The Lord of the Ponies: The Friendship of Equestria

Ch.29 Into Moria

Luna's night reigned over the land of Equestria, and cloudy skies limited the light of the world to candles and lanterns. To the north, the Foal Mountain stood before the Fellowship, its rocky eminence shrouded in a mix of snow and fog. The troop followed the river, which would eventually lead them to the entrance to Moria: the only employable path that could be used to reach the Smokey Mountain. Twilight led the pack, followed by the rest of the Mane Six, Shining Armor, Rover and lastly, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Spike.

Twilight stopped, forcing the following party to halt their progress.

"Apple Bloom, come and help me." called Twilight.

Apple Bloom rushed forward, and joined Twilight at the front of the pack. Twilight wrapped a leg around the tiny filly, and once again proceeded towards the doorway into the mountain.

"I've got a nasty cramp in my leg." announced Twilight, a little too loudly to be inconspicuous.

"How's your shoulder?" asked Twilight; she never glanced towards Apple Bloom.

"Better than it was." responded Apple Bloom, affording Twilight a gander.

"And The Ring?" added Twilight, stopping again.

Twilight peered down at Apple Bloom, trying her best to avoid focussing on The Ring. Apple Bloom met her stare, but not with defiance; fear clouded the tiny filly's countenance.

"You feel its power growing, don't you?" questioned Twilight, her gaze betraying to The Ring.

Apple Bloom never noticed Twilight's betrayal. The mere mention of The Ring caused Applebloom to stare down at the golden band as she fondled the evil artifact in her hooves.

"I've felt it too. You must be careful now." added Twilight, drawing Apple Bloom's attention back to here, forcing Twilight to once again to match Apple Bloom's gaze.

"Evil will be drawn to you from outside the Fellowship," Heavy clopping became apparent to the conspirators as the armored Shining Armor passed by. Twilight and Applebloom's gaze followed him with suspicion and fear, respectively.

"And I fear from within." finished Twilight, her implications obvious even to the farmhand like the late Big Mac.

Rover, the lumbering Diamond Dog, also passed Twilight and Apple Bloom, his footsteps silenced by the natural pads on his feet. The river now stood between the Fellowship and the wall of the mountain.

"The walls, of Moria." Rover called out, drawing the attention and haste of his companions to him.

Rover's jagged claw pointed towards the plain mountain wall, which the Fellowship was separated from by a wide river. But nearby spanned a bridge, which the Fellowship hurriedly crossed. Upon crossing the bridge, Rover began knocking on the mountain wall, his knuckles cracking to the same tune as the stone wall was met with strike after strike.

"Doors made by the Diamond Dogs are invisible when closed. Helps us hide our underground homes." remarked Rover, still buffeting the stone wall.

"Their own masters cannot find them if their secrets are forgotten." added Twilight.

"Why doesn't that surprise me." whispered Rarity under her breath. Rarity's reticence was in vain however, as the Diamond Dog's sensitive ears picked up on her insult. Rover maintained his composure though, only a slight growl escaped his lips.

The Fellowship came upon an indentation in the rock, the cobblestone surface unusually flat. Twilight began rubbing away at the stone, dust flowed to the ground as she revealed strange symbols engraved in the mountainside.

"Ithildin. It mirrors only starlight and moonlight." Twilight turned towards the lake, and looked up, finding no such light pervading through the dark clouds.

Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash, who hovered over the lake.

"Rainbow, can you please clear up these clouds for me?" asked Twilight.

"Only because you said please." joked Rainbow Dash, before setting off to do work of which only a Pegasus was made for.

Within ten seconds, the night sky was clear, and the glorious full moon radiated lunar beams over the intrepid group. Twilight turned again, finding the engraved doorway glowing in a show of angelic light. The attention of all companions was drawn to the glowing gate, an alien inscription now discernible on its surface.

"It reads: The Doors of Durin, Lord of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter." translated Twilight.

"What do you suppose that means?" asked Scootaloo, confused as to the meaning of the inscription.

"Well, it's quite simple. If you are a friend, you speak the password and the doors will open." answered Twilight.

Twilight stepped towards the door, and placed her horn, which was now fully grown back, onto the surface of the brushed gate.

"Annon edhellen, edro hi ammen!" enchanted Twilight, hoping her spell was the password she sought.

To the Fellowship's disappointment, the doors didn't move. Twilight retreated from the door, befuddled as to why the door hadn't opened for a 'friend'.

"Let me try something else." announced Twilight, before raising her hooves in the air.

"Vandals algorihm, lesto haffarven." like before, Twlight's spell was used to no avail, as the gates didn't so much as groan at her incantations.

"Shining, help me with this." called Twilight, who started to push on the stone gateway. Shining soon joined her, and heaved his sturdy frame against the immovable door, but to no avail. The door into Moria would not budge.

"What are we going to do, then?" asked Sweetie Belle, antagonism in her tone.

"Knock your head against these doors, Sweetie Belle. And if that does not shatter them, then I will be allowed a little peace from foolish questions." Twilight's outburst came as a surprise to her comrades; even Rarity did not dare to defend Sweetie's foolishness, lest she invoke further wrath from the agitated Unicorn.

Twilight took a deep breath, calming the fire inside her before she exploded into flames for the third time in her life.

"I will try and find the opening words." finished Twilight, turning her attention back to the solid door.

***

Hours were wasted lying in wait, as Twilight accounted every spell in her vast archive of knowledge. Shining Armor, Applejack and Apple Bloom sat near Twilight, the two apples making sure to keep their distance from Twilight's brother. Spike, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rover and Rarity sat around a campfire, warming themselves as a cold wind swept by the mountain. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle occupied themselves by throwing progressively bigger rocks in the nearby river, enjoying the ripples which formed on its slow-flowing surface.

Scootaloo prepared to chuck a rock, but her wrist was grabbed by Rover. Rover's canine form surprised the tiny filly.

"Do not disturb the water." warned the Diamond Dog, who then retreated back to the warmth of the campfire, but his gaze continued to be focussed on the placid river.

Twilight threw her head down in anger, fatigued by the countless hours wasted on the stubborn door.

"Oh, it's useless!" resigned Twilight.

Apple Bloom, like Twilight, had been perusing the password for the gateway, but unlike Twilight, Apple Bloom had a different method for discerning the door's translation. And after hours of long study, Apple Bloom had come to an inescapable conclusion,

"It's a riddle!" announced Apple Bloom, drawing Twilight's attention back to the door.

"Speak 'friend', and enter." Apple Bloom turned towards the despairing Unicorn.

"What's the Alicornian word for 'friend'?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Mellon!" answered Twilight.

A sharp crack pierced the night air as the door into Moria opened for 'friends'. The attention of all Fellowship members became focused on the rapidly growing doorway leading into pitch darkness. With their attention so focussed on the gateway, none of the party members noticed a ripple of water splash against the shore where the Fellowship stood. Something was in the water.

Twilight led the Fellowship into Moria, the light of the moon penetrating partway into the dense darkness.

"Soon, Ponies, you will enjoy the fabled hospitality of the Diamond Dogs. Roaring fires, cider, ripe meat right off the bone!" cheered Rover, obviously excited about visiting the greatest city ever to be dug by the Diamond Dogs.

Twilight illuminated her horn, casting a radiance which diffused the nearby darkness.

"This is the home of my cousin, Balin. And they call it a mine. A mine!" roared Rover.

"EEEEEEKKKKKKK!" screamed Fluttershy, dashing like a bullet back towards the entrance.

"This is no mine...it's a tomb!" Shining's comment, and Fluttershy's shriek brought the Fellowship's attention to the many dead dogs which littered the ground.

Armored corpses lay rotting on the floor of the entrance, victims of some old battle past. Rover screamed and closed his eyes, unable to handle the sight of his dead brethren. Twilight levitated a body to her, and noticed two puncture wounds located at the neck of a still rotting corpse.

"Changelings!" announced Twilight, the glow of her horn replaced by a charge of offensive magic.

Shining Armor, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders drew their swords. Pinkie Pie pulled her party cannon out from nowhere, and Rarity charged a vaporizing blast from her horn. Fluttershy cowered behind the Cutie Mark Crusaders at the entrance.

"We make for Canterlot. We should have never come here. Now get out of here, get out!" ordered Shining Armor.

Fluttershy and the Cutie Mark Crusaders backed towards the entrance, but unbeknownst to them, another enemy waited in the waters behind them. Apple Bloom was ripped off her feet, a tentacle drawing her towards the rippling water.

"Twilight!" called Spike, as he, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle rushed to Apple Bloom's aid.

"Get off her!" screamed Sweetie Belle, as her dagger sliced the pulling tentacle into separate sections.

The limb's grip on Apple Bloom's hoof receded as the split appendage retreated into the water. Spike pulled Apple Bloom back towards Moria's entrance, hastening to put as much distance between them and whatever lay in wait, in the water. Spike's effort was in vain though, as a flurry of tentacles emerged from the water, sending Apple Bloom's companions back into the mine. Then again, a tentacle wrapped itself around Apple Bloom's ankle.

"Help me!" screamed Apple Bloom, fear possessing her expression as the tentacle lifted her above the water's surface.

A magical bolt flew from Rarity's horn, her eye for detail scoring a direct hit on the appendage holding Apple Bloom. The tentacle was vaporized, causing Apple Bloom to fall, until another tentacle snatched her ankle. Shining, Rainbow Dash and Applejack sliced at any hostile limb in their path, cutting their way into the water towards the dangling Apple Bloom. More tentacles seized Apple Bloom in response to her friend's rescue attempt. The water below Apple Bloom churned, as the body of the great beast which the many limbs belonged to emerged.

.

The creature's face resembled that of a wizened stallion, the tentacles to the front and back resembling a beard and long, flowing hair, respectively. The monster's massive jaw opened, and revealed multiple rows of sharp teeth. But before the creature could swallow Apple Bloom whole, Shining rushed in and amputated one of the tentacles which supported Apple Bloom, causing the tentacled creature to writhe in pain. Rainbow followed with another amputation, this time freeing Apple Bloom from the grip of the watery beast. Apple Bloom fell, and landed on Applejack's back.

"I told you I'd protect you." stated Applejack.

"Into the mine!" interjected Twilight, her order causing the retreat of her comrades into Moria.

"Pinkie!" yelled Rainbow Dash, signalling Pinkie to unleash a cannon ball from her party cannon.

The cannon ball smashed into the eye of the beast, lodging itself into the skull of the monster, causing the creature to pause and writhe in agony, allowing the Fellowship sparse seconds to retreat. Fluttershy cowered as her fellow companions ran past her into the mine, until Rainbow Dash grabbed the scared Pegasus by the hoof and dragged her into Moria.

"Are you crazy? You're going to die out here!" yelled Rainbow Dash, pulling the petrified pony into Moria.

The beast pulled itself from the water, and chased the frightened ponies into the mine. As her fellow members passed, Twilight unleashed an explosive bolt, striking the ceiling above the tentacled creature. The roof collapsed in response, crushing the monster underneath tonnes of rock, and sealing off the exit for the Fellowship...

...And so darkness consumed them