The Lord of the Ponies: The Friendship of Equestria

Ch.27 The Ring Goes West

Ponyvillian streets passed as the Fellowship travelled west of the isolated village. Twilight led the way, her uncanny knowledge and map of Equestria bestowing upon her a directional advantage over her fellow companions. The Cutie Mark Crusaders followed close behind the lavender Unicorn. And behind the tiny fillies followed Rover, the towering Diamond Dog, and the remnants of the Mane Six, with Rainbow Dash flying, and Spike sleeping on Pinkie Pie's back . Lastly, trailing the pack, was Shining Armor, who kept his distance from The Ring, lest his own sister, Twilight, were to expect the worst of him.

Past the train tracks west of Ponyville, Apple Bloom became curious of the map Twilight possessed, and risked a peak at the drawing.

"Where are we going, Twilight?" asked Apple Bloom.

Twilight stole a glance at Apple Bloom, her complexion retained an expression of condecsention, as the lavender Unicorn gazed upon the tiny Earth Pony as if she were crazy.

"Haven't we been over this matter enough?" Twilight pointed her hoof at the location of the Smokey Mountain on the map; northwest of Ponyville.

"We're going to the Smokey Mountain. If we can find a way in, you can drop The Ring into the burning inferno from whence it came!" Twilight exclaimed.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. Obviously, Twilight had missed the figurative meaning of her previous question.

"What Apple Bloom means is: what is the path to our objective?" interjected Sweetie Belle.

"Oh...okay, I see now." Twilight moved her hoof over to the White Tail Woods, directly south of the Fellowship's destination.

"If we can hold our course for a week, we'll end up in the White Tail Woods. There, we head north, and to the Smokey Mountain." finished Twilight.

"Okay, that seems easy!" ejaculated Apple Bloom, a smile brought to her face by how easy their quest seemed.

"Hopefully, we won't run into any of Sauron's minions. If our luck holds, we can avoid them until we reach the Smokey Mountain. There are bound to be an incredible amount of Changelings guarding that mountain alone." finished Twilight, incidentally dashing Apple Bloom's hopes for a short and easy trip.

Applejack and Twilight discerned the lugubrious expression which occupied Apple Bloom's complexion, the first rushing to comfort her saddened sister.

"Don't you worry sis. Most of us here have beaten our fair share of Changelings. And don't worry, I'd die before I'd let anypony hurt you." assured Applejack, joining her sister at the front of the march.

"Do you really mean it?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Of course I do!" answered Applejack.

***

Five days passed in slow, steady travel to the White Tail Woods. The mountains were almost passed, as the Fellowship moved into rocky hills left over from millions of years of rain and eroding weather. Spike sat beside Apple Bloom and Applejack on a flat boulder. The dragon enjoyed a ruby, while Apple Bloom shared a short stack of hay fries with her big sister. Before them, Sweetie and Scootaloo practiced sword combat with Shining Armor.

Shining Armor swung his blade towards Scootaloo, who raised her own dagger to block.

"Two, one, five." Shining's sword attacked at a rhythmic pace, but Scootaloo was handy with a blade, and easily checked his swings.

"Very good!" congratulated Shining. Then he turned his attention to Sweetie Belle.

"Three, four, two." Shining focused the blade in a different pattern than before, catching Sweetie Belle off guard. Nevertheless, she was still able to clumsily block Shining's aggressive advance.

Behind the sword training, and even further back than Rarity's tick-tack-toe game with Pinkie Pie, was Twilight, who conversed with Rover, the Diamond Dog currently agitated about spending so much time above ground.

"The Sun is too bright, and all these damn rocks keep stabbing into my feet!" complained the Diamond Dog.

"But you live underground. I've seen your home, there are rocks EVERYWHERE!" exaggerated Twilight, alluding to the hypocrisy of Rover's previous statement.

"But the rock's underground are flat, and don't cause my feet to bleed." Rover raised a foot, revealing multiple wounds, scabbed over in blood days old.

"And speaking of the underground: in my opinion, we're taking the long way around." Twilight's curiosity was peaked at Rover's statement, interested in what point the Diamond Dog hoped to confide.

"Twilight, we could pass through the Mines of Moria. My cousin, Balin, would give us a royal welcome." Rover announced this with such confidence, Twilight feared to smash his desire, for what she had to say would undoubtedly do so.

"No, Rover. I wouldn't take the road through Moria unless I had no other choice." responded the wise Unicorn.

Back at sword practice, Shining once again assaulted Sweetie Belle, this time at an increased tempo. Shining's sword slid down Sweetie's handle, and snapped at her hoof.

"Ah!" yelled Sweetie Belle, dropping her blade, then placing her bleeding hoof in her mouth.

"Sorry!" Shining dropped his own blade, ready to tend to the injured filly Unicorn.

Sweetie rushed the apologetic Royal Guard, and shin kicked him. Sweetie's small stature was deceiving, as she delivered a kick so strong, it surprised Shining Armor. Shining grabbed his shin, when Scootaloo came up and knocked out Shining's other leg with the brunt of her blade. Shining fell to the ground, where Sweetie and Scootaloo both pounced him.

"For Ponyville!" roared Scootaloo.

All combatants soon began to laugh, the silly situation causing an uncontrollable burst of giggling. But the fight did not stop, and Rainbow Dash was forced to intervene.

"Come on, Squirt. That's enough!" Rainbow grabbed both Sweetie's and Scootaloo's hooves, but between the two fillies, they were able to overpower the cyan Pegasus, and topple her as well.

Echoes of the fight rang through the air, but everypony else was occupied with, what seemed to be, a black wisp of cloud.

"What is that?" asked Spike, posing the question to all companions.

"Nothing. It's just a wisp of cloud." Rover was quick to answer, unfamiliar to any weather occurrences above ground.

The fight ended, as the combatants became curious as to the nature of the odd 'cloud'.

"It's moving fast..." Shining observed, before feeling a strong burst of wind hit him in the back, "Against the wind."

"Crows from Isengard!" announced Twilight.

"Hide!" yelled Rainbow Dash, causing her fellow Fellowship members to scuffle around, hiding all traces of their existence.

Apple Bloom shoved the rest of her fries in her mouth, and so did Spike with his ruby. Rarity and Pinkie Pie brushed away all marks of their game. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Shining Armor carried away their swords. Upon successfully masking their presence, the Fellowship hid under whatever cover they could find, hoping to elude observation from the hostile murder of crows.

No member of their party saw the crows as they flew by, but they heard them. Shrill crows saturated the air in a cacophone of violent tongues, the sheer sound of the birds vocals driving the ponies to cover their ears. The birds circled over, and departed, seeing no sign of a living creature. The cacophone declined in volume, and upon its disappearance from the air, the Fellowship departed from their cover.

"Spies of Nightmare Moon! The passage north is being watched." Twilight looked across the faces of her companions, waiting for her judgement on this scenario.

Twilight turned East, drawing her friends' attention to a snow-capped mountain range in the distance.

"We must take the road through the Foal Mountain!" announced the lavender mare.