Shard: The Dark King Returns

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

Five Stones Six Mares One Shadow

"So what are we looking for?" Rainbow Dash asked as they looked around the interior of the ancient castle.

"The Elements of-"

"I know that, Twilight. I mean what do they look like?"

"Well..." Twilight stopped, rubbing her chin. "You see... They... uh..."

"You don't know what they look like, do you?"

"Oh come on!" Twilight shouted. "How many ancient relics could there possibly be in the castle?"

"Well in the Daring Do books, there is normally one relic per site," Rainbow Dash admitted, "but there's also normally traps and a fight with at least a minion. Besides, it would be easier if we know what they looked like."

"Perhaps they are somewhere up in the clock tower," Rarity suggested. "As Twilight pointed out, it is still running even after a thousand years of being unattended to."

"Oh, oh," Pinkie Pie called out, bouncing. "I'll go look." She started for the stairs, only to be stopped by Applejack.

"Hold on, sugar cube. I know you got all excitable and want to get going, but I think we should probably keep together."

"Right," Rainbow agreed. "We don't know what we're going to see." She looked up. "So we'll start with the clock tower and work our way down."

The six of them headed for the staircase. Fluttershy stopped, looking around.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Pinkie Pie asked, looking back at the batpony.

"I thought I heard... something..."

"Well let's hurry," Twilight said. "If it's nothing, we should forget about it and get The Elements. If it's actually something, we should hurry up and get them."

The six ponies headed for the stairs and started climbing up. They went round and round as they worked their way past each story. Slowly, fatigue began to settle into some of the ponies, causing the order to shift and the group to spread apart. Fluttershy took the lead most of the time, used to climbing stairs for great lengths of time due to living and working in the castle in Canterlot. Pinkie Pie was sometimes ahead of her, and sometimes behind her. Pinkie just seemed to have boundless energy. Rainbow Dash fell behind the pair but continued to go strong. She was used to moving for great lengths of time, although more comfortable with flight instead of climbing (she so badly wished to just fly ahead and be done with it). Applejack was not far behind. She was built more for strength than stamina, even if it was a long road from the farm to the market that she had to pull the cart along. Near the rear was Twilight. Finally was Rarity, trudging up the stairs. The mare was used to working long hours without sleep, but usually it was at a desk where she sat for great lengths of time. A part of her secretly considered that this might actually be a pretty good exercise regimen.

After climbing nearly twenty stories, they reached their destination. The stairway opened up to reveal a filled with massive clockwork. A massive pendulum swung back and forth, ticking away each moment as its path alternated back and forth. Gears shifted and spun, moving at a strong and steady pace.

"Wow," Twilight whispered, staring at the massive clockwork system surround her.

"Hey," Pinkie Pie called out, "what's that?"

She pointed at the pendulum, getting the attention of the others. Along the bottom of the massive swinging weight were five white orbs. As they watched, each one seemed to give off a different colored shine for a second before returning back to their normal color.

"Could that be them?" Applejack asked.

"It's possible," Twilight responded, moving closer. "If that's the case, we need to remove them from the pendulum."

"Come on, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash said, "Pinkie Pie."

The three of them flew up and toward the pendulum. At Rainbow Dash's signal, the three moved closer, taking a hold of one of the stones each. They came out of their slots with ease, more so than expected. With the first three set down where the others were standing, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash went back for the last two.

"Now what?" Fluttershy asked as they dropped off the last of the stones.

"The legend said that a spark would reveal the sixth element," Twilight explained. She reached up, touching her horn before letting out a disappointed sigh.

"Rarity? Do you think that you could try to create a burst of raw magic to activate them?"

"I will give it my best," Rarity replied as she moved to stand in the middle of the stones. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and began to concentrate. A pale blue aura of magic began to engulf her horn.

There was a squeal of metal as the room shook. The effect threw the six ponies off balance, making Rarity lose her concentration.

"Enough!" Sombra's voice boomed, echoing through the small room. His shadow form began to creep around the clockwork. "I had hoped that you would give up and forget this stupid quest, being the first to accept me as your king."

The shadows shifted, forming the stallion as he glared at the group. He growled, baring his sharp teeth, then smirked.

"I suppose that I should thank you," he purred as he stepped forward. "After all, you did find The Elements." His horn began to glow with dark purple magic. "And now, you can be the first to watch me destroy them!" His power engulfed the five stones, lifting them up.

"No!" Fluttershy shouted, lunging at The Elements. She let out a scream of pain as she hit the dark magic, being thrown back from it.

"Foolish mare," Sombra chuckled. "You are no match for my power."

"But my hoof is a match for your face!" Rainbow Dash shouted. With a flap of her wings, she launched herself right at Sombra, hooves out.

She let out a gasp as she passed right through him with nothing more than a puff of shadow.

"Did you really think I wouldn't learn my lesson?" Sombra asked as his face reformed. "You can no more harm me than you could those shadow ponies."

There was a burst of power, grabbing Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, and pinning them to the floor.

"Now," Sombra called out, "watch the end of Harmony, and the start of The Reign of Shadows."

An ear-piercing shriek struck Sombra, making him groan in pain. He gave a shake of his head. He turned to look for the source.

Fluttershy glared at him from one eye, the other shut tight. Her legs shook as she pushed herself to stand up again. The bat wings were spread out to their full-size. The mare's eye seemed to glow with blood red light.

"Let them go," she growled.

"Impudent vermin!" Sombra shouted. "Do you really think that your pathetic shouting can stop me?"

There was a crackle of magic and a cry of pain, getting the attention of the others.

Twilight Sparkle was pressing through Sombra's dark magic, making her way toward the stones. Energy popped and crackled around her, trying to stop her. Tears flowed from the corners of her eyes, the white of which had taken on the sickly green glow.

"What are you doing?" Sombra shouted. "You have no magic. I command you to stop this instant."

"NO!" Twilight shouted. "I won't let you hurt them anymore."

"Twilight..." Fluttershy whispered.

"What are you whining about?" Sombra asked. The aura around his horn grew larger.

Twilight grabbed one of the stones, pulling it against her.

"They believed in me when nopony else would," Twilight shouted, holding it tight. "Even when I doubted myself. They have stood by my side through more in this one day than anypony outside of my family ever has in my entire life.

"They are my friends!" Twilight shouted. "And I don't care if I have magic or not! I will never leave my friends. And I will do anything in my power to keep them safe from the likes of you!"

The stone that Twilight held burst with a glowing bright red light.

"What?" Sombra called out in surprise.

The light grew brighter, causing Sombra's magic to let it, Twilight, and the other stones go. The glowing orb seemed to explode in a burst of light, engulfing Twilight Sparkle completely and hiding her from sight. The other stones floated up in the air for a moment before each launched off in a different direction.

"NO!" Sombra shouted. "No!" He moved back as the light continued to glow. Wherever it touched, his magic faded.

The entire room filled with bright red light, causing Sombra to scream. Everything grew so brightly that none of them could see what was going on.

Comments

[UfUnNyF1r3nd]

:-O

[Alticron]

I found something you may want to edit.

"I suppose that I should think you," he purred as he stepped forward. "After all, you did find The Elements."