A Dark Twilight

by Ugly-Duckling123

Chapter 6

"Read it again Spike..." Rainbow dash said rubbing her head as it hurt so much from all the thinking she was doing.

Sighing the baby dragon looked down at the parchment and read:

The staff is located where ponies come and go,
The crystal found where the ruler sits, above not below,
And the Kings crown is not just for show.

"Ok, lets split this up into the three lines," Applejack said walking over to see the paper for herself.

"The staff is located where ponies come and go..."

She paused looking up at her friends, and the princesses - Shining Armour had gone back out to tell the guards to be ready to attack if Cadence's magic failed.

"But ponies 'come and go' everywhere." Rarity said thinking hard.

"Maybe it means where they 'come and go' from the Empire..." Pinkamena said.

"You mean like at the train station. We came into the Empire from there, and others left here from it." Fluttershy asked looking out the window towards the station. "Hey there's a flagpole on top of the ticket house's roof. You think that's the staff?"

"I sure do Sugarcube," Applejack said turning back to the paper.

"The crystal found where the ruler sits, above not below..."

"Well any ruler sits on a throne," Luna said looking at the ponies getting nods in return.

Then every-pony looked at the crystal throne and at all the crystals around it.

"Err... which one is it?" Spike asked trying not to drool.

"We'll get to that later," Rainbow said taking a look at the riddle herself, then worry came to her face.

"What is it Rainbow Dash?" Celestia asked having a hunch towards what it was.

Rainbow turned to her friends. "Do... Do you remember, when we saw Sombra get destroyed... What shape his crown was...?"

"Yes," Cadence said getting scared at how worried the strongest of the six was. "Why."

"Because the last line says," Rainbow began

"And the Kings crown is not just for show."

---

Every second Twilight was watching her ex-friends in the ice, she got worried for her new King. "Don't you worry my dear," Sombra's voice said "The only way they can build that stupid rod, is if they get my crown. And no-pony takes the crown away from King Sombra.

"Not that it belonged to him in the first place," a voice said calmly.

Gasping Twilight spun around it see a old bearded Unicorn in a bell rimed traveling cloak watching her though another sheet of ice.

"Starswirl the Bearded..." Twilight was speechless, she was looking at one of the smartest, wisest Unicorns throughout pony history. For a second her eyes flashed back to normal. "Wha... What are you doing here?" she asked bowing respectfully.

"Clover the Clever, this is not who you are," Starswirl began "You belong on the side of love and friendship. You were there with Commander Hurricane, Chancellor Pudding-Head, Princess Platinum, Smart Cookie, and Private Pansy to light the ponies hearts to show what friendship is. You were my best student why turn to this fake king? Why turn to Darkness?" he asked.

After a moment of silence, Twilight answered her eyes turning back to red green and purple. "Because I'm not Clover the Clever. I am Twilight Sparkle, and no one will stand in our way." Then she zapped the sheet of ice Starswirl was standing in, and returned to the one her friends were in.

"Well said my dear... Well said" Sombra's voice said. Twilight was so busy watching her friends that she didn't notice that the Heart had lost it's glow.

Comments

[AortaHeartless]

You have Clover the Clever being Clover the Cleaver for the last two times here.

[Ugly-Duckling123]

6395293 Thanks for spotting that didn't notice when I wrote this a year ago, and I'm guessing no one else did either