it had taken, Fletcher barely dodged it.

Wolf threw one of her knives at the man, he just sidestepped. Talion and the Knights now knew that had just got lucky at the start, now it was a real fight.

“There was to be a way to help them!” Dinky said as she realized this man was too powerful to fight head-on.

“Maybe…we can use fire?” Apple Bloom pointed to a campfire.

“It’s worth a try.” Dinky lit up her horn and fired a spell at a campfire the man was standing near, it exploded, igniting him, and he stumbled for a moment.

Midnight rammed his blade into his chest, Wolf dealt quick strikes with her knives and Fletcher made a swift strike into the chest too, making him stumble more.

The Ranger then lunged forward and dealt quick strikes with his sword, then rammed his sword into the chest and the man fell on his knees.

He looked at the Ranger. “How does your vengeance taste, Talion? Is not the darkness sweet?”

Talion raised his sword and hit the man’s right hand, throwing the mace out of his grip and grazed him across the right eye, a white liquid dropped from it as he held his wound. Talion then grabbed his head from behind and plunged his dagger into the man’s heart. His armor and eyes glowed red for a second before Talion pulled it out and he fell dead to the ground.

The foals then joined them as it was over and Dinky saw Celebrimbor facing the Ranger. “You acted too hastily. There’s so much we could have learned.” He chastised him.

Talion pointed at the deceased human. “He slaughtered my entire family before my very eyes. What would you have done?”

“Do you speak with the living, or only with the dead?” A female voice tore them out and they saw a woman with blue eyes and blond hair with two long knots, dressed in blue clothing with light armor over it.

“Who are you?” Talion asked her.

“My name is Lithariel, from the sea of Núrn. My mother said you would be here. And so you are.”

Surprised, Talion replied, “Well, Lithariel from the sea of Núrn, you should have stayed where you are. There’s nothing here but death.”

“Lady Marwen, Queen of the Shore, wishes an audience with you.” The woman countered, “She has seen visions of your misfortune.

Talion chuckled, “A queen who sees visions?”

“Visions of the return of the great Celebrimbor.” She added and Talion stopped, looking at her. “She wishes to make him an offering.”

“And what is this offering?” The man asked in return with distrust but Lithariel stayed quiet for a moment.

“This is all I know. I must gather provisions. The return to Núrn is long and treacherous. My camp is close by. It will be my honor to escort you. Your friends are welcome to come too.” She said and walked away.

Dinky noticed that Talion showed a blissful look on his face.

Chapter 8 The Messenger

Chapter 8: The Messenger

“We have defeated the Hammer of Sauron. But the Black Hand and the Tower remain.” Dinky heard Talion saying and the Elf replied,

“And their master.”

For some reason, she couldn’t help but look over the dead body of the so-called ‘Hammer.’

Something told her he had been different before and as she blinked, she gasped.

The filly found herself in an empty field, hearing the screams of a wounded man and another voice. “Don't worry. We're here for you." Then she saw another man in shining armor, carrying a stretcher running towards the wounded and gently put him on it. “You’re going to be fine.” He spoke in a calming voice.

As he turned around, Dinky could see his face. It was that of the Hammer, pure of evil. She could tell he was dedicated to retrieving the wounded, making her wonder what caused him to change.

Blinking again, she saw him then exploring the slopes of a mountain, discovering the same hammer he had used in the battle.

For some reason, she felt a strange aura around it.

Suddenly, she saw how the Hammer was surrounded by other humans, all had mocking gazes “Weakling. Pathetic waste of life. A slave to the helpless, nursing the bruises and sores of fallen men. Never the soldier. Never the conqueror. Weak! Weak!”

The man known as the hammer held his head in pain. “No! Stop it!”

Upon grabbing it, a dark light engulfed him and he said, “I have wasted my life on saving others. For their scorn, for their weakness, I will give them only death!”

Then a few of his comrades come behind him, seeing what happened to him. “Drop the hammer.” One of them said with concern in his face before the man faced them with a colorless face and blazing red eyes. They knew what's took him and reached for their swords but it was too late as he charged at them, killing them while laughing.

Dinky blinked again and found herself back in reality, breathing heavily at what she had seen. “Are you okay?” Fletcher asked with worry.

“I’m fine.” She replied before they moved out.

Yet, the filly couldn’t help but feel sorry for the Hammer, he had been so kind and caring before his fall. Also, what refused to leave her mind, were his words regarding Talion.

“T-Talion, is it true what he said about your family?” She asked, feeling bad about it.

The Ranger sighed. “I suppose there's no more harm in saying it... The Black Gate is the most fortified and direct entrance to Mordor, made to prevent anything evil from leaving or entering Mordor. I was one of the men guarding it. The Uruks led by the Hammer and the other two Black Captains attacked, killing my wife and son in the process. They also killed me, but the curse was my salvation.” He told with a shaken voice.

All ponies looked at him with sympathy. “Sorry to hear that.” Dinky lowered her head.

The Ranger smiled weakly. “You couldn’t know that. Actually, you and your three young friends remind me of my son.”

“We do?” Sweetie Belle asked in surprise.

“Yes. He was just as brave and resourceful as your friends and as kind as you, Sweetie Belle.”

“Glad to hear it. “She replied, blushing.

“Sounds like he was a great son.” Midnight added and the Ranger nodded.

They traveled for a while until they reached the camp, seeing several death Orcs scattered on the ground.

“The smell of fresh meat always attracts the Scavengers.” They heard Lithariel’s voice from behind and turned around, seeing how she put her sword away.

“And they tend to travel in packs. We should leave. Now.” Talion suggested as the woman picked up a bag from one of the dead Uruks.

“The Queen will be pleased to see you.” She led them through an area with green grass which was a beautiful change for the three foals until she said, “We are here.” The came to a hill, overlooking a small town, the ponies looked in awe at it.

Lithariel then led to the group down and through a gate and into a room. “Lady Marwen, Queen of the Shore.” She announced and the group looked at a haggard, old woman in decorated clothing, sitting on a throne, holding a staff. “Mother…” The younger woman gave her a drink before the Queen looked at Talion.

“The fallen Ranger from the Black Gate. Come closer.” The Queen smiled and he did as told, the ponies bowed to show their respect.

“It is an honor to meet you, your highness.” Midnight said and the woman made a gesture to rise.

“Do not kowtow, creature of shadow. As I sit here, I am merely an old, sick woman in a broken kingdom.”

“Your daughter claims you have something for me.” The Ranger pointed out.

“Not for you, Talion.” She replied and threw some sand into a small fire, it became blue. “The hour grows late. Very soon the Dark Lord and his army will march over all of Mordor. But…a great power can be awakened to prevent it.”

“Is that why I’m here?” He asked.

“What kind of power?” Dinky asked curiously.

“Breach into Morgoth's Scar. Take the Elven craftwork from the Ghûls. And find the…Dwarf.” The Queen explained as the fire became normal again and suddenly, her eyes struggled to stay open.

Her daughter held her arm. “Stay strong, mother.”

Talion then asked her, “What is your mother’s affliction?”

“No one knows. She worsened after her travels.” She sounded worried.

“Is there not medicine?”

“Yes, there must be a way to help her. “Dinky added.

“There was. But our camp was overrun.” Lithariel explained and walked away.

The group then walked outside. “There’s a good chance we can pick up the Ghûls’ trail at that ransacked caravan we passed earlier by the ravine.” The Ranger suggested and the ponies nodded.

For the foals and Knights, the Queen had made a wise impression, despite her age, reminding them of Celestia and Luna.

“Nature thrives in Núrn. I never thought I’d see such live in Mordor.” Talion commented.

“This is how the Dark Lord shall feed his armies.” The Elf replied.

“So many dead Uruks. I must thank the Ghûls before I slaughter them.”

“Ghûls are scavengers. They take all, but leave one thing behind.” The Wraith reminded as Talion and Dinky saw blue trails in the ground and followed them.

It led them through the green landscape to a small wooden bridge to an elevation with a cave entrance. “That must be in. Stay quiet, we can’t afford to alert them.” The man said and the Knights nodded, letting the fillies climb on them and they sneaked through the cave.

While the Ranger and Knights had no trouble, the foals trembled slightly at the sight of how many of those terrible creatures were there, until they came to what looked like a treasure room, seeing an ancient hammer lodged in the wall, covered in blood.

Dinky saw Celebrimbor appearing once again as Talion looked at the hammer. “Made by the Dark Lord himself. And still covered in my family’s blood.”

The man then yanked it out of the wall and screamed as he got engulfed in light again.

This time, Dinky saw Celebrimbor as he was alive and forging a ring before he suddenly gasped. After blinking, she saw the figure in black Armor, holding the same ring in triumph, then the Elf again, together with a woman that looked similar to his wife.

“We are betrayed. Its power blazes like a beacon and will bring ruin to all Middle-Earth.”

The filly breathed heavily as it ended, seeing how Talion struggled to stand up before a growl was behind them.

They turned around and saw a monstrous Ghul closing the Gate at the end of the room. “By Gondor, what is that creature?! Talion exclaimed as he reached for his sword.

Fletcher fired two arrows at it, the Ghul got thrown back but recovered quickly and charged forward and spit green bile which Talion barely dodged. “Poison!”

He then hit the Ghul with a strike and dodged quickly a counterattack. The Knights quickly acknowledged his tactic and hit the Ghul with their weapons and dodged it's counterstrike, confusing the Ghul.

Normally, the children were scared by Ghûls, but they felt safe with the Eternal Knights and did kicks on their own when they got the chance. The Ranger and Knights also countered a few normal Ghûls.

Their tactic seemed to work as the big Ghul’s attack became slowly, allowing Talion to ram his sword through its chest, killing it. “Let’s get out of here!”

The other agreed and made their way through the now opened gate as the Ghûls started to swarm them.

However, at the entrance, the Ghûls surrounded them and all looked around for a way out, the foals now looked frantically around.

“Take cover!” Someone yelled and they saw a flaming barrel rolling towards them, the man and Knights made a dash for the entrance, the explosion threw them over.

They all groaned as they got up, seeing a man.

He was the shortest human they'd ever seen, at the most just under two-thirds as tall as Talion, but he clearly wasn't a child. Bristly sideburns enveloped his cheeks and his dirty but bright face was pitted with faint scars. His arms and shoulders were tattooed and his chest was bare but for a set of leather straps over each shoulder from which hung his intricate belt and baggy leather trousers, heavy metal manacles and boots protecting each of his forelimbs. His chestnut-brown hair was tied up in a topknot behind his head and his steely, thin, blue-grey eyes were possessed of a thirsty glint of excitement.

“Pity to end your military career inside the belly of a Ghül, eh?” He spoke, his voice low and booming and possessed of a strange accent close to Equestria's Trottish as he emptied a pipe.

“Or the life of children,” Fletcher added as he picked his bow up.

“Thank you for your help, without you, we had probably died.” Apple Bloom smiled at him.

“It’s nothing, young one. I’m Torvin, the beast hunter. And I bet then pints you just nabbed the treasure I was after.” He said with disappointment.

“I’m pretty sure it wasn’t worth risking your life,” Wolf commented on it with a hint of relief in her voice.

“Now, I am grateful for your assistance, but it does not grant you proprietary rights,” Talion replied to the hunter.

Torvin smiled. “Keep it. I found something more valuable.”

“And what would that be?” The ranger picked his sword up.

“My new hunting partner.” The hunter pronounced.

“What you hunt does not interest me, Master Dwarf.” Talion turned to leave but turned around as the man asked,

“Plus, it could get too dangerous for us.” The white unicorn pointed out with fear.

“Even if it leads you to the chisel that belongs to that hammer?” He then paused and walked closer to the Ranger. “Every creature got its lure, eh? Yours just happens to be, uh, very old.” He paused again. “Well, if the thrill of the hunt takes your fancy, my camp’s not far. Your friends are welcome to join too.” With that, he walked away, and Dinky saw the Ranger and Wraith looking at each other for a moment.

“So, what do we now?” Apple Bloom asked the Gravewalker.

“Report our discovery to the Queen.”

And with that, they traveled back to the city. Once arrived, they saw how the elderly woman tried to grab a drink, Dinky lifted it up with her magic and Talion grabbed it, giving it to the queen. “Here.”

The woman let out a sigh of relief and smiled at him. “Thank you.”

“I found the mithril hammer.” He said to her and grabbed her staff. “Can your flames show me why my soul was denied death?”

Lady Marwen took the staff and breathed deeply as the light around her went dark. “You, you are the victim of a blood sacrifice.”

“Can the curse be broken?” He wanted to know, sounding hopeful and the flame became blue again.

“Destroy the Black Hand and his followers and claim Mordor.”

“No men of Gondor will come to my aid.” He replied and the queen chuckled.

“You don’t need them. Your power begets followers, willing or otherwise. And you have your six allies.”

“Indeed, Talion, we are with you.” Midnight sounded honest.

“An Orc Army.” Celebrimbor figured out and the Ranger asked,

“How? How do I do this?”

“Yes, how can this be achieved?” Fletcher added to the question.

“Your answers lie in a fortress nearby, but what you seek may not be there for much longer.” The queen answered and the man walked out, the ponies followed him without a word.

It rained outside as the Wraith said, “Marwen’s decree was speed. The future must be met.”

Upon arrival, they saw three soldiers tried up and on their knees. “It is not them what we seek but what they carry.” The Elf reminded Talion but he protested,

“I will save then nonetheless.”

“Don’t be blinded by your emotions.” The Wraith countered, “The Queen told our answers to building an Orc army lie within this fortress.”

The Ranger then looked at the Archers in the towers. “If we brand those Archers, we can build our army and save these men at the same time.”

“I agree, we must help them,” Dinky whispered, the others nodded.

“Fletcher, can you get on the tower?” Talion pointed to the one in front of them.

“No problem.” He teleported with Sweetie Belle and Dinky on it, Talion climbed it up to and sneaked behind the Archer.

The man grabbed the Orc’s head, his hand glowed blue as he said, “You will is mine!”

To the fascination of the ponies, Orc replied, “It is yours, Master.” And his eyes glowed blue, giving the stallion a quick salute.

The foals and Knights came to realize, whatever Talion had done, the Archer was now their ally.

The Ranger then quietly made his way to the other Arches and branded them too. He then raised his hand into the air and it glowed blue again.

Fletcher noticed how the archer held his head for a second and took aim, the stallion took to and all archers fired at the same time at the Orcs below.

“Backstabbers! We are betrayed! Kill the traitors!” The Orcs yelled as Talion, Midnight and Wolf joined the fight, overwhelming them in seconds.

As Fletcher jumped down, Dinky yelled, behind you!” Seeing one Orc preparing to strike at the stallion, before he was killed by an arrow to the head from the Archer in the tower.

“Nice shot!” Fletcher praised him as Talion freed the prisoners.

“Did the Lady of the Shore send you to our aid?” One prisoner asked.

“The Queen warned us to wait until the end of the battle, then the Orcs spotted us…” A second tried to explain before the first one cut him off.

“I told you! Her visions always come to pass!”

“Yes, but I told you no to…” The other argued before the Ranger held a hand up.

“Do you have something for me?” He asked.

“Queen Marwen sent us to find this…” The first prisoner gave him a small bag and he took out what looked like a crown and he screamed as the blue light appeared once again.

Upon opening her eyes, Dinky saw the elf standing protectively in front of his family, drawing his bow and fired two arrows. They hit two Orcs into the head then he fought this way through hordes of them before the dark armored figure appeared in front of him. The Elf attacked the figure, but was beaten to the ground. After blinking, the filly saw how he was restrained, his family was led away and the figure said in a dark voice, “Take him to Mordor.”

After finding herself in reality again, she heard the battle cries of Uruks and a large horde of them moved in.

The Knights drew their weapons but Talion spotted a nest of Morgai Flies above it and shot it down, casing the Orcs to flee in terror, with the banded Archers picking them off as they fled.

“Okay, that’s done. Shall we return to the Queen? It’s getting late.” Wolf noticed that despite the rain, it was getting evening.

“I agree,” Talion replied and the foals nodded.

On the way back, the grey unicorn heard him mumble, “It is one thing to kill theses Uruk, It is another to make them our followers.”

“It is a gift. We can use the weapon of the enemy against him.” Celebrimbor pointed out.

Back in the small, hidden city, they all had bread for dinner and the Knights tucked the children in. “Goodnight, Dinky, sweet dreams,” Fletcher said with a smile.

“Night, Uncle.” The filly closed her eyes and was fast asleep.

She wasn’t an expert in military things, but maybe, having an army of Orcs could help them get home faster.

Chapter 9 The power of the Wraith

Chapter 9: The power of the Wraith

The ponies had slept well, awaking with yawns in the morning, stretching themselves. “Good morning!” Dinky greeted the CMC with a smile.

“Morning.” Apple Bloom replied as the adult ponies also woke up. “Morning, uncle.”

“Good morning, Apple Bloom.” He replied as they saw the young woman walking in.

“Good morning. Would you like to join us for breakfast?” She asked and Sweetie Belle grinned.

“With pleasure!” They had bread, like with the Outcast, it was tasted soft and fresh, together with some water and some vegetables of salad and tomatoes. “So, who are you guys? Have you always lived here?” The white unicorn sounded rather curious and the woman replied,

“Our kind hasn't always lived here. In ages past, we were seafarers, corsairs, pirates if you will.” Dinky grinned, knowing Pip would be interested, as the woman continued, “Back then, we made war with Gondor whose realm spread far beyond Mordor. In later years however, they regressed and we took ahold...We learned only too late just why Gondor no longer wished to stay here. We were a simple folk, we lived off the land and looked out for our own but this only made us an easy target for Sauron, a first test for his new horde.” She paused for a moment.

“Back when...she was well, she trained the soldiers here, as she trained me. In the art of the swordsman, the tracker, the leader, as all the Kings and Queens of Núrnen were. We've done all we can. But each year just grows harsher than the last. Whenever the men and women of Núrn took up arms to drive the orcs out, it ended in disaster. We saw sense to hide in the rocks, wait for the orcs to grow lax and slowly take back the realm. But even that comes at too great a cost and Sauron's forces grow in power far swifter than any kingdom of man. All of us wonder how long we can last.” She smiled. “Now, what are you doing here, speaking ponies aren’t exactly common here.”

Dinky took the word. “It’s a long story.” And together with her friends, she told where they came from, what they were and how they ended up here.

Lithariel’s expression became one of sympathy, smiling weakly. “I’m sorry to hear that. It’s really a misfortune that you landed here. I promise with my honor as warrior to keep you safe.”

“I am glad to hear that you want to help us, we take any help we can get to complete our task in getting them home safe and sound.” Midnight said as he took a bite of his bread.

“Good morning, mother.” Lithariel smiled as the Queen walked in.

Marwen’s head rose with a sour expression on her craggy face. “Lithariel...Is it dawn?”

“Just past, actually.”

The Queen sighed with hints of anger in her voice. “...My chambermaid let me oversleep...again.”

“Mother, you need your sleep.” Her daughter replied with worry before the elderly woman slammed the butt of the staff on the floor, causing her to flinch.

“I need stone and steel and swords and men to wield them! The forces of Sauron grow ever bolder. Their numbers swell, their march grows ever louder and no amount of sleep will keep us safe from it! She exclaimed, then sighed. “The foals...”

Scootaloo bowed. “We are here, your highness. You've all been very kind.”

Marwen raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “I would imagine the fading of bruises come morning seems kind when faced with orcish hospitality. You are not here as a guest, simple child, you come to us now, desperate and afraid. I will know why.”

This caused all ponies to look at her in slight fear as Scootaloo started to tremble. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, your highness.”

“Lady Marwen, could you show us we are here?” Dinky asked, hoping she would know answers.

In response, the queen threw some sand into the small fire, it became blue again. “You are not of this world...You came here not by choice...Yet with purpose....”

“Purpose? What do you mean?”

“That horseshoe...There is otherworldly magic upon it, great and terrible indeed...But it is not of the Great Eye...Sauron does not touch it...He cannot. There is another force at work.”

This caused the ponies to look at each other in confusion. “Is there a way we can get home?” Apple Bloom asked with hope in her voice.

“Stay beside the Ranger...Your paths are aligned. But be wary...There is a foul voice upon the air...”

“How that?” Scootaloo asked before the light went dark around the queen and her eyes went black. “What’s wrong?” The filly asked with concern, the others shared her reaction.

“Lady Marwen!” They heard Talion’s voice and the woman slammed the staff into the ground, knocking everyone back.

“Why have you returned? You are not done yet.” The queen said with an echoing male voice strangely.

“How did you know where to find this?” The Ranger held up the crown.

“He has shown me.” The woman replied, now with her own voice, still echoing.

“You haven’t told me what you want in return.” The man pointed out with unease in his voice.

“Only that you learn what you are truly capable of. Find an Orc leader. Make him a Warchief. And all his soldiers will be yours”

“Where I am to lead this army of mine?” The man wanted to know.

“Bring them to me and I show you.” She replied and Talion dropped the crown, walking out, the ponies followed him without a word to assist him.

“Marwen said to bring her an Army.” He said to the Elf who replied,

“We shall not build an army, we shall command one!”

“We’ll need an Orc Captain to dominate and make him our own.”

“There’s a slaver near here named Grûblik. We will make him serve our case.” The Wraith replied.

The man then turned to his friends. “I know the location of a Captain nearby for this.”

“Okay. Where have you been?” Dinky asked.

Talion slowly smiled as they moved out. “I helped Torvin with his hunting, he’s quite a pleasant one as I found out.”

“I believe you that.”

It didn’t take long until they came to a ruin, a few Orcs were inside around a campfire, with another one walking back and forth. “I take care of that,” Talion said and fired a bow at the campfire, it exploded and set all Orcs around it ablaze, screaming as they died. The last remaining Orc was drawing his sword as the Ranger got into his sight. “Dead-Man!” He yelled and Talion got a closer look.

His skin was sickly-green and his face, flat and clammy. He seemed, for all purposes, a rather feeble character but he snarled at the ranger with gleaming eyes and made his threat, “I’m going to cut you slow, and savor every twitch!” He was about to strike but the man blocked him and shoved him back, striking him across the chest with his sword, then several quick strikes in secession, making him stumble.

Dinky then saw how Talion grabbed him by the head, his hand glowed as he head said with an angry expression, Suffer me now!”

The Orc’s expression became one of pain and fear for a few seconds before Talion threw him aside and he ran away.

“He’s under my command now. I ordered him to become bodyguard of a Warchief. We must ensure he will make it.” Talion explained and Wolf grinned.

“Oh, this will be fun!” They walked a short distance to another ruin, seeing that the Captain’s eyes glowed blue, like with the Archers yesterday, together with some followers, facing another group of Orcs.

“Bow to your new Captain!” He ordered.

“You lack a Captain’s strength, scum!” One of the other Orcs taunted and drew his weapon.

Fletcher and Talion climbed on the wall, firing arrows at the challengers, with the young unicorns fired non-lethal spells from the stallion’s back, while Wolf and Midnight tore through their ranks, weakening so Grûblik and his soldiers could finish them off and move on.

The fight lasted only a few minutes before the branded Orcs moved on, with the Ranger and ponies close behind moving out of the ruin where the next group was. “Stand by my side, or lay dead at my feet!” The Captain demanded, but the other did not comply.

Again, the man and ponies stunned and weakened the Captain’s enemies with the same tactic, allowing him to proceed. “He fights well for us.” Midnight commented.

“Through my will, he steers those Uruks of Mordor,” Talion replied as soon another ruin with a third group was in sight and the Captain demanded,

“Kill for me in service of the Lord of Mordor!” But this group didn’t comply either.

Yet, with the help of the Ranger and ponies, he quickly defeated them, cheering in victory. “I conquered the weak! Now join me in victory! Any who oppose me will pay with their blood! To red swords!” He raised his weapon with the new recruits.

“Hail our Captain! May we die last! We fight for true Uruks!” His followers cheered.

“Now, let’s take care of the Warchief.” The Ranger suggested and led the way to the stronghold.

It took them quite some time, it started to rain and it was getting dark, the children struggled to stay awake, having to yawn. “I hope the long journey will be worth it.” Midnight said as he noticed that Apple Bloom’s eyes became heavy.

“Trust me, it will. Take a high vantage point, I take care of the archers.” Talion said and the Knights moved out, seeing how he climbed up the towers, branding the Archers in it as they took position at the highest tower in the middle of the stronghold, with him joining shortly after all Archers obeyed him.

Then, a chore yelled “Târz!” And they saw the Warchief, together with the branded Captain walking in and Talion raised his hand into the air, it glowed blue and they saw how Grûblik stabbed the Warchief into the back and the Archers opened fire.

Talion, Midnight and Wolf joined the fight, the Ranger swung his sword at Târz but he blocked it. “Hey!” He exclaimed and the man got a good look at him.

The Orc looked very similar, if not identical to Mogg, expect he had hair, tied into a knot.

“You've made a grave error and we will make you regret it!” He yelled as Talion shoved him back and the Orc got hot by a strike to the chest by Midnight, followed by a kick of Apple Bloom, knocking him back.

In the moment he recovered, an arrow in the knee by Fletcher hit him and Wolf made several quick strikes on his chest, with a punch by Scootaloo, dazing him.

Târz vision became clear again, only to feel the sword of his new bodyguard in his back, dropping on his knees as the Ranger walked towards him. “At least make it quick.” The man seemed to grant his wish as he sliced his throat with his sword, quick and painless.

“I fight for the Dark Lord, and you shall fight for me!” The new Warchief yelled before he climbed on atop a podium.

His followers cheered his name, the Ranger and Knights looked at him with neutral expressions.

“This is my dominion! I am the strongest Warchief in all of Mordor! I shall lead my army over a field of broken bones! Come stand behind me or let my blade meet your neck!” Grûblik cheered in victory.

“Okay, that’s over and successful. Now, let’s get the children to rest, they need it.” Midnight suggested as Apple Bloom started to close her eyes, starting to snore on his back, the other foals did the same on Wolf and Midnight.

“Of course, they've earned it. Use the stronghold for your rest. Warchief, keep them safe.” Talion turned to Grûblik who saluted.

“I will protect them with my life! No one gets past me!”

The Eternal Knights brought the foals to some blankets inside a tower, gently tucking them in. “Goodnight, girls, may Luna watch over you,” Fletcher said as he and his friends went to sleep too, wondering what would come next.

Chapter 10 The cure

Chapter 10: The cure

The ponies had all slept well as they woke up in the morning, getting greeted by the warm sun. “Good morning, everypony!” Dinky greeted her friends.

“Morning, Dinky,” Fletcher replied with a smile.

While they breakfasted, they noticed that Talion’s Warchief was now wearing the iconic black armor as the other Warchief’s, never letting his guard down.

Only now, they noticed Talion was gone. “I guess he has something to do.” The grey unicorn suspected before they heard a voice.

“Well, well, well, look who we got here.” They turned around and saw Torvin riding on a Caragor towards them. They all looked in awe and confusion at it, how could he been able to tame it? They had only seen Talion doing it with his Elf abilities. The couldn’t even think about a possibility as he climbing off, the Orcs paid him no attention and strangely, he didn’t bother them as well.

“If you're looking for a hunting partner, you're in the wrong place,” Wolf said as he walked up to them.

“Aye, your friend from the Black Gate said somethin' similar. Turned out to be wrong. Though he had to run off to hunt Warchiefs. Heh...Not quite as exciting. So would you be his noble warhorses then? Or do you just shoulder the baggage?” He asked the knights.

“Neither. Where we come from, we're special operations commanders.” Midnight replied and the man laughed.

“Oh, my mistake. We got commanders in our midst. Well, better look sharp, eh? Commander’s coming, better sharpen the swords, eh, and make sure our boots are nice and shiny!” He joked, causing the ponies to chuckle.

“You got quite some humor, Torvin.” Apple Bloom liked it.

“Aye. Helps to be in the refined field of beast-huntin'. The hunt is my mistress. Beautiful, thrilling…And she doesn’t nag, like my wife.” He smiled and the ponies chuckled again.

“You do know some ways to brighten up the mood.” Dinky smiled at him.

“Aye. And that's gettin' harder around these parts with orcs poppin' up by the dozen. Then again, with yer' ranger friend about, that don't seem so hard to deal with nowadays.” Torvin replied with a smile on his own. “I’d like to stay for a chat, but the hunt is never over. I wish you a good hunt, commanders!” He laughed and got on his Caragor again, riding away.

“So, what should we do until Talion comes back?” Scootaloo asked and Midnight thought for a moment, putting a hoof to his chin.

“We should go back to the queen, I mean the Ranger still has to report about his success. With any luck, we might cross ways.”

“Sounds good to me,” Fletcher replied and the others nodded, moving out, with the Warchief saluting them.

Talion after having taught from Torvin, reached the stronghold of the Warchief he was currently hunting and the Wraith gave him advice, “Prove no weapon can touch us.”

With that in mind, the Ranger tore through the Orc ranks, using his sword, dagger, Bow and Wraith abilities, slicing, shooting and throwing the enemies back without much effort until he heard again a choir, yelling, “Barfa!” And he saw the Warchief appearing in the distance.

This Warchief was an Orc with a helmet having horns on both sides, his nose was small, his teeth sharp, escorted by an orc wearing armor that reminded the Ranger of the armor worn by the Knights and Gondor’s soldiers.

“Ranger!” The Warchief yelled, “Puns Uruks no match! Fight me! Kill you!”

He tried to strike the Ranger who blocked his attacks with ease, before the other Orc clashed swords with him. “Manswine! I will defend my master until my last breath!”

Talion then pushed him back and fired an arrow into his chest, throwing him back and dealt a few strikes, knocking him back and stunned him, as he held his head.

The man used this as his chance to brand him, grabbing him and Celebrimbor yelled, “You will obey!”

In a matter of seconds, the bodyguard’s eyes glowed blue, showing he was branded and started to attack his former master, keeping him busy.

Talion used this distraction, to stab the Warchief into the back, he cried in pain as he dropped on one knee and looked at the human in disgust. “Tark scum! Sauron kill you!” He shouted before the ranger grabbed him and the Wraith responded,

“You are mine!” And in a flash, Barfa was under their control too.

“Another Warchief submits. We've stemmed the tide. Queen Marwen and the others will be glad to hear it.” Talion suggested, with Celebrimbor nodding.

It didn’t take long for him to arrive, seeing he was just in time, as the ponies arrived at the Queen’s home too. “I see my Warchief did his work.” The Ranger commented with a smile, the foals returned it as they entered, noticing that everything was dark.

Marwen had her head lowered and coughed, causing the Knights and Ranger to draw their weapons, approaching carefully.

Suddenly she bashed the staff on the ground and a white flash threw everyone back, Dinky groaned as she landed on her back, seeing the Wraith being dragged towards the Queen.

“Do not resist me, Celebrimbor. Together we can be invincible. The Dark Lord Sauron is still weak. Our army can destroy him.” Marwen said with an echoing voice.

“Mother!” Lithariel ran in, only to be thrown back too as Talion’s voice sounded weak,

“Break the staff!” Dinky grabbed Talion’s sword and gave it the young woman and hit the top of the staff, the queen got thrown back and the Wraith returned to the Ranger in a flashing light and Talion gasped.

“Mother!” Lithariel yelled as the queen wasn’t moving at all.

“Is…is she dead?” Sweetie Belle feared the worst.

“She can’t be dead!” Apple Bloom exclaimed as Lithariel fell to her knees, sobbing in front of her mother.

With a loud gasp, Marwen got up, having a more healthy and younger appearance, and she embraced her daughter with a smile, as Midnight asked in confusion, “Can somebody tell me what just happened?”

“Your mother has been under the spell of a very powerful wizard.” The Ranger explained to Lithariel as he got up and the queen lowered her head.

“Talion, I am sorry. Saruman brought you here against my will. I went to him for help. I ended up being a prisoner in my own body.”

“What have you seen, in your visions?”

“I have seen Sauron’s servants. The Tower and The Black Hand. They bring much suffering.” She sounded scared. “If you wish to know where they are, they are across the Sea of Núrnen.”

“Their forces? How strong?”

“Strong enough to defeat us all.” She replied and Talion thought for a moment.

“Then we truly need an army.”

“Yes, it will be necessary for a victory that allows us to get the foals out of here.” Midnight added.

As Talion walked out, Marwen’s daughter said to her mother, “Illness still plagues you. Rest, mother. I will make preparations for our journey out of Mordor.” Then she walked out too and Scootaloo bowed.

“Your Highness. We're glad you're okay. Thanks for letting us stay here, we'll try to pull our weight.”

“Thank you, young one. Please do me a favor and look out for my daughter.”

“We will, your highness.” The batpony replied respectfully and they moved out, following the princess as she and a few soldiers moved towards a stronghold apparently auguring but they couldn’t hear anything until they got close

“I care not of the risks. It’s for the well-being of the Queen” She explained to her soldiers.

“My lady, this does not seem…” One soldier protested before a new voice cut them off.

“Attacking the camp would be ill-advised.” They turned around to see Talion and the soldiers drew their swords in alert, only for the lady to hold up a hand.

“He’s on our side. I have no choice, Talion. I need my mother’s elixir.”

“Even the stranger says this is a fool’s errand!” One other soldier pointed out.

Dinky noticed Talion had a light amorous expression as the Wraith said to him, “I know who she reminds you of, Talion. She is from this world. You are not.”

“Enough!” Lithariel yelled, tearing them out. “We attack as planned.”

“We will take care of the Orcs.” Talion offered.

“We could follow behind, unseen.” One if the soldiers concluded.

The Princess then added, “We get the medicine and we leave.”

With that as answer, the Ranger and ponies moved in, Fletcher took a high position on a tower, firing silently arrows on the guards below, Midnight and Wolf used their wings to tore silently through the ranks, with Talion grabbing stragglers by the head, branding them as this hand glowed blue.

“That should do it,” Fletcher commented as most Orcs were eliminated and prepared to climb down, but slipped and Sweetie Belle lost her grip, with Dinky trying to grab her, but failed.

The white unicorn cried in pain as she rolled down, having a rough landing but was otherwise fine. She groaned in pain before her blood froze as she heard a voice. “Look here!”

Before her was an orc the like of which she'd never seen. He was drenched in trailing stains and smears of blood, some old some fresh and despite his set of scars that criss-crossed all over his body, she could tell it wasn't his own blood. His nose and ears were crooked and pierced with rings and bones. His jutting chisel-jaw tilting as he grinned, baring serrated, shark-like teeth. His sunken, toxic-green eyes were decorated with a broad stripe of crimson across the upper part of his face. His matted, straw-like hair was tied up behind his head. Spiky steel plate covered his chest, shoulders, arms and knees. Clutched in his hand was a bloody black-iron axe fixed to the top of its handle by a screaming skull impaled through the cranium, all of it as coated in gore as the orc who held it. As the monster eyed her, Sweetie Belle was certain the axe moved on its own in his hand, the jaw of the skull clacking slightly. The orc raised it to its ear and spoke reassuringly, almost fondly, “What? Yes, yes, I know you want to see what the little horse's neck feels like. Just wait your turn now. Let's savor the moment, shall we?” He spoke to himself and grinned, the filly trembled in fear, unable to move.

Her life flashed before her eyes and her friends looked down with worry, Fletcher prepared to fire an arrow from above but…

A scream of pain.

But it was not Sweetie Belle’s. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw the Orc had been stabbed in the back by someone. “Oh, did that hurt? You don't look so well. Maybe it's time you made way for someone tougher!”

He got shoved back by a branded Orc, visible by the blue glowing eyes. He was tall, his face broad, wearing a helmet with horns at the side, yet looked very familiar to the Royal Guard, making him very intimidating, but also showed a commanding authority.

Before the hostile Orc could react, an arrow hit him into the back, followed by a quick strike in the back by Wolf and Midnight, causing him to stumble.

The Ranger then dealt a few quick strikes to the chest before being blocked and shoved back by getting head-butted by the Orc as he tried to recover, grunting slightly in pain

As the Orc prepared for another attack, his former bodyguard dealt a mortal strike across the chest, blood splattered as the mace-wielding orc dropped to his knees and Talion grabbed him. “Suffer me now!” The filly watched in awe as the Orc stared in fear for a few seconds, then his eyes also glowed blue.

“Are you alright?” The Ranger asked her and she nodded.

“Thank you.”

“No need, I was actually convenient, allowing me to brand the next Warchief. And the camp is cleared.”

With that, they walked outside, and Talion asked the woman, “Did you find what you needed?”

“Yes.” She held up a small bottle and gave it to a soldier. “Take this to the Queen. Immediately.”

“I doubt any medicine from Men will cure her Queen,” Celebrimbor commented on it as the soldier left.

“Let’s hope it will heal your mother,” Talion said with worry as the princess reached for a small note.

“We found this message. Orc leaders plan a gathering by the fishing village. We can prepare an ambush. I owe you a great thanks.”

“We’re glad to be of assistance,” Dinky replied with a smile.

“We’re lucky to have you,” Lithariel said and the filly heard the Wraith again, talking to Talion.

“These are not your people, Talion. Remember your wife and son.”

“Well, we mustn’t keep you.” The ranger said to the princess.

“Yes, every moment is precious.” Then she left with her soldiers.

Dinky and her friends watched in awe as Talion grabbed the Warchief and stayed silent for a few seconds, then released him and the Orc walked away.

“The Queen should know of this.” He suggested and they nodded.

It was a silent trip, yet the ponies wondered how many Warchiefs were left and what Talion had done to the currently branded Warchief.

“Talion, do you know how many Warchiefs are left?” It refused to leave Dinky’s mind.

“Two, according to the intel I gained from the Warchief here.” He replied.

“Things are going good so far, don’t you think?” The yellow country filly asked and the man nodded in response before they heard a groan of pain.

A wounded soldier limped towards them, bleeding from the leg and Talion took a leg, asking, “What happened?”

“The Orcs…ambushed us…Princess…captured…” The man told with a shaken voice and the young ponies gasped upon hearing it.

“Don’t worry, we will save her. Get back to the queen and report.” The Ranger said and the soldier nodded, pointing at a stronghold into the distance before moving on

They barely entered as they heard a female scream. “That scream was Lithariel’s. We must find her quickly.” Talion figured out, “Look around, I will get us some help.” He turned to the ponies who nodded.

The Knight took elevated positions with the foals, seeing how Talion sneaked around the stronghold, branding every Orc he came across without alerting others and Dinky looked around, hoping it wasn’t too late.

“There she is!” The unicorn pointed to the far end of it, seeing the woman struggling in the grasp of two Orcs, a third one having white marks on his body held up a blade.

“Maybe if we make her bleed a little, she’ll start talking.” Lithariel kicked him in response and he growled in anger. “Down on her knees.” His comrades did as told. “Spit out the truth before I make you spit out your lung. Where is the Gravewalker?”

“I do not fear you. Cut me again if you dare!” The woman countered.

Dinky and her friends watched as Talion jumped from a ledge, throwing an Orc to the ground and branded him. “You want the Gravewalker? Here I am!”

He blocked a strike of the white marked Orc and kicked him, throwing him back before slicing him, then made quick strikes to deal with the others before he heard a yell. “Guilty!” And clashed swords with another Warchief.

This one also wore a helmet with horns, but most of the face was hidden by a skull- like mask. “Oi, I’ve got an execution to make, and you're in my way. No worries. I've plenty of time...and head-spikes!” He then got shoved back by the Ranger and got hit several times by his sword into the chest. The Orc grunted in pain, holding his wound as it was a clean cut before trying a counterattack, which Talion blocked swiftly and kicked him into the chest, knocking him back.

In a flash, an arrow hit him into the knee, pinning him back and two quick strikes from above, followed by kicks throwing him over and the human stood above him, grabbing his head. “You are mine!”

Upon having him branded, Talion helped Lithariel up and carried her towards the entrance as reinforcements arrived, but the branded orcs, together with the ponies, formed a wall in front of them, slashing their weapons, while the foals kicked whenever they could until the injured human was out of danger.

“Here, rest here.” Talion gently sat her down and bandaged her wounded leg.

“Why are you doing this?” She wanted to know.

“To stop the bleeding.”

“No. Why did you come back to save me?” At those words, Talion stayed silent for a moment with a slightly sad expression.

“I had a family once. A wife, and a son. And I buried them, along with everyone I ever knew.”

Lithariel put a hand on his shoulder. “Stay with us. My mother can help you.”

“I can’t. I don’t belong here.”

“You will be a champion to my people. Your young friends will be safe.”

“Sorry, but we don’t belong here either.” Midnight said before a voice called out,

“Over there!” They turned into the direction of the call, seeing a group of soldiers running towards them.

“Can you walk on your own?” Talion asked her and she asked in return,

“Is that your answer?”

“My lady! You’re hurt. Let me help.” One of the soldiers assisted her.

“You need to leave this place immediately, it’s not safe,” Talion advised the soldiers as they helped her Lady up.

“Thank you all.” She said as they walked away.

“So, only one Warchief left, right?” Apple Bloom asked the Ranger, who nodded.

“Aye, only one left, and I already organized his…removal. Follow me.”

He led them on a hill and they saw two hordes of Orc’s facing each other, one was branded, but the high made it too difficult to make out details but they noticed that one branded Orc had a familiar helmet to the one who had saved Sweetie Belle.

“You think that little following can take us? Ha!” He taunted.

“No Warchief fights me and fights again after!” The hostile Warchief taunted in return and they drew their weapons. The ponies could faintly make out he was wearing a helmet as well but had jags on both sides and on the top.

“Oh, this is gonna be fun!” Wolf drew her knives with a grin but Talion held her back.

“Let’s just watch, we earned it.”

“Fine.” She grumbled as the battle started, seeing that the hostile Warchief had three branded Orcs in his ranks, who started to backstab the lower ranked Orcs, while the Warchief charged at the leader of the branded Orc, he swiftly blocked every attack.

It was fascinating for the ponies as they saw how the branded soldiers gained the upper hand, killing all enemies safe for the Warchief, who blocked every attack with effort before getting stabbed into the back by the branded leader.

He yelled in pain and barely dodged the finishing strike and responded with quick strikes, which the leader blocked with ease.

“That Orc with the helmet is pretty strong,” Fletcher commented on it

“We could do with a guy like that in the Squad,” Midnight added before the Warchief got sliced into the chest by said orc, grabbing the blade in shock, struggling to stand, before falling dead into the ground.

“Change of plans, boys! I'm in charge now! Follow me and we'll have years of chopping up cowards and drinking grog 'til your black hearts are all content! All hail the new Warchief! All hail Feldush Giggles!” The leader shouted in victory, raising his arms.

“Well, that’s it. When will we continue?” Fletcher asked the Ranger.

“Tomorrow. Rest now, you will need it.” He replied as it was getting late, the sun setting.

The foals yawned as they all made their way back to the Queen’s home, eating some bread with mushrooms the color of lapis, called Blue Milk they were told, tasted very delicious and herbs of Thyme, it had a very fresh taste. They all enjoyed every bite to the fullest before getting into bed.

Talion looked over the foals with Marwen and her daughter as they and their caretakers were asleep.

“Sleep well, you earned it. Tomorrow will be a great day.”

Chapter 11 Lord of Mordor

Chapter 11: Lord of Mordor

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

“Morning, Wolf.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Maybe I just worry too much…”

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

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

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

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

“Good.”

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

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

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

“Just put an end to this.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But not their leader.

This orc was just standing there...menacingly.

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

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

There was silence.

Total, terrible silence.

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

Then there was a noise.

A giggle. Coming from behind the mask.

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

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

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

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

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

The orcs behind this masked fiend began chanting.

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

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

"Prak! Prak! Prak!"

They rose high and caught the sun.

"PRAK! PRAK! PRAK!"

Then 'Prak' screamed.

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

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

Battle, it seemed, had commenced.

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

The hostile leader roared as he and Talion clashed swords.

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

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

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

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

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

His branded Warchiefs cheered as the enemy army was defeated.

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

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

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

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

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

“This is the work of the Tower.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Don’t give up!” The CMC added.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But we took it from them.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Where do they hides it. Where?!”

“Be gone.” The Wraith replied calmly.

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

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

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

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

White Wolf drew her knives. “Alright.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chapter 12 Kingdom Of The Spiders

Chapter 12: Kingdom Of The Spiders

“Ugh…” Midnight groaned as he and his fellow knights came too. “What happened?”

They looked around to find themselves at a cave, next to a cave, with Talion slowly smiling at them.

“The Black Hand. He called upon powers we were not prepared for. But we saw to it that it availed him little.”

“Where…where are the foals?” Fletcher asked in alert as he couldn’t see them anywhere.”

“I lost sight of them, but don’t worry. I think I know where they are. Follow me.”

The knights did without hesitation, yet hoped it wasn’t too late.

They sneaked past orcs as they moved through the platforms. It seemed endless, like a maze, but trusted the Ranger, that he knew where to go. And eventually, they came to an exit, littered with bones and spider webs.

Dinky’s head aced as she came to her sense, trying to move, but her body wouldn’t respond.

“Dinky, wake up!” Sweetie Belle’s voice echoed in her ears and she slowly opened her eyes. He heart almost skipped a beat to see that she and her friends were strapped to the wall in a spider web. The little filly had never seen the CMC so scared, all three fillies looked frantically around.

Then they heard footsteps and looked terrified into its direction. A woman with black hair and dark green eyes, dressed in a black dress walked in. At first, she seemed like any other human. But something wasn’t normal about her. She looked at the foals with a cold look, spiders escorted her, the same they had seen before.

The little animals seemed to deeply trust her. And yet, she was somehow sending out an uneasy feeling for the foals.

Her walk was slow, yet calm, and she seemed to float slightly. Now the foals realized that the dress was very long, reaching to her bare feet, her hair was also unusually long and the eyes had a slim appearance. Overall, she appeared to be thin.

For some reason, Dinky couldn’t help but start screaming with her friends, it felt natural, trying to break free.

It seemed like hours until the woman asked, “Done?” She sounded unimpressed, yet her voice was eerie echoing.

“Don’t hurt us!” Sweetie Belle pleaded, trembling.

“It is not I you should fear, little ones.” The woman said calmly.

“Then why did you kidnap us?!” Apple Bloom exclaimed.

“The horseshoe. It is too dangerous to be allowed to fall into Sauron’s hands.”

“B-but we don’t have it!” Dinky stated, but the woman seemed not fazed by it.

“And what is that?” She pointed to Dinky’s right forehoof and the unicorn looked at it. The horseshoe was attached to it, suiting her perfectly.

What? How? Dinky wondered she couldn’t remember having found and put it on, neither did she felt it before on her hoof.

Yet she could not form a reply as more footsteps sounded and the woman turned around.

Talion and the knights entered, their weapons drawn and the woman said in a calm tone, “I called you here for a reason.”

“You will return them to us. Now.” Talion demanded, pointing his sword at the woman.

She in response, clutched her hand and Dinky heard a groan of pain, seeing Celebrimbor trapped in what she could only describe as a white whirl of mist, causing Talion to lower his sword.

“You are brave, for a man. But it is not your sword that will save him. How much are you willing to sacrifice?” She asked, ignoring the knights completely, they watched with neutral expressions.

“I have given up everything.”

“Not everything. Not yet.” She countered and Dinky noticed that the Ranger was wearing a blue glowing ring on his hand.

“You want the Ring.” Talion concluded.

“You would give me the ring for the wraith.”

“And find myself beside him in your web.”

“I am Shelob and I deal only in truth.” The woman introduced herself. “I wouldn’t give up either.”

She turned around the Wraith groaned again.

“Wait.” Talion said.

“Talion…no.” Celebrimbor pleaded as the ranger took the ring off and collapsed as Shelob took it.

“I’m impressed, Ranger.” She inspected the ring, “He must mean something to you” Then she looked at the wraith. “Go to your puppet before he dies.” She released Celebrimbor and the foals, the latter ran into the knights for comfort.

“You have doomed us, Talion. Her power was vast before and now you have given her mine. I poured my life force into that ring.” The Wraith scolded as Talion managed to stand up.

“Then we must take it back.” Talion groaned in pain as he became one again with the wraith. “Shelob!”

He charged and was about to strike, but she simply raised her hand. Talion stopped and knelled, to the surprise of the ponies.

“The war you came to fight is not here. The ring is lost” She raised his chin, causing him to look at her. “So look at Minas Ithil and the Dark Lord’s armies that surround it. Look to the Palantir. Sauron will not stop until all of Middle-earth is dominated.”

As Dinky blinked, she saw a city that was almost like Canterlot in structure, as it had High walls and a high tower. It was looking majestic and also well prepared against attacks. Like any attacker would have a hard time.

The sun covered the entire town, giving it an atmosphere of safety. It really reminded her of Canterlot, a majestic place, yet heavily fortified in case of an attack.

Then she realized that reality was different.

Her eyes went small to see that parts of the city were on fire, some walls broken.

Orcs stormed through the broken defenses, fighting with Human soldiers, who bravely stood their ground.

Blinking once more, she found herself in reality again, with Shelob gone.

“Minas Ithil. I must know if Shelob’s vision holds true.” Talion said to Celebrimbor and started to run, the ponies followed him without hesitation.

Getting out of the cave, they came to a ledge overlooking the city. Parts of it were burning, orcs were entering through a bridge, catapults and beasts that looked like a small version of the Graug, carrying a big crossbow-like device on its back, were around the city walls.

“Gondor’s last fortress in Mordor cannot fall.” Talion said at the sight.

“The Palantir is our only concern. We must seize it before it falls into Sauron’s hands.” The Wraith pointed out, “With it, his armies will be unstoppable. The fate of the city matters not.”

“I will not let them get slaughtered like my brothers at the Black Gate.” The ranger protested and looked at his allies. “We must do something. Taking out the Captains should buy the Gondorians some time

“Whatever is necessary to keep the foals safe, Ranger.” Midnight nodded and Dinky heard the Wraith adding,

“And they could lead us to the Palantir. We must find a worm and make him talk.”

“Wait here.” Talion jumped down and spotted a lone Orc in a hut of the Orc camp and sneaked behind him, grabbing him once he was close enough.

“Who leads the search of the Palantir?” Celebrimbor asked.

The ponies saw how the Orc had a fearful expression for a moment before falling lifeless to the ground, with the Ranger making a sign to follow

Dinky and Sweetie belle climbed on Fletcher, he teleported down, while Wolf and Midnight used their wings, caring Scoots and Apple Bloom.

“The leading Captain is in the lower city.” Talion explained and the ponies nodded, sneaking through the camp with him.

However, the exit was guarded by four Orcs, which made it impossible to sneak past, so the Gravewalker stepped forward.

“It's the grave walker!” One of the Orcs exclaimed.

I thought he was dead!” Another remarked surprised.

“He is!” A third one added with a fearful voice.

The Orcs charged at him, but he reacted quickly, killing them with headshots from his bow.

With the way opened, they entered the city and got on the rooftops to stay out of sight following Talion until he pointed to a group of Orcs on the ground. One of them was having scars around the face, one eye was also scarred and white, as if he was blind on it.

“It’s round and it’s blue. They call it the Seeing Stone. You see that, then you come running to me. Do not touch it.” The commander warned, “I’m going to say that again: do not touch it. If it doesn’t kill you, then I will.”

Talion jumped down and stabbed the commander into the back, dazing him. Then he dealt with the other orcs, by making swift, mortal strikes, assisted by Fletcher who fired arrows from above and Midnight and Wolf’s dealing also mortal strikes, the foals kicked whenever they got the chance.

“For Gondor!” A female voice yelled and the Ranger and ponies saw a woman in armor, her eyes blue, the hair blond. Her eyes blazed with rage, hinting she had a deep hate against Orcs and her armor had golden markings, showing she was of high rank. She charged at the commander Orc, just as he recovered. “For the white tree! And all who bled upon it!”

The woman dealt swift strikes, throwing the commander back. Talion did some more strikes from behind, hurting him more, forcing him on one knee. The Orc looked up and the woman sliced him across the throat, killing him.

“Why are you here alone?” Talion asked the female soldier.

“My raiding party was trapped in the lower city overnight.”

“How many of you were there?”

“Not enough.” The woman replied and Talion put his sword away.

“Minas Ithil still stands.”

“We’re about to lose the Middle City, Ranger. They’ll be closing the gate if they haven’t already.” She pointed to the large tower. “We need to get up there as fast as we can.

“We’ll be right behind you. “Talion said and she was about to move out. “Wait! What is your name?”

“Idril.”

“Talion. Those are my allies Midnight Blade, White Wolf, Fletcher Fray and their young friends Dinky, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.” He introduced them and they nodded.

Idril just gave a nod herself. “Don’t fall behind. We’ve lost enough men today.”

Then a loud echoing sound, like a horn was blown. “They’re closing the gate!” The woman exclaimed and they followed her through the city.

On their way, the ranger and ponies helped other Gondorian soldiers to fend off the orcs, so they could get back to the gate too. The humans gave the ponies a surprised look, yet were glad for the help.

“It’s almost like Mondelein…” Fletcher commented at the sight, sounding uncomfortable.

Going up the stairs, they reached an entrance with a portcullis. Idril defeated two Orcs and Talion sliced a third that tried to attack her from behind. She nodded before slicing another Orc that tried to attack the Ranger from behind.

Idril, the other soldiers and the ponies made it through the gate as it was about to close, yet Talion stayed outside. “What are you doing?” She asked in disbelief.

“I won’t be long. Go.” The Ranger replied as more Orcs closed in.

Idril turned to a bland soldier with an eyepatch. “Have the archers provide support.”

“We must help him too!” Dinky exclaimed, sounding worried for him.

“No problem, Dinky.” Fletcher replied and he took aim with the other archers, Midnight and Wolf flew over the walls to support Talion directly.

The eyes of the little unicorns went wide as Talion’s sword became a long blue banner, swinging it to kill several enemies at once. She and Sweetie Belle fired stun spells, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom kicked and punched whenever they could.

Fletcher took notice that the archers had their arrows on fire, effectively killing Orcs quickly and painfully as he fired with them. While not a big fan of fire, he still sometimes used arrows with similar effects.

Thanks to those combined forces, the Orcs were quickly defeated.

Once it was over, the ponies saw Idril walking up to a man with greying hair, looking at a map as she reported, “We lost the Middle City. We made them pay for every inch of ground, but they now hold it.”

“Then our fate will be decided here. Our inner wall is our strongest and we have double their archers” The man concluded. His age suggested he was we experienced and his armor had the same golden markings as Idril, showing he was a high ranking officer, most likely the leader of the defending forces. He was broad in build and face, seemingly very fit despite his age.

“We cannot match the Orcs for their numbers or ferocity.” Idril warned.

“Oh, your people have held back Sauron’s forces before.” The man replied calmly.

“But some things were lost forever.

“Yes. Of course they were. Go to the Great Hall. Secure the relics.” He ordered.

“My place is here.” Idril stated firmly but the man held up a hand.

“Make sure they are taken to Henneth Annûn.”

“Is that an order?” She asked.

“You must understand. We must protect what is most precious at all costs.” He stated and she repeated the words simultaneously. “Yes, that is an order.”

“Then I’ll see it done.” Idril nodded and walked away, yet stopped for a moment. “But I’ll be back on the wall before the next assault.

Talion then walked up to the man, who was surprised. “A Ranger from the Black Gate? I heard you were all dead.”

“You heard the truth.”

“I’ve you come to fight for Minas Ithil, Ranger, report to Captain Baranor.”

“I’ve not come to join your army, General,” Talion stated, “but for the Palantir. And it’s safe-keeping.”

“Protect the city and the Palantir will be safe.” The general explained, “However, our raiding parties are targeting enemy captains on the lower city.”

“You wish to spread terror in their ranks.” The ranger concluded.

“Yes. It’s about time they tasted fear.” The General replied and walked away.

But for the ponies, it made one thing clear:

This was only the beginning.

Author's Note

Sorry for the wait, I had more important things to do,

Chapter 13 Shadows of the past

Chapter 13: Shadows of the past

Talion looked over the city and Dinky heard the Wraith say, “We need to secure the Palantir now. The city is weak, and it will not hold for much longer.”

“We cannot leave the Gondorians to their fate. Castamir is right. By protecting the city, we protect the Palantir.” Talion countered.

“Look.” “Celebrimbor said and Dinky saw that some of the towers of the city had what looked like a burning eye over them.

“The towers bear his mark.” The ranger concluded.

“Those were my towers once. Now Sauron’s corruption spreads beyond the borders of Mordor. He mocks me.”

“They give him sight.”

“Not without the Palantir.”

“We will dismantle his hold on Minas Ithil. We will shift the tide of war.” Talion concluded determined as suddenly, the horseshoe started to blink.

“What does that mean?” Apple Bloom wondered.

“It seems to want to lead us somewhere.” Fletcher suspected.

“Yes. You go ahead, I join you shortly.” Talion said and they nodded.

The horseshoe led them outside the city, yet they had little trouble avoiding the enemy.

Everypony wondered where the horseshoe was leading them. The location of the Palantir? A possibly to ease the Siege? None of them had an idea.

“This way,” Dinky said as it pointed among the outer wall.

Eventually, it brought them to what looked like an entrance to an ancient storehouse.

“Wow…” Dinky mumbled in awe as Talion joined them and the Wraith commented,

“If anywhere in Mordor is safe from Sauron, it is barrows like these, reminders that even the Dark Lord’s reach extends only so far.”

Entering, they all looked in awe to see several statues of soldiers, with two blue fires at the end of what seemed to be a tombstone.

“In a bygone age, my army marched on Mordor. We buried our honored dead in borrows like this one. Our greatest warriors are preserved here, protected by powerful magic. And we used all our arts to bring the virtues of the Elves with us as we marched.” Celebrimbor told with pride.

“And you had the one Ring.” The Ranger pointed out.

“Yes…and with it, I forged an army. I led the charge against Sauron.”

Dinky blinked and saw how the Elf fought against Orcs, the same battle she had seen when Talion touched the relics and it ended with him defeating the Dark Lord.

“The new Ring.” The Wraith as to the Ranger as Dinky was back in reality. “Our Ring-is not marred with his shadow. It is perfect.” He added before vanishing.

“What now?” Wolf asked.

“We go back to the city and ask Idril for the Palantir,” Talion replied.

“Alright, right behind you.” Midnight nodded.

On the way back, Caragor crossed their way but due to Wolf’s presence, the beast left the group alone.

Getting back to the city, the group saw the woman in a room with relics of all kind, together with a man. He had brown eyes and black hair with a beard, having noticeable a very dark skin. His armor had the same markings as that of Idril but broad in build and face.

“There’s no time. We can only take the most valuable.” He stated.

“We’re taking everything.” Idril insisted.

“Idril, sacrifices must be made.” He countered.

“I will not sacrifice our past to fear.” The woman replied with sight anger before the man spotted the Ranger.

“Ho there. Who are you?”

“Baranor, this is the Ranger I was telling you about.” She explained to him, glad to see Talion.

Baranor offered him a hand. “You’ve spilled much blood for Minas Ithil. We don’t even know your name.”

“Talion.” The ranger shook his hand.

“Gondor thanks you, Talion and your allies. But we need all warriors at the gate.”

“The Uruks seek the Palantir and they will not stop until it is theirs. Where is it?” Talion wanted to know.

“My father has hidden it,” Idril answered.

“There is nothing safe, hidden or otherwise. The Uruks will tear this city apart to find it.” The Gravewalker warned, yet Idril was not fazed.

“These are desperate times, but we will not surrender. And we will not fall. We cannot-“

Idril was cut off as the ceiling rumbled and everyone rushed outside to see what was going on. The eyes of the foals went wide as they saw that fireballs were launched into the city.

“I must defend the gate.” Baranor drew his sword, the others followed him into battle.

Once outside, the foals kicked, punched and used stun spells to assist the soldiers in holding the attackers back.

“Incoming!” Someone yelled and Dinky looked up to see a fireball coming right towards her and Fletcher. She had no time to react as he tried to jump out of the way but the explosion threw both against the wall and she cried in pain.

Her vision was blurry as she saw that the others were busy fighting the Orcs, Fletcher was dazed with Sweetie Belle and to her horror, one of those Orcs walked up to her, his sword drawn.

She just closed her eyes, preparing for the pain.

Then suddenly, a cry of pain and the sound of beating.

Slowly opening her eyes, she saw that the same Orc was now dead, lying in a puddle of blood. Another Orc stood above him, apparently armed with a guitar that had a blade attached to it

He wore no upper body armor, having strange markings on the chest as he faced her with a smile, having also a white beard. “People around here call me Orc-Slayer, because I take the pain away.” He said in a friendly tone and left.

Whoever that Orc was, he had just saved her life.

“Are you hurt?” Fray asked concerned as he levitated both fillies on his back, they shook their heads, seeing that all Orcs were defeated.

“That was only the beginning, there’ll be more! We have to find out what we’re dealing with, this way!” Idril exclaimed and took the lead.

The group followed her down the stairs to a balcony, seeing that several of those large beasts with crossbows on their backs were brought into the city.

“The city can’t take much more. I’ll handle the Siege Beasts.” Talion said and the woman nodded.

“We can handle here.”

As the knights and foals fought more Orcs, they saw how Talion fired arrows on two boxes mounted on the shoulders of the beast. It created an explosion that stunned it and killed the operator. Then he moved over to it and mounted it. He fired it at incoming Orcs and other Siege Beats in the area.

It forced the Orcs to retreat and he jumped off, firing an arrow at the beast and the crossbow on it exploded, taking the creature with it.

With the danger taken care off, the defenders returned to the gate and Idril looked over some destroyed relics.

“It’s not enough for them to destroy us.” She spoke to her fellow soldier, “They wish to wipe away our history.” She had a sad expression as Baranor turned to the Ranger.

“At least they don’t have the Seeing Stone.”

“The gates are holding.”

“These relics were my life,” Idril stated and lowered her head. “My father was right…We must salvage what we can and leave.

“You have a valuable weapon.” Talion pointed out. “The Seeing Stone gives you sight over your enemy. Use it.”

“It is too dangerous,” The other man warned, “The Palantir is poison to men. None can withstand it’s influence.”

“I can,” Talion replied confidently.

“Men before you have thought the same.” Idril protested.

“And if I’m wrong, I will fail as they have failed. But if I’m right, we win this war.” The Ranger countered.

Idril thought for a moment about it. “Then I will find my father and speak to him.”

“She will hold you to your oath, Ranger,” Baranor commented as he walked away.

Yet the children let out a sigh, they had held the siege once more.

But for how long?

Chapter 1 Where The Shadows Lie

Chapter 1: Where the Shadows Lie

It was a sunny day in Ponyville. Four fillies by the name of Dinky Hooves, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle played together in the grass, enjoying the sun and warmth. “Down the hill again!!” Dinky exclaimed in joy as she and her friends rolled down the small hill.

“That really is fun, Dinky!” Scootaloo smiled. “Pity though Katja and Blau Streifen aren’t here with us, I’m sure they had loved this.”

“Yeah, it’s a pity, I hope Mitta gets well soon.” Dinky replied as the grandmother of her new friends had caught a nasty cold, forcing them to stay home and take care of her until she had recovered.

Some time ago, Dinky had suffered an accident where she landed on a planet called Earth, with creatures called humans, who were only a myth in Equestria.

Katja and Blau Streifen were siblings from an alternative Equestria,, the former a human girl, the former a earth pony colt, being children of a human father and pony mother. They had suffered a similar accident as Dinky, befriending her as they spent time together before one of Princess Luna’s best guards from Dinky’s Equestria brought them back home.

“Me too, their company is very pleasant to enjoy.” The yellow Earth pony said as they got up the hill again.

“Up, up and away!” Dinky giggled as she laid flat on her belly with her forelegs outstretched and slightly cushioning her face, rolling down the hill again.

This never ceased to make fun, the little periwinkle unicorn could still remember how she first met her friend Pipsqueak that way.

During her time on Earth, she had also befriended the guard that was tasked to bring her home, a unicorn stallion called Fletcher Fray. For her, he was part of the family, an uncle to her, regularly visiting her, but at the moment, he was with Princess Luna, having a discussion as far as she knew.

But that didn’t meant she could have fun with her friends and she enjoyed it to the fullest.

“I wonder if Rainbow Dash and White Wolf could be soul mates or distinct relatives.” The Pegasus mumbled, “I mean they have many things in common, like loving it to fly and are tomboys, kinda.”

“That very unlikely, Scoots. They’re familiar, yes, but if they would be related, Rainbow’s family would know.” Apple Bloom pointed out.

“Yeah, just popped in there for some reason. But Wolf’s a great friend as Rainbow is! And flying with both is so much fun!” Scoots exclaimed.

“Yep. Midnight’s a great help on the farm, Ah’m happy every time he helps out. He reminds me of Big Mac somehow. And playing hide and seek with him is so much fun, not no mention his stories about his time with Luna when she was a foal. ” The Earth pony replied with a smile.

“And Fletcher, he always knows some old stories to cheer me up on a bad day or if I’m bored. His relative Wagensroll also helps my daddy with repairs, I find his technological knowledge fascinating.” Dinky told her friends with pride.

“Don’t forget his cooking skills, I improved a lot thanks to him. I wonder where he learned to cook so well.” Sweetie Belle said before they rolled down again.

Dinky reached the end first, smiling as her friends followed, the white unicorn shrieked as she landed in a ditch with a thud.

Clang!

“Ouch!” Sweetie Belle yelled in pain as she hit something hard.

“Everything alright?” Dinky asked with concern.

“I’m fine, I just landed on something…” She paused as she picked it up. “A horseshoe?”

Scootaloo inspected it. “Cool! It’s golden! I bet a rich pony lost it!”

“We should bring it to the lost-and-found office, I’m sure we get a reward.” Apple Bloom suggested.

“I’m not so sure,” Dinky had doubts, eyeing the horseshoe with suspicion. “Who would lose a horseshoe in a place like that? Plus it isn’t dirty or anything, like somebody dropped it here on purpose.”

“I doubt that, Dinky, maybe it just landed softly here as the owner-“ Sweetie Belle cut herself off as the horseshow started to glow, causing her to drop it with a shriek.

“What did you do?!” The orange filly asked in alert.

“I did nothing, I swear!”

The horseshow glowed brighter and brighter, causing the foals to cover their eyes before they felt how something sucked them in and they screamed.

The only thing they heard was their terrified screams.
Then a voice, a whisper, hollow and eerie, speaking in a language unknown.
Yet each strange word echoed in their heads, one after the other.
Ash nazg durbatulûk.
Ash nazg gimbatul,
Ash nazg thrakatulûk
Agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.

Apple Bloom groaned in pain as she came to. “Uhh, my head. She looked around.

Sweetie Belle was still passed out, lying next to her Sweetie Belle, wake up!” The yellow filly gently shook her.

The unicorn stirred. “Ugh…Where…are we?” She asked as they both looked around. They were on a meadow, but in the distance, everything looked like blasted wasteland and a volcano was visible in the distance too.

“Where are Scootaloo and Dinky?” The white pony asked confused.

“Ah don’t know.”

“Wait…does this mean…” Sweetie’s eyes started to water as she slowly realized something. “Mama…” She started to sob bit her friend quickly hugged her.

“Don’t worry, remember when Dinky was gone and Fletcher brought her back? If he managed to bring her back, he can do the same with us.” Apple Bloom gave her friend a confident smile.

The white filly slowly smiled weakly. “R-Right…Now, we need to find the others. But how?”

The Earth Pony thought for a moment. “Got it! Do you still remember the tracking spell Fletcher thought you?”

Sweetie Belle grinned. “Of course! One moment.” She concentrated and her horn sparkled and glowed. “And…found them! They are not far away!”

“Then let’s go!” Apple Bloom exclaimed and they moved out.

They both wondered what had happened here, noticing that there was barely anything left of forests, mostly ash was left.

After a while, Sweetie Belle’s stomach growled, causing her to look down in embarrassment. “Sorry, haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

“It’s fine. There must be something to eat.” The farmer looked around until she spotted some mushrooms growing on the ground. “Those should do it.”

“Are you sure they ain’t poisonous?” The unicorn asked unsure.

“As a farmer, I can tell this just by looking at it.” Ab said proudly and ate one, chewing slowly. “Not bad.”

“If you say so.” Sweetie Belle also ate one, enjoying it.

The yellow pony spotted something in the distance, looking familiar to a human. “What is that?” She asked as the humans appeared to be coming closer.

In the distance, they had seemed human. Barely.

Their clothing was sparse, baggy threaded pants and boots with belts and tunics of leather, none of it clean. A few were decorated with belts or sharp pieces of metal. The few pieces of armor they wore were coal-black and battered. Those with hair wore them unkempt, only a few tying them into tails or topknots behind their heads. And as the foals focused their eyes, the faces of the newcomers emerged. Coarse, gnarled skin formed monstrous faces, bizarre mismatches of wolf, pig, bat or lizard, unlike anything any of them had ever seen before. And as they'd noticed each other, the bipedal creatures had all drawn sharp, menacing cutlasses and had changed their pace to a charge, straight towards them.

Apple Bloom stepped back, turned to her friend with a terrified look and yelled, “Run!” She hadn’t to say this twice.

The two foals ran as fast as they could, but never came far.

They both overlooked a root and tripped over it, falling into a ditch, the impact strong enough to make them dizzy. The last thing they heard was a voice.

“Look what we have here. Nice catch, boys!”

Dinky and Scootaloo groaned as they wake up, looking around. “My head…What happened?” The Pegasus asked as she noticed the wasteland around them.

“I can’t say…I guess this horseshoe opened a portal or something…” Dinky suspected, still dazed.

“Then where are we?”

The unicorn thought for a moment. “I don’t know.”

The orange pony blinked, trying to understand. “We…are lost? Unable to get home?” She let a tear escape, looking to the ground.

The unicorn took a deep breath, she had experience for this. “Don’t worry, I’m sure Fletcher is already looking for us. We should try to find Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom.”

Scootaloo grinned. “Good idea…” Suddenly her expression became terrified. “But first we should run!”

Dinky turned around and her eyes went wide.

A group of human-like creatures was closing in fast.

Both foals looked around, the unicorn spotted a light in the distance, it looked like a glowing tower. “Follow me, we will be save there!” Dinky assumed and ran ahead.

“Are you sure?” Scots asked as they only saw only a ruin but followed her friend nevertheless.

"Here." Dinky said breathlessly, stopping by the ruin "We're safe."

"What are you talking about?!" Scootaloo screamed as the creatures drew closer, barely feet from them. "It's just a stupid, old ruin! Have you gone cuckoo?! Dinky, we need to run! We're not..."

Clang!

The earth seemed to shake as the sound of a metallic clang rang in their ears.
Behind them, the creatures had stopped in their tracks, stepping back as they looked high up towards the sky.

Scootaloo did the same, looking up at the ruin.

Somehow, the ruin had elevated high above them, nearly half a mile high. Instead of the sodden, blackened stone it had once been, it now shone a strange, slightly blueish silver. She stared at Dinky, then back at the tower.

"Safe..." she whispered.

There was a thump behind them. Dust flew up, causing them to cough.

Before them stood a human. He had a beard, long and scraggly brown hair and matching eyes, dressed in armor and a sword on his back. The unicorn noticed that he was briefly holding a white, transparent bow in his hand.

The chasing creatures looked in shock at him before one of them snarled, “So we missed one of you at Narchost, eh? An easy mistake to fix!”

The human in return drew his bow and fired two shots, scored headshots on two of the creatures, they fell backwards with blood splattering from their heads.

The fillies went to cover behind a wall as the man drew his sword as the creatures charged at him. “You shall suffer for what’ve you done!” The human yelled as one of the creatures swinged his sword, but the human blocked it and kicked him into the chest, making him stumble. In the moment he recovered, the man sliced him into the throat, killing him.

The last creature charged at the human, he ducked to avoid the club, then hit him into the chest and kicked him back, defeating him.

The ponies stared in awe as the man sheathed his sword and turned around to look at them with a neutral expression, but he had probably saved their lives.

“Watch out!” Dinky warned as she saw another of those creatures, dressed in black armor, climbing over a wall behind the human.

The creature managed to throw the human against the wall and tried to punch him, but he blocked it and touched the creature’s forehead. To Dinky’s surprise, his hand glowed blueish silver, pushing the creature back, falling backwards to the ground.

What happened next fascinated the unicorn.

A blueish silver sprit appeared next to the human, wearing armor. “Go back to him,” He said and vanished as the man moved towards the creature who was trying to recover and grabbed it by the side of the face. Then he tightened his grip, turning into the spirit, saying something he couldn’t understand, the creature grunted in pain. “What do you know of the Black Hand of Sauron?”

“He is a fiend! Made of thin air…” The creature replied in pain.

“What more?” The sprit demanded to know, increasing pressure.

“A slave I had…swears he fought him…” The sprit increased again, causing his victim to grunt in pain. “I sold him….and two little talking horses…for a keg of grog…to Gimüb the Slaver.”

The sprit then let go, causing the creature to flee terrified.

Dinky tried to process what she had just heard, her friends enslaved?

“That is where we have to go.” The spirit said as he appeared next to the man.

“If we can trust an Orc.”

“Trust has nothing to do with it. His thoughts cannot lie.” The spirit pointed out.

Turning, the man stopped dead in his tracks and stared blankly at the two foals.

His hand fell back on the handle of his sword as he spoke, his voice grim and somewhat edgy.

"What manner of beast are you?"

"Please, sir. We need your help." Dinky pleaded "He said two little talking horses. We think they're our..."

She stopped and stared, open-mouthed, as the spirit appeared again.

He didn't look quite as human as the other. Even as this silver ethereal shape, there was something off about him. She watched tentatively as it examined her, tilting its head.

"A unicorn?" its voice was male, deep and growly "And a Pegasus? This world has not seen their like since the First Age. How is this possible?"

"We're not from here." Dinky answered, feeling her heart pounding against her chest "I don't know how we got here but our friends need help."

The spirit drew back, his azure eyes wide. The bearded man turned to him with a look of confusion.

The spirit whispered, looking directly at Dinky for the first time.

"You...you can see me?"

"Yes, of course I can."

"H-how?"

"Um, I don't know. Scootaloo, do you still have that horseshoe?" she turned to her friend who stared at her with equal confusion.

"Dinky?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Who are you talking to?"

Dinky pointed at the spirit.

"Him."

"The bearded guy?"

"No, no, the one next to him."

"Dinky, there is no one next to him! It's just him!" Scootaloo’s eyes were boggling "Dinky...you're kinda' starting to scare me! Are you sure you're feeling alright?!"

"Enough! Neither of you say anything! I need to think!" The bearded man yelled, turning back to the spirit only Dinky seemed to notice "What now?"

The spirit craned his head towards Dinky, looking at her with cold suspicion.

"Find out how she can see us. We are not safe until she knows."

Dinky felt beads of sweat form on her brow as the spirit disappeared and the man drew closer. “W-what?” Dinky asked in confusion, slightly trembling as the man walked towards her.

Scootaloo jumped between them with an angry expression. “Don’t you dare to hurt her!”

The human in response knelled down. “I'm afraid this will be...quite painful. But it may help find your friends, wherever they are. I will make it was quick as possible.” His expression was honest.

“O-okay.” The unicorn said slightly trembling as the man touched her forehead, becoming the spirit again, preparing for the pain that would come as he said the same incomprehensible words.

To her surprise, she only felt a slight headache, like as if he she bumped her head.

Scootaloo watched in awe as Dinky’s expression was neutral, slightly hissing and grunting but otherwise she seemed fine. The Pegasus never expected that Dinky could be so tolerant towards pain.

As the sprit looked into the unicorn’s thoughts, he saw a brown stallion bringing her to bed, apparently her father, also traveling with a blue box, fighting various enemies, a blue winged unicorn, apparently using a spell to raise the moon and three ponies in dark blue armor fighting by her side, also protecting the filly from harm.

It terrified him so much that he instantly retracted from the child’s thoughts. The human looked at him in confusion before the spirit warned him, “Do not incur the wrath of her guardians, Talion. They are beyond us.”

The man sighed. “Very well. If your friends are where I'm headed, I don't see any reason why I can't help you. But I expect you to keep up and stay out of trouble.”

The unicorn slowly smiled, “I know to appreciate it.”

“Dinky, how can you trust him after he did….this to you? Scootaloo asked with distrust.

“If he meant harm, he had reacted this way, and I’m fine, Scoots.” Dinky turned to the man and spirit. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Talion.” The human introduced himself.

“I don’t have a name anymore.” The sprit said before he vanished again.

“I’m Dinky Hooves and this is my friend Scootaloo.” The unicorn pointed to her friend who waved in response.

“Dinky...and Scootaloo...” Talion massaged his temples tiredly, “Fine, fine. Stay behind me.”

“Of course.” Dinky replied as she followed him. Despite being still distrustful, Scootaloo did the same sharing the same thought with Dinky.

I hope it isn’t too late for our friends.

Author's Note

A shadow of war crossover for my friend Purple Patch requested by him, I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 6 The Warchiefs

Chapter 6: The Warchiefs

The foals stared in shock at what had just happened.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The yellow filly nodded and they moved out.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“And?! He still died because of us!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Captain turned around.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A piercing chill shot through him.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You, Ranger!”

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

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

He and Talion then clashed swords.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What should we do?”

“Activate the trap,” Wolf replied calmly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“With that stamina, you could rival Applejack.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yes,” Fletcher said in a flat tone.

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

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

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